Impact
Wrestling
Date:
January 23, 2015
Location:
Manhattan Center, New York City, New York
Commentators:
Tazz, Josh Matthews
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
The
big story tonight is Feast or Fired, TNA's big Money in the Bank
style match with three potential title shots up for grabs, plus a
lone pink slip. This is usually a huge mess but the fallout can
change a lot of things going forward. The other situation is the
Beat Down Clan walking off with Lashley's World Title. Let's get to
it.
Feast
or Fired
Davey
Richards, Eddie Edwards, Samuel Shaw, Magnus, Bram, Rockstar Spud,
Austin Aries, Robbie E., Jesse Godderz, DJZ, Gunner, Crazzy Steve
It's
a ladder match with briefcases hanging over every corner. Only four
people win and everyone else walks away with nothing, which isn't the
worst outcome. The lights are very low again, likely covering up the
low attendance. Again, this is in New York City. There really
shouldn't be an excuse to not draw a thousand people to a wrestling
show, assuming the tickets aren't outrageous.
The
match is a huge brawl to start and Steve goes for an early briefcase,
only to have Velvet Sky offer a distraction to break it up. She
winds up going up and getting a case for Robbie, meaning he gets to
leave early. Steve chases Robbie and the Beautiful People off to
clear out the ring a bit. Spud goes up but isn't tall enough to grab
the case. Everyone but Shaw and Spud fight to the floor but Gunner
pops back in to crotch Shaw. Aries dropkicks Gunner in the back of
the head, only to be sent to the floor by Spud. Using Gunner as a
platform, Spud climbs up and pulls down a case.
Robbie
E. knocks Aries down again but stops to get a kiss from Angelina,
allowing the Wolves to kick him down. The Wolves load up a dive but
stop due to an Angelina distraction. Aries has the ring to himself
and takes down the third briefcase, THEN hits the dive to take
everyone out. Bram and Gunner get back in for a brawl on the pole
but it's Magnus powerbombing both guys down, leaving Magnus to take
down the last case at 7:41. Bram isn't pleased with Magnus taking
the case.
Rating:
D+. I'm sorry for all the play
by play in this but there's almost nothing else to do in one of these
things. It's almost all about the aftermath and if you're lucky
enough to get something fun in the middle like Spud climbing up onto
Shaw's back then so be it. There just wasn't much to see here but
there rarely is in Feast or Fired.
Lashley
is coming to the ring.
Magnus
says the pressure is on with the case when Bram comes up and says
that was his. Magnus isn't impressed and says calm down because he
got Bram his job here. Security has to break them up. You knew this
split was coming eventually and it makes perfect sense.
We
look back at the BDC beating Lashley down and leaving with the title
last week.
A
bandaged Lashley calls out the Beat Down Clan to bring him his title.
He gets Kenny King minus the belt, who says Lashley is too
ungrateful to make it in the BDC. Lashley couldn't beat Roode
without the BDC, where everyone is a potential World Champion.
Without blinking, Lashley still wants his title. King says get a
referee out here but doesn't want to wrestle in front of a bunch of
people who won't appreciate him. Cue the BDC to surround the ring
for the match.
Kenny
King vs. Lashley
Non-title
and Lashley is wrestling in an American Top Team (his MMA team)
shirt. King hammers away in the corner to start but Lashley throws
him down with a delayed vertical suplex and takes off the shirt.
Kenny misses a springboard and gets speared down, drawing in the BDC
for the DQ at 2:37.
MVP
says if Lashley wants his title, come get it in the streets.
Havok
vs. Gail Kim
Gail
jumps her in the aisle to start and hits a nice cross body off the
apron. They head inside for the bell with Havok taking her down in
the corner and driving forearms in the corner. Some kicks don't get
Kim anywhere and a bearhug spinebuster gets two for Havok. A hard
running knee to the face knocks Gail silly and she's holding her eye.
The announcers say this is a message to Awesome Kong, which would be
better than Havok's current resume. The referee calls Havok off but
gets shoved down, drawing the DQ at 4:06. Total destruction
otherwise.
Rating:
C-. Well they accomplished the
goal of making Havok look like a monster, but I'm still not
interested in seeing her vs. Kong. At the end of the day, Havok has
only been around a few months and probably lost almost as many
matches as she has won. It just doesn't add up to the year plus of
dominance for Kong.
Post
match Havok grabs Kim by the throat but here's Kong for the showdown.
Havok's forearm has no effect and Kong clotheslines her to the
floor.
We
recap Ethan Carter III challenging Jeremy Borash to fight him last
week.
Tigre
Uno vs. Khoya
This
is Khoya's debut as part of the Revolution. Tigre kicks at the legs
to start, drawing Storm up to the apron to slap him in the face. It
fires Khoya up to hit a bad looking fall away slam, followed by a Sky
High for the pin at 1:04.
Storm
says he'll be facing Matt Hardy tonight and he's stronger than any
demon Jeff has ever faced. He's stronger than any pill Jeff has
taken and any bottle he's ever drank. There's always room for one
more in the Revolution. That's quite the promo.
Roode
comes in to see Angle and says he doesn't care about their tag match
tonight because he wants Eric Young one on one. Angle says Roode has
to focus to win the title back, because if he goes in alone, he's
going to lose. I'm having a hard time getting behind the idea of
Roode vs. Young again when Young beat him in the big showdown last
week. But hey, why build to a match when you can have it with no
build, right TNA?
We
recap Eric Young vs. Bobby Roode with Josh saying they've been best
friends for twelve years. That's some creative history to put it
mildly.
Very
quick recap of Feast or Fired.
Spud
says he used to be a gopher and now he feels like he's moved forward
in his career. Even if he's fired, he's going to punch Ethan Carter
right in the face, but it's worth the gamble.
Eric
Young/Low Ki vs. Kurt Angle/Bobby Roode
Angle
and Low Ki get things going in a match that might never have taken
place before. Ki gets taken down to the match and it's off to Roode
vs. Young. Josh tries to figure out the relationship between Young
and the BDC, asking the same question I've had: if he has the same
enemies and associates and teams with the BDC, why don't they just
add him to the team? Low Ki comes back in and hammers away in the
corner for two but gets caught in a superplex, allowing for the hot
tag to Angle.
Everything
breaks down and the Angle Slam plants Low Ki, setting up the ankle
lock but Eric makes the save. Roode puts Low Ki in the crossface but
Angle brings in a chair. Joe and MVP come out on the stage for a
staredown, allowing Roode to break up the hold with another chair,
giving Low Ki the pin at 5:11. Our heroes ladies and gentlemen.
Rating:
D. This didn't have time to go
anywhere because we have to get 194 other things in on every episode.
However, the faces lose again because that's what happens in TNA.
It's the same story we've gone through time after time now, leading
up to what is probably going to be a long, drawn out story of the
faces being downtrodden until someone rises up to win a single big
match, leading to the heel stable implode over several months. How
do I know this? Well seeing it a dozen or so times with almost
nothing changes gives you a good idea.
MVP
is outside the arena on the street, telling Lashley to come and get
his title.
We
recap Rockstar Spud splitting from Ethan Carter III and Jeremy Borash
being dragged into it by saying he supports Spud.
Ethan
Carter III vs. Jeremy Borash
Carter
introduces himself because he's fighting the announcer. JB comes out
with Spud and shakes hands with Mark Andrews, the winner of British
Boot Camp 2. Carter still has the mic in his hand and does
commentary for the match. Borash finally shoves him away and takes
the mic. The fans like to tell Carter that he can't wrestle, but he
can't announce either.
Borash
actually nails Carter in the jaw and knocks him into the corner, only
to get taken down with a tackle. The beating is on but Carter yells
at Spud, drawing in both Spud and Tyrus with the big man dropping him
with a heart punch. Andrews comes in with a springboard dropkick as
the match is thrown out at about 2:00.
A
double dropkick puts Tyrus on the floor and Andrews hits a nice
shooting star to take everyone out.
Matt
Hardy vs. James Storm
Matt
hits a quick running clothesline in the corner to start and they're
quickly on the ramp. Hardy stays on offense by sending Storm into
the steps over and over, followed by an elbow from the apron to the
back. Back in and Storm puts him on the middle rope for a
Backstabber (now called the Lung Blower) to take over. A quick Side
Effect gets two for Hardy as the darkness over the crowd is even more
noticeable than before. The people there are making noise but the
visual is horrible. Closing Time sets up the Last Call but Matt
ducks and counters the Eye of the Storm into a small package for the
pin at 5:17.
Rating:
D+. This really didn't do
anything for me and felt like they were just doing moves to each
other until one of them won. I'm really not caring to see Hardys vs.
Revolution, but then again I'm not wild on Storm as a Tag Team
Champion again. At least
it's better than some of the stupid teams they could have had.
Post
match Hardy turns down a handshake offer, drawing in Abyss to help
Storm hit a Last Call. Abyss gets out Janice but Jeff Hardy makes
the save with a chair. Jeff
challenges Abyss for Monster's Ball next week. Again?
A
preview for next week shows Lashley with the title in a pretty big
spoiler.
Samoa
Joe comes up to MVP on the street but MVP says he has this.
It's
time for the reveal of the briefcases. There's
a World, Tag Team and X-Division Title match and a pink slip. Robbie
E. has a camera on a stick to record himself and Velvet Sky's every
move. Rockstar Spud goes first and
has.....an X-Division Title
shot. Magnus' case
contains.....a Tag Team
Title shot. So it's Robbie
E. or Austin Aries with the pink slip or World Title shot.
Back
from a break with Aries getting in a Stuart Scott reference by saying
he feels as cool as the other side of the pillow. Robbie points out
that Velvet Sky grabbed the case and has the footage to prove it. In
other words, the case belongs to her.
As luck would have it, Velvet is the one getting fired, meaning
Aries gets the World Title shot. Robbie
gets on the table and dances, shouting that he still has a job,
leaving Velvet in tears.
Lashley
goes outside and beats up MVP on the street. MVP punches him back
and they head inside, likely to avoid getting arrested. The rest of
the BDC jumps Lashley and beat him back outside until Roode and Angle
make the save with a pipe. Roode
picks up the belt and stares at it to end the show.
Overall
Rating: C-. This show goes by
so fast that it's hard to tell if it's good or not. They keep it
moving so fast that it's almost impossible to remember everything
that happens, but as usual they're flying through almost everything
they have in a week or two. It's
not a bad show, but they really need to slow down instead of just
burning through everything they have. For instance, Lockdown is in
two weeks and while you can see most of the card coming from here,
the show hasn't even been mentioned yet because we have to get
everything else in. Decent
enough show this week but it's typical TNA.
Results
Magnus,
Rockstar Spud, Austin Aries and Robbie E. won Feast or Fired
Lashley
b. Kenny King via DQ when the BDC interfered
Gail
Kim b. Havok via DQ when Havok shoved the referee
Khoya
b. Tigre Uno – Sky High
Eric
Young/Low Ki b. Kurt Angle/Bobby Roode – Ki pinned Roode after a
chair shot from Young
Ethan
Carter III vs. Jeremy Borash went to a no contest
Matt
Hardy b. James Storm – Small package
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