Live Review: RHP Numero Uno: Beers, Beats & Brainbusters (Marc Pearson)

Going to a new promotion can be a daunting experience. I’ve been to shows where there was myself and ten other people, on nights like that you feel embarrassed making any noise and feel sorry for the wrestlers who have to perform to an essentially empty room. On the other side of the spectrum I’ve been to shows where there was a hundred crammed in and everything was great. On the 10th of June I headed to the city of Gloucester (a city I’ve never been to by the way) to see how the new company of Riot House Promotions got on with their debut show entitled Beers, Beats and Brainbusters!

Before I go on let me just add something. I love seeing new talent, it’s something that I’ve made a mission of this year, to not just go to the same promotions that I’ve frequented the last 3 or 4 years (Futureshock, PCW and GPW to name but a few), so the draw of this show was that at least half the roster was made up with talent that I’ve never had the chance to see. 

On arrival I got a pleasant surprise, a quick head count resulted in roughly 100 people and a lovely looking venue. The show emanating from the Liquid Diva nightclub meant that there were no seats BUT that wasn’t an issue as everywhere I looked at had a decent view. The crowd was made up of a mixed bunch of rowdy fans, older folks (who I suspect were there to support their children/grandchildren) and they were vocal the whole night which made for a fun atmosphere. 

Speaking of fun (Segway!) the opening contest of the evening was pure fun as the team of The Magnums (Chris Walker & Dick Riley) defeated “Mr Massive” Chuck Cyrus and partner Robbie Roids. Having only seen Cyrus before I was looking forward to seeing what Roids and The Magnums could do. If the plan for the match was to entertain the crowd and get everyone warmed up then this was mission accomplished. Be it a mid-match drinking contest, Dick Riley being de-panted or Roids being exposed as wearing ladies’ underwear this never got boring and had a jaded old fan like me in stitches. 2 moments really stood out for me though. The first was Cyrus taking a line of pre-workout before getting the hot tag, I can’t believe I’ve never seen that spot before but man was it funny. The other was a bit mad but still entertaining as Chris Walker put a condom on his hand, liberally applied some lubricant then proceeded to administer what can only be described as an Anal Claw to Cyrus, who tapped out in quick time. Good stuff and the crowd loved it.

Match number 2 former NXT star Joel Redman beating Big Grizzly. I’ve only ever seen Redman play the white meat babyface, so to see him working heel was refreshing and I was seeing Grizzly for the first time. Redman made the match look effortless as he oozed charisma and confidence, playing up the crowd and looked great. Grizzly was super over with the fans and controlled the majority of the match which was a little odd, at times you almost expected Redman to make the big babyface comeback but then remembered he was a heel. He won with a sneaky rollup complete with heeley feet on the ropes much to the chagrin of the fans. They didn’t worry for long though as Grizzly hit Redman with a nice sit out chokeslam to gain a measure of revenge.

Match 3 saw Wild Boar defeat Charlie Garrett in a good match. I’ve only seen Boar work heel and only seen Garrett work face so seeing them in the other roles was again refreshing. Garrett brought a mop to the ring and much hilarity resulted as Boar pinched it and had a good long chat with it as Garrett was busy jaw jacking with the fans, who took great delight in telling him that he was a cunt! Back and forth with loads of nice looking strikes, suplexes and, of course, stalling from Garrett meant this one built to a frantic finish. A beautiful t bone suplex by Boar and a brainbuster from Garrett were the highlights and I for one was happy that we finally got said Brainbuster after the title of the show! Boar got the win with a lovely sit out powerbomb, he then snogged the mop to a big pop. 

Something quite amazing happened next. The ring announcer told us there would be a 5 minutes’ intermission, and, to everyone’s shock and amazement, it actually lasted 5 minutes!!! This followed the show starting bang on time made a very good impression on someone who is a stickler for time like me. 

The second half began with the massively popular tag team of The Fever (Christopher Queen & RyRy) beating The Heritage City Hitmen (Dave Eaton & Richard Diamond). 4 more men that I hadn’t see before so I was looking forward to this one, both teams have matching outfits so earn Brucie Bonus points! The Fever have a lot of fans and wear flashing glasses to the ring, which you can buy on the merch stand, that’s brilliant! This one was a much more cookie cutter tag match than the opener, with Queen playing your face in peril until he could get the hot tag to RyRy. A splash off the top rope by Queen getting the win. Nothing bad but nothing outstanding.

Match number 5 saw the Ginger Jesus Mike Bird losing to Matt Ridler. Like the previous match there isn’t really much to say about this one, nothing bad but nothing memorable. Having never seen Ridler before he looked good, cutting a decent heely promo before Bird made his way to the ring and cheating to win by distracting the ref, going low then hitting a spinning brainbuster for the win. Mike Bird shone here, looking like a star in a way that I’ve never really appreciated when I’ve seen him at promotions like Fight Club Pro.

As Bird left the ring the ring announcer said, “one bird leaves the ring, but don’t worry, 2 more are coming out” making reference to the upcoming woman’s match. I’d never have dreamed of saying a line like that in my time as a ring announcer! 

I’d tell you all about Toni Storm’s victory over Kat Von Kaige but I needed to nip to the loo as it started and in the time it took me to drain the snake the match was over, so it was short if nothing else. 

When you have men as talented as Pete Dunne, Chris Brookes and Tyler Bate in your main event you know it’s going to be a good match. I went into this one confident that because of the 2 heels (Brookes and Dunne) against one face that Tyler Bate would emerge victorious so was pretty stunned when Pete Dunne got the win. Annoyingly my phone’s battery had died so I couldn’t take any notes but everything was good and the crowd loved all 3 men. 

I had a really good time at this show, all the matches delivered in the ring, the crowd were decent, the show started and ended on time which is very very rare in British wrestling. I spend a lot of time in the area so I’ll certainly be at their next show

You can find out more about RHP on their Facebook Page, at this time there is no date announced for their second show. Photo Credits go to The Dude Abides Photography, who are also over on Facebook here. Get more Marc Pearson on Youtube, Twitter and Facebook. 

Live Event Review: TNA Maximum Impact VIII Tour - Birmingham (Gauntlet Battle Royal)

*DISCLAIMER - This article contains spoilers for the 607th and 608th episodes of Impact Wrestling. These will air on the 1st and 8th March on Pop! in the USA and 6th and 13th 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 31st January 2016, TNA concluded their eighth tour of the United Kingdom at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham with a double TV taping for Impact Wrestling and more! The likes of Jade, Will Ospreay, Bram, Tigre Uno and Mandrews battled it out in Gauntlet Battle Royal, The Wolves defended their TNA World Tag Team Championships against Beer Money, Kurt Angle said goodbye to TNA with the roster at ringside and Angle wrestled his last match from TNA against Lashley...but was it any good?

full card

Match 1 - Tag Team - Big Damo & Jimmy Havoc vs. Drew Galloway & Mike Bennett

Match 2 - Singles - Jessie Godderz vs. Tigre Uno

Match 3 - Unsanctioned - Ethan Carter III vs. Rockstar Spud

Match 4 - Tag Team - The Beautiful People (Madison Rayne & Velvet Sky) vs. The Dollhouse (Marti Belle & Rebel)

Match 5 - TNA King of the Mountain Championship King of the Mountain - Big Damo vs. Bram vs. Eric Young (C) vs. Jimmy Havoc vs. Will Ospreay

Match 6 - TNA Knockout's Championship - Gail Kim (C) vs. Jade

Match 7 - TNA World Tag Team Championship - Beer Money vs. The Wolves (C)

Match 8 - Singles - Kurt Angle vs. Lashley

Match 9 - Gauntlet Battle Royal - Bram vs. Drew Galloway vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Eric Young vs. Grado vs. Jade vs. Mandrews vs. Matt Hardy vs. Mike Bennett (with Maria) vs. Rockstar Spud vs. Tigre Uno vs. Tyrus vs. Will Ospreay

drew galloway and mike bennett defeat big damo and jimmy havoc

Created under the "Joker's Wild" format (and supposedly taped for that PPV) this was decent opener, that focused on the on-going issues between Drew Galloway and Mike Bennett that had played out for the last few days of the tour, whilst also showcasing the talents of IPW:UK's Jimmy Havoc and SWA's Big Damo. Both Havoc and Damo were allowed to show off what they had to offer with technically sound sequences with the Feast or Fired briefcase holder. It was a shame that slip by Damo whilst trying to hit a Bret's rope White Noise saw the crowd turn on him slightly, with more than a couple of comments being made around me. This is a move I've seen the Irishman have trouble with before. Galloway and Bennett ended up advancing to the final, with a fun finish that saw Bennett steal a pin cover from Galloway after the former EVOLVE Champion had leveled Havoc with a Claymore Kick.

ethan carter iii challenges rockstar spud to a fight

This was one of my favourite talking segments of the weekend, if not my outright favourite. Considering that the majority of the Birmingham crowd wouldn't have seen Rockstar Spud turn on Ethan Carter III during his Steel Cage match with Matt Hardy, the previous night in London, I thought all involved did a great job in getting Spud heat. After Jeremy Borash had explained to the crowd what had happened the night before, Matt Hardy was out before Spud in another clever piece of booking. Having Spud side with a Matt Hardy who has proved to be a hated TNA World Heavyweight Champion across the entire UK tour, allowed the former 2 time TNA X Division Champion a great platform on which to portray his new heel character, with the Barclaycard Arena happy to shower their hometown boy with boos. Spud's promo was glorious as he called back to losing his hair to EC3 a year ago, and how he felt the fans didn't have his back, going as far to call himself a "National Treasure". My only complaint about the segment, that ended with a vicious promo from EC3 challenging Spud to a fight, was that the timing of Spud's turn seemed a little off, coming off Spud being announced as an ambassador for the Starlight Foundation.

jessie godderz defeats tigre uno

Undoubtedly the worst match of the tour here, as Jessie Godderz and Tigre Uno stumbled through a bout that struggled to connect with the crowd. A number of notable botches throughout, and featured some heat scratching pieces of offence. Uno landing belly first on the top rope and Godderz shaking it a little (as if Uno had landed balls first) was one of the strangest bits of action that I've seen live in all of wrestling. I'm not sure what happened here, as both guys had seemed a least competent in the ring at the previous two tapings, but here looked like they'd never stepped into a ring before. The finish of the match wasn't much better, as Godderz botched a Boston Crab attempt somehow, and had to lock it in twice, whilst Uno lay there. Just awful. The only saving grace here was that Uno was, at least, mildly over with the Birmingham crowd.

gail kim calls out maria 

The first Women's segment of the evening, started with TNA Knockout's Gail Kim cutting a promo about being a wrestler. Despite having the upmost respect for Gail as a performer, after seeing her cringe-worthy mixed tag bout teaming with Lashley against Tyrus and Jade the night before, I found it hard to buy into a lot of what she was saying. However, I did think that Maria's reply was superb. With a long drawn out tete a tete with the Barclaycard Arena, as she kept asking  "Do you want to hear me talk some more?" and got a tremendous amount of heat. The meat of promo consisted of ripping on Gail and pulling apart pieces of promo, questioning why Gail married a celebrity chef and aired their wedding on TV, if she only wanted to be a wrestler and not a celebrity. Finishing off by name dropping Donald Trump and you had another entertaining promo from one of TNA's best signings in recent memory. The segment concluded with Gail chasing Maria up the entrance ramp, only for Jade to attack the Knockout's Champion and challenge her to a match later on in the night. 

ethan carter III "defeats" rockstar spud in a birmingham street fight

This was a bit of a weird one and didn't quite hit the mark for me. Firstly, I couldn't get my head around their not being a referee for the bout...well, I understand the concept, but don't think it really paid off here. EC3 battered Rockstar Spud for 8 minutes or so, with Spud getting in minimal offence throughout. There was some cool spots here, like Spud getting powerbombed through a table, but nothing that managed to trump anything that happened in the tag team Monster's Ball in Manchester or Jimmy Havoc vs. Abyss in a No DQ in London. For a feud that has so much depth I was a little disappointed with what was presented here. The finish of the match that saw EC3 have to be pulled off Spud after locking in a Chicken Wing submission, was another strange piece of booking, with the crowd having no idea how to react to their new hero refusing to let go off a hold on someone they hadn't actually seen turn heel.

tna talents pay tribute to kurt angle

Numerous TNA talents surrounded the ring, as TNA said good bye to one of their best ever performers and 6 time TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Kurt Angle. Dixie Carter was the first to thank Angle for his time with the company. It was a shame that the Birmingham crowd decided now was the time to pull out the "What?" chant as Dixie's emotional speech was pretty much ruined because of it. I'm hoping that it can be rescued for TV. Drew Galloway also took the time put over Kurt Angle and thank him for choosing the wrestle him twice on Angle's farewell tour. The last person to get involved was Lashley, who continued his slow-burn heel turn, well, I think he did, as you could barely hear what he had to say as he mumbled some words down the mic and buggered off. A good idea to build towards Angle's final match with the company, that unfortunately came off a bit flat in the arena.

the beautiful people defeat the dollhouse 

This match seemingly put the Beautiful People's feud with The Dollhouse to bed, as Velvet Sky and Madison Rayne dominated a fairly basic women's tag team match. Velvet and Madison were put over as the stronger duo for the most part, with the Dollhouse managing to get in some offence on Madison with numerous underhanded tricks. The crowd seemed very into the Beautiful People here, especially once the hot tag was made to Velvet and this buoyed the match a little bit, with Velvet winning the match for her team with a Stunner. For a feud ender, especially after the Lethal Lockdown match the previous night, this could have a little more oomph behind it to truly satisfy. Obviously, women's programmes for the tour had to changed, due to Awesome Kong being sent home, and considering that TNA did a decent job of shuffling things up throughout the tour.

eric young defeats bram, will ospreay, jimmy havoc and big damo to retain the tna king of the mountain championship in a king of the mountain match

The real success of this match for me was that it offered a good showcase for the British Indy talent. IPW:UK's Will Ospreay and Jimmy Havoc, and ICW's Big Damo both looked comfortable in front of the 3000+ crowd and working alongside two accomplished TV performers like Eric Young. Havoc's dive of the top of the Penalty Box cage and Ospreay taking a Neckbreaker off the ladder from Young stand out as the two best spots of the match. It was a shame that the match never had me convinced that Young would be dropping the title, as the format of the contest held things back a little in that sense. Bram and Eric Young eventually going at it provided a cool moment, that the crowd was more into than I would have expected, getting behind fellow Brit, Bram, before Young would eventually hang the title for the victory. Not the greatest example of the gimmick this one, but still will hopefully have had anyone new to Ospreay, Havoc or Damo looking to find out more about these three talented wrestlers.

mike bennett and drew galloway continue to clash

The feud between Mike Bennett and Drew Galloway continued to grow, as the two had a war of words. Bennett opening the segment by claiming that he deserved a world title shot, citing that Kurt Angle leaving TNA and Ethan Carter III now being unable to challenge for the World title as reasons for this. The Birmingham crowd was once again on the Miracle's back, and Galloway heading out got a decent pop. The former ROH World Tag Team Champion has quickly aclimatised to the TNA enviroment and this feud with Galloway should leave him a position to become a major star for the promotion, he's got all the tools to do it, just as this segment proved.

gail kim defeats jade to retain the tna knockout's championship

Gail Kim and Jade are two of the best Women's wrestlers on TV and it was a shame that the crowd didn't seem particularly into what they had to offer. Although I'll be the first to admit that this match could have been a hell of a lot better, it was still a solid slice of women's wrestling. Certain elements of the match could have done with emphasising for me, as there were a lot of ideas here that could have done with being spotlighting more. Gail locking on a Figure Four on the ringpost, for example, seemed to be thrown away when it could have been used to really drive the story of the contest. A highlight of the action for me was Jade turning Gail's rana attempt into a powerbomb, which looked brutal and was timed very well. A bit of a scrappy finish as Gail got the win, which was seemingly to set up a rematch between the two. Hopefully a rematch get's a little bit more time and attention, as this only scratched the surface of what the two talent should be capable of together.

beer money defeats the wolves to win the tna world tag team championship

The best match of the night for me here, as two of TNA's best tandems a very good tag bout for the Birmingham crowd. The match went back and forth, with both sides afforded exciting hot tag sequences, that made use of having two babyface tag teams in the ring together. This kept things a great tempo throughout, whilst allowing the crowd to stay lively with things pretty much split down the middle for the two sides. The closing sequences of action were superb as both sides traded big moves with all four guys getting involved and the pace rising and rising. It was a real shame that Davey Richards seemed to suffer a leg injury as he came off the top rope to take James Storm's version of the Codebreaker. This meant that Eddie Edwards had to finish the match alone, and lead to the finish feeling a little flat when Beer Money hit their D.W.I. tag finish. A rematch once Richards' is fit again certainly wouldn't go a miss, it's just a shame that it might be a while until they get to do it again in front of such a captive audience as they had here.

grado steals eli drake's feast or fired briefcase

The Grado vs. Eli Drake feud continued, as after luring Eli Drake and Jessie Godderz out into the arena, Grado was able to use a distraction from his pal, Mahabli Shera to nab Drake's Feast or Fired briefcase for a shot at the TNA King of the Mountain Championship and run up the entrance way. Whether we'll finally get to see what Grado's proof that he was screwed was or not, I have no idea, but this was a short piece of comic relief, nothing more, nothing less.

lashley defeats kurt angle

I think pretty much everyone in the arena had decided that Kurt Angle was going to win his final match in TNA, but that was with everyone thinking with their heart, rather than their head. Angle has always come across as the traditionalist and would surely have wanted to give back to company, by allowing someone to get some heat from defeating him. This was another good match on Angle's "Farewell Tour", up there with the bouts with Drew Galloway and Bobby Roode from the previous two nights. Certainly, the match had a lot of similarities to those contests, being heavily based on Submissions with Angle locking on the Ankle Lock a number of times. A highlight of the match for me was Lashley pulling himself to ropes whilst Angle had a Grapevined version of the hold on, only for Angle to pull him back into the ring and try to lock it on again. Lashley's selling following the hold was some of the best that I've seen from the former WWE United States Champion. Whilst there was some sweet amatuer style action on offer, I felt the bout suffered from an over-reliance on the pairs finishers, with Lashley hitting a number of Spears before getting the pin. Whilst none of his three matches on this tour would be up there with some of Angle's best work, in my opinion, the fact that he managed to wrestle 3 matches back-to-back of this quality at this stage in his career is a testament to the true talent that Kurt Angle is. TNA will struggle to replace him.

Following the match, Lashley cemented his heel turn, by levelling Angle following initially embracing 4 time WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Lashley got a bucket load of heat for this, and managed to take out both Drew Galloway and Eddie Edwards (seemingly Davey Richards was still too injured to help out) with Spears as they attempted to make the save. The pay-off for the segment was Lashley deciding to back down from Ethan Carter III and leave the ring, with the two ending the segment in a stare down. There's another interesting feud to be had here, if the right heel role is found for Lashley, I'm interested to see exactly where TNA takes this towards the end of March and into April on television.

drew galloway defeats bram, eddie edwards, eric young, grado, jade, mandrews, matt hardy, mike bennett, rockstar spud, tigre uno, tyrus and will ospreay in a gauntlet battle royal

What a strange, strange match this was. After three nights of four hours worth of tapings, I was completely drained, so a 13-man half an hour plus Gauntlet Battle Royal (Essentially a Royal Rumble) wasn't exactly the first thing on my mind to end the weekend. The match was a pretty slow affair for the most part, and wasn't helped by a good proportion of the crowd already gone after the Lashley vs. Angle match, and those that were left absolutely knackered from three and half hours of taping. The start of the bout was a little awkward as Mandrews was quickly dumped out by Mike Bennett (seemingly due to the injury suffered by Mandrews at the London taping) leaving Bennett in the ring alone, before Jade and Tigre Uno botched a Tornado DDT twice.

Someone who's performance deserves a mention was that of IPW:UK talent Will Ospreay who was a beam of light in the middle of the bout. Ospreay put on a display for the Barclaycard Arena, showing just a glimpse of his thrilling moveset as he flew around the ring, including hitting beautiful standing shooting star press. The crowd quickly got behind The Aerial Assassin and it was a shame to see him eliminated before the bout reached it's conclusion and you could feel the crowd deflate as soon as he was chucked out. 

The final moments of the bout were perhaps some of it's finest, as Grado, Mike Bennett, Drew Galloway and TNA World Heavyweight Champion Matt Hardy remained in the bout. The pop for Grado ducking Hardy's charge and sending the Champion over the top rope was surprisingly big considering the arena was at most 2/3's full by this time. After Bennett sent Grado out, Bennett and Galloway put on some fine work going backwards and forwards on the apron. It was a shame that there was nothing of any real importance on the line here, as Galloway and Bennett created some real dramatic spots with both men teetering on the edge, that would have been even better with something behind it.

The show finished with a real party atmosphere as Grado congratulate Galloway and the two had some good banter on the microphone. Grado even ended up handing out a bag of Revels at ringside, what a time to be alive. A number of the babyface roster headed to the ring to have a good ol' dance also. In one of those moments that those who had stuck around will surely never forget, Billy Corgan offered to ring Madonna for Grado and ask her if he could use "Like A Prayer" on TV, only for Corgan to turn heel and refuse to do so, before leaving. The Barclaycard Arena played the song anyway and even Earl Hebner did a cartwheel in celebration. Things closed with Tyrus coming out to tell everyone about the upcoming curfew, refuse to do his Funkasaurus dance and then take a Stunner from Galloway to end the show. One of the strangest segments I've ever watched, but also some of the most fun I've had a wrestling show. Utterly ridiculous 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 Birmingham, I took work colleague and avid WWE fan, Luke Bowman. Here's his thoughts on the show...

When I was given the chance to represent ATPW on the recent TNA tour, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. But the excitement of being able to watch Kurt Angle's last match [with TNA] was something I wasn’t going to turn down. And believe me it was as emotional and electrifying as you’d expect with Bobby Lashley living up to the occasion wonderfully. Plus the added fact that I’d get to see one of my childhood heroes Matt Hardy, even if he didn’t live up to what I remembered of him, especially during the Battle royale which finished off an overall brilliant night of professional wrestling.

finally...

atpw scale rating - 4.83/10

Similar to the other two events on this tour, this was a long night of action and talk that had it's moments, but could have been much better. Rockstar Spud's showdown with Ethan Carter III was some of the best mic work of the entire tour, but was followed up by an Birmingham Street Fight that didn't quite hit the spot for me. Beer Money and The Wolves tore it up over the TNA World Tag Team Championships, only for Davey Richards to suffer an injury that hampered the closing stages of the bout. Kurt Angle's final match in the TNA was a good bout with Lashley, that saw the later return to his role as one of the companies top heels, and produce a storyline with EC3 that could run for months, but Dixie Carter's farewell speech to the TNA Hall of Famer was destroyed with "What?" chants from the Barclaycard Arena. The less said about Jessie Godderz and Tigre Uno's stinker the better!

Finally, the tour closed with a strangely placed battle royal, that featured competitors who had won previously taped "Joker's Wild" tag team matches, only one of which had taken place at this event. A thirty minutes battle royal, the longest match of the entire tour was a big ask for a group of fans that had already gone through three hours of action.

For me, this show was the 2nd best of the tour, coming in behind the London show the previous night, but stepping up just a head of the opening night in Manchester. 

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.