Some notes on tonight’s Impact Slammiversary event, which featured the return of FinJuice, the debut of the former No Way Jose, and a teaser vignette for a new character called Drama King.
FinJuice appeared after Madman Fulton and Shera entered the ring, mad that they were barred from the Ultimate X match earlier in the show. Scott D’Amore came out and said he didn’t appreciate them bringing the show to a halt, but rather than escort them out, they would wrestle in a match. Finjuice then came out for the impromptu match. The match itself was relatively short, with FinJuice quickly scoring the win.
No Way Jose, who was cut by WWE last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, appeared as Fallah Bahh’s mystery tag team partner, replacing TJP. He was referred to as “No Way” only, dropping the Jose part of his name. They lost to The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows) in a four-way match that included Violent by Design (Rhino and Doering) and Rich Swann & Willie Mack.
During the show, a short vignette teased a new character called Drama King. A hand was seen painting on a canvas that eventually read “Long live the Drama King”. It wasn’t made clear who this character was or when they would debut.
Two new matches have been added to Thursday’s Impact Wrestling.
NJPW’s Juice Robinson will face Doc Gallows in a singles match. Finjuice (Robinson and Dave Finlay), the current Impact Tag Team Champions, successfully retained their titles at Rebellion, defeating The Good Brothers (Gallows and Karl Anderson). Finlay, Robinson, and Eddie Edwards will face Kenny Omega, Gallows, and Anderson at Under Siege on May 15 following the end of the last episode of Impact Wrestling, where Omega and The Good Brothers laid out Edwards and Finjuice.
Rachael Ellering, meanwhile, will face Kiera Hogan. Ellering made her in-ring debut at Rebellion as Jordynne Grace’s tag team partner, replacing Jazz who was forced to retire last month. Together, they defeated Hogan and Tasha Steelz to win the Knockouts Tag Team titles.
Segmemts already announced for Impact include:
NJPW’s El Phantasmo debuts
Moose vs. James Storm in a number one contender qualifying match
Rhino vs. Chris Sabin in a number one contender qualifying match
Trey Miguel vs. Rohit Raju in a number on contender qualifying match
Impact has announced a Impact World Tag Team title match for next month’s Rebellion pay-per-view event.
The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows) will get their Sacrifice rematch, facing off against new champions David Finlay and Juice Robinson.
Good Brothers confronted FinJuice on tonight’s Impact, demanding a title match, saying they were not ready to defend the titles against them at Sacrifice last weekend. Finlay and Robinson said they were going back to Japan and wouldn’t be back until April. The two teams ended up brawling.
Backstage, Good Brothers complained to Scott D’Amore about the champions leaving to go back to New Japan Pro Wrestling. D’Amore then made the rematch for Rebellion on April 24.
The only other match announced for Rebellion thus far is also an interpromotional match. After unifying the Impact and TNA Heavyweight titles last weekend, Rich Swann will defend the unified title against AEW World Champion Kenny Omega in a title vs. title match.
Tuesday’s Impact Wrestling is expected to follow up on several title changes from Saturday’s Sacrifice show, headlined by Rich Swann defeating Moose to unify the Impact and TNA World titles.
On Saturday, FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) defeated the Good Brothers to win the Tag Team Titles and will be in non-title action against XXXL (Larry D and Acey Romero).
Tuesday’s show will feature a 12-woman tag team match as Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo, Knockouts Tag Team Champions Fire ‘N Flava (Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz), Kimber Lee, Susan and Tenille Dashwood will face Jordynne Grace, Jazz, OBD, Havok, Nevaeh and Alisha.
Additionally, Sami Callihan vs. Trey Miguel and Rohit Raju vs. Shera is also scheduled for Tuesday. Black Taurus vs. Luster The Legend will be the featured match on the BTI pre-show.
While Swann and new X-Division Champion Ace Austin weren’t announced as appearing as of yet, it’s expected they will be on Tuesday’s show in some form.
Our live coverage starts at 8 PM Eastern.
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Black Taurus (with Decay) defeated Luster The Legend (with Adam Thornstowe) on BTI.
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Opening video was a recap of Sacrifice, including FinJuice winning the Impact tag team championships, and Rich Swann defeating Moose to win the TNA World Championship and unify it with his Impact World Championship.
Impact Tag Team Champions FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson) defeated XXXL (Acey Romero & Larry D) in a non-title match
They’ve added little camera shakes for XXXL’s entrance for each step they take, it’s a nice little touch.
Match saw FinJuice dominate early on, hitting a couple of double team moves on D, but then Romero tagged in, the size difference was a bit too much for Robinson, who took some offense by Romero. Robinson quickly escaped Romero and tagged Finlay in. Finish saw FinJuice hit a double flapjack on D and acid drop by Finlay for the win. Technically a squash with a short hope spot for XXXL.
After the match, Anderson and Gallows came out to confront FinJuice. Anderson asked them if they were happy to have won against a team that wasn’t on their 100%, they’ve been jumping between Dynamite and Impact, hungover, and jetlagged. Gallows challenged them for a rematch, which Robinson quickly accepted. FinJuice said that they would have to wait for April when they’re done with the New Japan Cup tour.
Anderson and Gallows, annoyed that they would have to wait, attacked FinJuice, but Finlay and Robinson dodged them and left them hanging.
– D’lo Brown & Matt Striker ran down tonight’s card.
– We got a promo by Sami Callihan talking about how Trey Miguel is a phony and how he lacks passion, which Miguel pretends to have. He said that tonight, he’d embarrass Miguel and make an example out of him. The production effects of these makes them funnier and not aggressive as they should.
– Anderson and Gallows went to D’Amore to complain about their title situation. D’Amore said that FinJuice will defend their titles against them at Rebellion on April 24. D’Amore said that FinJuice would be defending the titles in Japan, which I highly doubt.
– Tommy Dreamer came up to D’Amore too and brought up that they don’t have tag titles now and this is a mess. D’Amore said that it was a good price to have a working relationship with a promotion that used to hate them. D’Amore said that this wasn’t easy, so if Dreamer thought he could do better, then he should book the next Impact+ special — Hardcore Justice. Dreamer gave D’Amore some ideas.
Rhino (with VBD) defeated Jake Something (with James Storm & Chris Sabin)
Rhino turned heel at Sacrifice, turning on James Storm, Chris Sabin, and Jake Something, after he ran down and aided Doering and Deaner to defeat Sabin after hitting him with a Gore. Rhino had been feuding with EY and Doering prior to being taken out, along with his friend Heath.
This was more of an angle. They did about 3 minutes of wrestling before Beer Guns and VBD started brawling outside, distracting Something and allowing Rhino to gore him for the pin.
After the match, the brawl continued, Rhino gored everyone, and Violent By Design ended standing tall over their opponents.
This feels like it’s going to end in a big 8-man weapons match, potentially at Hardcore Justice.
– Backstage, Tenille Dashwood wanted to get her team for tonight to be called ‘Tenille and her followers”. Purrazzo instead wanted to offer the team guidance, but was interrupted by Hogan and Steelz, who are tag team specialists and it was them who had advice. Purrazzo then calmed things and said that they’re all the best and instead of going back and forward, they need to do their thing and win like they always do.
Rohit Raju defeated Mahabali Shera
A couple of weeks ago, Raju brought Shera back to the promotion as a backup against TJP. After failing to win the X Division title and a tag team match against Storm and Sabin, Raju berated Shera to the point that Shera had enough and fired back.
This was playing out to be another squash, but the match actually went back and forward, as Raju kept getting offense on Shera. This was a speed vs power match, with Raju being able to dodge and attack Shera, while Shera would capture Raju and drop him with power moves. At the end, Raju got a roll up on Shera with his feet on the ropes and got the upset win.
Seems like this will go on for some time. Shera hasn’t fully turned babyface, so it will be interesting to see if they keep him as a monster, or if the Shera Shake comes back.
– Willie Mack congratulated Rich Swann for defeating Moose. Swann said that it wasn’t time to party, he had business in the ring.
– Rich Swann walked out to the ring. Swann said that he may not like Moose, but respected that at Sacrifice, he and Moose went all out and showed what Impact is about, but now, Swann is a double champion. Swann addressed Kenny Omega, he had been dragging a pin loss to Omega since January, and now he had his chance to get it back and he would show who the real best wrestler in the world is.
Don Callis came out and congratulated Swann. He hugged Swann and told him he was proud of him. Callis said he was a big fan of Swann and that it was him that fought to sign Swann to Impact, it was Callis that made sure that Swann kept getting paid while he was injured and he checked on him weekly. Callis got him in the Bound For Glory 2020 main event, and none of this was denied by Swann.
Callis said that Swann was his shiny toy, but Kenny Omega was his new, shinier toy. Callis started getting in Swann’s head, talking about how Swann likely has been celebrating for a month now thinking of the One Winged Angel in the back of his head. He kept telling Swann that he was a once in a decade wrestler, but Omega was one in a millenia. Callis had been around for every big Omega moment and at Rebellion, he would be there, along with Swann, as they both witnessed history, when Omega hits the One Winged Angel.
Don Callis is FANTASTIC! This was a great segment.
– We got our weekly AEW commercial with Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone. They ran down the card for St. Patrick’s Day Slam episode of Dynamite. Tony Schiavone will interview STING.
– Backstage, Eddie Edwards thanked Matt Cardona for having his back this last month. Myers walked up and talked with Cardona, who told him to stop antagonizing him and Edwards. Myers told him that he didn’t want Cardona on Impact because this was his promotion and wanted to do it by himself.
Jordynne Grace, Jazz, Alisha, Havok, Nevaeh, & ODB defeated Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo, Impact Knockout Tag Team Champions Fire ‘n Flava (Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz), Susan, Kimber Lee, & Tenille Dashwood (with Kaleb with a K)
Alisha aside, all these women have crossed paths in the last months. At Sacrifice, we saw the heel side dominate all of their matches against their babyface counterparts, and so D’Amore booked this match. There are no stipulations to this match, but with both Knockouts championships on one side, we should be getting some progression.
Match started with a couple of pair ups with the babyface team maintaining control over their opponents. Dashwood vs Alisha, ODB vs Susan, Nevaeh vs Lee, Havok vs Hogan, and Jazz vs Purrazzo. At this point, every woman started taking turns to come and hit a move, ending with a big brawl outside the ring, perfectly set up for a double dive from Grace and Steelz.
Back from commercial, the referee had regained control and everyone was back in the ring, but once again, after a few spots with Grace and Lee, everyone started to take turns again to take out the previous one, ending with Jazz submitting Kimber Lee with the STF. This was 100% an exhibition match, nothing really happened, but everyone got something in.
Hard to say where this could go, but with Jazz getting the win, she could be getting a shot at Purrazzo.
– Gia Miller interviewed the new X Division champion, Ace Austin. He said that things were back to normal now that he had regained the title, and that defeating TJP was inevitable. Chris Bey and Josh Alexander interrupted Austin because both of them had beaten Austin. TJP then walked up and was told to go the back of the line, but TJP said he was getting his rematch next week, so he didn’t need to wait in line like the rest.
– Brown and Striker ran down next week’s card, including TJP vs Ace Austin rematch, Deonna Purrazzo vs Jazz in a non-title match, and Karl Anderson vs Eddie Edwards.
Sami Callihan defeated Trey Miguel
Ever since Miguel returned to Impact, Callihan has been stalking and teasing him about not having passion, about constantly quitting when things get hard, and about how he lacked the killer instinct. Last week, Callihan even used one of Miguel’s trainees to come after Miguel.
Match started with Miguel running wild over Callihan, in and outside the ring. He managed to dodge and counter everything that Callihan was throwing at him, but when he went for a 619 reversal, Callihan caught him, cut him off, and turned momentum around.
Callihan worked over Miguel’s ankle, which he initially injured by locking it between the metal frame in the ringpost. After tossing him from corner to corner and going for ankle locks, Callihan got overconfident and started taking his time to trash talk, but in doing so, Miguel got enough time to take a breather and counter Callihan with an enzuigiri.
Still hurting, Miguel made half a comeback, every time he jumped, he failed to stay on his feet, but he was able to take down Callihan along with him. He kept going for foot stomps for some reason.
Last couple of minutes saw both men go back and forward, trading some near falls. Miguel got close with a sharpshooter, but Callihan bit himself out of the submission, hit a powerbomb and into an STF for a big near fall. Match ended with Callihan hitting a package piledriver for the win after Miguel failed to hit the meteora.
Ok match, it was definitely too long. Miguel looked good, he sold his ankle as much as he could given that his arsenal is mostly kick based.
We’ll wait for next week to see how Miguel reacts to losing and how Callihan follows up, but we’re surely getting a rematch.
Two new champions were crowned during tonight’s Impact Sacrifice event on Impact Plus.
A new X-Division champion was crowned, with Ace Austin defeating TJP to win the championship for the second time. He ended TJP’s third reign with the championship after 92 days. Austin defeated TJP after pinning him with a double stomp and The Fold.
FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) defeated The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) in the co-main event to win the Impact World Tag Team titles, with Juice coveiring Anderson following a doomsday device. FinJuice, who are signed to New Japan Pro Wrestling, are holding the titles for the first time. Anderson and Gallows had held the titles for 120 days, winning them from The North (Ethan Page and Josh Alexander) back on November 14.
Rich Swann in the main event unified the Impact and TNA Heavyweight titles, defeating Moose. He will move on to the Rebellion pay-per-view event on April 24, where he faces AEW World Champion Kenny Omega in a title vs. title match.
Tonight’s Impact Wrestling on AXS will feature the contract signing for the Good Brothers vs. FinJuice Tag Team title match on this Sunday’s Sacrifice special on Impact Plus.
In the preview video, the signing goes from laughs to clenched fists rather quickly. The two teams united last week in a win over XXXL and Reno Scum with a tag title match seemingly in the cards ever since David Finlay and Juice Robinson debuted.
Also on Tuesday’s show, former X-Division champions Ace Austin and Chris Bey will go one-on-one after current champion TJP tricked the two into a match as they were confronting him on last week’s show, and Rohit Raju will team with Shera to take on Beer Guns (Chris Sabin and James Storm).
On the BTI pre-show, the aforementioned TJP will battle Madman Fulton in a non-title match.
Our live coverage begins at 8 PM Eastern.
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TJP defeated Madman Fulton (with Ace Austin) in the BTI match.
TJP won with the Mamba Splash. Austin and Fulton attacked him after the match.
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Opening video recapped last week’s match where the Good Brothers and FinJuice teamed up to defeat XXXL and Reno Scum, that eventually led to dissension and the challenge made for a tag team title match at Sacrifice. Also featured, was the main event where Purrazzo defeated Grace and Hogan, only to be attacked by ODB.
Jazz (with Jordynne Grace) defeated Tasha Steelz (with Kiera Hogan)
The team of Jazz and Jordynne Grace will be challenging for the Knockouts tag team titles at Sacrifice. Last week, Hogan and Grace clashed in the 3-way that also included Deonn Purrazzo, this time around, it’s time for Jazz and Steelz.
Steelz started the match cocky, making fun of Jazz, so Jazz got in some offense in order to teach her a lesson. Steelz finally took Jazz seriously and cut her off. They went back and forward for a couple of minutes.
Jazz got a couple of near falls before locking in an STF for the submission win. This was really good once they started going back and forward.
– Gia Miller interviewed ODB about challenging for the Knockouts title at Sacrifice. ODB said she’d be a 5-time Knocked Up Champion soon. Susan confronted ODB and challenged her to a match. ODB was fantastic.
– D’lo Brown & Matt Striker ran down tonight’s card. D’Amore is set to make an announcement about the Swann vs Moose match at Sacrifice.
– Backstage, Trey Miguel saw Sam, one of his trainees, the one that was approached by Sami Callihan last week. Sam said that Callihan told him that if he showed up at Impact and challenged Miguel, he’d wimp out. Sam pushed Miguel’s buttons into accepting the match.
– We got a video package for Swann vs Moose, similar to last week’s, with Moose talking about going for Swann so he’ll be taken seriously, while Swann wanting to beat Moose, who is stronger and faster, but doesn’t want it as much as he does.
Beer Guns (James Storm & Chris Sabin) defeated Desi Hit Squad (Rohit Raju & Mahabali Shera)
These two teams have had a slight feud going for some weeks after Storm’s beer got spilled by Raju. Storm defeated Raju in last week’s episode of BTI, but ended with problems between Storm and Shera.
Story of the match was that Storm and Shera wanted each other, so even when Sabin and Storm had control over Raju, Storm threw it away to get Shera in. Storm was able to get the upper hand on Shera, but when he tagged in Sabin for the double team, Shera regained control and cut off Sabin.
Eventually, Storm got the hot tag and ran wild over Raju. After a couple of minutes, Raju managed to bring down Storm and get ready for the kill, but Shera, who was still hot, jumped in and interrupted Raju to attack Storm. Raju and Shera exchanged words, allowing Sabin and Storm to recover with Sabin hitting Cradle Shock for the win on Raju.
– Backstage, XXXL and Reno Scum discussed who lost last week’s match. Decay interrupted them. XXXL walked away because they didn’t want to deal with Rosemary, but Reno Scum was all in for a match with Decay at Sacrifice.
– Deaner was finally let out of his week-long punishment. James Storm and Chris Sabin approached them and called out EY for the things they were doing to Deaner. Violent By Design attacked Beer Guns and left them laying.
– Brian Myers confronted D’Amore and tried to get Eddie Edwards terminated if he wanted to avoid a lawsuit. D’Amore said that he and Edwards can settle things at Sacrifice in a No Rules match.
– Prior to the match, Sami Callihan came out to cut a promo and call Miguel a quitter, saying the only good thing Miguel has ever done is train Callihan’s new protege.
Trey Miguel defeated Sam Beale
Last week, we saw Callihan go to Trey Miguel’s gym, attack the trainers and trainees there, cause some mayhem, and try to recruit one of Miguel’s guys, Sam Beale
Match lasted one minute when Miguel locked in Beale in a submission and tapped him out.
After the match, Callihan dropped Beale with a package piledriver and used his magic hacking skills to disappear.
– Sabin and Storm cut a promo to EY, asking whatever happened to him. They’ve known EY for 20 years and don’t know where he went wrong. Storm said that at Sacrifice, they’re coming for Violent By Design. Jake Something walked up to them and offered his help to neutralize EY while Beer Guns worked the match.
– We got our weekly AEW commercial with Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone. They said they had a big buyrate at Revolution, they talked about some of the results from Revolution, and even referenced that Omega is terrible at building exploding rings and Eddie Kingston’s actions at the end of the pay per view.
– Good Brothers and FinJuice sat down with D’Amore for the contract signing. D’Amore couldn’t get them to sign because they were challenging each other to drink some shots. D’Amore eventually left and told them to sign the contract and get it back to him. They just kept drinking shot after shot after shot before finally signing the contract. Last shot ended all over the Good Brother’s face before they started brawling all over D’Amore’s conference room.
Chris Bey defeated Ace Austin (with Madman Fulton)
Ace Austin and Chris Bey were both in the #1 contendership 3-way match along with Black Taurus, the match that was won by Austin after Fulton helped him take out Bey. Chris Bey wants revenge on Austin, and after being tricked by TJP, this match came about.
The match was fantastic. It started with a good series of reversals and chain wrestling.
The match then turned into a more aerial match, with Austin gaining control of the match after a couple of kicks and dives on Bey.
Bey made a comeback and the match proceeded with both men going back and forward, some amazing sequences of counters and dodges. At one point, both men fought on top of the turnbuckles, ending with both men spilling to the floor after Austin failed to hit a double underhook superplex.
There were a couple of great near falls, a big one when Austin blocked the art of finesse, only to get hit with the Verta-bey-ker for a near fall.
At the end, Austin was hurt and had to hide behind Fulton and allowed Austin to attack Bey. TJP came out and made sure to lure Fulton to the back, but with the distraction, Bey recovered and hit the art of finesse for the win. Great match.
At this point, Bey may get added to Austin vs TJP.
– Over at Swinger’s Paradise, Josh Alexander confronted TJP for not taking Austin seriously. Cocky TJP said that he beat Alexander, and so he’ll beat Austin too. Alexander told him he’ll be coming after him if he retains.
– Rohit Raju confronted Shera for costing him his second match. Shera attacked Raju and told him he didn’t owe him anything.
ODB defeated Susie
Purrazzo, Kimber Lee, and Susan have been feuding with Jordynne Grace, Jazz, and ODB for some weeks. ODB pinned Susan when both teams met in a 6-woman tag match, and so Susan wanted to get some revenge on ODB.
Match was a squash, ODB beat on Susan from bell to bell, hitting all her signature moves. Susan’s only hope spot came after poking ODB’s eyes, but the advantage didn’t last long. Match ended when Susan threw out all of ODB’s alcohol, ODB got angry, and finished off Susan for the win.
After the match, Purrazzo and Lee came out and attacked ODB until Grace and Jazz made the save. Hogan and Steelz joined the brawl and attacked Grace and Jazz, who they’ll be wrestling at Sacrifice. Heels dominated the ring afterwards. This was good for what it was.
Brown and Striker ran down the Sacrifice card, including the newly added matches of Edwards vs Myers, VBD vs Beer Guns, Decay vs Reno Scum, and Dashwood and Kaleb vs Havok and Nevaeh.
– It was time for D’Amore’s announcement. Moose came out to the ring to hear the announcement and called out D’Amore, who came out and brought out Rich Swann to give the announcement to both men.
D’Amore announced that the main event of Sacrifice will be a title vs title world title unification match. D’Amore also added that whoever wins as the World champion, will be defending at Rebellion against Kenny Omega, in an Impact Championship vs AEW Championship, winner takes all match.
Afterwards, we saw Don Callis talk with Omega, telling him that things are going according to plan.
Impact Wrestling has announced that the Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) and FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson) will take part in a contract signing on Tuesday’s episode of Impact. The Good Brothers are defending their Impact Tag Team titles against Robinson & Finlay at Sacrifice.
Sacrifice is airing on Impact Plus on Saturday, March 13.
At February’s No Surrender Impact Plus special, it was revealed that NJPW’s Finlay & Robinson were coming to Impact Wrestling. They defeated Reno Scum (Luster the Legend & Adam Thornstowe) in their debut and were then confronted by Anderson & Gallows after the match.
The Good Brothers & FinJuice defeated Reno Scum & Team XXXL (Acey Romero & Larry D) in an eight-man tag match on this week’s Impact. The Good Brothers and FinJuice argued throughout the match and after it was over and tried to show each other up.
The Good Brothers have been Impact Tag Team Champions since November of last year. They retained their titles against James Storm & Chris Sabin and AEW’s Private Party (Marq Quen & Isiah Kassidy) in a triple threat match at No Surrender last month.
Here’s the updated lineup for Tuesday’s Impact:
Good Brothers and FinJuice Sacrifice Tag Team title match contract signing
Chris Bey vs. Ace Austin
James Storm & Chris Sabin vs. Mahabali Shera & Rohit Raju
The Good Brothers will team up with FinJuice on tonight’s Impact Wrestling in what is expected to be a preview of a future Impact Tag Team title match.
They will face XXXL and Reno Scum in an eight-man tag that will headline the show. While things have been jovial between the new arrivals from New Japan Pro Wrestling (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) and the champions (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) thus far, the writing is on the wall for a title challenge at either this month’s Sacrifice or April’s Rebellion pay-per-view.
In another high profile match, the winner of Chris Bey vs. Black Taurus vs. Ace Austin will earn a future shot against X-Division champion TJP.
The show will also feature Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo against former champion Jordynne Grace in a non-title match, and Eddie Edwards vs. Brian Myers with friend and former partner Matt Cardona as special guest referee.
Former X-Division Champion Rohit Raju (w/ Shera) will face James Storm (w/ Chris Sabin) on the BTI pre-show.
Our live coverage starts at 8 PM Eastern.
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James Storm (with Chris Sabin) defeated Rohit Raju (with Mahabali Shera) in the BTI Match
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Opening video showcased the ongoing meetings between FinJuice and the Good Brothers, who are teaming up to night, as they face off with XXXL and Reno Scum. Also, last week’s main event where Moose defeated Jake Something for the newly reinstated TNA World Championship.
Ace Austin (with Madman Fulton) defeated Black Taurus & Chris Bey in an X Division #1 Contendership Match
These three participants teamed up last week against Trey Miguel, Josh Alexander, and Willie Mack, who they defeated to advance to this triple threat, where the winner becomes the #1 contender to TJP’s X Division.
Match saw both Bey and Austin team up against Taurus, who had to take on both of them. Austin and Bey actually managed pretty well as a team until they took out Taurus with a tandem dive.
With Taurus out, Bey and Austin finally went at it between them, they did some great chain wrestling and a short sequence of reversals. Bey was barely taking control when Taurus recovered and came back to the match. He took turns wrestling Austin, and then Bey for a couple of minutes each. At one point, Taurus caught Bey’s plancha and turned it into a suplex, that had extra power after a missile dropkick from Austin to both.
Finish saw Austin and Bey take out Taurus again, and just as Bey was about to finish Austin, Fulton held his foot, allowing Austin to hit the fold for the win. Good match, Taurus looked really dominant.
Ace Austin vs TJP for the X Division title is set for Sacrifice.
– Gia Miller interviewed Jazz and Jordynne Grace for becoming #1 contenders to the tag team titles. They were talking about ODB’s attack last week when Fire ‘n Flava approached them and told them to focus on them, not ODB. Grace said that she’d talk D’Amore to invite Hogan to her match tonight with Purrazzo.
– Backstage, Myers found Cardona training and tried to talk nice to him since Cardona is the referee in Myers’ match with Eddie Edwards tonight. Cardona told him that he’d call it down the middle.
– D’lo Brown & Matt Striker ran down tonight’s card, including the newly signed Hogan vs Grace vs Purrazzo.
Tenille Dashwood (with Kaleb with a K) defeated Havok
This match was booked during BTI after Dashwood had been messing around with Havok and Nevaeh for some weeks, taking advantage of their small dissension after going on a losing streak.
Match saw Havok dominate early on, she blocked everything that Dashwood tried on her and turned it into a power move of her own. Eventually, Kaleb aided Dashwood, allowing her to get her with an elbow to the back of the head that rocked her and with that, Dashwood cut her off.
After some minutes of Dashwood working over Havok’s neck, Havok finally got Dashwood off her, and got some offense in. When she was ready to finish off Dashwood, Kaleb distracted her again, giving Dashwood the opening to hit the spotlight for the win.
After the match, Nevaeh came down and saved Havok from Kaleb and Dashwood. Nevaeh took out Kaleb with her DDT. Nevaeh looked good as the babyface making the save.
– We got a promo from Sami Callihan, broadcasting from the Skulls and Bones School, where Trey Miguel trains. He talked trash about Miguel, beat up some of the staff and trainees, and trashed the place. Callihan tried to recruit some of Miguel’s students before leaving. Really good angle if not for the annoying ‘hacker’ production in Callihan’s promos.
– TJP was hanging out in Swinger’s Paradise when Ace Austin confronted him and told him to not bet against him. Chris Bey came in and accused Austin of winning only because Fulton interfered, and so TJP tricked them into a match between them. And here I was hoping for a Bey and Austin tag team.
– We got a promo with Violent By Design where EY said he’d be punishing Deaner for failing to take out Jake Something in the tables match that HE had asked for. Behind a wall, Joe Doering beat up Deaner, who had to drag himself out. Deaner gracefully accepted his punishment.
– We got our weekly AEW commercial with Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone, promoting Dynamite and Revolution. Khan actually put Impact over a bit saying that they, Impact, and NJPW are all in the same team, but AEW is now calling the shots. Khan hyped up Shaq and Paul Wight’s debuts.
– Moose cut a promo, talking about how he has held the TNA World Championship for months, and defended the title, even if no one considered it a real championship. And so he had nothing against Swann, but he had the recognized Impact World Championship, and so he had to beat him to make it clear that he was the real champion. Great promo.
The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) & FinJuice (Juice Robinson & David Finlay) defeated XXXL (Acey Romero & Larry D) & Reno Scum (Luster The Legend & Adam Thornstowe)
Ever since FunJuice debuted, them and the Good Brothers have been teasing each other, not in a hostile way, but Anderson and Gallows keep trying to make fun of them for being young boys in Japan when they were there. In return, Robinson and Finlay make fun of them for being bad drinkers. In the last weeks, FinJuice defeated Reno Scum, while Anderson and Gallows defeated XXXL.
Match saw FinJuice and the Good Brothers dominate early on with a couple of hard tags between them, they’re showing off to each other and trying to one up each other. They were so focused on each other, that they allowed Reno Scum to cut off Finlay and separate him for a couple of minutes. XXXL and Reno Scum didn’t get much heat before Finlay escaped and once again, Robinson and the Good Brothers kept racing each other to take the tag and actually take the pin, which ended up being Gallows, who hit Magic Killer along with Anderson for the win on Thornstowe. This was 100% a squash.
After the match, FinJuice and the Good Brothers had a staredown as they argued who won the match. These two teams are ready to collide.
– We got a video package with Rich Swann, talking about Moose, who is a fake world champion, walking around with a dead title. He knew that Moose was stronger and faster, but he didn’t have Swann’s fire and determination.
– Backstage, the Good Brothers and FinJuice argued that they also lost the match because of Anderson and Gallows. Anderson said they should go back to carrying their bags, so Finlay replied that it’s the tag team titles that they’ll be carrying in. Gallows made the challenge to make it happen at Sacrifice.
Eddie Edwards defeated Brian Myers via DQ
Edwards and Myers have been feuding for a couple of weeks now after Myers started calling Edwards unprofessional. For several weeks now too, Myers has claimed to have an eye injury because of Edwards and Cardona, which he has used as a crutch to get away from facing Edwards in a singles match. Tonight, we have that singles match with Matt Cardona as the special guest referee.
Story of the match was that Cardona called the match right in the middle and it was annoying Myers. At the end, Myers loaded up his elbow pad and hit the roster cut lariat for the pin, but Cardona saw him cheat and DQ’d him.
As for the match, Edwards had a strong start, later cut off by Myers. Myers worked on Edwards for a couple of minutes until the latter made a comeback. They started chasing their finishers, trading a couple of good near falls, right before the finish. Really nothing match, had a lot of potential, but they didn’t really do much with the story, not got enough time for it.
I was expecting for a finish that could cause dissension between Cardona and Edwards, but they went for the straight DQ and good referring.
– Brown and Striker ran down the Sacrifice card, with Moose vs Swann, Good Brothers vs FinJuice, Ace Austin vs TJP; also for next week, Chris Bey vs Ace Austin, and Desi Hit Squad vs Beer Guns.
Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo (with Kimber Lee & Susan) defeated Jordynne Grace (with Jazz) and Knockouts Tag Team Champion Kiera Hogan (with Tasha Steelz) in a non-title 3-way match.
Grace and Jazz are the #1 contenders to Fire ‘n Flava’s titles, they won the spot by defeating Kimber Lee and Susan. After that match, they found their friend ODB taken out backstage, and their immediate suspicion went to Purrazzo. Grace had originally challenged Purrazzo for tonight, but after a confrontation with Fire ‘n Flava earlier in the show, Grace asked for Hogan to be added to the match and make it a 3-way.
Similar to the opener, the two heels teamed up against Grace, who is the only babyface and currently feuding with both parties separately. In this match however, the heels quickly broke up their truce and fought each other.
The match was a good clash of Hogan’s speed, Grace’s power, and Purrazzo’s technical proficiency, especially because all three women were in the ring together for most of the match, there were barely any one-on-one parts to the match. At one point, all three got into a 3-way striking exchange, right before the brawl broke out with the seconds, with Grace taking them all out with a big plancha.
Throughout the match, we mostly got near falls with Purrazzo chasing the Fujiwara armbar from all corners, but at the end, it was Purrazzo stealing the win with a roll up on Grace after the latter failed to hit the Vader Bomb on Hogan because Steelz had pulled her off. This was a fantastic match.
After the match, Grace and Jazz brawled with Fire ‘n Flava to the back, but in the ring, ODB came down and took out Purrazzo and made her intentions clear that she wanted a match for the title.
The Bullet Club trio attacked before the opening bell. Fale and Yano started off as the legal men. Yano untied a corner pad and used it as a weapon on Fale, but Fale no-sold it. Yano went for a slam on Fale, but failed.
Ishimori tagged in and got sent into the buckle. SHO tagged in for an extended sequence with Ishimori. They had a nice back and forth. SHO hit a spear, Ishimori hit a handspring kick, then both tagged out.
Eagles peppered Owens with kicks. Eagles hit a pair of meteoras in the corner. He missed a follow-up 450 splash. Owens missed a pump knee strike, but blocked Turbo Backpack.
Owens hit a Jewel Heist for a near fall. Fale tagged in for the tandem Grenade Launcher and Owens pinned Eagles.
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After the match, Yano tried to slam Fale again and failed again. Fale then destroyed Yano’s KOPW trophy with a stomp.
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Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb (w/Bea Priestley) defeated Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare (10:45)
This was good when Okada and Ospreay were in together.
Okada and Ospreay began with an intense striking battle. O-Khan and Tanahashi got tags. Henare jumped in for some tandem spots with Tana, including a double crab on O-Khan.
O-Khan cut Tanahashi off with a kneebar. Cobb tagged in and hit a backbreaker. O-Khan and Cobb each hit Tana with gutwrench suplexes. Ospreay tagged in for a 3-on-1 on Tana, hitting a missile dropkick.
Tanahashi came back with a dragon screw on Ospreay and tagged Okada. Okada hit a running back elbow, cleared the apron, hit another back elbow in the corner, then hit a DDT on Ospreay for a near fall.
Ospreay fought out of an air raid crash neckbreaker attempt. Cobb and Henare got tags and did some impressive power spots. Henare really needs to go somewhere else, he would be much higher on the card in any other promotion.
Tana jumped in for a slingblade on Cobb. Henare covered, but Ospreay broke up the pin. Henare ran into a pump kick from an interfering O-Khan. O-Khan used a kneebar on Tanahashi to neutralize the interference threat.
Cobb then hit a Tour of the Islands on Henare for the pin.
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O-Khan continued to use the kneebar after the bell. Okada jumped in to make the save.
Cobb attacked Okada. Ospreay then hit an Oscutter on Okada. Priestley tossed O-Khan a chair. O-Khan hammered away at Tanahashi’s left leg with the chair.
SANADA showed great intensity in what was more of an angle than a match.
The Bullet Club squad attacked before the opening bell. Togo dragged SANADA to the ramp and choked him out with a ligature. Young Lions and staff tended to SANADA as the match began.
Togo removed a corner pad and Shingo was whipped into the exposed buckle. Yujiro took the ref while EVIL threatened to use Yujiro’s cane on Shingo.
An enraged SANADA jumped in and went after EVIL. He took him down and hammered him with right hands. SANADA shoved the referee down and continued beating EVIL around ringside. This was the most emotion SANADA has ever shown.
Shingo hit a sliding lariat and a Last of the Dragon on Yujiro for the pin.
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SANADA continued attacking EVIL after the bell. Young Lions tried to pull SANADA off, but he tossed them aside. SANADA hammered EVIL with right hands and they brawled to the back.
In the ring, Jeff Cobb appeared. Cobb picked up Shingo’s NEVER Openweight title belt. Shingo tried to grab the belt back. Cobb hit Shingo with Tour of the Islands and stomped to the back.
So both EVIL vs. SANADA and Shingo vs. Cobb for the NEVER title look to be Wrestle Kingdom matches.
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A promo video aired for the 49th anniversary show on March 4th at Budokan.
A promo video for an appearance at Wrestle Kingdom by a Japanese comedian dressed like Don King. Apparently he is Noritake Kinashi, also known as Don Kinashi.
Ibushi and Naito began with a series of counters and teases, previewing their Wrestle Kingdom match. Ibushi hit a dropkick to establish the early advantage. Wato got a tag and BUSHI and Naito doubled up on him. Naito and BUSHI mocked Tenzan by hitting Mongolian chops.
Wato came back with a series of kicks on BUSHI, then we were back to Naito and Ibushi. Naito got the upper hand in this exchange, hitting combinacion cabron in the corner, then an enzuigiri and a DDT.
BUSHI tagged in and hit a missile dropkick and DDT on Ibushi for a two count. BUSHI hit a swinging neckbreaker for another two as Wato broke up the pin.
BUSHI hit Ibushi with a backstabber. Ibushi came back with a high kick. Naito jumped in. Ibushi held Naito up. Wato hit a springboard forearm and a tornillo to take out Naito.
Ibushi hit a jumping knee strike to the head and a Kamigoye on BUSHI for the victory.
World Tag League final: Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa (w/Jado) defeated Juice Robinson & David Finlay to win World Tag League 2020 (22:15)
This was an excellent match.
Finlay and Loa began with some simple spots — tackles, drop downs and headlocks. Juice and Tama tagged in. Jado tried to trip Juice from the floor and got ejected by ref Marty Asami.
Finlay and Juice went to work on Tama’s left arm. After a miscommunication spot by FinJuice, Loa tagged in and cut off Finlay. Loa hit a blue thunder bomb for a near fall.
Finlay went for a tag but Tama pulled him off the apron. Juice finally got a tag at the ten minute mark. He hit a plancha to Loa, then went after Tama with a clothesline and a high cross off the top.
FinJuice went for a Hart Attack. Instead, Loa speared Juice. Finlay got hit with a Tongan Twist. Loa hit a diving headbutt off the top to Juice. Tama followed with a top rope splash for a near fall.
G.O.D. called for a super powerbomb. Tama missed the setup splash in the corner. All four guys hit big moves and all four went down. Juice hit Loa with a Left Hand of God, then collapsed again.
Juice hit Tama with a cannonball and a series of jabs. Juice called for Pulp Friction but got distracted by Jado walking down the ramp. Tama used a kendo stick on Juice and made a cover. Finlay broke up the pin.
Loa used the OJK on Finlay. Tama used a sharpshooter on Juice at the same time. Juice fought to the ropes to force a break.
Jado called for a Magic Killer. G.O.D. hit the Magic Killer. Tama covered — but Juice kicked out at two.
Jado called for a super powerbomb. Tama hit a running splash in the corner. Loa tried to execute the powerbomb, but Juice hit a super hurricanrana instead.
Finlay jumped in and hit an ushigoroshi on Loa at the 20 minute call. FinJuice hit a Hart Attack. Juice covered — but Tama kicked out at two. Finlay hit a superplex. Juice hit a top rope splash. Tama kicked out again.
FinJuice teased a Doomsday Device. Loa shoved Finlay off the post. Jado jumped in with a kendo stick. Juice cut him off and broke the stick.
KENTA ran in with the U.S. title briefcase and clocked Juice with it.
G.O.D. hit the super powerbomb and Tama covered Juice for the pin.
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After the match, KENTA took photos with his phone as G.O.D. and Jado posed with the World Tag League trophies.
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Best of the Super Jrs. final: Hiromu Takahashi defeated El Desperado to win Best of the Super Jrs. 27 (30:14)
This was not your typical high-flying Hiromu match filled with a bunch of high risk moves. Instead, they told a great story and worked a NJPW strong style main event match. This was superb.
They started slowly by Hiromu standards. They traded tackles and side headlocks. Hiromu then went to intiate one of his trademark palm strike to the chest sequences. Desperado was having none of it and immediately went for Numero Dos. Hiromu forced a break.
The pace picked up from there. Desperado used an assist from an unwitting referee to hit a basement dropkick to the knee. Desperado sent Hiromu outside and sent Hiromu into the barricade.
Back in, Hiromu sold his back from being sent into the fence. Desperado hit a snap suplex for two. Desperado went after Hiromu’s legs, looking to set up Numero Dos, the same strategy he used to beat Hiromu earlier in the tournament. Desperado expossed a buckle.
Desperado forced Hiromu outside and slammed him on the floor. Desperado followed up by driving the left leg into the floor. Desperado continued working over the leg.
Hiromu used a misdirection spot to set up a hurricanrana. He landed a low dropkick, but after two spots involving running, Hiromu stopped to sell his leg at the ten minute call.
Hiromu stretched Desperado over the top rope, choking him with his legs. Hiromu hit a wheelbarrow slam on the floor, then a shotgun dropkick off the apron to the floor.
Back inside, Hiromu hit a falcon arrow for a near fall. He teased a DVD into the buckle but Desperado blocked. Hiromu blocked a spinebuster attempt and a back suplex attempt.
Desperado hit a kneebreaker. He went for Numero Dos, but Hiromu forced an immediate break by rolling to the ropes. Desperado got launched into the buckle with a release German suplex.
Hiromu went for a Dynamite Plunger. His knee gave out instead. Desperado blocked a thrust kick. Hiromu then connected with two superkicks at the fifteen minute call. Hiromu hit a DVD into the turnbuckle pad, then another in the center of the ring.
Hiromu went for Time Bomb. Desperado slid out and locked in Numero Dos. Hiromu reached the ropes, but Desperado used the full four count before breaking the hold.
Hiromu escaped Guitarra de Angel and rolled outside. Desperado teased a suicide dive. Hiromu cut him off in the ropes. Hiromu went for a sunset bomb but overshot his mark. Desperado threatened to use his Jr. Heavyweight Tag belt, but ultimately attacked Hiromu’s leg with a chair.
Back in, Desperado hit Guitarra de Angel for a two count, then immediately transitioned to Numero Dos at the 20 minute call. Somehow, Hiromu reversed Numero Dos into a destroyer. Both men were down in the center of the ring.
Desperado shoved Hiromu into the Red Shoes the ref, who took a bump. Desperado hit a low blow. Hiromu blocked a straight right by hitting a big right hand of his own.
Hiromu tore off the top half of Desperado’s mask. In a dramatic moment, Desperado tore the rest of his own mask off himself.
The two then engaged in a furious sequence of strikes. After trading, Hiromu dropped Desperado with a palm strike. Desperado answered, dropping Hiromu with a right hand. Hiromu blocked Pinche Loco and hit a headbutt.
Hiromu hit victory royal. He went for Time Bomb. Desperado blocked and used El es Culero for a great near fall.
They charged each other and hit simultaneous lariats. Desperado kicked out the left leg. Hiromu popped back up and hit a superkick.
Desperado ducked a lariat and went for Pinche Loco. Hiromu reversed into a DVD into the exposed buckle. Hiromu hit Time Bomb — but Desperado kicked out.
Hiromu hit a second victory royal. He hoisted Desperado up at the 30 minute call. Hiromu hit Time Bomb II, then covered for the pin.
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Hiromu cut a promo after the match. He called out to Desperado as he was being helped to the back. Hiromu said he won this one, but they will be facing each other until they retire.
Hiromu fought back tears as he was handed the BOSJ trophy.
Hiromu challenged the winner of the Super-J Cup. He said he wants that match before he faces Taiji Ishimori for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight title.
Hiromu then closed the show with a babyface promo, putting over the crowd.
