Impact Wrestling returned with a two-week holiday special, showcasing the best matches of 2020 as well as their Year-End Awards.
Scott D’Amore and Josh Matthews hosted the show tonight. Throughout the night, we had a series of showcase matches, award announcements, and backstage segments building towards Genesis and Hard to Kill.
The awards given on this episode were focused on the performers themselves, awarding the best of each division:
Deonna Purrazzo won the Wrestler of the Year 2020. She said that she just wasn’t the Knockout of the Year, the best technical wrestler of the year, but as voted by the fans, the Best Wrestler of the Year, all in less than 7 months since her debut. She invited us all to enter the era of Virtuosa.
Purrazzo also won the Knockout of the Year 2020. She brought up how she became a 2-time Knockouts champion this year, had the best matches of the year, and became the first-ever Ironwoman in Impact history.
Ace Austin won the 2020 X-Division Wrestler of the Year. He cut a promo accepting it, saying that he really just spent only about 4 months in the X-Division, but it was enough for him to win it. He said he’d like to revisit the X-Division soon.
The North won the 2020 Impact Tag Team of the Year. We saw Ethan Page call Alexander on the phone giving him the news, telling him that even if they are going through some hard times, they’re still the best, as voted by the fans. Alexander agreed that maybe this was how things would get better, but when he called back, Karate Man answered the phone and Alexander raged.
Matches shown throughout the night:
X-Division champion Ace Austin defeated Trey Miguel at Hard to Kill
The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) defeating Impact Tag Team champions The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander) at Turning Point
Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defeating Jordynne Grace in a 30 Minute Ironman Match at Emergence Night 2.
Moose defeating ECIII at Bound For Glory
In addition, we had segments announcing updates on the Genesis and Hard To Kill 2021 cards:
Chris Bey has been added to the Hard To Kill X-Division title match, making it X-Division Champion Manik vs. Rohit Raju vs. Chris Bey.
Taya Valkyrie cut a great promo and made a challenge to Deonna Purrazzo for Hard To Kill.
We got a promo by Matthew Palmer, one of the independent wrestlers that worked as security last week who unfortunately angered Moose in the Willie Mack pull apart. Moose had said that none of these ‘indie wrestlers’ couldn’t hang with him for more than 3 minutes. Palmer accepted the challenge.
The participants and first-round matches to the Super X Cup were announced. The tournament takes place at Genesis on January 9th. Matches are Ace Austin vs. Suicide, Daivari vs. Cousin Jake, Crazzy Steve vs. Tre Lamar, and KC Navarro vs. Blake Christian.
We got a new Christmas-themed commercial from AEW’s Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone. Khan said he could stop Omega from appearing at the Hard to Kill event, but if Impact wanted Omega wrestling their guys, then he’s fine with it. Khan also invited Impact wrestlers to make an appearance on Dynamite. After Schiavone ran down the card for tomorrow’s Dynamite, Khan said he has been looking at Impact’s Tag Team contracts and that Omega better win at Hard To Kill.
Finally, we got a promo by Kenny Omega and Don Callis. Callis brought up a story of how Omega told him as a kid that he wanted to run the wrestling business one day. Omega said he was always meant to be the AEW World Champion, the only championship “worth a damn”. Callis compared Omega’s Impact arrival as a Christmas gift and that he was seven stars right out of the womb. Omega said he was often imitated but never duplicated.
One half of the longest-reigning Impact Tag Team Champions may be done with the company in a few weeks.
As previously reported, Ethan Page’s two year contract is up at the end of 2020 and in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that the belief within the company and with his friends is that he is not going to re-sign.
On his YouTube channel last week, he posted a video from a set of recent tapings where in the end, he alluded to the fact he could be done, including a line asking his fans to wish him the best in his future endeavors because “I f**kin’ need it.”
In a singles match from Saturday’s Final Resolution show, Page lost to Karl Anderson with a tag team title shot on the line for he and The North partner Josh Alexander. Meltzer said he was told Alexander has nine months remaining on his Impact deal so the team would be done for now. The duo are two-time Impact Tag Team Champions and held the titles for a record 380 days in their first reign with the second lasting 21 days.
Page started with the company with limited appearances in late-2017 and joined up with old partner Alexander as The North in April 2019.
Starting Tuesday, Impact has three TV shows left the rest of the year in which they could write Page off.
The Impact Tag Team and Knockouts titles changed hands tonight at Bound for Glory.
Su Yung won the Knockouts championship for the second time from Deonna Purrazzo after hitting the panic switch in a back and forth match. The match was originally advertised as Kylie Rae vs. Purrazzo. Before the match, Purrazzo cut a promo saying that Rae had no showed and issued an open challenge, which Yung accepted. No one, including the announcers, discussed Rae’s status.
Purazzo held the title for 98 days, defeating Jordynne Grace at Slammiversary on July 18.
The North regained the Impact Tag Team titles, defeating the Motor City Machine Guns, Gallows & Anderson, and Ace Austin and Mad Man Fulton in a four way match.
As the Machine Guns made their entrance, The North jumped the team, with Josh Alexander laying out Alex Shelley with a piledriver on the entrance stage, taking him out of the match. Sabin opted to wrestle on his own.
The finish had Anderson rolling up Alexander, but Alexander kicked out, sending Anderson into the ropes. Page took one of the titles and smashed it into Anderson, allowing Alexander to cover for the win.
MCMG won the titles for the second time on the July 19, 2020 Impact tapings, defeating The North, who previously held them for 380 days.
Opening video was a combined recap of both last week’s Impact episode and Victory Road this past weekend. It particularly focused on the ongoing tag team four-way feud surrounding the tag team titles and the Eric Young vs. Eddie Edwards title match.
Tommy Dreamer defeated Brian Myers by DQ
Dreamer got the advantage early on, spilling the match to the floor for a couple of minutes until Dreamer accidentally chopped the ring post, giving Myers the opening to suplex Dreamer on the ramp for the countout tease.
Now in control, Myers worked over Dreamer’s back and neck. Dreamer had a couple of small comebacks but kept getting cut off by Myers at each attempt.
Dreamer eventually caught Myers with a desperation powerslam to stop the momentum. Dreamer hit a cutter for a two count. Myers came back with a sky high for a near fall too.
Dreamer dodged a top rope elbow from Myers, and hit a DDT for a near fall. Myers paid it back, dodging an elbow from Dreamer, and also hit a DDT for a two count.
Myers got a kendo stick, but Dreamer got ahold of it. He stopped himself before he could use it. Myers took the kendo stick and attacked Dreamer for the DQ.
After the match, Myers kept attacking Dreamer with the kendo stick until D’Amore and security came out to stop him. Not as good as the Victory Road match and it’s only going to get worse with weapons.
– Josh Matthews and Madison Rayne ran down tonight’s card, plus an update on the current Bound For Glory card.
– We saw Moose roam around the arena looking for the TNA World Championship belt that is scheduled to be destroyed tonight by ECIII.
– Backstage, John E. Bravo told his groomsmen that he needed them all to chip in for the wedding. Fallah Bahh took on the responsibility to get money. The Deaners, Swinger, and Crazzy Steve all argued about who owed money to who.
Rohit Raju came to the ring and called out anyone that wanted to answer the “Defeat Rohit” challenge. Willie Mack came out, but Raju told him that he already had an opportunity at Victory Road and he had failed to win. Raju asked for new competition and Jordynne Grace came out.
Jordynne Grace defeated X-Division Champion Rohit Raju in a non-title match
Raju stalled as much as he could, not wanting to give the title belt to the referee. In that distraction, Grace rolled up Raju with the O’Connor roll for the win.
Grace thought she had won the title, but the referee announced that since he wasn’t given the title to raise and announce the match as a title match, the title had not been under contest and thus Raju was still the champion. I got excited for Grace as the X-Division champion, but they got me. Grace has a win over the champion, hopefully it leads to a proper title match.
D’Amore waited for Raju at Gorilla position and told him that since he was a great fighting champion, he’d be defending the championship against Willie Mack, TJP, Trey Miguel, Chris Bey, and Jordynne Grace at Bound For Glory.
– Fallah Bahh challenged Hernandez for another arm wrestling match to get the money for Bravo’s wedding. Bahh ended up spilling coffee all over Hernandez.
The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) defeated XXXL (Acey Romero & Larry D)
Romero and D jumped The Rascalz during their entrance, eliminating Wentz so they could double team Xavier, stretching and dropping him with a big powerbomb.
XXXL kept Xavier away from his corner with quick tags, strikes, and a couple of power moves. D at one point hit a military press slam into a kick for a two count.
Xavier eventually kicked himself away from D to get the tag to Wentz, who came in with a series of dropkicks to drop D and earn a two count with running shooting star press. He quickly transitioned to a sleeper for the submission attempt. The Rascalz double teamed D when he wouldn’t submit.
Finish saw Romero accidentally lariat D, who was then superkicked by Wentz. Rascalz hit hot fire flame on D for the win. Good, short match.
– We were back with Bahh, who successfully tricked Hernandez into taking a shower to get the coffee off. Bahh managed to steal the money away from Hernandez.
– Jimmy Jacobs interviewed both Dr. Foreman and Rich Swann about Swann’s rehab. Dr. Foreman said that Swann was not only good for BFG, but he was cleared as of today. Suddenly, Eric Young, dressed as a nurse, attacked Swann from behind and went after his recently recovered leg with a kettlebell. Dr. Foreman called for the cops, bless his heart.
– Gia Miller interviewed the Motor City Machine Guns. Shelley said that tonight they’re wrestling Ace Austin and Madman Fulton. They put over Austin’s ability before The Good Brothers interrupted them.
Anderson bragged about being undefeated on Impact, so Shelley responded that they were the better team and thus they were the champions. Gallows told them that they would make sure that they’d take care of them tonight because they wanted to make sure the champions made it to Bound For Glory safe and sound.
Valkyrie and Hogan started the match for their teams, with the former dominating the latter with her power advantage, tossing her from corner to corner. Taya hit her running hip attack and double knee for an early pin attempt.
Rosemary and Steelz tagged in, and once again, the power disadvantage was too much for Steelz, who was just punished from turnbuckle to turnbuckle. It wasn’t until Rosemary locked in the upside down that Hogan kicked Rosemary off the ropes and they successfully turned the match around.
Steelz and Hogan used their speed to keep Rosemary down and Taya off the apron. They got a couple of double team moves and near falls before Rosemary managed to hit Steelz with a backplex out of desperation, but it was enough to tag in Taya.
Valkyrie ran wild on both Hogan and Steelz, getting a two count with a blue thunder bomb on Hogan. She transitioned to a curb stomp and into a STF.
Finish saw Rosemary take out Hogan with a German suplex, but ate a codebreaker from Steelz. When Steelz went to take out Taya, Rosemary got her with a spear and hit standing butterfly bomb for the win. Pretty good match.
All throughout the match, we got the visual of Havok and Nevaeh watching the match in the back.
The Deaners (Cody Deaner & Cousin Jake) defeated Johnny Swinger & Crazzy Steve
Before the wrestling started, the Deaners offered a beer to Crazzy Steve, who drank some and then shared with his monkey puppet. Swinger had to tell him to take the match seriously.
The story of the match was that Swinger couldn’t get Crazzy Steve to secretly hand him the weapons from his gimmick bag, and instead was exposing everything Swinger had to the referee. Fed up, Swinger tried to use the monkey as a weapon, Steve took it away, and so Deaner took advantage, hit a DDT and won.
– We got a recap of Deonna Purrazzo breaking Susie’s arm at Victory Road after she had successfully defended the championship.
Afterwards, Miller interviewed Kylie Rae, who was distraught for not being able to do anything to save Susie. Kimber Lee interrupted Rae and teased her that she should be worried because she would suffer the same fate at Bound For Glory. Rae had enough and jumped Lee, attacking her to the point that Rae herself felt that she had gone too far with the attack.
– D’Amore met with Heath about offering him an Impact contract. Heath thanked D’Amore for the opportunity. D’Amore said that he wanted to write an offer, but Heath jumped ahead and gave D’Amore a proposal instead. Heath asked for more than D’Amore could offer, so they went back and forth on whether Heath had even earned anything. The discussion got the point that D’Amore just straight threw Heath’s papers to the air, rejecting any proposal.
Outside the office, Heath berated Rhino for telling him to reject the WWE offer he had after that RAW with McIntyre to instead join Impact as now he was left with nothing. Interesting development.
– ECIII cut a promo to Moose telling him that it was too late and that Moose had to break his attachment to the past and material possessions. ECIII threw the TNA title belt to the river saying ‘Free Moose’.
– Ken Shamrock was having second thoughts about attacking Eddie Edwards, but Sami Callihan hyped him up telling him that his attack was trending and that he was going to become the old Shamrock. Callihan got Shamrock to rage up and attack an innocent passerby.
– Matthews and Rayne announced the matches for next week, including Hogan & Steelz vs Havok & Nevaeh vs Taya & Rosemary, Kylie Rae vs Kimber Lee, Fulton vs Gallows, and an update on Rich Swann.
Impact Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) defeated Ace Austin & Madman Fulton in a non-title match
Sabin and Austin started the match with a series of counters and reversals for wrist control, quickly transitioning into both men exchanging dropkicks before Shelley tagged in.
Shelley and Sabin kept control of the match, working over Austin’s arm with quick attacks and double teams.
After some time being away from his corner, Austin managed to get Shelley’s back and fall to his own corner where Fulton was jumping to get in. Fulton went straight for Shelley, got him with snake eyes and a big boot to turn the match around.
Fulton’s attack consisted of ramming Shelley’s head to the turnbuckle over and over and over. Fulton and Austin hit a side slam and leg drop combo for a two count before Austin did his paper cut trick. They kept working over Shelley’s arm until he managed to trick Austin into hitting Fulton accidentally, and with that distraction, Shelley tagged out.
Sabin got the hot tag and went straight for Austin’s arm and neck, but Austin managed to tag in Fulton, who they sent to the floor immediately.
MCMG tried to double team Austin, but Fulton saved him, so instead they double teamed Fulton for a two count when Austin interrupted the pin with a splash. They hit the reverse STF into a dropkick combo on Austin and went to finish Fulton, but Fulton reversed and hit a double suplex.
Suddenly, The North came out with chairs to attack, but the Good Brothers jumped them before they could. Amidst the chaos, Gallows hit Fulton with an uppercut, giving Shelley and Sabin the opening to hit skull and bones for the win. Great main event.
All four teams eyed each other as the show went off the air.
Final thoughts —
Overall a good show, easy to watch and enjoyable. They properly used all the fallout of Victory Road to add some fuel to the BFG stories.
Impact Wrestling’s Tag Team titles will be on the line in a four-way match at Bound for Glory.
Impact Wrestling announced today that The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) will defend their Tag Team titles against The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows), The North (Josh Alexander & Ethan Page), and Ace Austin & Madman Fulton at Bound for Glory. The pay-per-view is taking place on Saturday, October 24.
On this week’s episode of Impact, Gallows & Anderson challenged The Motor City Machine Guns to a title match at Bound for Glory. After The North faced off with Austin & Fulton in the main event of the episode, there was a confrontation between the four teams who will be involved in the Bound for Glory Tag Team title match.
The Motor City Machine Guns became Impact Tag Team Champions by defeating The North on an episode of Impact this July. Prior to that, The North had been champions for over a year.
Impact Wrestling has also revealed that Shelley vs. Anderson vs. Alexander vs. Austin will take place at their Victory Road special on Impact Plus this Saturday.
Eric Young defending the Impact World Championship against Rich Swann and Deonna Purrazzo defending the Knockouts Championship against Kylie Rae have also been announced for Bound for Glory. Young and Purrazzo both have title defenses at Victory Road as well. Young is defending his title against Eddie Edwards, while Purrazzo is defending her title against Susie.
Impact Wrestling returns from Nashville, TN for chapter one of Emergence, main evented by the rematch between The North and the current Impact Tag Team Champions The Motor City Machine Guns.
Opening video ran down tonight’s card, making allegory comments about the company’s evolution.
Rohit Raju defeated X-Division Champion Chris Bey & TJP (with Fallah Bahh) to become the NEW champion
TJP started the match by hitting a pescado on both Rohit and Bey. In the ring, Rohit and TJP had a nice quick sequence of counters and reversals. Once Rohit was taken out, Bey came in and took his place until he found himself draped in the ropes, waiting for a kick from TJP, but Rohit was there to save him, setting up TJP for a second rope elbow.
Bey stomped and punched TJP while Rohit cheered him on. TJP managed to dodge Bey and Rohit and locked a sharpshooter on Bey. Rohit tried to break it, but TJP got him with a northern lights for a pin attempt while he kept Bey in the sharpshooter. TJP broke it up, but hit the Pentagon armbreaker on Bey.
Rohit cut off TJP and stomped him around for a bit while Bey was out. TJP once again managed to escape and lock a Gory special and a pendulum on both Bey and Rohit respectively. TJP tried to go for Bey’s arm again, but Rohit broke it up and went back to the stomps and falling elbows.
TJP went for a tornado DDT on Rohit. Bey stopped him, but accidentally took out Rohit with a jumping knee. TJP took down Bey with a springboard crossbody, hit a tombstone piledriver, but he went for the mamba special instead and was taken out by Rohit.
Rohit and Bey went for a doomsday device, but TJP got a hold of Rohit and hit a superplex instead, locked the octopus stretch, and when Bey tried to break it, he locked a double octopus stretch into a crucifix pin for a two count.
TJP kicked Bey down, hit a backplex on Rohit, who later recovered and hit a jumping knee on TJP, followed by a running boot, but missed the cannonball. Bey rolled TJP for a two count, kicked him and into a gutwrench pancake for another two count.
Bey went for the finisher, but got a clutch dagger from TJP instead. TJP chased the detonation kick on either man, but couldn’t land it and instead locked in an STF on Bey, but Rohit was there to save Bey.
TJP took out Rohit with a springboard dropkick to the floor, a second on Bey, but as he went for the top rope, Bey stopped him. TJP slipped away and went for a superbackplex, but Rohit and Bey blocked him. Rohit dropped TJP and hit the double stomp on Bey instead of TJP to get the pin and win the championship.
Over at Wrestle House, Crazzy Steve and Johnny Bravo are playing with their dolls talking about Taya vs Rae tonight. Steve then said that the people in the house have started to lose their minds.
In another room, Larry D was getting pretty to go hit on Rosemary. Acey Romero wasn’t happy about it. Acey is a really bad actor.
Backstage, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows cut a promo about Ace and Fulton wanting to get their attention and succeeding. They promised an ass kicking tonight. Pretty good promos.
Josh Matthews and Madison Rayne ran down tonight’s card.
Self-Proclaimed TNA World Champion Moose defeated Trey Miguel to retain the title.
This was speed vs power. It started with Trey going after Moose with strikes, but Moose easily got him by the neck, tossed him to the corner and dropped him with one single chop. Trey tried to come back with kicks, but as soon as Moose got a hand on Trey, he’d toss him around and land a clothesline or uppercut.
Trey went for a lucha armdrag, but Moose blocked him, set him up on the top turnbuckle, and connected with a great dropkick. Outside the ring, Moose punished Trey with chops and dropped him on the apron.
Back in the ring, Moose tossed Trey from corner to corner, stomped on in, choked him, and a big fallaway slam when Trey tried to make a comeback. Moose kept this punishment for a while, and when Trey made another comeback, Moose shot him down again with a dropkick and a two count.
At this point, Moose started talking trash and getting cockier than usual, but Trey finally caught Moose with a superkick and a second spinning kick, Trey landed two more low dropkicks and finally had Moose down. Trey went for a springboard DDT, but Moose blocked him initially, but Trey gathered momentum and hit it anyway.
Trey went for a tope con giro, but Moose caught him in a powerbomb position, rammed him against the guardrail, and hit an apron bomb for the countout win. Trey made it back at 9. Moose went for the lights out, but Trey initially dodged and tried to sunset flip Moose, but Moose simply blocked it, stoop Trey up, hit lights up for the win. Moose was unstoppable.
After the match, ECIII jumped Moose and stole the TNA World Championship.
Backstage, Reno Scum gave Hernandez his money. Hernandez paid them and told them to come see him later for more work.
We got a video package for Eric Young talking about his career and all he has done. This was great.
Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the week was 2015’s Kurt Angle vs Eric Young stretcher match.
Jimmy Jacobs interviewed Willie Mack about Eric Young. Mack said he was talking about Swann when Brian Myers pulled the camera and Jimmy away for his own interview. Myers said that he was sick of being someone’s good hand, talked trash about WWE, and said that he was taking his career in his hands. Mack jumped Myers for interrupting his interview afterwards.
We got another commercial by Heath, making a plea to get #Heath4Impact trending so he could get hired.
The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) defeated Ace Austin & Madman Fulton
Anderson and Ace started the match with the former in control, with the latter only managing to get a shot for every five Anderson would. Gallows and Anderson kept this initial control with quick tags until Ace surprised Anderson with a school boy and Fulton tagged in.
Fulton successfully cut off Anderson from his corner. Ace tagged in again and Anderson regained control, tagging in Gallows back in.
Fulton and Gallows met in the middle of the ring and started exchanging clotheslines with neither men giving an inch. They traded strikes and Gallows finally got some momentum, but Fulton cameback with a clothesline and rammed Gallow’s head to the turnbuckle.
Ace tagged in again, and once again, the Good Brothers regained control, hit a running clothesline and kick combo. Anderson then distracted himself with Fulton, allowing Ace to dropkick him from behind and take him down. Fulton and Ace hit some double team moves, including a scoop slam into Ace’s knees for a two count. Ace did the paper cut trick on Anderson before going for the same double team move, successfully landing it. They went for it a third time, but this time Anderson escaped, hit a spinebuster on Ace and tagged out.
Gallows came in hot, took out Fulton to the floor, hit a fallaway slam and shoulder tackle on Ace. He followed that with a pump kick and called for a magic killer, but Fulton stopped them. Fulton and Gallows brawled to the floor, leaving Anderson and Ace in the ring, with the latter kicking Anderson down and tagging out. Fulton tossed Anderson like a dart into Ace’s knee for a two count.
Anderson started to make a comeback with punches and forearms, took down Fulton in the corner, but Ace caught him back with a kick. On the other side, Gallows and Fulton brawled again, with Gallows sending Fulton into the crowd area.
Gallows tagged in again, hit the magic killer with Anderson on Ace, and picked up the win.
Back at Wrestle House, the group talked about the match. Suddenly the Deaners realized that their beer had been stolen. The suspect Acey Romero and were about to fight, but Susie reminded them about the truce. Larry D started hitting on Rosemary when Bravo walked up, and they agreed to do something next week. Cody Deaner and Cousin Jake are pretty good at this.
Wrestle House: Kylie Rae defeated Taya Valkyrie
Rosemary is the referee for the match.
Rae wanted to shake Taya’s hand, but Taya said that she trained in Mexico and only slapped her hand away. No handshakes in Mexico.
Taya got Rae’s back early on and pushed her around, making fun of her. Rae came back with the same move and got the better of Taya, also tossing her around and inraging Taya who instead went after Rae with punches.
Rae hit a great rana and a superkick, but when Rae went for the running attack, Rosemary tripped her and allowed Taya to regain control. She shoved her to the corner where she bit her hand and put pressure on the elbow.
Taya choked Rae against the ropes, stomped on her, posed for the camera, and shot down Rae every time she tried to strike into a comeback. Suddenly, Rae caught Taya with a lucha armdrag and a superkick for a slow two count.
Taya hit a great Saito suplex for a two count. Taya rushed at Rae, who moved away, causing Taya to almost take out Rosemary, but when Taya turned around, Kylie caught her with a superkick for the pin and won.
After the match, Crazzy Steve tried to tell Bravo that he was blowing his chances with Rosemary.
Matthews and Rayne ran down the card for next week, including Willie Mack vs Brian Myers, and address from ECIII, Eddie Edward’s open challenge, and the first ever 30 minute Knockout’s Ironman match between Jordynne Grace and Deonna Purrazzo.
Impact Tag Team Championships The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) defeated The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander) to retain the titles
Sabin and Alexander started the match for their teams. Sabin went for early strikes, but Alexander easily dropped him. Sabin still used his speed to dodge Alexander and take him down with a jumping calf kick, but when he went for a crossbody, Alexander caught him and took him down along with Page. Shelley went for the save, but Alexander and Page also took him down with a suplex and top rope knee combo.
The North, now in control, worked over Sabin with strikes, chokes, and quick tags. Sabin tried to make a comeback and managed to dodge Alexander, who accidentally took down Page with a forearm. Sabin escaped and tagged out.
Shelley came in, dropkicked Page to the floor, went after Alexander with strikes and a low dropkick. Page jumped back into the ring, but was met but the double team moves of the MCMGs, followed with a kick combo for Alexander’s knee.
Back from commercial, Shelley is still in control over Alexander, who is trying to strike his way back to his corner, but Shelley has a deep single leg Boston crab. It took Page to jump in and interfere to break up the submission. The distraction alone was enough for Alexander to recover and kick Sabin off and into Page’s waiting punch. The North hit an assisted DDT for a two count on Shelley.
Page tagged in and cut off Shelley from Sabin, going after Shelley’s back and knee. Alexander and Page both hit backbreakers for a two count when Sabin broke it off. Finally, Shelley managed to counter The North, sending Alexander to the floor and hitting a DDT on Page against the turnbuckle, earning himself the space to tag out.
Sabin came in and took down Page with a jumping forearm and a neckbreaker. Sabin hit a punt kick on Alexander on the apron and followed with a missile dropkick on Page. Sabin hit a tope suicida on Alexander, but Shelley managed to tag in during the jump. Shelley hit an STO on Page with an assist from Sabin’s missile dropkick, but only for a two count.
Shelley and Page exchanged strikes before Shelley went for a sliced bread #2 that Page escaped. However, Shelley hit both Page and Alexander with an assisted sliced bread for a two count.
All four men exchanged superkicks, but Alexander hit a German on Sabin, setting up The North’s finisher for a two count as Page’s pin was cocky and weak. The North went for the northern assault, but once again Page was small packaged, similar to the day MCMG took their titles, except this time Alexander was there to reverse it for a two count for the The North.
Shelley went for slice bread #2 again, but Alexander blocked and hit a backbreaker instead. Sabin caught Page with a tornado DDT, but ate a discus forearm by Alexander, who tried the same with Shelley, but Shelley blocked, hit atomic drop, quick reverse STF into dropkick combo by MCMGs, double superkick to Page and tandem running kick before setting up the skull and bones for the win. Another fantastic match between these teams.
Final thoughts —
Great show by Impact, good wrestling all around. Night two has less matches announced, but with promising outcomes.
The Motor City Machine Guns are once again Impact World Tag Team champions.
The team defeated The North to win the championships for a second time tonight on Impact. The finish came when The North were delivering superkicks to both Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley. Sabin countered with a small package and pinned Page to win the championships.
Sabin & Shelley’s last run with the championships were back in 2010, when they defeated Beer Money to win the titles that were previously vacated by The Band (Eric Young, Kevin Nash & Scott Hall).
The North end their run with the titles after 383 days, when they won the titles from LAX (Ortiz & Santana) at Bash at the Brewery on July 5, 2019.
Sabin & Shelley made their return to the promotion at Slammiversary this past Saturday. They defeated The Rascalz in the opening match as a surprise, then later challenged The North to a Impact Tag Team title match, which was later confirmed.
Impact Wrestling returns from Nashville, TN for the fallout of Slammiversary XVIII, where three new champions were crowned.
Show started with ECIII cutting a promo about people being controlled by the media, government, politicians, corporations, and even love. He said that we need to fight back against those that want to control us and we must control our narrative. Really good promo, it’s ECIII’s forte.
Impact debuted a new entrance video and theme, a far better one.
X-Division Champion Chris Bey defeated Willie Mack to retain the title.
Willie Mack is cashing in his rematch clause.
Bey started the match with a shotgun dropkick and a quick pin attempt. After kicking out, Bey and Mack started rolling around, trading fists. They stood and continued trading strikes. Eventually Mack managed to floor Bey, but before he could follow up Bey pulled him to the outside. Bey went for a plancha, but Mack caught him and slammed him down on the floor.
Back in the ring, Mack hit a senton atomico. He tried to follow with a running clothesline on the corner, but Bey dodged and hit a draping neckbreaker for a two count. Bey followed with a headlock, but Mack powered up, escaped, and hit a backfist. When Bey tried to hit a moonsault, Mack dodged and hit a moonsault himself.
Mack went for the stunner, but Bey blocked. Mack caught him with a pop-up forearm then went for the 6-star frog splash, but Bey moved, hit a springboard cutter, and picked up the win. Good match, but really short.
Josh Matthews and Madison Rayne ran down some of tonight’s matches and also recapped the events from Slammiversary. They hyped the debut of the Good Brothers and ECIII’s return.
The Good Brothers came down to the ring. Anderson cut a promo about arriving on Impact Wrestling, how Slammiversary was trending #1 worldwide because of them. Gallows talked about selling out their t-shirt overnight. They had some beers to celebrate, but Ace Austin interrupted them, along with Madman Fulton.
Ace told them that he understood why they attacked him on Saturday, they went for the top two guys in Impact. Ace wanted an apology. Ace threw Anderson’s beer, so they started brawling. The Good Brothers cleared the ring. This was somewhat weak.
Backstage, Heath arrived trying to get in, but he wasn’t on the list. He didn’t even have a last name. He called out Rhino, but he was distracted with Hernandez about their arm-wrestling dispute. They both ended up challenging each other to a fight for the money. I don’t know why Heath can’t use ‘Miller’ on Impact.
In his locker room, Chris Bey was thanking some ladies, who seem to be his assistants. Rohit Raju arrived and wanted to celebrate with Bey too. Raju said that Bey has a bullseye on his back, so he offered his help to look out for Bey.
Steelz and Nevaeh started the match, with the latter striking down Steelz and dropping her with a slam and a crucifix pin for an early two count. Havok came in with a backbreaker into a neckbreaker by Nevaeh.
Hogan tagged in but ate a big boot by Havok as she came in. She managed to dodge a second boot and hit a dropkick, but Havok wasn’t phased and took down Hogan with a clothesline. Nevaeh tagged in, but distracted herself with Steelz, allowing Hogan to clip her from behind and cut her off from her corner.
Hogan and Steelz worked over Nevaeh in their corner, using many quick tags, going for strikes and chokes, getting near falls in between. Eventually, Nevaeh caught Steelz with a clothesline, but couldn’t follow up and ate a bicycle kick by Tasha. Nevaeh kicked Tasha again and went for the tag, but Hogan distracted the referee and the tag didn’t take place. Nevaeh hit a desperation neckbreaker and finally tagged in Havok.
Havok ran wild over Hogan and Steels, clotheslines and running boots to the corner. Hogan got her with a sleeper, but Havok got her off. Hogan went for a tilt-a-whirl, but Havok reversed into a piledriver. Tasha tried to save Hogan with a chair for the DQ, but Havok held on and still hit the piledriver on Hogan.
Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the Week was Eddie Edwards first World Title win over Bobby Lashley.
Backstage, Sami Callihan confronted Ken Shamrock for losing the match on Saturday. Shamrock accepted it, but wasn’t having it today. He said to complain next week. Callihan was as confused as I was after this.
RVD and Katie Forbes cut a promo talking about the changes in Impact for the better. They promoted Forbes new website. They’re done with the CancelCulture gimmick, but they’re still the heelish characters they were a couple of months prior.
Rhino defeated Hernandez
It took me longer to write this than the match. Rhino caught Hernandez with the Gore by surprise and won the cash.
The North cut a promo backstage about being the greatest tag team in the company’s history, but they never get a chance to celebrate. They said that the people said that the MCMG were the greatest and most innovative and such, but that was all opinions, yet The North’s longest reign in Impact’s history is a fact.
We got a vignette for Brian Myers. It looked similar to Kurt Angle’s initial vignettes in TNA. Impact didn’t say who was in the video, but Myers later identified himself on social media.
A video collection aired of post-match promos by the winners of Slammiversary XVIII.
Gia Miller interviewed Deonna Purrazzo about her next move. Purrazzo said she wouldn’t reveal, but since Grace was injured with a separated shoulder, she’d just enjoy the reign. Up walked Kylie Rae and introduced herself as the next challenger. Deonna offered a handshake, only to swerve Rae into the Fujiwara armbar, but Rae was able to block it before Alisha Edwards and Kimber Lee ran up to break up the fight.
Eddie Edwards came down to the ring to address his championship win. Eddie talked about how it felt so right to call himself the Impact World Champion. He said that his journey brought him to the title, and now a new one starts. Eddie said that he wants stability in Impact and that he wants to be the champion that both fans and the locker room can be proud of. He said that in the last few years, this title doesn’t get defended often, the last time was five months ago, and so he vows to be a defending champion and he’ll do it every week if necessary. His journey is to bring stability and credibility to the title.
Eric Young came out. Eddie didn’t let EY talk, he said he wasn’t happy with what he did to Rich Swann on Slammiversary. EY deserves an ass kicking, and Eddie is happy to oblige.
EY said that Impact belongs to him and that Eddie should be happy that he took out Rich and not him. EY said that he doesn’t care about Eddie’s journey and that the only thing he wants is the title.
Eddie threw himself on EY with a dive and started punching them. They got into a small pull apart.
Gia Miller interviewed Moose, asking him if he’d defend the title like Eddie had just promised. Moose told her that was a dumb question, because he carries the most prestigious title and people don’t just deserve title shots. Moose said he’d invite Fallah Bahh to a match.
Backstage, Gia Miller approached Eddie about who he’d wrestle first. Trey Miguel approached him and asked for a match next week. Eddie accepted.
Self-Proclaimed TNA World Champion Moose defeated Fallah Bahh (with TJP) to retain the title
Collar and elbow to start the match, Moose couldn’t move Bahh. He tried to attack Bahh in the corner, but Bahh kept dodging and chopping Moose. Bahh blocked a chokeslam attempt, but ended up catching a big boot to the face.
Moose chopped and punched Bahh, took him down with a shoulder block. He dropped an elbow, raked Bahh’s face, and choked him on the ropes. As usual, Moose got cocky and started talking trash, allowing Bahh to recover and build some momentum for a couple of running clotheslines and hip attacks to the corner. Moose hit the lights out and won. This was virtually a squash.
After the match, ECIII snuck up behind Moose, took him down, and walked away. Matthews said that ECIII doesn’t work here.
Good Brothers were walking down the street when Ace and Fulton drove up and distracted them, allowing Reno Scum to attack them from behind. GB took care of Reno Scum, prompting Ace and Fulton to drive away.
John E. Bravo had Rosemary in his house. They were talking to each other in code about pinches of rosemary and extra extra virgin olive oil. Taya was in the house too, so since they weren’t alone anymore. Rosemary started summoning half of the Impact roster to the house. Apparently, we have a reality show called ‘Wrestle House’ now, starting next week.
Announced for next week, Reno Scum vs The Good Brothers and Eddie Edwards vs Trey Miguel for the Impact World title.
The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) defeated Impact World Tag Team Champions The North (Josh Alexander & Ethan Page) to win the titles
Shelley and Page started the match, they chain wrestled for a bit for wrist and head control, then did a short sequence of counters and reversals ending up in a standoff. Alexander and Sabin tagged in and went for the same plan, ending with some lucha armdrags by Sabin on Alexander.
Shelley tagged in, but Alexander managed to throw him into Sabin and cut Shelley away from his corner. Shelley recovered. Page left the ring to dodge a superkick, but Sabin was there for the kick from the apron. MCMG hit a double kick on Alexander, then a double kick on Page.
Back from commercial, MCMG were still in control, getting a two count on Page with a top rope crossbody from Shelley. Josh Alexander distracted Shelley, allowing Page to cheap shot Shelley to cut him off, setting him up for the car crash crossbody.
The North started working over Alex Shelley in their corner. Alexander took him down with a backbreaker for a two count after Shelley tried to get an armbar in. The North hit a double backbreaker combo for another two count when Sabin broke the pin. Page hit a delayed handoff suplex right before Alexander tried to follow with a top rope moonsault, but Shelley managed to move away, tagging in Sabin.
Sabin took out Josh on the apron. He hit a rana on Page, then followed with a missile dropkick and a tornado DDT on Page for a two count. MCMG hit a double kick on Page in the corner. Sabin tagged out and hit a dive on Alexander. Shelley hit the shiranui on Page for a two count. Kick combo by Shelley and Sabin on Page, followed by a swinging neckbreaker and crossface. Sabin locked in a cloverleaf on Alexander, but when Page reversed the crossface to a pin, Sabin let go to break the pin attempt.
Alexander and Sabin traded strikes in the middle of the ring. Along with Page, he hit the murder-go-round, then followed with the cutter-wheelbarrow suplex combo for a two count when Shelley broke the pin. The North attacked Sabin, went for the northern assault, but Sabin used the moment to roll Page down while Shelley kept Josh locked and pinned Page to win the Impact tag team championships. Really good main event, hate to see The North lose the titles, but after breaking the record, there’s no sense to extend it for too long. This also freshens up the division a bit.
After the show ended, we saw Heath sneak into the arena.
Final thoughts —
Good show for a fallout episode after a pay-per-view. While we still have many questions about guys like ECIII or Heath, you can feel that a new era is starting. Wrestling wise, we got a great main event.
Minutes after they successfully defended the Impact Wrestling Tag Team Titles at Slammiversary, The North had both their next challengers and a date set as the longest reigning tag champions in company history will face the Motor City Machine Guns this Tuesday on AXS.
After Josh Alexander and Ethan Page defeated Ken Shamrock and Sami Callihan to retain, they cut an in-ring promo where they touted their reign, how great they were, and that no team could challenge them which brought out Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley, fresh off their surprise return in a win over the Rascalz earlier in the night.
Shelley and Sabin said that when you’re the best, you don’t have to say so as people will do it for you. They revealed that they had signed a contract to face the champions in a title match this Tuesday which didn’t go over well with Alexander and Page.
Shelley and Sabin have held the Impact tag titles once, reigning for 182 days in the second half of 2010 before losing the belts to Beer Money (Robert Roode/James Storm) at January 2011’s Genesis.
Susie & Kylie Rae defeated Rosemary & Taya Valkyrie (with John E. Bravo)
Rosemary and Susie started the match. Rosemary tried hard to bring Su Yung out, but Susie got the better of Rosemary, flipped her with a monkey flip and tried some crucifix pins for three early pin attempts.
Kylie Rae tagged in and tried to hit a double team move with Susie, but the teamwork was not there yet. Taya tagged in and talked some trash to Rae Taya with a headlock, tried to transition into the STTF, but Taya made the ropes.
Susie tagged in, and together she and Kylie Rae managed to hit a double bulldog for a two count. Bravo distracted the referee, which allowed Rosemary to cheap shot Susie and set her up for Taya to take her down.
Rosemary locked in the upside-down on Susie, followed by a running knee by Taya for another two count. Susie countered Taya and collided with her, getting an opening to tag out.
Rae came in and dodged Rosemary’s attacks, hit a rana and a corner cannonball for a two count. Kyle tried to go for the STTF, but Rosemary kicked her off. Rae hit a wheelbarrow into a cutter and a superkick, sending Rosemary to tag out.
Taya came in and hit a spear on Rae for a two count. Taya got a second one with a northern lights, but Rae came back with a superkick for a two count when Rosemary broke it up.
Rosemary went for the red wedding, but Susie saved her and took her out with a palm strike. Taya sent Susie to the floor.
At this point, Bravo distracted Taya, telling her that Rosemary was hurt. That allowed Kylie Rae to lock in the STTF on Taya for the submission win.
Josh Matthews and Madison Rayne ran down the card for tonight, and also gave an update on some of the Slammiversary XVIII matches.
Backstage, Chris Bey told Johnny Swinger that he messed up and now he can’t be out there with him at Slammiversary. Swinger, however, said that he had a plan.
The Deaners (Cody Deaner & Cousin Jake) defeated Fallah Bahh & TJP, Reno Scum (Adam Thornstowe & Luster The Legend), and XXXL (Acey Romero & Larry D)
At the bell, everyone started to brawl. Eventually, it was just XXXL and Cody Deaner in the ring, with XXXL taking out Cody with a double splash. Reno Scum pulled XXXL out of the ring, but Cousin Jake was ready to fly over the top rope on all of them.
Back from commercial, the referee has managed to set order and properly start the match. Reno Scum had managed to cut off Cody Deaner and work over him. Bahh and TJP kept trying to brawl with Reno Scum, but the referee kept them out. Furthermore, Reno Scum managed to avoid letting the other teams to tag in until Cody managed to hit a jawbreaker on Luster, sending him into XXXL’s corner.
Acey Romero came in and worked some more over Cody Deaner, but he managed to take him down with a tornado DDT. At this point, Cousin Jake jumped the rope and took out Larry D and Acey, triggering everyone to come in and take someone out sequentially, leaving just Cody and Romero.
Reno Scum jumped in the ring and took everyone out, but Bahh and TJP recovered and pulled them out of the ring and brawled up the ramp and into the locker room area.
Back in the ring, Larry D and Cousin Jake tagged in. They collided with some shoulder tackles, but then Larry D took out Jake with a clothesline and a spinebuster for a two count. Cody went for the Deaner DDT, but Larry blocked it, sending him into Acey’s pounce. Jake took out Acey, but Larry was there to take him down with a curb stomp. Jake recovered and hit a sidewalk slam for the win. Seems like The Deaners may be getting a push soon.
After the match, the camera followed Reno Scum, Bahh, and TJP as they brawled through the back.
Johnny Swinger looked inside people’s bags, trying to find a disguise to use on Slammiversary. He skipped on Super Eric, but stole Suicide’s suit instead.
Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the Week was Tara & Angelina Love vs Velvet Sky & Madison Rayne from Lockdown 2010.
Ken Shamrock looked for Sami Callihan backstage. Shamrock told Sami that they have a chance to end The North’s title reign and that he has Callihan’s back tonight versus Josh Alexander.
Knockout’s Champion Jordynne Grace defeated Kimber Lee in a non-title match.
Lee tried to start the match with a test of strength, giving Jordynne the easy advantage to start. Lee kept kicking out of Grace’s pin attempts. Grace went for an early Grace Driver, but Lee made the ropes and bit Grace’s hand to get her off.
Jordynne kept control and whipped Lee from corner to corner and into a big spinebuster for a two count.
Kimber Lee managed to block Grace and kick her down, kick her into the ropes, and a third kick to the back before going for the leg scissors submission attempt.
Jordynne came back with a suplex, a couple scoop slams, and a michinoku driver for a two count. Jordynne went for the grace driver, but Lee blocked, hit a spinning heel kick and an enzuigiri, followed with a swanton bomb, but Grace kicked out at two.
Kimber Lee grabbed some brass knuckles, but Jordynne blocked her, hit the Grace Driver, and picked up the win. Dominant victory for Jordynne Grace, but Lee looked good too.
After the match, Purrazzo appeared on the screen telling her that Grace won’t get her hands on her until Slammiversary.
We got a video about the Impact World title being vacated, setting up the fatal four way match booked for Slammiversary. The package highlighted Eddie’s history in Impact, Ace’s quick rise in the industry, and Trey Miguel being the underdog. Pretty good promos by all three men, Trey especially.
Willie Mack found Swinger dressed as Suicide and either didn’t realize it, or pretended he didn’t know it was Swinger, but he did say they had a match coming up since Suicide had helped him wrestle Swinger and Bey last week.
We got another installment of Locker Room Talk with Madison Rayne, with a special guest — herself. Rayne announced that at Slammiversary, she will be in the Knockout’s No. 1 contendership match and will once again become a champion.
Tasha Steelz and Kiera Hogan interrupted her and made fun of her for talking to herself. Havok and Nevaeh came in and talked trash to everyone. The women brawled as Rayne hid in the corner of the couch. Rayne was really funny.
Hernandez is still beating people at arm wrestling, but Rhino is the next to challenge. To be continued…
X-Division Champion Willie Mack defeated Johnny Swinger to retain the title
Swinger, dressed as Suicide, started with some offense when he cheap shotted Mack. But as soon as he tried to do Suicide’s rope swerve, he failed. He ended up falling to the floor, giving Mack an opening to get some offense.
Swinger raked the eyes, but couldn’t do the swinging neckbreaker because it would reveal his identity, so instead he went for the top rope, fell on his face. Mack followed with the stunner for the win. Perfect for what it was. Swinger has great comedic timing.
Gia Miler interviewed Tommy Dreamer about his apology to Moose. He apologized to Moose with a number of backhanded comments, even revealing that Moose is a flat earther. Moose interrupted him, but Dreamer told Moose that he was the new #1 contender for the TNA World title. Moose told him that there was no TNA committee and that Dreamer was stupid. Match is official.
Matthews and Rayne ran down the updated card for Slammiversary XVIII.
Sami Callihan defeated Josh Alexander (with Ethan Page)
Collar and elbow to start the match, with Sami gaining the early advantage. He struck down Josh, sending him to the floor. Callihan hit a jumping knee while Alexander tried to enter the ring, sending him back to the floor.
Callihan and Alexander brawled for a bit outside the ring, where Page distracted Sami, giving Alexander a small opening to get some offense in before Callihan recovered and whipped Josh into the guardrails.
Back in the ring, Josh regained control, but the match spilled out of the ring again. Sami hit a DVD on Josh. Callihan and Page started shouting at each other, once again giving Josh the time to recover and suplex Callihan into the apron for the countout tease.
Alexander was now in complete control. He focused on Callihan’s limbs, stomping and twisting one at a time, going for quick pin attempts here and there. Alexander started punching Callihan, who fired up and made a comeback, catching Josh with some lariats.
Callihan went for a sunset flip, but Josh rolled over. Callihan reversed a suplex into a brainbuster for a two count. Callihan went for the ten punches, but Alexander dodged, hit a tornado toss, locked in the ankle lock, but Callihan made the ropes after the struggle.
Callihan raked Alexander’s eyes and hit a piledriver on the apron, but Josh kicked out at two. Page went for Callihan off the top rope, but Sami moved and the referee was taken out instead. Page went to piledrive Callihan, but Shamrock came down for the save and locked in the ankle lock on Page, giving Callihan the opening to hit the cactus special on Josh for the win. Ok match.
Callihan walked out on Shamrock after the match.
We got the tease that whatever world champion is returning at Slammiversary. The news reporter said that not only would he be in attendance, but he won’t be alone.
Final thoughts —
Good show overall, it had some good wrestling, but it was mostly a driver to heat up some of the Slammiversary card.
Impact Wrestling’s Slammiversary continued to take shape as it was announced The North will defend their tag team titles against Ken Shamrock and Sami Callihan at the July 18th pay-per-view.
The match was made on Tuesday’s show after Ethan Page and Josh Alexander came out for a promo where they continued to verbally run down the former UFC star and how he could never get a partner as he has no friends. Last week, the two jumped Shamrock as he was set to have a match with Alexander.
Shamrock came out to confront them and a Callihan video played with him asking, “Who needs friends when you have an enemy?” The former Impact World Champion then appeared in the ring and the the two laid out the tag champions. He then said, “Thumbs up/thumbs down” to Shamrock and disappeared.
Afterward, Page and Alexander were backstage complaining to Scott D’Amore and he made the match for Slammiversary which they weren’t happy with.
Thus far, the Slammiversary card is as follows:
Vacant Impact World Championship: Eddie Edwards vs. Trey Miguel vs. Ace Austin vs. TBA
Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace vs. Deonna Purrazzo
X Division Champion Willie Mack vs. Chris Bey
Knockouts Championship #1 contender gauntlet match: Alisha Edwards vs. Havok vs. Kiera Hogan vs. Kimber Lee vs. Kylie Rae vs. Nevaeh vs. Rosemary vs. Susie vs. Tasha Steelz vs. Taya Valkyrie
Tag Team Champions The North vs. Ken Shamrock and Sami Callihan
Impact Wrestling returns from the Coca-Cola Roxy in Atlanta, GA.
Opening video focused on the ongoing feud between The North and Tessa Blanchard and Eddie Edwards, a feud that took us to tonight’s main event as Eddie and Tessa teamed up to take on The North for the tag team titles.
We saw Ken Shamrock, who arrived at the arena, to address Sami Callihan’s attack two weeks ago.
Willie Mack came out to the ring and went straight for the mic. He called out Ace Austin and Reno Scum for their attack on Swan. He challenged Ace to fight right now. Mack is not the best ‘angry person’ promo.
Out came Reno Scum. Mack challenged them to a two on one.
Willie Mack defeated Reno Scum (Luster The Legend & Adam Thornstowe) in a handicap match
Mack started strong over both guys, managing to take down Thornstowe, but Luster cut him off. Mack got Luster down with a Slam, but Thornstowe was there for the tag and the double team battering ram for a two count.
Reno Scum started working over Willie’s upper body, mostly strikes and slams, with a little bit of eye gouging by Luster. Standing moonsault by Thornstowe for another two count, and right into the sleeper Lock.
Mack finally made a small comeback, striking down Thornstowe until he got caught with a big dropkick, but was still good enough to counter Thornstowe’s senton with a double knee.
Luster tagged in, but Mack recovered, hitting the Samoan drop and moonstault combo for a two count. Thornstowe grabbed Mack’s leg and allowed for Luster to cut him off again. Thownstowe landed a double foot stomp to the back of Willie for another two count.
Mack managed to toss Luster into his corner, dropping Thorstowe off the ropes, which distracted Luster enough to get caught with the stunner and 6-Star Frog Splash for the win.
After the match, Ace Austin came out and knocked out Mack with a spinning heel kick. Reno Scum held Mack, allowing Ace to hit The Fold from the outside of the ring.
Kylie Rae arrived at the arena and was met by Gail Kim, who welcomed her. She then met up with Susie. They kinda became friends until Kiera Hogan entered the room and told Kylie that there are no friends on Impact and that Rae will be fighting Hogan at Rebellion. Hogan then challenged Susie to a match.
Chris Bey defeated Daga
Match started with Bey and Daga doing a quick sequence of pin reversals into a sequence of lucha moves that Daga won with a Headscissors, sending Bey down. Daga went for a rope Armdrag, but Bey dropped him on the ropes, laughed at Daga, and followed with a kick, sending Daga out to the floor.
Bey started working over Daga, focusing on the back with kicks and slams. Daga tried making a comeback with strikes, but Bey kept him down.
Back from commercial, Daga is still trying to make a comeback, but Bey maintains control of the match, getting a two count with a Senton. Bey locked in an abdominal stretch for the submission tease, but Daga finally fired up, tossed Bey off and dodged Bey’s kicks. Unfortunately, Bey managed to lock in a leg scissors.
Daga kept powering up, stood up with Bey on his back and rammed him into the corner to break the sleeper that Bey had locked up. Bey relocked the sleeper, forcing Daga to toss him off.
Daga made his comeback with a clothesline and dragon screws, getting a two count with a powerbomb. Bey left to the floor, but Daga followed. Bey was ready and went for a moonsault off the ramp, but Daga dodged. Daga followed up with a huge senton that made it look like Dage fell on top of his head.
Top rope plancha from Daga for a two count. Daga connected with a discus lariat, went to follow with a sunset flip, but Bey blocked, grabbed the ropes, and stole the win from Daga.
Chris Bey is amazing and oozes charisma, so I’m not sure if debuting him as a heel was the best move, but he plays it well.
Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the Week was Lockdown 2011’s 6-way between Amazing Red, Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson, Chris Sabin, Robbie E, and Kendrick.
Somewhere in a trailer, Taya was training for her Full Metal Mayhem match with Jordynne Grace by hitting John E. Bravo with a chair. Bravo was wearing an armor of pillows which were not working that much.
The Rascalz were in the Treehouse talking about scouting The North tonight, but they can’t because The Deaners were coming in. Deaners brought beers. TJP and Fallah Bahh also arrived and brought food. Finally, XXXL joined them and took all the food. Nothing came out of this.
Havok defeated Madison Rayne
Madison Rayne left the broadcast table to wrestle a match.
Havok started the match rushing at Rayne, but the latter managed to dodge a bit until she got in Havok’s face and told her she was the locker room leader. Havok responded by kicking her down, hitting a nice backbreaker and a lariat to rock Rayne to the corner.
Havok followed with a running boot, but when she went for the splash, Rayne dodged again. Rayne hit some strikes and enzugiris, but Havok was only moved a little bit. Havok sent Rayne to the top rope, but she punched her way off. Rayne went for a northern lights suplex, but Havok easily reversed it.
Havok whopped Rayne to the corner, followed with a choke, and once again tried to set up Rayne in the corner. Rayne hit a crossbody, but Havok caught her, hit a tombstone piledriver and got the win. Good one sided squash.
Backstage, Tessa Blanchard told Eddie that she didn’t need him and wanted answers as to why Eddie helped her last week. Eddie told her that maybe he should have left her alone to see what the numbers game was. Eddie said that he knows what not wanting help leads to and so he wants to offer his hand, but Tessa gets to choose what to do with it. Get beat up, or walk out Tag Team Champions.
Jimmy Jacobs interviewed Ken Shamrock. Jacobs asked about his condition first. Shamrock said he had some damage to his eyes, so he’s been working through that. He said that Sami has no respect for anyone trying to earn a living in the ring. He once tried to take out Eddie Edwards, and now him.
Next week, Shamrock and Callihan are having their contract signing, to which Shamrock said he will try to keep his composure.
Suddenly, their stream got hacked by Callihan. Shamrock stormed off the room saying that if Impact can’t control Sami, he would.
Rhino and Tommy Dreamer defeated oVe (Jake and Dave Crist) with Madman Fulton
Dreamer and Dave started the match, collar and elbow with the old timer getting the better of Crist, forcing him to tag in his brother. Dreamer tagged in Rhino, who kept control of the match, taking down Jake with a shoulder tackle and maintaining wrist control. Dreamer and Rhino were going for a team move when Fulton got involved and grabbed Dreamer. The referee expelled Fulton to the back.
Back in the ring, Dreamer hit the bionic elbow on Jake, followed by a crossbody, but the referee was distracted. Dave kicked Dreamer in the back to cut him off.
oVe started working over Dreamer, keeping him at bay by focusing on Dreamer’s arm, with quick tags and double team moves. Dave went for a top rope move, but Dreamer was able to get to the ropes and dropped him with a superplex, tagging in Rhino.
He came in strong, taking out Jake Crist first with clotheslines and a spear to the corner. Belly-to-belly suplex for a two count. Dave Crist went for Rhino, but Dreamer was there to attack him with a cutter. Jake Crist took out Dreamer, but distracted himself from Rhino, who hit a Gore for the win.
After the match, Madman Fulton returned and beat down Rhino and Dreamer. Fulton hit the End of Days on Dreamer.
Out at a bar, Rosemary was hitting on men when Johnny Swinger approached her. Swinger offered his soul if she had a nice car. Swinger told Rosemary to not care about the young bucks. He said that next week, he was bringing M.Jackson and is going to show her what he’s got. Rosemary rejected Swinger.
Kiera Hogan defeated Susie
Hogan started by pushing Susie around in the ring until Susie pushed back, slapped her, and took down Hogan over and over again. Susie hit a Bulldog for a two count.
Hogan, now paying attention, got the better of Susie and pushed her to the corner to kick her and choke her against the ropes. Hogan hit a series of running attacks on Susie for a two count. Hogan locked in a cravate, but Susie punched her way out only to take a dropkick for another two count.
Kiera went for the Hogan Driver, but Susie escaped, landed a palm strike combo and a Thesz press. They exchanged strikes until Susie made it to the ropes.
Hogan hit a superkick for yet another near fall. Hogan went to the top rope, but Susie caught her with a palm strike and The Spider Walk for a two count.
Susie looked around for Su Yung’s glove, but she didn’t have it. The distraction was enough for Hogan to hit the Hogan Driver and pick up the win.
The North were in the locker room getting ready when Michael Elgin approached them and said he wanted to replace one of them and get his hands on Eddie and Tessa. Josh Alexander said he couldn’t, while Page told him that this was a Tag Team title match, he couldn’t just get in there. The North were fantastic as champions here, not taking the weasel way out and standing up against Elgin.
Jimmy Jacobs interviewed Tenille Dashwood. Tenille said that next week, she fights Taya Valkyrie.
Impact Tag Team Champions The North (Josh Alexander & Ethan Page) defeated Tessa Blanchard & Eddie Edwards to retain the titles
Story of the match was that Tessa Blanchard, hot headed as she is, wouldn’t work well with Eddie, as she kept wanting to do things by herself. Meanwhile, The North are the legit best tag team in the company.
Eddie and Page started the match for their teams. Eddie got the upper hand with chain wrestling, forcing Page to tag in Alexander. Tessa tagged in, but Alexander easily got the upper hand with strength alone. Tessa used her speed to dodge Alexander, but when she went for the Tornado DDT, Alexander easily blocked her and tossed her off. Tessa failed to clothesline Josh out until the third time when Josh provoked her. Tessa went for a dive, but got distracted by Page, allowing Alexander to run around the rung and attack Tessa from behind.
Eventually, Tessa stumbled into her corner and Eddie tagged in. Eddie ran wild over both North members, chopping them down with atomic drops and landed a belly-to-belly on Page to send him out. Alexander was tossed to the outside and got hit by a dive by Eddie, but as he ran, Tessa blind tagged herself in and hit a plancha on everyone.
Back from commercial, Eddie and Tessa had some control as their team had their first hand-to-hand tag in the match, but as Eddie tried to take on Alexander, Page was there to save him from taking a frankensteiner, successfully cutting him off.
The North started working on Eddie in their corner, quick tags and teasing Tessa in between them. The North went for their finisher, but Eddie dodged and hit a desperation double rana to finally get the tag on Tessa.
Tessa came in with a crossbody, taking both North men down. Rana on Page to send him out. She slapped Alexander and hit a shiranui. Tessa followed with two dives, one for each North member. Cutter on Page for a two count. Tessa went for the Buzzsaw DDT, but Alexander cut her off. She went for a leg scissors on Alexander, but was blocked. Page hit a cutter of his own and followed with a Wheelbarrow German for a two count.
Eddie returned and saved Tessa, but Page kicked them both out. Eddie took out Page, Alexander took out Eddie, and Tessa hit a cutter on Alexander to close the circle.
Alexander hit a discus elbow on Tessa, but Eddie was there for the German. Eddie went for the BKP, but Page caught him with a big boot. Tessa sent Page outside. Eddie hit a Tiger Bomb and Tessa landed a Destroyer on Alexander for a big near fall. Tessa went for Magnum, but Alexander caught her. The North hit a combo of Forearms and kicks, then hit a team move for a two count when Eddie broke it up.
The North finally went for their finisher, but Tessa fought out. She hit a Samoan Drop on Page, but couldn’t repeat it with Alexander. She did, however, hit a tilt-a-whirl DDT but wouldn’t tag in Eddie because she wanted to do it herself. The North took her out, hit the assisted spinebuster, with Alexander pinning Tessa. Fantastic match!
After the match, Eddie checked on Tessa. Eddie offered her his hand, but Tessa pushed him off. Michael Elgin suddenly appeared and attacked Tessa from behind, but this time, Eddie wasn’t there to save Tessa. Elgin hit the Elgin Bomb, took the title, and posed over Tessa’s fallen body. This storyline is getting heated.
Final Thoughts —
An overall good show. It was strong inside the ring, ending with a great match. In addition, the storyline developments surrounding the Impact World title were great.
Tonight’s Impact Wrestling episode hails from the Coca-Cola Roxy in Atlanta, GA. This was the first episode in the new set of tapings. Madison Rayne replaced Don Callis on commentary for tonight’s show.
Opening video showcased the death of Father James Mitchell at the hands of Su Yung and Havok.
Josh Alexander (with Ethan Page) defeated Eddie Edwards
Collar and elbow to start the match. They were both equal, but Alexander got to push Eddie to the corner. Eddie tried to come back with chops, but Alexander returned the favor in kind.
Eddie recovered a bit and hit a belly-to-belly and followed with strikes, but Alexander stomped his foot and cut him off. Eddie sidestepped Alexander to the floor, but the latter pulled Eddie down for more.
They brawled a bit outside the ring, mostly Eddie chopping Alexander and distracting himself with Page, giving Alexander the time to recover and takedown Eddie with a running boot.
Alexander started working over Eddie at this point, going after his back. High angle backplex for a two count. Kicks and chops in the corner sprinkled with some trash talk.
Eddie fired up and started asking for slaps, Alexander obliged, but it woke up Eddie, who came back with chops, sent Alexander to the floor and followed with a suicide dive.
Back in the ring, Eddie hit a blue thunder bomb for a two count. Eddie went for the tiger bomb, but Alexander escaped. He ate a forearm to the face, took an enzuigiri, but managed to counter the backpack stunner and hit an airplane slam for a two count.
Both men started exchanging strikes in the middle of the ring; they got into a great chop exchange. That ended with Eddie going Kobashi on Alexander, hitting a clothesline, and ending with a tiger bomb for a near fall.
Ethan Page distracted Eddie Edwards, which allowed Alexander to roll Eddie for the pin.
After the match, The North attacked Eddie until Tessa Blanchard came down for the save. Eddie and Tessa teamed up and sent The North packing. Tessa and Eddie had a little friendly face-off.
Backstage, Alexander hyped up Ethan Page about beating a main eventer and number one contender. Page was mad that Tessa Blanchard got in their business and said that they were better champions than Tessa could ever hope for. Ethan Page challenged Tessa Blanchard for a match tonight.
Kylie Rae defeated Cassandra Golden
Golden jumped Rae while she was still smiling at fans. She tossed Rae around the ring for a bit, from turnbuckle to turnbuckle, but when she went for the running attack, Kylie moved out of the way. Rae came at Golden with a flurry of strikes and a roll-up for a two count.
Kylie kept it up with strikes, connected the Kylie Special for a two count then followed with a rolling cannonball for another two count.
Kylie missed the Superkick, escaped a Samoan drop then hit a side leg sweep. She followed up with an STF and tapped out Golden. Good debut for Kylie!
Jimmy Jacobs interviewed Kylie Rae about her debut. She said it was amazing to be back and that she knew that Impact was her home. She announced that she has officially signed with the company.
Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the Week was Scott Steiner’s Math Promo.
Moose came down to the ring to talk about the return of TNA and all the ghosts from the past along with it. He said that he was better than everyone who ever wrestled for TNA, and immediately, Kid Kash interrupted him.
Kash said that he had been paying attention to Moose for a while and that he agreed that he was amazing, but in his educated opinion, Moose would have never made it in the original TNA. So is he saying that the current Impact can’t hold? Moose challenged him to a fight and to prove it.
Moose defeated Kid Kash
Kash went for kicks early, but Moose blocked him, so Kash hit him with a rana instead, sending him to the outside. Kash went for an over the top rope rana, but just threw himself on top of his head.
Back in the ring, Kash tried to strike Moose, who simply fired up, hit the No Jackhammer Needed and took the win. Complete squash, Moose proved that the old TNA can’t hold with the current talent of Impact Wrestling. Good for Impact for protecting their roster.
Jimmy Jacobs interviewed XXXL, the new team of Acey Romero and Legendary Larry D about joining Impact. They said that size matters. Fallah Bahh and TJP greeted them and gave them a welcome gift, telling them that the line to the tag team titles is behind them.
Jacobs interviewed Rich Swann via satellite. Swann talked about how recovery has been hard, saying that he wants to come back so much. He said Willie Mack is going to win the X-Division Championship.
Ace Austin joined Jacobs and kicked him off the interview. Ace told Swann that Mack will never win the title because he was the weak link in their team. He tried to play tricks saying that Mack wasn’t there to help Swann during his recovery. Suddenly, there was a knock in Swann’s door. Ace said that he cared for Swann so much that he sent Reno Scum to check on him. We then just hear the noise of Swann getting beat up.
Back from commercial, Mack tried to fight Ace Austin for what he did to Swann.
Sami Callihan came down to the ring, debuting a new theme.
Callihan said that after he lost the title to Tessa, he decided to set himself aside and do some soul searching. He said that his issues were not just with Impact, but with the whole industry because all companies kept putting over old talent over the new talent and that he wasn’t going to allow Shamrock to take his HOF spot without going through him.
He said that Shamrock wasn’t the most dangerous man in the world, it was him, hitting people with baseball bats and setting them on fire.
Tommy Dreamer came out to confront Callihan, who immediately cut him off and said that Dreamer was the type of guy always looking to get the rub. He asked the fans to post photos of this moment so Dreamer could trend at least once. Dreamer pulled the nostalgia card and listed a bunch of old-timers who paved the way for guys like Callihan.
Callihan, tired of Dreamer, attacked him with the mic. Dreamer challenged him to a fight instead.
Sami Callihan defeated Tommy Dreamer in an Old School Rules match
The match started mid-brawl outside the ring, with Callihan being posted on the corner. Dreamer brought out the weapons, starting with a plunger. Callihan responded with chair shots. Callihan went to kick Dreamer from the apron but was blocked and dropped face-first on the apron.
Back in the ring, Dreamer used cooking sheets on Callihan to take him down. Dreamer tried to powerbomb Callihan into the fans but was cut off with a groin claw. Dreamer hit the Bionic elbow and some shots with the garbage can.
Dreamer went for a staple gun but was met by a challenging Callihan, who had set up two chairs in the middle of the ring. They exchanged staples until Dreamer stapled Callihan’s groin, followed by a running clothesline. Dreamer hit the ropes but got hit with a drop-toe hold into the chair. Callihan was then sent headfirst into a chair in the corner and a cutter for a two count.
Dreamer tried to piledrive Callihan on a chair, but Sami blocked and hit an STO onto the chair. Callihan set up a chair bridge, but Dreamer blocked and went for a DVD. Callihan blocked and was the one who hit the DVD into the chairs instead. A Cactus special followed, allowing Callihan to pick up the win.
After the match, Callihan tried to take out Dreamer with a senton. Rhino came in for the save. The rest of oVe came out to take out Rhino and Dreamer. oVe was happy to have Sami back. Sami turned off the lights and disappeared, not even oVe knew where he went. Dissension between oVe and Sami brewing?
Rosemary was at a pub offering shots and scaring off the clients. She started talking to someone about once falling in love with a mortal, but she had learned about her mistakes and now was going to take advantage of them. Drunk Rosemary is getting interesting.
We got a video package of Su Yung’s career with Impact, from her debut all the way to the death of Mitchell. Afterward, Suzie was walking around the hallways of Impact. Everyone was avoiding making contact with her. Suzie acknowledged being Su Yung, but that she didn’t like that side of her.
Cody Deaner (with Cousin Jake) defeated Joey Ryan
Collar and elbow to start the match. Ryan pushed Deaner to the corner, but after a sip of beer, he fired up and got an armbar locked in. Ryan pushed him to the corner again, but Deaner attacked him with strikes, dropped an elbow, and drank the rest of the beer.
Joey Ryan poked Cody’s eye to gain control of the match. He hit a scoop slam and a knee for a two count. Joey mocked Deaner’s hat and played to the crowd, which only provoked Cody to fire up and come back with strikes. Deaner hit a clothesline and went for the Deaner DDT, but Joey escaped. Unfortunately for Ryan, he escaped into Cousin Jake’s hands, who fed him a beer. Cody Deaner hit the Deaner DDT for the win.
Backstage, Eddie Edwards thanked Tessa for helping him out earlier today, so he offered his help for her match tonight. Tessa said she had this on her own tonight. Eddie was like “cool then”.
Michael Elgin cut a promo. He said that he beat Eddie over and over. He is now stronger than he was before, but Eddie wasn’t. He said that Tessa had bigger balls than everyone in the back, but Rebellion marked one year from him joining Impact, and so his time is coming. As long as Tessa has been undeniable, he’s been unbreakable.
Next week will have Daga vs Chris Bey, oVe vs Dreamer and Rhino, and Shamrock returns to address Callihan.
Impact World Champion Tessa Blanchard defeated Impact Tag Team Champion Ethan Page (with Josh Alexander) in a non-title match
Before they started fighting, Page mocked Tessa’s size. But in return, Tessa took him down and connected with two dropkicks. Page, angered, simply grabbed Tessa and slammed her down with a backbreaker.
Tessa tried to come back with strikes, but Page took her down with a back elbow and from there started working Tessa with chokes, whipping her from corner to corner. Tessa fired up and hit a flurry of elbows and strikes, but Page once again cut her off with a shoulder tackle.
Page started going after Tessa’s back with knees and hit a delayed suplex for a two count. Page hit another backbreaker, even with Tessa punching him.
Tessa started to make a comeback again but this time, Page had to rely on poking her eyes in order to get her off him. Page continued whipping her from corner to corner, but as Page got cocky, Tessa managed a top rope rana to finally get Page off his feet.
Page rolled out and Tessa followed with a trio of suicide dives, but she distracted herself with Alexander, giving Page some time to recover. Page pulled her into the ring, but Tessa was ready and hit a big tilt-a-whirl DDT for a two count.
Tessa started to set up Magnum, but Page caught her in the middle of the air, pulled her into the corner and connected with an elbow to the face. He followed with a punt kick for a two count. Page set up Tessa on the top rope for a superplex, but Tessa fought him off and dropped him. Page distracted the referee, giving Alexander the opening to attack her, but Eddie Edwards came in to take him out. Tessa hit Magnum on Page for the win.
After the match, Tessa and Eddie had a stare-off, but suddenly out came Elgin, who went to Elgin Bomb Tessa, but both Edwards and Tessa fought back. They all stared at each other to end the show.
Final Thoughts —
This was a really fun show. Two great matches to open and close the show, plus many developments heading into Rebellion.
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.
Impact Wrestling returns from the St. Claire College in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Opening video focused on how last week oVe managed to antagonize the whole Impact roster, ending with Callihan being humiliated by Tessa Blanchard and Rich Swann, which led to tonight’s Daga vs Jake Crist match and the tag team main event.
Twitch stream was hosted by Melissa Santos, who promoted the upcoming Impact Plus special No Surrender, the Throwback Throwdown Thanksgiving special, and January’s pay-per-view, Hard to Kill.
Ace Austin opened the show coming down to join the commentary table for the next X-Division Championship No. 1 Contendership match.
Trey Miguel defeated Petey Williams, Rohit Raju, Aiden Prince, Brent Banks, Willie Mack to become X-Division Championship No. 1 Contender.
Rohit Raju started the match strong, not only taking out Mack, but tossing Prince out of the ring and following with a dive on to Mack. Left in the ring, Miguel, Banks, and Petey all traded ranas and arm drags. Trey hit a dive on everyone outside, leaving Banks and Petey going one-to-one with Petey getting the better of Banks. Petey hit a diving headscissors on Miguel to the outside.
Mack returned to the ring and took down Banks and Prince with arm drags and ranas. Mack ended taking out the men in the ring, and a dive on top of everyone outside.
Back in the ring, the local talent faced off, Prince and Banks were pretty equal to each other, at the end, they just hit double dives too.
Again in the ring, it was now Miguel, Banks, and Prince going at each other with Miguel taking them out with a meteora, only for Rohit to come in and hit a northern lights and rolling up to an extra auplex to take him out. Petey came in and hit a rana and Flatliner combo, setting up the Destroyer, but Rohit countered and picked up a two count with a roll up, countered into a Sharpshooter for the submission tease until Mack broke it up.
Mack hit the Samoan drop and moonsault combo on Petey for a two count. Banks hit a poison rana on Mack. Prince hit a butterfly brainbuster on Banks for a two count. Finally, Trey Miguel hit some Cheeky Nandos, but got cut off by Banks. Prince suplexed Banks onto Miguel, hit a 450, followed by a Frog Splash, followed by a Canadian Destroyer, but at the end, it was Trey Miguel stealing the pin by rolling up Petey for the win.
Match started weak with everyone selling outside, but it got really good towards the end. Rohit Raju was fantastic here, and Impact really needs to bring back Brent Banks.
Throughout the match, they showed Trey Miguel’s mom in attendance, with constant hinting that Ace Austin is going to try and seduce Trey Miguel’s mother.
Gabby Loren interviewed Rich Swann about next week’s 5-way No. 1 Contender’s match for Callihan’s title. Swann said that becoming world champion would prove everyone wrong that his size will not stop him.
Next up, Loren interviewed Michael Elgin about the same match. Elgin said that a lot of people wish they can win, but at the end, it’s him that will win. Elgin has proved to get things done since his debut, and now his sights are on the title.
Madison Rayne (w/Kiera Hogan) defeated Alexia Nicole
Rayne mocked Nicole to start the match and got beat up early until she blocked a backstabber and hit a blockbuster for a quick pin attempt. Rayned locked in a cravate and hit some knees, followed with a sliding clothesline for another two count. Kiera Hogan got a slap in on Nicole for good measures.
Nicole made a small comeback with a desperation Neckbreaker. They traded some forearms with Nicole getting the better of Rayne. Nicole followed with a shotgun dropkick, a backstabber, and an electric chair drop for a two count. Rayne tried to leave the match, but Nicole pulled her back to the ring the hard way, but as she did, distracted herself with Hogan, allowing Rayne to hit a draping neckbreker.
Nicole got a roll up for a near fall, but Rayne came back with Cross Rayne for the win. Ok match, what Rayne lacks in wrestling ability, she makes up with her character work.
Backstage, Johnny Swinger told Aiden Prince that he took a dump in Petey Williams’ bag, but he accidentally did it to Ken Shamrock’s bag. Swinger will suffer for this.
RVD cut a promo from his pool along with Katie Forbes, who was just out there twerking. Rob said that he doesn’t need the money, but that Impact needs him, and so he’ll be back next week. Not good.
Daga defeated Jake Crist
Great match. Daga is in the 5-way No. 1 Contendership match for Callihan’s title, and thus got the win tonight in a great showing.
They started the show with a fast paced sequence of kicks, slaps, and counters, that ended with Crist outside the ring and Daga hitting a springboard tornillo on him.
Back in the ring, Crist got Daga with a Dragon Screw, sending him outside, following with a diving DDT, but Daga managed to rebound and drop Crist instead, but at a cost, Daga seemed hurt from the rebound.
Back from commercial, Crist and Daga are back in the ring exchanging chops before Daga school boys Crist for a quick two count. Crist locks in the Last Chancery, which Daga escapes by elbowing Crist on the face. Crist goes back on the head submission against the ropes and follows with a good old rake to the eyes.
Daga made a comeback with some elbows and a bit neckbreaker and DDT combo for a two count. Both men exchanged Pop-up Death Valley Drivers. Crist blocked a Dragon Suplex, but ended up eating a couple of Germans instead for a two count. Crist countered Daga with a Powerslam into the corner, followed with a kick combo for a two count.
Both men took to the top of the turnbuckle and exchanged strikes until Daga hit a rana for a two count. Daga followed with a Tiger Driver ‘98 for the win.
We got a fantastic recap of Joey Ryan vs Ken Shamrock with opera music.
Loren interviewed The North about tonight’s match with Edwards and Marufuji. Great short promo by confident champions, happy to go against top talent.
oVe (Impact World Champion Sami Callihan & Madman Fulton) defeated Rich Swann & Tessa Blanchard
Tessa and Swann rushed the ring, supekicked Callihan out, and team up against Fulton, how fell to a kick and backstabber combo. Swann hit a phoenix splash to the outside.
Back in the ring, Tessa and Callihan faced off, Tessa started with strikes, but Fulton distracted her, giving Sami the opening for a Brainbuster.
Swann tagged in and ran wild on Callihan, catching him with a kick and Rana on the top rope. Fulton came in and cut him off, hitting a Reverse Suplex to regain control of the match. Fulton chokeslammed Swann and tried to snap his neck against the ropes. Scoop Slam followed by Callihan’s elbow and into the headlock. The beatdown continued with Fulton striking Swann’s back and locking in a Bearhug. Slingshot plancha by Callihan for a two count and back into the headlock. Complete dominance by oVe.
Eventually, Swann managed to roll around and dodge Callihan enough to get the tag to Tessa, who came in and hit a Samoan Drop on Callihan, tilt-a-whirl DDT on Fulton, diving cutter on Callihan. Tessa set up the Magnum, but Callihan blocked it, fed her to Fulton’s slam for a two count when Swann made the save. Swann took out Fulton with a kick, sending him outside, running knee on Callihan, followed by a DDT.
Tessa took out Fulton with a dive, while Swann got a two count over Callihan with a Moonsault. Callihan went for Swann’s eyes and his baseball bat, but the referee took it away. With the referee distracted, Callihan instead used the belt to take out Swann and pick up the win for his team. Great match.
After the bell, oVe took out Swann with another belt shot. Tessa went for the save, but took a belt shot too from Sami. As the beatdown continued, Brian Cage came down for the save, took out Fulton with an F-5, but Callihan escaped. Cage is not in contention of the title after losing at Turning Point, but he’s not done with Callihan.
Backstage, Loren asked Brian Cage what was next for him. Cage said that he wasn’t done with oVe, Callihan, or the title. Cage said he will be in next week’s title contention match.
Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the Week was the Ultimate X match of Rich Swann vs Jake Crist vs Ethan Page vs Trey Miguel from the Homecoming Pay Per View.
Johnny Swinger is now bragging about taking a dump on Shamrock’s bag, but the people there tell him that is probably illegal.
On the other side of the building, Jordynne Grace came up to Taya and told her she wants her shot at the Knockout’s title. Taya said Jordynne doesn’t just get to make challenges, but Bravo takes the challenge instead. Next week, it’s Jordynne Grace vs both Taya and Bravo.
Moose cut a promo from a tennis court talking about he is the greatest of all time. He said that by defeated Shamrock, he proved that he is the greatest MMA fighter of all time, and now he was going to prove he was the best tennis player of all time by defeating Mikey, who he bullied into losing.
Havok defeated Krystal Moon
Total squash, Havok tossed around Moon from corner to corner, kicked her while down in the corner, rammed her against the apron, beat her down, and hit a Chokeslam for the pin, except Havok broke her own pin, only to deliver a tombstone piledriver instead. Moon was really green even for a squash, but she had great facial expressions of fear and pain.
Backstage, Suzie found Havok as she returned from the ring. Havok pushed Suzie away, which triggered something in Suzie that brought back some memories of her former self.
It was officially announced that Brian Cage has been added to next week’s No. 1 Contendership match.
Impact World Tag Team Champions The North (Josh Alexander & Ethan Page) defeated Naomichi Marufuji & Eddie Edwards to retain their titles.
Edwards and Marufuji started the match with control, out-wrestling Alexander and chopping around Page, but after some exchanged, the North’s teamwork paid off and they managed to cut off Marufuji for a bit. Marufuji and Edwards came back and sent the North outside, where Marufuji kicked away Alexander, and Eddie hit a rope auicida on Page.
Back from commercial, Eddie and Marufuji are still in control of the match, working over Page with chops, you can tell that Page is starting to feel them. Right when it seems all good for Eddie, the quick tag work of The North overtakes Eddie and Alexander takes him out with a dive while Page takes out Marufuji.
The North, now in control, start working over Eddie with quick tags, cheap shots, double team moves, and keeping him away from Marufuji. Page got a two count with a double backbreaker. Alexander went for a suplex, but Edwards blocked it and hit a desperation one instead, finally getting the chance to tag in Marufuji.
Marufuji came in and ran wild over The North, chopping and kicking both Page and Alexander. Eddie came with the aid with a Frankenstiner, feeding Page into Marufuji’s running knees. Page and Marufuji exchanged strikes but with a blind tag, Alexander came in, blindsided Marufuji, and cut him off.
The North went for their team finisher, but Marufuji blocked and got rid of Page. He hit a Curb Stomp on Alexander and tagged in Edwards, who delivered a Blue Thunder Bomb for a two count. Alexander went for the ripcord elbow, but Eddie blocked. All four men exchanged kicks and lariats until they were all down.
Marufuji kicked Alexander, Edwards hit a Powerbomb and a Liger Bomb for a two count. Page pulled Eddie’s ankle, allowing Alexander to kick him. Page and Alexander hit an elbow and kick combo on Marufuji, leaving Eddie alone for the double team finisher and a huge near fall. The North deliver their assisted Spinerbuster finisher next and pin Edwards to retain the titles. Great match.
Final Thoughts —
Really strong show inside the ring with only a couple of storyline developments, as most of the show built towards next week’s big 5-person elimination match to pick a new contender for Callihan’s championship.
