By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling TV
Taped November 7-8 in Queens, New York at Melrose Ballroom
Aired December 3, 2019 on AXS TV
[Hour One] The “Previously on Impact…” cold open focused on higlights from two weeks ago (due to last week’s Impact being a non-canon episode). The higlights focused on the number one contender’s gauntlet which featured a strong run from Rich Swann…
Gabby Loren interviewed Michael Elgin about his loss in the number one contender’s gauntlet. Elgin simply said that “somebody” is going to get beat up. The Impact intro theme aired…
Josh Mathews and Don Callis were on commentary. Josh Mathews welcomed viewers to New York City and noted that this was where Bound for Glory 2018 was held…
Eddie Edwards made his entrance holding some random trophy. Josh noted that Eddie won the “call your shot” battle royal at BFG to challenge for any title of his chosing. I honestly forget if this trophy has to deal with that. Eddie Edwards was wearing a Hard to Kill shirt to promote Impact’s next PPV. Callis said he thinks it’s a bit odd that Eddie hasn’t cashed in his title shot and figured that Eddie likes holding the threat of title contention over all the champions…
1. Eddie Edwards vs. Brian Cage. Eddie Edwards is now sporting dreadlocks with faded sides. Cage dominated early on with a shoulder block. Cage no sold Eddie’s chop and then ran through Eddie. Eddie hit Cage with an atomic drop. Eddie caught Cage outside with a back kick. Cage blocked a huracanrana with a power bomb attempt, but Eddie managed to follow through and complete the rana. Eddie worked on Cage at ringside with chops. Back in the ring, Cage caught Eddie with a high kick to the head. Cage hit Eddie with his signature deadlift second rope suplex. Callis noted that the move almost didn’t complete so Cage had to adjust.
Josh noted that ODB was returning to Impact later in this episode. Cage worked on Eddie’s back with several back stratching moves. Cage dominated for a sequence. The commentators noted that Eddie has named the trophy “Timmy” the Trophy. Eddie got a window of opportunity with a vertical suplex to Cage. Cage no sold Eddie’s side chops but Eddie followed through with a huracanrana. Both men traded uppercuts. Cage decided to gloat a bit which allowed Eddie to nail Cage with a Blue Thunder Bomb.
Cage blocked a Tiger Bomb which Cage turned into a move that looked like Murphy’S Law. Eddie escaped Cage’s F5 attempt. Both men traded strikes. Cage took a few kicks and took down Eddie with a lariat, leaving both men on the mat. Cage and Eddie were about to trade strong style punches, but suddenly Michael Elgin ran to the ring. Elgin took out Cage and Eddie with lariats, prompting the no contest.
Eddie Edwards vs. Cage ended in a no contest in 8:40.
Elgin put the boots to both Cage and Eddie. Elgin pummeled Eddie with punches. Three referees tried to get between Elgin and Eddie. Josh said that he “just received word” that the match will reset into a triple threat…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A decent match that didn’t get out of second gear before the interference. I do like Elgin getting involved and I’m intrigued to see where he ends up feud-wise after this because all signs were apparently pointing towards Rich Swann, but Rich Swann has no part of this match. Not the biggest fan of the match reset into the triple threat because I felt like they could have saved this triple threat for the following week if they wanted. This also reminded me of WWE at it’s worst earlier this year where we got a ton of these “match resets”.
2. Eddie Edwards vs. Brian Cage vs. Michael Elgin. Quick action ensued to start the match. Eddie managed to send both opponents to ringside by pulling down the ropes. Eddie hit Elgin with a suicide dive. Cage went back in the ring and hit both opponents with a Tope Con Hilo. Callis noted that Cage landed on his feet from the Hilo. Cage and Elgin ran into each other in the ring. Eddie hit Cage with an Angle Slam for a two count. Elgin and Eddie brawled. All three men ended up on the mat after a series of moves.
Eddie Frankensteinered Elgin into Cage. Cage went for a creative transition, but botched the move a bit because of Elgin’s size. Elgin gave Eddie a German Suplex. He also gave Cage one. Elgin knocked Eddie off the apron with a shotgun dropkick. Elgin knocked Cage off with a lariat. Elgin hit both opponents with a corkscrew moonsault heading into break. [c]
Cage and Elgin brawled to the top rope. Cage shoved Elgin off into a Blue Thunder Bomb by Eddie. Eddie caught Cage with a backpack stunner. Eddie turned a pin attempt into a half crab. Elgin punched Eddie two times, which Eddie no sold. Eddie sold the thrid punch. Elgin went for a forearm that Eddie reversed into a half crab attempt. Cage ended up hitting Eddie with lariats. Cage countered a kick into a pumphandle Falcon Arrow for a two count. Elgin and Cage showed great blocking ability. Elgin hit Cage with a Dragon Suplex. Elgin caught Cage with a forearm and hit Eddie with a pop up power slam.
Elgin transitioned a DDT into a Falcon Arrow for a two count on Cage. Cage countered a power bomb into an Alabama Slam. Eddie broke up the pin with a Boston Knee Party and Tiger Bomb for a two count that Cage kicked out of. Elgon blocked a knee with a spinebuster. Cage and Elgin then had a stalemate. All three men hit each other with strikes. Elgin ran off of Eddie’s back for a Tornado DDT. More strikes occurred to leave all three men lying. Cage hit Elgin with a combo in the corner. Cage went for a superplex on Elgin but Elgin crotched Cage on the top rope. Eddie sent Elgin down and glanced Cage in the side of the head with a knee strike.
Eddie went for a pin on Cage and then went for a victory rollup on Elgin but both pinfalls were broken. Elgin and Eddie traded strikes. Elgin no sold Eddie’s German and hit him with a lariat. Elgin buckle bombed Eddie into Cage and then hit Eddie with the Elgin Bomb for the victory.
Michael Elgin defeated Eddie Edwards and Brian Cage via pinfall in 11:55 of on-air TV Time.
Josh noted that Elgin was bleeding from the mouth. Josh also noted that “Impact Management” made this match official after Elgin interfered in the initial matchup.
John’s Thoughts: A well worked triple threat between three of Impact’s top in-ring talent. While that’s the case, I can’t help but feel like all three men are in wheel spinning position. The easy feud that Impact has in their pocket is Elgin-Swann, but I understanding saving that for a bigger stage down the road if they eventually get there. The one I’m worried about most is Brian Cage who showed reached another level in terms of character development in his feuds with Killer Kross, Moose, and Johnny Impact. Unfortunately, injuries made his world title run almost unexistant and now he’s in storyline limbo.
Josh Mathews and Don Callis checked in from ringside where they recapped the last match a bit. Josh Mathews hyped up the No Surrener Impact Plus evnt (named after the TNA PPV). No Surrender is a joint show with The Wrestling Revolver indie promotion. Josh advertised Taya Valkyrie vs. Jessika Havok for the Knockouts Championship, Ace Austin vs. Eddie Edwards in a tables match, and Sami Callihan vs. Rich Swann for the Impact WOrld Championship. Josh noted that this show was in Dayton, Ohio which is Sami’s home town. Callis said there’s a good chance that Swann leaves as champion (uhm? probably not. Not on one of these non-canon shows). Josh said that ODB was returning to address the support she’s received for her Food Truck being burnt down…
They cut to the Rascalz and their ode to the That 70s Show smoke circle. Trey Miguel was furious over Ace Austin talking about his mom’s body being hot. Zach Wentz and Dezmond xavier implied that they agree with Ace Austin. Trey Miguel’s mom joined the circle. Trey tried to convince his mom not to watch him wrestle. Momma Miguel said that other mom’s watch their kids wrestle and asked if Trey thought she was a distraction or if Trey was embarrassed of her. Trey said he didn’t mean anything bad and that his mom can come ringside. Trey’s mom left and told the trio that she was making meatloaf tonight… [c]
John’s Thoughts: Eh, at this point, Impact’s just really being stubborn with the whole low budget 70s Show ripoff. Not sure why, because this thing isn’t pushing the needle positively, but I guess some TNA habits die hard. This is not even the best part of That 70s Show that they are ripping off. At least Wentz is trying his best to be Kelso, but the best part of 70s Show is Red Foreman.
Impact cut to Moose walking the streets of New York. This was another one of those Mr. Perfect sports pieces. This week Moose was trying out basketball. Moose found two random guys who didn’t want any of Moose because Moose beat up the last set of people he played sports with. Moose said if he makes this three pointer, he’s treating the guys to beers. Moose made the three pointer. The guys cheered thinking Moose was giving them beers. Moose ended up beating them up and leaving one of the guys dangling in the basketball hoop…
Josh Mathews was in the ring talking about how Impact feels the need to come to the the aid of their brothers and sisters. Josh announced that the ticket sales to this show at the Melrose Ballroom will go to the repair of ODB’s destroyed food truck. ODB made her entrance, holding her signature alcohol flask to the ring. Josh then handed things over to OVE to addresss she’s received from her fans. ODB received an ovation. She said it feels great to be home. ODB talked about how it’s been a tough few months. They showed still pictures of “ODB’s Whiskey barbecue” food truck. They also showed clips of ODB BBQ-ing from the truck. ODB then talked about how she received that dreadful call of her truck being on fire which made her think “dammit”.
ODB talked about how hitting 40 sucks and that she did this BBQ business to start a life after wrestling. ODB said this moment sucked and she thought “at least I have insurance”, but it sounded like it didn’t come through. ODB said her insurance company can kiss her ass. ODB said the support of her wrestling family was much better and it’s badass that she has received so much love. ODB talked about always feeling at home in Impact.
Taya Valkyrie and John E Bravo made their entrance, complete with the Mr. Mundo toy dog. Taya acted condescending towards the destruction of ODB’s truck. Taya then went on to talk about how ODB is one of the most loved and intoxicated Knockouts in Impact history. Taya also said that ODB was a four time champion (I didn’t notice she won it that many times). ODB reminded her that she was the “Knocked up” champion. Taya brought up herself being the best and longest reigning Knockouts champion in Impact history. Taya said this is Taya’s show. Taya said she spends more on spilled mimosas than ODB does on her Hot Dog infused BBQ sauce business.
Taya said she doesn’t want ODB’s mustard covered hands anywhere near the knockouts championship. Taya said she’s going to donate to ODB’s indiegogo so ODB can buy a fire extinguiser the next time ODB’s truck goes on fire like ODB’s wrestling career. Taya told ODB to get her “McRib smelling ass” off of Taya’s show. ODB was taking constant swigs of her whiskey flask. Taya yelled “Get the lunch lady out of here”. ODB then went on to attack Taya. ODB splashed Taya in the corner. John E pulled Taya to ringside for the retreat. Josh talked about how Taya interrupted a feel good moment… [c]
John’s Thoughts: Now that exchange caught me off guard in a good way. Great heel work from Taya and ODB always does a good job connecting with the fans when given talking time. I was never the biggest fan of ODB matches, they were always very samey and comedy. ODB was always a great character though outside of the in-ring matches. To be honest, I wouldn’t mind a short term feud between ODB and Taya after that exchange and Taya just deserves a lot of credit these days being such a strong women’s champion. People always talk about how great NXT’s women’s division is compared to AEW, but I’d also argue that Impact’s women’s division is a lot stronger than AEW’s too, mostly because of Taya’s strong run and work as a heel (not to mention, Tessa Blanchard has not been in Impact’s women’s division for months because they moved her over to the men’s division).
They cut to clips form a Tessa Blanchard and Sami Callihan press conference hosted by Josh Mathews and Scott D’Amore in regards to Sami’s title defense at Hard to Kill. Tessa took the podium first. Tessa said she’s a professional so she’s not going to discredit Sami as champion. Tessa said that Sami is vicious and destructive, but ultimately he’s a talent wrestler and the face of the company. Tessa talked about how she’s going to put things to rest at Hard to Kill. Tessa then walked up to Sami and said she’s going to make history at Hard To Kill. Sami yelled at D’Amore for allowing Tessa to get up in his face.
Sami took the podium. He said he doesn’t dislike Tessa for being a woman, or being handed everything on a silver platter due to her family name. Sami said he dislikes Tessa because she’s a spoiled brat (so he does dislike her for havin everything on a silver platter!). Sami said Tessa is like other people in this generation of wrestler. Sami said he’s put in a lot of work over the last 15 years. Sami talked about how other people are calling this history, but this is just a routine title defense for Sami. Sami said he’s going to treat Tessa like everyone else by “cracking [her] f–king skull”. This fired up Tessa. Tessa and Sami then pie faced each other with D’Amore and Josh Mathews dragging them both out of the conference. Sami kept yelling “bulls–t”…
[Hour Two] Entrance for the next trios match took place. Josh Mathews talked about how “fun loving” the Rascalz were (the guy really has to get in his Michael Cole-isms). Trey’s mom was shown in the crowd…
3. Ace Austin and “Reno Scum” Adam Thornstowe and Luster the Legend vs. “The Rascalz” Dezmond Xavier, Trey Miguel, and Zachary Wentz. Ace teased challenging the number one contender to his title but he quickly tagged in Thornstowe. Trey hit Adam with a CQC combo. Trey then caught Adam ith a slingshot huracanrana. Ace got the blind tag and then pummeled Trey. Trey showed off his educated feet. Ace Austin teased doing his paper cut spot but Trey escaped. Wentz tagged in and hit Austin with a CQC combo.
After dominating a bit, Wentz tagged in Dezmond for some quick high flying moves. Reno Scum attacked Dez and hit him with a cool looking German SUplex into a double stomp. Reno Scum cut the ring in half on Dezmond with the quick tags. Ace Austin tagged in and used his body to hide using the card to cut up Dezmond’s hand. Dezmond fended off Austin with kicks. He then knocked out Austin with a back cross kick. Trey and Thornstowe tagged in with Trey having momentum. Trey hit Thornstowe with a Scorpion Kick and neckbreaker. He caught Luster with a Pele kick. Trey teased a Tope on Luster but he ran right into a roundhouse from Ace.
Dezmond and Wentz hit Ace with a plethora of kicks. Wentz then ran off of Dezmond’s back to hit Luster with a Poetry In Motion dive to the outside. Adam dove on Dez and Wentz. Trey hit everyone except Austin with a corkscrew dive to the outside. Trey went high risk but was distracted by Ace Austin hitting on Trey’s mom. Austin then yelled “oh s–t” when Trey ran at him for the ground and pound. Dez and Wentz tried to go for their finisher on Adam but Luster pulled Dezmond away. Thornstowe picked up the win with a rollup and a hand full of tights on Zach Wentz.
Ace Austin and Reno Scum defeated The Rascalz via pinfall in 8:39.
Josh noted that Reno Scum stole the win…
John’s Thoughts: Good trios work from both teams. One of Impact’s better trios match. In fact, this is some of the better stuff I’ve seen from Reno Scum in recent months, and that’s including their local California indie work. I like Reno Scum picking up the win here. The heels need a bit of heat. Hopefully start seeing more backstage stuff from these teams and hopefully they don’t involve 70s show smoke circles because those segments take the air out of the room. No pun intended. Ace Austin continues to shine as a sleezebag.
Jordynne Grace and ODB were chatting backstage. ODB said she understands that Grace has a match with Taya at the PPV, but tonight ODB is going to kick Taya’s ass all over the Impact Zone and maybe leave a piece of Taya left for Grace at the PPV. “Baaaaaam”! Grace then said she’s a big fan and just came here to donate to ODB’s food truck. Grace stuck some bills in ODB’s cleavage and walked away. ODB was happy to receive the donation… [c]
John’s Thoughts: Just wondering, is it socially acceptable for a person to give a woman money by stuffing it in their cleavage? I’m guessing if a man did that they’d be slapped. Therefore I shouldn’t hand women money by stuffing it between their boobs. I digress.
Johnny Swinger sat next to Joey Ryan backstage and started ranting to Ryan about how the Mizarks out there are ruining things for top guys like he and Ryan. Swinger said things are getting bad because these people are scaring away all the rizzats, causing the rizzat pool to shrink up. Swinger proposed that he and Ryan form a clique to get all the big pay days. Ryan was ignoring Swinger, looking at his cell phone. Swinger said he’s going to start things off by facing Petey Williams later. Swinger said when the ref’s back is turn, he’s going to send the iggy to backstage to allow Joey to interfere and help Swinger. Ryan said he loves the plan. Swinger said he’s excited and even has a few hand signals…
Rob Van Dam’s crappy TNA music started playing. RVD and Katie Forbes made their entrance. Katie danced like a stripper while RVD served the role as being her stripper pole. The two also went all in on their making out. Callis said their PDA is lovely. RVD’s shirt said “Mr. Monday Night” (Uhm? It’s Tuesday Rob!). Katie introduced the ladies, gentlemen, and wrestling fans to “The sexiest man in the world” RVD. The two then made out again. RVD then started talking about people copying all his moves and being a big star. RVD said he agrees with Katie that he’s “big everywhere”. RVD then went into another one of his all-over-the-place promos about people stealing his moves.
Tommy Dreamer interrupted RVD’s promo (which is probably for the best). Callis said Dreamer always gets involved in people’s business. An EC-Dub chant ensued. Dreamer talked about how RVD hasn’t returned his texts and calls. Dreamer wanted to know what happened between RVD and Rhino. Dreamer proposed a match between RVD and Rhino for next week to do things the way they used to do in ECW. Rob tried to come back with a reply, but was all over the place, and even got lost in his promo. This promo included a lot of uhm’s and huh’s. RVD did have a good line about having to take care of his girlfriend and girlfriend’s girlfriends. RVD said he was turning down the proposed match with Rhino.
Rhino then made his entrance and brawled with RVD. Independent wrestler security ran out to pull abart RVD and Rhino. Katie Forbes snuck in some kicks on Rhino. RVD and Katie walked away up the ramp…
A Rich Swann video package aired which spotlighted Swann’s strong run in the gauntlet match from two weeks ago…
John’s Thoughts: Now that wasn’t exactly the worst thing in the world, but yeah, RVD can’t cut a coherent live promo in 2019. They’re going to have to find a way to keep him from cutting live promos because we found out that there are actually good promos hidden in these bad promos he’s cutting, someone just had to cut up and shuffle them around to make them understandable. I honestly felt like Dreamer was thrown out there as a safety raft. As for the Swann package, I really like it. It gives me hope that Impact is going to follow through with elevating Rich Swann after his star making performance. It also shows that Swann overshadowed Tessa in what was framed as Tessa’s big moment.
Several people congratulated Swann for having such a great match. Mack said that gauntlet performance was straight up fire. Swann said he liked the thanks but that was supposed to be Tessa’s moment and Tessa’s making history. Swann said he and Mack need to start thinking about next week’s “Tag team open”. The North, Josh Alexander and Ethan Page, walked in. Page said he’s not here to do anything. Page congratulated Swann for a great performance in the Gauntlet and noted that it must get at Mack seeing Swann become maybe the biggest star in Impact. Page talked about how Swann is going after the world title this Saturday.
Page and Alexander then gave Swann claps. Swann said Page needs better acting skills. Swann said all The North need to know is that he and Mack are winning the Tag Team open to go to Hard to Kill because he and Mack are Hard to Kill. Swann said he and Mack are going to win the tag team championships (so he doesn’t care about the world title?). The North left. Swann told Mack that everything was going to be alright. Mack tilted his head a bit to show that he was a bit conflicted and introspective.
John’s Thoughts: Ugh. Yeah. Weird stuff with Impact having these non-canon Impact Plus shows. These shows are so non-canon that Rich Swann apparently is looking past that match, and he’s already assuming he’s not beating Sami Callihan this Saturday for the title. That that weird part out, and I thought there was some good in that segment, namely from Ethan Page and Willie Mack. I really liked Willie Mack selling Ethan Page’s words to add some intrigue to his personality. Maybe a Mack heel turn? Not sure? I never saw the guy work heel because he’s such a lovable babyface? It might work and Mack really needs to be more than being Swann’s generic friend.
Gabby Loren interviewed Fallah backstage about getting attacked by Desi Hit Squad two weeks ago. Bahh responded to all of Gabby with “Bahh”, but Gabby couldn’t understand. Bahh then switched to his shoot voice and told Gabby that he’s still here after what DHS did to him “last week”. Bahh said as long as he still here “you’re damn right I’m gonna fight back”…
They cut to the Impact Plus Flashback Match of the Week. This one actually made sense. It was ODB vs. Mickie James from an old episode of Impact Wrestling (Wait? Have they finally uploaded the Spike TV Impact Wrestling episodes to that thing? I remember they were missing for the longest time)…
James Mitchell introduced “Susie” Yung to his good friend Jessika Havok. Mitchell told Susie that if Susie respects Havok’s personal space then the three of them are going to be the best of friends…
John’s Thoughts: There’s a three way joke in there somewhere, but I’m just going to stay away from that. Yo Rich Swann! Again, collect yo wife from creepy ass James Mitchell!!! Joking aside, this has been an intriguing storyline so far, especially with Su Yung finally gaining the ability to talk. That and James Mitchell is such a great storyteller. The only thing that freaks me out is the Adobe After Effects effects and Rosemary’s pretentious Undead Realm promo from the last episode. I remember Mickie James getting hit by a random train, I know where most roads lead in TNA. Disappointment. Please keep the Undead Realm dead and buried!
Woah! This is rare. Petey Williams is wrestling a match outside of Canada! And he’s still coming out to “Oh Canada!” as entrance music. Josh noted that Petey has been on a bit of hiatus from Impact (wait? hasn’t he been wrestling regularly while they were in Canada?). His opponent was Johnny Swinger. Josh Mathews noted that it looks like Johnny Swinger’s mind is stuck in the 90s (isn’t he going for 80s?)…
4. Johnny Swinger vs. Petey Williams. Swinger tried to ask for a handshake and kick Petey, but Petey saw it coming and came back with a dragon screw and rollup. Swinger complained to the referee and said Petey grabbed the tights. Petey and Johnny then danced their pecs at each other. Petey gave Swinger a huracanrana and his signature hesitation dropkick to the back. Swinger hit Petey with a jawbreaker on the top rope followed by a fist drop. Swinger gave Petey a few axe handle drops.
Swinger missed a few elbow drops after a missed dive. Petey hit Swinger with a single leg codebreaker and legsweep. Petey called for the destroyer. Swinger avoided it by rolling to the apron. Swinger called out for Joey Ryan to run out… but no one came. Josh Mathews said he’s hoping for Joey Ryan. Callis said he heard they formed a new clique. Petey made Johnny tap out to the Sharpshooter.
Petey Williams defeated Johnny Swinger via submission in 3:09.
Josh noted that Joey Ryan left Johnny Swinger hanging high and dry…
John’s Thoughts: I wonder? Is this building towards a Ryan vs. Swinger feud? That’s interesting with the potential to be fairly fun. I say this, because I was so Impressed by the Joey Ryan vs. Ricky Reyes feud from a few years ago where Joey Ryan decided to not do his dick gimmick. We sall Joey already pull out the dick gimmick against Shamrock, so hopefully he varies things up? That and I’ve been liking what I’ve seen from Swinger so far. He’s funny without running a joke into the ground.
Josh Mathews and Don Callis checked in from ringside again. Josh said that Joey and Johnny don’t seem to be in a clique. Callis said he thinks its a clique spelled “kliq”. Josh joked with Callis, telling him not to do the Turkish Wolf hand sign. Josh hyped up Impact No Surrender again. Josh then hyped up RVD vs. Rhino next week with Tommy Dramer as guest referee. Josh also noted that there is a “Tag Team Open” next week to decide the challengers for The North at Hard to Kill. Josh also noted that Sami Callihan and Tessa Blanchard were picking each other’s opponents for next week. Next week Impact is airing Tessa Blanchard vs. Madman Fulton and Sami Callihan vs. Ken Shamrock…
John’s Thoughts: Finally! A non comedy matchup for Shamrock! After Shamrock’s great performance at BFG, this Callihan vs. Shamrock match has the potential to be fun.
Entrances for the main event took place…[c]
5. Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie (w/John E Bravo) vs. ODB in a non-title match. The match started off with about ten minutes left at the top of the hour. Taya slammed ODB to the mat and did her signature Wera Loca war cry. ODB recovered and hit Taya with a few running strikes and signature mannerisms. ODB smacked around Taya around the ring. ODB gave Taya a fallaway slam. Taya retreated to ringside for a moment of respite. John E Bravo took away ODB’s flask. ODB got it back and offered John E a sip. John E agreed to sip as long as ODB didn’t hit him. John E took a few swigs and acted immediately drunk. ODB pulled John E in for the motorboat which John E liked.
Taya tried to take advantage of the distraction, but ODB saw Taya coming and then tossed her. ODB went high risk was pulled off by Taya. Callis noted that Taya is a good mix of speed, power, and technique. Taya hit ODB with a meteora to the back of the neck. ODB recovered and hit Taya with strikes. Taya knocked ODB to the bottom rope. Taya hit ODB with a hip attack and stinkface. Taya then hit ODB with her signature meteora in the corner. ODB kicked out at two. Callis noted how Taya made a name for herself in AAA by learning Spanish and building a resume for herself. Taya put ODB in a leg trap with clubbing blows to the back.
Taya locked ODB in a modified STF. ODB got to the ropes for the break. Taya then hit ODB wiht a nasty looking curb stomp. This drew a lot of boos. Taya yelled at ODB about coming back. ODB fought off Taya with boots. Taya and John E argued a bit about John E liking ODB’s motorboat. Taya and ODB traded punches in the corner off the top rope. ODB then shoved Taya off the top rope by forcing Taya to motorboat her.
John’s Thoughts: This is probably the most times I ever wrote the word “motorboat” in a wrestling match review. Thank you ODB?
ODB then slammed Taya’s head into her own pelvic region. Uhm? Ok. Callis had a similar reaction as I did and said “what’s the name of that move Josh?”. ODB then gave Taya a top rope Theaz Press. ODB gave Taya a corner splash followed by a Bronco Buster. ODB took a swig. John E went on the apron and wanted more motorboat and drank. ODB gave John E some drank. Taya took advantage of the distraction this time and put the boots to ODB. John E said “I’m the champion” now, to spark a “he’s the champ” chant from the crowd. John E then posed as champion which distracted Taya a bit. Jordynne Grace walked out, took the belt from John E, and posed with Taya’s belt. This distracted Taya enough for ODB to beat Taya via schoolgirl.
ODB defeated Taya Valkyrie via pinfall in 10:12.
Callis called this quite the upset. Taya was shocked wtih her loss while John E continued to act intoxicated. Josh hyped up Taya Valkyrie vs. Jordynne Grace at Hard to Kill. ODB offered Grace a swig of the flask. Grace took a sip and acted like she didn’t like the drink to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: While I question Impact putting what is seemingly a midcard special attraction in the main event, I’m ultimately fine with this given Taya’s strong heel work in this match and throughout the night. It also shows that Taya can shine when in a program with a strong babyface like ODB. I also always had a soft spot for ODB’s comedy. Not sure if this was a one-off or not, but with ODB picking up the win it sets up for Taya getting her win back in upcoming weeks if they want to make a mini program out of this to kill time between now and Hard to Kill. I think that would be great because ODB proved tonight that she can be a great foil to a strong heel in Taya. Hopefully, Jordynne Grace gets to get some shine in this feud too because Grace is still a work-in-progress in terms of character.
Not sure how to fully evaluate the show. It was fine, but we’ve definitely seen more interesting shows during the Pursuit and Pop eras of Impact. A small think I liked from this episode is the small references to Rich Swann’s strong performance on the last canon episode of Impact. It shows that there’s a chance that he ends up getting featured very soon along with some possible character development (as I said, I liked the Ethan Page and Mack backstage segment). The ODB and Taya stuff also stood out in a good way. What’s tough, is Impact really is having a hard time standing out with all the weekly shows out there. It’s easy to stand out over ROH, but the other shows are just very unique and fun.
No Lucha Underground comparison……I’m impressed