Tag: Brian Cage

Impact Wrestling results: Johnny & Taya vs. Cage & Grace

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Impact Wrestling’s road to Rebellion continued from St. Clair College Sportsplex in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The opening video recapped last week’s show and gave us the build to tonight’s main event of Johnny Impact & Taya Valkyrie vs. Brian Cage & Jordynne Grace.

This week’s Twitch stream was hosted by Don Callis. Melissa Santos was out of commission due to a knee injury.

Moose defeated Zachary Wentz (w/ The Rascalz)

Out of the norm, The Rascalz decided to stay at ringside for Wentz’s match. Moose mocked Wentz before the match and bullied him, provoking Wentz to go for the first strike. Wentz went for wrist control, but Moose easily overpowered him and chopped him.

Wentz took advantage of Moose playing to the crowd to kick him, send him outside, and hit a moonsault to the outside that Moose caught. Moose got sent to the ring post instead.

Wentz hit a couple of running strikes, but Moose again powered himself back and hit a couple of impressive dropkicks. Moose worked over Wentz for the next few minutes, using mostly strikes and tossing him around the ring. But once again, Moose got cocky and started playing more to the crowd and getting distracted with the referee. Wentz found himself outside, where Moose pursued and went for an apron bomb, but instead swept the leg when Wentz tried to escape.

Moose got cocky again, and this time Wentz had the opening to dive on Moose and finally rock him. Wentz hit a couple of running dropkicks, a striking combo, and a corkscrew plancha, but he only got a one count. He hit a knee to finally get Moose off his feet. Wentz went for a plancha, but Moose caught him and tossed him outside onto his partners.

Back in the ring, Wentz got a couple more kicks in, but when he went for the kill, Moose caught him, hit the No Jackhammer Needed, and pinned him for the 1-2-3. Pretty good opener.

Rob Van Dam’s official return was announced for the April 29 Impact tapings. He cut a promo about coming back.

Melissa Santos interviewed Madison Rayne about losing to Jordynne Grace and being back in Impact. Rayne said that she unfortunately lost, but she is back to win the Knockouts Championship and take on the competition. Tessa Blanchard interrupted her, talking trash about Rayne coming back to relive her glories and piggy backing on her. Blanchard said Rayne is just like Gail Kim.

Rayne brought up that she has a winning record against Blanchard and challenged her to a match.

Su Yung vs. Rosemary ended in a no contest

Rosemary jumped Yung and started taking out each of the Undead Bridesmaids one by one. Rosemary kicked Yung to the outside, but the Bridesmaids saved her, so instead, Rosemary locked Yung in the Upside Down. Rosemary went for a spear in the corner, but Yung dodged and worked on Rosemary’s weak knee with several strikes and a single-leg Boston Crab.

Yung went for a dragon leg whip to take down Rosemary, then used the opening to go for her dirty glove.

Rosemary battled Yung, hitting a reverse DDT to get her away. They traded strikes and clotheslines. Rosemary hit a running knee for a two count. Yung came back with a palm strike, but Rosemary recovered and hit a German suplex.

All the Bridesmaids got on the apron, and once again Rosemary went for them. Kiera Hogan came to Rosemary’s aid, but they ended up arguing outside the ring because Rosemary didn’t want Hogan’s help. All the Bridesmaids jumped them and the match ended in a no contest.

After the match, the Bridesmaids tossed Rosemary back in the ring, where Yung locked in the Mandible Claw. Yung hit the Panic Switch on both Rosemary and Hogan to lay them out.

We got a recap and backstage look of the United We Stand show in New Jersey and some comments from talent involved with the show.

Ace Austin cut a promo about losing the six-way match from last week. He said that he was about to win, and blamed Aiden Prince for his loss. He challenged Prince to a match.

The GWN Flashback Moment of the Week was Rob Van Dam vs. Joey Ryan for the X-Division Championship from TNA Turning Point 2012.

Backstage, Killer Kross met with Willie Mack. Kross asked Mack if he liked jazz music. Kross got in Mack’s head by saying that Rich Swann was playing him for a fool. This is an interesting direction, with Kross trying to intervene in Swann’s affairs.

We got a promo by The Deaners saying they’re headed to Impact and they’re getting focused. Good promo and promising gimmick.

The North (Josh Alexander & Ethan Page) defeated El Reverso & Sheldon Jean

Commentary brought up Page and Alexander’s history together, but not as Monster Mafia. This match was a showcase for Alexander and the tag team work of The North.

El Reverso had a hope spot on Alexander, but he stopped him with a Plunge before hitting a twisting facebuster double team. Page tagged in and hit a backbreaker on Reverso. Alexander came back in, locked in an ankle lock, and turned it into a powerbomb backbreaker.

Reverso finally tagged in Jean. He had a good hot tag and hope spot, getting a two count on Page with a flying forearm. Reverso tried to make a stand against both men, but The North picked up the win over Reverso with a double-team maneuver. Great debut for Alexander.

Backstage, Melissa Santos told Gail Kim about Blanchard’s comments. Kim said she would go out to the ring for Blanchard vs. Rayne.

Back from commercial, The North cut a promo about them taking over the tag team division. Good promo by both men.

Kim came down to the ring and joined commentary for the next match.

Madison Rayne defeated Tessa Blanchard

Blanchard, right from the start, focused more on Kim outside the ring than Rayne, who took advantage of the distraction on several occasions. Blanchard got the upper hand on Rayne with a set of running forearms and dropkicks.

Rayne came back with a couple of roll-ups, but Blanchard easily kicked out. Blanchard hit a brainbuster and went to choke out Rayne.

Blanchard kept messing with Kim, striking Rayne right in front of the commentary table. Blanchard hit a corner Magnum, and once again talked trash to Kim instead of pinning Rayne.

Back from commercial, Rayne and Blanchard exchanged strikes in the middle of the ring. Rayne hit an enzuigiri and a Northern Lights suplex for a one count. Blanchard hit a double underhook modification of the Bitter End for two.

Rayne hit a crucifix bomb for a two count. She went for a reverse DDT, but Blanchard blocked it and hit a slingshot suplex, rebounding Rayne twice on the ropes for a two count. Blanchard hit a superplex for two.

Blanchard went for a steel chair and attacked the referee, provoking Kim to take the chair away. It gave Rayne time to recover, and she blindsided Blanchard with a schoolboy to get the upset win.

On commentary, Kim kept putting Blanchard over with comments like Blanchard being able to achieve top level greatness at such a young age and Blanchard reminding Kim of herself. However, Kim said it was unfortunate that Blanchard had a terrible attitude.

Backstage, Eli Drake and Eddie Edwards asked the Lucha Bros for a Tag Team title shot since they beat LAX last week. Suddenly, LAX attacked the Lucha Bros while Drake dragged Edwards away.

We got another vignette for The Deaners. They’re going hard on these guys.

Melissa Santos interviewed Johnny Impact & Taya Valkyrie. They talked about tonight’s match against Brian Cage & Jordynne Grace. Johnny put over Cage as a wrestler, but then buried him for being one-of-a-kind dumb. Valkyrie provoked Santos by implying that Cage and Grace had an affair.

We got an oVe cam promo. They were in some back alley. Sami Callihan cut a promo about giving Swann everything and now Swann will have nothing for betraying oVe. At Rebellion, Callihan will take the X-Division Championship.

Blanchard cut a promo backstage on Kim. She said that she was only thinking of beating Kim at Rebellion, but now that Kim decided to interfere in her matches, it will be personal.

Fallah Bahh was backstage looking for Scarlett Bordeaux, who eventually showed up. Bahh thanked Bordeaux for the save last week. Bordeaux told Bahh that she’ll team with him next week against the Desi Hit Squad.

Impact World Champion Johnny Impact & Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie defeated Brian Cage & Jordynne Grace

This had WWE-style mixed tag match rules with the wrestlers having to pair up by gender, so Valkyrie started the match by trying to provoke Cage into a DQ — but Grace was right there to take her on.

Grace got the upper hand early with a series of shoulder tackles and clotheslines. She sent Valkyrie right into the corner and hit a running knee and a running elbow right before a Vader Bomb for a two count. Valkyrie finally got some space and went to Johnny for the tag, but Johnny actually got off the ring to avoid getting in the ring with Cage.

Grace tagged in Cage instead, forcing Johnny to become legal. They did a small sequence with Johnny escaping Cage’s attacks and getting cheap shots in — until Cage caught Johnny, curled with him, and tossed him like a rag doll.

Johnny hit a springboard corkscrew, but got too cocky to follow up. Cage came back with a clothesline and a backdrop that over rotated Johnny. Johnny tried to find a way to tag Valkyrie, but Cage blocked him until Johnny simply poked Cage’s eyes and got the tag.

Grace didn’t wait and rushed at Valkyrie in the corner, but Johnny was still there to aid his wife and give Valkyrie the opening for a shotgun dropkick. She stomped on Grace for a bit and went for an armbar submission and a curb stomp on the same arm.

Valkyrie hit a running hip attack and the double knees for a two count. Grace hit a desperation running powerbomb. Valkyrie tried to make the tag to Johnny, but instead was talked into stopping Grace — with Johnny again trying to avoid Cage. Valkyrie failed to stop Grace, so Johnny straight up went in to attack Grace, but it was too late as she tagged Cage back in.

Cage ran wild on Johnny with a combo neckbreaker and a huge release German suplex for a two count. Cage went for the F5, but Johnny reversed it into a swinging neckbreaker for two. Johnny went for Starship Pain, but Cage caught him. Cage and Johnny took each other out with a lariat and a kick respectively.

Grace and Valkyrie came in, with Grace hitting a German to throw Valkyrie to the outside. Grace followed with a tope suicida on Johnny, only to be taken out by Valkyrie. Cage then hit a tope con giro on Johnny, tossed him in the ring, and went for the Drill Claw. Suddenly, referee Johnny Bravo buckled Cage’s leg, giving Johnny the opening to hit a shining wizard and win via quick count. The referee got a lot of heat.

After the match, Cage got back up and went after Bravo, but Valkyrie low blowed him and the couple beat up Cage. Johnny Bravo hugged with Johnny and Valkyrie.

Don Callis and Josh Mathews said on commentary that they’ll review all of the recent Johnny Bravo matches since they now suspect Bravo is the only reason Johnny has been able to retain the championship all this time.

Final thoughts —

Good show. With two more weeks to go until the Rebellion pay-per-view, this episode was all about escalating feuds. The wrestling was good all around.

WrestleCon US vs. The World results: Brian Cage vs. Masato Tanaka

Posted on by Justin Knipper

From the heart of Midtown Manhattan, WrestleCon returned Friday morning with their US vs. The World show, available on Fite.tv.

Brian Pillman Jr. defeated Emil Sitoci

The Hilton Midtown crowd was small and scattered but enthusiastic from the start of the event. Excalibur was on commentary and mentioned most everyone was hungover from the festivities of the night before.

This was a decent match. Sitoci went after Pillman just after the bell rang. Pillman teased a pescado but used a mule kick instead. They brawled outside the ring. Pillman high kicked Sitoci against the guardrail until Sitoci was able to catch one of Pillman’s legs to shift the match back into the ring. Sitoci spent a few minutes continued working over the leg, but Pillman was later able to return the attack with a nice snap powerslam. 

They started trading high spots. Sitoci did a split-legged moonsault and then Pillman used a cross body block from the top rope that Sitoci reversed. Pillman won with a swinging cross-arm neckbreaker to put Team USA up 1-0.

MJF defeated Ethan Page

Page started singing “You Are My Sunshine” on the mic, the one MJF sang on the Rosie O’Donnell Show in the mid-90s. The video of this resurfaced on social media this week and they used it as the match plot. Page passed the microphone around to crowd members and tried to get everyone to sing a few lines of the tune and MJF sold it perfectly. 

In the ring, MJF mostly worked over Page’s arm and back with wear-you-down submissions as they bantered with each other and the crowd. There was more “Sunshine” singing, too. MJF won the match after using a piledriver and a lateral press with both feet on the ropes to put Team USA up 2-0. 

David Starr defeated Daga by submission

This was a solid match that was unfortunately quite short. These two apparently had their coffee this morning because they both kicked the match off at a rapid pace with lots of rope running and reversals. Daga used an elbow suicida to the floor early on, and afterward, used short burst flurries of low kicks and stomps inside the ring. Starr acted like he was knocked out after Daga used a pop-up Death Valley Driver.

The two teed off on each other with elbows and chops that woke the crowd up with the sound. Starr used a power bomb with a jackknife pin but couldn’t keep Daga’s shoulders down. He used a modified Texas Cloverleaf with armbar hold for the win to put Team USA up 3-0.

Black Taurus defeated Darby Allin

This was a visual spectacle, both in the case of the wrestling but also in just how unique both look and how distinct they are from ach other. Like the Starr vs. Daga match, though, this was also a bit too short.

After their initial lockup, Taurus shoved Allin into the corner and paintbrushed him hard in the mouth. A minute later, Taurus slapped Allin hard again. Taurus offered his hand and Allin used it as an opportunity to cradle Taurus into a La Magistral for two. At this point, things really kicked off.

Taurus’s agility is impressive; a power guy who can also move with fluidity, not unlike LA Park. He did some impressive rope-assisted flipping and arm-dragging in addition to some great looking power offense. Allin returned fire with his distinct punk lucha arsenal, including a tope suicida and a tornillo into the ring, both from the bottom rope. 

Allin used a Coffin Drop (a flying trust fall, essentially) to the floor onto Taurus, whose base was so solid that you could see Allin bounce off of Taurus’s body while his stayed in place. Taurus eventually won the match with a spinning fisherman’s buster, making the score Team USA 3, The World 1.

Jiro “Ikemen” Kuroshio defeated Rich Swann

For context, Kuroshio’s entrance gimmick in Japan is that he teases getting into the ring to the full tune of Masaharu Fukuyama’s “Hello”. Instead of his usual three-to-five minute version, he did an abridged version of the schtick that lasted about a minute. I’m not sure if the crowd fully caught on or not. He also looked into the camera and shouted “I’m Japanese!”

Swann danced through pretty much the entire venue before the match and wore his Impact X-Divison belt to the ring. 

They teased shaking each other’s hand for a while. This was a lot of comedy mixed with high flying. There were lots of thrust kicks from both wrestlers, and Ikemen did a huge tope con giro to the floor. He kept yelling “I’m Japanese!”, but this time in Japanese. He did a lot of “jacket punches” where he grabs his own jacket and throws punches.

I’m not sure if people got Ikemen or not. It seemed like the crowd wanted to like it but weren’t familiar enough with his gimmick. They were kind of quiet. Swann looked very good throughout this, but in the end, it was Ikemen who grabbed the win after a hammerlock powerslam followed by a picture-perfect moonsault to make the score USA 3, The World 2.

This was good but it felt like an exhibition match, and even more so of a showcase match for Ikemen as it was his first bout in the States.

The Rascalz (AR Fox, Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel) defeated Australian Suicide, Adam Brooks & Robbie Eagles)

This was a USA vs Australia clash and once the Australian fans in the venue finished booing the Rascalz, the match was underway and never really let up in terms of pace. There seemed to be two guys running the ropes at all times. 

This was a lightning quick and crisp spotfest where everyone looked fantastic with nonstop innovative moves. The spot of the match was when Brooks dove over a corner post, landed on Miguel, and did a Canadian Destroyer onto the apron while almost falling onto the ground; Brooks had safely hooked his ankles to the bottom rope.

From here, Brooks went on a Destroyer-spree, and then the match turned into an insane dive festival with everyone involved. Eagles did a tope con giro through the ropes and landed on the announcer’s dad. Australian Suicide did a Shooting Star Press onto all five wrestlers from the top turnbuckle to the floor. 

The Rascalz won after a double team flying stomp finish to make the score Team USA 4, The World, 2.

A note about the crowd: They were completely silent unless they were cheering for spots, and which gave the feel of the match a weird flavor. This was a great match if this style is in your wheelhouse.

The Hart Foundation (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Teddy Hart) defeated LAX (Santana & Ortiz) 

This was not a good match. Hart came out with his cat and both teams posed a lot before Hart Foundation jumped LAX, the hometown favorites, and the match got underway.

The teams brawled into the mostly quiet crowd at the start. DBS did the Bret Hart figure four around the ring post spot to Santana, but because he’s so much bigger than Bre,t it made it looked like he was absolutely crushing Sanata’s leg.

The Harts controlled much this. Hart did a springboard moonsault into an elbow drop, while DBS did the delayed vertical suplex his father used to do. 

At one point in the match, Santana put Hart into a sharpshooter. Smith came in moments later and the Foundation did a hip toss Canadian Destroyer for the abrupt victory. As I said, this had a strange energy about it. LAX didn’t do much. 

Ortiz got on the mic after the match and said “Someday, somehow, you will suck my d*ck.” Hart disregarded that and cut a babyface promo on the crowd thanking them for all they had to put up with to get to New York. He also thanked Mike at Highspots for putting the show on and mentioned how much money he spends which the announcers enjoyed. The crowd seemed to love this and chanted for Hart on his way out. Smith essentially said the same thing afterwards. 4-3 USA is the score going into the final two matches.

Puma King defeated Sammy Guevara

This wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible. It was comedy than anything peppered in with a couple big spots. They gave each other the finger a lot and said “f*ck you* a lot before they started, which turned into an underlying story of the match. 

Guevara did a cool corkscrew dive to the floor. Puma King did his own version of the delayed vertical suplex in this match and then politely plugged his Youtube vlog to the crowd which got a “Puma King” chant for this. Guevara then took the mic and claimed, in fact, his vlog was the best in wrestling. He was booed.

They did a few big-ish spots until Puma King landed a pendulum Liger Bomb for the win. Puma King got the crowd to yell “f*ck you” at Guevara one last time before the rather over feline victoriously walked to the back. The score is now 4-4, but they didn’t play this up much on commentary. 

Brian Cage defeated Masato Tanaka

I found it strange watching Tanaka walk out to hip hop music, but he did. He doesn’t look all that much different than he did in the late 1990s and possibly is even leaner now. 

Unlike the other matches on this card, there was zero messing around beforehand. Cage muscled Tanaka at the start of this, at one point curling him like a bar of weights.

Cage did his version of the delayed vertical suplex here and followed up with a standing moonsault. The story here was Tanaka was the underdog because of his size and did a terrific job at selling Cage’s offense and showed lots of intensity anytime he would throw strikes.

They exchanged loads of strikes and power moves at each other midway through. Tanaka later used the Sliding D and got a big reaction. Cage then used a power bomb, a buckle bomb and the Drill Claw (nèe Steiner Screwdriver) for the win.

The crowd politely chanted for Tanaka after the match and that was it. Team USA wins 5-4. 

**********

This wasn’t the greatest show of the weekend but wasn’t bad at all. One thing about dream match cards is that while they often look great on paper, it’s often a crapshoot on how they’ll turn out because of the variables. The sleepy and most-likely jet lagged crowd somewhat sucked the energy out of the building. Allin vs Taurus was the show stealer for me although each match had a taste of a number of modern styles that most anyone would enjoy.  

Impact Wrestling results: Johnny Impact vs. Brian Cage

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Impact Wrestling returns from Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall in Las Vegas, Nevada. Opening video recapped the state of all ongoing championship feuds as well as the angle between Scarlet Bordeaux and Disco Inferno setting up their match for the Against All Odds special episode.

Twitch stream tonight was hosted by Melissa Santos with a cameo from Don Callis. Alisha Edwards was the special guest for the post-show interview.

oVe (Sami Callihan, Jake Crist, Dave Crist) defeated Rich Swann, Willie Mack, & Tommy Dreamer

Match started with the babyfaces clearing the ring. Dreamer and Callihan went at it first, with Callihan getting the better of Dreamer with a few strikes, but as soon as he tagged in Jake Crist, Dreamer caught him and tagged in Swann. The babyfaces proceeded to punish Jake Crist for a bit with quick tags and wrist control. Eventually, Dreamer got too funny and gave Jake enough time to recover and turn the match around.

Willie Mack got the hot tag and took out both Crist brothers. Mack hit a Samoan Drop and Moonsault combo on Callihan before tagging in Swann, who hit a Rolling Thunder. Dreamer came in again and did some comedy trying to do a nip up. Mack hit a Corkscrew Plancha on oVe, followed by a Phoenix Splash to the outside, and to a big pop, Dreamer hit a rolling senton from the apron.

Back from commercial, oVe had turned the match around, now with Callihan choking out Swann with a sleeper. Jake and Dave came in and out with quick pin attempts and submissions on all of Swann’s limbs. Eventually, Swann managed to escape Dave Crist and tag in Dreamer for another hot tag, taking out Jake and Dave with atomic elbows. Callihan spit on Dreamer, who lived up to his ‘hardcore’ nickname actually eating Callihan’s spit.

All men came in and hit their finisher, ending with all of oVe taking out Dreamer with several clotheslines. Dreamer dodged them to set up Willie Mack’s cannonball on all three. Mack and Swann hit stereo Frog Splashes on Dave and Jake respectively, while Dreamer hit his on Callihan. When Dreamer went to finish Callihan with the DVD, Callihan recovered, did a Groin Claw and hit the piledriver to pin Dreamer. Good match, quick paced, Dreamer’s comedy felt out of place, since Swann and Callihan’s feud is pretty heated.

Backstage, Johnny and Taya are in their locker room, Cage comes up and asks if Johnny is ready for tonight. Johnny simply responds to Cage that he’s the one that needs to be ready.

We got a video package recapping the story between Brian Cage and Johnny Impact up until last week. Good production here.

The Rascalz did their smokeout round table. They talked about losing to the Lucha Brothers. Moose appeared out of nowhere and asked about where the smoke was coming from, he started talking about Melissa Santos, and it all led to all Rascalz just laughing about Moose. All Rascalz got beat up by Moose in a comedic way.

Glenn Gilbertti came out to the ring. He talked trash to Scarlett Bordeaux before asking for competition for an exhibition of skills.

“Disco Inferno” Glenn Gilbertti defeated Kikutaro

Match started with both men doing a series of reversals and counters, not at the level of the X-Division, but the basics were all there. Kikutaro ended with the upper hand and mocked Disco by dancing. Kikutaro kept making fun of Disco until Gilbertti got mad and took out Kikutaro with a clothesline. Gilbertti punished Kikutaro, whipping him to all corners until Kikutaro just dropped. Gilbertti hit a neckbreaker for a two count. Gilbertti hit a Russian Leg Sweep and hit the Village People’s Elbow, but Kikutaro got out of the way.

Kikutaro made a comeback hitting a Dragon Screw and a Shining Wizard for a two count. Kikutaro went for a moonsault, but Disco dodged, hit a Stunner, and picked up the win. This was actually well wrestled and a lot more competitive than you would imagine.

Backstage, Rolando Melendez interview Taya Valkyrie. Rolando asked about the Tessa Blanchard vs Jordynne Grace match tonight for the Knockout’s No 1 contendership spot, but she said that she was more worried about Johnny’s health and match tonight.

Fallah Bahh & KM defeated Reno Scum

Bahh and KM actually came out ready for business and were met on the ramp by Reno Scum for a small brawl before starting the match. Reno Scum took out Bahh before getting in the ring where they worked over KM as the match started. Lester The Legend and Thornstowe beat down KM with a series of strikes and quick tags. The beatdown went on for several minutes, with KM having a couple of hope spots, but Bahh was still down. Eventually, Bahh made it to the apron and got the hot tag, taking down both Scum guys with running splashes to the corner.

Bahh hit a Samoan Drop on Thornstowe for a two count. Fallah hit a body-to-body suplex to pick up the win over Thornstowe after KM had taken out Lester The Legend. Quick match, felt like a reverse squash match since Bahh’s comeback was so short at the end. Reno Scum lost their second match since returning, so let’s see where that goes.

Backstage, Konnan met up with Pentagon and Fenix. He said that he told them he wanted a date for a rematch, but Pentagon was tired of getting bossed around by Konnan and mocked him with the Cero Miedo sign instead. They walked out while Konnan shouted at them.

Back from commercial, Santana and Ortiz were talking about their rematch before Konnan came in and told them that Pentagon and Fenix were going to pay for disrespecting them. Konnan said he didn’t have the rematch yet, but he wanted a Street Fight.

Jordynne Grace defeated Tessa Blanchard in a Knockout’s Championship No. 1 Contendership Match

They started locking in and challenging each other with shoulder tackles with Jordynne easily won and gained control of the match. Grace hit a Stalling Jackhammer for at two count. Jordynne tossed Tessa around the ring with huge whips, provoking Tessa to use the ref to shield herself from Grace, and using the distraction to cheap shot Grace to get some momentum back.

Tessa worked on Jordynne’s head with forearms and slaps. Tessa hit the draping codebreaker fo a near fall. Tessa unloaded on Jordynne with a series of strikes, but got distracted with the ref as usual, allowing Grace to recover and hit a huge Spinebuster.

Back from commercial, both women are going back and forward in a striking contest. Jordynne keeps going for scoop slams, getting a two count with one that looked more like a Michinoku Driver. Jordynne went for the Muscle Buster, but Tessa got free and dropped her with a DDT. Tessa once again got distracted shouting at the ref, giving Grace enough time to recover and tossing her with a Press Slam. Jordynne Grace hit the Grace Driver and pinned Tessa for the win. This match was great for the time it got. These two need to get more time at a PPV one day.

After the match, Tessa attacked the referee. Tessa had a meltdown in the ring. Attacked the ring bell keeper, she was beating up this kid pretty bad until Gail Kim came out for the save. Tessa went to attack Gail Kim, but Gail caught her and ran her off the ring instead.

We got a great commercial for Impact and company’s United We Stand show on April 4th. They also announced that Impact will be taping from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia on May 3rd and 4th.

Backstage, Scott D’Amore checked on Tessa Blanchard, who only berated D’Amore claiming that he allowed to be attacked by an official. Gail Kim confronted them both, and D’Amore actually backed up Tessa Blanchard’s claim and suspended Gail Kim for a week for attacking an active competitor. D’Amore’s wording actually works great to push Gail Kim back into the active roster.

GWN Flashback Moment of the Week, voted by the Twitch fans, was Sting vs RVD from 2010’s Slammiversary PPV.

From an undisclosed location, Rosemary had Dark Allie chained up and they talked about Allie losing her soul, in a way, recapping their story by conversation. Allie was trying push Dark Allie’s buttons while Rosemary kept interrogating her about the real Allie’s whereabouts.

Callihan cut a promo on the oVe Cam. Callihan said that he gave Swann the opportunity of a lifetime when he asked him to join oVe, and instead, Swann messed everything up. Callihan said that starting next week, Calliahn will take everything from Swann’s life, and he will start with the X-Division championship.

Eli Drake & Eddie Edwards defeated Desi Hit Squad (Rohit Raju & Raj Singh) w/Gama Singh

Raj and Eddie started the match with the former getting the early upper hand due to his size, but Eddie quickly turned it around. Eli Drake came in and also got overpowered by Raj, but once Rohit Raju came in, his speed wasn’t enough to control Drake, who took him down with a Swinging Neckbreaker.

Eddie Edwards came in and worked over Raju, but Raj jumped in with the blind tag and blindsided Eddie. Raj worked on Eddie’s neck for a bit. Desi Hit Squad did some double team moves on Eddie while Raju kept teasing Eli Drake in the corner. Raju hit a big cannonball on Eddie and Eli Drake finally got tired of Raju’s antics and jumped in, took out both Desi Hit Squad members, tossed Kenny to Eddie, who used it on Rohit Raju to pick up the win. Ok match, it was short. After the match, Drake told Eddie Edwards to think about teaming more.

Back from commercial, Johnny’s entrance theme came up for his main event, but he wasn’t coming out, instead, out came Killer Kross carrying Johnny’s unconscious body and a cinder block. Killer Kross attacked a group of security guards that tried to stop him. Seems like Kross is keeping this promise from last week.

Kross set up Johnny’s head against the cinderblock and was going to smash Johnny’s head in, but Taya brought out Cage with her. Taya went to cover Johnny with her body as Cage just watched from the ramp. Taya attacked Killer Kross, but didn’t do anything to him, and finally, before Kross could hurt Taya, Brian Cage came to the aid of Johnny and Taya, taking out Killer Kross with a chair.

Taya thanked Brian Cage, but out of nowhere, she low blowed Cage as Johnny nipped up like nothing. He took off his neck brace and attacked Brian Cage!

Johnny hit a Shining Wizard, and now it was him setting up the cinder block against Cage’s head. Johnny slammed the cinder block, which didn’t break. Outside the ring, Killer Kross looked on with a huge smile on his face as Johnny and Taya posed over Cage’s body as the show went off.

Good strong show, big storyline developments with all the championships and a big heel turn by both the world champion and the Knockout’s champion. Wrestling-wise, Tessa Blanchard vs Jordynne Grace was great for the time it got, with the rest of the matches being ok.

Impact Wrestling results: Impact & Cage vs. Kross & Moose

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Tonight’s Twitch broadcast is hosted by Melissa Santos. Josh Alexander did a post-show interview talking about how he started to wrestle and his plans for the future with Impact. During the broadcast, we got commercials specifically promoting the Twitch channel. Twitch viewership topped around 14k.

Impact Wrestling returns from Sam’s Town Casino from Las Vegas, Nevada. Opening video focused on lasts week’s title match between LAX and the Lucha Bros! where LAX unmasked Pentagon and Fenix to close the show. Also, Johnny Impact’s ongoing story with Brian Cage, Moose, and Killer Kross; Tessa’s threats to Impact management; and the incoming Dark War between Rosemary and James Mitchell’s army.

Willie Mack defeated Jake Crist (w/Dave Crist) by DQ

Match started quick with Mack landing a Thesz Press and a quick neckbreaker on Crist. Jake retaliates with a series of kicks, a snap German, and Tope Suicida, a Tope con Giro, and finally, a tornado DDT to the outside. Jake got a two count after a flying elbow.

Jake went for a crossbody, but Mack caught him, hit a Samoan Drop and a Moonsault for a two count. Mack hit a draping Codebreaker, and as he went for a top rope move, Dave Crist attacked him giving Mack the win by DQ.

Jake and Dave Crist attacked Willie Mack until Tommy Dreamer came out to even out the odds and take out oVe. Dreamer cut a promo saying he has been trying to correct the wrongs in Pro Wrestling, he cut that usual promo asking the fans if they want to see Mack and Dreamer tag team, so instead we got…

Willie Mack & Tommy Dreamer defeated oVe

Match started during the commercial break, when the show came back, Dreamer and Mack have the upper hand as they brawl outside the ring. Back in the ring, Dreamer and Mack hit a couple of double team moves over both Crist brothers.

As Tommy Dreamer worked over Jake Crist, Dave got a sneak attack turning the momentum to their side and cutting the ring in half on Dreamer. oVe worked mostly with quick tags and strikes over Dreamer, going for quick pin attempts to tire out the old timer. Eventually, as Jake Crist went for a top rope move, Dreamer managed to cut him off and drop him with a superplex, getting enough time to tag in Mack.

Willie Mack came in throwing around both Jake and Dave. Dreamer got rid of Dave Crist outside the ring, leaving Jake Crist opened for Mack to hit his rolling Senton to the corner. Mack hit Dave with a Stunner, Dreamer hit the Spicolli Driver on Jake, and after a Frog Splash, Mack pinned Jake Crist to win the match. This was ok, nothing special, felt somewhat long if you take in both matches as one.

Johnny Impact was interviewed in the back by Rolando Melendez, investigative reporter, who inappropriately said that Johnny is giving out title shots for ‘favors’. Johnny said that he gives title shots to who he thinks deserves one. He blamed Moose and Kross for Cage not getting his singles title shot. I like this Melendez guy, he’s bold and straight forward.

KM & Fallah Bahh defeated Reno Scum

Thornstowe looked a lot different from their first Impact run. Bahh and Thornstowe started the match with the latter trying to pick up Bahh, but failing at Bahh’s weight. KM came in with a slingshot plancha, but Lester took him out from the apron and they turned the match around.

Reno Scum worked over KM for a bit, mostly with punches and stomps, nothing particularly pretty or impressive. KM eventually got himself an opening and tagged in Bahh.

Fallah Bahh came in and quickly took out Thornstowe and Lester with chops and crossbodies. Bahh and KM rolled over Lester, but distracted themselves playing at the fans. Thornstowe came back, only to take a Rocket Launcher into a Samoan Drop combo and get pinned by Fallah Bahh.

After the match, Reno Scum attacked KM and Bahh from behind, they hit a top rope Footstomp and Curb Stomp combo on KM. They posed over KM’s body.

Backstage, Glenn Gilbertti asked Ethan Page about the Impact Management offices were. Page blew him off, but pointed to the door. D’Lo Brown opened the door and revealed he’s a new producer. Gilbertti went to the office and was told that he is a week late. Gilbertti wanted to bring up an idea for a G1 Climax style tournament for the X-Division, but management also blew him off making fun of some old Russo bookings. Gilbertti walked out to search for Don Callis. I wouldn’t mind a round robin tournament for the X-Division while Swann deals with Callihan.

Backstage, KM and Bahh cut a promo. They said that for two years, they’ve been crawling to make it in Impact, and now Reno Scum comes back from being gone for so long and tried to make a name out of them. Awesome fired up promo by KM and Bahh, who are technically, comedy acts.

GWN Flashback Moment of the Week was Rosemary vs Jade’s Monster’s Ball match from January 2017.

Eli Drake and Eddie Edwards met backstage. Drake said that they are one and one, but he brings up that he was right about Eddie not needed his kendo stick to win. Eli Drake proposed becoming a tag team and chase the tag team championship, but Eddie rejected the idea.

Scarlett Bordeaux was shown in her locker room, she called us all 5s and said that next week, she announces her opponent for her debut. They’re really milking this debut.

Tessa Blanchard defeated Delilah Doom

Doom rushed the ring, but Tessa caught her. Doom took down Tessa, hit a few lucha arm drags and ranas, but eventually, Tessa overpowered her and stopped a rana into a sit down powerbomb. Tessa hit a few short distance lariats, maintaining wrist control. Tessa hit a modified Saito Suplex for a two count. Doom started a comeback, but was quickly stopped by another clothesline. Tessa hit a vicious running dropkick to the back of Doom’s back.

Delilah Doom caught a hope spot hitting a 619 and a flying dropkick for a two count, she went for a Crucifix pin, but Tessa straight up stood up from pin position with Doom on her shoulders. Tessa hit the Hammerlock DDT for the pin. Pretty much a squash match. Delilah Doom is still somewhat green, but she has good fire and potential.

Tessa talked to the camera telling management that she’ll get her rematch ‘or else’.

Melissa Santos interviewed Brian Cage. She asked about coexisting with Johnny Impact tonight. Cage said he and Johnny can coexist, because tonight it’s about taking out Kross and Moose and that no matter what happens tonight, his title shot is already on paper.

Rosemary cut a promo. She talked about going in along against James Mitchell’s army, but Kiera Hogan and Jordynne Grace came up to her, offering to help. Rosemary told them this was not their fight. I take it Rosemary hasn’t been watching Impact the last months with Kiera and Grace taking on Allie and Yung week to week. Rosemary accepted the help, but she warned them that once Allie is back, they need to back off.

Zachary Wentz defeated Ethan Page

Match started with a series of counters and reversals, quick action that ended with Wentz dropping Page with a twisting crossbody. Wentz went to whip Page, but Page used his strength to cut him off. Page hit a flapback, blocked some kicks, and hit a reverse suplex and big scoop slam.

Wentz started to make a comeback with striking combo. Wentz hit a running knee, a PK, and a standing SSP for a two count. Wentz went for a suicide dive, but Page caught him and turned it into a back breaker.

Outside the ring, Page started to antagonize some of the NFL Hall of Famers in the crowd, he pushed one of them, causing a big distraction that allowed Wentz to recover, enough to hit a big dive, a What-a-Cutter and the pin for the win.

Backstage, Gilbertti met with Dreamer. Disco walked into a room with THE Anthem Owl, who I guess ended up attacking Gilbertti. I don’t know what this was supposed to be.

We got another vignette for Ace Austin, debuting next week.

We got a video package recapping the story between Sami Callihan and Rich Swann. Callihan explained that Swann had no family and he took him in and gave him everything, and now, Rich Swann is turning his back on him and the oVe family. Callihan said he only asked for a little bit of loyalty. He said that he attacked Swann in Mexico, not because he hates him, but because he loves him and wants him to wake up and come to their family.

Melissa interviewed Moose and Killer Kross backstage. Kross tried to talk some sense to Moose, bringing up that Johnny is getting in their heads and in between them. He said that tonight, they’re not going out there to lose. Moose then cut a great promo about Johnny cheating everyone out of title shots.

LAX were in their club’s corner. Santana is explaining why they unmasked Pentagon and Fenix last week. Him and Ortiz explained Konnan why they did it. Konnan said that it’s because of this behaviour that they’re in that situation. Konna said he was going out there to ask for another match, but they have to stay low and do it his way.

Moose & Killer Kross defeated Impact World Champion Johnny Impact & “The Machine” Brian Cage

Moose came out wearing what can be described as a sleeveless Ric Flair robe with spray painted dollar signs. He’s the only man that could pull this off.

The story of the match was great. It played off their previous tag match where Johnny and Cage couldn’t work together at all, which led to their loss, but even with good team work, Cage once again ended getting the short end of the stick when Johnny was taken out and he had to fight off both Kross and Moose.

Match started with Kross and Cage trading forearms and kicks. Cage got an early 619 in and tagged in Johnny, who used his speed to work around Kross’ strength. Moose came in and suffered the same fate against Johnny’s athleticism. Johnny and Cage hit a few double team moves on Moose.

Back from commercial, Johnny worked over Moose, right when Kross tagged in, who also got taken down by Johnny and Cage’s team work. Cage hit a deadlift suplex from the apron to the ring, then Johnny followed with a Countdown to Impact, but in landing, Johnny seemed to have hurt his neck. Johnny dragged himself to tag in Cage, who came in against Kross while Johnny was still laying in the ring.

The numbers game of Moose and Kross got the better of Cage, who tried to take on both at the same time, but ended up outside the ring, being rammed to the ringpost by Kross while the referee was distracted with Johnny.

A group of refs came out to check on Johnny; meanwhile, on the other side of the ring, Kross was just torturing Cage with the championship belt, busting him open. A bloody Cage was tossed back to the ring, where Moose continued with a series of strikes. At this point, Moose and Kross just tortured Cage inside the ring, who hoped to tag out, but there wasn’t anyone left in his corner.

Cage made one final comeback, but having lost so much blood and not having anyone to tag in was too much. Cage managed to hit Kross with an F-5 and went to the corner and asked for Johnny, distracting himself from Kross, who hit a Doomsday Saito from behind, and locked in the Straightjacket Hold for the submission win when Cage faded out.

Johnny was carried to the back by the refs and Taya, while Kross and Moose posed over Cage’s bloody body in the ring, as the show went off the air.

Overall a good show, it went by fast. The wrestling was nothing special, but we got several storyline developments. Next week, The Dark War between Rosemary’s army against James Mitchell’s army takes place.

Impact Wrestling results: Lucha Bros vs. LAX

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Tonight’s Twitch stream was hosted by Don Callis and Melissa Santos, with a special cameo by Brian Cage, and a post-show interview with Al Snow, talking about his purchase of OVW and their upcoming show with Impact Wrestling.

Opening video recapped Taya Valkyrie and Johnny Impact’s defenses from the Uncaged special episode, plus the attack of Sami Callihan on Rich Swann. Tonight, Impact Wrestling returns to Sam’s Town Casino from Las Vegas, Nevada for this new set of tapings.

Johnny Impact opened the show coming out to the ring. He cut a promo saying that he has been the fighting champion he said he’d be when he won the title. Johnny brought up his questionable wins against Cage, but at Uncaged he defeated all those men and closed that chapter. He said he is ready to move on to the next contender, but the man to come out is Moose.

Moose got on the mic and made fun of Johnny complaining of being hurt and having to fight a lot. Moose said that the only reason he didn’t win is because of Brian Cage and Killer Kross, who comes out to join them in the ring.

Kross came out to a big pop. Kross called Moose a betrayer and told Moose that he should know better than to cross him. They did a small bit of comedy, talking about fashion, that was really off with the mood. Johnny tricked Kross and Moose into having a No. 1 contendership match.

Killer Kross vs. Moose for an Impact World Title shot went to a no contest

This was a great hoss fight. Both men went straight for the shoulder tackles and forearms. Kross had the early advantage, taking down Moose with a series of clotheslines to the corner until Moose pulled the referee in front of him and used the distraction to low blow Kross for a two count. With another distraction, Kross returned the favor hitting Moose low for a two count himself.

Kross sent Moose to the outside where they brawled around, taking out Johnny Impact in the process, who was doing commentary at ringside. As soon as they made it back to the ring, Johnny attacked them both, causing the ref to throw out the match.

After the match, Kross locked in the Straightjacket Sleeper and once again, Moose and Kross joined forces to take out Johnny, but Brian Cage came out for the save.

Brian Cage and Johnny hit tandem superkicks to send Kross and Moose packing. Cage told Johnny he owed him one.

They played audio from Konna’s Keepin it 100 radio show, where Don Callis hired Glenn Gilbertti.

LAX were in some kitchen. Konnan hyped LAX for tonight’s match and tells them that tonight, win, lose, or draw, this is it.

Back from commercial, Johnny and Cage are talking backstage. Johnny thanks Cage for helping him out. Johnny tells Cage that if he wants his title shot, he won’t be able to get a clean one unless they take out Kross and Moose once and for all. Cage doesn’t want to team up with Johnny anymore, so Johnny shows him a title shot contract if Cage teams up with him one last time.

GWN Flashback Moment of the Week was Eddie Edwards defeating Tommy Dreamer at 2018’s Slammiversary XVI.

The Rascalz did their That 70’s Show round table. Trey Miguel and Wentz are arguing and agree to trade places in their following matches, making it Trey and Dezmond teaming against the Desi Hit Squad and Zachary Wentz vs Ethan Page. They were joined at the end by Gama Singh, showing them how to smoke a hookah. All the Rascalz go to sleep and Gama kept talking. This was weird, even for a Rascalz’ skit.

Reno Scum return to Impact Wrestling next week.

The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Trey Miguel) defeated Desi Hit Squad (Raj Singh & Rohit Raju) w/Gama Singh

Story is that The Rascalz are feeling the effects of the hookah they smoked with Gama, revealing that it was Gama’s plan all along to get them ready for Desi Hit Squad.

Raj and Dezmond started the match, with Raj quickly getting the upper hand on Xavier. After a few hits in, Rohit Raju got in for a big knee and a two count.

Desi Hit Squad kept control over Xavier for a while with quick tags, but every time that Xavier started a comeback, he would get cut off again since he lacked his usual speed. Eventually, he landed a kick that gave him an opening and got the tag to Trey Miguel with a slap in the face because Trey was not paying attention and Dezmond lacked focus to direct his hand.

Trey came in, running wild on Rohit Raju with some great action, he hit the Trey19 on the corner. He went for a cutter, but Raju countered and hit a Wheelbarrow DDT along with Raj for a two count when Xavier broke the pin.

Trey and Dez hit a tandem X19 and after the Meteora, Trey pinned Rohit Raju for the win. Good quick match with an interesting way to make this match up different and give the Desi Hit Squad a small chance at winning.

Melissa Santos interviewed Eli Drake about his actions from last week. Drake said that he attacked Eddie because Eddie didn’t respect him in last week’s Team AAA vs Team Impact match. He said that he wants this match to show Eddie that hardcore wrestling makes Eddie a loser. Great promo.

We saw footage from Rich Swann in the hospital being visited by Sami Callihan, who tells Rich that he has no one to come visit him other than him. He apologizes to Swann because what he did wasn’t to hurt him, but to wake Swann up. Callihan said that Rich hadn’t lived up to his potential until now. A doctor came in and told Sami Callihan that visiting time was for family only, but Swann told the lady, “he is family”. Callihan left an oVe t-shirt and left.

Eddie Edwards defeated Eli Drake

They start the match by locking in and Drake quickly takes down Eddie with a shoulder tackle. They did a couple counters and reversals, ending with a few arm drags that send Drake to the outside.

Back int ehr ring, Drake tried to tell Eddie to realize that he didn’t need weapons since he was doing great with wrestling, but Eddie didn’t listen and just proceeded to chop Drake. They went outside the ring where Eddie rammed Eli to the post. The ref came out to get Eddie back in the ring, but Eli took advantage to blindside Eddie with a clothesline and get control.

Back in the ring, Drake worked over Eddie’s mid-section, he hit a big DDT and went to follow with a diving elbow, but Eddie dodged it.

Eddie hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for a near fall. Eddie hit a Tiger Driver for another two count. Eddie then went for the kendo Stick, but got distracted with the referee, giving Eli Drake the opening to hit a reverse DVD. Eli went for the kendo stick, but as he went for the swing, Eddie rolled him up and took the win. Another good short match.

Tessa Blanchard was arguing with Impact Management. She got interviewed and explained that management won’t give her a title rematch and blamed it on what she did to Gail Kim. She said that she will get her rematch one way or the other.

Glenn Gilbertti arrived at Sam’s Town Casino asking for directions for the Impact management offices, but instead, he got locked out outside the building.

Delilah Doom defeated Alisha Edwards by DQ

Delilah Doom is making her Impact Wrestling debut. She has a Richard Simmons ‘jazzercise’ gimmick. They start the match with an collar and elbow lock up, but Alisha quickly gets out and hits a plancha, as she goes for a second one, Delilah dodges and hits a 619. Delilah goes for a double on the corner, but Alisha dodges, hits a knee and a plancha that Doom rolls through for a two count.

Tessa suddenly comes out, attacks Alisha Edwards, press slams Alisha on the ramp. Tessa went for Delilah who tried to make a stand, even going for the 619, but Tessa caught her, hit deadlift sit down powerbomb and the Buzzsaw DDT. This was more of a segment than a match.

Delilah Doom cut a promo backstage. She challenged Tessa to a match for next week for what she did to her in the ring.

We got a vignette for Ace Austin.

We got a video recapping last week’s event between Impact Wrestling and the NFL Alumni Association, Las Vegas chapter.

Allie and Su Yung are in one of those dark places in the arena. Rosemary is there, but James Mitchell interrupts her. Mitchell said that Rosemary can’t touch Allie since he owns her soul. Rosemary and James Mitchell make a deal for a winner take all match between Rosemary’s army against Mitchell’s army in a Dark War. If Rosemary wins, she gets Allie’s soul back, if Mitchell wins, he gets Rosemary.

Taya Valkyrie was interviewed by Melissa Santos, who asked about Tessa’s actions. Taya said that she is done with Tessa, and she won’t even acknowledge Tessa’s tantrums, because now that she is the champion, she has bigger things to worry about.

Impact Tag Team Champions Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr & Fenix) defeated LAX (Santana & Ortiz) w/ Konnan to retain the titles.

LAX jumped the Lucha Bros at the ramp, they brawled outside the ring for a while, ramming them to the steel steps and the ring post. Ortiz hit a Tope con Giro on Pentagon. Santana was going for an Asai Moonsault, but Fenix cut him off and took him out with a kick.

Back from commercial, the match has finally started. Fenix and Ortiz were in the ring first, but Pentagon and Santana joined the superkick exchange to take out their opponents and take charge of the ring. Crowd was split in half between LAX and Cero Miedo chants. Santana and Pentagon started trading forearms in the middle of the ring. Ortiz came back and helped Santana take out Pentagon with an assisted senton and moonsault combination. LAX, then focused on Fenix, who got taken out with a Flapjack and top rope Senton for a two count.

The referee finally got control of the match as LAX started working over Fenix’s arm, cutting the ring in half on him. LAX was being really disrespectful to Pentagon and Fenix, taunting Pentagon with the Cero Miedo sign. Fenix made a small comeback and tagged in Pentagon who ran wild on LAX. Slingblade and a double superkick on Ortiz to send him out of the ring.

Pentagon hit a Penta Driver on Santana for a two count when Ortiz broke it up. Pentagon and Fenix then hit their Wassap Dropkick on Ortiz. Santana returned with a cutter on Pentagon. Ortiz hit a codebreaker, and they both hit their double team finisher for a two count when Pentagon kicked out. LAX went for the 5150, but Fenix got rid of Santana with a springboard kick. Pentagon hit the Footstomp Fear Factor on Ortiz and picked up the win.

After the match, Fenix and Pentagon celebrated in the ring. They shook Konnan’s hand. Santana and Ortiz were weary about shaking the Lucha Bros’s hands, but ended up offering their hands. Pentagon and Fenix decided to taunt them and get in their faces instead, to which LAX responded by low blowing them and taking off their masks as a surprised Konna looked on and the show went off the air.

The match was considerably shorter than their previous ones, but this was more about setting up the turn at the end and what will most likely lead to a blood feud going forward to the Rebellion PPV.

Overall, the show was fine in the ring, but we saw several angles and segments that are starting to set up the direction going towards the Rebellion PPV.

Impact Wrestling Uncaged results: Two title matches, World Cup

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Impact returned this week with their “Uncaged” special episode. This was the final show from last month’s tapings at Fronton Mexico in Mexico City.

Tonight’s Twitch stream was hosted by “Disco Inferno” Glenn Gilbertti and Melissa Santos live from the Las Vegas tapings. They answered questions, interviewed several wrestlers throughout the show, and talked to some of the people involved with the NFL Las Vegas Alumni affiliation.

After the show, they featured each of the main event’s competitors doing post-match thoughts. Impact is really making great use of Twitch, having an open time slot, and having live contact with fans.

Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie defeated Tessa Blanchard in a street fight to retain her title

Blanchard came out wearing, according to Don Callis, an original Four Horsemen T-shirt from one of Tully Blanchard’s street fights. Valkyrie came out with a Perros del Mal T-shirt and sporting face paint that looked more like Rey Bucanero than anything else. There was a huge board in the ring with Wera Loca vs. Diamond spray painted on it.

Blanchard tried to attack Valkyrie with a chair on the ramp during Valkyrie’s entrance, but Valkyrie was ready for her, took her down, and beat her up back into the ring. Blanchard set up a chair in the corner and they did a few spots trying to ram each other on the chair.

Valkyrie went after Blanchard’s back with kicks before throwing Blanchard to the outside. Valkyrie went for a tope suicida, but Blanchard caught her with a chair. Blanchard started to beat up Valkyrie, throwing her to the ring post and barricades. Blanchard hit a huge running dropkick to Valkyrie that found herself between the barricade and a chair.

Valkyrie made a small comeback using a cooking plate. Blanchard put a chair around Valkyrie’s neck and rammed her into the ring post — just like Killer Kross did to Johnny Impact a month ago.

Back in the ring, Blanchard choked out Valkyrie with an electrical cord. The cord went around her face, looking a lot more painful than if it had been the neck. Blanchard ripped the Perros del Mal shirt to huge boos by the fans. Blanchard went for a spear, but Valkyrie dodged and Blanchard flew into the chair that was previously set up in the corner.

Valkyrie made a bigger comeback this time. She started throwing Blanchard around the ring, connected with a few clotheslines, and hit the running meteora to the corner. Valkyrie set up the cooking pan between Blanchard’s legs and hit it with a chair.

Blanchard woke up a bit and took down Valkyrie with a chair for a two count. Blanchard started to bring more weapons into the ring. She climbed to the top rope, but Valkyrie caught her with a chair and hit a dangerous looking Samoan drop onto the chairs.

Back from commercial, both were going at it trading forearms. They even did the sit-down strike off, slapping each other back and forth. Valkyrie got the final shot for a two count.

Blanchard speared Valkyrie into the board that was in the corner, but it didn’t break. They went for a second one — and it still didn’t break. It just looked brutal. Blanchard got a two count from both spears.

Blanchard then went to get a table from under the ring. She went to foot stomp Valkyrie’s head on the table, but Valkyrie recovered, threw Blanchard to the outside, and followed with a top rope crossbody.

Back in the ring, Valkyrie set up Blanchard on the table and hit a top rope foot stomp for the pin.

This was a straight up fight. All the spots looked brutal — more than they usually do in other street fights. Great opener.

The GWN Flashback Moment of the Week (as voted by the Twitch viewers) was Dezmond Xavier vs. Taiji Ishimori from the Super X Cup finals at Destination X 2017. Fun match.

Team Impact was interviewed by Melissa Santos. Sami Callihan proclaimed himself as the leader of the team, then Fallah Bahh did some comedy and Eddie Edwards and Callihan almost restarted their rivalry. Eli Drake cut a great promo actually hyping up the team and getting them all together.

Willie Mack defeated Ethan Page

This was a slow, okay match — nothing special to it. They started by chasing each other around the corner — where Mack did a headstand on the top rope, swerving Page, taking him down with a kick, and getting control of the match.

Mack hit a few chops and an actual nipple-twister. Page swept Mack and hit a DDT to turn the match. Now it was Page that got a few chops in. He went for a suplex, but Mack countered with one of his own.

Page hit a second rope enzuigiri for a two count. Mack hit a running cannonball and a Samoan drop/moonsault combination for a two count. Mack went for the stunner, but Page countered with a kick and a suplex for another two count. Mack finally hit the stunner and got the win.

Killer Kross cut a promo telling Johnny Impact that he will need a miracle to win tonight — because if he’s not focused, Kross will take him out and take his championship. Great short promo.

The camera turned, and we saw Mack walk to the locker room. Dave and Jake Crist followed him in and closed the door.

Team AAA was interviewed by Santos. Psycho Clown cut a promo hyping up the team, saying that this is their territory and they will win tonight. Puma King said that this goes beyond AAA — this one is for Mexico.

Sami Callihan came out to the ring. Callihan cut a promo, addressing Rich Swann. He said that everything that Swann said in last week’s interview was “fake news.” Callihan said that for the last few weeks, he’s been offering Swann a chance to join their group, but he gets rejected over and over. He called out Swann.

Callihan told Swann that if their relationship means anything to Swann, he will come out and accept the offer.

Swann came out and rejected once again. Callihan attacked Swann with the microphone. Swann made a small comeback and hit a Phoenix Splash to the outside.

They brawled around ringside and up to the ramp — where Callihan dropped Swann with a piledriver. He then tossed Swann off the ramp onto a table. Good angle — this is surely going all the way to Impact’s Rebellion PPV in April.

Team AAA (Psycho Clown, Hijo del Vikingo, Puma King & Aerostar) defeated Team Impact (Sami Callihan, Eli Drake, Eddie Edwards & Fallah Bahh) in an elimination match to win the World Cup

Callihan and Psycho started the match striking. Callihan had the upper hand until Psycho hit a plancha from the top rope. Aerostar got tagged in and hit a few tornillos and a wacky looking codebreaker on Callihan.

Drake came in and fought Aerostar with some great looking power moves. Hijo del Vikingo then got tagged in. Drake went for the same moves on him, but Vikingo turned a pop-up powerslam into a DDT.

Edwards came in and paired up with Vikingo for a bit before Puma King came in. Puma hit Edwards with a delayed vertical suplex. Edwards hit a backpack stunner and tagged in Bahh. Finally, Bahh and Puma did some lucha teases before the match broke down with all eight men in the ring — where they started brawling.

Team AAA cleared the ring until Drake and Callihan attacked them from behind to keep the brawl going outside the ring.

Psycho hit a tope con giro on Callihan and Bahh. Puma King hit a springboard plancha. Aerostar hit a double-jump plancha, Bahh hit a plancha from the apron, and — finally — Hijo del Vikingo hit an impressive Imploding 450 to the outside. Vikingo went for another one, but Drake cut him off and tossed him on top of everyone.

Back in the ring, Edwards had his kendo stick. Drake took it from him, and as he was about to use it on Puma King, Edwards took the stick from Drake. Amid all this distraction, Puma King pinned Drake with a wacky pin to eliminate him from the match.

Back from commercial, Callihan was working over Puma King. Bahh and Vikingo tagged in, with Vikingo doing speed spots, dodging Bahh, and hitting Callihan with a springboard codebreaker. Vikingo hit a running double knee on Edwards in the corner, but after that great sequence, Bahh caught Vikingo in mid-air and dropped him with a slam for the elimination.

Aerostar came in, but Bahh cut him off with a crossbody. As Bahh went for the Banzai Drop, Aerostar dodged him and used the momentum to roll Bahh up for the elimination.

Callihan and Edwards were left for Impact. Aerostar hit a cutter on Edwards, but he couldn’t follow up on a plancha. Edwards dodged and hit the Boston Knee Party to eliminate Aerostar.

Puma King and Callihan went at it. Callihan hit a powerbomb, V-Trigger, and a piledriver to eliminate Puma King.

Psycho Clown took on both Edwards and Callihan. He initially managed to get some momentum, but the numbers game got to him. Edwards hit the Boston Knee Party, but Callihan threw Edwards out, trying to steal the pin. Psycho kicked out and rolled up Callihan to eliminate him.

The final two were Edwards and Psycho Clown. Psycho hit a big tope suicida. But back in the ring, Edwards capitalized and hit a powerbomb for a two count. Psycho hit a couple of kicks and a Slice Bread Number Two for two.

Edwards hit a few clotheslines, but suddenly, Drake came out with Edwards’ kendo stick and hit him with it, giving Psycho the opening to pin Edwards with La Magistral to give Team AAA the win.

Overall, the match had some good parts with Puma King and Hijo del Vikingo, but it was one of those where the eliminations just happen one after the other because there’s not enough time to properly build any of them.

We got a vignette for the return of Reno Scum in two weeks.

We also got a video recapping the saga between Lucha Bros and LAX, going all the way to the title change from last week. We then got a skit from LAX’s clubhouse with Konnan yelling at Santana and Ortiz for losing the titles. Konnan told them that he is going to get them a rematch, but it’s the last time they face each other, win, lose, or draw.

Allie and Su Yung were talking somewhere in the basement. Allie’s voice has changed. She said that Rosemary is playing mind games. Rosemary crept around the shadows and then disappeared.

Scarlett Bordeaux cut a promo from her hotel room where she was barely waking up.

Impact World Champion Johnny Impact defeated Brian Cage, Moose, and Killer Kross to retain his title

The match started with all four men trading strikes. Johnny took out Moose with a dive. Cage tossed Kross outside and followed with a tope con giro himself. Cage and Johnny went at it in the ring, with Johnny hitting a shining wizard on Cage before Kross and Moose once again got in the ring and double teamed Johnny with a double powerslam.

It was quite early, but they already got the dissension spot between Moose and Kross out of the way with Moose going for the pin on Johnny.

Moose and Kross hit a double powerbomb on Cage, but Moose then tried to roll up Kross from behind. Kross hit a Saito suplex on Moose. Johnny recovered and took out everyone, but he got kicked low by Moose to cut him off. Moose kicked Cage and Kross, then dropped Johnny with a Go to Hell for a two count.

Cage recovered, hitting a Centipede German on Moose and Kross. He brought in Johnny with a deadlift suplex from the apron to the ring. Cage went for the discus lariat, but Kross dodged and hit a Saito suplex on him. All four traded strikes and took each other out. The crowd chanted “Impact Wrestling.”

Johnny made it to his feet first. There was a Tower of Doom spot with Kross as the base and Johnny on top. Kross locked in an armbreaker on Johnny. Moose applied a figure four on Johnny as well, but then Cage went for a dragon sleeper on Kross, breaking the submission chain.

Kross took down both Cage and Johnny in the corner, then hit Moose with a Doomsday Saito. Johnny connected with a springboard kick on Kross for a two count. He went for Starship Pain, but Moose cut him off and hit a senton for a two count.

Moose went for the Game Changer on Cage but got countered with a jumping knee. Cage hit the Drill Claw on Moose for a two count when Kross broke it up. Kross hit a Doomsday Saito on Cage, but Cage fired up and hit a discus lariat.

The finish saw Johnny hit the Starship Pain on one corner on Moose, while Cage hit the Drill Claw on Kross on the other corner of the ring. Johnny went for the pin first, so when the ref counted to three, Johnny got the win instead of Cage.

Overall, a good main event — it was really action packed. The last minutes of the match were really good.

This was a good show — these special episodes are usually good inside the ring. It felt like a mid-season finale heading into the Rebellion PPV, with several storylines escalating into proper feuds, and potentially ending the Taya Valkyrie vs. Tessa Blanchard program.

Next week, Impact returns to Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas, Nevada with Scarlett Bordeaux’s debut.

Impact Wrestling results: Kross & Moose vs. Johnny & Cage

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Josh Mathews, Jimmy Jacobs, and Don Callis hosted tonight’s Twitch stream. Callis revealed that he and Jacobs were actually in the middle of a creative meeting. Sami Callihan was in the post-show interview while he was driving. These conversations tend to be quite entertaining and insightful.

The opening video featured the ongoing story between Rich Swann and oVe, Tessa Blanchard’s suspension, and the main event rumblings between Johnny Impact, Brian Cage, Killer Kross, and Moose.

Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix) & Taurus defeated Impact Tag Team Champions LAX (Santana & Ortiz) & Daga (w/ Konnan)

As usual, there was a huge reaction for the Lucha Bros. Daga was easily the MVP of the match. As short as it was, everything Daga did was great. Taurus also had a great showing.

Santana and Pentagon started the match. They shook hands, but Fenix jumped in and blindsided Santana with a dropkick to start things off. Everyone got in and brawled to the outside, leaving Taurus to hit the first dive of the match, followed by Daga.

Once again, Santana and Pentagon found themselves in the ring and got into a striking battle where they traded chops and superkicks. Santana hit a rolling cutter for a two count. LAX and Daga all teamed up for a three-man combo on Pentagon. Pentagon dodged them and tagged in Fenix, who went crazy on Ortiz.

Fenix hit a delayed flying headbutt and went for the turnbuckle kick, but Ortiz countered with a Blue Thunder Bomb. Taurus and Daga came in and went back and forth — there was tons of action here. Daga hit a delayed German suplex for a really close near fall.

Daga threw Taurus to the outside and everyone started diving one by one, ending with Fenix hitting a huge flying tope from the top rope to the outside.

Back from commercial, Lucha Bros were dominating the ring, working over Ortiz as Taurus got a two count from a twisting suplex. Pentagon and Fenix hit the spiked Fear Factor for the win.

After the match, Pentagon cut a promo in Spanish (with subtitles) on LAX challenging them to a rematch for the Impact Tag Team titles. LAX accepted the challenge for next week.

An “Uncaged” special episode of Impact was announced with Johnny Impact defending the Impact World Championship against Brian Cage as the main event. Uncaged takes place in two weeks.

Killer Kross and Moose were interviewed by Melissa Santos. Kross said he wasn’t in very good spirits since Cage decided to get involved in his business last week. Moose calmed Kross down, telling him that keeping their composure was the key to winning tonight.

LAX were in their clubhouse. Konnan put over Daga and Taurus. Konnan told LAX that he accepts that they’re able to keep it professional and keep it all in the family.

The GWN Flashback Moment of the Week was fan voted by the Twitch chat room from a set of given options. The options were Eddie Edwards winning the World Championship from Bobby Lashley, Cage’s Impact debut, and Su Yung vs. Rosemary from May 2018.

The winning option was Yung putting Rosemary down with the Panic Switch from the ramp to a table and laying her to rest in a coffin.

We got a commercial for Impact’s next pay-per-view — Rebellion on April 28. It will take place at the Rebel Entertainment Complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Kiera Hogan & Jordynne Grace defeated Su Yung & Dark Allie

The match started fast with Yung and Allie jumping Grace, who overpowered both and ended up with the upper hand. Grace hit her running elbow and kick combo for a two count. Hogan came in and hit a series of running attacks on Yung for two.

Allie finally got tagged in. With the help of Yung, she landed Grace on the floor. Grace dodged Yung’s Red Mist — but she wasn’t able to avoid the double team against the ring post while the referee got distracted with Hogan.

Back in the ring, Allie and Yung cut the ring in half on Grace, constantly tricking the referee and Hogan to get distracted. Grace eventually powered herself into a comeback on Allie, hitting a Pounce.

When both made their way to tag their partners, the lights went out. When they returned, Rosemary had replaced Yung in Allie’s corner. Hogan used the distraction to roll Allie up for the pin. The match was okay — not as sloppy as they’ve had before.

Commentary made a big emphasis that this is the second time we’ve seen Yung disappear and get replaced by Rosemary.

Scarlett Bordeaux was working out and sparring with her minion. She’s wearing heels and still managed to hit a few good kicks, dropping Bobo to a pool.

Eddie Edwards & Eli Drake defeated The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz)

The story here was that Drake kept doing dirty tactics while Edwards wanted the match to be clean and didn’t agree with Drake’s behavior.

Edwards and Wentz started the match with a series of reversals, counters, arm drags, and going to a standoff. Drake tagged himself in and got distracted with Edwards, giving Wentz the opening to catch him with an arm drag. Wentz hit a corkscrew plancha for a two count.

The Rascalz hit their kick combo for two. Edwards came in again and was getting handled by both Rascalz until Drake swept Wentz’s leg on the top rope, dropping him neck-first on the turnbuckle. Wentz got cut off for a while.

Wentz eventually got himself an opening and tagged Xavier, who had a great hot tag on Drake, getting a two count.

Drake went for a double suplex on both Rascalz, but they turned it into a double Canadian Destroyer for a two count when Edwards broke the pin. The finish saw Drake take Edwards’ kendo stick and use it behind Edwards’ back on Xavier to hit Gravy Train and pick up the win.

Really good match for the time that it got and considering that The Rascalz sold most of the match. Edwards and Drake make a good team.

Tessa Blanchard sent a video via Twitter. Blanchard said that she is happy she got suspended — because Gail Kim got what was coming for her. Blanchard said her suspension is over on February 15 and she is going to Mexico to reclaim what is hers.

We got a Rich Swann and Sami Callihan video package recapping their saga so far. Swann explained that when he was 17 years old, he had nothing, no family, no one — but through professional wrestling, he met Callihan, who opened up his home and took Swann in.

Through the years, Swann learned who the real Sami Callihan is. He said that Callihan is the type of person that takes everything away from you if you let him.

Taya Valkyrie was interviewed by Santos. Valkyrie said that come February 15, she is ready for Blanchard. She said it will be a street fight for the Knockouts Championship.

Psycho Clown defeated Fallah Bahh

This match is a teaser of the Team AAA Mexico vs. Team Impact World Cup match for Uncaged. Psycho Clown had all his gimmicks for his entrance. The fans loved Bahh and booed Psycho Clown. Commentary pretended the crowd was split.

The match was pretty bad, even excusing the odd pairing. Bahh used his size to overpower Psycho a couple of times, but he also hit a few speed spots. Psycho did a lot of chops. Psycho hit a foot stomp on the tree of woe. He then hit a tope suicida and a tope con giro back to back, only getting a one count from it.

Bahh countered a plancha with a belly-to-belly suplex for a two count. Bahh went for the Banzai Drop, but Psycho cut him off and hit a powerbomb for two. Psycho went for La Magistral, but Bahh got out and went for a splash, which Psycho dodged. This time, Psycho got La Magistral in for the win.

For some reason, they decided to do a mask rip spot that went nowhere and no one reacted to it.

Johnny Impact and Cage argued backstage. Cage said that tonight he’s going to have to do all the work to keep Johnny healthy for Uncaged. Johnny threatened Cage to not screw him tonight.

Team AAA Mexico were backstage. Psycho Clown hyped Puma King, Hijo del Vikingo, and Aerostar going into the World Cup match.

Killer Kross & Moose defeated Impact World Champion Johnny Impact & Brian Cage

Callis called Kross & Moose’s team the Murder Money Connection.

Moose and Johnny started the match, with Moose showing off to the crowd, doing the Hogan poses, and mocking Cage. Johnny used his speed and agility to overcome Moose’s strength.

Kross came in and Cage tagged himself in. This was a great hoss pairing, with them doing a set of shoulder blocks. But when Cage finally got Kross down, Johnny tagged himself in.

Johnny started getting some offense on Kross, but he got distracted with Moose, allowing Kross to take him out and cut the ring in half on him. Moose and Kross started doing quick tags, wearing down Johnny. Kross went for the Three Amigos, but he cut it off on the third suplex for some heat.

Kross locked in a modified dragon sleeper that Johnny countered into a DDT, but he still couldn’t get to his corner and tag Cage. Eventually, Johnny relied on his parkour to dodge Moose and make it to Cage.

Cage came in with a great hot tag, taking out both Kross and Moose with kicks, knees, and throwing people around. Cage hit a German suplex on Kross, but Moose took him out with a kick. Moose hit Go to Hell, but Johnny got a blind tag and hit a flying corkscrew for a two count.

Moose went for the Game Changer. Johnny blocked it and went for the Disaster Kick, but he accidentally hit Cage instead, so Cage and Johnny got face-to-face, distracting each other and allowing Moose to hit a spear on Johnny, pinning him while Cage simply looked on.

Moose, Kross, and Cage now all have reasons for a title shot — Cage having the clear pin from Homecoming, Kross having a rematch since their last one went to a no contest, and now Moose with the pin.

Overall, this was an up-and-down show for Impact. It started strong with the opening match and it ended strong with the main event, but some of the wrestling in the middle wasn’t as good. We got confirmation of not only the next special, but they announced the next PPV, so we now have a good direction going for all the current stories. 

Announced for next week: LAX vs. Lucha Bros for the Tag Team titles, Puma King vs. Sami Callihan, Kiera Hogan vs. Dark Allie, and Rich Swann & Willie Mack vs. Jake & Dave Crist.

In two weeks, Impact presents Uncaged with Johnny Impact defending the World title against Brian Cage, Taya Valkyrie vs. Tessa Blanchard in a street fight for the Knockouts title, and Team AAA Mexico vs. Team Impact in a World Cup match.

Impact Wrestling results: LAX vs. oVe, Brian Cage vs. Moose

Posted on by Antonio Garza

The opening video touched upon Killer Kross’ actions at the end of Homecoming, injuring Taya Valkyrie, and Johnny Impact’s reaction from last week’s episode. It also focused on the escalating situation between Rich Swann and Sami Callihan, the cryptic hauntings of Rosemary over Allie and Su Yung, and the current state of the long-awaited reveal of Scarlett Bordeaux’s talent search.

KM (w/ Fallah Bahh) vs. Caleb Konley ended in a no contest

Konley got some control early on when he jumped KM during his entrance. KM was making a comeback when the camera suddenly cut to Brian Cage walking around backstage pushing people and asking for Johnny Impact’s location.

It wasn’t really clear if there was an actual finish since I heard the ring bell go off when Cage was still backstage, but that could have been recorded during a different match, so when Cage attacked KM first, the referee once again called for the bell.

Cage took out KM and Konley. He powerbombed Bahh and hit an F5 on KM. At the end, he turned his attention to referee Johnny Bravo, hitting a big lariat and the Drill Claw. Cage said that all his carnage is on Impact’s hands since Johnny had offered him the next title shot, and now Killer Kross has skipped the line and is getting a shot next week.

Johnny came out to confront Cage, but he was quickly attacked from behind by Kross and Moose. Cage watched from the ring, but he later went down and dragged Johnny to the ring, where he tossed him and was going for an F5, except Kross and Moose were not done and attacked both men, laying them out.

Back from commercial, Cage cut a promo challenging Moose to a match for getting involved in his business.

Josh Mathews and Don Callis were running down the card when Eli Drake came down to the ring for commentary.

Ethan Page defeated Eddie Edwards by DQ

The match was back and forth, but not all that exciting. Edwards initially went around the ring chopping Page — until Page managed to catch Edwards and ram him into the guardrail to get control of the match.

Back from commercial, Edwards made a small comeback, hitting a Frankensteiner on Page and chopping him. Edwards hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for a two count. Page hit a brainbuster for a near fall. Edwards landed a tope suicida and finally went for Kenny the kendo stick, hitting Page and getting himself disqualified.

Throughout the match, Drake talked about how Edwards doesn’t need to use hardcore moves since he used to have all the tools to be a great wrestler. After the match, Drake cut a promo on Edwards. Drake told Edwards that he used to be champion material and now he is running around getting himself disqualified.

Drake challenged Edwards to bring back the American Wolf. A heel promo, but I can’t help but agree with Drake here.

The GWN Flashback Moment of the Week was a six-man cage match with Abyss, Kevin Northcutt & Legend defeating The Gathering in 2003 when CM Punk and Julio DiNero turned on Raven, giving Abyss the win.

oVe cut a video promo. Sami Callihan told Rich Swann that it’s time to come home. He then turned his attention to Jake and Dave Crist’s opponents for tonight’s main event — LAX. Callihan said that tonight, the only family that walks out is oVe.

The Rascalz did their roundtable comedy skit. They talked about Trey Miguel losing at Homecoming and Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz losing against the Lucha Brothers. They hyped each other up to make a comeback.

Jordynne Grace (w/ Kiera Hogan) defeated Dark Allie (w/ Su Yung)

The start of the match was interrupted by the light fixtures malfunctioning, hinting at Rosemary’s presence. This was a short match that saw Allie get control over Grace early, thanks to distractions from Yung.

Grace would power herself into comebacks, but on several occasions, Allie resorted to some cheap shots to keep control of the match. At the end, Grace simply blocked Allie and hit a pumphandle driver for the win. The match wasn’t much, but it kept Grace looking like someone that can take you out if she gets her hands on you.

After Hogan and Grace had walked to the back, the lights went off and on, replacing Yung with Rosemary. Rosemary offered her hand to Allie, who ran away again.

Back from commercial, Scarlett Bordeaux was backstage announcing the winner of the Smoke Show Talent Search — herself. She put herself over by saying that she is the most over woman in the Knockouts division and hasn’t even stepped inside the ring. She said that her in-ring debut is coming. Kinda underwhelming, but realistically, there isn’t anyone that deserves her managerial services or wouldn’t get overshadowed by her.

Impact Wrestling is returning to Las Vegas for a new set of tapings on February 15, 16, and 17.

Brian Cage defeated Moose

Cage started the match going after Moose and wasn’t even stopped by a rake of the eyes. Moose tried to run away instead, but Cage brought him back to the ring the bad way.

Moose and Cage brawled outside the ring for a bit. They whipped each other onto the ring post. Moose at one point hurt his hand, chopping said ring post. Cage blocked a running kick and turned it into an apron bomb.

Back in the ring, Moose went after Cage’s left leg, working on it for a while, and at one point going for a countout win. Cage managed to make it to the ring.

Cage started to make a comeback when Moose decided he wanted to get into a striking match, only for Moose to hit a dragon screw out of nowhere to regain control. Moose hit a pop-up powerbomb and a senton, which finally fired up Cage enough to make a proper comeback and hit a pop-up powerbomb of his own, followed by a buckle bomb and a discus clothesline for a close two count.

Moose hit a dropkick and Go to Hell, but he only got a two count. Out of desperation, Moose went for a chair shot, but Cage dodged, hit the Drill Claw, and picked up the win.

We got a phone call between Josh Mathews and Taya Valkyrie, who informed us that she is still recovering and won’t be cleared until next week. Valkyrie addressed Tessa Blanchard saying that Valkyrie won the championship thanks to Gail Kim, saying that Blanchard bullied a lot of referees and finally got what was coming to her. She said that next week, she will be in Mexico City and ready to defend the title against Blanchard.

Killer Kross cut a promo, pushing Johnny Impact’s buttons as he brought up what he did to Valkyrie and the fans wanting Johnny to lose to Cage or himself. Kross said that next week, he wins the Impact World Championship.

Blanchard was interviewed by McKenzie Mitchell. She shouted at Mitchell and blamed Gail Kim for her loss. Suddenly, Blanchard started attacking some of the crew until Kim came to stop her, getting into a brawl. Blanchard choked Kim with some cables until the Impact officials stopped them.

Back from commercial, Sonjay Dutt and D’Amore were arguing with Blanchard about putting her hands on officials and suspending her. Blanchard stormed off.

X Division Champion Rich Swann defeated Trey Miguel in a non-title match

Great back-and-forth, short match. It started with both hitting a series of reversals and counters, and there were several arm drags by each until reaching a stand-off. They traded dive attempts until Miguel connected with a tope suicida and finally got the upper hand.

Back in the ring, Swann and Miguel traded slaps and kicks before Swann hit a standing Frankensteiner and a frog splash for a two count. Miguel answered with a heel kick and cutter combo for a two count for himself. Miguel went for the corner 619, but Swann countered. There were several rolling pin attempts and reversals, but at the end, it was Swann hitting a second rope 450 for the win.

After the match, oVe came out. Callihan once again offered Swann the oVe shirt, and once again, Swann didn’t join the team. Before he could answer, LAX came out for the main event.

Impact Tag Team Champions LAX (Santana & Ortiz) w/ Konnan defeated oVe (Jake & Dave Crist) w/ Sami Callihan in a non-title match

This started with both teams brawling outside the ring, with oVe working over Ortiz, as Santana had been taken out during the commercial. oVe worked with many quick tags and hit several double-team moves on Ortiz, getting a couple of two counts in the process.

Ortiz finally cut Dave Crist off on a spot, dropping him over the ropes and getting a quick opening to tag Santana. Ortiz and Santana got a couple of tag moves in and double tope suicidas on both Crist brothers.

All four men got in the ring, with oVe hitting a superplex and powerbomb combo for a great near fall. LAX responded with a cutter and codebreaker combo on Jake Crist, followed with a double inverted suplex for the win.

The Lucha Brothers congratulated LAX backstage, telling them it was a good match, to which Ortiz casually offered Pentagon & Fenix another “ass whooping.” Konnan shouted at Ortiz as Impact went off the air.

Overall, a good show for story development since we’re seeing a lot of rivalries start to escalate to a whole new level. Inside the ring, the show started off somewhat slow, but it managed to close with two good matches.

Next week, Impact returns to Mexico City’s Fronton Mexico. Johnny Impact defends the Impact World title against Killer Kross, and Taya Valkyrie makes her return.

Impact Homecoming live results: Johnny Impact vs. Brian Cage

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Preview by Josh Nason

Impact Wrestling returns to The Asylum in Nashville, Tennessee tonight as a World title match between Johnny Impact and Brian Cage headlines Homecoming.

Cage gets the opportunity on tonight’s pay-per-view after relinquishing his X Division title in exchange for a World title shot against current champion Impact who has been champion since October.

Knockouts Champion Tessa Blanchard will look to defend her title against Taya Valkyrie. Hall of Famer and former champion Gail Kim will be the special guest referee.

Also on the show, Impact Tag Team Champions LAX defend their titles against Pentagon Jr. & Fenix, the vacant X Division title will be decided in an Ultimate X match between Jake Crist, Ethan Page, Rich Swann, and Trey Miguel, Eddie Edwards battles Moose in a falls count anywhere match, Sami Callihan takes on Willie Mack, Abyss battles Eli Drake in a Monster’s Ball match, and Allie & Su Yung team up to face Jordynne Grace & Kiera Hogan.

Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern.

**********

Show opens with a video featuring Johnny Impact and old footage from the Asylum years of TNA. Johnny talks about the feeling of excitement that comes memories and making an Impact, no pun intended, in history. Video touched on all the feuds going into tonight’s card. 

Rich Swann defeated Jake Crist, Trey Miguel, and “All Ego” Ethan Page in an Ultimate X Match to become the new X-Division Champion

This was as crazy as you’d expect. Match started with all 4 men going for the title, which led to a series of hurricanranas as they fell from the ropes. Ethan Page played the power roll in this match, early on he straight up toss Miguel from the top rope to the floor where Swann and Crist found each other. Throughout the match, he was the one stopping people climbing the ropes. 

There was a superkick spot with all 4 men trading kicks that led to the first ‘Impact Wrestling’ chant of the night. Jake Crist hit a double cutter from the rope on Swann and Miguel, leaving Page open to go for the championship, but mid way, he fell on Jake Crist with a falling elbow.Swann recovered and hit a Lethal Injection on Page. Everyone hit dives to the outside, and after recovering, they all started brawling as they climbed one of the corner pillars, leaving Trey Miguel as the sole survivor, who climbed to the top and hit a Moonsault on to everyone. 

Back in the ring, Page took a huge powerbomb when everyone joined forces against him. Jake Crist took out Swann with a Tombstone Piledriver on the ramp, allowing Crist to go for the title, but Page recovered soon enough to spear him mid air. Swann and Miguel now started racing for the title from opposite corners, with Swann getting there faster and snatching the championship. Overall a good match, some good spots. Trey Miguel was the most over guy in the match.

Backstage, Brian Cage was interviewed by McKenzie Mitchell. Cage said that no one ever gave him an opportunity, and so, he made his own opportunity with Option C. He said that tonight, all his sacrifices come to fruition. 

Su Yung & “Dark” Allie defeated Jordynne Grace & Kiera Hogan

This was a short match, at some points between Su Yung and Kiera Hogan were a bit sloppy, but . The rest of the match was good.

Jordynne Grace and Allie started the match with Grace displaying her dominance. Hogan and Yung went at it next, with Kiera Hogan coming in fired up and also dominating over the heel. There was a weird spot where Yung was going to jump Kiera from behind as Allie distracted her, but Grace and the ref for involved making it long and awkward, but it led to Allie and Su Yung cutting the ring in half on Hogan for a while. 

Kiera Hogan was hit with a drapping neck breaker by Su Yung, a backstabber by Allie for a two count. Eventually, Hogan made a comeback against Yung and finally managed to tag in Grace, who came in and easily handled both Yung and Allie. Jordynne had a suspended vertical suplex on Yung and Hogan hit a crossbody on the suspended body of Yung. 

Back inside the ring, all four women fought tornado tag style, with Grace hitting a powerbomb and powerslam to Su and Allie respectively at the same time. Finish saw Jordynne Grace got hit by Su Yung’s mist, allowing Allie to take her out, hit a codebreker on Kiera Hogan, and finally, the Mandible Claw for the ref stoppage. 

After the match, Su Yung and Allie went back to the attack on Kiera Hogan. Su Yung called out her bridesmaids with a coffin to finally bury Hogan. When the coffin opened up, The Demon Assasin Rosemary made her return. Rosemary took out the Undead Bridesmaids, she took out Su Yung, and turned her attention to Allie, who ran away instead.

Eddie Edwards defeated Moose in a Falls Count Anywhere Match

Eddie Edwards jumped Moose during the entrance and the immediatly started brawling outside the ring, and within a minute, Moose hit a really nasty looking set of apron powerbombs. Moose set up a guardrail bed outside the ring and went to powerbomb Eddie into it, but Eddie finally recovered and made a comeback, hitting a Tope Suicida. 

Eddie now in control, dragged Moose around the crowd and they proceeded to brawl around the upper decks where Eddie found a balcony to hit a plancha on Moose. As they continued brawling back to the ring area, Moose regained control and started filling the ring with chairs. Eddie, now busted open, took some of the charis and started throwing them at Moose, and hit a a huge superplex onto the pile of chairs. They got into a strike-off that ended with Eddie tossing Moose over the rope into the guardrail bed Moose had set up earlier. 

Eddie again in control, broought out his kendo stick and started taking on Moose, which brought out Alisha Edwards, who took out the kendo stick from him and got some shots on Moose herself for a big pop. Eddie hit the final kendo shot and a DDT for the only pin of the match. 

Great brawl and hardcore match, the Falls Count Anywhere stipulation didn’t really come up since there was only one pin during the whole match. 

Backstage, Sami Callhan cut a promo on Willie Mack, telling him to not get in the way of oVe’s business, and thus tonight, Mack will learn to listen to Rich Swann’s warnings. 

Sami Callihan (w/Dave Crist) defeated Willie Mack

Willie Mack jumped Sami before he could get in the ring, hit a few hurricanranas and a Tope Con Giro to start the match. Willie worked over Callihan’s neck for a bit until he got distracted with Dave Crist, and Sami capitalized to turn the match around. 

Callihan now in control, mostly went for sleepers and chops. Mack made a comeback after reversing a sleeper unto a stunner. Mack, back in the game, hit his signature Smoan Drop and Moonsault, a Running Cannonball, and finally started chasing the Stunner. Callihan hit a huge powerbomb and V-Trigger for a two count. Mack hit a Pop-up Forearm and Stunner for a near fall as Callihan got his leg on the ropes. Callihan hit a top rope DVD after Dave Crist distracted Mack, who kicked out at one. Finish finally saw Callihan hit a piledriver for the pin.

Backstage, Eli Drake is with McKenzie Mitchell. Drake said that this is a trip down memory lane where Abyss was born, but tonight, it’s about the future and he is the future. McKenzie made a comment about Eli Drake being afraid, but Drake said Abyss won’t even get a chance to touch a weapon tonight.

Eli Drake defeated Abyss in a Monster’s Ball Match

Eli Drake jumped Abyss to start the match, but to no avail as Abyss simply turned it around and went for the stapple gun, stappling Drake’s chest. Eli Drake rolled out of the ring, and so they started brawling outside the ring towards the crowd. 

Back in the ring, Eli regained control as he started hitting Abyss with gargabe cans, but as he went for a big running shot, Abyss tossed him over the top, landing on a couple of tables. Awesome spot.

Abyss brought out the tumbtacks. Abyss went for a chokeslam, but Drake countered out and threw tacs to Abyss, who dodged them, and the ref took a file of tacks to the face. Abyss hit a Black Hole Slam for a clear pin, but the ref was out. 

Fans started to chant for Janice, so Abyss brought her out. Eli quickly took her from Abyss and went for the shot, but Abyss stopped him and hit a big chokeslam on to the tacks, but he only got a two count. Eli Drake’s back was silver.

Eli threw some tacks to Abyss’ face to blind him, and took the advantage to get some zip ties and tie down Abyss, but he couldn’t get them and Callis sold it as Abyss broke them, so Eli Drake responded by hitting about 20 chair shots on Abyss for a two count. Eli then broke his wooden paddle over Abyss in a really stiff looking shot and finally gor the 1-2-3 for the win. This was really violent with spots that we’ve seen be less violent before, but overall a good short weapons match.

Backstage, Killer Kross is with McKenzie Mitchell. Kross said his intentions have always been clear, and not like Johnny who is not clear with his goals. He said that by the end of tonight, no one will be talking about Option C, but rather, Option X.

They showed the winners of Survivor, here to support Johnny Impact.

LAX (Santana & Ortiz) defeated Lucha Bros! (Pentagon Jr & Fenix) to retain the Impact World Tag Team Championships

The big story going in is that Konnan is not here with LAX, and we’ve seen LAX choke before, when Konnan was not with them. 

Santana and Fenix started the match with a series of reversals and counters, until Pentagon got a quick shot in, Fenix gor rid of Ortiz, and the Lucha Bros took complete control of the match. This was already going at 60 mph.

After getting some time to recover, Santana cut off Fenix on the top rope, and now it was time for LAX to hit a series of double team moves on Pentagon and keep Fenix at bay. Pentagon made a comeback, and Fenix hit what I would call a running cannonball from the ring to the ramp.

Back in the ring, all four men are going at it, with tons of action that got a standing ovation from the crowd as Pentagon hits a huge Destroyer on Santana. Pentagon and Ortiz got into a strike-off, later followed by Fenix and Santana, and at end, all men are trading kicks left and right. Fenix and Pentagon hit a Spiked Fear Factor for a two count as Ortiz manages to break the pin. LAX hit the 5150 for another near fall, now Fenix being the one breaking the pin. “Fight Forever” chants.

Finish saw LAX hit a big combination of cutters and kicks, ending with a big double team move for the pin on Fenix. Awesome match, easily the match of the night so far, worth going out of your way to watch. 

After the match, Konnan came out. He put both teams over. 

Backstage, McKenzie Mitchell interviewd Gail Kim, who said that she didn’t think she would need to come back, but that Tessa’s actions pushed her to come back and referee this match and make sure that the right woman wins.

Taya Valkyrie defeated Tessa Blanchard to become the NEW Impact Knockout’s Champion. Special Guest Referee: Gail Kim.

Taya has changed her look for this match, attire looks great. This was a great back and forward match, but there was a lot of stuff going on with Gail Kim at the end in order to protect Tessa in defeat that may put off some fans.

Match started with a quick lock up, but quickly turned into quick reversals, Taya doing lucha moves, while Tessa going for the power moves. The match spilled outside and Tessa dominated, at one point hitting a missile dropkick on Taya against the guardrail. 

Back in the ring, Tessa started working Taya’s left arm via a shoulder wrench. Taya came back with some shots and a big deadlift german for a two count. Tessa finally started chasing the Buzzsaw DDT, but Taya countered and hit a Northen Lights and footstomp for another near fall. Taya went for a moonsault, but Tessa moved and hit a spear for a really close two count, that provoked Tessa to get in Gail Kim’s face, who got taken out a few seconds later, when Taya dodged a running Tessa. 

 Tessa got a clear pin on Taya after the Busszaw DDT, but Kim couldn’t count. Tessa got the title and when Gail Kim tried to grab it from here, Gail Kim accidentally hit Taya. Tessa forced Gail to coutn her mistake, but Taya managed to kick out at two. 

Tessa and Gail once again got face to face, now it was Gail that pushed Tessa, and Taya rolled her, but for another two count. Tessa hit the Magnum Codebreaker, but Taya kept kicking out. This provoked Tessa again, and started going after Kim, who hit an Eat Da Feet and after a Road To Valhalla, Taya wins the Knockout’s championship.

Josh Matthews announced that Impact Wrestling is going to start simulcasting on both Pursuit Channel and Twitch starting next Friday. Josh pushed for fans to subscribe to Twitch.

Backstage, Johnny Impact is with McKenzie Mitchell. Johnny said that he wasn’t expecing a friendly fight tonight. Johnny said that tonight he proves that he is a fighting champion.

Johnny Impact defeated “The Machine” Brian Cage to retain the Impact World Championship

Brian Cage came out wearing cyborg gear, a lot better than Kenny Omega’s if you ask me. This got the big match introduction that Impact world title matches usually get. I didn’t get a name on the announcer, but he did a good job. Crowd seems to be mostly behind Cage tonight. 

Both are really similar in size, but they played with Johnny’s speed against Cage’s power. Match initially told the story that Johnny is great at wrestling around Cage, but when Cage manages to snatch him, his offense is devastating. Johnny started going for Cage’s limbs that are taped up, while Cage seemed to target Johnny’s back and neck. 

As Cage was in control, he hit a series of Gorilla Flips for a two count. Impact went for a moonsault, but Cage simply caught him and hit an Cheeky Nando and Flapjack for another two count. Eventually, Johnny reversed Cage into a Tornado DDT to catch a breather and hit the Double Down to the floor, landing knee first on Cage’s head. 

Back in the ring, Johnny had regain enough momentum to go back and forward with Cage, they started trading big moves and near falls. Johnny went for a Razor’s Edge on Cage, but got reversed. Johnny hit a Sliding German and finally went for Starship Pain, but Cage blocked him and hit an F-5 for a two count. Cage hit a Buckle Bomb and went for Weapon X, but Johnny got out. Cage hit a big Discus Clothesline for antoher two count. Johnny hit a few knees, setting up Cage for Starship Pain, this time he connects, but Cage kicked out at 2.99. Out of desperation, Johnny hit a top rope Spanish Fly, but cage kicked out at one and fired up. 

Cage hit a huge powerbomb, buckle bomb, rolling powerbomb, but Johnny somehow kicked out at two. Cage hit Weapon X, but Johnny got his foot on the rope in a really close call. Finally, Cage got tossed out the ring, but he got distracted with the Survivor guys, making the referee to go out there and handle the situation; however, inside the ring, Cage had hit the Drill Claw and had a clear pin on Johnny. Cage went for the deadlift suplex, they both stumbled as they came down, Johnny landing and cradling Cage for the pin. 

Cage grabs the title and tossed it at Johnny, calling the finish a fluke on Impact’s side. Taya came out to celebrate with Johnny as the champion power couple. They posed at the ramp as the closing signature comes up on the screen. Suddenly Killer Kross finally made his presence felt and attacked Johnny and Taya. Kross powerbombed Taya into the crowd. Show went of the air to “Kill Kross Kill” chants.

Overall a really good show by Impact. All matches felt like they had enough time to tell their stories, good wrestling top to bottom. We did get a lot of ref bumps here and there for some matches, which will most likely annoy some fans, but seeing past that, the show delivered. 

Impact Wrestling results: Homecoming go-home show

Posted on by Antonio Garza

This week’s opening video had a special emphasis on Sami Callihan and Rich Swann’s efforts to not have each other’s partners fight. The video also featured the top feuds going into Sunday’s Homecoming pay-per-view.

Josh Mathews did a voiceover bidding farewell to Pop TV and announcing their move to the Pursuit Channel starting at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, January 11.

Rich Swann, Willie Mack, Dezmond Xavier, Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz defeated Sami Callihan, Dave Crist, Jake Crist, Matt Sydal & Ethan Page

Miguel and Jake Crist started the match with a series of counters and reversals. There were quick tags to Xavier and Callihan, and once again, after one move, Wentz got tagged in. Swann tagged in with a double axe handle. Mack came in and within a minute, all members of the babyface team had been legal.

Everyone got in the ring and faced off. They started brawling around the ring, leaving Miguel and Callihan inside, with the latter dropping Miguel with a huge lariat and then another one on the apron. Miguel countered and hit a rana to the outside, starting a sequence where everyone did dives to the outside one by one, ending with Xavier’s Space Flying Tiger Drop.

Miguel went to the top rope, but Jake Crist caught him and hit a cutter from the top to the floor on top of everyone. We got “This is awesome” chants.

Back from commercial, Callihan worked over Miguel in the ring. Dave Crist tagged in and worked over Miguel’s legs for a bit. Sydal came in and choked Miguel until he reached the ropes. Finally, Page came in, but Miguel managed to make a small comeback and make it to his corner.

Swann came in with the hot tag and took out everyone, including a double cutter on Callihan and Dave Crist and a Phoenix Splash on Page for a two count. Mack tagged in and was going for a piledriver, but Callihan came in and hit a big kick — followed by everyone taking turns to hit their finishers. Page finally got a two count on Mack.

Mack took out Page to the floor, only for Dave Crist to get a blind tag, but Mack caught him with a top rope stunner for the pin.

After the match, Callihan attacked Mack with his bat. oVe set up a table in the ring and hit the All Seeing Eye on Mack through the table. Swann dragged himself to protect Mack’s body, but oVe walked away, letting Swann live another day.

We got a video package recounting the complete Eddie Edwards and Moose saga.

Eli Drake came to the ring to address his Monster’s Ball match with Abyss at Homecoming. Drake brought up that he is being forced into the Monster’s Ball match by Impact’s management, but he has already taken out Joseph Park — so Abyss is not coming back.

Drake threatened that if Abyss makes it to Homecoming, he’ll be forced to become what he hates and take out Abyss, because he is “hardcore.”

Tommy Dreamer came down with a chair. He hit a DDT on Drake, but as he went for a Pillmanizer, the lights went out and Raven appeared. Raven and Dreamer went face-to-face, but instead of fighting, they teamed up against Drake as they ran him out. ECW will never die.

Back from commercial, Gama Singh introduced the Desi Hit Squad and dedicated this match to Scarlett Bordeaux. She came out to watch the match from the ramp.

Fallah Bahh & KM defeated The Desi Hit Squad (Rohit Raju & Raj Singh)

The match started with the Desi Hit Squad jumping Bahh and KM, tossing the latter outside and going for Bahh inside the ring. Thanks to some dirty tactics, Raju and Singh got some offense and double team moves every time that Bahh showed signs of a comeback.

Singh went for a scoop slam, but the weight of Bahh was too much and his knees buckled, allowing Bahh to escape and tag in KM.

KM came in strong until getting taken out after Singh raked his eyes. Bahh recovered and hit a flying crossbody on both Desi Hit Squad members, followed by a Banzai Drop on Singh for the pin. Bordeaux seemed impressed before leaving to the back.

Pentagon Jr. and Fenix cut a promo on LAX saying that both teams are similar, but history shows that when Konnan is not with Santana and Ortiz, they tend to lose. Pentagon said that last time, Santana pushed him and thus all respect is out the window. Fenix said that come January 6, they’re winning the Tag Team titles. Well, this escalated out of nowhere.

Dark Allie (w/ Su Yung) defeated Kiera Hogan

Hogan started the match all fired up going after Allie with a series of kicks and a bulldog for a one count. Hogan hit a tope suicida on Yung when Allie dodged the attack, but the distraction allowed Allie to blindside Hogan and get control of the match. Allie’s offense was mostly stomps and clotheslines.

Hogan made a comeback, but she couldn’t finish up Allie, who actually landed a codebreaker out of nowhere for the pin. This was a sloppy match.

After the match, Allie and Yung attacked Hogan in the corner until Jordynne Grace came out for the save. Grace hit a Samoan slam on Allie, a sit-down powerbomb on Yung, and finished them off with some running knees. This story just took a weird direction — Jordynne Grace is not someone that should be fighting for souls right now.

We got a video from “earlier today” with Trevor Lee going to Impact management asking for a match.

LAX cut a promo from outside the venue. Ortiz said all they wanted was to be pro wrestlers and brought up that Santana and he have always had each other’s back. They talked about losing when Konnan wasn’t there, but they need to prove it to everyone and themselves that they can get the job done with or without Konnan. Great babyface promos by both.

Killer Kross defeated Trevor Lee

This started with both men locking up, with Kross overpowering Lee to get control and Lee reversing out of Kross’ locks. Kross eventually was too much for Lee and started tossing him around in the corner. He hit the Doomsday Saito and locked in the Kross Jacket to choke out Lee. A squash match that reminds us of Kross’ dominance.

Kross then wished Johnny Impact luck against Brian Cage at Homecoming. Kross ordered the timekeeper to hold a cinder block to Lee’s head as Kross punched the block into pieces. The timekeeper ran off and Lee was written off Impact Wrestling.

The Lucha Brothers (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix) defeated Impact World Champion Johnny Impact & Brian Cage

Cage and Fenix started the match — a speed and power matchup with Cage catching Fenix’s every move by using his strength alone. Pentagon came in and Cage also manhandled him until Impact blind tagged himself into the match.

Impact did a good job at first, working on Pentagon and dodging his attacks, but out of nowhere, Pentagon hit a slingblade and a backstabber and turned things around. After some offense by Pentagon, Cage was now the one with a blind tag, but the Lucha Brothers cut Cage off before he could take control.

Cage and Pentagon fought outside the ring as Fenix went for a suicide dive, but Impact cut him off with a kick and hit an Asai moonsault on Pentagon. Fenix recovered and hit a tornillo to take everyone out.

Back from commercial, Impact and Cage continued blind tagging each other as they worked over Fenix. Impact hit a huge Spanish Fly from the top rope for a near fall that Pentagon broke up. Pentagon hit the Pentagon Driver on Impact, but Cage saved him from the pin.

Everyone got in the ring and traded kicks, with Cage hitting Impact with a discus clothesline by mistake, leaving Impact open for Pentagon and Fenix to hit the foot stomp/Fear Factor combination for the win. Fenix got a clean pin over the champion. This match did a good job displaying Pentagon and Fenix’s synchronicity and the tension between Impact and Cage.

After the match, Cage and Impact blamed each other for losing. They pushed each other’s buttons until they came to blows, with them having a big pull-apart with security and the locker room coming out.

The show closed with Homecoming’s cold opening video. A lot of nostalgia footage from the Asylum years.

Overall, this was a good go-home show that touched on all previously announced matches and finished building up Homecoming card.

Impact Wrestling results: Moose vs. Cage, Santana vs. Fenix

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Rich Swann defeated Dave Crist (w oVe) by DQ in an Ultimate X qualifying match

Dave started the match strong with a jumping knee and immediately took control of the ring. Swann got tossed outside the ring, where Jake Crist got a quick shot on the apron. Back in the ring, Dave maintained control, grounding Swann with chokes and strikes until Swann found an opening to toss Dave outside. Swann took out both Crist brothers with a tope con giro. 

Back in the ring, Swann was now in control. He connected with several strikes and a Lethal Injection for a two count. Swann went for a Phoenix Splash, but Dave moved away and Swann hit the ground. Dave locked in a sleeper on Swann, but suddenly, Jake got in the ring and attacked Swann, giving him the win via disqualification.

Sami Callihan got in the ring and pushed away both Crist brothers, likely mad because Jake cost his brother the match, but the announcers sold it as being out of Callihan’s usual behavior. Willie Mack made his way to the ring and got in a fight with oVe, ending with Callihan and Mack having a small pull-apart before oVe walked away to the back.

Moose was interviewed by McKenzie Mitchell. He talked about not being worried about Eddie Edwards in tonight’s main event against Brian Cage since Edwards is locked up in an insane asylum. Moose told Cage that machines die, but legends are forever.

Back from commercial, Swann and Willie Mack were backstage talking. Mack was asking why Swann kept him from fighting Callihan. Swann answered that he’s known Callihan for many years and doesn’t want to start a war against him or oVe. He told Mack to let it go.

Josh Mathews introduced Taya Valkyrie and Tessa Blanchard to the ring. Mathews started the interview with Valkyrie, who said that this rivalry has seen Blanchard constantly cheat to win and disrespect authority in order to retain the Knockouts Championship, but come Homecoming, she is taking the title.

Blanchard’s response was that Valkyrie wouldn’t even know how a champion behaves. Blanchard said that ever since Valkyrie came to Impact, she just loses, so she won’t be losing the championship against Valkyrie. Both wrestlers came face-to-face, but Mathews separated them and announced that their match at Homecoming will have an added stipulation. To make sure there are no more issues with referees, Mathews introduced the special guest referee for Homecoming — Gail Kim.

Back from commercial, Blanchard was saying backstage that no one has been able to take the Knockouts Championship from her, and now Impact is stacking the odds against her. She said that she respects Gail Kim, but she’ll run through her if Kim gets in her way.

Trey Miguel defeated Trevor Lee in an Ultimate X qualifying match

Great match. Lee and Miguel started off with a series of reversals, working on each other’s arms and ending with a German suplex by Lee — but Miguel landed on his feet into a stalemate. They continued with reversals, but this time with more athletic moves and counters — until Lee caught Miguel with a kick to the back and finally got the upper hand.

Lee focused on Miguel’s back until he got distracted talking smack to Miguel, giving him the time to recover and start a comeback. Miguel hit a series of kicks from all corners on Lee, getting a two count for his efforts. Miguel set Lee’s head in the corner like Will Ospreay usually does for a superkick, but Miguel hit a 619 into the corner instead, followed by a dragonrana for the win.

Pentagon Jr. and Fenix cut a promo saying that their match with LAX at Homecoming will be friendly, but the Lucha Brothers are walking out the champions. Fenix addressed tonight’s match with Santana and said he’ll show Santana what is coming for them come January 6.

Dark Allie and Su Yung cut a promo from an unknown location. Dark Allie said that Allie is gone and got into riddles about the beginning and the end, and how the ending is the beginning of the end. There was no substance to this promo, but it seemed like a threat to Kiera Hogan.

The GWN Flashback Moment of the Week was the Ultimate X match with Amazing Red defending against Homicide, Chris Sabin, Suicide, Alex Shelley, and Christopher Daniels.

LAX and Konnan were in their clubhouse. Konnan scolded them about challenging the Lucha Brothers, saying that all partnerships will be broken once the titles get in the way, and so Konnan won’t be backing them. 

Fenix (w/ Pentagon Jr.) defeated Santana (w/ Ortiz)

Fantastic match. They started with some lucha-style reversals and arm drags. Santana sent Fenix to the outside with a hurricanrana and followed with a tope con giro. Santana wasted time playing to the crowd, allowing Fenix to recover. He caught Santana with a spinning kick and a top rope moonsault. 

Inside the ring, Fenix went for a Swanton — but Santana dodged and hit a running knee for a two count. They got into a strike-off that ended with Santana hitting a uranage for another two count. They fought in the apron, with Fenix hitting a rolling cutter for a two count. They started reversing Germans until they turned it into reverse ranas on each other back-to-back. 

Fenix and Santana kicked each other several times, one being a Penalty Kick by Fenix as he was walking the ropes into a hanging Santana. That got a big near fall. Santana came back and hit an alley-oop into a sit-out powerbomb for a two count. Fenix went for the Fenix Driver,  Santana reversed to a roll, and Fenix kicked out.

Fenix kicked Santana about five times and hit the Fenix Driver for the win. This was a must-watch match. 

Backstage, McKenzie Mitchell was interviewing Killer Kross. She asked about Kross’ actions from last week, but Kross ignored her question and instead talked about Johnny Impact not being able to defeat Brian Cage on his own. Johnny Impact interrupted him, telling Kross to stay away from him and Taya Valkyrie.

Kross talked some trash to Impact, forcing Impact to get physical. Kross told Impact that it is this aggressive side that he will need if Impact hopes to defeat Cage.

Kiera Hogan was backstage. She realized that the real Allie is gone and that her promise to have Allie’s back until the end was real, but the end is here, and now it’s time to fight. 

We went to Shady Acres Psychiatric Hospital, where Raven was playing chess with some random guy talking about aliens. Suddenly, Eli Drake of all people interrupted him. Drake was paying Raven a visit to see another one of those guys that started the whole hardcore craze.

Drake told Raven to watch Drake at Homecoming — so he can witness him ending Abyss and hardcore wrestling. This was weird, but if you have Raven wearing a hospital robe, you have to get as much out of it as you can.

Jordynne Grace defeated Ruby Raze (w/ Katarina)

The match started with a collar-and-elbow lock-up, but Raze quickly let us know that she had the power advantage. Grace used her speed and knocked down Raze in the corner and hit her running knees and elbow combination. Katarina distracted Grace, giving Raze the opening to attack her from behind with a German suplex and get the upper hand for a bit.

Raze choked Grace and dropped her with a draping neckbreaker for a one count. Raze went for a chokeslam, but Grace fired up and powered herself out of it. After trading some forearms, Grace got Raze in the corner and dropped her with a powerbomb.

Katarina tried to get involved, but she was blocked and dropped with a Muscle Buster on top of Raze. The finish saw Grace hit a Vader Bomb for the win. This was an okay hoss fight, but overall a great showing for Grace. 

Back from commercial, The Desi Hit Squad were all talking about Scarlett Bordeaux, so she suddenly appeared. They all tried to make a case for the talent search. Bordeaux brought up that KM and Fallah Bahh were trying to get some momentum back, so she proposed that The Desi Hit Squad take on KM & Bahh.

Moose defeated Brian Cage by DQ

Like a proper big lad’s wrestling match, they started challenging each other with shoulder blocks. Moose took the advantage when he poked Cage’s eyes, only for Cage to come back with a hurricanrana and get some offense in. They brawled outside the ring, where Moose accidentally chopped the ring post, hurting his hand, so instead, Moose had to rely on whipping Cage into the guardrails. Cage recovered and hit an apron bomb on Moose. 

Back in the ring, Moose once again used dirty tactics to get the upper hand and started going for Cage’s head. Moose whipped Cage around some more and hit the Okada dropkick, launching Cage to the outside, where he continued to toss Cage around into the rails. Moose started playing to the crowd more and more — until Cage recovered enough and hit a tope con giro and got back into the match.

Cage hit a huge spinebuster and dodged a Game Changer. But as he tried to go for a second rope move, Moose countered with the Go To Hell and senton combo for a two count.

Cage hit a deadlift suplex from the apron into the ring for a near fall. Moose and Cage started chopping each other, hitting forearms and headbutts, but they ended up hitting each other with crazy lariats. Cage seemed to have injured his wrist.

Cage hit an ugly powerbomb with his knees buckling under him with Moose mid-air — thankfully Moose landed okay. Moose responded with a spear and they went to the floor.

Out of nowhere, Eddie Edwards, wearing a hospital gown, ran down and attacked Moose. Edwards ran wild on Moose, hitting some suicide dives and bringing out his kendo stick, which he used on Moose to chants of “Whack-a-Moose,” until Moose ran away and Edwards celebrated in the ring to close the show. Good match until the finish.

Overall, this was a great show inside the ring. Most of Homecoming’s card has taken shape as the Ultimate X match was finalized tonight, as well as Impact confirming that Gail Kim will be the referee for the Knockouts Championship match. Edwards will be facing Moose in a falls count anywhere match at the pay-per-view.

Impact Wrestling results: X Division title on the line

Posted on by Antonio Garza

This was the first episode from Impact’s tapings in Las Vegas, Nevada. The in-ring action on the show was strong, with several stories kicking off towards January’s Homecoming pay-per-view.

The cold open recapped Brian Cage going to Rockstar Pro to find Sami Callihan and getting taken out by Callihan’s crew. It also touched on Moose defeating Eddie Edwards last week and covered Johnny Impact defending the World Championship against Killer Kross. 

Knockouts Champion Tessa Blanchard defeated Ray Lyn in a non-title match

Lyn is a Pittsburgh-area indie wrestler. Blanchard started the match by pushing in Lyn with a lock-up, but Lynn showed some speed and managed to get some offense in. Blanchard quickly cut her off, dropping her with a military press and a cutter.

Blanchard continued working Lyn’s back with a kick. Lyn made a comeback and hit a top rope hurricanrana, but Blanchard was able to regain control of the match. The finish saw Blanchard hit a turnbuckle bomb and the Buzzsaw DDT for the win. This was good for the time it got. Lyn didn’t get to do much, but what she did, it looked great.

After the match, Blanchard cut a promo on Taya Valkyrie. She said that Valkyrie just keeps coming up with excuses because she can’t win the title. Blanchard said she is a better Knockouts Champion than Valkyrie could ever be and that Valkyrie won’t be more than Johnny Impact’s wife.

Valkyrie came out to confront Blanchard, but she ran away. 

Valkyrie got the mic. She defended being Johnny Impact’s wife, saying she is also the Guera Loca and La Perra del Mal. Valkyrie said she spoke with Impact Wrestling’s management and they have signed a title match between Blanchard and Valkyrie for Homecoming.

Fallah Bahh and KM talked about needing to win something tonight. KM told Bahh that they got a match with LAX tonight, and if they win, they get a title match and will be one step closer to being with Scarlett Bordeaux.

The Rascalz did a That 70’s Show/stoner-style segment and were talking about what their name should be. Dezmond Xavier got a text that they have a match in two weeks. There was a laugh track here for some reason. This came out looking good, but let’s see how a stoner gimmick gets over.

Impact Tag Team Champions LAX (w/ Konnan) defeated Fallah Bahh & KM in a non-title match

This was all back and forth, with Bahh and KM getting a lot of good offense — but coming short at the end. Bahh and Santana started the match. Santana used his speed to try and headlock Bahh, but Bahh busted out some quickness himself and, thanks to his size, completely blocked Santana’s attempt at a shoulder block.

They traded arm drags, and Bahh actually got the upper hand on this lucha exchange. Santana dodged a Banzai Drop and went for a moonsault, but Bahh rolled out of it. Don Callis put him over as moving like a junior heavyweight. Santana offered to shake Bahh’s hand, then snuck an enzuigiri to finally gain control.

Ortiz came in and they double teamed Bahh a bit, but Bahh turned it around on both of them and got KM in for the Steam Rollers. Bahh and KM started working on Ortiz with quick tags, but Ortiz managed to get out and drop them with a DDT/dropkick combo before tagging in Santana.

LAX started working over KM, but once again they traded control when KM dropped them with a double suplex. Bahh came in and took it to both of them with butt thrusts to the corners. KM and Bahh hit an assisted Samoan drop for a near fall and prepped for a second rope Banzai Drop, but once again, Santana got out of it and took out Bahh.

Ortiz came in and LAX hit a moonsault/leg drop combo on KM for the win. This had a lot of fast-paced action.

Heather Monroe, from The Killer Baes, was interviewed by McKenzie Mitchell. Monroe is debuting tonight vs. Su Yung. Monroe introduced herself and sounded confident. Kiera Hogan interrupted her and warned her that Yung is not like anyone else on the roster. She told Monroe to be careful out there.

Bordeaux was arriving to the arena. Some guy wanted a picture with her, but some other random guy defended her. Bordeaux claimed she recognized this person and took him with her.

Konnan and company headed to the back and were making fun of Santana for getting out-wrestled by Bahh. They talked about the OGz and about not seeing them for a while. Konnan said that Pentagon Jr. and Fenix took them out for good. Santana and Ortiz told Konnan that they want to give Pentagon and Fenix a title shot at Homecoming. Konnan told them not right now and walked out.

The GWN Flashback Moment of the Week was Sami Callihan’s debut during LAX vs. oVe at Bound for Glory 2017.

Matt Sydal and Ethan Page were seemingly outside the building. Sydal said that everything is again on their side as he gets a match with Johnny Impact tonight and he’ll show that his third eye makes him better.

It was announced that Homecoming PPV tickets are going on sale on Monday.

The Desi Hit Squad were all relaxing at a hotel and talking about food. Gama Singh talked about Indian food, then Rohit Raju brought up Thanksgiving food. Gama Singh talked him down about there being nothing to be thankful about. Next week, they’re going to ruin Thanksgiving. 

Eli Drake came down to the ring. He cut his promo about being the “Last of a Dying Breed” and said that he has dropped the lawsuit since it was all a plan to lure in Joseph Park and Abyss. He ran down wrestling by saying that it’s full of skinny kids and fat slobs, but all the fans want is Eli Drake.

Drake blamed Abyss for all the new guys thinking that taking crazy bumps is what it takes to be a superstar in wrestling today. He claimed that he will get rid of all the stunts and garbage and bring back wrestling. Tommy Dreamer came out and interrupted Drake as he was finishing up. 

Drake ran down Dreamer, calling Dreamer the prime example of what he is trying to get rid of. Dreamer went with the skinny jeans millennial diss on Dreamer. Dreamer put over hardcore wrestling and put over Konnan for introducing Eddie Guerrero to ECW and thus all the lucha revolution started.

Dreamer brought up Sabu, Mick Foley, and finally put over Abyss for being hardcore. Dreamer said that the most hardcore are actually the fans who pay to come to the shows. 

Drake came back by saying that Dreamer is just jealous that he could never touch what Drake can do with the mic and in the ring, to which Dreamer got heated and said he would rather fight. They teased wrestling, but Drake walked out. What’s with wrestlers going after millennials this week?

Josh Mathews mentioned that next week, we’re getting another Turkey suit match between Team Eli Drake and Team Fallah Bahh.

Alisha Edwards confronted Moose. She told Moose that Eddie Edwards is on his way and that for the best of everyone, Moose should leave. Moose, looking like a million dollars, told Alisha that if Eddie comes in, he’ll simply call 911 and get rid of him, so she doesn’t have to worry.

The referees were talking backstage saying that they can’t allow what happened with Tessa Blanchard to happen again and they agreed that this may be an unsafe working environment. Bordeaux walked by, hypnotized them, and tried to show off.

Bordeaux told them that what she likes the most is power and authority, and a man that can impose that authority. This is the perfect type of small comment that would be great to become something in the ring. She still had that random guy from outside, but he was shirtless and all drawn on.

Impact World Champion Johnny Impact defeated Matt Sydal (w/ Ethan Page) in a non-title match

The match started with both men measuring each other and chain wrestling for control. They did the usual junior heavyweight opening that ended with Sydal kicking Impact out of the ring and finally taking control of the match. Inside the ring, Sydal worked over Impact’s left leg via submissions and kicks. Sydal hyper extended Impact’s knee and hit a quick dropkick for a two count. 

Impact started to make a comeback by dropping Sydal with a backbreaker. Impact’s offense was mostly strikes and kicks, earning a two count after a knee to the face. Impact hit a sliding German suplex and set up Starship Pain, but he got distracted with Page, so Sydal rolled him up for two.

Impact blocked Sydal and once again went for Starship Pain, but Page pulled Sydal out of the ring, so Impact jumped over the turnbuckle and took out Page. 

Sydal used the distraction to take control of Impact. He dropped Impact with a kick and was preparing for the Shooting Star Press. Impact blocked him and went for a Spanish Fly, Sydal blocked it and countered with a Meteora, but he couldn’t capitalize. Sydal went for the Here We Go Driver, but Impact countered and finally managed to hit Starship Pain to pick up the win. Great match, if only they could get more time. 

Killer Kross then came down to the ring. Kross was over with the crowd tonight, this being his hometown, saying this is the voice of Sin City. He told Impact that tonight he won’t rip his head off. Instead, he accepts his defeat from last week’s match. The fans chanted for another match.

Kross realizes that perhaps he may not be the catalyst of change, and maybe Johnny Impact is. Kross said if he can’t make things change, he can make sure Impact can. 

Kross put over Impact as a role model. He told Impact that everyone is out there chasing Impact, except him. And when Impact needs help, Impact can call him. Kross offered a handshake, but Impact instead turned it down and told Kross that he doesn’t trust Kross and wants nothing to do with him.

In any other city, this would had made Impact a big babyface. But being in Kross’ hometown, it made Impact look like a jerk. It gives Kross a good reason to keep chasing Impact though. 

Katarina walked in on Jordynne Grace training. She tried to recruit Grace as a team and was talking nice until she casually said that on a different night, she could have won their match. Grace responded by telling Katarina that they may as well fight again in two weeks and find out.

As Alisha threatened, Eddie Edwards indeed got to the arena and went after Moose, but Eddie got taken by bunch of psychiatric nurses. Eddie is off to a mental hospital.

Su Yung defeated Heather Monroe

Even after getting an interview, Monroe didn’t get her entrance. Yung started the match with control. She set Monroe up in a Tree of Woe and hit a neckbreaker from it for a near fall. Yung immediately went for the glove. Monroe got a small hope spot with a series of strikes and kicks, but Yung dodged one of her kicks, slapped Monroe, and hit the Panic Switch. Yung locked the Mandible Claw on for the submission win. 

Yung kept the claw locked in after, but Kiera Hogan came out for the save. Suddenly, we got the “Psycho Bunny” Allie out. She was wearing all black and half of her face was painted like Rosemary. She has a new song too. Hogan was distracted by Allie, and Yung attacked her from behind with the Panic Switch.

Yung and Allie walked to the back together arm-and-arm, confirming that Su Yung owns Allie’s soul.

X Division Champion Brian Cage defeated Sami Callihan (w/ oVe) to retain his title

Callihan tried to jump Cage, but Cage dropped him with a clothesline first. Cage started tossing Callihan around the ring. Callihan hit a hurricanrana, so Cage showed off with a rana and a dropkick. Cage went for a powerbomb, but Callihan blocked it — only to be taken out again with a series of kicks. 

Cage went for a running lariat, but Dave Crist held his leg from the apron, causing the referee to impose his authority and kick both Crists out to the back. Cage was still on the floor and Callihan went for a senton from the apron, but Cage caught him in mid-air and dropped him with a suplex to the floor. 

Back from commercial, we saw that Callihan dropped Cage with a piledriver on the apron, rammed Cage’s knee into the steps, and with a submission hold, tweaked Cage’s knee. A limping Cage got a near fall with a powerbomb on Callihan. He went for another, but Cage countered into a guillotine lock.

Callihan hit a running DVD into the turnbuckle that looked terrible for Cage’s neck. Callihan went for a piledriver, Cage countered into a German, and Callihan countered into an ankle lock that Cage easily escaped. Cage hit a deadlift suplex from the apron and the F5 for a near fall as Callihan got his foot on the rope.

Callihan started hitting Cage like in their Bound For Glory match, then followed up with a piledriver for a near fall. He transitioned into the ankle lock again, dropping to the mat, but Cage actually dragged him to the rope for the break. Callihan got to the second rope, going for the Canadian Destroyer, but Cage blocked it — only to take a Code Red for a near fall.

Cage no sold and got up. He dropped Callihan with a powerbomb and the Drill Claw for the win. It seemed like we missed a lot during the commercial and the finish felt rushed, but from what we got, this seemed like a good match.

After the match, Cage took the mic and said that at Homecoming, he is cashing in Option C and wants a shot at Johnny Impact’s World Championship. I didn’t know that was still a thing or that it could be used outside of Destination X, but we got ourselves a main event for Homecoming. I do believe that the X Division Championship is now officially vacated and Cage and Callihan’s feud is done for now.

Impact Wrestling results: Two title matches at ReDefined

Posted on by Josh Molina

The show opened with a new video and musical vignette. The special episode was named “Impact ReDefined,” with lots of news and new directions coming out of the show.

X Division Champion Brian Cage defeated Fenix to retain his title

Solid match. Commentator Josh Mathews said of Cage, “He’s never been pinned. He’s never been submitted. He is the machine. He is the X Division Champion. He is Brian Cage.”

At 275 pounds, Cage somehow works like a small guy. He hit a 619 early on Fenix.

Fenix tried everything he could to take out the big champ. He hit several spinning kicks. Despite Fenix’s high-flying moves, this was a showcase match for Cage. He hit a delayed vertical superplex. Cage threw Fenix over the top rope onto the ramp. Fenix hit a rolling cutter on the ramp. The crowd chanted “fight forever.”

Fenix dove through the ropes, but Cage caught him in a suplex position and suplexed him on the floor. Cage hit a flying DDT. He then powerbombed Fenix from the top rope for the win.

After the match, oVe (Sami Callihan and the Crist brothers) attacked Fenix and Pentagon, who were saved by Cage. He cleaned house on oVe.

There was another advertisement for Chris Jericho’s wrestling cruise.

In the GWN Flashback Moment of the Week, Grado pinned Al Snow inside the hexagon after a kick to the head. Following the match, Low Ki, Kenny King, and Samoa Joe attacked Grado and Snow. Drew Galloway ran into the ring to make the save.

They showed several backstage segments, including ones with LAX and Tessa Blanchard.

Wearing street clothes, Eli Drake went to the ring and introduced hometown wrestlers Mr. Atlantis and Brandon Tidwell, who surprisingly defeated Caleb Konley & Trevor Lee a week ago.

Drake challenged one of them to step up and fight Drake. Mr. Atlantis volunteered — so Drake picked Tidwell. He pinned Tidwell in seconds with his sideways slam Gravy Train finisher.

Mathews said “Eli Drake sending a message to everyone.” Drake then hit the Gravy Train on Mr. Atlantis.

Impact’s Alicia Atout interviewed Moose and Eddie Edwards. Edwards said he values Moose more than his kendo stick.

Tessa Blanchard defeated Su Yung and Allie to win the Knockouts Championship

Mathews said Blanchard is “next level good.” Yung has a great entrance, led to the ring by her undead zombie bridesmaids.

Blanchard was very vocal in the ring. Allie was noticeably more aggressive in the match. Blanchard threw Yung from the top rope outside the ring onto her bridesmaids. Yung went for her patented four-fingers-in-the-mouth choke hold on Blanchard, but Allie made the save with a superkick.

Yung then applied the move on Allie, but she broke it with a codebreaker. Blanchard took advantage of the moment and rolled up Yung for the victory. The crowd didn’t really pop for the win, probably because the finish was abrupt and there was no build to it.

Commentator Don Callis said of Blanchard, “she’s the best women’s wrestler in the world and one of the best wrestlers in the world period.” Blanchard gave an interview backstage and said she exposed Allie and took Yung’s title and there was nothing she could do about it.

“I am the measuring stick and if anyone wants to see how tough a diamond is, be my guest,” Blanchard said.

Gama Singh attacked members of his Desi Hit Squad because they lost a week ago.

There was another interview segment with Atout, Killer Kross, and Impact World Champion Austin Aries.

Another LAX backstage segment. They hyped the Impact tapings in Mexico City on September 13 and 14.

The Smokeshow with Grado, Katarina, and Joe Hendry

These “Smokeshow” segments featuring Scarlett Bordeaux are probably the worst thing on Impact. Bordeaux whispered into Grado’s ear and Grado squirted water out of a water bottle. Grado was so nervous he left the set. Hendry tried to promote their match with the Desi Hit Squad next week. Hendry chased Grado. Bordeaux tried to offer Katarina a “secret about men,” but Katarina cut her off and told her to stay away from her “boys.”

Odd segment.

Rich Swann defeated Petey Williams

Surprisingly subpar match between the two high-flyers. Williams hit an early codebreaker, which by far is the most overused move on Impact. Swann missed a flip off the apron and landed on his back outside the ring. Williams applied a Sharpshooter on Swann, an homage to Bret “Hitman” Hart, from one Canadian to another.

Swann went for a Phoenix Splash but missed. He recovered, and then Swann hit a standing Shooting Star Press for the win.

Swann gave a backstage interview but was interrupted by Matt Sydal. Sydal said he could help Swann open his third eye. Nearby, a woman was screaming over Moose, who had been laid out minutes before his main event match.

Impact World Champion Austin Aries & Killer Kross defeated Eddie Edwards

Edwards took them on by himself after Moose was injured. Aries oozes arrogance and portrays himself as a big star. Edwards hit several chops. He pushed Aries off the apron into the ringside barrier. He went for a splash through the ropes, but Kross hit him with a knee as he was sliding through the ropes.

Kross hit a fallaway suplex on Edwards outside of the ring. Aries went for a brainbuster, but Edwards countered and hit a double underhook suplex. Moose then ran into the ring to join the match. He went after Aries, but then turned around and speared his partner Edwards.

He then hit him with several right hands. Later, Moose hit Edwards with a steel chair. Edwards’ wife Alisha Edwards ran to the ring and slapped Moose.

“Moose has turned his back on Eddie,” Mathews screamed. The crowd chanted “you sold out,” like it was the 1990s.

“I am shocked at the behavior of Moose,” said Callis. “This is a tandem that scares the hell out of me and should scare the hell out of everyone at Impact Wrestling.”

Lucha Underground results: Last Man or Machine Standing

Posted on by Josiah MacDonald

The Takeaway —

Mil Muertes continued his reign of terror, defeating The Mack in a Haunted House Match. The reasons for placing this match here were questionable, as it was so greatly overshadowed by the main event that it seemed a bit pointless. It was a decent match, though.

Meanwhile, Catrina viciously attacked Melissa Santos and left her laying. I have to think that this is building to the return of Fenix at some point to destroy Muertes, but time will tell.

Jake Strong continued his rampage but found opposition in Drago. The Worldwide Underground prepared for the wedding of Taya and Johnny Mundo, and Ricky Mundo continued to go deeper into insanity, killing a person trying to get into the party.

Pentagon Dark continues his reign as Lucha Underground Champion, defeating Cage in an excellent match. It had several unprotected chair shots, which were quite uncomfortable to watch. Despite that, working over Cage’s head played into the story of the match. Pentagon pulled off some incredible moves, hitting a Canadian Destroyer from the top rope through a table, and hitting a package piledriver through the chairs. Absolutely spectacular match

The Recap —

The show opened with Melissa Santos and Dragon Azteca Jr. talking about Fenix. Azteca told her that Fenix is still alive in her heart, and he put her half of a medallion around her neck.

The Lucha Underground Temple was filled with weapons and a steal cage surrounded the ring with Halloween-themed weapons attached to it. It looked like they might have originally expected this to air around Halloween.

Mil Muertes (w/ Catrina) defeated The Mack in a Haunted House Match

Before the match started, Catrina insisted that Melissa Santos introduce her properly. Santos refused, and Catrina attacked her. Catrina sent Santos into the steel cage, then grabbed a flower vase, gave Santos the lick of death, and smashed the vase over Santos’ head.

The Mack attacked quickly, kicking Muertes in the head, but Muertes no sold it and proceeded to beat the crap out of The Mack with a garbage can and a kendo stick before grabbing a crowbar. The object — not the wrestler from WCW. Muertes hit a powerslam that almost planted The Mack on his head. The Mack nailed him with a pumpkin, and it looked like it sucked.

The Mack hit a DDT on Muertes. Muertes drove The Mack through one of the cage walls to the floor, then hit a DDT on the floor. Muertes grabbed a table and introduced it to the ring before scaling the cage and hitting a flying crossbody from the top rope. The table that Muertes set up in the corner had the word “Booooo!” written on it, while the other had “Spooky” written on it. The fans chanted “Spooky” in response.

Muertes grabbed a knife from the cage wall and hit The Mack with it. The Mack was busted wide open. The Mack somehow hit a spinebuster through one of the tables, but Muertes speared him through another. Muertes set up another table, but The Mack hit three stunners on Muertes and put him on the table.

The Mack climbed to the top rope, and Muertes cut him off and hit a flatliner from the top rope through the table. Muertes won in a decent match. Catrina refused to do the lick of death on The Mack.

Famous B took over the ring announcing, sitting at ringside in a wheelchair. He was quite upset that it was Jake Strong coming out next.

Jake Strong defeated Aerostar

Aerostar took it to Strong quickly in the early portions of this match, using fast-paced offense to keep the bigger man on his toes. Aerostar went for a dive off the top rope, but Strong grabbed him and tossed him off the top rope before locking on an ankle lock. Aerostar tapped out quickly.

Strong went to break his ankle, but Drago ran out and made the save.

The Worldwide Underground were together celebrating the upcoming wedding of Johnny Mundo and Taya Valkyrie. Taya gave Johnny a picture of him holding a title as a gift. Taya said she secured a title match for him after the wedding.

Ricky Mundo was outside guarding the door, and the doll told him to take care of the guy that came to the door requesting to be let in. He was insulting Ricky, so the doll said, “do to him what you did to Angelico!” Ricky proceeded to kill him brutally, stabbing him with a pen.

Lucha Underground Champion Pentagon Dark defeated Cage in a Last Man or Machine Standing Match to retain his title

This started with a brawl outside of the ring. Cage slammed Pentagon on the floor and ripped his mask. Pentagon broke a bottle over Cage’s head, but Cage no sold it and busted Pentagon open with a bottle of his own. Cage grabbed a table and brought it into the ring in the corner. Pentagon grabbed Cage and hit a Death Valley Driver into the table.

Pentagon went for a chair and hit Cage with an unprotected chair shot to the head. That was very uncomfortable. Pentagon hit a flying double stomp onto the chair on Cage, and Cage rolled outside before blocking a superkick and powerbombing Pentagon into a guardrail. Pentagon grabbed a garbage can and nailed Cage with it. Cage used the lid and hit Pentagon before superplexing him through two tables on the outside of the ring

Cage grabbed another table and placed it ringside. Cage went to powerbomb Pentagon off the apron, but he hit an enzuigiri. Cage countered a package piledriver attempt, but Pentagon hit another unprotected chair shot to Cage’s head before hitting a Death Valley Driver off the apron through the table. Cage hit a spinning clothesline back in the ring and hit a Drill Claw. Cage grabbed yet another table, making The Dudleyz jealous.

Cage grabbed a cinder block before Pentagon hit him with a garbage can lid and hit a Canadian Destroyer off the top rope through the table. Holy crap! A series of six chairs were set up in the middle of the ring, and Pentagon hit the package piledriver through the chairs. Pentagon has repeatedly attacked the head of Cage in this match, and went to break Cage’s arm. Pentagon succeeded, and broke his other arm too.

Pentagon broke the cinder block over Cage’s head, and the referee counted to 10. This was a great match. The unprotected chair shots were really uncomfortable, but it did work into the psychology of the match. Nonetheless, there were better ways to do it.

Brian Cage added to Over Budget Battle Royal at All In

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Another name has been added to the All In Over Budget Battle Royal that will take place an hour before the main card.

Impact X Division champion Brian Cage is the sixth entrant in the battle royal, confirmed today by All In’s Twitter account. Cage joins Ethan Page, Jordynne Grace, Moose, Rocky Romero and Colt Cabana. Nine more participants have yet to be named.

The winner of the match will receive a ROH title match on the main card later in the evening against current champion Jay Lethal. The Over Budget Battle Royal will be on the pre-show, which will air on WGN America at 6 p.m. EDT and will run for an hour. SCU vs. the Briscoe Brothers will also be on the pre-card, and it will also features the likes of Beretta, Chucky T, Dalton Castle and Moose.

All In will take place on September 1 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates.