Tag: tna results

TNA Impact Wrestling results: EC3 vs. The Miracle; Drew defends against Tyrus

Posted on by Dave Bath

Previously on Impact:

Last week on Impact, Jeff Hardy hit a death defying Swanton Bomb from the rafters of the Impact Zone onto his brother, Matt Hardy. The show ended with Matt being taken out of the arena on a strecher in a neck brace. Earlier, Decay “abducted” Gail Kim in order to force Beer Money into a title match tonight. 

Tonight on Impact:

Tonight is a special edition of Impact Wrestling, TNA Sacrifice. The show will feature a loaded line up with the stars of TNA. Drew Galloway will defend the TNA World title against number one contender, Tyrus. Additionally, Ethan Carter III will go one on one with Mike Bennett in “No Disqualification Match”.

Show Recap:

-Tyrus and Rockstar Spud are already in the ring to kickoff Impact. Tyrus calls World Champion Drew Galloway out for their title match. Drew makes his way to the ring and Josh points out that his ribs are heavily taped.

TNA World Champion Drew Galloway vs. Tyrus w/Rockstar Spud

Tyrus works over the ribs throughout the match including pulling the tape off. He missed a Vader Bomb allowing Drew to make a fiery comeback. Spud tried to interfere, but Drew took him out with a belly-to-belly suplex. Drew then executed an impressive superplex on Tyrus for a near fall. Drew retained his title after hitting the Future Shock DDT in a really good match.

-Backstage, Maria is talking to herself in the mirror. She tells herself that her reign atop the Knockouts Division begins tonight and nobody can stop her, not even Gail Kim.

-Back from commercial, Roode and Storm are getting ready for tonight’s “Valley of Shadows Match.” Storm points out that they didn’t need to abduct Gail to get a title shot.

-Maria comes out to the ring looking stunning. She says that there doesn’t need to be a women’s revolution and that she doesn’t need to change but everyone else does need to change. Gail comes out also looking stunning and says it’s a sad day because Maria is in charge of the Knockouts. She believes that Maria was behind Decays “kidnapping” and “torturing” of her, but Maria denies any involvement. Maria decides to make a match between Gail and Rosemary to divert attention.

Gail Kim vs. Rosemary w/Crazy Steve

Gail attacks Rosemary to start the match. Maria is at ringside and distracts Gail long enough for Rosemary to get the advantage. If Freddie and Jason Voorhees’ mom had a baby, it would be Rosemary. Steve pulled Gail out of the ring and Gail slapped him. The slap was weak so she gave him a second slap to see if it would really sting. Maria distracted the referee and Rosemary sprayed the mist into Gail’s eyes. Rosemary picks up the win. 

-Backstage, Josh is surprised to see Jeff limping and noted he wasn’t expected to appear tonight.

Facts of Life with Eli Drake featuring The BroMans (Robbie E & Jesse Godderz)

Eli is a wearing a shirt, tie and vest but the sleeves are cut off to expose his arms. He’s standing behind a podium that has a big red button. Every time he says dummy he presses the button and a little graphic pops up of Eli saying, “Dummy. Yeah” This happens a lot and it gets pretty annoying after awhile. Eli talks about all the dummies in TNA including Jeff Hardy and Drew Galloway. He brought out his guests The BroMans, which he called “dummies”. The BroMans came out wearing glasses with no lenses. Jesse asked Robbie what kind of person has a “Dummy Button”. Robbie responds with “douchebag.” I’m not sure who is the true “douchebag” in this segment. A brawl breaks out with The BroMans standing tall. 

-Decay cuts a terrifying promo backstage and promises to win the tag titles later.

-Backstage, EC3 reminds us that he’s never been pinned or submitted. EC3 says that it’s time to go to church, and in church EC3 never loses. His promos are often a highlight of the show.

Valley of Shadows Match: TNA Tag Team Champions Beer Money (James Storm & Bobby Roode) vs. Decay (Crazy Steve & Abyss) w/ Rosemary

Tables and trashcans filled with various weapons are set up at ringside. The lights in the Impact Zone are dimmed for the match as well. Abyss tries to use a cheese grater on Roode, but Roode fights him off. Decay dominates the action using kendo sticks and steel chairs. Beer Money made a comeback by Roode hitting a spin buster on Abyss.

Back from commercial, Rosemary comes out from underneath the ring with a barbwire board. Beer Money gives Steve a double suplex on the barbwire board. Rosemary hands Abyss thumbtacks, which he spreads on the mat. She tries to spray the mist into Roode’s eyes, but misses and gets Abyss instead. Storm sprays the mist into Rosemary’s eyes and breaks a beer bottle over Abyss’ head for a near fall. Storm climbs to the top but Steve shoves him off into a table on the floor. Abyss gives Roode a choke slam onto the thumbtacks for the pin to win the tag title. This looked legit painful for Roode who had several thumbtacks sticking to his back. However, Decay are the new TNA World Tag team champions.

-We get a recap of Eric Young attacking Bram and cutting his beard. In the back, Bram is upset and promises to end EY tonight. Not sure why Bram’s so upset, his beard looks great.

-Bennett cuts a passionate promo. He points out that EC3 has lost his friends and title. The only thing EC3 has left is never being pinned or submitted. Bennett notes that he also has yet to be pinned or submitted.

TNA King of The Mountain Champion Eric Young vs. Bram

EY used a trash can lid on Bram and set up a table at ringside. Pope mentions on commentary that EY quit last week and promised to take the KOTM title with him. EY went for the pile driver off the apron, but Bram counters with the Brighter Side of Suffering though the table to pick up the win. Bram is the new King of the Mountain Champion.

-Backstage, World Champion Drew calls out Bobby Lashley for next week. Drew was once again great at selling his injured ribs. Drew is a constant highlight of Impact each and every week.

-In the back, the interviewer guy asks Bram how he feels after winning the KOTM title. Bram promises that anyone who wants a shot at his title can have it, but he’ll send them packing just like he did with Eric Young. That seems to be the only mention that EY is officially done with TNA.

-Jeff Hardy limps his way down to the ring. He recaps the “I Quit” match from last week and the Swanton Bomb spot that resulted in Matt leaving on a stretcher. Jeff hopes that he Swantoned some sense into Matt. Reby and Spud made their way to the ring to confront Jeff. She repeatedly told Jeff that she hates him, testing out their in-law rivalry. She told Jeff that her husband made him a star. This got an audible laugh from the crowd. She adds that Matt isn’t the same after last week; he’s cold, distant and doesn’t even talk to her. Reby slapped Jeff several times and Spud attacked him. Jeff made his own comeback and knocked out Spud with a Twist of Fate.

No DQ Match: Ethan Carter III vs. “Miracle” Mike Bennett w/ “The First Lady of Professional Wrestling” Maria Kanellis

It’s main event time. We’re reminded that it’s no DQ and no count out. There must be a winner by pin fall or submission. EC3 dominates the action on the outside and rolls Bennett back in the ring. EC3 hits the broken arrow for a near fall. Bennett sends EC3 into the ring post and continues to work over the shoulder. Maria hands Bennett a chair and he destroys EC3 with it. EC3 hits the One Percenter but Maria breaks up the pin fall. EC3 takes the chair and beats Bennett with it. EC3 locks on his submsisson but Bennett kicks off the corner and pins EC3 like Bret Hart and Piper at Wrestlemania 8 or Balor and Joe at Takeover: Dallas. They put this over huge because Bennett is the first person to pin EC3. The show ends with Bennett and Maria celebrating while EC3 looks on stunned.

Next Time on Impact:

Next week on Impact, World Champion Drew Galloway promises to call out “The Destroyer” Bobby Lashley for a face-to-face confrontation.

TNA Impact Wrestling results: The Return of EC3

Posted on by Dave Bath

On Tonight’s Show

TNA Impact emanates from the United Kingdom tonight. The Kurt Angle Farewell Tour hits Manchester when Kurt Angle battles it out with Drew Galloway. Also, The Destroyer Lashley faces off with Bram. TNA World Champion Matt Hardy is expected to make an appearance tonight.  Additionally, Ethan Carter III has vowed to make his return in Manchester.

Show Recap

-Josh Matthews and The Pope welcome us to this week’s show in the U.K. TNA World Champion Matt Hardy, his wife Reby, bodyguard Tyrus and son Maxell come to the ring. Matt talked about his accomplishments in the last few weeks. Tyrus took the mic from Matt and made a Winston Churchill joke. Reby took the mic and got some intense heat from the crowd. Matt said if Dixie Carter wants to keep him happy she has to fire EC3 later tonight.

-Backstage, TNA President Dixie Carter is shown arriving in the building.

Lashley vs. Bram w/Eric Young

Earlier in the day, EY and Bram were backstage and bragging about ending the career of Jeff Hardy. Lashley and Bram used a lot of power moves to start. EY interfered which gave Bram the advantage. Lashley made his own comeback, but Bram was able to cut off his momentum. EY came in the ring, but his interference backfired and Lashley hit the spear to win the match.

-Backstage, Reby was assuring Matt that Dixie would fire EC3 to keep Matt happy. Matt’s also worried about the return of EC3 tonight. Tyrus promises to have it under control and introduced Matt’s security team in case EC3 shows up.

-Kurt Angle comes down to the ring to a huge pop. Kurt said the crowd was making it hard for him to say farewell and they booed him. “Thank You Angle” chants fill the arena as Kurt talks about his time in TNA. Kurt talks about The Kurt Angle Farewell Tour, but he’s interrupted by “The First Lady of Professional Wrestling” Maria Kanellis. She introduces “The Miracle” Michael Bennett. Bennett insults Kurt and his legacy. The Miracle wants to face Kurt and promises to beat him. Kurt told Maria she’s a very pretty girl but has bad taste in men. Kurt hit The Miracle with one shot and then bailed from the ring.  Drew Galloway came out on the stage and had a stare down with Kurt who was still in the ring. Kurt and Drew face off later tonight in the Kurt Angle Farewell Tour.

-Backstage, Beer Money was walking down the hall. Beer Money was once again great in their segment. Bobby Roode wouldn’t let James Storm into their locker room because he got him a surprise. Storm tried to guess and asked if it was Pyro or a stripper. Roode gave Storm The Boozier Cruiser.

X Division Champion Trevor Lee w/ Gregory Shane Helms vs. Tigre Uno

Tigre has the early advantage in the match using lots of high-risk moves. Trevor dominates Tigre with power moves. Tigre makes a short comeback and hits a hurricanrana off the steal steps on the outside. Back in the ring, Helms interferes and Lee hits the fishermen buster to win the match and retain the X Division title.

-Beer Money entered the ring and wanting to cash in their Feast or Fired title shot. They call out the TNA World Tag Teams Champions, The Wolves. Instead, Decay comes out, which leads to our next match

Beer Money (James Storm & Bobby Roode) vs. Decay (Crazy Steve & Abyss w/Rosemary)

All four guys brawl around ringside. Beer Money use double team moves on Crazy Steve until Abyss gets in the ring. Decay use great teamwork to isolate and beat down Roode. Roode makes the hot tag to Storm who runs wild. Beer Money hit the DWI on Crazy Steve but Abyss causes the DQ. After the match, Roode launches Storm onto Abyss from the ring to the outside. Rosemary distracts Roode who is attacked by Crazy Steve from behind. Abyss pulls out Janice from underneath the ring but before they could use it The Wolves hit the ring for the save. Decay challenges The Wolves to a Monster’s Ball match next week. The Wolves accept.

-Backstage, Reby Sky approaches Dixie Carter. Reby claims she is talking to Dixie without Matt knowing. Reby is very sincere and genuine when talking to Dixie. She tells Dixie that she just wants what’s best for her family. However, as Reby walked away she rolled her eyes.

-Back from commercial, the recently fired Grado comes through the crowd and jumps the guardrail. Josh points out that Grado doesn’t work in TNA. Grado gets a great reaction from the crowd. Grado is claiming that he was “screwed” by TNA in the Feast or Fired match. He was going to show us proof when Eli Drake with security interrupted him. Eli tried to get the proof, but Grado got away.

Madison Rayne vs. Jade w/ The Dollhouse (Marti Belle and Rebel)

Good match between these two. Madison hit a cross body off the apron onto all members of The Dollhouse. Madison hit Jade with some serious chops that would have made any man cry. Jade hit the package piledriver to win the match. After the match, The Dollhouse continued to beat down Madison until Gail Kim made the save and cleared the ring.

-Backstage, Billy Corgan is being interviewed about being back in the U.K.  Billy Corgan is best known as the Senior Producer of Creative and Talent Development. Oh yeah, he’s also lead singer of The Smashing Pumpkins. Grado runs up and asked for his help. Eli and the security guards beat up Grado.

The Kurt Angle Farewell Tour: Kurt Angle vs. Drew Galloway

Kurt and Drew have a tremendous match. Kurt is the regular amazing wrestler that he is, but Drew Galloway is showing that he is a lot better then people realize. There were several intense and great near falls. The crowd is solidly behind Kurt. Drew had the early advantage, but it didn’t last long and the veteran Kurt made a comeback. 

Back from commercial, Drew is in control of the match and is dominating Kurt. Kurt got the ankle lock secure, but Drew fought him off. On the outside, Drew continued to beat down Kurt until Kurt hit the Angle slam onto the steal steps. This got a “TNA” chant from the crowd. Drew hit a very unique move that Pope described as being “a reverse Alabama Slam.” Drew hit two Claymore kicks, but only got a two and half. Drew locks on a unique submission and Kurt’s bleeding from the mouth, which makes the spot look amazing. Kurt countered into the Ankle lock, but Drew fought out. Drew locked on the submission a second time and shockingly Kurt tapped! Drew Galloway is victorious over Kurt Angle.

-Earlier, Josh interviewed Tyrus about turning on EC3. Tyrus was really good here as he talked about all the reasons for turning on EC3. He explained that it was for money and because EC3 never gave him a title shot despite being number one contender. During the interview, at two separate points, Tyrus insulted The Pope.

-Matt Hardy, Reby and Tyrus are in the ring. TNA President Dixie Carter comes to the ring. Matt is demanding that Dixie fire EC3. Matt’s loosing his mind insisting she fire EC3. Rockstar Spud’s comes out to defend Dixie. Matt says he wants Spud to make Dixie fire EC3. Spud thinks about if for a moment, teasing that he’s going to do it but instead stands up to Matt. Tyrus attacks Spud and beats him down. Matt and Tyrus back Dixie into the corner. EC3’s music hit to a big pop and he comes out for the save. He walks into beating Matt’s security team along the way. EC3 and Tyrus brawled around ringside. Spud and Dixie are holding each other in the corner.  EC3 and Matt had a stare down, but when he got in the ring Matt bailed. To end the show EC3 posed on the stage.

Final Thoughts

Another really good Impact this week. Impact continues to deliver really good matches and interesting characters. However, the show can be predictable at times. The Kurt Angle-Drew Galloway match was fantastic and topped their match from a few weeks ago. The show closing angle was energetic and entertaining.

Next Week:

We’re still in the U.K. for Impact. The Wolves face off with Decay in a Monster’s Ball Match. Also, more on the Matt Hardy-EC3 feud, and The Kurt Angle Farewell Tour continues.

TNA Impact Wrestling results: Feast or Fired is back!

Posted on by Dave Bath

Previously on TNA Impact:

Matt Hardy defeated Ethan Carter III in a title vs. career Last Man Standing Match to become the new TNA World Champion. A double turn occurred, Matt turned heel and EC3 turned babyface. Also, Tyrus turned on EC3 and joined up with Matt.

On This Week’s Show:

Tonight’s Impact features the return of the Feast or Fired Match. TNA’s best compete to capture one of the four briefcases. The X division belt is on the line in a three way and the TNA Knockouts will also be in action. Plus, the fallout and aftermath of the Matt Hardy vs. EC3 World Title match.

Show Recap:

– Earlier in the day, Jeff is arriving to the building. He hasn’t talked to Matt all week. He’s going to confront Matt tonight and get some answers.

– Jeff calls out Matt Hardy. Matt has new music. The new TNA World Champion, Matt Hardy, comes to the ring with his wife Reby, bodyguard Tyrus, and son Maxell. Tyrus is carrying Maxell to the ring. Jeff told Reby “I didn’t want to talk to my bitch sister in law.” Matt says his wife whispered in his hear, “stop giving and start taking” The crowd breaks out in an “EC3” chant. Matt’s red dress shirt and Reby’s hot red dress match, which is a nice touch.  Jeff challenges Matt for the title and Matt accepts. Tonight’s main event is Matt Hardy defending the TNA World Title against Jeff Hardy.

Feast or Fired Match – Beer Money (James Storm & Bobby Roode), Rockstar Spud, Eli Drake, Jesse Godderz, Eric Young, Bram, Grado, Chris Melendez, Robbie E, Aiden O’Shea and Drew Galloway.

Four briefcases are in four corners of the ring. The objective of the match is to climb up and grab a briefcase. Three of the briefcases have contracts for title shots at the TNA World title, King of The Mountain and World Tag titles. The fourth briefcase contains the dreaded pink slip and whoever gets this will be fired.

There’s lots of brawling around ringside throughout the match. Grado pulled down the first briefcase, which took him forever to do. Drew Galloway is dominating the action in the ring. He climbs up and pulls down the second briefcase. Two briefcases remain. Both Jesse Godderz and Eli Drake climb up for the last two. Robbie E stops Jesse but Eli pulls down the third briefcase. One Briefcase is left. EY and Bram clear the ring until Beer Money takes them out. Bobby Roode and James Storm both go for the last briefcase but Roode stops and lets Storm climb up and grab the final briefcase. Later tonight is The Reveal ceremony and we’ll find out the results.

– Backstage, Kurt Angle approaches Jeff Hardy and tells him that he has his back and to be careful tonight.

TNA X Division Champion Tigre Uno vs. DJ Z vs. Mandrews

In a cool spot, DJ Z got a two count on Mandrews with a back slide and at the same time rolled up Tigre Uno with his legs for a two. Mandrews uses a skateboard from the top of the ramp into a tilt-a-whirl head scissors. Tigre Uno wins that match with the Spanish Fly off. After the match, Gregory Shane Helms comes down to the ring. Helms challenges Tigre to a match next week for the X Division title. Uno accepts.

-Christy Hemme was interviewing Bobby Lashley about his confrontation with Kurt Angle last week. The mysterious and gorgeous woman with purple hair approaches Bobby again. She tells him that she was sent by someone to tell him “I’ll bring you pain or I’ll bring you pleasure.”

Awesome Kong vs. Velvet Sky

They have a good match, with Kong physically dominating Velvet but she just kept fighting back. Kong wins the match with a piledriver. After the match, Kong continued to beat down Velvet. Madison Rayne came out to help but she gets beat down by The Dollhouse. The Dollhouse held down Madison and made her watch as Kong came off the top with a massive splash onto Velvet.

Feast or Fired Reveal:

Beer Money, Grado, Drew Galloway and Eli Drake meet in the back with Jeremy Borash for the reveal. Just before they do the reveal, “Miracle” Michael Bennett and Maria Kanellis enter the room and cut a promo.

The Reveal: Eli Drake goes first and in his briefcase is the King of the Mountain title shot. The next reveal will happen later.

– The Wolves enter the ring and call out Crazy Steve. A woman looking like a clown comes out and is soon joined by Crazy Steve. The Wolves go after Steve when suddenly Abyss’s music hits.

TNA World Tag Team Champions The Wolves vs. Crazy Steve & Abyss

The Wolves are the champions despite the fact their belt has been stolen. Crazy Steve and Abyss dominate the Wolves. Eddie Edwards gets the hot tag and runs wild. The woman from before walks to the ring with the Wolves’ belts, which causes a distraction. Both Steve and the woman blow mist into the eyes of The Wolves. Crazy Steve, Abyss, and the woman pose over the fallen body of Eddie Edwards.

Feast or Fired Reveal Continues:

It’s James Storm turn to open his briefcase. Beer Money was great here and teased Storm getting fired but they got a Tag Title Shot instead. Drew Galloway couldn’t wait and opens his briefcase. Drew gets the World Title shot. Grado congratulated Drew and then opened his briefcase to reveal that he’s been fired. Grado cried and said it was the “worst day” of his life. It went from funny to sad pretty fast.

TNA World Champion Matt Hardy w/ Reby and Tyrus vs. Jeff Hardy

Before the match could start, Eric Young and Bram attack Jeff. Matt and Tyrus leave the ring as Jeff gets beat down. EY sets a table up a ringside. Beer Money come out for the save. Crazy Steve & Abyss run down as well. Beer Money and Crazy Steve & Abyss fight to the back. The whole time Jeff lay on the apron clutching his knee. Matt comes back in the ring but Kurt Angle runs down to confront him. Tyrus jumps Kurt from behind and Matt knocks him out with a shot to the head with the belt. Matt, Reby, and Tyrus leave and go up the ramp. EY gives Jeff Hardy the piledriver off the apron through the table. As the show goes off the air, Jeff is left laying in the broken pieces of the table.

Final Thoughts:

TNA puts on another solid edition of Impact. The company is doing a decent job so far of giving everyone on the show something to do. It’s not all built around one person and they’re clearly attempting to make stars. Next week, Tigre Uno defends the X Divison title against Gregory Shane Helms. Also, EC3 will be interviewed and will let the world know what is next for him. Plus, more on the Kurt Angle Farewell Tour. 

TNA TV taping results (Bethlehem, PA): Kurt Angle vs Drew Galloway

Posted on by F4W Staff

These matches were taped for this coming Tuesday night’s Impact episode as well as for future One Night Only shows:

– Impact opened with EC 3 out. Jeff Hardy came out and said he was cleared to wrestle and wanted a title match. EC 3 told him he had to start from the bottom.

– Jeff Hardy beat Shynron. Shynron looked good in the short match, as did Hardy.

– Jade & Awesome Kong beat Velvet Sky & Madison Rayne in a street fight. All kinds of weapons.  Jade pinned Rayne with a piledriver.

– Eric Young beat Bobby Roode to win the King Of The Mountain title after hitting a piledriver. Bram and James Storm were both involved interfering. Segment started when Beer Money was in the ring when Young and Bram came out.  Young wanted a shot at the title.

– Ken Anderson debuted a new interview segment called “Huh.” Matt Hardy, Reby Hardy and Maxel Hardy were the guests.  It seemed to build up Anderson vs. Hardy.

– Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards & Tigre Uno beat Jessie Godderz & Eli Drake & DJ Zema Ion. Godderz & Drake wouldn’t work with Ion.  Ion superkicked Godderz and Godderz was pinned.

– Kurt Angle beat Drew Galloway in the main event.  Great match.  The finish was Angle winning clean with the Angle slam off the middle rope.

– The show ended with Matt Hardy asking for one more title shot and if that if he doesn’t win that title, he will leave TNA forever. This led to the announcement of next week’s main event, which is likely taped tonight, with EC 3 vs. Hardy as a last man standing match, title vs. loser leaves town.

Not for Impact:

  • Rockstar Spud & Grado beat Mahabili Shera & Aiden O’Shea: This may air on the PPV on Friday in highlight form since Shera and O’Shea broke up as a team and they are wrestling on Friday night live. Either that or they just shot the angle for the people in Bethlehem.
  • Mike Bennett beat Mark Andrews
  • Eric Young beat Chris Melendez
  • Jessie Godderz beat Robbie E
  • Ken Anderson beat Bram

TNA live results 1/5: Matt Hardy vs. Ethan Carter III, Bobby Lashley vs Eric Young

Posted on by Dave Bath

Nearly one year after their debut on Destination America, TNA Impact Wrestling debuts on Pop TV and is live from Bethlehem, PA, Tuesday night. The show is rumored to feature some possible returns of major stars and debuts of new talent. Already announced for tonight is the conclusion of the World Title Series with Lashley taking on Ethan Carter III and Matt Hardy vs. Eric Young in the semifinals. The winners will meet in the finals to crown a new TNA World Champion.

Also, Bobby Roode defends his King Of The Mountain Title and The Beautiful People take on The Dollhouse. Plus, the character behind the “Miracle” vignettes should be revealed tonight. 

All this and more on Tonight’s TNA Impact debut on Pop TV at 9pm.

*****

We start off with a good video package, and a quick preview of the World Title Series and the four participants in the semi-finals. 

Impact’s Pop TV debut features a new opening video package and theme song written and performed by Billy Corgan and The Smashing Pumpkins. Of course, Corgan isn’t just a rock star, but is also TNA’s Senior Producer of Creative and Talent Development. It’s a pretty sweet beat and nice opening.

Josh Matthews and The Pope welcome us to the show. They’re ringside tonight and not at Impact Central. Josh calls Pope the most entertaining color commentator.

Dixie Carter in the ring. She said “they chose” Pop TV for many reasons and gets some “Thank You Dixie” chants. She says wrestling is a vital part of pop culture and that a vital part of wrestling is the World belt. Cue the most annoyingly catchy music in wrestling: “Trouble, Trouble, Trouble”. EC3 and Tyrus cut her off. He gets booed but it turns into “EC3” chants. EC3 says he’s not champion because of Dixie. Please don’t let this end with Dixie getting arrested. Matt Hardy comes out. They recap the TNA World Title situation since Bound For Glory. This seems to imply it’s going to be Hardy vs. EC3 in the finals. Eric Young jumps Hardy and gets tripled teamed by Young, EC3 and Tyrus. Lashley finally hits the ring for the save. Hardy hits a sick dive off the top rope taking out EC3, Tyrus and Lashley.

– During the commercial, Young beats down Hardy.

TNA World Title Tourney Semifinal Match 1: EC3 vs. Lashley

Josh runs down all the hashtags and Twitter handles we should follow. Lashley and EC3 go back and forth. Lashley hits his spear but EC3 rolls to the outside. Dueling chants for EC3 and Lashley. Tyrus slams Lashley on the outside. Pope is very mad that Tyrus interfered and is sick of it. Josh plugs Schitt’s Creek starring Eugene Levy. It’s a pretty good show. Tyrus distracts Lashley and EC3 rolls him up for the win. EC3 advances to the finals.

– Backstage, Kurt Angle is walking to the ring.

– Bobby Roode walks into the arena earlier in the day. He talks about his King of the Mountain match and that the challenge is open to anyone.

Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle walks to the ring. Angle gets emotional from the crowd response. Kurt mentions that he is retiring. The crowd chants, “One More Match.” Kurt names guys he’s had great matches with like Rock, Austin, HHH, Undertaker and AJ Styles (which gets the biggest pop out of all the names). Kurt announces a farewell tour and wonders whom he should face. He names Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards. He handpicked his opponent for next week’s Farewell Tour. Is the whole Tour happening in one night? His opponent is going be Drew Galloway who comes out. Drew is honored that Kurt chose him.

They get interrupted by Jesse Godderz. He takes a selfie (I think I’ve seen that before). Eli Drake interrupts. Eli says that Jesse is really popular with 13-year-old girls and calls Angle a dinosaur. They’re both mad that Angle didn’t mention them as part of the future. This all leads to a Kurt and Drew brawl with Jesse and Eli.

– Backstage, Young cuts a promo. He says Hardy isn’t showing up and wants him counted out. Hardy comes out.

TNA World Title Tourney Semifinal Match 2: Matt Hardy vs. Eric Young

They brawl on the outside. Hardy is currently showing no signs of injury from earlier in the night. Eric Young is in control of the early part of the match. Hardy gains the advantage. Eric Young hits the piledriver on the outside of the exposed floor. There’s a light “holy shit” chant. Jeff comes out to check on Matt but EY takes out Jeff with a sliding dropkick. Matt scores with the twist of fate out of nowhere for the win. The final match will be Matt Hardy vs. EC3 (although they kind of gave that away in the opening segment).

– Backstage, somebody in a hoodie is shown walking but his face isn’t visable. Josh wonders who it could be.

– Back from commercial, EY is mad that he lost the semifinal.

– EC3 approaches Jeff and says that Matt has lived in Jeff’s shadow. Jeff denies that Matt lived in his shadow.

– Roode comes out for his KOTM match. Bram accepts the open challenge. Bram says that “2006” will be his year.

King Of The Mountain Champion Bobby Roode vs. Bram

Bram dominates Roode, and gets a two count with a roll up holding the tights. Josh says Bobby has promised to have a great “2015″. Does anyone in TNA know what year it is? Roode hits the Roode bomb and gets the win, retaining the title. They then accidentally played the start of Beer Money’s music, giving away the upcoming surprise.

EY hits the ring and attacks Roode. Bram and EY double-team Roode which leads to James Storm making his return to TNA who came through the crowd for the save. Pope and Josh wonder if he works for TNA. Turns out the rumors about his return are true.  Storm is upset that TNA gave him the “Biggest Disappointment” Slammy…er… Impact Award. Storm says that he and Roode drank a lot of beer and made a lot of money together. They’re teasing a Beer Money reunion. Storm offers Roode a beer. Crowd encourages him to drink the beer. It’s a really big deal to Josh. They have a beer together and the crowd loves it.

– JB is with the Beautiful People backstage. Angelina is 7 months pregnant, so the Beautiful People get to pick Angelina’s replacement tonight.

– Back from commercial, Beer Money challenges Bram and EY to a match to this Friday’s PPV (which is the first mention of the PPV this whole show.)

The Beautiful People vs. The Dollhouse

Angelina’s replacement is Knockouts Champion Gail Kim. Josh promotes the Knockouts Calendar. Pope claims he bought so many they’re might not be any left. All the Knockouts are in the ring brawling. The crowd is a bit flat. Gail rolls up Jade for the win. The Dollhouse attacks Gail and The Beautiful People after the match. Awesome Kong comes out for the save. The Dollhouse is scared but they don’t leave the ring. Kong turns heel and attacks The Beautiful People! Kong takes out Kim. The Dollhouse and Awesome Kong pose over the fallen body of Gail Kim.

– Josh promos The Miracle vignettes. The Miracle is coming up next.

– Back from commercial, Josh and Pope start talking but they’re cut off.

The lights go out in the arena and the First Lady of Wrestling Maria Kanellis appears on the stage. She says that fans have been praying and hoping for the person who will save wrestling. The crowd pops for that. She introduces “Miracle” Mike Bennett. Maria looks great and Mike’s wearing a sweet looking hat. He calls himself a superhero, a bad mo’fo and “your pro wrestling Jesus.” He cut a really good intense promo and came across like a big star.

– The camera seceretly catches Matt Hardy with his family backstage. He promises to win the title for his family.

TNA World Title Final: Matt Hardy vs. EC3

After the ring intros, Matt and EC3 send Jeff and Tyrus to the back. EC3 has the advantage on Hardy. Pope points out that Matt Hardy and EC3 is how the title controversy began. Hardy goes for the Side Effect on the ring steps but they botched the spot bad and both fell awkwardly off the steel steps. The crowd is solidly behind Matt. Hardy hits a series of Side Effects but still can’t put EC3 away. EC3 hits two TKOs in a row. Pope says they’re having a “Match of The Year” candidate. They both kick out of each other’s finishers. EC3 hits the One Percenter off the tope rope for the win! EC3 is the new TNA World Champion.

Josh points out that EC3 won the title without the help of Tyrus.

Hardy walks pass his wife and child on the ramp. They stop on top of the stage. Matt’s wife seemed to scream something in his ear. Hardy walks off. She then looks back and the camera zoomed in on her face. The show ends with EC3 posing with the world title.

Final Thoughts:

Not a bad debut for Impact on Pop TV tonight but also nothing really spectacular of note. “Miracle” Mike Bennett and Maria’s debut was done well. The main event was a good match that the crowd was into. Also, the new theme song is kind of fun.

TNA Impact Wrestling December 17 – Best of World Title Series

Posted on by F4W Editors

Last week, the quarter-finals of the World Title Series were held. Lashley beat Shera, EY beat Tigre Uno, Matt Hardy beat Jessie, and EC3 beat Davey Richards. Tonight, we get some new matches in the form of a cage match that has been set up with graphics and no storyline, and some random matches with other World Title Series folks. The show begins with a silly video saying that the winner of the TNA World Title is truly the king of sport. Josh runs down tonight’s two matches and says we’ll get a look at everyone in the semi-finals. This means we hear his thoughts on the series and see clips of his match from the October 14 edition of the show against Davey Richards. Matt recaps what happened after this, and how he knew he couldn’t lose. Small clips are shown of him beating Roode and Godderz. Matt says that EY can’t stop the Matt Hardy Train and Josh plugs the final four roundtable. Kurt Angle will speak on the final four, and the first all-star match is next.

Team Future Four vs. Team X Division

Team Future Four comes out to generic music while Josh says that Eli and Jessie can walk around like they have an S on their chest. Eli has “ED” on his, sadly. Manik, Uno, Mandrews, and DJZ are out. Eli starts by wearing his vest, but tags out to his former partner Micah. DJZ hits a pop-up dropkick of Micah while Josh gives us a geography lesson of Betheham, PA. Mandrews gets dominated a bit by Jessie and in an musing bit, everyone comes in to try and suplex Jessie, and they execute a “triple double suplex” to Jessie and Micah. Josh hypes up The Asylum Years being streamed on the Impact Wrestling site on Thursday nights. Josh plugs Jessie being on the red carpet of Miss Teen California. Manik flies on everyone on the floor.

Eli and Mandrews are now legal and Eli gets 2 off a suplex. Jessie tosses Mandrews into a gigantic chokeslam by Crimson. Eli comes in and he argues with Crimson. Josh actually compares this to the Mega Powers exploding. Uno lands a very sloppy dropsault to Eli resulting in Eli landing right on Uno’s head. Eli’s partners leave and he tries to, but they toss him back in. Manik hits his modified GTS, DJZ actually hits his wacky DDT, Mandrews gets the SSP and the win. Recap of Lashley’s run through the series is next. First, we see a brief clip of Lashley asking if EC3 can win without friends. We see the entire match of Lashley vs. Aries from the November 25 show. Pope and Josh talk about how Lashley must prove that he can beat EC3, and he will have to do so on live TV. The all-star fatal four way is up next.

We see EC3 talking about going to one of his homes in Nashville. EC3 gets out of his BMW and lifts weights for a bit He calls the World Title Series BS and wonders just why Dixie and Billy Corgan came up with this idea. EC3 says he is a one-percenter money-wise, but he wasn’t gifted his work ethic. Now it’s time for the fatal four way. Spud comes out while Josh hypes up that Spud is the first pro wrestler to work with the Starlight Foundation.

Rockstar Spud vs. Mr. Anderson vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Bobby Roode

The match begins and Josh says that this is an elimination match, which should make it better. Roode and Spud start it off, and everyone needs to tag in to try and win. Eddie gets a blind tag and he gets an inverted atomic drop to Roode while Spud kicks him down for an ad break. Spud goes for a cradle and Eddie kicks out of it. Spud drops down and Eddie dives onto Roode on the floor. Anderson comes in and Spud imitates his mic drop. Anderson laughs and hits a shortarm clothesline. Spud lands a tilt-a-whirl headscissors to send Ken to the floor and he hits a flip dive onto the pile. Spud gets a flying AJ forearm to Eddie, who counters the Underdog with a backslide, but Eddie gets one of his own to eliminate Spud.

Ken and Roode eat a double rana from Eddie. Josh says that he talked to the referee and once it got down to three men, they could all just go at it tornado-style. Despite this, Ken just stands on the apron and waits for a tag. Roode gets a crossface onto Eddie, but Ken wants to fight Roode here for some reason. Mic Check hits Eddie and takes him out. Roode avoids the Mic Check, but eats a back elbow. Roode lands a spinebuster for 2. Finlay roll from Anderson gets 2. Ken rolls him up, but Roode kicks him off and locks on the crossface. Ken rolls through it, but Roode hangs on and earns the win with a tapout.

Kurt Angle says it’s been hard to see the World Title Series as an outsider, and it’s the toughest tournament in TNA history. Kurt says that whoever wins the series is going to earn it. Next, we’ll see a recap of Eric Young’s rise through the tournament. Eric Young gets a crazy heavy metal song recapping all of his biggest piledrivers, and is easily the best thing involving him this year. Eric Young vs. Robert Roode from November 4 is recapped. We see more of EY beating guys in the series. EY says Uno was good, but he was X Division champion too. More with EC3 is coming up.

We see clips of the roundtable with EY insulting Matt Hardy. EC3 vs. Mr. Anderson from November 11 is shown. EC3 says it’s time to go home and we see him work out and mock his pool cleaner. He makes himself a drink and recaps his tournament wins. EC3 says that he’ll beat Lashley in the semis and then beat either EY or Matt in the finals. The roundtable is next. Lashley says that he’ll beat up EC3 and his friend. They have a World Title Series graphic over the table to seemingly act like there’s a graphic on the physical tablecloth. EC3 says that he fought Lashley while a loud buzzing is audible in the background. Matt Hardy insults EC3 and EC3 says that he has one of the three Is – integrity. Matt says that EY is “mented” and will beat the meanness out of him. EY says that he has held every title here, which no one else has done in this. Matt says the Matt Hardy Train will not be stopped.

Matt says that EC3 relies on Tyrus too much, and Lashley will beat EC3. Lashley says he wants to face the legend of Matt Hardy. Does Matt own a stake in TNA now? Josh hypes up Matt vs. Lashley as a historic first-time ever match that sure seems like something that was thrown on a random SmackDown in 2006. Josh asks EC3 who is not advancing, and EY says that Matt isn’t advancing. Matt and EY argue while Josh does a voiceover acting like he’s trying to keep order. Next week’s show will be a Best of 2015 show – so TNA actually gets one more show on Destination America.

TNA Impact Wrestling Results: Bobby Lashley vs. Shera, Davey Richards vs. EC3

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Last week, EC3 beat DJZ and Uno lucked out a win over Gail Kim. Davey Richards pinned Bram with a small package, while Shera beat Eli Drake. Bobby Roode worked heel for one match and lost by V1-ing Matt and eating a Twist of Fate, while Godderz cheated to beat Kong, and EY beat Kenny King. In the main event, Lashley beat Drew Galloway. We get a recap of last week’s matches to set up tonight’s matches, including Lashley vs. Shera. A tale of the tape makes them seem very similar. Josh talks about building up a lot of momentum just by winning, which Shera has done. Well, he’s done one of those things. Pope calls him a household name as well. Josh and Pope debate whether it’s the Shera Shuffle or Shera Shake before Josh just decides that Shera Shuffle is trending. Lashley comes out in Wal-Mart workout gear for the World Title Series. Josh talks about Drew and uses the captain moniker for him a ton. Why is Drew the Captain of TNA? Shouldn’t he be the Dollar General?

Mahabali Shera vs. Lashley

Shera dominates Lashley in the corner while a “Maha-bali!” chant breaks out. He gets a Frankenstein’s monster choke in the corner. Shera spends a long time to set up mounted punches, but he eats a powerbomb. Lashley clubs away in the corner. Floatover snap suplex gets 2 for Lashley. Lashley punches him down for an ad break. They brawl on the floor for a bit after the Shera Shuffle backfires. Josh hypes up that that World Title Series is completely on Youtube. Lashley dives off the apron and Shera grabs him and slams him down. A fan in a purple Macho Man shirt is either doing the Shuffle or summoning a genie. Shera lifts him up and lands the scariest press slam in a decade on Lashley. Lashley recovers, spears him, and wins. Josh tells the “young man” Lashley to pack his backs because he’s moving on. 

Pope talks about how fast and powerful Lashley is, and that he’s a two-time former TNA World Champion to fill the show with more content that they’ve already talked about. Josh sends us to an “in-depth look at Tigre Uno versus Eric Young”, which doesn’t seem possible. This “world class maniac”-filled video proves that it isn’t. We get a very echo-filled promo of Eric Young saying threatening words. The Knockouts division returns in a cheesecake video for the holidays. We see a preview of a Dixie Carter interview with Josh talking about the importance of the TNA World Title. Matt Hardy vs. Jessie Godderz is previewed with a recap of Jessie beating Kong. Tigre Uno comes out to face Eric Young, who is in fact the bearded terror according to Pope.

Eric Young vs. Tigre Uno

Eric has fashioned his hair into an awful pseudo-mohawk and has gigantic bags under his eyes. EY tells him to leave because it’s his ring and his world. EY calls him a coward, and Uno responds by springboard dropkicking him out of nowhere. A running rana gets 2 for Uno, while EY chops away and yells “LUCHA!” He lands a series of forearms to the back and neck in the corner. One-armed backbreaker by EY gets 2 for an ad break. EY clotheslines Uno while Josh plugs the 2016 Impact tapings. EY tosses him to the floor and punches away. EY goes for a moonsault to mock Uno, but it misses. Uno hits a rana to the floor onto EY. Tigre gets a low blow legdrop off the top for 2. They fight up top and EY eats a super rana for 2. EY blocks another rana with a powerbomb for 2. The piledriver hits and EY wins. He faces the winner of Hardy-Godderz. Josh and Pope recap why EY is a world-class maniac and a bearded terror. Recap of Matt Hardy’s World Title Series matches. We see clips of Dixie talking about having the best women’s wrestlers in the business. EY logically points out that Tigre’s attack to start the match was cowardly, and then the Canadian rants about Uno being “foreign scum” and blames him for possibly ending Uno’s career. Josh and Pope pick the winners in a guessing game. Jessie Godderz comes out to no reaction to face Matt Hardy, who gets an okay one. 

Matt Hardy vs. Jessie Godderz

Matt grinds away at the neck, but Jessie tosses him off. Matt grinds away on the arm while Josh talks about how the World Title Series has been compelling and it’s all due to Dixie. Matt lands a series of slams and does the V1 pose before making the mistake of posing like Godderz. Matt gets a Russian legsweep for 2. They fight to the floor and Jessie eats the apron. Jessie shoves Matt’s back into the steps before Jessie dropkicks him and Matt sends his head right into the steps for an ad break.

We come back to see Jessie stomping away on the back. He attacks the back more with forearm shivers. Matt’s knee buckles as he goes for a slam and Jessie gets 2. Bearhug to Matt lasts a while and they talk about it being a setup for the Adonis Crab. Jessie clamps on a reverse bearhug and uses the ropes. Matt elbows out of it, and Matt gets an iffy Side Effect. Matt gets a sleeper slam for 2. Matt gets a snapmare off the top for 2. Flying standing elbow hits for 2. Matt goes for the Twist, but Jessie tosses him into the ropes and gets 2 off a dropkick. Jessie gets a partial dropkick/enzuiguri and goes for the Adonis Crab. Matt gets to the rope, so Jessie stomps away. Matt goes up top, but gets pulled down into a fireman’s carry, which he counters into a Twist of Fate for the win. Pope and Josh talk about Matt Hardy having passion. The Dixie interview is next.

Josh talks about how exciting 2016 is while happy music plays. Dixie said that 2015 was a year with a bit of everything, and the year started off strong with the debut of Drew Galloway. Dixie talks about how she respects Matt for winning the title in his hometown holding his baby high .She brags about the knockouts division and she says that the semi-finals and finals of the World Title Series will be held on the live show in January. Pope talks about Twitter predictions and Bracket Brawl. Because the show needed more filler, we get a recap of the BFG match and World Title Series. Next week, all of Future 4 faces Group X Division. There will also be a four way cage match between guys who aren’t feuding for some reason. We get a recap of tonight’s matches. Davey Richards comes out to face EC3 in the main event. EC3 says it’s time to separate the wolves from the winners. Davey says he’ll kick EC3’s head off his shoulders and says it’s time for the hunt to begin.

EC3 vs. Davey Richards

Josh asks if Davey has ever been this close to the World title and Pope says “not here”. Basic headlock and armwork to start. Davey gets a dropkick and EC3 goes to the floor. Davey gets his leg picked by Tyrus and EC3 attacks for 2. Davey lands a series of nice forearm strikes, but EC3 sidesteps him and sends him to the floor for a Tyrus attack. EC3 elbow smashes his neck on the apron and stomps a mudhole in him in the corner. Davey eats a Bret Hart-style turnbuckle smash and flips backwards. EC3 locks on a chinlock while Josh hypes up EC3 as being unbeaten for “nearly 1,000 days”. 

They exchange chops, but Davey misses a corner charge and EC3 gets 2. EC3 traps him in a cravate before we get a punch exchange mid-ring. Pope buries EC3 for having a spray-tan while Josh says he lives in Boca Raton and it’s real. Davey lands a double dive. Make that a triple! Big missile dropkick gets 2. Davey lands a high kick and gets 2 off a snap German suplex. EC3 gets a TKO for 2. EC3 goes up top, but gets stopped by Davey and eats some headbutts. Superplex from Davey leads to another suplex for 2! They go through the motions of countering finishers before EC3’s Rampage powerbomb hits and he hits the One Percenter to win. To see every screenshot for the show, just click here.

TNA Impact Wrestling 11/25 – World Title Series Week 8 with Lashley, Aries and Drew Galloway

Posted on by F4W Editors

Last week, the World Title Series continued when Awesome Kong beat Brooke, while Uno beat Manik with a corkscrew moonsault. Eric Young beat James Storm with a piledriver, while Shera beat Aiden ‘O Shea. Crimson’s losing streak continued when he lost to Eli Drake, while Bobby Roode beat Abyss with a spinebuster in one of the most forgettable episodes of Impact since the WTS began. The opening video recapped last week’s matches. Spud faces Drew Galloway tonight, while Aries faces Lashley. Manik vs. Uno vs. DJZ is up next to determine who moves on in Group X Division. No one gets an intro and they just cut to the ring.

Manik vs. Tigre Uno vs. DJZ

Double leapfrog by Uno and DJZ leads to DJZ getting a pop-up dropkick sending Manik to the floor. Uno gets a dropkick on the apron to a seated DJZ sending him to the floor. Uno moonsaults onto both men from the top to the floor. Uno gets a wacky lucha submission, but Manik goes for his own move before DJZ prevents it. Manik rakes Uno’s face in the corner before DJZ flips around a bit to finally land a flying back elbow. Manik locks on a goofy Billy Goat’s Curse and Gory Special submission, which is turned into a cradle for 2. Manik rakes DJZ’s eyes, and Z moves leading to Manik and Uno clashing mid-ring. Double tornado DDT by DJZ gets the win to advance to the field of 16 – so the next winner here advances as well. 

Manik gets a quick inverted sunset flip for 2. Dueling uppercuts lead to Uno getting a quebrada turned into a stunner for 2. Manik gets a combination armbar/kneebar and places Uno up top and crotches him. Manik goes for an electric chair, but Uno turns it into a German suplex and a corkscrew moonsault to win – so he advances alongside DJZ. This was a cluster of moves. Josh runs down Group UK while Josh says that tonight, Kurt Angle address his future. After a break, they run down that Group X Division is done, but all of Group UK is still alive. Drew cuts a promo on what appears to be a cheap Android phone from 2008 at Glasgow airport. He says he’s always seeing his friends growing up and is asked when he’ll be married – but he’s married to the business. Rockstar Spud comes out and looks much skinnier and less tan than his last appearance in the series. Josh calls Drew “the captain” for reasons that he never explains.

Drew Galloway vs. Rockstar Spud

Spud stands around while Drew takes a squatting position as his base before each puts up their dukes. Drew goes for a punch, but it misses, so Spud runs wild with a few punches of his own. Spud turns a gorilla press slam into a sunset flip, but that fails, so he takes Drew down anyway. Drew spinebusters Spud into the apron three times before trying to lawndart him into the post. Spud avoids that and sidesteps a dive, resulting in Drew bonking his head on the steps. Spud bets the ref to count quickly, but he gets in at 9. Spud goes for a cover and gets 2. Drew catches a crossbody and turns it into a tilt a whirl backbreaker. 

Josh says he’s been reliving the World Title Series every day – so I assume he lost a bet. Spud hits the elbows and gets a shining wizard. He takes off the tie, but can’t hit the Underdog. Drew punches him on the apron and teases a powerbomb off the apron onto the steps. He doesn’t do it, so Spud kicks him into the ring. Spud gets a wonky flying DDT for 2. Spud runs at Drew and eats White Noise before hitting the Claymore kick to the chest rather weakly for the win. Each man is capable of having far better matches, but Drew at least won and advances to the round of 16. Quick ad break for Black Friday and Cyborg Monday – every order placed Mondays gets a free Kurt Angle banner.

Bram vs. Grado

Pope is astonished that Grado could in fact advance in the tournament when Grado faces Bram tonight. They kill some time talking about just what the brackets could be before Bram comes out to face Grado. Grado comes down as a fountain of charisma in purple and gold gear with polka dots. Pope says that when he watches Grado, he thinks he’s watching PBS. Josh mocks Grado for the Spud vs. Grado comedy match. Pope asks what Grado’s actual music is because he doesn’t listen to his entrance, and Bram just cradles him and beats him. Lashley highlight reel sets up another one for Aries showing off his big moves. Spud and Grado are out of Group UK as a turkey graphic appears on the screen beyond the green screen of Josh and Pope. Pope doesn’t want to give predictions, leading to Josh wondering just why TNA hired Pope as a broadcaster. Micah and Jessie Godderz get no ring introductions.

Micah vs. Jessie Godderz

Micah gets a back elbow while Pope talks about Micah missing aggression and he really needs ruthless aggression. Pope offers to give him advice while Josh says that Pope really shouldn’t be offering advice to anyone. Jessie drop toeholds Micah into the buckle while Pope cuts a fine promo about whether he was a face or a heel, he was intense. Jessie gets a bearhug while Josh plugs the TV tapings from January 5-9. Jessie rushes into a corner boot and eats a lariat and a big corner flying elbow before getting a back body drop. A giant Stinger splash hits and leads to a Big Ending for 2 because Jessie gets the ropes. Jessie gets some body shots and goes for the Crab, but Micah avoids it. Samoan drop hits for Micah, but a giant headbutt misses and Jessie gets the crab for the win. Jessie advances to the round of 16 and we get our first screen-filling graphic for someone advancing.

Robbie E vs. Davey Richards is up next, but first up next, Kurt talks about his future. We get a hype video for everyone in Group Tag Team Specialists. Robbie comes out to face Davey while Pope says that Robbie has reinvented himself. Robbie comes out fist-pumping, in a giant hoodie, and with his wacky hair. We get clips of Davey’s intro while Pope rambles on for a while. And then they just cut away from the intros and throw to Kurt Angle. Kurt talks about the talented roster in TNA and that the Maximum Impact tour is his retirement tour in TNA. Kurt says he’s loved his career, from WWE to TNA.  Kurt says that he’s glad that his final run in TNA is in the UK before we go to Christy and get the full intros for the match we just got clipped intros for. 

Davey Richards vs. Robbie E

It begins with some mat wrestling as Josh talks about Robbie “trying to wrestle”. Robbie hiptosses him down and gets an armdrag. Davey drops down and hits a big dropkick to send Robbie to the floor. Running penalty kick misses and Robbie gets a somersault senton to the floor off the apron. Robbie gets a flying Hart Attack while Josh says Robbie wants to be a real hybrid athlete. Davey gets 2 of an exploder suplex. Davey locks on a modified version of the Indian Deathlock before Robbie gets to the ropes. They exchange punches before Davey headbutts him down. Robbie sends him to the corner, gets a lariat and gets 2. Creeping Death flying kick is countered by a full nelson into the Boom Drop for 2! Davey gets 2 off a cradle before nailing a double stomp to counter a sunset flip for 2. Alarm Clock hits before a tornado buzzsaw kick gets the win for Davey. Davey raises Robbie’s hand high. Josh plugs Bracket Brawl in a weirdly sped-up ad for that contest. We get a graphic for the people in the round of 16, with several faces cut off by the TV-14 graphic. Group Wildcard is up with Crazzy Steve facing off against Kenny King.

Kenny King vs. Crazzy Steve

The referee tells Steve to put his horn away while the crowd cheers wildly for Kenny King. King spins out of a hammerlock in a slick way and nips up. King runs him down before running in place before Steve knocks him down and struts. Josh runs through Steve’s backstory with the Menagerie and how he isn’t quite sure why Steve is still on the active roster. Steve gets a takedown to grab the horn. King kicks his face off and slams him while we see Aiden ‘O Shea put a stogie in his mouth. Steve gets a corner forearm and a series of clotheslines before grabbing the horn and hitting a running knee. Springboard rana hits for Steve before he bites his head and gets 2 off a schoolboy. A crucifix gets 2, but the Royal Flush wins for Kenny King. With the win, King and Shera are the only ones in Group Wildcard who advance to the round of 16. The final person will be determined by the winner of Lashley vs. Aries. Aries cuts a promo with Thea saying that he’s had some great matches with Lashley before, and Lashley’s a smart guy. Aries vs. Lashley is up next. But first, we get yet another awards show. Shera hitting the Sky High is the move of the series, while Brooke won biggest upset for beating Kong. Pope called Grado vs. Spud the turkey of the series. Bram is the sleeper of the series, and it’s time for the main event. Aries comes out while we see clips of him having great match after great match in the series. Lashley comes out and they hype up his Bellator career.

Lashley vs. Austin Aries

Lashley gets a big takedown to start. Aries gets a headlock, circles Lashley and locks on a hammerlock. Josh recaps how Aries is back after losing a “loser leaves TNA” match and how Aries used the loophole of the Group Champions name to get back in. Aries lands a missile dropkick, but Lashley sends him down anyway. Lashley shoulderblocks him in the corner to the floor. Aries tries to get back in, but eats the apron. Corner shoulder charge hits again and Lashley goes for the delayed suplex, but Aries fights back with knees, but Lashley hits it anyway and gets 2! Fantastic sequence leads to an ad break. 

We come back to see Aries stomping the foot to avoid a German suplex. Discus elbow is countered into an overhead belly to belly by Lashley. Lashley goes for the spear, but Aries avoids it and sends Lashley into the post. Missile dropkick hits again and sends him down hard. Lashley deadlifts him off the mat into a stampede powerslam for 2. Josh says we have five minutes left in the match as Aries locks on the Last Chancery as Lashley dives into the ring – but he’s tied in the ropes. Lashley gets up and eats some knee strikes. Lashley counters a brainbuster into a press slam, but Aries gets two discus elbows! Big corner dropkick leads to a brainbuster attempt, but Lashley gets a flip German suplex! Aries goes for the suicide dive, but his feet get caught in the ropes and he lands out of control on the floor. Lashley shoves Earl down, which should be a DQ. Lashley tosses him in while Earl checks on him. Lashley picks him up, but Earl puts him back down. Lashley preps for the spear while Earl tells him no. Aries fights back with an overhand chop. It’s all Aries has left and he goes down. Lashley goes for the spear, but Aries gets the Last Chancery in the middle of the ring. Lashley makes it to the rope, so Aries breaks the hold.  Aries goes up top for the 450, but Lashley avoids it and eats the spear! Lashley moves on in the series – this was easily the best match of the series so far. The main event is over, but there’s still 15 minutes left in the show with nothing announced.

Josh says that the brackets will be announced – so that may actually be the main event segment. We see clips of tonight’s matches. Block A will feature EC3 against DJZ, while Bram faces Davey Richards. Block B features Lashley against Drew Galloway while Shera faces Eli Drake. In Block C, Gail faces Tigre Uno while Eric Young faces Kenny King. In Block D, Jessie faces Awesome Kong while Bobby Roode faces Matt Hardy. EC3 cuts a very echoey promo and buries DJZ. DJZ cuts another promo on his phone and says he’s a recovering scumbag and he loves walking around with girls while EC3 likes walking around with a 300 pound man. Davey cuts a very sedate promo from what appears to be a massage room, while Eli says that he’s moving on and there’s no surprise in that and while Shera dances, he’ll dance to the top. EY says that he’s king of the world and God, while Jessie says that no man, woman, or Kong can stop him. More cell phone footage, now with Roode in a ratty hoodie talking about respecting Matt Hardy, but doing whatever it takes to win. Matt says that Roode can’t stop the Matt Hardy Train and we get a quick hype video for next week. Well, Aries vs. Lashley was well-worth watching. The rest of the show was pretty skippable. To see every screenshot for the show, just click here.

TNA Impact Results 11-4: Eric Young, Bobby Roode, Davey Richards, and Eddie Edwards

Posted on by F4W Editors

Last week, Gail Kim and Awesome Kong main evented the show and Gail advanced in the tournament. DJZ beat the X Division Champion Tigre Uno, while current NXT wrestler James Storm advanced by beating Abyss with his cowbell and hitting two superkicks. Aiden O’Shea beat Crazzy Steve, and Drew Galloway beat Grado. The show begins with a recap of last week’s events. Eddie Edwards faces Davey Richards tonight, while the main event will feature Robert Roode vs. Eric Young, and we’ll get a Jeff Hardy interview. Josh says that tonight is the most pivotal of nights and talks about it being a must-win situation for both Davey and Eddie.

Madison Rayne faces Brooke tonight as well. We see a brief clip of the Hardy interview talking about how he can’t believe he broke his leg after winning the tag titles. Madison Rayne comes out to face Brooke. Madison says that the knockouts started the women’s wrestling revolution and how what Ronda Rousey has done for UFC, they’ve done for wrestling. Madison says if she doesn’t win, it’s over for her with this series. She likes having the odds against her while Brooke just quickly comes down. 

Madison Rayne vs. Brooke 

They start off with a back and forth collar-and-elbow tieup and a “Brooke’s gotta booty” chant starts. Brooke slips out of a headlock and grabs her wrist in an odd spot. Ah – it’s her fingers – she broke some in her last match. Brooke goes down due to the fingers again. Madison chops away and knocks her down with a dreadful forearm. Brooke gets a flapjack and a chant from the fans. Brooke goes up top and gets 2 off the flying elbow. Brooke drops her because she can’t lift her for the facebuster, so Madison hits the Rayne Drop for the win. Madison picks her up and holds her hand high. Eric Young rants and raves about being cheated in the World Title Series and how he makes his own luck. After a break, we see a recap of the last year of the Roode vs. EY feud. Pope and Josh ramble on for a bit while Spud comes down to face Bram in the World Title Series.

Rockstar Spud vs. Bram

Pope picks Bram to win, while Josh mocks him for calling that a fearless prediction. Spud slaps Bram and lands some forearms. Spud would be so great in WWE as Spudley Dudley. Spud bites the thumb to gain a further advantage. Bram sends him down and misses a pair of elbows. Bram slams him down and sends him to the floor onto the steps hard. Bram fish-hooks him and sends him into the ring. Bram misses a Stinger splash and Spud runs wild with corner forearms. Drop toehold leads to a shining enzuiguri. Bram avoids the Underdog and wants the Impaler DDT, but Spud schoolboys him for 2. Bram hits the Impaler for the win, and we see a graphic showing that he’s up 3 points.

Bobby says he could care less what EY says to him, and still blames him for losing the TNA Title earlier this year. He says he’s KOTM Champion and by winning this series, he’ll close out the year with two titles. So I guess the KOTM Title’s importance is now that it’s a bragging right if you win the World Title. We see another clip of Jeff Hardy talking about how great it was to see Matt as World Champion at BFG in North Carolina. Josh uses more WWE speak as the title is in a “state of abeyance” while we learn that Manik vs. Mandrews is up next. Mandrews skates down to the ring while Manik saunters down to one of the better themes in the company right now.

Manik vs. Mandrews

They have a little standoff to start before Mandrews trips him off the ropes. Lots of wacky armbars and cradles here before Mandrews focuses on a hammerlock. Mandrews goes for a reverse rana, but eats a face plant and Manik locks him in a Muta lock surfboard combination before Manik transitions into a straightjacket choke. They exchange more cradles before Mandrews gets 2 off a sunset flip. This is one of the most mat wrestling-heavy matches in this division in quite some time. Manik stands on the elbow and stomps it. Manik eats a backdrop and a dropkick before being hit with a giant DDT. Manik grabs him the tiger codebreaker, but it gets countered. Mandrews goes for a standing moonsault, but eats a knee and gets locked in an armbar. Mandrews takes him down with a Northern Lights suplex and gets a standing corkscrew moonsault and goes up top. Shooting Star Suplex is met with knees before a modified Go To Sleep wins for Manik. This was one of the best X division matches in quite some time – Mandrews has shined quite a bit in each of his World Title Series matches. 

We see a recap of the Wolves beating Brian Myers and Trevor Lee way back… a few months ago in the super-rushed GFW vs. TNA invasion. The Wolves say they’re in wrestling for the competition, and tonight, the best man will win. The Jeff Hardy interview is next. But first, we get EY saying that he’s going to attack Roode at the right time – so him just standing in a hallway is strategy. Jeff talks about the big bump at Lockdown off the cage and how his comeback proved that he could be as good as ever. They show clips of the cage match, but him doing a see-saw dive off the top of it. The Hardys winning the Ultimate X for the tag titles is shown and we see him ride dirt bikes. He says he made three big jumping spots on his property. He did one, then landed a second one, and wanted to topple this third one for years. He says if he’d hit it harder, he could’ve landed it. He was knocked out and his first thought was breaking his leg after the win. We’ll hear more of it later. Next, it’s the battle of the Wolves. Davey comes out first in black, while Eddie is in white. We see Matt Hardy beating Davey and Robbie E beating Eddie.

Davey Richards vs. Eddie Edwards

They tie-up and go back and forth. They then grab hands and try to win the leverage game. Back and forth monkey flips get quick covers for 2. We get some cool mini-kip ups to bring them to their feet and exchange headlocks. ‘O Connor roll leads to a submission and then a cradle for 2. They each grab one another’s foot in a spot I don’t recall seeing before. They stand off for an ad break . Davey avoids a dropkick and lands one of his own. Eddie gets an inverted atomic drop and a superkick for 2. Eddie lands a running back elbow for 2. Eddie gets a snapmare and chinlock before landing a facebuster. 

Davey lands a running elbow in the corner and a big spin kick to Eddie up top. Davey lands a big superplex, but can’t follow up. They exchange big forearms and Eddie hits an even bigger flapjack facebuster for 2.5. Davey avoids the backpack stunner and lands a big kick and German for 2. In the final minute, we get a series of cradles before a chop exchange. They go for kicks and chops and Davey lands a lariat, but can’t cover in time – it’s a draw so they each get one point. They raise each other’s hands and had yet another fantastic match. Between that and Manik vs. Mandrews, this has been a very satisfying show wrstling-wise. Series recap video shows how Hardy is advancing to the round of 16, and the second part of the Jeff interview is coming up.

We see clips of Davey vs. Eddie and they go to the back with Davey saying that Eddie chopped his claw paint off. Eddie says if he couldn’t get the win, he’s glad they at least got a draw. Davey says that the third person in the ring was the Wolves Nation.  Davey says that the Wolves are an organic team, and we see more clips of Jeff Hardy at BFG. Jeff says he was heartbroken watching Matt give up the tag titles on Impact. Jeff says that sucked, but he was glad to see Matt go for the World Title. He goes through working for EC3 and being humiliated, but gets in a great line about making sure Tyrus watched Sesame Street. He loved seeing Matt win the title at BFG in NC in a repeat of clips they showed earlier today and last week. Jeff says yeah, he was a bit unfair to EC3, but he’s glad that Matt did the brave thing and gave up the title. He’s been banned from every show, but he’ll use that time to heal up and hopefully get in the ring again soon. 

Roode stands around a truck and asks where EY is and he confronts him – EY tells him he already won the fight because he’s got Roode worried about him. Well, that was an unsatisfying way to spend an hour of TV time – but it makes for a fine story point. Josh and Pope play Swipe Left and Swipe Right. Pope predicts Shera to win. Shera is out not doing his dance, but in his blue non-Khoya gear at least. King doesn’t want to take about what Shera has done to him stealing his girls. This is apparently a storyline that’s been happening or something.

Mahabali Shera vs. Kenny King

Shera twirls his mustache while King does pushups. King locks on a headlock , but he gets tackled down. King takes him down with a headlock and gets backdropped hard. Kenny King gets a blockbuster, but Shera goes to the floor. King goes for a tornado dive and mostly misses Shera. Pope says that Shera isn’t dancing in the series because it’s serious business. I greatly appreciate them at least trying to find logical ways to patch things together. King goes for the shotgun knee shot in the corner, but it misses. Shera misses a lariat a mile above King’s head, but lands a better one to send King down. Shera lands a scary suplex holding onto King’s tights for dear life to hang onto him. Shera gets the Sky High to win. Kenny King tried, but he couldn’t do much with Shera, who is far too limited to do be on national TV at this point.

Josh recaps tonight’s matches and Matt Hardy faces Eddie next week. Gail Kim faces Madison Rayne, while Mr. Anderson faces EC3 in the main event. We get another recap of the EY vs. Roode rivalry. Eric Young comes out and they show clips of him in the series and he talks about being a world class pro wrestler. Roode comes out while Josh talks about how Roode demolished Storm in the series, but Storm beat Abyss. Roode poses and we go to a break.

Eric Young vs. Robert Roode

Roode slugs away in the corner and sends him up high for a backdrop. EY is sent to the floor and he bides his time and insults the fans. A little kid in a Superman shirt almost flinches as EY threatens to punch him. EY hops off the top rope and eats a punch to the gut, doing a perfect flip as a result. EY rakes the eyes to avoid a Roode Bomb and lands a neckbreaker. Josh blamed EY for sending TNA on a downward spiral in 2015. Josh recaps all of their epic wars, and leaves out that at least one of them was hyped up as their final match ever. EY gets a chinlock, but Roode fights out and gets a dropkick slightly above the belly for 2. EY charges, but eats an elbow after yelling at the fans. EY takes a big shot and does a delayed Flair Flop. Roode punches away some more, but EY flips to the apron and lands a shoulder to the gut. EY eats a spinebuster for 2. EY avoids the fisherman suplex, while Roode avoids the piledriver. EY rushes in and eats a boot. EY uses the ref to distract Roode and hits a piledriver to win the match. This was technically fine, but nothing special or memorable at all. Josh runs down next week’s card and we see hype clips for its matches.  To see every screenshot taken for the show, just click here.

TNA Impact Results 10/28: World Title Series Week Four with Matt Hardy, Drew Galloway, Awesome Kong, and Gail Kim

Posted on by F4W Editors

Last week, Aries beat Anderson in a fantastic match to advance in the series and also take Anderson out of it. Mandrews debuted a new skater/surfer gimmick, and surfed on Tigre Uno’s back. His Johnny Ace cosplay didn’t help him though, as Uno won the match.  Manik beat DJZ with a funky GTS, and in the main event, EC3 beat Lashley thanks to cheating. It was a very filler-heavy episode of the show, and quite skippable outside of the Aries match. The show begins with a recap of last week’s events and we’ll see Uno face DJZ, while the main event is Awesome Kong against Gail Kim. 

Storm faces Abyss, and Robbie E faces Matt Hardy tonight. Robbie E comes down in the background while Josh talks about how Group Champions “is being called the toughest group to get out of”, and offers up no explanation as to who is saying this. Pope rambles about how his prophecies come true and we get an EC3 promo after last week’s show. Robbie E should logically be in the ring and we get a recap of the rankings for Team Tag Team Specialists. Robbie’s intro is finally over, leading to Matt’s. Pope says that Matt should get a Wrestletarium award – okey dokey.

Matt Hardy vs. Robbie E

They start things off with some mat wrestling before Matt throws Robbie’s head into the buckle. Robbie counters the bulldog and lands some corner shots. Josh recaps the Robbie E vs. Robbie G rivalry and Matt trips Robbie up on the apron. Robbie avoids being tossed into the buckle on the apron, and kicks Matt before hitting a somersault dive off the apron. Matt’s trapped against the apron and eats a big lariat. Pope buries Robbie E’s old gimmick like he was Leif Cassidy or Avatar and praises him for getting extreme. In what way has he become extreme? Kudos on the horrible Al Snow gimmick bashing, but they did at least give Snow a WWF gig. Robbie goes up top and gets snapmared down. Pope mentions the Wrestletarian award and tells Josh to trademark that. Well, given how WWE swooped in and got “Four Horesweomen”, might as well.

Big flying Hart Attack hits for Robbie. Matt gets the splash mountain powerbomb for 2 – he hasn’t busted that out for many years. Robbie avoids Matt’s weird movements before the Twist to hit the Boom Drop for 2. Matt hits a second Side Effect and Robbie pops up into a Twist of Fate for the win. This was pretty fun – Matt is dong surprisingly well in singles matches and he and Robbie shake hands and hug after the match. Josh tells us to update our leaderboards at home – as if anyone on Earth is doing that. Gail is interviewed about losing to Brooke in the series, and she says that Brooke was better that night – and tonight, she’s coming for Kong.

We get a recap of Robbie vs. Matt and Matt cuts a post-match promo about how Robbie E has grown. Robbie says he doesn’t feel like a loser because he earned respect and he’s becoming more serious. Matt is interrupted by Grado, who wants a selfie. Matt does the V1-AAAAHHH bit and blocks Grado’s face. Well, that was a thing. Grado comes down while the commentary is drowned out by Pope talking about Game of War and Drew Galloway. Josh puts Grado over as “one of the top 32 competitors in the World Title Series” of 32 competitors. Poor Grado. We get a Galloway hype video.

Drew Galloway vs. Grado

Grado cradles Drew for 2, and Drew just can’t lift him up because he’s too fat – so he hulks up and chucks him. Drew chops him big-time in the corner and Drew eats an accidental low blow a little later while Grado asks the ref to “check his bollocks”. Drew fights back with more chops and a big overhead belly to belly suplex for 2. Drew wants him to fire back, so he does and he plants him in the corner for the cannonball! Drew gets locked into a tree of woe, which leads to a German suplex and he then preps the foot for the Sick Kick/Claymore for the win. We get a history lesson on Gail vs. Kong – with clips of Gail beating Kong for the title at Final Resolution 2008. We then see a far too long recap of the Storm, Abyss, and Shera storyline. Aiden ‘O Shea is out to face Crazzy Steve in one of the more random matches we’ve seen on Impact in a while. Aiden is apparently from Chicago, and comes to the ring in a wifebeater and slacks.

Crazzy Steve vs. Aiden O’Shea

Crazzy Steve starts the match shaking his ass to O’Shea’s theme. Josh brings up that Aiden is from Chicago and of Irish descent, and Aiden steals his horn and plays keep away with it. Steve gets a jawbreaker and GETS THE HORN. The horn is blown into Aiden’s ears and shocks him, but he lands a solid punch to get the lead. Aiden tosses him into the buckle and pounces him down to the mat. Steve attacks the hand on the floor, but Aiden hits him with He Used to Call it the Boom Stick lariat for the win. Abyss cuts a promo on Storm and we see a Storm vs. Abyss hype video showing Storm’s title win and some of Abyss’s title wins. Jeff Hardy DVD ad.

We get clips of Kong vs. Gail from earlier this year on Impact, with Kong beating Gail with a counter-to-center ring Awesome bomb. Recap of Drew beating Grado earlier and we get a subtitled promo from Grado backstage. Pope and Josh talk for a bit about the World Title Series while Storm comes out to face Abyss, who is already in the ring. Storm talks about he and Abyss being one of the four guys left in TNA who have been in TNA since day one – giving fans some great entertainment. Storm tells Abyss to do the smart thing and let him win by countout – if Storm’s smart, why doesn’t he just ask for a win via pinfall to get more points? Abyss tells Storm that he’s still the Monster and refuses. Storm is in his weird orange camo gear that never needs to be seen again.

James Storm vs. Abyss

They start a clubbering and Storm lands a superkick to the gut, but Abyss gains control quickly for an ad break. WWE 2K16 ad. When we come back, Storm slams Abyss into the steps. Storm hops off the steps into a chokeslam setup, but he shoves Abyss into the post. Storm brings a chair in and Earl takes it while the fans chant for tables. The chair is put in the corner and they fight over a corner shot, but neither hits it. Storm lands some corner punches and eats the chair. Abyss gets a splash and gets 2. They plug Earl Hebner’s Hall of Fame T-shirt, which they somehow felt was something anyone would want to spend money on. Pope says “that is available, indeed”. Abyss brings his implement of death Janice into the ring, but it gets stuck in the buckle. Storm hits him with a cowbell for 2. So to recap, you can bring a chair into the ring in TNA, and a board with nails in it – but no cowbells. They fight up top and Storm gets a sunset bomb and a big flying elbow for 2. Abyss gets a chokeslam for 2. Storm takes a swig and spits it at Abyss, who is blinded and eats two superkicks for the win. They recap the World Champions group, which sees EY have zero points.

Recap of Storm vs. Abyss and O’Shea vs. Steve. Shera will face Kenny King next week and we get a JB interview with Shera. He says he’ll win the title and make his friends, family, and country proud. JB is excited to announce the India tour and Shera says that he’ll return home as World Champion. Pope puts over the Shera Shake dance craze. Brooke faces Madison Rayne next week as well. Next week, we’ll see a Jeff Hardy interview about the BFG main event – and we see a little clip of him saying seeing his brother hold the title win in their home state with his family was the best. We get a recap video of an Eric Young vs. Robert Roode rivalry. I’ve forgotten about any issue they’ve had recently, so this is actually a good thing. We see their history over the past year and are told they’ll face off next week in the World Title Series. Tigre Uno comes out to face DJZ.

DJZ vs. Tigre Uno

Uno starts this off with a quick legdrop and armbar. A hammerlock leads to Josh being buried by Pope for not calling the action. Josh responds by saying he just wants to see Pope do it so he can fail. Is Josh supposed to be a babyface? DJZ lands a corner kick and hits a corner rana. DJZ flips around and eats a spinkick. Josh says the X division is like playing a video game, which Pope confirms. Uno goes for a hopping something or other and gets necksnapped on the rope. DJZ lands a tilt-a-whirl headscissors into the steps. Josh says that a win here means that DJZ can make a valid case to get an X Title shot just by beating the champion – excellent point there. DJZ gets some shoulder thrusts in the corner and lands some forearms with Uno perched up top.

Uno counters a superplex, but leaps into a dropkick to the ribs for 2. Uno goes for his wacky pop-up DDT, which is countered. Uno gets a spinkick and a baseball slide kick. Orno rolls around and then…stops before doing a tornado dive. Uno gets a springboard dropkick a pop-up rana for 2. DJZ hits a running spinning rana and gets shotgun knees to the spine. Pope implies it’s Vintage Elijah Burke, but forgives Josh for not watching TNA before he came into the company. Boy is this a bizarre commentary team. DJZ finally lands his goofy DDT for the win. We get a highlight reel of Gail vs. Kong from BFG set to epic music – it actually makes it seem like a good match, so they did their job here. Gail comes down and Josh says the champions don’t have their championship titles because they don’t want any distractions while going after the World title.

Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong

Gail tries to roll away from Kong, but gets shoved into the corner. Gail attacks the shoulder and lands some forearms before just getting clubbed down for a break. We come back to Kong tossing Gail’s leg on the mat before locking on a camel clutch. Gail goes for a handspring headscissor, but Kong flipped her around and hit a lariat. Kong lands a Mongolian chop and locks on a sleeper. Gail escapes and kicks away, but gets leg tripped by Kong. Gail locks on the standing Octopus stretch, but gets kryptonite krunched out of it. It gets 2 and Gail sends her to the floor and gets a flipping senton to the floor.

Gail gets a combination armbar/choke on the mat. Kong escapes, but eats a series of kicks. Josh announces that we have five minutes left in the match. Kong goes for a chokeslam, but gets DDT’d out of it. Gail lands some leg kicks and dropkicks, and gets 2 off a crossbody. Kong counters Eat Defeat, but goes for a powerbomb and eats a cradle for a loss. They had a pretty good match here, but nothing on the show topped anything Aries has done so far. Next week’s Davey vs. Eddie match has the potential to be quite good – as does Roode vs. EY. To see every screen taken for the show, just click here.

TNA Impact Results 10-21 Lashley vs. EC3

Posted on by F4W Editors

Last week, Matt Hardy beat Davey to advance in the series. Aiden ‘O Shea debuted on Impact and lost to Kenny King, who is now in ROH. Eric Young lost to Abyss after declaring himself to be God. Robbie E beat Eddie Edwards in a good little match, while Shera defeated Crazzy Steve while still wearing his “Khoya” gear because as Josh said, he wanted to be reminded of who he wasn’t. In the main event, Robert Roode beat James Storm, now in WWE, in an absolutely nothing match that didn’t even play off of their history beyond one “BEER! MONEY” spot.

The show starts with a recap of the BFG main event, the injunction, the World Title Series, and the debut of Group X Division tonight. Andrews faces Mandrews and DJZ faces Manik. Anderson faces Aries, and EC3 faces Lashley. Pope talked about Group Future 4 being on the show tonight and how Aries and EC3 have one point each due to a tie. Aries faces Anderson next, but first we get some stuff between Aries and EC3 in the roundtable. Anderson picks Lashley to beat EC3, while Lashley just looks bored. Anderson comes down and does his full intro instead of just the “Anderson, Anderson” bit. Aries comes out with Thea Trinidad once again.

Ken Anderson vs. Austin Aries

Aries and Anderson exchange basic armwork mid-ring. They focus on the roundtable, with Anderson saying that he and Aries traveled the indies and EC3 asks just what those are. Anderson avoids the missile dropkick. Anderson clubs at the head and lands some shoulder thrusts, but only gets 1. Aries takes him down and gets a slingshot elbow, which Pope says is “shades of Austin Starr”. Oh dear God no. Anderson lays some punches into Aries in the corner before they go back and forth with body blows. EC3 not knowing what the indies are is the one thing that pisses Josh off about EC3, and then Pope says “EC3 was born into the big time – Impact Wrestling!” Ad break time.

Anderson gets a series of elbows and lariats before getting a neckbreaker. Aries shoulders the stomach and flips over before Christy says that there are five minutes left. If nothing else, TNA has at least made time limits into a viable match finish again with this thing. Aries lands the missile dropkick while Thea claps away. Anderson gets the Finlay Roll by catching Aries in the corner and getting 2. Aries armdrags his way out of the Mic Check, and he goes for the brainbuster – but get crotched up top by Anderson.

Aries boxes his way out of that situation and lands the 450 for a 2.5 count. Anderson gets a tornado kick for 2. Aries goes up for a superplex, but Anderson counters into the Lambeau Leap for 2.5. They mess up a Mic Check armdrag a bit, but wind up just fine with Anderson going up top and getting caught by Aries with a super brainbuster for the win! This was sloppy at times, but fairly good – Aries being included in this thing has really increased the match quality of the show. Josh says that Anderson has now been eliminated from the series. 

Josh reveals that tonight, we’ll see the Bound For Glory PPV main event for some reason. Maybe they should’ve booked 64 matches for this thing or something, because that makes no sense to do now. In week one, it would – but not now. After a break, we see clips of Ultimate X highlights from BFG. Andrew Everett’s insane flip bump off the X aired a lot, as did Josh calling Shane Helms the greatest cruiserweight of all time. In a similarly ridiculous bit, he asks Pope if Tigre is the greatest X division champion of all time. Mandrews skates partially down to the ring, resulting in Josh calling him “one Dynamic Dude”.

Tigre Uno vs “The Dynamic Dude” Mandrews

Mark Andrews just can’t catch a break in TNA when it comes to names. So if Okada and Baretta are any indication, he should be signed by New Japan in a couple of years and be used to the full extent of his abilities. They flip around on the mat for a bit with some covers getting quick 2 counts. Mandrews does a skateboard pose during the “indy standoff” spot. While they’re wrestling a bit, Josh talks about exorcism live and then Pope says that’s not his job. Josh mocks him for leaving the Bound For Gold match before Pope says his career is over, so it doesn’t need resurrection. 

Mandrews surfs on Uno for a bit, which is different than skating. Uno and Mandrws exchange gutwrenches, leading to a wacky lucha gutwrench submission by Uno. Josh talks about numbers for a bit and says that Anderson is absolutely out of this. Josh runs through every possible combination of things that could happen for the EC3 match in such a way that it comes off like minute 50 of an hour long math class where by the end, you just hear nothing and it’s just random noise. Mandrews flies over the top to attack Uno. Uno hits a German into the buckle and gets the win. The Bound For Glory main event airs next.

But first, Josh recaps that Anderson lost and is now out of the tournament mathematically – but he can at least play spoiler for EC3. Aries cuts a promo backstage about setting the bar high because he demands it out of himself. Josh recaps that all of this is due to the BFG series and now, in the third week of the series, we see the match. They join it in progress after intros and throw some new plugs in with graphics for Valpak coupons. Drew hitting the Kryptonite Krunch on the steps onto EC3 is still crazy, and we go to a break after a 2 count.

We come back to see EC3 suplex Matt over the top through Drew on top of a table. German suplex tower of doom hits. Three-way kneeling punch exchange leads to some chops. Frye-Takayama exchange from Matt and Drew leads to a double One Percenter for 2. EC3 shoves Jeff to get DQed, but Jeff won’t do it – so he kicks Drew low to force it as well. Josh and Pope point out that there are no DQs here. EC3 grabs a chair and goes to hit Drew, but Jeff takes it and hits him. In a nice bit, EC3 kicks the chair base out of Drew’s way before the Sick Kick. Matt hits the Twist on Drew to get his revenge on…EC3. And somehow, this story fell flat. EC3 shoving Big John over the table remains hilarious.

Voiceover work recaps the injunction “We could not have a world champion – and Dixie felt that wasn’t the right thing to do”. EC3 is asked about the World Title Series and he talks about how we just saw the travesty that happened to him and he does this for him tonight. We go back to Josh and Pope pondering about what could happen with the points tonight. I can get a few lifetimes without ever hearing the phrase “group play”. Josh and Pope are going to play Swipe Left and Swipe Right with the Future 4 group. 

They plug the Jeff Hardy DVD and resume talking about Group Wild Card. In a bizarre move, we see an “earlier tonight” graphic for Jessie Godderz vs. Crimson and just get clips of Crimson missing a shoulder charge and Godderz winning with the Adonis Crab. Jessie’s video package takes longer than the match. Jessie says that he isn’t all talk and he can back it up. He claims to be the best mix of agility, power, and flexibility – and he’ll be the next TNA World Champion. Between Jessie’s confidence and the clips of him just destroying dudes, this was effective – but bizarrely inserted into the show overall. Following up on clips of that match, we get clips of Eli Drake vs. Micah in a battle of former Rising members. They brawl and get a double countout and earn one point each. Why on Earth did they bother showing the full BFG match if they actually shot matches in full? 

In a hilarious bit, Destination America makes sure to tell people to not attempt to do an exorcism themselves. Pope is against Grado, but for Brooke and Kong. Manik comes out and he has his mask on. Josh says that Manik went maskless at BFG and he didn’t win. Pope says that he didn’t wear the mask at BFG to make sure he could see every opponent at the PPV. Josh points out a team he likes that wears different uniforms each week and it changes things up. Pope says that he feuded with Suicide for a while and the advantage of a mask is that you can’t read its owner’s full facial expressions.

They have now spent nearly as much time explaining Manik wearing a mask than they have building up some PPVs. Manik stomps a mudhole into DJZ while Josh talks about Helms being the greatest cruiserweight of all time. Pope says he could be the best, while Josh says the title was changed from blue to green due to Helms. Manik gets a snap suplex and then a back suplex before Josh buries Pope for calling a suplex a “souffle” since Solie at least knew the difference between a wrestling move and a breakfast order. 

DJZ gets a series of atomic drops before awkwardly positioning his body into the ropes to miss a DDT attempt and Manik gets a cross armbreaker. DJZ dives off the top and eats a pair of boots before Manik misses a frog splash. DJZ misses his silly pop-up tornado DDT before Manik hits a bizarre version of the GTS with a back bump and a kick to the face for the win. We get a recap of a June 17 match between Lashley and EC3 with a weird blue filter put on everything. 

Next week, Gail faces Awesome Kong – which Pope hypes up as a BFG rematch. God help us all if they choose to air that as filler programming too. James Storm faces Abyss next week and Robbie is hyped up as tying Matt Hardy on top of the tag team specialists group. EC3 comes out with Tyrus. Josh is now back on EC3’s side and points out that Matt didn’t actually beat EC3 to get revenge. Josh points out via math that Lashley is at least in a position to not be eliminated right now. 

EC3 vs. Lashley

Lashley dominates a tie-up, so EC3 stalls on the floor. EC3 comes in and gets pushed around, so he cowers in the corner. Lashley gets a beal and then hits a few lariats before a break. After it, EC3 dominates Lashley on the floor and tosses him into the steps. Lashley hoists him up and hits a spinebuster on the floor. Tyrus pounces into Lashley and he smacks into the post. EC3 gets some mounted punches and grinds away with a cravate. Lashley punches away, but is sent to the floor. Tyrus attacks Lashley again and Josh says that Tyrus could result in more fines for EC3. EC3 goes for a suplex, but it gets countered.

Josh talks about Tyrus’s antics being a complete insult to Dixie and Billy Corgan’s edict about there being no interference in this. I guess that might’ve been in the full video, but they never mentioned that until this very moment on TV. EC3 and Lashley get into a punch exchange before Lashley gets a German suplex and chains it into an overhead belly to belly suplex. Lashley gets a powerslam for 2. Lashley rolls into a rear naked choke, but EC3 escapes thanks to Tyrus.

EC3 gets the Stinger Splash, and there are two minutes left in the match. Lashley turns mounted punches into a running powerbomb. Lashley hits the spear, but Tyrus pulls him out of the ring. EC3 kicks out when Lashley comes in, and Josh gives Tyrus credit for making that happen and only saying it could’ve happened due to the break. Tyrus brings a chair in and eats a spear. That isn’t a DQ, and while the ref is distracted by Tyrus, EC3 low blows Lashley and wins with the One Percenter. Josh calls him a no good SOB, so for this segment at least, he is against EC3.  Well, there was absolutely nothing on this show worthwhile outside of the Aries match. Everything involving EC3 was a cluster, they really screwed up this thing feeling important just airing seconds of some matches – so you never really know when they’ll do that, and it marginalizes the people they do that to.

To see every screen taken for the show, just click here.

TNA Impact Wrestling Results 10/14: Storm vs. Roode, Shera vs. Crazzy Steve, Hardy vs. Richards

Posted on by F4W Editors

Last week, the World Title Series began with a mixed bag of matches. Austin Aries vs. EC3 was fantastic, while Grado vs. Rockstar Spud in a WWE cosplay match was among the worst matches on TV this year. Lashley beat Ken Anderson in a very good main event, while Kong beat Rayne to advance in the knockouts bracket. Gail also lost to Brooke in a good match in that same bracket. Tonight, we’ll find out the other 16 competitors that will fill out the field.

A Bound For Glory recap video starts the show off. We see Matt Hardy winning the title by beating Galloway, the injunction, and Matt’s vacating of the title. Dixie and Billy Corgan’s announcement of the World Title Series, alongside the various groups are shown before we see the results of each match from last week. Josh and Pope, who Josh calls “the most entertaining commentator in the business” are against their green screen. 

They run down the next fields – Group Tag Team Specialists, Group Future Four. Group X Division, and Group TNA Originals were announced. Robbie E cuts a promo on Robbie G from his car, and in portrait mode. He challenges him to a TNA Impact match. Matt Hardy is set to face Davey, who comes out first. The Wolves’ win over Team GFW is shown from BFG. Matt comes out and we see Matt’s BFG celebration while Josh points out how little that wound up meaning.

Matt Hardy vs. Davey Richards

Matt and Davey have a nice babyface vs. babyface match here. They don’t want to hurt one another, but Davey does land a nice dropkick. During the roundtable, Davey talks about being ready for this while Matt puts over the fellow tag specialists and he plans to win. Apron warfare breaks out as Davey gets some kicks, but gets caught in a Side Effect on the apron. Matt gets a snapmare and a series of legdrops for 2. Matt locks on a sleeper and turns it into a slam for 2. Matt drapes him over the second rope and hits a Nightmare on Helms Street for 2. 

Matt walks the middle rope for an elbow, but Davey gets a backstabber. Matt gets low-bridged and Davey hits a suicide dive while Josh talks about BFG trending non-stop for nearly two weeks. Handspring kick hits for 2. Josh talks about Little Pope, the doll, being a big star at BFG. Davey backslides his way out of a Twist of Fate. Side Effect gets 2. Matt goes up and eats a big kick to the chest. Matt avoids the double stomp off the top and hits a Twist of Fate for the win. Hooray! A Beer Money video package! We see some clips of their greatest moments, Storm’s title win, and then Roode winning it from him. Tonight, they will have their final match in TNA.

In the Group X Division roundtable, we get everyone insulting each other. Manik buries Mandrews and calls him Bart Simpson for having a skateboard. Is his gimmick now that he’s a Dynamic Dude? Pope makes two picks while Josh begs for hashtags. Aiden ‘O Shea makes his Impact debut and we see him throw hands while Josh tells pope that Aiden throws hands better than Elijah Burke ever did. Kenny King is out to face him.

Aiden ‘O Shea vs. Kenny King

Aiden throws his shirt at King to get in cheapshots. A pair of jabs to the jaw leads to a hard body shot. Aiden ‘O Shea misses the Boomstick lariat and then just spins around maniacally on one foot to stare at Kenny immediately. Aiden stands on the achilles tendon in a nice bit. In the roundtable, Shera says that he is bigger, stronger, and faster. Steve honks in either agreement or disagreement. Kenny gets a sunset flip for a loose 2 count. Aiden gets a back suplex into a backbreaker. Kenny kicks his way out of a Boomstick and gets a spin kick. Kenny goes for the Royal Flush, but he gets his eyes raked. Kenny gets a kick on the apron and hits a springboard blockbuster for the win. EY rambles backstage about how the World title goes through him in 2015. He’s also God, and he’s getting the World Title again because it’s all he’s ever cared about. EY faces Abyss next.

But first, we see Matt beat Davey in the opener. Davey says he won’t make excuses because Matt’s a legend. He isn’t about excuses, and tonight, Matt was the better man. Matt leads Team Tag Team Specialists with three points. EC3 will have an interview via Skype later tonight. Josh and Pope do a bizarre Tinder-style swipe for the TNA Originals brackets. Roode says that EY has lost his mind and that he’ll be screwed over by his mental problems. EY says that it was hard to decide who was going to lose, and EY says that he’ll answer JB’s “first question” even though we just saw one, and predicted that Roode will be eliminated. Storm says that Abyss will lose because he can’t even walk a straight line. Abyss says that Storm came to him, not the other way around. “YOU PROMISED ME ALL KINDS OF STUFF, AND NONE OF IT HAPPENED!”. EY comes down  in his crazy fisherman getup.We see clips of EY attacking Kurt and the doctor, before EY lost to Angle at BFG. Josh and Pope talk about Pope entering Bound For Gold, and it takes more time to do that than his appearance took.

Eric Young vs. Abyss

Abyss shoulders him down a few time. Abyss goes for a chokeslam, but EY bites his hand for an ad break. We come back and EY has Abyss reeling, but Abyss still sends him over the top to the floor. They fight on the floor and Abyss misses a charge into the post. Josh says that unlike Storm, TNA doesn’t have empty promises and is coming to the UK soon. So what about that Halloween Hardcore tour? EY puts Abyss on the apron and boots his head. EY chokes him on the ropes and then dives into a chokeslam, which is countered – but a Samoan drop isn’t. Abyss clubs him down a few times and goes for another chokeslam, but he stomps his foot to escape. Abyss finally gets the chokeslam for 2. Abyss gets Janice (the weapon, not the person) from under the ring. TNA Hall of Famer Earl Hebner grabs it, and EY low blows Abyss and hits a flying elbow for 2. Abyss backdrops him out of a piledriver and hits the Black Hole Slam for the win.

We see the standings for the Originals team – Abyss is in the lead with three points. Josh is joined by EC3 on Skype. EC3 is in a cheap-looking room that is painted black, and it’s like an echo chamber in there too. EC3 says he should be champion and Josh says he was left with just one point last week. EC3 says that Aries didn’t beat him – no one will. EC3 will face Lashley next week and Josh asks if he’s behind the 8 Ball. EC3 says he’s confused by that unless it’s a reference to the Magic 8 Ball, and the series isn’t over until he wins.

We get a recap of Abyss beating EY, so EY is behind and Abyss leads the pack. EY says Abyss, the fans, and the company are all against him. EY says he wins in the end and he is serious and he will win. okay then. Abyss tells Storm and Roode that they’ll meet the same fate EY did. Robbie E is out first while Josh talks about Robbie wanting to be taken seriously. Well, that’s just not happening with this gimmick. Eddie Edwards comes out to face him.

Eddie Edwards vs. Robbie E.

They go into a collar and elbow tie-up and we see Eddie say that Robbie has turned over a new leaf. They exchange rolls on the mat and Robbie looks more impressive here as a wrestler than he has before in TNA. Robbie lands a big back elbow-leading lariat for 2. Eddie Matrixes out of a lariat and gets an inverted atomic drop and a running knee for 2. 

Robbie avoids a corner charge that sends Eddie to the floor. Robbie dives to the floor onto Eddie and gets a big “Robbie” chant. Robbie gets a Hart Attack for 2. Robbie gets a big suplex while Matt says that Robbie is the least-likely to move on. Of course, the in-ring action takes up less space than the talking. Eddie flips out of a German and sends Robbie to the apron and then the floor. They double lariat each other on the floor. Nasty chop on the floor sends Robbie into the ring. Robbie gets the Boom Drop for 2. Eddie flips out of a reverse DDT and gets a German and a half crab. Running enzuiguri to the head hurts Robbie, but Robbie lands the reverse DDT for the win. This was a pretty solid little match – Robbie E’s stock rose a bit with it. Well, in theory. Pope calls Robbie’s story a Cinderella story that every wrestling fan can get behind.

We see clips of Roode’s dominant World Title reign. We see him lose it, then regain it before losing it again. He holds the KOTM Title, but wants to be the World Champion too and prove that he’s the greatest wrestler alive. Roode says that tonight, he and Storm put their history behind them – and he’ll beat him tonight and prove that he wants the title more. 

Robbie vs. Eddie clips air and Robbie says that yeah, you might think he’s a joke – but he’s a two-time tag champ and a former X Division champion too. Eddie says that Robbie surprised a lot of people and he poked fun at him, but he regrets it now. Josh says that Robbie is now “trending in a positive direction” and we go to the roundtable for Team Future Four. Eli Drake cuts a great promo about how he needs to be in a roundtable with guys holding gold. One guy looks like a peacock and Micah still wants to be his friend. Jessie says that E-li Drake doesn’t matter and Crimson says he’s been to war and he’ll take Eli out. Micah says that the next person who will progress is he and Crimson while calling Eli a son of a bitch. Crimson says Micah will go on alongside him too. Crazzy Steve is out to face Mahabala Shera. Oh my God – this will be a thing.

Crazzy Steve vs. Mahabali Shera

Shera isn’t doing his Shera shake, and he’s in his Khoya gear – so this is definitely exposing the odd taping schedule of this. Josh says that he asked Shera why he has Khoya on his trunks and he says it’s a reminder of what he isn’t. Shera overpowers Steve and plows through him with a shoulderblock. Shera lands a corner lariat while the crowd chants for Crazzy Steve. Josh ponders what kind of interviews Steve will do with Conan ‘O Brien and Jimmy Fallon. Steve runs wild with lariats to the back. Shera swipes him away, but eats forearms and a dropkick. Steve bites the forehead, but eats a Sky High and Shera wins. 

We get another recap of Storm being attacked by Roode, and how the Revolution was just his attempt to rekindle what worked with Beer Money. The Revolution broke up due to Storm, and now Storm walks alone in his quest for the World title. Storm vs. Roode is the main event, and up next. Josh ponders what’s going to happen tonight before we see the rankings for Group Champions. EC3 faces Lashley next week and we get a highlight reel of Lashley kicking ass in the ring and the gym. The song used here is pretty darn catchy. Storm comes out first looking great in his slicker jacket while Roode comes out in Terry Taylor’s black and red robe. He’s certainly got his money’s worth out of that investment. Roode doesn’t have the belt on during his intro.

James Storm vs. Robert Roode

Storm starts this by doing the “Beer!” part of Beer Money while Roode just stares there sternly. Josh calls Roode both the purist’s purist and the wrestler’s wrestler. Is he also a whistler’s whistler? Pope points out that Storm is holding up one finger to show that there’s always room for one more in the Revolution, while Josh says that’s silly since there is no Revolution.

Storm lands a knee to the gut and clubs the back. Roode comes back and gets some cornermount punches and a big dropkick. Storm gets a suckerpunch to send Roode back into the ring. They brawl to the floor and Storm is flung into the barricade. Storm distracts the ref while he low blows Roode. Roode takes three bumps for it. Josh says if you can’t keep track of this tournament, don’t worry – you can just check out the TNA site. Storm gets the Nightmare of Helms Street for 2 and plants a chinlock mid-ring.

Christy points out that there are five minutes left in the match. Nothing of real note has happened outside of the awesome low blow selling from Roode. Josh points out that the TNA Originals group has also been World Champions, alongside Group Champions. Spinebuster hits Storm for 2. Roode gets a blockbuster for 2. Storm avoids the Perfectplex and gets a very slow flying spinning headscissors for 2. Storm grabs a chair and Roode kicks him, so Roode grabs it and the ref takes it from him – it distracts the ref and Storm gets 2 off a cowbell shot. Roode avoids the superkick, so Storm goes for the whirlybird, but Roode kicks the gut and wins with a Perfectplex. For roughly eight years, Roode and Storm have been linked to each other and this was the end of it. The company did a fine job making the match feel epic beforehand, but it just didn’t come across as anything more than filler – it wasn’t even an homage to classic spots. It was just a series of moves that led to a finish and didn’t elicit any emotion whatsoever

To see every screen from the show, just click here.

TNA Impact Wrestling results (10/7): World Title Series begins with Bobby Lashley vs. Mr. Anderson, Austin Aries vs. EC3

Posted on by F4W Editors

Last week, TNA delivered a fairly dreadful TV show and an okay PPV. Matt Hardy won the world title by beating Drew Galloway, but vacated it the next day due to an “injunction” by EC3. Today, TNA announced the TNA World Title Series – a tournament to determine a new champion. A BFG recap video starts the show. The story of this match is that Drew did all the work, but thanks to his brother’s cheapshot, Matt got the win. Josh and Pope are in front of a green screen.

We see EC3 push Big John and then him announcing the injunction, and then Matt vacating the title. Matt’s living room at least has better lighting than Impact. Matt, the babyface, complains a lot and says that he proved EC3 is scared of him because he beat him. Actually no, you beat Drew. Matt says that he’ll win the title again, and we see Dixie and William Corgan announce the World Title Series. Corgan says that since he’s come on board, they have clarified their titles. So what does the King of the Mountain Title accomplish again? Josh says “Thanks Dixie” as if she was speaking to him, which was weird. Josh describes it as a 32 man tournament spread across four groups, and Pope tells fans to go to Twitter and brag about it. Josh says that #MattForChamp has been a thing for nearly a year. A year, a couple of months – same thing. We then get a series of graphics explaining this whole thing. This is so confusing.  Group UK, Group Wildcard, Group Knockouts, Group Champions will go at it. Drew faces Bram, and we hear from Drew about this match and says that title shots come and go, but he’ll get his destiny – the TNA World Title. This got the show 14 minutes closer to the grave.

Bram is mid-ring before Drew comes down. Josh says that Drew should be happy for this series, and if you missed BFG, you can get it via your PPV provider now. Why would anyone do that? They already showed you the highlights of the main event and made the main event’s result meaningless. Bram and Drew butt heads and Josh agrees with Pope that lawyers belong in an office after just saying that EC3 did the right thing by getting lawyers involved.

We get some weird cut-in with Bram and Drew engaging in a full conversation while this action is going on. Bram hates him for getting to the U.S. before him. Drew eats a steel steps shot. Bram gets a chinlock, but Drew chops away. Drew bumps beautifully into the corner. Drew lands some nice punches and gets a slam. Bram goes to the floor and two fans hold Bram so he can chop Bram. Drew bounces his head off the steps a bunch and back suplexes him onto the apron. Sick kick hits for the win. A graphic shows that Drew has three points now and we see a graphical breakdown of the point totals. Grado faces Spud later. Gail says that TNA has always been a place that women can succeed, and she can now be World Heavyweight Champion. She faces Brooke next.

Recap of the Sick kick to Bram. Drew says that he won because he had a strategy, and he calls it a war. I like them doing post-match interviews – between that and the pre-match stuff, it should in theory make matches seem more important. Brooke comes out to face Gail. Gail doesn’t have her title, stated by Pope because this isn’t a Knockouts title match. Josh says Christmas is three months away, so if you’re shopping for Josh, you’ve got some extra time to get him something. Gail cuts a heelish promo on Brooke about creating this division while Brooke says she’s a three time champ. Brooke takes a scary bump off a monkey flip from Gail. A cradle exchange gets 2.

Brooke gets a pop-up lariat and she sends Gail to the floor. Brooke drop toeholds her down and gets a bizarre version of the Cattle Mutilation. Gail locks on a weird leglock and breaks it up. Brooke shoves Gail on her face during Eat Defeat. They exchange forearms, but Brooke gets the upper hand with a lariat. Super X factor hits and Brooke goes up top for the flying elbow. Brooke misses and Gail sweeps the leg and gets a ringpost figure four. Gail goes for Eat Defeat, but Brooke counters it, so Gail goes for a figure four and she gets small packaged for the loss! Brooke advances in a very good match. EC3 talks about the World Title Series and says it’s the EC3 Screwjob Series. EC3 says that Aries is back just because the title is on the line, and the story is now that Aries voluntarily left and didn’t leave due to a loss. Josh talks about the knockouts match and we see Spud coming to the ring while they talk over his intro. They do it for Grado too, and it’s really weird to see. 

Grado hits a belly bump to gain an early advantage. We get match audio while they play Grado’s promo on Spud, which is nearly impossible to understand because there’s so much noise going on. Grado misses the corner cannonball while Josh plugs the company’s next UK events. Spud gets his corner forearm series and a dropkick to the face. Grado hits possibly the worst Pedigree in recorded history for 2. Grado pulls the straps and gets an ankle lock, but Spud escapes. Spud hits a Stinger splash and a bulldog before hitting the world’s worst worm for 2. Grado goes for a People’s Elbow, but he blows up hitting the ropes too much. He hits it and gets 2. Grado goes for a Styles Clash, but Spud backdrops him. Spud does Taker’s throat slit, hits a chokeslam and crosses the arms for 2. Spud goes for an AA, but Grado counters with an elbow and goes for sweet chin music. Spud grabs the foot and hits a stunner ala WM XIV and the Dudley Dog for the win. This was bizarre and made TNA look so second-rate. It would be bad enough for a joke title tournament like the Beer Drinking Title, but this is for the World Title.

Pope and Josh talk about Group Champions, resulting in more shilling of EC3 by Josh. Josh hypes up Tyrus winning the Bound For Gold match and we hear from him for a second. He appears to have aged a decade since BFG and says that if EC3 wins, things will get interesting. EC3 is out to face Aries. Josh says that EC3 is still unpinned, which is true. Aries comes out with Thea Trinidad and Josh mocks nerds who point out that Aries lost a loser leaves town match. He’s back because he’s the smartest wrestler in the world and Josh says that Thea was once known as Rosita in TNA.

Aries and EC3 go to a stalemate while Josh talks about how brilliant EC3 was to get lawyers involved. EC3 says in his “roundtable” that he is the greatest living wrestler alive, and Aries says that EC3 will just hide behind Tyrus. Aries ducks down and gets a slick armdrag. Aries does a handstand into a dropkick, but EC3 avoids a pendulum elbow. Aries gets a big running elbow and sends EC3 to the steps, where he gets a series of punches almost like he’s in the corner with him. Tyrus looks at Thea, and Aries dives onto Tyrus and EC3 sends him to the floor for an ad break.

EC3 has Aries in a chinlock and sends him down to the mat for 2. Aries and EC3 are down to 5 minutes, and if they go to a draw, they’ll have one point each. Aries smashes EC3’s head on the buckles and hits a neckbreaker on the apron. A suicide dive hits EC3. Aries gets a missile dropkick, but EC3 gets the boot up before he can take a dropkick. Aries gets a discus elbow for 2. EC3 gets a TKO for 2. EC3 misses a Stinger splash and eats the corner dropkick. EC3 lands a pair of shoulder blocks and goes up for a superplex, but he gets his ears boxed and eats a 450 for 2.5. Boo/yay punch exchange leads to a Tyrus trip. EC3 gets a Rampage powerbomb for 2. Thea trips EC3 up and Aries gets a schoolboy into a Last Chancery. With under a minute to go, EC3 gets to the rope. Aries avoids the One Percenter, but eats an elbow and Aries goes for some PRIDE-style knees right as the time limit expires. This was much better than the BFG main event and a fantastic showcase for Aries. It’s a draw, so each man gets 1 point. EC3 jumps Aries, but still eats a brainbuster – they really made Aries look strong here. Pope says that each man getting one point is like them getting zero. No, by definition, it isn’t.

Anderson says that he’s part of the toughest group since they’re all former World Champions – I like that he’s putting the title over a lot here. He cut a nice serious promo here and didn’t come off like a goofball. Madison Rayne faces Awesome Kong next. Josh plugs every house show without taking a breath. Aries talks smack about EC3 – he beat legends, icons, and Hall of Famers – but he couldn’t beat Austin Aries. Aries just put himself over their former world champion marvelously. Kong goes for a powerbomb right away, which Pope calls the Implant Buster. He says that Kong is both Awesome and Amazing. shocked he didn’t say she has great karma too. 

Madison says she’s a bit underutilized, but she will win. Kong says the seas boil with her rage and the tide is coming. Kong rams Rayne into the corner and clubs away. Kong goes a torture rack and turns it into a facebuster before missing a splash and Rayne gets an Oklahoma roll for 2. Rayne gets an enzuiguri and Kong goes down off a missile dropkick for 2. Kong gets a spinning backfist and an Implant Buster for the win. Lashley says he’s used to going against the unknown and it makes this even special. Okay then. Matt Hardy has an exclusive interview next.

JB interviews Matt backstage and he says that his goal was to be the World Champion. His wife, his son, and 82 year old dad were in the ring with him. It was a happy fairy tale ending, but because Jeff hit EC3, EC3 handcuffed TNA and Matt. Matt says that the only thing he could do to keep wrestling in TNA was forfeit the title. Matt has thrown his name into the hat for this. So to recap, the World Title Series was created due to Matt vs. EC3, and now we’ll get a scenario for another Matt vs. EC3 match. We get a recap of who is in the lead for each division.

Anderson gets a partial intro while Lashley gets a full entrance. We see a recap of Lashley’s first World title win against EY – back when TNA had a well-lit building with some excitement in it back in the salad days of 2014. Lashley gets a rolling front facelock and we get an ad break when it’s broken up. After a very long break, Lashley gets a double overhook suplex and hits a lariat. Lashley and Ken put each other over very briefly in their roundtable. We actually see the table for the first time, and it is indeed round. Lashley gets a delayed suplex, but misses a corner charge and Ken gets 2.

Pope says he fully expects Ken Anderson to cheat based on his past. I like Pope using logic in all this to tell a story that could be told, but doesn’t really need to be told. Anderson stops short while Lashley goes for a leapfrog and he gets a dropkick before going back to the arm that Lashley smacked into the post. Ken gets a couple of kicks and a divorce court for 2. Pope puts over that Anderson has “ruthless aggression”, a phrase that no one in wrestling outside of WWE has ever used. Lashley gets a lariat and hits another in the corner. Anderosn punches his way out of a torture rack, but eats a spinebuster. Anderson leaps over the spear and gets a couple of lariats. Anderson gets the Finlay Roll, a second, and gets a TKO for 2. Lashley charges in and eats a boot, but he gets the spear and the win.

Well, this show started off about as poorly as possible. However, after that point, it was a rock solid show in the ring outside of the Spud-Grado match. Every single match was worth watching and several of them were quite good. Match-wise, it was a better show than the PPV, and it wound up turning what seemed like an awful idea into a great one so far in terms of delivering great matches. Week one shows the concept can work, but the real key is the follow-up – if TNA can keep this up, then they can at least have the illusion of having momentum before shopping around for a new network deal in 2016.

TNA Bound for Glory 2015 live results: EC3 vs. Drew Galloway vs. Matt Hardy

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

TNA’s Signature PPV, Bound for Glory, is live on PPV from Concord, North Carolina. Ethan Carter III defends the TNA World Heavyweight title in a 3 way main event against Drew Galloway and Matt Hardy, with Jeff Hardy as the special guest referee. Bobby Roode defends the King of the Mountain title against Lashley. Kurt Angle, in what may be his final match in professional wrestling, faces Eric Young. The card is rounded out by a Gauntlet match for a World title shot, Gail Kim defending the Knockouts title, The Wolves defending the tag team titles and Tigre Uno defending the TNA X Division title in an Ultimate X match.

The action gets underway at 8PM ET. We are looking for your thoughts on the show, as well as the Madison Square Garden show, the UFC 192 show, and AAA’s Heroies en Mortlaes so send a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle as well as a best and worst match to [email protected]

ULTIMATE X OPENS THE SHOW FOR THE TITLE:  DJ ZEMA ION VS. MANIK VS. ANDREW EVERETT VS. TIGRE UNO

This was one big move after the other.  It looked like Uno  got hurt doing a 450 off the top rope to the floor on Ion but it was his role to win.  Somehow he gutted himself to climbing the rope and pulling the belt down.  He had to be helped off he cable after he won.  Just a series of big  moves.  Everett looked really good including doing a springboard shooting star press.  Uno and Everett were both on he cable and Uno kicked Everett off and he took a big bump on his back off the cable.

Shane Helms came out and was called the longest reigning cruiserweight champion in the history of pro wrestling.  He was called  Gregory Shane Helms and he looked like he was Kevin Nash standing next to Uno.  They shook hands. 

The arena is being kept really dark. 

Ethan Carter III came out with the belt.  He complained about Dixie making it a three way with Jeff Hardy as referee.  I have no idea why he did this interview.

Thus far no hint of the secret third announcer.

GAUNTLET FOR THE GOLD, A ROYAL RUMBLE STYLE MATCH FOR A TITLE SHOT:

Ken Anderson vs. Jessie Godderz are starting.  The order of entrance after was Eli Drake, Al Snow, Aiden O’Shea, Robbie E, Mahabili Shera, Tyrus, Chris Melendez, Tommy Dreamer, Abyss and  The Pope.  The Pope came in from his announcing desk and then eliminated himself because he was scared of Tyrus and  Abyss.  This match was awful, even worse because a world title shot was at stake and it was total comedy.  At one point everyone in the ring was doing the Shera dance.  Dreamer was pretending he was Dusty Rhodes with polka dots, even though Dusty made it clear he hates the polka dots.  The story was  Tyrus played monster, eliminated a ton of people and then pinned Anderson when they were the last two.  So he can pick whoever he wants to challenge.  EC 3 came out and said how they were challenging for the tag titles but Tyrus said he’s done EC 3 all kinds of favors and wants a world heavyweight title shot.

EDDIE EDWARDS & DAVEY RICHARDS VS. TREVOR LEE & BRIAN MYERS FOR TAG TITLES

Real good match as you’d expect.  They got heat on Edwards most of the way.  A lot of good near falls and a strong showing by Lee.  The finish saw Richards use a superplex off the top on Lee and then he and Edwards used Chasing the Dragon on Lee and Richards pinned him.  

Drew Galloway interview talked about the title match said a Triple Threat is a no DQ match, I’m willing to kill myself.  That was supposed to mean something.  He said he was given curve balls of Matt Hardy being added to the match and Jeff Hardy being made referee.

BOBBY ROODE VS. BOBBY LASHLEY FOR THE KING OF THE MOUNTAIN TITLE

Roode retained his title clean with the Roode bomb.  This was a match where they kept kicking out of each others’ moves.  This could have been a great match with a different crowd, but this crowd just wasn’t into it until the very end due to no face vs. heel dynamic.  Roode used the Roode bomb and Lashley kicked out.  Lashley used a spear but Roode kicked out.  Roode used a spear and Lashley kicked out and Lashley used a Roode bomb and Lashley kicked out.

Matt Hardy out for an interview.  Put over how big the night is, grew up in Cameron, we wanted to be world tag team champions just once, then we both wanted to be world champions and Jeff has done it a few times.  Tonight is my night.  Can’t think of a better place to do it than tonight, said his father, his wife and baby are all here and Jeff is the referee.

They showed the Earl Hebner Hall of Fame thing.  They showed maybe 20 seconds of it.  Billy Corgan came out and wanted to show highlights of Earl Hebner’s career.  Claimed Earl was a household name.  Called him the greatest referee in history.  He came out to the ring to a nice reaction.

GAIL KIM VS. AWESOME KONG FOR KNOCKOUTS TITLE

Bad match.  Kong is just hurting so bad she can’t do much of anything.  Kim retained with eat defeat and a small package.  They did a spot where Kong went for a chair but Chef Robert Irvine grabbed the chair from her.  Earl Hebner argued with Irvine and Kong gave her an implant buster on the floor onto chairs but Kim still kicked out of the pin. 

ERIC YOUNG VS. KURT ANGLE

Kurt came out and announced it was a no DQ match.  Young piledrove Angle and they sold it like Angle was injured.  The doctor came out and stopped the match but the bell never rang.  They were helping Angle out but Young attacked the doctor and Pat Kenney who were helping Angle out.  Young attacked Angle and Angle told him the match was over.  But the match continued.  Angle made a comeback and escaped from an attempted piledriver off the middle rope and reversed out of a sunset flip and grabbed the ankle lock.  Young made the ropes, but since it was no DQ, Angle never broke the hold and pulled him to the center and got the tap.  So Angle won even though it was stopped nine minutes earlier.

EC 3 VS. DREW GALLOWAY VS. MATT HARDY FOR THE TNA TITLE

Matt won the title by pinning Galloway.  Thne he brought his son and wife in the ring.  Then the Hardys brought their dad into the ring.  The match had its moments and Matt and Kurt were really the only guys to get strong reactions on the show.  They did a lot of near falls.  EC 3 complained to Dixie Carter and John Gaburick and threw Gaburck over a table.

Matt kicked out of the one percenter.  Then EC 3 wanted to get DQ’d so he kicked Galloway low right in front of Jeff, but it was no DQ to begin with.  EC 3 got a chair but Jeff took it away.  EC 3 thne told Jeff to hit Matt with a chair which made no sense.  EC 3 slapped Jeff in the face.  Jeff hit EC 3 with a chair and Matt hit the twist of fate on EC 3.  Galloway then hit EC 3 with a running kick and Hardy used the twist of fate on Galloway for the pin.

TNA Salem, VA house show results (10-3): Ethan Carter, Matt Hardy, Drew Galloway

Posted on by F4W Staff

Submitted by Chris Cawley

– First match was gut check match between two “local” guys. Shawn Shultz went over on bigger guy didn’t catch his name. Not a great match and neither guy were local.

– Mr Anderson over Tyrus: a lot of prematch shenanigans. Anderson tried to get heat by teasing the Funkasaurus and dancing. Finish came with a blatant low blow and sarcastic ref counting 3 super fast.

– Gail Kim beat Awesome Kong via DQ. Solid stuff from these 2 as usual. Finish came when Kong grabbed ref by throat for chokeslam and Kong was DQ’d.

– Earl Hebner HOF induction was next. It was really weird for this to be happening here. Earl is from Richmond and they made is seem like Richmond was “right down the road”. Billy Corgan came out for the presentation. Billy and Earl mentioned Dusty Rhodes a lot.

– Bobby Roode over Eli Drake. Typical match. A lot of pre match mic work by Drake. Roode went over clean and afterwards shared a beer with Earl Hebner.

– Kurt Angle over Eric Young. Nothing crazy or over the top. Good matchup. Angle went over clean with Angle slam.

– The Wolves over Jesse Godderz and Andrew Everett. Probably longest match of the night. Only tag match on the card. Nothing too memorable. Wolves went over clean.

– TNA Champion Ethan Carter went over Matt Hardy and Drew Galloway. Tyrus was at ringside for match. After match, EC3 got on mic and said those 2 weren’t going to make it to Bound For Glory and ordered Tyrus to help. Out came Jeff Hardy with a chair to even the odds. They laid EC3 on table, Galloway did a swanton, but the table didn’t break. They then laid him on the table again and Matt splashed EC3 through table to send the fans home happy.

Submitted by Joshua Watkins

Meet & Greet with Matt & Jeff Hardy before the show

– Gut Check Dark Match:
Shawn Shultz pins Eric Adams with a Tornado DDT (4:00)

– Match #1:
Mr. Anderson pins Tyrus with a blatant low blow and fast count from referee Brian Hebner (7:20)

– Match #2: TNA Knockout’s Championship
Gail Kim retains when Awesome Kong grabs referee Brian Stiffler for the DQ (4:00)
Post-Match: Gail Kim lays out Awesome Kong with Eat Defeat

– Earl Hebner Hall Of Fame Ceremony feat. Billy Corgan, Brian Hebner, Jeremy Borash, & the entire locker room. (Jeremy Borash made sure to mention that the TV cameras were there & that this will be shown on the Bound For Glory PPV)

– Match #3: King Of The Mountain Championship
TNA Hall Of Famer Earl Hebner counts 3 as Bobby Roode pins Eli Drake with the Roode Bomb to retain (15:00)

*Best match of the night*
– Match #4:
Kurt Angle pins Eric Young with the Angle Slam (7:00)

– Intermission –
(I noticed people leaving at this point. Kurt Angle’s return was the main draw of this show.)

– Match #5: TNA World Tag Team Championship
The American Wolves (Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards) retain against Jessie Godderz & Andrew Everett
Superkick/Suplex Tag Team Finish, Richards pins Everett (12:30)

*Great match*

– Match #6: Main Event: TNA World Heavyweight Championship Three-Way
Drew Galloway vs Matt Hardy vs Ethan Carter III (c) w/ Tyrus
Tyrus pulls the ref out of the ring, EC3 hits Matt Hardy with the Title Belt for the pin to retain. (10:20)
Post-Match: EC3 & Tyrus beat down Matt Hardy & Drew Galloway until Jeff Hardy makes the save with a steel chair.

The Hardy’s put EC3 on a table, Galloway attempted a swanton but the table didn’t break, then Matt Hardy splashes EC3 through the table.