A 10-Knockouts tag bout, plus the return of the Ultimate X, are among the matches and segments announced for next Thursday’s Impact Wrestling 1000 night two on AXS TV.
Mickie James will return to the ring in the aforementioned tag team match in her first appearance for the company in six months. James will team with Knockouts World Champion Trinity, Jordynne Grace, and Impact Hall of Famers Awesome Kong & Gail Kim against Deonna Purrazzo, Tasha Steelz, Gisele Shaw, Savannah Evans and Angelina Love.
An Ultimate X match will decide the number one contender to new X-Division Champion Chris Sabin’s title. Alan Angels, Ace Austin, Mike Bailey, Rich Swann, Samuray Del Sol, and Zachary Wentz will be the match participants. Sabin defeated Lio Rush on Impact 1000 night 1 to win the title.
The contents of the Feast or Fired briefcase winners from night one of Impact 1000 will also be revealed on next week’s episode. Chris Bey, Crazzy Steve, Yuya Uemura, and Moose each secured a briefcase with three of the cases holding contracts for future title matches with one containing termination papers.
Josh Alexander will be in action, facing former X-Division Champion and current Tag Team Champion Trey Miguel.
Eric Young vs. Kenny King and Jake Something vs. Dirty Dango were also announced for next week’s show.
Here’s the full lineup for next Thursday:
Mickie James, Trinity, Jordynne Grace, Awesome Kong & Gail Kim vs. Deonna Purrazzo, Tasha Steelz, Gisele Shaw, Savannah Evans & Angelina Love
Ultimate X match to determine the X-Division Championship number one contender: Alan Angels vs. Ace Austin vs. Mike Bailey vs. Rich Swann vs. Samuray Del Sol vs. Zachary Wentz
Hall of Famers and both past and current Knockouts Champions will be part of an all star 10-woman tag team match on the 1000th episode of Impact Wrestling.
Current champion Trinity will team with former champion Jordynne Grace, Hall of Famers Gail Kim and Awesome Kong and a mystery partner against former champions Deonna Purrazzo and Angelina Love, Gisele Shaw, Savannah Evans and a mystery partner.
The episode is being filmed at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, New York on Saturday, September 9th, to air the following Thursday.
This will be Kim’s first match since 2019’s Rebellion and Kong’s first since 2020. Love will be making her return to the company for the first time since 2017.
Grace will make her return to the company the night before at Impact’s Victory Road in her first appearance since late-May while Trinity will defend her title against a battle royal winner.
Here’s the current lineup:
Impact World Champion Alex Shelley defends against Trey Miguel
Trinity, Jordynne Grace, Gail Kim & Awesome Kong and a mystery partner vs. Deonna Purrazzo, Angelina Love, Gisele Shaw, Savannah Evans & a mystery partner
A legendary name from Impact Wrestling’s past is returning to the ring at Impact episode 1000.
It was announced today that Awesome Kong will be in action on the 1000th episode of Impact Wrestling. The episode is being filmed at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, New York on Saturday, September 9.
Kong’s opponent for the show hasn’t been announced.
BREAKING: IMPACT Hall of Famer @MeanQueenK will RETURN TO THE RING for the first time in over three years at #IMPACT1000 on September 9 at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, NY!
This will be Kong’s first match in over three years. She last wrestled in 2020 when she was part of AEW.
Kong’s AEW contract wasn’t renewed in 2021. In July of that year, Kong announced that she was “done” in the ring.
Kong was inducted into the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame in October 2021. She was a two-time Knockouts Champion while with TNA/Impact. Her rivalry with Gail Kim was pivotal to the Knockouts division and helped influence women’s wrestling as a whole.
The updated lineup for Impact 1000 is listed below:
Team 3D (Bully Ray & D-Von) team together for the first time in seven years
Mixed tag team match: Frankie Kazarian & Traci Brooks vs. Eddie Edwards & Alisha Edwards
The first names for Impact’s 1000th episode celebration have been announced.
On Thursday’s Impact on AXS TV, the promotion revealed that Impact Hall of Famer and former Knockouts Champion Awesome Kong will appear as will The Beautiful People’s Velvet Sky & Angelina Love.
Sky & Love are both currently part of the NWA while Kong retired from in-ring competition in 2021.
The 1000th episode will be taped in White Plains, New York, on Saturday, September 9th — the night after their Victory Road streaming special in the same venue.
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The Rascalz have taken their first step toward a shot at the Impact Tag Team titles.
Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel defeated Jonathan Gresham & “Speedball” Mike Bailey on Thursday’s show to advance in the four-team eliminator tournament.
Wentz & Miguel await the winners of next Thursday’s bout between former champions ABC (Chris Bey & Ace Austin) vs. Rich Swann & Sami Callihan. The tournament winners will challenge current champions Subculture at this month’s Emergence.
Gail Kim will induct Awesome Kong into the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame this Saturday at Bound for Glory, announced Thursday on Impact’s weekly TV show.
The ceremony will take place at 9:30 PM Eastern during the Countdown to Glory pre-show that will also see the first-ever Digital Media Champion crowned in a six-way match.
Kong’s induction was initially announced during this month’s Knockouts Knockdown show on Impact Plus. She joins Kim as the only other woman to be inducted.
Kong (Kia Stevens) spent more than six years in TNA/Impact over two stints, winning two Knockouts titles and the Knockouts Tag Team titles as well. She and Kim feuded over the title during both of her runs with their last clash happening in January 2016.
The end of Kong’s career came in AEW where she had a handful of matches in 2019 before what would be her final bout on AEW Dark in January 2020.
In the last few years, she gained notoriety by playing Tamme Dawson on the wrestling-themed Netflix series GLOW that ended after three seasons.
Awesome Kong is set to be the newest member of the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame.
The announcement was made on tonight’s Knockouts Knockdown special. Her induction will take place at the Bound For Glory pay-per-view on Saturday, October 23. Kong will join Gail Kim as the only women to be inducted into Impact’s Hall of Fame.
Kong, real name Kia Stevens, spent over over six years with the company over two separate runs. During her time with the company she was a two-time Knockouts Champion, as well as notching a Knockouts Tag Team Championship reign with Hamada.
Kong debuted with then-TNA in 2007. She would go on to win the Knockouts Championship from Kim within four months of her debut. Her first reign would last 169 days, before dropping the title to long-time rival Taylor Wilde. Later that year, Kong regained the title from Wilde and began her second reign, which lasted 178 days.
She was released from the company in early 2010, but would return in early 2015. Kong’s last official match with the promotion was on January 9, 2016.
In between Impact runs, Kong had a stint in WWE as Kharma, including an appearance in the 2012 men’s Royal Rumble match.
Post-Impact, Kong had a run with AEW. She joined the company at the Double or Nothing PPV in May 2019 and appeared sporadically for the remainder of the year. Her final match with the company aired on the January 7, 2020 edition of AEW Dark.
Kong also found success in Hollywood after her full-time wrestling career ended. She was a series regular on Netflix’s GLOW, appearing as Tamme Dawson in 30 episodes.
Former Impact and WWE talent Christy Hemme appeared at Knockouts Knockdown to make the announcement of Kong’s induction.
Awesome Kong appeared at tonight’s NWA Empower event and announced that she was done with professional wrestling.
Gail Kim made an appearance on tonight’s show and said she was happy to take part. Taryn Terrell, Jennacide, and Paola Blaze came out and confronted Kim. Kong then arrived and took out all three. Grabbing a microphone, she told Kim that she was her greatest foe, and that there was no other way to end her career than being in the ring with Kim. She said that she was done. The two then hugged.
Kong had not been seen in wrestling since her run in AEW, where she was part of the Nightmare Collective. She left television in early 2020 to film for the Netflix series GLOW, but the show was canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was reported earlier this summer that AEW opted not to renew her contract.
Entering pro wrestling in 2002, Kong is best remembered for her run in Japan, and later Impact Wrestling, where she is a two time Knockouts Champion and a one time Knockouts Tag Team Champion. She also briefly appeared in WWE from 2010-12 using the name Kharma.
The AEW contracts for both Shanna and Awesome Kong were not renewed, according to Dave Meltzer.
Both were removed off the company’s roster page over the weekend, raising questions as to their status.
After not working for AEW due to the pandemic, Shanna returned last November and racked up a 6-2 record in infrequent appearances. She appeared once on Dynamite during that span, losing to Britt Baker, and was last seen working an early-April Elevation show in a loss to Leyla Hirsch.
Kong made a surprise appearance at 2019’s Double or Nothing as Brandi Rhodes added her to a four-way with Baker, Nyla Rose and Kylie Rae. She competed four more times, racking up three quick singles wins along with a Casino Battle Royale appearance. She last appeared on a January 2020 episode of Dark, defeating Skyler Moore.
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Joey Janela took to Twitter Monday to reveal he is injured and is pulling out of two GCW dates.
Janela didn’t reveal what the injury was or the severity, but simply said he was not cleared. He said he will not be able to wrestle for GCW for this Saturday’s Atlantic City, NJ, show and a June 19th show in Laramie, Wyoming. He was “85%” optimistic he would be able to work for a July 10th GCW show in Texas.
It’s unknown when he was set to next work for AEW, but on this past week’s Elevation, he did an interview that appears to be leading toward a split with tag team partner Sonny Kiss.
AEW announced late-Wednesday afternoon that Awesome Kong is out of tonight’s AEW Dynamite tag team match due to an undisclosed illness.
In her place and making her Dynamite in-ring debut: Brandi Rhodes. She will team with fellow Nightmare Collective member Mel (also making her Dynamite in-ring debut) to face Kris Statlander and Hikaru Shida.
Rhodes has wrestled sparingly for AEW, pinning Allie at Fight For The Fallen and competing in the women’s Casino Battle Royale at All Out.
The Collective made their presence felt on last week’s Dynamite during the AEW women’s title match between Riho and Statlander, leading to Statlander losing the match. That angle also featured the official debut of Luther, a new member of the group who will accompany Rhodes and Mel.
Tonight’s Dynamite is the Bash At The Beach themed edition of the show in Miami, FL, as the group prepares to head out on the Chris Jericho cruise where next week’s Dynamite will emanate from.
The show will feature Kenny Omega/Hangman Page vs. the Young Bucks vs. Best Friends vs. Santana and Ortiz for a tag title shot, Darby Allin vs. PAC, Jon Moxley vs. Sammy Guevara, and Cody responding to MJF’s demands for a match.
Another entrant has been confirmed for Saturday’s Casino Battle Royale.
In an interview with the New York Post that was published earlier this week, it was revealed that Awesome Kong will be participating in the Casino Battle Royale on the All Out pre-show. This will be the third AEW show Kong has appeared at and the second one she’s wrestled on.
The winner of the Casino Battle Royale will advance to the match to decide the first AEW Women’s Champion. The inaugural champion is being crowned on AEW’s TNT debut on Wednesday, October 2.
Kong spoke to the New York Post about potentially being in the title match: “I like records. (Laughs) I like breaking molds. I love making history and what not, so this is putting another notch on my belt, so to speak. Who wouldn’t want that?”
Kong also discussed her decision to return to professional wrestling: “After I left TNA it allowed me to take a step back and see what, if anything, else I even wanted to do in wrestling. And then of course with the injuries I accumulated over the years, I thought it was a good time to take a break and let my body heal. So after about three years you kind of get the itch — and that’s when you’re really healthy, physically and mentally, you tend to want to step back in the ring because wrestling never leaves you.”
Kong made a surprise appearance at Double or Nothing, with Brandi Rhodes adding her to Britt Baker vs. Nyla Rose vs. Kylie Rae and making it a four-way match. Kong was then in Brandi’s corner at Fight for the Fallen and helped her defeat Allie. After the match, there was an angle where Awesome Kong and Aja Kong went face-to-face.
Season three of Netflix’s “GLOW” was released earlier this month. Kong (real name Kia Stevens) plays Tammé Dawson on the show.
There will be 21 entrants in the Casino Battle Royale. Teal Piper, Ivelisse, Jazz, Big Swole (Aerial Monroe), and Sadie Gibbs have been officially revealed as entrants. Baker has also confirmed that she’ll be in the match.
All Out is taking place at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The pre-show will begin at 7 p.m. Eastern time, with the main card starting an hour later.
Due to a physical altercation with Reby Sky, Awesome Kong has been released from TNA. According to sources in TNA, the argument stemmed from issues the two had over the last few years. Kong got mad at Hardy for dressing in the womens’ dressing room. Kong wanted her to apologize. She left, and Kong went after her and had to be restrained.
Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet reported that allegedly, what escalated the situation to a physical confrontation was Hardy calling Stevens a “f**king maniac.” Whatever the truth behind it all, it ends with Awesome Kong no longer working for TNA.
“We conducted an investigation and determined releasing Awesome Kong is the appropriate action in this case,” said TNA Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Television John Gaburick. “Kong has been a great contributor to TNA and helped solidify the Knockouts as the best female division in professional wrestling. We thank her and wish her well.”
WWE has a full schedule for events this weekend. We’ll be looking for reports on Friday from the WWE house show in Calgary (Kane vs. Bray Wyatt plus Wyatt Family, Dean Ambrose, Chris Jericho, Dudleys, Paige and Natalya) and NXT shows in Nashville and Lakeland, FL.
NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING AT 9 P.M. FRIDAY NIGHT ON AXS TV
CMLL LIVE FROM ARENA MEXICO ON FRIDAY NIGHT AT 9:30 P.M. EASTERN AT www.ClaroSports.com
LEGACY FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIPS ON FRIDAY NIGHT IN HINCKLEY, MINN. ON AXS TV AT 10 P.M. EASTERN
R’Mandell Cameron vs. Derek Getzel
Kuchlong Kuchlong vs Nate Richardson
Chase Waldon vs. Justin Winkels-Comparetto
Antonio Trocoli vs. Jacob Volkmann
Brock Larson vs. Travis Coyle
Ricardo Lucas Ramos vs. Manuel Vazquez for the vacant bantamweight title
Saturday has WWE shows in San Jose (Roman Reigns vs. Rusev, Brock Lesnar vs. Alberto Del Rio plus A.J. Styles, New Day, Usos and Big Show), Penticiton, BC (Kane vs. Bray Wyatt plus Wyatt Family, Dean Ambrose, Chris Jericho, Dudleys, Paige and Natalya) and NXT shows in Indianapolis and Bartow, FL. ROH will be doing a major TV taping in Nashville at the Municipal Auditorium on Saturday night featuring the semifinals and finals of the Top Prospect tournament, a seven team gauntlet for a future tag team title shot with Young Bucks, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly, Trent Baretta & Rocky Romero and four other teams, Briscoes vs. ACH & Alex Shelley, Dalton Castle vs Christopher Daniels, Adam Cole vs. Matt Sydal plus Jay Lethal, Roderick Strong, War Machine, Frankie Kazarian, Cedric Alexander, Moose, B.J. Whitmer, Adam Page, Caprice Coleman, Will Ferrera, Cheeseburger, ODB Amber Gallows, Mandy Leon, Veda Scott, Taeler Hendrix, Kelly Klein, Hania the Huntress and Sumie Sakai.
UFC ON SATURDAY NIGHT ON FS 1 FROM THE MGM GARDEN ARENA IN LAS VEGAS
Fight Pass at 7 p.m. Eastern
Arten Lobov vs. Alex White
Mike Jackson vs. Mickey Gall – winner to face C.M. Punk in June
FS 1 at 8 p.m.
Noad Lahat vs. Diego Rivas
Ray Borg vs. Justin Scoggins
Damian Grabowski vs. Derrick Lewis
K.J. Noons vs. Josh Burkman
Mike Pyle vs. Sean Spencer
Misha Cirkunov vs. Alex Nicholson
Joseph Benavidez vs. Zach Makovsky
Rafael Feijao Cavalcante vs. Ovince Saint Preux
Jared Rosholt vs. Roy Nelson
Johny Hendricks vs. Stephen Thompson
WWE has only one show on Sunday, from Abbotsford, BC (Roman Reigns vs. Rusev).
Raw will be Monday in Seattle. Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are scheduled on the show.
Smackdown and Main Event will be taped on Tuesday in Portland, OR. Chris Jericho vs. A.J. Styles is on the show.
If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our new Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!
The new double issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter looks at Bret Hart’s battle with cancer, his discussions about it, and updates on the situation. The most detailed coverage of the last month of Lucha Underground’s second season, backstage news, season three, lots of business notes. Full coverage of all the Ultima Lucha 2 matches and direction. Nakamura’s final day with NJPW, where Nakamura and New Japan go now, his background and building the IC title, the next two New Japan PPV shows to this weekend’s biggest event.
Fast Lane and WrestleMania, what’s up with Undertaker, WWE injury updates, the next WWE Network special, Licensing issue with new WWE signees, notes on the next NXT Takeover show, a look at all the TV building the next Takeover show, who led to a huge increase in demand for WWE tickets, next WWE show in Madison Square Garden update, Nakamura updates, WWE performer wants to compete in the Olympics and what former pro wrestler went back to the Olympics to medal, Lesnar’s schedule, Tough Enough winner starts out, Other Tough Enough competitors start out, change in Rumble plans, New WWE Network series based on wrestling matches, new WWE movie, WWE’s tour of Germany this coming week, more on The Rock’s segment on Raw.
A detailed look at the Awesome Kong-Reby Hardy situation in Manchester, England. Benson Henderson’s decision to leave UFC for Bellator and take a championship fight, why he made the decision, what both Dana White and Henderson said. We look at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s last major event and where it’s storylines are going.
A huge look at the life and career of Archie “The Stomper” Gouldie, one of the most memorable wrestling characters of his generation, stories about him, his gimmick, how big a star he was in his heyday, his incredibly long career title history, how he was two very different successful characters, and his most famous angles and biggest bouts. We also have a lot of comments from people who knew him, including how he changed the life and career of J.J. Dillon. The life and career of the original Espectrito, the best heel mini of his generation including when he main evented the Los Angeles Sports Arena, a rarity for a mini.
We also look at Saturday’s UFC , what’s next for the winners, thoughts on Sage Northcutt, as well as business notes on the show and match-by-match coverage.
You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer
For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to [email protected] For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today. With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today.
– In addition to Bull Dempsey being cut from NXT earlier today, Storm Wrestling Academy alum Sylvester LeFort (the former French Stallion from World Of Hurt and a longtime favorite of this site), Marcus Louis and Oscar Vasquez were also also cut from NXT Friday. LeFort tweeted a picture of himself, Louis and Dempsey saying “Thank you brothers”.
– In even more injury news, although not a WWE injury for once, Davey Richards has an ACL injury. That certainly will keep him out of in-ring action for the foreseeable future.
Also, on the Twittersphere, Scott Jorgenson posted these 2 words “Free Agent”. So, it seems he has been released from his UFC contract. Jorgensen has been with the company since they absorbed WEC at the end of 2010 and had a record of 4-8 in 12 fight there, having lost 6 of his last 7.
Fight Network will air the live UFC Fight Night: Hendricks vs. Thompson prelims in Canada at 8 p.m. ET. The main card airs live on TSN1 and TSN5 at 10 p.m. ET.
Bellator has added Goiti Yamauchi vs Bubba Jenkins to Bellator 151. Already on the card is Michael Page vs Fernando Gonzalez and the main-event Joe Warren vs Darrion Caldwell. The event will take place on March 4th in Thackerville, Oklahoma and broadcast on Spike TV.
ONE Championships announced their next event for Feb 20th in Jakarta, Indonesia. Main event will be Rafael Silva (40-15) against Luis Santos (61-9-1). Silva was scheduled to fight for a British promotion on the same day so I guess that fight is off. Santos had a no contest against Ben Askren last year and then missed weight for their rematch. According to the press release, the fight will take place at the same Welterweight class that Santos last missed weight at, although Silva usually fights at middleweight.
Jake Shields is not happy with WSOF for pulling him from a scheduled fight for their vacant 170 lb title. Shields had lost a fight with Rousimar Palhares for the title and was scheduled to fight Jon Fitch for the same belt after Palhares was suspended for 2 years and stripped of the belt. Fitch is now scheduled to face Joao Zeferino for the belt. Zeferino recently fought in their Lightweight tourney, losing in the tournament final to Brian Foster, which apparently qualifies him for a shot at the 170 lb title in the company that employs Chael Sonnen. The fight takes place in April but WSOF has yet to announce a date or location.
Former Pride and Elite XC star Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett returns to action tomorrow on GFL.TV show available on iPPV against Terrell Hobbs on a show called Elite Warrior Challenge 9 : Takeover. Former TUF finalist Matt Van Buren faces Derrick Weaver in the show’s main event
MISC
Sports Cards & Collectibles – Jimmy Hart (wrestling icon and singer from the 1960s band The Gentrys) will sign during two of our spring dates in May including the Frontier Field show (on the 14th from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. and NOT the 15th as previously noted).
On July 24th, 2016 at 5pm – Smash Wrestling and Chikara collide for one incredible night of action!
Inside The Rope Live & UNCENSORED! with SCOTT STEINER: Monday 21st March – The Garage, Highbury, LONDON; Tuesday 22nd March – The Comedy Store, MANCHESTER; Wednesday 23rd March – The Classic Grand, GLASGOW; Thursday 24th March – The Empire, BELFAST;
Highspots Wrestling Network, a division of Highspots.com, a recently added a channel to the Roku. They are offering a free 7 day trial at Highspots Wrestling Network
Awesome Kong was sent home yesterday from the TNA tapings in the U.K. after a backstage incident involving Reby Hardy, the wife of Matt Hardy.
TNA confirmed the incident with a statement by John Gaburick, stating, “Prior to the Impact Wrestling TV tapings at the Manchester Arena, Kia Stevens (Awesome Kong) was involved in an incident involving Rebecca Hardy (Reby Sky). Subsequently, Kia was removed from the tour and returned to the United States. The matter is being reviewed to determine if additional disciplinary action will be taken.”
According to sources in TNA, an argument had started between the two over some things that happened several years ago. PW Insider reported that as being a 2013 Kayfabe Commentaries DVD during a segment labeled “The Ho Bag,” where Kong knocked Hardy, which was taken from Sky making comments on Twitter about Sid Vicious missing an independent date. Hardy later had words about Kong in a Q&A when asked about Kong’s statements on the DVD, saying they even texted back and forth and if she still has a problem, she labeled it as being fake to her face and talking behind her back.
Kong then got mad at Hardy for dressing in the womens’ dressing room. Kong wanted her to apologize. She left, and that Kong went after her and was restrained.
Kong has had a number of incidents including an attack of Bubba the Love Sponge when Bubba said “F*** Haiti” on a radio broadcast, and a social media video where Kong compared working in TNA to slavery. She was eventually one of the first major signings of Paul Levesque in WWE, but got pregnant very quickly after debuting on television. She had publicly talked about giving birth, although later admitted it was a hoax and she had lost the child. After being let go by WWE, which was not aware of the hoax at the time, she returned to TNA.
At this time, we don’t have additional details, but we have learned that TNA’s Awesome Kong was sent home from the U.K. tour due to a physical dressing room altercation with Reby Hardy. Here’s the full results from Friday’s tapings.
These matches have been announced for the Saturday tapings in London at SSE Wembley:
TNA Champion Matt Hardy vs. Ethan Carter III cage match
Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode
Eric Young & Bram vs. Roode & James Storm cage match
Velvet Sky & Gail Kim & Madison Rayne vs. Jade & Marti Bell & Rebel cage match
Last week, Aries beat Anderson in a fantastic match to advance in the series and also take Anderson out of it. Mandrews debuted a new skater/surfer gimmick, and surfed on Tigre Uno’s back. His Johnny Ace cosplay didn’t help him though, as Uno won the match. Manik beat DJZ with a funky GTS, and in the main event, EC3 beat Lashley thanks to cheating. It was a very filler-heavy episode of the show, and quite skippable outside of the Aries match. The show begins with a recap of last week’s events and we’ll see Uno face DJZ, while the main event is Awesome Kong against Gail Kim.
Storm faces Abyss, and Robbie E faces Matt Hardy tonight. Robbie E comes down in the background while Josh talks about how Group Champions “is being called the toughest group to get out of”, and offers up no explanation as to who is saying this. Pope rambles about how his prophecies come true and we get an EC3 promo after last week’s show. Robbie E should logically be in the ring and we get a recap of the rankings for Team Tag Team Specialists. Robbie’s intro is finally over, leading to Matt’s. Pope says that Matt should get a Wrestletarium award – okey dokey.
Matt Hardy vs. Robbie E
They start things off with some mat wrestling before Matt throws Robbie’s head into the buckle. Robbie counters the bulldog and lands some corner shots. Josh recaps the Robbie E vs. Robbie G rivalry and Matt trips Robbie up on the apron. Robbie avoids being tossed into the buckle on the apron, and kicks Matt before hitting a somersault dive off the apron. Matt’s trapped against the apron and eats a big lariat. Pope buries Robbie E’s old gimmick like he was Leif Cassidy or Avatar and praises him for getting extreme. In what way has he become extreme? Kudos on the horrible Al Snow gimmick bashing, but they did at least give Snow a WWF gig. Robbie goes up top and gets snapmared down. Pope mentions the Wrestletarian award and tells Josh to trademark that. Well, given how WWE swooped in and got “Four Horesweomen”, might as well.
Big flying Hart Attack hits for Robbie. Matt gets the splash mountain powerbomb for 2 – he hasn’t busted that out for many years. Robbie avoids Matt’s weird movements before the Twist to hit the Boom Drop for 2. Matt hits a second Side Effect and Robbie pops up into a Twist of Fate for the win. This was pretty fun – Matt is dong surprisingly well in singles matches and he and Robbie shake hands and hug after the match. Josh tells us to update our leaderboards at home – as if anyone on Earth is doing that. Gail is interviewed about losing to Brooke in the series, and she says that Brooke was better that night – and tonight, she’s coming for Kong.
We get a recap of Robbie vs. Matt and Matt cuts a post-match promo about how Robbie E has grown. Robbie says he doesn’t feel like a loser because he earned respect and he’s becoming more serious. Matt is interrupted by Grado, who wants a selfie. Matt does the V1-AAAAHHH bit and blocks Grado’s face. Well, that was a thing. Grado comes down while the commentary is drowned out by Pope talking about Game of War and Drew Galloway. Josh puts Grado over as “one of the top 32 competitors in the World Title Series” of 32 competitors. Poor Grado. We get a Galloway hype video.
Drew Galloway vs. Grado
Grado cradles Drew for 2, and Drew just can’t lift him up because he’s too fat – so he hulks up and chucks him. Drew chops him big-time in the corner and Drew eats an accidental low blow a little later while Grado asks the ref to “check his bollocks”. Drew fights back with more chops and a big overhead belly to belly suplex for 2. Drew wants him to fire back, so he does and he plants him in the corner for the cannonball! Drew gets locked into a tree of woe, which leads to a German suplex and he then preps the foot for the Sick Kick/Claymore for the win. We get a history lesson on Gail vs. Kong – with clips of Gail beating Kong for the title at Final Resolution 2008. We then see a far too long recap of the Storm, Abyss, and Shera storyline. Aiden ‘O Shea is out to face Crazzy Steve in one of the more random matches we’ve seen on Impact in a while. Aiden is apparently from Chicago, and comes to the ring in a wifebeater and slacks.
Crazzy Steve vs. Aiden O’Shea
Crazzy Steve starts the match shaking his ass to O’Shea’s theme. Josh brings up that Aiden is from Chicago and of Irish descent, and Aiden steals his horn and plays keep away with it. Steve gets a jawbreaker and GETS THE HORN. The horn is blown into Aiden’s ears and shocks him, but he lands a solid punch to get the lead. Aiden tosses him into the buckle and pounces him down to the mat. Steve attacks the hand on the floor, but Aiden hits him with He Used to Call it the Boom Stick lariat for the win. Abyss cuts a promo on Storm and we see a Storm vs. Abyss hype video showing Storm’s title win and some of Abyss’s title wins. Jeff Hardy DVD ad.
We get clips of Kong vs. Gail from earlier this year on Impact, with Kong beating Gail with a counter-to-center ring Awesome bomb. Recap of Drew beating Grado earlier and we get a subtitled promo from Grado backstage. Pope and Josh talk for a bit about the World Title Series while Storm comes out to face Abyss, who is already in the ring. Storm talks about he and Abyss being one of the four guys left in TNA who have been in TNA since day one – giving fans some great entertainment. Storm tells Abyss to do the smart thing and let him win by countout – if Storm’s smart, why doesn’t he just ask for a win via pinfall to get more points? Abyss tells Storm that he’s still the Monster and refuses. Storm is in his weird orange camo gear that never needs to be seen again.
James Storm vs. Abyss
They start a clubbering and Storm lands a superkick to the gut, but Abyss gains control quickly for an ad break. WWE 2K16 ad. When we come back, Storm slams Abyss into the steps. Storm hops off the steps into a chokeslam setup, but he shoves Abyss into the post. Storm brings a chair in and Earl takes it while the fans chant for tables. The chair is put in the corner and they fight over a corner shot, but neither hits it. Storm lands some corner punches and eats the chair. Abyss gets a splash and gets 2. They plug Earl Hebner’s Hall of Fame T-shirt, which they somehow felt was something anyone would want to spend money on. Pope says “that is available, indeed”. Abyss brings his implement of death Janice into the ring, but it gets stuck in the buckle. Storm hits him with a cowbell for 2. So to recap, you can bring a chair into the ring in TNA, and a board with nails in it – but no cowbells. They fight up top and Storm gets a sunset bomb and a big flying elbow for 2. Abyss gets a chokeslam for 2. Storm takes a swig and spits it at Abyss, who is blinded and eats two superkicks for the win. They recap the World Champions group, which sees EY have zero points.
Recap of Storm vs. Abyss and O’Shea vs. Steve. Shera will face Kenny King next week and we get a JB interview with Shera. He says he’ll win the title and make his friends, family, and country proud. JB is excited to announce the India tour and Shera says that he’ll return home as World Champion. Pope puts over the Shera Shake dance craze. Brooke faces Madison Rayne next week as well. Next week, we’ll see a Jeff Hardy interview about the BFG main event – and we see a little clip of him saying seeing his brother hold the title win in their home state with his family was the best. We get a recap video of an Eric Young vs. Robert Roode rivalry. I’ve forgotten about any issue they’ve had recently, so this is actually a good thing. We see their history over the past year and are told they’ll face off next week in the World Title Series. Tigre Uno comes out to face DJZ.
DJZ vs. Tigre Uno
Uno starts this off with a quick legdrop and armbar. A hammerlock leads to Josh being buried by Pope for not calling the action. Josh responds by saying he just wants to see Pope do it so he can fail. Is Josh supposed to be a babyface? DJZ lands a corner kick and hits a corner rana. DJZ flips around and eats a spinkick. Josh says the X division is like playing a video game, which Pope confirms. Uno goes for a hopping something or other and gets necksnapped on the rope. DJZ lands a tilt-a-whirl headscissors into the steps. Josh says that a win here means that DJZ can make a valid case to get an X Title shot just by beating the champion – excellent point there. DJZ gets some shoulder thrusts in the corner and lands some forearms with Uno perched up top.
Uno counters a superplex, but leaps into a dropkick to the ribs for 2. Uno goes for his wacky pop-up DDT, which is countered. Uno gets a spinkick and a baseball slide kick. Orno rolls around and then…stops before doing a tornado dive. Uno gets a springboard dropkick a pop-up rana for 2. DJZ hits a running spinning rana and gets shotgun knees to the spine. Pope implies it’s Vintage Elijah Burke, but forgives Josh for not watching TNA before he came into the company. Boy is this a bizarre commentary team. DJZ finally lands his goofy DDT for the win. We get a highlight reel of Gail vs. Kong from BFG set to epic music – it actually makes it seem like a good match, so they did their job here. Gail comes down and Josh says the champions don’t have their championship titles because they don’t want any distractions while going after the World title.
Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong
Gail tries to roll away from Kong, but gets shoved into the corner. Gail attacks the shoulder and lands some forearms before just getting clubbed down for a break. We come back to Kong tossing Gail’s leg on the mat before locking on a camel clutch. Gail goes for a handspring headscissor, but Kong flipped her around and hit a lariat. Kong lands a Mongolian chop and locks on a sleeper. Gail escapes and kicks away, but gets leg tripped by Kong. Gail locks on the standing Octopus stretch, but gets kryptonite krunched out of it. It gets 2 and Gail sends her to the floor and gets a flipping senton to the floor.
Gail gets a combination armbar/choke on the mat. Kong escapes, but eats a series of kicks. Josh announces that we have five minutes left in the match. Kong goes for a chokeslam, but gets DDT’d out of it. Gail lands some leg kicks and dropkicks, and gets 2 off a crossbody. Kong counters Eat Defeat, but goes for a powerbomb and eats a cradle for a loss. They had a pretty good match here, but nothing on the show topped anything Aries has done so far. Next week’s Davey vs. Eddie match has the potential to be quite good – as does Roode vs. EY. To see every screen taken for the show, just click here.
