SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The following report was originally published on PWTorch.com five years ago this week…
KELLER’S IMPACT REPORT
OCTOBER 17, 2013
AIRED ON SPIKE TV
[Q1] -A video package aired on last week’s major storyline developments. Then they went live in the arena for Dixie Carter’s ring entrance.
(WK Reax: Yes, they opened the show with a ring entrance for Dixie Carter, with “TNA President” flashing on the big screen. I suppose if you’re Dixie Carter, and you’re watching WWE TV, you’d think “this is just how pro wrestling works.” It’s really sad how authority figures have taken over so much of wrestling when that just is not the bulk of wrestling history. In a way, as great as the Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon storyline was for business, it started one of the worst trends in pro wrestling that just won’t go away. It doesn’t have to be this way and shouldn’t be this way.)
-Dixie, flanked by two security guys, said she now truly knows what Michelangelo felt like when he finished the Sistine Chapel. (That is a funny line.) She said great pieces of art take time, and this Sunday at Bound for Glory it’ll be her finest work ever. She said Michelangelo didn’t have to deal with a redneck like A.J. Styles splattering paint all over his masterpiece. She said Bully Ray splattered Styles last week. She asked if Styles wants to walk away with a tiny piece of his dignity left. She said as a leader it’s her job to motivate, and she does motivation really well. She said her other job is to evaluate. She said tonight she’s going to do both. The crowd chanted “We Want Hogan!”
Dixie announced a contract signing tonight for the Bound for Glory main event. She said if Styles didn’t make it to the contract signing and someone else stepped up and impressed her, that could change things. She said Styles may have walked away from the money she offered him last week, but somebody isn’t going to make that same mistake tonight. She said that would mean Styles won’t be in the BFG main event, which will open a spot for someone else. “Creating opportunities and making people rich, that’s what I do best,” she said. (Also very funny, but in that case in an ironic way.) One security guy showed the briefcase he was holding was full of money.
-Tenay decried Dixie putting a $50,000 bounty on the head of Styles just three days before from BFG. Out walked Bully Ray with Brooke Tessmacher. Bully told Dixie they haven’t always seen eye to eye, but for $50,000 he’ll take out Styles and then he won’t care who he faces at BFG. (Bully looked deathly ill here.) Magnus walked out and interrupted Bully. Magnus reviewed what Dixie just said, and then said no wonder people are saying “Dixie sucks.” That led to the crowd chanting that for the first time tonight. Dixie crossed her arms and shook her head and said, “Did you just say that? Come on!” Magnus said 50K may be chump change to her, but it’s not to the good people in the crowd nor to him.
(WK Reax: Just as last week’s Robert Roode Hall of Fame video seemed like a parody of the Triple H DVD trailers, I also wonder if someone didn’t script Magnus’s line about 50K being chump change to Dixie as a dig at Triple H saying on the DVD that when he made $52K in WCW he didn’t want to go on starving.)
Magnus said he’s so sick and tired of hearing Bully talk every week that he’ll fight him tonight for free. Bully said they may say he’s the future of pro wrestling and then he listed a bunch of great attributes people say about Magnus. He said even Sting believes in him. Bully said to him he’s the biggest disappointment he’s seen, so he might as well be from Oklahoma. Magnus punched Bully. Bully got so upset he accepted Magnus’s challenge. Tenay said that’s huge just three days before BFG. He said his emotions just got the best of him.
-They showed Kurt Angle arriving at the arena. [c]
[Q2] -Bully Ray told Knux and Garett Bischoff, his remaining Ace & Eights brothers, as he admired the hammer, that last week things came together beautifully. He said he did what he said – he gave them the spotlight and the glory and they took it. He said he is so proud of them. He told Knux that he can buy a new bike with 50K. He told Bisch to have his back. He said he had their back, too.
-Tenay plugged the free BFG preview show on Spike TV.
(WK Reax: It’s good to have a preview show if for no other reason than some TNA TV viewers who don’t miss anything that’s free will tune in, and if they’re on the fence, it’s TNA’s last chance to sell them the PPV with an impulse buy. It’s probably not a big difference-maker, but with TNA you’d think every little bit helps.)
(1) ERIC YOUNG vs. HERNANDEZ vs. ROBBIE E. vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS
Tenay plugged Young’s road trip adventures with Joseph Parks while Young made his ring entrance.
(WK Reax: So is Young on the road with Parks or is he wrestling on TV right now? Of all weeks to skip Young being on Impact, this was the week. These little details add up and just take people more out of the moment than is necessary in pro wrestling.)
Taz referred to being a “ball hog.” He then apologized for making a sports reference. Strange. In the end, as Young rallied and landed a top rope elbow, Robbie knocked Young out of the ring, and then covered Daniels for the win.
WINNER: Robbie E. in 5:00 to gain an advantage for his team on Sunday as Robbie E. and Jesse G. be the final team to enter the gauntlet match on Sunday.
-The roving reporter asked Styles how it feels to have a bounty on his head. Jesse G. attacked Styles before Styles could finish his first sentence. Styles fended him off, though. He looked at the roving reporter (Jason Hervey off camera) and said, “It’s going to be a long night.” [c]
[Q3] -Tenay hyped Magnus vs. Bully, plus Angle would speak later. Then a recap aired of Dixie’s announcement earlier.
-Styles came out to his ring entrance. He said Dixie reeks of desperation, but he’s flattered. He said her bounty says she knows he’s going to win at BFG. He said when he wins the World Title he’s going to make her pay. He said if anyone wants to try to cash in the bounty, he’s not going to run or hide, so “come get paid.” Taz said he’s crazy. Out walked Knux and Bischoff. They attacked Styles and beat him down in the corner when James Storm’s music played. Storm and Gunner ran out and cleared the ring of Knux & Bisch.
(2) GUNNER (w/James Storm) vs. KNUX (w/Bisch)
Tenay plugged a special show following Impact focused on Rampage Jackson. “Before his training starts, he has to get in the last of his partying. Rampage Jackson really lives the rock star lifestyle.”
(WK Reax: Wow, that’s a way to sell the idea that Rampage is taking this fight seriously.)
At 4:00 both men were down after a double clothesline collision mid-ring. Bischoff called for help from Bully from the back. Storm got in his face so Bisch poked his chest. Storm sprayed beer in Bisch’s face. Gunner got up and gave Knux an overhead fallaway slam, which Tenay sold as a huge feat of strength. Gunner signaled for the Gun Rack. Knux countered with a flying body press mid-ring for a two count. Taz said it was Midnight Rocker-like. Knux called for help from Bully, too. Gunner recovered and speared Knux for the win. Tenay said Bully left Knux and Bischoff high and dry. Taz he’s the World Champion and he has places to be and things to do.
(WK Reax: Why, exactly, was Knux calling for help from Bully? There should be a reason he turned away from the advantage in the match to call for Bully. That’s a case of forcing a plot line into a situation where it didn’t fit, and it was obvious.)
WINNER: Gunner in 4:00.
-Backstage Chris Sabin told Velvet Sky that he’d collect the bounty. Sky tried to stop him, but he said he’d buy her something nice. She said, “This isn’t you.”
[Q4] [c] -Bischoff and Knux complained to each other about Bully not being there for them.
-Clips aired on Lai’d Tapa beating up ODB last week. Tenay asked who was next. Then he plugged ODB vs. Gail Kim vs. Brooke Tessmacher.
-Gail Kim walked in on Brooke taking selfies of her butt. Kim asked if that was for her Instagram followers. Brooke said it was for Bully. Kim proposed they work together if Lai’d Tapa “comes out to destroy us.” Brooke said it’s every Knockout for herself and she makes promises only to one man. As Brooke walked away, Kim said, “I guess it is every Knockout for herself then.”
-Tenay hyped the Ultimate X match. A video package aired on the match with the narrator hyping the All-Star line up of competitors. There were soundbites with several of the participants.
(WK Reax: With this many big TNA names in this match, they definitely needed to make a big deal out of it and hype it like this with special features and touting it as an All-Star edition. Too bad the story can’t be the champion, since there’s really nothing to say about him, apparently. This match needed more time to develop some internal plot lines fans could look forward to between the various personalities. It feels like they’re rushing a couple things late, but not enough to give it the deep backstory a match of this caliber otherwise deserves.)
-They went backstage where Sabin was prowling around looking for Styles. He asked a man, whom he called “Mr. Security Guard,” if he had seen “the Not-So-Phenomenal One A.J. Styles.” Sabin ran into Joe who said he better focus on facing him later. He said if he survives their match later and Ultimate X, then he can pursue bounty. “Unfortunately I’m a very big IF.” Sabin reacted like Joe had the worst breath ever and backed away. [c]
-A recap aired of the set-up earlier for Magnus vs. Bully.
[Q5] -They showed Magnus warming up backstage.
(3) CHRIS SABIN (w/Velvet Sky) vs. SAMOA JOE
Tenay said he can’t wait to see Sunday’s All-Star Ultimate X on Sunday. Taz asked how Manik must feel facing that level of competition. Joe pounded Sabin in the corner at the start of the match. Sabin bailed out to the floor at 1:00 and hugged Sky. Joe grabbed Sabin by his hair and yanked him back into the ring mid-hug. Fortunately for Sky, Sabin did let go of her. Sabin avoided a Joe charged and then went to work with chops and punches. Joe no-sold them and growled at him. Sabin begged off. Joe chopped him hard to the mat. Sabin jumped to the floor and took Sky by the hand and said he had enough. Joe came after him on the ramp. Sabin used Sky as a shield, then charged at Joe. Joe picked him up and tried to carry him back to the ring, but Sabin slipped free and DDT’d Joe on the ramp. The ref began to count Joe out. Joe crawled back into the ring where Sabin took over on him. Taz said he likes the new demonic version of Sabin.
Sabin spit on his hand and then rubbed it in Joe’s face. Taz: “That’s kinda gross.” Joe fired back with a one-armed slam out of the corner. Sabin landed a springboard DDT off the ropes into mid-ring on Joe. Joe countered a roll-up attempt with his rear naked choke and Sabin immediately tapped out.
WINNER: Joe in 6:00.
-Austin Aries nailed Joe with a flying dropkick off the top rope. Jeff Hardy ran out and attacked Aries with a Twist of Fate. He pulled a ladder out from under the ring. Taz said this is not good for Aries. Hardy set it up in the corner and climbed it. Sabin yanked him down. Hardy reverse kicked him. Manik then climbed to the top and flew onto Aries and Sabin. The announcers hyped the All-Star line-up.
-They cut backstage to Daniels and Kaz attacking Styles in the hallway. Styles managed a comeback and sprayed them with a fire extinguisher, then escaped the scene. [c]
-Tenay hyped upcoming TNA live events.
-They went to a photo shoot with Ethan Carter III (“EC3”) who said he will be at Bound for Glory.
[Q6]
(4) MAGNUS vs. BULLY RAY
Christy Hemme did ring introductions for the TV main event. Taz said he doesn’t want anything to go wrong for Bully just days before BFG because “he’s such a good man.” He had less flattering comments about Magnus, calling him a “glory hound.” At 3:00 they cut to a break. [c]
Bully had his arm in the air after the break, with Magnus down on the mat. Tenay plugged the backstory of the Sting vs. Magnus match at BFG, comparing Magnus trying to prove himself against Sting to Sting early in his career proving himself against Ric Flair. When Magnus rallied at 9:00, Bully yanked the ref in the path of Magnus. Ref Earl Hebner went down. Bully picked up a chain. Sting came out and yanked it away from him. With Bully’s back turned, Magnus grabbed at him, but Bully gave Magnus a low blow and scored the pin.
WINNER: Bully Ray in 10:00.
-Afterward Sting remained to check on Magnus. Magnus told him how he lost, basically staying the ref didn’t see the low blow because Sting came to ringside. Sting pointed at the chain and said Bully tried to use it, so he was just trying to help him. Sting approached Magnus for a hand shake. Magnus paused, but then slapped his hand half-heartedly and left.
-Tenay plugged the Styles vs. Bully contract signing. Then he plugged that Angle would speak in the ring next.
[Q7] [c] -Backstage Sting approached Magnus again. Magnus said, “I just got hit in the balls and got pinned 1-2-3. The ref didn’t see it because he was looking at you.” He said he’s sick and tired of this stuff happening, and he wants to prove he can get things done himself. Joe walked in and told them to calm down. Sting said it’ll be just them in San Diego so he’ll have his chance.
-Tenay hyped the BFG line-up.
-Angle made his ring entrance. Tenay said it’s great to have him back. Taz said he’s not as excited as everyone else. Angle said, “It’s great to be back.” Angle said when Roode tried to rain on his Hall of Fame parade last week, he made it personal. Roode’s music interrupted him.
Roode said he doesn’t want to be Kurt Angle, not today’s version. He said maybe two years ago and certain five or ten years ago. He said now, though, he feels he is more worthy than Angle of being in a Hall of Fame. He asked what he has done lately. Roode said two years ago at BFG he beat him to retain the World Hvt. Title, and he was worth something back then. He said because of that loss, he changed his career’s course and went on to become the longest reigning, most dominant World Champion. He bragged his reign was longer than Angle’s. He said at BFG he will beat Angle.
Angle soaked up his words, then asked him, “How are you going to beat me when you’re the one who’s gonna be tapping?” Roode began to respond verbally, then took a cheap shot at Angle and stomped him to the mat. Roode said he won’t be the one tapping. Angle came back and put Roode in the ankelock. Daniels and Kaz jumped Angle before Roode had a chance to tap. They threw Angle shoulder-first into the ringpost. As they continued to beat on him, Roode ordered them out of the ring. “I got this!” he shouted. Roode then put Angle in an STF. Angle tapped the mat, then Roode released the hold. Taz said tapping the mat is basically a sign that says, “Let me go, you got me.” Roode kneeled down and told Angle he’s going to make him tap out on Sunday. Taz said the intensity just went up and he can’t personally wait until Sunday.
-They showed Dixie heading to the ring with the security guys and the briefcase.
[Q8] [c] -They went to the ring where Jeremy Borash stood next to Dixie. He introduced Bully first. Tenay called it the biggest pay-per-view of 2013 and the biggest match of 2013. Dixie’s facial expressions when Borash introduced Styles were funny. It was like she was a teenage girl being lectured about wearing a skirt too short or staying out too late.
Borash asked Bully to sign the contract first. Bully signed it right away, then told Styles he didn’t waste any time signing it. He called Styles a redneck and told him, “I’ll make it real simple for you; you can’t beat me.” He said he doesn’t have the brains or the passion in his heart or the thunder in his fists to beat him. When Borash reached for the mic, Bully said he’d give him the mic when he is done.
Bully said in 1985 Ric Flair maimed “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, but a month later Dusty returned and told the world that Flair had put him on hard times. Bully said fast-forward almost 30 years later, and now he stands before him as the man who put the wrestling world on hard times for the last year and a half. He said he started with Jeff Hardy inside of a steel cage at Lockdown and became the World Champion. He said he beat Sting at Slammiversary and ended any chance he would have to get another World Title shot. “And I ran Chris Sabin back into your X Division,” he said. He then claimed he is the man who ran Hulk Hogan out of TNA and put him on hard times. He asked Styles if he’s confused over what this has to do with him.
Bully said in three days at BFG, when he defeats him, he will put him on hard times. He said he’ll put his fans on hard times. And most of all, he’s going to put him on such hard times that he’s going to send him home a defeated man with no contract and no championship, so that when he gets back to his trailer park in Gainsvile, Ga., he wouldn’t be surprised if his wife and three kids aren’t there anymore. “I am the Darth Vader of the wrestling business and you ain’t no Luke Skywalker,” he closed with.
(WK Reax: Bully remains top of the art in heel promos right now, but history is going to show that he has been part of a ratings decline as the centerpiece of the show, whether it’s his fault or not.)
Styles said he’s no Dusty Rhodes and Bully is no Ric Flair. He said what he talked about is the past, “but we’re in the future, kid.” He said comparing himself to Flair shows who he is really is. He said he’s going to tell the fans who he really is, even though he may regret what he’s about to say tomorrow. “You’re nothing but a big, dumb bitch.” Styles said he has no idea who he is getting in the ring with this Sunday. He said he has everything to lose and everything to gain. He said he needs to win on Sunday both for himself and to take away the World Title from him. “I’m the most dangerous, the most intense, and the most desperate man you’re ever gonna get in the ring with,” he said. He vowed to beat Bully and make him pay.
(WK Reax: Good babyface promo from Styles, other than saying they’re no Flair and Dusty. You’re selling BFG’s main event as the biggest match of the year, so there’s no sense adding self-deprecation to the promo.)
Styles signed the contract. Bully looked suddenly nervous and told Dixie he’s taking back his signature and not defending the title on Sunday. Bully said instead he’s going to cash in the bounty. He knocked the podium into Styles and then swung a chain at him. Styles ducked and yanked the briefcase from the security guy. He opened it and threw the money at Dixie. She dropped down and began scooping it up as Styles trash-talked Bully on the ramp. Styles told Bully that belt means everything to him and will put food on his table. Bully held up the belt and trash-talked back, vowing to make him bleed. Styles said he’ll take every shot he has, then he’ll take his title.
(WK Reax: So is there going to be a title match or not? Only TNA would end a go-home show with a heel saying he’s not defending his title at the PPV in three days without clearing up that, yes, Bully indeed will be. I’m not saying everyone or most fans will be confused, but why send that message at all? I liked Bully becoming instantly concerned about the title defense after Styles finished his spirited promo. But saying he wouldn’t defend the title without someone with some authority saying, “Oh yes you will!” Tenay should have said it was locked in and his signature can’t be taken back. I also did not like at all Bully getting up from taking a shot to the head with the briefcase and acting like nothing happened. Not a huge deal, because it wasn’t a ring bell or chair, but still. The intense yelling at the end between them helped make up for it because you sense these two don’t like each other and there’s genuinely a lot at stake and on the line.)
NOW CHECK OUT THIS PREVIOUS FLASHBACK: 15 YRS AGO – NWA-TNA PPV REPORT (10-1-03): A.J. Styles & Vince Russo vs. Dusty Rhodes & Jeff Jarrett, plus Piper, D-Lo, Lynn, AMW, Sandman, Raven
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