TNA Impact June 24 TV results & recap: Slammiversary go-home show

By Jeremy Peeples, WrestlingObserver.com

Last week, TNA paid tribute to Dusty Rhodes with a video package and EC3 beat Lashley thanks to a ton of ref bumps and interference. Lashley also won his Bellator fight, and was even allowed to wear an Impact Wrestling cap on Spike.  Joseph Park returned to face Bram, and lost not only the match, but his fortune. Investing in Tout didn’t work out well for him. Kong and Brooke beat the Dolls, and Jessie demolished DJZ. Robbie E returned to set up their match at Slammiversary this Sunday. Also, Storm threatened to throw Magnus’s infant son off the stage, but it was just a doll and everyone moved on like nothing had ever happened.

The Takeaway

Jeff Jarrett returned to the company for at least the time being and announced that he’ll be in this Sunday’s King of the Mountain match. Tigre Uno won the X Title in a three way elimination match, and the Dirty Heels beat the Wolves in a Full Metal Mayhem to set up next week’s world tag title match. Velvet Sky beat Angeilna to earn a spot on the roster, and Kurt Angle beat Matt Hardy before making EC3 tap out afterwards.

This week’s show starts off with EC3 and Tyrus meeting with JB and EC3 saying that Kurt will face a legacy guy from TNA’s past. We get a recap of EC3-Lashley from last week. Heels vs. Wolves in Full Metal Mayhem is hyped up. Kurt Angle comes down and we’re told that Josh and Pope are at ringside. Kurt says that in one week, he can prove that he’s the best and shut EC3 up. Tonight, he’ll beat EC3’s guy and they’ve added a new screen opposite the hard camera showing who is speaking. It’s a nice little touch that makes the new Impact Zone a little better-looking.

EC3 comes down with Tyrus, whose left arm is all bandaged up. EC3 says Kurt is only the best for now. Kurt wants the match and says that next week, he’ll make EC3 tap and tonight, he’ll make his opponent tap out too. EC3 runs down everyone he’s beaten and Kurt says EC3 is obsessed with himself and his ego will bite him in the ass. Next week, he’ll make EC3 tap out. EC3 said he won’t tap, and we see that Matt Hardy is EC3’s opponent. Well, this certainly ate up TV time. Pope and Josh are shown at ringside and run down tonight’s card. The Wolves vs. The Dirty Heels and Velvet Sky returns to face Angelina, and if Sky wins, she can return. So Velvet Sky wrestles, and if she wins, she gets to keep wrestling. Great stip. Low-Ki is out for the three-way elimination match for the X Title. Tigre comes down, followed by Grado while Josh talks about how everything here is trending – well then how important is that then?

Match One – Low-Ki vs. Grado vs. Tigre Uno – X Division Title

Ki chops away as Josh hypes Dixie showing the new green title belt on Twitter. Grado punches and elbows away at Ki. Pope talks about the title being green for money. Uno gets a sliding kick to Ki, but can’t slam Grado. Grado sends Uno down and goes up top, but Ki stops him, sends him down, and double stomps his head off to eliminate him. Uno chops Ki in the corner, but eats a corner forearm for 2. Ki kicks him down and goes up top, but gets crotched and eats a springboard rana for 2. Ki misses the giant corner charge dropkick and Uno tells Ki to move a bit, and sure enough, he wins with the Phoenix splash to win the title. He grabs the title and a small amount of streamers fall from the sky. 

JB is backstage and sounds like he’s underwater. Bram brags about beating up old people because he hates everyone. A gloved hand is on JB’s shoulder and he says “it’s time”. Love vs. Sky is up next. First Taryn is in lingerie and is angry at the Dolls in a very echoey room. Lashley and Anderson will face Tyrus and ECE at the PPV. Angelina comes down and screeches while Velvet’s new theme and entrance video greet us. Josh says that Velvet has this chance because the fans wanted it and Velvet was wrongfully fired before.

Match Two – Velvet Sky vs. Angelina Love

Velvet shoves her and kicks her down. They punch around a bit on the floor and Velvet shoves her into the steps. Velvet stands tall on them, but eats a dropkick coming into the ring. Love gets 2. Angelina hits a corner splash and gets 2 off a sideslam. Angelina goes up and Velvet picks her ankle and sends her down. Clothesline barrage hits and it’s followed up by a slap. Velvet avoids the botox injection and hits a stunner to win. Josh says it’s time to take her off the alumni page while fans hold up a babe-ality sign for her.

The Dirty Heels are backstage and ask if these guys are paid to ask them questions. Aries says they’re probably not and Aries says that he thought about his wrestling training and not having anything in there about tables, ladders, or chairs. The video quality took a massive drop here, and it looks almost like a cell phone video, and they’re still in an echoey area.

After a break, we get another “razor’s edge” promo and MVP is met by a guy with another cell phone camera reading a script very badly. MVP says the BDC is back with a different strategy, and they’re stronger than ever now. The Dirty Heels come down, followed by the Wolves. Josh plugs the shirts of both teams.

Match Three – The Wolves vs. The Dirty Heels – Tag Title Series TLC Match

Wolves attack with a chop and kick combo along with double stomps. Aries grabs a chair while Pope says this stip really favors the Heels, who stall on the floor. The Heels take their chairs and sit in them for some strategy. A double dive is countered by a ladder to the heads of the Wolves. The Heels boast and we go to a break.

We come back to the Heels dominating. They each lock on chinlocks using the chairs to sit down – awesome! Trash can lid shot to Davey sets up the backbreaker>pendulum elbow combo. Pope tells them to not drop the lid as Josh says he never won a world title, but each Heel did. Aries tosses Eddie into Roode, but he eats a kick. Davey attacks with chairs to the gut while Eddie goes for lid shots to the head. The Heels duck out to avoid damage and eat a double dive once. Twice. Three dives! Aries has a massive welt above his right hip.

Aries catches a chair and eats a chairshot from Davey, who hits Roode while holding a chair over Roode’s back for an Eddie double stomp! Falcon Arrow gets 2 for the Wolves. Eddie grabs a chain, which is something I don’t recall seeing used in one of these – so that’s new. Davey puts the chain on his kicking leg, but Aries ducks a kick and gets the Last Chancery. Eddie bonks his belly with a trash can to end the move. 

Roode pulls Davey out and Aries dives onto him. Roode gets a powerbomb while Aries hits a missile dropkick to send Eddie through a table and get 2. The busted table is by the ropes and Aries chops away at Eddie in the corner. Double team alarm click to Roode hits, but Aries makes the save. Corner chop to Roode sets up a trash can on the head and a chairshot. The Wolves climb up top on opposite side and hit a double Van Terminator! Roode saves Aries from a trashcan and chair double powerbomb>backstabber with a low blow. The series now tied up at 2-2.

JB meets with Matt, who says that he became a father yesterday and wants to be the TNA World Champion. He doesn’t like EC3, but EC3 comes in and says that he’ll be champion next week. Matt says he’s made his legacy, but what will EC3’s be if he taps out? Jeff and Karen Jarrett come down in Global Force Wrestling shirts and Josh kills this by saying “I think Impact Wrestling just broke the internet”. 

Jeff asks if Hell has frozen over and asks why the co-founders of Global Force Wrestling in the middle of a TNA ring. He’ll address some points tonight and some points later on. A week ago, he was in Winston Salem and got a text from TNA management. They wanted a conference call with him and had a proposal. He put his phone back in his pocket and wondered what they wanted. Did they want a talent exchange? A co-promoted show? He talked with them and he was asked to come back for a match.

He says he doesn’t wrestle for his own promotion, so why would he wrestle here? It’s his match – King of the Mountain. It won’t be on just an Impact show – but the company’s 13th anniversary. He remembered all the great times in the Impact Zone, like when Cornette talked about Kurt Angle coming to TNA. He had chills when Samoa Joe gave him the headbutt from Hell and seeing the growth of AJ Styles. Beer Money became the best team in company history. EY went from a goof to having more TV shows than Ryan Seacrest and thought about looking in the rear view mirror.

Since April 14, 2014, he’s poured everything into Global Force Wrestling. How will this affect the staff, the roster? He asks how it would affect Karen? She says she loves Jeff, but she’s different than Jeff. He told her to sit down and says that GFW is their future. She wasn’t sold on this, but Jeff sold her on it. She says she loves him and will support him in anything he does. At 11 AM, she was on the phone with some of the GFW talent roster and Sonjay Dutt crying. She cries over the thought of giving up everything they’ve built with GFW for TNA, and Sonjay told her that Jeff didn’t go out in TNA the way he wanted to. He had to go out his way.

He was fired in a backstage bit by Sting, and that was glorious by the way. She says she didn’t come here to go home. Jeff’s going to leave TNA on his terms and make things right. Damn, she cut a hell of a money promo for this show for Jeff. It’s such a shame they’re not doing this on Spike now, because they could actually gain a bit of traction. Jeff will be in the King of the Mountain and walk down the TNA aisle one last time. This was incredible and a must-watch segment.

Match Four – “The Man With 500 Nicknames” Bram vs. “The Man They Call” Vader

Bram is mid-ring as Josh calls him the Human Hate Machine. Really now? Vader comes down, and it’s spoiled by his tron before he’s even shown. Vader circles around Bram while Josh talks about how you should never burn a bridge in wrestling. Pope mocks Josh for giving Bram 8,000 nicknames. Vader gets his corner punches and a lariat. Shortarm clotheslines follows that up.

Bram attacks and takes Vader’s mask off. Vader messes around with his pants before a Vader bomb gets 2. Vader gets the wrench and hits Vader, so after Josh talks about how Bram’s matches have relaxed rules, this is a DQ. Matt Morgan comes down and fallaway slams him. So Bram can’t beat a 60 year and gets his ass kicked by Matt Morgan.  Next, Chris Melendez faces EY. EY comes out while Josh is offended by EY and mocks Pope for liking him. Pope says that if Chris can survive an IED, he can survive EY.

Match Five – Eric Young vs. Chris Melendez

A collar and elbow tie-up starts this while Pope calls EY a bearded terror. EY rakes his face in the corner with his boot. Josh interrupts this for breaking news – Matt Morgan will face Bram. Please don’t all call your PPV providers at once, you might break their phone lines. EY gets a pair of two counts hooking the artificial leg and they show off EY’s revamped tattoo. EY wrenches at the neck and tries to take his leg off afterwards, but gets kicked off and eats forearms. Chris ducks down and eats a piledriver, giving EY the win. This was short, and EY’s a good guy for Chris to work with at this stage in his career. Kurt Angle faces Matt Hardy next.

Before the match, a brawl before The Rising (remember them?) and the BDC is happening on the ramp. During all this, Hernandez comes down and clotheslines Drew down. Well, this certainly doesn’t bode well for Lucha Underground continuing for a second season. Hernandez hits the Border Toss to Drew. Match five in the best of five series will happen on next week’s Bell to Bell show. Taryn defends the title against Kong and Brooke, and in the main event, Kurt Angle faces EC3 for the World title. Meanwhile, on Sunday, Jeff Jarrett is in a king of the mountain match against people we don’t know for a prize we’re unaware of and with stipulations that haven’t been explained. Matt comes down, followed by Kurt. 

Main Event – Kurt Angle vs. Matt Hardy

A collar and elbow tie-up starts things off, and Matt gets 2 off a swinging neckbreaker. Matt sets Kurt up on the second rope and hits an Eye of the Hurricane for 2. Pope calls this a PPV-quality main event anywhere in the world. Really now? This would be maybe an hour one main event on SmackDown in 2003. Kurt takes him down with a chinlock. Back and forth punch exchange mid-ring. Kurt gets the rolling Germans. Matt gets off a Side Effect and Josh announces Aries vs. Davey for the PPV.

Angle slam gets 2. The winner of Aries-Richards picks the stipulation for the final match in the series. Kurt gets the ankle lock, but Matt rolls through for 2. Matt takes him down, but misses a moonsault. More Germans by Kurt lead to an Angle Slam attempt, but Matt counters with a Side Effect for 2. Two more Side Effects hit for 2. Twist of Fate hits and gets 2.5. Matt goes for another Twist, but Kurt grabs the ankle for another ankle lock for the win. This was fine, but never got out of first gear. It was nothing but move after move without much more to it. EC3 jumps in, but Matt is taken out by Tyrus. Kurt gets the ankle lock on EC3, who taps out. Kurt gets his hand raised and…that certainly was a show ending.

To see every screenshot taken for the show, just click here.