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 dave@wrestlingobserver.com
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.
– 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.
Last week, we got a darned fine edition of Impact. EC3 bullied Jeff Hardy around a bit and beat Spud to defend his title in another great match, Gail Kim beat Jade in a good match to retain her title, and Chris Melendez won his leg back from Eric Young in a lumberjack match. That was about the worst part of the show, with the main event five-man elimination match not only making Drew the number one contender for Bound For Glory, but also delivering a far better match than this year’s King of the Mountain match. This week, Matt Hardy and Drew team up to face EC3 and Tyrus, and Dixie’s going to name a special referee for Drew vs. EC3.
The show opens with a recap of Lashley suplexing guys in the main event, en route to Drew Sick Kicking him for the win. EC3 and Tyrus come out while Josh hypes up EC3 vs. Drew as the BFG main event. He calls it a “can’t miss” main event, but doesn’t cite why. EC3 says he isn’t in a good mood, but he is happy that he kicked Jeff Hardy out the door. He also isn’t happy that their biggest show is in four days and no one is talking about its main event. EC3 is insulted by Dixie cheering Drew on, and he calls her out.
Dixie comes out in a multi-colored blouse while Josh ends his cheerleading streak for EC3. Dixie says he’s been in a great champion in the ring, but outside of it, he’s an embarrassment to the company. She praises Drew for saving the company, which EC3 wasn’t interested in doing. EC3 says he was disowned by her, but he wasn’t given the chance to lead Team TNA. He calls Drew the chosen one, but he can’t beat him at BFG – or ever.
Drew comes down to his kick-ass Rising theme looking fairly pissed. He goes nose to nose with EC3 and has an aura about him just doing that. He tells EC3 to shut up and the reason no one likes him is that he’s a little bitch who thinks he’s the best in the world – he turned his back on TNA. EC3 slaps the belt to prove that he’s the best and Drew says that the second-best thing he does is talking. The best is in the ring because he’s an animal and he’ll tear EC3 apart. Well, at least they’ve established some kind of rivalry between them – even if it is right before the PPV.
EC3 says he beat every TNA Hall of Famer, and he’ll beat Drew too. At BFG, Drew won’t stand up – he’ll stay down. Drew says he isn’t a savior, but he will be the TNA World Heavyweight Champion. Josh says this is one of the most-anticipated matches in quite some time. How? In what way? Why would this statement be true? Pope and Josh talk about how important a win here is tonight in the main event to gain the momentum for the title match. Josh says the BPs face the Dollhouse, and tonight, they’re down a member. Shera also faces Storm in a No DQ match to blow their rivalry off tonight. Storm tells Shera that he is the reason the other Revolution members are doubting him, but he’s a TNA legend and he’ll cut down Shera for the buzzards.
After a break, Dixie is talking to someone backstage before EC3 interrupts her about Drew being the chosen one now and not him. Recap of the Revolution splitup over the past month and Shera breaking away from Storm. Christy Hemme appears after being largely off-screen for a while and announces Storm as he comes down the aisle. Shera comes down and brawls with Storm.
Mahabali Shera vs. James Storm – No DQ
After the mid-aisle brawl, they go in the ring where Storm low blows him. Josh points out that there isn’t much of a Revolution left – as both Manik and Abyss have left. So then that would seemingly make this a one-man faction. Shera grabs him for a fallaway slam and we see a graphic for Earl Hebner’s hall of fame induction at BFG. Storm gets a back cracker. Storm grabs a pack of chairs and brings them in and sets them up like a bridge. Shera goes up top awkwardly, but gets slammed off the top and he goes through the chair bridge for 2.
Storm brings a table in and the crowd chants “one more table”. Storm goes for the whirly bird through the table, but Shera powers out and they bonk heads. Storm gets the bottle, drinks from it, and spews the beer onto Early accidentally. This forces him to rest against the table lightly before a spear hits and Earl can’t count it. Shera is hit with a cowbell and eats a whirly bird through the table for a 2 count. Storm breaks the bottle over the ringpost to use it as a stabbing device here in a mid-card match that is opening the show.
As Storm goes to bludgeon him with the bottle, a maskless Manik and Abyss make the save by doing the finger point and then pointing at Storm. Abyss chokeslams him while Manik hits the frog splash and Sheera gets the Sky High for the win. Josh calls this an upset while Pope points out that everything was legal. A backstage guy talks about how important the KOTM Title is, and asks Roode why – Roode says he’ll explain in a minute. After a break, someone asks Dixie about EC3 and she says that EC3 has been questioning her about everything for weeks. She wants to reward someone with a a special treat – if EC3’s team loses, Matt Hardy is added to the BFG main event.
Bobby Roode Explains the Importance of the TNA Legends/Global/World TV/King of the Mountain Championship
Roode says he’s proudly the KOTM Champion, but he’s been asked just what this title means. It means pro wrestling, it represents the love of the sport. If that’s the case, why hasn’t it been defended recently? He swears to defend it with honor and respect soon, and he’ll kick this off at BFG. He’ll defend it in an open challenge to anyone in TNA and he will prove why he is the It Factory of pro wrestling. Lashley comes down while Josh wonders how he can see these two face off. Well, he can either watch BFG where these two will apparently have a match – or you can watch the first World Title reign of Lashley where they had some fantastic matches.
In an amusing bit, the fans chant “let’s go Bobby” which flusters Lashley. Lashley says he came to TNA to compete against the best in the world and that in wrestling, Roode is at the top of the food chain. He also wanted to collect as many titles as possible. Now, he wants one more match – he wants Bobby vs. Bobby in a fight to the finish for the KOTM Title. Lashley wants a handshake, as does Roode. Well great – maybe they can go have some milk and cookies later too. Taryn says that they’ve taken out Angelina and it’s time for the Dolls to take over and allow Taryn to stand over the BPs.
DJZ is out, and then he comes Tomasso Ciampa! So he gets to be on both Impact and NXT – wow. Trevor Lee is out for this as well. Josh is mystified by this, but says that as a former TNA Tag Team Champion, Lee and Myers have a match at BFG against the Wolves for the titles.
DJZ vs. Trevor Lee vs. Tomasso Ciampa – X Division Match
DJZ gets a rana, and Lee hits a slick flip dive to the floor against Ciampa. For the first time in a long time, it really feels like there’s some new blood in this division. Shame that doesn’t seem like it will last with Ciampa on WWE’s radar and Lee only being here due to the GFW deal. Ciampa gets a suplex/brainbuster hybrid onto Lee. DJZ gets a pop-up dropkick and a double tornado DDT onto both guys! Z hits corner forearms and then Lee gets a deadlift German onto Ciampa for a 2. DJZ’s tornado DDT is tossed off, so Z hits a kneeling superkick onto Ciampa. Powerbomb>lungblower hits for Ciampa, but it only gets 2. Lee gets a corkscrew crossbody powerslam for the win. This was short, but exciting – and that’s more than can be said about the X division for quite a while.
Madison buries the Dollhouse for having a stupid name and a tiny dollhouse. Angelina says that their name at least fits, and she’s got her arm in a sling – so they’re going with the arm injury instead of her pregnancy. Velvet takes great pride in destroying Taryn’s hand, and they’ll tear off the doll parts one by one. The revamped look for the BPs all basing their attire on Velvet isn’t flattering for any of them.
Brooke chats about being proud to be a knockout and beating Gail to win her first KOs title. We see her working out and she talks about how we haven’t seen the last of her. Josh hypes up Kong vs. Gail. EC3 says that the main event stipulation is a steaming pile of BS. EC3 tells Matt that he won’t make it to the BFG main event and Drew will lose tonight and at BFG. The Dollhouse comes down to face the BPs. BPs attack them in the aisle.
The Dollhouse vs. The Beautiful People
Velvet gets into a catfight with Marti. Velvet gets a jumping forearm in the corner and clotheslines her down for 2. Madison gets a yakuza kick for 2. Marti forearms her down to tag Jade in. Jade chops away, so Madison responds with chops and forearms. Madison hits something on the apron that is blocked by the referee and gets 2. Velvet gets a three kick combo and a neckbreaker for 2. Dolls hold Velvet and Jade dropkicks her down.
Rebel kicks Velvet in the corner and they chat about her wearing gloves because she doesn’t want to sully her hands on the BPs. Jade gets a necksnap for 2. Double-down off a double lariat. They tag out and Madison runs down Marti a few times. Enzuiguri gets 2 for Madison. Josh hypes up Lashley vs. Roode in another TNA Greatest Hits match at BFG. Madison gets a powerbomb for 2. Velvet gets thrown into the steps, but she avoids an arm-smashing chairshot. Rebel throws powder in the eyes of Madison and the heels get a schoolgirl win. Pope is just fine with this cheating. So who is the babyface announcer here? EY rants about wanting a man, woman, or child to face him – he isn’t afraid of anyone. We’ll hear from him next.
Josh hypes up a big announcement from Dixie on Monday at Noon ET before hyping up the #SheraShake takeover on social media. You have until noon tomorrow to enter to win, and you could get a free viewing of BFG via Flipps. Gail hypes up her matches with Kong as being their best. At BFG, they’ll determine who the best Knockouts champion in history is, and it will establish their legacy and go down in history. Gail says she’ll win, and well, she should – but a Kong win would be nice too even though she really can’t do much at this point.
Eric Young, who of course lost a war hero’s leg last week, is out to rant. He’s pissed about losing the leg and no one is good enough to beat him and he’s God. Robbie E is out and begs EY to shut up. So now we’ve got EY vs. Robbie E, or maybe just a brawl. EY low blows him and he declares himself to be God after beating up Robbie E. Sarge comes down and eats a back suplex. EY goes for a chair, but Chris gets it and threatens to use it – so EY bails.
Now Mr. Anderson is out because he’s Sarge’s friend and he says he’s been looking for God his whole life, so he’s glad to finally meet him. That’s the best thing Anderson’s done in eons. Anderson beats him up on the apron, while Robbie hits the Boom Drop, Sarge gets a stunner, and Anderson gets the Mic Drop. Recap of last week’s main event leads to Matt greeting Drew and saying that tonight, they’ll win and turn the main event into a three way match. Drew loves Matt’s plan and he wants Matt to get a chance and he enjoys wrestling throwing them curveballs. Drew says that it doesn’t matter if there are 50 or 100 people out there (in the ring, I presume), he will emerge victorious and win the title.
Recap of everyone hitting their finishers on EY because he turned on TNA. So that’s why they did that? Not because he stole a man’s leg? EY yells to Dixie about it not being fair and Dixie agrees – because at BFG, he’ll only have to worry about Kurt Angle. So to recap, the buildup to Kurt Angle’s big return match on PPV is his opponent being beaten up by a parade of mid-carders. I would call that a wee bit questionable. They could’ve at least shown a recap of EY taking Kurt out to make this seem like a slump for EY. EC3 and Tyrus come out for the main event. Matt comes out after a break, followed by Drew to really stretch this match out as much as humanly possible.
EC3 and Tyrus vs. Matt Hardy and Drew Galloway
Josh asks why Drew wouldn’t just throw this match to get the one he wants. Pope says that isn’t in Drew’s character – finally, a character on Impact makes a good point. Josh uses WWE math for a possible three way at BFG. Drew and EC3 have another staredown, so EC3 tags Tyrus in. Matt tags in after a brief brawl and they stomp away on Tyrus. Tyrus gets an advantage with some fish-hooking and then EC3 tags in for a 2. He brings Tyrus in for some corner double-teams. Tyrus spits at Drew on the apron and gets a nerve hold on Matt, which leads to some hilarious facial expressions from Matt.
Josh announces Bound For Gold with a ton of mid-carders, including Aiden ‘O Shea, who has never once been a character on Impact. He also offered up no further details – so I guess the winner gets a shot at the KOTM Title. Tyrus gets a chinlock and Josh mocks Pope for being against rope usage when it’s done to Matt, but it was okay with the Dolls. Josh is not the character to point this out given his wishy-washy nature.
Tyrus gets a Tenta-style rotating powerslam for 2. EC3 gets a neck wringer and knees him in the gut. Side Effect hits and Drew comes in. Now Josh is a big fan of Drew wanting to earn the win tonight and completely sees Pope’s point form before. Drew hits EC3 with a belly to belly, but Tyrus is legal and jumps him. Matt gets a flying clothesline off the top on Tyrus, who then eats a Twist of Fate. Drew gets the Sick Kick for the win – so Bound For Glory is now Matt Hardy vs. Drew Galloway vs. EC3. Why Matt couldn’t win this I have no idea, as it makes Matt look really weak.
EC3 is shocked, and then Dixie comes down and announces the BFG main event officially. She says it will be fair and there is someone who is now available to be a guest referee – Jeff Hardy. In an amusing bit, he fist bumps Dixie. So now EC3 has basically a one-on-three handicap match and the idea of making it fair is to have one of the participant’s brother as the referee. Well, this was easily the worst-built BFG ever – and that’s saying something with last year’s show really setting the bar low.
To see every screenshot for the show, just click here.
The main event for Sunday’s TNA Bound for Glory PPV is now Ethan Carter III defending the TNA title in a three-way against Drew Galloway and Matt Hardy, a change from the originally announced main event of Carter vs. Galloway.
On tonight’s TNA Impact Wrestling show on Destination America, there was a stipulation match where Galloway & Hardy were to face Carter & Tyrus. If Galloway & Hardy won, then Hardy would be added to the main event. Galloway & Hardy won, thus adding Hardy to the match.
TNA Bound for Glory takes place on Sunday in Concord, NC, with the following card:
Kurt Angle vs. Eric Young
Bound for Gold Gauntlet Match: Mr. Anderson, Abyss, Robbie E, Mahabali Shera, Tyrus, Eli Drake, Aiden O’Shea, Chris Melendez and Jessie Godderz
TNA X-Division Ultimate X Title Match: Champion Tigre Uno vs. Rockstar Spud vs. TJ Perkins (TJP) vs. DJZ
TNA Tag Team Champions The Wolves vs. Trevor Lee and Brian Myers
TNA Knockouts Champion Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong
King of the Mountain Champion Bobby Roode vs. Lashley
TNA World Champion Ethan Carter III vs. Drew Galloway vs. Matt Hardy
On Tuesday, former TNA world champion Kurt Angle announced that he would be facing Eric Young on Sunday’s Bound for Glory PPV show in Concord, NC.
Bound for Glory is TNA’s second PPV show of the year with much of the direct hype for the show scheduled on tomorrow night’s Impact show.
The main event will be Ethan Carter III defending his TNA title against Drew Galloway.
Angle will be returning after an operation to remove a tumor in his neck. He has already said that he will not be renewing his TNA contract when it expires in January so, in theory, this will be his last PPV match with the company that he joined in 2006.
The full Bound for Glory card features:
– Tigre Uno vs. Rockstar Spud vs. DJ Z vs. TJP for the TNA X-Division Title in an Ultimate X Match
– The Wolves vs. Brian Meyers & Trevor Lee in a TNA vs. Global Force Wrestling match for the TNA World Tag Team Titles
– Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong for the TNA Knockouts Title
– Abyss vs. Aiden O’Shea vs. Chris Melendez vs. Eli Drake vs. Jesse Godderz vs. Mahabali Shera vs. Mr. Anderson vs. Robbie E vs. Tyrus in a Gauntlet match with the winner getting a future shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Title
– Bobby Roode vs. Lashley for the TNA King of the Mountain Title in a King of the Mountain Match.
Barely one week after the “blow-off” of the TNA vs. Global Force Wrestling feud on television, TNA has announced a new match for the Bound for Glory PPV on October 4th in Concord, NC, as Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards will defend the TNA Tag Team Championship against Trevor Lee & Brian Myers, who are billed as GFW wrestlers.
The teams wrestled twice on television at the last set of tapings, with Lee & Myers scoring a fluke title win, but then dropping them back before the blow-off Lethal Lockdown match that aired on 9/16.
The two organizations seem to be maintaining an alliance, which behind-the-scenes is described as cordial but uneasy, because they both have reason right now to benefit from working with the other.
Bound for Glory also features:
– Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong for the TNA Knockouts Title
– Tigre Uno defending the X-Division Title in an Ultimate X match
– Ethan Carter III vs. Drew Galloway for the TNA World Heavyweight Title
– Bobby Roode vs. Lashley vs. the TNA King of the Mountain Championship
There was good and bad news on the ratings for TNA and ROH on DestinationAmerica.
The audience tuned in later than usual, as the ROH show at 11 p.m. did 168,000 viewers, nearly double the previous week, and the best in that time slot since July 29.
TNA at 9 p.m. did 272,000 viewers, its second lowest to date.
The TNA midnight replay did 122,000 viewers, the best replay number to date.
That seems to mean that a lot of the people who tuned into ROH than usually don’t also stay with TNA.
It would appear “Empire” on FOX may tell the story, since nothing else on television in the 9-11 p.m. time slot did numbers out of the ordinary enough to change regular viewing patterns.
Last week, the GFW vs. TNA feud was blown off after about a month with a Lethal Lockdown match. Drew Galloway beat Bryan Myers to win Jarrett’s stock in the company, and now the build for TNA’s biggest event of the year (in under two weeks) can begin. Tonight, Rockstar Spud has been given a title shot against EC3 due to Jeff Hardy apparently going to Dixie and calling in a favor.
Josh’s recap of the “ten year journey” between GFW vs. TNA ended last week in Lethal Lockdown. Bram’s entrance was hyped up a bit, and the match itself came off like a perfectly functional War Games match even in highlight form. Josh’s “TNA is showing signs of life” line remains hilarious. In the ring, Dixie stands with Team TNA while the roster is on the floor. Drew gets a partial intro here as the team captain. Drew cuts an awesome promo about the whole team being warriors and Dixie makes a match with Team TNA going to war in a match to determine a number one contender for the TNA World Title at Bound For Glory.
Dixie says that the TNA crew has never been better, but she wants EY to come out because he’s now exiled from the title hunt. Pope ponders that EY isn’t playing with a full deck while he carries around Chris Melendez’s artificial leg. Dixie says that EY turned his back on the roster and the company, while EY says she should’ve done that when he retired Kurt Angle or took a war hero’s leg. Well, that’s valid. He says he has an “i-ron clad contract” with TNA Wrestling and he basically wound up a winner no matter what, and there’s nothing Dixie can do about it. Dixie says there are people fighting on the front line and brings out Melendez. Sarge comes down while EY threatens him being holding his leg like a baseball bat. As stupid as the leg stipulation was, it is even worse being thrown into the main event storyline too. Dixie makes Melendez vs. EY in a lumberjack match for the leg, and it’s next.
Eric Young vs. Chris Melendez in a Lumberjack Match for Melendez’s Leg
Chris is tossed out, but gets thrown in and gets 2 off a sunset flip. EY stomps his head while Pope talks about how the show’s main eventers could get a bonus for saving TNA, but they’d much rather get a shot at the TNA World Title at BFG. EY gets a chinlock while the roster slaps the mat in support of Sarge. Josh points out that Spud could be main eventing BFG as World Champion if he wins tonight and says that he’s the ultimate underdog. How exactly? He hasn’t won a match in a long time. Melendez gets a Samoan drop thanks to a lot of help from EY, and then gets a Bubba bomb too. EY hits him with the leg, but he doesn’t want the win right now. EY wants a superplex, but gets bumped and then eats a missile dropkick – so Melendez has won his leg back. The roster holds him high and EY helped him look great here by taking big bumps. Taryn and the Dolls talk about their hatred for Gail. She has a favorite Doll, and it’s Jade – so she gets to beat up Gail tonight. EC3 tells Jeff Hardy to do what he says or the paychecks go away.
Recap of Dixie announcing tonight’s main event. Pope and Josh talk about the GFW vs. TNA invasion and how big tonight’s show is because we’ll find out the main event of BFG, plus we have a Knockouts title match, an X Title match, and a World Title match. Well, in theory that should matter. In execution, it really doesn’t. Jade comes down and does her full intro, but has added little bunny hops on her knees on the apron. Gail gets her slightly more epic intro.
Gail Kim vs. Jade – Knockouts Title Match
Josh says that if Gail wins here, she will go on to face Awesome Kong. Why is Kong getting a title shot beyond it being a TNA Greatest Hits rematch? Jade jumps Gail and gets 2 off a German suplex. Jade gets a Yakuza kick in the corner for 2. Jade hits a series of machine gun Kobashi chops in the corner while Pope talks about her being big on the indy scene, but doesn’t elaborate on that. Gail comes back and gets the corner crossbody and the ringpost figure four. Gail goes for Eat Defeat, but Jade counters it into a Liger bomb for 2. Josh takes a shot at the divas “revolution” leading to the Dolls attacking, and then the BPs of Velvet and Madison attack the Dolls. The Dolls look doesn’t work for Rebel, and Madison dressing like Velvet, only with fishnets and booty shorts doesn’t suit her at all. The factions brawl before Kong comes down to seemingly attack Gail, but she just stares her down like “I’ve got this”. Spud is interviewed and he says that he and EC3 have come full circle. He understands if Jeff hits him, but he wants to be TNA World Champion.Tigre Uno comes out to face Kenny King, who gets no intro.
Tigre Uno vs. Kenny King – X Division Title Match
Uno gets a Mistico pop-up dropkick and then a springboard dive to the floor onto King. They get in several “fast and furious” mentions in the span of one minute. King gets 2 off a spinkick. King puts him up for a superplex, but Uno fights off and dives off with a crossbody. Uno gets a spinning headscissors for 2. Kenny gets an Irish Curse backbreaker and an exploder for 2. Kenny lands a slick-looking spinebuster for 2. Kenny flips around a bit, but misses the shotgun knees and eats a tiltawhirl DDT and frog splash. Tigre Uno wins, and they put over that he was trained by Rey Mysterio.
Recap of Jeff Hardy being humiliated for all of one week by EC3. It’s used to hype up Spud vs. EC3 with a recap of their whole history and EC3 beating hall of famers and Rockstar Spud himself. EC3 comes out, so even in TNA, the World Title is the mid-card main event.
EC3 vs. Rockstar Spud – TNA World Heavyweight Title
These two had a classic in London. Spud wants a handshake, but EC3 slaps him and chops his chest. Spud gets some corner chops in both knife-edge and overhand varieties. Spud goes for the old Bobby Jaggers headlock punches, but EC3 hits a lariat and some mounted punches. EC3 misses a Stinger splash and eats a series of corner forearms before being low-bridged and being hit with a dive by Spud. Tyrus grabs a fan’s sign and just puts it down gently. Spud has a great look of determination on his face on the top rope and lands a big flying AJ-style forearm. EC3 counters Spud and gets a Rampage powerbomb for 2. EC3 calls for the One Percenter, but Spud hangs on and eats elbows to the neck. Spud bites EC3’s hand and lands an enzuiguri, setting him up for another one, but he counters the Underdog attempt with a TKO using the knee and the One Percenter for the win. This was a bite-sized version of their classic, but still very good.
EC3 asks Tyrus for a favor – please heart punch Spud real fast. EC3 wants Tyrus to hold Spud so Jeff can end his career with a Twist of Fate. Really? That move barely gets a two count in TNA. EC3 hypes up Jeff by having him strip the jacket off, but he refused to end Spud’s career. They threaten to end his career, but Matt comes in and Tyrus attacks him. EC3 tells Jeff to hit Matt, who responds by kicking Tyrus in the balls while Jeff hits EC3. Well, this was all a lot of fun. Backstage, EC3 yells at Jeff about how his Creatures better follow him to the soup kitchen because he’s going to fire him later.
James Storm and the Revolution are mid-ring and he tells Shera that his name is Koya and he’ll be taken out by the Revolution. Abyss, for some reason, is now against Storm. He isn’t a pathetic sheep and says that the monster stands in no man’s shadow. Abyss says that he is a TNA Original Original and was here 13 years ago and scarred his body while giving up his blood, sweat, and tears for the company. He says Storm didn’t make the Monster, he did.
Manik stands up to Storm saying that Koya’s name is Shera. Storm shoves him down a couple of times while Storm takes credit for Manik’s character. They go into a full-blown Roots bit over the name with the “say his name” bit and Manik continues to say “Shera”. Manik says Storm didn’t make him or the mask, and he takes it out while a “TJP” chant breaks out. Shera’s theme hits and the fans actually start doing “the Shera dance”. Shera confronts Storm, who says they’ll fight on his time and breaks out the “sorry about your damn luck” line again. The Wolves and Drew talk about what an honor it was to team together, buttonight, they go to war to fight EC3. Josh announces that Tigre Uno will defend the X Title in an Ultimate X match. Matt tells Jeff what he did is okay because he has a family to feed. Everyone comes down for the main event.
Bram vs. Davey Richards vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Lashley vs. Drew Galloway – 5 Way Elimination Number One Contender’s Match
Wolves go to double team Bram, but he lariats them down. Drew and Bram go at it leading to Bram hitting a slick spin kick. Lashley and Bram go at it a bit, and Bram gets 2 off a Michinoku driver. Wolves go to double suplex Bram, but he suplexes both men. They’ve been sorta-pushing Bram for a while and this is easily the best he’s looked yet. Wolves dive into Drew and Lashley and then go after Bram. Wolves get some double teams and finally take him out with double stomps. It’s down to four babyfaces for the win.
After a break, Lashley gets a delayed suplex to Davey, and Eddie’s attacks can’t end it. Drew attacks and it’s still on. Eddie finally saves and the Wolves low bridge Lashley. Drew eats a shining wizard by Eddie. Inverted atomic drop and a superkick hit Lashley. Eddie gets the half crab while Davey gets a cloverleaf. The other faces escape and the Wolves go at it in friendly warfare. Lashley and Drew hit their finishers on the Wolves, who get pinned – so it’s down to Drew vs. Lashley for the shot.
Drew lands a lariat and a flyover corner forearm. Drew takes him out with a flying clothesline off the top. Lashley hits some corner punches and chokes away in the corner with his boot. Snap suplex with a floatover gets 2. Drew pops up in the corner, but eats a powerslam for 2. Lashley charges in, but eats a boot, but responds with a German suplex smoothly transitioned into an overhead belly to belly. Schoolboy counter for a spear gets 2, while the sick kick hits and Drew wins to get the title shot. Really good match here – and when combined with the Spud-EC3 match, that gives it two matches worth going out of your way to see. EC3 tells everyone to call, Tweet, Facebook and screencap this because he’s going to fire Jeff Hardy.
Josh recaps the Drew vs . Lashley match and Drew says that the four men in the ring were the four best in the world. He says the fans believe in him because he’s real and he’s going to live up to his potential at Bound For Glory. EC3 gets whatted and responds to it by saying every word on its own. Well, that’s an amusing way to handle that. Jeff shows off the giant EC3 face being defaced with his artwork. Jeff asks why he should care about being fired and EC3 tells him that without EC3 employing him, he won’t be able to create art for his creatures and provide for his family.
EC3 commands Jeff to kiss the TNA World Title like it’s the king’s ring. EC3 demands that Jeff recite a promo including the line “yet in God mode”. Jeff tells EC3 to take the job and shove it, leading to EC3 firing him and ending the show. Next week’s show has Drew and Matt teaming up against EC3 and Tyrus while Dixie names a special referee for Drew vs. EC3 at BFG. After a fairly long slump, Impact felt like it was back on track with a pair of very good matches and a pretty good one in Jade vs. Gail too.
I was at the TNA house show tonight at the York Fairgrounds in York, PA.
Results:
Tyrus b. DJZ by pinfall in a nothing match. Nobody knew Tyrus by his TNA name. Everyone was yelling Brodus and Funkasaurus.
The Wolves b. Abyss/Manik by pinfall in a decent match. Wolves were kind of over.
Gail Kim b. Awesome Kong by pinfall. Kong doesn’t look like she’s moving around too well. After the match, she went into the empty ringside seats and started throwing chairs like she was in Japan. Except there probably would have been people in the seats in Japan.
Tommy Dreamer b. Eli Drake by pinfall. Dreamer came out to his old ECW music and he got the biggest pop of the night for anyone not named Hardy. Nobody knew who Drake was. They brawled in the crowd and Dreamer had little kids slap Drake and dump popcorn on him.
Bobby Roode b. Mr. Anderson and Drew Galloway in a 3-way. I believe Roode pinned Anderson. This was the best match of the night. Roode and Galloway came across as big stars and deserve much more than this. Anderson held his own in the match too. This was the 4th match of the night that featured nut shots by the way. Gotta go for the easy heat.
EC3 w/Tyrus & Jeff Hardy b. Matt Hardy by pinfall. EC3 and Jeff Hardy played up the personal assistant thing with EC3 telling Jeff not to do something and he did it anyway. Jeff started “EC3 sucks” chants, etc. EC3 pinned Matt via inside cradle after a Tyrus distraction and Jeff hitting Tyrus on the back with a chair. Then the Hardys put EC3 through a table via a Matt splash off the top rope to send the crowd home happy. The only thing physical Jeff did was the chairshot and a few punches.
Last week, the world’s fastest invasion angle continued when the Wolves regained the tag team titles from Trevor Lee and Bryan Myers. Former TNA World Champion Eric Young came out with Chris Melendez’s artificial leg and shoved him down, while also defacing the leg with by putting athletic tape over it with “My Leg” and EY all over it. In the main event, Chris Mordetsky beat Drew Galloway to get the man advantage in tonight’s Winner Takes All Lethal Lockdown match to blow off the GFW vs. TNA invasion. Oh, and TNA’s “biggest show of the year” is in two weeks and has had literally zero build for it.
Yet another really green video package hyped up Lethal Lockdown, with clips of prior matches. The announcer guy says the taglines while Dixie recites them from a promo. Josh hypes up gladiators stepping inside six sides of steel as Dixie Carter faces Jeff Jarrett…a match that isn’t happening here. JB is mid-ring saying that he has been in TNA for 13 years and two names are what you think of with TNA – Dixie Carter and Jeff Jarrett. Now, on the night of the show, it’s time to make Lethal Lockdown official. Karen is out in a slick leather shirt and black leather pants, while Jeff is in jeans and a baby blue button-down shirt. Has he ever dressed nicely in a wrestling ring?
Dixie comes down while Josh says that she has made some mistakes with TNA, a company that was once on Spike TV. Josh assures Dixie that he and Pope are behind her – I’m sure that’s a real help to her confidence. JB explains. The stipulation. In a very. Stilted manner. JB says that each has agreed to say a few words, oh thank God. Dixie says that Jeff’s action removed him from power and that even a few weeks ago, she was hopeful that she and Jeff could rewrite the ending to TNA’s story. Karen calls her delusional while Jeff says that EY is nuts, he’s at least on his side.
Jeff says that he invested the first dollar in TNA and after tonight, he’ll be standing on top of two world-class wrestling companies. He hypes up the Global Force Wrestling Amped Army, which I guess is the roster, and tells Dixie that she should’ve always been on the outside of the business looking in. Jeff takes out JB. After 12 minutes, this ended. Josh, in a blinding checkered shirt and Pope are in their booth. Josh hypes up the TNA roster while we get a rundown of tonight’s four way Knockouts title match.
In a great bit, we see Jeff driving EC3 around. EC3 asks that he open his door, but he’s fine just staying in and appreciates Jeff at least knowing he took a couple of turns too quickly. EC3 asks for Jeff’s phone to watch cat videos and says his taste in music sucks. This was fantastic, and then Josh threatens us with a history lesson in Dixie Carter vs. Jeff Jarrett. We get a quick video telling us that TNA used to be a global powerhouse with huge starts, but with Jarrett gone, it fell. Well, this is bizarre to say the least.
Ad for Bound For Glory airs – the show is still two weeks away with zero matches announced. Abyss faces Shera next, and we get a Shera-Revolution recap. They actually made this seem fairly epic, and used some of the footage they shot during the final Spike shows that never aired otherwise. Abyss hobbled down and really doesn’t move like he should be working in this gimmick anymore. Shera came out doing “the Shera” dance, which the front row actually got behind a bit here. Shera teaches Bigfoot how to dance. He tries to show Abyss how to do it, but Abyss isn’t amused and attacks.
Shera vs. Abyss
Josh calls this the most important night of the year in TNA. I thought that was Bound For Glory? Pope calls Lethal Lockdown a battle to “keep TNA afloat”. Josh hypes up that if you use the promo code TeamTNA, you can save 20% on your order on ShopTNA. Abyss clotheslines him down. Abyss gets a neck crank on the mat. Abyss rakes the eyes to avoid the Sky High and grabs Janice. He threatens the referee with this implement of death, which isn’t a DQ. Shera gets a chokeslam for 2, but Storm comes down with a cowbell. He accidentally hits Abyss, who then accidentally hits Storm, and Shera hits the Sky High for the win. This was a fine match to use to take 20% off an order of some classic TNA PPV DVDs. Definitely get the Cross the Line triple pack and you can’t go wrong with any BFG except for 2014.
EC3 recaps a cat video with a ball of yarn and having fun at a Hardy party. After a break, Jeff Jarrett is in his ring gear and hypes up Team GFW – which apparently now includes Eric Young. Or maybe not, as Josh and Pope have no idea why he’s there despite Jeff saying that EY has sided with him. EC3 comes out without Jeff while Pope says that if that’s what EC3 does to Jeff when cameras are on, imagine what he does when they’re not on. No thanks. EC3 scolds them for playing Jeff’s theme. Jeff comes out in a suit with EC3 faces on it while EC3 tells Jeff he may come now and talks about how shaking his tush on the catwalk. Well, maybe Pope’s homoerotic subtext is now text.
EC3 tells Jeff that he needs this job to provide for his family and pay his medical bills. Jeff Hardy, the former top draw in pro wrestling, playing second fiddle to EC3 in this suit really does make it seem like his career has hit the skids. HBK lost his money giving it to friends, Big Show invested in a strip mall, and I guess Jeff Hardy lost all of his signing a TNA Wrestling contract.
Rockstar Spud came down to draw the parallels between Jeff Hardy being EC3’s assistant in a wacky suit and himself formerly having that role. Spud calls him garbage, while EC3 say that garbage couldn’t beat Sting, Bully, and Angle. EC3 cheapshots Spud, who recovers and attacks EC3, but is attacked by Tyrus. EC3 tells Jeff to “hit him”. Better be specific there EC3…and he actually hits Spud instead of hitting Tyrus despite having plausible deniability. Knockouts title is up next, giving us our second match in the first hour of this show.
Recap video of Jeff Jarrett’s return to TNA where he won the KOTM Title, was inducted into the Hall of Fame, took over for Bully Ray after he was inducted as the authority figure and then beaten up before Jeff was revealed as behind it. Jeff meets with Drew and talks about how he has his shares on the line and that Dixie has lost EY. Drew looks gigantic next to Jeff here. Jeff says it’s now 5-on-4 for the heel team and then Josh and Pope repeat this exact same point a few times and Pope says that they should erase Jeff Jarrett from TNA and the Hall of Fame. Earl Hebner’s Hall of Fame induction will be in his home state, and he’ll be inducted by William Corgan.
Brooke vs. Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong vs. Lei’D Tapa – Knockouts Title 4-Way
The challengers are mid-ring while Brooke gets a full intro. Kong and Tapa get alternating tree slams on the babyfaces. Tapa and Kong get into a monster clubbering exchange before Gail and Brooke double team Tapa. Kong attacks and TNA takes her out for a bit. After a break, a 619 by Gail is avoided by Tapa and she hits her with a snake eyes on the railing. Kong runs through Brooke before Kong gingerly dives onto Tapa off the apron.
Josh talks about how Brooke has broken fingers, but she’s still competing. Brooke gets 2 off a Russian legsweep. Gail gets the corner crossbody, but Brooke avoids the ringpost figure four. Tapa avoids Kong, who plows into Brooke. Tapa grabs Gail off the corner crossbody and slams her down. Tapa hits a terrifying superplex to Gail, leading to a Kong dive onto Tapa, allowing Brooke to flying elbow drop Kong. Kong gets Samoan dropped on the apron over the top rope by Kong and with Gail and Brooke alone, Gail reverses a sunset flip ala Bulldog against Bret and wins the title. Gail and Brooke adhere to the Code of Honor.
Josh hypes up the main event next while Team TNA ponders what will happen and Drew is quite upset that the terms “failure” and “mistakes” are being used to describe TNA. EC3 is offended by Jeff Hardy pulling some “backdoor action” on him since Spud now has a TNA World Title match with EC3 next week. Did Jeff Hardy empty his savings account to bribe Dixie for that? Why would that happen logically? Pope shows off the key on his action figure because it symbolizes success and that’s what TNA is all about. We get a recap of the rivalry as JB describes Lethal Lockdown.
Team TNA vs. Team GFW – Lethal Lockdown for Control of TNA
Sonjay Dutt starts the match off for GFW while Davey is starting it for Team TNA. Josh corrects himself saying that the Wolves are now five-time TNA Tag Team Champions – which is amazing since they’ve only been in the company for about a year and a half now. After the break, Davey and Sonjday Dutt brawl in “the most important main event in TNA history”. Sonjay bites the hand of Davey to avoid a suplex and then Josh thanks the fans for making #winnertakesall trend. Davey gets a cloverleaf, but EY comes down. I wonder if the artificial leg he won in a wrestling match will be one of the weapons in this match.
EY and Sonjay double team him for a bit while “you sold out” chants rain down on EY. Drew runs down and attacks. Pope makes Drew seem quite lame by using his full legal name to describe him before a break. After the break, we’ve missed a lot of in-ring action because they picked this break to do things in real-time. Bryan Myers is mid-ring and Sonjay has Drew in a camel clutch. Lashley comes down and hits Sonjay with a flipping German suplex and spears EY and Sonjay. Lashley is such a fun video game character in a wrestling match.
Mordetsky comes down and chokes Drew in the corner while Myers punches away at Davey in another corner. Eddie comes in and runs wild while the Wolves get some double teams. Jeff Jarrett is the final member of his own team, and Josh isn’t at all shocked by this. Well, given that Jeff was in his full gear right after the opening segment, he shouldn’t be. Josh prays that TNA has a fifth guy, and Pope says that he’s just signed to be a commentator or else he’d be in there. Well, that’s pretty cowardly of him. Bram comes down as the fifth man while everyone stands around so the weapons can fall for the Lethal Lockdown portion of the match after an ad break.
This time, the ad break wasn’t in real-time as they’ve all patiently waited until after the break to begin this portion of the match. Jeff beats up guys with a trash can after Pope scolds the GFW guys for using weapons, but then says the TNA guys need to use them because that’s what they’re for. Pope says he isn’t biased, but he’s fully behind TNA. So he’s biased then, and Josh says that this match is a monitor sellout in the back. Sonjay superkicks Eddie, but eats an Alarm Clock.
Team TNA immediately surrounds Jeff, and in a hilarious bit, he immediately scrambles to the camera opening and clutches his wife while begging her to not let them take him. EY piledrives Drew, but Lashley eats a Stroke after hitting the spear. Trash can to the head of Jeff leads to a double Van Terminator from the Wolves. Bram and Mordetsky hit each other with trash can lids. Drew boots Myers and hits the Future Shock on Myers to win the match. Why not have Jeff eat the fall? They set up a spot with him nearly eating all the finishers of the faces, and it would’ve been a fitting end. Instead, Drew Galloway saved TNA by beating Curt Hawkins – it’s like Hogan winning War Games by beating Zodiac.
Jeff crawls out of the ring and is surrounded by his crew. Drew grabs the case, so maybe he can cash it in for a shot at the KOTM Title or something. Dixie comes down and hugs Drew, who presents her with the case in a heroic pose. Drew was so great here. They grab a fan’s “We are TNA” sign and hold it up. They gave this match nearly the entire second hour of the show and gave the celebration plenty of time too. They didn’t hype up anything for next week’s show, so this really could’ve just been a finale for TNA as a whole and felt like a somewhat fitting ending.
