With IMPACT Wrestling heading back to the UK this October, I thought it was a fine time to have a search through their archives for a show that was taped in Scotland, and here we are at the 29th January 2015 taping, episode released the month after.

At the time IMPACT were concluding their second season of British Bootcamp which returned October 2014, and heavily featured Scottish talent including Noam Dar, the future Nikki Cross, Piper Niven, and Alba Fyre along with familiar faces like The Owens Twins, Dave Mastiff, Rampage Brown, Sha Samuels, and eventual winner Mark Andrews. It also had a through line story of Grado ticking off British Bootcamp judge Al Snow by being late, unprepared, and a general nuisance which led to them facing off at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow.

2015 was an odd time in the turbulent history of TNA/IMPACT Wrestling, being dropped from Spike TV and finding a new home on Destination America in the USA, money was always a fixture in their news cycles, and the chop and change of roster it made for grim reading at times. However, in the UK, IMPACT Wrestling was still popular, airing on freeview channel Challenge, amongst repeats of Bullseye and You Bet.

Scottish wrestling in 2015 was thriving, it was continuing growth following the Insane Fight Club documentary, and the return of Drew Galloway to the independent scene after his WWE release in 2014, which saw Grado and Drew tear up The SECC in Glasgow in the main event of Fear & Loathing VIII that November for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship. Big crowds, sold out shows, and a buzz wherever you went.

The 2015 show in Glasgow wasn’t IMPACT Wrestling’s first visit to Scotland, heading across the pond annually since 2009 with only 2012 missed.

Preamble complete, let’s revisit 2015…

CM Punk had just started his MMA training which I’m sure would go well, Ed Sheeran was Thinking Out Loud, Liam Neeson was rescuing… someone… in Taken 3 (was it both his wife and daughter? I can’t remember and refuse to check), and over 1,500 wrestling fans flocked to The SSE Hydro to watch Impact Wrestling live.

Kurt Angle opened the show to talk about his return to IMPACT Wrestling and that he was going to win the 20 man gauntlet to earn a world heavyweight championship match against the champion, Bobby Lashley.

Matt Hardy, & The Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) defeated The Revolution (Abyss, James Storm, & Manik) by pinfall.

The brawl began immediately with The Wolves meeting Revolution at the entrance way. I remember a lot of useless information, but I have no recollection of The Revolution, which included the named above, Khoya (Mahabali Shera) and The Great Sanada (yes current IWGP World Champion Sanada). What a random cast of misfit toys. James Storm and Abyss were the TNA Tag Team Champions at that point as well.

A quick recap showed how they wrote off Jeff Hardy that particular year with James Storm clocking Hardy with a cow bell which sent Jeff falling off a cage door and landing back first onto ring steps at Lockdown, which looked nasty.

Matt Hardy was singled out early on after a little bit of nostalgia with a makeshift Poetry In Motion from Eddie Edwards. The crowd were hot for Matt as they willed him to tag in Richards or Edwards. Once The Wolves got in they were a well oiled machine with tandem offence, the handspring from Davey Richards caught into a Shock Treatment attempt from Abyss was silky smooth.

After a shmoz, Hardy hit Manik with a Twist of Fate that got a little extra spice from a double foot stomp from Eddie Edwards to the back of Manik mid-twist, Davey Richards added a double foot stomp of his own to wrap up the match.

The Revolution attacked the trio after the match before James Storm gave Abyss the signal to Black Hole Slam a weak Manik and dragging him to the back.

A brisk opener with a lot of love for Matt Hardy and The Wolves. The Wolves were very much a talk less, do more kind of team but their talent was unquestionable.

EC3 came out with Tyrus following a recap of the week prior when he tried to shave Rockstar Spud’s head but was interrupted by Miiiiiiiiiiiiiister Anderson… Anderson. After a bit of a tantrum he was once again interrupted by Miiiiiiiiiiiiiister Anderson… Anderson.

Mr Anderson… Anderson threatened to come to the ring and shave EC3’s head but was slowly blocked by Tyrus. Mandrews and Rockstar Spud appeared behind EC3 for a big brawl. EC3 escaped a head shaving leaving Tyrus to get duct taped to the bottom rope and have his silly mohawk shaved off.

Man I was a huge fan of Mr Anderson… Anderson, even when he was Mr Kennedy… Kennedy. He was so charismatic, and the crowd loved his little adlibs. The EC3 versus Rockstar Spud feud was a big one for Impact Wrestling and certainly pulled on the heart strings.

Tyrus looked hilariously useless, somebody call his momma.

There was a little backstage bit with the Beat Down Clan, of all the takes they used the one that Low Ki stumbled his words on, which was funny. MVP, Kenny King, Low Ki, and Samoa Joe talked amongst themselves saying that Kurt Angle didn’t stand a chance in the gauntlet.

We also got a little bit with Mickie James at the train station saying she was coming to update us on the condition of Magnus after he was attacked by Bram. From what I remember it never ended well when Mickie James and train stations mix.

Grado defeated Al Snow by pinfall.

Al Snow, geared up, was stood in the ring, no entrance for one half of Head Cheese. We got the Dale Oliver Like A Prayer tribute music to enter to, which wasn’t half bad. It did look like that was overdubbed as you could see fans mouthing the words to Madonna when there were brief close ups. Grado as he gyrated down the aisle, but had his moment on the turnbuckles interrupted by Snow who went on the attack.

Snow continued the beat down as his Mum was watching on, Grado kicked out of a Snow Plow variant and a moonsault as the chants for Grado got louder. Snow missed a second moonsault with Grado recovering to hit a desperation Wee Boot, straps down, Roll N Slice, then some Flip, Flop and Fly to rattle the former WWF European Champion.

A Wee Boot was ducked as Snow grabbed Head, swung wildly and missed the target before finding himself being hit squarely with the Wee Boot by Grado for the three count.

Al raised Grado’s arm after the match before the duo were jumped by the Low Ki, Samoa Joe, and Kenny King of the Beat Down Clan. As the beat down, apt, continued, a tall hooded figure jumped the guardrail and swung a lead pipe about to clear the ring, revealed to be Drew Galloway.

Mirroring his ICW return 6 months or so prior, the crowd erupted to see Drew make his Impact debut, in his home country, saving one of the most beloved wrestlers in the country. Perfect. Right down to busting Low Ki open with the side swipe of the pipe added extra tension for a future collision.

The match wasn’t a mat classic, it was never going to be, it’s about Snow bullying the everyman and the everyman fighting back, because Grado is so likable, what you see is what you get with him, it’s easy to garner that support. Off the back of this it wasn’t long before Grado was in the States for IMPACT, most of American audience didn’t quite get it but those that did loved it.

Pairing this with the Drew Galloway debut maximised the patriotic reaction from the audience. SCOTLAND! SCOTLAND! Al Snow was European Champion, he can be Scottish too, why not eh? SCOTLAND!

We got a backstage segment with Angelina Love and her crew taking an “Ussie”… which is stupid…ly genius, as Awesome Kong watched on in the shadows. Ohhh.

Mike Tenay interviewed Kurt Angle and talked about the Foxcatcher movie. It’s one I’ve had on my list for a long time. An interesting segment to add in.

TNA Women’s Knockout Championship – Taryn Terrell defeated Angelina Love (w/DJ Z, Jessie Godderz & Robbie E) by pinfall to retain the TNA Women’s Knockout Championship.

The Bromans, Jessie Godderz and Robbie E, had gear that was blue with white crosses, which is amazing and all likely 100% a fluke that it’s the gear they are wearing in Scotland.

Love attacked Terrell before the bell before hitting her with a Samoan Drop (Canadian Drop? The Maple Dropleaf?) on the outside. Once it returned to the ring, Taryn tossed Angelina off the top rope to gain the advantage.

Love his a Botox Injection bicycle kick, but her follow up front facelock was countered into a cutter from Terrell for the win clean as a button.

As Taryn celebrated, the lights went out and returned to see Awesome Kong standing here, after a brief scuffle Kong laid out Terrell with an Implant Buster. Gail Kim arrived to stare down Kong as she left the ring.

The match wasn’t long but it certainly put across the fighting spirit of Taryn Terrell, for me, an underrated Knockouts Champion. She came in with the reputation of being another former WWE hire, she wasn’t really known for very much physically on a national stage, mainly as Teddy Long‘s assistant on Smackdown and WWECW, and it was a time where women’s matches in WWE were lucky to get near the 5 minute mark with entrances included, so she only really arrived on her former WWE star branding, and in IMPACT she earned the Knockouts Championship and had some stellar matches with Gail Kim to boot.

We got a talking head segment about the gauntlet, you know the type, 20 men, I’ll be the last one standing etc. etc.

Tommy Dreamer must have the largest collection of event t-shirts. He walked out wearing the Maximum Impact tour shirt with all the dates on the back. Dreamer called out Eric Young for a fight. After a couple false entrance teases from Young, Dreamer decided to head to the back and find EY himself.

Hardcore Match – Eric Young defeated Tommy Dreamer by pinfall.

Young jumped Dreamer at IMPACT’s equivalent of the Gorilla Position as they headed back out to the ring for a scrap. Young bit at Dreamer’s eyebrow to bust him open.

Dreamer countered a Piledriver attempt but Young swept the leg of Tommy when he attempted a DDT which saw Dreamer land back first onto a folder chair. Dreamer misjudged how close the table was when he launched Young over for a top rope suplex, sending his whole body through the wood.

Young recovered to low blow Dreamer, send him head first into a chair wedged into one of the six corners, and ended it with a Piledriver.

It wasn’t anything pretty, just a plunder filled brawl, a bit of blood, a table, a little bit of variety on the show. The biting was barbaric which played into the new deranged side of Eric Young.

Mickie James was out next to follow up on her train station visit. After some choice words for Bram, out he came but he was drowned out by “WE WANT MAGNUS” chants. After Bram said his bit, James called him half the man Magnus is and that Bram was nothing more than a bitch which saw him stalk James into the corner. After a slap from James, a couple referees and Simon Diamond arrived to cause some separation.

A bit soap opera, but the crowd played along. I think they were just happy to see Mickie James.

There was a quick backstage back and forth between Bobby Lashley and Kurt Angle which was a bit tense.

TNA World Heavyweight Title Contendership 20 Man Gauntlet – MVP defeated Austin Aries, Bram, Chris Melendez, Crazzy Steve, DJ Z, Ethan Carter III, Gunner, Jessie Godderz, Kenny King, Khoya, Kurt Angle, Low Ki, Mr. Anderson, Robbie E, Rockstar Spud, Samoa Joe, Samuel Shaw, The Great Sanada, and Tyrus.

A big battle royal to finish up, as is tradition, I assume the raffle was drawn during an ad break.

Of notable moments and observations, Tyrus looked like his only thoughts were “breathe in” and “breathe out” as he stood still and let other wrestlers do all the work around him. He eliminated a handful of folk including Samuel Shaw, DJ Z, and Rockstar Spud to boos before being misted by Sanada and eliminated by Mr Anderson.

Anderson.

Anderson also dumped out EC3 to continue that thread.

As the entrants continued to fill the ring, the Beat Down Clan’s numbers were working out in their favour with Kurt Angle entering last to face all four members on his own.

Bobby Lashley walked out to watch Angle being battered in the corner which went on for ages. Angle was able to eliminate Joe, Low Ki, then Kenny King in quick succession to leave it one on one. The BDC stayed at ringside and thanks to a distraction from Low Ki and a leg grab from King, MVP gave Angle a big boot near the ropes to send him to crashing to the floor to become number one contender for the world championship.

This wasn’t a healthy Kurt Angle, he was slow and looked in pain every time he took a step. The prolonged beating of Kurt looked to have the idea of the crowd rallying back but outside of some small pockets there wasn’t a whole lot of reaction.

Lashley just stood about, I thought he might’ve tried to clear the ringside area of the eliminated BDC members in order to maybe raise some tension in the final moments but nothing. A flat main event.

It really came across that the majority of the audience were there for Al Snow versus Grado, they got an added bonus of a debuting Drew Galloway but outside of that the crowd were quite muted which was made all the more apparent due to every stomp in the ring echoing around the venue. They perked up for Matt Hardy and Mickie James, familiar faces for WWE, or lapsed, fans perhaps.

There were some fun moments, and IMPACT certainly brought a plethora of matches across the pond, and even though Kurt Angle wasn’t in the best of shape it would’ve still been a buzz to see him live in and living colour. As a time capsule it was fun to see some the embryotic stages of the likes of Samuel Shaw, the future Dexter Lumis, and DJ Z, the future Joaquin Wilde.

A nice visit to 2015, let’s see what 2023 brings for IMPACT Wrestlng when they return.

Yes! IMPACT Wrestling are returning to the UK in October with planned visits to the following:

  • Thursday, October 26 at O2 Academy in Glasgow, Scotland
  • Friday, October 27 at Walker Activity Dome in Newcastle, England
  • Saturday, October 28 at HMV Empire in Coventry, England
  • Sunday, October 29 at HMV Empire in Coventry, England

These will be IMPACT’s first major British shows in almost eight years and will feature exclusive championship matches.

Tickets for all three UK shows are available now at www.impactwrestling.com – prices start at just £35.

The 2023 UK Invasion Tour will feature IMPACT Wrestling World Champion Alex Shelley plus Moose, Eddie Edwards, Deonna Purrazzo, Kazarian, Brian Myers, ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) and hometown hero Joe Hendry, among many others.

IMPACT officials have confirmed the tour will also feature the IMPACT return of Scottish wrestling hero and star of hit TV shows Scot Squad and Two Doors Down – Grado.

IMPACT Hall of Famer Gail Kim and hardcore icon Tommy Dreamer will also make special appearances each night of the UK Invasion Tour.

We recently chatted with IMPACT Wrestling star Moose about the upcoming tour, along with talking about the tour with Gail Kim and Alex Shelley. Check them out below: