Impact Wrestling
Date: October 31, 2024
Location: Wayne State Fieldhouse, Detroit, Michigan
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We’re done with Bound For Glory and the big story is that Nic Nemeth retained the World Title against Joe Hendry with help from JBL. Other than that, the Hardys are the Tag Team Champions against after a not so thrilling main event. We’re on the way to Turning Point next week, which could go in a few different ways. Let’s get to it.

Here is Bound For Glory if you need a recap.

The show opens with a graphic showing a statement from Chris Bey, thanking fans and the medical staff helping him with his recovery. He knows it will be a long and challenging recovery process. The voiceover talks about the GoFundMe and asks for donations to help him. That does not sound good in the slightest but at least he’s here to make such a statement.

Bound For Glory recap.

PCO wishes us a Happy Halloween.

Opening sequence.

Here is Frankie Kazarian, in a heck of a Joe Hendry cosplay, for an even better Hendry impression, to mock everything about Hendry. This includes the clapping, but here in the real thing to chase him off. Hendry calls this the first entertaining thing Kazarian has done in 47 years, but the reality is that Kazarian took something away from Hendry and the people.

What matters is that there was a conspiracy against him, with Kazarian, John Layfield and Nic Nemeth all being in on it. Cue Nemeth to say he didn’t know what Layfield did and Hendry deserves a rematch. Nemeth wanted to give Hendry a rematch tonight but Santino Marella said no. Cue the System, with Nemeth insulting them and a tag match seemingly being set up for tonight.

Post break Alisha Edwards and Tasha Steelz are still in the ring to say Masha Slamovich’s Knockouts Title reign is on borrowed time. Cue Slamovich to mock Alisha’s catchphrase and say she’s looking for a fight tonight. The double teaming is on so here is Jordynne Grace for the save. Cue Santino Marella to make a tag match between the women for next week, as well as Nemeth/Hendry vs. JDC/Eddie Edwards.

First Class vs. Rascalz

Miguel and Navarro start things off and a wristdrag has Navarro down, meaning Wentz can come in for a rolling snapmare out of the corner. AJ Francis low bridges Wentz outside though and adds a running knee in the corner back inside. Navarro’s double stomp gets two, followed by a big boot to give Francis the same. A backsplash misses though and it’s back to Miguel to pick up the pace. That means a series of quick strikes into a Swanton for two before Wentz and Navarro crash out to the floor. Navarro is fine enough to get in a cheap shot though and the Down Payment finishes Miguel at 7:03.

Rating: C. First Class getting a win to put them back on track is nice to see, as Francis’ bragging is still good enough. Other than that, not much to this one as they only had so much time, though the Rascalz are dropping quite a bit after their big feud with Wes Lee over in NXT. I’m not sure what they can do, but it might be a bit before it gets better.

Josh Alexander/Good Hands vs. Eric Young/Jonathan Gresham/Steve Maclin

The Good Hands are here because the Northern Armory had visa issues. We’re joined in progress with Gresham getting triple stomped in the corner and Skyler dropping a leg for two. Gresham fights up and gets in a shot to the arm, followed by a dropkick for the tag off to Young. Alexander goes after the knee though and it’s Maclin coming in to chase Alexander outside. That’s enough for Alexander to leave and the spear in the Tree of Woe into KIA finishes Skyler at 7:12.

Rating: C+. Well yeah, of course the villains lost here. You had Alexander and two guys literally described as being there as helpers against two former World Champions and a former Ring Of Honor World Champion. This would have been the same thing if the Armory had been involved so at least it wasn’t shaken up very badly by something out of their control.

We look at the last few minutes of Mike Bailey vs. El Hijo del Vikingo at Bound for Glory. I’m assuming this was going to be the Vikingo match where he got hurt.

Mike Bailey gives Trent Seven a pep talk after losing the Call Your Shot gauntlet but Seven isn’t happy. The System interrupts, with Moose saying he might just take the X-Division Title. Works for Bailey.

Dani Luna vs. Ash By Elegance

Jody Threat, Heather By Elegance and the Personal Concierge are here too. An exchange of shoulders goes to Luna but a Heather distraction lets Ash send her into the steps to take over. Back in and Ash grabs a chinlock, with Luna fighting up without much effort. A Blue Thunder Bomb gives Luna two but the Concierge offers a distraction, allowing Heather to get in a broom (witch’s costume) shot. Rarefied Air finishes Luna at 6:02.

Rating: C. Giving Ash an entourage of people to help her steal some wins is a fine idea, as it would stun me if she isn’t at least a serious challenger for the Knockouts Title sooner than later. She’s too good to leave in the middle of the pack for that much longer and has been treated as a big deal. For now though, it looks like By Elegance is coming for the Knockouts Tag Team Titles, as this was the required “beat a champion in a singles match”.

Lei Ying Lee vs. Maggie Moore

Moore works on a wristlock to start but Lee headscissors her down and gets in a stomp. A pump kick staggers Lee but she hits a crossbody out of the corner. Thunderstruck finishes Moore at 2:51. That was certainly a Lee match.

Post match Savannah Evans returns and lays Lee out.

Mike Santana is proud of his win over Moose and says the World Title is a matter of when.

Nic Nemeth/Joe Hendry vs. The System

Frankie Kazarian is on commentary. Hendry takes Edwards down in a hurry to start and we take an early break. Back with Nemeth being knocked outside thanks to an Alisha Edwards distraction and JDC hitting a slingshot elbow for two. The chinlock goes on for a bit before JDC heads up, only to miss a flipping legdrop. Hendry comes back in to clean house and a double clothesline puts the System down. Everything breaks down, leaving Hendry to accidentally hit Nemeth. The Boston Knee Party finishes Nemeth at 10:02.

Rating: C+. This didn’t have time to go very far and was mainly about the arguing among the good guys. The System gets another boost and there is a chance that we’ll be seeing Eddie get a shot at Nemeth in there somewhere. Throw in Kazarian lurking around and Hendry needing a rematch and Nemeth has his plate full for the time being.

Overall Rating: C+. This show was tasked with getting things going in the new direction after the biggest show of the year, but the Chris Bey stuff was hard to get around. Between the opening announcement and constantly mentioning him all night (and of course there is nothing wrong with that), it was hard to get focused on the show, as it’s hard to not think about how bad things might be for him. All that aside, the main event felt like it was setting up more stuff in the World Title picture, but a lot of the rest felt like it was just continuing from Bound For Glory. There was no big new moment, but that’s not something required.

Results
First Class b. Rascalz – Down Payment to Miguel
Eric Young/Jonathan Gresham/Steve Maclin b. Josh Alexander/Good Hands – KIA to Skyler
Ash By Elegance b. Dani Luna – Rarefied Air
Lei Ying Lee b. Maggie Moore – Thunderstruck
The System b. Nic Nemeth/Joe Hendry – Boston Knee Party to Nemeth

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Impact Wrestling
Date: September 19, 2024
Location: Boeing Center At Tech Port, San Antonio, Texas
Commentators: Matthew Rehwoldt, Tom Hannifan

We’re done with Victory Road and the big story is Nic Nemeth is still the World Champion as we are on the road to Bound For Glory. He is going to need a new challenger and it almost has to be Joe Hendry. Other than that, multiple titles changed hands so it’s time to move in a new direction. Let’s get to it.

Here is Victory Road if you need a recap.

Victory Road recap.

Here is Alisha Edwards to blame Masha Slamovich for her no longer being a champion. Cue Slamovich to threaten Alisha in English (which apparently she can speak), with Alisha bringing up that Slamovich can’t do anything because Alisha is still under concussion protocol. Cue Tasha Steelz to jump Slamovich but Jordynne Grace runs in for the save. The System runs in but the Hardys even things out. Cue Santino Marella to make a six person tag. Cue Arianna Grace to say Grace will team up with one of Grace’s best friends to face Wendy Choo and Rosemary next week. Santino likes how she thinks.

Eric Young talks to Josh Alexander about respect and wants him to be serious.

Jordynne Grace and Masha Slamovich respect each other but think they’ll meet down the line. They go to talk to the Hardys and Slamovich has a photo of herself meeting them as a kid. Matt Hardy is ready for the main event.

First Class vs. Sinner & Saint

Navarro flips over Sinner (who is apparently named Travis Williams) to start so it’s off to Saint (Judas Icarus) for a dropkick. Francis comes in to throw people around and Navarro adds some running knees. Icarus DDTs his way to freedom and it’s back to Williams to clean house. A double underhook powerbomb gives Icarus two but Francis is in with the Down Payment. Navarro’s frog splash pins Icarus at 4:26.

Rating: C. This was a nice way to reheat First Class after their recent losses. They need a bit of a boost, but they are also going to need a feud of some kind, perhaps one they can even do well in. Sinner & Saint, despite their odd names, have been around here before and are a decent enough tag team.

Mike Santana is ready to hurt JDC.

Mike Bailey is glad to be X Division Champion again and is ready to have a six man tag tonight.

Steph de Lander has to calm PCO down.

Rhino vs. Matt Cardona

Cardona bails to the floor to start before Rhino hammers away. The threat of a Gore sens Cardona outside, where Rhino suplexes him onto the ramp. Back in and Cardona hammers away but Rhino grabs a chair. Cardona takes it away and hits him in the ribs for the DQ at 2:54.

Post match Cardona beats him down but PCO runs in for the save…and beats up the chair, treating it as PCO.

Knockouts Tag Team Titles: Spitfire vs. Carlee Bright/Kendal Grey

Bright and Grey, from NXT, are challenging. Threat wrestles Grey to the mat without much trouble to start before sending her into the corner. Luna sends Grey flying with a fall away slam before the champs get two off a double suplex. Grey kicks her way out of the corner though and it’s off to Bright for a middle rope hurricanrana. A standing moonsault gets two but Threat comes back in for the toss powerbomb (Pressure Drop) to retain at 4:24.

Rating: C. We’re kind of at the point where the NXT crossovers aren’t meaning as much. There is only so much you can get out of some lower card women challenging for the Knockouts Tag Team Titles and it didn’t feel important. If you want this to work, someone is going to have to win another promotion’s title and that isn’t feeling likely.

Ash By Elegance and Heather Reckless get to know each other. Reckless is even interested in a makeover.

Mike Santana vs. JDC

Texas Deathmatch, meaning Last Man Standing but you have to get a pin or submission before the count starts.. Santana comes through the crowd and hammers away, with JDC being knocked out to the floor. Back in and some chairs are set up but JDC sends Santana into them. A trashcan is put over Santana’s head for Down And Dirty and Santana is busted open. Santana comes back with a barbed wire 2×4 to take over and we take an early break.

Back with Santana hitting a piledriver on the stage for two but JDC (who is GUSHING blood) is back with a tornado DDT. Santana sends a charging JDC into the barricade and then crushes him with an anvil case. JDC is put on a table and a frog splash off a ladder knocks him through for the pin, and then the ten count, to give Santana the pin at 12:15.

Rating: C+. Nice enough brawl, with JDC’s cut being downright gruesome, but this could have easily been a street fight or something to the same result. The Texas Deathmatch stipulation wasn’t exactly needed but what matters the most here is Santana continues his rise. Odds are he gets a big match with Moose at Bound For Glory, and this was a good win on the way there.

Post match Moose runs in and chairs Santana down.

Josh Alexander sees something in Sinner & Saint.

Lei Ying Lee (Xia Li) is coming.

Here is Joe Hendry for a chat. Hendry talks about what he did at Victory Road and how much of a statement it was for him to beat Josh Alexander. The people lifted him up and now he is ready for them to lift him to the World Title. Cue Frankie Kazarian to laugh off the idea of Hendry going to the World Title, because Nic Nemeth should give Kazarian the title shot instead. Cue Nemeth to say that Kazarian calls himself the King Of TNA but this is the real crown. Santino Marella comes out to make Kazarian vs. Hendry next week for the #1 contendership. That was simple and to the point.

System/Tasha Steelz vs. Masha Slamovich/Hardys

Alisha Edwards is here with the villains. Slamovich sends Steelz into the ropes to start and hits a running shot to the face. Matt and Eddie come in with Matt choking on the rope and hitting a running crotch attack to the back of the neck. Jeff comes in for Poetry In Motion and Slamovich sends Steelz into the corner for her own Poetry In Motion. Slamovich hits a big dive to the floor and we take a break.

Back with Slamovich in trouble and Myers coming in to calmly kick her in the corner. It’s a bit too calm as Slamovich slips away and hands it back to Jeff to clean house. Myers cuts that off with a Russian legsweep for two and some elbows up against the ropes. Jeff suplexes Eddie down and the Whisper In The Wind drops the System again. Matt comes in off the tag to start the real comeback but Alisha breaks up the Twist of Fate. That’s enough for an ejection, with the ABC coming in to get rid of her. That leaves Myers to take the Twist Of Fate into the Swanton to give Jeff the pin at 16:12.

Rating: B-. Nice enough main event here, but dang I do not care to see the Hardys going into Bound For Glory and getting the Tag Team Titles in some special moment. Throw in ABC and they have all the makings of a ladder match for the belts, which just…no. Other than that, Slamovich looked like a star here and it wouldn’t surprise me to see her getting the Knockouts Title shot at Bound For Glory.

Overall Rating: C+. Not exactly a can’t miss show here and there was nothing worth going out of your way to see, but what matters the most here is that you can see a lot of Bound For Glory from here. It’s a good sign when the card is starting to come into focus over a month out and now we could be in for a solid build there. This wasn’t a red hot start, but at least they put some more pieces together.

Results
First Class b. Sinner & Saint – Frog splash to Icarus
Rhino b. Matt Cardona via DQ when Cardona used a chair
Spitfire b. Carlee Bright/Kendal Grey – Pressure Drop to Bright
Mike Santana b. JDC – Splash from a ladder through a table
Hardys/Masha Slamovich b. System/Tasha Steelz – Swanton Bomb to Myers

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Impact Wrestling
Date: August 29, 2024
Location: Florida State Fairgrounds, Tampa, Florida
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

It’s the show before Emergence and the pay per view card is looking rather good. Since the show is mostly set, this week could be in a weird place as I’m not sure what more they need to do for tomorrow’s card. Odds are we get the final push in a lot of ways this week so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening recap.

X-Division Title: Rich Swann vs. Mike Bailey

Bailey is defending and AJ Francis is on commentary. They fight over wrist control to start as we look at the Rascalz watching, which gives us an NXT No Mercy plug, which is still so strange to see. Swann gets sent to the floor for a running hurricanrana through the ropes but a Francis distraction lets Swann take him down. Back in and Swann takes the leg down with the dragon screw legwhip before grabbing a spinning toehold. That sounds like working on the leg, which is the call for Bailey to fight up with his series of kicks.

Bailey misses a standing moonsault and they both block kicks to the head before kicking each other down for a double breather. Swann sends him outside for a cutter on the floor, setting up a frog splash for two. Bailey kicks him down and hits the moonsault knees for two of his own, only for Trent Seven and Francis to get into it on the floor. The distraction lets Swann avoid the Ultimate Weapon, meaning a Lethal Injection gives Swann two. Bailey is right back up with a running Spanish Fly to retain at 9:30.

Rating: C+. Bailey continues to be one of the most frustrating wrestlers around. He obviously has natural talent and can do some impressive things, but again, what in the world is the point of a wrestler working on his leg if it just makes Bailey do more flips and kicks? It’s incredibly annoying and takes me out of his matches every single time.

Jordynne Grace doesn’t care what a Match By Elegance is because she’s going to win anyway.

Brian Myers vs. Joe Hendry

Eddie and Alisha Edwards are here with Myers. Before the match, Hendry references his “Edge’s B****” song about Myers, who the fans don’t believe in anyway. Myers jumps him to start but gets caught with a jumping knee, setting up a delayed suplex to give Hendry two. They go outside where Alisha’s interference is cut off, meaning both she and Eddie are tossed.

The distraction lets Myers ram Hendry into a few things though and we take a break. Back with Myers dropping and elbow and grabbing a chinlock. A kick to the face gives Myers two and we hit the double arm crank. That’s broken up and Hendry hits the fall away slam and the Standing Ovation finishes Myers off at 6:37.

Rating: C. This was the next step in Hendry working his way up through the System, likely to an eventual match with Moose. That being said, it wouldn’t shock me to see the team cost Hendry the NXT Title on Sunday at No Mercy. It would give him a more personal feud around here, though I’m not sure how much longer Hendry can be kept out of the World Title picture.

Post match Eddie runs back in for the beatdown but Mike Santana makes the save. And now let’s do this (as scheduled).

Mike Santana vs. Eddie Edwards

Santana starts fast and elbows him in the face before firing off right hands in the corner. A backdrop puts Eddie on the floor but cue Alisha Edwards for a distraction, allowing Eddie to send Santana into the apron. We take a break and come back with Santana hitting a flapjack for a needed breather. Santana’s frog splash gets two but Eddie’s tiger bomb gets the same. Back up and Santana spits at him but avoids the Boston Knee Party. Instead Santana is back up with a quick Spin The Block for the pin at 12:04.

Rating: B-. Santana continues his rise up throughout the System, though he seems most likely to have the big match with Moose, likely at Bound For Glory. That should make for a good showdown when we get there, though there are still some names for Santana to get through first. What matters is that the road has started, with Santana getting a lot out of it so far.

Matt Cardona says he isn’t cleared to face PCO at Emergence but he’ll have a mystery monster in his place. Santino Marella is not pleased.

Hammerstone vs. Eric Young

Steve Maclin is on commentary. Hammerstone wins an exchange of shoulders to start and fires off some shoulders to the ribs in the corner. Young is back up with a spinning middle rope crossbody but Hammerstone takes him to the floor for a whip into Maclin. Back in and Young scores with some right hands into the Death Valley Driver for two but Hammerstone’s powerslam gets the same.

A sitout powerbomb gives Hammerstone two more, only for Young to avoid a big boot and punch Hammerstone down. Young makes the mistake of going after Maclin though and gets kicked in the face, setting up the Nightmare Pendulum to give Hammerstone the pin at 6:39.

Rating: C. These two just aren’t that interesting together, though at least Hammerstone won here. Hammerstone continues to feel like an absolute beast who could be a big deal if he is given the chance, which isn’t what I would call feuding with Eric Young for so long. Young vs. Maclin is just kind of there as well, though this didn’t make me want to see them fight.

ABC vs. Cody Deaner/Jake Something

Non-title. Before the match Deaner does his usual talking to the people, but Something says this is about getting a place in the tag division. Something shoulders Austin into the corner to start and then powerbombs him into another corner for the tag off to Deaner. The armbar goes on to put Austin in early trouble but he’s easily off to Bey for the tag. House is quickly cleaned but Something knocks the heck out of Bey. A double clothesline puts ABC down until Something and Austin go to the apron. With Something being sent into the apron, the 1-2-Sweet can finish Deaner at 4:45.

Rating: C+. Sometimes you need to just give the champs a quick win over a middle of the road team to remind you that they can still beat just about anyone. Deaner and Something aren’t much of a team but at least they looked good in defeat here. ABC need a fresh team to challenge them so this was more about keeping them warm on the way there.

Post match First Class runs in to take out the ABC.

Ash By Elegance’s personal concierge is talking to Alisha Edwards and Masha Slamovich but we can’t hear what is being said.

We look at Rosemary going to NXT earlier this week.

Emergence rundown.

Knockouts Title: Ash By Elegance vs. Jordynne Grace

Grace is defending in a By Elegance match, meaning hardcore with themed (meaning pink) weapons. Elegance jumps her from behind to start and hits a bulldog onto a chair for an early two. Grace gets in a shot on top though and hits her with a trashcan, setting up a slam for two of her own. They head outside where Elegance gets in a pink trashcan lid shot before putting Grace in a chair for some shots to the face.

We take a break and come back with Grace pulling a high crossbody out of the air and planting Ash for two. Grace pours out a bag of diamonds but gets hit in the head with a champagne bottle for two more. The personal concierge loads up some shoes but cue Rosemary to chase him off. A package piledriver gives Ash two but here are Alisha Edwards and Masha Slamovich to go after Grace. Spitfire cuts them off though and it’s a MuscleBuster from the apron through a table to retain at 11:39.

Rating: C+. So that’s it for these two right? While it felt like Ash was ready to move up to the next level and possibly even win the title, there is only so much more she can do when she has lost both a regular match and her “signature” match to Grace. We’re going to need a new challenger for Grace and while there are a few options, including Gisele Shaw, no one is really standing out with about two months to go before Bound For Glory.

We get a sitdown interview between Nic Nemeth and Josh Alexander with Matthew Rehwoldt moderating. Alexander says everything is on his time now but Nemeth says he thrives on this kind of pressure. Sure Alexander is a great wrestler but Nemeth isn’t going to lose the title. Why is Alexander so great yet not so well known? Alexander wanted a shot and all he had to do was ask. Alexander insists he’s still the best and points out the records he has as champion.

Nemeth stands up and talks about how Alexander never changes but being champion is about what you have done lately. Nemeth says this is his match but Alexander says the next “lately” thing he’ll do is take the title That has them going face to face, with Nemeth saying Alexander used to be the best, which is why Nemeth is the champion. This got intense near the end, but going from a thirty minute draw to an Iron Man match feels like something of a leap.

Overall Rating: C+. The ending segment was the best thing on the show, but this only did so much to make me more interested in Emergence. That is always going to be a tricky thing to pull off when the show is already set, so this could have been worse, but it didn’t really change much. Emergence still has a lot of potential though and I was jazzed for the show coming in, meaning this was pretty much playing with the house’s money in the first place.

Results
Mike Bailey b. Rich Swann – Spanish Fly
Joe Hendry b. Brian Myers – Standing Ovation
Mike Santana b. Eddie Edwards – Spin The Block
Hammerstone b. Eric Young – Nightmare Pendulum
ABC b. Cody Deaner/Jake Something – 1-2-Sweet to Deaner

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Emergence 2024
Date: August 30, 2024
Location: Old Forester’s Paristown Hall, Louisville, Kentucky
Commentators: Matthew Rehwoldt, Tom Hannifan

We’re back on TNA+ with another special and in this case we have a stacked card. Granted it’s not stacked that high as there are only about five matches on the main show, mainly due to the main event being a sixty minute Iron Man match as Nic Nemeth defends the World Title against Josh Alexander. Other than that, Ultimate X is back for the X-Division Title. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Frankie Kazarian vs. Kushida

Kazarian begs off to start and yes we have to pause for his official introduction as the King Of TNA. Kushida doesn’t care for that and sends him outside, setting up the knee off the apron. A Shotei palm strike gets two on Kazarian and Kushida starts in on his arm. Back up and Kazarian elbows him in the face, allowing him to do his own Time Splitters post. A powerslam into the springboard spinning legdrop gives Kazarian two more and he sends Kushida into the buckle to cut off the comeback attempt.

The chinlock goes on but Kushida fights up and sends him into the buckle buckle to even things up. The basement dropkick staggers Kazarian again but Kushida has to slip out of a chickenwing attempt. Back up and the handspring elbow is pulled into the chickenwing, which is broken up again. Kushida hits him in the face and a flipping kick to the head connects on top. A dive to the floor sets up a cross armbreaker on Kazarian but the referee breaks it up because of the whole outside deal. That lets Kazarian kick the rope for a low blow on the way back in though and Fade To Black finishes Kushida off at 9:56.

Rating: B-. There is a very simple concept of “let talented wrestlers have a match” and that’s what they did here. Neither of these two feel like they are going to be in the World Title picture anytime soon, but they are both more than capable of doing something like this. Good stuff here and a fine choice to warm the crowd up.

Kickoff Show: Digital Media Title/International Heavyweight Wrestling Title: Shera vs. PCO

PCO, with Steph de Lander, is defending and Shera is replacing an injured Matt Cardona. They start fast with PCO beating him up around ringside but Shera gets in a shot of his own. Shera yells at de Lander and they go inside where Shera hits a spinning spinebuster for two. More yelling at de Lander just fires PCO up though and he hits a DDT out of the corner. Shera rolls outside so there’s the big dive to take him down again. The DeAnimator connects as commentary tries to figure out what kind of strange things PCO and de Lander do together. The PCOsault retains the titles at 6:02.

Rating: C. They didn’t have much time here but this wasn’t the match advertised anyway. Cardona not being here took away any heat that it might have had and thankfully they didn’t treat Shera as anything more than a glorified workout for PCO. The big story will be the Cardona vs. PCO match, likely at Bound For Glory, so this was just a quick stop on the way there.

And now, the show proper.

The opening video looks at the major matches and talks about how it isn’t about where you start, but where you emerge, while looking at the show’s major matches.

X-Division Title: Riley Osborne vs. Zachary Wentz vs. Laredo Kid vs. Jason Hotch vs. Hammerstone vs. Mike Bailey

Ultimate X, meaning you win by pulling down the title and with your feet hitting the mat while holding the belt (meaning shenanigans can ensue after the title comes down) and Bailey is defending. For those unfamiliar, Osborne is from NXT. Hotch makes an early climb attempt and gets nowhere, leaving Hammerstone to wreck some people. Kid is tossed at Hammerstone for a hurricanrana to the floor as commentary points out how hard it is to get the title. Hotch hits a big dive to the floor and the fans are impressed to start.

Back in and Bailey kicks away at Hammerstone, who runs him over without much effort. Hammerstone cuts off a dive to the floor, leaving Kid and Hotch to slug it out on the apron. Something like a Tower Of Doom onto Hammerstone leaves just about everyone down. Back in and Wentz hits a super cutter on Osborn and everyone is down again. A bunch of people go up the structure but Bailey moonsaults off onto a bunch of people. Wentz makes the first serious attempt at the belt but is joined by everyone but Bailey.

Hammerstone kicks the rest of them down, only to be pulled off the cables just in time. We hit the parade of strikes to the face until Kid goes up, with Hammerstone gorilla pressing him down onto the pile at ringside. Hotch cuts Hammerstone off with a torture rack bomb but gets taken down by Kid. Osborne goes up and shooting stars down onto a bunch of people before they can pull him down. Bailey hits the Ultimate Weapon to Osborne before going up on the cables with Wentz. They kick it out and Wentz actually kicks him down to win the title at 10:25.

Rating: B. Points for a surprise finish there as I would not have bet on a title change here. There is a good chance that this sets up Wentz’s match with Wes Lee at No Mercy as a title match and that could go in a variety of directions. For now though, heck of a match here with some big time spots and Hammerstone looking like a monster despite not winning. You kind of know what you’re getting with this match and that’s ok, as it wound up being a pretty cool spectacle, as usual.

Josh Alexander says he is the standard of the main event and the Iron Man match is his thing. He’s going to show Nic Nemeth that he doesn’t belong here because the title is all he needs. Tonight, he has Nemeth for sixty minutes and after this, Nemeth will be lucky to be alive. Rather fired up promo here.

Eric Young vs. Steve Maclin

They stare at each other to start and fight over a lockup, which goes nowhere. After some more staring, Young starts slugging away in the corner until Maclin reverses into an Angle Slam. Young does his slide between the legs into a sunset flip for two though before knocking Maclin down. The moonsault is broken up and Young winds up in the Tree of Woe, meaning the running shoulder to the ribs can connect for two. It works so well that Maclin does it again for two before hammering away.

Back up and they hit stereo crossbodies for the double knockdown. Young sticks out his chin so Maclin can hit him…which is exactly what Maclin does. That just makes Young happy and he punches the chin that Maclin sticks out at him. Maclin knees him outside but the Scud only hits floor. Back in and Young’s top rope elbow gets two, followed by a piledriver (after a struggle) for the same. Another piledriver is loaded up but Maclin reverses into a rollup for the pin at 9:54. Even commentary points out how sudden it was.

Rating: B-. Neither of these two have much going on but Maclin has more of an upside out of the two. Maclin needed a nice win to boost himself up a bit and beating a former multiple time World Champion is a good way to go. Much like the opener, this wasn’t going to steal the show but there are far worse things that could be added to a card.

Post match Young offers and receives a handshake.

Nic Nemeth knows what Josh Alexander can do and Alexander has had the only sixty minute Iron Man match in TNA. He knows what Alexander can do but Nemeth can get up and kick him in the mouth to come out on top, like he always does.

Jordynne Grace/Spitfire vs. Alisha Edwards/Masha Slamovich/Ash By Elegance

It’s a brawl to start and Threat hits a big flip dive to the floor to take out the villains. Luna hits a dive of her own and Grace teases one…but we pause because Alisha is apparently banged up. Grace takes Ash inside for a cover but the referee is with Alisha. Tommy Dreamer and medics check on Alisha who is still down as Threat clotheslines Ash in the corner and hits an exploder suplex for two. Dreamer carries Alisha to the back (for some nice applause) and an assisted powerbomb gets two on Ash.

Luna gets caught in the wrong corner but suplexes her way to freedom, allowing the tag off to Grace to clean house. Threat hits a running crotch attack to the back of Slamovich in the ropes but Ash cuts her off again. Rarefied Air misses though and Pop Shove It gives Threat the pin on Ash at 7:54. Alisha did not appear again after being taken out.

Rating: C+. This is on a completely sliding scale as they were likely having to make a lot of that up on the fly. There was only so much that could be done if that was a legitimate injury and doing a match 3-2 in favor of the heroes is only going to get so far in the first place. They did what they could here and hopefully Alisha is ok.

Tag Team Titles: ABC vs. First Class

First Class (AJ Francis and KC Navarro, the latter of whom is replacing a suspended Rich Swann) is challenging. The much taller Francis offers Austin a test of strength to start, earning himself a slap to the face. Bey comes in and kicks Francis in the head but has to escape the Down Payment. Navarro gets in a cheap shot from behind though and Francis scores with a big boot to take over. A trip sends Bey throat first into the ropes but he grabs a heck of a back breaker and a hecker of a clothesline for two.

Austin comes in for a chop in the corner as Rehwoldt gets on the fans for only knowing ABC instead of the rest of the alphabet. A quick distraction lets Navarro take Austin down though and another kick puts Bey down so the villains can take over. Francis comes in for a YOU CAN’T WRESTLE chant, which has Rehwoldt going on about the Kentucky public education system (as a product of that system, I would say Rehwoldt can keep talking). Bey kicks his way to freedom and it’s off to Austin to pick up the pace on Navarro.

A brainbuster drops Navarro but a fireman’s carry to Francis is just a bad idea. The second attempt works a bit better as Francis is planted with an AA, leaving Austin to drop Navarro for two of his own. A belly to back suplex/top rope clothesline combination connects on Navarro but Francis is back in with a double suplex. The Down Payment connects on Bey but Francis isn’t legal so there is no count. Austin grabs the Fold and a small package to Navarro gives Bey the pin at 11:41.

Rating: B-. For a match that was thrown together on the show earlier in the night, this could have been a lot worse and I had a good time with what we got. ABC doesn’t really have a top team coming for the titles right now and since the regular First Class was unavailable, this was about as good as it could have gone. Nice match here and another good addition to the card.

We recap the System vs. the Hardys/Mike Santana/Joe Hendry, which is the top heel stable vs. the plucky team of opponents, all of whom are sick of the villains.

The System/JDC vs. Joe Hendry/Mike Santana/Hardys

Hendry’s special entrance talks about how he believes in the Hardys, which leads to Hendry doing the DELETE pose. Santana and Moose start things off but Moose hands it off to JDC instead. That’s fine with Santana, who knocks JDC into the corner and then into the buckle. Santana drops him again and asks who wants the Hardys. Matt comes in for a running corner clothesline and lets Santana play Jeff for Poetry In Motion.

The real Jeff gets to play Jeff as well but JDC gets in a shot to Matt and Eddie comes in to hammer away in the corner. That’s broken up and it’s back to Jeff as everything breaks down, meaning it’s a big group suplex to take the System down. The Hardys and Hendry all do Hendry’s pose and the fans start to sing. We settle down to Santana in the wrong corner but avoiding Moose’s charge, allowing Santana to hit a middle rope double dropkick.

JDC gets tossed over the top and onto the pile, setting up Santana’s big dive. All eight get inside to brawl at once but Matt’s Twist of Fate is broken up. Not that it matters as it’s already back to Jeff as everything breaks down again. Jeff hits the Twist of Fate on Myers but JDC breaks up the Swanton. That lets Eddie come in and hammer away before Moose grabs a chinlock. JDC’s hard whip into the corner gets two on Jeff, with the fans singing about how THEY BELIEVE IN JEFF HARDY.

Moose gets caught in the Twisting Stunner though and that’s enough for the tag off to Hendry. Eddie’s middle rope crossbody misses (almost Samoa Joe style) and Myers spears JDC by mistake. Moose tries a top rope cutter but Hendry walks away instead, setting off more singing. A pop up powerbomb gets two on Myers but Eddie and Hendry clothesline each other. Santana hits Spin The Block on Moose, setting off the parade of finishers. Moose pulls Matt off the cover from the Twist of Fate, earning himself one on the floor. Eddie kicks Matt low back inside and the Boston Knee Party finishes at 19:17.

Rating: B-. This was one of the bigger matches of the night and it wound up going well enough. That matters here is the System gets a little momentum back and now it’s time to get them into their big matches at Bound For Glory. Odds are you’ll be seeing Santana vs. Moose and Eddie/Myers vs. the Hardys, but I have no idea how you could put Hendry in anything but a main event spot. There is still time for that though, and this match helped set up a few things for the future.

Impact preview.

We recap Nic Nemeth defending the World Title against Josh Alexander in a sixty minute Iron Man match. They went to a time limit draw in a thirty minute match so let’s do it again here, with sudden death an option if necessary.

TNA World Title: Nic Nemeth vs. Josh Alexander

Nemeth is defending in a sixty minute Iron Man match. They go with the grappling to start with Nemeth grabbing something like an abdominal stretch. That’s reversed into a front facelock, with Nemeth going straight to the ropes. They go to the mat for more grappling with Alexander having to bail into the corner.

Alexander throws him down so Nemeth reverses into a cradle for two before Alexander grabs a headlock. With that going nowhere, they get up again and the grappling continues with Alexander getting a standing armbar. Alexander takes him to the mat in a hammerlock, with Nemeth reversing into a cradle for two.

With that broken up, Alexander grabs a headlock as the fans are split here. Back up and Nemeth tries a dropkick, which is countered into the ankle lock to send Nemeth straight to the ropes. The headlock goes on again so the fans entertain themselves with an I BELIEVE IN NIC NEMETH chant. Back up and Alexander tries the ankle lock but Nemeth reverses into a cradle for the pin at 12:21.

Nemeth – 1
Alexander – 0

Alexander knocks him down again as they’re certainly not in a hurry here. A whip into the buckle makes it even worse for Nemeth and there’s a German suplex to send him flying, with a turnbuckle pad coming off at the same time. The chinlock with a knee in the back keeps Nemeth down before Alexander sends him chest first into the corner. A rather delayed vertical suplex drops Nemeth again but he grabs a rollup for two and a breather.

They go outside with Alexander slowly slugging away, though being smart enough to break the count at the same time. Nemeth sends him shoulder first into the steps, followed by the right hands in the corner. A top rope elbow connects but Alexander rolls him up for two. The C4 Spike is blocked and they trade rollups for two each until Nemeth hits a Fameasser for two more. The Danger Zone is loaded up but Alexander slips out, only to get Danger Zoned for the pin at 24:30.

Nemeth – 2
Alexander – 0

Nemeth sends him into the corner and slowly stomps away, setting up the jumping elbow for two. The armbar is countered into Alexander’s ankle lock but Nemeth breaks out rather quickly. Nemeth knocks him to the apron as they finally put the clock back up, because a countdown clock is too much to ask for in a match based on time. The clock goes away again with about 30:00 to go and Alexander cranks on the leg.

Alexander rolls some German suplexes, getting all the way into double digits, before slowing down to mock the fans. Nemeth uses the breather and rolls some German suplexes of his own before letting go, allowing Alexander to grab his own German suplex. A double knockdown leaves them both laying and some more time gets burned off. They get up at nine and Nemeth headbutts him so hard the headgear comes off. Alexander gets the ankle lock for a good while and adds the grapevine but Nemeth crawls over to the rope.

Alexander slowly kicks at the ankle and cranks on it some more as this is dragging horribly. Back up and Nemeth tries the running DDT but gets shoved into the referee with 20:00 to go. Alexander drops the referee and it’s time to load up a table. The C4 Spike onto the apron is countered with a scary looking backdrop to the floor but Alexander is back with a spinning Tombstone for two. Alexander grabs a chair but the referee takes it away, allowing Alexander to break off a piece of his knee brace to knock Nemeth cold. The C4 Spike finishes Nemeth at 43:52.

Nemeth – 2
Alexander – 1

Another C4 Spike ties it at 44:35.

Nemeth – 2
Alexander – 2

Alexander covers what’s left of Nemeth for two as we have less than 15:00 to go. Nemeth is back up with a sleeper and jumps on Alexander’s back, with the two of them falling out to the floor for a crash. They both get back in and then fall outside again, with Alexander hitting a toss powerbomb to knock Nemeth silly again. Nemeth beats the count back in and counters a C4 Spike with a backdrop over the top and through the table (which Nemeth didn’t know was there).

Alexander is down on the floor as we have 10:00 left. He count is beaten and Alexander hits a quick C4 Spike for….two, as Nemeth gets his foot on the rope. They strike it out on the floor until Nemeth grabs the running DDT back inside for two. They go up top with Alexander knocking him back down as we have 6:00 left. Nemeth’s top rope superplex sends both of them crashing down and a very delayed cover gets two on Alexander as we have five minutes left. Fans: “FIVE MORE MINUTES!”

Nemeth hits a superkick for two more and Alexander’s straps are down. A release German suplex sends Nemeth flying as we have 3:00 left. Alexander lawn darts him into the exposed buckle and grabs what is supposed to be Danger Zone for two, because Nemeth is freaking Superman in this thing. Another C4 Spike is escaped with 1:00 left and Nemeth hits the Danger Zone. Nemeth is back up with his own C4 Spike for the lead at 59:39.

Nemeth – 3
Alexander – 2

And time expires as Nemeth retains at 60:00.

Rating: C-. Oh sweet goodness what was that? This wasn’t a bad match but rather all kinds of boring save for a few nice spots here and there. I never once felt like Nemeth was in any danger of losing the title (he never even trailed) and some of the kickouts and near falls were just ridiculous.

It’s ok to give up a fall to a multiple time World Champion in an Iron Man match, as Nemeth was only really giving anything up for about five minutes out of the hour. I was losing interest about twenty minutes in and it just kept going. This absolutely should have been thirty minutes max, but instead we got this mess. Really dull stuff and a big disappointment.

And then John Bradshaw Layfield shows up. He whispers something to Nemeth, who nods, as JBL leaves. Nemeth celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. Shows with a huge main event like this are always going to be weird because one match takes up so much of the match time. Unfortunately in this case that one match was not exactly great, but the rest of the show was more than good enough to balance a lot of it out. It’s not a show that lived up to its hype, but as a show included with TNA+, it could have been worse. Just fix the main event and the show leaps up in quality, but that was a really lame way to spend a third of the show.

Results
Frankie Kazarian b. Kushida – Fade To Black
PCO b. Shera – PCOsault
Zachary Wentz won Ultimate X
Steve Maclin b. Eric Young – Piledriver
Jordynne Grace/Spitfire b. Alisha Edwards/Masha Slamovich/Ash By Elegance – Pop Shove It to Ash
ABC b. First Class – Small package to Navarro
The System/JDC b. Hardys/Joe Henry/Mike Santana – Boston Knee Party to Matt
Nic Nemeth b. Josh Alexander 3-2

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Impact Wrestling
Date: August 22, 2024
Location: Florida State Fairgrounds, Tampa, Florida
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matt Rehwoldt

We’re a little over a week away from Emergence and with most of the card set, there is only so much more that needs to be one. One of the biggest parts would be the final members of the Ultimate X match, meaning we have more qualifying matches. Other than that, we’re likely to be in for more of a build towards the show. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening recap.

Hammerstone vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Kushida

Ultimate X Qualifying Match. Hammerstone powers Kushida into the corner for the shoulders to start but gets sent outside, leaving the other two to trade rollups for two each. They trade standing switches until Hammerstone dropkicks them both down. A suplex sends Kushida flying and Kazarian makes the mistake of jumping Hammerstone.

Kushida gets in a double knockdown but gets dropped by Kazarian for two. Hammerstone is back in but Kushida catches him in a cross armbreaker. That’s broken up by Kazarian, who can’t quite hit Fade To Black on Hammerstone. Instead Kushida knocks Kazarian outside, only to get caught in the torture rack. Hammerstone’s Nightmare Pendulum is enough to end Kushida at 6:08.

Rating: B-. The action here was good (as good as it could be in such a short match) but what helped here was you could see any of them winning. Kushida is a former champion and Kushida is a legend, while Hammerstone is the kind of hoss who could do some interesting things in Ultimate X. This was a good choice for an opener and I had a good time while I was wondering who would win.

Post match Hammerstone leaves so Kazarian hammers on Kushida, including Fade To Black.

Eric Young is ready for Hammerstone. Steve Maclin comes in to say he’ll be watching.

Santana knows he has to be an animal around here and wants to cut the head off the snake that is the System.

Alisha Edwards vs. Rosemary

Masha Slamovich is here with Edwards, who makes the mistake of poking Rosemary in the chest to start. Rosemary knocks her into the ropes and grabs the Upside Down, only to get kicked down for two. The Figure Four necklock mat slams has Rosemary in more trouble and a splash gives Edwards two more. Rosemary is back up with the spear for two of her own but Slamovich offers a distraction. That’s enough for Edwards to hit a Downward Spiral but Spitfire comes out to cut Slamovich off, meaning the referee is distracted. Rosemary is right back up with As Above, So Below for the pin at 4:46.

Rating: C. Rosemary continues to be in a weird place as she’s a big star in the division but can only go so far because of how complicated and intricate of a backstory she has. You could easily put her into the Knockouts Title picture and that still might be where they are going with this win. I’d rather she do that than have another weird partner, as that has kind of been covered.

Post match Rosemary gives the out cold Alisha a black rose.

Ash By Elegance agrees to face Jordynne Grace in a match…by Elegance.

Xia Brookside/Rhino/PCO vs. Steph de Lander/Kon/Madman Fulton

Matt Cardona was supposed to be on the de Lander team but isn’t medically cleared to compete. PCO and Kon start things off, with PCO chasing Cardona at the bell as we take an early break. Back with Rhino brawling with Fulton out to the floor with Fulton getting the better of things and choking on the rope.

Kon does the same and Cardona gets in a cheap shot, with de Lander not being pleased. Fulton’s splash gets two and we hit the chinlock for a breather. Rhino fights up and hits a quick Gore, allowing the tag off to PCO to pick up the pace. Everything breaks down and Brookside manages a Brookside Bomb on Fulton. The Gore sets up the PCOsault to finish Fulton at 8:28.

Rating: C+. This was a fun match, even if de Lander didn’t do much. While it’s hard to imagine that de Lander and Cardona don’t reunite later, there is something different with the de Lander/PCO stuff for the time being. Kon and Fulton are fine muscle/monsters, and that’s all it seems they’re being presented as here.

Video on Nic Nemeth vs. Josh Alexander in an Iron Man match at Emergence.

Jordynne Grace is down for Ash By Elegance’s challenge.

Laredo Kid vs. Bhupinder Gujjar vs. Jai Vidal

Ultimate X Qualifying Match and Vidal is quickly sent outside. The other two slug it out until Vidal sends Kid outside, only to get caught in a hurricanrana from Gujjar. Kid is back in and chops away on Vidal in the corner but gets low bridged to the floor. Gujjar hits a big dive to take both of them out on the floor but Kid does just the same. Back in and a pair of moonsaults gives Kid two on Vidal with Gujjar making the save. Vidal stomps Gujjar in the corner but gets planted by Kid, who hits a 450 for the pin at 6:41.

Rating: B-. More action packed and perfectly good stuff which didn’t have the chance to do much due to the time situation. Kid hasn’t been around much lately but he is more than good enough to warrant a spot in a match like this. It isn’t like Gujjar and Vidal have been doing anything anyway so the loss isn’t hurting them.

First Class yells about how Rich Swann should have been in Ultimate X. Mike Bailey comes in to offer him a title shot to make up for it. That’s quite the reward.

Charlie Dempsey vs. Jonathan Gresham

They fight over wrist control to start as commentary just says Gresham “forgot” about the whole black ink thing. The technical off goes to the mat with Gresham getting the better of things and working on the arm to limited avail. Dempsey reveres into a leglock and bridges back into a neck crank at the same time (think a reverse STF) for a nasty visual.

Back up and Gresham hits a running shoulder before they fight over a test of strength. They keep their hands lock as they go to the mat, with some near falls each as both have to bridge up. Gresham ties the legs up and tries to pin the arms down…..which actually gets the pin at 9:07!

Rating: B-. This was a very different kind of match as it was all technical and grappling. The ending was downright stunning too as that has been a nothing spot in a match for years. Instead though, it makes sense that someone would get a fluke pin on it at some point, even if I never actually expected to see it happen. I was genuinely surprised by the finish and I often like that feeling so well done.

Post match Dempsey swings at Gresham, who punches him to the floor without much effort.

We look at Joe Hendry becoming #1 contender to the NXT Title and Zachary Wentz jumping Wes Lee on NXT.

Moose/JDC vs. Hardys

Jeff chases JDC around with a chair before the bell and is quickly knocked down by Moose, all before the opening bell. They get in for said bell and Jeff sends Moose into the corner for the tag off to Matt. Moose cuts that off and hands it off to JDC for a clothesline, meaning it’s time to choke in the corner. Matt Russian legsweeps his way out of trouble and hits the Twist of Fate but Jeff’s Swanton is broken up.

We take a break and come back with Matt hitting a middle rope elbow for two. Everything breaks down and JDC stomps on Matt on the floor, allowing Moose to hammer away back inside. JDC grabs a rather aggressive chinlock before handing it back to Moose for some choking. Matt manages a quick suplex and it’s back to Jeff to clean house. It’s quickly back to Matt for the Side Effect on Moose and they slug it out. Moose goes up top but dives into a cutter, with JDC having to hit Down And Dirty for the save. JDC goes up again but gets crotched down, meaning it’s the Twist Of Fate into the Swanton for the pin at 14:36.

Rating: C+. The Hardys aren’t anything close to what they were before but it was nice to see them getting to turn back the clock a bit here. They are still capable of having a good enough tag match, especially against a team with someone like JDC, who is there to take the fall. If nothing else, the match felt big because the Hardys made it feel more important. Just don’t do it too often.

Post match the beatdown is on so Mike Santana runs in, only to get taken out as well. Joe Hendry comes in for the real save and the good guys stand tall to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. I was digging this show and it is making me want to watch Emergence, which is quite the good sign. The Ultimate X qualifying matches were both entertaining and the more times I hear the explanation of “yeah the black ink thing was stupid and we just dropped it”, the happier I’ll be. Emergence could be a heck of a show if the good building continues, and this was another nice step on the way there.

Results
Hammerstone b. Kushida and Frankie Kazarian – Nightmare Pendulum to Kushida
Rosemary b. Alisha Edwards – As Above So Below
PCO/Xia Brookside/Rhino b. Steph de Lander/Kon/Madman Fulton – PCOsault to Fulton
Laredo Kid b. Bhupinder Gujjar and Jai Vidal – 450 to Vidal
Jonathan Gresham b. Charlie Dempsey – Arm pin
Hardys b. Moose/JDC – Swanton Bomb to JDC

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Impact Wrestling
Date: August 1, 2024
Location: Verdun Auditorium, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

We’re still in Montreal and in this case we have a pretty stacked show. First up, the World Title is on the line as Nic Nemeth is defending against Mustafa Ali in a match that feels like it could use more than a week of build. We also have a wedding, as PCO and Steph de Lander are having a rapid fire wedding, which feels ripe for interruption. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening recap.

Rascalz vs. Mike Bailey/Kushida/Trent Seven

Kushida wristlocks Miguel to start and takes him down with a wristdrag. That doesn’t work for the Rascalz, who start the fast paced comeback, only for Bailey to come in for the bouncing kicks. It’s off to Seven for the step up flipping backsplash and a near fall as the fast start continues. Lee sends Seven into the corner and it’s Wentz coming in with a rather extended Bronco Buster.

Seven chops Miguel out of the air though and hits a DDT for a double breather. Kushida comes back in for the basement dropkick into the Hoverboard Lock, with Wentz having to make the save. Lee is back up with the Cardiac Kick but Seven pulls him down from the top with the swinging slam for two. The Seven Star Lariat looks to set up the Ultimate Weapon to Miguel but Wentz makes the save. Miguel takes out Bailey and Kushida, leaving Hot Fire Flame to finish Seven at 8:13.

Rating: B-. This was billed as a tribute to the first match in TNA history and…I guess? It was a fast paced six man tag and that’s about it, which is didn’t exactly feel like some kind of an homage. Not a bad match at all, but it wasn’t exactly some great showcase or anything we haven’t seen done multiple times.

Jordynne Grace doesn’t think much of Ash By Elegance and issues an open challenge for next week.

Campaign Singh is on the phone with Mustafa Ali, who questions his loyalty. Singh will figure out a way to prove it.

Rosemary vs. Kristara

Rosemary has a butcher knife before powering Kristara into the corner to start. The Upside down has Kristara in more trouble but she’s back up with a fisherman’s suplex for two. Not that it matters as Rosemary grabs As Above So Below for the pin at 2:10.

Post match Rosemary puts a black rose on her chest.

The System says they’ll be back after a terrible night.

Mike Santana doesn’t want the System to forget their unfinished business. Campaign Singh is ready to prove his loyalty by facing Santana tonight. Santana will go make it happen.

Josh Alexander is introduced but we go to him in the back, where he says he doesn’t owe anyone an expectation. He is the greatest Canadian wrestler today and he opened doors so Joe Hendry could walk through them and so you could believe in Nic Nemeth. He’s done caring about the people.

Ryan Nemeth vs. Frankie Kazarian

The bell rings and Kazarian goes to the ring announcer to insists that he is introduced as the King Of TNA. Somehow Nemeth is knocked down anyway but starts working on the arm to take over. A dropkick puts Kazarian down but he’s back up with suplex into the corner as we take a break. Back with Nemeth firing off right hands and hitting some clotheslines, setting up a neckbreaker for two. Kazarian is right back with a shot of his own but Fade To Black doesn’t work. The slingshot cutter does though and Nemeth is done at 8:20.

Rating: C+. This was the right way to go as there was no reason for Nemeth to be a major threat to an established veteran like Kazarian. Sometimes you just need to give a star a nice win and that’s what Kazarian got here. There is a good chance that Kazarian will get the shot at Emergence and I’ve heard worse ideas.

Post match here is Josh Alexander to give Nemeth a C4 Spike.

Ultimate X is back at Emergence.

Masha Slamovich vs. Jody Threat

Alisha Edwards and Dani Luna are here too and this is a rematch from Bloodsport, where Slamovich won. Luna runs her over to start and hits a quick shoulder for two. Edwards grabs the leg though and Slamovich pulls Luna down by the hair to take over. The chinlock is broken up and Luna sends her into the ropes for some running knees to the back. Slamovich is right back with a sitout powerbomb for two so Alisha puts a title around the turnbuckle, ala at Slammiversary. As expected, Slamovich goes into it instead and Shove It finishes for Luna at 4:50.

Rating: C. I’m guessing this is the way to set up another Knockouts Tag Team Title match because that’s how almost all of the title matches are set around here. They set this up at Slammiversary and it makes Luna look good to catch Slamovich with the same thing that cost her at the pay per view. Not much of a match, but they made it work in the limited time they had.

Video on Joe Hendry’s rise.

Mike Santana vs. Campaign Singh

Singh jumps him to start but gets knocked into the corner for a dropkick to the back of the head. Santana puts him down again and hits Spin The Block for the pin at 1:52. That’s about the only way this should have gone.

Post match Santana promises to win the World Title, but he’ll start with Moose.

TNA World Title: Nic Nemeth vs. Mustafa Ali

Nemeth is defending and grabs a headlock to start. They trade shoulders until Nemeth dropkicks him out to the floor without much trouble. Back in and they run the ropes until Nemeth hits a hard clothesline before hammering away in the corner. Ali sends him chest first into the corner to take over, only to have Nemeth send him face first into the buckle. They go outside where Ali hits a quick electric chair drop and we take a break.

Back with Ali fighting out of a chinlock and getting two off a backslide. A neckbreaker puts Ali down again and the ten elbows keep him in trouble. Nemeth’s top rope DDT connects but Ali kicks him down to block the superkick. Nemeth backdrops him out to the floor and there’s a slingshot into the post. Cue the Secret Service for a distraction, allowing Ali to grab a Sharpshooter. That’s broken up and Nemeth hits a superkick into the Danger Zone to retain at 14:28.

Rating: B-. What we got was good, but I was expecting more from these two. Ali was presented as a major deal in the X-Division for a long time and feels like one of the bigger names in the company. Then their title match was set up on a week’s notice and doesn’t even get fifteen minutes. This felt like it could have headlined a monthly special but instead it’s just here. Certainly not bad at all, but it could have been a lot more.

Post match Josh Alexander comes out for a staredown.

It’s time for the wedding of PCO and Steph de Lander with Santino Marella officiating. Rhino (wearing a tie over his gear in a funny visual) is the best man and Xia Brookside is the maid of honor (in black of course). Naturally de Lander has the Bride of Frankenstein hairdo and they have a rather odd set of vows, including never complaining when the electricity bill is too high. Marella calls the groom Pico, with PCO screaming instead of saying any vows. They exchange rings (one of them still has a finger) but cue First Class to interrupt.

Or never mind as they say get your freak on. They kiss….and Matt Cardona is back, complete with a gift. That would be…part of a brick, which he uses to knock out PCO. Cardona says the Digital Media Title is his and tells de Lander to come with him…but she screams at Cardona instead. PCO gets up and Cardona leaves on his own, shouting about how it’s not supposed to be this way. De Lander cries to end the show. Points for a good double surprise there, but I can’t imagine this ends with anything but Cardona and de Lander together.

Overall Rating: B. This was a good mixture of action and a big moment at the end, with Cardona’s return being timed rather well. Throw in a World Title match that felt big and they had a solid show here. It could have been better with a bit more, but what matters most is that I’m curious to see where some of these stories go. That’s a good sign going into Emergence and beyond, with Bound For Glory looming way off in the distance.

Results
Rascalz b. Trent Seven/Kushida/Mike Bailey – Hot Fire Flame to Seven
Rosemary b. Kristara – As Above So Below
Frankie Kazarian b. Ryan Nemeth – Slingshot cutter
Dani Luna b. Masha Slamovich – Shove It
Mike Santana b. Campaign Singh – Spin The Block
Nic Nemeth b. Mustafa Ali – Danger Zone

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Impact Wrestling
Date: July 18, 2024
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Matthew Rehwoldt, Tom Hannifan

It’s the last show before Slammiversary and the card is mostly set. As you might expect, the big story is the World Title match, but we also have the return of the Hardys. Not only are they back, but they are getting a shot against the System for the Tag Team Titles. That sounds shenanigansy so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening recap.

Kushida/Rascalz vs. No Quarter Catch Crew

Dempsey and Miguel fight over wrist control to start until Dempsey takes him into the corner for some right hands from Borne. A slam puts Miguel down again and it’s off to Heights, who gets wristlocked by Kushida. Heights is fine enough to grab a fireman’s carry drop and Dempsey comes in for a backbreaker. Kushida handspring elbows his way to freedom though and it’s off to Wentz to clean house.

Everything breaks down and a triple dropkick puts Dempsey on the floor. The good guys hit a big triple flip dive, setting up a Hoverboard Lock on Heights. Dempsey puts Kushida in one to break that up but the Crew gets caught in triple stereo submissions. Those are broken up as well, leaving Dempsey to get triple kicked in the corner. Cue Jonathan Gresham to draw Kushida to the back though and it’s a series of suplexes, including Dempsey bridging butterfly suplex to Wentz, for the win at 9:40.

Rating: B. They let all six guys go nuts here and that’s what it should have been. The good thing is that this should set up the proper six man blowoff with the full Rascalz fighting against the Crew, likely at Slammiversary. It’s the way this story seems set to go and if this was any indication, we should be in for a heck of a blowoff.

Post break the Rascalz sit down in a circle and, after establishing that Wes Lee isn’t a hologram, seem to agree to unite to face the No Quarter Catch Crew.

Alisha Edwards vs. Xia Brookside

Masha Slamovich is here with Edwards, who works on a wristlock to start. A backstabber out of the corner rocks Brookside and a powerslam puts her down again. Brookside fights up and grabs a Russian legsweep for two. A crossbody gives Brookside two but she gets knocked outside. Slamovich goes after Brookside but cue Spitfire to cut her off. That lets Brookside hit the Brookside Bomb for the pin at 5:36.

Rating: C. This was more about the stuff on the floor at the end as a means to boost up the Knockouts Tag Team Title match at Slammiversary. Edwards dominated most of the match but it is nice to see Brookside getting a win. I don’t know if it means anything or leads anywhere, but I’ll take it over another loss.

Mike Santana doesn’t like JDC interfering with him last week and revenge is promised.

Mike Bailey attacked Mustafa Ali earlier today.

Here is Bailey to call out Ali for a fight right now. Ali pops up on screen and says Bailey has to run the Secret Service Gauntlet for a shot at him tonight.

Mike Bailey vs. Secret Service

Bailey kicks two of them down for wins in about thirty seconds before knocking the third to the floor. The big dive connects for Bailey and we take a break. Back with Bailey having beaten the fourth member so here is Campaign Singh to say Bailey has to beat him too. Some trash talk allows one of the agents to jump Bailey from behind, allowing Singh to come in with a Rock Bottom for two. A backbreaker puts Bailey down again but he’s right back with the Tornado Kick into the Ultimate Weapon for the pin at 7:48.

Rating: C. This was barely a match as Bailey ran through the first four and then only had to beat up Singh for the win. Having a villain through obstacles in front of his opponent is wrestling 101 and this was a nice way to make Bailey look good going into the title match. I can’t imagine we get anything serious between Ali and Bailey tonight and that’s ok with three days before the title match.

Post match some riot squad guards come in and one of them is Ali, who jumps Bailey and has the referee count an unofficial pin.

Post break Ali says the match with Bailey is off because he just beat him. Santino Marella comes in to say of course the match is still on. Either that or Ali is fired.

Tag Team Titles: The System vs. Hardys

The Hardys are challenging. Matt shoves Myers down to start and hands it off to Jeff to clean house. Poetry In Motion connects and the champs are sent outside fast. We settle down to Edwards taking Jeff into the champs’ corner so the beating can commence. Matt jawbreaks his way out of trouble and hits the Side Effect. Myers is back with a spear for two as we take a break.

Back with Matt fighting out of a chinlock but getting pulled back down. A neckbreaker puts Edwards down but Myers is back up to cut off a tag attempt. Matt finally manages a Side Effect and the tag brings in Jeff to clean house. The Whisper In The Wind gets two on Myers and Matt adds the Twist of Fate. Jeff loads up the Swanton but JDC runs in for the DQ at 12:42.

Rating: C+. Pretty run of the mill match here with a screwy finish, which they almost had to have to protect the titles as well as the Hardys. While I fully expect the Hardys to win the titles at some point in this run, they didn’t need to do it here. Throw in Jeff’s legal issues with the upcoming Canadian dates and changing the titles here wouldn’t have made much sense.

Post break the System jumps Matt, leaving JDC to wrap a chair around Jeff’s neck and send it into the post. Jeff is stretchered out, continuing his incredible streak of bad luck just before this company goes to Canada.

JDC vs. Mike Santana

We come back from a break with this (scheduled match) starting fast. Santana goes right after him to start and the fight heads outside with Santana hammering away. We cut to the back, where Rebecca Hardy has been attacked as well, saying JDC did it. Back in the ring and JDC sends Santana shoulder first into the post and then sends him into the buckle.

We hit the chinlock but Santana fights up rather quickly, only to get kneed out to the floor. A big chair shot misses for JDC and they’re both down. They both beat the clock back in and slug it out as Santana seems to be busted open. A quick Death Valley Driver gives Santana two but Spin The Block misses. JDC’s Air Raid Crash gets two and a super Falcon Arrow gets the same. JDC goes for a chair but gets posted, allowing Santana to hit him with the chair for the DQ at 8:24.

Rating: C. I was expecting this to end with a DQ but not the way they went about it. Instead I was waiting for Matt to run in and jump JDC, but points for letting Santana have the spotlight for a change. Santana’s nice run in TNA is still working, though I could go for him getting a nice pin on his own sooner than later.

Post match Santana lays him out with Spin The Block.

Jordynne Grace is ready for Ash By Elegance and still can’t believe she was in the Women’s Royal Rumble. Then she went to NXT and the crazy times in wrestling continued. Ash screwed that up though and now it’s time for the consequences.

Ash’s personal concierge promises to have everything ready for Slammiversary but Rosemary stalks behind him.

Here is Santino Marella or the six way World Title match contract signing. Cue Josh Alexander, Steve Maclin, Frankie Kazarian, Moose and Joe Hendry, but no Nic Nemeth. Instead we get a video from Nemeth, saying he has a partially torn labrum but is going to fight at Slammiversary anyway. Back in the arena and most of them sign without saying anything, though Kazarian wants to look at things more closely.

Moose doesn’t want to sign either but here is First Class of all people to interrupt. They’re the real main event of Slammiversary and Francis respects everyone in the ring, save or Hendry. They can thank him for the house at Slammiversary after he and PCO have the real main event. Cue PCO to brawl with Francis, leaving everyone else to fight. Alexander hits Moose in the face and Hendry gives him the Standing Ovation through the table. Hendry signs as well and we’re ready for Sunday. This was about what you would have expected, though the PCO/Francis addition was a nice touch.

A video on the World Title match takes us out.

Overall Rating: B-. This show needed to wrap up the build to Slammiversary and it did so well enough. What matters is I’m somewhat more interested in seeing the show more than when I came in and if they can deliver on the hype, we should be in for a good pay per view. The World Title match is going to carry the show, but when you have that much of your roster tied up in one match, it almost has to. Good stuff here, even if it didn’t add much new.

Results
No Quarter Catch Crew b. Kushida/Rascalz – Bridging butterfly suplex to Wentz
Xia Brookside b. Alisha Edwards – Brookside Bomb
Mike Bailey b. Secret Service – Ultimate Weapon to Singh
Hardys b. The System via DQ when JDC interfered
JDC b. Mike Santana via DQ when Santana used a chair

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Slammiversary 2024
Date: July 20, 2024
Location: Verdun Auditorium, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

This is one of the biggest shows that TNA presents every year and we should be in for a good one as the show is fairly stacked. The main event will see Moose defending the World Title against five challengers at once, along with hometown boy Mike Bailey challenging Mustafa Ali for the X-Division Title. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Faby Apache vs. Gisele Shaw vs. Tasha Steelz vs. Xia Brookside

We get a loud TNA chant as Shaw and Brookside kick the other two down. A celebration is cut off as Steelz shoves them into each other though and the villains take over. Apache drops Steelz though and grabs an early surfboard. Shaw is back in with Shock And Awe for two as commentary talks about everything else on the card. Steelz Codebreakers Apache to the floor and hits a suicide dive, followed by Shaw diving onto both of them.

Brookside dives onto all three of them (show off) and throws Steelz back in for two. The Brookside Bomb is broken up so Shaw Samoan drivers both Steelz and Brookside at the same time (geez). Apache goes up but dives into a powerbomb, leaving Shaw to spear Brookside. Shaw’s running knee hits Brookside but Steelz grabs the pin at 6:37.

Rating: C+. This was a fine choice to get the show going and warm the crowd up a bit but I really do not get that ending. This felt like it was Shaw’s to win and instead it’s Steelz, who hasn’t really been doing much lately. It’s weird to go with something that will deflate the crowd a bit, but at least the action was good.

Pre-Show: Kushida vs. Rich Swann

Kushida is in Hakushi cosplay because….I have no idea really. Swann is replacing an ill Jonathan Gresham. Kushida is slow to start before grabbing a wristlock but it’s too early for the Hoverboard Lock. They take turns flipping away from each other and Swann is knocked into the ropes. Swann chokes on the ropes and kicks him in the back but Kushida….stops to mediate, earning himself another kick.

A dragon screw legwhip into a Tajiri handspring elbow staggers Swann but he’s right back with the poisonrana. Swann’s Lethal Injection gets two but the middle rope 450 misses. Kushida punches him down, only to miss the moonsault, allowing Swann to kick him in the face for two more. Swann takes too long going up though and gets pulled down into the Hoverboard Lock for the tap at 6:43.

Rating: C+. I’m guessing this was Kushida’s response to Jonathan Gresham being all evil and corrupted. All that did is make me remember how horrible the Gresham stuff has been and that’s not the best way to get things going. Other than that, it was the kind of quality you would expect here, albeit with Kushida’s stuff not really fitting his usual style.

Pre-Show: Knockouts Tag Team Titles: Alisha Edwards/Masha Slamovich vs. Spitfire

Spitfire is challenging. Threat and Slamovich start things off with Threat cranking on the arm. Luna comes in to shove Edwards down without much trouble so Threat adds a basement clothesline for two. Slamovich slips in for a double suplex to Threat and a trip to Luna makes it worse. A hard kick to the chest gets two on Luna and a snap suplex is good for the same.

Luna manages to kick her way out of the corner and it’s back to Threat to pick up the pace. A double running crotch attack against the ropes connects on the champs and Edwards is Michinoku Drivered onto Slamovich for two. The Hart Attack gets two but Luna is sent outside, leaving the Snowplow to hit Threat for a rather near fall. With nothing else working, Slamovich distracts the referee so a belt shot can knock Threat silly. A Steiner Bulldog retains the titles at 8:48.

Rating: B-. This was one of the better Knockouts tag matches I’ve seen in a bit as they were given some time and didn’t have a commercial in the middle. That makes for a nice improvement and the action was there to back it up. The division still lacks depth, but at least this felt like part of a story rather than just a one off match.

Here is Santino Marella to say he used to live here and thanks the fans for their biggest show in over ten years (nice job). He even has a bonus match for us.

Pre-Show: Eric Young vs. Hammerstone

Nice to see Hammerstone back. Hammerstone wastes no time in knocking him outside where a hard posting ensues. Back in and a missile dropkick gives Hammerstone two as the fans chant something in French. Young is back up with his slide between the legs and a lariat but the top rope elbow takes too long. The breaking up is broken up as well though and Young drops the elbow for two. The piledriver is cut off with straight power but Young slips out of the torture rack….and grabs a rollup for the pin at 5:26.

Rating: C. I’m sorry what now? You have the return of a beast like Hammerstone and he loses to Eric Young? That’s one of those things that feels like it is straight out of the TNA playbook: when your company is feeling a bit stale, it’s time to go with the guy who has been around for the better part of twenty years. I’m fine with Young getting a win because he’s someone the fans will get behind, but you can’t put some low level villain out there instead of Hammerstone?

Post match Young thanks the fans for supporting the company and says this is TNA.

And now, the show proper.

Annie St-Onge sings O Canada.

The opening video looks at recent events and talks about how big of a show this is. We also get the normal looks at the bigger matches.

Matt Hardy vs. JDC

Matt is Broken and out for revenge after JDC took out Rebecca Hardy on Impact. The beating is on outside before the bell and JDC (in his American flag pants) has to get in a quick flag shot to take over. Now the bell rings and JDC sends him chest first into the corner, meaning it’s time for some dancing.

Hardy is draped over the top rope for a running boot to the head and two, followed by an elbow to the face. The bodyscissors works on Hardy’s ribs for a bit but Down And Dirty on the apron misses for JDC. Hardy sends him into the corner over and over, setting up a middle rope elbow. The Side Effect gets two but Dango is back with a Falcon Arrow. Another Down And Dirty is broken up and a middle rope Twist Of Fate gives Hardy the pin at 4:36.

Rating: C. This would have been short on Impact but it gave the fans a nice moment while Hardy gets some revenge. The stuff before the match felt like someone wanting to get back at JDC but the rest was just a normal match. I’ll take this over Hardy being all weird though so this could have been worse.

Post match Hardy hits two more Twists Of Fate to blow off some steam.

The System, in their matching American flag track suits, is ready to dominate tonight.

We run down the card.

Tag Team Titles: ABC vs. The System

The System, with Alisha Edwards, is defending. Austin strikes away at Eddie to start and it’s Bey coming in for a double Japanese armdrag. A Hart Attack (with ABC in pink and black) gets two on Myers but a running knee to the face hits Bey for the same. Alisha gets in some choking from the floor but Bey ducks a double clothesline and brings Austin back in (the fans are REALLY pleased).

Bey is back up with a big running flip dive, only to have Alisha distract Austin so Eddie can send him into the apron. Back in and Eddie’s snap suplex gets two, which causes some frustration to set in. Myers’ reverse chinlock doesn’t last long so Eddie catapults Austin throat first into the middle rope for a nasty impact. Austin fights up and makes the tag….but Myers has the referee for the classic misdirection, meaning no tag. The chinlock goes on for a bit, though Austin is ready for the Roster Cut.

That’s enough for the hot tag off to Bey so house can be quickly cleaned. Eddie is sent outside but Alisha is right there to cut off a dive. They all wind up on the apron, with Bey hitting cutter to set up Austin’s big Fosbury flop. Back in and Bey’s frog splash gets two on Eddie but the 1-2-Sweet is broken up. Myers’ spear gets two on Bey so Austin comes back in for a Magic Killer to Myers for two more. Alisha comes in and accidentally gets caught in the Art Of Finesse, leaving Myers to get caught in the 1-2-Sweet for the pin and the titles at 16:44.

Rating: B. ABC is a heck of a team and they are becoming one of the most decorated teams the company has ever seen. This was treated as a big deal, even if it ends a mostly mediocre run from the System. They were milking those near falls near the end too and I was into it for most of the time. Solid opener here.

Mike Bailey is so serious about winning the X-Division Title that he speaks French.

Jake Something vs. Mike Santana

The fans are way behind Santana here. We start with a fight over a lockup until Santana cranks on a headlock. Something tells him to bring it with the running shoulders before knocking a Thesz press out of the air. Back in and Santana hits a heck of a springboard flip dive to drop Something and a German suplex gets two back inside. Santana’s chinlock doesn’t last long as Something fights up and grabs a slam.

Something stomps away in the corner until Santana scores with a kick to the head. The rolling Buck Fifty connects for Santana and a middle rope dropkick sets up a Cannonball for two. Another Cannonball is pulled out of the air for a sitout powerbomb but Santana runs the corner for a release German superplex (dang that looked nasty). They slug it out with Santana knocking him down, only for Something to tell him to bring it. Spin The Block gives Santana the pin at 11:32.

Rating: B-. Sometimes you just need two strong guys beating each other up until one of them gets the pin. That’s exactly what we got here and it was a nice addition to the card. Santana continues to be someone that TNA is interested in promoting and that is not a bad idea when he is putting in a string of solid work. Something continues to feel like a prospect but after all of these losses, it’s hard to imagine he goes anywhere.

We look at Eric Young pinning Hammerstone on the pre-show.

Young talks about how big of a win that is and says he’ll be watching the World Title match.

We recap the No Quarter Catch Crew invading TNA and the Rascalz getting NXT’s Wes Lee to help them fight back, setting up a six man tag.

Rascalz vs. No Quarter Catch Crew

The Rascalz have Buzz Lightyear style gear and….yeah it’s really not working. Lee’s in particular looks like he is trying to wear the sexy Halloween version of the costume and it’s kind of a disaster. Borne and Miguel start things off with Miguel working on the arm. Dempsey comes in and gets anklescissored by Lee and Wentz adds a Bronco Buster for two. It’s off to Heights for a release German suplex and a gutwrench suplex for two on Wentz.

Back up and Wentz brings in Miguel to send Borne into the corner, meaning Dempsey needs to grab a suplex of his own. One heck of a clothesline gives Heights two and it’s a suplex into the chinlock. Miguel fights up and ducks a clothesline, setting up a needed enziguri. The tag brings in Lee to clean house but the Crew takes his partners own and triple teams Lee.

Dempsey’s dragon suplex connects but Lee breaks it up with a frog splash. Lee hits the big dive and Wentz has to break up a double submission. Back up and Heights gets caught in the Soup Kitchen (Dominator/top rope double stomp combination) and Hot Fire Flame finishes for Wentz at 14:07.

Rating: B-. This was the way the match needed to go as it gives us the feel good moment of the Rascalz not only coming back together but also getting the win. You had to have the villains come in from outside and lose, as there is no reason to have them win. Perfectly nice match here, which was more about the feeling than the wrestling.

We recap PCO challenging AJ Francis for the Digital Media (and unofficial Canadian National Heavyweight Champion) Title. Francis won the title and messed up PCO’s date with Steph de Lander, so it’s time for revenge.

Digital Media Title: PCO vs. AJ Francis

Francis, with Rich Swann and some rappers) is defending and this is a street fight. Before the match, Francis mentions that PCO has been attacked, so here is a casket, which is struck by lighting to let PCO out. The brawl is on to start with Francis getting in some chair shots. PCO shrugs that off and hits a moonsault to the floor, meaning it’s time for a table. That takes too much time so Francis is back with some shots of his own.

A bunch of chairs are thrown in, with Francis putting a trashcan over PCO’s head and then unloading on him with a chair. A legdrop onto the trashcan gives Francis two but PCO fights back with a clothesline. PCO goes up top but gets pulled back down with an electric chair onto the chairs. That’s shrugged off as well, as PCO sends him through the tables at ringside.

Josh Bishop (of Francis’ entourage) is up with some chair shots and a toss Razor’s Edge onto some open chairs (GEEZ). Sami Callihan comes in for a failed save attempt but Rhino comes in for the save and the Gore to Swann. PCO is back up to drop Francis and the PCOsault gets two. Francis hits a Tombstone with the Undertaker cover for two but PCO chokeslams him onto the chairs. Another PCOsault gives PCO the pin and the title at 13:50.

Rating: C+. You can pretty much chalk this one up to an obvious result, as there was no reason to believe that a local legend was going to lose in his kind of match against a loudmouth heel. This was tailor made for PCO to win in a feel good moment and that is exactly what we were given.

Post match here is Steph de Lander….who proposes to PCO, who accepts. Well that escalated quickly.

We recap Jordynne Grace defending the Knockouts Title against Ash By Elegance. Ash says she deserves the title and cost Grace the NXT Women’s Title. Grace wants revenge.

Knockouts Title: Jordynne Grace vs. Ash By Elegance

Ash, with her Personal Concierge, is challenging and flips out of some early suplex attempts. Grace chops her down and hits a spinebuster for an early two as we see a lurking Rosemary. The interfering Concierge is ejected so Rosemary whips out a knife to chase him off. Ash uses the distraction to get in a cheap shot and take over with some shots to the back. A sleeper is broken up with a drop down, setting up some not so snappy powerslams.

Grace’s MuscleBuster gets two but Ash is back with a running tornado DDT for the same. They go up top, where Grace grabs a superplex and rolls into a Jackhammer for two. With nothing else working, Grace just tackles her and hammers away. Ash comes back with a Canadian Destroyer of all things but Rarefied Air hits raised knees. Back up and a quick Sliced Bread gives Ash two so she hammers on the back again. Grace pulls her into a quickly broken sleeper and then reverses a kick to the face into the Juggernaut Driver to retain at 12:09.

Rating: B-. I thought they might change the title here as Ash had been pushed fairly strong coming into this. That being said, Grace has been presented as the biggest star in the division in a long time so this is only so surprising. The division has some depth to give Grace some trouble and that might make for some interesting results. For now though, good match, with Ash holding her own.

We recap Mustafa Ali defending the X-Division Title against Mike Bailey, another hometown boy. Bailey was granted a title shot but Ali took it back before attacking Bailey’s partner Trent Seven. Now it’s about revenge and the title.

X-Division Title: Mustafa Ali vs. Mike Bailey

Ali, with Campaign Singh, is defending and they fight over a headlock to start. Ali snaps off a running hurricanrana for two but Bailey kicks him down. The threat of the Tornado Kick sends Ali out to the apron and a quick shot has Bailey in early trouble. Bailey is right back to knock him to the floor for the middle rope moonsault, with the fans greatly approving. The Secret Service offers a distraction though, allowing Ali to come back with a middle rope tornado DDT.

Back in and Ali’s rolling neckbreaker gets two, setting up the chinlock to slow things down. A spinning Downward Spiral gives Ali two and he is already looking frustrated. Back up and Bailey hits a Falcon Arrow into a shooting star press for two of his own. The moonsault knees only hit apron so Ali hits a hard superkick. They both go up, where Bailey manages a super Spanish Fly onto the Secret Service/Singh for the big knockdown.

Back in and they trade rollups for two each (Ali’s cheating doesn’t help) so Bailey knocks him down. The Ultimate Weapon is knocked out of the air though and a Cheeky Nandos dropkick rocks Bailey again. Bailey scores with another kick into the Ultimate Weapon for the pin…but Ali’s foot was on the rope. The referee accidentally gets kicked down so the Secret Service and Singh come in to lay Bailey out.

Cue Trent Seven to break up the cover and take out Ali’s crew. Ali gets in a cheap shot though….and Earl Hebner comes in to referee. Ali grabs a Sharpshooter and Hebner teases calling for the bell but can’t do it. The frustrated Ali gets a chair, only to have Bailey kick it away. The Sharpshooter gives Bailey the title back at 20:24.

Rating: B. This was more or less the amped up version of PCO’s win with the more important title. Ali had held the title for a long time and Bailey had to put in the work to get there. That being said, naturally we just had to do the Montreal Screwjob stuff because nothing else has ever happened in the history of wrestling in this city.

the Personal Concierge yells at Santino Marella about what happened. Hammerstone comes in to yell as well and the Concierge seems interested.

We recap Moose defending the World Title in a six way and qualifying matches ensued. There isn’t much more to it than that, but Joe Hendry is the hottest thing in the world and has his shot here.

TNA World Title: Moose vs. Nic Nemeth vs. Steve Maclin vs. Joe Hendry vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Josh Alexander

Moose is defending and this is elimination rules. Moose tries to get the early alliance with Kazarian, who bails to the floor…and then comes back in to stomp on Moose in the corner. Kazarian is sent outside as well and the other four pair off to start fast. Hendry throws Nemeth onto Moose and follows him to the floor, leaving us with Alexander, Kazarian and Maclin inside for a weird three way.

Kazarian gets beaten into the corner before Alexander and Maclin can fight again, as is their custom. Alexander starts snapping off the German suplexes to just about everyone, including the rolling editions to Maclin for two. A double German suplex sends Maclin and Kazarian flying but Moose is back in to take over. Nemeth cuts that off and drops the ten elbows but Moose rolls outside, meaning it’s a jumping elbow to hit him as well.

Back in and Kazarian gets to hit some slingshot cutters for two on Moose, leaving everyone down. Hendry comes back in but Maclin is right there to send people outside, setting up the series of Scuds. Back in and Maclin loads up the KIA on Kazarian, only to get speared by Moose for the pin and the elimination at 10:43.

The fans sing Maclin off so he flips them off on his way out. Moose release Rock Bottoms Kazarian, powerbombs Hendry and Buckle Bombs Nemeth. Another powerbomb gets two on Alexander and another powerbomb onto the apron hits Kazarian. Hendry jumps Moose though and Alexander hits the crossbody on the apron to put everyone on the floor. They all fight up to the stage, where Moose has to backdrop his way out of a C4 Spike attempt.

Nemeth escapes the Fade To Black as well and superkicks Kazarian off the stage and through a table. Most of them go back to ringside, where Moose chokeslams Nemeth onto Alexander. Hendry comes up behind him though and cutters Moose for two. The fall away slams hit everyone else around and Hendry is rolling. Moose spears Alexander and Nemeth but Hendry reverses into a backslide. Back up and Moose kicks Hendry in the face but gets dropped with a hard clothesline. The Standing Ovation finishes Moose for the elimination at 21:37 and the fans believe that much more.

Then Alexander kicks Hendry low and hits him with the C4 Spike for the elimination at 22:51 and the fans are GONE. Alexander sits on Hendry and slaps him a bunch before going after the referee. Nemeth breaks that up but gets caught with a powerbomb backbreaker for his efforts. Alexander hammers him own and poses a lot before going after Nemeth’s bad shoulder. That’s broken up though and Nemeth grabs a running DDT for a needed breather. Another C4 Spike is escaped and Nemeth hits a superkick to get rid of Alexander at 28:44.

We’re down to Nemeth vs. Kazarian, the latter of whom hasn’t been seen since going through the table. Kazarian comes back in with a Fade To Black for two, followed by the chickenwing. That’s broken up and Nemeth hits a superkick for two more. A Backstabber rocks Nemeth but he’s right back with a superkick into the Danger Zone for the pin and the title at 30:51.

Rating: B. It was an action packed match and I got into it, but the ending didn’t have much in the way of drama. The bigger problem here though is the fact that it isn’t Hendry winning. Nemeth winning isn’t a bad way to go, but ultimately this is likely to be seen as the latest instance of the hot homegrown star being passed over in exchange for the older former WWE star. It’s still a good match and Hendry could win the title (I’ll give him until the end of Bound For Glory) but there are going to be some annoyed fans and they might have a good point.

Ryan Nemeth and a bunch of champions come out to celebrate to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. The show was good with nothing overly bad and some nice moments, but it didn’t have that one big match or moment to carry it to the next level. It felt like the end of the System’s dominance and that’s a big step, but the next round of feuds should be interested. I was expecting a pretty awesome show and only got a good one. That’s not a terrible way to go, but they need to follow up on this rather well.

Results
Tasha Steelz b. Faby Apache, Gisele Shaw and Xia Brookside – Running knee to Brookside
Kushida b. Rich Swann – Hoverboard Lock
Alisha Edwards/Masha Slamovich b. Spitfire – Steiner Bulldog to Threat
Eric Young b. Hammerstone – Rollup
Matt Hardy b. JDC – Middle rope Twist Of Fate
ABC b. The System – 1-2-Sweet to Myers
Mike Santana b. Jake Something – Spin The Block
Rascalz b. No Quarter Catch Crew – Hot Fire Flame to Heights
PCO b. AJ Francis – PCOsault
Jordynne Grace b. Ash By Elegance – Juggernaut Driver
Mike Bailey b. Mustafa Ali – Sharpshooter
Nic Nemeth b. Moose, Frankie Kazarian, Josh Alexander, Steve Maclin and Joe Hendry – Danger Zone to Kazarian

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Impact Wrestling
Date: July 4, 2024
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

We are just over two weeks away from Slammiversary and the World Title match is rapidly coming together. Most of the five challengers are set and that means we should be able to finish the lineup this week. Other than that, PCO is still chasing revenge on First Class and we might see more from that here. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening recap.

Trey Miguel vs. Leon Slater

Zachary Wentz is here with Miguel. They fight over wrist control to start with neither being able to get anywhere. Miguel takes him down by the arm but Slater is right back up with a kick to the face. The handspring elbow puts Miguel down and Slater sends him to the floor for the slingshot dive. Back in and Miguel hits a running dropkick in the corner for two, with Wentz getting in a choke on the ropes.

A Lionsault misses though and Slater kicks him in the face for two more. They forearm it out until Slater hits a running swinging cutter (that was cool) for another near fall. Back up and Miguel kicks him in the face, only to get caught with a Blue Thunder Bomb. The Swanton 450 is loaded up but cue NXT’s Charlie Dempsey to jump Slater for the DQ at 6:55.

Rating: B-. This was a match that was designed to be all about the interference ending but they happened to have a good match on the way there. Slater isn’t someone who is reinventing the wheel but he does well with the things he is doing. Miguel is someone who has been around long enough that it means something to be in there with him, making this a nice match to set up a cool ending.

Post match Dempsey beats up all three of them, including the weird STF on Slater.

Broken Matt and Rebecca Hardy are ready for the System. Rebecca speaking normally and Matt being Broken is a weird way to go.

The Rascalz want to fight Charlie Dempsey so they’re ready for next week.

Dani Luna vs. Jody Threat

This is a ten minute challenge match. Luna powers her into the corner to start and we get a clean break. They fight over a headlock with neither being able to get very far so Threat switches to a wristlock. That means another standoff as they’re firmly in first gear to start. We cut to the back where Nic Nemeth has been attacked and come back to both of them grabbing the ropes to avoid a collision.

Threat avoids a charge in the corner and clotheslines away but Luna snaps off a belly to belly as the pace picks up a bit. Threat works on an armbar on the mat before hitting a pump kick for two. Luna knocks her to the apron and they fight over a suplex until Threat sends her outside. A clothesline puts Luna back inside, where Luna superplexes her into a Falcon Arrow for the time limit draw at…9:02?

Rating: C+. This took its time to get going before they started to cook, which was kind of the point. This wasn’t about two people who were mad at each other but rather a glorified getting to know you situation. At the same time, this still only feels so interesting as the team still doesn’t have much of a history but is still doing all kinds of stuff like this. Nice enough match, but it feels like a piece of a much longer story.

They want five more minutes so let’s keep it going. And then Alisha Edwards and Masha Slamovich run in for the no contest at 7 seconds.

Mustafa Ali tries to retract his challenge for the X-Division Title from last week because Mike Bailey hasn’t earned a shot. Marella says he has a point, so Bailey has to win a #1 contenders match next week.

Mike Santana and Frankie Kazarian are ready for their chance to make it to the World Title match at Slammiversary.

Road To Slammiversary Qualifying Match: Frankie Kazarian vs. Mike Santana

Santana sends him into the corner to start and hits a nice crossbody. Kazarian hits his Fameasser in the ropes to send Santana outside and we take a break. Back with Kazarian hitting a hard clothesline but getting caught with a Death Valley Driver for two. The big Cannonball connects in the corner but Kazarian cuts off the dive.

The slingshot DDT gets two on Santana and the springboard spinning legdrop gets two. Fade To Black and Spin The Block are both blocked so Kazarian hits a Backstabber into the chickenwing. That’s broken up as well and Santana grabs the Buck Fifty for two of his own. Cue JDC for a distraction, only to have Santana hit a big flip dive onto Kazarian. The distraction lets JDC post Santana though and Kazarian wins by countout at 10:06.

Rating: B-. That’s about as good of a way to protect Santana as they have and it is good to see said protection taking place. Santana is someone who has done well since his return to the company but Kazarian is the better option at the moment. Kazarian is one of the most established stars in TNA and it makes sense to put him in the World Title match, especially in a way like this.

The ABC wants their Tag Team Titles back and have their shot against the System at Slammiversary.

We look at First Class messing with PCO and Steph de Lander.

PCO shocks de Lander back to life.

First Class brags about their success, with AJ Francis saying he’ll defend his titles anywhere anytime. Santino Marella comes in to say the Digital Media Title is on the line next week, but win lose or draw, it’s Francis vs. PCO at Slammiversary.

The System vs. Matt Hardy/Rebecca Hardy

That would be Eddie Edwards/Alisha Edwards for the System, with Brian Myers in their corner. Rebecca chases Alisha on the floor to start but it’s the men getting things going in the ring. Eddie gets driven into the corner and stomped down by both Hardys. The strike off goes to Matt, who misses a charge and goes shoulder first into the post as we take a break.

Back with Eddie being rammed into Alisha, allowing the tag to Rebecca to pick up the pace. Rebecca tackles Alisha as everything breaks down. Something like Poetry In Motion hits Eddie but a cheap shot cuts Rebecca off. Matt gets clotheslined on the floor, leaving Rebecca to get choked in the corner.

Rebecca fights up and avoids a charge, allowing the tag off to Matt as the fans…don’t seem to respond. The Side Effect gets two on Eddie so Myers interferes, earning himself an ejection. Eddie’s Blue Thunder Bomb gets two but Rebecca gets in the way of the Boston Knee Party. Rebecca kicks Eddie low and a pair of Twists of Fate finish at 11:36.

Rating: C. This was Rebecca’s big return to the ring and it kind of showed why she isn’t overly remembered for her in-ring work. She’s passable enough but there is nothing that makes me want to see her get back in the ring. Then again that is the case with a lot of the Broken stuff, but the Hardys are going to get the focus no matter what they are doing around here.

In the back, Brian Myers and JDC yell at Santino Marella, with the ABC coming in to mock them. Marella makes the tag match for next week.

Jordynne Grace doesn’t like Ash By Elegance being on vacation and issues another open challenge to anyone from any promotion for next week.

Joe Hendry and Jake Something are ready for the Road To Slammiversary.

Road To Slammiversary: Jake Something vs. Joe Hendry

Before the match, Hendry asks about Something asking questions after he hits a move. After his usual spiel, we’re ready to go with an exchange of headlocks to get things going. Hendry manages a delayed suplex for two as the fans are way behind him, as you might have expected. Back up and Something hits a quick headbutt to take over and they head outside, with Hendry being sat on the apron for a running crossbody. They get back inside with Something hitting a hard clothesline for two as we take a break.

Back with Hendry fighting out of a chinlock and striking away in the corner. Something plants him right back down with a Michinoku Driver for two and things slow back down. The chinlock goes on again but Hendry fights up (also again) and clotheslines him to the floor. Something misses a charge and hits the ropes before they go back in, with the fans behind Hendry.

Something charges into the fall away slam but the Standing Ovation is countered into a Batista Bomb to give Something two. Into The Void is countered so Something runs him over, only for Hendry to pop up for a double knockdown. They slug it out until Hendry hits an RKO into the Standing Ovation for the pin at 15:04.

Rating: B-. Hendry continues to be the big hope for the company and that means he has to be in the World Title picture going forward. I don’t think he needs to win the title at Slammiversary, but this is a big step in the right direction. The key thing is the fans are that into him and TNA seems to understand that concept.

Post match Hendry says he is one step closer and thanks the fans for helping him get here.

The System goes to leave with Moose praising JDC for taking out Mike Santana and Nic Nemeth. JDC says he didn’t do anything to Nemeth, leaving the System confused as they pull away. We see Frankie Kazarian smoking a cigar and calling them marks, then asking a cameraman (not the one holding the camera we’re watching from) why he’s filming to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This show was more about finalizing the prep for Slammiversary, as you could probably guess most of the card coming in. There is nothing wrong with that and they did a nice enough job setting things up for the event. The pieces are in place for Slammiversary to be good, but as usual, the execution is what matters. Just get us to Montreal and everything should work out well enough.

Results
Trey Miguel b. Leon Slater via DQ when Charlie Dempsey interfered
Dani Luna vs. Jody Threat went to a no contest when Masha Slamovich and Alisha Edwards interfered
Frankie Kazarian b. Mike Santana via countout
Matt Hardy/Rebecca Hardy b. The System – Twist of Fate to Eddie
Joe Hendry b. Jake Something – Standing Ovation

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Impact Wrestling
Date: June 27, 2024
Location: Cicero Stadium, Cicero, Illinois
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

We are closing in on Slammiversary and the big story is the Road To Slammiversary tournament/competition, which will see five challengers lined up to challenge Moose for the World Title. Josh Alexander is already in but he is going to need some fellow challengers. Odds are we find out at least one of them tonight so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

In Memory Of Sika.

Opening recap.

Opening sequence.

Here is Jordynne Grace for a chat. She knows Ash By Elegance has been watching her for months, so the title match can be on tonight. Cue the person concierge to introduce Ash, complete with security. The match can indeed happen, but we’re going to do it at Slammiversary while Ash goes to the Bahamas for a breather. Security goes after Grace, who wipes them out without much trouble until Santino Marella breaks it up. Masha Slamovich comes to the ring for her match and has a staredown with Grace.

Masha Slamovich vs. Xia Brookside

Alisha Edwards is here with Slamovich. They fight over wrist control to start with Brookside taking over, only to have Edwards offer a distraction. Brookside fights up and hits a quick Broken Wings. The Brookside Bomb is broken up by another Edwards distraction, meaning the Snowplow can finish Brookside at 5:21.

Rating: C. Slamovich getting a shot at Grace, perhaps after Slammiversary, is not the worst idea and it isn’t like Slamovich and Edwards feel like a long term team. It’s interesting to see where this could be going, though I could also go for more from Brookside. She has the talent, but for some reason she is never given much of a significant spot.

We look at First Class breaking up Steph De Lander and PCO’s date last week.

First Class brags about their win and as a bonus, AJ Francis has bought a title from a Montreal promotion. PCO has long since wanted that title, but since Francis bought it, he’s the new International Champion.

Lars Frederiksen gives Spitfire a big pep talk before they have to face each other.

Campaign Singh introduces Mustafa Ali for his state of the union. Ali talks about the video where he degraded the X-Division Title and put out an investigation into the video. The reality is that the video was AI GENERATED and officially fake news. He loves Chicago and it is #1, albeit partially in crime, but it’s time to move on to the next challenger. That means a SPEEDBALL chant but Ali is looking at both the TNA and other locker rooms.

Ali is cut off by more fans chanting for Speedball, which earns them an ejection from the champion. One of them doesn’t want to leave and throws a drink in Ali’s face, meaning the brawl is on. The fan is dragged inside to keep up the beating, with Mike Bailey and Trent Seven running in for the save. Ali isn’t happy with this and issues the challenge to Bailey for Slammiversary. Good enough stuff here, as the election stuff is tying into Ali’s slow downfall.

Post break, Bailey says of course he’s in for the title match.

ABC vs. Rascalz vs. Cody Deaner/Jake Something

Before the match, Deaner and Something say they want a title shot if they win but the Rascalz say they should just be #1 contenders by default. ABC dives onto them to start the fight before the bell and we take a break. Back with the match joined in progress and Deaner fighting back against the Rascalz.

Deaner flips out of a suplex into the corner for a tag off to Austin to start the house cleaning. Everything breaks down and it’s Something coming in to clear the ring. A sitout powerbomb gets two on Austin and Something shrugs off a dive. Something cuts off Austin’s handstand on the apron and drops him onto Wentz for a nasty crash. The ABC takes out Something though and it’s the 1-2-Sweet to pin Deaner at 5:28 shown.

Rating: B-. This was the kind of action match that you would have expected and they’re doing a nice job of rebuilding the ABC for what is likely one more big title shot at Slammiversary. The Rascalz are always going to be fine but hopefully this helps split up Something and Deaner. Something just deserves something better than that and hopefully that is where he goes next.

The System isn’t worried about Santino Marella because Moose has a plan.

Video on Sami Callihan vs. Steve Maclin.

Road To Slammiversary Qualifying Match: Sami Callihan vs. Steve Maclin

Maclin hits a running knee at the bell but misses the Jar Headbutt. The Cactus Driver 97 gives Callihan two as we’re about thirty seconds in. Back up and Maclin slugs away until he knocks Callihan outside. The Scud is knocked out of the air so Maclin settles for a knee to the face back inside. The Jar Headbutt gets two and there’s an elbow off the apron to hit Callihan again.

Callihan is right back up with a t-bone suplex on the floor and they’re both down again. They both beat the count back in and Callihan hits another t-bone into the corner. The middle rope Cactus Driver 97 is blocked so Callihan settles for a middle rope Death Valley Driver. A regular Cactus Driver 97 gets two and they fight to the apron to keep up the brawling. Callihan gets caught in the ropes for a running knee, setting up the hanging KIA to give Maclin the pin at 8:46.

Rating: B-. I’m not sure I can imagine Maclin winning but much like Alexander, it makes all the sense in the world to have him in the match. Putting a former World Champion in the match makes it feel that much more important and it was made even better by having a solid match on the way there. It isn’t easy to make that happen with Callihan but it worked here.

Alan Angels vs. Kushida

Angels tries to jump him to start and gets cut off as Kushida sends Angels out to the apron. Back in and a neckbreaker gives Angels two as commentary talks about Jonathan Gresham. Angels grabs the chinlock but Kushida fights up, only to get dropkicked out to the floor. Kushida is fine enough to snap the arm on the floor before he punches a springboarding Angels out of the air. The Hoverboard Lock finishes Angels at 3:57.

Rating: C. Thankfully they kept this short as there is little reason for Kushida to have any serious trouble against someone of Angels’ caliber. At the same time through, that means he is a step closer to dealing with Jonathan Gresham again, which isn’t good for anyone. Not much of a match, but that’s to be expected given the circumstances.

Post match Jonathan Gresham comes in to go after Kushida and tries to pour the ink into his mouth. Security makes the save as the worst thing in TNA (if not wrestling right now) continues.

The Hardys vow revenge on the System. This was right back to Broken Matt after last week’s step back to reality.

Video on Rich Swann vs. Nic Nemeth.

Road To Slammiversary Qualifying Match: Nic Nemeth vs. Rich Swann

AJ Francis and DJ Who Kid are here with Swann. Nemeth works on the arm to start but Swann takes him down and swivels his hips. Back in and Nemeth takes him to the mat and we hit the rather aggressive headlock. That’s broken up so Kid offers a distraction, allowing Francis to get in a cheap shot. The referee tosses out the seconds and we take a break.

We come back with Nemeth fighting out of a chinlock but getting kicked in the head for his efforts. Nemeth fights up but gets clotheslined down for two more. Back up again and Nemeth grabs a sleeper, which is broken up so Swann can knock him down for another near fall. The middle rope Phoenix splash is blocked but Swann connects with the handspring cutter for two. They trade superkicks until Nemeth hits a DDT into the Danger Zone for the pin at 15:02.

Rating: B-. As has been the case before, there are matches where you know the quality will be there based on the people involved. That was the case again as you had two talented stars getting to do their thing for awhile. Swann might not be the star that he was before but he can still have a good match with just about anyone, including someone as talented as Nemeth.

Overall Rating: B. You can see most of Slammiversary coming from here and this show was designed to get us towards a lot of the expected card. That might not make for the most thrilling show, but it makes for a quality one, which is what needed to happen here. Good show, with the main event probably being the best part of the night.

Results
Masha Slamovich b. Xia Brookside – Snowplow
ABC b. Rascalz and Cody Deaner/Jake Something – 1-2-Sweet to Deaner
Steve Maclin b. Sami Callihan – Hanging KIA
Kushida b. Alan Angels – Hoverboard Lock
Nic Nemeth b. Rich Swann – Danger Zone

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.