10 Thoughts on… TNA Impact on Pop TV 05.03.2016 (King of the Mountain, Lashley vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Mike Bennett, Rosemary Unveils Magical Vomit Powers)

10 Thoughts, Reviews, Top Story

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TNA is back with a fresh batch of tapings! How will they fair? Let’s check it out!

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1. Lashley drives up to a gym where he plans to attack Drew Galloway, who is cutting a promo(?) at the gym. I liked this because it was nice to see a location outside the Impact Zone, makes it seem a little less claustrophobic.

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2. Mike Bennett and Maria came out for a promo segment to gloat about defeating EC3 last week on Impact. Jeff Hardy interrupted and called Bennett “my man” a BUNCH of times. Not a great Jeff promo. This lead seamlessly into a match.

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3. Jeff Hardy vs. Mike Bennett. They went right into a match and the action was pretty fast paced. After a commercial break, Bobby Lashley came down to break up the match and beat everyone up. He called out Dixie Carter to give him a title match, but instead she makes a mulitple person main event for a shot at Drew Galloway. And she announces Drew as the special ref for tonight!

4. Decay cut a promo backstage where Rosemary talks about winning the tag belts and an upcoming transformation. Then Rosemary apparently vomits on Crazzy Steve and he kinda freaks out. Gross. Then she has Abyss take off his mask and she vomits the yellow stuff on him too. Yuck. Not sure I’m into Decay.

5. Then Decay comes to the ring for a promo segment. First Rosemary reveals that Crazzy Steve is silent no longer, and he cut a short promo. Then she showed Abyss’s face without a mask, which is painted like Crazzy Steve’s. James Storm comes out and calls out Abyss for a singles match. THE REVOLUTION EXPLODES AGAIN.

6. James Storm vs. Abyss was not my favorite but not too bad either. I really wish Storm would have gone to NXT because he just is so wasted in TNA without Roode.

7. Jeff and Matt Hardy both cut backstage promos during the show. Matt is doubling down on his heel persona despite getting destroyed by Jeff, and he vowed revenge. Less Matt but still too much Hardys.

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8. Maria comes to the ring solo and cuts a promo about the Knockouts Division. She calls out Jade and demands she lay down so Maria can pin her and become champ. Jade refuses, and Maria calls out a new KO – Sienna! Jade gets laid out by Sienna and Maria gloats. Cool debut for Sienna.

9. Despite the King of the Mountain match being defended last week in a singles match, it’s back this week to a true KOTM match, involved the champion Bram, plus Eddie Edwards, Andrew Everett, Eli Drake and Jesse G. These matches are always a bit of a mess. Bram retains. Eli Drake then goes to cash in his KOTM briefcase, but bails before it’s official.

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10. The main event was a three way dance between Jeff Hardy, Lashley and Mike Bennett for a title shot. Drew was the special ref and he was involved throughout trying to prove he was a fair ref. Match was pretty crazy with some big spots. Finish saw Lashley with a sick spear on Jeff on the floor, Lashley running up the steps and spearing Jeff onto the ropes/corner from the outside. Lashley is #1 contender. He brawls with Galloway to end the show.

Overall a solid show. Less Al Snow and Gregory Helms is a plus but the lack of X Division, and overall lack of great in ring match this week were negatives. Also I could do without magical vomit powers. I enjoy how the 2016 Impact shows flow with promos and matches going into one another.

Jonathan Widro is the owner and founder of Inside Pulse. Over a decade ago he burst onto the scene with a pro-WCW reporting style that earned him the nickname WCWidro. Check him out on Twitter for mostly inane non sequiturs