TNA Impact Wrestling Review - May 10, 2016

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

​World Tag Team Champions Decay def. Jeff Hardy and James Storm

I enjoyed the match and I liked how Storm's title rematch wasn't forgotten about even with Bobby Roode gone from the company. The pre-match promo was questionable, though. Everyone played their parts well, but how did Hardy not know who paid Decay off to attack him last week? Maybe they'll throw us a curve ball, but my first guess would be Matt Hardy considering that's who Jeff was feuding with a few short weeks ago. Also, was it just me or did Crazzy Steve sound like Heath Ledger's Joker when he talked? Considering they're both demented clowns, I assumed he used the character as motivation.


TNA World Heavyweight Champion Drew Galloway Called Out Lashley

I never thought I would write this, but Galloway and Lashley had a hell of a verbal exchange. Galloway's promos sounded so scripted around this time one year ago, but he now comes across much more natural and confident. As for Lashley, he is perfect at keeping his promos short and sweet and delivering his lines effectively. Props to TNA for maintaining his momentum over the past few months as well. This whole feud was been extremely well built up and I'm very much looking forward to their title match next week as a result.

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TNA World Heavyweight Champion Drew Galloway def. Eli Drake

I completely forgot that these two were in that faction together last year until Drake mentioned it. Speaking of whom, has he always been a talented talker? I know he has a Feast or Fired briefcase, but it's a shame he's essentially an undercard act because it seems like he has all the necessary tools to be a bigger star. With Galloway defending his title against Lashley next week, it was difficult to buy into the possibility of Drake winning the strap, but they contested a nice little match regardless and Lashley's post-match attack on Galloway was well done.


Ethan Carter III Challenged Mike Bennett

These weekly promos from EC3 and Bennett remind me quite a bit of the John Cena and Kevin Owens feud from last year where they were delivering excellent promos on a weekly basis. In fact, this was EC3's best babyface promo to date and the crowd has really taken to him as a fan favorite. Bennett denying the rematch was logical because he's already beaten EC3 twice, but I like the "road to redemption" approach and it set up the night's main event nicely.


Knockouts Champion Jade def. Gail Kim by Disqualification

Jade and Kim produced a good match in the time they were allotted, but I, along with the rest of the crowd, was waiting for interference from Sienna at ringside, so I wasn't disappointed or surprised by the non-finish. Hopefully we can get that great match I know they're capable of having at some point without any interference. Sienna has come off well so far in her attacks on Jade and Kim, but we haven't seen too much of her in the ring up to this point, so I'm not sure whether her in-ring skills need work or if she's actually experienced.


Mahabali Shera def. Al Snow

The match was fine, and Snow made it bearable by carrying Shera and dominating a majority of the match, but I can't get behind this silly feud. It's probably just me, but I can't invest in either character at the moment. Shera has been a massive flop and remains extremely green in the ring, beating Snow has meant nothing in recent years, and Grado feels wasted and shouldn't be relegated to a comic relief role. He was funnier when he wasn't being forced to do TNA comedy.


Ethan Carter III def. Rockstar Spud in a Six Sides of Steel Match

While this wasn't on par with some of their past encounters, it was still solid and the two have always entertaining chemistry together. The only issue this match had, other than not being hyped ahead of time, was that Spud hasn't been a legitimate threat in months. Rather, he's been a lackey for Matt Hardy and nothing more. As a match, though, it was a serviceable main event and EC3's road to redemption in the coming weeks should be fun to watch.


​Overall Show

How the hell did three title matches and a Steel Cage match take place without being advertised in advance? The part that confuses me is that TNA has done an exceptional job of hyping marquee matches ahead of time before (such as Galloway vs. Lashley for next week), but the episode itself was very good on the whole. If you've been critical of the product in the past, now is the time to start tuning in again.