TNA IMPACT Wrestling
Location: Bethlehem, PA
Date: October 29, 2014
Commentators: Mike Tenay and Taz
We start off looking at both Roode and Lashley arriving at the building this afternoon (well, the afternoon four or five weeks ago, anyway) and then go to a video package building up what a huge match this is for Roode.
Tag Team Contenders Tournament Semifinals: Samoa Joe and Low Ki vs. MVP and Kenny King
King and Low Ki start off as Tenay makes an interesting comparison that Joe and Low Ki remind him of Taz and Sabu. Ki and King go through an extended feeling out process until Ki opens up with the kicks and chops, at which point King scurries away and they tag Joe and MVP in. Joe takes MVP to the mat and tries to work some submission holds before tagging Ki back in, and Ki promptly gets caught in the wrong corner. That last all of ten seconds before Ki goes back on the offensive and he and Joe beat King up until he ditches out to the floor to confer with MVP. Ki shuts that down with a dive that takes out both opponents, but MVP cheapshots him and tags in to take control as we go to commercial.
We’re back and Low Ki is still in trouble. He takes a beating for a couple of minutes until hitting the Tidal Krush, MVP cuts him off from making the tag after that, but Ki hangs on and outmaneuvers his opponents to make the hot tag to Joe. Joe cleans house (even though it wasn’t that messy) and gets King in the Kokina Clutch. MVP breaks it up and King catches Joe with a leaping kick and covers Joe, but Low Ki double stomps King to break that up, then goes out to the floor and hits a Tidal Krush off the apron on MVP. He then comes in and hits a shotgun dropkick on King to break up shotgun knees, and Joe taps King out to the Kokina Clutch.
Winners: Samoa Joe and Low Ki
Great match, and it’s great to see Ki and Joe as a team, they really gel well together.
We look back at last week when Bram stole a win from Devon, and Bram says that he’s got something up his sleeve for Bram tonight. His cell phone rings and he tells whoever it is that he’ll be right there. Looks like Devon’s got backup! And I think we know who it isn’t!
We look back to when Roode blew his first shot at the TNA World Title, then Bram comes out to the ring to say that he’s going to destroy the brotherhood of hardcore. He calls Magnus out to the ring, and Magnus says they may not be brothers by blood, they’re brothers by blood they’ve spilled. They’ve been fighting together their entire lives, and they don’t care who it is, they better think long and hard before challenging them. He’s still the guy who broke the glass ceiling for the British guys, and Bram tells Magnus to imagine what his title reign would have been like if he was as violent as he is now. Devon comes out and says they’re the only ones who believe their crap, and Devon wants to introduce a friend of his, a hardcore legend, and someone everyone can call the Innovator of Violence: Tommy Dreamer! Tommy comes out and the two teams start brawling in the aisle and around ringside. Bram and Magnus get Dreamer alone in the ring, but Devon comes in with a chair and they bail.
Madison Rayne walks in while Taryn Terrell is doing her makeup, and she says she understand why Terrell isn’t talking to her right now. They’re both very competitive and the Knockouts Title means so much to all of them, and Terrell would have done the same thing. Terrell says they can just focus on their match against the Beautiful People tonight, and Madison says okay. Terrell leaves, and Madison says “…sooner or later.”
We see Stone Cold Shark Boy stuffing hot dogs in his face while taking pictures with a bunch of little kids. He grudgingly takes the pictures and tells them to get lost so he could get back to eating. Pat Kenney comes up and asks what happened to him because this is his second chance and he’s blowing it. He wants him to become the shark that used to swim upstream, the man eater he used to know, and asks if he can be Shark Boy one more time. Shark Boy says shell yeah and storms out, and the cameraman asks Kenney if he thinks he can do it, and Kenney shakes his head and says no chance.
Angelina Love and Velvet Sky vs. Madison Rayne and Taryn Terrell
Madison starts off controlling Angelina and tags Terrell in, and Taryn quickly hits a rolling neckbreaker for 2 and sends Angelina scurrying to the floor. Madison goes around the ring and rolls Angelina back in, then goes back to her corner and ignores Terrell when she tries to make a tag. Terrell takes both BPs out with a double clothesline and struggles to make a tag, but Madison just drops off the apron and leave Terrell to get her head repeatedly smashed into the mat by Velvet. Madison is back up on the apron as Terrell takes both BPs out with a top rope crossbody, but instead of tagging Terrell when she again comes to the corner, she walks into the ring and lays both BPs out, then nails Terrell and gives her some kind of neckbreaker thing and walks off. Both Velvet and Angelina cover Terrell for the easy win.
Winners: Angelina Love and Velvet Sky
Madison smiles and shrugs at Terrell as she walks to the back.
We see a video package hyping up Lashley as the champion, then we go to Kurt Angle saying he made himself the special referee so that, if MVP and Kenny King get involved, it’ll get DAMN REAL.
Tag Team Contenders Tournament Semifinals: Ethan Carter III and Darth Tyranus vs. Matt and Jeff Hardy
EC3 beats Matt down in the corner right off the bat, but Matt fires back until the referee needs to pull him off. Jeff tags in and headscissors EC3, then he and Matt double team EC3 and hit Poetry In Motion and then the Side Effect for 2. EC3 finally manages to bowl Matt into the corner and tags Tyrus in to overwhelm Matt with a couple of avalanches and forearms to the back. Tyrus slings off the bottom rope and hits a vertical splash, then tags EC3 in to dish out some punishment of his own. EC3 with a Perfect neck snap for 2, then he locks him in a Tazmission. He goes for a Stinger Splash, but Matt gets out of the way and lays EC3 out with a clothesline, then tags Jeff in to go toe to toe with EC3. Hardy gets the advantage and hits the usual combo, the Whisper in the Wind, and covers EC3 for 2. Jeff hits a Twist of Fate, but EC3 falls backward into Tyrus, who tags himself in and flattens both Hardyz with a double clothesline. Tyrus goes to the second rope for a Vader Bomb, but the Hardyz move, each hits their version of the Twist of Fate, Jeff hits the Swanton, and Matt covers Tyrus for the win.
Winners: Matt and Jeff Hardy
Great match, but they shouldn’t have put Tyrus in a position to lose so soon into his run in the company. EC3 goes off on Tyrus to make him look even stupider, and we see that the finals of the tournament is now the Hardyz against Low Ki and Samoa Joe.
James Storm is backstage with Manik and Sanada and says that tonight, his revolution will expand a little more.
We see Lashley warming up backstage, then we go to the ring where James Storm says a storm is coming and is very close. People say he preys on the weak, but he brings new meaning to their lives. Sanada was lost under Muta, Manik was a faceless creature who could not speak, but now they are loyal, have seen the light, and are disciplined. Any one of them can become a champion because in the Revolution, they get things done. No more listening to the doubters, they are here to extend an offer and Storm asks Davey Richards to come out. Storm asks Davey if he’s thought about his offer, and he knows Davey is part of a great tag team, but Storm was also part of some great teams with partners who tried to hold him back. Before Davey can answer, Eddie Edwards comes out and says to hold on and asks Davey to tell him that he’s not listening to Storm. Eddie tells Storm he’s out of his mind and something is wrong with him, because there is no way Davey would give everything they’ve done together up for him. Davey snatches the microphone out of Eddie’s hand and says he can speak for himself. Eddie asks Davey where his head is at, but Storm cuts Eddie off and says this doesn’t concern him because this is Davey’s awakening. Eddie doesn’t know anything about that, but he knows about fighting and he says to get a referee so they can fight right now. Looks like Eddie takes on Storm after the commercial!
Eddie Edwards vs. James Storm
We come back from commercial as Eddie hits a running knee for 2, then he goes to the floor to keep Manik from hypnotizing Davey. Storm hits a leaping enziguiri as Eddie gets back in the ring, and proceeds to unload with clubbing forearms and kicks as Manik and Sanada continue whispering sweet nothings in Davey’s ear. Eddie mounts a comeback and hits the backpack driver for 2, but Storm comes right back with a hanging DDT for 2. Storm tries to hit Eddie with the ring announcer’s microphone, but Eddie dodges and rolls Storm up for 2. He dumps Storm out to the floor and hits an Asai moonsault, then sees Manik coming on to Davey again and takes him out with a baseball slide. Davey gets up on the apron and argues with Eddie, distracting him just long enough for Storm to hit the Last Call for the win.
Winner: James Storm
Storm nods at an intense looking Davey Richards as he takes his street crew to the back.
Bobby Roode is backstage, and he’s…WALKING! He challenges for the World Title after this break!
It’s main event time! Kurt Angle comes out in zebra stripes to perform his officiating duties, then we’re off to…
TNA World Title Match: TNA world heavyweight champion Bobby Lashley vs. Bobby Roode
They tie up and jockey for position. Lashley backs Roode to the corner and tries a big right hand, but Roode ducks and shoves Lashley. Lashley measures him up for a few seconds, then goes behind and takes Roode down to the mat. Roode regains his base, but Lashley just powers him into the corner and rams a series of hard shoulderblocks into the lower ribs. Roode goes down in a heap and is in trouble very early in the match. Roode fires back and takes the champ down with a flying forearm and a clothesline. He tells Lashley to come on and waits for him to regain his vertical base. That looks to be a mistake because Lashley quickly snaps Roode over with a vertical suplex and measures him for a series of hard right hands to the skull. Roode ducks another clothesline and takes Lashley down into the crippler crossface, but Lashley is way too close to the ropes and easily grabs them to force a break. Lashley goes out to the floor and drags Roode out, but Roode hammers him with right hands and rams him into the barricade as we go to commercial.
We’re back from break and see a replay of Lashley hitting a nasty looking spinebuster during the break before Roode and Lashley trade blows in the middle of the ring. Roode boots Lashley in the face and comes off the second rope with a blockbuster for 2. Now Roode hits a spinebuster of his own for 2, but he charges Lashley and gets caught with another spinebuster for 2. Lashley waits for Roode to get to his feet and goes for the powerslam, but Roode slips out the back. Lashley goes for a clothesline, but Roode ducks and Lashley lays angle out instead. Lashley spears Roode and revives Angle, but the delay before making the cover leads to him only getting 2. Oh, now Lashley had him here! What a jip. Roode dodges a spear and Lashley again wipes Angle out. Roode dumps Lashley to the floor and goes out after him. Roode dodges yet another spear and Lashley KILLS a ringside security guy. Roode goes to give Lashley the Roode Bomb on the floor, changes his mind, and gives him to Roode Bomb on the entry ramp instead. Roode literally drags a motionless Lashley down the ramp and rolls him back inside to make a cover. Angle is still out so Brian Hebner rushes out to make a count and Lashley is out at 2. Okay, at least now we’re even. Call it a fall apiece. Lashley nails Roode in the ding ding and then grabs his belt from ringside, but Brian Hebner tells him to drop the belt. Lashley does what Hebner asks, then rips his head off with a clothesline and picks the belt up and knocks Roode out with it anyway. He yells at Angle to get up and makes a cover, and Angle slowly comes in and counts and Roode has his shoulder up at 2. 2-1, Lashley. Roode gets Lashley up for the Roode Bomb, Lashley holds the ropes and Roode tries to dump him to the floor again, but this time Lashley sees it coming and lands on the apron and snaps Roode’s neck down on the top rope. Lashley goes to the top, Roode goes for the Roode Bomb, Lashley slips out and goes for a sunset flip, and Roode drops down and cradles Lashley’s legs for the win.
Winner and New TNA World Champion: Bobby Roode
Great match and a hell of a second half after coming back from the commercial. Roode goes over mega strong here, and Lashley looks good in defeat as well. Lashley’s reign was very well booked to build to this, and the payoff was great.
Source: PWInsider.com