Impact Wrestling Coverage: A New Mafia Story

Sting promised a new Main Event Mafia last week and he delivered this week on Impact.

Kurt Angle joined the group in epic fashion, laying out the Aces and Eights in the back and then putting World heavyweight Champion Bully Ray in the ankle lock.

In the words of Scott Hall: “You wanted a war? You got one.”

With the first Open Fight Night in months and the first night of the Bound for Glory Series, there was plenty going on. The end result was an action-heavy show that hit the mark. TNA has professed a thousand times that they’re all about wrestling and this week’s smart booking and just enough storyline development proved it. Add in some Eric Young and ODB hi-jinx (they finally dissolved the Knockouts Tag Team titles) and Impact had a bit of everything.

Aside from an absence of X-Division action, there was actually nothing to complain about.

If TNA can keep up this type of show pace, Impact will develop the type of momentum they haven’t had since 2006, when the show was truly a treat.

Matches:

Bound for Glory Series: Mr. Anderson vs. Joseph Park: Anderson went through his signature offense, but Park was resilient and nearly won with a rollup. After Anderson missed the Senton Bomb, Park hit a Backbody Drop, but missed the corner Avalanche. Park then countered the Fireman Drop and had this sewn up with the Boston Crap, but DOC distracted the referee and the math continued. When Park went for the top rope splash, DOC got involved again, which allowed Anderson to hit the Mic Check for the win.

Bound for Glory Series: Jay Bradley vs. Austin Aries: Bradley spoke a big and effective game before the match, but Aries was in control early on. Bradley countered the high-flying offense of Aries with a nice combination of elbows,kicks and power moves. After a missed Yakuza Kick in the corner, Aries hit the Missile Dropkick and a Spinning Elbow, but Bradley fought back with an ugly Backbreaker. A Crucifix Bomb and Corner Dropkick put Aries back in control and soon enough, Aries picked up the big man and nailed him with the Brainbuster for the win.

Bound for Glory Series: Hernandez vs. Christopher Daniels: This was a solid match with plenty of counters and offense. Daniels was the savvy heel, while Hernandez was all about entertaining the crowd with high-flying and athletic spots. But After some “Yam bag Yahtzee” behind the referees back and the Best Moonsault Ever, Daniels got the win.

Bound for Glory Series: Frank Kazarian vs. Magnus: Whoa. Magnus won with the Texas Cloverleaf to get to the early lead in the tournament. The match itself was nothing special, but it was cool to see Magnus come into his own and defeat a seasoned pro the likes of Kazarian.

Bound for Glory Series: Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles: A technical showcase with plenty of strikes from two of TNA’s best workers. Both traded moves and neither got a real advantage. After both landed awkwardly after an attempted Superplex from Joe, the referee began the double-count and here, Joe began the strikes. Styles countered a strike into the Calf-Killer, but Joe managed to latch on the Rear-Naked Choke. Once Styles got out of the submission , the two continued to fight until the match ended in a time limit draw.

Bound for Glory Series: Jeff Hardy vs. Bobby Roode: These guys always have solid matches and this week’s encounter was far from a disappointment. After they traded offense, Hardy hit the seated Twist of Fate, but missed the Senton. This allowed Roode to lock in the Crossface, but Hardy was able to bridge out. A flash later, Hardy hit the Twist of Fate again for the win.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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