Hey! Were back! We weren’t quite sure if this show would happen or not, but it looks like you’ll be stuck with me at least till December, lucky you.

Bound for Glory starts better than any pay per view of 2016 if you ask me. Broken Matt Hardy is playing the ivory keys with King Maxel before bed. He then reasons him a bedtime story called ‘The Great War’ hyping all the key plot points of tonight’s show. Great start.

From there we go to our first match of the night. DJZ defends his X-Division title against Trevor Lee in a match added late last week. The match certainly doesn’t start well, seemed like they weren’t quite clicking, something was off. But at about the halfway point the duo started throwing caution to the wind with multiple dives to the outside. At this time Trevor Lee shows us a glimpse of his unique offense with a flipping power slam and a standing backflip to reposition himself for a deadlifting German bridge. The match ends with DJZ hitting a destroyer and his signature DDZ for the win retaining the X-Division Championship, all in all, a good opener.

Drew Galloway is interviewed backstage and brings up a few good questions, for example, why didn’t they hold of the finals to the Grand Championship tournament? Or at least, make the Bound for Gold gauntlet mean something more by allowing the winner to challenge for the Grand Championship? Either way, his promo was excellent.

How would I describe the Bound for Gold Gauntlet? Redundant. We had ten guys that consisted of two below average tag teams, Mahabali Shera, Rock Star Spud and Grado all vying to ultimately take on the TNA Champion sometime in the near future. How can you say “I don’t care?” I’m not going to waste your time or mine; Eli Drake eliminates Tyrus and Robbie E at the same time to win the gauntlet for a future title shot.

Believe it or not, the next match made this show feel important. Mike Bennett and Moose have been linked together for months when the Miracle recruited Moose to be his bodyguard who would ultimately turn on Bennett. The match was okay; Moose had a failed feel good entrance when a high school football team came out to do a war cry or something that got no one out of the seat. Needless to say, Moose looked bad by being associated with it. Mike Bennett, on the other hand, looks like a star and plays a fantastic heel carried the match giving Moose a big win at a big show, he needs it. The highlight of the match had to be when Bennett cut off a diving Moose with a cutter, didn’t get him the win but it looked badass.

Up next is the finals of the Grand Championship tournament which has grown old on me, it’s Aron Rex and Eddie Edwards who was added once word came out that Galloway was injured. Thank god he was added because he at least made this somewhat enjoyable. Instead of three-minute rounds we get five-minute rounds for championship matches, I feel that’s where this jumped the shark. A fifteen-minute match is extended to at least a twenty-minute segment where the match takes breaks every five minutes for a breather. We complain when we see multiple rest holds, this is essentially three rest well timed rest holds. The greatness of this match is at the end of the third round, we’re waiting on the judge’s results, then all of a sudden the results are displayed on the screen before Jeremy Borash has a chance to spill the beans. Stay classy. Aron Rex wins 2-1 to become the first TNA Grand Champion. Oh did I mention the power went out in the Impact Zone for about three minutes during this match?

If you took a bathroom break at this point, you missed Dixie Carter, Awesome Kong, Taryn Terrell, and Christy Hemme induct Gail Kim in the Hall of Fame. It was a good watch, do I blame you for passing? No, but its worth the watch.

Good thing you took that bathroom break though because now its time for what we all were watching for. The Great War! It was everything you could ever want, ignoring the in ring work which was forgettable. Once backstage we get some pretapes including Matt and Abyss fighting in the back of a pickup truck which Abyss stole. Actually, he took the same guys truck from Delete or Decay, in fact, we find out they sodomized him as well. On the other hand, we see Crazy Steve throw a bucket of water labeled as ‘Lake of Regeneration’ all over Brother Nero, and he turns into an old Omega character named Icarus who looked like Jeff back in his drug days. He wears goggle’s and complains about how he “can’t see shit.” I could go on forever talking about everything I liked about this match from the entrances, especially the Hardy clan serenading the Impact Zone to all around good booking taking the worst worker, Reby Sky out of the match early. Once back in the ring Brother Nero is allowed to indulge in his addiction and hits a Swanton Bomb off a fifteen-foot ladder onto Abyss through a table winning the TNA Tag Team Championships.

Next up is Gail Kim vs. Maria Bennett fro the TNA Knockouts Championship. Like I said in an earlier addition of ‘iMPACT Testing,’ this match should not be happening. If you want to put a cherry on the top of Gail Kims Hall of Fame induction, you’d give her a match to hang her hat on, not have a match with someone who can’t even lace her boots. Gail Kim does win the TNA Knockouts Championship in a nothing bout that no one will ever remember. What’s worse is that we’re more than likely going to see Maria Bennett take on Brandi Rhodes in the future because Mike Bennett comes out to shut the show down. The lights go out and out come Cody and Brandi Rhodes to save the day. I thought Cody would have a match tonight, but I guess not.

It’s time for tonight’s main event between Bobby Lashley and Ethan Carther III for the TNA Heavyweight Championship. The contest is No DQ since Lashley won last weeks Lethal Lockdown. Before the match could even begin Lashley spears EC3 sending him outside. Bobby Lashley may not be the best talker, but he has certainly grown into a great heel character. The match was good, but it really hurt having to follow The Great War. EC3 tried a TK3 onto the steel steps and a frog splash then Lashley grabs a chair and starts wailing on EC3. The match ends with EC3 and Lashley on top where EC3 would try to perform a One Percenter but is push off by Lashley who hits a spear from the second rope and picks up the victory. This match came off like a battle, and that makes me excited to talk about who will beat Bobby Lashley this week on Impact.

Check back later this week’s iMPACT Testing to find out who.

3 out of 5