By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling TV
Taped in Nashville, Tennessee at Skyway Studios
Aired October 6, 2020 on AXS TV
Highlights from last week’s Impact Wrestling show aired followed by the intro theme…
Josh Mathews and Madison Rayne were on commentary…
The next match was dubbed a “return match” due to it happening last Saturday on Impact Plus…
John’s Thoughts: When they end up doing this match on TV anyway, it continues to send the message that Impact Plus exclusive shows are totally skippable. This is the same identity the TNA “One Night Only” shows had. I actualy prefer they keep the special-named theme shows for weekly television because Impact has consistantly delivered wonderful shows over the past two years with that presentation.
1. Tommy Dreamer vs. Brian Myers. Dreamer gave Myers a body slam and then sent Myers outside with a lariat. Dreamer beat up Myers around the ringside for a few minutes. Myers turned the tide when Dreamer missed a chop and ended up hurting himself by chopping the ringpost. Myers gained a moment of respite when he gave Dreamer a suplex on the entrance ramp. Dreamer used gut punches to escape a side headlock, but Myers came right back with a baseball slide lariat to trip up Dreamer. Dreamer gave Myers a sunset flip for a two count.
Myers regained momentum with a elbow tackle. Myers followed up with a series of elbow drops, ending up in cravate position. Dreamer got some time to recover after surprising Myers with a running power slam. Dreamer got a two count. Myers staggered Dreamer with a kick. Myers hit Dreamer with a body slam for a two count. Myers dragged a kendo stick to the ring. Mathews noted that this wasn’t an “old school rules” match. Dreamer reversed the stick shot with a Russian Leg Sweep. Dreamer was about to hit Myers with the stick but Myers started to beg for mercy, telling Dreamer to “think about my daughters”.
After Myers apologized Dreamer put down his fighting pose. Myers got back to his feet and took the stick from Dreamer. Myers hit Dreamer with the Kendo Stick for the DQ.
Tommy Dreamer defated Brian Myers via DQ in 9:19.
Myers continued to beat down Dreamer with the kendo stick after the match. Madison Rayne stated that Dreamer trying to be a father figure to Myers came back to bite him. Scott D’Amore and backstage staff ran out to the ring. D’Amore told Myers to calm down and Myers agreed, walking to the back. D’Amore and the staff checked on Dreamer while Myers watched from the stage…
John’s Thoughts: A good way to drag out the Myers-Dreamer feud, but I can’t stay I’m excited to see Dreamer feuds these days since they are so cookie cutter and carbon copy. I also think that it made Dreamer look a bit like a dope for not hitting Myers with a kendo stick when the Kendo Stick has never been established as a “career ending” weapon in the pro wrestling context. On the bright side, I think Impact is doing a solid job redefining Brian Myers after Myers was established for years as the bottem of the barrel in WWE.
Josh Mathews and Madison Rayne checked in from their commentary set where they ran through upcoming segments. Madison Rayne ended up announcing that the Tag Team Title match at Bound for Glory was going to be The Machine Guns vs. Good Brothers vs. Fulton and Austin vs. The North…
Moose was shown walking around a gym and parking lot looking for something. He was looking under the equipment, cars, and trash cans…[c]
John E Bravo was shown backstage, talking to some of his wrestle house co-stars. he told them that he wanted them to hand him some money to help pay for his wedding. Alisha Edwards said they can’t help him because they aren’t boujee. Fallah Bahh said he knows a way he can find money. Johnny Swinger and Crazzy Steve ended up getting in a verbal fight with The Deaners. All John E Bravo wanted to know was who was going to set up the Fondue Fountain…
Rohit Raju made his entrance to the Skyway arena. Josh Mathews reminded viewers that this was the “Defeat Rohit Challenge”. Rohit Raju cut a promo about how he’s giving out opportunities as champion. He talked about everyone being jealous of him. Rohit then hyped up someone making an entrance. Willie Mack ended up making his entrance. Josh Mathews noted that Willie Mack accepted the Defeat Rohit Challenge, but it probably didn’t count because Mack won after Rohit ran away from the match.
Rohit told Mack that Mack wasn’t allowed to accept because he had his chance on Saturday. Mack ended up looking peeved on the steps. Jordynne Grace made her entrance. Josh Mathews said since the X Division Title is about “No Limits”, then this should be ok…
2. Rohit Raju vs. Jordynne Grace for the Impact X Division Championship. Rohit stalled for about a minute to start the match. Mack started yanking at Rohit’s title belt. Jordynne Grace rolled up Rohit with a jackknife pin to become the new champ.
Jordynne Grace defeated Rohit Raju via pinfall in 1:13 to become the new Impact X Division Champion.
Dave Penzer announced Grace as new champion. Rohit Raju threw a fit on the mat. Mack put the belt on Grace. Rohit protested to the referee that the referee didn’t hold the belt in the air and the match shouldn’t have counted for the title. The referee went to Dave Penzer and Dave announced that the decision was reversed.
The referee reversed the title change. Jordynne Grace wins but Rohit Raju is still X Division Champion via technicality.
Rohit grabbed a mic and bragged about Grace defeating Rohit, but not becoming champion because the belt wasn’t on the line. Rohit Raju stood on the top of the ramp and hyped himself up as X Division Champion. Josh Mathews said that Rohit Raju cheated the system…
Scott D’Amore clapped for Rohit Raju in the Gorilla Position area. D’Amore gave Raju a lot of sarcastic praise. D’Amore announced Rohit Raju vs. Willie Mack vs. Trey Miguel vs. Chris Bey vs. TJ Perkins vs. Jordynne Grace in a six-way scramble for the X Division Championship…
John’s Thoughts: I’m not the biggest fan of the overabundance of chicken-bleep heels in pro wrestling, but Rohit Raju’s portrayal of one is starting to grow on me. Over the last two weeks, his promos and promo delivery have gotten WAY better. He was a bit too over-eager early on in his singles push to the point where he came of as very fake. He’s starting to come into his own now and he’s reminding me a bit of Ace Austin when Ace Austin was on his rise from the X Division to the main event.
Fallah Bahh ran into Hernandez backstage. They were about to have an arm wrestling contest for Hernandez’s wad of cash, but it got postponed since Bahh accidentally ran into Hernandez, causing Hernandez to spill his drink all over his shirt…
3. “Team XXXL” Acey Romero and Larry D vs. “The Rascalz” Dezmond Xavier and Zach Wentz. XXXL knocked Wentz to ringside during the Rascalz entrance routine. XXXL then did a double flapjack move on Dezmond. The show cut to commercial.[c]
Acey was manhandling Dezmond back from break. Larry tagged in and continued the isolation of Dez. Larry ended a Dezmond rally with a modified GTS. XXXL went back to cutting the ring in half on Dezmond. With a kick and a front flip, Dez was able to tag in Wentz, who cornered Larry using a series of strikes. Wentz hit Larry with a standing Shooting Star for a two count. Larry D tried to make a comeback, but he was taken down by the rapid kicks of both Rascalz. Acey missed a lariat and accidentally hit Larry with it. The Rascalz dumped Acey to ringside. The Rascalz hit Larry with Hot Fire Flame to give Zach Wentz the victory.
The Rascalz defeated Team XXXL via pinfall 6:27 of on-air time.
John’s Thoughts: A solid match and I like this match being utilized as a stepping stone to help the Rascalz build a bit of credibility. XXXL have unique look and it seems like they should be taken better care of, but they have been stuck in the parity Tag Team undercard, so utilizing them as stepping stones for the Rascalz is good business.
They cut to Fallah Bahh roaming around backstage where he wandered into a shower room. Hernandez was taking a shower, which allowed Bahh to jack Hernandez’s wad of cash…
John’s Thoughts: Doesn’t Hernandez not own a wallet? Or keep his money in a bank account? Maybe someone needs to teach Shawn how to use a Venmo.
Jimmy Jacobs was at a training center in Florida where he was chatting with the doctor who was supervising Rich Swann’s rehabilitation. The doctor informed Jimmy that Rich Swann was ready to wrestle today if Rich wanted to. Rich was about to get interviewed by Jimmy, but he was attacked by a guy in a doctor’s assistant uniform. It was Eric Young, who beat down Rich, focusing on Rich’s injured leg. Eric Young ended up “bashing” Rich’s leg with a kettle bell (which they didn’t show in the shot, because you probably don’t wanna be swinging an actual kettle bell at people)…
Gia Miller interviewed Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley. Gia talked about how brutal the last scene was, with EY attacking Rich Swann. Shelley said this environment can be very dangerous, and that’s coming from two guys who live in Detroit. Shelley then talked about Ace Austin and Madman Fulton. Shelley said Ace reminds him of a young Alex Shelley. Sabin said Fulton reminds him of a character from the Boarderlands video game.
The Good Brothers interrupted the interview, while also shilling their merch. Shelley cut off Anderson, saying that the Guns were better than the Good Brothers. Gallows reminded Shelley that they were gunning after the tag team titles. The Good Brothers walked away saying they were keeping their eyes on the Guns. As the Brothers left, Chris Sabin randomly brought up that he heard that Karl Anderson pissed himself on a plane once…
4. Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie vs. Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz. Taya planted Kiera with a spinebuster, followed by some Ground and Pound. Taya tossed Kiera against the corners. Taya hit Kiera with a stink face and then followed up with a running meteora. Josh Mathews noted that Taya is a former Reina de Reinas (Queen of Queens) champion.
John’s Thoughts: According to Wikipedia, Taya is the current Reina de Reina’s champion, so I think Josh may be a bit misinformed.
Rosemary and Tasha tagged in with Rosemary attacking Tasha against the corner. Kiera kicked Rosemary off the apron to give her team the advantage. Kiera choked Rosemary in the corner with a boot to the throat. Rosemary fell into the bottom buckle when she took a dropkick to the knee from Kiera. Kiera and Tasha traded quick tags to keep Rosemary under control. Rosemary caused Tasha to crawl away in fear from the Undertaker sit up. Kiera grounded Rosemary at ringside with a lariat. The camera showed that Jessika Havok and Naveah were watching on a monitor backstage.
Taya managed to get the hot tag. Taya cleaned house. Taya planted Kiera with a Blue Thunder Bomb for the two count. Taya hit Kiera with a curb stomp. Kiera managed to kick Rosemary to the mat. Taya reversed Kiera and Tasha by slamming them into each other. Taya hit Tasha with a suplex. Rosemary tagged in. Rosemary hit Kiera with a German Suplex. Tasha hit Rosemary with a codebreaker. After Tasha knocked Taya off the apron. This allowed Rosemary to pull Tasha in and hit her with the Wing Clipper. Rosemary picked up the pinfall.
Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie defeated Tasha Steelz and Kiera Hogan via pinfall in 9:14.
Taya and Rosemary celebrated their win after the match…[c]
John’s Thoughts: I don’t understand why Impact are dragging their feet on the women’s tag team titles? I think they’ve dragged it out so much that the interest level in seeing women’s tag team titles in Impact have dropped since before Slammiversary when the iron was hot. Now it doesn’t even seem like they’re building towards title belts and the plethora of women’s Tag Teams in Impact are just having matches over minor motivations. On the bright side, Taya and Rosemary looked good and the Impact women’s roster continues to look deep. Taya in particular is benefiting from the wins, coming off a ton of losses after losing the Knockouts Championship.
5. “The Deaners” Cody Deaner and Cousin Jake vs. Johnny Swinger and Crazzy Steve. Swinger and Jake started off the match. Jake hit Swinger with an atomic drop. Swinger walked into punches from both Deaners. Cody tagged in and Swinger managed to get him in a side headlock. Steve tried to give Swinger some forks and spoons to use, but Johnny didn’t need it yet. Swinger dragged down Cody into a sleeper. Swinger tried to use the toy monkey as a weapon, but Steve didn’t want Swinger to break the toy. Steve pulled the toy to ringside. Cody hit Swinger with the Deaner DDT for the victory.
The Deaners defeated Johnny Swinger and Crazzy Steve via pinfall in 2:59.
They cut to footage from Victory Road where Deonna Purrazzo used the Fujiwara Armbar to “break the arm” of Susie. Gia Miller interviewed Kylie Rae about Susie getting her arm broken. Kylie talked about how hit hurts her to rewatch the moment and how it’s not okay. Kimber Lee interrupted the interview to taunt Kylie. Kimber Lee also implied that Susie is a bad person. This fired up Kylie, who beat up Kimber Lee. Kylie looked remorseful at leaving Kimber Lee lying…[c]
Scott D’Amore was at a table backstage, where he was having a meeting with Heath [Slater]. Heath ended up handing Scott a contract proposal. D’Amore was about to give Heath a contract, but said that Heath was asking for too many 0’s. D’Amore said that Heath needs to sign the more “reasonable” contract that he has ready for Heath. Heath’s tone got serious, saying that he invested a lot of his own money for ads and social media.
Heath said he’s been out of work for a long time and it’s Scott who needs to look over the contract again. Scott said he doesn’t want to disrespect Heath. Scott said Heath’s good, but it’s not like he won a Olympic gold medal. Scott said that Heath should take the smaller contract and then work to the larger one. Heath said he’s not an Olympic gold medalist, but he’s also not a Sunday morning jobber. D’Amore’s tone changed and he started blowing off Heath, noting that Heath probably hasn’t been on a PPV in a long time. Heath said he’s done nothing but draw more attention towards Impact by breaking into Slammiversary and through social media. Scott threw Heath’s proposed contract on the floor. Heath ended up leaving the office disappointed…
Heath ran into Rhino in the hallway, who expected good news. Heath told Rhino that it was a failure. Heath brought up how he was offered a WWE contract after his segment with Drew McIntyre on Raw and how it was Rhino who told Heath to reject the contract and come to Impact. Heath told “Terry” (Rhino’s real name) that now he’s forced to sneak into buildings without a job. Heath said that he has a family that relies on him. Heath told “Terry” that “The grass is greener on the other side… my ass!”. Heath walked away in disappointment…
John’s Thoughts: So this is the Heath that we’ve been waiting for. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like the stuff leading to this moment helped. That was all vestigial and unnecessary to the point where it did nothing but define Heath down. Hopefully, we start seeing the Heath that we saw confront Drew McIntyre that one time. In fact, that might be the direction they’re going with Heath directly referencing that moment. I’m starting to think that Heath might end up being able to become a big deal outside of WWE. Fingers crossed that he get’s his Drew Galloway moment here. Two years from now, I wouldn’t mind seeing Heath go back to WWE a new man like Drew did (just to complete the circle of all three 3MB guys going from the bottom of the barrel to the top of the world).
EC3 was standing over a bridge talking about how Moose needs to get rid of the past and the connection to the TNA Championship. EC3 dumped the belt over the bridge. EC3 ended the promo by saying “Free Moose!”…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Well, that was a bit disappointing. I kinda expected some fire, or a sledgehammer, or something.
Ken Shamrock told Sami Callihan that he felt bad for what he did to Eddie Edwards last week. Callihan told Shamrock that the segment drew a lot of twitter attention in a positive way. Callihan said people like the “Old Ken Shamrock”. Callihan fired up Shamrock and convinced him to beat up a random stage hand backstage…
Josh Mathews and Madison Rayne recapped the last few segments and advertised segments for next week. They announced a Rich Swann health update, a three way women’s tag team match, Kimber Lee and Kylie Rae, and Madman Fulton vs. Doc Gallows…
Entrances for the main event took place…[c]
5. Impact Tag Team Champions Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin vs. Ace Austin and Madman Fulton in a non-title match. Sabin dominated Ace early on with wristlock control. Ace escaped and hit Sabin with a dropkick. Sabin recovered and hit a running Austin with a dropkick and armdrag. Sabin used a victory roll to set up Ace for a punt. The guns hit Ace with a high-low combo. Sabin and Shelley traded tags to keep Ace under control. Ace managed to flip away from Shelley to tag in Fulton.
Fulton gave Shelley a Snake Eyes onto Ace’s knee. Fulton slammed Shelley in the corner buckle a several times. Fulton told Shelley that “you may be a machine gun, but I’m a bazooka”. Fulton tortured Shelley with methodical offense. Shelley used knees to escape a delayed vertical suplex. Fulton reversed Shelley. Ace tagged in and the duo hit Shelley with a side-slam leg drop combo. Ace sliced Shelley’s hand with his laminated card. Fulton tagged back in. Fulton lifted Shelley and then Sabin into an elevated sleeper in the corner.
Ace tried to use the laminated card on Shelley again, but Shelley escaped. Ace accidentally ran into Fulton. Shelley rolled out of the corner and tagged in Sabin. Sabin dropkicked Fulton off the apron. Sabin hit Ace with a kick combination. After a back elbow. Sabin hit Ace with a missile dropkick. Sabin hit Ace with a Spike DDT. Fulton broke up the subsequent pin by Sabin. Ace landed a low kick to Sabin. Ace then hit Sabin with a enzuigiri. Shelley and Fulton tagged in.
The guns dumped Fulton to ringside. Sabin caught Fulton with a PK. Shelley gave Ace a Flatliner onto the bottom buckle. Fulton helped Ace escape the corner. Shelley escaped a Snake Eyes attempt. The Guns hit Fulton with stereo round house kicks and a double suplex. Shelley dodged Ace, causing Ace to dive on Fulton. Sabin used a Muta Lock to allow Shelley to hit Ace with a dropkick. Fulton managed to lift and plant both Guns with a suplex. Ethan Page and Josh Alexander walked to ringside in street clothes, carrying chairs to the ring.
The referee would’t allow The North to enter the ring. They were dragged off the apron by Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows. The North and Good Brothers brawled at ringside. Gallows punched Fulton into stereo superkicks from The Guns. The Guns hit Fulton with a crossbody-neckbreaker combo to give Shelley the win.
The Motor City Machine Guns defeated Ace Austin and Madman Fulton via pinfall in 12:58.
Gallows and Anderson jawed with Shelley and Sabin from the stage to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: A fun tag team match with Ace Austin and Madman Fulton showing an amazing amount of chemistry in the short time they were put together as a tag team. Fulton in particular has been elevated since teaming up with Ace and that’s even translating to his work as a big man in the ring. Impact’s top of the tag division is on fire. Most of Impact’s main events since Slammiversary have been featuring the four tag teams in the tag team upper card, and deservingly so. Looking forward to the four way match at slammiversary (but as I said last week, with the Guns being retired at one point, I would also like to see a Machine Guns vs. Good Brothers match because that one can be considered a dream match).
A solid episode of Impact building towards programs at Slammiversary. This was way better compared to last week where they had to book a bunch of random Victory Road matches out of nowhere (that ended up inconsequential as usual). While there was a forgettable tag match or two, this show was pretty productive and flawless for this week.
I can see IMPACT announcing the KO Tag Titles returning at BFG, that way they can bring in a few more supplemental teams to fill out a tournament bracket. Right now they only have 5 teams set up.