By John Moore
TNA Impact Wrestling Hits
Jeff Hardy vs. Tyrus and Rockstar Spud: This was a simple match with a predictable outcome, but a fun match overall. Hardy plays into handicap matches as the underdog nicely. Tyrus and Spud don’t ever win anyway so the two of them losing was not out of the norm. Tyrus had a funny moment when he imitated Jeff’s mannerisms and double leg drop. They did spend a bit too much time on the ladder fat joke though. The match made me a bit hopeful for a Spud and Tyrus tag team because they can be fun in a division that only has only BroMans and Decay until Davey Richards returns.
Drew Galloway and Bobby Lashley Segment: A simple and effective way to build towards the Slammiversary main event. This almost got a Miss due to the lame Dixie Carter interruption and announcement, but it was a bit comical in how Dixie got a tepid crowd reaction and booed when she announced the match for Slammiversary. Lashley made this worth watching as he continues to be amazing in this heel run. He took the Claymore kick this time and gave Galloway a spear in return. Galloway and Lashley also continue to spar well on the microphone.
Gail Kim vs Sienna: This was a minor Hit as it continues the feud between Gail and Maria while also not totally burying Sienna. They gave Gail the rollup win and getting beat up afterwards, which is the finish that would have been acceptable in this situation. It could have been worse, Gail Kim could have beat up Sienna, Allie, and Maria in a three on one situation if she was still in her domination phase. They could give Sienna a clean win down the road, and they could also have Gail Kim talk less as she is much more effective as a silent ass-kicker.
BroMans and Raquel: Most Dot Net readers who have read my reviews and Hit Lists have known that BroMans annoy the hell out of me and seem to drag the show down. This week though, I got a laugh out of the babyface version, a small one, but a laugh nonetheless. It was probably from that clip where they were exhausted working out. Raquel also gets a hit for the sole fact that she is not the valet of Lashley, which is what they were building her up as before they rewrote Lashley in much better fashion.
TNA Impact Misses Misses
Matt Hardy: For some strange reason, I got King Booker flashbacks with Matt Hardy’s opening segment. Hell, Booker had a better fake English accent. And why the hell is Matt Hardy trying to be fake-British? Last week’s version of Matt was better when he tried to sell that he was “broken”. Cody Rhodes (to be topically relevant) pulled off a similar character when his nose was broken from the 619 and I thought that’s what Matt was going for last week. This week we got Matt looking like he just got out of bed in his PJs trying to sound British and poetic. It was strange. His match with EC3 wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. Matt essentially played a negligible character that was meant to forward EC3 and Bennett’s feud. A huge disappointment based on how great Big Money Matt was.
Grado vs. Al Snow: Grado was better this week with the comedy and things like the Turkey leg or Snow hiding behind the video wall cracked me up. The negative comes from the tone of this feud not matching Grado’s interjection of comedy. Grado was great in his cries for help when Snow broke his arm. Now he’s back to the old Eric Young understudy version of Grado, who is here for comedy relief. To compare, Grado had a really good match against Drew Galloway in the World Title Series and an even better one with Eli Drake for his contract. Grado has it in him to put on a serious match with a little comedy, but this was just too campy tonight. Plus, I’m not too enthused about Al Snow getting his own faction with former NXT wrestlers Marcus Louis and Sylvester Lefort serving as his henchmen.
Ultimate X: Don’t you save this match for the Destination X show when you need to find a new champion after the title is vacated (assuming the champion cashes in for a title shot)? At the same time, they are turning Lee, Everett, Edwards, and Z into the new Mandrews, Tigre Uno, Manik, and Z where they just fight over a title with no actual purpose other than to fill time with high spots. I have to say that the finish was creative to say the least. Even so, it diminishes the credibility of this match overall as TNA talked it up as being majestic.
I think you guys are missing the point on Matt’s persona right now. He’s not trying to be fake British, he’s imitating the way Jeff’s Willow character talks. I’m not saying that is necessarily a good idea or bad idea bit that’s where it’s going. Now maybe that’s TNA’s fault for not having the announcers make it more clearer, just surprised you guys didn’t pick up on it.
I actually like “broken” Matt Hardy.
It would be nice if they gave Andrew Everett some time to talk. All I know is he’s there to help Trevor Lee thanks to Helms. Why is Andrew willing to subjugate his own career for Lee? Isn’t he there to win? I’d ask why the announcers aren’t asking these questions but it might be asking for too much.