Impact Wrestling Review: 1/30/2014

IMPACTWRESTLING.com

The mystery investor will be revealed tonight, that is sure to be the main focus of tonight’s show.

Magnus, Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe and Dixie Carter promo

Magnus came to the ring, getting a lot of heat from the anti-England crowd. He talked about getting rid of the old guard and making room for the younger stars of TNA. Angle and Joe come down and the heels escape. Angle gets on the mic and accuses Magnus of stealing the wins vs. Sting, Jeff Hardy, and AJ Styles. Magnus tells him those wins were fair. Angle and Joe tell him they are here to pay him back for what he did to Sting. Magnus challenges them to a tag match, him and EC3 vs. Angle and Joe. Joe says they will do it if the guy who gets the win for his and Angle’s team, automatically becomes #1 contender. Magnus accepts, but Dixie comes down and cancels the match. Magnus takes exception and says the match will happen whether Dixie likes it or not.

My Take: Good job by all involved. Magnus got a lot of heat, some of it may have been due to the problems between Scotland and his home country of England, but it was a good look for the top TNA heel. The history between Magnus, Kurt, Joe and Sting did a lot in selling this segment. Good work by Dixie at the end, tying in the “investor” storyline and selling her concern there.

Madison Rayne and Velvet Sky vs. Gail Kim and Lei’d Tapa/Kurt Angle and Bobby Roode backstage

Velvet gets the pin on Gail with the In Yo’ Face. Quick match. After the match, Chris Sabin comes out and wants Velvet to apologize for not helping him in his X-Division Championship match on last week’s Impact. She breaks up with him instead.

Backstage, Samoa Joe and Angle were seen talking about their match. They walked through a door and saw Roode. Angle and Roode started brawling as Impact went to commercial. When they came back, Joe pulled Angle off Roode. Angle told Roode that he wasn’t going to allow Roode to have the same impact on their match that he had on the matches that ejected Styles and Sting from TNA. Roode said he wasn’t crazy enough to try and take out Angle and Joe at the same time. Joe then grabbed Roode and threatened to snap his windpipe, but let Roode go.

My Take: This match was way too quick, no way to describe it other than Gail Kim got buried. This seems like a resolution to the “bad boyfriend” storyline that Velvet and Sabin have been involved in.

The backstage segment seemed to set up something coming with Roode and Joe in the future. Roode’s face got really red, he did a great job selling Joe’s choke hold.

James Storm, Gunner and Bad Influence promo/James Storm and Gunner vs. Bad Influence/Rockstar Spud and Dixie Carter backstage

Storm talks about how him and Gunner used to be partners, but something seems to have separated them. He calls Gunner to the ring. Gunner talks about all him and Storm have been through, and it all changed when he won the World Heavyweight Championship shot. The two men talk things out and shake hands. Bad Influence comes out and mock Gunner and Storm. Christopher Daniels challenges Gunner to put his title shot on the line in a tag match, to test his trust of Storm. Gunner then punches Daniels and the match begins.

Good match here. Daniels went to knock Gunner off the top rope towards the end, but Storm superkicked him off the apron, Gunner then hit the diving headbutt for the win

Dixie was seen backstage freaking out about the mystery investor and told Rockstar to go find out who it is.

My Take: The original promo seemed to have no direction at the beginning, but it was a good build to when Bad Influence came out.

It just feels like more is coming with Storm and Gunner. Storm stayed true to his friend here, but it can’t stay that way for too much longer.

Rockstar plays the role of Dixie’s lapdog so well, he’s a very talented guy.

Dixie Carter and Bobby Roode backstage/Eric Young, ODB and Abyss backstage/Rockstar Spud backstage

Dixie is on the phone speaking to her lawyer, looking for answers on the mystery investor, but she is getting nowhere. Bobby Roode walks in and demands a title match at Lockdown. He says he was promised twice by Dixie that he would get a title shot, and he was done doing favors for her until he got it.

ODB is asking her husband if he is sure that he is doing the right thing with Abyss. EY tells her that he knows what he’s doing, and he has Abyss under control. ODB says she loves her husband, and she just wants to make sure nothing happens to him, she then walks away. Abyss walks up and EY asks him if he’s ready for their tag title shot.

Rockstar walks up to a cameraman and talks about doing what “Madam Dixie Carter” wants. He says he is going to get answers from The Wolves. Then he asks the cameraman how he looked on camera, asking if he looked big, before he heads to the ring.

My Take: Roode could be headed to a face turn, if he takes on Magnus one-on-one. Dixie is selling the distress about the mystery investor, and she is beginning to get taken advantage of by her roster.

ODB and EY’s segment was good for the storyline. It asked the obvious questions about Abyss, and is building to something happening between Abyss and EY.

Rockstar did a good job of looking serious, and then broke that character to ask the cameraman if he came of menacing. Brilliant and hilarious.

Rockstar Spud and The Wolves promo

Rockstar is in the ring. He says he is going to do what Dixie asked him to do, so he calls The Wolves to the ring. He tries to interrogate them and they just laugh in his face. Rockstar gets increasingly mad, and ends up slapping Davey Richards in the face. Both guys slowly take off their coats and roll up their sleeves, before they double team Rockstar. While Rockstar is down, Eddie Edwards picks up the mic. He tells Rockstar that Dixie will find out who the investor is tonight, the same time as everybody else. He then says the investor has taken an interest in the main event tonight, and if anybody interferes, they will be fired.

My Take: The Wolves are consistently getting good pops, good move by TNA slowly building to their first match. The build to the reveal of the investor has been done pretty well too.

Bro-Mans vs. Eric Young and Abyss (TNA World Tag Team Championship match)/The Wolves outside

Match ends in a no contest when Abyss hit the Shock Treatment on the referee. He chokeslammed EY as well. EY picks up the mic and makes a Monster’s Ball match between himself and Abyss next week.

A cameraman is trying to see the investor inside his car. Davey Richards is talking to him inside the car, and Eddie Edwards is keeping the cameraman from getting a glimpse.

My Take: I don’t like when a championship match seems to have no focus on the champion(s). That’s what happened here, there was no focus on the Bro-Mans, it revolved around EY and Abyss the whole way. That should be a good match next week, and hopefully the merciful end of the Abyss/Joseph Park storyline.

They’re making the investor seem like a really big deal, hopefully he/she is.

Sam Shaw and Christy Hemme segment/Bully Ray backstage

Shaw shows Christy around his house. He acts very creepy towards her, but she is blissfully unaware. A shrine to Christy is then revealed, but Christy doesn’t see it.

Bully Ray rolls a casket down to the ring. He talks about everything he has lost since he was President of the Aces & 8’s, he challenges Mr. Anderson to a casket match. Anderson comes down and promises to shut Bully’s mouth before attacking him using a steel chair.

My Take: I have no idea where TNA’s going with Sam Shaw, it’s tough to imagine any sort of payoff coming from this.

Good segment from Bully and Anderson. With CM Punk gone from WWE, there is a case to be made for Bully Ray being the best promo man on national TV.

EC3 and Magnus backstage/Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe vs. Magnus and EC3/Dixie Carter, Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle promo/Mystery Investor revealed

Magnus is talking down to EC3 backstage as they get ready for their match, EC3 calls Magnus out for doing nothing more than making excuses. The two are getting into words, but Dixie comes in and they both play it cool.

During the match, TNA goes split-screen, we see The Wolves take the camera out of the cameraman’s hands. As the investor steps out of the car, all we see is his or her feet. Joe makes Magnus tap to the Coquina Clutch for the win. Joe is the new #1 contender.

Dixie flips out after the match, while Rockstar plays peacemaker to Magnus and EC3. Joe gets on the mic and tells Magnus that he is looking at the new #1 contender, and then he tells Magnus not to blame EC3 and he gets the audience to start a “YOU TAPPED OUT” chant. Then he tells Magnus to get the belt ready because “Joe is gonna kill you”. Angle gets on the mic and says that nights like this make him proud to be a pro wrestler and he thanks the crowd. Angle then finally accepts his Hall of Fame induction.

Dixie finally demands that the mystery investor reveal themself. The Wolves come out with….MVP. MVP is revealed as the investor as Impact Wrestling ends.

My Take: EC3 and Magnus have good chemistry together. EC3 seems jealous of Magnus, hopefully TNA plays it slow and allows this to build to something big, possibly having EC3 join The Wolves and MVP.

The match was well done, but it was very basic. Angle was in most of the match, and spent it on his back. Joe got the hot tag and quickly made Magnus tap. Underwhelming would be the best way to describe it.

The post-match promo was excellent. Hard for any crowd to not get jacked up with Joe as the #1 contender. It all got Dixie even more worked up than she was originally, which built perfectly to the reveal.

MVP could be considered disappointing by some. However, assuming he goes with a similar character to the one he was in WWE, he could work out wonderfully.

Overall Impressions

Not a bad show, not very good though. TNA has kind of gone in reverse. They used to be the show with really good matches, but really confusing stories. Now their storylines are getting better, but their matches are getting rushed, and consequentially worse. If they could just find a place where both matches and storylines are good, they would be in a position to finally establish what they are and what they can be, which is an alternative that people could get behind.