Impact Wrestling on Destination America
Wednesday, June 3
Soundstage 20
Universal Studios, Orlando, FL

The show opened with EC3 making his way to the ring to celebrate being the new number one contender. He had a barber shop quartet singing his entrance music, making this one of the better openings to Impact in a while. Who doesn’t love a barber shop quartet? The quartet sang “He’s the Number One Contender” to the tune of “He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” while balloons fell from the rafters. Pope (who is our guest commentator for the week) said this reminded him of the time he was in the boys choir. I think they’re rushing into the EC3 title match, I would’ve spent a few more months trying to give him credibility and shouting from the rooftops that this guy is special. He better not lose though.

EC3 invited Angle to the ring. Angle said that EC3 isn’t next in line for a World title shot because Destination X is next week and Spud has the opportunity to invoke Option C and cash in the X-Division title for a shot at Angle. Destination X is traditionally in July, I really don’t see why they’re rushing Spud getting a World title shot. There’s a PPV in 3 and a half weeks that needs building up but for some reason they’ve put a TV special in the way first. Not to mention Spud cashing in in July with EC3 as World champion would be a much better idea. Where’s the four weeks of promos and video packages presenting Spud as the ultimate underdog, a man who’s always been told he’s too small to succeed in wrestling, who’s earned this opportunity by working hard and who is finally getting a chance to live his dream and defeat Kurt Angle for the World title? It frustrates me to see this company rush absolutely everything and as a result nothing ever feels special. They never get the most out of anything. EC3 asked the quartet to sing him out but Angle Angle Slammed one of them to put a stop to that.

Eric Young vs. Bobby Lashley: Lashley’s leapfrog will never not be impressive. Lashley hit a delayed vertical suplex but Young took over after a springboard enziguiri. Lashley made a comeback with a belly to belly and a spinebuster. Young escaped a powerslam attempt and set up for a Piledriver. Chris Melendez appeared on the ramp which distracted Young and allowed Lashley to hit a Spear for the win. Melendez chased off Young after the match. Melendez is upset because Young pulled his leg off a couple of week ago. **

Brooke vs. Jade: Jade missed a springboard moonsault allowing Brooke to hit a facebuster but Marti Bell moved Jade’s foot onto the rope. Jade accidentally kicked Marti and Brooke followed with the Tess-Shocker for the win. The Dollhouse beat up Rebel backstage after the match to try and make up for losing. *1/2

The Beatdown Clan (Kenny King, Low Ki and MVP) vs. The Rising (Mica, Eli Drake and Drew Galloway): Once again, the six-man tag between the two feuding stables on this show happened with no build at all. The BDC worked over Eli Drake early. Eli eventually made the tag to Galloway. Drew hit a sliding kick on Low Ki but King came in to break up the pin and everything broke down. Low Ki looked for Warriors Way but Galloway countered with a belly to belly out of the corner. The Rising hit the Doomsday Device for the win. Like everything on this show, this was rushed. **1/2

Rockstar Spud made his way to the ring to make his decision about whether or not he’s going to cash in the X-Division title for a title shot next week. Spud said he needed more time before Kurt Angle came out. Angle ran down his accomplishment, saying there’s no chance he’s going to be losing the title. EC3 came out and offered Spud a lifetime contract as Chief of Staff in exchange for not cashing in the title. Why doesn’t EC3 want Spud to cash in? He’s still number one contender even if Spud does cash in. In fact he knows for certain he can beat Spud so surely he should want Spud to cash in and win, so he can beat Spud for the title. Spud declined the offer and decided to cash in his title. EC3 jumped Spud leading to EC3 and Tyrus vs. Angle and Spud later tonight.

TNA World Tag Team Titles – Best of 5 Series (Match 3)- Austin Aries and Bobby Roode vs. The Wolves – TNA World Tag Team Titles: The Wolves are 2-0 up so if they win they are the new tag team champs. Aries locked on the Last Chancery early but Davey reached the ropes. Aries and Roode worked over Richards before he made the tag to Eddie. The Wolves took Aries and Roode out with stereo dives. They hit Roode with a enziguiri followed by a German for two. The Wolves hit a superkick/Falcon Arrow for two.

Aries and Roode hit a corner drop kick, followed by a spinebuster and finally a 450 Splash but Edward kicked out. Aries took Davey out with the Heat Seeking Missile and desperation set in as Aries lived up to their Dirty Heels names and threw a chair in the ring. Roode was reluctant to use the chair but after realising they threw everything they could at The Wolves and they were 2-0 down he gave in and hit a low blow followed by a chair shot on Edwards to bring the series to 2-1.

I’m not a huge fan of turning Aries and Roode. Roode only turned last year and Aries has turned literally more times that I can count in the last three years. However with The Hardy and Wolves as the two other to teams in the division it makes sense to turn them in order to balance the division. Very good match, not quite as good as last week but at least the heel turn should give the final two matches a different dynamic. ***3/4

James Storm offered Mickie James a spot in The Revolution and Mickie declined so James Storm pushed her in front of a train. That’s not a typo. It’s not a joke. James Storm pushed Mickie James in front of a train. James Storm attempted to murder Mickie James on international television. I couldn’t stop laughing for five minutes after first watching this. It’s just totally ridiculous. The reason this feud was so good until now was because it was believable. It was a well-crafted story with believable performances and understandable motivations. And then James Storm had to go and push Mickie James in front of a train. Where does it go from here? I’d hazard a guess that Mickie James is not in fact actually dead, but somehow managed to escape the oncoming train. But still this is typical of TNA. Take something that’s good and that’s working and find ways to ruin it. And worst of all terrible, horrible growly James Storm returned at the end. I swear TNA actively tries to ruin good things. It’s in their nature. Their instincts are horrible.

Time for our weekly Beautiful People drama. Madison Rayne was in the ring moaning about not getting opportunities, a character that’s worked so well in the past for everybody that’s ever had it. Rayne was giving out that Velvet Sky was showing up on the show in spite of her being fired months ago. Velvet came out and attacked Madison after Madison slapped her resulting in Angelina Love having Velvet handcuffed and arrested. Love attacked a handcuffed Sky, only to be arrested for attacking a fan. Why wasn’t Madison arrested too for slapping Velvet? Its 2015, I’m long past the point of caring about The Beautiful People.

Rockstar Spud and Kurt Angle vs. Tyrus and Ethan Carter III: They worked over Spud for a while before he made the tag to Angle. Angle hit Tyrus with an Angle Slam and Spud pinned him for the win. Bland tag match. Austin Aries came out and announced he’ll be cashing in his Feast or Fired World title shot next week, yet another thing they’re rushing. *1/2

Final Thoughts: Watch The Wolves vs. Aries and Roode. Watch Storm push Mickie in front of a train just because it’s hilarious. Skip the rest. Spud vs. Angle and Aries vs. the winner is next week on Destination X.