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Cazer’s Impact Wrestling Review 12.02.21

December 2, 2021 | Posted by Andrew Cazer
Impact Wrestling Moose Matt Cardona Image Credit: Impact Wrestling
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Cazer’s Impact Wrestling Review 12.02.21  

Impact Wrestling
Taped: Las Vegas
Commentary: Matt Striker & D-Lo Brown

We are back for another exciting episode of Impact wrestling! Last week things were definitely different as it was Thanksgiving and Impact aired the second episode of Wrestle House. You either loved it, or like me weren’t super fond of it but it undeniably had some entertaining aspects and was a good filler episode while we celebrated Thanksgiving. Prior to Wrestle House Impact had their Turning Point live special which saw JONAH make his debut for Impact and take out Josh Alexander. Tonight we will hear from JONAH.

We’ll also see some in ring action featuring Chris Sabin taking on Matthew Rehwoldt after Rehwoldt challenged Sabin to a match at Turning Point. We’ll also see Violent By Design get a tag team match against Rich Swann & Willie Mack.

Hard to Kill is just over a month away, all of the Champions retained their championships at Turning Point and we had a bit of a break with Wrestle House last week. Let’s see how Impact is as we embark on the road to the next Impact wrestling Pay Per View.

Before The Impact:  Jake Something def. Hikuleo – quite the surprise win for Jake but well deserved. 

– My Impact feed was struggling initially but we’re here and Matt Cardona is cutting a promo he discusses losing to W. Morrisey at Turning Point before turning his attention to Moose. Moose’s theme song hits as the current Impact champion makes his way to the ring to confront Cardona. Moose tells Cardona he’s accomplished so much in his eighteen year career, everyone knows who he is. He mentions Cardona’s action figures, his beautiful wife, and his deathmatch king nickname. He tells him thats all great but don’t overshoot it, truthfully he’s just not that guy. He will never be a top guy in this business. Moose asks Cardona if he really wants to step into this ring, with him? He tells him it will last as long as his Intercontinental championship run. He calls Cardona a midcarder and says he should change his name to Mid Cardona. Cardona slaps the mic out of Moose’s hand and starts hammering away at the Impact champion. Cardona hits two Broski boots on Moose in the corner before W. Morrisey hits the ring to break this one up but Cardona has a Broski boot for him aswell. The numbers get to Cardona and Moose drops him before both men lay the boots to Matt Cardona. Morrisey lifts Cardona up but Eddie Edwards hits the ring to make the save. Cardona grabs the Impact title and holds it over his head as Moose and Morrisey head to the back.

– Eric Young with VBD and they cut a promo on Rhino, they told him he’d learn the hard way and at Turning Point they showed him. Young says they’re coming for the Tag Team Championships and Willie and Rich are just the start of that. He says this is a warning to Impact, there is a design and it will be violent.

– Cardona is backstage with Scott D’Amore and he makes a Teddy Long special aka a TAG Match. Cardona says he wants a title match and D’Amore says make me proud and maybe you’ll get a shot, Cardona says ok and walks away. Rachael Ellering and Jordynne Grace walk up and say they heard about the womens ultimate x match and they want in. D’Amore considers but Sasha Steelz and Savannah Evans come and offer their input. D’Amore says we have time tonight and he books Savannah and Rachael in a rematch from a match we saw a few weeks ago.

Matthew Rehwoldt vs. Chris Sabin

We recap how this match came together and Deonna Purrazzo joins Striker & D-Lo on commentary. Chain wrestling to start and Rehwoldt taunts as he gains the upperhand momentarily. Sabin takes control with an armdrag that sends Rehwoldt into the corner and follows with another armdrag and controls the shoulder. Rehwoldt gets the ropes and forces the break with a cheap shot. Sabin with a forearm from the apron and climbs to the top for a crossbody on Rehwoldt in the center of the ring. Sabin teases a dive and lands on the apron but Rehwoldt drops him with a right hand as we go to a break.

Back from break and Rehwoldt is hammering on Sabin with stiff elbows to the back of the head. We get a nice long shot of Deonna on commentary, always appreciated. Rehwoldt hits Sabin with an elbow in the corner and follows with a neckbreaker out of the corner. Rehwoldt with a bodyslam and does a pendulum elbow onto Sabin as he takes a look at Purrazzo on commentary. Rehwoldt with a headlock but the crowd wills Sabin to fight out with a jawbreaker. Sabin sends Rehwoldt to the apron and hits a stunner hanging Rehwoldt up on the top rope. Rehwoldt takes his time returning to the ring and rightfully so as he gets steamrolled by Sabin upon return. Sabin drops Rehwoldt with a kick right to the face and charges him with a big boot in the corner. Sabin tosses Rehwoldt out of the corner and drops him with a jumping DDT and covers for a two count. Sabin lifts Rehwoldt up for the cradleshock but Rehwoldt counters out with a rollup for two, sabin with a roll up of his own. Both men to their feet and double clothesline drops them both. They get to their feet and exchange strikes. Sabin gets on the top rope and Deonna leaves commentary to distract Sabin. Sabin turns around and eats a running knee from Rehwoldt. Rehwoldt hits end scene on Sabin for a two count. Mickey James hits the ring and starts beating up Deonna Purrazzo because she’s just a big Chris Sabin fan I guess. Rehwoldt to the top back in the ring Sabin dodges a clothesline and drops Rehwoldt with an enziguri and follows with a Cradleshock and pins Rehwoldt in 11:42.
Rating: ** 1/2
Review: This was an ok first match of the night but typically Impacts openers are much more high action and exciting. The outside action was a bit distracting and felt a bit forced but I get it we want to build Mickey vs. Deonna. Glad Sabin still won so overall not bad at all.

– Backstage Scott D’Amore is backstage wtih Chelsea Green and says next week he’ll announce the six competitors for the Ultimate X match, Chelsea says he knows everyone wants to see Chelsea vs. Mickie. Alisha Edwards comes up and says she wants in the match. D’Amore repeats himself and says he’ll announce the competitors next week. Alisha says she better be in it. Jai Vidal walks up and Scott says he’s not letting him in the knockouts match. Jai says no he wants a match at Hard to Kill because he’s Hard to Kill. Scott says he likes Jai but he only has one opportunity and he wont like it. Jai says he’ll take any opportunity. Scott says alright fine and makes a match between Jai and Jonah. Well that was a lot but i’m glad we’re getting another Jai Vidal match even if it’s just another enhancement spot, he’s an awesome talent out of Vegas and deserves the look for sure!

JONAH vs. Jai Vidal 

J-A-I chants early and Jai goes for a crossbody but JONAH just catches him and tosses him behind. JONAH drops Jai with his body. JONAH lifts Jai up for a delayed vertical suplex before dropping him to the mat. JONAH with a running senton onto Jai before climbing to the top rope. JONAH with a GIANT splash and pins Jai Vidal in 1:47.
Rating: N/A
Review: Glad to see Jai and it’s cool to see him get such a solid reaction from the hometown Vegas crowd. Jai is a great Vegas talent, it’d be cool if Impact used a few more FSW talent for enhancement matches if they’re gonna continue to work Vegas so often. 
Post match: JONAH grabs a mic and says the whole wrestling world is talking about him. Ehh maybe. He says he takes over everywhere he goes. He says there’s a reason he showed up in NJPW and that was to stand face to face with Moose. Moose is the Impact world champion, something he deserves to be. JONAH says before Moose he has his sights set on Josh Alexander because they say he’s the best in the world. JONAH says to be the best Josh has to go through the top dog before leaving the ring.

– We get a recap of the triple threat X-Division championship match at Turning Point featuring Trey, Laredo Kid and Steve Maclin. Trey won by pinning both and despite Maclin kicking out Laredo was still pinned.

– Trey Miguel meets with Gia who asks how he feels about his victory. Trey says he’s glad he retained the championship but he wanted to pin Maclin and his biggest challenge so far has been pinning or submitting Maclin which he has yet to do. Maclin appears and beats down Trey spearing him into a locker before throwing a tool box at his head that Trey narrowly dodged. Trey gets some in but one security guard shows up to break it up and he just sets Trey up to get beat down even more. Maclin chokes out Trey with an extension cord before the rest of security shows up to hold Maclin. They hold Maclin long enough for Trey to flip off something onto all of them. Well this was ok but kind of silly how the security is just a bunch of useless goons.

– Brian Meyers is practicing distanced learning with Zicky Dice and asks how they got his phone, Zicky says he stole the number from Cardona’s phone, Brian hangs up on him. VSK facetimes Meyers and says he’s not sure if Brian saw Turning Point, Zicky says VSK lost to Rich really bad. Brian says of course he saw it he’s a student of the game. VSK promises to make good on everything and make things better. VSK says they’re going to face FinJuice and make everything better.

– Moose is backstage with Morrisey and says they have to stop Matt Cardona from getting the championship. Morrisey asks how stopping Cardona helps him, which is funny because he already helped stop Cardona once. Moose tells Morrisey if he stops Cardona then he will get a shot at the title. Morrisey says he doesn’t think Moose ever has any intention to give him a title shot so they’re done here. Moose says he’s a man of his word, he tells Morrisey to look in his eyes, help Moose beat Cardona and he’ll get the first shot at the championship. Morrisey agrees before walking away. Poor Morrisey so easily convinced.

Savannah Evans vs. Rachael Ellering

Brief chain wrestling to start before Savannah immediately takes control with her strength. Evans lays into Ellering with chops before dropping her with a shoulder block. Ellering ducks a big boot and hits Savannah with two shoulder blocks before dropping her with a third. Evans looks for a german suplex but Ellering goes for a back elbow. Savannah ducks and turns it into a northern lights suplex. Evans lifts Ellering up and tosses her into the corner and catches her with a shoulder in the corner. Evans with a suplex and cover for a two count. Ellering regains control and goes for a spinning legdrop but Evans catches her leg and takes control choking Ellering with her boot. Evans lifts Ellering up and hammers at her back with forearms and a DDT. Evans with the cover but Ellering kicks out at two. Ellering gets to her feet and goes face to face with Evans. Both women exchange forearms and Ellering hammers away at Evans backing her into the corner. Ellering hits a rotating uppercut and drops Evans. She follows with a knee to the face. Senton from Ellering three times before covering Evans for a two count. Ellering tries to lift Evans up for a fireman’s carry but she cant get Evans up and nails her with a discus elbow. Finally she gets Evans on her shoulders but Tasha Steelz distracts her. Ellering drops Steelz and lifts Evans up for a rough fireman’s carry cutter. Ellering takes a second to position the pin and gets the victory in 6:47
Rating: ** 1/2
Review: The finish was a bit rough because Ellering struggled a bit to support Evans weight. None the less this was a solid knockouts match and probably more entertaining than the first time they wrestled. 

– Kaleb is backstage with Madison and Tenille is back she asks what everyone has been up to. Madison tells her about Wrestle House and says these new girls from Australia have won the Impact Knockouts tag titles. Tenille says being Australian is her thing so she must meet these girls. All three walk off to find the Iinspiration.

– Back from break and Tenille walks up on the Iinspiration. They scoff and have a beautiful reunion between the three of them. Madison is not sure what’s going on but Kaleb jumps right in on the fun. Madison asks Kaleb if they know him too he says no he’s just feeling the vibe. The Iinspiration asks who he is he says he’s Kaleb with a K they say they’re the Iinspiration with two i’s. All five of them walk off as this seems to be a stable made in heaven.

Violent By Design vs. Rich Swann & Willie Mack 

Doering and Swann start things off exchanging strikes before Doering slams Swann into the corner. Deaner tags in but Swann regains control with a spinning back kick and tags sin Willie. Willie and Swann send Doering into the corner and hit a double team on him before Swann eventually tags back in. Swann and Mack drop Deaner with a double back elbow and a legdrop splash combination. Swann covers for a two count. Swann tags Willie in and they hit a 3D like move on Deaner but instead of a cutter a bulldog from Swann. Doering enters the ring illegally and drops Willie Mack as we head to commercial.

Back from break and VBD are maintaining control over Willie. Deaner tags Doering in and hedrops Mack with a boot to the face. Deaner with a sidewalk slam and tags in Deaner, Deaner with a diving headbutt to Mack and covers for a two count. Mack with a lifting forearm to Deaner and drops him in the center of the ring. Both men are down and eventually crawl to their respective corners to make the tag but Deaner tries to stop Mack, Mack shoves Deaner off and tags in Swann. Swann stops Deaner from making a tag and drops Doering off the apron. Swann with a cutter to Deaner before going to the apron. Doering pulled him off the apron but ran himself face first into the ring post trying to stop Swann. Swann climbs to the top looking to hit Deaner but Eric Young distracts him. Mack makes the save and Swann hits a 450 on Deaner for the victory in 8:46.
Rating: **3/4
Review: This match was a solid tag match and i’m glad Swann and Mack won but this is another match with distractions even if it didn’t cost them the victory. The post match was also weird if we’re just pushing to another Rhino/Heath vs VBD match. 
Post match: Violent by Design continue their attack on Mack and Swann but Rhino and Heath come out to make the save. They drop Deaner then make their way into the ring to beat down Doering and Eric Young. Rino with a belly to belly to Eric Young and that sends him reeling.

Hernandez is backstage with Johnny Swinger and asks if he’s finally happy. Swinger says he hasn’t been this happy in ages. Hernandez has some cash and Rohit Raju is mad he wasn’t invited to Wrestle House. Larry D shows up and says maybe he wasn’t invited because the lord of the manor didn’t want him there. Raju says he should’ve been invited because while Larry’s been gone he’s done a lot of great things. Larry challenges Raju to a match for next week.

W. Morrisey & Moose vs. Matt Cardona & Eddie Edwards

Morrisey and Cardona open the match with a lockup but Morrisey takes control with a shoulder block after a strike exchange. Cardona drops Morrisey with a bulldog and gets him in the corner to tag in Eddie. Eddie and Cardona with quick tags and try to drop Morrisey with a double clothesline but Morrisey runs through it. Cardona and Edwards taunt Morrisey outside nd he follows them out. Edwards and Cardona drop Morrisey and Moose on both sides of the ring as we go to commercial.

Back from commercial and Morrisey is back on the offense. Moose tags in and stomps on the head of a downed Cardona rubbing his boot into the back of his head. Morrisey tags in and hammers on Cardona with forearms. Morrisey looks for a powerbomb but gets distracted by Edwards. Cardona reverses and tags in Eddie. Eddie with an enziguri to Morrisey. Morrisey goes for a big boot but Edwards traps the leg and drops a shoulder into the calf. Morrisey sends Edwards into the ropes and follows just to eat an Elbow. Moose distracts Edwards and Morrisey shoves him off the top of the turnbuckle to the outside. Edwards gets checked on by the ref as he favors his knee. Morrisey tags in Moose and Moose heads right to Eddie on the outside. Moose tosses Eddie into the ring Morrisey tags in and both men send Edwards chests first into the turnbuckle. Sheesh. Morrisey covers for a two count. Moose tags in and tries to spear Edwards but he sends Moose to the outside. Edwards tries to make the tag but Moose pulls Cardona from the ring apron. They isolate Edwards in their side of the ring and Morrisey drop and elbow onto Edwards. Morrisey tags Moose in and Edwards fights back dropping Moose with the jaw breaker. Moose tries to prevent the tag but Eddie shoves him off and tags Cardona. Cardona drops Morrisey off the apron and then hits Moose with a dropkick followed by a codebreaker. Cardona with the broski boot in the corner and pulls Moose to the center of the ring for a cover and a two count. Morrisey with the save. Morrisey and Moose lift up Cardona for a double suplex but Edwards catches him. We get some action between all four men and it comes down to Cardona and Moose. They both drop each other and all four men are on the floor. Moose and Cardona to their feet and they exchange strikes before Moose drops Cardona with a big boot. Edwards and Morrisey back in the ring. Morrisey to the outside and Edwards with a dive to the outside taking both men out. Cardona runs at Moose and gets hit with a Urinagi. Moose goes for a spear but Cardona rolls him up. Cardona goes for Always ready but Moose tosses him over. Moose goes for another Urinagi but Cardona with the roll up for the three count victory.
Rating: **3/4
Review: This was one of the better matches on the show but everything was just pretty good and nothing more. I’m conflicted on the booking of Cardona losing to Morrisey and now pinning the champion. Cardona vs. Moose should be good but I wish he had a bit more momentum going into it. Honestly feel like Morrisey is the primary guy who should be challenging especially after the post match. 
Post match: Morrisey drops Moose with a HUGE big boot. LETS GOOOOO. Morrisey flips off Moose and stands tall over him to close the show.

6.5
The final score: review Average
The 411
This was not a bad episode of Impact at all, but rather very average. The matches were all fine, and comparatively we've had some much worse matches in the past but honestly i'm used to at least one fast paced high action match typically to kick off the show. We didn't have that this week and I think the show suffered from it a bit. The main event tag and the VBD tag matches were solid matches but really nothing special especially when Impact has had some killer tag matches in recent weeks as well. No Josh Alexander is a downer but it makes sense as we build to him vs. Jonah. Outside of the Rhino/Heath stuff I was into the show for the most part but man could Impact use a change of scenery all of these random D'Amore backstage segments are tired now, get the man an office at least. Overall not a bad week but a bit slow as we start to build towards Hard to Kill.
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Impact Wrestling, Andrew Cazer