TNA Impact Review- 20th August

Hello, Welcome to my first Impact review- which I hope will be a mainstay on my blog come 2015. TNAs product has been my salvation with regard to Wrestling since the NY episodes started airing. I was worried TNA would lose a lot of momentum once Dixie went through a table, which was why I was surprised they did it when they did at the end of the first set of tapings. However I can gladly say the product has continued its upswing into the "post Dixie" era. 

Bram v Abyss- Stairway to Janice

I've been a big fan of Bram/Kenneth Cameron for a while now. In my opinion he was a really good member of The Ascension, and in my opinion they were stronger when they had Bram as opposed to now when they have Viktor. As such I'm extremely pleased to see Bram getting a proper push coming into TNA; I was worried he would lose a lot of momentum in favour of building Magnus, contrary to this they've elevated Bram passed Magnus in my opinion which I never thought was legitimately going to happen. Onto the match itself; The match was a very solid match for what it was designed to be and they managed to work in a lot of high impact spots given the time limit they were given, and I also thought the finish was solid if a bit unimaginative. The only major detraction I would have for this match is Bram "getting colour". If they are to build Bram as the "hardcore" guy in my opinion they should make it so Bram bleeds "the hard way" or at least appears to be bleeding because of this. I've never understood the appeal of blading, Whilst it was good back in the early days of wrestling in an age of UFC everyone knows you don't bleed from your forehead, it comes from the temple on the head or wherever a pile of thumbtacks has been aggressively stuck into a persons back. 

EC3, Spud, Rhino in ring segment

Firstly with regard to EC3s backstage promo about having a moment of clarity combined with the events which unfolded, I think we're about to see EC3 hit a purple patch in his career- and given the right circumstances I can see EC3 being the TNA World Heavyweight Champion by this time next year. The segment itself was fine, I like the addition of Spud having doubts with regard to EC3s actions and (I'm not sure what the taping results are) if we were to see a mini EC3-Spud feud I hope they have Spud in the "Mikey Whipwreck" role of being destroyed and gradually have him come into his own. Its clear they're building to an EC3-Rhino match with some kind of stipulation where if they're smart they'd make EC3 go over in a big way.

We had that weird Mr. Anderson-Smoking video package which made so little sense to me.

Samoa Joe v Low Ki

This match is where I knew TNA was going up rather than down after last week (which was a bit lacklustre in my opinion). The match delivered in all aspects and it was really smart to put Joe over in the way they did, although I thought they'd of had Joe counter the Ki Krusher into the Musclebuster given the similarity both have with regard to setting up the move- and the potential to counter it into the other persons move. This match could however of been a clear Match of the Year if they'd been given 5 or 10 more minutes and maybe a stipulation. However as a pure wrestling spectacle you'll be hard pressed to find a better one all year.

Samuel Shaw v Mr. Anderson.... Anderson

I liked them starting the match backstage, it was what I suggested they should of done at Payback with Rollins and Ambrose. However I don't understand Shaw's booking. I thought with Gunner as his "manager" we would see Shaw become a bit like Festus with regard to becoming super aggressive sometimes and becoming completely docile under the command of Gunner. However they seem to be painting Anderson as the heel with regard to his over aggressiveness with Shaw and I also didn't understand Gunners lack of involvement in the grand scheme of things in my opinion he should of broken up the armbar yelling at him to stop with Shaw getting the win. They seem to (at least in my opinion) be building to a Gunner heel turn which wouldn't make sense for a number of reasons, primarily the way they're booking him- Shaw is coming off as a sympathetic babyface in my opinion. So if/when Gunner turns on Anderson in favour of Shaw is it really a heel turn?

Hardys, 3D, Wolves segment

It did its job, if a bit uneventful. I assumed given the backstage video packages (which I would do away with in TNA, but thats an article for another day) we would get some kind of physical contact with one of the teams standing tall, but instead we had all three teams nodding at each other which didn't do much to build a match which will undoubtedly be amazing next week.

Dixie Promo
I don't like Dixie as a talker. However this segment was different, and you could tell she meant a lot of what she said and the segment did well in keeping Dixie relevant, without over-featuring her.

The weird James Storm vignettes with Sanada are good at getting his new persona over, but I assumed we would of got a different one each week with Storm "conditioning" Sanada into becoming more aggressive and morphing into "The Great Sanada".

Angelina Love v Gail Kim

This match was the standard of which I hoped the A.J. v Paige matches would get to- and believe they still can if they're given time. They told a great story, and also managed to get in a fair few "spots" which are almost expected it seems with regard to Knockouts Matches with a stipulation now. The addition of Velvet Sky was interesting- but her lack of help in certain aspects annoyed me, for example Gail had Angelina in the Figure Four around the ring post for at least 10 seconds before Velvet interfered. Also the finish- which looked brutal- was hurt somewhat by Velvet simply holding Angelina's hand it seemed, when it was made apparent she was there she should of at least attempted to get Angelina up- even if it was a failed attempt.

Six Sides of Steel- Storm v Aries v Roode v Young v Magnus v Gunner

We started this segment with an MVP promo which is what we've come to expect. I'm hoping they keep the belt on Lashley long enough for MVP to challenge him for it- because in my opinion it would make a great story and lead to matches which would surprise a fair few people. I also think the belt would need to be in play to make the feud mean something, instead of getting the usual disintegration after a member of a faction loses the belt.

The cage match was alright for what it was, but in comparison to some of the other matches on the card it was pretty tame. The 6 men inside the cage also meant the match felt a cramped and there weren't any notable spots given the men involved. The split decision finish is interesting, but in my opinion anyone who's heading into a fight with Lashley after the way he's been going through people. Need to be built weeks in advance something which I feel has been lacking, meaning there wasn't ever a legitimate threat of Lashley losing the belt. I'm unsure when the title match is coming around however I hope they build Roode (who from my memory becomes #1 Contender?) for a few weeks before finally fighting Lashley at Bound for Glory, or one of the "TV PPVs" TNA seem to be doing now.

Thanks for reading, hope you all enjoyed. Feedback is very much appreciated- if you wish to do so tweet me (@wheelerdeeler). Feel free to tell me I'm wrong  as long as you give me something to work with and improve this blog over time.