TNA Impact Wrestling Review - June 21, 2016

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

​Drew Galloway Called Out Ethan Carter III; Galloway and EC3 def. TNA World Heavyweight Champion Lashley and King of the Mountain Champion Eli Drake

Galloway came off a bit whiny here as he has to know that EC3 unintentionally cost him the championship last week, so I wouldn't be surprised if this segment was designed to plant the seeds for a future turn for him. He, EC3, Lashley and even Drake all played their roles well. Although Drake seemed out of place among the top-tier talent, I liked the logic of Lashley choosing an undercard competitor as his partner because then he would have had an easy title defense. But did he expect to win this tag team match on his own? The babyfaces going over made sense in that it set up the Triple Threat title match for next week.


World Tag Team Champions Decay Attacked Bram

Well, this is a weird pairing. I guess it could have the potential to be interesting given Bram is just as crazy as Decay is, but I was really hoping Bram would move on to bigger and better things coming off his loss of the King of the Mountain Championship. I'm shocked TNA hasn't already done more with him as a singles star in TNA. I am curious as to who his partner could be. Perhaps Magnus struck a deal with TNA to return and reunite with his old ally?

---

Marti Bell def. Jade

This could be a decent feud if Bell and Jade had better established characters. Jade came across like a heel when she brutally attacked Bell backstage last week, yet she was portrayed as the babyface here, so I'm not sure what to think. The match was fine for what it was, but the crowd couldn't care less about the program at the moment, which is shame given their history. Also, it was odd for them to give away their first match against each other two weeks into their rivalry, but at least Bell won to start building credibility.


Maria and Mike Bennett Called Out Dixie Carter

Please don't let this mean this is the start of another awful angle over control of the company. TNA is nutorious for doing those type of stories and they never pan out well. Maria and Bennett play their roles to perfection, but I'd rather not see Carter and especially Billy Corgan as regulars on TV. Carter's acting ability has improved whereas Corgan is almost unbearable to listen to, his mic skills are that atrocious.


Mike Bennett def. Eddie Edwards to Win the X-Division Championship

I'm a big supporter of the Miracle character, but Bennett's title shot and subsequent championship victory came completely out of nowhere. Maybe that was the intent because he obviously wasn't deserving of a shot at the strap in storyline, but it did significant damage to the X-Division. I was happy when Edwards won the title at Slammiversary because I thought it meant the division was taking a turn for the better, but apparently not.


Braxton Sutter def. Rockstar Spud

I liked the vignettes hyping up Sutter in the weeks preceding his debut a few weeks ago, but I'm not sold on him just yet. He isn't anything special in the ring and he feels fairly generic. Thankfully, he had a great heel in Rockstar Spud to work against and he scored a nice win. I wouldn't have had Spud beat so decisively this early in the feud, but he effectively got his heat back afterward by attacking Sutter.


Jeff Hardy def. Matt Hardy in a Six Sides of Steel Match

While I enjoyed their Full Metal Mayhem match from Slammiversary slightly more, this was still a great match from The Hardy Boyz. As if the Six Sides of Steel weren't enough, they incorporated other hardcore elements into the match such as tables, chairs and ladders, and the crowd ate up everything they did. I would have liked to see Matt win a match in the rivalry at some point, but this was a fitting way to blow it off and whatever Jeff did to finish Matt off (a splash I suppose?) looked awesome.


Overall Show

After a solid first six months of TNA TV, I'm a little skeptical regarding the immediate future of the on-air product. The main event scene remains exciting, but the storyline involving Carter, Corgan, Maria and Bennett has me worried, as do several other feuds they appear to be setting up. This was an entertaining edition of Impact Wrestling on the whole, but hopefully they prove me wrong and these angles end up being worthwhile.