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

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

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

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

When did you begin work on the sequel? 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Twitter - @RopesandGlory
Facebook - Greg Lambert - Wrestling

Interviewer - James Marston 

Twitter - @ATPWrestling 

Facebook - /acrossthepondwrestling 

Instagram - @ATPWrestling

Opinion: There's No Such Thing as the Big Bad Wolf

What a 2017 it has been for UK Wrestling already and it’s only the middle of January okay nearing the end, I’m not good with dates! Anyway fans have witnessed ITV's World of Sport, amazing shows from PROGRESS, Rev Pro and many others, not to mention the WWE United Kingdom Tournament.

I went to the Tournament for both days and it was incredible. The event brought together wrestling fans and united them in positivity and hope for what the event will bring. There was no arguments of booking and it was great to see and read. But that euphoria of positivity can only last so long before issues arise, so I’ll discuss some here.

How often have wrestling fans said, “(insert UK wrestler name here) should be in the WWE” or “if WWE took notice of (insert UK wrestler name here) they will be signed!”. I've seen quite a lot of fans saying this type of thing over the years and guess what, your dreams have come true. The WWE in all its glory is shining a very big spotlight over Wrestling in the UK & Ireland and many of your favourite wrestlers are signed to one year contacts with a possible extension depending on their success.

Now how is this a bad thing, oh it must be a bad thing right? Because some fans are now saying WWE are ‘stealing’ the UK talent, ‘robbing’ fans of seeing their favourite wrestlers in promotions and even showing signs of trying to monopolise the UK and Irish Wrestling scene with ‘insiders’ claims they have links to Insane Championship Wrestling, PROGRESS, Over the Top Wrestling and RevPro as well attempting stop any wrestlers they have feature in any worldwide streams no involved with WWE.

Okay that's one way to look at it, but here’s something you should look at, UK and Ireland are jam packed with incredible talent and equally resourceful promotions and promoter, as well as brilliant training schools, with many of the countries top talent passing on their knowledge to a whole new generation of potential Tyler Bate's or Dave Mastiff's. If you’re a fan of a wrestler who has signed one of the "exclusive" WWE or ITV or any contracts...be happy for them! Each one has worked and made sacrifices to get there, whether it is for a year or more, the experience of being part of WWE will be something that they will benefit for years as well as other wrestlers if they chose to share their knowledge. Is WWE “robbing” fans either? I don’t see how, WWE is planning a weekly TV show in the UK with exclusive wrestlers to their brand, why will you go see a wrestler in WWE if you can see them every week in another promotion, for a perhaps cheaper price in-fact? Also take into account the risks, the wear and tear on the body of the pressures by wrestling continuously that the Indie circuit causes, WWE can ill afford to take these risks with individuals they see can evaluate their image in the UK.
If you bought a ticket to go to an event just for one or two wrestlers. I may question your logic on that one, sitting through a 3 hour show to see one wrestler…erm okay and that is why every promotion has card subject to change on there advertising, because anything can really happen. It is that point a promotion if a wrestler pulls out either the promoter might be able to call another top line star in and they will demonstrate why their show should be seen in spite of the absent star. Case in point, PROGRESS Wrestling on January 15th, didn't have their World Champion or their Tag Team Champions due to the WWE UK Championship Tournament were some fans concerned at the start, hell yeah they were. But afterwards as per usual they were raving about how incredible the Chapter 42 show was and rightly so. (Editor's Note - Whilst this was partly down to PROGRESS' WWE connections getting Finn Balor and Tommy End to appear on the card, as well as a surprise appearance from World Wrestling Network star Matt Riddle, the hard work of British and European talent like Axel Dieter Jr., Rockstar Spud, Jimmy Havoc, El Ligero, Dave Mastiff and more was just as, if not more valuable)
How did that happen? Forward planning, great story lines and even better wrestling, something PROGRESS does extremely well and they aren’t alone in that. As I said earlier, the British Isles has resourceful promotions, they book their events well in advance, but are are also capable of managing potential problems and turning them into positives, as well as not relying on one of two wrestlers to make that show a success. My personal opinion is that while wrestling is a business, cold and calculating, it needs to generate and promote emotion for it to thrive.

My thoughts, start from the Academy level, if you have trainees that are ready to showcase their talents on the Academy or Main shows, put some effort into getting the fans interested and invested, promote them, teach them to cut a promo or even a 30 second vignette otherwise why should fans watch them, or take interest in them, a move set can only do so much. The end result is fans who many have gone to the show to see someone else will sit silently on their phones and it will awkward and weird. That isn’t just about trainees either, it’s across the board. Why not raise your game for the wrestlers to be noticed, get the fans emotionally involved in what might happen during their matches, do what you need to create an angle, storyline or even consistent narrative of why wrestlers are wrestling. It sounds simple but I would believe how many times I’ve gone to a show and I’ve wondered why are these two wrestlers fighting, because you know…reasons?! Just get fans invested in your shows dammit.

The WWE arriving is making every wrestling fan in the world take notice of the wrestling involved in UK and Ireland, right now fans across the world are staring at every promotion in the UK thanks to the WWE Network, that is a fact. Fans and other international promotions are keen to see where wrestlers started, who to watch out for, who's the next promotion to keep an eye on, who to work with and they are starting to see great promotions that may have not have been able to be seen to a larger audience, Attack!, Alpha Omega, Fight Club: Pro, PBW and PWU only to name a few are being seen by fans as far as Australia. Sure WWE focusing their microscope here has drawbacks in the short term but its larger gains in the long term are out of this world. For that to happen every wrestler, promotion, hell even wrestling journalists need to raise their game now more than ever. This message is for wrestlers not just in the WWE United Kingdom Series, but wrestlers all over and this counts for the promoters as well, fans from all over the world hear that wrestling from the UK and Ireland is the best in the world, you’ve now got the floor, the world is watching you now show them exactly why those fans should be watching you, why they should care about you and show them what you got because it might not just be the WWE that is watching you.

Words - Craig Hermit

Images - Craig Hermit & James Marston

Editor - James Marston 

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TV Review: TNA IMPACT Wrestling #610 (TNA World Heavyweight Championship #1 Contender's Gauntlet)

On 22nd March 2016, TNA aired the 610th episode of Impact Wrestling, having previously taped the event on 15th March 2016 at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, USA. The show featured Bram, Jeff Hardy, Ethan Carter III, Matt Hardy, Rockstar Spud, "The Miracle" Mike Bennett, Eric Young, Lashley and Tyrus competed in a Gauntlet Match to crown a new #1 Contender to Drew Galloway's TNA World Heavyweight Championship, after a chaotic opening segment involving everyone (minus Lashley) lead to Dixie Carter announcing the bout...but was it any good? Let's take a look.

impact wrestling #610 match card

Match 1 - TNA World Tag Team Championship - Beer Money (C) vs. The Bro-Mans

Match 2 - Street Fight - Crazzy Steve w/Rosemary vs. Eddie Edwards

Match 3 - TNA Knockout's Championship #1 Contender's Three Way - Jade vs. Marti Bell vs. Rebel

Match 4 - TNA World Heavyweight Championship #1 Contender's Gauntlet - Bram vs. Eric Young vs. Ethan Carter III vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Lashley vs. Matt Hardy vs. Mike Bennett vs. Rockstar Spud vs. Tyrus

drew galloway opens the show, shenanigans occur

What a start to the show! An exciting opening segment with lots of different faces and storylines, that set's up something to stick around for in the shows main event spot. New TNA World Heavyweight Champion Drew Galloway was on form with passionate opening promo, showing just what kind of Champion he'll be and kicking off his run well. The Matt Hardy Brand interrupted, before we got a slew of competitors attempting to state their case for a shot at Galloway's title. Jeff Hardy, Eric Young, Bram and Ethan Carter III all had a bit of a brawl, before Mike Bennett was the final one to have his say, coming out with Maria and reminding us that he was the last one to pin Galloway, back at IMPACT Wrestling #607. That's what made this segment work best for me, everyone involved had a real claim to a title shot and Galloway looked more than up for a scrap with anyone of them! "I'll bloody fight you all" he said.

TNA President Dixie Carter was out to settle things to the delight of everyone....I actually thought that Dixie did a pretty good job with what she had to do. I much prefer her role at the moment, compared to the over-done all-powerful heel boss thing she was doing a few years ago. Her saying something "they don't wanna see you argue for a title shot, they wanna see you fight for it!" was a sweet line, that managed to cut through the chaos of the rest of the opening. It set up the main event for later on and presented something a little bit different for people to tune in to. One of the strongest opening segments TNA have done in the last six months, and having plenty of names vying for a title shot can only be good for the title.

fast-forward...Mike Bennett selected his number for the gauntlet match from Jeremy Borash's golden tumbler...

beer money defeat the bro-man to retain the tna world tag team championships

The Bro-Mans were hardly the most excited duo to have answer Beer Money open challenge (only open to former tag team champions) but they did offer James Storm and Bobby Roode someone to quickly build their title reign up against, which with a pretty lacklustre tag division (You've only got The Decay and Bram & Eric Young teaming regularly) at the moment could have been hard to do otherwise. Although it was hardly a highly anticipated reunion, considering they last teamed together on One Night Only: Joker's Wild 4 that aired on 4th March. The bout itself was fairly basic in it's tag team structure, with Beer Money obviously coming out on top after about five minutes. I thought the closing stages of the bout were a little bit sloppy, with the four bumbling their way through what looked like it should have been a pacy series of moves, before Roode pinned Robbie E after a weak looking D.W.I. Not the greatest start to Beer Money's title reign this and it showed up just how much TNA need to build up it's tag division. 

fast-forward...The Decay cut another creepy backstage promo, calling out Eddie Edwards to a No Disqualification bout later in the show...Bram and Eric Young picked their numbers out of Jeremy Borash's tumbler, with Young seeing Willow again...

eddie edwards defeats crazzy steve in a no disqualification match

A decent no disqualification bout here, as Eddie Edwards looked to seek revenge on The Decay after they defeated him in six man tag action last week. Steve and Edwards worked well together, keeping a strong pace throughout and peppering in a couple of cool spots. A piece of action on the outside that saw Steve trip Edwards on the steps before hitting a cannonball stands out as the highlight of the match. Rosemary's involvement in the finish was handled well, as she costs Edwards the victory, before Steve accidentally ran into her allowing Edwards to get the win with a school-boy roll up. Whilst it didn't featured as much brutality as other recent TNA bouts, there was a lot to enjoy throughout here. It'll be interesting to see if this feud continues, but without Davey Richards able to compete, there isn't really anywhere else to take things at the moment. It'd be cool to see Edwards get a run as a singles competitor, as we saw in ROH he's got a lot to offer TNA in that department as well.

fast-forward...Jeff Hardy and Ethan Carter III picked their numbers for the Gauntlet from Jeremy Borash's tumbler, with EC3 cutting a passionate promo on Mike Bennett...

jade defeats marti bell and rebel to become number one contender to the tna knockout's championship

This was all a little weird, but I think I ended up liking it. Basically, Maria was supposed to face Gail Kim for the TNA Knockout's Championship, but called out the Dollhouse, revealing that TNA management had said she could give any Dollhouse member her shot at the title, setting up the three way and leaving Gail to awkwardly walk to the back. At first I was skeptical about the segment but with Maria explaining her position on commentary, saying she'd already defeated Gail and wanted the title to truly mean something before she won it, I was won round. It builds even more anticipation to final showdown between Gail and Maria. The three way itself was a good bout, with quite a few cool spots involving all three girls. The closing stages made Jade look like a boss as she dominated both of her opponents, and actually pinning both of them herself. Jade faced Gail on IMPACT Wrestling #608 and I asked for a more focused rematch, so I'm pretty happy on that front, and with the added element of Maria claiming that Jade is her protege, I'm very much looking forward to seeing what the three do with the opportunity they have.

fast-forward...The Matt Hardy Brand selected their numbers for the gauntlet from Jeremy Borash's tumbler, with Rockstar Spud's performance standing out especially...

jeff hardy wins a gauntlet match to become number one contender to the tna world heavyweight championship

This gauntlet was used to further a number of storylines TNA has going at the moment, was completely watchable, without being particularly memorable in it's own right. It seemed like a missed opportunity to not have any of the Matt Hardy Brand faction in the ring together, as Rockstar Spud found himself eliminated as Tyrus made his way to the ring and Tyrus was gone before Matt Hardy could get there. The group could have been used to drive the bout's story. We did however see Bram accidentally eliminate Eric Young to seemingly set-up a feud between the two, The Pope D'Angelo Dinero got involved in the bout to eliminate the man who attack himself last week, Lashley and after EC3 had eliminate Mike Bennett, Bennett helped Matt Hardy to eliminate him. Three big future feuds coming out of the battle royal with more fuel to add to the fire over the next few weeks, not bad at all.

The two Hardys being the final two in the match was a slightly obvious end to the bout, but both men put in some quality work here. There's definitely a sense that a one on one match between the two is inevitable at this point, and this tease of what could be to come was a pleasing one. The two going back and forth offered a couple of false finishes that kept the Orlando crowd engaged, with the strongest of these being Matt catching Jeff on the top rope as the younger brother went for a Whisper in the Wind. There was lots of drama towards the end of the bout, with Jeff on the apron, barely managing to hang on. Matt going for a Twist of Fate through the ropes was a nice piece of work, even if Josh Matthews called it as a Hangman's DDT, and Jeff managing to hit a back body drop over the top rope to win the bout gave a lovely visual on which to end the show. Jeff will provide a stellar first opponent for Drew Galloway's title reign next week and hopefully the pair are allowed to go full throttle, as they're more than capable of putting on a classic TV main event.

finally...

atpw scale rating - 5.71/10

TNA continues to deliver a solid two hours of television, with this episode scoring the highest ATPW Scale Rating for the show this year. The opening segment of the show completely nailed it, allowing a number of different faces to come across as stars, showcasing the new TNA World Heavyweight Champion Drew Galloway well and setting up an interesting main event for the show. Whilst that main event was hardly a blow away contest, it did set the wheels in motion for at least three different feuds, whilst also providing us with a new #1 Contender in the shape of Jeff Hardy. Hardy vs. Galloway next week is a marketable main event that if advertised well should draw a good rating. 

The undercard was varied, including a No DQ bout, a three way women's match with lots of storyline development and a World Tag Team Championship match that whilst not quite hitting the spot gave Beer Money more credibility as a Champions of a fairly weak division. 

 I want to be writing about great matches, not just good or decent matches! I think it's also worth noting that some of the promotions most exciting workers need to start getting more TV time, I'm talking about the likes of Trevor Lee, Andrew Everrett, Mandrews and Tigre Uno...basically the X Division! The show remains a watchable product and has been so for most of the year, however, with no storyline based PPV's it's time for the show to up their game in time of match quality.

TV Review: TNA Impact Wrestling #609 (EC3 vs. Hardy vs. Hardy *TNA World Heavyweight Championship* - GALLOWAY CASHES IN)

On 15th March 2016, TNA aired the 609th edition of Impact Wrestling live from Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, USA on POP TV. Matt Hardy defended his TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Ethan Carter III and Jeff Hardy, before Drew Galloway cashed in his Feast or Fired Briefcase to win the title, whilst Jeff Hardy faced Eric Young earlier in the show to earn his place in the main event...but was it any good? Let's find out.

impact wrestling #609 match card

Match 1 - Winner Earns A Spot in the TNA World Heavyweight Championship Main Event - TNA King of the Mountain Champion Eric Young vs. Jeff Hardy

Match 2 - Mixed Tag Team - TNA World Heavyweight Championship Feast or Fired Briefcase Holder Drew Galloway & TNA Knockout's Champion Gail Kim vs. Maria & "The Miracle" Mike Bennett

Match 3 - Six Person Intergender Tag Team - TNA World Tag Team Champions Beer Money Inc. & Eddie Edwards vs. The Decay

Match 4 - Grado's TNA Contract Ladder - TNA King of the Mountain Feast or Fired Briefcase Holder Eli Drake vs. Grado

Match 5 - TNA World Heavyweight Championship Three Way - Ethan Carter III vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy (C)

Match 6 - TNA World Heavyweight Championship - TNA World Heavyweight Championship Feast or Fired Briefcase Holder Drew Galloway vs. Matt Hardy (C)

jeff hardy defeats eric young to earn a spot in the tna world heavyweight championship main event

After Dixie Carter had interrupted the bout early on to reveal that the winner would advance to the evening's main event, there was an extra level intensity added to Jeff Hardy's return after being written off television due to his inability to travel to the UK for the January tour. There were a number of moments like this throughout the show, where it felt like TNA was attempting to make as much as they could out of the show being live for the first time since their POP TV debut at the start of 2016. The match was a decent opener, with Hardy looking strong on his return, whilst Eric Young put in another belting character based performance as he continues to grow in his crazy wild-man gimmick. Little moments like Young pulling on Hardy's neck with Hardy in a tree of woe position (of course, making reference to the Piledriver through a table that EY gave the Charismatic Enigma a few weeks back) made this an entertaining bout. There were areas that the pair could have explored to have made the match better, like Young focusing even more on Hardy's neck and some selling from Hardy would've been nice also. The finish saw the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion get the better of his rival hitting a Twist of Fate and a Swantom Bomb in a disappointingly basic finishing sequence. Still a watchable opener, with plenty to enjoy.

One of my major problems with TNA programming in 2016 has been how week's worth of booking seem to happen within the confines of a singles programme and we had another case of that here. With Jeff Hardy having gone over Eric Young and advanced to the main event of the show, we got a segment between Hardy and his TNA World Heavyweight Champion brother, Matt. Now, I actually thought this was a pretty strong segment, with some clearly defined characters. Matt and his wife Reby attempting to convince Jeff that he didn't need to be in the main event because they could have a one on one match at "Bound for Glory 2017, maybe even Bound for Glory 2018", whilst also handing their infant child Maxel over to Jeff was a great piece of television, building nicely toward Jeff refusing to go along with their plan. Of course, it closed with Matt attempting to take out Jeff only for the younger brother to come out on top, hitting a twist of fate to lay out the champ. I just wish this segment was happening next week and the match scheduled for the shows main event was the week after that, just to allow the story to breath and truly build the anticipation for it. 

maria and mike bennett defeat drew galloway and gail kim 

I've been getting a lot out of both Gail Kim's feud with Maria and Drew Galloway's rivalry with Mike Bennett, so I was pretty hyped to see the two stories combine in this mixed tag team bout. There was some top notch story telling throughout this one, in a bout that used the gender roles especially well. Maria's avoidance of Gail, including holding onto Galloway's leg to prevent him from tagging in his partner, having the heel be so afraid of the woman she's antagonised for the last few week's made the moment when Gail finally go her hands on her opponent all the more satisfying to see. On that note, the finish was perhaps my favourite moment of the contest, as with Bennett trying to help his wife, he ended up taking an Eat Defeat from Gail, followed by a Claymore Kick from Galloway, before Maria rolled Gail up and stole the victory for her team! There's more to come from both of these feuds and the finished gave Maria even more to talk about over the next few weeks. Gail vs. Maria is a rare case of TNA holding off on a bout, meaning that when it happens it'll mean more than it every could have been capable of without it. Great work from all involved here.

fast-forward...A recap of Lashley vs. Kurt Angle from Impact Wrestling #608 aired, followed by the aftermath that saw Lashley take out Angle, Eddie Edwards and Drew Galloway, before backing away from Ethan Carter III... 

lashley snaps and attacks josh matthews and the pope

Despite him slapping hands with fans on the way down to the ring, this segment was all about cementing Lashley's heel turn from last week's episode. The former WWE United States Champion surprised me here, as he isn't known for being particularly strong on the microphone, but this was a solid performance that, at least in my memory, was one of, if not the best Lashley promos that I have ever seen. Claiming that he'd been over-looked for guys like Drew Galloway and Ethan Carter III, his biggest claim came when he said "I'm the toughest and most dominating wrestler in this entire wrestling business". A great heel line, that clearly references other names *cough* Brock Lesnar *cough* in other promotions and therefore makes it easier to hate the character. He then showed his power by taking out his interviewer, the dweeb master general himself, Josh Matthews and then laid out Matthew's co-commentator "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero as well! A short feud with Dinero would give something for Lashley to do before moving into something with Ethan Carter III, and allow the character change time to settle in with the audience. 

fast-forward...A freaky promo from The Decay revealed that Rosemary would be Abyss and Crazzy Steve's tag partner, as they answered the challenge laid out by Beer Money Inc. and Eddie Edwards from earlier in the show....

the decay defeat beer money and eddie edwards

This was a weird one for me and never quite seemed to connect on the night. SHIMMER star Rosemary being involved in her first match for TNA could have been something that drove the match and made a real statement for the company on their position in-terms of inter-gender matches, taking a popular trope from Lucha Underground. Unfortunately, her involved was minimal, limited to spraying some her mist and Beer Money getting way too excited to hit their Beer Money Suplex on her (which didn't actually happen). James Storm appearing to injure himself on slingshot crossbody onto Abyss on the outside (and loudly saying "Fuck...fuck") was a worry for a tag division that has already suffered a big blow with Eddie Edwards partner in The Wolves, Davey Richards suffering an injury on last week's episode. The Decay managing to pick up a sneaky win was the right decision for the tag division which is need of some powerful heels to combat popular duos Beer Money and The Wolves and their victory was the main positive I took away from a bout that didn't do much for me at all.

fast-forward...Matt Hardy and Reby Sky attempted to get Dixie Carter to cancel the evening's main event, and when TNA's President refused, Hardy threatened to simply get himself disqualified, leading to the match being made no disqualification (erm...like every three way bout then, yeah?)...

grado defeats eli drake in a ladder match to earn a tna contract

In another example of rushed booking, the show featured an impromtu, unannounced ladder match, as Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins, made the bout after reviewing evidence that Eli Drake had swapped his Feast or Fired briefcase with ICW star Grado's, resulting in the later being fired from the company. This match was so so much better than I was expecting it to be, continuing a feud that has given TNA's undercard some much needed energy over the last month and a half. Lots of nice spots throughout, like Grado jumping from the ladder to the top rope before diving to outside onto Drake (as well as Jessie Godderz and Mahabli Shera) and the current PBW Tag Team Champion hitting Drake with an electric chair drop of the ladder, the pair made good use of the gimmick. Lots of drama with Godderz and Shera helping out their respective friends, the contest built nicely to the moment when Grado retrieved the contract after knocking Drake off the top with a Bionic Elbow. With the Scotsman now back on the roster, it will be interesting to see how TNA use him through the rest of the Spring.

matt hardy retains the tna world heavyweight championship after a three way with ethan carter iii and jeff hardy ends in a no contest

If you were a fan of run-ins and overbooking then this was the main event for you! Eric Young and Bram took out Jeff Hardy (after Hardy seemed to have the match won with a Swantom Bomb) with Young furthering their feud by hitting a Piledriver onto the exposed floor at ringside, Tyrus and Rockstar Spud attacked Ethan Carter III, only for EC3 to fight the pair off, before Mike Bennett finally got the job done with a steel chair, before the pair brawled away from the ring. For a match that showed early promise by playing off the various inter-connecting relationships and previous storylines between all three of the men involved in the contest, it was a shame to see things devolve into the madness that came. For me, no one came out of this looking great as TNA attempted to protect everyone. It felt like they'd booked the World Heavyweight Championship match because they had a live edition of Impact Wrestling, but hadn't really thought through what they wanted it to do.

drew galloway cashes in his feast or fired briefcase and defeats matt hardy to become the tna world heavyweight championship

About thirty seconds after I'd questioned why Drew Galloway wasn't involved in the action, his music hit and things got serious. Yes, just as Matt Hardy was about to head to the back with his match ending in chaos, Galloway was out to end the show on a high point. Whilst this moment felt a little bit "We're live for the first time in ages, so we might as well have Galloway cash in his briefcase", it got a cool reaction from Universal Studios and shifted a talented performer into a position he's deserved for sometime. I do feel like Matt Hardy's World Heavyweight Championship reign had, at least, two months worth of legs left. Maybe if Galloway had cashed in at that time then this moment would have been all the more satisfying to watch as a fan. 

finally...

atpw scale rating - 5.5/10

After five week's of episode's from England, TNA's return to the USA managed to keep up the strong form that that run of taping's managed to produce! Whilst, I've still got a problem with the pacing of certain storylines, the show produced memorable moments, like Drew Galloway winning his first TNA World Heayvweight Championship in the closing moments of the show, and was entertaining throughout it's two hour duration. An opening match between Eric Young and Jeff Hardy, a mixed tag match with Galloway, Gail Kim, Mike Bennett and Maria and a Ladder match between Grado and Eli Drake all provided some credible television action, with a lot of variety between the bout. Whilst the main event three way didn't quite hit the spot for me, there was more than enough to enjoy here. 

Heading into new week, we have a new a World Heavyweight Champion, with strong heel challengers being built with Mike Bennett, Lashley and even The Decay looking great on the show, whilst Matt Hardy will obviously receive his championship rematch. Let's hope TNA can make the most of this and continue to build on the foundation that has been built over the first three months of 2016!

TV Review: TNA IMPACT Wrestling #607 (Angle vs. Roode)

*DISCLAIMER - This review contains spoilers for the 607th episode of the Impact Wrestling that will air on 6th March 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 here also contains spoilers for Impact Wrestling #608, Xplosion episodes and One Night Only: Joker's Wild*

Broadcast on 1st March 2016 (taped 30th/31st January 2016) the 607th episode of TNA's Impact Wrestling aired from the SSE Arena, Wembley, London and the Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham, both England. Kurt Angle faced Bobby Roode in the former 4 time WWE World Heavyweight Champion's penultimate match with TNA and Ethan Carter III attempted to gain some revenge on Rockstar Spud in an Unsanctioned Street Fight...but was it any good? Let's find out.  

impact wrestling #607 match card

Match 1 - Singles - Bobby Roode vs. Kurt Angle

Match 2 - No Disqualification - Abyss w/The Decay vs. Jimmy Havoc

Match 3 - TNA King of the Mountain Championship - Big Damo vs. Eric Young (C) w/Bram

Match 4 - Singles - Mike Bennett vs. Drew Galloway

Match 5 - Unsanctioned Street Fight - Ethan Carter III vs. Rockstar Spud

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. In a similar sequence to the one Angle used with Drew Galloway on Impact Wrestling #604, there was some strong submission based wrestling with the duo trading Ankle Locks and Crossfaces. Roode did an especially good job of selling his injured ankle towards the end of the match. Both men got decent near falls off the Angle Slam and Roode Bomb respectively, although I'm not sure how much I bought into them after previous matches on Angle's Farewell Tour. With Angle recording his 4th victory in a row over Roode, the match felt like it finished way too early, as there was potential to grow into a very special match, in front of a London crowd who were hyped. 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, but this was still a high quality opener for a TV show, that the rest of the episode struggled to follow. 

The after match festivities were a lot of fun, as James Storm headed down to the ring to celebrate with Angle and commiserate Roode, 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 week, 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. 

ethan carter iii challenges rockstar spud to a fight

A superb segment here as Rockstar Spud gave his explanation for siding with Matt Hardy in last week's Steel Cage TNA World Heavyweight Championship match and turning on Ethan Carter III. Considering that the majority of the Birmingham crowd wouldn't have seen Spud turn on EC3, I thought all involved did a great job in getting Spud heat. Matt Hardy was out before Spud in another clever piece of booking. Having Spud side with The Iconic One 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 and "Who Are Ya?" chants. 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". The segment closed with EC3 heading down to the ring and taking Hardy and Tyrus, with Spud escaping up the entrance ramp, before EC3 cut a fiery promo challenging Spud to a "fight" later tonight. 

abyss defeats jimmy havoc in a no disqualification match

IPW:UK regular Jimmy Havoc made his in-ring 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 Expectations in Stevenage last July, this was a fun bout, full of weapons and big highspots, but felt very 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 and controlled the pace with ease. This was probably the best the two could do with the time they were given, and just a week worth of build. It's a shame that this storyline was so rushed, and that Havoc is seemingly done with TNA, for now, as there was a lot more potential here than what was eventually realised.

gail kim calls out maria

The 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 at the London TV taping back in January, I found it hard to buy into a lot of what she was saying. However, I did think that Maria's reply was superb. 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. There was of the most heat I've heard for a very long time, Maria had the Barclaycard Arena worked up into an absolute frenzy. 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. Great stuff. 

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

After Eric Young (with Bram) had issued a challenge to any Brit in the back to come and face him for the TNA King of the Mountain strap, out came ICW regular Big Damo to make his TNA debut. It seemed like Damo wasn't quite as over as Jimmy Havoc was earlier in the evening, with the crowd reluctant to get behind him, over the villainous, but familiar 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. Way too short once again to truly explore what the two could've done together, but it does however continue to rise the prestige of the King of the Mountain Championship and solidify Young as one of the top heels in the company.

mike bennett defeats drew galloway via submission

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 TNA career. Made even more special by the fact that Galloway had defeated Kurt Angle on Impact Wrestling #604. The two wrestled a reasonable contest, working well for their first match with each other. Galloway bought a real fire to the contest, going straight after Bennett from the first bell, this made it much easier to buy into the idea of his hate for his opponent. 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 Iron Maiden 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.

fast-forward...A recap of Kurt Angle and Lashley's TNA World Heavyweight Championship match from IMPACT Wrestling #557 (aired March 2015)...

ethan carter III "defeats" rockstar spud in an unsantioned 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 (Mainly underhanded stuff like eyes rakes and low blows). There was some cool spots here, like Spud getting powerbombed through a table, but nothing that managed to trump anything that happened in the recent tag team Monster's Ball from IMPACT Wrestling #605 or Jimmy Havoc vs. Abyss that aired earlier in the night. For a feud that has so much depth I was a little disappointed with what was presented here and even more so with how rushed this was, with Spud only turning on EC3 last week, after the pair had reconciled just a few weeks prior. 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.

finally...

atpw scale rating - 5.66/10

After last week's IMPACT Wrestling managed to score the highest mark of 2016 so far, this week's edition has managed to top it. Two fine promo segments were the highlight of the show for me, with Rockstar Spud and Maria both shining in their respective segments. Kurt Angle and Bobby Roode also put forward a quality TV, Jimmy Havoc and Abyss did the best they could in an entertaining No Disqualification match and Mike Bennett got a big victory over Drew Galloway in a match that showed signs of real potential in the pair's current rivalry.

That being said, there was still the case of some of the content needing a little bit more time to breath and tell a more satisfying story. This couldn't have been seen clearer in one of the marquee bouts between Rockstar Spud and Ethan Carter III. Rushed from last week's heel turn from Spud, it felt like with a few extra week's to tell their particular story then this would have been a much more satisfying close to the show. 

Next week has a lot of promise, as the final show from the UK tour will see Kurt Angle wrestle his final TNA match, opposite Lashley, as well as Beer Money challenging The Wolves for the TNA World Tag Team Championship! See you next week.