There’s a lot of stuff on this show that I think is going to end up being really good…especially in front of what’s looking like one of their biggest crowds ever…but, for me, Leon Slater vs Moose is still the thing I’m most looking forward to. Moose is so good in big spots at this point and Leon is awesome. And Moose knows how to work with smaller guys. He had a match to open a Wrestling Revolver show once with Mike Bailey that was as good a big man vs little man match as you’ll find. And yeah…Bailey is a great talent…but Moose was incredible working with him. You can really see what kind of athletic freak he is at his size when he’s out there with someone quick. I’ve been waiting for Leon and Moose to have this match since Moose won the title. Really want Slater to win. I think the sky is the limit with him.
Still wish the main event was a singles match between Trick and Santana. Hendry has felt superfluous the whole time to me. But I’m sure it will be good because three ways let them go all out with big spots. I’m torn between Santana needing to win with his build in his hometown and the audacity of having Trick retain on what looks like their biggest night in forever. I said when he challenged Hendry that I thought he’d win because TNA didn’t have anyone ready to transition the belt from Joe to Santana…and doing babyface vs babyface doesn’t do Santana any favors. So that’s what I’d predict to happen…but I also love chaos so if Trick retains I’ll love it.
Very excited for Ali vs Alexander as well. Ali has been killing it in TNA and they’re going to be given the time to tear the house down and you know they both want to. The multi tag ladder match has too many crazy people in it to not be fun. Plus the crowd will likely be hotter for it than anything other than AJ coming out on the whole show. The Hardys are stupid over everywhere right now.
I like that there are two women’s singles matches on the show too. For as much as TNA has tried to push the knockouts in their history…you just don’t see a lot of non-title women’s singles feuds make it to PPV cards. Tessa, real world issues aside, is great in the ring…so Indi needs to step up a bit. It’s a big opportunity for her to establish herself as a top knockout with an opponent who can really go.
Masha vs Jacy is fascinating because of the title vs title. There are a lot of ways they can go. Masha could be used to transition the NXT belt to Blake Monroe without having to do heel vs heel. And they’re just passed on having Jordynne do it. At the same time…Jacy has been killing it since she’s gotten this push and I have interest in her as a double champ. The funny thing is that Masha beating Jacy on NXT this week would almost always point to Jacy winning…but this is a unique circumstance. If Masha is going to show up holding the NXT title on Tuesday…making her look strong in the match NXT fans saw makes total sense. Especially if she’s inevitably going to be defending against Monroe. The Trick result obviously factors into this too. I can’t imagine anything bolder than Trick and Jacy holding the top TNA belts to end their anniversary show. I’d love it…even though people would hate it. It would be an audacious idea…but it would make the build to BFG like a thousand times more interesting to me. Because you know TNA will get them back…and you’d assume that show is the culmination of any ”we lost our belts” story…so seeing who it’s going to be and how they get there fills three months of TV for me wonderfully. But I’m not crazy and could see why they wouldn’t want to do that. But I’m rooting for Jacy anyway.
The eight man tag and the six man tag on the preshow are fine undercard stuff. They’ll be fast paced and hard hitting and that’s perfect for undercard stuff. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Zilla get a push if they’re using him for a minute. I could see him winning and getting a title match with Maclin out of it. Would be a good way to debut/put him over as a threat before jumping into it.
Knockouts tag is also a fine undercard match. These aren’t the greatest workers in the world but Ash busts her ass and is a lot of fun in her role and the matches almost always end up being better than you expected.
And then there’s AJ. There isn’t a bigger thing that TNA can have than seeing AJ Styles walk back out on a TNA show. You can argue there’s been more important people in TNA history…founding it or keeping it alive or whatever you want. But you can’t argue that anyone has ever mattered more to TNA fans than AJ Styles. If he’s returning to build to a final match in the company…we already know what to expect. When he was asked about it a while back before any of this came about…he said if he had a final match in TNA he wanted it to be with Kazarian. I say if he’s willing to return and give them a future match…let him have whoever he wants. The dream moment is having him back.
