TNA Impact Preview (March 22, 2016): Championship Fallout

TNA Impact returns tonight from Orlando with the fallout from last week which saw Drew Galloway shake things up when he won the TNA Heavyweight Title.

Coming into last week, the main event was essentially another chapter in the drawn out Matt Hardy/Ethan Carter feud. Being back in the states, they were able to introduce Jeff Hardy to the equation. However, instead of opting to slowly change up the main event scene, TNA decided for a complete shake up by having Drew Galloway cash in his Feast or Fired briefcase to defeat Matt Hardy for the TNA title.

We will hear from Drew Galloway to open the show tonight after his big win. We will also probably hear from Matt Hardy, who has already been ranting on Twitter about how he was screwed. Matt Hardy's promo work has been on point since he's become ICONIC and that shouldn't change. He can still be the same self righteous jerk without the title complaining about conspiracy.

Jeff Hardy was removed from the title match after being attacked by Eric Young and Bram, which indicates that feud will continue. However, it won't continue for that long since Eric Young has announced he is leaving TNA, along with Bobby Roode. He'll have to drop his King of the Mountain title along the way, but they have likely at least a month of episodes to get to that point.

The last piece of the puzzle from last week is Mike Bennett attacking Ethan Carter III eliminating him from the title match. His motive is unclear, though it was hinted that he was paid by Matt Hardy to ensure the former champ kept his title. That is a feud between two of the company's younger, promising talent. It almost feels as if these two should have been kept apart for a bit longer to make this feud feel bigger.

Asides from Drew Galloway kicking off the show, there's only one things advertised for tonight

1) Beer Money's Championship Invitational

Last week, it was announced that James Storm and Bobby Roode will defend their titles against any team that has already held the TNA Tag Titles. And that leaves me at a bit of a loss because the only former tag champs that I can think of currently in TNA are the Hardy brothers who are currently feuding... unless they are going to reunite the BroMans?

Wait, are they going to reunite the BroMans?? Because I would actually be totally down with that. (If they do, I preferred their original theme.)

There's a bigger story looming over the tag division, though. The division was already extremely thin with the loss of Davey Richards, taking the Wolves out of the equation. With Bobby Roode is following Eric Young out the door, that ends Beer Money's run. The Decay may be the tag champions because they are legitimately the only team around.

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What we'd like to see:

1) What's up with the X Division?

It's been weeks since the X Division was featured on TV. Is it even still a division or are we just forgetting about that? If that's the case, that's fine. I'd rather they just retire the division instead of tread out three guys to do random triple threats every a couple weeks as the announcers try to sell us on how awesome the X Division is. Plus, with the KOTM title existing as well, that leaves too many singles title for a pretty thin roster.

I'd prefer they build the X Division up a bit and make it something to care about, especially because they recently brought Trevor Lee in and put the title on him. Either way, it'd be nice to know.

2) The direction of the Knockouts

Last we checked on the Knockouts, Gail Kim and Maria Kanellis were on a collision course which has been a fun story. But there's also Jade, who looked like a total badass the last couple times she was on TV. I'd hate to see her forgotten during the Kim/Maria feud. They also need to figure out something with Velvet Sky and Madison Rayne and the rest of the Doll House so it's not a 3 woman division.

3) The status of the Pope

Last week, Lashley speared the Pope D'Angelo Dinero when he got into the ring to protect his fellow announcer, Josh Mathews. It's been hinted here and there that maybe the Pope would enter some storylines. About a month or go, Tyrus seemed to have issue with him when he was ringside. Now, Pope has issues with Lashley.

The Pope has been an entertaining in ring performer, but he and Mathews aren't doing well as the announce team. Getting the Pope into the ring would help with their thin roster and take care of 50% of the announcing issues.

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