Impact Wrestling – October 29, 2019: The Right Start
IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling
Impact Wrestling
Date: October 29, 2019
Location: St. Clair College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews
This is the real debut on AXS TV and the in-ring fallout show from Bound For Glory, meaning things better be rocking tonight. The show should be a big deal with Brian Cage defending the World Title against Sami Callihan in a steel cage rematch from Bound For Glory. I’m not sure how this is going to go but they need to get this one right. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
The opening video talks about how this is a new era and features a bunch of clips from Bound For Glory. Tessa Blanchard is heavily featured here.
The announcers are in the ring for a change and run down the show for tonight.
Opening sequence.
Naomichi Marufuji vs. Josh Alexander
Ethan Page is out with Alexander. Neither can hit a strike or a takedown to start so Alexander grabs a headlock, only to be rolled up four straight times for near falls. They trade chops with Alexander seemingly regretting the decision in a hurry. A kick to the ribs slows Marufuji down and a missed dropkick makes it worse. Marufuji is right back with a cartwheel into a dropkick and a running double stomp to keep Alexander in trouble.
He’s right back with a Regal Roll and a middle rope knee to the back of the head gets two on Marufuji. There’s a backbreaker for two more but Marufuji wins a quick strikeoff and knees Alexander in the face for a double knockdown. Another slugout goes to Alexander, who grabs a torture rack into a spinout slam for a rather close two. Marufuji hits a superkick into a knee to the face for two more, followed by Sliced Bread #2 for the pin at 9:30.
Rating: B-. Alexander is a very talented guy but Marufuji is rather good no matter what he is doing and he got to showcase himself well here. That being said, I could go for more of Alexander whenever the North breaks up. Impact is doing a MUCH better job these days of developing their own big names, such as Alexander, Cage, Callihan and Blanchard. Yeah they’ve been big names on the indy scene, but there’s a big difference between that and national TV every week.
Post match Alexander won’t shake hands.
OVE arrives and everyone not named Sami Callihan is banned from the building. Sami agrees, though he isn’t happy.
The Rascalz are in their circle with Dez talking about the attractiveness of Trey’s mom. Cue Fallah Bahh, who smokes and….now starts quoting Shakespeare in the vein of George Steele getting electric shock. Funny idea but it goes on a bit long.
Rosemary/Alexia Nicole/Jordynne Grace vs. Taya Valkyrie/Madison Rayne/Kiera Hogan
Taya and company get jobber entrances, which isn’t a good idea for a champion on a first episode on a new network. Nicole sends Hogan outside to start and follows up with a baseball slide. That leaves Rosemary and Grace to beat up Rayne and Taya as it’s one sided early on. Back from a break with Hogan hitting a jawbreaker on Nicole, allowing the double tag off to Rosemary and Rayne. The suplex sends Rayne flying and Rosemary hammers away with mounted forearms.
Nicole comes in and a cheap shot gives Madison two and it’s Taya coming in to stomp away. Hogan hurricanranas Alexia out of the corner but lands hard and seems to bang up her shoulder. Taya comes back in and gives up the hot tag to Grace for some hard elbows. The Vader Bomb gets two on Taya with Rayne making a save. As Callis makes some veiled shots at Rayne’s husband, Taya finds out there is no one to tag and gets small packaged by Grace for the pin at 9:39.
Rating: C-. This was designed to give Grace a win over the champ to set her up for the next title shot. That has seemed to be where they have been heading for a long time now so it makes sense to go in that direction. Taya has held the title for a LONG time now and it would be logical to get the title onto someone fresh. Grace doesn’t have to be the one, but it’s time for something new (though Taya is far from bad as champion).
We look at Rob Van Dam turning on Rhino at Bound For Glory.
Van Dam is in the hot tub with Katie Forbes and talks about how everyone has stolen his moves over the years. There would be no Kenny Omega or the Young Bucks without him and he’s tired of carrying people, like Rhino.
Video on Michael Elgin.
Desi Hit Squad vs. Willie Mack/Rich Swann
The Squad jumps them to start but it’s something close to a 3D (bulldog instead of a cutter) to put Singh down. Raju gets knocked off the apron but Singh grabs a release gordbuster on Swann. Raju’s Downward Spiral gets two on Swann and the beating continues with Sing’s backbreaker into a running kick to the face.
Singh charges into a boot in the corner though and Swann rolls forward with a clothesline to Raju. There’s the hot tag to Mack and house is cleaned. The Samoan drop into the standing moonsault (Josh: “Shouldn’t be able to do that.”) gets two on Raju but the Squad is back up for an assisted inverted DDT on Swann. Mack makes the save and it’s a Stunner to Singh, setting up an elevated middle rope flip neckbreaker to finish Raju at 4:58.
Rating: C-. They kept this one short and that’s the best thing they could have done. There is no need for Swann and Mack, who should be going after the Tag Team Titles soon, to break much of a sweat against a team like the Hit Squad. It was the right formula here and we got a passable enough match as a result.
Rhino storms into the arena and wants to face Rob Van Dam. Not for a Gore, but so he can beat Rob to a bloody pulp.
Moose is on a golf course and introduces himself, including his sports resume. Then he beat up Ken Shamrock at Bound For Glory so now he wants to do something else. That would be demonstrating a hole in one as we now have a Mr. Perfect knockoff. There is a bit of a twist though as he accuses another golfer of stealing his ball from the hole and throws him into the bunker.
Here’s Ken Shamrock for a chat. Shamrock never thought he would be back in the ring but then this whole thing with Moose got started. After the match, he had to do some soul searching and figure out the next step in his career. Before he gets anywhere though, cue Joey Ryan of all people and Shamrock just looks confused. The lollipop goes down the trunks and Ryan talks about how many great things Shamrock has done.
Shamrock has one more mountain to climb though, and Joey looks down at his trunks. Shamrock: “I don’t know who you are.” Ryan says he makes wrestling fun again, so Shamrock remembers him as “that penis guy.” Shamrock describes himself as a real fighter and Ryan is a gimmick. Ryan: “I’m a little stiff.” He offers Shamrock a chance to touch it, but maybe Shamrock is scared of it choking him out faster than a Gracie.
Shamrock sets things straight: he isn’t out here to retire, but rather to tell Impact that he’s going to hurt anyone who gets in his way. Now he won’t be touching anything, but he can break Ryan’s ankle. The match is on for next week: the World’s Most Dangerous Man vs. the World’s Most Dangerous Manhood. They shake hands and Ryan tries to get him to touch it, which goes as well as you would expect.
Video on Tessa Blanchard.
Ace Austin vs. Eddie Edwards
Non-title street fight and Eddie starts fight with the suicide dive. A suplex on the floor makes it worse and it’s time for the trashcans full of weapons. Eddie takes too long getting them though and Austin hits him with the baton, plus a trashcan. That’s fine with Eddie, who is right back with some weapon shots to the head as Callis wonders if all the, ahem, bang-a-ranging has worn Ace out. Josh: “WHAT???”
Ace’s cartwheel on the apron into the superkick knocks some spit out of Eddie’s mouth so Ace holds up the I JUST BANGED YOUR WIFE shirt. They head inside for some weapons and Eddie gets in a shot to the head, followed by a table being brought in. Ace’s shot to the head doesn’t do much good and it’s time for a piledriver, only to have Reno Scum come in for the save.
An overhead belly to belly suplex sends Thornstowe through a table in the corner but Ace hits a top rope spinning Fameasser onto a trashcan (Callis: “That might be the Bang-A-Rama!”) for two. Back from a break with Ace hitting an enziguri to catch Eddie on top. Eddie is right back with a heck of a top rope belly to back superplex and it’s kendo stick time.
Ace blocks it with the belt though and hits him in the face for two more. With Eddie down, Ace breaks the kendo stick but takes a trashcan to the head. Eddie puts it on Ace’s head and hits a hard chair shot before grabbing another table. Ace gets in his own shot and loads up the wrist brace but gets caught on top. Eddie gets hit with the brace though and it’s a super Fold through the table for the pin at 16:54.
Rating: B. I like both guys and they have a reason to feud here so there was little surprise that the match was going to be good. Ace getting a big win and getting to keep the feud going (because feuds don’t end around here) is a good thing as it still has at least a little bit of fuel to it. Eddie has come a long way and I’m curious to see how this is going to play out.
Flashback Moment of the Week: Su Yung dies but comes back to life.
The Deaners are at catering when Susie (Su Yung without paint and in a white dress) comes in to say this seems like a nice place. She says it’s nice to meet them and walks off. The Deaners think she’s creepier now than she was before….but she’s good looking.
Johnny Swinger hits on Alisha Edwards (even offering to get her booked in Portland) but Ace comes up to get rid of him. Ace wants her to put Eddie behind her and go to dinner with him. Alisha agrees for next week.
We recap Brian Cage vs. Sami Callihan. Cage got married to Melissa Santos and Callihan “accidentally” took her out, causing Cage to destroy him in their World Title match at Bound For Glory. Tonight it’s a rematch in a cage after Sami had OVE threaten Melissa and Cage’s daughter.
Impact Wrestling World Title: Sami Callihan vs. Brian Cage
Cage is defending in a cage….match. Callihan (with Melissa written on his vest) kicks the cage door into his head to start but Cage is right back with a powerbomb into the cage wall. Sami finally escapes and gets inside where he locks the cage, thinking that Brian can’t climb the wall. That stupid plan falls apart in about three seconds so Callihan gets in a baseball bat shot to take over.
Cage is busted open and Callihan bites at the forehead, followed by some bat shots to the ribs. Another running bat shot just wakes Brian up and a missed charge sends Sami into the steel. Back from a break with both of them down again until they start exchanging some strikes to the face. A spit slap annoys Cage even more but Callihan drops him with a clothesline for two anyway.
The Cactus Special gets one though as Cage is livid again. A powerbomb into a buckle bomb looks to set up the Drill Claw but Sami reverses into a small package for two. Sami hits a series of hard knees and kicks to the head, setting up rolling piledrivers….for two more. Yeah we’ve reached the ridiculous point, especially if Sami wins here. Cage is back up with a discus lariat for two of his own but Callihan crotches him on top. The super Cactus Special gives Callihan the pin and the title at 14:06.
Rating: B-. They went one near fall too many here and it took me out of the match a bit, but they did a good job of making Callihan look like the monster to finally stop Cage. He seems to be Cage’s Kryptonite and that is a good role for Callihan to play. You had to give him a World Title reign at some point and they pulled the trigger at the right time. It was a good enough match too and they have had a good story to get here.
Post match Sami celebrates but Tessa Blanchard comes out to stare him down to end the show.
Overall Rating: B. I don’t know how to say this but Impact is on a roll. Bound For Glory was good, its fallout show was rather good and they’re on a network that seems to care about them (and is actually available). It wasn’t a blow away show, but it was a show that makes me want to keep watching and for the first show on AXS, that is a great thing to say.
Results
Naomichi Marufuji b. Josh Alexander – Sliced Bread #2
Jordynne Grace/Rosemary/Alexis Nicole b. Taya Valkyrie/Madison Rayne/Kiera Hogan – Small package to Valkyrie
Rich Swann/Willie Mack b. Desi Hit Squad – Middle rope flip neckbreaker to Raju
Ace Austin b. Eddie Edwards – Super Fold through a table
Sami Callihan b. Brian Cage – Super Cactus Special
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