By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling TV (Episode 1,012)
Taped in various locations
Aired December 14, 2023 on AXS TV
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt checked in from a studio set. The commentators noted that this week’s show will be a “Hidden Gem” episode (which from what I see it looks like they’ll be playing unaired dark matches)…
The first hidden gem was Alan Angels vs. Samuray Del Sol from a show in October. Tom Hannifan was joined by a commentator with a thick southern accent (which I think is Gia Miller when she doesn’t code switch. Gia’s interesting where she speaks non-southern as a backstage interviewer, but on the same show if she’s hosting she reverts to her thick southern accent)…
1. Alan Angels vs. Samuray Del Sol. Both men started with technical chain wrestling. Both men then traded rapid fire rollups. Both men landed lariats and both did kip ups. Samuray caught Alan with a kick and top rope armdrag. Samuray dumped Angels to ringside and hit him with a dive. Samuray did a handstand dodge, but Alan adjusted and gave Samuray a PK. Samuray was tossed shoulder first into the ringpost. Samuray used the bottom rope to “pop” his shoulder in into place.
Angels teased a tightrope lucha armdrag, but then gave Samuray a simple slap instead. The crowd chanted “culero” at him and Angels asked “what is that?”. Samuray escaped a wristhold with a jawbreaker. Samuray hit Angels with a tightrope armdrag, gamegiri, and slingshot crossbody. Samuray got Angels to a knee and hit him with a low Frankendriver. Both men traded rapid counters. Angels hit Samuray with a Halo Strike (slice kick) for a nearfall.
Samuray nailed Angels with a surprise Salida Del Sol when Angels went to pick him up. Angles got a foot on the rope for the rope break. Angels crotched Samuray on the top rope. Angels went after Samuray’s mask, but Samuray countered on the top rope with a Super Salida Del Sol for the win.
Samuray Del Sol defeated Alan Angels via pinfall in 8:11.
A women’s tag team match was hyped for after the break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Impact seems to be on autopilot as they are reaching in the barrel for old footage to fill obligatory TV time at the end of the year. While I wasn’t a fan of the house show they aired from the UK, I thought last week’s AAA crossover was way better. This week’s matches are canned dark matches billed as hidden gems. To give them credit, this was a good hidden gem. Good to see Alan Angels on TV again as he continues to impress me with his work after the Dark Order and his Hoodslam work. Samuray was good on his end and I’m surprised he isn’t signed anywhere (he probably won’t sign with AEW due to issues he had with Chris Jericho, but that was a long time ago and time heals all wounds).
An ad aired for TNA’s Hard to Kill PPV and TNA Plus Snake Eyes show…
Entrances from the next match took place. Matthew Rehwoldt was the color commentator for this match with Hannifan still on play-by-play. It also looks like this match was taped before Masha and Kelly won the tag team titles…
2. Masha Slammovich and Killer Kelly vs. Savannah Evans and Gisele Shaw (w/Jai Vidal). Gisele and Masha started the match. Shaw locked in a headlock on Masha and hit her with a running shoulder tackle. Both women ended in a stalemate after dodging each others strikes. Masha hit Shaw with an armdrag and then tagged in Kelly. Kelly hit Shaw with a snapmare and PK. Evans tagged in and took a dropkick from Kelly. Kelly hit Evans with a PK from the apron.
Jai slammed Kelly’s head on the mat when the ref wasn’t looking. The heels cut the ring in half on Kelly with quick tags and tandem offense. Kelly got a window of opportunity after hitting Shaw with a DDT. Evans and Slammovich tagged in. Masha grounded all three opponents with kicks. Masha gave Kelly a Death Valley Driver on top of Evans in the corner. Shaw hit Masha with a Seth Rollins Stomp to give Evans a nearfall on Masha. Masha rolled up Evans, but rolled into a double stomp on Evans.
Masha hit Evans with a backfist combo. Masha and Kelly gave Evans a BTE Trigger. Masha and Kelly gave Evans a double Package Piledriver for the double pin win (I think technically Masha was the legal woman).
Masha Slammovich and Killer Kelly defeated Savannah Evans and Gisele Shaw via pinfall in 7:23.
PCO vs. Deaner was hyped for after the break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: So far, so good. I’m not mad at this show. Yes, the matches are inconsequential, but at least there’s some mild character development in terms of TV exposure. Good match here, but I wouldn’t mind if Kelly and Masha start off their matches with Kelly selling and coming back with Masha doing as little selling as possible (because Masha was great when she was the buzzsaw that beat the Gisele Shaws of the world in under a minute. Somehow losing that match to Jordynne Grace has taken away her superpowers Space Jam style).
The weekly New Japan on AXS plug aired. This is no longer done by Kevin Kelly. Lookin it up, it looks like a person named Walker Stewart has replaced Kevin Kelly as lead commentator as Kelly is back in the US with AEW…
Entrances for the next match took place. Angels was still a part of the weird design faction at this point. The graphic noted that this show was taped in June…
3. PCO vs. Deaner in a street fight. PCO worked on Deaner with lariats. Deaner tossed PCO into the ringpost. PCO no sold getting hit with a cookie tray. PCO hit Deaner with an actual axe handle. PCO tossed Deaner and the cookie sheet into the ringposts. Deaner escaped getting chokeslammed through set chairs. Deaner bit at the face of PCO and dragged him into the ring. Deaner escaped a choke with a low blow.
Deaner tossed PCO through chairs at ringside for a nasty landing. Deaner dragged chairs and PCO back in the ring. PCO hit Deaner with a jawbreaker. PCO set up Chairs with the spines back to back. PCO put Deaner on top. Deaner escaped and tossed PCO’s spine onto the spines of the chair. Deaner worked on PCO’s back with a steel chair. Deaner set up a chair in the corner. When Deaner got distracted by the crowd, PCO gave Deaner a lariat. PCO did the Undertaker sit up.[c]
PCO no sold getting hit by trash can shots. PCO punched the can away and gave Deaner a DDT. PCO gave Deaner a front lungblower. PCO hit Deaner with a top rope leg drop. PCO gave Deaner a De-Animator on the apron. PCO struggled to get a table out from under the ring because the legs got tangled with the crossbars. PCO put Deaner on another table. Deaner recovered and met PCO on the top rope. Deaner dumped PCO from the top rope through the table at ringside.
PCO kicked out at two. PCO recovered and hit Deaner with a chokeslam on a trash can . Angels and Kon ran out. Angels hit the Halo Strike on PCO and Kon followed up with Full Nelson Suplex. Suddenly, the team of OVE (Sami Callihan, Madman Fulton, and Jake Crist) ran out and dumped Angels and Kon to tringside. Sami did his thumbs up thing and hit Deaner with a Cactus Driver. PCO did the Undertaked sit up and hit Deaner with a PCO-Sault for the win.
PCO defeated Deaner via pinfall in 12:38 of on-air time.
PCO and OVE hyped up the Ohio crowd…
John’s Thoughts: Hardcore street fights are a dime a dozen these days, so it’s really hard to stand out. This was a pretty good one, mostly highlighted by the hard work from both men. PCO is a marvel at his age with all the risks he takes. I hope that now he’s signed to TNA, that they double-back into that program with Bully Ray where Bully was trying to bring the human Pierre Carl Ouellet back. Deaner is one of the most underrated in-ring technicians in Impact and I hope he ditches what’s left of the failed cult he was a part of. Seeing OVE was fun too. Just a thought, if Sami lands in AEW, I wouldn’t mind if he brings the talented Jake Crist and Madman Fulton with him to form a Ohio-based faction with Sami’s longtime friend and tag partner Jon Moxley (just make the name more about violence and less ohio-centric).
El Hijo Del Vikingo was advertised for the TNA Hard to Kill PPV…
John’s Thoughts: Wowzers! Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay, and Vikingo advertised for TNA’s vegas shows? I’m tempted to hop on a short plane ride for these hot cards (I hope they do put some effort into story development come January). None of these guys are advertised for matches either other than “They’ll be here”.
A Josh Alexander vs. Will Ospreay hype package aired to hype up their upcoming match at the TNA Plus Snake Eyes show in Vegas…
Entrances for the next match took place. Tommy Dreamer was teaming up with some guy named Channing Decker. This match took place in August. Dango cut his usual “man, do I hate pro wrestling” promo. Dreamer and Decker wore japanese flag headbands in memory of the late great Terry Funk…
4. Dirty Dango and Alpha Bravo vs. Tommy Dreamer and Channing Decker. Dango did hit hip swivel after tossing Decker. Decker mocked the hip swivel and slammed Dango to the mat. Bravo tagged in and called for Dreamer. Dreamer tagged in. Dreamer easily escaped a standing switch. Decker tagged in and clotheslined Bravo for a two count. Dango and Dreamer tagged in. Dreamer hit Dango with a hip toss.
Decker tagged in and they hit a double elbow drop on Dagon for a nearfall. Decker put Dango in a sharpshooter to hype up the Canadian crowd. Bravo distracted Decker which allowed Dango to hit Decker with a chop block. The heels cut the ring in half on Decker with quick tags and methodical offense. Decker and Dango traded chops while Dango had Decker in an Indian Deathlock.
The heels went back to isolating Decker. Decker managed to get a hot tag to Dreamer. Dreamer hit Dango wtih ten punches in the corner and a bite. Dango blocked a Bionic Elbow iwth a thumb to the eye. Dango tossed Dreamer into Decker. Dango dumped Decker to ringside, but Bravo was KO’d at some point. While Dango was trying to revive Bravo, Dreamer gave Bravo a catapult into Dango’s nuts. Decker put Dango in a Indian Deathlock to keep him away from the pin. Dreamer hit Bravo with a DDT for the win.
Tommy Dreamer and Channing Decker defeated Dirty Dango and Alpha Bravo via pinfall in 8:31.
Taylor Wilde vs. Deonna Purrazzo was hyped for after the break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Fun and harmless. We didn’t get to see much of who Channing Decker is other than he’s Canadian and he does a pretty decent job selling. I hope we see more of Dirty Dango in Impact in 2024 as he was arguably one of the most entertaining acts in Impact with his docu-style interviews. I also hope that with the TNA rebrand, that the Digital Media Title gets rebranded (don’t make it the awful King of the Mountain match specific title)…
Last week’s Kazuchika Okada hype package aired. It started out with “highlights” (more like lowlights) of his run as “O-Kato” which had Okada playing the role of Kato to Samoa Joe’s Green Hornet. Okada talked about how much he hated TNA, but he understands that hard times made him a stronger person. Highlights of the cool Okada was shown. Okada was advertised for the Snake Eyes TNA Plus show…
John’s Thoughts: Hey, if CM Punk can mend fences with WWE, Okada can do the same with TNA. Punk was right, maybe this is a year of healing. Another fun throwback would be if they can bring Naito and Takahashi back under the No Limit tag team name where they were losing to everyone around the same time Okada was in his chauffeur gimmick (and why was Joe the Green Hornet? Only in TNA. I hope I’m not going to have to start writing “Only in TNA” again, the show’s great now).
Entrances for the next match took place. This was the time that Taylor Wilde and KiLynn King were tag team champions. Santino Marella was on color commentary for this match. Santino said he notices that Deonna is Italian, but he won’t be biased…
5. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Taylor Wilde (w/KiLynn King) for the Impact Knockouts Championship. Both women started off at a stalemate during the collar and elbow. Wilde was pressured into the corner, but escaped. Wilde and Deonna had a Test of Strength which Wilde won with a leg sweep. Santino noted that both women are showing good jujitsu. Both women traded akido counters. Deonna shook up Wilde with a few chops. Wilde tried to rally back, but ate several armdrags.
Wilde rolled to King for a breather. Purrazzo hit The Coven with a baseball slide. While Deonna was distracted by King, Wilde hit Deonna with a German Suplex. Wilde hit Deonna with La Mistica into a crossface. Deonna reversed it into a Fujiwara Armbar. Hannifan and Santino talked about Santino’s grappling experience since he owns a martial arts dojo.
Wilde escaped a Fujiwara Armbar wtih a rollup. Wilde hit Purrazzo with a high spin kick for a nearfall. Purrazzo avoided a kick and hit Wilde with a Gotch Style Pile Driver for the win.
Deonna Purrazzo defeated Taylor Wilde via pinfall in 7:00 to retain the Impact Knockouts Championship.
Yuya Uemura’s Impact farewell match was hyped for after the break…
John’s Thoughts: A good and hard worked match between two very talented veterans. With her being a TNA original, I hope Wilde returns to TNA for the rebrand. I also hope she comes back to her old plucky babyface character because back in the early 2000s she was one of the pioneers that cultivated that caricature (I appreciate trying to reinvent herself, but the random Rosie the Riveter and bad witch gimmicks came out of nowhere and just felt like she wanted to play dressup). Deonna also needs to comeback with more character focus as she’s been stale as a character as of late (still great in the ring though).
Alex Shelley vs. Moose for the World Title was hyped for Hard to Kill (Oh yeah, that’s happening. They really need to try to build up Moose in within like two weeks)…
Entrances for the next match took place. For some reason, Yuya’s video wall always reminds me of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure…
6. Josh Alexander vs. Yuya Uemura. Both men started out with collar and elbow lockups and standing switches. Yuya managed to pressure Josh to the ropes leading to a respectful separation. Josh grounded Yuya with a hammerlock. Yuya used his calf to smash Josh’s arm. The show cut to regular commercial.[c]
Josh hit Yuya with a strong hip toss slam. Yuya came back with arm drags, a body slam, and elbow drop. Josh escaped a armbar with a jawbreaker. Yuya worked on Josh’s left arm for a few minutes. Both men traded Fighting Spirit Right Hands with Josh domiating. Josh hit Yuya with a back body drop. Josh hit Yuya with a forearm. Yuya escaped a few holds, but then got backdropped by Josh.
Yuya escaped Josh’s finisher and came back with knife chops. Yuya hit Josh with a Bull Dog. Yuya hit Josh with a Saito Suplex. Josh used a pin to escape an armbar. Yuya kept escaping out of Josh’s finisher heading into the break.[c]
Josh caught Yuya with his signature crossbody to the back. After both men recovere, Yuya dumped Josh to ringside, skinned the cat, and hit Josh with a plancha. Yuya went to the top rope. Hannifan noted that Yuya has won a bunch of matches in Impact with this move (has he?). Josh recovered and dodged. Josh countered an armbar into an Ankle Lock.
Yuya escaped with a leg whip. Yuya no sold a few strikes. Yuya used a huracanrana to lock Josh in a grapevined armbar. Josh got to the bottom rope for the break. Josh hit Yuya with two chained German Suplexes. Yuya reversed a German with a Saito Suplex. Yuya caught Josh in the corner with a running dropkick which took ff Josh’s headgear. Yuya got a two count. Josh staggered Yuya on the top rope with an uppercut.
Yuya shoved Josh off the top rope. Josh caught Yuya with a right hand mid-air for a good nearfall. Yuya crumpled due to exhaustion. Yuya escaped another finisher attempt. Josh hit Yuya with a ripcord forearm and C4 Spike (Jay Driller) for the win.
Josh Alexander defeated Yuya Uemura via pinfall in 15:20 of on-air time.
John’s Thoughts: Wow. That was really good. Yes, Josh Alexander can wrestle a 4 star match with a broomstick, but Yuya looked impressive on his end too. This was clearly Yuya’s best singles match in the company, and it was his last match in the company. They had this guy for over a year and never utilized him like this? He has it in him to be a big player and I’m interested to see if he is going to be a big player in New Japan (though I hear he’s currently in Sanada’s kinda boring 5 Guys Burger and Fries stable. I like Sanada too, but he’s kinda bland in his current iteration).
This week’s show was inconsequential filler, but good filler. Like Naruto filler. The two matches you might want to go out of your way to see are the bookend matches, the opener and the main event. Everything else was harmless and if you want more pro wrestling then have at it. If anything this gave me a good time to recap the year and see a time capule as to how Impact progressed through 2023. I hope we at least get two more weeks of actual shows at the beginning of 2024 because they are currently doing nothing to sell the Hard to Kill PPV other than say “TNA’s back, baby!”. They did a better nostalgia build heading into their Impact 1000 show.
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