TNA Impact Wrestling Review 03/13/15

Episode 10, Season 13 “There Will Be Blood”

Welcome to my first edition of Impact Wrestling Recap here on TJRWrestling.net. It’s a true pleasure writing for someone like John and I hope you’ll enjoy my writing style as I try to convince you that with the ever growing number of quality wrestling out there to watch, that Impact Wrestling should be one of those shows on your list. It won’t be easy, as even as myself being a “TNA Loyalist” of sorts, I’ve now watched my all-time favorite Knockout & Superstar be unceremoniously let go from the company. Those being Velvet Sky & Samoa Joe. Let’s just say that in order to move forward, I will reset the scene for you in TNA Wrestling and might just have a few tangents on the way there.

We open the show with a video recap of the three main feuds that will come to a head tonight Eric Young and Robert Roode in a Last Man Standing Match, Bram vs Magnus, & Rockstar Spud vs EC3 in a Hair vs Hair match. Personally I don’t see why you’d blow off three storylines in one episode, so hopefully at least one of these will continue. My money would be on Magnus/Bram if there is one that does continue. The video ends with the tagline, “There Will Be Blood.” So let’s see if they deliver.

Last Man Standing: Eric Young vs Robert Roode

Kudos to TNA for kicking off the show with one of the marquee matches instead of a 15 minute promo to set up the rest of the show, ala WWE, which TNA is very much guilty of as well. For those that haven’t been watching since TNA moved to Destination America, Eric Young turned heel for the first time in a very long time (Anyone remember World’s Elite? I didn’t think so) by costing Roode his shot at regaining the Heavyweight Title. EY has done a fantastic job in the heel turn, bringing back the Piledriver as a feared move in the business. I know there’s legit concern about the move in Professional Wrestling, but isn’t it all about trust? If the roster in TNA trusts Eric to hit him with it, there’s no reason not to use it to further your turn and storylines. For anyone not familiar with Robert Roode, just know that if you were starting a company from the ground up, Roode would a top 10 pick guaranteed. He’s that good.

We kick off the match hot and heavy, as it should be. The crowd seems very much into this match early on, and Roode gets them even more amped up by bringing a table out quickly. It’s tremendous the difference in crowds TNA gets between Orlando and Europe. It’s a shame it costs them so much to go over there to tape TV because I’d be willing to bet they’d go over there more than once a year if it was fiscally possible. Lots of battling on the outside in this match, and a double clothesline led to a nine count for both men. I felt that was a little too early to draw out a nine count. EY hits a tremendous Piledriver once they’re back in the ring and it too leads to a nine count. That really reinforced for me that they shouldn’t have done that for the clothesline spot. Roode hits a piledriver of his own on a chair for another 9 count. This match feels like it’s coming to an end, but hasn’t hit that next gear yet for a Last Man Standing match. Sure enough they get to the apron side that has the table set up outside and Roode reverses a Piledriver attempt into The Roode Bomb, a hybrid TKO/AA depending on how he hits it, and EY goes through the table hard. Roode gets up at 9 and EY can’t get up.

Winner: Robert Roode

They got about 20 minutes TV time, but as stated before, I didn’t think they hit the next gear in this match, especially if this is their last battle. I like both guys though, so I’m interested to see where they go next.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_cbGNxXWW8

We follow up the match with a look at Magnus entering the arena with the lovely Mickie James and then Jeremy Borash, who’s previously had his head shaven by EC3, talking to Rockstar Spud about his match. We head to commercial.

Coming back from commercial, we get a recap of Drew Galloway (FKA McIntyre) and his debut thus far in TNA. Galloway is a star, there’s no other way to say it. If all you can remember of him is his stint in 3MB, go do yourself a favor and see what he’s been up to in the Indys since leaving WWE. He SHOULD be a major acquisition for TNA and hopefully they portray him as such. Drew’s angle thus far is “Stand Up for Professional Wrestling” and being the guy that the fans choose. He’s been getting into the Beatdown Clan’s business since debuting and Drew comes out to cut a promo to talk about it. He ends up cutting most of the promo in the crowd which I thought was a real cool touch. The BDC make their appearance on cue. It’s almost infuriating to see Samoa Joe in the group, just because TNA films their shows so far in advance and knowing that he’s no longer with the company. MVP cuts a really good promo on Drew and we’re gonna have a one on one match.

Drew Galloway vs. MVP

I’m not a soccer fan, but MVP has some awesome Manchester United custom wrestling gear on. Match was joined in progress with Drew on the offensive. Not much to recap in this match as about three minutes in after some typical back and forth, Drew goes for the Future Shock DDT and the BDC minus Joe, naturally come back for the 3 on 1 beatdown. Pun intended. Joe comes out as they drag Drew outside and hands Low Ki a steel pipe to hit Drew with. It was Drew who busted open Low Ki for real with a pipe when Drew debuted, so it was good to bring in that real life element to this segment. Drew ends up being the first person to spill blood on the episode entitled “There Will Be Blood” so at least TNA hasn’t lied to us. This storyline will obviously continue and I look forward to a longer match between Drew and MVP.

Winner by DQ: Drew Galloway

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7vjVQ2HU7Y

We get another look at Magnus and Mickie James backstage as he prepares for Bram tonight. Mickie is concerned and wants to be ringside, but Magnus won’t have it. Anyone wanna bet she still shows up during the match?

Back from commercial we get another look at Rockstar Spud & EC3 as tonight’s main event. EC3 cuts a promo saying he’s been undefeated for 16 months beating the likes of Sting & Bully Ray. He’s sorry he has to do what he has to do to Rockstar Spud, but Spud asked for it. This leads us to the Magnus/Bram recap.

Magnus vs. Bram

For those that don’t know, Bram is one of TNA’s hidden gems. I’m a huge fan of his. Plus he’s married to Charlotte in WWE, so he’s definitely got that going for him as well. This is your typical “best friend in trouble, so you try to save him, he turns on you anyways” storyline with Magnus playing the babyface. They’re also playing off the fact that Bram knocked out Magnus with a pool cue ball a while back and Magnus may not be cleared to wrestle yet.

Very physical match to begin with and an interesting “Let’s Go Magnus/Let’s Go Bram” dual chant going. I figured they’d be fully supportive of Magnus. But that goes to show the work Bram has done lately. Good story in the match of Bram focusing strictly on the head of Magnus before Magnus hits a dropkick from the 2nd rope to get some separation. While both men are on the mat, I win the bet with myself as Mickie James has shown up for support. Magnus fires up after she shows up, but Bram puts a stop to it with a clear low blow getting himself DQ’ed.

Winner by DQ: Magnus

Post match, Bram immediately goes for a chair and lays waste to Magnus while the ref is trying to prevent Mickie from getting in the ring for her own protection. Luckily they had Tazz clear that up on commentary because it looked like the ref was trying to portray he was distracted even after the match was over. Bram ends up using a zip tie to keep Magnus attached to the rope and goes to use the cue ball again on him. Mickie stops him from doing that, but ends up in the clutches of Bram. Magnus showing some good emotion screaming “I’ll F–king Kill You!” very audibly on camera towards Bram. Bram says that he looked up to Magnus but Magnus now looks up to him, so if he wants him to let Mickie go, Magnus needs to kiss his boot. Mickie tells him not to, but he does it and Bram has proven Magnus is beneath him. Really strong segment and as predicted, this looks like the storyline that will continue.

We return from commercial with a Beatdown Clan backstage promo that included a lot of open ended questions from Low Ki that don’t go answered. So thanks for that. MVP says the blood has just begun to flow. We’re back to ringside and DJ Z is out to introduce Robbie E who comes out with Jessie and Angelina Love. Velvet Sky, we miss you.

Robbie E vs. Brooke

Robbie E looks like he’s preparing for a boxing match and Brooke just shakes her ass a lot. So edge goes to Brooke. I’m not a big fan of inter gender matches, much like what Lucha Underground does, but this has been an ongoing storyline for TNA. Brooke and Robbie dated previously and were on CBS’ The Amazing Race and actually did quite a nice job on the show before being eliminated. This storyline plays off of all of that. Lot of comedy early in this match and as Brooke tries to get an advantage, Angelina grabs her ankle from the outside. There was a body press to the outside onto Angelina that was very awkwardly edited, so I’m not sure if Brooke screwed it up or not. The match ends with Jesse going to dropkick Brooke, but she moves and he hits Robbie to allow Brooke to get the pin. Less was definitely more here.

Winner: Brooke

Back from commercial and Josh Matthews hypes up next week’s big main event for the TNA World Title, Kurt Angle challenging Bobby Lashley. A good video package for both men & I’m very interested to see this match as Kurt hasn’t had a high profile 1 on 1 match in quite some time. We then go to Rockstar Spud coming out before we head to another commercial. There’s about 30 minutes left in the show as we go to break, so this match/angle is going to get plenty of time.

Hair vs Hair Match: Rockstar Spud vs EC3

The backstory on this rivalry is that Spud used to be EC3’s best friend/lackey. EC3 is of course the nephew of Dixie Carter & has been given a very solid push since he debuted over a year ago. For those uninformed, he was Derrick Bateman in WWE and was grossly underutilized as he has charisma pouring out of him in my opinion. Spud was hilarious in his role as a heel with EC3 and has actually managed to develop a bit of charm as the underdog babyface. Spud is the hometown hero of sorts for this match, as he grew up about 200 miles away according to the announcers.

There was a fun early spot where Spud dropkicks EC3 while he’s sitting in the barber’s chair that’s set up outside. EC3 sporting quite the bulky arm brace after tearing his bicep late last year. Spud hits a huge top rope front senton splash onto EC3 on the outside that gets a great ovation from the crowd. But not long after this, Tyrus (FKA Brodus Clay) comes out and powerbombs Spud on the floor. Tyrus has taken over as EC3’s lackey, but he’s more of a bodyguard now with his size. Mr. Anderson quickly comes out to even the odds as he’s been the one to help Spud even the odds lately, and delivers a Mic Check to Tyrus on the outside. EC3 then lays out Anderson with that arm brace and then delivers a Roaring Elbow with the brace to Spud, who immediately is busted open. Spud is bleeding quite a bit that leads to a great visual of him slumping down EC3’s body and EC3’s chest covered in his blood. Jeremy Borash ends up coming in after a few minutes of this and giving EC3 a low blow that leads to a Stone Cold Stunner (A Spud Stunner?) that draws a very near fall that the crowd nearly came unglued for.

TNA then ruins everything by randomly going to black and white shots, not consistent nor necessary considering what they’ve already shown in color, with the announcers saying that they’re taking steps to help with the graphic nature of what’s taking place. They’re taking away from the match from switching from color to black and white like this. The crowd getting behind Spud the way they are really helps the back and forth they have with EC3 showing a great vicious streak and Spud countering with a lot of heart for the fiery comeback. Great nearfall again with EC3 hitting a second Roaring Elbow and Spud kicking out at the last second. Spud crawls up EC3 knowing the end is near and EC3 almost reluctantly hits the One Percenter finisher for the win.

Winner: EC3

Post match, EC3 looks almost ashamed at what he’s done and proceeds to put over Spud big time for the heart he’s shown. No doubt about it, Spud put on an MVP performance tonight. EC3 was obviously headed to bigger and better things, but the brilliance of a good match/angle is to have both men come out better than they started. TNA accomplished that here. EC3 offers a handshake and says he won’t shave Spud’s head tonight because he doesn’t deserved to be embarrassed at home. But of course as EC3 allows Spud to leave the ring, he ambushes him from behind and puts Spud into the Tree of Woe in order to shave part of Spud’s head. EC3 ends the show saying that the ring, the company, the profession, and the world belong to him.

Wrap-Up

A very angle driven show, which I give TNA credit for. Besides the Brooke/Robbie E segment, which was an angle itself, there was zero fluff or wasted segments on this show. It’s a shame they’re stuck in no man’s land with a new channel on a bad night for TV, but they are putting out a quality product.

EC3 & Spud clearly were the MVP’s of the night as they lived up to being called upon to close the show & really deliver on their storyline. I have to assume that no matter who comes out of the Angle/Lashley match next week, EC3 will be next in line for a title shot.

Hope you enjoyed this week’s recap of Impact Wrestling, I’ll see you here next week and in the meantime make sure you follow me on Twitter, @FriscoKTank. Thanks!

(Note from John: Welcome Kurt to the site. He’ll be our regular TNA Impact Wrestling reviewer from this point forward. Good job in the debut!)