By Garrett Kidney
July 25th, 2013
Broadbent Arena in Louisville, Kentucky
- I dislike lawyer stuff in wrestling. I get that its the big bad Bully getting up on his high horse giving out about people using hammers and hiding behind a lawyer but it just grates on me. Thankfully this one seems like a one and done with it disappearing from here. Also it's scary how much that guy looked (and sounded) like Kevin Nash. Plus why didn't Hulk consult with resident lawyer Joe Park to help? Standard opening segment with a good Sabin promo and nice that they set up Manik vs. Sabin for next week.
- A very good Ultimate X match. While, like the Slammiversary match, it wasn't a very Ultimate X-ey match with very little stuff on the wires (it could've easily been a regular match), what it was was good and I hope we see more of Trent and Dutt (and some of the others from last week) going forward in a strong X-Division (ideally with less three ways). Manik is a natural choice and it's nice that TJP won the title after skirting the edges of the X-Division for the best part of nine years. He's a really talented guy and he deserves it.
- Solid Anderson/Hernadez match, and that bump Hernandez took missing Air Mexico did not look pleasant. Not much more to say about this one.
- Good KO match with both ladies working hard, though I'd have loved to see a more straight up match. Nice to see them transition ODB out of the ref role, she's too popular (and talented) to essentially sideline in that role. And a feud between her and Gail is a nice throwback to the early days of the Knockouts. The idea of more Velvet/Mickie matches isn't appealing though.
- A good five minutes greatest hits version of a great Daniels/Joe match (and a rematch of one of the greatest matches in iMPACT! history, which is on the Best of the X-Division Vol. 2 DVD if anybody wants to watch it). These two can't have a bad match and Daniels isn't that far off from his points total last year already.
- A really good heated match between Styles and Hardy. I'd love to see these two go all out on PPV because they'd do something special (and this was another rematch, this time of Hardy's first match in TNA). Nice to see AJ sprinkle some of his old stuff in to foreshadow where his character is going (or at least hopefully going), plus it makes his matches a little more exciting and dynamic. Great match this.
- A good closing segment to set up a strong main event for three weeks down the line (and they announced an iMPACT! main event earlier than they'd announce some PPV mains). Sabin was good, Bully was even better and while Hogan rambled a little, the announcement landed well. With Sabin on top things feel fresh (mostly because he's being out for two years so every sinlge match for him is fresh) and that helps the show a great deal.
Closing Thoughts
A really good, solid show with some very good wrestling. Four weeks of better shows now, keep it up.