By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling on Pursuit (simulcast on Twitch TV)
Taped March 22-23, 2019 in Windsor, Ontario at St. Clair College
Highlights of last week’s Impact Wrestling show aired followed by the Impact Wrestling theme…
Josh Mathews and Don Callis were on commentary. Josh advertised that Rebellion was on Sunday. He said that St. Claire College was sold out for this week’s episode of Impact.
Eli Drake made his entrance with two sticks: One Kendo stick “kenny” and a stick with a microphone at the end of it. Drake used the microphone stick to cut his promo. Drake talked about the “old” Eddie Edwards being “dead”. Drake called the current Eddie “flappy” and “flaccid”. Drake talked about how new Eddie was the weak link of the tag team. Drake talked about he talks to a stick now. Drake said “Kenny” was his now. Drake said when he loses a friend he gains a friend.
Drake said he has both “Kenny” and “Mikey” (the Microphone). Eddie Edwards ran in to attack Eli Drake during Drake’s promo. Josh said “what a way to start the final Impact before Rebellion!”. Edwards grabbed Kenny and cleared Drake from the ring. Eddie threw Kenny at Drake as a distraction so he could hit Drake with a suicide. Eddie whacked Drake a few times and chased him to the back. Drake yelled “oh shit (censored)”… [c]
John’s Thoughts: A good show starting brawl, but the problem persists that Eli Drake comes off as the one justified when I think the writers want people to side with Eddie Edwards as the babyface (?). It’s tough to root against Eli Drake when everything he says negatively about Eddie is spot on. Eddie Edwards is a really talented pro wrestler with a personality now, except he’s trapped in the gimmick of a deranged cartoon character. It’s stuff like this and the “Undead Realm” that shows that Impact is being stubborn with getting rid of the things that the Anthem-Era does to piss people off (and what makes this one clearly weak is that heel Eli Drake comes off as the most logical person in the scene). Sadly for Impact, this story isn’t going to have a good ending because Eli Drake is no longer with the company.
Josh Mathews recapped the last segment and said that the cameras couldn’t follow where Eli Drake and Eddie Edwards brawled to. Josh said that they do know that Eli Drake was “cowering away from Eddie Edwards into the night” (out of the company?)…
A Tessa Blanchard vs. Gail Kim music video packaged aired spotlighting the highlights of the feud…
Josh Mathews and Don Callis checked in from ringside at St. Claire College. Josh hyped that Rich Swann “goes to the OVE compound” (is this like New Day going to the Wyatt compound?). Josh hyped the debut of The Deaners. Josh advertised the main event of this show as Champions vs. Challengers in the form of Johnny Impact and the Lucha Bros. vs. Cage and LAX…
Ace Austin made his entrance. Josh said that Ace was trending in the ring direction and making a name for himself. Ace pulled out his ace card and put it in his mouth. His oppoent was Aiden Prince…
1. Ace Austin vs. Aiden Prince. Josh noted that Austin blames Prince on costing him his match a few weeks ago. Austin smothered Prince with strikes in the corner. Josh said you can find out who Prince is on the Global Wrestling Network. Prince came back and landed a suicide dive on Austin. Austin took advantage of Prince yelling “come on” to hype the crowd by hitting Prince with his own Suicide Dive. Austin ended up hitting Austin with an Asai Moonsault.
Austin did a handstand from the apron into a PK. Josh said that that signature move was so good that Will Osprey was tweeting about it. Austin hit Prince with a Fosbury Flop. Austin soaked in boos and “this is awesome” chants (an interesting combination). Austin hit Prince with a Savate Kick and Final Cut Suplex for a nearfall. Josh said Austin really wants to use “the fold” to put away Prince. Austin put Prince in the Tree of Woe and used him as a kicking bag. Callis noted that Austin has big glutes.
Austin crashed and burned off a cool twisting senton because Prince got out of the way. Prince hit Austin with a body run. Prince went for a paydirt but Austin held his ground. Prince hit Austin with a top rope paydirt for a nearfall. Prince went for a 450 but Austin trapped him in a Triangle. Austin converted the Triangle into a cross armbreaker. Austin gave Prince a “paper cut” with the ace card. Austin hit a Trouble in Paradise into a double stomp. Austin hit Prince with “The Fold” for the victory.
Ace Austin defeated Aiden Prince via pinfall in 5:54.
Ace Austin soaked in boos from the fans who were familliar with Aiden Prince. Austin put the boots and knees to Prince to more boos. Callis said this was the concept of rubbing a person’s nose in it. Canadian hero Petey Williams ran out for the save. He hit Austin with a dive and single leg codebreaker. Callis said it’s ridiculous that Petey becomes Superman in Canada (I kinda share that sentiment). Austin rolled out of the ring to avoid the Canadian Destroyer. The Oh Canada theme played to close the segment…
John’s Thoughts: An okay win for Austin but I have to say I was more impressed by Aiden Prince in this match. Austin has had three singles matches on weekly television and two of those matches involved his opponent getting more shine than they should. Prince’s problem is that he looked like the most local of local competitors complete with the BCW crowd being the only people in the world familiar with him. I’m guessing this leads to Ace Austin vs. Captain Canada at Rebellion?
Josh Mathews cut to a clip of Jordynne Grace at the gym benchpressing. Taya Valkyrie walked into the gym and tried to choke Grace with the barbell but Grace benched Taya off and went on the offense. Taya tried to choke Grace against the barbell set but Grace ended up turning the tables and choking Taya against the barbell set. Taya found a 20ish pound dumbbell and hit Grace in the gut with it to gain the advantage. Taya then put a 45 weight on the ground and DDT’d Grace on it. Taya said “Wera Loca is gonna be all over you. Want to be Knockouts Champ? Then prove it!”. Grace was left knocked out heading into commercial… [c]
John’s Thoughts: A really good outside segment from the women. Congratulations to Jorydynne Grace for escaping the Undead Realm purgatory into meaningful Knockouts programs. Congratulations to Taya Valkyrie to continuing to kill it as a character after bringing back her Lucha Underground Wera Loca persona.
Josh talked about how the prior segment was “brutal footage’ and he hyped Taya vs. Grace for the Knockouts title at Rebellion…
An RVD interview packaged aired. RVD talked about how he’s looking forward to facing Johnny Impact in Impact. RVD said he never faced Brian Cage and thinks Cage looks like a pretty good dude to get in the ring with. RVD said that Willie Mack is jacking his moves by calling his frog splash “Six stars”. RVD said the X Division stars grew up idolizing RVD. RVD said that Rich Swann is the biggest RVD mark. RVD said he’s here to deliver and kick people in the face…
Josh Mathews advertised RVD for the upcoming Canadan and ECW Arena tapings…
John’s Thoughts: These RVD vignettes have been interesting (?). On one hand, the inspirational music makes me think RVD is going to be a babyface, but RVD constantly calling out people for stealing his moves makes me think he might be a heel.
The Rascalz were walking around backstage confused and to some cheesy game show music. Dez and Trey walked into each other. They all got note that said to meet at this specific location. Trey said his note had “Meet” misspelled and his said “meat here”. Trey said he expected there to be meat at the location. Trey did a joke where he pulled out Pepto, Biotin, Ace Austin’s card, and other things out of his pockets before finding his note. Moose walked in to say hi to the Rascalz.
Moose was wearing a simple but nice suit (a bit tame for his standards, but he looks good in a suit). Moose said he’s tired of being in the “smokey bubble”. So he invited them to his location. Moose said he brought new friends. The Rascalz thought it was “La Fawndah”. Moose called over “The North” (Ethan Page and Josh Alexander) to join him in beating down the Rascalz. Moose said this is what the Rascalz get for trying to embarrass him on national TV and that the Rascalz suck. Moose said “say hello to my new Canadian friends”. Moose ended up standing tall with a sh-t eating grin to close the segment…
A Johnny Impact and Brian Cage video package aired. Johnny was outside somewhere while Cage was sitting in a locker room. Johnny said he thought people wanted to see champions, but they just want to see something new. Cage sounded depressed when he said he thought Johnny and Taya were good friends and that it’s hard to find friends in the business. Johnny talked about fighting wars to win and defend the championship. Johnny said the wins didn’t win to anyone other than Johnny. Cage said that Johnny showed his true colors and this isn’t the first time he’s betraying somebody.
Johnny said his betrayal makes the fans feel good somehow. Cage talked about how Johnny got to the senior referee and how the referee chop blocked him that one time. A replay aired of Johnny Bravo’s heel turn with Don Callis pointing out that Bravo was involved in all of Johnny Impact’s matches. Johnny said the fans are calling Johnny a coward because Bravo is doing things for him. Cage talked about finding a good referee in Lance Storm. Johnny said he’s not doing this for the fans and the fans are just as stupid as Brian Cage. Cage talked about being left in the ring, concussed, and made to look like a fool time and time again. Cage said that deep down that Johnny knows he’s not the better man. Killer Kross was shown in a few beatdown clips.
Cage said that there was nobody better than Brian Cage (a Wolverine sound effect played). Johnny said that Johnny is doing this for Johnny and that this is Johnny’s Legacy…
John’s Thoughts: A really basic and effective promo package to hype Johnny Impact vs. Brian Cage at Rebellion. A part of me is really happy to see this Lucha Underground feud make its way to impact along with the two strong Lucha Underground characters. Johnny has become a strong world champion while Cage has become a really sympathetic babyface.
A “Tale of the tape” aired of Johnny Impact and Brian Cage…
Josh said that “Rich Swann has arrived at the OVE compound” as Swann was shown outside of some warehouse… [c]
Josh Mathews ran through the advertised Impact Rebellion matches as well as the subsequent tapings at the Rebel Entertainment Complex and 2300 Arena…
Josh sent things to the GWN Flashback Match of the week. It was LAX vs. Lucha Brothers from back in January at Homecoming. I already saw this match recently so I don’t have to pay attention. They aired about four minutes…
Scarlett Bordeaux was cutting a promo wearing a see through top. Her boobs were covered by comic book stickers saying “Pow” and “Wow”. Scarlett said “hi there 5’s” and said she has an exciting announcement. Scarlett said she’s going to celebrate her win against Glenn Gilbertti with a live smoke show at Rebellion…
The Undead Maid of Honor (UDMOH) made her entrance with Su Yung and the Undead Bridesmaids. I think this was KC Spinelli playing the role again…
2. Undead Maid of Honor (w/Su Yung, The Undead Bridesmaids) vs. Rosemary. Rosemary brought a chain to ringside. Rosemary and UDMOH had a standoff. UDMOH took advantage of the distraction from Su Yung by pummeling Rosemary with punches. Rosemary escaped the corner and hit UDMOH with a Sling Blade. Rosemary followed a pin attempt with mounted forearms. Josh said that this is quite the cast of characters at ringside. UDMOH hit Rosemary with a straitjacket slam. Rosemary handed UDMOH the bloody glove. Callis said he thinks his hand would fall off if he grabbed the bloody glove. Rosemary took advantage of the ref trying to maintain control so she gave UDMOH a green mist. Rosemary beat UDMOH after hitting UDMOH with a spear.
Rosemary defeated UDMOH via pinfall in 2:16
Su Yung held back the bridesmaids and were force to watch as Rosemary choked UDMOH with the chain that Su Yung put at ringside. Su Yung showed concern as Rosemary dragged UDMOH like a dog on the leash. Josh said that one of Su Yung’s soldiers has just been taken in this war…
John’s Thoughts: Let me give a positive take, take away the crappy low-budget cinematics and you have two great characters. I am liking that Su Yung is starting to regain some of her steam (but of course I have guarded optimism as usual). Rosemary doesn’t need pretentious cinematics to get her character across because she’s so damn talented witout the writers getting into her damn way. This was a good segment but I can’t help but have a bad taste in my mouth that Impact creative can’t resist in implementing yet another pretentious cinematic (especially when they are doing decent cinematic work in other parts of the show like the Disco Inferno stuff).
Speaking of cinematics, Impact cut to the cinematic camera as Rich Swann was wandering around at the OVE compound. The Cirst Brothers were hanging around outside. Jake said “welcome home” to Rich. Rich said this isn’t his home. Rich asked for Sami and the Crist Brothers said that Sami wasn’t here. Rich knocked on a door and asked for Sami to open up. Rich said that he’s starting to get pissed. Rich Swann then sat down and got intropsective about his feud with Sami. Rich Swann recapped the feud.
Rich also talked about how he went to Germany with Sami as support when Sami’s mom died. Rich continued to introspect and said he hopes that Sami is hearing him reflect on the other side of the door. Rich said he hopes that Sami feels Rich’s words. Rich said if Sami can’t be a man right now then he’ll see Sami on Sunday. After Rich left, Sami emerged from the door drinking a beer and looking possibly remorseful…
John’s Thoughts: On the surface, that may have seemed bad and hard to follow. Only because Impact’s production team decided to play loud and cheesy background music over the cinematic. I replayed it to try to hear what Rich was saying and I thought that sans the music, this was a really good segment and I liked that we didn’t get a brawl coming out of it. Rich Swann was really good here in delivering the promo. Part of it is Rich Swann looking like a new character due to his very successful shave and haircut. A good cinematic if you could get past the loud and cheesy sad music.
The Lucha Brothers were shown backstage wearing Samurai Demon headdresses. Johnny Impact and Johnny Bravo walked up to the Lucha Bros. Johnny said “Amigos, hola” in the most white guy way possible (he’s really good and really proud of this). Bravo was wearing a campy suit. Johnny said the brothers get to follow the mayor of slamtown to victory. Fenix took off his headdress and spoke in Spanglish. Fenix said they aren’t intimidated and aren’t following anyone becaue the Lucha Brothers are the best team on the planet.
Pentagon took off his mask and said “mira pinche!” (Look bitch!). Pentagon called Johnny a Puto. Pentagon said they are the Lucha Brothers. Fenix said “do you understand?”. Johnny said he hopes that the Lucha Brothers bring this intensity to the main event. John ordered Bravo to hand the Lucha Brothers some John Morrison glasses (Johnny literally carries around boxes of these glasses to indie shows to hand out to fans). Fenix and Penta looked confused…
John’s Thoughts: A small little detail, but a part of me smiled inside when Pentagon called Johnny a bitch. I’m really, really hoping we get “old” asshole Pentagon Jr. back! This guy was next level and so entertaining in Southern California when he would wrestle for Lucha Underground and local indie promotions. They brought back Lucha Underground Taya, Johnny, and Cage so why not bring back Lucha Underground Pentagon and main eventer Fenix?
Killer Kross made his entrance for the upcoming match. Don Callis noted that Killer Kross has a new tatoo on his left pec which he got from training with the monks in Thailand. Callis said Kross killed all the monks (I like this canon). Willie Mack came out wearing a Steve Austin themed shirt (because he’s a Steve Austin tribute). Instead of “3:16” it was “1:87” which I’m assuming is a reference to Dr. Dre and Snoop’s line of poppin a cap in a shady undercover cop. Josh said that Mack is happy go lucky (that’s such a Michael Cole line)…
3. Willie Mack vs. Killer Kross. Callis said that Mack reminds him of “The Champagne Man” from Stampede Wrestling. Mack grounded Kross with an armdrag and armbar. Josh noted that Kross has the martial arts advantage over Mack. Mack gained control and went into MMA inspired offense on Mack like triangles. Mack escaped and gave Kross a right hand which Kross shrugged off. Kross came back with a boot and forearms in the corner. Mack turned the tables and hit Kross with a few jabs.
Kross showed frustration and fought through Mack’s offense with a single leg dropkick. The crowd tried to rally Mack with “Chocolate Thunder” chants. Callis said the chant reminds him of the OG Chocolate Thunder Darryl Dawkins of the Sixers. Kross was clawing at the face of Willie Mack. Kross hit Mack with a clinch knee. Mack came back with a leg lariat for a one count. Kross came back by turning Mack inside-out with a lariat. Kross said “stay down” as he pointed during a pinfall attempt. Callis said Kross leaves his door open at night because he wants to beat up intruders.
Mack fought out of the corner. Mack dodged a roundhouse and hit Kross with a cruicifix driver for a nearfall. Callis said Mack doesn’t look 100% after everything Kross just did. Kross fought out of the corner and hit a nice Muay Thai roundhouse on Mack. Kross hit Mack with the Doomsday Saito. Kross then flashed a glare at the crowd. Kross punched Mack. Mack hulked up and hit Kross with a German. Kross no sold the German. Kross didn’t no-sell the subsequent Exploder Suplex. Josh said “come on Willie!”.
Mack hit Kross with a face wash kick in the corner followed by the “whole lotta ass” as Callis calls it. Kross no sold the cannonball. Kross reversed the Stone Cold Stunner but Mack followed up with a Samoan Drop. Kross caught Mack during Mack’s moonsault and locked Mack in the Kross Jacket for the KO win.
Killer Kross defeated Willie Mack via ref stoppage in 8:08.
Kross held on to the hold for a bit more, but then got up and flashed a glare at the hard camera. Kross walked to ringside, laughed, and let out a huge yell at Mack… [c]
John’s Thoughts: A part of me is really happy that Lucha Underground is starting to make its way into Impact here because both men started to implement here what made them so famous at the Los Angeles LU Temple. What really put Kross on my radar was his violent and MMA inspired offense that I got to witness in Downtown LA during his LU dark matches back in 2015 (I never knew the guy was a great talker until Impact). That’s why I’ve been hyping this guy up for years. Mack got to show flashes of why he’s a great sympathetic figure. I don’t want to overhype this one too much, but Impact might have a match of the year candidate in their back pocket whenever they decide to go with a Brian Cage vs. Willie Mack feud/match. Just saying.
An Lucha Brothers vs. LAX highlight video package aired…
It’s time for the Deaners… (oh joy…)
4. “The Deaners” Cody Deaner and Jake Deaner vs. “Halal Beefcake” Joe Coleman and Idiris Abraham. Jake started the match and overpowered Idris early on. Coleman tagged in and got flapjacked by Jake. Cody tagged in and got body slammed by Jake. Josh Mathews talked about how the Deaners “like to have a good time”.
John’s Thoughts: Josh Mathews is really acting extra Michael Cole tonight, even more than he usually does. I mean, Vince is not on the headsets!
Jake tagged in and used Cody’s knee to hit Coleman with a gutbuster. Cody tagged back in and got flapjacked by Coleman. Josh and Callis then tried to figure out what Halal was and extrapolated that it’s bood and has to do with religion. Abraham and Coleman used Cody as a plank for pushups. Cody came back with a double lariat. Jake ran through both oppoents with lariats. Jake hit Idiris with a three point stance tackle. The Deaners hit Idiris Abraham with their double team finisher to give Jake the win.
The Deaners beat Halal Beefcake via pinfall in 3:13.
Generic country music played as the Deaners celebrated their win (reminds me of old school TNA for somer reason)… [c]
John’s Thoughts: A good win for the Deaners, I guess? In all honesty, I was actually impressed a bit by this Jake Deaner guy. We know what to expect from Cody as he used to be comedy fodder with ODB if I remember correctly. A part of me wants to see this team end up as enhancement, if only because they mistreated Trevor Lee all those years with the Southern Stereotype character (and Cody fits the bill moreso as enhancement); but as I said, I was at least impressed a little bit for now by Big Jake.
Josh Mathews announced new segments for Rebellion while also running through the rest of the card. The new segments include The Rascalz vs. Moose and The North, a live Smoke Show with Scarlett Bordeaux, and Rich Swann vs. Sami Callihan for the X Division Championship. Josh talked about how intrigity will not be in doubt with Lance Storm being the referee in the main event…
Johnny Impact made his hollywood themed entrance. Johnny grabbed a mic for a promo as he soaked in boos. Johnny said he was giving his thoughts on the special referee. Johnny said the nerdy wrestling marks don’t know their history. Johnny said he agrees that Lance Storm looks like the most honest person you could pick. Johnny said he loves this move because Lance Storm trained him in his WWE days at Ohio Valley Wrestling developmental.
Johnny said Storm is a homie. Taya bragged about how she was trained by Lance Storm (this is true). Don Callis let out a “oh god” like he was rolling his eyes. Taya said Storm was a featured guest at their wedding. Johnny said they always wanted to get a dog and name it stormy. Lance Storm then made his entrance. Don Callis ran through some of Storm’s accolades. Callis said Storm’s athleticism is only overshadowed by his integrity.
Storm started off by giving his former student Taya a hug which caused Callis to go “oh”. Johnny then gave Storm an exaggerated bro hug. Callis said this is not what they had in mind when they picked Storm. Storm said he’s happy to be back but there’s a bit of a misunderstanding right now. Storm said it’s true that Johnny was Storm’s student at OVW and that Taya is one of the top graduates of the Storm Academy. Storm said both of them are foretting the most important piece of advice he gave, to be an asset to the business and to be the reason why people like the business not the reason why “others” don’t.
Johnny said Storm also taught him to trust the people you work with. Johnny said that Storm should take into account that Cage is a meathead and he might break Johnny’s surgically repaired neck with a Drill Claw. Johnny asked if integrity was more important than years of friendship. Storm then said “if I can be serious for a minute”, to pop the crowd. Storm said his integrity is not for sale. Storm said his job at Rebellion is to give the crowd a champion they could respect not a person they can look down and not respect.
Taya then slapped Storm. Johnny went for a kick but Storm ducked a punch and then superkicked Johnny. Johnny, Taya, and Bravo retreated to ringside while Storm posed in the ring to his music… [c]
John’s Thoughts: I think Johnny’s finally come out of his shell. This was also something I saw from Johnny’s babyface run in LU back in March 2018. The guy is coming off like a human being and a really fun heel champ. Storm was never really strong on the mic in the past but he was really good here too as the honest veteran. The unsung hero of this segment was Don Callis with his snide comments on commentary.
Pentagon and Fenix made their entrance wearing their cool Samurai gear. Johnny toasted with the Lucha Brothers and their title belts. LAX made their usual entrance as Josh Mathews said that these three aren’t any to mess with (Yep, he’s extra Michael Cole tonight complete with laming the Wu Tang line). Cage made his Terminator entrance… [c]
5. Johnny Impact, Fenix, and Pentagon Jr. (w/Taya Valkyrie, Johnny Bravo) vs. Brian Cage, Santana, and Ortiz (w/Konnan). The Lucha Brothers took down Cage with kicks. Santana and Ortiz took down everyone else standing in the ring. LAX hit fun tandem offense on Fenix. Santana ran off Ortiz’s back for a moonsault while Ortiz hit Fenix with a freefall splash. LAX hit Fenix with a double flapjack. Santana did the Cero Miedo hand sign on his balls and told Pentagon “Cero Huevos” (Zero balls). That was clever. Callis said that meant Zero balls.
Santana and Ortiz had a CQC battle. Fenix landed a Savate Kick on Santana. Fenix hit Santana with the slicing Sobat and tagged in Pentagon. Pentagon said something durragatory about Cage’s mother as he went for a Fear Factor on Santana. Santana escaped and hit Penta with an axe kick. Cage tagged in and worked on Pentagon. Cage fought trough Penta’s offense and hit him with a German. Cage and Penta did their catchphrases against each other. Pentagon hit Cage with a sling blade.
Pentagon was on fire but Johnny tagged himself in the match. Callis called Johnny a spot picker. Johnny hit the Gargano spear on Cage. Cage reversed a Russian Legsweep with a few backbrakers. Ortiz tagged himself in. Pentagon sent Ortiz outside and hit everyone with a flip dive. Santana hit the outside pile with a springboard Swanton Bomb. Cage hit everyone with a moonsault (Ole! Ole! Ole! Ole! Lucha! Lucha!). Fenix hit the pile of people with a cool twisting springboard moonsault.
Lucha Brothers hit Cage with a series of superkicks. Johnny hit Cage with a Flying Chuck. Johnny was in sync with the LB’s. Johnny and Fenix hit splashes on age. Johnny put Santana in the Gory Special to get hit with superkicks. Johnny hit Santana with an Alabama Side Slam. Pentagon then gave Santana’s hamstrings a dropkick. Mandesss ensued on Ortiz. Johnny hit Ortiz with a 450 for a nearfall.
The LBs hit Cage with stereo superkicks. Santana and Ortiz hit Pentagon with corner kicks followed by a Whisper of the Wind cannonball. Cage hit Penta with an F5. Cage then hit Fenix with a super Flatliner. Johnny took down the face trio with thrust kicks. Santana surprised Johnny with a rolling cutter. Ortiz hit Johnny with a codebeaker. Cage kinda botched the sitout powerbomb but it’s fine because everything else these guys did was so freakin’ smooth. Johnny Bravo pulled the referee away to break the pinfall.
Taya punched the referee and ground and pounded on the child referee. SUPER REF BUMP!!! Konnan walked over to view the scene. Callis noted that Konnan brought Taya over to AAA in Mexico (as a part of the La Sociedad faction if I remember correctly?). Cage hit Johnny with a Falcon Arrow. Pentagon threw a chair at Santana. Pentagon hit Cage with an unprotected chair shot to the head (that’s not a part of Lucha Underground I wanted to see… ugh). Santana used a chair to ram a ladder into the Lucha Brothers.
Johnny Impact did a baseball slide into the ladder into the LAX. Johnny missed a chair shot. Johnny escaped a F5. Cage escaped a Moonlight Drive. Cage hit Johnny with Weapon X for the pinfall win.
Cage, Santana, and Ortiz defeated Johnny Impact, Pentagon Jr, and Rey Fenix via pinfall in 13:00.
Cage stood up with blood spilling from his ear. Cage celebrated by rubbing the blood on his chest as he did his Wolverine poses. Josh said that Cage is not a machine, he’s an animal. Josh closed out Impact…
John’s Thoughts: Aside from the classic LU unprotected chairshot to the head, this was one hell of a match. It might be my favorite Impact Wrestling television match in a long time. This was 100% Lucha Underground with a little bit of LAX sprinkled on top. Just spots and good action. Even the story points clicked with Johnny looking strong, Cage looking strong, LAX looking sweet, LBs looking great. This was fun madness.
This episode had everything I loved in Lucha Underground and I’m getting it in Impact Wrestling. It wasn’t the unique cinematics that made LU so great. It was the wrestling, wrestlers, promos, and storylines that made that show so fun to cover all these years and it’s very interesting to have that roster integrate itself here and finally show what made them so great on the hidden El Rey Network (but sadly now they’re hidden on the deer hunting and video game networks).
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