EVOLVE closed out its two-show weekend in New York with EVOLVE 83 taking place in Brooklyn on Sunday night. Here are the results:
– Ethan Page defeated Austin Theory with the Spinning Dwayne.
Page hit his finisher out of nowhere to get the pin, but this was a decisive victory for him. He only came out with one Gatekeeper (Blaster McMassive) after the other one (Flex Rumblecrunch) was written off on Saturday and posted that he’s leaving pro wrestling due to injuries taking their toll.
Theory has aided Darby Allin in his feud against Page, including getting involved in their last man standing match at EVOLVE 82. Allin is out of action for a while after a shovel shot fractured his elbow in that match. Priscilla Kelly once again came out to ringside here, though her intentions weren’t made any more clear.
– Stokely Hathaway and Tracy Williams made their way to the ring for a special announcement. Williams said that Catch Point always spends more time talking and bickering than fighting, and that management wasn’t his strong suit. Hathaway then announced that, as of today, he will be representing Catch Point.
That brought out Fred Yehi, Chris Dickinson, and Jaka. Yehi said this wasn’t what he signed up for and quit the stable, while Dickinson and Jaka agreed to stay on. Dickinson mentioned that he was still with the group as long as it remained about competition. Williams said that it was as the two agreed to face off.
– Tracy Williams defeated Chris Dickinson by making him submit to the crossface.
Dickinson had the advantage following a striking sequence near the finish. He connected with an enzuigiri and went for a springboard until Williams caught him in a crossface and submitted him. They did the Catch Point handshake after it was over, while Jaka called out ACH for the next match.
– Jaka defeated ACH after hitting a tiger bomb.
ACH taking the loss here was surprising, though it was probably the right call. It wouldn’t have made much sense for both Jaka and Dickinson to lose after winning the EVOLVE tag titles on Saturday. They had a good back and forth match as neither was able to stay on top for long. ACH seemed to be going for a brainbuster, but Jaka was able to get out of it and hit the tiger bomb for the win.
– Keith Lee defeated David Starr with a powerslam.
While these two definitely have a better match in them, this connected with the crowd as much as anything else on the show and was really good. Lee controlled most of the match and got a needed win. Starr did well the few times he was on offense, with the crowd giving him a good ovation and chanting “Please come back.”
– Kyle O’Reilly defeated Fred Yehi by submission as he locked in an armbar.
They were clearly trying to have a great match and mostly delivered. It may have come off even better with a crowd that was more responsive. They predictably utilized a lot of striking and mat wrestling, with Yehi being presented as nearly equal to O’Reilly. He evaded O’Reilly’s armbar attempts until getting hit with a brainbuster and being unable to fight it off any longer.
– EVOLVE Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Lio Rush to retain his title after trapping Rush in a pin.
Rush was able to wrestle with Sabre early until the champion took over. Rush was finally able to make a comeback and get some momentum towards the end. He got a big near fall off of a standing Spanish fly and a frog splash, then mostly stayed on offense until Sabre trapped him in a pin to retain in a really good match.
Page and the remaining Gatekeeper walked out to the stage after the match was over. Page mentioned Sabre ending the other Gatekeeper’s career at EVOLVE 82. He said that he could have brought him out with a sling, but fired him instead. A new Gatekeeper then debuted and tried to attack Sabre. Both Gatekeepers ended up laying out Sabre as Page said that he was going to take his title next month.
– WWN Champion Matt Riddle defeated Drew Galloway in an I Quit match to retain his title after Galloway gave up while Riddle had the Bromission applied.
The stipulation predictably didn’t help here. Riddle took a lot of damage, including a short piledriver, three Future Shock DDTs in succession, and a Future Shock DDT on a chair but wouldn’t give up. Galloway grabbed a rope from under the ring, tied Riddle’s arms behind his back in the ring ropes, and started punching him.
Riddle refused to give up, with Galloway turning his attention to the referee to continue the storyline that he believed there was a conspiracy against him. Riddle kicked Galloway and the referee untied him. Galloway later got a sledgehammer from under the ring and low blowed Riddle when he tried to stop him from using it. Galloway again turned his attention to the referee, then Riddle locked in the Bromission to win.
Williams, Dickinson, Jaka, and Hathaway had watched most of the match from the stage. They entered the ring when it was over to ask if Riddle was with them. He laughed at Hathaway and said that he wasn’t before being attacked from behind by Galloway. Hathaway told Riddle that he was getting what he deserved as the members of Catch Point left. Galloway once again got the sledgehammer, but Keith Lee made the save.
Hathaway was in Lee’s face when Lee pushed him into a Bro to Sleep from Riddle. Lee and Riddle fist-bumped to end the show after Lee placed the WWN title on Riddle’s shoulder to make it known that he had his sights set on the championship.
McIntyre had his first match in WWE since being released in 2014 at tonight’s post-WrestleMania weekend NXT television tapings at Full Sail University. He took on Oney Lorcan and won the match after hitting his Claymore kick. He used generic rock music for his entrance theme instead of his old WWE music.
After the match, McIntyre cut a promo saying that NXT is where he wants to be and that he’s there to win the NXT Championship.
McIntyre returned to WWE last Saturday, where he was shown in the front row prior to the Bobby Roode vs. Shinsuke Nakamura main event at TakeOver. He confirmed in an interview with ESPN shortly after that he had re-signed with WWE and would be starting with NXT soon.
The return comes after McIntyre had a successful run on the indies and in TNA as Drew Galloway (which is his real name) after being released. He announced in February that he wouldn’t be signing a new contract with TNA.
After appearing on camera at NXT TakeOver: Orlando, Drew Galloway is headed back to WWE.
Galloway was shown sitting in the audience at TakeOver and was identified as Drew McIntyre, which was formerly his in-ring name when he was with WWE, shortly before the NXT Championship main event between Bobby Roode and Shinsuke Nakamura began. On commentary, Tom Phillips then asked what McIntyre was doing there.
His placement in the front row seemed to indicate a return to WWE, and Galloway confirmed in an interview with ESPN that he has re-signed with the company and will be coming to NXT.
Galloway was scheduled to be involved in an elimination match to crown the first WWN Champion at the WWN EVOLVE vs. PROGRESS Supershow on Saturday night, but was laid out by Keith Lee early in the show.
As part of a round of roster cuts, Galloway was originally released by WWE in the summer of 2014. He went on to shine on the indies and became a regular in TNA until announcing in February that he wouldn’t be signing a new contract with the promotion.
The prolonged contract situation with three of TNA’s biggest names is coming to a head this week.
Drew Galloway announced on Twitter Sunday that he was not signing a new contract and was done with the promotion. TNA had only contacted him about a new deal in the last week or so, and he said that while TNA did try hard to make a deal in the last week and make things right, he had already made up his mind not to sign. They did go back-and-forth with talks until yesterday.
Galloway is expected to continue working with groups like WhatCulture, ICW, and EVOLVE, as well as other promotions in the U.K and around the world. He noted he made up his mind about not staying when it came close to his deal expiring and he hadn’t been contacted, and thus had made decisions about his future that didn’t include TNA.
The situation with Matt & Jeff Hardy remains up in the air. As noted in the current issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, they are not taking any independent dates after May at this point, but have also told promoters that they have worked for in the past that could change.
As of right now, they may or may not be at the TNA tapings which start on Thursday. As of now, they have not signed a new deal but they are still in talks with the company.
In both cases, TNA was looking for exclusive deals, but the Hardys and Galloway are doing well right now booking their own independent dates.
That goes without saying given the state of, well, pretty much everything in the world. But the professional wrestling business has rapidly changed alongside everything else, with EVOLVE at the forefront of so many of those changes.
The company has furthered its relationship with WWE in that time period, even to the point where it once felt like they were an unofficial developmental territory. A new relationship was later formed with FloSlam as EVOLVE traded in its in-house options to become the featured product of the new streaming service.
So much talent has come and gone in that year-plus. Johnny Gargano moved on from his role as the face of EVOLVE to a full-time position as one of the better parts of NXT with Tommaso Ciampa. Chris Hero made an unlikely return to NXT and once again took the name Kassius Ohno. Drew Gulak, TJ Perkins, Tony Nese, and Cedric Alexander joined the WWE roster as featured players on 205 Live after the Cruiserweight Classic.
It seemed like the only thing that hadn’t changed since Timothy Thatcher won the EVOLVE title on July 10th, 2015 was that he remained the promotion’s champion. That ended on Saturday night at EVOLVE 79.
Zack Sabre Jr. became the new EVOLVE Champion as he submitted Thatcher in front of a lively crowd at La Boom in Queens, New York. The nearly-excellent match was one of the best of Thatcher’s largely lackluster reign. The audience played its part in a way that they hadn’t done in most previous defenses and Thatcher himself was better in this match too. He embraced being a heel better than he ever has in EVOLVE and seemed to play to the reaction that he was getting.
The crowd was desperate for the title switch, both to get the championship on Sabre and to take it from Thatcher, and they finally got it when Sabre wrapped up both of Thatcher’s arms in the Octopus hold and kicked him in the head to get the submission. There may have been better moments in the past to do the championship change, but it worked well here. And the title now belongs to the person who is arguably the best worker and biggest star in the company.
Sabre had been primed to take the mantle of best unsigned wrestler in the world from Hero. The torch was even passed during Hero’s final independent wrestling match. Sabre didn’t end up joining WWE after the CWC, but he will now be making his debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling and possibly finding a long-term home there. That schedule may keep him from becoming the new face of EVOLVE and having a reign as long as his predecessor, but there are plenty of options for the next title holder.
While Thatcher attempted to continue EVOLVE tradition and hand over the championship to Sabre after prying it from a distraught Stokely Hathaway’s hands, Ethan Page blindsided Sabre to set up a potential match down the road. He was ran off by ACH, who then vowed to become the next champion.
Sabre delivered a brief speech to the crowd. He spoke out against discrimination and said that both the world and pro wrestling are for everyone. The locker room had come out to hear his speech, and Sabre last exchanged a look with Keith Lee as the show closed.
ACH will be Sabre’s first challenger at EVOLVE 80 over WrestleMania weekend in Orlando, Florida. ACH earned that opportunity by picking up a win over Jason Kincaid earlier in the night. He hit two lariats and a brainbuster before getting the pin in the opener.
On the path to an inevitable championship match, Lee also continued his momentum with a victory over “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams. Lee once again impressed, getting the win with his Ground Zero powerslam. While his victory over Sabre yesterday remains a questionable booking decision, he needed to be treated like he was nearly unstoppable after dropping his debut against Hero. And he’s added a ton of credibility with wins over two of the best wrestlers in EVOLVE since.
Aside from everything going on with the EVOLVE Championship, Saturday was a night of grudge matches. Matt Riddle got the advantage in his feud with Drew Galloway, though things between them remain far from over. Galloway had the upper hand on Riddle for most of the match. Riddle tried to make comebacks and finally transitioned a tombstone into an attempted Bromission. He couldn’t quite lock it on, but delivered a barrage of strikes as referee DA Brewer signaled for the bell and the referee stoppage without Galloway noticeably giving up.
That didn’t make Galloway happy. He tried to beat down Riddle until Catch Point stopped the attack. Larry Dallas then came out to the ring, with “The Big C” Earl Cooter as his security, to attempt to create more dysfunction within Catch Point. He announced that Riddle, Williams, and Fred Yehi would all be entrants in the multi-man elimination match for the WWN Championship at the company’s WrestleMania weekend Supershow.
Yehi went to extend the Catch Point handshake to Riddle, but he either didn’t see it or blew him off. Yehi took exception to that and called Riddle selfish because of all the times they’ve saved him without reciprocation. Riddle accepted Yehi’s challenge to a match at some point in the future, and Williams didn’t look happy with what had transpired.
The other grudge match on the show was between Page and Darby Allin. It wasn’t exactly a fair fight. Page put Allin in handcuffs early on and forced him to wrestle with his hands behind his back.
Allin used innovative offense in an attempt to work around it. He hit headbutts, a hurricanrana, and climbed up the turnbuckles without using his hands. He even took out Page’s Gatekeepers with a dropkick. But Page won with the RKEgo and a powerbomb after Allin had kicked out of a powerslam from the second rope.
It was in the aftermath of that where Page stated his desire to become EVOLVE Champion. He took the mic, mockingly telling the crowd to give it up for Allin and calling him the biggest loser in EVOLVE. He then said that he was going to take the trash out of his company and stuffed Allin into a body bag. Page said that he was the only reason that people care about Allin and told him to consider his career dead as he zipped the bag and the Gatekeepers carried Allin out.
There were problems between Yehi and another Catch Point teammate earlier in the show as well. Chris Dickinson prevailed in a four-way freestyle match over Yehi, Austin Theory, and Anthony Henry. Tensions between Yehi and Dickinson were more competitive than hostile, but Dickinson pinned Theory with a Border Toss as Yehi had the Koji clutch locked on Henry.
The match was fun and had constant action. Priscilla Kelly again appeared at ringside after being present for Allin’s match last night, though her intentions weren’t clarified here either.
Dickinson & Jaka remain on track to challenge Williams & Yehi for their tag titles, but Jaka wasn’t as successful as his partner on Saturday. He worked with Jeff Cobb as both men tried to show their power. They no sold a series of German suplexes at one point until Cobb finally got the advantage with his strength, hitting the Tour of the Islands to win a really good match.
Final Thoughts —
This should end up being one of EVOLVE’s best shows of the year. Every match was good, with the only minor complaint being that nothing was definitively excellent. It had the pacing that the promotion’s best show’s usually have. There were constant good matches for over two hours. The crowd and building in Queens also seem to enhance every EVOLVE show that is held there.
Thatcher losing the championship will make this a memorable show. His reign received justifiable criticism and went on for far too long, but the crowd was desperate for the title switch on Saturday and gave it the reaction it deserved.
EVOLVE will be back on March 30th in Orlando. Most of what WWN puts out during WrestleMania weekend is usually a highlight of one of the busiest periods for wrestling and this year should be no different.
EVOLVE 79 results —
Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Timothy Thatcher to win the EVOLVE Championship
Matt Riddle defeated Drew Galloway
Ethan Page defeated Darby Allin
Keith Lee defeated Tracy Williams
Jeff Cobb defeated Jaka
Chris Dickinson defeated Austin Theory, Anthony Henry, and Fred Yehi in a four-way freestyle match
At a press conference for 5* Wrestling in Dundee this morning, ahead of the promotion’s 2017 return in the city, Drew Galloway announced that the upcoming show — on January 28th at the Dundee Ice Arena — will be broadcast live on Spike TV in the United Kingdom.
The channel has been around for 18 months, and mostly broadcasts content from Spike US and the UK Channel 5, which has broadcast wrestling in the past — most notably WCW Worldwide in 1999. The show will only air in the UK and is intended to kick-start a series. Kurt Angle will be on color commentary for at least the first show.
5* Wrestling ran three shows early last year, using some big imported names (including AJ Styles in some of his last independent dates before signing with WWE) alongside the top British talent available to them. The footage they filmed last time out was intended to be used in a video game, but things went very quiet on that front.
Their return this month — Dundee is the only announced date so far — has Galloway, along with John Hennigan, Rey Mysterio Jr., Jay Lethal, Carlito, and PJ Black in the lineup, with the poster also featuring homegrown stars Jimmy Havoc and Joe Hendry, as well as Martin Stone (working the WWE UK Championship tournament this weekend), and Joe Coffey and Zack Gibson (who were both a part of the World Of Sport tapings).
Taped on January 5th after the almost live Impact for this coming Thursday’s show —
– Aron Rex & Rockstar Spud debuted their new act and did an angle to set up a match with Robbie E.
– Braxton Sutter defeated Mike Bennett
– There was an angle to set up a Monster’s Ball title match with Rosemary defending against Jade.
– Matt & Jeff Hardy defeated Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards to retain their tag team titles
More for upcoming Impacts taped on January 6th before the One Night Only PPV —
– Aron Rex & Spud defeated Robbie E & Swoggle (formerly Hornswoggle)
– Abyss & Crazzy Steve defeated Bram & Eddie Kingston via DQ when James Storm laid out Abyss.
And taped on January 7th for both the January 12th and 19th television shows —
– A briefcase battle royal type match. This may be the Feast or Famine gimmick but that isn’t 100 percent, but Eli Drake, Trevor Lee, the DCC, and Jeff Hardy all got briefcases.
– Bobby Lashley defeated EC3 in a last man standing match. So Lashley will get another title shot against Edwards.
– Brooke (the return of Brooke Tessmacher) defeated Deonna Purrazzo. Sienna laid out Brooke after the match.
– Drew Galloway defeated Moose to win the Grand Championship
– DJZ defended the X Division title over Andrew Everett, Trevor Lee, Caleb Konley, and Marshe Rockett. Lee injured DJZ after the match to set them up as a singles match.
– There was a segment taped with Lashley and Edwards with the result that their title match, which will probably be taped today, is a 30-minute Iron Man match.
Drew Galloway is officially one of wrestling’s true jetsetters.
He works for TNA and EVOLVE n the U.S. and mainly for ICW in Scotland/UK. Just prior to this conversation, Galloway had crossed the Atlantic four times in the previous two weeks to work with the aforementioned companies.
Adding to all of this: a neck injury that has kept him on the shelf but saw him jump off the shelf this past weekend for ICW’s major Fear And Loathing IX event in Glasgow, Scotland — the biggest non-WWE show in the region in 34 years.
In this Q&A, Drew and I spoke at length about his love of ICW, how he has seen it grow since their first show in front of 60 people 10 years ago, his injury and just how close he was to something major going wrong, his hopes for ICW, TNA and more.
This interview was done prior to his appearance for ICW this past weekend, which fans can catch on demand.
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Do you even have time for jet lag anymore?
Drew Galloway: I try to squeeze sleep in there. I think I’m the only wrestler in the world that travels a lot that has some sort of travelling narcolepsy. I’m able to sleep on every flight and as soon as I hit a bedroom, I can just close my eyes and go straight to sleep, which is definitely helpful. I had the first five weeks I’ve had off in my life when I got hurt, just sitting on the couch – I went a little crazy during that – but the last couple of weeks, I’ve been back and forth and into the old routine. Getting back into it again was pretty interesting. I don’t even remember how I did it in the past, but I’m starting to get used to it again.
How the neck is these days?
Yeah, it’s grand. Technically, it’s my upper back rather than my neck. I was dropped on my neck, but thankfully it was my upper back (which got injured) and thankfully, there was no nerve issues or any disc problems or anything like that. So it was just a case of getting a couple of hairlines to heal and I’m back exactly the way I was before. I was very lucky – I never had any effects from it or any pain – or any issues at all to be honest. I was very surprised.
I was very worried when it happened. I felt how I landed and heard noises I’d never heard before. I thought ‘This is going to be bad.’ When I went and picked up the MRIs, the doctor explained that it isn’t ideal, but I was very, very lucky. He said I’d be back within 6-to-8 weeks, but it’s going to be 10 weeks (by the time I wrestle again) because he just wanted to make 100% sure that I’m 100% better and back the way I was before and with no chance of anything getting hurt again which is good news.
I’ve been going a little crazy and hitting the gym the past couple of weeks doing the rehab and strengthening exercises. It’s good to be back at that and I’m excited to get back in the ring.
You were on the first ICW show some ten years ago and now here we are in 2016 with the biggest non-WWE UK show ever. How surreal is it for you to see how far the company has come?
It’s incredible. Just the UK scene in general, is. When I first started – I’ve said it a million times – I travelled 12 hours to FWA to learn to wrestle because basically there only was the FWA and (NWA) Hammerlock. Then a few of us started the Scottish wrestling scene and I helped train a few guys. Basically, All Star Wrestling was the only full time place – and, as I say, FWA, Hammerlock and Irish Whip Wrestling – so myself and Sheamus and Wade Barrett would work together to get better because there wasn’t any other way to try to get better, besides working for All Star – which I did every Easter and Summer holiday. Then I came back 8 years later and see how it is now…
With ICW, as you said, I was the first champion and there were about 60 people at the show. It didn’t get much better in the few shows we did before I left! Coming back to ICW as the first place (after my WWE release) and having 1500 people that loud and crazy and seeing the talent and the roster that travelled places together in the UK, and seeing the wealth of talent that now exists and the incredible companies and seeing ICW grow…
My first big show was against (Jack) Jester at The Barrowlands – we got 2000 people at that show. Fast forward one year later with myself and Grado for the title when I’d gone heel at The SECC, we got 4000 people which was the British record at the time. Now, we’re breaking our own record this year. It’s absolutely insane when you think about it.
When I came back (to ICW) and said all the big things I said – that after the BBC documentary this small company could completely take over the world – I truly believed that, because I know (Mark) Dallas’ mind and I’ve seen the talent and believe in the talent and I know what I can add to the picture. Just to watch it all unfold…..Thank God I wasn’t wrong. Because as far as the world was concerned, there wasn’t much stuff they were saying (other than) “These guys are going to take over the world? We’ll see about that!” And sure enough, we have! Because I know Mark Dallas and I know the company.
ICW in particular has really gone from strength to strength. Is that due to everybody pulling in the same direction from the top down?
Absolutely. If you notice when it comes to ICW – and it’s the same with a few British companies – they don’t use many international talents. There’s maybe one or two who come in for a special reason, like some former ECW guys, what with the comparisons with ICW and ECW. Rhyno came in and wrestled myself when I was ICW Champion – he was the last ECW champion – and he endorsed ICW as the similar spirit and similar feel of ECW, which was a pretty cool moment having that match with himself.
ICW is generally ICW guys – that’s what’s grown the company. There’s so few guys who come in. You can consider me an import, but I am from Scotland and I’m an ICW guy. That’s the extent of me being an import. You’ve got Finn Balor coming back (for the show); he’s somebody who came whenever he could and loved working there and is part of the ICW legacy that helped it get to where it’s at today. We’re generally the same guys that have been there the whole time, and that’s pretty incredible that we didn’t have to rely on bringing in all these big names along the way. We’ve had certain guys on big shows who do get brought in, but generally they’re brought in for the reason that they fit the ICW mould, fit what ICW is about, and not just a random name brought in. It’s pretty cool.
How important is it that ICW bases it on the homegrown talent and continues to grow it from there?
I think that’s essential and it’s what ICW has done. That’s what’s got ICW to where it is – we’re one big family. We’ve all grown up together. A lot of the guys, I was gone when a lot of them came in, but I’ve got to know them well over the past couple of years. Everybody gets along with everybody, everybody helps everybody, everybody knows their character and adds to the show. Everybody brings something different and that’s the best part about it. The bigger shows, as you say, we bring in a couple of extra people to bring in some new eyes that don’t know ICW – and there’s not many eyes in Scotland that don’t know about ICW now. When anybody is brought in, it’s generally an ex-ECW guy or somebody that knows what ICW is all about.
Apart from the fact that your TNA and Evolve schedule allows it, what has kept you coming back?
Of all the places I was gone from when I was in WWE, ICW was the first place I wanted to come back to. (Apart from) my friend running the company and my best friends wrestled for the company, it was a company I really believed in.
It’s incredible being there. It was already on fire – and would have got their on its own, I’m sure – but it feels really to have come in and helped to put it on that worldwide stage and get more eyes on it to show the wealth of talent. Now, we all walk beside each other. If I got some eyes on the company, then we’re all walking side by side now. Every single person adds something to the show. There’s not one person on that roster that doesn’t deserve to be on the roster. I’m so proud every time I come back to see it getting bigger and bigger.
Myself and (Mark) Dallas are the original guys of Scottish wrestling. I met him when I was 14 before I even went to England to begin to train. We spoke online and we found somebody we could learn from and we were like “Finally we’re going to learn!” The first person in Scottish wrestling I ever met was Mark Dallas. We’re both able now to be doing this together, and at this level. It’s just ridiculous that 17 years ago when we were both 14 years old… it’s absolutely insane when you think about it just how far it’s come. It’s ridiculous – obscene might even be the word!
We’ve seen that ICW has grown from 60 people to what we saw this weekend. Where do you think the company can go from here?
The sky’s the limit. We had the big Barrowlands show, and then Dallas said “We’re going to the SECC next.” I was like “Really? We’re happy enough that we had 2000 at the Barrowlands, that was pretty good!” Then we did it and we sold out and had over 4000 paid.
Last year, he said “Next year we’re going to do The Hydro – the big one!” I went “What?” I should learn not to question him at this point.
I keep seeing things happening and happening. When I first came back, I had all these big ideas, but I didn’t quite see how far things could possibly go, which just shows how well wrestling is doing and how much the guys in ICW have captured the imagination. I’m living in fantasy land right now, and to be able to play a part in it is unreal.
I think it shows just how influential it is in the UK, that after they announced they were going to The Hydro that – as if by magic – the WWE decided to take their tapings there. You kind of think “Yeah, we see what’s going on here.” But it just shows to me the influence that ICW – and the UK scene – is having right across the world, not just within our own shores.
Oh yeah. They’re not silly – I’m sure they’ve heard of ICW, there’s a lot of people watching it all the time. In Scotland, there’s this crazy fan base – people will travel from England to go to (WWE) TV – it’s not far. The way I look at it is that when they show up there and see all these billboards for the ICW show, they might not have known about it. And all these people handing out flyers for the ICW show, they might not have known about it. Finn Balor was on the ICW show, which is obviously WWE’s doing, so it’s only going to benefit it (ICW) and bring more people to the show.
I had heard that when Noam (Dar) made his Raw debut recently that there were so many loud ICW chants that they turned down the crowd noise because they were afraid of the crowd noise hijacking the show.
For them to debut him in his home country and in his home wrestling town, if you like….It was the same for myself when I was in WWE and we came to Glasgow, no matter what role I was playing I was always greeted me with a huge reaction. Even when I was IC Champion and I was wrestling Matt Hardy, they told me to cut a heel promo – and I tried my best – they booed the things I said, which were blatant bad guy things, but they still cheered for me because we’re from Scotland, we’re very proud.
We’re a small country and when someone does something we’re going to get behind them. So to watch Noam make his WWE debut on Monday Night Raw, on TV finally when it had been talked about “What’s happening with Noam?” he comes out in front of his home crowd, in Glasgow, with so many fans of the home company (ICW) there, they’re going to show him respect to him and to the company that helped make his name by chanting “ICW” is such a cool thing.
Watching all of the videos – I was out of town travelling, but people were tagging me in all of the videos – everyone was chanting “ICW” at him and he had his moment , which was very, very cool. I’m very happy for him.
Now that you’re back and healthy again, what does the future hold for you both here in ICW and across in TNA?
Things are obviously looking settled in the TNA department, so we’ll get to the New Year and the tapings will begin. TV wise and whatever was going on backstage, I can’t do anything about, the guys can’t do anything about – that stuff happens and it’s just a shame about it being so public.
Show wise, everybody has finally started giving the show a chance, and it’s getting such good feedback and people are very positive. So many guys left, and so many guys were given opportunities to step up – and they did step up. People like myself were moved into World title positions, and I was given that chance to show what I could do. People that weren’t really being used were given new characters to see what they could do and Decay was created and Eli Drake was given a more prominent chance to shine.
And then, Matt came up with this ridiculous character that took over the wrestling world. People who just wanted to see the Final Deletion got to see the rest of the show. The storylines and characters and everything have been flowing so smoothly over the last few months it would be tragic if the company went away. It’s beyond the guys on the roster’s control.
The UK scene really is the talk of the industry at the minute. Why do you think we have always developed such fundamentally sound wrestlers who are connecting with wrestlers around the world?
I honestly couldn’t put my finger on it. A lot of people these days when I talk to them think like me when I was starting. They’re so determined to do it and a lot of the guys who back in the day had to go out of their way, like myself, to learn to wrestle, started going back to the wrestling school and showing what I could show and what I was learning to help develop the next generation.
There were so many passionate people who were passionate about doing wrestling. It seemed like such an American thing, such a far, out of reach thing for a lot people, who wouldn’t pursue it the way myself, Sheamus and Wade pursued it. it seemed unattainable and once they saw all of us get signed at the same time it probably started seeming like “It’s not such an American thing, it’s something that I could do also!”
And the guys who were training kept showing other people the ropes and kept pushing them to get better and as guys were travelling the world and coming back and showing what they had learned, then over time it started building and building, and the talent level got higher and the guys were learning from people around the world and now people know it can be done.
There are so many guys that have been signed and gone to America or gone to Japan and are making a living outside of WWE and it’s incredible that the UK is the number 1 scene, as far as I’m concerned, because the audiences make such a difference over here in the UK. The crowds are so loud and passionate, and there are so many of them, it’s really, really cool.
To watch it all happen, and everything’s on fire right now in the UK – it is number 1. Be it in the ring and learning to wrestle, or being in the crowd, it is the most passionate place in the world.
Galloway, who suffered a neck injury in September when he was dropped badly on his head, and hasn’t been able to wrestle since, formally announced that he would be missing his November 11th date in London, England, where he was to face Tomoaki Honma on a joint show with New Japan and Revolution Pro Wrestling, which was actually a pretty big deal because he’d be seen by New Japan officials, and his November 12th date in EVOLVE where he was to headline the show in Queens, NY, against Matt Riddle.
Galloway is scheduled to appear on the ICW’s November 20th Fear and Loathing show in Glasgow which will be the largest attended U.K.-based promotion show since 1981 at the SSE Hydro. He will be back to a regular schedule starting on November 16th.
“Have some good and not so good news yesterday speaking with the Doctor treating me. Good news is that I will be back to 100 percent and the injury that occurred will have zero affect on me in the future, the bad news is he wants me to wait the full recommended recovery time to ensure, with my physical style in the ring, I will be fully recovered.”
“This will cause me to be unable to compete in my Rev Pro match with Honma I was very much looking forward to, and the Matt Riddle match at Evolve (which will happen ASAP and I guarantee will blow the roof off). I will, however, be at all the shows so come say what’s up and I’ll be back in the ring within a few weeks. Thank you all for your concern and support.”
UPDATE: WWE has given Tommy End permission to work the EVOLVE shows on November 12th in Queens, NY and November 13th in Joppa, MD to replace Galloway. However they are not allowing the End matches to stream on FloSports.
Previously on Impact: Last week on Impact, Bobby Lashley vacated the King of the Mountain and X Division titles but remains the TNA World Heavyweight Champion. Also, The Hardy Boys won a four team Ascension to Hell ladder match to become the number one contenders for the TNA World Tag Team Championship.
Tonight on Impact: Tonight’s show has been dubbed “Turning Point.” In the main event, Ethan Carter III defends his Bound for Glory title shot against Drew Galloway with Aron Rex as the special guest referee. Additionally, Impact will feature a Battle Royal with the winner getting a shot at the TNA World Championship.
Show Recap —
– EC3 and Galloway meet on top of a hotel near the pool for a “summit.” They’re going to have some drinks and hash out their problems.
– Lashley makes his way to the ring and joins Josh Mathews on commentary. The Pope leaves for a “coffee break.”
“The Miracle” Mike Bennett won a Battle Royal
The order of eliminations was: Baron Dax, Mahabali Shera, Robbie E., Basile Baraka, Grado, Eli Drake, Jesse Godderz, Moose, and Eddie Edwards.
Miracle and Moose double teamed Edwards until he made a comeback. Edwards went for a hurricanrana but Moose blocked it and tried dumping him out of the ring. Edwards held on, but Miracle snuck up from behind and dumped out both men to pick up the win and earn a shot at the TNA World Championship.
– Next, we get an infomercial for “The Fixer” Tyrus.
– Backstage, Moose was irate over Miracle double-crossing him but Bennett put the blame on Edwards.
– Broken Matt Hardy came out to the ring. He started to talk about the tag title shot contract but was interrupted by Jeff Hardy. Jeff said that he’s here to fight for himself and the creatures. They were then interrupted by Decay.
Matt said the he knows which member of Decay abducted King Maxel in his premonition and he’ll eat that person tonight. Matt challenged any member of Decay to face Jeff. Abyss agreed and Jeff gave him a sliding dropkick.
Abyss defeated “Brother Nero” Jeff Hardy
Jeff set up for the swanton bomb but Matt told him not to. Instead, Jeff hit a crossbody on Crazzy Steve and rolled him in the ring. Steve accidentally spit mist into Abyss’ eyes but Jeff only got a near fall with a twist of fate.
Matt revealed that it was Steve in his premonition abducting Maxel, so Matt started to bite Steve’s ear. Rosemary spit mist into Jeff’s eyes and Abyss scored the pin after the Black Hole Slam.
Post-match, Matt blamed Jeff’s loss on trying to do high-risk moves. Matt tells Jeff he needs to embrace being broken.
– In the back, Maria and Knockouts Champion Sienna were mad at Allie because Maria didn’t know about Sienna’s upcoming title defense. They ran into Billy Corgan who informed Sienna her match was next and might be against more than one person.
– Backstage, The Miracle and Lashley argued about next week’s title match. Miracle told Lashley to worry about next week but Lashley told him to worry about Moose.
Allie defeated Madison Rayne, Marti Bell, Jade, and Knockouts Champion Sienna to win the championship
Sienna and Allie worked together but Allie didn’t know what she was doing. Maria came down to ringside mid-match.
Finish of the match saw Jade hit the package piledriver on Madison Rayne. Marti Bell took out Jade. Bell and Allie fought over the baton and accidentally hit Sienna. Bell hit Allie with the baton and she landed on top of Rayne. Jade dropkicked Bell and the referee counted the pin. Allie is the new Knockouts Champion. Maria and Sienna were shocked.
– Backstage, Allie was overcome with joy after her victory and title win. The interviewer asked her what Maria is going to think and Allie was suddenly stressed out.
– We return to EC3 and Galloway drinking shots by the pool. They discuss the problems they’ve had. The conversation is intercut with recaps of the events that have transpired between them.
They work things out and look forward to facing each other. The segment ends with Galloway shoving EC3 into the pool. But despite that, they’re friends who respect each other.
– Moose is leaving the arena when Lashley drives by. Lashley continues to create problems between Moose and Miracle. Lashley gives Moose a card and invites him to dinner.
Facts of Life with Eli Drake
The guests are DJ Z, Braxton Sutter, Trevor Lee, Andrew Everett, Rockstar Spud, and Mandrews. Next week they’ll be fighting for the vacant X Division title. They all took turns talking on the mic.
Drake brought up that none of them are on the same level as former champion Lashley. DJ Z got in Drake’s face and promised to beat Lashley. They all ended up brawling, but it ended when DJ Z jumped over Drake and dove onto the rest of the guys on the floor.
Ethan Carter III defeated Drew Galloway w/ Aron Rex as the special guest referee
This was a really good competitive match. Aron Rex was a legit referee in this match and played no role in the match besides his referee duties. Galloway countered out of the One Percenter into a tombstone piledriver.
Galloway set up for the future shock DDT, but EC3 rolled him up for the pin and got the win. EC3 will challenge for the TNA World Championship at Bound For Glory.
After EC3 left, Rex applauded Galloway for his effort. Galloway snapped and turned on Rex by hitting him with a headbutt. Galloway beat Rex all over ringside and bashed his head repeatedly into the ring steps. Impact ended with Rex knocked out and Galloway walking away.
Next Week on Impact: Bobby Lashley will defend the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against “The Miracle” Mike Bennett. Also, Impact will feature an Ultimate X gauntlet match to crown a new X Division Champion.
The crowd at Melrose Memorial Hall looked a little bit less than 75% full with floor seating totally occupied except for a few sold tickets that didn’t make it. The general admission seating had more seats taken than were empty.
– Cedric Alexander defeated Tommaso Ciampa
The untold story of this match was that these are two guys that Ring of Honor really mishandled and missed out on. Tommaso Ciampa bet on himself when he left ROH in 2015 and it proved to be the right decision for him. He has since traveled the world having some incredible matches and is now finishing up his final indie dates before becoming a full member of the NXT roster.
Cedric Alexander left ROH earlier this year and it already seems to be paying off. He, along with Ciampa, is a participant in the WWE’s Cruiserweight Classic and caught a lot of people’s attention even on the debut episode.
This was a CWC Spotlight match and it used the same presentation as that tournament. Both guys had the rules of the match explained to them and shook hands before it started. And both guys met in the center of the ring after it ended with the winner having his hand raised.
The match started off with a lot of comedy, largely based around their appearances in the CWC. They joked about being television stars and working the hard cam. The comedy probably went on for a bit too long, but the crowd was into it throughout.
Both guys were really over and this was the right choice for the opener. Alexander might have gotten the bigger reaction. He is noticeably in the best shape of his life after having to cut weight for the CWC.
Ciampa’s strikes looked devastating and he hit a couple of big knees on the outside. The match went for nearly 20 minutes and really started to pick up near the end. Both men got big near falls with Alexander kicking out of Project Ciampa and Ciampa kicking out of a brainbuster.
There was some excellent back and forth near the end with both guys going for pins. Alexander eventually won with the lumbar check.
– Ethan Page defeated Travis “Flip” Gordon
Ethan Page destroyed Travis Gordon in a short squash match, eventually getting the win with a powerbomb followed by a package piledriver.
Page got on the microphone and said that EVOLVE will be returning to New England. He started talking about the show’s Johnny Gargano vs. Drew Galloway main event. Page has been trying to regain Gargano’s trust after previously turning on him, but Gargano has been reluctant to accept the idea that Page has changed.
Galloway hit the ring to attack Page and cut a promo. It was noteworthy that Gargano didn’t make the save.
– Matthew Riddle defeated Marty Scurll
Getting to see both of these guys live for the first time was one of the main reasons I was convinced to attend this show.
It was pretty incredible to see how over both Marty Scurll and Zack Sabre Jr. were with the crowd.
And it really speaks to the global nature of wrestling in 2016 when guys can walk into unfamiliar buildings and get treated like they’re the biggest stars in the world. Sabre Jr. has done some work in Massachusetts for Beyond Wrestling (who ran a show earlier in the day) but Scurll has never worked in the state before.
It is impossible to undersell just how smoothly Matthew Riddle has transitioned from mixed martial arts to professional wrestling. And it’s frightening to think of how good Riddle already is with room for even more improvement.
Riddle only made his professional debut in 2015 after training with the Monster Factory, and few wrestlers have ever become as good as he is in such a short period of time.
If Riddle were only good inside of the ring it wouldn’t be that surprising. He’s from a combat sports background and is an incredible athlete. But the adeptness he already has for the performance side of the business is mind-blowing. He already has a defined character that works for him and gets a great reaction from the crowd.
The actual match was really good, though the dynamic didn’t totally work. The crowd desperately wanted to cheer Scurll and boo Riddle, but Scurll did a lot of heel crowd work messing with the fans.
There was a really good sequence that ended with Riddle hitting his fisherman’s buster. Scurll kept trying to lock in the chickenwing with Riddle able to escape. They traded piledrivers with Scurll hitting a traditional one and Riddle hitting a jumping Tombstone. Riddle was able to get Scurll to tap to the Bromission for the win.
– Catch Point (Drew Gulak, “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams, & Fred Yehi) defeated Chris Dickinson, Jonathan Gresham, & Darby Allin
This was a Catch Point tryout match and whoever got the win for the opposing team would earn a spot in the group. This led to tension on the other team, especially between Chris Dickinson and Jonathan Gresham. Darby Allin went for a tag but Gresham stole it from Dickinson. The two later went at it and Dickinson took out Gresham.
Allin was taped up after taking a brutal looking unprotected bump to the outside on last night’s show, but it seemed to be him mostly playing up the injuries as he hit another dive in this match.
There was a scary moment in the match when Tracy Williams did a dive to the outside and smashed his head on the guardrail. He was bleeding really badly and EVOLVE officials had to go check on him. He appeared to be fine after, but had a huge gash on the back of his head.
Drew Gulak tapped out Gresham for the win. Catch Point is great when they work aggressively and they did for most of this match. Dickinson also looked good with his usual stiff offense.
After the match, Gulak cut a promo and called Riddle out to the ring. There was some tension between Riddle and the rest of Catch Point with him not in their corner for the last match. All of the members of Catch Point are vying for Timothy Thatcher’s EVOLVE title, but Riddle seems to care more about his individual success than the success of the group.
Thatcher and Stokely Hathaway came out next. This led to a big pull apart brawl and the start of our next match.
– EVOLVE Champion Timothy Thatcher defeated TJ Perkins (w/ Stokely Hathaway, Drew Gulak, & Fred Yehi) to retain his title
This started out pretty hot but ultimately fizzled. Thatcher’s EVOLVE title reign has been a bit of a disappointment, though the current angle with Catch Point is a lot of fun. They did a lot of work on the mat before Thatcher got a surprising pin in a pretty flat finish.
Thatcher set his sights on Catch Point after the match, with Hathaway running away after Thatcher had broken his thumb the night prior.
– Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Tony Nese
This was another CWC Spotlight match that again borrowed the tournament’s presentation. Zack Sabre Jr. got what was likely the biggest reaction since the start of the show and the crowd was totally behind him.
Though this wasn’t close to the best Sabre Jr. match I’ve ever seen, it was the best performance I’ve seen from Tony Nese. They meshed really well and everything Nese did looked really good.
The match started with the standard Sabre Jr. grappling sequences before picking up. Watching Sabre Jr. live is something that has to be seen. Sabre Jr. hit a pair of Penalty Kicks, including one on the floor. He caught Nese in a really cool looking submission after Nese jumped off of the top.
Nese felt his way into the match towards the end. He missed a 450, which allowed Sabre Jr. to get him in a bridging pin for the win. This was the match of the night so far.
– Drew Galloway defeated Johnny Gargano
Tremendous aggression by both men from the start. They worked the grudge match exactly how they should have. Gargano started the match out hot with a series of knee strikes on the apron. He got Galloway wrapped in the apron and teed of on him before Galloway was able to escape. The crowd was behind Gargano big, with a smattering of support for Galloway.
Gargano showed amazing heart in the match. He was able to hit his spear through the ropes and got Galloway in the Gargano Escape, but Galloway was able to stay on offense for most of it. Gargano kicked out of Galloway’s DDT and two tombstone piledrivers before Galloway hit a big jumping tombstone for the win. This felt like it was comfortably the best match of the night by the end of it.
Galloway again got on the microphone after the match. He continued ranting against EVOLVE management for their relationship with WWE. Galloway commended Gargano’s heart but said that he had to end him now.
Page came out for the save and hit the RKEgo on Galloway before chasing him off. Page tried to cheer up Gargano after the match, but Gargano still wouldn’t trust him. Gargano looked totally crushed after losing.
Page tried to get Gargano to send the crowd home happy, but Gargano wasn’t able to. Gargano walked to the back still looking completely dejected as the fans chanted “Johnny Wrestling” at him.
Page did his best Gargano impression after the match asking fans if they enjoyed the show. He said that not only will EVOLVE be returning to New England, but they’ll be returning to the same building in December.
There isn’t a promotion on the planet I enjoy more than EVOLVE right now and this show was only one of many really fun events they’ve produced this year. There wasn’t anything that will be in consideration for Match of the Year, but it was a good card from top to bottom.
EVOLVE really thrives on how complete their shows are and the roster has tremendous depth on their most loaded cards.
There will likely be some roster attrition after some of the talents are fully signed by the WWE after the CWC, and it will be interesting to see how EVOLVE makes up for those losses.
On Wednesday, EVOLVE announced their talent lineups for their summer shows. While all of the matches aren’t officially set, there are a few put in place.
EVOLVE 64 Saturday, July 16th | Queens, NY | 4 PM EST (show will be over by time WWE at MSG begins)
– EVOLVE Champion Timothy Thatcher vs. Marty Scurll
– EVOLVE Tag Team Champions Drew Gulak & Tracy Williams
– Johnny Gargano
– Drew Galloway
– Zack Sabre Jr.
– TJP with Stokely Hathaway
– Matt Riddle
– Ethan Page
– Fred Yehi
– Cedric Alexander
– Tony Nese…and more.
EVOLVE 65 Sunday, July 17th | Melrose, MA | 7 PM EST
– EVOLVE Champion Timothy Thatcher vs. TJP with Stokely Hathaway
– EVOLVE Tag Team Champions Drew Gulak & Tracy Williams
– Johnny Gargano
– Drew Galloway
– Zack Sabre Jr.
– Marty Scurll
– Matt Riddle
– Ethan Page
– Fred Yehi
– Cedric Alexander
– Tony Nese…and more.
EVOLVE 66 Saturday, August 19th | Joppa, MD | 8 PM EST
– EVOLVE Champion Timothy Thatcher vs. Matt Riddle — no holds barred
– Cody Rhodes vs. Johnny Gargano
– EVOLVE Tag Team Champions Drew Gulak & Tracy Williams
– Zack Sabre Jr.
– Marty Scurll
– TJP with Stokely Hathaway
– Tony Nese
– Cedric Alexander
– Ethan Page
– Fred Yehi
– Peter Kaasa…and more.
EVOLVE 67 Saturday, August 20th | Brooklyn, NY | 3pm EDT (show will be over by the time NXT starts)
– EVOLVE Champion Timothy Thatcher vs. Drew Gulak
– Tommy End vs. Matt Riddle
– Cody Rhodes
– Drew Galloway
– Chris Hero
– Tracy Williams
– Zack Sabre Jr.
– Marty Scurll
– TJP with Stokely Hathaway
– Cedric Alexander
– Ethan Page
– Fred Yehi
– Peter Kaasa…and more.
Here’s a video recap of their last two events if you’re not familiar with the product:
For the first time since October 2015, TNA Wrestling returns to world of pay-per-view with Slammiversary, the 12th such event in company history and the sixth held in Orlando, FL. The show is available on most major cable providers, as well as FITE.tv.
We’re looking for your thoughts on the show, so you can send a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected].
For the second straight year, Drew Galloway finds himself in the main event as last year, he was involved in the King of the Mountain title five way. This year, he defends his title against a game challenger in Bobby Lashley who is looking to regain the title. Also on the show, the Hardy brothers do battle in a Full Metal Mayhem match and all of the organization’s titles are on the line.
X-DIVISION CHAMPION TREVOR LEE VS. EDDIE EDWARDS VS. DJ ZEMA ION VS. ANDREW EVERETT
This match was one big move after another — too much for the crowd at some times and getting them back in it for others. The finish saw Edwards win the title pinning Lee with an inside cradle as Lee went for his fisherman buster. Good opener. Gregory Helms was kicked out from ringside at the beginning after coming out with both Lee and Everett. Everett did a springboard twisting dive, took a backdrop onto the ring steps, and also did a super Frankensteiner off the top rope.
– EC 3 interview. He put over that Bennett was the first guy to pin him but that was a catalyst for becoming the best wrestler. Carter tried to get the fans to sing his song and only a few did.
– They showed a clip of Dixie Carter announcing Sting for the TNA Hall of Fame in 2012. They announced that the 2016 inductee would be on TV Tuesday night.
BARON DAX & BASILLE BARACKA (w/AL SNOW) VS. MAHABALI SHERA & GRADO
The match was really bad. The finish saw Dax have Shera over his knee like a backbreaker, and Baracka coming off the middle rope with a Bret Hart forearm. Snow uses a whistle as his gimmick which didn’t work 26 years ago with John Tolos and is only slightly better now. Snow’s gimmick is he wants wrestling to be great again. This match wasn’t a good example of that. Dax & Baracka are the former Marcus Louis & Sylvester Lefort from NXT with Lefort now sporting a shaved head.
– Gail Kim and Maria Kanellis are going back-and-forth in the back as they were supposed to wrestle but Kanellis has a broken hand. Kim said Kanellis is a liar, and said she’s wrestling with a bad knee. Billy Corgan is out as William Corgan. He said he’s got the X-rays and the hand was broken. Corgan, at first, seemed to be playing heel as he was wearing sunglasses. He showed the X-ray and said that the minute Maria is cleared, Gail will get the match. Maria said her hand may never heal and she may never be able. Corgan announced a triple-threat match with Sienna vs. Jade vs. Gail Kim for the Knockouts title and it’s starting…right now.
JADE VS. GAIL KIM VS. SIENNA FOR THE KNOCKOUTS TITLE
Another bad match. Gail had Sienna pinned with Eat Defeat but Allie pulled Kim’s leg. Kim attacked Allie and then went after Maria. Allie threw the belt in to Sienna but Marti Bell jumped in. Bell then turned on Jade and hit her with a cane, leading to Sienna pinning her. They did more than the prior match but the crowd wasn’t much into it and they tried cool moves but most of the stuff didn’t look crisp.
Jeremy Borash interviewed Bobby Lashley. He made Borash announce him as the new world champion.
JAMES STORM VS. BRAXTON SUTTER
Storm did an interview saying he’s been at every Slammiversary. He said 14 years ago a man gave punk kids like he, Abyss and A.J. Styles a chance. Storm said that people said he’d never make it. Fans were chanting Orlando. He said there’s a lot of guys who need an opportunity because 14 years ago, nobody knew James Storm.
This was a short and perfectly professional match that the crowd didn’t care about because they don’t know Sutter (the former Pepper Parks). Sutter survived both a backstabber and codebreaker, but was pinned after a superkick which was the one move that didn’t look good. Storm then drank beer with Sutter after the match. It felt like Storm was going to take him under his wing and then, one will turn on the other.
– Eli Drake interview with Borash. Drake is a really good promo. He called Bram a cross-eyed halfwit, and that Eli Drake is perpetual bad assery.
– They showed a clip of Dixie Carter inducting Kurt Angle into the Hall of Fame. With the exception of Earl Hebner, everyone in their Hall of Fame is gone from the company.
KING OF THE MOUNTAIN CHAMPION ELI DRAKE VS. BRAM
Not much to this at all. They did a few countout teases. The big spot was Drake giving Bram a backdrop on the floor after Bram had taken the mats off previously. Bram used a DDT, which they call the Brighter Side Of Suffering, but Drake rolled out of the ring. Drake got back in, hit a clothesline and got the pin.
– Mike Bennett interview. He said he was the best wrestler on the planet and has the hottest wife in TNA. At least the second one, you can make a good argument for.
ETHAN CARTER III VS. MIKE BENNETT
Carter won with a TKO on a chair and the One Percenter. The crowd was into it at the end, but this was a tough crowd for obvious reasons and also because most are people who don’t watch the TV and don’t know the stories. They both worked hard. Bennett kicked out of the first One Percenter. The second time, Maria threw in a chair, which distracted ref Brian Hebner so he didn’t start the count for several seconds. Bennett used his Miracle In Progress (Michinoku driver on a chair), but the ref was distracted and slow in counting. Carter kicked out of a piledriver. Not a great match, but easily the best since the opener.
– Matt Hardy did his preacher interview.
MATT HARDY VS. JEFF HARDY IN A FULL METAL MAYHEM MATCH
They did a ton of weapons. Both worked real hard. The match story is that the new Matt kept kicking out of everything including a Twist of Fate and senton as well as a Twist of Fate through a table. The finish saw Jeff come off the top rope, jumping over the post, and put Matt through a table, pinning him on the floor as it was falls count anywhere rules. Lots of ladder spots. Jeff opened a ladder that stretched from one side of the rope to the other, and Jeff put Matt through the ladder off the top. Matt powerbombed Jeff through a keyboard set up bridging the apron to the guard rail. The problem was there was little reaction to some of the insane kickouts.
– Decay interview.
TNA TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS DECAY (ABYSS & CRAZZY STEVE) VS. BROMANS (ROBBIE E & JESSIE GODDERZ)
Rosemary is in the Decay corner and Raquel in the BroMans corner. Abyss & Steve retained as Abyss gave Jessie a Black Hole Slam and then powerbombed Steve on top of him. All action, good match. Robbie & Jessie are very underrated as a team, particularly with Jessie’s athletic ability. He had Steve in the Boston crab/Adonis crab twice and Steve tapped, but the ref had mist blown in his eyes the first time and missed the tap. The second time, Abyss saved him. The women also got involved for a spot.
– Drew Galloway said he’s worked 16 years to be the world champion in the main event on PPV. He said he’s been defending this title in multiple companies, and said he tapped out Kurt Angle so he sure as hell can beat Bobby Lashley.
TNA WORLD CHAMPION DREW GALLOWAY VS. BOBBY LASHLEY — KNOCKOUT OR SUBMISSION ENDS IT
Real good match. Lashley won the title clean in the middle when Galloway passed out from a head and arm choke. They kept the shenanigans out of this one. Galloway was bleeding afer missing a running flip dive and crashing through a table. Galloway came back and used a tombstone piledriver, but he missed the running kick and Lashley hit a big punch that led to him putting on the choke. Galloway used moves like an Emerald Fusion and a sharpshooter — both on the ring steps.
We’ll talk more about this show tonight on Wrestling Observer Radio.
On Saturday, EVOLVE held one of the most talked about shows in Queens with two WWE Cruiserweight Classic qualifiers with TJP (aka TJ Perkins) and Drew Gulak winning their respective matches. The ramifications of this, and the relationship between WWE and WWNLive, will be interesting to keep up with in the future. In another shocking turn of events, EC3 (yes, the former TNA Champion) attacked Johnny Gargano in the main event and seemingly has joined another former TNA Champion Drew Galloway against the EVOLVE locker room, Triple H, NXT and more.
– Matt Riddle def Lio Rush with the cross armbreaker
Riddle tells Thatcher to come get the title. He tosses it over his shoulder, and Stokely Hathaway comes out and grabs it.
– The Bravado Brothers def Ethan Page and Chris Dickinson
Bravados pinned Dickinson after a double team Gory Special. They are made that Team Tremendous got the first Evolve tag title shot since they were the longest Open the United Gate champions. Dan Barry comes out and does some comedy to mock the Bravados. Match is made for the next Queens show, and the Bravados then beat Barry down for fun.
– WWE Cruiserweight Classic Qualifier #1: TJP def Fred Yehi after a 450 splash
– WWE Cruiserweight Classic Qualifier #2: Drew Gulak def Tracy Williams with the Gu-lock
– Marty Scurll def Zack Sabre Jr via tap out to the chicken wing
Scrull gets an Evolve title shot on July 16 in Queens. Stokely comes out and calls TJP the uncrowned champion.
– Johnny Gargano def Drew Galloway via DQ after EC3 runs into the ring and attacks Gargano. Long promo by EC3 as he buries NXT, Triple H, and even Bill DeMott. They lay waste to the Evolve locker room. Ethan Page makes the save.
***Next show is on June 10 with Gargano and TJP versus EC3 and Galloway, plus Ethan Page challenges Drew Gulak.
Here’s the results and notes from Sunday night’s TNA Impact Wrestling tapings from Orlando, FL. This was for the show that look to be airing on 5/31 and 6/7 — the latter as the go-home show for the 6/12 Slammiversary PPV:
– Matt Hardy came out with a contract for a Full Metal Mayhem (essentially a TLC match) match against Jeff Hardy. Tyrus and Rockstar Spud tried to talk Matt out of signing the contract. Somehow, this led to a ladder match where Jeff wrestled Spud & Tyrus and if they won, Jeff wouldn’t get his match with Matt.
– Jeff Hardy beat Tyrus & Spud in the handicap ladder match so Jeff vs. Matt is on for the PPV.
– Trevor Lee won an Ultimate X match over DJ Zema Ion, Eddie Edwards and Andrew Everett
– Sienna beat Madison Rayne. The winner was to get a shot at the Knockouts title held by Jade on the PPV.
– Ethan Carter III beat Matt Hardy via DQ when Mike Bennett attacked Carter.
– Basile Baracca & Baron Dax (Sylvester Lefort & Marcus Louis in NXT) & Abyss & Crazzy Steve beat Grado & Mahabali Shera & Robbie E & Jessie Godderz
– Trevor Lee beat Eddie Edwards to retain the X title.
– Ethan Carter III & Gail Kim beat Mike Bennett & Allie. Allie is Laura Dennis, the former Cherry Bomb. It was advertised as Bennett & Maria but the gimmick is that Maria always gets out of it when it’s her time to wrestle.
– There was an angle where Matt Hardy claimed Jeff was injured and their match at the PPV was off.
– TNA Champion Drew Galloway beat Matt Hardy via DQ when Bobby Lashley attacked Galloway. A ton of Willows showed up, one of which was Jeff, so the idea is that it was poetic justice as Matt had pretended to be injured weeks back and showed up as a Willow to attack Jeff.
