By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling TV
Taped in Nashville, Tennessee at Skyway Studios
Aired October 27, 2020 on AXS TV
Highlights from Bound for Glory aired…
Eric Young was shown beating up Rich Swann backstage at Skyway Studios. Young dragged the beatdown to the arena area. Swann ended up ducking a belt shot and gaining the upper hand in the brawl. Young managed to give Swann an Irish Whip into the steel steps. Young continued his methodical beatdown around the ringside area. Swann kicked Young and was about to go high risk, but Young tripped up Swann and continued the beatdown.
Scott D’Amore and the security guards ran out to drag Eric young to the back. Eric Young demanded that he get his title rematch. D’Amore said “no” and had the guards send Young to the back. Swann ended up telling D’Amore that he was ready for the rematch. D’Amore asked if Swann was sure and Swann agreed…
Josh Mathews and Madison Rayne were on commentary…
1. Rich Swann vs. Eric Young for the Impact World Championship. Swann was barefoot and in dress slacks. Young shoved Swann off the top rope, but missed the following headbutt. Swann hit Young with three consecutive back kicks and a rolling kick. Swann hit Young with a thrust kick followed by a rolling thunder splash. Young countered a huracanrana with a release power bomb. Young got a two count on Swann. Swann leapt over Young and took down Young with another back kick. Swann ducked a lariat and then hit Young with a Lethal Injection. Swann hit Young with the Phoenix Splash for the win.
Rich Swann defeated Eric Young via pinfall in 3:23.
Swann taunted Young from the ramp…
John’s Thoughts: Interesting move to have Swann go over strong in the rematch given that Young was presented as top tier before losing the title Swann. On one hand, I get it. It does build up Swann as a credible champion. Here’s hoping they don’t push Young down the card anytime soon given his strong run between Slammiversary and Bound for Glory. It’ll be interesting to see how they heat him up if they are going to utilize him at a top heel.
Josh Mathews and Madison Rayne checked in from their commentary set. The commentary team ran through the upcoming segments for this show…
Naveah was backstage where she asked Jessika Havok “Is it done?”. Havok said it was and “he’s back”…[c]
Kaleb Konley told the women’s locker room that Scott D’Amore announced the beginning of the Knockouts Tag Team Tournament in three weeks. Tasha Steelz and Kiera Hogan taunted Alisha Edwards for not having friends. Jordynne Grace told Steelz and Kiera that Edwards has friends and Grace agreed to team up with Edwards. Kiera and Tasha left. Alisha did some goofy song about being happy that Grace was teaming with her…
2. Brian Myers vs. Tommy Dreamer in a Hardcore Halloween match. Dreamer dominated the early match and beat up Myers at ringside. Dreamer used a baseball jersey to choke Myers. Myers punched Dreamer away to prevent Dreamer from shoving him in the Road Warrior spikes. Dreamer regained control and then hit Myers with a old person walker. Dreamer then struggled to get a trash can in the ring. Dreamer hit Myers in the balls with the ring bell.
Myers crotched Dreamer on the ringside barricade, followed by a trash can shot to the head. Dreamer tried to dive from the apron, but he dived right into a weapon from Myers.[c]
Myers hit Dreamer with a catapult into a kendo stick. Myers worked on Dreamer with methodical offense. Myers ended up pulling a Carlito by spitting apples in the face of Tommy Dreamer for not being cool. Myers worked on Dreamer for a few minutes. Dreamer got a bit of hope after a cutter on Myers. Dreamer unloaded a bag full of candy corn and thumb tacks. Myers recovered and got Dreamer to the top rope. Dreamer shoved Myers onto the thumb tacks and candy corn. Myers kicked out and sold the tacks being lodged in his body.
Dreamer introduced a table to the ring. Myers regained control and slammed Dreamer to the mat. [Horn]Swoggle then crawled from out of the trash can. Myers looked at Swoggle and said “What are you doing here, Dylan?” (Dylan is Swoggle’s real name). Myers Swoggle grabbed at Myers’ crotch with cooking tongs. Dreamer hit Myers with a Death Valley Driver into a table for the victory.
Tommy Dreamer defated Brian Myers via pinfall in 11:41 of on-air time.
John’s Thoughts: Mixed thoughts on this match. In terms of being a goofy holiday-themed match, this was one of the better ones I’ve seen in that they didn’t go too overboard with the holiday gimmicks to the point of diminishing returns. I actually thought it was clever that there were thumbtacks in the candy corn bag because I expected either only candy corn or only thumbtacks to feed into both tired cliches. What I didn’t like about this was Brian Myers having to be subjected to this. He’s trying to wipe away the stank of his bad WWE run, a WWE run that involved him participating in a lot of goofy ass gimmicks matches like this where he’s the butt of the joke. I wouldn’t be surprised if Myers wrestled goofy holiday matches against Dreamer and/or Hornswoggle during his long run there. In the end, I would have preferred this have been someone like Johnny Swinger, who would have made this match better.
Gia Miller interviewed Heath [Slater] and Rhino. Rhino announced that Heath and Rhino were going after the Tag Team titles once Heath gets healthy. Rhino congratulated Heath for getting the contract that he wanted in Impact. Gia asked Heath how Heath was feeling. Heath said he felt great. Gia said it looked like Heath got hurt. Rhino and Heath blew Gia off and said that Heath was fine…[c]
A generic ad aired for Impact’s Hard to Kill PPV…
Reno Scum pinned Fallah Bahh to a chain link fence. Hernandez demanded that Bahh give back the wad of cash that he stole from him. Bahh claimed he didn’t have it and that he got the money for John E Bravo. After checking if Bahh had the wad under his shirt, Reno Scum got another shot or two on Bahh and walked away with Hernandez. Bahh then revealed to the camera that he had the wad of cash in his trunks…
3. “XXXL” Larry D and Acey Romero vs. “The Rascalz” Dezmond Xavier and Zach Wentz. Romero took down Wentz with a running crossbody. Larry tagged in and XXXL worked on Zach with isolation offense. Wentz fended off Acey with strikes, but Ace dragged Wentz back and hit Wentz with a banzai drop to the back. XXXL went back to cutting the ring in half on Zach. Wentz got the hot tag to Dez after hitting Acey with a diving knee. Dezmond hit Larry with a cannonball to the back for a two count. Larry fought Dez back with a haymaker. Dez hit Larry with a spinning knee. All four men traded their signature moves. Larry turned Dezmond inside out with a lariat for a two count.
Zach used a punch to stagger Larry on the top rope. Wentz went for the dive, but he went right into a uppercut from Acey. Acey hit Dezmond with a Uranage. Larry hit Dezmond with a diving splash for the win.
Team XXXL defeated The Rascalz via pinfall in 5:51.
John’s Thoughts: Given how the Rascalz lost on Saturday, I actually prefer this match finish to the Rascalz beating XXXL. XXXL could use the win since they’ve been stuck in Tag Team midcard parity hell. If the Rascalz won here, it actually would have put the Rascalz in that parity hell with XXXL because they’d just be trading wins and losses with the same midcard comedy teams. Here’s hoping this losing streak gets acknowledged and built so that Zach and Dez can get the slow repackage towards being serious wrestlers. Remember, at one point Jeff Jarrett pegged Dezmond Xavier as a future main eventer on conference calls and through his booking. Dez and Wentz both have upper level ability, but have been pigeonholed with the 70’s Show cosplay gimmick. Trey Miguel is proof that there is greener grass (no pun intended) away from the comedy.
Scott D’Amore was speaking with “Barrister” RD Evans (former Ring of Honor wrestler), who was the lawyer to Deonna Purrazzo. Evans threatened an injunction against Impact. Evans said all D’Amore has to do to avoid the injunction is by stripping Su Yung of the Knockouts title and rewarding it back to Deonna. D’Amore mocked RD’s suit for looking like it came from off the rack. D’Amore also implied that Deonna has no leverage. D’Amore said he’d be ok with going to the ring right now…[c]
Gia Miller interviewed Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin and asked Shelley for a health update. Shelley said he was told that his neck will still be hurting for about two months. Sabin said the North made it personal by attacking Shelley. Sabin said he wasn’t pinned on Sunday and they are coming after the tag titles once Shelley is healthy. Acey Romero then interrupted the promo, saying that XXXL have been destroying everyone around here (wait? no. They were getting destroyed by teams like The Deaners and Rascalz for months). Acey said that XXXL should be number one contenders to the tag titles. Sabin joked that Acey and Larry were here looking for snacks.
Larry said he wasn’t here for jokes, but for truth. Shelley mocked XXXL for not being smart and told them to get to the back of the line. XXXL teased leaving, but then sandwiched Shelley with a tandem running splash. Sabin asked for some doctors to help check on Shelley…
Scott D’Amore was in the ring, recapping the legal threat he received to the non-existant crowd. D’Amore also brought up how Deonna Purrazzo was the one who laid out the open challenge on Sunday. D’Amore said that after he reviewed everything laid in front of him, he concluded that Su Yung is the rightful Knockouts Champion. RD Evans, Deonna Purrazzo, and Kimber Lee made their entrance to confront D’Amore.
RD Evans brought up that D’Amore forgot to mention that “Something” happened to Kylie Rae and that “something” might have been done by Su Yung. RD Evans said that it’s his client’s choice to take this situation to court. Evans said that D’Amore might win, but he might be stuck in court for a long time with a lot of legal fees. Evans said D’Amore can avoid all that by awarding Deonna the championship. D’Amore called RD a string bean and threatened to slap RD in the face. D’Amore joked that a lot of courts are closed now. D’Amore then sarcastically said that Deonna deserves her day in court no matter how long it takes. D’Amore then told Deonna to take the high road and prove that she’s the best in the business. D’Amore then said that Deonna can have her contractually obligated rematch next week and avoid being stuck in court for years herself. After speaking with Deonna a bit, RD Evans said that Deonna Purrazzo agrees to the rematch. Knockouts Champion Su Yung then made her entrance. Su Yung gave RD Evans and Kimber Lee mandible claws. Su gave Scott D’Amore the poison mist. Purrazzo helped Evans and Lee get free, but Yung put Deonna in the mandible claw. Su Yung stood tall to end the segment with everyone left lying…
John’s Thoughts: I felt like the lawyer stuff was a bit extra and unnecessary. A simple Deonna Purrazzo promo would have sufficed given how great Deonna is at delivering professional promos. I did like Su Yung’s post-segment attack though. I’m not the biggest fan of them going to Deonna vs. Su in a rematch so soon because Su’s expected to go over strong (unless they have Kylie Rae cost Su the title). I also am ok with this given the situation they were in in having to pivot away from Kylie Rae last minute. On another note, is it just me or is Scott D’Amore getting way to much TV time these days. He’s prominent in every half hour. I think he might be on TV more than his Team Canada days.
Rich Swann was hanging with The Rascalz trio and Willie Mack backstage. After a bit of chatting, some creepy music played on the screen. This led to Moose showing up. Moose called Rich Swann “2nd best”. Moose then went back to flaunting the TNA Championship. Moose brought up how Swann came from a poor upbringing and is just happy with any sort of success. The Rascalz then pulled back an enraged Swann to the back. Mack then challenged Moose to a match, but Moose left calling Mack a sidekick and saying that they can fight on Moose’s time.
Rich Swann calmed down and then said goodbye to the Rascalz. He then ran into Sami Callihan and Ken Shamrock backstage in an office room. Callihan said moving forward, Rich will be hearing a lot from Sami and Ken. Sami and Ken left with Ken making sure to give Rich a glare…[c]
A recap aired of Ken Shamrock’s Impact Hall of Fame ceremony…
Ethan Page and Josh Alexander were gloating about their title win in front of Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows. Page mocked the Good Brothers for being a waste of money. Gallows and Anderson mocked Page for knowing Karate. Page slapped Gallows in the face. The security guards jumped in and pulled the teams apart…
The Impact Plus Flashback Match of the Week was Rohit Raju vs. Willie Mack for the X Division Championship from Victory Road 2020 (which happened a few weeks ago on Impact Plus). Willie Mack won via countout…
Jimmy Jacobs walked into a room where Rohit Raju was sitting with his title belt. Jacobs was trying to leave, saying he thought there was a party backstage. Raju pulled Jimmy back and bragged about winning on Sunday and defeating 5 wrestlers. Jacobs brought up that TJP had the match won but Rohit stole it from him. Rohit shoo’d Jimmy out. Rohit then looked frustrated…
John E Bravo ran into Fallah Bahh backstage. Bahh was dressed up as the Stay Puft Marshmallow man for some reason. John E complained to Bahh for sicking Hernandez on his ass for Bahh stealing Hernandez’s wad of cash. John E said that he’s going to tell Hernandez the truth, that Bahh has the wad of cash. John E said that Bahh was dead to him. Johnny Swingger laughed at Fallah Bahh after…
4. Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz vs. Jordynne Grace and Alisha Edwards. Grace and Steelz started off the match. Grace took down Tasha with a single armed test of strength. Grace then followed up with two shoulder tackles. Steelz tried to run away, but Alisha edwards tossed her back in. Tasha tagged in Kiera Hogan. Alisha Edwards tagged in and gave Kiera a Thesz Press. Edwards tripped Kiera and gave Kiera a senton for a two count.
Edwards worked on Kiera for a bit. Grace tagged in and electric chair slammed Alisha on Kiera. The referee didn’t see the tag and demanded that Alisha get back in the ring. Alisha ate a superkick from Kiera heading into commercial.[c]
The heels cut the ring in half on Alisha after the break. Alisha earned a window of opportunity after hitting Kiera with a STO. Alisha refused to tag in, saying that she got this. That allowed Tasha to tag in and regain control of the match. Tasha prevented Alisha from getting to her corner by hitting Alisha with a spinebuster. Alisha shoved Tasha into Kiera and hit Tasha with a bulldog. Alisha got the hot tag to Grace. Grace gave Kiera a Military Press onto Tasha.
Tasha kicked out at two. Grace hit Tasha with a corner meteora and basement uppercut. Grace hit Tasha with a Vader Bomb for a two count. Grace tagged in Edwards. Tasha fended off Edwards with a boot. Edwards accidentally hit Grace with a corner splash. Steelz gave Edwards a school girl pin for the victory.
Tasha Steelz and Kiera Hogan defeated Alisha Edwards and Jordyne Grace via pinfall in 8:24 of on-air time.
Grace and Edwards shoved each other after the match…
The camera went to cinematic mode at the Parking Lot. Moose ended up punching out Willie Mack when Mack was having a selfie pic with a fan…[c]
John’s Thoughts: This was a fun tag team match with a added layer of importance now given that there’s an actual women’s tag team division now. Grace and Edwards showed some good chemistry after being put together for the first time on Impact. Grace is solid, but Edwards provided a bit of sass and yelling, two things Edwards is good at. It also helped that Kiera and Tasha didn’t have to wrestle the same people she’s been wrestling for weeks.
Rosemary was playing with her Tarot Cards backstage. Taya Valkyrie said that she doesn’t think that Rosemary should go through with the wedding given that John E Bravo is acting like a maniac. Rosemary said she has a plan. Taya told Alisha Edwards that she has a bad feeling about the wedding…
Josh Mathews and Madison Rayne checked in from their commentary set. They announced the following segments for next week: Chris Bey vs. Trey Miguel, Su Yung vs. Deonna Purrazzo for the Knockouts Championship, Ethan Page vs. Doc Gallows, and Rich Swann and Eddie Edwards vs. Eric Young and Sami Callihan. Josh Mathews then sent things over to the John E Bravo and Rosemary wedding…
Wrestlers surrounded the ropeless ring, which was the set for the wedding. John E Bravo came out in a goofy white suit. James Mitchell got a demonic entrance theme as he made his entrance. Rosemary and Crazzy Steve made their entrance to the Decay theme. Rosemary looked like a referee, but I think she was dressed up as Beetlejuice or something with her striped dress. James Mitchell then handled the wedding formalities. Mitchell did the “speak now or forever hold your peace” line. Mitchell joked that Rosemary and Bravo “dodged that trope” after nobody interrupted them.
John E was first to give his wedding vows. His vows were a remixed version of the Adams Family theme. Everyone then looked around, thinking that someone would ruin the wedding. Rosemary gave her vows, where she started off by calling John “extra virginal”. Rosemary also brought up the joke that someone usually interrupts wrestling weddings. No one interrupted. Swoggle was then introduced as the “ring imp”. Rosemary and John E then put the rings on each other.
Mitchell handled the formal wedding ceremony with the “I do’s”. Rosemary and John E both said “I do”. Before John E and Rosemary could kiss, the lights went out. There was a gunshot, yes, a gunshot. The lights went back on and bravo was laying dead with a gunshot wound. Tommy Dreamer then let out a cheesy “who shot bravo? nooooooooooooo”. That closed Impact…
John’s Thoughts: Well? That happened. It was a bit underwhelming compared to other wrestling weddings and it looked like Impact didn’t have high hopes given their constant lampshading of all the wrestling wedding tropes. What makes this stand out as a bit underwhelming, is Impact doing a very good wrestling wedding not to long ago involving Brian Cage and Melissa Santos with James Mitchell as the preacher there too. Not sure who this cheesy variety show comedy appeals to. This seems like a segment that would have appealed to Vince McMahon.
Overall this was a solid episode of Impact. The decent stuff was decent and there wasn’t a lot of cringeworthy moments. The ending was lame, but there was almost a feeling of missiblity to it that made it harmless. At least the show breezed by.
Impact has really, really been great lately. If you throw out the wedding this was a fantastic show. The only problem is the wedding angle was beyond awful. It sucked, there’s just no way to spin it. I hope the ending was an out for this angle but I fear now we’re headed for a murder mystery that I have no interest in.