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.
Last week on Impact, key matches for Slammiversary were made official. They announced the main event, which will be TNA World Champion Drew Galloway defending against Lashley in a match that can only end by submission or knockout. Also, Jeff Hardy defeated Rockstar Spud and Tyrus in a ladder match to ensure he’ll face Matt Hardy at Slammiversary. However, Ethan Carter III doesn’t get his Slammiversary match with The Miracle. EC3 failed on his Road to Redemption when The Miracle caused a disqualification in the EC3 vs. Matt Hardy match.
Tonight on Impact:
On tonight’s Impact, Galloway and Lashley will participate in “Pick Your Poison”, which means they get to choose each other’s opponents. Furthermore, after losing last week, one could presume that EC3 will attempt to find another way to get his match with The Miracle at Slammiversary.
Show Recap:
-We kick the night off backstage. TNA President Dixie Carter is talking to someone, but we don’t see their face. She recaps the chaos in the last several weeks. She’s desperate to regain control so she is allowing the mystery individual to run Impact tonight.
-In the arena, Mike Bennett and Maria enter the ring. Josh Matthews and The Pope welcome us to Impact and they wonder whom Dixie’s talking to. The Miracle wants to know who is in charge of Impact tonight and calls out the individual. Cue the catchiest music in wrestling and EC3 hits the ring. As EC3 makes his way to the ring Josh informs us that Dixie sent out a tweet just now that EC3 is in charge.
After failing on his Road to Redemption, EC3 simply made his match with The Miracle for Slammiversary. EC3 is giving The Miracle the night off from wrestling, but he’s going to be the custodian. Also, Maria is going to have a job evaluation and EC3 wil mediate the situation between Gail and Maria. EC3 sends The Miracle and Maria away.
Next, Bobby Lashley came out and said that since EC3 had stuck his nose in his business now Lashley is going to get in EC3’s business. EC3 let Lashley know that he had “regulated” his power to Drew Galloway in regards to Lashley. This of course brought out the TNA world champion.
It feels too easy that EC3 was simply put in charge for the night and he can make his match with The Miracle. Also, it seems way to easy for people to in TNA to give other people power.
-Back from commercial in the back. EC3 and The Miracle are in the washroom. The Miracle has to be the custodian and clean the toilets. EC3 had a funny line when he went into one of the stalls and pointed out that somebody had gone “number 4”. TNA is literally doing toilet humor.
King of the Mountain Champion Bram vs. “The Destroyer” Bobby Lashley
TNA World Champion Drew announces KOTM Champ Bram as Lashley’s opponent. This is the first Pick Your Poison match of the night. This was a really good and very physical fight. Bram runs wild on Lashley and sends him to the outside. Lashley takes over on Bram and uses his headband to choke Bram. Lashley uses the chair for the DQ and used two spears after the match. He set up for a third but Drew ran out with a chair for the save. Drew then chased Lashley through the crowd.
Bram’s laying on his back motionless when Eli Drake comes out and cashes in his Feast or Fired KOTM title shot.
King of the Mountain Champion Bram vs. Eli Drake
Eli covers Bram who kicked out at two and a half. Eli tried to take back his briefcase, but Earl wouldn’t let him. Eli and Bram had a short match that ended with Eli scoring the pin and winning the match. Eli is the new KOTM champ.
-Earlier today, The BroMans were hanging out by the pool and recapping Raquel training them. Raquel shows up and lets them know if they want to win the gold they have to learn to focus. The music then became all adult film like and the screen became purple. She wore a bikini and told them to focus on her. Jesse got it but Robbie E. was confused. He wasn’t the only one.
-Back in the washrooms, The Miracle and EC3 are continuing the whole cleaning the toilets thing. Earl Hebner comes out of one of the stalls. Earl said The Miracle isn’t a star and called him a bad word. EC3 informed The Miracle that his next task is going to be as a referee.
-Next, we go to Matt Hardy’s home and property in North Carolina. Josh tells us that Matt is going to sign the contract for his match with Jeff at Slammiversary at his home and has invited Jeff.
-Backstage, Eli is celebrating his title win and is offering people champagne, but knocks it out of their hand each time.
-At Matt Hardy’s home, Matt walks out of the house and tells us he’s invited us and Brother Nero (Jeff Hardy) into his house for the contract signing. This was a cool little video and is very intriguing.
The BroMans (Robbie E. & Jesse Godderz w/ Raquel) vs. Rockstar Spud and Tyrus w/ guest referee Mike Bennett
Josh informs us that the winners of this match will receive a shot at the tag titles at Slammiversary. The story of this match was that The Miracle seemed uninterested and he let the heels cheat. The heels were about to put The BroMans away when Raquel distracted Tyrus by showing him some “stretches”. The BroMans mans took out Tyrus on the outside. Jesse got Spud in the Boston Crab and he tapped immediately but The Miracle didn’t call for the bell. He tried to give Spud a chance, but realized there was no point. The BroMans win the match and get a shot at the tag champions Decay at Slammiversary.
-In the back, Maria is on the phone with Bill Corgan when EC3 approaches. He lets her know that the job evaluation is next.
-Next we get shots of Jeff on his bike and on his way to see Matt at his house.
-In the ring, EC3 orders Allie and Sienna out of the ring. EC3 doesn’t think Maria is doing a very good job as the leader of the Knockouts. EC3 calls out Gail to see what she thinks. EC3 points out that because Maria put her hands on Gail it’s grounds for dismissal. Gail wants a match with Maria but she refuses because she is the leader of the Knockouts. EC3 informs her that she isn’t right now because she’s in a job evaluation. EC3 makes Gail vs. Maria official for Slammiversary. They go face to face and EC3 separates them. Everyone was really good here in particular EC3 who is having a pretty good night.
TNA Knockouts Champion Jade and Gail Kim vs. Sienna and Allie
EC3 made this match right before the commercial break. EC3 and Maria are seated at ringside. Allie was really funny here when she was screeching at EC3. Gail is in control of Allie who is still screeching. The faces use several double team moves on Sienna. Sienna uses several power moves to gain the advantage. Jade got the hot tag and ran wild on Sienna. Jade used the package piledriver on Allie to win the match.
-Back at Matt’s house, Jeff pulls up on his bike as Reby is leaving with Maxell strapped to her chest. She tells him she can’t talk to Matt and wants nothing to do with this. She leaves and Jeff enters the house.
In the house, Matt is playing the piano and Jeff enters. Jeff demands he signs the contract but Matt says they must end this where it began.
-In the ring, The Miracle was mad about the way EC3 has treated him and his wife. The Miracle says he’s not a janitor or referee, he’s a wrestler. EC3 says he lied and The Miracle in fact has a match tonight. EC3 says it’ll be a “miracle” if Bennett’s opponent showed up sober. This obviously brings out James Storm for a match with Bennett.
“The Miracle” Mike Bennett w/ “The First Lady of Professional Wrestling” Maria Kanellis vs. James Storm
Back from commercial and the match is in progress. The Miracle is wearing jeans and not his regular gear. Storm dominates the early moments but The Miracle soon takes over. Storm makes a comeback and hits almost all of his key moves. Storm sets for the Last Call when Maria hands him a beer. Storm teases spiting the beer in her face, but she slaps him which leads to The Miracle scoring the win.
Post match, EC3 confirms their match for Slammiversary. EC3 pointed out that Miracle likes to call himself God but if he’s God then EC3 is his devil. The segment ended with Storm giving The Miracle The Last call.
-In the ring, Al Snow introduced The Tribunal (Basille Baraca and Baron Dax). They cut a promo in French and English. The crowd chanted “boring” and “what” throughout the segment. Al said he beat Grado last week with a wrestling move not using weapons. They showed footage of Al using the Snow Plow to win the match. Grado and Mahabali Shera come out and tried to do comedy that bombed horribly. Grado showed the rest of the footage, which shows Al using weapons. They did some more bad comedy and Al insulted their mother. A brawl broke out with The Tribunal getting the better of the faces.
-We get a recap of the Ultimate X match from last week won by Trevor Lee.
-Next we get an interview with Braxton Sutter, formerly Pepper Parks, who discuss his journey to making it in TNA and his imminent debut.
-Back at Matt’s house, Matt takes Jeff to a room on his property. In the room is a ring, which presumably is the ring the Hardy’s used to train on.
-Drew Galloway is in the ring when Bobby Lashley comes out. Lashley announces Drew’s opponents who are TNA Tag team champs Decay. Josh and The Pope wonder who of Decay is Drew’s opponent.
TNA Champ Drew Galloway vs. Decay (Abyss, Crazy Steve & Rosemary)
Turns out Drew will be taking on all three memebers of Decay. Drew and Decay brawl around ringside to start the match. Rosemary jumps on Drew’s back which distracts him long enough for the heels to take over. Decay tried to double team Drew but he made a comeback and took them out. Drew set up for the claymore, but Rosemary got in his way. Drew teased the Future Shock DDT on Rosemary, but turned his attention to Steve. Abyss scored a near fall with a choke slam. Rosemary pulled out Janice from underneath the ring, which distracted the ref. Lashley snuck in and tried to spear Drew but he moved and Lashley speared Abyss instead. Drew hit the Future Shock DDT on Steve to win the match.
Post match, Drew flipped the bird at Lashley causing the two to have a stare down.
-Back at Matt’s house, they finally sign the contract on a circular table. Matt and Jeff face off in the ring at which point Reby enters with Maxell still strapped to her chest. She yells at Jeff and throws Maxell at him! It’s not actually Maxell it’s actually a doll. Matt hits Jeff with a glass bottle to the back of the head. Matt then gives Jeff the side effect of the apron through the circular table. The table didn’t break and they did this in slow motion. Jeff is left lying on the ground as we fade to black.
Next Time on Impact:
Next week’s Impact is the go-home show for the Slammiversary PPV.
Some notes from the April 22nd TNA Impact TV tapings:
Jeff Hardy was out performing his entrance music song when Decay came out. They laid out Jeff and were told they were paid to attack him but didn’t say who paid them. James Storm made the save, and said he wanted his tag title rematch with Jeff as his partner. TNA Tag Champions Abyss & Crazzy Steve then beat Hardy & Storm in a tag title match when a fake Willow distracted Jeff.
Jade went to a no-contest with Gail Kim when Sienna laid out both of them.
Al Snow did an interview heeling on the fans and said he was the Donald Trump of pro wrestling and would build a wall and decide who got in. Mahabali Shera then beat Snow when Grado interfered.
Mike Bennett said he wanted a match with Earl Hebner as a future Hall of Famer against a current one. Bennett then beat Earl Hebner, but EC 3 made the save so Bennett vs. EC 3 will continue.
Tyrus then attacked EC 3 which led to EC 3 beating Tyrus in a last man standing match.
DJ Zema Ion & Eddie Edwards beat Trevor Lee & Andrew Everett when Ion pinned Everett.
Fake Willow was out and Jeff Hardy attacked him. Hardy then beat Willow and went for the mask, but two more guys in Willow masks attacked Hardy. Of course, one of the Willows was Matt Hardy.
Sienna beat Velvet Sky in her final match with the company. They gave Sky a farewell live and posted on the website that she was leaving. It was described as a mutual departure.
Eli Drake interviewed Bram. He wanted Bram to just hand over the King of the Mountain title rather than even bother with a match. Bram refused, and Drake said he can cash in his briefcase and win it at any time. Bram attacked him and he ran away.
TNA World Champion Drew Galloway beat Bobby Lashley via DQ in a lumberjack match for the title due to outside interference.
Ethan Carter III will break his silence and speak for the first time since losing the TNA World Title to Matt Hardy. Also, the TNA X Division Champion Tigre Uno puts his belt on the line against Gregory Shane Helms. Plus an appearance by TNA World Champion, Matt Hardy, and more on the Kurt Angle Farewell Tour.
Show Recap:
– Earlier today, Ethan Carter III ran into a camera crew. He’s willing to tell everyone what has been on his mind. He is shown throughout the show getting ready for his interview.
– After the sweet opening theme song and credits, TNA World Champion Matt Hardy, Reby, and Tyrus make their way to the ring. Matt talked about his brother Jeff Hardy and he recapped how Eric Young piledrove Jeff through a table last week. Reby took the mic from Matt and said she was sick of hearing people say her husband was in Jeff’s shadow. EY & Bram come down to the ring. EY wants a shot at the champ but Kurt Angle interrupts them. Kurt announces that he’s getting a shot at the TNA World title in tonight’s main event. Beer Money comes out to try and even the odds. A brawl breaks out with all six guys. Crazy Steve & Abyss come down but before they can make it to the ring, The Wolves run out and attack Steve and Abyss. Beer Money and The Wolves announce they’ll face EY, Bram, Crazy Steve and Abyss in Hardcore War.
– Backstage, Drew Galloway was being interviewed about winning the World Title shot in the Feast or Fired. Tyrus interrupts him and they set up a match for later.
Lashley vs. Aiden O’Shea
Aiden jumped Lashley as he was trying to take his t-shirt off. The beautiful and stunning Raquel made her way to ringside. Lashley sent Aiden to the outside. Raquel got in Lashley’s way and Aiden regained the advantage. Lashley made his own comeback and beat Aiden with the spear. After the match, Raquel got on the mic and said, “I can bring you pain or pleasure.”
– Last week before the reveal of Feast or Fired, Eli Drake talked about the briefcase and that he has a 75% of getting the World title shot. Jesse Godderz was then interviewed and talked about Eli Drake winning the Feast or Fired.
– “The First Lady of Professional Wrestling” Maria Kanellis came out but without “Miracle” Michael Bennett. Maria wants to talk about women’s wrestling. Maria thinks the Knockouts Division is broken and that she is here to fix it. Knockouts Champion Gail Kim comes down the ring. This is a pretty good segment. Both Gail and Maria played their roles well. Gail challenged Maria but Maria escaped from the ring.
Hardcore War: TNA World Tag Champions The Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) and Beer Money (James Strom & Bobby Roode) vs. Eric Young, Bram and Decay (Crazy Steve and Abyss)
A really good match with a lot of weapons. In fact, everyone came to the ring with a weapon. Davey Richards and Crazy Steve start the match. Davey had a chair and Steve had a baseball bat wrapped in a chain. Steve went to use the chair but Davey grabbed the bat and hit the chair back into Steve’s face. Bram is the next entrant to the ring with corner turnbackle pad pipe. The heels beat Davey all over the place. James Storm is the next entrant and he comes out with a Keg of Beer. EY comes out next with a Singapore cane. Back from commercial, Eddie Edwards is now in the match. Abyss comes to the ring with Janice. The final entrant is Booby Roode who has a hockey stick. Beer Money and The Wolves clear the ring and then all four do the Beer Money Signature. Beer Money and EY & Bram fight to the back. Steve spits the mist into Davey’s eyes and picks up the win.
Drew Galloway vs. Tyrus
Drew brings his Feast or Fired World title shot briefcase to the ring. These two had a good match. The action went back and forth with both having the chance to shine. Drew was about to finish off Tyrus when suddenly, the lights went out and when the lights came back on Michael Bennett and Maria were in the ring. He attacked Drew with the briefcase. Drew did a great sell job here. He sold it like he was dead, especially in the eyes.
TNA X Division Champion Tigre Uno vs. Gregory Shane Helms
Shane Helms came out but was clearly not dressed to wrestle. Helms isn’t wrestling but he has a mystery representative, Trevor Lee. They have a good match but the crowd was flat for some spots. Lee dominated the early part of the match but Uno made a comeback. Tigre hit a sweet looking hurricanrana. Trevor Lee hits a fisherman buster into a roll up for the win. Trevor Lee is the new TNA X Division Champion.
EC3 Interview
EC3 cut a great promo from his home. This cemented his babyface turn, as EC3 was a total babyface here. He was tremendous talking about how he acted like a “piece of s**t” and that he just wants to win. This was done really well with the way it was shot and the incorporation of music. It’s worth going out of your way to see this promo. EC3 is going to take a plane to the U.K. to find Matt Hardy and he wants his world title back.
TNA World Champion Matt Hardy (w/Reby & Tyrus) vs. Kurt Angle
Another really good main event from TNA. Matt gets the advantage early but Kurt makes a comeback and hits three rolling German suplex. Tyrus jumps on the apron and Kurt sent Matt into him. Tyrus then took a really slow bump off of that from the apron to the floor. Back from commercial, Kurt locks on the ankle lock but Matt rolls through and sends him to the outside. Tyrus attacks Kurt on the outside and instantly went over and harassed The Pope on commentary. The fans broke into a small “Pope” chant.
Angle scores several near falls but is unable to pick up the win. Kurt hits Matt with another series of German Suplex. Kurt kicked out of Matt’s twist of fate. Kurt hits yet another series of German suplex, which bring the total to around 12. Kurt went to the top rope but Tyrus and Reby tried to stop him. This gave Matt enough time to hit the twist of fate from the top rope to win the match. Matt retains the TNA World Title and beats Kurt in the Kurt Angle Farewell Tour.
Next Week on TNA Impact:
We’re in the UK where the Kurt Angle Farewell Tour continues as Kurt says goodbye to his U.K. fans. Bobby Lashley goes one on one with Bram and TNA World Champion Matt Hardy will make an appearance.
Not wasting any time after their move to POP TV, TNA Wrestling returns to pay-per-view Friday night with One Night Only, an event available on most major cable outlets, the Flipps TV app, and more for as low as $14.95.
Your main card as of now:
– TNA Tag Team Champions The Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) vs. Kurt Angle & Drew Galloway vs. Jessie Godderz & Eli Drake
– TNA X-Division Champion Tigre Uno vs. DJ Z vs. Crazzy Steve vs. Mandrews
– Knockouts Championship #1 Contender’s Gauntlet Match: Awesome Kong vs. Velvet Sky vs. Madison Rayne vs. Rebel vs. Jade vs. Marti Bell
– Bobby Lashley vs. Tyrus
– Rockstar Spud vs. Aiden O’Shea
– Beer Money (James Storm & Bobby Roode) vs. Eric Young & Bram
– “The Miracle” Mike Bennett (w/Maria Kanellis) vs. Robbie E
Join us for live coverage starting at 8 PM EST.
We are looking for your thoughts on the event, so send a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to Dave Meltzer.
TIGRE UNO VS. DJ ZEMA ION VS. MANDREWS VS. CRAZZY STEVE FOR THE X DIVISION TITLE
Total high spot match. Good for what it was, it was non-stop moves and while lacked selling, it was all crisp and lots of good stuff. One of the best spots was Mandrews riding his skateboard down the ramp and did a huracanrana on DJZ. DJZ then flew into Steve. Mandrews was the star of the match. This was under elimination rules. Mandrews used a shooting star on Uno, who was caught in a chicken wing by Steve, and then Mandrews instead pinned Steve. Steve was over as a cult deal and also looked good. The crowd booed Steve losing a lot. Steve then put Uno in the chicken wing after the match to further injure his bad shoulder. Mandrews pinned Ion with a schoolboy. Uno sold the shoulder, but came back to pin Mandrews with a Spanish fly.
Shane Helms came out after the match and a few people were chanting “Three Count at him.” Josh Matthews said that Helms was the greatest cruiserweight champion in the history of pro wrestling. They acknowledged each other. He pointed at his watch, giving the idea that ti’s only time before he wins the title.
AIDEN O’SHEA VS. ROCKSTAR SPUD
Spud is replacing Mahabili Shera, ruining our chance to see the worst PPV match of the year. They said somebody let the air out of Shera’s tires. That excuse for missing a match doesn’t work in the days of cell phones and taxis and such. O’Shea told him to walk away and take the count out. Spud refused to leave. They did a match which was O’Shea mostly just humiliating him and bullying him around. It went too long. Spud make a comeback and rock’d up, took off his bow tie like it was Lawler’s strap, and won with the underdog. It pretty much dragged.
EC III did a promo taped on Tuesday. He said Matt Hardy was the villain in his story but Hardy has to admit he beat him. Good promo.
ROBBIE E VS. MIKE BENNETT
Major league ring entrance. The match was a mistake. He should have gone 3-4 minutes of a dominant performance where he did things to stand out. Instead they did a long back and forth totally ordinary match. Bennett won with a falcon arrow, which they call “Divine Intervention.” After the match he did a promo saying he’s going to have a Kingdom of Miracles and told fans his catch phrase of “Yes we do.”
Gail Kim promo talking about the Gauntlet match that will determine the next contender for her title.
WOMEN’S GAUNTLET MATCH
All kinds of awful. This could easily win worst match of 2016. This is a TNA gauntlet which means Royal Rumble until the last two and then it’s like a singles match. In order, it started Madison Rayne vs. Jade which was so bad. Next was Rebel, and she can do a few athletic things but she’s so green. Next was Chelsea Green from Tough Enough, who didn’t look good. Marti Bell was next. Deonna Purrazzo was next, one day after being on NXT. She was the best worker in this match, except for maybe Kong. Kong and Velvet Sky were the last two. Then people started getting eliminated. The last three were Jade, Rayne and Kong. Rayne speared Jade to the floor. Kong then pinned Rayne with a missed spinning backfist that was supposed to hit and the Implant buster.
The Wolves did a promo talking about a future match with Beer Money. Eli Drake & Jessie Godderz showed up in the middle of their interview.
TREVOR LEE VS. PEPPER PARKS
They had a hard time getting the crowd this late in the show. They finally did at the end. There was nothing wrong with it but not much reaction and it dragged. For the finish, Lee won with a dropkick into a double foot stomp and a fisherman buster.
Doll House promo. They put over Kong winning. Kong spoke about beating Gail Kim for the title.
Pope was in the ring. He called out Grado. Pope handed him a candy bar and he ate it. Pope called him a joke. Said when the bell rings these people see you as a joke. Fans chanted “No.” Grado then talked like he was from Texas. He pulled that off pretty well. This set up Abyss vs. Grado.
ABYSS VS. GRADO
Abyss pinned him with a choke slam on thumbtacks. The key spots were Abyss knocking Grado ff the top rope and he fell through a table on the floor. There was another spot where Abyss has a barbed wire board underneath him as well as on top of him and Grado did a splash off the top for a near fall. Abyss was supposed to get up to win but they had to stall because Abyss got his foot all tangled in the barbed wire. This was the kind of a match that makes wrestling look like such a joke. People did pop for the barbed wire spots but the whole thing just made wrestling look like a geek show.
Drew Galloway & Kurt Angle talked about their match Tuesday and the tag team title match tonight.
EDDIE EDWARDS & DAVEY RICHARDS VS. KURT ANGLE & DREW GALLOWAY VS. ELI DRAKE & JESSIE GODDERZ FOR THE TAG TEAM TITLES
This was really good. Edwards used the ankle lock on Drake to win while Edwards had the half crab on Jessie Godderz. Angle got in his face for stealing his move but then hugged in and Edwards, Galloway, Angle and Richards all hugged. Edwards may have gotten hurt because he was limping pretty badly at the end. It wasn’t like they worked on his leg seriously during the match. Angle was German suplexing everyone including a spot where he suplexed both Edwards and Richads at the same time.
BOBBY LASHLEY VS. TYRUS
Not much of a match. Tyrus ripped the padding off a turbuckle. Tyrus threw him in it but Lashley came back. There was a ref bump by Earl Hebner. Lashley rammed Tyrus’ head into the metal 11 times and then pinned him after a spear.
BOBBY ROODE & JAMES STORM VS. ERIC YOUNG & BRAM
Good match. Roode & Storm look like they’re together for the long haul with matching trunks. Beer Money won with the DWI on Bram and Roode pinned him after Roode had slingshotted Young into Storm’s DDT and Young rolled out of the ring. They pushed Roode & Storm challenging the Wolves for the tag titles coming.
For a comparison, during November on Destination America (in 57 million homes as compared to POP TV’s 72 million), the show averaged 244,000 for the first run episodes and 84,000 for the replay for shows taped months earlier as opposed to the same day with promises of a new start and the ending of a several month long World title tournament.
TNA has always gotten hurt whenever it has switched days, even though it’s technically the third straight week on Pop on a Tuesday. The previous two shows did 111,000 and 136,000 viewers and were “best of” shows with little publicity.
In the first semifinal match last night, EC3 advanced by defeating Bobby Lashley while in the second semifinal, Matt Hardy beat Eric Young. EC3 beat Hardy in the main event of the show to win back the TNA World title. Kurt Angle was also on the show, doing a promo about his farewell tour that led to an announcement of a match with Drew Galloway on next week’s show.
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.
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.
Last week, Matt Hardy beat Davey to advance in the series. Aiden ‘O Shea debuted on Impact and lost to Kenny King, who is now in ROH. Eric Young lost to Abyss after declaring himself to be God. Robbie E beat Eddie Edwards in a good little match, while Shera defeated Crazzy Steve while still wearing his “Khoya” gear because as Josh said, he wanted to be reminded of who he wasn’t. In the main event, Robert Roode beat James Storm, now in WWE, in an absolutely nothing match that didn’t even play off of their history beyond one “BEER! MONEY” spot.
The show starts with a recap of the BFG main event, the injunction, the World Title Series, and the debut of Group X Division tonight. Andrews faces Mandrews and DJZ faces Manik. Anderson faces Aries, and EC3 faces Lashley. Pope talked about Group Future 4 being on the show tonight and how Aries and EC3 have one point each due to a tie. Aries faces Anderson next, but first we get some stuff between Aries and EC3 in the roundtable. Anderson picks Lashley to beat EC3, while Lashley just looks bored. Anderson comes down and does his full intro instead of just the “Anderson, Anderson” bit. Aries comes out with Thea Trinidad once again.
Ken Anderson vs. Austin Aries
Aries and Anderson exchange basic armwork mid-ring. They focus on the roundtable, with Anderson saying that he and Aries traveled the indies and EC3 asks just what those are. Anderson avoids the missile dropkick. Anderson clubs at the head and lands some shoulder thrusts, but only gets 1. Aries takes him down and gets a slingshot elbow, which Pope says is “shades of Austin Starr”. Oh dear God no. Anderson lays some punches into Aries in the corner before they go back and forth with body blows. EC3 not knowing what the indies are is the one thing that pisses Josh off about EC3, and then Pope says “EC3 was born into the big time – Impact Wrestling!” Ad break time.
Anderson gets a series of elbows and lariats before getting a neckbreaker. Aries shoulders the stomach and flips over before Christy says that there are five minutes left. If nothing else, TNA has at least made time limits into a viable match finish again with this thing. Aries lands the missile dropkick while Thea claps away. Anderson gets the Finlay Roll by catching Aries in the corner and getting 2. Aries armdrags his way out of the Mic Check, and he goes for the brainbuster – but get crotched up top by Anderson.
Aries boxes his way out of that situation and lands the 450 for a 2.5 count. Anderson gets a tornado kick for 2. Aries goes up for a superplex, but Anderson counters into the Lambeau Leap for 2.5. They mess up a Mic Check armdrag a bit, but wind up just fine with Anderson going up top and getting caught by Aries with a super brainbuster for the win! This was sloppy at times, but fairly good – Aries being included in this thing has really increased the match quality of the show. Josh says that Anderson has now been eliminated from the series.
Josh reveals that tonight, we’ll see the Bound For Glory PPV main event for some reason. Maybe they should’ve booked 64 matches for this thing or something, because that makes no sense to do now. In week one, it would – but not now. After a break, we see clips of Ultimate X highlights from BFG. Andrew Everett’s insane flip bump off the X aired a lot, as did Josh calling Shane Helms the greatest cruiserweight of all time. In a similarly ridiculous bit, he asks Pope if Tigre is the greatest X division champion of all time. Mandrews skates partially down to the ring, resulting in Josh calling him “one Dynamic Dude”.
Tigre Uno vs “The Dynamic Dude” Mandrews
Mark Andrews just can’t catch a break in TNA when it comes to names. So if Okada and Baretta are any indication, he should be signed by New Japan in a couple of years and be used to the full extent of his abilities. They flip around on the mat for a bit with some covers getting quick 2 counts. Mandrews does a skateboard pose during the “indy standoff” spot. While they’re wrestling a bit, Josh talks about exorcism live and then Pope says that’s not his job. Josh mocks him for leaving the Bound For Gold match before Pope says his career is over, so it doesn’t need resurrection.
Mandrews surfs on Uno for a bit, which is different than skating. Uno and Mandrws exchange gutwrenches, leading to a wacky lucha gutwrench submission by Uno. Josh talks about numbers for a bit and says that Anderson is absolutely out of this. Josh runs through every possible combination of things that could happen for the EC3 match in such a way that it comes off like minute 50 of an hour long math class where by the end, you just hear nothing and it’s just random noise. Mandrews flies over the top to attack Uno. Uno hits a German into the buckle and gets the win. The Bound For Glory main event airs next.
But first, Josh recaps that Anderson lost and is now out of the tournament mathematically – but he can at least play spoiler for EC3. Aries cuts a promo backstage about setting the bar high because he demands it out of himself. Josh recaps that all of this is due to the BFG series and now, in the third week of the series, we see the match. They join it in progress after intros and throw some new plugs in with graphics for Valpak coupons. Drew hitting the Kryptonite Krunch on the steps onto EC3 is still crazy, and we go to a break after a 2 count.
We come back to see EC3 suplex Matt over the top through Drew on top of a table. German suplex tower of doom hits. Three-way kneeling punch exchange leads to some chops. Frye-Takayama exchange from Matt and Drew leads to a double One Percenter for 2. EC3 shoves Jeff to get DQed, but Jeff won’t do it – so he kicks Drew low to force it as well. Josh and Pope point out that there are no DQs here. EC3 grabs a chair and goes to hit Drew, but Jeff takes it and hits him. In a nice bit, EC3 kicks the chair base out of Drew’s way before the Sick Kick. Matt hits the Twist on Drew to get his revenge on…EC3. And somehow, this story fell flat. EC3 shoving Big John over the table remains hilarious.
Voiceover work recaps the injunction “We could not have a world champion – and Dixie felt that wasn’t the right thing to do”. EC3 is asked about the World Title Series and he talks about how we just saw the travesty that happened to him and he does this for him tonight. We go back to Josh and Pope pondering about what could happen with the points tonight. I can get a few lifetimes without ever hearing the phrase “group play”. Josh and Pope are going to play Swipe Left and Swipe Right with the Future 4 group.
They plug the Jeff Hardy DVD and resume talking about Group Wild Card. In a bizarre move, we see an “earlier tonight” graphic for Jessie Godderz vs. Crimson and just get clips of Crimson missing a shoulder charge and Godderz winning with the Adonis Crab. Jessie’s video package takes longer than the match. Jessie says that he isn’t all talk and he can back it up. He claims to be the best mix of agility, power, and flexibility – and he’ll be the next TNA World Champion. Between Jessie’s confidence and the clips of him just destroying dudes, this was effective – but bizarrely inserted into the show overall. Following up on clips of that match, we get clips of Eli Drake vs. Micah in a battle of former Rising members. They brawl and get a double countout and earn one point each. Why on Earth did they bother showing the full BFG match if they actually shot matches in full?
In a hilarious bit, Destination America makes sure to tell people to not attempt to do an exorcism themselves. Pope is against Grado, but for Brooke and Kong. Manik comes out and he has his mask on. Josh says that Manik went maskless at BFG and he didn’t win. Pope says that he didn’t wear the mask at BFG to make sure he could see every opponent at the PPV. Josh points out a team he likes that wears different uniforms each week and it changes things up. Pope says that he feuded with Suicide for a while and the advantage of a mask is that you can’t read its owner’s full facial expressions.
They have now spent nearly as much time explaining Manik wearing a mask than they have building up some PPVs. Manik stomps a mudhole into DJZ while Josh talks about Helms being the greatest cruiserweight of all time. Pope says he could be the best, while Josh says the title was changed from blue to green due to Helms. Manik gets a snap suplex and then a back suplex before Josh buries Pope for calling a suplex a “souffle” since Solie at least knew the difference between a wrestling move and a breakfast order.
DJZ gets a series of atomic drops before awkwardly positioning his body into the ropes to miss a DDT attempt and Manik gets a cross armbreaker. DJZ dives off the top and eats a pair of boots before Manik misses a frog splash. DJZ misses his silly pop-up tornado DDT before Manik hits a bizarre version of the GTS with a back bump and a kick to the face for the win. We get a recap of a June 17 match between Lashley and EC3 with a weird blue filter put on everything.
Next week, Gail faces Awesome Kong – which Pope hypes up as a BFG rematch. God help us all if they choose to air that as filler programming too. James Storm faces Abyss next week and Robbie is hyped up as tying Matt Hardy on top of the tag team specialists group. EC3 comes out with Tyrus. Josh is now back on EC3’s side and points out that Matt didn’t actually beat EC3 to get revenge. Josh points out via math that Lashley is at least in a position to not be eliminated right now.
EC3 vs. Lashley
Lashley dominates a tie-up, so EC3 stalls on the floor. EC3 comes in and gets pushed around, so he cowers in the corner. Lashley gets a beal and then hits a few lariats before a break. After it, EC3 dominates Lashley on the floor and tosses him into the steps. Lashley hoists him up and hits a spinebuster on the floor. Tyrus pounces into Lashley and he smacks into the post. EC3 gets some mounted punches and grinds away with a cravate. Lashley punches away, but is sent to the floor. Tyrus attacks Lashley again and Josh says that Tyrus could result in more fines for EC3. EC3 goes for a suplex, but it gets countered.
Josh talks about Tyrus’s antics being a complete insult to Dixie and Billy Corgan’s edict about there being no interference in this. I guess that might’ve been in the full video, but they never mentioned that until this very moment on TV. EC3 and Lashley get into a punch exchange before Lashley gets a German suplex and chains it into an overhead belly to belly suplex. Lashley gets a powerslam for 2. Lashley rolls into a rear naked choke, but EC3 escapes thanks to Tyrus.
EC3 gets the Stinger Splash, and there are two minutes left in the match. Lashley turns mounted punches into a running powerbomb. Lashley hits the spear, but Tyrus pulls him out of the ring. EC3 kicks out when Lashley comes in, and Josh gives Tyrus credit for making that happen and only saying it could’ve happened due to the break. Tyrus brings a chair in and eats a spear. That isn’t a DQ, and while the ref is distracted by Tyrus, EC3 low blows Lashley and wins with the One Percenter. Josh calls him a no good SOB, so for this segment at least, he is against EC3. Well, there was absolutely nothing on this show worthwhile outside of the Aries match. Everything involving EC3 was a cluster, they really screwed up this thing feeling important just airing seconds of some matches – so you never really know when they’ll do that, and it marginalizes the people they do that to.
To see every screen taken for the show, just click here.
