Impact Wrestling Review - March 9, 2017

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards Brawled; Jeremy Borash Joined the Commentary Team; Cody Called Out Moose

The opening video was cool, but I feel like I've seen it all before, similar to how the brawl between The Wolves was almost a repeat of what TNA did at their reboot on Destination America a few years ago. When I heard that Borash was being added to the commentary team, I was happy they were seemingly doing away with Josh Mathews, but that isn't the case as it's now a three-man booth and arguably worse than it was before. Cody calling out Moose was well done, but what was most interesting was Cody carrying the GFW Next Gen Championship belt with him, as he wasn't doing that during his last few appearances and he was champion then, too.

Reno Scum def. The DCC

While the match was fine for what it was, it was too short to mean anything. Furthermore, it was difficult to pay attention to what was going on in the ring when the commentary team took all the focus away with their damn bickering. TNA's tag team division could use all the help it can get, though, so I won't complain about Reno Scum seemingly joining the roster. Better yet, tension was teased within The DCC and I'm happy they appear to be breaking up in the near future. I don't know why that faction was ever a thing to begin with.

Braxton Sutter def. Caleb Konley, Marshe Rockett and DJ Z in a 4-Way Match

Will this new ownership lead to a revival of the X-Division? One can only hope because they have zero buzz at the moment. This was a fun little match, but it's difficult to get anyone over in a multi-man match. Thankfully, Sutter was able to establish an identity for himself in his angle with Allie and the crowd likes them as a couple. Also, I have been wondering for the last year why Konley wasn't being used despite signing with TNA in 2016, so it was good to see him here.

Sienna def. Rachel Ellering

Fans might be familiar with Ellering from her work in NXT last year. In fact, I'm slightly surprised she didn't wait it out and eventually earn a contract with them considering her dad Paul Ellering is in NXT right now. Then again, she may not be officially signed with TNA, but either way, she had a solid showing here. It will be nice to see Sienna break out on her own now that Maria is gone, and she already has her sights set on exacting revenge against Allie.

Ethan Carter III Confronted Impact Wrestling World Champion Lashley and Alberto El Patron

I truly do not care to see Bruce Prichard back in TNA in an on-air role, but he is a talented talker, so perhaps he can be a solid mouthpiece for someone on the roster. Lashley has come a long way on the mic, so I don't know if that's the best pairing. I thought the crowd would give El Patron a louder reaction when he came out, but perhaps they weren't mic'd properly. At any rate, this was a decent segment that set up the main event title match effectively, and I'm sure we're bound to see EC3 go heel sooner rather than later.

Dutch Mantell Vowed to Make Impact Great

I understand what Mantell and the rest of the company is trying to go far, but in truth be told, there wasn't anything wrong with the on-air product last year. And that was long after all those notable names Mantell mentioned left the company. Trashing the old regime is one thing, but to take shots at the former roster as well is not necessary because a lot of those guys were already great. Mantell came across well in his promo, but they really need to prove to me that they've turned a new leaf and stop saying that they've changed because they constantly claim that and nothing ever changes.

Alberto El Patron def. Lashley to Win the Impact Wrestling World Championship

This might be the biggest match the company can do at the moment, and while I realize they wanted to deliver a marquee match in their first main event of the "new era," I wouldn't have rushed into it. That said, this was a good match marred by a terrible finish. Nothing says "The old guard is behind us!" quite like ref bumps and a controversial conclusion. Obviously, they want people to tune in next week, but the more things change with TNA, the more they stay the same.

Overall Show

Whether this was a real "reboot" for TNA remains to be seen. I want to believe that TNA is finally moving in an another direction, but that didn't come across in the best way on this show, such as with the distracting, obnoxious commentary and the fluky finish to the main event. On a side note, I'm glad they acknowledged the departures of Maria and The Broken Hardyz, but in the case of Matt and Jeff, they were "deleted" while attempting to teleport? Seriously? That was dumb. There were some fresh faces on this show, and that was appreciated, but the coming weeks will be very telling.