The former Zack Ryder made his Impact Wrestling debut at tonight’s Hard to Kill pay-per-view.
In a match that wasn’t announced in advance, Matt Cardona faced Ace Austin at Hard to Kill. Cardona won by disqualification when Madman Fulton interfered to save Austin. Cardona fought off Fulton and stood tall after hitting Radio Silence.
Cardona tweeted after making his Impact debut: “I needed tonight. Thanks @ScottDAmore for the opportunity. Thanks @IMPACTWRESTLING. Thanks to all my fans! I’m #AlwayzReady…I’m #HardToKill…and I’m NOT DONE with @The_Ace_Austin & @FultonWorld!”
Austin, who won Impact’s Super X-Cup at Genesis earlier this month, came to the ring at tonight’s PPV and cut a promo demanding to be added to the Manik vs. Rohit Raju vs. Chris Bey X-Division Championship match. Scott D’Amore said he was going to give Austin another match instead, then introduced Cardona as his opponent.
Cardona was released by WWE during the company’s roster cuts last April. He had a short-term stint in AEW following his release from WWE, including teaming with Dustin Rhodes, QT Marshall & Scorpio Sky in an eight-man tag match against The Dark Order at All Out in September.
Cardona hosts the Major Wrestling Figure podcast with his friend and former tag team partner Brian Myers (formerly known as Curt Hawkins in WWE). Myers recently signed a contract with Impact Wrestling. After being released by WWE in April, Myers made his return to Impact in July. Myers defeated Josh Alexander on tonight’s Hard to Kill pre-show.
Over a month after he made his debut on Impact Wrestling following his AEW World Championship victory, Kenny Omega will step into an Impact ring for the first time in the main event of Hard to Kill.
He will team with Impact Tag Team Champions and former Bullet Club teammates The Good Brothers to take on Impact World Champion Rich Swann, Moose and Chris Sabin in a six-man tag. Moose replaced Alex Shelley who was pulled from the card Friday because he couldn’t make it to Nashville.
In general, the pay-per-view has a little something for everyone as there will be three title matches including new Knockouts Tag Team Champions being crowned, a barbed wire massacre, and a match where Ethan Page will face his alter ego, The Karate Man.
Our live coverage kicks off at 7 p.m. Eastern time as Josh Alexander faces Brian Myers on the pre-show with the main card kicking off at 8 p.m. Eastern.
**********
PRE-SHOW
Jon Burton, Madison Rayne, and Scott D’Amore are hosting the pre-show event.
We got a backstage segment with Kenny Omega, Don Callis, and the Good Brothers analyzing Moose’s introduction to the main event. Callis hinted putting Moose’s contract over his head, as a means to convince him to aid the Omega, Anderson, and Gallows team tonight.
We got a promo from Sami Callihan. He promised chaos and violence, and while everyone is talking about the main event right now, at the end, they’ll be talking about Barbed Wire Masscre IV.
Brian Myers defeated Josh Alexander
After the dissension between The North, Josh Alexander has been trying to find himself. Myers has been rising in the ranks, but also can’t seem to get the opportunity he feels he has earned. A couple of weeks ago, Myers proposed that Alexander and him joined forces, but after Alexander rejected the idea, the two started a rivalry to show who is the better of the two. Myers has a win over Alexander, who is now trying to show that it was a fluke.
Match saw Myers control most of the match. Early in the match, Myers managed to throw Alexander off the top rope into the floor, and thus successfully cut him off. Alexander made a comeback by striking Myers off the ring and getting some time to recover. They traded a couple of near falls towards the end, including Myers pulling on Alexander’s tights. Myers would end up winning by pulling down Alexander’s headgear, blinding him, and delivering his lariat for the win. Good stuff from both men, they got a good amount of time.
Myers is now 2-0 against Alexander, so at this point a tag team between the two seems less likely.
Impact has added fake crowd noise to the broadcast. It’s taking me off since it has been months, but I’m hoping I’ll be accustomed to it by the end of the show.
Ace Austin and Madman Fulton joined the analysis table. He talked about his rise to the top in the last two years, and that 2021 will be no different, being the Super X Cup winner only two weeks in on the year. Austin said that he should be in tonight’s card, but isn’t.
Madison Rayne announced her retirement from wrestling.
**********
Matt Striker & D’lo Brown are debuting as the new commentary team.
Opening video recapped the Omega & Good Brothers vs Swann & MCMGs feud, including replacing Alex Shelley with Moose and Swann’s issues with it.
Decay (Rosemary & Crazzy Steve) defeated Tenille Dashwood & Kaleb with a K
Decay reunited on the last Impact episode before the pay per view, when Crazzy Steve came out to counter Kaleb while Rosemary and Dashwood wrestled. Dashwood and Kaleb had been messing with Rosemary about her being left behind now that Taya was focused on the title again.
Story of the match was that Kaleb was a doofus of a wrestler, but a cheating doofus that would cheat as a means for Dashwood to get the upper hand on Rosemary. It would be Dashwood and Kaleb’s overconfidence that would end up costing them the control they had over Rosemary, as they went for the whazzap headbutt that would give Rosemary the opening to counter and tag in Steve. Later on, when they managed to cut off Steve for a couple of minutes, he too got the time to counter them when Dashwood and Kaleb stopped to take selfies.
Finish Steve and Rosemary hit Dashwood and Kaleb with the green mist respectively, leading to Steve hitting the second rope DDT for the win. Ok match, Kaleb and Crazzy Steve had a good performance.
– Striker and Brown ran down tonight’s card.
Violent By Design (Eric Young, Joe Doering, & Deaner) defeated Tommy Dreamer, Rhino, & Cousin Jake in an Old School Rules Match
Young and Doering have been roughing up people for weeks now, Rhino and the Deaners some of their victims. When it seemed like they could get the upper hand, Cody Deaner turned on his cousin and joined EY’s group. Dreamer joined the trio when he came to the aid of Rhino and Cousin Jake after a beating from EY’s group, and ended making the challenge for Hard To Kill.
Violent By Design are all wearing matching gear.
Early on, the match built to the Deaner vs Cousin Jake confrontation, and the Rhino vs Doering one. After some minutes brawling outside the ring, Doering confronted all three babyfaces, wielding chairs, and while he took some damage, Doering was able to bring down all babyfaces, building him as a monster. His match-long story was that no one could get him off his feet, not even with dives, it would take a Gore from Rhino to finally do it.
Towards the end, all men took turns at each other, starting with Dreamer dropping EY on thumbtacks, but after everyone had their turn, it would be Young that would drop Cousin Jake with a piledriver for the win. This was pretty good, Joe Doering is amazing.
During this match, they would occasionally cut to a tri-screen look, either showing three different angles of a spot, or just each of the pair ups in this match.
– We got a segment with Swann and Sabin meeting Moose. Swann told Moose that he didn’t trust him, he said that it should be Willie Mack instead, but Moose had injured him. Moose explained that he hates them both, but when it comes to Impact, he bleeds Impact and he won’t allow any outside to come in and disrespect them promotion. Moose was amazing, total babyface.
Fire & Flava (Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz) defeated Havok & Nevaeh in the Knockouts Tag Team Championship Tournament Finals
We’ve finally reached the finals of the tournament. Havok and Nevaeh defeated Dashwood & Alisha Edwards and the team of Jordynne Grace & Jazz on their path to the finals. On the other hand, Hogan & Steelz defeated the Sea Stars and the team of Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie to make it to the finals.
This was a power vs speed match. Havok and Nevaeh dominated early on, it wasn’t until Hogan and Steelz managed to double team Havok behind the referee’s back, that they managed to cut her off. It was a bit weird seeing Havok become the babyface in peril, but it helped that Hogan and Steelz are constantly moving, constant attacks, and quick tags, and at the end, it all made sense when she made her comeback and got the tag to Nevaeh. Finish would come a couple of minutes later when Hogan pinned Nevaeh while Steelz held off Havok outside the ring.
There was a spot that seemed to be a tower of doom spot, but instead, Havok turned it into a double powerbomb on both Hogan and Steelz.
The right team won, even in disadvantage, the tag team work between Hogan and Steelz was far superior. This is Hogan and Steelz’ first championships in the promotion.
Gail Kim and Madison Rayne, former tag champs, came out to crown the new champions.
Brian Hebner made his return to the promotion in this match.
– Backstage, Decay approached Taya about backing her in tonight’s match. Taya asked them to stay behind because she wanted to do this by herself.
– Ace Austin and Madman Fulton came out to cut a promo. Austin said that it was a waste of his time to only have him talking in the pre-show, so instead told D’Amore to add him to the X Division match tonight, as he was the rightful winner of the Super X Cup. D’Amore came out and gave him another match instead.
Matt Cardona defeated Ace Austin (with Madman Fulton) by DQ
Matt Cardona is making his Impact debut tonight.
This was a fast paced match, back and forward, but quite short. It all built to Cardona getting close to finishing up Austin before Fulton interfered and attacked Cardona for the DQ. After the match, Cardona cleared the ring.
X Division Champion Manik defeated Chris Bey and Rohit Raju to retain the title
TJP (Manik’s real identity), Bey, and Raju have been feuding for a couple of months for the X Division title, they’ve traded the title a couple of times before. The story comes down to TJP having to mask himself as Manik in order to challenge Raju and win the title, and now Bey and Raju, as they chase the title, are focused on trying to unmask him.
This was awesome. Commentary sold this perfectly, explaining that this was a brawler vs technician vs flyer match. Raju and Bey never pretended to be on the same side, they’ve worked together against TJP before, but have never been friends. The story of the match instead was Bey and Raju racing each other to get their hands on Manik, which led to some great 3 person spots. A great spot saw Manik go for a mamba splash on Raju, but get caught midair by a springboard cutter from Bey.
The match built to Raju finally unmasking Manik, but underneath the mask, was a face painted TJP, that commentary pretended not to recognize.
At the end, all three men traded near falls, constantly stealing them from each other. They had a throwback to how Raju once stole the title from both men. It would be Manik that would get the win with a snap pin on Raju after he had done the work on Bey.
– Backstage, Alisha Edwards pleaded to Eddie to let her be out there with him. Eddie forbade her, he had to do this alone and couldn’t risk having her out there, knowing what Callihan and Shamrock are willing to do. Alisha promised she wouldn’t go out there.
Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo (with Kimber Lee & Susan) defeated Taya Valkyrie (with Decay) to retain the title.
After Taya and Rosemary eliminated the team of Purrazzo and Lee from the Knockouts Tag Team Tournament, Purrazzo decided to go after Taya. Purrazzo is out to show that she is the greatest Knockouts Champion by defeating the longest reigning champion in the belt’s history. Taya is on her path to reclaiming such title.
The match, really early on, broke down into a brawl with Rosemary and Kimber Lee wrestling each other outside the ring, Crazzy Steve and Susan arguing, and so the referee sent everyone to the back, leaving only the wrestlers.
Once everything was under control in the ring, Purrazzo cut off Taya and started working on her left arm, as is her usual mode of operation. Yet, this time around, Purrazzo started targeting Taya’s leg too, she would lock in the arm, and pull the leg for a half Boston crab.
In return, Taya’s game was mostly based on striking and big slams or suplexes that could cut off Purrazzo’s offense. The damage was enough though, that when she went for an early road to Valhalla, her knee buckled, so she had to change her offense to submissions or moves like the curb stomp that wouldn’t require putting weight on her knee.
Finish would come soon after Taya’s comeback when Purrazzo hit a Mistica, brought down Taya with the Fujiwara armbar, and finally locked Venus de Milo for the verbal submission. Really good, but not long enough.
Taya cried in the ring after the match.
– We got a comedy skit with Acey Romero and John E. Bravo about the whole shooting thing that I thought had been forgotten. Romero discovered that Larry D had been framed by one of the Knockouts.
Karate Man defeated Ethan Page
The story behind this is that Page had a mental breakdown when he and Alexander couldn’t regain the tag team titles after losing them to the Good Brothers. Suddenly, we were introduced to Page’s alter ego, Karate Man, who he’ll now wrestle.
This was nothing, just Ethan Page doing a bunch of kicks and punches like 1992 Mortal Kombat, including Karate Man ripping Page’s heart out. This was terrible, they broke up The North for this.
For anyone that has never been into cinematic matches or the Undead Realm, don’t watch this. This was Ethan Page figuring out how to use a green screen and double exposure. If anything else, this was the break that the Impact team needed to set up Barbed Wire Massacre.
– Don Callis met with Moose. Callis put Moose over and brought up his contract saying they have a big future together, but that it will be terrible if something happens with Omega tonight and they get sued and they can’t keep contractual obligations. Moose told Callis that no matter who he teams with, he plays to win. Once he is done with Omega, he’ll win Swann’s title, and maybe he’ll show up on AEW and take Omega’s title too. Total babyface!
Eddie Edwards defeated Sami Callihan in Barbed Wire Massacre IV
This feud goes back years and many violent battles. It all rekindled after Edwards backed up Swann after Callihan and Shamrock had made attempts to capture the World title, and thus Callihan once again went after Edwards, his wife, and the eye he once legit injured. This blood feud has reached a level of intensity that not many feuds in Impact history have reached, and that is the famed Barbed Wire Massacre, this being only the 4th installment of such stipulation.
Ring is surrounded by barbed wire, barbed wire weapons, one side of the ring has a cage wall wrapped in barbed wire, bringing me back to old CZW.
Story of the match was that Edwards was wrestling angry and hot headed, and that led him to wreckless risks that the calmer Callihan would take advantage of. Edwards was playing in Callihan’s sandbox, and if he wanted to win, had to either turn this into a wrestling match, or go down to Callihan’s level.
This got bloody really early, it was a couple of minutes that Edwards wrapped barbed wire around Callihan’s forehead to cut him up. Edwards was busted open a couple of minutes later when he went for a tope suicida and Callihan caught him with a barbed wire board that he crashed through.
The brawl continued with both men trading control, utilizing some of the weapons around the ring. Callihan used an N64 controller wrapped in barbed wired, while Edwards used a chair, also wrapped in barbed wire. At one point, both men tried to make this a Taipei Deathmatch, by wrapping their fists in barbed wire.
There was a cool spot where Edwards and Callihan had their hands on each other’s signature weapons, which they decided to trade before going at it. A small glimpse of respect between the two.
Towards the end, we got some big near falls, one where Callihan hit a piledriver from the second rope into a barbed wire board bed. We had a callback to the eye accident but wrapped in barbed wire, only for Edwards to block it with a low blow, hit the BKP and the Emerald Flowsion for the win. This was great, it was brutal and bloody.
After the match, Alisha came out to help Eddie to the back.
– Rebellion pay per view takes place on April 24th.
AEW World Champion Kenny Omega & the Impact Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) (with Don Callis) defeated Impact World Champion Rich Swann, Self-Proclaimed TNA World Champion Moose, and Chris Sabin
This was originally supposed to be Swann and the Motor City Machine Guns, but at the last minute, Shelley announced that he would not be able to travel to Nashville for the match, and thus Impact offices have replaced him with Moose, who is the no. 1 contender to Swann’s World title.
The story here goes back to December when Kenny Omega won the AEW World title thanks to the aid of Impact’s EVP Don Callis. The next week, Omega made his first appearance as the champion on an Impact show, and immediately got to work, befriending his former Bullet Club mates, Anderson and Gallows, but also antagonized the Impact World Champion — Rich Swann.
Moose looks like a million dollars tonight. Good Brothers and Omega came out with Bullet Club gear, they pointed to the logo on several occasions. Don Callis made Omega’s special introduction.
Match had an interesting layout. Both Sabin and Swann had babyface in peril runs, but in between each, the Impact team would have crazy babyface comebacks with all men running wild with dives and triple team moves.
Storyline wise, mostly everything was said before the match, but they made the point that in the Omega and Good Brothers team, only Omega was going for pins, like if the Good Brothers were doing the work for Omega; whereas for the Impact team, all men got near falls on Kenny Omega on different occasions.
It was until the end that the match came down to Swann and Omega. Swann had some great near falls hitting the 450, but at the end, it was Omega hitting the One Winged Angel on Swann for the win. Great match, 100% delivered, Moose was the MVP if you ask me.
The AEW World Champion just pinned the Impact World Champion.
After being removed from the main event of Hard to Kill, Alex Shelley has given an update on the situation.
Impact Wrestling announced on Friday that Moose is replacing Shelley in the main event of Hard to Kill. Impact announced that Shelley informed the company late Thursday night that he’s unable to travel to Nashville for the pay-per-view due to unavoidable circumstances. AEW World Champion Kenny Omega & Impact Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) will now face Impact World Champion Rich Swann, Moose & Chris Sabin in a six-man tag match at tonight’s PPV.
Impact Wrestling posted a message from Shelley today where he provided an update on why he isn’t able to appear at Hard to Kill. “I assure everyone out there, I do not have COVID,” Shelley said. “I am not orthopedically injured. But in the interest of safety, my situation is a very complex one. I put that first — as does Impact management. And they are doing the utmost in terms of precautions to make sure that nobody is at risk at Hard to Kill or going forward.”
Shelley promised that he’ll be back in Impact Wrestling. He apologized to Sabin, Swann, and the fans and said he owes a receipt to Omega and The Good Brothers.
Countdown to Hard to Kill is airing live on AXS TV and Impact’s digital platforms at 7 p.m. Eastern time tonight. The main card will then begin on PPV at 8 p.m. Eastern. Here’s what’s been announced for the show:
AEW World Champion Kenny Omega & Impact Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) vs. Impact World Champion Rich Swann, Moose & Chris Sabin
Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defends against Taya Valkyrie
X-Division Champion Manik defends against Rohit Raju and Chris Bey in a triple threat match
Knockouts Tag Team title tournament finals: Havok & Nevaeh vs. Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz
Barbed Wire Massacre match: Eddie Edwards vs. Sami Callihan
No DQ match: Eric Young, Joe Doering & Cody Deaner vs. Tommy Dreamer, Rhino & Cousin Jake
Ethan Page vs. The Karate Man
Rosemary & Crazzy Steve vs. Tenille Dashwood & Kaleb (Caleb Konley)
Josh Alexander vs. Brian Myers (Countdown to Hard to Kill)
Impact Wrestling has added a pre-show match to the card for Hard to Kill.
It was announced today that Josh Alexander vs. Brian Myers will take place on Countdown to Hard to Kill this Saturday. Countdown to Hard to Kill is airing on AXS TV and Impact’s digital platforms at 7 p.m. Eastern time. The Hard to Kill main card will then begin on pay-per-view at 8 p.m. Eastern.
“Last Tuesday on IMPACT!, ‘The Most Professional Wrestler’ Brian Myers went to IMPACT Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore and demanded an opportunity. Moments later, an opportunity presented itself when he was confronted by ‘Walking Weapon’ Josh Alexander! Now these two top IMPACT stars will settle their unfinished business from a recent episode of IMPACT! where Alexander was disqualified after The Karate Man attacked Myers during their bout,” Impact wrote.
Myers, who was formerly known as Curt Hawkins in WWE, revealed last week that he’s signed a contract with Impact Wrestling. Myers returned to Impact in July after being released by WWE in April’s roster cuts.
Alexander & Ethan Page are former two-time Impact Tag Team Champions. Page will have his final match for Impact as he faces his own Karate Man alter ego at Hard to Kill.
Here’s the updated lineup for Hard to Kill:
AEW World Champion Kenny Omega & Impact Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) vs. Impact World Champion Rich Swann & The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin)
Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defends against Taya Valkyrie
X-Division Champion Manik defends against Rohit Raju and Chris Bey in a triple threat match
Knockouts Tag Team title tournament finals: Havok & Nevaeh vs. Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz
Barbed Wire Massacre match: Eddie Edwards vs. Sami Callihan
No DQ match: Eric Young, Joe Doering & Cody Deaner vs. Tommy Dreamer, Rhino & Cousin Jake
Ethan Page vs. The Karate Man
Rosemary & Crazzy Steve vs. Tenille Dashwood & Kaleb (Caleb Konley)
Josh Alexander vs. Brian Myers (Countdown to Hard to Kill)
A look at what happened in the last two months of the life of Jon Huber is the lead story in this week’s edition of the Wrestling Observer. We look at how the situation was handled, when the talent found out, why Huber didn’t get a lung transplant, and a look at comments from a number of people in WWE in particular as well as Jim Ross and Amanda Huber’s extensive writing on the subject.
Also in this issue:
Extensive coverage of Wrestle Kingdom and New Year’s Dash. We have match-by-match, star ratings and poll results. We also have business notes, the story of Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega, the effect of COVID on the show and of wrestling in Japan going forward, Jay White, goal of Hiromu Takahashi, the new main event programs and international television news.
Full year television notes, Linda McMahon’s donations to Donald Trump, Dusty Rhodes tag team tournament, next Takeover show, A&E documentary notes, update on Damien Priest and others earmarked for Raw & Smackdown, lots of booking notes, new WWTV deals, Sonya Deville return, Hulk Hogan talks, head of a rival promotion sets up WWE production person’s engagement, amateur wrestling standout about to start training with WWE, how wrestling shows this past week did compared to sports, international television ratings, who was creative told a few years ago not to even think of ideas for, upcoming TV bouts, WWE market value and the most-watched shows of the past week on the WWE Network.
A story on Irwin Rivera, the UFC fighter who is being accused of stabbing two of his sisters.
A story on Bobby Davis, one of the first of the modern managers.
What wrestlers had the most four star matches in 2020, as well as in history the top 25 of all-time.
Detailed look at the television business, looking at stats not available elsewhere to get the deepest read into how shows are doing, what categories are doing well and how shows compare with previous weeks and one year ago.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
Today’s episode of The Bump featured AJ Styles, Sheamus, Jim Duggan, and Randy Jackson of ‘American Idol’ fame. Rey Mysterio, Dolph Ziggler, Robert Roode, Chad Gable, and Booker T will be the guests on next week’s show.
WWE Senior Producer Steve Conoscenti noted to WrestlingInc that future projects for the WWE Network include new episodes of WWE 24, WWE Icons, and a second season of Ruthless Aggression.
WWE has filed a trademark for the name ‘Joshua Bruns’.
In a Twitter thread, wXw noted that all events until March 31 has been postponed due to a COVID-19 resurgence. There are also no taping dates, no wXw 16 Carat tournament, and no expectations of live events with audiences before the summer.
The AEW on TNT Twitter account noted that The Elite would be in six-man tag team action tonight.
Jake the Snake Roberts on Twitter: “Well I’ve seen my lung specialist and was told my lungs will outlive the rest of me. Hooray!!! That is IF I don’t go back to smoking.”
T-Mart Promotions Marty D’Amato on Facebook wrote that the Demolition virtual signing this Saturday would not be taking place. “Some bad news to report,” he wrote. Unfortunately Demolition signing will not take place this Saturday. I just got a call from Bill and his oldest Grandson had contacted Covid last week and now Bill and his wife are feeling sick with symptoms. Let’s all send our prayers to one of the nicest guys you can ever meet Bill Eadie and is family as they deal with Covid. Bill said once he is better him and Barry will make the trip to join the marty party.”
NJPW World will undergo maintenance starting tonight at 9 pm ET and will run through Thursday morning at 3 am ET.
A new tag team match has been added to this Saturday’s Impact Hard to Kill pay-per-view event.
Crazzy Steve and Rosemary, who used to be a part of the Decay stable, will team together to take on Tenille Dashwood and Kaleb with a K.
The match was set up on tonight’s Impact when Rosemary defeated Dashwood in a singles match. Kaleb tried to interfere on Dashwood’s behalf, but Crazzy Steve ran out for the save. Rosemary and Steve reunited after the match.
Hard to Kill will take place this Saturday, January 16. Here is the full card:
Kenny Omega, Karl Anderson, and Doc Gallows vs. Rich Swann, Chris Sabin, and Alex Shelley
Manik vs. Chris Bey vs. Rohit Raju for the X Division title
Deonna Purrazzo vs. Taya Valkyrie for the Knockouts title
Havok and Nevaeh vs. Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz for the Knockouts Tag Team titles
Eric Young, Deaner, and Joe Doering vs. Cousin Jake, Rhyno, and Tommy Dreamer in a old school rules match
Eddie Edwards vs. Sami Callihan in a barbed wire massacre match
A look at the death, unique lives and careers of Jon Huber and Danny Hodge is the focus of what is the best issue of the Observer in more than a decade.
Details surrounding the Huber health crisis and death, words from his wife, how he got started in wrestling, my own personal thoughts regarding my interaction with him, his leaving WWE for AEW, his WWE run with The Wyatt Family, what were the plans for the Bludgeon Brothers to imitate and how it fell through, the match that changes his WWE focus, the background of his big decision, what match was scheduled for him that fell through, how his AEW term played out with his biggest matches, why the death became such a huge news story, the story behind and coverage of the tribute show and more.
The iconic figure of Danny Hodge with what should be a movie script, covering growing up in a small town known for wrestling, his unique childhood, his developing his legendary grip strength, his unbelievable credentials as a wrestler, MMA, street fights, the auto accident that ended his career, his biggest pro wrestling matches, his boxing career and why people will talk about him as his records every year going forward.
Also in this issue:
Preview the Wrestle Kingdom shows this week, covering the matches and the stories behind the matches, as well as how the restrictions have changed things.
Update the Royal Rumble including a gimmick match being talked about, new WWE show, top 25 WWE matches of the year, U.K. and Canadian ratings as well as where pro wrestling ranks in sports ratings, market value of WWE as well as the most-watched shows on the WWE Network.
2020 Wrestling Observer Awards ballot.
Television stations that carried wrestling and MMA in 2020 and how they did, and how wrestling did in comparison with the station’s usual programming.
Detailed look at the television business, looking at stats not available elsewhere to get the deepest read into how shows are doing, what categories are doing well and how shows compare with previous weeks and one year ago.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
Finn Balor defended Goldberg and other WWE legends returning this past Monday in an interview with Metro UK. “Doesn’t bother me at all,” he said. “I believe that everyone has a place in this business, and if you’re on the show, you’re on the show for a reason. If you’re on the show once a year, if you’re on the show every night, that’s down to everybody’s individual circumstance. Those guys have carved out their legacy and proven over the years that they belong on the show. Whether it’s for one night or it’s every night, that doesn’t affect me and it shouldn’t affect anyone else.”
Balor also spoke to Sports Illustrated on his recovery from his jaw injury that took place at NXT TakeOver 31 back in October.
Fightful Select is reporting that the Karate Man vs. Ethan Page match that was announced for Hard to Kill was taped during the November tapings. Page’s contract with the company has expired and has left.
ROH has added a free match to their YouTube page featuring Brodie Lee teaming with Delirious to take on Kenny King and Rhett Titus from ROH Bound by Hate 2008.
Edge responded to an ELP tweet that highlighted his Edge-inspired gear for Wrestle Kingdom 15. “Very cool, although I’m biased,” Edge wrote. “Keep crushin it man.”
The latest Aces High column has Hiroshi Tanahashi’s thoughts on Riki Choshu returning to NJPW in 2004.
Demente Animation Studio and Masked Republic have signed a production pact that will allow them to collaborate on Lucha Libre related content.
Three new matches have been added for Impact’s next pay-per-view, Hard to Kill.
Sami Callihan will face Eddie Edwards in a barbed wire massacre match. Their match at the end of tonight’s Impact main event ended in a no contest when the video screen showed Edwards’ wife Alisha caged in somewhere in the backstage area. Edwards went to save her, but it was a trap as Callihan’s associate Ken Shamrock jumped Edwards as he approached the cage. Callihan then came in and attacked Edwards with a bat.
A six-man tag team match has also been set for Had to Kill. Eric Young, Cody Deaner & Joe Doering will face Tommy Dreamer, Rhino & Cousin Jake in an old school rules match (a no DQ and no countout match). Rhino & Jake faced Deaner & Doering on tonight’s show, with Deaner getting the win over Jake after a low blow. Dreamer made the save for the team after the match and issued the challenge.
Additionally, Ethan Page and Karate Man will face off against one another at Hard to Kill, despite Karate Man also being portrayed by Page. Page was in a therapy session during a segment on tonight’s Impact with Karate Man, talking about how his career has been derailed since The North lost the Impact Tag Team titles. He ended up getting into an argument with Karate Man, leading Page to challenge him for Hard to Kill.
Other matches slated for the show include Kenny Omega & The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) vs. Rich Swann & The Motor City Machine Guns, Deonna Purrazzo vs. Taya Valkyrie for the Knockouts Championship, Manik vs. Chris Bey vs. Rohit Raju for the X-Division Championship, and Havok & Nevaeh vs. Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz in the Knockouts Tag Team title tournament finals.
After two months of action, the finals of the Impact Knockouts Tag Team Title tournament are officially set for Hard To Kill.
On Tuesday’s Impact, Havok and Nevaeh defeated Jordynne Grace and Jazz to advance to the finals against Tasha Steelz and Kiera Hogan on Saturday, January 16th.
Havok and Nevaeh beat Tenille Dashwood and Alisha in the first round while Hogan and Steelz beat the Sea Stars in the first round followed by a win over Deonna Purrazzo and Kimber Lee in the semifinals.
Impact announced the revival of the titles at October’s Bound For Glory. They have been on the shelf since 2013 after first being introduced in 2009.
The current Hard To Kill card:
AEW World Champion Kenny Omega and Impact Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson/Doc Gallows) vs. Impact World Champion Rich Swann and The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin/Alex Shelley)
X-Division Champion Manik vs. Chris Bey vs. Rohit Raju
Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo vs. Taya Valkyrie
Knockouts Tag Team Title tourney finals: Havok and Nevaeh vs. Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz
A new match for Impact’s Hard to Kill pay-per-view has been set.
Deonna Purrazzo will defend the Knockouts title against Taya Valkyrie. The match was announced tonight on the second night of Impact’s Best of 2020 special that aired on AXS.
Purazzo accepted a challenge Valkyrie issued on last week’s special. She said that Taya was once the longest reigning Knockouts champion, and when she defeats Taya at Hard to Kill, she will become “the greatest champion ever”.
Already announced for Hard to Kill:
Kenny Omega & The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) vs. Rich Swann & The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) in a six-man tag team match
Manik vs. Chris Bey vs. Rohit Raju for the X Division title
Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz vs. either Havok & Nevaeh or Jazz & Jordynne Grace in a tournament final for the Impact Knockouts Tag Team titles
Impact returns with the fallout of Hard To Kill, where Tessa Blanchard coronated herself as the new Impact World Champion. She also became the youngest wrestler to capture the Impact World Title.
Desi Hit Squad (Rohit Raju & Mahabali Shera) defeated The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz), Reno Scum (Luster The Legend & Adam Thornstowe, and TJP and Daga
Great opener. Shera and Rohit made up for a great team with the big muscle and fast small guy. Shera was mostly portrayed as the best of the match, even with Luster The Legend there. Desi Hit Squad captured the win with a high knee and Sky High combination by Rohit and Shera.
The big takeaway for me here is the great potential the team of TJP and Daga have.
Moose cut a promo saying that he made Rhino relevant and that he’ll once again prove he’s the best multi-sport athlete in tonight’s 4-way match against Ace Austin, Eddie Edwards, and Fallah Bahh.
Josh Mathews and Don Callis continued to recap Hard To Kill and ran down some of tonight’s happenings, including a sit down interview with Tessa Blanchard.
We got a recap of Ace Austin vs Trey Miguel, talking about Ace’s advances to Trey’s mother and him targeting Trey’s knee throughout the match. Recap did a great job at presenting Trey as a great underdog.
Ace was backstage talking to his manager about getting a sequel for his last porn movie. He said he’ll win tonight’s 4-way.
We got a recap of Rich Swann’s injury from Bash at the Brewery, right before Hard To Kill. This led to the recap of Willie Mack’s valiant challenge against The North at Hard to Kill where he came so close to winning the titles by himself.
We got footage from backstage, post match of the tag team championship bout. Mack told Swann that he lost and was a failure, but Swann tells him that he was amazing out there and was everything but a failure. Get yourself a tag team partner that talks to you like Swann does to Mack. I loved this.
Eddie Edwards cut a promo saying that Hard To Kill was a show that was made for him, and after a long hard fought battle, he regained his trophy. He said that tonight, he continues the winning streak when he wins the 4-way.
We got a recap of Elgin vs Edwards from Hard To Kill. Afterwards, Callis and Mathews told us that Elgin has gone to Japan, and we got footage and an interview of Elgin from over in Japan, as he prepares to fight for Pro Wrestling NOAH. Elgin said that he loves wrestling in Japan. He talked about wrestling Nakajima on NOAH’s January 4th show. He talked about defeating Eita in 8 seconds and putting his eyes on the GHC Championship, saying that Eddie won’t be the only gaijing to hold NOAH gold.
We got a recap of RVD taking out Cage at Hard To Kill, and then later defeating Daga with the help of Forbes.
We then got footage of RVD celebrating his victory, saying this celebration is special because he put a stop to the Machine. Forbes came in with some champagne and very little clothing. They celebrated with some blurred out wardrobe malfunctions and kisses. Rob just kept putting himself over and brought in his girlfriend’s girlfriend and they got naked. Rob said that everyone lives vicariously through him since all wrestling is a tribute of RVD, bell to bell. Rob talked trash to the marks and said that you should still take him seriously even if he parties all the time. Then they had an implied threesome.
I love these promos from the new RVD, but I always watch these segments looking behind my back hoping that no one sneaks up on me.
Mathews and Callis talked about Shamrock’s return to Impact and his win over Madman Fulton. They recaped his various angles against oVe and the match at the pay-per-view.
We got an interview with Ken Shamrock after his match talking about how the match went like he wanted it to. He said he studied Fulton and used his size against him, he talked about it was his submission work that would work against someone like Fulton. Shamrock kinda put over Fulton saying that he could achieve greatness if he got away from Callihan. He said he had no plans beyond this match.
Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the Week was Kurt Angle vs Jeff Jarrett from Genesis 2009.
We got a promo by Johnny Swinger talking trash about wrestling only wanting to play video games, then he sexually harassed a lady telling her to play with his joystick. Swinger is an idiot.
Joey Ryan defeated Johnny Swinger
Match starts with Ryan asking Swinger to touch his penis, but he won’t. Match instead started with some wrist control wrestling, with Ryan trying to force Swinger’s hand towards his penis. Only Joey Ryan can make Swinger seem like the serious competitor.
Swinger teased going for the penis, but cheat-shotted Ryan. Swinger got the heat for a bit with stomps, falling fists, and a couple more dirty tricks, like pulling on the nose and choking against the ropes. Ryan tried to make a comeback with punches, but didn’t go far.
Swinger got cocky and went for a headbutt to the penis, but got himself knocked out, giving Ryan the opening to comeback strong. Swinger got a roll up with the ropes on the ropes, but referee told him off. The distraction allowed Ryan to get Swinger’s hand on his penis, but Swinger got the ref’s hand on his own penis, so Ryan accidentally dong-plexed both men. Swinger tried to low blow Ryan, but hurt his hand, allowing Ryan to hit the superkick for the win. Ok and fun match.
We got a recap of the women’s 3-way match from Hard To Kill.
We now got the recap of Tessa vs Callihan’s World Championship match at Hard To Kill. This was really nicely recapped by Mathews, really emotional.
We got a commercial for Rebellion, the upcoming pay-per-view in April. We also got the commercial for Impact’s return to Mexico City for the next set of tapings. Commercial had Puma King and Taurus, so hopefully they get booked.
In the Twitch stream, Melissa Santos announced that Lockdown is coming back for an Impact Plus special.
X-Division Champion Ace Austin defeated Moose, Eddie Edwards, & Fallah Bahh to retain his championship.
This match took place in the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, PA for House of Hardcore.
Match started with all four men in the ring trading strikes. Early on, Moose started to dominate hitting a plancha on Bahh, only to get taken out by Eddie Edwards to the outside. Ace took down Eddie, but Moose came back and got rid of the champion.
Bahh flipped off Moose, who hit a couple of strikes that Bahh wouldn’t sell, and instead came back with an exchange of chops until Moose went for the eye poke. They traded lariats, taking each other out.
Back in the ring, Ace and Eddie went at it, with Eddie going Kobashi chops on all men. Eddie sent Moose and Ace to the outside and went for a dive, but Bahh stopped him and Bahh hit the dive instead with the assistance of Edwards, who hit a top rope plancha as well.
After the commercial, it’s Ace and Eddie in the ring. Eddie hits a backpack stunner for a two count. Bahh comes in and takes both down, follows with running splashes to the corner until Moose cut him off and went for dropkicks instead. Moose went for a superplex on Bahh, but then Ace got him with a top rope dive. Ace tried to roll up everyone, but everyone kicked out at two. Ace failed to hit The Fold, and then the rest took each other out with superkicks and lariats.
Moose and Eddie got into another chop exchange until Moose hit a discus lariat. Ace came in with a kick combo on Moose, but fell to a Blackhole Slam by Bahh.
Bahh went for a the Banzai Drop, but Moose blocked him. Eddie hit Moose with the BKP, so instead Bahh took out Eddie and went for the Banzai Drop on him, but this gave Ace time to recover, hit a top rope Fold on Bahh, and pin him to retain his championship. Good match.
We got footage of the World Title aftermatch from Hard to Kill, showing Tessa’s celebration with her family and the Impact roster and officials. We got footage from backstage, with Scott D’Amore saying nice things to Tessa.
Josh Mathews interviewed Tessa Blanchard in Nashville, TN. Mathews asked about if Tessa ever thought things would end like this and about oVe. Tessa said that she doesn’t think that she’ll be done with oVe, but her goal is now to set goals for females and wants to lead Impact as the face of the company. Tessa accepts being now the ‘hunted’ backstage.
Mathews asked about breaking the man/woman wrestler barrier, but suddenly, Sami Callihan interrupted by playing a video on a screen they had there. How he got access, we don’t know.
Callihan talked about how everyone talks about Tessa and Impact making history, but it’s him that has been making history all along, bringing Impact back to life and carrying it for over two years. He said that Tessa may be the champion Impact wants, but Callihan is the champion that EVERYONE needs.
Tessa started talking to the television, but Sami actually responded and revealed that he was in the production truck, and told her to come out looking for him. Tessa took the bait, but Sami wasn’t there at all, he was somewhere else and told Tessa that she’ll never see him coming. The End.
Final Thoughts —
Arguably a weak show, it was a recap show with only three matches and a sit-down interview. As a recap of Hard To Kill, we got everything that we could hope for, updates on pretty much everyone involved.
A controversial weekend for Tessa Blanchard ended with her winning Impact Wrestling’s World Championship at tonight’s Hard to Kill pay-per-view.
Blanchard won the Impact World title by defeating Sami Callihan in the main event of the show. The finishing sequence of the match saw Blanchard hit two Canadian Destroyers and a hammerlock DDT to win the title.
After Blanchard tweeted “Hey women, try supporting one another. Cool things happen” yesterday, she was accused of having previously bullied other wrestlers and of an incident where she spat in La Rosa Negra’s face and called her the n-word while they were in Japan in 2017.
Blanchard didn’t do media at yesterday’s media day for Hard to Kill or after her match tonight. She posted two tweets yesterday denying the allegations.
The Callihan vs. Blanchard match was billed as “the first time in professional wrestling that a woman would challenge a man for the top title live on pay-per-view.”
Impact’s latest pay-per-view, Hard to Kill, takes place tonight in Dallas, Texas.
The show will be headlined by Impact World champion Sami Callihan defending the title against challenger Tessa Blanchard, who is looking to become the first female Impact World champion in history. Blanchard has been built as a serious contender to the world title over the last year. Callihan defeated Brian Cage to win the title back in October.
All of Impact’s titles will be on the line tonight. Ace Austin will defend the X Division title against Trey Miguel, The North will defend the Impact Tag Team titles against Rich Swann & Willie Mack and Taya Valkyrie will defend the Knockouts title against Jordynne Grace and ODB in a triple threat match.
Other matches include Eddie Edwards squaring off against Michael Elgin in a match for the Call Your Shot trophy, Brian Cage vs. Rob Van Dam, Moose will take on Rhino and Ken Shamrock will face Madman Fulton.
Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. EST.
**********
Ken Shamrock defeated Madman Fulton
Not a great match. Shamrock cosmetically looks great and moves well, at least. Fulton isn’t that interesting in terms of in-ring prowess.
Shamrock tried for an armbar early, but Fulton lifted him up. Shamrock got to the ropes. Shamrock keeps him on the ground, but Fulton gets to the ropes. Fulton misses a boot and ends up hung up on the top rope. Fulton grabs Shamrock’s arm and extends it over the ropes on the apron.
As Fulton escapes to the floor, Shamrock launches off with a giant tope to the floor. Fulton catches him, but Shamrock counters and gut wrenches Fulton. This is the point where Jake and Dave Crist, seconding Fulton, start getting involved. Dave hops on the apron but end up getting knocked down by Shamrock. The referee eventually ejects them.
Fulton chokes Shamrock for a long time until Shamrock comes alive, looking for a kimura. Announcers sold it like his shoulder popped. Shamrock wanted the referee to stop the match. Fulton refused, and countered Shamrock’s offense with a powerbomb. Shamrock was able to grab the injured shoulder and lock in the kimura once again, and this time Fulton verbally submitted.
They showed video of both Blanchard and Callihan entering the arena. The crowd doesn’t seem all that hot tonight, but they did cheer for Blanchard and booed Callihan.
Announcers mentioned the injury Rich Swann suffered over the weekend, saying that there was no way Swann would be able to compete tonight.
Ace Austin defeated Trey Miguel to retain the X Division title
Okay match. Standards I feel are higher these days for these kinds of matches, but they had a perfectly fine back and forth match. Never felt real hot due to the lackluster crowd, but both men looked fine here.
Miguel immediately spears Austin and chases him around the ring, then does it again once they re-enter the ring. Miguel catches Austin’s foot on the apron, but Austin cuts him off until Miguel comes back with a 619 and a moonsault off the second turnbuckle.
Austin sends Miguel to the floor and wipes him out with a space tiger drop to the outside. When Miguel hops on top of the steps, Austin shoves him, sending Miguel flying into the barricade where Miguel’s mom was at. Austin sends him back to the ring and continues working him over.
Miguel counters after a couple of uranages by Austin but is cut off as Austin starts working on Miguel’s leg. Austin hit the bangarama but Miguel kicked out at two. Austin used a sharpened card and cut up one of Miguel’s palms. Miguel came back to life and hit a moonsault to the back of Austin’s neck.
Miguel hits a reverse suplex and applies a bully choke, but Austin escapes. Miguel follows up with a springboard downward spiral for another two count. Austin comes back with a spinning springboard kick. Miguel counters Austin on the turnbuckle with a cheeky nandos kick but Austin hits the ropes, crotching Miguel on the apron. He followed that with fold (running blockbuster) for the win.
After the match, Austin taunted Miguel’s mom on the outside, wanting a kiss. Miguel attacked him, leading to a brawl.
Gabi Loren was with ODB backstage. ODB thanked the wrestling fans, saying a new food truck was coming. Says she’ll be a five time knocked up champ.
Taya Valkyrie defeated ODB and Jordynne Grace to retain the Knockouts title
This was fine when Taya and Grace were in the ring. Bless ODB but she actively detracted from the match as she looked real bad.
ODB and Grace brawled on the apron but Taya came back and dropkicked them both to the floor. Both Taya and Grace went at it until Grace sent her to the outside and took her out with a tope. ODB grabbed Grace and laid her out with a fallaway slam on the stage.
Taya came back in and started working over ODB. Grace came back and started on Taya, but Taya cut her off and bit her arm in the corner. Taya came back and at one point, ODB laid out both Grace and Taya with a bulldog off the second rope.
Grace power slammed Taya twice, then caught her with a spinebuster. Both Taya and Grace continued to exchange offense until ODB broke it up. Grace took ODB to the corner and launched off the top rope with a senton. Taya went for the road to Valhara but Grace escaped to the apron. ODB hit a bad looking TKO. Grace hit the Grace Driver on ODB, but Jonny Bravo distracted the referee. Grace went to
Loren wanted to interview RVD, but he was making out with Katie Forbes. Forbes interviewed him instead. RVD said he will put his energy where it matters. He’ll take care of Brian Cage first, however.
Rob Van Dam vs. Brian Cage never happened I guess?
RVD got the heat early when a woman described as RVD’s girlfriend’s girlfriend in the audience grabbed Cage, allowing RVD to attack. Cage cut him off with a superkick, but RVD came back with a steel chair. Forbes held the chair as RVD went for the van terminator and connected with it.
RVD went for the cover, but the ref wouldn’t count it as he told RVD that Cage was hurt. Officials, as well as Daga came out and checked on Cage, taking him to the back. Daga and RVD got into an argument. RVD jumped Daga as a result. Somehow, for some reason, this ended up being a match.
Rob Van Dam defeated Daga
This wasn’t good. I don’t know what RVD gets out of pinning Daga in the year 2020 and I don’t know why all of this was so convoluted.
RVD was on offense until Daga cut him off. RVD came back with a bodyscissors roll-up, but Daga kicked out. Forbes distracted Daga, allowing RVD to hit the legdrop. He went for the five star frog splash, and it connected, giving him the win. d.
Loren went to look for Sami Callihan outside of oVe’s locker room. One of the Crists answered the door and said Callihan didn’t want to speak to anyone but he’s fine.
Eddie Edwards defeated Michael Elgin
This was the first great match of the evening. These two had terrific chemistry with one another and had a hard hitting, heated match.
Eddie started off hot with a tope to the floor, but it quickly turns into a brawl on the outside. Edwards tries to mount a comeback with a tope suicida but Elgin blocks it, sending Edwards crashing to the floor. Elgin follows that with an ego trip on the apron onto the concrete outside of the ring.
Edwards made a brief comeback with a forearm smash in the corner but Elgin immediately regains control Eddie finally comes back alive after a belly-to-belly on the floor then followed it with a tope that sent Elgin into the barricade. Edwards followed with a big backpack stunner for a two count.
Elgin outpowered Edwards momentarily but Edwards cut off Elgin with a blue thunder bomb. Elgin blocked the Boston knee party and countered Edwards by taking him out with a sliding D and a running elbow to the back of the neck. Eddie starts fighting back with forearms to the face, blocks Elgin and both end up with a double clothesline. Neither fall to the floor.
Edwards finally takes out Elgin with a clothesline and follows with a tiger bomb for a nearfall. Elgin grabbed Edwards and went for a buckle bomb but Edwards escaped with a hurricanrana. Elgin cut off Edwards and took him to the to the top rope, hitting a big German suplex for another nearfall.
Elgin took out Edwards with a splash mountain, but Edwards took out Elgin’s knees and went for the legs but Elgin freed himself, blocked the Boston knee party and went for an STF. Edwards escaped. Elgin didn’t like this and argued with the referee. He hit the buckle bomb, but Edwards floated over Elgin and rolled him up for the win.
Rhino said he would take out Moose tonight. He used the F word here, I guess that’s new.
Moose defeated Rhino in a No DQ match
This was a good brawl while it lasted. This was probably the best route to go as I don’t know how this would have been as a straight up singles match. People were into the big spots.
Moose and Rhino started off strong, with Moose hitting a spear that sent Rhino to the outside. Moose used a chair as the two went on the stage. Rhino back body dropped Moose onto the stage. Moose cut off Rhino and set up a table on the apron and barricade. Rhino escapes, then gives Moose a very slow pop-up powerbomb through the table.
Moose gets the heat back in the ring, beating Rhino with a trash can lid and follows with a senton splash. Moose went for an elbow, emulating Randy Savage, but only gets a two count. He puts a chair on Rhino as he went for another elbow, but Rhino planted him with chair shots. After setting up a number of chairs, Rhino superplexed Moose onto the chairs but wasn’t able to get the three count.
Rhino set up a table and went for the gore but Moose cut him off and hit a dropkick in the corner, then another one. Rhino cut off Moose and went for the gore, but Moose pulled the referee in front of him, sending them both into the table. A second referee came out, but Moose kicked out at two.
Moose low blowed Rhino then speared him to get the win.
Backstage, a medical official said that Swann couldn’t compete and can’t even second Willie Mack ringside. Swann didn’t like that and argued with the official. Mack told Swann to do what’s best for himself.
The North (Ethan Page and Josh Alexander) defeated Willie Mack to retain the Impact Tag Team titles
This was real good, and exactly what it needed to be. Mack is excellent and is a great babyface, and that helped the match tons. There were some really great spots near the end.
The North immediately started to double team Mack, but Mack took them both out and clubbed Alexander in the back of the head. He went to go for a tope, but Page distracted him long enough for Alexander to come back. They showed Swann looking concerned backstage as both members of the North worked Mack over.
Mack started to make his comeback on Alexander, working over both of the North. Page helped Alexander avoid a standing moonsault. Mack came back and went for the six star frog splash, but Page distracted him long enough for Alexander to lay him out. They landed a pair of double team maneuvers, but Mack kicked out.
The North next went for a double superplex but took out Page. Alexander wound up on Page’s shoulders as Mack hit an insane Canadian destroyer as he made a big comeback. He took out Page on the outside and hit the frog splash on Alexander. Mack went for the cover, but Page dragged the referee to the outside.
Mack hit the stunner on Page but Alexander came back as the North double teamed him, planting Mack with a reverse fireman’s carry into a spinebuster for the win.
Next PPV in April is Rebellion, which will take place at Terminal 5 in New York City. No specific date was given.
Tessa Blanchard defeated Sami Callihan to win the Impact World title
This was a really good match. Maybe a little too long, but they told the story that was needed and both did a great job of telling it. Despite everything that happened yesterday, the crowd was 100% behind Blanchard and popped when she pinned Callihan.
Callihan immediately booted Blanchard and gave her a piledriver, but she kicked out at two. Callihan put her on the top rope, but Blanchard sent him back down by biting him on the forehead. He planted hm with a codebreaker for a two count. Blanchard took him down with a headscissors then followed with two sucide dives. She went for a third, but Callihan grabbed her. Blanchard instead gave him a hurricanrana and a somersault dive to the floor.
Callihan cut off Blanchard and sent her knees first into the guardrail. Callian took her down and applied an Indian deathlock. Crowd is fully behind Blanchard. Callihan continued to work on her knees until she sent Callihan to the floor and started to make a comeback with some chops.
Cutting her off, Callihan swent to the outside, setting up a table to put Blanchard through but Blanchard came back with a running senton. Callihan grabber her and powerbombed her through the table.
Blanchard makes it back into the ring as she brawled with Callihan on the apron. Blanchard went for the eyes then hit the magnum on the apron, sending them both tumbling back onto the floor. They eventually went back to the ring. Blanchard kept daring Callihan to hit her. Callihan eventually attacked her knee, but Blanchard immediately hit a samoan drop.
It is now Blanchard on offense, hitting another magnum. She went to the top rope but Callihan cut her off, went after the knee and hit the Get Outta Here for the two count. Callihan landed for a German suplex, but Blanchard no sold it and hit a counter for a very close nearfall.
Callihan was the first to react with a sitout powerbomb, then went after Blanchard’s leg with an inverted half crab, then an STF. Blanchard tried for the rope break, but Callihan grabbed her hand. Blanchard made the break by using her foot.
After the referee took away the Impact title, Callihan went for brass knuckles. Blanchard low blowed him, hit the top rope magnum and went for an STF, but Callihan escaped and hit another package piledriver for a close nearfall. Blanchard fired back, hitting two canadian destroyers and finally finished off Callihan with the DDT to for the win.
Blanchard’s celebration did not last long as the show went off the air not too long after she pinned Callihan. The first half of this show wasn’t great at all, but at least picked up after Elgin/Edwards.
Impact Wrestling has announced two additions to the card for their next pay-per-view.
Ken Shamrock vs. Madman Fulton and Moose vs. Rhino have both been announced for Hard to Kill. The PPV is taking place at The Bomb Factory in Dallas, Texas on Sunday, January 12.
Shamrock returned to Impact for a match against Moose at Bound for Glory. He’s since been aligned with Tessa Blanchard during the build to her World Championship match against Sami Callihan in the main event of Hard to Kill.
Fulton helped his oVe stablemate Callihan defeat Shamrock on the Impact episode that aired last week. The show then ended with an angle where Fulton attacked Shamrock. Callihan tried to call Fulton off, but Fulton didn’t listen and suplexed Shamrock out of the ring. Fulton then finally backed off when Callihan told him “no more.”
Moose and Rhino got into a confrontation on last night’s Impact after Moose told Rhino that he should have asked him for advice before his match against RVD the previous week. Moose said it was sad that Rhino’s Gore couldn’t do what Moose’s spear did, and Rhino responded by hitting a Gore on Moose. Later in the episode, they brawled when Moose tried to attack Rhino.
Here’s the updated card for Hard to Kill:
Impact World Champion Sami Callihan defending against Tessa Blanchard
Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie defending against Jordynne Grace and ODB in a triple threat match
Impact Tag Team Champions The North (Josh Alexander & Ethan Page) defending against Rich Swann & Willie Mack
X-Division Champion Ace Austin defending against Trey Miguel
Two more matches have been officially confirmed for Impact Wrestling’s first pay-per-view of 2020.
Impact Tag Team Champions The North (Josh Alexander & Ethan Page) will defend their titles against Rich Swann & Willie Mack at Hard to Kill. Michael Elgin vs. Eddie Edwards has also been confirmed for the PPV.
During an interview that aired on last night’s Impact, Elgin challenged Edwards to put his Call Your Shot title shot on the line against him at Hard to Kill. The title shot lets Edwards challenge for the Impact championship of his choosing.
Swann & Mack defeated oVe (Jake & Dave Crist), The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz), and Reno Scum (Adam Thornstowe & Luster the Legend) in a fatal four-way number one contender’s match that aired last night. There was an injury angle where Swann won the match on his own after Mack couldn’t continue.
The North have been Impact Tag Team Champions since winning the titles from Santana & Ortiz in July.
Hard to Kill is taking place at The Bomb Factory in Dallas, Texas on Sunday, January 12. The show will be headlined by Tessa Blanchard challenging for Sami Callihan’s Impact World Championship. Ace Austin defending his X-Division title against Trey Miguel and Taya Valkyrie defending her Knockouts title against Jordynne Grace and ODB in a triple threat match are also set.
