IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

One Night Only: Clash In The Bluegrass
Date: March 2, 2019
Location: Davis Arena, Louisville, Kentucky
Commentators: Gilbert Corsey, Don Callis, Josh Matthews

I don’t usually do these shows but since I was in the audience, it might be appropriate this time around. The Davis Arena is the longtime home of Ohio Valley Wrestling and I’ve always wanted to go there for a show so it was a great surprise when it was announced that Impact was coming around for a One Night Only. Sami Callihan and OVE had been around for the last few weeks and even stole the OVW Title. This is a bunch of promotion vs. promotion matches so let’s get to it.

I was sitting in the last row with the hard camera on my right. Given that the arena might have held about 350 people (it’s a warehouse with a ring inside, which does offer some charm) so the last row is a perfectly good seat).

There was a meet and greet before the show with Eddie Edwards, Moose, Sami Callihan and Brian Cage, plus a bunch of the OVW wrestlers. Nothing of note, but for an extra ten dollars on top of the ten dollar ticket, you can’t exactly complain.

In a dark match, William Lutz defeated KTD. Yeah you might not have heard of a lot of these people but it was a short match and completely fine for two guys on their level.

We open with a look at Sami stealing the OVW Title from champion Tony Gunn. This set off a fight between OVE/various other Impact wrestlers and Team OVW, a group of five people thrown together with nothing significant in common. Fair enough for something like this.

Opening sequence, which is the OVW TV opening, thankfully including name graphics for the wrestlers.

The announcers give us a quick welcome with OVW commentator Gilbert Corsey getting a chant from the crowd.

Dimes vs. Sinn Bodhi

Yes his name is Dimes and Bodhi (better known as Kizarny) is a freaky guy and a big villain in OVW. After laying on the ropes, Bodhi picks Dimes up for an airplane spin at the bell. With the serious stuff not working, Bodhi pulls him face first into the back of his trunks. That’s good for a series of one counts, which seems to confuse Bodhi. Sinn: “ONE PLUS ONE PLUS ONE IS THREE!” You can’t fault his addition skills. Dimes’ one right hand has no effect as he gets sent outside, leaving Bodhi to hang in the Tree of Woe and bite his face.

Bodhi ties him upside down in the ropes and….tickles Dimes from the floor. Back in and Bodhi gives him an electric chair drop into a Garvin Stomp. A reverse falling headbutt and some funny faces at the crowd give Bodhi two but Dimes rolls him up into a crucifix for the same. Bodhi gets two more off a clothesline but Dimes is right back with a handspring cutter for the pin out of nowhere at 5:21.

Rating: D+. The ending felt like a shocking TV upset and I’m not sure how good of an idea it is to open the show like that. Dimes is hardly someone with a ton of appeal outside of a place like OVW where he can be a local star. Bodhi on the other hand actually felt weird, as opposed to someone who is just called weird and then does whatever lame bits he’s been given. That worked, and I could go for more of him in the future.

Colton Cage vs. Brandon Espinosa

Cage’s TV Title isn’t on the line but his girlfriend Dani is in his corner. Cage jumps him from the apron and hammers away on the floor before the opening bell. They get inside with Dani choking on the ropes, allowing Cage to get in a clothesline for two. Some shots in the corner miss Espinosa but Cage snaps him throat first across the top. Espinosa pops up and hits some running clotheslines, followed by a low superkick for two. Dani grabs Espinosa’s foot and Cage hits a Side Effect for two. A powerbomb out of the corner gives Espinosa two more but he misses a charge, allowing Cage to hit an ax kick for the pin at 5:25.

Rating: C-. Nothing match, but the commentary here was a nice addition as Josh and Callis praised the OVW talent and threw some softballs at Gilbert in regards to history between the wrestlers. It helped a lot with setting up what was going on here (though there isn’t a story between these two) and Callis sounds like he’s scouting talent. It’s better than having the Impact commentators take over the broadcast and talk about people they don’t know.

The War Kings (Crimson/Jax Dane, the Tag Team Champions) explain the rather complicated rules for tonight’s #1 contenders match: the two challenging teams will have a ten minute match. If either of them win, they get a title match immediately thereafter. If neither win and it’s a time limit draw, the title match still takes place as a triple threat. This is one of those promos where no one would talk this way and it’s rather forced exposition.

Jay Bradley vs. Cash Flo vs. Moose vs. Zo

Bradley used to wrestle in Impact as Aiden O’Shea. These guys are all rather large in one way or another so it’s a four way hoss fight. Moose immediately heads to the floor and it’s Flo and Zo going after Bradley, knocking him to the floor with a running corner splash. That leaves the two of them to chop it out (Flo is known for his chops) but the bigger Zo knocks him into the corner.

Bradley comes back in but gets tripped by Moose. Zo covers and now Moose is willing to come in for the save, putting all four inside for the first time. Moose gets triple chopped before heading outside with Zo. With Flo being knocked down in the corner, Moose comes back in and teases a dive but says screw the fans because the dive isn’t happening. Bradley is willing to dive and Flo follows suit with a rolling dive onto all three of them. It’s another slugout between Flo and Zo with the latter knocking him into the corner for a cartwheel splash. Not bad for a 400lber.

Bradley slams Zo but gets clotheslined down by Moose, who nips up in the always impressive display. Moose sends Flo outside as the Impact announcers start insulting Kentucky. With Moose up top, Bradley turns it into the Tower of Doom, which is all the better looking due to the total amount of size. Bradley is up first and throws Flo and Zo to the floor. Moose pops up with the lariat but gets suplexed by Flo, who is spinwheel kicked by Zo. Back up and it’s another chop off, but this time Zo small packages Flo for the pin at 11:28.

Rating: C. I know it’s not the best match in the world but I had a good time with this one. It was designed to be a spectacle with four big, strong guys beating each other up and that’s exactly what we got here. The match did its job and while Moose’s left leg has more talent than the other three combined, he wasn’t exactly thrilled to be here.

Madison Rayne vs. Cali Young

Cali’s (your standard good looking blonde who may or may not be dumb) Women’s Title isn’t on the line. This is Rayne’s return match after signing with the company again only days before. Cali works a wristlock as we hear about her basically stealing the title. A legsweep gives Madison two but Cali runs her over and gets in a cartwheel, only to have Madison run the ropes for a springboard wristdrag.

Rating: C-. This was a good way to show that while Impact isn’t the most beloved company in the world, their talent is still better than a lot of companies’. Cali was passable but didn’t exactly show anything all that great. Madison looked polished and like a much better overall worker, which is why she’s in a much bigger and more prominent role.

Moose talks about wanting to get out of this terrible town because he has a nice massage planned.

Team OVW vs. Team OVE

OVW: Dustin Jackson, Melvin Maximus, Sam Thompson, Shiloh Jonze

OVE: Crist Brothers, Madman Fulton, Rohit Raju

Jackson and Thompson are both generic guys, Jonze is OVW’s Grandmaster Sexay and Maximus is a middle aged guy who is rather strong and pretty limited (to put it mildly). Fulton is a good addition, even if he hadn’t joined OVE on TV yet. Raju is here because….well they needed a fourth. Jake and Thompson start things off with Jake not exactly taking this seriously.

Thompson gets in an enziguri and it’s off to Raju vs. Jackson. Raju takes him down and the bigger Jackson sends him into the corner, allowing the tag to Maximus, who gets two beat up Dave. The wrist crank is about as good as Melvin can go so it’s time for the hometown guys to work over Dave’s arm. Everything breaks down and Fulton hits a fireman’s carry flapjack on Thompson to take over.

We settle down to Fulton hitting rolling delayed vertical suplexes to rock Thompson and it’s Dave coming back in. Another near breakdown just lets Fulton slam Thompson onto Jake’s knees and we hit the chinlock. Thompson finally gets in an elbow and brings in Jonze for house cleaning and dancing.

The Running Man gets broken up by Fulton though and now it’s Jonze in trouble for a change. Raju gets in a few knees to the head before handing it back to Fulton for more hard forearms. Melvin breaks up a cover, sending Josh into hysterics about how OVE had the match won in one of the first us vs. them lines of the night. Raju’s snap suplex gets two but Jonze fights out of another chinlock so Jackson can come in to clean house.

A big dive takes out all of OVE and there’s a double missile dropkick to Jake and Raju. Fulton runs Melvin over and it’s Raju stomping on Jonze. Everything breaks down (again) and the Crists hit their superplex into a powerbomb for two with Jackson making the save. With everything going nuts, here’s Sami Callihan to jump Jackson for the DQ at 15:53.

Post match the brawl is on with OVW clearing the ring.

Brian Cage is going to have the match of the night and steal the spotlight, as he always does.

Brian Cage vs. Justin Smooth

Smooth is tall, lanky and in great shape. He’s one of the standout stars on the roster and I could see him going somewhere someday. Cage takes him straight down into a headlock but Justin powers out, only to get his knee taken out. Back up and Justin uses the long legs for a dropkick and a clothesline cuts off the Terminator clap. Smooth pounds away in the corner but gets caught in a Cheeky Nandos kick.

Something close to a One Winged Angel (or at least a prototype version) gives Cage two but Smooth is right back with a spinebuster. Cage’s apron superplex gets two more, as does a powerslam from Smooth. Street Justice (a bicycle kick) just fires Cage up more (he has a thing about no selling kicks to the head) and it’s a buckle bomb to knock Smooth silly. The helicopter bomb gives Cage the pin at 7:34.

Rating: C+. The point of this match was to make Smooth look good and that’s exactly what he did. He’s big and muscular enough that this kind of offense looks like it can hang with Cage, which is quite the accomplishment for anyone. Smooth made an impression and while he has a long way to go, he looked awesome here and that’s a rare instance here.

Adam Revolver and his manager Shannon the Dude (local DJ) are ready for Eddie Edwards. They’ve studied him you see.

Eddie talks to a mannequin and asks if Kenny is ready for Revolver.

Eddie Edwards vs. Adam Revolver

Revolver, with Shannon the Dude, has been around forever and has won everything in the company. Actually hang on a second as here’s Impact World Champion Johnny Impact (who got his start here, meaning it’s a WELCOME HOME chant). He has a surprise.

Impact Wrestling World Title: Johnny Impact vs. Adam Revolver vs. Eddie Edwards

Impact is defending. Revolver bails to the floor and tells the two of them to fight so Johnny runs the ropes, allowing Revolver to trip him down. Eddie’s clothesline gets two with Revolver coming in for the save, which gives the Impact guys an idea. Revolver gets surrounded on the floor and caught in between some alternating forearms. The same thing happens inside with a series of right hands knocking Revolver silly and a double superkick putting him on the floor again.

That leaves Johnny to headlock Eddie down but Revolver breaks up a springboard. Eddie gets sent into the post so Impact knees Revolver in the head. The champ takes too long going up though and gets knocked down, leaving Eddie to come in and crotch Revolver. A double superplex puts all three down and it’s a three way slugout with Eddie getting the better of it.

Eddie has to go after Shannon though, sending Johnny to the back in chase. Shannon comes back out and there’s no Impact as Revolver starts hammering on Eddie, which just fires him up. Here’s Johnny again, only to have Eddie catch him in a Blue Thunder Bomb. The Backpack Stunner is countered into a Russian legsweep to give Revolver two.

Impact throws Revolver down for two with Eddie making the save, earning himself the flipping neckbreaker. This time it’s Revolver pulling Johnny out and getting punched in the face for his efforts. The Boston Knee Party gives Eddie two as Revolver makes yet another save. Revolver’s sleeper (finisher) is broken up by Impact and Starship Pain to Revolver retains the title at 14:04.

Rating: B. This was quite good with everyone working hard and Revolver more than holding his own the entire time. Yeah Eddie and Johnny did the heavy lifting but it was nice to have the OVW guy look more than comfortable instead of having to be walked through his part of the match. Good stuff here and easily the best part of the show so far.

Post match Johnny praises Eddie, who gets decked by Shannon. Eddie beats him up but Revolver hits him low and bails with Shannon before Impact can kill both of them.

Madison says she’s back.

D’Amore says he’s a little busier than someone running OVW but he understands the problem of dealing with Sami Callihan. Looking around the building, it doesn’t seem that dealing with OVE is hurting business around here. D’Amore hands the title back to Hill and says all he wanted was a thank you but here’s OVE to interrupt. Sami likes the sound of those OVE chants but wants the sheep to shut up so he can talk. The chanting continues so Sami sits down and tells them to shut up in Spanish.

Sami yells at D’Amore for giving OVE the shaft again before talking about signing a two year contract. There were some clauses in that contract though, like OVE being at ringside for the title match. Second, if the title isn’t on the line, there’s no match. This brings out OVW Champion Tony Gunn, with Dean saying that the title being on the line is up to the champ. Gunn says it’s on the line and brings out Team OVW for backup. OVE gets cleared out and Hill makes the title match official.

We see a clip of Gunn and Callihan getting in a fight at a comic book store. Always cool to see some local stuff like that.

The Void vs. King’s Ransom

This is the #1 contenders match, which is billed as a Tag Team Title match. Since the champions aren’t in here though and a fall can take place without them involved, I’m not calling it a title match. The Void (two rather small guys) is Nigel Winters/Chace Destiny and King’s Ransom are Maximus/Leonis Khan, who are either twins or brothers who look enough alike that they might as well be twins. They look like the Usos if you inflated them and somehow they’ve only been wrestling for about a year and a half. They’re also #1 contenders after winning a tournament but the champs have been running from them.

Winters goes for a headlock on Leonis to start and gets tossed into the corner with raw power. Chace comes in and rolls up Maximus for two but gets his head knocked off with a jumping clothesline. It’s Chace getting beaten down in the corner until a shot to the throat allows a tag off to Winters.

A double back elbow gets two on Maximus, who comes right back with a double clothesline. The chinlock has Nigel in trouble and it’s back to Leonis for a chinlock of his own. A third chinlock is countered with a pull of the hair to reverse into another chinlock (that’s a new one). Leonis gets a shoulder for the double knockdown as time expires at 10:12.

Rating: D+. This was a weird one with both teams wrestling a similar style, which didn’t make a ton of sense given how different they really are. It wasn’t exactly a surprise that this was going to a time limit draw and there’s nothing wrong with that. If nothing else it saves the big King’s Ransom vs. War Kings showdown and title change for later.

Tag Team Titles: The Void vs. King’s Ransom vs. War Kings

The War Kings (Crimson/Jax Dane) are defending. After we come back from looking at the champs’ entrance, Leonis is in trouble thanks to a chop block from Winters. Crimson makes the save and throws Leonis into the corner so Jax can tag himself in. Dane beats up the Void on his own (it doesn’t look that hard) and we hit the chinlock on Chace.

Crimson comes back in for a suplex, followed by a nerve hold from Dane. The comeback doesn’t take long though as Maximus tags himself in to clothesline the heck out of Nigel. King’s Landing (double spinebuster) gets two but Crimson makes the save, setting up the fireman’s carry flapjack into a cutter to finish Destiny and retain the titles at 8:33.

Rating: D. The rules didn’t do this one any favors as the champs came in and basically squashed the already beaten up Void while ignoring the interesting team. It makes sense from a long term storyline perspective but that doesn’t make for a good match in this case. It wasn’t very good, but the way the match was set up made it seem like this was the way it was supposed to go, which is a pretty strange way to proceed.

OVW Title: Sami Callihan vs. Tony Gunn

Gunn is defending and OVE/Team OVW are all at ringside. They start fast with an exchange of chops in the corner until Gunn dropkicks him to the floor. The stalling ensues until everyone gets inside for the big staredown. We settle down to Gunn knocking Callihan outside and following with a dive this time to keep Sami in trouble. Back in again and Sami flips him off for not chopping hard enough.

A suplex keeps Sami down but he shakes the ropes to knock Gunn down and take over. Gunn gets sent outside for the group stomp and another staredown, because a match and a staredown aren’t enough. Sami grabs a chinlock back inside, followed by something close to a People’s Elbow. The chinlock goes on again but Gunn reverses into a Brock Lock of all things, sending Sami slowly crawling over to the ropes.

Sami bails to the floor and catches a sliding Gunn in the ring skirt to keep up the beating. Back in again and we hit the nerve hold to keep extending the match. That’s reversed as well, this time into an ankle lock of all things. There’s another rope grab for a break, allowing Sami to dive over for a rollup and a near fall. Sami starts in on Gunn’s knee, sending Tony to the ropes as well. It’s Gunn getting fired up this time and spitting in Sami’s face for a change.

A superplex attempt is countered into a powerbomb out of the corner and Sami slaps on a pretty quickly broken STF. The baseball bat is brought in and the tug of war gives us the required ref bump. Gunn’s Five Arm discus forearm connects for no cover so Gunn loads it up again. That’s a smart move but everything breaks down again, as you knew was coming.

We get the big parade of people being knocked down in a row until Gunn hits another Five Arm for no cover. Raju goes up and gets shoved through the announcers’ table (that was LOUD in person), setting up a piledriver for two on Gunn with another referee coming in for the count. Callihan loads up the bat to chair spot but gets low blowed, setting up the third Five Arm to retain the title at 27:58.

Rating: C+. This was long, though it didn’t feel all that long for most of the match. Gunn needed some smoke and mirrors to make up for his limited (though it could have been much worse) offense. I still don’t get the appeal of him in my limited time seeing him but he’s not the most thrilling guy. Sami still comes off like a star, though it might be a case of being a big fish in a small pond.

Team OVW celebrates to end the show. After the show was over, D’Amore offered Gunn a spot in Impact but Gunn turned him down.

Overall Rating: C. You have to consider the situation here. OVW is a smaller promotion and there’s nothing wrong with that. This show was designed to give OVW a rub and that’s what they did. There are people on the roster who look good and have a future, though they need some more seasoning, which is why they’re in OVW at the moment. Some of the talent is much better than others, but what we got here was perfectly watchable and that made for a rather nice show. It was a little long live, but getting to go to the Davis Arena was a cool moment and for the $20 ticket, I can’t complain.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling
Date: April 12, 2019
Location: St. Clair’s College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews

We’re about two weeks away from Rebellion and you can see most of the card from here. That’s a good sign as you should be able to know what you’re getting this close to the pay per view and it’s looking pretty solid on paper. The problem is they rarely get beyond solid and it would be nice to move forward for a change. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening recap.

Opening sequence.

Moose vs. Zachary Wentz

Wentz goes for a wristlock to start and Moose throws him around for the easy escape. A lot bridge puts Moose on the floor for an apron superkick and Wentz is actually able to muscle him back in. That’s not a good idea as it’s a running corner dropkick to put him down again and Moose sends Wentz flying. The referee does at least yell at Moose before he chokes away on the ropes a bit more.

The other Rascalz can only watch as it’s an apron bomb to knock Wentz even sillier. Moose throws him back in but stops to pose, allowing Wentz to hit a dive. Back in and some running knees in the corner rock Moose, setting up a springboard crossbody for two. A high crossbody (minus the springboard) is countered into a gorilla press toss over the top onto the other Rascalz. The spear finishes Wentz at 8:36.

Rating: C. This mini feud has been far more entertaining than it should be, though I’m not sure where it goes. Does Moose just beat all three of them and then move on to something else? That’s not the best usage of a rather talented team, though maybe they can come up with something else before Moose runs through them all.

Rob Van Dam is back full time.

Rob is glad to be back and hopes his magnetic waist still has it.

Madison Rayne isn’t letting her loss to Jordynne Grace get to her because the goal is the Knockouts Title. Tessa Blanchard comes in to say that the glory days are over. Madison brings up beating Tessa twice and is fine with doing it a third time.

Rosemary vs. Su Yung

Yung has her usual army of bridesmaids with her. Rosemary charges straight at her and hammers away as she continues to blame Su for the loss of Allie. The upside down triangle choke over the ropes has Yung in more trouble but she gets out and starts in on the knee. A dragon screw legwhip sends Rosemary down and it’s time to bring out the bloody glove.

That takes too long though and a reverse DDT puts both of them down. A German suplex doesn’t work on Yung so Rosemary spears her, drawing the bridesmaids up to the apron. Cue Kiera Hogan to go after them but Rosemary doesn’t want to hear it. The Bridesmaids jump her for the DQ at 5:30.

Rating: D+. This was more storyline based than anything else and that’s ok for the most part. It’s interesting that Yung is now being pushed at a stronger level than where she was when Allie was in her corner. The story can continue, though you could argue that it should have ended a long time ago.

Post match Hogan is forced to watch as Rosemary gets beaten down. Hogan gets a Panic Switch of her own.

Video on United We Stand. Tommy Dreamer thinks it feels like ECW. I know it’s not the same thing, but Impact surpassed the initial success of ECW a long time ago. That’s not the greatest compliment in the world. The wrestlers are fired up over making it such a success. I’d have to see a failure.

Ace Austin isn’t happy with Aiden Prince costing him the six way scramble last week and wants revenge.

GWN Flashback of the Week: Taylor Wilde vs. Angelina Love, I believe from No Surrender 2008.

Killer Kross talks to Willie Mack about….jazz music? Speaking of jazz, Rich Swann likes jazz and is playing Swann for a fool. Wouldn’t be shocking actually.

The Deaners are still coming.

North vs. Sheldon Jean/El Reverso

That would be Josh Alexander/Ethan Page. Alexander and Reverso start things off and it’s quickly off to Jean, who gets his arm cranked. Reverso comes back in and gets caught in an assisted spinning sitout DDT from Page. A spinning backbreaker keeps Reverso in trouble and a powerbomb backbreaker from Alexander makes it even worse. Reverso gets over for the tag to Sheldon, who comes in with a springboard clothesline. Alexander cuts him off at the knees though and it’s a series of strikes to Reverso’s head, setting up a reverse AA into a whip spinebuster for the pin at 5:25.

Rating: D+. The North (not a good name) looked nice enough together and some of their double teaming was rather impressive. That being said, they shouldn’t give up so much offense in their debut, let alone to two unknowns. I mean, his name is El Reverso. How much should he be getting in?

Gail Kim doesn’t want to hear Tessa talk.

The North is here to stay.

Madison Rayne vs. Tessa Blanchard

Gail is on commentary. Madison doesn’t like Tessa shoving her in the face to start so she gets in a kick to the ribs. A rope walk hurricanrana sends Tessa outside for a few seconds but she’s right back in for some dropkicks to the back. Tessa’s suplex makes it even worse and we hit the chinlock….as we look at Gail for the fourth time in less than three minutes. Madison gets caught in the corner for a Codebreaker and we take a break.

Back with Madison hitting some forearms and a dropkick as we look at Gail AGAIN. Tessa’s spinning full nelson faceplant gets two and a double slingshot suplex is good for the same. The frustration sets in as we look at Gail for the eighth time in about ten minutes. Tessa grabs a chair but Gail takes it away, allowing Madison to get a rollup pin at 13:57.

Rating: C. I knew the Gail Kim love would be strong and that’s what we got here with the ridiculous amount of cutting over to her. The story is good and has been well built up, but I’m scared that they’re going to give Gail the win instead of going with the move that makes sense. Madison was her usual self here, which is exactly the kind of thing they brought her back in to do.

Post match Tessa yells at commentary.

Eddie Edwards and Eli Drake ask the Lucha Bros for a Tag Team Title shot but LAX comes in for the double beatdown.

The Deaners are still coming.

Johnny Impact says someone as dumb as Brian Cage only comes around once every thousand years. Now he has a fan club in Jordynne Grace that he can do food prep with. Taya Valkyrie implies that Grace and Cage are sleeping together to get under Melissa Santos’ skin.

OVE calls Rich Swann a walking dumpster fire. Swann stabbed them in the back and at Rebellion, they’re taking the X-Division Title.

Tessa promises to make it personal with Gail.

Rob Van Dam is back soon.

Fallah Bahh can’t find KM so he goes into the women’s dressing room and finds Scarlett Bordeaux. She doesn’t mind and agrees to team with him next week.

Johnny Impact/Taya Valkyrie vs. Jordynne Grace/Brian Cage

Taya is willing to start with Cage but she gets run over by Grace to start instead. They trade whips into the corner with Grace hitting a Cannonball, sending Taya over for a tag. Johnny is good though and bails to the floor to avoid having to face Cage. We take a break and come back with Johnny backing off from Cage, who shrugs off a superkick.

The fall away slam sends Johnny down but the springboard corkscrew crossbody staggers Cage just a bit. One heck of a clothesline blasts Impact and a backdrop gets way more height than it should be able to. Johnny finally slides between the legs and dives over to Taya. A trip to Grace lets Taya take over with a Jeff Hardy legdrop between the legs for two. Taya cranks on the arm and a running hip attack keeps Grace in trouble. That just means a sitout powerbomb out of the corner to plant Taya and a roll into the corner allows the tag to Cage.

Rating: D+. It’s like they’ve run out of good ideas to keep this feud going so they’re going to the most basic booking tropes they can think of. The crooked referee isn’t one of my favorite stories and while it’s better than watching them have the same matches over and over, this feud needed to end about two months ago and it’s just going on and on.

Post match Cage gets beaten down so Impact and Taya can pose with the referee. Johnny kisses Taya to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. Not their best show here as they’ve spent way too long on a lot of these stories and need something fresh. Impact has always had issues with making their main event stories seem epic and knowing when to end a feud, both of which are on full display here. It’s not a bad show by any stretch but it didn’t make me want to see Rebellion, which I’m often forgetting about in general. Just get to something fresh and make it more interesting.

Results

Moose b. Zachary Wentz – Spear

Rosemary b. Su Yung via DQ when the Undead Bridesmaids interfered

The North b. Sheldon Gene/El Reverso – Assisted whip spinebuster to Reverso

Madison Rayne b. Tessa Blanchard – Rollup

Johnny Impact/Taya Valkyrie b. Brian Cage/Jordynne Grace – Knee to Cage’s head

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling
Date: April 5, 2019
Location: St. Clair’s College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews

So in the middle of all the insanity that is Wrestlemania weekend, we have this show in pursuit of anyone remembering that it’s actually taking place. That’s kind of a shame actually as things are pretty decent at the moment with Johnny Impact’s overdue heel turn already paying dividends. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The opening recap serves its lone function.

Opening sequence.

Petey Williams vs. Trey Miguel vs. Idris Abraham vs. Jake Crist vs. Aiden Prince vs. Ace Austin

Great. Williams is back. One fall to a finish so everything is insane to start with Austin being the last man standing, earning him a quadruple superkick until it’s Austin vs. Abraham alone in the ring. Williams replaces Abraham in a hurry with Petey grabbing a German suplex for two. Now it’s Prince taking Williams’ place and suplexing Austin for two. Abraham and his huge afro are back in with Trey spinning away from him. Crist is back in with a Death Valley Driver but Abraham drops him with a Blue Thunder Bomb.

Not to be outdone, Austin drops a frog splash for two on Abraham and drops Miguel with a swinging neckbreaker. Williams’ swinging Russian legsweep gets two on Miguel and the Sharpshooter goes on. That’s broken up so it’s O Canada to Crist in the corner. Austin puts Prince over Crist in the corner and it’s the Tower of Doom to bring everyone down. The Canadian Destroyer gives Petey two on Austin and it’s Prince flip diving onto Austin and Abraham on the floor. Back in and Williams hits a super Canadian Destroyer to finish Crist at 8:35.

Rating: C+. So you know every match with all of these people thrown into a match with everyone hitting their spots and moving on? This was the most recent one of them that I’ve seen. There’s nothing to separate them from the rest of their kind and Petey Williams is far from inspiring.

LAX and Konnan want to use Full Metal Mayhem to earn respect from the Lucha Bros.

Taya Valkyrie doesn’t care that she lost to Jordynne Grace last week. Madison Rayne comes in and says she wants a title match. Jordynne comes in and wants her rematch for the title but Taya makes a #1 contenders match for later tonight for the Rebellion title match.

Announcers’ preview.

OVE vs. Rich Swann/Willie Mack

Sami Callihan/Madman Fulton for OVE. Swann, now clean shaven, goes straight after Callihan to start and flips over him into the dropkick. Mack comes in, shrugs off a cheap shot from Fulton, and hits a 619 to Callihan’s ribs. Fulton’s second interference works a bit better and it’s Sami scoring with a clothesline to send us to a break. Back with Fulton suplex slamming Swann for two but Mack comes right back with a spinebuster.

A standing moonsault gets two but Fulton breaks up the hot tag attempt. The neck crank goes on for a bit until the break allows the hot tag off to Swann. Everything breaks down and Fulton is hurricanranaed to the floor, leaving Callihan to take a Lethal Injection. The Phoenix Splash misses and everyone but Mack heads outside, meaning it’s a big flip dive onto all three. Back in and Mack breaks up a Cactus Piledriver but gets slammed down by Fulton. The Cactus Piledriver finishes Swann at 14:01.

Rating: C+. This was mainly about making Fulton look like a monster and….they only kind of did that. Granted when you’re as big as Fulton, the monster thing is already included so it’s not the biggest deal in the world. This story has been going on for a long time now and I’d assume that Callihan gets the title soon. Like at Rebellion maybe.

Post match the beatdown is on until Tommy Dreamer makes the save with a chair.

Johnny Impact gets annoyed at being asked questions about Brian Cage and threatens to John Stossel Menendez. Killer Kross comes up and puts his arm around Menendez, saying he should get a title shot someday. Johnny looks worried.

Moose invades the Rascalz’ room and brings a female friend, with an invitation to bring a bunch of animals in as well.

GWN Classic Moment of the Week: Full Metal Mayhem at Bound For Glory 2011.

Rosemary goes to Allie’s grave and rants about Kiera Hogan and James Mitchell, plus her father Kevin Sullivan, all of whom are to blame. Then she disappears.

Jordynne Grace vs. Madison Rayne

The winner gets the Knockouts Title shot t at Rebellion. Grace throws her down with ease to start and then does it again even harder. Rayne’s middle rope crossbody bounces off of her so a rollup works a little better. An enziguri gives Rayne two but Grace Pounces her right back down.

Some knees to the back set up a not quite giant swing as Rayne’s back is in trouble. A backbreaker into a side slam keep Rayne down but the Vader Bomb misses. Rayne gets two off a high crossbody and she gets in a rear naked choke. That’s broken up as well and a torture rack into a spinning powerbomb gives Grace two. Grace has had it and the Grace Driver finishes Rayne at 8:48.

Rating: C. This is why Rayne was brought back in. She’s not the best in the world, but you’re going to get a good match from her and everything she does looks fine. Couple that with a resume and a pretty good promo and it’s easy to see the value in her. Put her in there with the newer talent and see what she can do for them.

Post match here’s Taya for a fight with Grace but Johnny comes out for a distract so Taya can beat her down. Johnny goes up for the Countdown To Impact but Cage makes the save.

Josh Alexander is coming and is presented like a psychopathic killer in amateur wrestling gear.

Josh recruits Ethan Page as his partner.

Rohit Raju vs. Fallah Bahh

Raju has both Singhs with him but there’s no KM. Bahh jumps over an early legsweep attempt and hits the spinning belly to belly. The charge hits post but Bahh is fine with a Samoan drop. There’s a running crossbody to set up the Banzai Drop but Singh knocks Bahh down, giving Raju the pin with feet on the ropes at 2:59.

Post match here’s Scarlett Bordeaux to slap Raju and it’s a double splash in the corner. Scarlett’s running hip attack (after pulling the dress up) lets her celebrate with Bahh.

The Deaners, a couple of rednecks, get Impact contracts.

Swann vs. Callihan for the X-Division Title is set for Rebellion.

Video on Gail Kim’s Hall of Fame career and the current feud with Tessa Blanchard.

Tessa Blanchard says Gail was great in the era of bra and panties match. Now people like Gail and Madison are trying to relive their glory days. This is Tessa’s era and in this era, Gail isn’t a legend.

Eli Drake/Eddie Edwards vs. LAX

Before the match, Konnan gets in an argument with Drake and punches him, meaning it’s an early ejection. The fight is on and we do that really annoying thing of taking a break less than twenty seconds in. Back with Santana punching Eddie until a blind tag lets Drake come in and take over. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two on Ortiz and it’s back to Eddie for a headbutt, which might hurt him more given the thickness of that hair. Drake gets two off a neckbreaker but Ortiz is right back with a middle rope dropkick for a breather.

It’s back to Santana to pick up the pace as everything breaks down. A tiger driver gives Eddie two on Santana with Ortiz making the save. That means a rolling cutter into a Codebreaker into a superkick into the double belly to back faceplant for two on Eddie with Drake making the save. The Street Sweeper is loaded up but here are the Lucha Bros for a distraction. That’s enough for Drake to get in a shot with Kenny, setting up the Boston Knee Party to finish Ortiz at 10:55.

Post match the Lucha Bros runs in and beat down LAX, with Santana being powerbombed through a table to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Nothing was bad on here, though nothing was must see either. That’s not a bad place to be for a show like this with very little importance. Rebellion is looking like any Impact pay per view: a solid card up and down but nothing that I’m overly excited to see. I’ll take a good but not great card over nothing shows though so they’ve moved to a nice new reality.

Results

Petey Williams b. Trey Miguel, Idris Abraham, Jake Crist, Aiden Prince and Ace Austin – Super Canadian Destroyer to Crist

OVE b. Rich Swann/Willie Mack – Cactus Piledriver to Swann

Jordynne Grace b. Madison Rayne – Grace Driver

Fallah Bahh b. Rohit Raju – Rollup with feet on the ropes

Eddie Edwards/Eli Drake b. LAX – Boston Knee Party to Ortiz

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Fite.TV

United We Stand
Date: April 4, 2019
Location: Rahway Recreation Center, Rahway, New Jersey
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Don Callis

It’s nice that Impact has finally realized that they should be running a show over Wrestlemania weekend. How that eluded them for so long isn’t clear but I think we can go with general reasons of “It’s Impact.” The main event here is Rob Van Dam(recently signed)/Sabu vs. the Lucha Bros in a match that isn’t likely to be as epic as the company expects. Let’s get to it.

Earlier today, Rob Van Dam showed up!

The opening video talks about how five companies (Impact, AAA, MLW, WrestlePro, MLW, Lucha Underground) are coming together for one show that shows what can happen when you unite.

Johnny Impact vs. Jake Crist vs. Dante Fox vs. Jack Evans vs. Pat Buck

Ultimate X (four structures with cables crossing over the ring and an X hanging in the middle) and the winner gets a future X-Division Title shot. Everyone goes to the floor to start with Johnny being smart enough to go straight for the X. Buck makes a save and handstands his way out of an RKO attempt, because Impact is known for his RKO’s. Austin comes back in and kicks Fox to the floor but gets pulled outside by Crist.

The camera misses a Crist dive and it’s Buck cutting Austin off and hiptossing him to the floor. Nearly everyone goes for a climb and the audio starts cutting in and out. Never change Impact. Fox pulls Impact off and Crist hits a superplex on Impact for a bonus. Buck gets pulled off and it’s a massive knockdown. Buck is up first but can’t get very far as the audio goes out again.

A Tower of Doom brings everyone down and Impact hits a spinning Razor’s Edge slam. Fox goes with a Coast to Coast instead of going up for the X and then hits an imploding moonsault. Austin one ups him with a dive OFF THE TOP OF THE STRUCTURE onto everyone for the huge knockdown. Back in and Buck spears Crist off the cables and Impact hits a Spanish Fly on Fox. Austin climbs up and hangs upside down, leaving Crist to hit a diving cutter. Impact uses the knockdown to pull down the X for the win at 13:01.

Rating: C+. It’s a bunch of people doing a bunch of dives and flips off a bunch of high structures. What else can you really expect here? Well perhaps not having the World Champion getting a title shot against the midcard champion? Impact vs. Swann should be a good match, though there might be better choices to pick from.

Moose yells at Eddie Edwards in the back and the audio is so bad that you can’t make out a word. Cage comes in and tells them to get on the same page. I’m sure you can figure out the story, but you should be able to hear the story as well.

Video on last year’s Impact vs. Lucha Underground show with varying levels of audio.

Team Impact vs. Team Lucha Underground

Impact: Brian Cage, Moose, Eddie Edwards

Lucha Underground: Drago, Daga, Marty the Moth Martinez, Aerostar

Impact is down 4-3 to start but there’s a replacement for….someone Impact isn’t exactly making clear. You know who the replacement is going to be. Who else could it be? OF COURSE IT’S TOMMY DREAMER BECAUSE IT’S ALWAYS TOMMY DREAMER!!! Eddie and Aerostar start things off with Aerostar snapping off a hurricanrana and Eddie rolling around into a standoff.

Marty and Tommy come in and it’s Martinez going to the ample gut. Drago comes in and snaps off most of a headscissors to Dreamer so it’s Cage coming in for a change of pace. Daga’s running headscissors just annoys Cage, who is right back with a backbreaker to take over. Moose and Cage get in an argument though and Daga takes over with some shots to Moose’s knees.

Cage comes back in to clear out most of the luchadors until Daga and Drago combine to kick him in the face. Everyone gets set outside for the dives and it’s Dreamer teasing a dive before going outside for more punching. He doesn’t dive because he’s old and fat you see. Dreamer spits water at them and we settle back down to Aerostar getting two off a cutter to Eddie.

Drago and Daga start taking turns on Eddie until he dropkicks Daga in the face. The tag brings Cage in and the power goes up in a hurry. Everything breaks down (you knew that was coming) and we go to the parade of secondary finishers. Cage loads up Daga for the F5 but Moose spears his partner, leaving Dreamer to cane Moose in the head. Marty’s double arm DDT finishes Dreamer at 10:22.

Rating: C-. Much like the opener, what are you expecting here? This was a bunch of people in one match, getting in as much stuff as they could at once. Dreamer taking the fall was a relief, but more than that I’m rather sad to see Lucha Underground being such an afterthought. The show is done and it’s sad that they’re trying to throw themselves out here like this with nothing to go on to next. At least they won though. That’s something right?

Taya Valkyrie is in a four way tonight but just like Johnny Impact, she’ll overcome the odds and win.

Knockouts Title: Rosemary vs. Jordynne Grace vs. Katie Forbes vs. Taya Valkyrie

Taya is defending and it’s one fall to a finish. Forbes dances and gyrates a lot with very big hair. Everyone goes after Rosemary, which is kind of a weird choice when Grace is right there. We go to the early exchange of rollups that have no chance of working and no one buys them as real near falls. Taya kicks at Katie in the corner and hits a running hip attack. Rosemary comes back in and shouts Taya down but Grace sends Rosemary shoulder first into the post.

A Vader Bomb gets two and a spinning Samoan drop plants Rosemary again. Forbes comes in with a bicycle kick for two on Grace but a collision puts all four down. Rosemary does her upside down triangle choke on Grace until Katie breaks it up. Grace’s missile dropkicks takes down Katie and Taya and it’s Grace slamming everyone in sight. Rosemary spears Taya but here’s Su Yung to draw Rosemary up the ramp. Forbes manages to fireman’s carry Grace for some squats but gets reversed into the Grace Driver. Not that it matters as Taya runs over and steals the pin to retain at 9:00.

Rating: D. They really missed here as there was no flow or structure to the match with a bunch of spots coming one after another. Taya stealing the win isn’t surprising as this isn’t going to be the kind of show where anything significant is going to happen. Not a good match and it really didn’t work, mainly due to trying to do too much.

Tessa Blanchard isn’t interested in what is between Joey Ryan’s legs.

Konnan is tired of disrespect from Low Ki and Ricky Martinez.

Low Ki/Ricky Martinez vs. LAX

Martinez kicks Ortiz in the head at the five minute mark but a northern lights suplex gives Ortiz two. An assisted sitout flapjack plants Martinez for two but it’s Ki coming in off a blind tag to take over. Martinez comes back in for the Madison Rayne face thrusts into the mat and it’s Ki cranking on the neck. Santana finally avoids a charge and it’s off to Ortiz as the pace picks up.

A middle rope dropkick sends Ki down as the camera keeps cutting so much that it’s hard to get a clear shot of some of these moves. Martinez gets caught in the corner for a superkick into a Tower of London but Ki dives off the top for the save. Ortiz gets caught in an electric chair with Ki adding a Disaster Kick for a near fall of their own. Santana posts Ki though and a Death Valley Driver finishes Martinez at 12:38.

Rating: C-. Ki and Martinez weren’t exactly on fire here and as great as LAX are, they can only do so much. It’s not like the match is terrible or anything close to it, but it’s also not something I ever got into. The lack of Salina really does lower the interest levels in Martinez and Ki, but it could have been a lot worse.

Sami Callihan is ready to show Jimmy Havoc what Ohio violence is all about.

Tessa Blanchard vs. Joey Ryan

Before the match, Joey does his lollipop and baby oil deals. Joey offers to let Tessa touch it but she flips him off instead. A waistlock doesn’t get Tessa anywhere as Joey tries to make her touch it. Hang on though as Joey shouts something….and I can barely hear it. Whatever Joey asked, he gets tossed across the ring by the chest hair instead. Magnum gives Tessa two but Joey sends her outside for a posting. The arm is banged up and Joey makes it worse by bending it around the barricade. Back in and the arm work continues as Ryan can do a standard enough match if he’s willing to try.

Tessa comes back with a hurricanrana to send him outside, setting up a suicide dive. Back in and Tessa gets two off a Cannonball but he’s right back with an arm trap suplex. The Fujiwara armbar goes on but Tessa is back up with a springboard tornado DDT. A German suplex, meaning Joey grabs her by the chest for a suplex, followed by Tessa grabbing his crotch for the flip, gets two. The lollipop from the trunks goes into Tessa’s mouth for the near fall out of the superkick but Tessa breaks up a superplex. Magnum finishes Ryan at 10:48.

Rating: D-. Nope. I don’t find it funny and it’s so out of place three days before a women’s match is going to main event Wrestlemania. Tessa winning is the only call they could make but Joey’s act is old and played out. He’s been doing that same stuff for a long time now and I roll my eyes every time I hear about it because I don’t find it entertaining. It didn’t fit here but he got it in anyway because….well what else was he going to do?

X-Division Title: Rich Swann vs. Flamita

Swann is defending and we get a handshake. An exchange of shoulders doesn’t work so Swann knocks him outside for the big flip dive. Back in and Swann’s stepover kick to the back of the head gets two and it’s time for the slow form stomping. Swann chops away in the corner but misses a charge and takes the 619 in the corner.

A missile dropkick sends Swann outside and it’s a Backstabber for two on the champ back inside. More kicks to Flamita’s head set up a missed Phoenix splash and Flamita grabs the Spanish Fly. A 450 gets two and Flamita is frustrated. He hammers away at the champ until a Lethal Injection cuts him off. Now the Phoenix splash retains the title at 7:46.

Rating: C. Quick yet entertaining match here and that’s about all you could have asked them to do. Both guys can do so much more but what else can you do given less than eight minutes? Swann has become one of the better talents around and you don’t really ever see him have bad matches. That’s a pretty good role to play and he does it very well.

Rob Van Dam and Sabu say (yes Sabu talks) that they’re Rob Van Dam and Sabu.

Jimmy Havoc vs. Sami Callihan

Monster’s Ball, meaning a street fight. They both bring weapons to the ring but Sami goes back to get some extras. You wouldn’t want to be unprepared. Jimmy pokes him in the eyes to start and it’s already time for a staple gun to Sami’s chest. Another staple to the crotch has Sami in trouble until he gets in a bell shot to the face. More weapons are thrown in and Jimmy is already bleeding.

The spit chop only hits the post but Sami’s hand is fine enough to run into….I have no idea actually as the camera missed it. Havoc stops for some water so Sami chairs him in the face and it’s time for a fight on the apron. Sami gets out of a piledriver and hits one of his own on the apron to really take over. Well as much as you’re going to take over in a hardcore match. Sami staples his way out of a sunset flip and then staples pieces of newspaper to different parts of Havoc.

Some frying pan shots to the head let Sami take a bow and we bust out the lemon juice into the open wound. Havoc gets caught in a trashcan and beaten with a chair but fights back anyway and manages to get the better of it. A paper cut to the mouth has Sami in trouble and it’s time to take off Sami’s shoes. That means another paper cut to the toes with actual salt being poured into the wound. A Death Valley Driver into the trashcan gets two and it’s time for the Legos. The Cactus Piledriver onto the Legos gives Sami one but another one onto some open chairs finishes Havoc at 13:51.

Rating: C-. Picture any hardcore match you’ve seen in recent years, though minute the barbed wire. I can only get so much into these things because there just isn’t much to the things. Both guys are best known for their violent stuff and when you see it so often, it kind of loses whatever impact it can have. As has been the case all night: it could have been worse, but it’s nothing that got my attention.

The announcers recap the show so far.

Rob Van Dam/Sabu vs. Lucha Bros

Non title and it’s anything goes. We start with CERO MIEDO vs. ROB VAN DAM so the fans deem it awesome before any contact is made. Sabu finally starts punching and we’re at a standoff after two minutes. They head outside and it makes a lot more sense to go with the brawling instead of making the mistake of trying to have a match. Sabu stumbles through the Arabian press and Rob hits the spinning legdrop for two.

Pentagon kicks them both down and Sabu gets kicked a second time to make it even worse. The wheelbarrow splash gets two on Rob and it’s already time for a table. Sabu gets in a DDT on Pentagon and the Bros are put on the table for the Five Star/top rope legdrop as they try to turn back the clock again. Fenix chairs Rob to the floor and it’s a double superkick into the spike Fear Factor for the pin at 8:05.

Rating: D. Well what else were you expecting here? Van Dam and Sabu are both up there in years (Sabu is the older of the two at 54) and you’re not going to get much else out of them. Their one big spot looked good enough but this was all about the Lucha Bros doing what they could to cover up the rest of the match. It was fine for a nice little nostalgia moment, and thankfully that’s really all it’s going to be.

The lights go out as they shake hands and pose to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. And that’s being generous. Between the production issues (audio cutting out earlier in the night, theme music being so loud you could barely hear commentary and the music cutting off instead of fading out), the lack of anything significant happening, most of the matches not being very good and the incredibly dim lighting that made it look like they were in the dark most of the night, it came off like a pretty amateurish show, which isn’t a good sign for a promotion as big (and old) as Impact. Not a disaster, but more pedestrian stuff that isn’t going to draw anyone back in.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling
Date: March 29, 2019
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews

We’re still in Las Vegas and on the way to the both United We Stand and Rebellion, meaning it’s hard to say what we’re going to be seeing in the next few weeks. I’m hoping we get something fresh in the main event again like last week, as a break from the seemingly never ending World Title story was a welcome change of pace. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening recap and preview, this time with narration for a change. Apparently this is a special called Against All Odds. Shouldn’t that be something a little better known?

Opening sequence.

Here are LAX and the Lucha Bros for an unsanctioned fight, meaning the Tag Team Titles aren’t on the lines. The fight is on in a hurry with a worried Konnan watching from ringside. Security is out in a hurry and the fans want to seem them fight. The Bros superkick security and manage to sneak up on LAX with a pair of chair shots. Now it’s table time but LAX gets up with a pair of spinebusters to put them through the tables instead. The champs are down and LAX pose with the titles to win this round. This almost has to set up Full Metal Mayhem, which is almost all there is left.

Post match LAX and Konnan are very happy.

The announcers tell us that there has indeed been a challenge for Full Metal Mayhem. That certainly makes sense. The usual preview ensues.

Glenn Gilbertti vs. Scarlett Bordeaux

This is Scarlett’s in-ring debut. Before the match, Glenn offers Scarlett a way out of this but that’s not happening. Scarlett goes for some early rollups for two and sends Glenn outside, leaving her alone for some rather seductive sitting. Back in and Glenn throws her down by the hair but misses an elbow. A Stunner to the elbow gives Scarlett a breather and a high crossbody gets two. Glenn has had it and clotheslines her head off for two. We get the Garvin Stomp as Callis is losing his mind at all of this.

Glenn stops to dance but misses a charge in the corner and gets forearmed in the face. A running hip attack sets up a dancing Stinkface, which thankfully is over in a hurry. Glenn’s Russian legsweep into the Village People’s Elbow gets two more and he goes for the ten punches in the corner. Glenn: “I’m going to give her the ten punches in the corner.” Technical term I believe. As you might guess, he takes too long though and gets powerbombed down for the pin at 6:20.

Rating: D. This was about what you would have expected, though I’ll give them points for having an actual match instead of some lame comedy segment with a fluke pin. Scarlett being a trained wrestler helps a lot as she can do something like this to go along with all of her more signature stuff. It wasn’t good by any means, but it did everything it needed to do.

Taya Valkyrie isn’t sweating Jordynne Grace. Johnny Impact is thinking about some low carb popcorn while Cage fights Killer Kross tonight.

Post break some fans laugh at Gilbertti.

GWN Flashback of the week: Lethal Consequences vs. Beer Money from Against All Odds 2009.

We recap Gail Kim attacking Tessa Blanchard, which has forced Gail to resign.

Tessa Blanchard is happy Gail is here to apologize because she has the company by the balls. Gail may be a legend but legends come and go. Diamonds are forever.

Madison Rayne is coming back. Good? I guess? She’s fine but this isn’t exactly a game changer.

The Lucha Bros are down for Full Metal Mayhem.

Here’s Tessa to gloat about Gail Kim’s forced apology and resignation. She talks about how it’s a night for justice so Gail needs to get out here right now. Here’s a sad Gail, with Tessa saying how bad it must be to have everything taken from you. Gail apologizes but Tessa wants to know what the apology is for. Even more defeated, Gail says she’s sorry for the attack that cost her the Knockouts Title.

Gail resigned earlier today so Tessa has an apology of her own. She’s sorry that Gail’s era is known for bra and panties matches while Tessa’s era is breaking barriers. Gail is ready to leave, but there’s one more thing: she’s out of retirement and coming for Tessa. The beatdown is on and a scared/angry Tessa bails. They’ve set this up very slowly and logically….but egads I never need to see Gail around here again.

We recap last week’s main event with Rich Swann retaining the X-Division Title over Sami Callihan but being attacked by the newest OVE member, Madman Fulton.

OVE….I guess you would say mentally initiates Fulton by breaking him down and getting him to think like Sami.

Knockouts Title: Taya Valkyrie vs. Jordynne Grace

Grace is challenging. The fans are behind Grace as she busts out a cartwheel into a crucifix to start. Taya gets up a knee in the corner for a breather but walks into a hard shoulder for two. More strikes have Jordynne in trouble so she snaps off a German suplex to drop Taya on her head. They fight outside with Grace going head first into the post, followed a running knee in the corner for two. Taya chokes in the corner but stops to pose again, asking if the fans are entertained. A good spear gets one more on Grace and we take a break.

Back with Grace snapping off a suplex and avoiding a charge to send Taya into the post. That means a Vader Bomb for two but the Johnny Impact slide between the legs gets Taya out of trouble again. The moonsault misses but Taya is fine enough to block the Grace Driver (that needs a better name). Taya comes up holding her ribs though and here’s Impact to help her out for the countout at 12:45.

Rating: C-. They didn’t have much here but the important thing was having Grace beat her up long enough to warrant a rematch, which they certainly did. It’s not a bad match at all and having the rematch set up is perfectly fine. The Knockouts division is really pretty diverse at the moment and they’re running several stories at the same time, which is a lot harder than it sounds. Well done indeed and hopefully they keep it up.

Post match Cage comes out before Impact and Taya can escape. Killer Kross comes out to choke and post Cage as we take a break.

Brian Cage vs. Killer Kross

Joined in progress with Cage hitting a hard clothesline to get himself out of trouble but Kross posts him again. A hammerlock slam stays on Cage’s arm and a DDT on the arm makes it even worse. Cage has to block a cross armbreaker and sends Kross to the apron for the apron superplex, which is quickly countered into an arm crank over the shoulder. Back in and we hit another armbar as it’s almost all Kross so far.

Another armbreaker is blocked with a rope break and Cage manages to send him outside as we take a quick break. We come back with Kross grabbing the Krossjacket choke but getting rammed into the corner. Cage’s powerslam gets two but he can’t manage a suplex. The Doomsday Saito gets one on Cage and he’s fine enough for a powerbomb backbreaker for two of his own.

There’s an F5 for two with Impact sneaking back in to put the foot on the ropes. Taya gets in a low blow and it’s another Doomsday Saito for….three at 15:32? I’m confused because Cage kicked out and Kross looked stunned but the referee called for the bell anyway. That sounds like a twist and maybe Johnny has a cheating referee.

Rating: C+. This was more about the angle than the match and they did that well enough. It’s smart to have some kind of screwiness at the end to cost Cage the win before his title match, which isn’t something that companies (and by that I mean WWE) tend to always get right. Kross looked dominant, though having him as Impact’s muscle still isn’t the greatest story in the world.

Post match Impact Pillmanizes Cage’s arm and kisses Taya.

The fight is on and Allie gets the better of Rosemary but can’t bring herself to actually stab her. Rosemary fights back and goes to stab Su but Mitchell has a clever to Kiera’s throat. The master comes in and it’s Kevin Sullivan of all people (makes sense really) to say Rosemary knows how this is going to end. All of this is for nothing because it’s never ending.

Su pops up with her Freddie Kruger razor glove but Allie shoves Rosemary out of the way and gets STABBED THROUGH THE THROAT, complete with blood. Kiera shoves Mitchell away (which I guess she could just do) and goes to hold Allie with Rosemary. Allie morphs back into her old self and says it’s ok and vanishes, leaving a furious Rosemary to end the show.

This was out of the Broken Hardys playbook and I liked it. Thank goodness they just got rid of Allie (while leaving a slight door open for her return) and gave us some closure to the story instead of something lame like her just leaving. The story has been over the top so far so keep it that way until the ending. I get why you might not like this one but if you’re into some off the regular path stuff, it worked.

Overall Rating: C. You could say this one was all over the place with storyline advancement, man vs. woman in something that wasn’t as comedy based as you would have thought and MURDER. That being said, this show blew by with nothing being overly bad and two major matches being set up for Rebellion. The best thing here was having enough variety that it wasn’t boring, which is a good sign. Now if only Rebellion can be awesome, they’ll be in an even better place. This show was good enough with nothing but, though nothing was really high quality. Call it a mixed bag, but certainly not a boring one.

Results

Scarlett Bordeaux b. Glenn Gilbertti – Powerbomb

Jordynne Grace b. Taya Valkyrie via countout

Killer Kross b. Brian Cage – Doomsday Saito

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling
Date: March 22, 2019
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews

It’s title time as Rich Swann defends the X-Division Title against Sami Callihan, who is ticked off over Swann turning down the chance to join OVE. Other than that we’re likely to get some fallout from Johnny Impact turning heel last week, which is probably best for everyone. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The opening recap looks at everything going on around here, including Moose beating up the Rascalz, Jordynne Grace becoming #1 contender and the World Title situation.

Opening sequence.

Moose vs. Trey Miguel

Fallout from the Rascalz making fun of their clothes and not getting anywhere with Melissa Santos. Miguel goes for the legs to start and actually pulls off a hurricanrana. Moose gets sent to the floor a few times but a suicide dive won’t even put him off his feet. The second attempt is countered into a release apron bomb but Trey slips out of another one and kicks Moose in the face. Something like a 619 is countered with a swing into the steps (geez) and Moose hammers at the head inside.

A heck of a clothesline looks to set up a superplex but Moose slips out and hits a quick superkick. There’s a missile dropkick to send Moose outside for the required flip dive as we keep up with the all the required big man vs. little man tropes. Moose isn’t really phased by a frog splash but the discus lariat misses. An enziguri gives Trey two but Moose has had it and sends him into the post twice in a row. The No Jackhammer Needed spear finishes Miguel at 9:22.

Rating: C+. This was a fun big vs. little match and it’s not like the Rascalz are hurt by losing to a main event star. There’s a good chance that the feud isn’t done and that’s not a bad thing, as anything that gives the Rascalz a potentially big win is a positive thing. They’re that good and I could go for a lot more of them.

Sami Callihan isn’t sure how he’s going to hurt Rich Swann but he’s walking out as champion.

Tessa Blanchard says Impact is completely responsible for Gail Kim’s actions. First up, Kim needs to make a public apology.

The announcers preview the show.

KM/Fallah Bahh vs. Eli Drake/Eddie Edwards

Bahh shoulders Drake down to start and we go to a gator roll to keep him in trouble. KM comes in and doesn’t do as well, allowing a tag off to Eddie to crank on the arm. A superkick to the ribs cuts KM off as everything breaks down. Drake puts KM on top for a superplex but Bahh runs Drake over. That earns him a trip to the floor and a suicide dive from Eddie. That means it’s Kenny time but Eddie gets caught. That’s fine as he throws it to Drake and since the referees aren’t that bright, KM takes a shot to the head and it’s the Boston Knee Party for the pin at 4:59.

Rating: D+. Edwards and Drake continue their nice roll as a team and that seems likely to set them up for a title shot, likely at Rebellion. The Lucha Bros and LAX are both awesome but you can only have those two fight for so long until they need something else. Then again there’s always the chance that Drake turns on him, which would seem to be his nature.

Taya Valkyrie grabs Melendez (the annoying interviewer) by the throat for asking why Johnny Impact turned on Brian Cage last week.

GWN Flashback Moment of the Week: Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Anderson from Against All Odds (though this might just be the international version, as the American show might have aired Fenix vs. Brian Cage from the Impact vs. Lucha Underground show last year).

Melendez gets thrown in the trash for being annoying.

Swann tells Willie Mack that he’ll be one on one with Sami tonight. Mack promises to take care of OVE but here’s Ethan Page to say he’s coming for Mack tonight.

Ace Austin vs. Damian Hyde

Ace starts fast with a trip into a basement dropkick to send Hyde to the floor. A handstand on the apron makes Hyde miss and it’s the Space Flying Tiger Drop to keep Hyde in trouble. Back in and Austin hits a springboard kick to the head and a middle rope Swanton. A double stomp to the back of the head sets up the Fold for the pin at 3:08.

Rating: C-. Total and complete squash here, which is what should have happened when Austin debuted. The important thing here was letting him come out there and get in all of his cool offense, which Austin can do quite well. I’ve liked Austin in all the promotions I’ve seen him in and having him in Impact is a good move.

Video on Sami Callihan vs. Rich Swann with Swann turning down the offers to join OVE and laying all of them out.

A Knockout is back in two weeks. Odds are that’s Madison Rayne.

Here are Johnny Impact and Taya Valkyrie for the big explanation with Callis ripping them apart on commentary. Johnny has been asked by everyone from local news to TMZ. He did it because of the internet smart marks (oh here we go) who are watching this stuff for the crashes. They liked him and then they saw Cage, who got ripped off at Homecoming. Impact had to sit in a room with that moron who just doesn’t get it. How can Impact be loyal to the fans when no one is loyal to him? He cheated on the fans with himself and loved it.

As for Taya, she’s not worried about facing Jordynne Grace next week but would rather complain about how the fans treated Johnny. There might not be a title match next week because they have the power and they make the rules. Johnny says the only things that matter to him are the title and his wife. This was one of the more generic “you turned on me” promos I’ve heard in a good while, which is fine enough and not the worst idea, though the smart marks line didn’t really add a thing.

Rosemary comes in to see James Mitchell because she’s gotten Allie’s meat suit and not her soul. Mitchell says he was a man of his word but if Rosemary has a problem, she can talk to him, whoever that is. She’ll go to the undead realm and get the Bunny’s soul back.

Video on Jordynne Grace defeating Tessa Blanchard to become #1 contender.

Ethan Page vs. Willie Mack

Page jumps him in the corner to start and sends Mack into another corner for an elbow to the face. That just earns Page a Samoan drop into a standing moonsault and they head outside. Page kicks him in the face for two back inside as the fans are behind Chocolate Thunder. That switches to an ETHAN SUCKS chant so he puts on a chinlock and shouts about how the chants mean nothing.

Mack fights up with a shotgun dropkick into the corner for the running hip attack. A DDT gets two but Mack gets caught with an Iconoclasm out of the corner, setting up a middle rope elbow for another near fall. Mack finally goes simple by kicking Page in the head and hitting the Stunner for the pin at 5:59.

Rating: C+. Page has grown on me a lot in recent weeks and Mack is still one of the most charismatic guys on the roster. These two could have a very nice program or even a longer match down the road and I wouldn’t be complaining. That’s a pretty good place to be for what should be just a quick one off match like this and again suggests that the future is bright around here, assuming they don’t all get signed away.

Melendez annoys Johnny and Taya again so Johnny says he smells like hot garbage. They run into Killer Kross, who whispers something to him, which seems to please Johnny.

Video on Scarlett Bordeaux vs. Glenn Gilbertti.

Melendez goes up to Gilbertti, who is doing shots to train. The match with Scarlett is going to be one star, after six stars for Glenn and negative five for hers, making it the highest rated match ever involving a woman.

Gail Kim is going to apologize and resign from her position to appease Tessa’s lawyers. Can we PLEASE just get to the match already?

LAX and the Lucha Bros get in a rather intense fight in the hallway. Konnan comes in to yell as security breaks it up.

X-Division Title: Rich Swann vs. Sami Callihan

Sami is challenging and doesn’t seem to know that the Brothers aren’t a factor. Swann isn’t wasting time and goes straight at Sami, knocking him tot he floor for a big flip dive. That earns him the spit chop but Swann isn’t about to be dropped on the steps. The piledriver on the steps is broken up and Swann hits a running clothesline off said steps. An exploder suplex onto the ramp cuts the champ off though and we take a break.

Back with Swann caught in a chinlock, followed by another spit chop in the corner. The neck crank goes on and Callihan pulls on the mouth for a painful visual. That’s let go for an elbow and it’s right back to the chinlock. Thankfully Swann fights up and gets in a jawbreaker, followed by a running headscissors. A top rope hurricanrana gives Swann two and he can’t believe the kickout. Callihan pops up with a piledriver into a knee to the face into Get Out Of Here for two and his own surprised reaction.

Swann gets the better of an exchange of kicks to the head, setting up the middle rope 450 for two. A super hurricanrana is countered into a super Jackknife, followed by an STF of all things. Swann breaks that up and makes the rope, setting up a huge spit in the face from Sami. That earns Callihan a Lethal Injection but he avoids the Phoenix splash. Swann is fine enough to grab a rollup to retain at 15:03.

Rating: B. This was the big showdown between these two and, as usual, Swann showed that he could hang in the main event settings. It’s a good match and while Sami losing didn’t help things, he’s the kind of guy who can be built up again in short order. That’s the perk of having lackeys: as long as you have them there to beat people up, you look like a monster all over again.

Post match Sami knocks Swann down and grabs a chair, only to get kicked in the face. Cue the debuting Madman (Sawyer) Fulton to chokeslam Swann. Mack comes in for the save and gets dropped as well, allowing Sami to hit Swann in the throat with the baseball bat to end the show. Fulton has been around Sami before and is a great fit for a monster enforcer.

Overall Rating: B-. Pretty good show this week with some rather nice matches and a good debut to wrap things up. As mentioned, the future looks promising as they’ve signed up some talent with a lot of potential and that means we should be able to get some more shows like this (if not better) in the future. Good show this week, and one of their better in recent memory. The lack of the same main event matches has no connection to this whatsoever I’m sure.

Results

Moose b. Trey Miguel – No Jackhammer Needed

Eli Drake/Eddie Edwards b. KM/Fallah Bahh – Boston Knee Party to KM

Ace Austin b. Damian Hyde – The Fold

Willie Mack b. Ethan Page – Stunner

Rich Swann b. Sami Callihan – Rollup

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling
Date: March 15, 2019
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews

Things are rolling along as usual around here, which means a lot of the same stories that kind of need to go somewhere already. That’s one of Impact’s biggest problems and it’s been the case for years: they don’t seem to know how wrap up stories so things just keep going on and on for months. Hopefully we get some advancement soon because the good things that they have are rapidly approaching their expiration date. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Standard opening recap.

Opening sequence.

OVE vs. Rich Swann/Willie Mack/Tommy Dreamer

Yes seriously. It’s a brawl to start with Swann and Callihan being left in the ring until Rich kicks him to the floor. The good guys are left inside until it’s Dreamer and Sami starting things off, allowing Callis to talk about Dreamer sticking his nose into everything. Preach it man. Mack comes in to work on Jake’s arm and Dreamer adds a bottom rope ax handle. Dave takes over on Dreamer and it’s off to Sami for an elbow drop.

The Cactus Piledriver is countered though and it’s a catapult to send Sami into the corner. Mack comes back in for a powerslam and the standing moonsault, followed by a nip up. Dreamer drops an elbow and does his version of a nip up (it’s funny because he’s old and fat), leaving Mack and Swann to do their dives.

Instead of diving, Dreamer runs to the apron and climbs down for some right hands (it’s funny because he’s old and fat if you didn’t get the same joke a minute ago). Back from a break with Swann fighting out of Sami’s chinlock but getting caught in Jake’s reverse Rings of Saturn.

With that broken up, Dave works on the leg until a kick to the head lets Dreamer get the hot tag. Sami comes in to spit in Dreamer’s face as everything breaks down. Dreamer knocks all three of them into a corner for a running cannonball from Mack, and it’s stereo frog splashes onto the Crists. Tommy even hits his own splash onto Sami (BECAUSE HE’S OLD AND FAT!) but Callihan pops up and hits the Cactus Piledriver for the pin at 19:03.

Rating: C-. So now the heel commentator’s line is “Dreamer needs to go away because he keeps stealing spots from people”? Why would I disagree with that? Is is because Dreamer is a legend who won’t go away? Or is it because he’s old and fat and makes fun of being old and fat? It’s not funny but you can’t make fun of Dreamer because he was in ECW or something.

Brian Cage asks Johnny Impact, in a neck brace, if he’s ready for tonight. Johnny says he’ll be there. The swerve is strong with this one.

Video on Impact vs. Cage, with the title on the line tonight.

The Rascalz are in their circle when Moose joins them and wonders what’s up with Melissa Santos. Moose punches them all for making fun of his clothes.

Here’s Glenn Gilbertti to call out Scarlett Bordeaux, who he fights next week. Instead he gets a clown.

Glenn Gilbertti vs. Kikutaro

He’s a Japanese comedy guy in a mask. They fight over arm control to start with Kikutaro stopping to dance. Some shoulders don’t work so Glenn punches him down and whips Kikutaro across the ring over and over. The chinlock goes on for all of two seconds so Glenn slams him down but misses the Village People’s Elbow (with a YMCA dance). Kikutaro hits part of a Shining Wizard but a missed moonsault lets Glenn hit the Chartbuster (Stunner) for the pin at 4:23.

Rating: D. It’s kind of hard to complain that much about this story as it’s mostly harmless and isn’t getting a ton of time. Scarlett is going to beat Gilbertti up and the fans will be happy while no one of value takes a loss. They’re giving the story about five minutes a week and that’s all they need to do. In other words, this was harmless.

Taya Valkyrie isn’t worried about defending the Knockouts Title because her husband is in danger tonight.

Reno Scum vs. KM/Fallah Bahh

Rematch from a few weeks ago when Scum lost but beat them up after the match. It’s a brawl on the floor to start with Scum taking over and sending Bahh into the steps. KM gets punched in the corner until an enziguri drops Luster. There’s no Bahh though, meaning KM has to clothesline Thornstowe down before making the real hot tag. The Samoan drop gets two on Thornstowe, followed by Luster going shoulder first into the post. That’s enough for Bahh to hit a belly to belly for the pin on Thornstowe at 4:32.

Rating: D. Another nothing match but that’s the best way to use Scum. They’re just loud and obnoxious which isn’t enough to make me want to see them stick around. I don’t say this often but KM and Bahh deserve better than this. Hopefully this was just for the Las Vegas tapings as I really don’t want Scum around regularly.

Konnan asks the Lucha Bros when they’re giving LAX their rematch. That’s not happening so Konnan threatens them as they leave.

Post break Konnan tells them that there’s no rematch yet. LAX doesn’t seem worried because it’s going to be a street fight.

Tessa Blanchard vs. Jordynne Grace

#1 contenders match. Tessa can’t do much with the power to start so Jordynne runs her over with a clothesline. The threat of a splash in the corner makes Tessa pull the referee in front of her, meaning it’s a hard forearm to Jordynne’s face. The hanging Downward Spiral is countered but Tessa grabs the Codebreaker for two instead. That kickout doesn’t sit well with Tessa so she hammers away but walks into a spinebuster.

Back from a break with Tessa unloading with forearms until a Michinoku Driver gets Jordynne out of trouble. A Muscle Buster is broken up and Tessa hits some kind of a swinging reverse DDT. Tessa goes up but spends too much time talking about Gail Kim, allowing Grace to slam her down. An elbow to the face staggers Jordynne but she’s right back with the Grace Driver (pumphandle driver) for the pin at 10:21.

Rating: C. Nice power match here, even if we’re just killing time until Kim vs. Blanchard. I mean, you have to give them time to set up the 194 video packages on how legendary and amazing Kim really is. Grace going after the title could be interesting as you can only have a monster like her in the midcard for so long.

Tessa sells the heck out of the driver and barely moves. After she finally gets up, Tessa snaps, yells about Kim some more and beats up the timekeeper. Gail Kim comes in for the save and clears the ring.

United We Stand ad.

Tessa yells at Scott D’Amore and demands something be done about Gail. Speaking of Gail, she comes in and yells as well, earning herself a suspension. This story really doesn’t warrant such a long build.

United We Stand rundown.

GWN Flashback Of The Week: Brian Cage vs. Eli Drake from last year’s Lucha Underground vs. Impact show.

Rosemary tries to get inside Allie’s head and find the Bunny. Allie says it’s gone and laughs because Rosemary looks pathetic. Rosemary: “WHERE’S THE BUNNY?” This is more interesting, even though we had to sit through all those losses for Allie and company.

Callihan yells about Swann turning his back on OVE. Now he’s going to take everything from Swann, starting with the X-Division Title next week.

Desi Hit Squad vs. Eddie Edwards/Eli Drake

Eddie and Raj start things off and trade some right hands before it’s off to both partners. It’s already back to Edwards to chop Raju, who brings Raj back in for a flapjack into a sliding knee from Raju. A jumping Downward Spiral gets two and Eli gets knocked off the apron. That’s too much for him so he comes in sans tag to beat up the Squad, which amazingly enough isn’t all that hard. Gama Singh gets on the apron for a distraction so Drake throws in Kenny, allowing Eddie to knock Raju cold for the pin at 5:21.

Rating: D+. The Hit Squad is less annoying than they used to be but they’re still not an act that I want to watch every week. Drake and Edwards are fine as a team and Drake getting a tweener push is rather interesting for a change. He’s still one of the best talkers in the company and it’s a good idea to see him getting this kind of a chance. Throw in the eternally good Edwards and they might have something here.

Impact Wrestling World Title: Johnny Impact vs. Brian Cage

Overall Rating: D+. The main event angle was nice and FINALLY advanced the story somewhat, though the rest of the show left a lot to be desired. You can only get so far with doing the same stuff over and over, but for some reason Impact is fine with spinning their wheels on stories for months at a time. There’s a long way to go before Rebellion but you can at least see the card being set up. As usual: some good stuff here and there, just not enough that makes you want to come back.

Results

OVE b. Tommy Dreamer/Rich Swann/Willie Mack – Cactus Piledriver to Dreamer

Glenn Gilbertti b. Kikutaro – Chartbuster

KM/Fallah Bahh b. Reno Scum – Belly to belly to Thornstowe

Jordynne Grace b. Tessa Blanchard – Grace Driver

Eli Drake/Eddie Edwards b. Desi Hit Squad – Kendo stick to Raju

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling
Date: March 8, 2019
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews

I’m not sure what to expect this week as we have the latest round in the main event four way feud, which hasn’t been great so far but last week offered a bit of a twist with Johnny Impact injuring his neck. Other than that we have the in-ring debut of Scarlett Bordeaux, which screams screwy angle. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Preview/recap.

Opening sequence.

Rich Swann vs. Ethan Page

Non-title. Swann starts with his flip over Page and scores with a dropkick, only to get punched into the ropes. A reverse implant DDT gets two and a backbreaker makes things even worse for Swann. Page stops to pose again but it doesn’t seem to matter as he’s fine enough to stomp away in the corner.

A running flip neckbreaker gets Swann out of trouble and sets up the running flip dive to the floor. Swann’s frog splash (heck of a good one too) gets two but he gets crotched on top, setting up a Snowplow for two. They trade forearms, punches and kicks to the face until Swann hits a long string of them, setting up a Lethal Injection. The middle rope Phoenix splash finishes Page at 8:01.

Rating: C+. This is the kind of opener I can get behind. They didn’t stay out there too long but had enough time to put on an entertaining match with both guys getting to show off. Swann is becoming a bigger and bigger star around here and Page has put on consistently good matches for weeks now.

Post match here’s OVE to address Swann again. This is the night that Swann finally joins OVE because Swann has said that Sami Callihan is family. Swann puts on the shirt and the team poses, leaving Swann to lay the three of them out and bail in a scene that worked for Diamond Dallas Page in 1997 and works for Swann here.

LAX asks Konnan to get their rematch for the Tag Team Titles. Konnan says let him do his job and watch the Lucha Bros vs. the Rascalz.

The announcers recap last week’s injuries to Brian Cage and Johnny Impact.

The annoying interviewer tried to talk to Cage and got thrown out.

Ace Austin vs. Jake Atlas

Austin loves cards and maybe some slight of hand magic. Atlas’ wristlock doesn’t work to start and it’s Austin rolling forward with a legsweep and kick to the back. A bicycle kick gives Atlas one and Austin is right back with a double springboard kick to the face. Something like Murphy’s Law takes Austin down for two but he stomps Atlas down and hits a running Blockbuster (the Fold) for the pin at 3:29.

Rating: C-. Atlas got in a lot of offense here but Austin has the charisma and style to make him look like a star. I’ve seen him before and he’s got everything he needs to be a big deal. As usual it depends on how Impact handles him, which has been a hit or miss set of results over the years.

Johnny Impact, in a neck brace, and Taya Valkyrie join us via satellite for an interview with the annoying reporter (this guy has to be a rib on someone). Cage is getting his title shot no matter how bad Johnny’s neck is.

Reno Scum wants a rematch with KM and Fallah Bahh.

Here’s Alisha Edwards for a chat. Her contract expires at the end of this month and she has some decisions to make. She enjoys hitting people with kendo sticks but maybe it’s time to start a family. Cue the Desi Hit Squad with Rohit Raju saying it’s time for a woman to make some sense. Having a family is her job and women need to stay out of the ring. Alisha slaps Gama Singh and here’s Eddie Edwards to clean house with Kenny. The Squad beats him down but Eli Drake makes a rather slow save.

Cage isn’t happy with the reporter, who shows him a clip of something that gets on Cage’s nerves even worse.

Eddie thanks Eli but isn’t interested in going after the Tag Team Titles. Alisha says Eli is all Eddie has left so take what you can get. Eddie agrees to team up against the Desi Hit Squad next week. The one thing I get out of this: Alisha shouldn’t be talking.

GWN Flashback Moment of the Week: Jeremiah Snake (Sami Callihan) vs. Eddie Edwards from last year’s Impact vs. Lucha Underground show.

Moose and Killer Kross are happy with injuring Impact and Cage. They should both get title shots and if they don’t get them, it means more pain.

The Rascalz talk about getting superpowers from a robot. They talk about wearing masks and mock Moose’s pink sports coat.

Su Yung/Undead Maid of Honor/Allie vs. Rosemary/Jordynne Grace/Kiera Hogan

This is the Dark War (meaning it’s fought under a red light) for Allie’s soul and I’d assume anything goes here. James Mitchell is at ringside to make things all the more evil. It’s a brawl to start until we settle down to tagging, because that’s what you do in a War. Kiera throws Yung around to start and we get the Allie vs. Rosemary showdown. At least I think we do as I can barely see what’s going on here.

Grace comes in for a heck of a release German suplex on Allie to give Kiera two but Yung offers a distraction. That’s enough for Allie to snap off a cutter and we take a break. Back with Allie clotheslining Kiera down for two, followed by the slow stomping in the corner. Su grabs an armtrap choke on Kiera but it’s back to Allie, who gets kicked in the head. The hot tag brings in Rosemary for the big showdown and everything breaks down. Rosemary drops Allie and it’s the parade of secondary finishers. Yung mists the Maid by mistake and a spear gives Rosemary the pin on Yung at 11:54.

Rating: D+. This was a run of the mill six woman tag, which isn’t what you expect from a match billed as the Dark War. I was having more problems telling who was who in the whole thing and that made for a pretty disappointing story. To be fair though, that was the case with the entire story as Allie going evil was a complete disappointment from almost every side.

Post match Rosemary puts Allie on a leash and drags her away, launching a thousand fanfics in the process.

Glenn Gilbertti is still trying to figure out what he’s doing and Konnan sends him to yell at Don Callis. A fight is teased but it’s Killer Kross instead. The lights go out and screaming ensues.

Back from a break with Gilbertti hearing Vince Russo’s voices and looking for Callis. He thinks he finds Cody and the Young Bucks but is mistaken again. Scott D’Amore says Callis is on commentary because that’s his job. Gilbertti is NOT wanted for commentary but comes to the desk anyway.

Josh Matthews brings out Scarlett Bordeaux for her first match, though I’m not sure if the full body suit and heels are the best attire. The talent search made sense because those people were all falling over themselves so they weren’t going to be a success in the ring. Gilbertti was the biggest disaster though, which draws him into the ring for some yelling. Gilbertti: “You know what’s going to happen if you wrestle. You’re going to suck.” She slaps him in the face and a challenge is thrown out. Gilbertti tells her to spend a week cooking, but Scarlett promises to make him her b**** next week.

Rosemary tells Kiera and Jordynne to leave because she’ll take care of Allie from here. Kiera isn’t happy but Jordynne says she’s good now.

Tessa Blanchard is in a #1 contenders match next week and is willing to beat Grace if she has to. It’s all just punishment for taking out Gail Kim.

Rascalz vs. Lucha Bros

Non-title with Dezmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz for the Rascalz. Xavier and Fenix start things off and they circle each other for the first minute. A kick to the ribs has Fenix in some short lived trouble but the Bros start firing off the kicks, including a superkick to Wentz on the floor. Back in and the Codebreaker/top rope double stomp to the back combination sets up the wheelbarrow splash for two on Xavier.

Some right hands and elbows get Xavier out of trouble long enough for a tag off to Wentz and a handspring knee to the head hits Pentagon. Back up and Pentagon kicks Wentz’s leg out on the ropes but Xavier is right there with the big flip dive (launched by Wentz to make it even better) onto both Bros. Wentz’s Swanton into the Final Flash from Xavier gets two on Pentagon, leaving Fenix and Xavier to slug it out again. Pentagon is back up though and it’s a superkick into the Pentagon Driver to finish Wentz at 7:48.

Rating: B-. I could have gone for more of this and that’s a good way to end a show. The big thing here was the Rascalz hanging with the champs and looking good in a match they weren’t going to win. The Lucha Bros are going to have another match with LAX and then Rob Van Dam and Sabu (because reasons) so there wasn’t any doubt here. It was still fun while it lasted though as the Rascalz have become some of my favorites around here in a hurry.

The Bros go to the back where they run into Konnan. They ask him (in Spanish with subtitles and then English because wrestling reasons) to tell LAX not to mess with their masks because that’s not what men do. Konnan tries to calm things down and says LAX wants a rematch. That’s not happening because it’s too soon (fair) but Konnan says he’s not asking. Next time he sees the champs, they better have a date.

Overall Rating: C+. It was a good show overall with some nice wrestling including a strong main event, but there was no way around that Dark War being such a terrible result. You call it a war and don’t even have it hardcore? The storytelling worked well in spots and that’s where Impact does best. Nice show here as they keep moving forward in the right direction.

Results

Rich Swann b. Ethan Page – Phoenix splash

Ace Austin b. Jake Atlas – The Fold

Rosemary/Jordynne Grace/Kiera Hogan b. Su Yung/Undead Maid of Honor/Allie – Spear to Yung

Lucha Bros b. Rascalz – Pentagon Driver to Wentz

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling
Date: March 1, 2019
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews

The Las Vegas swing continues as we continue to build towards Rebellion. The big story coming out of last week was LAX seemingly turning heel by attacking and unmasking the Lucha Bros, though LAX was provoked. Other than that it’s the same World Title scene we’ve had for months now as Brian Cage is chasing the title with Moose and Killer Kross running around too. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Standard opening recap, meaning it’s well done.

Opening sequence.

Willie Mack vs. Jake Crist

Dave Crist is in Jake’s corner. Mack isn’t wasting time and Thesz presses Jake for some right hands. A swinging slam gets two as the fans are behind Chocolate Thunder. Jake sends him outside for a suicide dive, a flip dive and a diving tornado DDT for a good looking trio. Back in and Jake’s high crossbody is countered into a Samoan drop with a standing moonsault getting two. The Codebreaker connects but Dave shoves Mack off the top for the DQ at 3:23.

Rating: C. It was exciting while it lasted but you can only get so much out of a three minute match that existed to set up an angle. There’s something so engaging about Mack and that was on display here. The Crists are both very talented as well and they got to show it off in the limited ring time here.

Post match Tommy Dreamer (egads) comes out, saying he’s spent thirty years trying to write the wrongs of pro wrestling (Fan: “THEN WHY ARE YOU STILL WRESTLING?”). The match is on after the break.

Tommy Dreamer/Willie Mack vs. Crist Brothers

Tommy goes straight to the food from the crowd as we head inside for the opening bell. Some double elbows and a jumping legdrop get two on Jake and it’s time to start in on the arm. A blind tag lets Dave come in and it’s a top rope backsplash to Dreamer’s eternally injured back. The chinlock lasts even shorter than usual so Dreamer fails at a sunset flip attempt to keep himself in trouble.

An enziguri gives Jake two and it’s off to another quickly broken chinlock. With the holds not working, Jake goes up and gets superplexed right back down. Mack comes in to pick up the pace and the Stunner sends Jake outside. That leaves Dave to take a Death Valley Driver into the frog splash from Mack for the pin at 6:46.

Rating: D+. Dreamer comes in, does his Dreamer thing, and leaves. I’m glad Mack got a win, though you would think there would be a better choice to pair him with than Dreamer. At least he didn’t pin one of the Crists, even if he’s someone who doesn’t exactly offer much in terms of value, mainly due to him always being around in so many promotions.

Johnny Impact doesn’t like the implication that he’s handing out title matches as favors. The only reason Brian cage hasn’t gotten a title shot is the interference from Killer Kross and Moose. Just get rid of them and the title match is there.

KM/Fallah Bahh vs. Reno Scum

I didn’t get Scum back then and I don’t get them now. Adam Thornstone tries to slam Bahh for some reason and the pain is on in a hurry. KM comes in for some elbows in the corner but gets taken into the other corner so the beating can begin. A standing legdrop gets KM out of trouble and it’s back to Bahh for a running crossbody. Back to back rolls crush Luster and it’s a Rocket Launcher into a Samoan drop to finish Thornstone at 4:36.

Rating: D. Yeah I still don’t get them. Scum are two guys with an uninteresting look who don’t do anything in the ring that sets them apart. I’m not a fan of KM and Bahh either but they’re certainly better than what Scum was doing. They’re not a good team and I’m not sure why Impact brought them back in.

Post match Scum beats them up to try and get some heat.

Glenn Gilbertti annoys Ethan Page and runs into producer D’Lo Brown. He finally gets into the creative office and thinks we should have an X-Division tournament. The unseen creative laughs at him instead and sends him off for coffee. Gilbertti: “I’ve booked with Vince before!” Voice: “Wrong Vince!” I get the joke and laughter isn’t coming.

KM and Bahh want revenge.

United We Stand rundown.

GWN Flashback Moment of the Week: LAX defends the Tag Team Titles against Killshot/The Mack at Impact vs. Lucha Underground from last April.

Eli Drake congratulates Eddie Edwards on his win but says he won too. It was Eli drawing out the old Eddie last week and Eddie got a win. They can win the Tag Team Titles together but Eddie is fine with Kenny as his partner.

Scarlett Bordeaux’s in-ring debut is next week.

Tessa Blanchard vs. Delilah Doom

Fallout from Tessa attacking Delilah last week. It’s a fight to start with Doom hammering away and hurricanranaing her down. A top rope armdrag does it again but Tessa counters another hurricanrana into a sitout powerbomb. Tessa’s Saito suplex gets a delayed two as she’s not exactly intimidated here. A running elbow to the back misses though and Doom scores with a 619. Doom gets two off a crucifix bomb but Tessa powers her up and gets the Buzzsaw DDT for the pin at 5:00.

Rating: C-. This was a nicely done story with Tessa breaking a bit of a sweat against the newcomer, who got to show off a little bit here. There wasn’t much of a doubt here but at least they tried to make you believe that Doom could pull off the upset. Tessa is gearing up for her big showdown with Gail Kim though, which may or may not be the best idea.

Tessa says she’s getting her rematch for the title or else.

Cage says he can team with Impact if the World Title is the prize.

Rosemary is excited about the challenge for the war and tells Kiera Hogan to stay out of it. Kiera isn’t happy with that suggestion so Rosemary agrees to let her fight. But once Allie is back, they’re done.

Ethan Page vs. Zachary Wentz

Wentz flips out of a very early wristlock and Page isn’t sure what to do with this kind of speed. A handspring elbow is countered into something close to an F5 and a tilt-a-whirl faceplant gives Page two. The chinlock goes on so Wentz comes back with an enziguri into a shooting star for two of his own. Wentz’s dive is countered into a butterfly backbreaker of all things but Page stops to yell at the NFL alumni and gets in a shoving match with one of them. With Page distracted, Wentz hits a big springboard dive, followed by a springboard cutter for the pin at 4:55.

Rating: C. Match of the night so far though that’s not saying much. Wentz and the rest of the Rascalz are a fun team to watch and can have entertaining matches with anyone. Page isn’t bad either as I’m digging his stuff more often than not and this was no exception. Doing something with the NFL people is fine for a short story and I can’t imagine it’s going to be more than that.

Gilbertti talks to Dreamer and says he was hired as the new suckup. They find the Anthem owl and Dreamer throws him into a room with the thing. Gilbertti comes out and spits feathers.

Ace Austin is coming next week.

We recap Rich Swann vs. Sami Callihan, who were friends back in the day but now Swann wants nothing to do with him, including joining OVE. That’s not cool with Sami, who wants to be paid back by corrupting Swann like he does to everyone else.

Moose and Kross agree to work together. How many times have we heard something like this? Moose: “Tick friggin tock.”

LAX says they treated the Lucha Bros like they would treat anyone else that disrespects them. Konnan freaks out and says that’s not what he wanted so next week he’ll handle things. LAX better not screw it up.

Preview of next week’s show.

Moose/Killer Kross vs. Johnny Impact/Brian Cage

Kross and Cage slug it out to start with Cage picking him up for a backbreaker. Impact slingshots in with a legdrop and punches Kross into a corner for the tag off to Moose. That goes badly for Moose as well as he gets sent into the corner for some running elbows. A superkick into a gutwrench suplex sends Kross flying and we take a break.

Back with Moose’s rake of the eyes allowing the tag to Kross, who gets kicked in the face. The apron superplex sets up Impact’s breakdancing legdrop but Johnny stays on the mat, holding his neck. He’s fine enough to crawl over to Cage for the tag and it’s a spinebuster to plant Kross. Cage fights away but gets kicked out to the floor and here are the referees to check on Impact.

It’s enough of a distraction for Kross to hit Cage with the belt to bust him open. Back in and Moose hammers on the cut before dropping the backsplash for no cover. The bloody Cage gets pulled back to the corner as Johnny is checked on the floor. Cage and Moose trade clotheslines and Cage manages an F5 to Kross. Cue Taya Valkyrie to check on her husband as the Krossjacket Choke with a spear are enough to knock Cage out at 14:50.

Rating: C+. Again more storytelling than wrestling here, but the problem is how late they’ve waited to get to something interesting in the story. This feels like an Impact heel turn as Cage trusted him when he shouldn’t have and it allows Impact to avoid facing Cage again. Not a bad match at all though and it advanced the story, which was the point.

Impact is carried out and Cage is unconscious to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This ranged from pretty lame to fine and that’s about what I’ve grown to expect from the regular shows around here. Some of the stories are moderately interesting but there’s not enough to make me want to see the show week to week. I would say there’s been more good than bad though and the big bad hasn’t been there, so at least things are stable instead of all over the place. In this case, that’s a great relief.

Results

Willie Mack b. Jake Crist via DQ when Dave Crist interfered

Tommy Dreamer/Willie Mack b. Crist Brothers – Frog splash to Dave

KM/Fallah Bahh b. Reno Scum – Rocket Launcher into a Samoan drop to Thornstone

Tessa Blanchard b. Delilah Doom – Buzzsaw DDT

Zachary Wentz b. Ethan Page – Springboard cutter

Killer Kross/Moose b. Johnny Impact/Brian Cage – Krossjacket Choke to Cage

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling
Date: February 15, 2019
Location: Fronton Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews

We’re still in Mexico City and the big story coming out of last week saw the Lucha Bros become the new Tag Team Champions with about 184 piledrivers. The big question now is where things go from here, though tonight being the Uncaged special should help a lot. That means a stacked card, including the World Cup match (meaning a company vs. company tag) and a four way for the World Title. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The opening video looks at tonight’s big matches, mainly focusing on the World Cup and the World Title. Makes sense.

Opening sequence.

Knockouts Title: Tessa Blanchard vs. Taya Valkyrie

Street fight with Tessa challenging while wearing jeans and a shirt that her dad wore back in the 80s. Tessa charges up the ramp with a chair but gets taken down for some right hands. They get inside with a table already set up in the corner as Tessa loads up a chair in the corner. Taya runs her over and sends things outside but takes too long posing, allowing Tessa to blast her in the head. A running dropkick drives a chair into Taya’s head into the barricade but the champ is back with a sign shot.

Tessa takes a beer to the face but she wraps a chair around Taya’s neck and drives it into the post. Since this is modern wrestling, Taya is up without much damage done. Back in and we hit the choke with a cable cord and it’s time to rip off Taya’s shirt. Taya finally manages to send her into the chair in the corner, followed by a chair driving a metal sheet between Tessa’s legs. Tessa is right back up and throws in a bunch of chairs, one of which is pelted at her head.

Taya gets thrown onto a pile of chairs though and we take a break. Back with the two of them sitting in the chairs for a slap off until Taya kicks a chair into Tessa’s face for two. A spear drives Taya into the table in the corner but they bounce off for a good visual. It works so well that they do it again and the thing still doesn’t break. Tessa loads up a regular table but gets shoved outside for a big plancha from the top. Back in and Taya hits a top rope double stomp through the table to retain at 17:56.

Rating: B-. They beat each other up here and it felt like a fight, which is exactly the point. Taya needs a fresh challenger and while Tessa is still the best in the whole division, it’s time for someone to take her place. She can be back later on with no issues as she’s that good, though they had a good match here to wrap up the feud.

The announcers preview the show.

GWN Flashback of the Week: Team Impact vs. Team AAA from Bound For Glory 2017. At least it ties into later tonight.

Team Impact is ready to win tonight but they’re not sure on the team captain. Sami Callihan goes to take care of something so Eli Drake takes charge and gives them a pep talk.

Ethan Page vs. Willie Mack

Mack is now Hot Chocolate. Page slugs away to start but Mack does a dancing handstand in the corner because he can. A double nipple twist has Page in more trouble so he grabs a running DDT to take him down. Mack’s suplex puts Page down but a middle rope enziguri of all things (that’s a new one) gives Page two. Mack hits his running strikes in the corner, including the reverse Cannonball. A standing moonsault gets two so Page kicks him in the head a few times. Those have limited effect on Mack’s hard head and the Stunner finishes Page at 5:03.

Rating: C-. Didn’t have time to go anywhere but Mack is ready to break into the next level. That’s the case with every promotion he’s in and for some reason it just never happens. This might be the place though as Mack is getting pushed well enough around here and stays on TV, even in a quick match like this one.

Killer Kross says tonight is like a 3-1 handicap match for Johnny. Everyone pays the toll.

The Crist Brothers follow Mack and seem to jump him.

Team AAA speaks Spanish.

Here’s Sami Callihan for a chat. Everyone knows he and Rich Swann are brothers and what Swann said last week is fake news. Sami has given him multiple chances to join OVE so tonight is the final offer. A serious Swann comes out and throws the shirt away again so the fight is on. Sami gets the better of it and piledrives Swann on the stage, followed by a toss through a table.

World Cup: Team Impact vs. Team AAA

Impact: Fallah Bahh, Eli Drake, Eddie Edwards, Sami Callihan

AAA: Hijo Del Vikingo, Aerostar, Puma King, Psycho Clown

Elimination rules and thankfully we get a mention of Callihan vs. Drake from last year. Clown and Callihan slug it out to start as Callis wonders if Callihan can be traded to Mexico. A middle rope crossbody takes Callihan down and it’s off to Aerostar for a top rope corkscrew crossbody, followed by a Codebreaker in the corner. Drake comes in and hammers away but Aerostar quickly brings in Vikingo.

The pace pics up and the fast tags begin, capped off by King brainbustering Edwards for two. That’s enough to bring Bahh in for the first time with a belly to belly suplex planting King. Everyone comes in for the big staredown but wind up on the floor just as fast. Back in and King snaps off a running hurricanrana to Edwards.

Aerostar hits the first running dive (How did we not get to one of those yet?) and Bahh dives off the apron for a bonus. Vikingo adds a crazy springboard inverted moonsault before going up again, only to get powerslammed down by Drake. It’s time for the kendo stick but Edwards doesn’t like it, allowing King to roll Drake up for the elimination at 9:01.

Back from a break with Callihan chinlocking King until Bahh slams Callihan onto him for a near fall. Since Bahh isn’t very good, a single shot slows him down and it’s off to Vikingo to springboard Codebreak Callihan. Vikingo gets to clean house and kicks Bahh into the corner without much effort. A dive is countered into a powerslam though and Vikingo is out at 15:49. Aerostar comes in for a variety of dropkicks before avoiding a Banzai Drop to pin Bahh at 16:40.

It’s Edwards in now and a rolling cutter takes him down, only to have the Boston Knee Party take care of Aerostar at 17:39. We’re down to King/Clown vs. Callihan/Edwards and King powerbombs Callihan for two. Not to be outdone, Callihan piledrives King for the elimination at 18:39 to continue the rapid fire eliminations. Clown says bring it on and beats both of them up in a hurry until a Boston Knee Party takes him down.

Not so fast though as Sami wants the pin and gets rolled up to make it one on one at 20:06. They slug it out with Eddie being sent outside for a suicide dive. Back in and Clown gets two off Sliced Bread #2 but here’s Drake to hit Edwards with the kendo stick. Clown grabs la majistral for the final pin at 23:12.

Rating: C+. The best thing I can give this one is that it didn’t feel long and the right team won, though it’s not like this means anything long term. To be fair though, it’s not like it was supposed to and the whole World Cup thing is just a nice bit of marketing. All in all, it’s perfectly watchable and that’s not a bad thing to have going for you.

Reno Scumm is coming back. Dang it why?

We look back at the Lucha Bros taking the Tag Team Titles from LAX.

Konnan is going to get LAX one more shot but that’s it.

Allie and Su Yung are panicking about Rosemary, who seems to hack the feed.

Scarlett Bordeaux is in bed in lingerie and promises to make her in-ring debut in Las Vegas.

Next week: Edwards vs. Drake.

Impact Wrestling World Title: Johnny Impact vs. Brian Cage vs. Killer Kross vs. Moose

Impact is defending and it’s one fall to a finish. Moose gets low bridged outside early on and it’s time to kick people in the head. Cage sends the champ outside though and it’s the big flip dive onto all three of them. Back in and it’s a double powerbomb to plant Impact but Moose and Kross fight over the pin. I’m as shocked as you are but the alliance actually continues, this time with a double teaming on Cage.

Shockingly enough, Moose rolls Kross up for two and there’s the first suplex to Moose. Impact gets back up and starts cleaning house until Moose kicks him in the head. The chokebomb out of the corner gets two on Impact but Cage German suplexes both other monsters at the same time. Everyone hits everyone in the face until Impact’s springboard spear hits Cage for a four way knockdown.

It’s Impact up first and they all heads to the corner for the required Tower of Doom. Instead of covering, Kross switches gears a bit with a cross armbreaker on Impact but Cage makes the save with a dragon sleeper to Kross. It’s Kross up again with some suplexes all around but Impact kicks him in the face for two more. A pop up powerbomb into a backsplash gives Moose two, only to walk into the Drill Claw from Cage. Impact is right up with Starship Pain for the pin on Moose at 10:37, just as Cage had Kross pinned off the Drill Claw.

Rating: B-. It was entertaining while it lasted and the more I think about it, the more I think it should have been a bit shorter like this. The problem is that it’s still not a great story and Cage has no reason to be annoyed here because he lost the match completely clean. I’m not sure why this is going to keep going, even though it feels like it has been forever already.

Overall Rating: B+. This was one of the action shows and that’s where Impact works best. The worst match was the short Mack vs. Page match and even that was perfectly watchable. What we got here was almost all wrestling and there’s nothing wrong with that, especially when Impact isn’t the best storytelling company in the world. I had a very good time here and it worked quite well with one of their better shows in a long time.

Results

Taya Valkyrie b. Tessa Blanchard – Top rope double stomp through a table

Willie Mack b. Ethan Page – Stunner

Team AAA b. Team Impact – La majistral to Edwards

Johnny Impact b. Moose, Killer Kross and Brian Cage – Starship Pain to Moose

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6