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| More of this, please Photo Credit: ImpactWrestling.com |
The first year of the Bound for Glory Series in 2011 left a lot to be desired. In fact, the way they booked the tournament made me feel like they missed the boat. I couldn't help but question the decision to put Bobby Roode over, because I never really saw him as a main event guy. Fast forward to the actual event, and the booking had Kurt Angle go over Roode in the main event. He'd been fighting for six months to reach that moment, and they booked him to lose. Wouldn't the ideal decision be to build up the tournament AND Roode at the same time for him to realize his dream at the biggest pay-per-view of the year?
The next week on Impact, Angle went on to lose the title to Roode's tag team partner James Storm. As the weeks went on, the questions became more and more numerous. Why didn't Roode go over at BFG? Why was Storm the one to go over Angle? Why is Roode going to get another shot at the title after he just lost to Angle?
Then, in one night, TNA made itself a main eventer. When Roode challenged Storm for the TNA Heavyweight Title on Impact, the story going in was a friend giving another friend a second shot at the title that he was cheated out of at Bound for Glory. As the match drew to a conclusion, Roode realized his opportunity to win the title, capitalized on a downed referee and knocked Storm out cold with a beer bottle. Roode then rolled up Storm for the count of three and thus completed his rise to the top of the card.
Of course, TNA built towards both the Angle/Roode and Storm/Roode rematches all wrong, but their overall handling of his longest-ever TNA Championship reign was stellar. Although Roode hasn't received the same sustained push since he lost the Championship to Austin Aries, he's remained one of my favorite reasons to tune in every Thursday. Whether he's teaming up with Austin Aries or being inducted into the EGO Hall of Fame, Roode always feels like a step above the rest of the roster, and that really all goes back to 2011.
The biggest part of Impact this week for me wasn't the Magnus and Samoa Joe match that was not only predictable but also quite possibly the worst ending I've ever seen. It wasn't the death of the Aces and Eights because that happened several months ago. It was the Florida Deathmatch between the duo formerly known as Beer Money.
Now, granted no one's ever seen a Florida Deathmatch before. Hell, I've never seen any kind of deathmatch before. However, Storm and Roode put on a great show, as was to be expected although the match could've had some more meat to it.
I loved the fact that TNA didn't just let this be another tournament match that they did no building towards. They actually went back with several different video packages and reminded us why this match meant more than the World Title Tournament itself. Granted, I would've liked to have seen this as the finals of the tournament rather than the first round, but I'll take what I can get. Of course, they had to shoehorn in their Impact 365 reality stuff with the bar brawl, and these two guys didn't need some kind of lame tie-in to warrant a Florida Deathmatch.
But the match itself was really good. I would've enjoyed a bit more brawling and little less on the false finish, but it was still the most entertaining part of the night.F or the first time in a long time, I got lost in the match and found myself really buying into what they were selling. I didn't really mind the finish that much with Storm basically selling the fact that he would do whatever it took to stay in the tournament, but they could have been more creative with it. They lost me when they pulled out the board of wood with strands of barbed wire attached to it (what would anyone do with that contraption and why was it under the wrestling ring?), but luckily the cranky viking that is Gunner rushed in to save the day in a real Owen Hart-like fashion.
I want more Bobby Roode and James Storm-like matches on Impact. I don't want Kurt Angle and Magnus. I want guys that we're going to properly build into main event performers, and Bobby Roode definitely fits that bill.