By Chris Shore

TNA Impact Wrestling on SpikeTV
Aired live from St. Louis, Missouri.

[Q1] The final four of the BFG series were shown arriving to the arena…A video put over the four men and hyped the matches tonight… Another video quoted F. Scott Fitzgerald about family issues being the worst and then setup Bully Ray vs. Anderson. Bully Ray's music hit in the arena and he made his entrance as Mike Tenay and Taz checked in on commentary.

Ray said he was in a very bad mood and everyone should shut up and let him speak. He said things hadn't been going well in their family. A "You suck" chant broke out. Ray sold it for a second and then said he was willing to forgive Ken because their problems were caused by one man, Hulk Hogan.

Ray waited for close to 10 seconds before they finally hit Hogan's music. Hogan came out and called Ray an idiot. He thanked everyone for being there and said thanks to SpikeTV No Surrender was free. Hogan plugged the finish of the BFG series tonight and then mocked Ray as a crybaby. He said Ray had to defend his title against "one of your brothers, brother." Ray said he trusted Anderson to do the right thing, and Hogan repeated the lame ass line.

Ray said he wanted to talk to Anderson and called him out. The Aces and Eights music hit and Anderson made his entrance. Hogan offered him his hand and Anderson no sold him. Anderson walked to the ring and Ray gloated about the refused handshake. Ray told Anderson he would forgive him if he would just apologize. Anderson said he was sorry for getting out of line and he couldn't wait to get out of line again tonight. He punched Ray in the mouth and did his name gimmick. Hogan announced it was now a Last Man Standing match and said "brother" over and over…

Ring introductions occurred for the first BFG series match…[C]

Shore's Slant: Excellent videos to start the show. I also thought the opening promo was good except for Hogan. In all seriousness, is he OK? His last few promos have been weird in one way or another, including this one. The chanting of "brother" at the end certainly qualifies as weird in my book. I still think some sort of swerve is in the works for the main event, but they love to turn Anderson so who knows?

[Q2] 1. Austin Aries vs. AJ Styles in a Bound for Glory semi-final. Styles rolled to the floor early and Aries ran up the turnbuckle. AJ was turned the other way and so Aries ran up a different turnbuckle and almost fell. He finally jumped off for a double axe handle. Tough way to start…[C]

Back from commercial, Styles hit a back breaker to take control. He lifted Aries for the clash, but Aries grabbed the ropes. Styles dumped him to the floor and dove on him. Styles rolled Aries back in the ring and went for a springboard move, but Aries knocked him down. They battled over the ropes for a minute and then they mistimed a Styles springboard dive were it looked bad.

Aries hit the brainbuster for a near fall. They traded stiff looking kicks and Aries went to the top rope. Styles ended up dropping Aries across the turnbuckle and hitting the Pele kick. He followed with a second rope Styles Clash for the win…

AJ Styles defeated Austin Aries and advanced to the Bound for Glory finals at 14:35.

[Q3] Backstage, Sting gave Magnus a pep talk and said he was the future. Magnus said with all due respect he was tired of being the future. He said the future was now. Sting liked that and left him to finish getting ready…[C]

Shore's Slant: Not a good match from Aries and Styles, and I think if you catch them in a moment of honesty they would agree. It didn't stink, and both guys worked their asses off. They just didn't have a good rhythm and never established a good flow. It happens sometimes. That was a decent promo by Magnus. I think he loses here so Styles can beat Daniels and Kazarian too, but a good short promo.

Booby Roode was out screaming at Taz and Tenay to get Magnus out there so he could be the new world champion. Magnus made his entrance and Roode attacked immediately…

2. Bobby Roode vs. Magnus in a Bound for Glory semi-final. Magnus fought off the opening salvo, but Roode dumped him to the floor and slammed him into the stairs. Roode worked a fast pace with suplexes and slams but finally settled into a rest hold. Magnus got the crowd going to make the break and hit a lunging clothesline to start his comeback.

Magnus hit his power over suplex for two, but Roode raked his eyes and hit a spinebuster for two. Roode sat Magnus on top, but Magnus dumped him off and hit an elbow drop for two. They reversed a number of holds and Magnus ended up hooking a cloverleaf that Roode sold forever. Roode hit a dirty kick and went for the fisherman, but Magnus slipped out and hooked a jackknife pin for the win…

Magnus defeated Bobby Roode and advanced to the Bound for Glory Finals at 6:54.

Shore's Slant: Wow. When we discussed this earlier today in Dot Net Weekly, I thought Roode would win, but I also predicted it would be Magnus winning the series if not AJ Styles. So I'm kind of right I guess? At any rate, it was a mediocre match. I hope AJ is going to do the kid a solid if it is him. Magnus has been doing well, and I think he might be main champion material, but he needs a lift right now.

[Q4][C] Bobby Roode trashed an area backstage and Daniels and Kazarian ran up to calm him down. Roode said this was all Hogan's fault, and they should screw him back. They all agreed… Hogan was talking to TJ Perkins/Manik and compared the mask to Hulkamania. Facepalm. He said he wanted Jeff Hardy and Hogan agreed. Dixie walked in and sent Perkins out. She told Hulk that the Bellator lawyers had pulled Tito and Rampage until after the PPV. Hogan was fine with it…

Bully Ray talked to the remnants of Aces and Eights and pled his case for them supporting him. He said he loved them all and he hoped they felt the same about him…[C]

Shore's Slant: What was the purpose of that Dixie and Hogan segment? Surely it was meant to do more than announce the two MMA guys wouldn't be there, but so what? Did anybody even care about them? What an absolute waste of time!

A video recapped the BFG semi-final matches…Another video setup Anderson vs. Bully Ray.

[Q5] Both guys came to the ring without gang backup…

3. Mr. Anderson vs. Bully Ray (w/Brooke Tessmacher) in a Last Man Standing match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Anderson attacked Ray on the ramp to start the match. He threw Ray in the ring and then dumped him to the floor. Anderson followed and slammed Ray around the ring. Ray even used Christie Hemme as a shield at one point.

Ray finally raked the eyes and slammed Anderson against the stairs. He called from Brooke to get him a chair. She apparently had to go to the next state because it took her forever to bring it. When she did, Anderson took it and hit Ray across the back. He rolled Ray in the ring and tossed the chair in as well. He hit a low blow and then the Finlay roll. Anderson pushed a table in the ring and took a big boot. Ray took the chair and hit Anderson and set up the table…[C]

Back from commercial, Ray hit Anderson with a chair shot and backed Earl Hebner into the corner. Hebner fought back so Ray shoved him into the buckle, knocking him down. Anderson recovered and hit the mic check on the chair, but the ref couldn't count.

[Q6] Ray popped up and hit an ace crusher. The rest of the gang walked out and helped Anderson up. Brooke sneaked in and hit him in the nuts. Ray hugged her and screamed to put Anderson down. Knux kissed Anderson on the cheek and then lifted him for a triple powerbomb. I shit you not. Ray recovered Hebner, but Anderson stood at nine. Ray hit him with a chain and busted him open, but Anderson still stood at nine. Ray slammed him through a table and that was finally enough…

Bully Ray retained the TNA World Championship at 17:28.

Post-match, two idiots ran out and did the worst stretcher job I have ever seen. They got Anderson to the big part of the stage and Ray ran them off. He dumped Anderson off the stretcher and took the collar off. He ripped the cut off Anderson and hit him with it. He hit a piledriver on the ramp and then posed over Anderson with the belt…[C]

Shore's Slant: An interesting turn there at the end. Is Anderson's contract up as well? It could be that this was done to write him off for good. I guess we will have to wait and see. It was a decent match that entertained the live crowd and that came across well on TV.

Taz announced ODB vs. Mickie James for the Knockouts Championship next week. ODB cut a pre-taped promo and said she would win next week…Gunner and James Storm finished their entrance that had started during the break.

[Q7] Storm stumbled over his words and then said he was drunk as hell and tried again. He said he wanted to drink beer and see who won the BFG series, but Gunner wanted to fight. He said they could do both at the same time, so they needed opponents for BFG.

Chavo and Hernandez made their entrance and Chavo cut a heel promo on them. He said Storm was a good tag team wrestler, but not as good as Chavo. He said Gunner was strong, but not as strong as Hernandez. He said if they faced off for the titles they would win because they were the better tag team.

Gunner took the mic and said his partner loved to drink and he loved to fight (we already covered this once but I guess Gunner wasn't paying attention) so they would have a match next week and if they could beat the champs, they might get a title shot. He closed by saying he would bash their noses in with the belt if they stuck their nose in his business again…[C]

Shore's Slant: Not a good promo in the bunch. Storm is nothing but clichés. Chavo has never been good on the mic. Gunner's first half was a repeat of Storm, and the second half seemed overly aggressive for the conversation. Not a good way to kick off a feud., but this feud is doomed anyway because the challengers are terrible.

Tenay announced a live BFG lead in show on Sunday, October 20 at 6:00 p.m. CT on SpikeTV…A video recapped Ray killing Anderson and even Taz said he went too far… Jeremy Borash handled old school ring introductions for the finals of the BFG series…

4. Magnus vs. AJ Styles in the Bound for Glory finals. Taz did a good job of setting up the story of both guys having been through wars earlier. Styles went to a side headlock that Magnus reversed with a side slam.

[Q8] The match settled into a back and forth match. At 4:17, EGO ran out and attacked both men. They beat up Styles and Magnus until two refs came out and broke it yup. They yelled at EGO and they left, leaving both competitors down…[C]

Shore's Slant: They just can't help themselves, can they? They overbook everything. Unreal

Back from commercial, both guys were back to their feet. AJ went for a springboard move. Magnus tried to catch him and ended up hitting a forearm shiver. Magnus recovered and hit a falcon arrow for two. Styles came back with a Pele kick for a good near fall. AJ rolled up into the calf killed in the middle of the ring. Magnus sold it for a while but crawled to the ropes for the break.

Magnus instantly recovered enough to slam a jumping Styles for two. Magnus set Styles on the turnbuckle and climbed up. Styles knocked Magnus down and hit Spinal Tap for the win…

AJ Styles defeated Magnus and won the Bound for Glory series at 14:14.

Post-match, Styles said he said he was going to do it and he did. He thanked everyone and said he couldn't have done it without them. He said he got a lot of feedback for what he said a couple of weeks ago, but he hadn't heard a word from one person in particular. He said he didn't even get a tweet, and we all know how Dixie loves to tweet. He said he pointed out some errors two weeks ago, but he was going to reveal the biggest next week and he told Dixie to have her little secretary girl make sure Dixie attends. He dropped the mic to close the show…

Shore's Slant: I finally figured it out. AJ Styles is that hot, but stupid, girl that you get all giddy for until she opens her mouth. Styles and Magnus had a good match and the crowd loved the finish. Then they gave him a mic and it was the equivalent of turning on a fire hose. All the heat dissipated.

I'm very concerned about Dixie Carter becoming involved in storylines again. She can't act, and the last time they put her and Styles together he became the worst thing on TV. Hopefully they don't make that mistake again. And what did EGO running out do? That served absolutely no purpose whatsoever, so why do it? What a mess.

All in all it was a good show that had a couple of big problems. Still, the main event had a big fight feel to it, and it translated well. Now if they can just keep Styles away from the mic. Jason Powell and Will Pruett will have more tomorrow. Thanks for watching along tonight.

Questions? Comments? Anyone, anyone? Let me hear from you. Email me at css3238@gmail.com or tweet me @TheShoreSlant with whatever is on your mind.

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