Matches Watched:

Kurt Angle vs. MVP
United States & Canada
TNA
Street Fight

This was announced as a street fight presumably because both guys were in street clothes.  There was nothing that made this match a street fight beyond lack of ring attire  As the first match of TNA’s Destination America run, this felt a lot like a match from TNA’s Spike run.  MVP decided the best way to work a street was to do some mat work and submissions, some of which were perfectly fine but made little sense in the context.  Maybe he’s putting together an audition tape for New Japan.  Kurt Angle did what Kurt Angle does and that’s throw German suplexes.  Nothing match.

Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards vs. James Storm & Abyss (c)
United States & Canada
TNA
Tag Team Championship

The Wolves hit four tandem topes in a row in this match.  The topes weren’t that great as there is no room at ringside to really get extended and there is the whole diminishing returns thing, too.  Like the opener, this wasn’t bad but it was just there.  Davey Richards was Davey Richards.  I thought Storm looked good taking some well timed bumps.  There was a cluster finish involving Sanada, Manik, and the Hardys that I didn’t quite understand the point of.  Given that the Wolves lost after the Hardys got involved (on their behalf) I am assuming this will lead to tensions between the Hardys and Wolves, so that feud will continue as well.

Low Ki (c) vs. Austin Aries
United States & Canada
TNA
X-Division Championship

Low Ki looked good in the limited non-TNA matches I saw him in during 2014.  He had a quality tour of Preston City Wrestling in May with a trio of uniquely different matches involving Uhaa Nation, Dave Mastiff, and El Ligero.  He had a legitimately excellent match versus Ricochet for Red’s promotion.  He looked good here – like the best guy on the show so far – and needs to be doing something better than this.  The same could be said for Aries.  They attempted to do a normal build and have a normal match, but like everything else on the same show, the match ended up as nothing.

Bobby Roode (c) vs. Bobby Lashley
United States & Canada
TNA
TNA World Championship

Roode and Lashley had a nice little television title that was undone somewhat by a commercial break and a cluster ending.  Roode really laid in his shots, including a hard follow through lariat while on the floor.  Lashley worked snug as well which made for fun, physical TV main event.  The commercial break took away some of their momentum and the finish just wasn’t good.  Of course, since this is a reboot for TNA, that means unexplained and random heel turns.  In this case, it was Joe, Low Ki, and Eric Young.  Ki and Joe are definitely aligned with MVP while Young’s turn seemed more “personal”.  This stuff has been done so many times it has no meaning at all.

Aztec War Fare Battle Royal
Lucha
Lucha Underground
Lucha Underground World Championship

Lucha Underground devoted the entire hour of their TV to this match – a timed entranced battle royal where eliminations could only occur via pin fall or submission.  The decision to not utilize over the top rope eliminations was a necessary one in order to keep dives in play.  The match was laid out well in terms of eliminations and using dives to keep the ring cleared of too many bodies.  It was an interesting match to watch given that LU is still trying to find that mix between traditional wrestling booking and a more innovative/progressive format.  There were times they hit on both and there were times that they missed on both.  In terms of individual performances, Fenix looked the best bringing some big time times and offense to the match.  The booking of Prince Puma was a bit odd and his execution seemed off as well, neither of which was a good thing given that he was booked as the eventual winner.    The match dragged onto long which made what should have been the pinnacle of the match (and really the booking of the promotion to this point) – the final two between Johnny Mundo and Puma – come off a bit flat.  This was an interesting match to watch with a lot going on.  More thoughts at the end of the month . . .