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Impact Wrestling - July 1, 2015

Impact Wrestling
Date: July 1, 2015
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Josh Matthews, D'Angelo Dinero

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

This is a big special show called Bell to Bell, headlined by Ethan Carter III challenging Kurt Angle for the World Title. We're also coming off a pretty lackluster Slammiversary with the main story being Jeff Jarrett winning King of the Mountain and taking the newly created title to Global Force Wrestling. We also have a thirty minute Iron Man match for the Tag Team Titles so this is a packed show. Let's get to it.


The opening video looks at Angle's TNA career but tonight he's up against someone who has never lost. It's a simple video but it hits every point it needed to touch.

The Rising vs. Beat Down Clan

The losing team must disband, thank goodness. It's also a 4-3 elimination match with Hernandez/MVP/Kenny King/Low Ki vs. Drew Galloway/Mica/Eli Drake. MVP and Drew get things going with Galloway kicking him in the face and hammering away in the corner. Low Ki comes in and loses some skin off Galloway's chops. It's off to King vs. Mica with the former taking Mica down with ease for a bunch of right hands to the head. That's more aggression than you usually see from him.

The BDC starts taking over but Hernandez isn't pleased that he didn't get a tag. Ki gets a nice running start into the corner and kicks Mica in the head for the elimination. Back with Ki suplexing Galloway for two as this is very one sided so far. Drew quickly rolls over to the corner for the hot tag to Drake for some house cleaning, including a dive to take MVP down on the floor. Drake comes up favoring his knee though and it's time for the trainers. That's officially an elimination so it's Galloway vs. the entire BDC.

Hernandez gets things going for his team as the Pope talks about pork chops. They chop it out in the corner (dang maybe Pope is on to something) but it's quickly off to Ki, who accidentally kicks King in the head, allowing Drew to roll up Low Ki for the elimination, followed by a quick cover on King to get it down to 2-1. See, now that's logical thinking and doesn't make the whole match seem fake.

Drew gives Ki a shoulder breaker onto the steps, likely to write Ki off the show, only to walk into a Border Toss. MVP's Playmaker (or whatever he's calling that stupid move these days) drops Galloway again but he tells MVP to bring it, earning him a Drive By to the head for the pin at 16:45.

Rating: C. Well, at least it's finally done. The Rising was one of the most worthless stables I've ever seen as they just had no reason to exist. The BDC is nothing special either but at least they seem to have a purpose. Galloway was clearly several steps ahead of his partners so getting rid of Drake and Mica is a good thing for him.

Post break, MVP is told that Low Ki is heading to the hospital for his shoulder. Oh yeah that's his way off TV.

Here's Magnus with something to say. He doesn't think much of James Storm and doesn't care that Storm's parents didn't give him enough hugs and kisses. That's an image I didn't expect to think of today. Storm played some mind games but what he forgot was the power of a man when his family is threatened. Magnus brings out Mickie James, who is totally fine after that near death thing. Mickie thanks Magnus for always being there for him because he's the man for her.

Cue Storm and Khoya, with the Cowboy saying he's here to talk to Mickie. He thinks Mickie should be be thanking him for not pushing her a little bit harder. Storm didn't want her in the Revolution, but rather to prove how easy it is to manipulate a woman. He could have any woman he wanted but Mickie doesn't seem to take too kindly to this line of thinking.

Mickie would love to take the bet that Storm can't find one woman to be on his side, because she and Magnus will fight the two of them anytime. This was a pretty awkward exchange but at least it gets Mickie back in the ring and maybe some fresh blood in the Knockouts division. One other thing: it's always amusing to hear the commentary reference a match happening but not being able to say who actually won.

Tag Team Titles: Wolves vs. Dirty Heels

The belts are vacant coming in and this is a thirty minute Iron Man match for the fifth match in a best of five series. I'm so glad this is it for these teams as I'm long past over caring about watching them fight. Oddly enough they say that Aries won but couldn't say who won between Storm and Magnus.

Davey and Aries fight into the corner to start before it's off to the partners with the Wolves taking over on Roode's arm. Back to Aries who takes Eddie down as they're clearly taking their time to start. An elbow to the back gets two on Eddie but he easily drives Aries into the corner for the tag. Things speed up a bit with some Wolves double teaming before Eddie suplexes Austin for no cover. Instead it's off to Davey vs. Roode with Richards putting on a kind of reverse Figure Four.

Ever the smart heel, Aries pushes the bottom rope towards his partner for the save. The Heels (stupid meta name) take over in the corner and start working on Eddie's leg to really slow things down. We hit the ten minute mark as the leg work continues. The Heels make a wish on Eddie's legs but he finally snaps off a hurricanrana to make the tag off to Richards. Davey takes over and everything breaks down with Bobby getting tied up in the Tree of Woe, setting up a swan dive into the corner (cool spot) for two.

We take a break and come back with just under twelve minutes to go and no score. Richards is in trouble and Aries' top rope ax handle to the floor makes it even worse. Edwards breaks up a cover with ten minutes to go. Davey breaks up a catapult into a forearm and stomps Roode down, finally allowing the tag off to Eddie. Edwards kicks Roode off the top and hits a backpack Stunner for a very close two. A jackknife cover gets another near fall on Roode and Eddie is stunned.

Now the catapult works with Aries adding a slingshot elbow drop for two of his own. The Last Chancery nearly gets a submission but Davey makes the save. It's not like that move EVER WORKS ANYWAY so I didn't get the drama. The double top rope double stomp gets a VERY close two on Aries and we hit five minutes to go. Roode plants Edwards with a spinebuster and Aries nails the 450 for the first fall with four minutes left.

The Heels get smart by throwing the Wolves to the floor to kill some time and Aries keeps up the intelligence with a suicide dive to take them both out. Eddie starts fighting back at the two minute mark and the powerbomb/Backstabber combo ties things up with about seventy five seconds left. Roode sneaks in with a belt shot to the head for two but Eddie counters the Roode Bomb into a rollup for the pin. The last ten seconds quickly run out and the Wolves get the titles back at 30:00.

Rating: B+. I'm really not wild on the feud as a whole but the last two matches were far more entertaining than the first three. This match was a really good example of a match taking its time and the wrestlers thinking instead of just throwing everything in at the same time. Really well done match here and I never once questioned the Wolves' ability to get two straight falls near the end. That's a very good sign and the match worked really well.

Knockouts Title: Awesome Kong vs. Brooke vs. Taryn Terrell

Taryn is defending and this is one fall to a finish. Brooke and Taryn get in a brawl to start as Kong stomps around the ring. The champ gets double teamed with Kong hitting a corner splash, sending Taryn running to the floor for a breather. Simple heel strategy at least. It's fine with Kong who chinlocks Brooke down and then swings her around by the throat. Taryn comes back in with a dropkick to Kong but she turns around and eats a dropkick from Brooke.

There's a chokeslam from Kong on the champ but the Dollhouse pulls her to the floor for a quick beating. Brooke hits a pretty lame spear on Taryn as Josh wants the Dollhouse gone forever. Yes because the last thing we need are three good looking women on the show. Jade hits a quick Stunner over the top rope to daze Kong, setting up the Taryn Cutter for the pin at 4:44.

Rating: D. This felt like something out of the Divas division, as the match was more about the heel champion escaping than anything about the match itself. It's not the worst I've ever seen, but the Knockouts work better when there's a bit more time for them to work with. Taryn retaining is good though because whoever takes it from her is going to look like a giant killer.

Post match the PLAYTIME IS OVER video comes on again.....and it's Gail Kim. Well of course it is, as it's been at least six weeks since she's been out there reminding us how SERIOUS this is and how she's a real wrestler. I know Kim is one of the best Knockouts ever (and probably the best ever) but she's basically the female Dean Malenko: incredibly talented, but the charisma of a frozen turkey dinner.

It's time for the big sitdown interview with the Jarretts. Here's the whole thing: the last eight days were shocking, there's a future between TNA and Global Force, and Jeff is excited about it. This wasn't even two minutes long.

TNA World Title: Ethan Carter III vs. Kurt Angle

Angle is defending and Carter is undefeated. After some Big Match Intros we're ready to go with the fans sounding pretty much behind the champ. Thankfully the bell rings after a break so we don't have to miss a bunch of time after a few opening seconds. I wish WWE would figure out that mentality. The fans start the dueling chants as we have a very basic standoff to get things going.

Angle takes him down into a wristlock but is all like SCREW YOU NECK TUMOR and starts busting out the suplexes. Carter is sent to the floor and gets suplexed out there as well with Kurt in all fired up mode. Back in and Carter scores with a clothesline for one and it's off to a chinlock. There's the Stinger Splash, followed by a TKO of all things (always loved that move) for two. Angle misses a charge into the post and gets DDT'd (DDP'd according to Josh) on the apron.

Back from a break with Carter holding a full nelson but Kurt easily powers out because neck surgeries mean nothing to him. Both guys are down off a clothesline but it's Kurt quickly up and busting out the suplexes. The Angle Slam is countered so it's time to roll some more Germans. Now the Slam gets two but Carter breaks up the ankle lock and sends Kurt to the floor. Tyrus finally gets involved with a clothesline but the 1%er is countered into another ankle lock.

That goes nowhere so it's back to the Germans because Kurt is really, really repetitive at times. Another Slam gets another two (remember that repetitive thing?) and it's back to the ankle lock, only to have the referee get bumped on the counter. Tyrus takes Angle out and the 1%er gets two more. Well at least they didn't go with the obvious ending. The monster tries to bring in a chair (because monsters need chairs) and gets ejected as Josh becomes a face announcer again by saying it's the right call.

Another 1%er is countered into the ankle lock with the grapevine but Carter actually makes the rope. I can't imagine there are more than five people that have gotten out of the grapevine version so well done there. Another Angle Slam is countered into a rollup to give Carter the title at 20:16.

Rating: B-. Well it was good, but I'm not really sure how I like Carter winning with a rollup. On one hand, I like the idea of having Carter win on a fluke, but this is going to set up another period of Angle chasing the title, which really isn't something TNA needs to do at this point. Angle is still good, but I really do not want to see him near the World Title ever again in all of history. Still though, good match and Carter winning was the only right answer, but this really didn't make Carter feel like anything bigger than he was before.

Overall Rating: B. Good show for the most part here but there were some major issues. The Knockouts Title match and the elimination tag were bad and boring respectfully and the Jarrett interview was more insulting than anything else. The rest was good though and it felt like a major night, but it certainly didn't light anything new on fire.

Results
Beat Down Clan b. The Rising – Drive By to Galloway
Wolves b. Dirty Heels – Rollup to Roode
Taryn Terrell b. Awesome Kong and Brooke – Taryn Cutter to Kong
Ethan Carter III b. Kurt Angle – Rollup


Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Comments

  1. I always wondered about TNA's obsession about stables and only recently realized that it's their lazy way of getting as many wrestlers to be shown on screen as possible.

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  2. He countered a guy's finishing move into a pin. How is that a "fluke"?

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  3. Actually IMO it's a good way of making boring matches interesting. Just a match of two random guys - who cares? BUT If they are in feuting stables, it suddenly makes sense, even if they don't have a "personal" feud.

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  4. Hulu is killing their ratings. I haven't watched it live in months because of a 90 minute recap that is available.

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  5. While Raw ratings are lower than usual I think business in general is solid. There's no competition to worry about, they're still the only wrestling show in town so I guess that's why there isn't the panic of 15 or whatever years ago


    I mean how worried can they be when we have this conversation every other week but still get the same old shit on TV?

    ReplyDelete
  6. kbwrestlingreviewsJuly 3, 2015 at 5:04 AM

    Angle looked like he got caught instead of beaten. He dominated Carter for most of the match and got caught on a quick pin. That's a fluke.

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  7. Doctor FunkopolisJuly 3, 2015 at 5:29 AM

    The correct booking going forward is for EC3 to give Angle his rematch and beat him clean.

    EC3 wrestles a defensive match and beats Angle.

    They just have to be willing to give a hot heel a clean win without turning him face. Post match mega beatdown solves the problem and writes Angle off.

    Angle goes away, comes back and puts him over for good or starts putting over the other guys.

    If...uh...if there are any by that time.

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  8. Sounds like Jeff's written cryptic tweets with more info in them than that interview

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  9. The problem is they did this rating with no competition. No NBA or NHL Playoffs, no major TV shows.... people just didn't care

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  10. Think I told a fake you to fuck off yesterday :/ Looks like the accounts been banned already.

    ReplyDelete
  11. There was a fake me? Even I wouldn't want to be a fake me

    ReplyDelete
  12. Aye this I guess https://disqus.com/by/disqus_5P1vGKPspx/

    It was in the I Quit thread. I made a comment about Dougie and then it came after me! I was like what the hell dude! It's deleted now and I deleted my reply. Should have known troll.

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  13. Some people have way, way, way waaayyyyyy too much time on their hands. Seriously, who sits around and decides to make a fake account?

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  14. No clue. I gotta remember to hover over avatars to check who's real and not these days

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  15. What a sad statement

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  16. MaffewOfBotchamaniaJuly 3, 2015 at 6:05 AM

    Never mind the stables, what's TNA obsession with having the episode of Impact after the PPV often being better than the PPV?

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  17. Well the RAW after WM31 was interesting - until Lesnar had to go.

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  18. Battle Kat LitterJuly 3, 2015 at 6:15 AM

    I'd genuinely rather watch an episode of Wrestling Challenge from 1991 with a main event of Big Bully Busick vs Bob Cook than watch RAW today.

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  19. I don't think anyone's current merchandise options approach 1/10th of Cena's. And that's just on the website. It's even worse at arenas. Self-fulfilling prophecy.

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  20. Even still I get the feeling they don't give a shit, just based purely from RAW every week. They're putting out the same old thing which surely must mean they're content with the ratings they do? Maybe as you say this week is different because they had no competition so we'll see what they do this Monday

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  21. kbwrestlingreviewsJuly 3, 2015 at 6:53 AM

    They're a TV company, not a wrestling company.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Is anything short of WM7 Ultimate Warrior beating Savage with a foot on the chest level good enough for you?

    ReplyDelete
  23. TheOriginalDonaldJuly 3, 2015 at 7:08 AM

    I would have had Robbie E interfering in the Triple Threat match to "get back" at Brooke for dumping him on The Amazing Race

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  24. Sure, and it works the way NJPW does it with stables being relitivly lose affiliations.

    TNA does factions the NWO way where everything they do HAS to be as a unit. The stable existing is always a story itself rather than just being the characters "alignment" so to speak.

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  25. I wouldn't call it a fluke either, it's a clean win.

    It's more like the difference between winning a fight by knockout or on points in terms of what it does for your credibility, so there is something to a roll up vs a strong finish and pin buy fluke is taking it too far

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  26. TheOriginalDonaldJuly 3, 2015 at 7:11 AM

    Don't give Linda any ideas :P

    ReplyDelete
  27. TheOriginalDonaldJuly 3, 2015 at 7:14 AM

    and Ed is Dead, baby #EdsDead :P

    ReplyDelete
  28. TheOriginalDonaldJuly 3, 2015 at 7:14 AM

    Sorry, but The Eagles HAVE reunited

    ReplyDelete
  29. TheOriginalDonaldJuly 3, 2015 at 7:15 AM

    I don't think Jim is going to be the ratings bonanza The Federation thinks he'll be

    ReplyDelete
  30. TheOriginalDonaldJuly 3, 2015 at 7:16 AM

    Ms. Madison is not amused

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  31. Nothing new that hasn't been said here or elsewhere. Set change, format change, inset promos, backstage attacks, stop with the musically-accompanied run-ins, new camera angles, anything to change it up.

    I thought they were on the right track a few years back when they had that one Raw with the boycotted locker room (or whatever it was) and COO HHH trying to salvage a show with what he had to work with. I didn't see the Snowed Out Raw from this past winter, but everyone seemed to rave about it because it was DIFFERENT.

    I don't remember who had the idea (Scaia, maybe?) in the dying days of WCW to turn the "arena" into the equivalent of an open prison. Once the talent gets into the arena, it's open season, no security backstage, would give all of the frivolous backstage segments extra heat, etc. I can't remember all the details, and I'm sure some of them were stupid, but it was different. It would take creative booking to get to a point where your "authority figure" would institute such chaos (hence, it'll never happen), but perhaps Vince actually kicks the bucket and the roster starts some uprising and HHH, as the new "REAL" boss, says he's got too much to deal with in the office and leaves all the wolves to fend for themselves?

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  32. There's also the fact that the heel factions always dominate the show and never actually "lose," they just fall apart from within so the TNA faces never actually overcome anything.

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  33. 🌴🌴🎅 👉. true that Bruce `s blog is surprising... last monday I bought a great new Ariel Atom from making $4032 this-past/five weeks and even more than ten thousand this past-month . it's definitly my favourite-job I've ever had . I started this 5 months ago and almost immediately startad bringin home minimum $77, per hour ....

    You Can See Here....

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    Click☴☵☶☷☱☴☳☷☰☲☴☷☰☱☴☶☳☷☰☲☱☵☳☷☰☲☱☴☳☷

    ReplyDelete
  34. Like the joke goes, these guys don't get how you're supposed to use free TV to sell the PPV not the other way around.

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  35. This is also a major problem.

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  36. They already did an angle about that weeks ago and Robbie's a face now.

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  37. AnInternetToughGuyJuly 3, 2015 at 8:10 PM

    just Another reason TNA is WCW 2.0

    ReplyDelete
  38. kbwrestlingreviewsJuly 4, 2015 at 3:48 AM

    Sure. I didn't dislike the finish. It's just not what I would have gone with.

    ReplyDelete

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