Csonka’s Impact Hard to Kill 2020 Preview

WELCOME back to column time with Larry! Today, I am going to discuss and preview the Impact Wrestling Hard to Kill 2019 event. The show will feature Champion Sami Callihan vs. Tessa Blanchard, Michael Elgin vs. Eddie Edwards, and much more it what appears to be a mixed bag of a PPV on paper. So today I will breakdown and preview the event. Feel free to make your picks in the comment section. Thanks for reading! It’s wrestling, we love it and will disagree. The only rules are “have a take, be respectful, and don’t be a dick.”

Moose vs. Rhino: Moose is a talent that Impact has a lot of high hopes for in terms of making it as a main event talent, and while I think he has a long way to go still. I also recognize that he’s certainly improved and has been doing good work as a heel. He faces off with Rhino here, and while the company has been doing their best to sell him as a legend and just as good as he always was, he isn’t. He’s old, slow, and his trademark stuff doesn’t even really pop the crowd and all of that together makes me not look forward to this match. I have faith in Moose working hard and putting in a quality performance, but I don’t think he’s skilled enough to carry Rhino or completely cover for Rhino’s shortcomings as he had bland to borderline bad matches with everyone, even ELGIN. I almost fear that Impact has such a hard on for Rhino &the ECW stuff that that he wins here. I hope that I am completely wrong and that they have a good match, Rhino finds some magic for one night, and that Moose picks up a win he really needs. Do the right thing Impact. WINNER: Moose

Mad Man Fulton vs. Ken Shamrock: Mad Man Fulton is a guy that has shown potential in his Impact run, he’s been heavily protected, but when they let him loose, there is something there. Ken Shamrock made his return to h e company and is n great shape, but it’s been a rough go; he had an ok match with Moose, was dick flipped Joey Ryan, and had a bad match with Sami which is part of what led to this as Shamrock has become part of the old guard (like the ECW relics) shackled to Tessa to leech heat off of her by association. I unfortunately do not have high hopes for this match, and even worse, I think they are having Shamrock go over. I REALLY hope I am wrong. WINNER: Ken Shamrock

RVD vs. Cage: Sticking with the seniors portion of the card, we get heel RVD vs. Cage. Cage is a former world champion and since losing the championship has taken the tumble down the card. But the fact remains that Cage has been great in Impact, delivered some of Impact best matches in 2019 with Elgin, and developed nicely into a top guy. He faces off with RVD here, and while the company has been doing their best to sell him as a legend and just as good as he always was like Rhino, he isn’t. He’s old, slow, and his trademark stuff doesn’t even really pop the crowd and all of that together makes me not look forward to this match. RVD has been fun as a heel personality, but I have no time for him in the ring in 2020. This, along with the other two matches discussed, has the chance to be bad. Cage will work hard, he; he MAY even save it but I don’t have high hopes and worse than that, I think RVD is winning here. WINNER: RVD

Champion Taya vs. ODB vs. Jordynne Grace: With all due respect to ODB, I absolutely hate that she was added to this match. They told the natural story of Grace working her way back to a title shot after previously losing to Taya, and it felt like the perfect time to have Grace beat her. Now I respect Impact helping out ODB with her financial issues/losing her food truck but in 2019/2020, she’s no good and ruins the story for me. I was really looking forward to Taya vs. Grace, felt it was well booked and that they would deliver. Now, I honestly have little interest and think that Taya escapes with the championship, pinning ODB and continuing her feud with Grace even more. I hope I am wrong and Grace murders them in 2-minutes. WINNER: Taya

Michael Elgin vs. Eddie Edwards: Ok, now we’re getting into the business end of the card, which is filled with tons of potential. Elgin has been the best in-ring competitor for Impact in 2019 and shows no signs of slowing down, the only one coming close to him in match quality in 21019 was Swann. Edwards has been really good as well, mostly occupied with Ace Austin and his wife banging. He won the BFG gauntlet, giving him a title shot of his choosing at any time, which is on the line here. With these two guys involved, it certainly has the potential to be great and likely the best match on the show if I had to guess. If Edwards wins and keeps his title shot, I think there’s a high possibility of him cashing in on Ace to win the X-Division championship, which makes perfect sense. But I am feeling an Elgin win, he’s been pushed hard and has been the guy and I think it can play into a bigger angle later in the evening. I’m really looking forward to this one. WINNER: Michael Elgin

Champion Ace Austin vs. Trey: Ace Austin has been tremendously fun as the sleazy heel XXX-division champion looking to bang mom and wives. He’s the perfect unlikable douche and on top of that, he can back it up in the ring. He defends against Trey here in a small surprise as to me, Dez is the standout of the Rascalz, but also his team with Wentz is the best pairing in terms of tag team action so Trey got the call here. Trey is a really good and fun performer, but I’ve yet to see that standout/signature singles match from him that I feel he is capable of. This was set up by Trey winning a #1 contender’s match and Ace trying to bang Trey’s mom, Mrs. Miguel. Ace has had a good year, and will be out to impress as will Trey in a major singles PPV match. I think that the match has a ton of potential. But I think Ace retains… but if Eddie keeps his title shot, don’t be surprises if he and Kenny arrive to steal the title from Ace. WINNER: Ace Austin

Champions The North vs. Rich Swann & Willie Mack: I have absolutely loved the build to this match, as it’s just not worthy contenders in Swann and Mack, which thy are, but it has some well constructed layers to it. First of all is the mind games from page specifically, mind-fucking Mack into jealousy and telling him that Swann is a big star in the making and that they won’t last as a team. That has led to some side eyeing by Mack to Swann and the tease of a potential heel turn, especially since Mack “got hurt,” and Swann earned the title shot on his own. The desperation of the North her to keep their titles is obvious and smartly played, because Mack & Swann are great and a real threat to them. The North have been great as champions and they have great dance partners here, so along with Elgin vs. Edwards, this has show stealing potential. But will the North’s plan work, will Mack turn on Swann and the champions retain, or are the challengers also playing mind games and lulling the champions into thinking they have the challengers right where they want them. If Mack doesn’t turn, I can surely see a title change as possible, but I also think that the North should retain; it’s a real coin flip so… WINNER: The North

Champion Sami Callihan vs. Tessa Blanchard: Back at Rebellion, Tessa Blanchard defeated Gail Kim in a great match, but her follow up booking hasn’t been what anyone expected. Instead of locking into a feud and going back after the knockouts title, she turned babyface, beat down Disco Inferno and then started scrapping with the oVe boys, leading her Slammiversary match with Sami, which was really good. Sami won, they had a rematch with a title shot on the line, also really good, which Sami won and cashed in to win the title. Tessa has been great and was seemingly set to be the centerpiece of the knockouts division following the win over Kim, but will now face Sami Callihan here again. Sami had a really quality 2019, and after repeatedly coming up short in major matches on big shows, beat Tessa and then won the title. Tessa is arguably the biggest and most over star in the company, and they want to push her, to really push her as a top star, just not female, but a top star overall, which is why they are main eventing. The build has been really good, they work well together and I think that hey will deliver here. And now we come to the finish, does Sami somehow screw over Tessa to retain, or does Tessa get the big moment and end Sami’s title run early… or does something else happen? It’s easy to make the regular predictions so I am going outside the box, it may not happen, but I’ll put it out there. What I think happens is that Tessa beats Sami to win the championship, and gets the celebration and they can say she won the championship… until Michael Elgin, who beat Eddie Edwards earlier in the evening and wins his title shot, cashes in and beats Tessa to become the NEW champion to close the night; Tessa gets the quick moment, they make history and Elgin finally wins the title in asshole fashion, screwing Tessa, theoretically getting big heat for it in the process, and possibly creating some buzz. WINNER: MICHAEL ELGIN

MAKE SURE TO JOIN 411 FOR MY LIVE CVERAGE OF THE PPV TONIGHT!

The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 81. On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka & Jeremy Lambert review NJPW New Year’s Dash, break down this good and horrible of the AWE vs. NXT battle, and preview Impact Hard to Kill. The show is approximately 128–minutes long.

* Intro
* Jeremy’s NJPW WrestleKingdom 14 Thoughts: 1:50
* NJPW New Year’s Dash Review: 13:10
* Impact Hard to Kill Preview: 37:55
* AEW Dynamite (1.08.20) Review: 1:02:00
* NXT TV (1.08.20) Review: 1:31:00
* The Head to Head Comparison: 1:54:50
* Important Closing Notes: 2:00:50

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– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.