The Final Impact
October 11, 2013
By: Josh Boutwell of Wrestleview.com
Heading into the final stretch towards BFG last night was a big improvement over the past couple of weeks. One thing I have to rant about is the last minute putting together of the BFG card. This is the biggest show of the year and you’ve had 4 months since Slammiversary to build the programs for this thing up. There is absolutely no excuse for almost the entire card being put together in the last month. Yes the World Title program was built up gradually over that time in the BFG Series and I’m perfectly fine with that but what is the excuse for the rest of the card? It’s just plain bad and if you’re going to do 4 actual PPVs a year you have to do a hell of a better job than that.
The opening segment with Dixie was better than her performance last week and I did laugh at some of her insults. She definitely comes off as a bitch which is what she’s supposed to do.
Aries and Hardy absolutely tore the roof off in the opener. They put on a match that in my opinion was equal to their BFG match last year. The Super Brainbuster off the top was just insane. Joe inserting himself into the Ultimate X was interesting and I think it’s only his second time in that match, but the fact that they have again ignored the weight limit with no explanation is annoying as hell. I don’t mind them doing away with the weight limit because the point of the division to begin with was “no limits” so I’m fine with that just say it.
The Bro-Mans EY/ODB stuff was pointless like always. Lei’D Tapa looks like a monster again though. I just worry about how she’s going to do in the ring. I’ve seen limited clips of her in a match (other than the match she had on Impact) and the obvious comparisons with Awesome Kong are going to make her harshly criticized. Kong wasn’t just a monster, she was able to perform in the ring. Tapa doesn’t have workers like Taylor Wilde, Sarita, Angelina Love, and Tara to feed off like Kong did. The Knockouts division is extremely depleted. Gail Kim was easily Kong’s greatest opponent so that match up will be interesting and hopefully TNA gets Mickie James back and with an ever improving Taryn Terrell hopefully returning soon that will at least add some depth for the division that can help Tapa out in the ring.
The EGO Hall of Fame segment was really enjoyable. They have such great chemistry together and there was several laugh out loud one liners, but Angle’s return was the surprise and he looks great. That added to the segment and Angle/Roode in a rematch from BFG ’11 should be fun.
Velvet and Brooke was weak and just not very interesting other than the eye candy.
Derrick Bateman, now known as Ethan Carter III, looks like a douche bag but I am assuming that is the point of the character. The Carter name is interesting and I’m wondering if he will tie into Dixie in some way. I’m not going to pass judgment on the guy until I see what he can do (insert random “WWE reject” comments I’m sure this will get).
Bad Influence and Sting/Magnus had a good tag match but the ending was a bit clunky but it looks like they’re going to try to had some beef between Magnus and Sting heading into BFG instead of it just being a friendly rivalry.
AJ and Dixie’s interaction backstage was really good. Dixie’s “little rednecks that can’t read” comment actually made me laugh out loud as a fellow southerner.
I hate handicap matches, they’ve never done anything for me and tonight was no different. AJ looks strong however and the beat down Bully put on AJ was exactly what they needed. The bump on the ramp was pretty vicious too.
– Promo/Segment of the Night: EGO/Kurt Angle
– Match of the Night: Hardy vs. Aries (****)
– Overall Grade: B+
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