The Wednesday, December 9th edition of TNA Impact Wrestling that featured the quarterfinals of the TNA title tournament saw the ratings rise from recent weeks with 269,000 viewers tuning in for the 9 p.m. show and 68,000 tuning in for the midnight show for a grand total of 337,000 viewers.
That 9 p.m number was up from usual but the midnight number fell right in line with the norm.
Given that the entire tournament of taped matches is now complete (the previously taped semifinals and finals are being scrapped and redone) the last few weeks on Destination America will be time fills of two hours with old taped matches before the company’s January 5th live show launch on Pop TV.
The semifinals will feature Matt Hardy vs. Eric Young and Bobby Lashley vs. Ethan Carter III. The winner will move onto the finals which will be the main event of the January 5th debut.
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.
Last night’s show, featuring the ninth week of the World title tournament, drew just 221,000 viewers for its 9-11 PM shows. The number was down from last week’s 234,000, and beat only the 11/18 episode (202,0000) for a first run show on Destination America. The midnight replay show did 73,000 viewers.
The combined two show total of 294,000 was also the second lowest in history, and only the second time the total of both airings was less than 300,000 viewers.
The show featured Drew Galloway vs. Lashley in the main event, Jessie Godderz vs. Awesome Kong, Tigre Uno vs. Gail Kim, and Bobby Roode vs. Matt Hardy.
Now fully in lame duck mode on Destination America, TNA is moving to POP TV in the first week of January, debuting on Tuesday, January 5th.
Last week, Tigre Uno won a three way match to advance in the series. Drew Galloway beat Spud with the sick kick, while Bram demolished Grado in short order. Jessie Godderz beat Micah, and Davey Richards being Robbie E in a pretty good match. Kenny King beat Crazzy Steve, while Austin Aries lost to Bobby Lashley in the best match of the series to date. The show begins with a recap of last week’s events and tonight’s card, including Gail vs. Tigre Uno, Drew vs. Lashley, and Matt Hardy vs. Bobby Roode. DJZ faces EC3 up next. They say that if Ronda Rousey can be beat, then so can EC3. Wow.
DJZ vs. EC3
EC3 is hyped up by Josh as the man who has never been pinned and talks about how DJZ has no chance, despite just saying that EC3 could be beaten if Ronda Rousey could. Is it too much to ask for a character to be consistent for five minutes? Basic armwork to start while Josh talks about Bracket Brawl. EC3’s flapjack is countered by a dropkick. They fight to the floor and EC3 tosses him in, turns his back, and eats a basement dropkick. Josh points out that Tyrus should’ve warned him, and then reminds us that Tyrus wants a World Title shot against EC3 if he wins the series. They go back to the floor and EC3 tosses him into the post.
Josh runs through more of tonight’s card, including Eli Drake vs. Shera. DJZ gets a jawkbreaker into a flying neckbreaker. DJZ’s wacky popping DDT is countered for the 50th time in just the Series, before he hits a regular DDT. DJZ flips around while standing before getting a rana. He goes for it again, but eats a sitout powerbomb and the One Percenter wins. EC3 moves on to the round of eight. We see the brackets, so now we don’t need to play Bracket Brawl to actually see who could fight who in this. Gail Kim vs. Tigre Uno is up next and they hype it up as historic because it’s the first time the X Division Champion will face the Knockouts Champion. Gail puts over how TNA has always let women be themselves, and now she can take the World title. After a break, Gail gets an intro while Uno gets nothing.
Gail Kim vs. Tigre Uno
Gail gets 2 off a quick schoolboy. Love Gail being shocked that a schoolboy didn’t win a mid-card match in 2015. Tigre gets a front facelock and wrestles her down to the mat before getting a headlock. Josh points out that Tigre being a luchardor helps him here since he has likely faced female wrestlers before. Gail pops up and gets a blind crossbody, but Tigre rolls through for 2. Tigre counters Eat Defeat into a wacky lucha submission before Gail sunset flips out of it for 2. Gail gets the headscissors into the octopus stretch, leading to Tigre dumping her on the apron. Uno does a forward roll mid-ring before doing a plancha. Josh busts out his first “trending topic” mention of the night before Gail lands a top rope rana and a shotgun dropkick that sends Uno into the buckle.
Gail struggles to get the ringpost figure four on, but does so safely. Tigre counters a sunset flip counter attempt into a cradle to win. Bram vs. Davey is up next and they hype up Lashley vs. “The Captain” Drew Galloway. What is he the captain of and why is that one of his nicknames? Josh and Pope recap Gail vs. Uno and they re-recap the results of both that match and the EC3 match. We get a recap of Bram’s path of destruction in the series so far, but he gets no intro. Davey gets a partial intro before the bell rings.
Bram vs. Davey Richards
They start off with a collar and elbow tie-up that Bram wins. Bram overpowers him again before mocking Davey. Davey gets a go-behind and starts working on the arm. Bram knocks him down with a punch before Josh runs down Bram’s nicknames. Bram throws him to the floor, but Davey runs back in and gets a baseball slide dropkick to the floor before some machine gun kicks against the barricade. Davey attacks him with some corner mount punches before low-bridging him and sends Bram to the floor. Bram attacks and lands a fireman’s carry facebuster into the steps. Josh gives Bram a new nickname – Calculated Chaos. Maybe he can get a math teacher gimmick and confound the roster with Calculus Chaos. Bram shoves Davey’s back into the ropes, but Davey avoids the charge. Davey hits a double stomp off the steps, in what is easily the best part of the match so far.
Back-bumping missile dropkick leads to a nip-up and a big exploder to Bram. Josh calls this match a big upset if Davey can win despite Davey being an ROH World Champion. Double stomp off the top gets 2. Bram gets the F5 as a transition move to the impaler DDT, which Davey turns into a small package for the win. This sets up Davey vs. EC3, which has the potential to be quite good. Eli says that the future four was a group of losers and Shera is a great dancer and a strong guy, but is a moron. Drake vs. Shera is up next. Drake gets no intro, while Shera gets his and a few fans do the Shera Shake. We get a Shera hype video of his run through the series.
Mahabali Shera vs. Eli Drake
Drake punches away at him in the corner while Josh plugs the January TV tapings. Shera lands a slam and clotheslines Drake to the floor. Josh says that Shera isn’t even polished and he’s already doing very well in TNA. Drake stomps away on Shera and lands a series of elbows for 2. Drake gets a nice back suplex, but misses a big leaping elbow drop. Drake ducks down and eats a boot and clothesline. Shera backdrops him and does the Shake for a second. Drake goes up and eats a slam before losing to the Sky High. Matt Hardy cuts a promo on Roode in a very dark room while someone coughs in the background. He says his formula is “Twist of Fate, win” and how his dream is like him – it will not die. Roode vs. Hardy is up next. Josh and Pope pick the winners for the remaining match and each man gets intros for this match.
Bobby Roode vs. Matt Hardy
Roode goes to the floor to stall and establish himself as the heel in this match. Bobby backs him up into the corner and pats his chest, while Matt responds with his pose. Matt shoulderblocks him down and he lands a clothesline to take him down. Roode rolls to the floor to break Matt’s momentum. Roode pulls Matt into the post on the floor and slams the wrist into the steps a few times. Roode dominates in the corner and says that this is why he’s the It Factor – Roode just acting like a heel is so much better than whatever his babyface character is. Roode gets the crossface on, but Matt gets to the rope. Side Effect hits and he gets 2 before landing a clothesine, but the bulldog is tossed off by Roode.
Hardy finally gets the bulldog for 2. Twist of Fate is countered into a schoolboy for 2. Another crossface is locked on by Roode, but turned into a cradle for 2. Roode bomb countered into a Side Effect that is countered. Roode does the V-1ah bit in the corner, but eats a kick and a Twist of Fate for the loss. Matt Hardy advances in the series. Drew talks about the series has given him a second chance and it’s an innovative tournament, and something that benefits the fans and himself. Godderz comes out to face Awesome Kong.
Jessie Godderz vs. Awesome Kong
The crowd chants “Kong’s gonna kill you” to start things off. Jessie says that Kong doesn’t really want to wrestle, she just wants to touch his body. Jessie offers a kiss, but wants that thought to marinade for a bit. Kong kisses him with a big punch! Kong chops him and drops him with shoulder charges. Kong avalanches him in the corner and slams him down three times. Jessie tries to leave, but Kong tosses him into the post and punches away. Godderz gets a thumb to the eye, but he misses a charging lariat and hits the steps. Kong’s splash misses and he wins with a bad cradle. Finish aside, this was a really fun match. EY faces Kenny King next. After a break, they recap how Jessie cheated to beat Kong and goes on to face Matt Hardy next week.
Kenny King vs. Eric Young
Kenny gets a partial intro, while EY gets none. Josh says that EY was a headliner all year while Kenny King was held back by being in the BDC. King gets a headlock and sends EY into the ropes for his flip. EY sends King to the floor and scowls a bit .They fight on the apron before King sends EY into the ring with a headstand kick. EY regains control and stomps King’s head on the apron before kicking him to the floor. EY gets backdropped to the floor and King dives onto him. King lands a springboard crossbody and gets 2 off a schoolboy. EY counters the Royal Flush with an eye rake. Kenny gets a spinebuster for 2. EY grabs the ref to distract him and piledrives King to win. We see the brackets and a graphic for Lashley vs. Galloway, followed by a small hype video for it.
Drew Galloway vs. Lashley
Lashley is called the most dominant athlete in all of sports to start. They exchange armholds to start before we get a clean break in the corner. Lashley gets a chinlock before flipping forward over Drew and turning it into a rear naked choke, which I’ve never seen before. Lashley stomps away in the corner for an ad break. After the break, Drew kicks Lashley and punches him before being Bieled into the corner. Drew gets a flying clothesline and sends him to the floor. They fight on the floor and Lashley sends him back first onto the top of the steps. Delayed suplex gets 2 for Lashley. Drew sends his shoulder into the post and clubs the back. Lashley takes Drew to suplex city with a German and an overhead belly to belly. Lashley goes for a torture rack, but can’t lift him. Lashley gets the powerslam for 2. Drew gets 2 off a neckbreaker. Lashley misses a corner charge and Drew hits White Noise before setting up the Claymore kick. Drew charges in, but eats a spear and loses. Lashley moves on to the round of eight.
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 will be announcing shortly that the scheduled 12/2 to 12/4 tour of India has been canceled.
Talent that had been booked on the tour were contacted more than two hours ago stating the tour is now off. TNA had planned the semifinals of its world title tournament as well as a live PPV in India during the three nights.
TNA claimed to talent the tour was being postponed to 2016.
Talent was told the tour was canceled due to safety concerns. They were scheduled to leave this weekend. Everyone is scrambling now to find bookings for this weekend on short notice.
The tour was being promoted by TNA’s broadcast partners, Sony Six, and TNA had already done advanced work for the tour as well as spent months pushing Mahabili Shera for its partners.
On Monday, TNA announced its next round of television tapings: five straight days in Bethlehem, PA, at The Sands Bethlehem Events Center, a building TNA has taped at in the past.
Announced for the tapings are Kurt Angle, Matt & Jeff Hardy, Bobby Lashley, Ethan Carter III, Drew Galloway, Bobby Roode, Gail Kim and Tigre Uno.
The tapings will start with a live show on 1/5 that will serve as the debut episode of Impact on Pop TV. It’s more likely the show will be semi-live as previously advertised live shows over the past year plus have actually been same day tapings delayed by two hours.
They will also be taping every day through 1/9. Between these tapings and scheduled tapings in the U.K. at the end of January, the promotion should be covered for all television for the first quarter of 2016.
There will be an Internet pre-sale starting at 10 a.m. on Wednesday through Thursday at 10 p.m. TNA will be announcing a code for tickets shortly. Tickets will go on sale on Friday at 10 a.m. to the public at Ticketmaster or at 800-745-3000.
TNA announced Thursday morning that it has signed a deal with POP TV for Impact, which will start on the station on January 5th, 2016, in a Tuesday from 9-11 p.m. time slot. Dixie Carter announced the news on Twitter stating that they are now on a station that reaches 85 million homes.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter had reported that POP TV, which has been airing Paragon Pro Wrestling weekly as a time buy, along with WGN America, were in negotiations for TNA. Of the two, the POP TV deal was considered the weaker station overall even though both stations were in similar amounts of homes.
It is an upgrade as far as reach is concerned, although POP TV is in closer to 75 million homes right now as compared to 57 million for Destination America. Finances were not disclosed which is the key when it comes to TNA, because there is little revenue coming in with the exception of selling the television show, since they almost never do live events that tickets are sold to, and PPV numbers are weak. TNA wil remain on Destination America through the end of 2015.
In a related note, Paragon announced today that their final date on POP TV will be November 21st. They are moving their programming to various platforms including Tuff-TV, Fight Net, You Too America and WADL-TV in Detroit, MI.
Last week, Madison Rayne debuted wacky ninja training and used it against Gail Kim. Sadly, it didn’t do her much good as she still lost. Eli Drake cheated to beat Jessie Godderz, and Matt used a top rope Twist of Fate to beat Eddie Edwards. DJZ beat Mandrews with a cradle, while EC3 beat Anderson in the main event. A video package recaps the wins for last week’s matches, and tonight’s matches include Kong vs. Brooke and Roode vs. Abyss. There will also be a face off between Matt Hardy and EC3. Pope and Josh recap the events of the video package before we get another video package recapping the opening video. We’re two minutes into the show and they’re already loading the show with filler. Brooke, who just left the company, comes out to face Kong. Kong comes out and they recap her beating Rayne, but losing to Gail in the series.
Brooke vs. Awesome Kong
Pope talks about how the knockouts main event the show here in the opener, and then Josh says the main event will be Abyss vs. Roode. No part of that match screams “main event” at all. Kong gets a big Biel throw and Brooke responds with flying forearm shots. Kong takes her down and works on the fingers a bit. Kong stomps on the hand for a bit and they talk about having a target on her hand with the split. Brooke rolls to the floor and then rolls back in and gives her the double bird! Well, that was unexpected and hilarious. Kong whoops her ass for doing that and slams her down for a cocky two count with her foot on her chest. Brooke gets a drop toehold and gets a bizarre variant of the Cattle Mutilation that Kong counters. Josh plugs Dixie’s Twitter and Kong hits a modified AA on Brooke, but misses a corner splash. Turnbuckle X factor hits for 2. Kong counters a back suplex and hits the chokeslam for the win. Brooke is now out of the series as a contender, while Kong and Gail have advanced. This was pretty good. EC3 and Matt Hardy meet next.
We get a recap of Brooke vs. Kong while Josh asks just how for the knockouts can go in this tournament facing men. They throw to Matt Hardy on a very jumpy Skype video call where he says he’ll use the Matt Hardy Formula to win the series. EC3 says that Matt’s not in the champions group because he wasn’t a true champion. Matt rambles on about things and says “it’s gonna be YOU VERSUS I!” while EC3 says he wants to take him out in the series whenever he gets the chance. EC3 ends the promo mercifully while Josh threatens that it will continue later. EY talks about being a dangerous man and now isn’t a good night for Storm to face him and that Storm’s a has-been.
After a break, we get a recap of EC3’s send-off on the promo. Josh says that EC3 has refused to be on-screen with Hardy, so we’ll get separate Matt Hardy and EC3 promos. Well, that will get the show closer to the grave, I suppose. Tigre Uno is out to face Manik, and he has to win to stay in the series. Pope calls Manik a maniac while Josh buries him for calling everyone a maniac and promises to buy him a thesaurus. Pope welcomes that as long as it has the word “maniac” in it.
Tigre Uno vs. Manik
They fly to the floor to start and Manik suplexes him on the ramp. Josh plugs their Youtube channel and says that in a couple of weeks, they’ll have a very interesting announcement with it. Well, that seems to indicate that they’ll be leaving DA and then publishing the show straight to their Youtube channel until they find a new TV deal. Something called Bracket Brawl is coming soon – I guess it’s a fan voting context, and the winner gets a free trip to an Impact taping. Josh plugs more things and says he’ll give Don West a run for his money. Manik gets a kneeling surfboard on Uno and turns it into an armbar. Uno kind of hits a weird springboard DDT. Uno gets a shotgun dropkick, but eats the double chickenwing lungblower for 2! Uno sends him down with a wacky inverted Samoan drop and wins with a split-legged corkscrew moonsault.
Recap of the TNA Originals’ finishes in the series so far. Josh says that EY vs. Storm is up next and one of the most important matches in the careers of either of these men. They recap Uno vs. Manik and Josh says that it will be a three way match between DJZ, Uno, and Manik next week to determine who goes on in the series. Basically, everyone moves on except for the guy who gets pinned. Josh brags about #bubbleburst trending since last week and then buries Storm for being done. A video of Abyss highlights airs while Roode puts him over as a monster. Storm comes down while Josh runs down a recap of how he got here, and then EY comes out and they do the same for him.
Eric Young vs. James Storm
EY jumps Storm and they cut to a break mid-mudhole stomp in the ropes. EY beats him up on the floor. Josh says there’s no honor among thieves while Pope says that EY just did it to Storm before he could have it done to him. So if cheating is okay for literally everyone to do, why should fans ever be angered by it? Storm fires back on EY with some elbows to the gut, but a hairpull sends him down for 2. Josh ponders that perhaps Storm will get fired up thinking about Eric Young being a trending topic in the series. Storm runs a bit wild and gets the corner hopping kick before landing a sloppy Codebreaker. EY goes for the piledriver, but eats a backdrop. Whirly Bird gets 2 for Storm and he’s cheered on by the fans. EY takes him down and grabs the legs for an ’80s cradle on the ropes for 2. Backstabber hits, but Storm gets lightly tapped off a forearm and EY low blows Storm and hits a piledriver for the win. Storm is out of the series. This was a basic match, but not bad outside of the commentary.
Josh and Pope talk about Lashley vs. Austin Aries next week – well, that should be fantastic. Matt Hardy’s second promo of the evening is up next after a break. Matt says this could get anymore personal, and he loves taking haters and jamming their hate down their throats. He talks for 500 miles a minute and says that he is the guy. He’s confident and feels he’s as good as he’s ever been. No one can stop the Matt Hardy Train and he’s picking Roode to win the main event. Aiden ‘O Shea comes out in black slacks and a green shirt, looking like an angry Amish golfer to face Mahabali Shera.
Aiden ‘O Shea vs. Mahabali Shera
Shera does his dance in the corner before doing it in front of the corner and dodging a punch to send Aiden into the buckle. Shera takes him down with a headlock takeover before doing it again. Pope talks about chatting with ‘O Shea and realizing that this isn’t his first time being in TNA before just moving off of that point right away. Aiden lands his slick left handed jab before nailing him with a few elbow strikes. Aiden puts him over the apron and clubs away while Josh talks about how you’re seeing a lot of World Title Series copycats out there now. Aiden stands on the hand and slaps him in the face before going up top for some reason. Shera slams him off the top, but eats an eye rake. Aiden goes for a punch, Shera ducks and gets the Sky High for the win. EY cuts a backstage promo about how he’ll always win as long as he’s drawing a breath. Eli Drake still comes out with a goofy Aquaman vest and trunks with “ED” all over them. Eli is facing Crimson in what might be the only match in Group Future 4 to be aired in full.
Eli Drake vs. Crimson
Crimson tackles him down and takes him down with a big suplex. Crimson’s gear consists of small MMA-style shorts and MMA gloves – it’s a fairly unique look right now and works for him. Plus, it plays off of his debut in the company in the Double J-MMA angle. Eli drags him down and drops a knee on the arm for 1. EC3 interrupts and says he’s ready for his interview while Josh says he’ll have to wait – we have a match. Why would this match be more important than the other Future 4 matches we’ve seen the closing moments of? Crimson hits a lariat mid-ring and another in the corner. Eli gets a standing Kimura and wins. EC3 comes back and says that the TNA World title is his possession and he’ll take it back. He’ll prove that he is the rightful champion and then gives the show permission to move forward. They rundown the matches tonight and pick who will progress next week. Abyss comes down and they air clips of his matches in this series.
Abyss vs. Bobby Roode
Abyss shoves him into the corner before posing a couple of times. Abyss does the “Beer!” part of the Beer Money bit and eats a few punches. Roode avoids a chokeslam with a kick to the leg, but is sent down for an ad break. We come back to some floor brawling and Roode is flung into the steps knees-first ala Mick Foley. Abyss grabs a chair and brings it in and places it in the corner. Earl tries to move it, but Roode gets a schoolboy so he counts 2 for that. Abyss clotheslines him down. A nerve pinch/head twister is locked on, but Roode punches free and we get a five minute countdown clock.
Three lariats take Abyss down. Blockbuster hits for 2. Abyss misses a corner charge and hits his own chair, but he counters Roode’s attempt at a chokeslam. Roode takes him down and gets a crossface locked on, but Abyss goes to the corner to break it up. Roode goes for the Roode Bomb, but he can’t hold him up and Abyss gets 2 off a chokeslam. Abyss leaves the ring to grab his implement of death, which isn’t a DQ here in this sporting tournament. Janice gets wedged into the buckle, but falls and luckily Roode spinebusters him away from it and wins. EY and Roode move on in the series, so we’ll probably get at least one more “final battle” between them this year. Pretty nothing happening show overall. To see every screenshot for it, just click here.
Last week, Madison Rayne beat Brooke to advance, Bram beat Spud, and Manik beat Mandrews with a GTS. The Wolves collided in a very good match that went to a time limit draw, Mahabali Shera beat Kenny King, and Eric Young beat Robert Roode. Manik vs. Mandrews and Davey vs. Eddie were quite good, while EY vs. Roode wasn’t bad, it also wasn’t exciting in the slightest. The show begins with a recap of last week’s matches. Tonight, Madison faces Gail, while Matt faces Eddie Edwards, and Mr. Anderson faces EC3. Josh and Pope are in their green screen studio, and Pope is now doing Larry Zbyszko’s finger movements from the Nitro era. We see clips of Eddie Edwards destroying dudes while Madison walks to the ring. We get a wacky Ninja Queen video for Madison, which consists of someone singing “Ninja Queen” instead of Killer Queen while she moves plants around and is superimposed over footage of people talking. This was goofy and amusing.
Gail Kim vs. Madison Rayne
They tie-up and Madison wins that exchange. Madison takes her down while Josh talks more about the ninja training. Pope gets a crack in about Josh not really wanting his honest opinion about Madison while Madison gets 2 off a crucifix that Gail reverses for 2. SOS cradle gets 2 for Madison. Josh talks about #worldtitleseries trending worldwide already. Madison gets a weak-looking Brogue kick onto Gail as she was draped over the second rope. Gail gets 2 off a blind dive crossbody and we go to a break. Gail sends Madison into the buckle with a wacky headscissor, but the corner crossbody misses. Gail comes in at 9 and then smashes Madison’s head into the steps. Gail gets a dragon sleeper, but Madison escapes and then kinda goes for a small package, but Gail puts her in a dragon sleeper again because Madison wasn’t at the right angle for the cradle. Madison gets a corner forearm and runs wild with chops and forearms mid-ring. A sliding crossbody gets 2 for Madison. Madison goes for the Rayne Drop, which got the win last week, but Madison gets cradled and loses. This was an excellent little match – easily the best women’s match of the series so far. Matt Hardy interview is up next.
We get a recap of Gail vs. Rayne, leading to Pope and Josh saying that two people in Matt Hardy and Gail Kim are in the field of 16. Matt is in a very squeaky room saying that he feels that he’s better now than he’s ever been and he’ll trend when he wins the series with an unbeaten record. They awkwardly around Matt vacating the title and Matt says that EC3 might’ve kept this going on for years, and due to EC3, TNA might not even have TV. Well, that’s an odd thing to say. Pope akwardly asks if Matt will take a night off with Eddie and Matt says that Eddie is the future of “this brand”, but tonight isn’t his night and he’ll be a victim of the Matt Hardy Formula. Eli Drake is out to face Jessie Godderz. Eli still has his goofy superhero vest on. Eli says E-li in the best way humanly possible and it at least helps him stand out in TNA. “The Man” Jessie Godderz, who is also “The Modern Day Adonis”, comes out in his giant robe.
Eli Drake vs. Jessie Godderz
Since Jessie’s finisher is the “Adonis Crab”, Josh talks about his favorite kinds of crab and how he enjoys having it served to him at a restaurant. Josh says that if Jessie wins the series, he’ll be on the cover of cereal boxes and getting all the TV show interviews. Eli gets a takedown, but Jessie gets a headscissor. Josh says that the World Title Series episodes of Impact are all on their Youtube channel, where you can “watch Dixie Carter explain the world title series”. Each guys tries to out-cheat each other with the hair while Josh talks about giving out World Title Series awards and talking about WHO WAS AT TNA HQ THIS WEEK!?
Jessie gets a slick double wristlock suplex for 2. Pope pimps his PopeTV Youtube channel. Eli drives the leg down onto Jessie’s to wear it down. Pope talks about Eli being the prince of Eternia, which Josh buries him for. Jessie gets a back elbow smash and both guys try to cheat via tights pulling to win, but the ref is right there. This reminds me a bit of Martel vs. HBK at Summerslam ’92 with two heels trying to out-heel each other to win. Jessie tries to cheat with a cradle, but Eli escapes for 2. Jessie climbs up top, but gets crotched and Eli puts his feet on the rope for the win.
EC3 is in front of the office of TNA Wrestling, which you might’ve seen from Finn Balor’s Twitter feed. EC3 and his grey and black checkered suit are angry and he’s here to deliver a check in person. Eli cuts a fantastic promo backstage about being tired from kicking so much keister. Josh names Matt Hardy, Gail, Drew, and Shera as possible MVPs. Match of the series goes to Davey vs. Eddie. Shera wins the Most Improved award. Storm gets the Biggest Disappointment award. Matt comes out in grey and white camo PJs to do battle and we see clips of his series matches. We get the same kind of clips for Eddie as he comes down.
Matt Hardy vs. Eddie Edwards
They exchange basic headlocks on the ground before Eddie gets a chinlock after a headstand. Eddie gets bonked into the buckle and placed onto the ropes for a sloppy Nightmare on Helms Street for 2. We go to a break and come back to Matt landing some corner lariats for 2. Matt takes an awkward leap over the top to the apron and eats a Yakuza kick. Big suicide dive takes Matt out for a bit. Pope says that the suicide dive is called that because if your opponent moves, it can end in catastrophe. Eddie chops away at Matt on the post and misses, so Matt starts getting the edge. Eddie avoids an apron Side Effect and lands an apron DDT. Matt eats some chops before fighting back with slaps and exchanging forearms. Double clothesline sends both men down. Matt avoids the backpack stunner and gets an awkward sleeper slam for 2. Matt gets a back elbow, but slips off the ropes before climbing up again and hitting a big kick for 2. Matt avoids a double stomp, but the Twist is countered into a cradle by Eddie for 2. Matt gets a super Twist of Fate to counter a superplex and wins. Very good match here.
Recap of the BFG main event with Jeff Hardy costing EC3 the title. EC3 walks down the halls of the building and says that he grew up and spent a lot of time here, but now he just sees the legends on these walls as people he’s beaten. EC3 goes to Dixie’s office, full of TNA history like replica belts, photos, and a gigantic Kurt Angle WWE action figure. Ethan says he’s not a kid anymore – he’s a big victory machine and he’ll be World Champion again. He gives Dixie the check, and Dixie is upset. Matt cuts a promo on Eddie and says he’s a guy and a hell of a competitor. They play a “pop” the roster game and pick who will advance to the round of 16. Mandrews comes down the aisle to face DJZ.
Mandrews vs. DJZ
They exchange armbars and flips to start. Mandrews armdrags him to the floor. Mandrews hops on the steps and moonsaults DJZ. Mandrews tosses him in and gets a jawbreaker for 2. DJZ drops him on his head for 2 and then locks on a chinlock. DJZ hops around before hitting a springboard elbow. DJZ’s wacky springing DDT is countered with a pop-up rana by Mandrews for 2. DJZ goes up and eats a big kick and top rope rana for 2. DJZ gets a schoolboy for 2 and Mandrews runs wild with forearms and they fight up top for a bit. Mandrews shoves him down and an SSP is met with knees and a cradle for the win.
We see video of Shera training by running across a bridge and working out in the gym. They play another game and Pope predicts a Roode win. Eric Young is pissed over his bubble being popped because he’d break Josh’s neck and he’s the most dangerous man in pro wrestling. Crimson talks about his opponent tonight, Micah, being an ass-kicker since birth. We see clips of Micah beating Crimson. We see EC3 in India cutting a promo from what sounds like a construction site. Josh says that the semi-finals of the series will be in December’s Impact shows from Mumbai.
Drew cuts a promo from his home, which like Matt Hardy’s house, features better lighting than the in-ring action. He says that he was motivated before, and while he was ripped off at BFG, he’s on track to fulfill his destiny. Next week, Brooke faces Awesome Kong while EY faces James Storm, and Bobby Roode faces Abyss. Josh talks about Anderson and EC3’s “rich history”, which we see in clip form. EC3 comes down and Anderson comes down adding “what and huh” to his intro.
EC3 vs. Ken Anderson
They exchange chops in the corner and go to a break. After the break, Ken gets some Kobashi-style machine gun chops on the floor. Pope laments that there will be no “textbookality” here. Maybe that can be added to the next Mortal Kombat game – a giant textbook can fall onto your opponent’s head. They go to the floor where Pope says that Anderson has to be careful being in dinosaur land before stating the obvious and stating he was talking about Tyrus. Tyrus sweeps the leg for 2. Gutwrench suplex gets 2 and then locks on a chinlock. Double clothesline leads to another double down on the show. Finlay Roll hits as does the Kenton Bomb for 2. They fight up top and Ken gets the Lambeau Leap for 2. Tyrus pulls Anderson to the floor with two minutes to go. Earl argues with Tyrus before Ken bashes Tyrus with a chair. Earl is completely fine with this. Earl takes the chair out of the ring and EC3 low blows him, but avoids a Mic Check and wins with a jackknife cradle. To see every screenshot for the show, just click here.
