By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling TV
Taped in Nashville, Tennessee at Skyway Studios
Aired June 16, 2020 on AXS TV
Highlights from last week’s Impact Wrestling show aired. The Impact Wrestling intro theme aired…
Josh Mathews and Madison Rayne were on commentary. Trey Miguel surprised and joked around with Dezmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz backstage to show solidarity and that he wasn’t suspecting Wentz in attacking him two weeks ago…
1. “The North” Josh Alexander and All Ego Ethan Page vs. “The Rascalz” Dezmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz for the Impact Tag Team Championships. Zach dropkicked Josh in the leg, but Josh quickly recovered and overpowered Zach. Zach quickly tagged in Dez and the two Rascalz used their signature roundhouse combo on Josh to give Dezmond a two count over Josh. Zach hit Alexander with a slingshot senton. Alexander clawed at Zach’s eyes to escape the corner. This allowed Alexander to tag Page in. The tag champions traded quick tags to keep Zach under control.
Dezmond ended up tagging in and hitting Alexander with a dropkick. Page broke up the following pin. Dezmond hit Alexander with a rising punch and step up kick. Alexander caught a leaping Dez and hit Dez with a spinebuster. Page tagged in a put the boots to Dez. Page and Alexander cut the ring in half on Dezmond and worked him over for a few minutes.[c]
Zach got the hot tag and gave Page a striking combo. He hit Page wth a running knee and hit Alexander with a Crossbody. Dezmond did a moonsault on Wentz to complete the crossbody. Wentz hit Alexander with a PK and standing moonsault for a two count. Dez tagged in and got a two count on Page. Page hit Dez with a Tae Kwon Do kick combo. Page and Dez took each other out with roundhouse kicks. Alexander and Wentz tagged in. Dez hit Alexander with a overhead kick. Wentz hit Alexander with a Canadian Destroyer for a two count.
Page tossed Dezmond around at ringside. Alexander crotched Wentz on the top rope. Alexander put Wentz in the Torture Rack. The North hit their Burning Hammer Power Slam finisher on Wentz to give Page the clean pinfall win.
The North defeated The Rascalz via pinfall in 12:45 of on-air TV Time to retain the Impact Tag Team Championships.
Josh Alexander was bragging in the backstage area bragging about a ton of people watching them defend the tag team championships. Page then yelled when he saw that noone other than one guy was backstage. Page then walked away saying that the locker room is dumb…
John’s Thoughts: The Rascalz lose yet another title shot (which they addressed last week). That said, this was totally fine and the result that made the most sense. The North are a hot tag team act, so why derail them at this points. In a world where most heels win via cheating, it’s refreshing to see heels get clean wins over credible opponents to build credibility. The Rascalz aren’t ready yet to get to that next level yet in their current comedy iteration. That said, all three Rascalz are talented so hopefully Impact’s writers decide to write these guys into meaningful stories soon.
Josh Alexander and Madison Rayne checked in from their commentary area. Josh reminded viewers that Moose’s belt is not a real championship and is a “prop”. While Josh was running down the upcoming segments he was interrupted. Trey Miguel was left lying again against some boxes. Wentz was yelling, wondering who knocked out Trey this week. Dezmond told Zach that he knows that Reno Scum did this…[c]
Jimmy Jacobs interviewed Ace Austin and told Ace that Ace is the prime suspect in terms of attacking Trey Miguel. Ace talked about how other people should be blamed too, like Michael Elgin, Sami Callihan, or Hernandez. Security guards were holding Eddie Edwards back. Eddie Edwards was accusing Ace for attacking Trey…
2. Kimber Lee vs. Nevaeh (w/Jessika Havok). Nevaeh and Lee traded punches early on. Kimber Lee blocked a shove by doing the splits. Nevaeh shoved Lee to the ground. Tasha Steelz and Kiera Hogan were shown watching from the crowd area while also eating popcorn. This distracted Nevaeh which allowed Lee to trip up Nevaeh and follow up with a roundhouse to the head. Lee locked Nevaeh in a modified half crab. Rayne noted that Lee knows that Nevaeh is walking on a reconstructed leg.
Nevaeh tried to rally in the corner, but Lee clawed at Nevaeh’s eyes to retain control. Lee hit Nevaeh with a suplex for a two count. Nevaeh took down Lee with a back elbow and lariat. Nevaeh hit Lee with a German Suplex for a two count. Lee got Nevaeh to the mat with a kick combination. Nevaeh caught a running Lee and hit her with a DreamDT for the victory.
Nevaeh defeated Kimber Lee via pinfall in 4:34.
Nevaeh held Havok back from attacking Kiera and Tasha. Kiera and Tasha threw popcorn at Havok and ran away…
Reno Scum and a bunch of guards were watching the Impact Plus app on a tablet. Ethan Page thought they were watching North matches, but one of the guards said they were watching Ken Shamrock matches. Page got mad and tossed the tablet on the ground, breaking it. Page said they should watch on their phones next time…
Josh Mathews and Madison Rayne hyped up upcoming segments…[c]
John’s Thoughts: While they gave Kimber Lee a few decent wins only to have her lose a one sided match after, I’m okay with Lee losing here as the Knockouts division has expanded a lot and it wouldn’t exactly be the worst thing in the world to have Lee in a gatekeeper role, given the promising new faces of the division (with potentially more to come given Impact teasing new talent). Nevaeh looked good on her end and I’m really looking forward to Havok and Hazard putting in work in the Knockouts division, presumably for the tag team titles given how Impact has put together about 4 tag teams over the past few months out of the blue.
Crazzy Steve cut a promo. He was acting very psychotic and talking to himself about Joey Ryan trying to cancel him. Steve talked about how he doesn’t fit into the box of Cancel Culture. Steve said he’s a homicidal artist who needs to work outside of the lines. Steve talked about how he’s going to find a few people in the locker room to come together with him to create a macabre masterpiece. The promo ended with Steve doing an evil laugh…
John’s Thoughts: Good stuff there and great to see Steve back in full Decay mode. I’m very surprised other companies didn’t really pick him up or showcase him. The guy does the Heath Ledger joker thing really well, and not in the Rascalz way where it’s a ripoff, but Steve rather makes it his own by doing some great character acting.
Rohit Raju attacked Rhino during Rhino’s entrance. Rohit wanted the referee to count the pin, but the referee refused since the bell didn’t ring (Good for them for following the rules for once). The ref rang the bell once Rhino got to his feet and agreed to start the match…
3. Rhino vs. Rohit Raju. Raju continued to put the boots to Rhino. Rohit then choked Rhino in the corner. Rhino caught Rohit with a back elbow. Rohit shoved Rhino off the top rope. Rohit escaped a Rhino powerslam and shoved Rhino into the ringpost. Rohit got a two count on Rhino. Rhino fended off Rohit with a few chops. Rohit hit Rhino with an elbow strike and head slam. Rohit hit Rhino with an elbow drop for a two count.
Rhino used a few gut punches to escape Rohit’s gut punches. Rhino gave Rohit a snap suplex for a moment of respite to recover. Josh Mathews reiterated Rhino’s Heath Slater “He’s got kids” tease from last week. Rohit tripped Rhino and hit Rhino with a cannonball. Rhino sidestepped Rohit’s top rope move and hit Rohit with the Gore for the win.
Rhino defeated Rohit Raju via pinfall in 4:05.
Josh Mathews told the viewers to focus on how Rohit has temper tantrums after his matches…
John’s Thoughts: Raju continues to lose matches, but I’m guessing there’s a story there given the commentators and Rhino pointing out how Raju is costing himself matches due to his temper. Hopefully they go with the easy “Hakim Zane” repackage job because it wouldn’t be hard to do. Raju’s impressive stints of offense reminds me of Trevor Lee, who’s really getting pushed, protected, and developed in NXT now after escaping the comedy jobber role in Impact. Another note, not sure if it’s leading to anything, but Josh Mathews teased Heath Slater again by dropping the “He’s got kids” line on commentary.
This week’s Impact Plus Flashback Match of the week was Kurt Angle vs. Ethan Carter III for the TNA Championship from a July 2015 episode of Impact Wrestling. EC3 won the title…
Michael Elgin was shown talking on the phone again (as teased last week). Jimmy Jacobs walked up to Michael Elgin and called Elgin a “prime suspect” in attacking Trey Miguel. Elgin pointed out how he doesn’t beat people up off camera and in fact he drags cameramen to his beatdowns of other people (just as he did to Ken Shamrock). Elgin said he sends people to the hospital and Trey wasn’t injured enough to go to the hospital, therefore Elgin shouldn’t be considered a suspect…
The commentators hyped up upcoming segments…[c]
Kylie Rae and Susie Yung were chatting backstage. Susie considered “being bad” since people beat her up when she’s good. Kylie tried to convince Susie otherwise, but was cut off by Taya Valkyrie. Taya said that being bad is fun and losers talk about being good. Susie pointed out that Taya was bad last week and lost, which caused Kylie to snicker. Taya said Susie and Kylie were annoying. She walked off, yelling for Johnny Bravo. Kylie continued to try to teach Susie about what’s good and what’s bad…
Moose forced Dave Penzer to do formal ring introductions again and Josh Mathews continued to yell about Moose not being a real champion. Moose stopped Dave a bit because he said he was hearing “You Deserve It” chants from the empty crowd…
4. Moose vs. Shawn Hernandez for Moose’s TNA Toy Belt. Hernandez hit Moose with a flurry of strikes and a dropkick. Hernandez dumped Moose outside with a lariat. Hernandez gave Moose a whip into the ringpost at ringside. Moose gave Hernandez an STO into the bottom buckle. Moose then put the boots to Hernandez. Hernandez went high risk, but Moose caught Hernandez with his signature high dropkick.
Moose clawed at Hernandez’s eyes for a bit. Moose then worked on Hernandez with methodical offense. Rayne pinted out how it was odd to see a big man like Hernandez manhandled like this. Moose also fish hooked the jaw of Hernandez. Hernandez no sold a chop and hit moose with a Uranage. Hernandez whipped Moose with his shirt, but the referee said that was illegal. Hernandez hit Moose with a corner splash and running senton.
Hernandez hit Moose wtih a backbreaker for a two count. Moose backdropped Hernandez right onto his foot for a low blow. Moose ran into the ref to block his vision. Moose hit Hernandez with the spear for the win.
Moose defeated Hernandez via pinfall in 6:08 to keep his toy belt.
Trouble, Trouble, Trouble, Trouble, Trouble, Trouble, Trouble. All of a sudden Ethan Carter III’s theme was playing which confused Moose. Eventually Moose’s theme would play as it was supposed to…
John’s Thoughts: I actually think EC3’s theme was pretty good. Both in WWE and Impact in fact. Especially Impact (Though, they probably shouldn’t have played it earlier with the Flashback moment to make this moment more of a surprise). Impact is doing a great job with the teases. There’s a chance that EC3 doesn’t come (his teaser on Twitter may have just been him firing back at Impact), but this segment was enhanced with the teaser nonetheless.
The Rascalz confronted Luster the Legend and Adam Thornstowe backstage and accused Reno Scum for attacking Trey. Luster said they haven’t talked with Ace in months and Adam pointed out how Ace owes them money. Thornstowe told the Rascalz to check out TJP and Fallah Bahh who said they were mad for losing to the Rascalz in their last match. Luster said they had to go to the ring to do grown man stuff. Wentz told Dez that all they can do now is keep looking…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Good to see Reno Scum back along with most of the Impact Roster, meaning they don’t have to stretch a skeleton crew as thin as they have been in recent weeks. Thumbs up to Adam Thornstowe, who I hear is a surgeon (or some kind of doctor) and that he’s been working overtime during the COVID pandemic.
Willie Mack, Cody Deaner, and Cousin Jake were doing a segment similar to the 70s Show segments. Cody said he was “happier than a pig in shit”, but he was also happy hanging out with The X Division Champion. Mack and The Deaners joked around a bit. While the Deaners were goofing around, Mack was giving out random “Johnny Swinger and Chris Bey facts”. Mack said that Johnny Swinger looks like the old hot dog at the back of a 7-11 rack and is the only person that can make Simon Diamond look good.
Mack said that Chris Bey looks like a skinny Flava Flav and the fusion of Lil’ Jon and Joe Camel. Cody handed Mack a beer bottle. Willie Mack then brought back his Stone Cold Steve Austin impersonation from Lucha Underground. Mack talked about how Mack and The Deaners are about to whoop the asses of Bey and Swinger, what?…
John’s Thoughts: I’ll have to say, that segment actually got a chuckle out of me. It was funny. Mack showed a ton of personality there and reminded me of some of his better character moments from LU. The comic timing was great on his “facts”. Cody has come a long way too ever since his old days in TNA with ODB. The only person who seemed out of place was Cousin Jake who looks like he has more potential outside of a midcard comedy act with Cody.
5. “Reno Scum” Luster the Legend and Adam Thornstowe vs. “Team XXXL” Acey Romero and Larry D. Thornstowe and Romero started off the match. Larry tagged in so XXXL could double team Adam. XXXL gave Luster a Uranage. Thornstowe hit Larry with a dropkick and then bulldogged him into Luster’s leg. Luster dragged Larry to his corner so he could work in tandem with Thornstowe. Thornstowe hit Larry with a moonsault for a two count.
Thornstowe went for a crossbody on Larry, but Larry caught Adam and body slammed him. Luster and Acey tagged in with Acey getting the hot tag rally. Acey no sold a kick and hit Luster with a sidewalk slam for a two count. XXXL squashed Thornstowe. Luster dumped Ace to ringside with a big boot. Luster gave Larry a spinebuster and held him in place for a spike double stomp from Thornstowe. Thornstowe picked up the pinfall win.
Reno Scum defeated Team XXXL via pinfall in 4:22.
John’s Thoughts: I’ve never been the biggest Reno Scum tag team fans (In fact, I’ve seen Luster do a lot of great singles work in the California independent scene working against some of the best wrestlers we see on TV today). That said, I liked this match and it reminded me of some of the good Reno Scum matches I saw for the All Pro Wrestling promotion in Daly City. It was a decent showcase. Here’s hoping they develop a bit of an identity after the long layoff.
Backstage, Chris Bey told Johnny Swinger about Willie Mack and The Deaners challenging them to a match and how Bey is not all about that. Bey said he’s all about going for the X title and not a tag feud. Swinger said he has the perfect partner for he and Bey and that he can contact that guy through Bey’s cellular phone or phone card. Swinger talked to someone on the phone who should be finished working for [Vince McMahon] “Jr.”.
The person on the phone told Johnny that he’s getting paid to do nothing for 90 days. Swinger said the 90 day non-compete is such a “wizzork” and that he doesn’t need the person on the phone anymore. Swinger then assured Bey that he knows an old outlaw who would work for cheap…
Eddie Edwards was shown getting ready backstage. Josh Mathews also hyped up a Deonna Purrazzo character profile for after the break…[c]
A character profile vignette aired for Deonna Purrazzo. Deonna Purrazzo talked about getting into the wrestling business at 18 years old. She talked about going to an independent show for the first time. They showed a picture of Deonna Purrazzo wrestling Toni Storm. Deonna talked about being 19 Years Old when she wrestled for Impact at a One Night Only show against Brooke Tessmacher.
Deonna pointed out that being her 8th wrestling match. She said she fell short for many wrestling companies. Deonna said she then adapted in-ring culture from all over the world. Deonna talked about evolving past the shy girl she was the first time she was in the company. She said she’s out here to prove she’s the best damn women’s technical wrestler in the world. Clips aired of Deonna attacking Jordynne Grace.
Purrazzo said she attacked Grace because she has the formula for success in Impact Wrestling. Purrazzo said it made sense to attack the champion if Deonna wants to be champion. Deonna said Grace may be a Hoss-ette, but her arm breaks like anybody elses would. Deonna said Grace is playing her game and that the Virtuosa is about to be Knockouts Champion…
Gia Miller told Jordynne Grace how cool Deonna Purrazzo’s character profile was, and wanted Grace’s thoughts on being attacked. Grace said the story was good and Deonna is about to see the best competition in the business. Grace said all Deonna had to do was challenge Grace face to face. Deonna then interrupted the interview and left Grace lying after another Fujiwara Armbar…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Welp… I’m sold! Give Deonna the belt ASAP. That was a great character piece and Deonna carried that piece with good delivery of her life story. WWE really missed the boat on her, and she’a already proving that she should have been considered to be at the level of a Becky Lynch or Sasha Banks. She’s betting on herself now and delivering. It’s even more refreshing, hearing Deonna not take the sour grapes former WWE wrestler approach that we’ve seen from so many former WWE undercarders. I’m so ready for Jordynne Grace to drop the belt.
Josh Mathews and Madison Rayne checked in from the commentary area and recapped Deonna Purrazzo’s attack on Jordynne Grace during the interview before the commercial. Josh Mathews advertised Susie Yung vs. Taya Valkyrie, Cancel Culture vs. Crazzy Steve and two mystery partners, and Mack and The Deaners vs. Swinger, Bey, and a mystery partner…
Eddie Edwards attacked Ace Austin during Ace’s entrance, but for some reason they ring the bell this time (I know it’s a street fight, but I don’t think that constitutes changing the rules of matches from segment to segment). Madison Rayne reminded viewers that Ace Austin once tried to seduce Alisha Edwards…
6. Ace Austin vs. Eddie Edwards in a Street Fight. Edwards brought out “a garbage can full of toys”. Edwards threw a trash can at Ace while Ace was going for his signature handstand kick. Eddie dodged a spinning roundhouse and crotched Ace on the ringside guardrail. Ace then shot his retractable staff at the face of Eddie to leave Eddie writhing in pain.[c]
Ace was stompping on a trash can with Eddie under it. Ace then rubbed his elbow in the face of Eddie. Ace hit Eddie with a high kick. Eddie fought back with a chest chop. Ace fought back with a suplex on Eddie. Ace hit Eddie with some cookie sheets. Eddie hit Ace with a forearm shot and a cookie sheet shot. Ace ended awkwardly when Eddie dumped him outside. Ace blocked Eddie’s suicide dive with a cookie sheet shot.
Ace Austin jabbed Eddie’s eye with the magician’s staff. Josh reminded viewers that Sami Callihan smashed Eddie’s orbital bone with a baseball bat. Eddie hit Ace with a belly to belly into a set up guard rail when Ace went for The Fold. Eddie hit Ace with a traffic sign and Blue Thunder bomb. Of course, Ace kicked out, because no one loses to the Blue Thunder Bomb. Ace avoided a chair shot by going through the ropes.
Ace hit Eddie with a disaster kick into Eddie’s chair. Ace got a two count. Ace accidentally hurt himself by slamming his hand into the trash can in anger. Ace set up a chair in the center of the ring. Ace also brought a table in the ring which he set up (and subsequently tossed back down the chair). Josh Mathews noted that these two beating each other up should make Tessa Blanchard’s match easier when she defends her title. Ace knocked Eddie out on a table after hitting Eddie with a cookie tray.
Eddie recovered and crotched Ace on the top rope. Rayne noted that Ace was moving slower than usual. Eddie tried to superplex Ace, but Ace slashed his laminated playing card across the eye of Eddie. Ace gave Eddie a crossbody and then gave Eddie a cross kick, leading to a two count. Eddie reversed Ace into a Tiger Driver for a two count. Eddie tried to hit Ace with a kendo stick, but he stumbled into a chair. Ace also missed with the stick. Eddie got the stick and hit Ace with the stick.
Eddie put the table upside down. Eddie gave Ace a neckbreaker into the knee of the table. Madman Fulton appeared behind Eddie Edwards and chokeslammed Eddie. Fulton followed up with an deadlift chokeslam. Fulton held Eddie up so Ace could hit him with the Fold for the victory.
Ace Austin defeated Eddie Edwards in about 15:30 of on-air TV Time.
Madison Rayne assumed that Madman Fulton attacked Trey (I hope not!). Fulton posed in the center of the ring. The Impact signature graphic aired to close the show…
But wait? There’s more. They aired another part of the Slammiversary teaser from a few weeks ago. The news reporter reported that at Slammiversary, “one former world champion” will be making their return to Impact. Kurt Angle, James Storm, Austin Aries, and Bully Ray were shown as potential former world champs to show up. They did edit out Drake Maverick from the teaser and added Lio Rush…
John’s Thoughts: The match was solid for what it was, and you don’t see a neckbreaker into a table leg all too often. That said, I’m already tired of Hardcore Eddie returning and I kinda hoped he would go back to being American Wolf Eddie after the long layoff. We can’t always get what we want and Eddie still looks like a lame ass cartoon character. Speaking of lame, Madman Fulton was the world’s most ineffective big man about three weeks ago (that was his story in OVE). He was losing clean for months (and it was so baffling that he was taking pins too). I hope he isn’t revealed to be Trey Miguel’s attacker, because that would be pretty disappointing due to how ineffective Fulton’s big man run has been so far.
Right after the match, Impact did a good job adding more layers to their tease for Slammiversary. It’s a good hook. I’m surprised that it’s Impact that’s doing this and not AEW. The use of the words “at least” tells me that they’re should be more than wrestling making their debut/return. Great rhetoric! Another stellar move, is Impact going with Lucha Underground style post-credits stingers. If it works in Marvel Movies, why not use it as hooks for weekly wrestling. This was a good episode of Impact Wrestling overall, even better than last week’s decent show.
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