By John Moore, Prowrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling on PopTV
Taped August 12-13, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario at The Rebel Complex
The cold open of this week’s Impact showed highlights from last week’s Impact Wrestling followed by the Impact Wrestling intro theme…
Josh Mathews welcomed the viewers to Impact Wrestling and talked about how this was the last episode from Toronto and that the next set of episodes will emanate from the Frontón México Entertainment Center in Mexico City, Mexico. Josh Mathews also announced that Bound For Glory has a new sponsor, some company called Comda…
World Champion Austin Aries made his entrance flanked by his heavy’s, Moose and Killer Kross. Moose tried to invoke his inner Kyle O’Reilly by doing an air guitar to Austin’s theme. Moose was also sporting another slick look, all black formal attire with a pendant.
John’s Thoughts: Heel Moose is great. This is why Trevor Lee needs to leave Impact, so he can be free from being treated as a dumbass.
Aries and his team entered the ring where some of the nightclub’s couches and a coffee table were set up. The crowd was chanting “Douche!” to Moose’s “moose” arm pump thing. Aries acknowledged the crowd chanting about douches and said that he agrees that it’s very important to keep yourself clean (Aries is so good at this). Aries said his crew was running the show now. Aries said his supposed BFG opponent got taken out last week which isn’t odd because everyone is being taken out.
Aries and Moose even dared a fan in the front row to jump the guard rail to he and his kid can get beat up. Aries said everyone including Eddie Edwards and Johnny Impact have been put down and you won’t see them for a long time. Moose said since Moose is a good friend to Eddie then Moose should go and check on Eddie’s wife and bring her over some champagne. Aries said not to do that but rather bring Eddie’s wife a whole six pack of beer because of how she looks. Kross calmly smiled while Moose and Aries cracked up.
Aries then said, “who’s music is this… what in the blue hell?” as this segment was interrupted by Fallah Bahh and KM. Aries then said that KM and Fallah Bahh have come to join the party because there is no one left in the locker room (well… Aries does have a point in terms of Impact babyfaces. Bahh, KM, and Grado might be the next ones on that depth chart because the Lucha Underground cast is isolated). Aries offered Bahh his Food Fight book and some bananas. Aries said if Bahh ate more bananas he wouldn’t be so fat which drew some “ohhhhs” from the crowd. Aries then said it’s 2018 and you can’t shame someone for not taking care of themselves and looking like “This”.
KM said a pretty woman in the back told them to come out and speak their mind. KM said Aries calls himself the “Greatest man alive”. Aries corrected KM and said it was “the greatest man that ever lived”. KM said he’s calling Aries a liar (KM’s catchphrase). Aries said he’s been called worse. KM said that Aries is a horrendous world champion. Aries mocked KM for never being a world champion. KM said he and Bahh have each other’s back because that’s what best friends do while Moose stabbed his best friend in the back. KM said the crowd is right in that Moose’s new name should be “Douche”.
John’s Thoughts: Well… the name “Moose” kinda sucks, so KM has a point.
Aries held back “Moose Money” and Kross and told everyone to calm down because it was a time to celebrate. Aries said the last few weeks have been chaotic and he wants to offer Bahh and KM a peace offering, a gift. Aries said it wasn’t a piece of pie, but a peace offering. Aries offered Fallah Bahh a World Title opportunity on this episode of Impact. Aries said that Bahh can accept it with a handshake. Bahh was a bit shocked at the offer but ultimately accepted it. Aries made Bahh flinch and then said he’s see Bahh tonight. Don Callis asked “What just happened?”. Josh Mathews said we have a world title match tonight. Before Aries left, Aries told Bahh to not sit on the furniture because it’s expensive…
John’s Thoughts: A surprisingly good segment. Aries was good. KM was solid. Bahh just had to stand there to be awesome. Even Kross added something by looking like he’d rather be anywhere else, but that’s his character, a sadistic loner. I’m the biggest fan of Moose finally looking cool rather than being the dumbest character on the roster.
Josh Mathews and Don Callis checked in on commentary. Don Callis said Fallah Bahh is no cake walk, no pun intended. Josh Mathews then ran over the advertised matches for this episode. Don Callis said he fears for the career of Fallah Bahh due to how Aries and his partners being very dangerous.
The Lucha Bros made their entrance. Fenix wore Pentagon’s facepaint. Trevor Lee and Caleb Konley made their entrance looking like they are about to lose. A Josh Mathews voiceover cut in to give more plug to new Bound for Glory sponsor Comda…
1. “The Lucha Bros” Pentagon Jr. and Fenix vs. “The Cult of Lee” Trevor Lee and Caleb Konley. Don Callis said Konley and Lee can beat anybody but the challenge they have is their lack of focus. The crowd gave the Lucha Bros the “ole” song (That’s more of a Sami Zayn thing, the Lucha Bros usually replace the “Ole” with “Lucha”). Fenix did the Cero Miedo thing with Pentagon. Pentagon and Trevor Lee started off the match. Trevor Lee started off the match taunting Pentagon like a dork would. Pentagon lifted up Fenix into a double dropkick. Pentagon and Fenix did a fakeout suicide dive to taunt The Cult of Lee. [c]
Trevor Lee was still acting like a goof while he dominated Fenix for a bit. Fenix regained control after a clinch roundhouse and slingshot dropkick. Lee blocked a Lethal Injection attempt and the Cult of Lee gave Fenix a double flapjack. Pentagon got some strikes in but Lee and Konley hit an ugly high low on Pentagon. Cult of Lee then hit a better looking high low on Fenix. Josh Mathews went into a plug for the Chris Jericho Cruise while Konley was dominating Fenix on offense. Konley actually showed some great aggression with some strong style strikes. Josh Mathews did some plugs for November tapings in Las Vegas.
John’s Thoughts: To be honest, if you were going to do your commercial news dump, you do it during the pointless Cult of Lee match.
Fenix gained a window of opportunity by hitting Cult of Lee with a double Lethal Injection. Pentagon tagged in as the Lucha Brothers delivered stereo superkicks to their opponents. Pentagon threw Fenix in the air for an RKO on Lee. Josh Mathews said that Penta and Fenix have an advantage because they can communicate in Spanish (Deja vu coincidence, Mauro Ranallo said this exact phrase on last night’s NXT in regards to two Brazilian wrestlers). In a cool move, Pentagon hit Fenix with a Code Red which he used to attack Konley. They bleeped out Pentagon’s words (I’m guessing he called Konley’s mom a “puto” because that’s what he does). Pentagon hit Konley with his signature loud chest slap.
Konley and Lee blocked a spike Fear Factor. Lee and Konley hit Fenix with an electric chair double stomp for a nearfall that Pentagon broke up. Lee and Konley were superkicked as a bunch of hair flew from the head of Lee. Lee and Fenix made it to the top rope. Konley an Pentagon brawled on the apron. Fenix hit a crossbody on Konley as Pentagon hit Lee with a super lungblower for a two count. Pentagon and Fenix then hit Lee with a Spike Fear Factor for the win.
The Lucha Brothers defeated the Cult of Lee via pinfall in 7:45 of TV Time.
John’s Thoughts: A well wrestled tag match that had a lot of things going against it. The constant is Lee needs to get the hell out of this company for his and Impact’s sake. He’s too good to be a jobber, he’ll be a world champion in Ring of Honor or somewhere, and I don’t think it’ll be worth it to over-invest in trying to repair a three-year long mistake. The other negative I see is the parts of the Lucha Brothers are greater than the sum. Why are Pentagon and Fenix teaming together when they are much better as singles wrestlers? This is also leading to a Lucha Underground trios match at Bound for Glory. I kinda hoped that we’d see these Lucha Underground guys mix it up with other people other than themselves in Impact.
The Lucha Brothers’ celebration was cut short by Sami Callihan and the Crist Brothers on the video wall. Sami yelled at whoever their cameraman was to make sure all of them were in the shot. Sami Callihan held up Impact Wrestling tickets and talked about how OVE sells tickets. Jake Crist continued to do his Damien Mizdow stunt double act that he random brought out a few weeks ago. Dave Crist comically wasn’t having any of it as he continuously shook his head in disapproval.
Sami Callihan even shot Jake a death glare for acting like a nerd. Sami reiterated his point about OVE being the best trio in pro wrestling (Sami is the reigning Lucha Underground Trios champion so there is something in that, but he’s also the part of several different trios). Dave Crist continued to be distracted by his weird brother’s mime act. Sami officially made the trios match challenge for Bound for Glory. Sami talked about how OVE are going to take down the machine because they are for Ohio, by Ohio, and will take over Everything… Everything… Everything!!!
KM and Fallah Bahh were in the Gorilla Position area. KM was super excited for Bahh’s opportunity while Bahh gave KM a worried “Bahh…”. Bahh said “Bahh” (which I’m guessing means “but Aries has those two bullies with him”). Bahh said “no no no” (like he was having second thoughts). KM said this was the opportunity of a lifetime. Bahh tried to tell KM “bahh”. KM said they need advice from former champions. KM and Bahh then set out to find a former champion. Josh Mathews hyped a Johnny Impact interview… [c]
KM was looking for Eli Drake. KM even looked inside of one of the Piñatas that were used in the Mexican Death Match a few weeks ago. KM looked inside of an ATM. KM found Eli Drake and told Drake that he couldn’t find him inside of the ATM. KM asked Drake to give Bahh some advice to make Bahh the face of Impact Wrestling. Bahh said he thought he smelled something coming from Bahh’s diaper. Eli Drake then went into a promotion for the Impact Mexico tapings by yelling out “tonto… si!” (Dummy… yeah). KM reiterated that Bahh needs advice for Austin Aries. Drake said he’d recommend that Bahh gets a crotch cup, but maybe Bahh needs a bowl. Drake walked away as Bahh said “Bahh?”…
Josh Mathews did his weekly Chris Jericho Cruise ad…
Josh cut to the Global Wrestling Network Flashback Match of the Week where he sent it to Slammiversary 2013 where the Von Erich children were wrestling. Ughhh…. nope… I’m not recapping this! It’s a BroMans segment! At least it was two minutes of fast forward….
Alicia [Atout] interviewed Allie and Kiera Hogan and asked Allie about why she ended out helping her enemy Tessa Blanchard. Allie talked about how Tessa has been calling Allie selfish for months. Allie said she made a promise that what happened to Allie, Madison Rayne, and Rosemary and that was nobody was going to be put in a casket, including a spoiled and entitled brat like Tessa. Allie said Su Yung’s reign of terror was far from over… [c]
Alicia interviewed Tessa Blanchard about the same subject as before. Tessa reiterated her point that she was making for months in saying that Allie has a secret agenda and only cares about the title over trying to be a hero. Tessa said she didn’t need Allie’s help. Tessa said Allie can go Zombie hunting with Kiera. Tessa said next week in Mexico the whole world will find out why Tessa Blanchard is undeniable…
Alisha Edwards made her entrance for a match against Katarina. Josh Mathews said that Katarina was trying to be a homewrecker. Don Callis asked who’s home did she wreck? Josh said that she tried to wreck her and Grado’s home. Josh Mathews plugged Joe Hendry’s twitch channel where he plays video games (that’s what Twitch is used for)…
3. Katarina vs. Alisha Edwards. Don Callis said “to the idiot mobile!” as Grado and Joe Hendry made their entrance after the bell rang. Joe was in his ring gear and a t-shirt while Grado wore some kind of tracksuit and fanny pack (I like Haydn Gleed’s UK translation of “fanny pack” by calling it a “bum bag”). Grado comically struggled to get words out. Don Callis joked about how Grado is mispronouncing Katarina’s name. Joe Hendry said that Grado is so sad that he’s not even eating. Grado lifted up his sweater and held his gut in. Hendry slapped it and the gut fell back out. Joe Hendry then said he had a special music video for Katarina.
Katarina acted pleased at this (Katarina is probably the only person in the world who doesn’t know what’s coming next even though she’s been teaming with Hendry for months). Joe Hendry’s latest video was titled “Access denied” as Hendry wouldn’t let Katarina into his room. The video ended with Hendry referencing Katarina’s scrapped incest angle with her kayfabe brother Paul Burchill by saying “what did you do with your pirate brother?”. Alisha Edwards won with a rollup.
Alisha Edwards defeated Katarina via pinfall in 2:38 of match time.
Alisha Edwards quickly left the ring to her generic hip hop music. Grado kept saying “access denied” like he was a 12-year-old. Grado’s theme played to close the segment.
John’s Thoughts: While the segment wasn’t horrible. Joe Hendry had one of his better non-copyright entrance themes. The Paul Burchill throwback is always good for a laugh. In the end, I don’t know what emotion they were going for there. They made Katarina look like a dope, that was the point I guess, but they also made Grado and Joe Hendry look like bullies for no reason. Katarina also got to look stupid because for some reason she was the only person in the world surprised at Joe Hendry’s entrance routine even though she’s been a part of Joe’s act for months. Joe looked a little decent, but everyone in this segment was less likable. Should they wipe off the dust off of Joe Park? Grado needs some Joe Park to bring his comedic freshness back.
Fallah Bahh took Drake’s advice and showed KM that he now has a drinking cup AND an eating bowl. KM tried to tell Bahh that Drake was just making fun of Bahh. Scarlett Bordeaux then “teleported” (?) into the scene via her fog effect (so she’s the Impact version of Lucha Underground’s Catrina now?). Scarlett said that what she likes more than a strong man is a man with gold along the strong waist. This caused Bahh to break his plastic cup. Scarlett inspired Bahh with the word “Bahh”… [c]
John’s Thoughts: Scarlett’s playing her role well and I like that Impact is dedicating a good amount of their show to Fallah Bahh since he is having a world title match (they’re doing a better job at this then they did with Eddie Edwards and Johnny Impact combined). I’m a bit confused as to how they want people to react to Scarlett. She’s kinda just a roaming gimmick backstage rather than being an intriguing part of any stories. Before Scarlett showed up, Katarina was the one getting all the cat calls from people. Her storyline potential peaked early on with her interaction with Alicia Atout. This isn’t the worst thing in the world because maybe they are just putting her in a holding pattern rather than put her in a bad position.
Josh Mathews gave more hype towards “Comda presents!!!” Bound For Glory…
Josh Mathews then conducted a Skype interview with Johnny Impact. Josh said that Johnny was in the west coast and it looked like Josh might have been at home. Josh Mathews cut to a recap of last week’s show closing segment where Johnny Impact (who was wearing a shirt with a moose on it) got beat up by Kross, Moose, and Aries. Josh asked Johnny how he was feeling. Johnny said that injuries get frustrating at this point in life. Johnny said he doesn’t register his shoulder and neck as “pain” but rather as “damage”. Johnny said his elbow was also damaged. Josh said that Johnny has to now go up against “heavyweights” like Moose who was a former NFL Offensive lineman. Johnny said that it would be stupid to ignore Kross and Moose. Johnny said that Aries is revealing himself as insecure by surrounding himself with goons. Josh then thanked Johnny for the interview…
John’s Thoughts: Baby steps. Johnny Impact finally escaped an interview without saying something dorky. The only negative about that segment was Impact looking budget for putting together a Skype interview. It wouldn’t hurt to do the UFC or Michael Cole style sit-down interview, but I’ll give Impact the benefit of the doubt that this might have been a course correction to fix last week’s terrible closing segment with Johnny. Johnny can be a great babyface and I hope he watches what “Johnny Mundo” is doing on Lucha Underground now where he’s a really strong babyface because he’s acting less like a dork and more like “himself”, which is a bit introverted but overall a pretty “adorkable” dude.
Speaking of dorks, two guys ran out called “The Fraternity”. Oh my lord. These guys scream enhancement wrestlers. Josh Mathews added more hype for their new sponsor “Comda”…
John’s Thoughts: How much money did the company “Comda” pay Impact for all of these Josh Mathews plugs? It’s so odd that Josh is ignoring the “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” PopTV plugs.
4. “The Latin American XChange” Santana and Ortiz (w/Konnan) vs. “The Fraternity” Channing Decker and Trent Gibson. I found the name of these guys from Alicia Atout’s YouTube channel. I’m guessing they’re BCW wrestlers. Josh Mathews noted that the LAX “authority figures” created a ceasefire between LAX and OGz. Don Callis said they weren’t authority figures but rather “Crime Lords”. Ortiz called for a time out early on against one of the frat guys and asked “do you want to play?”. Ortiz pulled out a flip flop and beat up the frat guy with it.
John’s Thoughts: Okay, that redeems Ortiz for bring out an axe that one time.
The referee took the flip flop and told Ortiz that flip flips are for feet. The frat guy did a cool cartwheel into a Northern Lariat on Ortiz. Trent Gibson hit a cool leg drop on Ortiz. Santana came in and gave both Frat guys some stiff slaps. The Frat caught Santana and hit him with a double body slam. The Frat hit Santana with a double headbutt. Decker tried to get a leverage pin after a slingshot splash, but the ref caught it. Ortiz turned the tables and tagged in Santana for the hot tag. Santana used Decker’s shoulder ot hit Gibson with a draping DDT.
Decker caught Ortiz on the outside with a springboard RKO. Gibson put Santana in the electric chair for a tandem move. Oritz intercepted Decker and hit him with a chokeslam on the metal ramp. LAX regained control and double body slammed Gibson into Decker. Josh Mathews snuck in a Young Bucks plug for the Jericho Cruise in his commentary. LAX hit their powerbomb blockbuster finisher for the win on Decker.
The Latin American XChange defeated The Fraternity via pinfall in 4:14.
The OGz interrupted LAX’s celebration. Eddie Kingston kept yelling about how they can’t attack him due to the ceasefire. Kingston tried to provoke Santana and Ortiz into breaking the ceasefire. Kingston called Santana and Ortiz hungry female dogs. Kingston continued to try to provoke the younger LAX members. Kingston said he doesn’t regret losing LAX as family and he doesn’t regret losing the idiot fan support. Kingston said he regrets that little kid Richie is still breathing. The tables turned on LAX with Santana and Ortiz trying to calm things down and prevent Konnan from attacking since that pissed Konnan off. Kingston tried to provoke Konnan into breaking the ceasefire. Don Callis called Kingston a piece of trash.
John’s Thoughts: The attempted child murder is still hokey as hell, but that doesn’t stop Kingston from being a great promo. Kingston was very strong in trying to provoke LAX into realistically breaking their ceasefire. Here’s hoping they right the ship in Mexico, but at least it hasn’t hurt Kingston and Konnan’s great acting ability. Back to the match, it caught me off guard. That was a damn good tag team match and the Frat guys were actually really good. If those two can drop the jobber look, I wouldn’t mind Impact signing them to be a fixture in the tag division. They are already miles ahead of Cult of Lee.
Alicia [Atout] interviewed Aries, Kross, and Moose about the main event. Aries said there was something different in the air because Aries is smiling. Aries said people think he’s always salty and the most miserable person in Wrestling. Aries said he feels like Santa Claus. Aries said sadly Bahh’s dream will end in defeat. Aries said Bahh will join the list of people who are gone. Aries said there might not even be a Bound for Glory at all if they keep taking people out… [c]
Josh Mathews threw in another “Comda presents” Bound for Glory plug. This one with a plug for Konnan’s return to an Impact ring…
Rich Swann joined KM and Bahh in trying to inspire Bahh. Swann said tonight is Bahh’s night and that Bahh will shut up Austin Aries. This fired up Bahh. Swann was pulled aside by Matt Sydal who continued to try to sell Swann on his yoga teachings or something. The whole transcendental “third eye” thing. Swann said Sydal keeps talking about the path but they should take the path to Mexico so Swann can enlighten Sydal’s ass with a whooping…
John’s Thoughts: Same story with Sydal every week. He’s a great talker now, but he’s playing the character of some hippie in the subway trying to sell you on their spiritual teachings. No offense meant to the hippies in the subway trying to sell their spiritual teachings. They’re damaging Sydal at this point. For some reason I feel like this might be Sydal’s creative baby. If so, then Don Callis and Scott D’Amore should not allow everyone on the roster to have as much Creative Freedom. Look at what Dave Lagana did in Impact. Look at What Chris DeJoseph is doing in LU! Scripting with some creative input from the talent isn’t a bad mix. Vince McMahon’s micromanaging, now that’s a road Impact should NOT go down.
An Eli Drake One Night Only show commercial aired that showed a bunch of clips of Eli Drake saying dummy as well as Chris Masters in a Turkey Suit…
Josh Mathews hyped the announcement of the next inductee to the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame which will be presented at “Comda presents” Bound for Glory…
John’s Thoughts: Let the speculation begin. Mike Tenay or James Storm would be good candidates (even though there is some negative buzz around Storm at the moment from his cup of coffee with MLW). How funny would it be if they inducted Dixie Carter?!? That would be awesome in all the wrong ways. In all seriousness, they shouldn’t do that because it would really lead to negative buys for their PPV.
Kongo Kong made his entrance. The ring announcer for some reason said that Kong weighs “damn near 400 pounds”. No Jimmy Jacobs with him, which is an upgrade… [c]
5. “The Machine” Brian Cage vs. Kongo Kong in a non-title match. Josh Mathews said that Brian Cage wants to tear apart the Bullet Club. Cage took down Kong with a kick combination. Kong took down Cage with a running shoulder block. Kong caught Cage. Kong no sold a Cage forearm. Cage sent Kong to the ramp with a sidestep. Kong took down Cage with a forearm. Kong caught Cage with an impressive top rope clearing slingshot crossbody (due to the ramp being the same level as the ring, but still impressive). Kong hit Cage with an attitude adjustment on his knee. Cage hit Kong on the top rope. Kong went for a splash on Cage but ate dirt.
Cage hit Kong with a power slam. Cage followed up with a springboard moonsault. Cage caught Kong with a back elbow which Kong no sold. Cage went for a 619 but Kong hit Cage with a lariat and followed up with a running cannonball. Cage kicked out at two. The crowd tried to fire up Cage with terminator claps. Cage prevented punches on him and hit Kong with a vicious looking sit-out power bomb. Kong blocked a tornado claw attempt. Cage blocked a chokeslam with a backflip. Cage took down Kong with a lariat. Cage hit Kong with the F5 for the win.
Brian Cage defeated Kongo Kong via pinfall in 4:45.
Josh Mathews continued to overhype Cage’s agility. Cage cut an in-ring promo for the first time in Impact. Cage called out Sami Callihan and OVE. Cage said he agrees that OVE has some balls for making such a challenge. Cage accepted OVE’s challenge for a trios match at Bound For Glory. Cage said he’s going to decimate “EVERYONE!” of you! Josh Mathews said that the match was now official for “Comda Presents” Bound for Glory…
Josh Mathews and Don Callis checked in again on commentary where they ran through the advertised matches for Bound for Glory. Josh said that the main event of BFG will happen if Johnny can recover. A Josh Mathews voiceover then cut in with more hype to “comda presents” Bound for Glory…
KM and Fallah Bahh were walking to the Gorilla Position area as they were cheered on by the locker room for Bahh’s world title opportunity. The last people to wish Bahh luck were the authority figure “hands” of Scott D’Amore and the unknown authority figure… [c]
Some guy called “George the ice man” handled the formal ring introductions. George noted that the referee was Johnny Bravo…
John’s Thoughts: Random side note, I just googled this, George the Iceman is the owner of Destiny Pro Wrestling which is that company also run by Anthony Carelli.
6. Austin Aries (w/Killer Kross, Moose) vs. Fallah Bahh (w/KM) for the Impact World Championship. Kross and Moose brought chairs with them to the ring. The opened the chairs at ringside so they can watch the match while sitting down. Bahh started a Bahh chant as the crowd also added “new champ”. Austin Aries was actually just as tall as Bahh so there wasn’t the usual size differential that we usually see in Aries matches. Aries started the match dominating with the collar and elbow. Aries then used his agility to show off in front of Bahh. Moose clapped while Kross chuckled. Bahh got the next headlock in.
Aries escaped the headlock and then out ran the ropes with Bahh. Bahh got gassed (purposefully for comedic effect). Don Callis said you could only hope that Bahh doesn’t fall on you. Kross was cracking up at ringside. [c]
Josh Mathews said that Austin Aries was doing “cardiovascular activities” during the commercial break. They showed replays of the time during the break where Aries was doing jumping jacks, cartwheels, jogging, and judo rolls. Bahh escaped a headlock and then turned Aries inside out with a shoulder tackle. Bahh also dominated Aries with a shove leading to the “no no no”. Aries came back with a simple slap. This fired up Bahh who showed a mean streak with some Kenta Kobashi chops. Aries got a bit of respite by resting on the apron but Bahh made sure to keep pursuit. Aries raked Bahh’s eyes to prevent a Samoan Drop.
Aries hit Bahh with a thunder clap and chop block. Kross continued to chime in like he was watching the pro wrestling version of Mystery Science Theater. Aries went back to the methodical beating down of Bahh. Bahh turned the tables in a strong style chop battle. Bahh almost squashed Aries by sitting on him but Aries rolled aside and continued to dominate his opponent. Aries got cocky and went for the Brainbuster, but he ended up pulling back muscles due to Bahh’s girth. Aries tried three times but couldn’t get Bahh up. Bahh reversed it with his own suplex. It was time for Bahh to dominate with a bunch of running chops.
Aries turned the table with a rake to Bahh’s back but Bahh countered with a Samoan Drop for a nearfall. Bahh went for the rump shaker but Aries held on to Bahh’s leg to prevent him from escalating to the top rope. Aries focused his attacks on the calf of Bahh. Bahh and Aries then went strong style in the center of the ring. Bahh hit Aries with a belly to belly for a two count. Don Callis said the move was called “Greetings from Manilla Philippines”. Bahh landed his signature steamroller move but Aries rolled with Bahh into a smooth transition into his Last Chancery finisher.
Bahh made it to the bottom rope for the rope break. Aries went for the brainbuster again but Bahh responded with a Dikembe Mutombo would with the “no no no”. Aries responded with his favorite 205 Live finisher, the thumb to the eye. Aries hit Bahh with a discus elbow. Bahh caught a flying Aries with a high boot. Bahh hit Aries with a high crossbody. Bahh sandwiched Aries in the corner with the splash. Callis and Mathews were hyped. Bahh went for the rump shaker again but he was distracted by spectators Kross and Moose. This allowed Aries to escalate to the top rope with Bahh. Aries hit Bahh with the Sunset Flip bomb into the Last Chancery for the submission win.
Austin Aries defeated Fallah Bahh via submission in 11:54 to retain the Impact World Championship.
Aries quickly tossed away Johnny Bravo from the ring so he could beat up Bahh more. KM tried to run in for the save but Kross hit KM with a doomsday Saito. Moose hit KM with a spear to continue the numbers game. The crowd chanted “douche” to the tune of Moose’s arm pump. Kross and Moose then replicated what they did to Eddie Edwards and Johnny Impact by hammering a chair into KM’s throat. The three heels stood tall to end the show…
John’s Thoughts: Color me surprised. This match had no business being as good as it was. This was a really fun match to watch and review. One of my favorite Impact matches to review all year. It’s matches like this that I love covering where on paper it looks either bad or looks like an afterthought. It wasn’t a technical masterpiece but somehow they turned comedy figure Fallah Bahh into a credible world title contender in one night. Aries deserves a bit of credit on his end as usual for showing some good comedy on his end but not making it seem forced. Kross and Moose at ringside was fun. I liked that we didn’t get Kross and Moose interference as well. Every person involved in this segment ended up better than when they came in. The commentators were good and I liked the story they told about Aries not being able to lift Bahh. Them not mentioning the Last Chancery made the match even more epic.
A good ending to the show and nice rebound after last week’s crap-fest. Fallah Bahh ended this show having probably the best match in his entire wrestling career and that’s not a shot against him, that’s showing that he’s so good that he found a way to belong in the main event. Not just in the main event, but Impact deserves a lot of credit telling an entire world title chase in one episode of Impact Wrestling where an undercard wrestler journeyed to the main event. Bahh’s popularity and charisma also shows you the lack of depth on the babyface Impact roster. Bahh is certainly a better babyface than both Eddie Edwards and Johnny Impact despite the latter two being better athletes. Thank God this episode didn’t suck. Jason Powell will be by later today with the Impact Wrestling Hit List as well as his members’ exclusive audio review.
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