Impact
Wrestling
Date:
July 3, 2014
Location:
Bethlehem Events Center, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Tazz
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
As
usual, things are changing in TNA. After last week, Kurt Angle is
the new TNA boss, which means it's Angle vs. Dixie now which is far
better than Dixie vs. MVP. That being said, MVP still has power due
to owning part of the company but he doesn't have onscreen authority.
In other words, things are overcomplicated and another version of
the exact same idea TNA has been trying for years. Let's get to it.
We
open with a recap of Angle becoming the new boss last week.
Here's
Angle to open things up. He welcomes us to the Red White and Blue
Throwdown, but first of all he has a special announcement. Kurt
invites Earl Hebner out here and reinstates him to right one of MVP's
wrongs. Angle reads the card off a piece of paper before Samoa Joe
cuts him off.
Joe
says that Angle is here to save us with his honor but Joe doesn't buy
it. When is Angle going to give himself a title match? Joe thinks
it's when the knee is healed. Angle claims that Joe has been lazy
lately but Joe goes on a rant about paying his dues while Angle was
in learjets and limousines. If Angle hasn't heard, Joe is pro
wrestling and Angle should be careful what he wishes for.
Kenny
King beats up Bobby Roode in the back.
After
a break, Angle checks on Roode. Bobby isn't mad at Angle because he
wouldn't be here without Kurt. Roode wants a match with MVP after
this. Angle says come with him.
Tag
Team Titles: Menagerie vs. Wolves vs. BroMans
The
Wolves are defending and the Menagerie is the Freak and Knux. It's a
brawl to start with the Menagerie cleaning house. They LAUNCH DJZ
over the top onto everyone else at ringside. Back in and the Freak
suplexes both Wolves at the same time but Jesse tags himself in to
work on Eddie. Jesse works on the arm before bringing in DJZ for a
Hart Attack. DJZ is no Robbie though as it only gets two, allowing
Eddie to hurricanrana both of them down at the same time. A hot tag
brings in Davey who sends the Menagerie into each other. Davey
throws Jesse into the kick from Eddie for the pin to retain at 4:18.
Rating:
C. Nice and fun match here with
all three teams looking decent. The Freak as the mindless muscle is
the right idea for him as his singles pushes haven't worked at all.
The Wolves need opponents so putting them against two teams at once
isn't the best idea in the world. Still though, not bad.
Roode
yells at MVP but MVP can't fight due to the knee injury. Kenny King
is there and gets yelled at as well, but Angle says it's in the ring
in a street fight.
Bobby
Roode vs. Kenny King
MVP
tries to come out but Angle ejects him. Roode, sporting a bad
shoulder from the earlier attack, jumps King in the aisle before the
bell. They fight into the stands and then backstage with Roode being
sent into a wall and covered in garbage. King is thrown off a low
balcony before coming back as they head down to ringside. Roode
backdrops King over the barricade and into ringside. King nails him
with a chair and throws him inside for a cover as the bell rings. A
snap suplex gets two more and King hammers away, but Roode comes back
with the Roode Bomb onto the chair for the pin at 1:58.
Ethan
Carter III says there is no way Bully Ray will put him or his aunt
through a table.
Roode
says Angle gave him exactly what he needed, but MVP and Lashley are
next.
Austin
Aries is with Angle and asks him for a rematch for the X Division
Title. Angle grants the request even though he knows it's for Option
C at Destination X. Kurt wants to face Aries at some point and
Austin likes the idea.
Brittany,
clad in red white and blue, calls out Madison to settle all this.
Madison says she'll fight if need be but Brittany wants to apologize
instead. She's sorry this got so out of hand and that she just
respects Madison. Rayne says she's glad Brittany learned something
and knows how hard it can be to navigate the locker room as the new
girl. They shake hands and Brittany says never meet your heroes
because they'll always disappoint you. She lays Madison out and
sends her into the post before hitting a reverse DDT on the floor.
Bully
Ray yells about Ethan Carter needing a bunch of help to win the Texas
Death match. Tonight, Ethan goes through a table.
MVP
says Eric Young's heart won't help him against Lashley.
Bully
Ray vs. Ethan Carter III
Tables
match. Ray hammers away to start and takes it to the floor where he
rams Ethan into various objects. Back in and Bully does the Flip
Flop and Fly before calling for a table. He takes his sweet time
though, allowing Ethan to nail him with a clothesline. Carter
hammers away and gets in some shots with Ray's chain. He drives in
right hands in the corner but Ray grabs him for a powerbomb. Spud
comes in for a low blow and some double teaming, but Rhyno returns
and Gores....Bully, allowing Ethan to chokeslam Ray through the table
for the win at 7:08.
Rating:
C-. This was all for the angle
instead of the match and there's nothing wrong with that. It's a
sign of the return of the ECW guys because a company that went out of
business thirteen years ago certainly needs another reunion right?
I'm always liked Rhyno though so this isn't the worst thing in the
world. Dixie's team needed another member anyway.
Eric
Young tells Roode he doesn't care about what the paper says. He's
ready for Lashley.
We
recap the Samuel Shaw story. He's been released to Gunner's
supervision. Shaw is back at the arena and sounds nervous but sane.
They run into Anderson and Ken isn't pleased. Gunner says give him
another chance and goes into his story about his friend with PTSD,
because TNA thinks post traumatic stress disorder and being an insane
stalker are the same thing. Anderson says if Shaw has changed, he
can talk to someone else. They go find Christy and Shaw apologizes.
Christy and Anderson don't seem convinced, even though Shaw sounded
both sincere and sane.
Velvet
is all over referee Stiffler who will be refereeing Angelina's match
tonight. Sex is implied if he calls things her way.
Angle
tells Stiffler that he isn't refereeing because it makes TNA look
bad.
Knux
tells the Menagerie that this is wrestling and not the carnival.
Someone wants their money. Knux and Rebel look worried.
Knockouts
Title: Angelina Love vs. Gail Kim
Love
is defending but Brian Hebner is refereeing. They quickly head
outside where Angelina distracts the referee so Sky can post Gail. A
hard clothesline gives the champion a near fall and Kim is tied up in
the Tree of Woe. Velvet snaps Gail's throat across the top rope,
earning her an ejection. Gail comes back with elbows and shoulders
followed by a missile dropkick for two. Kim goes up but gets caught
with a Botox Injection to knock her out to the floor. Love breaks up
the count because she wants a pin but Kim is up at two. Eat Defeat
out of nowhere gives Gail the title back at 6:02.
Rating:
D+. So Gail is champion again.
How exactly does this change anything at all? It feels like these
two have traded the title about a dozen times now and each reign is
less interesting than the previous one. This division is so
creatively bankrupt and they just need something, ANYTHING, new at
this point.
Angle
makes a 20 man battle royal for the #1 contendership to the World
Title for next week.
TNA
World Title: Bobby Lashley vs. Eric Young
Lashley
is defending. MVP is at ringside so Roode comes out to even the
odds. MVP gets caught interfering almost right at the bell so he and
Roode are both ejected. Lashley runs Young over and absorbs some
right hands before knocking Eric to the floor. Young is holding his
ankle and the champion goes after the injury like a smart villain
should. Back in and we get a half crab followed by a DDT on the
ankle. Eric comes back with a dropkick and, after fighting Lashley
off, drops the top rope elbow for two. The leg goes out on a
piledriver attempt and there's the Dominator powerslam. A spear
retains Lashley's title at 7:00.
Rating:
C-. This was fine for what it
was. It knocks Young out of the main event scene after a decent and
surprising run as Lashley gets a clean and dominant win. It would
seem like we're headed towards Lashley vs. Roode at Bound For Glory
and there's nothing wrong with that. Not a great match but for a
title rematch it did its job.
Overall
Rating: C. This wasn't too bad.
Nothing on here really stands out but it did a good enough job of
advancing the stories. The New York tapings seem like the real treat
coming up but this was a nice episode to bridge the gap. Nothing
really significant happened, but the lack of Dixie or any heel
authority figure for that matter is such a nice break. The show
wasn't great but more importantly it wasn't infuriating. That's a
big step in the right direction.
Results
Wolves
b. Menagerie and BroMans – Kick to the chest to Jesse
Bobby
Roode b. Kenny King – Roode Bomb
Ethan
Carter III b. Bully Ray – Chokeslam through the table
Gail
Kim b. Angelina Love – Eat Defeat
Bobby
Lashley b. Eric Young – Spear
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
Actually, that was the 1st time either Love lost it to Gail or vice-versa. All their previous title losses were to other ko's. Hell, I think their match at Slammiversary was the first 1 on 1 title match between them since 2008. Remember, Gail left in 2008 & by time she came back in late 2011, Love was pretty much gone.
ReplyDeleteTrue, but this is the tenth title reign between the two of them. The division still needs something fresh, not the same two getting the title over and over.
ReplyDeleteI actually thought the KO match would have gotten a much higher grade.
ReplyDeleteThey need an influx of talent. Maybe a talent exchange with AAA or Japan.
ReplyDeleteI'd be fine with anything other than the Beautiful People vs. whatever coalition of girls they have at the moment. It always seems to come back to Gail, Angelina, Madison and whoever is hot at the moment. I can't count how many times someone wins a #1 contenders triple threat and then wins the title. It's so repetitive, much like almost everything else in the company.
ReplyDeleteOh I agree, the KO division needs to be a bit freshened up. Not a lot, hell, 2 or 3 new KO's being in the mix would help, but yeah, it does need some new blood, I was just correcting you.
ReplyDeleteGail Kim
ReplyDeleteTNA Knockouts Champion
Then
Now
Forever
At least they didn't have only 4 matches tonight, They were close though.
ReplyDeleteLove's gotten better over the years. There was a time when the BPs were absolute shit.
ReplyDeleteI've only just restarted with TNA (last week was my first show back) but I'm OK with Gail as champ. Wouldn't mind a little new knockout blood. Maybe they could beg Awesome Kong to come back. (What happened to ODB?)
It's TNA so the writer automatically knocks one letter grade off, from what I can tell.
ReplyDeleteNot automatically. When they're doing the same ideas over and over again with little thought put into something I rate it lower.
ReplyDelete"automatically knocks one letter grade off"
ReplyDeleteWhat does this mean?
I don't know why people are putting over EY's title reign. Forget the part about lack of credibility, but did EY have one good match as champion?
ReplyDeleteI just love how they ignore that he went from comedy jobber for 6 years to credible world champ who beat everyone in the span of 7 days. They seem to forget that Daniel Bryan had a solid push where he seldom jobbed clean for the past 2-3 years. SLIGHT difference between the bearded small guys.
ReplyDeleteYeah TNA had a good KO division back when Awesome Kong and Gal Kim were tearing things up and the ratings reflected that, but TNA is allergic to good ratings or something because they quickly did away with that.
ReplyDeleteIt means superjobber is on the level of WCW1987. Not quite Elvy, yet.
ReplyDeleteAnother difference between EY and DB is that DB is way more talented than EY so even if WWE pushed DB as a comedy jobber for years before suddenly giving him the belt, I'm sure DB would eventually get that type of push over because the guy can have great matches with absolutely anyone.
ReplyDeleteAries, MVP, King, Lashley, Roode, Storm, Wolves, Hardy, Bully, Angle, Joe, EC3.....these are the guys I enjoy watching in TNA. They actually have a pretty damn good roster. These NYC shows sound like they are going to be pretty sweet.
ReplyDeleteI just really wish TNA could get it together behind the scenes. They have lucked out, all you can ask and hope for as an organization is a deep talented roster.
His match at Sacrifice was good.
ReplyDeleteI still don't buy him as a credible champion but his reign was far from a disaster. He had some decent matches and defended the title fairly often. It could have been WAY worse is the main thing I'm getting at.
I'll tell you a great way to make an Impact: vote for Hillbilly Jim in the Which Shoot Interview Should Be Reviewed Next poll!
ReplyDelete