Csonka’s Impact Wrestling Review 5.24.19

Csonka’s Impact Wrestling Review 5.24.19

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Sami Callihan defeated Fallah Bahh @ 10:05 via pin [***]
– Knockouts Title Match: Champion Taya defeated Madison Rayne @ 14:07 via pin [**½]
– Impact Tag Team Title Match: Champions LAX defeated The North @ 8:25 via pin [***]
– Dez defeated Ace Austin, Petey Williams, & Rohit Raju @ 3:45 via pin [**½]
– RVD defeated Tommy Dreamer @ 9:20 via pin [**]

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Sami Callihan vs. Fallah Bahh: Scarlett is at ringside. Sami attacks at the bell, but Bahh cuts him off with a running cross body. The corner splash and chops follow and then Bahh tosses him around. The slam follows and then a falling head butt gets 2. Sami now bites Bahh’s toes, and follows with strikes but Bahh fires back and Sami bails to the floor. Bahh follows and lay in chops and strikes. Sami rakes the eyes, and they trade chops. Back in and Sami cuts him off and clotheslines him back to the floor. Bahh makes it back in and Sami attacks his feet, ripping at the toes and bites them again. Sami follows with strikes, Bahh fires up but Sami cuts him off again and ground the action. Bahh fights back to his feet, he’s pissed and no sells Sami’s chops. NO NO NO! Bahh now follows with palm strikes and hits a rolling senton and belly to belly. The side effect follows for 2. He looks for the banzai drop, but Sami rolls away. Sami punches at he feet of Bahh, and the running knee follows for 2. Bahh battles back with a Samoa drop looks for the banzai but the Crists arrive for the distraction and then corner Scarlett but she fights them off and hits an apron cannonball. Bahh hits an Island driver for a good near fall. Scarlet holds open the ropes and Bahh hits the suicide dive on the Crists. But back in, Sami cuts him off with the cactus driver and feet on the ropes for the win. Sami Callihan defeated Fallah Bahh @ 10:05 via pin [***] This was good tuff, I like the new mix of fun Bahh and serious Bahh, and the pairing with Scarlett is also good. I’d expect Scarlett & Bahh vs. the Crists coming soon.

-Tommy Dreamer cuts a promo on tonight’s match with RVD.

– Johnny Impact comments on helping Elgin last week, and says he did that because he’s#1 contender to Swann’s title, and didn’t want him in the hospital. They tease Impact & Elgin vs. Swann & Mack,

Champion Taya vs. Madison Rayne: Rayne chases right away, hits the spear and follows with strikes. The enziguri follows for 2. Rayne takes her to the buckles, follows with more strikes and then hits a high cross for 2. Post break and Rayne hits a cutter for 2. Taya tries to bail, Rayne follows but gets cut off and Taya starts attacking the knee. Back in and Taya stays focused on the knee. She follows with strikes, but Rayne fires back only to be cut off as she goes back to the leg. Rayne tries to fire back, but Taya maintains control as she continues to attack the knee, and lock on the half crab. Rayne escapes, but Taya kicks out the leg and keeps her grounded. The catatonic follows for 2. Rayne fires back, attacks Taya’s knee and hits the tornado DDT for 2. She follows with strikes, Taya uses the ref as a shield and attacks Rayne’s knee. Rayne fights back, gets the half crab, but Taya makes the ropes. Superkick by Taya and the knee strike follows. Rayne fights off road to Valhalla, Rayne fights out once but Taya grabs the ref and then hits it to retain. Champion Taya defeated Madison Rayne @ 14:07 via pin [**½] The match was solid overall but Taya’s heat felt lackadaisical, and lacked variety in her attack. It was solid, but there was an overall lack of intensity that led to the match feeling much longer than it was. It was far from bad, just solid.

– Post match, Rosemary arrives and makes it clear that she wants a title shot.

– We get a Deaners video package, where they eat cheese steaks.

-Jim Mitchell congratulates Rosemary on her play against Taya. He looks at her as family ever since she took care of Abyss, but is upset that she keeps stealing his women. He wants Yung back, but Rosemary says they are done because she has what she wants. Rosemary says Yung is wearing the dress she killed Allie in, and that it’s the dress she’ll die in.

– The Impact Plus Flashback is Raven vs. Sandman from 2003.

– Eddie Edwards reflects on the death of Kenneth last week, and challenges Kross for next week, promising to break Kross in half for revenge.

– The Rascalz meet in the tree house, talking about hating training and how things have changed for the worst. Wentz has an idea, and they get blitzed and are happy again. This leads to a serious and successful training montage, the opposite of last week.

Champions LAX vs. The North: Konnan is at ringside. Santana and Alexander lock up to begin, they work to the ropes and Alexander follows with strikes. Ortiz tags in and he cradles Alexander for 2. Double teams now follow on Alexander, and then Page as they clear the ring. The North cuts them off on dives, and back in, Alexander hits the Finlay roll and Page tags in and covers for 2. The challengers work quick tags, isolating Ortiz and keeping the heat. Alexander follows with strikes; Page tags back in and grounds the action. Ortiz manages to fight back with a neck breaker, Alexander cuts off the tag and Ortiz hits the snap slam on Page. Wholesale changes to Santana and Alexander, Santana runs wild and dumps Page. The TKO on Alexander follows, and Ortiz tags in and double teams follow as the champions run wild. Alexander fights them off, Page in and they work double teams and that leads to a near fall. It breaks down, the North hit the double iconoclasm and Santana makes the save. They dump Santana, but he then takes out Page and LAX double teams Alexander, hit a flurry of kicks, and the double inside out slam deal finishes him Champions LAX defeated The North @ 8:25 via pin [***] This was good for the first match in the series, leaving a lot of meat on the bone for future matches.

Disco Inferno’s Special Exhibition: So Disco did the angle with the women last week and thinks he’s the biggest heel in the business now. No, people just have no desire to see you in 2019. He’s trying so hard to be Andy Kaufman here. Ashley Vox arrives to face him. Disco accuses her of working for Hooters and dating one of the boys to get her job. Disco attacks before the bell and does his own commentary as he controls. Vox manages to roll him up for 2. She follows with dropkicks, but Disco cuts her off and hits the stunner but picks her up at 2 and Tessa arrives and runs off Disco. Disco Inferno doing a Dollar Tree Andy Kaufman in 2019 isn’t entertaining at all, even if the end result is him losing to Tessa, as it feels like a complete waste of her following the great match with Kim that she won at Rebellion. This killed the flow of the show for me.

Ace Austin vs. Dez vs. Petey Williams vs. Rohit Raju: Gama Singh is at ringside. They all brawl at the bell, with Austin taking control until Petey cuts him off. Austin then hits a superkick, and rolling enziguri. He grounds the action. Working the arm. Dez flies in with a RANA, and they follows with a flurry and cutter on Raju. The dive follows and Petey hits Dez with a RANA on the floor. Sasuke special by Austin, and back in, he runs wild with strikes and kicks. He sets Raju up top and Petey then hits the destroyer, Raju makes the save and Dez hits the rolling PELE for the win. Dez defeated Ace Austin, Petey Williams, & Rohit Raju @ 3:45 via pin [**½] This was short an solid, but really needed more time for them to deliver.

– They hype the upcoming “A Night You Can’t Mist” Impact Plus special.

RVD vs. Tommy Dreamer: They lock up and work into counters, with RVD cradling him for 2. They high five and lock up again. RVD counters out but Dreamer hits a suplex. They high five again, lock up again and RVD grounds things but misses a leg drop as they end in a standoff. They shake hands and Dreamer then cradles him for 2. He follows with strikes, and dumps RVD to the floor. Dreamer follows, and we get some walk and brawl. Back in and RVD cuts him off with a dropkick, and then an apron leg drop. RVD gets a chair, brings it in and uses it to hit the corner dropkick. Dreamer then crotches RVD up top and puts him in the tree of WHOA and dropkicks a chair into his face. RVD fights off the DDT, lays the chair on Dreamer and then misses rolling thunder. The DDT on the chair follows for 2. RVD fights off the piledrive and follows with a leg drop. Dreamer then connects with the piledriver for 2. Dreamer then misses the second rope elbow, landing on a chair. RVD drop toeholds him onto the chair, and hits the frog splash for the win. RVD defeated Tommy Dreamer @ 9:20 via pin [**] This was ok, with both guys working through their signature stuff in slow motion with not much connecting the action or giving it a good flow.

– Post match and The North attack both men. Moose joins in and lights out and Sabu appears to make the save. The ECW vets clear the ring and stand tall, likely setting up a trios match between the six.

– NEXT WEEK: Eddie Edwards vs. Killer Kross in a street fight, Tessa vs. Disco Inferno, and Impact & Elgin vs. Swann & Mack.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 22. On the show, the good brother Steve Cook joins Larry Csonka as the guys discuss the rise of WCW Monday Nitro, the decline, the Russo effect, and then look back on and review the show that was supposed to save the company, the Russo/Bischoff WCW Monday Nitro reboot from April 10th, 2000, discuss the Bret Hart vs. Tom Magee documentary & match, and then finally close out our discussion on the Dark Side of The Ring series. The show is approximately 84–minutes long.

* Intro
* The Rise of WCW Nitro: 3:00
* The Russo Effect: 6:50
* Reviewing The Russo/Bischoff WCW Monday Nitro Reboot 4.10.2000: 9:20
* Bret Hart vs. Tom Magee Documentary Thoughts: 51:55
* Dark Side of The Ring on Gino Hernandez & Moolah: 64:55

You can subscribe and listen to the 411 on Wrestling Podcast via the above player on Transistor, or on the following platforms:

* iTunes
* Spotify
* Stitcher
* Google Play

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

This week’s episode of Impact Wrestling was a real mixed bag this week. There was some good wrestling some ok to solid wrestling, and then the bad Disco segment which really killed the momentum and flow of the show in my opinion. They set up matches for next week, and also teased Taya vs. Rosemary, Bahh & Scarlett vs. The Crists as well as RVD, Dreamer, & Sabu vs. Moose & The North for the future. It was fine, but not quite as good as most weeks.