Originally published at IMPACT REPORT: Moose vs. Jake Something for the TNA Championship
IMPACT! Wrestling
February 23rd, 2021
Skyway Studios in Nashville, Tennessee
Commentary: Matt Striker & D’Lo Brown
Before The IMPACT!
Johnny Swinger (w/ the Swingerellas) def. Fallah Bahh in 5:37 by pinfall
Tables Match: Deaner vs. Jake Something
This match starts quickly with Deaner on the attack and Jake pushing him off until Deaner starts biting on the nose of Jake. Jake comes back with offense of his own including a low clothesline to the back of Deaner’s neck. Jake tries to bring a table into the ring, but Deaner is able to dropkick it right into Jake’s face. Deaner then tries to bring it in, but Jake stops him. Jake finally gets the table inside and sits on the corner ropes. Deaner is able to reverse Jake with a drop toehold face-first into the edge of the table, followed by a slingshot with Jake’s head hitting the table once again. Deaner sets the table up in the corner standing up before going after Jake on the outside, but Jake ends up resting this second table on the ring apron and the barricade. Deaner tries to jump onto Jake but is caught, Deaner slips out and pushes the edge of the table into Jake, then starts slamming Jake’s neck first against the legs of the table. Deaner sets Jake up on another table, attempting to go fly off the top rope into him but Jake stops him but eventually gets knocked off by Deaner himself. Jake hits a sit-out powerbomb, but Deaner ends up rolling to the outside. Jake attempts to power slam Deaner off the steel steps onto a table, but Deaner escapes. They end up fighting by the entranceway, but Deaner slips from a powerbomb and gives Jake a low blow. As Jake starts to go back to the ring, Deaner starts running towards him but Jake catches him and hits a Black Hole Slam to Deaner right on the table on the outside for the win.
Winner: Jake Something at 9:22
Official Total Nonstop Action
As Jake is celebrating his victory, Moose runs in and spears Jake right into the table that was set up in the corner. He grabs a chair and a microphone and apologizes to AXS TV and says until he gets his title match that he asked for, there will not be a show tonight, as they go to commercial.
When we come back the referees are escorting Jake Something out, while Moose is still waiting, Scott D’Amore comes out. D’Amore tells Moose to cut the crap and get out of the ring. Moose tells him all he wants is his World Title Match. D’Amore says Rich Swann isn’t medically cleared or even in the arena tonight. Jake Something starts coming back in, but the referees are holding him off, as Moose warns him not to even try to come in. Scott D’Amore starts yelling and agrees but says since he’s been carrying that TNA World Title this whole time he will go and make that title official now (as it means so much to Scott D’Amore) and says tonight Moose will defend the TNA World Title against Jake Something.
Trey Miguel, Willie Mack & Josh Alexander vs. Chris Bey, Black Taurus & Ace Austin (w/ Madman Fulton)
The winning team here goes on to have a triple threat next week and the winner of that gets an X-Division Title shot. Miguel and Bey start the match, after a little back and forth Miguel is able to tease Bey by doing jumping jacks before they trade-off roll-ups. Bey tags Austin in, who Miguel immediately smacks in the face before tagging Alexander in. Mack quickly gets tagged in, as they take turns beating Austin in their own corner. Austin sneaks away and tags Taurus in. As Taurus is in, Matt Striker mentions how Kenny Omega and Lio Rush are champions there and the potential matchups that could happen. Taurus and Alexander in and start battling in the corner before Taurus ends up diving onto Alexander to go to commercial.
As we come back, Ace Austin is giving boots to Alexander before tagging Chris Bey in. Bey starts slapping Alexander telling him to get a new tag partner before Alexander is able to grab Bey and powerbombs him onto his own knee. Miguel and Austin get tagged in and speed the matchup, ending with Miguel putting Austin into a pendulum followed by an elbow to his back. After Miguel hits a Cheeky Nando’s on Austin, all six men start brawling in and out of the ring. Mack and Austin end up as the legal men, with Austin hitting the Fold but the count gets broken up by Alexander. More brawling from all the men in the ring, but Chris Bey is able to stop Alexander with a DDT before Willie Mack is able to take Bey out. After some assistance from Austin, Chris Bey hits the Art of Finesse on Willie Mack for the pin.
Winners: Chris Bey, Black Taurus & Ace Austin by pinfall at 13:15
Lack of Passion
Trey Miguel again gets stopped by Sami Callihan backstage who says he told him so, and everything he speaks is a fact. Callihan thinks Miguel is going to quit and run away and flake out again because he couldn’t become the number one contender. Sami says the true weak link on his team was Miguel’s lack of passion as Miguel finally snaps and beats down on Sami before getting stopped by security, Sami starts laughing away as it feels like he finally got what he was looking for.
Age of Shadows
Decay is backstage where Rosemary says much time has passed but they have always preached patience. Crazzy Steve says now it’s time to rejoice and the resurrection of the death dealers is now upon us. Rosemary says next week they will take the X-Division Championship and then the rest and starts making some dark metaphors such as without death there is no life, without darkness, there is no light, before calling this the ‘Age of Shadows’. As they all laugh maniacally screaming DECAY!
4 Percent of the AEW Roster
Tony Khan & Tony Schiavone are joined by members of the AEW roster standing in the Jacksonville Jaguars football field such as Britt Baker, Rebel, Ricky Starks, Brian Cage, Isiah Kassidy, Matt Hardy & Ryan Nemeth. Khan says he has brought 4 percent of the AEW roster but it’s more star power than two years’ worth of Impact. Khan decides to have all the AEW wrestlers promote their upcoming Dynamite matches instead tonight as they each throw in some digs, especially Cage being a former IMPACT! World Champion.
Havok with a K
Havok and Nevaeh are backstage and Havok says even though they’ve been losing lately they just need to think about it and restructure. Nevaeh says no and walks away. Tenille Dashwood and Kaleb with a K come in and say they were listening, Tenille’s quote of the week is Carpe Diem, but Tenille says they have the team with Havok ready even with music and an entrance and everything, but Havok isn’t interested and walks away. Kaleb with a K is still convinced there is chemistry there.
The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) vs. XXXL (Acey Romero & Larry D)
Larry and Anderson start the match, as Matt Striker name drops Kota Ibushi, Tama Tonga, and Tanga Loa as being champions in NJPW. Anderson is able to easily take it to Larry, before tagging Gallows in who hits a fallaway slam with ease on Larry D. XXXL is able to come back with double-teaming on Gallows, but Gallows quickly takes Romero to the corner with shots to the stomach and face, before Anderson comes back in. Romero then is able to corner Anderson in the XXXL corner as Larry D comes in and targets the exhausted Karl Anderson. Larry hits a scoop slam on Anderson, before holding Anderson down with a rear chin lock. Gallows gets tagged in and takes down Larry with a pair of clotheslines and knocks Acey out with a big boot. Anderson gets tagged in and they hit the Magic Killer on Larry D for the pin.
Winners: The Good Brothers by pinfall at 5:49
I Love Swinger’s Palace
We now go to Swinger’s Palace where James Storm and Chris Sabin are winning a lot at the poker table, and Johnny Swinger is questioning if this was a Montreal Screwjob as they are losing so much. Rohit Raju with Mahabali Shera comes in and joins the game and ends up causing the game for everyone. Storm and Raju are about to go at it, but Sabin says he loves this place and won’t cause them to get kicked out again. Swinger says they will talk to the office and make it a match instead.
Drunk Off FinJuice
We see FinJuice backstage before Good Brothers interrupt asking if they saw the match where they “Beat Up Everybody!” Juice Robinson says it took them long enough to beat them, but they saw it. David Finlay starts running down all the titles the Good Brothers have held, Juice says they are seriously the best tag team in the world at professional wrestler… hungover. Anderson says he’s not hungover today, but Gallows says he is as he holds an upset Anderson back.
The Law Offices of Mark Sterling
Eddie Edwards comes out for a match against Brian Myers, but Myers comes out in his regular clothes. Myers says although he would love to be in this match, he can’t and he has been advised not to, then we see Mark Sterling (who was MJF’s lawyer in AEW) who says all the damage Edwards has done to Myers has affected his eyesight. Sterling says according to Myers’ new contract if there’s an instance of Myers not being able to wrestle a replacement could be named and it ends up being Hernandez. Edwards ends up leaping on him to start the match.
Eddie Edwards vs. Hernandez
Immediately Edwards ends up on the outside and Myers starts attacking him while Hernandez is distracting the referee. Back inside, Hernandez is able to take Myers down with a shoulder block, he attempts going to the top rope, but Edwards knocks him down and hits a Superplex. Edwards runs right into a body press by Hernandez, who attempts the Border Toss, Edwards slips out and hits a Boston Knee Party from the middle rope for the pin.
Winner: Eddie Edwards by pinfall at 2:29
Eye for an Eye Match?
We go backstage where we see Matt Cardona who tells Brian Myers to stop the act. Scott D’Amore asks Myers how his match went, and Myers lies and says it was great 1-2-3. D’Amore says he saw his lawyer and said he mentioned 17-H but didn’t read it correctly. D’Amore says the doctor who must clear him for the ring, must be an IMPACT doctor and says next week Myers will fight Eddie Edwards in an Eye for an Eye Match with Matt Cardona as the special referee. D’Amore tells Cardona to go get his ref shirt, then says he was joking about the Eye for an Eye Match as it’s the stupidest idea ever, who would do that, and what happens after, the eye miraculously gets better? Making fun of the Seth Rollins/Rey Mysterio storyline obviously.
Kimber Lee & Susan (w/ Deonna Purrazzo) vs. Jazz & Jordynne Grace
Susan and Jazz start the match, as Matt Striker refers to the TikTok ‘Oh No’ song by Capone; saying it’s like impending doom whenever someone wants to face Jazz. Jazz is able to take it to the fish-out-of-water Susan before Deonna distracts Jazz and ends up choking her on the bottom rope before ODB runs out and attacks Deonna. Kimber Lee and Jordynne get involved before the referee kicks out ODB and Deonna to the back as we go to commercial.
When we come back, Kimber Lee is holding Jazz down in a sleeper hold. Jazz comes back with a back kick for a two-count. Kimber Lee stops Jazz from reaching out for the tag and hits her with a side slam for a two-count. Susan gets tagged in and puts a sleeper hold of her own on Jazz before tagging Kimber back in. Jazz is able to escape out and make the hot tag to Grace, as Susan comes in as well receiving a pair of clotheslines from Grace. Grace hits a spinebuster, but the three count gets broken up by Kimber. Jazz comes in and takes Kimber out and they hit a double flapjack on Susan for a two count. Jordynne is able to get Susan up in a torture rack and then a quick German suplex. Susan is able to pull on the ear of Jordynne and get her down before Kimber Lee in for them to attempt a double suplex. Jazz comes in and takes Kimber to the outside, as Susan is able to apply an ankle lock on Jordynne who easily escapes and hits the Grace Driver for the pin earning a Knockouts Tag Team title shot.
Winners: Jordynne Grace & Jazz by pinfall at 12:45
Jordynne Grace & Jazz are backstage and find ODB taken out laying on the floor saying it had to be Deonna, as security quickly goes to help her out.
Next Week
Before the IMPACT!: Rohit Raju (w/ Mahabali Shera) vs. James Storm (w/ Chris Sabin)
Brian Myers vs. Eddie Edwards with Matt Cardona as the Special Referee
The Good Brothers & FinJuice vs. XXXL & Reno Scum
#1 Contendership for the X-Division Championship: Chris Bey vs. Ace Austin vs. Black Taurus
TNA World Heavyweight Championship: Moose (c) vs. Jake Something
As Moose comes out to do his entrance, Jake Something attacks him from behind and literally stands in his spotlight and starts attacking him ringside as we go to commercial.
We come back where Moose and Jake are still brawling outside the ring where the match hasn’t even started yet. They finally end up inside where the bell rings. Moose is able to come back and hit a beautiful dropkick to the corner on Something to slow him down. Moose tells the cameraman to look as he starts chopping Jake in the corner. Jake comes back with chops of his own before Moose is able to slam Jake down. Moose starts pulling on Jake’s nose and hair, but Jake is able to duck Moose knocks him to the outside but gets tripped up on the apron by Moose. Moose slowly walks back into the ring as Jake finally rolls back in to avoid the count-out. Moose throws Jake with force to the corner who sells it tremendously. Moose misses Jake in the corner, and Jake starts hitting some short-arm clotheslines while holding onto Moose’s wrist. Moose comes back with a vicious headbutt but runs into a lariat by Something, who only gets a two count. Jake misses Moose, ends up on the top rope, and gets dropkicked by Moose to sit on the top rope. Moose hits a big Superplex on Jake as Matt Striker quickly plugs the next Impact Plus pay-per-view Sacrifice will happen on March 13th. Moose calls it but runs into a powerbomb by Jake for a close two count. Both men looking groggy start trading away strikes in the middle of the ring, but Jake ends up running into a big boot by Moose before Moose hits a pair of uranages followed by the Rip Cord clothesline by Moose. Jake slowly gets up and gets hit by the Lights Out spear from Moose for the pin.
Winner: Moose by pinfall at 6:54, to retain
After the match, Moose grabs the chair and starts hitting Jake with it, but Rich Swann runs into the ring and starts attacking Moose before getting separated by security. Scott D’Amore comes out and says the time is set, on March 13th at Sacrifice Rich Swann will defend the Impact World Title against Moose.
Siino Vision: This was a decent show, and some of the matches were actually really good (especially the Tables Match), but I feel like more of what was said and shown throughout made for some interesting scenarios in the future.
Sure, Matt Striker bringing up Kota Ibushi, Lio Rush and the Guerillas of Destiny might be nothing, but with this Forbidden Door feeling more like a revolving door lately who knows who might show up and where? And with the TNA World Title officially being recognized now that only makes another title for the belt collector, Kenny Omega to eventually collect. Possibly, it was resurrected so Kenny could take that from Moose, while Rich Swann holds onto the actual IMPACT one or vice versa? The scenarios are endless especially with Brian Cage taking a jab at his former workplace, so wouldn’t be surprised if Team Taz, Britt Baker, and the rest who were shown tonight make it onto IMPACT eventually. One person I didn’t expect was the MJF’s lawyer who Jon Moxley destroyed on AEW Dynamite that one time.
One scenario unfortunately we won’t see is Sammy Guevara vs. Chris Bey vs. Ace Austin if it is indeed true that Black Taurus replaced Guevara in what he was booked in, as that triple threat would have been outstanding. Scott D’Amore totally hit it out of the park with the Eye for an Eye joke and Swinger’s Palace continues to make this show entertaining.
7 resurrected TNA world titles out of 10