Shiima Xion: From A To DJZ
Date: 2015
Commentators: Joe Dombrowski, Various
Host: Joe Dombrowski

So this is a rather random DVD I got in a grab bag sale a good while ago and I can see why I haven’t wanted to jump into it. What we have here is a look at the Pro Wrestling Ohio/Prime Wrestling career of Shimma Xion, who would go on to be Zema Ion/DJZ in Impact and Joaquin Wilde in NXT/WWE. I’m really not sure that warrants a DVD but I’ve been surprised before. Let’s get to it.

Joe Dombrowski narrates an opening, which is mainly an intro to the first match.

There’s no date given for this but I believe it’s from Pro Wrestling Ohio TV in Lakewood, Ohio on December 15, 2007.

Morty Rackem/Shiima Xion vs. V-Squared

Hobo Joe is with Rackem and Xion while V-Squared is Virus/Virus Grande. V-Squared jump them to start and are quickly knocked outside. Stereo dives take out V-Squared again as we hear about Rackem’s pirate enthusiasm. We settle down to Xion kicking Grande in the face and headscissoring him into Virus. Rackem comes in for a double elbow and a monkey flip out of the corner as this is one sided so far.

It’s back to Xion for two off a dropkick but Grande manages a quick suplex for the tag to Virus. A quickly broken Muta Lock has Xion In more trouble and Grande comes back in for a basement dropkick between the shoulders. Xion fights up and hits a reverse DDT to drop Virus, allowing the hot tag off to Rackem for the house cleaning. Everything breaks down and Rackem grabs some near falls but Grande hits a half nelson backbreaker. Xion gets in a tornado DDT though and Rackem rolls up Virus for the pin at 7:39.

Rating: C. If there was a story behind this one, I wasn’t exactly seeing it. Instead we had a pretty run of the mill match with Rackem and Xion flying around while V-Squared were generic villains. I’m not sure how much this was for a Xion showcase but it shows him early in his career, even if he didn’t do much here.

From January 24, 2010 in Niles, Ohio at a Pro Wrestling Ohio/Championship Wrestling Extreme joint show.

CWE Undisputed Title: Michael Facade vs. Hallowicked vs. Jigsaw vs. Shiima Xion

Facade (The Suburban Terrorist) is defending and this is one fall to a finish. Xion and Jigsaw start things off as apparently this has tags. They go to the mat to start with Xion’s headlocks not getting him very far early on. Xion works on the arm but Jigsaw is right back up as they’re still firmly in the “let’s flip around and not do much” gear. Facade comes in for a high crossbody on Jigsaw before Facade and Xion hit stereo running dives to the other two.

Back in and Facade kicks Hallowicked in the face but Jigsaw drops Facade with a clothesline. Hallowicked takes over on Facade before handing it back to Jigsaw as this has turned into something of a tag match. We hit the chinlock on Facade for a bit, followed by wheelbarrow into a gutbuster to give Hallowicked two. As expected, Jigsaw and Hallowicked get in an argument over the cover as commentary reminds us that Xion is in fact in this match. facade grabs a double DDT to escape and it’s back to Xion.

Everything breaks down and the villains are sent outside, leaving Facade to suplex Xion for two. Jigsaw rolls Hallowicked up for two but Facade takes them both down. A running STO gives facade two on Xion but Jigsaw tries to superkick Hallowicked. With that broken up, Xion superkicks Jigsaw into a German suplex, allowing Facade to get two off a rollup. Facade finally grabs la majistral to pin Hallowicked and retain at 11:39.

Rating: B-. It got better near the end as everyone just started doing stuff and Facade won. Sure it’s cliched, but I’ll take it over a pretty dull tag match. Facade always feels a little bit different than most stars and he did it again here. The villains did their thing well enough, but this really felt like a tag match over a four way. Much like the opener though, you would have almost no idea that this was on a Xion DVD as he was the least important of all four involved.

Xion is now rather heelish and brags about his Filipino looks and physique, complete with hairspray. He’s coming to us from “the finest sweatshops, straight out of Manila.” Obey the spray.

From Pro Wrestling Ohio TV, possibly sometime in mid-2011.

Shiima Xion vs. Ben Fruith

Fruith seems to be quite the nerd. Xion applies some hairspray and they fight over wrist control to start. Fruith is sent into the corner but avoids a charge and comes out with an armdrag into an armbar. Back up Fruith has to slip out of a bell to back suplex and gets a rollup (yes, it’s called the Fruith Rollup) for two. Not that it matters as Xion pulls him into a crossface for the tap at 3:47.

Rating: C. This was at least something of a showcase for Xion, which is what this has been needing so far. Fruith was little more than a guy who seems to be a bit out there and having Xion squash him made more sense. There wasn’t much to the match, but at least it was about Xion this time. This was also a much more interesting Xion, who was showing some more personality and charisma.

Post match Xion hair sprays Fruith’s eyes.

No date given on this one,

Shiima Xion vs. Michael Facade

Xion bails to the floor to start before coming back in for Facade to crank on his arm. Xion reverses that into a headlock takeover but Facade is right back up with a dropkick into the corner. The armdrag into an armbar has Facade in control, only to have Xion fight up and hit a dropkick. A middle rope moonsault gives Xion two and we hit the chinlock.

Back up and Facade misses a charge and falls out to the floor but comes back in with a rope walk dropkick. Back in and the Arabian moonsault hits Xion’s raised knees, meaning Xion can grab the crossface. Facade rolls out for the escape and grabs a rollup for the quick pin at 8:17.

Rating: C+. Facade is someone who can move around in a different way than a lot of people and it makes him easy to watch. That was the case in the four way earlier and it’s the same thing here. What’s also the same thing here is Xion not having much success, as this continues to be one of the stranger DVDs I’ve ever seen.

Post match Xion hits him with the can of hair spray before grabbing Facade’s spray paint. Two other guys run in to break up the blinding.

From some point after that match, Facade talks about losing a triple threat match with Xion jumps him. Xion loads up the spray paint, which his kids like to use on walls. He would be mad at that if he knew his kids’ names and then sprays the paint into Facade’s eyes.

From another Pro Wrestling Ohio/Championship Wrestling Extreme show in Niles, Ohio on May 2, 2010.

Championship Wrestling Extreme Undisputed Title #1 Contenders Tournament Semifinals: Shiima Xion vs. Louis Lyndon

Lyndon is also Facade’s friend and is fighting for his honor. Feeling out process to start until Lyndon kicks at the leg and scares Xion away. A German suplex gives Lyndon a fast two and some armdrags put Xion on the floor. That’s fine with Xion, who sends him face first into the apron and drops a leg back inside.

Xion crotches him on top and gets in the crossface in the corner (that’s a new one). A high crossbody gives Xion two but Lyndon is back with a jumping knee to the face, followed by a pump kick for two. Xion is right back to the (non-corner) crossface, which is stacked up for two and the escape. The hair spray is loaded up but the referee takes it away, allowing Lyndon to grab a dragon suplex for the pin at 6:51.

Rating: C+. Another completely decent match but I have to wonder what in the world is up with Xion losing almost every match on the set. We’re coming up on the halfway mark and unless Xion comes up with a heck of a winning streak, he’s going to come out of his own DVD with a losing record. Lyndon was just another guy who was fine enough but didn’t quite stand out, leaving me wondering why this was included.

From….apparently the same day, at an outdoor Pro Wrestling Ohio show this time in Berea, Ohio.

Pro Wrestling Ohio TV Title: Shiima Xion vs. Aaron Draven

Draven is defending (apparently having won the title at the same show from the previous match) and grabs a headlock to start. They go to the mat and fight over some hammerlocks until Draven gets a wristlock. Draven pulls him into an armbar as commentary ignores the match to talk about the main event. Xion kicks a standing moonsault out of the air, allowing him to get in some hair spray (to his own hair for once).

The chinlock goes on for a bit before Xion switches to choking on the ropes. Draven manages a Rocker Dropper for a breather and a high crossbody gets two. A missile dropkick gives Draven two more but Xion drops him face first onto the turnbuckle. Xion goes up but cue Michael Facade for a distraction, allowing Draven to hit a super Spanish Fly to retain (Maybe? The intro said it was for the title but commentary said it was non-title.) at 6:49.

Rating: C. My goodness this is already beyond ridiculous and it just keeps happening. Are we supposed to think of Xion as a loser after watching this thing? Anyway, another completely fine match and at least Xion lost via interference, but it would be nice to see him winning something on his own special.

Post match Facade runs back in and spray paints Xion’s eyes.

The voiceover talks about how Xion left for six months before returning to Prime Wrestling. Haven’t heard of Prime Wrestling? It’s the renamed Pro Wrestling Ohio, but that isn’t mentioned here as this DVD somehow gets worse and worse.

From Pro Wrestling Ohio TV (because it’s Pro Wrestling Ohio again) in Niles, Ohio, sometime around November 2010.

Shiima Xion vs. Jason Gory

Before the match, Xion talks about how he hasn’t been around for a bit and wants Michael Facade but can’t find him. Therefore, he wants anyone out here now and gets….Gory, who was mentioned by the voiceover. Xion takes him down with a headlock to start and grinds away. Back up and a running hurricanrana takes Gory down again but he grabs his own to send Xion onto the entrance ramp.

There’s the big running flip dive to take him down but Xion takes over again back inside. Gory slugs away though and grabs a Code Red for two. Xion hits a belly to back suplex flipped into a facebuster and they chop it out. Lust To Dust (forward Diamond Cutter) out of nowhere finishes Gory at 6:42.

Rating: C+. Well at least he won. It was against a guy in his second match in the promotion and didn’t last long but it’s better than another loss. If nothing else, it’s nice to see that Xion actually has a finishing move, even if it’s not one of the better options. Good enough match here, as Xion gets ready for his next match with Facade.

From Pro Wrestling Ohio: Pressure Rising.

Shiima Xion vs. Michael Facade

This is the big showdown after the exchange of eye attacks. Facade goes after him to start and Xion bails into the corner. After a chase on the floor, Facade grabs a springboard armdrag back inside and gets to hammer away. Xion misses a clothesline and gets caught with a springboard moonsault press for two. Some shots to the face finally slow Facade down and we hit the double arm crank.

Back up and Xion gets sent into the corner, setting up a Samoan drop for two. Facade gets his knees up to block a moonsault though and a bulldog drops Xion again. A superkick rocks Xion but Facade dropkicks the referee down (thanks to Xion pulling him in the way). They both grab their spray cans but miss the blasts to the face. Xion sends Facade into the corner, only to come back and reverse the hair spray into Xion’s face instead. A sitout Tombstone finishes for Facade at 7:02.

Rating: C+. We spent the better part of the last hour building up this match and it’s seven minutes long? I liked the ending and it was about as perfect of a way to wrap it up as they could have gone but I was expecting more from this showdown. The match itself was good, but not exactly a classic.

From some time after March 12, 2011 on Pro Wrestling Ohio TV.

Shiima Xion vs. Matthew Justice

Justice starts with an armbar as this show appears to be in a flea market or something similar, with customers walking around behind the crowd. An armdrag sets up another armbar to cut Xion off before a crucifix gets two. Xion grabs an atomic drop into a pair of boots to the face for two of his own.

We get the pose including the hair spray to the hair but Justice knocks him away and hits a middle rope sunset flip for another near fall. There’s a powerslam to plant Xion but he’s right back with the crossface. Justice is able to power up for a Death Valley Driver and a near fall so Justice heads to the apron. The springboard clothesline is pulled into the crossface though and Justice taps at 7:08.

Rating: C+. I’ve liked what I’ve seen from Justice before and he did well enough here, though Xion seemed to be a bigger star and the more logical pick to win. If nothing else, Xion needed a win coming off the loss to Facade and he did well enough here. It would be nice if Xion evolved a bit, but that doesn’t seem likely anytime soon.

Post match Xion hair sprays Justice.

From some other unspecified show.

Shiima Xion vs. Gory

Crimson, seemingly some kind of an evil force, leads Gory to the ring on a leash. Xion takes him to the mat to start before armdragging him into a front facelock (he’s wrestling much less evil here so we might have missed a change). Gory knocks him outside for a beating from Crimson and the choking is on back inside.

A slingshot elbow gets two for Gory, who shrugs off a middle rope crossbody and chokes away some more. Xion jawbreaks his way to freedom and slugs away before hitting a rather hard clothesline. Crimson’s distraction lets Gory Codebreaker him out of the air for two but cue Facade to distract Gory. Xion is able to grab a small package for the pin at 5:54.

Rating: C. This was a slightly different Xion and after watching him do the same thing for so long, it’s nice to see him getting to mix it up a bit. At the same time, this was another short match that didn’t get the chance to do anything. Anyway, at least it was something out of the ordinary, which is one of the best possible options.

Post match Facade and Xion stare each other down and don’t seem to like each other.

Another undated match from Niles, Ohio.

Shiima Xion vs. Gory vs. Michael Facade

For a future Pro Wrestling Ohio TV Title shot. Facade and Xion go at it to start but Gory quickly takes Facade’s name to go after Xion. With that not working, Xion is sent to the floor for a change, leaving Facade to send Gory outside. The rope walk dive hits Gory but Xion takes Facade down. Back in and Gory hits some rapid fire legdrops for two on Xion but Facade hits a springboard spinwheel kick for his own two on Gory.

Back up and Gory serves as the base for a Tower Of Doom, followed by the exchange of rollups for two each. Gory Backstabs Xion for two, with Facade making the save and taking him down as well. A sitout Alabama Slam gives Xion two on Facade, who is right back up with a springboard bulldog to Gory. Cue TV Champion Bobby Beverly to jump Facade for the DQ at 8:54.

Rating: B-. This is another match that was starting to get good before they wrapped it up out of nowhere. There is a good chance that this is going to result in a four way for the title anyway, which is not the worst idea as they were doing some good stuff. That being said, can we get another match to break ten minutes already?

Post match the beatdown stays on until Beverly finally leaves.

From another unspecified date in 2011 in Niles, Ohio.

Michael Facade/Shiima Xion vs. Bobby Beverly/Gory

Beverly grabs Facade’s wrist to start and shoves him down, only to have Facade tie up the leg on the mat. Gory comes in but gets shouldered down as Beverly has a seat at ringside. It’s off to Xion for a running boot to the face so Facade can come back in for a front facelock. Facade chops Xion for a tag so Xion chops Gory, saying that’s how Facade did it. A slap tag brings Facade back in but the argument lets Gory get in a shot to take over.

As commentary talks about Kevin Nash coming in for an upcoming show, Beverly comes back in for two off a suplex. Facade scores with a spinwheel kick and it’s back to a less than enthusiastic Xion. A springboard DDT hits Beverly but Xion superkicks Facade by mistake. Xion’s middle rope moonsault hits raised knees and Gory spikes Xion with a kneeling Tombstone. Facade takes Gory out by Beverly pins Xion at 8:04.

Rating: B-. And Xion losses again. Yeah it was to the champion, but they couldn’t make Xion feel less important if they were trying to with this set. This was your standard way to set up a multiman match and the action went well. Just come up with something better for Xion on the DVD ABOUT XION.

Then Xion signed with Impact Wrestling (as Zema Ion and later DJZ) and didn’t get to wrestle in the four way title match.

About eight minutes of trailers for other DVDs wrap us up.

Overall Rating: D+. What was that? There were 12 matches on here, Xion lost about half of them, and wasn’t even the focal point in more than a few of them. It was more a look at Xion’s feud with Facade than anything else and even then it didn’t feel like a special story. I’m not sure why this needed to exist as it’s basically a look at a short stretch of time for a midcarder in a middle of the road independent promotion.

On top of that, even the best matches were only decent at best. It didn’t make Xion look like a star and feels like nothing more than a cash-in on someone who became a bigger deal elsewhere. Pretty lame here, with one of the weakest DVD collections I’ve seen from just about anywhere.

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IMG Credit: Ohio Valley Wrestling

OVW 1000
Date: October 13, 2018
Location: 4^th Street Live, Louisville, Kentucky
Commentators: Gilbert Corsey, Shannon the Dude, Ted McNaler

Way back in 2004, I started watching Ohio Valley Wrestling on local TV and stuck with it for a few years. There is something cool about having one of the more important regional promotions of the generation an hour from your house so I almost had to check this one out. It’s a special double length episode featuring a tournament for the OVW Title. I have next to no idea what to expect coming into this but it should be fun. Let’s get to it.

We open from the intro to the very first episode from 1998.

The same Dean Hill who opened the original show welcomes us to this one and it’s time for the first match.

It’s a rather cool and seemingly outside venue. Either that or it’s in the middle of a fairly dark mall/shopping center. It’s a good look.

OVW Title Tournament First Round: Tommy Dreamer vs. Justin Smooth

Smooth has some size to him and OF COURSE TOMMY DREAMER IS ON THIS SHOW BECAUSE HE’S ON EVERY SHOW! There’s no commentary to speak of early on so I’m even further on my own. That’s what online guides are for as otherwise I wouldn’t have known this was a tournament match. They trade wristlocks to start until Dreamer headlocks him down and it’s an early standoff. Smooth grabs his own wristlock but Dreamer reverses with a headscissors for the standoff sequel.

They shove each other a bit and the fans are behind Dreamer (leave it to Louisville fans to be out there). Some standing switches let Dreamer call spots before Smooth gets the better of a chop off in the corner. They head outside with Dreamer hitting him in the head with a drink as what sounds like commentary starts creeping in. Did they just have the audio mix really messed up? Not the best sign for a big anniversary show like this. Anyway they go inside with Smooth kicking him in the ribs. Dreamer grabs a cutter but Smooth kicks him in the face for the pin at 6:10.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here and commentary only coming in later in the match didn’t help things. I know OVW isn’t the biggest promotion in the world, but getting the sound mix right shouldn’t be that complicated. Other than that though, it was a 2018 Tommy Dreamer match. Smooth looked good though and with more seasoning, he’ll probably go somewhere.

There are some commercials between most of the matches, mainly for Al Snow’s Collar X Elbow clothing, OVW training, house shows, and local sponsors. Consider this the big group recap for all of them on the show.

OVW Title Tournament First Round: Billy Gunn vs. Randall Floyd

Commentary is messed up again for the entrances. Gunn does his half of the Outlaws intro and we’re ready to go. Gunn grabs the arm to start and shoves him into the ropes without much effort. Floyd does the same to him and it’s time to get a little more serious. A takedown lets Floyd pull on the leg, sending Gunn outside for a breather.

Floyd follows and gets sent into the apron for his efforts, meaning it’s the chinlock back inside. Back up and Floyd charges into an elbow in the corner but the Fameasser misses. Instead Floyd grabs a t-bone suplex for two and shock sets in for a bit. Gunn is right back with a quick Fameasser for the pin at 5:01.

Rating: D+. Well they’re not exactly wasting time with this thing so far. There wasn’t much to see here but they’re getting the bigger names on the show early on. Moving Gunn forward is a fine idea as it gives whoever beats him a nice win, even if it wasn’t exactly much to see in getting him to the next round. Then again, what exactly should I be expecting here?

OVW Title Tournament First Round: Crimson vs. Jax Dane

Crimson used to be in Impact Wrestling, Dane is a former NWA World Champion, and these two are regular partners. They tease the Fingerpoke of Doom but then get serious with some shoving. Crimson’s overhead belly to belly doesn’t do much and Dane’s belly to belly doesn’t do much more.

Dane’s headbutt and running shoulder do a bit more and now the overhead belly to belly works just fine. Something like a Claymore staggers Dane and a double clothesline puts them both down. Cue Crazzy Steve, someone not named, and Abyss, who chokeslams both guys behind the referee’s back. They get up but Steve and the other guy pull them to the floor for the double DQ at 4:27.

Rating: C-. Match of the night so far, which isn’t exactly covering much ground. Crimson and Dane are two big guys who work well together and you can see why they are a good regular team. They were having a nice power match here before the storyline ending, which was a smart move. There’s no need to have one go over the other if the team is staying together so Abyss and company costing them the match makes sense.

Post match the other four brawl to the back so it’s Abyss grabbing the mic. He spits at the idea of Louisville (I’ve always liked Abyss) and promises to win the title. So get his opponent out here.

OVW Title Tournament First Round: Abyss vs. Shane Helms

This could be interesting….or it could be but here are Abyss’ goons (different goons than before and called The Void) carrying an out of it Helms, in street clothes, to the ring. Helms is out of it and Abyss demands the bell ring. Abyss covers for two a few times and Helms tries to fight back, only to fall down on a slam attempt. Some neck cranking ensues but Helms fights up again and hits a middle rope back elbow. The Void comes in and get chokeslammed by Helms, but the Black Hole Slam gives Abyss the pin at 3:20.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see from a match perspective, which is kind of a shame as there is as natural of a story here as you could have gotten. That being said, Abyss seems to have a big master plan to win the tournament and that’s fine for a story throughout the show. It doesn’t make for the best matches, but it does make sense and that’s important on a major show like this.

Here are the updated brackets:

Justin Smooth

Billy Gunn

BYE

Abyss

Megan Monroe/ODB/Victoria vs. It Girls

The It Girls are Cali, Jaylee (Women’s Champion) and Valerie Vermin (one of those names doesn’t quite fit). ODB and Cali (a rather ditsy blonde) bump chests to start with ODB knocking her into the corner for some chopping. Victoria and Jaylee come in with the latter making some old jokes, earning herself some hair pulls over Victoria’s back. The spinning side slam gets two on Jaylee and it’s Megan coming in for a double clothesline.

A Partisan elbow sends Jaylee over to the corner to Vermin, who is taken down into a quick half crab. Cali makes the save and snaps Megan’s throat across the top rope, allowing Jaylee to kick at Megan’s knee. A German suplex gets Megan out of trouble though and the hot tag brings in ODB to clean house, including a double Bronco Buster to Cali and Valerie. Everything breaks down and it’s a Widow’s Peak to Jaylee, followed by a delayed vertical suplex to give Megan the pin on Vermin at 5:15.

Rating: C-. The wrestling was fine and Monroe looks to have some solid athleticism, but this was about having the OVW stars of days past back. Yeah imagine that: looking at history on a milestone show. We haven’t done that all night save for the quick opening, and I’m really not sure why that hasn’t been the case. They’re keeping things moving on the show, but you can tell who has the star power and it isn’t the regular OVW roster.

Referee Joe Wheeler is brought out for an interview, who has been here since the first show. He sees a lot of fans who have been here since the beginning and is glad to be here. Next up is trainer Rip Rogers (read his Twitter and take notes if you want a great wrestling education), who films the crowd and starts an OVW chant.

Then it’s one of the big ones, with Jim Cornette, who really did need to be at something like this. Cornette talks about how he helped run three hundred some odd shows and the goal was always to make OVW as good as possible. Now look where they are. Dean Hill (longtime commentator and ring announcer) is up next and he can’t believe he was the first person on OVW TV. He gets to start an OVW chant as well in a nice moment. That leaves one possible option to close it out so here’s Nightmare Danny Davis, the founder and longtime owner of the promotion.

Davis puts over Rogers, Cornette and the fans and you can hear the emotion in his voice. This was a very nice moment and something that had to happen on a show like this. Everyone hugs but here’s Nova (in a Simon Dean jacket over a BWO shirt) with his team for the ten man tag.

Nova wants them to show some respect to the wrestlers, so Cornette says go find some wrestlers and he’ll show them respect. Cue Team Capp (presumably for Matt Cappotelli, a former Tough Enough winner and former OVW Champion who had to relinquish the title and retire due to brain cancer, which killed him earlier in the year) with Rocco Bellagio (an awesome name) to get in a HOW DARE YOU. It’s time to fight.

Team Capp vs. Team Nova

Capp: Rocco Bellagio, Melvin Maximus, Michael Hayes, Randy Royal, Tyler Matrix

Nova: Adam Revolver, Jay Bradley, Nova, Paul Burchill, Vaughn Lilas

Nova has Josh Ashcroft and Shannon the Dude with them. All ten are former OVW Champions and Royal knees Revolver down to start. Bradley comes in to shove Royal down and it’s off to Maximus (old and strong) for a test of strength. Melvin gets the better of it and shoulders him down, allowing the tag to Matrix. Bradley misses a knee drop and brings in Lilas (I remember him from around 2008 and this seems to be his first match in four years).

Hayes (the one with a metal leg, not the famous Hayes) to suplex Burchill down. Burchill is back up and drives him into the corner for a wind up lariat. The villains lure the good guys in and the mass stomping keeps Hayes down. Burchill misses a knee drop though and it’s the diving tag to bring in Bellagio. House is cleaned and we hit the parade of secondary finishers. Matrix hits a big running flip dive onto a bunch of villains, leaving Danny Davis to knock Nova into a Rock Bottom from Bellagio for the pin at 6:32.

Rating: C. This is a case of considering the idea. The whole point here was to have some big names from OVW’s past come in and do a big mess of a match (not a bad thing in this case) with Davis getting to punch a known loudmouth in the face. I had a good time with it and it was the most fun out of anything all night, with the legends ceremony before it making things better.

OVW Title Tournament Semifinals: Billy Gunn vs. Justin Smooth

Smooth is the same size as Gunn, which is rather impressive. Gunn grabs a headlock before trying a running shoulder to no avail. An exchange of elbows goes to Smooth but Gunn sends him outside. Some rams into various things have Smooth in more trouble but he avoids a Stinger Splash. Gunn is right back with a quick Fameasser for two and panic ensues. He loads it up again but Justin hits the pump kick for the pin at 4:24.

Rating: D+. Another nothing match that didn’t have time to go anywhere. There is only so much that you can get out of a match that doesn’t even last four and a half minutes, which was on display here. Smooth does look good for surviving the Fameasser and pinning Gunn, but everything has gone so fast for Smooth that it doesn’t really mean much.

Shiloh Jonze vs. Mike Eagle

Jonze is a white rapper with Big D. and David Lee Lorenze III. Eagle on the other hand is an actual rapper who got a wrestling license for the sake of this angle. Before the match, Eagle raps about the three of them so Jonze, carrying a crown, brags about his posse. It turns out Eagle has a posse of his own, so here’s Mr. Anderson, who also brings out Mick Foley (who never actually wrestled in OVW).

Eagle takes him down to start and it’s a hip toss into a slam to put Jonze on the floor. A distraction lets Jonze get in a shot from behind though, meaning the dancing is on. Jonze chops him in the corner but Eagle is back with some atomic drops. Big D. trips Eagle from the floor but Jonze misses a charge in the corner and walks into a hurricanrana. D. comes in and gets Mic Checked by Anderson, followed by the same thing to Lorenze. Foley gets up on the apron with the sock, putting enough fear into Jonze for Eagle to roll him up for the pin at 4:36.

Rating: C-. It’s a celebrity match and that’s all it needed to be. Eagle looked fine here and while I’m not sure what kind of of a star he is, the point here was seeing the heel get beaten up. The legends helped too, as Foley showing up on a show run by Al Snow is hardly shocking. This was perfectly fine for what it was and that’s acceptable in this spot.

OVW Title: Justin Smooth vs. Abyss

For the vacant title and this is joined in progress for the sake of not running out of time. Abyss chokes on the rope to start and there are the loud chops in the corner. Smooth gets in some right hands and a corner splash but here’s the Void (Steve and Amon) to jump him from behind. Abyss cranks on the head but Smooth fights up with a flying shoulder. A spinebuster gives us a double knockdown until Smooth goes up.

Amon pulls him down and posts him though, allowing Abyss to hit a botched chokeslam (it looked like Smooth tried to slip out but then went down for it anyway). Abyss tries to bring in a chair but walks into a DDT with a nip up. The pump kick into the chair into Abyss’ face gets two but another kick misses. The Black Hole Slam gives Abyss the pin and the title at 8:31 shown.

Rating: D+. What a weird ending, as there was only so much that they could do with the rather short amount of time and all of the interference. The ending was surprising as this felt like a place for Smooth to get the big win, though commentary talked about Abyss’ path of destruction/plan to win the title so it was well set up. It’s not exactly a feel good story for the ending, but at least they went with a story that made sense long term.

Overall Rating: C-. This was a rather strange show, as you would expect a bit more history but it never quite got there outside of a few months. It did feel like a big show, with the crowd and venue alone making it seem like an important deal. At the same time though, there were still some moments that felt pretty low level. On top of that, the wrestling was nothing of note throughout the night, mainly due to time constraints. They were trying though and the show doesn’t overstay its welcome at an hour and forty eight minutes. If you’re not a big OVW fan though, I wouldn’t bother with it.

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Impact Wrestling
Date: December 16, 2015
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: D’Angelo Dinero, Josh Matthews

This is an interesting show as it’s the final episode of Impact to air on Destination America, putting to rest the question of what else they can air after the tournament matches are wrapped up until the debut on Pop. Tonight we’re getting a bunch of previews for the semi-finals along with a pair of non-tournament matches, which will be the first since September. Let’s get to it.

We open with a video on the four semi-finalists (Lashley, Matt Hardy, Eric Young and Ethan Carter III) all wanting to be champion.

Recap of how the tournament came to be and Matt Hardy’s path back to the title. He introduces his match against Davey Richards from October 14, 2015. The match is clipped here but this is the full version of the review, which will be the case in every match repeated.

Group Tag Team Specialists: Matt Hardy vs. Davey Richards

So it’s Group Rockers. Davey takes him down to start and works on a leg lock but lets it go just as quickly. We get a chat from the round table discussion where Davey is pretty passive about the whole thing but Matt wants the title back. They head to the apron with Matt grabbing a quick Side Effect to send Davey to the floor.

Back in and Matt hooks a sleeper but Davey fights back with a jawbreaker to knock Matt to the floor, followed by a suicide dive. Josh: “Of course the ending to Bound For Glory has been trending for two weeks.” Back in and Davey fires off kicks until Matt grabs the Side Effect for two more. Matt dives into a kick to the ribs but Davey misses a top rope double stomp, setting up the Twist of Fate to give Matt the pin at 9:06.

Rating: C+. Nice match here with Matt doing his normal stuff and Davey doing all of his kicks. Matt would have been fine for a token title reign but giving him one in the spot they did it and the quick fallout are going to make it much more infamous than a feel good moment. You almost have to expect Matt to advance into the round of sixteen, likely winding up against Galloway or Carter down the line.

Matt talks about the rest of his matches so far and promises to give Eric Young an unfortunate Twist of Fate.

Group X-Division vs. Group Future 4

X-Division: Manik, Tigre Uno, Mandrews, DJZ

Future 4: Crimson, Jesse Godderz, Micah, Eli Drake

This is an :all-stars” match. DJZ and Micah finally start things off after a lot of debate between Future 4. A wristlock has Micah in trouble and it’s off to Mandrews as Josh talks about various cities representing in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania at the live show. Jesse comes in for a knee to Mandrews’ ribs but X-Division starts taking over with rotating shots to the arm.

Everything breaks down and X-Division suplexes Jesse and Micah down at the same time. Future 4 heads outside and that’s just a bad idea against a bunch of high fliers, setting up all the dives. Micah dives as well until Jesse takes Mandrews’ head off with a hard clothesline. Jesse teases a dive but stops to pose instead, as you might have expected. Manik dropkicks him to the floor and dives on the pile.

Mandrews gets broken up as well and it’s Drake tagging himself in to pound away instead of letting Jesse go for a cover. Future 4 starts taking turns on Mandrews with Crimson hitting a nice chokeslam. Drake tags himself in again and the argument (Josh: “It was like the Mega Powers exploding!”) allows Tigre to get the tag.

Crimson flips Drake off when he reaches for a tag and Jesse drops to the floor. Micah, who has history with Drake, walks away, leaving Drake on his own. Eli tries to leave but gets thrown back in by his partners, allowing Manik to kick him in the head. DJZ’s tornado DDT sets up Mandrews’ shooting star press for the pin at 10:04.

Rating: C-. This was a fine enough way to kill off ten minutes and I’m glad to see something aside from a tournament match. Future 4 turning on Drake made sense and it’s fine to see the X-Division guys working together. The match was nothing worth seeing but at least it was something different.

We look at Lashley’s path to the final four, including this match against Austin Aries on November 25, 2015.

Group Champions: Lashley vs. Austin Aries

Winner advances. Aries bounces off Lashley to start until a missile dropkick staggers Lashley a bit. That’s fine with Lashley as he throws Aries away and starts driving shoulders in the corner. Aries knees his way out of a delayed vertical suplex by knocking Lashley down to a knee but Lashley stands back up and suplexes him anyway. That is SCARY power.

Back from a break with Aries elbowing out of Lashley’s grip but getting caught in a belly to belly. The spear hits the post though and Aries follows up with a missile dropkick. Lashley slaps him out of the corner though and dead lifts him into a powerslam. I repeat my scary power line. The Last Chancery doesn’t get Aries anywhere so he goes with discus forearms. Lashley again powers out of the brainbuster and throws Aries over his head with a release German.

Aries avoids the spear but Lashley sidesteps the suicide dive. The match comes to a screeching halt as Aries is holding his arm with ninety seconds to go. Lashley finally clotheslines him down again as this thing JUST WON’T END. Aries grabs the Lash Chancery but Lashley makes the rope. Instead of standing around for the last thirty seconds, Aries tries a 450 but eats a spear to send Lashley on at 15:05.

Rating: B. At least it went out on a good match, even though Aries got stupid at the end after being smart most of the time. Lashley is the smart choice here since he actually works for TNA, but Aries was a nice surprise. I mean, I’m stupid for realizing he’s a surprise according to Josh but he’s a lot smarter than me after all.

We get some soundbytes about Lashley being incredibly dominant all year but now it’s a must win against Carter.

Now it’s time to follow EC3 around as he goes to the gym in Nashville. After seeing him lift a bit, Carter talks about how this whole World Title Series is nonsense as he should have been given the title with no hesitation. His last name hasn’t kept him undefeated and he won the Group of Death in the first round.

Bobby Roode vs. Mr. Anderson vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Rockstar Spud

Elimination rules. Roode tags himself in to start against Spud but the Rockstar kicks him to the floor and we take an early break. Back with Spud rolling Edwards up for two before it’s off to Anderson. For some reason Spud mimes the microphone dropping down and gets clotheslined. Edwards comes back and counters the Underdog into a rollup to eliminate Spud.

Eddie goes takes down Anderson and gets two on Roode with a Backpack Stunner. Anderson tags himself in though, meaning Roode’s Crossface doesn’t count. Thankfully Anderson is smart enough to let Bobby keep the hold on as long as he can. Anderson kicks Roode outside and a Mic Check eliminates Edwards to get us down to two. Roode flips out of the Mic Check and grabs a spinebuster. Back up and Roode escapes another Mic Check, setting up the Crossface. Anderson tries to roll over but gets caught in the middle of the ring, giving us the submission at 13:20.

Rating: C. Another match that just kind of happened here with four guys doing moves to each other for no real prize. At least Roode won in the best option and the match had a bit more meaning than the eight man tag earlier. Still not a good match or anything, but at least it was fresh.

Kurt Angle talks about how important this tournament is. He’s fought all four of the semi-finalists and could see any of them winning. Angle doesn’t really pick anyone but seems to think Lashley is the favorite. Of note, he says that Matt Hardy got so close at Bound For Glory. Does Angle really not know how this whole thing started?

Video on Eric Young’s path to the semi-finals.

Here’s Young vs. Roode from November 4, 2015.

Group TNA Originals: Eric Young vs. Bobby Roode

We start after a break and Young is quickly sent to the floor, only to snap Roode’s throat over the top rope. Young stays on the throat with a catapult into the middle rope and we hit the neck crank. A quick neckbreaker gets two on Roode but he comes back with an enziguri for a delayed fall. Roode grabs a spinebuster for two and counters the piledriver into a jackknife cover for two. Back up and Young grabs the referee for a distraction, setting up the piledriver for the pin at 6:50.

Rating: C. Decent enough match but these videos designed to make these regular matches feel like some big showdown between epic rivals really aren’t working. Young and Roode are the likely winners of the group as Storm seems to be gone but Abyss is always a possibility. Good enough here as Roode at least stayed on the neck for a story.

Young brags about his success and promises to win the World Title again.

Here’s Mr. Anderson vs. Ethan Carter III from November 11, 2015.

Group Champions: Ethan Carter III vs. Mr. Anderson

They chop it out to start with Anderson getting the better of it and sending Carter to the floor as we take a break. Back with Anderson firing off more chops and pounding Carter in the head as Carter tries to cover up. A quick baseball slide takes Tyrus out and a boot to the face looks to set up the Mic Check.

Carter drives him to the floor to counter, which Pope refers to as dinosaur land. Anderson gets sent into the apron and Carter bends his fingers back for good measure. We hit the chinlock as Pope and Josh compare Anderson and Carter’s upbringings in the business. Anderson fights out with less than five minutes to go and easily wins a slugout.

The Regal roll and a swanton get two on Carter and both guys are tired with two and a half minutes to go. Anderson goes up top and counters a super 1%er into a middle rope Regal roll for two more. Tyrus and Earl Hebner argue on the floor (Tyrus: “YOU’RE TOO OLD!”) so Anderson beats Tyrus up with a chair with a minute left. Hebner gets rid of the chair, allowing Carter to kick Anderson low and grab a jackknife rollup for the pin at 16:24 as TNA’s clock continues to be off.

Rating: C+. Another good match here as Carter can win something when he has to. Anderson losing doesn’t mean anything and you knew that Carter was going to be in the final sixteen and probably the final two. This wasn’t a classic or anything but it was perfectly fine for a big TV main event.

Clips of Carter at his house exercising, tormenting his pool cleaner and drinking at his bar.

It’s time for a big sitdown interview with the semi-finalists. Lashley wants to know if Carter is going to fight on his own or if Tyrus is going to do the fighting for him. Carter says he already beat Lashley so he shouldn’t have to do it again by any means. Matt thinks Carter is delusional but he’s not looking past Young, who is crazy in his own right. Eric laughs off the idea that Matt swept a tag division because Group Originals was the toughest. Back to Matt who calls Eric the next victim to suffer a Twist of Fate.

Hardy would love to face either Lashley or Carter in the finals but picks Lashley because of his integrity. Lashley thinks he’ll face Hardy and he’d love to have his first shot against Matt. Carter simply says Eric Young. Eric goes with Carter because of his history of winning. To fill in more time, we go over who they all think won’t advance. Young picks Matt because he isn’t making it out of the semi-finals. A lot of violence is promised and Matt promises that Eric won’t break him. We wrap things up with a lot of shouting.

One more video for the road ends the show.

Overall Rating: D-. What a waste of time this whole thing was. It’s basically a big preview of the final three matches but the problem is the semi-finals really aren’t that interesting in the first place. We’ve seen Carter vs. Lashley already and Young vs. Hardy isn’t a good match either. This show needs the two weeks off because I can’t imagine how bad it was going to go for the next two weeks without the show getting even worse. Just a big waste of time here and I think TNA knew it coming in.

Results

Group X-Division b. Group Future 4 – Shooting star press to Drake

Bobby Roode b. Mr. Anderson, Eddie Edwards and Rockstar Spud last eliminating Anderson

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Impact Wrestling
Date: November 18, 2015
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: D’Angelo Dinero, Josh Matthews

We’re getting closer to the end of the preliminaries and you can see most of the winners from here. It should make things a lot more interesting now that some people are eliminated and we can get down to the real contenders instead of pretending that so many people with no chance are still alive. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of last week and a preview of this week.

The announcers recap everyone who has already advanced.

Group Knockouts: Brooke vs. Awesome Kong

The winner advances. Brooke goes after her to start but Kong goes after her broken hand. Kong pulls Brooke up by the hand and then punches her down as this is one sided so far. The Implant Buster is broken up and Brooke tries a choke, only to be set away with ease. A low facebuster gets two on Kong but she grabs Brooke off the top for an AA. Brooke avoids a splash and the Butterface Maker gets two more. For some reason Brooke tries a suplex, earning herself a chokeslam to send Kong to the round of 16 at 6:13.

Rating: D+. This was just about every Kong match you’ve seen lately and was there any doubt that Kong and Kim were going to advance out of the group? It makes the most sense, though it didn’t make for the most interesting drama in the group as Brooke and Madison fell apart after the opening weeks. Kong basically squashed her here though and that’s the best idea all around.

Group Knockouts

Gail Kim – 6 points (0 matches remaining)

Awesome Kong – 6 points (0 matches remaining)

Brooke – 3 points (0 matches remaining)

Madison Rayne – 3 points (0 matches remaining)

We get a sitdown interview with Matt Hardy and Ethan Carter III (in separate locations). Matt brags about sweeping the Tag Team Specialists group which has the top talent in the world right now. Carter says if Matt was as great as he thinks he is, he would be in a real group like Group Champions. Instead Matt is navel lint and this series doesn’t end until Ethan wins.

Matt wants Ethan in the round of sixteen because he took away the greatest night of Matt’s career. Now Matt wants to take everything away from Carter, starting with that undefeated streak. Carter doesn’t care what round he meets Matt in because it’s a guaranteed victory. Ethan yells about Matt a lot and walks out of the interview.

Eric Young says James Storm would be better off not showing up tonight because Storm is a shadow of his former self.

Back from a break and we see the end of the interview again. We’ll hear more from both later.

Group X-Division: Manik vs. Tigre Uno

If Tigre wins, it’s a three way tie with Manik and DJZ, forcing a playoff. Tigre takes him down with a dive to start but Manik rolls away to avoid a second one. What looks like an Asai moonsault is broken up and Manik suplexes him on the ramp. Back in and Manik goes for the mask, followed by three straight suplexes for two.

Manik cranks on the arm as the announcers actually bring up the X-Division Title, which has now gone well over a month without being defended, just like every other title in this company. Tigre avoids a swanton but walks into a wheelbarrow gutbuster for two. Uno slams him back down and a quick split legged corkscrew moonsault out of the corner gives Tigre the pin at 7:00.

Rating: C. Just in case you haven’t had enough of this tournament yet, NOW WE GET A PLAYOFF! I’m not sure how you have a three man playoff as the logical way would be to have a triple threat and whoever takes the fall is out, but I’m sure this is going to result in multiple matches to make sure we fill in as much TV time as possible. At least the champ didn’t get pinned again so it’s not infuriating all over again. Manik working on the arm was fine, even if it didn’t lead anywhere. It was nice to see some psychology in an X-Division match for a change though so I’ll take what I can get where I can get it.

Group X-Division

DJZ – 6 points (0 matches remaining)

Manik – 6 points (0 matches remaining)

Tigre Uno – 6 points (0 matches remaining)

Mandrews – 0 points (0 matches remaining)

Video on Group TNA Originals.

Next week it is indeed a triple threat but under elimination rules. So we have a double elimination match in the playoff of the round robin tournament to advance to the round of sixteen in the knockout tournament. YOU THINK THIS MIGHT BE A BIT OVERBOOKED???

Pope and Josh play that bubble burst game.

Roode says he’ll do whatever it takes to win.

Group TNA Originals: James Storm vs. Eric Young

Winner advances. Young attacks Storm during the recap videos and we take a break ten seconds in. Dang it stop doing that! Back with Young in full control and stomping away. We hit a neck crank and chinlock for a bit on Storm until he comes back with an enziguri and Closing Time.

Storm is wrestling like a face here because the whole trying to kill Mickie James is forgettable. No really, that story didn’t have any staying power and Mickie was fine in like a week. The piledriver and the Eye of the Storm are both broken up and but a quick ref bump allows Young to kick Storm low. A piledriver sends Young to the round of sixteen at 10:16.

Rating: D+. Who knew Storm had turned face for this thing? Not that it matters as he’s going out soon enough anyway, which makes it a good thing that they didn’t push him forward. Instead we get Young, who has improved quite a bit in recent months. He’s still nothing great, but I’ll take this version over HE’S JUST SO CRAZY any day.

Group TNA Originals

Eric Young – 6 points (0 matches remaining)

Abyss – 3 points (1 match remaining)

Bobby Roode – 3 points (1 match remaining)

James Storm – 3 points (0 matches remaining)

Preview of next week’s matches.

More with Matt Hardy as he talks about proving haters wrong, which he can’t wait to do to Ethan. He’s going to win the feud with Ethan no matter what it takes and win the World Title as a bonus. Matt vacated the title so we could proceed with business as normal. Yeah because going the better part of three months with one story and nothing but a massive tournament is normal.

Finally, he picks Roode tonight and would love to face him in the future. This has been your weekly reminder that Matt Hardy is the most interesting wrestler in the world and he’s a former World Champion and he got screwed out of the title and he WILL NOT DIE, no matter what people think. Except for TNA who will forget him when Jeff is back.

Group Wild Card: Aiden O’Shea vs. Mahabali Shera

The taped schedule rears its ugly head again as Shera has gone from all serious in his recent interviews to the dancer again here. Shera does his dancing to start before grabbing a headlock which O’Shea needs the rope to break. Off a headlock? O’Shea stomps him down in the corner but stops for some shadow boxing. More punches actually connect with Shera but he slams O’Shea off the top. Aiden misses another right hand and the Sky High gives Shera a sweep of the group at 4:51.

Rating: D-. Shera’s entire offense here was right hands, a headlock, a slam and the Sky High. That’s it. He did four moves in an entire match, assuming you don’t count the dancing. This is the kind of match that I really don’t need to see, but it’s going to get even worse when Shera gets a huge push because the show is in India next month. He has some charisma but he needs to expand his offense beyond someone in their fourth month of wrestling school.

Group Wild Card

Mahabali Shera – 9 points (0 matches remaining)

Aiden O’Shea – 3 points (0 matches remaining)

Kenny King – 3 points (1 match remaining)

Crazzy Steve – 0 points (1 match remaining)

Group Future 4: Eli Drake vs. Crimson

Crimson throws him down to start and grabs a chinlock inside the first minute. Drake sends him shoulder first into the post for two, followed by a flying armbar for one. The match is dull enough that Ethan Carter III interrupts for his interview but then storms off when it’s not his time. Crimson fights up with some ax handles to the face, only to have his bad arm snapped across the top rope. A shoulder breaker from Eli sets up a standing armbar…..for the submission at 5:16. I didn’t see that one coming.

Rating: D+. The ending was surprising and the match wasn’t bad (third arm/hand injury of the show aside) but this is a great example of a match that I have no desire to watch. That’s one of the major problems with this tournament: we have to cover all these matches that aren’t interesting and hear the announcers go on and on about how these people could be World Champion. It wasn’t bad but totally uninteresting.

Group Future 4

Eli Drake – 7 points (0 matches remaining)

Micah – 4 points (1 match remaining)

Jesse Godderz – 3 points (1 match remaining)

Crimson – 0 points (0 matches remaining)

Ethan Carter III is STILL talking about Matt Hardy because much like Matt, this feud WILL NOT DIE, even if people stopped caring a long time ago. Carter wants to beat Matt in any round and promises to win the title back because he’s still undefeated.

We recap the night so far.

Pope picks his winners for next week.

Group TNA Originals: Bobby Roode vs. Abyss

Winner advances. The threat of a chokeslam has Roode in early trouble but he fires off some running clotheslines. Abyss shows him how to do a clothesline but still can’t get the chokeslam. He settles for a big side slam and we take a break. Back with Abyss clotheslining him to the floor and wedging a chair into the corner. Pope accurately says this never works out as Abyss runs Roode over again and puts on a neck crank.

We’re under five minutes to go as Roode fights up and scores with a clothesline. A Blockbuster gets two for Roode and he sends Abyss arm first into the chair. The Crossface has Abyss in trouble but he makes the ropes in a hurry. Abyss scores with a chokeslam for two and it’s Janice time. As is the case EVERY SINGLE TIME, it gets stuck in the turnbuckle, setting up a spinebuster from Roode for the pin at 13:15.

Rating: C. You really can see the difference between the levels of talent on this show. Roode continues to be solid in the ring and Abyss, while dumb as a bag of hammers at times, can still put on a good enough match for something like this. Roode advancing is of course the right call but I can’t picture him getting beyond the semifinals.

Group TNA Originals

Eric Young – 6 points (0 matches remaining)

Bobby Roode – 6 points (0 matches remaining)

Abyss – 3 points (0 matches remaining)

James Storm – 3 points (0 matches remaining)

Overall Rating: D. Yes I understand that TNA has a lot of action on their show and I understand that a lot of fans like that. Yes I also understand that if I criticize TNA for anything, their fans interpret it as me being negative and not giving them the fair chance that they deserve.

I’ve been watching TNA for years now (unlike most people who gave up on it a long time ago) and this is as hard as it’s ever been to sit through. These shows feel like they’re longer than Raw could ever hope to be with one average to lame match after another as we continue to inch closer towards the real tournament. It’s probably going to get better then but the three months it’s taking to get there is killing this company.

This idea has gone on for months now and unless there’s a big curveball coming, it’s going to end with some combination of Matt Hardy, Drew Galloway and Ethan Carter III in the final, meaning the whole thing has been one big circle until we’re right back where we were around Bound For Glory. TNA needs to do something big to validate all the time and effort they’ve spent on this and putting the title on someone who has held it since June or another nostalgia story of a 40 year old who wants one last run at glory isn’t it. The tournament may appeal to some, but I’m certainly not one of them.

Results

Awesome Kong b. Brooke – Chokeslam

Manik b. Tigre Uno – Split legged corkscrew moonsault

Eric Young b. James Storm – Piledriver

Mahabali Shera b. Aiden O’Shea – Sky High

Eli Drake b. Crimson – Standing armbar

Bobby Roode b. Abyss – Spinebuster

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It’s another double shot today as neither choice is strong enough to warrant a full entry. Today we’ve got Crimson and Brodus Clay.

Crimson debuted in TNA as Amazing Red’s brother in December 2010. He quickly established an undefeated streak and had his first major match against someone familiar with undefeated streaks in Samoa Joe. From Slammiversary 2011.

Samoa Joe vs. Crimson

Crimson hits the ring and they slug it out immediately.  The fans think Joe’s Gonna Kill Crimson.  Suicide dive is blocked by a forearm from the floor and there’s a big boot back in the ring by Crimson.  Neckbreaker gets two.  Cravate goes on so Joe gets a bad dragon screw leg whip to take the red dude down.  Crimson hammers away on Joe but walks into a kind of atomic drop sort of a move to the knee.  That was different.

He takes Crimson down with relative ease and there’s a leg bar for a few seconds.  Spinning toe hold by Joe as we go back to the mid 1870s.  Crimson counters into a triangle choke and then an arm bar which gets him nowhere.  T-Bone suplex by Crimson takes Joe down as the fans are trying to get into this.  Double arm DDT gets two.  The fans chant Mercer, which is Crimson’s real name I believe.

Suplex and a clothesline by Joe get two.  Joe goes up to the middle rope for a Rough Ryder for two.  Joe is all frustrated.  “Dang man end this match already before the buffet is empty.”  Powerbomb gets two and it’s off to a half crab.  We get a Gumby reference of all things as the hold stays on.  They slap it out and Crimson gets a spear to take Joe down.  They slug it out again with Crimson knocking him back into the corner.  Now Joe knocks him back into the corner but can’t get the Musclebuster.  Clutch can’t go on either so there’s the Red Sky to end this.

Rating: C+. Pretty good big slugout here and it’s good to see Crimson actually face big time competition for a change.  Pretty good match here with the ending being pretty clear, but a nice test for Crimson nonetheless.  I don’t think Crimson is as great as he’s made out to be, but this worked pretty well for what it was.

Crimson would hook up with Matt Morgan and win the Tag Team Titles in 2012. Here’s a title defense from Genesis 2012.

Tag Titles: Matt Morgan/Crimson vs. Samoa Joe/Magnus

Joe starts with Morgan and the tall one is taken down quickly. Off to Crimson who is the least interesting undefeated person this side of Tatanka. Magnus comes in and gets double teamed by the champs. Morgan hits his corner elbows and Crimson hits an overhead suplex for two. Back to Joe who runs Morgan over. Crimson comes in and has the same result as Morgan had.

Magnus comes back in and we go split screen as Ray is beating up Abyss. And now we’re back full screen as Joe has a chinlock on Crimson. We get a dueling “We Want Morgan/No We Don’t” chants. Crimson spears Joe down and we’re told that Bully Ray is trending worldwide on Twitter. Off to Morgan who hits the Hellevator (not called that) to Magnus but Joe breaks up the pin.

In a HORRIBLE looking sequence, Joe hits a bunch of strikes in the corner, followed by the middle rope elbow from Magnus. It only gets two though, due to Crimson breaking it up. The horrible part: Magnus flew off of Morgan about a second and a half before Crimson even touched him. Magnus reverses a chokeslam but a double version is enough to pin Magnus at 9:38.

Rating: D+. This just didn’t click for me at all. The messed up save really took me out of the match. Joe just isn’t going to get pushed no matter how much he gets cheered and how much his opponents get booed or get no reaction, because it’s just been decided that he’s not going to get pushed. Listen to the fans TNA. It just might work.

They would lose the titles and as is Matt Morgan’s custom, the former champions would enter into a feud as a result. This one culminated at Lockdown 2012.

Crimson vs. Matt Morgan

Crimson is now billed as “The Undefeated” on his graphic. Crimson goes for the door very quickly but Morgan keeps pulling him back in. Morgan walks into a clothesline for two as momentum shifts. Crimson rams him into the cage as the crowd is a little more awake now. He chokes Morgan on the ropes and a spinebuster gets two.

Crimson sets for what looked like the spear but walks into the discus lariat. Big boot puts Crimson down and it’s followed by a nice belly to back suplex. Morgan loads up the Carbon Footprint in the corner but gets tangled in the ropes. Crimson tries a quick escape but they wind up fighting on the top rope. Morgan gets crotched and tied up in the rope, allowing Crimson to climb out for the win at 7:26.

Rating: D. You know, if the time is such a problem tonight, maybe you could have this go a few more minutes and have the TV Title go longer than three minutes. It might keep the issues down a bit more. Anyway, this match was really boring as the feud has been put on hold for the last two weeks. This show is bordering on disaster at this point but there are some big matches to come.

James Storm would return from an injury as a surprise at Slammiversary 2012 and give Crimson his first loss with relative ease. With the winning streak broken, there was no reason for Crimson to be around for awhile. He went down to OVW for further training and quickly won the Nightmare Rumble to earn an OVW Title shot against champion Johnny Spade in September of 2012.

OVW Title: Johnny Spade vs. Crimson

Spade is an OVW mainstay and one of the biggest stars in the company’s history. Johnny grabs a headlock to start but is quickly knocked to the floor with a shoulder block. The announcers talk about Crimson stealing the Nightmare Rumble from Rob Terry after Terry lasted over an hour, setting up a future program. Crimson sends Spade into the barricade but the champion comes back with some kicks to the ribs.

We take a break and come back with Crimson holding a chinlock before running Spade over with an elbow to the jaw. A hard slam gets two for Crimson and the challenger is very cocky. Spade misses a dropkick and gets caught in a quick cravate. Crimson puts him on the top rope but Spade comes out with a tornado DDT to put both guys down. Spade sends him into the corner for a double knee to the back but Crimson blocks a Swanton with knees to the back of his own.

A spinebuster and high collar suplex get two each for Crimson but Spade grabs a loose triangle choke of all things. Crimson powers out of it but runs into a kick to the face (not Spade’s superkick finisher) to stop him cold. Raul Lamotta comes out for a distraction but Shiloh Jonze (Spade’s former best friend) runs out and drills Spade with brass knuckles, giving Crimson the title.

Rating: C+. Nice match here, as was often the case in OVW. Spade was kind of like a Shawn Michaels, as he was a smaller guy fighting a monster but he was just good enough that you believed he could shock the world. Crimson looked good and is far more interesting as a heel who had been playing mind games to get the title shot.

Crimson would hold the title for a few months before dropping it to Rob Terry. This led him to starting a paramilitary stable called the Coalition Forces with another hot prospect named Jason Wayne as the co-leader. Now called General Crimson, he would face another OVW mainstay named Jamin Olivencia (he’s been a jobber on WWE TV a few times under various names) in a #1 contenders match in March of 2013.

Jamin Olivencia vs. Crimson

Crimson looks FAR more intimidating with the rebel flag, camo vest and sunglasses. There are five other members of the Coalition Forces with Crimson here, including one guy covered in grass as a disguise. Crimson and OVW Champion Doug Williams might be in cahoots as well, which ties in to Olivencia as he beat Williams but had the decision overturned for reasons that aren’t quite clear. Crimson actually sends the Coalition to the back because he wants to do this on his own.

Jamin is taken into the corner but comes out with a right hand to the face, sending Crimson out to the floor for a breather. Back in and Crimson hammers away as the announcers argue about whether or not Jamin lost to Doug Williams. Crimson is knocked to the floor again and walks back in to a headlock from Olivencia, only to counter into a chinlock. Jamin goes up top but gets pulled down to the mat for two and we hit the chinlock again. Olivencia fights up again and dropkicks Crimson to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Crimson getting two off something we couldn’t see and putting on the chinlock for a third time. Off to a camel clutch as the announcers bicker even more about secret meetings. Jamin fights out but gets taken down by a hard running clothesline for two. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Jamin fights up and hammers away in the corner. Crimson takes it outside and throws Olivencia onto the announce table but can’t hook a piledriver.

Back in and Olivencia scores with a spinwheel kick for two but Crimson counters Jamin’s DDT into a spinebuster for two. Crimson crotches Jamin on the top and hooks a superplex for two. Jamin comes back with his DDT but Doug Williams pulls out the referee and sends him into the steps. The Coalition runs out and destroys Jamin, giving Crimson the pin.

Rating: B-. This was far better than I was expecting with both guys looking solid. The Coalition is another heel stable but I like having it headed up by one person instead of several. Crimson was in charge here and could do a decent enough power style in the ring to make it work. If nothing else it makes me want to watch more OVW.

Crimson was a guy that had a great look but the undefeated gimmick really hurt him. At the end of the day the streak went on WAY too long and people just didn’t care when it was over. Couple that with the fact that he never won anything and it’s easy to see why people weren’t interested. The paramilitary gimmick was WAY more entertaining and interesting looking, making me think there’s a lot of potential left in Crimson. He’s only 29 after all so there’s a lot of time left.

Off to Brodus Clay, who is a rather scary looking man. He started as G-Rilla in developmental before going by his more famous name in the fourth season of NXT. One of his first major matches on that show was a fatal fourway elimination match on January 25, 2011.

Brodus Clay vs. Byron Saxton vs. Johnny Curtis vs. Derrick Bateman

This is the second week in a row where I couldn’t remember Curtis’ name.  That’s not good when I’ve watched every episode of this show.  This is elimination rules, no tagging, winner has the option of changing their pro.  Everyone goes after Bateman for some reason instead of Brodus.  He is thrown into a suplex from Brodus and is pinned in less than a minute.

Now they both go after Brodus as I scratch my head trying to figure that out.  They manage to get a suplex on him but Curtis tries to steal a rollup on Saxton which gets two.  Brodus is collecting himself on the floor so the others are in the ring.  Curtis takes out Brodus with a dive, leaving Saxton in the ring as we take a break.

Don’t try this at home.  These are good PSAs for lack of a better term to run.

Back with Brodus nailing Saxton with a clothesline.  Curtis is down on the floor and lets Saxton get beaten down like an intelligent person would.  Saxton gets something close to a Stunner to take Brodus down for two.  Curtis tries to come in off the top but gets caught.  He knocks Saxton down and gets a double guillotine legdrop to put out Saxton at 4:30.  We’re down to Clay and Curtis.

Clay is reeling and Curtis adds a European Uppercut to send him back on his heels.  Brodus is like wait I’m huge and splashes Curtis in the corner.  Off to the nerve hold which is my least favorite rest hold of all time.  Curtis fights out of it and rams some shoulders into the corner.  Josh has picked Rey to win the Rumble apparently.  Johnny goes up but jumps into the Tongan Death Grip Slam to end it at 7:20.

Rating: C+. This was quick and I think that was the right idea.  These guys aren’t very good in the ring so they kept this short.  Putting Bateman out that fast was kind of awkward but maybe that was due to an injury or something.  This was ok and probably about as good as it was going to get.

After hooking up with and being abandoned by Alberto Del Rio, Brodus would stay on Superstars for awhile before disappearing for three months. He would return as the Funkasaurus in what I thought was the surprise of the year in 2012. One of his first big matches was against The Miz at Extreme Rules 2012.

Brodus Clay vs. Dolph Ziggler

The “smart” fans chant for Ziggler and they go to the floor quickly. Swagger runs over Brodus to put him down and get him in trouble for the first time. Back in Ziggler pounds on him but Brodus comes back with a headbutt. A knee lift misses and the Fameasser gets two. Another dropkick gets one and it’s time for a modified sleeper. Brodus stands up and easily throws Ziggler over. Dolph tries a suplex and is easily thrown off. Brodus gets all fired up and shakes, including a shot to Swagger. Headbutt to the ribs sets up the splash for the clean pin at 4:19.

Rating: C. This is EXACTLY what Brodus needed. He’s squashed jobbers for months now so a real win where he had to fight off some people is a great upgrade for him. Ziggler hammered away on him and certainly didn’t get squashed, which is how you make someone like Clay look great. Good stuff.

Brodus would lose his first match to Big Show, sending his career down a good bit. He would however captain a Survivor Series team at Survivor Series 2012.

Team Clay vs. Team Tensai

Brodus Clay, Sin Cara, Rey Mysterio, Tyson Kidd, Justin Gabriel

Tensai, Prime Time Players, Primo, Epico

My goodness they’re USING THE BIG FREAKING ROSTER THEY HAVE. This is a smart move that they never use for some reason. I miss the King’s stupid lines. Apparently the fans got to pick Rosa’s dress tonight. Uh….sure. Kidd and Epico start things off with Kidd taking it down to the mat quickly. Off to an armbar by Kidd before Epico bridges into a backslide. This is some awesome stuff actually. Kidd sends him to the floor but Epico slams him face first into the apron to take over.

Off to Gabriel for some kicks and a legsweep before it’s right back to Kidd. Scratch that as it’s Young vs. Mysterio now as this is hitting a bit of a dull spot. Cara and Mysterio hit a combination wheelbarrow slam/X-Factor for two for Cara. Primo comes in and takes the Tajiri Elbow and a rana to send him into the corner. Primo slams him down and it’s off to the Big Bald. JBL rattles off some NJPW stats for Tensai and it’s off to O’Neal.

That also goes nowhere so it’s off to Epico again for a camel clutch. Cara finally escapes and hits an enziguri before making the tag to Brodus. Everything breaks down and the four tag team guys on the heel team are sent to the floor. Kidd and Gabriel hit stereo suicide dives to take out the Puerto Ricans and the masked guys hit stereo Asai Moonsaults to take out the Players. Awesome sequence there.

This leaves the two monsters left in the ring alone in a match we’ve seen a lot of times before. Clay tries his overhead suplex attempt but it basically turns into a Downward Spiral, which makes me wonder if there’s more to Ryback not being able to Shell Shock Tensai. Brodus misses a splash in the corner and gets shoulder blocked down. The backsplash from Tensai takes out Clay and we’re down to 5-4.

Kidd tries to fire off some kicks but gets run over as well. Off to Titus again with an abdominal stretch to slow things down. A backbreaker from Titus puts Gabriel down and the backsplash from Tensai gets two. A second attempt misses and Justin rolls him up for the pin. Back to O’Neal as we’re down to what this match likely should have been in the first place.

Epico comes in to chop away and hit a butterfly suplex for two on Gabriel. Off to some chinlockery but Epico misses an elbow drop and there’s the hot tag to Kidd. Scratch the hot part as he’s immediately sent to the floor and stomped on by Primo. Back to Titus for more pounding but a big boot misses and O’Neal crotches himself on the top rope, allowing Kidd to hook his spinning sunset flip for the elimination.

Young immediately comes in to stomp away as it’s Cara/Mysterio/Kidd/Gabriel vs. Epico/Primo/Young. Epico comes in and rolls some belly to back suplexes but Kidd sweeps the legs and it’s a Sharpshooter for the elimination. It is Survivor Series after all. Primo comes in now and suplexes Kidd down, only to dive off the top onto some knees.

There’s the hot tag to Rey who speeds things up and kicks Primo in the head for two. The seated senton by Rey gets two and La Magistral leaves Young on his own. There’s the 619, a Swanton from Cara, a top rope Lionsault from Justin, a top rope elbow from Kidd and a top rope splash from Rey to END Young for the win at 18:27.

Rating: B-. Very solid choice for an opener here with everyone looking good to great out there. This is what they should do with the three hour Raw’s: let the small guys go out there and tear the house down for ten minutes or so to fire up the crowd. This worked really well for an opening match and the high flying sequences were all really fun. Good, fun match here which is what the roster is capable of when it doesn’t have stupid writing weighing it down.

Brodus and Tensai would soon form a tag team called Tons of Funk and proceed to do….not much. They did however team up on September 17, 2013 on Smackdown.

Tons of Funk vs. Prime Time Players

Brodus pounds on Young to start before it’s quickly off to Tensai and an elbow/side slam combo. Young bails to the floor and Titus dives on Tensai as he goes after Darren. O’Neil comes in and runs over Tensai, only to miss a charge into the corner. Hot tag brings in Brodus to splash Young in the corner. A powerslam gets two as Titus makes the save (despite being late and the referee having to pause his count early), only to be thrown to the floor. The double splash ends Young at 2:44.

When you look back, Brodus really hasn’t done much. At the end of the day, he’s not much other than a good look but he’s had some decent performances at times. Most of that has been due to his character, but at least it’s better than nothing. Not much to him, but he’s better than some choices.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of Summerslam at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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This has been the hottest topic in wrestling for the last week or so and I think it’s time for an overview of the whole thing.To recap, TNA has cut a lot of wrestlers, had a lot of turnover backstage, messed up a house show and people think TNA is on its last legs.  In short, I think they’re fine.

Here’s the thing to remember about TNA: they have two hours a week of TV as compared to the five that WWE has (excluding internet broadcasts).  WWE has more than twice the room to get talent on TV so it’s much easier for WWE to maintain a large roster.  Think back: before this batch of releases, can you think of ten people let go by TNA in the last four years?  Now can you think of twenty people hired in the last four years?  The numbers were catching up to them and the cuts had to come eventually.

As for cutting costs, every company does this at some point.  TNA recently lost tens of thousands of dollars a month by not having regular PPVs anymore.  Couple that with the additional cost of taking Impact on the road and it’s no wonder they need to cut some salaries.  Cutting guys from Gut Check and people who are never used isn’t a sign of going out of business.  It’s a sign of smart business.

The main thing to keep in mind though: Panda Energy is pouring money into TNA and will do so until they don’t feel like it anymore.  Spike is reportedly very happy with the ratings and it’s not costing them a fortune to keep TNA on the air, so TNA isn’t going anywhere anytime soon unless Panda pulls the plug.

In short, it’s an overblown (yet interesting) story.

Some through releases, some through contracts not being renewed.  Here’s what we have so far:

Taeler Hendrix – Released

Madison Rayne – Contract not renewed

Christian York – Released

Joey Ryan – Released

Crimson – Not sure, likely released

Odds are more are coming, but it sounds like a big cost cutting move.  Other than Crimson, do any of these really surprise anyone?

Edit: Sam Shaw was originally listed but apparently he’s still around.

It’s that time again. The second biggest show of the year with all cage matches. Here you go.Roode vs. Storm – This is one of those matches that seems like you can’t screw up……….but this is TNA.  I’m not sure if they’re going to mess it up but they could.  I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt though and go with the obvious title change.

Lethal Lockdown – Keep this in mind: Garrett Bischoff is now in control of a world champion, a two time world champion, the hottest commodity in the company, and the most decorated man in the history of the company.  Let that sink in for a minute.  Anyway, I have to go with Garrett’s team.  There’s no reason for him to lose, and besides it lets us have him stand on top even more.  I have no interest in this match though because look at it on paper minus the Bischoffs.  Is there anyone on the heel team other than Ray that can stand up to any of the faces?  No, and that’s why the match isn’t interesting.  Also next year, cut thsi down to 8 people.  Ten is too many.

Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Hardy – This is Angle’s night usually as he has great match after great match at Lockdown.  I’ll take Hardy to win, but this is going to be good.  Angle said that he thinks it’ll be a masterpiece and as good as HHH vs. Undertaker, but then again Kurt thinks people still listen to him.

Tag Titles – I know this is blasphemy but I’m not interested in the Guns at all.  There’s nothing for them to accomplish with the titles anymore at all.  They’re one of the best teams in company history (not as good as Beer Money or AMW but they’re probably third), and there’s no reason for them to get the belts.  They probably will and there’s nothing wrong with them being champions, but there’s nothing left for them to do with the titles.  I’ll go with new champions but with very little confidence.

Morgan vs. Crimson – No way the streak ends here.  Not that it would matter if it did, but it doesn’t end here.  Crimson wins.

Knockouts – Gail has had the belt five months now.  Put it on Velvet already.

TV Title – It’s still D-Von vs. Robbie E.  Did you know this match was happening?  Tenay and Tazz didn’t.  Champion retains.

Thoughts/Predictions?

Impact Wrestling
Date: August 25, 2011
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

It’s another week closer to No Surrender, meaning the BFG Series is getting close to a finish. Tonight we have Angle vs. Crimson in what is almost guaranteed to have a screwy finish due to them both being big deals at the moment. Also I’m sure we’ll get more from the Hogan/Sting/Flair saga. Anyway let’s get to it.

Also I’m not watching live so the timing may be a bit off.

We open with a recap of the two major storylines in the form of Sting/Hogan/Flair plus Angle/Crimson.

Speaking of Angle, the champion opens us up and is in ring gear. He wants to talk to Crimson and here’s the big man. Angle says Crimson wants to be the big star and wants to be famous. Tonight he’ll face the consequences. Crimson talks about respect and Angle says Crimson has to earn it. Crimson says bring it and he’ll still be standing at the end of the match.

Cue Immortal with Ray saying that Crimson needs to respect Angle. Ray asks Kurt if he’s a part of them and Angle says he can handle this himself. He tells Immortal and especially Jeff to stay out of the match. It’s time to make Crimson famous.

ODB and Jackie talk to Velvet and are partners for some reason tonight. Velvet agrees to have their backs and the other chicks say they could take Velvet out and only the cameraman could see it. ODB just walks off.

The 8/16 episode of Impact was the highest rated ever in England and Ireland. That’s a perk.

Eric and Hogan yell at Flair, telling him to make Sting go away because Hogan isn’t getting in the ring with him, period. Flair says he’ll make it up to Hogan tonight. Hogan says he needs one thing from Ric and that is for Flair to keep his mouth shut. Nothing could possibly go wrong with this plan right?

Jackie/ODB/Velvet Sky vs. Angelina Love/Sarita/Rosita

Jackie and ODB are still trying to be all nice to get their contracts. Jackie rolls up Sarita for two quickly as I’m really trying to care about them. Off to Velvet and Rosita and it’s face miscommunication time! After a lot of tagging it’s off to Sarita vs. Velvet in an old feud rekindled. As almost always it goes badly for Sky and the triple team begins in the corner. It’s saying a lot that Velvet Sky being triple teamed by three hot chicks is so uninteresting.

Angelina hasn’t been in yet and is complaining that the team is only working between the two of them. She tags herself in to beat on Velvet a bit more and is promptly kicked off. Since Velvet is there for her looks though she doesn’t take the wide open tag. I guess she isn’t a fan of ODB/Jackie either. Everything breaks down and the unlikely partners tease beating up Velvet in a triple team but save her instead, giving Angelina a double suplex and putting Velvet on top for the pin at 4:07.

Rating: C-. I know I use this term a lot but this was just a six person tag. It’s nothing great but this advances the whole ODB/Jackie thing and possibly starts something with the Mexican chicks against Angelina. If we can get some fresh feuds in there I’m all for it. This wasn’t nearly as bad as some of them have been lately.

Jesse Sorensen vs. Kid Kash

This is #2 vs. #3 respectively but I doubt those numbers are going to mean much for awhile. Kash looks old and Sorensen is a face, carrying a football with him because he’s from Texas. Well I guess a weak gimmick is better than no gimmick. Kash dominates early, hitting a suplex into a release slam.

Moneymaker is blocked and Sorensen starts his comeback with a HHH leaping knee and a pretty sweet dropkick for two. Something resembling the McGillicutter gets two and Jesse goes up. Top rope cross body gets a very close two and I’m liking this Sorensen a bit. And never mind as Kash reverses a rollup and uses the tights for the pin at 3:01.

Rating: C. I liked Sorensen a lot more than I thought I would. The guy can jump pretty well and was trying to play to the crowd a bit also. The football thing doesn’t mean much but it needs time to develop obviously. Kash I don’t see the appeal to as he just looks old. He’s not bad or anything but he’s about as the same as you can be after many years.

Post match Kash yells at Sorensen, calling him a boy. Jesse is all bring it on but he gets pie faced and security breaks it up.

BFG Series stuff with Gunner saying he wants to win it. Roode and RVD say the same thing.

BFG Series Standings:

Crimson 50

Bully Ray 42

Bobby Roode 42

James Storm 40

Gunner 35

Devon 30 (Injured)

Rob Van Dam 25

AJ Styles 24

Matt Morgan 24 (Injured)

Scott Steiner 21

D’Angelo Dinero 17

Samoa Joe -10

Does Joe ever get any matches anymore?

Bound For Glory Series: Rob Van Dam vs. D’Angelo Dinero

Morgan is on commentary because it’s a BFG Series match. Face vs. face here I think and there’s no Jerry Lynn. They’re going fast out there and Rolling Thunder hits knees. Thankfully Pope got his knees up above his chest instead of Rob just missing it which I can’t stand. Forearm gets two for Dinero.

Rob takes over again and gets a reverse bridging chinlock (Benoit used it a lot and their backs are to each other. You know the move) and then an abdominal stretch as he’s looking for the submission. They’re using the psychology here which is good to see. DDT gets two for Pope. Top rope fist drop gets two for Pope but he gets his head kicked off, resulting in a surfboard getting the submission (REALLY???) at 5:00. Rob won if that wasn’t clear.

Rating: D+. I wasn’t feeling this and while the psychology makes sense, I’m not wild on it at all as Rob using a submission just looks weird. Why wouldn’t he use the move like that the rest of the time if he can get a clean submission that fast? Not a horrible match or anything but it really could have been better given more time.

Back from a replay and Joe is here attacking Pope’s knee. He puts on a leg bar until D-Von hobbles out (he’s injured and out of the Series) and stops in front of his kids. The kids go make the save but he yells at them and eventually asks for a chair. Joe bails but D-Von did make the save.

Robbie E asks Rob Terry to be his partner/bodyguard. Terry says he’ll think about it and leaves.

Immortal has a meeting about their match and Steiner is mad.

Angelina is on the phone and the Mexican chicks come in and beat her down. Winter makes the save and FREAKS, choking I think Rosita with a curtain cord. The male Mexicans make the save.

For about the third time tonight we see some boots in the back.

Bischoff hits on Traci as she might be doing the Knockout Law thing again. Something important here: all that is mentioned here is Eric is thinking about Knockout Law. There’s no explanation about that or what Traci’s name is, so to someone new to the show, this is kind of confusing no? Eric wants to get together and sex is implied.

Here are Hogan and Flair to end the Sting situation. Hogan says the main problem right now is there’s a problem. He calls out Sting and the crazy dude is here. Hogan says this needs to end tonight because it’s gone way too far. Sting has no fries left in his Happy Meal now. Hulk says we can’t have all this craziness going on and even says he might be partially to blame. From this point forward the company will be run perfectly.

Sting says deal on one condition. Hogan says deal as he’ll do anything. Sting wants….milk and cookies for everyone. Maybe some balloons and a unicorn as well. What about puppies for all the people and some flowers (including a stereotypical gay voice for that one). This prompts some Mr. Nanny level acting from Hogan as he’s stunned. Sting kisses him on the cheek a few times and heeeeeeeeeeeeeere’s Ric!

Flair goes into one of his usual insane moments, shoving Hogan and talking about how he’s the real insane one and he’ll beat Sting up when they fight because Sting respects him too much for the kill. An F Bomb is dropped in there also. Hogan is freaking Sting makes fun of Flair anyway. Sting doesn’t mind going through Flair to get to Hogan because he’s crazy like Flair. Sting wants Hogan at Bound For Glory, which I think we’ve all known was the ultimate end game for the last few months.

There’s supposed to be a hardcore BFG Series six man here but AJ comes out instead. He calls out Daniels who isn’t in the match tonight. AJ wants to talk about the rematch that Daniels wants. He doesn’t get why Chris wants the rematch and wants to know why right here. Daniels isn’t sure if he has it anymore and if he can do it at the top level anymore. He isn’t sure if he wants to be a wrestler anymore. AJ says one more time and it’s a big emotional moment. Daniels wants it at No Surrender but AJ says he’ll be in the BFG Series Final there so how about next week. Daniels says cool.

AJ Styles/Beer Money vs. Immortal

Ray/Gunner/Steiner here. This is Hardcore remember. Big brawl to start and Storm spits beer at someone, just like Steiner does at Roode. No one has been in the ring yet but they don’t have to be here. I think whoever gets the fall here gets the points. Gunner vs. AJ in the ring now and Abyss is watching from the ramp. Dang AJ has a great dropkick. It only gets one and here’s Steiner with a belly to belly.

Roode comes in and gets the Blockbuster for two. Ray kicks his head off for two and there have been no tags at all so far. Now it’s Storm with a kick to the head and a cross body for two on Ray. The former champs hit a double suplex on Ray and SHOUT THOSE NAMES. Roode looks jacked here. AJ wakes up and hits a HUGE dive to the floor to take out Ray. He’s holding his knee though.

Gunner sends Storm into the set for two and Steiner misses a chair shot. Abyss is still lookint down at them. We go split screen which for once is a good idea. The fans boo because as usual, THEY CAN’T SEE ANYTHING. Beer Money is getting beaten down and Storm has a locker dropped on his knees. Gunner, ever the smart dude, walks away as AJ hits the springboard clothesline for two on Ray back in the ring. Gunner comes back and AJ is distracted, letting Ray hit the Bubba Bomb for the pin on AJ at 6:00.

Rating: C. Meh just another six man hardcore match. It’s not bad or anything but it wasn’t great. Right in the middle works pretty well I think. It’s good to see someone move up in the ranks in the form of Ray but I’d like to see someone with an actual chance of going to BFG get the points instead. At the moment it’s looking like Beer Money, Ray and Crimson. For some reason, that doesn’t blow my skirt up.

Immortal sets for a beatdown but Anderson comes into the back in a Hummer for the save. He gets the chain from Ray and leaves Gunner gushing blood. I guess Anderson vs. Gunner or Ray can be penciled in for BFG. Granted it’s Anderson so who knows with him. Abyss walks away. I forgot he was even there.

Mickie rants about Winter/Angelina (not by name for awhile because that could tell people what they’re talking about) cheating and how she’s getting the title back next week.

Now it’s time for some Eric Young shenanigans as he finally finds Scott Baio. It actually turns into a chase scene and Young, in his underwear, jumps out of a tree onto Baio and counts the pin himself. Ladies and gentlemen, the TELEVISION CHAMPION!!! (for those counting, this would be the 12^th Impact in a row where the TV Title hasn’t been defended).

Crimson vs. Kurt Angle

There are some big match intros for you. This is non-title. The fans are split here and Crimson shoves him around to start. It’s almost all red man so far. There’s the cravate which have some knees and a neckbreaker added in for two. Angle finally gets in a shot to the bad knee and it’s time for a break.

Back with Angle holding a weird kind of arm/chinlock on Crimson. Double shoulder block puts both guys down and there’s a suplex for two. The German is no sold and the spear from Crimson gets two. There’s the ankle lock with the grapevine and Crimson actually manages to escape. The leg is no sold again and the Red Sky hits. Joe comes in for the DQ at 10:45 total as you would expect.

Rating: C+. Not horrible but the ending was all they could do. The problem here was that they had nothing else to do. With Crimson possibly looking to be in the main event of BFG and being undefeated, we can’t have him lose here. At the same time Angle can’t lose clean to him so the DQ ending was all they could do.

Joe and Angle have a brief staredown but Angle leaves so Joe can beat on him even more. Crimson no sells THAT and Joe runs.

Mike and Taz run down the card for next week.

Crimson says he wants Joe next week. Joe jumps him and beats him down (with ease) and breaks his leg using a cinder block, the steps and the power of fat.

Overall Rating: C. We’ll go with right in the middle here as there’s nothing too horrible on it but there’s nothing all that great either. Joe was the main focus of this show as it seems like he might be trying to take out everyone else and get in the back door of the tournament, which isn’t a horrible idea actually. I’m hoping they don’t do that as I wouldn’t want the whole thing to be wasted, but I’ve heard of worse ideas. Anyway not bad here but nothing great.

Impact Wrestling
Date: August 18, 2011
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

Tonight we’re likely to get the fallout of Angle attacking Crimson last week as well as Sting vs. Hogan/Angle. I’m not wild on either story but that’s what we have to go with leading up to No Surrender. Also we should get an answer from AJ about Daniels challenging him for another match at the same PPV. Also there are Bound (get it?) to be be more Series matches. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of last week’s Angle segment with Sting and Hogan. The idea is Angle is mad at Dixie for lying about Karen and Jeff. Now he’s going after all of the young talent one by one, starting with Crimson.

Here’s Sting to open the show, chair and bat in hands. Sting stops to roll down the ramp. Uh…sure. He says it was a redoing of last week where he got beaten up. He doesn’t remember what happened but he does remember that he was nervous, as his shirt says. It was however awesome to be beaten up by Hogan, who still has the (cue singing) Eye of the Tiger.

Sting says the fans and he both want to see the Hulkster back in the ring right? He starts a Hogan chant because he wants Hogan in the ring tonight. Instead he gets…Ric Flair. He asks if Sting just called Hogan the greatest ever. Sting is in fact an icon and people ask Flair when they’ll wrestle again. The fans want one more Flair vs. Sting match. There goes the jacket and Flair says in order to get back to where he uses to be, he has to wrestle Sting again. He doesn’t have to win, but just wrestle him. If he beats Sting, Sting retires. If Sting wins, Flair will deliver Hogan to Sting.

Sting asks the people and they seem into it. Flair smells like garlic and Sting accepts the match.

Post break Flair goes into Hogan’s office and Hogan is FREAKING. Hogan wants to know if Flair is on goofball pills. He thinks Sting should be dead and Flair says it’s not a big problem. Flair says he’ll get the troops together tonight. Hogan swears he’ll never wrestle Sting so Flair hugs Hogan and kisses him on the cheek. Ok then.

Bound For Glory Series standings:

Crimson 50

Bully Ray 42

Bobby Roode 35

James Storm 33

Devon 30

Gunner 28

Rob Van Dam 25

Matt Morgan 24 (out)

AJ Styles 21

D’Angelo Dinero 17

Scott Steiner 14

Samoa Joe -10

There are three weeks left and the final four advance to BFG.

D-Von says he’ll beat Scott Steiner and is going to BFG.

Bound For Glory Series: Scott Steiner vs. Devon

D-Von’s kids are there of course. He takes over to start and gets a pair of two counts quickly. And never mind as Steiner gets a rollup and puts his feet on the ropes for the pin at 1:10. What the heck was that?

Post match Joe sneaks in on Joe and beats him up, putting a leg hold on him. D-Von’s kids want Pope to come help him but they jump the railing (security around here sucks) to stop it and Pope comes in late for the save.

There’s an X-Division gauntlet which determines the rankings of the division and #1 contender next.

Post break Joe says don’t act surprised because this is how he does things. He’s taking everyone down with him. He’s going to take out the entire Series.

Alex Shelley vs. Tony Nese vs. Kid Kash vs. Robbie E vs. Zema Ion vs. Jesse Sorensen vs. Mark Haskins vs. Austin Aries

This is a gauntlet match. Shelley vs. Haskins (who looks like Morrison but less tanned and built) with Shelley beating the tar out of him. The first person out is #8 in the rankings, making the whole rankings stupid because whoever got the first two spots have a 50/50 chance of being last. Shelley keeps trying Sliced Bread but Haskins keeps blocking it. They trade pinning combination attempts and Haskins gets something resembling the inbred cousin of the GTS for the pin at 1:56.

Robbie gets pinned at 2:20 (total time on each, meaning there were about 24 seconds between pins).

Ion comes in third and hits a missile dropkick and some nice stuff including throwing Haskins’ face into Ion’s feet (yes that’s what happened) for two. A 450 gets the pin at 3:30.

Off to Sorensen who starts fast but gets taken down just as quickly. 450 hits knees and Ion is gone thanks to something like a spinning DDT at 4:20. This is why I hate gauntlet matches: the pins come WAY too fast.

Nese is in next and likes to attack by running. The rankings are in reverse order, meaning that Shelley is #8, Robbie is #7 etc. German gets two on Sorensen. That same spinning DDT ends Nese at 5:50.

Kash comes in and we take a break. Back with Kash hitting a moonsault for two on Sorensen. Only Aries is left. Moneymaker, the double underhook piledriver is countered into a rollup for the pin at 10:50.

Aries is in last but Kash comes in and hits the Moneymaker to kill Sorensen. Aries comes in and puts his foot on the chest for two. Brainbuster is countered into a small package for two. There’s a running dropkick in the corner and now the brainbuster ends this at 12:20 total.

Rating: D. I cannot stand these kind of matches. Why in the world should I believe that a regular match should take longer than a minute and a half now when something like this had seven pins in less than 13 minutes (with who knows how much it was shortened during the break)? I wasn’t a fan of this, namely due to the speed of the pinfalls which is a problem with these matches in general.

Aries talks about Kendrick post match and the champ comes out to offer a handshake which Aries declines. Kendrick jumps him and beats the tar out of the #1 contender.

Flair is getting ready for a fight. Don’t tell me Sting vs. Flair is tonight.

Sting is pacing in the back.

Anderson is out with two ruptured eardrums.

BFG ad.

ODB and Jackie are excited for a match later where they’re going to get a roster spot. Oh freaking joy.

Traci comes in to see Eric and he hits on her. She has an idea for Eric and wants to be Knockout Law again. In essence she’s in charge of them and Eric makes her lean over so he can look down her shirt. She was in Playboy dude.

ODB vs. Mickie James

Mickie gets her rematch on September 1. Mickie hammers away but gets caught in a fallaway slam. I think Mickie’s hair is blonder now. It’s power vs. speed here and Mickie gets a neckbreaker to put both of them down. They nip up at the same time and slug it out. Some clotheslines put ODB down and a rana is blocked. James is sent to the floor and Jackie wants to jump her but can’t. Mickie gets back in but the DDT is blocked. Bronco Buster misses for ODB and the DDT hits this time, ending things at 5:47.

Rating: D+. Wasn’t feeling this one at all but I think that’s more for my utter disdain for Jackie. I’ve never been able to stand her, namely due to her being so freaking LOUD all the time. Her voice is annoying and I have no idea what people keep hiring her for. Her matches aren’t anything of note and she’s not interesting at all. Either way, the match was dull, namely due to ODB focusing on rubbing her body too much.

Winter and Angelina have a weird moment over the title. Just get them to a lesbian scene already. She says she can beat Mickie. They’re having wine and it looks like it’s got blood in it. Winter calls it orgasmic.

Bound For Glory Series: Rob Van Dam vs. AJ Styles

Lynn is outside again. Technical stuff as usual to start as they feel each other out a lot. AJ gets a backbreaker for two. Knee drop gets the same. BIG monkey flip sends Styles down though and it even gets a replay. Rolling Thunder hits for two. Lynn gets annoyed and Rob isn’t pleased with Jerry getting up.

RVD gets crotched and AJ looks to take over again with a superplex but Rob counters. Five Star hits knees and Styles gets two. They slug it out and an attempt at the Clash is broken up. AJ hits the Pele and Lynn pulls the referee out for the DQ at 5:22, costing RVD another ten points.

Rating: C+. Not a bad match but with only five minutes these two aren’t capable of getting anything going. That isn’t their fault but it’s really just kind of reality. Either way this wasn’t anything special. It felt like a collection of spots as a means to the end of the match, which was Lynn interfering. It’s pretty clear they’re going for RVD vs. Lynn at BFG, which isn’t a bad move. The match wasn’t bad or anything but it didn’t have time to go anywhere.

Rob yells at Lynn post break.

Flair is talking to no one it seems and things start moving around. He says Sting isn’t the Joker and we hear a pipe fall. Flair keeps looking for him and more stuff moves/falls. He calls out Sting but all he hears are more noises. Something big falls and Flair says he’s counting to five and is starting at four. He doesn’t have time for this as he has to go to a bar later. Sting finally appears but someone jumps him. It’s Gunner and Sting rams him into some boxes. Flair fires Gunner and leaves while Sting keeps beating on him. Sting tells Gunner he’ll go somewhere someday.

Time for more Eric Young hijinks. He tries to wrestle some woman and wants to find Scott Baio, again. He’s told Baio is in the Valley and the showdown is next week. Good for it.

Crimson is here and is limping.

Here’s Crimson in the arena and he’s limping badly. He says he used to respect Angle and calls him out because they have some issues now. Angle doesn’t respect him because he’s a nobody. The young talent, built around Angle, has meant nothing. Without Angle, Crimson is uncoordinated and green. Angle says Crimson needs him (Angle) to get anywhere. Crimson says no one in the back disrespects Angle and Angle calls Crimson nothing.

He goes to leave and Crimson stops him. Crimson challenges Angle for next week where he’ll show him why he’s the future and and the here and now. He’s REAL. He’s DANG REAL.

Mexican America says they’ll win the titles next.

Tag Titles: Beer Money vs. Mexican America

The Jarretts are on commentary here. This is billed as the final showdown. The champs take over to start as Jeff talks about Mexico and is way funnier than he should be, especially given what he’s talking about. Hernandez gets a shot in on Storm and takes over, also getting two. Off to Anarquia who gets two off a double shoulder block.

Jeff and Karen are shocked that Tenay speaks so highly of the Guerreros. He accuses Hector of having some cerveza as Storm gets a shot in on Anarquia but Hernandez breaks up the tag. Border Toss is countered into a Codebreaker and here’s Roode off the hot tag. Blockbuster gets two. Angle has accepted Crimson’s challenge. Beer Money hits a slingshot into a DDT on Anarquia.

Double suplex puts Hernandez down and LET’S SHOUT OUR NAMES! Rosita comes in and spits beer in Storm’s face which doesn’t work for some reason here. They go after her and Karen bounces down to ringside. Jeff comes down as well and the distraction lets Hernandez get a shot to the head of Roode with the AAA belt and the Mexicans win the titles at 7:25.

Rating: C. Match wasn’t bad and they really needed to dot he title switch here. Beer Money had held the titles forever and the switch is the right thing here, especially with the Jarrett Mexican Champion thing going on. Not a great match or anything but it accomplished the goal that it needed to, which is really all you can ask for here.

Overall Rating: D+. This show wasn’t without merit but it felt like it was boring for the most part. It’s very hit or miss and the misses caught up with it at the end. Sting and Flair were on screen WAY too much tonight. The problem with that is it takes up from other stuff you can do, like have a match for example. Winter and Angelina are vampires or something (totally more serious than leprechauns right?) and Eric Young is still in Hollywood because COMEDY IS GREAT, especially when it keeps the champion from defending his title in two and a half months right?

On the other hand the Crimson thing was good and you can see the shapings of the next two PPVs really coming into focus. Having Joe do the run-in post match was interesting and it would make me think he’s going to No Surrender, but if he can never get a match how is that supposed to happen? I guess that’s what house shows are for but they’re rapidly running out of time. Anyway, hit and miss show tonight and it certainly wasn’t horrible, but it missed for the most part I thought.

Results

Scott Steiner b. Devon – Rollup with feet on the ropes

Austin Aries won a gauntlet match last eliminating Jesse Sorensen

Mickie James b. ODB – Jumping DDT

AJ Styles b. Rob Van Dam via DQ when Jerry Lynn interfered

Mexican America b. Beer Money – Hernandez pinned Roode after a belt shot