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Showing posts with label Matt Hardy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matt Hardy. Show all posts

AEW All Out (Sept. 5, 2020) -- Results & Afterthoughts



All Out was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It took place on September 5, 2020 at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida. It was the second event in the All Out chronology.

The event was originally slated to take place in the Sears Center, in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, just like the previous edition of All Out were held Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker issued a disaster proclamation, the state's equivalent to a state of emergency, since March 9, which banned large public gatherings due to the COVID-19 pandemic that affected the state. Instead, the event was moved to Daily's Place, where all of AEW's events have been held since March.

Eleven matches were contested at the event, including two on The Buy In pre-show. In the main event, Jon Moxley defeated MJF to retain the AEW World Championship. In other prominent matches, Orange Cassidy defeated Chris Jericho in a Mimosa Mayhem match, FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) defeated Kenny Omega and Adam Page to win the AEW World Tag Team Championship, and Hikaru Shida defeated Thunder Rosa to retain the AEW Women's World Championship.



Match Results:



Singles Match
Joey Janela (with Sonny Kiss) def. Serpentico (with Luther)


A completely rotten match won by arguably the worst talent (or lack of) on the entire AEW roster with the second place candidate taking the L here. I have remotely no clue why you would even start your PPV off with a completely "nothing" match like this that does absolutely NOTHING to garner interest in buying the PPV later tonight.

I remember chatting with a friend and saying that Sonny Kiss was great back in Lucha Underground, but I feel that him being associated with Janela is going to only bring him down. Kiss' glass ceiling is going to be whether or not the TNT Network (and more importantly mainstream wrestling as a whole) is ready to accept an extremely flamboyant wrestler (that's not a complete gimmick nor parody) as a serious competitor. He fit right in with the exoticos in Lucha Underground, but it's hard for me to tell what his shelf life is going to be in this company long-term.





Tag Team Match
Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) def. The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds and John Silver)


I couldn't give a flying fuck about this match. It's the same as every other Private Party match, but just against the bottom of the rung guys in the Dark Order. The boys in PP do some nice spots but their basics STILL need a lot of work.


I LOVE Private Party's finish though.


I still can't help but chant "SPOTS! SPOTS! SPOTS!" during their entrance theme now after making that joke a while back.








Tooth and Nail Match
Big Swole def. Britt Baker (with Rebel) by knockout


I'm sure Big Swole is a nice person outside of wrestling in her personal life, but as an onscreen character and an in-ring talent, she's fucking horrible. I don't see why this company invested so much time into this nothing feud. While I love Britt Baker's heel persona, I'm fed up with all of these "role models" in mainstream wrestling, whether it's Madison Rayne in IMPACT as the "Locker Room Leader", Sasha Banks & Bayley in WWE as the "Golden Role Models", and here with Baker as the "Roll Model". I'm just sick and fed up of hearing that shit. Come up with something else original that not everyone and their grandmothers are using right now. I want to add that as much as I like Britt Baker's heel persona, I never thought her in-ring skills were much to write home about either, despite the fact she has a pretty sick submission finish. Reba's reactions (Rebel) was the best thing about this "cinematic" match - if you could even call it that. If this was supposed to be a dig at WWE's cinematic matches, then they definitely have a lot to learn in terms of cinematography.


Britt Baker stabbing herself with her own needle that loaded with numbing agent.

Britt Baker lost the match after falling victim to her own laughing gas/sedation.


At the end of the day, I thought the finish was creative, but Britt Baker buried it when she woke up immediately following the decision. She's a fucking dentist after all, so she should know how long laughing gas/sedation would keep someone under. C'mon, now. In either case, I'm ready for both of these women to move on to another feud. 







Tag Team Match
The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) def. Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) (with Marko Stunt)



I hate to admit it, but I honestly liked this match more than the AEW Tag Title match later in this show. It didn't overstay it's welcome and it showed the best of both teams here, even though I wasn't too crazy about how much stuff Jungle Boy was kicking out of at the end. I thought the Jurassic Express should have pulled off the upset towards the end, but of course, the BTE boys had to turn things around for the win. To their credit though, I like seeing them working with a more serious "edge" them now as if they are teasing a heel turn too, much like they have been planting the seeds to the point that it's inevitable with Kenny Omega for the last few months now.








21-man Casino Battle Royale
Winner received a future AEW World Championship match
Lance Archer won by last eliminating Eddie Kingston


Casino Battle Royale entrances and eliminations
DrawEntrantOrderEliminated byEliminations
ClubsTrent9Lance Archer1
Christopher Daniels2Jake Hager0
Jake Hager6Sonny Kiss1
The Blade1Will Hobbs0
Rey Fenix4Darby Allin0
DiamondsFrankie Kazarian12The Butcher1
Will Hobbs16Lance Archer1
Chuck Taylor5Santana and Ortiz0
Santana8Trent?1
Ortiz10Lance Archer1
HeartsBilly3Brian Cage0
Penta El Zero M11Frankie Kazarian0
Ricky Starks13Darby Allin0
Brian Cage17Lance Archer3
Darby Allin14Brian Cage2
SpadesShawn Spears15Matt Sydal0
Eddie Kingston20Lance Archer1
The Butcher18Matt Sydal1
Sonny Kiss7Brian Cage1
Lance Archer-Winner5
JokerMatt Sydal19Eddie Kingston2




Matt Sydal pulled the Joker card and made his AEW debut in this match, only to deliver the first scary as hell moment on this show when he slipped and fell off the ropes while attempting to do a Shooting Star Press. That scared the hell out of me seeing it live and I thought we were watching that guy break his neck from how bad that was. Fortunately, he was fine and was able to complete the match. As of this posting (9/11/20) he hasn't reported any injuries.


Introducing Will Hobbs. One of AEW's best kept secrets tucked away on AEW Dark...


This match marked the standout performance of Will Hobbs. Now where have they been hiding this guy? Dude was on par with Big E's size while showing off Keith Lee's power and ability. This is a guy they should be featuring on Dynamite instead of regulating to Dark every week.

Seems like AEW is just pairing people off to rekindle old Lucha Underground dynamics and/of feuds as that was the exact vibe I got from Sonny Kiss eliminating Jake Hager. Kiss/Janela are already booked to face Hager/Jericho on Dynamite this week as payback from Jericho's brutal attack on Janela the week prior in his "warm-up" match for Cassidy later tonight.




Stupidest bump of the night (up to this point anyway) went to Brian Cage performing a Border Toss on Darby Allin trapped within a body bag full of thumb tacks to land on the corner of the stage/ramp. There was absolutely no reason to do this bump but a million and one ways that this could have ended horribly wrong. This wasn't cool nor amazing to watch. It was just fucking stupid.

I was fine with Lance Archer picking up the win here, but it pretty much spoiled the main event in a sense. You knew that AEW are marks for that New Japan style matches and feuds, so you know that they want to setup the Wrestle Kingdom rematch between Lance Archer and Jon Moxley at Full Gear.








Broken Rules Match
Matt Hardy def. Sammy Guevara
Had Hardy lost, he would have had to leave AEW


The match started out into the stadium arena where the Stadium Stampede Match took place at their last PPV and quickly spilled out into the backstage area/parking area. One thing led to another that set Sammy and Matt up on a raised platform that saw Sammy SPEAR Matt Hardy off the platform, seemingly to go through the two tables that were set up below. What happened instead was their lower bodies hit ONE of the tables while the back of Matt Hardy's head hit the unforgiving concrete below.




This was the moment where I was absolutely disgusted with this company. I've seen wrestling podcasters, journalists, wrestlers, and even the die-hard of their fanbase express their absolute disgust with how AEW handled this situation.





As of this posting (9/11/20), Reby Hardy (Matt's wife) has reported that Matt Hardy has suffered a concussion when he was checked out at the hospital that evening and was kept for more testing Sunday. On the other end of things, Tony Khan has been removing all of the blame on himself and pointing it towards the ring doctor who checked Hardy out and clarified that Matt was able to continue after administering a concussion impact test. There's no way in hell that they ran an impact test when the match was restarted within the span of 3-4 minutes after Matt Hardy was knocked out unconscious for at least 45 seconds. That tells you right there that there's no sort of concussion protocol in place nor that Tony Khan have the slightest idea of how to administer one, despite the fact that he owns a fucking football team. This entire incident showed me a complete lack of proper leadership and this money mark - that's all what he is at this point to me - only cares about booking his fantasy matches and jerking off to high spots no matter who gets hurt as long as it pops a rating. It's HIS fucking company. He could have easily overruled the doctor to stop this match. Stipulation or not, this match should have been stopped the moment Matt Hardy was knocked unconscious for his own safety. Instead, Khan is giving his company a very bad look not only to his fanbase but to the wrestling industry as a whole for this false narrative that he is painting with how this entire situation played out Saturday night.






But yet, you have ass-hats out there like Dave Meltzer is siding with Tony Khan on this decision.  Like seriously, how much is that dude paying you to blow him every week in your writing and radio shows dude? Anyone with a fully functioning brain could tell that Matt Hardy suffered a concussion in that match. You could see it in Ref Aubrey's face when it turned pale when she trying to get him to respond. That was arguably the hardest moment to watch as wrestling fan out of my 30+ years of being a fan. When I saw Matt Hardy's head hit that concrete and his body stiffened up like he was frozen, I thought we just saw that man die live on PPV and it legitimately scared the shit out of me for the second time tonight during this broadcast. If I saw a man die on this broadcast tonight, I can guarantee you that I would not have come back to watch this sport again.




For me personally? I'm siding with Konnan and Disco Inferno on this discussion.

Seriously, this should be the last straw and wake up call for every fan out there that fails to realize week to week that these reckless, downright STUPID, and completely unnecessary bumps (especially with or without crowds) aren't needed to make any match any better. That doesn't just go for AEW, but for all of modern wrestling as a whole.







Singles match for the AEW Women's World Championship
Hikaru Shida (c) defeated Thunder Rosa


I was hyped for this match ever since it was announced and they did the mock MMA contract signing for it between both respective champions.


Watching this live was pretty darn tough after the horror show that we witnessed with the Matt Hardy situation, but Rosa and Shida definitely had my favorite match of the evening by far. If you don't watch anything else from this shit-storm of a PPV, go out of your way to watch this match. This is EASILY the best thing on this show and not only the second best women's match in this company's history. That's shocking too when Thunder Rosa and Serena Deeb killed it on Dynamite a few days prior to this event.


Another completely unnecessary, reckless bump that could have EASILY ended horribly, like many things on this card.

The only knock I have against this match was the diving senton spot out onto the stage where if Thunder Rosa's head and neck was any closer to those steps from the entrance ramp that Shida would've killed or paralyzed her from the landing. Can ANYONE in this fucking company tell these people enough is enough when it comes to these reckless and completely unnecessary bumps? Seeing that spot really made me mad, especially after what we saw with Matt Hardy in the match prior to this.

Outside of that one knock, this match raised the bar for women's wrestling in this company. I felt sorry for the folks who had follow this act. NWA's Thunder Rosa may have lost here, but she has put on two standout performances in every match AEW has featured her in.








Eight-Man Tag Team Match
Matt Cardona, Scorpio Sky, and The Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall) (with Allie and Brandi Rhodes) def. The Dark Order (Brodie Lee, Colt Cabana, Evil Uno and Stu Grayson) (with Anna Jay)



This was easily the bathroom break match of the night and should have served as the buffer following the Matt Hardy situation. Piss poor match order placement in regard of having these matches following that event. If the crowd was struggling to cope with what had transpired in the last match then they really didn't care about this shit. I know I sure as hell didn't. Hell, I didn't even know that Brodie Lee was even in this match until it started. I thought it was going to be full of more of standard losers of the Dark Order. To be fair though, Stu Grayson and Evil Uno are decent workers. I'll give them that much, but they are saddled with this gimmick that is utter shit, no matter what AEW does to polish this turd.

Can someone explain to me why Brandi Rhodes is already back to managing the Natural Nightmares? She couldn't sell that attack that her and Cody suffered for a few weeks at least? She stayed out for what felt like a goddamn week or two only to show up at the PPV like nothing happened. She only came out here to contribute to some of the run-ins in this match, namely to get some payback on Anna Jay (who strangled her to death during the assault on Cody) - when Allie could have done that to the same capacity. The Nightmare Family has all of these managers and extra sidekicks and associates that they are starting to look as foolish as the Dark Order as the weeks and months have rolled on since the start of AEW. Speaking of friends, Matt Cardona sure looks like he's taking full advantage of not being tested on WWE's Wellness Policy. Scorpio Sky seemed like he was just there to be the extra guy on this mash-up of guys who needed to be in this filler match that should have been relegated to Dynamite the following week.

Jim Ross got a lot of heat online for his wardrobe malfunction comment he made towards Anna Jay on commentary. I laughed hearing it live, but at the same time, it just adds to the laundry list of questionable moments of him on commentary since signing with this company. It just adds to the proof that JR doesn't give a flying fuck working here as long as he's just collecting that fat paycheck while squandering away his own credibility by endorsing this tomfoolery going on in this company with his name and voice attached to it.

And for the record, I can't speak for anyone else, but while I think that Dustin Rhodes has had a career renaissance since the tail end of his last WWE run to now in terms of his ring work, I don't give a damn about seeing him face Brodie Lee for the TNT title on Dynamite. I don't understand why they are rushing this match, along with having Brandi coming back so soon, when they could afford to space this out a bit. Let the Dark Order breathe a bit and garner more big wins if they are so dead set on establish them as this "dominant" faction (laughs), even though they are no less threatening than Aces & Eights (BEFORE Bully Ray was revealed as the leader) at this point.




Tag Team Match for the AEW World Tag Team Championship
FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) (with Tully Blanchard) defeated Kenny Omega and Adam Page (c)


I watched this match twice - once live and again a few days later to make sure I didn't miss anything. I don't fault the talents involved, but I didn't think this was a very good match at all. The best tag team match on the card goes to the Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express in my humble opinion. FTR against Omega and Page felt like a styles clash at multiple points in this match. The lack of a pumped, enthusiastic crowd for this match hurt it even more, along with the fact that Omega was half-assing the selling of the limbs that FTR were tirelessly working over. Working over Omega proved to be for nothing when Page was the one who got pinned when it was all said and done. Did I miss something or did they do the exact same finish twice before covering Hangman for the win?

After the match was won by FTR, Omega immediately quit selling his leg (even though he was barely doing it during this match, if at all) and went outside of the ring to get a table. He TEASED using it on Page to complete the heel turn that everyone is anticipating at this moment and thought better of it before storming into the back with the Young Bucks. They seem to be teasing a heel turn for the Elite collectively instead of solely with Omega. I'm fine with that if they are going forward with Hangman being a lone wolf babyface.

Even though I wasn't happy with the match as a whole, I'm glad that the tag team title are with FTR, who can confidently call themselves the first tag team to hold the NXT, RAW, SmackDown, AND AEW Tag Team Championships.





Mimosa Mayhem match
Orange Cassidy def. Chris Jericho by knocking him into the vat of mimosa
Match could be won by pinfall, submission, or fully submerging an opponent into a vat of mimosa


This was just there at this point as I kept looking at the clock in my room. It was past 11PM after this point. I get that AEW doesn't have too many PPVs over the year, but by this point we were clocking in roughly 6-7 hours of AEW content in one night if you watched the Countdown to All Out on TNT, the Buy-In Pre-show, and the Red Carpet specials on YouTube - along with this PPV in its entirety to this point. I was pretty much waiting for the bump into the mimosa and Jericho didn't disappoint in that regard at all.







Singles match for the AEW World Championship
Jon Moxley (c) defeated MJF (with Wardlow)
Moxley was banned from using the Paradigm Shift finishing move


Time and time again and I honestly don't see what's the fascination with Moxley as a world champion. I didn't see it in WWE and I REALLY don't see it here in AEW. Out of the three guys in The Shield - Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Dean Ambrose (now Jon Moxley), Moxley was the easily the short end of the stick. I think that it's ironic that while he went off on podcasts and interviews after leaving WWE that he was frustrated with being the "wacky Dean" character on WWE programming, he still gives off that vibe here when he's trying to splice in elements of Stone Cold Steve Austin too. I have tried to give him the benefit of a doubt but there hasn't been a single Moxley match in this company that I have seen that I have been blown away by in any capacity. Ambrose bored me to tears in WWE and Moxley is repeating that trend in AEW. I'm really starting to see why Vince McMahon (much like Brodie Lee) didn't have faith in him as a top draw. This match had a lot of ass-backwards psychology going on, with MJF working majority of the match from underneath as the heel while Moxley was in control as the babyface no less. It didn't make much sense to me, especially when they kept dragging this match along and it was minutes to midnight at this point of the show. Watching this match live, I was just beyond fed up and ready for this show to end. 


A Paradigm Shift ends the match regardless of the fact it was banned.


Like I mentioned earlier, the end result wasn't a surprise in the least when you already knew that Lance Archer won the Casino Battle Royal for the future title shot against Moxley. This company isn't stupid. They want to do the Wrestle Kingdom rematch from this year that New Japan can't capitalize on. I will give AEW props for the finish here as that was a nice touch as it gives MJF an out and something to complain about like all shit-eating heels do. 


Afterthoughts:



Overall, I thought this was AEW's most embarrassing PPV outing to date. I was downright disgusted with this company by the time it was over. This show, from top to bottom, should be a wake-up call for every wrestling fan thinking that this company does no wrong when that is the furthest thing away from being true.

I'm not the only one saying this either. You got a wealth of people calling out AEW for this bullshit tonight with a few noteworthy tweets below.












Without a shadow of a doubt, All Out (2020) will live on as a complete embarrassment for this company. The honeymoon period is CLEARLY over and we need to stop giving AEW a free pass when it comes to constructive criticism and grade them in the same capacity as IMPACT, WWE, or any other promotion under the sun. A lot of stupid shit went down on this show and AEW along with Tony Khan should be called out for it, no matter how much you may love the talent that works here or want to see an alternative "topple" WWE. If Khan expects AEW to survive long term and no one doesn't end up killing themselves on his programming then he needs to really start telling these guys and girls NO when it comes to some of this reckless abandon that I see on these shows on a regular basis. It's not cool - it's goddamn stupid and that's exactly what we need to be calling it as.


As of this posting (9/11/20), the All Out fallout edition of Dynamite has come and gone. Matt Hardy appeared on Dynamite, accompanied by his wife, Reby Hardy with their infant child in the crowd, and thanked all of the fans for their support in that dire situation on Saturday night. He apologized for scaring everyone, his family included, for putting them through that traumatic experience, but I felt that Tony Khan should have made a rare appearance on-camera and apologized not only to Matt Hardy, but Reby Hardy as well, for allowing that match to continue when Hardy wasn't in any shape to continue it just to do the finish spot. Instead, Khan continues to brush this whole situation under the rug and sweep all blame away from himself. If you go onto AEW's Twitter page, you will notice that they have removed all traces of Matt Hardy's infamous fall off their account. Between how this company has mishandled that situation and the stupidity that allowed on this program on a regular basis, I can't see Tony Khan as nothing more than a money mark. I'm sorry, but he hasn't shown me anything to make me think any different.

During an interview on Dynamite, Kenny Omega clarifies that everything between himself and Hangman Page is fine, but the more he talks it seems to be that he's teasing a return of "The Cleaner" from his days in New Japan while the Young Bucks seem to be going "all in" on this heel turn for The Elite. Omega needs to do something as compared to a year ago, his stock value in wrestling has drastically gone down. He's nowhere as the high profile free agent that was in high demand this time last year. Being a giving performer in this business is one thing, but you don't be so giving that it's detrimental to your own career. Omega and the Bucks should have taken the reigns at the start, much like Chris Jericho and THEN put over guys to bring them up to their level. One year later, it seems like it's going to be all for nothing when only the AEW die-hards still think those guys are in high demand anymore.

Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford revealed that Miro - the former "Bulgarian Brute" Rusev in WWE - is their "best man" for their pending wedding. Miro came out to the same song and dance as every other ex-WWE guy coming into this company or IMPACT Wrestling for the last decade and a half, saying how they were misused and denied a brass ring. I'm sorry but I'm not feeling sorry for him with that shit. Same goes for a lot of ex-WWE talent. No one held a gun to your head and MADE you sign those renewal contract deals for all of those years you stayed there. Don't be mad now that the checks stopped coming in. That was your own stupidity. The best way to get back at WWE is to rub your newfound success in their faces, not constantly bring up the past looking for some sort of a pity party. Rusev, now Miro, had a lot of high-profile matches for WWE. I can't say that they completely misused the guy when his ultimate downfall was him and his own wife, Lana, went to TMZ and told him about their real life wedding when they were in divorce storyline on camera. I don't blame WWE for burying him for killing kayfabe on what was a great gimmick and pairing at the time. In regard to Miro in AEW, I don't have any high expectations for this lackluster debut. All I'm going to say is that it's "nut up or shut up" time.

FTR held a "celebration" of sorts on Dynamite to celebrate their win with the entire tag team division, but I was more surprised that they didn't get their faces dunked into that sheet cake that they brought out. Instead, all of the tag teams at ringside were able to enjoy it at their leisure. That definitely has to be a first for modern wrestling that a cake was shown on television and not ruined in any capacity. On a positive note, I'm anxious to see who FTR works with next in hopes of elevating this tag team division because that mess with Hangman and Omega didn't click at all.

NWA's Women's Champion Thunder Rosa walked away from All Out in a losing effort, but I think between her match on Dynamite and on All Out, she opened a LOT of people's eyes who weren't aware of nor familiar with her talents prior to her appearances for this company. I'm glad to see that she's getting a chance to defend her title next week on Dynamite with one of her fellow Lucha Underground alumni, Ivelisse. Meanwhile, Shida seems to be pegged to resume her feud with Nyla Rose yet again. AEW signed Tay Conti from the Deadly Draw Women's Tag Team Tournament this week. She lost to Rose on Dynamite, but I hope we see more of her. She's still pretty green, despite being trained at the WWE Performance Center, but she shows a lot of promise, especially more than a lot of the other women in that division.

As for that Dustin Rhodes vs. Brodie Lee match for the TNT Championship, I walked out of the living room and did the dishes in the kitchen over watching the bulk of that match. Naturally (no pun intended), Dustin lost. Who didn't see that coming? They aren't going to take that title off of Brodie Lee after that massive injury angle they did with Cody to write him off television. He's probably isn't going to lose that title until Cody is ready to come back. I doubt we have to wait long as they were airing vignettes for him during All Out and he's being advertised for appearing on another television show, so we know he's not hurt. It's not like this company keeps up much kayfabe to begin with.
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TNA Slammiversary (June 12, 2016) & Impact Wrestling (June 14, 2016) -- Results & Afterthoughts



Slammiversary (2016) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). It took place on June 12 at the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida. It was the twelfth event under the Slammiversary chronology and the first event in the 2016 TNA PPV schedule.

Fatal 4 Way for X-Division Championship - Eddie Edwards def. Trevor Lee (c) vs. DJ Z and Andrew Everett to become NEW X-Division Champion


Amazing match to kick off this PPV event. I thought it was a nice touch to eject Gregory Helms from ringside too. About time that they let Everett and Trevor Lee stand on their own two feet, even though Helms looked like a Bond villain in his snazzy new suit.

The Tribunal (w/ Al Snow) def. Grado & Shera


This was just horrible from start to finish. I feel bad that the Legionnaires left NXT from one stupid storyline/angle to come to TNA in another. I wish they would do something more with Shera than him being a dancing goof. Grado showed promise in X-Division, why not have him go back to that? I can say the same about Rockstar Spud as well...

Also, can someone take that whistle away from Al Snow? Then again, I rather hear that instead of Allie's high pitched wailing and screaming at ringside...

Maria Kanellis vs. Gail Kim


Speak of the devil... here comes Allie with her high pitched shrieking at ringside during the next match. Sucks to see this match cancelled at the last second, but Billy Corgan made a nice save as the on-screen authority figure here to assess the situation by adding Gail Kim into the Knockouts title match.

Triple Threat Match for Knockouts Championship Match - Sienna def. Jade (c) and Gail Kim to become NEW Knockouts Champion


I felt a little bad for the ladies here because the crowd wasn't really into the match. Here's the thing. TNA Knockouts have ALWAYS put on acceptable matches; long before they signed women like Paige and the Forse Horsewomen and WWE started their "so-called" Divas Revolution. It's just that their crowds are conditioned to their women's matches not being the bathroom breaks of the night. This wasn't a bad match by any margin - it just lacked the crowd being hyped for it.

I think after the X-Division opener then with the crap that followed next, they didn't really perk back up yet to the wrestlers.

I was fine with the finish that saw Marti Bell (I laughed when a lot of people on social media thought she was Layla during the live broadcast...) screw Jade out of the win for Sienna to pick up the gold. It does two things simultaneously. One, Maria Kanellis' faction with Allie and Sienna has all of the power in the Knockouts division going forward

James Storm def. Braxton Sutter (Pepper Parks)


Not a bad match, especially with the emotional journey of Pepper Parks, now Braxton Sutter, coming to TNA. Pretty cool factoid to know that James Storm has worked ALL 14 Slammiversary events in TNA history. That being said, I didn't agree with Storm getting the win here. Given the build-up of Sutter, you'd think that he would get an emotional first "big" win of his TNA career tonight, but nope. This was over a bit too quick for my taste. They should've taken time from that horrible Grado/Shera vs. Tribunal match and gave it to these guys.

TNA Tag Team Championship Match - The Decay (c) def. BroMans (w/ Raquel)


There were lots of false finishes in this one to get the blood flowing back into this crowd to bring them back to life. I was ready to get salty the second it looked like the BroMans were about to win. FAR too soon for the Decay to be losing to anyone for the tag titles right now in my honest opinion. Plus, Raquel needs to educate her "boys" some more. I'm sure there's a lot more lessons she can teach them before they find success at the top of the division again.

Speaking of which, I wasn't too crazy about the finish as it really didn't make sense. Raquel attacked Rosemary (I dug that because it's good to start setting up more new Knockouts feuds as Gail Kim can't hold this thing together forever... On top of that, how many high profile feuds does she really have left is a better question...) then Robbie E and Crazzy Steve pulled their own girls off of each other, only for Rosemary to run back around and distract him AGAIN to allow Abyss to make the finish. I was left scratching my head on that one even though I was happy that the Decay retained the gold.

Full Metal Mayhem - Jeff Hardy def. Matt Hardy


I got to give the Hardy Boys credit. It's 2016 and they are STILL cooking up new crazy spots in TLC/Full Metal Mayhem matches.

"I haven't seen a man more psychotic than Matt Hardy..." A direct quote by Josh Matthews during this match. Obviously he hasn't been paying much attention to the Decay lately...

That spot with the keyboard was fucking stupid though. It looked like it bashed Jeff in the face upon impact (no pun intended). Jeff is lucky that thing didn't knock his teeth out.

I lost count somewhere within the middle of the match but Jeff had to have hit Matt with at least 4-6 Twists of Fate and about 3 Swanton Bombs. Good grief, man.

I don't see how they can keep this feud going from here. Jeff has "killed" Matt like twice now.

EC3 def. Mike Bennett

If you don't see nor realize that EC3 is TNA's biggest star right now, then you're crazy. The crowd turns into Full Sail for NXT when his music hits. This match was a little underwhelming for me. Outside of the numerous near-falls and brawling out of the ring, it was a pretty standard match that could have been on Impact on the weeks leading up to this. I was expecting a lot more in terms of the finish, especially after what Bennett took away from EC3 in terms of his "undefeated" streak.

Sue me. I was expecting something more here to say that they were keeping this feud pretty intense until now and it ends as a pretty standard fair match? Just seemed like a missed opportunity to me.


TNA World Heavyweight Championship Match (Submission/Knockout to win) - Bobby Lashley def. Drew Galloway (c) to become the NEW World Heavyweight Champion


I honestly busted out laughing when Galloway hit the Claymore as soon as the bell rung. I thought it was going to be over that quick. Fortunately, I was wrong and man, they made that one worth the wait. They definitely had me on the edge of my seat as I had no idea who was going to come out as the winner with so many near-falls and false finishes.

I wish Lashley would lose the headband. He looks like the ultimate douchebag wearing that in a wrestling match. That's something you see guys in the NBA wearing not pro wrestlers. (Shrugs) Maybe he should keep it. It's adding to his heel heat as I'm definitely not alone in hating that fashion accessory.

I feel that the loss here doesn't hurt Drew Galloway as it gives him the opportunity to be in the chase yet again. A rising star like Galloway needs more obstacles in his way to challenge him and allow him to grow into an even better wrestler and major player for the promotion.

That being said, this was a fairly decent event, with just about every match other than the Grado/Shera vs Tribunal match being worth the watch. Regardless, I'm sure the TNA haters will find something to complain about here. There's enough to go forward with and build towards future events throughout 2016.


Impact Wrestling (LIVE!! June 14, 2016)

I didn't catch the "live" broadcast since I was napping after work Tuesday evening, but I heard about the technical difficulties that Pop TV had that caused the show to be postponed for over 45 minutes. That wasn't TNA's fault at all, but sucks all round since this was Gold Rush night, which wasn't a bad night of Impact at all. 

Bobby Lashley opens the show with a heel promo, rubbing salt into the wound that he dethroned Drew Galloway and reclaimed the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. I can dig this Lashley. More of this PLEASE, TNA. I was skeptical at first, but I can dig Lashley in this position as the top monster powerhouse heel. EC3 and Galloway were quick to name themselves as challengers, but Galloway was the one who won out on that vie for the title match by cashing in his rematch clause. 

I dunno about that as they could have saved that for the next PPV. I wouldn't mind EC3 getting another run with the gold if it ends up with Mike Bennett scratching and crawling his way up to that position like EC3 did during his "campaign". 

King of the Mountain Championship Match - Eli Drake (c) def. Jeff Hardy


I don't know why they just don't call the KOTM title the TV title again. That's all what it is now as they essentially don't defend the match in a KOTM match for every title defense. Either way, I won't lie - I was half-asleep during this match until the finish that saw Matt Hardy screw Jeff Hardy out of the win for Drake to retain. 

Matt Hardy confronts "Brother Nero"


I said this on Twitter last night too, but Reby's boobs are the biggest stars of this feud. I don't see how Matt is still "disturbed" and "crazy" when he has a hottie like that to go home to. In either case, this confrontation sets up the Hardy Boys' match in a Steel Cage Match next week on Impact. I don't see how they are going to top some of the other crazy spots in this feud other than Jeff taking another one of those scary cage dive/falling spots. 

X-Division Championship Match - Eddie Edwards (c) def. Trevor Lee


This was a far cry from the match from Slammiversary as Gregory Helms was back at ringside and there was more focus on him trying to screw Edwards out of the title instead of focusing on Trevor Lee's athleticism. As much as I like the Helms Dynasty, Helms is holding Lee back in a sense. Helms should just sit back and let his boys handle their business on their own. 

The BroMans Discuss Their Hidden Cameras


I don't blame them at all. I would be all over spying on Raquel. If she's their "trainer" why don't they just ask her to let them hit that? I mean, c'mon now. She has to be interested if she approached them to help them out. 

Dixie Carter Announces Gail Kim as the newest member of the TNA Hall of Fame


(Stands up and applauds) This was LONG overdue, in my opinion. I know many say AJ Styles, Kazarian, Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, James Storm, Bobby Roode, and so many TNA Originals deserve it more, but where are they now? They couldn't give a flying fuck about TNA right now, so let Gail Kim enjoy this. She's been a company loyalist since returning after her "failed" WWE return and there's no denying her impact on the Knockouts division as well as women's wrestling in mainstream wrestling as a whole. Gail Kim is the woman to beat when it comes to women's wrestling in mainstream wrestling. WWE wouldn't have batted another eye at taking their women's division(s) seriously until Gail Kim and the other Knockouts showed that women's wrestling can be a top draw instead of a bathroom break. 

Jeremy Borash interviews Marti Bell for her actions at Slammiversary


I don't mind them taking Marti in a new direction finally. They should've dropped the Dollhouse thing earlier than they did anyway. That stable stayed around well over it's welcome. I'm just happy to see that TNA is back to creating multiple Knockout feuds like they used to back when the division was new instead of focusing on 1-2 women at a time. Don't make the same mistakes that WWE are doing with their women's division.

Fatal 4 Way Match for TNA Tag Team Championship - The Decay (c) def. The Tribunal (w/ Al Snow), BroMans (w/ Raquel) and Grado & Shera


Can someone take that whistle and shove that shit up Al Snow's ass? He's about as annoying as Xavier Woods playing a trombone at ringside. This wasn't as long as the tag team matches on Slammiversary but it worked for what it was worth. With these three teams being the only competition for the Decay, then they don't have to worry about losing the gold before Davey Richards comes back from injury to reunite the Wolves. Goddamn, it's still not as bad as the WWE Tag Team landscape before they signed Gallows and Anderson...

I hope TNA signs a new tag team or injects some new blood into this division. The BroMans with Raquel are decent and all but I can't see them in the chase for the long term of the division.

Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis Express Their Distaste Over Recent Events


This felt a little too much like a wannabe shoot at one point and dragged on longer than it should have, but that slap from Dixie to Maria was LONG overdue. I'm fine with this as long as Dixie doesn't turn into the Stephanie McMahon of TNA where she doesn't put anyone over and chops the legs out underneath from every promising rising star.

I'm anxious to see where they take this as they need to keep pushing BOTH Bennett and Maria in their respective divisions.

TNA World Heavyweight Championship Match (Slammiversary Rematch) - Lashley (c) def. Drew Galloway


The top rope Celtic Cross was a sweet spot along with the exchange that included the Claymore into a ref bump and the pending Spear(s) from Lashley to end it. EC3 getting involved was a nice touch (although VERY predictable) and it sets up a potential triple threat down the road. The repeated Spears on Lashley on Galloway just added to Lashley's mean streak and sheer brutality,


Afterthoughts


It was unfortunate that Pop TV ran into some technical difficulties, especially right after TNA were trying to pick up momentum fresh off a solid PPV outing. Slammiversary wasn't bad at all outside of one match that I mentioned above, but it's going to be a hard sell to get more eyes on their product after Tuesday night's fiasco.

TNA is on the right track if the rumors about Billy Corgan taking more control of the company while Dixie Carter is quietly pushed into the background, despite remaining as an on-air authority figure when needed. I think they need to really focus on elevating the Knockouts, Tag Team, and main event divisions properly and people will definitely begin to care again. The talent has always been there - just need better direction. Since their rebirth on Pop TV, TNA has been putting on much better events than they were on their last lingering months on Spike TV and Destination America. I just wonder if they are going to maintain that time slot after July once WWE Smackdown! goes live on Tuesdays. I highly suggest TNA take the 9PM slot on Wednesdays after Lucha Underground and WWE NXT's new episodes or settle for Thursdays back in Smackdown's old time slot. 
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Impact Wrestling Presents Bound For Glory 2015 -- Results & Afterthoughts


Despite the potential hurricane on the horizon and flooding throughout the Carolinas, Impact Wrestling held their annual Bound for Glory event on Sunday, October 4, 2015 from Charlotte, North Carolina. Many fans believe that this could potentially be the last Impact Wrestling Pay-Per-View event. Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best, right?

Ultimate X Match for X-Division Championship – Tigre Uno def. DJ Zema Ion, Manik, and Andrew Everett to retain the title

Great opening match with a ton of exciting spots to get fans invested for the rest of the show. Everyone busted their asses off in this match. I’m glad that they are using Tigre Uno to legitimize the X-Division again. This division doesn’t need to be on the back burner, it should be at the forefront of TNA programming if they want to regain their former glory in the eyes of wrestling fans.

To the snarky wrestling fans on Twitter who had something to whine about that the match started without a bell, I have a question for you - why watch Impact Wrestling or any wrestling PERIOD if the only thing you're going to do is fucking complain about it. Fans like you are the eye sores of professional wrestling and why the state of the sport is in the mess that it is in currently anyway.

A hurricane swept through the Carolinas last weekend in more ways than one...
Of course, there were people who had something to complain about Gregory Helms showing up too after the match. Sure, the guy works backstage at TNA now and I didn't see it as a way to shoehorn himself into the show. He is a Carolina native as well, much like the Hardy Boys, plus it was a nice "endorsement" to the current X-Division champion to have the longest reigning Cruiserweight champion in history promote the reigning X-Division champion for a job well done tonight.

Bound for Gold Match – Tyrus wins the opportunity to challenge for ANY TNA title in the near-future. Tyrus openly expresses that he’s going for the World title to the dismay of EC3. 

For those who don’t know, this was TNA’s version of the Royal Rumble. I was thoroughly entertained with this match as it had everything that I miss from mainstream wrestling – some LIGHT comedy (thank you Pope/D’Angelo Dinero for that hilarious moment, along with everyone doing the Shera Shuffle at one point of the match), a small bit of nostalgia, and most importantly, great wrestling.

The Shera "Super" Shuffle?
TNA did a great series of teases with potential feuds here as I wouldn’t mind an Abyss vs. Tyrus feud or Jesse Godderz vs. Mr. Anderson (especially since he has a knack for putting young, newer guys over) feud.

By the way, that new O'Shea character is just Jay Bradley with a new gimmick as a wannabe Sheamus.

TNA Tag Team Championship Match – The Wolves def. Brian Myers & Trevor Lee to retain the titles

Brian Myers was formerly Curt Hawkins from WWE while Trever Lee is one of the Hardyz’ students. The Wolves and the team of Myers/Lee have been feuding for weeks building up to this event as part of the “invasion” of Global Force Wrestling and serves as the last remnant of that feud, whether you loved or hated it.

The Wolves are definitely one of the best tag teams in wrestling today and definitely the best TNA has to offer nowadays after most of the other teams have split up or departed (Dirty Heels, the Hardyz, Team 3D, etc.) but Myers/Lee definitely pull their weight in this match as well. This is another exciting match to watch with a lot of false finishes to keep you on the edge of your seats from start to finish.

TNA King of the Mountain Championship Match – Bobby Roode def. Bobby Lashley to retain

I’m glad that these two guys had another opportunity to work with each other as I loved their feud over the World title last year. Roode never got the chance to bounce back from that lost to Lashley when he was steamrolling through everyone that the TNA roster threw at him (like a full-time version of WWE’s returning Brock Lesnar last year). These two have natural chemistry with each other, so you really can’t go wrong here. The exchange near the end of the match which saw Lashley and Roode using each other’s finishers was a little reminiscent of WWE Vengeance 2002, but it just seems like there’s a lot of people “copying” their opponents’ finishers just to be doing it. Before that used to be a rare treat and now it seems like everyone in mainstream wrestling is doing it just for cheap pops. Here, I’m guessing that they wanted that extra “umph” to add to the finale here but the dynamic of them settling the score was more than enough for me. Regardless, this was another solid match on the card.

TNA Knockouts Championship Match – Gail Kim def. Awesome Kong to retain

I was a little disappointed with this one. Awesome Kong dominated Gail Kim for the bulk of the match until the action poured out to ringside, where Gail’s husband (Robert Irvine) got involved. That was a sick spot with the Implant Buster onto the steel chairs at ringside. Somehow, Gail manages to turn it around into a victory to retain the title - via a roll-up. I was expecting Gail and Kong to tear the house down after seeing the NXT Divas emulate the Knockouts’ style over the last two years.

Stick to Restaurant: Impossible, Robert. This is one fight you're NOT
going to win...
Am I the only one who was surprised that they didn’t do anything with the Dollhouse and the Beautiful People on this show or did they already resolve that feud prior to this event?

Kurt Angle def. Eric Young

This was Kurt’s first match back in the company after his neck surgery and I have to admit that I was fearing for Kurt’s well-being after all of the Piledriver spots and trauma to his neck.

EY just killed Kurt, folks.
To those hoping for a WWE return for Kurt, well you’re going to be disappointed. It looks like Kurt doesn’t have much left in the tank but then again, I thought the same thing of Sting when he was wrestling his last few matches for Impact Wrestling before popping up in WWE, so who knows. EY played his cards well as the villain here, but ultimately Kurt came out on top, fighting through the pain and agony like a true “Real American Hero”.

Triple Threat Match for TNA World Heavyweight Championship w/ Special Guest Referee: Jeff Hardy – Matt Hardy def. Ethan Carter III and Drew Galloway to become the NEW champion

This wasn't a bad match at all, but I felt it was a little in bad taste to have Matt Hardy pick up the win here after EC3 has been playing his card as one of (if not the best) pure heels in wrestling today. At least Matt pinning Galloway made sense as that finish kept EC3's undefeated streak intact. I don't think that the loss is going to hurt Drew Galloway as he has a knack for bouncing back from whatever obstacle gets thrown in his way, from the fallout of the Rising vs. Beatdown Clan feud to being the last man standing in the war of Impact Wrestling vs. Global Force Wrestling. I suppose TNA wanted to have Matt Hardy win in the Carolinas to cater to the natives in the crowd, but it would've given EC3 more heel heat to go over their "hero" despite the odds stacked up against him.

Even Baby Maxel was choked up at the moment after seeing his daddy
win the title... 
Matt Hardy winning the gold was a "feel good" moment that was a nice note to end the night on with the Hardy family clan joining the celebration - similar to how WWE tends to love sending everyone home at WrestleMania with a "happy" ending for the fans.

Closing Thoughts

There wasn’t not a single bad match on this PPV – no stupid finishes (other than the questionable roll-up finish to the Knockouts title match), no random interference, no bullshit. I’m still pretty bummed out that I didn’t get to attend the show live and in person, despite having bought tickets but I trapped in South Carolina with the flooding over the past weekend. I was glad to see that TNA managed to get a decent sized crowd for this event that was into the show from start to finish. If TNA keeps this up, maybe – just maybe they can bring people back into watching their product regularly instead of being the butt end of almost every wrestling fans’ jokes.
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