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We start off with our standard look back at last week's show, then we're on to tonight as Gail Kim defends the Knockouts Title against ODB, and Kurt Angle faces Bobby Roode in a Bound For Glory rematch on tonight's special Halloween episode of Impact!
Dixie Carter starts the show out by coming out to the ring in a really badly done wrestling promoter costume and says that AJ Styles showed a lack of vision and mental aptitude with his actions last week. She served AJ the world on a silver platter, and AJ just threw it right in her face. Nobody, and she means NOBODY walks out on Dixie Carter, and from here on out, he doesn't exist to her and he is no longer her World Champion. Since AJ stole her title belt (and her car, for that matter), he can keep them and call it a gift for his sweat equity, and now he's going trick or treating as the World Champion. He's not the World Champion and from here on out, it's just a costume for him, because what she needs is a real World Champion: someone great looking and with all the skills to make the company even bigger than it is right now. She came up with a way to find that man: with an 8 man tournament that will play out over the next several weeks, and now she would like to introduce seven of the participants, all of whom are former TNA World Champions. James Storm, Samoa Joe, Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, Austin Aries, Bobby Roode, and Chris Sabin come out, and each gets their own introduction and short promo video, and Dixie says we'll notice that we're short a man, but before she can get to who that eighth participant is, Bully Ray's music hits and he comes out with Brooke in tow. Dixie steals his line and says to shut his music off because what she was going to say is that tonight's main event will be a gauntlet match for the eighth spot in the tournament. Bubba asks Dixie how he's supposed to win his title back if he's not in the tournament and then asks if she knows who he is, and Dixie says he's the man who lost to AJ Styles twice and caused all this trouble in the first place. Bubba says it was Earl Hebner and Ken Anderson's fault, and almost as if on cue, Anderson's music hits and he runs out and goes toe to toe with Bubba in the middle of the ring. Atlas Security runs in to break the fight up as we go to commercial.
We're back and Ken Anderson is being hauled out in cuffs by Atlas Security when Brooke gets in his face and says he should have never come back because her old man is going to kill him. Bully Ray comes out of nowhere and begins beating the CRAP out of Anderson with the chain while yelling at him that he's nothing without the club, and he tore the colors off of him because he's useless to him and that if he knows what's good for him, he'd better stay away.
Jason Hervey catches up backstage with Garett Bischoff to ask about what just happened with Anderson, and Bischoff says that there's a lot going on, but club business is club business. Knux comes in and asks why Garett is talking to them, and says he has a big chance tonight and to follow him.
TNA World Tag Team Title Match: The Bromans vs James Storm & Gunner
Storm & Gunner start brawling with the Bromans in the entryway before the match starts and Gunner starts beating the crap out of Robbie E once they head back into the ring. Storm tags in and briefly gets in trouble, but takes both Bromans out with a double clothesline and begins unloading on Jessie with right hands. Storm & Gunner with some nice double teams on Jessie, who finds himself in a world of hurt as Storm & Gunner dish out punishment more or less at will. Storm gives Jessie the Eye of the Storm and makes a cover, but Robbie is in to break it up at 2. Gunner takes care of Robbie, but gets double teamed and bounced to the outside where Robbie lays him out with a clothesline. Meanwhile in the ring, Storm hits Closing Time and sets up for the Last Call, but Robbie drags him out to safety on the floor. Storm grabs Jessie and tries to suplex him back into the ring, but Robbie hooks Storm's ankle and Jessie falls on top, scoring the three count while Robbie holds onto Storm's ankle.
Winner: The Bromans
Match was okay, but Storm is being SO wasted in this role.
Sting comes into Dixie Carter's office for a meeting, and she says that since she's so tired of hearing about how Sting has been banned from ever challenging for the title again that she's willing to lift the ban for tonight if he will enter the match first so he can show he still has it by running the table. Sting says he's earned everything he ever got and has never had a sense of entitlement, then gets up and walks out. Dixie asks if that's a yes, but she is left answerless as we go to commercial.
We look back at the latest return of Abyss, then we go to Bad Influence, who are wearing Sherlock Holmes costumes and put on really bad fake British accents as they talk about how they're going to tackle the mystery of the on-again-off-again monster Abyss, briefly making an offhand remark about how the TV Title seems to have disappeared with him. Funny, funny stuff.
Ethan Carter III vs Norm Fernum
Wow, they're literally going to rematch ever single match from Bound For Glory in the two weeks since the PPV, aren't they? Anyway, Fernum is Peter Avalon from the California indy scene if you've ever seen him, and Carter easily runs him over with a shoulderblock and then unloads on him with chops in the corner. Carter repeatedly rams Fernum hard into the corner before popping him across the ring with a T-bone suplex. Fernum hits a couple of flying shoulderblocks and a dropkick to Carter and springboards off the top rope with a crossbody for 1, but Carter easily flapjacks Fernum and hits the 1% for the win.
Winner: Ethan Carter III
Carter gets a microphone after the match and reminds us that he is EC3, he's a Carter, and the world needs them.
Bobby Roode is backstage with the doctor looking at the video where Angle hurt the cartilage in his knee at Bound For Glory and also saw where he was CLEARLY knocked out, and he says he's just looking out for Kurt's safety by making sure that he's going to be medically cleared to wrestle tonight. Seems a little disingenuous to me.
Sting is backstage, and he's...WALKING!
ODB is backstage saying she's getting her rematch with Gail Kim tonight and says she'll take both Gail and Lei'D Tapa on by herself, but Daniels and Kazarian come in and say that they've deduced that ODB stands for overly developed bosom, then asks about her husband Eric Young and his lawyer friend. Young comes in to defend his wife, then Daniels says to stay away from them or they'll drop him like they did to Park. Young says it's Halloween and they might just see a monster later on tonight.
Gauntlet Match
Sting is out to start the match off, and #2 is Frankie Kazarian. So I guess that if Sting wins the gauntlet match, Dixie will lift the ban on him challenging for the World Title. So, pinfalls and submissions don't mean anything in TNA-style gauntlet matches until you get down to the last two men, and it's over the top rope eliminations until then. Kazarian gets the advantage on Sting and hits a leaping elbow in the corner, but stops to mock Sting by doing the howl and gets laid out with a clothesline. Sting proceeds to unload on Kazarian and hit a big backdrop followed by a snap suplex. The crowd chants that Sting's still got it as Sting gets a thumb to the eye, and Kazarian tries to elevate Sting over the ropes but gets fought off as Sting lays him out with another clothesline. Knux is in at #3, so I guess this is the big chance he was talking about before. We're at commercial.
We're back as Eric Young comes in at #4 and goes to work on Knux before taking Kazarian out with a crossbody out of the corner. Christopher Daniels is out next at #5 and saves Kazarian from elimination on his way into the ring before climbing into the match and targeting Eric Young. Sting blocks a double suplex from Bad Influence and double suplexes them as we go back to commercial.
We're back as Manik enters at #6 in grand fashion, springboarding into the ring with a crossbody onto Kazarian and then a leg lariat for Daniels before taking both out with a double dropkick. Manik avoids elimination by skinning the cat back into the ring as Brutus Magnus enters at #7 and takes out both members of Bad Influence with a double clothesline before going to work on Knux, who flattens him with that short crossbody. Taz name drops Marty Jannetty, probably the only time Jannetty and Mike Knox have been mentioned in the same thought, and Manik pulls out another Jannetty move by sliding from the apron into the ring under the bottom rope, through Knux's legs, and eliminates him with a flying headscissors. Kazarian quickly dumps Manik out as well before knoccking Young off the top rope with a leaping enziguiri, and we're down to Sting and Magnus of the Main Event Mafia, and Daniels & Kazarian of Bad Influence. Magnus catches Daniels on a crossbody attempt and hits a Michinoku Driver, but falls victim to double teaming by Bad Influence. Sting makes a save and hits Kazarian with a Stinger Splash as Magnus clotheslines Daniels out of the match. Magnus turns around and sees Sting trying to dump Daniels, but Magnus comes up from behind and tosses both men to win the match.
Winner: Brutus Magnus
Sting looks taken aback by what Magnus just did, but Magnus doesn't seem to think anything of it as he celebrates his victory. Magnus is now the eighth entrant in the tournament and has a shot to become the TNA World Champion if he can win the tournament.
We see Kurt Angle walking off from a conversation with the doctor that Bobby Roode was talking to earlier, and the Mystery Cameraman asks if he's cleared to wrestle tonight, and Angle says the doctor said it was in his best interest to take the night off...but still clearaed him to wrestle, so he gets to kick Bobby Roode's ass!
ODB is backstage, and she's...WALKING! Gail Kim and Lei'D Tapa are also backstage, and they're...WALKING TOO! The Knockouts Title rematch is up next!
Dixie Carter is backstage saying she's excited for Magnus qualifying for the tournament, but she's more excited to announce the brackets, which will be determined by something she calls the Wheel of Dixie. Oh boy.
Knockouts Title Match: Gail Kim vs ODB
ODB jumps Gail on her way to the ring and doesn't let up, pummeling her in the ring, at ringside, up the entryway, and back to ringside where she tosses Gail with a fallaway slam. ODB goes face to face with Tapa and leaves herself open for a baseball slide from Gail that catches ODB hard and knocks her silly. Gail drags ODB to the corner and does the ringpost figure four, then brings her back inside and ties her up with a nasty looking legscissors in the middle of the ring. ODB makes it to her feet and reverses to a half crab, shocking the hell out of me that she knows a submission move. Gail manages to drag herself to the ropes to force the break, then catches ODB with a short kick to the face. ODB dodges a charging dropkick in the corner and starts running her over with shoulderblocks before slamming her and going to the second rope. ODB comes out of the corner with a Thesz press for 2, drawing Tapa up to the apron and then stepping back down for some reason. ODB puts Gail on the top rope and gives her a twisting suplex as Tapa gets back up on the apron, apparently having jumped the gun on her cue from earlier. She distracts ODB and allows Gail to roll her up for the win.
Winner:
Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels walk backstage, Daniels notices the cameraman and goes "Oh god..." before saying that the gauntlet didn't go quite as they planned, but that they should go out to the ring and tell everyone what they discovered about Abyss. They put their Sherlock Holmes costumes back on and head out to reveal their findings.
Bad Influence are in the ring and they have solved yet another mystery: The Case Of The On Again Off Again Monster Abyss. It took every ounce of their intelligence to crack this case, but that's exactly what they did because they looked high and low and realized that the best lies right below this very ring. Daniels goes under the ring and pulls out a pumpkin, which he drags into the ring and says is round and dumb like Abyss, but it's not Abyss, just another dumb vegetable. Kazarian says the pumpkin has more brains than the entire Knockout roster and everyone else in Salt Lake City (where they are tonight, by the way). Eric Young comes out dressed up for Halloween as...Joseph Park. Very clever. Young says there's no proof that Halloween is a real holiday, but it's definitely the big guy's favorite holiday and everyone is having a great time, so he got ahold of him and he wanted Young to give his favorite tag team a message. Young attacks Bad Influence and gets his ass kicked, but Abyss' music hits and the big guy himself makes his return to Impact Wrestling, taking out both members of Bad Influence, giving Kazarian the Black Hole Slam, then cornering Daniels and giving him one as well. Abyss lets out a roar and then help EY to his feet.
Kurt Angle and Bobby Roode are backstage, and they're...WALKING! They'll face off in the main event...NEXT!
We see the brackets for the TNA World Title Tournament, and here are the first round matches:
-Jeff Hardy vs Chris Sabin
-Bobby Roode vs James Storm
-Kurt Angle vs Austin Aries
-Brutus Magnus vs Samoa Joe
Dixie Carter is in the locker room with Jeff Hardy and Chris Sabin saying how excited she is to have this tournament, and she spins the Wheel of Dixie to determine the match type. Dixie spins the wheel and it lands on Full Metal Mayhem, and Dixie says Hardy is one step closer to winning the TNA World Title. Sabin says "So am I, right?" and Dixie gives him a "Yeah, whatever." answer. Sabin says "after you" to Hardy to let him leave first, then says he was kidding and pushes in front of Hardy to leave before him.
It's...MAIN EVENT TIME!
Bobby Roode vs Kurt Angle
Angle takes Roode down and dominates him on the mat, Roode slides out to the floor to take a quick breather and comes back inside to hammer on Angle with some hard forearms. Angle fires back and tosses Roode with an overhead release suplex and then clotheslines Roode to the floor. Angle goes out after Roode this time to keep the pressure up, Roode rakes Angle's eyes to block another overhead release suplex on the floor and rams his back into the ring apron to turn the tide as we go to commercial.
We're back and Roode is still in control, tying Angle up with an abdominal stretch. Angle escapes and starts dumping Roode with rolling German suplexes. Angle keeps up the pressure, but gets a little overzealous and Roode plants him with a spinebuster. Roode goes to pick Angle up, but Angle takes him down and gets an anklelock. Roode gets out of that and gets Angle in the crippler crossface right in the middle of the ring, but Angle gets ahold of Roode's ankle and twists his way out of the crossface and into the anklelock. Angle has Roode caught right in the middle of the ring, but Roode rolls through and gets Angle back in the crippler crossface. Angle tries to reverse to a cradle, Roode reverses to a crucifix, and then rolls Angle through the kickout and back into the crippler crossface. Angle rolls through again, but this time dumps Roode with an Angle Slam and covers for 2. The straps come down and Angle gets the anklelock again, Roode goes for the ropes but Angle drags him back out to the middle of the ring. Roode rolls through into a cradle for 2, then picks Angle up and hits a fireman's neckbreaker for another 2 count. Angle gets the anklelock yet again, Roode tries to reverse back to the crossface again, but Angle rolls through and grapevines the leg. Roode still somehow manages to make it to the ropes to force the break, so Angle sits Roode on the top rope and goes for a super Angle Slam. Roode fights Angle off, but Angle pops back up, runs up the corner, hits the belly to belly off the top, and drags himself over to Roode to drape an arm across Roode's chest for 2. Angle startts to get up, but suddenly collapses to the mat and starts twitching. Roode pulls himself up, but Angle doesn't move and the referee stops the match and declares Roode the winner.
Winner: Bobby Roode
Angle rolls to his back, but his entire body is twitching in a way that's reminiscent of Rocky Balboa after fighting Ivan Drago. Roode looks a little perplexed by what happened, and Angle looks like he's suffered some major, major damage as Mike Tenay tells us to go to TNA's website for updates on Kurt's condition as we close the show.
Thanks for reading the Impact Wrestling Report on PWInsider.com! We may or may not have a Stu & Pid Show tomorrow, but if not, I'll have a thoughts column up in the Elite section sometime tomorrow, so until then, have a good night!
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