TNA Impact Wrestling Review - October 27, 2016

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Impact Grand Champion Aron Rex and Eli Drake def. Ethan Carter III and Jessie Godderz

When did Rex officially turn heel? It was weird that the commentators were talking about how Godderz and EC3 weren't on the same page yet Rex and Drake were working together no problem despite being at odds last week. Meanwhile, the crowd didn't know exactly how to react to him until the ending. That said, they did cement his heel turn (or at least further it) by having him cheat to win here. Additionally, I really liked how they kicked off the show with a lengthy, well-wrestled match for a change, though I get a kick out of Josh Mathews (who is absolutely awful) saying Godderz was a "big star" in TNA.


DCC Attacked Robbie E and Grado

Some people dig Grado's comedy, others don't. I like the guy, but I think he's creatively stiffled in TNA compared to other companies he's worked for. He seems to be a bigger deal overseas, but this audience was hot for him. I really couldn't care less about Robbie E at their point, and I thought DCC executed a face turn when they cut this stupid segment short. As I said last week, I'm intrigued to find out who the mysterious masked men are.

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X-Division Champion DJ Z, Mandrews and Braxton Sutter def. Rockstar Spud and Decay in a Team X Gold Match

I'm still not sure what this Team X Gold nonsense is all about because they have yet to explain it in full, but at least the matches that they have produced thus far have been fun. Decay were a weird choice for Spud's partners, but I guess the division is depleted to the point where there weren't many other options. It looks like Decay won't be a regular part of the X-Division going forward if their loss here was any indication, which was odd.


TNA World Heavyweight Champion Eddie Edwards and Lashley Signed the Contract For Next Week's TNA World Heavyweight Championship Match

I never thought I'd see the day where Lashley was outshining Edwards in promos. Edwards comes across as slightly uncomfortable when he talks, but I thought the material he was given to work with here was decent. However, Lashley once again killed it with what he had to say about his dominance in TNA up to this point. I loved Edwards' line about what would happen if Lashley lost next week, so that was a great cliffhanger leading into the title match where I honestly don't know who will win.


Laurel Van Ness def. Allie

Allie has captured something magical as an underdog-esque babyface in recent months while Van Ness has settled nicely into her new role. This was the classic contest where the heel beats up on the babyface for a majority of the match only for the babyface to battle back before ultimately coming up short. The crowd showed support for Allie, so this worked. Allie might even benefit from losing (a la Sami Zayn or Bayley), so I was content with the outcome.


Cody and Brandi Rhodes def. Mike Bennett and Maria

I thought this was the match that they were building to long-term, but apparently not. Cody and Bennett had great chemistry, but when it was Maria and Brandi in the ring together, it was a total disaster. Brandi hardly has any in-ring experience, so I can't criticize her too much, but everything from her punches to her submission hold looked horrid. Perhaps it was for the best that this wasn't the end of Cody's TNA run. Lashley attacked him backstage afterward, so was that Cody's way of putting him over on the way out or was it planting the seeds for a future match between them?


Overall Show

It's funny to note that the most entertaining thing on the entire show wasn't even anything having to do with the matches or the segments. Rather, it was the pre-taped stuff with the Hardys at Matt's house giving out candy to trick-or-treaters. That was hilarious. Otherwise, it was a standard show, but I will say they effectively set up the world title match for next week.