Bound for Glory Semi-Finals
Bully Ray vs. James Storm
Praise the wrestling gods, the leader of the selfish generation is back! Bobby Roode made his return to the Impact Zone, smashing a beer bottle over the head of long-time rival James Storm, allowing Bully Ray to pick up the win.
Bully and Storm work so well together, and they’re match tonight was a great example of that; I just could have done with about two less referee bumps to get the job done. Other than the over-booked finish, which was pretty forgivable due to the return of Booby Roode, their match was quite enjoyable. Storm was incredibly focused, and did not look like he was ready to lose to the Bully two years in a row. Speaking of whom, how fun is Bully Ray to watch in, and around the ring?
A few of the guys in the Wrestlezone Forum hit on this in the No Surrender live discussion, but there is none better than Hell’s Kitchen’s favorite brawler, when it comes to the classic art of “heel stalling”. If you’re not familiar with the term, it means to draw the match out by bailing from the ring, pissing off the fans and your opponent in the process. It’s one of the many reasons Bully Ray is considered one of the best things in pro wrestling today, along with his in-ring consistency, phenominel promo skills – which we’ll get to later – and memorable facial expressions. Bully does a considerably amount of ALL of that here in this match (my favorite line was “he just spit on me!”), but Storm was no slouch either. He may have taken a bottle to the head, but before that he displayed some impressive agility a pretty wide range of moves. I do hope that following Bound for Glory, we’ll get to see another match between these two that doesn’t involve three ref bumps and a cheap pinfall.
Rating: 4/5
TNA Knockouts Championship
Miss Tessmacher (c) vs. Tara
It’s a damn shame the Impact Zone is the single worst wrestling venue in North America, because this is one of the better woman’s wrestling matches I’ve seen all year. Tara and Tessmacher actually told a story in the ring, and had some pretty impressive exchanges; too bad the riveting 1,100 fans in Orlando took a giant, steaming dump on their hard work.
The story here was simple, but effective. Miss Tessmacher, the student and current reigning Champion, wanted to prove that she could best her mentor with the belt on the line. And of course Tara, one of the last active veteran in women’s wrestling, wanted to prove she can still lace up with her protege. Never mind that Tara, at 41, can still move around in the ring better than 90% of the women on any roster in the world. The two held a fun dynamic. Tess, as the rookie showed a bit of her naivety, expecting “her friend” to fight fair. Of course a former four time Knockouts Champion and two time Women’s Champion, especially one as established as Tara, is going to do whatever is necessary. It was a fun bout, and one that I expect to see again at Bound for Glory, with one of the two in full-blown heel mode.
Rating: 3.5/5
