TNA Impact Results, Review, & Video (June 14, 2016): MAKE IT POP!

TNA Impact was live tonight (June 14, 2016) from Orlando with the fallout from Slammiversary, a handful of title matches, and a new TNA Hall of Fame Inductee. Let’s see how they did.

Well... talk about a horrible start for a show that was bound to get more eyes than usual given the PPV fallout and the live-ish nature. For the first hour and 50 minutes, PopTV had feed issues and the played the SAME. THREE. COMMERCIALS. OVER. AND. OVER. I documented how I slowly lost my mind in the live blog.

It was noted by others in the live blog that Fight Network did have the feed, so this looked to be more of a Pop issue than a TNA issue. But TNA’s image is already to the point that this is going to get LOLTNA no matter what.

[Editor’s note: Likely as a result of last night’s technical difficulties, video highlights haven’t been posted for the show yet. We’ll add those when/if they become available.]

Lashley opens the show and talks about how he's better than everyone... every wrestler in the business today. He said everyone is running away from a chance to face him.

EC3 responds and challenges him for the TNA title tonight. Lashley tells Carter that he's not ready for the Destroyer. Drew Galloway interrupts and says he wants his title rematch tonight, despite feeling like hell right now. While Lashley screams at Drew that he can’t beat him, Galloway invokes his rematch clause anyway.

Lashley has really come along as a heel, even on the mic. He feels really comfortable being the smug bastard who can back up every single thing he says. This segment made sense with all the characters involved.

EC3 and Lashley is the big feud that they’ve been hinting at for a while now, but they just need to whet the appetite. As for Drew, invoking his rematch clause is totally in character for him. His entire title reign, he made rash decisions in the name of “honoring the title” and this is just another one. While building to the rematch would have made it feel bigger, Galloway’s been making poor decisions his entire reign. Why stop now?

Jeff Hardy def. Eli Drake via DQ when Broken Matt Hardy runs in and bites Earl Hebner’s hand as he’s counting the pin!

Eli Drake stood toe-to-toe with Jeff in this match and it was a great call. While the reasoning was because Jeff was far from 100% after the beating he endured during his Full Metal Mayhem match at the PPV, it continues to make Drake look good. Eli is continuing to show he is something special and hanging with a vet like Jeff in any circumstances makes him feel bigger.

Sure, it looked like Jeff would have won, but he's still a main eventer. Drake holds a mid card title. But he looked good. And more importantly, Matt Hardy stopped a pin by biting the ref’s hand.

Jeff Hardy is still in the ring saying he was hoping Sunday would put an end to his brotherly feud with Broken Matt. But Matt is still deranged so Jeff wants to end it tonight. He calls "Brother Moore" out to the ring. Matt appears on the staircase that Jeff hit the Swanton from during their I Quit match. He says that the war is far from "ovah."

Jeff runs up to the top to meet Matt on top of the stiars and the two brawl... and then Reby sprays Jeff with a fire extinguisher! Matt then beats the crap out of Jeff and slides him down the railing into a table.

Backstage, Matt says that Jeff Hardy's Revelations has almost been orgasmic. Next week, they’ll fight in Six Sides of Steel. Then he chomps his teeth more.

Matt Hardy, never change. I continue to have great laughs while watching him and isn't having fun with wrestling the goal? It’s still just as ridiculous as ever but I still can't look away. Matt just continues to find ways to expand his character’s crazy and just waiting to see what he’s going to do next is so fun. Matt Hardy has given 110% to all the characters he’s played this year, no matter how weird, and it's paid off.

I also love that Reby has just embraced Broken Matt now. It’s as if she figured, “Well, he's not coming out of this and he’s still my husband so I may as well get on board.”

Jeff played his part well too. He’s the guy who’s just totally done with all this weird crap from his brother. He made it clear he was hoping it'd be over and he hoped that Matt would come back around after Slammiversary. But tonight he resigned to the fact that his brother has just lost his damned mind. And because of that, he just needs to put Matt down for good next week in the steel cage.

Eddie Edwards defeats Trevor Lee (w/Shane Helms) to retain the X Division Championship

These guys have strong chemistry together. They furthered their story some tonight. To really overcome Lee and the Helms Dynasty, Eddie would need to prove he could beat Lee with Shane Helms at ringside. It was an unavoidable obstacle that he’d need to eventually hurdle. To do so he made a calculated risk to take Helms out with a suicide dive in the latter portion of the match. Eddie was then able to make sure that he’d get Lee to where he could beat him one-on-one.

Gail Kim is announced for the TNA Hall of Fame

Not much to say about this except for the fact I think it’s an excellent choice. When people talk about the Knockouts, she’s one of the first to come to mind. She’s held the title five times, she's always great in the ring, and her feud with Awesome Kong was epic. Congrats to Gail!

The Decay defeat the BroMans, the Tribunal, and Mahabali Shera & Grado to retain the tag team titles

This was a fun match. There was a lot going on but it kept a good pace and was enjoyable. It was a bit weird that Al Snow's interference (pushing Grado off the top rope) directly lead to Decay winning. You'd think Snow would do that when his guys were positioned to win instead. But perhaps he hates Grado so much that he wants anyone who isn't Grado & Shera to win.

While these matches are fun, the Decay needs a feud with a story to help highlight what makes them great. They are fun in the ring, but their big strength is their character work. They didn’t get to build a feud with the BroMans, which is part of the reason their Slammiversary match was lacking. And while this was a fun match, it didn't get to play up their strengths either. That needs to be next for the Decay.

Maria and The Miracle Mike Bennett walk out. Bennett rants about how the crowd should appreciate him but they never did. (Oh, Mike Bennett is wearing a shirt that has a bunch of pineapples on it.) Maria talks about how Miracle's loss was a conspiracy from management, who doesn't want them to succeed. Bennett calls out TNA management.

Billy Corgan walks out. He says they aren't airing dirty laundry in public. Maria tells Corgan that she feels bad that Dixie sent him out to do her dirty work. Dixie takes that as her cue to come down to the ring herself. As Maria is ranting, Dixie tells her to shut up. Dixie tells Maria that they brought her in for wrestling and she's had zero one-on-one matches.

Maria then tells Dixie that she's the problem and that she could run her wrestling program better. Maria tells Dixie that Billy Corgan talks with the First Lady all the time. She then says that both her and her husband should be in the TNA Hall of Fame. Maria talks about how she is a self-made woman and starts stabbing her finger into Dixie's chest as she's ranting. Carter slapped Maria. Billy Corgan remains in the ring with Bennett and Kanellis.

I have mixed feelings on this segment. On one hand, Maria Kanellis trying to position herself for more power is very fitting with her character. She’s already politicked and manipulated her way to lead the Knockouts. Why not go for the entire kit and caboodle? I’ve become a big fan of Bennett’s promos as well and they are a great wrestling power couple.

I’m not enamored with the idea of putting Dixie Carter in the middle of a major story, though. She’s never been an interesting enough on-screen talent. And the subtle meta digs about how Dixie is the problem with TNA aren’t going to do them any favors. If they want to work on their image, which is something that is absolutely necessary, reminding the audience that Dixie Carter has issues running this company isn't the way to go about that. The heat that will bring to the feud isn’t worth it.

Billy Corgan isn’t a great on-screen character either. His delivery is stiff and it can be tough to care one way or another when he’s out there. So the hints of a Corgan/Dixie power struggle has no appeal to me.

Bobby Lashley defeats Drew Galloway to retain his TNA title

At the end of the match, Galloway goes for the Claymore kick but Lashley moves and Drew nails the ref instead. Lashley hits two spears on the challenger and then goes for a chair. EC3, who was on commentary at ringside, enters the ring and takes the chair. The two brawl. Carter then grabs the chair for himself and goes to hit Bobby. The Destroyer once again moves and EC3 nails Drew with the chair instead. Lashley hits a spear on EC3 and a ref comes down in time for Bobby to lock his front choke on Drew for the win.

This was a good match. They sold how beat up Drew was for awhile, but the man that he is, he was always going to fight back. There were some exciting near falls (something missing from their Slammiversary meeting) and the match was enjoyable.

The end leaves some interesting paths that can be explored. Obviously, there's the Carter/Lashley feud that is inevitable and already looks exciting. Then there’s Drew. Drew didn't lose this match clean so will he lobby for another match? How upset is he going to be with the fact that Carter directly cost him his shot to regain his title? Will they fight? Will losing the title that he loved be enough to turn Drew heel? There are plenty of interesting roads to go down here that this match set up.

Pros of the Show:

• The TNA title picture is looking good
• Broken Matt Hardy has my heart
• Gail Kim to the Hall of Fame

Cons of the Show:

• Building a story that looks to focus a lot on Dixie Carter and Billy Corgan
• The insanity I suffered watching those PopTV commercials over and over again.

Overall, this was a good fallout show with a good amount of fun stuff. Unfortunately, not a lot of people likely stuck around to watch it.

Grade: B

If you are at all interested in watching, Pop will be airing a replay tonight at 9 Eastern.