TNA Impact Wrestling Results (1/5): First Impact In The Anthem Era, Triple Threat World Title Match

By Leon Milici

TNA "IMPACT WRESTLING"
Season 15 Episode 1
'Live' @ The Impact Zone In Orlando, Florida

- A video package of Eddie Edwards journey to The TNA World Championship airs to kick off the show. His most recent title defenses against Ethan Carter III and Bobby Lashley are shown.

- Inside the Impact Zone, Josh Mathews and The Pope welcome the audience to a new era in TNA wrestling. They hype up Anthem as TNA's new owners and the direction that the company will be headed in.

- Headed to the ring is TNA World Champion Eddie Edwards. He wishes the fans a happy new year and is happy to be kicking things off in The Impact Zone. Edwards states that he is honored and humbled to usher in the new year as TNA World Champion. He realizes that he has a target on his back. Edwards likes it because Impact wrestling was born on competition. Edwards calls 2017 a fresh start and wants to make it the year of Impact Wrestling. He tells the fans that he has a surprise for The Wolves Nation tonight..... Bobby Lashley's music hits and he interrupts Edwards. Lashley heads to the ring and tells Edwards that the only surprise is that Edwards is still the champion. Lashley says that he deserves his title back and demands a rematch. EC3's music hits and he makes his way to the ring. Carter points to and gives a thumbs up to The Anthem logo on the ring apron before entering the ring. Carter goofs on Lashley and Edwards when he gets on the mic. He makes fun of Edwards for being a white bread babyface and Lashley for being so angry. Carter panders to the crowd for a bit to get an EC3 chant. After joking around about Edwards and Lashley fighting in Matt Hardy's backyard, Carter gets serious and gets in Edwards face and demands a rematch. When Bobby Lashley attempts to run down Carter, Edwards cuts him off and offers up a triple threat match between the three of them for The TNA World Championship tonight. Edwards tells everyone that he still has a special surprise for everyone later on tonight.

- Next up on the show after the break, Moose will defend The Impact Grand Championship against The Miracle Mike Bennett. Josh Mathews plugs Schitts Creek on Pop TV before the break. Which is exactly where critics thought that TNA was going up.

Impact Grand Championship Match
Moose vs "The Miracle" Mike Bennett w/Maria

- This match is under Grand Championship rules. Three 3 minute rounds with a ten point must system scored by 3 separate judges. The last remaining piece of The Corgan era remains..... for now.

Round One- Evenly contested early on. Moose goes for the game changer, Miracle counters with a thrust kick and gains the advantage. With just over a minute left, Moose breaks out of a side headlock by Bennett and knocks him down with a shoulder tackle. Moose tries to run at Bennett and The Miracle catches Moose with a high knee, and grounds and pounds him in the last minute of the round.

Round One Scorecard- Judge 1 scores the round 10-9 for Bennett, Judge 2 scores the round 10-9 for Moose, Judge 3 scores the round 10-9 for The Miracle.

Round Two- Moose starts off the next round very strong. He hits two power bombs on Bennett, a senton and then follows that up with a second rope moonsault. This leads to a near pinfall . Moose then sets up Bennett for The Game Changer and yet again, Bennett counters out with a thrust kick. Moose bounces off the ropes and leaps towards Bennett, but gets hit with a cutter in mid-air. Miracle covers Moose but gets only a two count. With a minute remaining in the round, The Miracle hits three straight discus punches to Moose. He then lifts up Moose on his shoulders but he counters out and hits the game changer. Moose covers Bennett for the pinfall but time expires in the round.

Round Two Scorecard- The show goes to break before the scores for this round are revealed.... Judge 1 scores the round 10-9 for Moose, Judge 2 scores the round 10-9 for Mike Bennett, Judge 3 scores the round 10-9 for Moose.

Round Three- Within seconds of the start of the round. Moose gives Bennett a sky high from the top rope and covers him for a near fall. Moose goes for a top rope moonsault but misses. Bennett picks up Moose and pilderives him. This leads to another near fall in the round. When both men get back to their feet, They trade strikes in the center of the ring. Under a minute left, Miracle hits multiple forearm shots, He then heads to the top rope. Moose hits a standing dropkick on Bennett. Bennett manages to hang on and dropkicks Moose from the top rope. Moose gets back up and hits a lariat on Bennett. Both men are down and can't get up as time expires in the round.

Round Three Scorecard- Judge 1 scores the round 10-9 in favor of Moose, Judge 2 scores the round 10-9 in favor of Bennett, Judge 3 scores the round 10-9 for Moose

Official Decision- Moose defeats Mike Bennett by split decision to retain The Impact Grand Championship

- Swoggle is backstage and sees Vanguard One perched on one of the production crates. Brother Nero and Broken Matt appear and say hello to Swoggle. Broken Matt thanks Swoggle for showing up to Total Nonstop Deletion. He asks him if he was sent there by his dastardly father Meek Mahonn. Swoggle says that he is not really his son. When Matt finds out the truth. He chants wonderful. When The Hardy's leave, Swoggle turns to VG1 and says that they are the only normal ones around here.

- Back from the break, Rockstar Spud heads to the ring with a mic. He wants revenge against Swoggle because he turned on him at Total Nonstop Deletion. Spud admits that 2016 wasn't a good year for him in the win column. He promises that 2017 will be his year. Swoggle heads to the ring for this next match.

Rockstar Spud vs. Swoggle

Quick comedy match here. Spud taunts Swoggle and the crowd. He shoves Swoggle down to the mat. Swoggle gets back up and spears Spud. He then hits a german suplex on Spud, and follows that up with The Celtic Cross to get the victory.

Swoggle defeats Rockstar Spud by pinfall

- An irate Rockstar Spud gets on the mic and chants No repeatedly. Spud insults the audience and TNA as a company. Says that he lost to a 1 year old boy and now someone who looks like a 1 year old boy. Spud says that TNA sucks. The fans chant Delete at him and Rockstar Spud quits. As the fans start singing the goodbye song to Spud, the cameras cut to the backstage area... Mike Bennett calls out to Moose and confronts him. Bennett is upset with the decision by the judges in their grand championship match. He challenges Moose to an anything goes match on TNA's one night only pay-per-view tomorrow night. Moose agrees to the match.

- Eli Drake is now backstage. He is holding up his cue cards that read, that he will speak next on the show. He pulls out his 'dummy yeah' button and hits it before the show goes to break.

- When the show returns, Eli Drake is in the ring for his "Fact of Life" talk show. The fans are chanting delete at him. Drake says that his show sets trends and will make history. Drake tells EC3 that it isn't over between them. But tonight, Drake has another concern. He introduces The Broken Hardy's. Reby Sky is on the stage playing piano with King Maxel attached to her. She plays obsolete and Brother Nero sings it on the way to the ring with Broken Matt. Matt says that it is time to make the Zone of Impact delightful again. He asks the crowd to hail King Maxel and the fans chant for him. Eli Drake cuts off the chant and fans chant delete at him. Drake mentions Total Nonstop Deletion. Eli says that they invited a bunch of cross eyed halfwits to it and the Hardy's still retained their tag titles. Drake says that TND was missing one thing and it was him. Eli says that he never got an invite. Matt gets irate and says that he invited everyone from space and time to Total Nonstop Deletion. Broken Matt suggests that Drake was afraid like Meek-Mahon's "Day of New". Matt says that Drake is a loudmouth rapscallion who talks trash like "The Bucks of Youth". That he talks trash but never shows up. Eli says that he doesn't know what Matt just said. Drake states that Matt had a bunch of jumping jabrones at his house, and Drake is not like them. Drake says that he needed a personal invitation. Brother Nero mocks Drake and asks him if he needs to be loved. Nero asks Drake if he is busy always because the Hardy House invite is eternal. He then calls Drake a dummy. Eli tells Nero that if he continues to talk like that to him, that he will end up in The Hardy Hospital.

- Eli mocks The Hardy drones, explosions and magic. He then tells The Hardy's that he is the only deity that they need to worry about. Drake says that The Hardy's were afraid of inviting him because he would have turned Total Nonstop Deletion into Total Nonstop Dummy. Drake then hits his dummy button repeatedly. Broken Matt gets upset and yells at Drake for questioning his "2009 year old" magic. Matt calls Drake's words blasphemy, and he who commits blasphemy against him, can only suffer one fate. Drake again says that he doesn't have a clue what Matt just said. He directs his attention to Nero and asks him if he has time to play a game. Nero laughs at Eli and says that he can't possibly understand them. Drake makes a proposition to The Hardy's. He challenges The Hardy's to a tag title match at The One Night Only PPV tomorrow night. Drake says that he will have a partner of his choosing. Matt promises to delete Drake at the pay per view. Drake and The Hardy's start chanting their catchphrases. Drake then tries to cheap shot The Hardy's but Matt stops him. Broken Matt hits the dummy button as Eli Drake backs off.

- Wow, Anthem and TNA are really pushing that pay per view tomorrow night. It looks like making money is the goal of the new ownership. It's a novel concept.

- Eddie Edwards is backstage and is questioned about putting his title on the line tonight. Edwards says that he wants to prove that he is a great champion. Edwards is asked about his surprise tonight. Bobby Lashley interrupts Edwards and demands that Edwards give him the title now to avoid a beating later. Edwards refuses as both men face off.

- Back from the break. A highlights package airs from Total Nonstop Deletion.

The Helms Dynasty (Trevor Lee & Andrew Everett) w/ Shane Helms vs. The Decay (Abyss & Crazzy Steve) w/Rosemary

- Before the match starts. A promo is shown backstage with Shane Helms explaining that black magic was used against him at TND, but now he and The Helms Dynasty are once again back together. The Decay head to the ring minus their Marilyn Manson theme. Looks like that licensing is over.

All out brawl between all 4 men to kick this one off. Abyss is knocked to the outside as The Dynasty double teams Steve. Andrew Everett hits a standing shooting star press on Steve and gets a 2 count out of it. Everett and Lee start working over Steve in their corner. Crazzy Steve battles back and tags in Abyss. He knocks down Lee and Everett. He then goes for double choke slam, it gets blocked but he hits a double lariat that turns the Dynasty inside out. Into the ring is Shane Helms, He attempts a hurricane chokeslam on Abyss. He obviously fails and gets spewed with green mist by Rosemary. Andrew Everett tries to springboard into the ring and onto Abyss but gets caught and choke slammed to the mat. Abyss covers and pins Everett to get the Decay, the victory.

The Decay defeats The Helms Dynasty

- The DCC's countdown clock hits when The Decay are in the ring celebrating. The lights go out and when they come back on. The DCC are behind The Decay and crack them over the head with beer bottles. James Storm, Bram and Eddie Kingston unmask and celebrate their actions.

- Backstage is Allie and she is with Maria. Maria is showing highlights of Allie's win over Laurel Van Ness on her I-Pad. Maria mocks Allie for thinking that she is now a wrestler. She tells Allie to put her wrestling boots on and get to the ring because she has something for her.... Back from the break, Maria Kanellis Bennett is in the ring with Laurel Van Ness and Sienna. Maria credits her husband and her as being the reasons that TNA has been saved. She now calls out to Allie to come down to the ring. Maria says that she has unfinished business with her. When Allie enters the ring, Maria mocks the fans for chanting her name. She says that everything that Allie has done, has messed up her life. Maria challenges Allie to wrestle Sienna, and Allie yells at Maria to bring it on and accepts the challenge.

Sienna w/Maria & Laurel Van Ness vs. Allie

Madison Rayne is once again on commentary for a Knockouts match. Sienna beats down on Allie in the first few minutes of the match. Allie is thrown into the corner face first. Sienna mocks her and the crowd. She then charges at Allie in the corner but she gets out of the way. Braxton Sutter runs down to ringside to support his girlfriend and coach her from ringside. Allie has some momentum now. She springs off the ropes and hits a basement dropkick. She covers Sienna and gets a 2 count. Allie is disappointed that she didn't get the win and gets distracted. She looks over at Braxton and attempts a suplex on Sienna despite Sutter telling her not to. Sienna blocks it and suplexes Allie instead. Meanwhile, Laurel Van Ness inches closer to Braxton Sutter at ringside. She attempts to distract him from coaching Allie. Sienna hits a sidewalk slam on Allie, covers her but she kicks out at 2. Sienna misses a leg drop and Allie attempts to pin Sienna with a rollup but she kicks out. Just as Allie is gaining momentum, Laurel grabs Sutter and attempts to hug him. Allie sees this and gets upset and then gets knocked down by Sienna. Allie starts getting slapped and then spit on by Sienna. Allie fires up and slaps Sienna. Allie then hits two straight running clotheslines. Allie then hits a cross body on Sienna. She picks up Sienna and slams her. Laurel wraps herself all over Braxton at ringside, Allie gets distracted again by this. When she turns around. Sienna hits her with The Silencer and pins her.

Sienna defeats Allie by pinfall

- Maria, Laurel and Sienna celebrate in ring and taunt a fallen Allie. Braxton Sutter tries to get in the ring to attempt to console Allie. In the world's worst boyfriend move, Sutter is unable to console Allie because Laurel and the other women push him away from the ring and up the ramp.

- Back from the break. Josh Mathews and The Pope are at ringside. They put over the fans in UK and Ireland. They promote their new Total Access App. Mathews and Pope also promote the One Night Only pay per view tomorrow night. They go over the lineup for that show.

IMPACT MAIN EVENT
Triple Threat Match For The TNA World Championship
Eddie Edwards vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Ethan Carter III

Standard triple threat rules here. All 3 men in the ring at once. One fall to a finish. The action is hot and heavy to start off. After Lashley gets the best of Edwards and Carter early on. They attempt to team up against him. Lashley hits a double suplex on the both of them. Edwards and Carter are finally successful in teaming up against Lashley. They both knock him to the outside of the ring. Rather than square off against one other, Ethan and Eddie head to the outside and double team Lashley. They hit him with multiple chops.

Action is back in the ring. Lashley tries to fight back but can't overcome Edwards and Carter. They knock Lashley to the outside again, as the show goes to break.....

When the show returns, Carter and Edwards are going at it inside the ring while Lashley recovers on the outside. Bobby attempts to get back into the action but Carter knocks him off of the apron. Lashley attempts it again but Edwards knocks him down as well. Carter and Edwards exchange standing switches inside the ring and go tit for tat, taking turns with the advantage in the ring.

Bobby Lashley finally makes it back into the ring and attacks both Edwards and Carter. He powerslams the both of them. He then spears Carter in the corner. Lashley hits a delayed vertical suplex on Edwards. He then rips off the turnbuckle pad off of one of the corners. EC3 tries to attack Lashley but is hit with a neckbreaker. Lashley now rips off the turnbuckle pad on the middle corner. He then starts striking a fallen Edwards. Eddie Edwards battles back and hits an enzuguiri on Lashley, Carter follows up and does the same to Lashley. EC3 and Edwards hit a delayed double suplex on Lashley. Now Edwards and Carter start going at it exchanging chops in the center of the ring. Carter attempts the one percenter on Edwards but Eddie breaks out of it. He then hits multiple chops on Carter in the corner. Carter battles back and hits a dropkick from the top rope on Edwards.

EC3 goes for a german suplex but Edwards lands on his feet. Eddie then hits a blue thunder bomb on Ethan, goes for the pinfall cover but Bobby breaks it up. Lashley grabs Edwards and hits The Dominator on him. He then grabs Carter but Ethan surprises him with the one percenter. All 3 men struggle to get back to their feet. Carter splashes Edwards in the corner. He then attempts to superlex Edwards, Lashley is up and grabs Carter and brings both him and Edwards crashing down to the mat. Bobby Lashley now sets up to spear both men. Edwards stops him in his tracks, hits Lashley with the lung blower. Carter springs out of the corner and hits Edwards with a high knee. Carter fires up and hits two clotheslines on Lashley, and then hits him with a suplex. Carter goes for the 1 percenter on Lashley, Edwards charges at him but gets back body dropped by EC3. Carter then hits The TK3 on Lashley. He goes for the pin but Lashley kicks out.

Final sequence of this match. Edwards battles with Carter and ends up getting caught in a standing choke near the corner where the exposed turnbuckles are. Lashley is up and spears the both of them into that corner. Carter falls to the outside of the ring. Lashley then flings Edwards to the outside. He heads out there and spears EC3 on the ringside floor. Edwards is back in the ring, He flies to the outside and nails Lashley. Action is now back in the ring, Edwards tries to finish off Lashley but ends up getting hit with a spear. Eddie falls to the outside of the ring again. A frustrated Bobby Lashley gets his hands on The World Championship. The referee attempts to stop Lashley from using it. Lashley pushes him down. Davey Richards arrives on the scene, hops on the apron and pulls the title away from Bobby Lashley before he can strike Eddie Edwards with it. When Lashley turns away from Richards, Edwards nails him with The Boston Knee Party and pins him.

Eddie Edwards defeats Bobby Lashley & Ethan Carter III to retain The TNA World Championship

- The Wolves celebrate together at ringside, as Impact comes to a close. The new TNA and Anthem logo appear to signal the end of the show.

Show Closing Thoughts: There was nothing that really stood out about tonight's show. It wasn't a bad show by any means. Impact just didn't seem like a game changing show tonight. That could be a good thing in the long run. There have been many occasions where TNA has gone to hot shot booking, to try and spark some added interest in the product. Like having another world title change or surprise heel turn. So the old TNA would have had several cameos, surprise returns and new factions. We might see and hear about some of that in the coming tapings, but in terms of surprises, This show stayed the course of what TNA has already been doing of late. You can certainly debate whether that is a good thing or not. What did come out of the show for me, was TNA pushing heavily their One Night Only pay-per-view tomorrow night. That's where the new direction of TNA is really going to be. In the past, The company has been criticized and rightfully so for failing to monetize their company. With no house shows and minimal pay-per-view/merchandise revenue. The bill eventually came due and Anthem decided to pick it up. It seems like they are trying to find ways to generate revenue with the new Total Access app, and now pushing the usual throwaway One Night Only ppv heavily. It's an old cliché but many will state that you don't get a second chance to make a first impression. Fortunately for TNA, They have had many second chances and have lived to tell about it. Business as usual for TNA?.... Maybe not. At least Anthem hopes not.

Comments

Recommended