Re-Making an iMPACT - #7 - Kazarian & Shane v AMW

TNA Xplosion #86 Results (10th July 2004) - Total Non-Stop Action #106 Results (14th July 2004)

A little worryingly iMPACT seems to be shifting to feature more enhancement contest and less to clashes between regular roster members. This started on the previous week's episode and continues on the 16th July 2004 episode that we look at today. After just seven weeks on the air, the show is already beginning to feel less important. Would there be any diamonds in the rough, though? Let's have a look. 

This week's main event featured America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris & James Storm) going over Kazarian and Michael Shane after Dusty Rhodes named them the winners following a ten minute time-limit draw. I have to say that I came away being a little disappointed with the match that four-some put on, as all four have shown potential on previous episodes, but this match never didn't show much of that potential. Everyone seemed to be going through the motions with both their wrestling and character work with no one seemingly wanting to make the most of their main event slot. The action was okay, with James Storm's hot tag sequence probably being the brightest of the bout, but these men can definitely do better than they show here. A personal highlight of the match was when Chris Harris hit a Catatonic (Swinging Side Slam) so strong that it resulted in Kazarian landing on Harris' back! The Naturals and Triple X would get involved after the decision was made with the show ending in an eight team brawl. 

Another disappointing tag match would open the show as Triple X (Christopher Daniels & Primetime) would best Team Japan (Miyamoto & NOSAWA) [Powerplex] in a clunky collision. It felt like Miyamoto & NOSAWA were a step slower than they needed to be at any given moment and this in turn would harm Christopher Daniels' hot tag attempt, removing any real excitement that could have been had. Neither Team Japan member has impressed me so far with what they have to offer, with fairly sloppy offence, whilst struggling to keep up with the pace of their American colleagues. It's a shame the pair were chosen to represent Japan when competitors like Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kaz Hayashi & TAKA Michonoku were all on the AJPW at the time. 

The best match on the show came in the form of "The Baby Bear" Alex Shelley's victory over Roderick Strong [It Came From Japan II]. Both men are still pretty green at this point, with just over two years experience each and their best work still a head of them, but put together a short, technically sound encounter, that was more balanced than I was expecting to be. Both men hit tasty back breakers, with the match having an "Anything you can do, I can do better" type of vibe and Strong even manages a decent near fall after hitting his Death by Roderick double knee gutbuster. I'm not a massive fan of Shelley being partnered with Goldylocks and Abyss, the Baby Bear gimmick is very cringey, but Shelley himself has been impressive in what he's shown, despite clearly not being comfortable in the heel role. 

There's another two matches on the show, which feature Sabu squashing Alistair Ralphs (A1) and "The Alpha Male" Monty Brown making short work of Lex Lovett, before demanding a future NWA World Heavyweight Championship match.

Results

Tag Team Match: Triple X - "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels & Primetime def. Team Japan - Miyamoto & NOSAWA

Singles Match: Sabu def. Alistair Ralphs

Singles Match: "The Baby Bear" Alex Shelley (with "The Monster" Abyss & Goldylocks) def. Roderick Strong

Singles Match: "The Alpha Male" Monty Brown def. Lex Lovett

Tag Team Match: America's Most Wanted - "Wildcat" Chris Harris & "Cowboy" James Storm def. Kazarian & Michael Shane via Judge's Decision

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 3.25/10 

If two week's ago was the worst iMPACT to date, then we have a new contender to the crown. Three matches of any substance and I enjoyed one of them. Shelley v Strong was the best match on the show without the pair coming close to what they could do at the time, let alone what they'd be able to produce in the coming years. Two tag team matches that failed to deliver, as well as two enhancement bouts, there wasn't much else to say about this as iMPACT edges ever closer to a "Very Poor" rating. 

Content by James Marston. Additional content by David Marston.

Re-Making an iMPACT - #5 - Team Canada v 3LK (James & David Marston)

TNA Xplosion #84 Results (26th June 2004) - NWA Total Nonstop Action #104 Results (30th June 2004)

iMPACT was now into it's second month, we'd seen the show start off warm with a promising first episode, before struggling to find the right formula to improve over the following three weeks. There was plenty of talent on the diverse roster like America's Most Wanted in the tag division, Chris Sabin and Frankie Kazarian in the X Division and a brief glimpse of Sabu. The undoubted star of the piece however had been AJ Styles, who had competed on each show pulling out a series of strong matches. Would the fact that Styles wasn't present on the show we look at today mean the show struggled? Or would someone else step up the plate? 

2nd July 2004's main event was a grim six man tag that Bobby Roode, Eric Young & Petey Williams of Team Canada would win over 3 Live Kru's BJ James, Konnan & Ron "The Truth" Killings, after NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett had nailed Killings with a guitar. The bout was pretty much all 3LK, as they dominated from dull face shine to a horribly awkward section of brawling that would lead to Jarrett's inference. Outside of the match there was so much going, like Dennis Rodman being at ringside for 3LK and doing fuck all and Director of Authority Vince Russo telling a returning Ken Shamrock to jump Jarrett if he left his desk at the commentary table. Great job there Shamrock, great job. The former NWA World Heavyweight Champion did eventually come out, leading to a stare down with Shamrock and 3LK on one side and Jarrett and Elite Guard members Collyer, Hernandez and Onyx. The eight men were scheduled to take part in a Gauntlet for the Gold match for Jarrett's title on five days later. 

The episode would feature more six man tag action earlier in the hour as America's Most Wanted teamed with D'Lo Brown to defeat Team Japan members, NOSAWA, Miyamoto and a debuting masked bloke called Makeinu (who according to cagematch.net was MAZADA of AJPW fame), who ended up taking the fall to James Storm after taking a Superkick and AMW's Death Sentence tag finish. Considering the match was only ever going to go one way, we thought this ended up coming out as a solid bout. AMW and Brown seemed to gel as a trio, pulling out a triple team neckbreaker whatsit, whilst Team Japan made the most of their limited offence, highlight by Makeinu's overhead belly to belly suplex on Chris Harris. The closing stages picked things up very nicely indeed as Brown excelled with the hot tag, nailing a double jump mid-rope moonsault for a near fall, before flying through the ropes with his massive suicide dive. After an initial reluctance to Brown's appearance on these shows, the former WWF Intercontinental Champion has begun to impress us with his performances. 

Michael Shane and Kazarian were on the winning end of a tag bout with Chris Sabin and The Amazing Red, in a match that didn't quite manage to live up to expectations. The contest managed to finish strong, following a superb hot tag sequence from Sabin, who looked the capable of the four competitors at this time, despite only three years of experience. The finish was also well done as Kazarian blocked Sabin from hitting a Cradle Shock on Shane with a bicycle kick, before Shane sealed the deal with a superkick. The problem this match had though was a lack of drive at the start. The bout plodded along, waiting for a face shine from Sabin & Red that took ages to arrive, before FSN went to a break and on the other side Shane and Kazarian had taken control. The production of this was, of course, part of the problem, but for an X Division match I was expecting all four competitors to kick things off in style. 

The opening match was also from the X Division as Primetime overcame a debuting Alex Shelley (most regularly seen in IWA Mid-South before this), with a Play of the Day (Overdrive). Knowing of what both men were capable of at different points in their career, it's perhaps a little underwhelming. In a short clash, both men do get a chance to show something of what they can do, with a lovely high-angle moonsault from Primetime and straight-jacket lung blower from Shelley, particularly standing out. The Impact Zone continue to go absolutely nuts for Primetime's tightrope rana as well. The match isn't always as smooth as it could have, which is a shame considering the pair only had four minutes, but the finish is done well, giving Shelley a quality false finish as he turned Primetime's Play of the Day finish into a pinning situation.   

In other action, "The Alpha Male" Monty Brown would squash Abismo Negro in under three minutes. 

Results 

1. Singles Match: Primetime defeated Alex Shelley in 4 minutes, 32 seconds

2. Six Man Tag Team Match: America's Most Wanted - Chris Harris & James Storm & D'Lo Brown defeated Team Japan - Makeinu, Miyamoto & NOSAWA in 6 minutes, 20 seconds 

3. Singles Match: Monty Brown defeated Abismo Negro in 2 minutes, 55 seconds 

4. Tag Team Match: Kazarian & Michael Shane (with Traci) defeated Chris Sabin & The Amazing Red in 7 minutes, 20 seconds

5: Team Canada - Bobby Roode, Eric Young & Petey Williams defeated 3 Live Kru - BJ James, Konnan & Ron Killings in 4 minutes, 5 seconds 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 3.56/10

Despite being just two days before Independence Day, this show didn't illuminate the wrestling world like a firework, which is ironic considering all of the random pyro on the show. The main event was a complete shambles and I've still to find anything to like about the 3 Live Kru, whilst the rest of the action may have been mostly solid it wasn't much to excited about either. When looking at the card heading into the show, it's difficult not to disappointed heading out America's Most Wanted and D'Lo Brown provided the best action of the evening with their six man against Team Japan, which would have been improved had Makeinu, Miyamoto and NOSAWA not felt so faceless. 

Without beating around the bush, this was the worst episode of iMPACT so far.