Pruett's Pause: TNA Impact Wrestling - Bound for Glory build heats up, Hulk Hogan and Sting are kidnapped by Aces and Eights, Bobby Roode vs. James Storm is signed for BFG, Joe wins TV Title

By Will Pruett

- This week's "previously on Impact" segment worked far better than last week's. They didn't try to cram too much into it and thus, it actually foreshadowed what would happen on the show accurately.

- TNA seems to have some fascination with the "special enforcer" position at Bound for Glory. Having King Mo fill that role makes total sense. I won't say that it makes the match seem bigger, but it's a fantastic way to involve him in a high profile match that he (hopefully) won't take anything away from.

- Sting's return was not quite the surprise that Mike Tenay and Taz sold it as. It just doesn't seem like Sting has been gone for that long. Where did he go anyways? Was there an injury angle? I only remember Sting leaving once Hogan returned.

- Mr. Anderson's favorite Bound for Glory moment was losing the main event of the show on 10.10.10. As much as I enjoyed the Jeff Hardy heel character the it resulted in, that main event is on the list of disappointing Bound for Glory moments for me.

- Kurt Angle vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Christopher Daniels did a nice job of heating up the Tag Team Championship match for Bound for Glory. I was surprised by just how much I wanted to see the match this was building to after this match. Nice work from all six men involved.

- When the backstage elimination segments are done well, they are extremely enjoyable. The TV Championship eliminations were very enjoyable to me. I still believe in the idea of wrestlers arguing their points backstage in segments that feel "real" as opposed to stage promos. Samoa Joe and Magnus helped to make this work.

- Garret Bischoff still looks and seems like a tool. He should work on that.

- Mr. Anderson came across far too over the top for this backstage segment. It didn't ruin the segment for me, but he wasn't as candid and honest as these segments seem to demand.

- I'm telling you, Tara's boyfriend better not be "Hollywood" Dave Hebner.

- Tara vs. ODB was a decent Knockout's match that told Tara's story well and also got ODB and Eric Young on TV. I wish we would have seem more from Miss Tessmacher on this show, but there are still two weeks to advance this story further.

- Bruce Prichard and Al Snow's confrontation backstage was a little odd. Bruce Prichard's role on the show is slowly expanding. I hope this is not a sign on things to come, as Prichard isn't a character I need to see on TV every week.

- So, is Joey Ryan vs. Al Snow actually happening or not? This story has gone on for far too long to be entertaining.

- The backstage segment between Bobby Roode and Austin Aries was interesting. If the idea is to pair the two of them after Bound for Glory, I could see it working.

- Does Austin Aries' current character shift seem like C.M. Punk's to anyone else? Is TNA taking all of their inspiration for Aries from Punk?

- Samoa Joe vs. Mr. Anderson was a pretty good match. I didn't love the ending, mostly because the chokehold lasted a little too long for Anderson to stay conscious. I do like the result though. Samoa Joe is a great choice for the TV Championship.

- Will Samoa Joe be defending the TV Championship weekly?

- Would it have killed TNA to have Devon drop the belt to Samoa Joe on his last show?

- Why did the show go on after Hulk Hogan and Sting were kidnapped? One would assume that would be a big deal and that they couldn't continue.

- This week's Gut Check was not as intolerable as most of the other Gut Check segments. I'm pretty sure that is because the judges actually said no. This is more of what I expected Gut Check to be from the beginning. If TNA can get this back to where winning would actually matter, I might enjoy the Gut Check, even with its flaws.

- Maybe it was the light reflecting off of Hogan's head, but the segment in Aces and Eight's clubhouse/dungeon/sex lair was hard to watch. Sting and Hogan were not believable. The Aces and Eight's leader (more Bane-ish than Bane himself) was comedic. Maybe this worked for more people, but I wasn't into it.

- Seriously, was that a sex dungeon? The way Joseph Parks was tied up implied to me that it was.

- I'm going to assume that Bully Ray will be "one of TNA's best" in the Aces and Eights match at Bound for Glory. I'm also going to assume he will turn on TNA.

- I liked the James Storm backstage promo. It's always fun to hear Storm talk and this did a nice job of building up King Mo and his role in the match. It also did a nice job of getting Storm involved on this show, where he was the odd man out of the main event scene.

- Building up tension between Austin Aries and Jeff Hardy seemed to be the main priority of the main event. It worked. At the end of this show, I was far more into their feud than I was when it began. Aries and Hardy were wrestling a classic feuding babyface tag team formula and it was entertaining.

Overall, this show was good. It built up to Bound for Glory. For the first time, it seemed like TNA was making a big deal of Bound for Glory. Aries and Hardy had time to build their feud. James Storm and Bobby Roode were also given that opportunity. We also found out the next step in the Aces and Eights program.

There is still a lot of work to do in the next two weeks. TNA needs to get that special show feel going into Bound for Glory, not just at the show. This is an important time of year for the company and it was nice to see them acting like it.

Did you enjoy TNA live? Am I way off? Feel free to email me at itswilltime@gmail.com or to follow me and chat me up on twitter at twitter.com/itswilltime.