By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling TV
Taped in Nashville, Tennessee at Skyway Studios
Aired February 2, 2021 on AXS TV
Highlights from last week’s Impact Wrestling show aired followed by the Impact Wrestling intro theme…
Matt Striker and D’Lo Brown were on commentary…
1. Tasha Steelz (w/Kiera Hogan) vs. Jessika Havok (w/Nevaeh). Havok no sold Tasha’s offense. Havok got shoved aside several times. Steelz came back with a chop block and pump kicks. Tasha worked on Havok for a stretch. Havok reversed a stunner with a shove. Havok caught Tasha with a bottom rope Face Wash kick. Tasha came back with a CQC combo but couldn’t get Havok to budge when she went for the Irish Whip.
Havok caught Tasha when Tasha went for a crossbody. Havok caught Tasha with a twisting side slam. Kiera tried to grab Havok’s feet but was shoved off the apron. Nevaeh tripped up Tasha to counter Kiera’s interference. Havok hit Tasha with a Tombstone Pile Driver for the win…
Jessika Havok defeated Tasha Steelz via pinfall in 4:33.
Matt Striker noted that people have been calling for wrestling to have two referees to counter interference like we saw in the prior match…
John’s Thoughts: Good opening match to showcase Havok’s power. Havok has been having a good string of showcases in her recent tag matches, almost to the point that I wouldn’t mind seeing Havok back in the singles division whenever she’s done against Kiera and Tasha. The only thing that I wasn’t a huge fan of was this Havok and Nevaeh vs. Tasha and Kiera feud happening so soon after their most recent feud. Just a few months ago, Havok and Nevaeh would be losing almost every week to Kiera and Tasha.
Matt Striker and D’Lo Brown checked in from their commentary set. D’Lo sent the show over to footage that was recorded after Impact went off the air. Shamrock continued to put the referee in an Ankle Lock. Shamrock punched Callihan to the ground saying that it’s over when he says its over. Shamrock gave the security guards suplexes and strikes. Shamrock ended the segment yelling and saying that it’s his house…
Sami Callihan was shown having a meeting with Scott D’Amore. D’Amore said he was suspending Shamrock indefinitely. Callihan talked about how he was going to fire Shamrock anyway for clocking him in the face. Callihan gave D’Amore many sarcastic “good job” complements…
Matt Striker and D’Lo Brown ran through the advertised card…
Rich Swann was chatting with Tommy Dreamer backstage. Dreamer talked about how he respects what Swann did giving him the title match and he said he witnessed it in ECW. They talked about their upcoming tag match on this episode. Swann said Dreamer might not even have to tag in because Swann can go “All Night Long”…
Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson were chatting backstage. Gallows was hyping up being in the AEW Dynamite main event tomorrow. Gallows and Anderson then yelled “Beat Up Jon Moxley” in a similar fashion as they used to yell “Beat Up John Cena” when they were teaming up with AJ Styles. James Storm and Chris Sabin confronted the Good Brothers with Storm fighting for Sabin’s honor. Sabin said the Good Brothers should wrestle him and Storm or else come off as “Ball less wonders”.
Storm asked for a title shot or a chance to brawl it out like men right now. Gallows said that the Good Brothers need to be fresh for tomorrow. Gallows said Sabin and Storm should pick a fight in a parking lot or something…
2. Madman Fulton (w/Ace Austin) vs. “The Walking Weapon” Josh Alexander. Striker talked about how he prefers pure wrestling to high flying. D’Lo said that Alexander is a throwback to catch as catch can wrestling. Fulton kept a wide base to prevent Alexander from locking in any chain wrestling. Fulton dominated Alexander for a stretch. Alexander came back with a missile dropkick and German Suplex.
Alexander locked Fulton in an ankle lock. Fulton used his boots to shove Alexander to ringside. D’Lo noted that it looked like Alexander landed wrong. Fulton choke slammed Alexander on the ring apron. Fulton then deadlifted Alexander into a chokeslam in the ring. Fulton and Alexander brawled on the to rope. Alexander slipped off and hit Fulton with a Power Bomb and J-Driller for the win.
Josh Alexander defeated Madman Fulton via pinfall in 4:46.
Striker ran through more advertised segments before sending the show to commercial…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A solid match with both men having a solid outing. Fulton has been looking better as a big-man since teaming with Ace Austin and he continued to show good power here. I’m a bit surprised that Alexander took care of him so handily in the end, but I’m not going to complain about Impact giving some shine to one of their home grown wrestlers.
An ad aired for the Good Brothers as action figures…
Brian Myers made his entrance. Myers was wearing an eyepatch. Striker referenced Brian’s love for action figures. Myers called Eddie Edwards the most unprofessional wrestlers compared to himself. Myers talked about Eddie once being a professional who was trained by Killer Kowawski and that Kowawski is rolling in his grave at what Eddie is acting like now.
Brian Myers said he would like to challenge Eddie at the next Impact Plus show, but he can’t. Before he could bring out his doctor’s note, Eddie Edwards attacked Brian Myers. Suddenly, Shawn Hernandez showed up to attack Eddie. Myers noted that Hernandez will be facing Eddie at No Surrender. Matt Cardona ran out for the save and cleared the heels from the ring…
The show cut to Johnny Swinger at his backstage casino. Fallah Bahh and Alisha Edwards talked about how it seems like they are in some sort of alternate universe run by Johnny Swinger…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Myers continues to do a great job on the mic now that he’s more credible. I don’t mind him having a heavy in Hernandez to be the gatekeeper to face him if that’s the direction they’re going with Myers.
Eddie Edwards thanked Matt Cardona backstage for having his back. Cardona said that the Myers he knows wouldn’t try to hide behind a doctor’s note. Eddie proposed that he and Matt should face Myers and Hernandez in a tag match at No Surrender…
Crazzy Steve and Rosemary made their entrance. Striker noted that Steve was trained by Eric Young…
3. Crazzy Steve (w/Rosemary) vs. Larry D (w/Acey Romero). Steve overpowered Larry to the corner and grined his elbow into Larry. Steve hit Larry with a chop block. Ace distracted steve, which allowed Larry to kidney punch Steve. Larry went for an elbow grind, but Steve bit Larry’s elbow. Larry reversed Steve into a side slam. Larry worked on Steve with methodical offense. Steve made a comeback after biting Larry’s arm again.
Steve gave Acey a plancha, but he was caught. Steve gave Ace a forearm to the back of the head when he escaped. Larry caught a diving Steve with a right hand for the win.
Larry D defeated Crazzy Steve via pinfall 4:00.
Rosemary confronted Acey and Larry in the ring, but Acey and Larry backed down. D’Lo noted that he’s not sure if XXXL were being polite, or if they are intimidated…
John’s Thoughts: A rare win for an XXXL guy. I would be more happy, but I currently see more value in building up the revamped Crazzy Steve character now that he’s dropped the goofy clown aspects of his character. Let’s see where this goes though, and hopefully there’s some sort of plan for giving Larry this rare win. I honestly don’t know where they go because they aren’t going to have Rosemary wrestle Acey Romero, even though they’re teasing Rosemary getting physical with the men in the last two weeks.
Gia Miller conducted a sitdown with Trey Miguel asking him on thoughts on his return to Impact. Trey said he’s here to show everyone that he can stand on his own two feet. Suddenly, Sami Callihan’s graphics flashed on the screen and he teleported into the interview. Callihan talked about knowing Miguel from the beginning of Miguel’s wrestling career (via Callihan’s promotion in Ohio). Callihan said Miguel needs to have more passion. This fired up Miguel. Callihan said Miguel needs to look in the mirror and figure out who he is…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Again, to reference what Big Money Matt Hardy alluded to a few weeks ago. Impact’s obsession with “Teleportation” is stupid!
An ad aired for the Impact Plus No Surrender show…
Gia Miller congratulated Larry D for being freed from jail and interviewed XXXL on the recent segment they had with Decay. Larry said that XXXL is afraid of nobody. Larry said that XXXL are also gentlemen who wouldn’t hit a woman. Tenille Dashwood and Kaleb interruped the interview. Tenille volunteered to “hit Rosemary” for XXXL. Larry accepted this and proposed that XXXL and Dashwood face Decay and a partner of Decay’s choosing at No Surrender…
4. Susan Yung (w/Deonna Purrazzo, Kimber Lee) vs. Jordynne Grace (w/Jazz). Susan stalled during the beginning of the match, taking her time takling off her business suit and glasses. Grace took down Susan with a shoulder block. D’Lo said that Susan looks awkward in the ring. Susan managed to toss Grace to ringside. Purrazzo and Lee got cheap shots in when Susan distracted the referee. Susan worked on Grace for a stretch.
When the referee got distracted by Susan again, Jazz joined in and helped Jordynne brawl with Lee and Purrazzo at ringside. Grace hit Susan with a Michinoku Driver for a two count. Grace hit Susan with a corner meteora and basement elbow. Jazz continued to keep Lee and Purrazzo at ringside. Grace caught Susan with the Grace Driver for the victory.
Jordynne Grace defeated Susan Yung via pinfall in 4:48.
Purrazzo and Lee put the boots to Grace and Jazz after the match. Suddenly familiar entrance music played as ODB ran out for the save, making her return to Impact. ODB cleared the heels from the ring. The segment ended with ODB standing tall with Jazz and Grace with ODB’s music playing…
John’s Thoughts: Looks like they are setting up a Trios match between Grace’s team and Purrazzo’s team. That should be fun, especially with the involvement of TNA legend ODB. I do think the Susan act needs to be reworked because it’s what we feared and coming off as very bland. I was hoping that she would play the character like a stereotypical “Karen” but instead she’s just a bland businesswoman. It’s like a boring version of Ivory’s old Right to Censor character in WWE.
Big Money Matt Hardy was chatting with Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy backstage. Hardy reassured Private Party that he has a plan and has Private Party’s back for their upcoming Impact Title opportunity. Hardy said this week he’s putting a bounty on the Good Brothers. Private Party got worried at the use of the word “bounty” again. Hardy said Private Party is right and that he’s using the word “Bonus”. Hardy said Tony Khan won’t even approve of the word Bounty. Private Party were reassured and Kassidy ended the segment by saying that “Hennything is possible”…[c]
The show cut to this week’s Tony and Tony AEW Paid Advertisement. Khan and Schiavone were wearing beach themed party favors. Khan called his paid advertisements the most entertaining 3 minutes on the weekly Impact show (to be honest, he’s not totally wrong there). Khan bragged about how Impact can’t comprehend big shows like AEW is putting on with their Beach Break show. Khan said he still treats Impact like his own personal Fantasy league. Khan talked about how getting involved with Impact inspired him to allow Jon Moxley to work with New Japan again. Tony said he’s like a shark, like the gear Tony Schiavone is wearing on his head. Schiavone ran through the upcoming Dynamite card…
Grace and Jazz thanked ODB for helping them. ODB said she was just in the area with her new food truck and just stopped by to see if anyone needed help. Grace joined ODB in her signature Bam boob grab…
Rohit Raju made his entrance and Striker reminded viewers that Raju has a mystery associate that he was talking too off-screen last week. Striker said Raju is missing something and needs a bit of an edge…
5. Impact X Division Champion TJP vs. Rohit Raju in a non-title match. Striker noted that the Mamba Splash by TJP is a tribute to both Kobe Bryant and Eddie Guerrero. Perkins dominated the opening stretch of the match heading into commercial.[c]
Raju put the boots to Perkins back from the break. Perkins reversed a roundhouse, but Rohit followed through by hitting Perkins with a Paydirt for a two count. Raju hit TJP with an elbow drop for a two count. Raju worked on Perkins with methodical offense and D’Lo noted that this methodical pace works in Raju’s favor. Perkins turned the tables after a springboard crossbody and huracanrana. Perkins caught Raju with a Tornado DDT.
Raju avoided a Swanton at ringside. Raju hit Perkins with a cannonball in the corner. Perkins caught a diving Raju with double boots. Raju escaped TJ’s Detonation Kick attempt. Perkins rolled under the ring and Striker noted that he does this so he can become Manik. TJ was dragged out from under the ring by the returning Mahabali Shera who was supposedly hiding under the ring the entire match (Was he just taking a nap under there?). Shera tossed Perkins back in the ring. Raju caught TJP with a driveby basement knee for the non-title win.
Rohit Raju defeated TJP via pinfall
Striker noted that it makes sense that these two are teaming because of their association in the Desi Hit Squad. Raju laid the title on TJ’s chest to signify that he’s coming for the belt…
John’s Thoughts: The finish got a bit of a laugh from me. Was Shera taking a nap under the ring, hoping that TJP would roll under the ring to put on his mask? Anyway, I’m intrigued by this nice switch of roles for Shera and Raju. Shera was the guy that got all the weird main event pushes in Impact/TNA and he was being pushed as the protected star of Desi Hit Squad, with Raju as the henchman. I have high hopes of Raju in the alpha role now because Raju hasn’t let anyone down anytime Impact gives him the ball to run with. So far, it looks like he isn’t about to get Jake Crist’d in terms of having a hot X-Division run, only to go back to being an enhancement guy.
The show cut to a Violent By Design backstage promo. Eric Young called Violent By Design a family and that he doesn’t extend the olive branch to everyone. Young invited Cousin Jake to join the family. Young said he can remove Jake’s sickness. Young said he can baptize Jake in the waters of change…[c]
John’s Thoughts: More great stuff from Young who continues to put on some of the best segments on the weekly Impact show. This new faction is very similar to what Young was doing in NXT, which isn’t a bad thing. Young is insanely versatile weather you want him to be a main eventer or comedy goof. Good stuff. The best part of this is it looks like we might finally get a character repackage for the very talented Cousin Jake, weather it’s as a member of VBD, or as a revitalized babyface.
Gia Miller asked Cousin Jake for Jake’s response to Eric Young’s offer. Jake said he doesn’t have an answer and this has been a lot for him to take in. Jake said he’ll have an answer to Violent by Design next week
Matt Striker and D’Lo Brown checked in from their commentary set. They announced the following segments for next week’s show: ODB vs. Kimber Lee, Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz vs. Havok and Nevaeh, Good Brothers vs. Storm and Sabin for the Tag Titles, and a Rich Swann and Dreamer contract signing…
Entrances for the main event took place. Rich Swann was back to wearing his weird flash jackets…
John’s Thoughts: Ah, I’m a bit disappointed at Swann here. The guy’s great at playing the honorable babyface. I’m okay with him having a little bit of swagger with the dancing thing but I thought it was nice that he was starting to wear more badass clothing to the ring as opposed to his old “Dancing guy” gear complete with the sunglasses.
6. Moose and Chris Bey vs. Tommy Dreamer and Impact World Champion Rich Swann. Bey hit Dreamer with a huracanrana heading into commercial.[c]
Moose worked on Dreamer with gut punches back from break. Dreamer sidestepped Moose and tagged in Swann. Swann went at moose with right hands. Moose gave Rich a rising uppercut in the corner. Bey tagged in. Swann got a one count off a backslide. Bey dragged Swann down with a side headlock. Dreamer tagged in and hit Bey with an elbow. Matt Striker noted that Dreamer struggles to move these days, even having trouble putting on his socks.
Swann tagged in and got a two count off Bey. Moose used the top rope as fulcrum to yank Swann’s arm. Bey got a two count after a shoulder slam on Swann. Moose worked on Swann with methodical offense. Striker hyped the Rich Swann Impact in 60 show after Impact. Bey tagged in and cut the ring in half on Swann. Swann hit Bey with an enzuigiri and got the hot tag to Dreamer. Dreamer knocked Moose off the apron and gave Bey a backdrop. Striker talked about Dreamer having a regular nap schedule to keep up his stamina.
John’s Thoughts: Striker is really laying on thick with the Dreamer old-man allusions. That said, Striker’s signature move on commentary is laying it on a bit thick.
Dreamer caught Bey with a DDT, but Moose blind tagged in. Moose tried to spear Dreamer, but Dreamer sidestepped Moose and directed Moose inadvertantly into Swann. Swann had tagged himself in at that point. Moose pinned Swann for the win.
Moose and Chris Bey defeated Rich Swann and Tommy Dreamer via pinfall in 8:38 of on-air time.
Moose ended up hitting Dreamer with the spear after the match. Moose posed with both the TNA and Impact title belts. Moose laid the Impact title belt over the fallen Swann. Striker closed the show…
John’s Thoughts: A decent enough match. My favorite part was the finish, which I thought was very creative. It’s also a bit refreshing to see Dreamer in a slightly different role compared to his formula role of being the babyface gatekeeper. Praise aside, Impact seems to be back in a creative funk in most of their programs. The only people with solid creative effort being put on them seem to be the Violent By Design trio. Everything else on the show seems to be on autopilot.
This week’s Impact show was okay, but again, it seems like they are back into creative burnout mode. Their main event scene is very meh. The last few weeks have consisted of formula time filler matches. There’s a lot of good wrestlers on the show doing good wrestling, but there’s no real storylines and promos. The only promos we get on occassion are goofy comedy segments involving the Wrestle House undercard crew. The best stuff on the show are usually anything that involves Eric Young and the Tony and Tony paid advertisements.
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