Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe: ***1/4
Bully Ray vs. James Storm: ***
Miss Tessmacher vs. Tara (Knockouts Title): *1/2
Austin Aries vs. Big Guy from Aces & Eights: N/A
Zema Ion vs. Sonjay Dutt (X-Division Title): **3/4
Rob Van Dam vs. Magnus: **1/4
Christopher Daniels & Kazarian vs. AJ Styles & Kurt Angle (Tag Team Titles): ****
Jeff Hardy vs. Bully Ray: *1/2
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Reviews/Thoughts:
As I thought, we start off with the first BFG Semi (Joe vs. Hardy). Joe plays up a fractured arm from Magnus' attack. Good action on the outside. Fans really behind Hardy early on. Joe kept Hardy grounded in the middle of the match. Split chants during that time. They stayed on a somewhat slower pace early, since this one got a good amount of time. Numerous signature moves on the last third of this bout. Great back-and-forth stuff. Hardy again showing the armbar submission, Joe counters, but Hardy counters back into a rollup for three. Very nice.
Second semi next (Storm and Bully). Bully stalls at the start and beats up a ringside sign. Fans unrelenting in chanting "Devon's better!" Worthy to note that Devon did NOT re-sign with the company, while Bully did. We got some smart fans in the crowd, very vocal ones. Ref bump for Earl Hebner. Stifler(?) a new ref comes in and he took a shot. Storm's real good at taking refs out. Hebner ate another splash from Bully. No ref for Last Call superkick. And yup, Roode came out to cost Storm, like I thought. Beer bottle to the head and Bully wins. Storm and Roode gonna feud again.
Knockouts Title time. Taryn Terrell again as the ref. Tara continuing to counter much of Tessmacher's stuff and otherwise using veteran moves. Tara can't put Tessmacher away, then the champ counters the Widow's Peak into a victory roll for three. Tara obviously frustrated. Good, now set up the rubber match for BFG.
Roode's going to jail? Storm then attacks Roode. Now they both go to jail. Have fun!
Aries not defending his title tonight, he just wants a fight with the armbreaker from Aces & Eights. The big guy comes out. Fight's on. Aries tries to unmask the guy, but low blow stops that. Lots of basic offense and methodical stalking from this big guy. Aries blasts the big dude with powder for the comeback. Bigguy with a bit more offense, but AA nukes him with a roll of coins and the brainbuster. A&E members storm the ring. TNA locker room empties. Big brawl now. Fans loving it. Bully Ray's late to the party, could mean something? Hogan's got his hands full now. Not rating the fight.
Jeff Hardy's been taken out in all this. Left shoulder injury. Bully is the one to point it out and get Hardy medical help, but remember, Hardy's gotta wrestle Bully in the finals later. Coincidence?
X-Division Title time. Sonjay's got a black tape-like brace on his left shoulder, still recovering from the separated shoulder at Destination X. Gotta love all the athleticism and the unique moves here. Crowd not really into the match as much early, but then the pace quickened and the excitement built. Nice Rings of Saturn move by Ion to target the shoulder. Back and forth with the pins. Ion then abruptly hits a Gory Special and gets three. Looks like fans had no clue that would be the end. Great stuff, but the crowd just wasn't as much into it. Oh well....
As trainer tends to Hardy, Magnus takes a shot at Jeff toget more heel heat. He takes on RVD now. Magnus attacks RVD's legs here to keep the man grounded. Cloverleaf from Magnus. That move's been making a nice comeback in pro wrestling lately. RVD with the five-star frog splash for the win. Match wasn't bad, but fans seem spent after being hot for the early part of the PPV.
Tag title match next. They reference the whole Claire Lynch stuff again. Can we put that to bed now? Angle's nursing a legit hamstring injury. Didn't matter. Unreal stuff. Easily match of the night.
Second half of this one just outstanding. Styles and Angle with great jobs on their hot tags. Angle with ankle lock on Daniels. Styles Springboard 450 splash to Kaz only two?!?! Damn. Kaz top-rope belly-to-belly on AJ gets two?!?! Wow. Angle takes Daniels over the top and aggravates his right hamstring injury in the process. Daniels with the drink to AJ's face and they cheat to win. Yeah, that was great stuff.
Fans perked up for this one. These four again showed why they are arguably the best talents on the roster. All-around game from each is top-notch. I hope all tag teams took major notes here.
Bully with a kickass promo. He's not just bound for glory, he's destined for greatness.
Police surround the ring. Bully out first. Hardy's music next, but no Hardy. Hulk Hogan arrives. Promos in the ring. Hogan teases that the finals should just be on the next Impact, but Hardy comes out all beaten up anyway. Left shoulder taped up. Fist bump of respect and the finals are gonna happen.
Bully obviously attacks the left shoulder for several minutes. A somewhat slow beatdown. Again, fans are just DEAD, even as Hardy has a bit of a comeback. Both kicked out of the other's signature moves, but really? Only some clapping? Give the rowdy adults some booze or something, dangit! Finally, after the Bubba Cutter, fans realize there's a decent match going on. Swanton misses. Another Bubba Cutter for two. Two more Twists of Fate. Swanton hit for three! Wow, actually didn't expect that. Fans cheer for Hardy's win, but wow, that deserved so much more crowd response. Affected the rating for sure.
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Show wasn't bad. BFG Series semis were good, but the Tag Title match clearly stole the show for me. Would have been better had A&E found a way into the building during the BFG Series finals. Or even have some of the cops join A&E and secretly let the faction in. Here, I felt A&E got knocked down the totem pole too much. **1/2
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(Posted 9/912 at 11:22 a.m. PST, a few hours before the show aired):
Here were my predictions for the show (recorded the morning of 9/9)!
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