wrestling / TV Reports
411’s Impact Wrestling Review 9.8.20
Loading...Welcome, 411maniacs and Impact fans, to another Tuesday and thus another episode of Impact Wrestling! I’m Jeremy, and y’all know how this works. We got ourselves a new Impact World Champion last week, plus the end of Wrestle House and the return of Tenille Dashwood. Things are heating up even more in the Impact Zone, so let’s get into it!
As a reminder, the GoFundMe for Larry’s daughters is still active and if you can make a donation, that would be awesome. Thank you so much to everyone who’s done so thus far.
* Previously on Impact: Moose is terrorized by EC3, who has his TNA World Title, and finds the crazy stalker bulletin board with a location marked. Meanwhile, Eric Young battles Eddie Edwards and uses his hockey-esque mask as a weapon with the ref down to secure the win and take the World Title. He then attacks Edwards after the match.
WE OWN THE NIGHT! (AKA Title Sequence!)
* Eric Young is out to start off the show with his Impact World Championship. He says that we’re looking at a world-class man, a world-class athlete, a world-class professional wrestler — and most importantly, a world-class maniac. Young says that Swann beat him at Slammiversary and he had to take immediate action. That started the ball rolling, which rolled right over Swann and right over Eddie Edwards. He reminds us all that this was by design and was 100% inevitable.
That brings out Alisha Edwards, and I don’t know that this is gonna end well. She marches down to the ring with a mic, gets in and tells Young he’s a World Champion to some people but he’s nothing but a coward to her. He came to Impact to make a statement, but instead he decided to injure people like Swann and her husband. She says he doesn’t know anything about Eddie, but Eddie’s coming back to take what belongs to him. Young tries to speak and gets cut off, saying she’s seen it all — broken friendships, Eddie nearly losing his eye, and a douchebag who tried to end her marriage. But she wasn’t afraid of them and she’s not afraid of him. She says Eddie’s a fighter, and it’s only a matter of time before he comes back, whoops his ass, and takes the title. She says they’re gonna make it personal. Eddie can’t even hold his little one because of Young (did Young break his arm when we weren’t looking?). He can’t take her on walks. That’s her family and that’s everything. Young says simply, “I. Don’t. Care.” And gets slapped by Alisha. He smiles, turns to walk off, and then grabs Alisha and prepares to piledrive her but Dreamer is out and hits Young with a cane. Young rolls out of the ring and goes apeshit before grabbing his title and backs off.
Dreamer says he’s piledriven women in his career but Young has never had to wake up next to someone with pain in their body for something that he did. Dreamer says Alisha is like family, so is Eddie and so is Swann. Dreamer says when Young left, there were people who decided to stay. He says Young is a hell of a wrestler but a piece of s**t scumbag who wants to injure guys. He tells Young to take him out and end his career. He challenges Young to a match, any kind of match he wants, but he’ll be damned if he touches her or anyone else in this company. Young says Dreamer made his last mistake, everyone are punks and the company belongs to him. He’ll see Dreamer tonight.
* Madison and Josh hype up tonight’s show including the Dreamer vs. Young match (apparently for the title), Chris Bey vs. TJP, Locker Room talk with Kylie Rae and Susie, and the World Tag Team Championship match against the Rascalz. Finally, Moose tries to hunt down EC3 and his title.
* Speaking of which, we cut to an airport where Moose is taking a flight somewhere as we head to break.
* Back from break, and we get an Impact Plus! ad.
* Cut to Rosemary, Taya, and John E. backstage and they’re wedding planning. Rosemary says there’s a lot to coordinate and asks Taya if she’s sure she’s all in. Taya says she loves love, and this is real love. She’s super-excited and calls it the Wedding of the Century. Rosemary says there’s only so many people qualified to officiate a demon wedding, and the one at the top of the list is dead. But resurrection, while a slippery process, is possible. It will just take time and Bravo will have to do the planning. Taya says don’t even worry about it; they’ve got it under control. She loves a good wedding and says it’ll be perfect. Rosemary teleports out and Taya has some wild plans involving ice sculptures and a 20-tier cake.
Chris Bey vs. TJP
Bey takes a swing that TJP ducks and fires back before the bell! Punches by TJP, whip into the corner and Bey out into a backdrop. TJP with a European uppercut, Bey off the ropes and lifted up to drop to the mat followed by a submission attempt. Bey counters and lays in punches as Rohit Raju comes out to heckle. TJP off the ropes into a shot, and Bey hits a Euro uppercut and punch in the corner. TJP whipped across the ring, up and over as Bey charges in, headscissors takedown. TJP off the ropes and Bey goes for a hip toss but TJP bounces off the ropes into an armdrag and Bey is out of the ring. TJP with a springboard and dropkick to the outside, he rolls Bey in and goes up top. He almost loses his balance and drops down, Bey charges in and gets got in a headscissors submission but ref counts because TJP’s holding onto the ropes so it breaks. Bey rakes the eyes mid-wristlock attempt and knocks TJP down as we go to break.
Back from break and Bey is delivering elevated stomps to TJP in the corner, pin attempt gets one. He jaws at Rohit, then comes off the ropes for a diving clothesline that gets two. Bey yells at TJP and showboats a bit as TJP gets up, Gory lock but TJP wriggles out for a sunset flip that gets one. TJP with a drop toehold into an inverted STF. They counter wrestle a bit, Bey kicks TJP in the head and gets a two-count. TJP off the ropes into an abdominal stretch. The babyface powers out and hits a back suplex with both men down now. Rohit is enjoying this as both men get up, inverted atomic drop by TJP who comes off the ropes with a splash. Three front facelock suplexes in quick succession, TJP goes for the Mamba Splash and Bey dodges but he rolls through. He’s up and Bey with a big kick to the head, comes off the ropes in a springboard but right into a submission. Bey rolls back into a pin for two, then picks TJP up with a rack, then drops him for two. Rayne exits for Locker Room Talk and both men are slow to get up. Bey springboards but gets caught on TJP’s shoulders, he manages to slide off onto the apron and gets a kick. Bey slingshot into a sunset flip, TJP counters into his own and gets the pin!
Winner: TJP (7:41)
Rating: ** 1/4
Thoughts: Good match to start off, though both guys were holding back a bit and we had a sloppy moment or two. I like both of these guys and they did fine; the ending was a bit anti-climactic but I imagine they didn’t want Bey to be hurt by the loss.
* It’s time for Locker Room Talk! Madison is oddly excited that Johnny Swinger is back, and he’s got a new jacket. She asks how Wrestle House was, and he says it was great and they can’t wait to have him back. Rayne says it was like jail and Swinger sputters a bit before Madison welcomes Kylie and Susie. Kylie is super-excited but neither of them want to sit on either side of Swinger, so he moves and they sit down. Madison asks how their experience was and asks about the fantasy suite. When Rae tries to answer, Rayne says she’s not really asking, but she does have to ask if she was gone as long as she was because she was trying to dodge Deonna Purrazzo. Kylie protests, and Rayne says she meant she was waiting for the perfect moment to spoil the Black Tie Affair. Susie says that’s bad and Rayne says, “She speaks.” Madison asks Kylie how well she really knows Susie, or as some people call her, “Su.” Swinger approves of the kayfabe. Then Deonna and Kimber Lee come in and Deonna complains about the crashing of the black tie affair. Kimber says they’re not going to cheap shot her unlike what Kylie did by kicking her in the face. Susie says “Yeah, let’s fight.” Deonna says that’s uncivilized, but she is here to challenge them to a tag match next week. They agree, Deonna and Kimber walk off, and Madison excuses Kylie and Susie. That’s all the time Madison has this week.
* Up next: Brian Myers!
* We return from break with the Bound For Glory promo featuring Eric Young in prison.
* Backstage, Bravo is asking to rent a dozen horses, a giant elephant, and ice sculptures. Kiera and Tasha show up and mock him, saying they don’t have an invitation yet. Bravo says Taya has the list, and Kiera says that what he needs to lean is to be his own man. And if anyone can teach him that, they can. They want to be his groomsman, and he says there’s no way Taya will agree to that. Kiera says who cares about Taya and that to be a good husband, he has to learn to be a good man. They walk off and tell him to do something about his outfit.
* Brian Myers is making his way to the ring now. He gets a mic and addresses Willie Mack, saying they got off on the ring foot. He introduces himself as the world’s most professional wrestler, has wrestled in all 50 states and has circled the world 27 times. He’s won championships on PPV, shared the ring with legends and Hall of Famers. So Mack has nothing to be embarrassed about regarding his loss. Myers says the handshake is a time-honored tradition to give respect to those that paved the way for people like Willie. So he asks Mack to come out and be a true professional. Mack comes out to the ring and gets in, he looks at the offered hand and says he didn’t come out to shake hands or be professional; he’d rather put his hands around Brian’s neck and shake that once or twice. Impact management saw what happened, and he’s been granted a rematch — tonight, and more specifically, right now. Myers says he’s not dressed, he’s not tanned, but a referee is coming in behind Myers’ back. Mack says that a professional should always bring his gear, and the bell rings!
Willie Mack vs. Brian Myers
Myers argues with the ref, then asks Mack to shake his hand. Mack declines, and then Myers tries for the sneak kick but Mack catches it and knocks Myers down. Myers off the ropes into a big back elbow, ends up on the apron and gets kicked by Mack! Myers out to the ringside area and Mack hits a big dive that sends Myers onto the apron. Mack picks Myers up, rolls him into the ring and follows. Myers out on the apron on the other side, gets decked hard to the floor by Mack but Myers trips Mack, pulls him out and slams him into the apron. Head slam into the apron and they’re in, Myers with mounted punches and a stomp. Another stomp by Myers, and he chokes Mack with his boot in the corner. Myers picks Mack up, suplex gets two. Myers is not happy with the ref and he drives his knee into Mack’s back while applying a crossface. Myers gets to his feet, breaks it but Brian with a knee. He whips Mack into the ropes, charges in but Mack gets out of the way and Myers’ jaw hits the turnbuckle hard. Myers up and turns around into a clothesline followed by a back elbow and a bodyslam. Big legdrop off the ropes gets two for Mack. Myers goes up on the shoulders for a Samoan drop, standing moonsault for two. Kick to Myers, Mack goes for the Stunner but Myers racks the eyes. He comes off the ropes right into a Sky High, drops back into the corner and gets pummeled by Mack. Myers shirt comes off by Myers with a low blow that the ref missed! Implant DDT and that gets three!
Winner: Brian Myers (5:21)
Rating: **
Thoughts: A perfectly acceptable match that accomplished what it set out to do. Not sure that Myers needs to beat Mack twice, but the cheap way he won both times certainly protects Mack a bit. For a supposedly impromptu match it wasn’t bad at all.
* Backstage Gia Miller asks Jordynne Grace about showing up to Purrazzo’s Black Tie Affair where she congratulated her. Grace says it’s important to be graceful in defeat and asks where Tenille Dashwood has been and why she thinks she can show up. Grace says let’s ask her now and grabs the camera guy, going to find Dashwood. They walk to Tenille’s dressing room but it’s locked and a guy named Kaleb (with a K) opens the door. He’s Tenille’s PP — her personal photographer. He says she has way more important things than to be in there. Grace asks when she’ll be back at work and we get some Dashwood glamour pics. Tenille is back next week. Grace is disgusted and walks off.
* Kiera and Tasha are backstage talking about how the wedding needs them in order to be lit. Taya shows up and says she doesn’t know what they were doing speaking to Bravo, but the only person he has to listen to is her so they can stay out of her business. Tasha says they didn’t send anything for Taya and Taya doesn’t understand or even know who they are and tells them to mind their business. Tasha says she doesn’t take nothing from anyone, especially her. Taya says she’ll take Tasha on right now, tonight. Tasha and Kiera are down.
Impact World Tag Team Championship Match:
Motor City Machine Guns vs. The Rascalz
That this isn’t the main event is a travesty, but we’ll see how this goes; maybe there’s a plan but I hope EY vs. Dreamer isn’t the main event unless there’s a big angle planned around it beyond “Dreamer gets hurt.” Anyway, I digress. The Rascalz dropkick the champs off the apron to start the match! Off the ropes and they dive onto the champs on the outside. Dez rolls Shelley in and they’re in, both men avalanche Alex and then Wentz in for one more. Alex out, and Sabin in who’s met with kicks followed by a stomp, and Dez covers for two. Dez with a kick and punch, he tags in Wentz and hits some shots as Wentz charges in with a shot, rolls Sabin out of the corner, kick and standing moonsault for two. Sabin off the ropes and Shelly tags himself in, they catch Wentz and kick the leg, dragon leg whip by Shelley. He gets Wentz up and kicks repeatedly at the back of the knee. Wentz whipped across the ring but he falls down clutching the leg. Shelley charges in but Wentz gets a foot up, Shelley catches it and tosses it over the second rope for a kick. The ref gets distracted by Alex and Sabin in and off the ropes into a dropkick to the knee. Shelley now works the leg through the ropes and another dragon leg whip that wrenches the knee against the rope. Sabin tagged in, he cuts Wentz off and bodyscissors into a self-headscissors, then drops down to wreck the knee again. Kick to the back of Wentz, he gets picked up and pushed into the hostile corner. Wentz is fighting out, slides under Sabin but gets caught. He does a standing switch, Shelley with a back waistlock, Sabin takes out Dez, Wentz gets backed into the corner and gets clotheslined by Shelley who rolls through and knee drops the knee again! Sabin knocks Dez off the apron and kneedrops Wentz, then they flip Wentz over and jam him down on the knees again! Spinning toeholds from Shelley, Dez in but gets wrapped up in an Octopus hold by Sabin! Shelley in a figure four, Dez gets free of Sabin and hits a standing shooting star press to break the leglock! Wentz is climbing slowly to his feet while Shelley grabs the leg, Wentz strikes his way out, enzuigiri and he gets the hot tag! Sabin in but gets an uppercut and then a series of strikes, snapmare and a dropkick to the back! Hard forearm in the corner, back elbow gets two! Dez picks Sabin up but Shelley’s in to cut Dez off! Wentz now in, decks Shelley, charges at Sabin but eats an enzuigiri. Sabin gets Wentz on the ropes but Dez with an enzuigiri to the back of the head, grabs the legs and slingshots Sabin into a kick from Wentz followed by a double kneedrop! Dez pins, and we get a near fall! Dez tags in Wentz, who picks Sabin up and holds him for a superkick followed by a flying knee. Dez pushes Wentz into a standing moonsault but Sabin rolls out of the way, Dez with a stomp to Sabin, whip is reversed, inverted atomic drop and a dropkick, tandem offense and Wentz is up, eats a double enzuigiri, they pick Wentz up and hit a double Michinoku driver for three!
Winner: Motor City Machine Guns (8:40)
Rating: ***
Thoughts: RIP my fingers. Legit, this was a super fast-paced match with some great innovative offense by both teams. The aggressive streak from both sides worked really well and targeting Wentz’s leg made for a good story of the match. The Rascalz were never going to win this, but they looked good against the champs and I have nothing to complain about here except for perhaps the Wentz’ knee not playing into the finish. And that’s the most minor of gripes.
After the match, The North charge in and attack the Guns! They beat the champs down and get them in the corner, but Sabin turns it around on Page and is choking Page against the ropes. And here come Ace Austin and Madman Fulton! Fulton brutalizes Shelley while Josh Alexander and Ace Austin stare off in the ring. Fulton gets involved, and Page says they can each have one so The North take out Shelley while Austin and Fulton destroy Sabin. And here comes Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows! They clean house and make the save for the champs as Dez crawls into the ring. Dez then leaps over the ropes onto the heels, but Fulton and Page catch him! And Wentz off the top to dive in and take everyone out! The Rascalz roll back in and the babyfaces all stare off, jawing a bit, while the heels argue and leave.
* Katie Forbes and RVD are backstage, and RVD asks Katie to deliver the awesome news. Katie thinks it’s that they beat the crap out of Sami last week, but RVD says the other awesome news. They’ve been picked up for a new series that will premiere next week: The Whole F’n Talk Show. They then start making out. Well, that should be…a segment.
* Back from break and it’s a Sami video. Callihan says it’s all about the numbers. Everything in life is a story about numbers. Last week he went one on one with RVD and he beat him, which would happen every day of the week because he’s one of the best. But after the match he got his ass handed to him again because of the numbers. He says he’s had a lot of people’s numbers throughout his career but Katie has his number. It makes him think maybe Katie Forbes is just too much for him. Because Katie Forbes is a little too much in general. He says a birdie just told him about the Whole F’n Talk Show, and since Katie has his number, he promises that he’ll not hack her show. Because he has other plans. Thumbs up, thumb s down.
Tasha Steelz vs. Taya Valkyrie
The two jaw off while Kiera yells at Bravo on the outside. Tasha shoves Taya and the brawl begins! Taya off the ropes with a shoulder tackle, then comes off the ropes and eventually hits an armdrag. Taya with an elbow to Tasha in the corner, snapmare and a diving dropkick off the ropes. Pinfall gets two. She picks Tasha up by the hair and comes off the ropes, Kiera catches the leg and Tasha takes advantage of the distraction to take Taya down. Splash in the corner and another, she hits a neckbreaker and a pin for two while John E. is on the phone planning his wedding. Taya calls for him and gets nothing while Tasha with an overhead shot. Tasha off the ropes but Taya holds her, hits a sit out powerbomb. She screams at Bravo who says he’s planning the wedding, which Kiera shrieks about. Taya ducks a clothesline and hits shops, whip into the ropes and lifts her into a kneelift for two. She picks Tasha up, whips her but short-arm reversal into a shot. Splash into the corner, she whips Taya across the ring and comes in but Taya cuts her off, a spear and Road to Valhalla and that’s three.
Winner: Taya Valkyrie (3:39)
Rating: * 1/2
Thoughts: This was as good as a three-and-a-half-minute match could be. Would love to see them go longer at some point because they worked crisp against each other, but this was what it needed to be.
Bravo is still on the phone and Kiera and Tasha attack, prompting Bravo to finally come to Taya’s aid. The ladies exit and Taya yells at Bravo as we’re off to break.
* The Bound For Glory promo airs again as we come back.
* We get a vignette of a football field, and in comes Moose at his football coach’s office. Moose needs a favor and doesn’t have time for memory lane. He asks if the coach has seen EC3 and describes him, but the coach hasn’t seen him. He says to remember what he always told him, and Moose thinks it’s play to the last whistle but it’s Control Your Narrative. Coach says he’s been warned. Moose backs into a bunch of EC3 lookalikes and throws them before exiting as the coach shouts encouragement. That was odd.
* The Impact! Plus Flashback Moment of the Week is the 8/11/16 Impact which saw Moose and Mike Bennett battle EC3 and Eddie Edwards. Moose and Bennett got the pinfall win.
* Up Next: Young battles Dreamer! And it is the main event.
* Outside, Rhino exits the building to find Heath there. They talk about how good last week felt, but Rhino says last week upset management and they’re not any closer to getting Heath in Impact. Heath is planning more ads and says people like them, but they’re adding up and HE’S GOT KIDS. He needs some money to do more ads, and Rhino knows where to get some big money.
* Madison and Mathews hype up next week’s episode of Impact, which will feature:
– Kimber Lee and Deonna Purrazzo vs. Kylie Rae and Susie
– Brian Myers vs. Willie Mack (again)
– XXXL vs. The Deaners
– Kiera Hogan vs. Taya Valkyrie
– The North, Ace Austin & Madman Fulton vs. The Rascalz & Motor City Machine Guns
Special Challenge Match:
Eric Young vs. Tommy Dreamer
We get the intros and then go to break.
Back from break, the bell rings, and Young charges in! Dreamer dodges and hip tosses Young, hits a bodyslam and he gets the kendo stick! This is Old School rules apparently. Young with punches but Dreamer whips Young into the corner, Young goes up and over to the apron and hits a punch on Dreamer. Young to the top rope but comes off into a kendo shot to the gut and Dreamer sends Young to the outside and follows. Young gets his head slammed into the steps, and Dreamer goes to retrieve a chain he drags across Young’s eyes. Young gets a knee and then a hard first, followed by an overhand blow. Dreamer goes headfirst into the apron and then is whipped into the ringpost. Young stomps on Dreamer, pulls up the mat, and grabs Dreamer. He goes for a piledriver but Dreamer counters with a backdrop. Dreamer grabs the garbage can and tosses it and other weapons into the ring, grabs a street sign and smacks Young in the head with it before grabbing chairs to throw into the ring. Young gets rolled back in, Dreamer follows and a pan gets smashed into the champ’s head. Dreamer puts EY seat-first on the top and follows up, he goes for a superplex but Young blocks it, punches to the side and a bite to the head before Young knocks Dreamer off the top. Young with an elevated stomp to Tommy, more stomps from the apron and he climbs back in. Slingshot neck-first into the bottom rope and a cover gets one. Young picks up the cooking sheet and nails Dreamer with it, grabs a chair and it goes across the back of Dreamer. Young yells at Dreamer, goes up top and goes for a chair-assisted elbow drop but Dreamer gets the boot up and the chair goes into Young’s face. Dreamer with a cutter and both men are down, they’re both to their knees and they trade fists. Dreamer takes control, hits a Dusty elbow, elbowdrop gets two. Dreamer grabs the kendo stick, whips Young into the ropes but EY ducks a kendo shot and chop blocks the leg! Young is going for the knee now, he locks in the single-leg crab but Dreamer gets the stick and smacks Young to break the hold. Young manages to hit a dropkick to the knee to take control again, he sets up the garbage can in the corner and bullies Dreamer, then whips him across the ring but Tommy reverses. Young stops up short of the can but Dreamer with a waistlock, Young counters with a back elbow but Dreamer whips him into the can and hits a Dreamer DDT for two! Tommy’s going for a table now, and he slides it in. The table is set up in the corner, he picks Young up but EY with a low blow! Young goes up top, Dreamer hits the ropes to crotch him. Dreamer goes for a DVD but Young has the mask, he slips down and waffles Tommy with the mask. Young picks Dreamer up, piledriver gets the pinfall win.
Winner: Eric Young (10:07)
Rating: ** 1/4
Thoughts: Old School Rules matches are obviously the best way to use Dreamer if a match is needed; I love Tommy but he’s more limited in the ring now. That said, Dreamer should not have been in a 10-minute main event match with the World Champion at this point. The match was fine, it did what it needed to do, but Tommy was too competitive here. It didn’t hurt Young, but I don’t think it helped him either.
After the match, Young assaults Dreamer and wraps a chair around his knee for kendo shot attacks. Rich Swann is out on crutches and he gets in the ring, attacking Young with the crutch! Swann sends Young out of the ring and Swann looks shocked, shouting “You don’t belong here!” and Swann shouts back. Young bellows that this belongs to him as we fade to black.
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