TNA IMPACT HITS & MISSES (7/23): Why Mustafa Ali has now lost me, Hardys-Righteous enough is enough, should Jada Stone be elevated, more

HITS

Ricky Sosa & Leon Slater vs. The System scheduled for next week

While I think that they gave The System way too much promo time before they got to Sosa, they did eventually get to Sosa and Slater. Positioning Sosa and Slater is absolutely the right call. The caveat being they better put Sosa and Slater over the System next week. I hope this will elevate Sosa and Slater into the TNA Tag Team Title picture with The Hardys.

Jada Stone over Alisha Edwards to advance in the Knockouts TV Title tournament

TNA made the right call here. Jada Stone has potential so I have no problem using the main event tournament match to elevate her in the Knockouts scene.

MISSES

AJ Francis & Frankie Kazarian defeat Elijah & Moose

The most important person in this match was clearly Moose and, while I understand that even top pushed guys need to lose occasionally, I was against Moose involving himself with guys like Elijah and Kazarian in the first place. Moose vs. Francis, one-on-one, works as a feud, but Francis needs to occasionally go over in overall feuds to maintain any amount of competitive credibility and I’m fairly certain that he won’t be going over Moose in this feud. Also, Francis needs to, and is capable, of standing on his own. Expressions getting so heavily involved is just too much going on. This angle/feud lacks purpose and direction.

Mustafa Ali promo

I had been very high on Mustafa Ali until, maybe, about the last month. His promo tonight was a bunch of weird platitudes that feel disconnected from the spirit of professional wrestling. Order 4 is “putting the power back in the hands of the people. They’ve had many votes for who will face him for his International Title. Hell, he even had to hire extra security for the occasion.” What does this even mean? Who are these “people” (random wrestlers), why does Ali get to decide, by vote of a group of arbitrary mysterious people, who he will face next in defense of his International Title, and why would “extra security be needed” in the context of a wrestling match for a championship? He’s just trying to do too much and it hasn’t been landing with me recently. He’s not even treading water at this point; he’s actively regressing.

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…

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Wendy Choo vs. Elayna Black tournament match ending in a time limit draw

I don’t inherently have a problem with this match ending in a time limit draw, but why does this outcome eliminate both women? Was this established pre-Knockouts TV title tournament? If so, I don’t recall. Why are we first learning about this very critical tournament rule from McKenzie Mitchell after the match? This makes it feel like they’re just making this up as we go along.

Also, this feels clearly like they are now going to position Elayna black for Xia Brookside’s Knockouts Title. This doesn’t work in two ways. First off, a heel vs. heel matchup is not ideal for Brookside’s first real feud after winning her title. Secondly, putting Black in the Knockouts Title picture after having her draw in the first round of the Knockouts TV Title tournament isn’t the best look for her. Unless the awkward handshake between Choo and Black after the match was supposed to be a face turn for Black? If so, that was an awful way to turn face.

Mr. Elegance (while wearing a Michael Jackson solo glove) defeats BDE

I don’t believe that any more needs to be said…

The Hardys vs. The Righteous in a Compound match

This just honestly isn’t my style of wrestling and hasn’t connected with me in over a decade. There was just way too much going on. I understand it might work for some, but I’m not in that camp.

Also, The Righteous couldn’t be further away from the tag titles. When was the last time that they even won a match? They didn’t even truly deserve the match tonight. The bell never even rang to start or end the match. I’d love the tiniest amount of consistency even in this “cinematic” style.