Hi everyone! I’ll be covering BFG 2018 tonight. Thanks for joining me. This will not be a move-for-move play-by-play, but I’ll do my best to bring as much detail as possible. Match ratings go up to 5 stars.. Please feel free to talk about the show with our community in the Disqus comments section. Note: Has since become a review with match ratings.
Like to see the Pre-Show? Impact posted the 30-minute Pre-Show to their YouTube account in advance, which you can see below. The main show kicks off at 8pm ET.
The pre-show looks into Aries vs. Impact, LAX vs. OGz, Eddie vs. Moose, Tessa Blanchard vs. Taya Valkyrie, Eli Drake’s Open Challenge, Allie vs. Su Yung, Rich Swann/Willie Mack vs. Matt Sydal/Ethan Page, and oVe vs. Brian Cage & The Lucha Brothers.
Main Show
Opens with LAX talking about New York in the streets. Clips from the pre-show are shown. Don Callis and Josh Matthews welcomes everyone to BFG in New York city.
#1: Rich Swann & Willie Mack vs. Matt Sydal & Ethan Page – Callis is happy Willie Mack is finally here. Ethan Page has adopted Sydal’s third eye gesture. Such a small venue compared to some we’ve seen in the past. Return of Mack chant. Swann & Sydal start. And a kick to Sydals head after beingl hit with the third eye. Swann tags Mack in. Some fast action leads to Mack getting the upperhand, and showboats some before hitting him with a shoulder tackle. Swann tagged in, and Ethan Page as well. Swann plays to the crowd. Some nice dodging til Swann hit a dropkick, and a hurricanrana for a 1-count.
Mean back drop by Page on Swann. Page tags in Sydal and restrains Swann. Sydal in targeting Swann’s arm. On the mat, Sydal stretches Swann’s arm. Crowd claps for Swann to get back into it, which he does with a school boy. Page in now, and he’s working well with Sydal. Page beats down on Swann in the corner. Sydal back in .. such quick tags in this. On the outside Swann fights back and lays out Sydal with a punch to the face. Swann looks for Sydal who’s hiding under the ring, and he gets hit with something. Willie Mack comes over and squashes everyone. Holy Shit chant. Mack gets his buddy back in the ring. Mack is itching for a tag. Sydal cuts Swann off and gets him in a headlock.
The fans boo as Sydal keeps Swann restrained. Sydal gives Swann a few chops. Swann fights back in his opponents corner. Ethan Page in and they’re still beating down Swann. He dodges both Sydal and Page to get the tag. Mack in with the hot tag. He throws his body around, and his opponents. Mack sets Page up for the finish but is countered. Samoan drop on Page. Standing moonsault on Page. He tags Swann in, and they nail Page with a double team move for a 2 1/2.
Up on the top turnbuckle, Page launches Swann! And a senton which almost wins him the match. “This is Impact” chant. Mack saves his partner from a double superplex. A sick hurricanrana counter by Swann. All four wrestlers down after many hard hitting moves. “This is awesome”. Ref letting things go as all four fight in the ring. Page accidentally hits his partner. Mack stunners Page. Sydal counters a stunner. Swann hits the cutter on Sydal. Phoenix Splash on Sydal! And he gets the win. Slow in the first half, but a really fast X-Divison style opener in the second half.
Match Rating: ***
Winners: Rich Swann & Willie Mack
Mack tries talking into the mic but it doesn’t work. He asks for another and it works. Mack asks the crowd to make some noise if they’re enjoying BFG. He’s saying there’s 2 seats available for those who make the most noise. He picks two fans from the crowd to sit in the front seats courtesy of COMDA.com. He wishes everyone a hell of a night.
Next up we see a TMZ interview with Johnny Impact & Taya Valkyrie. They’re trying to make out like the Twitter war is real, but we know it’s a work. Y2J chants in the background. They show Aries talking trash to Impact during Abyss’ HOF ceremony. Callis says Aries has some metal issues where he can’t help himself insulting others. We cut to backstage and Konnan’s been laid out by someone. Konnan tells LAX to go out and take care of business.
Eli Drake in the ring and the fans chant Y2J. Eli wants to talk to ya. The gravy train is in New York city. He gets a pizza chant going. He points out players from the New York Giants. He insults them and says that’s just a fact of life.
#2: Eli Drake vs. James Ellsworth
My goodness lol. Josh asks if we’re supposed to make a chin joke now, but Caliis says that’s mean. Fans chant “Delete”. Eli asks if he’s from New York, and the fans chant “No”. He says he was dating a girl from Staten Island. He says he loves New York city and wants to fight for it. Fans chant “Fuck you Ellsworh”. Wow. Eli says he’s a fan favorite. Eli makes a sweet chin music joke. Fans chant balls because James didn’t feel like saying it. Ellsworth punches Eli and the match begins.
The fans chant Eli Drake as they wanted Jericho. Eli bombs Ellsworth to the floor. Fans chant “Drake he great”. Ellsworth gets some offense in, but Eli hits the gravy train. Fans ask him to do it again, so he does. And it’s a win for Eli Drake. Shockingly bad. Waste of Eli Drake.
Match Rating: *
Winner: Eli Drake
Eli gets on the mic again. He says he came to New York city for the best. He didn’t ask for garbage. He asked for championship material. It’s Abyss! Abyss comes out and destroys Eli with a splash and a black hole slam. He gets a table and sets it up in the ring. Eli fights back and has revenge on his mind. Sets abyss up sitting on the table, but Abyss catches him and chokeslams him through the table. Abyss’ music plays. He walks out happy with his cameo. No Jericho anywhere. Bet the fans in attendance were disappointed. What did Eli do to deserve this?
Tessa Blanchard is asked questions about her opponent in the street. She says it’s the biggest night of the year, but it’s her night. She says she’s wrestling royalty, the greatest, and the title proves it. Taya will find out diamonds are forever, and so is Tessa holding the title.
#3: Tessa Blanchard vs. Taya Valkyrie for the Impact Knockouts Championship
Tessa parades the title around the ring. Callis calls her the real deal. Feeling each other out in the early going. Some lucha libre moves from Taya, before kicking her in the gut. Some hard clotheslines exchanged. Speak to Tessa! Seems Taya has the upperhand. Til Taya goes to the turnbuckle and gets caught. They fall to the outside and Tessa gets her back in the ring.
Codebreaker on Taya! Only 2. Tessa chokes Taya in the ropes. A dropkick to the lower back. Looking for the buzzsaw, but Taya counters. Reversal leads to a German. Taya places Tessa on the top turnbuckle. Tessa fights back. Superplex! Taya holds on with a submission. Tessa got nowhere to go as Taya’s sat on her. Tessa powers out and forces her into the corner, and follows through with a suplex. Taya screams at Tessa as they brawl in the middle of the ring. Tessa taunts Taya. Rapid fire strikes. Taya drops Tessa with a version of the TKO, but only 2.
A cutter on Taya! For 2. Tessa gets angry. Taya catches her off the top, and gives her a very awkward, botched chokeslam. Follows through with a moonsault! Deep armbar on Tessa. Taya transitions it into a surfboard almost, but stomps her down. Nasty STF on Tessa. She gets to the rope and breaks it up. Taya hits her finisher! Referee was out of position and it was very close to being 3. Crowd thought it was too. She tries for the Road to Valhalla again but Tessa escapes. A bad looking buzzsaw DDT gets a close 3 as well. Tessa’s losing it.
Tessa up top again, and jumps halfway across the ring to hit the Codebreaker! 1-2-3. And still! The Knockouts Champion, Tessa Blanchard. A pretty good match between two of the strongest Knockouts on the roster. Tessa celebrates her defense and mocks Taya.
Match Rating: *** 1/2
Winner: Tessa Blanchard
Moose is wearing something only a king would wear, as he talks down about his former “brother” Eddie Edwards. Video package for Eddie vs. Moose.
#4: Eddie Edwards vs. Moose
Moose thinks he’s The Godfather as he’s got three ho’s to walk down with him. Eddie comes down with Kenny, and Moose quickly gets out of the ring. They brawl, and Moose knocks him down with a shoulder block. Boston Knee Party! But he doesn’t cover. He goes for Kenny. Killer Kross appears out of nowhere and chokes the life out of him and the match is thrown out. Well .. that was lame. It’s a mugging more than a match. Here comes Tommy Dreamer with his own kendo stick! EC-DUB! EC-DUB! EC-DUB! Dreamer on the mic. He says Moose and Kross do not know where they are. They’re with the sickest hardcore fighters in the world. Dreamer does a Teddy Long and says it’s now a tag team match.
#5: Eddie Edwards/Tommy Dreamer vs. Moose & Killer Kross
“You sick fuck” chants as Dreamer gets some water, and literally pours it from his mouth in to Eddies, who spits it out at Moose and Kross. Gross lol. Moose & Dreamer in the ring, and Tommy hits the crossbody. Kross in who boots Dreamer down to the mat. Eddie in, but Kross hits him with a suplex. Some double team action on Kross. Moose in, but Dreamer & Eddie working well. Tommy to the outside, exposes the concrete at ringside. Kross knocks Dreamer in to the ring post. Kross strangles Dreamer with his tie. One of the New York Giants literally pushes Moose on his ass at ringside.
Kross and Eddie in the ring. Eddie chops him down in the corner. Up on the turnbuckle, Eddie hits the hurricanrana. Moose breaks up the pin. Dreamer in, and Moose clotheslines him down. Eddie and Moose brawl. Eddie asks for it. Chop fest. And some kicks to the head. Blue Thunder Bomb! Everyone’s down and the fans clap. “Impact Wrestling” chant. Dreamer low blows Kross. Dreamer hits the cutter! He gets a kendo stick, but Kross counters with a throw. Pop up powerbomb from Moose to Eddie. Moose gets the kendo stick but misses. Eddie surprises him with a school boy for the three! Eddie goes to see how Dreamer is. Kross gets Eddie and Moose spears him. Moose and Kross double bomb him on the ring apron. Moose and Kross are happy with their work despite the loss.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Winners: Eddie Edwards & Tommy Dreamer
Typical oVe promo as Jake Crist imitates Callihan while Dave shakes his head. They are for Ohio, by Ohio, and are taking over everything .. everything .. everything. Video package. oVe rules in this match, so anything goes.
#6: oVe vs. Brian Cage, Pentagon Jr. & Fenix
“Cero Miedo” chants. Standoff to begin. The fight is on. Kicks everywhere. Pentagon and Sami reignite their feud. Chops from both. Sami asks for a chop. Sami spat in the face of Pentagon. Slingblade x2 on Sami. Dave Crist in with a backbreaker on Pentagon. Brian Cage in and throws Dave across the ring. Jake does well to evade Cage, but gets caught and again evades, sending Cage in tot he post. Fenix in, and is super quick. Flying headbutt. And another. The action is so fast. Sprinboard crossbody on Jake. Callihan back in. Callihan catches Fenix and drops him with a unique slam. Callihan jumps on the turnbuckle and smashes Fenix in the face. On the outside, Cage catches Callihan and bombs on the apron.
Jake sends Cage in to the ring post. Lucha Brothers come to save the day. Fenix suicide dives two of oVe. Jake and Cage in the ring, and he throws him over the top rope on to everyone outside. Cage gets to the top and superplexes Dave back in to the ring. Sami saves him from a big move. Fenix and Pentagon double team. Jake saves Sami from being pinned. Fans appreciate the action. Death Valley Driver to Fenix. Jake and Pentagon fight in the corner, and Jake takes a double stomp to the chest. Cage saves Pentagon from a pin. Powerbombs him. Sami saves his oVe buddy. Cutter by Fenix! Jake saves Sami and kicks Fenix in the head twice. Pentagon Driver! Jake saves. Fenix catches Sami with a kick. Lariat to Fenix by Sami. Cage takes Sami’s head off. Cage calls for the brothers.
Double team spike fear factor takes Sami out. Crist brothers save him. Cage fallaway slam and samoan drops Jake and Sami at the same time! Terminator clap. oVe triple team Cage. Fenix saves Cage from a pin. Lucha Brothers chop Dave in the corner with no mercy. Codebreaker on Dave. Lucha Brothers double team. Jake tries to do a sick cutter but botches it. “You fucked up” chant. Sami saves Jake from a spike double team move.
Callihan piledrives Pentagon on the ring apron. Cage gets the crowd doing the Terminator. Cage runs through oVe like a train. Jake fights back with 4 boots. The All-Seeing Eye on Cage! But he kicks out and is pissed off! Cage spits at them after a triple boot. Cage is hulking up and won’t go down. A piledriver on Cage! And oVe win! What the hell!? Has to be considered an upset. What a match, the action was very hard to keep up with. Callhan is the only man to ever pin Brian Cage since his return to Impact Wrestling. What a match .. it was hard keeping up with it and I’d gladly watch it again to enjoy it .. without having to type so much.
Match Rating: ****1/2
Winners: Ohio Versus Everything
Austin Aries cuts a calm & collected promo on Johnny Impact. He’s confident. Says this is life and it’s not a joke.
King is drinking while being sad about what happened to Konnan earlier. He psyches up the OGz before the fight. Video package for LAX vs. OGz.
#7: LAX vs. OGz In Concrete Jungle Death Match
The ring has been stripped away to just boards and steel. Turnbuckle pads removed. Konnan was taken out earlier in the night. King breaks the ring by stomping on it. One of the wooden planks has come loose. A special entrance for LAX. “That’s All Me” song. They bringing a lot of friends with ’em. Callis found it intimidating. Matthews plugged the song being on Itunes. They point out the plank is out of place. They start hot with some trash can lids.
The ring is falling apart. King is taking care of Santana while OGz has Ortiz on the outside. It’s a 3-on-2 really. Hernandez headbutts Ortiz, who is busted open. OGz take over and smash him over the head with lids. Hernandez setting up a table. The ref takes one of the boards out. They throw Ortiz out for no reason. Ok .. it’s just so King can miss a suicide dive.
Hernandez border tosses Homicide to the outside on LAX. Ortiz does a northern lights suplex on the boards to Homicide, and it hurts just as much. Hernandez shoulder blocks Ortiz through one of the tables. Santana in and doing everything he can to fight back. There’s a bigger hole in the ring now. He dives on Hernandez who rolled to the outside. Callis says whoever came up with this match is sick and needs to be checked over.
King calls Santana a bitch and thumbs him in the eye. Santana suplexes him on to the boards. Hernandez breaks up the pin with a headbutt. All four in the ring, and LAX get the upperhand. LAX superplexes Hernandez on to the boards! “Holy Shit”. “Impact Wrestling” chant. The ref tries to close up gaps in the floor as they fight. LAX music hits! It’s Konnan. He low blows Homicide, and hits Hernandez with something heavy in a bag. Konnan takes on King and throws him through the table. Double team finish on King. LAX are the winners and get their revenge on King and the OGz.
It kinda fell well under my expectation, I thought they’d be fighting in the streets as that’s where the Concrete Jungle is. The ring falling apart with the referee trying to fix it took a lot away. It’s like they didn’t bother to try it out before the show, to see how the ring would react to the moves. King broke it straight away, and it got worse with every bump. It really had me cringing, hoping no one would be seriously injured. Aside from that, it was a fun, brutal match. And of course, Konnan had to be wrote to come down later in the match as there’s no way he’s bumping there. The story came to an end, and LAX got their revenge.
Match Rating: ****
Winners: Latin American Xchange
#8: Allie vs. Su Yung In The Undead Realm??
Allie finds a coffin and gets in with an axe. She finds herself in another realm with Father James Mitchell. He says if she sees her soul she can look, but she can’t touch as it stays here. Allie is being stalked by bridesmaids in a house. One of them ambushes and chokes Allie, but she hits her with the axe. Then she strikes her in the head and blood splatters all over. A second one attacks, and she kills the bridesmaid with the axe. She finds herself, and leaves her alone. She comes across another coffin, this one with Kiera Hogan inside. But Su Yung is behind her .. with a much bigger axe. Yung tries to kill Allie, but she evades.
Yung finds a baseball bat and hits her with it. She strangles Allie and takes her axe from her. Yung sticks her fingers in Allie’s mouth and puts the axe down, and Allie is knocked out. Su Yung says her time has come. Allie revives, picks up her axe, and kills Su Yung. Allie gets back to Kiera Hogan and gets her out of the coffin. They look for a way out. They try opening another coffin to get out, but it won’t open. James Mitchell shows up and says he never said anything about getting out, before disappearing. The bridesmaids come to kill Allie & Kiera.
Rosemary pops up and takes out the bridesmaids. Rosemary says she’s been stuck there for years. Su Yung comes round the corner and takes the axe out of her neck. Rosemary and Su Yung use magical powers on each other, and the bridesmaids converge on Rosemary as Allie & Kiera are transported back to Earth via the coffin. Allie says they need to go back to the Undead realm. What the hell did we just see??
Can’t really give a rating for this. James Mitchell turning on Allie, Su Yung taking the axe out of her neck, .Rosemary popping up to protect her friend. All worthwhile despite the average acting and far out concept behind transporting to the Undead Realm via getting in a coffin.
Winners: No Contest
A backstage interview with Johnny Impact. He says Aries is jealous of his worldwide exposure. He says Aries claiming he carries the company is an insult to everyone else who works there. Video package.
#9: Austin Aries vs. Johnny Impact – Impact World Heavyweight Championship
Kross & Moose are out with Aries. Announcer botches and says Johnny comes from Slam City, so Johnny corrects him and he says Slam Town instead. Austin Aries and Johnny Impact chants. Some major wrestling going on, and the two are not giving anything away. Another staredown. Aries kicks Impact in the leg. They lock up, and they get stuck in the ropes. It’s like a street fight at this point, they’re going at such pace. It’s been a little awkward, but the intensity is high. Another staredown. “205” chant.
Heavy punches from Impact. He clotheslines Aries to the outside and they fight at ringside. A sick spot on the outside, as Impact backflips and lands on the apron and the barrier to the fans to avoid Aries. Impact has the upperhand and gets Aries back in the ring, but he’s cut off from the springboard. Aries jumps off the turnbuckle to the outside with a heavy blow. Aries chops Impact and gets him back in the ring. Aries plays with Impact, but he’s had enough and bitch slaps his opponent. Aries fights back and beats him down with kicks. He stomps Impact in front of Taya. Aries takes an Eddie Guerrero break on the turnbuckle. Aries punches Impact, but he keeps getting up. Impact fights back with his own strikes. Whips across the ring, but Aries dodges and sends him flying to the floor. Springboard cockscrew crossbody gets a 2 for Johnny. Both men down.
Last Chancery on Impact, but Aries loses his grip. Impact hits a big time kick off the springboard. Both men down again. They slug it out on their knees. Back on their feet, Impact places Aries on the buckle. Tries for a Spanish fly but Aries knocks him off. Aries hits a rare hurricanrana. Aries moves away from Starship Pain and Johnny sees it. Aries neckbreakers Impact on the rope. Impact fights back and gets Aries on the buckle again. Spanish Fly! And almost gets the win.
Aries tries to escape but Impact keeps up the offense. They fight on the apron. Much of the match has been a brawl. Aries drops him on his head on the apron and gets him back in. 450! But Impact is still alive. Aries punches Impact in the corner. Impact fights back and hits Starship Pain! Aries grabs the rope in time to break it up. Aries hits a discus clothesline and running dropkick. Brainbuster! But Impact gets his foot on the rope. Taya talks trash to Aries. Backslide gets a two for Johnny. Last Chancery! Impact gets to the ropes. Aries stares at Taya. Aries punches and chops Impact in the middle of the ring. Aries misses Impact and dives to the outside on Taya on purpose! Impact’s raged and goes after Aries. Johnny hits the brainbuster! Starship Pain number 2. And NEW World Heavyweight Champion, Johnny Impact! Aries flips Impact off and quickly goes to the backstage area. Impact goes to check on his wife who is knocked out. They embrace and get in the ring with the title. Johnny Impact holds up the Impact title high. Killer Kross and Moose look bemused as they slowly make their way to the back.
Impact impressed me as I’d never seen him wrestle with such intensity. The limitations of Impact’s wrestling ability made some spots look sloppy and mistimed. Aries had to work extra to make things work, and in the end they relied more on stiff strikes. I still stand by what I said in the preview about Impact not being the right guy to carry the title and promotion. Aries should’ve continued to be built up as an unstoppable force, and find someone else who management could really sell as the future of the company. I guess Impact had to win the title eventually .. so there you go. It’s probably just bias as I’m a huge Aries fan, but I hope Johnny having the title does good business for the company despite my reservations. Nowhere near the best Impact World title match ever, but it wasn’t bad either. Probably the best match I’ve ever seen out of Johnny.
Match Rating: ****
Winner: Johnny Impact (New World Champion)
Conclusion: There was a clear lack of build for most matches and it was clear in the pre-show. The talent did the best with what they were given, so you got to give kudos for that. The crowd were fun as they were loud at times, even though there weren’t many of them in the small venue. The show got better the further in, which is how PPVs should be. The only real surprise appearance was James Ellsworth .. who was met with utter disdain by the New Yorkers.
The six-man tag was easily the match of the night as it was action packed the second the first kick landed. I also didn’t expect an oVe win, which they needed after a bad run lately. The main event was better than expected, and at least it didn’t have a screwy finish like Eli Drakes title defense last year. The show felt like a glorified episode of Impact at times. Nevertheless, Bound For Glory 2018 provided a fun night of wrestling matches, all of which had something positive outside of Eli Drakes embarrassing open challenge. Chris Jericho did not show up at all, which tells us the rumors hyping the event with a historic moment were nothing but assumptions. And I don’t expect Jericho to show up on a random taped episode on Pop either. If he was going to join Impact it would’ve been here.
And the trend continues. Slammiversary beats Bound For Glory yet again. Had they cut the first match and added time to the others, I think it would’ve been a better show overall. There was a lot of talent unused, so a battle royal of some kind would’ve highlighted the current roster better. But enough with the what ifs, Impact has improved a lot this year, and BFG 2018 showed us glimpses of their potential. On that note, thank you for joining me. See you again.
