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Csonka’s TNA Impact Review 7.08.15

July 8, 2015 | Posted by Larry Csonka
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Csonka’s TNA Impact Review 7.08.15  

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TNA Impact Review 7.08.15

OFFICIAL RESULTS
Handicap Match: The Dirty Heels defeated Matt Hardy @ 5:01 via pin [**]
~ Handicap Match: Drew Galloway defeated Abyss, Manik and Khoya @ 2:18 via pin [NR]
– Mr. Anderson defeated Bram @ 2:58 via DQ [NR]
Street Fight: Jessie Godderz defeated Robbie E @ 8:30 via pin [**½]
World Title Match: Champion Ethan Carter III defeated Norv Fernum @ 0:45 via pin [NR]
World Title Match: Champion Ethan Carter III defeated Shark Boy @ 0:54 via pin [NR]
– Lashley defeated Tyrus @ 4:46 via pin []
– Velvet Sky defeated Madison Rayne @ 3:40 via pin []
World Title Match: Kurt Angle defeated Champion Ethan Carter III @ 3:26 via DQ [**]


* We get highlights from last week’s show.

Opening Talky Segment With The Champ: New TNA Champion, Ethan Carter III, came to the ring with Tyrus. Carter put himself over as undefeated, and that the time is now his as he is the new undisputed TNA Champion. Aunt Dixie Carter has put him in charge tonight, and he promises a great show. He then promises to defend the title three times tonight as for the main event. Matt Hardy then decided to come out, and said he’s not an EC3 fan, but did say he did Carter a favor by taking Angle to the limit. Hardy feels he belongs in the world title mix, and wants a shot tonight. Carter reminds Hardy that he beat Angle, and he’s running the show tonight so no title shot for Hardy. He already booked Hardy in a tag match, but since Jeff got himself hurt Matt will have to go on his own. Carter was over the top and obnoxious here, in a good way.

Handicap Match: Matt Hardy vs. The Dirty Heels: Carter joined the commentary team, which was taped live and not coming from the closet studio. Carter’s mic didn’t work a majority of the time, which was unfortunate. The work was good here, but Hardy got WAY too much and had to win by doing the old Bobby Heenan trip on the suplex and hold the foot finish. There’s a way to give Hardy some run and protect him, and then there is making Heels look like shit. That’s what they did here, these guys just had this awesome tag series with the Wolves and they had to resort to cheating to beat one man? And yes, I realize that they are the “Dirty Heels,” but the finish and booking wasn’t good.

A Final Message From The Rising: he Rising lost their match with the BDC last week, and now have to disband. This has been hyped as their “final message”. Galloway said that they came together for a reason, and praised Micah and Drake (who was on crutches following last week’s “injury”). Drake promised to show Galloway how much he appreciated him bringing him to TNA. Galloway gave the big rally message, praising wrestling and the roster of TNA. Galloway promised to keep fighting the good fight, and then Carter completely mocked him with fake crying on commentary. Tyrus actually wiped his tears, which was awesome. Carter had booked a six-man tag for tonight, but unfortunately the Rising is no more. The Rising end was ok, but Carter as the king of the assholes is money tonight.

Handicap Match: Drew Galloway vs. Abyss, Manik and Khoya: Galloway tried to attack at the bell, but the Revolution took control. Then Abyss and Khoya had issues and argued, which allowed Galloway some comeback time, but he got cut off when the Revolution got back on the same page. Galloway again fought back, but ate the sky high from Khoya. He should have had the win, but Abyss broke that up because he wanted to win. Galloway cleared the monsters from the ring and bit the big boot on Manik for the win. If you have to have the single man win the handicap match, the team he’s facing imploding is the way to do it. Also, I don’t think that the Revolution has been a good stable, but the fact that they are basically imploding with little build to it felt forced. Also, TNA’s poor use of Manik is fucking criminal at this point.

* Mr. Anderson congratulated Carter on his title win. They may not get along, but Carter did win the title on his own and he can respect that. Anderson then tried to get himself one of the title matches tonight, and Carter basically told him to piss off. He already booked Anderson in a match with Bram tonight.

Bram vs. Mr. Anderson: Bram has been on a winning streak, taking on TNA wrestlers from the past. He also signed a new, multi-year deal prior to this match. After some quick back and forth, Anderson got the advantage and scored a near fall off of a senton. They then brawled to the floor, and we got a DQ as Bram gave Anderson the old smash mouth with the chair. Bram beat down Anderson and then demanded that Anderson’s mic be dropped down. He then used the mic to assault Anderson and mock him. I actually like Bram and he needed a program, but I am not enthused about a feud with Anderson. Sure if he wins they can push the fact that he beat a “former TNA Champion,” but I’m not convinced that they will have good matches. But we can hope. Also, what happened to all of Bram’s matches being No DQ? I know that was for his challenge deal, but you’d thing Carter would like putting the screws to Anderson more by making the match under Bram’s rules.

Street Fight: Jessie Godderz vs. Robbie E: These guys faced off at Slammiversary, where Robbie E won. They showed video of them having a brawl in the parking lot last week, and that’s how we got here. I can work with this, although I really wish guys wouldn’t wear their “gear” for a street fight, but that’s the old school in me talking. Robbie controlled early, using some weapons to take down his former partner. He crashed and burned on the floor, which allowed Jessie to take over. Things got rough when Jessie took control, including a sloppy powerbomb to the corner. After his issues at Slammiversary I would not allow this man to do anything close to a powerbomb in this match. Robbie got his nose busted open here, made his comeback with the White Russian Leg Sweep and kendo stick shots, and got a near fall with the reverse DDT onto the chair. They lost the crowd the longer this went on, they were excited early but the energy both in the ring and in the crowd has really diminished. Jessie then powerbombed Robbie onto two chairs, and Robbie kicked out. Yeah, not sure I liked that; the powerbomb spot was a perfect place to end the match. That’s a main event level kick out, not for a match of this level. Jessie used the Boston Crab with an assist by the chair (which should have been the post match beat down angle), and then Robbie passed out. That should be saved for a bigger match with more importance. It wasn’t bad, but I am simply having a hard time caring about these guys trying to work such a serious feud after their time as a largely comedy duo. I think they should have tried to establish them a bit on their own before really engaging in the big feud. Jessie has improved, but still has a long way to go as a singles guy. Also, these matches feel really long, when they aren’t, which is not a good thing. They are trying, I appreciate that they are getting the chance to make it work, but with the tag team scene so diminished, I have no clue why they broke up when they were so much better together.

* Carter was discussing his three matches tonight, and that they would all be five star classics. Lashley wanted a shot tonight, and again Carter refused. He instead made Tyrus vs. Lashley.

* Kurt Angle then promised that the night would get more interesting.

* Part two of Jarrett’s interview. He said that he’s set up GFW, and that they have worked with 13 other companies far. He never thought he would work with TNA, but things happen for a reason and a door was opened and he is here in TNA. Jarrett says that the KOTM Title will be front and center with GFW, and hopefully will show up at other promotions. It was better than last week since we actually got some info.

Ethan Carter III Triple Main Event Spectacular: EC3 hyped up the historic nature of this main event, and wants to pay it forward and wants to go back where things started. He then introduces Norv Fernum as his first opponent. EC3 shook hands kicked the man in the gut and then hit the one percenter for the win. He then faked exhaustion in the corner, as Tyrus played corner man. EC3 then did some cross promotion with Shark Week on Discovery, naming Shark Boy as opponent #2. Shark Boy attacked right away, but was cut off quickly. Carter hit the one percenter for the win. Kurt Angle then came out to ruin the fun. Angle called Carter out for not facing real competition, and had says his contract says he gets his return match whenever he chooses. And he wants the match tonight. EC3 was not pleased about this development. I liked the segment; Carter comes off as a complete douche by revisiting these old job guy opponents after refusing real competition all night. He then gets put in his place when Angle demands his rematch later tonight. This was a fun and entertaining segment, and they are working hard to make the fans hate Carter. The guy’s been good at his job, but so good that the fans want to cheer him. They are getting close to overexposing him tonight, but I appreciate the fact that they are trying to make him a completely unlikable asshole.

Lashley vs. Tyrus: This was a pretty basic big guy match, with Lashley actually using his speed advantage and several attempts at various chokes to slow down and beat the bigger man. Tyrus took control with suplexes, but Lashley then hit an electric chair drop and spear for the win. Lashley was really good here, and Tyrus didn’t completely suck for once. It wasn’t exactly good, for instance Lashley is a legit MMA guy, so Tyrus shouldn’t easily escape legit MMA holds so easily. Also, if Tyrus had ever been actually treated like a bad ass, it would have been easier to see him as a threat to Lashley. I expected a lot worse.

* We go back for more with Jeff Jarrett. He says there is a lot of emotion involve din his return and working with TNA. He says that if they all have a common goal then they can succeed and the sky will be the limit. Jarrett says his legacy will speak for itself, but he’s very proud of his matches with Angle and Styles. He then praises Joe, Foley, Roode, Young, Storm and Don West for their work with TNA. He takes pride in putting together the team that he did. Basically Jarrett said a lot without saying much of anything.

Madison Rayne vs. Velvet Sky: Rayne ran down Sky prior to the match, noting that she’s the Queen Bee and that Sky looks like the idiot fans. Sky attacked and they brawled to the floor. Rayne eventually fought back and hit the skull fucker, and Sky no sold it and laid in kicks to Rayne. Sky then got the stunner and that was all. It had some off spots, and felt very rushed like some of the other things on the show, but ok for the time given. I really want to know what the goal with Sky is here. She’s back, she’s different, she’s winning but is she going for the title? Why exactly did she change her look and attitude so much? We can speculate, but we need some storytelling from the company here so that we can understand and follow the story more effectively.

Champion Ethan Carter III vs. Kurt Angle: No special ring announcements this week, which I didn’t like because right away this didn’t feel important. The world title match needs to feel important, and TNA usually does a very good job of that. Carter stalled early, but Angle took control and hit a bunch of Germans and sent Tyrus to the floor. Angle got the ankle lock and Carter then punched the referee to get himself intentionally disqualified. Carter was tapping so the fans thought for a moment that Angle won. It’s a good move to get the intentional DQ, but I still feel that these shenanigans would have worked better if Carter has won last week with no Tyrus around and him showing that he could hang and win with no issues. Then, when he comes back this week doing these antics, he’s a believable guy because he went toe to toe with Angle, but still relies on his old tricks to keep the title.

* Dixie Carter arrives.

DIXIE CARTER TALKY TIME: EC3 and Tyrus are in the ring, and he is very proud of himself for “getting out of that one”. He then introduced Dixie Carter. EC3 said that he held down the fort, and became champion, and knows she is here to congratulate him. EC3 says Dixie gave the wrestling world her nephew and look what he’s done since he’s been here. EC3 keeps cutting her off to praise himself, and she finally cuts him off. Dixie then turns face, noting that she broke her back going through a table due to her “reign of Carter”. She hurt the company and the fans, and now EC3 is out of control. She then says EC3 has been lying for weeks, and that the company doesn’t belong to them, it belongs to the fans. She says EC3 needs to defend the title with his skills and not his last name, because he’s embarrassed the company. She then says someone needs to make the tough decisions, and says that it isn’t her and that it won’t be EC3. WHO WILL IT BE? They didn’t tell us, that’s a tease. I think it’s a good close to the show, you have the formerly evil owner now repenting because she sees her nephew doing the same bullshit and wants to right her wrongs.

* End scene.

* Thanks for reading.

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“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

6.0
The final score: review Average
The 411
I’d call this week’s show average. We didn’t have any really good wrestling as they worked stories here, which is not a bad thing. But the show felt overly busy and rushed at times. You can only do a show like this every once and a while, Carter running wild with his ego out of control makes sense following his title victory. But the wacky title defenses, the two handicap matches and such felt like too much. I don’t mind them for one week, I get what they wanted to do, which is why you can’t do it all the time. The Jarrett interview was fine, but he’s the master of saying very little while speaking may words. Velvet Sky vs. Madison Rayne could have been pushed to another show, as it felt out of place in what they were doing (the Carter in control gimmick) and there was no real story there. It was just a win for Velvet, with no explanation of the new her. I love a lot of the character work that Carter does, but at times it comes off a little too goofy for me. Now that he has the title and Dixie is back to try and ruin his fun, I hope that this signals a more serious tone from him, which I fully believe he can deliver on. Not a great show this week overall, but if they play off of it right it could be a good starting point as they move into the reign of Carter era.
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