TNA IMPACT HITS & MISSES (6/25): Moose-Eddie Edwards face-off, Santana-Nic Nemeth build, Great Hands added to men’s tag title match, Broken Hardys self-indulgence promo, more

HITS

Eric Young’s pre-taped promo on his match with Rick Sosa at Slammiversary

Erich Young does a good job giving Ricky Sosa the deserved praise while also saying it’s “too soon” in his career and there are tests and lessons to be learned. It comes across as believable and this could feel like a mini passing of the torch moment.

AJ Francis Squash match win and subsequent Elijah video promo

This was fine. This is an Impact match to me but at least they attempted to do one final heat-up for the match before Slammiversary. There wasn’t a lot of meat on the bone to this feud so they did the best they could but I would have voted to avoid this feud, in the first place.

Moose-Eddie Edwards Face-Off

I could’ve done without Alisha Edwards screaming on the mic but overall, the intensity of both Moose and Eddie shown through in this face-off which is all you can ask for on the show before a PPV with a “No Surrender” on the docket.

Frankie Kazarian-Cedric Alexander-Mr. Elegance vs. K.C. Navarro-Leon Slater-Fabian Aichner

This is your paint-by-numbers “Face Vs. Heels” six-man tag match on the show before your big multi-man PPV match (Ultimate X, in this case). Very formulaic but it worked for what it was trying to do. The brawling “gives us a taste” of what we are going to see on Sunday.

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MISSES

The Broken Hardys Self-Indulgent Promo

The Righteous have brought out a “different dimension” of the Hardys after their Wicked Garden match. What does this really mean? Will this have any real, significant and lasting change on the Hardys current act? I somehow doubt that. So what is the point? Are the Broken Hardys capable of actual evolution at this point? How does this make me want to see the Triple Threat match for the tag titles at Slammiversary? This is also so disconnected from the System that they feel like they’re in a different universe and don’t fit into the match, at all.

Adding the Great Hands to the Men’s Tag Title match at Slammiversary

In what way does adding the Great Hands to the tag title match at Slammiversary make me want to see it more? They’ve been the biggest of jokes since being behind Mustafa Ali, which is a problem, in its own right. A Four-Way ladder match between four teams not exactly known for their in-ring prowess is sure to end well, right? I swear, 90% of TNA’s booking decisions since moving to AMC have been centered around the idea of making Daria more of a heel or Santino more of a face. It’s as if the wrestlers are afterthoughts most of the time. I can guarantee you that a majority of your audience does not tune in to watch two mediocre GM’s on opposing power trips. This infatuation is killing TNA creative. Hopefully most of this were the delusions of Tommy Dreamer.

The Elegance Brand segment drowning the Mara Sade match

Mara Sade’s match was basically a backdrop for the momentum killing Elegance Brand to get their meta, nonsense “mark jeers” over. This may be getting over with the tiny, live audience for the Impact taping in Denver but I can’t imagine anyone watching on TV saying that this is a productive use of TV time for a weekly, episodic wrestling program on a major cable station. Mara Sade should be the priority, not the eye-rolling Elegance Brand. The Elegance Brand also further loses credibility for their tag title match at Slammiversary. It’s almost as if TNA is doing a reverse-build on their go-home show. Also, mental health issues shouldn’t be a part of a heel storyline. It certainly isn’t a joke or something to look at as “heelish”.

Mike Santana-Nic Nemeth “face-to-face”

I was really expecting this to be a hit for me, but it just didn’t. The dumb, dramatic music playing throughout this post-produced segment was corny and both men made their promos way too much about being “TNA guys” rather than being about why they need to be and why they should be champion. Also, it got way too personal for seemingly no reason. It was adding animosity for two guys who I just can’t believe would do so, in real life. It rang false. The “brawl” at the end gave me soap opera level fighting-acting vibes. Add the unlikable Carlos Silva in, for no reason, again, and you have the recipe for a lackluster go-home segment for your biggest match at Slammiversary.

Santino “surviving the beatdown” and heroically coming to exact revenge on Nic Nemeth

“Who could have seen that coming?” I say dripping with sarcasm. Everything about the Santana-Nic Nemeth build tonight was minor league. Very disappointing in what was previously a pretty solid build. In many ways that show was a regression for several builds. The opposite of what you want to use a go-home show for.