TNA Impact Wrestling TV taping
London, England at SSE Arena Wembley
Report by Dot Net staffer Haydn Gleed
As they took down the cage for the next taping, Dixie Carter came out and thanked the fans for all the fantastic support. The crowd chanted “Thank You, Dixie.” She said she had a surprise and introduced Billy Corgan. He asked if the crowd was having a good time. One guy near the ramp was jumping up and down like this was the greatest moment of his life…
1. The Wolves defeated Mandrews and Will Ospreay to retain the TNA Tag Titles. Mandrews made his skateboard entrance with will Osprey, a great reaction for the Cardiff boy. The Wolves made their entrance with the tag titles. They were wearing British inspired paint on the chest. A great back and for from all four men with some excellent spots. The action slowed down with The Wolves on offense with quick tags isolating Ospreay. Mandrews got the hot tag and came in with a huracanrana, but something went wrong and he laid motionless on the mat for a good 20 seconds. The ref held up the X sign. Mandrews tried to get to his feet but was unsteady and just managed to tag in Ospreay. After some back and forth, The Wolves won the match via pin fall. After the match, the medical team came rushing out for Mandrews (why they didn’t come out before I don’t know and, no, it didn’t look like a worked injury as you could see the wrestlers talking and improvising spots). The Wolves rushed over to check on Mandrews and helped him up and took him to the back. This had the potential to be a great match, but the injury derailed it somewhat…
2. Abyss (Crazzy Steve, Goth Girl) beat Jimmy Havoc in a Monster’s Ball match. Both men brawled early, standard Monster Ball style. Abyss introduced the cheese grater early but Havoc took it and raked quite hard against Abyss’s, um, little Joseph Park. Jimmy climbed to the top rope, but crazy Steve distracted him and Abyss pushed him off the top rope through the table. Abyss introduced Janice, who, of course, missed when he tried to use it and went through a table. Jimmy introduced a barbed wire board into the match. He struck Abyss a couple of times across the head with a kendo stick and went for the killer blow, but Abyss picked him up and hit a Black Hole Slam on Havoc through the barbed wire board. With Marilyn Manson playing, they stood over Jimmy. After the match local boy Havoc got a great reaction. A fun Monster’s Ball with semi dangerous but safe stunts…
Josh Matthews was introduced as he was doing commentary backstage. He kissed up to the fans and said that London was louder than Manchester at the tapings last night…
3. Mike Bennett (w/Maria) defeated Drew Galloway. Maria came out and told us that the UK is broken but she believes in miracles. With that Mike Bennett came out to little reaction. On the flip side, Drew Galloway made his entrance to a huge reaction. Bennett tried to run away but Galloway caught him and stomped him in the corner. Maria tried and failed to distract drew but he hit a big boot to Bennett. The action spilled to the outside where some fans held Bennett open out wide for Drew to chop him.
Eventually, Bennett gained the advantage but got thrown into the ring post by the man from Scotland. The action spilled back into the ring and Bennett gained control. The match slowed down with Bennett keeping Drew on the mat. Drew eventually came back with head butts and a flying clothesline from the top rope. Late in the match, Galloway stomped in the corner and hit a big drop kick. Galloway applied a submission but Maria put Bennett’s foot on the rope. Bennett snuck up behind Galloway and rolled him up for a three count…..
Earl Hebner was introduced and asked his thoughts on the fans in London. He said they were great and then walked back up the ramp….ok…..
4. Eric Young defeated Damo O’Connor to retain the King of the Mountain Title. Young had an open challenge for the King of the Mountain Title. Young won via piledriver…
5. Kurt Angle beat Bobby Roode. Roode made his entrance alone. Angle came out to the biggest pop of the night. He gestured to the whole crowd, and the match was on. Both men felt each other out to begin with with a cagey start. Angle got the better of the early exchanges. The crowd chanted “We love you, Angle, we do.” Roode was kept on the mat in the early going of the match but Roode came back a knee to the mid section. It was Angle’s turn to be kept on the mat. Angle got to his feet and both men charged at each other and hit a double clothesline. Angle got to his feet first but Roode came back with a spinebuster.
Roode climbed to the top but missed with his attempt. Angle his three back suplexes in a row for a great reaction. Angle applied the ankle lock, but Roode escaped and threw Kurt shoulder first into the ring post. Roode applied a crossface, which Angle reversed into an ankle lock but Roode reversed as well back into the crossface. After breaking the hold, Angle charged at Roode, only to be put back into a crossface. Angle broke the hold and hit an Olympic slam on Roode for a close two count. Late in the match Angle locked in the ankle lock, but this time laid it in fully and got the submission victory….
After the match, both men hugged mid ring. Roode made a beautiful speech and Angle cried. The crowd chanted “thank you, Angle.” James Storm came down the ramp and got in the ring. He said all he wants to say is thank you to a TNA legend. He said to him his friendship is priceless. Beer Money opened beers and Kurt said no, so they pulled some milk out. Funny. Kurt poured the milk with most of it going all over him.
The Wolves came out to join in the celebration. They said some nice things about Angle. They also built up the match for The Wolves against Beer Money which will be tapped at the tapings on Sunday. I don’t know when the show will end as far as television is concerned, but this was a beautiful, genuine moment that Kurt was obviously touched by….
We are looking for correspondents for all WWE, NXT, TNA, ROH, Evolve, and GFW live events. If you attend a show, you are encouraged to send a report to dotnetjason@gmail.com
Be the first to comment