Impact Wrestling Final Thoughts
January 12, 2016
By: Josh Boutwell of Wrestleview.com
If you watch ANYTHING from this episode of Impact watch Angle vs. Galloway. Those two put on an absolute clinic and tore the house down. They went back and forth and broke out all the stops for an epic match. You can tell Angle is really busting his ass to make sure these final matches for TNA are special. I can’t wait to see what else he will throw out for us during this Farewell Tour.
The opening segment with Tyrus and EC3 seemed to set up more tension between Tyrus and EC3 and then Jeff made his appearance, and an impromptu return to the ring which was just absolutely stupid in my opinion. Why in the hell would you not want to promote that Jeff was returning to the ring before the show? Shynron is great and I would love to see him get an opportunity in the X-Division, he brings a ton of athleticism to things. Jeff didn’t totally squash him and let him break out some of his unique offense before getting the win. Jeff looked fine which I was a bit surprised about because of the leg injuries last year. He didn’t do much flying in the ring but he was moving around really well.
The Beer Money celebration went too long but I liked that they touched on their history and the feud that resulted from it. They made light of it but at least acknowledged it. The match between Roode and EY was solid but we have seen those two put on a series of excellent matches in the past. I think the feud between Beer Money and Bram/EY could be fun especially considering how awesome of a team that psycho tandem of Bram and EY could end up being.
The Knockouts match seemed like a Russo-era booking decision to just throw the feuding group into a Street Fight for really no reason at all. Kong with the Dollhouse just seems weird to me. I remember her Kongtourage a few years ago but this is a lot different. At least Jade is so good that she can make just about everything interesting.
The Six Man Tag was pretty good and it is good to see Zema Ion get the babyface turn and maybe they will start to do a little something with him.
Mr. Anderson’s segment was truly god awful, I mean it was bad. There was nothing interesting about that, other than Reby’s dress. Matt’s promo with EC3 was much better and it was short and sweet. It will be interesting to see where they go with this, especially with Jeff being involved. They teased some tension between Jeff and Reby during the backstage segment. I liked the tease they did with Bennett and EC3 backstage too, little things like that add so much to the show to me. That is a showdown that could be awesome down the road.
The Main Event made the show though, just a terrific match from two really great wrestlers.
– Promo/Segment of the Night: Matt/EC3 Confrontation
– Match of the Night: Angle vs. Galloway (****)
– Overall Grade: C+