Jeremy’s Impact Wrestling Review 7.7.20

Heya, folks. It’s time for some Impact Wrestling action! I’m Jeremy, and you all know how this works. Impact had a strong show last week on the back of some good matches, a great Tommy Dreamer promo and a solid build toward Slammiversary. Considering their challenges as of late, Impact’s doing some great work and I’m looking forward to tonight. Let’s get to it!

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.

* Our opening video recaps The North running afoul of Ken Shamrock and Sami Callihan, which leads to the Slammiversary Tag Team Championship match. Also recapped is Crazzy Steve’s loss to Moose and the latter’s attack on Dreamer, which turned into Dreamer’s promo and Moose’s demand for an apology. Finally, we get Trey’s match with Madman Fulton and his going wild after the match.

Ladies and Gentlemen — YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE! (AKA Title Sequence)

Rosemary & Taya Valkyrie vs. Kylie Rae and Susie

Rosemary and Susie are starting off, and Rosemary tries to get Susie to remember who she is, to no avail. “I’m good!” “You’re an idiot!” They get physical and Rosemary backs Susie into a corner, goes for a charge but Susie gets out of the way, then goes in and lays in some blows. Rosemary gets monkey flipped out of the corner and Susie with a crucifix pin for a couple two-counts. Rosemary slaps Susie and laughs while Susie tags in Kylie. Rosemary takes a swing, Kylie ducks and the faces send Rosemary into the ropes. Kylie drops down and Rosemary trips on her, then gets up angrily onto to have Susie put up a cross with her fingers and slap Rosemary. Taya tagged in now, Kylie goes for a handshake and Taya isn’t down for it, so Rae takes her down into a headlock. She goes for an STF, but Taya gets to the ropes. Taya charges but Rae off the ropes into a hurricanrana! Rae locks in a headlock, tags in Susie and a double bulldog gets two. John E. Bravo argues with the ref as Valkyrie reverses an Irish whip, Susie gets kicked in the back by Rosemary off the ropes and Taya with a hard clothesline for two. Rosemary is tagged back in, kicks Susie into a German suplex and it’s a near-fall. Rosemary sends Susie into the hostile corner and Taya holds her there, Rosemary gets Kylie angry to distract the ref and charges in, but Susie gets out of the way! Rosemary hits Susie and locks in the Upside Down. She breaks before the DQ, Valkyrie charges in for a running double knee, she gets two out of that. Off the ropes, and Susie and Taya take each other down as the ten-count starts. Taya gets the tag to Rosemary, and Kylie comes in hot, gets the better of Rosemary, comes off the ropes into a tilt-a-whirl headscissors and an uppercut in the corner. She charges in with a cannonball and gets two. Rosemary pushes Kylie away, gets up and takes Rae down. She’s back up sends Kylie into the ropes and pulls Kylie into a wheelbarrow, Rae reverses into a Stunner! Rae is back up, Rosemary pulls herself back up but eats a superkick! Tag made to Taya, they’re off the ropes and a spear gets two. She gets Kylie up who fights back but eats a fist, Northern lights suplex gets a near-fall. Kylie back up and hits another superkick, goes for the pin but Rosemary breaks it up. Rosemary pulls Kylie up but Susie in and makes the save, superkick by Kylie and Rosemary goes over the ropes! Taya sends Susie out of the ring as John E. yells that Rosemary is hurt. Kylie takes the distract, pulls Taya down into the STF, Taya taps!

Winner: Kylie Rae & Susie (8:22)
Rating: ** 1/4
Thoughts: A decent little opening match that gave Kylie and Susie a needed win after a couple of losses. Kylie looked great and the dynamics from both teams was good, while the Rosemary-Taya-John E. storyline continues. Nothing to complain about here.

* Mathews and Rayne react to the match and the Rosemary/John E. Bravo drama. They break down tonight’s card including Sami Callihan vs. Josh Alexander, Jordynne Grace vs. Kimber Lee, and the four-team tag match which is next.

Backstage, Chris Bey is angry at Johnny Swinger for messing things up so he can’t be at ringside for Slammiversary. Swinger’s not stressing, he’s seen it all and he’ll take care of it. He has a plan.

The Deaners vs. Reno Scum vs. XXXL vs. TJP and Fallah Bahh

It starts off with an eight-man brawl and everyone is trading punches. We end up with TJP and Bahh in the ring, they take out Cousin Jake, but Cody comes off the ropes and takes them out. XXXL in they send Cody up into the air, he lands on his feet into a pancake splash. XXXL come off the ropes but get tripped up by Reno Scum and everyone’s brawling on the outside. Cousin Jake off the ropes and he dives onto the other six men. And we’re off to break.

Back from break and Adam Thornstowe is in with Cody Deaner, Thornstowe in control and he tags in Luster who hits a double overhead chop. Adam tagged back in, he stomps on Cody a several times and goes for the pin only to have TJP and Bahh break it up. Luster tagged back in and they slam Cody back into the ropes, then beat him down. Luster with a bodyslam and falling headbutt for two. He grabs Cody in a headlock and rubs him face first into Thornstowe’s armpit. Luster takes Deaner down, Acey Romero tries to tag himself in but the ref didn’t see the tag. Luster kicks Cody down low, picks Deaner up but Cody with a jawbreaker. Acey tags in again, he stops Cody from making the tag and decks Cody to the mat. Deaner tries to fight back, he comes off the ropes and ducks a clothesline, hits a neckbreaker. Larry D in and hits an elevated uppercut off the ropes. Clothesline to Cody, Jake comes in takes Larry down. TJP in and nails Jake, Thornstowe with a superkick, Bahh with the belly-to-belly, Luster takes Bahh down and Acey nails Luster. Everyone is down, Cody crawls toward his corner but Reno Scum cut both men in the ring off from their partners. Luster grabs Cody, pulls him to the favored corner, TJP runs in but get s nailed. Bahh comes in, takes Luster out, throws Adam out of the ring and follows out. TJP and Reno Scum are brawling toward the back. Acey and Cody are both slowly getting up, tags are made, Jake and Larry charge at each other several times but Larry gets control. Spinebuster and a pin, Cody breaks it up. Larry swings at Cody, Cody ducks, goes for the Deaner DDT but Larry pushes off. Acey in and levels Cody but gets knocked out of the ring with an awkward splash by Jake. Larry takes control, off the ropes but Cousin Jake hits a sidewalk slam for three!

Winner: The Deaners (8:57)
Rating: * 1/4
Thoughts: Slow, plodding, and chaotic makes for an undesirable match. They went to the everyone on gimmick too many times to hide the flaws in the match. XXXL continues to do anything but impress, Reno Scum are just there, TJP and Bahh are fine but occasionally sloppy. Pass on this one.

* Backstage, Reno Scum is still brawling with TJP and Bahh. TJP gets taken out and the heels double team Bahh until TJP comes back, goes up atop some equipment and takes everyone out. Bahh puts TJP in a trash can with wheels, gives TJP a chair and wheels him into both Luster and Thornstowe. It continues on until Reno Scum come out on top, and we’re on break

* Swinger is backstage and muttering about being banned from ringside. He finds the Super Eric outfit and the Suicide outfit among people’s bags. He has a plan for being at ringside now.

* Flashback moment of the week is Tara and Angelina Love vs. The Beautiful People at Lockdown 2010 for the Knockout and Knockouts Tag Team Titles. We’ll go back to the past and bring in Chris Lansdell’s original play-by-play on this:

Love and Sky start, and Love does what I want to do…spears Sky, mounts her and pounds her. Gimme a break here, this PPV is making my head swim. Rayne tags in and eats a powerslam for 2 before hitting a jawbreaker. Love tags in Tara who tries the spiderweb but gets her eyes raked. Tag to Sky, Tara takes her down with a drop toehold and applies an inverted Indian Deathlock. She transitions into a floatover suplex for 2. Sky comes back and starts choking Tara. CURB STOMPS! 1…2…no! That was pretty damn awesome. Rayne tags in, they hit a double basement dropkick for 2 more. Rayne applies the head scissors then hits the scissor stomp for 2 more. Sky is in now, Tara fights back and gets a scoop slam. Tara up top…MOONSAULT misses!!! Love and Rayne both tag in and Love has clotheslines galore! She is a house! En! FUEGO~! She stacks the Beautiful People in the corner but Tara tags herself in! WIDOW’S PEAK! 1…2…Sky breaks it up. Wait now, the cage door was left open??? Lacey von Erich opens the door and WAFFLES Tara with the belt in the back of the head. Rayne stacks up Tara for the pin! 1…2…3???????

That…was not a Flashback Moment. That was a Flashback Match. Which is fine, but c’mon, Impact. Semantics.

* Back from break, Shamrock is looking for Sami, who suddenly appears behind him. Shamrock doesn’t know why Sami helped him, but it doesn’t matter because they have a chance to end The North’s tag team title reign. He says that if Sami needs his help, he’ll be there. Sami says he doesn’t know why he helped Ken last week, maybe it’s because he wants to take Ken out and doesn’t want the North to beat him to the punch. But maybe he realizes they can be the World’s Most Dangerous Tag Team. Shamrock likes that, and Callihan glitches away.

Kimber Lee vs. Jordynne Grace

This is a non-title match. They go for the test of strength, but Kimber is a bit too tall so Grace yanks Lee’s hand down and grabs hold, overpowering Lee. Le fights back but gets slammed down for a two-count, Lee gets shoulders up, several bridge attempts as Grace keeps pushing her down for near-falls. Lee up, Grace looks for the Grace Driver but Lee bits Grace to break the hold. They lock up, Grace throws lee into the corner, charges in but Lee dodges. Grace stops Lee with an elbow and whips her into the turnbuckle hard, then does the same across the ring to the other side. Lee off the ropes into a spinebuster for two. Another pin attempt gets two as well, and Grace looks a bit frustrated. She gets Lee into the corner, nails her and then backs up, charges into a boot and an enzuigiri. Lee chokes Grace against the bottom rope, then pulls her into the center of the ring. Kick to Grace’s back, pinfall gets 1. Lee with a leg-enacted full nelson, then a body scissors as she wears down Grace with punches to the back, rolls her around for two. Lee pulls Grace up and into a chancery, Grace blocks it and hits a suplex. She no-sells a forearm and bodyslams Lee, then does it again and yells at Lee to get up. One more time and a Michinoku driver gets two, and Grace is annoyed now. She picks Lee up, goes for the Grace Driver, Lee fights out and hits some kicks and an enzuigiri. Lee goes up to the top and goes for the Swanton, hits it for two! Lee is losing it over not getting the pin, she goes to get her brass knuckles, goes for it but Grace blocks and hits the Grace Driver for three.

Winner: Jordynne Grace (6:22)
Rating: ** 1/2
Thoughts: A nice, hard-hitting match here that both women worked well in. I’m not sure Lee needed to look that competitive, but it didn’t hurt Grace so I’m by no means gonna complain because the match benefitted from it.

After the match, Purrazzo’s music hits and she appear on the Tron, mocking Grace for thinking she was going to come to the ring. She says she came to be the Knockouts Champion and she’ll meet Grace in the ring when it’s time at Slammiversary. She says Grace is going to have to sit and wait and bide her time until then.

* A vignette recaps the situation that brought us to the current World Championship match at Slammiversary and looks at the three known competitors in Eddie Edwards, Trey, and Ace Austin. Edwards talks about how much he’s given in Impact and how much winning the title means to him; Ace gets compared to AJ Styles and talks about how he’s only been a wrestler for five years, and how he won the X-Division title in just eight months. Now he’s in the main event picture and should be the World Champion. He puts over his alliance with Madman Fulton. Then we get Trey’s segment, which covers his attack by Fulton. Trey says it’s all about what you’re made of and he needed that attack, that pit in his stomach, and says he’ll be aiming for Ace first when he gets to the ring. He swears that he will never be hungry again after Slammiversary. The last portion of the vignette talks about the mystery fourth man and teases EC3, Gallows, Anderson, Mike Bennett, Brian Myers, Eric Young, Bully Ray, Kurt Angle, James Storm, Sting, and Ken Anderson. Ace Austin says he’s not worried about it; he doesn’t care who they put in the match. Trey says he’s ready to expect the unexpected, and cares about embarrassing Ace. Edwards says for him, it changes nothing.

Thoughts: I don’t review segments as a rule, but this was a special case. This felt obviously put together to cover for material Impact’s had to cut, and you know what? It worked. It laid out the stakes and storylines very well for people who are just now returning to Impact and filled time without seeming like filler. Good stuff.

* Backstage after the break, Swinger is walking around with the Suicide outfit on but his chest still bare and runs into Willie Mack. Mack puts Suicide over and asks if he remembers their secret handshake; Swingercide tries to pass off what he thinks it may be and Mack says he remembers. He says it’s good to see him and he’ll see him later on tonight. Mack says that after last week with Bey and the guy he can’t remember, taking shots at Swinger, did that he deserves an X-Division title shot. They’re facing off tonight.

* It’s time for Locker Room Talk with Madison Rayne but no co-host because not even Johnny Swinger could handle being in the room with her guest. The guest is one of the most iconic Knockouts in history: herself. Yeah, we saw this coming. Rayne interviews herself and says she has a major announcement, which is that on July 18th at Slammiversary, she’ll be returning to the ring to be part of the Knockout Contender’s Gauntlet match. Rayne puts herself over as the interviewer and Tasha Steelz and Kiera Hogan come in to ask what the hell is going on. They mock Rayne for interviewing herself. In walk Havok and Neveah, who says that Rayne deserves that. The two teams jaw at each other, and Neveah says they’ve been pressing their luck. But she says their luck is running out. It turns into a brawl and Rayne tries to keep out of the way as the two teams beat each other up.

* Backstage, Hernandez is beating more people at arm wrestling when Rhino comes up and they lock it in. TO BE CONTINUED.

X-Division Championship Match:
Willie Mack vs. Swingercide

Mack offers a handshake and eats a low kick as a result. Swingercide tries to Spider-Man when he’s whipped into the ropes and it doesn’t go well. Mack picks Swingercide up, hits a dropkick for one. Swinger gets a rake to the eyes, locks in an abdominal stretch but Mack turns it into a hip toss. Swingercide with a jawbreaker, stops himself from doing the Swinging Neckbreaker and instead stomps Mack down and goes up top but slips off and slams his own head into the turnbuckle. He staggers into a Stunner for three.

Winner: Willie Mack (1:45)
Rating: N/A
Thoughts: It was a quick comedy match and entertained quite well in that capacity.

* Gia Miller is backstage with Tommy Dreamer in a suit. Dreamer says he’s asked for this time to read a prepared statement of his apology to Moose thanks to his lawyer Tricky Dicky Heyman. He apologizes for any statements that may have hut Moose’s fragile ego and would like to retract his statement of Moose not having a heart, because if he didn’t he would die. He regrets saying that Moose has no passion for the game even though he doesn’t know who Emmett Smith, Barry Sanders, Bruno Sammartino, or Bob Backlund are. He wants to apologize for any future statements about Moose thinking the Earth is flat or that he could beat Floyd Mayweather in a fight. He now understands his words hurt, and for that he’s truly sorry. Moose comes in and says the apology wasn’t sincere enough, and that Dreamer thinks this is all a joke. Moose then espouses for Flat Earth theory. Dreamer says he got off the phone with TNA’s authorities and he’s been made the #1 contender. Moose laughs and says Dreamer sounds stupid because there is no TNA authority. Dreamer says he’s going to face Moose at Slammiversary under old school rules. And he’s going to win the TNA Title because the Championship Committee says he’s #1 contender. Moose says if he wants a match, all he has to do is ask. Dreamer agrees that there’s no Championship Committee, “just like there’s no TNA.” He walks off and Moose says he’s stupid.

* Mathews and Rayne run down the Slammiversary card, which includes:

TNA World Championship Match: Moose vs. Tommy Dreamer
#1 Contender Knockouts Gauntlet Match: Rosemary, Nevaeh, Su Yung, Kiera Hogan, Taya Valkyrie, Tasha Steelz, Alisha Edwards, Kylie Rae, Kimber Lee, Madison Rayne, and Havok
Impact X-Division Championship Match: Willie Mack vs. Chris Bey (Johnny Swinger banned from ringside)
Impact Knockouts Championship Match: Jordynne Grace vs. Deonna Purrazzo
Impact World Championship Match: Ace Austin vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Trey Miguel vs. ????
Impact Tag Team Championship Match: The North vs. Sami Callihan & Ken Shamrock

Sami Callihan vs. Josh Alexander (w/Ethan Page)

The two lock up and Callihan goes into a headlock. Josh fights out and sends Sami into the ropes, gets knocked down by a body check. Sami off the ropes, ducks a clothesline but eats an elbow, Callihan off the ropes into a Thesz Press. Sami clotheslines Alexander over the ropes, Josh hits the apron and gets caught through the ropes with a kick to the head. Sami up to the second rope and a knee to Alexander’s head. Sami goes out to the ringside area, grabs Josh, and works over his eyes. Page with the distraction allows Alexander to take control. He measures Sami for a punch and whips him to the guardrail, but Sami reverses and then nails Josh with a boot right after he hits the guardrail. And that’s where we go to break!

Back from break and they’re in the ring, with Sami in control. He whips Josh into the turnbuckle but Josh slips over the ropes, Sami charges in and gets grabbed and pulled outside. Alexander goes for a move on the ramp but Sami counters into a Death Valley Driver onto the mat! Ethan Page is in and jaws with Sami to buy Josh time, it lets Josh slam Sami back-first into the apron and a suplex drops Sami on neck-first on the apron. Alexander in and the ref starts the count on Callihan, who gets in at nine. Alexander starts to lay in the boots to Sami, then picks him up for a heavy punch that takes Callihan down again. A stomp to the ankle, and then a stomp to the other one. Kick to the head and a stomp to the hand, kneedrop gets two. Alexander drives a knee into the elbow, but Sami is getting a resurgence so Josh punches him down. He showboats over Callihan as Page talks trash on the outside, bodyslam and then a rake to the face. He slaps Sami, which doesn’t go well. Repeated fists to Callihan and Josh comes off the ropes into a shot that takes Alexander down. Rolling clothesline in the corner, Alexander boxes the ears but is turned inside out with a clothesline off the ropes. Callihan sets Josh up for a double underhook but Josh counters with a backdrop, which Callihan rolls down for a sunset flip that Alexander rolls through. Alexander goes for a suplex but Callihan reverses and gets two. Sami lies in wait as Alexander gets up in the corner, Sami climbs up for elevated punches but Josh slips out under and gets Sami in rack position, Sami is spun off Josh’s shoulders to the mat for two. Alexander stomps on the ankle and goes for the ankle lock, Callihan crawls for the ropes but gets stopped in the center of the ring. Callihan’s arm drops twice but he fights back and gets to the ropes to force the break. Ethan Page talks trash in Sami’s face, then Alexander gets on the apron and steps on Sami’s head. Punches as Sami gets up, Callihan goes for the eyes and then hits a piledriver on the apron! Callihan goes for the pin and gets two! Page hits the referee, Callihan gets Ethan up but gets hit with a rake to the eyes. Page sets up Callihan but HERE COMES SHAMROCK! Ken pulls Page out and hits the ankle lock, Page is tapping like there’s no tomorrow! Alexander is up in the ring, Sami with a boot to the midsection, piledriver, pinfall!

Winner: Sami Callihan (10:57)
Rating: ** 3/4
Thoughts: Pretty standard quality from these guys. The match was good if not great, and the storyline aspects of Shamrock coming out was expected to play into the finish and the build to Slammiversary.

After the credits, we get a new version of Slammiversary promo. The new report says that not only will a former world champion be in attendance, he will not be alone. We see three full glasses of alcohol grabbed by three separate people.

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

This week's Impact was a step down from last week, only because they're having to get reactive with filler material to make up for the edits they've had to make due to recent events. That's not their fault, but it did make the show a little less essential viewing than last week, particularly since the wrestling was only fine and not great. The main event and Grace vs. Lee matches are both worth checking out, as is Dreamer's promo and, if you are just getting back into Impact, the Slammiversary World Title vignette. Add in the Swinger comedy stuff and you have a solid if not great show.