Impact Final Thoughts
March 1, 2016
By: Josh Boutwell of Wrestleview.com
Off the heels of last week’s awesome Lockdown, TNA brought us another strong showing though it paled in comparison to Lockdown however. My biggest complaint for the show was the brawl between Spud and EC3. I know that it was really just there to give EC3 a chance to be a badass and whoop Spud’s ass but it was really hard to be compelling cause the fight was just EC3 beating the hell out of Spud with Spud hitting a few cheap shots only to get mauled again. Matt and Tyrus also looked really goofy getting beaten up before the match too. I was wondering how Spud was going to be in this new heel role. He was funny and comedic as a heel before but someone his size is going to always have trouble being an effective heel. It’s just hard to do and Spud has a good ways to go if he is going to become one. EC3 was great all night and really is coming off like a bad ass that just wants to tear the heels heads off.
Angle and Roode had a terrific match tonight, it wasn’t near as good as some of the matches they have had in the past, but still really good. Given a few more minutes it may have been equal to the match Angle had with Drew but still it was really good. I don’t mind Roode putting Angle over with TNA wanting to give Angle a strong win heading into the final match with Lashley. I liked the celebration afterward and the setup for Beer Money vs. The Wolves.
Abyss and Havoc had a pretty fun weapons filled brawl but I’m sure for the live crowd it just felt like a hardcore match for the sake of having a hardcore match without seeing the vignettes and backstage stuff before. I don’t know what the deal with Havoc’s injury is, he has deleted all mention of it online, but hopefully it was not near as severe as originally thought and he can continue this thing with The Decay.
Big Damo was unbelievably impressive tonight. The guy isn’t overly tall, just a hair taller than EY, but he is a brick shit house. The guy was athletic as hell too and his short but sweet promo was good for what they needed there too. I really hope TNA brings him in more because it would be a shame for that to be our only chance to see what this guy can do. He went for the Backsplash Senton a few too many times (five times in the match I think) but overall he has a ton of potential.
Galloway vs. Bennett was great and hopefully it is just the first of many wars between those two. I really think that can be a feud that TNA can run with, away from the Title picture for now, that can be really awesome. Bennett got a cheap win but a big one over a star and Galloway still looks strong in defeat.
Gail and Maria’s promo was nice and Jade looked like a killer in her promo. The feud between those two is going to be great and it will be interesting to see where Maria goes with this thing. I think she is going to end up bringing in her own Knockout that she will represent.
– Promo/Segment of the Night: Gail, Maria, and Jade and Angle celebration
– Match of the Night: Angle vs. Roode and Drew vs. Bennett (***)
– Overall Grade: B+