TNA Impact Wrestling Review - April 3, 2015

Bobby Roode and Eric Young settle their score.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Eric Young def. Bobby Roode in a Submission Match

Although I've grown tired of this feud in recent months, Young and Roode never cease to have good matches. Personally, I enjoyed their previous two matches more, as this match tended to drag at times. Submission matches are fine when two submission specialists are involved, but neither Young and Roode stand out to me as being such, so why the stipulation? Hell, an "I Quit" match would've made more sense given their long running rivalry. Still, it was solid and I was surprised to see Young get the clean win which was smart since he can now be set up as a title contender. Can we please move away from this feud?


The Wolves Relinquished the World Tag Team Championship

Davey Richards was injured late last year, and now Eddie Edwards gets sidelined. The Wolves just can't catch a break, can they? No pun intended, of course. Anyway, their promo segment was short, sweet and to the point and I'm glad Richards did most of the talking for the two since he's better on the mic. The Wolves just recently regained the gold, so it sucks to see them drop the straps so quickly. Nevertheless, they did a nice job of establishing that when Edwards is cleared to compete, they're sights will be set on winning them back.

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Who came out on top in the battle of the Brits?

Gail Kim def. Angelina Love

It was refreshing to hear from Angelina for once to make this match more meaningful, but what she said about being a great wrestler just didn't ring true. She isn't a bad worker by any means, but I wouldn't exactly call her great. She had a good showing in this match, but most of that had to due to Kim being so excellent inside the ring. They worked a really nice match that gave Kim a necessary win. Love is better off on her own than with The BroMans who are only going to drag her down.


Magnus def. Bram in a Falls Count Anywhere Match

I'd hate to call this match a disappointment because I don't think it was, but they definitely didn't live up to the stipulation. Falls Count Anywhere was perfectly fitting of the feud, but they barely left the ring. They utilized the no disqualification well with the use of chairs, but that was about as "hardcore" as it got. Still, it was a brutal bout with both competitors showcasing their hard-hitting offense. Mickie James' involvement was unnecessary, and James Storm interfering just felt random. I'm sure it's leading somewhere sooner or later, but it took away from what should have been the blow-off to this feud between Magnus and Bram.


TNA World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle def. Lashley

Their first encounter was so well hyped and built up that nothing was going to top it, but this was still a very good match. It was given great time and they pulled out all the stops. One of the many reasons this match didn't have the same "big fight feel" it had the first time might be because of the crowd. While this audience in the Impact Zone was invested in the action, they just didn't feel as electric. The narrative they were trying to tell at the end was that Lashley's shoulder was up when the count was being made, so it looks like we're in for more matches between these guys going forward.


Overall Show

I absolutely loved the Bell to Bell theme on this show with almost all of the focus being on the in-ring action. The format was fantastic with only four matches and each of those matches shined. While none of them were amazing, they were all above average and felt special. This is one of the many benefits of not having monthly pay-per-views as it allows them to cut out the filler and make stacked shows like this one. I realize it can't be done this way every week, but once in a good while would suffice.

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