{"id":42564,"date":"2017-05-19T17:16:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-19T22:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=42564"},"modified":"2017-05-19T17:16:00","modified_gmt":"2017-05-19T22:16:00","slug":"impact-hits-misses-lax-ultimate-x-odb-brandon-baxton-josh-matthews-james-storm-vs-ec3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2017\/05\/19\/impact-hits-misses-lax-ultimate-x-odb-brandon-baxton-josh-matthews-james-storm-vs-ec3\/","title":{"rendered":"IMPACT HITS &#038; MISSES: LAX, Ultimate X, ODB, Brandon Baxton, Josh Matthews, James Storm vs. EC3, more"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-945225262\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><h3>HITS<\/h3>\n<p><strong>The Opening Match:<\/strong> On Raw this week, 16 minutes into the show Seth Rollins said that fans didn\u2019t come to watch people talk, they wanted to see people fight. That&#8217;s when the actual action started. On Impact, it took about a minute for fans to see some wrestling. Better yet, L.A.X. vs. Laredo Kid &amp;\u00a0Garza Jr. was entertaining to watch throughout. That\u2019s a good way to stand out from the competition.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kong\u2019s Win:<\/strong> Give Impact credit for the way they&#8217;ve been featuring Kongo Kong since his debut. He still looks incredibly dominant and has yet to be taken off his feet. When he finally meets his equal it will actually mean something. Braxton Sutter was virtually squashed, but he still saved some face by standing right back up and issuing a rematch. If only he had kept his mouth shut&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><strong>X-Division Video:<\/strong> One of the best videos Impact\/TNA has ever done. In the CWC, the competitors talked about how guys like Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio Jr. influenced them as kids. It was cool to hear Impact&#8217;s X Division stars put over some of their favorites in the promotion and tie it into why they broke into the business. It made it seem like the title and the division&#8217;s history was actually important, which is something the company has largely failed at portraying over the years.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ultimate X:<\/strong> It was incredibly satisfying to watch Ultimate X in the main event. So many times in the past, TNA has been guilty of throwing the gimmick match out there without any build. They\u2019ve also aired countless X Division Title matches without any advance notice. Times have thankfully changed. The match went nearly 20 minutes and was filled with hard-hitting athleticism and drama. The visual with Low Ki, Andrew Everett, and Trevor Lee racing for the gold was memorable and ended the show on a hot note.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Overall Show:<\/strong> The Hits and Misses are about even here, but by my calculations, this is three weeks in a row that Impact has delivered an entertaining episode. Hopefully, they can keep this streak going headed into India and beyond. With Raw and Smackdown feeling flat, perhaps they can even pick up some viewers who aren&#8217;t thrilled with Roman Reigns and Randy Orton dominating their respective shows. Still, I can&#8217;t help but daydream of how putting someone who is actually really good at their job, like Mauro Ranallo, in the role of play-by-play would immediately make this show so much enjoyable and consistent every single week. The company needs to save their pennies and make that man an offer in August!<\/p>\n<h3>MISSES<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Of Course&#8230;The Announcing:<\/strong> Josh Mathews was better the past couple weeks, but he took a turn for the worst once again. The man just can\u2019t say something once! \u201cWhy are you here? What are you doing here? Why are you here? Why are you here?\u201d SHUT UP! That is not good heat. That\u2019s insanely obnoxious. His segment with Jeremy Borash went on way too long and made me wonder how they can possibly keep this going another six weeks. I&#8217;ll admit I cracked a smile when Joseph Park showed up again, but the segment was so awful I was ready for him to go away too.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Braxton\u2019s Insult:<\/strong> I recall Shawn Michaels once saying to Nicole Bass \u201cstep back mister\u201d on Raw. It was an incredibly a**holish thing of him to say, especially as a babyface. It also hurt her feelings and made her cry in real life. On Impact, Sutter said Sienna is the \u201cdude cousin\u201d of KM. Yeah, nearly 20 years later, that\u2019s still not a cool thing to do.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Shera Chases Kong:<\/strong> I get why Mahabali Shera is being pushed aggressively. With the India tapings coming up, they\u2019re going to want him on TV in a prominent role. I just wish he wasn\u2019t the one to chase off Kongo Kong. They did the old spot of the heel manager holding back their client with Laurel Van Ness and Kong in the role. But why? Shera has been shown to be easily beatable on TV, and Kong was virtually at full strength after his match. He could have destroyed Shera as well! Shera should be set up with a lesser heel to work a brief program with, instead of a guy they\u2019re trying to make the next big monster.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2617247065\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><strong>Storm vs. EC III:<\/strong> EC III is doing some really good work right now. James Storm is also doing a nice job of breaking out of the funk he\u2019s been in the past couple years. However, their match just didn\u2019t feel as personal and intense as it should have. Blame part of that on the announcing, as this is where Mathews couldn\u2019t have cared less about anything that was taking place in front of him. But also, this didn\u2019t feel like a logical follow-up to last week\u2019s belt beating. That was brutal and personal. Storm should have been out for blood the moment the bell rang, but instead, they wrestled a standard wrestling match.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bruce is attacked:<\/strong> In wrestling, if a non-wrestler tears down an actual (heel) wrestler to their face on multiple occasions, they probably deserve what\u2019s coming to them. Unfortunately, EC III beating up Bruce Prichard now takes the focus off of EC III and Storm and moves it to Carter\/Prichard. Also, why is Magnus rewarded with a No. 1 contender\u2019s opportunity when he just interfered in a match?<\/p>\n<p><strong>ODB vs. Sienna:<\/strong> ODB\u2019s recent return has been underwhelming. She beat Rebel in a comedy match, she lost to Rosemary in a three-minute title match, and now, she lost to Sienna in three minutes. Even if the plan was for her to only work one set of tapings, it&#8217;s still a disappointment, because they didn\u2019t build her up to mean something. Since the announcers didn\u2019t make it seem like those quick wins were a big deal, it didn\u2019t do anything for Sienna and Rosemary.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK&#8217;S COLUMN:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2017\/05\/12\/impact-hits-misses-pizza-pants-belts-decay-ec3s-attack-storm-ouch-magnus-vs-el-patron-borash-tag-tourney\/\">IMPACT HITS &amp; MISSES: Pizza, Pants, Belts, and Decay \u2013 EC3\u2019s Attack on Storm (ouch!), Magnus vs. El Patron, Borash, Tag Tourney<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-1757676509\"><div id=\"pwtor-572376473\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>HITS The Opening Match: On Raw this week, 16 minutes into the show Seth Rollins said that fans didn\u2019t come to watch people talk, they wanted to see people fight. That&#8217;s when the actual action <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2017\/05\/19\/impact-hits-misses-lax-ultimate-x-odb-brandon-baxton-josh-matthews-james-storm-vs-ec3\/\" title=\"IMPACT HITS &#038; MISSES: LAX, Ultimate X, ODB, Brandon Baxton, Josh Matthews, James Storm vs. EC3, more\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,52,28,27],"tags":[3878,208,203,118,4330,1310,4926,4698,5239],"class_list":["post-42564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spotlightarticles","category-opnionandanalysis","category-specialists_hitsandmisses","category-specialists","tag-bruce-prichard","tag-ec3","tag-impact-wrestling","tag-james-storm","tag-josh-matthews","tag-kongo-kong","tag-odb","tag-sienna","tag-ultimate-x"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/ODB_GG_3x2_600.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42564"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42565,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42564\/revisions\/42565"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}