Impact Wrestling: Turning Point
November 9, 2019
by Samoa Rowe
From Holy Family Academy in Hazelton, Pennsylvania. Our hosts are Josh Mathews and Don Callis. The venue is a typical basketball gymnasium. The bleachers look pretty full, but other camera angles reveal empty sections and an entirely empty balcony. Still, I think Ring of Honor would be envious of this attendance these days.
Tessa Blanchard and Jordynn Grace vs. Madison Rayne and Havok
Hot start for Blanchard and Grace, as they double team the formidably sized Havok. Knee lift by Havok leads to a backbreaker on Grace. Rayne orders Havok to lift her into a splash. Grace takes a short beating before making the hot tag. Blanchard runs wild with only about 5 minutes gone. Havok catches Tessa with a sit out powerbomb but Grace saves the match. Rayne tags herself in and hits Blanchard with a Northern Lights suplex. Rayne scolds Havok but gets caught by Blanchard's Buzz Saw DDT and pinned at 6:23! Not much to this one, **.Winners: Tessa Blanchard and Jordynn Grace
Rhino cuts a pretaped promo but there's no audio. They turn the sound up in time to make out that Rhino plans on ripping Rob Van Dam in half.
PPW Championship:
Clutch Adams © vs. Facade (with Dani Mo) vs. Evander James vs. Desean Pratt vs. KC Navarro vs. Charles Mason
Bell rings and all six guys brawl and the ring gets cleared out so guys can take turns going back in to hit their spots. KC Navarro shines first with rapid fire flippy offense. Facade kips up to hit an enziguri and then bounces his legs off the ropes repeatedly to catch Pratt with a head scissors takedown. Missile dropkick by Facade but he hesitates on a dive, allowing "Playboy Millionaire" Mason to ambush. Mason hits a springboard dropkick and James returns for a spotty exchange. Adams tries to steal a pinfall after James' slam, but is foiled. James hits a high backdrop to send Navarro crashing onto the others at ringside. James hits a dive of his own. Facade walks the ropes, almost slips, but hits a 450 senton to the floor! Adams uses the ref as a shield and hits a superkick on Facade and then a camel clutch. Mason breaks the hold and hits a reverse DDT, but James saves the match. James hits mason with the Spanish Fly for 2. Pratt superkicks James but Navarro outmaneuvers them both to hit a tilt-a-whirl DDT. Pratt monkey flips Navarro into a Destroyer on James! "This is awesome" chant. Facade catches Pratt with a cutter. Facade walks the ropes for a Coast to Coast on Pratt! Mason breaks the cover with a flying elbow. Adams steals the pin at about 8:30. Fun exhibition match that absolutely overdelivered, ***.Winner and still PPW Champion: Clutch Adams
Jimmy Jacobs is standing by with Moose, and again there's no audio. Moose is either talking about his match with Fallah Bahh or explaining to Jacobs how tall you have to be to ride the roller coaster. Alas, we'll never know.
Michael Elgin vs. Mike Orlando
Orlando enjoys a size advantage over Elgin, and they quickly trade forearm shots. They dare one another to hit shoulder tackles and Orlando knocks Elgin off his feet. Orlando's sky high powerbomb gets 2. Elgin responds with an enziguri and missile dropkick. Elgin's vertical suplex gets a 1 count. Orlando strings together a comeback and hits a DDT. TKO by Orlando gets 1. Elgin throws a roaring elbow and a Saito Suplex. Elgin's Falcon Arrow gets 2. Orlando fires back with a German suplex, but Elgin then cuts him off on the top rope. Orlando doesn't seem to know what Elgin wants to do, so Elgin slips down and just throws him with a Death Valley Driver. Orlando's lariat is soft and Elgin then lariats him off his feet. Pair of powerbombs by Elgin ends this at 11:05. Orlando isn't ready for prime time and Elgin looks visibly frustrated down the stretch, **.Winner: Michael Elgin
Jimmy Jacobs interviews Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie and we can SORT OF hear them. She puts herself over as the longest reigning Knockouts Champion in history.
Moose vs. Fallah Bahh
Moose throws an open hand chop, but Bahh returns the favor and tosses him across the ring. Bahh repeats the chop and toss sequence. Moose responds with thrust kicks and a flying crossbody! Moose doesn't see Bahh get right back up and eats a crossbody press. Moose blocks a Vader Bomb with a kick to the knee. Moose follows with repeated attacks to the freshly injured knee. Bahh defiantly gets back to his feet and throws a hard German suplex. Bahh is too hurt to connect with a running splash, so he lures Moose into a pop-up powerbomb! Desperation Samoan Drop by Bahh, and the fans cheer him on as he manages the running splash in the corner. Moose then delivers the BIGGEST SUPERPLEX of all time, but Bahh pops right back up for a clothesline for a fantastic false finish. Moose hits a blind low blow to regain control. Moose's spear finishes Bahh at 9:38. This was a surprisingly great big man battle, ***¼.Winner: Moose
Jimmy Jacobs interviews Willie Mack and Rich Swann, and they remember to turn the sound on. Swann says this is their time to shine, and they're interrupted by The North, who feel slighted by not getting an interview despite being the champions. Once they beat Mack and Swann tonight, there will be no more excuses and take off. Swann says they're going to show The North what's up.
Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie (with Johnny Bravo) vs. Tenille Dashwood
Bell rings and they seem to enjoy themselves as they trade holds. Dashwood takes a waistlock takedown and answers with a wristlock takedown. Tenille is still grinning as she chops the chest. Seriously, I've never seen two wrestlers look so happy. Tenille builds some steam, hitting a neckbreaker in the ropes. Bravo threatens Dashwood with a stuffed dog, and then grabs her legs to allow Taya to hit a basement dropkick. Taya cheerfully dishes out a methodical heel beatdown. Bravo cheap shots as often as possible. Taka misses her running knees into the corner, and Dashwood mounts a plucky babyface comeback. Dashwood applies the Tarantula! Flying crossbody by Dashwood gets 2. Tenille rolls through a sunset flip but gets tripped, allowing Taya to hit a running hip shot to the face. Taya knees the face for 2. Dashwood hits her patented running low crossbody for a good 2 count. Tenille drops Taya into a split, but Bravo grabs her leg again to prevent the Spotlight. Taya's school boy finishes at 12:38! Solid and straightforward match, which I'll mostly remember for how happy the women looked throughout, **½.Winner: Taya Valkyrie
Taya looks for a post-match beatdown, but Jordynn Grace makes the save.
Impact Tag Team Championship:
The North © (Ethan Page and Josh Alexander) vs. Willie Mack and Rich Swann
Page catches Swann in a side headlock. Swann escapes and somersaults into a dropkick. Mack enters with a kick to the wrist, and cuts off Alexander with a backdrop. Hard whip by Mack, and he head stands on the turnbuckles to fake him out before hitting a shoulder tackle. Alexander takes a bulldog/flap jack combo for 2. Page assists from the apron to allow Alexander to slam Swann for 2. The North isolate Swann for the obligatory beatdown. Swann shows some fire with a series of open hand shots and hits a tornado DDT and reverse rana to save himself from a double team. Mack makes the hot tag and plows through The North. Mack's standing moonsault gets 2. Mack slips on a 619, but looks better with a DDT out of the ropes. Swann hits a back hand spring drop for 2. The North come back, but Swann takes over with dives through the ropes and off the apron. The North catch Swann with a cutter into a German suplex for 2. Bodies continue to fly until everyone is down. Swann and Page slug it out, but Mack sneaks in for a Stunner. Swann's back hand spring cutter is good, but Alexander saves the match. Page avoids a rana on the top rope and kills Swann with a high elevation Razor's Edge. The North slam Mack off the top rope and finish with a double Styles Clash at 13:48. Despite a few rough moments, this was highly enjoyable. The North are perfectly cast as heel champions who you just want to see lose all the time, ***½.Winners and still Impact Tag Team Champions: The North
New Impact World Champion Sami Callihan is hanging out with Jake Crist in a vlog promo. Again, there's no audio at first. Callihan pumps Crist up in his X title rematch against Ace Austin before turning his attention to Brian Cage, who is cashing in on his title rematch as well. Callihan and Crist are best friends and are taking over EVERYTHING!
Call Your Shot Trophy Match:
Mahabali Shera vs. Eddie Edwards
Edwards is putting his newly won trophy on the line. Bell rings and they start with an aggressive lockup. Shera scores a pair of shoulder tackles. They duke it out until Eddie hits a high crossbody to ringside. Shera trips on the apron and shoves Edwards into the ring post. Eddie fights back from behind, but manages a missile dropkick. Eddie's Blue Thunder Bomb gets an obvious 2 count. Shera's spinebuster gets another 2 count, as does a power slam. Eddie applies rapid fire pinning predicaments and connects with a knee to the head. Edwards dishes out more chops and hits the Boston Knee Party for the win at 8:35. This was fine, just another straight forward house show match, **¼.Winner: Eddie Edwards
Silent commercial for next month's No Surrender show. I feel an odd sense of nostalgia over Impact using these TNA legacy PPV names for their monthly specials.
Rhino chases the referee while RVD and Forbes celebrate with more grotesque making out.
Final Thoughts: This was a perfectly good house show. I'm not even upset about the 7.99 price tag, as now I can go watch Kid Kash matches from 2003 as part of Impact Plus.
Ace Austin © vs. Jake Crist
They feel each other out until Crist gets mean with repeated strikes across the face. Austin rolls into a drop toe hold and uses his laminated playing card to papercut between Crist's fingers. The crowd isn't nearly as horrified by this as I am. Ref doesn't care either. Austin nails a dive and uses a one handed handstand on the apron to dodge a clothesline. Crist counters with a back suplex on the ring frame. Austin comes back with repeated roundhouse kicks to the head, but Crist cuts him off with a Death Valley Driver. Austin answers with the Bangarama for 2. Crowd is totally dead, there's literally one fan trying to get himself over with a chant. Crist's roundhouse kicks also get 2. Austin responds with a springboard guillotine leg drop. Another drop by Austin gets an ice cold nearfall. Crist counters a flying Austin with a cutter for 2. Austin grabs the ropes to block a top rope cutter and hits a sunset flip bomb for the win at 10:37. Man, this was rough around the edges and the crowd gave them NOTHING. Ice cold exhibition, *½.
Winner and still X Division Champion: Ace Austin
Rob Van Dam (with Katie Forbes) vs. Rhino
RVD and Forbes make out in disgusting fashion during their entrance. Rhino isn't messing around and the brawl starts in the aisle. Rhino misses a lariat and hits the ring post. Rhino remains on offense, and RVD tries to sneak away. RVD drop toe holds Rhino into the buckles and fakes Rolling Thunder. RVD hits a leg drop to the throat and celebrates by sticking his tongue down his wife's throat. Forbes holds a chair over Rhino as RVD teases but doesn't deliver Coast to Coast. Instead, RVD misses his split legged moonsault but he dodges a Gore. Rhino rebounds with a superplex for 2. Belly to belly suplex by Rhino sets up the GORE! Forbes saves the match by putting her husband's leg on the ropes. Rhino fetches a chair but the ref takes it away, inadvertently allowing Forbes to hit a low blow! RVD sets up a table in the corner, but Rhino drives him through it for the DQ at 9:11! Crowd doesn't care for that finish, but it made me laugh. This mainly served to put over RVD's new heel mannerisms and sets up bigger matches down the road, **.
Winner via DQ: Rob Van Dam
Impact World Championship:
Hot start for Cage, but Callihan blocks a powerbomb. Cage hits a press slam instead. Sami hits a soccer kick to the face but leaps into a reverse powerbomb onto the ring frame! Cage remains on offense at ringside, risking a countout. Callihan spits on his hand but misses a chop and hits the ring post. Callihan rakes the eyes and hits a piledriver on the ring frame! They trade counters and both go down. They stumble into a slugfest and Sami spits, which earns him a rapid fire beatdown from Cage. Electric Chair slam by Cage gets a good nearfall. Callihan counters with a Death Valley Driver for another good nearfall. Sami hits a nasty looking draping piledriver but Cage kicks out. Cage answers with a pump handle slam for only 2. Sami reverses and Alabama Slam into a Destroyer for 2! Callihan grabs his belt, but Cage inadvertently clotheslines the referee. Cage's F5 is good but there's no ref to count! Cage lifts Sami, but Jake Crist interferes. Cage no sells a superkick and slams both members of oVe! Mad Man Fulton runs in and chokeslams Cage! Sami hits a belt shot for good measure and Piledrives him onto the gold. The ref conveniently wakes up to count the pinfall at 14:27. Good back and forth match with lots of bullf*ckery at the end, ***.
Sami Callihan © vs. Brian Cage
Winner and still Impact World Champion: Sami Callihan
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