EVOLVE Wrestling held the second event of the weekend on their way to crowning their first Tag Team Champions. WWE COO Triple H was in attendance as William Regal was set to make an announcement along with NXT tag team Jason Jordan and Chad Gable signed autographs. Regal made an appearance during intermission which included EVOLVE Champion Timothy Thatcher and Matt Riddle where Riddle appeared to have challenged the champion to a future match.
– 2nd Chance Tag Team Tournament First Round Match: Team Tremendous (Dan Barry & Bill Carr) defeat The Premier Athlete Brand (Anthony Nese & Caleb Konley w/So Cal Val & Andrea), pinning Nese with “Book em, Danno!” The Premier Athlete Brand attack Tremendous after the match. Konley however leaves, stating he only cares about the EVOLVE championship. Peter Kaasa chases Anthony Nese away.
– Style Battle 2016 Round Robin Tournament Match: Matt Riddle submits Yehi to an inveted heel hook. Riddle is now 2-0 and Yehi is 0-2.
– Tommaso Ciampa pins Ethan Page with a running knee strike to the face. This was Ciampa’s EVOLVE debut.
– 2nd Chance Tag Team Tournament First Round Match: Catch Point (Drew Gulak & TJ Perkins w/”Hot Sauce” Tracy Willams & Matt Riddle) defeat Zack Sabre Jr. and Sami Callihan when Perkins submits Callihan in a cross armbreaker after a Detonation Kick. Frustrated by the loss, Callihan shoves Sabre Jr. and challenged him to a singles match tomorrow. Sabre Jr. accepted.
– Style Battle 2016 Round Robin Tournament Match: “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams w/Drew Gulak submits Peter Kaasa to a crossface. Williams is now 2-0 and Kaasa is now 0-2. Tomorrow night, the winner of Williams vs. Riddle wins the Style Battle tournament.
– EVOLVE Tag Team Title Tournament Semi-Final Round Match: Johnny Gargano & Drew Galloway defeat the Bravado Bros. (Harlem & Lancelot Bravado) when Gargano submitted Harlem to the Garga-No Escape.
– EVOLVE Tag Team Title Tournament Semi-Final Round Match: Heroes Eventually Die (Chris Hero & Tommy End) defeat Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta) with a Death Blow/knee strike combo to Romero.
The EVOLVE Tag Team Title Tournament finals take place Sunday in the same building with Gargano & Galloway take on Heroes Eventually Die for the Evolve tag team titles.
This weekend will see EVOLVE crown their first ever tag team champions after the DGUSA Open the United Gate Championship was retired. EVOLVE Champion Timothy Thatcher unfortunately had to be taken out of the tournament due to an injury. Thatcher opened up the show saying that while he can’t compete this weekend, he wants to face Davey Richards and Chris Hero in the future. Thatcher promised to take out all of the Catch Point faction one by one which brought out the Premier Athlete Brand of Caleb Konley and Anthony Nese with So Cal Val. Val assured Konley that he would receive a title shot in the future. The Bravado Brothers came out after Thatcher pointed out that tonight was about the Tag Title Tournament.
– EVOLVE Tag Team Title Tournament 1st Round Match: The Bravados def the Premier Athlete Brand with a rolling Complete Shot from Harlem off of Lancelot’s back to advance.
– Jason Cade pins Joe Coleman with a shooting star press. These two from from the WWN tryout.
– Style Battle 2016 Round Robin Tournament Match: Matt Riddle submits Peter Kaasa in a heel hook. Riddle is (1-0) and Kaasa is (0-1).
– PJ Black def. Ethan Page. Page had pinned Black with the spinning Dwayne, but the ref didn’t see Black’s foot underneath the ropes. Page noticed that Black’s foot was there and wanted the match restarted. Page was pinned by a modified crucifix pin from Black who officially wins the match.
– EVOLVE Tag Team Title Tournament 1st Round Match: RPG Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent?) def Team Tremendous (Dan Barry & Bill Carr) to advance after Romero distracted the ref which allowed Trent? To hit Dan Barry with a low blow and follow it up with Strong Zero
– Style Battle 2016 Round Robin Tournament Match: “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams def Fred Yehi after a piledriver. Williams is now (1-0) and Yehi is (0-1). Team Catch Point so far has won all of their matches in the RRT.
– EVOLVE Tag Team Title Tournament 1st Round Match: Drew Galloway & Johnny Gargano vs. Catch Point (Drew Gulak & TJ Perkins) was supposed to happen but Trevin Adams allowed this match to be moved to the main event as Gargano was making it back from a NXT event.
– EVOLVE Tag Team Title Tournament 1st Round Match: Heroes Eventually Die (Chris Hero & Tommy End) def Zack Sabre Jr. & Sami Callihan after a knee strike/rolling elbow combo on Sabre Jr
– EVOLVE Tag Team Title Tournament 1st Round Match: Drew Galloway & Johnny Gargano def Drew Gulak & TJP w/Matt Riddle & Hot Sauce after pinning Catch Point leader Drew Gulak with the Future Shock DDT
Your Saturday night semifinals at Evolve 54 on iPPV: Galloway & Gargano vs. The Bravado Bros. and RPG Vice vs. Heroes Eventually Die.
Ratings are in for this past Sunday’s UFC Fight Night on Fox Sports 1 and they’re excellent.
Sunday’s four fight main card from Boston, headlined by Dominick Cruz defeating TJ Dillashaw for the UFC bantamweight title, averaged 2.288 million viewers for the nearly three hour broadcast — the second highest number ever for UFC on that network, trailing only the January 2015 Boston show headlined by Conor McGregor vs. Dennis Siver.
Even more impressively, the two-hour prelims show (Patrick Cote vs Ben Saunders was the featured fight of four televised bouts) averaged 1.767 million viewers. That’s good for the fourth highest rated UFC show on FS 1, just behind the promotion’s debut show in August 2013 that was headlined by Chael Sonnen vs. Shogun Rua. Coincidentally, that was also in Boston.
With the expirement of running a UFC show following NFL’s NFC playoff games earlier in the day on FOX – and heavily promoting the show during the game – proving to be a ratings success, expect the Sunday January show to become an annual tradition.
Matt Hardy offered to put his career on the line against Ethan Carter III in order to receive one last shot at the TNA World Title.
On this week’s show:
The main event will be TNA Champion EC3 vs. Matt Hardy in a title vs. career Last Man Standing Match. Also Knockouts champion Gail Kim will defend against Awesome Kong, plus “Miracle” Michael Bennett and “The First Lady of Professional Wrestling” Maria Kanellis will make their Impact debut, and more on the Kurt Angle Farewell Tour.
Recap:
Impact kicks off with an awesome video package previewing the main event. Josh Matthews is pushing on commentary that this match would be the last time the two will meet.
– Jeff Hardy makes his way to the ring and grabs the mic. He says “that something just doesn’t feel right” in regards to the main event. He calls brother Matt to the ring. They’re pushing that this could be the last night that we see Matt Hardy. Matt convinces Jeff that he’s going to beat EC3 and there’s nothing to worry about. Jeff starts a “Hardy” chant. EC3’s music hits but out comes Tyrus. Tyrus is upset that Jeff called him stupid last week when he implied that Tyrus couldn’t read. Tyrus challenges Jeff to a match and he accepts.
Jeff Hardy vs. Tyrus
Josh reminds us that Tyrus is the “de facto” number one contender for the TNA World Title. Jeff went to the top rope but lost his balance, fell and injured his knee. Tyrus dominates Jeff for the rest of the match. Tyrus goes for a steal chair and shoved the referee, which led to a DQ. After the match, Jeff hit the Twist of Fate on Tyrus.
– Next week it’s Feast or Fired on Impact. We get a video package explaining the concept of the Feast or Fired Match.
– Backstage, TNA tag champs The Wolves talk about the past two years in TNA. They name several tag teams they have beaten which includes the Bro Mans, The Hardys, and Team 3D. Now they’re looking to face off with Beer Money. Crazzy Steve interrupts them and laughs manically. Suddenly, The Wolves and the cameraman are attacked from behind by a mysterious monster. We see only his boot.
TNA Knockouts Champion Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong
Before the match, Kong grabs the mic. Kong tells Kim that nobody cares that she’s married to the cook even though “he makes the best damn lobster raviolis I’ve ever eaten in my life.” This was in reference to Gail Kim’s husband, celebrity chef Robert Irvine. Kong dominated Gail in the early part of the match. Gail hits a crossbody off the top rope to the outside and takes out the entire Dollhouse. The Beautiful People run down and fight Marti Bell and Rebel to the back. Gail hits Eat Defeat on Kong, and throws Jade off the top rope onto Kong. Gail pins Kong to win the match and retain her title.
– They show Jeff injuring his leg earlier in his match with Tyrus.
– Back from commercial, we get scenes from the Kurt Angle Speaking Tour. Kurt talked about a match he had earlier in the year with Bobby Lashley and hopes to face him again.
– Beer Money head down to the ring and they’re looking for a fight. They call out Eric Young and Bram but instead, Eli Drake and Jesse Godderz come to the ring.
Beer Money vs. Jesse Godderz & Eli Drake
They brawl around ringside to start the match. Drake and Godderz get the advantage early on but Beer Money quickly puts an end to that. Beer Money hits the DWI to win the match.
– Backstage, Jeff is icing his knee when Matt, Reby, and Maxell come in to check on him. They convince Jeff to leave and go to the hospital to get the knee checked. Jeff wants to stay for the main event but Matt assures him he’ll be okay. Jeff leaves the arena.
– Kurt Angle makes his way down to the ring. Kurt wonders who should be the next person he faces in the Kurt Angle Farewell Tour. “The Destroyer” Bobby Lashley’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring. Lashley explains that 14 years ago Kurt Angle discovered him. Lashley then quotes Ric Flair and says, “To Be The Man, You Have to Beat The Man” and that Kurt Angle is the man. Lashley challenges Kurt Angle and Kurt accepts.
-Backstage Lashley is asked about his upcoming match with Kurt Angle, when a mysterious woman in a stunning/sparkling dress with purple hair interrupts. She says, “my pleasure is your pain.” She walks away and Lashley is checking her out hardcore.
“Miracle” Michael Bennett vs. Pepper Parks
-Maria Kanellis comes and introduces The Miracle. Bennett gets the advantage in the match with a sweet looking super kick. This was basically a squash match to showcase the skills and talent of Michael Bennett. “Miracle” Michael Bennett picks up the win.
TNA Champion Ethan Carter III vs. Matt Hardy – Title vs. Career Last Man Standing Match
It’s main event time. Both Matt Hardy and EC3 come out alone. They use a lot of weapons, such as tables, chairs, and ladders. Matt hits a twist of fate from the apron through a table at ringside. Reby Sky is watching the match from ringside. Tyrus makes his way down to the ring. Instead of helping EC3, Tyrus turns on him and attacks EC3. He then goes over and hugs Matt. EC3 is playing the face, while Matt is now playing the heel. EC3 fights off both Hardy and Tyrus. Matt uses the TNA World title to knock out EC3. Matt is the new TNA World Champion. After the match, Matt is now a full blown heel and is insulting the fans. Matt hits EC3 with a one man con-chairto. Matt Hardy, Reby, and Tyrus pose on the entrance way with the world title to end the show. A double turn happens with Matt Hardy now the heel, while EC3 is now a babyface.
Final Thoughts:
A good show this week with a really solid main event, which was followed up by a major angle. The double turn was an interesting choice. Next week’s show is built around the Feast or Fired Match with Booby Roode, James Storm, Rockstar Spud, Eli Drake, Jesse Godderz, Eric Young, Bram, Grado, Chris Melendez, Robbie E, Aiden O’Shea and Drew Galloway.
WWE Hall-of-Famer, longtime broadcaster, and podcast host Jim Ross confirmed Tuesday with Fox Sports that he will be returning to the broadcast booth for the newest NJPW on AXS TV season, starting on Friday, March 4th.
Ross replaces Mauro Ranallo, who recently started with WWE and is now the lead voice of Smackdown. Color commentator, past NJPW competitor, and UFC heavyweight Josh Barnett will remain on the team.
Ross told Fox that he will head to Los Angeles between 8-10 times a year to do his play-by-play for two-day sessions where they will record six shows at a time, beginning with action from Wrestling Dontaku 2015. The duo will also call matches from the 2015 New Japan Cup, Invasion Attack, HINOKUNI, Best of the Super Juniors 22, Dominion 7.5, G1 Climax 25 and more.
This isn’t Ross’ first time calling NJPW action as he and Matt Striker were the American announce team for Wrestle Kingdom 9 in 2015.
The longtime voice of RAW with Jerry Lawler, Ross returned to WWE several times over the years for Smackdown, NXT, and spot shows through his “retirement” from the company in 2014. He tried his hand at boxing for Fox Sports One, as well as MMA with the Battlegrounds tournament PPV alongside Chael Sonnen.
Sunday night brings our first free UFC card of the year and it’s a big one as a men’s title fight will air on FS 1 for the first time in company history as bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw looks to defend against former champion Dominick Cruz. Cruz will fight for just the second time in four years, but this may be the biggest fight in the division’s history.
The action doesn’t stop there as Anthony Pettis will try to begin his road back to the top of the lightweight division with former Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez standing in his way. Also, Travis Browne will attempt to rebound from a stunning KO defeat at the hand of Andrei Arlovski when he faces soon-to-be free agent Matt Mitrione. There are familiar names up and down the card including four longtime UFC vets as Patrick Cote goes up against the resurgent Ben Saunders and Ed Herman takes on Tim Boetsch in a pairing of two struggling middleweights moving up a weight class.
Here’s our panel with the 2015 records in parenthesis. We’ve also added a running tally of the records of the favorites going into the fights and the panel consensus picks:
John Pollock (5-0 | 1.000) – Fight Network analyst, Live Audio Wrestling co-host, MMA Report co-host
Favorites (4-1 | .800)
Consensus picks (4-1 | .800)
Mike Sempervive (4-1 | .800) – Wrestling Observer Live and Big Audio Nightmare co-host
Steve Juon (4-1; .800) – MMA Mania writer & Angry Marks founder
David Bixenspan (4-1 | .800) – Figure Four Weekly writer, podcast host
Mike Sawyer (4-1 | .800) – Tough Talk MMA
Josh Nason (4-1 | .800) – Host of Josh Nason’s Punch Out; writer/editor WrestlingObserver.com , WON Twitter guy
Ryan Frederick (4-1 | .800) – WrestlingObserver.com UFC reporter, WON Twitter guy
Dave Meltzer (3-2 | .600) – Wrestling Observer founder
Paul Fontaine (3-2 | .600) – MMADraws.com founder, WrestlingObserver.com writer
Front Row Brian (3-2 | .600) – MMA newsbreaker, beloved internet personality, podcast host
Dillashaw makes his 3rd title defence here after finishing former champion Renan Barao and upstart/last-minute challenger Joe Soto. Cruz last fought just over a year ago, dismantling veteran Takeya Mizugaki in quick fashion. Cruz never lost his title in the ring as he was stripped due to an extensive injury layoff. Dillashaw is with a new fight team but the heat between Cruz and Team Alpha Male runs deep and this has been a heated rivalry. Our panel is a little more confident than the betting line in this one.
Anthony Pettis (18-3) vs. Eddie Alvarez (26-4) Lightweights
Neither the oddsmakers or our panel are giving Alvarez much of a chance here. Pettis steamrolled through the division before running into Rafael Dos Anjos last year, losing his lightweight title in the process in a one-sided affair. Alvarez is 1-1 in UFC after a long and successful career in Bellator, while Pettis hopes to earn a title shot with a dominant win here. If Alvarez wins, he’d probably need at least one big win before getting a title shot but stranger things have happened.
Travis Browne (17-3-1) vs Matt Mitrione (9-4) Heavyweights
Browne has been dealing with a lot of turmoil outside the cage since losing to the aforementioned Arlovski in one of 2015’s most memorable fights. With domestic abuse allegations that he was cleared from and his highly publicized relationship with Ronda Rousey, Browne could be vulnerable here. Mitrione, though, has been very vocal about the fact he’s not happy in UFC and with his contract expiring after this fight, he could be on his way out. He’s a familiar name with a crowd-pleasing style and would likely get picked up by Bellator should he chose not to re-sign. Whatever happens, this fight should be quick.
Patrick Cote (22-9) vs Ben Saunders (19-6-2) Welterweights
Cote has been around since UFC 50 and is still looking good in the Octagon as evidenced by his third round stoppage win over Josh Burkman last August. He’s fought as high as 205 pounds, but is still in great shape at 170. While not a title contender by any stretch, he’s a very popular fighter and usually has good fights. Saunders is a perfect 3-0 since leaving Bellator MMA. The submission specialist is surprisingly a favorite here but our panel is split on this one.
Cote: Sawyer, Juon, Frederick, Nason, Sempervive
Saunders (slight favorite): Bix, Pollock, Front Row Brian, Fontaine, Meltzer
Ed Herman (21-11) vs Tim Boetsch (18-9) Light Heavyweights
Both guys are moving up from middleweight in an attempt to stop the downward momentum they’ve had in recent years. Both have lost four of their last six, and both are coming off of first round KO losses in their last fight. Herman is in his 10th year in UFC, but this could be his last if he doesn’t turn it around. Boetsch has “only” been in UFC since 2008, but has also seen better days. This really could be a loser leaves town fight. Again, our panel agrees with the oddsmakers.
These are 5 Star Wrestling results from Sheffield, England, submitted by Keith Harris
– Crowd was a mix of hardcore fans and families.
– Joe Coffey pinned Zack Sabre Jr with a discus clothesline in a good opener
– Fun bantering segment with John Morrison and Carlito to set up the main event. Some humorous self deprecating wit with Carlito dead panning “What? I was on TV six years ago.”
– Lou King Sharp & Martin Kirby beat Kid Fite & Timm Wylie in a fairly amusing comedy match. Dated cat fight spot by female seconds before the finishing stretch.
– AJ Styles pinned Rey Mysterio with the Styles Clash after pulling the referee to stop Mysterio diving on him. Fine house show level match, but didn’t live up to the dream.
– Will Ospreay beats Jimmy Havoc & Marty Scurll in a triple threat match. Really well worked. Match of the night.
– ROH Champion Jay Lethal pinned PJ Black with the Lethal Injection in a slow starter, but built to an enjoyable finishing stretch.
– Grado & Colt Cabana pinned Big Damo & Nick “Magnus” Aldis after Grado pinned Damo clean in a comedy tag match. Grado came off as a star coming out to the Madonna “Like A Prayer” theme.
-5 Star Champion John Morrison pinned Carlito after the latter accidentally spat apple in the ref’s eyes and the former used a low blow. So-so main event. Early in the match, Carlito sold for Morrison using a foam finger as a foreign object. They worked pretty hard, but they couldn’t follow Styles vs. Rey.
Packed house at the Turner Hall Ballroom. Crowd was hot for the entire show.
NXT Tag Champions The Mechanics (Dash & Dawson) def. Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady
Show opened with Dash and Dawson vs Enzo and Big Cass for the tag team championships. Enzo said that tonight they would get redemption for what happened in the UK. Lots of Enzo flying around spots. Dash and Dawson ended up getting the win on a roll up after the ref was getting Cassady out of the ring when he didn’t see him tag in.
Carmella def. Alexa Bliss
Carmella got on the mic and said for tonight only she was going to be the princess of Milwaukee. Good chain wrestling from these two. Carmella gets Bliss to tap out with a choke via her leg around Alexa’s neck.
Elias Samson def. Bull Dempsey
Bull comes out with a youth cheesehead on, which gets a great reaction. Then, the lights went out. A spot light shined on the bar to the left of the ring and Samson’s music hit to which he got up from the bar and went to the ring. Pretty neat concept for an entrance, just not sure how this character sets him apart from the rest. The match takes a while to get underway after Samson is not thrilled with Dempsey’s squats. Dempsey also removed the cheesehead, but the crowd urged him to wear it while he wrestled. Samson won with a swinging neck breaker (I believe). This was a total comedy match. After the match, Samson spit on the cheesehead and ripped it into pieces. Dempsey got ahold of Samson’s guitar, took the money from it, and threw the bills into the crowd.
NXT Women’s Champion Bayley def. NIa Jax
Jax was in control for much of the match. Bayley eventually made her comeback and actually hit the Bayley to belly finisher on Jax.
INTERMISSION
Sami Zayn def. Tommaso Ciampa
Crowd was split 50/50 for this as Ciampa calls Milwaukee home. This was easily match of the night. Get, stuff match. Ciampa was chopping and slapping Zayn so hard that blood blisters were seen on Zayn’s chest and neck. Zayn hit his usual dive to the outside. Ciampa hit Zayn with a power bomb back breaker for a 2 count that had everyone fooled as the actual finish. Crowd really got into this match. Zayn won with the helluva kick.
After the match, Zayn and Ciampa shook hands out of respect in the ring. Zayn got in the mic and talked about ECW running shows in Turner Hall 15 years ago and that what NXT is doing today is exactly what ECW was doing 15 years ago. Zayn mentioned that someone told him that Turner Hall was their favorite venue to work at, and after wrestling in it tonight, he agrees….Kevin Owens!
Owens comes out and says that person was him that told him that and that Turner Hall was supposed to be the last venue he worked as an independent wrestler before he went to WWE but do to circumstances beyond his control, he never got to wrestle at Turner Hall. Owens said that Sami is probably getting a little upset at Owens, but said he knew Sami wasn’t going to do anything about it because Owens is too important. Owens said that while he’s been main eventing Raw, Smackdown, live events etc, Zayn has been sitting in his couch nursing his injuries. This lead to Zayn kicking Owens in the face. Owens retreats and Zayn says that he can have his Raw and Smackdown, because NXT belongs to Sami Zayn.
Eva Marie def. Peyton Royce
Yep, they followed up the match of the night and biggest surprise of the night with EVA MARIE. Nothing really to write home about. Royce has some great leg kicks. Eva wins with a spinning neck breaker.
NXT Champion Finn Balor vs Apollo Crews vs Baron Corbin
Corbin stayed out of the ring to start but while Finn and Crews were tied up, Corbin would trip one of the two. Finn and Crews teamed up to take out Corbin and his shenanigans. Finn and Crews had a great series of moves, counters, holds, etc. Corbin eventually got some offense on both Finn and Crews. Couple cool, fast paced spots involving all 3 competitors. At one point, Corbin had Crews in a head lock, which allowed Finn to drop kick Corbin and Corbin’s momentum caused Crews to be DDTed. Finish saw Crews hit the standing moonsault on Corbin, Finn broke up the pinball with a Cope de Grace and was able to pin Corbin. After the match, Crews and Finn posed for the crowd. They shook hands, hugged, and threw up the “2 Sweet” sign.
-Last week on Impact’s debut show on Pop TV, Ethan Carter III won the TNA World Heavyweight Title by defeating Matt Hardy in the finals on the World Title Series.
-Tonight, The Kurt Angle Farwell Tour kicks off as he battles it out with Drew Galloway for the first time ever. Also, the fallout from Awesome Kong turning on The Beautiful People and the reunion of Beer Money Inc. continues. Plus, The “Miracle” Michael Bennet and the First Lady of Wrestling, Maria Kannelis are expected to make an appearance.
The cameras will be following Kurt Angle around all night for Kurt Angle – All access tonight apart of the Kurt Angle Farewell Tour.
*****
– Take it away Smashing Pumpkins! This opening theme is really growing on me.
– EC3 is starring into a mirror backstage with the TNA World Title. The slow tease of a Tyrus turn continues as he gives EC3 a cold look as he walks away.
EC3 powerwalks to the ring with the World title proudly draped across his shoulder. Jeff Hardy comes out. Jeff hands Tyrus a piece of paper and then makes a joke about Tyrus not being able to read. A “You can’t read” chant breaks out. Jeff Hardy gives EC3 a doctor note that clears him to wrestler. He challenges EC3 for a match tonight but gets denied. EC3 asks Bob Ryder in the back to send out a young star to face Jeff. A guy in a mask comes out and EC3 sings his entrance music.
Jeff Hardy vs. “Master of Motion” Shyron
EC3 and Tyrus join Josh on commentary. Hardy sends Shyron to the outside but he balances on the apron. SHyron is mostly going for high spots. Shyron goes for a what looks like a springboard cross body from the apron into the ring but rolls through and hits a hand stand back flip off the ropes into an elbow attempt ala Tajir, however, Shyron misses. Jeff easily beats him with a twist of fate in basically a squash match. EC3 applauds.
– Backstage, JB interviews The Dollhouse and Awesome Kong seems to be a new member and the new leader. Beautiful People show up and call them the “Doghouse.” This leads to a brawl.
The Dollhouse vs. The Beautiful – Street Fight
Josh explains that this is a tag match between four of the girls but because it’s a street fight anybody can get involved. They brawl around ringside including Velvet hitting a sick looking suplex on Jade on the outside. Jade throws in series of weapons, such as, kendo sticks, trash cans and chairs. The crowd is flat for this match despite all the weapons. Jade uses a small packaged cradle piledriver on Madison for the win.
Beer Money Beer Bash
Beer Money comes out for their reunion celebration but Eric Young interrupts. EY says he and Bram aren’t’ friends. Strom tells EY to get on his knees and suck on his beer bottle.
King of the Mountain Champion Bobby Roode vs. Eric Young
EY and Roode have a probably worked with each other so much it would be hard for them not to have a good match. Roode had the match won after a Roode bomb but Bram pulled the referee out of the ring. Storm and Roode double-team Bram. Beer Money went to do their Beer Money Signature when EY throws Strom out of the ring and low blows Roode. EY hits the piledriver for the win and is the new King of the Mountain.
– Mr. Anderson promotes his brand new interview segment, “Huh?”. His first guest tonight is Matt Hardy.-After the break, JB interviews Dixie Carter about their upcoming U.K Tour. There was a U.K. fan poll to bring in an U.K. talent for their upcoming tour. Dixie has decided to bring in all of the three finalists for the tour. The U.K. wrestlers are Big Damo, Jimmy Havoc and Will Ospreay.
– Backstage, “Miracle” Michael Bennet and Maria meet with TNA World Champ EC3. They’re teasing a feud between the two, which is a very promising feud if TNA pulls the trigger on it.
Mr. Anderson Interview Segment – Huh??!! – Guest: Matt Hardy. Reby Sky and Maxell
Mr. Anderson host his very first of Huh??!! They start playing weird elevator music that does not fit with his character. The set consists of a black sofa, chair and table that looks like it was from Ikea. Matt’s wife and son are out there with him. Matt said he was going to make EC3 and an offer he couldn’t refuse.
X Division Champion Tigre Uno & TNA Tag Team Champions The Wolves vs. DJ Z, Jesse Godderz and Eli Drake
DJ Z is in trouble early in the match but every time he goes for a tag his partners weren’t there. DJ Z gets the advantage briefly and Jesse tags himself in. Tigre and The Wolves quickly regain the advantage. Jesse accidently knocked down DJ Z. Jesse locks on the Adonis crab but DJ Z turns on Jesse and hits him with a superkick. Tigre and The Wolves pick up the win.
– EC3 calls out Matt Hardy to hear his offer. Matt’s offer is that he will leave TNA if he can’t beat EC3 in one more match. Next week they’ll face off in a Last Man Standing Match for the title.
Drew Galloway vs. Kurt Angle
This was the first match in the Kurt Angle farewell tour. This was a great match. Kurt Angle put on his typical show stealing performance and Drew Galloway is able to hang with him. Kurt locked on the ankle lock several times. Kurt hit a belly-to-belly suplex on the outside into the guardrail in a sick look spot. Drew had several near falls at the end. Kurt hits an Angle slam off the top rope for the win.
Final Thoughts
It was a good show this week with the clear highlight being the main event. Kurt Angle’s farewell tour is very intriguing and the possibility of great matches is exciting. On next week’s show, we get Matt Hardy vs. EC3 in a career vs. title Last Man Standing match.
