IMPACT Cross Roads Review

A big week for IMPACT this week as they presented a special edition of their TV show entitled Cross Roads. This show was main evented by a first-time ever match for the IMPACT World Champion as Austin Aries put his strap on the line against Johnny Impact. But how did it all go down in Orlando? Lets take a look.

IMPACT World Championship // Johnny Impact vs. Austin Aries (C) 

Before the match - Austin Aries pulled his suitcase up to the building - Johnny Impact did the same thing but for some reason was surrounded by four men carrying American flags, which was weird - Austin Aries showed off his various title belts, before saying Johnny Impact would have to get nasty to take the IMPACT World Championship from him - Johnny Impact took the piss out of Austin Aries for calling himself the Greatest Man That Ever Lived and carrying around four titles, claiming that the Champion was insecure.

Another successful title defence for Austin Aries and another high quality main event from the Greatest Man That Ever Lived, this time with Johnny Impact as the challenger. This match featured some brilliant action, as the two seemed to click early on with a could of back and forth sequences, quickly trading holds and strikes as each man came off on the better end of one string of action and then began to build from there. With two babyfaces involved, the match played with the idea that the two had very similar styles, with Impact perhaps having the speed advantage, whilst Aries controlled portions because of his more vicious streak when compared to the former WWE Intercontinental Champion. With the crowd split, the match included a number of impressive spots, such as Impact getting tripped on springboard attempt before bumping on the top turnbuckle and tumbling to the floor and a Death valley driver on the apron but the highlight was a beautiful sequence that concluded with a middle rope Spanish fly from Impact. Whilst the wrestling was always super crisp, I felt like the match could've done with a little extra drama, with Impact only really coming close with roll-ups, whilst Aries winning with his corner dropkick and brainbuster sequence made the win feel a little more straight-forward than I would've liked. I'd be more than happy to see these two back in their again sometime soon as I feel that this match only scratched the surface of what the creative duo could do together.

After the match - Alberto El Patron applauded both men from the apron and then weirdly undid his shirt to close the show.

IMPACT X Division Championship/IMPACT Grand Championship // 

Taiji Ishimori (XDC) vs. Matt Sydal (GC) 

Before the match - Whilst meditating on a production box, Matt Sydal said some things 
about his match and third eyes and stuff 

Matt Sydal retained the IMPACT Grand Champion and also became IMPACT X Division Champion, using a Shooting Star Press to pin Taiji Ishimori in a solid X-Division style tussle. This featured some lovely action at points, but also didn't quite hit the highs that I would've liked to have seen it hit. The finish in particular was really well done with a series of fast-paced aerial reversals and signature attempts, that concluded with Sydal getting his knees up on a 450 splash before answering with a Shooting Star Press to get the win, whilst Ishimori's offence on the outside with the Golden Moonsault and no-hand rana on the ramp always impressing. However, in the earlier part of the match, Sydal looked half-step off the pace and this hurt the opening as it lacked the speed that it needed to truly excite. There was also a lot of time spent with Sydal working over Ishimori's leg, that ended up coming to absolute nothing, as whilst the NOAH star sold well, the injury wasn't made use of in the matches narrative at all, making that lengthy sequence relatively obsolete. Overall, this featured some enjoyable high-flying action, but could have been a lot more with a bit of attention to detail.

IMPACT Knockout's Championship // 

Allie vs. Laurel Van Ness (C)

Before the match - Allie said she was ready to take on Laurel Van Ness, saying she'd dedicate the match to Gail Kim. 

In a scrappy match, Allie began her second run as Knockout's Champion, with a victory over Laurel Van Ness. This wasn't a classic match by any stretch of the imagination, with a good deal of moves either looking awkward or downright sloppy, but there was also a strong sense of the pairs dislike for each other and a solid structure, alongside a couple of big spots on the floor. The strongest action of the bout came from a nice little sequence where Van Ness missed a diving double stomp to Allie's back, then rolled through, only to be caught with a lungblower for a near fall, whilst on the other side of the coin you had a weird looking bulldog thing from Van Ness. A near fall that saw Allie take an Unprettier on the floor, three curb stomps into the bottom turnbuckle and another curb stomp in the ropes felt like complete overkill and took me completely out of the bout. I understand that Van Ness is leaving the company, but building Allie in this way feels a little forced and the fact that she quickly recovered to hit the Allie Valley Driver and Best Superkick Ever for the win wasn't how I would've liked to have seen her second run as champion begin. 

After the match - Gail Kim told Allie was proud of her once the new IMPACT Knockout's Champion got backstage.

IMPACT World Tag Team Championship // 

Trevor Lee & Caleb Konley vs. Ortiz & Santana (C) (with Konnan)

LAX made their first defence during their second reign at IMPACT World Tag Team Champions in a good opening match with Cult of Lee duo Trevor Lee & Caleb Konley. There was a lot of fun action going on here, including a number of slick sequences involving Trevor Lee, whilst LAX continued to impress as babyfaces putting a great display of their tag team offence when called upon including a lionsault and leg drop combo and an assisted moonsault followed up by back to back tope conhilos. The team known elsewhere as EYFBO are an exciting duo to watch and it was on full display here and they ended up looking super impressive with this victory. I would have liked to have seen the match featured a few more near falls, with an extra five minutes to really take this to the next level, whilst I'm still not massively enamoured with Caleb Konley either and his hokey selling was one of the drawbacks of the contest. One things that's for sure is IMPACT need to bring some more teams into their division, because LAX need a good line of challengers to showcase themselves against having already gone over Cult of Lee and oVe. 

NWA World Heavyweight Championship // 

Monty Brown vs. Christian Cage (C) 

Taken from Destination X 2006, Christian Cage retained his NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Monty Brown, putting the Alpha Male away with an Unprettier. I'm not sure why this match was chosen for re-air, because it was mostly dull action and there's three or four better matches on that show. It was a power vs. speed affair, joined in progress during a Brown beatdown, so maybe there was some more exciting stuff earlier in the match, but what was shown here was mostly Brown using strikes and awkward looking submissions. There's a couple of cool moves later in the bout, as Brown hits a lovely Alpha Bomb, amidst numerous Unprettier and Pounce attempts, before Cage wins clean with his finish. Brown was never known for his match quality, but if you're looking to watch some classic Cage in TNA, then I'd recommend his ladder match with Kaz from Genesis 2007, matches with Samoa Joe from Bound For Glory 2007 and Final Resolution 2008 and bout with Kurt Angle from Destination X 2007, as much better starting points than this. 

Jake Crist & Dave Crist (with Sami Callihan) vs. Bobby Lashley & Brian Cage 

Before the match - Lashley claimed he didn't care if he had to fight the whole state of Ohio, he was going to win his match tonight. 

What was promoted as a handicap match between Lashley & oVe, finished with Brian Cage getting the pin with the Drill Claw. As awesome a move as the vertical suplex piledriver is, there is no universe were having someone who wasn't in the match get the pin is a good move. If the match was advertised as a tag match and Lashley just didn't have a partner because of Eddie Edwards' injury last week, then I'm cool with it, but it wasn't. The rest of the match was nothing as well, mostly consisting of Lashley getting beaten down by Jake & Dave, whilst Sami Callihan would pop up every now and again with his baseball bat, as commentary continued to talk about the horrible incident from last week. Cage looked great when he came and lobbed oVe all over the shop and if it had just been Cage coming down for the save, I'd have been absolutely cool with anything that came after his entrance. It looks like they're setting up for a Cage vs. Lashley programme, but it seems weird to move so quickly past the rivalry with oVe after what happened to Edwards the week earlier. 

Also this week 

- It was announced that the Feast or Fired match will return next week.

ATPW Scale Rating // 4.88 out of 10 

Written by James Marston // @IAmNotAlanDale

TV Review: IMPACT Wrestling #638 - Lashley v Eddie Edwards 4

As the rumours continued to swirl like the nearby Hurricane Matthew, TNA continued to move forward with the first episode of IMPACT Wrestling since Bound For Glory. With Lashley choosing to face Eddie Edwards in the main event with the World Heavyweight Championship on the line and The Decay, Trevor Lee, Gail Kim, Andrew Everett and Mandrews all playing a major role in the show...this was going to be awesome...right?

In a big storyline twist, Eddie Edwards collected his first World Heavyweight Championship with a victory over Lashley, after the former Champion had picked Edwards as his challenger as the easiest option from a selection that also included Ethan Carter III and Moose. This lead to short but enjoyable main event, that told a strong underdog story as Edwards fought against the powerful and dominant champion Lashley. The Destroyer kept things simple, as following a German Suplex that appeared like it was about to kill Edwards, Lashley controlled the pace and took his time to wind up the crowd. Even though the crowd seemed to side with Moose to get a title opportunity, they quickly got behind Edwards, helped by the structure with Edwards getting a number of exciting hope spots that would always be cut off by a big power move. The finish was very well done as Edwards caught Lashley with a Boston Knee Party as Lashley came flying in with a spear attempt. With this ending the show, it left me wanting to see what would happen next and how different the show would be next week. Good work from everyone involved.

Unfortunately the "Wolf Creek" Cage Match was less enjoyable, as Brother Nero (Jeff Hardy) & "Broken" Matt Hardy defended their World Tag Team Championships against The Decay ("The Monster" Abyss and Crazzy Steve) in what boiled down to being an advert for a new show on Pop. Firstly, I was a little uncomfortable with the idea behind the gimmick, which showed similarities to the Ambrose Asylum match that WWE did earlier in the year and various other gimmicks, but according to the commentary team were "the weapons of choice" of a famous Australian serial killer. Why? Because Pop are doing a show about him. Secondly, the conclusion to the match didn't even air because of technical difficulties, forcing TNA and Pop to put the match on Youtube. A couple of weird weapons got involved, like a weird grappling hook and Reby Hardy (Reby Sky) hitting Rosemary (Courtney Rush) with a rabbit on a stick, but there was nothing that made me sit up and take notice. After the hot Great War from Bound For Glory, this match seemed to take all the momentum out of the feud. 

The show began with a cool segment that saw all the champions in TNA come to the ring to argue their case for being the true champion of the company. For those not keeping score that meant Lashley, Aron Rex (Damien Sandow), Gail Kim, "Broken" Matt Hardy (no Jeff for unknown reasons) and DJ Z (Shiima Xion) all in the ring. This segment had the feel of a reboot, as each champion was introduced and the concept of each division was explained during the conversion. This therefore makes this episode a great jumping on point for anyone who is fancying giving TNA another chance. Billy Corgan (accompanied by Aiden O'Shea) would eventually come out to announce the plans for the evening, where all the titles, bar the X Division belt, would be on the line, as well as setting up the gimmick for Lashley's title match. A solid opening segment, that made it clear what the viewer would be getting throughout the rest of the evening.

Cody (Rhodes) had his first appearance on IMPACT Wrestling, alongside Brandi Rhodes, addressing the crowd, before ending up in a brawl with "The Miracle" Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis-Bennett. This was a great piece of television as Cody introduced himself well to the audience, putting over a number of event from the PPV, whilst also taking his time when telling stories. Cody talked with passion about wanting to win the World Heavyweight Championship and also mentioned that Bennett was on the list of competitors that he made when he left WWE earlier in the year. Once Bennett and MKB were out, the performers worked the crowd well getting them to chant "Cody" repeatedly, before Bennett would up his game and produce some real fire on the mic. It worked so well, because Bennett having gripes about Cody having a title shot, made complete sense and was delivered with such conviction. It was easy to believe what Bennett was saying and therefore I instantly bought into the feud. 

Ethan Carter III would enter a new feud with Eli Drake on an episode of "Fact of Life". This was an entertaining collision, starting off comical with Drake continually pressing his Dummy button every time EC3 tried to speak before turning serious and producing two good promos, including a marvelous effort from Drake. The ability to shift from light entertainment style in an intense situation with ease, should be commended as there are only a few wrestler in the business who can do this well on a regular basis. As good a job as EC3 did with his promo, begging Drake to hit the button so that he could beat him up, it was Drake's effort that sticks out in my mind. Perhaps, it had a similar theme to Bennett's later in the show, but it worked just as effectively as Drake bought the passion, talking about his run in TNA and how he's worked to get to the spot he was in. Let's not forget that Drake has title shot thanks to his Bound For Gold win and a fiery feud with EC3 could set him up for a title win next year. Credit to both guys for making me want to see them fight again! 

Team X Gold made it's debut this week, as X Division Champion DJ Z, Braxton Sutter (Pepper Parks) & Mandrews (Mark Andrews) went over Andrew Everett, Marshe Rockett and Trevor Lee in a fun six man tag. In terms of the action this was a good debut for the Team X Gold, because it was pacy, used the trios match style well and included plenty of exciting action over a short period of time. It was great to see Mandrews get the pin and get a proper chance to showcase himself well as I've been willing TNA to start using him correctly. This was actually Mandrews first win on IMPACT Wrestling since July 2015! Unfortunately, I still have absolutely no idea what Team X Gold is. There was nothing before the match to explain it other than it was an idea of Billy Corgan and Z, whilst Josh Matthews attempts to get over the concept on commentary was a bit of a mess. "Once you see a team established, they will stay a team" What? "The referee will enforce the rules more" What? 

Best of the Rest 

• Aron Rex retaining the Grand Championship over The Tribunal's Baron Dax in a solid encounter that ended abruptly with a second round submission.

• Gail Kim retained her Knockout's Championship despite a dominant performance from Sienna, before Sienna, Maria Kanellis-Bennett & Laurel Van Ness took part in a beat down of Kim, as Allie looked on.

• It was announced that Maria Kanellis-Bennett will face Gail Kim for the Knockout's Championship next week with MKB's career on the line - McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Eddie Edwards - Maria Kanellis-Bennett berated Allie for revealing she was able to compete at Bound For Glory - Jeremy Borash interviewed Moose - Jeremy Borash interviewed Ethan Carter III

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.21/10 

Show in a Sentence - Some good wrestling, some great talking, a decent post-Bound For Glory episode

Match of the Night - Lashley v Eddie Edwards 

Non-Wrestling Segment of the Night - Cody, Brandi Rhodes, Mike Bennett & Maria Kanellis-Bennett 

Words - James Marston

Banner - Kai Stellar

TV Review: TNA Impact Wrestling #606 - Lockdown 2016 (Hardy vs. EC3 *TNA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP STEEL CAGE*)

*DISCLAIMER - This review contains spoilers for the 606th episode of the Impact Wrestling that will air on 28th February 2016 on Challenge TV in the UK and other international territories. Parts of this review are taken from our Live Event Review of the TV Taping that this show was a part of, which can be found here and also contains spoilers for Impact Wrestling #607, Xplosion and One Night Only: Joker's Wild*

On 24th February 2016, the 606th episode of TNA's Impact Wrestling, subtitled Lockdown 2016, aired on POP TV from the SSE Arena in Wembley, London, England (Taped on 30th January 2016). Ethan Carter III challenged Matt Hardy for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship inside a Steel Cage and Gail Kim, Velvet Sky and Maria teamed up to face the Dollhouse in the first women's Lethal Lockdown in history...but was it any good? Let's find out!

match card

Match 1 - Steel Cage Tag Team - Beer Money Inc. vs. Bram & Eric Young

Match 2 - TNA X Division Champion Steel Cage - Trevor Lee (C) with Gregory Shane Helms vs. Tigre Uno

Match 3 - Lethal Lockdown - The Dollhouse vs. Gail Kim, Maria & Velvet Sky

Match 4 - Steel Cage - Eli Drake with Jessie Godderz vs. Odarg the Great

Match 5 - TNA World Heavyweight Championship Steel Cage - Matt Hardy (C) with Tyrus vs. Ethan Carter III

beer money defeated bram and eric young in a steel cage 

The show kicked off with the grudge match between Bram & Eric Young and Beer Money. A solid start to the episode, featuring some quality brawling and working within a simple narrative. The crowd was hot from the start, with James Storm ending up "locked" outside the cage, as Bram and Young worked over Bobby Roode on the inside. However, the crowd went nuts for Storm climbing over the top of the cage to attack the heels and stayed invested in the action for the rest of the clash. Whilst Beer Money were pretty dominant when both inside the cage, the heels got a decent near falls of an Elbow drop variation of the Death Sentence, before Roode & Storm claimed victory with the DWI. Perhaps two or three minutes could have been sliced off as it dragged just a little after the first DWI attempt was escaped by EY. 

ethan carter iii and rockstar spud bury the hatchet

Ethan Carter III is settling nicely into his new babyface roll, as he cut a promo about his upcoming steel cage match with Matt Hardy over the World Heavyweight Championship, whilst sitting on the steel steps outside the cage. With a quirky energy, EC3 made references to Elton John and more, before moving on to call out old pal and enemy, Rockstar Spud. Spud's promo was just as strong as EC3's as the former 2 time TNA X Division Champion agreed to let bygones be bygones, before they shook hands. After a quick reply from Matt Hardy (who bought out Tyrus & Reby Sky) the stage was set for their title bout later in the show, with the SSE Arena more than ready to see the two go at it. Personally, one these special shows, I'd much prefer things to remain all action, just to give things the PPV feel, I'd have enjoyed this much more if it had aired the week before the title match.

trevor lee defeats tigre uno in a steel cage to retain the x division championship

I can't go any further without mentioning Tigre Uno's incredible dive off the top of the steel cage, It looked just as spectacular on TV as it did inside the arena and received a HUGE pop. I just wish the commentary team had made a hell of a lot more of the kick out by Trevor Lee following the move. However for me, the rest of the match was way, way too short. As the third bout of the feud, to only give the match just over six minutes seemed like a big waste of an opportunity, especially considering the duos previous matches have been around the same length. Neither man is particularly over with the fans yet, and needed a long competitive match to show exactly what they can do. There's a lot of potential in Trevor Lee (who retained his title with a Small Package Driver) and TNA seems to be struggling to find the best way to present that at the moment. 

the dollhouse defeated gail kim, maria and velvet sky in lethal lockdown

A real moment for the Knockout's here as they were performed in their first ever Lethal Lockdown match! It was a shame that there were only three girls on each team, but it's likely that plans for the match had to be changed due to Awesome Kong being sent home from the UK tour. The bout was simply booked, with the heels always having the numbers advantage, following a lovely series of action between Gail Kim and Jade to start. The faces got some nice shine each time they entered. Maria accepted Gail's offer to join the team, after Madison Rayne had been attacked earlier on by the Dollhouse backstage, bringing interesting development, breaking the pattern of the match, allowing for an different dynamic where Gail and Velvet had to really fight from underneath. The finishing sequence got the crowd back into the match, after they had seemingly dropped off following some weak looking weapon shots from the heels. Gail hitting Eat Defeat on Marti Belle, only for Jade to break up the pinfall and hit a wicked Package Piledriver on a steel chair for the win, was timed perfectly and allowed the heel group to look strong. Gail and Velvet will hardly be hurt by losing what was essentially a handicap bout. Some of the best booking for TNA's women's division in quite some time.

lashley confronts kurt angle 

With Kurt Angle pulling out a similarly crowd-pleasing prom to the one he used two weeks ago, we got some storyline progression in the feud between he and Lashley. With the former WWE United States Champion interrupting the Olympic Gold Medalist, this was the continuation of Lashley's slow-burn heel turn as he ripped into Angle for losing to Drew Galloway in Manchester on Impact Wrestling #604. A quality bit of build to their match, which had been given a little bit of extra spice than some of the other matches on the Farewell Tour. Not sure whether this segment should have been on this Lockdown special, for the same reasons I bought up in talking bit between EC3, Spud and Hardy earlier in the night. There was enough time taken up in those two segments to accommodate  an extra cage match or even two shorter bouts.

odarg the great defeats eli drake in a steel cage

You don't often see a comedy cage match, but that's what we had here. Whether you liked this match or not has a lot to do with how much you want to see a blokes arse exposed for quite sometime. Yup, Eli Drake had his trunks pulled down, after Mahabali Shera had prevented Jessie Godderz getting involved on the outside. In between the japes, there was one truly impressive spot in here, as Great took an electric chair drop off the middle rope, after trying to climb over the top of the cage. Josh Matthews saying the feud reminded him of Kanye West and Taylor Swift was some of the most cringe-worthy pieces of commentary on TV anywhere, ever. Great once again won the bout thanks to losing his mask, as Drake managed to remove it, leaving Great to fall to floor and win the match by escape. The loss leaves Drake without a win on TV since he defeated Crimson in the World Title Series back in November 2015. Odarg the Great is 2-0.

fast-forward...After Jimmy Havoc stood up to The Decay and claimed that Rosemary was his muse, Abyss and Crazzy Steve took out the IPW:UK wrestler...Backstage, Grado attempted to convince Billy Corgan to believe that Grado shouldn't have been fired, only for Eli Drake to turn up and caused the current PBW Tag Team Champion to get ejected from the building by The Harris Brothers...A vignette on "The Miracle" Mike Bennett and Maria aired, with the duo using the catchphrase "Yes, we do"...

matt hardy defeats ethan carter iii in a steel cage to retain the tna world heavyweight championship

The feud between Matt Hardy (with Tyrus) and Ethan Carter III came to a peak as they faced each other in a dramatic steel cage match over Hardy's World Heavyweight Championship. The SSE Arena was hooked from start to finish, getting behind EC3 and pouring scorn on Hardy and his manager, Tyrus. Whilst the wrestling sections of the bout were a little off the pace, as Hardy seemed to struggle to keep up with EC3, as soon as the match got more violent and the stories of the match began to be pulled together it became a stellar contest. EC3 looked every inch of the top babyface that TNA needs him to be, as he kicked out of a number of Hardy's big moves, including a Twist of Fate with a steel chair wrapped around his neck, and continued to put on a great performance as he fought adversity managing to nuetralise the threat of Tyrus once the big man had entered the cage. 

With the drama escalating with Reby Sky charging down the ramp with the hammer (presumably the very same one she used to help Hardy win the title last month), only for Rockstar Spud to make the save to a big pop. But with EC3 making his way for the door, he got the cage door slammed right into his face...by SPUD! SWERVE CITY! The crowd was in shock and dumped heat on Spud as Hardy walked out of the cage to retain his title! A great moment to close an entertaining World Heavyweight title bout, with everyone playing their parts well. A sound piece of booking that gave EC3 a new (or old) feud to move into straight away and keep him away from the World Heavyweight Championship picture for a while, whilst also allowing EC3 to remain unpinned or submitted. Plus, Hardy's title reign rolls on, after using a series of dirty tricks to try to gain the victory, he's becoming easier to hate by the minute and it's been a surprisingly entertaining five weeks with The Iconic One a top the TNA totem pole.

finally...
atpw scale rating - 5.53/10

This was not only the best episode of the UK tour to air so far, but also the strongest episode of Impact Wrestling to air in 2016. Both marquee matches on the show delivered quality television matches, as Matt Hardy and Ethan Carter III put on a fine storyline Steel Cage match over the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, with Rockstar Spud, Tyrus and Reby Sky all playing their parts well throughout what was the Match of the Night for me. The Women's Lethal Lockdown also used a lot of storytelling based elements to get the best out of it's six performers, providing avenues for new feuds and potential TNA Knockout's Championship opponents for Gail Kim.

Personally, I think this type of show would be better off without the talking segments and if fans knew they were going to get a PPV style show (aka back to back matches) then they might be more likely to tune in. I ended up marking down the decent segment with Ethan Carter III, Rockstar Spud and Matt Hardy because it simply was needed before the Steel Cage match later on in the show, had it aired last week I would have been much more lenient on it. 

With Kurt Angle's Farewell Tour continuing next week against Bobby Roode and Drew Galloway facing off with Mike Bennett in a grudge match, let's hope that TNA can build on the momentum created here at Lockdown.

Live Event Review: TNA Maximum Impact VIII Tour - London (Hardy vs. EC3 *Steel Cage*)

*DISCLAIMER - This article contains spoilers for the 606th and 607th episodes of Impact Wrestling. These will air on the 23rd February and 1st March on Pop! in the USA and 28th February and 6th March on Challenge in the UK. There's also spoilers for the upcoming One Night Only: Joker's Wild PPV and episodes of Xplosion* 

On 30th January 2016, TNA continued their eighth tour of the United Kingdom at the SSE Arena in  London with a double TV taping for Impact Wrestling and more! Matt Hardy defended the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Ethan Carter III inside a Steel Cage, The Dollhouse took on Gail Kim, Maria and Velvet Sky in the first ever Knockout's Lethal Lockdown, Matt Hardy teamed with Will Ospreay to face James Storm & Eli Drake and Kurt Angle went one on one with Bobby Roode...but was it any good?

full card

1 - Steel Cage - Beer Money (Bobby Roode & James Storm) vs. Bram & Eric Young

2 - TNA X Division Championship Steel Cage - Trevor Lee (C) w/Gregory Shane Helms vs. Tigre Uno

3 - Lethal Lockdown - Gail Kim, Velvet Sky & Maria vs. The Dollhouse (Jade, Marti Belle & Rebel)

4 - Steel Cage - Eli Drake vs. Odarg the Great

5 - Steel Cage World Heavyweight title - Matt Hardy (C) w/Tyrus vs. Ethan Carter III

6 - TNA World Tag Team Championship - The Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) vs. Mandrews & Will Ospreay

7 - No Disqualification - Abyss w/ The Decay (Crazzy Steve & Rosemary) vs. Jimmy Havoc

8 - Singles - Mike Bennett w/Maria vs. Drew Galloway

9 - TNA King of the Moutain Championship - Eric Young w/Bram vs. Big Damo

10 - Singles - Bobby Roode vs. Kurt Angle

11 - Tag Team - Tyrus & Jade vs. Lashley & Gail Kim

12 - Tag Team - Eli Drake & James Storm vs. Will Ospreay & Matt Hardy

beer money defeated bram and eric young in a steel cage 

The show kicked off with the grudge match between Bram & Eric Young and Beer Money the first of five consecutive bouts contested inside the six sides of steel. A solid start to the show, featuring some quality brawling and working within a simple narrative. The crowd was hot from the start, with James Storm ending up "locked" outside the cage, as Bram and Young worked over Bobby Roode on the inside. It was a shame that the cage door was shown to be anything but locked after an Irish whip into the cage. However, the crowd went nuts for Storm climbing over the top of the cage to attack the heels and stayed invested in the action for the rest of the clash. Whilst Beer Money were pretty dominant when both inside the cage, the heels got a decent near falls of an Elbow drop variation of the Death Sentence, before Roode & Storm claimed victory with the DWI. 

ethan carter iii and rockstar spud bury the hatchet

 Ethan Carter III seemed to be settling nicely into his new babyface roll, cutting a promo about his upcoming steel cage match with Matt Hardy over the World Heavyweight Championship, whilst sitting on the steel steps outside the cage. With a quirky energy, EC3 made references to Elton John and more, before moving on to call out old pal and enemy, Rockstar Spud. Spud's promo was just as strong as EC3's as the former X Division Champion agreed to let bygones be bygones, before they shook hands. After a quick reply from Matt Hardy (who bought out Tyrus & Reby Sky) the stage was set for their title bout later in the show, with the SSE Arena more than ready to see the two go at it. 

trevor lee defeats tigre uno in a steel cage to retain the x division championship

I can't go any further without mentioning Tigre Uno's incredible dive off the top of the steel cage, I'm not sure what it will look like on TV, but it looked spectacular inside the arena and got one of the biggest pops of the weekend! However for me, the rest of the match was way, way too short. As the third bout of the feud, to only give the match just over six minutes seemed like a big waste of an opportunity, especially considered the duos previous matches have been around the same length. Neither man is particularly over with the fans yet, and needed a long competitive match to show exactly what they can do. There's a lot of potential in Trevor Lee (who retained his title with a Small Package Driver) and TNA seems to be struggling to find the best way to present that at the moment.

the dollhouse defeated gail kim, maria and velvet sky in lethal lockdown

A real moment for the Knockout's here as they were performed in their first ever Lethal Lockdown match! It was a shame that there were only three girls on each team, but it's likely that plans for the match had to be changed due to Awesome Kong being sent home from the tour. The bout was simply booked, with the heels always having the numbers advantage, following a lovely series of action between Gail Kim and Jade to start, with the faces getting some nice shine whenever they entered. Maria being the surprise partner was interesting development, as it broke the regular partner of the match, allowing for an different dynamic where Gail and Velvet had to really fight from underneath. The finishing sequence got the crowd back into the match, after they had seemingly dropped off following some weak looking weapon shots from the heels. Gail hitting Eat Defeat on Marti Belle, only for Jade to break up the pinfall and hit a wicked Package Piledriver on a steel chair for the win, was timed perfectly and allowed the heel group to look strong, whilst Gail and Velvet will hardly be hurt by losing what was essentially a handicap bout. Some of the best booking of the tour, in my opinion. 

lashley confronts kurt angle 

With Kurt Angle pulling out a similarly crowd-pleasing prom to the one he used in Manchester, we got some storyline progression in the feud between he and Lashley. With the former WWE United States Champion interrupting the Olympic Gold Medalist, this was the continuation of Lashley's slow-burn heel turn as he ripped into Angle for losing to Drew Galloway in Manchester the night before. A quality bit of build to their match, which had been given a little bit of extra spice than the other two matches planned for Kurt Angle's Farewell Tour. However, I'm not sure this was best suited for the London show, as Angle was going to face Bobby Roode, and not Lashley, later on in the show. At least, the Angle v Lashley bout was given a bit more of a substantial build I suppose.

odarg the great defeats eli drake in a steel cage

You don't often see a comedy cage match, but that's what we had here. The London crowd didn't seem as into the silliness that is Odarg the Great as Manchester had been, but there was still enough to keep them interested here. Whether you'll like this match or not has a lot to do with how much you want to see a blokes arse exposed for quite sometime. Yup, Eli Drake had his trunks pulled down, after Mahabali Shera had prevented Jessie Godderz getting involved on the outside. The old ladies in front of us seemed to enjoy this moment more than anything else on the show. There was one truly impressive spot in amongst the comedy, as Great took an electric chair drop off the middle rope, after trying to climb over the top of the cage. Great once again won the bout thanks to losing his mask, as Drake managed to remove it, leaving Great to fall to floor and win the match by escape. The loss 
leaves Drake without a win on TV since he defeated Crimson in the World Title Series back in November 2015.

matt hardy defeats ethan carter iii in a steel cage to retain the tna world heavyweight championship

The feud between Matt Hardy (with Tyrus) and Ethan Carter III came to a peak as they faced each other in a dramatic steel cage match over Hardy's World Heavyweight Championship. The SSE Arena was hooked from start to finish, getting behind EC3 and pouring scorn on Hardy and his manager, Tyrus. Whilst the wrestling sections of the bout were a little off the pace, as Hardy seemed to struggle to keep up with EC3, as soon as the match got more violent and the stories of the match began to be pulled together it became a stellar contest. EC3 looked every inch of the top babyface that TNA needs him to be, as he kicked out of a number of Hardy's big moves, including a Twist of Fate with a steel chair wrapped around his neck, and continued to put on a great performance as he fought adversity managing to nuetralise the threat of Tyrus once the big man had entered the cage. With the drama escalating with Reby Sky charging down the ramp with the hammer (presumably the very same one she used to help Hardy win the title last month), only for Rockstar Spud to make the save to a big pop. But with EC3 making his way for the door, he got the cage door slammed right into his face...by SPUD! SWERVE CITY! The crowd was in shock and dumped heat on Spud as Hardy walked out of the cage to retain his title! A great moment to close an entertaining World Heavyweight title bout, with everyone playing their parts well. The SSE Arena definitely helped to play their part, as the crowd kept things lively throughout.

fast-forward...Dixie Carter and Billy Corgan were out to say hi to everyone, which was nice...

the wolves defeat mandrews & will ospreay to retain the TNA World Tag Team Championships

I'm not quite sure what Mandrews and Will Ospreay had been given a World Tag Team title shot for, considering Mandrews hasn't won a match on TV since an October episode of Xplosio  (over Crazzy Steve) and Will Ospreay yet to debut on screen (and had lost his only other TNA bout the night before). However, I'm not gonna complain too much between Ospreay & Mandrews vs. The Wolves is a pretty cool match on paper and one that could main event any show across the United Kingdom (and potentially overseas as well). The two teams put together an enjoyable tag team match, with Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards working a tweener role and dominating the Brits in the early going. With lots of fast paced action, it was a real shame that Mandrews ended up with an injury after attempting to hit a springboard rana and landing awkwardly. I'm not sure whether it's amazing or stupid that Mandrews continued on, hitting a Northern Light's Suplex and a Standing Shooting Star Press, even after the referee had held up the X symbol. It took until after the match had finished for anyone to check on the Welshman, which is an utter disgrace for a company of this size. Ospreay more than held his own having to cover for his partner, putting on some nice sequences with Richards and Edwards, before eventually succumbing to Force of Nature double team. 

abyss defeats jimmy havoc in a no disqualification match 

Originally announced as Monster's Ball match by Jeremy Borash, when it was time for the match introduction it had became a No DQ match, supposedly because the Monster's Ball match was a big selling point of the Manchester show the day before. IPW:UK regular Jimmy Havoc made his TNA debut, against the man most would have booked him against if given the chance, Abyss (accompanied by The Decay). A rematch from SWE Great Expectation in Stevenage last July, this was a fun throwaway bout, full of weapons and big highspots, but lacking in any meaning and feeling a bit short for what it needed to be. Havoc took most of the big bumps in the match, crashing through a table at ringside and taking a Black Hole Slam onto a barbed wire board for the finish, as the former NWA World Heavyweight Champion dominated controlled the pace with ease. This was probably the best the two could do with the time they were given, the fact they had zero build for the match and that most of the crowd seemed unfamiliar with Havoc.

fast-forward...Jeremy Borash bought out Josh Matthews who said a few words and then headed to the back, really earning his money...

mike bennett defeats drew galloway

After defeating Mandrews, Robbie E and Pepper Parks since his TNA debut in January, this was almost certainly the biggest win of Mike Bennett's career. Made even more special by the fact that Galloway had defeated Kurt Angle the night before (two or three weeks ago on TV). The two wrestled a reasonable contest, working well for their first match with each other. The partnership of Bennett and Maria was spotlighted again as The First Lady of Wrestling helped her husband to stay in the match, putting his foot on the ropes when The Voice of the People had locked on his new Chickenwing Over the Shoulder Crossface submission hold. There's more to come in this rivalry that is steadily heating up, with both guys having potential to put on a great match in the future, if they get the mix just right.

eric young defeats big damo to retain the tna king of the mountain championship

After Eric Young had issued a challenge to any Brit in the back to come and face him for the King of the Mountain strap, out came SWA regular Big Damo to make his TNA debut. It would seem like Damo wasn't quite as over as the other two British Indy guys on the card, with the crowd reluctant to get behind him, over the villainous, but familiar Eric Young. Having said that, the crowd did warm to him by the end of clash, as once he managed to string a few big moves together, many began to realise that he wasn't your generic big man. Unfortunately, the match didn't produce anything that made me think that Young wouldn't be returning his title, and I was proved right when he hit a truly spectacular piledriver and a near 300lb Irishman. 

kurt angle defeats bobby roode

For me, this was the best match of the night, as Kurt Angle faced Bobby Roode for the ninth and final time. The two have a clear chemistry in the ring and exchanged holds with ease in the first half of the match. I enjoyed the pacing of things here, especially in the earlier portion of the bout as they kept things slow and allowing Roode to slip into a tweener role as he attempted to put Angle away for the 2nd time in two days. In a similar sequence to the one Angle used with Drew Galloway the night before, there was some strong submission based wrestling with the duo trading Ankle Locks and Crossfaces, with Roode especially doing a good job of selling his injured ankle towards the end of the match. Both men got convincing near falls off the Angle Slam and Roode Bomb respectively, although I can't help but feeling that if the match with Galloway the night before hadn't been so finisher reliant then these would have been much easier to buy into. With Angle recording his 4th victory in a row over Roode, the match felt like it finished way to early, as there was potential to grow into a very special match, in front of a London crowd who were still hyped at this point. The duo have had better encounters with each other on Impact Wrestling in 2013 and 2014, as well as the 2013 edition of Bound For Glory.

The after match festivities were a lot of fun, as James Storm headed down to the ring to celebrate with Angle and commiserate Storm, as Beer Money held a bit of a beer bash for the TNA Hall of Famer. Obviously, with Angle not drinking, there was a wonderful moment when Storm pulled a 4 litre bottle of milk from his bag and the crowd chanted "Chug, Chug, Chug" Utter silliness ensued as Angle spilled more milk down him than he got in mouth! Angle then made sure that we had another quality match scheduled for the next set of tapings in Birmingham, as he called out The Wolves and set them up for a match with Beer Money with the TNA World Tag Team Championships on the line! Fun, fun, fun. 

fast-forward...Jeremy Borash announced that we'd be finishing up with two Joker's Wild matches, I despise the concept, so was a little worried when the glorified raffle bucket turned up at ringside...

tyrus and jade defeat lashley and gail kim

This was the worst match of the tour so far, in my opinion. It attempted to go down the comedy route, but missed the mark entirely for me, coming across as sexist, with the women presented as objects to look at, rather than legitimate competitors in the match. A moment where Gail Kim and Jade had each other locked in a gator-style roll on the mat and both Tyrus and Lashley came into the ring and stood watching was an uncomfortable thing to watch in 2016. It was made even worse by how TNA claims that they're Knockout's Division is the best in the world and yet they promote ricockulous content like Lashley putting Jade over his knee and spanking her mid-match. Gail and Jade being better wrestlers than Lashley and Tyrus makes the booking of this match even more mind-boggling. Tyrus and Jade won after a painful near nine minutes of action.

matt hardy and will ospreay defeat eli drake and james storm

If you predicted this match main eventing the show then you are lying. Surprisingly, this clash actually turned out pretty good, with some unique dynamics between the two sets of partners, that developed as the match went on. Will Ospreay spent most of the match having to fight on his, with Matt Hardy finding new ways to keep off the apron, ranging from the funny to the outright bizarre. It was clear that Hardy was having a lot of fun with this gimmick. On the other team, James Storm and Eli Drake obviously weren't the best of partners, having their own disagreements that culminated in Drake taking Storm's beer from him, which obviously didn't go down well. I got a good chuckle out of Matt Hardy stealing the pin cover, after Storm had turned on Drake and levelled him with a Superkick and Ospreay pulled out a Spiral Tap. It was a shame that, at least, 40% of the crowd had left by this point, as there was very little interaction for what was technically the main event. 

Obviously after Matt Hardy had stolen the victory, it was time to "send the fan's home happy". With the World Heavyweight Champion beginning to cut a promo on his victory, he was interrupted by Ethan Carter III! What was left of the crowd went nuts for Carter's subsequent beatdown of Hardy as he pulled out a number of fan favourite moves. Hardy went into ridiculous selling mode, flailing around the ring, thanks to 2 Stunners, a Twist of Fate, a People's Elbow and closing the show with a 1 Percenter. Lovely stuff.

view from the partner in crime

For each of the TNA tour shows I took a different pal along, just to keep things fresh. For London, I took student of Nottingham University and my younger brother, David Marston. Here's his thoughts on the show...

The highlight of TNA coming to London was the main event program between Matt Hardy and EC3. Whilst Hardy’s in ring work is far from stellar at this point, he has very quickly perfected a heel character who is genuinely unlikable and this was rewarded by the reactions he got from the crowd throughout the night. EC3 meanwhile is the best thing to have come out of TNA for the last five years, and whilst the crowd was clearly still getting used to Carter playing the babyface role he appears to have adapted his style in a manner which still stays true to his character. 

The use of the three UK talents TNA brought in for the tour, whilst frustrating at points, was still successful. Big Damo O’Connor took advantage of the opportunity he got given when challenging Eric Young for the King of the Mountain title, the crowd were firmly behind the heavyweight from Belfast and he appeared to offer something that could not be seen elsewhere on the TNA roster. 

Jimmy Havoc was also well used in somewhat of a dream match in a no disqualification match against ‘The Monster’ Abyss. Whilst perhaps not as brutal a match that would be expected of these two, they got a good amount of time to tell their story in what was a solid three star match.

Will Ospreay was unlucky to have his tag team title shot against The Wolves get cut somewhat short due to a nasty injury suffered by his partner Mandrews halfway through the match. But he did play his role perfectly when teaming with Matt Hardy later in the night, Ospreay makes for a very sympathetic babyface and this was on show here. The crowd would have been much more behind these UK talents if a video package or any kind of introduction was given to them as they would be unknowns to much of the crowd, but hopefully we’ll see more of all three wrestlers in the six sided ring in the future.


Overall, TNA put on a solid set of TV tapings that showcased both the TNA Roster and British talent. However, the fact that these tapings took place several weeks after the last Impact to be shown on Challenge did mean that some segments were either confusing or simply could not have the desired effect. These tapings showed legitimate promise for the future direction of the company and hopefully this can be sustained as TNA continues to rebuild its brand

finally...

atpw scale rating - 5.08/10

An improvement on the taping the previous night in Manchester, bouts like Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode and Matt Hardy's World Heavyweight title defence against Ethan Carter III inside a Steel Cage made this an enjoyable watch. Both matches went down different routes with the World Title bout being heavily influenced by storyline, whilst Roode and Angle had much more of an exhibition style to it. Whilst the show and the company let itself down with the mixed tag team match, most of the other bouts ranged somewhere between average and good. With two strong non-wrestling segments, like the one used to build hype for the World title cage match and EC3 coming out to close the show, this was a decent show overall. There was potential for more in certain matches and a few tweaks here and there could have given the show a much higher rating than what we've given.

TNA British Bootcamp's Grado Interview

Thanks to TNA Impact Wrestling we recently got the chance to chat to British Bootcamp and Insane Fight Club star Grado. This, of course, wasn't the first time we've spoken with the former ICW Tag Team Champion, having previously had him on our (now discontinued) "Five Questions With..." series, as well as chatting to him prior to TNA TV Taping in Glasgow, which can be found on Youtube here.

ATPW - Hey Grado. The first question is quite a generic one, How have you found the British Bootcamp experience?

Grado - It's been amazing because I've got the chance to wrestle in America. I've managed to fulfil a childhood dream that I've always wanted to go and wrestle in front of a live crowd in America. There's nae better feeling in the world. Also because I've had a lot of people telling the Grado character wouldn't work in America, Grado wouldn't go over in America, I went to America and managed to get myself over with some of the crowds. I'm glad, the experience so far has been amazing. Getting to TNA and getting to share the ring with Samoa Joe, Al Snow and Gail Kim, has been a very good experience. 

Do you feel the process has helped you develop as a performer? Have you improved as the experience has gone on?

Every day is a learning day in wrestling. Every time you step in the ring, you always come back out with a few learning points for you to work on. So when you're being trained by Al Snow, Gail Kim and Joe, you're obviously going to adapt and learn and find out news ways of performing. 

If there were any TNA fans in America or elsewhere, who haven't seen British Bootcamp, what could they expect if you turned up in TNA? Would you perhaps change the character or keep to what us British fans know and love over here? 

I don't know. I'd probably keep the same character, go in there and I'm the everyman, that's the term, I'm the guy that probably shouldn't be in the ring, that's the way the other wrestlers could see me, that's the chemistry. I'm the guy whose living the dream here. I'm the guy that isn't six foot four, I don't look like a Greek God, I just go in there and try my hardest every time I wrestle. I hope that people can relate to me, as the guys who's just having a fun time. I'd probably keep the character, as a wrestling fan who's living beyond his means that's what go me to the dance so far, that's the reason I've had the opportunities that I've had. 

It's a feel good story as well. I think in the 90's you had the smaller guys, that made a lot of today's wrestlers realise they could become a wrestler and you offer something for the guys out their that aren't six foot four or whatever. Something different.

Exactly! Something different. Wrestling has been boring for too long, same six foot four, big body guys, there's never been chubby wee characters, in a long time. There's never been anything like that. It's time for a change and I think I could be able to flourish in TNA. 

Is there anyone from TNA's current roster that you think you'd work particularly well with in the ring or even in terms of a storyline? 

I love the stuff that Rockstar Spud's got going on with EC3, and I'd love to wrestle with Rockstar Spud, as well. Also, I think that me and Zema Ion would have a good X Division style match, I think that me and Rockstar Spud could challenge the Hardy Boyz to the tag titles. And probably big Magnus, he's like a big hard man bully, I'm sure that I could have a cool wee storyline with him. Me vs. Magnus would be brilliant actually, I think that could really work. Then bring in Spud and have a three way, imagine that! Me and Spud vs. Bram and Magnus!

Get it over on the tour! What effect do you think British Bootcamp will have on the British scene as a whole? Do you think we'll see a boost in local crowds?

Definitely. Even since the first British Bootcamp the numbers have been up, because a lot of the general public are unaware that there is this big brilliant British wrestling scene. So again, it's just another series for everyone to see that there is talent here in the UK and hopefully it encourages people to go and out and go their local shows and support the guys who that are trying to make a name for themselves and possibly could be on the next series of British Bootcamp. So aye, I think it's a good thing for British wrestling. 

If there was anyone who had watched Bootcamp but perhaps didn't know where to look to find British wrestling, where would you tell them to look? 

In Glasgow, there's Insane Championship Wrestling, an Over 18's company. There's loads of family shows that are run by British Championship Wrestling, Premier British Wrestling and then there's Preston City Wrestling, Revolution Pro, there's PROGRESS Wrestling which is a phenomenal outfit , that work outside Islington. I would go to these places, but if you go online and type in British Wrestling, I'm sure you could find links and stuff to local proffesional wrestling. Also www.gradowrestling.co.uk, if you want to come and see me wrestle then all the dates are on there. 

You broke into the British Wrestling "mainstream" via a social media, notably the "Get Grado Booked" campaign in ICW. What do you think social media can offer a professional wrestler in 2014? 

Well that's the thing, you're Twitter and your Facebook is your gimmick, it's your business. You need to make sure you've got a decent Twitter, you're not tweeting a load of shite, you're tweeting funny stuff or whatever suits your gimmick. So, Dave Mastiff, he is a grumpy bastard online and he is a grumpy bastard in real life. It's just another medium for you to develop your character, so if you want to post promos, pictures, anything. It's really important in 2014, that you're on the job, your on the button with Twitter and Facebook and Vine and FaceParty and things like that.

Finally, what does 2015 hold for Grado? 

Well I'm going to go on a diet, I'm gonna try and lose a bit of weight. I probably will mix up my gimmick one way or another, I'm not sure what I'm gonna do. Hopefully get the chance to wrestle in America again, keep wrestling in Britain, try and get new bookings in Europe and keep on doing the TV work that I'm doing. 

Oh, one last question....When are we going to finally get the big Grado vs. Goldberg match that everyone's waiting to see?

I really hope that Goldberg has seen my GradoBerg entrance! Hopefully next year, Goldberg, if you manage to get to this article, if your listening or reading to this, add me on Twitter, let's follow each other and I'll DM you. Then next year, Grado vs Goldberg at York Hall, we'll sell it out. 

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Thanks to TNA Impact Wrestling, Grado and Simon Rothstein for putting this interview together. All photo credit goes to Tony Knox. TNA British Bootcamp can be found on Sunday evenings at 9PM on Challenge (Freeview - 46, Freesat - 145, Sky - 145, Virgin Media - 139)