Csonka’s TNA Impact Review 9.01.16

TNA Impact Review 9.01.16

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Broken Matt defeated Crazzy Steve @ 4:14 via pin [**]
– Ultimate X Gauntlet Match to Crown a New Champion: DJ Z defeated Trevor Lee, Rockstar Spud, Mandrews, Andrew Everett, and Braxton Sutter @ 16:23 [***½]
– EC3 defeated Eli Drake @ 6:00 via pin [**½]
– Knockouts Title Match: Maria defeated Champion Allie @ 0:07 via pin to become the new champion [NR]
– TNA World Title No DQ Match: Champion Lashley defeated Mike Bennett @ 10:57 via pin [**¾]

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– The following video is the opening to tonight’s Impact. Broken Matt, Reby, King Maxell, Senor Benjamin, Vanguard1 and Brother Nero sing obsolete before Matt gets a premonition regarding the great battle that will take place in the Hardy compound, the land of deletion; he and Brother Nero head off to the Zone of Impact, while Senor Benjamin and Vanguard1 stay back to protect King Maxell and Reby.

– That was extraordinaire.

Mike Bennett Talks: We really couldn’t have started with the Ultimate X to change things up? Bennett spoke about the Miracle Movement, insert your own jokes here. He is successful; he will win the title because he surrounds himself with great people like Maria and Moose. He then calls out Moose to set the record straight following last week (where Bennett tossed him from the contender’s battle royal). He gets Lashley instead. Lashley said that Moose wants nothing to do with Bennett any longer. Lashley doesn’t have to fake confidence, because he knows he will beat Bennett, because he’s beaten everyone else because he’s better. Bennett says he knows what Lashley is trying to do by separating he and Moose, and after Lashley said he could beat Bennett no matter what they set up a No DQ match. Bennett thinks Moose is on his side and will do what he wants, but Lashley says he smartened up Moose. Lashley promises to whoop that ass tonight, because no one can stop him. Moose then hit the ring, and said he always let his actions do the talking for him. He admits to not meeting with Lashley, which pleased Bennett. Moose then promised that he will decide who walks out as champion tonight and leaves. The usual segment to se up the main event, TNA was doing well earlier in the year in breaking away from that, but have unfortunately settled back into it. I really wish that they would go back to mixing it up, they haven’t been afraid to try new things and those things have received praise. I see no need to get into the basic Raw/Smackdown opening promo all the time when they could offer something fresh. This was fine overall, setting the stage for the main event.

– We see footage and Drew Galloway attacking Aron Rex last week.

Broken Matt w/Brother Nero vs. Crazzy Steve: Steve is alone, I hope that Senior Benjamin and Vanguard1 are on proper patrol. They did a test of strength and then they took turns biting each other. They did some back and forth; Steve took out Broken Matt’s knee and hit a knee strike to take control. It didn’t last long as Broken Matt avoided the cannonball and they brawled to the floor. Back in Broken Matt hit the side effect for a near fall. Steve fought back with corner clotheslines, but was then sent to the floor where Brother Nero attacked. He rolled Steve back in and Broken Matt hit the twist of fate for the win. This was a perfectly fine match to continue the angle over the tag titles.

– Post match Steve laughed as he told Broken Matt that he was blind, because while Steve was alone, Decay is everywhere, including the Hardy Estate. King Maxel is now Rosemary’s baby

– We get an X-Division video package to hype tonight’s match.

– Broken Matt talks with Brother Nero, he fears that the estate is in peril and tries to Facetime home. He has Vanguard1 scan the house, and Rosemary is spotted there.

Ultimate X Gauntlet Match to Crown a New Champion: DJ Z vs. Trevor Lee vs. Rockstar Spud vs. Mandrews vs. Andrew Everett vs. Braxton Sutter: Trevor Lee and DJ Z are the first two men in. You can climb to win at any time. Nice, fast paced, back and forth to beginning from these two as you would expect. Everett was the third man in, allowing he and Lee to work together and take control of things. They double teamed DJ Z and Everett tried to help Lee climb but #4 was Mandrews, who cut them off. He got to run wild for a bit, which was nice to see. He scored with a stunner to Everett and started to climb, Everett tried to stop him but Mandrews hit a RANA off the ropes and then the running shooting star press to send us to break. Post break, Spud made his entrance and with everyone down, he tried to climb. Sutter had entered during the break and stopped Spud, and then everyone was starting to stir and we got a sweet dive by Mandrews. DJ Z then got cut off as he went for a dive, leading to Everett hitting a big moonsault to the floor. DJ Z came back and then he hit a step up dive. After some brawling on the floor, Lee and Mandrews worked back into the ring, where Lee hit the running double stomp. We got bodies flying to the floor, leading to the big move buffet, where Everett killed Mandrews with a spiked RANA. Sutter tossed him, climbed but Spud cut him off with chair shots. Mandrews then hit a missile dropkick, sending the chair into Spud’s face. Lee and Everett climbed, they fought over the belt and then DJ Z flew in and snagged the title out of their hands and fell to the mat with it to score the win and become the new champion. That was a really fun car crash, exactly what it needed to be, with the guys actually getting time and the right guy winning. The finish was fun, as they have actually done an under the radar good job in building tension between Lee and Everett, with Lee being the Alpha of the Helms team.. Very good stuff.

– EC3 talked backstage, and they set up their match for later tonight. Drake plans to win so that when EC3 wins the title, he will be the #1 contender for the title.

– Drew Galloway walks and says that he will explain to the ring to explain what happened last week with Rex.

– We see footage of Allie winning the Knockouts Title last week. She celebrates later tonight.

Wronged Drew Galloway Talks: Galloway is a sad panda, with his messy hair and hooded sweatshirt. He stood up for this place, all of “you” and all of the guys in the back. When he won the title they all partied, and then he lost the title and got screwed three times and the crowd chanted for EC3. Aron Rex arrived, said the same things he did, and then he lost last week. The crowd didn’t cheer for him, you cheered the damn referee and disrespected him. He blames the fans for all of this. Aron Rex is doing the same thing he did, and in that respect he is Rex’s messiah, and if he sees him again he will put him in the hospital. Rock and Roll Billy arrived, and he is not pleased with Galloway. He feels that Galloway went against his authority. He was going to suspend Galloway, but he changed his mind. Galloway is disappointed in Billy, because he’s the establishment now, he’s Dixie Carter’s little bitch. Rex arrived and says it was him, he doesn’t need Galloway suspended and he hit the ring for the big brawl. Rex was getting revenge before security stopped him, allowing Galloway to make a comeback. Agents, refs and some wrestlers had to pull them apart. This was an overall good segment, playing off of last week, slowly adding to the paranoid (and feeling wronged) Galloway, and setting up Rex’s first feud well. It also succeeded because it was simply and straightforward, no unneeded bullshit.

– Broken Matt gets a hold of Reby, and he warns her that Rosemary and Abyss re on the way. Reby says they will go to the safe room, but then Broken Matt gets a notification from Vanguard1… ROSEMARY IS IN THE HOUSE!

EC3 vs. Eli Drake: Solid back and forth to begin, leading to both men fighting to the floor. Drake took control as they got back in the ring, raked the eyes and took the heat. Solid heat by Drake, but then EC3 came back with the TKO and ran wild, hitting the corner splash and then the flapjack. The one percenter finished it. This was a solid outing, designed to give EC3 momentum as the #1 contender. But with that being said, they really need to decide what they want to do with Drake. This didn’t feel like a match with a “star vs. an up and coming star,” this felt like a star just beating a dud eon the roster. If that was the plan, they needed to have someone else in there to lose to EC3. It would be different if Drake loses in a long, hard fought battle where he comes off as a threat; this was just a match, one that did him no real favors. It feels as if TNA is stuck with Drake, on one hand you can see that they like him and want to push him, but he’s too low on the priority list right now.

– Borash interviews a very happy Allie, who has balloons. She hypes her celebration, and noted that Maria told her to get balloons and streamers for the celebration.

– Reby takes Maxell to the safe room, and she has a sword. Senor Benjamin arrives to take care of Maxel as Reby goes to “hunt that bitch down.”

– DJ Z discusses his long road back to the X-Division title. He’s worked harder than ever this year, he improved his body and his in ring, and hard work pays off. Eddie Edwards arrives to congratulate him. They shared a manly hug.

Allie’s Championship Celebration…?: Allie hits the ring to celebrate her win, which she though would never come. She thanks the fans, but says that it would not be possible without her moon and stars, Maria. Sienna makes her way out to the ring and is PISSED. Maria calls her off and gives her the night off like the rest of the ladies and sends her to the back. Maria then informs Allie that the celebration is not for her and tells her to be silent because she is worthless. Maria then says the celebration is for Allie’s opponent, who is Maria. Maria wants her to lay down for her, Allie doesn’t want to, but Maria shames her into doing it. Maria shoves her down, covers, and wins the title. Maria then demands that Allie put the title on her and announce her as the new champion. Maria was a Grade A bitch here, and Allie was great as the sympathetic character; they played their roles perfectly. I still unfortunately have no interest in this as it is still all about Kim vs. Maria, which seems as if it has been going on for three years at this point, and the division seems so stalled because of that. Sienna got boned with her run, as did Jade; neither felt important and were backdrops for Maria vs. Kim. So yeah, great performances, but the angle does nothing for the division or my enjoyment. The positive here is that if done correctly, they could create a hell of an underdog/sympathetic babyface with Allie down the line.

– Bennett meets with Moose and tries to make nice with him. He says that they are a team and tonight is their Super Bowl. He hands Moose a pipe and says he knows will do what’s right for the both of them.

– Back to the Hardy Estate, as Reby and her sword search for Rosemary. Reby finds her and chases her, finding her and then Rosemary threw a fake baby at Reby. Senor Benjamin then arrives with Maxel. Reby is PISSED and demands that Senor Benjamin prepares the battlefield… FOR MASSACRE!

TNA World Title No DQ Match: Champion Lashley vs. Mike Bennett w/Maria: Maria tried to distract Lashley, he didn’t give a fuck and beat down Bennett. Bennett made the mistake of punching Lashley, he just got pissed and connected with the delayed vertical suplex. Lashley set for the spear as Moose walked out to the ring, we then took a commercial. Post break, Moose watched on as Bennett worked the heat on Lashley. Lashley looked to make a comeback, but Maria ran in to help and that distracted Lashley enough for Bennett to keep control. Lashley was then sent to the floor, and Maria hit him with the Knockouts title, Moose rolled him back in and Bennett scored a near fall. Bennett’s heat segment has been fine, but it feels as it if is missing something, just an overall lack of energy or urgency considering that this is a title match. Lashley fired up after countering the miracle in progress and worked the torture rack. Lashley then hit the spinebuster and looked for the spear, but Maria grabbed his leg. Bennett hit the cutter, and that got the near fall. Bennett demand that Moose give him the pipe, but he refused. Lashley hit the spear and retained. Despite the stipulation, they never got to the point where I bought that Bennett could win. This felt like a long angle to set up the Moose and Bennett angle, with is fine, but as a main event and world title match it was completely lacking.

– Bennett was pissed post match and called Moose a dumb ass animal. He then ran him down and says Moose is nothing without him. he slapped Moose as he ranted, so Moose then decapitated him with a lariat. Moose stood tall as the face turn is complete.

– Next week… DELETE OR DECAY!

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

Tonight was an overall good show, based on the Ultimate X, the Hardy angle and the fact that TNA has really locked in following up on he previous week and also setting up the next. With TNA being a non-factor in PPVs, they have to be a quality episodic TV product, and that’s what they have been this year. I am still not a fan of the Knockouts booking, and it feels as if they need to decide what they want to do with Eli Drake, but I enjoyed the show overall. Also, I am hyped for DELETE OR DECAY, the Hardy segments were great tonight.