ROH announced Wednesday that they will be returning to New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom for its biggest show of the year as it will become the company’s regular New York City location.
The 15th Final Battle in ROH history will be held there on Friday, December 2nd. They had been running the venue up until 2014, but moved out due to a significant increase in the cost.
ROH had hinted moving away from frequent ROH show location Terminal 5 as it was recognized was too small for them for big events. It was rumored at the time that the company would either be moving to the Manhattan Center or the Hammerstein, both part of the same complex that is around the corner from Madison Square Garden. They’ve run the Hammerstein before, packing the venue frequently.
The company held Final Battle at the Hammerstein for six straight years (2008-2013) before bringing the event to Terminal 5 in 2014. They ran the former ECW Arena in Philadelphia, PA, for the show last year, headlined by ROH Champion Jay Lethal vs. AJ Styles.
According to Pop TV, they will be replaying the Tuesday, June 14th episode of TNA Impact Wrestling at 9 PM EST Wednesday night due to the technical issues with airing the first-run show last night.
The show did air, but nearly two hours late in the U.S. It’s unclear what caused the problems but there were thunderstorms in Atlanta, GA, where the Pop TV transmitters are located. Of note, the show aired with no problems in Canada so it was not a problem with the show not being taped or not finished on time.
Here are results from the show which included the newest inductee announced for the TNA Hall of Fame. It was the first show after Sunday’s Slammiversary PPV where Bobby Lashley became the company’s new world champion.
Although billed as a live show, TNA actually tapes about two hours ahead of time when they bill the show as live. The company did tape a second show Tuesday, and are taping two more shows Wednesday before another expected round of tapings in July.
– The show opened with Chris Jericho doing the Highlight Reel with Dean Ambrose as his guest. Before long, Cesaro, Sami Zayn, Alberto Del Rio, and Kevin Owens were all out. This set up a six-man tag team match as the main event.
– Kofi Kingston won a four-way over Big Cass, Luke Gallows and Aiden English when Kingston pinned English.
– Baron Corbin pinned Zack Ryder. After the match, Dolph Ziggler, who was on commentary, had a staredown with Corbin to set up their match on Sunday.
– US Champion Rusev beat Kalisto. After the match, Rusev kept beating on Kalisto. Sin Cara ran in and Rusev put him in the Accolade. Titus O’Neil then made the save.
There was an interview segment where The Club and New Day went at it. This set up A.J. Styles vs. Xavier Woods next.
– AJ Styles beat Xavier Woods with the calf crusher.
– WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte beat Natalya. Dana Brooke and Becky Lynch were fighting outside the ring and Natalya was distracted and lost to the figure eight.
– Dean Ambrose & Cesaro & Sami Zayn beat Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho & Alberto Del Rio. Ambrose pinned Owens after Dirty Deeds. Owens had turned on Jericho and Del Rio before the finish.
This past Sunday was one of TNA’s flagship PPV’s (Slammiversary) where Bobby Lashley defeating Drew Galloway to become the new TNA World Heavyweight champion. In other news, Billy Corgan is now a minority owner of TNA due to the company’s continuing financial issues.
Tonight on Impact:
Tonight’s show will feature the fallout and aftermath of Slammiversary. It shall be dubbed “Gold Rush” which means all the titles will be defended. Also, the newest inductee into the 2016 TNA Hall of Fame will be announced.
Show Recap:
– Josh Matthews and The Pope welcome us to Impact and tell us that we’re live in the Impact Zone.
– New TNA World Champion Bobby Lashley makes his way to the ring. Lashley mentions this is live TV and anything can happen. He said he’s better than everyone in the wrestling business. This brought out Ethan Carter III. On commentary, they mention that EC3 beat The Miracle on Sunday.
EC3 and Lashley went face to face and EC3 challenged him for a world title match. Lashley kept calling EC3’s entrance music “cute”. Of course, Lashley refused EC3’s title match. The former champion Galloway interrupts them, limping and moving very slowly. He’s in pain but wants his title back. Galloway is invoking his rematch clause and taking his rematch tonight. It’s official tonight’s main event is Lashley defending against Galloway in a rematch from Sunday.
– Josh and The Pope are at ringside and run down the card for tonight. We get shots of all the champions in the back.
– Yesterday, King of The Mountain Champion Eli Drake and Jeff Hardy argue backstage. They do agree on one thing and that’s a match.
– Jeff makes his way down to the ring to go one on one with Eli.
TNA King of the Mountain Champion Eli Drake vs. Jeff Hardy
The crowd is solidly behind Jeff. The announcers discuss Jeff defeating Matt at Slammiversary and not being 100 percent. Eli gets control of the match after taking out Jeff with a vicious clothesline on the outside. Not sure what happen but it seems like Eli botched a spot but was able to recover and caught Jeff with a nice slam. Jeff hit the Twist of Fate and hit the Swanton Bomb. Jeff had the match won when Broken Matt Hardy ran in and stopped the count by biting Earl Hebner’s hand. Apparently, Matt even had blood in his mouth presumably from biting Hebner’s hand.
– Back from commercial in the back, EC3 praises Galloway for being a fighting champion but questions if it’s too soon to invoke his rematch clause. EC3 tries to convince him to postpone the title shot but Galloway refuses.
– Back in the ring, Jeff takes the mic and addresses the situation with Matt. Jeff points out that Matt is still deranged and out of his mind. Jeff calls out Matt to end it tonight. Matt is standing in the rafters where Jeff leaped off of with the Swanton that created Broken Matt. Matt is still talking with the slow and broken tone. Matt says Jeff tried to hurt his son Maxell by hurting Matt. Jeff says that Maxell is the youngest TNA star ever. Matt and Jeff fight high up in the rafters. Reby shows up with a fire extinguisher to give Matt the advantage. Josh says they’re 40 or 50 feet up.
In a pretty creative spot, Matt slid Jeff down the rail of the steps and Jeff crashed into a table at the bottom.
– Back from commercial, Matt cut another promo in the back. Matt challenged Jeff to a Six Sides of Steel Cage Match next week. He was both great and creepy here. He put Rosemary to shame in terms of being creepy.
TNA X Division Champion Eddie Edwards vs. Trevor Lee w/ Gregory Shane Helms
Helms distracts Eddie which gives Lee the chance to jump him to start the match. Josh explains that Helms complained to TNA management about being banned from ringside at Slammiversary and that’s why he’s back. Eddie makes his comeback and runs wild on Lee. Helms grabbed Eddie’s leg but Eddie kicked him off. Eddie hits a dive onto Helms on the outside. Eddie hits the Boston Knee Party to win the match and retain the title.
– Next, we get a recap of Sting, Kurt Angle, Team 3D, Jeff Jarrett and Earl Hebner being inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame. Up next, we find out this year’s inductee.
– Still in the back, EC3 and Lashley had another face-to-face confrontation.
– In the arena, all the wrestlers are lined up for the Hall of Fame announcement. TNA President Dixie Carter comes out to announce the newest inductee. She thanked everyone and reflected on the previous inductees. Dixie announced the newest inductee as TNA Knockout Gail Kim.
Gail seemed genuinely surprised and began to cry. She clearly had no idea it was going to be her. Even Lashley could be seen smiling approvingly in the background. They aired a video recapping her TNA career and title wins. The crowd broke into a huge “Thank You Gail” chant. All the wrestlers applauded her. Dixie credits Gail with making the Knockout Division the best. They’re going to celebrate and officially induct Gail into the TNA Hall of Fame at TNA’s Flagship event Bound For Glory. Gail takes the mic and thanks the fans and all the women she’s worked with.
– In the back, Decay discussed their match for later. Rosemary regained her creepy title.
– Earlier today, JBorash interviews Marti Bell. We get a recap of Marti Bell attacking Jade and costing her the title at Slammiversary. Marti talked about The Dollhouse being her and Jade regardless of who the leader were but then Jade won the title and changed. Jade showed up and attacked Marti and left her on the ground.
TNA Tag Team Champions The Decay (Abyss & Crazy Steve) w/ Rosemary vs. The Tribunal (Bassille Baracca & Baron Dax) w/ Al Snow vs. BroMans (Robbie E. & Jesse Godderz) w/ Raquel vs. Grado and Mahabali Shera
Grado & Mahabali Shera and The BroMans are in the ring with The Tribunal at ringside as Decay makes their way to the ring. This was a fast paced match with lots of action. Each team got a turn in the ring and there were loads of blind tags. Jesse came in and run wild on the heels. Abyss took out Jesse with a choke slam. Grado climbed to the top but Snow pushed him off. Abyss choke slammed Steve on Grado. Decay picks up the win and retains the title.
-Backstage, Maria is upset that TNA is inducting Gail into the Hall of Fame. She yelled out Allie and sent her away. The Miracle said he had the bags packed and they should leave. Maria said no and that they should go to the ring.
– In the back, Jeff agrees to the Six Sided of Steel Cage match next week.
-In the arena, The Miracle and Maria make their way to the ring and they’re not happy. The Miracle is upset with the way the fans and TNA treat him despite him being so great and the hero TNA needs. They claimed that TNA management doesn’t want to see them succeed. Miracle demands Dixie come out and strike his loss on Sunday from the record books. Instead of Dixie, they get Billy Corgan who comes out wearing a snappy suit and shades. Miracle and Maria are happy to see Billy and Billy says they’re the future.
Maria calls out Dixie again and she comes out. Dixie cuts off Maria and tells her to shut up. Dixie says they’re wasting precise live TV time when instead they should have wrestling, which gets a big pop from the crowd. Maria claims that Dixie is the problem and that Maria could run TNA better the Dixie. Maria says herself, The Miracle and Billy work well together and have great ideas.
Dixie removed Maria as leader of the Knockouts. Maria got really intense and started shoving Dixie until Dixie finally snapped and slapped Maria across the face. Maria sold this huge and Dixie left immediately.
Seems like they’re setting up an angle, which will result in Maria running TNA. Maybe it’s just me, but Billy seemed to be siding with the heels.
TNA World Heavyweight Champion “The Destroyer” Bobby Lashley vs. Drew Galloway
EC3 is joining Josh and The Pope on commentary. Galloway is doing a great job selling his injuries, which is a nice touch because we don’t see that often nowadays. Lashley targets Drew’s tapped up ribs. The Pope points out that unlike Sunday this match can end by pin fall.
Back from commercial, Drew and Lashley are brawling around ringside. Lashley gave Drew a backbreaker on the apron. EC3 mentions that he thinks Drew should have postponed that match. Lashley sends Drew to the outside in front of EC3 and taunts EC3, but this gives Drew the advantage briefly. Lashley went for the spear but Drew caught him in a submission however Lashley made it to the ropes. Drew hit a beautiful looking pile driver for a near fall. Drew hit the Celtic Cross of the second rope but only got a near fall.
Drew went for the Claymore but Lashley moved and he hit official Brian Hebner. Lashley hit two spears on Drew as the crowd chanted for “EC3”. Lashley brought in a steel chair but EC3 came in and took it away from him. EC3 and Lashley brawled and EC3 got a hold of the chair. EC3 accidently hit Drew with the chair after Lashley moved. Lashley took out EC3 with a spear and used a submission to win in a really good match.
Next Time on Impact:
Next week, Jeff Hardy goes one on one with Broken Matt Hardy in a Six Sides of Steel Cage match.
Local crowd promo before match. Great reaction to Tye. Mid promo, it turned into cheap heel ‘your sports team sucks’ promo, but crowd still loved him. Knox wins with split legged moonsault. Knox looked very green, but is massive with a great look and moves incredibly well.
– Wesley Blake v Andrade Cien Almas
Blake’s ring gear is a weird combination of Bayley and Ultimate Warrior. Crowd more into mocking Blake than the actual match, though liked Andrade’s flashy offence. Andrade wins with double knees in the corner.
– Goldberg video game ad plays on the screen. Fans notice that Drake Younger is the referee.
– Sawyer Fulton & Alexander Wolfe v American Alpha
Mad Max style gimmick for the former. Couldn’t believe it was actually Fulton. Alpha are massively over, with the ‘no limit’ & ‘angle theme’ chants before the bell. Chad Gable may be the best pro wrestler I have ever seen. Just so quick, so smooth in his movements. Seemed even quicker on this house show than he did on television. USA Chant for Alpha in Dublin. That’s how over they were. Alpha win with Grand Amplitude.
The Revival run in afterwards, cut a promo, tease a title match then go to leave. Dash Wilder tries to ambush Alpha, is caught, get him in double ankle lock (each man had an ankle). Heels run to the back.
– No Way Jose v Austin Aries
Aries; ribs still taped. Crowd split on who to like. Aries was as good as he has been in the last few years, seems to have settled into NXT finally. Brief dance off spot to Jose’s music, Aries interrupts & ambushes Jose but gets massive cheers and ‘Thank you Aries’ chants. Any attempts to turn the crowd fail. Aries in control most of the match. Jose does his closing sequence (baseball swings, bulldog etc) for a near fall. No Way Jose wins with schoolboy roll up after Aries missed his discus elbow finish.
– Ad for Mania 33 on the big screen. Described Orlando as a “magical place where anything can happen”. Seemed weird they would play that promo so close to the shooting.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka v Peyton Royce
Asuka’s gonna kill you chant. Back and forth match. Asuka does her hip attack then pose sequence early. Peyton still a little rough but has improved immensely. Asuka is much better against someone her own size. Asuka wins with crossface chicken wing.
– Bobby Roode v Shinsuke Nakamura
Roode had generic theme & Titantron still. Great reaction for Roode, and there’s no other way to put this, lose their sh*t for Nakamura. ‘Holy sh*t’ and ‘this is awesome’ chants for the entrance alone. F*ck TNA chants. Crowd behind Roode as well, but Nakamura clearly the favourite. Beer Money chants throughout the match. Near fall with the spinebuster from Roode. Dublin crowd are normally appreciative but dead, but not here. Red hot throughout. Nakamura wins with the Kinshasa.
– Alexa Bliss & Nia Jax v Bayley & Carmella
I never have seen grown men fight so fiercely over pink wristbands in my life. Great chicken fight spot to start off. Great heel facials from Alexa. Same headlock & guillotine spots on Nia as in all of her matches. Bayley wins with Bayley-to-Bayley on Jax.
– NXT Champion Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor
Crowd red hot with chants for Finn. Joe hated with a passion. Back and forth match, everything looked great. Muscle Buster blocked, 1916/Bloody Sunday blocked. Joe gets Balor in his choke finish, Finn powers out. Balor closing sequence (sling blade, dropkick etc). Misses the double footstomp, and as he rolls through Joe grabs him & rolls him up for the win. Finn thanked the crowd for all their support.
Notes:
– Nakamura sold out almost immediately. Balor merch sold second to him, though they obviously had a lot of stock.
– Nakamura had the biggest reaction of the night. Some people around me were in tears during his entrance. Balor had a massive reaction as well, and it was more sustained than Shinsukes, but Nakamura had the better reaction out of the gate.
It finally happened. Thanks, in part, to going head-to-head with Game 5 of the NBA Finals, the June 13th edition of WWE Raw fell below the 3 million viewer mark for the first time outside of football season.
The show did 2.96 million viewers — the second lowest for a non-holiday episode of the show since 1997, as there was a show in November that did 2.95 million viewers. The prior seasonal record low was 3.12 million viewers, and while the rating isn’t out as of this writing, it should equate to a 2.1 or 2.2 rating.
The Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers game on ABC did 20.53 million viewers.
Raw was fourth for the night on cable, trailing Rizzoli & Isles on TNT, Major Crimes on TNT, and The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News.
The show opened weak, even though it started before the NBA game, and had a fairly significant third hour drop.
Knox is a former soccer player from England who looked decent but needs work. Tremendous body. Crowd chanted for Bailey during the match – didn’t care much about the in-ring action here.
– No Way Jose b Wesley Blake
Jose is super over. He got the crowd to do a Mexican wave after he won, and danced with the referee.
– Bayley & Carmella b Nikki Storm & Peyton Royce
Sloppy match. Bit disappointing from the NXT women. Lots of botched spots. Bayley was the best in-ring trying to cope with three girls who need a lot of work.
– Bobby Roode b Angelo Dawkins
Bobby played the heel, lots of stalling & running away from Angelo. Crowd did the stupid spot where they chant a different number than the referee. Longest match on the show so far. Roode won with a spinebuster — a finish that came out of nowhere.
– NXT Tag Champions The Revival b American Alpha to retain
The Revival worked over Gable for a long time. When Jordan finally tagged in, it was easily the biggest reaction for a hot tag I’ve seen live. All four of these guys have so much talent. Dawson got the pin after knocking Gable into an exposed turnbuckle.
Intermission
– Andrade Almas b Tye Dillinger
Great, fast paced match. Great showing for the former La Sombra.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka b Nia Jax & Alexa Bliss to retain
This felt like this had the potential to be great but it was sloppy at times. Seems like they weren’t on the same page. Asuka made Alexa tap with the Asuka lock.
– Shinsuke Nakamura & Finn Balor b NXT Champion Samoa Joe & Austin Aries
This was quite the spectacle to see so much talent in the ring at once, especially at a house show in Ireland. Match of the night. Balor got worked over for a while until the hot tag to Shinsuke. Place went nuts. Shinsuke pinned Aries with the Kinshasa. After the match, Finn and Nakamura did each other’s poses.
Overall, this was an excellent show with great wrestling and a good environment. Arena was taped off – around half the attendance of a WWE show.
– Cheeseburger defeated Some Canadian Guy With A Fanny Pack. Cheeseburger was super over. The guy’s fanny pack was more over than the guy himself.
Main Show:
– Steve Corino promo on Whitmer, who was on commentary.
– ROH Tag Team Champions The Addiction defeated Kamaitachi and Juice Robinson via Best Meltzer Ever. Juice was super over.
– Dalton Castle defeated Will Ferrera via Deadlift German Suplex.
– Motor City Machine Guns defeated Lio Rush and Moose. This was a fun match. Rush is very impressive. MCMG put Lio over after the match by giving him the ring for the crowd to cheer him.
– Donovan Dijak defeat Trent Baretta. Prince Nana accompanied Dijak to the ring. Dijak is a decent heel.
– Four Corner Survival: Kyle O’Reilly defeated Roderick Strong, Michael Elgin and ACH via submission. This match ruled. Every sequence was jaw dropping. Elgin and Kyle had a great sequence of Germans and kicks. Roddy was great, per usual, as was ACH.
– BJ Whitmer promo. Two random dudes brought out a hog-tied Corino.
– War Machine destroyed two local talents.
– ROH TV Champion Bobby Fish defeated Rocky Romero via leg submission. Great match. Fish is awesome. Dalton Castle was on commentary for this match and they had a stare down after the match.
– Beer City Bruiser and Silas Young defeated The Briscoes and ANX in Tag Wars finals. BCB and Silas hit their finishers on ANX. Crowd celebrated like Milwaukee won the World Series.
– Colt Cabana and ROH Champion Jay Lethal defeated The Young Bucks via Double Lethal Injection. Crowd was super hot for this match. Bucks looked good after returning from injury. They hit an Indie Taker, but no Meltzer Driver. No disrespect to the Bucks, but they looked gassed and/or didn’t want to risk another injury. After the match, Colt had Lethal’s title and hinted he wanted a rematch. Lethal grabbed his belt and left.
Sold out show tonight. Stacked card, hot crowd, and hot building.
Marty Scurll def. Noam Dar via submission (chicken wing) at 17:22
They started with some good ol’ World of Sport style catch as catch can wrestling. Dar got the upper hand early. Scurl played the ‘villain’ really well while Dar was the babyface. Yet, the crowd is 50/50 for both guys. This was a very good match. I’m a big fan of the ‘villain’ gimmick. Scurll has lots of nice little spots that work the gimmick perfectly. Example: setting up the superkick, then just as he calls for it, he faints and stiff kicks his opponent’s shin. Great stuff.
Pete Dunne def. Martin Stone after hitting a pump handle fallaway slam at 12:28
Dunne is the British Cruiserweight Champion but the belt is not on the line this evening. This was very much a tough guy, punch/kick match. A good match. After, Stone cut a promo to say thank you to the fans for supporting him. Despite him not living in the UK, he will always be a British wrestler. He puts over Dunne as well.
– Big Damo submitted Big Daddy Walter at 13:30
This a battle of the big guys with both wrestlers trying to…well, I guess out ‘big’ the other guy. This match was ok for a big guy brawl.
– Shibata vs. Zack Sabre Jr announced for the Rev Pro Summer Sizzler in July.
– Will Ospreay def. “Speedball” Mike Bailey after hitting the Springboard stunner at 17:25
Incredible reaction for Ospreay with chants of “You deserve it”. He’s truly given a ‘heros return’ ovation. They worked a karate vs wrestling/lucha story for the match. “They are artists” chants along with “F*ck you Vader” chants. Ospreay hits a Vader bomb at one point. Looks like that’s a new part of his arsenal.
Ospreay gets on the mic and thanks the UK fans and Rev Pro for being his home. He puts over Rev Pro booker Andy Quildan for always believing in him. Osprey states even though he’s only been wrestling for 4 years, this style will take a toll on his body and he most likely won’t work as many dates next year. However, he’ll always find time to come back home to Rev Pro. Nice touch.
Josh Bodom def. Chris Hero at 17:33
Bodom wins after the ref takes a bump from a hero stumble. Bodom hits a low blow while the ref is down and then a spinning back fist for the win.
Redman & Garrett def. British Tag Team Champions The Revolutionists at 8:46 to win the titles
This match started out pretty good with a nice top rope dive from Garret onto James Castle by the entrance, but the match went a bit crazy when all 4 guys were having a free for all in the ring including double pins. Not sure if the match was a NO DQ or tornado rules but it ended in a bit of a mess with Redman & Garrett picking up the victory and becoming NEW Undisputed British Tag Champions
Kurt Angle def. Zack Sabre Jr via submission at 9:03
Big reaction for Sabre, huge reaction for Kurt. They played Kurt’s WWE theme and the fans chanted, “You suck”. They begin by trading holds and reversals with Zabre getting the better of Angle and subsequently Angle taking charge. Dueling chants throughout the match. The match started at a slow pace with the expectation that they were building to something special. However, they quickly went to near falls/submissions. After a trio of rolling German suplexes, Angle clamped on the ankle lock and it was over.
Mutual respect at the end. Angle cuts a promo to say he was amazed at the level of talent at Rev Pro this evening and thanked the fans. He put over Sabre as one of the best guys on the indie scene. He than apologised for not being able to go at 100% , but he has a knee injury. He said he would be back and we will see him again, “Oh it’s true”, etc.
This show is available on RevPro’s OnDemand service on Tuesday for those wanting to check it out.
For the first time since October 2015, TNA Wrestling returns to world of pay-per-view with Slammiversary, the 12th such event in company history and the sixth held in Orlando, FL. The show is available on most major cable providers, as well as FITE.tv.
We’re looking for your thoughts on the show, so you can send a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.
For the second straight year, Drew Galloway finds himself in the main event as last year, he was involved in the King of the Mountain title five way. This year, he defends his title against a game challenger in Bobby Lashley who is looking to regain the title. Also on the show, the Hardy brothers do battle in a Full Metal Mayhem match and all of the organization’s titles are on the line.
X-DIVISION CHAMPION TREVOR LEE VS. EDDIE EDWARDS VS. DJ ZEMA ION VS. ANDREW EVERETT
This match was one big move after another — too much for the crowd at some times and getting them back in it for others. The finish saw Edwards win the title pinning Lee with an inside cradle as Lee went for his fisherman buster. Good opener. Gregory Helms was kicked out from ringside at the beginning after coming out with both Lee and Everett. Everett did a springboard twisting dive, took a backdrop onto the ring steps, and also did a super Frankensteiner off the top rope.
– EC 3 interview. He put over that Bennett was the first guy to pin him but that was a catalyst for becoming the best wrestler. Carter tried to get the fans to sing his song and only a few did.
– They showed a clip of Dixie Carter announcing Sting for the TNA Hall of Fame in 2012. They announced that the 2016 inductee would be on TV Tuesday night.
BARON DAX & BASILLE BARACKA (w/AL SNOW) VS. MAHABALI SHERA & GRADO
The match was really bad. The finish saw Dax have Shera over his knee like a backbreaker, and Baracka coming off the middle rope with a Bret Hart forearm. Snow uses a whistle as his gimmick which didn’t work 26 years ago with John Tolos and is only slightly better now. Snow’s gimmick is he wants wrestling to be great again. This match wasn’t a good example of that. Dax & Baracka are the former Marcus Louis & Sylvester Lefort from NXT with Lefort now sporting a shaved head.
– Gail Kim and Maria Kanellis are going back-and-forth in the back as they were supposed to wrestle but Kanellis has a broken hand. Kim said Kanellis is a liar, and said she’s wrestling with a bad knee. Billy Corgan is out as William Corgan. He said he’s got the X-rays and the hand was broken. Corgan, at first, seemed to be playing heel as he was wearing sunglasses. He showed the X-ray and said that the minute Maria is cleared, Gail will get the match. Maria said her hand may never heal and she may never be able. Corgan announced a triple-threat match with Sienna vs. Jade vs. Gail Kim for the Knockouts title and it’s starting…right now.
JADE VS. GAIL KIM VS. SIENNA FOR THE KNOCKOUTS TITLE
Another bad match. Gail had Sienna pinned with Eat Defeat but Allie pulled Kim’s leg. Kim attacked Allie and then went after Maria. Allie threw the belt in to Sienna but Marti Bell jumped in. Bell then turned on Jade and hit her with a cane, leading to Sienna pinning her. They did more than the prior match but the crowd wasn’t much into it and they tried cool moves but most of the stuff didn’t look crisp.
Jeremy Borash interviewed Bobby Lashley. He made Borash announce him as the new world champion.
JAMES STORM VS. BRAXTON SUTTER
Storm did an interview saying he’s been at every Slammiversary. He said 14 years ago a man gave punk kids like he, Abyss and A.J. Styles a chance. Storm said that people said he’d never make it. Fans were chanting Orlando. He said there’s a lot of guys who need an opportunity because 14 years ago, nobody knew James Storm.
This was a short and perfectly professional match that the crowd didn’t care about because they don’t know Sutter (the former Pepper Parks). Sutter survived both a backstabber and codebreaker, but was pinned after a superkick which was the one move that didn’t look good. Storm then drank beer with Sutter after the match. It felt like Storm was going to take him under his wing and then, one will turn on the other.
– Eli Drake interview with Borash. Drake is a really good promo. He called Bram a cross-eyed halfwit, and that Eli Drake is perpetual bad assery.
– They showed a clip of Dixie Carter inducting Kurt Angle into the Hall of Fame. With the exception of Earl Hebner, everyone in their Hall of Fame is gone from the company.
KING OF THE MOUNTAIN CHAMPION ELI DRAKE VS. BRAM
Not much to this at all. They did a few countout teases. The big spot was Drake giving Bram a backdrop on the floor after Bram had taken the mats off previously. Bram used a DDT, which they call the Brighter Side Of Suffering, but Drake rolled out of the ring. Drake got back in, hit a clothesline and got the pin.
– Mike Bennett interview. He said he was the best wrestler on the planet and has the hottest wife in TNA. At least the second one, you can make a good argument for.
ETHAN CARTER III VS. MIKE BENNETT
Carter won with a TKO on a chair and the One Percenter. The crowd was into it at the end, but this was a tough crowd for obvious reasons and also because most are people who don’t watch the TV and don’t know the stories. They both worked hard. Bennett kicked out of the first One Percenter. The second time, Maria threw in a chair, which distracted ref Brian Hebner so he didn’t start the count for several seconds. Bennett used his Miracle In Progress (Michinoku driver on a chair), but the ref was distracted and slow in counting. Carter kicked out of a piledriver. Not a great match, but easily the best since the opener.
– Matt Hardy did his preacher interview.
MATT HARDY VS. JEFF HARDY IN A FULL METAL MAYHEM MATCH
They did a ton of weapons. Both worked real hard. The match story is that the new Matt kept kicking out of everything including a Twist of Fate and senton as well as a Twist of Fate through a table. The finish saw Jeff come off the top rope, jumping over the post, and put Matt through a table, pinning him on the floor as it was falls count anywhere rules. Lots of ladder spots. Jeff opened a ladder that stretched from one side of the rope to the other, and Jeff put Matt through the ladder off the top. Matt powerbombed Jeff through a keyboard set up bridging the apron to the guard rail. The problem was there was little reaction to some of the insane kickouts.
– Decay interview.
TNA TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS DECAY (ABYSS & CRAZZY STEVE) VS. BROMANS (ROBBIE E & JESSIE GODDERZ)
Rosemary is in the Decay corner and Raquel in the BroMans corner. Abyss & Steve retained as Abyss gave Jessie a Black Hole Slam and then powerbombed Steve on top of him. All action, good match. Robbie & Jessie are very underrated as a team, particularly with Jessie’s athletic ability. He had Steve in the Boston crab/Adonis crab twice and Steve tapped, but the ref had mist blown in his eyes the first time and missed the tap. The second time, Abyss saved him. The women also got involved for a spot.
– Drew Galloway said he’s worked 16 years to be the world champion in the main event on PPV. He said he’s been defending this title in multiple companies, and said he tapped out Kurt Angle so he sure as hell can beat Bobby Lashley.
TNA WORLD CHAMPION DREW GALLOWAY VS. BOBBY LASHLEY — KNOCKOUT OR SUBMISSION ENDS IT
Real good match. Lashley won the title clean in the middle when Galloway passed out from a head and arm choke. They kept the shenanigans out of this one. Galloway was bleeding afer missing a running flip dive and crashing through a table. Galloway came back and used a tombstone piledriver, but he missed the running kick and Lashley hit a big punch that led to him putting on the choke. Galloway used moves like an Emerald Fusion and a sharpshooter — both on the ring steps.
We’ll talk more about this show tonight on Wrestling Observer Radio.
