SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
IMPACT WRESTLING REPORT
JULY 21, 2020
NASHVILLE, TENN. AT SKYLINE STUDIOS
AIRED ON AXS TV (PRE TAPED)
REPORT BY DYLAN BOURKE, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Announcers: Josh Mathews & Maddison Rayne.
Impact opens with EC3 telling the audience in a segment how they have been controlled throughout their lives: by their government, the media, and their loved ones. EC3 says to them to fight back against them. He shows brief clips of propaganda which insinuates that your life is less important than their country. EC3 warns the viewers “control your narrative.”
(Dylan’s Opinion: great promo by EC3, showcases his new character well.)
Cuts to Impact’s new intro, it has new music and shows some different and new wrestlers.
(1) WILLIE MACK vs. CHRIS BEY – Impact X Division Title
Cuts to the ringside: Wille Mack makes his entrance, new video graphics for names. Chris Bey makes his entrance with the new X-Division belt (same design) shows footage of the Slammiversary match where Bey won the title.
Bey starts with a dropkick to turnbuckle and he goes on top of Mack and starts to attack him, however Mack turns onto Bey and hails punches onto Bey and each attempt of gaining momentum fails for Bey, until he pulls Mack’s neck down onto the middle rope. Mack rolls out to the outside, Bey attempts a dive onto the outside, Mack catches him and slams. After rolling Bey to the ring Mack dives onto him. Bey is in the corner, Mack tries to dive into him, and gets stuck which leads to a neckbreaker and then a headlock by Bey, during which you can see Mack’s mouth bleed
Bey manages to retain control until trash talking causes him to miss a moonsault and Mack hits his moonsault, Mack pushes Bey into the ropes and Mack throws Bey in the air into an uppercut. Mack attempts a six-star frog splash but misses which leads Bey to hit the springboard cutter for the win.
WINNER: Bey retains the Impact X-Division Title via pin (5:30)
(Dylan’s Opinion: Good opener, if too short.)
-Josh Mathews & Madison Rayne go over Slammiversary’s main event, plugging tonight’s main event of Motor City Machine Guns vs. The North for the Impact Tag Team Ttles. Mathews also states EC3 is not under contract or a part of the Impact roster.
-The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) come out and claim to be the best tag team, with Karl Anderson saying he is the best wrestler while Doc Gallows is the best big man in wrestling. Ace Austin & Madman Fulton come out, Ace asks for an apology, disputes their claims, saying Fulton is the best big man and he is the best wrestler. They refuse to apologize, so Austin & Fulton try and fail to attack the Good Brothers and get kicked out of the ring.
(Dylan’s Opinion: set-ups a feud between the two, Good Brothers act a bit too arrogant for faces)
-Heath tries to get into the tapings but isn’t allowed in.
-Hernandez and Rhino agree to have a match for both halves of their money they agreed to split on the previous Impact.
-Impact plays an advertisement for Impact+.
-Chris Bey talks and hits on his assistants in his locker room, Rohit Raju came in and offered his services to watch Bey’s back.
(Dylan’s Opinion: they are okay quick segments, pretty interesting)
(2) TASHA STEELZ & KEIRA HOGAN vs. NEVAEH & HAVOK
Nevaeh and Tasha start out, Nevaeh manages to keep in charge of the match, she performs numerous strikes and a suplex. Neveah forces Tasha into her corner so she can tag in Havok. Havok hits a backbreaker and holds Tasha so Neveah could perform a running lariat. Havok attempts a running powerslam but Tasha slips out the back and tags in Hogan. Hogan runs into a big boot, dodges another, she tries to hit a dropkick, but it was ineffectual. Havok continues the attack until she drags Hogan into the corner where she tags Neveah.
Neveah performs a snapmare takedown and runs into the opposite corner where she is caught by Tasha. This helps them gain momentum. They manage to keep Neveah into their corner where they mount attacks and keep tagging in and out. Neveah has a comeback ending with a clothesline, but Tasha manages to hit her with a boot. Neveah tags in Havok but the ref is distracted by Hogan, after Neveah hits a neckbreaker, there is a double down, both tag out. Tasha hits Havok with a chair. Post-match attack by Neveah & Havok.
WINNERS: Nevaeh & Havok win via DQ in 6:00.
(Dylan’s Opinion: Decent match, shows the wrestler’s strengths.)
-Flashback Moment of Eddie Edwards first world title win against Bobby Lashley.
-Sami Callihan complains to Ken Shamrock about losing to The North at Slammiversary, Shamrock surprisingly agrees with Callihan and blames himself for the loss.
-Katie Forbes and Rob Van Dam revert to their old gimmicks before Cancel Culture saying they wanted to punish the fans but ended up punishing themselves.
(3) HERNANDEZ vs RHINO
Hernandez debuts a new look, with a new mustasch and outfit. Rhino hits the Gore. [C]
WINNER: Rhino via pin. 0:10.
(Dylan’s Opinion: Quick, was nothing.)
-In a backstage promo, The North ask, “When do we get to celebrate?” They talk about how they have been champions for over a year now and that they have decimated the competition. They say they are infuriated that the Motor City Machine Guns have been called the greatest tag team by fans. “All that is opinion,” Ethan said. “Do you wanna know what’s fact? A year plus tag team title reign.”
(Dylan’s Opinion: Good promo; they have good points, but they were whiny.)
-Quick video of Brian Myers.
-Video package and brief promos of the winners.
-In a backstage interview, Deonna Purrazzo is asked her plan for her title reign, which she refuses to divulge. She says since she dislocated Jordynne Grace’s arm she doesn’t have a worthy challenger. Kylee Rae introduces herself and says she is the no. 1 contender from the knockouts gauntlet. Purrazzo pretends to shake her hand, so she could injure Kylee’s arm, but Kylee manages to get away.
(Dylan’s Opinion: They made Purrazzo move look strong as Kylee tried to quickly get out of the armbar while showing Kylee’s technical ability)
-Eddie Edwards cuts a promo in the ring talks about how he had a hard journey to the world title but claimed “that journey, that journey is not over.” He says how stability has been gone from Impact Wrestling for a while and he wants to bring it back for the company and the title. He says he will begin an open challenge policy for the world title each week. Eric Young walks onto the stage. He tries to talk. However, Eddie Edwards says how he hospitalised his friend Rich Swann. Eric Young says how he should be happy it was Swann and not him. They have a fight, but it is quickly broken apart by security.
(Dylan’s Opinion: Puts over Eric Young as a heel and I like how quickly the security worked.)
-Moose get interviewed and is asked if he will implement a similar policy for his “TNA World Heavyweight Championship.” He says: “That’s a hard no.” He says it is because he says it the most prestigious title and says you only get a title shot if you are invited to and invites Fallah Bahh to a match.
-Eddie Edwards is asked who he has in mind and he says he thinks Impact has the best roster and he doesn’t mind who, and Trey interrupts saying he wants a match and gets one. [c]
(Dylan’s Opinion: Moose’s point is fair, but cowardly.)
(4) MOOSE vs. FALLAH BAHH (w/TJP) – “TNA World Title match” (unsanctioned)
The match is fairly equal in the beginning, both performing a lot of chops, Moose manages to shoulder tackle Fallah Bahh down to the ground. Moose hits a massive elbow. Moose keeps a hold of the match and insults Fallah Bahh’s weight, after a running uppercut Moose runs back to the opposite corner where Fallah Bahh follows him and crashes into Moose three times, however Moose manages to get the upper hand from raking the eyes of Fallah Bahh which gives him the momentum to hit the lights out spear for the win.
WINNER: Moose via pin in 3:30.
(Dylan’s opinion: Okay. Short. Nice to see Moose win.)
-Post-match: EC3 quickly attacks Moose then leaves.
-The Good Brother’s leave the arena to get beers, Ace Austin and Madman Fulton drive up to them, insult them, and get Reno Scum to attack them, but it fails so they drive away.
(Dylan’s Opinion: This segment does not make much sense as it was said on a previous episode of Impact that Reno Scum stopped associating with Ace, as he stopped paying them and owed them when Trey was attacked, but I suppose he could have rehired them and paid them back.)
-Another ad for Impact+
-Segment of Rosemary and John. E Bravo on a date, Taya Valkyrie joins in and Rosemary. “Three’s a crowd unless it’s a party,” Taya says. She summons a lot of the more bizarre wrestlers. Seems like there will be a follow up segment next week.
(Dylan’s opinion. An awful segment. Not funny or interesting. No one seemed to care they were taken from wherever they were previously.)
Josh Mathews plugs next week’s matches. Reno Scum vs The Good Brothers. Trey vs Eddie Edwards for the Impact World Championship.
(5) THE MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS vs. THE NORTH – Impact World Tag Team Championship.
They make their entrances. [c]
It starts out as Ethan Page vs. Alex Shelley they both try to strike down one another, Shelley with chops and Page with kicks, both miss so they both tag out. Josh Alexander went straight for Chris Sabin trying to keep a hold of him, but Sabin kept separating, he tried to knock down Alexander with a shoulder tackle, since Alexander was stronger, so Sabin used his quick kicks and technical ability which managed to work. Sabin tagged out to Shelley, Alexander pushed Shelley into Sabin who was on the apron, Shelley forced Alexander to get out of the corner but it only led The North’s corner leading to Page getting back into the match.
Page got irish whipped into the ropes and kept a hold on them, which avoided him a superkick, he slid out of the ring saying to Shelley “think before you act” and then got kicked in the head by Sabin who was on the apron. Alexander got into the ring but was kicked by MCMG and they proceeded to pretend to dive so they could dually kick Page in the head. [c]
After the break Shelley hits a dive onto Page, Shelley chop Page in a neutral corner, Page reverses an irish whip and tries to attack Shelley but Shelley gets on to the apron, Alexander tries to knock him down but it was enough of a distraction for Page to do it. Page tags out and he tosses Alexander at Shelley causing Shelley to crash to the ground, Page knocks down Sabin as well, Alexander keeps on top of Shelley so he can tag back out, so they can double team and tags back in, Shelley tries to make an armbar out of a suplex, unfortunately it fails and Alexander regains control of the match. The North continues to tag in and out to beat down Shelley.
Page gets tagged in and they double team Shelley. Sabin broke up the pin. Page tags back out during a stalling suplex and hands Shelley to Alexander, steps on Shelley when walking to the turnbuckle to hit a moonsault which misses. They both tag out. Sabin takes out Alexander and Page quickening the pace. Sabin hits a springboard ddt, Sabin attempts a pin, but Page kicks out at two. Sabin tags out to Shelley and then does a dive under Shelley to Alexander.
Shelley attempts a double stomp from the top rope but doesn’t get it and rolls through. Asai DDT, Shelley fail to pin Page, Page receives a multitude of kicks from MCMG, Shelley hits him with a reverse STO but fails to get the pin and floats over to a crossface while Sabin hits a cloverleaf, but they had to break it as Page rolled up Shelley and Sabin had to break it up.
Double down and double tag as Sabin and Alexander are legal, Sabin hit a jumping knee and then Alexander responded with a punch to the face. Alexander went to Shelley, so Shelley dropped him on the turnbuckle. Page hit Shelley with a shoulder tackle and so Sabin hit Page with a shining wizard.
Sabin grabbed Alexander, but Alexander switched, then Sabin reversed it and went to springboard so Page caught him on the ropes and Page talked back in and they hit an assisted side walk slam, as Page kicked Shelley, after that The North hit a wheelbarrow cutter into a wheelbarrow suplex, Sabin gets pinned but it is broke by Shelley. They proceed to beat Sabin down with kicks until they perform a kiss of death on Sabin, but Sabin rolls through for the pin as Shelley holds down Alexander.
WINNER: Motor City Machine Guns via pinfall to catpure Impact World Tag Team Championship.
(Dylan’s Opinion Great match, lots of great tag moves and combinations)
-After the closing credits, they cut backstage to Jimmy Jacobs leaving the building out a back door. Heath (formerly Heath Slater in WWE) stuck his foot in the door as it was closing and snuck into the arena.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.