Our first match of the night is surprisingly one I've been looking forward to since its announcement last weekend. Drew Galloway goes one on one against Eddie Edwards in a semi-final match of the Impact Grand Championship Tournament! This contest was definitely as physical as you would expect it to be. These two left it all in the ring with every strike, hold and move that was executed in this highly aggressive contest. One move that I was amazed by was that Belly To Belly Suplex. I swear, I have never seen any kind of suplex with that kind of torque, that amount of snap on it. God, it was brutal. Very stiff affair, but one that I certainly enjoyed. Drew obtains the victory by split decision, advancing him to the finals of Bound For Glory in a solid match.
Rating: 4/5
Preceding the match,, Galloway calls out Ethan Carter the 3rd to the ring. The two exchange words in a very intense trading of promos until Drew leaves and EC3 calls out Bobby Lashley. Lashley walks ever slowly down the ramp, allowing "The Miracle" Mike Bennett to attack Ethan from behind and to set him up for a rib-breaking spear. Moose runs to the ring and gets a spear for his troubles. Bennett and Lashley shake hands, signaling some form of an alliance.
Rating: 3/5
After Lashley shoves off The Miracle's advancement of being a friend in the backstage area, Aron Rex faces Eli Drake in another semi-final match of the Grand Championship tournament. This battle was not as exceptional as the first one, but still very solid and well worth watching. If I were to say so myself, Rex was never given the chance to have matches like this one in the WWE and it is a very welcome change to see some great in-ring work out of him that we all know he's capable of. Eli Drake did very well himself, not being afraid of hitting Aron harder than he was hit. Just like the last semi-final contest, I would not be objected to seeing these two oppose one another in a ring once more.
Rating: 3.5/5
To quote Don West, "The rumors are correct!". Cody Rhodes appeared on a promo package, advertising his debut at Bound For Glory. A part of me wishes they would've kept things quiet and had him debut at BFG the same way they debuted Christian Cage at Genesis 2005, that's just a very small nitpick for what was a very good segment hyping Cody.
Rating: 3/5
The saga between the Broken Hardy's and Decay continues, as not only do we see Vanguard 1 and a holographic Senior Benjamin stalk Decay, but an ring promo involving the two opposing teams in this "Great War" concludes with the lights going out and resurfacing with Abyss and Crazy Steve tied to the ropes, forced to watch as Reby Sky assaults Rosemary. The intensity seems to keep building with this feud and we should all expect an epic conclusion in two weeks at Bound For Glory.
Rating: 4/5
DJ Z is in the ring, calling out any X-Division competitors for an open shot at his championship. Trevor Lee accepts, and what we get from it is another solid match between two phenomenal athletes. This division may be lacking star power, but the in-ring combining of the wrestlers' talented and combustible elements has made for strong outings every edition of Impact. Absolutely an enjoyable highlight of the show by far. After the match, Andrew Everett and Trevor Lee attacked DJ Z after the match, but didn't get too far, as Eddie Edwards saved his fallen comrade and requested a title match next week, to wish DJ Z accepted. Looking forward to that match.
Rating: 3.5/5
Here comes the low point of the show. This angle (As I mentioned last week), is the only dragging part of the show every week. The point is to get Allie over as a sympathetic babyface, I get that, but these segments are so annoying, it only makes me think of how unappealing the storyline in general really is. As for the matches themselves, they really served no point except to make Maria Kanellis look even more grudging and obnoxious than she even needs to be. I appreciated the little nod to WCW in 2000 with Gail Kim coming out in a weird ninja outfit and predictably unmasking herself, but other than that, did not find the story any more enjoyable than I did last week.
Rating: 2/5
The main event of the show is EC3 and Moose vs Mike Bennett. It was not the best match of the night by any stretch of the imagination, but it was still very good and found myself enjoying it for what it's supposed to be. Usual spots you see in matches from all four men and some great tag team psychology, but nothing too spectacular. After the main event, all four men brawled in and around the ring until security and the entire roster broke it up. Billy Corgan makes his only appearance of the night and announces a Lethal Lockdown match for next week on Impact, the last Impact (maybe ever) before Bound For Glory.
Rating: 3.5/5
Although the main event was nothing too special and the Maria segments seem to get more irritating and trying to watch every week, the show overall was very watchable and engaging, with a lot of intriguing in-ring action. 2016 has really been the comeback year creatively for TNA and I can only hope that I can say two weeks from now that I'm still watching Impact Wrestling on Pop every Thursday night.
Full Show Rating: 4/5
That depressingly ends this enthralling review. I am the Local Hero, The Review Guy, Cameron Mcdonley and this is my sign off for today. So long everybody!
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