WCPW Fight Back Preview

So, this was initially supposed to be a look at the return of WhatCulture Pro Wrestling's Loaded Youtube series, scheduled to run every week at Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester from this Friday. However, things have changed. Earlier this week, the company announced that due to changes in Youtube's monetization policy that now lists wrestling content as "non-advertiser friendly" broadcasting a show on the channel was no longer a clever move financially. 

Before I get into what WCPW have come up with to replace the 2nd June event, lets talk about Youtube and the changes they've made. To classify a whole genre of entertainment as "non-advertiser friendly" is quite frankly ridiculous, especially considering some of the other content that the site hosts. The move to make their website suitable and safe for all is a commendable move, but I can't get my head around cutting off the majority of the revenue stream to professional wrestling. There is pro wrestling out there that is all about the violence and I couldn't imagine straight-laced advertisers wanting to be associated with Japanese Death Matches but to generalise when the medium is so diverse, doesn't add up. Imagine banning advertising on all music videos, because some of them having swearing in them? Or advertising on all films because some have sex scenes? Ridiculous. Professional Wrestling at it's core is storytelling, mixed with athleticism and while there's been a few complaints levied at WCPW since their debut last year, no one could accuse them of producing content as "inappropriate". Youtube is a brilliant tool for professional wrestlers and professional wrestling companies, it would be a real shame if that was taken aware permanently.

Luckily, WCPW decided to still run on 2nd June and have created a bigger card of action featuring some of the top talent in the UK, including WCPW Champion Joe Hendry, El Ligero, Rampage, Dave Mastiff, Martin Kirby and more. The Fight Back against the new Youtube rules begins here, let's take a look at what WCPW has prepared for us. The event will air live on YouTube. Tickets are still available from wc.pw 

 
The main event will see Martin Kirby attempting to get the WCPW title back from Joe Hendry in a Last Man Standing match. After Kirby won the title from Drew Galloway in a 30 man Rumble at No Regrets in Newcastle on 29th April, it would be in his very first title defense that Kirby ended up losing the title to Hendry following a referee stoppage at Pro Wrestling World Cup - Mexican Qualifying in Coventry a day later. With Hendry willing to kick Kirby in the head, despite the then champion being clearly knocked out, in order to take the title from him, to say that Kirby wanted revenge goes without say. Last Saturday at Hendrymania in Edinburgh, Kirby got his rematch, only for Hendry's fellow Prestige member Joe Coffey to get involved and cost Kirby the match. There's plenty of animosity here with Kirby desperate to get one over on Hendry, not just for taking his title but the way in which it was done, whilst we know that Hendry will stop at nothing to stay on top of the mountain. This has the potential to be an all out war tomorrow night.

The Four-Way Number One Contenders match features an intriguing mixture of styles and personalities as Joe Coffey, Dave Mastiff, Rampage and El Ligero. Coffey's alignment with champion Joe Hendry and the Prestige could lead to some interesting developments and with one of the strongest records heading into the bout, having only two losses in 2017, one against Rampage last week and the other in a title match with Drew Galloway in March, as well as advancing to the Pro Wrestling World Cup. Mastiff debuted at No Regrets impressing in the World title Rumble and having to be ousted by the all star team of Rey Mysterio and Cody Rhodes, he's got history with all three of his opponents so it'll be interesting see how he slots into this one and WCPW at large. Rampage has picked up two victories over the Prestige recently and after taking part in the first WCPW title match he'll be desperate to get back in the hunt. El Ligero is the wild card here, not just in having a completely different wrestling style and is at least 70lbs lighter than everyone else, but he also hasn't been in a bit of tailspin since dropping the WCPW Internet Title to Cody Rhodes. There's no mistaking that Ligero is the underdog, but with three big lads battering the piss into or out of each other, he may get the opportunity to use his agility to his advantage. There's huge potential in this bout and a hell of a lot of talent, who comes out with the win though is anyone's guess. 

After using a wrench to defeat Sha Samuels last week, Drake finds himself in a Hardcore match with a man who has been known to take it to the extreme in WCPW, Primate. With victories in a Boiler Room Brawl and a Chairs match against Rampage, as well as two recent Hardcore wins against Scott Wainwright and Bad Bones, this is a position that Drake didn't look too happy with when Adam Blampied placed him in it. Either way this is gonna be too big blokes beating each other up with some toys. Also on the show, Zack Gibson gets a shot at Gabriel Kidd's Internet Championship and there's also Tag Team Gauntlet to work out who gets a shot at The Swords of Essex's (Wainwright & Will Ospreay) belts as Kid Fite & Lou King Sharp, Prospect (Alex Gracie & Lucas Archer), Johnny Moss & Liam Slater, Kings of the North (Bonesaw & Damien Corvin) and Polo Promotions (Jackie Polo & Mark Coffey) battle it out. 

Also appearing - Viper, WCPW Women's Champion Bea Priestley and "Session Moth" Martina.

WCPW Fight Back airs live on YouTube at 7pm BST. 

Tickets are available from wc.pw. 

Doors open - 6:15 

Event Time - 7:00-10:00

Greg Lambert Interview - Ropes and Glory: The Emotional Rise of British Wrestling

At the end of last month, ATPW had the pleasure of talking to Greg Lambert, known for his work as a manager, commentator, promoter and Master of Ceremonies across the UK for the likes of PCW, RQW, FWA, Southside, IPW:UK and others. With Greg's new book Ropes and Glory: The Emotional Rise of British Wrestling, a sequel to Holy Grail: The True Story of British Wrestling's Revival out now, there couldn't have been a better time to speak to the 15 year veteran of the Brit Wres scene. 

ATPW - Tell us a little bit about Ropes and Glory, what's it about and what can people learn from reading it? 

Greg Lambert - It's about the last ten years of British wrestling history, through my own eyes and my experiences. Things that I've been involved in as a promoter or a commentator or a manager on the UK wrestling scene and also things that I've experienced by going to shows and also watching on the telly. Things that I've been aware through studying the British scene. It's the journey from 2007 to where we are now. British wrestling has never, it's just never ever been as good as it is now. Even back in the glory days of Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks, it's never had the attention and received the opportunities that we have now. So, it's the journey of where it was ten years ago, through the triumph and the tragedies along the way, to the return to British terrestrial TV with an episodic series.. It's amazing.  

When did you begin work on the sequel? 

Straight after the first book came out. Holy Grail: The True Story of British Wrestling's Revival was the first book and that was really picking up the story from the World of Sport era up to about 2007, but mainly focused on the FWA, which is the promotion even now that I'm most synonymous with. Straight after that came out in November 2012, I went on a book signing tour. Some of the material in this book is from when I was on that tour, that was the first time I went to an ICW show for example, going to PROGRESS Wrestling for the first time, as well. A lot of research spans from back then. 

How else did you go about collating the material and writing up the book in general? 

I think I'm blessed with a really good memory, I think that helps. I've got a pretty good memory for dates, but I've also got a book, which every show I've worked on I've kept a list of where the show was, the date of the show, matches on the show. So that's a good reference and some of it comes from the internet as well. There's a lot of interviews as well, with some of the top names in British wrestling. So you're getting their memories, their perceptions of what's happened over the last ten years. The likes of Rockstar Spud, Drew Galloway, Rampage Brown, Noam Dar... So it's not just my narrative, there's different opinions. 

The Foreword is written by Rockstar Spud, what do you feel was Spud's importance to the book and to the scene as a whole around this time? 

I'm extremely grateful to Spud for taking the time to write the foreword, because I really wanted him to do it, because he's one of my favourite people and favourite performers in British wrestling for the past ten years. The significance is I think Spud broke the mould for a lot of British wrestlers who aren't the stereotypical size, they aren't the stereotypical look, that you would associate with becoming an international star. There's been people like Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and Randy Savage, who came before and broke the mould for lighterweight wrestlers, but when Spud started out in the FWA in 2004, he was a different level of not looking like a wrestler. He worked on the body, he worked on the performance skills, he working on everything to the point where he became a champion with my promotion, the XWA, as it was. How Spud became the champion and the story, how he evolved from then and how he did in the second coming of the FWA and then to get to British BootCamp and to end up with TNA. That's a great achievement, he basically knocked the door down for a lot of British wrestlers to become stars in America, because he wasn't supposed to do it. He was never supposed to do it. He was told "You'll never make it, you're too this, you're too that" and he just didn't take no for an answer. He preserved and through brains and talent and drive, he made it. I think he set a great example for others.

You mentioned earlier that about the numerous interviews that you conducted for the book, did you discover anything new from participating in these? 

Lots of things. Rampage's interview sticks in my head, as you read the book you'll discover a lot about Rampage Brown, his mentality as a professional wrestler and how it was for him going over to America as a young man and being a part of WWE developmental, before it became NXT. He was there with Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, but he struggled over there to make any kind of an impact and he talks very candidly about that. He also talks very candidly about his experience on British BootCamp 2, which surprised me, some of the things that he said about that. I think a lot of people that read Rampage's thoughts will find those quite eye-opening. 

Dave Rayne is interviewed for the book. People will know Dave as the former promoter of FutureShock Wrestling and his role in PCW, predominantly, but I think people will get a different opinion of Dave when they read the contributions that he makes to the book. What an intelligent and quite emotionally sensitive guy he is, but also very clued up on wrestling as a whole. That's how I know him, but I think a lot of people will see a side of Dave that they may not have seen before. 

Also, Alex Shane. With the Second Coming of the FWA, which in itself is a great story, which is written out in a lot of detail. I think people will be really interested to read what he has to say about that. I think that people's perception of Alex, who can be quite a polarising figure, people's perceptions might change, for the better.

Greg, you've had numerous roles in pro wrestling over the years, but what brings you the most enjoyment professionally? 

Good question! Still booking, I would say. I've just started again, doing some storyline writing for PCW and I think when things go to plan and seeing an audience react, the way you want them to react and you see performers execute your vision, I don't think there's anything greater. I've never experienced anything greater. 

Commentary I'm really enjoying at the moment, really really enjoying, the commentary side of things. I did the Five Star Wrestling show in January on Spike, which was an incredible moment, personally and professionally, because it was the first live broadcast by a British-based wrestling company on UK television in almost fifty years. To be able to work with an incredible television company, the production people too, because they were really top level people that I was working with. The director was a guy who worked on World Cup Football, World Cup Rugby and some big big fights. To work with that level of people was great. To work with some of the wrestlers as well, some of the biggest names in the industry today likes Rey Mysterio, Drew Galloway, that was just incredible. It's great to commentate for PCW as well, being doing that for five years now, PCW is still a great promotion to work for. Lots of exciting things coming up. 

Within the book, you reveal a list of instructions you try to stick by as a booker, why do you think they are so important when writing and booking pro wrestling? 

I think, they're more reminders really. It's very easy when you're booking to lose sight of the big picture, so it's quite handy to have these guidelines in the back of my mind. Which I can always go back to and refer to. They do work. I've got numerous example of them working, but the main one I think is what the book is all about, the book is an emotional rollercoaster and done right booking should be an emotional rollercoaster. The quote by Dusty Rhodes that I talk about in the book "Wrestling is built on emotion" that's my mantra for booking and I think that's very much the mantra of the book as well. 

As a viewer, I certainly prefer to watch pro wrestling that has a clear vision. 

Yeah, I think this year's WrestleMania, you can tell, that they've got a much clearer vision, than they did last year. Every match seems to have been built up over time, with a purpose and you can kind of see where they are going, but some of the results of the matches are in doubt as well, which I think is great. Despite the fact you've got that clear direction, there's still a bit of uncertainty about which way they're going, but everything's logical and makes sense and that's what wrestling should be, I think. 

You've worked with a variety of performers throughout your career, from big international stars to young kids getting their first break. Is there anyone in professional wrestling that you'd like to work with, that you haven't got the chance to just yet? 

That's a good question! Yeah, loads of people actually I think. On the British wrestling scene, there's a young lad down south, who I really really rate, he's like the new Spud, a guy called Sid Scala. I love the character, I love his passion, he's a protege of Barry Charalambous, who was also a mentor to Spud and a lot other guys as well. You can see Barry's influence in Sid, because like Spud, he knows the value in cutting a promo, of making sure people remember him. It's not always about having the best wrestling match, it's about making sure that you're remembered and Sid does that. From a British perspective, I think he'd be a great person to work with.

I think if you read the book, you'll see the respect that I have for Mark Dallas as a promoter. I get on very well with Mark, I think he's great guy and I love his ethos for ICW. I love everything about ICW, in fact Scottish wrestling as a whole. It really does have a special place in my heart, the Scottish wrestling scene. I have a lot of respect for Mark. We're not the same in a lot of ways, but I think in terms of our theories of wrestling, there's a lot of parallels. It would be nice to do something with Mark at some point. 

I nearly had the opportunity to work with Kurt Angle, with Five Star Wrestling, but that fell through because he signed on to do WWE Hall of Fame. Which is great, absolutely great and well deserved. I didn't mind in the end, because I ended up commentating with Joe Hendry and Joe Hendry is a guy I really rate and respect and is thoroughly talented and enthusiastic. When you get the opportunity to work with a guy on Kurt Angle's level, it's a big deal and I still hope I get to work with Kurt in the future. 

In the first book, The Holy Grail, the Holy Grail was British wrestling returning to television, since then British wrestling has exploded and has indeed returned to television with WOS Wrestling, Five Star and WWE UK (depending on your definition of TV), what's that been like for you personally? To see British wrestling return to the big time? 

It's had me on the verge of tears, quite a few times, to be honest with you. Not miserable tears, the opposite. It's tremendous. I can't really put it into words. All I can really say about it is that when I started with FWA, when I worked closely with Alex Shane, that was always Alex's vision. Talk Wrestling, the TalkSport Radio show, it was always the vision. When you've worked closely with someone like him, bought into the vision and worked hard to bring the vision about...and in later years, there's other people who've taken up the baton and brought that vision forward and to the next level. I think when you've been involved for as long as I have and worked with the people that I have and seen them struggling and when you've done shows in front of 25 people and you've seen shows cancelled because you've not sold enough tickets and you've seen things go wrong and when you've seen terrible things happen...that when you get to this level, you're bound to be emotional about it. 

When the World of Sport special was on on New Year's Eve, it was quite something for me, as it was for everybody who has been involved in that struggle for years and years and years.

I think that's the real power of wrestling, that not only does it effect those outside the business, but it can have such a profound effect on someone like yourself. 

Yeah, it is. Done right, it's an incredible artform. It's so difficult to explain. One of the hardest things I find about wrestling is trying to explain it to non-fans, who just don't get it at all and in the end, it's not worth it. People are either going to get it or they're not. But those that do get it, there are a lot of us and it's really nice to share experiences like that. To share the same mentality with such a big group of people.

Do you have any future project lined up at the moment? What's next for Greg Lambert? 

I'll be at PCW, I'm still commentating for them, I'm doing the booking for the main shows and in regards to Five Star Wrestling, I'd expect an announcement soon. 

A special thanks to Greg Lambert for taking the time to speak to us. We'll have a full review of Ropes and Glory: The Emotional Rise of British Wrestling on atpw.co.uk soon. You can purchase your copy now, either in Paperback or on Kindle from Amazon and Lulu.

You can find more about Greg and Ropes and Glory here. 

Twitter - @RopesandGlory
Facebook - Greg Lambert - Wrestling

Interviewer - James Marston 

Twitter - @ATPWrestling 

Facebook - /acrossthepondwrestling 

Instagram - @ATPWrestling

TV Review: IMPACT Wrestling #628 - Ethan Carter III v Matt Hardy 8

The catch-up on IMPACT Wrestling reviews continues!

This episode featured the Semi-Finals of the Bound for Glory Play-Offs, an X Division title Ladder match and a Monster's Ball clash for the Tag Team titles. With The Decay, Gail Kim and the debuting David Starr in action, this was going to great, right?

The headline encounter featured Ethan Carter III and "Broken" Matt Hardy battling for a spot in the Bound for Glory Play-Off Final. Before the action got underway, there was a promo segment that initially began with Hardy berating Brother Nero, before EC3 would interrupt. The Universal Studios crowd seems to absolutely adore EC3 and he gave another strong performance on the mic, with an entertaining run-down of a number of "Broken" tropes, whilst also helping to add towards the Hardy v Nero feud that has been rumbling along for some time now. It was a nice reminder of the EC3 and Hardy feud from earlier in the year that brought a little extra spice to the match that directly followed it. 

EC3 and Hardy put on a good main event, with a story driven by The Ass-Kicking Machine (kayfabe) injuring his ankle off a missile dropkick, including Hardy removing EC3's boot to further go after the injury. Hardy has unquestionably reenvigorated his character over the past six months and that allowed him to wrestle a visually different style to pretty much anyone on TV at the moment, utilising mainly headbutts and biting to keep control of the match. In a business where everything has been done, anything that's remotely divergent from the norm, instantly draws you in and that's exactly what Hardy's got going on right now. For my tastes the finish was a little over-booked with Reby Hardy sliding a hammer to Nero, before Nero slid it across the ring in-between Hardy & EC3, with the ref removing the hammer from Hardy's grasp, EC3 would pick up the win after nailing Hardy with the boot that had been removed earlier. Anything that take such a long winded explanation is too much for me, but it did advance that Hardy-Nero feud, whilst bringing the previously removed boot back into the match was a neat piece of storytelling also.

The second semi-final involved "The Miracle" Mike Bennett and Drew Galloway and despite some nice ideas, ended up becoming even more over-booked than the main event. Moose, EC3 and Maria Kanellis-Bennett would all end up getting involved in a bout that went just over 7 minutes in an example of trying to do too much at the same time. The one thing that came out here looking good was Moose, who looked like a true destructive force, taking out Galloway on his entrance, later for a near fall and then EC3 after being sent into the steel steps himself. EC3 clobbering Galloway by mistake has been done to death in this feud alone and didn't have much impact at all, especially compared to the other times we've seen this happen. Bennett's heel character is building especially with Moose now at his side, but I'm still waiting for him to have a breakout match in the company.

Lashley's X Division title defense against DJ Z was a bit unexpected and in another case of hot shot booking in TNA was made a Ladder match also. Personally, I'd have preferred to see a singles bout before the two, before a arrogant Lashley gave Z the opportunity to choose the match type as we got here. This was arguably the strongest match on the show though, telling a decent power v speed type story, whilst throwing in a number of impressive spots that lifted the excitement. Z took his opportunity towards the top of the card and owned it pulling out a series high spots including a senton off the announce table and a big crossbody of the top of the ladder to the floor! He also ended up taking a ridiculous gorilla press bump off the top of the ladder for the finish. Even if it was Z who really made this bout tick, it's Lashley's dominance that continues!

James Storm guested on an entertaining edition of King of the Mountain Champion Eli Drake's Fact of Life talk show, with a future title bout between the two being scheduled. Both threw around sophomoric insults about shagging mothers and southern redneck incest and such, whilst Drake also teased a potential showdown with Lashley at a latter date. Drake continues to improve on the microphone managing to be incredibly watchable, whilst making you want to see someone kick his teeth in Row Z at the same time and this was no different. The segment concluded with Drake standing over his rival, after coming out on top in a scrap, ending things with Blaunt Force Trauma, before repeatedly shouting his popular catchphrase "Dummy Yeah" into Storm's knocked out ears (as seen above, Dummy (yeah))

Similar to the X Division title Ladder match, the tag team title bout seemed to blindside me and then it was like "Oh we're having a Monster's Ball match, okay. Cool." In another similarity, The Decay's Abyss & Crazzy Steve defending against The Bro-Mans' Jessie Godderz & Robbie E was a compact but brutal match. Straight out of the gates with the big moments, this was a very good spot-fest, that saw barbed wire boards and thumbs tacks get introduced within the first two minutes! With a genuinely believable near fall, after E & Godderz got on a roll and Mr. Pec-tacular got The Adonis Crab locked in on Steve, who spent a long time in the hold and two big bumps from both Bro-Mans en route to The Decay retaining the belts, this was an exhilarating sprint between two teams whose stock have been continuously raising as 2016 goes on.

ROH's Moose had his in-ring debut for TNA opposite CZW's David Starr, also making his debut. This was a straight-forward squash match, in which the former American football player looked like a beast. Whilst it was a positive debut for Moose, it was a shame that the talented Starr wasn't allowed much of an opportunity to show off what he could do for the company. Following the bout, Moose would have a confrontation with World Heavyweight and X Division Champion Lashley, whilst Mike Bennett built up the potential of a match between the two, before quickly denying the live crowd of that possibility. Lashley throwing some bitchy lines towards his younger rival, with Bennett having to hold Moose back from a fight was a different piece of booking that continued to blur the lines between heel and face for everyone but Bennett. Just like the Lashley v EC3 feud and latter the EC3 v Galloway feud, Moose v Lashley seems like something that TNA is going keep teasing, continue to make people want to see the match more and more before it's ready to deliver.

The only women's match on the card saw Gail Kim begin her run towards a Knockout's Championship shot with a victory over Madison Rayne in a match that happened. Every move was performed well enough, but there was no feel of urgency and the purpose of the match was never put over clearly enough by either the performers or the commentary team. Considering Rayne had turned heel on Kim just a week previously, she didn't do act that of a heel, until arguing with referee Earl Hebner in the finish. Things weren't helped by Josh Matthews at the announce desk who continues to be cringe-worthy listen throughout and even more so when his wife, Rayne, is in the ring!

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 4.88/10

A slight dip in quality from last week's episode here, in which the two Bound for Glory Play-Off Semi-Finals both failed to deliver on their promise. The bouts that became the best of the show came completely unannounced on the show as Lashley v DJ Z in a Ladder match and The Decay v The Bro-Mans in Monster's Ball, both delivered in all their random, spot-based glory. The weak women's bout, a squash match for Moose and the over-booked Bennett v Galloway contest dragged the score below an average five for IMPACT Wrestling #628.

All content - James Marston

TV Review: TNA The Final Deletion - Director's Cut (James Marston)

I knew you'd come. Now we are here at the point where I will talk about the Final Deletion. Words will be wrote and many a moment will be analysed, but will it truly matter when all that is left is the darkness inside our very souls. When we are Broken, can we ever truly complete anything? 

Okay, I lost it for a moment there. Sorry about that. Basically, I wanted to talk a little bit more about TNA's Final Deletion, than I usually would within the confines of a regular TV show review. I wanted to be able to focus on the entire story that ran throughout IMPACT Wrestling #625 and truly do justice to the dark masterpiece of wonder that it may very well be. So I decided I'd take a look at the Director's Cut. It's essentially all the scenes Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, Reby Hardy, Maxel Hardy, Senor Benjamin and a referee took part in throughout the show spliced together to create on stand-alone 18 minute piece of television. 

A Brief History of Matt vs. Jeff in TNA

If you've not been watching TNA this year, or you are reading this many, many years from now, primarily, Matt and Jeff Hardy have been feuding since way in January, when Jeff got all pissy about Matt doing nasty things to Ethan Carter III en route to becoming World Heavyweight Champion. With a little gap because Jeff can't get into the UK and TNA were taking five weeks worth of TV there, Matt and Jeff have been scrapping ever since. They've had two battles over the World Heavyweight title, one involving EC3, that would eventually lead to Drew Galloway cashing in his Feast or Fired Briefcase and Matt losing the belt. This would lead to feud heating up further with Matt blaming Jeff for losing the belt, they'd go on to scrap in a Gauntlet to become #1 Contender, which Jeff won and they'd fight in a tag team match where Matt and Tyrus went over Jeff and Galloway. Then came time to up the ante in an "I Quit" match when Jeff would leap off part of the stage and crush Matt, but seeing as neither said the words required, the feud continued. 

Matt returned under Jeff's Willow alias, claiming he was now "Broken" because of the event of the "I Quit" match. This is where the storyline took a turn for the absolute mental. Matt speaking in a weird Shakespearean-esque accent and playing the piano and things. All types of weird-ass shit, that trod the line between terribly awesome and awesomely terrible. Jeff winning a Full Metal Mayhem match at Slammiversary couldn't solve things, neither could "The Charismatic Enigma" jumping off a ladder on top of the ring post and threw tables and chairs and onto Matt in a Six Sides of Steel match, two weeks ago. Therefore, we were here, there was only one way to bring the family feud to an end. Where it began at The Hardy house. In a rickety old ring and all over the massive yard and that. 

THE FINAL DELETION REVIEW 

I'm going to split this into two parts. Stuff that happened before the match and the match, if you can call it a match, itself. From the very beginning it was just as mental as I wanted it to be. Matt's gardener Senor Benjamin made a return, as Matt and Reby celebrate Maxel's first birthday. Matt was saying thing in his weird voice and making claims about the candle on Maxel's cake. Perhaps my favourite part in the pre-amble towards the match was when Jeff received his message from Matt, his invitation to the dance, so to speak. That's because it came via a hologram that was delivered by a drone. Why was it done like this? Because the Hardyz like holograms and drones and they've taken a lot of drugs in the past. Jeff was playing his part wonderfully, because he looked so serious as he sped off on his motorbike to kick some butt. Whilst this was happening Matt was destroying Jeff's grass design by riding a sit-on lawn mover and waving his arms about. Why was it done like this? Because the Hardyz like sit-on lawn movers and they've taken a lot of drugs in the past. There was even more mental stuff like Matt ordering his Benjamin to get the "battlefield prepared for a massacre" before later handing him some gasoline. 

After a referee had arrived in his car, and Matt had summoned Jeff (again) by playing the violin, it was time. The match was produced like a movie with incidental music instead of commentary. I think the weirdest part of the match for me was that the pair started off wrestling like this was a regular match, there was a bit of brawl at the start, but then they started bouncing each other off the ropes, going for quick pinfalls and Jeff even took his shirt off when he went to hit a Swanton Bomb like he was expecting to get a pop. This was not a match that was built on it's realism. Which is probably for the best. From a few minutes in, things returned to the bat shit craziness, with weapons getting involved, and then Jeff jumped out of a tree onto Matt who was propped up on a ladder in the corner, then Matt introduced fireworks to the match, allowing for a beautiful aerial visual of the ring covered in the smoke. Jeff used his own fireworks, Matt hid in a dilapidated boat, thought he'd drowned his brother in a lake, Willow turned up, Benjamin tasered Willow, but Benjamin was actually Willow or something. I don't fucking know okay. These lads have turned me into a mess with their mental antics. The finish of the match somehow had to top the rest of this lunacy and it did. Jeff climbed a giant version of his logo, so Matt used Maxel's first birthday candle to set it on fire (because of the Gasoline), causing Jeff to fall off the logo. Matt would then pin him. Hence the Final Deletion. 

I'm shaking now recalling what I watched. It was funny in the weirdest way and they both did some really stupid stuff to each other. It was like if backyard wrestling had the budget and production of Lucha Underground, and also the access to a large lake, a dilapidated boat, shit loads of fireworks, a massive sculpture of Jeff Hardy's logo, a taser and other things Why did any of this happen? What does any of it mean? What will happen to either man going forward? Who the fuck knows. But this probably the best advert for either taking drugs or not taking drugs you will ever see, depending on your outlook on life.  

TV Review: IMPACT Wrestling #624 - EC3 v Galloway v Lashley (James Marston)

After a belter of an episode last week, how would TNA look to capitalise? With a big three-way title match in the main event, this was gonna be another strong episode...or was it? 

The aforementioned three way main event would see Lashley hold onto his TNA World Heavyweight Championship, taking advantage of Drew Galloway nailing Ethan Carter III with a Claymore Kick to hit a spear on both opponents, before pinning EC3. As TV main events go this was a bloody good showing from all three men as they told a nice story and kept a solid pace. Having two babyfaces and a single heel could have been the matches undoing, but the ground work had been put in last week with Galloway and EC3 clearly not seeing eye to eye, and built on here, with the fan favourites working together to try to keep Lashley out of the match, so they had more of an opportunity to tear each other a part. My main complaint here is that everything needed more time to fully develop, with the ending feeling a little rushed, an extra five minutes and few more convincing near falls and we'd have had a brilliant match here. 

Whilst the main event was to the point, the same can not be said about the opening segment. X Division Champion Mike Bennett, Maria Kanellis-Bennett, Lashley, EC3, Billy Corgan and Galloway were all involved in what essentially boiled down to Corgan booking a Number One Contender's Battle Royal for Bennett's title, before a brawl would eventually lead to Galloway accidentally nailing EC3 with a Claymore Kick. At times it felt a little directionless, and despite strong performances, from Bennett in particular, almost everything needed to be tightened up and streamlined. A lot of the stuff like Galloway and EC3's accident was unnecessary because the building blocks were already in place from last week and without a date set for Destination X, Bennett's involvement with Lashley lacked urgency. 

You thought the Hardy Boyz were done with their feud? You were wrong. This feud will never end. Ever. As has been the case for months, this was complete and utter lunacy. Matt Hardy being driven around ringside by Reby Hardy in what he referred to as his "chair with wheels", as he ranted about his previous matches with Jeff and all other manner of things in his ridiculous voice was so bizarre, but completely entertaining at the same time. Despite the madness, the angle actually played out quite simply with Matt baiting Jeff, before using Reby to attack his brother from behind after doing a Linda McMahon and rising from his chair with wheels. The two will face off "one last time" next week, apparently, at their own home in North Carolina. It's being billed as "Brother Nero: The Final Deletion" because why the fuck wouldn't it be? 

King of the Mountain Champion Eli Drake's Fact of Life talk show segment was back this week with James Storm turning up as the eventual guest. I say "eventual" because before Storm would interrupt we'd get a promo from Drake about mashed potatoes. Yeah, mashed potatoes. It was actually very entertaining and completely different from pretty much anything anyone else is doing. The segment for took a dive when Storm came out, because similar to the opening segment, it felt flabby and could have done with a bit of a trim. A feud with Storm could do good things for Drake's career, and with Storm eventually hitting a Last Call Superkick on Drake to close the segment, it looks like we're heading that way over the next few weeks, at least.

Braxton Sutter would become the number one contender to Mike Bennett's X Division Champion by outlasting Trevor Lee, Andrew Everett, Eddie Edwards, DJ Z, Mandrews and Rockstar Spud in an over-the-top Battle Royal, only to be attack by the Helms Dynasty and  therefore losing in his immediate title match, and Bennett retaining the title. The battle royal was a fun bout, with a lot of talented performers in there. It was great to see Mandrews get some screen-time and he made a real case for deserving more focus with a series of action with Lee and Everrett that was among the best in the match. The angle with The Helms Dynasty was done well and actually protected Sutter from a loss to Bennett, allowing him to keep the momentum of winning the battle royal. 

Sienna retained the Knockout's Championship over Gail Kim in a match that aired on the show. Not a whole lot of interesting wrestling content here, with the sole highlight of the match being a nice reversal of a crucifix into a powerful Samoan drop from Sienna. The bout was fairly short and never really looked to get out of first gear as Jade came out to neutralise the distraction from Sienna's valet Allie, only for Marti Bell to attack Jade, which lead to eventual distraction that'd allow Sienna to hold onto her title. I absolutely hated Monty Brown's Pounce finisher so the fact that Sienna is now using it as The Silencer made me put my head in my hands and cry a little. 

It was the dream match we've all been waiting for as Grado, Mahabali Shera and a newly packaged Tyrus would go over Al Snow and The Tribunal in six man tag action. Yay. The crowd tried to chant "USA" at one point, which considering there was a Scotsman, an Indian and an American on one team and two Frenchmen and an American on the other team made literally zero sense. The match wasn't terrible, with some nice ref distraction and heely goings on from the Tribunal and Snow and a decent hot tag from Tyrus. The end of the bout was a bit messy though, before Tyrus would win with a weak looking World's Strongest Slam.  

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 4.79/10

Not a great show this week, with a few clunky segments and matches that could have done with a bit more thought and tidying up. I think the best way to describe this show was that it felt very "first draft". Some good ideas, but a lot of flab. The main event and the mental Hardyz segment keep it from turning into an utter mess. It's ironic that the one thing that felt like it was overly cut short was the one part of the show that really excelled at what was done. With a bit more main event this show would have been much improved.

iPPV Review: PCW Tribute to the Troops 3 - Samuels v Galloway (James Marston)

It was a historic night for European wrestling as PCW presented the first iPPV event to be broadcast in HD. With 3000 fans on hand at the Preston Guild Hall and their usual mix of imported and home-grown talent, could PCW host a show to match this history making feat? Let's see.

Drew Galloway challenging for Sha Samuels' PCW Championship acted as the show's main event, with Galloway having earned his title shot earlier in the month in a ten man gauntlet at PCW's regular venue, Evoque. The first few minutes would involve some interesting pieces of booking as Samuels' faction, The Firm (The London Riots & Sammy Smooth) would end up getting removed from the ringside area for continual interference. This would be followed by ring announcer and Co-General Manager, Joanna Rose, announcing that she'd "just been informed" that the match was now a "No Disqualification". I struggled to work out the logic of having The Firm removed from ringside to then have the match declared No DQ before they'd even made it behind the curtain. Surely, The Firm just turn straight back around and head to the ring at this point? 

Galloway and Samuels would seem like a good fit inside the ring and when they got the chance to get at it, they did manage to show just a slice of what they are capable of. The duo brawling around the crowd was a difficult thing for the PCW cameras to pick up, especially with the seemingly poor lighting of the guild hall, but what could be seen looked like a lot of fun as the two really went for each other. There was a great sequence of action inside the ring also, perhaps the best piece of wrestling on the entire show as well, where Galloway would pull off a butterfly suplex out of the tree of woe position, before Samuels would duck a Claymore Kick attempt, only to leave himself wide open for piledriver from Galloway for a strong near fall. 

The closing part of the contest played up the No DQ element with The Firm finally coming back out and Samuels nailing a low blow on Galloway. There were a lot of twists and turns with Galloway able to take out both The London Riots and Sammy Smooth with a tope conhilo, before escaping the aforementioned sleeper hold. Galloway got a strong reaction for his near fall off a Tombstone Piledriver, which seemed to have convinced Preston that the match was over. After such a strong near fall, I was hoping to get a stronger finish that would manage to push the bout to the next level, instead Samuels simply locked in another sleeper hold to claim the victory, which felt just a little flat to me. 

Lots of things would happen after that and eventually we'd see Noam Dar win the PCW Championship for the first time, fresh from competing in the WWE Cruiserweight Classic in Orlando. The last part of the show was a real clusterfuck, with The Firm attacking Galloway, T-Bone, Bubblegum and The Hooligans would make the save, before PCW owner Steven Fludder would get on the mic and demand a re-start, also adding Dar to the match. Firstly, Fludder said he didn't want a "screwjob" finish on his first iPPV, when there wasn't actually a screwjob finish. Then I don't quite get the kayfabe logic of bringing Dar out after the first match had taken place. Dar would win by locking the Champagne Super Knee Bar on Samuels, whilst Samuels had a sleeper hold on Galloway. 

Oh my life, The Hooligans vs. The New Age Assholes was a painful 25 minutes of television. 25 minutes. 25 minutes. But the match itself was way under five. So what exactly happened the rest of the time? I don't even know. My notes say "much dicking around". That's about right. Mr. Anderson dicked about for a bit, Billy Gunn dicked about for a bit and The Hooligans dicked about a lot. There was a lot of dicking about. Anderson and Gunn somehow even managed to make the combination of their pre-match schtick painful to watch as they both dragged it on for forever. Having come directly after a non-wrestling segment, to have this much fannying around was more than frustrating. 

It was great news to find out the Zak Knight can do a back flip, despite being by his own admission "fat". It would have been better news if he did it in the match and that this didn't lead to everyone else in the bout going to the top rope to pretend to do a moonsault. This was after the Hooligans had aimlessly wandered around ringside drinking beer and looking like The Bushwackers if the Bushwackers were from Norwich. I've seen these guys put in great performances in the ring for PCW, but I'd much prefer to see them focus on what they do in the ring than whatever this was. Maybe it came across better in the hall, but this kind of thing is not well suited to iPPV. 

So, after so much stalling, the match itself would be good right, right? Think again squire, the match was probably worse than all the stalling. I'd have preferred everyone in the building to have tried to do a backflip than watch this match again. The finish was perhaps the only notable piece of action as Roy hammed it up, with wobbly legs and such, en route to falling between Anderson legs, before Gunn would deliver a Famouser. I don't think my description does justice to just how bad this was to watch. The Hooligans would go on to win with a school boy roll up on Gunn, taking advantage of the shenanigans. This was everything I've ever complained about PCW for, tied up in one match. 

Rob Van Dam continued his undefeated record in PCW, making his first appearance since April 2015, to defeat Lionheart in a solid encounter. This was the case of a fairly simple bout, that was done well, with the crowd being at their loudest for the entire night. The duo kept things simple, with RVD able to run through a number of his back catalogue of moves, first as part of the opening face shine and then later en route to sealing his victory with the Five Star Frog Splash. It wasn't particularly exciting as home viewing, but I'm sure it fulfilled most of the fans in attendances needs in an RVD bout. 

I've been fairly critical of Lionheart in the past, but he played his role well here, allowing the crowd to get their hit from the RVD bong and putting in a good showing when called up to go on the offence. He looked vicious on the attack, throwing RVD into the ringpost multiple times to add a bit of urgency to what was a fairly pedestrian bout in general. This was arguably the best booked contest of the night, making the most of it's two competitors and showing up their strengths well. Whilst RVD remains undefeated in the company, Lionheart has now lost six matches out of seven over the last three month for PCW.

For me, the best action of the night could be found in a three way bout between Toni Storm, Carmel Jacob and the debuting Saraya Knight. The three women produced a hard-hitting clash, with some big impressive moves and plenty of action. Kicking off with a lovely German Suplex from Storm, we'd go on to a fisherman's suplex from Knight onto the wooden floor, a nice suicide dive from Storm onto her two opponents and a nasty looking rope-hung DDT from Knight and Jacob to the outside. 

The match did at times feels a little bit disjointed and despite having some cool moments of action, I felt it struggled to buckle down and hit it's stride. This wasn't helped by Knight constantly jumping the barrier to get into it with fans. Perhaps this was due to how the show was presented on iPPV, but there was more than once when we'd miss what was going on in the ring to see Knight throw some beer over a fan. This got even weirder when following Storm being able to pin Jacob for the victory, we'd see Knight jump the barrier again to snog a fan before pushing him to the floor and covering him in booze. I'm all for getting involved with the crowd to generate heat, but this felt like it was to detriment of the action, rather than improving it.

One of the matches that I was most looking forward to on this card was Team Single vs. London Riots as I'm a big fan of both teams and thought that their styles would suit each well and bring us a brutal tag match, with both teams beating strips off each other. On that count I came away feeling a little disappointing with the action. The two teams didn't seem to connect inside the ring as I was hoping they would, with the final few minutes of the match especially ending up in a bit of a mess. T-Bone slipping in a coast to coast attempt, with his opponent in a tree of woe position, before repeating the spot a few moments later was particular let down. 

Where I think the match could have been saved was an early piece of story-telling that seemed to be thrown away way too soon. Rampage Brown would go for a piledriver on the wooden ramp, only to have the move reversed and take a painful looking back-body drop onto the wood. The London Riots could then take advantage of T-Bone and begin to control the match. I was beginning to get into this idea and was hoping we'd get to see some real moments of drama as Brown looked to recover, whilst T-Bone had to fight against both Rob Lynch and James Davis, therefore allowing the crowd to get more and more behind the babyfaces. Unfortunately, Brown seemed to recover way too quickly and the hot tag didn't feel as exciting as it should. Team Single would retain their belt after T-Bone hit an awkward dragon suplex and Brown closed the deal with a piledriver.

The opening contest would be a four corners match with Martin Kirby, Charlie Garrett, Sammy Smooth and Bubblegum all squaring off. This was a tasty start to the show with the four men working hard to produce some pacy action that would warm the hall up nicely. The bout started off slowly, mainly focusing on introducing the face/heel divide as we saw Kirby and Smooth align with each other as Garrett and Bubblegum attempted to fight passed their underhanded tactics. It took a while to really get going, but I feel it was worth it to get the live crowd settled and accustomed to the show style. 

There was some nice exchanges in the latter half of the contest, as the match became saturated with near falls. There was a clever moment where Kirby was unable to complete a tower of doom spot, so had to call upon his tag partner, Joey Hayes, to help him, with Hayes distracting the referee, Joel Allen, by throwing his chest protector into the ring. Hayes would later play apart in the finish, as Garrett would attempt to chase him from interfering in the bout, causing the distraction that would allow Bubblegum to hit a 619 and then a beautiful Shooting Star Press to claim the victory. Based on his performance in the match, I was more than happy when I saw Bubblegum get the win, as he had been the matches MVP in my eyes, pulling out the best looking offence and looking very crisp in everything he did.

So, it was supposed to be Joe Hendry vs. Joey Hayes, but it turned into Joe Hendry and some guy off Britain's Got Talent and Joey Hayes and Martin Kirby. It was bad. Very bad. Firstly, I had no idea who the heels were supposed to be. Kirby and Hayes had been heels in the Four Corners match earlier in the night, but Hendry was singing and bringing out talent show contestants. The Britain's Got Talent fella even did some singing of his own, trying to get the crowd to sing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle's theme, but with the tune being so unrecognisable from the original, I doubt the crowd could even work out what it was. This is a guy that won a competition for singing. Hendry and his BGT friend would win the match after throwing Hayes and Kirby into each other. Yeah. Yeah. 

Chris Masters also made his return to PCW to answer Iestyn Rees' "AlphaLock Challenge". Basically, Rees had been playing a Masters rip-off gimmick and Masters was back to claim it for his own. Masters at least bought some intensity to proceedings as he tried to get at Rees, I suppose. I wasn't a major fan of Masters last babyface run in PCW, so I didn't really get much out of this segment, as he would go on to batter Rees for hesitating to much in putting the AlphaLock on. At least, I got to shout "Dave Rayne" in a room on my own, as Rayne would be the one to re-introduce his former Legion of Boom partner to the promotion.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 3.24/10

Yup, that's the lowest score I've given for a Brit-Wres show. Only Halloween Havoc 1998 currently sits lower on the ATPW Scale leader board. This show was not a good showcase for British Wrestling and I do hope that anybody who was checking out their first Brit-Wres show on PPV hasn't been turned off by the shambles that was Tribute to the Troops.

All credit to PCW for trying something new with the iPPV gimmick and the stream was reliable and clear throughout the show. Plus I suppose for £3 for the iPPV and most tickets being free, I guess there is a case to be made for "You get what you pay for here". However, with a huge crowd in attendance and the chance of a whole new audience online, I can't help but feel that PCW should have gone all out and put on at least one match that would create a buzz.

There is a specific market that an online PPV will play to and therefore that market needs to be catered to when choosing this business model. I'd like to think of myself as part of that market (well I bought the show, so I am), but this show definitely wasn't for me.

TV Review: IMPACT Wrestling #623 (James Marston)

I ripped into last week's IMPACT Wrestling, which apart from a stellar main event between Lashley and Drew Galloway, was a piss poor TV show. Could the show recover and start the summer with a bang? 

There was a lot going on this week with some major storyline twists and turns, but I'll begin by talking about the lengthy segment that would see Billy Corgan recommend TNA President Dixie Carter take a week off and Mike Bennett win the X Division title from Eddie Edwards. The first portion of the segment is a hard one to review, because so much of it hangs on where the storyline is going over the next few weeks. It was however an improvement on last week's segment, that would lead to Carter slapping Maria Kanellis-Bennett, as I thought both MKB and Bennett where on really strong form from the beginning, bringing an intensity to proceedings that managed to drive the segment. I'm also finding myself beginning to warm towards Billy Corgan's character, as he's slotted into a tweener role that hasn't been seen enough in the authority figure sphere lately, obviously this could change. I'm slightly worried that we're heading towards a power struggle angle, which I wouldn't be too interested in, but overall I thought everyone played their roles well here, even the ever so hammy Carter. 

Personally, I feel that parts of this segment could have been split over two weeks at least. As Bennett asked Corgan for an X Division title shot (because apparently Destination X is "just around the corner) with Corgan rambling a bit before giving it him straight away. Bennett and Eddie Edwards had previously squared off in Ring of Honor and North East Wrestling and I think that showed here as the pair went through a series of enjoyable action, and looked comfortable throughout. The narrative of Bennett trying to show that he could wrestle the "X-Division style" was a bit corny, but wasn't overplayed so therefore just about managed to work here, with Edwards using his pace to make a comeback rounding off things well. Bennett nicking a win by holding onto MKB at ringside to gain leverage on a pin was a fine finish that topped a pacy closing sequence well. Marking his first championship since dropping the ROH World Tag belt in December last year, I'm looking forward to seeing what Bennett can bring as the head of the division and looking forward an increased focus on the division heading into the Destination X special. 

The show would begin with a belting on-mic showdown between Drew Galloway and Ethan Carter III. The two went at it hammer and tongues as Galloway accused EC3 of costing him the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in last week's main event. Both men brought a great energy here, seeming to bounce off each other, continually driving each other to produce better and better performances. The scripting was top notch as the two babyfaces threw barbs and made the World Heavyweight title look important at the same time. The interruption from Lashley that followed did take a bit of the sting out of things however, with a questionable piece of booking as Lashley gave both men an opportunity to win a title shot at the same time, rather than simply fighting each other. I struggled to understand the logic behind Lashley's decision as he also offered Eli Drake an title shot if he could help him beat Galloway and EC3. I think the choice of match would have felt much more logical had it been made by a separate authority figure, perhaps Carter or Corgan. 

The tag clash would follow up straight away and although I'd have liked to have seen the story given a bit more breathing room, this was a more than solid opening contest for the show. I was really into the first portion of the bout, with Lashley and Drake finding a nice groove for their team, playing up their roles as they use many an underhanded tactics to keep in control of EC3. I'm a sucker for the spot where a hot tag is cut off by an opponent pulling the hot tagee off the apron, so got a big kick out of it being used here. The closing few minutes ended up being a bit scrappy, with a lot of different elements trying to be threaded through just a few minutes of action, with Lashley's awkward bump off a TKO from EC3 adding to this. Galloway would pick up the pinfall on Drake (after a One Percenter (Headlock Driver) from EC3) with Dixie Carter later informing Lashley that he'd face both "The Captain" and "The Ass Kicking Machine" on next week's episode. 

The Hardy Boyz feud would come to an end in the show-closing Six Sides of Steel bout, that probably needs to be seen to be fully believed. Anyone who's caught any of the feud between Matt and Jeff will know by know that's been utter ridiculous throughout, straddling the line between bizarrely genius and just straight up bizarre and of course, the final chapter would be no different. The match was an all-action affair, with Jeff filling the ring with Tables, Ladders and Chairs before the match, leading to more than a few weapon shots here. If WWE calls their TLC PPV, wrestling's "Demolition Derby" then the final spot here may have been the true embodiment of that term as Jeff scaled a ladder on top of turnbuckle (slightly higher that cage) before leaping off, putting himself through a table, that itself was placed another table, with Matt lying on it, covered in a steel chairs. It looked like Jeff may have slightly miscalculated his jump as he seemed to come down on shoulder or side of his head in process of taking out his brother. Was this match any good? I couldn't tell you. Was this match entertaining? Hell yes. 

After a quick jaunt over to AAA in Mexico, Rockstar Spud returned to in ring action with TNA after coming out and forcefully replacing Balam (better known as Lince Dorada in FIP and WWN, and a competitor in the upcoming WWE Cruiserweight Class) in a match with Braxton Sutter. Spud cut an enjoyable promo as he dismissed Balam and complained about all the attention that Sutter had been getting as of late. The resulting match was a little on the short side, as Sutter ended up pinning Spud in under three minutes. It did make Sutter look very good in there, but seeing as TNA are continuing with a Spud/Sutter feud (Spud would attack Sutter after the bout), I feel like a few more minutes here would have benefited the pair going forward.

In the Knockouts Division this week, Jade and Marti Bell collided in well put together grudge match. Jade looked like a real bad ass here, as she continued to grow into her babyface role by dominated Jade throughout the match. There was a palpable sense of her dislike for her former Doll House stable mate and this drove the match as Jade refused to let Bell get hardly any offence in, as well as hitting a brutal looking Electric Chair Facebuster onto the apron from the outside of the ring. Bell's metal baton played a big part in the match, with referee Earl Hebner having to discourage Jade from using it, before Bell would profit from nailing Jade in the head as she attempted a suicide dive, in a nice piece of storytelling. Perhaps the bout could have done with a few more minutes, but this was still an enjoyable slice of action, that saw both women put in strong performances in their respective roles and advance their rivalry nicely.

Lastly, this week's show saw a new storyline created as World Tag Team Champions The Decay would first offer Bram a slot in their group, before attacking the former King of the Mountain Champion when he declined their offer. The segment was carried by Rosemary, who did the majority of the talking, with more than a bit of a sexual undercurrent, in order to convince Bram of why he should join, with some solid reasoning that harked back to his past in the promotion. I thought Bram did a decent job here, as he tries to find his feet after his face turn. Depending on where this goes over the next few weeks, it has the potential to really make Bram as an upper level face talent for the company, although it will even more important to keep The Decay group looking strong. 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.94/10 

This was the best episode of IMPACT Wrestling I've seen this year. A complete turn around from last week's episode as I found something to enjoy in each and every segment, and beyond that there was some brilliant work from guys like Drew Galloway, Ethan Carter III and Mike Bennett. The storyline advancement was spot on in most places with even feuds lower down the card getting some much needed attention, which brought a lovely depth to the show. The Hardy Boyz steel cage bout was completely bonkers, but I'd still be happy to call it the best match on the show for it's sheer entertainment value.

I'm hoping to see a higher level of consistency over the rest of the summer from TNA, with more shows like this and less like the week before!