TNA Impact Wrestling Coverage: Strong Start, Weak Non-Finish

With the possible additions of Ethan Carter III, Rockstar Spud and Dixie Carter, can MVP’s new faction be stopped?

While TNA World Heavyweight Champion Eric Young has some help in the form of the returning Samoa Joe, as well as Bully Ray, Austin Aries and the TNA World Tag Team Champions Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards, it appears he’ll have his work cut out for him at Slammiversary.

Away from the main storyline, little steps were taken this week to continue to build Angelina Love as a reputable Knockouts Champion, while another win for Bram, as well as the new Tag Team of Mr. Anderson and Gunner will give them some momentum.

In terms of sheer excitement, TNA failed to deliver away from a great opening promo from Bully Ray and a quality opening match between The Wolves, Austin Aries and MVP’s faction. On the same night as NXT’s Takeover event, TNA, away from the opening match, failed to match the in-ring quality of the WWE’s minor leaguers.

In the end it’s ultimately sad that the NXT Title match between Adrian Neville and Tyson Kidd could be better than the no-contest encounter between Young and Ray, but it was. Although there are some glimmers of light in TNA, it becomes harder and harder to find them every week.

Matches:

MVP, Bobby Lashley and Kenny King vs. Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards and Austin Aries: This match was an insane one that went back and forth and was filled with Signature and Finishing moves. Aries looked to win after a Brainbuster on King, but tagged in Richards who nailed the Top Rope Stomp. But before he could go for the pin, Lashley cut him in half with a Spear, which allowed MVP to finish him off with his modified Basement Yakuza Kick.

Tigre Uno vs. Bram w/Magnus: Little Tigre Uno indeed has the heart of a tiger, but between vicious clotheslines and a nasty Spike DDT, Magnus was able to get the win.

The BroMans, Jessie Godderz and Robbie E w/Zema Ion vs. Gunner & Mr. Anderson: A decent six-minute match that ended after an Anderson Mic-Check and a Gunner Diving Headbutt. After the match, Knux and his carnival friends paid the Bromans and Ion a visit. With no heat and what appears to be the beginning of a feud with The Menagerie, you have to wonder what’s next for the Bromans.

The Beautiful People TNA Knockouts Champion Angelina Love and Velvet Sky vs. Brittany and Gail Kim: A decent match that continues the Kim/Love feud, but doesn’t accomplish much. Brittany tagged herself in against the wishes of Kim and caught the Botox injection from Love in return. After the match, Brittany called out Madison Rayne and told her she just “wants to be” with her.

Bully Ray vs. TNA World Heavyweight Champion Eric Young, Ethan Carter III Special Guest Referee, Bobby Lashley Special Guest Enforcer: These guys are pretty evenly matched and they could have had a solid match, but nonsense from Lashley and King throughout ruined the flow. Eventually Samoa Joe made his return and took out Lashley and nailed King with a Muscle Buster, but there was no way to stop all the carnage, ending the match in a No-Contest.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 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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