Impact Wrestling
September 1st, 2020
Skyway Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
By: Davie Portman
Commentary by: Josh Matthews and Madison Rayne
Sami Callihan vs Rob Van Dam
Before the match starts, the commentary is implying that Rob Van Dam’s age has caught up with him and he isn’t the wrestler he once was. As Van Dam is making his entrance, Callahan jumps him and starts to attack him on the outside. Katie Forbes tries to distract Callihan by twerking but Sami shoves her out the way and gets attacked by Van Dam. Forbes gets on the apron and unintentionally distracts Van Dam allowing Callihan to hit him with a Pump Kick. Forbes continuously gets involved allowing Van Dam to take the advantage. RVD hits his Spinning Leg Kick off the apron to the back of Callihan’s neck as he’s draped over the guard rail. Callihan manages to get his knees up as RVD hits Rolling Thunder. Forbes distracts Callihan again allowing Van Dam to hit a Spin Kick on Callihan followed by the Split Legged Moonsault for a two count. RVD goes to the top for the Frog Splash but Callihan hits a Hangman’s Neckbreaker off the top. Forbes gets involved again but Callihan is able to counter a pin attempt and pick up the win.
Sami Callihan wins via Pinfall in 7 mins 22 secs
After the match Rob Van Dam attacks Callihan. Katie Forbes gives him RVD a steel chair and they both beat down in Callihan. RVD holds the chair against Callihan’s face as Forbes hits a Hip Attack. Van Dam then follows up with a Dropkick to the chair to the face.
Davie’s thoughts: This match was really not very good. So much interference that made the referee look really stupid for not ejecting her or calling for a DQ. Because of all the interference the match never really got going. There was nothing exciting about it. I can see some kind of stipulation match coming up down the line between these two as the feud seems to be continuing.
Rhino’s Bounty
Fallah Bahh loses to Hernandez in an arm-wrestling contest. Reno Scum arrives and says that there is no Heath in the building so it’s two on one. Reno Scum says that when they beat Rhino they want the whole of his winnings. Hernandez accepts.
Wrestle House
Taya, Rosemary, and John E Bravo are all individually talking to the camera about their triangle. Taya is offended that her friend is taking her manager away from her. Bravo feels stuck in the middle of them both. Rosemary says that there is only enough room for one of them in Bravo’s life and she will wait for as long as it takes.
In the house, Johnny Swinger has locked himself in the bathroom as he is embarrassed about having to dress as Crazzy Steve because he lost to him last week. Rosemary sweet talks Bravo out of the room and they promise they won’t make fun of him. Swinger comes out, looking ridiculous as the others hold in their laughs.
Tommy Dreamer makes John E Bravo the special guest referee in the match between Taya and Rosemary later tonight.
Reno Scum vs Rhino
Reno Scum and Rhino brawl on the ramp before the match starts. Reno Scum has an early advantage on Rhino as they manage to outnumber him. Thornstowe hits a Standing Moonsault for a two count before making the tag to Lester The Legend. Rhino starts to make a comeback and hits a Gore to Luster on the outside. Thornstowe takes off his studded belt to attack Rhino. The cameraman then runs into the ring and hits the Wake-Up Call on Thornstowe to allow Rhino to pick up the win.
Rhino defeats Reno Scum in 4mins6secs
After the match, it is revealed that the cameraman was Heath in disguise. Scott D’Amore comes out with security as Heath runs off.
Davie’s thoughts: This was really a nothing match with very little excitement happening in the four minutes. The reveal of Heath as the cameraman was pretty fun but I can’t say I’m a massive fan of the rehashing “Heath trying to get a job” storyline.
Hostage Situation
Moose is in his dressing room when the TV turns on behind him and EC3 is on the screen. EC3 says that he is giving Moose an opportunity to find him to take the TNA World Heavyweight Championship but if he doesn’t find him he will send it back to him piece by piece. Moose runs out of the dressing room and tells someone to call the police as there is a hostage situation. The man he is talking to reveals that he is wearing a “Control Your Narrative” t-shirt as Moose runs off.
Davie’s thoughts: This scene was shot cinematically and as a horror fan I quite enjoyed how it felt like one of the cliche phone call scenes or Jigsaw’s video in Saw. Moose, as always, was hilarious with his reaction.
The Good Brothers Offer Advice
Karl Anderson is telling an anecdote about when Doc Gallows fell asleep in a bar in New Orleans. Dez and Wentz enter and say that they are about to face Ace Austin and Mad Man Fulton. The Good Brothers offer them some advice and a beer but The Rascalz refuse it and walks off. The Good Brothers make fun of them being so serious.
Wrestle House Part 2
Johnny Swinger tries to give John E Bravo some advice before the Taya and Rosemary match. The Deaners say that the number one piece of advice is not to listen to anything Johnny Swinger has to say. Larry D comes in and has been different ever since the Rosemary love potion wore off. The Deaners accuse him of stealing their beer again, Acey Romero tries to break them up by saying there is a truce. Larry D says “no truce” and the four begin to fight all over the house.
During the brawl, Romero slams Cody Deaner on a couch and roars triumphantly before being reminded that he landed on a soft couch. Romero and Cody stop to play table tennis. Romero hits the ball into Cody’s mouth who then spits it out at Larry D. Romero manages to escape from Cody in an elevator, so Deaner chases him by taking the stairs. Cody smacks him in the nose and rides off on a bike before crashing into a car. Cousin Jake takes a huge run up but XXXL sidesteps him and Jake goes crashing onto a stage. Cody and Larry D continue to fight into Larry D’s room. Cody finds the stolen beer and now knows that Larry D was the thief all along. Larry then reappears transformed into Lawrence D and knocks out Romero by spraying him with the Ring Rust cologne. Cousin Jake then takes out Lawrence D by throwing powder in his eyes and yelling “Fuji”. Susie then enters and asks what is going on before turning demonic. She leaves the room and bumps into Tommy Dreamer who says that he is refereeing the match but doesn’t know where they are. Tommy walks into the room and looks horrified and declares Susie the winner. Dreamer runs off saying that he’s “got the runs” and Susie waves with her hand covered in blood.
Davie’s thoughts: I can see that a lot of effort goes into these segments but I have to say that I am done with cinematic style wrestling. I didn’t really find any of this particularly funny or clever and it seemed to really drag on. This really isn’t what I tune into a wrestling show to see and I felt quite embarrassed watching it.
Ace Austin & Madman Fulton vs The Rascalz (Dez & Wentz)
Dez tags in Wentz early to allow the two of them to team up on Fulton and manage to take the big man off his feet. Fulton very quickly makes a comeback and holds up Wentz as Austin hits a Leg Drop off the second rope. As Fulton distracts the referee, Austin uses his playing card to slice in between Wentz’s fingers. Wentz gets to Dez for the tag who fires up and hits a series of Kicks to Austin before Fulton breaks up the pin attempt. The Rascalz hit an assisted Double Stomp to Austin and follow up with multiple Suicide Dives to Fulton. Wentz hits a Moonsault to Fulton on the outside as Dez hits a Spiral Tap to pick up the win.
The Rascalz defeat Ace Austin & Madman Fulton via Pinfall in 4 mins 52 secs
After the match the Tag Team Champions, The Motor City Machine Guns come out and acknowledge that they probably weren’t prepared when they came out as their opponents at Slammiversary. Shelley says that last year “it” was legalized in Michigan so how about they have another crack at burning one with the guns. Sabin offers them a title match next week. The Rascalz are deciding whether to take them up on the offer, Austin & Fulton attack them from behind. The MCMG run in for the save and pose with The Rascalz.
Davie’s thoughts: I’m going to be honest, up until this point, this show really got me feeling down but this segment cheered me up. Although the match was short, I really enjoyed seeing The Rascalz teaming up with their impressive moves to take out Fulton. The finish with the tandem Moonsault/Spiral Tap was really impressive. I also think that next week’s Tag Team Championship match will be fantastic and I’m really looking forward to that.
Purrazzo Backstage
Deonna Purrazzo is backstage and is disgusted with how Fallah Bahh, Gia Miller, and Willie Mack have dressed up for her Black Tie Event. Purrazzo asks Kimber Lee if she will be her special guest and make sure no one tries to steal her spotlight. Moose interrupts looking for EC3 before running off.
Rohit Raju
Rohit Raju is talking to his X Division Championship as TJP walks in behind him. TJP goes to speak but Raju stops him from speaking in a way very reminiscent of a famously bad promo TJP cut in his WWE days and gives him a surgical mask, saying “safety first”. TJP takes the mask and puts it over Rohit’s face. TJP challenges Rohit to an X Division Championship match but Rohit says that Chris Bey still is entitled to a rematch and he will have to bring it up with him.
Taya vs Rosemary at Wrestle House
Taya starts the match by talking a lot of trash, calling Rosemary an “emo kid who shops at Hot Topic”. Rosemary comes back by insulting “Slam Town”. They both start to slap each other and the match starts. Taya hits a big Roundhouse Kick followed by a Hip Attack and Meteora into the corner for a two count. During the match, we notice that The Deaners and XXXL are all bandaged up following their brawl. Rosemary starts to fight back and hits a Fisherman’s Suplex for a two count. Rosemary hits a huge Spear but Taya gets right back up and hits a Spear of her own. Both knock each other down with Roundhouse Kicks to the side of the head. Rosemary runs shoulder-first into the ring post allowing Taya to capitalize with Road To Valhalla for the win.
Taya Valkyrie defeats Rosemary via Pinfall in 3 mins 35 secs
After the match, John E Bravo goes to check on Rosemary. Rosemary says that Bravo did the right thing by calling the match fair as a square but they lost and they can all go home now as there is nothing left to be done. Bravo pulls out the apple Rosemary offered him weals ago and says “There’s one more thing left to be done” before taking a bite out of the apple. He then gets down on one knee and says that he wants to still be Taya’s manager but also have Rosemary as his wife. Taya says that it’s ok with her. Bravo proposes to Rosemary and she says yes! All the other members of Wrestle House are crying and celebrating. Kylie asks if that means they can now all go back to the Impact Zone. They all look to Taya who gives them the ok to leave Wrestle House. The Deaners are still confused as to who stole their beer as there was only one in Larry D’s room. We cut to Crazzy Steve who admits it was him who stole it. All the cast members are in the middle of the ring and do a group hands in the middle before vanishing back to the Impact Zone.
Davie’s thoughts: I wasn’t a big fan of Wrestle House but I think they actually tied everything together with a really good final segment. I’ve quite enjoyed the story between Rosemary, Bravo, and Taya and felt that all three of them played their parts very well. Bravo in particular was excellent at playing the lovable lackey stuck in the middle of these two women. The proposal was done really well and I thought tied a nice bow on Wrestle House.
Deonna Purrazzo’s Black Tie Affair
All the Impact roster are surrounding the ring as Kimber Lee introduces Deonna Purrazzo to the ring. As all of this is going on The Rascalz are smoking on the outside. Deonna insults everyone by saying they aren’t the company she would usually like to be hanging around with. She invites everyone to raise a glass of champagne. Purrazzo compares herself to Michelangelo and Donatello as she is a true artist and the greatest technical wrestler. Jordynne Grace comes out to congratulate Deonna as she took her to the limit in both their encounters but enjoy your title reign as it’s not going to last long. Tenille Dashwood’s music hits and she comes out making her big return to Impact Wrestling. Dashwood thanks everyone for coming out to celebrate her return. She declares that she is coming for the title as Purrazzo has never beaten her. Grace questions how anyone can ever beat Tenille when she never shows up for work. Suddenly all the Wrestle House cast appear out of nowhere in the middle of the ring. Deonna manages to escape but Kimber Lee attempts to attack Kylie Rae. Susie helps Kylie who Superkicks Kimber Lee and is left standing with the Knockouts Championship.
Davie’s thoughts: I thought this segment was pretty fun. It’s great to see Tenille Dashwood back as I am really excited to see her mix it up with this stacked women’s roster. Wrestle House appearing out of nowhere genuinely made me laugh out loud and just added to the commotion of the whole scene.
Brian Myers Interview
Gia Miller is backstage interviewing Brian Myers who is gloating about his win over Willie Mack and next week he is going to give Willie Mack the opportunity to shake his hand. Moose interrupts asking if he has seen EC3. Myers tells him which way to go but is furious as he just interrupted his promo.
Next Week
Locker Room Talk with Kylie Rae & Susie
Chris Bey vs TJP
Motor City Machine Guns vs The Rascalz (Impact Tag Team Championship)
Impact World Heavyweight Championship
Eddie Edwards vs Eric Young
Eddie Edwards catches Young immediately with an Atomic Drop and Belly To Belly Suplex for a two count. Eric Young hits a Neckbreaker to Edwards on the apron. Young continues to target the neck for the rest of the match. Edwards starts to make a comeback and hits a Backpack Stunner to Young for a two count. Young hits his top rope Elbow Drop for a two count. Edwards hits a Plancha to the outside but tweaks his knee on the landing. Edwards blocks the Piledriver and hits the Tiger Driver for a two count. Edwards sets up for the Boston Knee Party but Young rolls out of the ring and is immediately hit with a Tope Suicida. Eric Young goes to use the title belt but the referee takes it off him. As the referee is distracted, Young uses his hockey mask to hit Edwards in the head. Young follows up with the Piledriver and becomes the new Impact World Heavyweight Champion!
Eric Young defeats Eddie Edwards to win the Impact World Heavyweight Championship in 12 mins 35 secs
After the match, Eric Young attacks Eddie Edwards’ leg and walks out holding the Impact World Heavyweight Championship.
Davie’s thoughts: I didn’t think this was a particularly exciting match but obviously a title change is always noteworthy. I think this is the right move as Eric Young has been made to seem like a big deal since his return and I didn’t find the Edwards title reign too interesting. Now with a big heel as the champion you can have some fresh babyfaces challenge him and build up to Rich Swann’s eventual return.
You Have Been Warned
Moose walks into EC3’s dressing room and sees a wall chart full of photos of Moose. It appears that EC3 has been stalking Moose for a long time. In the middle of the wall chart, there is a map with a knife marking a spot. Moose starts to freak out and rips everything off the wall leaving behind the words “You have been warned”.
Davie’s thoughts: This again, felt like a scene from a movie and Moose was very entertaining in it. I disagree with this being the final angle of the show though as I feel the image of Eric Young becoming the new World Champion is far more important.
Overall, this was a show of two halves. I thought the first half of the show was really quite bad but picked up with the tag match between The Rascalz and Ace Austin & Madman Fulton, which was probably my match of the night. I thought they ended Wrestle House strong with the proposal angle but I’m glad it’s finally over. Tenille Dashwood is a nice return and will make for some exciting women’s matches down the road. Eric Young becoming the new World Champion was the right move and I look forward to seeing how his reign goes.
6 Proposals Out Of 10