January 5th has come and gone. TNA has finally debuted on their new home, POP TV, Live at the Event Center in Sands Bethlehem. It was a very solid show to kick off 2016 on their new network. We had the semi-finals and the finals of the World Title Series. A King of the Mountain title open-challenge. The debut of a new wrestler, and a surprise or two also thrown in there. Since I was there Live, I will be able to talk about things from that perspective. I know what happens live vs what translates on TV can be polar opposites so everyone will get the live perspective.
Opening Segment/Lashley vs EC3 Semi-Finals Match
Dixie Carter opened up the show thanking the fans and talking up POP TV and the World Title Series. There was a loud “Thank You Dixie” chant. EC3 interrupted her and Matt Hardy came out. Eric Young came out. Lashley came out and a brawl ensued. Hardy accidentally hit Lashley when coming off the ropes and EY nailed Hardy with a vicious chair shot, putting Hardy’s involvement in his semi-final match later in the night, in question. This led to the match with EC3 and Lashley. Good, hard-fought match by both guys. Lashley is over. EC3 gets the mixed crowd reaction. Lots of Tyrus interference. In the end, EC3 did get the clean win with a roll up.
Angle segment w/ Drew Galloway, Jesse Godderz & Eli Drake
Angle comes out to a huge crowd reaction. The crowd appreciated Kurt with lots of chants including “Thank You Angle” and “One More Match”. He gave a shout out to the many great wrestlers he’s faced over the years, like The Rock, Austin, HHH, Undertaker, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe. Curious he didn’t mention Sting but oh well. He then hand picked Drew Galloway as his next opponent in the main event next week. Drew came out and they did the usual respect thing. They were interrupted by Jesse and then by Eli Drake. A brawl ensued and Kurt & Drew ran them off. It served its purpose in getting the crowd behind Angle and Drew and drawing heat to Jesse, who was oddly cheered by a good portion of the live crowd, and Eli who got no reaction except from me.
Eric Young vs Matt Hardy
EY cut his usual crazy man promo and tried getting the ref to count Hardy out for the cheap path to the finals. Hardy limped out for his match. The action started outside before finally making it into the ring. This was a solid match with good back and forth action. At one point, EY moved the padding from outside the ring which later led to a piledriver on the exposed floor. This brought Jeff Hardy out who EY proceeded to attack. The end saw Matt Hardy catch EY coming off the top rope with a Twist of Fate. Think Orton’s RKO Outta Nowhere, except to a much lesser extent. Live it looked great. Watching it back on DVR later last night, Hardy mis-timed it badly. One of 3 major botches by Matt on the night. I’ll get to the other two later.
Bobby Roode’s King of the Mountain Title Open Challenge
Earlier, Bobby Roode said he’s having an open challenge for anyone from any promotion. Prior to this open-challenge match, someone wearing a hoodie is shown walk away from the camera backstage. No one knew who it was. Bram answered the Open Challenge and botched his year saying 2006 was Bram’s year. Not once, but twice, before correcting himself. The crowd chanted “2006” a few times which was funny. The match was decent. Roode got the win. Then, there were some major mishaps on TNA’s part. EY came out and attacked Roode right after the match. Beer Money’s music started then stopped. Then Roode’s music hit, then cut off. Major production botch that TNA needs to clean up IMMEDIATELY. Bram and EY seemed to like each other. New Team maybe? Anyway, Roode fought back but then got low-blowed. Out of the crowd comes James Storm for the save. He cuts a promo about not liking who we was becoming and was pissed that he was voted Most Disappointing Wrestler on one of Impact’s last DA broadcasts. He got a great reaction and it looks like Beer Money is back. This also turned out to be my one and only correct wrestler that would return from my Free Agents article from last week.
Beautiful People vs The Doll House
TNA Knockouts offer the best women’s wrestling around, IMO. So everyone can understand why I’m very disappointed in this match. Live, Gail Kim is blistering fast in the ring. She’s great to watch. About a minute in, there was a “This Is Awesome” chant because of the outfits the ladies were wearing and the wonderful views we got. Not for the match itself. Gail got the win. Doll House jumped them afterwards. This brought out Awesome Kong who got a great reaction when she came out, but her heel turn got zero reaction, like the crowd was underwhelmed with the idea. Anyway, it looks like Awesome Kong is a hired gun for The Doll House now and in very unusual fashion, the Knockouts turned out to be the lowest point fo the night. That’s disappointing and I hope TNA fixes that.
The Miracle Happens
I think it was obvious to anyone with a brain that Mike Bennett was going to be The Miracle. I don’t know him as it’s well-known I’m not a fan of ROH and don’t follow it. He got a half reaction because some of the live crowd knew him. I was very happy that they didn’t go with some cheesy BO-lieve angle with him. Instead, he came out as a pretty good heel character that is the “Pro Wrestling Jesus”. I hope he earns his way to the top, and isn’t immediately pushed there. I want to see this character grow and really establish himself as one of the top heels in the business, much like EC3 did. Good promo. He can definitely work the mic. I’m interested in seeing where this goes. Good segment overall. Oh, and I like his music.
EC3 vs Matt Hardy – World Title Series Finals
Was this a shocker to anyone that it would come down to this? Before the match, Jeff Hardy challenges Tyrus to walk away with him and let these two battle it out themselves. Tyrus agrees and we get a one on one main event with no interference. The match was kinda short, but that’s understandable because both their opening matches were kinda long. Botch #1 from Hardy came when he messed up the Side-Effect on the steps. EC3 landed badly on the corner of the steps and the welt on his hip was very noticeable. After three simultaneous Side-Effects by Hardy, and back to back TKO’s by EC3, all leading to near falls, the end came when Hardy put EC3 on the top rope and attempted a Twist of Fate from the top. Botch #2 came when he slipped and EC3 had to help him back up. EC3 fought off and delivered a 1 Percenter from the top for the clean win. EC3 is the new champ. Matt Hardy’s wife, who sat directly across the ramp from us, came out with their son in her hands and walked Hardy to the back. Hardy was frustrated and pulled away from her. He walked to the back without them. They followed in tow. A solid match with a great finish, despite Hardy’s botch. And the right man won and holds the title.
Overall it was a very solid debut. I rate it about 7.5/10. TNA needs to not make amateur mistakes like music botches. The Knockouts need to deliver better matches than this, despite it being the only real feud that carries into next week. From an action standpoint, it was solid. From a story building standpoint, it missed several opportunities. It’s also worth noting that the show started around 7:30pm and lasted until nearly 10pm so the broadcast was slightly tape-delayed.
I hope you enjoyed this review of the debut of Impact Wrestling on POP TV and I hope you enjoyed the show enough to tune in next week. I’m curious as to what the ratings will be. They pushed POP TV a lot leading up to this with national commercial spots and all that. I hope the ratings are solid and reflect on the quality of the show.
I want to take this opportunity to apologize to everyone that I put on the sign. I didn’t represent well and didn’t get up there to pressure the camera guy to get the sign on TV. I was outdone by a guy dressed like Willow that sat a few seats from me who was younger, more hyper and showed more energy than me. I guess I’m getting old. Next time the opportunity presents itself, I’ll make sure I make good on my promise.
Thank you for reading everyone. Be Safe.
