11/12 Impact: Lashley is terrific

Josh Boutwell reviews TNA Impact Wrestling for 11/12/14

The Final Impact
November 13, 2014
By: Josh Boutwell of Wrestleview.com

First off, the reason I have been MIA the past few weeks has been a combination of being in the middle of moving and new hours on Wednesday nights at my day job. This will likely be the new way things will go from now on, as long as TNA is on the air at least, where I post the review the following morning but will still get the Impact recap up as soon as humanly possible. Now on to the show!

Bobby Lashley was absolutely terrific last night, and I love the story they are telling with him. First, he’s pissed at his boy MVP and he is pissed at Kurt Angle and the new World Champion too. The thing is that you can see why he is and should be pissed off. His boy jumped ahead of him for a title shot and he wants his rematch but Angle is blocking it for the time being. So Lashley decides to go after Roode’s best friend, EY, and taunt Roode in the process. The way he was screaming Roode’s name while he had EY in the Crossface was just fantastic. Then he sends a message by saying he couldn’t care less about being Aries, the match really didn’t mean anything, so he took the chance to commence another beatdown while taunting Roode with the Crossface in the process. Lashley is FINALLY showing the intensity that a guy with his size and talent has needed to do since he started in the wrestling business. He is on the top of his game and I think this feud with Roode could really turn out to be one of the better feuds in the last few years. The in ring product between the two has been fantastic and now they are actually giving these two a story to sink their teeth into. Roode can carry the mic work while Lashley just needs to be a badass.

How is it possible that both WWE and TNA have missed the damn boat on Brodus Clay/Tyrus? Granted TNA still has time to right the ship but the fact that they have had him take pinfalls ALREADY, let alone losing to EY in like 5 minutes, blows my mind. First he gets saddled with a comedy gimmick in WWE and treated like a glorified jobber and now he actually gets to be the “monster” character he wanted to be before but he is still a glorified jobber. This guy is immensely talented and he stands out from the rest of the TNA roster. USE HIM!

James Storm’s stable continues to grow in freaks and Abyss fits this group perfectly. Storm has that James Mitchell cult leader like persona going on right now and Abyss’ best days were under Mitchell when Mitchell spoke for him while Abyss was just a faceless monster. Abyss has been lost in terms of direction in TNA for years now, this can give him some direction that he needs and they can even use that in the storyline. The fact that TNA remembered the Feast or Fired briefcase that Storm never used was annoying and smart at the same time. I have no idea who came up with that idea but they walked into that one. There is no way TNA has been waiting to use that thing this whole time, but when we always complain as wrestling fans about plot holes and loose ends never being tied up I guess you can’t complain too much.

I hate to see Joe relinquish the title especially considering he is healthy again now, but it is going to give him a feud right off the bat if/when TNA comes back whether on Spike or not. The 4-Way should be very fun to watch as long as they are given time and I think Low-Ki is the obvious person here as he and Joe have been going back and forth for awhile as well as teaming up together.

I like the Brittany and Sam Shaw dynamic as they both play their creepy weirdo gimmicks well, and Brittany is hot as hell obviously. Hopefully they can move to something else and Gunner can move to something else. After his awesome feud with James Storm he has been lost in the shuffle.

The Knockouts action was just okay during the show. I couldn’t care less about these continuous Menagerie/Bro-Mans/Beautiful People matches. Give them something else to do. Terrell and Madison had a decent match but that 3-Way should be good with Terrell, Gail, and Havok.

TNA is in crunch time right now in regards to the TV deal. The majority of events in December are going to be “best of” shows and I think there are only two, maybe three weeks worth of TV left that TNA has taped. PWInsider and a few others have claimed that they have heard TNA already has a deal set and Dixie Carter herself has claimed an announcement will be made “soon,” but I can’t for the life of me figure out why they would be stalling on that announcement? IF you had a TV deal announcing the time, date, and channel as soon as possible would be the smartest thing unless TNA is just going to stay with Spike I guess. I know a lot of people hate TNA and are counting down the hours and hoping that Impact is canceled, but you people (those that feel that way) need to grow up and get a life. Wishing something that gives a lot of people a way to make a living and also is something that a lot of people enjoy watching and following. I hope TNA gets a deal done quick, if they haven’t already, just like I hope GWF gets a deal, just like I hope ROH gets a better deal, and like I hope El Rey gets in a lot more homes.

Segment/Promo of the Night: Samoa Joe relinquishes the X-Division Title
Match of the Night: Aries vs. Lashley (**1/2)
– Overall Grade: C+

Until next week… PEACE!

Follow me on Twitter: @BamaBoyJosh

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