Impact
Wrestling
Date:
January 30, 2015
Location:
Manhattan Center, New York City, New York
Commentators:
Josh Matthews, Taz
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
The
World Title picture is starting to pick up again as Bobby Roode, Kurt
Angle, Austin Aries and MVP all have their eyes on Lashley's title.
It's hard to say what's coming up next week at Lockdown as nothing
has been announced yet. You can guess what some of those matches
will be but the main event hasn't been set in stone so far. Let's
get to it.
We
open with a look back at MVP taking Lashley's title belt after a
brawl.
Here's
Bobby Roode with Lashley's title, which he picked up on the street
after chasing off the BDC, to open the show. Roode talks about how
he wishes this title belonged to him but it doesn't right now. It
was stolen from him a few weeks ago and he's going to get his hands
on Eric Young to pay him back for what he did.
As
for the title, the only two people with a claim to it are he and
Lashley, so here's the real champ to get his belt back. Roode says
this title belongs to Lashley but he wants a rematch tonight.
Lashley agrees and starts to walk away but Roode asks why wait. This
brings out Austin Aries with his Feast or Fired briefcase. Do you
remember wrestling before briefcases? I miss those days. The fans
are pleased to see him (Aries: “You know my name!”) and he thinks
he should cash in his briefcase here in New York City.
He
isn't sure if he should do it now or wait until later on after these
two have fought. This brings out MVP who says he's disappointed in
Lashley for saying the title is his. That title belongs the BDC and
MVP wants to fight Lashley for the title right now. Lashley tells
Aries to hold onto the briefcase for now, because he'll fight all
three of them for the title tonight. This would be yet another major
match announced with next to no build that could have been the
culmination of about five weeks instead of fifteen minutes.
A
voiceover announces Team Angle vs. Team BDC next week in Lethal
Lockdown. The clips show who will be in the match. Well that's one
way to set up one of the biggest matches of the year.
Angle
says he'll assemble his team tonight and know who is fighting in
Lethal Lockdown next week. And it might be surprising if you tuned
back in from commercial thirty seconds late.
Knockouts
Title: Madison Rayne vs. Gail Kim vs. Taryn Terrell
One
fall to a finish and Taryn is defending. We get some stills of Will
Ferrell hitting her in the face with a basketball in a scene from
Ferrell's new movie. It's a fast start with Taryn going for a fast
pin before hair dragging Gail down. She misses a charge into the
corner and gets hit with a running cross body to the ribs as Madison
is on the floor. Madison comes back in and gets suplexed for two but
elbows Taryn in the jaw for the same.
Gail
runs back in and gets caught in a neckbreaker (called a Diamond
Cutter by Josh) from Madison at the same time Rayne catches Taryn in
a DDT. Kim takes Madison down in something like Konnan's Tequila
Sunrise but she pulls forward on the leg instead of backwards like a
half crab. That's quite a different version and looked good at the
same time.
The
champ breaks it up by adding a dragon sleeper to Kim and all three
head to the floor. Madison flapjacks Terrell onto the steps and
sends both girls face first onto them for good measure. They head
back inside with Madison escaping Eat Defeat and avoiding a cross
body, only to walk into an RKO to retain Taryn's title at 6:00.
Rating:
B-. This was far better than I
was expecting as they didn't stop for a second in the whole match.
Making Taryn the fighting champion who goes up against anyone she can
is a good way to get her over and the fans seem to be responding to
her. They still need some fresh blood in the division and Kong would
be a good option.
Announced
for Lockdown next week: Havok vs. Awesome Kong and Abyss/James Storm
vs. the Hardys for the Tag Team Titles.
Magnus
is walking the street and says he and Bram are going to have a drink
and talk about their problems.
Rockstar
Spud is showing Mark Andrews around New York City but doesn't quite
know the names of some landmarks (the Empire State Building is the
Washington Monument for example). The point is they're challenging
Tyrus and Ethan Carter III for a tag match tonight.
Here's
Tommy Dreamer to say he hasn't lied to the fans in 25 years and he
isn't going to tonight.
He calls out Eric Young to say something to his face. Oh
good grief seriously? These two together is what I get for watching
these guys for years??? Young
says this isn't Dreamer's business but Dreamer talks about his
history with Roode and Young in TNA. Tommy has watched him go from a
nothing joke to the World Champion.
He
tells Young not to turn his back and burn bridges with Roode or the
fans. Eric: “You're a fat loser from this dump.” He
wants to blow the bridge up so Tommy takes his jacket off. Tommy
says this is all about a title shot, but did Young ever ask Roode for
a shot? That earns Dreamer a piledriver but Roode comes out for the
save.
The
Hardys are ready for their title shot next week but Jeff has a
Monster's Ball match with Abyss first. He's brought some friends
named kendo, cookie and barbed wire.
Magnus
goes into a bar and finds Bram.
Kurt
Angle goes into Gunner's locker room and asks him to be in Lethal
Lockdown next week. Gunner isn't sure so Angle slaps him in the
face.
Magnus
and Bram are in the bar where Bram says that briefcase was his.
Magnus points out that he won a Tag Team Title shot and who else is
going to be his partner? It's Bram's temper that has held him back
over the years and he's gotten Bram a job here. They're not 18 years
old anymore and they can't just get in fights when they don't get
their way. This is about Magnus' family and putting a roof over his
son's head and food on his table.
Bram
asks to see a picture of Magnus' son and says he has Magnus' eyes.
They toast to their future and leave. Bram shows Magnus the way out
and says he'll handle the bill. Magnus realizes he's in a dead end
and Bram jumps him from behind, ramming Magnus into a few doors and
punching him in the back of the head. This actually worked really
well.
Josh
and Taz discuss what Bram just did.
Jeff
Hardy vs. Abyss
This
is Monster's Ball and they're shown fighting in the back before
coming into the arena for the opening bell. Jeff is in control early
and rams Abyss into whatever he can as they get down to ringside. He
takes too long to set up a table though and gets kicked away,
allowing Abyss to start loading up weapons in the ring. That takes
too long as well though and Jeff hits a running forearm and basement
dropkick for two.
The
Twisting Stunner sends Abyss into the corner for Poetry in Motion
(chair instead of Matt), knocking the monster out to the floor. Jeff
tries a dive but crashes through the table to change momentum. Abyss
brings in the tacks but takes a cheese grater between the legs. He's
still able to sidestep a charging Jeff though and sends him face
first into the chair wedged in the corner. That was one heck of a
crash. Is it any wonder Jeff is such a mess? It's Janice time but
as always it gets stuck in the buckle, allowing Jeff to hit the Twist
of Fate but the Revolution comes in.
Cue
Matt Hardy to cane everyone he can but Storm cracks him with a
trashcan. The Last Call knocks Matt out but the Wolves come in for
another save. Double suicide dives take out the rest of the
Revolution but Abyss pours out the tacks. He takes too long with it
again though and Jeff sunset bombs him onto the tacks, setting up the
Swanton for the pin at 9:06.
Rating:
C-. You know, if I remember
right, these two had the exact same match with the exact same ending
whenever they last did this match. I'm
completely over Monster's Ball as it's nothing interesting anymore
and is just the same weapons spots with the same guy (as Josh said,
Abyss has been in 95% of the Monster's Ball matches. Even if that's
not true, it certainly seems like it). It
was passable, but by this point there's nothing interesting in these
things.
Storm
is mad at Abyss for losing. I really hope they're not teasing a
split already.
Matt
says he'll always have his brother's back.
We
recap the fourway being set up.
Aries
appreciates Lashley being a fighting champion and implies he's
cashing in if he loses.
Rockstar
Spud/Mandrews vs. Ethan Carter III/Tyrus
Yes
his name is Mandrews because there are no British wrestlers who
aren't skinny guys with
bleached blond hair. Carter comes out and says the request for this
match is denied. However, they have a replacement.
Rockstar
Spud/Mandrews vs. BroMans
Yes
his name is still Mandrews because wrestling names make my soul hurt.
The BroMans jump Andrews to
start and plant him face first, drawing in Spud so the BroMans can
hit a double knee to the head. Robbie
charges into a boot in the corner and the hot tag brings in Spud for
some kicks to the leg and punches to the jaw. A
double crotch claw has the BroMans in trouble and he takes off the
bowtie, setting up a Dudley Dog on Robbie and a Shooting Star from
Andrews is good for the pin at 2:39.
Robbie
jumps Spud post match and sets up Andrews/Spud vs. Tyrus in a cage
next week.
After
a break Spud goes on a rampage about how he's going to get Ethan
because he isn't a loser.
The
announcers preview Lockdown.
TNA
World Title: Lashley vs. Austin Aries vs. Bobby Roode vs. MVP
Lashley
is defending and this is one fall to a finish. MVP bails to the
floor but Roode and Aries force him back inside. He realizes what
that means and tries to fight Lashley, only to get punched by all
three guys. Everyone pairs off with Lashley stomping Roode in the
corner but Roode comes back with a Blockbuster. He gets to his feet
and eats Aries' missile dropkick but Roode sends Austin to the floor.
MVP goes after Roode's knee but charges into a spinebuster to leave
Roode as the only man standing as we take a break.
Back
with Lashley powerslamming Roode for two with Aries making another
save. Lashley powers out of a brainbuster attempt but gets low
bridged out to the floor, setting up Aries' suicide dive. MVP
hits his running boot to Roode's jaw, followed by an exploder suplex
for two. Here's a sign of things changing in TNA: Taz
started stumbling over all the three letter names involved in the
match (it happens), made a quick joke about it, and got right back to
commentary. If this was still he and Tenay, they would still be
making fun of it ten minutes later.
The Ballin
Elbow gets two on Roode but Lashley comes back in with a Dominator to
MVP, sending him to the floor. Aries nails a top rope ax handle to
deck MVP again before Roode puts MVP in the Crossface. This time
it's the champ making the save and a Tower of Doom sends everyone not
named MVP down. Cue Eric Young with a chair to Roode, leaving Aries
to counter the spear into the Last Chancery. MVP breaks it up but
gets sent to the floor with a discus forearm. Aries loads up a dive
but gets speared in half to retain Lashley's title at 13:11.
Rating:
B-. Fun match here but I would
have liked to see it go on longer. Lashley retaining here is a good
sign as they're clearly going with Lashley vs. the BDC for the next
few weeks if not months and that should have some interesting
stories. I'm still not as high on MVP as a lot of people are but he
did fine here. As usual, Aries stole the show.
The
BDC and Young (again, why is he not a member?) comes in post match
but Angle and Gunner make the save.
After
a break, everyone is still at ringside. Roode challenges Young to a
cage match next week and the challenge is accepted because Roode
wants to make him bleed. Aries comes in with his briefcase and says
he should be on Team Angle next week. Angle accepts and now it's
Lashley's turn. Kurt asks him to join the team so
he doesn't have to deal with MVP for the rest of his career. Lashley
turns him down and walks away to end the show.
Overall
Rating: B. I really liked the
show this week, even though they had to fly through everything to set
up Lockdown in a hurry. The
wrestling, when it actually happened, was good for the most part and
they kept things moving fast. This was about setting up stuff for
the future and they accomplished that quite well, with some decent
wrestling to go with it. Solid
show this week and their best since they've been on Destination
America.
Results
Taryn
Terrell b. Gail Kim and Madison Rayne – RKO to Rayne
Jeff
Hardy b. Abyss – Swanton Bomb
Rockstar
Spud/Mandrews b. BroMans
Lashley
b. Bobby Roode, Austin Aries and MVP – Spear to Aries
Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6
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