Impact Wrestling returns from Nashville, TN to kickoff the semifinals of the Impact World Championship #1 contender’s tournament.
Also tonight, The North will defend the tag team titles against Cody Deaner and a mystery partner at the Deaner Compound.
Tonight’s Impact Wrestling episode is dedicated to Shad Gaspard and Hana Kimura. RIP.
Opening video focused on Moose defending his TNA World championship against Suicide, Ace Austin defeating Rhino, and Elgin defeating Callihan to advance to tonight’s semifinal matches.
Ace Austin defeated Hernandez in an Impact World championship #1 contender semifinal match
This was another speed vs. power match for Ace, he was quick to dodge and run around Hernandez, but Hernandez only needed to get his hands on him to cut him off and throw him around.
Hernandez had started with some momentum, but Ace cut him off with a kick and went after his legs. Hernandez hit a body press slam, blocked a sunset flip, but Ace was quick enough to superkick him, send him to the floor, and follow with a dive, only to get caught by Hernandez.
Ace caught Hernandez coming into the ring and kicked the ropes into his groin to finally cut him off. Hernandez tried to punch Ace away, but Ace kept going after the leg. Ace went for a bodyslam, but he wasn’t able to lift Hernandez, who instead tossed him around with a suplex. Ace went back for the leg instead and stomped around for a while, getting a two count at one point with a running dropkick.
After some more knees and kicks, Hernandez caught Ace with a shoulder tackle and turned the match around. He hit a couple of clotheslines, a corner splash and followed with a backbreaker for a two count.
Hernandez went for the Border Toss, but Ace escaped and clipped the knee of Hernandez. He tried for the Border Toss anyway, but his knee buckled. Ace went for a crossbody, but Hernandez caught him, rocked him like a baby, completely ignoring the knee, and went for a powerbomb, but was countered with a rana for a two count.
Hernandez went for a suplex, but once again, Ace escaped and clipped the knee. This time, Ace hit Hernandez with a reverse DDT and The Fold for the clean win.
Weak match, Ace was great, but Hernandez can’t do much right now. Ace advanced to the finals.
Josh Matthews and Madison Rayne ran down tonight’s card.
We got a video package of someone in a motorcycle, which was the subject of Undertaker references by Cody Deaner, who was getting ready for his match tonight. We saw The North take a limo to the Deaner Compound, making fun of everyone who lives there.
Backstage, Johnny Swinger told Chris Bey that he has his back tonight and he has all the gimmicks in his pocket. Bey just told him to call it in the ring.
Michael Elgin cut a promo saying that last week he beat yet another World Champion, and tonight, he has to take care of Trey Miguel. He told Trey to be serious tonight and not his Treehouse happy-go-lucky self, because Elgin is always serious.
Chris Bey (with Johnny Swinger) defeated Cousin Jake
Commentary explained that Cousin Jake wasn’t at the Deaner Compound because he was stuck in the US.
Lock up to start the match, with Jake having the power advantage, pushing Bey to the corner, and sending him to the other side with a toss. Jake kept hold of Bey’s wrist and hit a couple of short distance Clotheslines. Bey tried to run around, but took a Body Block and Body Slam for a two count.
Jake dropped a knee, and at this point, Bey started dodging Bey, and thanks to Swinger’s distraction, Bey finally connected with a kick and dropkick to take down Jake.
Back from commercial, Bey worked over Cousin Jake with past paced kicks. Bey took time to distract the referee, allowing Swinger to attack Jake.
Cousin Jake eventually fired up and started challenging Bey to hit him. Bey eventually took him down with a kick and got a two count. So much for that approach.
Bey kept these attacks coming for a while, but after missing a standing moonsault, Jake finally got an opening to hit a right hand on Bey and take him down. Cousin Jake hit a series of clotheslines and prepared for one more, but instead caught Bey and hit a screwdriver for a two count.
Jake went for a deadlift powerbomb, but Bey woke up and fought from underneath. He went for a rana, but Jake blocked and went for a powerbomb, only for Bey to reverse it into a Yoshi Tonic. Bey went for another, but this time, Jake connected with a powerbomb for a two count.
Jake hit a corner spear, but Swinger got involved and distracted Jake, who took him out, but the distraction was enough for Bey to hit the Fameasser and the Final Finess for the win. Pretty good sleeper match.
After the match, Swinger and Bey attacked Cousin Jake until Willie Mack came out for the save.
Rohit Raju was interviewed about his future. Rohit asked when he was getting a rematch, but before he continued, Chase Stevens interrupted him. Rohit asked why he was here to take spots in the card and challenged him to a match. Crazy to believe that in 2020, Chase Stevens is becoming a regular.
Kimber Lee defeated Havok by DQ
Kimber Lee, this time around, is definitely playing a bit more heelish on her entrance.
Lee jumped Havok to start the match. She went on a flurry of strikes, but soon enough, Havok got a hold of her and started tossing her around from corner to corner.
Kimber Lee regained control by kicking Havok on her legs and head to bring her down to her knees, and transitioned to a sleeper. Havok started to fade a bit, but Havok then powered up, picked up Lee, and slammed her back-first to the buckle. Havok then hit a huge spinebuster and backbreaker and clothesline combo to take her down. Havok hit a couple of running boots to the corner.
Kimber Lee raked Havok’s eyes and went for the brass knuckles, but Nevaeh finally got in the ring and attacked Kimber Lee, saving Havok from the knockout punch. Havok and Lee have a good chemistry and put a lot of intensity to their work, they could have a great match if given time.
After the match, Havok and Neveah hit a demon drop and cutter double team move.
Backstage, Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz bullied Kylie Rae. Susie came out and told Hogan that what she was doing was bad. Hogan and Steelz beat up Rae and Susie, who had some Su Yung flashbacks.
We got another video of The North getting to the compound’s barn and being greeted by some dude that just keeps running. The barn opened and three rednecks welcomed The North in.
Backstage, Joseph P. Ryan asked Jake and Dave Crist to come out with him next to his fight with “Mentally ill” Steve.
Cody Deaner hyped his crew for tonight’s match. The North said the match was a two-on-two and that no other Deaner could get involved, but Cody Deander said that in the compound, everything goes. Cody introduced “Wheels”, his tag team partner.
Impact World Tag Team Champions The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander) defeated The Deaners (Cody Deaner & Wheels) to retain their titles
This was a cinematic type of match. It started with all four men brawling around the barn, with the Deaners getting some early advantage over Josh Alexander thanks to the size of Wheel. Afterwards, Cody focused on Josh while Wheels went around ringside beating up Page.
Back in the ring, however, Josh Alexander took control of the match, while Page started to recover by throwing stuff at Wheels.
The match spilled outside where they rammed each other against walls and tossed tractor tires at each other. At one point, The North hit Cody with a double Border Toss from a trailer onto the crowd. Cody later hit a plancha from up top too.
Wheels was tossed through a fence, but later recovered to slam Josh through a car, breaking the windows and all, only getting a two count.
The brawl continued around the farm with tire irons and such, but it eventually built to Josh and Cody brawling up to the top of a cargo container, where Josh hit a piledriver and left Cody for dead. Josh tossed the ladder away to make sure that Cody couldn’t come down.
Page and Josh then double teamed Wheels for a while in the ring, while the rest of the Deaners tried to bring Cody down.
Back in the ring, the referee attacked The North, but failed to land his SSP. Meanwhile, Cody Deaner came back, ran wild over The North and hit the Give’er on Josh for the visual pin, but the referee was down.
The North hit their finisher on Cody, but he rolled out of the ring. Wheels went for a double chokeslam, but the announcer from Battlearts Academy appeared. They low blowed Wheels, revealed his referee t-shirt, and counted the quick pin. This was fun, but nothing special.
The North and company then ran away from an angry mob of rednecks.
TJP and Fallah Bahh were interviewed about The North. TJP said they were still in the northern trail and it was a matter of time before they would get their title match. The Rascalz interrupted them and told them that they JUST them, to which TJP made a challenge for next week for the tie breaker and #1 Contendership match for the tag titles.
Trey Miguel was at the Treehouse when Dezmond and Wentz arrived. Trey was stressing out regarding his match tonight when Moose arrived and gifted Trey with some sweet sunglasses. They asked Moose why he had the TNA title. He said that once Trey wins, maybe he should go after Moose’s title instead of Tessa’s, but they laughed it out. Moose reminded them what happened the last time they made fun of Moose.
Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the Week was Moose vs. Cody Rhodes for the Impact Grand Championship.
We got a vignette for “The Virtuosa” Deonna Purrazzo. Hell of a catch for Impact! She cut a great promo.
Rosemary and John E. Bravo were talking at the bar, Rosemary talked about her history and coming close to getting married. Bravo said that he felt like he had also sold his soul to Taya. They agreed to work together and said that they’d go find a new bar for next week. It just hit me that they’ve been in a crowded bar for weeks.
Matthews and Rayne ran down the card for next week: The Rascalz vs. Bahh and TJP, Joseph P. Ryan vs. Crazzy Steve, Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz vs. Susie and Kylie Rae, a Locker Room Talk featuring Chris Bey, and the finals of the #1 contender’s tournament.
Trey Miguel defeated Michael Elgin in an Impact World championship #1 contender semifinal match
This is yet another speed vs. power match up. This time around, they started with some chain wrestling and a short sequence of headlocks and reverses. Elgin had the strength advantage and was really hurting Trey when he got his hands on him, but Trey’s lucha style ranas and arm drags were able to take Elgin out of his element.
Elgin was sent to the floor, but caught Trey Miguels’ dive attempt. Trey went for a second with a moonsault. Once again Elgin caught him, but Trey managed to rebound from the ropes and drop Elgin with a DDT, followed by a split-legged moonsault in the ring for a two count.
Trey hit an elbow on Elgin, but was brought down from the top rope the hard way and hit with a double underhook backbreaker for a two count.
Elgin started punishing Trey with chops and forearms. He whipped Trey around the corners and talked trash to Trey, challenging him to bring it, but Trey couldn’t even take a slap from Elgin. Trey kept trying to come at Elgin, but couldn’t hurt Elgin at all. Elgin kept on with the punishment for a while.
After more strikes from Elgin, Trey finally fired up and started taking Elgin’s punches and pushing back, and eventually released a flurry of attacks, going after Elgin’s jaw.
Elgin went for a powerbomb, but was blocked by Trey and taken down by a low kick. Elgin went for a pop-up powerbomb, but Trey reversed into a meteora on the spot, finally bringing down Elgin.
Back from commercial, Trey had started gaining momentum with kicks, scoring a two count with a Pele Kick. Elgin hit a cutter and stormbreaker for a two count. Elgin went for short distance clotheslines, but Trey kept trying to strike back. Elgin started striking down Trey, but the latter managed to start superkicking Elgin and connected with a Yoshi Tonic. Elgin simply rebounded into a sliding lariat. Elgin went for a suplex, but Trey reversed into a Stunner, again, only for Elgin to rebound from the ropes with a Lariat, turning Trey around.
Trey hit his second wind and delivered three Superkicks, a Foot stomp, and a low Cutter for a two count. Trey was crying out of desperation at this point.
Trey went for the third rope, but was stopped by Elgin, who went for the Green Bay Plunge, but Trey blocked and went for the rana. Elgin blocked, but Trey managed to gain momentum and land it.
Trey went for a poison rana, but Elgin blocked and hit a release German suplex instead for a two count. Elgin went for a deadlift superplex, but Trey fought off and hit another meteora for a two count. Trey went for another meteora, but Elgin caught him with a powerbomb.
Elgin hit a huge lariat for another two count, and Elgin is now the one getting desperate. He went for the buckle bomb, but was interrupted by Sami Callihan, who hacked the screen and lighting of the venue. Thanks to the distraction, Trey recovered, rolled over Elgin, and picked up the upset win of the year.
That result officially makes it Ace Austin vs. Trey Miguel next week in the tournament finals.
After the match, Elgin threw a fit and trashed his surroundings as the show closed.
Final thoughts:
Ok show. Two really good matches, and a couple of storyline developments as they start to build the upcoming programs for the future.
