TNA Impact Review and Reactions

Hello everyone and welcome back to Talk Wrestling World, I hope you are all well and good! Last week I wrote my first ever TNA Review and I had so much fun writing it. I was not expecting the review to go down half as well as it did and so I decided to do another one this week. I don't know how frequent these are going to be during Wrestlemania season but once Mania is over this is going to become a regular, weekly thing here on my blog and in time I want to start looking at writing more posts on Lucha Underground, ROH, and more so let me know if that is something you will be interested in seeing here on my blog. Again, I had a lot of fun writing this weeks TNA Review and Reactions posts so I hope you guys like it. It was a pretty good episode of Impact this week so it made a good review to write. This will be replacing my NXT Review this week just because I wasn't sure how many of you would have wanted to read a review on a show that only had one match. If you would like to see an NXT Review from this weeks show than let me know. As always I will link bellow any recent blog posts including this weeks top five and this weeks RAW Review and Reactions. And finally, you can let me know what you thought of this weeks Impact by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria.

This week saw the start of an very emotional episode of Impact wrestling. With the Farewell Kurt Angle tour coming to an end the night started out with some the roster and backstage crew surrounding the ring to say thank you to one of the best wrestlers in the history of pro wrestling, Kurt Angle. As a girl who grew up admiring Angle and a huge fan right through to adult life I have to admit that there sure was a tear to my eye during this week opening. Angle will forever be remembered as an all time great and while he's career in TNA came to an end last night it felt good to be able to watch this with my brother like we were kids again and celebrate the phenomenal career of a phenomenal wrestler. Dixie Carter opened the show honouring Angle and thanking him for everything he has done not only for TNA but for wrestling industry. The man himself soon came down to the ring picking up a massive reaction from the British crowd and once in the ring the fans did not stop with their respectful chants aimed at Kurt. He and Dixie shared one last special moment before Drew Galloway also said a thew words. It was a couple of weeks back that these two competed in a fantastic match up on Impact and seeing Drew as emotional as everyone else and talking of he's personal feelings towards Angle was a very special moment. The former ICW Champion said that he had wanted to come and compete at Impact for two reasons, the first to compete with the best roster in the world and the second to face off against the man he looked up to the most, Kurt Angle. These special moments really did make my night. Celebrating Angles career at the top of the show was a great touch to the night and really made it feel like Kurt Angle night. The mood however soon shifted when Angle opponent for the night and he's final TNA opponent Bobby Lashley came down to the ring also. While he did thank Angle and show he's respects he told the former World champion that he just was not ready to face him and walked off back backstage. As far as emotional openings go this was right up there. I liked every single moment including the closing moments of the segment involving Lashley. It set the feel and the vibe for the main event of the night and as a huge fan of both of these guys it sure as hell got me excited for their final one on one.

Eric Young was set to defend he's king of the mountain championship next in a king of the mountain match up. This is a very unique, interesting match that I always find myself enjoying. The one downfall I had with last nights was that I felt it was too short. It would have been nice if it went on for lets say at least another seven minuets but for the time the five competitors had they put on an entertaining and solid match to say the very least. The contenders would of consist of Irish talent Big Damo, Jimmy Havoc, Bram, Will Ospreay and of course Eric Young. I want to quickly talk about my opinions on the alliance of Bram and Eric Young; I'm a huge Bram fan, I've said it before here on my blog and on twitter but I've never been an Eric Young fan at all. I don't know what it is I don't like about him but I just ain't a fan. I'm not going to take away the fact that he is a brilliant entertainer and a great wrestler but I have never been able to actually call myself a fan. Both talents are completely off their head. They're so insane they make the likes of Dean Ambrose look sane and there is something that works with their alliance but I don't know if it's something I want to see continue. I don't mind seeing them work together but I think it's more of a case of I'd rather not if you get what I mean. But with nothing really solid for them on their own I probably do think that what they have been doing together works for now. The match itself was solid. There wasn't a true stand out for me in this match, I don't think it was long enough for one man to stand out massively and take the spotlight but I was very impressed with Will Ospreay. I don't know all that much about him but by the end of the match I wanted to go and search him up and do some research. He was one of the smaller guys in this match but it wasn't something that worked against him and he did have a thew impressive spots and took a harsh looking bump off the ladder. I would have liked to have seen more from Big Damo and Jimmy Havoc but they both did make sure their names were known in this match. Once Jimmy served he's time he climbed to the top of the box and hit a cross body  across Bram and Damo. Throughout the early stages we saw Bram and Young work together as expected. Young hit a perfect looking piledriver on Jimmy on the steps while Bram pinned Damo in the centre of the ring making the two and Ospreay eligible for a win. A little stare down between Bram and Young saw this match truly become every man for himself as the two "friends" went to blows both looking for the win. By the end of it however it was Young who was left climbing to the top of the ladder and hooking the title to keep hold of he's championship. A good opening match that could have been a lot stronger if it was a little longer.

Last week Drew Galloway and Mike Bennett put on a strong match up against one another and this week their feud continued on. After Maria and Mike came down to the ring to announce that they believed Bennett was in line for a TNA World Title shot they spoke about how he deserved such a prestigious match and talked about how once champion Bennett would save impact wrestling. Asking Dixie to come down to the ring the pair were instead greeted by Drew Galloway who charged to the ring with the crowd as usual going completely crazy for him. Galloway reminded Bennett that here in impact your not handed what you want just like that and this was a wrestling company not a charity and if he wanted to be champion than he would have to start doing and fighting more instead of running he's mouth and acting like a little bitch and started walking towards Maria where he said "talking of witch" witch started a little chant aimed at the former WWE Diva. Bennett was of course not impressed with what Galloway had to say, noting that Drew had to beg he's way into a rematch against Kurt Angle because he was not man enough to get the job done in the first place.Bennett then demanded that Galloway head back to the locker room and get Dixie. He refused and attacked Mike sending him out of the ring to close the segment. Another good segment in my eyes. The more I see of this feud and the more attention I pay the more interest I gain. These two have a decent amount of chemistry and their matches work out as good as their promos and segments.

After pinning Gail Kim and attacking her during last weeks Impact this week Jade was given a Knockouts championship match and coming down to the ring on her own without the Dollhouse by her side I was interested in seeing where this match was going to go. I'm a fan of both of these women. I have always looked up to Gail. She's a fantastic wrestler, hands down the greatest TNA Knockout of all time. And then you have Jade. A women who I have also been looking up to for many years. I was a fan of her before she came to TNA and I'm a fan of her to this day. I wasn't expecting her to walk away with the victory over Gail and the new Knockouts champion but they are both such talented and skill full competitors that the action in itself was bound to be strong and it was. Like I have mentioned before with matches I do wish it was a little longer just because I think this could have been a brilliant match but the two put on a solid one on one this week that I found myself interested and entrained by. Gail for me was the stand out. She showed throughout who was the veteran of the two countering Jades best moves and finding a way to hold on throughout the match in order to keep hold of her title and she of course locked the figure four on the ring post that gave her the advantage mid way through the match. The champ did favour her shoulder after Jade found this as a weak spot for Gail. She had the crowd completely on her side and moved around the ring with so much ease and grace it was admiring as always. Jade may not have got the win or the championship this time but I do think she is a future champion and still had a great future ahead of her. She is as so many say, the future of Impact and the Knockouts division.

Another championship match next at the Wolves defended their tag team titles against Bear Money following their segment from last weeks show. I was never the biggest fan of the Bear Money. Of course I loved watching them, I loved their chemistry, and I thought they were a brilliant team. I never had an issue or disliked them but I wasn't a super crazy fan of theirs but I have to admit that is sure is great seeing them reunite today and work together again, it gives me a nice little feeling and they are just as entertaining as they were back when bear money first started. The Wolves remain my favourite tag team in all of pro wrestling today. I could legit watch these two compete all night long. They're two fantastic talents who know how to keep you entertained and put on phenomenal matches. Last night these two teams came together to put on one of the strongest matches of the night. In all honesty I wasn't expecting to enjoy this match half as much as I actually did. The first half of this match saw the Wolves in control. Sporting Union jack body art on their chest the pair worked together as well as always to show the world why they are champions and one of the best tag teams in the world. They made sure their speed and agility worked in their favour and worked together fantastically to gain early control. But the experience of bear money meant that the Wolves did not have an easy ride as Storm and Roode showed their brilliant arsenal and determination to capture gold. The pair spent a great deal of time in the ring together working as a solid unit to pick up several close calls and eventually they would pick up the win to become the new world tag team champions for the fifth time in their careers. A very strong match that I seriously enjoyed watching. I was of course backing the Wolves but the build up and their performance this week showed that the TNA originals earned their right to be champions and I was very happy for them.

Grado was out in the ring next who cut a little rant like promo witch to be honest I had very little interest in. He claimed he had video proof that he should not have been fired. The whole thing was cut short when Eli Drake came out to degrade the Scottish talent even more. I'll be honest I kinda zoned out here. I struggle to have any interest in anything Eli Drake does. I do think he is a very gifted man with a lot to offer but at the moment he is just doing nothing for me and I have such little interest in what he does and says. Jessie and Eli would beat down on Grado but Shera came for the save that didn't really work out as it should have and instead Grado took out Eli and Jessie and ran off with Drake briefcase.

Main event time now, as Kurt Angle stepped into the TNA ring for the final time taking on the destroyer, Bobby Lashley. I was really looking forward to this match for multiple reasons. This was Angle's final match in TNA. I have already said it here in today's post that I have always looked up to Kurt and admired him throughout my journey as a wrestling fan. I was also looking forward to this match because of how much of a Bobby Lashley fan I am. If you have been reading my blog and following me on twitter for a decent amount of time then you will know that I am a massive Lashley fan. I always have been and I always will be. There is never a time when I don't enjoy a Lashley match and this was sure as hell not going to be any different. We have seen these two talents go one on one before with Angle holding a 2-0 win over the former world champion in Lashley and so their chemistry was pretty solid. This was such an important night and match for Lashley. He was given the honour to be Kurt Angle's final TNA opponent and if he was able to win this match than it would easily be the biggest win and most important match of he's entire career. The destroyer did walk into this match with he's game face on and picked up very early control of this match wearing Angle down and giving Angle the fight of he's life. As impressive as always Lashley looked to be

dominating Angle so strongly that he could be picking up the win fairly early into this match. However, a serious of German suplexes gave Angle the control he needed as the match shifted to Angles side. Bleeding from the mouth Angle fought on to win he's final match but it was not going to come easy with Lashley fighting back just as hard showing us all why he deserved the honour of being Kurt's last opponent. This so quickly became a brilliant wrestling match and one that I'm so glad I got to see. Me and my brother were saw on the edge of our seats not wanting this match to end for all the obvious reasons and more. There was close fall after close fall and moments where both wrestlers looked as though they could tap out but the closing moments saw Lashley find he's way out of the ankle lock, send Angle shoulder first into the ring post and hit a massive spear to pick up a huge huge victory of Kurt Angle. After the match the two embraced and shared a moment but Lashley shocked us all when he blind sided Angle attacking him and everyone in sight including Eddie Edwards and Drew Galloway. EC3 came down to the ring also but Lashley instead of attacking EC3 left the ring and the show closed.

I liked this weeks Impact. We had a couple of great matches and an amazing main event that I haven't stopped talking about all week long. Next week we are in for a great show as TNA Impact comes live to our screens and I will be back here on Saturday with a review for that show. For now, you can let me know what you thought of this weeks show by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria.