This is Impact: The Turkey Bowl

I love Thanksgiving. I love spending time around a dinner table with my family in preparation for the Christmas Season. I love the turkey, I love the potatoes and stuffing and all the other good food we will end up eating. In my family, when dinner is done, it is time to put up the Christmas tree.

Throughout the years, Thanksgiving meant a lot in TNA history as well. I remember having to miss the classic Thanksgiving episode every year because of the holiday and watching it over the next day or so. The Thanksgiving episode was a light-hearted affair where things were just fun. For one night, the other issues would be put aside as fans witnessed food fights, embarrassing costumes and more.

In TNA, Thanksgiving meant the Turkey Bowl...

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Turkey Bowl, the concept debuted in Thanksgiving of 2007. It was a one-night tournament consisting of 3-Way matches featuring a representative of TNA's heavyweight, X Division and Tag Team Divisions. The winners of the matches would end up in 3-Way finale where the person who got pinned would be forced to wear TNA's dreaded Turkey Suit. In 2007, that man ended up being AJ Styles.

The format remained the same the following year. An arrogant, whiny prick named Alex Shelley was pinned by Rhino and humiliated by wearing the Turkey Suit.

The Turkey Bowl went on hiatus for a few years but returned in 2011. Eric Young and Robbie E were cornerstones of these matches. Through a series of single and tag team matches, names like Jessie Godderz, Norv Fernum, Dewey Barnes and Grado had to wear the outfit.

The concept evolved again when Eli Drake hosted it. Drake called it "Eli Drake's Gravy Train Turkey Trot." Over the next two years, it was a 10-person intergender tag team match where the one who was pinned had to don the Turkey Suit. One year it was Chris Adonis and the next year, it was Glenn Gilbertti.

Unfortunately, Eli Drake has moved onto other opportunities. With that said, I have always felt like the Turkey Bowl was harmless fun featuring the more comedic side of Impact Wrestling. Usually, the Turkey Suit is used to humiliate a villain or a comedic wrestler. Some of my favorite episodes in TNA's past happened on Thanksgiving including the 2007 Angle Thanksgiving Feast episode that can't be replicated.

I would like to see it continue in the 10-person intergender elimination match. This way we continue the survival tradition that Thanksgiving brings. There would be two captains and throughout the episode, they would need to find four partners of their choosing. The winning captain would get a check for 25,000 dollars. The losing captain would have to wear the Turkey Suit.

​Wrestling should be fun. Thanksgiving is all fun for this fan. I hope we see the Turkey Bowl continue well into Impact's future. Gobble, Gobble Bitch!

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