We start off with a video look back at the debut of Drew Galloway’s new group, the Rising, as they saved him from a beatdown at the hands of the Beat Down Clan. We also look back at last week when Bobby Lashley was pinned by Kurt Angle despite having a shoulder off the mat.
This brings us right into our opening promo, as Kurt Angle comes out says he’s no stranger to controversy, but wants to speak with Lashley face to face. Lashley comes out and says that Kurt didn’t beat him and we have tape to prove it. Lashley shows a replay of his shoulder up during the pinfall, and Angle looks displeased, but the fans chant for a rematch as Lashley asks Angle if that’s how he wants to win. Lashley says the Kurt Angle he knows wouldn’t accept that win, and asks what Angle is going to do. Angle says he won’t back down from defending the title, and he’s beaten Lashley once and has no doubt he’ll beat him again. Lashley says if he’s that confident, let’s do it one more time. Angle says that’s fine and they can do it one more time tonight, but Eric Young comes out shouting no at them and says that nobody in wrestling respects the rules anymore. He is the #1 contender, and last week in the middle of the ring, he beat Bobby Roode. The crowd tells Young he sucks, but Young repeats that he made Bobby Roode tap out and proved he’s better than him. He’s a world class wrestler and champion, Roode and Lashley are losers who should go back to the bottom, and Angle is holding his belt. Lashley tells Young to shut up and earn respect, so Young gouges his eyes. Angle comes to pull Young off with a waistlock as Lashley tries to spear Young, and Young moves out of the way and causes Lashley to spear Angle. Young irately yells at both of them as he backs up the aisle and we go to commercial.
We’re back and Angle is back on his feet and if both Lashley and Young feel like they got screwed, he’ll fight the both of them tonight because he’s Kurt Angle, the greatest wrestler in the world, and nobody can beat him.
We look at a video package detailing the recent history between Gail Kim and Awesome Kong, and then it’s time for our opening match!
Gail Kim vs Awesome Kong
These two know each other very well going back to the beginning of the Knockouts Title. They go right after each other, and Kong quickly overwhelms Gail and repeatedly tosses her across the ring by the hair before hammering her with forearms in the corner. Gail gets chucked to the apron, and she tries coming back in with a sunset flip over the ropes, but Kong drops down with a vertical drop onto Gail for 2. Kong gets Gail in a camel clutch, she gets free but Kong quickly shuts her down again with a big clothesline. Gail is in bad shape as Kong hauls her back to her feet by the hair and chokeslams her for 2. Kong yanks a turnbuckle pad off in one of the corners after shrugging off Gail’s running crossbody in the corner, then she goes for another chokeslam but Gail counters to a guillotine choke. Kong rams her into the corner and tosses her to the floor, but Gail catches her with a running dropkick as she comes out after her. Both girls roll back inside, and Gail starts chopping Kong down with kicks to the legs, forearms and a running clothesline in the corner, and a top rope crossbody that Kong easily powers out of at 2. Kong charges, but Gail moves and Kong hits the exposed turnbuckle. Gail rolls her up for 2, then hits Eat DaFeet for another 2 count. That was a close one, and Gail is looking frustrated at her inability to put Kong away. Meanwhile, Kong sits up and gives Gail the look of death, goozles her from her knees, and pops Gail onto the top rope. Gail goes for a triangle choke, but Kong counters to a sitout powerbomb for the win.
Winner: Awesome Kong
Great match that lived up to the legacy of their earlier matches. Kong is now the #1 contender for Taryn Terrell’s Knockouts Title.
James Storm is backstage with Mickie James, who is thanking him for helping out last week. Storm says no matter what anyone else says, she’s known him for a long time and a southern man knows that men never hit a woman. Mickie thanks him again and gives him a hug before leaving, and Manik comes in and asks what was up with that. Storm turns evil, crams a muffin in Manik’s mouth and tells him to NEVER QUESTION HIM. He tells Manik to get the guys together because they’re going to have a fight tonight.
We come back from commercial and James Storm is in the ring with Abyss, Manik, and Khoya. He says he gave all the members of the Revolution a chance to be a part of something and they all failed him: Abyss got pinned to lose the tag team title, Manik failed in Ultimate X, and he took Khoya (who he slaps) out of that craphole country and brought him into the light. He says there’s always room for one more in the Revolution, but there can also be room for one less. One of them is going to be his tag team partner in the title tournament, and the Revolution is going to fight each other to decide who it will be. Storm demands a referee come out to officiate, and he tells the refthat the only rule is that there has to be a winner.
Abyss vs Khoya vs Manik
Abyss wasts no time in pounding the snot out of Khoya and ditches him over the top rope. Manik comes in and goes after Abyss with a chair, then tosses the chair to Abyss and dropkicks it into his face. It barely fazes Abyss, who elbowsmashes Manik in the face and then boots him to the floor. Khoya comes in and grabs a Singapore cane, but takes too long admiring in and Abyss goes back to working him over and tosses him again. Manik comes off the top with a missile dropkick that finally takes Abyss off his feet, then counters a chokeslam to a triangle choke. Khoya is back in and has the cane again, bashes Abyss over the back with it, and proceeds to beat both Manik and Abyss into oblivion before nearly killing Manik with a Sky High for the win.
Winner: Khoya
Well, let’s hope he can get through the entire tournament without accidentally ending anyone’s career.
We’re back in the woods where the Ghost Asylum guys are still in James Storm’s torture barn. The Revolution chases them off with pickaxes.
Drew Galloway comes out with the Rising and thanks the fans for giving him the chance to live his dream, and he’s here to change the sport he loves. They’re all going to change wrestling for the better, and he tells the fans to speak their mind at home because he’s going to do that on this microphone right now. His brothers decided to join him because he can’t beat the BDC by himself, they’re the Rising and all the fans are the Rising as well. He tells his new teammates to introduce themselves, and Micah, the son of Haku, says he has wrestling pumping through his veins and he knew he had to stand up because that’s what his father taught him. The BDC are bullies, and they stand up to bullies and punch them right in their mouths. The other gentlemen introduces himself as Eli Drake and says he’s in the ring standing with two other guys who have a common bond. They’re not made in a factory, they’re not superstars, they’re wrestlers and they have something to prove. Eli is his own man, but when the BDC messes with his friends, they mess with him. Drew says nobody’s going to suffer in silence any more, and he’s reaching out to his brothers who were where he once was, because there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. If the BDC wants a war, and if the fans want to see a war, they’re ready for the BDC. This brings out MVP, Low Ki, and Kenny King, and MVP says that since Drew always wants to tell a story, he’ll tell a story about the Rising and their tragic fall. It’s a really short story, and it ends tonight. MVP has thrown down the gauntlet, so Galloway counts down from 3 and the Rising rushes the aisle and brawls with the BDC. The fight spills all around ringside and TNA security comes out to try and separate them as wel go to commercial.
We’re back, and Drew Galloway challenged the BDC to a six man during the break, so here we go…
The Rising vd The Beat Down Clan
Drake and King start us off and King comes out on top of an exchange with a powerslam for 2. Micah tags in and is quickly dragged to the BDC corner. MVP tags in and goes toe to toe with Micah, and Micah gets the advantage with right hands and a dropkick. Micah dodges a Yakuza kick and hits a neckbreaker for 1. Kenny King distracts the referee so Low Ki can shove Micah off the top rope, and MVP goes to the outside and rams Micah into the rail before rolling him back inside and making a series of covers that all get 1. Micah winds up in trouble for a bit but hits a Samoan drop and makes the hot tag to Drew, who comes in and cleans house on Low Ki, just tossing Ki into the corner like a rag doll and stomping him into putty. Drake comes in and pops King up into an inverted powerslam, then tosses MVP out to the floor. Micah goes to the top rope and takes out the entire BDC with a dive to the floor, but suddenly Homicide comes out of the crowd and attacks the Rising to cause a DQ.
Winners: The Rising by DQ
The BDC swarms the Rising, and MVP gives Homicide a big hug before Homicide goes back to working the Rising over with a tire iron. The BDC all raise their hands as they stand over the fallen Rising.
We go backstage to Kurt Angle as he starts to cut a promo about tonight’s main event, but Eric Young blindsides him, beats him like a dog, then yells that the title is his before storming out.
We’re back from commercial and the trainer is checking on Kurt Angle to see if he has a concussion. Angle is clearly not okay, but insists that he’s fine and walks off saying he has a match to wrestle tonight as the trainer looks concerned.
Zema Ion vs Davey Richards
Fast paced back and forth leads to Davey dropkicking Zema to the floor, then connecting with the running boot across the apron. The crowd is going nuts for Davey as he tries to get inside and is dropkicked back to the floor by DJ Z. Zema rolls him inside and makes a cover, but Davey is out before 1, so Zema puts the boots to him and then chokes him on the middle rope. Davey is up and fires off some kicks and clotheslines Zema back to the floor where he nearly cuts him in half with a dive through the ropes. Back in we go as Davey hits a missile dropkick, kips up, and hits a flurry of kicks and the handspring enziguiri for 2. Zema avoids a knockout kick and clotheslines Davey into the corner, he puts him on top and mocks the Wolves howl, but Davey fights Zema off of a superplex attempt with a headbutt, then comes off the top rope with a double stomp…that Zema avoids. Zema goes to the apron and tries the swinging DDT back in, but Davey shoves him off, hits the Alarm Clock, and hits Creeaping Death (a knockout kick to the head) for the win.
Winner: Davey Richards
Great match and a good chance for Davey to showcase what he can do as a single.
The Beat Down Clan is backstage laughing over what they just pulled, then MVP introduces Homicide as an original member of the BDC who was on the injured reserve but is back now. King says they made 3-on-3 into 4-on-3 because they can, and Low Ki says the Rising is in over their heads.
Jade Chung and Marti Belle are coming to TNA, and the promo video makes them look like they’re going to be insane grown up girls who play with dolls and like sticking knives in their faces and then scamper around holding hands because they’re psycho, or something like that. Oh, and their team name is the Dollhouse. Could have potential, I like the idea.
The Hardys come out to the ring to a huge ovation, and Jeff says he’s glad to have Matt back and leads the fans in a “Hardy’s revenge” chant to play off of the match with Storm last week. Now it’s time for the Hardys to move onto something they’ve never done before: win the TNA World Tag Team Title. Matt says it’s been two months since they’ve stood side by side in the ring, and they’re focused on winning the TNA World Tag Team Title. He tells Eddie Edwards to get well and they’ll give the Wolves a title shot when they’re back, but that title is going to be theirs and…oh wait, here comes Ethan Carter III and Tyrus. EC3 says the Hardys have had adequate careers, but he has been unbeaten for 19 months. That’s less impressive when TNA runs once every two months. EC3 says he hasn’t had a title shot for some reason, so he’s going to take the TNA World Tag Team Title. He needs a partner, and he found someone who came to him and says he just likes to hurt people, so his partner will be Bram, who comes out and says he’s in a bad mood because the thought of teaming with anyone makes his skin crawl. He hates everybody, but lucky for EC3, he hates him the least and he just wants to beat up the Hardys. EC3 says he’s the odds on favorite with Bram by his side, but Ken Anderson comes out and says he’s the odds on favorite to have the world’s smallest wiener, then he introduces his tag team partner…Rockstar Spud, who is sporting a sweet new crewcut that finally makes him not look like a tool. But wait, we’re not done yet: here comes Austin Aries to say that he’s hearing a lot of people throwing the word great around and saying they deserve to be a champion, but we all know there’s nobody greater than the Greatest Man Who Ever Lived. He has a World Title shot he can use anytime he wants, but he’s greedy and will focus on winning the TNA World Tag Team Title for now. His partner will be someone who almost approaches Aries in greatness, a former TNA World Champion, and a man he held the tag title with before: Bobby Roode. Okay, they’re the ones I want to see win!
It’s main event time!
TNA World Champion Kurt Angle vs Bobby Lashley vs Eric Young
Eric powders out to the floor before even making contact, but hooks Lashley’s ankle from the floor so Angle can come in and suplex him. Young stays on the floor as Angle works Lashley over, but then he grabs Angle’s leg to try and cause him to get nailed by Lashley. Angle and Lashley look at each other for a moment and decide to go after Young, chasing him into the ring and ping ponging him with right hands before working together to hit the Hart Attack. Lashley tries to go for a cover, but Angle’s not down with that. Young tries to slip away while they argue, but they go out after him and beat him up on the floor as we go to commercial.
We’re back and Angle is suplexing both opponents around because he’s Kurt Angle. Clotheslines for both men, including one that sends Lashley to the floor. Young catches Angle with the piledriver and makes a cover, but Lashley breaks the fall and dumps Young to the floor. Now Lashley hits the British Bulldog powerslam and gets a 2.999999 off a cover. Lashley gets a delayed vertical suplex and then sets for the spear. Lashley connects and makes a cover, but Young zips in out of nowhere to break the cover. Lashley leapfrogs over Young and appears to hurt his knee, but he tosses Young to the floor and goes back after Angle, who suplexes him around some more. Young comes in and it’s suplexes for Young. Angle gets Lashley in the anklelock, but Lashley rolls forward and sends Angle tumbling out to the floor. Young quickly swoops in and gets Lashley in the figure four, but Lashley fights his way to the ropes and forces a break. Young quickly grabs a chair from the floor and wedges it in the corner while the ref checks on Lashley, but Lashley is up and hits a couple of clotheslines and another delayed vertical suplex on Young. Lashley goes for a spear, but Young sidesteps and Lashley crashes into the chair. Angle gives Young an Angle slam and sends him out to the floor, hits another Angle slam on Lashley, and hits Lashley with a moonsault for the win.
Winner: Kurt Angle
Great match, but another fluky Angle win over Lashley, so Lashley still has a gripe that could get him another title shot. Angle leaves, and Young uses the chair to attack Lashley’s knee once they’re alone. He puts the chair around Lashley’s knee and Pillmanizes him a couple of times, then puts him back in the figure four.
Credit: PWInsider
