REVIEW: IMPACT! WRESTLING – December 13, 2018: More HOMECOMING build, Taya and Tessa Face
off, Fenix & Santana lock horns, and Dark Allie and Kiera Hogan know their
paths will cross, Brian Cage and Moose square off...
We’re only a few weeks out from HOMECOMING on January 6th,
and things are beginning to heat up at IMPACT! Wrestling. Taya Valkyrie and Tessa Blanchard have a face
to face before their Knockouts Title Match, Kiera Hogan shares her thoughts on
the betrayal of Dark Allie, two more qualifying matches for the Ultimate X
Match, Fenix and Santana from LAX go toe to toe in a 1 on 1 match prior to
their tag team championship match at the PPV as well…
Back again in Las Vegas, and we have Rich Swann facing off
against Dave Crist in another Ultimate X qualifying match. Crist, of course, escorted to the ring with
the rest of oVe. Crist gets the offense
early, and sends Swann out of the ring, where Jake takes advantage of a
distraction to slam Swann on the ring apron.
Swann answers back with a kick to Crist on the apron to send him off the
ring. Swann then lands a flip suicide
dive onto oVe. Swann gets on the
offense. Lands a springboard, but only
gets a 2 count. Goes for the Phoenix
Splash, but Crist moves. Just as Crist
goes to get on the attack, Swann surprises him with a rollup and the pin. Swann advances. The Crists attack Swann, but Callahan breaks
it up and scolds them. Just then, Willie
Mack comes down to the ring, and pounds on Willie Mack. Swann pulls him away. Swann holds Mack back as oVe hold Callahan
back. oVe bails the ring.
Backstage, Moose is interviewed by McKenzie. He’s not worried about Eddie Edwards, but he’s
got a match with Brian Cage. Moose tells
him that machines die, but legends live forever.
We see Swann and Mack arguing backstage, and Mack wants to
know WHY Swann held him off, and Swann said that he’s been down the path with
Sami Callahan, and he urges Moose to NOT go down that path with him.
Josh Matthews is in the ring, and he calls out Knockouts
Championship challenger Taya Valkyrie.
Wera Loca chants eminate from the crowd.
Then, Matthews calls out Knockouts Champion Tessa Blanchard. It’s time for their final face to face before
they square off at HOMECOMING. Taya
talks about all the dirty actions Tessa pulled in order to hold onto her
championship. Taya says that Tessa has
no respect for authority, and that’s not how a champion should act. And she plans on beating Tessa’s ass at the
PPV. Tessa responds by asking Taya how
does a champion act? She wouldn’t know,
she’s just riding her husband Johnny Impact’s coattails. She calls Taya a loser, just like all the
fans. She says what she does, because
she IS a champion. Tessa says at
HOMECOMING, Taya will have to TAKE the title from her. Matthews tries to keep the peace. Matthews says that because of how their
matches have gone, he says that IMPACT management put forth a special
stipulation…a special guest referee….it’s GAIL KIM! Tessa is pissed. Taya couldn’t be more pleased.
Tessa is backstage griping and complaining about the stipulation
that Gail Kim is the guest referee. She
says she respects Gail Kim, but she says she won’t be afraid to run through
Gail if she gets in her way.
Another Ultimate X qualifying match features Trevor Lee
facing off against the Razcals’ Trey Miguel.
This is the final qualifying match for the Ultimate X match. Match starts off with some pretty simplistic
chain wrestling and counters. Miguel
lands a hurricanrada to flip Lee over, then manages to avoid any counters from
Lee, as he goes out of the ring. Miguel
goes for a suicide dive, but pulls back at the last minute as Lee avoids it,
but Miguel stopped on the ring apron, delivers another hurricanrada outside the
ring. Lee gets the offense back, and Lee
goes to work on Miguel. Trevor has
Miguel in a backbreaker, but the hold is broken, and Lee screams at
Miguel. Miguel counters, gets a strike,
then lands a kick and lands a neckbreaker, but Lee kicks out of the pin
attempt. Miguel gets Lee on the
turnbuckle and delivers a 619 like kick, then lands another hurricanrada, and
scores the pinfall. Trey is heading to
Ulitmate X where he’ll face Rich Swann, Jake Crist, and Ethan Page.
We get a promo from the Lucha Bros. about their upcoming
match against LAX for the IMPACT Tag Titles on January 6th, and
Fenix then tells Santana he’s going down tonight.
Dark Allie and Su Yung are telling Kiera Hogan that her time
has come, and that there is no turning back for Allie. Su says Kiera’s time has come.
LAX backstage with Konnan.
Konnan is upset with LAX, because he told them that their egos got the
better of them, and now things have escalated.
Konnan says they’re going to have to face the Lucha Bros. on their own,
he’s out. They’re shocked, but Santana
said they can do it on their own…and he says he can take care of Fenix on his
own.
Santana of LAX and Fenix of the Lucha Bros. are ready to
face off in a one on one match tonight.
We get some early lucha skills from both men, showing off what they can
do. A hurricanrada from Santana lands
Fenix outside, he tries to get back in, but gets kicked in the face. Santana goes out to grab him, and Fenix kicks
him on the ring apron, lands a forearms to the face, and climbs back into the
ring. Santana outside, and Fenix lands a
moonsault on the outside. Fenix misses a
swanton bomb, Santana nails him, but only gets a 2 count. Fenix goes for a move that gets countered by
Santana with a urinagi, but Santana only gets a 2 count. Fenix on the outside, and Santana goes for
him, but he stops short, Fenix kicks him.
They trade shots back and forth, then Santana nails a brutal reverse
hurricanrada, but Fenix turns around and delivers one of his own. Trading blows back and forth, both men
deliver kicks to each other. Santana
goes to jump onto Fenix with the rope, but gets caught in the ropes, and Fenix
walks across the rope Undertaker style and delivers a nasty kick. Tries for the pin, but can’t get it. Trading sitting powerbombs but no one can get
the pin on the other. A LOT of high
spots in this match. Fenix has Santana
on the top rope, and goes for a back slam, but Santana counters into a pin
attempt, but Fenix kicks out. Santana is
tossed into the corner, and Fenix delivers a back kick to Santana. He then manages to roll up Santana for the
pin and the win. Both teams stand in the
ring in a staredown as they know what’s coming up January 6th. Pretty decent match. Too bad the crowd has been dead pretty much
the whole night. Vegas is NOT really a
place for a wrestling show---they have no appreciation for it.
McKenzie is with Killer Kross, and asks him why he saved
Taya Valkyrie last week. Is he on Impact’s
side? Kross tells her to zip it, and
says that everyone wants him to spell it out.
He says that he offered the champ a chance to have help his side, and
toughen him up for the match ahead. At
this point, the champ comes out and gets in Kross’ face. Tells him to stay away from him and
Taya. Kross goads Johnny, and Johnny
pushes him into the backstage equipment, and warns him to back off. Kross says that’s what Johnny needs to win at
HOMECOMING.
Kiera Hogan talks about how she’d have Allie’s back during
this whole Su Yung saga, but now that she’s turned to the dark side, the end
has come, and Kiera is ready to face Dark Allie at HOMECOMING.
We head back to the Sanitarium, where we see Eddie Edwards
and Raven talking. Eli Drake shows up
and has a sit down with the “head of the snake”. Eli says that he’s the last of a dying breed,
because of people like Raven who inspired the hardcore era. He plans on wiping it out once he takes care
of Abyss at the Monster’s Ball Match at HOMECOMING. He gets worked up and threatens Raven more,
and Raven calls for the orderlies to come and get Eli, which they do.
Katerina comes out with her new protégé’, Ruby Raze, to do
battle with new Knockouts sensation Jordynne Grace. This is strength vs. strength, and an all
power match. Grace and Raze trade blows
early. Jordynne shows off some agility,
then lands a vicious elbow to the face of Ruby Raze. Ruby comes back with a german suplex, and
goes to work on Grace. Katerina offers
some outside interference as she chokes Grace on the ropes. Raze with a suplex with Grace’s feet on the
ropes. Grace gets up, and gets in Raze’s
face, asks her if that’s all she got.
Raze gets her in a choke hold, but Grace brakes it, and lands some blows
to Raze. Grace goes to lift her, but
Raze blocks it. Raze goes to the op but
Grace lifts her up into a powerbomb.
Katerina goes to interfere, but Grace catches her, and delivers a muscle
buster, and then Grace lands a Vader Bomb from the top rope to score the
pin. Katerina’s ringer fails. Jordynne Grace continues to impress. She is going to be a factor in the Knockouts
title picture quicker than you think.
Gama Singh and the Desi Hit Squad are in a hotel hallway
looking for Scarlett Bordeaux when she shows up, and they feel they’re next on
the list to obtain Scarlett’s services.
She tells them to go out and try to impress her, and she walks off.
Main Event time as “The Machine”
Brian Cage takes on Moose. Both men are
powerful, but Cage is very agile for a big man.
Both men trade blows, and Cage gets a quick hurricanrada that sends
Moose out of the ring. They both trade
blows outside the ring. Moose goes for a
chop with Cage against the ringpost, and Cage moves, with Moose slamming his
hand against the post. He keeps trying
to chop Cage with the injured hand. But
he still remains on the offense, sending Cage into the barrier, and delivering
a big boot. Moose goes for another kick,
but Cage manages to lift up Moose, and slam him on the ring apron. The action moves back into the ring, and Cage
tries to mount some offense, but Moose keeps the edge on. He knees Cage in the back of the head. Moose is taking his time, delivering more
chops with the injured and. Moose drives
Cage into the corner, and Cage hits harshly.
Moose has dominated this match thus far.
Moose again takes his time, goes to deliver a blow to Cage, but Cage
lifts the knee to block it, and stuns Moose….Cage rolls out of the ring, and
Moose rolls out after him and continues to work him over. Moose starts jaw jacking with the crowd in
the front row. He throws Cage into the
ring, and as he’s distracted with the crowd, Cage lands a flip dive on Moose on
the outside. He gets Moose back into the
ring, and lands a powerslam, but can’t get a pin. Back and forth the two men go. Cage gets on top of the turnbuckle, but Moose
nabs him and hits a sitting powerbomb.
Then he lands a senton off the ropes, but only gets a 2 count. Moose goes to the outside, and Cage delivers
a high kick. He then manages to suplex
the big man into the ring, but only gets a two count. Cage goes for another
move, but Moose bites him to reverse it.
Moose with more chops with the hurt hand, and they continue to trade
blows. Moose with a clothesline, but
Cage counters with a discus clothesline, and Cage is clutching his wrist. A couple of reversals, and delivers a
powerbomb, but can’t get a pin. Cage
rolls out of the ring…he’s hurt. Moose
rolls out, and looks to powerbomb or piledrive Cage when all of the sudden,
Eddie Edwards in a hospital gown appears and attacks Moose. The match is over, and Cage Is DQ’ed. Eddie Edwards continues the attack on Moose,
landing a suicide dive on him. Eddie
slams Moose into the ringpost, and lands another suicide dive. The crowds chant Eddie’s name. He looks under the ring, and he grabs his
kendo stick. He attacks Moose with the
kendo stick, and works him over. Eddie
goes to land a powerbomb on Moose, but Moose breaks it up, and runs up the ramp
to escape. The Show ends with Eddie doing
snow angels in the ring.
_________________________________________________________________________
I guess, technically, you COULD call this a “go-home” show,
since the next two weeks’ worth of IMPACT! Shows will be the “Best of 2018”. It was an alright show…especially for a
company that has had to pretty much rebuild from the ground up after all the
financial and backstage politics it’s had to suffer through the last few
years. I will say this: they’re making a genuine effort, and putting their
best foot forward. But the 10 pm start
time is killing them, and it reflects in the ratings. They have quality stars on the show, but very
few standouts than can be the face of the company and run with it. Plus, with the iffyness of their television
contract with POP up in the air, the company is taking on water at an alarming
rate, and I feel bad for the talent that is busting their ass to give the fans
a good wrestling alternative to WWE.
The storylines on the show are not bad….they’re consistent
compared to the huge mess you see on Monday Night RAW every week, and often
times on Smackdown Live! But again, some
people are just not connecting with them.
Now, I can be cynical about the product---I’ve been a wrestling fan for
40 years, and I’d like to think I know the difference between a good and bad
wrestling show. IMPACT isn’t bad…but it
still has a bit of work to do in order to get on a level where it can compete
with the likes of WWE…though not many can.
I think IMPACT! Wrestling has an advantage in that they have an open
door policy with the likes of House of Glory, Ring of Honor, New Japan, and
various other indies where talent can be pooled and shared. I feel that’s an advantage for them, and it
also lifts the entire industry as a whole.
They just need to better trust their talent, nurture them, and promote
the living hell out of them. If they can
get BACK into a more favorable primetime slot, it WILL work to their advantage
in the long run---as long as you can tell compelling stories, and deliver a
more action packed product than what we’re getting with WWE. The main problem is finding a home that will
support them through good AND bad, and be willing to PROMOTE the program on
their network.
Either way, getting back to tonight’s show, the highlights
(for ME, anyway), was the match between Santana and Fenix. It was a game of one-upsmanship between the
two, but proved that both men can go in the ring, and deliver a high quality
match. It’s also the one time the crowd
in Vegas actually got into the show (I tell you, Vegas crowds SUCK for
wrestling. After what happened at the
end of Smackdown Live! Tuesday night…I
thought we’d get more, but they just have NO appreciation for wrestling). But the match was excellent, and BOTH these
guys are quality stars. This was just a
taste of what we can expect once we see both teams in the ring January 6th
for HOMECOMING. This just might be THE
match on the entire card. One question
remains….what will Konnan do? Will he
show up at the PPV, or will he just bail on the boys completely, and let ‘em
tear each other up? Either way, I’m
excited to see this match.
One of THE best storylines on the show is Tessa and
Taya. Taya is not the world’s best
promo, but she gets the point across, and the fans like her. Tessa is perfect as the snotty, self-entitled
heel that she is. She has taken SEVERAL
pages out of dear old Dad’s playbook, and used them perfectly. She has been terrific for this division, and
the match between her and Taya should be pretty damn good. Now add the stipulation of Gail Kim as the
guest referee, and it’s going to make the outcome of this match very
interesting. Gail has been retired for
months now…could this match—if Tessa decides to pull the dirty tricks out and
be the chickenshit heel we know her to be, haul off and drop Gail…will that
prompt a title change in the match, or will this have Gail come out of
retirement to go toe to toe with Tessa?
Possibilities are there.
The Ultimate X match should be a fun one, with Rich Swann,
Trey Miguel, Ethan Page, and Jake Crist.
Miguel impressed me with his solo effort tonight. If they can lay off the dumb promos for the
Razcals and let them do their business in the ring---they can be future tag
champs. But for now, I’d like to see how
Trey will handle himself against more experienced guys in the ring. Swann is going to be the heave favorite in
this match, and it’s good to see him get a chance to hold some gold in this
company.
Scarlett Bordeaux and the Desi Hit Squad? Waste of 3 or so minutes of airtime. When is her search going to end? Kind of dragging on long enough. Yeah, she’s great eye candy, but what the
hell are they doing with her?
Eddie Edwards’ attack on Moose was expected at some point,
considering he broke out of the Sanitarium.
No Holds Barred had to be the only way to go to give these guys a blowoff
match at the PPV. A side note to tonight’s
match: Moose looked dominant over Cage…not
exactly what you need for your IMPACT! Championship challenger going into the
PPV.
We also knew that after last week’s attack on her, Kiera and
Dark Allie were destined for a match at the PPV as well. Question is:
will Rosemary return to help Kiera against Dark Allie and Su Yung? Because for ME…this story has to have an
ending at some point in 2019. The payoff
HAS to be a match between Dark Allie and Rosemary, and a Rosemary/Su Yung match
where Rosemary gets her revenge.
Rosemary has tweeted about a “Dark War” coming, so hoping to see that
happen in the coming year.
Eli Drake…the man is such an excellent promo, no matter
where he’s at or what he’s doing. I’ve
been happier with him lately. Now that I
know what his direction is---to eliminate all the hardcore legends---makes more
sense to me.
“Thick Mama Pump” Jordynne Grace is the real freakin’
deal. The woman has immense power and
agility. I feel that Katerina isn’t
quite done with her yet, and I DO like that there’s more than one story going
on with the Knockouts, plus, it lets them build up Jordynne as a threat to the
division. She WILL be in the title hunt
sooner than anyone thinks.
Speaking of the Championship match---Killer Kross is going
to play a HUGE factor in the outcome of that match. Now, whether he causes one man to win or the
other, or simply just destroys them both at the PPV remains to be seen. But we DO know he’s not done being a thorn in
Johnny’s side. And Johnny doesn’t like
it.
In the end---this show was serviceable, moved various
storylines along, and gave us a few more twists and turns for the PPV. Probably in the next week or so, I will be
giving my predictions on HOMECOMING, and sort out what will happen next. The show was decent, didn’t have too many
ridiculous promos and segments, and gave us a couple of good matches
tonight. But again, as I mentioned,
there are still many things to grow upon for the company, and if they can just
get their feet level under them, and find some security as far as a TV deal,
and a better time slot, I feel they have a chance to improve. But someone has GOT to have faith in them…and
they have to have everyone involved to step up their game even more. I know there’s talent there, but they have to
crank it past 11 now. Their future….IMPACT’S
future….rides on it.
So...with the new additions to the PPV...the show is looking like this:
IMPACT! WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: Brian Cage v. Johnny Impact (C)
IMPACT! TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP: Lucha Bros. v. LAX (C)
KNOCKOUTS DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP: Taya Valkyrie v. Tessa Blanchard (C) WITH *SPECIAL GUEST REFEREE: Gail Kim
ULTIMATE X MATCH (X-DIVISION TITLE MATCH): Ethan Page v. Rich Swann v. Jake Crist v. Trey Miguel
MONSTER'S BALL MATCH: Eli Drake v. Abyss
NO HOLDS BARRED MATCH: Eddie Edwards v. Moose
Kiera Hogan v. Dark Allie (w/Su Yung)
I am not sure I’ll cover the year in review shows. I may spend time making my predictions for
the HOMECOMING card, and possibly giving my take on what IMPACT can do to
improve in 2019. Either way, keep
checking back here, and I thank you guys for following me and this blog. Please subscribe if you haven’t, and pass it
along, I’d appreciate it. Also, don’t be
afraid to leave your comments, would love to read ‘em. I’m curious as to what YOUR guys’ ideas would
be for IMPACT for 2019.
If I don’t see you soon, I hope you guys have a tremendous
holiday season. Merry Christmas, Happy
New Year, and all of that.
Until next time!
