TNA Impact Wrestling Review - February 23, 2017

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Cody Attacked Moose

It was weird to me when Cody came out and was introduced as "The American Nightmare" by Josh Mathews, yet he appeared to be in babyface mode despite having turned heel since he was last seen in TNA. Of course, it ended up making sense with Cody turning on Moose, so I loved what they did here. Granted, Brandi Rhodes' acting skills are still awful, but it struck me as odd when Bradi teamed up with Moose last week when she very easily could have called upon her husband to help her out. Is Cody back in TNA for good going forward or was this merely a one-off?

Tyrus def. Eli Drake by Disqualification

After the video package that preceded this match did a good job of recapping what we've seen from this feud thus far, I was actually looking forward to what would happen in this match. And then it was revealed that they had seemingly been in cahoots the entire time, so that was slightly disappointing. I know I criticized them for splitting up in the first place because it was way too soon for that to happen, but this just made the last few weeks a waste of time in my mind.

Jade Challenged Knockouts Champion Rosemary to a Last Knockout Standing Match

I've been thoroughly enjoying this feud and the matches they've been having much more than I originally thought I would, so I'm excited for them to blow off their rivalry in a Last Knockout Standing match. Could that be where Jade finally regains the gold? I imagine they would keep the title on Rosemary so she could feud with Gail Kim eventually, but that's purely speculation. Jade's mic work was a little shaky, but this was a solid verbal exchange on the whole.

Jessie Godderz def. Bram

I honestly don't understand what purpose this program serves between Godderz and The DCC. The faction already look weak as it is, so having each member suffering defeats at the hands of Godderz don't do them any favors. The worst part was that the match really wasn't anything special before Godderz won in clean fashion. It's cool they're trying to make a singles star out of Godderz, but The DCC will go down as yet another failed faction by TNA if this keeps up.

World Tag Team Championship The Broken Hardyz def. Roy Wilkins and and Arik Royal to Win the CWF Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (World Tag Team Championship Was Not Defended)

This "Expedition of Gold" from The Broken Hardyz has been fun up to this point, and I like the idea of them winning tag titles from various promotions leading up to their blockbuster bout with The Young Bucks over WrestleMania weekend, but it's a shame none of these matches will apparently be shown in their entirety. From what I saw in the highlights that were shown, it was a good match, but we see so little that it's difficult to invest in the action. Were their opponents actually undefeated for 12 years? For some reason, I find that very hard to believe.

Josh Barnett def. Bad Bones

Although his UFC career was what brought him to a level of notoriety, Barnett does have quite a bit of experience in wrestling. He relied on his MMA style for a majority of this match, but he looked better in there than I figured he would. That said, I don't understand why they would wait so long to bring him in to the company. Is it because most of their top talent is now gone? Here's hoping they can prove me wrong with Barnett's match with Lashley next week.

X-Division Champion Trevor Lee def. DJ Z

DJ Z had his rematch clause for the championship after losing it a few weeks back, so I'm glad they got that out of the way so Lee can now focus on his feud with Andrew Everett. This was a very well-wrestled match while it lasted, but as is typically the issue with the X-Division, I feel like I've seen it before because we don't know much about either guy. Thankfully, it looks like the Lee vs. Everett feud has potential and the crowd was hot for Everett taking the fight to Lee afterward.

Braxton Sutter Refused to Marry Laurel Van Ness

Although you could see the end of this angle coming from a mile away, I loved every second of it. This was sports entertainment silliness at its best in my opinion. They've dragged out this story for so long that fans have been anxious to see Allie stand up to Maria and get together with Sutter, so the payoff was worth it and the crowd ate this up. Props to Van Ness and Mike Bennett for also playing their roles wonderfully here. Pro wrestling weddings will never get old for me.

Overall Show

I was happy they closed out the night with the wedding because they have been building to that for many months and it lived up to the hype. Not much else on this edition of Impact Wrestling sparked my interest, though the stuff with The Broken Hardyz is always entertaining. Stick around for that and the wedding, and tune in next week for Lashley vs. Barnett and the Last Knockout Standing match.