This week’s Impact was one of the best I’ve seen in a while. There were several elements to the show which really made it stick out as a fantastic show.
There is probably nowhere more fitting to start with this week’s episode than with Matt Hardy and his broken brilliance. Hardy has had a fantastic ability to knock everything out of the park this year and he certainly isn’t slowing down. I’ve really enjoyed the “un-broken” Matt Hardy for the past few weeks and they’ve timed it perfectly in having Matt become broken again. It was really one of those moments that felt really cool and I’m now really excited to see Matt come back to help Jeff in his battle with the DCC. Speaking of the DCC, their entrance is becoming one of my favourites. While at first the group seemed like an odd mix, I’m enjoying the group of Storm, Bram and Kingston. I’m still not all too sure of their masks and suits, so maybe eventually that is something that will be phased out but I’m certainly happy to see Kingston in TNA, plus Storm and Bram remaining there, I’m sure they will all have important roles to play in the next year in Impact Wrestling.
I’m very excited to see Rosemary and Jade face off inside the steel cage. Both are talents that I’ve really enjoyed to watch this year and the addition of the steel cage is very interesting. Rosemary’s promo package in the cage this week was nothing short of fantastic. She plays her character so amazingly well and it’s both her words and just simply the way she moves that makes you pay attention to her. Obviously this match has been pre-taped and I’ve heard it was a fantastic bout, so even more so reason to be excited. Both ladies seem to fit into this match perfectly; they have styles that could really make this match exciting.
Due to his loss to EC3, Eli Drake will now not be able to speak at all for the rest of the year. This is obviously an interesting concept. There really isn’t that many episodes of Impact still to come, so it won’t be overplayed but just like the “un-broken Matt Hardy” a short period of it can help. Eli Drake is a talented guy, so I can see him making this really entertaining. Then when 2017 rolls around, it will be special when Drake gets to speak again. He and Ethan had a really nice match and I’m excited to see how both progress from here – I imagine the rest of Eli’s year will involve some interesting facial expressions and body language.
It finally happened, Allie finally stood up for herself. Granted, I’m sure there is still probably some type of forced apology to Maria to come before eventually turning on her employer once and for all. Allie has done a fantastic job at getting the fans on her side as she has been bullied by Maria for what seems like months now. The fans were so excited to see Allie stand up for herself and that’s great, because too many times have I seen storylines like this look like they’re supposed to be getting one reaction but actually getting another that is far less impactful. I’m really excited for the knockouts division next year as you can see a really solid division coming together. Of course the division has generally always been solid, but this incarnation is very young and fresh. Allie, Rosemary, Jade, Marti Bell, Laurel Van Ness and the in my opinion underappreciated Sienna. It will be interesting to see what TNA do this year.
Next week should be a really exciting one – in fact all Impact episodes until the end of the year should be fantastic, apart from the inevitable clip shows right at the end of the year.
