TNA: Grace and Elegance bring in the violence

Bob Kapur

TNA: Grace and Elegance bring in the violence

Everyone was in a fighting mood on Thursday night’s episode of TNA Impact, the last stop before Friday night’s Emergence special event. But perhaps none moreso than Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace and challenger Ash By Elegance, who duked it out for the gold in a Falls Count Anywhere, No Disqualification match. The match saw grace and elegance get thrown out the window (not literally – though they did go through a table) and end the match-heavy show with a fun banger of a fight.

Which also will be a likely description of Friday night’s main event, which will see Josh Alexander challenge World Champion Nic Nemeth in a 60-minute Iron Man match. Their face-off to end Thursday night’s episode didn’t feature a lot of grace or elegance either. But the war of words was intense and a strong sell for Friday night.

Match 1: Rich Swann (w/ AJ Francis) vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey (c) (w/ Trent Seven) – for the X-Division Championship

Whoever walks out of this match as champion will defend the title tomorrow night at Emergence in an Ultimate-X match. Francis joined the commentary team for this match. Trey Miguel and Zack Wentz were shown watching this match from up in the balcony.

No surprise that they started off quickly, with Bailey hitting the first big move with a Hurancarana on the floor. But a distraction by Francis let Swann take over with a Superkick.

Swann worked over Bailey’s leg, so Bailey had to rely on the patented Miyagi Crane Kick to good effect, and followed that up with more kicks and a Running Shooting Star Press for a near-fall. But Swann avoided a Tornado Kick attempt and fired back with more kicks of his own and some other big moves.

Bailey fired up and they had a blistering-fast exchange that saw them hit simultaneous Boots to the Head and Tornado Kicks. Bailey hit a huge Springboard Moonsault to the floor, but Swann replied with a huge Cutter and a First Class Splash for a very close call.

Bailey came back again and hit a Rolling Double Knee to the gut and a Tornado Kick. He was going to go up top for Ultima Weapon, but as he did, AJ Francis got up from the commentary desk and sucker-punched Trent Seven on the outside. The momentary distraction let Swann move out of an Ultima Weapon attempt and roll up Bailey for the 1-2-NO! Bailey kicked out and avoided losing the title!

Bailey and Swann exchanged strikes and then Swann hit a Handspring Cutter for a very close count Swann went up top, but then it was his turn to be distracted by the action on the floor, when Seven knocked down AJ with a no-nonsense punch. Swann jumped back into the ring but then ran into a Standing Spanish Fly by Bailey who covered him for the win.

I’ve said this about Bailey before, and this was no exception: his matches are fast, exciting, and feature lots of nifty moves, but the lack of selling hurts the overall presentation.

Winner, and still X-Division Champion: “Speedball” Mike Bailey

In the back, Gia Miller interviewed Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace who defends the title against Ash By Elegance tonight in a Match By Elegance. Grace said she doesn’t care what the mystery stipulation may be, she’s going to retain the title.

Match 2: Joe Hendry vs. Brian Myers (w/ Eddie Edwards and Alisha Edwards)

During Hendry’s entrance, the commentators plugged his NXT Championship match against Ethan Page at No Mercy this Sunday. With Emergence on Friday, WWE Bash at Berlin on Saturday, and NXT on Sunday… that’s a lot of wrestling.

Before the match, Hendry reminded the crowd of his “Edge’s b—-” song parody, which was originally about Matt Cardona, but it can also apply to Myers.

I believe in Joe Hendry, but I also believe that Myers is too boring to warrant a full match recap, so here are the Cliff’s Notes. Hendry side-stepped a flying move a-la Samoa Joe and Myers crashed hard. When Alisha tried to slap Hendry, the ref ejected her and Eddie from ringside.

Myers took control and had Hendry in trouble for a long time, but eventually Hendry came back and won with the Standing Ovation.

This was a pretty cut-and-dry match. Hendry will have a much more charismatic opponent on Sunday in Ethan Page, so the match should be less dry than how this one felt (with all blame for that on Myers).

Winner: Joe Hendry

After the match, Eddie Edwards slid into the ring and blindsided Hendry with a cheap leg-clip from behind. He and Myers boot the boots to Hendry. Mike Santana’s music hit and he came to the ring for his match against Eddie, which they immediately went into…

Match 3: Mike Santana vs. Eddie Edwards

These two started off with heavy hits, mainly in the form of big chops by Santana. He sent Eddie to the floor with a huge Back Body Drop, and this prompted Alisha to run back to ringside. There, she acted as a human shield for Eddie, who capitalized by dropping Santana hard on the edge of the apron, taking us into a commercial break.

The heavy-hitting resumed after the break, with Santana mounting a comeback with Spin The Block for a 2-count and the Outline In Chalk for another. Santana hit a Flying Somersault Dive to the floor and hit a Frog Splash, but Eddie kicked out.

Eddie blocked a Rolling Cutter and hit the Blue Thunder Bomb for two. More big moves and strikes ensued, including a Tiger Driver by Eddie. Eddie went for the Boston Knee Party, but Santana side-stepped it and hit Spin The Block and that was enough to keep Eddie down for the count.

This was a hard-hitting match that went a tad too long and maybe had a few too many big moves. Not everyone needs to be Superman.

Winner: Mike Santana

A pre-taped promo from Matt Cardona aired. He said that he was still not medically cleared to compete, so will not be competing at Emergence. But then Director of Authority Santino Marella barged in and he said he doubted that Cardona was telling the truth, but rather lying to get out of having to face PCO at Emergence. Cardona said that he’d found a surprise replacement for the match. Marella was angry, but since it was the TNA doctors who didn’t clear Cardona, there was nothing he could do.

Match 4: Hammerstone vs. Eric Young

Steve Maclin, who takes on EY at Emergence, joined the commentary desk for this one.

Hammerstone tried to use his power advantage, but Young was able to outwrestle the big man and ground him technically. Eventually, though, Hammerstone was able to connect with a huge Running Boot that sent EY crashing hard to the floor. There, Hammerstone bashed Young on the ring steps and then worked over his back. But Young was able to withstand the pain and even hit a Death Valley Driver for a two-count.

The two of them continued to battle with big shots, including a huge Sit-Out Powerbomb by Hammerstone for 2. Young had no quit in him, though, and he nailed Hammerstone with a huge punch that floored the big man.

But then Maclin got up and got into EY’s face and the two started jawing at each other. This gave Hammerstone some time to recover and when EY got back in the ring, Hammerstone pounced, hitting a huge Running Boot and following that up with the Nightmare Pendulum for the pin.

This was a good hard-hitting contest. Having seen Young in action from his rookie days, it’s hard to think about him as a big, power guy. But he looked just as big and strong as Hammerstone, and they put on a meat-show.

Winner: Hammerstone

Match 5: ABC (Chris Bey and Ace Austin) vs. Deaner and Jake Something

ABC’s Tag Team Championship was not on the line in this one. Before the match, Deaner tried to cut a fan-friendly promo, but Something took the mic away from him and said this match wasn’t about the people, but rather the two of them proving themselves in the tag team division.

The story early on was Something using his power to put the hurt on ABC, and he and Deaner working really well as a team against the champs. But eventually ABC were able to find their rhythm and came back. But only for a short while before they ate a Double Clothesline by Something.

They eventually neutralized Something and hit an Art of Finesse / Fold combo on Deaner to get the win.

This was fine. Something has the size and power, but is lacking a certain… something. Let’s call it a personality. He might be better used as an enforcer in a faction that has someone else do the talking for him. Or maybe could benefit from a manager, though TNA doesn’t really do that nowadays.

Winners: ABC

After the match, First Class (AJ Francis and Rich Swann) ran into the ring and attacked ABC. They destroyed the champs and posed with the Tag Team titles afterwards. The commentators noted that Jake Something could have aided ABC, but instead simply watched the beat-down from the floor.

In the back, Ash By Elegance’s personal stooge was seen talking with the Knockouts Tag Team Champions Alisha Edwards and Masha Slamovich.

They showed clips from Rosemary’s appearance on NXT earlier this week, doing the bidding of Wendy Choo by competing against the NXT Women’s North American Champion Kelani Jordan. Great to see another of Slam’s friends getting the spotlight on an even bigger stage.

Match 6: Ash By Elegance (w/ George Iceman) vs. Jordynne Grace (c) – for the Knockouts Championship

This is basically a hardcore match with no disqualifications and no count-outs and with pinfalls counting anywhere. Pink weapons were laid out on the floor around the ring.

Iceman insisted on doing the introduction for Ash. Then, when Jade Chung was announcing Grace, Ash waffled Grace from behind with the chair, and the match began. Then, Iceman joined Tom Hannifan at the commentary desk, as Matthew Rehwoldt had left the table to prepare for the upcoming face-off between Josh Alexander and Nic Nemeth.

The match was a pretty standard hardcore match with weapons being used a lot both in and out of the ring. A nice spot saw Ash hit Grace with a Flying Headscissors, sending her landing on top of a pink garbage can lid. That got a 2-count.

Back from the commercial break, and Grace caught Ash in a High Cross Body attempt and planted her with a World’s Strongest Slam and a Vader Bomb for two. Grace then dumped a bunch of diamonds in the ring, and was going to slam Ash into them, but Ash broke free, and smashed a champagne bottle over Grace’s head for a two-count.

Ash started choking Grace with a garland of roses, and as she did, Iceman got into the ring, looking to stab Grace with a stiletto high heel shoe (presumably his own). But as he slowly menaced Grace with the shoe, Rosemary popped out from under the ring. She scared away Iceman, and then hit Ash with a Spear, getting revenge for Ash costing her the Knockouts Championship match last week.

Rosemary chased Iceman up the ramp as Grace crawled over to cover Ash for the 1-2-No! Ash kicked out. Grace was looking to put Ash away for good, but then Alisha and Masha ran into the ring to attack. Masha hit Grace with a Package Piledriver and put Ash on top of her, but Grace kicked out!

Alisha and Masha held Grace down so Ash could come off the top rope with a chair, but before she could jump down, Spitfire (Dani Luna and Jody Threat) ran in and started to brawl with Alisha and Masha, who they challenge for the titles at Emergence.

This left Grace and Ash alone in the ring. Grace plucked Ash off the top rope and then hit her with a Muscle Buster off the ramp and through a table on the floor – that looked great – where she covered her for the pin.

After the match, Grace and Spitfire celebrated her successful title defence.

This was a fun little hardcore match and the stipulation and the overbooking helped overcome the limitations of Ash in the ring (let’s face it, even as Dana Brooke she never really had a memorable match). The final spot was great, and got a huge crowd reaction, which was what this was designed to do. It will be interesting to see what they do with Ash now that she lost pretty definitively. Now would also be a good time to tap into the NXT roster to find Grace a new challenger, because the well is pretty dry in TNA right now in terms of new challengers for her. Paging Roxanne Perez, perhaps?

Winner, and still Knockouts Champion: Jordynne Grace

Josh Alexander and Nic Nemeth face off

Matthew Rehwoldt moderated this final face-to-face before these to square off for Nemeth’s World Championship in a 60-minute Iron Man match at Emergence on Friday. He reminded them that no physicality could take place or the match would be cancelled.

Rehwoldt noted that the last time these two competed, they wrestled to a 30-minute time-limit draw. And rather than extend the match for another five minutes, Alexander chose to low-blow Nemeth and leave. He said that he will wrestle on his time, and Friday night will be his time.

Nemeth said that he had always dreamed about winning the TNA Championship. He said that if Alexander wanted a title shot, all he had to do is ask for one. He said that Alexander didn’t need to resort to cheap shots or attacking Nemeth’s family. Rather, as a former champion, he should have done it honourably.

When asked as to why Alexander has changed his approach so drastically. Alexander said it wasn’t him that changed, but everyone else. He reminded Nemeth that of all the former TNA Champions that Nemeth said he admired, Josh was the one that held it the longest. Josh expressed frustration that Nemeth was handed a World Championship match even though Alexander never actually lost the title. He said that he will be putting the belt where it should be: around his waist.

Nemeth said that wrestlers need to evolve to become a champion, and that what Josh has done in the past doesn’t matter today. He said that Josh’s historical accolades are simply history. But that taking cheap shots will never make Josh a champion today. Nemeth said that he has what it takes to survive an Iron Man match, and he’s going to beat Josh in it.

Josh said that he’s the face, the heart and soul of the company, and that he’s the best wrestler in the world. He said that Nemeth will never be as good as him because he’s the f’n standard.

Nemeth said that Josh used to be the best, but he is now, and that he will stay the champion. And that Josh will not beat him.

This was really good, with the two of them getting increasingly intense with each other as it went on. The match on Friday should be stellar and a possible Match of the Year contender.

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