“This is a war of survival,†Hulk Hogan on this week’s Impact.
Last week, The Aces and Eights destroyed the entire TNA roster. In typical Impact Wrestling fashion, General Manager Hulk Hogan brought out four of the guys who got destroyed, Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe and Magnus- and… congratulated them.
Taz’s usually facetious commentary actually made sense here. Why would Hogan thank these guys? Instead of bringing in a youngster or a fresh face to spice things up and face The Aces and Eights head-on, TNA continues to push old matchups that no one cares about.
Impact also featured several Bully Ray vignettes that showed how The Aces and Eights manipulated the company to accomplish their goals. While it was interesting, it didn’t continue to develop anything. Everyone who watches the show knows what the deal is. Even though all the footage was solid and Ray was charismatic, it felt like filler.
The most important part of the show was the changes to the X-Division. As of this week, every match within the division will be a three-way encounter. (Stay tuned for an exclusion podcast this week when we discuss our feelings on this.) It may not be a great move if you’re a TNA purist, but this week’s X-Division match was easily the match of the night.
The AJ Styles interview during the last quarter of the show could have intrigued, but like the rest of the show, the segment was lackluster. Taz first offered Styles a spot as a prospect in the Aces and Eights before James Storm cut a weak promo on the Phenomenal One.
With a lack of quality wrestling and lukewarm matches, this week’s episode Impact was passable at best.
Matches:
TNA Tag Team Champions Bobby Roode and Austin Aries vs. Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez: A drawn-out opener that was far from exciting. Roode and Guerrero traded offense early on and later Aries and Roode worked over Hernandez. But the offense was never high-impact. It was simply punches and kicks and reversals from Hernandez and Guerrero. Things got spicy where Hernandez went on a bit of a roll, but Aries countered a Powerbomb. Guerrero then hit the 3 Amigos and was about to finish off Aries with the Frog Splash, but Christopher Daniels and Frank Kazarian got involved, which allowed Aries to win via roll-up and a grab of the tights. After the match, Bad Influence beat down the champions.
Triple Threat: TNA X-Division Champion Kenny King vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Zema Ion: A bit sloppy at the first, this match had some dangerous spots on the outside. There were a few botches as well, but these guys worked hard in the ring. It all paid off though. Dutt’s 450 Stomp was the move of the night. King then got the win with the Blockbuster after Dutt’s amazing aerial maneuver.
Matt Morgan vs. Joseph Park: This match was terrible. Park took a plethora of strikes. That’s all the match was. After a Discus Lariat from Morgan, Park went on a little run, but Morgan won with the Carbon Footprint.
#1 Contenders Match: Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe vs. Magnus vs. Kurt Angle: All four competitors squeezed in their signature offense in a fast-paced but indifferent match. After a flurry of finishers, Hardy won with the Senton Bomb on Joe.
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