IMPACT! WRESTLING - February 8, 2019

IMPACT! WRESTLING – February 8, 2019: Tag Team Title rematch, Kiera & Allie face off yet again, OVE vs. Swann/Mack, and more!

We’re back in Mexico City once again this week, as we have a pretty jam-packed two hours of IMPACT Wrestling this week as the big Main Event as The Lucha Bros and LAX hook up to see who will walk about Impact Tag Team Champions, also, OVE will meet Willie Mack & Rich Swann, Sami Callahan squares off against Lucha sensation Puma King, and finally, Dark Allie and Kiera Hogan go head to head in singles action.

Things kick off with tag team action as The Crist brothers of OVE come out to take on Rich Swann and Willie Mack.  The action starts early as all four men duke it out in the ring before it clears and everyone gets to their respective corners.  Swann and Mack take the offense early to OVE, and Mack works over one of the Crist brothers. , He gets Dave Crist out of the ring, then does a diving senton over the top rope and lands on the Crist Brothers.  Swann then lands a suicide dive over the top rope, and they’re all down.  Mack gets back into the ring, and Jake gets in the ring, and the action turns as OVE gets the dge in the battle.  Jake holds Swann back outside the ring, and then they both work him over, keeping him down and out while they work on Mack in the ring.  They get a double team on Mack to keep him down.  They head over to the corner to knock Swann down, and keep him from getting into the ring.  Another tag, and Dave runs over to hit Swann, and they work on Mack some more.  They get a lying superkick, but only get a two count.  They keep Mack isolated with a ground based attack, but also go over to try and kick or hit Swann off the ring…not sure what the hell is up with that.  Mack finally gets a tiny bit of offense in the ring, and eventually makes the hot tag to Swann who begins to work both Crist brothers over with a series of kicks and high spot moves.  He tries to go for a dive, but is stopped by Jake, and they hit their finisher, but only gets a two count.  Mack and Swann work the double team, and Mack lands a double stunner, and Swann follows up with a double cutter.  They eventually win the match with their combination cutter to score the pinfall.  Nice teamwork with these two, but the crowd was dead.  Hope this isn’t a pattern for the night.

Lucha Bros cut a promo  about tonight’s main event with LAX.  They pretty much say that Konnan wanted to keep this within the family, and Pentagon says that they WILL stay in the family…just not with LAX.  This is going to be the match of the night.

Matthews & Callis talk about next week in UNCAGED as Johnny will now defend his title against Killer Kross, Moose, AND Brian Cage in a fatal 4-way. 

Back to the action, and Dark Allie comes to the ring with Su Yung, looking under the ring for Rosemary.  She’s ready to take on former friend Kiera Hogan. Jordynne Grace comes to the ring to be Kiera’s backup and keep and eye on Su Yung.  Kiera wastes no time and lands a sitting dropkick on Allie, and lays on the pressure.  Kiera goes for a pin, and only gets a two count.  Kiera keeps working over Allie with quick moves, keeping the offense at a fast pace.  Allie finally lands a clothesline to cut Kiera off.  She gets a two count, then starts to pound on Kiera.  Allie gets Kiera in the corner and lands a low clothesline.  Goes for another pin and only gets a two.  Been  a little back and forth.  Fans are a tad more into this match.  Allie works Kiera more, and goes for the codebreaker, but Kiera blocks it and nails Allie.  Allie then drops Kiera on the top rope clotheslining her, hits a backstabber, but only gets a two.  Kiera battles back, and lands a backstabber of her own, but can’t get the two count.  Su is outside taking out the bloody glove to give to Allie, but Jordynne takes down Su, and takes the bloody glove.  Allie is looking for it and can’t find it.  She’s distracted enough that Kiera lands a shot to the back, and lands her neckbreaker to get the pin on Allie yet again.  Jordynne is paying off dividends for Kiera…Su and Allie are paranoid about Rosemary…who is absent tonight…so we think.

Menendez catches up with the World Champ outside the arena and asks him if he knows about his match next week at UNCAGED, and Johnny says no.  Once Menendez tells him that his match next week is now a fatal four-way.  Johnny is pissed, and not happy how he found out.  The Machine then comes up to him, and asks him about the announcement…and tells Johnny that it sucks to be screwed, doesn’t it?  Brain pats him on the back and says he’ll see him next week.

Allie and Su are backstage, wondering where Rosemary is, thinking she’s there.  The screen frizzes out yet again, and we get another message from Su Yung.  A final warning to them both. 

Gama Singh introduces the Desi Hit Squad, as Rohit takes on Trey Miguel from the Rascalz.  Match starts out with some chain wrestling and counters.  Both men continue counter moves and high spots.  He nails Rohit with a dropkick and Rohit rolls outside.  Trey goes for a suicide dive, but Rohit catches him and knocks him down.  Rohit then nails a face slam.  Back in the ring, Rohit slowly works on Trey.  While Trey is hanging on the ropes, Rohit distracts the ref, as Raj chokes Trey on the rope.  Both men both go into a series of exchanges, but miss until Trey misses out on a dropkick and Rhoit takes advantage.  Rohit goes for a pin and Trey kicks out at two.  Trey reverses out of a suplex, and nails Rohit with a flip and a kick on the back of Rohit’s head.  No count, and both men go toe to toe for a moment.  Trey comes off the top rope as Rohit goes after him, lands, rolls, and nails Rohit with a neckbreaker, but only scores a two.  Rohit then counters and nails a gord buster, but Trey kicks out.  This has been a good match.  Rohit nails two solid knees to the face, but can only get the two count.  Raj is called towards the ring, and he gets up on the apron, but Dez and Wentz take him out by the feet.  They then nail him with a double superkick.  Gama makes an attempt to get them, but he backs off.  Trey nails a 619 in the corner, does a flip, and wins with a pin.  Really good showing by both men, and Trey just continues to show he belongs.  Rhoit put on a good show as well. 

We get a promo for team AAA vs. Team Impact for next week’s UNCAGED.

Scarlett Bordeaux is here, and she’s letting everyone know the Smokeshow is making her IMPACT debut in Vegas.  Sweet!  I get to see her live! 

Sami Callahan is in the ring ready to take on Lucha star Puma King.  Sami’s ticked off and doesn’t even let Puma get into the ring before coming after him.  He nails Puma, but starts jabbering with the crowd, and Puma comes back with a superkick, then lands a vertical suplex.  Puma heads to the rope and climbs on them as Sami rushes him, and he gets Sami out of the ring, then lands an aero star on Sami.  The battle continues outside the ring.  Puma is in control.  Puma lands a kick, rolls into the ring rolls, out to get Sami, and Sami pulls the ref in front of him like a shield.  Just long enough to poke Puma in the eyes, then Sami lands a spinning DDT.  Back in the ring, Sami lands a sitting powerbomb, but can only get a two count.  Sami tries going for the mask of Puma, but the ref breaks it up.  But again, he’s jabbering with the fans, that allows Puma to come back with a kick, but Sami knocks him down and then pounds on him.  Sami taking his time in this match…then he gets Puma with a vicious chop, but continues to jaw jacking with the crowd, and Puma King comes back, fights off Callahan and lands a kick, and Sami is out of the ring, but he tries to move away from Puma as Puma comes off the top rope and misses Callahan completely.  Puma lands bad, and both men are down.

Puma is still down and laying in the ring, hurt as Sami is on the outside just screaming at Puma and smashing his head on the ring apron.  Sami nails him in the head with a boot.  Apparently, it looks like Puma’s knee is hurt.  Puma tries to fight back, but Sami pokes the eyes.  Puma lands a spine buster, but no count.  Sami lands a clothesline, and tosses Puma into the corner, but Puma responds with a move of his own and both men go down.  They get up before the 10 count, and Puma lands a couple of moves to get a pin on Sami, but Sami kicks out.  He gets a reversal, and nails Puma with a lariat.  But he can’t get the pin.  He jaws with the fans again, as he takes off the wrist tape.  He nails Puma with a right hand, but Puma responds, and Puma gets him in a rollup, but Sami manages to scrape the rope to escape the 3 count.  They then get each other into a series of pin attempts.  Puma goes for a sunset flip, but Sami reverses it into a piledriver for the pin and the win.

We get a promo for the Street Fight for the Knockouts Championship between Taya Valkyrie and Tessa Blanchard.

Backstage with Eli Drake and Eddie Edwards.  Eli reminds Eddie that they didn’t need “Kenny” to win the match last week (which is crap, because Eli used it), , and Eddie reminds him to do HIS thing, and Eddie will do HIS.  Eli wants him to go back to lacing up the boots, and be the wrestler he was. 

Melissa Santos is backstage with Moose and Kross, and asks them about their thoughts on next week’s Title match being a 4 way.  Kross thinks the whole thing is a joke.  Moose says that they’re partners, and they can be co-champions, and Moose thinks that since he had Tom Brady’s back, he’ll have Kross’.  Says that they can keep the title in Moose’s case regardless of who wins.  Moose gives out a Belechik analogy about winning, and then hits on Melissa, and Kross finally responds that while he thought Moose’s football analogy is good, he prefers the Frog in the rain, then walks off.

Tag Team Main Event, with the IMPACT Tag Titles on the line.  LAX & The Lucha Bros ready to square it off yet again.  The Luchas come out to this elaborate Chinese New Year style celebration.  They get the home country pop.  LAX comes out with Konnan to a good response, but we know it’s all about the Lucha’s.  Fenix doesn’t waste time, and dropkicks Santana, and the match is on.  Both teams are in the ring, but it clears.  The Luchas are on the attack with a series of high impact moves.  A couple of superkicks…one to Ortiz, and one to Fenix…and Santana and Pentagon are in the ring, and square up.  Santana with a kick heads to the other side of the ring, but Fenix catches him with a kick, but he then kicks Pentagon.  The action is nonstop as they just go at it Lucha style.  Incredible pace in this match.  A lot of double team counters leave all four men down in the ring...hot damn what a freaking start!

Back from the break, and the action is still quick paced.  Fenix nails Ortiz on the top rope to prevent of the attack on him.  Then climbs on TOP of Ortiz, and lands a big blow to the back of the head, but can only get a two count on the pin.  Back and forth Ortiz and Fenix go…Konnan watching intently.  Both men down, but make their respective tags.  Pentagon and Santana square up again, and off they go on a chop spree.  Santana lands and urinagi, but only gets a two count.  Santana tries to come off the ropes to nail Pentagon, but reverses it into the Pentagon Driver, but can only score a two count.  Pentagon can’t believe it.  

Pentagon tags Fenix, and try to go to the screwdriver, but it’s broken up.  All for men battle in the ring, and Pentagon gets thrown out.  LAX put on  a cutter, and then go for a driver to put Fenix away, but he kicks out.  Pentagon comes back in for the save, and the action comes in hot and heavy.  Pentagon and Santana in the ring, and Fenix and Pentagon nail their finisher the Fear Factor, and then Fenix suicide dives onto Ortiz outside the ring.  Pentagon goes for the cover, and Santana kicks out again.  Pentagon nails a piledriver, but Santana STILL kicks out.  They go for the Fear Factor again, and just like before, Fenix suicide dives out of the ring onto Ortiz yet again.  They land a huge kick, and Pentagon scores the pinfall, as the Lucha Bros win the Tag Team Championships in a fantastic battle.  After the match, the Luchas and LAX are in the ring, and Konnan wants them to shake hands.  There’s some tension between the two teams, but they shake it out, and LAX departs the ring disappointed as the Lucha Bros celebrate their victory in the ring.  Now the Lucha Bros will face Rob Van Dam and Sabu at United We Stand on April 4^th.

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This was not a bad show.  Again, the thing I like about IMPACT is that they don't waste a lot of time with two hours.  You get quite a few matches, the promos and vignettes aren't real long, so there's very little drag time.  It makes for a better flow to the show.  However, still kind of disappointed with the Mexico City crowd.  They got up for their lucha heroes when they were in the ring, which is understandable, but I was hoping for more of a reaction.  I think it got better through the night.

Rich Swann & Willie Mack make a great tag team, and they showed how well they work together tonight against OVE.  Mack is incredibly agile for a guy his size, and moves pretty well around the ring.  Swann is already a big star, and he continues to prove why.  If they got the urge, they could make a run at the tag titles.  OVE...at least the Brothers Crist in this case...are also in that mix.  Was a solid match, was just sad the crowd wasn't into it.  

Allie is struggling as of late.  Apparently, being a part of the Undead Realm has not done wonders for her.  Su Yung, for all her influence, hasn't done much to improve Allie's abilities in the ring.  Now, to be fair, she's had to deal with the haunting return of Rosemary, who once again left a calling card to the Dark Bunny.  The War is on.  As for Kiera Hogan...she's got a motor on her.  She's quick in the ring, has lots of energy, and gets better week after week.  She's young, and the sky is the limit.  Having a heavy hitter in your corner like Jordynne Grace isn't bad, either.  And I feel that, at some point, they need to get Jordynne Grace's march to the top going.  It should NOT be long before she's in the title picture.  

Rohit has some mad ring skills...he put on a really good match tonight against Trey Miguel.  Lots of back and forth, chain moves, and high spots marked an entertaining match.  Trey Miguel, though....THIS guy should be a superstar.  He is WAAAY too good in the ring to be limited or held back.  This guy is the real deal, as is the other boys in The Rascalz, who also had a strong showing tonight---proving that the tag team division in IMPACT is pretty good.  

Sami Callahan held his own against Puma King tonight.  Sami is a stellar wrestler and he plays his part well.  He knows how to incite the crowd and interact with them.  Puma King brought him to a good match and made the most out of their different styles.  Now, we'll see what happens when he drops the bomb on Rich Swann's past next week.  He is the next challenger in line for the X-Division Title...it's inevitable.

Eli Drake continues to press Eddie Edwards about going back to the old ways, and ditching "Kenny" and the hardcore style.  They do make an effective team, but there's an implosion coming after next week.  Could one or the other cost IMPACT the World Cup against AAA?  There seems to be the makings of a good feud here.

It seems that NO ONE was happy when they found out that the IMPACT World Title was going to be a fatal four-way.  Most certainly NOT the Champion.  Question is...who's walking out the champion next week?  This will be Impact's biggest test to date.  Let's see how well he can carry this company on his back.

The main event tonight....hokey smoke!  Once again, the Lucha Bros and LAX prove why they are two of THE BEST tag teams in the world of wrestling.  Another stellar match between these teams, and the Luchas finally reaching the pinnacle and becoming the new Tag Team champions.  The match was fast paced, and high energy.  You're never bored in this match, and the crowd was really into it---mostly for the Lucha Bros, but still---all star quality.  My ONLY setback was the overuse of finishers.  Wasn't helpful in this match to have each team kick out of each other's finishers repatedly.  A finsiher is just that...a FINISHER.  That means it should END the match.  Outside of that...the work that these 4 men bring to the ring everytime they step into it, is amazing.  

We got some info about the World Cup, more matches set up for UNCAGED, and a good job at balancing several stories on the show.  Inch by inch, they get better.  Just need to hopefully keep the talent they have, nurture it, and hopefully down the road, improve the production value.  But, I have been enjoying what I've been seeing, and that is the big plus.

I will BE at Sam's Town in Las Vegas next week for the TV tapings they'll have all 3 days, so there probably WON'T be a review of next week's show.  I hope that I'll be able to point myself out if I'm on TV.  

Okay, kids---I'm out for this week.  Please subscribe and leave a comment below if ya want!  

Until next time...