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THOMAS’S IMPACT WRESTLING REPORT
DECEMBER 3, 2019
MELROSE BALLROOM IN NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
AIRED ON TAPE DELAY ON AXS
Announcers: Josh Matthews, Don Callis
[HOUR ONE]
(1) EDDIE EDWARDS vs. BRIAN CAGE
-Match starts with Cage getting a wrist lock in on Edwards followed by Edwards countering with his own with Cage getting a headlock in on Edwards on the mat. Edwards gets out and starts running the ropes as does Cage and Cage runs right through some chop attempts that do not even phase him. Action then moves out of the ring as Edwards is able to get a good kick on Cage and jumps on him for an attempted bomb by Cage but Edwards counters it with a ranna. This is followed by some stiff chops by Edwards outside of the ring as Edwards brings it back into the ring but Cage is able to hit him with a back body slam to get momentum on his side. Cage then starts throwing Edwards around the ring and gets a near fall after hitting a semi backbreaker. Cage then hits a side suplex on Edwards and gets a near fall but Edwards is able to reverse with his own side suplex after getting some fast moves in on Cage. The two then trade some moves in the middle of the ring with Edwards hitting a blue thunder bomb and getting a near fall and is then followed by Cage hitting a move and getting his own near fall. The two men then trade strikes, kicks and clotheslines in the middle of the ring which puts both men on the mat. As both men get up Michael Elgin makes a run in and takes out both men at the same time to end the match. Elgin then continues to stomp on Edwards until the refs pull him off and we learn the match will now be a triple threat.
WINNER: Match ends in a no contest after Elgin runs in 9:00 mins in. Match will restart as a triple threat.
(2) EDDIE EDWARDS vs. BRIAN CAGE vs. MICHAEL ELGIN
-Match restarts with Cage and Edwards double teaming Elgin until he is able to slip away as Cage gets a hold on Edwards and then the action moves ringside as Edwards hits a suicide dive on Elgin and is then followed by Cage hitting an terminator dive on both men. Edwards then gets Cage back in the ring, followed by Elgin and all three men hit each other with some super kicks. This is followed by some face paced offense as both men attempt to one up each other with move after move. Elgin then goes top rope as he dives outside of the ring to take down both Cage and Edwards. Back from break, Elgin and Cage are both on the tope rope when Edwards comes into the ring and takes out Elgin and hits Cage with a back pack stunner and transitions that into a half crab submission but Elgin starts striking Edwards and is forced to break the hold. Cage and Edwards then start battling with Elgin out of the ring and Cage is able to get a near fall but Elgin comes back in and is able to hit a dragon suplex on Cage. Elgin then starts dominating both men for about a minute and a half as Elgin is able to get a close two count in on Cage. Cage is able to recover and then hits an Alabama slam on Elgin but Edwards then hits the Boston knee party followed by a tiger slam for a near fall on Cage. All men then hit a series of moves on each other which leaves all men down. Edwards and Elgin then battle of the middle of the ring and leads to Elgin picking up Edwards and throwing him into the corner on Cage for the buckle bomb and follows that with an Elgin bomb for the win.
WINNER: Elgin via pinfall in 17:00
(Thomas’s Analysis: What a way to start the show with a very competitive match between Edwards and Cage and followed up by a tremendous triple threat between these three hard hitting big boys. This was an extremely physical first half hour of the show and it was pretty entertaining. Its fun in wrestling to just see three big, physical hard hitting guys just beat the crap out of one another without a lot of high spots and purely just hard strikes, bombs and suplex which just kept coming and coming. Really like the start of the show but makes me wonder if anything else will be able to top this the rest of the show.)
-The Rascalz are in their clubhouse and are talking about what Ace Austin had to say about Trey’s mom. His mom then joins him in the clubhouse and Trey ask her not to be ringside for the match because she can be a distraction but then Trey gives in when he realizes he may have hurt her feelings and says she can be ringside. While I think this could be a good feud between Trey and Ace, I’m still not a fan of the clubhouse segements. It just makes them look too much like goofballs and I can’t really take these guys serious.
-Back from break. Moose is walking around NYC and talking about being disappointed about not being number one contender, but like most great athletes like Conon McGregor and Muhammad Ali, he will make his comeback because he is the best in the game. He then comes across a basketball court and joins in on a pickup game. Moose then goes to shoot a three pointer and says if he makes it he will buy the guys some beers and if he misses he is going to beat these random guys up. Moose makes it but still ends up beating the guys up. Another pretty solid segment here.
-In the ring is Josh Matthews as he announce that all ticket proceeds for tonights events will go to replacing ODBs food truck which was apparently damaged. He talks about this company being an family and how Impact is here for her. Great for them to do that for her as it shows this company does care about their talents well being and is there for them during the hard times. ODB then makes her way to the ring and talks about how its good to be home. She talks about her food truck business and talks about when her truck caught fire. She talks about how much the support from the fans and Impact has meant to her in a pretty emotional moment until Taya Valkyrie makes her way to the ring with John E. Bravo. As expected, pretty heel stuff here with Taya putting down ODB, making fun of her business, her career and how this is Taya’s show now. ODB gets to stand tall although as she beats down Taya as Bravo saves Taya as they walk up the ramp.
-Back from break, we get to see some of the press conference for Hard to Kill, promoting the title match between Tessa and Sami. Tessa talks about how she is making history at the PPV as being the first woman to win the world championship. She says she is ending this feud between the two at the event. Sami talks about hating Tessa because she’s a spoiled brat and how he is the best wrestler around right now and how he’s going to crack Tessa head open at the ppv. Great stuff here as both competitors have a true hated for each other and there is a lot of heat going into this match.
(3) ACE AUSTIN & RENO SCUM vs. THE RASCALZ
Trey starts the match with Ace when he then tags out to get Thornstowe comes in and the two start brawling. Ace then tags back in to try to take advantage of catching Trey off guard but the Rascalz get some kick tags in to keep the pace of the match high tempo in favor of the Rascalz. Luster comes in and starts dominating Dez when Thornstowe tags in and goes for a cover and gets a near fall. Scum tag in and out and get some good double team offense in on Dez. Ace tags back in and continues to beat down on Dez in the corner while the ref is distracted. Ace then uses his playing his card to cut at Dez’s fingers. Dez is then able to get some separation after hitting Ace with a superkick and Tags in Trey as he takes out Thornstowe who tags in and hits him with a neck breaker and goes for a suicide dive to hit Luster but Ace intervenes with a kick to Trey. Wentz then comes in to dive to the outside to take out Scum and then Trey hits a corkscrew press dive to the outside on Scum. Trey then goes for another top rope move when Ace goes ringside to start talking to Trey’s mom. This distracts Trey as he starts beating down Ace and back in the ring, Thornstowe is able to rollup Wentz for the win.
WINNER: Austin and Reno Scum via pinfall in 9:00
(Thomas’s Analysis: A pretty solid tag match here meant to continue the feud between the two teams as Ace continues to use Trey’s mom to get into his head. Austin is pretty solid at being an over the top scummy heel by using the other men’s wives and moms which makes him instantly hatable, I am still just to there yet on buying Trey as a credible threat to actually have a chance to take this title from Austin due to the Rascalz gimmick being way too silly at times.)
-Backstage, Jordynne Grace gives a pep talk to OBD for her match tonight against Taya. Also Johnny Swinger tries to spark a partnership between him and Joey Ryan.
-RVD and Katie Forbes makes their way to the ring, as the two make out in the middle of the ring. Rob talks about how he is the biggest star in the company and how people can’t relate to him because everybody wish they could be him. He also talks about how all the wrestlers are stealing his moves and how he should be thanked for being the trendsetter. Tommy Dreamer then makes his way to the ring to interrupt. Dreamer then makes a suggestion that Rob should face Rhino next week to settle things and that Dreamer will be the guest ref. Rob then struggles through a promo talking about Dreamer holding on to the past and how he’s trying to move forwards. Rhino then makes his way to the ring and start brawling. Security come in to break the two up.
-We then get a promo hyping up how great Swann was in the gauntlet match and then Swann talks to Mack about how he’s ready to focus on the tag titles again and how next week they are going to win the tag team open to move on to the ppv to win the title.
-Backstage, Father James is showing around Susie aka Su Yung and introduces her to Havok and how they are all going to be good friends.
(4) JOHNNY SWINGER vs. PETEY WILLIAMS
-Swinger goes for a handshake to start the match but of course Swinger goes for the kick to Williams. Swinger then basically challenges Williams to a pec dance off which leads to Swinger going for a cheap shot but Williams is able to get some offense in on Swinger. Swinger then gets in control by doing a headset to Williams groin and then goes for a choke hold on Williams. Swinger then goes for an elbow drop but Williams is able to hit a code breaker into a side leg sweep as Williams goes for the Canadian destroyer but Swinger counters and gets some separation and calls to the back for Ryan to come out but he doesn’t. Williams then locks in the sharpshooter on Swinger for the win.
WINNER: Williams via submission in 4:00
(5) ODB vs. TAYA VALKYRIE with John E. Bravo
-Match starts with Taya getting a stiff strike in on ODB, but ODB then gets some momentum going by throwing Taya around from ring post to ring post and hitting some chops on her. Taya then rolls out of the ring and then Bravo takes ODB’S flask and she tells him he has to drink out of it now and then ODB motorboats Bravo to his delight. Taya goes to attack ODB but she counters with a strike. Taya then gets control again by getting ahold of ODB ankle and then follows that with some knee strikes and goes for a cover and a near count. ODB then gets some mid section strikes in on Taya but Taya counters with a corner butt slam to ODB followed by double knees. Taya then gets a half in the middle of the ring on ODB and then Taya hits some chops on ODB. ODB is then on the top rope when she forces Taya to motorboat her and then starts slamming Taya’s head on her mid section and follows that with bench press slam onto Taya followed by a splash in the corner and then a bronco buster. ODB goes for the flask again with Bravo wanting another drink and motorboat but Taya hits ODB from behind. Bravo then grabs the title belt as he’s acting like he’s drunk and tells Taya he’s the champ now. Jordynne Grace then comes out and hits Bravo and gets her hands on the belt. Distracted, ODB rollup Taya for the win.
WINNER: ODB via pinfall in 9:00
(Thomas’a Analysis: A solid story driven match here as this was meant to be a feel good match bringing ODB back into the fold and also continuing on the feud between Grace and Valkyrie. Bravo continues to kill it with his comedy work here and it was good to she an Impact legend like ODB back. Hopefully she can help aide Grace on continuing to get over and hopefully winning that title from Valkyrie.)
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