Joey Janela’s Spring Break 2
Date: April 6, 2018
Location: Pontchartrain Convention & Civic Center, Kenner, Louisiana
Attendance: 1,500
Commentators: Denver Colorado, Emil J

I’ve done parts of this series before so I figured I might as well knock off the rest of them. This show features a match that I’ve always wanted to see as it started one of the strangest comeback stories in wrestling history. Other than that, we’re in for a total mess and that is absolutely by design. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is designed after what looks to be a 16 bit video game, with Joey Janela and Glacier going after Marty Jannetty on the streets….where Jannetty lights Dink on fire to clear the stage. The second stage features Janela and Jannetty shooting at a Barber Shop (which can shoot back). With the shop destroyed, Shawn Michaels pops out of a DeLorean and superkicks Jannetty. That was different.

James Ellsworth is in a toy store and talks about working in WWE before coming here in his return to the independent scene. Tonight he’s ready to fight Matt Riddle, who doesn’t think much of Ellsworth.

Nick Gage music video. Is this just a really long pre-show?

David Starr talks about what wrestling has done for him and tonight, he’s ready for Mike Quackenbush. This is a really long pre-show isn’t it?

Quackenbush is in, and says so to Starr’s face.

Video on the Great Sasuke vs. Joey Janela, the show’s main event.

There’s going to be a Clusterf*** Battle Royal.

We start the series of videos from the beginning again as I guess we’ve got some time to kill before the show starts.

After 24 minutes of the videos looping, we’re ready to go, meaning we get to hear the commentators getting ready for the show and going over the match order.

The opening video is modeled after the WWF Attitude Era intro.

We open with a video on Joey Janela, which is basically a recreation of The Wrestler.

Teddy Hart vs. KTB vs. Tony Deppen vs. Eli Everfly vs. Gringo Loco vs. DJZ

One fall to a finish and DJZ would go on to become Joqauin Wilde in WWE. It’s a brawl to start (duh) with Everfly being sent outside. Deppen clears the ring but gets anklescissored down by Loco. Everfly is back in to snap off a headscissors before he and Loco come to a standoff. Hold on though as DJZ is back with his air horn but gets cleared out again. Hart walks on KTB’s back before pulling him into a sunset flip for two.

A torture rack backbreaker sends Deppen outside and a Project Ciampa hits Everfly. With a helping hand from the referee, Hart moonsaults onto a bunch of people on the floor. KTB dives onto everyone (Hart doesn’t go down) and Everfly hits a dive of his own. Back in and a springboard tornado DDT plants KTB and a super hurricanrana gives Everfly two on Loco. KTB comes off the top to dive onto everyone but Hart, who DDTs KTB down.

A Lionsault misses for KTB and Loco hits a springboard cutter to bring him down again. DJZ is back up and sunset bombs Loco into a moonsault onto KTB before hitting them both with a rolling DDT. Everfly hurricanranas Hart to the floor and takes Deppen up top for a…..super flipping Jay Driller (commentary: “He can’t do that!”) and the pin at 11:06.

Rating: B-. I’m not big on scrambles like this one, but there is something to be said about doing this kind of acrobatics and flips all over the place. It was certainly a fun match and the right way to fire up the crowd to start the show. Everfly’s finisher was completely nutty, making it perfect for a show like this one. Very fun stuff here and believe it or not, the fans loved it.

James Ellsworth vs. Matt Riddle

Ellsworth’s intergender title isn’t on the line (and I’m assuming Riddle’s unidentified title isn’t either). Ellsworth chop blocks him from behind before the bell but Riddle snaps off a gutwrench suplex to drop him as well. Fans: “WHERE’S YOUR CHIN?” Riddle hits a running forearm in the corner and the backsplash makes it worse. Riddle’s running knee just misses….because Ellsworth doesn’t have a chin. A superkick gives Ellsworth one but another is countered into the Bromission to give Riddle the win at 3:38.

Rating: C. Well yeah, what were you expecting? This was always going to be total destruction and it shouldn’t have been anything else. Ellsworth was always a joke and that’s how he was treated here, with Riddle, the indy prodigy, running through him. The missed knee was funny and then Riddle finished him off, as he should have done. That’s oddly logical from a show like this but I’ll take it.

Ellsworth flips off the crowd on the way out in a nice touch.

The ring announcer is ready to introduce the next match and….Virgil interrupts? He calls someone out (the audio isn’t exactly clear), gets no one, and leaves.

PCO vs. Walter

PCO isn’t the monster just yet. Before the match, Walter offers a chance to walk out but PCO gives him a crotch chop and we’re ready to go. They circle each other to start and PCO takes him into the corner for some taps to the chest. Walter works on the arm and gets kicked away without much trouble. PCO knocks him outside and loads up the dive, only to get run over with a shoulder.

The chop off ensues until Walter grabs a slam and sits on his chest. Some choking on the ropes keeps PCO down but he chops his way out of trouble. A kick to the head and short DDT put Walter down and it’s time to head outside. PCO loads up the first table but takes too long and gets dropped down onto the apron. Walter blocks a powerbomb off the apron and sends PCO hard into the steps, but the big chop only hits post.

As he’s a bit off, PCO goes up top and moonsaults down onto Walter and the referee for the big triple knockdown. Granted there was almost no length to the dive so it’s a wonder that he hit the two of them as well as he did. Walter is up first and powerbombs PCO through the table before doing it again (sans table) inside.

The second referee comes in for the two count so PCO gets booted in the face. The chops just wake PCO up though and he opens his own shirt so Walter can chop him again. PCO wins a chop off and the fans are actually on their feet as Walter looks scared. A discus forearm puts Walter on the floor for a suicide dive and a running flip dive takes him down again.

Back in and a super hurricanrana gives PCO two but Walter flips him over with a release German suplex. PCO is right back with a Regal Roll into a split legged moonsault for two (and another standing ovation). Back up and PCO hits a top rope Swanton to finally put Walter away at 18:29.

Rating: B+. Oh yeah this was rather awesome as it was all about two big guys beating each other up and hitting each other really hard. Walter was already a big deal but this would be a nice boost to his career. At the same time, it kicked off one of the most improbably career resurgences as PCO would turn this into an incredible second act to his career. It’s easy to see why too, as this was just hard hitting pain for the sake of beating on each other, with those chops making my skin crawl.

Post match they trade another chop each and shake hands before Walter leaves.

GCW World Title: Penta El Zero M vs. Nick Gage

Gage is defending and swears a lot before the bell. We get a CERO MIEDO vs. MDK chant off until Gage knocks him outside. The dive is cut off with a chair to the head and Penta chairs him again for a bonus. Penta’s chop hits the post though (with commentary pointing out that it’s two matches in a row) but is fine enough to grab some doors. Gage hiptosses him through a door in the corner and grabs a Falcon Arrow for two.

The boot scrape is cut off though and Penta Death Valley Drivers him through another door. A piece of the door over the head rocks Gage again and Penta puts some pieces onto Gage onto a table. The backsplash off the barricade doesn’t put Gage through said table in a nasty crash. Back in and Penta bridges a door over some chairs and Pentagon Drivers him through the door for two. Penta sets up another similar structure but gets powerbombed off the ropes through it instead. The chokebreaker retains Gage’s title at 9:27.

Rating: D+. This felt like a match where the idea was “Gage vs. this guy” and they didn’t have any more thought put into it. Gage didn’t do much of anything here and then retained in the end after Penta had done so much. That didn’t make for an interesting or even fun match from the usual freak show standards, so this was kind of a wreck.

Respect is shown post match. Penta leaves and Gage yells at the fans, who don’t seem to like him. Then he high fives a bunch of fans on the way out so he’s quite an odd duck.

Mike Quackenbush vs. David Starr

Starr does his long introduction and commentary (featuring Walter for this match) will not shut up, saying no one cares what Starr has to say. They fight over arm control to start until Starr gets two off a Thesz press. Back up and they shake hands before Mike climbs the rope and armdrags him into a leglock which he rolls over for what appeared to be a Crossface attempt, sending Starr to the rope.

Mike stomps on the foot and sweeps the leg, setting up some double knees to the ribs. The abdominal stretch goes on and even Walter is impressed by the series of twists it took for Mike to get it on. With that broken up, Starr Death Valley Drivers him into the corner twice in a row, followed by a springboard clothesline to the floor. Starr doesn’t want the countout so he throws Mike back in and gets tossed off the top for his efforts.

A Swanton gives Mike two but his hurricanrana is countered into a powerbomb for two. Starr kicks him in the head for two, which has Walter wanting Mike to win because Starr is “acting like a d***.” A nice tornado DDT sends Starr outside but the big dive is cut off, with Starr driving him into the apron. Back in and Mike grabs a double arm crank but Starr slips out and blasts him with a clothesline for the pin at 11:37.

Rating: B-. This was the technical match of the night so far, with Starr being just enough of a villain to make it a little uneven. What mattered here was getting in something different on the show and they made it work. These two worked well together and you could hear Walter being impressed on commentary so there had to be something to this one.

Commentary: “Walter is it fair to say that the better man won?” Walter: “No.” Starr grabs the mic and puts Mike over before saying how glad he was for being on this show.

Clusterf*** Battle Royal

This is a Royal Rumble with pinfalls, submissions and over the top eliminations, though the entrance intervals are going to be shaky at best. We see some people in the back trying to check into the match, including MJF in a blonde wig disguise. Jimmy Lloyd is in at #1 and Session Moth Martina (she likes beer) is in at #2. Martina dances a lot and gets kissed for her efforts as Orange Cassidy (still just an indy guy and not a phenomenon yet) is in at #3.

Cassidy takes so long to come in that Wheeler Yuta (looking about 17 years old) comes in at #4 and Curt Stallion comes in at #5 for the grapple off. Yuta rolls him up for two and it’s Facade in at #6 to strike away at Stallion. Facade sends him outside and adds a rope walk moonsault onto everyone outside (as no one has been eliminated yet). Back in and a running kick to the head pins Stallion for our first elimination. Swoggle is in at #7 and snaps off some German suplexes.

With Swoggle cleaning house, Grado is in at #8 and he seems immune to German suplexes. Apparently Grado is quite intoxicated and Kikutaro is in at #9 and crotches himself while trying Old School. As some other wrestlers come back in….the Invisible Man is in at #10. House is cleaned and Kikutaro is tossed before Swoggle taps to a Fujiwara armbar. Joe Gacy is in at #11 and slugs it out with Yuta, including the handspring cutter. Bryan Idol is in at #12 and gets to clean some house before Chris Dickinson, in a mask, smoking a cigarette, and coming out to Real American, knocks out Facade.

Gacy is tossed and Yuta is Razor’s Edged out onto the pile (some are still in, some aren’t) at ringside. Dickinson hits Hulk Hogan’s finishing sequence to get rid of Grado and is left alone (I think). Dan Severn is in at #13 and they go with the grappling (after issues at yesterday’s Bloodsport). Alabama Doink (sure) is in at #14 and gets tossed by Severn, who is eliminated by Dickinson. Rickey Shane Page is in at #15 and beats up Dickinson….as well as the still in Lloyd.

With that not working, Marcus Crane comes in at #16 and gets beaten up by Dickinson. Aeroboy (a masked luchador with another masked man apparently named Crazy Boy….who looks like Excalibur) is in at #17 and starts cleaning house, with a Swanton into a double pin getting rid of Dickinson. Rory Gulak (or Drew, according to the rather drunk commentary team) is in at #18 and doesn’t like the idea of the match (with the sign to prove it). Nate Webb is in at #19 and walks through the crowd as Rory beats people up inside.

Everyone gets out of the ring as the fans sing Webb’s song. After taking over the camera, Webb gets inside and plants Gulak with something like a spinning Big Ending for the elimination. Ethan Page is in at #20 so Gulak kicks him in the head. That earns Webb a trip into the corner and it’s MJF (no wig) in at #21.

The masked men go after Page and MJF, with the villains tossing out the luchadors. With them gone, MJF Codebreakers Page into a rollup for the elimination. Martina (hey she’s still in this) comes back in and puts a condom on her face for a Mandible Claw on Page. She also wraps her legs around MJF’s hand for the female version of Joey Ryan’s penis suplex. Then Page rolls her up for the elimination. Cassidy finally gets in for the lazy strikes (the fans approve) and a double chokeslam pus the villains down.

That lets Cassidy go up….and fall off the top so MJF and Page can pin him at the same time. The Invisible Man beats both of them up until Lloyd gives him a piledriver…..which is illegal in Louisiana so Lloyd is eliminated. Page and MJF double team Webb for a double two count so they beat up referee Bryce Remsburg. That results in a beating from Remsburg, who gets sent outside.

Mikey Whipwreck is in at #22 (oh yeah this is a battle royal) and beats the villains up until MJF elbows him in the face. The Whippersnapper (Stunner) sends Page into a spinning faceplant from Webb for the pin and we’re down to….however many are still in this thing. MJF shoves Mikey off the ropes and hits a splash for the pin. A poke to the eye stuns Webb and MJF throws him out….but the Invisible Man rolls MJF up for the win at 39:38.

Rating: D. This right here? It was dumb. I get the idea of having a bunch of people involved and all that jazz but my goodness did this not hold my interest. I’m sure the live crowd (plus a lot of alcohol) really enjoyed it but it was a bunch of indy stars coming in, doing a little something and then moving on. It’s also one of those battle royals where it is virtually impossible to keep track of who is in there and who isn’t as people will stand outside for such long stretches. These things can be fun, but this didn’t have any big surprises or cool moments, leaving it as something that just kept going.

Joey Janela vs. Great Sasuke

Penelope Ford, in a Mardi Gras mask, is here with Janela. Sasuke comes to the ring with what looks like holy water to bless fans. A quick takedown doesn’t get either of them very far so they go to a grappling sequence with Janela twisting the fingers around. Sasuke nips up though and sits in the middle of the ring, which has Janela worried. Back up and Sasuke…apparently hypnotizes Janela and then spins his hand around, causing Janela to flip himself over.

Sasuke puts him in a chair at ringside and loads up a ladder, only to be whipped into it instead. Back up and Sasuke sends him flying off the top and onto the table for a nasty crash. Sasuke brings it back inside and puts Janela on the ladder for a missed Swanton, leaving Sasuke’s heck caught in said ladder. Janela grabs an inflatable alligator to crush Sasuke before loading up six chairs back to back.

With Janela going up top, Sasuke powerbombs him down onto the chairs in one of those STOP DOING THAT bumps. Sasuke hits him in the head with a door and then whips him through another in the corner. They slug it out on the apron and there’s a Death Valley Driver to plant Sasuke (Janela: “F*** YOU JIM CORNETTE!”). With Sasuke in a chair at ringside, Janela misses a top rope flip dive, only hitting the chair instead.

Janela is laid on a table and a big running flip dive drives him through it, which draws in Ford. A dance distracts Sasuke and Janela grabs a figure four. Sasuke gets to the rope, which rightly has commentary asking “IN THIS MATCH?” Janela misses a moonsault and gets laid over another table at ringside, allowing Sasuke to try and put a trashcan over himself and climb up.

This proves rather difficult (as you might have guessed) so he just throws it at Janela instead, setting up a Swanton onto Janela onto the table for the huge crash. Back in and Janela gets two (as Sasuke is mostly dead) but can’t believe the kickout. A Michinoku Driver onto the side of the ladder gives Janela two more, followed by a top rope double stomp onto a chair onto Sasuke for the pin at 25:16.

Rating: D+. To say this just kept going would be an understatement. It turned into little more than a hardcore brawl and that isn’t the most thrilling thing to see. Sasuke did a bunch of flips, but it didn’t exactly feel like a special match. Chop this in half and have some more wrestling and it’s much better, but it didn’t work for the most part, mainly due to the length and feeling like an indy street fight.

Post match Janela puts Sasuke over huge and thanks the fans, talking about how he can’t believe all this happened. Sasuke gets in a quick thank you of his own and they do a quick karaoke version of It’s My Life by Bon Jovi (sure) to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This is a show where it depends on your viewing location. Watching this live in person would have been a blast, though watching it back at home just doesn’t work so well. The Quackenbush vs. Starr and PCO vs. Walter matches are both good (the latter being very good) but the rest of the show is mostly skippable. These shows would get better, but it took some time to get the formula of “fun indy show” down. For now, it isn’t quite working yet, but it could have been a lot worse. Just kind of a not great show that went on too long.

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TripleMania XXV
Date: August 26, 2017
Location: Arena Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
Commentators: Kevin Gill, Gabe Ramirez

This is of course AAA’s biggest show of the year and heck if I know why someone requested it. Granted it might have been more than a few years ago that someone wanted me to look at it so there is probably something big that stuck out. I have no idea what is going on here but these shows have been hit or miss to say the least. Let’s get to it.

Keep in mind that I don’t follow the promotion so I have no idea what is going on with characters, backstories etc.

A bunch of men, I believe the broadcast team, is introduced.

The ring announcer (one of the four) introduces a bunch of people in costumes. I’m guessing these are sponsor mascots or something? Wrestlers are with them and handing out things to the fans so they’re certainly supposed to be good.

We get some English commentary from Twitch, which confirms that we are still on the preshow here and yes those are sponsor mascots.

La Parka, Faby Apache and Vampiro seem to be judging the first match. Ignore the arena being mostly empty, with almost no noise whatsoever for an almost eerie feeling.

Pre-show: Llave de Gloria: Dragon Solar/Pardux/Solaris/Ashley vs. Hahastary/Bronco Gonzalez/Chicano/Fetiche

This seems to be the finals of some kind of tournament as independent wrestlers are fighting for a contact. It’s a brawl to start with Ashley’s dive being left short on the floor. She’s fine enough to get back in and hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on…someone commentary doesn’t feel the need to identify (which makes me think they don’t know who is who here). Instead they give a basic explanation of rudos vs. technicos as everyone gets in a shot to just about everyone else. Even commentary points out that there is one winner to the whole thing so the team aspect is pretty much worthless.

Ashley dropkicks Chicano (thank goodness for names on the back of gear) down but Chicano elbows her in the face. Solaris comes in for a save with a hurricanrana but gets dropkicked out of the air. Everything breaks down the Chicano team takes Ashley down, including a slingshot powerbomb.

Solar gets in some hurricanranas for a breather and it’s Ashley coming back in to pick up the pace. Solaris and Pardux come in with stereo missile dropkicks and Ashley hits a big dive onto most of her opponents. Fetiche is backdropped onto a pile of people on the floor, followed by a corkscrew dive from Solaris. Back in and Solar rolls up Gonzalez for the pin at 6:40.

Rating: C. This was a VERY weird one as they didn’t bother trying to do anything more than have a big exhibition of spots. Ashley stood out a bit more than anyone else but commentary clearly had NO idea what was going on here or who was who. That makes things all the more confusing, and I spent most of the match trying to figure out their names. Granted there wasn’t anything more here than having a bunch of people trying to get noticed, which only worked well enough.

Pre-Show: Llave de Gloria: Angel Mortal Jr./Tiger Boy/Villano III Jr. vs. Angelikal/The Tigger/El Hijo del Vikingo

Same idea as the first match but three on three and thankfully there are a lot more fans in the building for the entrances. For some reason we start with music in the background as Tigger and Villano get things going (commentary seems a lot more familiar with this batch). They flip around to start and neither can get anything more than a fast one, as you might have expected.

Angelikal comes in to hurricanrana Mortal as the pace stays fast. Angelikal clears the ring by himself before being pulled outside, allowing Vikingo to come in. Vikingo climbs the rope for an anklescissors out of the corner to Tiger. Mortal comes in and launches Vikingo into a hurricanrana to tiger on the floor.

Back in and Villano and company start taking over on Tiger’s arm. A double electric chair missile dropkick hits Angelikal and a springboard Codebreaker into a wheelbarrow suplex gets two. Angelikal is right back up with a hurricanrana, leaving Vikingo and Tigger to hit running flip dives to the floor. Back in and Tigger and company hit a 450/moonsault/shooting star press for the triple pin at 7:33.

Rating: C+. Much like the opener, this was a bunch of people trying to get in as much as they could to showcase themselves. Unlike the opener, this one didn’t have as many people around and it made things that much easier to follow. If nothing else, commentary knowing who they were watching helped just as much. Do this alone instead of both matches and it’s a much better pre-show.

The ring announcer (as translated by Ramirez) welcomes us to the show and pitches the official program. The Spanish broadcast team is introduced (the matching ties are nice) and so is the president of the company.

The National Anthem is played, with a live military band.

The announcer hypes up the crowd about the main event.

The opening video (with the camera just pointed at the screen) looks at TripleManias past, set to Dream On by Aerosmith.

We get some banners of various deceased legends, including company founder Antonio Pena (whose wife, the president, is holding his urn, because that’s not at least a little creepy).

Hernandez/La Hiedra/Mamba/Mini Psycho Clown vs. Big Mami/Dinastia/Estrella Divina/Mascara de Bronce

This is an Atomicos match, which I believe means a man, a woman, an exotico (man dressed as a woman) and a mini. Bronce starts with Clown (not that much shorter) and sends him outside for a good looking step up flip dive. Mami comes in but gets dropped by Hernandez, only to come back with a kiss. Everything breaks down fast and Bronce breaks up Hernandez’s slam attempt on Mami (and he was struggling).

Clown sends Bronce outside for a bit flip dive, followed by a springboard corkscrew dive from Dinastia. Hernandez cuts off Bronce’s dive and powerbombs him onto the pile, followed by Hernandez hitting his own huge dive. Mami dives off the middle rope to crush everyone and it’s time to head back inside. Hernandez and Bronce fight to the back and Clown rolls Dinastia up for two. Dinastia’s standing moonsault gets two, with Mamba making the save. Hiedra gets in a chair shot to Mami though and Mamba steals the pin at 6:56.

Rating: C. This was all over the place and in this case, that’s exactly the point. These things are designed to be pure chaos with everyone going all over the place and it went well enough. The dives were impressive and the fans were into a lot of it, making it a rather fun opener. Just maybe don’t have the villains win to kick off the show?

The ring announcer again polls the fans about the main event.

Reina de Reinas Title: Lady Shani vs. Ayako Hamada vs. Rosemary vs. Sexy Star

Star is defending and this is one fall to a finish. Of note, Rosemary is from Global Force Wrestling, because that was a thing at this point. Rosemary suplexes Star to the floor to start but Shani and Hamada take Rosemary down. Back up and Rosemary slugs away but Star is right back for some shots to everyone. Hamada grabs a chair and takes out Star, only to have Shani kick the chair into Hamada’s face.

Now it’s a trashcan being thrown…well in the vicinity of the ring, as Hamada doesn’t clear the top rope in a bit of an embarrassing miss. Rosemary grabs a full nelson with her legs on Shani and Hamada cranks on one of Shani’s legs for a tap….but that doesn’t count because it’s a double submission so we keep going (I’ve always thought that should be an elimination or something, as it’s hard to fathom tapping to two people not having some kind of consequence.).

Shani is put in a chair and has a trashcan put on top of her but topples over due to unconsciousness. Star comes back in and gets WHACKED with a trashcan lid. She’s fine enough to powerbomb Hamada out of the corner for two, with Rosemary having to make the save. Shani is back up with some kicks to Rosemary, who pulls her into something of a Last Chancery. That’s broken up by Star, who gets Stunnered by Rosemary. Star is able to Iconoclasm Rosemary off the top and grabs a cross armbreaker to retain at 9:57. She takes her sweet time letting go too.

Rating: C-. It was pretty much just a bunch of weapons stuff while commentary praised Sexy Star as being this huge deal. As for the match, there was little to no flow or story to it other than Star making a comeback at the end. Rosemary and Hamada are capable of more and I’ve seen Star be ok. Shani was billed as a hardcore specialist and that was only kind of on display here. It wasn’t horrible, but the ending was out of nowhere and it felt like they were told “go do stuff and then finish it now”.

Oh and one more thing: the armbreaker that Star used on Rosemary wound up being a shoot, legitimately injuring Rosemary and more or less banishing Star to the indies for the rest of her career. Pretty much, no one of note was going to put up with her attacking a wrestler for no valid reason and that was it. The title would be vacated a few weeks later as Star was done with AAA. If a wrestler legitimately attacks someone else in the ring without just cause, I’m not sure what kind of a future they would be expecting to have.

With THAT out of the way, Martha Villalobos, a legend and former champion, comes out to present Star with the belt in a moment I’m sure AAA won’t want to have back immediately.

The ring announcer shills the program.

Vampiro and someone who seems to be a sponsor are here to announce the winners of the Llaves a la Gloria. Third place is Ashley, second is El Hijo del Vikingo and the winner is….Angelikal. As a bonus, Vampiro has the rest of the contestants get inside, where they are told they will be the first group of students at the new AAA school.

Tag Team Titles: Andrew Everett/DJZ vs. Monster Clown/Murder Clown vs. Aerostar/Drago vs. Dark Cuervo/Dark Scoria

Cuervo/Scoria are defending and this is one fall to a finish. The Clowns whip out a belt to start the whipping but Aerostar and Drago take over on DJZ. An assisted tornado DDT gets two on Everett but the champs are back in to double clothesline Drago. Back in and the Clowns get to clean the ring save for Aerostar, who gets whipped with the belt. Aerostar fights back and sends the Clowns outside for the suicide dive.

Cuervo and Scoria hit dives of their own, followed by the rather large Murder Clown hitting his own big flip dive. Back in and Murder Clown gets caught on top with a Tower Of Doom. Aerostar is raised up the lighting grid and then asks to go even higher. We get some near falls but keep cutting up to Aerostar as they keep going up. He finally hits the dive to clear out the pile and three wrestlers run in for a beatdown.

Commentary doesn’t know who they are and they’re ejected just as fast (Apparently they’re El Poder del Norte, a heel stable. Thanks review from someone else, because commentary is rather worthless on this show.). The champs fight back but a third Clown (he has purple hair) comes in to help take them out. Cuervo and Scoria fight back, only to have Marty Martinez (from Lucha Underground) run in and help the Clowns as well. A top rope splash gives Murder the double pin on the champs for the titles at 13:28.

Rating: D+. The huge dive was impressive looking and there were some cool spots, but this was another match where it felt like they weren’t really doing much of anything until the ending when everything went nuts. The Clowns felt like the bigger deal but the whole match felt like a bunch of teams thrown out there for the sake of having a Tag Team Title match. Well that and so Aerostar could do a crazy dive because he seems to be a little nuts.

Post match the Clowns keep up the beating and Marty leaves with the purple haired clown.

We get a speech from the President of the company (the widow of founder Antonio Pena), who talks about wrestlers who have passed away during the TripleMania years.

We get a video on the wrestlers who have passed away. Nothing wrong with something like that.

BUY MERCHANDISE!

Torneo TripleMania XXV

So from what I can tell this is a ten trios (30 people) battle royal with lumberjacks. It also seems that there are teams from different eras to give it a bit of a theme. We’re also doing staggered entrances ala the Royal Rumble (90 second intervals), so it’s Team Ex-AAA (Heavy Metal/Pirata Morgan/Villano IV) in at #1 and Relevos Incredibles (Australian Suicide/Faby Apache/Pimpinela Escarlata) in at #2 to start. It’s a brawl to start as the lumberjacks (with straps) get into it on the floor.

Los OGT’s (Averno/Chessman/Super Fly) are in at #3 and a lot of stomping/near eliminations ensue. Granted I’m not completely sure who is almost out as, again, commentary seems to have no idea who is who, but why let that stop you? Los Vipers (Histeria/Maniaco/Psicosis), who even I’ve heard of, are in at #4 and Psicosis has a huge snake around his neck. The Vipers start cleaning house as I don’t believe anyone has been eliminated yet. Los Guapos (Decnis/Scorpio Jr./Zumbido) are in at #5 as this is rather hard to keep track of, a statement commentary makes as well.

A high crossbody completely misses for I believe Histeria and Los Perros del Mal (Halloween/Joe Lider/Mr. Aguila) are in at #6. We get some rapid fire pinfalls (no names mentioned and no word on if those individuals or their teams are out) and the Mexican Powers (Crazy Boy/Lanzelot/Nina Hamburguesa) are in at #7. They get to clean house for a bit, including the nearly 400lb Nino coming off the top with a missed Swanton, until La Parka y sus Amigos (La Parka/Argenis/Bengala) are in at #8.

As they come to the ring, everyone gets on Nino for the pin, followed by Los Vipers getting to clean some house. Los Leyendas (Blue Demon Jr./El Cobrade/El Intocable, the Legends) are in at #9 and get to clean more house. Team GFW (Moose/Bobby Lashley/Jeff Jarrett) are in at #10 to complete the field….or at least they should be, as it’s just Lashley on his own.

Lashley gets to wreck some people on the grounds of he’s Bobby Lashley, but the clock starts counting down again. Commentary is confused (it’s not that hard) and it gets even worse when no one comes out. Moose comes out on his own and just kind of stands around awkwardly, which isn’t his style.

Jarrett finally comes out and…..yeah there’s no way around it: Jarrett was very out of it (quite possibly drunk) at this show, to the point where he can barely get down the steps to the ring. To his credit, he would take time away from the ring shortly after this (and at least one other incident) and reportedly got clean, so good for him for dealing with his problems. As for tonight though, Jarrett takes FOREVER to get to the ring, as he is throwing tortillas to the crowd, which isn’t going well whatsoever. For some reason Moose and Lashley are fighting each other on the floor as Jarrett gets inside. Jarrett punches a bunch of people and kicks Parka low, leaving him the only one standing.

Parka finally gets up and slugs it out with Jarrett as we actually have something resembling a match for a second. A DDT plants Jarrett for the pin (POP) and we pause for Parka’s music, even though the match isn’t over. Commentary isn’t sure what is going on (shocking) as Jarrett is yelling at fans. The rest of the OGT’s clear house and go for Parka’s mask….until Chessman shoves Super Fly (his partner) off the top and out. So we’re down to Chessman, Averno and Parka, but Averno hits Chessman (again, his partner) low for a pin. Then Parka small packages Averno for the final pin (thank goodness) at 26:41.

Rating: F. I spent the better part of half an hour watching this and I have no idea what was going on. The problem is that commentary didn’t seem to either, to the point where there might have been five names mentioned here, with most of them being Team GFW. I’m sure this was about getting Parka a moment and having a bunch of names in there, but it’s a case where if you aren’t already a fan, this isn’t going to make things better. The fact that the only reason I knew most of the names was the show’s Wikipedia didn’t help, but it isn’t like there was commentary or a graphic to tell me who was involved.

On top of that, it was a terrible battle royal, where the rules weren’t clear, some people (Lashley/Moose) just left, I had no idea who was eliminated (or how to eliminate someone for that matter) and nothing was clear in the slightest. You can do something like this with the Gimmick Battle Royal, but that was about four minutes, not almost twenty seven (longest of the show so far). Absolutely horrible here and one of the worst matches I’ve seen in a very long time for more reasons that I can count (ok I can count them but I don’t want to waste any more time on this mess).

Post match La Parka, Bengala and Argenis get a belt, with Parka getting all of the glory.

El Mesias vs. Pagano

Street fight and they start in the aisle (as commentary didn’t seem to think this match was scheduled next) with Mesias knocking him into the ring. Pagano scores with a spinwheel kick, as commentary is surprised he included a wrestling move. A springboard bulldog drops Mesias again but he’s back with a shot to the face. Back up and Pagano knocks him into the corner, only to get sent outside.

Mesias gets in some chair shots as we get at least the third arena wide shot of the match (about five minutes in). The beating goes around the ring, with Mesias sending him into a trashcan. They go up the aisle with Mesias getting a suplex but having a beer thrown into his face. Back to the ring they go, with some barbed wire being brought in because of course it is. Pagano gets the better of a slugout and runs him over, setting up a Russian legsweep.

Mesias is knocked outside so Pagano hits a running flip dive, followed by a hanging piledriver back inside. And now the barbed wire, which Pagano puts in front of his chest on a missed moonsault. Pagano is back with a Regal Roll into a Lionsault, which has commentary questioning the impact of the barbed wire. Mesias is knocked outside for an apron dropkick as things slow down.

They get back inside with Mesias whipping out a barbed wire bat, which is kicked away. The fans are rather displeased as Mesias hits a faceplant onto the bat. Back up and Pagano gets in a bat shot to Mesias’ knee….which is enough to warrant a referee stoppage at 16:40, because I guess just covering Mesias was out of the question?

Rating: D. This was slow, plodding, didn’t get overly violent until near the ending and then had a dumb finish on top of that. If Mesias is hurt then it’s understandable, but it was his leg. Have Pagano cover him for a fast pin instead of just stopping everything cold in a street fight. Other than that, this just wasn’t good and both guys appeared to be moving in slow motion for a lot of it. If you want this to be some violent match then go there rather than do something this lame.

Post match Rey Escorpion, in street clothes, comes in to deck Pagano and then go after Mesias, who is on a stretcher.

AAA World Title/AAA Latin American Title/AAA Cruiserweight Title: Johnny Mundo vs. El Hijo del Fantasma vs. Texano Jr.

Mundo (John Morrison/etc) is defending, comes out to Born In The USA, and this is a ladder match. Fantasma would go on to become known as Santos Escobar while Texano would go on to continue to be known as Texano Jr. The challengers chop it out to start and Mundo gets knocked down for trying to bring in some weapons. Texano grabs a chair to blast Fantasma and starts ripping at the mask, allowing Mundo to add a top rope elbow.

Mundo dropkicks a ladder into Texano and superkicks Fantasma for a bonus. A pair of tables are set up at ringside but everyone realizes that there are belts to grab and go for the ladder. Texano clears the ring, leaving Fantasma to load a table against the barricade. Mundo dropkicks Texano off the top but gets knocked off a ladder (which was nowhere near high enough anyway as the belts are WAY up there). Fantasma hits his great dive into Texano into (but not through) the leaning table.

Texano is back up and sends Fantasma through the table, followed by a Swanton onto Fantasma onto the broken table. With Fantasma VERY busted open, Mundo goes up but gets pulled down by Texano. Mundo bridges a ladder on the middle rope but takes too long posing, allowing Fantasma to dropkick him down. Fantasma drops Texano onto the bridged ladder, seemingly busting him open too.

The ladder is set in the middle as the belts come down a bit. Mundo’s climb takes too long as well and Texano shoves the ladder over, sending Mundo down and onto (not through) a table at ringside. Fantasma dives over a ladder bridged into a standing one to forearm Texano, only to get knocked into the ladder. More tables are set up in the ring, with Fantasma backdropping Texano onto the bridged ladder for a nasty crash.

Cue Kevin Kross (Karrion Kross, Mundo’s lackey) to make the save but Mascara de Bronce comes out to stop Kross, who was climbing for some reason. Now it’s Hernandez (another Mundo lackey, or stooge as commentary puts it) to get knocked outside as well, leaving Bronce to hit a heck of a springboard moonsault to take him down.

Kross chokeslams Bronce onto the apron but Fantasma takes him down. Mundo ladders Fantasma in the face but all three wind up climbing. Fantasma knocks Texano down for a big crash, leaving Mundo to get in a low blow to drop Fantasma as well. All three belts are pulled down and Mundo retains at 22:49.

Rating: B. It wasn’t a classic or anything but for a triple threat ladder match with a bunch of interference, this could have been a lot worse. Mundo feels like a star and has the gold to prove it while the other two felt like they had him multiple times, only to come up short. Maybe it was everything else being so bad/horrible, but I had a good time with this one as Mundo feels like a much bigger deal here than in WWE.

Post match Mundo brags about his win and calls out…Vampiro. Mundo throws down the title and here is Vampiro to interrupt. Vampiro won’t look at him, as Mundo demands that Vampiro put the belt on him. Mundo yells at him, spits at him and shoves him, which is finally enough for Vampiro to grab a chokeslam. With Mundo on the floor, Vampiro threatens violence before leaving as well.

With everyone else gone, Fantasma and Texano trade chair shots to the head and both are left laying. Well that was cringe inducing.

Video on Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Psycho Clown, both of whom have been training rather hard. They don’t seem to like each other.

Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Psycho Clown

Mask vs. Mask and this is billed as the biggest lucha match of the decade. Hold on though as a woman has to sing the National Anthem before we’re ready to go. We’re ready to go and Clown misses a dropkick, allowing Wagner to clothesline away as commentary isn’t sure how many falls this is (it’s one). Wagner chokes away in the corner before they go outside, with the brawl heading into the crowd.

Back in and Psycho hits a spinwheel kick as the fans aren’t sure who they like here. Wagner ties him up on the mat but Psycho is right next to the ropes. We get the expected mask ripping before Wagner hits him in the head with the chair. Psycho is busted open so Wagner enjoys some of it on his hand. There’s another chair shot to knock Clown even sillier, as commentary wonders what happens if you rip off a mask in a mask vs. mask match.

They head outside with Wagner slowly beating on Psycho, who can barely stagger away. Clown gets knocked up and back down the apron but manages to make a comeback with some clotheslines back inside. Clown knocks him outside and hits the dive but the running flip dive only hits mat (instead of Wagner’s son, who is ringside as well). Back in and Clown rips at Wagner’s mask for a change before whacking him in the face with a chair.

A hanging DDT gets Wagner out of trouble for two. Clown gets a quick rollup for two, with commentary pointing out how slow the referee has been to get into position (Jesse Ventura would not approve). Wagner knocks him outside and hits the big flipping dive, setting up a Samoan drop into the fans.

Back in and a top rope superplex gives Wagner two, followed by Clown’s Samoan drop getting the same. Wagner shrugs off a kick to the face though and hits the Wagner (Michinoku) Driver for two more. Another Wagner Driver gets another near fall and the fans are rather interested. Clown grabs a superplex of his own into a Backstabber and a Code Red gives him the pin at 28:40.

Rating: B+. What mattered here is it felt like a struggle as these two did not want to lose everything. It made the match feel that much more important and I don’t think anything else could have come close to headlining. Clown is someone who has felt like a star every time I’ve seen him, but Wagner has always felt like a legend. The ending felt like a very big deal and that is how you want your main event to go. The action was more than good enough, but the atmosphere made it feel that much bigger.

We get the big ceremony of the unmasking, but first Wagner has to announce his real name (Juan Manuel Gonzalez Barron) and hometown (Torreon). He praises Clown and talks about being a legend, before unmasking and thanking Clown. There are kids crying in the crowd as Wagner huddles with his family. As Wagner and company leave, Clown stops him to say it was an honor and praise Wagner. Clown celebrates and we get a highlight package of the main event to end the show.

There really isn’t a translation to this kind of thing in America, but egads it comes off like the biggest deal in the world in a situation like this. Wagner is a legend and now everything about him has changed because of one match. That’s a pretty major deal and they treated it as such with the post match time.

Overall Rating: D+. The last two matches are very good and they bring the show up about as high as it can go. The problem is that everything before that was an absolute disaster with one of the weakest stretches I’ve ever seen as there wasn’t a good match to be seen in the first two or so hours of the show show. I’m not sure what went wrong, but if this show didn’t have the two main events, this could have been an all time disaster. As it is, it’s WAY too long and not good, but at least it could have been worse (barely).

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IMG Credit: Major League Wrestling

Fusion #36
Date: December 21, 2018
Location: Scottish Rite Temple, Miami, Florida
Commentators: Rich Bocchini, Tony Schiavone

We’re back to the taped shows this week after a really strong live debut. The big story this week is the first and final battle between Tom Lawlor and Simon Gotch, which will happen to be no holds barred with no ropes. It’s almost time to get ready for Superfight, which is almost a guaranteed World Title change. Telegraphing it that much isn’t the worst thing in the world if you can make the story work, which they’ve done well so far. Let’s get to it.

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

Here are Salina de la Renta and Ricky Martinez to get things going. Salina says this place is surrounded by old men and “broke a** marks” but it’s ok because this is Konnan’s city. This brings out Konnan to a huge reaction to all Ricky Martinez Ricky Vega because his name doesn’t matter that much. Salina is just a bruja (witch) and promises to take away everything from Salina, including the World Title from Low Ki. More Spanish is spoken and the fans are happy as Konnan wraps it up.

Opening sequence.

Next week: Konnan vs. Low Ki for the World Title.

Kotto Brazil was attacked in a nightclub where Ricky Martinez was present. No word on his condition but he’s hurt.

We look back at Teddy Hart winning the Middleweight Title last week.

We get another H2 video from the Hart Foundation where Teddy and Brian, holding cats, talk about horrible people like Tommy Dreamer and Barrington Hughes. Dreamer cheated and the referee was probably paid off. Teddy is the most dangerous animal on the planet of wrestling….and he throws his cat into a moonsault with the cat landing on his feet. So the target moved because a moonsault is supposed to land on your stomach?

Tommy Dreamer/Barrington Hughes vs. Brian Pillman Jr./Davey Boy Smith Jr.

This seems impromptu with Dreamer wanting Pillman to start but getting Smith. Dreamer avoids an early legdrop attempt but gets slammed for his efforts. It’s off to Hughes, who is really starting to feel like a joke more than anything else. Smith can’t slam him (well duh) so he bounces off of him in an even dumber move. Pillman comes in and charges right into an elbow to the face, followed by a double version with Dreamer’s being the only half that connects.

That’s about it for the non-Canadian offense though as Pillman knocks Dreamer down and Smith slaps on a chinlock. We get down into the more traditional heel beatdown, including the delayed vertical suplex for two. Dreamer finally scores with a running cutter out of the corner for a breather and the tag brings Hughes back in to keep the pace slow. A belly to belly gets two on Pillman and Smith gets run over to make things even worse for the team. The ECW chants begin but Pillman cuts Dreamer down with a low blow using the cane. That’s enough to set up a small package to finish Dreamer at 7:03.

Rating: D+. I still don’t care for Dreamer getting this much time but it’s a lot better if he’s losing. Hughes continues to be a guy who seems to be more of an attraction than anything else, but again I can live with it if he’s in the right spot on the card. That’s the case here as he was little more than a big guy there with Dreamer, which is about as good of a role as he can have.

We look back at Rush beating Rich Swann and getting in a fight with LA Park last week.

Rush, in Spanish, promises to wreck Park because he’s the best in Mexico.

El Hijo de LA Park vs. DJZ

Park has Salina de la Renta with him. DJZ takes him down without much effort but Park flips out of a headscissors without much effort. The stereo front flips gives us a standoff to some nice applause. They shake hands but Park decks him with a clothesline like a true villain should. A superkick (with a camera cut seemingly designed to hide a miss) sends DJZ outside and the fans chant in Spanish. Park crotches him against the post and the fans want one more. That’s just not nice but Park does it anyway, this time on the barricade.

Back in and DJZ scores with a jawbreaker so Salina offers a distraction, allowing Park to hit some belt shots to the back. A rolling German suplex gives Park two but DJZ is right back with a running Codebreaker to put Park outside again. Back in and Park gets in a shot of his own, setting up the suicide dive to knock DJZ onto the entrance platform. They go up top at the same time with DJZ hitting a crazy super hurricanrana but Salina throws in the cane. That’s enough for Park to hit a scary over the shoulder piledriver for the pin at 6:29.

Rating: C. There were some good spots here and Park needed the win a lot more. He really hasn’t done anything of note in MLW other than ride his father’s coattails, meaning he needs to get somewhere himself. Nice match here, with Salina being the perfect villain and DJZ being way better than you would expect.

Konnan talks about coming from Miami though he very rarely wrestled here. He’s held titles before and it would be an honor to hold the MLW World Title. It’s strange hearing him speak so normally.

Andrew Everett vs. DJZ

Everett headscissors him down and calls Dezmond a Rascal. Back up and Dezmond slaps him in the face before hitting a loud dropkick. A snapmare into a Lionsault gives Everett two and Dezmond is rather slow to get up. Everett misses a charge in the corner though and gets superkicked in the back of the head. The 619 around the post lets Dezmond go up top but he misses some kind of a flip.

An enziguri in the corner misses as well as Dezmond seems a few steps off here. He keeps leaning on the ropes and Bocchini notices it too. Everett’s German suplex is blocked so he settles for a Pele. The spike hurricanrana gets two and the fans think Everett sucks. Dude it’s not that bad. Everett takes his sweet time heading up top so it’s a standing moonsault into the Pele to bring him back down. Dezmond is fine enough to hit the Final Flash for the pin at 5:45.

Rating: C-. It was clear that something was wrong with Dezmond and that’s not something I’m going to hold against him. They hit some big spots in such a short time and that made it more entertaining. Yeah it was slow, but if one of them was injured there’s not much else they can do. That’s a shame too as this could have been a heck of a high flying match.

Video on Low Ki vs. Konnan.

Lawlor is sick of Gotch and is choking him out tonight.

We recap Lawlor vs. Gotch. Lawlor was becoming a bigger star so Gotch took Salina’s money to take him out before Lawlor gets to the World Title match at Superfight.

Simon Gotch vs. Tom Lawlor

No ropes and anything goes with a win coming by submission or knockout. Low Ki is on commentary to make things better. They go straight to the mat with Lawlor not being able to get a rear naked choke. Instead Gotch takes him down into a near armbar with the fans loudly booing.

A trip to the floor (which looks out of place here) lets Gotch send him into various things but Lawlor wins the slugout. Gotch suplexes him back into the ring, followed by a knee to the head. Lawlor wins another slugout with a kick to the head but Gotch knees him in the face a few times. The Gotch piledriver is countered and Lawlor slaps on the rear naked choke for the knockout at 5:41.

Rating: D. While I can appreciate them trying something new, this wasn’t what they should have gone with. The no ropes thing didn’t add much outside of a cool visual and even though Gotch scored a few good shots, they didn’t make me think that anything surprising was going to happen. It needed more time to be effective and a gimmick that played to their feud better, though some of the strikes looked awesome.

Post match Lawlor says he’s wanted Low Ki for the last seven months because the World Title is all that matters. Lawlor calls out Low Ki for running from him and leaves to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. This was a weird show as the stuff they were doing wasn’t terrible, but it didn’t work at the same time. What there was though was effort, and I’ll always take that. It’s a case of the company trying but not exactly connecting, which means they have some hope going forward. Just kind of a miss here, though I could see a lot of fans liking it.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

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IMG Credit: Major League Wrestling

Fusion #35
Date: December 14, 2018
Location: Scottish Rite Temple, Miami, Florida
Commentators: Rich Bocchini, Tony Schiavone

This is a special edition of Fusion as they are LIVE from Miami, marking the first time that they’re not taped. Tonight’s show is part of a larger series of tapings but the live aspect is something special that really does feel like a big deal. With some luck they can hit it out of the park, though that’s never a guarantee. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with Promociones Dorado laying out Team Filthy in the back. Salina de la Renta reminds us that we are live and warns Tom Lawlor that they’re coming.

Opening sequence.

Lawlor is on his way here due to getting his injured hand looked at elsewhere.

Middleweight Title: Gringo Loco vs. Dezmond Xavier vs. Hijo de LA Park vs. Kotto Brazil

This is a ladder match and the title is vacant coming in due to Maxwell Jacob Friedman injuring his elbow. The lineup for the match has changed about half a dozen times coming in so it’s nice to have an actual group of competitors for a change. Actually hang on as Teddy Hart is here and decks Dezmond on the way in, setting up an Arabian Press to take him out again. I guess it’s a five way now.

Middleweight Title: Gringo Loco vs. Dezmond Xavier vs. Hijo de LA Park vs. Kotto Brazil vs. Teddy Hart

Teddy goes for a ladder but Kotto takes him down with a slingshot forearm. Park follows them out and Pillmanizes Brazil’s ankle as the fans chant for Gringo. Brazil’s troubles aren’t done though as Park wraps the ladder around his leg and crushes it with the chair. Park heads back inside and gets in a chair duel with Gringo but they let it go to kick Dezmond in the face. A headscissors sends Gringo to the floor and there’s another superkick to put Hart outside as well.

Dezmond gets sent to the apron so Park hits a sunset bomb to the floor. That gives us the Park vs. Hart showdown as we hear about Salina wrecking havoc in the back. The kind of havoc isn’t specified but it is indeed being wrecked. Hart misses a moonsault but hits his walk onto the back into a sunset bomb, which has nothing to do with this match. With havoc managed, Salina comes out to support Park as Gringo and Dezmond come in. Loco hits a Spanish Fly on Xavier and we take a very abrupt break.

Back with everyone on the floor until Hart hits a big moonsault onto the three who don’t have severely damaged legs (sticking the landing of course). We finally get the first ladder thrown in but Hart and Park have to fight on the floor before anyone can climb. It’s Hart getting the better of the climb but having to slug it out with Loco on top.

Hart knocks him off so Loco lands on the top rope and springboards back into a cutter on Xavier in an awesome spot. Hart gets a DDT on Park and goes up again but this time Park shoves him down. Dezmond knocks Park off the top of the ladder and gets a hand on the title but Park needs to bridge a ladder onto the ropes instead of making the save because that’s the spot they had planned.

Instead, Dezmond gets knocked onto the bridged ladder but here’s Kotto back in as Hart moonsaults onto Xavier. Kotto unloads with a chair to various people but Hart chairs him off the ladder, with Kotto falling before the contact was ever actually made. Project Ciampa drops Brazil again and Hart wins the title at 13:57.

Rating: B-. This wasn’t an all time classic or anything but they took their time and Hart winning is the right call. He’s crazy over with the fans and can still have entertaining matches so give him the title and let him elevate it a good bit. That’s all you could go with here and he should be an improvement over Friedman.

Lawlor says it’s the time for fighting, not talking.

Rush will face LA Park at the Wrestlemania weekend show. Trash was talked at the press conference in New York.

Dragon Lee vs. DJZ

I believe both guys are debuting here. They hit the mat to start with neither being able to get anywhere. A dropkick puts DJZ on the floor but he comes back in for a double cartwheel into stereo tranquilo poses. Lee gets sent to the floor and that means the big flip dive. Back in and DJZ hits a slingshot splash, followed by a Lionsault for two. Lee is right back with a running dropkick in the corner and a shoulder breaker puts DJZ down again.

They trade some strikes to the face and a rolling DDT from Lee gives us a double knockdown. Since you don’t stay down in a match like this, they both head up until Lee hits the top rope double stomp ala Alberto Del Rio. That’s good for two back inside but Lee’s powerbomb is countered into a fast Canadian Destroyer for the same. A Dragon Driver (suplex into a sitout powerbomb for a cool move) gets two more and another one finishes DJZ at 7:00.

Rating: C+. This was the spot fest match of the show, which says a lot when there was a long ladder match beforehand. Both guys looked good here and there’s a reason to believe that the two of them are going to stick around for the middleweight division. Lee looked great in ROH and the same was true here. As a bonus, DJZ is that much better than he was in TNA, where he was just annoying as opposed to someone talented like he apparently is.

An annoyed Salina tries to leave with Promociones Dorado and has to dive into the limo to get away from Lawlor.

Video on Superfight, featuring Lawlor vs. Low Ki for the World Title.

We get an H2 video n the Hart Foundation as Brian Pillman messes around at the hotel. He winds up getting the Rookie of the Year award.

Lawlor and Park are still fighting. We can’t see this, but apparently it’s true.

Simon Gotch is ready to face Lawlor in the no ropes, no holds barred fight next week. Next week, Lawlor’s nightmares are just beginning.

Rush vs. Rich Swann

Swann wants to dance to start so Rush hits him in the face. Maybe that’ll teach him to pay attention. Rush takes it to the floor and tosses a metal trashcan at Swann’s head to really take over in a violent way. They head over to the announcers’ table and Tony sounds half scared and half annoyed. Back in and Rush hits a running clothesline in the corner, followed by a kick to the face. Swann’s chops have no effect but a single one from Rush takes him down to his knees.

After taking his time getting up, Swann springboards into a cutter to get himself a much needed breather. It’s time to slug away with some rather loud strikes and Rush is down this time. A running flip dive off the apron puts Rush down on the floor and there’s the running flip dive off the top to make it even worse. Back in and Swann gets two off a frog splash but charges into a belly to belly in the corner.

Swann’s spinning kick to the head and the rolling DDT get two more but Rush is right back with a superplex. They’re certainly trading the big spots here and that’s a good thing. An enziguri staggers Rush so he comes right back with a headbutt for the double knockdown. The running dropkick misses Swann but his 450 hits knees. Rush is done with this though and the Rush Driver (double underhook piledriver) is good for the pin at 9:46.

Rating: B-. I had a good time with this one as they were hitting each other really hard and trading one big spot after another. That’s the kind of match that Rush needs to win as Swann has credibility and a hard hitting win over him is a good start. Rush comes off as a star and that’s a great thing to have around here. Nice match here, with Swann looking very solid as well.

Post match LA Park comes out and the fight is on with referees breaking it up in a hurry. Rush leaves and here’s Low Ki to promise to beat Lawlor. Cue Lawlor for the big brawl to end the show. That’s a strong ending as they had a hot fight that was built up throughout the show.

Overall Rating: B+. For their first live special, this was quite the hit with all three matches being entertaining. They did exactly what they needed to with some good matches and angles that I want to see move forward. It’s a good introduction for new fans that gave you a reason to come back. Well done on all accounts and that’s a good sign.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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Impact Wrestling
Date: February 2, 2017
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: D’Angelo Dinero, Josh Matthews

It’s Open Fight Night and that means we get to find out who wants what match from their Race for the Case briefcases. Basically, in order of 1-4, everyone can pick a match and stipulation but nothing can be repeated, meaning there can’t be four cage matches or four World Title matches. Let’s get to it.

We open with a quick explanation of Race for the Case.

Recap of the Iron Man match with Lashley regaining the World Title. I still don’t see what was so great about it.

Here are the Hardys to open things up with Jeff carrying the #1 briefcase. The Seven Deities have told Matt that the brothers must win as much tag team gold around the world as they can. Therefore, they have granted the Hardys, I kid you not, a teleportation device to send them on their International Expedition of Gold. Now they want the Bucks of Youth, the Day of New and the Family of Wyatts, all of whom must be deleted. Anyway, Jeff knows who he wants to fight.

TNA World Title: Jeff Hardy vs. Lashley

Jeff is challenging of course and Josh actually does his job by pointing out that the Tag Team Titles can’t be defended or challenged for tonight because Jeff is already wrestling. Uh, what does this have to do with Schitt’s Creek? I was promised Schitt’s Creek updates. We start after a bell with Jeff punching his way out of the corner, only to get his head taken off with a clothesline. Jeff sends him over the ropes and then into the apron, followed by another ram into the barricade. A powerbomb plants Jeff on the steps and the champ chokes with a boot.

Back with Jeff making his comeback with the usual and getting two off the Twist of Fate and Swanton. Another Swanton gets the same with Lashley putting his foot on the ropes. With the wrestling not working, Jeff sends him into the steps but misses a slingshot Swanton to the floor for an even worse than usual crash. The spear retains the title at 14:03.

Rating: B-. This felt like a main event style match but as usual it’s the same problem Impact so often has: there’s no reason for these two to be fighting other than the challenger won a qualifying match. There’s no personal issue and it’s all about the title. It’s cool to have a feud about the title but it feels like that’s the vast majority of what TNA does. Have something personal for a change and it can do you a lot of good.

Post match, Josh says no one has been able to figure Lashley, the FOUR TIME World Champion, out. Before I can explain why that makes no sense, here’s Eddie Edwards because this feud isn’t quite done yet. Eddie wants his rematch and Lashley agrees, but this is Eddie’s last shot.

Tyrus and Eli Drake are ready to shock the world with their briefcase choice.

Earlier today, Rosemary tried to get Brandi to join Decay. Brandi declined so Rosemary licked her face.

In case that wasn’t clear enough, Rosemary invites Brandi to join Decay but gets turned down again.

And now, a day in the life of Aron Rex. This involves riding around in a golf cart and Spud putting down a mat in the back.

Sienna vs. Brooke Tessmacher

Brooke starts fast and gets two off a middle rope X-Factor. A chase goes badly though, allowing Sienna to get in a cheap shot to take. Maria adds a few kicks to the back and distracts the referee so Sienna can choke for a bit. Guest commentator Madison Rayne would rather talk about how great Brooke looks so soon after having a child, continuing the tradition of absolutely worthless TNA commentary. The AK-47 is broken up and Brooke gets a bad looking Muta Lock but Maria offers a distraction, allowing the Silencer to put Brooke away at 5:39.

Rating: D+. Annoying commentary aside, this was fine as a way to set Brooke up as a foil to the Lady Squad. Unfortunately Brooke feels like a relic of the past with the entire character being based on how she looks in trunks. That’s not interesting and doesn’t exactly come off as thrilling. At least it’s a character though, unlike Gail Kim: WRESTLER.

Back to Aron Rex, who is having makeup applied. Spud reads off his appointments on various networks like FOX News and CNN. Rex doesn’t care for being called “bloody good” because he doesn’t like violence. He prefers “rexcellent”.

The DCC wants Decay in a falls count anywhere match.

DCC vs. Decay

Falls count anywhere and I guess a handicap match as well, unless Rosemary is fighting with the guys. It’s a brawl on the floor to start and we’ve already got a table ready. Steve escapes a powerbomb through said table and Abyss takes Kingston into the crowd to expand the violence a bit wider.

Steve dives onto all three members of the DCC for two on Storm. It’s time for the barbed wire board and Abyss rips off Kingston’s shirt. That earns Abyss a low blow but Rosemary mists Kingston, setting up a chokeslam onto some tacks for two. Some beer bottles to Abyss’ head set up a Last Call to put him into the barbed wire. A spike piledriver puts Steve through the table for the pin at 6:34.

Rating: C+. I find this to be false advertising as this was another iteration of the Monster’s Ball instead of a falls count anywhere match. I’ve seen worse versions of this same match and they kept it short, which is a good idea when we’ve seen the same stuff over and over again, especially with Abyss in the matches every single time.

Maria and Mike Bennett come up to Braxton Sutter in the back to talk about the date with Laurel Van Ness. Braxton is glad it’s over but Maria hears wedding bells over the chance of what might happen to Allie if he doesn’t.

Here’s Drew Galloway to say he’s a fighting Grand Champion and will defend against anyone. Cue Moose to ask for a title shot but Galloway has something else in mind.

Grand Championship: Drew Galloway vs. Rob Ryzin

Galloway is defending and kicks Rob’s head off thirty seconds in. This turns into an ad for Rudy, which is airing after the show. An overhead belly to belly has Ryzin in even more trouble and his comeback is cut off by a piledriver. Futureshock retains the title at 2:14.

Trevor Lee wants the injured X-Division Champion DJZ in a ladder match.

X-Division Title: DJZ vs. Trevor Lee

Ladder match with DJZ defending. Trevor gets backdropped to the floor to start and DJZ hits a dive but makes his leg even worse. It’s so banged up that he has to stop Lee from getting the title, earning himself a ladder shot to the leg. Lee crushes the leg in the ladder but gets caught in a ZDT off the ladder. Shane Helms throws in a chair and the leg gets crushed one more time but Lee is smart enough to keep it inside the chair and put the ladder on top, giving us a new champion at 7:30.

Rating: C. Now this one made sense and is a great example of how to use the case to your advantage. Also, it’s long past the point of getting the title off DJZ as the division has died all over again. This wasn’t a great ladder match (the time didn’t do it any favors) but it made sense and that means a lot.

Tyrus wants Drake to have some quiet time to prepare.

Robbie E. interrupts Rex and gets a match next week.

Drake wants Ethan Carter III with his extremely bruised hip/rib.

Eli Drake vs. Ethan Carter III

Carter gets taken down to start with Drake hammering in right hands as we take an early break. Back with Drake sending Carter face first into the apron but missing a baseball bat shot. Drake forearms him in the back/hip and says YEAH a lot. One heck of a clothesline puts Carter down but Drake takes a bit too long following up, allowing Carter to grab a jackknife rollup for the pin at 10:47.

Rating: C-. Nothing special to see here but Carter and Drake have had a good enough feud. It’s one of the few that isn’t about a title and that makes things all the better. Unfortunately TNA didn’t do the best job of explaining how Carter got hurt but the match was fine and the talking has been better so I can’t complain too much.

Post match Drake unloads on Carter with the ball bat, only to have the DCC show up and stomp on Carter’s nearly unconscious body. Drake smiles but the DCC beats down he and Tyrus as well. Carter takes a spike piledriver on the chair to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. The wrestling wasn’t the best here but I liked the concept a lot more than I was expecting to. They used a formula that made sense here and helped push some feuds here, which is a little better than doing the same thing over and over again. I was never big on Open Fight Night in the first place but that probably had something to do with holding it once a month. Or maybe Hogan. Yeah probably him. Anyway, not a bad show this week and that’s high praise around here.

Results

Lashley b. Jeff Hardy – Spear

Sienna b. Brooke Tessmacher – Silencer

Drew Galloway b. Rob Ryzin – Futureshock

Trevor Lee b. DJZ – Lee pulled down the title

Ethan Carter III b. Eli Drake – Jackknife rollup

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the History of the WWE’s Big Four Pay Per Views, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

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Impact Wrestling
Date: December 22, 2016
Host: Josh Matthews

This is a special show as it’s the Best of 2016. That means a lot of copying and pasting from me as I’m not about to rewatch a lot of these matches, especially when they’re likely going to be clipped to death. I’ll be posting the full versions of the matches instead of whatever hacked up versions that air on the broadcast, assuming we get more than just a few clips. Let’s get to it.

We open with about two minutes of the main event of Slammiversary 2016 with Lashley winning the World Title from Drew Galloway, five minutes of Lashley vs. Eddie Edwards from Impact, July 21 and four minutes of Lashley vs. James Storm from August 11. Lashley won all three matches.

Now we’ll go to January 5 for a few seconds of Kurt Angle’s retirement speech. Angle wants to go out on a high note, including a match against Drew Galloway.

Here’s a clip from that match, which aired on January 12. Angle won by submission and again we only get about a minute and a half.

On March 1, Angle beat Bobby Roode. I know it sounds like I’m flying through this but it’s really just the beginning and ending of each match. We’re twenty minutes into the show and we’ve covered five matches with a commercial in the middle.

On March 8, Angle gave his farewell speech where he talked about how much better of a person he is because of TNA.

On March 15, Drew Galloway cashed in his Feast or Fired briefcase to win the World Title from Matt Hardy in 18 seconds.

On March 28, Drew defended the title against Jeff Hardy. This actually gets more than two minutes so I’ll throw in the full match.

TNA World Title: Drew Galloway vs. Jeff Hardy

Hardy is challenging and gets a headlock takeover out of the corner to take over early. Drew comes back with an overhead belly to belly and Hardy is already in trouble. The champ is sent outside for a dive from Hardy and we take a break. Back with Jeff getting two off a Twist of Fate but taking too much time going up and getting superplexed down.

The Claymore gets two and they head up top for what looked to be a super powerslam from Drew but Jeff reverses into something like a hiptoss. That looked to be a bit botched but it was good enough. Another Twist and the Swanton get two on Drew so Jeff sends it outside and puts Drew on the steps. The Swanton hits knees though and it’s a quick Futureshock to give Drew the pin at 14:18.

Rating: B-. Another pretty good main event here with Jeff being a good first victory for Drew, but they certainly didn’t hit a special level. It’s good that they’re getting Jeff out of the way early though as he’s one of those guys who is always going to be near the top of the roster so thankfully Drew can focus on someone new.

On April 5, Drew successfully defended the title against Matt Hardy.

We get the full Gail Kim Hall of Fame video. Somehow they STILL have the error in there about her holding the title for five reigns (when it was produced) for 232 days. In reality the fifth reign alone was 232 days and she’s held the title over 700 days combined.

We see some of her acceptance speech and about 45 seconds of her winning the Knockouts Title for s sixth time at Bound For Glory.

Since giving them their own show next week (and last week), it’s time to look at the Hardys. We’ll start with Matt vs. Ethan Carter III at Lockdown with Matt defending the World Title.

TNA World Title: Ethan Carter III vs. Matt Hardy

Hardy is defending. Ethan draws a line on the mat and it’s time to slug it out. Matt’s chops don’t have much effect but Ethan’s splash hits the cage. It’s time for a chair with Matt getting in some good shots, only to have the Twist of Fate broken up as Matt is sent head first into the chair in the corner. Another Twist is broken up so Matt settles for the Side Effect and a two count.

The champ grabs a chain but walks into a TK3 (TKO) to give Ethan a chance. Tyrus blocks the way so Ethan flips him off, drawing the big man in. Ethan runs the ropes and has a free chance to get out but opts to clothesline Tyrus instead. A Big Ending drops Carter but he’s still able to reverse an attempt at being chained to the cage. Instead it’s Tyrus being chained up but Matt grabs a Twist of Fate for two.

Carter is back up in time to pull Matt off the cage to put both guys down. Matt is up first and hits a low blow, setting up a Twist of Fate with Ethan’s neck in a chair. Of course that’s not enough to finish it so Ethan kicks Matt low to even things up. A slow double crawl towards the door draws out Reby with a hammer but Spud comes out for the save. Then, in the swerve that isn’t a swerve, Spud slams the door on Carter’s head to turn heel and help Matt get out to retain at 11:39.

Rating: C-. The match was fine but it’s ANOTHER heel turn as Matt has to get another minion because he’s this iconic power or whatever line TNA is pushing this week. I do however like the fact that Spud didn’t just align with Carter again because Ethan turned. That’s some nice continuity, but sweet goodness I’m tired of these big heel turns when there are already about four faces on the roster as it is.

With no transition from normal Matt to Broken Matt, here’s the Final Deletion.

Next up, it’s the Great War from Bound For Glory.

Now we look at some debuts, including Mike Bennett/Maria, Aron Rex, Moose, Cody and Brandi Rhodes. We see clips of Bennett defeating Ethan Carter III and the fairly bad mixed tag with Cody/Rhodes vs. Mike/Maria.

Off to the tag teams now as we see Decay beat Beer Money to win the Tag Team Titles on April 26.

We’ll keep up the Decay theme as Rosemary beats Jade to win the vacant Knockouts Title on December 1.

Due to Lashley vacating the X-Division Title, there was an Ultimate X gauntlet held on September 1 and we actually see a good chunk of it.

X-Division Title: Trevor Lee vs. DJZ vs. Andrew Everett vs. Mandrews vs. Braxton Sutter vs. Rockstar Spud

The title is vacant coming in and this is a gauntlet match, meaning people are added at fixed intervals but you can pull the title down at any time. Trevor Lee and DJZ start things off and they slug it out for a bit before pulling each other down. Andrew Everett is in third and the time intervals seem to be two and a half minutes. DJZ gets double teamed so the Helms Dynasty (minus Helms showing up lately) goes up at the same time.

A knee to DJZ’s head knocks him silly but here’s Mandrews to break up the title grab attempt. Mandrews gets thrown off the top though and we take a break. Back with a replay package of what we saw before the commercial instead of what we missed. Braxton Sutter entered during the break and here’s Rockstar Spud to complete the field but it’s still too early to get the title with Sutter making the save.

We hit the big streak of dives before people get back in, only to be thrown out or knocked down seconds later. There’s nothing to talk about here as it’s just one move or spot after another with nothing in between. Spud uses a chair to knock Sutter off the cables but it’s the Helms Dynasty going up and grabbing the title at at the same time. No one comes down with it though so DJZ springboards in and pulls the title down to win at 16:23.

Rating: C+. I’m sure this is the revitalization that the X-Division has been needing for years now and that this will be different than the other half dozen times they’ve promised it’s not going to be left by the wayside again. The same problems they always have still apply here: no characters, no storylines other than they all want the title and get thrown together into one match and nothing we haven’t seen before. Fix some of those things and give us an actual story and the division might go somewhere.

On October 6, Lashley chose Eddie Edwards for a World Title shot and we’re graced with the last eight seconds.

We wrap it up with clips from Lashley vs. Edwards II on November 3. I’ll throw this one in even though we get less than a third of the match.

TNA World Title: Eddie Edwards vs. Lashley

Lashley is challenging. We get the Big Match Intros with JB calling this the super fight. I’ll give TNA this: they do a solid job of making the big matches feel important. Or maybe it’s that JB is really good at his job(s). The bell rings after the break (thank goodness) and Lashley throws the champ around before elbowing him in the face.

They head outside with Eddie chopping him up against the barricade but getting dropped throat first across the steel. Some choking with a wristband takes us to the last break. Back with Lashley in full control with a chinlock and a knee to the face. The champ fights back and sends Lashley outside for a suicide dive.

A Shining Wizard gets two on Lashley, who comes right back with a Dominator for the same. They head outside for a few moments before Eddie misses a top rope double stomp. Lashley pulls the referee in the way and then hits the spear for two, earning the second referee a right hand to the face. The first referee goes to call for the DQ but the Boston Knee Party gives Eddie the fast counted pin at 18:53.

Rating: B. This was more long than good and really illustrated the problem with a lot of TNA: I like Eddie but he’s really just a person who happens to be champion. Lashley is a big dragon for Eddie to slay and that’s what he’s done twice now. I don’t feel any connection to either of them and it’s much more like I’m just on the outside watching something happen.

Overall Rating: D. TNA just managed to screw up a Best Of show. Based off this, I have almost no idea what’s going on in TNA but I know I need a chart to keep track of it all. This felt like taking a guided tour in a bus that was driving 80 miles an hour with the guide shouting various things you can see.

We didn’t see a single match in full and most of the clips showed the opening and the last few seconds. I’d much rather see some full matches (or promos) than cover so much stuff and get nothing out of it. Also, did we really need the Hardys section when two out of three FULL SHOWS will be about them? I can’t even be surprised by this but it was somehow one of the worst executed things TNA has done all year. Just air a Top Ten list or something like that instead of trying to cram in every single thing into two hours. Total mess here.

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Impact Wrestling
Date: December 1, 2016
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Josh Matthews, D’Angelo Dinero

We’re down to two regular shows left in the year and the big story tonight is the crowning of a new Knockouts Champion as Gail Kim has vacated the belt due to injury. That leaves Jade and Rosemary inside Six Sides of Steel for the title because it’s not like they have any better options at the moment. Let’s get to it.

We open with a DCC video as they’re focusing on the Hardys. Matt is back to help his brother tonight thanks to a well placed bolt of lightning.

Grand Championship: Aron Rex vs. Moose

Rex is defending in an open challenge. Rex: “NO! HIT GRADO’S MUSIC!” We have to wait a minute though as Rex wants to do his warmups. That’s followed by a trip to the floor for a cartwheel from the champ. Back in and Rex rakes the eyes to set up the ring punch, only to walk into the Game Changer to give Moose the title at 1:45.

Moose says he’ll defend against anyone. Rex on the other hand has nothing to say but seems to be crying.

Jeff Hardy arrives and doesn’t know which Matt we’ll be seeing tonight. They’ll have a plan in the title match though.

Here’s the DCC to say they don’t want to delete anyone but they want to erase things. Cue Jeff to say the DCC has no idea what they’re getting themselves into. The beatdown is quickly on and….the DCC video comes on again. The lights go out and Matt returns for the save. Deletion is guaranteed.

Go For Broke is ready to fight each other for the X-Division Title. It’s a challenge for DJZ because his friends know him better than anyone else.

X-Division Title: Braxton Sutter vs. Mandrews vs. DJZ

DJZ is defending and this is one fall to a finish after Go For Broke won last week’s three way tag. They trade rollups to start in that three way style where it’s clear that this has all been choreographed in the first place. Mandrews suplexes the champ down and gets two off a standing moonsault. Another moonsault off the steps takes down Sutter and DJZ but it’s time for the “fun” part with the skateboard.

DJZ elbows him in the face but tweaks his knee back inside. That goes nowhere as DJZ high crossbodies both challengers, only to have Sutter snap off a Flatliner. Mandrews uses a twisting Stunner to get out of a suplex but as soon as he hits the shooting star, DJZ pops back up with a rollup to retain at 5:58.

Rating: C. Another meaningless X-Division match with the whole “we just know each other so well” idea going nowhere. The lack of story continues to destroy this division, but some of that has to do with Mandrews being really uninteresting. Yeah he can do shooting stars and moonsaults. That’s nowhere near enough to make him a complete character but you take what you can get around here.

They pose together but Mandrews goes heel by kicking DJZ’s bad knee out. Mandrews is the least interesting of the three but this is in fact better than nothing.

Laurel Van Ness says that she can make Braxton feel better but Allie wonders why she never sees Laurel and Braxton together.

Here are Maria and Laurel to vent some frustration. Maria gets right to the point by calling Allie out and demanding an apology. Allie is sorry she hit Maria with a pumpkin pie but Maria wants to talk about Allie costing her the title at Bound For Glory. It’s because Allie believes in honesty so Laurel goes on about what she did with Braxton last night. Maria calls Allie stupid and gets slapped in the face, making this the third time Allie has stood up to her. Laurel beats Allie down and AGAIN we haven’t really done anything new in this story.

Rosemary is ready for the cage match.

Tag Team Titles: DCC vs. Hardys

Bram and Kingston are challenging and the champs take over early on with a pair of double suplexes. Things settle down with Bram getting beaten up in the corner, followed by a chinlock from Jeff. You don’t often see that from a face but TNA has never been your normal promotion. Double Poetry in Motion gets two on Bram and we take a break. Back with the DCC working over Matt in the corner until Bram charges into a boot.

The hot tag brings in Jeff but Storm hits him with a belt, meaning the heel beatdown starts up again. Kingston grabs a chinlock and runs Jeff over with a shoulder as this just keeps going. Bram spins out of the Twist of Fate and a double clothesline puts both guys down. The real hot tag brings Matt back in and it’s time to bite Kingston’s arm and hand. Bram breaks up the Twist of Fate so Kingston takes it instead, allowing Matt to retain the titles at 15:54.

Rating: C+. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the Hardys are great when they’re out in their own universe but they’re just boring in the ring. Both guys look old and tired in their matches but at least they’re trying. The bigger story here though is the DCC losing already, which makes me think that it’s yet another stable that isn’t going to live up to its potential because TNA would rather push Matt and Jeff even more.

We recap Gail Kim being attacked, forcing her to vacate the title. If she wasn’t hurt during the Bound For Glory match, I really don’t know of a reason why she needed to get the title at the pay per view.

Ethan Carter III mocks Eli Drake for not being able to talk. When Ethan gets the title back next week, all Eli has to do is say the word and he can have a shot.

Al Snow gives a really intense speech about giving the Tribunal what they have coming to them. This is one of the best things on the show but again, WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT AL SNOW???

Ethan Carter III comes to the ring and has some words for World Champion Eddie Edwards. This brings out the champ to see him face to face with Ethan talking about how much that title changes people. Carter has failed to capture the title twice this year but he won’t fail a third time. Eddie knows the kind of man Carter is but Ethan says that when a title is involved, his mindset is kill em all and let God sort it out. Well that intensified quickly.

Knockouts Title: Rosemary vs. Jade

Inside Six Sides of Steel with the title vacant coming in and Madison Rayne on commentary. Oh and Gail Kim is outside because we just need her presence. You can only win by pinfall or submission so Rosemary knocks Jade to the floor right after the bell. Rosemary throws a trashcan inside but gets knocked down as we take a break.

Back with Rosemary sending Jade into the cage and yelling at Gail for selecting Jade as the future of the division. Jade is thrown into the cage wall again but comes back with a top rope hurricanrana for her first real offense. A powerbomb gets two on Rosemary but let’s stop for a second so Madison can praise Gail some more. Rosemary is thrown off the top rope so Jade climbs to the top of the cage (Madison: “SHADES OF GAIL KIM! 2006!”) for a high crossbody. It’s only good for a delayed two but the yellow mist blinds Jade. An F5 makes Rosemary champion at 14:42.

Rating: C-. Yeah I know we have a new champion. That’s great and all, but can we get a little more about Gail Kim? I mean, how does she feel about this? Did you know she’s the first Knockout in the Hall of Fame? Or that Rosemary basically beat her because Gail picked Jade as the next face of the division? Rosemary winning is the best option as someone else can rise up to beat her but you’re almost crazy if you don’t think Gail is a top contender for that honor.

Rosemary laughs at Gail to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. The wrestling was better this week but the focus on the older talent is getting old. Gail Kim was the focus of the main event, Al Snow got a big promo and the Hardys are about to get their own special. The World Title match next week got a little focus but the rest of the card just doesn’t do much for me right now. At least the wrestling was better though and that’s a positive step for TNA.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume V at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Impact Wrestling
Date: November 10, 2016
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: D’Angelo Dinero, Josh Matthews

It’s another big night here in TNA as the World Title is on the line again. This time it’s Eli Drake challenging as he cashes in his Bound for Gold title shot for a chance at Eddie Edwards’ World Title. Other than that we’ll likely get an update on Broken Matt Hardy, who might have amnesia. Let’s get to it.

We look back at last week’s main event.

Josh previews the show, which will feature the start of some competition to crown a new #1 contender.

Here’s Eddie to open the show. Over his career, he’s had a lot of support but there’s also been a lot of negativity. He’s developed a never say die attitude and is ready for anything, but here’s Drake to interrupt. Drake is Bound For Gold and is ready to lighten Eddie’s load a bit. This brings out Ethan Carter III to say he’ll be #1 contender no matter what. He can see it in Eli’s eyes: Drake isn’t ready to be champion. Now it’s Mike Bennett and Maria coming out to laugh at Ethan for betting on Eddie, just like when he bet and lost his streak. The fight is on but here’s Moose to join in as we take a break.

Mike Bennett vs. Moose

This is the first in a series of qualifying matches for a #1 contenders match. Moose throws him around to start so Maria pulls her husband to the floor, earning an ejection, followed by a lot of screaming. Back in and a chop block slows Moose down and we slow down into a standard “keep the power guy on the mat” match. Moose makes his comeback with headbutts to the arm but can’t do his running charge into the corner.

Instead it’s a Pop Up Powerbomb and a backsplash (becoming WAY too common a move in wrestling) for two, only to have Bennett kick out the leg again. A piledriver gets two because piledrivers are only devastating sometimes. The Game Changer is broken up with even more superkicks but Bennett no sells a pump kick, setting up a cutter for two. They head outside with Moose going head first into the steps, drawing a countout to give Bennett the win at 8:32.

Rating: D+. Standard Bennett match here, meaning nothing all that interesting. I’m glad they didn’t have Moose lose clean here and Bennett is more interesting going forward towards the title, especially if Lashley is involved in this competition. You don’t need two big power guys in the same match so Bennett going forward makes more sense.

Al Snow is here for a surprise from the Tribunal.

We go to the Hardy Compound where Jeff shows up to check on his brother. Apparently Matt has been acting differently since his injury, including wearing sweaters and showing an interest in home improvement. That means building a dining room, but he doesn’t recognize Jeff at the moment. Jeff tries to impersonate Broken Matt, who doesn’t even remember that they’re wrestlers. He’s an engineer now but Reby has an idea.

Here’s the Tribunal for a statement. They quickly bring Snow out and get right to the point: they don’t need him and never did. The beatdown is on and it’s Mahabali Shera for the save. The Tribunal easily beats up the dancer and stand tall.

Jesse Godderz wants to get his hands on Aron Rex and it’s not about the title.

Abyss vs. Ethan Carter III

Qualifying match. Carter misses an early charge but has to fight out of a chokeslam attempt. Abyss takes it outside and chokeslams Ethan onto the apron (which the announcers don’t point out as the hardest part of the ring). Back in and a hard shot to the face drops Carter again before a comeback is cut off by a chokeslam for two. A chair doesn’t work and Ethan grabs a sleeper for a tap out (Huh?) at 6:36.

Rating: D. A sleeper for a submission? I guess it was supposed to be a rear naked choke but when the announcers call it a sleeper, that’s what I’m going with. Maybe Carter couldn’t get him in the 1%er or something but that’s quite the weird ending. At least we had a fresh match for a change and that’s a good thing.

Eli is ready to take the title.

Back to the Hardy Compound where Reby plays the theme song while Matt eats lobster. A family sing-a-long breaks out but Matt has no idea what to do. To be fair they ask him to remember Jeff’s line. Jeff offers to take him on a ride on the dirtbike. Jeff: “ISN’T THAT EXCITING???” Matt: “No.”

JB is in the ring to bring out Gail Kim, who has an announcement. Gail comes out and says Borash is like family to him. Interesting but not much of an announcement. She asks Jade to come out here and calls Jade the future of the division. Gail sounds like she’s about to retire when Rosemary and Decay cut her off. It’s mist for Gail and Jade gets dropped, leaving Rosemary to choke Gail out. Rosemary isn’t done as she goes coast to coast to drive a garbage can into Jade’s face.

Trevor Lee vs. Rockstar Spud vs. DJZ

Thankfully it’s not a title match but rather another qualifying match. It’s a chase to start with Lee kicking DJZ in the chest but Spud can’t get a cover. Back in Lee throws DJZ around again but gets knocked outside, leaving Spud to take out DJZ’s leg. A springboard legdrop gets two but Lee muscles Spud up and sends him flying with a release German suplex. Spud comes back in for a low blow on DJZ but gets kneed in the face. The fishmerman’s buster gives Lee the pin on Spud at 4:22.

Rating: C-. This was every X-Division match you’ve seen in the last few years and there was no mention of the champion losing or of Lee earning a potential future title shot after winning a match involving the champ. At least DJZ didn’t lose though and he still has that stupid flag to carry around in Team X Gold which doesn’t actually involve gold.

Aiden O’Shea puts Grado and Robbie E. together as a team against Lashley. The happiness quickly ends.

Brandi Rhodes tries to give Allie a pep talk to no avail.

Lashley vs. Grado/Robbie E.

Qualifying match and the team doesn’t get an entrance. Tags are required here as Josh tries to say the team should be favored. Robbie is driven into the corner to start before it’s off to Grado for a top rope ax handle. Robbie’s middle rope clothesline actually puts Lashley down and Grado does his dancing punches. A double suplex just seems to tick Lashley off and it’s time to get serious. Grado’s spine is busted and the spear ends Robbie at 2:56.

We look back at Rex defending the title last week and knocking Godderz out with one punch.

Rex arrives while polishing the belt. Jesse is waiting on him (Rex: “Someone had too much Creatine.”) and we go to a break. Back with Rex saying he’s not interested in this and getting beaten up anyway. The beating continues until Rex gets back into the car and leaves.

Back to the Hardy Compound where Matt is terrified to be on the bike. They go to the lake where Matt is very confused about the idea of talking to a boat. Matt on what’s going on in his head: “It’s just so hard to describe!” Cue the Scribe to confuse Matt even more. Jeff suggests getting in the water but Matt says it’s freezing. Matt won’t do it so Jeff says he’ll go fight by himself. As his brother leaves, Matt suggests counseling.

TNA World Title: Eddie Edwards vs. Eli Drake

Drake is challenging and we get Big Match Intros. Feeling out process to start until Drake takes over with a hard clothesline. The champ gets beaten down a few more times and a powerslam gets two. Eddie’s comeback sees him throw Drake over the top but a little skinning the cat….doesn’t work as Drake is clotheslined out to the floor.

The suicide dive is overshot as Eddie crashes into the crowd and Drake comes up holding his arm. Back in and a quick Blunt Force Trauma gets two, followed by a quick belly to back suplex for the same. Not that it matters as the Boston Knee Party is enough for the pin to retain the title at 10:21.

Rating: C. The best thing about this match is the time. There’s no reason whatsoever for Eddie to need more than about ten minutes to dispatch Drake and that’s what happened here. Drake is similar to the Miz: mainly talk, but he’s so good at it that he can hang above his in ring levels. This gets rid of Bound For Gold but Drake did well enough that he could be back here someday.

Post match here’s the DCC to go after Eddie. The champ is laid out and the masks come off to reveal someone unnamed (Eddie Kingston), Bram and James Storm, the latter of whom seems to be the leader.

Overall Rating: C-. The show was fine enough but as usual there’s almost nothing to get connected to. Everything in TNA (save for the Hardys) is always so structured with people winning a tournament or a competition or something like that to get a title shot. You never have someone get over on sheer popularity and become a contender because everything has to be earned. I like the sentiment and it’s good for a change but as usual, it’s not a good idea to have everything be the same. I need more emotion and something to connect to as most of the time I’m just watching things happen instead of getting interested in them.

Results

Mike Bennett b. Moose via countout

Ethan Carter III b. Abyss – Sleeper

Trevor Lee b. Rockstar Spud and DJZ – Fisherman’s buster to Spud

Lashley b. Robbie E./Grado – Spear to Robbie

Eddie Edwards b. Eli Drake – Boston Knee Party

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete 2014 Raw and Smackdown Reviews Part I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Impact Wrestling
Date: October 18, 2016
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: D’Angelo Dinero, Josh Matthews

A lot happened last week with the biggest change of events seeing Eddie Edwards becoming the new TNA World Champion by defeating Lashley. Tonight we have Maria Kanellis’ rematch for the Knockouts Title as she challenges Gail Kim in a No DQ match, though there’s always the chance that Maria’s cronies could screw things up again. Let’s get to it.

We open with a long recap of last week’s show, primarily focusing on Lashley losing the World Title.

Here’s Edwards for his first address as champion. Edwards says he’s worked to get here and the fans tell him he deserves it. He’s fought Lashley a few times now but something was different this time around. Edwards promises to be a fighting champion who will defend this title anywhere anytime and that includes facing Lashley again. Cue Lashley who quickly beats Edwards down and demands a referee out here for a rematch. Instead it’s Moose and Ethan Carter III for the save as Lashley leaves. That’s not exactly the best way to showcase the new champion but at least he didn’t lose the title yet.

The Tribunal wants to see Billy Corgan but get Aiden O’Shea instead. The boss hasn’t been impressed with them lately and they’re on the bubble. O’Shea advises them to do something to impress Corgan and soon.

Corgan says Lashley has just lost his automatic title rematch. Now that’s actually interesting. I’m glad we don’t immediately have to sit through Lashley getting yet another shot just because he was champion a week ago.

Grand Championship: Aron Rex vs. Jesse Godderz

Rex is defending and Godderz is coming in with a hamstring injury. They hit the mat to start and exchange some early headlocks as Josh and Pope argue over who is closer to Corgan. Jesse’s rollup gets two but he grabs at his hamstring on the kickout. The round wraps up with Godderz working on the arm and that’s enough to win the round.

A frustrated Rex rolls Jesse up a few times to start the second round, only to get caught in the Adonis Lock. Rex grabs the ropes but Jesse works on the arm some more as the round ends. Godderz wins round two and we take a break before the final round. Back with Rex being a bit less aggressive than you would expect and forearming Godderz outside. Jesse is smart enough to sit on the floor and eat up some time, only to have Rex kick him in the hamstring on the way back inside. The Revelator retains Rex’s title at 13:15 (including commercial and time between rounds).

Rating: D+. So they seem to already be teasing a Rex heel turn. To be fair he’s been a champion for a whole eleven days and that’s WAY too long for a face to be a good guy around here. I really don’t need yet another heel around here but it’s not like Rex is interesting as a guy in trunks so maybe it’s for the best.

Lashley tells O’Shea he has a surprise later tonight.

The Hardys talk about getting things back to where they were a year ago, which Jeff thinks means they’re even again. Matt says no because he can only indulge his addiction for one night only. Jeff seems a bit more like his old self here.

Allie gets an e-mail from someone (presumably Corgan) saying everyone is banned from ringside for Maria’s title defense. Maria freaks out and yells at Allie for not telling her.

Lashley interrupts Moose and Ethan Carter III and tells them that they’re in the main event tonight.

Here are the Hardys for a chat. Matt says he set his brother on an odyssey to regain the Tag Team Championships of the World and that debt was repaid at Bound For Glory. They’re the best team in the world, including the Bucks of Youth and the Day of the New. Jeff sings the theme song and Matt makes noises because he’s having a pre-mo-nition: there will be new #1 contenders crowned tonight in the Zone of Impact. Cue the Tribunal to jump the Hardys from behind.

Video on Mike Bennett vs. Cody. Bennett isn’t pleased with Cody showing up and trying to make an impact. Tonight they’ll settle things in the ring.

Cody vs. Mike Bennett

Feeling out process to start with Cody grabbing a sunset flip for two but missing the Beautiful Disaster. With Bennett on the floor, Cody hits a springboard dive to take him out in a big crash. Maria offers a distraction though and Mike gets in an elevated DDT off the barricade. Since it’s 2016, that’s not even enough for a close call though as Cody is back in by eight.

A dropkick gets two for Mike but Cody starts his comeback with some forearms and an Alabama Slam. The Beautiful Disaster connects but Bennett ducks the moonsault press. Instead it’s a Pedigree from Bennett for another near fall, only to have Cody take him down and try what looks like a Figure Four. Maria offers another distraction but Cody comes right back with Cross Rhodes for the pin at 8:45.

Rating: C+. Cody looked like his usual self so that’s all well and good, though I’m not wild on having Bennett lose again. He’s just fallen through the floor lately and while he’s still good, there’s no fire to him anymore. I’m also not sure why they had this match so early, other than giving Cody his title match way too soon.

Moose is ready for Ethan.

X-Division Title: Marshe Rockett vs. DJZ

Rockett is challenging and we get a quick video package on him before the match. Marshe is 6’4 and 250lbs so he’s not your normal member of the division. DJZ goes after him in the corner but gets shoved away by the much bigger Rockett. The champ is launched out to the floor and Rockett hits a good looking dropkick back inside. DJZ speeds things up and sends Marshe outside for a flip dive. The ZDT retains the title at 4:48.

Rating: C. Standard X-Division match here, meaning they bring in someone who could be a big deal and take the division by storm and then he loses in his first singles match because there’s no time to build up a story or interest in a match. DJZ is a good champion but he’s running through the division way too fast.

Bennett says he’ll have Maria’s back tonight but Allie says he’s banned as well.

Knockouts Title: Maria Kanellis-Bennett vs. Gail Kim

Kim is defending, there are no disqualifications and Madison Rayne is on commentary. If Maria loses, she’s out of power in the Knockouts division. Maria tries to bring in some weapons but is quickly thrown to the floor. Gail puts her in a dumpster and sends her flying down the ramp into the post. Back in and Maria uses some trashcan lids to take over, followed by a spinebuster for two. A kendo stick shot puts Maria down but Gail lets her up at two. Instead Gail goes with Eat Defeat into a trashcan lid to retain at 4:57.

Rating: D. I’m really hoping that’s it as there’s no reason for this to keep going otherwise. Maria is out of power and Gail can be our glorious champion because that’s how the world is supposed to work. I’m not sure who is left to challenge Gail unless they can somehow get us to her vs. Allie, who was the biggest deal in the division for a bit.

Eli Drake tells Ethan not to choke tonight.

Cody comes up to see Eddie Edwards in the back and asks if he’ll be ok for their title match next week. Eddie says he’ll be fine and they’re cool.

We get a vignette with a clock spinning. Three men in masks are sitting behind a table covered in masks. They’re bringing clarity and order to Impact and they’re not afraid to take a stand.

Moose vs. Ethan Carter III

The winner of this faces Lashley in a #1 contenders match. They start fast with both guys going for their finishers early on. An exchange of dropkicks goes better for Moose and they head outside with Carter taking over off some forearms to the chest. Moose is right back with a bicycle kick to the face and an AA onto the apron for good measure. Back in and Carter missile dropkicks Moose down and it’s time to chop it out. A pop up powerbomb and senton give Moose two but Carter is right back up with a Stinger Splash. The chokebomb sets up a discus lariat to the back of Carter’s head for the pin at 7:43.

Rating: C+. This was a bit better than I was expecting and it makes sense to have Moose go forward like this. We’ve seen Carter fighting for the title for well over a year now and it’s time for someone else to get a shot in that spot instead. Moose vs. Lashley should be fun, though I would wait a bit longer than a week for that showdown.

Lashley comes out to stare down Moose as the show ends.

Overall Rating: C. That’s one of their better shows in a while as TNA actually did a few things. Unfortunately though they did a lot of things in one week that could have been stretched out for several weeks, which has always been a problem for them. The World Title scene feels hotter than it has in months and there’s some interesting stuff going on elsewhere. This felt a lot more energetic than most of their shows and that’s a good thing.

Results

Aron Rex b. Jesse Godderz – Revelator

Cody b. Mike Bennett – Cross Rhodes

DJZ b. Marshe Rockett – ZDT

Gail Kim b. Maria Kanellis-Bennett – Eat Defeat into a trashcan lid

Moose b. Ethan Carter III – Discus lariat to the back of the head

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete 2014 Raw and Smackdown Reviews Part I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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Impact Wrestling
Date: October 6, 2016
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: D’Angelo Dinero, Josh Matthews

It’s the start of a new era for TNA as we’re straight off Bound For Glory with the big story being Lashley holding onto the TNA World Title. Other than that we have new Tag Team Champions with the Hardys defeating Decay in the Great War and the first ever Grand Champion in Aron Rex. Everything starts fresh tonight so let’s get to it.

We open with a montage from Bound For Glory.

Here’s Lashley to open the show with a smirk on his face. Lashley brags about how he beats everyone in the company and is the man around here because of this belt on his shoulder. No one can beat him but here’s Aron Rex to interrupt. Rex used to be smart so he’s going to try to do the math. Grand Champion sounds a lot better than World Champion so Rex sees himself as the man around here.

A fight is teased but here’s Gail Kim to interrupt. TNA would make her World Champion in a heartbeat so I shouldn’t be surprised by this one. Gail says it’s 2016 and the women are changing the game around here so she’s the face of the company. This brings out Matt Hardy with Reby and Maxill (no Jeff and Matt has both belts) to say TNA is now a broken company. Preach it brother.

Matt is always ready to delete (repeat five times) but here’s DJZ to give us all the titles in one ring. DJZ mentions something called Team X Gold but Lashley cuts him off and says he’s got a fight coming up and doesn’t have time to waste with second rate title holders. Now it’s Billy Corgan coming out with Aiden O’Shea (Remember him?) to congratulate all the champions.

All of the champions will be in competition tonight (Matt: “WONDERFUL!”) and Lashley doesn’t care who he’s facing tonight. All the titles will be on the line tonight, except for DJZ because he helped to introduce Team X Gold. Wait are they having X-Division Tag Team Titles? For the love of all things good and holy, WHY??? Anyway Lashley is given three options to face tonight but first up it’s Team X Gold.

Trevor Lee/Andrew Everett/Marshe Rocket vs. DJZ/Mandrews/Braxton Sutter

Everett and Mandrews start things off with Mandrews hitting a moonsault into a basement dropkick. Rocket, a good sized guy, comes in and kicks Mandrews in the face to take over. It’s off to Lee vs. Sutter with Braxton getting in a kick to the face until Rocket comes back in with a powerslam. DJZ comes in for some clotheslines on Rocket but the champ gets kicked in the face. It’s quickly off to Everett, who moonsaults into raised boots. A quick tag off to Mandrews sets up a shooting star press to pin Everett at 5:27.

Rating: C. Oh sweet goodness TNA what are you doing? I get the idea here (capitalizing on the success of the Cruiserweight Classic) but my goodness could they come up with something a little better than throwing six guys out there with little to no connection and having a match?

Normally I would ask if they had learned anything from WWE’s mistakes in the cruiserweight division but of course they haven’t because they think it’s a good idea to have a full six man tag division when they can barely do a singles division. Rocket looked impressive here and has star power but this is just more stuff that doesn’t solve the problems the X-Division already has (no stories, no characters etc.)

One of Lashley’s potential opponents is Moose, who says Lashley is scared of him.

It’s time for Fact of Life with Eli Drake and now he’s got a set outside the ring. Drake brings out Ethan Carter III, who had a rocket shoved so far inside him you would think he’d spit out rocket fuel. Eli won’t let Ethan talk as he comes up with ways to call Ethan a loser. Ethan says he lost at Bound For Glory and says his passion has been replaced by anger. If Drake pushes the button one more time, Ethan is going to eviscerate him and he even gets on his knees to beg Drake to hit it again.

Drake shoves the button away and talks about getting into TNA because of something called the Rising. He’s been hearing about how he’s not in Ethan Carter’s league because Carter has been handed every opportunity. That’s it for the interview, which means we don’t get an explanation for how Drake grew a full head of hair and a beard in four days.

Maria Kanellis yells at Allie over screwing up on Sunday. Sienna and Laurel Van Ness talk Maria out of firing her because they need someone to carry their bags. Sienna will get the title back tonight and Allie better not mess it up.

Eddie Edwards says Lashley sees him as the easy match so please pick him to give Lashley the easy title defense.

Video on Gail Kim’s Hall of Fame induction.

Knockouts Title: Sienna vs. Gail Kim

Gail is defending and Madison Rayne is on commentary (with her husband Josh Matthews). Sienna knocks Allie into Gail to knock her off the apron before driving the champ back first into the apron. They head inside with Gail escaping the AK-47 but getting caught in a reverse powerbomb for two. Gail ducks the Pounce and rolls Sienna up to retain at 3:04.

Rating: D+. This match sums up so many of the problems in TNA in one match: a lack of emotion. There’s no reason to care about Gail other than she’s been here for a long time. There’s no reason to care about Sienna because she had the title and then lost it after doing a total of nothing as champion. Combine that with a nothing match that gets no time and what is there here to get excited over? The problem is that’s the case with the majority of what TNA does and it gets really tiresome.

Maria and company come out to beat on Gail. With Sienna holding Gail, Maria says her rematch will take place next week in a No DQ match. Madison is downright annoyed over this. I mean, she’s not going to do anything about it but it’s certainly ruffled her feathers.

Ethan Carter III is the third option and doesn’t think Lashley will pick him. If Lashley wants a real fight though, pick him.

Tag Team Titles: Hardys vs. Decay

This is a Wolf Creek Cage Match, meaning a weapons cage match with a win by escape only and a name tied into one of Pop’s shows. It’s a brawl to start with Jeff stapling Abyss in various places. Steve climbs the cage and gets a grappling hook of all things to pull at Matt’s mouth. A kendo stick shot to the back puts Matt down but the Hardys come back with shots of their own.

Matt grabs a CHAINSAW to knock Steve down but Abyss cleans house again. Rosemary stops Jeff from escaping and we get another catfight on the floor. The video freezes for a few moments and comes back on a commercial. We come back from a break with the next segment and no mention of who won. According to TNA’s Twitter, the Hardys won at we’ll say about 9:00.

Rating: D. Lack of an ending aside, this was a really boring cage match with Josh talking about Wolf Creek every few seconds. The problem is when you take away the Final Deletion stuff, Matt and Jeff are two middle aged wrestlers who don’t have anywhere near the spark they used to have, leaving us with really dull matches.

Here are Cody and Brandi Rhodes for their big formal introduction. Cody talks about how the game is changing and lists off some things from Bound For Glory. He talks about the list (a list of things he wanted to do in wrestling) being his guiding light with names like Mike Bennett making him want to keep going.

After a quick Brandi chant, Cody says maybe he should have put the TNA World Title on the list because that’s the Queen’s jewels and the Master Sword. This brings out Mike Bennett and Maria with Bennett not being pleased with Cody being handed a title shot. When Mike got here, he was told that people aren’t just handed title shots so he was ready to earn it. Mike mentions the idea of fighting Cody and that’s enough for the man without a last name. The brawl is on the Bennett bails in a hurry.

Post break Cody says he wants Mike Bennett next week.

O’Shea stops Maria from going into Corgan’s office and calls her toots. Corgan has a message for her though: if she loses her title rematch next week, she’s out of power in the Knockouts division.

Grand Championship: Aron Rex vs. Baron Dax

Rex is defending and we’re back to three minute rounds. The champ gets a headlock to start but walks into a pair of neckbreakers. Josh calls this controlling the action because TNA likes to brand the simplest of things because WWE does it and that means it’s a good idea. We hit the chinlock on Rex before Dax hammers away to end the first round. Baron wins the first round and he’s in early control of the second as well. Rex elbows him down and grabs the Royal Arch (Edgecator, though it sounds like a big McDonald’s sandwich) for the submission at 4:18.

Rating: D. So the five minute rounds were just for Bound For Glory and not for the rest of the title matches? But hey, at least we get TEAM X GOLD, which is supposed to be entertaining for whatever reason. This isn’t an interesting concept and I was hoping they would drop it soon enough but let’s just keep it going no matter what because TNA needs to evolve the business by having Rex beat a tag team jobber in four minutes.

Rex says this is changing the business.

Lashley and the three potential opponents come out for the main event. Lashley takes his time and goes over each opponent before picking……Eddie.

TNA World Title: Lashley vs. Eddie Edwards

Lashley is defending but misses a spear at the bell. A release German suplex flips Eddie over though and a delayed vertical suplex makes it even worse. Eddie’s hurricanrana is countered with a powerbomb but he gets in a few kicks to the face. Now the hurricanrana brings Lashley off the middle rope and the champ is in trouble. The Boston Knee Party misses but Eddie sends him outside for the suicide dives, only to miss the third one and crash into the barricade. Back in and the Boston Knee Party out of nowhere gives Eddie the title at 7:50.

Rating: C+. This didn’t have time to go anywhere but it’s a really entertaining moment and that’s more important. Eddie getting the belt is a good idea, though couldn’t they have done this at Bound For Glory where it would have felt more important? Or, you know, not have had Eddie lose on Sunday? At least it felt important and big though while giving us something fresh. As long as they don’t change the title right back, this should be find.

Next up on Pop: Wolf Creek. Why do I have a feeling the choice for the title isn’t a coincidence?

Overall Rating: C-. Main event aside, this show did very little to fix TNA’s major issues. I still have very few people to care about around here and it’s not really getting much better. Between the new Grand Championship division and apparently an X-Division trios division (because reasons), it feels like they’re just throwing stuff out there. There’s really no main event story and there hasn’t been anything personal around the World Title in a long time. You need something people can connect to because average wrestling isn’t going to cut it these days. It’s not a bad show but very little I can connect to.

Results

DJZ/Mandrews/Braxton Sutter b. Trevor Lee/Andrew Everett/Marshe Rocket – Shooting star press to Everett

Gail Kim b. Sienna – Rollup

Hardys b. Decay – Hardys escaped the cage

Aron Rex b. Baron Dax – Royal Arch

Eddie Edwards b. Lashley – Boston Knee Party

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete 2014 Raw and Smackdown Reviews Part I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LY6766K#nav-subnav

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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