The first LIVE episode of IMPACT in eight years opens with newly minted TNA World Champion Joe Hendry coming out and sending out an open invitation for anyone from anywhere to step up and challenge him for his new title. This immediately brings out Santino Marella – yes, for those who don’t regularly watch TNA, SANTINO MARELLA not only got to keep his name, but he is also the on-air authority figure for TNA – who not only congratulates Hendry on his title win, but also introduces his first challenger for the World title…
Yeah, so it’s Matt Cardona… who is jumping from promotion to promotion getting quick title shots and runs here and there. I mean, the crowd is happy to see him, but I’m just like… is this really what we want to showcase for our first live Impact show? Joe Hendry vs. Edge’s Bitch? And you don’t even get to play the song again? Well, that just kills any enthusiasm that I have for this match.
But yeah, let’s skip ahead to the main event, which saw Joe Hendry retain his title over Matt Cardona, who tried going for a belt shot after a low blow, only for JBL to come out and lariat the fuck out of Cardona, much to the shock of Joe Hendry. I am convinced that there is no rhyme or reason for John Layfield showing up and clothesline from Helling everyone on these shows. I think he does it just to be a dick and the pocket change he gets for the spot is a bonus. Anyway, this was a fine match. Cardona was a good first opponent for Hendry, who was trying some new stuff out. It was a fine showing.
As for the rest of the show, the NXT Tag titles were defended and the Rascalz didn’t win thanks to outside interference from former ally and current NXT guy Wes Lee. PCO is apparently no longer TNA Digital champion after smashing the belt on a GCW show, so former Cardona cohort Steph De Lander introduces her new boyfriend, Mance Warner… okay. Also, Tessa Blanchard cut a promo that was so bland that I almost wrote “Tessa Blandard” before stopping myself. And finally, Mustafa Ali made his return to TNA and announced his intentions to challenge for the World title… while interrupting a Mike Santana promo, so there’s a potential feud happening there. Hey, I’m cool with that. I actually dug Ali’s schtick before he fell off the radar and now that he’s signed with TNA, maybe he does get a bigger push than before. I’m looking forward to this, actually.
Oh and Josh Alexander did cut a promo regarding his “quitting” TNA – noting that he was contractually obligated to appear before being beat up by his old cohorts, who were run off by Eric Young and we’ve got some sort of tag match for the next Impact.
All in all, a perfectly and easily watchable edition of Impact. Another couple weeks worth of taped shows before Impact goes live from Full Sail, the former home of NXT, so that’s potentially going to be a fun show. Good times for TNA, indeed. Let’s hope they can keep the goodwill going.
dtm666 