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BACKSTAGE WITH RYAN NEMETH
Ryan Nemeth, who was added to the list of victims, was interviewed backstage where he accused Matt Hardy of being the mystery attacker, though he admitted that he did not see Hardy before being attacked.
Breakdown: The ongoing mystery attacker storyline is spilling over into other feuds, with no hints as to where it is going. Ryan Nemeth being attacked should have eased Matt Hardy’s fury towards the Nemeths, after he accused them of attacking Jeff Hardy a couple of weeks ago. The Ryan Nemeth promo was not very good, and I’m hoping we will get some hints or answers to the mystery attacker angle.
Grade: C
BACKSTAGE WITH JASON HOTCH & DARIA RAE
FEUD: JASON HOTCH – MUSTAFA ALI
Jason Hotch was flagged down backstage by Daria Rae who told him she had made a match, at the behest of Mustafa Ali, between Hotch and Special Agent Zero, with Mila Moore as the special guest referee.
Breakdown: Daria Rae’s first appearance on this week’s Impact broadcast featured her making an unfair match for another babyface on the card, a trend that has been expanding across the roster in recent weeks. I see this as an obstacle for Hotch on the way to Bound For Glory, though, and I have also been wanting to see more out of Agent Zero. The increase in Daria Rae developments is significant, and I’m not huge on it right now.
Grade: B
FRANKIE KAZARIAN & AVERY STYLES ENTER THE RING FOR A “KING’S SPEECH” SEGMENT
FEUD: FRANKIE KAZARIAN – MOOSE
Kazarian has taken it up on himself to mentor Avery Styles, the son of AJ Styles, as he heads towards his first action as a TNA wrestler. Last week, Kazarian prevented Avery Styles from answering the challenge of AJ Francis. Kazarian decided to coronate himself as King of TNA by presenting himself with a crown before being interrupted by Moose; Kazarian defeated Moose at Lockdown when Moose speared Kazarian through the cage, resulting in Kazarian hitting the floor first. Moose entered the ring, as he hurled insults at Kazarian. Moose challenged Kazarian to one more match. Kazarian proposed a stipulation; If Moose loses to Kazarian, he leaves TNA forever. Moose agreed to the stipulation. Moose motioned towards Avery Styles, seemingly questioning why Styles is hanging around Kazarian, as the segment came to an end.
Breakdown: After distancing the two wrestlers, TNA returned to the Moose-Kazarian feud definitively this week. Avery Styles delivered several facial expressions in the background of the promo segment between Moose-Kazarian. Some of them may be counterproductive if he is going to be a longterm babyface, but perhaps he ends up siding with Kazarian and they form a team for longer than the timeframe I was thinking of with a potential match at Bound For Glory. Overall, it was fine. The feud is not very compelling, but I am intrigued to see where the story goes with Kazarian and Avery Styles.
Grade: B
BACKSTAGE WITH GABBY FORZA
Gabby Forza was given a Knockouts World Championship match out of nowhere last week, as Daria Rae continued her feud with Indi Hartwell, who scored a submission victory over Xia Brookside in a tag match last week. Forza gave a straightforward babyface promo here, without any interruptions.
Breakdown: I found it refreshing to have a backstage promo by a babyface that wasn’t interrupted by someone. Forza has a bit of the Willow Nightengale-esque cheese built into her character right now, which I could do with less of, but I find her endearing.
Grade: B+
TNA X-DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIER MATCH
ROHIT RAJU vs. FABIAN AICHNER
As Leon Slater relinquished the X-Division Championship, using Option C, for a shot at the TNA World Championship at Bound For Glory, TNA introduced a series of qualifying matches to fill out the lineup for a six pack scramble match for the X-Division Title at Bound For Glory, as well. KC Navarro joined Tom Hannifan & Matt Rehwoldt on commentary for this match, after qualifying for the Bound For Glory X-Division Title match. Rohit Raju, a former X-Division champion in TNA, returned to TNA this week, for a shot at the Bound for Glory match. Aichner has been looking to gain momentum recently after a rollercoaster start to his TNA run, so this set up several stories to be advanced through the segment. The match went back and forth early on, with Aichner taking advantage with an impressive cross body press, followed up with a power-counter and moonsault from the second turnbuckle. The TNA fans seemed to get into the match as it neared the close, when Aichner took control, and scored the pinfall victory with an impressive sit-out powerbomb, earning his spot at the Bound For Glory match. Navarro put Aichner over on commentary as the segment came to a close.
Breakdown: I am very intrigued to see the direction TNA creative goes with the X-Division title scene. I have enjoyed the qualifier matches, and I was happy to see Rohit Raju back in TNA and enjoyed the picture-in-picture promo during his entrance. Aichner-Raju had a nice match, and Aichner, predictably, got the win and is advancing to Bound For Glory. Both Aichner & KC Navarro need big wins, so my eyes are on these developments. I didn’t love Navarro on commentary, but I have broadly enjoyed having babyfaces on commentary putting over their fellow babyfaces with Slater last week and Navarro this week.
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)
ZOEY SERRANO VIDEO PACKAGE/PROMO
Zoey Serrano debuted in TNA a couple of weeks ago as part of the Daria Rae-Indi Hartwell feud. In this pre-taped promo, Serrano cut a promo about her past troubles and injuries, and why she is in TNA. Serrano declared herself as the new “face of the Knockouts division”.
Breakdown: I thought this promo was really strong work by Serrano and TNA. I have noted that TNA has done a good job on these pre-taped promos to build matches and characters, as opposed to the past overreliance on cinematic style content. Serrano communicated her belief that she is the best in TNA, and I like that kind of promo. Serrano did lose her first match, though not involved with the fall, last week in a tag match alongside Xia Brookside against Indi Hartwell & Harley Hudson, but this was a nice reset and introduction to the Serrano character. I am hoping TNA fast tracks her to the top of the card soon.
Grade: A
FEUD: MUSTAFA ALI – JASON HOTCH
MATCH: SPECIAL AGENT ZERO (w/ ORDER 4) vs. JASON HOTCH; Special Guest Referee: Mila Moore
The ongoing feud between Jason Hotch and Mustafa Ali, has resulted in the two wrestlers having switched the International Title a couple of times, and has led to Ali sustaining injuries at Lockdown. John Skyler joined the commentary team during this match, proclaiming that though this is a difficult match to watch, as Hotch is his best friend, Ali is his leader. Hotch entered second, but was attacked by Agent Zero during his entrance. Mila Moore did not waste time displaying unfair treatment with slow counts for Hotch, and fast counts for Agent Zero. As the match progressed with more impartial officiating by Moore, Tasha Steelz got into Moore’s face and eventually attacked her, removing the referee shirt, and putting it on herself. Shortly thereafter, Steelz counted a fast count on Agent Zero, leading to the victory for Jason Hotch.
Breakdown: Order 4 continues to disintegrate with the outcome of the Hotch-Special Agent Zero match. Tasha Steelz is the most recent domino to fall in the Order 4 storyline. The match was alright, but it was built around the predictable bad finish, so it had its limitations.
Grade: D
IMPACT INJURY REPORT
Jeff Hardy’s return has no timetable after the mystery attacker. Also in an apparent relation to the mystery attacker storyline, Ryan Nemeth was also on the report. BDE’s condition and whereabouts are unknown after being abducted by The Righteous last week and Matt Hardy was cleared for competition ahead of his match against Nic Nemeth.
Breakdown: TNA kept the Injury Report clean again this week, but I think it would serve them to make it shorter, and feature less content. I am happy they are back to normal, without the Rehwoldt/Nemeth stuff.
Grade: B
BACKSTAGE WITH MATT HARDY & LEON SLATER
Matt Hardy & Leon Slater shared encouraging words with each other. Jason Hotch then also motivated Leon Slater to win the World Championship.
Breakdown: TNA has not done a ton to build up the Slater-Nemeth World Title match, but what they have done has been pretty good. I like seeing babyfaces interacting without any interruptions or attacks by heels, so this was a positive.
Grade: A
TNA KNOCKOUTS WOMEN CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
FEUD: XIA BROOKSIDE – INDI HARTWELL
XIA BROOKSIDE {c} vs. GABBY FORZA
To spite Indi Hartwell after she made Brookside submit, Daria Rae gave Gabby Forza a shot at the Knockouts World Championship. The segment opened with a gnome at the entrance ramp ahead of Forza making her way to the ring. Forza displayed some good strength with a military press attempt that was countered by Brookside with a rake to the eyes, taking control of the match. Forza was able to pull off another feat of strength and samoan drop, gaining some momentum in the match, before hitting the running powerslam, and senton, along with a near fall. Brookside looked to bail out on the match, grabbing her title and heading for the ramp, where Indi Hartwell blocked Brookside’s escape. Daria Rae entered the segment to argue with Indi Hartwell, which led to the referee being distracted, and Brookside using the Knockouts Championship belt to score the final blow, and the victory.
Breakdown: The match was decent, but the finish was bad. This segment also served as a continuation of the Hartwell-Daria Rae conflict, as Rae made her presence known during the segment, which led to the bad finish. I like Forza’s energy and power wrestling style, and I hope to see TNA elevate her in the future.
Grade: C
BACKSTAGE WITH TNA KNOCKOUTS TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS ALLIE & KIERRA HOGAN
Allie & Kierra Hogan cut a short promo backstage where Kierra Hogan announced that Santino Marella was giving Hogan the first shot at M By Elegance’s Television Championship.
Breakdown: TNA gave a little time to building the dynamic between the tag team champions here, but it was to give Kierra Hogan a shot at a singles championship against M By Elegance, which I find odd. This promo did continue the trend of this show of having babyfaces in short segments not being interrupted or attacked by heels.
Grade: C
ELIJAH IN RING SEGMENT
FEUD: ELIJAH & RICKY SOSA – THE SYSTEM
Elijah has been mixing it up with The System as of late. Last week, Elijah backed up Ricky Sosa as he was confronted by The System. Elijah began an in-ring concert with a very out of tune guitar, which was swiftly interrupted by Alisha Edwards & The System. I’ve never been happier to hear the phrase, “Do you wanna know something?”. Elijah defeated Bear Bronson a couple weeks ago, before being attacked by The System. Eddie Edwards warned Elijah not to provoke The System. Ricky Sosa entered the Impact Zone and challenged The System to a tag match.
Breakdown: I remain somewhat down on Sosa toiling away with The System, but if the plan is to have him go over on them in the end, then so be it. Teaming Sosa with Elijah seems foolhardy, but again, if Sosa can be made to look strong and gain some momentum out of this feud, then I can accept it. Feuding with the System has not done wonders for the last couple of feuds, though.
Grade: C
PRE-TAPED CINEMATIC PROMO WITH MATT HARDY
Matt Hardy was featured in a cinematic style backstage promo where he recapped the Jeff Hardy attack and had hallucinations of Jeff’s alter ego, Willow the Wisp before being summoned for his match by a producer.
Breakdown: Just when I begin to praise TNA on using a format less, they seem to return to it within moments. Though this was technically well done, it is overly dramatic and weird.
Grade: C
LEON SLATER FOUND INCAPACITATED BACKSTAGE, ON A FORKLIFT
The mystery attacker program has now struck Leon Slater as TNA cameras found Slater laying unconscious on top of a forklift.
Breakdown: These mystery attack angles are getting a little more ridiculous with every passing week. TNA continues with this storyline but is giving viewers no sort of hints or breadcrumbs as to who could be revealed as the culprit.
Grade: C
FEUD: THE RIGHTEOUS – BDE & RICH SWANN
RICH SWANN vs. VINCENT (w/ DUTCH)
After his tag team partner, BDE, was abducted by The Righteous last week, Rich Swann sought some measure of revenge in a match against Vincent this week. Swann, as he does, pulled off some impressive athletic spots but Vincent dodged Swann, who hit the referee. Vincent signaled to the ramp where a dazed BDE, dressed in the Righteous’ all white, entered the ring. BDE grabbed Rich Swann, teasing to attack him, but then hit Vincent with a cutter. Swann hit his splash on Vincent for the victory.
Breakdown: BDE & Rich Swann appeared to get the better of The Righteous in a pretty absurdly laid out story over the last few weeks. I like building up some secondary level tag teams, but faking the cult-style brainwashing all for the sake of a swerve was groan-inducing.
Grade: D
FEUD: NIC NEMETH – MATT HARDY
TNA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH, NO DQ MATCH
Nic Nemeth and his brother Ryan Nemeth won the tag titles from The Hardys at Lockdown and have been interlocked in a feud since then. Matt Hardy accused the Nemeths of attacking Jeff Hardy some weeks ago, though it was seemingly obvious that the Nemeths were not responsible. Nic Nemeth successfully defended his world championship against Jeff Hardy a few weeks ago, as well. In this no disqualifications match, Matt Hardy took control early, putting Nemeth through a table on the outside of the ring. Hardy then began filling the ring with various weapons. After mostly back and forth action, Nic Nemeth took control by sending Matt Hardy head first into a chair positioned between the ropes in the corner. Hardy unsuccessfully sent Nemeth through a table, so they retried the spot with Nemeth crashing violently through the table before being given a Twist of Fate with a chair. Ryan Nemeth got involved with the match, interfering with the referee’s count. Hardy scored a two count but Nemeth got his foot on the rope. Hardy gave Ryan Nemeth a running elbow through the table to the floor. After the distraction, Nic Nemeth low blowed Matt Hardy and scored a near fall.
Breakdown: The Hardy-Nemeth World Championship match relied heavily on the use of weapons and Nic Nemeth’s world-class selling. After several near falls and interference by Ryan Nemeth, Nic Nemeth retained the TNA Championship after hitting Hardy with a wrench. The match was pretty good, with the obvious limitations of Matt Hardy, and served as a decent Impact main event.
Grade: B
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