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IMPACT WRESTLING TV REPORT
APRIL 19, 2019
TAPED IN WINDSOR, ON.
AIRED ON PURSUIT & TWITCH TV
REPORT BY JACK IRENE, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Announcers: Josh Mathews, Don Callis
On the penultimate episode of Impact Wrestling before Rebellion, The Lucha Bros must get past the team of Eddie Edwards and Eli Drake.
We kick off the show with a good recap of John E. Bravo’s involvement with the Johnny Impact/Brian Cage feud.
(1) SCARLETT BORDEAUX & FALLAH BAHH vs. THE DESI HIT SQUAD
The teams play the crowd early on as Bahh gets the crowd to sing Scarlett’s entrance music, and they make fun of Raj Singh’s lack of hair. Bordeaux comes in and Raj sends Rohit Raju in. The crowd roots for the woman but Raju stalls and sends Raj back in. She is forced to send Bahh back in as they dodge her. He cleans house but some crafty work puts Bahh on the canvas. They control the panda but end up running into each other allowing Bahh to score the hot tag to The Smokeshow. Scarlett teases a dive to the outside but Rohit interrupts. She opens up on him with a big hurricanrana and holds the ropes open for a huge Fallah Bahh suicide dive. She goes to the top rope for a big crossbody to the outside. She delivers a stinkface to Raj leading to Rohit to beg for one of his own. He closes his eyes and Fallah decides to give one of his own. Scarlett climbs the back of Bahh as they climb the turnbuckle for a banzai drop. Scarlett Bordeaux pins Raj Singh.
WINNERS: Scarlett Bordeaux & Fallah Bath. (**½)
(J.I.’S Thoughts: Call me crazy but this duo is incredibly fun as a tag team. With KM’s exit from the company, Scarlett seems to fill the role well adding a new dynamic to the team. The match was fun with comedy spots and a great crowd.)
– The Lucha Bros. warn Eli Drake and Eddie Edwards before their championship clash tonight. [c]
– The Deaners have a training montage to some groovy 80’s music. They debut next week.
– Eli Drake and Eddie Edwards discuss their match tonight.
– Tommy Dreamer cuts his typical passionate promo on Madman Fulton.
(2) MOOSE vs. DEZ
The crowd hates Moose as the bell rings in this David vs. Goliath battle. As expected, Moose uses his power early on. Dez gets some offence going with flashy kicks but pays for it after getting tossed like a lawn dart into the buckle. Moose continues to dictate the pace, tossing The Rascal around. Dez counters the Go To Hell with a rana but eats a pop-up clothesline. Moose asks Don Callis at ringside how he likes this domination. Moose continues to taunt but goes shoulder first into the post, allowing Dez to fly over the ropes but Moose catches him, slamming his head into the steps and launching him into his partners. Trey interferes but Moose tosses him, Wentz nails a kick to the head as Dez rolls up the big man for the shocking three count.
WINNER: Dez. (**½)
(J.I.’S Thoughts: This was a well-told story with Dez not getting an ounce of offence. It dragged on a bit in the middle but seeing Moose launch smaller workers around is pretty fun stuff. We will see how the story progresses from here.)
– Kiera Hogan is walking around backstage, but Rosemary tells her to go back to where she came from. They argue and Rosemary attacks Kiera, choking her with a chain. [c]
– Moose demands that Impact deletes the footage of Dez pinning Moose. Moose teases that he has partners.
– GWN Flashback Moment of the Week is Awesome Kong vs. Gail Kim.
– Tessa Blanchard is at Robert Irvine’s restaurant. Tessa says that Gail is only known for screwing a famous chef. She searches for Robert Irvine, spitting on people’s food, and disrespecting employees. The manager confronts her but she pours soup on him and sends him back out. This was a unique segment, to say the least. [c]
– Gail Kim gets off of the phone as Melissa Santos asks her if they will press charges. Gail understands that Tessa must learn the hard way, and she will teach her at Rebellion.
(3) MADMAN FULTON vs. TOMMY DREAMER
Fulton and Dreamer go back and forth immediately but Fulton gets the best of the exchanges. Kid Ref ejects Sami Callihan, but Fulton seems to do fine in his absence as he beats Dreamer to the ground. Dreamer connects with a hurricanrana of sorts sending Fulton to the outside. They engage in a Tommy Dreamer brawl at ringside. Fulton charges him but eats the post. Fulton drops Dreamer crotch first on the barricade and repeatedly slams him onto the apron. He continues to work the back as the crowd chants for the ECW Original. Fulton tries to put him away with some heavy slams but Dreamer continues to prevail. Fulton off the second rope misses a headbutt. Dreamer begins his comeback with some jabs, elbows, and a cutter. Fulton responds with a huge shot. Dreamer hits the DDT but rolls to the outside for a kendo stick. Fulton sits up and nails him with the Better Than Baron for the win. Willie Mack tries to save Dreamer but oVe is all over him. Rich Swann is out delivering cutters to both Crists. Callihan comes in with a bat and a Cactus Special. They grab Dreamer, wrapping his arm in a chair and smacking it with a baseball bat. Rich Swann watches as Callihan breaks Dreamer’s arm.
WINNER: Mandman Fulton. (**)
(J.I.’S Thoughts: This match was lethargic at times, but was exactly what you would expect. This served as more of an angle, adding some heat to the feud.) [c]
– RVD talks about what he has been up to lately and what brought him to Impact. He teases potential matchups as Brian Cage, Johnny Impact, and Fenix are shown.
– Another Deaners vignette, as they trade in their John Deere for a much more impressive John Deere.
– Rich Swann and Willie Mack are fired up about oVe’s actions. Swann walks off but Killer Kross comes in. Kross tells Mack that he keeps helping Swann out with no benefit. Mack goes off on Kross and challenges him to a match next week.
(4) MADISON RAYNE vs. TAYA VALKYRIE
Taya now resides in Slam Town, USA and sports some Johnny Impact shades. Taya knocks Canada and is glad she has moved from a country known for being apologetic. The Canadian crowd chants “We’re not sorry”. She does not want to work tonight so she tries to head out but Rayne catches her. She escapes but Jordynne Grace comes out and sends her back in. Rayne rolls Taya up for the win.
WINNER: Rayne.
(J.I.’s Thoughts: This was hardly a match and Madison Rayne’s booking confuses me. She has already beaten Tessa Blanchard and Taya Valkyrie, two of the most pushed females on the roster. It just feels slightly weird even if the wins aren’t the most convincing. These wins are unnecessary and haven’t added anything to the feuds it has interfered with.)
– Rolando Menendez is at Johnny Impact’s home interviewing him. John E. Bravo is in the background cleaning his indoor pool. Johnny pokes fun at the “meathead” Brian Cage, mocking his smarts. Johnny claims to have power over Cage, being able to get to anyone that he cares about. Johnny says that Cage will never live up to his potential, and we will see that on April 28th at Rebellion.
– Back ringside, Cage confronts Callis, shoving him to the ground. Callis promises a special referee so Cage won’t kill him. He screams that Scott D’Amore will be the ref as he calls him frantically, as we get a cliffhanger for a commercial. We’re back and D’Amore angrily answers the phone. Callis warns him to head out immediately. Cage comes and threatens D’Amore now. Cage says Storm should be the ref, and D’Amore agrees. Storm looks confused. This was great.
(5) LAX vs. EDDIE EDWARDS & ELI DRAKE
Seeing Eli Drake here is a little weird knowing his current status with the company. The Lucha Bros enter as we head to commercial. The bell rings and Fenix and Drake kick things off. Fenix takes out Drake and Edwards as Pentagon comes in to do the same. Bad start for Drake and Edwards. Huge exchanges between the teams very early, including a superplex for a near fall. Drake and Edwards slow things down on the Impact Tag Champs. Fenix rolls into a Death Valley Driver/Knee Drop combo from Drake and Edwards. Pentagon breaks up the pinfall with a nasty kick to Drake’s face. Things get hectic as the Lucha Bros gang up on Drake. Fenix soars to the outside onto Edwards. Back in, They load up Drake for their finish but Santana is out. Ortiz follows for a distraction and Drake nearly wins the belts for him and his partner on a roll-up. Kenny enters the ring but Drake misses. Pentagon gets him up for the Fear Factor and The Lucha Bros retain. LAX brawls with the champs as they head backstage. Edwards grabs Kenny and hugs Drake. The show is seemingly about to end but Drake cheapshots him and nails him with Kenny repeatedly. He finishes off with a shot to the eye of Edwards for a call back to about a year ago and walks off with Kenny.
(J.I.’S Thoughts: This was a fun Lucha Bros sprint, with some drama towards the end. Drake ended up swerving which seems like it will have no impact on Rebellion, unfortunately.)
FINAL THOUGHTS (6 of out of 10): This show was up and down for me with some really strong points for the Johnny Impact/Brian Cage angles but was hurt by another pointless Madison Rayne fluke win. Hopefully, next week’s show will be a little less unspectacular.
I can’t even get this on Pursuit Channel’s Roku app, and they are freaking sister companies.
How do you know Madison Rayne’s wins are pointless? So that one Madison Rayne win brought the whole show down? Maybe if you weren’t biased against her you could actually enjoy it ? And I don’t see how Madison’s wins interfered with the feuds when the reasons she won was due to outside distractions by Gail on Tessa and Jordynne on Taya giving more fuel to their feuds.
maybe I worded it incorrectly. I found the win to be pretty pointless and it just feels weird that she has picked up wins over the two top knockouts. I find Rayne talented but to ditch Allie seeking something “fresh” and pushing her instead is frustrating. Once again, Rayne is great but I don’t need her picking up unnecessary wins over people.