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Impact Wrestling - October 22, 2014

Impact Wrestling
Date: October 22, 2014
Location: Sands Bethlehem Events Center, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

We're closing in on the Lashley vs. Roode showdown with the champion seeming to have some issues with the rest of the Trio. Other than that we have the start of a tag team tournament for a shot at the titles at some point in the future. I kind of like TNA just doing the week to week TV stuff instead of building to meaningless PPVs for a change. It works for NXT most of the time so why not TNA too? Let's get to it.


We open with a recap of Lashley vs. Roode from a few weeks ago and then Bobby winning the four way last week to earn another shot.

The Wolves want the tournament to start so they can have some new opponents.

Matt Hardy comes out and introduces his partner for the tournament: Jeff Hardy. Well that was anti-climactic.

Tag Team Tournament First Round: Hardys vs. BroMans

Jesse/DJZ here. Matt and DJZ start things off as Tenay and Taz are already in their own world. The guys in the ring (as in the guys the show is actually supposed to be about) trade headlocks until Matt takes him down and slams DJZ's head into the mat over and over. Off to Jeff for Poetry in Motion to give Matt two. The Hardys go old school with the Spin Cycle (think both guys doing a half wheelbarrow suplex) but it's quickly off to Jesse to take over.

Jeff kicks him down with ease before it's back to Matt for a double belly to back. The BroMans are sent into each other but the distraction lets Jesse dropkick Matt down to take over. DJZ cranks on an armbar until Matt jawbreaks his way to freedom and tags in Jeff. The better Hardy cleans house with dropkicks and a gordbuster followed by the Whisper in the Wind. Jesse loads up a gorilla press but Matt tags himself in and it's Twist/Swanton for the pin at 6:19.

Rating: C-. Just a basic tag match here that we'll list under “what else would you expect to happen?” I can't imagine the Hardys getting another shot after the Series blew the roof off as it would defeat the purpose of having a tournament. I'm also wondering if there are eight teams to fill out brackets as the division barely exists at this point. Decent match though.

Here's Bram to address his surprise attack on D-Von last week. He loves hearing something being driven through a human's skin, just like when he drove Janice into Abyss. Bram is the new king of hardcore and D-Von is his target because he's called a hardcore legend. Whatever it takes, Bram will make sure everyone fears his name. This brings out D-Von and the beating is quickly on. Bram fights back and they head to the floor until security breaks it up in the ring. Angle comes out and makes a hardcore match between the two for later.

Brittany comes up to Samuel Shaw in the back and says she'd love it if he won tonight.

Tag Team Tournament First Round: Low Ki/Samoa Joe vs. Samuel Shaw/Gunner

Joe sends Shaw into the corner and hammers away to start before nailing an enziguri for good measure. Off to Ki for a springboard kick to the face but Gunner nails him with a clothesline. Brittany comes down to be in Shaw's corner as Ki chops away at Gunner. The heels (kind of?) start double teaming Ki but Gunner tells Shaw to get rid of Brittany.

The distraction lets Ki avoid a middle rope dive, allowing for the hot tag to Joe. Things speed up with Joe hammering away and getting two of his own off a running kick to the face. Brittany hooks Gunner's leg for no apparent reason, allowing Ki to kick him into the Clutch from Joe for the submission at 4:36.

Rating: D+. This was more storytelling than anything else as Gunner and Shaw continue to do....whatever it is that they're doing. They've been going on with this for months now and I'm really not sure where they're going with it. The match was nothing of interest but at least didn't take up too much time.

Shaw stands next to Brittany but Gunner comes up to yell at her. Samuel nails him with a chair and goes evil again before kissing Brittany.

Ethan Carter III says he can feel it coming in the air tonight. He thinks a Tag Team Title reign with Tyrus would be a good buildup to his World Title win. Spud might be in the building tonight so why doesn't he find a friend to get in the ring with Ethan and his new friend? Because he's scared.

Lashley is asked about the title match with Roode but MVP cuts him off and says it's just another day at the office. King says he and MVP are in the tournament.

Rebel vs. Angelina Love

Love doesn't show up but here's Havok instead to destroy Rebel. Gail Kim charges out for the big brawl with the champion until security breaks it up.

Video on Roode vs. Lashley, which I believe is the same video that opened the show.

Angle thinks we'll raise the stakes in the contract signing later tonight.

Bram vs. D-Von

Hardcore. They start fighting on the floor before D-Von takes him inside for a release flapjack. It's already back on the floor with D-Von in full control and sending him into the barricade. There's a bottle of water to the head and Bram goes into steps for good measure. Back in and D-Von nails him in the head with a trashcan lid before hitting a one man Conchairto on the trashcan lid onto Bram's head.

Bram comes back with a trashcan lid shot of his own because apparently he's immune to concussions. He shouts that D-Von is nothing and gets a low blow for his efforts. D-Von loads up What's Up on the trashcan but Magnus comes out with a kendo stick shot for the save, allowing Bram to use the metal bar for the pin at 5:57.

Rating: D. It's not even that the match was terrible but it's uninteresting. D-Von just isn't interesting as a singles guy but at least he's putting someone over at this stage in his career. Bram already has more star power than Magnus has almost ever shown and has a future, hopefully as more than just a hardcore guy.

Anderson and Melendez are in the tournament.

Tag Team Tournament First Round: Kenny King/MVP vs. Chris Melendez/Mr. Anderson

MVP and King are quickly knocked out to the floor but we settle down to Anderson vs. King. Mr. grabs a headlock to take over but MVP trips him up from the floor, allowing King to kick him in the head for two. MVP taunts Melendez with a tag in the corner like a true heel should before hooking Anderson in an arm crank. A running boot to the side of the head gets two but a double clothesline puts both guys down. Melendez and King come in off the tags with Chris cleaning house as everything breaks down. In the melee, King rolls up Melendez with a handful of tights for the pin at 4:55.

Rating: D+. Another middle of the ropad match here as the stories are now being applied to the tournament. That's not the worst idea in the world and sets up some interesting matchups in the second round. Nothing great here or anything but it got the job done and kept this story going.

Eric Young fires Spud up and they're in the tournament tonight.

The Wolves do a quick interview saying they're looking for the best competition. They go off in different directions and Davey runs into James Storm. James tells Davey how great he is and offers to show him the way. Manik comes in to explain the beauty of the Revolution.

Tag Team Tournament First Round: Ethan Carter III/Tyrus vs. Eric Young/Rockstar Spud

Young has to give Spud a pep talk to get him to the ring and there's no Rockstar at first. Carter laughs at Spud being a coward and even has a new response to the audience: “You wish you could.” He goes on a rant about how the villains win in this world and how the 99%ers here in the audience are all losers. That's enough to get Spud to the ring and we're ready to go.

Spud asks to get in the ring with Carter to start. After the staredown but no contact it's off to Tyrus but Spud won't tag out to Eric. Spud hammers away but gets caught by a punch to the chest. Spud's sleeper attempt is countered into a Big Ending and Tyrus throws him around with a t-bone suplex. Tyrus misses a charge but stays on Spud, knocking him down with a single shot.

Off to Carter for some slaps to the face but Spud comes back with a huge one of his own, allowing for the hot tag to Young. Eric cleans house and gets two off the elbow. Everyone heads outside for a huge dive from Young before Spud dives on both villains. Back in and a quick Tongan Death Grip slam from Tyrus gives Ethan the pin on Spud at 7:14.

Rating: C. Better match here with Spud starting to look like a big deal. It wasn't a great mathc or anything but it was nice to see some of the stories making sense. Young continues to be the guy you call to fill in a story and that's all he was here. Carter's rocket push is still coming and I like sayint that.

We run down the card for next week

Here's Angle for the contract signing between Lashley and Roode. He has a bonus stipulation to make things more interesting next week, but first he asks if either guy has anything to say. Roode admits that Lashley was the better man last week but says that Lashley will be a marked man next week. Lashley has other priorities in MMA, but wrestling is all Roode has. Being champion is the only thing he wants and next week, he's fighting with a passion to put the title back around his waste.

MVP has built Lashley up very well, but next week Roode will prove that he's just a man. MVP cuts Bobby off and says Lashley can takes out anyone he faces because he's a destroyer. Angle cuts them off and says he'll be guest referee next week. That's not cool with MVP but Lashley signs, giving us a staredown to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. I didn't mind this week's show as they actually seem to have some interesting stuff coming in the next few weeks. Unfortunately, they need a show to air them on and right now we don't know where that's going to be. Roode vs. Lashley should be entertaining and the tag matches will be solid too, making next week interesting TV. However, this week's build was only decent with the tournament matches being average at best. It gave me some hope though and that's a big plus.


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

Comments

  1. Dumber pirate gimmick: Lafitte or Burchill?

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  2. I found them both ok to be honest. It's too bad Lafitte got in political trouble with the Kliq, I wonder if that's why he got "future endeavored". He could clearly go in that ring.

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  3. Yeah that was priceless. I never was a huge WCW fan but I've also never abided by the #WCWruinseverything motto because they did some great things. All that being said--I LOVE hearing stories about WCW's staggering stupidity.

    "No one watches that show anyways" amazing.

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  4. I laughed my ass off when I heard that. I was shocked too because you always hear great things about Solie. All those old school guys were into the booze or drugs it seems.

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  5. Lafitte b/c they played him as an actual pirate. I think Burchill's story was that he was kind of a nut looking to spice up his character and that he did some research, found out one of his ancestors was a pirate and started incorporating that into act. That's a little more believable than Lafitte.

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  6. the Burchill thing was the birth of the "lulz mcmahon doesn't watch movies all the time, what a loooooser" right?



    Oh wait, I think it was that, and the "Blonde Bitch project" in 1999 too.

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  7. I dunno, I feel like more interviewers should ask the tough questions, like "What is your ACTUAL purpose?"

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  8. YankeesHoganTripleHFanOctober 24, 2014 at 6:39 AM

    It occurred to me that the "Jean-Pierre Lafitte steals Bret's jacket" angle was stolen from Rocky V. Bullies stole Rocky's son's jacket...a few wees later it was clobbering time. Scott was saying the WWE should borrow a Rocky storyline...turns out they did!

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  9. I always liked those random times guys I knew from watching Memphis matches on Dr. X's Wrestling Royale would pop up on Raw. PG-13 were a riot.

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  10. Did Bret get trained by his uncle, while his father Stu totally ignored him in favor of the prospect of the month?

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  11. YankeesHoganTripleHFanOctober 24, 2014 at 6:44 AM

    I believe Stu training Teddy Hart at the time....so yes!

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  12. I liked Rocky V, but the thing I always wondered, why didn't Rocky just accept Tommy Gunn's new deal with that Don King type guy? Both of them agreed that Rocky was welcomed to tag along and continue to train him.



    After their big argument, Tommy ended up with "If you wanna keep training me, fine. If you don't, fine. But from now on, it's my way or the highway!"



    That way:

    -He can still make a good living training the champ
    -He can protect him from those "vampires" he was talking about.

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  13. As a huge Waltman fan at the time I hated how Razor treated the Kid here.

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  14. YankeesHoganTripleHFanOctober 24, 2014 at 6:47 AM

    Vince, "You'll be the first modern-day pirate, Carl!"
    Carl Ouellet, "But I don't want to be a pirate!"

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  15. YankeesHoganTripleHFanOctober 24, 2014 at 6:48 AM

    Cause Brain Damage?

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  16. Yeah, I never seen PG-13 before, but was pretty excited about getting to see them as I read quite a bit about them in the PWI magazine, but after the match with the Gunns was over, I was left disappointed.

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  17. Yep, that's actually all I got.



    And then he fights him and basically ruins his career in the process. Kind of a dick move!

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  18. I like your reviews. If TNA were to stick around i would love to see what could become of EC3 and Bram they are the only 2 new guys who looked like they could be a big deal.

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  19. YankeesHoganTripleHFanOctober 24, 2014 at 6:57 AM

    Hey Rocky is just lucky he didn't get AIDS.

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  20. Rocky V wasn't that bad... it just had tough shoes to fill. It doesn't stick out as being as bad anymore because it is no longer the end of the saga. Rocky Balboa was a much better ending to the story, taking that pressure off V.

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  21. Rocky did have AIDS. But then he got inspiration from Adrian and Mickey, and he NEVER STOP FIGHTING and overcame.


    10 year old John Cena saw this and with a tear in his eye, vowed to have that phrase on a tiny towel when he hit the big times.

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  22. Rocky 6 helped yes. But Rocky 5 was that bad. Trying to capitalize on the early rap scene, jumping on the Don King/Tyson train, and of course, the number 1 face Rocky pulling a Cena and ignoring his own son (because Cena does a lot of jerky things).


    The fight in the streets with really silly as well. Should have fought in Mick's gym in the ring instead.

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  23. YankeesHoganTripleHFanOctober 24, 2014 at 7:09 AM

    Wait a minute...Adrian died of AIDS? John Cena has AIDS? Wow.

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  24. That was actually Razor and Scarface that started that.

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  25. It's interesting how bad timing was part of it. If Burchill was doing the pirate thing after Pirates of the Carribean, and made his character more like Jack Sparrow, that might have worked...

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  26. From what I heard, he DID do it directly from the Sparrow character, just that McMahon had never seen the movie, so he didn't get what he was doing.

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  27. Yah the street fight was a dumb idea. Based on Rocky's past though, it was no surprise he wanted more of the limelight, especially after losing his money and career.

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  28. "YOU MONSTER!"
    "Now THAT I heard."

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  29. Figures. Vince's pop culture meter is truly bizarre.

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  30. He was an asshole with an ego... and they already had enough of those guys around who were all friends.

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  31. You have to realize how involved in his business he is. He doesn't have time for that crap.

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  32. It was Dusty I think. More than likely, anyway.

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  33. But he has time to call Michael Sam out?

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  34. Apparently Solie was always drunk during broadcasts, I think I remember Meltzer laughing about it on one podcast. From some old Observers I've read, Meltzer was not much of a fan of his work.

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  35. Ummm... There is a difference between current events, and watching movies all day.

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  36. How did he really lose all their money and why move back to their old neighborhood! ?

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  37. That would explain the "Suplay". Maybe he was just drunk and slurring his words?

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  38. I also loved the story behind the name was supposed to be "Terror Rising". And then somebody decided that was stupid, so they changed it to a name that sounded like Terror Rising.

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  39. Pauly screwed it up by giving power of attorney to a Bernie Madoff type or something. I never got the clear details, but "Because Pauly".

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  40. I'm not sure Vince knows the difference between those two actually...

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  41. Yeah pretty sure that was it... they lost all their money in an investing scheme.

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  42. Paulie signed over power of attorney to Rocky's manager, so then took the money and ran. The only thing they had left was the Mickey's gym, which went to Rocky's son.


    Rocky was willing to fight a few fights to earn money, but Adrian didn't want him to do it. And then the doctors said that he couldn't get licensed in any state anyways.


    I can't quite remember if Adrian went back to the pet shop or not, but Paulie went back to the meat packing plan I think. Rocky cleaned up the gym and started running it for some income I suppose.

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  43. I think in the more wild west days of wrestling drinking on the job wasnt looked down on at all, especially if you could hang drink for drink with "the boys"

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  44. I prefer the "Bare Wench Project" starring Julie Strain

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  45. I'm sure he got to the bottom of a very deep bottle the night Robocop came to town.

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  46. He should have given POA to that sweet ass robot of his.

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  47. "We're doing WHAT?? Goddamn . . . I'm going to suplay me a bottle of Jack!!"

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  48. I really do like Bram. I'm a Bram Backer.

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  49. I remember that upcoming 6 man. Diesel takes the pin if I recall. Rare for a champ to do it back then. Decent angle for 95 standards actually.

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  50. That poor Kid. Why DID they even turn him heel? Was it just so he and Razor could work together as Hall couldn't be bothered with anyone else?

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  51. I do remember them appearing briefly and aside from Vince mentioning USWA on air, I didn't see anything memorable about them. Looked like a couple of skinny jobbers with a rap. Never saw any of their non-wwe stuff so maybe I was missing something

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  52. Yep, lost to Bulldog's finisher actually. Good way to hype the PPV, though I guess it didn't really work.

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  53. How many shows do they have left?

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  54. Thought it was a yoko legdrop then a bulldog pin? Oddly enough I remember watching that match live.

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  55. Actually, it might have been both. First the power slam, then Yoko snuck in a leg drop for good measure.

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  56. No, the plan was actually to repackage Sid & Kid as a team if I'm remembering correctly, but obviously that went to hell and they changed bookers anyway.

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  57. Go back to Nitro :'(. Fuck these boring RAWs. There's no need to compare them when it was obvious that Nitro was killing RAW.

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  58. EC3 seems to be the one WWE let get away. He is what you want in a superstar, but I guess the generic name/gimmick generator of Derrick Bateman missed the mark on this guy.

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  59. I wish Triple H would do a angle where he got hit in the head, and started thinking he was Jean-Paul again with the accent. I mean it, Triple H -- if you read the blog and you go to Wrestlemania 31 as the Frenchman -- I will consider ordering the network.

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  60. Steph. And even in her bubble, she thinks he'd want to come to RAW and talk about being gay.

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  61. Nobody watched Prime either . . . until Chris Brown did.

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  62. And Sid went to play softball or got suspended or something. Because Sid.

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  63. I agree with some of the others on here, I think Bram and EC3 really have "it". I wouldn't be surprised if they make it back to WWE someday, especially since Bram is with Ric Flair's daughter Charlotte. Although, didn't he get fired for attacking a police officer or something like that?

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  64. This was a good episode. Everybody from the lower card to the main eventers had something significant happening, and it actually held my attention better than this week's RAW. I don't remember seeing a bracket for the tag team tournament, but I'm guessing next week it's Hardys vs. EC3/Tyrus and Joe/Ki vs. MVP/King.

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  65. "Yep Mode" Abeyance Brown ©October 25, 2014 at 11:50 AM

    They don't have brackets yet.

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