wrestling / TV Reports
Jeremy’s Impact Emergence (Night Two) Review 8.25.20
Image Credit: TNA
Loading...Greetings and salutations, Impact Wrestling watchers! It’s another Tuesday evening, and it’s time for us to conclude our emerging. I’m Jeremy as always, and you know how this works. Night two of Impact Emergence, and we have a doozy of a main event as Jordynne Grace and Deonna Purrazzo do battle in a 30-minute Iron Man match for the Knockouts Title. Plus, Willie Mack battles Brian Myers, Eddie Edwards defends the Impact World Title and more. Let’s go ahead and 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.
* The opening video hypes up tonight including Edwards’ vow to defend the World Title against anybody and a recap of the feud between Purrazzo and Grace. Not gonna lie, I’ve got high expectations for that match. Welcome to Emergence: Chapter Two.
WE OWN THE NIGHT! (AKA Title Sequence!)
Impact World Championship Match
Eddie Edwards vs. Rob Van Dam
Well, this should be interesting. Katie Forbes is out to twerk as RVD comes out to the ring to face the champion. The bell rings and the two face off with a lock-up into a waistlock by RVD, into some counter-wrestling that ends up with RVD shot into the ropes and he flips over Edwards, who goes off the ropes and slides under. Inverted atomic drop, RVD off the ropes into a belly-to-belly suplex and he rolls out of the ring. Eddie misses a baseball slide and eats a kick to the gut, RVD sends Eddie head-first into the guardrail and rolls the champ into the ring. He pauses a moment to kiss Katie and Eddie recovers and dives through the ropes on Rob. The ref checks on Eddie, Katie checks on Rob. Eddie up first, he grabs Rob and a chop to the chest and headbutt. RVD rolled into the ring but quickly slides out the other side. Katie jaws at Eddie and distracts him so RVD can come up and ram Eddie head-first into the steel post. Edwards picked up, set down on the guardrail and RVD up on the apron, poses and a spin kick to Edwards’ back! RVD picks Edwards up, rolls him into the ring and goes for a pin that gets two. Edwards up, hits a coup[le chops and they trade blows. Eddie takes control, RVD into the ropes and catches himself, Eddie runs in and is drop toe-held into the middle rope. Katie with a knee and a twerk while the ref is distracted, split-legged moonsault by RVD gets two. RVD with a running roundhouse kick to Eddie in the corner, whips him across but Eddie baseball slides out of it and ducks a clothesline, BLUE THUNDER in the middle of the ring but he’s unable to make the cover. Both men slow to get up, RVD with a bodyscissors roll-up, kick-out at two! Eddie misses the spin kick, shots by Eddie, Tiger Driver connects for a near-fall. Eddie back up and he picks RVD up, puts him on the top turnbuckle and a chop before he climbs up top. RVD shoves Eddie onto the apron but a chop and Eddie clips back up — crotched on the ropes! RVD with a kick off the top, Rolling Thunder and he’s going up top for the Five-Star Frog Splash! Eddie moves! Eddie with the Boston Knee Party for three!
Winner: Eddie Edwards (8:19)
Rating: ** 1/2
Thoughts: Solid match to start us off. I am not a fan of Rob Van Dam’s current gimmick but he’s still solid in the ring and he and Edwards had a good match, while this is where Katie Forbes can actually contribute as a character by being an aid and weakness for her man. Decent stuff here.
After the match Edwards is celebrating and HERE COMES ERIC YOUNG! He takes out Eddie and starts kicking and stomping at him! He says Eddie is facing him next week and stomps on Eddie’s head. Next week: Edwards vs. Young, World Title. He says the fate of the World Title goes through him, says he’ll see Eddie next week and walks off.
* Madison and Josh break down what just happened and preview next week’s match before breaking down tonight’s show featuring Myers vs. Mack and Grace vs. Purrazzo. And it’s time to HEAD TO WRESTLE HOUSE YESSSSS.
* Have I mentioned I love this opening? I love this opening. Cody and Cousin Jake are in togas, which is a group organization by Taya that they can get behind. Cody says they’re going to the party to find out who took their beer, only to get powder thrown into his eyes which Jake says is a game that Swinger told him. Cody says the first rule of Wrestle House is “Don’t listen to anything Johnny Swinger says.” Of course, we then cut to Johnny — in a leopard-print toga, no less — who says the first rule is “Listen to everything I have to say.” In comes Crazzy Steve in a white toga and Swinger says that if he’s going to dress like every curtain-jerker in Chattanooga jerking the curtain off the wall and wearing it, their plan won’t work. Steve says that Swinger’s style isn’t his style, and Swinger tells him not to question him. Swinger says they’ll Fuji every Mizark in the house and have all the women to themselves as we go to break.
* Back from break with more Wrestle House! It’s the toga party and Steve is in the white toga. Taya and Acey are dancing, Tommy and Alisha are drinking. Alisha asks if this is a thing in “Shagatoga.” Taya drunkenly complains in the confession booth about her loss to Kylie last week, and she’s super-drunk on the dance floor when Kylie shows up. She says she knows Taya’s upset and they can’t both be winners, but Taya did really well. Taya responds by throwing up and yelling for Bravo to hold her hair. Alisha asks where Bravo is, and he says he’s pouting in his room because Rosemary and Lawrence D are off together somewhere. Acey mentions a truce to Cody and Jake and they say as long as he didn’t take their deer. They bow and Jake uses Latin because they’re at a toga party. Swinger tells Steve to distract them, in comes Lawrence D and he bumps into Steve who drops the monkey. Lawrence bends over to pick it up and Swinger Fujis Steve who is blinded and calls for Tommy. Swinger points out he’s already blind. In the confession room, Steve thanks the monkey for the assist, and it’s MATCH TI–wait. Steve cuts Dreamer off and says it’s only fair if Swinger gets a blindfold. Swinger says it’s not his fault because Steve didn’t follow his instructions. And yep, it’s a Blindfold match, with the loser having to dress like the winner next week. Now…MATCH TIME!
Blindfold Match
Crazzy Steve vs. Johnny Swinger
The two appear to have pillowcase on their heads to function as blindfolds. Steve has a horn, and referee Cody wants it, but he plays keep away for a bit. He hands it to Cody who honks on it and Swinger thinks it’s Steve. He tries to kick Cody, but Cody catches it and Steve hits an uppercut. Swinger asks for his roomies’ help and they are giving the worst advice of where Steve is until Steve is right behind him. Swinger straight ahead into the turnbuckle and Steve rolls him up for three.
Winner: Crazzy Steve (1:23)
Rating: N/R
Thoughts: Nothing match, but it wasn’t intended to be anything.
* Backstage, Eddie Edwards is yelling and searching for Eric Young. He says if Eric wants to get nuts, they can get nuts. No luck for him as he walks off.
* We then get a vignette of Young walking around a prison and saying he thought he was a product of his circumstances, so he became a product of his decision. We see multiple Eddies — obviously, all parts of Eric’s psyche — and realize it’s a promo for Bound For Glory, which is set for October 24th on PPV.
* Rhino is backstage and cuts a promo on RENO Scum. He says if they want to jump him and take his money, he challenges them next week to a tag match with Heath by his side. He tells fans to let management know that they want Heath too by using the #Heath4Impact hashtag. He tells RENO Scum if Heath isn’t there, they won’t be off the hook and the result will be the same: one or both of them get ripped in half with a Gore.
* Eddie Edwards is back down in the ringside area and gets a mic, calling for Young. He says he’s clearly trying to send a message with everything he’s done to Rich Swann, Willie Mack, blindsiding him. And the message has been received. He now has Eddie’s attention. He calls Young the Maniac and says he’s got his title shot. Let’s get nuts; we don’t have to wait until next week! Do this right here, right now. And out comes Young with a mic, grinning smugly. He says “Look at you, the tough guy, the hero, the martyr. Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic.” He says Eddie’s playing checkers, and he’s playing chess. Eddie’s running around furious reacting in real time, and Eric’s five steps ahead. He says it’s all by design, his design. He and the rest of the world want to convince themselves that maybe what happened to Rich Swann was an accident. Maybe it was a bad mistake. Maybe it wasn’t a singular, beautiful, orchestrated act of violence. But it was, by a world-class maniac. He’s been thinking about this for a long time, staying up late. He says he knows Eddie wants to fight him, but they won’t do it now or later tonight; they’ll do it next week just like he planned. Eddie says if he wants to wait next week, that’s fine, but his ass whipping starts right now, and he charges out! They start brawling and referees come out to try and break it up. D’Amore tries to get them to break it up, Eddie shoves D’Amore down and Young rushes in. They finally get broken up and Eric says he has Eddie right where he wants him. Eric is gotten out of there while Eddie is held back. Eric says he’s going to beat Eddie and finally leaves as we go to break.
* We’re back and Gia Miller is with the new X-Division Champion, Rohit Raju. She says that after weeks of playing Chris Bey it seems to have paid off and he agrees. He says it was all worth it to him and Bey is crossed off the Desi Hit Man’s hit list. He was a victim of the political games and wasn’t the cool guy backstage, so he didn’t get anything. But that’s not how he’s going to be. He’s going to give everyone opportunities and says he’s been called a loser, the last resort, and the bottom of the barrel. But now the only thing to call him is Impact’s X-Division champion.
* It’s time for an episode of Locker Room Talk. Madison says Swinger’s not there and a part of her may hope he never comes back. This week, her co-hosts are Dez and Wentz. She asks what they have there and Dez says the place is reminiscent of the Tree House. Madison asks if they have shiplap at the Tree House and Wentz tells her to watch her mouth, while Dez says that there’s plenty of green around there. “Like trees and plants, right?” “EXACTLY!” Dez says Wentz knows what’s up as the laugh track begins, and they tease smoking out before Madison shuts that idea down. They call her a Karen, which she denies, and introduces the guests: Ace Austin and Madman Fulton. Ace gets in Madison’s camera shot and go to sit, with Fulton sitting between the Rascalz to their disdain. Dez says he’s out and walks off, but Wentz stops him from going. An annoyed Madison asks if they’re good and asks Ace and Fulton how they’re doing after the loss to the Good Brothers. Fulton’s pissed, but Ace is man enough to admit the Brothers may have gotten something over on them. Dez and Wentz are laughing about their loss and Fulton gets pissed about it, they look ready to face off but Dez says they don’t do that on Locker Room Talk. Fulton doesn’t care and grabs them both by the neck, shoving them onto the couch. Ace tells Fulton to relax and respect Madison’s space. He says it’s time that they take their leave and walk off. Madison asks if the Rascalz have a lot of greenery in the Tree House and they invite Madison to the Tree House. Madison says, “Absolutely not” and says that’s all the time they have.
* Sami Callihan is in a darkened space somewhere and says 2020 in a nutshell is Sami Callihan getting screwed. If it weren’t for RVD’s attack he would have beaten Eddie and become World Champion. What’s RVD’s excuse? Tonight, RVD wasn’t at his best because Sami’s in his head. And most importantly he was in the pretty-pretty princess Katie Forbes’ head. And they never know where or when he’s coming for them. But he’s feeling generous: next week he’ll be in the ring and they can meet them there so he can kick RVD’s ass. Thumbs up, thumbs down.
* We get a vignette with EC3 where he mentions July 1st, 2015 which was the greatest day of his life when he won the TNA World Title by beating Kurt Angle. Personally, he shared a moment so intimate with those close to him that he can’t let go. His greatest achievement, the last moment he was happy, and he still can’t let go. He’s holding Moose’s TNA World Title and says he gave everything, sacrificing it all for “you” and all he wanted in return was respect, pride, and love. All he got was pain, regret, and hate. As long as the physical manifestation of the title exists, he cannot be free. He says he understands Moose and what the title means. But as long as it exists, it will control him. He says Moose has the potential to be the greatest weapon this industry has ever seen, but he’s hidden behind the robes, gear, false monikers. He says Moose is a false idol but has the potential to be just like him. He says as he holds the title he thinks about if he can go back to the person he was. He says the title has been a weight on his leg in the ocean drowning him, and he has to let go. He has to destroy the championship. But something so splendid, so powerful being in his hands again and he knows how he has to destroy it. He invites Moose to come to the destruction of the title because destroying the nostalgia, destroying the past, destroying the title is the only way he’ll be free. Moose has been warned.
Thoughts: Remember how I went off about Brian Myers’ promo last week that was all about his WWE run? This is the opposite of that. This was a stellar promo/vignette for EC3 that clearly spells out what his issues are without having to reference his WWE run. We instantly know who and what EC3 is about and it all relates to TNA history; we can infer some WWE things if we wish from the fact that this was the last time he was happy, but it’s not right there on the page. I’m fascinated to see where this goes and I think EC3 and the video production team killed it here.
Brian Myers vs. Willie Mack
The bell rings and they circle, into a lock-up to a waistlock for Brian, reversed by Mack. Myers reverses again and Mack grabs the arm for a wristlock. Myers rolls through, hits his own wristlock. Mathews plugs the Major Wrestling Figures Podcast as Mack turns it into a headlock. Myers shoots Mack into the ropes, bodyblock takes Myers down, Mack off the ropes again and turns a hip lock into an armdrag. Myers on the apron and he rolls back in, lockup fake out to a kneelift by Myers and he tags Myers, then chokes him against the second rope. Snapmare and a kick to the back, pin attempt gets one. Mack off the ropes, ducks a clothesline into a rana and a dropkick by the big man! Myers back up and yells “Do you know who I am? Do you know who I am?” Mack doesn’t care and they shove and slap a bit, Myers with a takedown that turns into them brawling in the ropes, the ref calls for a break and Myers hangs Willie against the ropes, a few downed shots and a pin gets two. Stomp on Mack and he measures Mack for a knee, then a chinlock on the ground. Myers turns it into a sleeper but Mack up, fights out and slaps Myers. He goes into the ropes, but Myers follows, slides out of the ring, and takes out the elbow. Back in, elbow drop gets two. Myers with punches to a downed Mack, knee to the spine and a crossface. Mack up and he fights Myers off, comes off the ropes, sunset flip for two but Myers with a back elbow to stop Willie. Pinfall gets two. Knee to the back by Myers and a crossface/chinlock. Mack fights out but gets a fist to the back, Myers off the ropes but gets HIT BY A SKY HIGH! Both men down and the ref starts to count. Myers up at seven, so is Mack and Mack hits a big clothesline, spinning back elbow and spinning body slam. Big legdrop gets two. Mack is back up and lies in wait as Myers gets slowly up, Myers turns around into a Samoan drop, Willie kips up, standing moonsault gets another near fall. Myers out to the apron, gets up and shoulder block through the ropes. Mack goes into the turnbuckle, Myers goes up but eats a Mack headbutt. Both men up now, Myers shoves Mack down and goes off the top with an elbow drop for two-plus. Myers is ready in wait, Mack up, kick to the gut, goes for the DDT, Mack with a forearm but a step-up kick by Myers gets two. Myers jaws at Mack, shoves his head and eats a hard fist. Mack catches Myers in uranage position, Myers out the back, pushes Willie against the ropes into a roll-up and grabs the tights for three.
Winner: Brian Myers (9:39)
Rating: ** 1/4
Thoughts: That was the right call if Myers is going to be taken seriously in Impact. The match itself was sound on a technical level; it wasn’t the most exciting experience but both guys gave and got pretty well. Nothing to complain about here.
* It’s time for another #Heath4Impact ad! Heath says that Rhino is facing RENO Scum and we have one week to make #Heath4Impact happen, so they need to get the hashtag trending in order for Heath to help Rhino. Heath is pumped up and says he wants to fight them right now. He has nothing else to say; they have one week.
* Back from break, and we get the Bound For Glory ad with Eric Young again.
* We have a little more Wrestle House before the main event, and the toga party is cooling off with Bravo taking care of a drunk Taya. Jake says he’s figured out who Lawrence D is but doesn’t believe it’s Larry D in a sports coat: it’s “Stefan.” That brings us to a Family Matters deep cut reference to when Urkel became cool and called himself Stefan. That’s what Lawrence D is. Rosemary shows up looking hot as hell (pun intended). Alisha says someone has to do something about this and as Rosemary and Lawrence prepare to go, Alisha asks to talk to Rosemary. Lawrence goes ahead and Alisha says she knows Rosemary’s just trying to give Bravo jealous. She says Rosemary’s breaking Bravo’s heart. Taya rants about Rosemary being too good for a toga before passing out. Dreamer asks if Bravo is going to let his girl go on a date with Lawrence D and John E. says she’s not his girl. Tommy says she won’t be with that attitude and tells John E. to man up. Cut to Lawrence at a table with a candle and some food, he strikes a pose on the table and Rosemary starts coughing when she enters the room. Lawrence says she’s probably never smelled a real man, and Rosemary says if that’s what a ‘real man’ smells like even she might become a nun. Rosemary tells she never meant for things to go this far and the truth is — and this is where Bravo comes in and tells Lawrence to get his hands off of her. Rosemary tries to say she was about to tell Lawrence — but no, Bravo’s fired up and he slaps Lawrence! Bravo says “Uh-oh,” and Lawrence says “Uh-oh is right!” Rosemary calls for Lawrence, but it’s not Lawrence anymore. Tommy shows up and says if they’re gonna do this, they’re gonna do it right. MATCH TIME!
Larry D v s. John E. Bravo
Acey is the referee…poor Bravo. Bravo goes in for an elbow but gets floored by Larry. He shares a look with Rosemary and gets up, eats another shot from Larry and we have a pinfall for three.
Winner: Larry D. (0:39)
Rating: N/R
Thoughts: That happened. It was a thing, let’s not worry about critiquing this one. It was 39 seconds after all, for Christ’s sake.
After the match, Bravo rolls out of the ring and Rosemary asks if he’s okay. She says it might be her fault, and Bravo says it’s his; he should have told Taya that he had feelings for her. But Rosemary and Taya say “Wait, what?” Bravo says that he has feelings for Rosemary and Taya is in disbelief. She says it’s all Rosemary’s fault that they’re here at all. She says Rosemary did this to spit her because she’s jealous of her. And next week, it’s the two of them: winner takes all. Rosemary says, “All what?” and Taya says everything, including Bravo.
* Madison and Mathews talk up next week’s Impact, which will feature:
– Wrestle House: Taya Valkyrie vs. Rosemary
– Ace Austin & Madman Fulton vs. The Rascalz
– Sami Callihan vs. Rob Van Dam
– Impact World Title Match: Eric Young vs. Eddie Edwards
30 Minute Iron Man Knockouts Championship Match:
Jordynne Grace vs. Deonna Purrazzo
We get the introductions to start and then go to break.
Back from break and the bell rings, with Penzer doing ring introductions. The bell rings and they circle, then lock up. Purrazzo ends up against the ropes but they move out and Grace rolls Purrazzo over, but they get back up. Grace turns it into a wristlock. Purrazzo flips to get out of it but gets slammed back to the mat, the ref counts one. Grace continues to work the rest, Purrazzo reverses into one of her own and Grace with an armdrag to break it. Purrazzo pauses to take some time and shake her arm out, then they lock up into a Deonna headlock. She cinches it in, flips Grace onto the mat but Grace turns it into a headscissors submission. She goes up on her hands to torque it and then back to the mat, with shots to Deonna’s side. Purrazzo handstands and gets out, then takes a bow but gets rolled up when she turns away for one! Grace with a headlock, Deonna sends her off the ropes, shoulder tackle to Deonna, armdrag by Grace and another! Purrazzo puts on the breaks, pump kick barely catches Grace and she knocks Deonna down for a single-leg crab submission in the middle of the ring. Purrazzo crawls and gets to the ropes as we go to break.
Back from break and Grace is battering Purrazzo in the corner. Irish whip across the ring and we have just over 20 minutes to go with it being 0 – 0. Grace with another hard whip into the opposite corner and Deonna’s in pain. Grace with an elbow shot to Deonna in the corner, she whips Purrazzo again but the champ baseball slides and rolls out of the ring. It’s a game of keep away around the ringpost until Deonna hits a front kick to the head of the challenger. Deonna picks Grace up, head slam into the apron and another. Grace rolled into the ring and Purrazzo follows after, a hard kick to the back. Purrazzo kicks hard at Grace’s arm, then goes into a wristlock slam. Overhand shot and Deonna is just wrecking the arm. We now briefly see a clock and it’s at 17:55 as Deonna wraps up the arm and stomps the elbow! Grace in serious pain now and Purrazzo gets her up, elbow to the challenger and a whip into the other corner. Deonna charges in but gets sent over the top to the apron, grabs Grace’s arm and jumps off to hang it on the ropes. She continues to work the arm and slams Grace down, cover gets two. Elbows to Grace’s arm and an elbow lock. Grace gets to her fight and tries to fight out, but Deonna is working the elbow. Grace picks Deonna up but Deonna counters and gets Grace down to the mat in the elbow lock. She refuses to give up and manages to get her foot on the ropes. Deonna breaks the hold at the last moment of the five count and starts to stomp away at the challenger. We’re at 15 minutes at 0-0 as Purrazzo hits a short-arm clothesline for two. Another cover gets two and Deonna is frustrated, she throws Grace out of the ring and we go to break again.
Back from break and Deonna is still working the arm, bending her wrist back from an elevated position. We see that during the break, Purrazzo barely avoided going into the ring steps and stomped the hand on the steel steps. Deonna powers Grace down and somersault arm wrenches Grace. She locks the hands and trips Grace to the mat for a couple of two falls. With nine minutes left we’re at 0-0. Grace powers up but Purrazzo twists and sends her back down, pinfall for two again. Deonna with another elbowlock that has the hand bent back. She gets to a sitting position but gets slammed back down. Eight minutes now and Purrazzo with a wristlock but Grace fights desperately out of it. Elbow slam in the corner and a shoulder block, Deonna pushes Grace back and goes for a kick but Jordynne blocks it and hits a big clothesline in the corner. They’re both tired now, Grace gets Deonna on the top rope and hits a big shot, sets her up and climbs up top. She goes for a superplex but Deonna fights out and shoves Grace down, Grace charges in with a big palm strike and hits the superplex! The ref counts and they both grab each other to get to their feet, staring face-to-face, at eight. Grace takes control with strikes, shoves Deonna into the ropes and hits a bodyblock! Another shot takes Deonna down and she hits a couple of sentons! Pinfall gets two. Grace charges at Purrazzo in the corner but the champ gets the foot up, locks in a full nelson but Grace powers out and locks in a sleeper hold in the center of the ring! She’s fading and we get three!
Jordynne Grace leads 1-0
Only about four minutes to go and Grace lies in wait as Purrazzo gets up, she charges in and avalanches Deonna! Off the ropes, Deonna counters into a short arm kneelift. Off the ropes with a running knee, Grace misses a clothesline and Deonna with a Downward Spiral into a headscissors submission! Grace reaches for the ropes, she pulls and manages to get it but Purrazzo doesn’t break until the last second. Purrazzo loses it and stomps repeatedly on Grace, forcing the ref to count. She breaks it up and gets Grace up, chops against the ropes and a whip, double counter, Deonna gets the hair but Grace slips out, overhead clubs to Deonna and she knocks the champ down. Goes for the Grace Driver but Deonna elbows out. Grace shoves the champ into the corner, charges in and Grace pulls the ref in the way! The ref is down, Deonna back up and she takes a swing but Grace ducks, Grace Driver connects! Pinfall but no referee. Grace goes to get the ref up, Deonna rolls out of the ring. She grabs the Knockouts Title, gets onto the apron, and smacks Grace with the belt! Deonna picks the ref up, goes for the pin and we have three!
Jordynne Grace & Deonna Purrazzo tied 1-1
Can Grace even get up with a minute left? Purrazzo goes for a pin and Grace kicks out! Fujiwara armbar, Grace rolls it over for a two-count, and Deonna kicks the arm out. Grace with hard shots, Deonna fires back with a pump kick. German suplex by the champ gets two, Purrazzo with the Fujiwara armbar, she goes for Venus De Milo and she taps with two seconds left!
Winner: Deonna Purrazzo (2 – 1)
Rating: ****
Thoughts: That was a fantastically paced Iron Man match. Not everyone loves this gimmick because it requires incredibly careful pacing and can be slow in parts, but this did a great job of putting both women over. Everything from Grace’s comeback to get her first fall to the end was fast-paced and strong, and the finish keeps Purrazzo as champion without hurting Grace. I was legit not sure which way they were going to go despite the fact that booking Purrazzo to win is clearly the move to make to keep her strong. That I had question says a lot about the work these two did, and congratulations to them.
