TNA Impact Wrestling Review - April 5, 2016

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Jeff Hardy def. Eric Young in a Six Sides of Steel Match

​I really liked how they got the attack from Bram out of the way before the bout began and outside of the cage so he didn't have to interfere. It never ceases to bother me how people get involved in Steel Cage matches even this day and age. It makes the matchup beyond meaningless. With that a non-factor, Hardy and Young were able to deliver a great match and it was perfectly slotted in the opening slot to kick off the night on a high note. My only gripe with the match was how Young's piledriver on the chairs wasn't enough to put Hardy away. That would have paralyzed anyone else in a real-life situation. That said, Hardy's Swanton Bomb off the top of the cage and through the table was a really cool sight and it amazes me he's still taking crazy bumps like that despite still suffering from an injury.


TNA World Heavyweight Champion Drew Galloway and Matt Hardy Came Face-to-Face

Galloway and especially Hardy cut strong promos that effectively got me more excited for the main event. Hardy is playing the desperate lunatic character to a tee while Galloway is getting better by the mic on the microphone. I'd question why Tyrus would bring up how he title shot any time of his choosing instead of surprising the winner, but I think it was more a case of Creative reminding us that stipulation still existed since I assume most viewers forgot about it.

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Lashley def. D'Angelo Dinero in a Street Fight

It's hard to believe it's been four years since we last saw Dinero compete in a TNA match, and I don't know why he wasn't brought back as a wrestler sooner because he isn't a great commentator. They dressed for a street fight and used weapons like they would in a street fight, but why was the referee counting out Dinero at one point? That confused me. Otherwise, it was a fun little match and I'm glad Dinero got his hope spots in only for Lashley to be mostly on offense.


Ethan Carter III Called Out Mike Bennett

EC3's comedy is usually hit or miss, but whenever he's serious like he was in this segment, he's money. He cut one of his best promos in recent memory here, but I'd certainly say Bennett won their war of words. He has always impressed me, but his rant about how everyone has left EC3 and how he now has nothing left was beautifully delivered. The brawl that ensued felt personal, too. We'll get EC3 vs. Lashley at some point it appears, but I'm looking forward to EC3 vs. Bennett in the meantime.


Jade def. Gail Kim and Madison Rayne in a Triple Threat Match to Win the Knockouts Championship

Dixie Carter said she was going to punish both Kim and Maria for making No. 1 contender matches on their own, yet to me it seemed like it was only Kim who was punished by being put in the Triple Threat. Oh well. The match was hardly anything special and Maria's attack on Kim didn't come off too well, but congrats to Jade for scoring her first title victory in TNA because lord knows she has deserved it. Since it was a Triple Threat, I would have rather seen Kim get attacked on the outside while Jade pinned Rayne for the belt, but that's merely nitpicking.


Eddie Edwards Confronted Shane Helms and X-Division Champion Trevor Lee; Decay Interrupted World Tag Team Champions Beer Money

Edwards and Helms had a decent back-and-forth on the mic, but the only thing on my mind while watching this why Lee was a background player. He's the X-Division Champion for goodness sake! Hopefully that's where they're headed with this story and it isn't neglected. A Beer Money and Decay feud could be good and I imagine Decay will be the ones to beat them for the belts before Bobby Roode legitimately leaves the promotion.


TNA World Heavyweight Champion Drew Galloway def. Matt Hardy

I didn't think I would enjoy this match much based off the predictable outcome and the small amount of time they were allotted, but they made the most of it and had an entertaining affair. Hardy went to great lengths to ensure he was champion by the end of the night, even by having Tyrus tease he was entering himself in the match (which was a nice swerve), but Jeff Hardy leveling the playing field was logical and it sets up a Hardy vs. Hardy program for the foreseeable future.


Overall Show

There really wasn't anything on this edition of Impact Wrestling that I didn't like, making it a very solid show on the whole. The main event was a treat, a title changed hands, and a few fresh feuds kicked off as well, so the next few weeks should be interesting. It's a shame none of this is reflecting in the ratings, but I'm more concerned with TNA delivering a strong TV product and they have been doing that as of late.