10/26 Moore’s Impact Wrestling TV Review: Matches from Pro Wrestling Noah, AAA, The Crash, and Border City Wrestling including Bobby Lashley vs. Moose, Eddie Edwards vs. Naomichi Marufuji for the GHC Heavyweight Championship, Trevor Lee vs. Ultimo Ninja for the X Division Championship

By John Moore

Impact Wrestling on PopTV
Taped in various locations

Dan Lambert and Bobby Lashley were shown calmly walking backstage. Moose and Stephan Bonnar were walking around Jim Cornette’s office area. Johnny Impact/Mundo was shown talking on a cell phone. He wore his Boone the Bounty Hunter (his straight to DVD movie) T-Shirt. The Impact intro theme played. There were notable changes to the video. Some things stayed the same like Drago, Matt Sydal, and American Top Team still being in the video. They added a bunch of the new clips into it like Taya Valkyrie and Eli Drake with the championship belt. Most notably, Jeff Jarrett, Karen Jarrett, Jim Cornette, and Taryn Terrell were removed from the intro.

Jeremy Borash and Josh Matthews were the commentators. Jeremy Borash said this week’s Impact was going to contain matches from five different promotions which included the following: Border City Wrestling (Windsor, Ontario), The Crash (Tijuana, Mexico), Noah (Tokyo Japan), Lucha Libre AAA (Irapuato, Mexico), and The Impact Zone (Orlando, FL). Borash said we were starting off with a match from AAA. They showed a teaser clip of the AAA vs. [no longer-]GFW feud.

John’s Thoughts: Man! They’re really out of first run material from the Impact Zone. I’m assuming based on how heavily they were featured at the beginning of this taping set, that a majority of the missing material involves Jeff and Karen Jarrett. Oh my word… The next footage is from AAA. After last week’s clustermess, Lord help us!

1. El Hijo Del Fantasma and El Texano Jr. vs. Ethan Carter III and James Storm in Irapuato, Mexico. Borash said this was “Truly International”. Carter and Storm were on the same page to start. Storm and Carter whipped around Fantasma while also making sure Texano couldn’t enter the ring. Borash noted that Fantasma and Texano aren’t on the same page. Eventually, Carter paired off with Texano while Storm worked with Fantasma in the ring. Fantasma tried to rally the crowd but Storm pursued him to the outside. Madness ensued (due to quick camera cuts).

EC3 hit Fantasma with a body slam in the ring. Borash explained the lack of tags due to it being “Lucha Libre rules, where the referee is a bit lax”. Josh Mathews joked that he thinks the referees are having a hard time due to wearing leather pants in hot weather. In the ring Storm and EC3 double teamed Fantasma. Fantasma fired up and hit his signature offense on EC3. EC3 did a Ric Flair flop in the middle of the ring after taking an enziguri. Texano brought his bullrope into the ring to whip EC3 and Storm with.

Borash said that “the referee should be disqualifying El Texano, but he’s being very lackadaisical”. Texano and Fantasma used the bull rope to crotch James Storm. Babyface Fantasma hit EC3 with an enziguri, crossbody, and single leg dropkick. Fantasma went for his signature “Arrow from the depths of hell!” Tope, but he was tripped by El Texano Jr. (LOL! It begins!). Texano body slammed Storm. Storm crotched Texano on the top rope. Fantasma hit Storm with a back elbow. EC3 eye raked Fantasma. Fantasma blocked the One-Percenter and nailed EC3 with “The Thrill of the Kill” (Reverse Package Piledriver). Fantasma went for the pin but Texano shoved him away. Fantasma kicked Texano off of EC3. Storm caught Fantasma with the Last Call superkick for the victory.

James Storm and Ethan Carter III defeated El Hijo Del Fantasma and El Texano Jr. via pinfall in about 6:56.

John’s Thoughts: This week’s AAA match was better, but that’s just comparing a confusing match with a bad one. Not sure why these matches are making air. They are contradicting Impact storylines and the easiest thing would have been not to show this. They were easily more creative two years ago when they chopped up footage from their One Night Only: TNA World Cup show and passed it off as first run material in a clever way. These odd and illogical matches not only make Impact look bad but they make AAA look bad by being showcased as crappy. This is the exact opposite of how Lucha Underground took their AAA relationship and Lucha Underground actually made US viewers more interested in watching AAA!

Eli Drake was walking around backstage talking on his cell phone and holding his “Global Force” Championship. Dutch Mantell (a.k.a. Zeb Coulter) called Drake over for a meeting. Dutch asked Drake if he knew what happened last week. Drake said to tell him since he doesn’t know. Dutch said Drake is missed three media appearances and isn’t returning calls from the marketing department. Drake laughed it off by saying that they reduced Dutch to chasing Drake over something so trivial. Drake said to tell the bosses that the Global Champion “E..li..Drake” are allowed to use his face to sell things. Drake said that Impact can also just send any of the 50 or so other dummies backstage to do media things. Drake said he’s good. Drake walked away to continue his cell phone call… [C]

John’s Thoughts: I’m guessing that one of those media appearances didn’t include that one he did to sell the Impact Shirasha Pizza. Maybe he missed the other three since he got a hangover for drinking too much of that “Impact Atomic Drop” gin cocktail that he also made the appearance for. I kid, I kid! But really, he did do a media appearance last week to sell Impact Wrestling pizza and their heavy booze cocktail.

Dutch Mantell asked Scott D’Amore if Scott knew who’s pissing him off. He said he was giving Scott three choices and the other two choices don’t count. It’s “E…li…Drake”. Mantell said Drake isn’t making marketing calls and not making his media appearances. Dutch asked D’Amore if they can hold his check or something. D’Amore said they can’t hold his check since they are running a business where they have to pay people. D’Amore said Impact has a lot of momentum now. Jim Cornette walked into his office complaining about Drake. He said Drake isn’t making marketing calls and not making his media appearances. Cornette said “We ought to hold his check!”. Dutch pointed out to Scott that’s exactly what he said. Scott walked out saying that he has to put together a show for them this week. Dutch said something needs to be done with Drake after Bound for Glory. Cornette reassured Dutch by saying that things might work out if Drake loses the championship to Johnny Impact at Bound for Glory…

Jeremy Borash cut to Border City Wrestling footage for a match already in progress…

2. Jake and Dave Crist vs. Phil Atlas and Brent Banks in Winsor, Ontario, Canada. Dave was working the match against Atlas. Dave gave Phil a knee and boot in the corner. Dave hit Phil with a spinning hanging cutter. Josh Mathews used this moment to advertise the “Global Wrestling Network”. Mathews talked about how you can watch the BFG preview show being up now. Dave hit Phil with a pump kick. Phil caught Dave with an enziguri. Dave caught Phil with a jumping reverse DDT to the apron. Very innovative and smooth. Atlas managed to tag in Brent Banks. Banks did a lot of cool acrobatics to dodge Dave. Banks hit an impressive suicide dive on Dave followed up by a flip dive. Banks and Atlas hit Dave with an assisted Impaler DDT.

Banks accidentally ran over his partner. Banks hit a springboard cutter on Dave. Banks hit a flying elbow drop on Dave for a nearfall. Banks went for a frankensteiner but Dave blocked it. Jake superkicked Banks. They hit a double stomp Pile Driver combo on Banks to pick up the win.

Ohio vs. Everything defeated Phil Atlas and Brent Banks via pinfall in about 5:10 of TV Time.

John’s Thoughts: Good match from what we saw. Brent Banks was the one who showed the coolest looking moves and was the showcase centerpiece. Good things aside, it’s a shame that we only got the ending part of the match and the quality of the video feed was very poor.

They cut to a Stephan Bonnar video package. Bonnar said that ATT is tough when there’s ten people on one. Bonnar said he knows that Moose can kick the crap out of Lashley. Bonnar said King Mo Lawal is trying to steal Bonnar’s glory. Bonnar said he’s the main event fighter while Mo is an undercard bum. Bonnar said a 180 pounder like Mo is no match for him. They showed clips of Bonnar training Moose at MMA. Moose said he doesn’t know who King Mo is. Bonnar said Dan Lambert doesn’t hate pro wrestling, but he sees a paycheck in Bobby Lashley. Bonnar said Lambert is just trying to milk Lashley for all he’s worth like Lambert does to all his fighters. Bonnar said Lambert is a wannabe pro wrestling and wannabe mixed martial artist. Bonnar said Lambert just used his money to buy a gym so people can fight for him. Bonnar said Lambert is a coward. Bonnar then hyped up his upcoming Bound for Glory tag team match. Josh Mathews hyped that Moose was wrestling Bobby Lashley in the main event of this show…

Impact showed their “Pluto TV Rewind of the week!”. Christy Hemme was in the ring introducing Hulk Hogan who made his entrance to the ring. Hulk Hogan made his entrance and that was the end of the rewind…

Eli Drake was approached by some guys who I’m assuming are a part of Impact’s PR team. They were trying to ask Drake to do an interview with McKenzie Mitchell for 45 seconds. Drake said he’s not ready. Drake asked who sent these troglodytes. Drake said they can set up the interview but now he’s busy. Borash then cut to pro wrestling Noah footage.

3. Eddie Edwards vs. Naomichi Marufuji for the GHC Heavyweight Championship. Josh Mathews talked about how different Japanese wrestling fans are from North American ones in that they are extremely quiet and respectful to the wrestlers to focus on the action. Marufuji and Marufuji had a fast-paced chain wrestling and reversal sequence. They did a rough cut to later in the match.

Edwards hit a Blue Thunder Bomb on Marufuji to lead to a nearfall. Marufuji caught Edwards with a boot. Edwards caught Marufuji with a backpack hold. Marufuji escaped and kept Edwards on his heels dodging rapid fire kick combos from Marufuji. Edwards escaped a German Suplex but not a superkick. Edwards and Marufuji traded Saito Suplexes. Edwards and Marufuji then traded thrust kicks. Edwards fought through with a takedown lariat which popped the crowd.

Another rough edit. Edwards caught Marufuji springboarding with his own enziguri. Edwards went for a Tope Suicida but Marufuji caught Edwards with a kick. Marufuji pulled off the floor bads and pulled the barricade. Edwards reversed with a powerbomb attempt. Edwards and Marufuji traded attacks as Marufuji pulled the barricade closer to the ring. Edwards crotched Marufuji on the barricade. Another rough edit happened. Edwards hit Marufuji with a scary and impressive Tope Suicida into the crowd as Marufuji was crotched on the barricade.

Yet another rough edit. Somehow Marufuji got the advantage. Marufuji hit Edwards with a pile driver on the ring apron. They cut to Marufuji hitting a Spanish Fly on Eddie Edwards. Borash talked about how Marufuji had wrestled for the IWGP Championship in New Japan not too long ago. Marufuji got a nearfall on Edwards. Borash talked about how Marufuji defeated Kazuchika Okada at last year’s G1 Climax.

They cut to Edwards hitting Marufuji with an impressive standing frankensteiner. They then cut to Edwards hitting Marufuji with a Boston Knee Party to get a nearfall. Edwards got another nearfall after a Sitout Tiger Bomb. Edwards hit the Die Hard Flowsion to pick up the victory.

Eddie Edwards defeated Naomichi Marufuji via pinfall in 6:33 of heavily edited TV Time to retain the GHC Heavyweight Championship.

Jeremy Borash talked about how the Die Hard Flowsion is a tribute by Edwards to Mitsuharu Misawa’s Emerald Flowsion. After yet another edit, they showed Edwards and Marufuji shake hands. Borash then said Johnny Impact and Garza Jr. would be facing Eli Drake and Chris Adonis. Borash also talked about how Petey Williams will be wrestling in Border City Wrestling footage… [C]

John’s Thoughts: That was a really fun match. Or at least that was a really good preview of a match. I’m not sure why TNA-Pact-FW decided that this was the match that would receive the heavy amount of flash edits. This was Naomichi Marufuji’s best showing in Impact so far and Edwards was his usual good self. I liked the commentators educating the American viewers on why the crowd was so quiet in that it is a legit cultural thing. As I said after the first match on how that was an anti-GWN ad that made AAA look terrible, conversely this match did a good job making Noah an attraction for the GWN (even though you can’t watch Noah or AAA on GWN as of today). Going back, they decided to give us that crappy AAA match in full yet chop up what looked like a great Noah match. Only in TNA!

OVE were shown walking in a random street somewhere. Dave Crist said he’s sick and tired of dealing with LAX. They showed clips of OVE getting beat up by The Crash. Dave said that LAX always talks about family. Dave yelled at the end of his sentences. Dave said sometimes to fight a family you have to BRING IN FAMILY. A random guy with a cap and broken glass tattoo did a thumbs down without showing his face. Jeremiah Crane/Sami Callahan?

John’s Thoughts: Hmmmmm… Is this odd merging of Lucha Underground and TNA still happening in my mind? Never mind. I’ve been reviewing his matches the last few years so I’m familiar with that broken glass tattoo and long hair (which prompted me to check hit twitter and he did retweet that Dave Crist promo). Maybe I’m wrong and it’s someone else, but if I’m right then this is a huge get for Impact! Sami Callihan has been really impressive the last few years after he asked for his WWE release and while he hasn’t been able to showcase it on TV due to the restrictive Lucha Underground contract, he’s had a similar run to Drew Galloway in that his stock is much higher now than his disappointing WWE run with high expectations. Sami Callahan/Jeremiah Crane has been one of the top stars in Lucha Underground season 3 and if it’s him here, here’s hoping we’re in for the same workrate!

McKenzie Mitchell was backstage tracking down Eli Drake. McKenzie found him and asked him for thoughts on his huge tag team match later on. Drake said he was going to talk to ya. He said he’s busy and McKenzie Mitchell looks like an extra from Saturday Night Fever. Drake said Mitchell was “staying alive”. Drake said he’s busy. Drake then called Garza and Impact (Johnny) team small change and they were facing Team DNA (Drake N’ Adonis), yeah. Drake said they have to consider that some people care about style over substance in wrestling these days. Drake said Mundo and Garza were more style over substance while Eli Drake is effective simplicity. McKenzie wanted to ask another question. Drake said he was done. McKenzie was a little over the top with the bad acting like she was pissed…

Laurel Van Ness was shown in the crowd still “looking for a man”. She had two plastic champagne cups with “champagne” that looked a lot like water. Laurel wore a skirt, tube top, and messed up lipstick. Fans refused her champagne. A little kid wanted her champagne and she was about to give it to him. Borash yelled not to give it to him. They cut to the BCW footage with Petey Williams…

4. Petey Williams vs. Idris Abraham vs. Tarik vs. Kyomia in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Idris and Tarik double teamed Kyomia. They then turned on each other. Borash said Petey Williams is the Canadian hometown favorite and the originator of the Canadian Destroyer. Josh said it’s probably called just a Destroyer in Canada. Idris Abraham has competed in Impact before. He’s the huge afro guy. Petey hit Idris with a drop toehold and dropkick. Petey then gloated on top of Idris in the tree of woe. Petey threw Idris and Tarik at each other.

Petey tried to hit Tarik with a Destroyer but Idris broke it up. Petey took Idris outside and hit Kyomia with a suicide dive. Petey Williams and Tarik traded quick pins. Idris hit a few forearms to take down Williams. He hit a basement dropkick on Williams. Kyomia hit a missile dropkick on Abraham. Kyomia hit a fisherman buster on Abraham. Josh Mathews said “we are truly global” because he said it looks like the United Nations in the ring. Tarik hit Kyomia with a Benadryller. Williams hit Tarik with a powerbomb. Tarik escaped the Destroyer and hit a backpack stunner. Madness ensued. Tarik missed a disaster kick. Williams hit the Canadian Destroyer to pick up the win.

Petey Williams defeated Idris Abraham, Tarik, and Kyomia via pinfall in 5:35.

Josh Mathews advertised up the main event of Lashley vs. Moose… [C]

Back from the break, they cut to a Eli Drake and Johnny Impact/Mundo video package. Drake recapped Adonis hitting Mundo with a wooden plank. Drake said it was moreso a welcoming ceremony. Mundo talked about going way back with Garza. Drake complained about Jim Cornette giving Mundo preferential treatment while Drake’s the guy who’s been in Impact for two and a half years. Mundo said he and Garza are more talented and quicker than Drake and Garza. Mundo said he shares something with Garza, they don’t like seeing people hit in the back. Drake said the Global Title was more important. Mundo talked about thunder and lightning. Mundo said Drake was waking up in Slamtown and Mundo’s leaving with the GFW Global Championship. Drake said there’s only result coming out of Bound for Glory…

They cut to the Impact Zone! Eli Drake and Chris Adonis walked out for the next tag match in Orlando, FL. The thumbnail at the bottom of the screen had the word Impact covering up the “Global Force” part on the title belt (at least it seems like they’re not bringing back the TNA belts!)…

5. Eli Drake and Chris Adonis vs. Johnny Impact and Garza Jr. Garza and Adonis started off the match. Garza dominated the initial lockup. Garza dominated the next sequence with educated feet. Mundo tagged in and the two men hit a Total Elimation like move. Mundo hit a capoeira legdrop on Adonis. Drake pulled down Mundo by the hair to allow Chris Adonis to take advantage of Mundo. Drake dragged Mundo’s head on the bottom rope and gave him a few strikes on the apron. Drake isolated Mundo away from Garza. Mundo tried to use punches to escape Adonis but Adonis maintained control with a takedown lariat. Borash said after Bound for Glory, Johnny Impact may be both Impact and AAA world champion. Adonis punched around Mundo as Drake distracted the referee.

Mundo used his parkour to escape the heels and allowing Garza to make the hot tag. Garza called a time out and ripped off his pants as usual. Garza gave Drake a superkick. Adonis broke up the subsequent pin. Mundo and Garza teamed up with tandem kicks. They hit stereo moonsaults on Drake. Garza went high risk. Drake recovered and hit an impressive superplex on Garza. Drake yelled “E..li..Drake” and got a nearfall on Garza. [C]

Adonis dominated Garza back from commercial. Adonis gave Garza some clubbing blows. Garza escaped Adonis’ Camel Clutch. Drake tagged in to prevent Garza from tagging in Mundo. Garza hit a jawbreaker on Drake. Drake came back with a side toss slam. Garza pushed Drake away to tag in Mundo for the hot tag. Mundo did a punch combo on Adonis. Mundo hit Adonis with a single leg dropkick and his signature running knee. Mundo used his parkour to dodge the moves of Adonis. Mundo hit a springboard corkscrew crossbody on Adonis. Drake caught Garza and slammed him on the barricade. Adonis shoved Mundo into Drake’s knee. Adonis accidently punched Drake. Johnny Impact/Mundo won via rollup.

Johnny Impact and Garza Jr. defeated Eli Drake and Chris Adonis via pinfall in 9:47.

Josh Mathews asked “if this would be the scene we will see at the end of Bound for Glory”? They cut to the Alberto El Patron “What…will…he…do” advertisement. Borash cut to footage from The Crash…

Trevor Lee talked about being in Tijuana, Mexico. He has a new version of the X Division belt. A giant blue “Impact” Logo is covering up the GFW part. Lee complained about not being on the advertisements at the Crash arena. Trevor Lee said he has to T a want to Bless them for not advertising him. Trevor said Caleb couldn’t make the trip and would have liked that joke. Lee said he’s here to spread the gospel. Lee looked around for the Crash promoter. Lee said “together we are Trevor”… [C]

The show cut to Jeremy Borash and Josh Mathews in their dark commentary room where the commentators talked about the main event of this episode. Borash said this company is “global” and they cut to the Crash footage…

6. Trevor Lee vs. Ultimo Ninja in Tijuana, Mexico for the Impact X Divison Championship. Jeremy Borash said that Ultimo Ninja is the brother of Garza Jr. Lee ran at Ninja. Ninja hit a slicing kick on Lee and a standing moonsault. Ninja hit a moonsault headbutt on Lee. Ninja did a feint tope as Lee retreated. Ninja tossed Lee back in the ring. Lee gave Ninja a forearm and his running apron punt. Ninja broke out of a Lee pin attempt. Lee tossed Ninja into the turnbuckle and gloated.

Trevor Lee did an arrogant pin attempt. Ninja came back at Lee with strikes. Lee came back with a knee. Ninja caught Lee with a roundhouse and high missile dropkick. Ninja got a two count on Lee. Ninja did a flip dive on Lee. Ninja caught Lee with a crossbody. Ninja body slammed Lee. Lee used his boots to stagger Ninja. Lee hit the double footstomp on Ninja. Lee won with a handfull of tights. Lee had so much of the tights that they had to cover the ass of the Ninja with a censor blur.

Trevor Lee defeated Ultimo Ninja via pinfall in 9:47.

Dan Lambert and American Top Team were shown hyping up Lashley backstage…

John’s Thoughts: A decent match that was hurt by the low-quality camera. One camera was blurry and the other seemed to be low resolution with a rose tint.

It was time for “Global Forge – Episode 7”. We’re back to this. D’Amore said it was the big day. He said it was time for an elimination. A few judges talked about how good the contestants looked. D’Amore said that the final two will compete later on. D’Amore did some eliminations…

A King Mo video package aired. Mo said he doesn’t call Moose “Moose”. He calls Moose “Bullwinkle” since Moose is a joke. Mo said Moose came into his gym and disrespected everyone. Mo said what’s worse is Moose stepped into the cage with his shoes on and didn’t bow. Mo said there’s gym etiquette. Mo said he tried to calm down Moose but Moose shoved Mo in Mo’s home. Mo said he had to throw it. Mo said Stephan Bonnar and Moose come to the gym when everyone left and intimidated their receptionist. Mo said it was time to call Bobby so he and Lashley can take care of business…

John’s Thoughts: Hell yeah, King Mo!. Mo’s right. I can verify as an MMA practitioner myself, that a cardinal sin in a martial arts mat is to not bow before entering the mat. Not to mention walking into the mat with dirty shoes.

7. Bobby Lashley (w/ Dan Lambert) vs. Moose (w/ Stephan Bonnar). Lashley dominated with punches. Moose came back with a high dropkick on Lashley. Moose gave Lashley a chop. Moose gave Lashley an uppercut. Lashley punched his way out of the corner. Lashley and Moose tried to dominate each other in the corners. Moose hit Lashley with his impressive setup turnbuckle dropkick. Lambert went to encourage Moose heading into the break. [C]

Dan Lambert held Moose’s leg to give Lashley the advantage. The referee was distracted by Bonnar. Dan Lambert gloated and stood on top of Moose to add insult to injury. Lambert is holding an American Top Team trophy.

John’s Thoughts: As lame as this storyline has been and I’m still not a fan of their Dan Lambert over-push, he’s doing a solid job the last two weeks playing a old school heel manager. He’s even holding a heel manager prop like Paul Heyman and Jim Cornette used to.

Lashley dominated Moose. Lashley gloated in front of a Jake Crist cosplayer. Lashley continued to dominate Moose in the ring. Lashley gave Moose a neckbreaker. Moose fought out of a headlock. Lashley took down Moose with an elbow. Moose dared Lashley to give him punches. Lashley agreed and Moose begged for more. Moose hulked up and took down Lashley with a pump kick. Moose hit a running side splash on Lashley. Moose then hit a hesitation dropkick on Lashley. Moose led the crowd in his moose dance. Dan Lambert ran in and hit Moose with his trophy for the DQ.

Moose defeated Lashley via DQ om about 8:12 of TV Time.

Lashley gave Moose a spear. Bonnar came in the ring and gave Lashley a muay thai clinch kick. He then hit a modified rainmaker on Lashley. Bonnar took off his shirt and intimidated Lambert. The nameless American Top Team guys ran in. One of the guys did some near-Shane McMahon like weak punches on Bonnar. Moose cleaned house with his chair. Moose hit a shirtless MMA guy with a powerbomb to the outside. Moose called ATT “bitches”. He said it was time to make things interesting. Moose said Bonnar is used to a steel cage, “Bitch Boy” Bobby is used to a cage, and Moose is a crazy son of a bitch. Moose then challenged Lashley and Mo to a Six Sides of Steel match. Moose and Bonnar led a Moose dance to end the show…

But wait! There’s more! Konnan said OVE tried to tarnish LAX’s legacy but they just unlocked a new era of violence. Konnan said the Ohio tweakers are going to find out that a 5150 street fight is unlike anything they’ve seen. Konnan said this revolution will be televised. OVE’s blood will be shed and they will be sent to the trailer parks from which they came. Konnan said this is going to be a 5150 massacre despite what OVE says they’ve experienced. Konnan ended the video package with Hasta La Muerte y Despues. To live and die in LAX…

John’s Thoughts: I was about to decry the Moose vs. Lashley match for being yet another match they are giving away too early, and yes I still think that’s a problem, but at least we got some of the better material out of this feud than we’ve gotten in the past. Moose had one of his better strings of offense by the end of that match. Lambert was a solid old-school heel manager. The only downside in all this is Lashley who’s their top main event draw, is relegated to this mid-card sideshow.

Overall, I can’t recommend this episode. This wasn’t even an Impact episode so much as it was a collection of throwaway matches from Canada and Mexico. The only good match outside of Impact that we saw was the heavily cut up Naomichi Marufuji vs. Eddie Edwards that we only got bits and pieces of. What makes this tough is that this is the penultimate episode before Bound for Glory. Here’s a question. Are you inspired to drop down $40 for this show and if so, why? This episode went out of it’s way to drag their world champ down. The women’s match hasn’t really been built consistently (probably due to Karen Jarrett possibly polluting most of the skits they recorded), Lashley is dragged down in a gaiden feud, and the AAA footage has been a train wreck. The best built feud for Bound for Glory has been Abyss vs. Grado because they’ve haven’t given anything away and have done a solid build over the past few months. OVE and LAX should be good since it would be cool to see LAX beat up those OVE dorks! To be honest though, I am looking forward to see what Sami Callihan can do in Impact since he’s had a really good run in the independents.

Sorry, but rather than spend $40 on a possibly bad PPV, I would recommend you split up that $40 and get to watch NXT Takeovers on the Network, PROGRESS Wrestling, New Japan World. Hell, if you want to see these AAA wrestlers in way better matches than you’re seeing in Impact, you can spend $9 on Netflix and get to watch El Texano Jr, Fantasma, and Alberto El Patron in some top-tier main events on the Lucha Underground show. Maybe Jason Powell is more hyped up for BFG after seeing this episode? Find out in his Hit List and members’ exclusive audio review later today.