Reviews by Dave
Show air date: May 19, 2020
Impact Wrestling on AXS (which seems to be the name) put on a good effort last night. The first hour was solid, nothing special. Just nice TV matches and some good promo and story work.
Then the main event happened and…damn. Raised it from a C/B- minus show to a B/B+ show.
Show Opening: Ace Austin vs Rhino
A good opener with Ace Austin beating Rhino in their first-round match to determine the number one contender to the IMPACT world title with his finisher, The Fold neck breaker.
Austin’s speed against Rhino’s power. Josh Matthews did a great job here running down that Rhino is a former ECW and TNA world champ, so this win by Austin comes across even bigger for him. Austin faces Hernandez in the next round and he’s my pick for the finals.
Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz form a partnership
Kiera Hogan pitches new arrival Tasha Steelz on a partnership, which Steelz accepts. As Steelz said, they’ll be snatching bitches together.
Crazzy Steve vs Dave Crist
In his return to IMPACT, Crazzy Steve beat Dave Crist, the less flashy but more physical of the Crist brothers. Nice TV match. The bigger story was the meltdown after by Madman Fulton who forcefully tendered his resignation from OVE.
Rosemary Shoots Her Shot
Rosemary shoots her shot at John E. Bravo. Must be slim pickings around there.
TJP and Fallah Bah vs XXXL
Firmly establishing themselves as top contenders and a rapidly improving tag team, TJP and Fallah Bah beat XXXL–Larry D and Acey Romero. Good tag match where everyone got to get in good work.
Moose (c) vs Suicide for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
TNA World champion Moose had a couple of rematches: with Josh Matthews in an interview and Suicide in a “title” match. He won both. He and Suicide had another good match that told a good story, but Moose showed he was strong AND smart beating Suicide rolling through a crossbody and hooking the tights. Suicide had beef with the Pope and now with Moose. You don’t like the brothers or something, Suicidey?
Michael Elgin Promo
“Unbreakable” Michael Elgin got in another great promo, comparing himself to Muhammad Ali and Conor McGregor. Dude’s talk game has been high level for a while.
Willie Mack (c) vs Johnny Swinger X-Division Championship
“The Ultimate Finesser” Chris Bey gives some words of encouragement to Johnny Swinger before his X Division title shot. Swinger gets in a “Boogie Woogie Man” Jimmy Valiant and USWA reference. I love this guy. It was all for naught as a game Swinger came up short against champion Willie Mack, ending the legendary Mack and Pack Connection. Swinger attacks Mack with help from Bey, who throws some nice punches. Mack needed to cover up because those things were coming in hot.
The North is Interrupted
The North is reminding folks they are the greatest in the world but they’re interrupted as Cody Deaner ends his kwaranteen and challenges them to a title match at the Deaner Compound, combining their two comedy angles.
Main Event: Michael Elgin vs Sami Callihan
In the final match of the first round of the tournament to crown a new top contender, “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin beat “The Draw” Sami Callihan in a physical, hard-hitting main event where they threw nearly everything tight. In a match of two top heels, one of them is going to have to be the babyface and this time it was Callihan, nursing a sore ankle from his street fight with Ken Shamrock from Rebellion a couple of weeks ago. The story was Elgin using his power and targeting the ankle and Callihan fighting from underneath for one of the few times since hitting IMPACT.
Very good main event to a solid (but not great) show.
