The following matches and segments were taped for the Friday, May 8th edition of TNA Impact Wrestling on Destination America. Results come from ProWrestling.net.
Q1] Impact opened with Eric Young standing in the ring and demanding to know who the special referee of his title match against Kurt Angle would be. Bully Ray’s music played and he walked out wearing a leather vest over a referee’s shirt. Josh Mathews checked in on commentary. The fans chanted “welcome back” to Ray. “Do you know who I am?” Ray asked. “I’m Bully Ray and the special guest referee for tonight’s World Heavyweight Championship match”… A video focussed on the the top feuds with matches that will occur during the show…
EC3 and Tyrus headed to the ring. Mathews noted that the stipulation of the match would be determined by fan vote – arm wrestling or falls count anywhere. Once in the ring, EC3 cut a brief promo, then Anderson walked onto the stage and said he was tired of hearing EC3 run his mouth. The fan vote was 85 percent in favor of falls count anywhere. Anderson delivered his usual self-introduction and then headed to the ring…
1. EC3 (w/Tyrus) vs. Mr. Anderson in a falls count anywhere match. Mathews noted that there were no disqualifications or countouts, which explained why Tyrus was able to go after him once the bell rang. Anderson quickly cleared both men from the ring, then got EC3 alone. However, Tyrus tripped him and pulled him to ringside, then took shots at him. Anderson came back with a Mic Check that put Tyrus into the ring post.
Anderson got the better of EC3 and hit him with a low blow at ringside and covered him on the floor for two. Anderson pulled several chairs out from underneath the ring. EC3 rolled him up for a one count, then Anderson stood up and kicked him. Anderson set up for the Mic Check, but EC3 broke that up and ended up backdropping him onto the entrance ramp. A short time later, Tyrus got involved again and caught Anderson with a splash in the corner, then delivered a soft looking heart punch(?). EC3 covered Anderson and got the pin…
EC3 defeated Mr. Anderson in 5:35.
Backstage, Bully Ray spoke with Kurt Angle, who asked if it had been eight months since Ray last appeared. “It’s been too long,” Ray said. Angle asked if Ray would call it down the middle for him. “Kurt, do you know who I am?” Ray asked before walking away…
[Q2] [C] Backstage, Gail Kim approached Awesome Kong and noted that they haven’t been on the same page ever, but Taryn Terrell has made it personal for both of them. “So are you in?” Kim asked. Kong walked away… Mathews hyped the handicap Knockouts match for later in the show…
The Beat Down Clan (MVP, Kenny King, Low-Ki) made their entrance. They had a flag and wore costume masks. They removed the masks once they entered the ring. MVP took the mic and said Impact Wrestling his live on Destination America. MVP said that because it’s live he would say things that would “make you uncomfortable” and added that the truth tends to do that. He held up a mask and said it belongs to Homicide, who couldn’t be there because someone blindsided him and he needed to have shoulder surgery.
MVP said fans stand up for The Rising when they resort to doing things like that. He spoke about how the U.S. government takes oilfields, then said fans call them thugs when BDC does something along those lines. MVP said “thug” is the new codeword for n—– (he was censored). He said BDC would treat The Rising like “the establishment likes to treat so-called thugs.”
The Rising (Drew Galloway, Mica, Eli Drake). Galloway said they had nothing to do with Homicide’s injury. Galloway said he noticed the way King looked when Homicde touched his title belt. “Where were you last night?” he asked. MVP took a shot at “keyboard warriors” and said he doesn’t care about pro wrestling, he cares about making money. MVP said Galloway cares about work rate, whereas he cares about interest rates. The Rising eventually entered the ring and quickly cleared BDC… [C]
[Q3] 2. Drew Galloway (w/Mica, Eli Drake) vs. MVP (w/Low Ki, Kenny King). MVP gained controla and flung Galloway into the guardrail at ringside, then ran him into the ring post. Back in the ring, Galloway came back with a DDT and scored the clean pin. However, Eric Young entered the ring and attacked Galloway with a chair. The other Rising members tried to save Galloway, but the other BDC members stopped them. Young spoke briefly with MVP off-mic as Mathews recalled Young’s alliance with BDC starting back in January…
Drew Galloway beat MVP in 4:40.
Mathews hyped the main event… Backstage, James Storm arrived with a gift. He said it’s a “special gift for a very special friend.” He said they would “unwrap them all very, very soon”… [C]
James Storm headed to the ring with his gift. Mathews recalled the storyline involving Storm, Mickie James, and Magnus, then plugged some Destination America shit shot called Ghost Asylum (okay, so I’ve never watched it). Storm introduced Mickie James, who came out to a good reaction.
