The Final Impact
May 31, 2013
By: Josh Boutwell of WrestleView.com
Before even talking about the show I have to talk about the time change since I haven’t even touched on this yet. I don’t mind the switch back to 8 PM (central) but they need to stick with this. No more switching back and forth, over the last few years Impact has gone from Thursday to Monday, back to Thursday, from 8 PM to 7 PM, and now back to 8 PM. Leave it alone.
It was a great idea to open and close with Sting/Bully. That’s what you want to do to the leadup to a big PPV. The Tag Match was solid for what it was, pretty much a brawl. The finish was kind of goofy but it worked, and the heel got his heat back by the end of the show with Aces & Eights taking Sting out.
The announcement of Joe & Magnus teaming with Jeff Hardy without being there was kind of odd though I guess maybe they want the reaction for his return to be at the PPV itself.
The 8-Man Tag was really fun, great action from everybody involved. I wasn’t too fond of Gunner submitting Aries but I know they are trying to make him look strong which they are definitely accomplishing at this point. The finish seemed to come kind of anticlimactic and the fans didn’t react at all. I still think he would be better suited as a heel with a mouthpiece. All the “war” talk Storm & Gunner were doing has the potential to piss off some people though maybe they will get away with it since Gunner is a military vet.
I really enjoyed Mickie & Velvet’s segment but it made Velvet look like a moron. Mickie was condescending tone seemed to be obvious to everyone involved other than Velvet. Mickie just shrugging and not helping when Gail jumped Velvet was nice foreshadowing for the heel turn too.
They really screwed up that great segment by having Kenny King immediately walk out and not let what just happened sink in. TNA continues to have pacing problems with the show at times. The Mixed Tag was pretty solid and there was nice interaction between the X-Division wrestlers.
Good match from AJ and Anderson but one thing about what they’re doing with AJ that kind of bothers me. I understand the attempt to make AJ seem more aggressive and doing some power moves and such, but they really have to let him “do AJ” if you know what I mean. Let him mix that aggressiveness in there with the AJ Styles we all know and love. They did a good job here though. The brawl afterward was perfect too playing into several storylines leading into Slammiversary. Really good go-home show heading into Slammiversary.
– Promo/Segment of the Night: Mickie/Velvet and the brawl at the end
– Match of the Night: 8-Man Tag (***)
– Overall Grade: B
Until next week… PEACE! 
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