wrestling / TV Reports
Csonka’s TNA One Night Only World Cup of Wrestling 4 Review
Image Credit: Impact Wrestling
Loading...Who won the cup?
Csonka’s TNA One Night Only World Cup of Wrestling 4 Review
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Drew Galloway defeated Trevor Lee @ 8:20 via pin [***¼]
– Ethan Carter III defeated Basile Baraka @ 7:47 via pin [**]
– James Storm defeated Eli Drake @ 8:10 via pin [**¼]
– Eddie Edwards defeated Mahabali Shera @ 6:44 via pin [**]
– Bram defeated Crazzy Steve @ 7:13 via pin [**½]
– Jessie Godderz defeated Baron Dax @ 7:00 via submission [**¼]
– Mike Bennett defeated Jeff Hardy @ 9:05 via pin [**¾]
– Jade defeated Rosemary, Madison Rayne and Sienna @ 7:50 via pin [**½]
– Grado defeated Robbie E @ 6:30 via pin [DUD]
– Elimination Match: Team Hardy defeated Team Bennett @ 16:30 via pin [***]
– Jeff Hardy, Mike Bennett, Eli Drake and James Storm are the team captains. The teams, which they will pick here to kill approximately 30-minutes of PPV time, will compete in various matches The two teams with the most points make the finals, and then face off for the World Cup Trophy. And the teams are…
– EC3 had some fun messing with the others, especially Bennett, but this part always goes on so long. EC3 was so happy that Grado got picked that he danced with him.
Drew Galloway vs. Trevor Lee: Galloway wasted no time here, tossing Lee around for the first minute with a series of overhead belly to belly suplexes. After brawling on the floor, Lee trapped Galloway in the apron skirt and then kicked him in the face. After a count out tease, Lee took control for a bit, but it did not last long as Galloway made his comeback. They worked well together as they started to go back and forth down the stretch, when left to do his thing Lee is good working against anyone, no matter the size. Also, Galloway works well with smaller guys, which he has done a lot in Evolve. Lee scored some good and believable nears falls, but Galloway hit the future shock DDT to pick up the win. That was a good back and forth match that gave Lee a lot before he lost.
Ethan Carter III vs. Basile Baraka: They stalled a bit, taunting each other with their country’s flag. EC3 dominated with hip tosses and a press slam, but Baraka then stunned him in the ropes and took control. He grounded EC3, working a basic and bland heat segment. This isn’t bad, but there’s no heat for Baraka’s offense. EC3 got some hope spots, which got the crowd into the match, but it died each time he got cut off. Baraka hit a series of knees, went to the ropes and hit an elbow drop for a near fall. EC3 then fought back and hit the one percenter for the win. Technically there was nothing wrong with it, but it was bland and felt way longer than it actually was.
James Storm vs. Eli Drake: Drake controlled early, staying a step ahead of Storm and constantly frustrating him. Storm started to fight back and looked for a superkick, but Drake avoided and bailed to the floor. Storm followed and controlled until Drake raked his eyes. After some walk and brawl on the floor, the action went back to the ring, where Drake used the ref to crotch Storm on the ropes, and he took the heat from there. Solid heat from Drake, easily more animated and aggressive than Baraka was in the last match. Drake was doing well until he decided to spit beer in Storm’s face; he then took another drink and walked into the superkick for the spit take and finish. This looked as if it was going to pick up nicely, and then they stalled and got too cute with the finish. But bad, but it was just sort of there.
Eddie Edwards vs. Mahabali Shera: Shera used his power to control early, but Edwards went into hit and run mode and then pulled Shera to the mat, playing to his strengths. Edwards then sent the big man to the floor, hit a cross body that Shera was supposed to catch, but he stumbled and fell. Shera quickly took over, slamming Edwards to the barricade and then taking the heat when they returned to the ring. Shera hit his sky-high powerbomb, but Edwards rolled to the floor. Shera rolled Edwards back in, and Edwards fired up with chops, elbows and then hit the running knee strike for the win. Not bad at all, they kept it simple and outside of the spot on the floor, Shera was perfectly fine, which is a big accomplishment for him.
Crazzy Steve vs. Bram: Steve attacked with crazy fists, but Bram used his power and tossed him to the floor. Rosemary then distracted Bram, allowing Steve to take control. Steve tossed Bram around into the barricades, hit a cannonball and then took things back to the ring. At times, Steve’s heat is nothing special, but it’s very loyal to his character, which makes it work. There are a lot of little moving parts to what he does, even when it appears he is doing nothing but working a hold, he does nice little things. Bram fired up, hit some knee strikes, and they then went back and forth with both looking to get the finish. Steve went up top, got cut off and Rosemary got involved to distract Bram. Steve it his wacky version of the tarantula, but when he jumped off the ropes, he got caught and Bram hit the brighter side of suffering to pick up the win. This was better than the previous two matches, but felt a bit disjointed at the end. Also, this is one of those matches that frustrates you, because on TV Bram and Rosemary are becoming an item, here they were on opposite sides.
Jessie Godderz vs. Baron Dax: Dax actually wore the Eli Drake shirt, which not only had Drake’s face on the front, but had DUMMY written on the back. This led to Godderz, the crowd mocking him and stalling for the first minute. Godderz controlled right away, hitting dropkicks and other fast paced moves. Dax then cut him off and worked the arm with kimuras and shoulder breakers. Godderz made his comeback, selling the arm really well, having to drop the power moves and improvising. Dax cut him off with divorce court, but Godderz quickly fought out and got the Adonis crab and the win. They were dog well there, but the finish was completely out of nowhere, and Godderz completely dropped his selling at the end. On a side note, Godderz is one of those guys I wished spent time in WWE developmental or at the very least working two to three times a week. He’s really improved, but he can only progress working the TNA schedule. He’s worked approximately 139 matches since 2014; that’s right around one match a week.
Jeff Hardy vs. Mike Bennett w/Maria: They went to the floor early with Jeff hitting a planca and he was all fired up. So we got out short floor brawl, but when they went back in, Bennett cut off Jeff as he went up top. Bennett took control, as we again went to the floor. Bennett beat him down, and then rolled him back in to continue the heat. Bennett worked his usual chinlock based heat, and then he went up top to mock Jeff; he missed his attempt at a senton. That led to Jeff’s comeback, hitting all of the classics: leg drop to the balls, basement dropkick, wacky leg drop pinning combo; thankfully the crowd started to really get into it, all because it was Jeff. Bennett then countered the twist of fate and ht a cutter for a near fall. Jeff hit the twist of fate, went up top but Maria covered up Bennett and that stopped Jeff long enough for Bennett to get the knees up. Bennett then hit the miracle in progress to score the win. Jeff Hardy, even at what, 50% these days, can still do enough to get the crowd invested in everything he does. Pretty good stuff overall, even if Bennett continues to largely bore me.
Rosemary vs. Madison Rayne vs. Sienna vs. Jade: EVERYONE FIGHT AT THE BELL! Sienna and Jade and then Rosemary and Rayne paired off in the early portion of the match. We got the usual floor brawl, which in this match is expected, but simple feels like overkill. They did a four-way submission spot, Rayne eventually broke it up and then everyone was just down due to Rayne’s vicious dropkick. They then fought to the corner, Sienna and Rosemary both wanted to deliver punishment, and then hit a double superplex onto Jade. Rayne tried to steal the win with covers on everyone, but failed. Sienna hit the pounce on Jade, Rayne hit a missile dropkick and it broke down into the signature move buffet. Jade then head butted Rosemary, worked her over and the package piledriver was enough to pick up the win. They all worked really hard, t was never bad, but it felt rushed and clunky, which held it back.
Grado vs. Robbie E:They went back and forth from pretending to be serious to messing around and doing comedy. Robbie had to do comedy around Grado being too heavy to lift. This then broke down into Robbie and Grado trading titty-twisters. They then licked their hands and traded chops, ran into each other and did a double down. Bennett and Maria arrived, Bennett tried to give Grado a chair but he refused. EC3 arrived as Grado considered using the chair, commentary thought that this was hilarious. Robbie hit the boom drop, went up top and Bennett distracted him. Robbie attacked Bennett, but that allowed Grado to fight back, drop the straps and head up top. He hit an ugly splash for the win. I am fine with comedy in wrestling, sorry, I am fine with good comedy in wrestling. This was not that, it was really, really bad.
ELIMINATION MATCH: Team Hardy (Jeff Hardy, Eddie Edwards, Jessie Godderz, Robbie E and Jade) vs. Team Bennett (Mike Bennett, Ethan Carter III, Crazzy Steve, Grado and Rosemary): They did a lot of back and forth in the early portion, going through the various parings and Team Hardy largely controlling. It broke down at about 4-minutes in, EC3 left to do commentary, he has been goofing off and having fun all night. Robbie then got revenge and rolled up Grado at 5:30. Robbie and Steve had some nice back and forth, with Steve hitting a DDT off the ropes to eliminate Robbie at 7:00. Jade and Rosemary returned to action, Rosemary hit an F5 to eliminate Jade at 7:47. Rosemary misted Jessie, and was DQ’d at 8:40. Steve has worked a good bit of the match for his team, and has done really well, which is nice to see. The Decay gimmick gave him new life no doubt. EC3 finally returned to action, shook hands with Jessie and then tagged Bennett in. Team Bennett kept working over Jessie, but Steve missed the cannonball and Edwards got the hot tag and ran wild. He and EC3 shook hands and refused to fight, further upsetting Bennett. Steve countered the backpack stunner. Hit the cannonball and went for the DDT, but Edwards caught him with a suplex and then the knee strike and Steve is gone at 12:00. Bennett in, and after some back and forth, eliminated Edwards with the miracle in progress at 12:45. Bennett and Jessie were in, and after a series of counters, they did a double down. Bennett went for the tag, but EC3 gave him the alligator arms and that led to Jeff and Jessie double teaming Bennett. Jeff went up top, but missed the swanton as Bennett rolled out of the way. Bennett tagged in EC3, who tried to attack Bennett, failed and ate a twist of fate. Maria distracted the ref, Bennett hit Jeff with a chair and tossed it t EC3 and he was DQ’d at 15:45. EC3 hit Bennett with the char and then the cutter, allowing Jessie to pick up the win for Team Hardy. Overall a more fun and energetic main event compared to the usual One Night Only closing matches. EC3 and Bennett constantly fucking with each other all night was well done and made sense.
– Billy Corgan arrived to award the world cup to Team Hardy.
* End scene.
* Thanks for reading.
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”
