TNA IMPACT HITS & MISSES (6/4): Indy Hartwell being featured, Eddie Edwards being center of TNA, Elegance Brand interacting with Undead Realm, Elayna Black promo, more

HITS

AJ Francis Segment Ending

I can’t believe I’m saying this as I’ve never been a big fan of AJ Francis, to say the least, but I can admit that he has put effort into improving since joining TNA and he does get legitimate (not “cool guy”) crowd heat. The segment with Elijah was kind of dumb, but Francis did go over in the end. With the lack of depth across the TNA roster, they really need to stop treading water with Francis and advance him out of mid-card purgatory.

Santino Marella & Indi Hartwell defeating Stacks & Arianna Grace

The match went too long and wasn’t anything to write home about, but the fact that Indi Hartwell was the highlighted aspect of the winning team is a good sign. The Knockouts Division is a far cry from what it once was so it is important that they start elevating full-time TNA Knockouts up the card and they seem to be doing that with Indi.

Elayna Black Promo

It was a decent heel promo, but much similar to what I previously said about Indi Hartwell, tonight seemed to be a dedicated effort of advancing full-time, contracted TNA Knockouts up the card.

Mustafa Ali vs. KC Navarro set for a TNA International Title match next week

This should be a great match between two wrestlers with lack of over-exposure and a great amount of promise. TNA should be investing heavily in both of these guys.

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MISSES

Eddie Edwards as the center of TNA

Eddie Edwards went over BDE in their match, which is fine, in a vacuum. My problem is that with TNA bleeding so many main event wrestlers (both announced and rumored, at this point) they really need to make it a priority to start advancing some of their younger and less over-exposed talents up the card and into the main event scene. Continuing to circle the wagons with “The System” is thinning out the whole show, even though I like Edwards and the faction.

The Elegance Brand interacting with the Undead Realm

Just way too much nonsense in one segment for me to personally handle.

Mike Santana – Eric Young Promo Battle

I’m usually very high on Mike Santana but the material either given or chosen by both men tonight for their in-ring promo wasn’t well thought out. Eric Young burying actual young talent like Ricky Sosa, calling him a “flash in the pan” isn’t the direction that TNA should be going. Santana saying that Young “hasn’t been relevant in 15 years” might hit too close to the truth and not be something that you want to highlight going into your World Title match for next week. I think that both men are resorting to these tropes because there just really isn’t much to pull from for this feud which really speaks to a creative problem.

Non-Title match: Knockouts Champion Lei Ying Lee vs. Mr. Elegance

I’m not a fan of involving the Knockouts Champion in this type of ridiculousness, especially if you’re going to have the champ Lei Ying Lee lose. Keep this in the bottom of the mid-card if you really want it on your show, at all.

Wicked Garden Match: The Righteous vs. The Broken Hardys

The fact that this match was in-ring and not cinematic just speaks to TNA’s lacking in the production department, in my opinion. This type of match being in-ring is just too goofy to sell to the masses and neither of these teams is dynamic enough to sell this match on pure, in-ring action and this especially showed bright in a match that went 21 minutes. The Hardys are bonafide legends, but enough is enough. I do feel as though they’re hurting their legacy, a bit, by holding on for too long and Vince & Dutch are just meh, in my opinion.

The Release of Steve Maclin and rumored exits of Mike Santana and Leon Slater

The release of Steve Maclin has been confirmed and the way that TNA handled it was disastrous from a PR perspective. Releasing a statement on the matter, when TNA hasn’t historically done so, after the rumor that Maclin wanted to keep his requested release quiet, is not a good look for the company and future talent that are considering signing might take pause. It’s also rumored that both Santana and Slater will be exiting the company sooner rather than later. All this coinciding, at once, will leave the company bare bones at the top. This will cause a domino effect in having to move too many to the main event scene at one time and too quickly which isn’t ideal for development or storytelling.