The Final Impact
June 27, 2014
By: Josh Boutwell of Wrestleview.com
For all of the frustrations that TNA has put me through over the last two months I have to say I am really, really enjoying what is going on right now. We have to start with the decision to make Kurt Angle the new Director of Operations. I think this is seriously one of the smartest decisions they’ve made in a long while. I think most wrestling fans are truly exhausted with the heel authority figure and though we had a small reprieve from it earlier this year when MVP was playing down the middle it didn’t last. Kurt’s knee injury is going to keep him out of action for likely the remainder of his contract with TNA, and if he doesn’t re-sign with the company than this is their best option to be able to utilize Kurt rather than him just sit at home. I’m sure TNA hopes that they can re-sign him and I do too but I like him in this role. He was the Smackdown GM in WWE at one point after he injured his neck and was very entertaining in that role. This could also lead to an in-ring feud with MVP down the line if he stays with TNA or if he is able to get back in the ring at the end of his contract.
MVP speaking for Lashley is 100% the right decision in my opinion and I liked how he introduced Lashley and talked trash to the crowd the entire time Lashley came to the ring.
The Knockouts seem to be getting more and more time on TV and they are making it count. It was a solid match and Terrell doesn’t look too rusty which is a plus.
The X-Division match was a spotfest like the PPV but it was fun as hell as well. Those matches can be really fun and all the guys worked hard with some big spots. The thing with Sanada and Storm was interesting and unexpected. I don’t know where they are going with that other than putting a little bit of doubt in Sanada’s head leading towards Destination X.
Storm needed a win over Anderson and he got it clean with them playing up that Anderson banged himself up in the match by hitting his head and Storm playing into that focusing all his offense at the head especially the nasty finish.
A fired up Bobby Roode makes for some damn good TV in my opinion and he really looks like he was beyond ready to come back to TV so it’s great to see him back. I’m looking forward to seeing what TNA does with him in the coming months leading towards the BFG Series.
Speaking of BFG we all saw the announcement that TNA was taking BFG to Japan and I won’t harp on that too much since I already did that this week: http://www.wrestleview.com/featured-articles/49248-feature-josh-boutwell-on-tna-bound-for-glory-in-japan
The Monsters Ball was a big brawl that the fans really seemed to enjoy though they fell oddly silent for the finish though after seeing barbed wire and thumbtacks a simple shot to the gut, even though it is a 2×4 with nails sticking out of it, was kind of a dud in comparison I guess in some way. Hardy is insane with the bumps that guy continues to take but it is long past time to see the Willow character disappear and Jeff Hardy to return.
Dixie was actually really great on Thursday night with her reaction to the announcement that she would not gain her control back, and boy did Bully have the fans in the palm of his hands. Whenever he does finally put Dixie through that table the fans are going to absolutely blow the roof off. Hopefully they don’t lead this on all the way to BFG but I am thinking that might be where it goes.
Dreamer and EC3 had a fun little brawl and everyone that does anything with EC3 really goes out of their way to make this guy come off good and tough despite how the character would be far from labeled tough by his looks.
Overall just a fun night, nothing was mind blowingly great mind you but everything seemed to flow well and was just fun to watch. I’m really trying hard to stay away from the NYC spoilers but from what I’m hearing it really makes me look forward to those shows.
– Segment/Promo of the Night: Kurt Angle’s reveal and EC3/Dreamer brawl
– Match of the Night: X-Division and Monsters Ball (***)
– Overall Grade: B+
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