TNA Impact Wrestling Review - August 12, 2015

PJ Black sets up Lashley for a 450 Splash.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Eric Young Interrupted Jeff Jarrett

I may be in the minority on this one, but I'm content with Jarrett being a regular on TNA TV going forward. It don't know if it does much to help TNA long-term other than supplying them with some fresh faces, but it's great exposure for Global Force Wrestling. He did a solid job of setting up the rest of the show by announcing multiple matches and Young was good in his role as well. He's truly honed his crazy character these last few months, but it's a shame it's only earned him a feud with Chris Melendez.


Awesome Kong vs. Lei'D Tapa Ended in a Double Count-out

I don't think this was a "dream match" for anyone, but I will say I was interested in seeing it because of similar these two are. Granted, Kong is ten times more experienced/better than Tapa, but Tapa (although I've never been high on her abilities) has improved in her time away from TNA. That said, the match was mediocre at best. It never reached the next gear and the count-out finish was flat. I understand why they did it because it wouldn't have made any sense to book either woman to lose at this point, but then why hold the match to begin with?

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TNA Champion Ethan Carter III taunts Matt Hardy.

Bobby Roode Called Out Rockstar Spud

Was it just me or did this segment give anyone else deja vu of the Ric Flair/Shawn Michaels/Batista saga from 2008 where Roode (Batista) was mad with Spud (Michaels) for ending Austin Aries' (Ric Flair) career? As we all know, TNA tends to copy WWE from time to time (and vice versa on occasion), but at least they're taking one of their best angles. Spud and Roode had an excellent back and forth on the mic with Spud showing why he's one of the best babyfaces in the business today. Additionally, it's a logical transition from the events of last week and I'm really looking forward to seeing how this feud fleshes out in the weeks to come.


Lashley def. Jesse Godderz to Qualify for the King of the Mountain Match

"The Man"? Really? Ugh. I'm glad they're actually making an effort to repackage him from his BroMans days, but the new nickname and robe look so low-rent. I was genuinely shocked the match went as long as it did. It wasn't a bad match by any means, but Lashley is on a completely different level than Godderz, so I figured it would a quicker squash than it was. Did anyone honestly expect Godderz to advance to the King of the Mountain match over Lashley? Again, I didn't mind the match, though it did end on a sour note with that awful-looking spear.


Matt Hardy Interrupted TNA World Heavyweight Champion Ethan Carter III

I really hope this is a turning point for the EC3 character. He's always been exceptional on the mic and he showed that once again in this segment, but I was thrilled to see him win his Full Metal Mayhem match last week all on his own instead of being booked to look like weak for once. I also loved the way he played along with Hardy and gave him props for taking him to the limit last week only to deny his challenge for another title match before laying him out. I'm glad this feud appears to be for the long-term and they can tell a great story with Hardy in chase mode, though in that case, I question why they gave away the big finale last week with the Full Metal Mayhem match.


World Tag Team Champions The Wolves def. Brian Meyers and Trevor Lee (Non-title)

I've always been an advocate for Meyers as I thought WWE never utilized him to his full potential. As for Lee, I know absolutely nothing about the guy and TNA didn't help matters by not giving viewers any information on him. The match was fun while it lasted, but to the majority Meyers and Lee are two nobodies, so they never stood a chance of winning. At the very least, they had a good showing and if they're going to be a permanent duo going forward, TNA must do more to establish them.


X-Division Champion Tigre Uno def. Sonjay Dutt (Non-title)

I still blows my mind Dutt has never held that X-Division title. In a company where everyone and their mother has held that belt including Uno (whom I enjoy), I see no reason why he couldn't have been champion at some point. Ultimately, this match was a disappointment. They're capable of having a much better match than they did, but their time was cut short big time. And even what we did see wasn't that great, as there were a few silly spots mixed in that didn't make much sense. I'd like to see a rematch, but I don't know how they get to that point since Dutt was put away so decisively here.


PJ Black def. Lashley, Eric Young, Chris Mordetzky and Robbie E in a King of the Mountain Match to Win the King of the Mountain Championship

Well, Robbie E being Drew Galloway's replacement was slightly underwhelming. I like Robbie and I think he can be a big time player for the company if they booked him accordingly, but he hasn't even come close to that level yet. As always, the King of the Mountain match was a total trainwreck, and not in a good way. It was bad enough it had to return at Slammiversary, but now we have to see another less than two months later? Oh joy. And it looks like it might be a staple going forward if this terrible title continues to be defended. Oh no! This might have been worse than the Slammiversary King of the Mountain match and that's saying something. There was some good wrestling in there, but the confusing pinfalls and everything else were too much to handle. Why would Lashley spear Young off the ladder if he didn't want a Global Force Wrestling star to win? Why not just push the ladder over entirely? If nothing else, it was cool to see Black get a chance and him vs. EC3 for the TNA title next week is something new.


Overall Show

While I'm still of two minds on the whole TNA/GFW invasion angle, I will say that it's nice to see some fresh faces on the show. None of the matches were anything special and the King of the Mountain match was a horrendous way of closing out a rather decent episode, but perhaps the inter-promotional matches will mean more as time goes on. It's just that we've seen babyface authority figures go rogue in the past and it's always the same tired trash with TNA. I truly hope this will be different, though. By the way, what's this about Turning Point being held last week? We just had No Surrender last week! Unlike that pseudo-pay-per-view, there was nothing announced for next week's special, so I'm not too excited for it.

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