By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling TV
Taped in Nashville, Tennessee at Skyway Studios
Aired August 12, 2021 on AXS TV
Highlights from the Christian and Elite segment aired from AEW Dynamite…
Matt Striker and D’Lo Brown checked in on commentary. Striker hyped up Kenny Omega vs. Christian for the Impact World Championship on AEW Rampage this week. The Impact intro theme aired…
Entrances for the opening match aired…
1. Tenille Dashwood (w/Kaleb Konley) vs. Taylor Wilde. Both wrestlers started the match off with chain wrestling. Wilde landed the first clean move with an armdrag. Dashwood managed to take down Wilde with a side headlock. Wilde reversed the move with a hammerlock and headlock takedown of her own. Wilde took down Dashwood with a shoulder takedown and (botched) armdrag. Wilde hit Dashwood with a huracanrana to send Dashwood into retreat at ringside.
Dashwood and Kaleb stalled for time. Dashwood rolled in the ring to break the ten count. The referee took away the Fanny Pack that Dashwood tried to use as a weapon. Wilde body slammed Dashwood. Kaleb tried to trip up Wilde. Wilde chased away Kaleb. Dashwood tried to take advantage of the distraction but Wilde saw it coming and shoved Dashwood away. Kaleb went for the distraction and was kicked off the apron. This allowed Dashwood to hit Wilde with a draping neckbreaker for a two count.
Dashwood worked on Wilde for a stretch with methodical offense and pin attempts. After selling for a few minutes, Wilde made a comeback with a series of forearms and dropkicks. Wilde hit Dashwood with a nice backbreaker. Wilde hit Dashwood with a slingshot boot in the corner. Kaleb put Dashwood’s foot under the rope for the break. Wilde tried to drag Kaleb in the ring after he assisted Dashwood. Kaleb tried to spray Wilde in the face with an aerosol can, but ended up accidentally spraying the referee.
A returning Madison Rayne showed up and tossed Wilde into the turnbuckle. This allowed Dashwood to hit Wilde with a Spotlight Kick for the victory.
Tenille Dashwood defeated Taylor Wilde via pinfall in 9:54.
Matt Striker said Rayne was one of the most iconic Knockouts to step inside of a wrestling ring. Dashwood and Rayne acted like they weren’t in on the ambush initially, but then hugged to show that they were on the same page…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A well wrestled match and interesting return for Madison Rayne. I wonder if this is a short term thing given how Rayne announced a few months ago that she was retiring from wrestling to seek outside endeavors. It’ll be interesting to see if she is sticking around for this program, if she can somehow add some fire behind the pretty bland Dashwood act. Taylor Wilde hasn’t really been the most exciting wrestlers since returning either. Her in-ring stuff is pretty fine, but we don’t know why she’s here and why she’s so all over the place with her look.
A video package aired to hype up the 20 man battle royal for number one contendership to the Impact World Title…
The commentary team ran through advertised matches for the Impact Plus Emergence show as well as upcoming segments on this week’s show. Striker and Brown also hyped up the New Japan Resurgence show…
Entrances for the next match took place…
2. Impact X Division Champion Josh Alexander vs. Shawn Daivari in a non-title match. After a bit of chain wrestling, Alexander put Daivari in an ankle lock which caused Daivary to quickly crawl to the ropes for the break. Daivari covered and tossed Alexander into the buckles a few time. Alexander came back with a running boot to the face. Jake Something showed up on the stage to size up Josh Alexander.[c]
Alexander hit Daivari with a backbreaker for a two count. Alexander knocked a seated Daivari off the apron with a crossbody. Daivari recovered and kept Alexander out of the ring with a dropkick. Daivari worked on Alexander with methodical offense for a few minutes. Alexander went for a Jay Driller but Daivari escaped. Alexander reversed a drop toehold into an ankle lock. Daivari tried to use a leverage rollup for a two count. Alexander ducked a hammerlock lariat and hit Daivari with three German Suplexes. Alexander hit Daivari with a Jay Driller for the victory.
Josh Alexander defeated Shawn Daivari via pinfall in 6:27.
Jake Something grabbed the X Division Championship from the referee and confronted Alexander. Something shoved the title into the chest of Alexander to hand it to him. The commentary team noted that Something has his sights on the title…
A hype video package aired to hype up the Kenny Omega vs. Christian Cage match on AEW Rampage. Tony Schiavone, Sami Callihan, Ace Austin, Madman Fulton, Deonna Purrazzo, Matt Cardona, and Brian Myers gave their thoughts on the match. Jim Ross noted that no matter who wins the match on Rampage, the Impact title is staying in the hands of an AEW wrestler…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Spotlight match for Josh Alexander to presumably set up a match between Alexander and Jake Something. Alexander is putting on a string of great matches, but it would be cool to see him featured in an actual storyline one of these days as opposed to the Challenger-of-the-week format that Impact seems to do with their their non-world-title champions.
An ad aired to hype ticket sales for the New Japan Resurgence show…
The Good Brothers cut a promo to hype up their match against Swann and Mack and VBD at the Resurgence show. Eric Young and VBD showed up to interrupt and confront the Good Brothers. The segment ended with Doc Gallows challenging Joe Doering to a match…
Kiera Hogan made her entrance in street clothes. A replay aired of Savanna Evans laying out Kiera Hogan last week. Kiera took a mic and noted that things were supposed to be better between Fire N’Flava. Kiera said she thought Tasha was a real woman who understood Kiera more than anybody, but she guesses that Tasha tried to pull one over on Kiera. Kiera said Tasha got some stupid ass friend to do her dirty work. Kiera called out Tasha and Savanna to the ring. Instead of getting Tasha and Savanna, Su Yung and Zombie Kimber Lee made their entrance.
Kimber Lee attacked Kiera Hogan and took her down. Kiera came back with a superkick to take down Lee. Su Yung was standing on the ramp where she put the bloody glove on her hand. Kimber Lee put on a bloody glove too in the same fashion as Yung and Striker noted that it looked like Yung was controlling Lee with telepathy. Lee took down Kiera with the bloody mandible claw. Striker noted that some people who encounter the glove are never to be seen again. Kimber Lee dragged Kiera Hogan to the back kicking and screaming…
John’s Thoughts: My guess is Kiera Hogan has finally finished up with Impact Wrestling on this episode? (She announced via social media that she’s letting her Impact contract expire to explore other options in wrestling). Interesting way to do it. Writing off Kiera by feeding her to the supernatural monster.
Don Callis and Kenny Omega were sitting down backstage where Don Callis was doing his usual hyping up of Kenny Omega. Callis complained about Impact officials following them to Dynamite to screw over Kenny Omega. Callis said that Scott D’Amore and Tony Khan are in cahoots to screw over Omega. Callis said they brought a knife to a gun fight. Callis said he and Omega are going to have the Impact title for the rest of their lives.
Omega said Khan can use his daddy’s money to buy all the high priced talents he wants to take what is rightfully Omega’s, but the sad truth is that Omega is made of different stuff. Omega said nobody compares to him. He said he’ll show up and defend his belt against Christian, but he doesn’t want to hear on the internet or TV shows from fans that they’re still upset that he’s carrying the title. Omega credited his success to Don Callis giving him advice and from being made of different stuff…
John’s Thoughts: A decent promo from Callis and Omega and it was a bit refreshing to see Omega tone down the quirkiness that he usually has in his promos. Taking things seriously and calmly can go a long way in making a wrestler look like a big deal as opposed to a turn-off. (I’m not saying that quirky Omega is necessarily a turnoff, but his quirkiness does keep him from feeling like a main event player sometimes).
Entrances for the next match took place…
3. Chris Bey and NEVER Openweight Champion Jay White vs. “FinJuice” Dave Finlay and Juice Robinson. White locked up with his Resurgence challenger Finlay to start off the match. Finlay sent White into retreat with a dropkick. White regained control by slamming Finlay into the apron. White tossed Finlay in the ring and put the boots to him. Bay tagged in to continue White’s momentum, but Finlay took down Bey with a clotheline.
Juice tagged in and hit Bey with a running senton. Bey escaped a suplex but ate a knee. White tripped up Juice for the distraction. This allowed Bey to hit Juice with a draping elbow drop for a two count. White slammed Juice into the apron several times. White worked on Juice with methodical offense. White and Bay traded tags to keep momentum over Robinson. Juice hit Bey with a suplex to get in Finlay for the hot tag.
Finlay caught White with a European Uppercut. White rolled to ringside. Finlay hit Bey with a Black Hole Slam for a two count. Juice tagged in and hit Bey with an atomic drop. FinJuice hit Bey with a boot-legsweep combo. Ribinson took down White and Bey with punches. Finlay dumped White to ringside with a lariat. FinJuice hit Bey with a Doomsday Device. White hit Robinson in the back with a chair to invoke the DQ.
FinJuice defeated Chris Bey and Jay White via DQ in 8:40.
Finlay pummeled White with punches, but White took down Finlay by chucking the chair into Dave Finlay. The commentators noted that it seemed like White’s goal in the end was to ultimately soften up his Resurgence opponent. White hit Finlay with the Blade Runner on the chair. Jay White’s theme played as he stood tall over Finlay…
John’s Thoughts: A bit of odd booking of Jay White in Impact. It’s logical, yes, but they’re trying to tell this story with Chris Bey while also trying to hype up Jay White’s match against Dave Finlay at Resurgence. In the end, I’m not sure where they are going with teasing Chris Bey joining Bullet Club. Not to mention, White is showing up in Impact and losing most of the matches he’s involved in (he’s not eating the losses, but he’s still not looking like the main event player that he could be looking like).
Gia Miller interviewed Tasha Steelz about her alliance with Savannah Evans. Tasha noted that Kiera was the one who came to her, not the other way around. Tasha noted that there was a heat wave of success with Fire N’Flava but that heat may have gotten too hot for Kiera. Tasha said somebody had to go and it wasn’t going to be the Boriqua Badass. She said she brought over the meanest and most savage person in the world in Savannah Evans. She said now nobody will get to her.
Fallah Bahh showed up and tried to high five Tasha, but Tasha wasn’t having it. Bahh noted that he had a problem with Rosemary and Havok and would like to have Tasha and Savannah as backup. Tasha said what she does agree with is that she has a problem with Rosemary and Havok holding on to her titles…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A very good promo by Tasha Steelz. What really stood out was her complete change in personality compared to how she was when teaming with Kiera. She was a bit more of a caricature and more animated when teaming with Kiera. Here she was a bit more stoic, a bit more badass, and a bit more big league. The addition of having an enforcer like Savannah adds to her act as well. This Steelz-Evans pairing has me intrigued and it looks like this pairing has the potential to be way better than Fire N’Flava ever was, but that’s just strong first impressions, of course.
Gia Miller interviewed former WWE Women’s Champion Melina. Gia asked Melina on her thoughts of being a part of NWA Empowerrr. Melina talked about being proud of being a part of such an empowering event. Melina was cut off by Deonna Purrazzo who mocked Melina for sounding sappy. Deonna said she’s been training with one of the champions from the Invicta MMA promotion to prepare for her match against Melina at Empowerrr. Deonna sent the show to a training montage which also included highlights of Invicta’s Alesha Zappitella. The show cut back to Gia’s interview with Melina and Deonna. Melina announced that she’s going to make her Impact in-ring debut next week…
The show cut to Alex Marvez interviewing Christian Cage on being the first AEW wrestler to challenge Kenny Omega for the Impact Championship. Christian said that Omega may be the belt collector, but Christian has made the decision to come after all those titles, starting with the Impact World Title. Christian said next week he’ll be in the Impact Zone for the first time in years and that his history with Impact runs deep. Christian said that Impact gave him the chance to wrestle in main events and for world titles.
Christian said he’s going to take the title off of Kenny and return to the Impact Zone as Impact World Champion. Christian wished the wrestlers in this week’s Impact main event good luck, but said that the winner of the battle royal will be looking down the barrel at Impact World Champion Christian Cage and if you don’t know, now you know…[c]
John’s Thoughts: I like the nod to Biggie Smalls with the end line, but isn’t NXT’s Hit Row also using the same catchphrase these days?
4. “Always Ready” Matt Cardona vs. John Skyler. Cardona started the match with a dropkick for a one count. Cardona hit Skyler with a lariat and then followed up by tossing him several times into the buckles. Cardona hit Skyler with a flapjack and then dumped him to ringside. Cardona hit Skyler with a wrecking ball kick. Skyler gained advantage by tripping up Skyler. Skyler hit Cardona with a slingshot shoulder for a two count.
Skyler hit Cardona a few times in the corner. Cardona came back with a missile dropkick. Cardona hit Skyler in the corner with a lariat. Rohit Raju and Mahabali Shera showed up at ringside. Cardona saw Rohit, but then hit Skyler with the Broski Boot. Raju got on the apron for the distraction which allowed Skyler to hit Cardona with a high knee roll up Cardona for the surprise win.
John Skyler defeated Matt Cardona via pinfall in 4:06.
Raju gloated and mocked Cardona from ringside…
John’s Thoughts: An outcome that had me way more intrigued coming out of this match than going in. I totally expected this to be a filler showcase for Cardona, but instead it looks like they might be starting a program between Cardona and Raju. I’m looking forward to a Cardona-Raju program for the simple fact that it’s not another match or feud between the former Edgeheads and I would like to see how Cardona does in a feud with another opponent. I’m high on Raju’s talent and think that Raju can get something out of the former Zack Ryder. Good to see Skyler get a win. I wonder if this was just a one-off, or if we should expect to see more of Skyler in Impact?
Matt Striker and D’Lo Brown checked in from their commentary set. They announced the following segments for next week’s Impact show: Melina’s Impact in-ring debut, Joe Doering vs. Doc Gallows, and the winner of the Omega vs. Christian match appearing on Impact next week…
Eddie Edwards made his entrance first for the upcoming battle royal…[c]
The show cut back with the ring almost full and Moose and Sami Callihan getting televised entrances…
5. 20-man Battle Royal to become number one contender to the Impact World Championship. Madness ensued. Suicide was tossed out by W Morrissey. Johnny Swinger was also tossed out by Morrissey. Morrissey then eliminated the big man Shawn Hernandez. A gang of wrestlers tried to dogpile Morrissey, but Morrissey shoved them all away. Morrissey and Moose teased a confrontation, but another group of wrestlers decided to team up with Moose to dogpile Morrissey again. They actually managed to eliminate Morrissey.[c]
Petey Williams tried to eliminate Sam Beale on the apron, but he was tripped up and eliminated by Steve Maclin, who wasn’t in the match. Deaner skinned the cat a few times. Swann and Deaner brawled on the apron. Swann eliminated Deaner with a roundhouse. Violent By Design teamed up to eliminate Swann. Mack eliminated Rhino. Fulton and Austin eliminated Mack. Fulton elimated No Way [Jose]. Fallah Bahh eliminated Madman Fulton. Brown noted that Fulton sacrificed himself to protect Austin. Moose eliminated Bahh.
Brian Myers tossed Sam Beale into Trey Miguel to eliminate Miguel. Edwards hit Myers with a backpack stunner, but Beale prevented Eddie from eliminating Myers. Moose dumped Eddie to ringside to eliminate him. Moose rolled to ringside after Chris Sabin hit him with a Dragon Screw. Myers eliminated Sam Beale, which the commentators criticized him for because Myers has so many other opponents that aren’t on his side. Sami and Ace dragged each other to the apron.
Fulton ran back out to put Ace on his shoulders but Sami Callihan eliminated Ace with a lariat. Moose eliminated Callihan with a lariat. Sabin hit Moose with a Dragon Screw Leg Whip. Moose hit Sabin with a Uranage. Sabin locked Moose in a Sleeper. Striker threw in a plug for the Moose vs. Tomohiro Ishii match at New Japan Resurgence. Brian Myers recovered and dumped Moose and Sabin over the top rope for the win.
Brian Myers won the 20-man Battle Royal to become number one contender to the Impact World Championship in 13:37 of on-air time.
Highlights from the match aired. Brian Myers posed to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: Surprising finish. I can’t say that Kenny Omega vs. Brian Myers is the most exciting matchup on-paper for hardcore fans, but given Brian’s reinvention and solid in-ring ability, I can’t say that it would be a bad match either. There’s a part of me that hopes they can somehow elevate Myers to a main event level coming out of this, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if this was simply a one-off booking decision to book towards their Impact Plus show next week (or whenever it’s happening). The Battle Royal as a whole was quick and efficient. There was solid booking of individual storylines via the eliminations.
This was a solid and satisfying episode of Impact. While still not the most must-see thing in the world, this show is far from frustrating. What I thought this week’s show did a good job at was casting some doubt over the Omega vs. Christian match tomorrow. I still think Christian has no chance to come out of Rampage as World Champion, but this week’s Impact did a bit of a good job at adding to the suspension of disbelief.
What do you mean, “presumably to set up a match vs Josh Alexander”? Didn’t you watch last week when Jake won a 4-way match to determine Alexander’s opponent for Emergence? That has been settled for a week.