By Talon
July 1, 2015
Orlando, Florida
Bell to Bell kicked off with the Elimination Handicap Match featuring The Rising against the Beatdown Clan. The losing team in this match would be forced to disband. The match was a solid affair with few highlights but strong tag team action. Drew Galloway isn't the smartest man in the world for accepting the stipulation despite being down a man. Had they waited a day to tape this match, we could have gotten three on three which would have made more sense.
At one point, Eli Drake hit a flurry of moves including a dive to the outside. He "tweaked" his knee taking him out of the match. Judging from past segments, my guess is that Drake faked it and will be turning on Drew sooner rather than later.
Later in the match, Drew eliminated Kenny King and Low Ki. Ki tried attacking Drew but the Scot smashed Low Ki's shoulder into the steel steps writing him off of TNA TV. The BDC didn't seem to care that he was injured during their celebration.
Galloway looked good in defeat. The Rising never took off beyond what Galloway was doing. Their feud with the BDC was just spinning its wheels. Micah nor Eli Drake weren't given the spotlight much to stand out. The BDC were the cooler group and the finish made sense to me.
*I wasn't a fan of the segment with Magnus, Mickie James and James Storm. We aren't sure of the TNA statuses of the three and it is hard to invest in a wrestler if you think they won't be part of the product in the future. Mickie James cut a weird promo with strange sayings. I have never thought of her being strong on the mic. Mickie and Magnus will team up sometime in the future to face Storm and a mystery female partner of his choosing.
*Ironman Matches aren't my favorite gimmick. Most of the time, the first half of the match doesn't really matter because its usually the final minutes where things are evened up. They are even worse on TV because that is a big chunk of TV time spent on one match. The Wolves vs Dirty Heels didn't really kick into next gear until the final third. At that point, things got really exciting and both teams had issues putting the other one away. Aries and Roode scored the first pinfall with about 4 minutes left following their signature combination. They tried to waste the clock until the Wolves evened the score.
Logic broke down a little with a minute left in the match. Roode and Aries rushed things which cost them in the end with a rollup. I understand what they were doing though. These two teams deserve kudos for the exciting series of matches they were given. I don't know where the tag title scene moves onto from here because TNA doesn't have much of a tag team division.
In the end, I kind of wish this were a Best of 3 Falls Match instead. Shorten it a little and it would have been a Match of the Year for me. I am sure it is a contender right now but I personally preferred the Full Metal Mayhem Match more.
*The 3-Way Knockouts Match was okay but nothing special. The pinning of Kong surprised me because it usually takes more than that. I guess they are moving on to someone else. The post-match stuff where the mystery woman was revealed as Gail Kim was anti-climactic. While I wish it were a new knockout, giving Gail a fresh persona could liven her up.
*The interview with Jeff Jarrett was a complete waste of time. He didn't say anything of note. I would have rather TNA advertise the full interview next week than promise an interview that did nothing.
It appears there will be a working agreement with Global Force Wrestling which I assume will consist of a talent exchange, possibly some cross-promotional angles and some interpromotional shows as well. I am cautiously optimistic that both sides will benefit in the long run.
GFW gets some top-level talent and free promotion. They are in need of big names, which TNA has a few of. TNA hopefully can build up excitement with this agreement. They also are giving their talent more events to work, which has been a problem talked about this past week. TNA is also in need of fresh tag teams and high-flyers, which GFW is in abundance of.
If both sides are honest and work together, they could become sister promotions. GFW is the one benefiting most right now but if done well, TNA could benefit more in the future.
*I really enjoyed the World Title Match between Angle and EC3. While Angle's matches do become routine, he did a good job with EC3 tonight. I kind of wish Tyrus was removed earlier in the match but his interference didn't take away from this thing. TNA did a good job building up the One-Percenter and the Grapevined Ankle Lock over the months that when both men got out of them, they meant something. EC3 has beaten guys like Angle, Sting, Anderson, Lashley and others with that move. Angle has made Aries, Matt Hardy, Spud, Lashley and EY (just this year) tap to the Ankle Lock.
While the match wasn't spectacular, it was good. The finish with EC3 will be the thing that stands the test of time. EC3 deserves this moment and kudos to TNA for getting behind him for so long and treating him so legitimately. He was undefeated for over 600 days. When someone finally beats him for the title, it will mean something. He is the face of the company right now and with all the backstage turmoil going on, I couldn't think of anyone better to have the title. Congrats EC3!
*On the TNAsylum boards, I questioned why TNA couldn't have taped Slammiversary on Thursday and just had the original lineup on the show. Bell to Bell was built for PPV with a few big matches. Instead, we got a lot of filler matches for Slammiversary and problems with running a live show. I understand TNA wanting to build up viewership with big matches but as we saw tonight, that wasn't the case.
I would have rather seen a little bit of tweaking to the card (participants in KOTM and stipulation for Match 5) but Slammy would have been much better. EC3 vs Angle, 3-Way Knockouts Match, King of the Mountain, Match 5, Elimination Match, Magnus vs Storm, Bram vs Morgan and Jessie vs Robbie E. That would have been an excellent show.
