By Jason Powell
TNA Impact Wrestling Hits
Cody and Eddie Edwards opening: A great promo with Cody sharing a story about his father and tying it in perfectly with his desire to become the TNA Champion. Eddie Edwards response was solid and it was nice to hear the new champion show confidence. The tricky part was that the majority of the fans sided with Cody, perhaps in part because they see him as a bigger star than Edwards. Lashley coming out and putting both men on notice set the stage for a potential showdown between him and the winner. I chuckled when Moose came out and they cut to break. How did they know he making his ring entrance and not coming out to join the conversation? Anyway, the video package that aired for Edwards vs. Cody later in the show was also well done.
Eddie Edwards vs. Cody: A good match that didn’t have enough time to be more than that or truly memorable. Still, it was entertaining while it lasted and I hope we get a rematch. The finish was a little off or needed a better explanation. It looked like Cody was raising his legs so that Edwards could hook them more than anything. I don’t know if they were off or if the idea was simply that Cody was in the process or rolling over or kipping up when Edwards’ hook his legs and got the pin, but it could have been explained better. The post match angle was simple and set the stage for TNA getting back to Cody and Brandie Rhodes vs. Mike Bennett and Maria with the heels boasting that they are on the only power couple.
Lashley vs. Moose: A minor Hit for the the in-ring action. Both men worked hard and there were some solid near falls. I can’t go any higher than a minor Hit because the presentation was a little lifeless. TNA has been building toward this match for some time, so it felt flat when it was put out there as the first match on the show. Sure, they had the TNA Championship and this was essentially a double main event, but it just felt like this match should have headlined its own show and received the type of build that the TNA Title match received. Josh Mathews was a little flat on play-by-play in that Moose kicking out of Lashley’s spear should have been a big moment, but the call made it seem fairly routine.
Broken Matt and Brother Nero vs. The Tribunal: The Hit goes to the popularity of the Broken Brothers. It’s hard to care about the Tribunal, but Matt and Nero are over enough that everything they do right now feels must see. If nothing else, I like that they set up what may be a one-off match by having the Tribunal attack the brothers last week to give this match a purpose. The post-match attack by the DCC faction on the Tribunal was fine, and the Hardys helped put it over by looking confused by what they were watching from the stage. By the way, I’m fairly certain that the DCC members are the love children of the Scream and Mr. Robot TV shows.
Allie, Maria, and Laurel Van Ness: The mean girls picking on the sweet Allie character continues to provide some of my favorite weekly segments.
TNA Impact Wrestling Misses
Facts of Life: It’s encouraging to hear Drake acknowledge the cheers of the fans only to reject them. He’s not being a cool heel, he’s being a real heel. As much as I love the new talkshow set, the latest modification with the hokey laugh track and other canned responses completely ruined the segment for me. The set itself is low budget, but I still love the idea of having a set rather than holding a talkshow in the ring. You combine the look of the set with the canned responses and suddenly this feels like a bad cable access production. Keep the set, ditch the canned reactions. The segment was fine coming out of the break with EC3 and Drake fighting. I like that Aron Rex tried to break it up and ended up being punched by EC3, which led to Rex attacking EC3. Was it just me or was Rex acting much more effeminate this week?
Be the first to comment