MCMAHON’S TNA IMPACT REVIEW 10/6: Lashley defends against Eddie Edwards, X Division Six-Man Tag, Hardys

TNA Impact Results
October 6, 2016
Taped in Orlando, Fla.
Aired on Pop TV
Report by Mike McMahon, PWTorch contributor (@MikeMcMahonPW)

Impact opened with a recap video from Bound for Glory. Highlights included Aron Rex is shown winning the Grand Championship, Gail Kim winning the Knockouts Title, Cody Rhodes debuting with Brandi, The Great War, and Lashley retaining the TNA World Hvt. Title.

In-arena: Lashley walks out with the TNA World Hvt. Title around his waist, smiling as he heads to the ring. Lashley called himself the “realest” man in pro wrestling. He said he was the hero of Impact, and the No. 1 person in the company. Lashley said that he’s all of those things because he has the TNA World Title.

“Everyone you bring out here, I destroy,” he said.

Lashley called himself the greatest wrestler on the planet.

Aron Rex’s music played and he walked down the ramp holding his Impact Grand Championship. After holding it above his head, he placed the title on his shoulder and walked to the ring. As Rex walked into the ring, Lashley turned his back and won’t even look at him.

“Hi Bobby,” Rex said. “Congratulations, you are the TNA Wrestling Heavyweight Champion. But at Bound for Glory, I changed the game. Prior to Bound for Glory, that was the title. But now? I said I was going to change the game, and I did change the game. I am the first Impact Grand Champion. Now, I used to be smart, so I’ll try to do the math, and Grand Champion would make me the man around here.”

Lashley said Rex is doing what everyone else has done. He said that Rex comes out here acting like this is a game. Lashley said the Grand Championship means nothing compared to his.

Gail Kim then joined them in the ring, bringing her Knockouts Championship with her.

“Boys,” she said. “I hear all of this talk about titles and who is the man? Well, last time I checked, it’s the year 2016. I’m pretty sure it’s a level playing field now. Times are changing, and you have to accept it. I am proud to be the first female TNA Hall of Famer, and I am very proud to be the TNA Knockouts Champion. So guys, you have to face the facts, us women, we’re changing the business.”

And then Matt Hardy joined the bunch with Reby and Maxel. Hardy was wearing both tag titles on his shoulders while Reby walked behind him. As Hardy walked to the ring, there was a loud, “Maxel!” chant.

“Fellow champions,” he said. “Gail Kim, you speak of change, but I am changed! Courtesy of my broken brilliance, Impact Wrestling no longer exists in a standard wrestling universe, we now live in a broken universe! After our groundbreaking victory in The Great War! But I want all of you to know, even though I am alone with Reby and King Maxel, I am always ready to delete! Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete!”

Interrupting the deleting was D.J. Z, who joined them in the ring with the X Division Title.

“Look at this,” he said. “We have a ring full of champions. Each of us represents something different and unique. There’s nothing more different and unique than the X Division, baby. Tonight, we’re taking the X Division to a whole new level with the debut of Team X Gold.”

Lashley said there’s only one champion in the ring right now. Lashley said he has a fight coming up, and he’s not standing in the ring with a bunch of losers. Lashley said he was taking a few weeks off to train, and he has better things to do than stand in the ring with these losers.

But Billy Corgan seemed to have some other ideas. He walked out on stage with Aiden O’Shea, who is apparently his new bodyguard? It seems that way, anyway. O’Shea is smoking a cigar as Corgan walked to the ring.

“Champions,” Corgan said, “congratulations. Please help me congratulate these champions.

“Sunday at Bound for Glory, it was a memorable event. But tonight will be just as memorable. In honor of you all being champions, tonight you will all be in action.”

Lashley said it doesn’t matter who Billy puts in front of him, because he’s beaten everyone on this roster. Lashley said he is the greatest person in the business.

Corgan said that tonight, all TNA championships will be defended except the X Division Championship because of Team X Gold, which D.J. Z helped put together.

Corgan said he would allow Lashley to pick his opponent tonight. Corgan said that he has three challengers, and Lashley could choose, but he needed to choose wisely.

Josh Mathews said that they would explain Team X Gold after the break.

McMahon’s Reax: Decent opening segment. It gave them an excuse to introduce all of their new champions. It felt a little congested, and they could have accomplished the same result with just Corgan announcing something in two minutes, but it was a good way to get all of their new champions on screen, and allow the fans who didn’t order the pay-per-view to get an idea of what happened.

[Commercial break at 8:13] [Q2 …]

[… Q2] Back from the break, it looks like this will be a six-man tag. Mathews said the rules in this match would be strictly enforced, per Billy Corgan. If someone tags and doesn’t get out of the ring, there will be disqualifications.

1 — TNA X Division champion D.J. Z & MANDREWS & BRAXTON SUTTER vs. TREVOR LEE &  ANDREW EVERETT & MARSHE ROCKETT

Mandrews sends Lee over the top to the outside and then flies over the top to take him to the ground. Mandrews rolls Everett back in and he tags Marshe Rockett.

Rockett, who has considerable size, suplexes Mandrews. He tags in Trevor Lee and Lee grabs Mandrews’ face before throwing a right hand. Lee twists Mandrews’ neck and rolls him to the corner. Mandrews fights back with some elbows and tries to make a tag. Lee hits a huge punch. He tries to go for a suplex but Mandrews lands on his feet and tags in Braxton Sutter.

Lee kicks Sutter with a boot and tags in Rockett.

Rockett gets Sutter in the corner and drives shoulders into his gut. Rockett distracts the official, allowing Everett to get in some cheap shots. Sutter manages to get away and tags in D.J. Z. He tries to clothesline Rockett but needs three times before he can move the big man.

D.J. Z kicks Rockett in the gut and then uses him to springboard himself over the top so he can take out Lee and Everett. D.J. Z sunset flips Rockett and hits the ropes, but Rockett levels him with a heel kick.

Rockett scoops up D.J. Z and bodyslams him. Rockett tags in Everett, who tries a moonsault off the top but D.J. Z gets his boots up. D.J. Z tags in Sutter, who powerbombs Everett. Sutter then tags in Mandrews for a shooting star press, which gets his team the win.

WINNERS: D.J. Z, Mandrews and Braxton Sutter at 5:27.

After the match, the threesome celebrates in the ring as Mathews shows replays of the finish.

[Reax: They didn’t do a very good job explaining what Team X Gold is. Mathews said once a team becomes established, they will stay together. He also said that Corgan told officials to really be strict on the rules. Shouldn’t that be the case all of the time? There are rules for a reason, no? And what’s the end game here? If TNA is going to introduce a six-man tag title, not only do they not really have the roster depth for that, but it will be viewed as a rip-off of what ROH just began at their pay-per-view last week.

I’m all for TNA introducing new concepts, but they need to be better explained. I’m still not positive what the difference is between that match and a regular six-man. They just enforce the rules? Alright, I guess? It was just wasn’t clear if this was a one-off or a new division?]

Still to come: Matt & Jeff Hardy will defend the TNA Tag Titles against Decay in a Wolf Creek Cage match. What is that? He’ll explain later.

Next: Eli Drake’s Fact of Life segment.

[Commercial break at 8:26] [Q3 …]

[… Q3] Back from the break, Mathews hypes that Lashley will defend the TNA World Title tonight, but against who?

In-arena: On the ramp, Jeremy Borash introduces Moose, who is a potential opponent for Lashley. Moose said he has been waiting for this moment since he arrived in TNA. Moose said all the people want to see Lashley vs. Moose.

“The truth is, there is one man on this roster that Bobby Lashley is scared to death to face, and that’s me,” Moose said.

Backstage: Eli Drake is on a new set in the backstage area, hosting his Fact of Life segment. It looks like a talk show set, with fake plants in the background. Drake is sitting at a desk with chairs to the side for his talk show.

Drake introduced his guest, Ethan Carter III, who he called a choke artist.

ECIII sits down and Drake said that ECIII is trying to be like him. Drake said that ECIII had a shot to be the champion, and he didn’t quite make it.

ECIII went to speak, and Drake hit his dummy button. ECIII went to speak again, and Drake hit the dummy button. Drake said ECIII blew it, choked and he continually hit the dummy button. ECIII grabbed Drake’s hand and told him to stop.

“At Bound for Glory, I lost,” ECIII said. “For one year I trained with passion and desire to be the heavyweight champion and I lost. I won’t make an excuse. That passion died. It’s been replaced with anger, angst and vengeance. The ability to scorch this earth and get what I want, the heavyweight championship!”

ECIII said Drake shouldn’t be worried with this stupid button, he should be worried with winning the TNA Championship. ECIII, showing crazy fire, told Drake that if he hits the button again, he would rip his limbs off, set him on fire and “piss on his ashes.”

ECIII then began to scream at Drake to press the button, so they could fight.

Drake pushed the button off to the side of the table. He said his problem with ECIII is that when he walked in, he was brought in as the third member of The Rising. Drake said that he’s bound for gold, but he wasn’t meant to be. Drake said that all he hears on social media is that he’s not in ECIII’s league. Drake said that ECIII has been given everything he’s had, while Drake has had to scrape and claw, he’s had to cheat, just to get what he wants and he’s still not there.

Drake said he’s not blind that ECIII is at the top of the food chain. Drake said that ECIII hasn’t had to claw nearly as much as he has, and then he ordered ECIII’s mic cut off and Drake waked off.

McMahon Reax: Really good promo from both guys here. Sunday was a turning point for ECIII, and it’s good to see him evolve as a character after a defeat like that. He showed a lot more fire here, and he wasn’t nearly as goofy or going for laughs. He was as serious as we’ve ever seen him. Drake was good as well in his response. Both of these guys have had a tinge of goofiness to them in the past, but they were both very serious and it should add some intensity when they do finally have a match.

Backstage: Maria is yelling at Allie for telling the truth about her wrist at Bound for Glory. Sienna is with Maria, and Maria threatened to sue Allie. Then, she threatened to fire Allie.

Sienna said that tonight, she’ll fix Allie’s mistake. Sienna told Allie if she messes this up … she doesn’t finish, she just towers over a cowering Allie.

[Commercial break at 8:38]

Back from break, Mackenzie Mitchell as at ringside with Eddie Edwards, who is another potential challenger for Lashley. Edwards said that Lashley probably looks at Edwards as the easiest match, and Edwards said he’s OK with that. Edwards begged Lashley to pick him, because he said that he knows he can beat Lashley.

Still to come: Who will Lashley select as his opponent later tonight?

Video: Mathews shows highlights of Gail Kim being inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame.

2 — TNA Knockouts champion GAIL KIM vs. SIENNA (w/Allie) — Knockouts Title match

[Q4] Madison Rayne is on commentary for this match.

Prior to the bell ringing, Sienna throws Allie into Gail Kim, knocking her off the apron to the outside. For some reason, the official rings the bell to begin the match while Gail is down on the outside of the ring.

Sienna goes out to the outside and picks up Gail, slamming her off the ring post. Sienna then picks up Gail and throws her head into the apron before throwing a chop and sliding her back into the ring.

Sienna threw a huge right hand and then pummeled Gail in the corner before whipping her to the opposite turnbuckle. Gail bounced off and fell in the middle of the ring where Sienna followed up with kicks before another huge whip into the turnbuckle for a two count.

Sienna has Gail in a sleeper but Gail fights out. As soon as she does, Sienna clotheslines Gail.

Madison said Sienna is scary.

Sienna went for the AK47 but Gail gets down and lands a kick. Gail comes back with a neckbreaker and then tried for a hurricanrana but she was caught by Sienna and flipped back up and over, landing on her face.

Sienna goes for the cover and gets a two count.

Sienna hits the rope and tries to go for a tackle but Gail rolls her up and gets a three count.

WINNER: Gail Kim retains via pinfall at 3:10.

After the match, Sienna hits a clothesline and Maria, along with Laurel Van Ness, hit the ring and start to beat down Gail Kim. Sienna hits a punch and then the silencer. Gail is down. Maria tells Sienna to pick her up. Maria said that she will get her rematch, and it’s a no disqualification match. Maria then ordered Allie to slap Gail Kim. Allie said no, so Maria shoved Allie down and slapped Gail herself. Maria said nothing would stop her from ending Gail’s career.

Sienna and Van Ness attacked Gail again. Madison Rayne, meanwhile, is doing nothing other than saying, “this is not what the knockouts are all about” on commentary.

McMahon Reax: Really? Madison Rayne, who has been a bit of a tweener but more a babyface, does nothing while Gail Kim is getting beat down? I know she went after Gail Kim a few weeks ago in an effort to get a title shot, but she has been treated as a babyface since then and was clearly a babyface on commentary. She’s sitting 20 feet away talking about how “this isn’t what the division stands for” but doesn’t decide to try to lend a helping hand. It just didn’t make her look good. Honestly, it might have been better for her to not even be on commentary. Her stock didn’t raise much from being out there, and having her leave Gail in the wind to get her butt kicked only made Madison look like scared. And where’s Jade? It’s possible they’ll use this as a catalyst to make Madison Rayne a full-fledged heel, maybe joining Maria’s stable, but there was not a single hint of that in her commentary, so I doubt it. Madison was good on commentary, providing some insight on each competitor, but I wish they had her help Gail at the end of that segment.

Up next: Wolf Creek cage match for the TNA Tag Titles

[Commercial break at 8:52]

Backstage: Borash brings in ECIII, who is Lashley’s third potential opponent. ECIII said at Bound for Glory, he lost. He said he doesn’t think Lashley will pick him, and he’s not even going to say he deserves it, but if Lashley picks him, he’ll accept. ECIII said if Lashley wants a fight, he’ll pick ECIII.

Still to come: Lashley defends the World Title

In-arena: Mathews introduces the Wolf Creek cage match, which is a promotional tool for Wolf Creek, another Pop TV show. Apparently, this is some serial killer’s lair. I’ve never watched the show, so pardon my ignorance. There appear to be weapons hung on the inside of the cage.

Matt Hardy and Brother Nero are out first, with Reby playing the piano as she did at Bound for Glory. Decay is out next.

3 — TNA Tag Team champions MATT HARDY & BROTHER NERO (w/Reby) vs. DECAY (Abyss & Crazzy Steve) — Wolf Creek cage match for the TNA Tag Titles

Prior to the fight beginning, Matt Hardy yells back to Reby to go protect Maxel, because Rosemary did not come with Decay to the ring.

Hardy smashes Steve’s head into the turnbuckle while Abyss tries to once again Staple Brother Nero’s head. Instead, Brother Nero grabs the stapler and shoots a few staples into the body of Abyss. Steve tosses Hardy into the cage.

[Q5 — second hour] Abyss grabs a trash can lid off the cage, along with a pipe, and begins to beat Brother Nero with both of them. Steve climbs up and grabs a grappling hook. He hooks it inside of Hardy’s mouth and pulls. On the other side of the ring, Abyss beats Brother Nero with a trash can.

Other things hanging on the cage include a chainsaw and other power tools.

Hardy fights back on Abyss with a stapler but Abyss swings the pipe to take Hardy back down.

Mathews said that you only win this match through cage escape.

Brother Nero hits Steve with a trash can. Hardy grabs a pipe and starts to beat on Abyss in the corner before choking him with it. Hardy and Brother Nero set up Steve for a double suplex. The crowd begins chanting for the chainsaw.

Hardy goes up to the top rope and pulls down the chainsaw. He tries to start it but Pope speculates that it has no gas. Steve knocks Hardy off the top rope. Hardy hits a side effect on Steve but Abyss grabs him right after for a chokeslam. Brother Nero charges right in to hit Abyss with a twist of fate.

Brother Nero then climbs the cage while everyone else is down. Rosemary comes out of nowhere and spits myst into Brother Nero’s face to knock him off the top of the cage.

Reby runs down to pull Rosemary off the cage and then throws her, head first, into the cage. Abyss tried to leave the cage but Reby slammed the door on his head.

At that point, the screen froze. After about one minute, the show cut to a break. This seems like a technical difficulty.

[Commercial break at 9:08]

The show returns at 9:14, but instead of seeing the conclusion of the cage match, Cody is coming to the ring with Brandi Rhodes. So, I guess with technical issues, we won’t know the conclusion of the cage match. That’s unfortunate, considering the Hardy-Decay stuff has been among the best on Impact the last several months.

[Q6] Cody said that “game-changer” was the sentiment used to describe his arrival at Impact. He said it’s flattering, but he’s not sure how accurate it is. Cody said that maybe the game is just changing in general. Cody put over Gail Kim and The Great War. He said he didn’t wait to get kicked out of his former house, he left on his own.

Cody said his guiding light in the darkness was his list. At Bound for Glory, he found himself standing toe-to-toe with Mike Bennett. Cody pulled out his list but Brandi begins to whisper something in his ear. Cody then put the list back in his jacket. Cody said that his lovely wife, Brandi Rhodes, really hitting “Rhodes,” just told him that perhaps he shouldn’t have put Bennett on the list, instead, maybe he should have put the TNA World Title on the list.

Cody said that TNA is giving him a shot at the TNA World Hvt. Championship. He said he wants to be the world champion. Cody said it’s an honor and privilege, as well as the opportunity of a lifetime.

Mike Bennett and Maria when join Cody and Brandi Rhodes in the ring.

As the crowd chants for Cody, Bennett tells them to shut up. Bennett asked if they were upset that he is interrupting them, because he’s only returning the favor after Bound for Glory. Bennett mistakenly said, “last night,” though, when referring to Bound for Glory.

Bennett said he demanded a title shot when he joined TNA, but he was told that he didn’t deserve it. He said that he was told that’s not how TNA works. Bennett said he was told he’d have to fight for a title shot.

Cody cut him off and said that’s a great idea, they should fight.

Bennett tried to talk his way out of it, but Cody hit him with a punch and Rhodes and Bennett begin brawling in the ring. Cody goes for a Cross Rhodes but Bennett escaped and bailed out of the ring.

McMahon Reax: There have been two segments tonight where you could argue the heels have a good point. Earlier, Eli Drake talked about how ECIII had everything handed to him when he got to TNA. He’s not wrong. Now, Bennett complains that Cody was given a title shot while he was told he had to earn it when he came to TNA in January. Again, Bennett isn’t wrong. There’s also the idea that TNA just gave a former WWE mid-carder an automatic title shot, and how that automatically makes them look minor league, but we’ll leave that alone for now. That’s not a knock on Cody. I’m a huge fan. But he wasn’t even close to the World Title picture when he left WWE, that’s not how they presented him, so to give him an automatic title shot as soon as he joins the company sort of defines your title down from the competition’s.

Next: Aron Rex defends the Grand Championship against Baron Dax.

[Commercial break at 9:23]

Back from the break, Mathews showed highlights of the Cody interview.

Backstage: Maria tries to storm into Billy Corgan’s office, but O’Shea is protecting his door. Maria said that O’Shea can’t get in her way, but O’Shea said that “the boss’ didn’t like what Maria did. O’Shea said “the boss” thinks that the leader of the Knockouts should be better than that. O’Shea relayed Billy’s message, which was that if she wins, she’s the Knockouts Champion, but if she loses, she’s no longer the leader of the knockouts. O’Shea also called her “toots” the entire time.

4 — Impact Grand Champion ARON REX vs. BARON DAX — Impact Grand Championship match

Round 1

Rex begins the match with a headlock on the mat. Dax works his way back to a vertical base and hits a neckbreaker. Dax picks up Rex and hits another neckbreaker. Dax picks up Rex for a third neckbreaker and covers for a two count.

Dax lands a kick in the corner and then misses a splash. Rex throws some punches but gets caught by Dax again, who is getting warned on a choke.

[Q7] With one minute left in the round, Rex tried to throw Dax to the outside but he caught himself. Dax brings Rex over to the second rope and chokes him to a four count. Dax goes for a cover but Rex kicks out at two.

With 10 seconds left in the round, Dax gets on top of Rex and throws punches, ground-and-pound.

Scores: Baron Dax, 30-27

Round 2

Dax charges Rex and throws kicks right at the bell for the second round. Dax elbows Rex in the head and tries for another neckbreaker but Rex countered into a leg sweep. Rex then locked Dax into the Royal Arch submission hold with 2:20 remaining in the second round.

WINNER: Aron Rex retains via submission at 0:40 of the second round.

After the match, Rex gets his arm raised as Borash announced the winner. Borash then climbed in for an interview.

Rex stares down Dax as he walks to the back.

“I wasn’t expecting that, but then again, that proves that this is changing the game,” Rex said. “That proves that we are changing the game. That title represents opportunity. It’s an opportunity I seized, and it’s an opportunity to show who is the best, and I think I proved that tonight.”

McMahon’s Reax: No offense to Aron Rex, but he “proved that he is the best” by beating a tag-team wrestler who hasn’t really been featured on television much for the last several weeks? He was trying to put Dax over, I think, but it didn’t fit. Unless this is the beginning of a heel turn, Rex sounds a bit delusional here. Not to mention he was dominated the entire match until he was able to get the submission. It felt like they planted some seeds at Bound for Glory to turn Rex heel and switch Galloway back to a babyface, and it was hard to tell if this was another step in that direction, or if they’re moving forward with him as a babyface and it’s just really not working. Time will tell.

Next: Lashley defends the TNA World Title

[Commercial break at 9:37]

Back from the break, Mathews announced that Cody vs. Mike Bennett would happen next week.

In-arena: Lashley enters the arena dressed for a match and wearing the TNA World Hvt. Title. Mathews reiterates that Lashley has three choices. He asks Pope who he would choose, and Pope thinks that Lashley would choose someone he has already defeated, but he didn’t name anyone.

Borash is in the ring and he introduces Moose, Eddie Edwards and ECIII as Lashley’s potential opponents. The opponents gather on the stage. Borash asks Lashley who he will face tonight.

[Q8] “Can I have a second to pick?” Lashley asked. “Let’s see. Look at this, we have ECIII, but with ECIII just the other day, what did I do to him? I whooped him, and I gave him a lot of chances to get at this title. I don’t know. Then we have Moose. My opinion of Moose? Big, slow, dumb. That would be an easy choice. And then we have Eddie. You see, Eddie I’ve beaten you several times also. But since I have to pick …”

Lashley then does a rendition of eeni meeni miini moh and chooses Edwards.

[Commercial break at 9:47]

Lashley charged Edwards at the bell but Edwards moved and Lashley went crashing into the post. Lashley does grab Edwards and give him an overhead throw, nearly resulting in Edwards landing on his head. Lashley then delivered multiple crossface forearms.

Lashley begins to choke Edwards in the corner after delivering kicks. Lashley throws his shoulder into Edwards’ body and leans on him.

Mathews said that Lashley is softening up Edwards for a spear.

Lashley picked up Edwards for a delayed vertical suplex but Edwards kicks out at two.

After getting to his feet, Mathews notes that Lashley is getting overconfident as he smiles to the crowd. Lashley kicks Edwards in the corner again. Lashley fires Edwards into the corner and charges but Edwards lands a back elbow.

Edwards goes to the second rope and tries for a hurricanrana but Lashley caught him and turned it into a powerbomb for a two count.

After Edwards hits the ropes, he charges Lashley but Lashley turns and hits a back elbow to drop his opponent. Lashley then mocks Edwards, smacking his head, telling him to get up. Lashley taps Edwards in the face. Edwards yells at Lashley to “come on!” and slaps Lashley.

Edwards gets Lashley set on top of the turnbuckle and connects with a top-rope hurricanrana. Edwards struggles to get back to his feet and Lashley gets up first. Edwards hits two running elbows and kicks Lashley after he gets whipped into the ropes.

Edwards charges Lashley and Lashley buts a clothesline..

Lashley scooped up Edwards for a powerslam. Lashley then goes to the rope and looks like he’s setting up for a spear. Lashley charges Edwards but Edwards side-steps him, pulling the top rope down and Lashley goes flying over the top rope. Edwards then hits a suicide dive.

Edwards howls, hits the ropes and hits Lashley with a second suicide dive on the outside of the ring.

Edwards slides back in the ring and tires for a third suicide dive but Lashley moved and Edwards goes crashing into the railing.

On the outside, Lashley picks up Lashley and rolls him back into the ring. Mathews said that Edwards is out after missing that dive. Lashley picks up his hands in celebration with a smirk on his face.

Lashley gets to the corner and is getting ready for spear. Edwards gets up and Lashley charges but Edwards hits a Boston Knee Party out of nowhere and covers Lashley for the win.

WINNER: Eddie Edwards wins the TNA World Hvt. Title at 7:46 via pin.

After the match, Edwards looks shocked as Mathews screams at ringside. Edwards looks at the belt in amazement as Lashley rolled to the outside. Edwards gets his hand raised by the official and the show cuts off the air as Mathews tells us not to go anywhere, because Wolf Creek is starting right now …

FINAL THOUGHTS: This one needs to digest a little bit. I’m not against Eddie Edwards winning the TNA World Title, and I think it’s a smart move by TNA to get the belt off of Lashley before he goes into a Bellator fight in a few weeks, just in case he gets embarrassed there. The finish protected Lashley in the sense that it was a surprise win, out of nowhere. He got caught. Everyone has a puncher’s chance, or a knee’s chance, in this case.

It’s a pretty clear indication that TNA is invested more in television than pay-per-view, though. That’s not a negative, either. Given their business model, they should be more interested with putting the title change on television. But this could make people think twice about ordering another TNA pay-per-view. I’d be interested in the buyrate for Bound for Glory, given the behind-the-scenes hype that was involved last week.

As for the main event itself, it was a good match, albeit short. My only complaint is that they had to cut away so soon after Edwards won. Lashley has been a dominant champion for a long time, and he finally gets beat and the audience doesn’t get a chance to celebrate that moment with the new champion. Instead, they cut almost immediately to some new Pop TV show, with Mathews plugging it as the show goes off air. I wanted that moment to be longer. Edwards deserved a longer celebration, and I don’t think I’m alone wishing that the audience had more time to celebrate along with him at home.