By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
TNA Impact Hits
Josh Alexander vs. Eric Young: One way the pro wrestling industry has improved for the better in recent years is that it’s rare to see a wrestler booked to look bad in a mean spirited way during the months before their contracts expire. Departing wrestlers should be used to elevate others on their way out the door, but the days of wrestlers being jobbed out or treated like the enemy simply because they are moving on seem mostly behind us. Alexander started at the bottom of the ladder in TNA and climbed his way to the very top by becoming the world champion and the face of the brand. He received a nice sendoff while also putting over some of his peers on the way out. The loss to Young helped set up the new Northern Armory nicely, but the bigger piece of business was when he put over Mike Santana at Genesis. Alexander had a tremendous run in TNA and I’m anxious to see what comes next.
Joe Hendry vs. Jake Something for the TNA World Championship: Under different circumstances, I might say this match went a few minutes longer than necessary. But it was understandable to have a world title match go a little long, especially given that the company doesn’t air many TNA World Championship matches on television. The post match angle with Ryan Nemeth shooting his mouth off and being saved by Nic Nemeth fit really well with what they’ve been doing with the brothers. Nic accidentally superkicking Santino Marella was an interesting development that led to Nic being written out of the next four weeks of television due to a storyline suspension. I guess this means he won’t be making the Full Sail tapings.
Masha Slamovich vs. Savannah Evans for the Knockouts Title: Much like the TNA World Championship match, there was no mystery regarding the outcome and yet I didn’t mind the length of the match. Evans looked good in defeat while Slamovich looked like a resilient champion who had to battle back to beat bigger opponent. The key for Slamovich will be connecting with the audience through her promos. She had more of an aura when she only spoke in Russian. Perhaps the eventual showdown feud with Tessa Blanchard will give her some strong promo material.
Cora Jade vs. Xia Brookside: Jade is being set up for a match with Masha Slamovich, so it was only logical that she would win this match. Brookside plays the plucky underdog role well. Hopefully she’ll get a chance to show off more of her personality.
Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, and Leon Slater: Slater has benefitted from the rub the brothers have given him. The Hardys teamed with Slater last week and then put him over in a brief backstage segment on this week’s episode. The segment set up JDC big-timing Slater, who then displayed another side of his personality by showing good fire while standing up for himself.
Frankie Kazarian vs. Sami Callihan: This wasn’t much of a match. Mance Warner attacked Callihan before the opening bell and then he and Steph De Lander distracted Callihan to help Kazarian steal the win. The pull apart brawl that followed felt pretty basic, but I like that Kazarian picked up a cheap win and that more heat was added to the Callihan and Warner feud. Warner is a great talker, so hopefully he’ll be getting mic time soon.
Ash By Elegance and Heather By Elegance vs. “The King Bees” Charity King and Danni Bee: A soft Hit for a solid television match. There was little reason to think the Elegance duo would lose to wrestlers who normally don’t appear on Impact, but the Bees are a real team, not just two enhancement wrestlers who were thrown together. The Elegance girls went over, but the Bees impressed, particularly when King hit a couple of big power spots that received big reactions from the live crowd.
TNA Impact Misses
None: Nothing blew me away, but this was a logically booked, enjoyable episode.
Are you grading on a curve, or do I actually need to start watching this? Hell, I have half a mind to go watch at Full Sail.
No curve. For the most part, TNA has done what Don Callis and Scott D’Amore said they wanted to do by getting rid of the shit that people disliked about the product. The company hasn’t fallen back into its old ways since they left. The Hit List format can be a bit misleading. This show wasn’t worthy of an A grade or anything, but it was a nice solid B. I wasn’t blown away by anything, yet there was also nothing that turned me off enough to earn a Miss. That’s Impact most weeks. It rarely has the extreme highs of a great segment like the recent Cody Rhodes and CM Punk verbal exchange. It’s just a consistently well booked show with good wrestling and without a lot of big negatives.