Csonka’s TNA Impact Review 9.22.16

TNA Impact Review 9.22.16

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Grand Championship Tournament Match: Drew Galloway defeated Eddie Edwards via split decision @ 15:00 [***½]
– Grand Championship Tournament Match: Aron Rex defeated Eli Drake @ 0:35 of round three via pin [**¼]
– X-Division Title Match: Champion DJ Z defeated Trevor Lee @ 3:45 via pin [**½]
– EC3 and Moose defeated Lashley and Mike Bennett @ 8:27 via pin [**]

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– We get a video package from last week, where Broken Matt Hardy proclaimed the GREAT WAR would take place at Bound For Glory.

– Oh sweet baby Jesus we’re actually starting with a wrestling match. I know it sounds silly, but it is refreshing to start a show with wrestling.

Grand Championship Tournament Match: Eddie Edwards vs. Drew Galloway: These two worked very good together early, they had some fire and the fans seemed to care. Edwards tried to put a run together, got caught on a suicide dive and slammed to the apron. Back in the ring, Galloway cut off Edwards after several pinning attempts. Galloway started to simply toss Edwards around, and the round ended as they both went for a roll up. Round 1 (29-28 Galloway). Edwards me out all fired up, ran wild and hit a RANA off the top for a near fall. Galloway is a shady fuck and used some underhanded tactics, Edwards trapped him in the tree of woe but Galloway tossed him off the top. Edwards stopped a claymore with the running knee, Galloway rolled to the floor and Edwards scored with the suicide dive. Edward shit a second suicide dive, and the round ended with both men on the floor. Round 2 (29-28 Edwards). With it begin tied going into the final round I was really hoping that they would change things up or make it really interesting. They really didn’t do much different other than both men worked submissions, feeling that it ay be the key to a win. Edwards countered out of a tombstone into a single leg crab, but Galloway kicked him away. They traded strikes down the stretch, Galloway hit a head butt and then a Razor’s edge to the corner; Edward sopped right out but ate the future shock DDT for the double down. Galloway draped an arm over Edwards for a cover, but the bell rang. Round 3. This was a very good match and a good way to kick off the show on a fresh note. These two worked together well, and while I had hoped the final stretch was a bit more imaginative, it worked. Also, Edwards loses nothing in the loss, while Galloway moves on for his inevitable clash with Aron Rex. Galloway won via split decision.

– The best part of these Grand Championship matches is that there has been no bullshit or interference. For that alone this is an early success.

– Borash asks Galloway who he wants to face in the finals. He says nothing has changed and he has always told the truth. He was willing to fight, and then he found out how this place works, it’s rigged like politics. The rules of the grand championship change that. He then says that EC3 and Lashley should get their match at BFG moved, because they can’t follow him. That brought out EC3, and Galloway says that someone up there… in Nashville, is looking out for EC3. Galloway promises when he is grand champion he will give EC a title shot, but he wouldn’t last two rounds with Galloway. EC3 says he beat him before and would do it again and of course this brought out Lashley. Galloway bailed to the back during his entrance, which allowed Bennett to sneak attack EC3. Lashley laid him out with a spear, and then Moose jogged out for the save. Moose did well, but the numbers got to him and Lashley laid him out with a spear. This worked, the Galloway vs. EC3 feud is far form over and is just on a backburner, and also sets up for the main event.

– Allie sets up Maria’s sham of a public workout.

– Bennett was happy with the destruction he and Lashley caused and asked if they were best friends. Lashley said I did all the work and fuck that. I have no friends. Bennett asked for a title shot when he beats Moose at BFG; Lashley was NOT amused by this.

– They both got some mic time pre-match, taking time to mock each other. Eli Drake has a ridiculous “tan” this week. He needs to know when to say when with the pray tan.

Grand Championship Tournament Match: Aron Rex vs. Eli Drake: Basic back and forth for the first half of the round, and then Rex fired away with rights and a knee drop for 2. Rex controlled a bit, until Drake rakes the eye and lands some rights. Rex hit a spinebuster and looked for some form of a sharp shooter as the round ended. Round 1 (30-27 Rex). Rex went for the submission right away, but v stunned him off the ropes and took the heat. Good aggression from Drake after losing the first round, going for repeated pin attempts. Rex was able to counter blunt force trauma, but Drake kept control and scored another near fall. Round 2 (29-28 Drake). So we’re tied one round a piece, and Drake starts off with rapid-fire punches. Rex fired back and hit the spinning forearm (the revelator) strike for the win. This was solid overall, but I am still waiting for Rex to wow me.

– The Decay cut a promo about the GREAT WAR, and Vanguard1 is there to watch. We get a hologram of Senor Benjamin laughing at them.

– Backstage, Rex is happy with his win. Galloway arrives and says they will make history at BFG, but there can only be one winner, and that is he.

– We get a video package for “he,” which is Cody Rhodes. All roads lead to Bound for Glory.

#GameChanger pic.twitter.com/9XyDfSrEZP

— TNA WRESTLING (@IMPACTWRESTLING) September 23, 2016

Decay Speaks: Rosemary rants about the Broken Hardys and says that they have no clue what they have started. The GREAT WAR will be the end of all Hardys. Abyss says at the GREAT WAR, they will destroy what is left of the Hardy legacy. The crowd chants “DELETE and OBSOLETE” at Decay. Steve says that they embrace the GREAT WAR, because once it is over, their zombie sheep will belong to them. Broken Matt appears in the crowd, using Decay’s tactics against them. He says that this is a magic universe, and Decay is sinning by wishing all of the magic away, which is why the GREAT WAR is needed. Broken Brother Nero appears and says he has embraced his fate of being broken, and at the GREAT WAR, they will twist Decay’s fate, and Abyss will no longer be beautiful, Steve will no longer be crazy and rosemary won’t be rosy anymore. They will wish that they were broken, and will fade away and classify themselves as obsolete. The crowd loves the Broken Hardys. Rosemary proclaims that they are the death dealers, and tonight the Hardys are tempting fate because there are only two of them. She challenges the to bring their GREAT WAR, because the Hardys are bound for decay. Broken says that is a delightful threat, and the lights go out. When they come back on, Abyss and Steve are strapped to the ropes and Broken Reby attacks Rosemary. Rosemary bails, and Broken Reby says she never should have messed with a mother and her child. Next week, Rosemary’s mother will be the one left without her baby. The Hardys pose with the title. A delightfully wacky segment, with everyone playing their characters well. Rosemary once again shined for Decay, but it was overall good stuff to build to the GREAT WAR.

– EC3 and Moose meet backstage, and Moose wants to whoop some ass. EC3 is pleased to hear that, but says he wants Lashley to himself tonight. But Moose says he will beat on whoever he wants whenever he ants

– DJ Z is happy to be the X-Division champion, he has grown up a lot and truly appreciate it now. He wants to be the champion the fans deserve, and he wants to be a fighting champion and issues an open challenge. I usually complain about who gets title matches because there is no rhyme or reason, but this worked to easily explain it. See, it’s not that hard.

X-Division Title Match: Champion DJ Z vs. Trevor Lee w/Andrew Everett: After some quick back and forth, Lee grounded DJ Z and took control. Lee worked over DJ Z with a whip to the corner and then a chinlock. DJ Z fought to his feet, got sent to the floor and countered the PK from Lee. He then hit a dive onto both Lee and Everett. Back in the ring DJ Z hit a missile dropkick and back elbows. The back elbow off the ropes followed. Everett distracted DJ Z, allowing Lee to fire up and head up top, DJ Z cut him off and went up top as well and hit a RANA off the ropes. DJ Z hit the ZDT for the win. Post match Everett attacked and beat down DJ Z. He and Lee worked over the champion, but Eddie Edwards made the save. Post attack, Edwards put over DJ Z, and challenges him to a title match next week. DJ Z agrees and says he accepts because Edwards is deserving. They made the best of their time, but it was completely disappointing that TNA still has no idea how to book the division and is content with 3-6 minute TV matches on the rare occasion that the X-Division gets on TV.

– Maria prepares for her open workout. She yells at Allie for constantly messing things up, and calls her stupid. Slow burn that face turn.

– We get a commercial for The Fixer.

Maria’s Open Workout: Maria makes her way to the ring with Sienna and Allie. Maria makes Allie introduce the segment, acts completely annoyed and then yells at her and tells her to stand in the corner. Maria says Sienna will get a title shot, but not tonight, because tonight is all about Maria. MARIA YELLS A LOT EVEN WHEN SHE DOESN’T NEED TO DO SO. HAVE YOU NOTICED THIS? Allie placed an ad on some websites and we get the first competitor (never identified, but it was Luscious Latasha). Maria attacks her and Sienna then choked the woman out as Maria distracted the ref. Maria then pinned her and proclaimed she was the greatest knockouts champion ever. Alls says there is not another opponent because Maria told her to get the easiest opponent she could find. Maria called her stupid and then a mystery ninja appeared. The ninja did bad karate moves and the crane kick, and scared Maria. After getting embarrasses, Maria yelled at Allie and the Ninja revealed herself to be Gail Kim. Sienna made the save as Maria escaped, Kim hit eat defeat on Sienna and stood tall. This was better than most of the Kim/Maria segments; Maria got to be the over confident one who thinks she can succeed, she also got to the be the bitch and Allis is really sympathetic right now. Finally, Kim gets to make her look a fool to get a small amount of revenge. If Maria could stop yelling that would be really great.

– We get a replay of the CODY video.

EC3 and Moose vs. Lashley and Mike Bennett: The bell rang and Bennett ran to the floor, leaving Lashley along to get beat down by Moose and EC3. EC3 has his ribs taped following the attractant the BFG presser a few weeks ago from Lashley. Lashley made it to the floor, he and Bennett argued and we went to break. After a FOUR-minute commercial break, we came back to Bennett hitting a cutter on EC3 as he and Lashley worked the heat. EC3 hit a desperation jawbreaker, but Bennett cut him off and kept control. Bennett accidentally hit Lashley, and EC3 got the tag to Moose. Moose cleaned house, hitting a run up the ropes high cross for a near fall. Moose took out Lashley, tagged in EC3 as Moose and Lashley brawled to the floor. EC3 then got a roll up on Bennett for the win. This was gutted by commercial, what we got was solid and served as a fine preview for two of the PPVs top matches, but there was no heat to it.

– Post match Moose and Bennett brawled to the back, but Lashley attacked EC3 and they had a big pull apart. Both men fought through security and cleared the ring so they could fight more. The poor X-Division guys ran out to try and stop this, and then Rock and Roll Billy arrived. He says shit isn’t going down this way, so next week there will be a Lethal Lockdown match, with EC3 and Lashley as captains. The winner gets to pick the stipulation for their BFG match. That was a pretty big announcement, that was largely met with apathy from the crowd, much like the brawl, which is a shame because the press conference between the two was really good.

UPDATED BOUND FOR GLORY CARD
* Moose vs. Mike Bennett
* Bound for Gold Gauntlet #1 Contender’s Match
* Knockouts Title Match: Champion Maria Kanellis vs. Gail Kim
* TNA Grand Championship Tournament Finals: Aron Rex vs. Drew Galloway
* TNA Tag Team Title GREAT WAR Match: Champions The Decay vs. Broken Matt Hardy and Brother Nero
* TNA World Title Match: Champion Lashley vs. EC3

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

This was an overall good show (an improvement over last week) that started pretty hot and unfortunately got cold as the show went on. They did some good build for Bound for Glory, the Galloway vs. Edwards match was very good, they got the announcement of CODY in two weeks before the PPV and the focus was good even if things lost steam down the stretch. The only real complaint that I have is that the X-Division continues to be a mess, which is a shame. The worst part is that it’s the fault of creative, because they have a great core of guys (DJ Z, Everett, Lee, Edwards and Mandrews) to build off of.