TNA Impact Preview (March 15, 2016): Go Back, Matt, Do It Again

TNA Impact returns tonight with a live show from Orlando. And the main event is another installment in the Matt Hardy/EC3 saga.

Honestly, I've lost count the amount of title matches these men have had at this point. I think this is their sixth TNA Title match in the past sixth months but I could easily be off. This is the third of the heel Matt/face Ethan match ups if you count the initial double turn as part of that. And while the main angle has been overall enjoyable, it could use more story building and less just re-running the same match over and over.

Last match they had was three weeks ago in a steel cage. Matt Hardy retained because Rockstar Spud turned on Ethan. The week after, Ethan beat the ever living snot out of Spud. And here we are. At this point, they should probably move on from Ethan/Matt and let EC3 do whatever he's going to do next as Matt does what he's going to do next, which is probably feud with his brother.

Speaking of...

What else is advertised for the show

1) Jeff Hardy vs. Eric Young (c)

Eric Young was used to write Jeff off of TV so he could skip the UK tour. EY blamed Jeff for his loss in the World Title Series semi finals and made him pay by pile driving him through a table as Jeff's brother just stood in watch. Now that TNA is back in the states, Jeff gets to have his revenge.

I thought they mentioned last week this was for the KOTM title but can't find anything about that being the case on TNA's website. Even if it were, I can't see Jeff winning the KOTM belt. The KOTM title is still a bit of an enigma (not a charismatic one) in TNA because it's not well defined, especially with an X Division singles title as well. There aren't enough "young guys/mid carders" to make a realistic division for one midcard championship, let alone two. And if someone like Jeff Hardy were to win this title, what's not to make this title stronger than the actual TNA title?

Honestly, at this point, I would almost prefer they completely scrap it or make it a King of the Mountain gimmick only title.

2) Bobby Lashley's explanation

Last week, Bobby Lashley went full blown rudo after he beat Kurt Angle in the Olympian's last TNA match. He hit Angle with multiple post match spears, along with doling one out to Drew Galloway and one to Eddie Edwards. He didn't bother with EC3 when Carter came down to confront the Destroyer. Instead, he just smiled and left.

Tonight, we may get to hear why Lashley did what he did. Because in the end, he got what he wanted. He wanted to face Kurt Angle and avenge the loss that Kurt handed him last year and he got both of those things. So why didn't he leave it at that? That's what we'll find out tonight.

It may also set up Lashley's next feud, which could be against Drew Galloway or EC3. Both would be good hoss-esque feuds. And perhaps we'll double back to the mysterious Raquel that Lashley had a couple encounters with. However if we don't see her with him soon, I'd assume that angle was dropped.

3) "The Miracle" Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis vs. Drew Galloway and Gail Kim

This tag match makes sense in a couple of ways. Galloway has had issues with Bennett, last being that Bennett got a dirty win over him on Impact two weeks ago. Gail has had problems with Maria since Maria called the Knockouts division garbage and is ducking a match with Gail. Plus both Gail and Drew were both outmatched on the microphone with their respective encounters with Bennett and Maria and needed to use the word "bitch" as a crutch for a cheap pop, so that is also something they have in common.

The one possible issue with this match, and we'll have to see how it plays out to know if it really is one, is that Gail trying to get Maria to wrestle at all has been a major crux of their story. So to just put Maria in the ring at all does a disservice to the build to that part of the angle. Now it is entirely possible she dresses to fight and never ever steps in the ring (which is what she should do) but if she did, it would be a bit anti-climactic the way they've been building it.

4) Grado's evidence

It's been hinted at for over a month that Eli Drake switched his "Feast or Fired" Fired contract with Grado's King of the Mountain contract. Grado has been hinting at the evidence for awhile now and apparently we're finally going to find out what happened. While this has dragged on, I am curious to see what happens to Eli Drake if it's learned that he really should have opened the Fired Briefcase. We could find out tonight.

And we don't have to wait for Impact to see this evidence because TNA has already posted it.

That's pretty damning stuff, Eli.

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What we'd like to see:

1) The plan for Eddie Edwards

During the last Impact of the UK taping, half of the former tag team champions Davey Richards tore his ACL and he will miss a significant chunk of time. That leaves Eddie Edwards to fly solo and it would make sense for him to get some X Division work in. Last year when Eddie Edwards had a broken bone in his foot, that's what they did with Davey. And frankly, the X Division needs the added talent.

We haven't seen anything of the X Division since the last Tigre Uno vs. Trevor Lee match. This is a good chance to give the division just a little bit of life.

2) Who is Beer Money's next opponent?

Now that Beer Money have the tag team titles, which they won last week, who do they feud with? There aren't many teams available in the division now that the Wolves are on hiatus. They could feud with they Decay, the macabre team of Abyss, Crazzy Steve, and Rosemary. Or they could reunite their feud with Bram and Eric Young, though that was a lackluster feud that they just finished with.

Now that they won those titles, they can hopefully find something entertaining to do with them asides from just carry them around.

3) Jade

Last week, Jade and Gail Kim had a badass match. Jade was without the Doll House during the match, making her character look stronger. Even though Gail's focus appears to be more on Maria Kanellis, that does not mean that Jade should fade away. There are enough women in this Knockouts division where Jade can be a featured player. She could break off with the Doll House and feud with them or she could keep her allegiance with them as she feuds with someone else. (Unfortunately, the only ones I can think of are Velvet Sky and Madison Rayne and we've seen that a bunch.)

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