We’ve got some warm-ups as the British Boot Camp finalists prepare to wrestle in TNA.
After the obligatory quick recap, we’re taken to their destination… it’s Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, as the crew put up the ring ahead of a TNA show taking place later in the building. Mark Andrews accused “some of the guys for being ungrateful”, as they show Grado and Dar pratting around.
They continue to play up Grado getting a hard time, with Rampage showing the after effects of zip-tying Grado’s legs together. They carried him into the showers, which apparently were covered in “pish” as Rampage described him as a “slug in a singlet.” I’m pretty sure CHIKARA did a similar gimmick…
Ethan Carter III – ECW – introduces himself to the finalists, with a hat tip to his shared time with Rampage in WWE’s developmental. There’s an uneasy handshake with Grado, before we get some workouts as Austin Aries, Magnus, DJZ and Al Snow gave the finalists a chance to get used to TNA’s six-sided ring. Magnus tips off the finalists about the stiff ropes, before we saw the sparring. Andrews and Aries first, with the extra sides throwing Andrews off guard, before Noam Dar and DJZ had a crack… with the ropes really causing problems at first for Dar. Kay Lee Ray’s next for DJZ, with Ray admitting to having worked in a six-sided ring before, and she more than held her own.
Dave Mastiff runs the ropes next, as he gets used to the steel cables, before Austin Aries looked to make him blow up. Mastiff seemed a little sour over how they seemed to assume that him being bigger meant he had no conditioning, but Mastiff proved Aries wrong. Rampage has his go with Magnus next, coming out with no issues, as you’d expect from those two, before we got the main event…
Grado and Noam Dar paired off last, with the ring confusing Grado. Because of course it did. EC3 needles Grado from ringside, before he praised Noam Dar… then told Grado that he’d “rather watch (his) parents make out” than watch him. Of course, that sets off Grado, as we wrap up another episode, as next week we’ve got the big match.
So, this felt like “the other half” of last week’s show – which makes sense, since they were both half an hour long, and was a perfect way to set the stage for the next tryout match without going all “subtlety hammer” on us.