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Impact Wrestling - January 16, 2015

Impact Wrestling
Date: January 16, 2015
Location: Manhattan Center, New York City, New York
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Taz

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

This is the debut on Fridays which will be their regular night. The big story coming out of last week is Lashley taking the World Title back from Bobby Roode and what appeared to be the formation of another heel stable as Eric Young turned on Roode and seemed to join forces with MVP, Kenny King, Samoa Joe and Low Ki. Let's get to it.


We open with a recap of last week's four title matches with Aries and Lashley winning the X-Division and World Titles respectfully.

Josh is in the control room and says we're going to see this show in a way we've never seen before. It's going to be more interactive and behind the scenes than ever before. Taz thinks the idea sounds cool. The two of them will be in various locations throughout the night.

Roode says nothing is more important than the title and Eric Young cost him the belt last week. He doesn't know why, but he wants Eric Young one on one tonight. They kept this simple and Roode sold the intensity very well.

Here are MVP, Joe, Low Ki, King and a woman I don't recognize. Taz and Josh are in a booth and are shown on a split screen. MVP says you can't keep a good man down and after a quick lane changes, he's right back in the driver's seat. He's always known it was him against the world since the day he started wrestling. He knew he had to surround himself with people he knew, so he went to the family. These men traveled the roads with him 500 miles a day for a hot dog and a handshake. They are known as the Beat Down Clan and they're “nobody to F....mess with.”

MVP introduces Young but emphasizes that he is not part of the BDC. The fans tell Eric that he sold out, but he's all serious and says that doesn't matter. Young, with a haircut, says MVP did something for his family that made Eric change his opinion. Eric had a brother once. He took care of Roode and even gave him one of the first title shots. Where was his title shot when Roode won the belt? Maybe Roode was afraid of losing again, because Young is a world class man and friend. When Young was laid up, he only got a text message from Roode, but MVP called him up and told him the truth.

MVP says he planted a seed in Young and it grew to a sequoia. Now it's time for the World Champ, but Lashley doesn't come out to his music. MVP introduces him again but gets Kurt Angle in wrestling gear, sporting a big knee brace. He says Young is going to pay for his sins tonight when Roode gets his hands on him. Angle promises to make every one of them tap. Joe gets out of the ring and gets right in Kurt's face but gets a punch to the jaw. The entire BDC gets in his face but security breaks it up. Angle wants Joe right now and apparently that's good enough.

Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe

This is joined in progress after a break with Joe working on the knee and slapping on a leg bar. He switches it up to something like a figure four as we go split screen to see a producer trying to find Lashley but there's no one in his dressing room. Angle escapes the hold and starts rolling the Germans. Joe shrugs it off and hits the corner enziguri, only to have the Clutch countered into the ankle lock. That's quickly escaped as well but the Angle Slam (what knee injury?) gets two. There's the ankle lock again but this time the roll through takes out the referee. A low blow sets up the Clutch and Angle taps at 6:15 shown.

Rating: C-. It really amazes me how fast TNA can go from establishing a new hero (well as new as Angle can be) to having him lose in the middle of the ring. No it wasn't clean, but couldn't they have made this wait a bit longer? TNA seems terrified of the idea of building up a hero and this felt like even more of the same for yet another heel stable.

The BDC comes in to beat down Angle but Roode makes the save with a chair.

Back from a break with Roode sitting in the ring in the chair. He says this has already gone too far, which the fans agree with due to their ROODE GOT SCREWED chant. He's been here a long time and this ring is his home. Roode may live for wrestling, but tonight in New York City, this is about payback. Another short but intense promo from Roode.

Taz and Matthews are in the booth again to talk about Impact: Unlocked tomorrow morning about 10am. This is a behind the scenes look at TNA, including power rankings and special features like this. We see an interview with Magnus, talking about doing this to provide for his family. His son looks up at him and he wants to make him proud. Another clip says he'd be fine with being a free agent in a market like this.

We look at JB getting his hair shaved last week.

Spud apologizes to JB but Borash isn't really upset. He knows Carter will get what's coming to him one day.

The Revolution is in a balcony to watch the next match.

Hardys vs. Wolves

Winners get a title shot against the Revolution. Matt and Eddie get things going with the Hardys quickly taking over, allowing for a tag to Jeff (big reaction). A nice headscissors takes Davey down and a double belly to back suplex gets two. The Hardys hit clotheslines from either side but everything breaks down and the Wolves send both Hardys into opposite corners with Matt getting tied in the Tree of Woe.

A drop toehold from Eddie sets up an elbow to the back from Davey for two. Davey fires off the kicks in the corner but misses the top rope stomp, allowing Matt to hit the Side Effect. It's off to Jeff vs. Eddie as everything breaks down again. The Wolves throw Matt to the floor but he DDTs both guys down. Jeff is next to a different corner so he walks across the top rope (think Old School or Elix Skipper's cage walk) to get to the other corner and dive on everyone else.

Back in and the Swanton hits Eddie's knees and ReDRagon's Chasing the Dragon (with a Falcon's Arrow instead of a brainbuster) gets two on Jeff. The Hardys make a blind tag and Eddie takes another Side Effect. Jeff gets crotched on top and Eddie hits a Twist of Fate for two but Jeff Swantons in for the save. Poetry in Motion hits Eddie and the Twisting Stunner sets up an elevated Twisting Stunner for the pin at 10:00.

Rating: B. This was really entertaining and good if you don't mind your tag match having almost no tagging. It got a lot better near the end but I could go for other teams besides the Hardys getting title shots. I can live with it though as long as it doesn't lead to Jeff vs. Matt again.

Next week is Feast or Fired and Bram says he's going to feast.

Eric Young is worried about Roode coming for revenge.

Ethan Carter III and Tyrus take over the production booth. Carter: “Ground control to major bald please.” They want the cameras on Jeremy Borash and we see his mostly bald head. Carter knows JB thinks he's Heisenberg and tough now, so how about they have a match next week. JB has thirty minutes to decide.

Lashley has arrived.

Bobby Roode vs. Eric Young

No DQ and it's a brawl in the aisle to start. Taz sums up the feud in simple terms: “The guy in the green screwed over the guy in the black and the guy in the black is ticked.” Back from a break with the fight in the crowd and a split screen showing Lashley going into his dressing room with no comment. Young takes it back to ringside and stomps on Roode's head before chopping him against the barricade. Eric Young just looking all stoic doesn't make me care about him TNA.

More forearms stop Roode's comeback attempt, because Heaven forbid a good guy gets the crowd going. Two chairs are brought in and Young puts one in the corner. Back in and Roode fires off some right hands before nailing a nice spinebuster. The Roode Bomb onto a chair is countered and Young sends him head first into the corner chair. A piledriver onto the chair is enough to pin Roode at 10:11.

Rating: C. I could barely see a good chunk of the match but more importantly, TNA WILL YOU FREAKING LET A HERO LAST MORE THAN A FEW WEEKS??? Stop turning everything over to the heels over and over and over and over and over. It's been nearly thirteen years of this same stuff and it's gotten them onto the same network as Bathroom Kings (yes that's really a show). Is a hero that doesn't have to job to Eric Young so much to ask for?

MVP comes out and says maybe someone will visit Roode in the hospital.

Aries says it's a battle to keep his X-Division Title tonight. If you back him into a corner, he's going to get really dangerous.

We recap last week's battle royal with Awesome Kong returning for the showdown with Havok. Again, Havok winning like five matches doesn't make her Kong's equal.

Brooke is mad about what Robbie said after how he performed on the Amazing Race.

Brooke Adams/Taryn Terrell vs. Beautiful People

All three BroMans are at ringside. DJZ takes a quick picture and we instantly see it on screen. He's no Tyler Breeze. Adams hammers away on Angelina to start before taking Velvet down by the arm. Terrell comes in for a suplex and the Beautiful People are “dropkicked” to the outside, setting up Taryn's bit dive to take out everyone on the floor. Back in and a middle rope clothesline drops Velvet, but Robbie gets on the apron to distract Brooke, letting Velvet grab a rollup with a handful of trunks for the pin at 2:30.

Post match Kong appears to destroys the Beautiful People and DJZ. Havok comes out for the showdown but security breaks it up.

JB turns down Carter's challenge but Carter says JB is TNA. He should take the challenge because no one respect him. JB snaps and says he'll fight Ethan next week.

Taz and Josh are going to preview something for next week. I'm not sure about this studio thing as it makes me feel like I'm watching a recap show. It's not bad but it's going to take some getting used to.

Manik tells a camera to follow him. They go to see James Storm, who tells Manik to leave them. Storm says it's time for the world to be introduced to his newest disciple: Koya (formerly Mahabali Shera). Koya means lost in Hindi, but now Koya has been found. Next week, the world will see what he is capable of. The guy looks good if nothing else.

Video on Feast or Fired. It's something like Money in the Bank with four briefcases, one for a shot at every title (other than the Knockouts) and one with a pink slip.

X-Division Title: Low Ki vs. Austin Aries

The BDC is at ringside. Aries took the title from Low Ki last week. The champ starts fast by backdropping Low Ki over the top but Ki's feet get caught in the ropes to make the crash even worse. Back in and Aries gets two off the Pendulum Elbow and the Last Chancery sends Ki running for the ropes. Low Ki bails to the floor for a breather and meeting with the BDC. Why not just have them interfere now to give Ki the title? You know it's coming because they're a heel stable and therefore they have to win titles.

The advice works as Aries' suplex is countered with Low Ki dropping him over the ropes. A big chop gets two but also ticks Aries off, causing him to fire off even harder chops of his own. The discus forearm sets up the running corner dropkick, but Ki knees out of the brainbuster. Austin crushes the knee and hooks the Last Chancery, only to have the BDC get on the apron. The referee misses Ki tapping out and the BDC gets on the apron, with MVP crotching Aries. Ki gets up and Ki Crushes his way to the title at 6:48.

Rating: C+. Why would you want to be a face in this company? You might get to hold a title for a few weeks, but at the end of the day, this company is about heels ruling everything around and long stories with them on top instead of letting anyone stand up as a hero. Also, well done on throwing titles around again. That's always a good idea.

The BDC is still in the ring (of course) and call out Lashley. The champ comes out this time and MVP takes credit for everything Lashley has done. He makes the mistake of saying the title belongs to the BDC but Lashley isn't cool with that. MVP says Lashley owes the team some thanks but Lashley turns to walk away.

MVP goes to stop him but Lashley tells Hassan (MVP's real first name) to let him go. That's ok with MVP, who brings up their time together in WWE. He wants one hug for the road though, which Lashley reluctantly gives. MVP kisses him on the cheek and the beatdown is on. Lashley gets hit in the face with the belt and MVP leaves with the title.

Overall Rating: C-. I'm getting really, really sick of heel stables, especially when you can almost guarantee they'll be in power by March. This is all TNA does and it's almost all they've done since they debuted. I'm tired of being told to wait and see where it goes, because it ALWAYS GOES THE EXACT SAME WAY.

Look what we had here: one story dominating about 80% of this show, the heels completely dominating the entire show, and most of the heroes getting beaten down. This is after Dixie's reign of terror, which came after the Aces and 8's, which came after Immoral. It just never ends and TNA makes it harder and harder to want to stick with them every single week.

Results
Samoa Joe b. Kurt Angle – Koquina Clutch
Hardys b. Wolves – Elevated Twisting Stunner to Edwards
Eric Young b. Bobby Roode – Piledriver onto a chair
Beautiful People b. Brooke Adams/Taryn Terrell – Rollup with a handful of trunks
Low Ki b. Austin Aries – Ki Crusher


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Comments

  1. "This is after Dixie's reign of terror, which came after the Aces and 8's, which came after Immortal"....which came after the Main Event Mafia, which came after the Angle Alliance, which came after the Christian Coalition, which came after Planet Jarrett, which came after Sports Entertainment Xtreme.

    Come of think of it, the first six months of TNA's existence might be the only period in history when TNA didn't have any dominant heel stables (The New Church lost all the time, so they don't count. They were nothing more than a jobber stable with awesome entrance music).

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  2. I thought this Impact was a good improvement. Good matches. I get your point with the heel stables, but they had to define some characters for the new audience. If BDC remains wrestlers like this, and most importantly keep Dixie away, I'm fine with it.

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  3. Who did Eric Young blow to always have a major storyline in this organization?

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  4. I'll have far less of a problem with them if they don't get any kind of authority. That's where TNA can't control themselves.

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  5. I liked the show. Angle and Lashley are both one win away from getting their heat back, and I don't give a fuck about the X Division as currently constructed anyway.

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  6. I like heel stables, but I prefer the Four Horseman style. Guys that are allies or even friends trying to help each other win matches and get titles and settle their feuds than weird hierarchical organizations interested in nebulous goals.


    But it also makes sense that there would be multiple stables all competing with each other. I like this because it adds a level of complexity in the possible relationships, you can have wrestlers feuding with wrestlers, stables feuding with stables, stablemates feuding with stablemates, wrestlers feuding with entire stables and vice versa. It allows you to make day to day matches that make some sense and the idea the wrestlers would make friends and want somebody to back them up makes sense and positions wrestlers as human beings.


    It also would make anybody who isn't part of a stable feel more special. The monster heel or monster face shows up and declares he doesn't need anybody's help and it's different and it gets them over.

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  7. Remember when Samoa Joe vs Kurt Angle was a big deal?

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  8. Tuned in for the entrance of The Revolution. The lighting makes it look like there are 16 people in attendance...

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  9. Yes....LOOKS like....

    *darts eyes around furtively*

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  10. (Actually, based on this recap...I must be watching a re-run of LAST week's Impact. Not sure it matters...)

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  11. 16 might be high.....

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  12. Gosh ... that might work.

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  13. Stayed up and watched this week's show after the re-run. The lighting on the crowd was the same...

    ...also noticed that the footage pimping what happens on next week's show...is FROM next week's show. Guess we're not bothering to hide that all this shit has been taped and is in the can.

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  14. Jarrett, Russo, Dixie, Hogan, Bischoff, Pritchard, Gaburick, in that order.

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  15. Your forgetting the Kings of Wrestling, Global Elite, and The Band.

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  16. Thanks for the correction. I was going to include the New Church but then realized that they lost nearly every match and thus they were nothing more than a jobber stable with great entrance music.

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  17. The problem with TNA is that monster Face hardly ever appears. Most times these groups implode leaving the good guys who fought them looking like failures. MEM insulted the TNA originals beat them every week before Sting turned on Angle. Bully basically fired the majority of the Aces and 8's so rather than having a satisfying end to his reign he weakened himself before he lost his main heel position.

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  18. Well you included Aces and 8's. I thought of mentioning Team Canada but Scott D'Amore actually got heat then they put faces over with it.

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  19. The problem here is that when the monster face wins, where do you go? If it's someone like Goldberg they suck on the mic and them squashing people can't last. If it's someone like Bryan, the money is in the chase and it's all downhill when you realise he's beat the only four credible challengers cleanly already. If it's Sting, see Goldberg - Sting was great in the rafters, but in-ring/on the mic he didn't change his style at all.

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  20. "Revolution" "Beat Down Clan" are they just taking names from some Teenagers WWE2K15 team list?

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  21. That's why you build up challengers on the side, as long as your face sells and isn't Cena invincible, people will root for the guy.

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  22. I cannot stress enough how awful the show appears with that pitch black crowd.

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  23. Hey, Bully Ray lost to Chris Sabin. He was the hero TNA had been building up for over a year, right?

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