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Hello there, Impact fans! It’s Tuesday and that means it’s time for another episode of Impact Wrestling. I’m Jeremy, and y’all know how this works — or wait, maybe you don’t. Because this week and next week are special “Best of 2020” episodes of Impact. So instead of the usual live coverage, we’re doing something a little different. As Impact looks back on its 2020, we’ll be looking back at our coverage of Impact with flashbacks to our recaps of each match. 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.

WE OWN THE NIGHT! (AKA Title Sequence!)

* Josh Mathews and Scott D’Amore are sitting in front of a gaudy Christmas scene and hype the show. D’Amore says it’s been an unbelievable year and he’s excited for what’s to come, as Mathews hypes up the six-man tag match for Impact Hard to Kill. D’Amore says it’s something they’ve been waiting for for forever and that Don Callis may get under our skin, but he’s put together something unprecedented. Mathews talks about how the X-Division has been a cornerstone of Impact and talks about Hard to Kill 2020 as D’Amore heads off, and we see Ace Austin vs. Trey Miguel for the Impact X-Division Title. Larry’s recap of the match is below:

X-Division Title Match: Champion Ace Austin vs. Trey: Trey’s mom is at ringside. Trey attacks right away, to the floor and then back in as Trey tackles him and follows with ground and pound. Austin powders, cuts off the dive but Trey hits an enziguri. To the floor and Austin cuts him off with knee strikes, Trey fires back with kicks and a kick flip moonsault. Austin slams him to the apron, back in and Trey hits clotheslines, chops and Austin dumps him and follows with the Fosbury flop. They trade on the floor, Austin hits a suplex and slams Trey to the barricades. He follows with chops in front of Trey’s mom, and back in, Austin covers for 2. They trade, superkick by Austin and that gets 2. he follows with a slam, hits another and Trey then counters back and Austin chop blocks the knee and lays the boots to him. He targets the knee, delivers chops and then kicks. Austin follows with a trouble in paradise and the bangarama for 2. He follow with a sloppy sharpshooter, gets the playing card and paper cuts Trey, covering for 2. Austin delivers strikes, Trey fires back and hits a basement dropkick. Trey delivers clotheslines, fires up and hits an enziguri. He heads up top, Austin avoids and Trey hits an inverted suplex, into the dragon sleeper. Austin escapes, follows with strikes and Trey trips him up, and the flatliner follows for 2. Austin counters back with a disaster kick for 2. He takes him up top, follows and trey slips out into Cheeky nandos and a 619. Austin crotches him up top, hits a RANA and the fold for the win. Champion Ace Austin defeated Trey @ 12:55 via pin [***] They worked well together and this was good, but it never hit that next level they are capable of. Ace was clearly the better performer here, but they are capable of better.

* Rohit catches Chris Bey and asked him what’s going on with his costing him his title match against Manik last week. Bey acknowledges that it was all his plan to get the title, and Rohit is pissed off. Bey gets a call that he says is more important than Rohit and walks off as Rohit bangs on the door yelling for D’Amore.

* Mathews announces an X-Division title match between Bey, Rohit, and Manik at Hard to Kill and says Ace Austin is the 2020 X-Division star of the year. Austin appears in a video shirtless with a Santa had and heart sunglasses and notes that he only held the title for four months before moving onto the World and Tag Title pictures, but he was their only choice and is the greatest X-Division champion of all time. He says that maybe he should return to the X-Division soon, and says that he was a great choice, the right choice, and some would say inevitable.

* We get the Rich Swann-centric promo for Hard to Kill.

* Brian Myers says his return is his favorite moment of Impact in 2020, because he made Impact more relevant.

* Mathews and D’Amore are back and talk about Myers’ debut after Slammiversary. Mathews says Slammiversary changed Impact forever and hypes the DVD, then asks D’Amore for his favorite moments. D’Amore says they changed the wrestling world with the Good Brothers, Heath and more.

* We get a video recap of Slammiversary featuring Moose talking about his TNA Title run, Chris Bey on being X-Division champion, and The North and the Motor City Machine Guns talking about their matches. Deonna Purrazzo talks about her Knockouts CHampionship win, and Eddie Edwards celebrates his Impact World Title win.

* Mathews and D’Amore talk about the tag team division, and Mathews asks if this is their best tag team division. D’Amore puts over the history of tag teams in Impact Wrestling and praises the current division. Mathews talks about The North defending the Tag Team Titles against the Good Brothers at Turning Point, and we go to that match. Steve Cook’s recap of that match is below:

Impact World Tag Team Championship Match: The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander) (c) vs. The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson): Two of the best tag team entrances in the business right here. Two pretty good tag teams as well. Karl & Josh start us off. Two great technical wrestlers going at it. Karl gets the advantage, and the Big LG tags in. Driving that poor man down. Big vertical suplex, elbow drops get a two. Page breaks it up. Karl comes back in. They work Page over. Gallows back in, legdrop gets 2 because it’s not 1985. I’ll keep running that joke into the ground. Anderson works the arm of Ethan Page. I’ll work my Larry Csonka shoutout in here because as much as he gave Ethan Page shit over the years, I can’t imagine him not loving The North. These guys tick all of his boxes, and mine as well. They working that Machine Gun over. Tag team wrestling to perfection. Anderson playing that Ricky Morton role as well as he can here. Hits that neckbreaker on Page, and finally gets that tag to Gallows! Good lord he’s out of his mind. Anderson gets pulled off the apron, and the referee has lost complete control so it’s 2 on 1, and a double suplex on Gallows gets 2. Good Brothers with that modified 3D get 2. They go for the Magic Killer and that gets broken up. Spine on the pine to Page, Gun Stun to Alexander, Magic Killer to Page, and we have new Tag Team Champions! Winners: The Good Brothers [*** 1/2] Good stuff that makes us want more from both teams. I can’t hate on any of this.

* Mathews and D’Amore talk about Good Brothers capturing the titles in short order, and D’Amore talks about how they’ve captured gold all over the world including “New York.” He talks about The North, the Motor City Machine Guns and more, with the Brothers standing on top. Mathews talks about Genesis next month and pimps Impact! Plus. He then reveals the Tag team of the Year, and we get Ethan Page on the phone with Josh Alexander, and says that they need good news and have it: they won Tag Team of the Year for Impact for the second straight year. He apologizes for everything going on and says they’re the best tag team on Earth right now breathing air. And now, they won again, voted by the fans. He says he loves Josh and we get Alexander now end, where he says it’s great news and hangs up. He celebrates, saying their legacy is set. Maybe that’s enough to get Ethan back. They can go it a third time, because they are the best tag team. He goes to call Page back, but Page’s phone is on the floor and KARATE MAN picks it up. We see Alexander looking pissed and he pulls the phone from his ear.

* We get Rich Swann backstage with a guitar back from break talking about how the holidays are a time to drink a lot of egg nog.

* Mathews and D’Amore tease a look at Swann’s rise to the top later in the show, after which Mathews promotes the Hard to Kill six-man tag match again. He talks about how the end of 2020 saw the tournament to crown new Knockouts Tag Team Titles. D’Amore is excited and says Impact made women’s wrestling matter first in the US and is still at the forefront of women’s wrestling. He teases a surprise at Hard to Kill when the champions get crowned. Mathews says we also saw a first in the 30 minute Knockouts Iron Man match between Deonna Purrazzo and Jordynne Grace from Impact: Emergence Night Two, and we go to that. My recap of that match is below:

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! Deonna Purrazzo defeated Jordynne Grace @ 30:00 2 – 1 [****] 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.

* We then get a clip of Taya Valkyrie, who says that Purrazzo has already made her mark as a two-time Knockouts champion, but she’s been lucky because she hasn’t run into Taya. Taya runs down her busy, wacky 2020 and then says she’s pissed that they cost Rosemary and her their match in the tournament and that Purrazzo is clearly obsessed with her. She challenges Purrazzo to a Knockouts Championship match at Hard to Kill.

* Reacting to that, D’Amore says Purrazzo has to accept so that she can prove that she’s the best by beating the longest Knockouts Champion in history. Purrazzo is our Knockout of 2020 and we get a video of Purrazzo accepting, saying that she’s done it all – Iron Woman, two-time Knockouts Champion, and more. She says the Knockouts Division is incomparable and that no one’s done quite as much to elevate the division as her. She accepts Knockout of the Year and says she’s on her way to becoming the greatest Knockout in history, saying 2021 should be dubbed the Age of the Virtuosa.

* We’re back with D’Amore and Mathews, and they talk about Sami Callihan. They talk about how he’s one of the dirties, lowest players in the game. We get a video recap of the feud between Callihan and Eddie Edwards with Shamrock attacking Edwards and locking in the ankle lock, and the rest of the build, including Callihan winning on Impact with interference by Shamrock. We then get the match at Final Resolution where Edwards and Alisha lost due to Callihan’s distraction, and Callihan’s promo ahead of their match next month. Mathews says the two are sadistic and then they put over the match for the January 5th episode of Impact. D’Amore compares then to Batman vs. Joker, which…sure. Up next is the Wrestler of the Year, and we’re off to break.

* We’re back from break with Kiera and Tasha talking about their holiday. Kiera says they keep things lit, and Tasha says tradition is big for her.

* Mathews and D’Amore announced that the One To Watch and Best Finisher will be announced on Twitter. D’Amore says that the best finisher is the power of the pencil, and Mathews pimps their latest Micro Brawlers. He then talks about Moose’s unique 2020 and we see a clip of his match with EC3 at Bound For Glory. The recap of that match by Steve Cook is below:

Undisclosed Location Match: TNA World Champion Moose vs. EC3: Moose arrives while EC3 is beating up some jabroni in a darkened warehouse with a ring. Not sure why Retribution is on the outside of the ring cheering for EC3, but it’s a thing. Moose walks in, screaming for EC3. The man arrives and we have a staredown. Exchange of punches, chokeslam by Moose. Exploder by EC3 while Retribution pounds the mat. EC3 works Moose over in the corner, but Moose fights back with a low blow. He silences Retribution & the song that was playing during EC3’s offensive onslaught. Punches by Moose while the music gets all slow & dramatic. EC3 has been busted wide open by gawd, and Moose gets a chair. Moose wants some answers. Why has EC3 been tormenting him? EC3 blocks the chair shot, starts punching away on Moose, but Moose comes right back with a kick to EC3’s face. Moose rammed face first into the post, then whipped into a propped up guardrail. Back to the song from earlier as EC3 goes back on the offensive. Moose rammed into the ringpost again. EC3 tells Moose he’s becoming who he’s supposed to be, who is apparently somebody that gets rammed into ringposts. The TNA World Championship means something in the annals of history. He wants Moose to become an animal, a killer, somebody that deserves to be TNA Champion. He doesn’t deserve it now. EC3 teases his old finisher with a glimpse back to the old days, doesn’t do it. Moose spears him. Moose beats EC3 with the belt repeatedly, asking EC3 if this is what he wants. Moose pounds away on EC3. Apparently this is exactly what EC3 wants. Retribution chants Moose. EC3 tells Moose to control his narrative. Moose thanks him, and knocks him out with the TNA Championship belt. Winner: Moose [Rating N/A] I’m kind of over the whole cinematic thing, but they were telling an interesting story there. One wonders where Moose will go from here, and if Impact was just a pit stop for EC3 on the way to the ROH Wrestling bubble.

* We then get a clip of the recent Impact promo from Moose on Rich Swann talking about he respects him, but the difference is Swann stays hurt, while he hurts people. He tells Swann to call Willie Mack and ask him what pain feels like. Mack then comes out and gets held back, which Moose says not to make him angry. Mack says he’s pissed about the referee deciding when he’s done, and that he’s going to take matters into his own hands I Quit match at Genesis. Moose says Mack’s angry but isn’t being smart, and Mack says he came out to deliver a message and it’s going to have to be face to face, which leads to them brawling until security holds them back. Moose then breaks free, punches Mack, and takes out a security guy for ripping his shirt. He then says backstage that he’s tired of independent wrestlers looking for opportunities and putting their hands on him. He says that he understands indie stars trying to get opportunities as security or the like but don’t ever put hands on him.

* We then get the security guy, Matthew Palmer, who is a pro wrestler. He says Moose says he can’t last three minutes and he accepts that challenge. D’Amore and Mathews are back, and D’Amore is fine with it so they’re doing it. Palmer vs. Moose in a three-minute challenge which gives Moose the advantage. If Moose can’t beat him in three minutes, Palmer wins. I predict that will not happen. Mathews then pimps the Moose Micro Brawler and puts over Moose vs. Mack and the Super X-Cip for Genesis. We get the brackets which are:

* Austin vs. Suicide
* Daivari vs. Cousin Jake
* Crazzy Steve vs. Jake Lamarr
* Blake Christian vs. KC Navarro

* Wrestler of the Year is teased again and we’re on break.

* Back from break and Swinger says that he opens his presents before his family, in classic Swingman fashion.

* Acey Romero is visiting Larry D in prison, and Larry says he needs to get out. He says he was set up and Acey says they need more evidence. Larry says when Lawrence D takes over he can’t control it, but he knows he was set up because someone sprayed the Ring Rust perfume. Acey says it has to be Steve because he has the best sense of hearing. Yeah, I didn’t follow either.

* D’Amore and Mathews talk about the Who Shot Bravo storyline, and we run through that whole storyline including Bravo’s proposal at Wrestle House, Bravo turning into a Groomzilla and tormenting and berating everyone, turning everyone against him. It sets up all the suspects in the buildup and then recaps the wedding, with all the “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” quotes. They then get close to kissing and the lights go out and the gunshot goes off. Bravo is shot and Tommy says “NOOOOOOO!” We then get Wrestler’s Court, and Bravo fingers Larry D. Ring Rust is sprayed and Lawrence D acknowledges it.

* D’Amore and Mathews are back and we’re going right back to break.

* During break we get a holiday commercial from Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone for AEW. TOny Khan plays the arrogant ass, talking about all the things in Nashville he owns, and says that he just hard about the six-man tag team match at Hard to Kill. He says he has the power to stop it through an injunction or many other things, but if Impact wants it, they’ve got it. They hype the card for AEW Holiday Bash tomorrow and say that if Impact wants to send people, they’re welcome to. Sounds like Impact will get some exposure on TNT on Wednesday… Tony teases signing some Impact tag teams away and says Impact is welcome to have Omega at Impact Hard to Kill, and he expects to see Omega’s hand raised high.

* Edward talks about holiday traditions in their house and says he and Alisha are big Christmas fans. They put up their fake tree up first before Thanksgiving and then get a real one a couple weeks later, burying people who don’t get real trees.

* Mathews talks about the return of Eric Young and his assault of D’Amore. D’Amore says he’s always known there’s a fire in Young, but he’s proven that he’s a world class maniac as of late and is collecting followers which could be trouble for everyone. We get a recap of Young’s run in Impact including his Impact World Title win over Eddie Edwards and post-match assault, Edwards appearance and attack a bit after and Young’s feud with Swann. His won over Tommy Dreamer is shown and then finally Swann’s return, leading to his winning the title at Bound For Glory. Finally, we get Joe Doering’s return and their rampage through Impact, as well as Cody’s turning on Cousin Jake and joining Young and Doering.

* D’Amore and Mathews talk about the emerging stable and how Young is being stragic about putting the group together. D’Amore talks about how Deaner came up with Young but didn’t get where he was supposed to, and that Young has put him on that path while Doering has blazed a path of destruction in Japan. He says with the three of them, this is scary times coming ahead and dangerous times for all of them.

* Willie Mack says he has a little Charlie Brown Christmas tree that he puts up for his household.

* Mathews hypes Mack vs. Moose at Genesis and says Moose has found that next level that makes him all the more dangerous at Impact, and D’Amore says Moose always wanted to talk about how great he was but now he’s laser focused and that’s scary. And Willie Mack, he says, never gives up but Moose may beat him until he can’t get up. Mathews talks about the AEW and Impact crossover and how Callis helped Omega win the AEW World Title. He asks D’Amore what his thoughts were, and D’Amore says Callis has his touch all over the place. He tips his hat at what Callis has done. Omega is on Impact and it’s been exciting to watch. He says Callis is like the Cheshire Cat walking around with a big grin like his plan is working out.

* We then get a video package highlighting Callis helping Omega win the title and then coming to Impact, where he angered Swann and everything leading to their upcoming match. We then get a promo with Omega and Callis, with Callis talking about how he asked Omega what he wanted for Christmas as a kid. He says Omega wanted to be on top of the wrestling business and Omega says the Higher Power, the Santa Claus has delivered the AEW Title — the only title worth a damn — to him. Callis says if there were more kids like Kenny, he would have had plenty more. Kenny takes credit for “Often imitated, never duplicated” and they cut away.

* D’Amore and Mathews hype the six-man tag match at Hard to Kill again, and D’Amore calls it the “reunion of a certain club.” He says Omega won the title at Winter is Coming, but Hard to Kill will be Hell freezing over. They then move onto the 2020 Wrestler of the Year, which is…next.

* Back from break, Mathews asks D’AMore his goals for 2020 and he says “Get a new play-by-play announcer.” Mathews quickly pivots to the 2020 Wrestler of the Year. We get a video from Deonna Purrazzo who talks about for the last seven months she’s been all about proving she’s the best women’s technical women’s wrestler in the world, but now she stands there not just as that, but as the 2020 Wrestler of the Year. She says she’s the greatest wrestler in the world and says it’s been an up and down year for her, but she’s adapted and it’s time for the Age of the Virtuosa. D’Amore and Mathews talk about how she came to Impact with a chip on her shoulder to prove that she’s the best and has done so. Mathews points out her accomplishments in 2020 and congratulates Purrazzo before thanking us for being there. Next week: Match of the Year.