Impact Wrestling – November 19, 2014: Last One Out, Lock Dreamer In
Impact Wrestling Date: November 12, 2014 Location: Sands Bethlehem Events Center, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz
And so, it ends. Well at least on SpikeTV. Tonight is the last episode of Impact Wrestling on the major network before it takes two months off and returns on a network in about 40 million less homes. To be fair though, it’s better than no network at all…..in theory. Tonight is about setting up Roode vs. Lashley III so let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of Roode taking the title from Lashley a few weeks ago, followed by Lashley being driven insane by not being champion.
Here’s Roode to get us going. He talks about having a few real friends in wrestling and two of them are Eric Young and Austin Aries. Now Lashley is going around trying to put those two out of wrestling. If Lashley wants a shot at the title, he can certainly have one, but not tonight. Tonight isn’t about the World Title or professional wrestling. Instead it’s about fighting with no referee and no rules. Roode calls Lashley out right now and the fight is on in the aisle. They fight into the stands and Lashley misses a big chair shot. Security breaks them up after only a few seconds though.
Ethan Carter says he’s giving Spud a chance to prove that he’s a man tonight.
The next show on SpikeTV is in two weeks on December 3 for a best of the year show.
Video on Havok’s dominance, which has spanned about five matches. Taryn and Gail are ready to slay the best.
Knockouts Title: Havok vs. Gail Kim vs. Taryn Terrell
Havok is defend and this is one fall to a finish. The challengers go right at Havok but get dropped with a double clothesline. Havok throws Gail onto Taryn and then sends her shoulder first into the post. A spinebuster plants Taryn but Gail tries AJ Lee’s Black Widow on the champ. Havok is in trouble and Taryn adds an Indian Deathlock for good measure. Somehow Havok powers out of it and they all fight to the floor with Havok catching Terrell, only to have Gail dive on both of them as we take a break.
Back with Havok still on the floor and Taryn rolling Gail up for two. A running flip neckbreaker puts Gail down again but Havok pulls Taryn from the ring and drops her throat first across the barricade. Gail heads outside also but gets spinebustered onto the floor. Back in and Havok splashes both girls for two but Gail is up first and drapes Havok across the top rope.
A kind of Fameasser from the top puts Havok on the floor but Taryn jumps Gail from behind. Terrell takes her to the top but Havok comes back in to make it a Tower of Doom. The champ stacks them up again but misses a middle rope splash. Taryn and Gail break out of a double chokeslam attempt and hammer away until Gail scores with a DDT. A cross body gets two each before Eat Defeat and an RKO get two for Terrell. Gail rolls up Taryn but gets caught in a sunset flip to give Terrell the title at 14:32.
Rating: B-. This was the best Knockouts match in awhile but it doesn’t mean what TNA wants it to be. First of all, as mentioned, Havok has won something like five matches in TNA over the course of six weeks with one of those being a battle royal. That’s hardly taking the title off Roode after seven months. Also, Terrell pinned Gail, which likely sets up a showdown later. It’s a good match but nowhere near the moment they were hoping for.
MVP rants at Kenny King about being called a manager. King sounds pleased.
Recap of Joe vacating the X-Division Title last week. There’s a fourway for the title later tonight.
Recap of the opening brawl.
Roode isn’t going to let his friends get taken out or be intimidated by Lashley. Now the champion is challenging Lashley to a fight. Didn’t he do that already?
Kenny King vs. Chris Melendez
Melendez shoves him into the corner to start and King mocks the mechanical leg. Chris finally hammers away but walks into an elbow in the corner. A hiptoss sends Kenny to the floor but he jumps up and kicks Chris in the face. Melendez gets snapped down across the top rope but Chris comes back up with a mechanical kick to the chest. A fisherman’s suplex gets two for Chris and he kicks King in the face, only to have MVP come in with a chair for the DQ at 5:05.
Rating: D. I probably should but I just do not care about Chris Melendez. It’s amazing how he’s come this far, but after you get over the shock of seeing someone being able to do this, he’s just a green wrestler that can’t do much in the ring yet. The match was nothing special and just there to set up stuff (likely a tag match) for the future.
MVP goes after Chris’ good leg until Mr. Anderson makes the save.
Spud agrees to meet EC3 tonight.
Melendez is sent to the hospital but Anderson wants revenge. Kurt Angle says he’ll deal with it.
Here are EC3 and Tyrus to address Spud. Carter likes the idea of Spud trying to come across the pond and make himself big. Along the way Spud has picked up some friends like Eric Young, who is now in the hospital and Jeremy Borash, who Carter slapped so hard that the entire Borash family died. Well tonight, Spud can fight Carter for one night only. Cue Spud in a suit that looks like a brick wall (seriously) and Carter even has Tyrus go to the floor.
Spud gets right in his face and Ethan offers a free shot but Spud can’t do it. Instead he kicks Carter low and then hits him in the face as the brawl is on. Carter gets the better of it and takes Spud down as the fans tell him that he can’t wrestle. Spud pulls himself up but Carter lets him go from the 1%er. Spud pulls himself up again but Tyrus comes in for the Tongan Death Grip into a clothesline. Now Ethan (busted open a bit) gets a mic and threatens to rip Spud apart until he decides to stop. First up, Ethan cuts off some of Spud’s hair and holds it up like a trophy. Nice segment here.
Angle yells at King but gets jumped and beaten down by MVP. Even King thinks that was too far.
Bram vs. Tommy Dreamer
Hardcore of course. They start in the aisle as Dreamer looks older than ever. Bram slams him down on the ramp and nails Tommy with a trashcan. Dreamer is already busted open so Bram fires off more right hands, only to get sent into the post. Tommy hits Bram with the old WWE spinner US Title for a bizarre moment. We take a break and come back with Bram sending Tommy face first into the steps.
Back in and we hit a chinlock before Dreamer gets a boot up in the corner to stop a charge. Some kendo stick shots and Russian legsweep gets two for Tommy and he crotched Bram on an opened chair. A clothesline knocks Bram out of the chair for two and Tommy ties him in the Tree of Woe. Dreamer shouts T-N-A and hits a basement dropkick into a trashcan but Bram counters the DDT with a legsweep.
The top rope elbow with the chair is blocked with a raised boot and Dreamer’s DDT gets two more. Now it’s a barbed wire chair but Magnus runs in with a Rock Bottom to plant Dreamer. The Brits load up something else but Al Snow of all people runs in for the save. Dreamer gets up and grabs the cheese grater as Snow punches Magnus up the ramp. Bram’s cut is grated open even worse but he comes back with a low blow and sends Tommy face first into the barbed wire chair in the corner. An inverted DDT pins Dreamer at 14:54.
Rating: F. It got fifteen minutes, Bram needed help to beat Tommy Dreamer, Al freaking Snow ran in (wearing wrestling gear for some reason) and Tommy Dreamer is STILL ON MY TV IN 2014. I would love to know what Dreamer has on the management of this and all those other wrestling companies he works for because it must be gold.
Angle is going to deal with MVP once and for all.
Sheera asked Manik what he needs to do to get Storm to like him. Manik tells him to awaken.
X-Division Title: DJZ vs. Low Ki vs. Tigre Uno vs. Manik
The title is vacant coming in and this is one fall to a finish. Tigre and Manik fight to the floor, leaving Low Ki to kick DJZ across the ring but Manik comes back in to jump Ki. DJZ dropkicks both of them down as Tigre comes back in to speed things up. A quick dropkick gets two for Uno but Manik suplexes him down and puts on a surfboard. As he has Tigre in the air, DJZ covered Manik, only to have Low Ki hit a Warrior’s Way onto Tigre, crushing everyone else at the same time for a scary looking landing.
Manik charges into Low Ki’s kick to the face but DJZ elbows Ki in the face. Tigre sends Manik to the floor and hits a huge twisting springboard moonsault to take everyone down. Back in and Low Ki gets Tigre in the Tree of Woe but Manik breaks up a top rope double stomp. DJZ hits a tornado DDT on Ki but Manik dives onto DJZ for the save. Manik covers, looks DIRECTLY AT TIGRE, and stays there while Tigre dives on him. Come on man. Tigre and Ki go up top and a Ki Crusher off the top gives Ki the title at 5:58.
Rating: C+. Of all the multiman cruiserweight spot fests that I’ve seen, this one is the most recent. That’s really all there is to it. They did some spots, there was no flow to the match, they did a lot of stupid stuff that got on my nerves and one guy hit a big move for the win. That’s every almost cruiserweight match in this company for months now and this was just another on the list.
MVP calls someone and leaves a voicemail about burning the place down.
Here’s Angle to call out MVP. He talks about watching MVP cheat his way to the top when he was in charge but here’s MVP to cut him off. MVP is sick of being here but mocks Angle for running to the Board of Directors when something goes wrong. Angle isn’t going to fire him and the fight is on. Kenny King comes out to help but MVP shoves him away and keeps stomping before hitting the Blackout Kick (Drive-By) to send Angle outside. Anderson comes out to get King but Lashley takes him down. This brings out Roode to take out King and brawl with Lashley to end the show.
Overall Rating: C. This show had some decent wrestling but it felt like any other show for TNA. At the end of the day though, you can see one of the things that has held them back for years right there front and center: an old, past his prime guy living on nostalgia got the longest match of the night, including longer than two matches with new champions crowned.
Maybe the time off will do TNA good, but they need to stop doing stupid stuff like having Tommy Dreamer around to score nostalgia points from a tiny number of people they might bring in. They have a big roster but can’t fit them in because of stuff like that. That’s a badly run business and it’s killed them for years. I’m hoping it gets better on the new network, but 12 years have taught me not to get my hopes up for TNA.
Results
Taryn Terrell b. Gail Kim and Havok – Sunset flip to Kim
Chris Melendez b. Kenny King via DQ when MVP interfered
Bram b. Tommy Dreamer – Inverted DDT
Low Ki b. Tigre Uno, DJZ and Manik – Top rope Ki Crusher to Tigre Uno
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Impact Wrestling – November 5, 2014: Well That Happened
Impact Wrestling Date: November 5, 2014 Location: Sands Bethlehem Events Center, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz
We might be getting close to the end of Impact’s run as there are only a handful of episodes left before their TV show runs out. We keep hearing about various other networks that want to pick TNA up but there’s never anything definitive about them. As for the show tonight, we’re likely setting up Roode vs. Lashley III and finishing the tag team tournament. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of Lashley vs. Roode from last week with Roode winning the title.
Angle is in the ring to start the show and says there’s a new World Champion in the house. Roode comes out and talks about how this is all he ever wanted to do since he was a kid. Now he gets to be the best because he’s the World Champion. He’s proud to be here in the ring with the best ever in Kurt Angle and is proud to be our champion.
Cue Lashley with MVP and King for the big showdown. MVP calls Lashley the most dominant champion in TNA history but Roode is just a guy that needed help from Angle to win the title. He keeps talking though and says Lashley only became champion because MVP hurt his knee. MVP wants a shot and Kurt agrees, seeing where this could be going. Roode agrees and Lashley doesn’t look pleased.
Quick video on the tournament final.
Joe and Low Ki say they’ll prove everyone wrong when they work together to win the tournament.
Tag Team Tournament Finals: Samoa Joe/Low Ki vs. Hardys
Winner get a title shot at some point in the future. Jeff and Ki get things going with Hardy taking a kick to the knee. They both start slowly until Ko grabs the arm, only to get nailed in the back. Off to Matt for an arm wringer of his own before Joe comes in for some right hands to pound Matt down in the corner. The non-brothers take over with their strikes until it’s back to Jeff for a front facelock.
Matt comes right back in with the middle rope elbow to the back for two. A double belly to back suplex gets two with Joe making a quick save. Jeff headscissors Ki out of the corner but charges into some boots in the corner. A Shining Wizard misses but Ki kicks Jeff in the back of the head to take over. Back to Joe for the knee drop for two as we take a break.
Back with Jeff nailing the Whisper in the Wind to drop Joe next to him. A double tag brings in Matt and Ki with the Side Effect connecting for two. Another Side Effect gets the same result and a bulldog/clothesline combination takes down both X-Division guys. Ki crotches Matt on the top to break up a moonsault, setting up the top rope Warrior’s Way for two.
Back up and a Twist gets two on Ki as everything breaks down. Joe breaks up Jeff’s Twist and kicks him in the head. The Twist from Matt is countered with the Clutch but Jeff Swantons Matt to break it up. Most people would have just kicked Joe but that’s not how Jeff rolls. Things settle back down and Ki can’t hit the Ki Crusher on Jeff. Back to Matt for Poetry in Motion followed by the Swanton and a moonsault from Matt for the pin at 14:38.
Rating: B-. Good match but it doesn’t hold up that well after the tag team series rocked the house for so many weeks. Also I’m not all that wild on seeing the Hardys again but they’re still good enough in the ring and over with the crowd so it’s not the worst idea in the world. At least we don’t have the potential of champions that hate each other again.
James Storm is with Davey Richards in the back and says he wants an answer in a week.
Roode says MVP suspended him months ago but now he can take care of MVP once and for all. He won’t hide as champion and he’ll prove why he’s TNA’s MVP.
We recap Gunner and Samuel Shaw’s long running story with Brittany catching Shaw’s eye and breaking the team up.
Here are Shaw and Brittany to rip on Gunner and Christy Hemme, who never appreciated Shaw’s artistic genius. Neither of them can ever do the things that she can do, which include licking Shaw’s face. Cue Gunner to say Shaw turned on him for a girl. Crazy attracts crazy though and that’s another problem for Shaw. His biggest problem though is that Shaw wanted to be Gunner instead of just being like him. Gunner calls them creepy again and the fight is on. Brittany saves her new man by jumping on Gunner’s back, allowing Shaw to hit him low. Shaw puts on gloves and chokes Gunner out.
An Indian wrestler named Mahabali Shera is coming to TNA. We get a nice package on his international accomplishments and how sure he is that he belongs on the roster.
We recap the opening segment.
MVP tells Angle that this is all about him (MVP) despite what Angle thinks.
D-Von/Tommy Dreamer vs. Bram/Magnus
Time for the ECW tribute match of the week. The old guys jump the Brits from behind to start and take over early on. They get back to ringside for a baseball slide from Dreamer and a beer shot to Magnus’ head. Back in and Magnus hits D-Von in the knee with his metal rod as the weapons are brought in. Dreamer gets a flashback with a drop toehold onto the chair. A trashcan shot puts Dreamer down again and Bram adds a chair to the back.
The Brits backdrop Dreamer down but D-Von comes back with some chair shots of his own. We get the Tower of Doom out of the corner with Dreamer taking the worst of it but D-Von taking almost nothing at all. Magnus comes back with some kendo stick shots to Dreamer’s back. Tommy fights up and sends Magnus into a trashcan in the corner, setting up a DDT for the pin at 9:40.
Rating: D. GO AWAY TOMMY DREAMER! If you want to go to your “it’s not ECW!” ECW tribute promotion then fine, but stop bringing him around and having him beat World Champions. Dreamer stopped mattering years ago and has been doing a legends tour for what feels like forever. I used to like the guy but man alive how many times can he do the same thing?
Gail Kim wants her title back.
Here’s Spud for a chat. He doesn’t want anyone to feel sorry for him, even though he’s had to do some things that he isn’t proud of. When he won British Boot Camp, he had no friends and nothing to do in TNA. Then he became Dixie Carter’s Chief of Staff and he loved every bit of it.
He would have done anything for the Carters but then his best friend Ethan turned into a complete and utter wanker. Ethan said Spud’s suits make him sick but he isn’t changing for anyone, especially Ethan Carter III. Carter calls himself a 1%er, so Spud is Mr. 99% and has these people behind him. JB talks about Spud growing up on British Boot Camp and says he’s with Spud.
This brings out Ethan and Tyrus with Carter calling everyone in the crowd a loser. The villains get in the ring and Ethan demands an apology from Spud but the Rockstar says no. Tyrus grabs him from behind and Spud apologizes….for Ethan being so worthless. Ethan goes after JB for some reason and slaps him, only to have Spud get in some shots from behind. Eric Young runs in to save Spud from the double teaming.
Knockouts Title: Havok vs. Gail Kim
Gail is defending and has a bad shoulder. The brawl starts in the aisle with Gail getting in some shots, only to have Havok try to ram her shoulder first into the post. Gail comes back with some kicks but Havok just runs her over. The bell hasn’t rung yet as Gail is sent face first into the post. Havok drags her up the ramp and throws Gail off the stage. We get a maniacal laugh as medics check on Gail. No match.
Post break Gail says let’s fight.
Knockouts Title: Havok vs. Gail Kim
Havok sends her shoulder first into the buckle to start and slams Gail down on the arm. Gail’s rollup is blocked but she dropkicks Havok into the corner. They head outside with Havok missing a dive off the apron and landing on the steps. Havok comes right back by sending Kim face first into the steps but the champ breaks up the count at nine.
Back in and Gail hooks on something like the Black Widow, only to be countered into a kind of Samoan drop. Gail gets slammed down but pops back up for a top rope cross body and two more. Eat Defeat is countered into a spinebuster on the arm for another two. The chokeslam is countered into Eat Defeat for two but Gail jumps into the chokeslam to retain the title at 6:35.
Rating: C. The match wasn’t bad but I’m just not interested in Gail Kim anymore. There’s almost nothing left for her to do and it’s not interesting anymore. It didn’t help that the story was almost identical to what they did the first time. Havok is a good monster and whoever gets to slay her is going to be a big star.
Shera is at TNA when Manik comes up to him. Manik is very nice and asks to hear some more about Sheva. I’m not sure where this is going.
Lashley leaves as MVP asks if Lashley is really mad.
TNA World Title: Bobby Roode vs. MVP
Roode is defending of course. A quick suplex gets two on Roode and a clothesline sends him outside. Back in and the crowd is completely behind Roode, only to have MVP take him down with a facebuster. Ballin Elbow and a fisherman’s suplex get two and we hit a crossface chicken wing on the champion.
Bobby fights up and avoids the running boot in the corner, setting up a Roode Bomb attempt. MVP flips out though and avoids a Blockbuster before kicking Bobby in the face for two. The Drive By misses and Bobby gets two off a rollup. Now the running boot connects but the Playmaker is countered into the Roode Bomb for the pin at 6:55.
Rating: D+. Well that happened. This felt like a post show dark match instead of the TV main event with Roode beating him in a hurry and barely being in any real trouble. It’s clear that we’re going to get Lashley vs. Roode III eventually so this was little more than a pit stop for the champ.
Post match Lashley comes in and spears Roode down. He walks past MVP to end the show.
Overall Rating: C-. If TNA is about to wrap up, this is the perfect way to start going out: potential to be interesting but tripping up too many times on the way there. The wrestling wasn’t bad tonight, save for the stupid ECW match. That’s another thing TNA has done to death over the years: try to imitate some other company in hopes of generating nostalgia. It works for awhile, but then TNA just can’t let it go and be its own company. The show was good enough tonight but as usual lately, TNA seems to be content sticking with basics instead of trying to do anything special.
Results
Hardys b. Samoa Joe/Low Ki – Moonsault to Low Ki
D-Von/Tommy Dreamer b. Magnus/Bram – DDT to Magnus
Havok b. Gail Kim – Chokeslam
Bobby Roode b. MVP – Roode Bomb
Impact Wrestling – October 29, 2014: Worth The Wait
Impact Wrestling Date: October 29, 2014 Location: Sands Bethlehem Events Center, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz
Tonight is a big show for TNA as we have Bobby Roode vs. Lashley for the World Title and the two semi-finals matches in the tag team tournament. TNA is capable of throwing a lot of good wrestling at us and having a solid show when they cut out all the storyline nonsense. Granted at this point they need to worry about having a place to air their TV shows instead of what’s on them. Let’s get to it.
Lashley arrived earlier today. I wish regular companies praised you for showing up for your job.
We open with a recap of the first Lashley vs. Roode match. I’m not sure what I think about Roode losing the first time and potentially winning a rematch to even the series. There would be something to be said about a guy rising to make two unbeatable forces.
Tag Team Tournament Semi-Finals: Kenny King/MVP vs. Samoa Joe/Low Ki
King and Ki get things going with a quick wrestling sequence on the mat until Kenny sends him into the corner to take over. Ki takes him into a corner of his own and snaps off a chop before they circle each other again. Off to Joe vs. MVP with the Samoan cranking on a hammerlock but MVP rolls into a headlock to escape. Joe comes back with a legbar, sending MVP running into the ropes.
Ki gets another tag to face MVP but gets driven into the corner by King to give the heels control. That doesn’t last long though as a chop and snapmare get to for Ki and it’s back to Joe for some right hands. MVP pulls his partner to the floor for a breather so Low Ki just dives onto both of them to take over again. Back in and Ki kicks King in the chest for two but poses too long, allowing MVP to nail him in the back of the head.
We take a break and come back with MVP still in control without much having changed. Back to King for a spinning kick to the face and two with Joe making the save. Ki fights out of a double arm crank and hits a springboard spinning kick to the face (hands) for two on MVP but King gets a tag to keep Joe out.
Kenny works on the arms again for a few seconds until Ki just nails both guys with kicks and makes the hot tag. Joe cleans house and King taps to the Clutch in front of the referee but it doesn’t count for some reason. MVP makes the save as everything breaks down. Ki dives over the top onto MVP with a kick to the head, setting up the Clutch on King for the submission at 15:20.
Rating: C+. Nice match here but it never got to a level they were hoping for. I’d assume we’re setting up Joe vs. Ki again because that’s almost all the division is anymore. If nothing else we can always have a six man elimination mess that proves nothing but somehow tells us the division’s rankings before getting back to Joe vs. a challenger of the month named Low Ki again.
We recap Bram and Magnus attacking D-Von last week.
D-Von says Bram is just a punk. He likes a fight just as much as anyone and has something up his sleeve for Magnus. D-Von’s phone rings and his buddy is here.
Video on Roode vs. Lashley.
Here’s Bram who says he’s rewriting history. He’s going to destroy the brotherhood of hardcore and nothing is going to stop him. D-Von and Abyss’ time is up and it’s now Bram on top. He wants to call out his brother Magnus and here’s the other Brit to join in the fun. Magnus says they may not see eye to eye but they’re brothers due to the blood they’ve spilled. They’ve been disturbing the peace since they were kids and Bram’s potential can be unlimited.
Magnus is still the guy that broke the glass ceiling for the Brits and it’s their time. Bram says they’re going to make all the hardcore dinosaurs extinct but here’s D-Von to interrupt. He says the two guys in the ring are the only ones that believe everything they’re saying. Now it’s time for D-Von’s backup and of course it’s Tommy Dreamer. I mean, where would we be without Tommy Dreamer in 2014? The brawl is on and the Americans clean house.
Madison Rayne and Taryn Terrell don’t like each other but they’ll work together against the Beautiful People.
Shark Boy is annoyed that some kids interrupt his hot dog to request an autograph. Simon Diamond comes in to yell at him and wants the REAL Shark Boy back. Sharky says SHELL YEAH and leaves so a cameraman can ask Diamond if that’s possible. Diamond: “Of course not!”
Beautiful People vs. Madison Rayne/Taryn Terrell
Angelina and Madison get things going with a brief slugout until Taryn gets two off a swinging neckbreaker. Some drop toeholds put the Beautiful People down and a dropkick puts them down again. Terrell knocks them outside but Madison goes to throw them back in instead of tagging. She also watches Velvet trip Taryn to take over and doesn’t seem to mind all that much.
Terrell comes back with a double clothesline but Rayne drops down again instead of taking the tag. That’s fine with Taryn as \she cross bodies both Beautiful People, only to have Madison come in without a tag. She cleans house but nails Terrell and lays her out with the Rayne Drop. Madison walks out and the Beautiful People get the pin at 4:56.
Rating: D+. This was more about building up Terrell as a giant killer who can beat the Beautiful People by herself, but you can’t really have them lose to a single girl who has her partner turn on her. Terrell could be a big deal for the division if they give her the ball, even though it’s only a matter of time before we get back into the same cycle we’ve been stuck in for years on end.
Video on Lashley.
Angle promises to call it down the middle.
Tag Team Tournament Semi-Finals: Hardys vs. Ethan Carter III/Tyrus
Matt and Ethan trade hands to the face to start before Carter takes him down into the corner. It’s quickly off to Jeff for a middle rope splash after Matt takes Ethan down with a suplex. A headscissors puts Carter down again and there’s Poetry in Motion, followed by the Side Effect for two. Tyrus gets the tag to clean house and Matt is in trouble. It’s back to Carter to slam Matt face first into the mat before Tyrus slaps on a nerve hold.
Carter comes back in almost immediately with a chinlock of his own before mocking Sting in the corner. Matt kicks him away though and makes the hot tag to Jeff. The more famous Hardy destroys Ethan with the usual as everything breaks down. Tyrus comes in off the tag and nails a double clothesline, only to miss a middle rope splash. The Twisting Stunner and Twist of Fate set up the Swanton to give Matt the pin at 7:06.
Rating: C-. This was fine with the power heel destroying the smaller guys but the teamwork and experience coming back to win at the end of the day. The Hardys are going to be in any major match like this because they’re the Hardys and one of the best teams ever, so I’m not sure what the benefit is to have Tyrus lose this early.
Ethan blames Tyrus for the loss.
James Storm says the Revolution expands tonight.
Lashley is getting ready.
The Revolution is in the ring and Storm says there’s always a calm before the storm. TNA needs to listen to him: the storm is very close. Sanada and Manik were lost on their own but now they preach his gospel. They want another now and that man is Davey Richards. This brings out Davey on his own (with no belt) but he isn’t all that talkative.
Storm says Davey is in a great tag team, but he’s (Storm) been in several great tag teams of his own. His partners let him down though, so Davey needs to join the team so that will never happen. Cue Edwards to say this isn’t something Davey should listen to because Storm is out of his mind. Richards takes the mic away and says he can speak for himself. Eddie says Storm is crazy and wants to fight right now. He slaps James’ face and we have a match.
James Storm vs. Eddie Edwards
Edwards nails a kick to the head to start but he stops to look at Davey, allowing Storm to nail a running shot in the corner to take over. James hammers away with forearms but charges into a boot to the face. An over the shoulder Stunner out of the corner gets two on James but he comes back with a DDT to plant Edwards.
Richards is looking conflicted as Storm stalks Edwards. A mic shot to Edwards’ head misses and Eddie grabs a rollup for two. Edwards dives on Storm as Manik goes over and whispers to Richards. That earns Manik a baseball slide but Davey gets up to yell, allowing James to hit the Last Call for the pin at 5:11.
Rating: C. This is an interesting story as there’s only so much left for the Wolves to do in the division. They’ve dominated the whole thing all year so what else do they have to prove? It’s better to build up another story than to just have the same boring ideas that they’ve done for years so at least it’s fresh.
TNA World Title: Lashley vs. Bobby Roode
They have a ton of time for this, Lashley is defending and Kurt Angle is guest referee. MVP and King are nowhere in sight. Lashley powers Bobby into the corner to start and easily takes him down with an amateur move. A hard shoulder to the ribs has Roode in even more trouble but Bobby comes back with a clothesline and tells Lashley to bring it on. The champ is all fired up but his clothesline is countered into the Crossface, sending Lashley out to the floor.
We take a break and come back with Lashley holding a reverse wasitlock until Bobby fights up with forearms. A quick Blockbuster gets two but Roode charges into a spinning spinebuster. Lashley ducks another shot but clotheslines Angle (first time he’s meant anything in the match) by mistake. The Roode Bomb is countered and Lashley nails the spear with no one to count the pin. Another spear hits Angle to knock him to the floor, allowing Roode to enziguri Lashley to the floor.
Bobby follows and avoids a spear, sending a ring attendant flying. A Roode Bomb on the ramp puts both guys down but there’s still no Angle to count anything. Instead Brian Hebner comes in to count the near fall and Bobby is frustrated. Lashley hits Roode low and gets the belt but Hebner says no.
That earns him a knockout clothesline, allowing Lashley to hit Roode with the belt. Angle comes in to count two and is finally back to his feet. The Roode Bomb is countered and Lashley snaps Bobby’s throat across the top rope. Another attempt is countered into a sunset flip attempt but Roode falls on top for the pin and the title at 17:49.
Rating: B. The match got going near the middle but I really don’t see why Angle needed to be out there. Any regular referee could have played his role to the same degree but maybe they’re setting up Lashley vs. Angle down the line? The important part though is Roode being made into a bigger deal than he was before, but now he needs to have a very solid title reign to make it even better. TNA is really needing a top face and if Roode is that guy then so be it.
The announcers mention a rematch clause as the show ends.
Overall Rating: B-. TNA is actually starting to click, which means it must be time for a disaster sooner than later. This episode was all about one match which delivered so it’s almost an automatic success. The tournament matches were good enough and the Revolution stuff continues to intrigue me. Good show this week as TNA is starting to make things interesting again.
Results
Samoa Joe/Low Ki b. Kenny King/MVP – Koquina Clutch to King
Beautiful People b. Madison Rayne/Taryn Terrell – Both Beautiful People pinned Terrell after a Rayne Drop from Rayne
Hardys b. Ethan Carter III/Tyrus – Swanton Bomb to Tyrus
James Storm b. Eddie Edwards – Last Call
Bobby Roode b. Lashley – Cradle
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Impact Wrestling – October 22, 2014: Is That A Light Up Ahead?
Impact Wrestling Date: October 22, 2014
Location: Sands Bethlehem Events Center, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz
We’re closing in on the Lashley vs. Roode showdown with the champion seeming to have some issues with the rest of the Trio. Other than that we have the start of a tag team tournament for a shot at the titles at some point in the future. I kind of like TNA just doing the week to week TV stuff instead of building to meaningless PPVs for a change. It works for NXT most of the time so why not TNA too? Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of Lashley vs. Roode from a few weeks ago and then Bobby winning the four way last week to earn another shot.
The Wolves want the tournament to start so they can have some new opponents.
Matt Hardy comes out and introduces his partner for the tournament: Jeff Hardy. Well that was anti-climactic.
Tag Team Tournament First Round: Hardys vs. BroMans
Jesse/DJZ here. Matt and DJZ start things off as Tenay and Taz are already in their own world. The guys in the ring (as in the guys the show is actually supposed to be about) trade headlocks until Matt takes him down and slams DJZ’s head into the mat over and over. Off to Jeff for Poetry in Motion to give Matt two. The Hardys go old school with the Spin Cycle (think both guys doing a half wheelbarrow suplex) but it’s quickly off to Jesse to take over.
Jeff kicks him down with ease before it’s back to Matt for a double belly to back. The BroMans are sent into each other but the distraction lets Jesse dropkick Matt down to take over. DJZ cranks on an armbar until Matt jawbreaks his way to freedom and tags in Jeff. The better Hardy cleans house with dropkicks and a gordbuster followed by the Whisper in the Wind. Jesse loads up a gorilla press but Matt tags himself in and it’s Twist/Swanton for the pin at 6:19.
Rating: C-. Just a basic tag match here that we’ll list under “what else would you expect to happen?” I can’t imagine the Hardys getting another shot after the Series blew the roof off as it would defeat the purpose of having a tournament. I’m also wondering if there are eight teams to fill out brackets as the division barely exists at this point. Decent match though.
Here’s Bram to address his surprise attack on D-Von last week. He loves hearing something being driven through a human’s skin, just like when he drove Janice into Abyss. Bram is the new king of hardcore and D-Von is his target because he’s called a hardcore legend. Whatever it takes, Bram will make sure everyone fears his name. This brings out D-Von and the beating is quickly on. Bram fights back and they head to the floor until security breaks it up in the ring. Angle comes out and makes a hardcore match between the two for later.
Brittany comes up to Samuel Shaw in the back and says she’d love it if he won tonight.
Tag Team Tournament First Round: Low Ki/Samoa Joe vs. Samuel Shaw/Gunner
Joe sends Shaw into the corner and hammers away to start before nailing an enziguri for good measure. Off to Ki for a springboard kick to the face but Gunner nails him with a clothesline. Brittany comes down to be in Shaw’s corner as Ki chops away at Gunner. The heels (kind of?) start double teaming Ki but Gunner tells Shaw to get rid of Brittany.
The distraction lets Ki avoid a middle rope dive, allowing for the hot tag to Joe. Things speed up with Joe hammering away and getting two of his own off a running kick to the face. Brittany hooks Gunner’s leg for no apparent reason, allowing Ki to kick him into the Clutch from Joe for the submission at 4:36.
Rating: D+. This was more storytelling than anything else as Gunner and Shaw continue to do….whatever it is that they’re doing. They’ve been going on with this for months now and I’m really not sure where they’re going with it. The match was nothing of interest but at least didn’t take up too much time.
Shaw stands next to Brittany but Gunner comes up to yell at her. Samuel nails him with a chair and goes evil again before kissing Brittany.
Ethan Carter III says he can feel it coming in the air tonight. He thinks a Tag Team Title reign with Tyrus would be a good buildup to his World Title win. Spud might be in the building tonight so why doesn’t he find a friend to get in the ring with Ethan and his new friend? Because he’s scared.
Lashley is asked about the title match with Roode but MVP cuts him off and says it’s just another day at the office. King says he and MVP are in the tournament.
Rebel vs. Angelina Love
Love doesn’t show up but here’s Havok instead to destroy Rebel. Gail Kim charges out for the big brawl with the champion until security breaks it up.
Video on Roode vs. Lashley, which I believe is the same video that opened the show.
Angle thinks we’ll raise the stakes in the contract signing later tonight.
Bram vs. D-Von
Hardcore. They start fighting on the floor before D-Von takes him inside for a release flapjack. It’s already back on the floor with D-Von in full control and sending him into the barricade. There’s a bottle of water to the head and Bram goes into steps for good measure. Back in and D-Von nails him in the head with a trashcan lid before hitting a one man Conchairto on the trashcan lid onto Bram’s head.
Bram comes back with a trashcan lid shot of his own because apparently he’s immune to concussions. He shouts that D-Von is nothing and gets a low blow for his efforts. D-Von loads up What’s Up on the trashcan but Magnus comes out with a kendo stick shot for the save, allowing Bram to use the metal bar for the pin at 5:57.
Rating: D. It’s not even that the match was terrible but it’s uninteresting. D-Von just isn’t interesting as a singles guy but at least he’s putting someone over at this stage in his career. Bram already has more star power than Magnus has almost ever shown and has a future, hopefully as more than just a hardcore guy.
Anderson and Melendez are in the tournament.
Tag Team Tournament First Round: Kenny King/MVP vs. Chris Melendez/Mr. Anderson
MVP and King are quickly knocked out to the floor but we settle down to Anderson vs. King. Mr. grabs a headlock to take over but MVP trips him up from the floor, allowing King to kick him in the head for two. MVP taunts Melendez with a tag in the corner like a true heel should before hooking Anderson in an arm crank. A running boot to the side of the head gets two but a double clothesline puts both guys down. Melendez and King come in off the tags with Chris cleaning house as everything breaks down. In the melee, King rolls up Melendez with a handful of tights for the pin at 4:55.
Rating: D+. Another middle of the ropad match here as the stories are now being applied to the tournament. That’s not the worst idea in the world and sets up some interesting matchups in the second round. Nothing great here or anything but it got the job done and kept this story going.
Eric Young fires Spud up and they’re in the tournament tonight.
The Wolves do a quick interview saying they’re looking for the best competition. They go off in different directions and Davey runs into James Storm. James tells Davey how great he is and offers to show him the way. Manik comes in to explain the beauty of the Revolution.
Tag Team Tournament First Round: Ethan Carter III/Tyrus vs. Eric Young/Rockstar Spud
Young has to give Spud a pep talk to get him to the ring and there’s no Rockstar at first. Carter laughs at Spud being a coward and even has a new response to the audience: “You wish you could.” He goes on a rant about how the villains win in this world and how the 99%ers here in the audience are all losers. That’s enough to get Spud to the ring and we’re ready to go.
Spud asks to get in the ring with Carter to start. After the staredown but no contact it’s off to Tyrus but Spud won’t tag out to Eric. Spud hammers away but gets caught by a punch to the chest. Spud’s sleeper attempt is countered into a Big Ending and Tyrus throws him around with a t-bone suplex. Tyrus misses a charge but stays on Spud, knocking him down with a single shot.
Off to Carter for some slaps to the face but Spud comes back with a huge one of his own, allowing for the hot tag to Young. Eric cleans house and gets two off the elbow. Everyone heads outside for a huge dive from Young before Spud dives on both villains. Back in and a quick Tongan Death Grip slam from Tyrus gives Ethan the pin on Spud at 7:14.
Rating: C. Better match here with Spud starting to look like a big deal. It wasn’t a great mathc or anything but it was nice to see some of the stories making sense. Young continues to be the guy you call to fill in a story and that’s all he was here. Carter’s rocket push is still coming and I like sayint that.
We run down the card for next week
Here’s Angle for the contract signing between Lashley and Roode. He has a bonus stipulation to make things more interesting next week, but first he asks if either guy has anything to say. Roode admits that Lashley was the better man last week but says that Lashley will be a marked man next week. Lashley has other priorities in MMA, but wrestling is all Roode has. Being champion is the only thing he wants and next week, he’s fighting with a passion to put the title back around his waste.
MVP has built Lashley up very well, but next week Roode will prove that he’s just a man. MVP cuts Bobby off and says Lashley can takes out anyone he faces because he’s a destroyer. Angle cuts them off and says he’ll be guest referee next week. That’s not cool with MVP but Lashley signs, giving us a staredown to end the show.
Overall Rating: C-. I didn’t mind this week’s show as they actually seem to have some interesting stuff coming in the next few weeks. Unfortunately, they need a show to air them on and right now we don’t know where that’s going to be. Roode vs. Lashley should be entertaining and the tag matches will be solid too, making next week interesting TV. However, this week’s build was only decent with the tournament matches being average at best. It gave me some hope though and that’s a big plus.
Results
Hardys b. BroMans – Swanton Bomb to Jesse
Samoa Joe/Low Ki b. Gunner/Samuel Shaw – Koquina Clutch to Gunner
Bram b. D-Von – Metal pole to the head
MVP/Kenny King b. Chris Melendez/Mr. Anderson – Rollup with a handful of tights to Melendez
Ethan Carter III/Tyrus b. Rockstar Spud/Eric Young – Tongan Death Grip Slam to Spud
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Impact Wrestling – October 15, 2014: They’ve Given Up
Impact Wrestling Date: October 15, 2014 Location: Sands Bethlehem Events Center, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz
So after nothing of importance happened this week, we’re ready to get back to some actual wrestling business. The main story is Bobby Roode earning a shot at Lashley’s world title at some point in the future. Other than that we’re a mere five months from the next scheduled PPV, but at the moment we only have twelve weeks of TV to go as there’s still no new deal announced. Let’s get to it.
Here’s Angle to open things up. The roster is great right now but last week the playing field got manipulated and that’s not cool. He asks Lashley to come out for a chat and asks him why he turned down Roode’s challenge. Lashley gives the obvious answer: Roode had his shot and lost. He gets in Kurt’s face and asks if the boss wants a shot. Angle says they’ll fight one day, but not tonight. Instead, tonight there’s a #1 contenders match between Eric Young, Jeff Hardy, Austin Aries and Bobby Roode. Angle knows Bobby has beaten all of them, but the winner gets another shot.
Team 3D Hall of Fame package.
Magnus cuts off Matt Hardy talking about his brother. They introduce themselves and a match is made for later. It’s as basic as it sounds.
Knockouts Title: Madison Rayne vs. Havok
Before the match, Madison says she doesn’t care what Taryn Terrell thinks of her running last week. We actually get stills from Bound For Glory of Havok beating Velvet. I’m surprised they actually referenced the show. Havok shoves her around to start and easily catches a cross body into a slam. She hooks a lifting full nelson followed by a backbreaker for good measure. The dominance continues with another backbreaker and then a third backbreaker just to mix things up.
They finally mix things up with Havok loading up that arm crusher that hurt Gail but Hebner won’t let it happen. Madison nails a baseball slide to the back and avoids a charge into the post. Back in and Havok blocks a suplex and we get an evil laugh. Madison blocks some charges in the corner and gets two off a middle rope dropkick. Havok will have none of this side roll stuff from Rayne and a chokeslam (Harlot Slayer) retains the title at 6:18.
Rating: D+. This wasn’t a bad match but it felt WAY longer than it actually was. Havok is a pretty awesome monster and can actually move unlike Awesome Kong. Above all else though, she’s actually different than all the other girls. That’s been one of the biggest issues for the Knockouts for years and Havok is finally a breath of air.
Angle congratulates D-Von and they suck up to each other a bit.
Eric Young likes his odds of winning tonight.
Matt Hardy vs. Magnus
Matt comes out to the song starting with Jeff’s voice. Magnus takes him into the corner to start and rudely smacks his jaw. Matt responds by getting run over with a shoulder but he comes back with a swinging neckbreaker. An early Twist of Fate attempt sends Magnus running out to the floor and we get a breather. Hardy follows him out and is lifted up into a powerbomb, sending him back first into the post and then the apron.
Back in and Magnus gets two off a suplex and starts working on the spine. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Matt avoids a middle rope elbow. Hardy nails some clotheslines and a bulldog gets two. There’s the Side Effect and a moonsault is good for two more. Another Twist is countered and a victory roll gets the same treatment, giving Magnus two. Magnus goes up but dives into an RKO (called the Twist of Fate here even though it was missing a twist) for the pin at 5:54.
Rating: C. This was just a match here and nothing all that interesting. Matt didn’t look bad though and it’s kind of nice to have a wrestling match instead of doing the same brawling and weapons stuff that the Hardys have been using for all these weeks. Magnus’ downward spiral continues but Bram will be around to pick him back up soon enough.
We get Ethan’s promo from Sunday, saying his new bodyguard will be here tonight.
BroMans/Angelina Love vs. Menagerie
It’s DJZ/Jesse and Steve/Knux/Rebel here. DJZ gets in a quick smack to Rebel’s trunks before nailing knux to take over. Knux cartwheels away and nails DJZ with some right hands and a splash in the corner. He slams Steve onto DJZ for two but the heels take over with Jesse coming in to hammer away. DJZ hits a pair of running knees in the corner for two. Jesse misses a charge into the post and it’s off to the girls.
Rebel starts cleaning house but hits a horrible looking dropkick. DJZ spanks her again, earning him a big boot from Knux. A double clothesline puts both girls down until it’s off to Steve for an attempted kiss on Angelina. Jesse makes the save with a gorilla press but Steve slides down and hooks a tornado DDT for the pin at 5:14.
Rating: D. This show is starting to drag. It doesn’t feel like there was any thought put into this episode and that they just picked a bunch of guys that haven’t been on the show recently and threw them into a card. Knux is a guy I like more each time I see him but Steve is just a warm body at this point.
Roode and Aries are all serious about who wins tonight. Respect is out the window when they fight.
Brodus Clay comes out as EC3’s new body guard. The reveal is really weak due to Clay’s debut actually taking place on last week’s show but being edited out for some reason. Ethan says trouble follows him around and names Clay as Tyrus, which he says about five times. That brings Carter to current issues, like Bully Ray going into the Hall of Fame. After what Ray did to his aunt, Ethan thinks Ray should be thrown out of the Hall of Fame immediately.
He’s beaten every member of the Hall of Fame but we have to stop for the dueling chants with the fans. This brings out D-Von for an interruption. I’m the only Hall of Famer you haven’t beaten, I’m not scared of your bodyguard, you’re going through a table, etc. Bram jumps D-Von with a trashcan lid as D-Von is coming to the ring and the beating is on.
After a break, Carter and Tyrus are still in the ring with Ethan being thankful of Bram. Ethan thinks that counts as a win, so he’s now beaten all four members of the Hall of Fame. They don’t feel like leaving yet so why not give Tyrus a match of his own right now so he can be undefeated too.
Tyrus vs. Shark Boy
And there’s no Shark Boy. We go to the back and find Shark Boy eating doughnuts on a couch. I guess this is a joke about him being fat a few weeks ago. Shark Boy hammers away but starts feeling tired. He drinks some water and gets nailed by a headbutt to the chest. There’s the overhead suplex and a Tongan Death Grip slam is enough for the pin at 1:50.
Video from the bigger matches from Sunday.
Jeff Hardy says it’s time to get the title back.
Bram tells the interviewer to keep his nose out of what he did.
Recap of the Tag Team Title series, leading to a video on the Wolves being a team for a long time. They mention facing the winners of a tournament we haven’t heard about yet.
Eric Young vs. Bobby Roode vs. Austin Aries vs. Jeff Hardy
The winner gets a title shot at some point. Young cleans house to start but gets caught by Hardy in a lockup. Roode shoves Aries into Hardy for a collision before missing a dive onto Young. Aries telegraphs a suicide dive and gets nailed by Young, allowing Hardy to hit Poetry In Motion onto the Canadians. Aries is the only man standing and he wants a three way count but Young slides back in. Hardy kicks Aries down but misses a slingshot dropkick in the corner as we take a break.
Back with Roode chopping Young and planting him with a spinebuster. We get the first reference I’ve heard that this is an elimination match, though TNA making this up as they go wouldn’t surprise me. Aries nails Young with a discus forearm for two as Hardy gets back in. Young plants Aries with a DDT and goes up but Roode breaks up the elbow drop. Aries and Roode load up a double superplex on Young but Hardy makes it the required Tower of Doom spot.
Jeff covers all three guys for two each and takes his shirt off, only to have Aries break up the Swanton. Young knocks Roode off the top but misses a moonsault and Hardy does the same with a Swanton attempt. A Roode Bomb to Young and a brainbuster to Hardy give us a double elimination at 15:15, leaving us with Aries vs. Roode for the title shot.
They slug it out with forearms in the middle of the ring and Aries gets the better of it. Roode kicks him in the ribs and both guys counter finisher attempts. Aries is sent to the apron but he nails some more forearms. He goes up top but the Roode Bomb is countered into a rollup which is countered into a Crossface. Aries is in trouble but he rolls back into the Last Chancery, only to have Roode make the ropes. A neckbreaker snaps Roode’s neck off the top rope and a missile dropkick sends him down again. The brainbuster is countered with a knee to the head, setting up the Roode Bomb for the pin at 19:50.
Rating: B. It’s a good match but I can’t count how many times I’ve seen TNA do this same kind of match with the same batch of spots. You knew there was going to be a Tower of Doom and you knew there was going to be an exchange of finishers spot at the end. Roode was clearly going to win given how the stories have gone, but you can say that about a lot of matches.
Hardy and Young come back out to pose with the other two.
Overall Rating: D. TNA has given up. They gave their biggest show of the year to Wrestle-1 and now they give us this follow-up show which felt like they threw it together in about five minutes. They basically took everything they had left over and said “go make a show” while tacking on a main event. The big match was good, but Roode might as well have been cutting promos on Lashley already given how obvious it was that he was winning. The show itself wasn’t bad on paper, but it’s clear that TNA has stopped putting in effort. Maybe that changes next week, but this show felt like they’ve given up.
Results
Havok b. Madison Rayne – Harlot Slayer
Matt Hardy b. Magnus – Twist of Fate
Menagerie b. BroMans/Angelina Love – Tornado DDT to Jesse
Tyrus b. Shark Boy – Tongan Death Grip slam
Bobby Roode b. Austin Aries, Jeff Hardy and Eric Young – Roode Bomb to Aries
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Bound For Glory 2013 (2014 Redo): It’s Sad In A Way
Bound For Glory 2013 Date: October 20, 2013
Location: Viejas Arena, San Diego, California
Attendance: 3,000
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz
We’ll wrap up the redos here with a show that really doesn’t feel like the biggest deal of the year. The main event is AJ Styles, who has spent most of the year channeling 1997 Sting as the loner who barely talks, challenging Aces and 8’s President Bully Ray. This doesn’t feel like as big a deal as it should due to Ray only having won the title back about two months ago following a meaningless reign by Chris Sabin. Let’s get to it.
There was a pre-show match in 2013.
Pre-Show: Gauntlet Match
This is a four team gauntlet match with the winners getting a Tag Team Title shot on the regular pay per view. We start with Bad Influence vs. Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez. Guerrero and Kaz get things going but it’s quickly off to Hernandez who hits the over the shoulder backbreaker to both guys at the same time. SuperMex heads to the ramp and gets a running start to take out Bad Influence with a huge running double clothesline.
We take a break and come back with Hernandez hitting a kind of powerbomb on Kaz for no cover. Both guys crawl over to make tags so Chavo can speed things up with shoulders to Daniels. Everything quickly breaks down and Hernandez is back up to clean house with clotheslines. Chavo hits Three Amigos on Daniels because he’s an Eddie Guerrero tribute wrestler. Speaking of Eddie, Chavo goes up for the Frog Splash but Kaz shoves him off the top to give Daniels a rollup pin.
Joseph Park and Eric Young are the third team and drop Kaz with a double back elbow. Park’s big splash gets no cover but he does slam Kaz down again. Park tries another slam but gets dropped on his head to change control. Bad Influence changes without a tag because they’re, well, bad, allowing Daniels to send Park face first into Kaz’s boot. A slingshot elbow followed by a slingshot legdrop gets two as Young teases interfering.
Kaz’s sunset flip is countered but Park only hits mat when trying to sit down. We take another break and come back with Eric getting the hot tag and cleaning house with elbows and right hands. A belly to belly gets two on Daniels but he comes back with a release Rock Bottom. He misses the BME though and Park’s Samoan drop gives Young the pin.
Before the fourth team comes out though, Kaz lays out Young with Fade to Black and send Park into the Ultimate X structure. The BroMans are the final team (due to winning a match on Impact and come out with Mr. Olympia Phil Heath. Park is carried to the back and we’re starting with a handicap match. Robbie starts for the team but it’s quickly off to Jesse for a shot to the ribs. Young comes back with a double clothesline and some right hands to both Bros. The top rope elbow gets two as Jesse makes a save and the yet to be named BroDown (Hart Attack) gives the BroMans the title shot.
Rating: C. This match got a good deal of time, running about twenty two minutes. That’s far more than you usually get in a gauntlet match and it’s really nice for a change. I always have trouble with gauntlets as most of the falls take no time, which makes me wonder why that never happens in regular matches. This was a free match so it’s hard to complain when compared to the rest of the card.
The opening video is almost all about AJ with his voiceovers talking about how tired he is of doing the right thing all the time. Now he’s back to fight for himself instead of TNA, even though it makes him the same guy he used to be when he got ticked off. One other note: Dixie Carter is now evil and has sided with Bully Ray, who is still trying to take over her company. It was around this time that people were sick of hearing from her, so of course she became a bigger and bigger focal point of TV.
Taz is now part of Aces and 8’s so we have a heel commentator.
X-Division Title: Samoa Joe vs. Manik vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Chris Sabin vs. Austin Aries
Ultimate X with Manik defending against an all-star lineup. Joe is part of the reformed Main Event Mafia which is around to fight Aces and 8’s. Sabin quickly goes to the corner but gets glared down by everyone else in the match. Instead he bails to the floor and pulls Aries outside with him, only to be rammed into the tress. Back inside and Manik is put in the Tree of Woe so Sabin can stand on his crotch.
Tenay says this is the 32nd time Ultimate X has been held, which is pretty frequent considering the company isn’t even twelve years old at this point. Joe snapmares Chris down for a loud chop to the back, making Sabin’s girlfriend Velvet Sky scream. Manik takes Joe down with a springboard dropkick as Hardy and Aries start going up the tress. Jeff pulls Austin down before Manik hurricanranas Hardy and Sabin down.
Aries is left alone in the ring and goes up, only to have Hardy pull him right back down before hitting the reverse powerbomb from last year. Since it’s a Jeff Hardy match, it’s ladder time until Joe hits a suicide elbow to take Jeff out. Sabin baseball slides the ladder into Joe but Manik dropkicks Joe down. Aries dives onto Joe and Manik but Manik gets back up and hurricanranas Sabin out to the floor.
Joe hammers away on Aries in the corner but the MuscleBuster is countered. Hardy comes back in but eats the running dropkick, followed by Joe getting the same. The brainbuster is countered into a swinging Koquina Clutch to send Aries outside. The champ goes up but gets pulled down into a low blow. Joe hits a running backsplash on Manik before getting dropkicked out to the floor by Sabin.
The Whisper in the Wind drops Sabin and now the ladder is brought in. Manik and Aries climb the ladder and fight over the belt but Sabin knocks it over. He goes after Hardy instead of climbing, earning himself a Twist of Fate. Sabin tells Velvet Sky to stop Hardy from climbing and throws her in the ring against her will. The distraction of Velvet in that tight of a dress lets Sabin run up the ladder to win the title.
Rating: C+. This was a good idea to freshen up the match but at the same time they’ve killed the concept. Why in the world would someone use the hard method of crawling along the ropes now instead of just climbing a ladder? It’s a nice followup to Sabin’s World Title run and heel turn, but it’s not like the title means anything outside of Destination X season.
It’s time for our theme of the night: great AJ Styles moments, starting with Styles becoming the first X-Division Champion back in 2002.
Here’s Bad Influence to fill some time since this is a seven match card. Kaz says no men have been screwed more than them since Brokeback Mountain. It’s an embarrassment that they’re not on the card tonight since Bad Influence IS TNA. They beat Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez and then had to face a lawyer and a fisherman so that shouldn’t even count. TNA loves to mess with things so let’s make it a three way for the Tag Team Titles.
This brings out Eric Young who says he’s here on scientific business. Earlier tonight, Bad Influence created a monster and everyone knows they should run. They beat him down but here’s Abyss to save his partner and clean house. Both Bad Influences take Black Hole Slams and Abyss helps Young up.
Gunner and James Storm tell the BroMans to not worry about their hair and girls because the champions are ready for them. JB’s hair looks funny for some reason.
Tag Team Titles: BroMans vs. James Storm/Gunner
Storm had a spot in a four way Tag Team Title match at Slammiversary and Gunner impressed him enough to get on the team. They won the belts and haven’t had much competition since. Mr. Olympia Phil Heath is with the challengers again. It’s a brawl to start with the champions cleaning house and Storm being backdropped over the top onto the BroMans. Back in and Storm throws Jesse across the ring before bringing in Gunner for some right hands to the head.
Gunner takes Jesse into the corner for some chops but a Robbie distraction lets Jesse pull him off the middle rope to take over. Robbie comes in legally and hammers away before giving it back to Jesse for two. E. quickly comes back in for a chinlock before Jesse breaks up a backslide attempt with a dropkick. The Bros break up a hot tag attempt and Jesse poses a lot. He gets crotched on the top though, allowing Gunner to hit a fall away slam to take Jesse down.
There’s the hot tag to Storm and house is cleaned again. James gets two off a top rope elbow and is sporting a big cut on his leg. Everything breaks down and Robbie escapes the Eye of the Storm before nailing an implant DDT for two. Gunner plants Robbie with an Irish Curse but Jesse breaks up the Gun Rack. A powerbomb/Backstabber combo gets a VERY close two on Robbie. The Last Call plants Jesse but Robbie throws in a title belt for a distraction, setting up the BroDown for the pin and the titles.
Rating: C-. I remember this being a bit better but the match wasn’t that bad. The near fall was really good and having new champions was a big surprise, but it was still missing something. I have no idea why Heath was out there as he didn’t add a thing to this match. Not bad but the new champs wouldn’t have anyone to feud with for awhile.
Video on Angle’s Hall of Fame induction.
Sting comes out to officially induct Angle into the Hall of Fame. Kurt comes out and thanks the fans but says he can’t accept this induction. This wound up being a story and Angle would eventually accept, which makes the Hall of Fame seem like a prop for angles rather than something special. It’s not a horrible thing but I still don’t like this. My guess however is it had something to do with Angle’s DUI in early August.
Clip of AJ wining the World title at No Surrender 2009.
Dixie Carter puts all of AJ’s merchandise on sale. Her nephew Ethan comes up and we get the new catchphrase: “The world needs us. We’re the Carters.” Well he’s easy to hate.
Knockouts Title: Gail Kim vs. Brooke vs. ODB
ODB is defending and Aces and 8’s member Brooke is Miss Tessmacher. Brooke is quickly run over and Gail gets sent to the floor by the champion. Back up and Brooke stomps away in the corner before giving ODB a Stinkface. That’s fine with ODB who pops up and chest bumps Brooke into the corner for a Bronco Buster. Gail gets back in and is quickly knocked right back to the floor. Brooke faceplants ODB for two as Gail is holding her arm.
ODB powers up to break a reverse chinlock but gets dropped by a running forearm. A spinning neckbreaker puts the champion down for two but Gail pulls Brooke down for a Figure Four around the post. ODB takes Gail down but Brooke gets two off a rollup. Off to a half crab on Brooke and Gail has to run in to break up a tap out. Both challengers go to the top so ODB tries to superplex them both, only to be shoved down. Gail missile dropkicks ODB and Brooke drops a top rope elbow on Kim to put all three on the mat.
ODB is up first to run everyone over but the referee gets crushed in the corner. Another shot knocks him out to the floor and we get the double fireman’s carry to show off ODB’s strength. Brooke falls off so ODB gives Gail the Bam onto Brooke’s body. Cue Lei’D Tapa to fight with ODB and knock the champion to the floor. A powerbomb plants Brooke and Tapa puts Gail on top for the pin and the title.
Rating: D+. Giving Gail a new monster bodyguard doesn’t make her any more interesting. Tapa had a different kind of look but at the end of the day, she was nothing compared to Ivelisse from Gut Check. The match was nothing we haven’t seen on Impact a bunch of times and just restarts the circle of Knockouts with the title all over again.
New broadcaster Gil Corsey (he didn’t last) is with the BroMans and Mr. Olympia. Protein shakes are poured and that’s about it.
Bobby Roode says he’ll prove he’s a better man than Kurt.
We recap Roode vs. Angle. Roode didn’t like Angle going into the Hall of Fame so he and Bad Influence (the Extraordinary Gentlemen’s Organization) inducted Bobby into the EGO Hall of Fame.
Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode
This is Angle’s first match back from rehab. Feeling out process to start with Roode actually taking him down to the mat. Kurt is a bit more hesitant to go after Roode this time but gets caught in a headlock anyway. A quick Crossface attempt sends Angle running but his ankle lock does the same to Roode. Back in and Roode hammers away in the corner until Kurt suplexes him out to the floor.
The fight heads out to the floor where another suplex drops Bobby. Angle tries one too many times though and gets his neck snapped across the top rope. Back in and Roode stomps away before getting two off a suplex. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Angle fights up with right hands. The Rolling Germans have Roode in trouble but he gets a shoulder up at two. The Angle Slam is countered with an armdrag and Roode gets two off a spinebuster.
Kurt escapes a Roode Bomb and puts on the ankle lock as we’re into the trading finishers section. The counter sends Angle arm first into the post and a DDT on the arm sets up the Crossface from Roode. A foot on the rope breaks the hold and Roode is getting frustrated. He walks into another suplex but avoids the moonsault. Roode slaps on the Crossface again but Kurt grabs the ankle lock to break the hold. I love that counter. Bobby pulls him down and puts on the Crossface again until Angle rolls over for two.
That gets rolled over for two more and Angle’s clothesline is countered into yet another Crossface. Kurt reverses THAT into another Angle Slam for two but he can’t follow it up. They slug it out from their knees and Kurt starts rolling more Germans. Bobby can’t take more of those though so he grabs the referee, allowing a low blow to Angle. The yet to be named Roode Bomb gets a very close two. He loads up another one but Kurt rolls down into the ankle lock.
Angle gets the grapevine for good measure and Roode starts to black out, but he’s being crafty. Channeling his inner Bret Hart, Roode is goldbricking and uses the referee checking his arm to grab the rope. Kurt is frustrated but takes Roode to the top for a Super Angle Slam. Both guys are down but Roode gets to his feet long enough to fall on Angle for a surprise pin. Angle never moved after hitting the Slam.
Rating: A-. This was the great match of the show with both guys showing off some awesome stuff. I like that they went with the Austin vs. HHH finish from No Way Out where they hit each other but HHH fell on top for a pin. It’s also the right call as Angle didn’t need the win and Roode gets the (unmentioned) win back from Bound For Glory 2011.
Angle is taken out on medics but wakes up when they try to put a neck brace on him, allowing him to walk out on his own.
AJ beat Sting at Bound For Glory 2009.
Styles is getting ready.
Bully Ray is in the back with a bunch of people we can’t see. A lot of the Aces and 8’s had left at this point so it’s implied they’re back tonight. Ray says the team is reborn tonight and says it’s all about the colors. We never saw who he was talking to.
Ethan Carter III vs. Norv Fernum
Fernum is a jobber who might weigh 150lbs and both guys are debuting tonight. Carter throws him around to start as you would expect before dropping him with a forearm. A high collar t-bone suplex makes Taz smile and Ethan rubs his face in the mat. Fernum scores with some dropkicks and a high cross body for two. Not that it matters as the yet to be named 1%er gives Ethan the easy pin.
Rating: C. Of course it’s not much of a match but this was exactly what you want from a debut for a guy like Carter. He’s become such an awesome heel and this was the kind of start they should have gone with. They played up the idea of Carter getting a handpicked opponent, which is something a rich guy would get. Smart and effective debut.
Magnus says he’s going to get his big win tonight and become the star he’s destined to be, even if it’s at Sting’s expense.
We recap Magnus vs. Sting. Magnus was in the finals of the Bound For Glory Series and lost, destroying his confidence. Sting said Magnus, his Main Event Mafia brother, was going to be a star and Sting was going to give him the chance to do just that.
Magnus vs. Sting
Both guys are good here and this is about making Magnus a star instead of a rivalry. They trade headlocks to start until Sting clotheslines Magnus down. A shoulder puts him on the floor and we’re in a slow start. Sting holds the ropes to let Magnus back in before getting knocked out to the apron with a European uppercut. The Brit holds the ropes open for Sting before leveling him with a clothesline to take over.
Off to a bodyscissors from Magnus for awhile until Sting finally grabs the ropes. Some ax handles have Sting in more trouble and Magnus stays on the ribs and back. Sting comes right back with a backdrop and the Stinger Splash followed by the Deathlock with very little torque on it. Magnus powers out of it and a double clothesline puts both guys down.
Back up and Magnus starts no selling shots to the face ala Sting vs. Flair back in 1987 before hitting a Stinger Splash of his own. A Michinoku Driver gets two but Sting shrugs off a Cloverleaf attempt. Now Sting starts no selling and hits his own Stinger Splash and another Deathlock with so little torque that the fans are barely interested. I guess Sting’s knees just won’t let him sit down anymore.
Magnus finally makes the rope and stops another Splash with a European uppercut. The Scorpion Death Drop puts Sting down and the top rope elbow gets two. A second elbow misses but Magnus fights out of some Death Drop attempts with HARD elbows to the face. Sting says Magnus to come on so Magnus takes him down and puts on the Cloverleaf for the very surprising submission.
Rating: D+. The fans are really not pleased with the ending and I can’t say I blame them. One of the biggest problems with Sting’s later TNA stuff is how fast his matches end. There’s no buildup to them and they just stop out of nowhere. This wasn’t a very good match either but that’s the case with almost all passing the torch matches. Without any hatred between them, there’s no reason for them to be fighting and it makes for a dull match.
They shake hands post match but Magnus doesn’t seem too interested.
AJ beat Magnus to get the title shot tonight.
Bully quotes Welcome to the Jungle to tell AJ that he’s going to die tonight. He doesn’t want AJ to die though. Ray wants AJ to have to live with himself and go back to Gainesville, Georgia and go into that trailer park so he can look at his kids and tell them he’s a failure. That will kill AJ and tonight, he’s in Bully’s jungle.
We recap AJ Styles vs. Bully Ray, which is almost all about AJ vs. Dixie. AJ won the title shot in the BFG Series but the main story is about Dixie Carter not wanting a hick like AJ as the world champion. She’s promised tonight is his last night in the company and has made the main event basically a street fight.
TNA World Title: AJ Styles vs. Bully Ray
Bully is defending and has the gorgeous Brooke with him. Ray powers him into the corner to start and says he can see the fear in AJ’s eyes. Styles tells him to bring it and gets taken down by the wrist. He finally rolls out but takes AJ down with a big boot to the face. Bully knocks him down again and tells AJ he’ll take care of the wife and kids. That just ticks AJ off and the drop down into a dropkick puts Ray down.
AJ’s Calf Killer goes on out of nowhere but Aces and 8’s member Garrett Bischoff comes out for a distraction. Ray picks up a hammer but AJ kicks it out of his hands and swings it himself. Bully prevents a bad case of death by chopping Styles a few times to Taz’s delight. He mocks Hogan with the hand to the ear before chopping AJ again. AJ asks him for another and Ray backs up into the corner out of fear. Styles goes off on him in the corner but gets nailed by a clothesline.
Ray’s next chop leaves a handprint on AJ’s chest but he comes back with kicks to the leg. Cue Aces and 8’s member Knux for a chokeslam on Styles, giving Bully two. Ray is ticked off at the near fall so he pokes Hebner in the chest, only to get shouted down. A big running clothesline hits Knux by mistake and AJ grabs a rollup for two. Ray kicks AJ right in the face to knock him out to the floor as this is picking up again.
They head outside and Ray picks up the hammer but gets Peled onto the announcers’ table. Styles loads up the springboard 450 but Ray moves, sending AJ crashing through the table for a huge wreck. Taz hands Ray a boxcutter so the champ can start cutting up the ring. He peels back the mat and then the padding underneath, leaving only the wooden boards.
With AJ still down, Ray calls the boys to the ring. Instead he gets Dixie because where would we be without her? She hands Ray a chair but AJ comes in with the springboard forearm to drive the chair into Bully’s face. The springboard 450 connects but Dixie tells Hebner not to count the pin. The hesitation lets Ray kick out at what should have been about 15. AJ’s Clash is countered with a backdrop onto the wood and Ray actually hits the middle rope backsplash. It’s only good for two though so Ray nails him in the back with a chair. AJ escapes the piledriver and nails a Pele, followed by Spiral Tap for the pin and the title.
Rating: B-. The match was good but it felt like a long segment at times instead of a match. The missed splash looked great and ripping up the ring was interesting, but man alive does Dixie Carter drag down segments she’s in. It’s not due to being a bad character as she’s easy to hate. It’s that I just do not want to see her involved because she’s going to get way more focus than she deserves and make things a lot more annoying than interesting.
As for AJ’s character, it’s questionable at best. We spent months on him as the loner who didn’t want anything to do with TNA and teased being a part of Aces and 8’s, but now he’s TNA’s conquering hero? That’s a stretch to say the least and the match felt more about Dixie vs. AJ by the end. They could save that for later on TV, which they would do again because TNA does some questionable things.
A bunch of recaps and a celebration end the show.
Overall Rating: C+. This show tried and had its moments but there’s not enough here to make the show great. That being said, not having to sit through the bad TV shows setting up this show made things a lot easier. It’s just the wrestling and the main event and Roode vs. Angle matches make it worth sitting through. Not a great show or anything and the booking continues to be AWFUL but the wrestling isn’t bad.
Ratings Comparison
Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez vs. BroMans vs. Eric Young/Joseph Park vs. Bad Influence
Original: C
Redo: C-
Chris Sabin vs. Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Manik
Original: C+
Redo: C+
Gunner/James Storm vs. BroMans
Original: C
Redo: C-
Brooke vs. ODB vs. Gail Kim
Original: D+
Redo: D+
Bobby Roode vs. Kurt Angle
Original: B+
Redo: A-
Ethan Carter III vs. Norv Fernum
Original: D-
Redo: C
Sting vs. Magnus
Original: C
Redo: D+
AJ Styles vs. Bully Ray
Original: C
Redo: B-
Overall Rating
Original: D+
Redo: C+
As usual, the lack of sitting through the build is a good thing. When TNA cuts out the nonsense of TV, they’re much easier to sit through.
So that’s Bound For Glory so far. Overall, the show is very endemic of TNA in general: they have good stuff, but the lack of creating top stars kills them. Four of the first five shows are more about Sting than anything else and the latter ones are mainly about Angle or Hogan. I get the idea of making them look strong so putting someone over them means something, but that only happened once at the biggest show of the year. Other than that, it’s almost all about making the old guys look good and that’s missing the point.
The show is worth checking out most of the time, but you can see TNA going downhill after about 2007. There’s almost always value to the show and none of them are horrible, but man alive they can be frustrating to sit through at times. Again, that’s true of so many things TNA does and they make it hard to be a fan for more than a little while at a time. Check out some of the better matches, but I wouldn’t recommend putting yourself through the full shows most of the time.
Bound For Glory 2012 (2014 Redo): Sting and Hogan. Just Go With It.
Bound For Glory 2012
Date: October 14, 2012
Location: Grand Canyon University Arena, Phoenix, Arizona
Attendance: 2,900
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz
It’s the age of the bikers now as the Aces and 8’s storyline has taken over TNA. This story started back in June and would still be going (kind of) at NEXT YEAR’S Bound For Glory because TNA doesn’t know how to just let something go. Again the real main event isn’t for the World Title, but rather Sting and Bully Ray facing off with two of the masked members of Aces and 8’s with access to the Impact Zone on the line. There’s also something about Jeff Hardy winning the Bound For Glory Series and challenging for the World Title but let’s get to the important stuff like Sting with Hogan in his corner. Let’s get to it.
Before I get started, I have to give this show praise for its tagline: The Memories Are Waiting. That actually gave me a chill when I first heard it and it still really works.
The opening video focuses on the moments at Bound For Glory. Oddly enough a lot of them focus on Sting. This really does make the show look like the biggest event of the year which is a very important thing for a wrestling company to have.
The announcers hype up the show and run down the card.
We have an old school ramp to the ring.
X-Division Title: Rob Van Dam vs. Zema Ion
Ion is defending and is obsessed with his hair. There’s no story here because there wasn’t time to get one together. Literally the Thursday before the show, Van Dam came out and said he was challenging for the title here. The fans are entirely behind Rob here as you would expect them to be. Feeling out process to start as Rob goes after Ion’s hair to take over. A few kicks to the face send Zema outside but he’s able to run away from Rob’s dive.
Back in and Rob ducks a clothesline but gets caught by a low dropkick. The ring is very loud here. Something like a Whisper in the Wind gets two for the champion but he gets crotched on the ropes and kicked back out to the floor. Rob takes a well deserved bow as this has been mostly one sided so far. The champ comes back in by diving through the ropes into a tornado DDT for a pair of near falls.
Rob gets shoved off the top and down onto the barricade, setting up a big flip dive from Ion. Zema throws him back in and blocks a monkey flip with a kind of hot shot. A missile dropkick gets two on Rob and the champion puts on an abdominal stretch to slow things down. That goes nowhere so they slug it out until Rob throws him into the air for a dropkick to the ribs. Rolling Thunder sets up the Five Star for the clean pin and the title.
Rating: C+. I liked this more than I thought I would with Ion being a perfectly adequate foil for the feel good title win. Rob broke a bit of a sweat here but there wasn’t a huge doubt as to who was winning. Ion had been champion for three months at this point and there wasn’t much else he could do with it so giving it to Rob to make him look like he still means something is a good idea.
Magnus says tonight is the biggest night of the year for everyone. Tonight, there is no more hiding behind Hogan for Samoa Joe and Magnus gets his TV Title.
TV Title: Magnus vs. Samoa Joe
Joe is defending. They used to be partners but Magnus went to the dark side after they lost the Tag Team Titles. Joe won the TV Title and Magnus wants a shot due to the tag team issues and Joe beating him in some BFG Series matches. Feeling out process to start with both guys sending the other to the corner. Magnus’ handshake offer is declined and Joe nails a hard big boot to the jaw. The Brit takes over with a clothesline and pounds away in the corner.
A knee to the face puts Joe down and a Michinoku Driver gets two. Joe gets all fired up and runs Magnus over before getting two off the running backsplash. There’s the STF followed by the Rings of Saturn but Magnus gets his foot on the ropes. Joe’s MuscleBuster and superplex attempts are broken up with a kick to the head and the top rope elbow gets two. Joe puts on the Clutch but Magnus climbs the ropes and flips over to escape. A chop block puts the champion down and he loads up the Figure Four, only to be countered into the Cluth to retain Joe’s title.
Rating: C-. Totally basic match here that could have been on any episode of Impact. Magnus just didn’t have it yet but would show some good improvement in the next year. At the same time, Joe was his normal self here as we’re in the middle of his latest push that wouldn’t go anywhere of note.
Roode says this hatred between him and Storm has been building for a year but ends tonight. I’m sure. Special referee King Mo won’t be a factor and Roode is going to send Storm home forever.
We recap Roode vs. Storm. As you might remember, Roode turned on Storm to win the World Title just after Bound For Glory 2011. This set up their huge showdown at Lockdown 2012 in Storm’s hometown after one heck of a build. Storm destroyed Roode for twenty minutes…..and then accidentally knocked him out of the cage so Roode retained the title.
Again, TNA had the chance to make a new star and just didn’t for….well I can’t say no apparent reason as Storm was banged up, but there was no reason to not give him the title there and then deal with the injury later. You give him the win and the fans get the moment. The reign itself doesn’t matter. See Mick Foley in 1999 for further proof. Anyway tonight it’s a street fight to blow off the feud, even though the cage match was the blowoff already.
Bobby Roode vs. James Storm
Street fight. MMA fighter King Mo is outside referee and comes out in a robe and crown. They stare each other down before Storm takes over with a bunch of right hands. A big backdrop puts Roode down and they head outside. Roode gets rammed face first into the apron but comes back with a shot to the face, only to stop and stare at Mo. Storm nails a Russian legsweep to send Bobby into the barricade to take over.
The Eye of the Storm through the announcers’ table doesn’t work as Roode slips down the back and sends Storm into the post to bust him open. He brings in a chair to knock Storm down even more as the blood is flowing. They head back inside with Roode bringing in a kendo stick, only to drop it to wedge a chair in the corner. Storm picks up the stick and nails Roode before putting a trashcan between Roode’s legs and driving it home with the stick.
An Elevated DDT onto the ramp knocks Roode silly but Storm is weak from the blood loss. A fan hands Storm a crutch for a shot to Roode’s ribs and Bobby is in trouble again. They slug it out with trashcan lids on the ramp and King Mo isn’t sure what to think. Roode finally goes down after a trashcan shot but he comes back with a spinebuster on the ramp.
They fight to the floor where Storm drinks a beer and takes Roode over to the announcers’ table. Bobby fights out of a suplex attempt which clearly wasn’t going to hit and spears Storm off one table and through another. That’s only good for two as Storm’s blood is all over Bobby’s back. He goes after Hebner but Mo gets in the ring and slaps Roode into Closing Time from Storm. The Last Call gets two and Storm is stunned.
Another Last Call is blocked and Roode sends him head first into the chair in the corner for two, even with a handful of trunks. Storm is sat on the top rope for a chair shot to the back….and it’s tacks time. Bobby loads up a superplex onto the tacks but gets shoved onto them instead, followed by a top rope elbow from Storm for two. A low blow puts Storm down and Roode brings in a six pack of beer. Storm returns the low blow and breaks the beer bottle over Roode’s head in the same move that started the feud. Bobby is out on his feet and the Last Call into the tacks gives Storm the pin.
Rating: B+. It’s a really good brawl but the Lockdown match really holds it back. This match comes off like Rock vs. Austin at Wrestlemania XIX: Storm wins here but it really doesn’t mean anything more than revenge. He lost the big match when everything was on the line and now looks like a choker. Still though, it’s a great bloody brawl with Storm looking like he went through a meat grinder. I have no idea why Mo needed to be here though as he didn’t do a thing.
Joey Ryan says he should have been given a contract before he was on Gut Check but Al Snow and the Gut Check judges thought they knew better than 87% of the Impact audience. He’s the opposite of Snow and they’re on his turf tonight. Politicking isn’t going to save Snow tonight because tonight, Ryan is bringing sleazy back to Bound For Glory.
That promo basically covered the recap. Ryan was on Gut Check and got 87% of the fan vote, but the judges said no. Joey showed up at some shows and tried to get on camera, even punching Snow over the barricade at one point. Tonight it’s Snow vs. Ryan for a contract.
Joey Ryan vs. Al Snow
Snow offers to start in an amateur position and easily takes Joey down for some slaps to the back of the head. They head to the corner with Snow dropping him with an elbow and hiptoss. Off to a headlock for a bit before Ryan nails a clothesline and rubs his own chest. Back up and a right hand knocks Snow’s head back for one of the most out there looks I’ve ever seen.
Some clotheslines drop Ryan and there are the headbutts to the chest. The Snow Plow gets two so Snow grabs Head from under the ring. The referee tries to take it away and gets crushed for his efforts. Joey kisses the Head for some reason but misses a baseball slide and gets caught in the ring skirt. Al grabs Head again but Matt Morgan returns through the crowd and kicks Snow’s head (not Head) off. Snow is thrown back in and Ryan gets the easy pin.
Rating: D. This doesn’t hold up very well though Snow hadn’t been active in a major promotion for years now. Joey was much better as a character or talker than an in ring guy but you had to get him on the roster somehow. The story for this wasn’t bad but the actual match didn’t hold up.
Bad Influence says they’re the team the women want to be with and the men just want to be. They’re going to run down their challengers tonight and wash it down with a delicious Appletini.
We recap the Tag Team Title three way. It’s basically good team vs. evil team vs. dream team.
Tag Team Titles: Bad Influence vs. Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez vs. Kurt Angle/AJ Styles
These teams have feuded over the titles all summer. Styles and Chavo get things going with Chavo getting two off a shoulder block. AJ takes him into the corner for the tag off to Angle and a nice reaction from the crowd. Kurt hammers away but Daniels tags himself in to take over on AJ. A fast series of tags gives us Hernandez suplexing AJ before Chavo gets two off a slingshot hilo.
Kaz tags himself in but walks into the drop down into the dropkick. Styles brings in Angle who gets driven into the corner, allowing Chavo to come in and work over Kaz in the corner. Chavo brings in Herenadnez for the over the shoulder backbreaker and it’s quickly off to Daniels vs. Styles. Daniels avoids a charge in the corner and Kaz nails a hard clothesline from the apron. Off to Kaz for a slingshot legdrop and a pelvic thrust at Guerrero and Hernandez.
Daniels hiptosses Daniels on AJ for two and we hit a full nelson on the mat. Back up and AJ escapes a monkey flip but avoids a tag from Hernandez and Chavo so he can Pele Kaz down. A double tag brings in Daniels and Angle with Kurt cleaning house. Kaz gets caught in rolling Germans but Daniels climbs his partner for a sunset flip, only to be countered into an ankle lock. Angle misses a charge into the corner but belly to bellies Kaz into Daniels for two.
Chavo and Hernandez are knocked back to the floor so Kaz can hit the slingshot DDT on Angle. Hernandez runs in and knocks Kaz across the ring, only to have AJ knock SuperMex across the ring. Daniels moonsaults out to take out Angle but turns around into a huge dive from Hernandez. AJ isn’t about to be one upped so he fakes a dive onto Guerrero and dives onto Hernandez and Bad Influence for a huge crash. Back in and Chavo tries the Three Amigos on Angle but gets caught in the Angle Slam.
Hernandez breaks up the moonsault and sets for the Border Toss, only to have AJ tag himself in and save his partner. Kurt misses a charge and falls out to the floor, allowing Kaz to slam Styles down. The BME gets two on AJ and Daniels is STUNNED. Chavo dives out to the floor to take Kaz out as AJ escapes Angel’s Wings and nails the moonsault reverse DDT on Daniels. Hernandez tags himself in and drills Daniels with a slingshot shoulder followed by the Border Toss and Frog Splash from Chavo for the pin and the titles.
Rating: B. This was a fun and fast paced three way but unfortunately it would start one of the least interesting title reigns in recorded history. Guerrero and Hernandez were really good in the ring but man alive would they drive things into the ground during their promos. The match was really awesome stuff though with some great spots and saves but it never got to that highest level.
The new champions celebrate post match.
We recap Tara vs. Tessmacher. This is the old mentor vs. mentee story with Tara teaching Tessmacher everything she knew, only to have Tessmacher win the title. Tara couldn’t beat her and got pinned, so she turned heel and set up a rematch. She also has a Hollywood boyfriend who is debuting tonight.
Knockouts Title: Tara vs. Miss Tessmacher
The cast of British Bootcamp, including Rockstar Spud, is in the front row. Taryn Terrell is referee, as she was for every Knockouts match for awhile. They stare each other down to start and Tessmacher gets a few rollups for two each on the challenger. A headscissors puts Tara down again but she comes back with a knee to the ribs and a baseball slide to send Tessmacher out to the floor.
Back in and Tara poses a lot but gets caught in a sunset flip for two. Tara charges into a boot in the corner and gets DDTed for two. Back up and Tessmacher goes nuts with clotheslines followed by a spining clothesline for two. A top rope hurricanrana puts Tara down but she avoids a top rope elbow. The Widow’s Peak gives Tara the title back.
Rating: C-. This was just a step above a standard Knockouts match, meaning it really wasn’t all that good. Like most other Knockouts, Tara can only win so many titles before they just stop meaning anything. At least Tessmacher was a fresh name in the division, but the post match stuff at least validates the new champion.
Tara introduces her Hollywood boyfriend: Jesse from Big Brother. Kissing ensues, accompanied by a big “WHO ARE YOU” chant.
We see Sting’s Hall of Fame induction from last night, making him the first member.
We recap Aces and 8’s vs. Sting/Bully Ray. The bikers have taken over the company and kidnapped Joseph Park. Hulk agreed to a tag match at Bound For Glory in exchange for Park’s release. It’s two TNA guys (Hogan can’t be one) vs. two Aces tonight. If the bikers win, they get full access to the Impact Zone but if they lose, they’re gone. At this point, we still don’t know any members of the group.
Ray volunteered to team with Sting to stand up for TNA, which would wind up being a huge plot point later on. The best part of this whole thing was when the Aces had Hogan in their clubhouse. Hogan agreed to the tag match and said he was one of the guys. The Aces boss: “Hogan, for once in your life this isn’t about you!”
Aces and 8’s vs. Sting/Bully Ray
No DQ and Ray has Sting face paint on. The Aces still have Park with them and he’s now conscious. Keep in mind that Park had figured out who the Aces’ leader was, or at least a lot about them, at this point. That’s also going to be a big plot point later on. It’s a huge brawl to start on the floor with the very big Aces quickly getting beaten down. The Bikers fights back with right hands as the fans are chanting for Hogan.
Ray and Sting double team we’ll say #1 with an elbow to the head and a piece of a table to the same spot. #1 comes back by whipping Ray into the steps and avoids a Stinger Splash against the barricade. They finally get inside with #2 working over Sting with uppercuts and a slam for two. Off to #1 with a clothesline for two as we see Park handcuffed to the barricade.
The bikers start double teaming but Sting no sells a slam and Hulks Up but the Scorpion on #1 is quickly broken up. A Death Drop out of nowhere plants #1 but Sting tags Ray instead of covering. Ray cleans house with elbows and a middle rope shoulder but #1 gets in a knee to the back from the apron. Ray comes right back with a double clothesline to drop the Aces and a splash gets two on #1.
Sting and #2 get in a fight on the floor and #1 brings in a chair. Bully kicks it out of his hands but a third member comes in with a low blow. He spits at Park so Joseph rips the handcuffs off the barricade and hammers away on the third guy. All four of the regular guys are in the ring now and we get a Doomsday Device on #1. There’s a Stinger Splash to #2 and Sting wants the tables. #1 pulls Sting to the floor for a brawl and a fourth Ace comes in for a spinebuster to put Ray through the table, giving #2 the pin.
Rating: C. There was only so much you could do with something like this the bikers were just faceless monsters so the match shouldn’t have been any kind of a wrestling clinic. That being said, Sting can only do so much in the ring so keeping it as a brawl was a good idea. On top of that, this was all about the story instead of the wrestling so they could do almost whatever they wanted out there.
The rest of the team came in for the beatdown until Hogan comes out. Like any villain group worth their salt, they sent attackers at Hogan one at a time so he can punch them all down. Eventually the guy that interfered is left alone with Sting, Ray and Hogan. The masked man is beaten down and Hulk unmasks him to reveal….D-Von, whose contract expired while he was still TV Champion and hasn’t been seen in months. Everyone is stunned that it’s D-Von, who says it was always him.
So yeah, TNA spent four months on this and the first thing we get is D-Von. The response to this was almost universally negative as it felt like a huge letdown. At the end of the day, D-Von is the quieter member of a tag team who won a mostly meaningless TV Title earlier in the year. For him to be the first reveal and in theory the leader of the team, the whole idea sounds laughable. Look at the visual you have: Bully Ray, Sting and HULK HOGAN against D-Von and a bunch of faceless fighters. Why in the world should I care about something like that? Naturally this story went on for another year because….well why not.
As for the two plot points, I think it’s safe to explain these as this show is two years old. First off there’s Park, who found out the identity of at least multiple Aces and 8’s members and maybe even the leader. He was free by the end of the match….AND HE DIDN’T GO TELL HOGAN? Hulk had wanted to talk to Park for weeks and apparently he didn’t say anything immediately?
It gets worse, because to the best of my knowledge, Park NEVER SAID ANYTHING. This brings us to the other plot point. Bully Ray signed up for this match and of course eventually became the leader of Aces and 8’s. They did a good job with the build, but people had it figured out by January or so. Again, that’s not a bad thing though and Ray had raised his game so much that he more than deserved the spot.
Austin Aries says he’s done everything he’s said he would do with confidence but tonight he’s going to do it with anger. He’s defending against Jeff Hardy tonight and had a really weak heel turn like a week before the show to give the match a story.
We recap Aries vs. Hardy, which is all about Jeff Hardy’s redemption after being high on something at Victory Road 2011. Aries said he was tired of being told what to do and now he’s going to be himself. He wanted to know why Hardy got all this special treatment and attacked Jeff on Impact, calling him a failure.
TNA World Title: Jeff Hardy vs. Austin Aries
Aries is defending and parades around with the belt to start. Jeff shoves him into the corner before they hit the mat for some amateur stuff. They’re wrestling like they have a lot of time which usually makes for a good match. Back up and Aries looks annoyed as Hardy takes him into the corner. Jeff hammers away but gets caught in a headlock, only to counter into a headscissors. Aries escapes with a headstand but misses his dropkick.
The second attempt works a bit better though and Hardy is knocked silly. Aries chokes with a boot but goes outside for a victory lap instead of covering. Back in and Aries tells Jeff to wait a minute, earning him a suplex. Austin rolls to the floor and gets nailed with an ax handle to the back to put him down again. Jeff nails Poetry in Motion off the steps to drive Aries into the barricade and we go back inside.
The champ avoids a dropkick and gets two off a middle rope elbow. He hammers away in the corner and stops a quick splash attempt by raising his knees. A backbreaker gets another near fall and Aries puts on an abdominal stretch on the mat. Hardy fights up again as the fans are split on who to cheer for. The brainbuster is countered and Hardy nails the sitout front suplex. Aries takes him back down and gets two more off a slingshot spinning splash.
Jeff blocks the Last Chancery and picks Aries up for a powerbomb, only to drop him backwards for a big crash. A basement dropkick gets two for Hardy and the Whisper in the Wind gets the same. The Twist of Fate is blocked but Jeff kicks Aries to the floor and into the barricade. He avoids a big plancha though, setting up the suicide dive to send Hardy into the barricade again. It works so well that Aries hits it again but Jeff gets up at two.
Austin is busted open after ramming his head into the steel but it only makes him cover Jeff even harder. The Last Chancery goes on now and only lasts a few seconds as usual. Aries takes him to the ramp for a brainbuster but Jeff counters into a Twist of Fate attempt. That goes nowhere either as Aries sends him back inside with a clothesline. He slams Jeff head first onto the edge of the ramp and Hardy looks out of it. A missile dropkick makes things even worse but Jeff blocks the running corner dropkick.
The Twist of Fate out of nowhere gets two and Hardy goes up top, only to get crotched back down. A great looking jumping top rope hurricanrana puts Jeff down again and now the running dropkick connects. The brainbuster is only good for two and Aries is spent. With nothing left to throw, Aries tries a double stomp out of the Tree of Woe but Jeff rolls away. Another Twist and the Swanton give us a new champion.
Rating: A-. This was the kind of wrestling match they needed to close out the show but the angle and match felt tacked on after the previous stuff. Hardy winning the title back is a good story but Aries didn’t need to turn heel. This made him feel like a villain for Hardy to vanquish rather than a champion in a huge showdown. That being said, it’s a really good match with both guys taking everything the other had and surviving. Excellent main event.
Overall Rating: B+. This show holds up a lot better than I expected it to. The wrestling is good and again, the big reveal doesn’t bother me as much without spending all the months on the build. There’s more than enough stuff here to carry it with the street fight, Tag Team Title match and main event all being good to very good matches. As usual, when TNA cuts out the nonsense and just lets its wrestlers wrestle, good things happen. This show worked and I had a good time watching it, which is rare for TNA.
Ratings Comparison
Rob Van Dam vs. Zema Ion
Original: C
Redo: C+
Magnus vs. Samoa Joe
Original: C+
Redo: C-
Bobby Roode vs. James Storm
Original: B+
Redo: B+
Joey Ryan vs. Al Snow
Original: D+
Redo: D
Bad Influence vs. Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez vs. AJ Styles/Kurt Angle
Original: B
Redo: B
Miss Tessmacher vs. Tara
Original: D
Redo: C-
Sting/Bully Ray vs. Aces and 8’s
Original: C
Redo: C
Jeff Hardy vs. Austin Aries
Original: B+
Redo: A-
Overall Rating
Original: B
Redo: B+
Like I said, we’re at the point where not a lot is going to change.
Bound For Glory 2011 (2014 Redo): Score One For The Old Guys!
Bound For Glory 2011
Date: October 16, 2011
Location: Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 3,585
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz
This is kind of the sequel to last year’s show as Hogan and Immortal have spent the year fighting Sting and tonight is TNA’s one chance to get Dixie Carter back in power. The other major change is the introduction of the Bound For Glory Series, a summer long competition where the winner get a World Title shot at Bound For Glory. Bobby Roode won the first Series and is challenging Kurt Angle in the alleged main event. Let’s get to it.
The opening video shows the main event guys getting ready for their matches. We also see clips of Hogan arriving and then turning on Dixie Carter to become the evil monster that he is. Sting wants to turn things around and set TNA right again, which he seems to do every few months. The World Title feud gets a token mention.
The announcers do their intros.
X-Division Title: Austin Aries vs. Brian Kendrick
Aries is defending and beat Kendrick for the title at No Surrender. The fans are entirely behind the champion as they counter each others’ wristlocks to start. Kendrick is sent to the corner and a shoulder puts him on the mat. Back up and Brian tries four headlocks which are countered into four headscissors on the mat. A dropkick puts Aries on the floor and things slow down.
Another dropkick sends Aries into the barricade and there’s a nice plancha. The fans loudly boo as this is one of the capital smark cities of the world. Back in and Aries takes his head off with a clothesline before a slingshot hilo and elbow drop get two. Off to a chinlock for a bit before Aries misses the Pendulum Elbow. Kendrick comes back with a forearm to the face and dropkick followed by an ax handle to the back of the head for two. A gutbuster and STO set up Aries’ Pendulum Elbow for two of his own but the running dropkick is stopped by Kendrick’s boot.
Brian gets two of his own off a tornado DDT and both guys are spent. Aries sends him out to the floor for a fast suicide dive, knocking Kendrick into the barricade. Back in and the running corner dropkick connects but Brian escapes the brainbuster with some knees to the head. A superkick nails Aries but he’s still able to counter Sliced Bread #2. Instead Kendrick goes up another rope and hits a super Sliced Bread #2, but Aries lands next to the ropes. Austin comes back in with the running dropkick and brainbuster to retain.
Rating: C+. Good opener here as Aries was kicking off his awesome run with the title. Beating Kendrick for the second time in a row was the best way to get him off to a good start. Kendrick was more than able to hang in there and Aries had to break a bit of a sweat to retain here.
The Angle daughters are hanging out with Traci Brooks. Karen Jarrett comes in and tells them to go find their dad (meaning Jeff Jarrett) before ripping into Traci for being near them. Karen is going to referee a match tonight and Traci has to stay in the back.
We recap RVD vs. Jerry Lynn. They’re longtime rivals and Jerry is jealous that he doesn’t get the attention that Rob gets. It could have something to do with Rob winning every high profile match between them (except one in ECW that no one remembers).
Jerry Lynn vs. Rob Van Dam
Full Metal Mayhem but you win by pinfall. Feeling out process to start with Rob going after the arm but having to kick out of a rollup attempt. Some clotheslines and a spinning kick drop Jerry but he’s back up with a dropkick to break up Rolling Thunder. More back and forth basics until they botch what looked to be a cross body from Lynn to put both guys on the floor. Instead Van Dam just falls on him before they roll to the floor. That was rather awkward.
Rob is sent into the barricade but misses a moonsault press off the barricade. It’s already ladder time as Rob is favoring his knee. He’s able to pick up a chair but Jerry dropkicks the ladder into his face to keep control. Back in and Rob cross bodies Jerry onto the chair for two before putting the ladder up in the corner. That goes nowhere so he lays the ladder on Jerry for Rolling Thunder and two. Van Dam grabs the chair but Jerry dropkicks it back into his face for two more.
Lynn misses a middle rope legdrop by only hitting the ladder but he’s still able to break up a Van Daminator by throwing the ladder at Rob’s head. A suplex puts Jerry on the ladder and a Lionsault onto Lynn on the ladder gets two. Rob’s rolling monkey flip is countered by a middle rope clothesline as they keep up the idea of knowing each other so well. Lynn rolls outside and finds another ladder but leans it up against the barricade. He escapes a suplex onto the ladder and sunset bombs Rob off the apron and (kind of) onto the ladder for a big crash.
Back in again and Rob is able to kick out at two, giving Lynn even more frustration. Now the Van Daminator connects but Lynn is up at two. With nothing else to do, Rob puts the ladder on top of Jerry in the corner and nails the Van Terminator with a chair to knock Lynn out cold. Rob writhes in pain on the mat for a bit before covering for the pin.
Rating: C. This was entertaining enough but it felt like stuff we’ve seen before. The Van Terminator was a good ending but they never got into that other gear that they were shooting for. Lynn losing makes sense here but it’s the same ending we’ve seen so many times before in this feud. There weren’t even that many near falls.
They hug post match.
Dixie Carter arrived earlier.
Video on Crimson who is undefeated coming in and only lost the BFG Series because of an injury at Samoa Joe’s hands. The same thing happened to Matt Morgan when he went after Joe, so it’s a triple threat tonight.
Crimson vs. Samoa Joe vs. Matt Morgan
Joe gets double teamed as you would expect him to be and Morgan nails the corner elbows. The Samoan comes back with some chops to Morgan and right hands to Crimson before getting caught between the two of them. Crimson gets low bridged to the floor and Joe goes after Morgan’s knee to put him down. All three get inside again but Joe sends his opponents out to the floor, followed by the suicide elbow to take Morgan down.
Crimson and Joe slug it out as Matt gets up top in a hurry to take Crimson down with a cross body. Back in and Crimson slugs it out with Joe again before a high collar suplex gets two on the Samoan. Morgan gets back in and a double shoulder puts Joe down. Now Crimson and Morgan get in a shoving match until Joe low bridges Morgan to the floor. He kicks Crimson in the head and loads up the MuscleBuster until Morgan makes the save. Morgan misses a Carbon Footprint though, allowing Crimson to spear Joe down for the pin.
Rating: D+. This didn’t do anything for me and felt like the triple threat formula to the letter. Crimson winning makes sense, but they could have made him look more dominant. That’s the problem with most of his streak: it felt more like he was surviving instead of beating guys, which takes away from its impact.
Bully Ray says he doesn’t need an introduction but introduces himself anyway. He’s been exploiting this city for fifteen years and has seven cars and five houses because of it. Anderson has no business in a falls count anywhere match with him, so screw Anderson and screw Philadelphia.
Bully Ray vs. Mr. Anderson
Hardcore. Anderson was part of Immortal and won the World Title but was thrown out about a month later. Ray had cost him his rematch and this is about revenge. The brawl starts fast and Anderson gets an early advantage with some shots to the face and a swinging neckbreaker. Ray escapes the rolling fireman’s carry and kicks Anderson in the face before slowly walking around the ring. He loudly chops away in the corner but Anderson kicks him in the side of the head for two.
We get our first weapon as a fan hand Anderson a sign wrapped around a Dead End sign. A beer to the face has Ray in even more trouble and Anderson sends him face first into the barricade. Ray sends him into the steps to come back for two and it’s already table time. They leave the table at ringside and head to the stage for a suplex from Ray. He reaches up and gets Anderson’s mic to announce that he’s from New York City. Like any good villain though he takes too much time and allows Anderson to get in a cheap shot to take over.
They fight to the back with a bloody Ray missing a shot with a pipe. A piledriver on the concrete gets two on Anderson and they fight back into the arena. Anderson gets the better of it and unhooks a piece of the barricade. That takes too long as well though and Ray runs him over with a clothesline. We get another table brought in and set up near the corner, but Ray gets backdropped onto the barricade.
Anderson misses a Swanton and hits the barricade as well, setting up the Bubba Bomb through the table for a very close two. Ray’s middle rope backsplash lands on the barricade (does that EVER hit?) and Anderson gets two more off a mic check onto the steel in a very close near fall. They head outside again where a trashcan shot puts Ray on the table. Now the Swanton connects with Ray but the table doesn’t break, so the fans boo him instead of worrying about a broken neck. The Mic Check through the table gives Anderson the pin.
Rating: B. Better match than the Full Metal Mayhem match here with better high spots which actually connected. Ray is good for a brawl and Anderson can make things look very good as well. They overused the barricade a bit here but it’s better than having ten table spots in a row. Solid brawl here.
Eric Bischoff is in the back with mostly inept referee Jackson James. The big reveal is that James is Bischoff’s son and no one has figured it out until now. Eric warns him that tonight is going to get ugly and Sting is going to be taken out on a stretcher.
The announcers are shocked.
Knockouts Title: Madison Rayne vs. Velvet Sky vs. Winter vs. Mickie James
Winter, a kind of lesbian vampire who might be sleeping with Angelina, is defending. No real story here other than a bunch of qualifying matches put together by Knockouts Boss Karen Jarrett. Karen is refereeing here too. We have tags again here so it’s Mickie vs. Winter to get things going. The champ grabs an armbar to start before James comes out of the corner with a headscissors and neckbreaker for two.
Madison comes in with what looks like a handkerchief to Mickie’s face as Karen keeps screeching. Velvet comes in with some facebusters to Madison but Karen is busy tying her shoe. Everything breaks down for a second as Madison and Winter get in an argument. Karen tells the two of them to go fight Mickie and Velvet so we have a double tag. Mickie suplexes Velvet but Karen won’t tag to reenforce what we already knew.
The girls get frustrated at the refereeing before slugging it out. Winter and Madison trip them to the floor, earning them a beating back inside. The champ cleans house until Mickie comes in to take her out. Jarrett yells even more so Winter sprays her blood in Karen’s eyes. The MickieDT plants Winter as Traci comes out to take over. Velvet hits In Yo Face on Madison for the pin and the title.
Rating: D. This was REALLY annoying as there was almost no structure or flow to it. Most of the match was spent on Karen, meaning the big moment of Velvet finally winning the title barely meant anything. The wrestling didn’t get any focus because the whole thing was about the annoying referee. I understand that was the point back in the day, but it really doesn’t hold up.
Kazarian hopes Daniels and Styles will beat on each other and then shake hands but that doesn’t seem likely.
We recap Styles vs. Daniels. Christopher beat him in a fluke when AJ tripped on the ropes and then bragged about it for months. This triggered a heel turn so tonight it’s an I Quit match. Most of the talk here is about their history rather than the match here.
AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels
I Quit. Styles takes him down and hammers away before Daniels does the same with an STO. AJ won’t say it so he nails Daniels in the head with the mic for the same result. Off to an Indian deathlock with a chinlock but Daniels bites the hand to escape. Back up and the drop down into the dropkick puts Daniels down on the floor and AJ follows him out with a big dive.
Christopher tries to crawl under the ring but gets dragged out with a toolbox. AJ avoids a wrench that is launched at his head but then has to avoid being stabbed with a screwdriver. The screwdriver gets stabbed into the turnbuckle before they head to the apron to trade forearms. Daniels grabs AJ for a Blue Thunder Bomb onto the apron but AJ still won’t quit. Back in and Daniels chokes away before hitting the BME onto AJ’s back. Daniels stays on the back with a half crab but AJ makes the ropes.
Back up and Daniels nails a backbreaker to stop AJ’s comeback. With Styles bleeding a bit from the forehead, Daniels opens a chair across AJ’s throat and sits down on it to talk some trash. He says he’s going to get everything that has been handed to AJ in TNA and will tell AJ’s wife that Styles’ last words were he loved her. Daniels gets up and tells AJ’s wife to take the kids out of the room while he murders Styles.
AJ gets to his feet and avoids a charge in the corner. The moosault into the reverse DDT plants Christopher and there’s the Pele followed by the springboard forearm. Back up and Daniels plants him with the release Rock Bottom, only to miss the BME. He shouts DIE AJ but charges into the Pele and Styles Clash. Now it’s time for a chair but AJ picks up the screwdriver instead, making Daniels quit to avoid pain ala JBL at Judgment Day 2005.
Rating: B-. Good brawl with a lame ending. The problem with something like a screwdriver is the same as it was with Janice last year: you can only tease it so far before you have to stop things. These two are always worth a watch but I think the fans were starting to get sick of the combination. It would get even worse in 2012.
AJ leaves after a highlight package but Daniels lays him out with Angel’s Wings on the ramp, because this feud MUST CONTINUE!
Here’s a ticked off Jeff Jarrett with something to say. He’s feuding with Jeff Hardy and has told him not to show up here tonight, but there are rumors that Hardy has been seen in the city. No one here wants anything to do with Hardy and the Jarretts took a poll of fans earlier today to prove it. He wants Hardy out here right now for the beating he deserves.
Cue Hardy who is still being forgiven for the mess at Victory Road 2011. Hardy says he has one thing to say to Jarrett and the fight is on. Security quickly comes out to break it up but they keep going after each other. Agents can’t break it up either but they finally get Jarrett out of the ring.
Long recap of the Hogan vs. Sting feud. This covers Hogan debuting, Sting accusing Hogan of screwing over the company and being right, and the last year of Hogan and Bischoff running roughshod over the company. Sting went after Hogan for months and Hogan finally agreed to put up the company against Sting’s career. Two notes here: first, this story made Dixie Carter a regular thing on TNA TV. Second, Sting spent 2010 saying the real Hogan would screw over TNA. Then he spent 2011 saying the real Hogan was a good guy.
Hulk Hogan vs. Sting
Bischoff’s son is referee. Sting is insane here and wears a Hulkamania shirt to the ring. Hulk is in street clothes. The bell rings and here comes Flair as we keep looking at Dixie Carter in the front row. Sting grabs a headlock to start but Hogan shoves him away and Hulks Up. That gets Hogan a crotch chop so Hulk punches him down and puts on a chinlock. Sting gets sent outside but is quickly back inside to have his back and eyes raked.
Hogan throws him outside for low blows and chops from Flair before Hulk starts biting at Sting’s forehead. The beating goes on for awhile until they head back inside where Flair slips Hogan a foreign object. The shots bust Sting open but Sting comes back with right hands. He stops the beating and goes after Flair, stealing the foreign object to cut Hogan open as well. A pair of Stinger Splashes set up the Scorpion Deathlock and Hogan gives up, forcing referee Jackson James to call for the bell.
Rating: D+. This one would fall under the category of “what else were you expecting?” At the end of the day, TNA basically exists to make Sting look good so this really shouldn’t be a surprise. Someone young probably should have gotten the rub from Hogan, but Sting clearly needed this spot instead right?
Immortal comes out to destroy Sting with chairs as Abyss is shown watching from behind the curtain. Jackson James takes one of them away, turning face about an hour and fifteen minutes after he turned heel. Bischoff hits him with a chair, starting the most unwanted face push in the history of ever.
Sting crawls over to Hogan and begs for help, because if there’s one thing more important than making Sting look good, it’s making Hogan look good. Hogan makes the big face turn and helps Sting clean house, because two bloody guys in their 50s beating up about seven guys armed with chairs makes perfect sense. Posing ensues and of course the old WWF crowd eats it up. It’s a cool segment for the moment, but this was basically all about Hogan and Sting instead of doing anything for TNA long term.
We recap Angle vs. Roode, which is all about Roode’s road to the title. Roode talks about sacrificing everything to become champion and Angle says Roode isn’t ready. Bobby has been facing his Fourtune teammates to make sure he’s ready and has never been more polished. It’s a good idea but the lack of making it personal hurts it.
TNA World Title: Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode
Alleged main event. We don’t even get big match intros for this one. Roode quickly takes him down for the Crossface but Angle bails to the floor, showing off a heavily taped thigh. Back in and Angle drives a series of knees and shoulders into the ribs for two. Angle rolls a few Germans and goes up for the moonsault, only to have Roode run the ropes and German Kurt from the top.
Roode wins a slugout and scores with a running clothesline before getting two off a Blockbuster. He goes up again but Angle runs the ropes as well and superplexes Roode down. Bobby snaps on the Crossface though and Kurt is suddenly in trouble. Angle reverses into the ankle lock but Roode rolls him into the Crossface. He stops Kurt’s second escape attempt but the third is countered into the Angle Slam for two. Back to the ankle lock but Roode kicks away and nails the spinebuster.
A fisherman’s suplex gets a VERY close two on Angle and a rollup gets the same. Angle Slam is countered but Kurt moves the referee around for a low blow. The second Angle Slam connects for two and it’s time to roll more Germans. Roode reverses another into the Crossface but Angle makes a rope.
Kurt comes back with a spear to stay on the ribs for two. He goes up but dives into the Crossface again. They counter each other’s finishers until Angle nails yet another Slam and grabs the rope for the pin. The rope really didn’t matter as Roode wasn’t even trying to kick out at the end, though his arm looked to be under the rope.
Rating: B-. If there is a dumber ending to a main event on a major show, I can’t think of it off the top of my head. This was entirely set up to be the biggest moment of Roode’s career and then they have him get pinned like that? It completely deflated the crowd and makes the whole thing feel like a waste of time.
However this show has an interesting perspective because of the time that has passed. What we didn’t know here was that Kurt was actually hurt (and made worse in this match) and had to take time off. Therefore, later in the week, Angle dropped the title to James Storm in about 90 seconds on Impact. Storm, WHO WASN’T EVEN ON THIS SHOW, would then drop the belt to Roode two weeks later when Roode turned heel, despite losing the biggest match of his career just a few weeks earlier.
This is a case of TNA trying to shock the crowd and screwing up huge in the process. More than maybe anything else, TNA has issues with making its own stars. Roode was primed and ready to become the breakout star here, but instead it’s Angle getting yet ANOTHER accolade and win that he doesn’t need before before he takes two months off. Sometimes you need to go with Austin at Wrestlemania XIV and do the obvious ending instead of doing something surprising to set up something new. TNA has yet to get this idea.
Angle is helped out to end the show.
Overall Rating: C+. Score one for the old guys! That’s what this show felt like: revenge of the veterans and screw everyone else on the roster. There’s enough good stuff here to watch but it really drives me crazy to see TNA screw stuff up for the sake of pushing guys like Sting, Angle and Hogan AGAIN. You have an incredibly talented roster but these major shows are here to give the old guys another thrill instead of building up someone new. That’s one of TNA’s biggest problems over the years: they don’t look to the future and it’s held them down forever.
There’s good stuff on the show though as nothing is really bad and most of the things are more than worth watching. The time actually helps in a way here as the show doesn’t feel deflating as I don’t have any build to make me care about the matches. As a stand alone show it’s entertaining, but the emotion is what carries a show to higher levels. Live it was a great show with a bad ending. Three years later it’s a pretty good show with an ending that makes you shake your head and say “they did it again.”
Ratings Comparison
Austin Aries vs. Brian Kendrick
Original: B-
Redo: C+
Jerry Lynn vs. Rob Van Dam
Original: B
Redo: C
Samoa Joe vs. Crimson vs. Matt Morgan
Original: C
Redo: D+
Bully Ray vs. Mr. Anderson
Original: C+
Redo: B
Mickie James vs. Madison Rayne vs. Velvet Sky vs. Winter
Original: D+
Redo: D
Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles
Original: C
Redo: B-
Hulk Hogan vs. Sting
Original: D+
Redo: D+
Bobby Roode vs. Kurt Angle
Original: C
Redo: B-
Overall Rating
Original: B+
Redo: C+
I’m not sure what I was thinking on the original. It’s not that good.
Impact Wrestling Date: October 8, 2014 Location: Sands Bethlehem Events Center, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz
It’s the go home show for Bound For Glory, meaning we’re going to be told the same things we’ve been told for three months now: it’s in Tokyo and they’ve never been there before. As for your regular TV show, it’s Team 3D vs. the Hardys vs. the Wolves for the Tag Team Titles in a Full Metal Mayhem match. That has the potential to be one of the more entertaining matches we’ve seen in a long time on this show and probably better than all of Sunday’s show put together. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of the Tag Team Title series and Roode vs. Lashley.
Roode comes out early and says he wanted to get out here fast to get this off his chest. He knows he can beat Lashley if he gets one more match and he didn’t hear Lashley say no. Roode calls out Lashley for the challenge but gets MVP and King instead. MVP talks about how everyone that has gotten their shot at Lashley has gone down. That list would include Roode so he gets no shot. They’re about to leave but Roode asks them how the drive to the arena went tonight.
Roode wants to know which one drove Lashley’s car and which one fed him grapes in the back seat. He goes on about how the two of them are just lackeys and he won’t be one of those ever again. Roode will do anything else to get that shot and he means anything. MVP has an idea: if Roode can beat the two of them in one match, he’ll get his title shot. If he loses though, he never gets a shot again. That’s cool with Roode and the match is on.
We recap Havok taking the Knockouts Title from Gail Kim last week.
We actually get four matches announced for Bound For Glory: Team 3D vs. Abyss/Tommy Dreamer, Havok vs. Velvet Sky for the Knockouts Title, Samoa Joe vs. Kaz Hayashi vs. Low Ki for the X-Division Title and Sanada/James Storm vs. Tajiri/Great Muta. I don’t think we’re going to hear anything else later on.
Angelina Love vs. Madison Rayne vs. Taryn Terrell
Winner gets a title shot at some point in the future. It’s a brawl to start with all three going at it until Angelina gets double teamed. Taryn and Madison trade rollups for two each as the fans don’t seem all that interested in the near falls. Angelina throws Madison to the floor and hits a jawbreaker for two on Terrell. Love goes shoulder first into the post and gets caught by a neckbreaker for two. A middle rope clothesline drops Madison before Taryn goes up for a high cross body to take down both other girls. Back up and Madison grabs a quick rollup and a handful of tights for the pin on Taryn at 4:10.
Rating: D+. This was every multi-Knockouts match you’ve ever seen and the formula is getting old. All you get is some heel champion and then a three or four way match for the title shot. There’s no personal issue between the girls and no reason to see them fight each other besides winning a match here or there. Mix it up a bit already.
Havok comes out post match and destroys Terrell as Madison runs.
Lashley doesn’t sound thrilled with the deal MVP made with Roode.
We recap Sanada turning to James Storm and attacking Muta back in New York.
Low Ki/Tigre Uno vs. Great Sanada/James Storm
Here’s your Bound For Glory build. Sanada takes Ki down to start but gets kicked in the chest for two. Off to Tigre who kicks Sanada down as well and grabs a rollup for two of his own. Storm gets in a cheap shot and comes in without a tag to work on Tigre’s back. Sanada comes back in for a chinlock until Tigre pops up and nails a dropkick.
A double tag brings in Low Ki to face Storm and it’s kicking a go-go. Ki double stomps him for two but Manik offers a distraction, allowing Storm to hit a Backstabber for two. Uno makes a blind tag and gets launched into a hurricanrana on Storm for two. Everything breaks down and Sanada mists Tigre, setting up the Last Call for the pin at 6:20.
Rating: C+. This was a pretty solid little match but man alive I can’t wait to get done with Bound For Glory so TNA can stop acting like going to Japan is the most amazing thing in the history of wrestling. The show is just a huge step away from everything they’ve been doing for the last few months and feels far more like a Wrestle-1 show instead of TNA’s biggest event of the year.
Gunner asks Shaw if he’s ready for his match with Bram tonight. Shaw takes his shirt off and shows Gunner the tattoos he got to look like Gunner. Gunner asks why Shaw can’t just be himself and Shaw asks why Gunner won’t be more supportive.
Bram vs. Samuel Shaw
No DQ. Shaw nails him with a trashcan lid to start and dropkicks a trashcan into his face to take over. A chair is wedged between the top and middle rope but Bram avoids being whipped into the steel. They head back outside with Shaw still in control by nailing Bram with a chair over and over.
Back in and Bram gets in a Singapore cane shot to the head but Shaw counters a superplex attempt onto steel chairs into a sunset bomb onto the steel instead. Shaw loads up the choke but gets elbowed in the face and sent into the chair wedged in the corner. A shot to the head with the steel rod is enough to give Bram the pin at 5:17.
Rating: D+. This is one of those stories that isn’t going anywhere and isn’t doing anything for Gunner or Shaw. They’re trying something with being obsessed with various people but Shaw just isn’t an interesting character no matter what they do with him. Bram has something to him but he needs to do stuff besides hardcore.
Brittany comes out to check on Shaw post match.
Roode is ready for his handicap match.
The Wolves and Team 3D yell at each other about who is greater.
Bobby Roode vs. MVP/Kenny King
King and MVP don’t get entrances, which is a common problem tonight. Roode has to beat both guys to get the win. MVP gives Roode one more chance to leave but Roode punches King in the face instead. The double teaming starts early and King gets two off a spinwheel kick. We actually hear about three interpromotional matches featuring MVP, Manik and EC3 facing three Wrestle-1 guys whose names are sped by very quickly.
Roode gets sent to the floor and MVP steps on Roode’s lower back. They head back in where King hits MVP by mistake to give Roode an opening. He backdrops King to the floor but gets kicked in the face by MVP. A fisherman’s suplex gets two but MVP misses the Drive By and gets rolled up for the pin at 5:24. So it’s Roode vs. King now but MVP offers a cheap shot so King can hit a quick suplex for two. Roode nails a few clotheslines to come back though and the Blockbuster puts King down again. King sends him face first into the buckle but springboards into the Roode Bomb for….nothing as Lashley comes in for the DQ at 7:40.
Rating: D+. This was ok at best as the ending wasn’t really a big surprise. They weren’t about to get rid of Roode as a World Title contender, as I’m sure TNA would never go back on its word for a stipulation. The match wasn’t bad as soon as MVP was gone, the ending wasn’t really in doubt.
Tenay makes a point to say that Roode had to pin or submit both guys to win. That at least makes Lashley look a bit less stupid. Lashley spears Roode down after the match.
EC3 says Spud has one more chance to apologize.
Here’s Ethan Carter to talk about being undefeated for a year in TNA and says he has victory after victory after victory (x15). History is written by the winners and this novel is written by Ethan Carter III. He demands Spud get out here right now for his apology. Spud says they’re best friends and that he knows Ethan better than everyone else. She knows Ethan’s favorite color is green because he likes money, that he likes his hotel rooms at 71 degrees and that the fans chanting YOU CAN’T WRESTLE gets on his nerves.
Spud does Ethan’s responses to the chants for him but Ethan cuts him off. He brings up Spud fainting when it was time to protect Dixie and calls Spud a loser just like everyone else in this audience. Spud finally mans up and says he’s a Rockstar and not a loser. Carter shoves him down and slaps Spud a few times until Spud finally fights back with a slap of his own. Carter smiles at him and says Spud has heart, which is what makes this so much sweeter. He fires Spud and let’s get away from this as fast as we can. The jumping from one segment to another is WAY too fast tonight.
Another video on the Tag Team Title Series.
We run down the PPV card again.
The Trio is pleased when Angle comes in to yell at them. Roode is going to get another #1 contenders match next week and MVP is banned from ringside.
Tag Team Titles: Hardys vs. Team 3D vs. Wolves
The Wolves are defending and this is Full Metal Mayhem, meaning TLC. Richards has a somewhat bad leg coming into this but he seems to be fine. It’s a big brawl to start of course with Matt hitting what looked like the Side Effect to Eddie on the apron. Bully hammers on Jeff on the floor as weapons are being sets up on the floor. Matt goes for a climb but Ray comes in for a save with a Rock Bottom.
Davey breaks up Ray’s attempt and DDTs him, only to have D-Von nail Richards a second later. Matt gets enziguried into a German suplex onto a pair of open chairs. Eddie throws Jeff into the air and Ray catches him in a Cutter for a 3D. They chop it out but Matt is back up to take both guys down. We get the Tower of Doom with Ray electric chairing Matt who superplexes Edwards. D-Von bridges a piece of barricade between the apron and some overturned steps but Davey headbutts him onto the barricade.
Ray saves his partner from a dive and powerbombs Richards down, only to miss a middle rope backsplash. He comes right back with another powerbomb to send Richards onto the barricade, giving Richards one of the most shocked looks I’ve ever seen. Back with Jeff taking a ladder to the face and D-Von cleans house with a chair.
Richards comes back with a chair of his own but this time it’s Jeff popping up to take over. The Whisper in the Wind and Swanton have Ray in trouble but he pops right back up for a brawl with Jeff on the floor. The Twisting Stunner has Ray in trouble and Jeff brings out another table. He bridges it between the turned over steps and the apron with the legs up. Jeff misses the legdrop though and crashes through the table, leaving him in a huge heap on the floor.
Back in and Ray goes up, only to have Edwards set up a ladder of his own next to it. Bully kicks him down but Matt comes in with a ladder of his own. All three go up and slug it out with Edwards getting slammed off the top. Mat and Ray grab for the belts but send them swinging around before knocking each other off with Matt flying into a ladder.
Davey and Matt slug it out with Hardy getting the better of it and bringing in another table. Everyone heads outside again with Matt climbing about halfway up a huge ladder to legdrop Davey through a table. Richards has taken one heck of a beating here. D-Von cleans house with the ladder and brings in the big ladder to make thing even more fun. Team 3D loads up What’s Up but Edwards shoves D-Von to the floor.
Davey goes up the big ladder but gets shoved onto the floor and head first into the barricade. The Hardys make another save with chairs and put Ray on two tables. Jeff goes up top of the big ladder but Davey shoves it over, sending Hardy into a HUGE splash onto Ray for a horrible looking crash. Davey and Matt slug it out on top of the ladder but Edwards makes a save and powerbombs Matt through a table, allowing Davey to take down the belts for the win at 23:52.
Rating: A. I came into this show thinking this match wasn’t going to be able to live up to its hype and they got me. This was an AWESOME match with a ton of high spots and some insane looking bumps. The fact that they didn’t save this for Bound For Glory shows you just how much they don’t care about that show this year. Excellent match and one of the best things TNA has done in years.
Overall Rating: C. The main event helped this show a lot but it felt like we’re being dragged onto some side trip to Tokyo. The fact that none of the matches were mentioned until four days before the show should tell you all you need to know about Bound For Glory this year. Lashley, Hardy, Aries and Roode aren’t on the show but we’re supposed to pay full price for the show?
That’s one of the more annoying things about TNA at the moment: their main stories aren’t bad but we have to pull off to the side for a meaningless pay per view. The Full Metal Mayhem match was really entertaining in a car crash way, but that’s exactly what it was supposed to be. That being said, where is the tag division supposed to go now other than making more makeshift tag teams? Decent show, but we can’t really get anywhere until we’re back from Japan.
Results
Madison Rayne b. Taryn Terrell and Angelina Love – Rollup with a handful of tights
James Storm/Great Sanada b. Tigre Uno/Low Ki – Last Call to Uno
Bram b. Samuel Shaw – Steel rod to the head
Bobby Roode b. MVP/Kenny King via DQ when Bobby Lashley interfered
Wolves b. Hardys and Team 3D – Richards pulled down the belts
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Impact Wrestling – October 1, 2014: Turn Out The Lights Cause The Party’s Over
Impact Wrestling Date: October 1, 2014
Location: Sands Bethlehem Events Center, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz
We’re closing in on….whatever TNA builds to anymore. The main stories at the moment are the Wolves choosing the stipulations for the final match in the Tag Team Title series and Austin Aries having a match against any champion he chooses. In theory he’ll pick the World Title but stranger things have happened in wrestling. Let’s get to it.
We open with a video on Roode vs. Lashley from a few weeks back where Lashley retained the belt.
Roode arrived earlier today and says he didn’t get the job done. It’s been a hard fourteen days but he’s back tonight.
Here’s Austin Aries to open things up. He’s going to get right to the chase and challenge his champion for a title match tonight. As soon as he won he knew who he wanted to face, but let’s make this interactive. Aries polls the fans on his potential opponent. They’re not wild on him facing Gail Kim, a bit better on the idea him facing the Wolves, about the same on Samoa Joe…..and we don’t get the last option as Joe cuts him off.
Joe says if Aries is going to fight anyone tonight, it’s going to be him. Aries isn’t sure what to think about this so he runs down his resume. He thinks the fans are interested in seeing Aries vs. Joe and that’s cool because the X-Division is everything that’s right about wrestling. It’s about the abilities inside these ropes, so let’s do it.
X-Division Title: Samoa Joe vs. Austin Aries
Feeling out process to start as the lights are overly dim, likely hiding the empty seats. Joe takes him to the mat to start but Aries pops up for a slugout. Joe growls at him and runs Aries over with an elbow. The champ sends him into the buckle and nails the enziguri before setting Aries on the top rope. The MuscleBuster is countered with a back rake but Aries misses the middle rope dropkick. Aries comes back with a forearm to the back of the head and a slingshot hilo for two as we take an early break.
Back with Aries’ suicide dive being blocked by a kick to the head. Joe drives knees into the head and snaps off a powerslam for two. The standing choke has Aries in trouble but he fighs out with a jawbreaker for two more. There’s the Last Chancery for a few seconds before Aries tries the Brainbuster.
Joe is just too fat though so Aries nails him with a discus forearm. Another brainbuster attempt is countered by a boot to the chest to send Aries outside, but he slides back in for a quick suicide dive to take Joe down. Back in and Aries hits a missile dropkick and the running corner dropkick to set up a bad brainbuster for two. He tries another Last Chancery but Joe counters into the Clutch for the submission at 15:23.
Rating: B. Good hard hitting match here with a good wrestling move for the ending. Aries seems to have wasted his title shot but at least we got a good match out of it. Joe is beating a lot of guys and has become a strong X-Division Champion, but there really isn’t anywhere for him to go, which is the problem with the lack of a division.
Spud talks to EC3 in the back and says they haven’t hung out in weeks despite being best friends. EC3 says Spud has failed him and now can just follows him to the ring.
We look at the ladder match in the Tag Team Title series from two weeks ago.
The Wolves are in the back and have told Angle their stipulation for the third match but he won’t say what it is.
Here are Spud and EC3 with Spud having to kneel and hand him a microphone. Spud agrees that he’s Ethan’s best friend, but Ethan says their relationship is employer/employee. There’s no world in which they’re friends because Spud spends his time reading comic books and watching wrestling. The people here aren’t with Spud and Carter rips on Spud’s haircut. Spud: “I wanted it to look like your’s sir.” Ethan tears up Spud’s suit and blames him for what happened to Dixie. He tells Spud to cry and then slaps him, but Spud can’t bring himself to fight.
Cue Eric Young for a save and what would be considered a big reaction for a crowd this small. Eric says he’s the reason for what happened to Dixie but Eric asks him to leave. Young tells Spud to listen to the fans because Ethan is going to keep doing this until Spud stands up and hits him. Carter nails Young and stomps away in the corner as Spud bails to the floor. A referee comes in and we’ve got a bell.
Eric Young vs. Ethan Carter III
Young gets backdropped to the apron for his strut but comes back in with a dropkick for two. A clothesline puts Ethan on the floor for a plancha and a Thesz Press takes Carter down back inside. Carter comes back with a snap suplex for two but Spud can’t bring himself to get in a cheap shot from the floor. Young gets caught in a chinlock but he finally escapes with a belly to back suplex. A forearm and clothesline put Ethan down and the top rope elbow gets two. Eric loads up the piledriver but Spud gets on the apron, allowing Carter to nail a low blow. The 1%er gives Ethan the pin at 5:45.
Rating: C-. Not much to see here as it was more about Spud being abused than anything else. Carter has the potential to be a huge deal for TNA but he doesn’t really have much to do at this point. Spud’s face turn is coming soon but I’m not sure where they can go with him after that. His size will kill him but he could be good for a few matches here or there.
Mr. Anderson thanks Chris Melendez for everything he’s done. The trio sees a weakness in Melendez but they’re going to stand up to him.
We recap Gail Kim going after the recently debuted monster Havok. She’s destroyed everything in sight and beat up Kim a few times already.
Knockouts Title: Gail Kim vs. Havok
Gail is defending and Havok jumps her from behind on the way to the ring. The champ comes back with some forearms to the face but Havok just rams her back first into the apron. Havok sends her face first into the post and we haven’t even had a bell yet. She gets sent into the steps before they keep brawling on the floor. Havok rams Gail shoulder first into the post and puts on a hammerlock spinebuster on the floor. The trainer comes out to check on Gail as Havok leaves. No match.
Quick recap of the Tag Team Title Series.
Here are the Wolves to talk about being behind the entire series but always overcoming the odds. Now they’re in control though and the last match is going to be…..interrupted by Team 3D. Ray does the usual sucking up to the Wolves but says they’re really not that great. They may be the World Tag Team Champions but they’ll never be Team 3D. The Wolves aren’t going to pick the last match in this series, but before Team 3D can make the pick, here are the Hardys to interrupt.
The Hardys talk about how awesome they are and say the Wolves should step aside and let the legends make these decisions. Matt says no one is going to talk about the Wolves in twenty years but Davey cuts them off and says they’ve beaten both teams. They’ll win again too because their time is now. The brawl is on and we get tables, ladders and chairs brought in but Angle comes out to stop the brawl. The Wolves have to make their decision right now and of course it’s Full Metal Mayhem. It’s close enough to the TLC match the fans were wanting.
Anderson and Melendez find MVP and Kenny King in the back and a match is made for later.
Gail has a separated shoulder but says she’s wrestling tonight anyway.
Manik vs. Shark Boy
Seriously. Shark Boy hammers away to start and sends Manik out to the floor with a shot to the face. Some clotheslines do the same and a backdrop sends Manik flying. Back in and Manik grabs some suplexes for two and a knee drop gets the same. A Frog Splash is enough to pin Shark Boy at 3:10.
Rating: D. This didn’t have time to go anywhere but it’s good to see Manik look good in his first match under the new gimmick. Storm has something going for him with this idea but I have a bad feeling a lot of his heat is going away for the sake of putting Great Muta over at Bound For Glory. Shark Boy looked WAY out of shape.
Team 3D thinks the Wolves are crazy for picking Full Metal Mayhem.
Mr. Anderson vs. MVP
Feeling out process to start until Anderson takes him into the corner for a chop and clothesline. MVP sends him out to the floor, causing Melendez and King to stare each other down. Back inside with MVP throwing Anderson across the ring for two before cranking on the arm. Anderson avoids a knee drop and grabs the rolling fireman’s carry for two. He loads up the Mic Check but King offers a distraction. Melendez takes care of him but MVP grabs a rollup for the pin at 5:40.
Rating: D+. Not bad for the most part here but it was much more about setting up something down the line. Melendez is getting a nice push to start but I’m not sure if there’s enough skill for him to be able to sustain it. Anderson and MVP don’t have anything to do so it’s better than nothing for them.
Here’s Bobby Roode to talk about being the longest reigning TNA World Champion ever. He brings that up a lot because it means so much to him. You’re only as good as your last match though and his last match was a losing effort against Lashley. This brings out the champion and the rest of the Trio but Roode won’t let him say anything.
Roode talks about coming so close to winning the title but there’s one moment that stood out: kicking out of the spear at two. It gave Lashley a look that he’s never had before because Lashley has never been terrified before. That look made Roode believe he could beat him so Bobby wants one more match. Lashley looks like he’s about to say yes but MVP says no for him.
Knockouts Title: Havok vs. Gail Kim
Gail is defending and says bring it on. Havok charges to the rings and the fight starts in the aisle. The champ hammers away but gets dropped face first on the mat. An armbar makes Gail scream and a shoulder breaker on the good shoulder gets two. The Rings of Saturn go on but Gail still won’t quit. Instead she rolls over a bit and knees Havok in the face, only to have the arm rammed into the mat. Gail sends her into the corner and actually outs on a Figure Four around the post. Back in and a high cross body gets two but Eat Defeat is countered into another hammerlock slam. A chokeslam gives Havok the title at 5:00.
Rating: C. This is a hard one to grade as they only had one idea to go with but that was kind of the point of the match. Havok is fine for a monster that can own the division for awhile in the vein of Awesome Kong until someone can rise up to beat her. Nothing great here but it served its purpose.
Overall Rating: C-. The opening match does a lot of good for this show but there’s just nothing there for the rest of it. With Bound For Glory being basically a non-existent show, there’s nothing for these shows to build towards other than the next TV show. That’s actually something you don’t get anymore outside of NXT, but there’s so much uninteresting stuff filling in the rest of the show that it drags things back down. It’s not bad but TNA can’t get to the new year and some fresh stuff fast enough.
Results
Samoa Joe b. Austin Aries – Koquina Clutch
Ethan Carter III b. Eric Young – 1%er
Manik b. Shark Boy – Frog Splash
MVP b. Mr. Anderson – Rollup
Havok b. Gail Kim – Chokeslam
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at: