This week’s episode of Impact only featured five matches, but all of them were competitive. No squashes and all for a reason to advance current story lines. The same thing goes for the promo. Everything was placed strategically and worked well, making the show one that did anything but drag.
If every week is going to be like this, TNA has a lot more room to grow than you think.
Matches:
Tag Team Championship Tournament Final: Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy vs. Low Ki and Samoa Joe: Low Ki and Joe put on a near-fall show that made this the best match of the night. Anyone who though Ki was out of steam at this point of his career is crazy. Add in some signature spots from the HArdy’s and this was a thrilling encounter. After Jeff took out Joe on the outside, Matt hit the Moonsault on Ki to earn the win.
Hardcore Rules Match: Magnus and Bram vs. Devon and Tommy Dreamer: These guys continue to kill a few minutes every week with solid hardcore work. After Magnus introduced the Kendo Stick, Dreamer eventually got it for himself and after a shot in the gut, Dreamer finished off Magnus with the DDT.
Knockout Champion Havok vs. Gail Kim: Another solid match between the two that saw Kim counter the Chokeslam into the Eat Defeat, but failing to get the three-count. Perhaps going for the nail in the coffin, Kim went to the top rope, but Havok was able this time to hit the Chokeslam- for the win.
TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode vs. MVP: This was the match that should have taken place months ago, but after MVP’s knee injury and Bobby Lashley’s reign as champion, it took a lot longer than anyone ever expected. Roode eventually got the win with the Roode Bomb, but after the match was Speared by Lashley, who then also walked away from MVP, ending their allegiance.
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.
This week’s episode of Impact only featured five matches, but all of them were competitive. No squashes and all for a reason to advance current story lines. The same thing goes for the promo. Everything was placed strategically and worked well, making the show one that did anything but drag.
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