Current Watch List:

• Low Ki & Eric Young vs. Kurt Angle & Bobby Roode (TNA)
• Matt Hardy vs. James Storm (TNA)
  
• Valiente vs. Kamaitachi in a lightning match (CMLL)
• Chris Sabin vs. Shannon Moore (AAW)
• The Hooligans vs. Zero Gravity in a double dog collar match (AAW)

Low Ki & Eric Young vs. Kurt Angle & Bobby Roode
United States & Canada
TNA

Big heel stable versus top babyfaces is both a simple and potentially effective booking direction.  TNA has gone to this well time and time again with little in the way of positive results.  I am not asking for the Dangerous Alliance or anything, just a heel stable vs. promotional babyface feud that delivers fun, varied TV matches and maybe even a memorable match or two.

If this match is any indication, Beat Down Gang (terrible name, by the way) versus TNA won’t be that feud.

On paper this looks like a good match.  Ki can still be very good when he wants, Angle is Angle, Roode is solid, and I don’t have much of an opinion one way or another on Young.  It also has that fun random element of a Dangerous Alliance TV tag.  As usual with TNA, a match with some potential on paper ends up coming far closer to its floor than its ceiling.  This was a boring, nothing of a match with a poor finish to cap it off.  Not at all surprising, of course.

Matt Hardy vs. James Storm
United States & Canada
TNA

Like a “good” 2000 Nitro match, this was short and inoffensive which is enough to pass as a good match on Impact.  Actually, that’s unfair because last week’s show had several matches better than this.  Hardy and Storm were both fine.  It’s just there is no oomph to any of these matches.  The totally empty crowd doesn’t help matters.   Maybe things will pick up when they get to the Friday night tapings that actually had some fans in the crowd, but man did this week’s matches feel even more dry and empty than usual for TNA.

Valiente vs. Kamaitachi
Lucha
CMLL
Lightning Match

Another nice lightning match effort by Kamaitachi.  I am not sure this one really separated itself the tightly bunched group of 2015 lightning matches, but it was solid which is all I really want.  Kamaitachi has come into his own as a rudo and seems very comfortable under a mask.  I know New Japan just brought back El Desperado under a masked gimmick a year ago, but they might want to consider the same for Kamaitachi.  It suits him.  He’s obviously improved in-ring during this time as well, but he comes across far more impressive under this gimmick than he did wrestling as himself last summer for ASW in Europe.