TNA Impact Wrestling Review - February 13, 2014

Bully Ray screams in the face of Mr. Anderson.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

MVP Interrupted TNA World Heavyweight Champion Magnus

Seeing the show kick off with Dixie Carter and her lackeys is never an encouraging, but I'll make a a rare exception with Magnus being from England. He did a good job of turning the live crowd against him, but everything else about this segment didn't do much for me. MVP was fine in his role and the segment was a nice setup into the subsequent match, but Carter is so deplorable as a character that drags everything she is involved in down.


Ethan Carter III vs. Gunner For the Feast or Fired Briefcases Went to a No Contest

The match was only mere minutes long before it ended due to interference, so it never really got out of first gear. The EC3 character is slowly growing on me, but I still couldn't care less for Gunner, who I just can't see as a top star right now. That being said, this match didn't interest me in the slightest, and the idea of once again putting the Feast or Fired briefcases up for grabs was just plain stupid.

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Abyss explains his recent actions.

Gunner and James Storm def. TNA World Heavyweight Champion Magnus and Ethan Carter III to Win the Feast or Fired Briefcases

What's even more asinine than putting Feast or Fired briefcases on the line, you ask? Putting them on the line in tag team matches! Seriously, I felt dumber just watching this. I will never understand the logic. Anyway, the match was decent enough, but nothing special. I understand the tension between Magnus and EC3, but is it supposed to be leading to? It is way too early for an EC3 face turn, so I am stumped. Also, I can't say I am all that excited to see Storm and Gunner reunite to go after the tag titles again. Why can't they just go about their separate ways?


Samoa Joe and The Wolves def. Zema Ion and TNA World Tag Team Champions The Bro-Mans

Aside from their one-off match in NXT, I had never seen The Wolves in action before (sorry, IWC). With that in mind, I enjoyed their outing here and I was certainly impressed. The match was given much time, but it was nice while it lasted. Having The Bro-Mans lose to The Wolves in their first encounter may not have been the best idea, but let's face it, are The Bro-Mans credible champions? The sooner they drop the belts to them, the better.


Abyss Called Out Eric Young

Seeing how this story had been dragged out over the course of two years, it lost its steam a long time ago, but I still found this to be a good segment. Abyss cut an exceptional promo and so did Young, but I have zero idea where they go from here. I have no desire to see them feud, and some of the content in this promo was confusing in that it wasn't made clear what happens to the Abyss character now. It is probably for the better that he "takes time off" for right now, but it would be cool to see him with his old manager Paul Mitchell when he comes back.


MVP def. Rockstar Spud

I have enjoyed MVP's in-ring work and couldn't be happier to see him wrestling on American TV again, but this was disappointing. It was obvious from the get-go that this was going to be a squash match, but did MVP really benefit from the win? I would have much rather preferred saving his in-ring return for a more memorable occasions as opposed to a throwaway minute match that meant nothing.


Chris Sabin vs. Velvet Sky Went to a No Contest

I don't think this was ever a match to begin with, hence why I went a "no contest" result (though you can never be sure with TNA). Sabin is really coming onto his own as a heel, but it is hard to get invested in this story with Sky. I don't know the name of the new debuting Knockout, and while it is nice to add more talent to the roster, don't we already have a monster heel in Lei'D Tapa? I honestly don't look forward to that train wreck of a matchup as of now, but we will see how she will be handled going forward.


Mr. Anderson def. Bully Ray in a Casket Match

To me, the Casket match is a silly concept, but at least Ray and Anderson made the most of it. There was some entertaining action and it was given good time, so it made for a solid main event. The finish was well done and I am glad to see Anderson come out of the feud victorious. The rivalry has definitely run its course, so I look forward to both competitors moving on to bigger and better things. By the way, could the wood that the casket was made out of look any more cheap?


Overall Show

There was hardly anything about this show to get excited about, but at least it was a good effort from TNA. The main event was the sole highlight, which isn't saying much since Anderson and Ray have had better matches in the past. The rest of the show left a lot to be desired, but at least the England crowd made for a really fun environment. I don't care much for the whole "control of the company" story at the moment, but I like MVP, so I am willing to give it a chance by seeing how it plays out in weeks to come.

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