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INTRO: TNA is gearing up for their biggest PPV of the year, Bound For Glory. For this broadcast of Impact, TNA booked the first defense of the Knockouts TV Title.
FEUD: ELEGANCE BRAND – DEMONXBUNNY & KERRA HOGAN
Match: M By Elegance [c] vs. Kierra Hogan – Knockouts TV Title
Kierra Hogan returned to TNA Wrestling at Lockdown as the surprise partner for Allie, replacing the injured/absent Rosemary, successfully retaining the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship. Last week, in their first joint promo, Allie supported Kierra Hogan getting the first shot at the TV Title against M By Elegance. After back and forth action, M By Elegance secured the victory, retaining the Knockouts TV Championship in her first defense of the title.
Breakdown: The match went as expected. The two wrestlers worked pretty well with each other, and M By Elegance got the predictable win in her first defense as the inaugural defense as TNA Knockouts Television Champion. I liked that the match and finish were clean, to help strengthen M By Elegance’s credibility as a singles competitor.
Grade: B
BACKSTAGE WITH LEON SLATER
Feud: Nic Nemeth vs. Leon Slater
Leon Slater’s path to Bound For Glory is clear as he will challenge Nic Nemeth for the TNA World Championship after relinquishing the X-Division Title, using Option-C.
Breakdown: I’ve had mixed feelings on the build to the Nemeth-Slater World Championship program. On one hand, I am happy to see Slater get a main event push. On the other hand, he has been given minimal attention since being named Nemeth’s TNA World Title number one contender. Nemeth has continued to be mixed up with the Hardys while Slater bides his time. Nevertheless, Slater cut a good promo here, as usual.
Grade: B+
BACKSTAGE WITH MILA MOORE & JOHN SKYLER
John Skyler tried to ask Mila Moore on a date again, but she blew him off for a phone call.
Breakdown: I am not sure what there is to gain with this storyline that basically strips John Skyler of any credibility as a character. I assume this sub-plot storyline will play some part in the continued dissolution of Order 4, which I am in favor of.
Grade: D
X-DIVISION SIX MAN SCRAMBLE QUALIFIER MATCH
LJ Cleary vs. Rich Swann
LJ Cleary made his debut in this X-Division Title qualifier match, going head to head against Rich Swann. Swann, along with his partner BDE, have been mixed up with The Righteous in an odd storyline as of late. Swann and Cleary went back and forth for the majority of the match until Swann secured the victory, advancing to the Bound For Glory X-Division Six Man Scramble.
Breakdown: I was happy to see a clean match without any Righteous interference, though that may not bode well for Dutch & Vincent. Swann makes sense as an addition to the Bound For Glory match.
Grade: C
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
Check out the latest episode of “Destination Impact” with Zac Clarke and Jerud Buhagiar, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “pwtorch” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
LEON SLATER VIGNETTE
TNA seems to be ramping up the hype for Bound For Glory with this edition of Impact. There was a brief vignette for Leon Slater as a lead into an ad for the show.
Breakdown: As I have been critical of the build up of Leon Slater heading into the next month toward Bound For Glory, I enjoyed this short promo.
Grade: B+
BACKSTAGE WITH FRANKIE KAZARIAN
Feud: Frankie Kazarian – Moose
Frankie Kazarian has taken it upon himself to mentor Avery Styles. Kaz cut a promo this week on Moose, declaring that it would be Moose’s final chapter.
Breakdown: I actually enjoyed this Kazarian promo ahead of the Kazarian-Moose match where Moose’s in-ring career is on the line. This storyline has emerged as a pleasant surprise lately.
Grade: B
Match: THE SYSTEM vs. ELIJAH & RICKY SOSA
Feud: Ricky Sosa/Elijah – The System
Ricky Sosa has been struggling escaping the System since before Lockdown. Joining forces with Elijah, Sosa faced off against Eddie Edwards & Cedric Alexander of The System. Sosa got the victory for his team after a decent match, pinning Alexander, but following the match, Eddie Edwards attacked Sosa with a chair. As the System stood over Sosa, Edwards challenged Sosa to a match at Bound For Glory.
Breakdown: I continue to be wary of the booking of Ricky Sosa, one of TNA’s top young talents. If the feud with System is setting up Sosa to run through them, then all is well that ends well. I tend to want to see more for Sosa than being stuck in the System vortex. I am glad that he got a victory this week and has a singles match at Bound For Glory against Eddie Edwards. The Bound for Glory match should be pretty good, and I am hopeful Sosa will go over.
Grade: B
THE RIGHTEOUS VIGNETTE
Feud: The Righteous – BDE – Rich Swann
After abducting BDE, and being subsequently swerved by him, The Righteous continue to take aim at BDE & Rich Swann in a goofy cinematic style promo.
Breakdown: The Righteous continue to just exist, for me. As I have stated over the last few weeks, I am happy to see TNA put some time into other tag teams in the division, but this feud is centering around The Righteous trying to convince BDE to join their cult. The Righteous has not explained why they want BDE to join them or what they stand to gain from it, and I do not expect an explanation of any significance.
Grade: D
IMPACT INJURY REPORT
On the Injury Report this week, Tom Hannifan put Gabby Forza over strong after her match against Xia Brookside last week. Leon Slater is also cleared for competition following the mystery attack that left him unconscious on top of a forklift a couple weeks ago. Moose was cleared to compete in the match against Kazarian.
Breakdown: It is nice to see TNA use the Injury Report in a straightforward way. All is well for now.
Grade: B
MATCH: RYAN NEMETH (w/NIC NEMETH) vs. LEON SLATER
Feud: Leon Slater – Nic Nemeth
With Leon Slater set up as the number one contender for Nic Nemeth’s TNA World Championship at Bound For Glory, Slater faced off against Ryan Nemeth on Impact this week. Nic Nemeth was ringside, joining Tom Hannifan & Matt Rehwoldt on commentary for the match. Slater controlled the match for its duration and scored the victory in short order. Nic Nemeth attacked Slater after the match and the Nemeth brothers stood tall over Slater.
Breakdown: With less than a month before TNA’s biggest show, Bound For Glory, Impact this week seemed more focused on the Slater-Nemeth feud. I know they will deliver a great match. I would like to see Slater become the champion, but with the uncertainty around his contract status, it is hard to predict an outcome. There is plenty of time to build this into a main event level match for the biggest show of the year, and I feel good about it right now.
Grade: B+
BACKSTAGE WITH MOOSE
Feud: Moose – Frankie Kazarian
Moose responded to Kazarian’s promo from earlier in the same show, leading into their main event match.
Breakdown: Moose kept it short and sweet in this backstage promo, and it was pretty good.
Grade: B
ZOEY SERRANO vs. HARLEY HUDSON
TNA aired an impressive introduction mission statement for Zoey Serrano last week. On Impact this week, Serrano wrestled her first singles match in TNA against young star Harley Hudson. These two knockouts wrestled a hard-hitting match with Serrano winning in impressive fashion. After the match, Daria Rae called for Serrano to attack Hudson after the match but Indi Hartwell made the save. Rae sent a vague warning to Hartwell as the segment came to an end.
Breakdown: Serrano’s impressive vignette from Impact last week set her up for a nice opportunity to follow up with a strong showing against Harley Hudson, and she did just that. I enjoyed the match, and I thought that Hudson also was impressive in defeat. I am unsure where the odd Daria warnings are going; perhaps another signing or return is coming soon? There was also no mention of Indi Hartwell’s pursuit of the Knockouts World Title in this segment which is notable.
Grade: A
FEUD: FRANKIE KAZARIAN vs. MOOSE
Match: Frankie Kazarian (w/Avery Styles) vs. Moose – If Moose loses, he retires from TNA.
The Kazarian-Moose entanglement felt long in the tooth at the beginning. The feud was also not aided by an odd finish at Lockdown. Kazarian has acted as the on-screen mentor for Avery Styles as of late, and Styles accompanied him to the ring for the match against Moose. After a back and forth battle, Moose overcame Kazarian, also avoiding the stipulation of losing his TNA career if he lost the match. After the match, Moose destroyed Kazarian’s crown with a chair, seemingly signaling the end of their feud.
Breakdown: Moose & Kazarian had a decent match and this felt like a true end to their feud. If this is the end, I think it is a good stopping point. I am intrigued at the possibilities with Kazarian and Avery Styles heading toward Bound For Glory also.
Grade: B
MATT HARDY ATTACKED BACKSTAGE
In the closing moments of Impact this week, cameras backstage showed Matt Hardy unconscious on the floor, with the legs of two figures walking in the background.
Breakdown: We actually got at least something more than an unconscious person laying backstage this week with the visible silhouettes of two figures behind the fallen Matt Hardy. With rumors circulating of more potential signings coming soon, I am hopeful TNA will provide a somewhat significant payoff to this mystery attacker storyline.
Grade: B
