By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling TV
Taped September 5-6 in Las Vegas, Nevada at Sam’s Town Casino
Aired October 11, 2019 on Pursuit (simulcast on Twitch TV)
Highlights from last week’s Impact Wrestling aired followed by the Impact Wrestling intro theme…
Josh Mathews and Don Callis were on commentary. Ace Austin made his entrance and for some reason when he got to the bottom of the ramp he was pulled in and started making out with two planted fans (or indie wrestlers?). Ace Austin’s shirt said “Ace Austin 3:16 says I just banged your wife”…
1. Eddie Edwards vs. Ace Austin. Eddie and Ace brawled in the ring to start the match. Eddie hit Ace with a plancha after tossing Ace out of the ring. Ace beat up Eddie in front of his “groupies” and even made out with one of them again. Eddie regained control and tossed Ace into the ring post. Callis noted one of the girls was wearing a “Austin 3:69” shirt. Ace regained control in the ring with a cravate before he had to rope break. Eddie came back with a chop and then beat up on Ace a bit before he had to rope break.
Ace grabbed a drink cup from a fan and then slammed it on Eddie. Josh talked about how despicable Ace was for doing that (It’s a no DQ match). Ace hit a slingshot splash on Eddie. Ace hit a series of kicks on Eddie while Eddie was kneeling. Eddie recovered and took down Ace with a lariat, getting his second wind. Eddie hit the Kenta Kobashi rapid chops on Ace in the corner. Ace noted that the chops opened up wounds on Ace. Ace staggered Eddie on the top rope with a superman forearms. Eddie escaped the corner and crotched Ace on the top rope. Don Callis said that Ace Austin is so over with the ladies, that people are calling him the lost Von Erich.
Eddie Edwards hit Ace Austin with a super back suplex. Suddenly, the Reno Scum duo of Luster the Legend and Adam Thornstowe made their entrance to support Ace Austin from ringside. Josh Mathews noted that Ace has paid Reno Scum to do his bidding. Ace Austin hit Eddie with a series of kicks while Eddie was distracted staring at Reno Scum. Eddie ducked an Austin kick and gave Austin a Blue Thunder Bomb. Ace used a high cross kick to block Eddie’s Boston Knee Party to get a nearfall on Eddie. Eddie dodged Austin’s whisper of the wind. Eddie (barely) hit Austin with a Boston Knee Party.
Reno Scum pulled the referee out of the ring to prevent the three count. Eddie took down Adam and Luster with a Tope Suicida. Eddie Edwards pulled out Tommy Dreamer’s kendo stick from under the commentary table. He used the stick to beat up Reno Scum before losing the stick. Ace Austin caught Eddie Edwards with “the Fold”. Eddie kicked out. Callis noted that Eddie was the first person to kick out of the Fold. Ace Austin then loaded a metal spike into his cloth wrist brace. Ace gave Eddie a spinning backfist with the loaded brace for the win.
Ace Austin defeated Eddie Edwards via pinfall in 10:47.
They aired a replay and Callis noted that Adam Thornstowe gave Austin the spike. Reno Scum hit Eddie Edwards with a super curb stomp after the match. Ace Austin and Reno Scum celebrated in the ring after… [c]
John’s Thoughts: Eh, same ol’ deal as past weeks. The only person who gains from this program is Ace Austin because he’s so entertaining but the viewers have no real reason to care about Crazy Eddie.
Taya Valkyrie stumbled upon Rosemary again backstage this week. Taya continued to rant about asking Rosemary for help. Taya brought up how it’s Rosemary’s fault that Taya has to wrestle Jessika Havok this week. Taya asked Rosemary to help her because they are “friends”. Rosemary said life isn’t fair. Rosemary pat the title belt and then walked away…
Josh Mathews and Don Callis checked in from the commentary table. Josh said that Rosemary is trying to do whatever it takes to keep her title belt. Callis said holding the title as long as possible means more than just winning matches. Callis and Mathews ran through upcoming matches. Josh Mathews noted that they haven’t received an update as to weather Brian Cage is out of jail…
Gama Singh introduced Mahabali Shera as the “Veer Indian Warrior” while calling Rohit Raju and Raj Singh his “Indian Soldiers”. He actually kinda yelled the introduction this time. Josh Mathews noted that Mahabali Shera was on Impact a few years ago before “he went back to India to train” (so that’s what they’re calling WWE)… [c]
2. “The Desi Hit Squad” Mahabali Shera, Rohit Raju, and Raj Singh vs. “The Rascalz” Dez, Trey, and Wentz. The DHS triple teamed Trey to start the match. Rohit helped Raj hit Trey with a gut punch. Trey escaped the corner with a flip. Rohit Raju regained control after planting Trey to the mat and double stompping him. The DHS traded quick tags to cut the ring in half on Trey.
Trey Miguel managed to get a window of opportunity by nailing Rohit with an enzuigiri. Trey got the tag but Rohit distracted the referee enough to nullify the tag. Raj and Rohit hit a flapjack basement dropkick combo to give Raj a nearfall. Raj and Rohit went back to the isolation game. Raj accidently punched Rohit which allowed Trey to hit a Scorpion Kick and neckbreaker on both opponents. Wentz got the hot tag and hit Rohit with a enzuigiri.
Dezmond tagged in. Wentz hit Rohit with a PK. Dez threw Wentz into Shera. Dez and Wentz showered Raj with dropkicks. Dez and Wentz tried to give stereo suicide dives on DHS but they were caught and apron slammed by Mahabali Shera. Wentz caught DHS off guard with a flip dive. Rohit hit Dez with a knee. Wentz hit Rohit with a neuralizer kick. Raj hit Wentz with an elbow. Trey came at Raj with kick. Shera nosold the kicks of the Rascalz. Shera used Wentz as a battering ram against the other Rascalz and hit Wentz with the World’s Strongest Slam. Shera knew Raj was the legal man so he dragged the KO’d body of Raj and put him over Wentz for the pinfall win.
The Desi Hit Squad defeated The Rascalz via pinfall in 7:30.
John’s Thoughts: A good extended enhancement match in the favor of the DHS. Again, they’re feeding enhancement talent to Mahabali Shera which is exactly how you should be pushing a monster heel. While his improvement hasn’t been taking the world by storm, Shera’s definitely a much better wrestler than before his stint in WWE. Again, so far so good but the fact that Shera has a dumb finger wiggle dance scares me that they might be tempted to devalue him as a comedy goof if Scott D’Amore or someone finds that funny. On the other side, at one point it seemed like the Rascalz might have been a candidate to be the heir apparent of being the replacement to LAX as top babyface tag team in the company. It looks like Impact has sorta given up on them for now. Again, a consequence of treating these guys like undercard comedy scrubs.
Jordynne Grace was doing bicep curls with resistance bands backstage. RVD’s girlfriend Katie Forbes walked into the backstage area with her luggage. Forbes mocked Grace by treating Grace like a valet parking attendant. Grace took the car keys of Forbes and shoved them into Forbes’ exposed cleavage. Grace said she was going to kick the ass of Forbes. Forbes went “this ass?” as she started to twerk in front of Grace. A disgusted Grace walked off… [c]
John’s Thoughts: Speaking of soured on talents, Grace seemed like a fast rising star in Impact and she’s been seemingly shoved down the card. I don’t think it’s TOO big of a deal, but it’s odd to see talents like the Rascalz, Kiera Hogan, Jordynne Grace, and maybe others I’m forgetting to mention, have their pushes pulled away.
Taya Valkyrie and Jordynne Grace made their entrances for the Impact Knockouts Championship. Tenille Dashwood made her entrance to join the commentary table…
3. Taya Valkyrie (w/John E Bravo) vs. Jessika Havok (w/Father James Mitchell) for the Impact Knockouts Championship. Havok used her power to her advantage against Taya who played the cowardly heel early on. Havok gave Taya a few face wash knees in the corner. Havok got a two count. Havok dominated Taya for a sequence. Taya got her first bit of offense in with a rising knee after a schoolgirl. Taya did her signature Wera Loca battle cry. Taya hit Havok with her signature corner meteora. Taya got a two count.
Havok hit Taya with a three kick combo to get Taya to her knees. Havok then hit Taya with a backbreaker into a half bow stretch. Havok gave Taya another backbreaker when it looked like she was going to escape the hold. Both women brawled to the top rope. Taya then hid behind the ringpost and trapped Havok in the half Tree of Woe. Taya hit Havok with the Del Rio footstomp in the corner and got a two count on Havok. Havok quickly ended Taya’s momentum and planted Taya with a choke slam. John E Bravo pulled child referee guy to the outside. John E Bravo then shoved child referee guy to the mat. Callis said since Bravo was a senior referee, he was just “critiquing” the referee. Child referee guy called for the bell.
Taya Valkyrie vs. Jessika Havok ended in an apparant no-contest in 5:14.
Mitchell distracted Bravo a bit which allowed Havok to snatch Bravo into the ring. Havok gave Bravo a thrust kick to draw cheers. Havok then chokeslammed Bravo. Taya snuck up behind Bravo wtih a title shot to the head. This drew boos. Taya was then attacked by Tenille Dashwood who got less of a babyface reaction than Jessika Havok (she did get a few people to cheer by going “come on”). Dashwood pummeled Taya into the corner and hit Taya with an Emma-Mite Sandwich. Taya rolled to ringside, and walked up the ramp hugging her title. Josh hyped Bound for Glory in 9 days…
John’s Thoughts: I actually liked the match for what it was before the screwy finish. It was well wrestled using both women’s strengths. The booking of Jessika Havok has been perplexing over the past few months. She just committed attempted murder on Su Yung. Mitchell implies that she’s a heel with Havok doing heel things from time to time. But there’s times like this where she’s booked as a heroic babyface by beating up Taya and John E Bravo. Weird. Speaking of Weird, They should really consider NOT putting the title on Tenille Dashwood. Might there be a bit of “buyer’s guilt” in terms of Anthem forking over a lot of money to Dashwood (I’m not denying that Dashwood is very talented, but they seem to be strapping a rocket to her back that is not doing her any favors). She was very monotone on commentary and during her brawl with Taya she received a tame amount of cheers.
It was time for this week’s OVE camcorder promo. Sami talked about how fans don’t expect to be attacked by a machine when they come to watch wrestling, referring to what Cage did to the “fan” last week. Callihan told Cage to watch a replay of two weeks ago and see that Melissa Santos only took a bottle to the face because Cage ducked and their is video proof. Callihan said animals deserve to be behind bars. Callihan implied that Cage was still in jail. Callihan hyped Jake and Fulton’s match against Daga and Tessa. Callihan said OVE is For Ohio, By Ohio, and will take over Everything… Everything!!! EVERYTHING!!! Thumbs up Thumbs Down… [c]
Gabby Loren interviewed Ethan Page and Josh Alexander, implying that they were the ones that attacked Konnan last week. Ethan Page sarcastically acted concerned for Konnan and said that Konnan should have been wearing his Life Alert button. Willie Mack and Rich Swann confronted The North. Swann talked about beating Ethan Page and [Matt Sydal] last year and this time when they beat Page and his tag team partner it will result in Mack and Swann being champions. Page agreed that Mack and Swann beat Page and “somebody else” (Matt Sydal). Page said this is The North this time, not that other team. Josh Alexander told Mack and Swann how this is a triple threat match and how RVD and Rhino are skipping the line.
Rhino walked into the scene with RVD and said that he and RVD were in the line before Mack and Swann were born. Swann tried to talk about how he watched RVD and Rhino and as a kid. Rhino went back to arguing and as he pointed to The North the North were already away and gone from the interview (again, I say that Impact would be better served using Rhino’s strong comedic timing? Maybe he can join the creative team and write better jokes that Scott D’Amore, Jimmy Jacobs, or whoever is writing Impact’s crappy/esoteric comedy skits). RVD told Swann and Mack: “Thank you for the rug”. After RVD and Rhino left, Mack and Swann were confused as to what this “rug” RVD was talking about…
John’s Thoughts: Hmmm… Speaking of de-pushes, it’s also odd seeing Rich Swann pushed down the card too after his blood feud with Sami Callihan and subsequent strong run in the main event of Impact while Cage has been gone. This push towards Bound For Glory has been odd AF. I do like the North though. Ethan Page is great and FINALLY getting consistent mic time on a weekly basis, which he continues to shine in. The North look good, except when they are jobbing to ECW originals (I’m not just talking about RVD and Rhino, a few months ago, Page and Alexander were taking clean losses weekly to RVD and Sabu)…
4. Moose (w/Frank Trigg) vs. “The American Psycho” Stephan Bonnar. Josh Mathews noted that Bonnar is a former tag team partner of Moose (when they stome Frank F’n Lambert’s socks). Moose dominated the early chain wrestling, as he toyed with Bonnar a bit. Moose gloated to the crowd a bit. Bonnar nailed Mosse with a few kick combinations and a hip toss. Moose went to recover at ringside. Frank Trigg noted that Moose trained with Trigg dating bacy to Moose’s NFL days.
Moose feigned injury and caught Bonnar with an eye poke. Moose threw Bonnar into the steps, and went back to gloating. Moose hit Bonnar with gut and head punches. Bonnar grounded Moose with a spinning heel kick. Bonnar then hit Moose with a Belly-to-belly. Bonnar was bleeding from the side of his face. Moose came back with a few kicks. Bonnar planted Moose with a Spinebuster. Bonnar went high risk but Moose tossed the referee into the ropes to crotch Bonnar. The referee called for the bell and Callis noted that Moose got himself disqualified.
Stephan Bonnar defeated Moose via DQ in 4:24.
Moose continue to attack Bonnar after the match. Moose was about to use the chair but Shamrock made his entrance. Moose missed Shamrock with the chair. Shamrock pummeled Moose with punches, then planted Moose with a Belly-to-belly. Shamrock locked Moose in the ankle lock. Frank Trigg tried to help Moose, but Stephan Bonnar kept Trigg in check. Moose tapped out. Ken Shamrock stood tall at the end of this segment… [c]
John’s Thoughts: Trigg was a bit rough on commentary, but everything else was pretty solid. If I were being completely honest, Bound For Glory is a one match show, and that match with the best (and pretty surprising) hype behind it is the Moose vs. Ken Shamrock match (I think Marufuji vs. Elgin can steal the show, but they’ve barely done any build to that match). As I said, Black World Champion in AEW? I think I’d give that push to Moose who has done a stellar job over the past year reinventing himself (from bad creative). I would have personally have held back from having Shamrock get his hands on Moose, but I do like the end result and see why you would do it becasuse it shows off that Shamrock isn’t just some old guy coming in for a paycheck.
RVD’s girlfriend, Katie Forbes made a very strip club like entrance. This caused Don Callis to lose his voice and let out lines like “good gravy” or “sweet christmas”. Forbes “made it rain” fake dollar bills with a money gun. Forbes then went on to booty pop and twerk her way to the ring…
5. Jordynne Grace vs. Katie Forbes. Josh noted that Forbes is more business when the bell rings. Grace dominated during the chain wrestling. Forbes distracted Grace with an upside down booty jiggle. Yes, there was an upside down booty jiggle utilized as a wrestling move. Grace got to a vertical base and traded wristlocks with Forbes. Grace got a rollup for a one count.
Grace caught Forbes with a back elbow and thrust kick. Grace hit Forbes with a missile dropkick. Forbes went to ringside and complained that Grace chipped her tooth. Forbes managed to gain control and dominate Grace for a bit with thrust kick submissions in the corner. Forbes hit Grace with a backflip elbow. Forbes then showboated a bit by going back to the booty popping and the booty tapping. Grace used a wedgie to block a stink face.
Grace caught Forbes with a meteora to the back. Grace hit Forbes with a Vader Bomb for a two count. Forbes countered Grace with a tornado DDT. Grace escaped a Fireman Carry squat and then planted Forbes with a Grace Driver for the win.
Jordynne Grace defeated Katie Forbes via 5:42.
John’s Thoughts: A decent house show type of match. I get that they did build to this a bit when Grace would get disgusted at Forbes boob adjusting at the Cage wedding, but I’m not sure what this really acomplishes from a business perspective. Forbes did go for the quick sex appeal pop, but I don’t think it payed off because it came off as this random enhancement talent lady trying a bit too hard (and can watch someone like Scarlett Bordeaux utilize the in ring sex appeal a lot better than we saw here). I’m not implying anything, but did Grace piss someone off backstage or something, which is why they’re not really utilizing her when it looked like at one point she was a blue chipper?
Josh hyped the main event of the show… [c]
Johnny Swinger was shown backstage. The camera had a filter on it to make it look like it was coming from a cheap 80s CRT monitor, complete with the snowy fuzz on the top of the screen. Swinger talked to Forbes backstage about how he was impressed by Forbes. He advised Forbes that like Swinger, Forbes should show a bit more skin. Swinger said he’ll give Forbes more tips later “if you know what I mean”. Forbes reminded Swinger that she dates RVD. Swinger talked about how he goes way back with RVD from ECW and that Swinger says hello. Forbes said she’ll past that along. Forbes left, but before she did, Swinger asked Forbes if Forbes and RVD swing. Jordynne Grace then shoved Johnny Swinger once she came through the curtain. Swinger sat down and talked about how he likes the rough stuff…
John’s Thoughts: This Johnny Swinger stuff has been pretty fun. I won’t get my entertainment hopes up too high because Impact doesn’t do a good job with subtle comedy. As for Grace, I don’t understand how they’re building her character. She constantly gets disgusted at Forbes’ sexual allusions, now she’s shoving Swinger out of nowhere. It’s not horrible, but I don’t get where they’re going with her when they could have easily have had her in the Knockouts Title Picture if they wanted.
The Impact Flashback Match of the Week was a past Ultimate X match…
Tessa Blanchard and Daga were chatting backstage. Daga said he thanks Tessa, but he wanted Tessa to know that he can fight his own battles. Tessa said that Daga needs to understand that OVE is Tessa’s battle. Tessa said she has Daga’s back tonight, but Daga can fight his own battles at Bound for Glory while Tessa will fight OVE… [c]
John’s Thoughts: Yep, Daga’s still wooden on the mic and on camera. That said, in-ring he reminds me a bit of Kenta? Just a bit more reserved. Kenta used to be a bit wooden on the mic too, but at the end of his NXT and 205 runs, the guy became one of my favorite heel promos to watch once he turned a corner. If Kenta could find his voice, maybe there’s hope for Strong Style wrestler Daga? I know I’m reaching, but there has to be a reason why people keep hyping up Daga so much!
Fallah Bahh was stretching backstage where TJ Perkins showed up speaking some words in what I assume was the Tagalog language (because Perkins wears shirts like “eat lumpia”). Perkins had a donut platter with him. Perkins said that the donuts were for Perkins and Bahh can have some if he finishes his workout. Perkins sat on Bahh’s back eating donuts while Bahh did pushups. Bahh was speaking in both English and Tagalog too as opposed to his usual “Bahh”. Perkins made Bahh do squats while he was riding Bahh’s back. Perkins then hyped up Bahh to “Break the Unbreakable Michael Elgin” next week. Bahh took a bit of his cream donut, tossed it, and said “BAHH!”…
John’s Thoughts: Perkins is like that stereotypical Filipino friend a lot of us know that thinks he’s a playboy, but he comes off as too tryhard. That’s what I extrapolate. So far, this pairing isn’t working as well as I hope. Perkins just has these strange quirks that make him unlikable on TV. It’s saying something when Impact’s Biff Tannen Kevin Mathews comes off as more likable than TJP.
Josh Mathews and Don Callis checked in from the commentary table. Josh and Callis questioned Bahh challenging Michael Elgin. Josh announced Swann vs. Alexander vs. Rhino and Rohit Raju vs. Sabu in an X Diviison qualifier for next week’s Impact. Josh then explained the rules for the Bound For Glory “Call Your Shot” battle royal winner. Josh said that the winner gets to challenge for any championship of their choosing (so this is just one of Impact’s many variations of Money In The Bank).
Josh said next Impact will have a battle royal where the winner gets to come out at number 20 in the Call Your Shot match while the runner up gets the number 1 spot. Josh then hyped the “Prelude to Glory” show for next Friday which will feature Tessa Blanchard and Brian Cage vs. Jake Crist and Madman Fulton (huh? They why are we getting weak ass Daga this week?). They’re also doing Eddie vs. Ace again. Also they’re was going to be Alexander, Page, and Elgin vs. RVD, Rhino, and Marufuji. Main event entrances took place… [c]
6. Tessa Blanchard and Daga vs. “OVE” Jake Crist and Madman Fulton (w/Dave Crist). Josh kept stressing that this match has “Bound for Glory implications”. Daga dominated Jake a bit. Jake called for Tessa to be tagged in and Daga let Tessa in. Jake then tagged in Madman Fulton. Fulton stood tall and roared in Tessa’s face. Tessa got a waist lock on Fulton. Fultin used his hip to strike Tessa. Tessa went straight to Jake. Tessa dodged a Fulton lariat and hit Jake with a Suicide Dive. Tessa escaped Fulton’s bear hug by biting him.
Tessa and Daga sent Fulton outside. Daga tried to hit Fulton with a Plancha but Fulton caught him and catapulted him into the bottom rope. Dave got a cheap shot on Daga when the ref was distracted. Fulton choke slammed Daga. Fulton continued to overpower Daga. Daga hit Fulton with a cutter to allow Tessa to eat the hot tag. Tessa hit Jake with a Tornado DDT. Fulton broke up the pin. Daga and Tessa gave FUlton a plethora of kicks. Daga threw Tessa at Fulton to allow her to huracanrana Fulton outside. Daga hit Fulton with a corkscrew plancha. Tessa hit Jake Crist with the Magnum for the victory.
Tessa Blanchard and Daga defeated OVE via pinfall in 5:27.
Fulton put the boots to Daga and Tessa after the match. Jake ordered Fulton to hit Tessa with End of Days. Tessa and Daga were left lying. Suddenly a car was approaching the arena. Brian Cage entered the backstage area looking for Sami callihan. Cage dragged around Jimmy Jacobs by the collar asking where OVE was. Jacobs talked about OVE being in the ring. Cage entered the ring and gave Fulton an F5. Caged choked Dave asking where Sami was. Sami ran up to cage and hit him in the back with a chair. Cage no sold it and went after sami.
The other three OVE members held Cage in place so Sami can attack him and kick him in the balls twice. Dave said, “he kicked him in the ding ding”. The OVE guys then handcuffed both arms of Cage to the top rope. Sami was about to hit Cage with a bat, but Melissa Santos, who was wearing gym clothes, ran out to get in between Callihan and Cage. Melissa kept telling Sami that she and Cage have a baby (daughter). Sami teased showing mercy then he turned around and gave Melissa a pile driver (she is a trained wrestler by the way in addition to being an actress). Cage was helpless and crying in agony over his fallen wife. Sami and the rest of OVE ended the show doing Sami’s thumbs up thing while Cage continued to mourn over his unconscious wife while he couldn’t do anything. Impact closed.
John’s Thoughts: Mixed thoughts. While the Moose early contact with Shamrick worked, I don’t think they should be constantly putting Tessa over Jake Crist every single week. They’re making Tessa out to be too strong at this point and it kinda hurts that while they are good at points with Fulton, they never seem to go all in on him being dominant. Jake Crist’s fun story development seems to be on the backburner too in favor of Jake keeping the X title warm for Tessa (and presumed Option C cash in from Tessa on Sami).
As for the Cage and Melissa stuff, while I’m not too sold on Cage vs. Callihan at BFG, I do like Cage’s performances in the limited time he’s on TV in making himself sympathetic. It’s very tricky making jacked up Brian Cage out to be a human when the guy calls himself in-human. That said, dating back to his feud with Johnny Impact, Cage has done a great job at being a sympathetic babyface and the only problem with his title run is injury issues out of his control. This episode, it was not horrible, but the build for BFG seems very lukewarm. The only two matches that seem must see are the Shamrock vs. Moose match and the Marufuji vs. Elgin match (not due to Impact but due to Elgin and Marufuji’s reputation).
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