Another week passes us by, and another episode of Impact Wrestling sets the stage on the road to Bound for Glory. This week, we had a few different Knockout segments, as Brooke Hogan and Tara exchange words in a backstage promo to start us off. Following that, Tara competes in a match against ODB to determine who the number one contender will be to face Brooke Tessmacher at Bound for Glory for the Knockouts Title. Also, in a pretty awesome surprise, independent standout, Leva Bates, appeared on screen in a backstage segment with Hulk Hogan and Sting, where she just may have aligned herself with the dastardly group known as the Aces & Eights. Who knows? Not I, for now, but keep reading to check out all the fun from last nights show!
Brooke Hogan comes across Tara backstage, who announces that her consequences for last week will be… oh wait, Tara has received a phone call from her Hollywood boyfriend. They want to get together with Stacy and George! She decides to call him back, as Brooke then announces Tara will have to earn her title shot in a contender’s match. Suddenly, Tara gets another phone call and begins vibrating, as she starts up with her boyfriend again. Unfortunately for her, Brooke Hogan snatches the phone and talks in a baby voice to said man in Tara’s life! She announces that Tara’s match is next, and heads out with the phone and Tara hilariously blurts out “Hey, I stood in line for that phone!” Genius.
Out to the ring, Tara makes her grand entrance for the upcoming number one contenders match, and finds out her opponent will be none other than ODB! She and Eric Young enter the ring, and after a few shenanigans, the bell rings and we get started.
ODB immediately flips Tara into the ring and goes to town on her with some shots in the corner and a hair toss or two! Tara slides outside the ring, but ODB chases after her. She finally catches up to Tara and takes her down with a shoulder tackle. Some headbutts to the stomach, before ODB nails a splash and a bronco buster! Tara tries to gather herself at ringside, as Eric Young approaches her. She walks off, as Taryn Terrell tries to order Tara back in the ring. ODB hits a nice baseball slide and a spank on the outside, before slamming Tara’s head into the ring apron and tossing her back inside. Tara begs for ODB to back off, and offers a handshake, but ODB does not accept! She grabs Tara by the hair and decks her with a few clotheslines. ODB follows it up with a fallaway slam, as Tara is then kicked in the abdomen and sent to the floor. She begins grasping at her knee and crawling over to Eric, but ODB gives no care in the world and proceeds to take Tara down. She rolls Tara back in, as Eric gives her a good luck kiss and Tara removes the knee brace. ODB steps back into the ring, but ultimately to be rolled up into a small package by Tara for the victory! Tara hilariously begins to celebrate like she won the lottery, before remembering that she was “injured” in front of referee Taryn Terrell‘s eyes.
Also, check out the first of what I hope are many appearances of Leva Bates (until we find out her Impact Wrestling name if this is a permanent role) below, as she presents Hulk Hogan & Sting with some papers that need signing… before pulling a little trick out of her sleeve… err, I mean pants pocket.
Skip to 07:54
Thoughts: I’m going to be honest and say that I was a little let down from this week’s episode of Impact in terms of the feud heading into Bound for Glory. Personally, I don’t feel like Tara needed to compete in a contender’s match to show that she was the one facing Brooke at the pay per view. Nobody aside from she and Brooke have even been used on TV in the past few weeks, so I don’t really get how anyone specifically deserved the chance against Tara over the rest of the roster. If Tara was forced to compete in a gauntlet or something, then I’d completely see how that would be fair, but whether or not ODB was picked out of a hat, it was at least cool to see a refreshing match, and one involving two Knockouts I’m entertained by at that.
Onto the actual match, I wasn’t a fan of this much either. Not because of the wrestling though, because I thought everything came off well, but more because, while it was great to see ODB again since she always entertains me when featured, I don’t think Tara even did more than a punch or two until the roll up win at the end. The time was there which is always appreciated, but the match itself sort of perplexed me because Tara is supposed to be considered the teacher in this feud with Brooke, but ODB basically destroyed her the entire time. Granted, I understand ODB is a bigger threat than Brooke due to the experience factor and all, but I still was kind of surprised the match was so one sided.
Overall, I felt like this was a step down from the previous two weeks, which I was really interested in. I definitely wanted to see a match tonight since it’s been a few weeks without one, but maybe something like Brooke and ODB vs. Tara and a partner like Gail or Madison? Brooke could have been like a caged animal trying to go after Tara, which would have continued to build their beef with one another up well… but heck, the champion wasn’t even on the show, which stinks as well.
The big thing I am happy for though is that Tara got a nice backstage segment with Brooke Hogan. I love any time they get speaking segments, and I always shed praise when Impact Wrestling presents one. I’m not sure where the Hollywood boyfriend thing is going, but it does have my attention!
Oh, and Leva Bates, please be a permanent addition to the Knockouts roster. We need some fresh faces that actually appear on TV, and your mace spraying of Hulk Hogan already has you jumping up my list of favorites. Beyond excited to see where this can hopefully go if she really does play a factor in this TNA/Aces & Eights Power Struggle!
