TNA Impact Wrestling Review 4/10/15

Episode 14, Season 13: “Live Tweet Episode”

Welcome one and all back to the Impact Wrestling Review right here on TJRWrestling.net. Last week we left the show with quite a bit of controversy, as the end to a tremendous Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Lashley match, was ruined by a 3-count that was made while Lashley’s shoulder was clearly off the mat. We’ll see what comes of that ending tonight, and also it’s a Live Tweeting Episode, so I’m sure they’re going to overkill that, and based on tonight’s hashtag, #StandUp, I’m assuming we’ll get a heavy dose of The Rising tonight as well. It’s really odd that they’re live tweeting a show that was taped well over a month ago, but I digress.

Impact starts with a hype video for The Beat Down Clan and also showcases Drew Galloway’s arrival in the company and the creation of The Rising. We then go to the arena and they immediately showcase the ending to last week’s main event.

Kurt Angle’s music hits and the champ is out to start the show. Angle immediately calls out Lashley to discuss what happened last week. Lashley is wearing a shirt that says “Future Legend”. Ironic considering he’d already be a legend if he’d stuck with WWE when they put the Roman Reigns rocket ship to him. Lashley shows the replay to Angle and tells him that he didn’t win last week. The live tweets are already annoying as they take up way too much of the screen. Angle says he’s beaten Lashley once and he can do it again, so he calls for Lashley/Angle III tonight. Eric Young’s music hits to put a stop to that idea though. EY comes out and claims he’s #1 Contender. Eric Young just tweeted while on the mic according to the tweet on screen, that’s impressive and really dumb at the same time. EY tells Lashley that he lost, so he goes to the back of the line for title shots. Lashley tells EY to shut up and earn his spot. He rakes Lashley’s eyes, and as Angle goes to stop EY, Lashley goes to spear EY, but he moves and Lashley hits Angle flush with the spear. EY runs out as we go to commercial.

We return and Angle is still in the ring with a mic. Angle talks about how Lashley and EY think they’ve been screwed lately, well he will fight both of them at the same time tonight, because he’s the greatest wrestler in the world. So apparently we have a Triple Threat Main Event set for later now.

An Awesome Kong video package is shown while Gail Kim talks over it about how destructive Kong is. Back in the day, Gail and Kong had some AMAZING battles, and it looks like we’re set for another one as we now have a #1 Contenders Match.

#1 Contenders Match: Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong

Both women trade blows once the bell rings until Kong decided she’s had enough of that and starts tossing Gail around the ring like a rag doll. Gail rallies and hits Kong with everything she can, but ends up getting sat on when she fails at trying a sunset flip. Kong latches on a Camel Clutch, that’s painful looking. Gail gets out somehow but is quickly shot down again and then dropped with a massive Chokeslam, but Gail manages to kick out at two. Kong now exposes one of the top turnbuckles. She goes for a 2nd Chokeslam, but Gail grabs on for dear life and headlocks Kong until she’s rammed into one of the corners. Gail is dumped to the outside, and when Kong follows her, Gail dropkicks her into the barricade. Both women back inside and Gail is back to throwing everything at Kong, including a cross body block from the top rope, but Kong kicks out. Kong charges Gail, but ends up hitting the top turnbuckle that was exposed. Gail only manages a two-count, but she follows up with a Eat Da Feet, but Kong again kicks out at two. These live tweets are so big on the scree, you can’t help but read them and I’ve already noticed two different accounts used for Kong, including one that was mentioned by Jim Ross himself. So no one knows what her actual handle is, and TNA is clearly not screening these enough. Brutal. Gail goes to the top rope and leg scissors Kong’s head for a submission attempt, but Kong overpowers her and turns it into a sitout Powerbomb and Kong picks up the 1-2-3.

Winner: New #1 Contender to Taryn Terrell’s Knockouts Title, Awesome Kong

Not one of their best, but a good match showcasing Gail’s fight and the fact that Kong is seemingly indestructible. I love watching Kong’s work.

We go backstage and James Storm is talking with Mickie James. Mickie thanks him for coming out last week and saving her. James is acting very “non-Revolution”, and gets a hug from Mickie as she walks away. Manik then shows up and asks Storm about “Mickie Bae”. The light switch is flipped in Storm and he grabs Manik and tells him to never question Storm. He tells Manik to round up The Revolution, because they’re going to have a fight tonight.

The Revolution is now in the ring as we return to the show, minus The Great Sanada. Storm tells his pledges that they all failed him. Sanada let down Storm one too many times, and Storm has cut him down and his name will never be spoken again. So I can only assume that he’s another wrestler that TNA did not re-sign. Storm runs down all the members and tells them that “There’s always room for one more, but there can also be room for one less.” He announces his intentions to enter the Tag Title tournament, and one of his Revolution members are gonna be his partner. So they will fight against each other, and the winner will be his partner. The ref comes in the ring and Storm tells him that the only rule is that there has to be a winner.

Khoya vs. Abyss vs. Manik

Manik gets out of the ring immediately as Abyss battles Khoya. Khoya gets sent to the outside, and Manik comes back in with a chair. He hits Abyss twice with it, with little effect. Manik sent back out and Khoya back in the ring now. Abyss is dominating his fellow pledges, but Manik drops him with a top rope missile dropkick. Abyss goes for a Chokeslam, but Manik turns it into a cross armbreaker. Khoya gets back in the ring and grabs the massive walking stick they carry with them. He destroys both guys with the stick, and then hits Manik with the Sky High and picks up the 1-2-3. Khoya will be James Storm’s tag team partner.

Winner: Khoya

Obviously a showcase for Khoya. It sucks that The Revolution has already lost a member, but Storm is gold, so he’ll keep that stable afloat. We then go to the “thrilling conclusion” of The Ghost Asylum guys checking out James Storm’s cabin.

Back from break and The Rising has arrived. If you missed the group’s unveiling two weeks ago, The Rising consists of Drew Galloway along with Mika (WWE’s Camacho) and Eli Drake (former indy wrestler Shaun Ricker). Drew is now the second wrestler to live tweet while being in the ring at the same time. Why would you draw attention to the fact the show is taped? Maybe that’s just me, but that really is annoying. Galloway discusses the #StandUp campaign he’s started to save Professional Wrestling. Drew tells his fellow Rising members to introduce themselves. Mika immediately talks about how he is Haku’s son and wrestling is pumping through his veins. When he watched Drew take on The BDC by himself, he knew that he had to stand up and fight with Drew, because that’s what his father taught him to do. The BDC are a bunch of bullies, but they take care of bullies by punching them right in the mouth. Eli Drake gets the mic and cuts a very good, charismatic promo. He makes a note about how they’re not “superstars”, they’re professional wrestlers. The three of them have something to prove, and he heard the call for a change and he answered it. He’s his own man, but if you mess with one man in The Rising, you mess with all three of them. The smart money is not to mess with any of them, and that’s not an insult, that’s just a fact of life. That was a very impressive introductory promo. Drew gets the mic back and says MVP thinks he runs the place, but he doesn’t anymore. They want a war, and The Rising is ready to give them a war.

Cue The BDC music and here comes MVP, Low Ki, & Kenny King. King and Low Ki are waving big BDC banners. MVP and King say The Rising reminds them of a yeast infection. MVP says The Rising just wants to make a name for themselves at the expense of The BDC. There’s a lyric that states, “Punks jump up to get beat down.” MVP says he’s going to tell Drew a story, but don’t worry, it’s a short story and it ends tonight. The Rising leave the ring and Drew counts down 3-2-1, and we’ve got a huge brawl on the outside now.

They took a commercial break right when it started, and now that we’re back, The Rising is back in the ring and The BDC is being held back by security. They show during the commercial break that Drew begged someone in the back to sanction a 6-Man Tag, and sure enough we have a ref in the ring.

The Rising (Drew Galloway/Mika/Eli Drake) vs. The Beat Down Clan (MVP, Low Ki, Kenny King)

Eli Drake and Kenny King start the match off. The crowd has actually been really hyped for this angle tonight, and start a “This is Awesome” chant before the bell rings. Eli hits a big powerslam and tags in Mika, but King gets him into The BDC Corner and tags in MVP. Mika and MVP face off and Mika hits a nice dropkick. MVP misses the Black Out kick in the corner and gets hit with a neckbreaker. The ref is distracted by Drew and Low Ki arguing, and as Mika goes to the top rope, Kenny King pushes him off all the way to the floor. The BDC now works over Mika in their corner. All three members tag in and out, working over Mika. MVP hits a couple big kicks to the head of Mika, but only gives a nonchalant pin attempt for two. MVP goes for the Black Out Kick again, but Mika moves and hits a Samoan Drop. MVP tags Low Ki and Mika tags Drew Galloway who cleans house. Galloway hits a big boot that gets Low Ki out of the ring, and then Kenny comes back in, but Eli comes in as well and hits him with a really innovative move. He tossed King up in the air, caught him in a powerslam, but then threw him backwards. Mika then goes to the top rope and lands a big splash onto all three members of The BDC below. Drew & Eli left in the ring, but here comes someone in BDC gear with a mask on and he’s got a billy club in his hand. He whacks both men in the ribs with the club and then reveals himself to be The Notorious 1-8-7, Homicide! The BDC now have the 4-3 advantage and lay waste to The Rising.

You could do a lot worse than Homicide to replace Samoa Joe. I’m a big fan of Homicide’s, and it adds a very intriguing layer to this rivalry. Will The Rising add a member as well?

We go backstage and Kurt Angle talks about his main event match tonight, and how he accepts all challenges as champion. Eric Young comes out of nowhere though and attacks Angle. He beats down Angle and tells him that the world title goes through him.

Angle is checked out backstage as we return to the show and says he’s fine after the attack, and nothing the doctor can do to stop him.

DJ Z vs. Davey Richards

This is billed as an X-Division match, so it looks like that’s what Davey will do while Eddie Edwards is on the shelf. Josh Matthews says next week we’ll crown new Tag Team Champions, as winners of qualifying matches will compete in an Ultimate X Match. Both men in the match exchange counters and run around until Davey finally hits a dropkick that sends DJ Z to the outside. DJ Z rakes the eyes of Davey while hes on the apron, and then hits a springboard short dropkick to send Davey back outside. DJ Z on the attack now, and hits a big double knee to the back of Davey as he’s draped on the second rope. He follows that up with a big flapjack. He goes to the top rope and tries a corkscrew splash, but Davey moves. Both men trade blows, but Davey clotheslines DJ Z to the outside and follows that with a massive suicide dive. They get back inside and Davey hits a big missile dropkick. Josh Matthews points out a fan in the crowd who has a sign that says “The Wolfs” instead of “The Wolves”. That was actually pretty funny. Davey hits a handstand springboard Enziguri, but only a two count. DJ Z counters and gets Davey up on the top rope, but Davey fights back when he gets up there as well, and headbutts DJ Z to the mat. Davey goes for a double foot stomp, but DJ Z moves. DJ Z goes for a Tornado DDT, but Davey sends him to the ropes and hits him with a launching kick. DJ Z gets to his knees as Davey sets up for his finisher, a spinning side kick to the head that Josh Matthews calls, “Creeping Death”. DJ Z is out and Davey gets the pinfall.

Winner: Davey Richards

That was a fun match, and good to see Davey get showcased while he waits for his partner to heal up. Maybe we can get a Davey Richards vs. Austin Aries match to happen sometime soon. Rockstar Spud is the current champion, but I don’t think he’ll be that for long. Backstage again and the The BDC are discussing their success tonight. MVP calls Homicide an original member of The BDC, but he’s just been on injured reserve. It took 3 members of The Rising for MVP to make one phone call, and now it’s 4-3. All members talk about how it’s over for The Rising and they’re in way over their heads. The BDC does what they do, just because they can.

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

We return to a vignette featuring Jade & Marti Bell who will be coming soon to TNA as “A Dollhouse Production”. I don’t know much at all about Marti Bell, but Jade is Mia Yim who you may know from ROH & SHINE. She’s very talented. Vignette didn’t show much, just the girls laughing while playing with barbie dolls. Will be interesting to see what’s to come for these two.

The Hardys are now making their way to the ring and Jeff gets a mic as the announcers talk about how the TNA Tag Titles have always eluded The Hardys. Jeff leads the crowd in another Hardy’s Revenge chant and talks about how now that he’s gotten the revenge, it’s time to get the TNA Tag Titles that they’ve never had. Matt says it’s been two months since The Hardys have been in the ring together, but now they have an endgame and they’re going to become the tag champs, the titles they’ve never had before. Matt is cut off by the greatness of EC3’s theme song and here comes EC3 & Tyrus. EC3 says The Hardys have had a career that has been “fairly adequate”, but he’s been undefeated for over 19 months. Somehow though, a title shot has eluded him. He says he found himself a partner to show that he deserves gold. He found a guy who came to him and said he just wants to hurt people. So his tag team partner is Bram. Wow, did not see that coming. Tyrus can’t wrestle? Bram and EC3 make up one hell of an intriguing team, as they are both completely underrated in the company. Bram says he’s in a bad mood and wants to hurt people. Luckily he hates EC3 the least, but all he wants to do is beat up The Hardys and everyone else in the locker room. EC3 says they are now the odds on favorite to win the Tag Titles. Now Mr. Anderson’s music hits. Mr. Anderson says that EC3 may have the odds on favorite to have the smallest weiner. It was funny just cause Anderson said, yeah he’s 39 after making the joke. Mr. Anderson introduces his partner, Rockstar Spud, minus his X-Division Title. Rockstar Spud and Anderson have a funny exchange on the mic and then walk towards the ring. Now Austin Aries’ music hits. Aries comes out with his World Title briefcase and says he hears a lot about being great, but no one is greater than The Greatest Man That Ever Lived. He’s going to leave the briefcase behind next week though, and focus on becoming TNA Tag Champions. He’s going to do it with a partner that’s almost at his level, a man who’s a former world champion, and someone he’s held the Tag Titles with before, Bobby Roode. Dirty Heels reunion!! Well I know who I’m rooting for next week now. We go to break as Roode walks out.

We return and they show the five teams announced for the Tag Title Qualifier next week. Not sure if they’re all facing each other or if there will be 5 other tag teams created, but regardless, winning teams will then go to an Ultimate X match to crown new champions. Should be a fun show next week.

TNA World Heavyweight Title Match: Kurt Angle (c) vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Eric Young

No big entrances or introductions for this title match. EY leaves the ring as the bell rings, so Angle and Lashley will square off to start. EY grabs Lashley from the outside, it distracts Lashley enough to walk into an Angle belly to belly suplex. Angle and Lashley finally decide they’ve had enough of EY staying outside and bring him to the ring to beat on him 2 on 1. They even use the old Hart Attack double team move on EY. They go to the outside and Lashley whips EY into an Angle clothesline as we go to the last break of the show.

We return and all men are back in the ring. Angle gets Lashley out of the ring again and starts to work on EY, beating on him in the corner. Big suplex on EY, and Angle makes sure Lashley stays on the outside and then goes for a cover and gets a two-count. EY turns the tables quickly and hits Angle with a huge Piledriver! That is not a move Angle needs to be taking with his neck issues, wow! Lashley breaks up the cover and sends EY out. Lashley hits a big powerslam on Angle, but only gets a two-count. Huge delayed vertical suplex on Angle and Lashley sets up for the Spear which he hits, but EY is back to break up the pin. Lashley leapfrogs EY, but lands wrong apparently as he clutches his knee. He manages to low bridge EY over the top rope, but is caught in Angle’s German Suplex. Both Lashley and EY end up getting a trio of Germans. Angle then hooks the Ankle Lock on Lashley. Lashley looked out of it but manages to roll through. EY instantly hooks on his Figure Four to Lashley though. Lashley gets to the ropes, and EY goes to the outside to grab a chair and lodges it between the top and second turnbuckle. Lashley though manages to get EY up in another delayed vertical suplex, and then goes for the spear, but EY moves and Lashley hits that steel chair hard. Angle is back in and hits two Angle Slams to both men, and then goes to the top rope and hits a moonsault that lands on Lashley’s legs and goes for the cover, 1-2-3.

Winner: Still TNA Heavyweight Champion, Kurt Angle

Angle leaves quickly while celebrating, and EY grabs another chair and attacks the injured leg of Lashley. EY hooks on the Figure Four again, as refs come and try to break the hold as the show comes to an end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO-ImiFW99Q

Wrap-Up: I really was surprised by that finish, as I assumed they’d want another Angle/Lashley one on one match, but they protected EY instead. EY has really developed into a really good psychotic heel. I’m not sure if this will lead to an Angle/Young Title match and Lashley is being written off tv for a while (maybe to train for MMA) or if this will lead to a Lashley/Young feud and Angle will come across a new contender. Another solid show with a lot of promotion for next week’s Tag Team Title show, and really good development in The BDC/Rising storyline. As always, feel free to follow me on Twitter, @FriscoKTank, and we’ll see you here again next week as we crown new Tag Champions!!