Powell’s TNA Impact Wrestling Hit List: EC3 vs. Mike Bennett in the Bound For Glory Playoffs final, Broken Matt Hardy and The Obsolete Mule in tag action, Rosemary origin story payoff, Maria and Allie

By Jason Powell

TNA Impact Wrestling Hits

EC3 and Mike Bennett opening: I had a hard time buying Bennett as a real threat to EC3 coming out of this promo. Bennett is portrayed as a guy who wins by cheating or in flukey ways, so it was helpful that Moose came out and helped Bennett work over EC3 to soften him up heading into the match.

EC3 vs. Mike Bennett: First off, EC3’s pre-match promo was straight forward and strong. EC3 loses me at times when he takes a comedic approach to things, but he delivers inspired big match promos. The broadcast team did a nice job of playing up the rib injury that EC3 suffered from the pre-match angle and questioning how it could play into the match. EC3 moving on to presumably challenge Lashley at BFG was the right call. I dig Bennett, but he’s a bit of a pest heel. He needs more clean wins to help establish that he’s a force to be reckoned with in the ring, not just TNA’s version of The Miz.

Broken Matt Hardy and The Obsolete Mule vs. JT Dunn and Chuck Taylor: Another fun week of Broken Matt madness. Matt forced Jeff to work a glorified handicap match on his behalf, then pulled a planted fan over the rail and bit him. More over the top fun. I’m with Dot Net staffer John Moore in hoping that TNA does more with Dunn and particularly Taylor, who has stood out nicely on the independent scene.

Maria and Allie: This is all happening a little sooner than it should, but Maria abusing Allie definitely has potential. The Allie character is likable. They just haven’t taken the time to establish the character before moving in this direction. Still, it could be fun if they take their time and build to her finally snapping on Maria.

James Storm vs. Eli Drake: An entertaining match. The gimmick that Storm could never drink beer again wasn’t sold effectively, nor did it really add to my interest in the match. Fortunately, they have had a couple of good talking segments to build animosity between the characters and the intensity of the match lived up to it. I didn’t give a damn about the little red toy belt that nobody cares about changing hands, but fortunately Lashley came out afterward and revealed that it’s about to become part of a TNA Triple Crown Championship.

TNA Impact Wrestling Misses

Rosemary origin story payoff: The overall story was an interesting one, but it really felt like they were milking this by making viewers wait a week for that payoff.

The Tribunal and Al Snow vs. Grado and Mahabali Shera: Snow and Grado have proven to be highly entertaining, but it’s asking too much of them to carry three additional wrestlers who just haven’t clicked yet.