Impact
Wrestling
Date: October 1, 2014
Location: Sands
Bethlehem Events Center, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Mike
Tenay, Taz
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
We're closing in
on....whatever TNA builds to anymore. The main stories at the moment
are the Wolves choosing the stipulations for the final match in the
Tag Team Title series and Austin Aries having a match against any
champion he chooses. In theory he'll pick the World Title but
stranger things have happened in wrestling. Let's get to it.
We open with a video on
Roode vs. Lashley from a few weeks back where Lashley retained the
belt.
Roode arrived earlier
today and says he didn't get the job done. It's been a hard fourteen
days but he's back tonight.
Here's Austin Aries to
open things up. He's going to get right to the chase and challenge
his champion for a title match tonight. As soon as he won he knew
who he wanted to face, but let's make this interactive. Aries polls
the fans on his potential opponent. They're not wild on him facing
Gail Kim, a bit better on the idea him facing the Wolves, about the
same on Samoa Joe.....and we don't get the last option as Joe cuts
him off.
Joe says if Aries is
going to fight anyone tonight, it's going to be him. Aries isn't
sure what to think about this so he runs down his resume. He thinks
the fans are interested in seeing Aries vs. Joe and that's cool
because the X-Division is everything that's right about wrestling.
It's about the abilities inside these ropes, so let's do it.
X-Division Title:
Samoa Joe vs. Austin Aries
Feeling out process to
start as the lights are overly dim, likely hiding the empty seats.
Joe takes him to the mat to start but Aries pops up for a slugout.
Joe growls at him and runs Aries over with an elbow. The champ sends
him into the buckle and nails the enziguri before setting Aries on
the top rope. The MuscleBuster is countered with a back rake but
Aries misses the middle rope dropkick. Aries comes back with a
forearm to the back of the head and a slingshot hilo for two as we
take an early break.
Back with Aries'
suicide dive being blocked by a kick to the head. Joe drives knees
into the head and snaps off a powerslam for two. The standing choke
has Aries in trouble but he fighs out with a jawbreaker for two more.
There's the Last Chancery for a few seconds before Aries tries the
Brainbuster.
Joe is just too fat
though so Aries nails him with a discus forearm. Another brainbuster
attempt is countered by a boot to the chest to send Aries outside,
but he slides back in for a quick suicide dive to take Joe down.
Back in and Aries hits a missile dropkick and the running corner
dropkick to set up a bad brainbuster for two. He tries another Last
Chancery but Joe counters into the Clutch for the submission at
15:23.
Rating: B.
Good hard hitting match here with a good wrestling move for the
ending. Aries seems to have wasted his title shot but at least we
got a good match out of it. Joe is beating a lot of guys and has
become a strong X-Division Champion, but there really isn't anywhere
for him to go, which is the problem with the lack of a division.
Spud
talks to EC3 in the back and says they haven't hung out in weeks
despite being best friends. EC3 says Spud has failed him and now can
just follows him to the ring.
We look at the ladder
match in the Tag Team Title series from two weeks ago.
The Wolves are in the
back and have told Angle their stipulation for the third match but he
won't say what it is.
Here are Spud and EC3
with Spud having to kneel and hand him a microphone. Spud agrees
that he's Ethan's best friend, but Ethan says their relationship is
employer/employee. There's no world in which they're friends because
Spud spends his time reading comic books and watching wrestling. The
people here aren't with Spud and Carter rips on Spud's haircut.
Spud: “I wanted it to look like your's sir.” Ethan tears up
Spud's suit and blames him for what happened to Dixie. He tells Spud
to cry and then slaps him, but Spud can't bring himself to fight.
Cue Eric Young for a
save and what would be considered a big reaction for a crowd this
small. Eric says he's the reason for what happened to Dixie but Eric
asks him to leave. Young tells Spud to listen to the fans because
Ethan is going to keep doing this until Spud stands up and hits him.
Carter nails Young and stomps away in the corner as Spud bails to the
floor. A referee comes in and we've got a bell.
Eric Young vs. Ethan
Carter III
Young gets backdropped
to the apron for his strut but comes back in with a dropkick for two.
A clothesline puts Ethan on the floor for a plancha and a Thesz
Press takes Carter down back inside. Carter comes back with a snap
suplex for two but Spud can't bring himself to get in a cheap shot
from the floor. Young gets caught in a chinlock but he finally
escapes with a belly to back suplex. A forearm and clothesline put
Ethan down and the top rope elbow gets two. Eric loads up the
piledriver but Spud gets on the apron, allowing Carter to nail a low
blow. The 1%er gives Ethan the pin at 5:45.
Rating: C-.
Not much to see here as it was more about Spud being abused than
anything else. Carter has the potential to be a huge deal for TNA
but he doesn't really have much to do at this point. Spud's face
turn is coming soon but I'm not sure where they can go with him after
that. His size will kill him but he could be good for a few matches
here or there.
Mr.
Anderson thanks Chris Melendez for everything he's done. The trio
sees a weakness in Melendez but they're going to stand up to him.
We
recap Gail Kim going after the recently debuted monster Havok. She's
destroyed everything in sight and beat up Kim a few times already.
Knockouts
Title: Gail Kim vs. Havok
Gail
is defending and Havok jumps her from behind on the way to the ring.
The champ comes back with some forearms to the face but Havok just
rams her back first into the apron. Havok
sends her face first into the post and we haven't even had a bell
yet. She gets sent into the
steps before they keep brawling on the floor. Havok rams Gail
shoulder first into the post and puts on a hammerlock spinebuster on
the floor. The trainer comes out to check on Gail as Havok leaves.
No match.
Quick
recap of the Tag Team Title Series.
Here
are the Wolves to talk about being behind the entire series but
always overcoming the odds. Now they're in control though and the
last match is going to be.....interrupted by Team 3D. Ray
does the usual sucking up to the Wolves but says they're really not
that great. They may be the World Tag Team Champions but they'll
never be Team 3D. The Wolves aren't going to pick the last match in
this series, but before Team 3D can make the pick, here are the
Hardys to interrupt.
The
Hardys talk about how awesome they are and say the Wolves should step
aside and let the legends make these decisions. Matt says no one is
going to talk about the Wolves in twenty years but Davey cuts them
off and says they've beaten both teams. They'll win again too
because their time is now. The
brawl is on and we get tables, ladders and chairs brought in but
Angle comes out to stop the brawl. The Wolves have to make their
decision right now and of course it's Full Metal Mayhem. It's close
enough to the TLC match the fans were wanting.
Anderson
and Melendez find MVP and Kenny King in the back and a match is made
for later.
Gail
has a separated shoulder but says she's wrestling tonight anyway.
Manik
vs. Shark Boy
Seriously.
Shark Boy hammers away to
start and sends Manik out to the floor with a shot to the face. Some
clotheslines do the same and a backdrop sends Manik flying. Back
in and Manik grabs some suplexes for two and a knee drop gets the
same. A Frog Splash is enough to pin Shark Boy at 3:10.
Rating: D.
This didn't have time to go anywhere but it's good to see Manik look
good in his first match under the new gimmick. Storm has something
going for him with this idea but I have a bad feeling a lot of his
heat is going away for the sake of putting Great Muta over at Bound
For Glory. Shark Boy looked
WAY out of shape.
Team
3D thinks the Wolves are crazy for picking Full Metal Mayhem.
Mr.
Anderson vs. MVP
Feeling
out process to start until Anderson takes him into
the corner for a chop and clothesline. MVP
sends him out to the floor, causing Melendez and King to stare each
other down. Back inside with MVP throwing Anderson across the ring
for two before cranking on the arm. Anderson
avoids a knee drop and grabs the rolling fireman's carry for two. He
loads up the Mic Check but King offers a distraction. Melendez takes
care of him but MVP grabs a rollup for the pin at 5:40.
Rating: D+.
Not bad for the most part here but it was much more about setting up
something down the line. Melendez is getting a nice push to start
but I'm not sure if there's enough skill for him to be able to
sustain it. Anderson and MVP don't have anything to do so it's
better than nothing for them.
Here's
Bobby Roode to talk about being the longest reigning TNA World
Champion ever. He brings that up a lot because it means so much to
him. You're only as good as your last match though and his last
match was a losing effort against Lashley. This
brings out the champion and the rest of the Trio but Roode won't let
him say anything.
Roode
talks about coming so close to winning the title but there's one
moment that stood out: kicking out of the spear at two. It gave
Lashley a look that he's never had before because Lashley has never
been terrified before. That look made Roode believe he could beat
him so Bobby wants one more match. Lashley looks like he's about to
say yes but MVP says no for him.
Knockouts
Title: Havok vs. Gail Kim
Gail
is defending and says bring it on. Havok charges to the rings and
the fight starts in the aisle. The champ hammers away but gets
dropped face first on the mat. An armbar makes Gail scream and a
shoulder breaker on the good shoulder gets two. The
Rings of Saturn go on but Gail still won't quit. Instead she rolls
over a bit and knees Havok in the face, only to have the arm rammed
into the mat. Gail sends her into the corner and actually outs on a
Figure Four around the post. Back
in and a high cross body gets two but Eat Defeat is countered into
another hammerlock slam. A chokeslam gives Havok the title at 5:00.
Rating: C.
This is a hard one to grade as they only had one idea to go with but
that was kind of the point of the match. Havok is fine for a monster
that can own the division for awhile in the vein of Awesome Kong
until someone can rise up to beat her. Nothing great here but it
served its purpose.
Overall Rating: C-.
The opening match does a lot of good for this show but there's just
nothing there for the rest of it. With Bound For Glory being
basically a non-existent show, there's nothing for these shows to
build towards other than the next TV show. That's actually something
you don't get anymore outside of NXT, but there's so much
uninteresting stuff filling in the rest of the show that it drags
things back down. It's not bad but TNA can't get to the new year and
some fresh stuff fast enough.
Results
Samoa Joe b. Austin
Aries – Koquina Clutch
Ethan Carter III b.
Eric Young – 1%er
Manik b. Shark Boy –
Frog Splash
MVP b. Mr. Anderson –
Rollup
Havok b. Gail Kim –
Chokeslam
Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6
I was always a mark for Stone Cold Shark Boy.
ReplyDeleteYou overrated the opener by at least a letter grade. Joe looked GASSED about 2/3 of the way through, and the whole match felt off in all honesty. The stiffness from both of them was nice, but as a whole match it was mediocre. And highly disappointing.
ReplyDeleteI don't usually notice people looking gassed. Also the opener was about as good as this show was going to get so I was probably being hopeful.
ReplyDeleteTNA: recapturing the glorious days of Smackdown in 2006. I fully expect Douche & Dildo to come riding up in a hot rod anytime now.
ReplyDeleteHavok's puppies were lookin good
ReplyDelete