Impact Wrestling
Date: March 17, 2020
Location: Sam’s Town Live, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews

We’re almost to the last taping cycle from this company for a good while. Last week’s show ended with the announcement that Tessa Blanchard would defend the World Title against both Michael Elgin and Eddie Edwards at Rebellion. That’s kind of a problem now as there is likely no Rebellion, meaning this could be a rather interesting show if they didn’t edit things. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening recap looks at the end of last week’s show, with Blanchard agreeing to the triple threat match.

Opening sequence.

Tag Team Titles: The North vs. TJP/Fallah Bahh

TJP and Bahh are challenging after winning some singles matches and a non-title match to set this up. The brawl is on before the referee can lower the titles, meaning the champions try to hit Bahh in the head for some reason. Alexander gets hit with Poetry In Motion and a belly to belly from Bahh. TJP gets caught in the wrong corner though and a knee drop sets up the chinlock.

The North go with the delayed vertical suplex and pass TJP back and forth, making me wonder if it was either them or Santana/Ortiz who did that first. TJP reverses into a rollup anyway though and sends the champs together. The double chickenwing gutbuster allows Bahh to get the tag and house is quickly cleaned. Everyone crashes out to the floor and we take a break. Back with TJP diving over for another hot tag to Bahh so everyone can be knocked down again.

Bahh no sells Alexander’s German suplex and hits a clothesline before going down as well. The double Neutralizer gives Alexander two but Bahh is back up with a double clothesline. TJP comes back in with the kneebar to Page and switches into the STF. The referee is with Alexander as Page taps so Bahh knocks Alexander to the floor and hits a suicide dive. Back in and TJP sends the champs into each other but the Detonation kick is countered into the toss spinebuster (dubbed the Northern Assault) to retain the titles at 19:04.

Rating: B. The North are as good of a team as this company has had since LAX and that’s some high praise. They’re going to set the record for the longest Tag Team Title reign in company history and that’s something they’ve earned. I could go for a rematch here and odds are we’re going to see one, though I’m not sure we’ll see a title change.

Video Team Edwards vs. Team Elgin at Lockdown, with a “Lockdown is Postponed” graphic. Shame as that could have been interesting. Eddie’s team included himself, Tommy Dreamer, Daga and Tessa Blanchard.

And now, Real Housewives of Slam Town. Taya Valkyrie and her dog are having drinks with her friends when Rosemary comes in. She is ordered to change out of her regular shirt and switches into more normal (for this crowd) looking attire. Drinking ensues and they go to the Alabama Slamtown club, where Rosemary sucks out one of Taya’s friend’s (Holly) soul. Holly is a little loopy after. This was rather fun in a wacky opposite way.

Josh and Callis talk about the recent Realityislost hacks and have guards at the production truck. They also hype up Lockdown, which is looking like a good show.

Chris Bey vs. Damian Drake

This is Bey’s debut. Bey shoulders him down to start and runs the ropes a bit before taking out the leg. A running kick to the head sets up the running flip dive to the floor as it’s all Bey so far. Back in and Bey kicks him in the head, setting up a rolling neckbreaker. Drake hits a right hand, only to get sent into the middle buckle. A jumping knee to the head sets up the Beymasser (springboard Fameasser) finishes Drake at 3:51.

Rating: C. Bey looked good here as this was a pure showcase match for him. He’s fast and smooth and that’s something that could get him rather far around here. I was excited to see him signed as he’s impressed me every time I’ve seen him so far and this was no exception as he looked polished.

Flashback Moment of the Week: Ken Shamrock wins the World Title on the first show.

Alisha Edwards gets a spot on Jordynne Grace’s Lethal Lockdown team and sings a song about it.

Tenille Dashwood video.

Chase Stevens is proud to be back for One Night Only when Moose interrupts and calls him Brett Michaels. Moose mocks him for never being a star so Chase calls him out for never winning a title here. A fight breaks out and Moose gets knocked down.

It’s time for the Gut Check finals and Shogun Jackson Stone wins. Good for him.

Tessa Blanchard is ready to face anyone because she’s a different woman. She’ll face Elgin and Edwards at Rebellion because she’s a fighting champion.

Cancel Culture vs. Deaners

That would be Rob Van Dam and Joey Ryan in glasses and a turtleneck. Ryan introduces the team as three people with extraordinary gifts: Rob’s athleticism, Katie’s curves and Ryan’s…..it. Rob makes fun of the Deaners for drinking before the match because perish the thought of someone wrestling under the influence. Katie is in a big coat and Ryan’s turtleneck comes off to reveal a regular collared shirt.

Cody stomps Joey down in the corner to start until a jawbreaker gets him out of trouble. Van Dam comes in to kick Cody to the floor but won’t let the fans see Rolling Thunder. It’s back to Ryan to tease making Cody touch it but instead lets Cody go, meaning it’s off to Jake. Everything breaks down and Joey superkicks Jake down, setting up the Five Star for the pin at 4:28.

Rating: D. I’m not sure on this. Cancel Culture might have some potential as they’re mocking….something, but I wasn’t big on the story in the first place. That being said, anything that gets us away from the usual Ryan shtick is a good thing so I’ll certainly take what I can get out of this.

Ken Shamrock has an announcement for tonight but won’t say what it is.

Willie Mack runs into Ace Austin, who talks about how much Mack has impressed him. Ace wants them to win the Tag Team Titles together but Mack says no because Rich Swann is his partner. He’ll go for some gold though because he’s in a #1 contenders match for the X-Division Title next week.

Kiera Hogan vs. Lacey Ryan

Ryan impressed last week so hopefully it wasn’t a one off. Kiera jumps her from behind to start and grabs a hurricanrana, only to get muscled over with a German suplex. A few shots to the back put Lacey down in the corner and a running basement dropkick gets two. The bodyscissors goes on until Lacey muscles her up and hits some clotheslines. A slingshot elbow sets up something like a belly to back GTS for no cover. Instead Kiera is back with a kick to the head and the fisherman’s neckbreaker finishes Ryan at 5:29.

Rating: C-. It was nice while it lasted but they didn’t get a ton of time. Ryan did look good again but there is only so much that she can do when she is losing in less than six minutes. If they’re not going to keep her around or push her, there is no reason for her to beat Hogan so the booking makes sense. Not bad though, and Ryan could be a player in the future.

James Mitchell sends Su Yung a letter, ordering her to face Havok in the Undead Realm next week.

Michael Elgin picks Taya Valkyrie and the North for his Lethal Lockdown team.

Jake Crist vs. Daga

Jake shouts OVE a lot to start before they go into the battle over arm control. That’s broken up as Josh makes mention of Rebellion, which is not listed as canceled. I’m not sure how likely that one is but points for false hope. Daga’s crucifix gets two and he kicks away, only to have Jake’s kicks miss. Jake heads outside and sweeps Daga’s leg to send him onto the apron. That means a suicide dive into a DDT to plant Daga and we take a break.

Back with Jake grabbing the reverse Rings of Saturn, sending Daga over to the ropes. A double clothesline puts both of them down and it’s Daga up first with the quick kicks. Daga suplexes him into a powerbomb for two but Jake kicks him in the face for the same. Jake catches a diving Daga in a cutter for two, only to have Daga kick him back. The double underhook gutbuster finishes Jake at 12:23.

Rating: C+. Daga has grown on me quite a bit lately as he’s rather smooth in the ring and can do a lot of different things. I can see why people seem so high on him and why they would want to push him. Nice match here too as Jake gets to show off the talent that he absolutely has.

Security may have caught the Realityislost hacker but it’s really ordained minister Ryan Cage. He’s just looking for his brother. Ok then.

TNA show video.

Here’s Ken Shamrock for his big announcement. Ken loves being here with all of the talented wrestlers and soaks in some WELCOME BACK chants. He doesn’t actually know what the announcement is, but Josh Matthews does: he’s going into the Hall of Fame. We get his career highlight video, complete with WWF footage…..and then the Realityislost video hits.

A man in black shows up in the ring and fireballs Shamrock before taking off his hood to reveal himself as Sami Callihan. Nice callback to what could have been an awesome NXT gimmick there and I could go for more of that as it’s an untapped idea. Medics help Shamrock to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The opener and closing angle were both good and the middle part was fine enough so we’ll call this a pretty good show. It’s a shame that Lockdown isn’t happening as they made me want to see that show in only a handful of vignettes. They head to Atlanta next week and I’m not sure what they have after that, but this was a good show in the meantime.

Results

The North b. TJP/Fallah Bahh – Northern Assault to TJP

Chris Bey b. Damian Drake – Beymesser

Cancel Culture b. Deaners – Five Star Frog Splash to Jake

Kiera Hogan b. Lacey Ryan – Fisherman’s neckbreaker

Daga b. Jake Crist – Double underhook gutbuster

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

Impact Wrestling
Date: March 10, 2020
Location: Sam’s Town Live, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews

It’s a big showdown match this week as we have the fifth match in a best of five series between Eddie Edwards and Michael Elgin. The winner gets the World Title shot at Tessa Blanchard at Rebellion and that means we have something special tonight. You have to have a good main event like that so hopefully this one works. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

Opening sequence.

Mad Man Fulton vs. Rhino

The Crists are at ringside….and get ejected early on for trying to interfere. With the two of them gone, Rhino shoulders him down and takes it to the floor for a ram into the apron. A clothesline hits the post though and Fulton sends him into the apron as well. Back in and Fulton pounds away in the corner, followed by a running shoulder to the ribs.

Rhino fights back up with some right hands to the head, only to get elbowed right back down for two. The chinlock (or cobra clutch double sugar hold according to Callis) goes on for a bit but a middle rope headbutt only hits mat. Rhino fights back up, avoids a clothesline and hits the Gore for the pin at 8:02.

Rating: D. This was missing on almost all counts as it was a bunch of slow pounding until the slightly more energized ending segment. They would have been better off having some kind of hardcore match because Rhino really wasn’t feeling all that energetic here. I’m hoping we have something other than Rhino fighting OVE.

Post match the Crists come back out and the beatdown is on….so SABU makes the save with a chair because ECW.

Chris Bey is coming.

Tessa Blanchard is ready to face either Eddie Edwards or Michael Elgin at Rebellion and doesn’t care who it is. She’s used to the target on her back.

We run down the rest of the show.

Desi Hit Squad vs. Rascalz

Dez and Wentz for the Rascalz here with Gama Singh at ringside for the Squad. Raju and Dez start things off with the former shoving him into the corner and posing a bit. A quick dropkick gives Wentz two and it’s Dez coming in with a slingshot hilo for his own near fall. Raju takes him into the corner though and it’s Shera coming in to start hammering away with the double chop.

We get some power as Shera drops Raju onto Dez for two and the beating continues in the corner. Dez dives over Raju and makes the hot tag to Wentz so the pace can pick up. Shera starts to clean house, including a chokebreaker to Dez. Wentz comes back in and starts firing off the kicks, with a double superkick putting Shera down. Raju gets knocked to the floor and the Final Flash gives Dez the pin at 6:00.

Rating: C-. The Squad has firmly hit their ceiling, even with Shera there as the monster. There isn’t much to get out of these tag team matches where they the teams are on a treadmill for months on end. The match was fine enough, but the Squad is nothing and the Rascalz have fallen way down from where they were.

Katie Forbes is annoyed at fans staring at her but the Deaners like her rather small gear. Joey Ryan doesn’t like their implications and a tag match is made with Ryan and Rob Van Dam vs. the Deaners being set for next week (this includes roughly half a dozen references to internet and social media fans, which isn’t as profound as they think). Ryan does make sure to check with Rob, who goes with it.

Tenille Dashwood video.

Knockouts Title: Lacey Ryan vs. Jordynne Grace

Ryan is challenging and is the next challenger from Madison Rayne. Grace gets taken down early on and Ryan drops her again with a running shoulder. That earns her a backdrop to the apron but she catches Ryan on top. A slam down gets two and grace stops charging Ryan with a boot to the face. Grace hits a running hip attack in the corner and a Vader Bomb gets two as Ryan is hanging in there.

Ryan kicks her in the head for two and goes up, only to get pulled down with a MuscleBuster (though more of a suplex than dropping straight down). A Regal Roll into a frog splash gives Ryan two more but she misses a kick to the head and gets Grace Drivered for the pin at 7:05.

Rating: B-. If Ryan doesn’t get a job out of that, I’m not sure what Impact is thinking. She looked very good here and they had a match I never would have expected. This was rather good stuff and Grace had to fight to retain the title. I’m not sure how much I want to see Grace vs. Rayne, but at least we got a good one here.

Fallah Bahh wants to win the Tag Team Titles with TJP so they can be the first ever Filipino Tag Team Champions.

Flashback Moment of the Week: Chris Sabin wins the X-Division Title in 2004.

Sabin is proud of his time in TNA and he’s ready to be the guest referee in the King of the Mountain match for the World Title at There’s No Place Like Home. Moose comes in and doesn’t understand the rules, so Sabin not so subtly explains them. I’m still trying to wrap my head around a TNA nostalgia show.

Video on the best of five series between Michael Elgin and Eddie Edwards.

Taya Valkyrie is all depressed at a bar when Rosemary pops up. She doesn’t want to hear about Taya losing everything but thinks it might be the thing that connects them. After you lose everything, you’re free to do everything.

Johnny Swinger/Glenn Gilbertti vs. Willie Mack

Hold on though as the referee thinks the team has some foreign objects. Swinger has brass knuckles but gets caught, meaning he has to run from Mack for a bit. Gilbertti comes in and gets hiptossed right back to Swinger. A cheap shot from the apron lets Swinger take over as Callis tries to get Swinging Disco Balls over as the team’s name. Callis: “Can we say Disco?” A double elbow puts Mack down and the old school pummeling continues.

Gilbertti gets in a shot with a roll of quarters and it’s back to Swinger for the chinlock (plus some SHUT UP’s to the crowd). The ax handle misses so Gilbertti comes in for the YMCA Elbow. Cue Ace Austin of all people to stand in Mack’s corner. Mack is fine enough to hit the Stunner and it’s off to Austin for a spinning Swanton to Swinger. Everything breaks down and it’s an old school doe-see-doe. Mack Samoan drops Gilbertti into the standing moonsault, setting up the Fold from Austin. The Six Star finishes Gilbertti at 7:50.

Rating: C-. Well that was something. I’m not entirely sure what it was, but it certainly was something. If nothing else, it shows you how good the new generation is looking solid with Austin, Mack and Rich Swann (when he gets back) among others. They’ve needed something like this for a good while now and if they actually get somewhere with it, Impact could move forward for once.

Su Yung jumps Havok in the back and it turns into a chair duel. Yung gets the better of it, puts on the Mandible Claw, and puts her in a well placed coffin.

Swinger blames Gilbertti for the loss so Gilbertti quits. This turns into an argument over who was the leader, but Swinger wants to know what he’s supposed to do with all of these Swinging Disco Balls shirts.

It’s Gut Check time and they’re all still bad, even in a six man tag.

Realityislost glitch.

Next week: Gut Check ends and we find out who the glitch is.

Eddie Edwards vs. Michael Elgin

It’s the final match in the best of five series with the winner getting the World Title shot at Rebellion. You can tell it’s a big match because Josh has stats about how they’ve won their matches. Elgin powers him away to start and hits a big clothesline so we can head outside early. A Death Valley Driver on the ramp gives Elgin an early two so he hits Eddie in the face rather hard.

The Blue Thunder Bomb gets Eddie out of trouble for a second but Elgin catches him on top. That just earns Elgin a sunset bomb and we take a break. Back with Eddie elbowing him in the face, only to get backdropped HARD out to the floor. Eddie is back in and slugs away at Elgin on the apron, earning himself a lot of yelling. A kick to the head puts Elgin on the floor and he wins a slugout to really rock Elgin for the first time. Elgin grabs a DDT for two, followed by a neckbreaker over the ropes as we take another break.

Back again with the big slugout, including some rather loud shots to Eddie’s jaw. Elgin goes up and gets superplexed back down, setting up the Backpack Stunner for two more. A tiger driver is broken up so Elgin gets him up in an electric chair and drops backwards into a bridge for his own two. Just to go insane, Elgin hits a dragon superplex for another near fall, though the kickout doesn’t get the strongest reaction (because only finishers can end matches).

Eddie backflips out of a release German suplex and finally hits the tiger driver for two. Elgin is back up with a powerbomb and another hard clothesline sets up the Elgin Bomb for the real near fall. The referee gets bumped so the Boston Knee Party only gets two. Elgin grabs the Crossface but Eddie rolls over into a cradle for two, only to tap at the same time as the three count at 25:55.

Rating: B. This was probably longer than it needed to be but they beat the heck out of each other with some big moves. That dragon superplex probably should have been the finish had they had one, meaning it might not have been the best spot for a kickout. The ending wasn’t the biggest surprise but that’s not the worst idea in the world. Both guys have benefited from the feud so having a draw is a good way to protect both of them. And give us the triple threat, because that’s what you get in wrestling.

Post match Scott D’Amore comes out because there’s confusion. Tessa, triple threat, she’ll take em both.

Overall Rating: B-. The main event and the Knockouts Title match were the only things worthwhile on this show as the rest ranged between weak and rather bad. They did the important thing though by getting the pay per view main event set up, but they need to set up a few more things on the way. Assuming the show actually takes place as scheduled at this point. Either way, they had a good main event and title match, but the rest of the show dragged it pretty far down.

Results

Rhino b. Mad Man Fulton – Gore

Rascalz b. Desi Hit Squad – Final Flash to Shera

Jordynne Grace b. Lacey Ryan – Grace Driver

Willie Mack/Ace Austin b. Glenn Gilbertti/Johnny Swinger – Six Star Frog Splash to Gilbertti

Eddie Edwards vs. Michael Elgin went to a draw

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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