BRM Reviews the 6/24/2015 Impact (well... there is news)

[Big Red Machine]

Dear Lord that TV-14 box is huge. It’s completely covering Ethan’s head.

JB ASKS ETHAN WHO KURT’S OPPONENT WILL BE- EC III teases that it is “someone who is an institution in this industry.”

KURT ANGLE PROMO- just felt way too scripted. Kurt wants to wrestle his match right now, but Ethan comes out and cuts a long promo and my reaction to all of this can best be summed up as follows:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1YmS_VDvMY [/youtube]
So they go on and on and on talking about next week’s match, teasing and in-ring confrontation and everything… and it just felt like they were completely ignoring tonight’s match.

Anyway, Kurt’s opponent will be…
Matt Hardy?
Really, TNA? This was the best you could do? This just feels SOOOO anti-climactic. And why give away a big surprise?


Apparently if Velvet beats Angelina tonight, she’ll be back on the roster. WHY? I know that this is wrestling, but normally when someone jumps the guardrail in an angle like this, it works because the person already in the company wants to fight them so bad. Instead we have the exact opposite, where TNA is basically just rewarding Velvet for jumping the guardrail and assaulting their employees… and when she has done this, they have punished said employees for defending themselves.
And seriously… NO FOLLOW-UP to the whole “Angelina gets arrested” angle? Really?

TRIPLE THREAT ELIMINATION MATCH FOR THE VACANT TNA X-DIVISION TITLE: Low Ki vs. Grado vs. Tigre Uno- 5/10
The thing I want to see the most in the world right now is for Low Ki to just spend all match relentlessly kicking Grado in the face.
Grado lasted two and a half minutes. At that point… why even have him in the match? Either do a regular triple threat match or make it a singles match so no one has to look like such a chump?
Oh. Wait. It turns out Grado actually lasted half of the match because it only went five minutes. Yes, it was very good for five minutes, but that still makes the belt and the whole division look like crap).
Also, congrats to Tigre Uno. I’ve been wanting to see more or him on TNA TV for about a year now, so hopefully this means we’ll finally get it. He even got to cut a promo telling us how happy he was. This might well be the first time he has ever spoken on TNA TV.
BRAM CUTS A PROMO- he says he’s going to call out someone from TNA’s past. So basically he’s going to do the same thing he does every week. Then he walked away and JB teased that Vader was in the building.

DOLLHOUSE PROMO- oh my G-d actual hype for Slammiversary! The blocking here, with both henchwomen sitting behind Taryn while she yelled at them felt very unnatural. The promo was eh.

Lashley & Anderson vs. Ethan & Tyrus has been announced for Slammiversary.



IF VELVET WINS, SHE IS BACK IN TNA: Angelina Love vs. Velvet Sky- 2.5/10
So Velvet is apparently being given this chance because TNA Management realized that she was fired unfairly. Okay. Does anyone remember who it was that ALLOWED Velvet to be fired unfairly in the first place? TNA MANAGEMENT! No facts have changed since Velvet was fired. TNA has just decided to acknowledge their own stupidity and correct it. Which is admirable, I guess, but still makes them look like idiots for doing it in the first place.
They had a boring match.

ARIES & ROODE PROMO- eh.
Also… what was up with the camera?

THE INTERVIEWER INTERVIEWS MVP- He just rushes up to MVP while MVP is clearly talking on the phone. What an asshole!
MVP’s promo was pretty good.

FULL METAL MAYHEM MATCH #4 IN THEIR BEST OF 5 SERIES: The Wolves(2) vs. Austin Aries & Bobby Roode(1)- 8/10
Wait… so Matt Hardy vs. Kurt Angle is the main event over THIS?!
I was actually quite amused by the babyfaces actually letting the heels take a time out. That was funny.
Hold on. This is a pinfall/submissions match?!
Awesome weapons match!

MATT HARDY PROMO & SEGMENT WITH EC III- good.

IS THAT… JEFF JARRETT?
Okay… let me guess: he is scamming TNA the way Tommy Dreamer did last year where he gets to use their TV to promote his company and gets a deal where he gets to use their talent, and all TNA get is a match or two from a washed-up old veteran who no one wants to see anyway.
Josh Matthews declares that Jeff Jarrett showing up is newsworthy enough to have ”broke the internet.” Yeah right.

JEFF JARRETT- yup. Here’s the shill.
So apparently Jeff Jarrett will be wrestling in the King of the Mountain match.
Both Jarretts were very good, but it’s just… not something I can get excited about in any way. Jeff Jarrett is coming back for a five man match that we don’t even know what is on the line.

BRAM vs. VADER- 2/10
Wow… not much of a pop for Vader. Maybe that’s because it’s 2015!
That being said… he doesn’t look too shabby.
Bram isn’t good enough to beat up a sixty year old man, so he has to hit him with a weapon and lose by DQ. Matt Morgan then showed up and saved Vader. Okay… that’s kind of random.

ERIC YOUNG vs. CHRIS MELENDEZ- 1/10
Well… that was short and rather surprising. EY pretty much squashed Melendez.

Bram will face Morgan at Slammiversary.

A RANDOM BRAWL BETWEEN THE BDC AND THE RISING- Hernadnez shows up and joins the BDC. Okay. That’s a bit interesting, considering he works for Lucha Underground. I do like the BDC recruiting a big guy to be their heavy-hitting and Hernandez is a good choice. It probably would have been a bit better if he didn’t do his run-in while wearing a BDC shirt, but it was good. The problem is… this still doesn’t move this feud along at all. It’s been MONTHS since something actually happened in this feud.

OVERVIEW OF NEXT WEEK’S CARD- the show should be good. Taryn defends against Brooke and Kong in a triple threat match, so maybe the belt won’t be on the line at the PPV.

KURT ANGLE vs. MATT HARDY- 6.75/10
Good for such a short match, but they took a shortcut by just doing a bunch of false finishes.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- I get what they were going for here, with Kurt being the first person to make Ethan tap, but I think I would have rather gone off the air with Ethan and Tyrus getting lots of heat on Kurt and Ethan posing with the belt.

Certainly a news-worthy show from TNA, and there was some good wrestling on it, while the bad stuff was kept very short, and, like most Raw matches, was bad because it didn’t get enough time rather than because of stupidity. I could almost call this a good show, but they didn’t hype up the only real feud they have going into Slammiversary (Magnus vs. Storm) and neither filled out the King of the Mountain match or told us what is on the line. I highly doubt anyone will be buying this PPV.