TNA announced today that tag team champions Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards have signed new deals with the promotion.
Each man’s contract was set to expire on 4/30.
Edwards & Richards were two of the wrestlers referred to in recent Observer stories with names not listed of TNA talent that WWE was pursuing, but that TNA was offering more than WWE.
Their new deals will allow them to continue to work independent shows, however because they are getting guaranteed contracts, promotions will have to go through TNA to book them as opposed to directly going through them as in the past.
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 week, Gail Kim and Awesome Kong main evented the show and Gail advanced in the tournament. DJZ beat the X Division Champion Tigre Uno, while current NXT wrestler James Storm advanced by beating Abyss with his cowbell and hitting two superkicks. Aiden O’Shea beat Crazzy Steve, and Drew Galloway beat Grado. The show begins with a recap of last week’s events. Eddie Edwards faces Davey Richards tonight, while the main event will feature Robert Roode vs. Eric Young, and we’ll get a Jeff Hardy interview. Josh says that tonight is the most pivotal of nights and talks about it being a must-win situation for both Davey and Eddie.
Madison Rayne faces Brooke tonight as well. We see a brief clip of the Hardy interview talking about how he can’t believe he broke his leg after winning the tag titles. Madison Rayne comes out to face Brooke. Madison says that the knockouts started the women’s wrestling revolution and how what Ronda Rousey has done for UFC, they’ve done for wrestling. Madison says if she doesn’t win, it’s over for her with this series. She likes having the odds against her while Brooke just quickly comes down.
Madison Rayne vs. Brooke
They start off with a back and forth collar-and-elbow tieup and a “Brooke’s gotta booty” chant starts. Brooke slips out of a headlock and grabs her wrist in an odd spot. Ah – it’s her fingers – she broke some in her last match. Brooke goes down due to the fingers again. Madison chops away and knocks her down with a dreadful forearm. Brooke gets a flapjack and a chant from the fans. Brooke goes up top and gets 2 off the flying elbow. Brooke drops her because she can’t lift her for the facebuster, so Madison hits the Rayne Drop for the win. Madison picks her up and holds her hand high. Eric Young rants and raves about being cheated in the World Title Series and how he makes his own luck. After a break, we see a recap of the last year of the Roode vs. EY feud. Pope and Josh ramble on for a bit while Spud comes down to face Bram in the World Title Series.
Rockstar Spud vs. Bram
Pope picks Bram to win, while Josh mocks him for calling that a fearless prediction. Spud slaps Bram and lands some forearms. Spud would be so great in WWE as Spudley Dudley. Spud bites the thumb to gain a further advantage. Bram sends him down and misses a pair of elbows. Bram slams him down and sends him to the floor onto the steps hard. Bram fish-hooks him and sends him into the ring. Bram misses a Stinger splash and Spud runs wild with corner forearms. Drop toehold leads to a shining enzuiguri. Bram avoids the Underdog and wants the Impaler DDT, but Spud schoolboys him for 2. Bram hits the Impaler for the win, and we see a graphic showing that he’s up 3 points.
Bobby says he could care less what EY says to him, and still blames him for losing the TNA Title earlier this year. He says he’s KOTM Champion and by winning this series, he’ll close out the year with two titles. So I guess the KOTM Title’s importance is now that it’s a bragging right if you win the World Title. We see another clip of Jeff Hardy talking about how great it was to see Matt as World Champion at BFG in North Carolina. Josh uses more WWE speak as the title is in a “state of abeyance” while we learn that Manik vs. Mandrews is up next. Mandrews skates down to the ring while Manik saunters down to one of the better themes in the company right now.
Manik vs. Mandrews
They have a little standoff to start before Mandrews trips him off the ropes. Lots of wacky armbars and cradles here before Mandrews focuses on a hammerlock. Mandrews goes for a reverse rana, but eats a face plant and Manik locks him in a Muta lock surfboard combination before Manik transitions into a straightjacket choke. They exchange more cradles before Mandrews gets 2 off a sunset flip. This is one of the most mat wrestling-heavy matches in this division in quite some time. Manik stands on the elbow and stomps it. Manik eats a backdrop and a dropkick before being hit with a giant DDT. Manik grabs him the tiger codebreaker, but it gets countered. Mandrews goes for a standing moonsault, but eats a knee and gets locked in an armbar. Mandrews takes him down with a Northern Lights suplex and gets a standing corkscrew moonsault and goes up top. Shooting Star Suplex is met with knees before a modified Go To Sleep wins for Manik. This was one of the best X division matches in quite some time – Mandrews has shined quite a bit in each of his World Title Series matches.
We see a recap of the Wolves beating Brian Myers and Trevor Lee way back… a few months ago in the super-rushed GFW vs. TNA invasion. The Wolves say they’re in wrestling for the competition, and tonight, the best man will win. The Jeff Hardy interview is next. But first, we get EY saying that he’s going to attack Roode at the right time – so him just standing in a hallway is strategy. Jeff talks about the big bump at Lockdown off the cage and how his comeback proved that he could be as good as ever. They show clips of the cage match, but him doing a see-saw dive off the top of it. The Hardys winning the Ultimate X for the tag titles is shown and we see him ride dirt bikes. He says he made three big jumping spots on his property. He did one, then landed a second one, and wanted to topple this third one for years. He says if he’d hit it harder, he could’ve landed it. He was knocked out and his first thought was breaking his leg after the win. We’ll hear more of it later. Next, it’s the battle of the Wolves. Davey comes out first in black, while Eddie is in white. We see Matt Hardy beating Davey and Robbie E beating Eddie.
Davey Richards vs. Eddie Edwards
They tie-up and go back and forth. They then grab hands and try to win the leverage game. Back and forth monkey flips get quick covers for 2. We get some cool mini-kip ups to bring them to their feet and exchange headlocks. ‘O Connor roll leads to a submission and then a cradle for 2. They each grab one another’s foot in a spot I don’t recall seeing before. They stand off for an ad break . Davey avoids a dropkick and lands one of his own. Eddie gets an inverted atomic drop and a superkick for 2. Eddie lands a running back elbow for 2. Eddie gets a snapmare and chinlock before landing a facebuster.
Davey lands a running elbow in the corner and a big spin kick to Eddie up top. Davey lands a big superplex, but can’t follow up. They exchange big forearms and Eddie hits an even bigger flapjack facebuster for 2.5. Davey avoids the backpack stunner and lands a big kick and German for 2. In the final minute, we get a series of cradles before a chop exchange. They go for kicks and chops and Davey lands a lariat, but can’t cover in time – it’s a draw so they each get one point. They raise each other’s hands and had yet another fantastic match. Between that and Manik vs. Mandrews, this has been a very satisfying show wrstling-wise. Series recap video shows how Hardy is advancing to the round of 16, and the second part of the Jeff interview is coming up.
We see clips of Davey vs. Eddie and they go to the back with Davey saying that Eddie chopped his claw paint off. Eddie says if he couldn’t get the win, he’s glad they at least got a draw. Davey says that the third person in the ring was the Wolves Nation. Davey says that the Wolves are an organic team, and we see more clips of Jeff Hardy at BFG. Jeff says he was heartbroken watching Matt give up the tag titles on Impact. Jeff says that sucked, but he was glad to see Matt go for the World Title. He goes through working for EC3 and being humiliated, but gets in a great line about making sure Tyrus watched Sesame Street. He loved seeing Matt win the title at BFG in NC in a repeat of clips they showed earlier today and last week. Jeff says yeah, he was a bit unfair to EC3, but he’s glad that Matt did the brave thing and gave up the title. He’s been banned from every show, but he’ll use that time to heal up and hopefully get in the ring again soon.
Roode stands around a truck and asks where EY is and he confronts him – EY tells him he already won the fight because he’s got Roode worried about him. Well, that was an unsatisfying way to spend an hour of TV time – but it makes for a fine story point. Josh and Pope play Swipe Left and Swipe Right. Pope predicts Shera to win. Shera is out not doing his dance, but in his blue non-Khoya gear at least. King doesn’t want to take about what Shera has done to him stealing his girls. This is apparently a storyline that’s been happening or something.
Mahabali Shera vs. Kenny King
Shera twirls his mustache while King does pushups. King locks on a headlock , but he gets tackled down. King takes him down with a headlock and gets backdropped hard. Kenny King gets a blockbuster, but Shera goes to the floor. King goes for a tornado dive and mostly misses Shera. Pope says that Shera isn’t dancing in the series because it’s serious business. I greatly appreciate them at least trying to find logical ways to patch things together. King goes for the shotgun knee shot in the corner, but it misses. Shera misses a lariat a mile above King’s head, but lands a better one to send King down. Shera lands a scary suplex holding onto King’s tights for dear life to hang onto him. Shera gets the Sky High to win. Kenny King tried, but he couldn’t do much with Shera, who is far too limited to do be on national TV at this point.
Josh recaps tonight’s matches and Matt Hardy faces Eddie next week. Gail Kim faces Madison Rayne, while Mr. Anderson faces EC3 in the main event. We get another recap of the EY vs. Roode rivalry. Eric Young comes out and they show clips of him in the series and he talks about being a world class pro wrestler. Roode comes out while Josh talks about how Roode demolished Storm in the series, but Storm beat Abyss. Roode poses and we go to a break.
Eric Young vs. Robert Roode
Roode slugs away in the corner and sends him up high for a backdrop. EY is sent to the floor and he bides his time and insults the fans. A little kid in a Superman shirt almost flinches as EY threatens to punch him. EY hops off the top rope and eats a punch to the gut, doing a perfect flip as a result. EY rakes the eyes to avoid a Roode Bomb and lands a neckbreaker. Josh blamed EY for sending TNA on a downward spiral in 2015. Josh recaps all of their epic wars, and leaves out that at least one of them was hyped up as their final match ever. EY gets a chinlock, but Roode fights out and gets a dropkick slightly above the belly for 2. EY charges, but eats an elbow after yelling at the fans. EY takes a big shot and does a delayed Flair Flop. Roode punches away some more, but EY flips to the apron and lands a shoulder to the gut. EY eats a spinebuster for 2. EY avoids the fisherman suplex, while Roode avoids the piledriver. EY rushes in and eats a boot. EY uses the ref to distract Roode and hits a piledriver to win the match. This was technically fine, but nothing special or memorable at all. Josh runs down next week’s card and we see hype clips for its matches. To see every screenshot taken for the show, just click here.
