Ring of Honor
Date: March 29, 2017
Location: Sam’s Town Live, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Kevin Kelly

I think we’re up to the pay per view now, only a mere three weeks after it took place. The big story is Christopher Daniels FINALLY winning that elusive World Title, which was the best possible option since Adam Cole is reportedly on his way out. That’s the case with far too many people and it’s a bad sign for the company. Let’s get to it.

Christopher Daniels talks about how he couldn’t lose on this one night and then he wouldn’t let it happen. So we’re FINALLY to the Anniversary Show, just as it’s the go home show for the next pay per view. Got it.

Opening sequence.

Here’s the Addiction to open things up with Daniels looking very happy holding that title. We even have APPLETINIS! Daniels immediately hits the bragging by talking about the brilliant plan, which can overcome a younger, faster and arguably more talented opponent. Kazarian couldn’t be happier for his buddy and just happens to be the new #1 contender to the TV Title. Cue Dalton Castle as we take a break.

Back with Daniels introducing Castle to the appletini, which seems to blow his mind. Dalton would love one of his own but there’s only one glass. No worries of course though as a single snap of the fingers brings out the Boys with a large glass for Castle. A toast allows Dalton to congratulate the new champion, but that brings some changes. This includes a title defense against Castle at Supercard of Honor and Castle wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

Cue the Bullet Club with Adam Cole not wanting to hear about the fairytale ending because he remembers it as the title being stolen. As for Castle, who in the world thinks he’s the best option for the title? Kazarian throws out a challenge for a six man later tonight and the match is made.

Marty Scurll cuts a promo about facing anyone when Kenny King comes up to challenge him for a title match. It seems to be all set.

Tag Team Titles: Briscoe Brothers vs. Hardys

Matt and Jeff are defending in a match with fifteen minutes’ build. Sweet goodness I can’t stand this show’s taping schedule. The champs have a very Broken style entrance without actually doing any of the Broken trademarks. Mark busts out some Redneck Kung Fu to confuse Jeff early on (you don’t hear that too often) but everything breaks down as the Hardys take over.

Chops in the corner give us some OBSOLETE/DELETE chants but Poetry in Motion is easily countered. Jay nails a suicide dive to set up the Cactus Elbow from the apron and it’s off to a break. Back with Jeff getting stomped down and then rear chinlocked for good measure. Jeff fights up and scores with a double Whisper in the Wind though, setting up the hot tag for the loud DELETE chants.

Matt’s bulldog is good for two on Mark and it’s back to Jeff for a chinlock. Back from another break with Mark and Jeff hitting a double clothesline to set up the double tag. Matt bites Jay in the corner to bust him open a bit. The neckbreaker gets two on Matt and the champs take back to back superplexes.

The Froggy Bow is only good for two on Matt though as the fans don’t seem sure who to cheer for. Mark comes in to slug away at Matt and the Doomsday Device gets yet another near fall. Back up and Jay is sent outside for a big crash, leaving Mark to take the Twist of Fate and Swanton…..for two? Dang I bought that as the finish, along with Mark rolling Matt up for two. Jeff makes a blind tag though and Matt backslides Mark down so Jeff can cradle him to retain at 17:44.

Rating: B+. That’s the best ROH match I’ve seen in a very long time and, while I’d love to see it actually get a proper build, there’s only so much you can do with the Hardys’ limited schedule. As a bonus, it’s pretty amazing to see Matt come back to ROH just a few years after he was Big Money Matt as this completely different character. He really is someone capable of re-inventing himself like this and it’s great stuff a lot of the time.

Post match the Young Bucks come out to challenge the Hardys to a ladder match at Supercard of Honor XI. The champs quickly agree.

Adam Page/Young Bucks vs. Addiction/Dalton Castle

This is joined in progress in a huge brawl and Daniels taking a double superkick. Nick adds a huge springboard flip dive to put everyone down, followed by another superkick. Of course that means the heels get to pose but the Boys break up the Rise of the Terminator dive. For your comedy, they even take the Bucks’ place next to Cole, who somehow doesn’t notice. The Bucks save another dive though and beat up the Boys (it’s not that hard) as Cole is STILL kneeling in the ring.

What does that say about the good guys on the floor Somehow they’re unable to be ready for the dives, which were loaded up about a minute before they even launched and Addiction had no chance of avoiding them. That’s a stretch even for wrestling. Back in with Kazarian getting beaten down in the corner before his partners come in, only to be triple suplexed. We take a break and come back with Kazarian blocking a double superkick but taking the slingshot X Factor.

Kazarian grabs a cutter though and it’s off to Daniels so house can be cleaned. Cole sneaks in with a superkick to drop Daniels but since he’s not a Buck, the champ can actually get the better of him. Castle (I forgot he was in this match) comes in for some suplexes but can’t hit the Bang-a-Rang. He can however catch Matt’s springboard in a German suplex. Nick comes back in with a Swanton on Castle but Daniels gets in Angel’s Wings on Matt.

Cole superkick him down though and everyone is out. The Canadian Destroyer nails Kazarian but it’s time for a Superkick Party. The Bucks kick Cole by mistake and Castle no sells a double superkick (that’s a new one and while I can’t stand the Bucks, that’s a bit of a stretch), setting up the Bang a Rang to put Cole away at 13:48.

Rating: B-. This was fun, though also served as the weekly Young Bucks party. At least the new champ was on the winning team, but he could have gotten the pin over Cole. You can see the problems with the Bullet Club coming through which is likely the way to set Cole’s exit from the company.

Castle and Daniels grab the title to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. I know this isn’t going to last long term but at least we had a great show here. This was ALL about the wrestling with the Daniels promo as a bonus. This also helped set up the two Supercard of Honor main events, which certainly need the help with the show so close. Really good and entertaining show, mainly because they got back to the regular stuff instead of all the filler episodes.

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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In addition to the Rev Pro show on Friday night, WrestleCon also put on a Supershow in the same room (and with a lot of the same talent). This was the definition of a supershow with a little bit of everything from comedy to violence to dueling chants. To say this was a lot more energetic than most shows is an understatement.

The show was scheduled to start at 8:30 but since Rev Pro went fairly late it wound up starting at about 8:50. There were also well over 1000 people in one room sot he place was BOILING. Prices for a bottle of water (as in a regular one) at the bar: SIX DOLLARS. Realizing this was insane, I went down the street to Walgreens and bought a liter sized bottle for $1.79. At intermission I went and got two more, with all three not combining for the cost of one. I get the idea of making money but those prices would drive customers away.

1. David Starr/Caleb Kenley/Trevor Lee vs. Michael Elgin/ACH/Mascarito Dorado

That would be El Torito at the end. To give you an idea of what we were dealing with on this card, ACH was introduced as “Mr. I Used This Booking To Pay My Bills.” The match was under Lucha rules and it was very clear that this was going to be a very Un-PG show. Dorado did a bunch of speedy stuff, causing Lee to shout the following at his partners: “WHAT IN THE F******* F*** WAS THAT???” Later, when Dorado was in a chinlock, Lee shouted at Kenley to “MAKE THAT MIDGET TAP!”

Dorado got beaten up for a good while (including taking a triple crotch shot to the head) until Elgin got in to clean house with the power. ACH didn’t really do much here and really could have been anyone in the spot. Dorado eventually ended Starr with a moonsault in about 12:00. This was a lot of fun and a great opener. B-.

2. Low Ki vs. Shane Strickland

Let’s make this clear: I’ve never liked Low Ki. I find him to be very one dimensional and repetitive beyond believe. He was a surprise here though and the roof came off when he appeared in the ring. They kicked each other a lot and Low Ki hit a top rope double stomp to the apron for a huge crash and the pin at 13:04. This was pretty repetitive and just kept going. D+.

3. Impact Wrestling World Title: Bobby Lashley vs. Jeff Cobb

Now this was interesting before the bell as Lashley was introduced to some country music and didn’t appear. It wasn’t clear what happened but an “F*** THAT OWL” chant started up. I couldn’t see the entrance but I saw Lashley walking around ringside with no entrance. As luck would have it, I got to ask him what happened at WrestleCon and it turned out they didn’t have his planned music and it’s a VERY serious rule to never come out to someone else’s music. He didn’t come out because they didn’t play the right song but he knew he was going to be the huge heel so he just came through the crowd instead.

The match was a good power brawl with Lashley not taking Cobb seriously to start and eventually getting thrown around. The more I watch of Lashley, the more I appreciate him. He’s just a machine out there and looks like a tank while also being a really nice guy outside the ring. Lashley realized he had to put some effort into things so he eventually got in the Dominator and a spear to retain at about 10:45. B-.

4. Flip Gordon/Sammy Guevera vs. Angleico/Jack Evans

Angelico is my favorite from Lucha Underground so this was a treat. I didn’t know who Gordon and Guevera were at first but they both put in a very solid performance and got my attention more than once. Sammy looks a lot like Justin Bieber so Evans made a bunch of jokes when he got the tag. Evans did a bunch of insane flips and eventually Angelico’s running Razor’s Edge buckle bomb got the pin at about 13:00. I could very easily see Gordon and Guevera as a team on a bigger stage as they had a nice, clean cut look but played good heels.

5. Team Ricochet (Ricochet/Jason Cade/Sami Calihan/AR Fox/Desmond Xavier) vs. Team Will Ospreay (Ospreay/Marty Scurll/Lio Rush/Drew Galloway/Ryan Smile)

This was a ten man tag, which is becoming one of the signature matches of the WrestleCon Supershow. Let me put this very simply: I’ve been watching wrestling for a long time. Like, a very long time. I’ve been to more shows than I can count, including three Wrestlemanias. I have never, in my entire career watching wrestling, had more fun watching a wrestling match in person.

The captains were chosen due to a great match Ospreay and Ricochet had last year in Japan which was called choreographed nonsense. The solution? Give then four partners each (which they say they were allowed to hand pick) and TWENTY TWO MINUTES to do as much choreographed stuff as they could. This included a series of about ten straight cutters, quadruple big boots, a quintuple suplex and a dance off that has to be seen to be believed. As luck would have it, I had a camera on me and filmed the second half of said dance off. Everyone danced but I only got the last few. The one that matters is included though.

This was twenty two minutes of having fun with professional wrestling. It had been a very long day and I was starting to check out on the show due to a bit of a boring card. This match snapped me back to life and I had one of the best experiences I’ve ever had watching. Honestly I don’t even remember how the match ended but that wasn’t the point. Find this match online (the full show is available for $5 at Highspots’ website) and have a good time being entertained by it. Easy A+ and the most fun I had all weekend.

Intermission time, which again ran long as the wrestlers were running their merch tables. It also meant time for me to meet some more wrestlers, including Angelico, Lio Rush, Flip Gordon, Sammy Guevera (very nice guy), Desmond Xavier and Moose. As I was coming back from Walgreens for water, I saw Marty Jannetty in the lobby and WOW he was out of it. I shook his hand and he started walking around without letting go while hitting on a woman. As I was heading out of the arena, I also saw Donovan Dijak watching the show as a fan.

6. DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Title: WrestleCon Rumble

So…..explaining this title……uh……basically it’s a parody of the WWF Hardcore Title where the belt can be won by ANYTHING, including a baseball bat, a ladder, a cameraman, various sex dolls, a child who had the ability to chokeslam anyone and Candace Larae, whose title win took place in a dream. This was a Royal Rumble with one minute intervals but the title could change hands via pinfall, submission or an elimination. In other words, the title can change hands during the match but the winner would be champion no matter what. Instead of going through this step by step, here are the entrants and anythign of note.

1. Joey Ryan (defending champion)

2. Colt Cabana

Here’s what I’m dealing with in this match:

Bell rings.

Ryan to Cabana: “GRAB MY D***!”

Fans: “GRAB HIS D***! GRAB HIS D***!”

3. Kikutaro (Japanese comedy character)

4. Underground Luchador

This was a masked guy in a Lucha Underground t-shirt. It was obviously Matt Striker and after a rollup to pin Ryan (which wasn’t an elimination), he was unmasked as such.

5. Manscout Jake Manning (He reads and beats people up at the same time)

6. George South

7. Suicide (Never unmasked, apparently Caleb Konley)

8. Mr. Hughes (Down probably 100lbs from his mainstream days)

9. Zane Riley (Mr. 305 Live)

10. 2 Cold Scorpio (One of my favorites so this was a treat)

11. Billy Gunn (Easily the biggest pop of the match)

12. Moose (Who had a staredown with Gunn for a bizarre visual)

13. Swoggle

14. Shane Douglas

15. Kevin Thorn

16. Shannon Moore

17. Hurricane (With a bad limp)

18. Abyss (House was cleaned)

19. Gangrel (That music is still SWEET)

20. Marty Jannetty

The final five were Jannetty, Moose, Gangrel, Swoggle and Ryan. I don’t often say this, but Jannetty was an embarrassment. I know he’s on a horrible ankle but the fans were booing him out of the building, which says a lot given how fun this match really was. Thankfully he was gone soon thereafter but it was bad while it lasted. Ryan’s “special” suplex eliminated Moose and Swoggle tossed him a few seconds later for the win and the title at about 25:00. Much like the Gimmick Battle Royal in 2001, this was all about having people come to the ring one more time and not the result.

Ryan immediately rolled Swoggle up to get the title back (it’s defended 24/7 like the Hardcore Title) and then made the mistake of saying he would defend against anyone anytime. Then, in something I’ve always wanted to see and never thought I’d get to: Enter Sandman.

The Sandman came out with a full entrance, complete with the entire Metallica song, cigarettes and beer being poured into fans’ mouths. Sandman offered Ryan a beer but caned him instead for the pin and the title. I’ve always wanted to see a Sandman entrance and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

7. Johnny Mundo vs. Brian Cage

This was a TLC match, though in this case it was won by pinfall or submission. Mundo had Taya Valkyrie with him (showing off very well in basically a red swimsuit) and Cage had his real life girlfriend (which I didn’t know) Melissa Santos, who did his entrance ala Lucha Underground. It’s very odd to see Santos out of her ring announcer outfits but jeans and a Lucha Underground shirt worked very well. She’s a very beautiful woman.

I was somewhat disappointed by this one as they really just hit each other with weapons for a bit. Taya tried to interfere and got superbombed through a table while Santos actually got physical (I don’t think she ever has in Lucha Underground) and took a very protected spear through another table. That was enough for Cage as he busted out a Steiner Screwdriver onto a chair for the easy pin. I forgot to start the timer but I’d guess around 12-13 minutes. There really wasn’t a need to call this a TLC match as it was basically just a glorified street fight. C-, only because of the gimmick announced.

8. Hardys vs. Rey Fenix/Pentagon Dark

The Hardys weren’t playing their Broken characters here…..but yeah they were the Broken Hardys. Matt kept doing DELETE and shouted WONDERFUL a few times. Interestingly enough, CERO MIEDO was getting louder reactions than DELETE. This was actually pretty short with the Hardys never seeming to be in much danger. Fenix and Pentagon (collectively the Lucha Brothers and the reigning PWG Tag Team Champions) had some sweet double team moves though and I’m sure they’d be fun to watch more. A Twist of Fate into a double Swanton ended Pentagon at about 7:00. D+. Too short to be very good.

Post match Matt put over the Lucha Brothers (who are real life brothers as well) as the future of tag team wrestling, along with the Young Bucks and the Briscoes. Matt basically said he didn’t know how much longer he and Jeff could do this (I’m writing this after they won the Raw Tag Team Titles) but he doesn’t want Meek-Ma-Han to destroy tag wrestling (oh the irony). However, if any of McMahon’s teams try to take over, Jeff said they would fade away and classify themselves as obsolete. Hands were shaken in a sign of respect to end the show.

Overall, this was a total blast as they basically took everyone they could find not in WWE or ROH and threw together a wrestling card. Not everything can be Wrestlemania, but it doesn’t need to be. This show made me realize that sometimes you need to forget about the quality and the storytelling and such and just have fun watching people do wrestling moves to each other. I mean, this kind of stuff isn’t likely to work for the masses (WAY too many kicks to the head and silly flips) but it’s the junk food of wrestling: entertaining at the time and you remember it well. Really entertaining show here and I’ll be back for the 2018 edition. B+.

So I’m back (after spending 40 minutes in a parking lot (meaning grass) waiting on traffic to move) and my goodness what a night. This show, while not as great as Wrestlemania XXX, was quite a rollercoaster of emotions. While I’ll have the full review up asap (give me a few days thanks to bad wifi and a 14 hour drive home Wednesday), here are a few quick thoughts.

1. That set was amazing and looked incredible in the dark. Possibly the best looking one they’ve ever done.

2. The mixed tag went exactly as I expected with Cena just popping up at the end and winning with his usual.

3. The proposal, while cheesy, was fast and fine enough.

4. The Hardys coming out made me jump to my feet, along with about 75,000 other people.

5. AJ vs. Shane was shockingly good.

6. What was the point of Nia Jax being added? Like at all.

7. Stephanie’s table bump woke up the crowd.

8. I can’t stand Stephanie but SWEET GOODNESS she looked incredible tonight.

9. I want to punch the finish of Bray vs. Orton in the face, kick it in the testicles and feed it to a ravenous bull.

10. Goldberg vs. Lesnar was better than I was expecting.

11. Mickie James and Alexa Bliss look very good in trunks.

12. Naomi’s entrance is one of the trippiest things you’ll ever see live.

13. New Day was worthless tonight and I forgot they were a thing for hours at a time.

14. The ending with Undertaker and the post-show stuff with him leaving almost got to me a bit.

15. The upper deck at Wrestlemania is a REALLY BAD PLACE for someone who doesn’t like loud noises or heights.

More later of course. Ask away if there’s anything you want to know about live.

Looking at all the names to leave TNA this week, which could see more names added to the list.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-exodus-stage-left/

Impact Wrestling
Date: February 23, 2017
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Josh Matthews, D’Angelo Dinero

Time for a wedding! It’s one of the last nights of the TNA tapings and we’re getting a major angle in the form of Braxton Sutter being forced to marry Laurel Van Ness for reasons that still aren’t clear. Other than that we have Bobby Lashley defending the TNA World Title against newcomer Josh Barnett at some point in the near future. Let’s get to it.

In memory of George Steele, Ivan Koloff Nicole Bass and Chavo Guerrero Sr.

Matt Hardy is at House Hardy where he talks to George Washington (the giraffe), who is worried about Vanguard I’s drinking issues. The Seven Deities are going to teleport Matt somewhere for his transformation into the King of Gold. However, he might lose some of his abilities so therefore he has to transfer them into Jeff’s body. Jeff has a pre-mo-nition which tells him that Matt is going to Egypt. Vanguard I takes Matt away.

Wedding video.

Here are Cody and Brandi Rhodes for a chat. Cody doesn’t like the idea that his wife was dubbed Mini Moose (still a dumb name) last week so he’d like Moose out here right now. This brings out Moose and Cody gets straight to the point by asking if they’re going to sleep together soon. Brandi isn’t cool with that and asks if Cody is telling the truth. Cody says he was kidding but lays Moose out while shouting to Brandi that it’s a joke. Cross Rhodes leaves Moose laying.

Post break, Cody has no comment.

Eli Drake thinks Tyrus stepped way over the line and tonight he has to take a beating.

Tyrus never liked Drake.

Eli Drake vs. Tyrus

Before he gets in the ring, we get a little more Drake trash talk which is basically a way to plug the fact that Tyrus is a Fox News contributor. A single shoulder puts Drake on the floor so he offers Tyrus more money. Tyrus growls at him so Drake lays out the referee for the DQ at 2:35.

Post match Drake offers Tyrus a raise and they hug. In other words: “I hate you!” “I hate you too!” “Want more money?” “Yeah we’re cool.” Pope says this won’t happen when the new management takes over. The Anthem Owl told him so.

Maria and company are getting ready for the wedding but can’t find Allie.

Matt comes back from his quest and now has a regal robe. He’s learned what it’s going to take to make the Expedition of Gold a success. That means Skarrsgard is no longer a dilapidated boat but rather the Ark of Gold, where all the title belts will be stored.

Here’s Jade to say her rivalry with Rosemary (“Red vs. Blue”) is far from over. Jade wants to take the division back from the sick freak (Why does it feel like 80% of TNA storylines are about getting us back to what something is supposed to be? Sting had that feud roughly 485 times.) so here’s Rosemary, who I barely remember being champion.

Josh and Pope get in an argument during the entrance and Pope hints that changes are coming to the booth. Rosemary wants the Knockouts to decay so Jade talks about going through Monster’s Ball and coming out standing. We get a challenge for a Last Knockouts Standing match with Rosemary accepting. This felt really forced and Jade is far from a smooth talker.

Mike Bennett tries to give an annoyed Braxton Sutter a pep talk. Champagne is consumed and Bennett doesn’t seem thrilled with his own marriage. Sutter brings up Allie but Maria has that covered.

Bram vs. Jesse Godderz

They slug it out to start as Pope keeps hinting that Josh is going to be gone soon. Godderz plants him with a belly to back suplex and a Blockbuster to set up the Adonis Lock. Kingston gets on the apron for a distraction so Jesse catapults Bram into him, setting up the rollup for the pin on Bram at 3:57.

Rating: D. Good grief TNA. If you were just going to treat the DCC like a bunch of goofs, why did you bother putting them together in the first place? At this point the guys are the Job Squad as they can never win a match and there’s still not exactly a clear point to why they’re together in the first place. Nothing to see here.

Godderz cleans house and bails before he gets beaten down.

The Hardys teleport to the Mid-Atlantic territory where they say they wan the Tag Team Titles. A team called the Mid-Atlantic Outlaws say they’re the #1 contenders so a challenge is issued but another guy says this is their way to get out of this territory and on to a better life. Apparently this means anyone winning the Tag Team Titles so they’re all off to find the champions.

The Lady Squad is getting ready for the wedding when Allie finally shows up. They yell at her a bit and tell her to make sure the hotel room is ready. Allie leaves and runs into Braxton, who can’t explain why he’s doing this. If that’s not what he wants to do, then don’t do it.

Back to Mid-Atlantic where a locker room brawl breaks out and the Hardys get a title shot. Just like last week, it’s a clipped up match with the Hardys beating Mathis and Rage to become champions.

Josh Barnett hasn’t been impressed by Lashley and thinks he needs to show Lashley how to be a champion. I still have no idea why I’m supposed to be impressed by/care about Barnett but that’s never stopped TNA before.

Bad Bones vs. Josh Barnett

Bad Bones is a tough looking guy from Germany and Lashley is on commentary. Barnett takes him to the mat and tries a chinlock but let’s look at Lashley talking instead of the debuting #1 contender. A bunch of strikes have Bones in trouble but he gets in a spear through the ropes. Barnett suplexes him and gets in a nasty Jackknife followed by a keylock for the submission at 2:43. Lashley is impressed.

X-Division Title: DJZ vs. Trevor Lee

DJZ is getting his rema ch and has a bad ankle coming in. That doesn’t stop him from diving over the top onto the champion to start. A hurricanrana off the apron bangs up the ankle again so Lee goes after it in a smart move. The slow beating continues until an enziguri staggers Lee again. That means a Schitt’s Creek plug as DJZ grabs a reverse hurricanrana. DJZ loads up the ZDT but Helms grabs the leg, allowing Lee to get in a rollup with a handful of tights to retain at 4:31.

Rating: D+. Standard X-Division match here, meaning no chance to go anywhere, high spots that were more interesting the first thousand or so times we’ve seen them and little surprise to the ending because you only get one change of this title every five months or so. Nothing to see here, as expected.

Post match Lee loads up the Pillmanizing but Andrew Everett comes in for the save.

Maria comes up to see Sutter and offers to remind him why this is happening. Sutter says he knows and Maria threatens him with consequences if there’s no wedding. We still don’t know what those consequences are.

It’s time for the wedding with an already drunk Bennett as the best man. Spud is flower man and Aron Rex comes out in his gear. Maria and Sienna are the bridal party and after a break, here’s Laurel as the fans chant for ODB. Maria does her signature stuff and brings out Allie, who looks stunning in her bridesmaid’s dress and causes Braxton’s jaw to drop.

Laurel reads her own vows, talking about how your bank account is what matters and promising to buy Braxton a new wardrobe. The fans drown this out with DELETE chants and Sutter says he forgot to bring his vows. We get to the “any objections” part and Maria shouts the fans down before Allie can say anything. Maria trips her and yells when the rings fall because that’s what Maria and Allie do.

Laurel says I Do but Braxton can’t get the second word out. Fans: “JUST SAY NO!” Braxton says no because he can’t stand being around Laurel. There’s a guy out there for Laurel to make completely miserable but it’s just not him. Braxton says he loves Allie and for once the fans seem to genuinely freak out over this (It couldn’t be because these are characters the fans can relate to and get behind because they can’t stand the villain could it?).

He knows Maria is going to fire Allie for this and he’ll never see her again but he loves her and that’s all that matters. Maria fires Allie but she quits instead. This might have been more effective if they hadn’t had the big split moment two or three times already. Sutter punches Bennett down and Brooke comes out to help Allie. Robbie E. goes after Aron and the big kiss ends the show as Pope teases the changes AGAIN.

The big angle was good because I have a reason to care about the characters but as usual, TNA screwed themselves over by hyping this as the “most controversial wedding in wrestling history”. Not only does that basically say they know what’s coming but also…..this was exactly what people were expecting. It’s not like this was anything that we haven’t seen a half dozen times before. The Brooke wedding a few years back where Tazz joined Aces and 8’s was a bigger surprise than this one. Again though, that’s TNA in a nutshell: make something bigger than it is and be disappointing because Josh can’t shut up about it.

Overall Rating: D. Assuming you even count the first “match” as wrestling, this show didn’t even have fourteen minutes of actual bell time (not counting the Hardys which was a bunch of clips instead of a match). The Hardys are still running around doing whatever they want, despite it not seeming to lead to anything (other than Ring of Honor) at the moment. Everything else is just there with no particular rhyme or reason, which doesn’t make for a good show. The wedding was entertaining for what it was but that’s not enough to carry a show.

I know none of this really matters as they’re resetting everything (AGAIN) in two weeks but they better knock it out of the park with the new stuff because this has been really dull lately. They’re certainly teasing some new stuff and that’s a good thing, though if there’s one thing TNA knows how to do, it’s underwhelm on their bragging.

Results

Tyrus b. Eli Drake via DQ when Tyrus hit the referee

Jesse Godderz b. Bram – Rollup

Josh Barnett b. Bad Bones – Keylock

Trevor Lee b. DJZ – Rollup with a handful of tights

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:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/01/27/kbs-reviews-now-available-in-paperback/

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

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

Impact Wrestling
Date: February 16, 2017
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Josh Matthews, D’Angelo Dinero

The big story coming out of last week is the full on split of the Wolves as Davey Richards cost Eddie Edwards his last shot at the TNA World Title. While you can probably guess the reason behind the split, it should be interesting to hear the actual explanation. Other than that we also have the saga of Braxton Sutter and company which seems to be setting up a wedding. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the Expedition of Gold, which will take the Hardys to Tijuana, Mexico this week.

Video on Davey turning on Eddie.

Moose/Brandi Rhodes vs. Crazzy Steve/Rosemary

I know I say it every time she’s out but Brandi is a very beautiful woman. Moose is wrestling in a shirt for some reason here. The guys get things going with Steve bouncing off Moose multiple times. Rosemary offers a distraction so Steve can take over, which must last for a good fifteen seconds. Abyss’ interference does a bit better and everything breaks down with Decay taking over.

Moose will have none of that and LAUNCHES Steve onto Abyss at ringside. Rosemary jumps onto Moose’s back and it’s time for Brandi’s still awkward chops (yeah they’re still awkward but she’s only had a few months of ring time and she’s clearly trying as hard as she can). A middle rope missile dropkick puts Rosemary down as Pope still tries to get Mini-Moose over as a nickname. The matching pump punches have Decay in trouble and stereo Game Changers are enough for the double pin at 5:43.

Rating: C-. For someone who hasn’t even been in the ring for a year, Brandi already looks more comfortable than a lot of the Diva era wrestlers. Like, she’s already miles better than Torrie Wilson or the Kat or anyone like that, which may not sound like much but it suggests that she has a bright future if she wants to stay in the ring. I’m sure we’ll get to the “where’s Cody” stuff later on and that’s where we get the feud out of this.

Eddie Edwards isn’t here to talk because he wants to hurt Davey.

Moose tells Brandi he’s there for her whenever she needs. There was no hint of anything romantic in the way he said it.

We look back at the end of last week’s show.

Eddie calls out Davey but he gets Angelina Love instead, saying there’s no Davey until she says so. Basically Eddie abandoned Davey while he was recovering from knee surgery and forgot about his “brother”. Love says Eddie can have Davey now and introduces the American Wolf (new nickname) but Eddie cuts her off and says to let go of her husband’s balls.

Davey grabs the mic and goes on a rant about how he created the team and the Wolves’ Nation. Richards offers him a chance to leave but Eddie goes straight up the aisle to start the brawl. Security breaks it up so Eddie says this isn’t over as Davey tries to crawl in the ring. We get a challenge for a street fight later tonight and Davey seems more than game.

Ok….that was great. I was really, REALLY worried about this feud when I first heard about it because their ROH feud was such a disaster but this already fixed the major problem of the ROH version: there’s a reason for them to hate each other. The previous one was a bunch of “I respect you but I want Dan Severn to train me because this is suddenly an MMA promotion” and I have no idea why that’s supposed to entertain me. This felt like two guys who wanted to kill each other and they got to the point immediately. I can easily go for something like that.

Mike Bennett has a bachelor party for Braxton Sutter, who is miserable. It’s basically a frat party with people all around thirty years old and Sutter wants to leave.

It’s off to Tijuana where the Hardys are challenging for the Mexican Tag Team Championships of the World. Matt and Jeff demand to speak to the promoter and yell in Spanish at a luchador who speaks English. Konnan, the promotion’s owner, wants to make money off their appearance.

Now we have Laurel Van Ness’ bachelorette party with Allie having st up a very sweet room with streamers, balloons and confetti everywhere. Maria yells at her for making it look like a children’s party. Allie is devastated when she hears about how it’s for Laurel and Braxton’s wedding.

Kingston vs. Jesse Godderz

Kingston chops away to start and shrugs off a dropkick by raking the eyes. We hit the choking on the middle rope before Jesse makes his comeback with clotheslines and a Blockbuster for two. An STO puts Jesse down for the same but he nails a quick enziguri. Godderz hits a springboard….I guess we’ll say forearm for the pin at 4:11.

Rating: D+. Nothing special here and again I don’t get the idea of having the DCC losing so often. This was a completely clean pinfall loss to Jesse Godderz of all people and that’s a really bad sign. I can’t even think of a signature win for them at this point and that’s horrible after they debuted so strong.

The DCC comes out post match but Jesse is smart enough to bail.

The bachelor party continues to be horrible with an overweight man crushing the drug dealer.

Allie tries to liven the party up with noisemakers but Maria yells at her again. Sienna just wants to drink.

Tyrus has taken over Fact of Life and brings out someone who was never his friend: Eli Drake, whose arm is in a sling. Drake can’t sit at the desk so the sling comes off in a hurry. Eli yells at Tyrus for making decisions that he didn’t approve of and not watching his back like Tyrus is supposed to do. No one owns Tyrus and a match is made for next week.

Back in Tijuana (this show has more scene cuts than a Total Divas episode), Konnan says he can’t pay the Hardys but his messenger says they don’t want money. The Hardys come in to see Konnan and agree to wrestle for the titles for no pay. Matt: “Money is for marks.” The Hardys leave and Konnan tells the staff to start making and selling as much bootleg Hardy merchandise as they can.

Maria yells at Allie for the amount of pink at the party. Allie can be a ring bearer next week and gets frosting thrown in her face. The ladies take the gifts (including lingerie) and leave.

We get the match from Tijuana with the Hardys challenging Super Crazy and Psicosis for the Crash Tag Team Titles. While the match is going on, the promotion’s women hit on Vanguard I because the women of this promotion aren’t all that smart. We only see clips of the match with the Hardys hitting all their signature stuff to win with a Swanton to Crazy. Of note: the referee was blurred out because he works for Lucha Underground, who threatened legal action against TNA if they showed one of their contracted workers.

After the match, the Hardys teleport back to North Carolina before Konnan and company can stop them. Konnan: “WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY DISAPPEARED???” Back in North Carolina, the Hardys literally throw the belts into a bag and go off to win the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Titles next week. Hint: you might not want to show us the celebration after winning the belts.

Video on Brooke returning to TNA and being targeted by the Lady Squad.

Sienna vs. Brooke

Maria offers an early distraction to start and Sienna takes over with forearms and a spinebuster. Brooke gets in some forearms of her own as Madison Rayne explains why Maria is the most amazing Knockout ever. Another Maria distraction lets Sienna get in a running clothesline as Josh talks about how you can get a Louisville Slugger baseball bat signed by Jeff Hardy. Maria chokes on the rope and offers a distraction so Sienna can choke as well. As Maria talks about how the Knockouts show their midsections, Brooke fights off the double teaming and rolls Sienna up for the pin at 5:55.

Rating: D+. The wrestling was fine but WOW Madison Rayne is one of the most annoying commentators I’ve ever heard. She doesn’t really have a character and isn’t a heel or a face but rather just a woman talking a lot. I’m not sure how that’s supposed to add anything to the match but I’m sure it’s completely necessary.

One of Bennett’s friends wants to put in an adult DVD but Bennett says it’s time for something special. That would be a stripper who sounds like she’s smoked five packs a day. Bennett slams the door in her face and asks where the DVD went.

Eli Drake commandeers a camera and promises to give Tyrus a beating next week. As usual, this is one of the best things on the show.

Here’s Lashley for a chat. Lashley says it doesn’t matter if it’s wrestling or MMA because no one can hang with him. This brings out UFC fighter (currently facing a potential suspension for steroids) and professional wrestler Josh Barnett to give him a lecture about respecting the title. Lashley says this is his ring but has to escape an armbar. A challenge is issued but Barnett wants the title on the line. Bobby says he’ll fight anywhere anytime and the challenge is accepted for some point in the future. I get the idea they’re going for here but Barnett was really, really awkward on the mic.

Everyone has passed out at the bachelor party but Braxton is sitting there twirling his thumbs. He slowly gets up and puts the stripper on Mike’s lap for a quick picture. He then calls Maria and leaves the phone on the two of them before leaving.

Eddie Edwards vs. Davey Richards

Street fight with a full hour and a half of build. Angelina does Davey’s entrance, allowing him to jump Eddie from behind. There are weapons ready at ringside and Davey keeps beating him down as we take an early break. Back with Davey crushing Eddie’s hand with a chair but Edwards fights back anyway. Eddie and Angelina both have chairs but the distraction lets Davey swing a chair into Eddie’s for a knockdown.

Cue Eddie’s wife Alisha…who gets dropped with a single forearm. Angelina handcuffs her to the ropes but Eddie covers her up and takes the chair shots for her. Davey unloads on him with the chair while Angelina makes Alisha watch. There’s no referee as Eddie gets a Conchairto so Angelina counts the pin for a no contest at around 13:30.

Rating: B-. This was a good brawl while it lasted and I’m VERY glad they didn’t have a definitive winner. The ending was the important part and will keep this going for a long time as the women add another dynamic to the whole thing. I had a lot more fun with this than I was expecting and that’s the best possible outcome.

A promo for next week’s Expedition of Gold wraps us up.

Overall Rating: C. That might be the oddest episode of Impact I’ve ever seen. There wasn’t a big focus on wrestling here but rather a lot of vignettes from the two parties, plus all the Mexico stuff. Outside of the main event, the wrestling we did see ranged from mostly boring to forgettable, but Davey vs. Eddie looks like it has serious potential.

Above all else, I appreciated the idea of TNA trying to do something. The wedding story could be good (assuming Sutter gets to win some matches later on) and Lashley FINALLY has some fresh blood, even if Barnett is hardly a household name and his promo was just a step above a disaster. They’re doing something though and that’s what matters more than anything after a long stretch of very dull and boring shows. This kept my attention, but I need more stuff actually between the bells rather than all the stuff setting up future matches and stories. Still though, it’s a step up.

Results

Brandi/Moose b. Crazzy Steve/Rosemary – Double Game Changers

Jesse Godderz b. Kingston – STO

Brooke b. Sienna – Rollup

Davey Richards vs. Eddie Edwards went to a no contest

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: February 9, 2017
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: D’Angelo Dinero, Josh Matthews

I have come here to watch wrestling and open briefcases and TNA is all out of briefcases. So we’re past Open Fight Night and now it’s time to move on to some fresh material. It’s hard to say what that might mean as we’re still waiting on the next taping cycle with the new creative direction to start up. Let’s get to it.

We open with the Hardy Family arriving. After Matt asks Maxel why he’s eating carbohydrates instead of protein (Jeff: “He is undefeated.”), it is announced that the Seven Deities will reveal all tonight.

Recap of the four briefcase matches from last week.

Here’s the DCC with something to say. James Storm talks about how they always keep their promises and lists off some names they’ve taken out. Cue Eli Drake and Tyrus to call them out with Tyrus asking if Kingston is his Mini Me. The fight is on with all five heading to the floor and we go to a break.

DCC vs. Tyrus/Eli Drake

Joined in progress with Tyrus in control before handing it off to Drake, who gets caught in the wrong corner. That doesn’t last long either though as Bram can’t keep the advantage, allowing Drake and Tyrus to take turns working him over. Drake ducks the Last Call and brings Tyrus back in, only to walk away on the big man. Storm mocks the Brodus Clay dance and the trio takes Tyrus down, finishing him with the Last Call at 6:23.

Rating: C-. Nothing much to see here but at least the DCC won. I’m worried about their future as they’ve hit a firm wall and TNA is hardly the kind of company that helps push someone like them along. They just barely beat Tyrus and that should be one of the biggest layups around.

Clip of Lashley vs. Eddie Edwards in a cage. Their final showdown is tonight.

Brandi Rhodes is going to call out Rosemary.

Braxton Sutter and Allie run into each other in the back. Maria comes in and yells at Allie for wasting time and sends her away. We hear about some wedding plans and Braxton has an hour to propose to Laurel Van Ness.

Here’s Brandi for a chat. She gets right to the point and calls Rosemary out, which isn’t exactly the biggest surprise. Cue Decay and Rosemary with the latter saying Brandi could have been amazing with them but she made the wrong decision. Brandi is quickly choked down but Moose of all people makes the save.

Aron Rex doesn’t think much of Robbie E. because violence isn’t the answer. Rex will make an exception tonight though.

Brandi and Moose want a mixed tag next week.

Aron Rex vs. Robbie E.

Before the match, Aron fails to get the audience to sing his name. Rex slaps him in the face to start and of course hides on the apron as a result. Back in and Robbie throws some right hands, which seem to tick Rex off. Robbie is thrown outside so Spud can choke with his coat. That fires Robbie up and Spud is pulled inside, allowing the loaded punch to knock Robbie cold for the pin at 4:54.

Rating: D. Rex is the definition of beating you over the head with a character but it’s already a major improvement over Aron as just a guy in trunks. This wasn’t exactly high concept stuff though and that makes for a dull match. I’m not sure who Rex faces next though but at least this is better than what we had.

The Hardys are ready for an announcement.

Clip of Edwards winning the World Title.

The Wolves and their wives (Angelina Love and Alisha) are ready.

Mike Bennett gloats over the idea of Sutter marrying Laurel because it’s going to make them family. Sutter leaves to do anything else.

Here are the Hardys for a chat. Matt talks about having a pre-mo-nition of the Expedition of Gold. That’s why Vanguard 1 can now teleport them around the world to win Tag Team Titles wherever they want. Matt teases going to Ring of Honor (which he actually says) and WWE (stop) to win all the gold they can find. It’s time to go so they touch the drone and disappear. We cut to….Tijuana, Mexico for the first attempt at winning new titles.

Grand Championship: Mahabali Shera vs. Drew Galloway

Drew is defending. An early Futureshock is broken up and Drew bails to the corner. That means a lot of stalling before Galloway slips out of what looked like a fireman’s carry and goes after the leg. Some chops on the floor wrap up the round but Shera hits the Sky High just a second after the bell. Shera wins Round One but charges into a boot to the face to start Round Two. Drew chops the skin off Shera’s chest, followed by the Claymore and the Futureshock to retain at 6:13.

Rating: D+. The match was fine enough but, as I say every week because it’s still true: there’s no point to the round system because it doesn’t add a thing. It’s little more than a way to extend the matches and make them feel different without really needing to in the slightest. Galloway is a great talent but he needs something less convoluted to really make this work. It’s not a good sign when you could cut the gimmick out and have the same matches but that’s what we have here.

Sutter drops a water bottle cap and goes to pick it up, which Laurel interprets as a proposal. Braxton: “That is the exact opposite of what I wanted to happen.”

Here’s the Helms Dynasty with something to say. The key to a strong dynasty is to acknowledge the weak link and that has to be Andrew Everett. Andrew takes the mic and says Helms is the weak link, earning himself a double beatdown. At least that’s a somewhat better way to turn someone face and it’s not like taking a beating while down 2-1 makes him look horrible.

Lashley is ready.

Matt and Jeff meet fans in Tijuana and next week, the first challenge takes place.

TNA World Title: Lashley vs. Eddie Edwards

Eddie is challenging and this is his last match. Davey Richards and Eddie’s wives are in the front row, meaning shenanigans are likely afoot. Eddie starts fast by knocking Lashley to the floor for a suicide dive. That earns him a spinebuster though and we take a break. Back with the champ still in control but getting knocked outside again for another suicide dive.

Lashley grabs the belt but here’s Davey to take it away, allowing Eddie to get in a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. A quick Boston Knee Party should have the title won but Davey pulls the referee out. Angelina Love slaps Alisha and the distraction is enough to allow the spear to retain Lashley’s title at 13:53.

Rating: C+. This was entertaining enough but I’m pretty tired of seeing these two fight. That being said, the match was little more than a backdrop while Davey did the heel turn and there’s nothing wrong with that. Lashley is really needing some fresh competition though and I’m not sure who that is at the moment.

Davey and Angelina beat down Eddie and Alisha to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. The wrestling hasn’t been the best but I can get behind some of these stories. They’re getting to the point where you can see some of the culminations to them and that’s a good thing. The show isn’t getting on my nerves as badly lately and it certainly seems a bit more focused. I can live with slightly weaker wrestling in exchange for an upgrade in storytelling and that’s what we’re getting lately.

Results

DCC b. Tyrus/Eli Drake – Last Call to Tyrus

Aron Rex b. Robbie E. – Loaded punch

Drew Galloway b. Mahabali Shera – Futureshock

Lashley b. Eddie Edwards – Spear

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: January 26, 2017
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: D’Angelo Dinero, Josh Matthews

Tonight is billed as Genesis, which is likely to be another show that doesn’t really add anything special but will be treated like something interesting while still being a normal show. We’ll throw in two title matches with Lashley vs. Eddie Edwards in an Iron Man match and Rosemary vs. Jade in a Monster’s Ball match. Let’s get to it.

Here are the Hardys with something to say. Matt, who sounds like he has a very sore throat, talks about Brother Nero (There was a video on YouTube where Matt freed Jeff from being Brother Nero. Are we not even following TNA’s own continuity here?) winning the #1 case last week. Jeff thinks he might win the World Title again but Matt has a big idea: going around the world and winning all the Tag Team Titles they can (as revealed to him in a pre-mo-nition as he and his family ate Senor Benjamin’s green beans by the Lake of Reincarnation).

Cue the DCC to imply they’ll be cashing in their Race for the Case match against the Hardys next week. Before any violence can take place, here’s Decay. Crazzy Steve suggests a triple threat for tonight and the DCC immediately agrees. Matt says that even though these are some rude blokes, the match is on.

Tag Team Titles: Hardys vs. DCC vs. Decay

The Hardys are defending. Joined in progress with the DCC working over Steve as the announcers talk about Don West’s insane deals. The hot tag brings in Abyss and LET’S PLUG SCHITT’S CREEK! Jeff comes back in and drops Abyss but the DCC takes over on him in the corner. That means James Storm can distract Matt so a non-tag can take place. Everything breaks down and Kingston gives Matt an STO for two. Steve mists Kingston and it’s a Twist of Fate to retain the titles at 7:00.

Rating: D+. TNA puts James Storm in an interesting/cool looking gimmick and the solution is to put him in a team going after the Tag Team Titles because that’s all James Storm is allowed to do. That man left TNA for this nonsense? Anyway, this is turning into New Day vs. Gallows and Anderson/Cesaro and Sheamus: we know the champs can beat them and they’ve beaten these guys so often that it’s getting really boring. I know TNA is incapable of making new stars but is one fresh team that hard to pull off?

Laurel Van Ness makes Braxton Sutter take her to dinner. Apparently they’re at a restaurant, which looks so fake that I didn’t realize that’s where they were supposed to be until Laurel ordered a glass of wine.

Here’s Drew Galloway to talk about how much he wants the Grand Championship to be the top title around here. That means an open challenge.

Grand Championship: Drew Galloway vs. Moose

Drew is defending and Josh asks how ironic this is. Uh, a guy who got screwed out of a title last week answering an open challenge isn’t ironic you stupid man. Moose goes right at him to start and hits something like a powerbomb. A moonsault almost completely misses but is still good for two. Moose sends him outside and the fight is on with Moose easily getting the better of it. Galloway gets dropped on the barricade and Moose wins round one.

That’s enough to send the champ walking up the ramp but he comes back in to start round two. The middle rope chokebomb and the Game Changer get two each but Drew kicks him low again, meaning Galloway loses a point. The Claymore connects for two so Drew shoves the referee down and kicks Moose low again, setting up the Futureshock to retain at 6:46.

Rating: D. You know, this whole “YOU’RE LOSING A POINT” thing might mean something if more than one match in the history of this title actually went to a judges’ decision. This points system thing is a big waste of time and the title really could have been just a TV Title but that was like three names ago.

Laurel continues to be a blithering idiot and Sutter drinks a lot of wine to cope.

Knockouts Title: Rosemary vs. Jade

Rosemary is defending but Jade dives at her to take over. Some kendo stick shots to the back have Jade in trouble but she blocks a suplex onto the thumbtacks. Instead, Jade whips her in the back with a belt before the German suplex puts Rosemary into the tacks. Jade gets smart by blocking the mist with a trashcan lid, which she kicks into the champ’s face for two. It’s time for the barbed wire board and a release STO makes Rosemary scream again. That means it’s time for a regular table but Jade takes too much time going up top, setting up a superplex to drive Jade through for the pin at 9:25.

Rating: B. Jade is a great example of someone with a lot of talent that TNA has given us no reason to care about. Tell me two things about her character other than she used to be in the Dollhouse. She’s entertaining in the ring and I’ve seen far worse performers but there’s just no connection to her, which is the case with most of the roster.

Gail Kim comes out to check on Jade and Rosemary mists her.

Laurel offers some post dinner shenanigans to Braxton but he goes to find the check. With Braxton gone, Laurel calls Maria to tell her it’s going great.

Caleb Konley is making his debut and got his start watching wrestling his entire life.

X-Division Title: DJZ vs. Trevor Lee vs. Andrew Everett vs. Marshe Rockett vs. Caleb Konley

DJZ is defending and it’s one fall to a finish. Josh’s brilliant insight: “DJZ would love to successfully defend his X-Division Championship.” Everyone brawls with everyone to start and then, in what might be the dumbest, most contrived spot I’ve ever see, we get a Human Centipede style elevated DDT with three people grabbing someone’s head back to back until DJZ grabs a running neckbreaker to drive everyone down.

That’s the kind of ridiculous stuff that makes it so clear that everyone is working together because there is NO WAY that could work otherwise. Everyone hits a bunch of dives and the Helms Dynasty starts working together, only to get in a fight over who gets to cover. The ZDT to Everett retains DJZ’s title at 4:21.

Rating: D. Words cannot describe how sick I am of this kind of match. It’s a big mess of a match with no story, no psychology, that STUPID multi-man DDT that I’m sure they thought was the coolest thing in the world (or better yet, someone might make a YouTube reaction video about it) and the same challengers we’ve seen over and over again, plus one new name who we heard about for all of five seconds.

The Helms Dynasty Pillmanizes DJZ’s leg.

Edwards asks Davey Richards to let him defend the title on his own. Davey agrees but doesn’t look happy.

Open Fight Night video.

The Hardys go over some possible matches for Jeff’s Race for the Chase match. He doesn’t care for the idea of winning the X-Division Title because it would only feed his addiction so DELETE. Rosemary and Ricky Morton are deleted as well but Matt has a pre-mo-nition showing him who Jeff will pick.

TNA World Title: Eddie Edwards vs. Lashley

Lashley is challenging in a thirty minute Iron Man match. Lashley starts fast with a delayed vertical suplex but Eddie avoids the spear and kicks him out to the floor. Back in and Lashley gets two off a slam and we take a break. Lashley is still in control when we come back and the spear gives him the first fall at 8:40.

The slow pace continues as Lashley hammers away, only to get caught in a Blue Thunder Bomb. A half crab doesn’t do much damage to Lashley so he throws Eddie over the top with a release belly to belly suplex. Lashley powerbombs him on the ramp for a countout at 14:25 to make it 2-0.

With the referee checking on Eddie, Lashley takes off a turnbuckle pad. For no apparent reason, Lashley keeps going to the ropes and knocking Eddie off the apron as this just keeps going. Back from a second break with Lashley missing a spear and going into the exposed buckle, allowing Eddie to grab a rollup for a fall at 22:20.

They head to the ramp again with Lashley loading up a release German suplex, only to have Edwards flip out onto his feet. There’s the Boston Knee Party but Eddie has to very slowly crawl back to the ring. Lashley dives in at nine to beat the count but it’s another Boston Knee Party to tie things up at 24:03. A few seconds later JB says we have five minutes left as they’re actually closer than I was expecting.

Lashley gets two off another spear, which of course is followed by a third Boston Knee Party for two more. Eddie’s middle rope hurricanrana is countered into a powerbomb and Lashley grabs a side choke to make Eddie tap at 26:40 to go up 3-2 with just over three minutes to go. Lashley goes outside to yell at Pope and says he’s already won. That means another suicide dive to take Lashley out and Eddie grabs a guillotine with 51 seconds left. Of course time runs out (at 29:33) to give Lashley the title back.

Rating: D+. The wrestling was fine enough but this DID NOT need to be a thirty minute match in any way, shape or form. There was way too much laying around and so much of that is due to there being no reason for these two to still be fighting. TNA is desperately needing some fresh blood in their main event scene, which has what, four people at most right now? Seriously: Edwards, Lashley, Carter and……I guess Hardy? Assuming he goes for the World Title again? Give us something fresh already.

Overall Rating: D. This is the worst kind of show you can have: not absolutely horrible but so painfully uninteresting that I lost any semblance of caring about halfway through. These matches all just felt like they were going by with no interest or caring, which has long plagued this company. What are we looking at going forward? Gail Kim, Jeff Hardy and Trevor Lee as the challengers to titles? A heel midcard champion who keeps cheating to retain the title? It feels like we’ve been here for years now and that’s not enough to make me care enough. Really dull show here and that’s not a good sign whatsoever.

Results

Hardys b. DCC and Decay – Twist of Fate to Kingston

Drew Galloway b. Moose – Futureshock

Rosemary b. Jade – Superplex through a table

DJZ b. Trevor Lee, Andrew Everett, Marshe Rockett and Caleb Konley – ZDT to Everett

Lashley b. Eddie Edwards three falls to two

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: January 12, 2017
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Josh Matthews, D’Angelo Dinero

It’s the second show of the Anthem Era and that means more talking about how Anthem is helping keep the show going. Eddie Edwards is still the World Champion after Davey Richards returned last week to help him retain the title in a triple threat match over Lashley and Ethan Carter III. Let’s get to it.

Josh and Pope welcome us to the show and run down tonight’s card.

The Hardys are ready for the Wolves tonight as the Tag Team Titles will be on the line. With less than one week’s build too.

Here’s Ethan Carter III to talk about Davey Richards costing him his World Title match at last week’s One Night Only Live pay per view. All he wanted was one clean title shot but Richards and a chair kept that from happening. Now he wants to invade Wolves Nation like Liam Neeson in the Gray.

Cue Lashley instead and he’s not pleased with Carter. If it were him last week, he would have caved in Eddie Edwards’ head with a chair and be out here with the title right now. Lashley suggests a last man standing match for the title tonight (assuming he means for the #1 contendership) so Carter asks the Anthem Owl on the turnbuckle. Carter wants the match right now and the fight is on in the aisle but it’s quickly broken up.

Lashley vs. Ethan Carter III

Last man standing with the winner getting the shot at Edwards at some point in the future. They brawl on the floor to start with Lashley hitting a powerslam on the concrete for seven, only to get slammed off the top, followed by a cutter. A suplex on the floor keeps Lashley down long enough for Ethan to set up two tables as we take a break.

Back with Lashley being sent into the corner and getting German suplexed out of it for four. A superplex doesn’t keep Lashley down either so he superplexes Carter for a long count. The spear gets seven on Carter so Lashley spears him again. The count last long enough that Lashley can set up a table in the corner.

Carter avoids a third spear and hits one of his own to put Lashley through the table but both are up at nine. Ethan just unloads on him with a chair but that’s still not enough. With nothing else working, Ethan grabs his rear naked choke but gets dropped off the apron through both tables. Both guys are down and only Lashley can beat the count for the win at 17:15.

Rating: B-. Good brawl but my goodness I’m bored seeing these two and Eddie fighting over the title. Lashley has been in the same spot for well over a year now and that’s not something I want to keep watching over and over again. It’s nice to have a good brawl like this instead of the same match but can we PLEASE get some fresh blood in the title picture?

Next week it’s Race for the Case (Feast or Fired) with the winners getting four matches the following week at Open Fight Night. So they’re having a gimmick match to set up a gimmick show in the span of two weeks.

Eli Drake has Tyrus grab a backstage worker and force him to read a prepared statement since the fans were glad that Eli wasn’t allowed to speak. Drake is going to get his revenge, starting by winning Race for the Case next week. He beats the guy up for not having enough emotion and Tyrus gets rid of the cameras.

Here’s Rockstar Spud in powder blue to introduce Aron Rex, who is now in a white fur coat in something like a Liberace gimmick (which Rex pitched to WWE for years but was never allowed to go through with it). Spud introduces him again once he’s in the ring so Rex can say everyone has paid to see him for years but they should never pay for him to do something as barbaric as fighting. The coat comes off and Rex now has flesh colored trunks so here’s Robbie E. to interrupt. The fight is quickly on and Rex uses the big rings to knock Robbie down. Rex puts the coat back on and says violence is never the answer.

The DCC is ready to take out Decay tonight. Kingston has fifteen years of memories of being told he’s too violent for this business but he knew his time had come when James Storm called him. Storm says DCC is for Death Crew Council.

Allie is in the back when Maria comes up to yell at her. Maria isn’t happy that Allie is still talking to Braxton Sutter but Allie says she’s done everything Maria has told her to do. Haven’t these two broken up like a million times now?

Decay vs. DCC

Storm is the odd man out here. It’s a big brawl to start (as it should be) with the DCC taking over off an Alabama Slam to Steve. Bram comes in for a clothesline as Josh runs through all the advertisements he can squeeze into a single match. The hot tag brings in Abyss and everything breaks down again with Steve diving onto Bram and Kingston. The match is thrown out for a double DQ at 5:11.

Rating: D+. That’s the right call as there’s only so much you can have these teams do before it gets out of hand. I’m glad the DCC didn’t lose here as they have potential, even though they’ve already lost a lot of their steam. But hey, at least they could be in Tag Team Apocalypto for a joke appearance, which is exactly the point of a team like them.

They keep brawling out of the arena.

The Wolves say tonight is special because they can get their titles back.

Brooke is back and thrilled to get back in the ring.

Mike Bennett vs. Braxton Sutter

Mike kicks him in the face to start and a Maria distraction keeps Bennett in control. Sutter makes an early comeback as we get a weak “we want Allie” chant. Maria grabs Sutter’s leg though and the Miracle in Progress connects. Before the cover though, Maria wants a kiss so here’s Allie to cut her off, allowing Sutter to grab a rollup for the pin at 5:04.

Rating: D. This was all about the storyline and there’s nothing wrong with that, save for the fact that Maria vs. Allie should have ended a long time ago but it’s still going. Sutter could be something interesting but I’m not sure if this is going to mean anything going forward, which is one of TNA’s biggest issues.

Post break, Maria yells about Allie screwing things up. Mike says Allie works for Maria so Maria can destroy her.

Rosemary comes out and says the Knockouts will all become part of the darkness but here’s Jade, now with short hair, to say they’re just getting started. She wants her rematch and Rosemary is very pleased. The match is accepted, as long as it can be Monster’s Ball. Jade agrees and stops an attack from behind. I’ll take Jade as a challenger, but I don’t believe for a second that it’s not just filler until Gail Kim comes back for another title run.

Tag Team Titles: Wolves vs. Hardys

The Hardys are defending. Matt and Davey get things going before it’s quickly off to Jeff for a dropkick. That goes nowhere so the World Champ comes in and gets double teamed to the mat as we take an early break. Back with Eddie getting in a neckbreaker but not being able to make the hot tag.

Instead it’s back to Matt who gives up the hot tag and gets caught in a Richards Figure Four. Jeff’s save is countered into an ankle lock at the same time before Davey cranks on Matt’s knee even more. The Wolves take over on Matt for a bit with some alternating stomps, only to have Jeff come in for another reset (Josh’s words).

A double Whisper in the Wind puts the Wolves down but Jeff gets caught in Chasing the Dragon for two. Davey misses the top rope double stomp and it’s the Twist into the Swanton for two with Richards making a save. Eddie dives onto Matt so there’s no one for whatever Davey wanted to set up, allowing Jeff to roll Richards up for the pin at 16:33.

Rating: B-. The match was fine but it’s the same problem TNA has been having with its booking for so long now: there’s no reason for this match to be happening other than they’re both great teams. There’s no animosity, no major story and nothing more than the Hardys saying DELETE DELETE DELETE over and over again to set it up. I’m sure if you look back to when the Wolves were around full time there might be a story but that has nothing to do with whatever else you can watch on Pop TV so Josh isn’t going to tell us about it. I’ve never been a fan of this booking style and it’s one of TNA’s favorites.

The Wolves argue to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This show was all over the place and that’s not really a good thing. So many of these stories feel like they’ve been going on for months now (because they’ve been going on for months now) and that makes for some very tedious shows as the angles rarely advance. So now we’re getting Lashley vs. Edwards again because that’s something fresh and new. When you keep hyping up Anthem as the new owners and partners or whatever they’re billed as, it might be a nice idea to actually present something fresh instead of the Wolves reunion and Aron Rex as Liberace.

Results

Lashley b. Ethan Carter III – Carter was driven through two tables

DCC vs. Decay went to a Double DQ when all four brawled on the floor

Braxton Sutter b. Mike Bennett – Rollup

Hardys b. Wolves – Rollup to Richards

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

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Impact Wrestling
Date: January 5, 2017
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: D’Angelo Dinero, Josh Matthews

This might actually be an interesting show as TNA is under new ownership with Dixie Carter all but completely out of power. It’s been a few weeks since we’ve had a full show of new content actually in the Impact Zone as we saw two weeks of Hardy related material plus a very rushed Best of 2016 show. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the World Title situation with Ethan Carter III and Eddie Edwards going to a double pin and Edwards vs. Lashley going into the North Carolina woods at Total Nonstop Deletion.

Here’s Eddie to wish us a happy new year and to say he’ll fight anyone anytime. This brings out Lashley to say he’ll be giving out beatings this year, starting with Eddie. Lashley wants a title shot tonight but here’s Ethan Carter III, who makes sure to point out the Anthem logo. Carter was watching these two fight in Matt Hardy’s backyard and thinking about getting his title back. Lashley calls them both cheerleaders and isn’t cool with Carter wanting a rematch tonight too. The champ suggests a triple threat match and promises a special surprise for later. As long as it’s not the Wolves reuniting, I’m good.

Grand Championship: Moose vs. Mike Bennett

Moose is defending. The announcers try to act like this was a great friendship before just giving up on the idea. Bennett kicks him down and grabs a chinlock before hammering away to gain favor with the judges. That sounds like it belongs in some lame adventure game. Another hard chinlock ends the first round, which Bennett easily wins. Moose fights back to start the second round and hits a middle rope moonsault for an early two.

Back up and Moose dives into a cutter for two. We hit another chinlock until Moose takes his head off with the Game Changer as the round ends. After a break, Moose wins round two and grabs the chokebomb for two. He misses a top rope moonsault though and Bennett grabs a piledriver for two. They very slowly slug it out with Moose hitting him in the face but getting kicked in the chest. Another slugout is enough for them to take it to the bell at 16:49 (counting breaks). Moose wins via split decision.

Rating: C+. This was one of the best Grand Championship style matches I’ve seen so far but again, this could have been the exact same thing if they just had a regular time limit without the whole rounds system. It feels like an unnecessary detail and that’s not a good thing. At least the match was good and Mike and Maria seem to be around for now.

Swoggle is in the back when he runs into the Hardys. Matt asks if he was sent here by Mc-Mehon to infiltrate the event. Apparently he was and Matt laughs.

Rockstar Spud vs. Swoggle

Spud wants to start this year with a win because the winning streak starts now. Swoggle starts fast with a spear, a German suplex and the Celtic Cross for a completely clean pin at 1:09.

Post match Spud quits.

Bennett goes up to Moose again and demands a rematch on the pay per view in a match where anything goes. Moose agrees.

Eli Drake holds up signs that say he gets to talk next.

It’s time for Fact of Life with the once again verbal Eli Drake. He’ll never be done with Ethan Carter III but tonight his guests are the Broken Hardys. Reby plays them to the ring on the piano and Eli says get the camera back on him. He wants to know where his invite was to Tag Team Apocalypto but Matt says maybe Eli was scared like the Day of New or the Bucks of Youth. Drake: “I don’t know what you just said.”

I think they start quoting song lyrics to each other until Eli hits the button over and over. Matt says something about magic and blasphemy so Eli throws out a challenge for tomorrow’s pay per view. We get the dueling DELETE/YEAH chants until Jeff calls it very confusing and hits Drake in the head.

Eddie is about to talk about his surprise when Lashley comes up with a threat.

Video on Total Nonstop Deletion.

Helms Dynasty vs. Decay

Gregory Shane Helms is no longer the Hurricane for no apparent reason. In a quick pre-match interview, Shane says he doesn’t remember being the Hurricane but he’s back now. Sure why not. Decay takes over to start but the Dynasty realizes they can have some more luck against Steve, who is beaten down in the corner. Lee cleans some house but a tag brings in Abyss to wreck the smaller guys. Helms tries to chokeslam Abyss and gets mist from Rosemary for his efforts. A chokeslam off the top ends Everett at 3:23.

Rating: D+. Another nothing match because there’s no reason to think either of these teams can beat the Hardys. That’s what happens when you put everyone together in one match and have the Hardys go over. But then again I shouldn’t be complaining because we got that WICKED BURNING HHH JAB and that’s what matters.

Post match the DCC jumps Decay from behind.

Maria has something special planned for Allie.

Here are Maria, Sienna and Laurel Van Ness with something to say. Maria talks about being here a year ago and looking forward to another year. First things first though: Allie needs to get down here. Allie comes out and Maria screeches a lot, saying Allie’s plan has two problems. There’s going to be a match right now so Allie gets in her face and says bring it on.

Allie vs. Sienna

Madison Rayne is on commentary. Allie goes right after her but gets taken down by Sienna instead. A one foot cover gets two and a sideslam gives Sienna the same. Sienna keeps getting distracted by Braxton Sutter on the floor but is still able to spit at Allie. That fires Allie up even more and she slams Sienna, only to have Laurel hug Braxton for a distraction. Allie is upset and the Silencer puts her away at 5:05.

Rating: D. Aside from this story going and going, Madison is really getting on my nerves. She adds nothing, she isn’t interesting, she isn’t funny and she’s just there, talking about things that anyone could figure out by watching the match. I’m really not a fan of adding things in for the sake of adding things in and that’s what Madison is right now.

We hear about tomorrow’s pay per view. No I won’t be watching it.

TNA World Title: Ethan Carter III vs. Lashley vs. Eddie Edwards

Eddie is defending and helps Carter beat on Lashley, who suplexes both of them down without much effort. A trip to the floor doesn’t do much and it’s a double clothesline to put Lashley on the floor again as we take a break. Back with Lashley on the floor as the other two fight over a standing switch. Lashley comes back in and German suplexes both of them at the same time before exposing a turnbuckle.

That goes nowhere (yet) and it’s a double suplex to Lashley instead. Eddie takes over with chops all around and a Blue Thunder Bomb gets two on Carter. Something like a Tower of Doom puts all three down and it’s Carter up first with a clothesline to Lashley. The TK3 gets two on Lashley but he throws Carter to the floor. It’s time to grab the title but here’s the returning Davey Richards to take it away. The Boston Knee Party retains Eddie’s title at 19:52.

Rating: B. Another year, another long TNA Title match that was only long for the sake of being long. I still have no reason to care about any of these people and it feels like almost nothing is going to change if any of them becomes champion. It also feels like these same three have been around the title FOREVER and I’m not sure if it would be worse to have Richards vs. Edwards or more of these three.

Overall Rating: C-. The main event helped this one but it’s still the exact same TNA that it’s been for a long time: too much filler (this show was an extra ten minutes long for the sole purpose of being an extra ten minutes long), not enough interesting wrestling, almost no interesting characters and more of the same stuff over and over again. I didn’t see anything that would make me think this is a fresh start other than ANTHEM being mentioned all the time. It’s not a horrible show but it’s really uninteresting, which isn’t a good sign after all the hype of the ownership issues.

Results

Moose b. Mike Bennett via split decision

Swoggle b. Rockstar Spud – Celtic Cross

Decay b. Helms Dynasty – Chokeslam to Everett

Sienna b. Allie – Silencer

Eddie Edwards b. Lashley and Ethan Carter III – Boston Knee Party to Lashley

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:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQKDV5O

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

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