Impact Wrestling – January 18, 2019: I’m Running Out Of Ways To Insult This Show
IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling
Impact Wrestling
Date: January 18, 2019
Location: The Asylum, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews
We’re still in Nashville and that means the fallout from last week’s medium sized angle. Moose cost Johnny Impact his non-title match with Killer Kross, but Brian Cage is still lurking. We also get to find out who Scarlett Bordeaux’s new talent is, which could be a disaster. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
We open with a recap of the big stories, with the three way feud over the World Title getting some extra focus, including Moose interfering.
Opening sequence.
KM vs. Caleb Konley
Konley jumps him from behind but gets kicked in the face. We cut to Cage rampaging through the back and looking for Johnny as it sounds like the bell rings. Cage comes into the arena anyway and drops KM, which counts as the DQ at 1:39. So now I’m hearing phantom bells.
Post match Konley gets taken down as well and Fallah Bahh gets powerbombed out of the corner. KM gets an F5 on the ramp and Cage beats up the referee, who he blames for a bad count at Homecoming, as a bonus. Cage wants his title shot and he’s going to be watching next week’s title match with Kross in Mexico City. This brings out Johnny but Kross and Moose jump him on the stage. Cage watches the beatdown before slowly walking up to make the monsters leave. He carries Johnny to the ring but Moose and Kross come in to beat them both down. Pretty good stuff.
Post break Cage says he only cares about the World Title but he’ll beat Moose up tonight.
Eddie Edwards vs. Ethan Page
Eli Drake is on commentary. They trade some shots to the face as Drake goes on a rant about how he was told he stepped up at Homecoming, suggesting that he doesn’t do that every single week. Fair point. An overhead belly to belly sends Ethan outside and Drake is impressed. Page sends him into the steps to take over and we take a break.
Back with Eddie still in trouble in the corner until he catches Page on top. That means a super hurricanrana and a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. With Drake singing the Wolves’ theme, Eddie hits a suicide dive to keep Page in trouble and sending Drake into an anti-dive rant. Despite being in full control, Eddie grabs a kendo stick and blasts Page, followed by a swing at the referee for the DQ at 11:08.
Rating: C. As usual Drake was the most entertaining thing about this match and I’m so glad that he’s FINALLY getting something more interesting than the Tommy Dreamer/Abyss feud. Eddie is better than this but at least he’s done something other than talk about hardcore in the last five years. Their match should be good because there’s talent there and I’ll always take that.
Post match Eli grabs the mic and says Eddie is just a few sandwiches away from being Tommy Dreamer. Eddie used to be great and now he’s just another hardcore guy. When was the last time he was in the title scene? Maybe he should go back to the green tights and the old Eddie because that guy is great. This could be interesting.
GWN Flashback Of The Week: a six man cage match from 2003 featuring Abyss and CM Punk. How random.
OVE wants Rich Swann to come home but it’s also time to get the Tag Team Titles back. LAX vs. OVE was the bloodiest feud of 2017 and it’s back tonight.
The Rascalz are in their smoke circle, with a laugh track. Various unfunny shenanigans ensue.
Allie vs. Jordynne Grace
Su Yung and Kiera Hogan are here as seconds. Grace throws her down with a German suplex go start and a delayed gordbuster gets two. Yung’s distraction lets Allie get in some choking but it just fires Grace up. The Codebreaker out of the corner is blocked and Grace finishes her with a pumphandle driver for the pin at 2:36. I really don’t see the need to have Allie lose clean in less than three minutes.
Post match Allie and Jordynne leave but the lights go out and Rosemary is back, with Yung having disappeared. The terrified Allie bails in a hurry.
Scarlett Bordeaux has picked her new talent…and it’s herself. She’ll be wrestling soon. It fits her personality, but my goodness what a waste of time this whole thing has been.
Moose vs. Brian Cage
Cage hammers away to start and the referee is thrown down early on. A shoulder sends Moose outside and he chops the post by mistake, allowing Cage to start in on the hand. Moose tries a charge but gets caught in a powerbomb against the apron. Back in and Moose starts hammering on the knees because an apron bomb means nothing.
Some cannonballs down onto the leg keep Cage down until he uses the good leg to kick Moose outside. Moose is fine enough to wrap the knee around the post, followed by dropkicking the knee in the corner. Cage gets up for the forearm slugout until Moose takes him down with a dragon screw legwhip.
Back from a break with Moose hitting a pop up powerbomb into a backsplash but Cage pops up. The pop up powerbomb into a discus lariat gives Cage two but Moose catches him on the top with the chokebomb. Moose takes his time getting a chair (proper weapon selection is a thing) so Cage knees him in the face and hits the Drill Claw for the pin at 15:33.
Rating: B-. That’s a good way to make Cage seem like a monster and the kind of guy who should be right back in the World Title scene. Both of these guys are great at beating each other up and they had an entertaining match as a result. This isn’t really a hard concept and thankfully they didn’t do anything more than what they should have.
Taya Valkyrie is still banged up but will be back next week in Mexico City.
Killer Kross has hurt Johnny’s wife and he’ll take the title next week.
Tessa Blanchard rants about Gail Kim costing her the title and beats up a backstage worker. Gail Kim, who just happens to be here, pops up and a fight starts. Gail gets choked out without much effort.
Post break Tessa gets suspended. I’m sure Gail isn’t going to get in trouble though, because she’s Gail Kim.
Rich Swann vs. Trey Miguel
Non-title. Trey grabs a wristlock which goes as far as an opening wristlock is going to go. Rapid fire nipup get Swann out of trouble and they trade armdrags for a standoff with Miguel not exactly being intimidated. Swann gets sent outside for a dive and they head back in for more striking. A jumping hurricanrana brings Miguel off the top and a rather nice frog splash gets two. They hit a pinfall reversal sequence with Miguel getting a few more twos, followed by a heck of a superkick for two more. Swann kicks him right back though and the middle rope 450 finishes Trey at 5:49.
Rating: C+. Miguel really is fun to watch and it’s cool to see Swann looking motivated again. This was a nice little match as the X Division is finally feeling like it matters again. Swann is a good choice for a champion as he has the work and the charisma to be a star, which has been missing from the division for a long time.
Post match OVE comes out to offer Swann the shirt again. Before he answers, here’s LAX to start the main event.
LAX vs. OVE
Non-title and the brawl starts on the floor. Santana gets taken down on the floor and it’s Jake taking Ortiz inside to rip at his face. Sami cheap shots Ortiz from the floor and the chinlock goes on again as Dave kicks Santana on the floor. A middle rope dropkick gets Santana out of trouble and the house is cleaned with Ortiz tagging himself in.
LAX hits the double suicide dives but Santana gets caught with a superplex into a sitout powerbomb combination. He’s fine enough to hit a rolling cutter on Jake, setting up a Codebreaker from Ortiz. A superkick sets up a double belly to back faceplant to finish Jake at 7:08.
Rating: B-. Good while it lasted but I was hoping for a bit more than that. LAX is on another planet right now as they can do no wrong with only the Lucha Bros being able to hang with them at the moment. With Mexico City coming up, I think you know what might be coming up next.
Post match LAX heads to the back where the Lucha Brothers congratulate them. Ortiz offers them a rematch for the titles. Konnan: “WHAT??? WHAT ARE YOU DOING???”
Overall Rating: C+. A few minor booking choices aside, this was an entertaining show with a lot of stuff making sense and matches that I want to see in Mexico City. They’re doing better since Homecoming and that makes for some good television. Now if only they could get people to watch the shows.
Results
KM b. Caleb Konley via DQ when Brian Cage interfered
Ethan Page b. Eddie Edwards via DQ when Eddie used a kendo stick
Jordynne Grace b. Allie – Pumphandle driver
Brian Cage b. Moose – Drill Claw
Rich Swann b. Trey Miguel – Middle rope 450
LAX b. OVE – Double belly to back faceplant to Jake
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