By Ryan Kester

Aces and Eights

Make no mistake about it, last night's show was all about this fledgling faction. Aces and Eights were put over as a destructive force the entire night with attacks and interruptions from start to finish.

While I understand TNA's desire to get the group over, I feel they went a bit overboard in their efforts last night. Less is more, and Aces and Eights were nearly overexposed as they attacked so many people. TNA could have easily had these beatings stretched out over a few weeks and it would have made the group feel less predictable.

One aspect of the attacks I really did enjoy, however, was that Aces and Eights also assaulted Roode. I want this group to be its own thing and not attached to an existing act as an accessory.

Bound For Glory Series

TNA did a good job of establishing the importance of the BFGS and the motivations of its various participants with the series of callouts throughout the evening. Among the highlights was Magnus vs. Bully ray, who showed a chemistry that makes me want to see a feud from the two down the line. Ray has the chops to build a star, and Magnus could use a good feud to get him over.

Unfortunately, the rest of the matches on last night's show really failed to deliver. Whether it was a match that was too short to build up any tension or two guys that lacked chemistry, the wrestling left a lot to be desired on this show.

Open Fight Night

Speaking of leaving a lot to be desired, this might as well have not been called Open Fight Night. I've complained in the past about how TNA hasn't done enough to sell this concept, and last night they outright ignored it. They used the callouts as a vehicle to fuel the BFGS, they had no title defended, and they even got out of the Gut Check by having Aces and Eights tear apart a very dorky Sam Shaw.

With how TNA handled this Open Fight Night, and how they have conveniently given up on the weekly TV Title defenses, it feels like TNA is trying to backtrack on the latest "big innovation' brought forth by Hulk Hogan. I can't really complain if that's the case because the concept has been an overall disappointment thus far.

Claire Drama

What we got from this saga this week was another painful bout of Claire's acting mixed with some odd creeper pics of Claire making various poses on top of a sleeping AJ Styles. This angle is just so ridiculous that it takes me right out of the show every time they go to it. At this point, I've given up on it getting any better and I am looking forward to the day that this angle is put to rest. As it stands, this is the one bad storyline marring an otherwise solid TNA product.

Overall Show

As a general edition of Impact, this show was a decent to solid. The wrestling didn't live up to the standard TNA has been as of late, but TNA has fixed a lot of their pacing issues that they had in the recent weeks. As an Open Fight Night it was a colossal failure as the concept was barely represented on the show. Strangely, I found myself enjoying the show more because it distanced itself from that concept.

If you have any questions or comments or just wish to chat with a fellow wrestling fan about whatever, then feel free to email me at ryan.kester@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter at @TheRyanKester.

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