TNA Impact Preview (Dec. 8, 2016): Impact Zone season finale

TNA Impact returns tonight (Dec. 8, 2016) from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida with it’s final taping of 2016. Here are our five questions about Impact tonight.

1) Will this feel like a season finale?

The last set of Impact tapings, which took place after Bound for Glory, lead up to this episode. So when it comes to Impact Zone TV, tonight is it. (Next week is all off site Total Nonstop Deletion stuff.) Then there’s a couple weeks at the end of the year of likely filler content, meaning this could feel like a season finale for their non-Matt Hardy stories.

We won’t see most of the people in TNA until the new year (unless they show up at Total Nonstop Deletion). Will some feuds end? (Shera and Al Snow are tagging against the Tribunal so we can only hope that one does.) Will there be a cliff hanger ending? That brings me to the next question.

2) Is EC3 turning heel tonight?

Tonight, Ethan Carter will face TNA champion Eddie Edwards in a title match. Last week, they had a verbal back and forth. They made it known they were friends and respected each other. But EC3 made his intentions clear. When the bell rings, they are no longer friends and he will do whatever it takes to win that title back.

Carter won the champion to open 2016 as a heel. He soon turned face when Matt Hardy turned heel and won the title from him. EC3 hasn’t held the title since. Now he has a chance to close 2016 the way he opened it: winning the championship.

While I think his face run has been overall successful, I’ve seen some in the comments longing for him as a heel. The way he was talking to Edwards, that’s not out of the realm of possibility for tonight.

3) So what’s the deal with Total Nonstop Deletion?

Next week is TNA’s all off-site Matt Hardy themed episode. However storyline wise, we don’t know anything about it. We don’t know why it is happening or what is even is. Sure there have been some spoilers about what’s involved there, but for those who just watch Impact weekly and don’t follow on-line much otherwise, this will all be new when it’s addressed tonight.

None-the-less, it’ll be wild as can be. We’ll find out from the Broken genius himself what next week’s festivities entail. Then we can get to speculating in full.

4) Is this Eli Drake “can’t talk” stipulation really lame as hell?

Eli Drake lost a match to EC3 two weeks ago and because of that, he’s not allowed to talk for the of 2016. Drake has a silver tongue, which is why the stipulation is so damning for him, but this stipulation could challenge him creatively and raise his stock even more.

There’s just one catch: This is the last taped episode of 2016.

Last week, he was only involved in a brief backstage segment. That means unless he shows up on Total Nonstop Deletion, this is only the episode for him to have fun with this stipulation. Because after that, we’ll see him in 2017 and he can speak all he wants.

If his losing his voice means he can’t talk for just one episode, that’ll be pretty disappointing.

5) Will Allie show some in ring chops tonight?

Allie has finally stood up to Maria, slapping her last week when Maria’s endless barrage of insults pushed her to her limit. However, immediately after, she was attacked by Laurel Van Ness. Tonight, those two will face off over that, and presumably the fact they both like Braxton Sutter.

Allie has been great as the lovable, bubbly assistant. However, eventually she’s going to need to start “learning how to wrestle” given her character isn’t at all proficient between the ropes. The month between this episode and the next time we see her would be a good time to say she’s out learning so she can come back with more skill. But it’d be nice to show that she’s picked up a little something in the time she’s been in TNA.

TNA Impact returns tonight at 8 EST on Pop TV. Who’s watching?