Ratings:
Samoa Joe vs. D'Angelo Dinero: *1/4
Robbie E vs. Jeff Hardy: 3/4*
Mr. Anderson vs. AJ Styles: **1/2
Rob Van Dam vs. Christopher Daniels: **1/4
Bully Ray vs. Magnus: **1/4
Austin Aries vs. Bobby Roode: ***1/2
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Reviews/Thoughts:
It's Open Fight Night again! And there's Gut Check again. Haven't seen either of the winners since they found out their respective fates. Oddly, the guy who lost, Joey Ryan, has had more screen time than the others thanks to it being a respectable storyline effort. In short, Gut Check for the short term has been a bust, in my opinion. Hopefully, long-term prospects look better.
Storm starts off the show and he calls out Angle. That's as tough as it gets, really. Music plays twice, no Angle. Aces and Eights gang got him.
Samoa Joe calls out Pope and wants to make him submit. Joe looks like he busted his jaw early on from that turnbuckle. Pope with submissions of his own (even a Rings of Saturn submission). Pope getting shots in, but cross armbreaker out of nowhere by Joe leads to a tapout win. Joe with 10 more points and back in the BFG Series lead.
Jeff Hardy comes out to a big pop; only one side of his face is painted. He wants to call someone out, but Robbie E takes matters into his own hand and calls Hardy out -- while coming down to the ring. So it's really another BFG Series match. Typical Hardy offense. Rob Terry gets involved. Hardy's pissed, so those two brawl up the ramp long enough for Robbie E to get a countout win. Robbie celebrates like he won the World Series and gets 5 points.
ODB and Eric Young? Oh yeah, I forgot they were still married in that storyline. Something about beer and fried chicken. Sounds real tasty.
Gut Check time. Some guy named Sam Shaw. Real good physique, not overly jacked. Tattooed all over both arms. Seems real enthusiastic and charismatic. And that's the end of it. Aces and Eights nuke this unknown. Gut Check judges tend to Shaw. Shaw will get another shot for his Gut Check next week. Heck, it wasn't promoted for this week anyway. Perhaps that was a cue something would happen.
Anderson basically boos Daniels and calls out AJ Styles for a BFG Series match. Very competitive bout. Anderson counters the Styles Clash and switches into a pin for three. Probably intended to make that look better but it's fine here.
And here comes Claire Lynch, all of a sudden becoming a demanding psychopath. So purportedly they both had drinks. And she's got photos of the two in bed. AJ roofied? Maybe.
RVD calls out Daniels. By the way, Sean Wheelock was on commentary and did a damn good job -- way better than so many wrestlers I've seen try it. Another good match, as Daniels uses the ropes to steal the win. RVD did most of the stuff here to keep me entertained. 7 points for Daniels in the BFG Series.
Brooke Hogan on the phone. Hulk's been heavily sedated. Kinda like Vince back in the day?
Garett Bischoff is relegated to just another person on the roster now while Joseph Park starts the slow transition back to Abyss. Meanwhile, Aries
Magnus comes out for a BFG Series match, but Bully Ray jumps him from behind. Guess these two got a match now. Tenay and Taz ponder if Roode is behind the whole Aces and Eights thing, since he has the most to gain.Good match here, nice chemistry between the two. Bully hits a cutter for the win. Magnus impressed, especially with that Texas Cloverleaf.
BFG Series Leaderboard shows that everyone has points now -- even Robbie E, who still sits in last with 5 points. Samoa Joe leads with 47 after his submission win. James Storm in second with 43. Angle third with 27.
Yes, that's right. Chavo Guerrero debuts next week for TNA. Apparently, he's been doing work in TNA's sister promotion, Ring Ka King. If Chavo's happy, then that's all that really matters.
Roode indeed calls Aries out. Competitive and physical throughout. Tremendous counter spots at the proper moments. Both looked in position to pull out a win. Crowd keeps chanting "YES" or "NO" on the crossface because it looks so much like Daniel Bryan's YES lock (slight difference on trapping the opponent's left arm). Aries sends Roode outside and then the heat seeking missile. Aces and Eights attack Aries and the match is thrown out. Roode is all happy at the attack -- and then gets nuked himself as the show ends.
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The intrigue of this "Aces and Eights" gang attack is getting very good, and not too far from stuff that got me interested in the Nexus storyline a couple years ago. No Sting or Hogan at the Impact Zone so they can sell injuries. Attacking Angle and Aries boosted the credibility of this mystery faction. Even Roode wasn't immune to this. By taking out that unknown Sam Shaw, this group gets even more feared because it really makes it look like random hits and not just going after the big fish. Let's see if TNA actually does something WWE dropped the ball on (with Nexus) and turns this into a formidable group.
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