TNA Impact Wrestling Review - September 2, 2015

Did Matt Hardy suffer a "twist of fate" from EC3?

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Jarretts Addressed Their Actions

We're only one week into the official "invasion" and I'm already dreading it. The show opening with a long, drawn-out promo from the heels is something we have seen time and time again in TNA over the years (and something we still see regularly on Raw with The Authority) and it's grown tiresome. The Jarretts are better heels than they are babyfaces, but as of now, they aren't as entertaining as they were during the last run with the company in 2011. Hopefully that changes over time. Unfortunately, this wouldn't be the last time we'd see the Global Force Wrestling roster in the ring on this show, either. You had to laugh at the major boos they were receiving yet the camera caught many fans simply sitting on their hands.


Lashley def. Chris Mordetzky by Disqualification

I could have sworn I took a DeLorean back to 2007 when I saw these two going one-on-one. It wasn't terrible but it was far from good, which is a shame because Lashley has really come into his own as a worker in the past year and Mordetsky has improved immensely in recent years. They just don't seem to have that same chemistry Lashley has with other wrestlers on the roster. I rolled my eyes at the non-finish, but at least Mordetzky didn't lose clean. He would have instantly lost any momentum he had going for him.

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Bobby Roode locks PJ Black in the crossface.

Trevor Lee and Brian Meyers def. The Wolves to Win the World Tag Team Championship

Since when can you just hand over a contract for a championship match? That has never been the case with the Feast or Fired concept and that has sure as hell never been the case with Money in the Bank in WWE. Just another example of TNA making up the rules as they go along, but that's not to say WWE isn't guilty of that as well from time to time. The Jarretts said the original briefcase holder Magnus was a friend of theirs, but that was never established on TV. Plus, Magnus is gone! TNA never bothered to write him out of storylines. It puts heat on the GFW guys I guess, but I know very little about Trevor Lee and a few of the other members of their roster, so I have zero incentive to care about them.


Bobby Roode def. PJ Black to Win the King of the Mountain Championship

Black has been the best positioned GFW guy to date, so it was questionable of TNA to have him lose so decisively here. That aside, though, this was a very well-wrestled match between two excellent in-ring competitors. Roode and Black contested a very solid match in the time they were allotted, but it's a shame it was over a title I couldn't care less about. Following up the tag team title win with Roode beating Black for the belt was, again, asinine. It essentially ruined any heat they gained from the previous match.


Dixie Carter Challenged Jeff Jarrett to a Team TNA vs. Team GFW Match

They should have gotten this over with at the start of the show. I found myself zoning out at various points during this segment because they didn't say anything that peaked my interest; it was just a bunch of meaningless nonsense. I don't give two craps about the backstage politics between Carter and Jarrett and it was hardly cutting-edge. GFW's roster has yet to be established in any way and it's too soon to be doing a faction vs. faction match. Everything about this was trash, which is exactly what I feared coming into the invasion angle a few weeks ago.


Bram def. Kenny King

It's nice to see King getting repackaged and finally being given a chance to shine on his own after the unfortunate situation with the Beat Down Clan. He appears to be going babyface, which is fine if they book him properly. That said, why book him to lose his first match back? He and Bram had a decent match and I'd understand if they wanted to push Bram because he has potential, but Bram's a convicted felon! Obviously, this was taped before he was arrested and now he'll have to be featured on TV for the next few months. Another reason why taping so far in advance is a dumb idea.


The Beautiful People Attacked The Dollhouse

I really want to be excited about The Beautiful People getting back together, but I just can't for a number of reasons. Firstly, The Dollhouse have next to no credibility after losing so many matches, so they already look like losers against The Beautiful People. Secondly, Velvet Sky and Angelina Love were feuding only a few short months ago and now they're back together for no apparent reasons. Lastly, Love is pregnant! This was taped before she found out the news, but when they have to tape for TV again and she's not there, what are they going to do? This company is a complete mess.


TNA World Heavyweight Champion Ethan Carter III def. Matt Hardy (Jeff Hardy Became EC3's Personal Assistant)

This was the saving grace of this awful, awful show. Hardy has been faring well for himself in singles competition these last few months and EC3 has been doing excellent work as champion, so I've been enjoying the feud they've been having. Sadly, this match was barely built to, so fans didn't have any reason to believe that Hardy was winning the belt here and the outcome was predictable. As expressed last week, these servant storylines rarely ever work, so I'll reserve judgement before seeing how this plays out.


Overall Show

Just as I expected, the quality of the product has taken a turn for the worse with this horrendous GFW invasion. It's been rushed beyond belief, there are very few actual "stars" involved, and so far it's been a total trainwreck. The second half of the show wasn't much better, but the main event was solid. Even still, the Full Metal Mayhem match between EC3 and Hardy from a few weeks ago was better, so don't bother wasting your time with this show.

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