Impact Wrestling on Destination America
Wednesday, December 9
Soundstage 20
Universal Studios, Orlando, FL

They had video features prior to each match supplemented by a few promos from the participants.

World Title Series – Quarter Final
Bobby Lashley vs. Mahabali Shera

Shera took the fight to Lashley but Shera got powerbombed when he went for a corner ten punch. The match spilled out to the floor and there was some floor brawling because no TNA match can go by without bland floor brawling. Lashley went for a splash off the apron but got caught and slammed on the floor. Shera hit a fairly dodgy looking press slam but it got the job done I suppose. Shera went for the Sky High but Lashley escaped and hit a Spear for the win. As longer matches featuring Shera go this was decent. Shera still needs lots and lots of work though. Lashley is still a beast. **

World Title Series – Quarter Final
Eric Young vs. Tigre Uno

Young told Uno to just leave but Uno hit him with a springboard dropkick instead. Uno tried to out-speed Young before Young caught him with a powerslam and took control. Young missed a moonsault and rolled to the floor allowing Uno to hit a head scissors off the steps. Uno hit a top rope huracanrana for two. Young hit a powerbomb and followed with a Piledriver for the win. Young’s heat segment wasn’t particularly interesting here but afterward the dynamic of Uno throwing all his fast paced stuff at Young while Young scrambled to keep up was a lot of fun. **1/2

World Title Series – Quarter Final
Jessie Godderz vs. Matt Hardy

They exchanged holds before Hardy hit a series of powerslams. The match spilled out to the floor because floor brawling is an essential element of every wrestling match. Godderz dropkicked Hardy into the steps. Godderz hit a snap powerslam for two and worked over Hardy’s back. Matt hit the Side Effect and made a comeback. Hardy hit snapmare off the top followed by a middle rope elbow for two. Jessie escaped a Twist of Fate and hit a dropkick. Godderz looked for the Adonis Crab but Matt reached the ropes. Hardy escaped a fireman’s carry and connected with the Twist of Fate for the win. This was a rare kind of Impact match. It was a match that had the opportunity to take it’s time. Usually Impact matches rush from the outset because they have limited time. While this wasn’t the best match in the world it was quite refreshing. ***

Josh Mathews interviewed Dixie Carter. She reviewed 2015, talked the World Title Series, and announced that both the semi-finals and finals will take place on January 5th live on Pop (without actually mentioning Pop). She closed saying 2016 will be great.

World Title Series – Quarter Final
Davey Richards vs. Ethan Carter III w/ Tyrus

Richards went for a dive but Tyrus distracted him allowing EC3 to take control. Richards spilled out to the floor and Tyrus beat up Richards a little. TNA pairing Tyrus with EC3 was a terrible call – it gave them a constant easy way out and has undercut EC3 nonstop ever since. EC3 missed a charge and spilled out to floor. Davey then hit a suicide dive on Tyrus and followed with two more for EC3. Richards hit a missile dropkick for a nearfall. Davey hit a high kick followed by a bridging German for two. Richards missed a double stomp and got hit with a TKO but Richards kicked out. Richards hit a superplex followed by a Brainbuster for a close nearfall. They escaped each other’s big moves before EC3 hit another TKO followed by the One Percenter to pick up the win. This was a very good match – TNA has been good for Davey Richards, he could tend to be needlessly longwinded but in TNA he’s been condensed and sped up in a way that has really benefitted him. ***1/2

Final Thoughts: This show flew by. While you could argue they padded it with videos and the like, all that stuff helped set the stage and give the quarter finals context. It was a simple show, well-paced, hung on four matches all of which had time with each being better than the match that came before it.  Because the semi-finals and finals take place on January 5th it would appear we’re going full filler mode starting next week, though the show will feature Group Future 4 vs. Group X-Division, and Anderson vs. Roode vs. Spud vs. Edwards in some “all-star” matches.