Another week of Impact Wrestling is in the books. This week, we saw the finals of the bound for glory playoffs, a king of the mountain title match and the conclusion, to the story of Rosemary. TNA has continued to produce above average show week to week. Possibly that is because we had such a bad run of Impact’s, for so long, but that improvement this year has been clear. This episode of Impact was one of the better of this year. There have been some really good shows this year, so being one of the better ones, speaks volumes of this show. Truthfully, some of the filler in this show wasn’t at the same level, as the rest of the show. The Tribunal Vs Grado and Shera was a standard match, the knockouts match had a nice finish, wasn’t anything out of the ordinary though. However, we saw two really top matches this week, plus some good storyline continuity.
I said a few weeks ago, I was hoping for bigger things for James Storm. Not only has something bigger happened, but Storm has proven his incredible ability these past few weeks. On the microphone, as a strong character and in the ring. The Lashley Vs Storm match has the potential to be fantastic. I predict a short title reign for Storm, with the King of the Mountain title. Nonetheless, Storm could be world champion tomorrow, he has the ability. Right now the priority is Lashley, and that is fine. While not the biggest fan of the storyline of Lashley winning all the titles, I am a big fan of Lashley. So I’ll still watch it, and be entertained by it. I do hope that after next week, Storm can continue to be a focused on part of Impact. As much as there are plenty of stars to shift focus onto on Impact, not having Storm on Impact, on a regular basis, is simply a missed opportunity.
While the match wasn’t really much of a focus, seeing Chuck Taylor on Impact certainly was a nice surprise. I could get used to having him on my TV every week. The more important part of the match was Matt Hardy’s antics before, during and after the match. Matt’s banning of Jeff using top rope moves – which Jeff disobeyed – was a good angle. Matt is trying to strip back everything that makes Jeff Hardy who he is. Matt biting the fan at ringside – while logically making no sense, because let’s be honest, TNA doesn’t need a lawsuit – was thoroughly entertaining. Matt plays the unhinged character perfectly – he isn’t the only one, more on that in the next paragraph – I’m just unsure as to how, he and Jeff, can top the final deletion match, when they finally have a blow off match.
Rosemary and Decay are also fantastic at playing unhinged characters. I was worried that as this Bram storyline progressed, we would see Decay come to a, far too early, end. However, you can imagine my relief as Crazy Steve’s face appeared behind Bram. Truthfully, I have not got a clue where this is going. I’d assume Bram will find himself as tag team partner, one who will help him challenge Decay for the tag titles. The question is, who? While Decay are lunatics, it’s made clear that they are obviously deranged creeps. It isn’t a fantasy world, Bram plays the part of the viewer, and he provides a real world view. He clearly also thinks Decay are crazy, and that they are talking complete nonsense, most of the time. Personally I’d be ecstatic to see Bram’s partner turn out to be Jimmy Havoc. Havoc made an appearance in TNA during the UK tour. He was in some way linked to Decay and Rosemary, claiming to be an old friend of Rosemary’s. This hope probably won’t become reality; I don’t think Havoc is supposed to be back from his knee injury by Bound for glory. I can dream though.
Finally, we had the finals of the bound for glory playoffs. I really enjoyed the match between Mike Bennett and EC3, at Slammiversay. So I was expecting another excellent match here. Carter came out the victor once again here, taking what was essentially the rubber match between the two. They were at one a piece. EC3 is the right choice to win here; he needs one more match to complete his road to redemption. Ethan has beaten almost everyone there is to beat to find redemption; he now just needs his world title back. Unless James Storm comes out victorious next week, Lashley will be the man EC3 needs to go through. After how the storylines have progressed over the last few weeks, an assumption can be made Ethan will probably defend his shot, Vs Galloway. They are due a match against each other. That is another match to look forward to on Impact. If the stars line up properly, Lashley and EC3 will be a fantastic match to main event TNA’s biggest event of the year.
So the only thing advertised for Impact next week is the James Storm Vs Lashley match. Title Vs two titles. That is all I need to know I want to tune in next week. As I’ve said, Impact provides a good and much of the time, great, show week to week. I mentioned in my article earlier this week, how we have got a lot of great wrestling on offer right now. Impact is one product which is a part of this group of fantastic shows week to week. If you aren’t watching Impact every week, next week is a good time to start.
