TNA Impact Wrestling TV Results
July 8, 2015
Episode #39 on Destination America
Taped in Orlando, Fla.
Report by Mike McMahon (@MikeMcMahonDOG), PWTorch contributor

The Card: ECIII defends his TNA World Title three times … Robbie E. vs. Jessie Godderz in a street fight. … Matt Hardy vs. The Dirty Heels. … Drew Galloway vs. The Rising. … Madison Rayne vs. Velvet Sky. … Dixie Carter makes her return to TNA television.

The show opens with a video package highlighting last week’s TNA World Title match, where Ethan Carter III defeated Kurt Angle to win the title. Interestingly, they showed Tyrus interfering in the match, but not Tyrus getting ejected from ringside. It didn’t make it look like his interference won the match for ECIII, but still an odd edit.

In-arena: ECIII was dressed in a suit and carrying the TNA World Hvt. Title on his shoulder. The new champ came down the aisle with Tyrus for a promo to open the show. Josh Mathews asks, “How else would you want to start Impact?” Now in the ring, ECIII hands the title to Tyrus and grabs a microphone. He asks the audience if he has their attention now? ECIII says he’s the unpinned, undefeated, and unbeatable TNA Champion.

“The time is now, ECIII is here, and I am the undisputed World Champion,” he said. “I’m the greatest living wrestler alive. Tonight I’ve been given a gift. I’ve been given the gift by my sweet Aunt Dee, Dixie Carter.”

ECIII says that Dixie has put him in charge tonight, and he has booked a solid card. But ECIII says there is a caveat. He said he would be defending his title, “Not EC-once, not EC-twice, but EC-three times.”

Matt Hardy then enters the Impact Zone and walks down the ramp. Hardy said that he did ECIII a favor when he softened up Kurt Angle. Hardy said he’s not an ECIII fan, but he took the “wrestling machine,” Kurt Angle, to his absolute limit. Hardy said he did that to prove he belongs in the TNA World Hvt. Title picture.

Hardy tells ECIII that if he’s so hot to defend the title tonight, he should defend it against Matt Hardy. Hardy urges the audience to go to Twitter and use #MattForChamp.

ECIII asks Tyrus if he likes the idea of Matt for champ? Tyrus shakes his head no. ECIII tells Hardy that he took the wrestling machine to the limit, but ECIII says he took the wrestling machine to the mat. ECIII tells Hardy that he “regretfully declines” Hardy’s request for a title shot.

Tyrus then steps between ECIII and Hardy as Hardy seemed primed to attack the champion. ECIII said that he already has Hardy booked in a tag team match. ECIII in classic heel mode, says it’s too bad Hardy’s “dumb-ass brother broke his leg,” so tonight Hardy will have to wrestle, by himself, against Austin Aries and Bobby Roode.

Mathews then goes over video highlights of Aries and Roode losing to The Wolves in a TNA Tag Team Title match last week.

1 -- MATT HARDY vs. THE DIRTY HEELS (AUSTIN ARIES & BOBBY ROODE) -- handicap match

Roode and Aries enter the ring and jump Hardy to start the match. Finally Aries climbs to the apron and Roode is the legal man against Hardy. ECIII joins Mathews and The Pope on commentary.

Aries tags in and the Heels split Hardy’s legs with a double-team move. Aries goes to pick up Hardy off the mat by his hair and Hardy begins to fight back with punches to the mid-section. Roode tags in and he continues the assault on Hardy, who finally starts to get some offense about the three-minute mark. Every time he’s able to lock Roode into a submission hold, Aries breaks it up.

Aries tags in and Hardy quickly re-locks a submission attempt on, but Roode breaks it up. Hardy is now fighting off both Roode and Aries with a series of clotheslines. Hardy covers Aries, but there’s a kick-out at two.

Roode misses a swinging right hand and Roode hits a neckbreaker. Hardy goes for a suplex on Aries, but Roode trips him from the outside. Aries lands on top of Hardy, and that leads to a pin. Roode holds down Hardy’s ankles behind the referee’s back.

WINNER: The Dirty Heels via pinfall in 4:50.

[ Reax: They did a nice job keeping Hardy strong with the cheap win, but if Aries is leaving the company, and I assume TNA knew that at this point, it would have perhaps made more sense to give Hardy a strong win here, with him pinning Aries. Just a thought ... Also, Hardy didn’t come off as a strong babyface gloating about “softening up” Angle for ECIII. ]

[Q2] Post-match, Mathews thanks ECIII for joining them on commentary.

Up Next: The Rising has a final message.

[Commercial Break at 9:16]

Back from the break, a video airs to promote the Knockout Knockdowns 2015 One Night Only PPV.

In-ring: The Rising is in the ring for their farewell promo, as Mathews says.

Drew Galloway says he wishes they were out there under more positive circumstances, but right now, The Rising is finished. The crowd chants “don’t go” briefly. Galloway says there was a want, a need, for someone to fight the injustice in professional wrestling. Galloway says he is talking about the Beat Down Clan.

Eli grabs the mic and tells Galloway that he brought him through the door, and someday, he’ll show him how much he appreciates that. Galloway says pro wrestling is the oldest sport in the world, and it will be around long after he retires and is dead. Galloway says look at the roster, the future is bright for TNA.

Galloway says the night is always darkest before the dawn. Galloway says he’ll continue this fight. He says #StandUp will continue, and this is not the end, only the beginning.

[ Reax: Very emotional promo from Galloway. This was in one of those shoot/work gray areas. Galloway was talking about The Rising, but he was also very much addressing the rumors that TNA is facing its imminent demise. Aside from the content of his promo, the delivery was excellent. You don’t see pure emotion like that often in a scripted era. ]

ECIII is still at ringside and begins to mock cry. He mocks Galloway and says that was a beautiful speech. But he says it’s a shame that he booked a three-on-three tag and Galloway has no partners. ECIII says on the bright side, Galloway is healthy. He brings out Abyss, Manik, and Khoya of The Revolution to face Galloway.

2 -- DREW GALLOWAY vs. THE REVOLUTION (ABYSS & KHOYA & MANIK) -- handicap match

All three men jump Galloway to start the match, but Pope says Galloway won’t go down without a fight. Mathews begins to recap last week’s elimination match between the Rising and the BDC. There doesn’t appear to be tag rules in this match, as it was still three-on-one a few minutes into the match.

After two minutes of triple team, Khoya hits a pop-up powerbomb that would have been good enough for the win, but Abyss pulls him up. With Abyss and Khoya staring each other down, Galloway recovers and begins to get offense in. He fights off Khoya and Abyss and runs his boot through Manik for the win.

WINNER: Drew Galloway via pinfall in 2:22.

[ Reax: Clunky match. They’re teasing the demise of The Revolution, which is to be expected. Even though Khoya had the win, they didn’t protect the three Revolution members much. It was a three-on-one beating that resulted in that near pin, and Galloway ended up scoring the victory. Good for Galloway, who is ultimately better off without being in a group.]

Post-match, Galloway grabs a fan’s sign at ringside that says “#Stand Up.”

Backstage: ECIII and Tyrus were talking and up walks Mr. Anderson, who says congratulations. He says they don’t agree, but congrats. Anderson said that ECIII did it on his own, which he admired. Anderson said he respects ECIII defending the title three times tonight, and he has nothing to do, so he’d offer his services for one of those slots. ECIII shoots back with “how about no,” because Anderson already has a match tonight, he’s taking on Bram next.

[Commercial Break at 9:29]

[Q3] In-arena: Mr. Anderson is making his entrance, including the self-introduction on the ramp. Mathews says that Anderson has to go one-on-one with the “most dangerous man on the Impact roster.”

[ Reax: Two things. First, Bram is the most dangerous man on the Impact roster? No, he isn’t. And is it the Impact roster or the TNA roster? More confused branding from TNA. … Also, Anderson is someone who TNA really dropped the ball with. He was a former WWE talent, but relatively untapped. If they treated him the way they treated Kurt Angle, he could be a legit top-level star for them now. ]

3 -- MR. ANDERSON vs. BRAM

Bram and Anderson actually engage in wrestling holds to begin the match. Bram starts to cut Anderson off with some punches and has him backed into a corner, but Anderson fights back with clotheslines. Anderson goes to the top rope. Swanton Bomb off the top, but he only gets a two count. Bram gets back up and Anderson clotheslines him to the outside. Anderson follows and Bram whacks him with a chair.

WINNER: Mr. Anderson via disqualification in 3:01.

Post-match, Bram continues the assault. Referees are coming out to stop him, but Bram is chasing them off. Bram is demanding the mic that Anderson uses for his intros. Anderson is crawling up the ramp and Bram begins to drag him to the top of the stage. Bram grabs the mic and shouts, “Mister!” before nailing Anderson in the head with the mic. He grabs Anderson and hits him again with the mic. Another shot to the head. Bram pulls the mic cord out and continues to beat Anderson with the mic. Anderson now has blood coming down his forehead.

[ Reax: The post-match angle was good enough to get Bram over as a sadistic monster. I realize he’s hurt, but I’m not sure that Jeff Hardy is going to appreciate Anderson using his finish to set up a nearfall. ]

[Commercial Break at 9:41]

[Q4] Back from break, Jessie Godderz is in the ring. They show Godderz and Robbie E. brawling in the parking lot last week, which didn’t actually air on Impact, as best I can remember. I believe it ran on TNA’s website, or YouTube, or somewhere.

4 -- ROBBIE E. vs. JESSIE GODDERZ -- Street Fight

The fight almost immediately goes to the outside. Robbie E. hits Jessie with a trashcan lid. Robbie goes under the ring and pulls out a kendo stick. Robbie rolls into the ring and grabs Godderz on the apron, suplexing him over the top rope and into the ring.

Robbie lays the trash can lid over Godderz’s mid-section and begins to beat it with the kendo stick. Mathews asks, “Did anyone order Rocky Mountain Oysters,” which doesn’t make much sense. But he transitioned it into a lame plug for Destination America’s “Buying the Rockies” series, which starts on Monday, or some day next week. Really forced plug not getting the message across clearly.

Godderz is on the outside and now has control of the match. He rolls Robbie back into the ring and goes for a powerbomb into the turnbuckle. With Robbie on his back, Jessie jumps on top of him and smashes several elbows into his face. Jessie with a kendo stick to Robbie’s gut.

Godderz goes back to the outside and tosses the garbage can back in the ring. He sets it up in the corner and Mathews warns that the can has already been used, so it has sharp edges. Robbie’s nose is bleeding. Not sure what caused that, but Godderz did fish-hook him in the nostrils earlier.

Godderz goes under the ring and grabs three chairs, tossing them all in the ring. Robbie goes after him, though, and throws him shoulder-first into the “sharp” garbage can in the corner. Robbie is now in control and he gets a two count off a reverse DDT.

Robbie sets up chairs in the ring, putting two on their legs, facing each other. Godderz tries to use the chairs to get up as Robbie climbs to the top, but Jessie cuts him off. He then hits a powerbomb through the chairs, but it’s only a two count? Pope is having a hard time believing that. “Robbie is showing some heart here … some courage, if you will,” Pope said.

Jessie locks in the Adonis Crab while Robbie is wrapped up in the chair. Clever use of the chair. Jessie is actually sitting on it while he has Robbie in the hold. Robbie passes out and the referee stops the match.

WINNER: Jessie Godderz via referee stoppage at 8:24

[ Reax: Clever use of the chair for the submission. The rest of this match was your typical walking brawl with typical weapons. Very typical street fight, but a new finish, which was good. It was at least something we haven’t seen before. ]

Backstage: ECIII is telling Tyrus he’s going to have three title matches that will be five stars apiece. That’s 15 stars.

Lashley walks up and says he should be one of the title shots, but ECIII says instead, that he should take on Tyrus. Lashley said he doesn’t mind making an example out of Tyrus before he gets his title back.

Backstage: Kurt Angle is reading something. The cameraman asks what he is reading, and Angle said that tonight is about to get a lot more interesting.

[Commercial Break at 9:57]

[Q5] Back from the break, Mathews throws to the interview with Jeff Jarrett.

Tenay asks about the relationship between TNA and GFW. Jarrett says it’s a work in progress. Jarrett says he has an alliance with 13 promotions. He wants to bring all forms of wrestling under one umbrellas, but he he never dreamed TNA would be part of that umbrella. Jarrett said cooler heads prevailed and here he is, sitting in a six-sided ring in the Impact Zone.

Tenay asks about the King of the Mountain Title. Now that he has possession, what are the plans for the physical title? Karen interjects here and says the title has a new home, and Jarrett says it will be in GFW. Jarrett says it goes right with GFW’s mission. He wants to bring promotions together on a big stage to create dream matches.

[ Reax: Other than learning the King of the Mountain Title is going to Global Force Wrestling, we didn’t learn much about the TNA-GFW relationship. Jarrett plugged what GFW was, but sidestepped the question on their relationship with TNA, other than to say, “it’s a work in progress.” ]

In-ring: ECIII is ready for his three challengers. He grabs the mic and asks if everyone is ready to see history. ECIII said he is a firm believer in things going full circle and paying it forward. He said he also believes in never forgetting where you start, so his first title defense will be against a man he first defeated, Norv Fernman.

5 -- TNA World Hvt. champion ETHAN CARTER III (w/Tyrus) vs. NORV FERNUM -- TNA World Title match

Fernum goes to shake ECIII’s hand, but ECIII kicks him in the gut, then hits the One-Percenter for the win.

WINNER: ECIII via pinfall in 0:14 to retain the TNA Title.

Post-match, ECIII goes to a stool in the corner while Tyrus towels him down and gives him water. ECIII grabs the mic and plugs Shark Week, as he calls Discovery “the greatest network in the world.” ECIII asks if he can beat a man from the seas? He brings out Shark Boy for the next challenger.

Shark Boy comes out using his Steve Austin gimmick. Mathews continues to suck up to ECIII giving him credit for defending his title three times.

6 -- TNA World Hvt. champion ETHAN CARTER III (w/Tyrus) vs. SHARK BOY -- TNA World Title match

Shark Boy hits quick right hands to start the match. He loads up with a 10 Punches in the corner, including a bite to the face at the end? It appeared that way. But ECIII comes out of the corner and levels Shark Boy with a clothesline. One-Percenter and the pin.

WINNER: ECIII via pinfall in 0:52 to retain the TNA Title.

Post-match, ECIII is back in the corner on his stool as Tyrus fans him with a towel. He asks the crowd if they want to see one more match. He asks Tyrus to cut him, spoofing the Rocky movies. ECIII is about to announce the third and final match, but out walks Kurt Angle with some papers in his hand.

Angle, wearing a Destination America hoodie, says that this whole thing is a farce, and ECIII is a scared little boy. Angle says that he is holding a legally-binding contract, which states he can have his title re-match whenever he chooses, and he chooses to have it tonight. Angle said he wants his title back.

Mathews says that ECIII is supposed to be in charge tonight. Angle walks to the back and Lashley makes his way out for his match with Tyrus.

[ Reax: The announcing here felt really strange. When ECIII was out, Mathews sounded a lot like heel Michael Cole from a few years ago, and most people gagged on that. Pope was babyfacing in his comments while Mathews defended the heel. They don’t seem to go in that direction, with Mathews clearly playing the heel, unless ECIII is on screen. That must be leading to something down the road. ]

[Commercial Break at 10:14]

7 -- BOBBY LASHLEY vs. TYRUS

[Q6] Back from the break, the bell sounds for Lashley vs. Tyrus. ECIII is at the announce table again.

ECIII says that Angle weaseled his way into a re-match, which he claims is impossible because ECIII is in charge. Mathews, who was defending ECIII in the previous segment asking, “Isn’t ECIII in charge?” now tells ECIII that Angle does have the right to a re-match. [ Reax: Huh? What? Yeah. ]

Lashley tries to put Tyrus down with a sleeperhold on his back, and Tyrus drops to one knee. Tyrus is trying to power his way out with elbows. The announce team is completely focused on ECIII and Angle, not even paying attention to what’s going on in the ring.

Lashley and Tyrus continue to fight in the ring. Lashley goes for a bodyslam, but he can’t get him up and Tyrus splashes down on him. Tyrus now in control, whipping him to the corner. Tyrus hits a suplex. Lashley in the corner, but Tyrus misses the splash. Lashley fires up on him in the corner.

Lashley is now playing to the crowd with Tyrus on the ground, but Tyrus avoids Lashley in the corner. Tyrus goes to the second rope and Lashley catches up, getting the big man up on his shoulders for an electric chair. That was impressive. Lashley hits a spear for the pinfall.

WINNER: Bobby Lashley via pinfall at 4:43.

[ Reax: Good match and good win for Lashley. I do wonder why ECIII was so eager to stack the deck against Galloway and Hardy earlier tonight, but not for his own bodyguard? ]

Post-match, ECIII says the ropes weren’t tight enough and the mat was too slippery, so he’ll need to get on the ring crew.

Later tonight: ECIII vs. Kurt Angle.

Up Next: Madison Rayne vs. Velvet Sky.

[Commercial Break at 10:24]

Back from the break, Mathews throws to the Jarrett interview conclusion.

Jarrett says with all the raw emotion, for 13 years, the possibilities are endless for GFW, TNA, and everyone else. It’s all about trust, he said, and having a common goal. Jarrett said they need to align goals. If GFW’s goals line up with TNA’s, then the sky is the limit, he said. What goals?

Tenay asks how Jarrett would write his legacy in TNA? Jarrett said he’d let the facts speak for themselves outside the ring. Inside the ring, he says he was proud of his series of matches with Kurt Angle, and that they were some of his all-time favorites.

Jarrett also talked about the early days of TNA with A.J. Styles. He said he could talk about that forever. Jarrett says to him, TNA is the A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe, Mick Foley, Bobby Roode, Don West, James Storm, Eric Young - he says those are the people he talks about. He said he takes great pride in putting together the right team. Jarrett said everyone wanted to be the very best.

[Reax: Again, no explanations. Jarrett rambled in the answer about his legacy. He wasn’t even making sense for part of it, but I get the gist. He was basically saying he hopes his legacy is putting together a great team in the early days of TNA, I think. But, most of those guys are gone now. So, what does that say about his legacy?]

[Q7] Out of the interview, a video airs promoting the Knockouts. In-arena, Velvet Sky is making her entrance into the Impact Zone. Madison Rayne is already in the ring.

Rayne has a mic and says she is a queen bee. She says that Velvet looks like “these idiots,” pointing to the crowd. Rayne said Velvet belongs in the crowd, and Velvet attacks.

8 -- MADISON RAYNE vs. VELVET SKY

The brawl goes to the outside immediately. Velvet smashes Rayne’s face into the apron, then Velvet tosses Rayne back into the ring. Rayne gets the upper hand landing a kick as Velvet climbs back in the ropes.

Rayne hits a Northern Lights Suplex into a bridge pin, but Velvet kicks out. Pope on commentary calls TNA’s Knockouts Division the “best women’s division in the world.” Mathews said the Knockouts helped put TNA apart from everyone else. The announcers almost sound like they’re reading an obituary, though, like something is ending.

Back to the action, Velvet hits a boot to the mid-section at 3:00. Velvet hits a splash in the corner, but Rayne cuts her off with a boot. Velvet hits the ropes and hits a Stunner for the win.

WINNER: Velvet Sky via pinfall in 3:33.

Post match, Velvet has her hand raised as Mathews plugs “Buying the Rockies,” which he calls a “hit show,” despite it not airing yet. They then throw to a sneak peek of “the new hit show.”

[ Reax: TNA is plugging a lot of other Destination America programming tonight, which is good for their relationship with the network. Or, a sign that Destination is using the (possible) last two months of Impact to plug other shows. I don’t watch other shows on the network enough to know if TNA is plugged throughout the week, but I’d hope that’s a two-way street. There have been several mentions of other Destination America shows on this telecast. ]

[Commercial Break at 10:38]

[Q8] Back from the break TNA throws to a video of TNA wrestlers at Camp Boggy Creek, which offers children with serious illnesses a free, safe and medically-sound camp environment. Good to see things like this. TNA plugged where to go to donate to Camp Boggy Creek.

In-arena: Kurt Angle makes his entrance for his TNA World Title re-match against ECIII, who is out next with Tyrus.

9 -- TNA World Hvt. champion ETHAN CARTER III (w/Tyrus) vs. Kurt Angle -- TNA World Title match

Referee Brian Henber calls for the opening bell and ECIII immediately jumps out of the ring. Mathews says he knows he can’t lose the title by count-out. ECIII climbs back in, but as Angle rushes, so ECIII bails out of the ring again.

[Q8] ECIII climbs back to the apron on the outside, and Angle tosses him into the ring. Angle with several punches. ECIII is able to bail out again, though. ECIII is on the outside yelling at Hebner to count quicker. Angle heads outside and continues the assault on ECIII. He tosses ECIII back in the ring and hits five straight German Suplexes. Tyrus climbs on the apron and Angle knocks him off.

Angle grabs an Anklelock, but ECIII punches Hebner in the face, trying to get disqualified. Another referee, Brian Stiffler, hits the ring as ECIII is tapping out, but Stiffler disqualifies ECIII for hitting Hebner with a punch. Post-match, ECIII runs off through the crowd.

WINNER: Kurt Angle via disqualification in 3:36; ECIII retains the TNA World Title.

[ Reax: This match felt like it was in place to get Angle’s re-match out of the way before ECIII moves on to something else. Knowing that Angle has had neck surgery, it makes sense for them to wrap him up with the title picture before that surgery, even though it appears to be relatively minor and shouldn’t keep him out long. ]

Backstage: Dixie Carter is shown arriving in a limo. She’s walking towards the ring.

[Commercial Break at 10:49]

Back from the break, ECIII is in the ring celebrating retaining his title. He takes a mic and says, “Got out of that one.”

ECIII introduces “Aunt Dee” for her return. Dixie Carter walks down the ramp as Mathews notes it has been almost one year since Carter has been on TNA television. The last time she was on TV, Bully Ray put her through a table last August in New York City.

Dixie looks perturbed as ECIII hands her a mic. ECIII says he knows that she is out there to celebrate with him. ECIII won’t let Dixie get a word in. He says Dixie gave the wrestling world him, which they should all be grateful for. ECIII cuts Dixie off again and she finally grabs his mic. Dixie says that she was a monster, she doesn’t even recognize that person she was. Dixie said she hurt TNA, and all of the fans.

Now, she says that ECIII is out of control. Dixie said they talk all the time. She says that ECIII has been lying for weeks. ECIII said to remember that they are Carters, and the world needs them. Dixie said TNA doesn’t belong to her or ECIII. It belongs to all the fans. Dixie said she can’t change the past, they don’t get re-dos, but she said she can make sure her mistakes aren’t repeated. She says ECIII earned the title, but he has to defend it using his skill, not his last name.

Dixie said what ECIII has done tonight has been an embarrassment. She said that ECIII is right about one thing, someone needs to be in charge and make all of the tough decisions. She said someone needs to make sure that every week, this is the best professional wrestling company on the planet. She said she knows who that person needs to be. Not her. Not ECIII.

Dixie climbs out of the ring as Impact goes off the air, with Mathews asking, “Who is it?”

FINAL THOUGHTS: Very interesting final promo with Dixie Carter, essentially acknowledging the the perception that she hasn’t done the best job running TNA. She was clearly speaking in terms of the storyline, and her past as a heel, but there is some reality rooted in her words, too. It also seems like TNA is going to move away from using the heel authority figure, which should be incredibly refreshing.

One loophole in the storyline, though, if Dixie Carter knew that ECIII had been acting like this for weeks on television, if she truly had a change of heart, why put him in charge of the show tonight? I hope this isn’t just a tease that ends with Dixie back on TV as a heel authority figure. Heel authority figures should have gone out of style with Vince McMahon and his limo.

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