Austin Aries is a god among men.
But you already knew that.
Rather than simply put up his X-Division title for a shot a Robert Roode at Destination X, he and Hulk Hogan essentially made the X-Division championship the company’s second-most important title last night on Impact. From now on, every year at Destination X, the X-Division champion will get an opportunity to fight the World champ. With a laundry list of former X-Division champions that have gone on to hold the World title, this move just makes perfect sense.
Plus, Aries is super over right now.
With plenty of great matches, developments in the A.J. Styles and Dixie Carter angle and only a few hiccups along the way, [No TV Title defense?] this was another solid episode of Impact.
Wow, two weeks in a row?
Yes, Impact was watchable once again.
Well, until the last segment that seemed robbed out of an episode of Maury Povich. What a mess. For now on guys, just show seven matches a night and cut the other nonsense.
Matches
Bound for Glory Series: Mr. Anderson vs. Christopher Daniels: Anderson won with the Mic-Check, but Daniels held his own. He hit Anderson with a nice Blue Thunder Driver earlier in the match and sold well. A quick, but effective opener with plenty of action.
Bound for Glory Series: TNA Tag Team Champion Kurt Angle vs. Robbie E w/Rob Terry: Three German Suplexes, an Angle Slam and an Angle Lock. Game over.
Bound for Glory Series: Magnus vs. TNA Tag Team Champion A.J. Styles: Magnus talked some smack before the match, but backed it up in the ring. Countering a few of Styles’ signature offense, Magnus was technically proficient. Capitalizing on interference from Christopher Daniels and Frank Kazarian, Magnus nailed the Michinoku Driver for the win.
Gut Check: Taeler Hendrix vs. Tara: The newbie is a little green, but she is very reminiscent of a young Mickie James. Tara made quick work of her and beat her with the Widow’s Peak.
Bound for Glory Series: Samoa Joe vs. James Storm: Great microphone work from Joe before the match, where he alluded to an old Shawn Michael promo, “Pet your horse and find your smile.†The match wasn’t a letdown either. Full of counters, the match ended after Storm reversed a Sleeper submission and nailed The Samoan Submission Machine with his Last Call Super Kick for the win.
Bound for Glory Series: Bully Ray vs. The Pope: Pretty even match until Abyss joined the party. After Abyss chased Ray back into the ring, Pope hit a clothesline/leg sweep combo for the win.
TNA Knockouts Champion Brooke Tessmacher vs. Mickie James: The knockouts continue to have high quality matches. While James was the technically solid performer, Tessmacher has come such a long way the past few months. With a flurry of near-falls, this may have been the best match of the night. Countering James’ jumping DDT into a roll-up, Tessmacher retained her title.
Bound for Glory Series: Jeff Hardy vs. Rob Van Dam: All offense. Both RVD and Hardy were flying all over the place. Amid the routine offense, RVD even tried a 450 and Hardy nailed a one of a kind spike DDT. Hardy got the last laugh though with a deadly Twist of Fate for the win.
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