TNA Impact Wrestling Results (8/25): Title Change, Drew Galloway Vs. EC3, Aron Rex Referees

TNA IMPACT WRESTLING

"TURNING POINT"

TAPED AT THE IMPACT ZONE IN ORLANDO FLORIDA

- Tonight's show opens with an overhead shot of EC3 and Drew Galloway meeting on a rooftop. Both men say that they have been called to this "summit" by the office. EC3 says that the office is trying to stir the pot by having them meet in this setting. Drew says he can't complain because there is free whiskey. This is followed by a video package that showcases the history between Carter and Galloway.

-Josh Matthews announces that there will be footage of EC3 and Drew Galloway's summit later tonight. World Champ, Bobby Lashley arrives at ringside to provide commentary for the upcoming #1 contenders open invitation battle royal.

#1 Contenders Battle Royal

Battle Royal Participants: Robbie E, Jessie Godderz, The "Miracle" Mike Bennett, Moose, The Tribunal, Mahabali Shera, Grado, Eli Drake & Eddie Edwards

- 10 man battle royal that doesn't really show off TNA's depth. Admittedly many of TNA's roster is not in this match because they are preoccupied with other matches on this show but that defeats the idea of an open invitation battle royal. Bobby Lashley on commentary predicts that Jessie Godderz will win the match because of his great look and potential. He also gives Mike Bennett a good chance because he is the smartest man in the ring. Barron Dax is the first eliminated by his own partner, Basile Baraka. Shera is the next to go tossed out by Moose. As we go to commercial break.

- 8 men remain as Impact returns from the break. Baraka and Robbie E are battling on the apron. Basile eliminates Robbie E countering a suplex. He shows off after eliminating Robbie and this draws Moose's attention. He hoists Basile up and over the top rope to eliminate him. Moose eyeballs Lashley at ringside after this elimination. Down to 6 wrestlers. Grado gets crotched on the top rope by Drake and eliminated. Eddie Edwards eliminates Eli Drake after a creative hanging spot where he initially avoided elimination.

- Final 4. Moose, Bennett, Edwards and Jessie. Moose and Bennett work together against Edwards and Godderz. Moose single handedly eliminates Jessie by throwing him over the top rope. Edwards is now in a 2 to 1 situation. Edwards battles back. Edwards jumps onto Moose but gets caught in a power bomb position. As Moose goes to eliminate Edwards. Bennett sneaks up from behind and eliminates the both of them.

The "Miracle" Mike Bennett Wins The Battle Royal and Becomes The #1 Contender For The TNA World Title

- Post match. Moose is livid at ringside while Bennett celebrates in the ring. Lashley smiles and laughs at ringside and says that's what happens when you are the help. Lashley is also smiling because he has full confidence in beating Bennett.

- A clip of the EC3/Galloway summit is shown. Both are sitting poolside on a rooftop taking shots. Carter asks Galloway. What's his problem with him?... Galloway says you cost me the world title 3 times.

- Tonight's special guest referee for Impact's main event of EC3 vs Galloway, Aron Rex is shown earlier in the day in the parking lot arriving to arena.

- Back from the break. Highlights are shown of the opening battle royal. Moose is shown backstage yelling at Mike Bennett. Bennett claims that his elimination of Moose was an accident as Maria runs over to the camera man to get him to shut the camera off.

- Broken Matt Hardy arrives to the arena. He is humming while he holds up a #1 contenders contract. He calls the audience ants and says that the contract is a majestic key to get the world tag titles. Titles that can only be destroyed by his broken brilliance. The "Obsolete" theme plays in the arena as the crowd chants Obsolete. Brother Nero enters and heads to the ring. Matt Hardy calls Brother Nero's visit very generous but he wants to know why he is here. Jeff says that he is here to work and win for the creatures. Matt says that he is happy that Jeff is here to wrestle and win. Rosemary starts laughing on the mic as she stands on the soundstage area. Rosemary says that we have something you want and that The Hardy's will not be allowed to have them. Abyss shows up on the ramp way and says that the Decay are going to enjoy destroying The Hardy legacy. Abyss talks about his beauty while the crowd continues to chant "Delete"... That's never going to get old.... Crazzy Steve is in the crowd with a mic and he says that they are going to shatter The Hardys. Matt tells "Steven" that in his "premoneeeetion" that he saw which Decay member will try to kidnap his son Maxwell. Matt says he will eat the member of Decay that tries to kidnap Maxwell. Matt says his nefarious brother Nero is ready to fight. Which one of the Decay members want to face him. Abyss takes on the challenge. Jeff Hardy goes after Abyss on the outside to set up the next match.

* Just a side note. That Delete chant at Summerslam was one of the highlights of this past weekend. Even though the intent was to disrespect the new Universal title. It ended up being disrespectful towards Balor and Rollins. That was a funny moment though and it goes to show you how over Matt Hardy is with the hardcore wrestling fan.

Jeff Hardy Vs. Abyss

- Matt Hardy is on the house mic, telling his brother Nero that he needs him to "Delete". The crowd of course chants along. Abyss dominates the early portion of this match. Jeff battles back and gets to the top rope. Matt yells at Jeff and tells him not to be a spot monkey and that he needs to learn how to fight with honor. Jeff dives onto Crazzy Steve at ringside. Steve is now in the ring with Abyss and Jeff and pulls out a chain. Jeff overcomes the double team and gets a hold of the chain and uses it against The Decay. Jeff attempts a twist of fate but Abyss counters with a chokeslam. Abyss calls Steve back into the ring. Steve accidentally sprays mist into Abyss and Jeff hits a twist of fate for a near fall. Steve is now at ringside. Matt, all of a sudden says that the person he saw in his "promineeetion" kidnapping Maxwell was Crazzy Steve and he starts biting him... Hilarious... Meanwhile back in the ring, Rosemary gets involved and sprays mist into the eyes of Jeff. Abyss hits the black hole slam for victory.

Abyss defeats Jeff Hardy

- Post match. Abyss is celebrating in the ring with The Decay. Matt climbs on the apron and surveys the scene. The Decay leaves and Matt is now alone in the ring with his brother. Matt tells Decay that their day of deletion will come at his hands. Matt tells his brother that he didn't fight with his honor by jumping off of the top rope. It cost him his match and his health. Matt tells Jeff that he must embrace being broken.

- Maria is backstage yelling at Allie for not informing her about Sienna's knockouts title defense tonight. Maria wants to know who made that match without her consent. They start discussing emails when Billy Corgan arrives and tells Maria that he made the match. Maria calls Corgan and herself equals. Of which, Corgan takes exception and states that they are not equals. He is the president of TNA now. Corgan says that contractually, He can't make Gail Kim the opponent for Sienna one on one but tells Sienna that he has something else planned for her tonight. Sienna isn't worried. Corgan tells her that her match is up next and that it might be more than one person.

- The show returns from the break and Mike Bennett is being confronted backstage by Bobby Lashley. Lashley tells Mike that he has only gotten to this point because of help from his wife and Moose. Lashley says he doesn't need any help. Bennett tells Lashley to worry about their upcoming match next week. Lashley tells Mike that he needs to worry about Moose. As he walks away.

5-Way Knockouts Title Match

Sienna Vs. Jade Vs. Madison Rayne Vs. Marti Bell Vs. Allie

- First pinfall wins. Not an elimination match. Allie stands by tentatively while all 4 women battle. Former Dollhouse members Jade and Bell battle to the outside while Sienna gets the upper hand on Rayne. Sienna tries to get Allie to help her do a tandem move but Allie fails in her attempt. The leader of The knockouts, Maria arrives at ringside to watch the action. Any sequence in this match where Sienna tries to enlist Allie's help. It backfires. The finishing sequence sees a frantic finish where all 5 women are in the ring trading finishers.Allie even gets in an offensive move of her own. Jade hits a package piledriver on Rayne and lays her out. Bell breaks up the fall. Bell pulls out her baton and tries to use it. Allie takes it away and accidentally hits Sienna with it. Which knocks her out of the ring. Bell regains hold of her baton and goes to hit Allie with it. She knocks Allie down on top of a fallen Madison Rayne and Allie gets the 3 count on Rayne to win The Knockouts title.

Allie defeated Sienna, Madison Rayne, Marti Bell & Jade to become The New TNA Knockouts Champion

- Post match. Referee Earl Hebner wakes up an unconscious Allie and presents her with The Knockouts title. Maria is shocked at ringside.

-An interview with Aron Rex is shown. He talks about making an impact by being the ref in tonight's EC3/Galloway match. He talks about his knowledge of both men... Another clip is shown of The summit between EC3 and Galloway earlier this week. The discussion is a continuation of the earlier clip where Galloway is laying blame at EC3 for his failure to win back the TNA title.

- Back from the break. A One Night Only PPV ad airs for tomorrow night. This is followed by a "commercial" by The Fixer Tyrus.

- Highlights are shown from the unlikely Allie knockouts title win from earlier. She is then shown backstage hyper ventilating while she stares at he title. Allie is speaking in a rapid fire fashion about how happy she is and how the crowd chanted for her when she won. She is asked about how Maria will feel. Which causes her to pause and feel sad.

- Back to The "Summit". The history between Carter and Galloway is shown of how Carter has cost Drew 3 separate matches. Carter tells Galloway that the reason he is not TNA champion is because Galloway lost and not because of him. Carter says he has already apologized for costing him those matches. Drew tells Ethan that he is going to see a more physical side of him when they face each other. The summit ends when Carter offers up a toast to celebrate when he wins the TNA world title again. Drew laughs it out. They both get up to leave. Carter tells Drew that he is serious that he is going to win. Galloway pushes Carter into the pool and they both laugh it off.

* TNA has done a real good job of late with these type of taped video segments. Obviously with all the Final Deletion work and The Rosemary/Bram saga. This certainly didn't match the quality of those segments. The intent was good. The execution wasn't. It fell flat.

- Back from the break. Bobby Lashley is leaving the arena in his car. Spots Moose and calls him a puppet for Mike Bennett. He gives Moose his business card and invites him to dinner.

- Fact of Life segment hosted by Eli Drake. Drake is in the ring with the X division wrestlers and X Title. Mandrews, DJ Z, Trevor Lee, Braxton Sutter, Andrew Everett and Rockstar Spud. Drake makes fun of the open invitation battle royal earlier in the show. Drake calls TNA management dummies. Complains about what happened with The King of The Mountain title. Drake tells his guests that he is not going to ask any boring questions. He asks them all to insult each other. Rckstar Spud is first on the mic and insults the entire division but specifically Sutter who recently injured him. DJ Z takes exception with Eli's treatment of their division. Z says that he is going to win The Ultimate X title match next week on Impact. Drake goes on a dummy yeah rant pressing his button multiple times. Z dares Drake to hit the button again. As he attempts to, Z knocks down the podium. The X division wrestlers all battle to the outside. Mandrews hits a tope on 4 of them. Meanwhile in the ring, Drake pretends to leap over but doesn't. DJ Z is behind him leapfrogs over Drake and then dives onto everyone at ringside. Segment ends with DJ Z holding up The X title.

-Next week's Impact show is promoted. The World Title match between Bobby Lashley and Mike Bennett as well as The Ultimate X match to decide a new X division champion.

-Aron Rex is introduced. Wearing an impact referee shirt as he heads to the ring for the main event.

Drew Galloway Vs. Ethan Carter III

- The winner of this match main events TNA's next ppv Bound For Glory on October 2nd.(Not counting One Night Only tomorrow). Evenly contested battle early on. Both men knock each other down with dual cross bodies as the show goes to commercial break.

- Back from the break. Galloway and Carter are now back on their feet exchanging strikes. Josh Matthews compliments Aron Rex for being invisible in the match thus far. How they haven't talked about him at all thus far. That's how "Aron" was treated at the end of his WWE run.... Carter tries a suicide dive on Galloway but gets caught in mid air with a forearm smash by Drew. Galloway carries a lifeless Carter onto his shoulders and then climbs onto the steel steps at ringside and hits a Celtic Cross. Very impressive spot.... Rex goes to the outside to check on both men and then begins to count. Galloway and Carter make it back just before the 10 count.

-Galloway in control for the next portion of the match. Towards the end of the match. Drew Galloway hits an impressive over head suplex on Carter. Carter eventually rallies and hits a side Russian leg sweep on Galloway into the corner. Both men battle to the top rope. Drew attempts another Celtic Cross this time from the top rope. Carter counters with two consecutive sit out power bombs for a near fall. Both men start to counter each other's finishers. EC3 gets out of the future shock DDT by hitting a TK3 for another near fall. Galloway then hits The Claymore Kick followed by a sit out power boomb for two close near falls.

-Final sequence of the match. Both men struggle to their feet and start exchanging multiple chops. The count was in the dozens. EC3 wins the battle and hits a flapjack. He goes for the 1 percenter but it's countered into a Claymore kick by Galloway for a 2 count. Drew goes for the future shock DDT off the ropes. Carter counters with his 1 percenter finish off of the second rope. This produces yet another near fall. Carter attempts another 1 percenter. Drew counters into a tombstone and is in disbelief when EC3 kicks out. Galloway argues the count with Rex. Drew goes for the future shock DDT again but it's countered into a roll up by Carter for the victory.

Ethan Carter III defeated Drew Galloway to remain in the main event at Bound For Glory

- Post match, Carter celebrates. He leaves the ring. A dejected Drew Galloway rises to his feet and head butts Aron Rex. He starts beating up on Aron Rex and throws him outside the ring. Drew then lifts up Aron and starts ramming him into the barricade and ring apron. Galloway then sets up the steel steps and slams Aron Rex's head into it repeatedly. As Drew walks away. The show ends.

* Show Closing Thoughts: Not one of TNA's better episodes. It wasn't bad per se but TNA has produced at a higher level of quality recently. This was a paint by the numbers type episode setting up Bound For Glory and Drew Galloway's official heel turn. The atmosphere at The "Impact Zone" is better than it has been but that's not saying much. Months ago, The crowd had a sense of apathy towards the show. The product has been hot of late because it has good talent featured and performers like Bobby Lashley and Matt Hardy are at the peak of their game right now. That being stated, TNA really needs to have this product presented in somewhere other than Orlando. The crowds are usually very small and normally not vocal enough. For budgetary reasons, This show doesn't travel but here's hoping that Impact branches out and does a few bulk tapings somewhere other than Orlando where the tourists get free air conditioning from the summer heat and oh yeah, a wrestling show.