Impact Wrestling – September 20, 2018: The Good Must Have Been Detained At Customs
IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling
Impact Wrestling
Date: September 20, 2018
Location: Fronton Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews
After all the weeks of telling us multiple times a night that the show was going to Mexico City, the show is now in Mexico City! Odds are these tapings will take us up to Bound For Glory next month and that means we should be seeing some big stuff taking place over the next four weeks. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
The opening video looks at the major feuds around here, including the World Title situation, OVE and LAX. The World Title match gets a lot of time as well.
Aerostar/El Hijo Del Vikingo/Laredo Kid vs. OVE
They waste no time in the six way staredown until Laredo kicks away at Dave, who has grown a Wyatt Family size beard in a week. Aerostar comes in and kicks Jake until Sami powerbombs him down. It’s Vikingo’s turn now and he hand walks into a hurricanrana to send Jake outside. That means we hit the dives with Kid moonsaulting onto everyone and Vikingo shooting starring onto an even bigger pile.
Back in and Sami pounds on Laredo as we actually get down to a regular match. A double beal sends Laredo flying…into his corner so it’s off to Vikingo. That doesn’t go well either as he gets caught in the corner for some kicks to the back. Another double beal is reversed with a seated senton and it’s Aerostar coming in to clean house. A springboard Codebreaker into a shooting star press into a 450 gives a dog pile two count on Sami. OVE is right back up with triple Tombstones and the All Seeing Eye finishes Vikingo at 8:23.
Rating: C+. That’s a very good way to start off a big series of shows like this. You need something fast paced and exciting, which is what a trios match is going to do. Most importantly though they had Aerostar in there, which gives the fans someone they recognize. His partners could hang with him, which lets you know their skill level. Otherwise, I have no idea who Vikingo is and therefore I don’t know if OVE should be squashing him or winning a hard fought match. Well done for such a simple match.
Matt Sydal again offers his services to Rich Swann. He suggests a tag match against the Lucha Bros and Swann actually agrees, though he tells Sydal to keep up.
Tessa Blanchard throws a woman out of the locker room and Faby Apache (a big name in AAA) tells her to show some respect. That sounds like a setup.
Here’s Eli Drake for an Open Challenge and it includes a first class ticket on the Gravy Train.
Eli Drake vs. Trevor Lee
Trevor is fired up to start and uppercuts Drake in the corner but a running clothesline takes him down. A trip to the floor doesn’t last long as Lee brings it back inside for two off a backbreaker. The Gravy Train is countered into a rollup for two but the second Gravy Train attempt is enough for the pin at 3:37.
Rating: D. Lee showed some fire here and was better than I was expecting. Drake winning these matches in a hurry tells me that TNA has something planned for him and that’s a good sign going forward. The action made the match work and they were smart to keep things going at such a fast pace.
King wants to beat up a luchador to show Konnan what he has.
King vs. Kronoz
The OGz beat Kronoz down and a spinning back fist gives King the pin at 19 seconds.
Post match King calls out Konnan to no reaction.
In the clubhouse, Konnan and LAX rant about King’s lack of respect. Konnan tells them not to tell him what to do because the ceasefire can’t be broken up. The revenge can take place at Bound For Glory.
Alisha vs. Faby Apache
They kick at the legs to start with Faby getting the better of things. A surfboard has Alisha in trouble until she hurricanranas her way out of trouble. Alisha gets two off a victory roll but she charges into a boot in the corner. The Black Widow doesn’t last long so Alisha goes with a clothesline instead. A Flatliner gets two on Apache but she kicks Alisha in the face and hits a Batista Bomb for the pin at 5:10.
Rating: C-. The earlier segment made it pretty clear that Apache is destined to face Tessa at some point down the line so she’s not about to lose to a low level name like Alisha. That being said, Alisha got in some offense here and it made the match watchable enough. Not too bad here and Apache is in for something bigger.
Post match Faby (through a translator) says she wants to face Tessa next week because Tessa is a new girl and needs to learn respect.
Texano Jr. says he has two partners of his own: his fists and his bullrope. Those are enough to let him win the World Title and ride away on his horse holding it.
Scarlett Bordeaux will have an announcement next week.
Rich Swann/Matt Sydal vs. Lucha Bros
As you might expect, the Lucha Bros are crazy over. Swann and Fenix go to an early standoff and Fenix isn’t sure what to make of that. It’s off to Pentagon vs. Sydal as things break down in a hurry. A cutter drops Sydal and Pentagon superkicks Swann out of the air for two. We settle down to Sydal kicking Pentagon in the face for two but Swann comes back in and eats a superkick.
The hot tag brings in Fenix to clean house and there’s the big corkscrew dive to the floor. Everyone is down and we take a break. Back with Sydal kneeing Fenix in the face and stereo hurricanranas taking the Bros down. Pentagon is fine enough to Fear Factor Sydal on the apron, followed by the Muscle Buster driver (Black Fire driver) for the pin on Swann at 13:04, though Fenix looked surprised that he won.
Rating: C+. Usual good stuff from these four, as Sydal is much easier to watch when he’s not allowed to talk. The Lucha Bros are really entertaining and work so well together, which is the case with any brothers. You can’t fake that kind of thing and it’s a good reason why so many brother teams are that good.
Post match OVE comes in for the beatdown until Brian Cage makes the save.
Aries is ready to face Texano because there’s no one left.
The Desi Hit Squad is getting a massage before their non-title match next week against LAX. Gama Singh comes in and orders them to exercise and beat each other up.
Joe Hendry and Grado have a new video on Katarina, with Hendry saying he’d never leave his best friend for her. As usual: Hendry is fun and entertaining and Grado is there too.
From Bound For Glory 2005: Ultimate X. The ending isn’t actually shown.
Video on Tessa Blanchard, Su Yung and Allie.
This year’s Hall of Fame inductee: Abyss. I have no issue with that whatsoever as he’s been around since the beginning.
Impact Wrestling World Title: Austin Aries vs. Texano Jr.
Aries is defending and has Moose and Killer Kross with him. Feeling out process to start and Aries takes him down for a dropkick. Back up and Texano scores with a forearm into a slingshot headbutt, only to have his neck snapped across the top rope. They fight to the floor and we take an early break.
Back with Aries raking the back and sending Texano into the corner as we break open the Hollywood Hogan Starter Offense. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets Texano out of trouble and a Rough Ryder gets two on the champ. Aries takes a breather on the floor, where he picks up the bullrope. The referee takes it away so Texano hits a superkick for two. That’s about it for Texano though as the brainbuster retains Aries’ title at 12:12.
Rating: D. There was no spark to this at all and I was actually surprised when the match just ended out of nowhere. I’ve seen Texano put on some entertaining matches before and Aries is capable of great stuff but this was a bad effort from both of them. The stuff early on wasn’t anything to see and the ending was even worse. Really bad and disappointing match that certainly didn’t feel like a main event.
Post match Johnny Impact pops up with a graphic saying he’s in Los Angeles. Aries doesn’t buy it and asks where Impact is. Cue Impact down the ramp to clear the ring. Now it’s Eddie Edwards with the kendo stick to get in a few shots on the villains to end the show.
Overall Rating: D+. Very meh show overall with nothing that stood out and two matches that were both rather bad. The fact that they were in Mexico City really just meant that they had some different jobbers, though I would prefer that to trying to make the show look like it’s in Mexico as some theme week idea that WWE uses in England. Not the worst show they’ve put on, but it didn’t help much in the Bound For Glory build.
Results
OVE b. El Hijo Del Vikingo/Laredo Kid/Aerostar – All Seeing Eye to Vikingo
Eli Drake b. Trevor Lee – Gravy Train
King b. Kronoz – Spinning back fist
Faby Apache b. Alisha – Sitout powerbomb
Lucha Bros b. Matt Sydal/Rich Swann – Black Fire driver to Swann
Austin Aries b. Texano Jr. – Brainbuster
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