Himanshu’s Impact Wrestling Review 01.04.23

Hey there, IMPACT fans! It’s Thursday and that means it’s time for another episode of IMPACT Wrestling. I’m Himanshu (you can follow me on Twitter @Himanshu_Doi) and you know how this works. Tonight on IMPACT, we look back at some of the most iconic moments in the history of TNA Wrestling. Hall of Famers Gail Kim and Awesome Kong square off at Turning Point in 2007. “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles battles Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels. Plus, we take you to 2002 to witness the first-ever match in TNA history, and more! So let’s jump right in!

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.

IMPACT Wrestling

Match 1: AJ Styles, Low Ki and Jerry Lynn vs. The Flying Elvis’ (Jimmy Yang, Jorge Estrada and Sonny Siaki)

The action starts off with the Elvises sneak attacking their opponents but not for long as Lynn, Styles and Ki are able to reverse it before taking control of the match. A running knee by Yang only gets a two count, Styles manages to tag in Jerry Lynn who hits Yang with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and a tornado DDT which Yang manages to no sell and hits and dropkick onto Jerry. Siaki gets tagged in as Lynn responds with a hurricanrana and a wheel barrel turned into a bulldog before going for the cover but only gets two. Low Ki gets tags in and continues the assault however Siaki is able to regain control and tags in Estrada who delivers a nice split leg moonsault for the cover but only gets a two count. Back and forth the action goes as both teams make the tag with Styles hitting a clothesline that turns Yang inside out followed by a springing off the ropes inverted DDT. Low Ki sends Yang to the outside but soon gets hit with a spinebuster by Estada who himself then gets hit with a cradle piledriver by Lynn as the action once again begins to break down. Some miscommunications between Low Ki and Style following a running kick in the corner which allows Jimmy Yang to head to the top to hit a moonsault for the three count.

Result: The Flying Elvis’ def. AJ Styles, Low Ki and Jerry Lynn via pinfall
Rating: ***

They show a clip of Christian Cage’s TNA debut.

We see the promo for Kurt Angle’s TNA debut.

We see the debut of Kurt Angle. Samoa Joe rips up the contract and throws it in Mike Tenay’s face. Kurt Angle’s music hits and he gets in the ring. Samoa Joe lay down the NWA World Title and Kurt Angle face offs with him until Kurt Angle hits a headbutt and hits an Olympic Slam. Kurt Angle poses with the NWA title until Samoa Joe turns him around and hits an enzugiri. Joe and Angle brawl while Jeff Jarrett runs in and steals the NWA title belt. Referees try to hold back Joe and Angle away from each other.

Match 2: Frankie Kazarian vs. Chris Sabin

Sabin works a wristlock to start, and they do a stalemate sequence until Sabin gets a rana. Kazarian with an elbow and 2 dropkicks, and Sabin bails. Back in, Kazarian DDTs him for two. Rolling vertical suplex and a dropkick get two. Sabin comes back with a tornado DDT for two. He chops away and dumps him and follows with a tope con hilo. Sabin gets a legdrop for two. Dropkick gets two. Inverted neckbreaker gets two. Pump splash hits knee and Kazarian backslides him for two. They trade rollups for several near-falls, until Sabin puts him down with enzuigiri and gets two. Sabin goes to a headscissors, and drops a fist for two. Kazarian comes back with a high kick and both are out. Another misses and Sabin climbs onto his shoulders to pound away, but Kazarian falls back with an electric chair for two. He goes up, but Sabin pops up with a release german suplex off the top as Kazarian does a full rotation before splatting on the mat. Mother of GOD these guys are nuts. That gets two. Sabin’s finish is reversed into a Death Valley driver into the turnbuckles, leaving him hung in the Tree of Woe. Would Keanu Reeves be hung in the Tree of…oh, never mind. Kazarian tries a Van Terminator (given his predilection for naming moves after futuristic pop culture references, I nominate “T-1000” in place of “Van Terminator” for Kazarian) but misses and lands on his ass. Sabin gets a backbreaker for two. Sabin misses a charge and Kazarian goes up, but they land on the mat and Kazarian gets a downward spiral for two. Sabin with a tiger suplex for two. Sabin goes up, but Kazarian follows him up for a One-Man Spanish Fly for the win.

Result: Frankie Kazarian def. Chris Sabin via pinfall
Rating: ***

Match 3: Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong

Kong knocks Kim off the apron to start and they brawl on the floor. Kim tries to fire away but it seems to have no effect. Kong hot shots Kim onto the railings and she charges but misses and nails the post. Kim snaps Kong’s arm off the ropes and back in, Kim continues to attack the arm. Kong catches Kim in a sleeper and she swings Kim down to the mat. Avalanche in the corner misses and Kim fires away on Kong in the corner. Camel Clutch by Kong and she starts pulling the hair of Kim, forcing a break. Tree Slam by Kong and she tosses Kim down by the hair. Clothesline by Kong cuts off an attempted comeback and she hits an Avalanche in the corner. Cross arm breaker in the ropes by Kim and Kong blocks a hammerlock suplex attempt. Kong trucks Kim and Kim fires back with some kicks to the leg. Dropkick by Kim and she goes up. Second rope dropkick by Kim and she goes up again. A second missile dropkick by Kim and she goes up. Back senton off the top by Kim gets two. Back fist by Kong and she throws some knees at Kim in the corner. Kong chokes Kim with her boot and the ref forcefully pulls her off. Kong shoves him away so the ref calls for the bell. Kong realizes what happened and she hits the Awesome Bomb on the ref.

Result: Gail Kim def. Awesome Kong by disqualification
Rating: ***

Match 4: Legend (Kevin Nash, Kurt Angle, Masahiro Chono and Riki Choshu) vs. G.B.H. (Giant Bernard, Karl Anderson, Takashi Iizuka and Tomohiro Ishii)

Everyone just pops in to do their stuff. Choshu asks Nash to tag and Nash shakes his head (Chono was supposed to be tagging in but he wasn’t on the apron at the moment). Nash and Bernard have a big man showdown, and Iizuka and Ishii fight unusually clean. GBH all take turns charging at Choshu in the corner, but Anderson eats boot and then the Riki Lariat. The Legend team takes care of the rest of GBH and Angle gets a quick submission from the Ankle Lock.

Result: Legend (Kevin Nash, Kurt Angle, Masahiro Chono and Riki Choshu) defeated G.B.H. (Giant Bernard, Karl Anderson, Takashi Iizuka and Tomohiro Ishii) by pinfall
Rating: ***

Match 5: James Storm and Robert Roode vs. Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley

Shelley snaps off a headscissors on Storm. Sabin dropkicks Roode off the apron and hits a bulldog in the ring. The Motor City Machine Guns catch Storm with some double teaming. Roode crotches Shelley on the ringpost and Beer Money turn the tide. They isolate Shelley until he dodges them long enough to make the tag. Sabin hits a tornado DDT on Roode and connects with a springboard clothesline. Shelley flatlines him into the turnbuckles and hits a standing sliced bread. Sabin gets caught on a hurricanrana attempt and falls victim to the Eye of the Storm. Shelley is catapulted into a lungblower. Sabin lands a plancha to the floor onto Storm. Roode lands a crossbody onto Sabin and Shelley finally follows out with a dive. In the ring, Storm accidentally spits beer into the referee’s face. The MCMG hit a crossbody-neckbreaker combination on Roode. Earl Hebner runs down and counts the nearfall. Sabin takes out Storm with a dive. Shelley lands a crossbody on Roode but he rolls through for a two count. The MCMG hit multiple kicks on Roode. Sabin covers Roode while Storm rolls up Shelley. Both referees count to three. Beer Money’s music hits but the referees start talking. The match is restarted. Beer Money jump the MCMG. Shelley connects with a superkick on Roode and hits a backcracker on Storm. MCMG hit their crossbody-neckbreaker combination on Roode to become the new TNA World Tag Team Champions.

Result: James Storm and Robert Roode def. Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley by pinfall
Rating: ***½

Match 6: AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe for the TNA X-Division Championship

Styles and Joe team up on Daniels to abuse him in the early going. Daniels has really nice jabs. No one is able to get a clear cut advantage. Daniels and Joe are on the outside and Styles hits a beautiful springboard shooting star press to the floor. Joe gets Daniels in the choke and Styles breaks it up with the Spiral Tap. Daniels hits Joe with a flatliner and goes for the Best Moonsault Ever but Styles breaks that up. Styles and Daniels find themselves outside the ring for an awesome sequence, and then Joe hits a twisting dive onto both of them. Joe hits the Muscle Buster on Styles while Daniels grabs the title belt. He tries to hit Joe with it but he gets powerslammed instead. Joe ends up taking the belt to the face from a Daniels enziguiri. Daniels and Styles exchange blows now, and Daniels gets a near fall off a Blue Thunder Driver. Joe gets back involved but Daniels hits the Last Rites. Daniels hits Styles with a superplex. Joe puts on the STF. Styles Clash on Daniels is broken up by Joe. Joe gets taken out a few seconds later and Daniels goes for the Angels Wings but Styles gets a pinning combination out of it and gets the win and the title.

Result: AJ Styles def. Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe by pinfall
Rating: *****

6.3

The final score: review Average

The 411

Another week of looking back at old footage. Some great matches and moments here, with Beer Money vs. Motorcity Machine Guns from Victory Road 2010, and the Unbreakable three-way between AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe. That three-way has managed to hold up even 19 years later and is still as impressive as it was back then. We also got Kazarian vs Chris Sabin in their "Battle of the Futures" match and it's cool to think that they're in the company 21 odd years later. We also get a match from Wrestle Kingdom III which was pretty cool and had a different feel from everything else on the show despite not really being that great a match.