 MVP and Kurt Angle come face-to-face. By Graham "GSM" Matthews TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode Called Out Lashley Roode's mic work wasn't as strong as it usual is, but having him kick off the show was logical following the events of last week. He showed some nice fire when calling out Lashley and the two had a decent brawl. The segment didn't overstay its welcome as most of The Authority segments on Raw have as of late. Taryn Terrell def. Havok and Gail Kim in a Triple Threat Match to Win the Knockouts Championship Terrell and Kim have a strong track record of having great matches together, but they weren't given much time to go one-on-one at any point in this match since Havok was always involved in the equation. She wasn't terrible, but her involvement made it an underwhelming match and the crowd wasn't all that interested. Although I'm very happy to see Terrell win the title and finally get her due, I question the move to take the title off Havok this early. At the very least, she wasn't the one pinned, so there's that.  Tommy Dreamer forces Bram to bleed. Chris Melendez def. Kenny King by Disqualification
Melendez continues to get better and better every time he steps in the ring, but there is undoubtedly still room for improvement. King carried him a decent bout and the disqualification finish, albeit predictable, protected both guys. It's been a fine feud so far, but I personally haven't been invested in it much at all since it started. Ethan Carter III and Tyrus Attacked Rockstar Spud This has been a pleasantly surprising feud thus far and both EC3 and Spud continue to excel in their roles. EC3 has been improving at a rapid pace on the mic and the crowd has really been getting behind Spud as the scrappy underdog. The brawl/beatdown was well done and EC3 shedding some blood (intentional or not) was a nice touch. Where was Eric Young to make the save for Spud? Bram def. Tommy Dreamer in a Hardcore Match I love Dreamer as much as the next guy, but I really don't need to see him wrestling on TV in 2014. That said, he and Bram worked a good match, even though I'm beyond tired of the hardcore rules in TNA since we see it every week. Al Snow was entertaining in ECW/WWE, but he's an agent nowadays for a reason. I really hope his presence in this match means he's coming back to the ring, too. Please stop reliving the old ECW glory days, TNA. It jumped the shark years ago. Low-Ki def. DJ Z, Manik and Tigre Uno in a Fatal 4-Way Match to Win the X-Division Championship As I said over the summer, Samoa Joe was the star of the X-Division and everyone else meant nothing. That's not a knock on their talent because they can all go in the ring, but they've received very little mic time in recent months. Manik has some storyline support going for him right now, but the fans have zero incentive to care about Tigre Uno and DJ Z right now. Thus, Low-Ki going over was the right move. It was a fun match at points, but it was hardly memorable. Kurt Angle Called Out MVP It's been a long while since we last saw Angle get physical, so to see him and MVP go at it felt special. I hope it leads to an eventual match between the two (when Angle is 100% healthy, of course) because that has the potential to be great. The brawl involving Kenny King, Mr. Anderson, Lashley and Bobby Roode was enjoyable and furthered each of the respective feuds in the process. In a way, it was a fitting way of going off the air one final time before TNA moves to a new home (and no, I don't count the "best of" shows). Overall Show I wouldn't go so far as to say this was a great show because I never got that impression at any point during the show, but it was a pretty good show made newsworthy by the two title changes. Well, that and the fact that this was the final first-run edition of Impact Wrestling that will ever air on Spike TV. For those who may have missed it (as TNA didn't even announce it on this show), TNA will be moving to Destination America in January. Until then, they'll be airing a series of "best of" episodes on Spike TV, none of which I'll be watching or covering. That said, I'll be back with my reviews of Impact Wrestling when new episodes air starting early next year. Here's hoping they can direct the audience to their new home and kick off the new year on a high note. |
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