Results
- Mustafa Ali def. Brian Myers
- Judas Icarus def. Eric Young
- Ash, Heather & M By Elegance def. Cassie Lee, Jessie McKay & Masha Slamovich
- Indi Hartwell def. Dani Luna (DQ)
- Mike Santana def. AJZ
- Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy def. Nic Nemeth & Ryan Nemeth (TNA World Tag Team Championships)
Hardcore War match added to Bound For Glory
This week’s episode of TNA Wrestling, which was taped earlier this month at The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota, opened with a quick recap of the latest headlines surrounding the promotion. Among the details of note from last week’s show: Mustafa Ali’s Order Four continue to feud with The System as we head toward Ali vs. Moose at Victory Road, TNA World Champion Trick Williams attacked Mike Santana, and The Nemeths cashed in their rematch for a tag title shot against The Hardys, booking a match we’d see on this week’s episode.
The Order Four vs. The System rivalry continued in the first segment of the night, as Mustafa Ali went head-to-head with Brian Myers. Both wrestlers had their crews at ringside (Eddie and Alisha Edwards, JDC and Moose in the corner of Myers, Tasha Steelz, The Great Hands and Agent Zero standing behind Ali).
Myers had a strong opening minute of the match, sending Ali out of the ring with a dropkick. The rest of Order Four at ringside distracted Myers, giving Ali the opportunity to score an impressive tope suicida to the outside.
Myers started to get back into the match once they were in the ring, but, like what happened just moments earlier, a distraction proved to by costly. Ali dodged a delayed elbow drop off the top from Myers, then the Order Four leader scored a roll-up pinfall for the victory in just a few minutes. Quite the abrupt finish, but what happened afterward ended up being the lead story here.
It became chaos after the match, as The System and Order Four continued to brawl at ringside. After Edwards took out Steelz, the focus went to the two big men in the groups: Moose and the similarly towering Agent Zero.
Moose and Agent Zero went in the middle of the ring, where the former X-Division Champion was dropped with a headbutt. Security started to intervene at this point, making it harder for these groups to brawl, but certainly not stopping them.
This huge fight was finally stopped by TNA Director of Authority Santino Marella, who announced that The System and Order Four will face off at Bound For Glory on October 12 in a Hardcore War match. So I assume that’ll be Moose, JDC, Myers, and Edwards vs. Ali, Agent Zero, Hotch, and Skyler.
Backstage, The Personal Concierge tried to convince Dani Luna that hurting Indi Hartwell significantly in their singles match tonight might help her jump the line for a Knockouts title shot. “Be smart,” he said. “Rub my back, and I’ll take care of you.”
We were shown a clip from Tuesday’s NXT, where it was announced that Oba Femi and Trick Williams will face off in an NXT & TNA title versus title match. Commentary emphasized that the TNA roster is not happy about TNA’s title being defended on NXT against a non-TNA wrestler.
Former TNA Knockouts World Champion ODB was shown at ringside.
Joe Hendry helps Sinner & Saint beat former mentor
The second match of the night saw Judas Icarus face Eric Young in singles action. Young kicked Icarus and Travis Williams out of the Northern Armory with a brutal attack last week, not taking kindly to the duo trying to resist a disciplinary attack from him.
Icarus was knocked down with a nasty running elbow from Young (think Hidden Blade) after missing a top-rope splash. Young connected with a powerbomb, then continued to chip away at his former understudy with strikes in the corner.
Icarus avoided a piledriver from Young, instead reversing into a back bodydrop. He started to gain some steam with a pair of elbows and a kick to the body. Icarus tripped up Young as he was in the ropes, then came off the top with a huge frogsplash. Icarus went for the pin, but Young kicked out at two.
Icarus scored a modified powerbomb of sorts for another near fall. The fight went into the corner, where Young threw Icarus off the top after biting him in the head. Young came off the top with an elbow drop, and it seemed as though this was all over… But it wasn’t, as Icarus kicked out at two.
Young was able to block the referee’s sight while going for a low blow. He tried to set up for a piledriver but was distracted due to Joe Hendry’s music hitting. Hendry, who got into it with Young last week, came down the ramp and went face-to-face with him. This distraction allowed Icarus to score a quick roll-up pin, earning him the victory. With the help of Hendry, Icarus has a win over his former mentor. A short but fun match between these two.
A frustrated Young dropped the referee with a right hand during the post-match. Despite suffering the loss, he displayed a smug grin as the segment came to an end.
In a backstage segment, Victoria Crawford welcomed Jody Threat onto her new podcast, MentorU. Crawford essentially brought Threat on to make fun of her, saying she has no friends. The attacks from Crawford were interrupted by Gia Miller.
Miller, who was on Crawford’s show last week, said that she didn’t like the claim Crawford made last week about her personally being responsible for Tessa Blanchard’s indefinite suspension. Because of this, Miller went to Santino and got Blanchard’s suspension lifted.
Before Miller left, she made sure Crawford knew that she wasn’t putting up with any more nonsense from her or Blanchard. “But I want to make things completely clear: If she puts her hands on me, in any arena that TNA Wrestling goes to, I will f*** her up,” Miller said.
Dirty tactics give Elegance Brand momentum heading into Victory Road
In a Rascalz Treehouse vignette, Zachary Wentz was seen arguing with Trey Miguel about his decision to pull him out of the ring during their X-Division Championship #1 contenders match last week.
They both found peace in the fact that, while neither of them won the four-way, Myron Reed prevailed, so the title still has a chance of heading to The Rascalz. They celebrated Reed’s victory by smoking weed. Santino Marella showed up, and that kinda ruined their high.
A preview of the Knockouts division’s Victory Road storylines came next, as The IInspiration teamed with Masha Slamovich to face The Elegance Brand. Slamovich will challenge Ash By Elegance for the Knockouts world title at the September 26 event, and The IInspiration will be challenging Heather and M By Elegance for the Knockouts tag titles.
The Elegance Brand attempted to walk out of the venue after struggling in the first few minutes of the match, but were dragged back to the ring by the babyfaces. Slamovich chased The Personal Concierge around the ring, setting her up to walk right into a superkick from M.
McKay got isolated for a few minutes in the heel corner, leading to a hot tag to former Knockouts champ Slamovich. After getting the babyface team back in control, Slamovich tagged in Lee to go up against M.
The Personal Concierge slid a title into the ring, distracting the referee. As the ref was putting the belt away, Ash splashed Elegance Brand’s champagne in Lee’s face, an illegal attack which provided the opening for a roll-up pinfall win for M, who used the ropes as leverage while going for the pin.
Frankie Kazarian vs. Steve Maclin booked for Victory Road, Mr. Anderson makes appearance
Frankie Kazarian appeared in the ring for the latest edition of the King’s Speech. Commentary pondered during his entrance who he would bring out as a guest.
Kazarian had high praise for this week’s guest, because his guest this week is,… Wait for it… Himself. He then announced that he’ll be taking on Steve Maclin for the TNA International Championship at Victory Road.
Kazarian actually had a second guest, one that got the fans on their feet: Former TNA champ Mr. Anderson!
Ken Anderson said this was his first time in a TNA ring in over nine years, and that it meant a lot to be able to return in his home state, Minnesota.
“You heard it, Minnesota is your home,” Kazarian replied. “That’s gotta suck.”
Kazarian started to reminisce about their past, like the time he beat Anderson in an Ultimate X match. Anderson started to sense that this was a set-up of sorts.
Kazarian noted that Anderson served in the U.S. Army. He thanked him for his service, then put his focus back on Maclin, who served in the Navy. He said he believes Maclin is a coward, then asked Anderson if he’s a coward.
“Let me ask you this, Frankie. When did you serve?” Anderson replied.
Kazarian got defensive: “You’re trying to embarrass me because you’re in home in front of all these idiots in Minnesota … You’ve kinda pissed me off, Ken. I know for a fact that your mother is here tonight. I also know your lovely wife is here tonight. I also know your beautiful children are here tonight. That leads me to my next question, are you willing to let them just sit there and watch if I decide to beat you within an inch of your life?”
Kazarian started to poke Anderson, trying to anger him. It worked, eventually causing Anderson to start choking Kazarian. This attack was broken up by Jake Something, who hit the ring to attack Anderson. He repeatedly tossed Anderson face-first onto the mat, continuing until International champ Steve Maclin came in for the save.
Dani Luna goes wild on Indi Hartwell
The next matchup saw Dani Luna face off against Indi Hartwell, a match that was promoted as friends turned enemies facing off in a grudge bout.
Hartwell started to rally back into the match after Luna had a strong start, scoring a sequence of moves finishing with a spinebuster. Hartwell tried to come off the top with a move, but decided against flying after Luna rolled out of the ring.
The match had a sudden end as they went to ringside, as Luna grabbed a steel chair from under the ring and struck Hartwell over the back with it. The post-match brawl went back into the ring, where Luna took The Personal Concierge’s advice from earlier and attempted to brutally beat down on Hartwell. She landed a few more chair shots to Hartwell’s back and pressed the top of the chair against her throat before finally leaving the ring.
In a backstage promo, Xia Brookside and Lei Ying Lee talked about how close their alliance is. “We are balance, and balance makes us unstoppable … We are the Angel Warriors.”
NXT’s Ridge Holland makes shocking appearance, attacks Mike Santana
After an attack from Trick Williams last week disrupted his singles matchup, Mike Santana returned in this week’s co-main event in hopes of finally getting some mat time in. Santana went up against OVW vet AJZ, who was making his second-ever appearance on TNA programming.
Santana wasted no time against AJZ, hitting an Outlined In Chalk, then a Spin The Block to win in less than a minute. Still mad about getting attacked by Williams on last week’s TV, Santana grabbed the mic afterward.
“I ain’t gonna front, you caught me slippin … But don’t think for one second that’s ever gonna happen again. Because on October 12, Bound For Glory, you better say a prayer and give your soul to God, because your bitchass belongs to me!”
Right after this promo it wasn’t Williams who came from behind to attack Santana, but instead NXT’s Ridge Holland – not sure anyone had that on their bingo card for tonight. Holland, who we haven’t seen on main NXT TV for a few months (more recently being utilized on EVOLVE), stood tall over a beaten and bruised Santana as the segment came to a close.
Three matches were announced for next week’s TNA, a go-home episode before Victory Road:
- Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz vs. Cedric Alexander & Leon Slater
- Victoria Crawford vs. Jody Threat
- Ken Anderson & Steve Maclin vs. Frankie Kazarian & Jake Something
- The Hardys & Team 3D meet in “The Final Negotiation” before Bound For Glory match
Matt Cardona helps The Hardys retain tag gold against The Nemeths
The main event of the night saw Nic and Ryan Nemeth cash in their long-awaited rematch for the TNA World Tag Team Championships against the incumbent Matt and Jeff Hardy. Matt Cardona was on commentary during the match – this will become important later.
Jeff tried for a Whisper in the Wind after the show returned from a break, but Nic was able to avoid the move, a moment that started minutes of control for the challenging team. Jeff gave a hot tag to Matt after scoring Whisper in the Wind upon the second attempt, landing on both Nic and Ryan that time.
Matt ripped Nic off the ropes for a pop-up powerbomb, earning him a near fall. He dodged a move from Nic to score a Side Effect, but Nic kicked out once again. Matt came off the middle rope with an elbow to the spine of Nic, then started to try for a Twist of Fate, but Nic was able to avoid the move.
The fight went back a corner of the ring, where Matt tried to pick up Nic for a Razor’s Edge. Nic escaped the move and instead came running off the ropes with a Famouser moments later. Matt kicked out at two.
Nic attempted a Superkick, but Matt caught it. Matt tried again for a Twist of Fate, but was instead thrown into Ryan, who hit him with a forearm from the ring apron. Nic connected a superkick, Ryan scored a high-angle DDT, then Nic came off the top with an elbow drop. However, despite taking all of that, Matt remained in the match.
Ryan attempted to use a TNA tag title as a weapon, but was stopped by Cardona, who started to fight with him at ringside (presumably while the referee wasn’t looking). Nic came to ringside to fight with Cardona after Ryan was thrown back into the ring.
A hurt Ryan was hit with a Twist of Fate from Matt, then Jeff came off the top with a Swanton Bomb for the pinfall victory. In part thanks to Cardona, The Hardys remain TNA’s top men’s tag team. After using their rematch clause, The Nemeths now have to get to the back of the line in the tag division for their next shot.
