IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

One Night Only: Amped Anthology Part II
Date: September 15, 2017
Location: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Cyrus Fees, Chael Sonnen

You might remember that I did this about a year ago and for some reason I never got around to doing the other three parts. Maybe because the first part wasn’t very good and I really didn’t care that much. These have been on my list for a long time though so I might as well get to them. This is the previously unreleased Global Force Wrestling TV show that never made air because GFW never went anywhere. We’re in full on title tournament mode and this would be episodes 5-8, as with commercials taken out the four hour long episodes equal about three hours. Let’s get to it.

Here’s the original if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of last week’s tournament matches, none of which were anything special. You know, like this entire promotion. A preview for tonight’s matches are included too. Not the worst idea in the world, as always.

The announcers preview the show.

Tag Team Title Tournament First Round: Reno Scum vs. Los Luchas

I remember Scum from Impact and I never quite got it. They weren’t bad but they’re just another heel team. Scum jumps them to start and it’s Adam Thornstowe (partner of Luster the Legend) beating on Phoenix Star (partner of Zokre) in the corner. The double teaming begins with a knee drop and a quickly broken chinlock as Star is already in trouble. Zokre makes a blind tag though and comes in with a springboard crossbody to Adam as the pace picks up in a hurry.

It’s already back to Phoenix, who gets taken down by a running clothesline. Adam comes back in with a slingshot hilo and the neck crank only lasts a few seconds. Instead Adam hits a standing moonsault for two but Star flips out of a belly to back suplex and it’s back to Zokre. The Luchas hit a double 619 on Adam and a handspring kick to the face sends Luster outside. Adam dives onto Zokre and Luster, followed by Phoenix diving onto all three of them. Cyrus brings up a good question: at what point is taking out your own partner not worth the effort?

Back in and a springboard Blockbuster into a Backstabber (cool) has Adam in more trouble with Luster having to make a save. Some dives are broken up so Zokre is tied in the Tree of Woe with Phoenix being Razor’s Edged into him for a unique looking crash. A Death Valley Driver puts Zokre down and it’s a top rope Stomp to Phoenix to give Adam the pin at 9:12.

Rating: C+. There were some cool spots here but I don’t know anything about either team. Now the good thing in this instance is how the two teams are pretty much self explanatory. The Luchas are about as simple of a concept as you can get while Scum are…well they’re heels with cool moves. I don’t quite get the gimmick, but the match wasn’t bad at all.

Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows explain the idea of a thing called the Bullet Club and how they do whatever they want because it’s fun.

Here’s Jeff Jarrett for a chat. He thanks the arena and the wrestlers in the back, because this place is nothing without them. Finally, he thanks the fans as well because they’re the biggest reason any wrestling promotion works. We’re in the middle of several tournaments right now, and names like Shelton Benjamin, the Killer Elite Squad and the Bullet Club will be in some of those tournaments.

This brings out Bobby Roode, so Jarrett takes off the jacket. Roode mocks the fans for the THANK YOU JEFF chants. For what? Messing up TNA and starting another two bit promotion? Nobody cares about this place and Roode already made Killer Kross tap out to advance in the tournament. Jeff says GFW is about competing, so Roode’s next opponent is Eric Young. Cyrus: “They’re both currently in NXT.”

Chris Mordetzky (Chris Master) and Brian Myers (Curt Hawkins) have both wrestled around the world and it’s looks and power vs. skill. Chris thinks he’s a top star while Meyers is a role player. Myers isn’t impressed.

Reno Scum is proud of winning and Christina Von Eerie, apparently their manager, wants to talk strategy.

We recap the Jarrett vs. Roode segment.

Roode isn’t sweating Young.

GFW World Title Tournament First Round: Chris Mordetzky vs. Brian Meyers

Cyrus again tells us that Myers is on Smackdown as Curt Hawkins. A power exchange goes to Chris (well duh) and he posts Myers out to the floor. Back in and Chris starts in on the back with a powerslam as Nick Aldis watches to find out who he faces next. The camel clutch goes on and Myers is thrown down for trying to escape.

A hard slap to the face puts Myers down so he slaps Chris right back and they’re both down. Myers makes his comeback with some right hands and a running forearm, followed by a Downward Spiral for two. Chris gets a slow two off a sitout spinebuster but the Adonis Lock is blocked. A spear sends Chris to the floor but he kicks the ropes for a low blow on the way back in. Now the Master Lock can go on to make Myers tap at 8:47.

Rating: D+. This is where the problem comes with GFW. While I can get behind the idea of two unknown teams fighting for the Tag Team Titles, this was Curt Hawkins vs. Chris Masters in a battle of former WWE jobbers. I’ve seen them both for a long time in WWE and I don’t want to see either of them here. It doesn’t help that Myers is just a guy while Master is the EXACT same thing that didn’t work in WWE. What’s the appeal here?

Post match, Chris goes to the back and talks trash to Aldis.

The second episode begins so we hit the opening sequence again.

Another preview.

Tag Team Title Tournament First Round: Misterioso Jr./Cielo vs. Teaze N Sleaze

It’s Kenny Klimax (King) and Juicy Joey (Ryan) and we start with some stripping until it’s Ryan getting armdragged down by Cielo. Jr. comes in for a sunset flip off a Cielo dropkick as the announcers talk about Joey’s infamous suplex. King comes in and gets kicked down into a standing moonsault for two as the masked guys are certainly starting fast here. A Joey distraction lets Kenny get in a cheap shot from behind as the team you’ve actually heard of takes over.

It’s back to Joey for some chest rubbing and Kenny throws in some dancing as Cielo continues to take a pretty weak beating. Joey spends a little too much time posing and charges into a knee, meaning it’s a hot tag to Jr. Everything breaks down with Joey having to break up a cover off a moonsault press. A superkick from Joey sets up the Royal Flush to give Kenny the pin at 6:37.

Rating: D. This didn’t have much time and that’s the best option for the guys in there. King and Ryan are little more than a comedy act and while that’s a good thing to have around, it’s not the most important thing to spend time on. Cielo and Misterioso were fine, but you already have Los Luchas around here and they’re a step or two better.

Video on Shelton Benjamin, who lists off his career resume and amateur background.

We get a tribute to Roddy Piper, who passed away less than a week before this was taped. Jeff Jarrett and Brian Granstaff (the writer/star of Roddy’s last movie, which happened to be about wrestling) come out with Jarrett talking about everything Piper did over the years. Piper would come into a territory at one level and then leave at the main event level. He was supposed to be here tonight but we’re celebrating him instead. Brian talks about all the F bombs that Piper dropped on the set of the Christian film in a funny story.

We see some clips of Piper talking about the movie and see the teaser trailer. Back in the arena, we get a ten bell salute. This was a very nice tribute to Piper and felt like something kind of special, especially with the stuff from the wrestling movie. I’d rather they do this than try to make it into some kind of an angle.

Video on TJ Perkins, of course now known as TJP. He was homeless for awhile as he pursued his dream and now he’s part of the Nex Gen tournament.

The announcers recap the tournaments. Chael is ready to personally do a run-in if that’s what it takes to make Mordetzky champion.

Video on JR Kratos, a muscular indy guy sounds nowhere near as intimidating as you would expect from his name. He’s ready to face a veteran like Shelton.

GFW World Title Tournament First Round: JR Kratos vs. Shelton Benjamin

Kratos forearms him into the corner to start but gets caught with an early Dragon Whip (Not named here as the announcers are too busy praising Shelton. That’s a good idea, but they need to pay more attention.). A quick posting cuts Shelton off though and Kratos gets two off a delayed vertical suplex.

The chinlock doesn’t last long as Shelton fights up with some right hands and the Stinger Splash into a Samoan drop for two. Kratos is right back with a powerslam for the same and a running knee to the face. He takes way long going up though and gets suplexed right back down. Paydirt (still don’t like that move) finishes Kratos at 6:00.

Rating: D. Kratos has a good name and a good look and that’s about it for his major positives. There’s only so much that you can get out of a name like Shelton against a newcomer and the ending wasn’t exactly in doubt. Kratos came off like an inexperienced (though not terrible or anything) rookie and that’s not going to work against a pretty big star like Shelton. Not the worst match by any stretch, but nothing you need to see.

We get a preview for “next week”. That’s not a criticism as this isn’t being presented in its intended format.

Episode seven begins with a video on the Bullet Club vs. the Killer Elite Squad.

The announcers preview things again.

Video on Andrew Everett, who is a heck of a high flier. Jarrett says Everett makes him think of the first time he saw AJ Styles, which is quite the praise.

Nex Gen Title Tournament First Round: Andrew Everett vs. TJ Perkins

The bell rings with Perkins’ music still playing as they want to get moving. Everett hits a dropkick to start but gets headscissored down. Chael brings up Prince Iaukea of all people, praising him as the best moving smaller wrestler in years. Just….stick to getting beaten up in MMA dude. Perkins sends him outside but Everett switches places and hits the springboard shooting star for the first big spot of the match.

Back in and a springboard splash misses but Everett kicks him down for one anyway. Perkins slaps on a quickly broken Black Widow before getting two off a crucifix. There’s a slingshot hilo for some Eddie Guerrero flavor and Perkins stays on the arm. A dropkick to the back gives Perkins two more and we hit the bow and arrow hold. Everett gets in a forearm to the face though and a springboard missile dropkick has Perkins in trouble.

That means a standing shooting star press for two but Perkins dropkicks him out of the air for a breather. Some rolling suplexes look to set up a frog splash, which only hits Everett’s raised knees. A Falcon Arrow sets up the 630 but it takes WAY too long, with Perkins rolling away in more than enough time. Perkins frog splashes the arm and a cross armbreaker makes Everett tap at 10:46.

Rating: B. Match of the night by far here with both guys hitting a bunch of high flying spots over a pretty decent amount of time. Perkins was a bigger deal and a more well rounded worker here though, with the arm work actually playing into the finish. That’s what makes a match like this work so well and Perkins was nailing it here, with Everett more than holding up his end.

Earlier today, the Bullet Club arrived and promised to win tonight.

Earlier today, the Killer Elite Squad was at the hotel and promised to win tonight.

Here’s Bobby Roode with the TNA King of the Mountain Title to complain some more. It was his responsibility to be here for the fans, even though Jeff Jarrett is playing mind games with him. Jeff made him qualify for the World Title tournament so he beat the hometown here Kevin Kross. Now he has to beat the crazy man Eric Young, who only belongs in an insane asylum. This brings out Young to chase Roode off and scream a lot, reminding me of how much I couldn’t stand this version of Young. Roode comes in and the fight is on with Young getting the better of it until referees break it up.

Perkins is proud of his win and Everett comes in to congratulate him. Well thank goodness he was happy with the match and not distraught over being eliminated from the tournament.

Shelton may have a concussion and is on his way to the hospital.

The announcers recap and preview.

Video on Nick Aldis, who has been successful everywhere he’s gone and is ready to be the star.

Tag Team Title Tournament First Round: Killer Elite Squad vs. Bullet Club

The Squad is Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer. It’s Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson, with Amber Gallows as the Bullet Babe, for the Club here. The fight starts on the floor (well duh) with the Squad taking over until it’s Archer and Anderson slugging it out inside to officially get things going. A choke suplex and clothesline have Anderson in trouble and it’s off to Smith for a camel clutch.

Anderson fights out and uppercuts his way to freedom but Archer kicks him in the face and drops a leg for two. Smith’s belly to belly gets two and the Squad goes high/low for two more. A missed charge in the corner lets Anderson hit an enziguri and it’s off to Gallows so house can be cleaned.

Some kicks to Archer’s face put him down and Gallows is all fired up. Gallows hits a reverse full nelson slam but walks into a Hart Attack for another near fall. The Killer Bomb (powerbomb/full nelson slam combination) is good for the same with Anderson coming in for the save. Smith and Anderson go to the floor, leaving Archer to miss the moonsault. The Magic Killer gives the Club the win at 9:13.

Rating: C. This was fine for four big, power guys beating each other up for a little while. The Club was white hot at this point so it makes perfect sense to have them win here. At the same time, the Squad is an awesome team who was coming into their own at this point. I could go for more of these two on a bigger stage, though maybe in another year or so.

Here are the final four for the Tag Team tournament:

Bollywood Boyz

Bullet Club

Teaze N Sleaze

Reno Scum

Preview for the final show.

Episode eight opens with a preview for tonight’s show. These things don’t work so well in marathon form.

The Akbars (Ali and Omar) are tired of being discriminated against, including when they were eliminated from the Tag Team Title tournament “last week”. Tonight, they’ll unleash some of that anger.

Los Luchas and Sonjay Dutt are ready for their six man tag.

Akbars/PJ Black vs. Sonjay Dutt/Los Luchas

Ali and Phoenix start things off and it’s an early double 619 to Ali’s head. Sonjay and PJ come in with Black underestimating Dutt’s flipping abilities. A hurricanrana has Black in trouble so he dropkicks Dutt outside where the Akbars can beat on him. Back in and Omar works on the armbar before Black comes in for a chinlock. Dutt fights up and hits a Downward Spiral into the middle buckle, setting up the hot tag off to Phoenix so things can pick up.

Everything breaks down and the Luchas hit some fast dropkicks. A moonsault and a Swanton hit the Akbars, followed by Dutt diving onto Black. The big running flip dives have the villains in even more trouble but Omar hits Zokre with a release fisherman’s suplex. Dutt is back in with a tornado DDT, followed by Phoenix spearing Ali down. Black comes back in with a top rope double stomp to put Phoenix away at 7:56.

Rating: C. Just a fun match with a bunch of people flying around to pop the crowd a few times and that’s a good idea later on in a taping like this. Dutt is an entertaining guy to watch and there’s a reason he was being pushed all the way to the X-Division Title at this point. Good little match here, which is often one of the best things you can do.

Post match the Akbars beat the Luchas down and Black adds a superkick to Dutt.

Video on Nick Aldis, who has become more complete now that he has a child.

Here’s Chael Sonnen in the ring for his Bad Words talking segment. His first guest is the future World Champion, Chris Mordetzky. Chris talks about Sonnen beating British MMA fighter Michael Bisping, so now Mordetzky is going to beat a British wrestler in Nick Aldis. Then after winning the match, he can go to Aldis’ house and tell Nick’s wife Mickie James to make him a steak (Sonnen used the same line to hype a fight). Aldis comes out to say there’s a problem if Chris ever brings up Mickie again. Sonnen: “She doesn’t know how to make steak?” The brawl is on with the Master Lock leaving Aldis laying.

After Aldis is taken out, MMA fighter Phil Baroni is in the crowd so Sonnen insults him, leading to the referees having to hold Baroni back.

Video on Eric Young and Bobby Roode’s history together. They used to be friends and then rivals, but tonight they’re fighting for a shot at the World Title.

Cyrus asks Sonnen about what just happened and gets blown off.

Video on Amber Gallows, who might be in the Women’s Title tournament. Karen Jarrett gets to talk, because….I have no idea actually. Were there no female wrestlers who could talk here?

GFW World Title Tournament First Round: Bobby Roode vs. Eric Young

Roode’s King of the Mountain Title isn’t on the line. They slug it out to start with Young getting the better of it off a backdrop. The fight heads outside with Sonnen talking about Young wearing pink while also being in charge of Sanity in NXT. My goodness the timing is odd here with a mix of original commentary and redone material. Roode dropkicks him off the apron and stops to pose before slapping on a waistlock.

Back up and they run the ropes with neither being able to get anywhere. That means a double clothesline for the double knockdown and it’s time to slug it out again. Young slides between Roode’s legs and hits the belly to belly. The top rope elbow gets two but the piledriver is countered into Roode’s spinebuster.

Roode stays on him with the Crossface but Young is too close to the ropes. A Falcon Arrow gives Roode two more so he yells at the referee, allowing Young to score with a big boot. The piledriver is countered again, this time into a failed Roode Bomb attempt. Young tries a sunset flip but Roode drops down into a cradle with a grab of the rope for the pin at 9:13.

Rating: C+. You had to expect that two people who knew each other this well would have a good match and that’s what they did here. Roode cheating to win fits him perfectly and it’s pretty clear that he’s going to the finals to face Aldis. Young losing is always nice to see, especially when he’s this version, which drove me absolutely up the wall for a long time.

Here are the updated brackets:

Nick Aldis

Chris Mordetzky

Shelton Benjamin

Bobby Roode

In the back, Aldis can’t get to Mordetzky to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. Just like last time, this was perfectly watchable but nothing that I’ve going to think about after about ten more minutes. The wrestling was fine, the stories, while few and far between, were acceptable and while commentary wasn’t very good, it certainly wasn’t horrible. The problem is that it’s just not a show you need to see and is more of a curiosity than anything else. Having four straight episodes would seem like a bit much but it actually doesn’t drag at all. It’s fine, but not worth your time.

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:

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

One Night Only: Amped Anthology Part I
Date: August 11, 2017
Location: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Cyrus Fees, Chael Sonnen

So this exists. Back in 2015, Global Force Wrestling FINALLY got around to their TV tapings and over two years later, we’re FINALLY getting to see the things. Most of these people have moved on to different promotions but I’m really interested in seeing how these things were going to be. There were eight one hour episodes and I believe we have four of them here tonight. Let’s get to it.

We open with a quick intro, basically saying that none of this is scripted. It also comes off like a partial reality show with a lot of focus on people working as hard as they can to get here. It’s amazing how many of these names are already in WWE and in many cases have already won titles there.

The announcers welcome us to the show with Chael playing a heel and loving the idea of tournaments to win titles.

It’s a six sided ring because of course it is.

Nex Gen Title Tournament First Round: Seiya Sanada vs. PJ Black

The production values are quite good, probably better than today’s Impact. We get the crazy spinouts from the wristlocks to start and it’s off to a standoff. Black flips him down to the mat and grabs a headlock as the announcers explain Black’s background. A kick to the back of the head gets two on Sanada but he pops right back up with a dropkick. Black springboards into a dropkick to the ribs and we hit the abdominal stretch.

That goes nowhere (like you would expect it to in this kind of a match) so Black spinkicks him down, only to miss the top rope Lionsault. Sanada misses his own though and it’s a double breather. Back up and Black fires off some kicks but gets caught on top. A tiger suplex gives Sanada two and a TKO gets the same. Sanada loads up a superplex but gets shoved off, setting up the springboard 450 to send Black on at 8:45.

Rating: C+. So you know all those other X-Division style matches that don’t have much of a story but feature a bunch of pretty good flips and dives? Well this is one of them. Black is a good high flier and Sanada is a bit more well rounded but these matches just kind of come and go for me. It was good but another X-Division/Cruiserweight Title doesn’t do much for me anymore. We’ve seen it so many times that seeing it again isn’t the most thrilling thing in the world.

Here are the brackets for the first time.

Black

Sonjay Dutt

Jigsaw

TJP

Andrew Everett

Trevor Lee

TBD

Video on Kevin Kross. Believe it or not, he was inspired by Japanese wrestling.

The resident lucha libre team is ready for their six man tag later and two of them are ready to win the Tag Team Titles.

Here’s Bobby Roode, to his own Against the Grain TNA theme, for a chat. Roode says he doesn’t belong here because he’s always been and always will be a TNA guy. He lists off a bunch of people he’s held the TNA World Title than, which is better known as a list of people who will never be here. He’s here tonight to take the GFW World Title from Jeff Jarrett (who isn’t champion mind you) but here’s Nick Aldis, better known as Magnus, to interrupt. Aldis says this isn’t the Impact Zone and Jarrett brought everyone here to join the force. Cue Kongo Kong (who looks just as bad as he does now) to jump Aldis, allowing Roode to grab a Crossface.

Black is ready to move forward towards the title.

Video on Jarrett creating the company.

Bestia 666/Blood Eagle/Samu Jr. vs. Los Luchas/Misterioso Jr.

Zokre and Eagle start things off with a lucha sequence, which Sonnen says is reminiscent of the Hart Foundation. Everything breaks down and Zokre gets beaten down with a wheelbarrow Codebreaker planting him. The triple teaming makes things even worse with all of the technicos taking a beating as we head to a break.

Back with Eagle powerbombing Zokre for two as the announcers are trying to keep up with everything going on to little avail. Misterioso hits an Asai moonsault onto Samu and Los Luchas add stereo running flip dives. A Codebreaker and a hurricanrana driver plants Eagle and something like a Lionsault gives Misterioso the pin at 6:14 shown.

Rating: C. This was your run of the mill lucha insanity but I have no idea who any of these people are. Commentary did a horrible job of telling us who they were and there was no reason to like one team over the other. It wasn’t bad but the days of just doing lucha for the sake of doing lucha are long behind us. Well save for around here and on 205 Live of course and it’s no wonder that neither is the most successful product in the world.

Here are the brackets for the Tag Team Title tournament:

Bollywood Boyz

Akbars

Los Luchas

Reno Scum

Celo/Misterioso

Teaze N Sleaze

Bullet Club

Killer Elite Squad

Preview of the rest of the season.

The second episode begins with a recap of last week’s show, even if it didn’t seem like much happened. The big focus is on Roode vs. Kross for a spot in the GFW World Title tournament.

Virgil Flynn and Kushida are ready to go after the Nex Gen Title.

Kushida vs. Virgil Flynn

Non-tournament and non-title with Kushida’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title not on the line. I’ve never heard of Flynn but Kushida is probably my favorite New Japan guy. They fight over a wristlock to start until Kushida grabs a front facelock to take over. A drop toehold puts Kushida into 619 position though and a kick to the head staggers him even more. Back in and Kushida kicks him down before sending him shoulder first into the post.

Bored of that, Kushida hits the basement dropkick for two. Virgil gets in a jawbreaker, which Chael describes as old school. It’s too early for the Hoverboard Lock and Virgil snaps him off the top with a hurricanrana. Kushida wins a slugout but his crossbody is countered into a powerslam for two. A 450 hits knees though and Kushida fires off kicks to the arm before just punching him in the jaw. The Hoverboard Lock makes Flynn tap at 10:37.

Rating: C+. Flynn wasn’t bad though this was just a step above an extended squash. Having Kushida around is a good idea as he’s one of the best in-ring talents in the world, though having the IWGP Title out there didn’t look good. You’re trying to convince people that you’re the best in the world. Don’t mention other promotions every chance you get as it makes you look like you’re riding their coattails instead of standing on your own. See also a major problem for GFW and ROH today.

Aldis says he’s fine and can appreciate Kong trying to make a name for himself. He’ll be winning the GFW Title though.

Kushida and Flynn endorse each other.

Video on the women of GFW. This includes Karen Jarrett talking about how many opportunities the women will be getting because she’s this company’s Stephanie McMahon.

Video on Kevin Kross, who seems to be a shooter/MMA guy with some anger issues.

Video on Chris Mordetzky, who is totally different than when he was in WWE.

Video on the Bollywood Boyz, now known as the Singh Brothers.

GFW World Title Tournament Qualifying Match: Bobby Roode vs. Kevin Kross

Roode works on the arm to start before lounging on the top rope. Kross reverses a hammerlock and runs him over, which isn’t exactly what I think of when I hear someone is a shooter. A quick breather on the floor seems to do Roode some good as he comes back in and sends Kross into the post.

The bad arm is rammed into the barricade a few times, which I guess isn’t MMA style as Kross is in even more trouble. Back from a break with Roode hitting the Hennig necksnap and cranking on the arm some more. The spinebuster looks to set up the Roode Bomb but Kross escapes into a rollup. Not that it matters as Roode reverses into the Crossface for the tap at 7:39.

Rating: D+. So much for the shooter/MMA guy. I know Jarrett did the thing where he was a fake MMA guy but does he know that there’s such a thing as real MMA style wrestlers? Kross was every run of the mill angry wrestler here with nothing that suggested he had a shoot background whatsoever. That left us with little more than a glorified (though not glorious) squash, which doesn’t do much for Kross.

Video on the Akbars, doing the standard “we’re treated differently because we look different” stuff.

Episode three begins with another recap.

Here’s a lounge singer named Henry Maxwell for no logical reason other than to be beaten down by the Akbars before their match.

GFW Tag Team Title Tournament First Round: Akbars vs. Bollywood Boyz

The Akbars are Ali and Omar, both of whom are best known from OVW. Gurv and Omar start things off and it’s a small package for two on Omar. That means it’s already off to Ali, who is sent scurrying back to Omar thanks to an armdrag. They have quite the low tolerance for pain.

Some double teaming puts Harv in trouble though and it’s a double suplex for no cover. Back from a break with Harv still in the wrong corner and a snap suplex into a chinlock. A running knee and elbow drop get two but hang on because we need to plug an upcoming Karen Jarrett appearance.

We get the classic fight to the corner for a tag the referee doesn’t see, which always makes me smile a bit. Omar misses a middle rope leg and there’s the hot tag to Gurv. A DDT and spinwheel kick get two as everything breaks down. Harv hits a top rope back elbow to the jaw, setting up a top rope elbow drop for the pin on Ali at 8:52.

Rating: D+. This was quite a bit of nothing special with the Akbars being as generic a set of villains as you could find. The Boyz were better, though still not exactly setting the world on fire. Their actual wrestling has never been great though at least they seem to have found their calling as the crash dummies for Jinder Mahal.

Sonjay Dutt is ready to win the Nex Gen Title to go with his bachelor’s degree.

Jigsaw is a masked man who has wrestled everywhere and sounds very standard for having such a cool name. He’s a hybrid wrestler and wants to win the Nex Gen Title too.

Another video on Mordetzky, with a lot of the same material being covered.

Here’s Karen Jarrett, who is introduced as the Queen of the Knockouts. She makes a women’s match for the main event but Lei’D Tapa and her manager Royal Red cut her off. Red doesn’t want to hear about the old news that is Mickie James. Karen tells her to shut up because she’s all tough and awesome. She wants Tapa to cage up her husband before her triple threat tonight with James and Christina Von Eerie.

Video on Kevin Kross, who wants to fight Bobby Roode again.

Nick Aldis is ready to face Kongo Kong.

GFW Women’s Title Tournament First Round: Lei’D Tapa vs. Mickie James vs. Christina Von Eerie

The winner is in the finals because this tournament isn’t exactly deep. Tapa shrugs off an early double teaming attempt and we’re off to a way too early break. Back with more double teaming working better and Tapa being sent outside. Mickie hurricanranas Christina out of the corner as Tapa gets back in.

A double Samoan drop….hurts Tapa as well as she bumps her head on the way down. The Barbarian’s niece shouldn’t be hurt by a blow to the head like that. Come on and get your stereotypes right already people. James and Von Eerie double team Tapa down again but get in an argument over the cover (you might have seen this idea before). The MickieDT (and a bad one at that) drops Tapa but Von Eerie sends James outside. A Backstabber to Tapa puts Von Eerie in the finals at 6:58.

Rating: D+. Another lackluster match that followed the same formula you’ve seen for this match a dozen or more times. Von Eerie going over is interesting and probably a better call as James is an established star and Tapa, no matter how many companies hire her, still isn’t interesting. Not terrible here but I’m already forgetting parts of it.

Von Eerie gets the winner of Katarina Leigh, the Bullet Babe and Lauren James. She’s ready for any of them.

Here are the brackets for the World Title tournament:

Chris Mordetzky

Brian Myers

Nick Aldis

Kongo Kong

Shelton Benjamin

JR Kratos

Bobby Roode

TBD

The lounge singer from earlier turns out to be Kong’s manager. Uh….ok then.

Episode four means another recap.

Video on Sonjay Dutt vs. Jigsaw.

Nex Gen Title Tournament First Round: Sonjay Dutt vs. Jigsaw

They speed things up to start and it’s the fast paced moves with little to no impact that almost always start these things off. Jigsaw scores with a few shots to the face and a dropkick gets two. Cyrus talks about Jigsaw taking a title from Dutt in CZW to put him on the map. Chael: “You did NOT see that match.” Cyrus: “Uhhh…..”.

After making the face announcer look like an idiot like that, Dutt fights out of a Gory Stretch and dropkicks him to the floor. Back in and Dutt kicks him in the face before grabbing an Octopus Hold. Jigsaw sends him outside for the required flip dive, followed by the missile dropkick back inside.

Neither can hit a piledriver so we’ll go with the standard superkick to drop Jigsaw instead. A standing shooting star gets two and a tornado DDT gets the same. Jigsaw avoids a charge and hits a double stomp to the back, followed by a kneeling reverse piledriver (Jig and Tonic) to advance at 10:15.

Rating: C. Another good, fast paced match here though still nothing that hasn’t been done before. Dutt is a name that has been around forever while Jigsaw, who I’ve liked in the times I’ve seen him, was basically lost as soon as I heard him talk for the first time. His name and look suggests something mysterious but he’s just another guy from New York. Think this stuff through people.

Video on Kongo Kong attacking Nick Aldis on the first episode to set off their feud. Or whatever you can count as a feud here as they’re just having one tournament match.

Jigsaw is happy and Dutt praises him for his win.

Here’s Chael Sonnen in the ring for a chat. He immediately heels it up by telling everyone to be quiet and insults MMA fighter Phil Baroni in the front row. Sonnen issues something of a challenge and says the fight would be one more for the bad guy. Now he calls out Virgil Flynn and mocks him for the loss, only to say that he’s in the Nex Gen Title tournament anyway. I guess Kushida was too busy. PJ Black comes out, tells Flynn that he’s awesome, and superkicks him for a heel turn. Eh you have to turn someone.

Video on Brian Myers (Curt Hawkins) who wants to win the title.

Video on Reno Scumm.

GFW World Title Tournament First Round: Kongo Kong vs. Nick Aldis

Maxwell does Kong’s entrance and is a pretty lame heel manager. The fight is on in a hurry with Kong missing a charge in the corner and falling out to the floor. Back in and Kong hammers away some more because he’s big and fat and therefore strong. Maxwell gets in a cheap shot from the floor so Kong can get two off a legdrop. We hit the nearly required bearhug and a belly to belly gets two on Nick.

Back from a break with Kong yelling at the referee so Maxwell can get in a cheap shot. That means another bearhug as they’re certainly staying within the lines of the paint by numbers formula. Aldis fights out and hits a belly to back suplex, followed by some clotheslines for two. A superplex plants Kong and the top rope elbow gets two. Maxwell offers a distraction so Kong can hit the Cannonball for two more. Kong misses a moonsault though and the Spine Shaker sends Aldis on at 9:27.

Rating: D+. What in the world does Jarrett see in Kongo Kong? He’s embarrassing looking and doesn’t do anything of note in the ring. We’ve seen big guys do moonsaults for over twenty years now and it’s certainly not as impressive as Vader’s or even Bam Bam Bigelow’s. He’s just a big guy who looks like a monster, which isn’t exactly the most impressive thing in the world. Aldis was the only option here and thankfully he slayed the monster in relatively short order.

Overall Rating: C-. This is one of the trickiest things I’ve ever had to grade. First of all, it’s really hard to look at this as it was originally intended. These shows were A, meant to be seen week to week and B, aired two years ago. In 2017, it comes off like a bunch of Impact guys and people who have left for the greener pastures of WWE. That’s a very different presentation than they were shooting for but it’s really hard to look at it as originally intended.

As for the show itself….it’s really just ok at best. I look at the lineups and matches here and all I see is a group of people who aren’t good enough to be in WWE. Myers and Mordetzky stand out for me above all others. They’re the definition of WWE rejects and neither showed anything here to make me think that they’re anything more than generic wrestlers. That’s the case with a lot of people on the show and it doesn’t do it many favors.

You also have the severe lack of stories, though that’s to be expected on the first set of shows. This is ALL about the tournaments and really nothing more. The only other story is Roode wanting to mess with the company and even then he’s in the tournament. That’s fine for something like this but it needs to change going forward.

Another big problem is the commentary. It really felt like neither of these two knew a lot about professional wrestling. Sonnen sounded like he knew the combat stuff but his heel shtick felt really, really forced, especially his in-ring promo (which I remember hearing was literally just thrown in because Sonnen wanted to do it and Jarrett said sure). It seemed like they were given some notes about each wrestler and little more, which doesn’t mean you know something about the wrestling itself. It was really noticeable and became annoying very quickly.

Let’s talk about some of the good things because they definitely do exist. First of all, the presentation is great. The show looks like an upper level production with good lighting, good graphics and no major errors or flaws. It feels like you’re watching something with a budget and some effort and that can make all the difference in the world.

It also helped that the wrestling was all perfectly acceptable. There’s some stuff that wasn’t as good as the rest but it was all watchable enough with nothing embarrassing. They weren’t trying to reinvent the wheel with the matches and it made for a good enough outing, which is often all you can ask for from something like this.

Overall, the show isn’t bad but it’s also nothing that really stands out other than a historical (work with me here) curiosity. I’ll probably watch the other parts in the series (Part II, likely out of four total, has already been given a release date) and hopefully things pick up a bit. This could have been something, though it’s hardly anything that blows you away like New Japan or unique like Lucha Underground. It’s really just the not quite good enough for WWE troupe going out and putting on a pretty standard set of shows. Nothing bad, but also nothing memorable.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

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Impact Wrestling
Date: May 4, 2017
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Josh Matthews, D’Angelo Dinero

We’re starting to get close to Slammiversary and that means we need to start lining up some title matches. There isn’t a lot announced for this week’s show as things are moving at a somewhat slow pace right now. Then again we have about two months before the next pay per view so they can take their time. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of last week. Thank goodness as I had to pull up last week’s review to remember anything about that show.

Opening sequence.

Dave Penzer is now doing ring announcing, which hopefully means the Swoggle vs. Spud is done.

Matt Sydal vs. Eddie Edwards

Josh says Sydal made his debut in the six sided ring last week, which means Josh doesn’t know his TNA history. Feeling out process to start with a technical sequence leading to a standoff. Sydal gets in a few kicks to the legs for the first advantage before countering a slam off the top with an ankle scissors. Now why didn’t Flair ever think of that? Eddie elbows his way out of a Muta Lock and grabs a Blue Thunder Bomb for two.

A sitout F5 sets up a spinwheel kick but Eddie can’t follow up. Matt hurricanranas him off the top for two but gets sent outside for the suicide dive. Back from a break with Sydal getting two off a powerbomb, only to get caught with a middle rope Codebreaker. As good as this has been, let’s pause for Josh to rant about JB a bit. Eddie slips out of a powerbomb but the Boston Knee Party is blocked with a jumping knee to the face. The shooting star press gives Matt the clean pin at 14:51.

Rating: B+. Where in the world did that come from? This was one of the best matches the company has put on in a long time and even Josh couldn’t make ruin it for me. Eddie losing clean aside, it’s cool to see a very good, long, clean match, especially opening a show. Good stuff here and Sydal looks like a star coming out of it.

They shake hands post match. Sydal leaves but here are Angelina Love and Davey Richards to beat Edwards down. Eddie gets laid out with a chair until Alisha dives off the stage to take Angelina down.

Magnus thinks he should be in the main event of Slammiversary but now he has to face Alberto El Patron. If that’s what he has to do then so be it, but here’s Matt Morgan to say he should get the shot. Bruce Prichard comes in and makes a GFW Title match for later tonight.

KM is exercising when a custodian comes in to clean. He sweeps up trash and leaves but KM throws a piece of paper on the floor and yells at the guy for missing it. KM does it again and the custodian says it wasn’t there ten seconds ago. That doesn’t sit well with KM, who doesn’t like being called a liar.

GFW Women’s Title: Sienna vs. Christina Von Eerie

Von Eerie is defending. Sienna grabs a suplex for two to start and Von Eerie is in trouble early on. Another suplex sets up a neck crank and Von Eerie is dumped outside in a big crash. Christina tries a Pedigree on the apron but gets backdropped back onto the floor as this has been completely one sided. Back in and a Pounce completes the squash to give us a new champion at 3:56. The announcers’ biggest concern: Sienna has no respect for the Jarretts.

Rating: D. Here’s the big problem with this whole GFW thing: what is GFW and why should the fans care? Unless you were watching for about four to six weeks worth of shows two years ago, it’s just a collection of belts from a promotion that ran a bunch of house shows and hasn’t been heard from since. I get that the hardcore fans are going to know what’s going on but catering to that audience when you’re drawing 300,000 fans a week and wanting to expand is a really bad idea.

As for the match itself, Von Eerie beat a jobber last week and that’s the grand total of her exposure here until she got squashed to lose her title. Get rid of these belts as soon as possible or just drop them already. It’s clear that Impact Wrestling isn’t going to bother to explain ANY of this so get rid of them as soon as possible.

Eli Drake tells Bruce Prichard he wants in on the title picture. Instead he gets Alberto El Patron later tonight, but it’s for a shot at the GFW Title.

ODB wants to make Impact great.

JB is behind Josh and mocks his over the top mannerisms. This is still your top story.

Karen Jarrett makes Alisha vs. Angelina Love for some point in the future. Sienna comes up to brag about being champion but Karen says the target is on Sienna’s back. I still have no idea why this is supposed to be interesting.

Ethan Carter III vs. John Bolen

Carter kicks him in the face to start and chokes on the ropes. A running knee to the back sends Bolen outside. Back in and the TK3 sets up the 1%er for the pin on Bolen at 2:33.

Carter puts the new bosses on notice.

Remember how JB had a sign earlier? He still does and Josh is getting annoyed.

GFW World Title: Magnus vs. Matt Morgan

Morgan is challenging and uses the size to take over early on. A big boot sends Magnus outside but he posts Morgan for a breather. Back in and the Carbon Footprint misses so Morgan bangs up a leg to give Magnus a target. A kick to the leg sets up the Figure Four with Morgan making the ropes without too much effort.

Morgan pops up for his revolving elbows in the corner, followed by a side slam. A chokeslam gets two on the champ and the Carbon Footprint puts him on the floor. Morgan’s knee gives out so Magnus can grab the title. The distraction lets Magnus get in a low blow, followed by a Michinoku Driver and the top rope elbow to retain at 9:20.

Rating: C. Technically fine, though I’m not sure if that was a heel turn from Magnus. That right there is the big problem: these guys have had maybe a match each since returning and we really don’t know anything about them. Yeah they were here before but what are they now? They helped JB in his match so I guess they’re faces but there’s no real way to know for sure, especially given how they’re fighting over a title that just appeared with Magnus. Decent match but the booking continues to be a problem.

Lashley doesn’t care about the GFW Title because that’s the title people can win.

More JB sign stuff.

LAX wants to hurt more people.

James Storm wants to make Impact great.

Spud, in a neck brace and with his leg in a cast, stares at a picture of Swoggle. So yes this is still going. So now we have a ring announcer feud to go with the commentator feud.

Kongo Kong vs. William Weeks

Kong throws him into the corner to start and stands on Weeks’ chest. Three straight chokeslams into backbreakers (at Laurel Van Ness’ orders) set up a Cannonball and a top rope splash to put Weeks away at 2:47.

Post match Braxton Sutter comes out to go after Kong. Some right hands and a clothesline put the monster on the floor so Sutter and Allie can stand tall.

Eli Drake wants to make Impact great.

We look back at Sonjay Dutt getting hurt in the X-Division Title match two weeks ago. Dutt isn’t sure if he should have come back. If they don’t give him the title at Slammiversary, I have no idea what they’re thinking. It’s not the most interesting story but they’ve set it up.

Eli Drake vs. Alberto El Patron

The winner gets a shot at Magnus at some point in the future. Drake runs away but gets pulled back to ringside, where the referee ejects Tyrus. Eli is fine enough to suplex him on the ramp but Alberto shakes it off and hits a suicide dive. Back from a break with Drake suplexing him onto the apron and choking on the floor.

Drake’s chinlock doesn’t work but Alberto misses a charge and both people are down. Drake gets back up and grabs a torture rack neckbreaker for a close two, only to have Alberto nail a low superkick for the same. The cross armbreaker is countered into a twisting throw for another near fall as this is far more competitive than I was expecting.

Drake can’t get a superplex and of course he winds up in the Tree of Woe. For once someone is actually smart enough to sit up and pull El Patron down. A springboard moonsault gives Drake two but he gets caught in the cross armbreaker. That’s countered as well but Drake gets caught in the ropes, setting up the double stomp (from the mat instead of the stomp) to give Alberto the pin at 17:56.

Rating: B-. Good match here as Drake’s in-ring abilities are starting to match his incredible talking skills. The same problem still remains though: they’re fighting over titles that have no meaning to the Impact Wrestling fans, which becomes a problem. The story would be exactly the same if they were all just fighting for a shot at Lashley. Just say Magnus is in this spot because he’s a former World Champion and thinks he’s entitled. It’s the same story advancement and the same ending. Why is that so complicated?

Overall Rating: C+. This is a REALLY tricky one to grade as the opener and main events were both very good but everything in the middle was just there for the most part. The booking continues to cater to the fans who are already here and the stupid battling announcers are now being joined by a former wrestler/manservant vs. a former leprechaun who is the illegitimate son of the owner the biggest wrestling company in the world. You need a lot more than that to make a company work and Impact really doesn’t seem to get that.

Results

Matt Sydal b. Eddie Edwards – Shooting star press

Sienna b. Christina Von Eerie – Pounce
Ethan Carter III b. John Bolen – 1%er

Magnus b. Matt Morgan – Top rope elbow

Kongo Kong b. William Weeks – Top rope splash

Alberto El Patron b. Eli Drake – Double stomp

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volumes I and II, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

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I’m not bothering with anything complicated here.

http://www.wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-the-gfw-invasion-was-really-bad/41459/

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

It’s the final night of the invasion as we’ll be having Lethal Lockdown between TNA and GFW for total control of the company. This is likely going to be a one match show for the most part as nothing else of note has been announced. There’s also the chance that someone could turn on their company. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the invasion leading up to tonight’s showdown inside the cage.

Jeremy Borash is in the ring for the contract signing between Dixie Carter and Jeff Jarrett. Yes they’re really saving this for the same show as the blowoff match. Since this is TNA, shouldn’t the signing be delayed? Dixie talks about how Jeff is still causing all this trouble because of how he left the company years ago.

It was Jeff’s action that led him out of TNA and Dixie was hoping that they could work together again. That didn’t happen though and it’s all in the past. Dixie is here to fight for this company going forward and it’s going forward without Jarrett. Jeff says this is a moment in history, but it’s summed up by one man: Eric Young.

Eric is a TNA original who hates Jeff’s guts and is under contract to Dixie, but he’s siding with Global Force Wrestling. What more proof does Dixie need than that? Tonight Jeff is going to take over his second wrestling company and Dixie will be out in the cold where she belongs. The papers are sealed in a briefcase but Jeff punches Jeremy Borash when he tries to take it. Dixie can hang onto it for now because the Jarrett’s will pick it up later.

Jeff Hardy drives Ethan Carter III and Tyrus to the arena. He’s sent to the back for his assignment for the night. Carter will be there when he’s watched ten to twelve cat videos on his phone.

We’re actually getting a series of videos throughout the night on the history between Dixie Carter and Jeff Jarrett. Someone, please, hit me in the head with something very very hard. I don’t think I can take this all night.

We get a quick recap of Mahabali Sheera vs. the Revolution.

Abyss vs. Mahabali Sheera

Sheera is now a dancer and dances with a guy in a Bigfoot costume at ringside. Abyss isn’t interested in dancing and attacks from behind. They’re quickly on the floor to start with Sheera ramming him into the steps, only to eat a splash back inside. We hit the neck crank for a bit before Sheera fights up, only to eat a chokeslam. The swing from Janice misses though and Sheera chokeslams him for two. Cue Storm with a chair but he hits Abyss with the cowbell by mistake. A quick Sky High (more like treetop high) gives Sheera the pin at 5:06.

Rating: D. So after spending all these weeks treating Sheera like he’s supposed to be a big deal, he’s a dancer. That’s the big idea they came up with after all this time? The guy has a look and some international appeal and he’s a dancer. Well done on giving him the definition of the dead on arrival gimmick guys. Abyss was his normal self here, which is fine for a first win for Sheera, but I can’t take him seriously with this dancing nonsense.

We IMMEDIATELY cut away to Ethan and Tyrus in the back. The champ promises a party tonight.

Here are Ethan and Tyrus to introduce Jeff Hardy, who is wearing a black suit covered with Ethan Carter faces. After Ethan cracks jokes, Jeff is forced to tell the fans to stop cheering for him. The fans don’t comply but Carter gives Jeff credit for trying. This brings out Rockstar Spud, who says this looks too familiar. When he came to this company, he did everything Ethan told him to do so he could get his foot in the door. This however is JEFF FREAKING HARDY, a man that makes the crowds go crazy. Ethan decks Spud and the three of them leave. Spud comes after Ethan but Tyrus lays him out. Jeff is forced to hit Spud.

More Dixie vs. Jeff history, including Jeff becoming the new TNA boss a few months back.

Jeff Jarrett tries to recruit Drew Galloway to GFW. TNA is a man down, so why should Drew stick around?

Earl Hebner is going into the TNA Hall of Fame.

Knockouts Title: Brooke vs. Lei’D Tapa vs. Awesome Kong vs. Gail Kim

Brooke is defending and this is one fall to a finish. Gail and Brooke go after the giants to start and are quickly thrown to the side. Tapa and Kong slug it out until Brooke and Gail beat on Tapa for a bit. Kong adds a splash and we take an early break. Back with Tapa dropping Gail face first off the barricade but Kong dives off the apron to crush Tapa with a cross body.

Gail and Brooke fight in the ring until Kong misses a charge at Tapa and takes out the champ. Tapa slams Gail down inside but Kim kicks away at the knee. Kong comes back in with a top rope splash to Tapa. Brooke’s top rope elbow hits Kong and all four are down. The giants are sent to the floor, leaving Brooke to try a sunset flip on Gail, who sits down on it for the pin and the title at 12:21.

Rating: C-. Who else? Who else could it have been but Gail Kim? She fits in so perfectly with the theme of the same tired ideas that we’ve seen dozens of times in TNA as they seem to be on their last legs (the most recent time that is), so why not just put the belt on her again so she can bore the fans to sleep one last time.

Drew gives Team TNA one more pep talk.

Ethan blames Hardy for having a World Title match next week. Jeff better help him retain the title or else.

One last Dixie vs. Jeff video, this time on Jarrett’s betrayal.

Team TNA vs. Team GFW

TNA: Lashley, Eddie Edwards, Davey Richards, Drew Galloway, ???

GFW: Sonjay Dutt, Chris Mordetzky, Jeff Jarrett, Eric Young, Brian Myers

It’s Lethal Lockdown, meaning WarGames. The first two will fight for three minutes until Team GFW sends in its second man for a two minute advantage. The teams alternate until all ten are in, which is when the roof, covered in weapons, lowers. First pin or submission after everyone has entered wins.

Sonjay sends Davey into the cage to start but Richards slugs away. That’s fine with Dutt who bites Davey’s hand and kicks him in the chest to take over. Davey kicks him in the ribs and tries a Texas Cloverleaf, but here’s Eric Young to give GFW the advantage. The slow beating continues until Drew Galloway is in to tie it up. Josh already gets his history wrong by saying Drew is the one that figured out Karen Jarrett was behind the attacks (Drew accused Jeff and Karen confessed).

Back from a break with Brian Myers in for GFW and the invaders in control. Lashley evens things up and this is really not the most even match. A bunch of spears clean house and TNA just waits around for Chris Mordetzky to make it 4-3. They all punch and kick each other until Eddie Edwards evens things up again. TNA takes over again because GFW is Eric Young and a bunch of career jobbers. Jeff Jarrett completes Team GFW and it’s time for a lot more punching. After two more minutes of nothing, Bram comes in as the tenth man.

The weapons are lowered and we take a break. Back with nothing having changed and everyone going for the weapons. The GFW guys take over for a bit until Lashley cleans house. Jarrett tries to escape but gets destroyed by every member of Team TNA until the GFW guys make the save with weapons. TNA shrugs it off like it’s nothing again, capped off by Galloway giving Myers a Future Shock on a trashcan for the pin at 31:30.

Rating: D-. This was one of the most boring, uninteresting, lamest gimmick matches I’ve seen in years. The GFW guys were a bunch of jobbers who couldn’t keep control even when they had a man advantage, mainly because they’re Eric Young, a mostly retired Jeff Jarrett, and three guys who have never won anything significant. That’s the big invading GFW force and we spent a fourth of the show kicking and punching before some lame weapons spots and a DDT end the thing. No high spots, next to no drama, no surprises, and TNA gets to beat a bunch of guys beneath them. Horrible match and nothing I ever want to think about again.

The Jarrett’s are carried out and Dixie comes to the ring for the big hero celebration to end the show.

Overall Rating: F. The best match was an average at best four way with an uninteresting ending. If this is supposed to be their big story that makes me want to care about TNA for months to come, they’re even dumber than I thought. This invasion is making me pine for the days of the Alliance as at least you got some good action in there on occasion. I was begging for this show to end and that’s never a good sign. Horrible show with one of the lamest major matches I’ve seen in years.

Results

Mahabali Sheera b. Abyss – Sky High

Gail Kim b. Brooke, Lei’D Tapa and Awesome Kong – Rollup to Brooke

Team TNA b. Team GFW – Future Shock to Myers

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of NXT Reviews: The Full Sail Years Volume I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Impact Wrestling
Date: September 2, 2015
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Josh Matthews, D’Angelo Dinero

It’s full on war now as the Global Force roster attacked several TNA wrestlers last week with Karen Jarrett revealing that she was behind the attacks on Drew Galloway and Bully Ray in recent weeks. In addition to the invasion, it’s almost time for Bound For Glory, which really hasn’t been set up yet. Let’s get to it.

The Hardys and Ethan Carter III arrived earlier. Carter defends against Matt Hardy tonight and if he retains, Jeff Hardy is Carter’s personal assistant.

We recap Karen Jarrett being revealed as the evil mastermind last week.

The Jarretts lead the GFW roster to the ring. Jeff talks (again) about returning on June 24 and being inducted into the Hall of Fame. He brags about all the success the GFW/TNA show had but Karen cuts him off to explain that she did everything for all the hard work her husband has put in for GFW. Yes she set these wheels in motion and had Chris Adonis take out Bully Ray. Jeff is building a new empire and no one in the back can compete with these boys. Adonis issues an open challenge to anyone in the back so here’s Lashley.

Lashley vs. Chris Mordetzky

Lashley throws him down to start and then drops Chris with a clothesline. The Mordetzky Lock (full nelson) is quickly countered into a full nelson slam but Mordetzky nails a Polish Hammer (double ax handle to the chest) to take over. We hit the chinlock before they head outside with Lashley being sent into the steps. Back in and a butterfly suplex seems to annoy Lashley more than hurt him. A double clothesline puts both guys down and it’s Lashley up first with a German suplex. The spear is countered into a spinebuster but Lashley easily blocks the full nelson. Now the spear connects but here’s GFW for the DQ at 8:57.

Rating: D+. Totally meh match here as this was nothing to see and just a match to show that Mordetsky is part of GFW’s roster. I still have no reason to care about a group of people who have been around for a month and range from no one interesting to WWE rejects. Nothing to see here.

Lashley gets destroyed so here are the Wolves for a failed save. Jeff says bring out the surprise so here she is with the Tag Team Title Feast or Fired briefcase. She says Magnus gave it to her, which apparently you can just do.

Tag Team Titles: Wolves vs. Brian Myers/Trevor Lee

Wait a minute because Earl Hebner won’t do it, earning him a right hand from Jeff. Another referee is forced to ringside and the match is on. Trevor dropkicks Edwards down for two as this is actually a regular match for a change. Myers comes in for a slam of his own but the Wolves come back with stereo submission holds, only to break them up to go after Sonjay Dutt. Myers brings in a pipe but the distraction lets Lee blast Davey with the briefcase for the pin and the titles at 2:35. There’s your token title win to make this invasion IMPORTANT.

Bobby Roode only cares about winning the King of the Mountain Title tonight.

Long recap of everything that just happened.

Ethan Carter III talks about his love of stories and how tonight, Matt’s story of going for the World Title ends tonight.

King of the Mountain Title: PJ Black vs. Bobby Roode

Black is defending and Roode stops to brag about being a TNA original. This is TNA’s house and Roode is bringing the title home. It’s a brawl on the floor to start as Matthews mistakenly says Black won the title last week. They get inside for some chops but Black blocks a suplex and sends Roode outside for a suicide dive. A springboard clothesline drops Roode and we take a break. Back with Roode winning a slugout and getting two off a spinebuster.

The Roode Bomb is broken up and Gabriel gets two off a reverse DDT. Black’s top rope Lionsault hits knees though and Roode slaps on the Crossface, only to have Dutt come out for a distraction. It doesn’t work this time though as Roode puts the Crossface back on. Drew Galloway takes Dutt out and Black….is free because Roode let it go for no apparent reason. Black’s springboard is countered into the Roode Bomb for the pin and the title at 13:15.

Rating: C+. The match was fine but what does this title change mean? That would be nothing, because the title has no important lineage and has been thrown out there for some meaningless changes. It’s the old Russo idea that you can get people to care because the title changes without the idea of making people care about the title in the first place.

Post match GFW chases Roode off and Jeff rants about everything going on here. Cue Dixie and OH DEAR GOD SHUT UP! They’re going back and forth about stabbing each other in the back and all the mistakes each other has made like ANYONE cares. Jeff brings up his ownership stake and Dixie proposes a winner take all match. Jeff agrees and Drew Galloway comes out to be on Dixie’s team. Drew wants to stand up for TNA and the Wolves and Lashley come out to join him in Team TNA.

Dinero and Matthews talk about what just happened.

Here’s the returning Kenny King with a mic in hand. He’s been going through an identity crisis in the last year but now he’s just here on his own. Kenny doesn’t want to be the kind of guy who jumps someone from behind and uses a numbers advantage to beat someone down. He issues an open challenge to anyone from any roster to come fight him right now.

Bram vs. Kenny King

Bram goes right after King to start but Kenny takes him down with a nice dive. He tries it once too often though and eats a clothesline to give Bram control. King comes back with a running elbow in the corner, followed by an enziguri to put Bram in the corner. Bram ducks another dive though and the Brighter Side of Suffering gives Bram the pin at 3:37.

Rating: D+. So King comes back, turns face, and loses in less than four minutes. That being said, this match was nothing to see but it calmed me down a lot after the stupid hostile takeover stuff had me losing my mind. This was something different than that one big story, though it was stupid in its own way.

The Hardys say Matt will win the title. Has there been a more tacked on feud than this in recent years?

Here’s Velvet Sky with something to say. She’s been keeping to herself since she got back for a reason. The Knockouts division has been evolving constantly and so has she. The Dollhouse is out of control and Taryn is going to pay. Velvet tells Taryn to come out here but she comes up on screen to say how sick she is of being compared to Velvet as the hot blonde in TNA.

Taryn has been in movies and on TV but Velvet looks like a Hot Topic reject. This is Taryn’s house and now she has to play with Taryn’s dolls. Cue the Dollhouse, who quickly beats Tarn down. Angelina Love and Madison Rayne come out and yes, the Beautiful People are back.

Video on Matt Hardy vs. Ethan Carter III in Full Metal Mayhem, which of course set up tonight’s regular match.

Dixie gives Team TNA their pep talk. It’s Lethal Lockdown in two weeks for full control.

TNA World Title: Matt Hardy vs. Ethan Carter III

Ethan is defending and if Matt loses, Jeff Hardy is Ethan’s personal assistant. Josh: “EC3 and Matt Hardy have been rivals for quite some time.” No Josh, they haven’t been. Feeling out process to start until Matt hits a running Diamond Cutter (called a neckbreaker) for two. A big clothesline puts the champion on the floor and it’s off to a break. Back with Carter missing a middle rope elbow but putting on a sleeper.

Matt fights up and nails some clotheslines, followed by the Side Effect. The referee gets bumped off the Twist of Fate attempt though and there’s no one to count. A belt shot to Matt’s head gets two because Matt WILL NOT DIE, which seems to be code for WILL NOT STOP DRAGGING OUT OBVIOUS ENDINGS. Jeff gets in a cheap shot on Carter to give Matt two but they ram heads and Carter falls on top for two. Tyrus grabs Matt’s leg and gets chaired by Jeff, only to have Ethan hit a TKO on Matt for two more. The referee gets distracted again and a low blow and sunset flip retain Carter’s title at 13:17.

Rating: C. Wow you know what that wasn’t? Epic. You know why it wasn’t? Because they did the big gimmick match three weeks ago and this company is too stupid to figure out that they shouldn’t do things in that order. The match was fine but I have no reason to care about Matt Hardy as a lame duck challenger before we get to the Bound For Glory and whatever they have planned there.

Jeff now has to work for Carter and is forced to raise the champ’s hand to end the show.

Overall Rating: F. I’ve sat through a lot from TNA over the years. I survived Immortal, THEY, all of Russo’s nonsense and Dixieland. Tonight, for the first time, I got mad at them over how bad things got. This invasion is one of the worst written, lamest attempts at doing something that I’ve ever seen. Case in point: if the blowoff is in two weeks, the whole story lasted five shows. Even the WWF InVasion, one of the most botched stories ever, ran several months before the big ending.

Instead, TNA has decided that we care about the power struggle (because they’re too stupid to run ANYTHING BUT A POWER STRUGGLE) between Jeff and Dixie, leaving Ethan Carter III, a guy who could have been a much bigger deal for them, fighting the Hardys in a midcard feud. We’re a month away from Bound For Glory and their big story is going to be blown off on TV two weeks beforehand.

If TNA is going down, and I’m sure they won’t because these morons somehow back their way into deal after deal to keep this mess going another six months, they’re going out as only they can: with no idea of how to run a good show, bad storytelling, stupid decisions, and the wrong people on top because those people think the fans care about them. This was a disaster and I absolutely hated it.

Results

Lashley b. Chris Mordetzky via DQ when the GFW roster interfered

Brian Myers/Trevor Lee b. Wolves – Lee pinned Richards after a briefcase to the head

Bobby Roode b. PJ Black – Roode Bomb

Bram b. Kenny King – Brighter Side of Suffering

Ethan Carter III b. Matt Hardy – Sunset flip

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of NXT Reviews: The Full Sail Years Volume I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011T13PV4

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

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

Impact Wrestling
Date: August 12, 2015
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: D’Angelo Dinero, Josh Matthews

They’re here! Tonight is the first time we’ll be seeing Global Force Wrestling talent (other than the Jarretts that is) on TNA TV. With Bully Ray out of action, Jeff Jarrett has offered to be in charge tonight and have the GFW talent come in and help out for a night. I’m sure this won’t go badly for TNA whatsoever. Let’s get to it.

The Jarretts and Global Force wrestlers arrive.

We open with a recap of how Jeff got to be in charge tonight and run down the card of interpromotional matches, including a King of the Mountain match for the King of the Mountain Title.

Here are the Jarretts to open things up with Jeff being so thankful that he answered that call from TNA management. He left TNA on a positive note and has founded Global Force Wrestling, which is about competing at the highest level. Everyone can connect to competing and tonight is all about creating a new rivalry. Tonight is about the best of the best squaring off and Jeff runs down the card, including a dream match between Trevor Lee/Brian Myers (Curt Hawkins) vs. the Wolves. That’s not a dream match dude.

The main event is the King of the Mountain match for the vacant title, but here’s Eric Young to protest. Young says he doesn’t care about the fans but declares himself God because he’s decided the fate of the World Title not once but twice. He took a war hero’s leg because he felt like it, so Jeff can be the promoter and bookerman and put himself in a match against Eric for the King of the Mountain Title.

Jeff says he isn’t a wrestler anymore so he won’t be defending the title here. This title isn’t just going to be defended in Global Force or TNA, because it’s going to be defended around the world. If Young wants in on the first King of the Mountain match, he’s in. Young is happy but beats down Jeff anyway, but here’s the GFW roster for the save. The TNA roster comes out and it’s a big brawl. This was a decent segment, but it would have been better had we not heard the card five minutes earlier.

Post break the GFW guys are all upset but Jeff comes in to say this isn’t an invasion and they need to just go win their matches.

Lei’D Tapa vs. Awesome Kong

Josh acts like Tapa is someone most of us wouldn’t know. For something that makes sense, we don’t know her big manager Royal Red. Red is nice enough to introduce himself (“My name is Royal Red”) before going on about how awesome Tapa is. They ram into each other to start with Kong getting the better of it off a corner splash, followed by a cross body for two.

Pope brings up Barbarian being Tapa’s uncle as Kong gets two off a splash. Tapa comes back with a Samoan drop for two but Kong fires off strikes to the head, capped off by the spinning backfist. A chokeslam drops Lei’D and a clothesline puts her on the floor. Kong gets pulled outside as well and it’s a double countout at 4:42.

Rating: D+. Well that happened. I still have no idea why I’m supposed to care about Tapa (I mean, other than being Barbarian’s niece of course) and this was just two big girls slamming into each other. Why that’s supposed to be appealing to me isn’t clear, as it came off as a lame match that we’ve seen about a dozen times between the likes of Kamala and King Kong Bundy, though not as memorable.

PJ Black (Justin Gabriel) and Drew Galloway are in the King of the Mountain match.

Black is ready for the match but has to take a phone call.

Drew Galloway is going to stand up for TNA and himself.

Here’s Bobby Roode to talk about how insane everything is here, but he’s ticked off. Roode isn’t happy with not being in the main event already, so if Jarrett has a problem with him, come say it to his face. First though, Roode would like Rockstar Spud to come out here. Roode says Spud must be proud as a peacock after his win last week but Spud looks worried. Last week, Spud showed that anyone can defeat anyone at any time, “even little old you Spuddy.”

Spud doesn’t think he’d ever be here with Bobby Roode and have him be such a condescending jerk. The Rockstar is tired of being told he shouldn’t be here, because he said he’d be a wrestler and then he did it. Then he said he’d be a champion in TNA and he did it. Then he said he’d cash in the X-Division Title and fight for the World Title and he did it. Roode is mad about Aries being gone but don’t take it out on Spud, because Roode is coming off like a bully that takes kids’ lunch money.

Roode doesn’t like Spud talking like that and says he’d take Spud out where Aries failed. That’s enough for Spud who drills Roode in the face, only to get his head taken off by a clothesline. Roode chokes Spud with his shirt and beats him on the floor until we go to a break. Good segment here as Roode continues to be as talented as ever and Spud overachieves like few I’ve ever seen.

After a break, Jarrett and Roode yell at each other in the back until Roode says Jeff isn’t his boss anymore and tells him to get out of his face.

Jesse Godderz vs. Lashley

The winner is in the King of the Mountain match. Godderz won’t let Lashley pose on the ropes so Lashley press slams him with ease. Jesse bails to the floor to avoid the spear as the announcers talk about Ronda Rousey. Back in and the running shoulder in the corner has Jesse in trouble and a delayed vertical suplex with one arm makes things even worse.

Jesse gets in a nice dropkick and drive some forearms into the face. He makes the mistake of trying a hold on the mat though, allowing Lashley to easily pick Jesse up and throw him down. Some rolling suplexes have Jesse reeling but the spear is countered by a powerslam for two. The Adonis Lock is easily countered though and the spear sends Lashley to the main event at 5:45.

Rating: C-. This could have been much worse, but I don’t see much for Godderz after this, which is a shame as he was finding a nice groove for himself with the Adonis gimmick. That being said, this is a good use for guys like you. You don’t has to put main eventers like Lashley against other main event talent all the time and Jesse isn’t really crushed by the loss. Hopefully he bounces back, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up.

We recap last week’s Full Metal Mayhem match with Ethan Carter III retaining over Matt Hardy.

Drew Galloway is unconscious in the back, in the same place where Bully Ray was laid out.

Dixie Carter is with the Jarretts……wait if she’s here, WHY IS SHE NOT IN CHARGE??? The three of them think someone is trying to take down the companies working together. Jeff will fix the main event.

Here are Ethan Carter III and Tyrus with something to say. Ethan talks about this title representing a culmination of his life’s work and that it proves he’s better than anyone in any locker room across the world. Last week he defended the title in a car crash after Matt Hardy caught lightning in a bottle (read as he won a match thrown together as a #1 contenders match when he backdropped someone through a table).

Ethan denies sucking because he defends this title in God Mode. Cue Matt Hardy because losing in his signature match isn’t enough of a reason to end this story. Matt says Ethan has a claim of being the best in the world right now, but he won’t take his eyes off Carter until he wins the title. No one knows more about dusting yourself off and marching forward than Matt Hardy because he will not die.

Ethan respects Matt for hitting him harder than anyone else ever has, but the people will get to decide if Matt gets another shot. This ends as you would expect, with Matt having a belt bounced off his face. I have no idea why this is still going, but the more I think about it, who else does Carter have to face? Everyone else has left the company or he’s already beaten them.

Taryn Terrell tells the Dollhouse to beat Gail Kim in a cage match.

Christopher Mordetzky (Chris Masters) is in the King of the Mountain match for no given reason and says he’ll win.

Brian Myers/Trevor Lee vs. Wolves

Non-title and Lee is an indy regular who looks like a caveman. Davey and Myers (who looks a bit like AJ Styles with bad hair) start things off and the Wolves quickly take over with their precision double teaming. The Wolves send them to the floor for a pair of baseball slides and suicide dives as this is one sided so far. Back in and Lee gets in a shot on Eddie to take over, allowing Myers to slap on a chinlock.

A nice double hurricanrana puts Myers and Lee down, setting up the hot tag to Davey. We get the eternally stupid “dropkick an opponent to make him DDT his own partner because HE DOESN’T LET GO” spot from Davey before he slugs it out with Lee. Myers plants Davey with a nice Downward Spiral into a German suplex from Lee, only to have the throw into the kick and powerbomb/backstabber combo take out Trevor for the pin at 6:24.

Rating: C. The match was fine but are Lee and Myers really the best team GFW has? They were decent enough but it’s just Curtis Hawkins and some guy. That’s Jarrett’s idea of a dream match? It’s good enough as a stand alone match but if this was supposed to be some big clash, they’re in major trouble.

Lashley says of course he can win tonight but he’s also here to defend TNA, which no one is talking about.

Sonjay Dutt vs. Tigre Uno

Non-title. The fans are behind the former TNA mainstay Dutt. Tigre gets in a quick kick to start and ties up Dutt’s arms into his legs, setting up a running dropkick on the mat. Back up and Dutt hurricanranas Tigre out to the floor and does it again on the outside. A springboard splash gets two for Sonjay and it’s time to go for the mask. That goes nowhere so Dutt takes him to the top and poses, allowing Tigre to roll through into a sunset flip for the pin at 3:36.

Rating: D+. As I said earlier, well that happened. It’s another three minute X-Division match with some decent flips and dives but no real reason to care about the match. They’re building Tigre up into something, but there needs to be either some more time or an actual story instead of these one off matches.

Jeff comes up to Ethan in the back to praise him, but Ethan claims it’s a sham. Jarrett suggests that Ethan watch the main event, because the winner gets a title shot next week.

Mr. Anderson says the microphone doesn’t define him but it does define his success. It was on that very spot where Bram attacked him, but he’ll go home when he’s ready. Today isn’t that day, because next week it’s a microphone match, which means mic on a pole minus the pole.

Next week is Turning Point. This would be their second special in three weeks.

King of the Mountain Title: PJ Black vs. Chris Mordetzky vs. Lashley vs. Eric Young vs. ???

The title is vacant coming in and the mystery replacement is…..Robbie E. The rules here are complicated, as it’s a reverse ladder match where you have to hang the belt in order to win. However, before you can do that, you have to qualify by getting a pin or submission. Whoever is pinned or submits is sent to a penalty box for two minutes, meaning there could be some strategy involved.

Lashley spears Young down for a pin in less than thirty seconds to qualify and send Young to the penalty box. Black does the same to Chris off a top rope sunset flip to make this a three way for now. Lashley cleans house but charges into the post, allowing E. to nail him with a top rope clothesline. Another one from PJ looks to get a pin but Black and Robbie get in a fight.

The Boom Drop is enough to pin Black and Robbie is eligible, only to get speared down to give Lashley another pin. Lashley is the only person not in the box at the moment but Young and Chris get out (after more than two minutes) to keep Lashley from winning in four minutes. Back from a break with Lashley being sent to the floor, allowing Mordetzky to roll Young up for the pin, meaning only Young isn’t eligible.

Mordetzky puts Lashley in the full nelson but Robbie dives off the box to take them both down in a completely unnecessary spot. Robbie and Black chop it out on the floor and Young gets out of the cage as we have a ladder brought in. Young piledrives Robbie on the steps for the pin and all five are now eligible. Black stops Mordetzky from climbing the ladder but Lashley comes in and cleans house, only to have Young stop his climb.

Eric starts cleaning house with the title but Black springboards in ala Shelton Benjamin for a slugout on top of the ladder. Lashley spears Young down but Black would rather hit the 450 (meaning knees to the chest) on Lashley before climbing up and hanging the title for the win at 14:58.

Rating: C. Black winning is a nice surprise but he comes off as the guy that loses the title to the first big name to be champion. I’m still not a fan of this match as it’s such a mess but at least they had something big for the ending. It’s also nice to have GFW actually win something for a change tonight, but this wasn’t anything great.

Ethan comes out to pose with his title to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. Where do I even start? First and foremost: the GFW contingent mainly consists of Sonjay Dutt, Chris Masters, Curt Hawkins and Justin Gabriel. I know GFW doesn’t have the world’s strongest roster, but good night that’s the best they can do on the first time they’re on the national stage?

Other than that, the main problem here is the matches not being very good. The wrestling wasn’t bad, but it’s a bunch of WWE rejects/former TNA guys out there fighting what’s left of the TNA roster. How is this supposed to be interesting to anyone but the rosters themselves? This felt like a desperate shot at saving the company and it really, really didn’t work. The show was better than some of TNA’s previous offerings due to just being different, but this is far from the answer to their many prayers.

Results

Awesome Kong vs. Lei’D Tapa went to a double countout

Lashley b. Jesse Godderz – Spear

Wolves b. Brian Myers/Trevor Lee – Powerbomb/Backstabber combination to Lee

Tigre Uno b. Sonjay Dutt – Sunset flip

PJ Black b. Lashley, Robbie E., Chris Mordetzky and Eric Young – Black hung the title

This is a bit of a different version as I do some quick looks at some news stories instead of one big idea.  I might do this as a regular thing in addition to the column but I’m not sure yet.

http://www.wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-someone-doesnt-like-divas-invading-goats-made-of-glass-or-something/38762/

I’ve been on a bit of a podcast tear lately with three episodes of a different show recorded yesterday and then this ninety minute marathon with NorCal as we cover a PACKED week of wrestling news ranging from Hogan, TNA screwing up (double shot this week), Global Force Wrestling’s TV tapings, a quick Battleground recap and of course some recommendations.

http://mightynorcal.podbean.com/e/wwp-20-making-up-for-time-lost-time-with-an-ironmannnn-wrestling-podcast-headlines-and-more-headlines-with-kb/

And……yeah.The promotion was announced the day after Wrestlemania XXX and I have no idea what they spent all that time setting up.  From what I’ve seen (including part of a stream of their first show), it’s really nothing out of the ordinary.  It’s not terrible or anything but it looks like a fairly big time indy in a baseball stadium.  There are some faces you might remember mixed with some local talent and some bigger names near the main event.  Now of course there have just been two house shows, but this really doesn’t look like anything great so far.  If nothing else having some champions crowned in a few weeks will help, but it seems pretty meh so far.