TNA Debuts on POP TV Full Review

• Main Event: Ethan Carter III won the TNA World Title Series tournament to become the TNA World Heavyweight Champion.

• Debuts: Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis made their promotional debut.

• Production: The move brought a new high-definition set, updated graphics, and a new theme song by the Smashing Pumpkins.

• Ratings: The initial broadcast drew 255,000 viewers, with an additional 90,000 viewers for the immediate replay

Summary – The night centered around the final four of the World Title Series as Eric Young faced off with Matt Hardy while EC3 took on Bobby Lashley to decide the new Heavyweight World Champion.  When it was over, a heel champion was once again at the top of TNA Impact as EC3 walked away with the gold.

Elsewhere on the card, Pop TV made the wise choice of moving the announce team of Josh Matthews and Pope back to ringside instead of in an office somewhere watching the action on TV.  That was an immediate upgrade as announcers should always be ringside.

The show started off with Dixie Carter in the center of the ring with EC3 airing his grievances with his auntie.  It was comical and Dixie Carter looked smoking hot during the segment.  Little did we know that she wouldn’t last much longer as it was only a matter of time before Billy Corrigan of the Smashing Pumpkins would eventually take full control of the company.

After EC3 knocked off Bobby Lashley in the semi’s, Kurt Angle came to the ring and announced that he will be stepping down from wrestling and TNA this year as he is set to retire soon but wants a few more matches against dream opponents first.  The first of which is Drew Galloway who gladly accepts and will wrestle him next week.

As nice as this moment was, it led to Jesse Goderz and Eli Drake (LA Knight) interrupting and causing a two on two brawl.  It was clear the same two guys would interfere the following week as well.

Matt Hardy defeated Eric Young to advance, setting up the main event between himself and EC3 for the World Title. Shortly after we cut to the back to see Eric Young cut an irate promo following the loss.  This scene eventually cuts away to EC3 threatening Jeff Hardy not to get involved in the main event later tonight.