Impact Wrestling Review
July 5, 2016
By: Josh Boutwell of Wrestleview.com
I’m honestly confused as hell at what I saw tonight. I don’t know if it was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen in wrestling or the most ridiculously stupid thing. Regardless it was certainly different and whether or not I think it was bad I have to give TNA credit for trying something different. One of the biggest gripes people have about TNA is that it is the same as WWE in terms of the layout of their shows and the way they set things up. Whether you think the matches, storylines, angles, writing, etc. is better or worse than WWE it’s still done in pretty much the same manner (the same can be said about ROH). This was very different and like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Lucha Underground would be much closer but this was much more grounded in reality (in terms of it being more like an action movie rather than sci-fi like Lucha Underground’s scenes like this are). It was weird too and very silly at times but I don’t think there was a second of it that I wasn’t entertained so that is certainly something.
The opening match was awesome, action packed, high flying action from the X-Division and the type of stuff we need to see every week. Everett and Zema Ion were ridiculous in that match. Bennett using the ladder was smart for him as a heel tactic and it was great to see Eddie get his redemption and I love that Eddie really made it seem like he was torn between cashing in Option C or keeping the title because he had worked so hard to get it. I love that they are putting way more emphasis on the title by doing Title vs. Title instead of Eddie cashing in his title for a shot at the World Title, but I honestly expect it just to end as a draw or no contest with Bennett interfering after he promised to “ruin Destination X.” The booking there is obvious but hopefully they go another route there.
EC3 and Galloway is an obvious feud between the two and should be intense as hell but I don’t know how great it will work with babyface vs. babyface as that is typically hard to pull off anyway.
Marti and Jade was fairly boring, especially for a Street Fight, as Marti just so limited in the ring. Jade is great and I’m glad they emphasized that this was the end of the feud. Jade needs to be feuding with Sienna or Gail (or both) or at least someone that is good in the ring like Madison Rayne or a new Knockout.
Decay and BroMans was a solid match but the big thing in that match was the revelation of Bram and Rosemary making out. Rosemary has been seducing Bram for weeks now so I don’t know if we are supposed to believe that they have been together this whole time and that is why Decay was pissed or if Rosemary was supposed to tease him and not actually go for it like that.
Storm and Drake was a fine match but Drake just looks so weak always causing himself to lose by countout or DQ. Give the guy a solid win somewhere, man. Storm is really treading water right now.
The Final Deletion was certainly as wild as expected. It was definitely entertaining and I loved the way they built towards all of the crazy action. It started off as a typical match or fight and then built up to using usual weapons to the fireworks and fire and diving off of trees. The finish was really great story telling with Matt lighting the Hardy Boyz logo on fire with Jeff standing on top of it and then the final shot of Matt standing in front of the burning sign with Jeff laying on the ground. That was really nice symbolism though I don’t know that all fans will even realize that was the Hardy Boyz symbol that Jeff was climbing. I really don’t think that is something that I would like to see all the time but definitely doing these types of segments from time to time brings something unique to the table. It is obvious TNA gave the Hardyz a ton of freedom in this feud and they seemed to be having a ball doing it which is a plus and it has gotten TNA more hype and publicity than they have had in years. The production quality was absolutely terrific and I loved the use of drones which is something I would love to see more of.
– Promo/Segment of the Night: Eddie-Lashley
– Match of the Night: Ultimate X/The Final Deletion (***)
– Overall Grade: B+