SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Heading into an episode of TNA Impact featuring a TNA World Championship match, Tom Hannifan introduced the show and threw to Elijah who was in the ring with his guitar. Elijah, with his smoking light up guitar, played the tune of “Seven Nation Army” to encourage the “walk with Elijah” chants. Moose entered the Impact Zone, joining Elijah to face off against Frankie Kazarian & AJ Francis, who did not have televised entrances.
MOOSE & ELIJAH vs. AJ FRANCIS (w/EXPRESSIONS) & FRANKIE KAZARIAN
FEUD: MOOSE vs. AJ FRANCIS & FRANKIE KAZARIAN
Following a King’s Speech segment last week where Frankie Kazarian ducked Moose, Moose was left laying by AJ Francis. Moose recruited Elijah to tag against Francis/Kazarian this week. After a short match, and interference by Francis’s new manager, Expressions, Francis scored the pinfall victory over Elijah for his team. After the match, Expressions teased hitting Elijah with his own guitar, but Moose and Elijah took Expressions out.
Breakdown: A match that could have meant more for TNA ended after a few short minutes with another 50/50 booked angle. What booking logic is in play here to have AJ Francis pin Elijah after losing a feud with Elijah at Slammiversary? I also am a bit confused at the way the feud has been booked with a decent singles match between Francis-Moose to start the feud followed by less intriguing matches coming after that. I’m not exactly sure where this feud is going, or if it is even an ongoing feud, at this point. I have also grown weary of this current tactic being used by TNA creative to have the babyfaces lose, but then get over on some heel after the match, as some sort of consolation.
Grade: D
BACKSTAGE WITH MUSTAFA ALI & ORDER 4
Last week, Mustafa Ali continued to berate Tasha Steelz & The Great Hands for their recent failures, and also introduced a new member of the group, Mila Moore. Ali also declared an open vote by other wrestlers to determine the next challenger for Ali’s International Title. During this backstage segment, Ali, flanked by his Order 4 mates, laid out the ground rules to determine his challenger.
Breakdown: As JB & I discussed on the most recent edition of our Destination Impact podcast, Ali is moving in a direction that we think is the opposite of where he needs to be going. The current Order 4 storyline feels very low-card. I would like to see this storyline move a bit quicker, and not drag on for months, but I’m not sure I will have my wish. TNA desperately needs its best people at the top of the card; Mustafa Ali is one of the most talented stars on the roster and he needs to get away from Order 4, in my opinion.
Grade: D
TNA KNOCKOUTS TV TITLE TOURNAMENT CONTINUES
WENDY CHOO vs. ELAYNA BLACK
The TV Title Tournament continued on Impact this week with NXT’s Wendy Choo face off against Elayna Black. During her picture-in-picture promo, Black claimed that she would be the both Knockouts TV Champion, and Knockouts World Champion soon. After a decent match, the bell rang randomly, signalling that the match had come to an end due to reaching its time limit; both Elayna Black-Wendy Choo were eliminated from the tournament. After the conclusion of the match, Xia Brookside appeared, attacking Elayna Black, before Choo made the save, who then was also attacked by Brookside.
Breakdown: I’m not sure what’s worse for a match ending in a tournament; an interference/distraction finish, or a draw. Last week, TNA planted a seed teasing a match between TNA Knockouts World Champion Xia Brookside and Elayna Black. Black was my pick to win the TV Title tournament, so this was surprising, yet underwhelming. Elayna Black & Wendy Choo shook hands at the end of the segment, signaling a face turn for Elayna Black, one of the more traditionally effective heels on the Knockouts roster. A Xia Brookside-Elayna Black feud is an odd choice, but that’s where this is heading.
Grade: C+
THE SYSTEM ENTER THE IMPACT ZONE
The System made their entrance to cut an in-ring group promo. After each member of The System took their turn to talk, Ricky Sosa entered the segment to respond. Sosa was joined by Leon Slater, who challenged The System to a match.
Breakdown: I was very critical of the booking decision to have Ricky Sosa lose to Bear Bronson last week, as Sosa is one of TNA’s top young stars on the rise. The System members cut decent heel promos, with Bear Bronson standing out. I liked the Sosa promo, and Slater was great on the mic. I am happy to see them tagging again, and I would be in favor of fast tracking a Sosa-Slater team to the top of the TNA Tag Team Division.
Grade: B
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)
BACKSTAGE WITH DARIA RAE, MUSTAFA ALI & ORDER 4
The episode-long storyline surrounding Mustafa Ali’s next International Title challenger continued here. Daria Rae drew Jason Hotch’s name. Ali, laughing in Hotch’s face, said it was a rib on Hotch by the locker room. Ali told Hotch to find Daria Rae and tell her that he is not the worthy challenger.
Breakdown: These segments seem to hint at the Order 4 disintegration coming sooner, rather than later.
Grade: C
BDE (w/ Rich Swann) vs. MR. ELEGANCE (w/ Elegance Brand)
Following the Order 4 segment, cameras cut to the ring where BDE-Mr. Elegance had already made their entrances and were awaiting the bell for their match. BDE received good fan reactions during the match, but after a distraction by Elegance Brand, Mr. Elegance secured the victory.
Breakdown: TNA got back to the push of Mr. Elegance this week with a short match between Elegance-BDE. BDE was well received by the TNA fans, but was defeated in short order by Mr. Elegance. There was not a lot to this one.
Grade: D
THE IMPACT INJURY REPORT
On the Injury Report this week, TNA went even further making the Injury Report center on Matthew Rehwoldt putting over Nic Nemeth in over-the-top fashion. I think it is time to wrap this segment up for a while.
Grade: F
RIGHTEOUS DELETION
THE RIGHTEOUS vs. THE BROKEN HARDYS
The Righteous Deletion opened showing the arrival of The Righteous to the Hardy Compound, where Vincent revealed his apparent ability to change night into day. The two teams battled on the lawn of the Hardy Compound. Following teleportation by both teams, the Righteous-Hardys continued the action in a ring at the compound. The “match” continued on with a plethora of supernatural elements and hallucinations. The Hardys defeated The Righteous after Jeff Hardy hit the Swanton Bomb.
Breakdown: This match was absurd, as expected. Hardy Compound matches are always ridiculous but I think it exceeded the expectations of how absurd Righteous Deletion could be. I do think Dutch shined in the “match” that featured teleportation, magic, shape-shifting, and poisoned flowers. I found it odd that TNA went back to The Hardys-Righteous feud after not talking about it for a couple of weeks prior and I am also curious if this is going to rekindle the feud or what is next for the teams if not. The over-produced cinematic style in pro wrestling is played out for me, and though I thought this incarnation of Hardy Compound warfare was somewhat endearingly cheesy, it leaves big question marks about the future of the TNA Tag Titles.
Grade: B
BACKSTAGE WITH JASON HOTCH & LEON SLATER
After being selected as the challenger to his stable leader, Mustafa Ali’s International Title, Ali forced Hotch to go to Daria Rae to declare himself unworthy of challenging for the title. Before making it to Rae’s office, Hotch was stopped by Leon Slater. Slater told Hotch that the TNA locker room believes in Jason Hotch. Hotch would then walk away from the management office without engaging with Daria Rae.
Breakdown: TNA has definitely been making an attempt at getting Jason Hotch over. I don’t see much advantage in using Leon Slater to put a spotlight on Hotch here. I also find it odd that this storyline seems to be more about Jason Hotch and Tasha Steelz, the subordinates to Ali in the Order 4 faction, rather than building up Mustafa Ali. If this is leading to an end to the Order 4 storyline and an eventual elevation of Ali, then so be it. Leon Slater was really good here giving the motivational message to Hotch, though.
Grade: B
TNA KNOCKOUTS TV TITLE TOURNAMENT CONTINUES
ALISHA EDWARDS (w/EDDIE EDWARDS) vs. JADA STONE
The match between Edwards-Stone was one I found myself looking forward to out of the first round tournament matches. Jada Stone gets good crowd responses the couple of times I’ve seen her on TV, and I also liked her pre-match promo. Following an Eddie Edwards interference, it looked like the standard-The System finish was coming, but Stone got the surprise roll-up pin for the victory, advancing in the tournament. Alisha Edwards attacked Stone following the match, but Stone got the better of Edwards.
Breakdown: The match was okay; decent action at times but also sloppy at times. Going into the match, I felt this may serve to heat Alisha Edwards up as a character in the Knockouts division, but I was pleased to see the young talent go over here. I cannot recall the last time System antics backfired and led to a victory for a babyface; I am curious why they haven’t used this tactic with other System members against higher profile babyfaces in weeks past.
Grade: C+
NIC NEMETH MAKING HIS WAY TO THE RING, DIRECTING RYAN NEMETH TO REMAIN BACKSTAGE
BACKSTAGE WITH ORDER 4; MUSTAFA ALI-JASON HOTCH
Ali asked Hotch if he had told Daria Rae that Hotch was not going to be in the International Title match. Hotch told Ali that he did not intend to pull out of the match against Ali.
Breakdown: Okay. So this is how to garner some interest in a wrestling character. Jason Hotch was given a chance to really show his character during this segment, and I thought it was great. I instantly felt myself sympathizing with the Hotch character. Whether this is enough to convince me that a title change is coming next week, I am not sure yet.
Grade: A
TNA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
FEUD: NIC NEMETH (c) vs. KC NAVARRO
Before entrances, Tom Hannifan ran through a Tale of the Tape comparing the Navarro-Nemeth. Navarro entered first, stealing some of the ring gear style and taunts of Nic Nemeth, perhaps attempting to send a message. Very early in the match, Navarro went for a series of convincing near-fall roll-ups. Nemeth, in classic Nemeth fashion, sold the pinfall attempts for Navarro with vigor. After a good match with several near falls, Nic Nemeth countered Navarro’s finisher to hit his own, and secure the victory, retaining the TNA World Championship.
Breakdown: Nemeth-Navarro had a good match, not without a few sloppy sequences, but Navarro looked pretty good in defeat. There were a couple different convincing near-falls for Navarro in the match, but ultimately, it went the obvious way, with Nemeth retaining. Keeping Ryan Nemeth away from the match elevated it; I liked to see a clean match with a clean win when it seems that is often a rarity in pro wrestling today. I remain curious what’s next for Nic Nemeth; is the Navarro feud over? Who is TNA going to line up for Nemeth going forward, and who is going to be the next TNA Champion?
Grade: B+
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