TNA Impact Wrestling Review - October 6, 2016

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

​TNA World Heavyweight Champion Lashley, Impact Grand Champion Aron Rex, Knockouts Champion Gail Kim, World Tag Team Champion Matt Hardy and X-Division Champion DJ Z Interrupted Each Other

It didn't strike me until this segment that every TNA title holder at the time once wrestled in WWE, except for DJ Z. Not really anything significant, just something I noticed. Anyway, I feared this was headed toward another unification match, but thankfully that wasn't the case. I'm in favor of the idea of Corgan taking over TNA in reality, but I'm not a fan of his on-air character and he looked like a goof here in that outfit. By the way, why was Aiden O'Shea with him? He hasn't been seen in months. And why wasn't that explained or even addressed?


X-Division Champion DJ Z, Mandrews and Braxton Sutter def. Trevor Lee, Andrew Everrett and Marshe Rockett in a Team X Gold Match

Every year TNA tries to rejuvenate the X-Division with silly ideas that never work, whether it's Triple Threat matches or installing cameras on the referee's head. They've all been scrapped rather quickly and I expect Team X Gold to meet the same fate. The match was well-wrestled and whatever, but how can you possibly tell stories this way? And what do the rules entail exactly? Additionally, the debuting Rockett wasn't showcased at all. If nothing else, it was cool to see Mandrews spotlighted for once by scoring the pinfall win for this team.

---

Eli Drake Hosted Fact of Life with Ethan Carter III

This was absolutely exceptional. And no, not because of EC3. He's always been a talented talker, but Drake has really emerged as one of the best on the mic in the company right now. I liked the renewed aggression EC3 showed that he has been lacking lately, but the promo Drake cut blew EC3's out of the water. The weird thing was that it painted Drake as the babyface, so I wouldn't be surprised if they do a double turn with these two in the near future.


Knockouts Champion Gail Kim def. Sienna

We've seen Sienna get beaten pretty decisively by Kim in the past, so I'm not sure if anyone was supposed to view her as a threat to the title against Kim. The match was decent, but the real focus was on Allie and I was happy they furthered that angle effectively. The turn is coming, folks! Maria vs. Kim in a Title vs. Power rematch was set up nicely for next week as well.


World Tag Team Champions "Broken" Matt Hardy and Brother Nero def. Decay in a Wolf Creek Cage Match

I can't believe they devoted an entire Cage match to a stupid show on Pop TV. Ugh. We essentially saw the same thing a mere week ago in Lethal Lockdown on Impact Wrestling, but whatever. This was all right and they attempt to make the most of it, but it obviously paled in comparison to The Great War from Bound for Glory. It was weird they seemingly blew this feud off so soon simply because the tag team division in TNA is so depleted.


Mike Bennett and Maria Confronted Cody and Brandi Rhodes

I was glad Cody addressed wanting to set his sights on the TNA World Heavyweight Championship eventually because that should honestly be anyone's goal in coming to a company, not just wanting to face a certain star (who isn't the world champion) and have that be it. That said, he cut a good promo and I was relieved he didn't waste as much time as Aron Rex did in tearing down WWE because that's so passe. The Rhodes vs. Bennetts feud should be fun.


Impact Grand Champion Aron Rex def. Baron Dax

There were a few passable Impact Grand Championship tournament matches, but this bout reminded me how dumb this gimmick is for pro wrestling. I just don't understand how they do a real rivalry between Rex and anyone if this is all the matches are going to consist of. Of course, having Dax, who I couldn't care less about, be Rex's initial opponent as champion was the wrong move, but so far I'm not a fan. Not to mention Rex has been beyond bland since arriving in TNA.


Eddie Edwards def. Lashley to Win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship

Similar to their series of matches from over the summer, this was another excellent encounter from Edwards and Lashley. Edwards didn't deserve a title shot, especially coming off a loss to Rex at Bound for Glory, but they explained that with Lashley choosing his own opponent. As happy as I am for Edwards, this was a real confusing decision to put the title on him at random and have him be the one to end Lashley's dominant reign. He has been losing most of his matches lately, and we've seen people hit Lashley with multiple finishers yet still be unable to get the win. How could one Boston Knee Party from Edwards earn him the victory? I'm seriously curious if TNA knows they're on their way out and are trying anything at this point. Perhaps we'll see in the weeks ahead.


Overall Show

The Clash of Champions-esque theme for this show didn't do much for me mostly because none of the titles felt like they were in true jeopardy. Even during the main event, as great as it was, I didn't think Edwards would win. It made for a shocking conclusion, sure, but was it really the best move long-term? As for the rest of the episode, it was okay, but not the hot edition of Impact Wrestling I was hoping for following Bound for Glory.