Csonka’s TNA Impact Review 9.15.16

TNA Impact Review 9.15.16

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Grand Championship Tournament Match: Aron Rex defeated Trevor Lee @ 1:58 of round two via pin [**¾]
– Empty Arena No Turnbuckles Metal Exposed Match: Braxton Sutter defeated Rockstar Spud @ 5:15 via pin [**½]
– TNA Knockouts Gauntlet to Crown a New Top Contender: Gail Kim won @ 3:00 via pin [*½]
– Grand Championship Tournament Match: Eddie Edwards defeated Mahabali Shera @ 0:55 of round three via submission [**]

---

– Matt Hardy is at his estate, and it is a dark day. Rebecca is mentally broken, Maxel was almost kidnapped, Brother Nero was mutilated, Senor Benjamin was kidnapped and Vanguard1 cannot be found. Brother Nero was in a chair of wheels, and Matt pulled him out of him and pulled him into the lake of reincarnation and chanted for the seven deities to regenerate him. Nero came out of the water as drugged up Jeff Hardy complete with custom title belt, but that was no good, so Matt dunked him again and he came back as a healed Brother Nero. Matt then vowed to track down Vanguard1.

Lashley Speaks: Borash interviews Lashley about his attack on EC3 last week, and said that he almost ruined the Bound For Glory main event. He promised that he was taking over wrestling in 2016, and that no one was as dominating as he was. EC3 opened his moth last week and he crushed the hero of the fans. He says there is no match for Bound For Glory, and then politely offers Borash the spot. Grado then appeared. Lashley does not appear to be amused about this; Grado says he likes to have a good time and to make the fans laugh. EC3 is his mate, but now he wants to prove to Lashley that he is no joke, and then called Lashley a coward of a man, and a man that can be beaten. Lashley then attacked and kicked the shit out of Grado. Lashley hit the spear and said people need to stop coming to this ring and pissing him off. He can kill anyone on this roster because no one here can beat him. This brought out Moose, they brawled and Moose hit a clothesline and Lashley bailed to the floor. Moose claimed he would not only beat Lashley, but he’d whoop his ass. He says everyone wants to see Lashley vs. Moose, and he will beat the hell out of Lashley tonight. Solid opening segment here, I love Lashley killing dudes. They also kept the interaction with Moose to a minimum, which is good because that will be a match down the line.

– Aron Rex cuts a promo about coming to Impact to be part of something special. He rediscovered his love for wrestling and is excited for the Grand Championship tournament. He doesn’t mind working for what he wants, while Galloway complains and keeps getting what he wants without the work. He will fight through everyone in the tournament to get to Galloway.

– Lashley tells Moose that he has to earn his way to the top, and that fighting him would be bad for his health. He declines his challenge.

Grand Championship Tournament Match: Aron Rex vs. Trevor Lee: Rex went for some roll ups right away, frustrating Lee. Lee fought back, looked to grapple with Rex who landed a right, but Lee sent him to the floor and hit a PK from the apron. Lee scored the near fall and then worked over Rex in the corner and then grounded him with the side headlock. Rex got to his feet and landed clotheslines as the round ended. ROUND ONE Rex 29-28. Round two begins with Rex eating a boot and a flying forearm for a near fall. Rex battled back with the Russian leg sweep and hit the elbow drop. Lee rolled to the ropes, leading to a kick to the head and jumping knee for a near fall. Rex countered God’s last gift and hit the spinning punch for the win. Solid first outing for Rex, his win was never in doubt, but Lee looked competitive.

– Borash interviews Maria. She says they determine her challenger for Bound For Glory, she says she will win no matter what and to not over shadow Gail Kim, she will hold her Hall of Fame induction tonight.

– Back at the hardy estate, Matt searches the woods for Vanguard1. Matt finds him in a tree, and Vanguard1 is… broken. Matt breaks down in hysterics, and begs the deities to restore the essence of Vanguard1. We see the life and times of Vanguard1, and hit time with Senor Benjamin. Wait… VANGUARD1 IS ALIVE!

Maria Talks: Maria is in the ring with Allie for Gail Kim’s Hall of Fame induction. He mocks Allie for being stupid and common like the fans. She will induct Kim into the Hall of Fame tonight and calls out Kim. Maria says Kim will never be champion again, and she has a video package of all of Kim’s highlights. It is, of course, moment of Maria humiliating Kim. Maria says there were so many moments where she kicked Kim’s ass, and had trouble picking which ones to use. She even has a gift for Kim, a picture of Maria with the title. Allie then says she got a present for Kim, because Kim is the best ever. Maria stole the gift and stomped on it. Kim says she can’t wait until she never sees Kim’s ugly face again. Dixie Carter then arrives, and says that Maria is no longer in control of the knockouts. She has no power any longer. Carter says Kim gets her Hall of Fame induction at the Bound For Glory PPV, which she deserves. Carter also says she deserves a title shot, leading to Maria calling Kim a loser, but Carter puts her in tonight’s gauntlet. Kim promises to kick Maria’s ass. This feud continues to exist and continues to do nothing at all to entertain me. Maria is solid enough in her role, but I was over this whole thing months ago.

– We get clips of the Rockstar Spud vs. Braxton Sutter feud; their match is next.

Empty Arena No Turnbuckles Metal Exposed Match: Rockstar Spud vs. Braxton Sutter: Sutter accidentally busted up Spud’s mouth a while back leading to him needing dental work and braces. Spud has been trying for revenge and trying to bust out Sutter’s teeth in retaliation. For “the safety of the fans,” we got the added empty arena stipulation. Both guys are wearing street clothes and start brawling on the floor to begin the match. They brawl around, with Sutter tossing Spud into the chairs and then starts to throw chairs onto him. They brawl into the bleachers as Sutter whips Spud with a belt. It’s been all Sutter early as they battle back ringside, where Spud punts Sutter in the balls. In the ring Spud tries to drag Sutter to the exposed steel in the corner, Sutter fights him off and returns the favor with a low blow. Sutter then punches Spud repeatedly in the mouth, and then whips him to the exposed corner a few times. Sutter then slams Spud face first to the corner and scores the pin as Spud’s mouth is busted open. I appreciated the aggression and the outside the box match idea, the match was solid stuff. Sutter dominated, so hopefully they actually have plans for him moving forward.

– Vanguard1 is out searching for Senor Benjamin, and arrives at a dilapidated barn and find shim tied up. Vanguard1 gets Matt, who rescues Benjamin. Matt sends Benjamin home to recuperate, and to amass a giant stash of weapons, because at Bound For Glory, they go to war!

– Moose addresses Lashley turning down his challenge. He says that they are destined to fight, and he knocked Lashley on his ass the night he debuted. He plans to challenge Lashley for a fight, and asks if Lashley will run away like a bitch.

– We get highlights from Delete or Decay. It was extraordinaire.

Broken Matt, Broken Brother Nero and Broken Reby Speak: Matt says they were in a war with Decay last week, they survived, but so did Decay. Matt says they tried to abduct King Maxel and for that they are sentenced to the darkness for deletion. At Bound For Glory, they will win the tag titles and DELETE the Decay. Decay’s music hits and Rosemary is in the crowd, she says Maxel deserves a family that is not broken; he deserves a family where he can embrace his true self. As for the titles, they will never take them because Decay keeps what they want, it’s why Bram is gone. He had to be destroyed. Abyss appears and says the titles are beautiful and belong to Decay, and the Hardys will never experience their beauty. Crazzy Steve then appears and says the obsession with their gold is min d boggling, but they have their destruction to offer. Matt says death is not the end because their souls will live on forever. Nero says that they tried to take his nephew and to change their way of living and failed. They may be broken, but they survived. They go to war at BFG and they will render Decay obsolete. Matt says that for glory they are bound, and they can’t be contained in a wrestling match. He challenges them to the insanity of the Great War! Abyss says they thrive on wars. Abyss asks if they can fight into hell and the heavens, and then says that they are on. Rosemary promised that after the war the Hardys will decay and Maxel can join their family. They all brawl now after Rosemary calls Reby an unfit mother. Twists of fate from Matt and Nero, and then one from Reby! The Broken Hardys stand tall. Rosemary continues to be very good on the mic, and is the star of Decay. This was another fun segment from the two factions, and it works because they are all so dedicated to the character work.

– There is a One Night Only PPV tomorrow night; I will have live coverage as always.

– Lashley is backstage, and Mike Bennett appears and tries to get Lashley to kill Moose so that he doesn’t have to face him at Bound For Glory. Lashley says Bennett and Moose talk too much, so tonight he will beat Moose’s ass and he may come back to kick Bennett’s ass as well.

TNA Knockouts Gauntlet to Crown a New Top Contender: Jade is #1, and Maria replaces Allie with Laurel Van Ness (aka Chelsea Green). The fans chanted “Allie’s better.” They traded strikes center ring to begin, Van Ness hit the Hennig neck flip and Sienna was in at #3. They of course double-teamed Jade, which Maria enjoyed; Allie looked upset by this. #4 was Gail Kim, who flew in wit a forearm on Van Ness. She ran wild on both Sienna and Van Ness for a bit, but Sienna cut her off and laid the boots to her in the corner. #5 was Marti Bell, who worked with Van Ness to beat down Jade. That didn’t last long as they argued over who would get to kick Jade’s ass more, and #6 was Raquel. Raquel has good athletic ability, but needs more ring time because she is very awkward in her execution. #7 was Madison Rayne, who got the token offense upon entry and we took a commercial break. Post break, Kim was in and we got a rather slow big move buffet, which came off poorly as the execution was really sloth like. Van Ness tossed Rayne, and shortly after Bell tossed Jade and then Van Ness tossed Bell. Jade and Bell fought on the floor. Sienna tossed Raquel with extreme aggression. Maria yelled at Sienna as Van Ness worked over Kim Allie got on the apron and was pulling the ropes down, leading to Kim tossing Van Ness. This led to Kim vs. Sienna, with a pin or submission needed to win. Maria and Van Ness yelled at Kim on the floor as Kim and Sienna battled. Sienna tried to eliminate Kim over the top, which was odd. Kim fought back and hit a sunset flip for a near fall. Kim countered the AK47 and hit eat defeat for the win. That was not good. It was slow, awkward and at times they were walking around and appeared clueless. Kim’s win was weak and predictable, and while predictable is not bad, this angle is just not good.

Grand Championship Tournament Match: Eddie Edwards vs. Mahabali Shera: Shera was using his strength advantage early, and found success for a bit. Edwards used his speed to make a comeback, sent Shera to the floor and then hit a suicide dive. Back in Edwards went up top; Shera avoided him and then hit the kick and a running knee for a near fall. Edwards went for the ankle lock but the time expired. ROUND ONE: Edwards 30-27. Shera attacks the ribs of Edwards early, which he was favoring a bit in round one. Shera did a solid job here, Edwards has worked with him before and seems to be able to work to his strengths very well, and sells so well for him. Shera’s work isn’t any thing special here, but it doesn’t suck because it has been kept simple. Edwards finally managed to go of ran STF at the end of the round, but the bell stopped that. ROUND 2 29-28 Shera. We’re tied one round a piece, and Edwards attacked at the bell here in round three, but Shera hit a slam and scored a near fall. Shera missed a charge, and Edwards locked in the single leg crab and Shera taps. This was perfectly acceptable, not good, but fine; Edwards may be the only guy so far that can make something passable out of Shera.

– Aron Rex vs. Eli Drake and Eddie Edwards vs. Drew Galloway are set for the next round of the Grand Championship Tournament

Lashley and Moose Fight: Moose hits the ring and Lashley arrives. He says everyone one wants to see this, but this is not happening Lashley is a businessman, and says since he destroyed EC3, he will fight Moose at Bound For Glory for the big payday. Moose agrees to this, but say she can’t wait and they brawl. Lashley tosses him to the floor; Moose pulls him out and slams Lashley to the barricade. They brawl around ringside, with Lashley getting posted. Lashley fought back and slammed Moose to the steps and then pummeled him with strikes. Back in the ring Moose hit a dropkick, but Lashley countered his rainmaker rip off and hit a spinebuster. Lashley hit a spear in the corner and then another. Moose managed to fire back and set Lashley up top and then Mike Bennett arrived and attacks Moose. He raked Moose’s eyes and Lashley laid him out with a spear, allowing Bennett to get in some cheap shots. EC3 then arrived, ribs all taped up like late 90s DDP and took out Bennett and then brawled with Lashley. Bennett got involved and that allowed Lashley to attack the ribs, but EC3 fired up and hit a clothesline to both and the show ended. They accomplished the goal of adding some heat to two of the top BFG matches, but this really lacked energy until EC3 arrived. Josh Mathews’ fake enthusiasm does nothing to help either, he can shout all he wants about this being exciting, but when the crowd seems disinterested, he comes off as disingenuous.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

While the build for Bound For Glory is there, which is good, but this show really lacked energy and felt long (in a bad way) for the first time in a while. It wasn’t bad, just solid and unspectacular.