TNA Impact Wrestling Coverage: The Day Madison Rayne’s Career Died

Hulk Hogan wanted X-Division Champion Austin Aries to go out with a bang before this weekend’s Main Event matchup with World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode.

That’s exactly what he did.

In typical A-Double fashion, Aries was solid on the mic and was charismatic and strong when he relinquished the X-Division title.

There were other moments that were also noteworthy on last night’s Impact though- but not in the same way exactly. Madison Rayne’s crush on Earl Hebner was a joke, but Chris Sabin’s promo appeared to be emotional and real. Well that was until Robert Roode joined the party. Why couldn’t Sabin have a moment? The guy has been a loyal soldier in TNA for nearly a decade and for the company to use this situation to get Roode some heat, is a complete joke. The fact that they used it too for Aries to “get over” a little bit more is pathetic.

Aries was already over.

Roode was already hated.

Sabin deserved his swan song. Now, just like TNA, Sabin’s long-term future is unclear.

There were other problems with the show as well. The storyline involving the “gang” infiltrating TNA was a bore. The same group who attacked Sting a few weeks ago, they haven’t entertained at all. Like the Chris Daniels/A.J. Styles angle, it’s development is entirely too slow.

Matches:

Television Champion Devon vs. Crimson: The former undefeated youngster has turned full heel. He took a myriad of shortcuts early on, but did mix some power moves in, too. Devon was a step ahead though, as he nailed a corner avalanche and a spear, before his front Spinebuster for the win. Ah, how far Crimson has fallen in just a few months. After the win, Madison Rayne revealed her crush to be Earl Hebner. What a waste of time.

X-Division Championship Tournament: Dakota Darsow vs. Flip Cassanova: Not much chemistry here. Cassanova hit a nice standing, flipping seated senton and a corkscrew moonsault, but he looked green and stiff. Cassanova hit a jumping Mic-Check and finished off Darsow with a 450 seated Senton from the top rope, but don’t be fooled. He’s not ready.

TNA Knockouts Champion Brooke Tessmacher and Tara vs. Gail Kim and Madison Rayne: Tessmacher was strong and got Tara in who did most of the damage. After a snap supplex, she hit her sideslam and Widow’s Peak on Rayne before tagging in Tessmacher, who hit her finisher for the win.

X-Division Championship Tournament: Kenny King vs. Lars Only: Mediocre match that started off strong. King and Only had much more polish and chemistry than the last two X-Division performers, but they still weren’t all that solid. Things got a bit hairy on the outside, as well as Only’s botched DDT variation. King won with a swinging, over the top Urinage variation.

Bound for Glory Series: Jeff Hardy vs. James Storm: Pretty routine- Nothing exactly special. They broke a sweat, but nothing worthy of a TNA chant. Well, until the last few minutes when the near-falls and pace quickened. After Hardy missed the Senton, Storm hit an elbow from the top but missed the Super Kick. Hardy countered with the Twist of Fate for the win.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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