By John Moore
TNA Impact Wrestling Hits
Opening Segment: TNA is doing a good job telling weekly storylines and this one had the goal of forwarding Kurt Angle’s farewell tour, the TNA Tag Division, Jeff Hardy’s write-off, and Matt Hardy’s development as a top heel. What I do fear is TNA looking very Raw-ish in opening every show with an extended “hook” as McMahon would call it.
Decay: The Hardcore War match was just there, but I’m really digging the team of Rosemary and Steve. Abyss is also just there, but at least he’s not bringing the awesome duo down and maybe a makeover would be beneficial. This is one of my favorite acts in pro wrestling right now because of all the pieces put together, and the cool Marilyn Manson music only adds to their persona. Steve is an example of slowly and surely developing a fresh new character. This is also a plus for the tag team division that was cursed due to all of the tag team champs before The Wolves (GFW doesn’t count) getting injured before the division could pick up steam.
Drew Galloway vs. Tyrus: This Hit is also for more of the angle afterwards than the match. Bennett vs. Galloway could be very fun if built up enough. This is where I fear what they were doing last year and giving the payoff to feuds just one week after the establishing angle. TNA has done a good job with patience this year so I’m confident that they might make this work. What they have to do is have Bennett play hit and run with Drew while also beating up the Shynrons of the world.
Trevor Lee vs. Tigre Uno: Within the low grading curve of the X-Division these days, this was a huge turning point as far as meaningfulness was concerned. For starters, we didn’t get Uno vs. Zema Ion and/or Mark Andrews again for no reason. This storyline was build up since Bound for Glory with Gregory Helms walking out to congratulate Uno and the announcers constantly bringing up that Helms was after the title due to him painting it green like The Hurricane (which is strange reasoning, but I’ll take it as it’s more thought given to the X Division in years). Trevor Lee also has a different look and moveset that takes the X-Division to another level and he gets to draw from all of the charisma and heat of Helms. This is a good formula, and again, I hope they don’t get cold feet.
Matt Hardy vs. Kurt Angle: A solid match and another feather in the cap for Big Money Matt. Josh Matthews helped here in making Hardy look like an evil human being due to his actions. We also get more Matt and Reby character development which is always welcome. I would like it if they held back from giving away weekly title matches since it does devalue the title, but since we didn’t get last week’s match with Jeff Hardy, and because Angle’s on his retirement-for-now tour, this was a good place to help develop Big Money Matt and his family.
TNA Impact Wrestling Misses
Janice: A literal miss for the nail bat that always misses. Why would Abyss continue to use this thing that never has touched anybody? No one expects it to touch anyone due to it being impossible to use without “murderizing” someone.
Lashley vs. Aiden O’ Shea: A squash win for Lashley that did nothing for me. The focus was on Raquel, and I’m just not sold on her yet. She’s very wooden as a character and we haven’t really learned anything about her yet. Maybe this mysterious persona will help her in the upcoming weeks but I’m not putting together why she should be paired with Lashley, because what Lashley could use a mouthpiece. If TNA were giving someone a “muse” I would try to elevate an enhancement guy with her, similar to how Rosemary is elevating Steve. Plus it wouldn’t be overkill since Decay is so different to begin with. I’m currently getting Aksana from her and I hope she becomes more Black Lotus from Lucha Underground.
Gail Kim and Maria Kanellis segment: Don’t get me wrong, Maria was GREAT on the mic here. The Miss for me comes twofold. I’m hoping this doesn’t lead to a Kim vs. Maria match because, it would be the continual scorched earth that the Knockouts division is. Gail Kim wasn’t too great here. She’s saying the same lines about the Knockouts being strong and powerful, like she’s a flagbearer, when she was working well as the silent assassin type who said little. The segment would have worked better if Gail was in her all black attire and responded to Maria’s taunting with fists rather than retort.
Be the first to comment