The Final Impact
November 20, 2014
By: Josh Boutwell of Wrestleview.com
Wouldn’t you know it that the final Impact on Spike TV and we have a storm that knocks out the power last night so I miss it. Thankfully, well maybe some of you say not thankfully, I was able to catch it on online this morning. I have been covering Impact here on Wrestleview since 2008. I believe my first week was the week the Main Event Mafia was born. I’ve had the pleasure of recapping and reviewing some incredible moments and matches over that time, and I’ve been tortured at times with some of the most awful Russo-rrific moments. If you had to get me to boil it down to just a couple of matches that were my favorite in that time I would have to say it would be between a few matches. The first would be Beer Money and the Motor City Machine Guns in a 2/3 Falls Match back at the “Whole F’N Show” in 2010, AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle from January 2010, AJ vs. Roode from 2012, and the recent series between The Wolves, Hardyz, & Team 3D (can’t pick just one of those matches). I would say the greatest moment for me was the formation of the Main Event Mafia, that was just such a cool moment and also AJ Styles’ return as the “lone wolf” character in 2013 was pretty awesome while not long lasting.
The Spike TV era is now over for TNA. What does the Destination America era have in store? Well, we will have to wait and find out and the big problem here is I do not get Destination America currently on my satellite provider. The hope is that regardless of what happens is that I will still be able to cover Impact in the new year regardless of the situation and hopefully TNA will have a solution for this dilemma for those of that do not get that network. Stay tuned on Twitter, if you care, because we will definitely have it figured out before Impact debuts in 2015. Now, let’s get to the finale.
The opening sequence was just simply to continue the Roode and Lashley feud with Lashley continuing to look like an animal.
I absolutely loved the Knockouts Match, it was by far the best match Havok has had so far in TNA and easily the best Knockouts match since the Terrell-Gail series last year. I think it was a cool moment to see Terrell finally get the title but honestly I think if they had her chase for it continue and then pull it off at a PPV down the line it would have meant more. I really want Gail-Havok to continue as a feud but this could actually end up as a neat 3-Way feud. Havok losing her title so soon isn’t something I was very fond of but she has an out because she didn’t get pinned and still looked very strong against two of the top Knockouts in TNA.
This Chris Melendez/Anderson/MVP/King angle does nothing for me, and as good as a story Melendez signing with TNA is it just feels like he was signed for the publicity and nothing more. Maybe he will blossom when given an opportunity to do something other than just be a war vet on TV (no disrespect intended).
Bram and Dreamer had a fun garbage style match but I have grown beyond tired of all of these hardcore matches with him. He is a great character and his intensity is awesome. I just wish they would focus on he and Magnus as a team and let them grow there than do this tired King of Hardcore stuff.
It frustrates me to no end that a random hardcore match can get damn near 15 minutes but a 4-Way for the vacant X-Division Title gets barely five. They had an exciting match while it lasted but those four could put on such an awesome match given more time. I don’t think anyone ever thought any of the other guys in the match had a chance other than Low-Ki, it was pretty obvious. Hopefully the X-Division will get SUSTAINED focus in the new year on a new network. The X-Division is what made TNA stand out to begin with when the rest of the roster was pretty much nothing but WWE and WCW cast offs the X-Division put TNA on the map. It’s time to put more sustained focus back on what brought TNA to the dance.
The angle between Kurt and MVP was cool and I have to admit that a feud between a healthy MVP and a healthy Kurt Angle sounds like a pretty fun feud for next year to start out with and I’m looking forward to along with Lashley and Roode continuing their fantastic run together.
The final Impact on Spike was a pretty solid show but it wasn’t the slam dunk awesome finale that I hoped it would be. Granted TNA wasn’t sure this was going to be the last show on Spike when they taped but it was still a mild disappointment, but the biggest disappointment was that there was zero mention whatsoever of the new TV deal. I understand that it is probably because Spike didn’t want them to mention another network but at least directing fans to the TNA website for “huge news on the future of Impact on TV” could have been done you would think. Also, Spike may allow them to advertise the move on the “best of” shows that start in December but there will only be a fraction of the audience that watched last night watching those shows.
Anyway, that’s it for 2014 and the Spike TV era, see everyone in 2015!
– Segment/Promo of the Night: Angle/MVP
– Match of the Night: Havok vs. Terrell vs. Gail (****)
– Overall Grade: B
Until next time… PEACE!
Follow me on Twitter: @BamaBoyJosh