Impact Wrestling: Bound For Glory 2017 (November 5, 2017) -- Results & Afterthoughts

Bound for Glory (2017) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by Impact Wrestling. It took place on November 5, 2017 at the Aberdeen Pavilion in Ottawa, Ontario. It was the thirteenth event under the Bound for Glory chronology, the second and last Impact pay-per-view event of 2017. It is also notable for 8-time womens' champion Gail Kim's final match, retiring from professional wrestling after the event.

6-Way Match for the X-Division Championship - Trevor Lee (c) def. Desmond Xavier, Petey Williams, Sonjay Dutt, Garza Jr., and Matt Sydal to retain

I'm glad that this wasn't one of tired and cliched Ultimate X Matches that tend to open these BFG PPVs with all of the X-Division guys just dumped in there with no storyline nor reason. This match has a story - Dutt wants to end his feud with Trevor Lee once and for all that has been spanning the last few months with the rest of the division wanting a piece of this action as well.

Desmond Xavier shocks the hell out of me every time I see this dude do something nuts in these X-Division matches. Garza Jr. is slowly winning me over with his antics and ringwork while everyone else in this match, especially Matt Sydal and Petey Williams, made this a fun match to kick this show off. I was a little disappointed that they let Trevor Lee retain when this crowd was red hot for Petey Williams in this match, especially after he applied the Sharpshooter and Canadian Destroyer.

Taiji Ishimori def. Tyson Dux

I thought it was in bad taste to have Laurel Van Ness distracting the live crowd during this match. Ishimori and Dux were having a pretty sweet hard-hitting match here. No need to distract from that when this match was far from the drizzling shits. A little too short for my taste.

Alberto El Patron Shoots ON TNA Management

Up next, we have a worked shoot with Alberto out in the ring talking about how he was wrongfully accused for what went down with his suspension. I don't see how people were buying into this as if it was legit, someone would have cut off his mic and sent someone down there to shut him up instead of allowing him to ramble on and on this long. He threats to make an example of an "impact" out of JB but backs off, ending this segment awkwardly as it started.

Monster's Ball - Abyss def. Grado

Abyss is taking a page from Kane these days with it looking like he's gluing hair to his mask too. I got a good kick out of Grado dressed like Mick Foley for this match. It would've been more hilarious if he came out in protection gear like Norman Smiley in WCW from his hardcore days. I enjoyed how they worked Rosemary and Laurel Van Ness into this match. I freakin' love how Rosemary's facepaint has evolved over the past few years that she's been in TNA to the point now where she looks like a cross between Venom/Carnage, Finn Balor's Demon, and so many other things that go bump in the night. Don'tcha love how Abyss always finds a way to bring Janice into these matches but never actually hits someone with that damn thing? If this one of those crazy Japanese deathmatches, someone would've been sliced apart with that thing by now.

Glad Grado didn't win here as he was botching left and right here. He didn't know where the weapons were at times and the few limited moves he could do, he was half-assing them. Just put him out of his misery and end this storyline for all of our sakes despite the few good laughs we've gotten at his expense. Despite the fact that I liked Rosemary and LVN's involvement towards the end, this was easily the weakest match to this point.

Team Impact (Grand Champion Ethan Carter III, James Storm, and GHC Heavyweight Champion Eddie Edwards)  Team AAA (Texano Jr., Pagano, Hijo del Phantasma)

EC3 played it off for the first half like he wanted nothing to do with his team, but it was only a swerve to create a sense of doubt that Team Impact wasn't going to be on the same page here. Much like the X-Division match that kicked off this show, this was a match with a lot of fun spots, but it dragged a lot at the beginning. Crazy to see James Storm throwing himself out of the ring doing high spots like a cruiserweight though.

5150 Match for the Impact Tag Team Championships - oVe (c) def. LAX

As you can see here, Lucha Underground's Sami Callihan/Jeremiah Crane made his debut tonight as the impromptu third man to oVe. 

Simply put, this was a crazy as fuck of a match here in terms of high risks spots. Do yourself a favor and watch this match just to see the pure insanity that these men put their bodies through in this match from bell to bell.

Knockouts Championship Match - Gail Kim def. Sienna (c) and Allie

I get what they were trying to do here, but it looks like Sienna is just sitting on Gail and Allie's backs while Gail's hugging Allie LMFAO...

Allie getting her Trish Stratus on with a Stratusfaction here and later in this match does Chris Jericho proud with a Codebreaker. 

Kinda sloppy on the execution but I liked the Top Rope Eat Defeat for the win here.

Gail Kim decided to wear see-through bottoms... 'Nuff said. Loved that ringside Stratusfaction spot by Allie and the Double German Suplex on Allie and Gail by Sienna. The Top Rope Eat Defeat for the win was a nice touch even though Allie didn't need to take that AK-47 to the ringside floor. I just cringe at the amount of unnecessary BRUTAL bumps people on this roster

Lashley and King Mo (with American Top Team and Dan Lambert) def. Moose and Stephan Bonnar

This match was a LOT better than I was expecting it was going to be going in, especially for King Mo and Stephan Bonnar. They made sure to keep their in-ring involvement to a MINIMUM while Lashley and Moose did the bulk of the heavy hitting. I wasn't sold on the American Top Team storyline at first, but over the build up for the last few months truly won me over. If Impact Wrestling wants to position these guys as their top heel faction for years to come, then I'm perfectly fine with that. This was one of those few MMA meets pro wrestling crossovers that didn't feel forced like teased Horsewomen vs Horsewomen feud during WWE's Mae Young Classic or Rampage Jackson and King Mo's initial appearances in TNA Wrestling in the past.

Eli Drake (c) (with Chris Adonis) defeated Johnny Impact

I felt that this match dragged on FAR too long for my taste, despite their chemistry and some slick acrobatics by Johnny Impact here. The interference from El Patron didn't do anything for me here, especially for a show that seems to ALWAYS have a shitload of interference in these Bound for Glory main events.

That was a slick spot, but damn I've seen FAR too many memes making fun of it. 

It was kinda sad too because all signs were pointing towards a feel good moment leading up to this match where Johnny Impact picks up the win and walks out of this event as the new Global Champion. I guess they wanted to plug Alberto back where he left off in the main event picture prior to his suspension make him part of the feud at the top of the card. Drake isn't a bad champion, but I really didn't agree with the decision here. At the same time, I understand why they did it here with Drake retaining as they want to show that they have confidence in him in the role, but on the other hand, I don't Anthem is wise here in this booking. If they want to draw in more fans, they should have put the belt on Johnny Impact (of course this will continue to encourage "the only ex-WWE stars get pushed" stigma that their haters seem to point as negatives) but Johnny's got name recognition right now as God knows when are we going to get Season 4 of Lucha Underground or if Johnny's coming back at all.

*** BONUS: *** Thoughts on Gail Kim's Farewell Speech & pending Knockouts Championship Tournament

Sad to see Gail Kim go, but rarely wrestlers get to go out on their own terms before being sidelined to the point where they HAVE to retire. Gail pulled a Trish Stratus and won the title once more (breaking the record at most Knockout title reigns to date) while simultaneously being the first in TNA to do so on Canadian soil to book. I'm going to miss seeing her compete but I hope this means that she stays in the game as a trainer/mentor. She shouldn't allow her great mind for women's wrestling to go to waste. A LOT of women can learn from her and help the sport continue to thrive and evolve for the ladies. #ThankYouGailKim

Closing Thoughts

Bound for Glory wasn't a bad show, just a rather overbooked show at some points. They started off with a great opener with the X-Division then that singles between Ishiimori and Dux that showed off a lot of good in this company before El Patron dragged the momentum down with that worked shoot of a promo. What followed that was a botchtacular Monsters' Ball match followed by ANOTHER two matches of guys throwing each other around recklessly. The girls did a little too much for my taste too, but it was Gail's last match so I can understand that. The Steel Cage Match was fine for the most part while the main event fell into the tired trend of too much interference like I mentioned above. This is a show that seems to try too hard, but at the same time, I feel like their efforts went mostly on deaf ears and won't bring in any new viewers outside of the loyalists who have been with them through everything at this point. 

I want to see Impact Wrestling continue to survive and grow in 2018, but at this point, even I'm wondering what changes would they have to do to get back into the good graces of the wrestling fans. 

Impact Wrestling One Night Only: Victory Road 2017 (Knockouts Knockdown 2017 - April 14, 2017) -- Results & Afterthoughts

Impact Wrestling's Victory Road event for 2017 was held on April 14, 2017 and served as this year's Knockouts Knockdown all-female One Night Only Pay-Per-View special for 2017.

Also, despite being in the graphic above, Mia Yim/Jade is nowhere to be found on this show.

Introductions

Great to see Gail Kim acting as the "talent scout" and co-host for this event, even though she's still sidelined from her injury. I thought most of the girls, especially the newcomers and returning faces, didn't take the ball and run with it on their chance to cut a promo, except for Rebel who knocked it out of the park. She really surprised me on that one. In terms of personas, I think her and MJ Jenkins impressed me the most here.

When WWE does their Women's Tournament later this year, I hope they take a few subtle nods from this annual show where they take the opportunity to give these ladies a chance to show more personality. If they were smart, they'll fill up the brackets with ladies from the main roster who are struggling with getting over on the little time that they have on WWE programming and give them a bigger platform on that tournament to shine. Look at what it did for the bulk of CWC guys, especially for Gargano and Ciampa.

Angelina Love (w/ Davey Richards) def. Kayci Quinn

Quinn's pretty green, but showed promise by the time the match was over. I'm sure as one of Jay Lethal's students she'll get better with time as she gathers more experience underneath her belt. She's fairly new to wrestling on TV from what I've heard. It started off pretty bad (definitely that opening exchange between her and Love) as I think it was the nerves kicking in but her and Love found their chemistry for each other by the time this was over.

I was just disappointed at the finish was just a damn Clothesline/Forearm Smash by Love for the win. No Botox Injection or any of Angelina's other signatures? It just seemed like a lame way for the newbie to go out.

Can someone verify, but wasn't this Angelina Love's first "official" match back since coming back to Impact after her pregnancy?

Diamonte (w/ LAX) def. Amanda Carolina Rodriguez

To say that I follow AmandaxCR on Twitter, I'm surprised she's put on a bit of weight. That's not a bad thing, but I suggest changing her ring gear to accommodate that. If I can nit-pick here, I just can't stand seeing people (especially Mexican/Latino wrestlers doing this...) doing the Eddie Guerrero hip roll trifecta suplexes, but can't roll their hips. I'm glad Chavo stopped embarrassing himself doing it but you'll still see Rey Mysterio and even Sasha Banks bust it out from time to time. Here, you see Amanda doing it and it's not a pretty sight.

The more I see Diamonte (formerly Angel Rose) work, the more I'm becoming a fan of her work. At first, I was questioning why Konnan picked her for this iteration of LAX, but now I see that she definitely fits their unorthodox style.

Leva Bates def. Allie

The opening bits of this match was just freakin' adorable. Bayley could take notes here from Allie on how to be a bubbly, squeaky clean babyface. It's hard NOT to love Allie's innocence here. I found myself chuckling at Allie's remark of "You're pretty good!" at Leva's performance. Allie's selling herself short as she seems to be pretty deadset on not turning up her ring work up a notch until the inevitable feud between her and Rosemary at some point. I'm guessing that Impact Wrestling are saving that for Bound For Glory since those two killed it in their rivalry on the indies prior to joining the company. I'm glad that Leva Bates was able to show off more of her in-ring talents here other than being a comedy act here, even though that came to play by the end.

If I had anything to knock on this match is that it's the second match on this card with a distraction finish. I get they are trying to continue/play off the fallout of the Maria Kanellis-Alllie storyline, but these one-off iPPVs need to have some closure in my eyes, especially if you are going to sell these as stand-alone affairs.

Rosemary (w/ Crazzzy Steve) def. MJ Jenkins

The more I see of MJ Jenkins, the more I like her persona and her ring work. I like that she got a chance to cut a promo here to show that she wasn't afraid of the Decay. I just fear that she might fall into that tired "sassy black girl" trope that Sojo Bolt fell into and a ton of black female wrestlers find themselves trapped into in WWE.

Rosemary's awesome, simply put. From her persona, appearance, mannerisms, and in-ring ability, she's a force to be reckoned with and there's room for more growth too. Her and Jenkins had some great chemistry here and I would love to see them square off again later down the line. I hope Jenkins is a lock to be a mainstay for this new crop of Knockouts.

Alicia Edwards (Alexxis Neveah) def. Sienna

I haven't seen too much of Alicia's work prior to coming to Impact Wrestling as much as I should have but what I have seen here wasn't bad. It just seemed like your run of the mill Knockouts match. Alicia seemed a bit nervous to be working in front of the Impact Zone's fans but she managed to keep up with Sienna.

Much like my earlier complaint to the matches on this show, there was another distraction finish here, bringing the total count to 3 in one show. C'mon, TNA, don't be as bad as WWE with the roll-up being the strongest finisher in the company...

Santana Garrett (formerly Brittany) def. Brandi Rhodes

A strong candidate for the match of the night with Brandi surprising everyone by keeping up with Santana, move for move. Even I was pleasantly surprised here by Brandi's performance.

I get sick and tired of hearing WWE marks saying that WWE needs to sign Santana. They had MULTIPLE opportunities to do so and didn't jump on it. Besides, WWE has more than enough talent that they don't know what to do with 95% of them most of the time. I rather not see Santana go there and end up being a waste to her talents when she's lost in the shuffle. At least Impact Wrestling dropped her previous gimmick and is acknowledging her by the name that she's made for herself since leaving the promotion. She's one hell of a worker and a women's champion for roughly every promotion she's appeared in. She would be a solid talent to be a part of this new generation of Knockouts to build this division around.

She's got a great, marketable look and talented to boot. She's not bad on the mic either from the few indie promos I have seen her cut on YouTube for various promotions, so I don't see any downside on offering her a spot on the roster. If I were TNA, I'd jump at the chance to have her as a lock on my women's division.

I don't want to sell Brandi short here either. This was definitely her best performance out of her few matches on Impact Wrestling to date. I know people have been shitting on her talents so far, but give this girl some time. It's not like she had the chance to do this in WWE regularly. She's coming along in her growth better than a lot of the girls currently in NXT and some of the newer faces on the main roster to boot. Given some time, I'm sure she'll be as impressive as Taryn Terrell and Brooke Tessmacher at the height of their careers.

ODB def. Rebel

I remember seeing something similar to this when Rebel and ODB fought on Impact Wrestling's TV tapings a few weeks prior to this and there was a bit too much comedy here for my taste. It seems like these two love getting Earl Hebner involved into their "sexy" antics in their matches and it was pretty hit or miss here. I felt this was a wasted spot on this card as I was honestly looking forward to see how much Rebel has improved after cutting that promo earlier tonight and how she would bounce back from embarrassing herself during last year's Knockouts Knockdown event against Shelly Martinez/Salinas.

From what she did here was solid for the most part, but doesn't scream anything groundbreaking to blow away critics of her performance last year. If both of these ladies are looking to be taken seriously as mainstays of the Knockouts division, they might want to dial it back a bit with the comedy bits.

Laurel Van Ness def. Rachel Ellering

Now THIS is the Rachel Ellering I want to see as part of the Knockouts division. From the way that the commentary team was pointing out that TNA Management could sign anyone on the roster to the Knockouts division on the spot, I was thinking Rachel was going to get a spot from her hard work here, despite her shoulder injury. I dunno why she sold herself short on Impact Wrestling's TV tapings a few weeks ago, but she put on one hell of a performance here. I wouldn't mind seeing more from a full blown feud between her and Laurel Van Ness. Who knows, Impact might end up giving her the contract that NXT never offered her, despite her dad's brown-nosing over there and being forced to manage a shitty tag team.

Sucks that LVN came out with the win, but whatever. I hope Impact are wise to sign Rachel Ellering to a full-time contract after this because I would like to see what else she can do given a full-time deal.

Alicia Edwards, Santana Garrett, Leva Bates, and ODB def. Angelina Love, Rosemary, Diamonte, and Laurel Van Ness

By this point, I mentally kicked myself that they were going for a heels versus faces main event since they scrapped the usual battle royal finale for the previous Knockouts Knockdown events. This was a welcome change of pace, but it didn't really do much for everyone involved. It came down to be your run of the mill Knockouts match, with a few sweet spots thrown in. TNA seems to love that spot where all of the girls get their finishers in though until someone gets the win. Even the WWE girls are starting to recycle that one.

I wasn't too crazy about Alicia Edwards picking up the win here as I felt they should have let Santana Garrett or Leva Bates get the full-time contract, but I guess it can't be helped since roughly everyone in this match were already signed with the company anyway. Since they didn't let Leva or Santana pick up the win, I'm guessing that they didn't sign deals with the company (yet... I hope) so they went with the sure bet since they have to give Alicia a means to get payback on Angelina Love's assaults on her legally within kayfabe, so I can't complain in that aspect.

Karen Jarrett must be shopping in stores for that Stephanie McMahon authority figure collection, huh?

Closing Thoughts

I was taken back that Anthem abandoned the Knockouts Knockdown moniker for these annual Knockouts specials for Victory Road, but by the time it was said and done, it didn't bother me. This is still a Knockouts-themed event from top to bottom and I can't complain with what was offered here. The ladies - old and new - were given plenty of time to shine and show off their various personas and in-ring ability, while some were even able to cut a few promos to boot. I can only hope and pray that WWE takes some nods from these events (and possibly ChickFight) for their upcoming Women's Tournament later this year and for their three women's divisions as a whole.

Is this the best Knockouts themed event that Impact Wrestling has held to date? No, but they are still in this rebuilding/restructuring phase in the right direction. Showcasing these new Knockouts who will be staples to the division moving forward is the right way to go. I just wish Impact did a better job of promoting this event as I had NO idea that this was available until I saw the pirated upload of the entire show on my YouTube timeline over the weekend.

TNA Slammiversary (June 12, 2016) & Impact Wrestling (June 14, 2016) -- Results & Afterthoughts

Slammiversary (2016) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). It took place on June 12 at the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida. It was the twelfth event under the Slammiversary chronology and the first event in the 2016 TNA PPV schedule.

Fatal 4 Way for X-Division Championship - Eddie Edwards def. Trevor Lee (c) vs. DJ Z and Andrew Everett to become NEW X-Division Champion

Amazing match to kick off this PPV event. I thought it was a nice touch to eject Gregory Helms from ringside too. About time that they let Everett and Trevor Lee stand on their own two feet, even though Helms looked like a Bond villain in his snazzy new suit.

The Tribunal (w/ Al Snow) def. Grado & Shera

This was just horrible from start to finish. I feel bad that the Legionnaires left NXT from one stupid storyline/angle to come to TNA in another. I wish they would do something more with Shera than him being a dancing goof. Grado showed promise in X-Division, why not have him go back to that? I can say the same about Rockstar Spud as well...

Also, can someone take that whistle away from Al Snow? Then again, I rather hear that instead of Allie's high pitched wailing and screaming at ringside...

Maria Kanellis vs. Gail Kim

Speak of the devil... here comes Allie with her high pitched shrieking at ringside during the next match. Sucks to see this match cancelled at the last second, but Billy Corgan made a nice save as the on-screen authority figure here to assess the situation by adding Gail Kim into the Knockouts title match.

Triple Threat Match for Knockouts Championship Match - Sienna def. Jade (c) and Gail Kim to become NEW Knockouts Champion

I felt a little bad for the ladies here because the crowd wasn't really into the match. Here's the thing. TNA Knockouts have ALWAYS put on acceptable matches; long before they signed women like Paige and the Forse Horsewomen and WWE started their "so-called" Divas Revolution. It's just that their crowds are conditioned to their women's matches not being the bathroom breaks of the night. This wasn't a bad match by any margin - it just lacked the crowd being hyped for it.

I think after the X-Division opener then with the crap that followed next, they didn't really perk back up yet to the wrestlers.

I was fine with the finish that saw Marti Bell (I laughed when a lot of people on social media thought she was Layla during the live broadcast...) screw Jade out of the win for Sienna to pick up the gold. It does two things simultaneously. One, Maria Kanellis' faction with Allie and Sienna has all of the power in the Knockouts division going forward

James Storm def. Braxton Sutter (Pepper Parks)

Not a bad match, especially with the emotional journey of Pepper Parks, now Braxton Sutter, coming to TNA. Pretty cool factoid to know that James Storm has worked ALL 14 Slammiversary events in TNA history. That being said, I didn't agree with Storm getting the win here. Given the build-up of Sutter, you'd think that he would get an emotional first "big" win of his TNA career tonight, but nope. This was over a bit too quick for my taste. They should've taken time from that horrible Grado/Shera vs. Tribunal match and gave it to these guys.

TNA Tag Team Championship Match - The Decay (c) def. BroMans (w/ Raquel)

There were lots of false finishes in this one to get the blood flowing back into this crowd to bring them back to life. I was ready to get salty the second it looked like the BroMans were about to win. FAR too soon for the Decay to be losing to anyone for the tag titles right now in my honest opinion. Plus, Raquel needs to educate her "boys" some more. I'm sure there's a lot more lessons she can teach them before they find success at the top of the division again.

Speaking of which, I wasn't too crazy about the finish as it really didn't make sense. Raquel attacked Rosemary (I dug that because it's good to start setting up more new Knockouts feuds as Gail Kim can't hold this thing together forever... On top of that, how many high profile feuds does she really have left is a better question...) then Robbie E and Crazzy Steve pulled their own girls off of each other, only for Rosemary to run back around and distract him AGAIN to allow Abyss to make the finish. I was left scratching my head on that one even though I was happy that the Decay retained the gold.

Full Metal Mayhem - Jeff Hardy def. Matt Hardy

I got to give the Hardy Boys credit. It's 2016 and they are STILL cooking up new crazy spots in TLC/Full Metal Mayhem matches.

"I haven't seen a man more psychotic than Matt Hardy..." A direct quote by Josh Matthews during this match. Obviously he hasn't been paying much attention to the Decay lately...

That spot with the keyboard was fucking stupid though. It looked like it bashed Jeff in the face upon impact (no pun intended). Jeff is lucky that thing didn't knock his teeth out.

I lost count somewhere within the middle of the match but Jeff had to have hit Matt with at least 4-6 Twists of Fate and about 3 Swanton Bombs. Good grief, man.

I don't see how they can keep this feud going from here. Jeff has "killed" Matt like twice now.

EC3 def. Mike Bennett

If you don't see nor realize that EC3 is TNA's biggest star right now, then you're crazy. The crowd turns into Full Sail for NXT when his music hits. This match was a little underwhelming for me. Outside of the numerous near-falls and brawling out of the ring, it was a pretty standard match that could have been on Impact on the weeks leading up to this. I was expecting a lot more in terms of the finish, especially after what Bennett took away from EC3 in terms of his "undefeated" streak.

Sue me. I was expecting something more here to say that they were keeping this feud pretty intense until now and it ends as a pretty standard fair match? Just seemed like a missed opportunity to me.

TNA World Heavyweight Championship Match (Submission/Knockout to win) - Bobby Lashley def. Drew Galloway (c) to become the NEW World Heavyweight Champion

I honestly busted out laughing when Galloway hit the Claymore as soon as the bell rung. I thought it was going to be over that quick. Fortunately, I was wrong and man, they made that one worth the wait. They definitely had me on the edge of my seat as I had no idea who was going to come out as the winner with so many near-falls and false finishes.

I wish Lashley would lose the headband. He looks like the ultimate douchebag wearing that in a wrestling match. That's something you see guys in the NBA wearing not pro wrestlers. (Shrugs) Maybe he should keep it. It's adding to his heel heat as I'm definitely not alone in hating that fashion accessory.

I feel that the loss here doesn't hurt Drew Galloway as it gives him the opportunity to be in the chase yet again. A rising star like Galloway needs more obstacles in his way to challenge him and allow him to grow into an even better wrestler and major player for the promotion.

That being said, this was a fairly decent event, with just about every match other than the Grado/Shera vs Tribunal match being worth the watch. Regardless, I'm sure the TNA haters will find something to complain about here. There's enough to go forward with and build towards future events throughout 2016.

---

Impact Wrestling (LIVE!! June 14, 2016)

I didn't catch the "live" broadcast since I was napping after work Tuesday evening, but I heard about the technical difficulties that Pop TV had that caused the show to be postponed for over 45 minutes. That wasn't TNA's fault at all, but sucks all round since this was Gold Rush night, which wasn't a bad night of Impact at all. 

Bobby Lashley opens the show with a heel promo, rubbing salt into the wound that he dethroned Drew Galloway and reclaimed the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. I can dig this Lashley. More of this PLEASE, TNA. I was skeptical at first, but I can dig Lashley in this position as the top monster powerhouse heel. EC3 and Galloway were quick to name themselves as challengers, but Galloway was the one who won out on that vie for the title match by cashing in his rematch clause. 

I dunno about that as they could have saved that for the next PPV. I wouldn't mind EC3 getting another run with the gold if it ends up with Mike Bennett scratching and crawling his way up to that position like EC3 did during his "campaign". 

King of the Mountain Championship Match - Eli Drake (c) def. Jeff Hardy

I don't know why they just don't call the KOTM title the TV title again. That's all what it is now as they essentially don't defend the match in a KOTM match for every title defense. Either way, I won't lie - I was half-asleep during this match until the finish that saw Matt Hardy screw Jeff Hardy out of the win for Drake to retain. 

Matt Hardy confronts "Brother Nero"

I said this on Twitter last night too, but Reby's boobs are the biggest stars of this feud. I don't see how Matt is still "disturbed" and "crazy" when he has a hottie like that to go home to. In either case, this confrontation sets up the Hardy Boys' match in a Steel Cage Match next week on Impact. I don't see how they are going to top some of the other crazy spots in this feud other than Jeff taking another one of those scary cage dive/falling spots. 

X-Division Championship Match - Eddie Edwards (c) def. Trevor Lee

This was a far cry from the match from Slammiversary as Gregory Helms was back at ringside and there was more focus on him trying to screw Edwards out of the title instead of focusing on Trevor Lee's athleticism. As much as I like the Helms Dynasty, Helms is holding Lee back in a sense. Helms should just sit back and let his boys handle their business on their own. 

The BroMans Discuss Their Hidden Cameras

I don't blame them at all. I would be all over spying on Raquel. If she's their "trainer" why don't they just ask her to let them hit that? I mean, c'mon now. She has to be interested if she approached them to help them out. 

Dixie Carter Announces Gail Kim as the newest member of the TNA Hall of Fame

(Stands up and applauds) This was LONG overdue, in my opinion. I know many say AJ Styles, Kazarian, Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, James Storm, Bobby Roode, and so many TNA Originals deserve it more, but where are they now? They couldn't give a flying fuck about TNA right now, so let Gail Kim enjoy this. She's been a company loyalist since returning after her "failed" WWE return and there's no denying her impact on the Knockouts division as well as women's wrestling in mainstream wrestling as a whole. Gail Kim is the woman to beat when it comes to women's wrestling in mainstream wrestling. WWE wouldn't have batted another eye at taking their women's division(s) seriously until Gail Kim and the other Knockouts showed that women's wrestling can be a top draw instead of a bathroom break. 

Jeremy Borash interviews Marti Bell for her actions at Slammiversary

I don't mind them taking Marti in a new direction finally. They should've dropped the Dollhouse thing earlier than they did anyway. That stable stayed around well over it's welcome. I'm just happy to see that TNA is back to creating multiple Knockout feuds like they used to back when the division was new instead of focusing on 1-2 women at a time. Don't make the same mistakes that WWE are doing with their women's division.

Fatal 4 Way Match for TNA Tag Team Championship - The Decay (c) def. The Tribunal (w/ Al Snow), BroMans (w/ Raquel) and Grado & Shera

Can someone take that whistle and shove that shit up Al Snow's ass? He's about as annoying as Xavier Woods playing a trombone at ringside. This wasn't as long as the tag team matches on Slammiversary but it worked for what it was worth. With these three teams being the only competition for the Decay, then they don't have to worry about losing the gold before Davey Richards comes back from injury to reunite the Wolves. Goddamn, it's still not as bad as the WWE Tag Team landscape before they signed Gallows and Anderson...

I hope TNA signs a new tag team or injects some new blood into this division. The BroMans with Raquel are decent and all but I can't see them in the chase for the long term of the division.

Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis Express Their Distaste Over Recent Events

This felt a little too much like a wannabe shoot at one point and dragged on longer than it should have, but that slap from Dixie to Maria was LONG overdue. I'm fine with this as long as Dixie doesn't turn into the Stephanie McMahon of TNA where she doesn't put anyone over and chops the legs out underneath from every promising rising star.

I'm anxious to see where they take this as they need to keep pushing BOTH Bennett and Maria in their respective divisions.

TNA World Heavyweight Championship Match (Slammiversary Rematch) - Lashley (c) def. Drew Galloway

The top rope Celtic Cross was a sweet spot along with the exchange that included the Claymore into a ref bump and the pending Spear(s) from Lashley to end it. EC3 getting involved was a nice touch (although VERY predictable) and it sets up a potential triple threat down the road. The repeated Spears on Lashley on Galloway just added to Lashley's mean streak and sheer brutality,

Afterthoughts

It was unfortunate that Pop TV ran into some technical difficulties, especially right after TNA were trying to pick up momentum fresh off a solid PPV outing. Slammiversary wasn't bad at all outside of one match that I mentioned above, but it's going to be a hard sell to get more eyes on their product after Tuesday night's fiasco.

TNA is on the right track if the rumors about Billy Corgan taking more control of the company while Dixie Carter is quietly pushed into the background, despite remaining as an on-air authority figure when needed. I think they need to really focus on elevating the Knockouts, Tag Team, and main event divisions properly and people will definitely begin to care again. The talent has always been there - just need better direction. Since their rebirth on Pop TV, TNA has been putting on much better events than they were on their last lingering months on Spike TV and Destination America. I just wonder if they are going to maintain that time slot after July once WWE Smackdown! goes live on Tuesdays. I highly suggest TNA take the 9PM slot on Wednesdays after Lucha Underground and WWE NXT's new episodes or settle for Thursdays back in Smackdown's old time slot.