Originally published at https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/04/01/impact-wrestling-report-tessa-blanchard-vs-ethan-page/
iMPACT Wrestling #819
March 31st, 2020
Coca Cola Roxy, Atlanta, Georgia
By: Davie Portman
Commentary by: Josh Matthews and Madison Rayne
The show begins with recap of the Su Yung/Havoc fight in the Undead Realm from last week, which leads to Havoc “killing” James Mitchell.
Josh Alexander w/ Ethan Page vs Eddie Edwards
Both these men are of a similar size and strength. Early in the match, they are both trying to out muscle each other by driving the other into the corner and delivering chops. Edwards gets the early advantage by hitting an Inverted Atomic Drop and Belly to Belly Suplex. They begin to brawl on the outside and when they make it back to the ring Alexander beats down on Edwards and hits a big Back Suplex. Alexander proceeds to slap Page repeatedly in the face who then comes back with a stiff clothesline. Edwards sends Alexander to the outside and hits a big Tope Suicida crashing into the barricade. Back in the ring, Edwards hits a Blue Thunder Bomb for a two count. Edwards goes for the Backpack Stunner but Alexander slips out and hits a spinning slam for a two. Alexander pulls down his straps and Edwards rips open his shirt so that both men can have a chop exchange against the bare chest. Edwards then hits a huge Clothesline followed by a Tiger Bomb for a near fall. On the outside, Page grabs the ankle of Edwards allowing Alexander to roll him up for the cheap win.
Josh Alexander defeats Eddie Edwards via Pinfall in 9mins38secs
After the match, The North beat down on Eddie Edwards and Tessa Blanchard runs out for the save. The Number One Contender and World Champion stare each other down at the end of the segment.
The North Backstage Promo
Alexander is gloating about pinning the Number One Contender. He says that they are the longest-reigning Tag Champions in iMPACT history but they are also main venters and they proved that by beating Eddie Edwards. Ethan Page says that he doesn’t believe that Tessa Blanchard wants to stick her nose into their business. He says that they have been defending the Tag Championships all around the world since June last year and now Blanchard’s list of opponents has grown. He makes a challenge for a Champion vs Champion match against Tessa Blanchard tonight.
Davie’s Thoughts: I thought this was a strong opening match for tonight’s show. Both men are very solid and had a good back and forth. I enjoyed the story of either wrestler trying to outmuscle and “out chop” their opponent leading to them both revealing their chest to test out who the toughest really is. Eddie Edwards is very over with this iMPACT crowd and felt like the hottest star of the evening. I am also enjoying the story of Tessa and Eddie being on the same side going into their Triple Threat match at Rebellion. I’m sure in the next few weeks we will see this relationship start to fracture but it makes a more interesting dynamic than I’m used to in triple threat feuds.
The North’s promo after the match was very solid. I like both men as individual wrestlers and a tag team and it’s good to see tag wrestlers hold their own in singles matches. Their heel-logic of being main eventers (despite cheating to win) was very enjoyable and set up the main event well.
Kylie Rae vs Cassandra Golden
After having quite a rough 2019, Kylie Rae makes her debut for iMPACT Wrestling. Golden jumps the bell to attack Rae and starts throwing her all over the ring by the hair. Rae fights back with a series of forearms and rolls Golden up in a Small Package for a two count. Kylie follows this up with the “Kylie Special”, which was a Springboard Arm Drag, followed by a Front Handspring into a Super Kick combo, which looked great but only got a two count. Rae hits a Rolling Cannonball into the corner for another two-count. Golden manages to dodge the Superkick but then gets hit by the Side Russian Leg Sweep into the STF and taps out. This means that Kylie Rae is now 1-0 in iMPACT Wrestling.
Kylie Rae defeats Cassandra Golden via Pinfall in 3 mins 17secs
After the match, Kylie Rae is interviewed by Jimmy Jacobs. She says that it feels amazing to be part of iMPACT Wrestling after an emotional year. She says that as soon as she stepped foot in an iMPACT ring, she knew it was home and has therefore signed a long term contract with iMPACT Wrestling.
Davie’s Thoughts: Solid outing from Kylie Rae. She managed to show off a lot of her signature moves in a short match. Kylie Rae plays your lovable, eager babyface, so it was important for Golden to get some offense in and heat up Rae for her comeback. An easy squash would not have worked well for Rae’s character, so I’m pleased they didn’t do that. The post-match interview really showed off Rae’s personality and I think she is going to be a great addition to the Women’s Division in iMPACT.
Flashback Moment TNA Sacrifice 2008
We get a replay of Scott Steiner’s infamous “Steiner Math” promo from TNA Sacrifice 2008. I don’t care how many times I see this promo, it still makes me laugh!
Moose vs Kid Kash
Moose enters the ring and cuts a promo saying that he is better than any wrestler that has wrestled for TNA. Kid Kash comes out and says that he has been impressed by Moose and calls him an amazing athlete but in his educated opinion he doesn’t think Moose would have measured up in the original TNA. Moose calls himself a “living legend” and challenges Kid Kash to a match.
Moose goes for a Clothesline and Kash ducks and comes back with Chops and Strikes. He ducks another Clothesline and hits a Hurricanrana sending Moose to the outside. Kash hits another Hurricanrana, this time off the apron onto the floor and follows up with a series of kicks to the chest of Moose. Back in the ring Moose leapfrogs Kid Kash and hits the “No Jackhammer Needed” Spear for the win.
Moose defeats Kid Kash via Pinfall in 1min3secs
Davie’s Thoughts: I’m quite enjoying this story of Moose running through the TNA Legends but I am wondering where it is leading. Will Moose eventually get his comeuppance or is this building him up to move back into the title picture at some point. Although this was a squash it was still nice to see Kid Kash hit his Huricanrana again!
XXXL Interview
Jimmy Jacobs interviews Acey Romero and Larry D who announce that they are now a Tag Team called XXXL. They say that they are “not you’re regular lumbering big man tag team”, that they can do flips and move and that “size matters”. TJP and Fallah Bahh interrupt, whilst carrying a tray of Filipino food. They tell them to get behind them in the line for the Tag Titles and leave them with one piece of fried chicken to share between them.
Davie’s Thoughts: I’m not familiar with Larry D, but Acey Romero impressed me with how he was able to move in last week’s Eight-Man match. They both showed that they have personality and are good on the mic. Fallah Bahh is another “big lad” who has impressed me in the last few weeks so I’m pretty excited to see this match when it happens. Also, the Filipino food looked pretty tasty!
Rich Swann Satellite Interview
Jimmy Jacobs interviews Rich Swann from his home via satellite. Swann talks about his ankle injury and says that recovery is hard. He says that you can look in his eyes and see that he is not right, that he is not all there and that recovery hasn’t been good. He thinks that his former Tag Team partner, Willie Mack, has great odds going for the X Division Championship but he has to watch his back because of Reno Scum.
Ace Austin then interrupts the call and tells Swann that Willie Mack is the reason he never reached his full potential. He questions why Mack hasn’t been there aiding Swann during his recovery and that he seems to have moved on very easily from tag team aspirations to being a singles star. Swann mocks Austin and says that there are no tag team aspirations as he is injured so obviously Mack has to move on. There is then a knock on Swann’s door and Austin says that he has sent Reno Scum. Swann goes off to answer the door and we hear a scream off camera.
The camera then cuts to Willie Mack being held back by security as he is trying to attack Ace Austin.
Davie’s Thoughts: I thought this was a great way to heat up the Championship match between Willie Mack and Ace Austin and use Swann whilst he is still injured. That being said, I really didn’t like Swann’s performance. I thought it was cartoonish and unbelievable. I also thought it made the babyface look rather stupid as he went to answer the door after being told it was Reno Scum. Why would he bother answering? The segment would have made a lot more sense if Austin didn’t tell him beforehand that he had sent Reno Scum to visit him.
Sami Callihan Promo
Sami Callihan comes to the ring and cuts a promo. He says that after losing the iMPACT Championship he needed to take a few weeks to himself to get his mind straight. He explains that he attacked Ken Shamrock because he has issues with iMPACT and other companies having these old “legends” come in and push all the other talent to the bottom. So he attacked Shamrock to make sure that it didn’t happen. He says that Shamrock is in the best shape of his life but he is tired of hearing people call him the “World’s Most Dangerous Man” Callihan says that he attacks people with baseball bats and sets them on fire and that makes him the “World’s Most Dangerous Man”.
Tommy Dreamer comes out and says that Sami disgusted him when he tried to blind Shamrock with a fireball the other week. He says that his own father is blind and he knows what that can do to someone. Callihan mocks Dreamer for being offended and tells him that he is just coming out to be relevant again. Dreamer defends the use of legends as it allows younger talent to learn from their mistakes. He says that he will use his platform for good and never back down to bullies like Callihan. Sami then attacks Dreamer with the microphone who comes back by hitting Callihan with the microphone as well. Dreamer then calls for a match right now to be contested under “old school mf’in rules!”
Tommy Dreamer vs Sami Callihan (Old School Rules)
Tommy Dreamer finds a plunger from under the ring and puts it in Sami’s face. Callihan then smashes a steel chair across the back of Dreamer and puts the plunger in his face. Dreamer then smashes Callihan over the head with baking trays. On the entrance ramp Dreamer hits the Bionic Elbow and smashes a trash can over Callihan’s head. Back in the ring they both get an industrial staple gun and take it in turns to staple the other man. Callihan hits a Death Valley Driver through two chairs and hits the Piledriver for the win.
Sami Callihan defeats Tommy Dreamer in 8 mins 24 secs
After the match, Callihan stacked chairs and trash cans on top of Dreamer and goes to jump on top of it but Rhino runs out for the save. OVE then run out to attack Rhino and the four men beat down on the ECW legends. The lights then go out and when they come back on Sami Callihan has disappeared. Madman Fulton is furious by this and yells “Sami you coward!”
Davie’s Thoughts: This type of match isn’t for me at all. I personally don’t get any enjoyment by seeing Tommy Dreamer on TV anymore and especially don’t want to see two men sticking plungers in each other’s faces and stapling each other. I am interested to see where the story with OVE goes as Sami has seemingly deserted them.
Rosemary/Su Yung
Rosemary is in a bar and approaches three men. She says that they should all gt shots and the last mortal standing gets to keep their soul. The men are weirded out by this so leave. Rosemary then approaches a man who is on his own at the bar. She say that she got too attached to a mortal and that love has made her weak. She tells the man that he gets to keep his soul as he is the winner.
This is followed by a vignette recapping Su Yung’s history in iMPACT Wrestling and turning into Susi.
Davie’s Thoughts: This whole “Undead Realm” thing does absolutely nothing for me and I really don’t understand what Rosemary is talking about most of the time. I don’t find this entertaining at all.
Joseph Ryan vs Cody Deaner
Before the match starts Schleve Harvey (a Steve Harvey lookalike) is spotted in the crowd and Josh Matthews gets very excited.
Deaner takes a moment to have a beer before getting fired up for the match. Ryan gets the advantage and take’s Deaner’s hat and rubs it in his face. This makes Deaner very mad and he starts to hulk up and shake the ropes. He puts the hat on and does the Hogan “You!” spot before hitting a series of Jabs and Clotheslines. Cousin Jake forces a beer into Ryan’s mouth and Cody Deaner hits the Deaner DDT for the win.
Cody Deaner defeats Joseph Ryan via Pinfall in 3 mins 29 secs
Davie’s Thoughts: This match was very quick and nothing special but I am enjoying the character work between The Deaners and #CancelCulture and look forward to seeing these guys feud for a while longer.
Edwards/Blanchard/Elgin
Eddie Edwards approaches Tessa Blanchard and thanks her for saving him earlier. He tells her that he has her back tonight but Tessa says that she wants to do this by herself.
Michael Elgin then cuts a promo where he says he has beaten Edwards multiple times and that after the Best Of Five series he is even bigger, badder and stronger than before. He praises Blanchard for suggesting the Triple Threat Match at Rebellion and says that she has bigger balls than most of the boys in the back. Rebellion marks Elgin’s one year anniversary since his debut. He calls Blanchard “undeniable” but at Rebellion he will prove that he is “unbreakable” and walk out as World Champion.
Davie’s Thoughts: Very strong promo from Michael Elgin. I feel that all three of these competitors are great performers and are carrying this feud well.
Ethan Page vs Tessa Blanchard
Blanchard shows off her speed early on but is no match for the strength of Page who catches her and hits a big backbreaker. The first half of the match is pretty much all Page as he outpowers Tessa. He hits a Superkick and a big Shoulder Tackle followed by a Delayed Vertical Suplex but this all only leads to a one-count. Tessa starts to fight back and hits a top rope huricanrana followed by a standing Sliced Bread Number 2 and three Suicide Dives. Josh Alexander attempts to distract Tessa by getting into her face and Blanchard talks trash right back to him. Tessa hits a Tornado DDT for a two count and is then met by a big Pump Kick from Page for a two. As the referee is distracted Alexander grabs the ankle of Blanchard but she fights him off. Eddie Edwards runs out and takes out Alexander with the Boston Knee Party and Tessa hits the Magnum (jumping Codebreaker) for the win.
Tessa Blanchard defeats Ethan Page via Pinfall in 9 mins 13 secs
After the match, Michael Elgin runs in and takes out both Edwards and Blanchard with a Double Clothesline. Edwards and Blanchard fight back and hit an Assisted Hurricanrana to Elgin sending him to the outside. Tessa picks up her championship and is left standing in the ring with Edwards as the show goes off the air.
Davie’s Thoughts: I thought this was a pretty strong episode of iMPACT. None of the matches were outstanding however, I did enjoy both the opener and the main event. They didn’t have as many stupid vignettes this week and focussed mainly on the title picture and Sami Callihan story, which made the show much more enjoyable for me.
Davie Portman is the co-host of upNXT with Braden Herrington every Wednesday at POST Wrestling.