TNA Impact Wrestling Review - April 12, 2016

By Graham "GSM" Matthews
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Matt Hardy Called Out Jeff Hardy

Was it just me or was this segment shades of their 2009 feud in WWE? Even down to the "I Quit" match they had at Backlash that year, almost exactly seven years ago to the day. That's not to say it's a bad thing, however, as this is almost a better version of that rivalry without all the "I burned your house down" garbage. Jeff has always been passable at best on the microphone, but Matt carried him to a strong verbal exchange and I loved his logic about wanting to be the only Hardy in the wrestling business. This was also an effective way of setting up the night's tag team main event pitting the two brothers against each other.


World Tag Team Champions Beer Money def. King of the Mountain Champion Eric Young & Bram, Decay, and The BroMans in a Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Match

With so many teams involved, this match should have been more electric than it was, but I think the biggest issue with it was that it happened out of nowhere. What have any of the other tandems done to deserve a title shot? The only thing that stood out to me during this contest was that The BroMans simply don't make for good faces. I'd rather not have them back together at all if we're being honest. With Bobby Roode now gone from the organization, I assumed this would have been the match they would lose the tag titles, but apparently not. I guess that will occur sooner rather than later, however. Imagine if Roode showed up in NXT while still TNA World Tag Team Champion in storyline?

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Gail Kim Interrupted Knockouts Champion Jade and Maria

I'm glad that despite Kim not being champion anymore, her program with Maria is continuing on. The longer they hold off on Kim getting her hands on her, the more it will mean in the end. I enjoyed their interaction, but everything that followed was a total train wreck. I don't understand why there needs to be a match to determine who is in charge of the division. That was when women's wrestling was at its worst in TNA when Karen Angle and later Brooke Hogan were the heads the division. Why have the inmates run the asylum?


DJ Z def. X-Division Champion Trevor Lee (Non-title)

As an athlete, I like DJ Z, but I absolutely despise the DJ gimmick as I think it's a complete waste of his talent. I hoped that his recent absence from the program meant he was getting repackaged, but instead, he came back with a more ridiculous looking outfit. The match was all right for what it was, but Lee hasn't done much as champion so far, so it didn't come across like a major upset. Shane Helms has done more to take away from his act than add to thus far and all the focus appears to be on him.


Mike Bennett def. Ethan Carter III by Disqualification

I was interested to see how they would handle the finish because EC3 remains unpinned in TNA and I believe Bennett is still undefeated as well. Thus, I didn't mind the disqualification ending whatsoever because both guys were ultimately protected. As for the match itself, it was solid and both guys put forth a good effort. I'm happy they're keeping the feud alive a while longer and I've been thoroughly impressed with how far Bennett has come in TNA in such a short period of time.


Al Snow Attacked Mahabli Shera

This program has the potential to be as bad as Grado vs. Eli Drake, I can feel it. I have zero desire to see Snow wrestle in 2016. The guy has kept in phenomenal shape and good for him, but I fail to see who this benefits. And don't say Shera because he's awful. Awful in the ring, on the mic, as a character, basically everything. Nothing he has done so far has given me any reason to think he will be getting better anytime soon.


Knockouts Champion Jade def. Madison Rayne

Ahead of next week's mutli-woman match to determine a leader of the Knockouts division (still stupid), this match felt like an afterthought, which is a shame because it was actually well-wrestled and nicely paced. On the bright side, Jade needs to be built up as a legitimate threat during her title reign since she was nothing more than a lackey before and this successful title defense accomplished that for her.


Matt Hardy and Tyrus def. Jeff Hardy and TNA World Heavyweight Champion Drew Galloway

You had to expect shenanigans from the Matt Hardy camp, but that's what I think makes his matches so entertaining. He's the quintessential heel that way in that he'll do just about anything to win, regardless of how low he has to go. I was invested in the action as well because of the stipulation in place that the winning Hardy would be able to pick the type of match they face off in next week. Lashley aggressively attacking Galloway was an excellent ending to the show. Lashley has been on a roll as of late and he looked like a badass coming out of this ambush on the world champ.


Overall Show

TNA's ratings may be decreasing, but the quality of the product has only increased since the move to Pop TV. There are several feuds (Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy, Ethan Carter III vs. Mike Bennett, Drew Galloway vs. Lashley) getting excited about at the moment and it makes these shows significantly more enjoyable. Next week's show should be interesting with the Hardy vs. Hardy "I Quit" match as well as everything else advertised.