TNA Impact Preview (January 19, 2016): Fifth Time's the Charm

TNA Impact returns tonight with a couple of title matches lined up. So let's take a look at them, shall we?

The big match up tonight is the main event, where Ethan Carter III will defend his newly won TNA title against his old foe Matt Hardy. Matt Hardy put his Impact career on the line for this last opportunity. This will be the fifth time the men have met. Let's take a quick look at their prior match ups.

August 6, 2015: EC3 defeated Matt Hardy in a Full Metal Mayhem match (which is the same a TLC match). Hardy won the right to have this match by defeating Bobby Roode in a #1 Contenders tables match. If I recall correctly, Tyrus ended up being banned from ringside at one point, either early on or before the match, so there was little to know interference in this match. Carter won this match clean.

September 2, 2015: After a couple weeks of Matt asking for a title match because he felt he was so close the last time, Carter granted him a rematch. However, it was only with the added stipulation that if Matt lost, his brother Jeff had to become Carter's personal assistant. Jeff agreed to the terms, showing faith in his brother. However, his faith was misplaced as a mule kick low blow from EC3 to Matt lead to a Carter victory.

October 4, 2015: The Slammiversary main event was originally going to be an intriguing one on one match between Drew Galloway and Ethan Carter. However, on the go-home Impact, a stipulation was made that if the team of Matt Hardy and Drew (who already had his title shot) defeated EC3 and Tyrus, Matt would get added to the Slammiversary main event. Drew was for some reason totally cool with that and the duo defeated Carter and his bodyguard. It was also added that night that Jeff Hardy, who had quit as Jeff's personal assistant, would referee the triple threat title match.

Towards the end of the title match, EC3 got into Jeff Hardy's face and ate a Twist of Fate (from Jeff) for his troubles. It lead to a sequence that ended in Matt Hardy pinning Drew Galloway to win the TNA title.

January 5, 2016: Right after Hardy's title win, EC3 filed a bunch of injunctions against TNA for the way he lost the title the night before. Because that would shut down the company, Matt Hardy opted to relinquish the title in order to keep TNA on TV. This lead to a multi-month tournament that predictably ended with EC3 and Matt Hardy in the finals. In a clean match, Carter delivered his One Percenter to Matt from the top rope for the win.

So as you can see, they've been doing this for awhile. However, with Matt's career on the line and his brother waiting in the wings for a title shot, I have the feeling this really is the final one. I haven't read the spoilers so I don't know anything about whether or not Matt sticks around if he loses, which I'm just assuming he does.

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Other matches set for the night:

Awesome Kong vs. Gail Kim (c) for the Knockout's Championship

A little over a week ago, at the One Night Only Pay Per View, Awesome Kong won a match to earn the right to face Gail for her championship. They've met so many times in the past that they put Matt Hardy and EC3 to change. The wrinkle in this one is that Awesome Kong has gone and taken over the Doll House, so now she has numbers beside her already intimidating presence.

The Beautiful People have had issues with the Doll House as of late so it would not be surprising to see them help even the numbers outside for Gail. Expect overbooked madness.

Here's the post match promo from last week after the Doll House defeated the Beautiful People, which has me still hopeful for this new Doll House iteration. I enjoy Kong's promo work.

The Miracle Michael Bennett's in ring debut

Or at least that's how TNA is advertising it. Because technically, his in ring debut was at the same PPV that Kong won the battle royal when he defeated Robbie E in a match. It's definitely possible we see a rematch of that match but as of now, no opponent has been named.

More interestingly, Bennett and his wife Maria Kanellis had words with fellow heel EC3 backstage regarding his TNA title. However, I can't imagine a heel vs. heel title program is in the works.

Beer Money in action

After last week's lackluster beer bash reunion, tonight we get to see what we loved the most about Beer Money: Tag matches. Last week, after their beer bash, Eric Young defeated Bobby Roode, which some assistance from Bram, for the King of the Mountain title. So it is possible we get the two teams meeting up, which would be a rematch from the One Night Only PPV. Or it is possible they use that as the feud the build to ask they beat up a more jobber team. Paging Eli Drake and Jessie Godderz.

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TNA Impact airs tonight at 9 EST on PopTV. Who's watching?