Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows have opened up about being asked to return to WWE after having been released from the company in 2020.
The Good Brothers appeared on After the Bell with Corey Graves and spoke about receiving a text from Paul “Triple H” Levesque during their final television taping with Impact Wrestling.
“We had done the two years in Impact, thankful to them it was a great two years there but we wanted to recharge our batteries, wanted to hit Japan pretty hard,” Gallows said. “So, we were like, let’s take this time, let’s go to Japan through the new year and then let’s make a decision on what we want to do.”
“So, we’re in Dallas and we’re doing our last match with the Motor City Machine Guns and we get a text that says, ‘Hey guys, can we talk?'”
Gallows would continue to say that the text was from Levesque.
“We still didn’t know if this was something that we could do or wanted to do or what was going to come out of it after what happened the last time. Then we got on the phone and we could feel the new vibe and how positive everything was and one thing led to another from there.”
Anderson would then speak about their history with Triple H.
“We always had a really good relationship with Triple H,” he said. “He was our guy when our contract was coming up in 2019, it was Hunter who we talked with and ended up signing a new deal with in 2019. So, we had a good relationship and I think that’s why when we got released, I held some angst.”
Anderson continued to say they didn’t speak to Triple H, aside from one brief text exchange, for two and a half years following their release. In late August, they would speak with him again after Anderson and Gallows returned from Impact’s television taping in Dallas.
“We get home and we do a facetime with Hunter, we talked, asked how the families were. We got asked if we wanted to come back, kind of talked out our issues, and said, ‘Hey, that was then, this is now, let’s push forward and go.'”
“I’m getting chills now thinking about it because I didn’t think we’d ever have that talk again. Not just the business talk, to get the personal talk out. It was nice to get all that on the table, it’s over, let’s go, now we’re going forward.”
“We still had to go back to Japan, we had to go on a 10-day tour, I had a singles match with Tanahashi. Then we had to go to England for New Japan, that was October 1 and 2 and nobody knew that we had already planned to do October 10 in New York City.”
Karl Anderson will not be defending his NEVER Openweight Championship on November 5.
NJPW had previously announced Anderson would face Hikuleo on the Battle Autumn tour stop. On WWE Raw this week, however, it was revealed that the Good Brothers will team with AJ Styles to take on Judgment Day at Crown Jewel on the same date.
In a video posted to his social media on Wednesday, Anderson says NJPW didn’t run the November 5 date by his booking agent and tag partner, Doc Gallows, first. The Good Brothers confirmed that they won’t be on the NJPW show.
“New Japan Pro Wrestling, few questions,” Gallows begins in the video. “Are we the OG Bullet Club? Yes. Are we the world-famous Good Brothers? Yes. Are we repping OC on WWE Monday Night Raw? Yes. And do all bookings still go through the Big LG when it comes to ‘Bright Lights,’ when it comes to the Good Brothers? Yes, they do.”
“You guys announced ‘Bright Lights’, ‘The Machine Gun’ Karl Anderson for a match on November 5. Guess what? We’re a little double-booked because you didn’t run it through me. So, he ain’t coming. We’re not coming unless it’s on our time.”
“New Japan Pro Wrestling, listen, I love what you’ve done for the Good Brothers through these years,” Anderson added. “But let me tell you something, I am the greatest NEVER Openweight Champion of all time. I only work when the lights are bright and November 5, we ain’t coming. We’ll come on our time. The Machine Gun will tell you when I’m coming to defend my championship.”
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson are set for their first in-ring action since returning to WWE.
WWE has announced that Gallows & Anderson will team up against the Alpha Academy (Chad Gable & Otis) on this Monday’s episode of Raw. The match comes one week after Gallows & Anderson made their WWE return.
Gallows & Anderson came back to WWE on Raw this past Monday, reuniting with AJ Styles and helping him even the odds against The Judgment Day. Styles, Gallows & Anderson brawled with Finn Balor, Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio until Judgment Day retreated.
Gallows & Anderson’s return was their first appearance for WWE since being released in April 2020.
Despite being back with WWE, Anderson is still NJPW’s NEVER Openweight Champion. He’s defending that title against Hikuleo at NJPW’s Battle Autumn show on Saturday, November 5.
Monday’s Raw is being held at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The updated lineup for the episode is listed below:
Brock Lesnar appears
United States Champion Seth Rollins defends against Matt Riddle
Dexter Lumis vs. The Miz (if Lumis wins, he gets a WWE contract)
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Alpha Academy (Chad Gable & Otis)
WWE was at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York for last night’s season premiere edition of Raw.
Multiple returns took place on the episode. The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) made their return to WWE, reuniting with AJ Styles and helping him even the odds against The Judgment Day. Brock Lesnar also came back to WWE television and cost Bobby Lashley the United States title.
An attack by Lesnar left Lashley in no condition to compete, but Lashley chose to still go on with his title match against Seth Rollins after Rollins provoked him. Rollins won the United States title with a pair of stomps.
Also on last night’s Raw, D-Generation X appeared for their 25th anniversary celebration, a new message from Bray Wyatt aired, and more.
The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) could be the latest wrestlers brought back to WWE under the Paul “Triple H” Levesque regime.
PWInsider reported on Monday that, according to multiple sources within WWE, The Good Brothers are believed to be headed back to the company. The report states that Anderson & Gallows may return to WWE Raw as soon as this month.
Dave Meltzer confirmed the story.
“Gallows, Anderson and [AJ] Styles were all spotted together yesterday in Washington, DC, likely to film something for WWE,” PWInsider wrote. Styles and The Good Brothers were formerly Bullet Club stablemates in NJPW and known as The Club together in WWE.
Styles is currently involved in a program against Finn Balor, who is someone else The Good Brothers have a history with. Balor is a member of The Judgment Day alongside Damian Priest, Rhea Ripley, and Dominik Mysterio.
The Good Brothers were released from their WWE contracts during the company’s April 2020 roster cuts.
The Good Brothers recently finished up a run with Impact Wrestling, dropping the Impact Tag Team titles to Matt Taven & Mike Bennett at a set of television tapings this August. Impact released a video last month with Anderson & Gallows saying they had business to take care of in NJPW but could return to Impact in the future.
Anderson is currently NJPW’s NEVER Openweight Champion. He retained the title against Hiroshi Tanahashi at Burning Spirit in Kobe last month.
Sports Illustrated conducted an interview with Anderson that was published on September 23. With The Good Brothers being free agents, Anderson was asked if he and Gallows could potentially reunite with Styles or Balor in WWE.
“Just like you said, never say never,” Anderson responded. “We’ve got verbally agreed upon dates with New Japan Pro-Wrestling for an extended period of time. But there’s such a built-in story with Bullet Club, and we never got to finish the story [in WWE] with AJ Styles or even Finn. There’s been a lot of things that have happened in the business, so you can never say never. Any time we can work with brothers like AJ and Finn, we’re always going to listen to that.”
For the first time since September 2019, the former Big Cass in WWE stepped into a ring, making a surprise appearance at Luke Gallows’ Lariato Pro Wrestling Saturday night in Lyons, Georgia.
Now going by The CaZXL, the 34-year-old was the mystery partner of Impact’s Hernandez as they faced off against Luke and Perry Hawx. As evident by the picture above, he arrived in fantastic shape.
Former WWE partner Enzo was also on the Lariato Pro show and retweeted a picture of the two while also retweeting a fan suggestion that Impact Wrestling sign the duo.
The road back for William Morrissey after being released by WWE in 2018 has been a winding one. Later that year, he worked for Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore and suffered a epiletic seizure while working a merchandise table at the show. He and former WWE partner Enzo made a surprise appearance at the ROH/New Japan Supershow at Madison Square Garden during WrestleMania weekend in 2019 which ended up going nowhere.
He later began a run with Northeast Wrestling that included a match against former roommate Jon Moxley. He also had a backstage incident with Joey Janela and Pat Buck at a September 2019 WrestlePro show that saw him kicked out of the building and police being called to escort him out which he later apologized for, admitting to struggling with depression.
Impact Wrestling’s Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson made their AEW debut on tonight’s Dynamite, saving Kenny Omega from an attack by Jon Moxley and aligning with Omega and The Young Bucks’ The Elite.
Gallows and Anderson’s debut came while saving Omega from an attack by Jon Moxley. The Young Bucks then joined the fray after other members of the roster tried to attack The Good Brothers and Omega.
The AEW announce team heavily pushed this as a reunion of “The Club” and “The Band,” referencing this group’s Bullet Club alliance in NJPW without mentioning Bullet Club by name.
Following Omega’s successful AEW World title defense against Rey Fenix, Jon Moxley ran in to attack the champ with a barbed wire bat. Gallows and Anderson then entered to make the save for Omega. Omega, Gallows and Anderson proceeded to beat down Moxley and an army of undercard talent that hit the ring to try to fend off the attack.
The Young Bucks then ran in, seemingly to fight off Gallows and Anderson. Instead, The Bucks hit Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr. with superkicks as they attempted to attack Omega.
Omega, Gallows and Anderson posed in the ring withe the “too sweet” Bullet Club hand signal and invited The Bucks to join. The Bucks seemed reluctant at first, but threw up the too sweet and the closing shot of the show was the five of them with their hands together in the pose.
The interpromotional angle between Impact and AEW kicked off on the December 2, 2020 Winter is Coming show. Impact executive and longtime Omega friend Don Callis helped Omega win the AEW title from Moxley on that show.
In the ensuing weeks, Omega, as well as AEW announcer Tony Schiavone and AEW President Tony Khan have appeared on Impact programming.
Prior to tonight’s debut of Gallows and Anderson, Callis had been the only Impact performer to appear on Dynamite in this interpromotional angle.
When it comes to Talk”N ShopAMania, perhaps the second time is a charm…or something like that.
The brainchild of Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and Rocky Romero returns to Fite.tv Friday night with “The Rise of The Torturer” — a follow up to their first-ever PPV which they deemed as the worst of all time.
Featuring the trio in roles from their popular podcast of the same name, the sequel is expected to feature the same level of comedy, guest stars and everything else you wouldn’t expect.
The only thing announced thus far is a Ball for A Ball match between Chad 2 Badd (Anderson) and Sex Ferguson (Gallows) with the deadler Torturer somewhere in the mix.
Our live coverage of whatever this will turn out to be kicks off at 10 PM Eastern. Get your beverages of choice and snacks ready.
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Clint Bobski (Chris Jericho) kicked it off running down the card, followed by him really running down the card after he thought the camera was off. This was his character in Southpaw Regional Wrestling. The show looks to be held in Gallows’ property like the first show.
Anderson got out of a black SUV with Romero rolling up in a kids’ Jeep Wrangler. Gallows then appeared via a puff of smoke saying he wouldn’t be outside with them. As they went to go get him, Vernon and the woman from the first show rolled out from under the ring making out.
We’re off and running.
The guys found Gallows in his bed, clad in a Goldust robe with his wife and Randall The Mannequin. He was talking in an English accent and drinking chamblis because of all the money they made on the first one.
Sex Ferguson drove up in a white pickup truck perfectly designed for him with a man (maybe his dad?) in the passenger seat. Four men with masks on appeared and attacked, kicking Ferguson in the junk.
We then went to Anderson, Romero, and CGI Gallows (seriously) at ringside ready to call the action. David Penzer is also back to handle ring announcing duties.
Rory Fox made his return after disappearing on the first show, cutting a promo with the guys talking over him and making fun of him the whole time. “Bask in my package,” he said before taking off his trunks to reveal thong underwear. Brian Myers and Swoggle (opponents on Saturday’s Impact Plus show) came out and said something relatively inaudible before Rimjob came out as Fox’s partner, equally clad in a thong.
Brian Myers and Swoggle defeated Rory Fox and Rimjob
The ref was wearing a hunter orange vest and a camoflaughe hat. The guys made fun of Myers for doing Matt Cardona’s moveset saying the would have booked him but he was trying to get into AEW. Swoggle hit an intentionally badly cut crossbody off the top for the win. They announced Myers as Cardona on his way out.
Fox turned on Rimjob with a belly to belly after the match and ran off like he did last time, getting lost. He then re-entered, complete with music, and put a leash on Rimjob as the guys laughed on commentary about there being stains on Rimjob’s underwear.
Romero interviewed Lazer as Detective Gregory Helms showed up, saying he’s investigating a murder. The body was shown right next to where the promo was being cut.
Frankie Coverdale was being introduced for a grudge match before Ball Lameman (a Paul Heyman ripoff) showed up as the advocie for Freight Train. Train then comically said “they f*cked up now” twice.
Coverdale never took off his jacket and was done up like a classic 80s jobber. Train was basically the worst wrestler intentionally, throwing offense that was laughably bad. He was out in a “I’m a Ball Lameman Guy” t-shirt.
Helms talked to the referee who was hunting.
A video package between Chavo Guerrero and Chico El Luchador aired with Guerrero challenging him to a lucha libre death match. Chico suggested they each pick their teams and we’re apparently getting this tonight.
Helms interviewed Sami Callihan and Madman Fulton who were drinking by the pool and holding hands. He then heard a noise and when he turned back around, both men were dead.
Teddy Long came out to cut a promo for Roll Undershead, a takeoff of Raw Underground. Bryce Cannon, Roman Rosell, Neil Koloff, another Russian, a “Johnny Stromboli off the sh*t” and a few other wrestlers brawled for a while. Lazer jumped out of a tree to lay everyone out. Long said it was the worst sh*t he had ever seen. Rhyno then hit a gore out of nowhere and attacked a few guys. A masked tommy Dreamer and then Justin Credible appeared and Rhyno suggested they go softcore instead of hard. They hit each other with beach toys and stuff animals before Dreamer told Rhyno to gore someone in the buffet area. Dreamer sanitized his hands and Credible laid down for the pin as everyone chanted, “You’re softcore.”
A masked man in a full body outfit appeared to lock a sleeper on Dreamer, putting him out and revealing himself to be Scott D’Amore from Impact. The other wrestlers asked why and he said because he has to sit in booking meetings with him. The guys then chanted for D’Amore to give them jobs before he walked away disgusted.
Helms was back interviewing a man in a blonde wig and a wrestler named Reptila (one of the Russians).
Noxtista (Mike Knox), Nathan Horton, Triple something and “Nature Boy” Paul Lee, playing Evolution showed up in a stretch Hummer but parked too far away. As they began their slow walk, the Triple H impersonator went to take a piss in the woods. As he came out, he spotted Mark Jindrak and ripped on the color of his suit. Jindrak said he’s an international star and speaks two languages before dropkicking Triple H.
George North vs. “Nature Boy” Paul Lee (w/ Nathan Horton and Noxtista)
Noxtista tripped when getting into the ring, a nod to a WrestleMania blunder he had that I don’t remember. The guys joked about the trademark Ric Flair has on “Whooo” and how many Os are in the trademark. They named the group Revolution, then Dickolution, and so on. Lee did a suplex on North’s neck that look like it hurt. The guys were laughing on how bad this was.
Lee had on the figure four which brought up Stump Kowalski who had a chair. They did some bad cuts again and Kowalski’s weapon changed two times. North picked up the win as he and Kowalski ran away. Noxtista then gave Lee a Batista bomb and prompted Horton to play to the crowd.
Helms was back, interviewing “Balls Deep Billy” who was on a dating app. Helms took the phone and then Billy disappeared.
This show really is something.
After an ad for a live podcast, Helms found Robert Gibson at his gimmick table and asked if he saw anything suspicious. Gibson said, “Ricky’s not here” and Helms walked away.
Lucha Death Match: Team Chico El Luchador vs. Team Chavo Guerrero Jr.
The guys kicked it to Chris Von Vliet who was in a second location in LA. It was portrayed as in a bad part of town.
Guerrero picked Watts, who had a chainsaw, El Luchador picked Alex Kozlow who came with a gun, Guerrero picked Kozlov’s mom, Luchador picked Socre, and Guerrero picked Taya Valkyrie. Guerrero asked to call a friend and the referee consulted “the rulebook” and said it was legal. He called JTG and Guerrero then picked the referee after consulting the rulebook again. Luchador picked a zombie and Guerero picked Sinn The Clown. Luchador looked around and Taylor Williamson, a comedian from America’s Got Talent who just happened to walk in.
JTG beat up Sinn, saying, “That was faster than your run in New York.” The Zombie then killed the referee before Valkyrie killed Score by ripping out his spine. Seriously. She then set her eyes on the Zombie before Kozlov took her out. His mom then tried to hit him with a belt and spank him before he jammed his thumb up her ass to take her out. Seriously. The Zombie then said he needed to pull his mask over his nose and they had a debate about how to wear a mask. Kozlov was then tossed a machine gun befor Zombie killed him too. Well, that is until Kozlov shot him. Did I really just write that?
Watts then asked who Williamson was and Watts about to beat him up, Luchador made the save. As they talked about social distancing, Guerrero appeared. They argued about if Guerrero had the coronavirus before getting into it. As Guerrero had the advantage, Kozlov’s mom and Valkyrie came in to back him up making Ric Flair jokes. JTG re-emerged and fired a bazooka at the heels. As he and Luchador celebrated, Guerrero appeared and stabbed JTG in the neck before then apparently killing Luchador with a crowbar.
It then cut to the cartoon Gallows, Anderson and Romero created as it was apparently in Luchador’s head. Jericho’s character appeared, along with Nzo, Ferguson, and Badd. They were preparing for their own street fight with wacky weapons. Luchador then got hit with a crowbar and knocked out which brought us back to the warehouse.
Williamson then killed Guerrero with a lightsaber. Everyone acted like it was real and Vilet then did a Twilight Zone-esque “Talk’nShop A Mania Zone” to finish it up.
Helms interviewed Air Paris in front of a barber shop window. Someone named “Marty” then put Helms through the window and ran away.
Ball For A Ball Match: Sex Ferguson vs. Chad 2 Badd
This was a rematch from the first PPV but the character of The Torturer (also Gallows) was part of the mix, promising to get involved somehow.
There was lots of ball shot gags, an extended sex swing spot, an attempted recreation of the Effy/Marko Stunt GCW Collective spot, and lots of guest appearances like Scott Steiner, Mr. Hughes, Virgil, Gangrel, Heath Miller dressed as Sting, Callihan and Fulton, Dave Wills (aka the “It’s real to me, dammit” guy), Robert Gibson, Gallows’ wife and Annie Cruz, and a few I’m probably forgetting.
There was also a truck spot where Ferguson’s balls were tied to a rope and Vernon backed up, rolling over his lover from earlier.
In the end, Karate Man Ethan Page appeared to summon some of those luminaries to unleash torture on both guys. Eventually, the Powers of Pain (yes, those guys) showed up to rip out both men’s balls, making the Torturer the winner.
This launched the CWO: the C*ck Torturer World Order. Yes, I just wrote that. Most of the people above are in the group and they did a promo at the end, complete with Virgil’s breadsticks.
In the credits, various others appeared to bury the show including our Bryan Alvarez, Gail Kim and husband, Ricky Morton, and porn star Julie Ann. Matt Cardona also appeared to challenge Rory Fox to a tuxedo match as their decades long rivalry continues.
Final thoughts:
Alright, then. I think you really have to be a listener of their podcast to really enjoy these shows. I love absurdist humor but I didn’t really find any of this to be that funny or entertaining. One thing that makes it hard is the audio quality as it’s difficult to hear most of the inside jokes which really make these shows worth it.
In any case, if you like weird wrestling stuff, this is for you. Keep your expectations low. Honestly, the guys wouldn’t have it any other way.
Impact Wrestling’s Tag Team titles will be on the line in a four-way match at Bound for Glory.
Impact Wrestling announced today that The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) will defend their Tag Team titles against The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows), The North (Josh Alexander & Ethan Page), and Ace Austin & Madman Fulton at Bound for Glory. The pay-per-view is taking place on Saturday, October 24.
On this week’s episode of Impact, Gallows & Anderson challenged The Motor City Machine Guns to a title match at Bound for Glory. After The North faced off with Austin & Fulton in the main event of the episode, there was a confrontation between the four teams who will be involved in the Bound for Glory Tag Team title match.
The Motor City Machine Guns became Impact Tag Team Champions by defeating The North on an episode of Impact this July. Prior to that, The North had been champions for over a year.
Impact Wrestling has also revealed that Shelley vs. Anderson vs. Alexander vs. Austin will take place at their Victory Road special on Impact Plus this Saturday.
Eric Young defending the Impact World Championship against Rich Swann and Deonna Purrazzo defending the Knockouts Championship against Kylie Rae have also been announced for Bound for Glory. Young and Purrazzo both have title defenses at Victory Road as well. Young is defending his title against Eddie Edwards, while Purrazzo is defending her title against Susie.
To promote this year’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view, “Impact Week” is coming to AXS TV in October.
The Bound for Glory go-home episode of Impact will air at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, October 20. Immediately after that, Talk’n Shop: Full Keg with The Good Brothers will air on AXS TV at 10 p.m. Eastern. It will be a special broadcast edition of Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows’ podcast.
“Join The Good Brothers as they hang out with their closest friends and welcome a few surprise guests to the special,” AXS TV wrote in a press release.
A documentary called This is Bound for Glory will premiere on AXS TV at 8 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, October 22. The documentary will also replay at 6 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, October 24. It will preview this year’s Bound for Glory PPV by going behind-the-scenes with Impact’s champions and challengers. That will include previewing Eric Young vs. Rich Swann for the Impact World Championship and Deonna Purrazzo vs. Kylie Rae for the Knockouts Championship.
Bound for Glory will begin on PPV at 8 p.m. Eastern on October 24. Leading into that, there will be a pre-show called Live Countdown to Glory on AXS TV starting at 7 p.m. Eastern. Panelists will discuss the matches for Bound for Glory, there will be a red carpet, and in-ring action will begin with the first match of the night. AXS TV hyped that there will also be more surprises for Live Countdown to Glory that are to be announced.
“IMPACT Week on AXS TV demonstrates the strength of the individual Anthem brands coming together organically under our Anthem Sports & Entertainment banner,” AXS TV General Manager Frank Tanki said. “This first year of IMPACT! on AXS TV proved that IMPACT has some of the most passionate and loyal fans in the world, and we wanted to deliver to them in a big way as we continue to grow the IMPACT brand. We worked across Anthem to create a week on AXS TV focused on providing the ultimate preview of this huge PPV event. And in addition to serving IMPACT’s fans, we are working to deliver to our affiliates and sponsors as well.”
“Thanks to AXS TV’s powerful broadcast platform, IMPACT Wrestling will deliver an unprecedented level of content heading into Bound For Glory,” IMPACT Wrestling Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore said. “IMPACT Week on AXS TV offers an incredible slate of action and entertainment, showcasing the best IMPACT has to offer. From the unpredictable and always hilarious Good Brothers, to inspiring championship profile features, there’s something for every wrestling fan to get ready for Saturday night.”
While the buys for the first Talk’N ShopAMania pay-per-view aren’t public, it apparently did well enough that Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and Rocky Romero are going to run it back this fall.
On the 700th edition of Chris Jericho’s podcast Thursday, the trio announced that the sequel will air on Friday, November 13th, and will feature a “Ball for a Ball” match between Chad 2 Badd (Anderson) and Sex Ferguson (Gallows) as the main event.
Their initial attempt at a comedic wrestling show debuted on Saturday, August 1st and featured a main event of Badd vs. Ferguson in a Boneryard match. The show was filled with gimmick matches and cameos from Enzo, the Young Bucks, Heath Miller, Rocky Romero, Chavo Guerrero, Mike and Maria Bennett, D-Lo Brown, the Rock’n’Roll Express, Swoggle, Teddy Long, The Flock, and others.
In a past interview with WrestleZone, Gallows said they intentionally left several people off the first ShopAMania in case they did a sequel. The first one was filmed in Gallows’ backyard over several long filming days in early-July and it’s assumed the sequel will also be pre-taped.
The comedic world of Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, and Rocky Romero’s popular Talk’N Shop podcast comes together in a pay-per-view event Saturday night. Talk’N Shop A Mania.
Under their Southpaw Championship Wrestling personas of Sex Ferguson (Gallows) and Chadd 2 Badd (Anderson), the two will main event in a “Boneryard Match,” a cinematic takeoff of the Boneyard match they were part of at this year’s WrestleMania.
The entire show will run 90 minutes and while no official listing of matches has been released, there will be a contract on a tree match and a social distancing battle royal. The event will filmed on Gallows’ property in Georgia between July 6-8 with an average of 14 hours a day of filming, complete with a COVID-19 station.
The event feature a slew of names from the present and past including Chico El Luchador (Romero), Heath Miller, Brian Myers, Mike Bennett, Maria Kanellis-Bennett, The Rock’n’Roll Express, Rhino, Willie Mack, D-Lo Brown, Swoggle, Teddy Long, Lodi, Sick Boy, Scott D’Amore, and more.
Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows and Rocky Romero appeared at the top of show in basically a video version of the podcast. They went out of their way to explain what this event was: for fun and to give back to the fans. Gallows did his spot-on Howard Finkel impression. Before they started, Anderson said to the fans, “Thank you for letting us do this.”
If you haven’t figured it out already, please do not expect a typical recap for this event.
Gallows, Anderson and Romero all appeared together in front of Gallows’ house and confirmed to each other that this would “really suck.”
“Oh sh*t, it’s Teddy Long!” The ex-WWE star appeared early on as, apparently, a part of the Social Distance battle royal.
David Penzer was ring announcer, standing in the ring which was set up behind Gallows’ house. It’s a beautiful backyard. Nice digs, Doc.
Next was a promo package hyping Sex Ferguson (Gallows) vs. Chad 2 Badd (Anderson) in a Boneryard Match. Anderson wore a skintight neon green singlet and did some lightning fast martial arts maneuvers while Gallows did a good hybrid Undertaker impression. The graphics for this match really felt like something from an ’80s wrestling show, down to the awkward still shots of the guys.
Chico El Luchador won a battle royal to become the first Talk’N Shop A Mania Champion
Freight Train appeared and put on his mask before getting into the ring. He eliminated Roman Riselli “or whatever his name was” according to Gallows. Chavo Guerrero showed up on commentary. Michael Bennett did a run-in. An imposter Sting appeared which I believe it was Anderson. It sounded like the guys on commentary really enjoyed Freight Train. Brian Pillman, Jr. was in last with Freight Train. Alex Koslov (of NJPW and Mexican strip club fame) did a run-in. His “bearded mother” showed up and she and Pillman teamed up to eliminate Mr. Train.
Chico El Luchador then appeared and eliminated Koslov’s bearded mom to become the first Talk’n Shop-a-Mania 24/7 champion. After the match, Koslov’s mom beat him up while he was cutting a promo.
– The next segment saw Mike Bennett show up in what I think might have been a Ford Aerostar from the ’90s and “sold” Sex Ferguson a bottle of pills, then sped off.
– Cut to ring announcer David Penzer next. He was in mid-sentence: “… and I thought Sturgis was bad.”
“Nature Boy” Paul Lee vs. Frankie Coverdale
Coverdale didn’t get an entrance though he did get a name graphic. Someone in a red Corvette with “WOOOOOO” emblazoned across the windshield drove up Gallows’ driveway. Enter” Nature Boy” Paul Lee. They cut to Maria Kanellis in a singlet posing and then another bigger girl posing in something revealing. Lee took about five minutes to get into the ring and the Talk’n Shop crew loved every second of it. This was basically a parody of an old Ric Flair vs. local jobber match. The two guys wrestled around Gallows’ backyard. Lee locked on a side headlock, then spun around and yelled “Woo!” a lot. The finish wasn’t shown and instead, we transitioned to the next match.
George North vs. Stump Kowalski
Kowalski was the total opposite of Killer Kowalski, who was really tall while North was someone pretending to be George South. Stump hit North with a 2×4 a bunch and the two brawled around the yard, around the pool, and into his house. Inside the house, they found Brian Myers (Curt Hawkins) playing with wrestling figures with Gallows’ sons, one of whom who kicked North in the chest and he collapsed onto Stump.
– Teddy Long came out next and asked Penzer for his money. Penzer didn’t have it. Long then did his “holla holla holla” catch phrase and introduced a team called the ’80s Russians. They went against the Jungle Kittens. It was about two minutes long and one of the Russians pinned a Kitten with a clothesline. The match wasn’t over yet. I guess.
Long cursed on the mic, and then Lodi, Sick Boy and “Yeti” Ron Reis came out. Reis came out in wrapped in some toilet paper but then he realized he was supposed to be doing the old WCW Flock gimmick. Lodi carried a sign that read LODI RULZ. D-Lo Brown appeared next in gym clothes. Rhino was in next in full gear and speared everyone in the ring. Brian Pillman Jr. appeared again. A Kimchee parody named Rimjob appeared. Chavo Guerrero came out riding Pepe the toy horse. He did a frog splash in the ring. “Cold Stone” Willie Mack was next out and stunned a few people. Later, he and Chavo shared beers until Mack kicked Guerrero in the stomach and stunned him, too.
Rory Fox vs. Swoggle
“Rapid Delivery” Rory Fox of MTV True Life fame was out next. He called out Matt Cardona because eleven years ago, Cardona ripped off his trunks and ruined Fox’s career. Myers came out next and called Fox a jobber.
Myers: “I’m gonna give you an opportunity, kid.”
Fox: “Opportunity? I’m 44!”
Myers: “Whatever.”
He then brought out Swoggle as a stand-in and he and Fox had a match. Swoggle ripped Fox’s trunks off to reveal Fox wearing a thong. I guess Swoggle won, because Fox immediately got out of the ring and ran into the woods.
– We saw the finish to Stump Kowalski vs. George North as Stump won after knocking him down a slide into a pool.
– Chico El Luchador was pumping iron backstage when Chavo Guerrero tried choking him during his bench press. Chico called for a ref and demanded he start a 24/7 match in the gym. Guerrero threw Chico into the sauna, hoping he’d sweat into submission. Guerrero accused Chico of being on “the gas” because he is so strong. They exchanged atomic drops before Chavo used a school boy on Chico to win the match and the title. He then told Chico he was going to “have sex all over the belt.”
Chadd 2 Badd pinned Chavo a few seconds later in the next room over to take the title.
Outside, we saw nZo, formerly Enzo Amore. Between rambling and cursing, he also said he lost money because he came to the show. He mentioned Gallows putting himself over in the main event and apologized for giving away the finish.
Pelvis Wesley (Heath Miller) and the Honky Stonk Man (Brian Myers) showed up next, and the bigger lady in the bikini from earlier in the show and another old guy “won” the contract in a tree match.
Talk N’Shop A Mania Chadd 2 Badd defeated Sex Ferguson in the Boneryard match
Penzer made an official announcement for the Boneryard Match. Badd (Anderson) was in a hearse and carried to the ring in a coffin, but the druids dropped him and he fell out. He yelled at the druids and called out Ferguson (Gallows).
A guy played acoustic guitar next and sang a song while Ferguson drove to the Boneryard in an ATV and crashed into the Boneryard. There were lots of insider jokes thrown around while they had a goofy match. The arm of AJ Styles popped up from the “grave” which was a giant pile of mulch. Rory Fox did a run-in and he was still in his thong. Maria Kanellis showed up again and she and Chad 2 Badd did a little merengue dancing before Ferguson inervened, a callback to the New Japan days.
Kanellis then told Gallows she was a mother now and then disappeared. Myers and Miller were sitting in lawn chairs watching the match giving their thoughts and the Rock’N’ Roll Express appeared to say a few choice words to Ferguson and Badd. They set up a gimmick table with photos to sign and nZo showed up. As they negotiated for a price, nZo was superkicked by Ferguson and fell through the table.
There was a flashback vignette in the middle of the match, a spoof of their experiences last year with AEW and WWE negotiations with a September 2019 graphic. The Young Bucks were in the video and they basically did a dramatization of their AEW meeting last year. After the meeting, they showed Anderson and Gallows getting texts from Triple H. They said they were “going up to NY” and the Bucks got angry and superkicked both of them and called them marks, later joking they would go to TNA anyway. Gallows and Anderson were selling and saying something about Aces & Eights.
They cut back to the match where Ferguson and Badd spoofed the Brock vs. Undertaker SummerSlam double pop-up spot. Badd grabbed Ferguson’s ears and tried burying him. Ferguson tried apologizing and asked for a babyface singles run and maybe a title before Badd buried him alive in the Boneryard.
Afterward, Ferguson had a Jason (Friday the 13th) mask on, a possible nod to The Fiend/Bray Wyatt character changes of late.
Impact Wrestling returns from Nashville, TN for tonight’s episode, main evented by the newly crowned Impact World Champion Eddie Edwards defending against Trey Miguel. Also, the in-ring debut of Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows.
Opening video recapped ECIII’s return to the promotion, Trey Miguel challenging Eddie Edwards to a title match, the developing feud between The Good Brothers and Ace Austin, and the Motor City Machine Guns defeating The North to end their record breaking reign with the tag team titles.
Impact World Champion Eddie Edwards defeated Trey Miguel to retain the title
Good opener, it started slow, but it picked up towards the end.
Collar and elbow to start the match, clean break and a bit of a stalemate until Trey went for the lucha armdrag to change the pace. Trey landed an early bulldog, rana, and dropkick combo for a quick pin attempt, and back into the headlock.
Eddie started to come back with strikes, hit an atomic drop, and over-the-head belly-to-belly to turn things around. Blue thunder bomb for a two count. Eddie continued with chops and whipping Trey from corner to corner, going for pin attempts here and there.
Trey finally found an opening to dodge Eddie’s attack and went for the comeback with a kick combo into a neckbreaker for a two count. He went for the top rope split-legged moonsault, but Eddie caught him with his knees. Trey and Eddie exchanged forearms and superkicks, ending with a Pele kick by Trey.
Back from commercial, Eddie and Trey continued to trade strikes in the middle of the ring. Trey dropped Eddie and hit a low cutter for a two count.
Trey went for the meteora, but Eddie dodged and went for the tiger driver. Trey reversed into a roll up for a two count. Eddie caught Trey with a clothesline then landed the tiger driver, getting a two count.
Eddie went for the Boston knee party, but Trey caught him with a jumping knee, sending him to the ropes. Eddie used that momentum to come back with the BKP for the win.
After the match, Eric Young came out again. Eddie called him into the ring, but Young walked away.
Josh Matthews and Madison Rayne ran down tonight’s card.
We got the debut of Wrestle House. Taya is trying to leave the house, but Rosemary turned the doors into portals to hell where Abyss was. At this point, everyone realized that this is no one’s house and that they can’t leave. Tommy Dreamer is the host since this is apparently this is his house, not the House of Hardcore though.
Deaner and XXXL got into a fight and everyone called for them to have a truce, which they obliged. Dreamer announced that the winner of Wrestle House will win one million dollars, though Rosemary told Dreamer that he knew that wasn’t true.
Everyone fought over who would be sleeping where. Acey Romero and Crazzy Steve argued over who would sleep in the ring. Suddenly, Acey and Steve were in their wrestling gear and were about to do a match.
Acey Romero defeated Crazzy Steve
Kylie Rae was the referee of the match.
Match started with Crazzy Steve telling Acey that they could share, but Acey didn’t want to and went after Steve, who managed to dodge for a bit, but eventually, Acey got a hold of him and tossed him around.
They did some comedy, making Acey run the ropes, but Acey caught Steve, hit a Bubba bomb, locked in a sleeper, and Rae called for the bell early. Taya talked some trash to Rae.
This whole thing was terrible, mainly because half of these people can’t act. Kylie Rae, Taya, and Johnny Swinger made it worth it.
Backstage, Bahh and TJP messed with Rohit Raju for not wearing a mask. Rohit told them to join him going after Chris Bey, but TJP said he was happy in the tag team division. Rohit talked him into getting into the X-Division again.
Rohit ran around looking for Chris Bey to tell him that TJP was coming after Bey’s title and that he had Bey’s back to protect him from Fallah Bahh.
Gia Miller interviewed Ace Austin and Madman Fulton. Ace said that he had problems with The Good Brothers who arrived and disrespected them.
We got a great video package about the careers of the Motor City Machine Guns.
The North cut a promo backstage. Page had nothing to say, but Alexander said that they were still the best tag team in the company’s history. They wanted their rematch against the MCMGs.
Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the Week was Beer Money, Inc vs MCMGs from Victory Road 2010.
We saw Rob Van Dam getting ready to reveal Katie Forbes new set of photographs.
We got a promo by ECIII, talking about his history, a history that he was here to destroy and start from scratch, calling his own shots. He said the old ECIII was a reflection of failure because he sold his soul to achieve those wins. He will destroy his past to carve a new future.
Moose got interviewed by Miller. Moose put himself over for defeating Fallah Bahh last week and that he would make another invitation for his TNA World title. Miller asked about ECIII, but Moose said he didn’t want to talk about him and said he wouldn’t be getting a title shot.
Heath approached Moose and asked for the invitation. Heath tried to trick Moose into saying that there was no TNA Championship, so Moose gave him the title shot.
Scott D’Amore approached Heath and told him that next week, if he wins, he gets a roster spot.
Knockout’s Champion Deonna Purrazzo defeated Kimber Lee in a non-title match.
Pretty good for the short time it got. Lee rushed Purrazzo to start the match with strikes and pushed her to the ropes, dropping her with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors, forcing Purrazzo to escape the ring to get a breather. Lee dropped her with a big boot for a two count.
Kimber Lee started going for Purrazzo’s arms with a full nelson body-scissors submission. Purrazzo started to punch herself free, and managed to stomp Lee’s elbow to incapacitate her. Purrazzo started kicking and stomping on Lee’s arm, snapping it against the ropes.
Lee locked in a desperation tarantula on the ropes to get a quick opening and dropped Purrazzo with a kick combo, but only for a two count. Kimber Lee got a bit cocky for her own good, and got into a striking battle with Purrazzo who got the last kneelift and side leg sweep. But when she went for the Fujiwara armbar, Lee reversed into a crucifix pin for a two count.
Lee went back for the strikes, but her arm was hurting. She went to the top rope, but Purrazzo pulled her off, snapped Lee’s armbar a la Pentagon Jr, locked in the Fujiwara armbar and submitted Lee for the win.
After the match, Jordynne Grace returned with her arm in a sling. She then took it off and took down Purrazzo. Grace punched Purrazzo, sending her packing. Grace still sold the arm after the fight.
Backstage, Katie Forbes stumbled upon Sami Callihan, who she thought was a fan.
We got another vignette for Brian Meyers. He really doesn’t look impressive.
We got another installment of Wrestle House, with Johnny Swinger giving Crazzy Steve a chance to be his young boy in exchange to stay with him. In another room, Cody Deaner couldn’t sleep because Cousin Jake snores. They argued about who woke up who with Jake’s snores. Dreamer was in Jake’s bed for a reason and said they’ll be wrestling in the morning.
We then saw a cartoon rooster announcing that it was morning. This is bad, really bad.
Cousin Jake defeated Cody Deaner
They started arguing about who snores more, then they pushed each other a bit. Cody offered Jake a truce, but when Jake bent over, Cody rolled him to a small package for a two count. Cody poked Jake’s eyes, went for the ten punches then hit a palm strike, but Jake recovered and hit a body block to take down Cody.
Cousin Jake hit the give’er, but Cody kicked out. Jake locked in a submission, but Cody powered up, hit a jawbreaker and hit the Dusty punches. Cody went for a tornado DDT, but Jake blocked, hit the sidewalk slam and won the match.
After the match, Cody Deaner found an RV to sleep in. I have a bad feeling this Wrestle House is going to derail the good will Impact has gained.
Ken Shamrock and Sami Callihan met backstage. Callihan wanted an explanation by Shamrock, but Ken blew him off and left. Katie Forbes told RVD that Callihan was creeping on him. RVD told Callihan to keep his distance.
Forbes then came down to the ring, along with Rob Van Dam. They’re here to promote Forbes’ new website by showing off some of her photos. When the photos showed up, Callihan hacked the video and put his face all over Forbe’s pictures. Katie had the worst acted breakdown in Impact history, while RVD tried to calm her. This was worse than Wrestle House.
Xavier and Wentz were in the treehouse. They talked about Trey not being there and being somewhat distant. Xavier invited Suicide to join them instead, but Wentz was freaking out about the mask. Suicide was smoking inside the mask. They all got high. Xavier was freaked out by Suicide and Wentz started conspirying that Suicide and Acey Romero were the same person.
Next week, TJP and Bahh vs Rohit Raju and Chris Bey, Moose vs Heath, a MCMG interview, and another Eddie Edwards open challenge.
Josh Matthews interviewed Rich Swann via Skype. Swann said he was disappointed that it took him 7 months to recover, and in one match, Eric Young took him out. He said that he will be on Impact next week to address his future.
The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) defeated Reno Scum (Luster The Legend & Adam Thornstowe)
The Good Brothers were billed from Tokyo, Japan.
Anderson and Thornstowe started the match with a collar and elbow lock up, but Adam pushed Anderson to the ropes and raked the eyes for the early advantage. Anderson recovered quickly and took down Thornstowe with a shoulder tackle. They exchanged some strikes in the corner before Anderson took down Adam again and tagged in Gallows.
Gallows punched around Thornstowe and dropped some elbows repeatedly, getting a two count. Anderson tagged in again for a double team kick combo, but at this point, Ace Austin walked out to the ramp to watch the match, distracting Gallows and Anderson. This allowed Reno Scum to cut off Anderson with the battering ram.
Reno Scum worked over Anderson with quick tags and mostly strikes. Thornstowe got a two count with a standing moonsault.
Anderson eventually managed to block a DDT from Thornstowe and hit a spinebuster, getting the opening to tag in Gallows, who took out Luster with a big boot, dropped Thornstowe with an elbow hit the magic killer on Thornstowe and picked up the win.
After the match, Ace distracted Anderson and Gallows, allowing Reno Scum to attack them, who they took out easily. Madman Fulton then emerged. Both teams brawled backstage, out of the building, and into the street as the show went off the air.
Final thoughts —
This was a bad show for Impact. The Wrestle House and the Katie Forbes angle really brought down the show that otherwise, was having good action inside the ring and some developing storylines.
There may have never been as poorly received a PPV show that featured such a high quality of in-ring performances that WWE’s Horror Show at Extreme Rules on 7/19 in Orlando.
On paper, the matches looked good. The show was booked to stay under three hours, which was a good length and removed the “too long” aspect that has plagued many WWE shows.
But people leave based on the last impression, and the Bray Wyatt vs. Braun Strowman swamp match was poorly received. Really it was awful. There were also two great matches in a row with terrible finishes, with Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins in the Eye for an Eye match and Asuka vs. Sasha Banks.
The Eye for an Eye match was the one with the most curiosity. It also had a lot of interest, as Google searches for Mysterio after losing topped 200,000, an amazing total for anything on a B show, and the same number that an entire WWE PPV show usually does, so this show doubled normal interest. Of course, doubling interest sounds good, but this is actually a great lesson.
BTE 213 featured a cameo from Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.
The show open saw Matt and Nick Jackson remembering their Bullet Club days, then “flashing back” to a 2015 meeting with Gallows and Anderson where they discussed starting their own wrestling company.
All four agreed that they were Bullet Club for life and Gallows and Anderson agreed to come with The Bucks when they started their own group.
After Matt and Nick left the room, Gallows and Anderson called Matt and Nick marks and said that they wanted to go to WWE and be famous.
They said they could not wait to team with Triple H and said there were two Pauls in the company that they looked forward to working with, spoofing their recent podcast comments where they made comments about Triple H and Paul Heyman.
Other highlights included:
Matt and Nick showed footage of their flight to Jacksonville and their trip through the airport after they arrived.
Matt and Kenny Omega discussed religion in their dressing room. Matt tried to get Kenny to join him in being “Christian AF,” but Omega said he was more interested in scientology, because “…what could be more cool than aliens and Tom Cruise?”
Alex Reynolds and John Silver were shown backstage at Dynamite. They attempted to recruit Isiah Kassidy to Dark Order but Kassidy blew them off. Then they tried to recruit Nyla Rose. Rose said she had no interest in joining their cult. They offered her Kool-Aid to drink. She accepted the Kool-Aid but drank it from a “f**k you” straw. Silver and Reynolds promised to get her.
Chris Daniels said this was the worst year ever, without a doubt.
Matt Jackson was backstage with Matt Hardy. Hardy transformed into his Big Money Matt gimmick. Matt asked Hardy to transform into another persona. Broken Matt interrupted to explain the term “heat” using broken brilliance. High Voltage Matt then broke in and wanted to go over some high spots. Broken Matt broke in and explained “blown up.”
Brandon Cutler approached Best Friends and Orange Cassidy and asked them for a bit. They promised to match the great Dark Order bit from last week. After Cutler left, they decided to murder Cutler.
Cutler showed Cutler Cam footage from Dynamite.
Hangman Page and Omega met backstage. Omega was upset that Page was hanging out with FTR on Dynamite. Page said it was no big deal but that when Omega had beer poured on him by FTR he had it coming.
Omega entered The Bucks dressing room. Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy entered to confront Omega after he attacked Marko Stunt last week. Omega reluctantly agreed to check on Stunt and to apologize.
Stunt was in the trainers room getting checked out. Omega apologized for his actions. Stunt said he looked up to Omega and he hurt his feelings. Omega promised to make it up to Stunt. Omega left the room and called Stunt a derogatory name.
Later, Colt Cabana approached Omega’s dressing room. Griff Garrison stopped him and told him that Omega was in no mood. Omega thought Garrison was Jungle Boy.
Alex Marvez hosted this week’s Speaking Spanglish segment but introduced himself as Alex Abrahantes. Santana and Ortiz defined “fayk.” Abrahantes then made a cameo.
Matt and Nick were in their dressing room discussing ratings and demographics. They tried to devise a way to attract a 50-plus audience. Matt decided that a gardening segment would work and decided to shoot a pilot for a gardening show here on BTE.
Private Party went into the trainers room to get checked out but Matt and Nick were there. They thought Matt was a sexy nurse until he unmasked and said he was “dead ass.”
Mr. Brodie Lee had a meeting with Dark Order. Stu Grayson and John Silver were arguing. Lee asked Reynolds what was wrong with Silver. Reynolds said Silver was just a kid. Lee said he has an 8 year-old who isn’t a “f*cking idiot” like Silver. Lee opened his jacket to reveal two stacks of paper to slap people with. Dark Order scattered in fear.
