Slammiversary is looming and Eric Young doesn’t have a challenger yet. The problem with having a champion that defends every week is you quickly run out of fresh matchups, so TNA is either going to have to turn someone or bring someone up the card in a hurry. Other than that we get to see Bully want to put Dixie through a table in about 19 segments tonight. Let’s get to it.

Earlier today Bully Ray was driving to Nashville at the TNA offices to find Dixie Carter, thereby complying with MVP’s wishes to not go after her at the Impact Zone.

We recap Eric Young defending the title every week.

Speaking of Eric, here he is in street clothes to get things going. He talks about how awesome the reign has been but there’s one hiccup. Eric promised to defend the title every week but since MVP hasn’t booked him in a match, he’s going to book himself in one. We have an open challenge for tonight and here’s Bobby Roode.

Bobby goes on a LONG rant about how great he is before Eric says that Roode got a shot last week and got pinned. Roode says it wasn’t fair because he had to wrestle twice last week and goes on another rant about their history together in Team Canada. If Young gives him another shot and wins, Roode will never ask for another match. Young says ok as this segment took about eight minutes longer than it needed to.

MVP tells Young that he can’t do that and suggests Young take a few weeks off. If Young will, MVP guarantees that his opponent at Slammiversary will be someone Young has never faced before.

Madison Rayne/Brittany vs. Beautiful People

Evening Gown match under elimination rules. The Beautiful People are in black and their opponents are in white to make sure the alignment is clear. Velvet and Angelina double team Brittany in the corner to start as they’re actually treating this like a real match so far. Brittany fights up and makes the tag off to Madison who does moves that make sure her skirt flies up. Madison can’t strip Velvet’s gown though, allowing Love to trip Brittany up so Velvet can strip her for an elimination as we take a break.

Back with Madison down 2-1 and getting double teamed. It doesn’t last long though as Madison fights off both girls and is able to quickly strip Velvet to get us down to one on one. Madison has control for a bit until Velvet flashes the referee, allowing Angelina to spray her in the face and get the win at 11:00.

Rating: D+. They looked good, this was barely wrestling, next.

Dixie is in a bad mood and walks away from Spud, who is in a leopard print coat.

We recap Ethan Carter III vs. Kurt Angle.

Bram tells Magnus to become his old self again.

Kurt Angle vs. Ethan Carter III

Angle goes after the arm to start but Ethan backs off. A snap suplex sets up the Rolling Germans to Ethan but Angle falls down holding his bad knee. Angle tries to fight back with a German suplex but the knee is just gone. Ethan gets in a quick chop block and pins Angle at 3:27.

Rating: D+. This didn’t have time to go anywhere and the injury took up a good chunk of the match. I’ll give them points for keeping Ethan so strong and I kind of like not having Angle beat him with ease. It’s making Ethan look like a much bigger deal which is something TNA really needs to do.

After a break, Angle says he felt the knee pop.

Here’s MVP with something to say. He talks about how demanding this company is and how the fans are even more demanding. However, he can’t have Eric Young making his own matches because wrestlers are supposed to wrestle so TNA can abide. “And hey, the Dude abides right?” MVP says he has a major announcement about who Eric will face at Slammiversary but here’s Bobby Roode to interrupt. Roode says the same stuff he said to Eric and demands the title match tonight. MVP has the same reply that Eric did (you lost last week) and the brawl is on. The fans want to see it but referees break it up.

Bully is in Nashville but Spud says he’s not welcome here. Bully goes into her office anyway, yells at Spud for wearing green socks and sits in Dixie’s chair. He gets on the phone and tells the secretary to get the staff together for a meeting. Oh and a sandwich.

Knux and company are here. Rebel is in a rather revealing outfit and dancing with fire. A wooden crate comes up and Knux says it’s someone’s home.

Roode is ejected by security.

Tag Team Titles: Wolves vs. Bro Mans

It’s a ladder match and the challengers (Bro Mans) get a jobber entrance. Zema shoves the ladder over in the aisle to distract the champions, allowing the Bro Mans to jump them from behind with the ladder. Back inside and we get the bell but the Wolves are right there for the save. The Wolves load up the baseball slide into the ladder but the Bro Mans lift it up like a gate. The champions go back inside and set up a double suicide dive, only to hit the ladder faces first.

Jesse drops Davey chest first onto the barricade as the Bro Mans take over. They set up a ladder between the ring and some steps in the aisle but Davey escapes a suplex onto said ladder. All four climb a pair of ladders in the ring and a set of headbutts put all four back on the mat. Jesse makes a save by jumping up the ladder to stop Davey before Eddie suplexes Jesse over the top and out to the floor, only to fall out himself as well. Davey puts Robbie on the bridged ladder for the double stomp from the top as everyone is down again. The Wolves climb up, throw Zema over the top and onto the Bro Mans, and retain the belts at 7:00.

Rating: C+. There were some big spots in there but it’s another gimmick match that doesn’t really mean anything and doesn’t have the time to go anywhere because TNA flies through their shows as fast as they can. Much like the Ascension in NXT though, there aren’t many teams to challenge for the belts now and it’s going to get repetitive watching them beat up the Bro Mans over and over again.

Crazy Steve and the Freak (Rob Terry in a mask) break out of the crate.

Spud has lost Bully Ray.

Kazarian vs. Knux

The Menagerie is a carnival themed stable comprised of Knux, his good looking sister Rebel, two men on stilts, Crazy Steve (a clown) and the Freak (a masked muscle man). Kaz jumps Knux from behind to start but is easily thrown down. He does score with a top rope missile dropkick and a kick to the jaw but stops to yell at Crazy Steve. Kaz turns around and runs into the Freak, allowing Knux to throw him back into the ring. A Sky High powerbomb is enough for the pin on Kaz at 2:16.

Spud goes into the staff’s office and runs down Ray, only to turn around and see Ray behind him. Ray: “Get us a case of beer!” Spud: “It’s 11am!” Ray: “You’re right. Get us two.” Spud leaves and the staff says the new motto is Bully Fears Dixie. Ray has an idea of how to fix this.

As a result of the incidents last week, Anderson faces Storm next week.

Gunner tells Anderson that Storm is lying whenever he talks.

Dixie’s staff is now all drunk and in Bully Ray shirts. Spud panics and gets on the table to calm everything down. Ray says he’ll let Spud have the drones back if he tells Ray where Dixie is. Spud says he doesn’t know so Ray offers to leave if Spud will have one beer with him. Spud drinks it and gets powerbombed through a table. Ray steals his phone and gets Dixie’s address.

Willow talks about getting screwed over in the Dixieland match which started the evolution into what he is now. He wants revenge on Magnus.

Magnus vs. Willow

Willow gets jumped during his entrance as Bram looks on approvingly. A hard elbow drop gets two for the Brit but Willow fights up with a Whisper in the Wind and the flying forearm. The seated dropkick and mule kick put Magnus in the corner but he rolls outside. That’s fine for Willow as he kicks Magnus down and hits that sliding splash. As they head back inside though, Bram sends Willow into the steps for the DQ at 2:32.

Post match Willow is handcuffed to the ropes and attacked with a turnbuckle hook.

Angle has a broken bone in his leg and a torn ACL.

MVP calls out Eric for the announcement of the Slammiversary opponent. The boss asks the fans to cheer for the champ and says there’s nothing Eric can’t accomplish. He says Eric deserves the best competition there is, so here’s the opponent. Eric looks at the stage and MVP lays him out with a chain around his fist. He says he’ll see Eric at Slammiversary to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. I liked tonight’s show for the most part but there are still problems. First of all they are setting up stuff for the future, but at the end of the day it’s still for Eric Young defending against the latest heel power figure. Actually he’s one of two current heel power figures as Ray is off in Nashville chasing after Dixie. That being said, there was some interesting stuff here and some fresh matches, so the good outweighs the bad. I just really hope the MVP stuff doesn’t dominate the show, which is about as stupid of a hope as I can have at this point.

Results
Beautiful People b. Madison Rayne/Brittany – Love ripped off Madison’s dress
Ethan Carter III b. Kurt Angle – Chop block
Wolves b. Bro Mans – Wolves pulled down the belts
Knux b. Kazarian – Sky High
Willow b. Magnus via DQ when Bram interfered
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Sacrifice was this past Sunday and not a lot has changed. Given the card though, that’s not really a big surprise. The next PPV is in June which sounds far better than having it May when TNA won’t be ready for another show. Other than that there really isn’t anything set up as Young is still champion and beat Magnus clean, meaning he needs a new challenger. Let’s get to it.

We open with Bully Ray spray painting something on a table.

Eric Young talks about how real it is that he’s still champion and goes into MVP’s office. The boss congratulates him on his win and says Eric can prove his worth every week. That’s cool with Eric so here are Gunner, Mr. Anderson and Bobby Roode. They’ll draw cards from a deck. The lower two cards will face off and the winner faces the high card, with the winner of that getting a World Title shot. Anderson and Gunner tie while Roode gets an ace, meaning it’s Anderson vs. Gunner first and the winner faces Roode for the title shot. This is all tonight apparently.

Here’s Magnus with something to say. He isn’t cool with not being in the World Title competition tonight and demands that MVP come out here and explain that decision. Instead he gets Abyss through the crowd. The brawl is on and Abyss lays Magnus out with a chokeslam. He pulls out a chair as the fans want Janice. They get what they want but Magnus bails. The announcers play up the idea that Abyss may not have a contract, despite him getting a World Title shot two weeks ago.

Here’s Ray with a table and holding his ribs. He holds the table up and it says DIXIE. Ray says he might not be as big and fat as he used to be but he can promise one thing: if he sees Dixie in this building tonight, she’s going through that table.

Dixie arrives and has nothing to say.

In the back Spud tried to hide Dixie but she’s not afraid.

Mr. Anderson vs. Gunner

Winner faces Roode later tonight for a title shot. Feeling out process to start as they trade some headlocks. Gunner’s advantage doesn’t last long as Anderson shoves him off and puts on a headlock of his own. A hammerlock doesn’t work all that well for Mr. either so he hooks another headlock. Gunner catches a charging Anderson in a fall away slam but James Storm interferes because the feud isn’t over yet. Storm gets knocked to the floor before accidentally kicking Anderson in the back of the head, allowing Gunner to hit an F5 for the pin at 3:47.

Rating: C-. This was a lot of stalling before the finish, but hopefully this transitions to Anderson vs. Storm, because Gunner vs. Storm has been dead and buried for well over a month. I also like that they making the transition naturally instead of just shoving it down our throats because the script calls for it.

Magnus comes in to see someone who looks like former NXT talent Kenneth Cameron. Back from a break and that’s who it seems to be, though he’s going by Bram here. They seem to know each other and Bram wants Magnus to get back to his roots. A fight nearly breaks out but Bram says he’s here for Magnus’ own good.

Ethan Carter III is in the ring and says he’s facing Kurt Angle in the ring next week. Fans: “WHERE’S YOUR BOYFRIEND???” Tonight Ethan is going to have an exhibition with Rockstar Spud. They grapple around for a bit with Ethan of course getting the better of it. Ethan tells Spud to assume the position so Spud gets on all fours. Carter: “That’s a little too much position.” This brings out Angle who says that was stupid. Next week Carter will be facing a new Kurt Angle. It’s one that’s out for blood and revenge because Carter has ticked him off. Next week, the undefeated streak ends.

We see Rebel and Knux’s segment from Sunday, saying they’ll be here with two of their friends named The Freak and Crazy Steve next week.

Bobby Roode vs. Gunner

Winner faces Young tonight for the World Title. Roode takes him down into the corner and stomps away to start but Gunner fights back with power and a backdrop for two. Roode sends him out to the floor and into the steps as he takes over. Back in and Gunner charges into an elbow in the corner and we hit a double arm crank.

A dropkick to the ribs puts Gunner down again but he comes back with ax handles to the chest. Gunner hits a running knee to the chest and loads up the F5, only to be raked in the eyes. Roode’s O’Connor Roll is blocked and Gunner grabs a DDT for two. The Roode Bomb is countered and Gunner hits a slingshot suplex, only to walk into the Roode Bomb for the pin at 6:00.

Rating: C-. The time hurt it here but more than that it’s a waste of a story. This could have been the second week of a competition to set up Young’s challenger but this is TNA so we have to do everything at a million miles an hour while making sure Dixie Carter gets to be on TV every week. It’s rather annoying but it’s the way things work here.

The Beautiful People get a letter saying their clothes are inappropriate. Angelina’s solution: put on evening gowns and strip them off.

Here’s Dixie with security to set up the table with her name on it in the ring. She brags about putting Ray through a table and injuring his ribs in the process. Ray needs to be afraid of Dixie, but here’s the Bully to disagree. The fans want to see her go through a table and Ray likes the idea as well. He tells security to get out of his way because they all want to see her go through a table. They actually listen, only leaving three guards for Dixie. Ray charges the ring and throws them all off before loading up the powerbomb. This brings out MVP, who says both of them are suspended from the Impact Zone for this. Ok then.

Willow vs. James Storm

Storm hammers away to start but Willow escapes the Eye of the Storm and hits a few dropkicks to take over. A mule kick sends Storm into the corner and a cartwheel into a right hand to the jaw drops him down. There’s the slingshot dropkick followed by a Twisting Stunner to send Storm outside. Willow slides through the ropes and drops an elbow to the ribs in a nice move. Storm is stood up next to the barricade for Poetry in Motion off the steps. Willow gets a chair but misses a running Fameasser onto the steps with it to put him down on the floor. Storm pulls out the beer bottle and shoves the referee for the DQ at 4:03.

Rating: D+. This was setting up stuff for the future it seems, which is fine given that they’re coming off of a PPV. Still though, it’s not the most interesting stuff in the world. Willow is only so interesting after they keep shouting that it’s Jeff Hardy week after week, but it’s better than the same guy every week.

Post match Willow hits Storm with the umbrella and stalks him up the ramp, right into a Mic Check from Anderson.

The Bro Mans and Zema blame MVP for losing their titles so he uts them in a six man tag against the Wolves and a surprise partner. The three of them leave and Ray comes in to yell at MVP. He says he gave MVP the job at Lockdown but MVP shouts him down and suggests that Ray do something outside of the arena.

Eric Young says there’s history between him and Roode, but he knows Roode better than anyone.

Zema Ion/Bro Mans vs. Wolves/Sanada

It’s a brawl to start with the Wolves LAUNCHING Ion over the top onto the Bro Mans. They howl, setting up a double suicide dive followed by a plancha from Sanada to take out Zema. Back inside and Robbie’s chops have no effect on anyone as he’s left all alone. Jesse and Ion get back up to take Eddie down as the heels get their first advantage. Edwards nips back up though and enziguris Ion down.

The Bro Mans are sent to the floor again and it’s hot tag to Richards to clean house. Ion is thrown into the air for a kick to the ribs as Tenay announces Bro Mans vs. Wolves for the titles next week in a ladder match. The Bro Mans come back in to break up a cover but it’s a tag off to Sanada as Ion is left alone 3-1. All three good guys go up top, setting up the stomp from Edwards, a moonsault from Sanada and another stomp from Richards for the pin at 3:39.

Rating: C. Now THAT was a squash. I’m not sure what it sets up for the future as Ion got destroyed and Richards beat up the Bro Mans on his own, but at least it was entertaining at the moment. To be fair though, I don’t think TNA knows how to think more than a week in advance anyway so it’s not right to criticize them for it.

Here are the Beautiful People in evening gowns with Angelina saying they’re going to take it all off. They start but stop almost immediately because the people don’t deserve it. This brings out Gail Kim who says they’re making a mockery of the division. She’s going to make sure the Beautiful People get stripped and the attack is on. Velvet bails and Angelina escapes a few seconds later. Gail gets the belt as Madison Rayne and Brittany sneak up and rip the gowns off the Beautiful People.

TNA World Title: Eric Young vs. Bobby Roode

Roode gets a jobber entrance. Feeling out process to start with Young grabbing an armdrag into an armbar. A dropkick staggers Roode and we take our last break. Back with Roode sending him over the top and out to the floor before a whip sends him into the steps. Roode throws him back in and puts on a seated full nelson. Eric fights back up and takes out a cameraman by mistake before nailing a belly to belly.

Roode bails to the floor and gets taken down by a suicide dive. Back in and Bobby grabs a quick spinebuster for two before the piledriver gets the same for Young. The Roode Bomb gets two as well and they slug it out with the champion taking over. Roode nails an enziguri but can’t hit a Roode Bomb out of the corner. Instead Eric shoves him to the mat and hits the top rope elbow for the pin at 13:23.

Rating: C. Eric getting clean wins over former world champions is a good idea for him with the emphasis on the word clean. I was sick of seeing those title matches with seven or eight people running in and it’s so nice to see a decent wrestling match to close out the show for the title. Not a great match and it should have been given more build, but this worked well enough.

Ray is in the back and says he’s going to Nashville.

Overall Rating: C-. The show set up some interesting stuff for the future, but at the same time all of the old problems were present. First and foremost, TNA feels the need to go through everything they can as fast as they can without letting their stories grow. The Roode vs. Young match could have been interesting but instead they decided to set it up with two matches and do the title match in the span of two hours. How is that supposed to draw an audience when the thing is over by the time they hear about it?

Ray vs. Dixie doesn’t do anything for me as I can’t imagine we’ll ever see the payoff of Dixie going through a table, unless they pull a surprise in New York. The rest of the feuds weren’t bad, but I have a bad feeling they’re just setting up another set of three month feuds that go on WAY too long and wear out their welcome. TNA needs to find a neutral pace and stick with it because this is getting old fast.

Results
Gunner b. Mr. Anderson – F5
Bobby Roode b. Gunner – Roode Bomb
Willow b. James Storm via DQ when Storm shoved the referee
Wolves/Sanada b. Bro Mans/Zema Ion – Top rope double stomp to Ion
Eric Young b. Bobby Roode – Top rope elbow

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Date: March 20, 2014
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tazz, Mike Tenay

We open with Eric Young trying to fight Abyss in the back. It goes badly for the small man until ODB tries to make a save with a pipe. That also goes as well as you would expect but Eric comes back with a trashcan to the back. The brawl continues as they head further into the back and Eric is sent through some chairs. Young finds a chain and whips Abyss into the arena until they get to ringside with Abyss taking over.

Bobby Lashley vs. Ethan Carter III

Lethal Lockdown seems to be too easy to mess up.  At the end of the day, MVP’s team is just too strong to lose a straight match, but the last thing I want to see is Dixie begging to get power back.  The second to last thing I want to see is Dixie with all the power, but it seems that we’re going to get one of those things.  You know, because Dixie is what really drives TNA of course.  I’ll go with Team Dixie for the win in a screwjob ending, because that’s what TNA does when they have something good going.

Storm over Gunner with the Last Call.  Gunner isn’t a long term top guy and I think TNA knows it.

I’ll take Gail to win the Knockouts Title in the cage because we haven’t gone long enough without Gail talking about how she is the best Knockout in the world and issuing open challenges for the title because the idea of having a story in that division is just not going to happen no matter how long we need one.

There’s a six man X-Division tag with three guys from Wrestle-1 in Japan against Bad Influence and Chris Sabin.  I still don’t get how thi sis supposed to appeal to the American fans.  It helps a bit with the international fans, which is fine but it might be a good idea to focus on America where the business is based.  Does TNA think people are going to buy this show for Great Muta, who was a hot young act nearly 25 years ago?  The other guys are the current X-Division Champion who beat Aries for the title in Japan recently and a guy who doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page.  I get that the match will be action packed and fun, but it’s only going to do them so much good.  Then again I’ve never been a fan of the invasion angles at all.

Tigre Uno over Manik.  They’ve spent too much time building up Tigre with promos to have him lose his debut.

I’ll go with Samuel Shaw over Anderson, setting up a rematch down the line.

Ethan Carter III over whoever they bring in to face him in Angle’s place.

Overall Lockdown doesn’t really interest me all that much.  At the end of the day, they have eight matches on the card.  Two of them are with guys debuting for the company with no story and a third is a mystery opponent.  When you’re only running one PPV every six months, I need a little big more than a card with nearly half the matches having no backstory.  The show should be fun as TNA PPVs usually deliver, but this doesn’t blow my skirt up.  The fact that every match is in a cage makes it even worse.

Thoughts/predictions?