Impact
Wrestling
Date:
January 30, 2014
Location:
Hydro Arena, Glasgow, Scotland
Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Jeremy Borash
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
Now
stop me if you've heard this before, but tonight we find out who the
new power is in TNA to oppose the current power. The big question is
who will it be, with names such as MVP, Sting, AJ Styles and Billy
Corgan being thrown out as possible storyline investors in TNA.
Either way they seem to have the American Wolves as backup so they
can't be all bad. Let's get to it.
The
opening video recaps the investor storyline which has been going on
for a full two weeks now. We also look at Sting's contract being
ripped up. Again note that it's a contract and not a career.
They're
in an arena tonight too which looks FAR better than the Impact Zone.
We
immediately go to the back with Magnus, Spud and Ethan Carter being
separated from Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe. This is Scotland so the
British champion is loathed. Magnus speaks extra slowly but says
that's not going to be enough for the Scots. The heat on Magnus is
excellent here. People are upset that Sting has fallen to the Reign
of Magnus, just like Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles. He ended Sting just
as he promised he would and it was just business. Magnus refers to
what happened to Sting as the thinning of the herd because Dixie
agrees that they should rid TNA of the dinosaurs.
TNA
needs to clear the way for the Bro Mans, Zema Ion, Rockstar Spud and
Magnus of this business. Ethan doesn't look pleased that his name
was omitted nor that Magnus says he got rid of AJ, Hardy and Sting b
y
himself. Before they can argue though, here are Angle and Joe to
clear the ring. Kurt says he's here to avenge the screwing of the
herd. Angle talks about Magnus being a paper champion but Magnus
says it's killing Angle that he became a bigger star than the Mafia.
Joe
says the only thing killing him is that Magnus is still breathing.
Magnus pitches a tag match but an Ethan chant starts up. The match
is on as long as Angle and Joe's futures in TNA are on the line. Joe
wants one more stipulation: if either of them pin Magnus, they're the
new #1 contender. The paper champion card is played again and Magnus
says yes but Dixie comes out to say no way. She says there's too
much going on to have to worry about that as well but Magnus says the
match is on anyway.
A
car pulls up out back.
After
a break the Wolves get out of the car but block a camera from getting
in. Anyone that wants to talk to the investor has to go through
them.
Velvet
Sky/Madison Rayne vs. Gail Kim/Lei'D Tapa
We
get a Beautiful People reunion, complete with the near kiss entrance.
Gail and Tapa jump them before the bell and it's Gail pounding on
Madison to start. Velvet avoids the running cross body in the corner
and makes the tag off to Velvet who cleans house. Things quickly
break down and Madison takes down Tapa, allowing Velvet to hit In Yo
Face on Gail for the pin at 1:50.
Post
match Chris Sabin comes out to yell at Velvet, saying she's been
ignoring him all week. Maybe her hormones are messed up because it's
that time or something, but she has one more chance to apologize and
things will be ok. Velvet breaks up with him to a big pop.
Joe
and Angle break into Bobby Roode's locker room for a fight as we go
to another break.
Back
from a break with Joe pulling Angle off Roode. Angle says Roode cost
AJ and Sting their jobs and he'll do it again tonight. Roode says he
would so Joe chokes Roode to a couch and threatens to kill him if he
interferes. Angle and Joe leave as Roode smiles.
Here's
James Storm with something to say. He talks about Gunner making a
good partner but then something made them fall apart. Storm asks
Gunner to come out here so they can put an end to this right now.
Gunner says they were friends but once he got the briefcase they blew
up. He had to do these things for his son and family and Storm would
have done the same thing for his family.
Storm
isn't sure with that but Gunner goes into a story about being in the
Marine Corps and fighting for the men that were beside him. We get a
USA chant in Scotland as Storm talks about Gunner needing to take
credit for how good he is. Storm loves to be a dad and drink beer at
night but his daughter told asked why he was mad at Gunner. Storm
couldn't answer that, so he's got Gunner's back no matter what.
They
shake hands and seem to make things right when Bad Influence breaks
them up. Kaz says the only thing worse than a drunken dime store
cowboy is a drunken dime store cowboy. He knows the thing Storm
wants more than anything is that briefcase. Daniels suggests a tag
match with the briefcase on the line. He'll do it if he trusts Storm
of course. The fight is on and we get a referee as we head to a
break.
Bad
Influence vs. James Storm/Gunner
We
come back from a break with Storm chopping Kaz in the corner before
bringing in Gunner for some shots to the head. Gunner gets double
teamed down and it's Daniels taking over with right hands. An
enziguri looks to set up the Angel's Wings but Gunner backdrops him
to escape.
Hot
tag brings in Storm who cleans house with a middle rope cross body to
Daniels but Kaz saves him from the Eye of the Storm. A missile
dropkick sends Storm into the corner for a tag to Gunner and the
former Marine cleans house. There's a slingshot suplex to Kaz and a
Last Call to Daniels, setting up a top rope headbutt to Kaz for the
pin at 8:00.
Rating:
C-. Nothing to see here for the
most part but it wasn't terrible. There really isn't a big problem
with the match but it came and went so fast (remember that about half
of it was spent in a commercial) that it didn't have time to go
anywhere. I can't picture Gunner as a world title contender but I'm
sure there's more coming to this story.
Video
on Samoa Joe's TNA career.
Roode
comes in to see an irate Dixie and demands a title shot in the main
event of Lockdown. She tries to throw him out but he says no.
Instead Dixie gets her checkbook but that's not what Roode wants
either. Dixie has a week to figure this out and until then, she gets
no more favors.
Eric
Young is thrilled that he and Abyss get a title shot tonight. ODB
isn't thrilled because she's worried about Abyss being a monster.
She leaves and Abyss walks up with a bag in his hand.
We
recap the opening segment.
Here's
Spud to get answers about the investor. First off we insult the
crowd by calling them the British B-Team before Spud demands the
Wolves come to the ring right now. Spud gets right to the chase,
asking who the investor is and even pointing a flashlight in their
eyes. He goes on a rant about how awesome he is and says Dixie
called him a fierce lion and tiger so talk.
Spud
slaps Richards in the face and there go the jackets. Edwards throws
Spud in the air and Davey kicks him in the ribs before saying Dixie
will find out when everyone else finds out. The investor is also
very interested in the main event and if anyone interferes, they're
fired. They've got me intrigued if nothing else.
We
recap Eric Young revealing that Joseph Park is Abyss.
Tag
Titles: Bro Mans vs. Abyss/Eric Young
Robbie
throws Eric to the apron to start and we get the Flair strut. Abyss
tries to grab Robbie from the apron but gets a stern lecture,
allowing Jesse to come in off the top. Abyss comes in for more
choking but Eric has to keep telling him to go back to the apron.
Eric gets double teamed again before Abyss tries to come in for the
third time in about two minutes.
The
Bro Mans get to double team Young a bit more and Jesse gets two off a
dropkick. Eric is launched into the corner for the tag to Abyss and
house is cleaned, including a choke to Zema Ion. The referee pulls
Abyss off and gets Shock Treatment for his efforts, drawing a DQ at
about 5:00.
Rating:
D. This storyline already feels
really old and it's getting even worse. Eric Young's act of being
insane and so crazy he's brilliant has never appealed to me at all
but it's been going on for years now. The match was boring as we
were just waiting for the ending with Abyss going nuts.
Eric
gets a chokeslam post match and Abyss walks away. Young grabs
the mic and asks if this is how it ends. There's one experiment
left so he asks if Abyss wants to get crazy. Next week:
Monster's Ball.
Eddie
Edwards says the investor is coming soon.
Bully
Ray is pushing a casket in the back.
Sam
Shaw has some wine with Christy Hemme and Sam puts his hand in a
candle but doesn't notice. They go off to see the rest of the palce
and we switch to security camera footage. Christy looks out the
window and Sam likes her hair down better. They go to another room
but Sam sends her to get more wine. He turns on a light and it's a
shrine to Christy with pictures everywhere. Why do I have a feeling
that no one is going to, I don't know, TELL CHRISTY ABOUT THIS?
Here's
Ray with the casket to say Anderson has taken away Aces and 8's and
Ray's identity. Therefore, Ray wants one final match: a casket
match. Anderson comes out so Ray threatens to piledrive Anderson's
wife and kids. The match is accepted and Anderson opens the casket
lid, ramming it into Ray's face. Anderson throws Ray and a chair
inside before hitting Ray low. Some chair shots to the back send Ray
running and Anderson stands tall.
Video
on Angle, talking about him being a cyborg.
Dixie,
Ethan and Magnus are ready for the main event.
Samoa
Joe/Kurt Angle vs. Magnus/Ethan Carter III
Joe/Angle's
careers vs. a title shot if Magnus loses the fall. Ethan goes behind
Angle to start and grabs a headlock. Angle takes him down with an
armbar and it's off to Joe for some right hands in the corner. Back
to Angle as this dominance continues, only to have Kurt miss a charge
and go shoulder first into the post. We cut to the back and see the
Wolves getting out of the car and putting the camera on the ground as
a third person gets out of the car.
Back
from a break with Ethan holding Angle in a chinlock before it's off
to the champ for the first time. That lasts all of fifteen seconds
before it's back to Ethan who charges into a belly to belly suplex,
allowing for the hot tag to Joe. Magnus comes in as well and walks
into a powerslam and a bad looking cross armbreaker. Carter gets
suplexed on the floor again as Joe locks on the Koquina Clutch for
the submission at 9:55.
Rating:
D+. Not a match here but the
champion shouldn't be tapping out clean in less than ten minutes. It
wasn't a good match either but it does set up Magnus' next challenger
which wasn't clear. Also I like Joe getting back in the title scene
as he hadn't been near it for a long time now.
Post
match Dixie comes out to yell at Magnus but Joe starts a YOU TAPPED
OUT chant. Angle says that he's done it all here in TNA and now he's
back. Kurt says he'll take that Hall of Fame induction now and make
sure to invite the investor. Dixie demands the investor come out
right now and, after a delay, it's........MVP. This would have been
huge if it was four years ago but now it's just not bad.
Overall
Rating: B-. This show had its
faults but it did one thing right: it had me wanting to know who the
investor was all the way up until the ending. The reveal wasn't as
good as it could have been but there were several worse options out
there. I don't care to see this storyline yet again but at least it
won't be as miserable as it could have been. At the end of the day,
this is what you get with TNA so you have to learn to live with it.
Not a great show but it did what it was supposed to.
Results
Velvet
Sky/Madison Rayne b. Gail Kim/Lei'D Tapa – In Yo Face to Kim
James
Storm/Gunner b. Bad Influence – Top rope headbutt to Kazarian
Bro
Mans b. Abyss/Eric Young via DQ when Abyss attacked the referee
Kurt
Angle/Samoa Joe b. Magnus/Ethan Carter III – Koquina Clutch to
Magnus
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