IMG Credit: National Wrestling Alliance

Powerrr
Date: January 7, 2020
Location: GPB Studios, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Stu Bennett, Joe Galli

We’re back to the regular scheduled after the holidays messed things up a few times. This week is again about the title situation, with Tim Storm setting his sights on Nick Aldis, who doesn’t seem interested in fighting. This has done wonders for Storm and I want to see where he goes from here. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening recap looks at everyone coming at Aldis, who seems more interested in finding every way he can to avoid them all.

Into The Fire. I wish they would update the credits as it was better when you had the people on the show rather than just the big names.

Here’s Tim Storm to open things up. Storm explains the tournament (there will be six members of the Powerrr roster and two open invitational spots, which could come from anywhere) but he isn’t happy with Aldis running from him. Cue Kamille to hold up a mic but she doesn’t say anything. Storm calls Aldis a coward and gets slapped in the face.

Trevor Murdoch is ready to fight anyone and we get another draw for two TV Title Tournament qualifying matches: Dave Dawson vs. Zane Dawson and Trevor Murdoch vs. Tom Latimer.

TV Title Tournament First Round: Zicky Dice vs. Caleb Konley

I’m pretty sure this is the first round and there is no mention of a qualifying match. Konley grabs a few rollups for two and armdrags Dice into the corner for a bonus. Dice avoids a dropkick, only to get knocked outside for a breather. Konley gets sent to the apron so he comes back in with an anklescissors. A backsplash gets two on Dice but he’s right back with a bridging northern lights suplex for two. The slugout goes to Konley but he misses a double jump moonsault. Dice’s Snake Rattle and Roll is good for the pin at 4:28.

Rating: C-. I’m not sure how much there is in Dice but Konley is fine for a match like this. They need to build someone up to be a factor in the tournament and Dice is becoming just that so far. I could still go for a bracket or a list of who all is involved, but I’m not completely sure the NWA knows just yet.

Highspots.com ad.

Earlier today Aron Stevens and the Question Mark promised to win more titles with Stevens owing his success to Mark (in a Stevens robe for a funny visual).

ODB vs. Thunder Rosa

Allysin Kay is on commentary. Rosa grabs a front facelock to start but ODB is back with some knees to the ribs. The slugout goes to ODB but Rosa starts with the kicks to the legs. A legsweep sets up the running crotch attack to the back in the ropes and it turns into a brawl on the mat. The chinlock goes on but ODB is up in a hurry and hitting her in the face again. A middle rope ax handle misses though and ODB bangs up her knee again. The top rope double stomp to the back finishes ODB at 5:49.

Rating: D+. Rosa getting the win is the right move as she has a lot of potential and beating a name like ODB can help her a lot. I’m still not convinced that the women’s division needs to exist but that isn’t going to change anytime soon. Not a terrible match, but I could go for something a lot stronger in the story department around the whole division.

The Rock N Roll Express have a love hot line.

Here’s Nick Aldis for a chat and there is literally a stack of questions for him. Believe it or not, the first question is about Kamille and Aldis knew that was coming. It’s true that Kamille isn’t the insurance policy anymore but that’s because she is now a full fledged member of Strictly Business. Then there’s Ricky Morton, who is a great tag team wrestler but needs to stay away from the World Title.

It’s like Eli Drake and James Storm trying to jump the line and get to the main event without earning anything. The Wildcards are going to be taking the Tag Team Titles so Storm and Drake can mind their business. As for tonight, he’s ready to beat Ricky Starks in less than six minutes because the only place he isn’t done in less than six minutes is in the bedroom because he can go all night.

Nick Aldis vs. Ricky Starks

Non-title with a 6:05 time limit. Aldis shoulders him down and busts out a cartwheel, meaning it’s time to lay across the top rope. Starks does the same but adds in a dropkick to set up a rollup for a new fall. A spinning suplex gets Aldis out of trouble and a clothesline is good for two.

The chinlock goes on and we have three minutes left. Starks is up in a hurry and Aldis charges into a boot in the corner for a breather. The middle rope missile dropkick gives Starks two more and the suicide dive to the floor makes it even worse. Back in and Starks misses a moonsault to tweak his knee. That means the King’s Lynn Cloverleaf with a minute left and Starks holds on for the time limit draw at 6:05.

Rating: C. This is the kind of thing that the champ can do to put someone over. It’s true that Starks was in trouble and would have lost after another minute or so but officially it’s a tie and Aldis couldn’t beat him. That’s how this should have gone and it wound up being an entertaining little match with Aldis giving Starks a lot.

Post match here’s Ricky Morton to demand five more minutes. That’s not happening, so Morton asks for five minutes of his own. Again, no.

Eli Drake/James Storm vs. Wildcards vs. Colt Cabana/Mr. Anderson

Hang on as there are no Wildcards to start so we’ll go two on two early on. Cabana headlocks Drake to the mat to start so Drake slips out, only to get caught in a second headlock. A quick flip gives Cabana two and it’s off to Anderson to hammer away. Drake’s jumping clothesline allows the tag off to Storm, who skins the cat and snaps off a headscissors.

Storm gets caught in the corner for a few moments but is fine enough to enziguri his way to freedom. Drake comes back in for the E-Li-Drake jumping elbow but Cabana trips him into the corner. That doesn’t last long either as Drake hits his own middle rope dropkick, only to have Anderson grab the referee. Cabana hits the Superman Pin for two on Storm so Anderson grabs the referee…for the DQ at 6:15.

Rating: C+. This had some nice energy and some of that was due to not having the other team included. That’s the kind of thing that can drag a match down so it was a good case of addition by subtraction. If nothing else, a triple threat match doesn’t seem to fit in the NWA and it was nice to see this get a little more time than the usual matches around here.

Post match Cabana yells at Anderson for costing them the match until they head to the back.

Cue Aldis and Kamille, plus the Wildcards, for one more chat. Aldis pulled the Wildcards from that match because it wasn’t in the best interest of Strictly Business. He invites the Rock N Roll Express out here and has an idea: a six man tag with Team Aldis vs. Team Morton. If Team Morton wins, he gets a show at Sweet Charlotte. Morton goes on a rant about the good old days before accepting the challenge. Hang on though as Aldis and Morton won’t be in the match because Aldis wants no excuses. Team Aldis will be the Wildcards and…..SCOTT STEINER, because we need to get that required square checked off.

Overall Rating: C+. This is starting to feel like a more complete wrestling show and that is the best thing that it could do. You can see the stories (ok so having some different people in them might help) being set up and where they are likely going, but what matters most is they’re making me care about what happens to these people. This place is starting to get some life and that’s a very good sign. There’s more to it than that, but for now they’re doing pretty well. Nice show here, with the wrestling not being the focus, as usual.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: National Wrestling Alliance

Powerrr
Date: December 23, 2019
Location: GPB Studios, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Stu Bennett, Joe Galli

We’re on Monday here because it would be a little insane to have a show on Christmas Eve. Therefore, it’s time for the second show of the season a week early and thankfully we get some followup to some of the good stuff we saw last week. Things moved towards a more traditional direction and that’s the best thing they could do, albeit with their own unique twist. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of the end of Nick Aldis retaining the NWA World Title at the end of Into The Fire, setting up Marty Scurll’s return. Then last week, Aldis and Scurll didn’t seem to be on the same page about Scurll getting a World Title shot. As a result, Aldis formed a team to give us a heel stable.

Into The Fire.

Quick rundown from the announcers.

Trevor Murdoch is rather happy because he has gotten a contract. Zicky Dice interrupts him though because he’s going to win the TV Title. Cue the debuting Pope D’Angelo Dinero to talk about some famous NWA names. He’s here to find his Super Powers or Horsemen, so Dice offers his services. Pope just walks over to commentary without saying anything to a funny reaction.

TV Title Tournament Qualifying Match: Ricky Starks vs. Eddie Kingston

They lock up to start as commentary brings up the 6:05 time limit. Kingston shoulders him down into a headlock but Starks fights up for a middle rope shoulder. A high crossbody gets two but Kingston runs him over and hammers away. Starks knocks him down again though and grabs a tornado DDT for two. Buster Keaton (lifting sitout Pedigree) finishes Kingston at 4:10.

Rating: C. This was a good enough match where they packed in a lot of stuff. Starks is someone they want to push and giving him a run towards the TV Title would work rather well. Pope being involved could make for something interesting, but him putting Starks over in some way would be best.

Post match Pope nods at Kingston.

We look back at the formation of Magnus’ team last week and their beatdown of Tim Storm.

Here are Royce Isaacs and a rather tattooed woman named Mae Valentine. They’re asked about holiday plans and Isaacs whispers something in the interviewer’s ear, which doesn’t set well with him. Isaacs is going to show what he can do on his hand but here’s James Storm to say he wants Isaacs to prove himself.

Highspots.com ad.

James Storm vs. Royce Isaacs

They brawl on the floor before the bell with Storm getting the better of things. Storm hammers away…and Isaacs takes the countout at 1:02. Well it’s better than Isaacs taking the pinfall.

Here’s Eli Drake, with a bottle of champagne, for a chat. We get a lot of YEAH YEAH YEAH’s before Eli talks about the interviewer warming up the crowd with a comedy routine before the taping starts. Drake talks about having some New Year’s resolutions and they are all about gold. He has the shoes of a champion and the jacket of a champion but he calls it shoes as well because he’s a little too fired up.

Jocephus (as Santa) and an unidentified Mrs. Claus sing some Christmas carols and Drake gets in a few more YEAH’s as backup. Cue Aldis and company to interrupt though and Aldis has some matching shirts for all of them. Everything you’ve seen over the last few weeks has been a part of the plan, including taking out James Storm. As for Ricky Morton, he can come out here and say something to Aldis’ face. Morton doesn’t think much of Aldis training under Harley Race and then disrespecting his legacy like this. Aldis threatens Morton to wrap it up.

We look at the women’s tag match from Into The Fire, including ODB debuting.

Melina/Thunder Rosa/Marti Belle vs. Allysin Kay/ODB/Ashley Vox

Whoever gets the fall gets to pick an opponent of their choosing. Rosa works a hammerlock on ODB but ODB slips out of a suplex and brings in Kay. Belle comes in to drop Kay with a running knee but it’s off to Vox in a hurry. She’s beaten down as well and we get into the more standard structure, with Vox getting beaten up in the corner. Melina gets two off a DDT but it’s right back to ODB vs. Rosa with the former taking over. Everything breaks down and Rosa has to bite the finger to escape an armbar. Something like a sitout White Noise shoulderbreaker finishes Vox at 5:48.

Rating: D+. I’ve never been an ODB fan so having her around here didn’t make things that much better. What did help was having a bunch of fresh talent in the match at the same time. The women’s division doesn’t really need to exist around here, but if they’re going to do something with it, they’re going to need a lot of names to keep things moving.

Post match Rosa is about to pick her opponent but Melina chooses for her: ODB.

We get a drawing for the TV Title tournament: Tim Storm vs. Nick Aldis. Storm talks about Mama Storm turning 95 this week and asked how long Tim can wrestle. She retired at 78 and he got his work ethic from her. We get an homage to the Hard Time promo, with Storm saying he’s old and broken down but he’s bad and they know he’s bad.

TV Title Tournament Qualifying Match: Question Mark vs. Colt Cabana

Colt armdrags him down a few times but loses a chop off to the ka-ra-te master. A rollup gives Colt two and an elbow to the jaw puts Mark down again. The running hip attack connects in the corner and the middle rope splash gives Cabana two. Cabana goes up but dives into a shot to the throat to give Mark the pin at 3:07.

Rating: C. This didn’t have time to do much but around here it’s one of the longer matches. That’s such a weird dynamic for the company but it’s working well enough. Mark is one of the best cult favorites I’ve seen in a long time and that’s the kind of thing that can work wonders around here.

Aron Stevens and Question Mark want all the gold.

Roll credits.

Overall Rating: C+. You can tell they’ve changed things up a lot around here as they are now packing in every single thing that they can. It’s made things more interesting, though I’m still not clear on how the tournament is working. Are they going to have qualifying matches and then the pay per view is built around the tournament? Anyway, at least they’re doing some interesting stuff and the place is going to be rather pleased when they get to Storm vs. Aldis for the title again. Nice show here, and the new style is an improvement.

Results

Ricky Starks b. Eddie Kingston – Buster Keaton

James Storm b. Royce Isaacs via countout

Melina/Thunder Rosa/Marti Belle b. Allysin Kay/ODB/Ashley Vox – Sitout shoulderbreaker to Vox

Question Mark b. Colt Cabana – Chop to the throat

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling
Date: December 3, 2019
Location: Melrose Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Don Callis

We’re back to the future this week with the regular show after the awesome special edition last week. It’s more of the build towards Hard To Kill and two weeks ago saw Tessa Blanchard win a gauntlet match to become #1 contender to the World Title. Things need to start getting back to normal around here and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of the gauntlet match, thankfully with Rich Swann getting some earned screen time.

Michael Elgin is going to let off some steam after getting disqualified last week.

Opening sequence.

Eddie Edwards vs. Brian Cage

They fight over a wristlock to start until Cage headlock takeovers him down. Cage runs Eddie into the corner with ease but gets sidestepped out to the floor. The hurricanrana off the apron is countered into a powerbomb which is countered into the hurricanrana into the barricade. Back in and Cage snaps off a belly to belly to take over again and Eddie’s back is bent over Cage’s knee.

Eddie is fine enough to counter a suplex into one of his own to take over. Some chops in the corner rock Cage and another hurricanrana keeps him down. The Blue Thunder Bomb gets two but Eddie is banged up too. Something close to an AA gives Cage two and we hit that Terminator clap. Eddie kicks him in the head but gets clotheslined down for a double knockdown. And never mind as here’s Michael Elgin to clothesline them both down for the double DQ at 8:40.

Rating: B-. I was getting into this one and that is no surprise given that Eddie was in there. He’s the kind of guy who can have a good match with anyone and that is what he did here. Cage was holding up his end as well with all of the power moves throwing Eddie all over the place. It can be tricky to use someone like Cage but Eddie knew exactly what to do here and it worked rather well.

Post match Elgin stomps both of them down but we have something new.

Eddie Edwards vs. Brian Cage vs. Michael Elgin

Sure why not. Elgin gets double teamed to start but Eddie sends both monsters to the floor for a suicide dive. Not to be outdone, Cage is right back with his own no hands flip dive to take both of them down. Back in and it’s time to trade shots to the face, including a series of superkicks, to put everyone down again. Elgin slips out of Cage’s suplex and plants Eddie before dropkicking him out to the floor.

Cage is knocked outside as well and it’s a big spinning flip dive to take out Cage and Edwards as we take a break. Back with a Tower of Doom being broken up so Eddie settles for a Backpack Stunner for two on Cage. Elgin isn’t about to get caught in a half crab so it’s Cage back up to deck both of them. Edwards gets planted for two and it’s time for a short breather. It’s Elgin back up with a dragon suplex to Cage and running clotheslines in the corner.

A Falcon Arrow gets two on Cage but he’s right back with the sitout Alabama Slam for the same on Elgin. Cage runs into the Boston Knee Party and a tiger bomb to give Eddie two and he’s rather surprised by the kickout. Elgin takes a running knee to the back of the head but Cage clotheslines Eddie for a three way knockdown. Cage gets crotched on top though and it’s a Boston Knee party on the ropes for a bit knockdown. Elgin no sells a German suplex though and the Elgin Bomb to Eddie is good for the pin at 15:18.

Rating: B. Good stuff here as all three were working hard. The best thing here was just how much they were all trying, which is something you would expect out of all of them. Elgin winning makes perfect sense and it’s a match where everyone comes out looking good. I’m not sure what is next for any of them but I could go for seeing more from any combination of these three.

Watch No Surrender!

The Rascalz are in the clubhouse and Trey Miguel does not like Ace Austin hitting on his mom. Cue mom, with Trey asking her to stay out of the arena. Moms don’t go to work you see. She’s down with that and promises meatloaf. The rest of the team goes with her, and now I want meatloaf too.

Moose plays basketball and puts one of the players through the hoop.

Josh Matthews brings ODB to the ring, as the company is trying to do something for her after her food truck was destroyed. She has been making her living with the truck for years now but then it caught on fire and everything had to be started over again. Her insurance company isn’t paying anything for some reason but she has a home here in Impact.

Cue Taya Valkyrie and John E. Bravo to mockingly welcome her back. Yes ODB is a four time Knockouts Champion but Taya is the greatest Knockout of all time and this is her show. She spends more on spilled drinks than ODB spends on barbecue sauce all year. Taya plugs the Indiegogo campaign and tells ODB to get out of here. The fight is on but Bravo saves Taya from the beating.

Later tonight: Taya vs. ODB.

We go to a press conference (minus the press of course) for the official announcement of Blanchard vs. Callihan. Blanchard says she’s a professional and will put Callihan down. Callihan doesn’t like her because she’s a spoiled brat. He’s been doing this for fifteen years and she has had everything handed to her. At Hard To Kill, it’s another title defense on the resume and he’s “cracking her f****** skull.”

Reno Scum/Ace Austin vs. Rascalz

Mama Miguel is in the crowd. Trey goes with rapid fire punches on Thornstowe to start and snaps off the hurricanrana to send him into the corner. Austin comes in and tries a playing card but Trey scares him to the floor in a hurry. Thornstowe comes back in and gets hit with a series of flips and dives from the Rascalz with Luster having to make a save. Luster plants Dez with a suplex and Thrownstowe adds a standing moonsault for two more.

Austin even gets to taunt Trey a bit but Dez gets in a kick to the face and the diving tag brings Trey in. Everything breaks down and it’s a series of strikes to crush Austin. Wentz dives onto Luster and Trey dives onto everyone else. Hold on though as Austin goes to hit on Mama Miguel, meaning it’s a tackle from Miguel himself. The distraction lets Thornstowe roll Wentz up with trunks for the pin at 8:38.

Rating: C+. They were flying all over the place here with Austin and Miguel being the real stars. The idea of hitting on Miguel’s mom is an interesting way of going about things and certainly different than what they usually do for the title. I’m still not sure how Austin as the modern Val Venis works but it’s certainly a change of pace.

ODB isn’t worried about wrecking Taya tonight but will leave Jordynne Grace a piece. Grace gives her money and leaves.

Johnny Swinger rants to Joey Ryan about how the young guys are ruining everything. He suggests a kliq and Ryan….actually agrees. They’ll use hand signals to cheat tonight.

Here are Rob Van Dam and Katie Forbes for a chat. Katie shakes a lot and introduces him as the sexiest man in the world. Rob knows he needs to explain a few things but no one would get it because no one knows what it’s like to have everyone want to be him. How many people do they cheer for when they steal his moves?

Cue Tommy Dreamer (Callis: “Dreamer just can’t help himself.”) to say Rob and Rhino should fight next week, like we used to here in Queens. Rob isn’t sold and wants to know why Dreamer can’t stop living in the past. Uh, a need to eat and he can’t do anything else? Anyway, Van Dam has his girlfriend (and his girlfriend’s girlfriend) to take care of so he’s ready to go. Cue Rhino to go after Rob but the referees break it u.

We look at Rich Swann in the gauntlet match again.

Willie Mack is proud of Swann but Rich admits that it was Tessa’s night. Now they want the Tag Team Titles so here are the North to mockingly applaud Swann. Rich and Willie are ready to win the Tag Team Open next week and get the titles at Hard To Kill.

Fallah Bahh isn’t happy with the Desi Hit Squad but he’s still here.

Flashback Moment of the Week: ODB beats Mickie James to win the Knockouts Title in 2013.

James Mitchell introduces Susie to Jessika Havok. They’ll be fine as long as Susie doesn’t invade her personal space.

Johnny Swinger vs. Petey Williams

Swinger offers a handshake but Petey catches the cheap shot to the ribs. Petey snaps off a headscissors and hits a dropkick to the back to put Swinger on the floor. Back in and Swinger hammers away before dropping a headbutt to the lower abdomen. The elbows miss though and Petey hits the slingshot Codebreaker. That’s enough for Swinger to call for Ryan to help him but instead he has to flip out of the Canadian Destroyer attempt. The Swinger Neckbreaker is countered into the Sharpshooter to give Petey the fast win at 3:17.

Rating: D-. Yeah I’m not sure why they put Swinger in the ring but at least his vignettes have been funny at times. The problem with a joke like this is that there doesn’t seem to be much of a payoff other than what will probably be a lame comedy bit. The idea of Swinger vs. Ryan gives me hives so you can probably pencil it in for the pay per view.

Taya Valkyrie vs. ODB

Non-title and ODB uses the chest to shove Taya around. Some shoulders put Taya down but John E. Bravo takes away ODB’s flask. Actually Johnny takes a shot of his own…and gets his face pulled into ODB’s chest. The distraction lets Taya get in a shot to the leg and a running knee to the head gets two.

ODB misses a running charge in the corner and there’s the Stinkface for a bonus. Something close to an STF sends ODB over to the ropes and it’s time for some choking. ODB bites her face though and sits up top for the Dirty Dozen (I had forgotten that one). The Bronco Buster hits but Bravo wants a shot from the flask. He and ODB share a drink but Taya gets in a cheap shot. Cue Grace to grab the title, allowing ODB to get a rollup and the pin on Taya at 10:14.

Rating: D. Oh yeah I had forgotten how much I dislike ODB. She’s annoying, she’s loud, she isn’t that great in the ring and now she’s pinning the champ. Yes it’s a charity deal but you couldn’t have this be a DQ or a countout? It’s not like ODB is going to be wrestling full time or anything so keep the champ looking a little stronger maybe?

Overall Rating: C. This is one of the most evenly laid out shows I’ve ever seen with a very good first hour and then a bounce off the rocks at the bottom of a cliff for the second. The ODB stuff was fine in small doses but I was sick of her all over again by the end. They have a lot of time to set up Hard To Kill, but this wasn’t the best start as they head towards the pay per view. The double match at the start is good, but egads it falls apart after that six man tag.

Results

Eddie Edwards vs. Brian Cage went to a double DQ when Michael Elgin interfered

Michael Elgin b. Brian Cage and Eddie Edwards – Elgin Bomb to Edwards

Reno Scum/Ace Austin b. Rascalz – Rollup with trunks to Wentz

Petey Williams vs. Johnny Swinger – Sharpshooter

ODB b. Taya Valkyrie – Rollup

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

Impact Wrestling
Date: April 6, 2017
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Josh Matthews, D’Angelo Dinero, Jeremy Borash

We’re past Wrestlemania so it’s time for the real Orlando wrestlers to take their city back. Last week’s show focused on a wide variety of stories, which helped set up a lot of this week’s material. Tonight we have a gauntlet match for the #1 contendership to the Knockouts Title plus a last man standing match between Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Eli Drake vs. Caleb Konley

This starts immediately after the opening sequence with no entrances. Drake sends him outside for a cheap shot from Tyrus, followed by some right hands from Eli back inside. A neckbreaker out of the corner gives Eli two but Caleb comes right back with a rolling palm strike. That actually sends Drake outside for a suicide dive, followed by a high crossbody for no cover. Caleb goes up but Tyrus offers a distraction, allowing Drake to hit White Noise for the pin at 4:05.

Rating: D+. I’m very glad Drake has a better finisher as no one was going to buy a knee lift and clothesline for someone who is supposed to be climbing the card. Drake seems to be just a few months away from rocketing towards the main event (or at least he should be) and changing finishers was the right call. Not the worst match here and it’s a rare instance of just a match to put someone over.

Josh and JB bicker AGAIN, this time focusing on Josh calling JB ugly. Bruce Prichard comes down and demands that Josh and JB get in the ring. Josh: “I’m sorry I said I wished you were dead!” Bruce says everyone is sick of hearing from these guys so he’s got a solution. They’re both going to pick a team and we’ll see who knows the most. I hope that means the loser is off commentary.

Gauntlet Match

This is basically a Royal Rumble with the final two having a regular match where the winner gets a future title shot. Ava Storie is in at #1 and Madison Rayne is in at #2, complete with the Killer Queen song. That goes nowhere so after the first one minute interval, Rebel is in at #3. Storie runs them both over with a double clothesline and Amanda Rodriguez is in at #4.

The two newcomers slug it out with no one even attempting an elimination. M.J. Jenkins is in at #5 as the announcers just act like we should know who all these new people are. Diamante from LAX is in at #6 and Rodriguez is the first one eliminated. ODB is in at #7 and sends the other five into the corner for a huge splash.

Storie is put out after a pretty solid performance and Brandi Rhodes completes the field at #8. Brandi gets rid of Diamante and Jenkins eliminates Rebel. ODB and Brandi double team Jenkins out but Madison tosses Brandi a second later. That leaves ODB vs. Rayne for the title shot and it’s now pin or submission. Not that it lasts long or anything though as ODB hits a quick Bam for the win at 9:21.

Rating: F. Yeah this was horrible and there’s no way around it. I have no idea who half the wrestlers in this match were and commentary would rather talk about Josh being married to Madison than tell us ANYTHING about these people. To be fair though, TNA fans have proven that they’ll watch anything this company presents so they might as well fill the shows with cheap talent.

Here’s James Storm for a chat. During his entrance, Josh says he won a coin toss to determine who gets to make the first pick. So wait: do they get to pick anyone they want or do the people have to agree? Earlier tonight it was implied that the announcers have to pick the teams with JB saying Josh didn’t have enough friends to fill a lineup. Anyway, Storm says the Cowboy is back and it’s time for him to become World Champion again.

Cue Bram and Kingston to rant about Storm lying to them about the DCC. Storm says he picked the music and bought the suits while Kingston was the one begging for a job. Kingston spits in Storm’s face and takes a Last Call. Bram loads up a chair shot but gets stared down. Another Last Call sends the chair into Bram’s face and Storm hits the catchphrase.

Andrew Everett thinks he’s earned an X-Division Title match. Gregory Helms and Trevor Lee come up to say Everett can have a shot if he wins his triple threat tonight.

Andrew Everett vs. Marshe Rockett vs. Suicide

Everett kicks Rockett to the floor as the announcers KEEP GOING about their upcoming tag match before switching over to fantasy baseball. This is the kind of stuff you expect from One Night Only shows. Suicide knocks Andrew to the floor and follows with the falling dive. Back in and Rockett stomps on Everett before powerslamming him out of the air.

Everett sends both of them to the floor again and follows with a corkscrew dive. Suicide grabs something like a Black Widow on Everett as the announcers argue over whether Al Snow should have Pope’s job. A kick sends Suicide to the floor and Everett hits a shooting star for the pin on Rockett at 6:24.

Rating: C. I like the fact that they’re actually building someone up as a challenger for a title match down the line and for once there’s an actual story in this division. I have no confidence in them to follow up on all this stuff but at least we’ve got something brewing for now, which is more than they’ve done in a long time.

Davey Richards vs. Eddie Edwards

Last Man Standing and Eddie jumps Davey in the aisle. Eddie knocks him into the barricade and follows with two suicide dives as they quickly head into the crowd. Davey gets crotched on a barricade but ducks a dive, sending Eddie crashing into a garbage can for a good looking spot. Richards gets in a few kicks, stops to kiss Angelina Love, and grabs a chair.

Angelina throws in two more chairs with Davey setting the two of them up in the middle. Josh’s response: “I have my third member!” Eddie uses another kiss distraction to powerbomb Davey through the chairs for a six count. Not that it matters as Eddie grabs even more chairs (bringing the total up to at least six) and pelts one at Davey’s head. Eddie piles the chairs up but Angelina grabs the foot, allowing Davey to superplex Edwards onto the pile. We see Eddie’s wife Alisha Edwards in the front row for some trash talk with Angelina.

Back from a break with Davey hitting Eddie in the head with a chain wrapped fist but Alisha’s cheers bring Eddie back to his feet. Rapid fire chops have Davey in trouble and a belly to belly into the corner makes things even worse. A baseball slide sends a chair into Davey’s face and Eddie wraps a chair around Davey’s neck.

The top rope double stomp somehow doesn’t kill Davey so the women get into it, resulting in a chair taking Alisha down. Eddie gets chaired as well so Davey wraps a chain around his foot but stops with second thoughts. Angelina tells him to do it for her and Creeping Death with the chain ends Eddie at 22:43.

Rating: B+. This got the time that it needed and the violence was more than enough to make it work. These two beat the heck out of each other and made it look like they wanted to kill each other. Now the problem is they need to let the feud end here instead of just continuing it for the sake of continuing it, which gets old in a hurry.

We get a video on Veterans of War involving Operation Iraqi Freedom. I believe one of them was Gunner, who is a former member of the military.

JB wants to make Impact Wrestling great.

LAX celebrates their title win.

We look at James Storm updating his theme music in a studio.

Alberto El Patron vs. Jon Bolen

A few kicks have Bolen in trouble but he grabs a powerslam. That’s about it for his offense though as Alberto sends him into the corner for the top rope double stomp and the pin at 1:18.

Post match Alberto calls out Lashley.

Allie/Braxton Sutter and KM/Sienna are getting into it again when Karen Jarrett comes in to break it up. They’ll have a mixed tag next week.

Fury is unleashed next week and has something to do with Sutter and Allie.

Bruce Prichard is out to moderate the picking of the teams, which really is how they’re closing the show. Josh goes first and picks Lashley while JB picks Alberto El Patron. Next up we have Bram for Josh and JB picks Chris Adonis (Masters). There’s nothing in between these picks save for a little arguing here and there. Josh goes with Eli Drake and Tyrus helps Josh’s team beat down the good guys. Matt Morgan comes out for the save and gets in a staredown with Lashley as someone else gets out of a limo. We’re out of time though so go to Impact’s website to find out who the last team member is (it’s Magnus).

Overall Rating: D+. This is a show where one thing really does bring the whole thing down. We had a great gimmick match and some stuff involving the World Title but what closes the show? Bickering announcers. Can you imagine if Cole vs. Lawler closed a show instead of something involving John Cena?

This show also gave a great illustration of the problem with announcers as major characters: it was the main thing we heard about all night long. The stuff in the ring got almost no focus because we had to hear about how great Josh was and how JB didn’t want to hear about it. I’m going to assume Josh winds up being some big heel manager (which wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world) but DANG this story is ruining some good stuff on the show. Big step down from last week here and it’s almost all because of one story.

Results

Eli Drake b. Caleb Konley – White Noise

ODB won a gauntlet match last eliminating Madison Rayne

Andrew Everett b. Marshe Rockett and Suicide – Shooting star press to Rockett

Davey Richards b. Eddie Edwards – Creeping Death with a chain around the boot

Alberto El Patron b. Jon Bolen – Top rope double stomp

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

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Impact Wrestling
Date: March 30, 2017
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Jeremy Borash, D’Angelo Dinero, Josh Matthews

So we’re still in Orlando….with a regular episode of Impact. One might think they might try to do something special with the wrestling world’s eyes on their hometown but last week’s show ended with Karen Jarrett returning, seemingly to start a feud with heel commentator Josh Matthews. That’s special, right? Let’s get to it.

We open with a board meeting where Dutch Mantel is handing out ideas while Matthews wants to be in on everything. Karen comes in and says she needs one of the bosses to send Sienna to the ring. So wait: does Karen have authority or not? Dutch flat out said he’s not an authority figure yet he seems to be running things, so I guess Bruce Prichard is in charge? Can I get a flow chart? Anyway, Bruce and Dutch call the meeting because Josh and JB keep arguing.

The opening recap looks at the end of last week’s show with Matthews getting in Karen’s face and getting slapped down.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Karen to open things up as the announcers are already bickering. She’s here to talk about Maria Kanellis leaving, especially how Sienna has used the departure to become a huge bully. Cue Sienna (Why did Karen need Dutch/Bruce to get her to the ring if she can just call Sienna out?), who asks if there’s a problem.

Karen has been here a short amount of time and hasn’t heard one nice thing about Sienna. She’s not going to tolerate any bullying from anyone but Sienna wants to know where Karen heard this. Sienna thinks it was Allie and doesn’t think much of Karen because she didn’t marry her way into the show.

Cue a big man who Pope knows but the fans greet with a WHO ARE YOU chant. Karen looks terrified as the guy introduces himself as KM (Kevin Matthews, though not mentioned here) and says he’s Sienna’s cousin. KM shouts about demanding respect and tells Karen to shut up. Braxton Sutter and Allie come out for the save and now Karen has a backbone again. Sutter vs. KM is set for later. This was FAR longer than it needed to be, especially when most of it was just so Karen could do her best Stephanie McMahon impression.

The X-Division wants to make Impact Wrestling great.

DJZ vs. Andrew Everett

Everett kicks him to the floor to start but it’s time for a flip off, allowing the announcers to talk about AJ Styles. An armdrag sends Everett to the floor for a big flip dive, followed by some kicks in the corner. Speaking of AJ, Everett gets in a quick Pele but his moonsault hits raised feet. The ZDT is loaded up but Everett small packages him for the pin at 4:26.

Rating: C-. Impact Wrestling could go through a million bosses and regime changes and the X-Division would still get about five minutes in a meaningless match with the announcers talking about the good old days and how important it is while ignoring most of what happens in the ring. Such is life in the X-Division of course and I don’t see it ever changes. Either do something with it or scrap the thing already because this is just lip service at best.

Post match Gregory Shane Helms comes out to say that Everett has earned an opportunity of some sort for next week.

Fury will be unleashed on April 13.

We look back at the horrible Rebel vs. ODB match from last week with Earl Hebner kissing both of them for reasons of unfunny comedy. After a break, ODB and Hebner seemed to go on a date. There is no way this can possibly end well.

Here’s Rosemary, who has somehow been Knockouts Champion for five months, is here for the Burial of the Knockouts Celebration. She talks about all the women’s she’s destroyed but ODB comes out to interrupt. ODB calls herself a four time “Knocked Up Champion” and wants a shot at the title. Rosemary says the Hive disagrees and goes to leave but here are Brandi Rhodes and five other women to chase her back to the ring. A huge brawl breaks out and that’s enough to take us to a break.

Ethan Carter III wants to make Impact great again.

Announcers, bickering, nothing of note.

Here’s Carter for a chat. He wants to apologize to Karen for what happened last week but he wasn’t happy with the man he was becoming. This place is changing and he needs to change with it. Carter was the man who beat everyone around here and it’s time for him to get back to that point. He needs to be the real EC3 and become an EC3 time World Champion.

Cue James Storm in regular clothes (and with no music for some reason). He didn’t hear his name mentioned in Carter’s list of former World Champions (maybe because he was listing multiple time World Champions). Storm wants to know where Carter was when Storm was on the first pay per view. Carter: “At my buddy’s house watching the pay per view.” We hear about AMW and Beer Money so Storm wants to know where Carter was back then. Carter: “I was probably drinking a lot of beer and making a lot of money.” Storm: “Ok that’s a really good answer!”

Both of them want to be the World Champion again and, since they’re allowed to do this, they decide that the fans will get to pick which of them will be the new #1 contender. I like the idea of these two wanting to be World Champion and I especially like the idea of Storm being out of the DCC even more. This sounds like a way to turn Carter heel again, which would probably be best all around.

Garza Jr. and Laredo Kid want to win the Tag Team Titles tonight.

Reno Scum want to show everyone that they’re the best.

We recap Cody vs. Moose for the Grand Championship. Cody wants the title but Moose was in Japan so tonight they can finally have the title match.

Grand Championship: Moose vs. Cody

Moose is defending but Cody comes out with his Nex-Gen Title again. Cody gets shouldered into the corner to start but a quick DDT drops Moose. That just earns Cody a powerbomb and a middle rope moonsault for two. A big chop hits the post though and Cody superkicks one of the judges by mistake, because this match didn’t have enough rules already and needed an angle. Cody can’t quite get a cover as the first round ends. Bruce Prichard comes out to replace the injured judge and it’s Moose winning round one.

Round two starts with Cody kicking the knee but missing a big kick to the head. Moose apron bombs him and grabs a chair, only to have Brandi get in his way. The distraction lets another leg shot set up the Figure Four but Moose hangs on to end the round. Cody wins the round to tie it up and round three starts with Brandi yelling at her husband and walking out.

They slug it out with Cody getting the better of it and the announcers bickering over Josh’s wife being a fair judge. I mean, she’s not a judge but she would be a fair one if she was. Moose peppers him with left hands but eats the Disaster Kick for no cover. They slug it out again and the round ends at 9:00 with neither having an advantage. Moose wins via split decision and Josh loses it.

Rating: C. This match showed my major problem with the entire concept: they had a nine minute match with a commercial and another break between the second and third rounds, yet at eight minutes in neither can stand up? You would think they should have a deeper gas tank than that. Nine minutes is a rather odd time limit, but then again so is a round system in general. Also, what was the point in the judge going down? I’m assuming Cody will claim conspiracy, because that’s the kind of original thinking that’s going to get this company to the top.

Video on Davey Richards vs. Eddie Edwards. Next week it’s a last man standing match.

Eli Drake wants to make Impact Wrestling great.

We look at Moose vs. Cody again.

Karen brings JB a message about a Knockouts gauntlet battle royal to crown a new #1 contender. I see absolutely no reason for Karen to have been out here for this scene.

KM vs. Braxton Sutter

The much bigger KM (billed at 6’8) drives Braxton into the corner to start but gets kicked in the face. KM dropkicks him down and we’re off to a quickly broken chinlock. Instead it’s a double clothesline to put both of them down, leaving the women to get into a chase on the floor. Sienna grabs Allie though and the distraction lets KM grab a powerbomb into a Backstabber for the pin at 3:37.

Rating: D+. The time hurt this and I’m glad it wasn’t a clean pin. Sutter hasn’t won a big match in months and I don’t know how much longer the strength of the wedding angle and his relationship with Allie can carry him. Giving KM a victory is a good idea and there’s nothing wrong with establishing new talent, but it might help to further establish your older talent first.

Post match the four of them get in a fight with the forces of good clearing the ring. Laurel Van Ness stumbles out, somehow looking creepier every single week. Sutter and Allie look terrified.

We go to the LAX clubhouse where Konnan talks to the team before the Tag Team Title match. Has anyone brought up that Konnan has brought in a team to fight against the team that works for his own company? Like, wouldn’t it mean more money if Garza and Laredo won? I guess loyalty goes before money? It would be nice to have it brought up at least.

Davey Richards wants to make Impact Wrestling better.

Fury is still coming.

Tag Team Titles: Garza Jr./Laredo Kid vs. LAX vs. Decay vs. Reno Scum

The titles are vacant coming in and this is one fall to a finish. Thornstone and Kid start things off with Scum taking over in a hurry. Ortiz tags himself in for some lucha, capped off with a backbreaker to drop the Kid. Everything breaks down in a hurry and Kid dives onto a huge pile of people, followed by Garza doing the same as we take a break.

Back with Garza getting two off a Lionsault but LAX makes the save. Abyss comes in and clotheslines Kid against the ropes but Scum tags themselves in for some corner clotheslines. Kid scores with a DDT so both members of LAX come in to clean house, including a top rope double stomp onto a hanging cutter to Steve. It means posing instead of covering though, leaving Rosemary and Diamante to get into a catfight. Ortiz loads Laredo up for a powerbomb with Santana coming off the top with a Blockbuster for the pin and the titles at 12:13.

Rating: B. I had more fun with this than I was expecting and LAX wining is the right call. We’ve had Decay as champions, Scum really isn’t interesting and the Crash guys are fine but nothing all that memorable. LAX is over and arguably better than any other team here so making them the new champions makes the most sense. Good action here too with a bunch of chaos, which is the best option given how little we know about the teams. Keep things moving and let the action be the draw.

Overall Rating: C+. This show accomplished one major thing above all others: it helped bolster almost everything on the show. We have people fighting to be #1 contender for the World and Knockouts Titles, the X-Division Title got a mention, the Grand Championship was defended and we have new Tag Team Champions. That’s quite the usage of two hours and it’s very nice to see them actually doing something with a lot of the roster instead of just doing the same stuff over and over.

Unfortunately, there’s a lot of bad stuff here to go right along with it. I know I asked this earlier, but who in the world is running this show? I know there are multiple names but various people seem to have authority at some point or another. The worst part is the show doesn’t even need an authority figure (just say the Impact Wrestling bosses have made a decision) but with three being introduced, you’re going to wonder who is running things.

One of the names who might have authority is Karen Jarrett and we saw WAY too much of her tonight. The far too long opening segment really didn’t need Karen as Sienna could have called out Allie to the same result. It really does come off like a Stephanie impression and that’s not a good idea, especially when Karen is supposed to be a face yet she was ready to fight Sienna, who should be able to kill her. So I guess she’s a hybrid between Stephanie and Shane?

On top of that, a lot of the wrestling really wasn’t that great. It was completely watchable but that’s not quite enough. When everyone is putting their best effort out for the biggest weekend of the wrestling year, you need to do something a little better than just a somewhat above average show. The main event is definitely the best thing about the show and it helped things quite a bit.

Overall the show had more good than bad but it needs a lot of work. Getting rid of multiple authority figures (and probably a title or two) would do some good and dropping the MAKE IMPACT GREAT vignettes would give them some more time for the matches. This was a good step in the right direction but since it’s Impact, I have no reason to believe it’s going to last.

Results

Andrew Everett b. DJZ – Small package

Moose b. Cody via split decision

KM b. Braxton Sutter – Powerbomb into a Backstabber

LAX b. Reno Scum, Laredo Kid/Garza Jr. and Decay – Sitout powerbomb/Blockbuster combo to Kid

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:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/03/24/kbs-history-of-nxt-volumes-1-and-2-now-available-in-paperback/

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

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

Ring of Honor
Date: December 14, 2016
Location: William J. Meyers Pavilion, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Ian Riccaboni

This is another special show with the Women of Honor getting the spotlight for a change. I saw one of these shows before and had a good enough time with it though it’s hard to keep caring when they only make air a few times a year. ROH has promised to make this a bigger deal for years now so it’s really hard to buy their promises. Let’s get to it.

Deonna Purrazzo vs. Candice LeRae

Purrazzo has been all over as of late, including on Smackdown and NXT. LeRae is from Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride which pretty much guarantees that I’ll be a fan. We get a quick introduction from both women so they’re already one up on the WWE cruiserweights. Feeling out process to start with Purrazzo working on the arm until the much more experienced LeRae taking her down to the floor for a suicide dive.

Back in and Candice tries to run up the corner but gets dropped down onto the ropes to send us to a break. We come back with Purrazzo working on the left arm and adding in a kick to the bicep for two. A few forearms and a top rope double stomp to the back gets two for Candice. She makes things a bit odd with something like a crotch grab suplex (Did I mention she and Joey Ryan are regular partners?) for two more. Not that it matters as Purrazzo grabs another Fujiwara Armbar for the tap at 10:04.

Rating: C. Here’s the problem with specials like this one: there’s no story or reason to care about either of these women, at least based on what they’ve done in ROH. Why should I be interested in two women facing off with no characters or story behind it? This really was the definition of “just a match” and that’s rarely enough to make anything work.

Veda Scott/Kennadi Brink vs. Faye Jackson/Sumie Sakai

Scott is gone from the company since this was taped. Jackson and Sakai have Solo Darling with them. Faye and Veda start things off with the much bigger Jackson running her over. It’s off to Kennedy, who is taken down with one of the worst looking hiptosses I’ve ever seen. Speaking of hips, Kennedy is sent face first into Jackson’s, shall we say, hips, for two.

It’s off to Sumie for a missile dropkick but she’s taken into the heel (I’m pretty sure at least) corner. The announcers keep talking about various matches from house shows that I guess we’re supposed to have seen. I mean, there’s no indication of storylines or anything like that but that’s pretty standard for a lot of ROH material.

Veda gets two off a spear and Solo offers a blend of her “special drink” to bring Sumie back to life. Instead it’s just a tag to Faye for her stumbling elbows. Various hip theme attacks have Veda and Kennadi in trouble, including a rolling splash (Chocolate Thunder) for two on Scott. Some very bad looking heel miscommunication sees Brink drop Scott, setting up a top rope Cannonball for two on Kennadi. With Scott and Sakai on the floor, Brink grabs an Anaconda Vice for the tap at 7:34.

Rating: F+. This was one of the worst matches I’ve seen in a good while and it’s more proof that some people just aren’t ready to be on a national TV show. Jackson is clearly green and the match fell apart as a result. I’m really not a fan of her kind of offense either as it’s a mixture of comedy and dominance, which isn’t something that often works.

We recap Mandy Leon vs. Taeler Hendrix which is the result of Leon issuing an open challenge. Hendrix got beaten up so she sent in Jessica Havok to take care of Mandy. See, that’s a simple story and while Leon’s promo (saying she’s a Woman of Honor over and over) wasn’t great, this is better than anything else we’ve had so far.

Mandy Leon vs. Jessica Havok

Leon goes right after the monster and is knocked down with ease. Some HORRIBLE forearms have little effect on Jessica but a huge running legdrop misses. A wheelbarrow slam gets two on Mandy and we take a break. Back with Mandy grabbing a sleeper, only to be driven back into the corner. Something like White Noise gets two on Mandy but Havok pulls her up. Thankfully the announcers are right there to remind us about Havok being a hired gun who only wants to inflict pain. Cue Deonna Purrazzo for a distraction, allowing Mandy to grab a rollup for the pin at 7:01.

Rating: D-. There isn’t much of another way to put this: Leon looks outstanding in her gear but she’s one of the worse in ring performers of this group. Then again it’s not like these women get much ring time and Havok really didn’t do much to help her out either. Not a good match whatsoever but they were certainly trying.

Havok chokeslams them both post match.

Video on Kelly Klein, who is treated as a killer.

ODB vs. Kelly Klein

Both come in undefeated. ODB shoves her around to start and takes it outside for a ram into the post. The idea here is that Klein has been a big fish in a small pond but is now getting to fight someone with some experience and more talent. Things stay bad for Klein on the floor as ODB hits some hard chops. Back in and Klein scores with some forearms to take over as we go to a break.

We come back with Kelly still in control until ODB low bridges her outside for a breather. Some shoulders drop Klein and it’s time for a few flask shots. Of booze that is, not to Klein’s head. Now, because ODB is gross you see, she rams Klein’s head into the buckles while simulating the shots going to her crotch. See it’s funny. Klein grabs a northern lights suplex for two until ODB runs her over for the same. Not that it matters though as Klein grabs a guillotine choke for the referee stoppage at 13:05.

Rating: C+. Not bad here as Klein is continued to be treated as the undisputed star of the division. Having her beat ODB is a good idea and helps to set her up as something big….if this division ever goes anywhere. That and seeing ODB getting knocked out is always entertaining, unlike almost anything else about her.

Overall Rating: D. These shows are so hard to grade as there’s almost nothing to compare them to. The matches range from horrible to watchable but I have almost no idea who these people are and there’s nothing for them to build towards with all of one show every four months. Either build a division up or do something else because this is getting a bit old. Not the worst but it makes you realize how good the NXT women really are.

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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Ring of Honor
Date: June 29, 2016
Location: Nashville Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Andrew Gervani, Nigel McGuinness

This is another of those odd weeks where we should be past a pay per view but instead it’s a stand alone show which might feature a midcard feud not big enough to get on the actual pay per view. Or it might be an hour long look at the Bullet Club, which could be almost any given episode of the show. Let’s get to it.

Thankfully the opening narration tells us that we’ll be back in two weeks with the Best in the World fallout. Therefore tonight is all about the Women of Honor division, which is almost never mentioned on the regular TV show.

Opening sequence.

Veda Scott/Amber Gallows/Allysin Kay vs. Sumie Sakai/Thunderkitty/Crazy Mary Dobson

Kay is better known as Sienna in TNA. Gallows (the Bullet Babe, as in Bullet Club BECAUSE OF COURSE IT IS) starts with Kitty, who claims to be 95 years old. Amber beats her down to start and shrugs off a faceplant before it’s off to Dobson vs. Kay with Allysin catching a cross body in a fisherman’s buster. Scott comes in and misses some kicks, allowing Dobson to dropkick her in the chest.

Sumie comes in for two off a nice northern lights suplex, followed by a double dropkick with Kay helping things out a bit. Everything breaks down and Gallows offers a distraction so Kay can kick Sumie in the face. Scott grabs something like Stratusfaction and we take a break. Back with Gallows grabbing an X Factor before stopping to say Too Sweet. Sakai gets in a fisherman’s buster and the hot tag brings in Mary as house is cleaned.

Everything breaks down again and we get a Tower of Doom, followed by the parade of finishers. Dobson stomps on Allysin’s foot and kicks her in the head, setting up the Kaiju Killer (split legged moonsault) but Gallows makes a save. Kay gets in a discus lariat for the pin on Dobson at 9:45.

Rating: C-. This is going to be a long night. These matches fall under the category of “wrestling is cool because it’s wrestling” and that’s not a theory I really subscribe to. I need a story and some personalities and just calling someone CRAZY isn’t going to be enough. The match was fine enough but it was really just six women doing moves to each other for about ten minutes.

The other weird part is Scott is an evil attorney on the regular ROH shows and here she’s just a wrestler with no real character. There’s a disconnect there and ROH doesn’t do anything to explain it, other than saying we don’t usually like her. I need more than that and I don’t think we’re getting it here.

Faye Jackson vs. ODB

This is Faye’s debut and I’ve never liked ODB. Jackson isn’t sure what to do to start so ODB slaps her (own) chest and no sells a bad clothesline. A running splash in the corner crushes Jackson again and a better clothesline puts ODB down for two. We’re two minutes in and the announcers already declare it gutcheck time. Jackson hits three straight running Umaga Attacks in the corner (the Triple Spun Milkshake) for two but she can’t get ODB in a fireman’s carry. Instead ODB hits the middle rope Thesz press for the pin at 4:14.

Rating: D-. The match sucked and ODB continued to do everything that gets on my nerves about her. Jackson looked like a rookie out there and a lot of that probably has to do with how little ring time these women get. This show is rapidly falling downhill and a lot of that is due to having no reason to care about these women. Jackson is a rookie and that’s about all I know about her. Again, I need more than that.

Inside ROH is a pair of dueling promos from Hania and Mandy Leon before their match tonight.

Hania vs. Mandy Leon

Hania is billed as a huntress which feels like something out of GLOW though she looks like she’s carved out of stone. Leon on the other hand….how do I put this…..well simply put she looks great. Feeling out process to start until a test of strength doesn’t go anywhere. We get the eternally stupid suplex to break it up with both women laying on the mat and popping their shoulders up at two.

Hania flips her away and the overly choreographed stuff continues because that’s how a lot of people think wrestling works. They trade rollups for two each until Leon headscissors her out to the floor, only to have Hania trip her up and send Leon into the barricade. Back from a break with Hania getting two off a springboard missile dropkick. A victory roll gives Mandy the same but Hania gets two more off a spinwheel kick.

Mandy grabs a neckbreaker and hangs onto it for a fairly unique (and not that painful) submission, followed by a Stratusphere but she misses a moonsault. A double clothesline puts both of them down until Hania tries some YES Kicks. Mandy shrugs them off and grabs a bulldog, only to eat more kicks to the face. They trade reverse DDT attempts, only to have Mandy counter into a Koji Clutch. It’s right next to the ropes though so Hania gets in a Codebreaker for the pin at 13:46.

Rating: B. I was blown away by this as it really looked like two good looking women in their very revealing outfits (an aspect that worked very well here and there isn’t much other way to put it) but they were actually working hard. There’s A LOT of work to do for both of them but I got into the match and had fun watching it, even though I still don’t know much about either woman. Good stuff here and very interesting that Leon is better than just a talker.

BJ Whitmer talks about how awesome Kelly Klein is and says her name over and over again in an old school manager trick. The promo is about how strong of an athletic background she has and how serious she is about her training. That tells me more than I know about most of the women on this show in about thirty seconds.

Taeler Hendrix is tired of hearing about Klein because this is her company and we get in the ring with her.

Kelly Klein vs. Taeler Hendrix

BJ Whitmer and Truth Martini are in the respective corners. Klein grabs a quick abdominal stretch but Taeler reverses into one of her own. Hendrix grabs a rear naked choke but gets broken up as we take a break. Back with Klein sitting on the top rope with a chinlock before Hendrix cartwheels into a superkick. Kelly charges into a kick as well and a palm strike staggers her again. A spinning kick to the face gets two for Hendrix before she kisses Klein to set up a Tombstone for two. Klein doesn’t seem to care for the sexual assault and grabs a guillotine choke for the tap out at 6:32.

Rating: C. Not bad here and they have a character in Klein. Unfortunately there’s nowhere for them to go because the women are never featured on the TV show. The wrestling wasn’t bad and Hendrix comes off more like a character than a wrestler, which is exactly what this division really needs. You need someone to care about and someone reminiscent of a redheaded Paige is a good idea.

Overall Rating: C. Well it was different, though it seems to be a one week concept, which makes this a bit more difficult to care about. There was one strong match in here but I really don’t know enough about most of the women to get into the shows. For a one week concept I liked it though there isn’t enough to make this work every single time. A match here or there would be fine though and a nice change of pace over all the normal stuff they do on this show.

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

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Ring of Honor
Date: July 22, 2015
Location: Terminal 5, New York City, New York
Commentators: King Corino, Kevin Kelly

This has the potential to be a very interesting show as it’s the 200^th episode under the Sinclair Broadcasting banner as well as the go home show before this Friday’s Death Before Dishonor pay per view. I’m really hoping they don’t go too heavy with the historical stuff here because the pay per view market is still young for them. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

It seems that most of this show will be a clip show, but I won’t be rating the matches since I won’t be seeing the majority of them and it’s not really fair to say if a match is good or bad based on a quick clip.

After a quick intro from the announcers, we go to a clip from April 25, 2015 when the Addiction took the Tag Team Titles from ReDragon. We see most of the finish after ReDragon’s hot tag, setting up a series of double team moves for near falls. ReDragon takes over but a masked man known as the KRD runs in and superkicks O’Reilly by mistake, setting up Celebrity Rehab to give the Addiction the titles.

The masked man is revealed to be Chris Sabin and the Addiction joins him to beat down the former champions. Apparently this was a big reveal, but there’s no backstory given. Quit assuming people watch all your shows. O’Reilly is busted open but the blood is censored, which I like WAY better than turning the screen black and white. What difference does it make what color it is? We know it’s blood, so why bother?

Various wrestlers are excited about making it to 200 episodes.

Highlights from Steel Cage Warfare from July 27, 2013 where SCUM was destroyed. King Corino laughs off being evil.

Package on the Top Prospect Tournament, capped off by Donovan Dijak beating Will Ferrara in the finals. They show how the match ends but then go back to show the last few minutes. The main highlight here: a Mark Jindrak reference. Now there’s one you don’t see every day. The ending was a nice back and forth slugout with Dijak hitting Feast Your Eyes (a Burning Hammer into a GTS) for the win and the tournament.

Clip of the end of Tag Wars on December 27, 2014 with ACH/Matt Sydal vs. the Briscoes vs. Addiction vs. ReDragon. Chasing the Dragon was enough to pin ACH/Sydal and retain the Tag Team Titles.

Clip of Hanson vs. AJ Styles from November 22, 2014. Hanson hits a nice powerbomb for two but takes too much time going up (especially considering how big he is), allowing Styles to hit the Clash for the pin.

One last clip of Lance Storm vs. Mike Bennett from August 4, 2012. That’s kind of a random one to end on but any extra Maria is a great thing. Bennett won with a Photo Finish (TKO) onto a chair.

House of Truth vs. Briscoe Brothers/ODB/Roderick Strong

That would be Donovan Dijak/Jay Diesel/Jay Lethal/Truth Martini. ODB and Truth actually start with Martini busting out a Spinarooni. It’s off to Lethal vs. Strong, so Lethal tags out to Dijak for our first actual violence. Roderick takes over and drags Donovan to the corner for the tag to the Briscoes for some double teaming. Mark hits a middle rope splash and we take a break, coming back to Donovan hitting a release suplex slam on Mark to take over.

Off to Lethal for some stomping in the corner as the heels start rotating. Everyone but Truth gets in some shots on Mark until he comes back with a middle rope forearm to the face. The hot tag brings in his brother for left hands and a neckbreaker to Dijak. The Jay’s (as in not Diesel) slug it out with Lethal taking over and slapping on a cobra clutch. We take a break and come back with Roderick getting the hot tag to hammer away on the World Champion.

The Sick Kick gets two and everything breaks down with Lethal superkicking Roderick. ODB tags herself in and chokes the champ, allowing for a tag off to Martini. The House of Truth surrounds ODB but she takes a shot from the flask and slugs all of them until the heroes come back in. Everyone goes to the floor, leaving ODB to spit booze in Truth’s eyes, setting up a rollup pin at 16:35.

Rating: D+. Well that happened, and instead of setting up something for the pay per view, a wrestling valet pinned a manager. I’m so glad we got that instead of anything between the World Champion and his challenger or any mention of the Briscoes’ match on Friday. No, what we needed was Truth Martini getting rolled up for a laugh instead of talking about a pay per view. I know they’re new at this but work with me here people.

Overall Rating: D-. I don’t want to say this was a bad show, but it was a misfire. Like I said in the opening, this would have been fine for a stand alone special anniversary show, but it doesn’t work when you have this right before a pay per view. A lot of the highlights were either meaningless or fine but it didn’t really make me want to watch more of the show. The idea here was fine, but they needed to tweak it a lot more to make it work.

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

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Time for someone a little easier on the eyes: Velvet Sky.

Velvet got her start as Talia Madison back in 2003. Here’s a rarity from Heat on July 17, 2005.

Talia vs. Victoria

Yeah there actually used to be Diva squash matches. Lillian calls Talia Ta-Lee-Uh. Talia jumps over her to start and snapmares her down for two. A handshake earns Talia a headbutt and a hair toss across the ring. Off to a chinlock on Talia before she fights up (and loses some of her pants) and nails a high cross body, only to have Victoria rolls through for two. Victoria powerbombs her out of the corner for two but the Widow’s Peak is enough for the pin.

It’s off to TNA in 2007 and we’ll pick things up at Turning Point 2007.

Roxxi Leveaux/ODB vs. Velvet-Love Entertainment

Velvet-Love is of course the Beautiful People and this is their debut match as a team. They’re nice here. Well I think they are at least. Velvet looks totally different here and not in a good way. She’s still hot but nothing compared to what she would become. Velvet vs. Roxxi starts us off but Velvet is scared so here’s Angelina instead. ODB comes in and spanks her so Velvet rides her around. We’re in a comedy match as ODB wants the referee to spank her.

Roxxi beats on Velvet for a bit and it’s off to ODB again. She stands on Velvet’s crotch and this match needs to end quickly. Now we get a series of spots based around ODB’s crotch. Sky escapes and it’s the not as hot as my partner tag to Love. Everything breaks down and a combination bicycle kick/Russian legsweep beats Roxxi.

Rating: F. Velvet looks a lot less hot with long hair and with a lack of makeup. On top of that, this was a “comedy” match but it wasn’t funny. Don’t you love it when that’s what winds up happening in these things? I still don’t get the appeal of ODB at all, but she keeps getting signed for some reason along with Jackie.

Another six Knockouts tag at Slammiversary 2008.

ODB/Roxie/Gail Kim vs. Beautiful People/Moose

Moose is a chick that is almost as tough as Kong and is the mascot of the Beautiful People. She broke her leg in a hardcore match in an indy company and hasn’t been seen in TNA since. The Beautiful People leave Moose in the ring and she gets triple teamed. Roxie has the really short haircut here due to losing a match at Sacrifice. Gail and Moose officially start us off.

And make that Roxie as everything breaks down quickly. The Beautiful People try to leave but Gail and ODB don’t let them. Moose gets a flapjack for two. Off to Velvet who likes being on top of Roxie. The heels take over on Roxie and Moose hits a bad looking TKO for two. Velvet puts on an Octopus Hold and bites the hand at the same time. Hot tag to Gail who cleans house, putting all three chicks down and hitting a top rope cross body on Velvet for two.

Angelina takes out Kim’s bad knee and the heels take over again. They must have some time to work with here. Love works over the knee and my goodness we have psychology in a match involving breasts. Edit: breasts that don’t belong to Joe. They really are better than the Divas. Half crab goes on for a bit to work on the leg more. Moose comes in for a bridging Indian deathlock as Gail is in trouble.

There’s a Brock Lock (over the shoulder leg bar) but Gail gets the rope again. The referee is in a bowtie and shorts. That’s quite a look. Gail finally breaks free and there’s ODB off a tag. Thesz Press gets two on Moose and it breaks down again. ODB picks Moose up and hits a British Bulldog style powerslam for the pin.

Rating: C+. I liked this and the knee work was a nice touch. Gail has a bad knee coming in and the announcers pointed it out so it’s not like it was hard to miss. Little things like that one can add up a lot of points in a match and this is a good example of it. That made sense for the heels to go after and they did, showing some thinking which is a big part of psychology.

Same idea again at Final Resolution December 2008. Yeah there were two Final Resolutions in 2008.

ODB/Taylor Wilde/Roxxi vs. Beautiful People/Sharmell

If the heels win the Beautiful People get Booker’s locker room. Is there a reason why Cute Kip had to mess the entrance up? I’ve never quite gotten the appeal of ODB, but then again I don’t think anyone else really did either. This is back when Wilde was still definitively hot so at least there’s that going for this match. ODB cleans house to start as we need a heel here.

Angelina vs. Roxxi starts us off officially. And so much for the match as we need to talk about Mafia vs. Frontline. Joe isn’t trustworthy apparently. I’m stunned too. Roxxi cleans house as it’s more or less the dominant ones vs. the not dominant ones. The Beautiful People go down so it’s up to Sharmell now. Kip comes in instead so it’s him vs. ODB for a second until the Beautiful People are back up again.

This has been going about three minutes and it already needs to end quickly. The heels take over for a bit and Sharmell does the standard heel thing of only coming in when her rival if you can call ODB that is down. Wilde comes in and this continues to be completely uninteresting.

Everything goes nuts again and Sharmell, like an idiot, goes after ODB when she’s not dead and I think you know what’s coming here. Kip of course comes in for the save and that gets us nowhere as ODB chases Sharmell away. Yes, the whole point of the match was that beatdown and it never even happens. Wilde rolls through a cross body by Angelina to get the pin.

Rating: D-. This was boring as all goodness and the ending went completely against the story which I’d assume would be settled on Impact. Instead of having the match be about revenge it became about possession of a locker room. That makes perfect sense doesn’t it? It is TNA after all.

Four in a row at Destination X 2009.

Beautiful People vs. Roxxi/Taylor Wilde/The Governor

Yes, the Governor is the Sarah Palin character that Daffney played. What is up with TNA being all political? There are still three Beautiful People at this point: Angelina, Velvet and Madison. At least Wilde looks good here. Governor (in a pantsuit) vs. Velvet to start. The fans chant yes we can because the Orlando fans are rather annoying.

Off to Roxxi and then to Taylor. The non-beautiful ones are tagging in really fast here. Apparently Madison is just now an official member of the BP. Velvet locks in an Octopus Hold to Roxxi who escapes and kicks her in the face. Sign: “Botchmania 71 = this match.” It’s pretty clear the fans aren’t that into this but that’s to be expected.

It’s one of those matches where stuff is happening but there isn’t anything to talk about. Taylor is called the upset queen still despite that being like two years prior to this. Taylor comes in and cleans house as this is one of the least interesting matches I’ve seen in years. Everything breaks down and the Governor dives over the top to the floor to take out everyone not named Madison on the other team. Madison gets caught in a bridging German by Wilde to end this.

Rating: D. What the heck was the point of this? You hear the term “TV match” a lot and this is the definition of one. Nothing at all about this match implies that it should be on a PPV in the slightest and yet here it is, opening the show. You can tell a lot about a PPV and how much effort is put into it by the opener and this one was awful. No one cared, nothing happened and it was short. Weak match indeed and I’m not looking forward to the rest of this show at all now.

Six Knockouts tag #5 at Turning Point 2009.

Knockout Title/Knockout Tag Titles: Beautiful People vs. ODB/Taylor Wilde/Sarita

All titles on the line here and the non-beautiful people are champions. No word on how the titles are split up if one of the three pins a tag champion (Wilde/Sarita). You know I wonder what ODB stands for. I think I’ll see what I can come up with (and spare me the comments saying what it stands for. I know already and I need something to get me through this match). The Beautiful People here are Velvet, Lacey and Madison here. Velvet vs. Wilde to start us off but it’s off to Sarita quickly. Ok make that Department of Bacon. We’re less than a minute in and they’ve all been in already.

Headbutt to the ribs gets two for Date of Birth. Madison comes in and does the touch yourself and burn your finger thing. Instead here though she has to go over to the corner and has Velvet blow on it. I guess men and women both want to be blown by her. The delay allows Original Daniel Bryan to bring in Sarita to fight Madison. The tag champions set up a double team moonsault (belly to back release into a moonsault by Taylor) for two.

Madison takes over and it’s off to Madison. After mounting Wilde she throws on a chinlock for about 2 seconds and hammers away a bit more. The fans say Lacey can’t wrestle so we’re back off to Velvet. Octopus hold goes on for a few seconds so the announcers can make Inoki jokes. An elbow breaks the hold and it’s cold tag to Board of Directors. After a fallaway slam to Velvet everything breaks down. They triple team Operation Break Dance which fails completely. TKO ends Madison.

Rating: D. Weak match here that had no point at all being on the PPV. This is what Impact is for: six minute matches with hot women doing nothing of note for the entire match. Also, is there a reason to keep the titles on there? Oxford Dictionary of Britain doesn’t get us anywhere as champion. Angelina would be back soon which helped the division a lot. Anyway, weak match.

Regular tag at Lockdown 2010.

Knockout’s Title/Tag Titles: Beautiful People vs. Tara/Angelina Love

Ok so it’s your standard two singles wrestlers vs. tag champions. You know the rules I’m sure. Yep Tara is gorgeous. Velvet and Angelina start us off. Taz is rather annoying on commentary to say the least. Some nice double teaming from the BP there. Make jokes amongst yourselves. Tara pulls an Angle and totally misses a moonsault. Good to see that the accuracy is there still.

Angel is better in the ring than she’s given credit for. Madison takes the Widow’s Peak but Velvet makes the save. Lacey gets in somehow and drills Tara in the head with a belt to give Madison Rayne the Knockout’s Title. So that’s two straight title changes with the champion not getting pinned. Ok then. I do love the BP being the focus of the division. That’s intelligent and not sarcastic actually.

Rating: C-. Not terrible actually. Love is underrated in the ring and Tara is always solid. The booking is right here and we don’t get the wacky tag partners which is never any good. I’m rather happy for the first near hour of this show. I must be coming down with something. They need to stop putting all of the titles on the line in one match though. Spread that stuff out if they’re so important to you.

We actually have a singles match! From No Surrender 2008.

Madison Rayne vs. Velvet Sky

Madison in leather is something I could get used to. Tara interferes almost immediately as Rayne goes for the head of Sky to start.. Knees to the crotch of Madison makes Taz wonder if that would hurt.

Are there any Knockouts other than the BP and Tara? If there are they never appear on TV. Tara goes for the helmet but Love makes the save. And then Velvet just gets a DDT to get the win. It was as abrupt as it sounds.

Rating: D. This just didn’t do it for me. It was on the exact level as a Divas match with very little wrestling but then again who cares about that when you have someone like her? That was only half sarcasm mind you. The division has more or less died over this year and it didn’t get any better here. Pretty bad match.

Off to Impact on November 4, 2010.

Sarita vs. Velvet Sky

Sarita continues to be incredibly sexy though Velvet is of course no slouch either. This is about the six girl match last week. Ok that makes sense. Decent little rana by Sky gets no cover as we head to the mat. And let’s talk about Bischoff now. WEAK chops in the corner by the Beautiful one. DDT is blocked by Sarita as the fans finally wake up a bit for a bad clothesline from the Mexicanadian. This is rather sloppy.

We touch on Lacey training Tessmacher as nothing special is happening at all here. Tenay and Taz complain about even more stuff which I didn’t think was possible. I get that the match sucks but could they try a bit harder at least? Another DDT is blocked and Velvet is sent to the floor. Tiger Bomb by Sarita gets the pin.

Rating: D. Weak match here with all kinds of sloppiness. Naturally the announcers said nothing of note at all other than some very basic play by play. This at least had some continuity in there but there wasn’t much going on at all. Sarita is at least a fresh heel out there which is something the division was dying for. This was rather bad though.

And again on Impact, June 16, 2011 for another title match.

Knockout Tag Titles: Velvet Sky/Miss Tessmacher vs. Sarita/Rosita

Sarita and Velvet start us off. Mexican America has been sent to the back apparently. Velvet sends her flying and it’s off to Rosita and Tessmacher. The challengers dominate for awhile so it’s off to Sarita again. This is your standard Knockouts match, in that they’re nice to look at but at the same time it’s a lot of yelling and not much on the wrestling. Tessmacher looks incredible in those little shorts but she can’t wrestle that well at all. Everything breaks down but as the challengers want a double suplex, here’s ODB to distract Velvet. The champs double team Tessmacher and a flip splash by Rosita gets the pin at 3:52.

Rating: D. Nothing of note at all here as the whole thing was just to set up more ODB vs. Velvet which is nothing interesting in the slightest. The girls aren’t incredibly good in the ring but they’re trying at least. They needed someone in there to anchor this match and it hurt things a lot.

For the other title at Bound For Glory 2011.

Knockouts Title: Madison Rayne vs. Velvet Sky vs. Winter vs. Mickie James

Winter, a kind of lesbian vampire who might be sleeping with Angelina, is defending. No real story here other than a bunch of qualifying matches put together by Knockouts Boss Karen Jarrett. Karen is refereeing here too. We have tags again here so it’s Mickie vs. Winter to get things going. The champ grabs an armbar to start before James comes out of the corner with a headscissors and neckbreaker for two.

Madison comes in with what looks like a handkerchief to Mickie’s face as Karen keeps screeching. Velvet comes in with some facebusters to Madison but Karen is busy tying her shoe. Everything breaks down for a second as Madison and Winter get in an argument. Karen tells the two of them to go fight Mickie and Velvet so we have a double tag. Mickie suplexes Velvet but Karen won’t tag to reenforce what we already knew.

The girls get frustrated at the refereeing before slugging it out. Winter and Madison trip them to the floor, earning them a beating back inside. The champ cleans house until Mickie comes in to take her out. Jarrett yells even more so Winter sprays her blood in Karen’s eyes. The MickieDT plants Winter as Traci comes out to take over. Velvet hits In Yo Face on Madison for the pin and the title.

Rating: D. This was REALLY annoying as there was almost no structure or flow to it. Most of the match was spent on Karen, meaning the big moment of Velvet finally winning the title barely meant anything. The wrestling didn’t get any focus because the whole thing was about the annoying referee. I understand that was the point back in the day, but it really doesn’t hold up.

Throw the girls in a cage! From Lockdown 2012.

Knockouts Title: Gail Kim vs. Velvet Sky

No pigeons again and Tazz is upset. Her outfit is different this week as it’s more like a skirt. Madison comes out with Gail. Velvet grabs a fast rollup for two but Gail hits her in the back to take over. Velvet fires off some shots but Gail knocks her back, hitting a missile dropkick for two. More back work in the form of a backbreaker with the bending over the knee by Gail before she moves on to a knee lock, bending it around her own head.

Gail hooks something like a dragon sleeper which is countered by a jawbreaker. She misses a charge in the corner but Velvet is down too. Flying headscissors puts Gail down but she pops up to try and climb out. Velvet follows her up for some knees on the top rope. She looks for In Yo Face but settles for a sunset bomb for two instead. Madison starts yelling at Velvet as Gail tries to escape. Sky notices and tries an O’Connor Roll which is reversed into a rollup by Gail with tights for the pin at 7:27.

Rating: C-. Not the worst match ever but they’re not doing anything to help this already bad crowd. Gail keeps the title here, which I can live with because there was very little build for Velvet, but they need someone to breathe some life into this division. Gail and Madison has been played but it didn’t get mentioned at all here for the most part.

We’ll jump ahead a bit to Impact on February 21, 2013.

Knockouts Title: Velvet Sky vs. Gail Kim vs. Miss Tessmacher vs. Tara

Tara is defending and this is under elimination rules. Brooke Hogan gets to be ringside because what would a segment be without her? The bell will be after this break. Jesse is ejected by Brooke and we’re ready to go. We get a bunch of quick rollup attempts but no pins early on. Tessmacher tries a victory roll on Tara but gets caught in an electric chair to send her out to the floor. Things settle down a bit and Tara hits the tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Sky, only to have the pin broken up by Gail. Why would she do that?

Now Tara and Gail go at it but Gail is sent to the floor for a bulldog from Tessmacher. Velvet and Tessmacher ping pong the champion back and forth with punches but Tara fights back. A moonsault hits Tessmacher but Velvet grabs Tara and hits In Yo Face, only to be broken up by Gail. Kim steals the pin on Tara to eliminate her, guaranteeing us a new champion.

Tessmacher hits a kind of spinning neckbreaker on Gail but goes up and gets crotched. Gail loads up a superplex put Velvet adds a powerbomb to make it a Tower of Doom. Velvet covers both opponents for two so she tries In Yo Face on Gail. Tessmacher tries to roll up Sky but Velvet rolls through it and covers Tessmacher for the elimination. We’re down to Velvet vs. Gail.

Sky pounds away to start but misses a dropkick to stop her momentum cold. Kim tries a cover but gets caught grabbing the ropes like a good villain should. Some shoulders in the corner miss and Velvet grabs a pretty sloppy sunset flip for two. In Yo Face hits this time and Velvet wins the title at 8:35.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t bad but at the end of the day, what difference does this really make? Velvet is another person that happens to hold the title now. She’ll probably hold it for about three months before dropping it back to Tara or Gail and the cycle starts all over again. That’s the problem with the women’s divisions in both companies: they’ve been going around in circles for years.

Here’a non-cage match at Lockdown 2013.

Knockouts Title: Gail Kim vs. Velvet Sky

Velvet is defending. Feeling out process to start until the champion hooks a flying headscissors to put Gail down. A neckbreaker gets two for Velvet and she sends Gail to the floor. Back inside Kim gets a quick rollup for two and there’s a running shoulder to the champion’s ribs. Gail gets her in a fireman’s carry and slams her down for two before arguing with referee Terryn Terell. An attempt at a headscissors out of the corner is easily countered by Velvet into a mat slam for no cover.

Some clotheslines and elbows put Kim down again as does a bulldog. A reverse DDT gets two for Velvet and Gail is staggered. As she gets up she grabs Terell, allowing Gail to hit Eat Defeat for two. Gail shoves Terryn in the corner before slapping her, begging to be disqualified. Instead Terryn spears Gail down and beats her up, allowing Velvet to hit In Yo Face for the pin at 7:38.

Rating: D. I do not like women’s wrestling. Terrell looks GREAT in the little black shorts and that’s all I’ve got here. Oh and Gail Kim is perhaps the least interesting human being on the face of this planet. Therefore, let’s make sure to push her to the freaking moon and back for years on end.

Off to One Night Only at Joker’s Wild II.

Lei’D Tapa/Gail Kim/Alpha Female vs. Velvet Sky/Madison Rayne/ODB

Just a filler here in an elimination match. Tapa imitates Velvet’s entrance to a ton of booing but Velvet calms the people down by doing it again. Sky charges at Tapa but is lifted in the air for a choke. Off to Gail for a clothesline but she gets caught by Madison’s mat humper. Gail spanks Tapa for some reason and yells at her for not having her back. The announcers talk about having spotted dick at lunch today and the match just keeps going.

Alpha comes in for a slam and some forearms to Madison’s chest. She misses a bad looking splash though and it’s back to Velvet who finally knocks Alpha down. Madison and Gail fight to the floor as Velvet bulldogs Alpha down. Chris Sabin comes out to distract the referee though and gets in an argument with Velvet. Sky low bridges him to the floor, kicks Alpha in the head and hits In Yo Face for the elimination.

Gail rolls Velvet up for a fast pin but the referee is with Sabin and misses Madison spearing Gail down. Tapa runs Madison over for an easy pin and we’re down to Gail/Tapa vs. ODB. The numbers game quickly catch up to her but Gail wants to get the glory. Tapa gets tired of it and shoves Gail into a rollup to get us down to one on one. Gail nails Tapa and ODB hits the Bam for the final pin.

Rating: D. There was no reason at all for this to be elimination rules. There were a few too many things going on here but they still could have wrapped the whole thing up in a single fall. It also doesn’t help that all of these stories have already been wrapped up two months before this show aired.

We’ll wrap things up with the newly reformed Beautiful People and their new boyfriends the BroMans on Impact, September 10, 2014.

BroMans/Velvet Sky vs. Menagerie

The BroMans now have the Beautiful People with them. The Freak is on the floor for this one. Steeve chases Robbie around to start and it’s quickly off to Jesse. Knux comes in with a cartwheel and a big slam before it’s back to Steeve. Robbie gets in a right hand on the floor as DJZ is running around like a crazy man.

Velvet comes in for some slaps before it’s back to Jesse who immediately tags Robbie. Rebel comes in to face Velvet but the BroMans break up a sunset flip attempt. Knux runs both of them over with a cross body, leaving Steeve against Velvet. Sky gets kissed and Steeve dives onto all three BroMans. Rebel slams her down but gets distracted by Angelina, allowing Velvet to roll her up with a handful of trunks for the pin at 4:40.

Rating: D. I’m in the minority but I actually like the Menagerie. Steeve continues to be worthless but at least Knux is good and Rebel is gorgeous. The BroMans hooking up with the Beautiful People is a decent enough idea and will probably lead to some decent jokes down the line. The wrestling wasn’t great but the expectations for this weren’t exactly high coming in.

Velvet Sky is a simple formula: a good looking woman in tight outfits who can wrestle a decent enough match. Her matches aren’t all that great but it’s not like that was ever the purpose in the first place. TNA tried to make it out to be a big deal when she won the Knockouts Title but it didn’t really work out all that well. Still though, she’s nice to look at and that’s the point of women’s wrestling more often than not.

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In case you thought the Knockouts division was too deep.  This one isn’t the biggest loss in the world as ODB hasn’t meant much in awhile, but it’s yet another name leaving.  That’s becoming way too common a headline.