TNA Impact Review- 1st October

Welcome to my Impact review for the October 1st edition- 2 in 2 Days I know right?!

Austin Aries v Samoa Joe
The promos before were perfectly serviceable, although the seeming lack of thought on Aries' part didn't fit his character in my opinion- although that could obviously lead to something in the near future if the plan is to have a prolonged Joe-Aries feud. The match was very good- which is what you expect when these two face off to be frank, and as stated previously I would hope they move on with this feud and give it some legs with Aries turning heel.

EC3, Spud segment
I'm with Spud. I've liked Spud since before he was with TNA- and I always liked him as a heel, however on the national stage he screams babyface to me now. He reminds be a bit of Mikey Whipwreck in that he can bump in such a way where you wince, and this makes him an ideal sympathetic babyface in my opinion.

EC3 v Eric Young
The match was good, and it seems as though EY is back in the position he was in before his (in retrospect) out of place title run. The finish was probably the best way they could of booked it with EC3 winning, although I'd of had Spud inadvertently cost EC3 the match if they are (as it seems) going with an EC3-Spud feud.

Mr. Anderson, Chris Melendez Segment
I don't like they're having Anderson "protect" Melendez from the big, bad world of wrestling unless they're building to Melendez turning on Anderson as I've said should happen in a previous Impact review. "I'M A WAR HERO DAMMIT".

Jessicka Havok sneak attack on Gail Kim
With the outcome of the match later in the night, the beatdown kind of made sense- however if the wanted Havok to look like a complete destroyer she should of gone over clean.

The Wolves, The Hardys, Team 3D- The Wolves deciding the final stipulation
What a surprise? Whoever didn't see the outcome of this segment at least two months ago need a psychiatric examination, however I'm not complaining because the match will undoubtedly be sublime. However I just want something more to happen. I understand why they're playing up "mutual respect" etc. but won't one of the teams attack the other to get the upper hand? Please? We've had a few of these "building" segments with these three teams that could easily be Copy and Pasted with the sound being dubbed over the stipulation announcement, and a few verbal insults on the part of The Wolves isn't enough to build a match of the calibre they were setting up.

Shark Boy v Manik
I really like Manik's new attire, I'm sure its intentional as from what I can tell TJ Perkins is a video game fan, but it looks like something you'd see in Final Fantasy or another game of that ilk. The match was what it was, Manik played up Storm much better than "The Great" Sanada has in my opinion in the way he was staring at Storm constantly.

Mr. Anderson v MVP
MVP looks a bit out of shape, but perhaps considering his recent injury thats understandable- and the match suffered from this in my opinion, as neither of these two looked like they were at the top of their games. Melendez and King at ringside was fine, although if I ran my own wrestling company I would never have a Heel and Babyface "manager" at ringside together because they should want to kill each other right? The finish was perfectly serviceable, however once again unless its leading to Melendez turning on Anderson (not vice versa) I'm not really interested.

Bobby Roode, Lashley segment
The segment was fine, although with the way Lashley has been booked as Champion thus far the "tactical retreat" didn't really work for me,
*SPOILER ALERT*



With Roode winning the strap in a few weeks, I'd of thought they'd of been more creative with the build to it, rather than just having "One More Match", considering both King and MVP can work in the ring I'd of had him in a gauntlet/handicap match which if he'd won he'd of gotten Lashley. Although with the "tactical retreat" it could still happen. Reminder, I haven't read the Week by week spoilers for these episodes so I genuinely don't know.

*ITS SAFE TO COME BACK*

Gail Kim v Havok
Havok needs more flattering attire, just because her "package" looked like slipping out at any moment, chiefly in the Figure Four around the Ringpost where it definitely looked like something came out.

The match itself was very good, and once again proved why "Knockouts" are better than "Divas". It comes right down to the philosophy of the respective divisions, We'll never in our lifetime see a Divas match Main Event a RAW, ever again. I know we've had a few promo segments, but those can be glossed over- and padded out with outsiders who are good on the mic such as Stephanie and HHH.

The WWE would never allow two of its workers a lengthy time frame in order to deliver a match, which they could undoubtedly do- you only have to look at the NXT "PPV" matches with Emma, Paige, Charlotte and Natalya along with the match A.J. and Kaitlyn had to show they can get the job done in the ring. So it comes down to philosophy;

I think its Kevin Dunn who has the "mans world" mentality of Women being out of place in "Wrasslin", and it'll take a seismic shift in personnel at the top for the Women to be respected in WWE.

In TNA the women are treated equally to the men, and its one of the reasons TNA was initially successful because they highlighted areas which WWE neglected such as the X Division- and the women. Gail Kim is the prime example of a woman who WWE simply didn't respect. Whilst I'm sure they treated her fine, and won't say otherwise- from an in-ring standpoint Kim is as good, if not better than almost everyone who was on RAW last week- but WWE relegated her to stupid segments, and of course she left because of this in that infamous Battle Royal.

Thanks again for reading, feedback is as always appreciated.