TV Review: IMPACT Wrestling #629 - Ethan Carter III v Mike Bennett 4

Aired - 4th August 2016

With less than two months until the biggest show of the year, Bound For Glory, Ethan Carter III and Mike Bennett battled in the final of the Bound for Glory Play-Offs for a shot at Lashley's World Heavyweight Championship and James Storm got a shot at Eli Drake's King of the Mountain title, but would TNA kick-off August in style? 

With an opportunity to main event the biggest show of the year on the line, TRP's Mike Bennett and Ethan Carter III met in the Final of the Bound for Glory Play-Offs in a good main event. This was a match of two halves for me, with the first part seeing Bennett focus on EC3's injured ribs and the second part featuring interference from Bennett's muscle Moose and Eddie Edwards, as well as Maria Kanellis-Bennett. Both parts have their merits, with the first portion of course being my favourite with some great selling from EC3, especially when delivering moves during the shed-load of hope spots he had, but I have to say that I would've preferred that the two had been meshed together a bit better without feeling like two different bouts. Bennett's near falls towards the end of the match would have been stronger if they'd have involved the injured ribs in some way or another. 

The BFG Play-Offs have been somewhat marred by the high amount of interference, meaning that whilst the match have been fairly entertaining, that no one in particular has been able to stand out or really make the tournament their own. Bennett had previously beaten a Brother Nero who could barely walk and Drew Galloway [Drew McIntyre] after accidental interference from EC3 and out of the two men in the final he was the man who could've benefited the most from a strong showing in the earlier round. EC3 has had four shots at the belt on TV this year already, whilst The Miracle is yet to fight for TNA's main prize. Yes, Bennett is a heel and part of that is getting cheap victories, but there's a different a cheap victory and a lucky victory. Taken in isolation I don't think the overbooking would have bothered me as much as it did produce a number of strong false finishes, one coming off EC3 ducking a singapore cane shot and hitting a One Percenter [Headlock Driver] and another coming from a cane shot and MIP [Samoa Driver] from Bennett. However, in the context of the tournament, I feel that the bout and the entire tournament in general could have been booked a lot cleverer and done more to help the likes of Bennett, Bram and Eli Drake all of whom had yet to hold TNA's top prize. 

In the semi-main, "The Cowboy" James Storm ended Championship Wrestling From Hollywood's Eli Drake's [Shaun Ricker] two month run with the King of the Mountain title in good short bout, that had a number of strong near falls. The action wasn't always the smoothest, but the contest was full of bright ideas like Drake jumping to the top rope to meet Storm for a superplex, that although they could have been performed crisp, were still impressive. There was a good sense of the tension between the two, as they scrapped on the outside before the match, whilst both men bought some fire to their performances throughout. The final stretch called back to their previous encounters on screen with Drake taking a sip of The Cowboy's beer, spitting it indirectly into the referee's eyes, meaning that a school-boy roll-up from Storm was missed by the ref. Moments later Drake nailed a belt shot which made for smashing false finish. It could have gone longer, but Drake and Storm did a good job with the time allocated in what has to be one of the strongest bouts of the King of the Mountain Championships tumultuous history. 

Following the match, there was a segment that arguably should have been held off til the next episode, in which World Heavyweight & X Division Champion Lashley would head to the ring to challenge Storm for a future title for titles bout down the line. The Destroyer isn't the best talker, but can usually do a job with the right material, however the material wasn't great here. He spent most of his time critcising WWE for sending football teams title belts, which seemed like an odd thing to talk about, because I don't remember anyone having much of an opinion on that practice in the first place. It placed the attention on an entirely different company rather than building an upcoming Lashley v Storm bout. Luckily, Storm was on blinding form on the microphone, building a story for the contest on his own, talking about not having a World title shot for years, as well as bringing up his first title win over Kurt Angle in 2011, as he went on to accept the challenge. 

The Hardy saga continued this week as "Broken" Matt Hardy revealed his desire to win the tag titles to Brother Nero [Jeff Hardy] and their road to the belts, currently in the possession of The Decay [Abyss & Crazzy Steve] began. After the promos full of the eccentricities that have made the Broken character such a fun character to watch, Hardy would introduce CHIKARA's Chuck Taylor and Beyond's JT Dunn as Nero's opponent in what was essentially a handicap contest, with instruction that The Obsolete Mule was banned from hitting anything from the top rope. The match got overshadowed somewhat by Hardy's action at ringside as he assaulted a planted fan, pulling him over the guard and biting his face, leaving his mouth covered in blood. It was weird moment, but it certainly made me sit up and take notice. Hardy would eventually take the pin after spending the entire match on the outside, in what became a very silly, yet thoroughly entertaining contest.

The show had begun with a segment involving the two men who would battle in the main event, as Ethan Carter III and Mike Bennett took part in an interview with Jeremy Borash. This was mainly put together to add the storyline element to the main event, as Bennett and Moose would eventually assault EC3, where Moose would end up hitting his Go to Hell [Sitout chokebomb to an opponent seated on the top turnbuckle] on EC3. The lead to this featured two strong promos from both men, who fit very well together as characters, with EC3 able to mix some comedy in whilst still getting across his dislike for The Miracle and Bennett always managing to get under the crowd's skin with his attitude. The interaction added an extra layer to the main event, whilst also getting across both men's motivation for the bout clear. 

Gail Kim continued to build her case for a shot at the Knockout's Championship with a victory over the Champion SHINE's Sienna [Allysin Kay] and SHIMMER's Allie [Cherry Bomb] in a handicap bout. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this encounter, as when Maria Kanellis-Bennett announced it I let out a little groan. There were elements of it that I didn't quite warm to, which were mainly the supposedly comedic efforts from Allie based around her being unable to do simple moves like a body slam, however I can see why someone else might have found them funny. What I did like however was the way the story of the bout played out, with the Sienna and Allie odd-ball team, hinging on Sienna's reactions to Allie's outright annoying behaviour. With Sienna reluctant to do any more than the minimum work, this created an interesting story, with Kim doing a stellar job as the underdog babyface. The finish worked well with Kim managing to dodge The Silencer [Running low-angle shoulder block] from AK47, leading to Allie taking the brunt of the move and Kim continuing on her run to earning a shot at the title she lost in April. 

If two handicap matches (Yeah, I'm counting the Hardy Boyz v Taylor & Dunn as a handicap match, because that's what it was) weren't enough for ya, TNA wasn't gonna let you down as Al Snow teamed with duo The Tribunal (WWE's Baron Dax [Marcus Louis] & Basille Baracca [Tom LaRuffa]) to face ICW's Grado and Mahabali Shera. This was a basic contest, that mainly hang on Shera's ability to make a babyface comeback and Dax & Baracca's ability to control the match and cut off the ring. Unfortunately, both weren't done particularly well, with Shera's comeback mainly consisting of scoop slams and no-selling and The Tribunal's heat segment seeing them constantly whip Grado into the side of the ring nearest Shera. A section where Grado and Shera hit some double team moves, including Shera throwing Grado into the Roll n' Slice cannonball, was the highlight of the contest. The finish was a bit of a weird one with Shera blocking a brass knux punch from Snow and hitting his Sky High sitout spinebuster for the victory.  

Best of the Rest 

• Rosemary continued to tell Bram about her childhood in a delipated barn, she told him her boyfriend touched her up there and because like Nia Jax she's not like most girls, she kicked off and went dead dark and shit. Bram told her to get over it, so World Tag Team Champions The Decay (Abyss & Crazzy Steve) turned up and apparently killed him. 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.56/10 

I've noticed that this review can probably come across as a bit negative, but I honestly rather enjoyed this episode of IMPACT Wrestling. The two headline bouts were good matches and also had accompanying segments that either set them up the bout or took the storyline in a different direction. Outside of this was an entertaining development in the Hardy saga, including an appearance from one of my favourite indy performers Chuck Taylor. 

The handicap bouts could have been spread out a little, but the only match that I actively disliked was the Grado & Shera v Snow & The Tribunal situation, which failed to capture my attention. 

This was the best episode of IMPACT Wrestling since #626 Destination X, as TNA continues to put out a mostly above average to good television product. With the next episode once again featuring two high profile matches, as Matt Hardy & Brother Nero team up to face The Tribunal and James Storm puts his King of the Mountain Championship on the line against Lashley's World Heavyweight and X Division belts, I'd expect that episode to reach similar levels.

Words - James Marston

Banner - Kai Stellar 

TV Review: IMPACT Wrestling #628 - Ethan Carter III v Matt Hardy 8

The catch-up on IMPACT Wrestling reviews continues!

This episode featured the Semi-Finals of the Bound for Glory Play-Offs, an X Division title Ladder match and a Monster's Ball clash for the Tag Team titles. With The Decay, Gail Kim and the debuting David Starr in action, this was going to great, right?

The headline encounter featured Ethan Carter III and "Broken" Matt Hardy battling for a spot in the Bound for Glory Play-Off Final. Before the action got underway, there was a promo segment that initially began with Hardy berating Brother Nero, before EC3 would interrupt. The Universal Studios crowd seems to absolutely adore EC3 and he gave another strong performance on the mic, with an entertaining run-down of a number of "Broken" tropes, whilst also helping to add towards the Hardy v Nero feud that has been rumbling along for some time now. It was a nice reminder of the EC3 and Hardy feud from earlier in the year that brought a little extra spice to the match that directly followed it. 

EC3 and Hardy put on a good main event, with a story driven by The Ass-Kicking Machine (kayfabe) injuring his ankle off a missile dropkick, including Hardy removing EC3's boot to further go after the injury. Hardy has unquestionably reenvigorated his character over the past six months and that allowed him to wrestle a visually different style to pretty much anyone on TV at the moment, utilising mainly headbutts and biting to keep control of the match. In a business where everything has been done, anything that's remotely divergent from the norm, instantly draws you in and that's exactly what Hardy's got going on right now. For my tastes the finish was a little over-booked with Reby Hardy sliding a hammer to Nero, before Nero slid it across the ring in-between Hardy & EC3, with the ref removing the hammer from Hardy's grasp, EC3 would pick up the win after nailing Hardy with the boot that had been removed earlier. Anything that take such a long winded explanation is too much for me, but it did advance that Hardy-Nero feud, whilst bringing the previously removed boot back into the match was a neat piece of storytelling also.

The second semi-final involved "The Miracle" Mike Bennett and Drew Galloway and despite some nice ideas, ended up becoming even more over-booked than the main event. Moose, EC3 and Maria Kanellis-Bennett would all end up getting involved in a bout that went just over 7 minutes in an example of trying to do too much at the same time. The one thing that came out here looking good was Moose, who looked like a true destructive force, taking out Galloway on his entrance, later for a near fall and then EC3 after being sent into the steel steps himself. EC3 clobbering Galloway by mistake has been done to death in this feud alone and didn't have much impact at all, especially compared to the other times we've seen this happen. Bennett's heel character is building especially with Moose now at his side, but I'm still waiting for him to have a breakout match in the company.

Lashley's X Division title defense against DJ Z was a bit unexpected and in another case of hot shot booking in TNA was made a Ladder match also. Personally, I'd have preferred to see a singles bout before the two, before a arrogant Lashley gave Z the opportunity to choose the match type as we got here. This was arguably the strongest match on the show though, telling a decent power v speed type story, whilst throwing in a number of impressive spots that lifted the excitement. Z took his opportunity towards the top of the card and owned it pulling out a series high spots including a senton off the announce table and a big crossbody of the top of the ladder to the floor! He also ended up taking a ridiculous gorilla press bump off the top of the ladder for the finish. Even if it was Z who really made this bout tick, it's Lashley's dominance that continues!

James Storm guested on an entertaining edition of King of the Mountain Champion Eli Drake's Fact of Life talk show, with a future title bout between the two being scheduled. Both threw around sophomoric insults about shagging mothers and southern redneck incest and such, whilst Drake also teased a potential showdown with Lashley at a latter date. Drake continues to improve on the microphone managing to be incredibly watchable, whilst making you want to see someone kick his teeth in Row Z at the same time and this was no different. The segment concluded with Drake standing over his rival, after coming out on top in a scrap, ending things with Blaunt Force Trauma, before repeatedly shouting his popular catchphrase "Dummy Yeah" into Storm's knocked out ears (as seen above, Dummy (yeah))

Similar to the X Division title Ladder match, the tag team title bout seemed to blindside me and then it was like "Oh we're having a Monster's Ball match, okay. Cool." In another similarity, The Decay's Abyss & Crazzy Steve defending against The Bro-Mans' Jessie Godderz & Robbie E was a compact but brutal match. Straight out of the gates with the big moments, this was a very good spot-fest, that saw barbed wire boards and thumbs tacks get introduced within the first two minutes! With a genuinely believable near fall, after E & Godderz got on a roll and Mr. Pec-tacular got The Adonis Crab locked in on Steve, who spent a long time in the hold and two big bumps from both Bro-Mans en route to The Decay retaining the belts, this was an exhilarating sprint between two teams whose stock have been continuously raising as 2016 goes on.

ROH's Moose had his in-ring debut for TNA opposite CZW's David Starr, also making his debut. This was a straight-forward squash match, in which the former American football player looked like a beast. Whilst it was a positive debut for Moose, it was a shame that the talented Starr wasn't allowed much of an opportunity to show off what he could do for the company. Following the bout, Moose would have a confrontation with World Heavyweight and X Division Champion Lashley, whilst Mike Bennett built up the potential of a match between the two, before quickly denying the live crowd of that possibility. Lashley throwing some bitchy lines towards his younger rival, with Bennett having to hold Moose back from a fight was a different piece of booking that continued to blur the lines between heel and face for everyone but Bennett. Just like the Lashley v EC3 feud and latter the EC3 v Galloway feud, Moose v Lashley seems like something that TNA is going keep teasing, continue to make people want to see the match more and more before it's ready to deliver.

The only women's match on the card saw Gail Kim begin her run towards a Knockout's Championship shot with a victory over Madison Rayne in a match that happened. Every move was performed well enough, but there was no feel of urgency and the purpose of the match was never put over clearly enough by either the performers or the commentary team. Considering Rayne had turned heel on Kim just a week previously, she didn't do act that of a heel, until arguing with referee Earl Hebner in the finish. Things weren't helped by Josh Matthews at the announce desk who continues to be cringe-worthy listen throughout and even more so when his wife, Rayne, is in the ring!

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 4.88/10

A slight dip in quality from last week's episode here, in which the two Bound for Glory Play-Off Semi-Finals both failed to deliver on their promise. The bouts that became the best of the show came completely unannounced on the show as Lashley v DJ Z in a Ladder match and The Decay v The Bro-Mans in Monster's Ball, both delivered in all their random, spot-based glory. The weak women's bout, a squash match for Moose and the over-booked Bennett v Galloway contest dragged the score below an average five for IMPACT Wrestling #628.

All content - James Marston

TV Review: IMPACT Wrestling #625 - Eight Man Ultimate X (James Marston)

A big old mental week of IMPACT Wrestling this week, with Matt and Jeff Hardy's Final Deletion match grabbing all the headline and taking up all the space on our Twitter feeds right now. That's exactly why we chose to give the match and it's build up it's own special article and review which can be found here - Final Deletion - Let's face it the storyline has been pretty much outside of IMPACT Wrestling for weeks and months anyway, in terms of production and style, so it deserved it's space where I could go more in depth. On the show itself however, the Eight Man Ultimate X match and prior segment got much more time, so that's gonna be the main focus of this article. Obviously, I'm gonna talk about Final Deletion, but if you want a more in depth look then click the link above. Right that's enough of an intro, let's talk about the show. 

For me, the booking of the shows open has been everything that's been wrong with the X-Division for the last couple of years rolled into one. I've made it clear in recent reviews that I'm a big fan of Mike Bennett's work and he continued to portray his character perfectly well throughout the segment, but as Dixie Carter made her return after a week off (really not a return is it guys?) things quickly went down hill. Carter ripped into Bennett only seeing the title as a stepping stone. This is despite her owning the company that offers the X Division champion a chance to throw his belt down to get a chance at a different one. Had it been someone like Eddie Edwards, who Bennett won the title from via underhanded means, saying this, leading to Carter returning to make a 1 v 1 match between the two, you've got a segment that doesn't point out the flaw in the booking logic and allows someone to make the belt look like something that's worth holding on to in it's own right. 

Instead of having a one-on-one rematch between Edwards and Bennett, Carter announced an eight man Ultimate X match for the belt, that'd end up with Edwards winning the belt back anyway, after knocking Bennett off a ladder to retrieve the belt. Andrew Everrett, Trevor Lee, Mandrews, DJ Z, Braxton Sutter and Rockstar Spud were the other men in the bout. On it's own the match was a really fun watch with everyone involved putting in a lot of effort throughout, whether that be from pulling out beautiful dives like Mandrews' moonsault of the top of the scaffold structure or more character-driven work like that from Spud who left the match early after seemingly having some teeth kick out by rival Sutter.  Was this a great television contest, yes it really was. Would I have preferred to have seen a focused singles bout between Bennett and Edwards get the same amount of time? Almost certainly. 

Final Deletion was a bonkers match that took place at the Hardy's home in North Carolina, where Matt Hardy would defeat Jeff Hardy, after setting fire to a giant version of Jeff's logo whilst "The Charismatic Enigma" was at it's peak, sending Jeff crashing to the ground. The match was produced like a movie with incidental music instead of commentary. This was not a match that was built on it's realism. From a few minutes in, things hit bat shit level craziness, as Jeff jumped out of a tree onto Matt who was propped up on a ladder in the corner, both men attacked each other with fireworks, Matt hid in a dilapidated boat, thought he'd drowned his brother in a lake, Willow turned up, Benjamin tasered Willow, but Benjamin was actually Willow or something. I don't fucking know okay. These lads have turned me into a mess with their mental antics. The finish of the match somehow had to top the rest of this lunacy and as described above it did. Once you see this match you will never ever forget it.

With Destination X taking place next week, Jeremy Borash asked new X Division Champion Eddie Edwards his plans in regards to the World Heavyweight Championship. This developed into a cool back and forth between Edwards and World Heavyweight Champion Lashley on the mic with both bringing their "A game" to assemble an interestingly poised match for next week. The segment built throughout as, first, Lashley tried to convince Edwards why he shouldn't go for the World title, only to offer something knew after seeing just how fired up Edwards became about his opportunity. Next week the pair with face off with both titles on the line, even with the X Division not what it was, this is still a big match. Whilst Edwards promo had passion, I felt this was one of Lashley strongest ever non-wrestling performances on TV as he bought a calm, believable, cynicism to his character, especially when threatening to destroy the X Division. I'd have liked to have seen this a week after Edwards won back the belt, allowing for breathing space and protecting Edwards from over-exposure.

If I'm going to mention over-exposure in regards to Eddie Edwards then I'm definitely going to have to mention in it when talking about Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis-Bennett. After opening the show with a promo, followed by Bennett dropping the X Division title, we then had another promo from the pair. I've been vocal about how much I've enjoyed the pairs work for TNA, but for me this was too much of a good thing. Absence makes the heart grow fonder after all. It all got a bit hammy when Billy Corgan and Dixie Carter came out, which lead to MKB throwing out a "This company is big enough for the both of us" situation to Carter, before Corgan called the couples bluff telling them to leave if they wanted to, before Bennett & MKB refused to quit and promised to make Destination X a disaster. I'm struggling to buy into this feud, as Carter and Corgan don't interest me either on their own or together and as the current driving babyface force, there's not a whole lot to buy into.

The Bro-Mans and Raquel picked up a surprise victory over World Tag Team Champions The Decay in six person tag team action, with Robbie E and Jessie Godderz hitting their Bro-Down finish to pin Crazzy Steve. The match turned in a decent tag clash, that despite a few questionable piece of booking like Godderz making his comeback on Abyss, as the two teams seemed to mesh well with their styles complementing each other. Following the hot tag and collision between Steve and Robbie E, the match flowed much better than I thought it would have heading into the match. The match played into another story that has been developing for the last two weeks, between The Decay and Bram, whilst also using The Bro-Mans Big Brother: After Dark cross-over as they played Bram necking with Rosemary backstage on the big screen before the match, with the Decays' loss being chalked up to this earlier distraction. 

In the other championship match of the evening, James Storm was unsuccessful in his challenge for Eli Drake's King of the Mountain Championship, despite winning the match via DQ after Drake attacked him with the title belt. This is another feud which has potential to blossom into something special on the undercard, and this match seemed to start building on the foundations that had been laid last week. The match was over quickly, but there was just enough of a glimpse of some in-ring chemistry between the two and we've seen what they can do on stick last week, so there's an opportunity here to produce some attractive television, whilst also allowing Drake to learn from a well-travelled veteran and elevating the King of the Mountain Championship in process. 

Considering the spot on the card they found themselves in, Jade and Marti Bell put on a more than enjoyable Street Fight, to seemingly conclude their feud as Jade got the pin with a Package Piledriver onto a steel chair. The two wrestled in jeans and looked like they wanted to hurt each, with Jade looking especially bad-ass. Despite Josh Mattews and The Pope being utter drivel on commentary, Jade and Bell bought crisp, strong offence and mixed it in with some of the usual plunder that TNA brings out for it's matches. For me, the more storyline moments like Jade pulling out nunchucks to counteract Bell's telescopic baton, before later holding the baton herself, were the weakest part of the match with rushing their moments with the camera just a tad. It's a shame that this feud has got to a gimmick bout already, because I'd've liked to see have seen what Jade and Bell could have done if allowed to explore their feud just a bit more.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.22/10

An improvement on last week's episode but not quite reaching the year high of #625, the show will be remembered for generations to come. The Final Deletion will be discussed at wrestling shows and in bars and anywhere anyone who watches it happens to be. The X-Division guys went all out to show why they deserved more of a chance on the show, with guys like Mandrews and DJ Z making strong cases. Eddie Edwards showed he can handle himself with a promo opposite a main eventer, can he become a legit main eventer for TNA next week? Jade and Marti Bell put on the strongest contest on the undercard in their Street Fight, whilst the rest of the show managed to produce watchable wrestling onto which something can be built. The only thing I didn't particularly like was the second Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis-Bennett promo, with Dixie Carter and Billy Corgan's weird power struggle struggling to strike a chord with me.

A big episode of IMPACT Wrestling, with The Final Deletion managing to cause a big stir amongst social media and all over the world. I'd like to thing that the card was just about strong enough that those who tuned in for Final Deletion will decide to stick around next week for the big Title for Title match between Lashley and Eddie Edwards.

TV Review: IMPACT Wrestling #623 (James Marston)

I ripped into last week's IMPACT Wrestling, which apart from a stellar main event between Lashley and Drew Galloway, was a piss poor TV show. Could the show recover and start the summer with a bang? 

There was a lot going on this week with some major storyline twists and turns, but I'll begin by talking about the lengthy segment that would see Billy Corgan recommend TNA President Dixie Carter take a week off and Mike Bennett win the X Division title from Eddie Edwards. The first portion of the segment is a hard one to review, because so much of it hangs on where the storyline is going over the next few weeks. It was however an improvement on last week's segment, that would lead to Carter slapping Maria Kanellis-Bennett, as I thought both MKB and Bennett where on really strong form from the beginning, bringing an intensity to proceedings that managed to drive the segment. I'm also finding myself beginning to warm towards Billy Corgan's character, as he's slotted into a tweener role that hasn't been seen enough in the authority figure sphere lately, obviously this could change. I'm slightly worried that we're heading towards a power struggle angle, which I wouldn't be too interested in, but overall I thought everyone played their roles well here, even the ever so hammy Carter. 

Personally, I feel that parts of this segment could have been split over two weeks at least. As Bennett asked Corgan for an X Division title shot (because apparently Destination X is "just around the corner) with Corgan rambling a bit before giving it him straight away. Bennett and Eddie Edwards had previously squared off in Ring of Honor and North East Wrestling and I think that showed here as the pair went through a series of enjoyable action, and looked comfortable throughout. The narrative of Bennett trying to show that he could wrestle the "X-Division style" was a bit corny, but wasn't overplayed so therefore just about managed to work here, with Edwards using his pace to make a comeback rounding off things well. Bennett nicking a win by holding onto MKB at ringside to gain leverage on a pin was a fine finish that topped a pacy closing sequence well. Marking his first championship since dropping the ROH World Tag belt in December last year, I'm looking forward to seeing what Bennett can bring as the head of the division and looking forward an increased focus on the division heading into the Destination X special. 

The show would begin with a belting on-mic showdown between Drew Galloway and Ethan Carter III. The two went at it hammer and tongues as Galloway accused EC3 of costing him the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in last week's main event. Both men brought a great energy here, seeming to bounce off each other, continually driving each other to produce better and better performances. The scripting was top notch as the two babyfaces threw barbs and made the World Heavyweight title look important at the same time. The interruption from Lashley that followed did take a bit of the sting out of things however, with a questionable piece of booking as Lashley gave both men an opportunity to win a title shot at the same time, rather than simply fighting each other. I struggled to understand the logic behind Lashley's decision as he also offered Eli Drake an title shot if he could help him beat Galloway and EC3. I think the choice of match would have felt much more logical had it been made by a separate authority figure, perhaps Carter or Corgan. 

The tag clash would follow up straight away and although I'd have liked to have seen the story given a bit more breathing room, this was a more than solid opening contest for the show. I was really into the first portion of the bout, with Lashley and Drake finding a nice groove for their team, playing up their roles as they use many an underhanded tactics to keep in control of EC3. I'm a sucker for the spot where a hot tag is cut off by an opponent pulling the hot tagee off the apron, so got a big kick out of it being used here. The closing few minutes ended up being a bit scrappy, with a lot of different elements trying to be threaded through just a few minutes of action, with Lashley's awkward bump off a TKO from EC3 adding to this. Galloway would pick up the pinfall on Drake (after a One Percenter (Headlock Driver) from EC3) with Dixie Carter later informing Lashley that he'd face both "The Captain" and "The Ass Kicking Machine" on next week's episode. 

The Hardy Boyz feud would come to an end in the show-closing Six Sides of Steel bout, that probably needs to be seen to be fully believed. Anyone who's caught any of the feud between Matt and Jeff will know by know that's been utter ridiculous throughout, straddling the line between bizarrely genius and just straight up bizarre and of course, the final chapter would be no different. The match was an all-action affair, with Jeff filling the ring with Tables, Ladders and Chairs before the match, leading to more than a few weapon shots here. If WWE calls their TLC PPV, wrestling's "Demolition Derby" then the final spot here may have been the true embodiment of that term as Jeff scaled a ladder on top of turnbuckle (slightly higher that cage) before leaping off, putting himself through a table, that itself was placed another table, with Matt lying on it, covered in a steel chairs. It looked like Jeff may have slightly miscalculated his jump as he seemed to come down on shoulder or side of his head in process of taking out his brother. Was this match any good? I couldn't tell you. Was this match entertaining? Hell yes. 

After a quick jaunt over to AAA in Mexico, Rockstar Spud returned to in ring action with TNA after coming out and forcefully replacing Balam (better known as Lince Dorada in FIP and WWN, and a competitor in the upcoming WWE Cruiserweight Class) in a match with Braxton Sutter. Spud cut an enjoyable promo as he dismissed Balam and complained about all the attention that Sutter had been getting as of late. The resulting match was a little on the short side, as Sutter ended up pinning Spud in under three minutes. It did make Sutter look very good in there, but seeing as TNA are continuing with a Spud/Sutter feud (Spud would attack Sutter after the bout), I feel like a few more minutes here would have benefited the pair going forward.

In the Knockouts Division this week, Jade and Marti Bell collided in well put together grudge match. Jade looked like a real bad ass here, as she continued to grow into her babyface role by dominated Jade throughout the match. There was a palpable sense of her dislike for her former Doll House stable mate and this drove the match as Jade refused to let Bell get hardly any offence in, as well as hitting a brutal looking Electric Chair Facebuster onto the apron from the outside of the ring. Bell's metal baton played a big part in the match, with referee Earl Hebner having to discourage Jade from using it, before Bell would profit from nailing Jade in the head as she attempted a suicide dive, in a nice piece of storytelling. Perhaps the bout could have done with a few more minutes, but this was still an enjoyable slice of action, that saw both women put in strong performances in their respective roles and advance their rivalry nicely.

Lastly, this week's show saw a new storyline created as World Tag Team Champions The Decay would first offer Bram a slot in their group, before attacking the former King of the Mountain Champion when he declined their offer. The segment was carried by Rosemary, who did the majority of the talking, with more than a bit of a sexual undercurrent, in order to convince Bram of why he should join, with some solid reasoning that harked back to his past in the promotion. I thought Bram did a decent job here, as he tries to find his feet after his face turn. Depending on where this goes over the next few weeks, it has the potential to really make Bram as an upper level face talent for the company, although it will even more important to keep The Decay group looking strong. 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.94/10 

This was the best episode of IMPACT Wrestling I've seen this year. A complete turn around from last week's episode as I found something to enjoy in each and every segment, and beyond that there was some brilliant work from guys like Drew Galloway, Ethan Carter III and Mike Bennett. The storyline advancement was spot on in most places with even feuds lower down the card getting some much needed attention, which brought a lovely depth to the show. The Hardy Boyz steel cage bout was completely bonkers, but I'd still be happy to call it the best match on the show for it's sheer entertainment value.

I'm hoping to see a higher level of consistency over the rest of the summer from TNA, with more shows like this and less like the week before!

TV Review: IMPACT Wrestling #622 - Gold Rush (James Marston)

Just two days removed from Slammiversary XIV, TNA presented a special edition of IMPACT Wrestling from Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, USA. Gold Rush would ever match as Championship bout, so it had to be good, yeah?

Headline Segments

Singles Match - TNA World Heavyweight Championship - Lashley vs. Drew Galloway 

Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis-Bennett call out Dixie Carter

But was it any good? Let's find out.

This episode began with a fairly run of the mill opening segment, as new TNA World Heavyweight Champion Lashley kicked off proceedings. For me, Lashley is pretty ineffective with a solo promo and that showed here, as he lacked conviction in his delivery, especially when tasked with major claims like "I am better than every wrestler in the wrestling business today". What I did like however was how the rest of the segment went, as Ethan Carter III was out to lay claim to a title shot, before Drew Galloway interrupted to invoke his rematch clause. A rather savvy piece of booking here, as we've seen EC3 and Lashley cross paths a couple of times since March, with various things stopping them from having full blown fight with each other, so once again this segment teased a scrap continuing to add fuel to that fire, whilst simultaneously keeping it on the back burner. EC3 and Galloway both a lot of energy to the segment, with Galloway's promo being particularly strong in it's content and delivery. 

The episode's first match saw Jeff Hardy challenging for the TNA King of the Mountain Championship against Eli Drake in a sloppy encounter. The clash had a couple of nice ideas, like Drake's springboard flying attack thing being turned into a powerbomb by Hardy, but more often than not these ideas where met with a scrappy execution. Outside this the match was fairly straightforward, with Drake dominating the earlier part of the match after throwing Hardy into the barricade, before a Whisper in the Wind would change the tide for Hardy. The finish earned an audible sigh from me, as Hardy nailed a Twist of Fate and then a Swanton Bomb, only for Matt Hardy to turn up and bite referee Earl Hebner's hand leading to the disqualification finish and Drake retaining his title. I honestly thought the Hardy stuff had been finished the previous Sunday at Slammiversary and that this show would feature fresher storylines, but nah, this bizarre feud rolls on.

fast-forward...Nice little backstage segment with Ethan Carter III and Drew Galloway having a chat about Galloway's TNA World Heavyweight Championship rematch with Lashley later in the show...

Thought that was all the Hardy shenanigans you were gonna get this week. Hell no, motherfucker. To be fair to the segment, it did manage to take the family rivalry to whole new level of utter insanity. Matt Hardy is doing some of the weirdest stuff that I've seen in the wrestling business and I've no idea if it's completely awful or bloody awesome. With Matt cutting his promo from the stairs that Jeff had jumped off a few months ago, there was no particular reason given for why this feud was continuing, it just was. There may have never been a storyline that has been so damn quotable as this one. "This here is the origin of broken Matt Hardy", "You had zero remorse for my lurvely wife" "For those sins you must be deleted" "Fight me with hona" with even Jeff chipping in with the ridiculous statement that baby Maxel was "the youngest teenage superstar ever to grace this sport". It all ended up with a silly spot as Matt pushed Jeff down the handrail of the stairs, which lets be honest wasn't the most brutal spot and was a bit of an anti-climax following the intense weirdness of the rest of the segment.

fast-forward...Matt Hardy left me questioning the meaning of life as he challenged Jeff Hardy to a Six Sides of Steel match next week in a backstage promo...

Eddie Edwards was putting his newly won TNA X Division Championship on the line against former champion Trevor Lee in a short encounter next. The pair showed real promise that they could produce a memorable encounter, if given more than four minutes to put something together. The action was crisp and the pair looked comfortable with each other as they crammed as much activity as they could into their match. A nice near fall for each lead to match feeling fairly open as Lee got a two of a Jumping Knee after distraction from Gregory Shane Helms, and Edwards countered Lee's small package driver with a small package of his own. It was a frustrating watch, as you could see the pair were fighting against the time constraints and therefore were never able to take things up a notch. Edwards would retain the title in simple finish, connecting with a Boston Knee Party to collect victory.

fast-forward...The Bro-Mans used some kind surveillance system to watch Raquel get changed, yeah, um, wow, 2016...Ethan Carter III and Lashley bumped into each other backstage, with EC3 reminding Lashley that he'd be coming for whoever was holding the title after tonight...

One of the most heavily promoted sections of the show was the announcement of this year's inductee into the TNA Hall of Fame. Dixie Carter was on hand to unveil five time TNA Women's Knockout Champion and one time TNA Women's Knockout Tag Team Champion Gail Kim, with a promo flooded with hyperbole and video package on Kim's TNA career. To be fair, Kim was probably the only name that could think of as a possible induction this year, with names like AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe all aligned with rival promotions. Whilst the official ceremony will take place in October at Bound For Glory, Kim thanked ANYONE SHE'D EVER WRESTLED anyway. This will most likely be used to add momentum to Kim's feud with Maria Kanellis-Bennett.

fast-forward...The Decay cut a short promo about their upcoming TNA World Tag Team Championship match, including some cryptic words from Rosemary about finding someone who needed to decay...Jade interviewed Jeremy Borash's sit-down interview with Marti Belle, attacking her former Dollhouse partner, throwing her into a row of chairs before having to be restrained...

The Decay put their TNA World Tag Team Championships in a Four Corners match involving The BroMans, Grado and Mahabali Shera and The Tribunal in a thrown together bout. It'd be hard to make a case for any of the three challenging teams deserving a title shot, with the BroMans having lost to The Decay and The Tribunal only having their first match as a duo and defeating Grado and Shera two days earlier at Slammiversary. Therefore the match ended up being fairly disjointed and whilst it didn't descend into becoming an absolute mess, neither did it provide anything of any real note. The Decay picked up their third successful title defense, capitalising on Al Snow's attack on Grado, with Abyss chokeslamming Crazzy Steve onto the prone Scotsman for the pinfall. 

The longest segment of the show so far was up next and it was more talking. This time an appearance from Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis-Bennett, which is usually a highlight of the show for me, but unfortunately I felt that the segment came across as long-winded and ended up feeling much longer than it actually was. The narrative was basically that MKB would continue to get more and more aggressive with Dixie Carter, leading to Carter slapping her. Um, cool, I suppose. But it was just full of filler, as Billy Corgan came out for no particular reason and then Carter came out anyway, with everyone involved just rambling about nonsense. Carter shouting "These people do not want to hear you talk anymore" got a chuckle from me because how utterly ridiculous that statement is coming from the head of the company, who is also taking up precious TV time by talking. Carter should be nowhere MKB, there's no benefit for anyone of running with this storyline, especially when the one moment that the segment hinged on, the slap, looked bloody awful anyway. 

If the rest of the show had been the miss, we were about to get a whole lot of hit as Drew Galloway unsuccessfully challenged for Lashley's TNA World Heavyweight Championship in a very good TV match. The pair hooked me from the opening exchange of action as Galloway went straight after Lashley, showing a detirmination to win back the title he lost the previous Sunday and a hatred for the man who had taken it from him, then The Destroyer clocked him in the ribs, which just so happened to be heavily taped and you had a match with a real story to tell. Galloway has developed into a top drawer performer over the last two years and it was all on show here. His selling was spot on, his facial expressions were believable and his offence looked strong and had a real purpose behind it, whilst helped by the narrative and booking, Galloway made it very easy to get behind him. On the flip side, Lashley looked like a dick, constantly going after the injury, posturing for the crowd and squaring up to Ethan Carter III on commentary and it worked as Universal Studios were on his back the whole match. The finish perhaps could have been a little stronger, with a bit of overbooking en route to Lashley pinning Galloway to retain, but it managed to work itself into the ongoing storyline in a way that will hopefully be paid off over the next couple of months. Doors have been opened for a Lashley vs. EC3 tie, whilst EC3 accidentally nailing Galloway with a chair creates some more storyline options going forward. 

finally...

atpw scale rating - 3.94/10

This wasn't a good two hours of wrestling. It would be very kind to describe anything other than the main event above average here. Lashley and Drew Galloway with some help from Ethan Carter III may have produced a smashing television bout, with some clever booking and interesting storytelling, but if the undercard doesn't pull at least some of it's weight then you're going to end up with a fairly poor wrestling show. The lengthy segment with Dixie Carter slapping Maria Kanellis-Bennett, the under-developed World Tag Team and X Division Championship match and whatever the fuck is going on with The Hardy Boyz are to blame for this shows, relatively, low rating score. With this being an important live episode and coming directly out of a PPV involving a World title change, I can't help but feel that TNA missed a trick in not putting on more quality matches and focusing needless segments like Gail Kim being named as the next TNA Hall of Famer.

Hopefully next week picks up a little!

TV Review: IMPACT Wrestling #616 (Bennett vs. Lashley vs. Hardy)

On 3rd May 2016, TNA aired the 616th episode of IMPACT Wrestling, taped on 21st April 2016 at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, USA, on POP TV. TNA World Heavyweight Champion Drew Galloway acted as special guest referee for a #1 Contender's Three way bout for his title between "The Miracle" Mike Bennett, "The Destroyer" Lashley and "The Charismatic Enigma" Jeff Hardy, after Lashley had demanded a shot at the gold after interrupting Bennett and Hardy's singles match earlier in the show...but was it any good? Let's take a look!

impact wrestling #616 match card

Match 1 – Men's Singles - “The Miracle” Mike Bennett with Maria Kanellis-Bennett vs. Jeff Hardy

Match 2 – Men's Singles – TNA World Tag Team Champion“The Monster” Abyss with The Decay: TNA World Tag Team Champion Crazzy Steve & Rosemary vs. “The Cowboy” James Storm

Match 3 – TNA King of the Mountain Championship King of the Mountain Men's Ladder – Andrew Everrett with Gregory Shane Helms vs. Jessie Godderz vs. Eddie Edwards vs. TNA King of the Mountain Championship Feast or Fired Briefcase Holder Eli Drake vs. Bram ©


Match 4 – TNA World Heavyweight Championship #1 Contender's Men's Three Way – “The Miracle” Mike Bennett with Maria Kanellis-Bennett vs. “The Destroyer” Lashley vs. “The Charismatic Enigma” Jeff Hardy

Commentary: "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero & Josh Matthews

Theme Song: "Roustabout" by Billy Corgan

fast-forward...Lashley attacks TNA World Heavyweight Champion Drew Galloway in a gym and the pair end up brawling in an MMA cage before getting separated by a load of TNA guys...Tightly produced recap of Mike Bennett defeating Ethan Carter III from IMPACT Wrestling #614, EC3's first pinfall loss in TNA...

hardy defeats bennett via disqualification due to interference from lashley, carter books hardy vs. bennett vs. lashley in main event

An interesting first in-ring section to the show, that took a number of twists and turns over it's 15 minutes screen time. Mike Bennett continued to impress on the microphone, looking very comfortable as the shows focal point, commanding the screen as he boasted about being the first person to pin Ethan Carter III on IMPACT Wrestling #615. Whilst Bennett's performance was spot on, I couldn't help but feel that certain parts of the promo, such as referring to himself as "God" had been recycled from elsewhere, with Eric Young claiming the very same thing on TNA programming quite recently. The segment would develop with Jeff Hardy interrupting Bennett and taking umbrage to "The Miracle"'s words, so much so that he spent about three weeks slapping hands with fans before getting into the ring. After a bit of back and forth, Bennett agreed to go ask Dixie Carter for a match with Hardy as the show's main event, with Hardy attacking "The Miracle" before he could get out of the ring and having the match begin after the break. A few flaws here, but Bennett's performance made things extremely watchable, his intonation and facial expressions are steadily turning him into one of the promotions brightest stars.

The second big swing of the evening was that the match lasted under two minutes, as "The Destroyer" Lashley injected himself into proceedings by nailing Hardy with a big spear to give "The Charismatic Enigma" the disqualification victory. Lashley gave Bennett a bit of hiding as well just for good measure. Of course, Lashley has had problems with TNA World Heavyweight Champion Drew Galloway, as was seen at the start of the show, so that's what this was all about. Lashley called out Dixie Carter and demanded a title match, only to be placed a three way with the men he had interrupted and have Galloway inserted in as the Special Guest Referee. For me, this was another case of TNA just rushing things a little bit too much, with the first twenty five minutes of the show featuring at least another week's worth of booking in there. Non the less, we had been presented with our main event earlier on, with lots of reasons to stay tuned to see what happened. 

fast-forward...A very weird backstage segment with The Decay where Rosemary spat liquid into Crazzy Steve's mouth and into Abyss' face as part of their “transformation”...

abyss defeats storm 

Just like the show-open, there was a lot going here. The pacing was perhaps slightly out, but the new revelations involved current TNA World Tag Team Champions The Decay was handled much better than they could have been. On paper it's a ridiculous piece of storyline with Crazzy Steve now able to speak because Rosemary spat some stuff in his mouth and Abyss now with a mask and sporting face-paint "scars" because she spat in his face. The performers and especially Rosemary really went for it with a dark promo, that seemingly got a babyface reaction from Universal Studios crowd. After a short interruption and attack from James Storm, who would confirm that his Beer Money partner, Bobby Roode, had departed from TNA, Abyss and Storm would have a short match in one of "The Monster"'s most dominant performance in recent teams. A blast of mist and Black Hole slam would ensure that Abyss would remain undefeated in singles action in 2016. This wouldn't be the last we'd see out of The Decay either...

fast-forward...Jeff Hardy chats about his upcoming main event match...

sienna debuts, sides with kanellis-bennett and attacks jade 

Another case of TNA cramming as much as they possible can into each segment here. We got TNA Knockout's Champion Jade's babyface turn as she refused to lay down for "Head of the Knockout's" Maria Kanellis-Bennett, which got a pretty good reaction out of Universal Studios with the Orlando crowd quick to get behind their champion. This would herald the debut of SHINE star Allysin Kay, now going under the name Sienna. The newcomer looked impressive on her debut, dominating Jade and throwing her around the ring with ease. MKB was quick to point out this wasn't a match and this allowed Sienna to take things to the outside throwing Jade into the steps, including a brutal looking wheelbarrow swing. Giving MKB someone to do her dirty work in the Knockout's division is a solid move, as "The First Lady of Pro-Wrestling" was always going to struggle to be the promotions top female heel without getting too involved physically. Sienna and Jade being no strangers to each other having competed numerous times on the independent circuit over the last four years, including a trip to China, should lead to a great chemistry when they finally tie up for a proper match. 


fast-forward...Jeremy Borash was “supposed” to interview Ethan Carter III, but he doesn't show up, instead Mike Bennett takes his spot...

bram defeats everrett, godderz, edwards and drake to retain tna king of the mountain championship in a king of the mountain ladder match

Before I get into the quality of this contest, I'd like to mention how chucking away a King of the Mountain ladder match with no build, rhyme or reason on television is completely stupid. Before the match appeared on the screen I had no idea there was a King of the Mountain match on the show (and I was watching it five days after the original broadcast!) and even then I couldn't work out what Andrew Everett, Eddie Edwards, Jessie Godderz and Eli Drake had done to earn themselves a shot at the belt that Bram had won just one week earlier. The match itself was decent, with a handful of nice spots, like Bram's missile front drop kick to knock Drake off the ladder, but nothing to get too excited about. Edwards and Everrett would end up brawling to the back in the middle of the match, further relegating the title belt they were supposed to be fighting over, after Everett had spent most of the match looking like a complete chump, getting pinned by Bram and submitting to Godderz within five minutes. To further confuse things Drake has the Feast or Fired briefcase for a shot at TNA King of the Mountain Championship and even tried to cash in after the match, only for Bram to recover and fight off his challenge. 

ec3 has words for bennett, lashley defeats hardy and bennett to become number one contender to tna world heavyweight championship

Before the main event for the evening could get under way, we finally got to hear from Ethan Carter III about his loss to Mike Bennett last week, when EC3 confronted Bennett moments after "The Miracle" had made his way to the ring. "The Ass-Kicking Machine" nailed his promo, which was particularly well-crafted, shying away from a lot of wrestling cliches and feeling fresh and original. EC3 accepted his loss to Bennett, claiming to not want to be like those who he had defeated during his undefeated streak, saying the loss would make him "absolute", before finishing off by recalling Bennett referring to himself as "God" earlier in the show, adding that if that was the case then EC3 would be his "Devil". Captivating stuff here, especially having EC3 saying it directly to Bennett inside the ring, which added a whole different dimension to proceedings. A rematch between the two is now much bigger and I can't wait to see what the pair do again. A quick stare-down with Lashley as EC3 exited kept their feud ticking over also.

A quality main event here, with Bennett, Lashley and Jeff Hardy all working hard to create a match that blended a number of on-going narratives and introduced some new ones. Strong pacing became the driving heart of the contest with "The Destroyer" and "The Miracle" forming an un-easy alliance early on, the built well towards a comeback from Hardy that would culminate in a Whisper in the Wind to the outside onto both opponents from "The Charismatic Enigma". Lashley would go on to Spear, Guest Referee, Drew Galloway after Bennett had managed to dodge, leading to a dramatic moment when Hardy was unable to secure the pin on "The Destroyer" after a Twist of Fate and Swantom Bomb. The idea of Hardy taking his frustration out on Bennett was a nice twist, with Hardy hitting a beautiful Swanton Bomb onto a set of steel steps on the outside of the ring, essentially eliminating Bennett from the match. The finish would see another appearance from The Decay, as they attacked Hardy, finishing with Abyss hitting a chokeslam onto the steps. It was something that I didn't see coming and the more I think about a feud between Hardy and the World Tag Team Champions, the more excited I get about it's potential. I liked that Lashley didn't just pin Hardy after the attack, with "The Destroyer" nailing a brilliant spear on Hardy after running up the steel steps and pushing "The Artist" back first into the ring-post. A strong finish to the show saw Lashley and Galloway have a bit of a scrap, after "The Destroyer" had attempted to get "The Captain" to raise his arm in victory. 

finally...

atpw scale rating - 5.54/10

The main event three way was the highlight of a fairly enjoyable two hours of television from TNA this week. Lashley becoming Number One Contender pushes him into an intriguing clash with Drew Galloway that has been coming for the last couple of weeks, being made even more personal due to Lashley's gym attack that opened the show. Mike Bennett kept the in-ring open going, even if I sort of feel that it was slightly unneeded piece of build towards the main event. Sienna's debut was the strongest part of the shows undercard, whilst the King of the Mountain ladder match was just as throwaway as the non-existent build would suggest, but still had it's moments. 

Not a bad episode of IMPACT Wrestling at all, with plenty to look forward to over the next couple of weeks also.