Impact Wrestling held their Turning Point pay-per-view over the weekend. There were five championship matches, including Moose defending the Impact World Championship against Eddie Edwards in a Full Metal Mayhem Match. Impact has been putting on some solid shows as of late with some great matches and the “forbidden door” of talent from other places emerging.
1.) Chris Sabin defeated Ace Austin w/ Madman Fulton
Action-packed affair from start to finish. There are a lot of wrestlers who work a fast-paced style consisting of dives over the top rope, enziguris superkicks, and several close nearfalls. However, a lot of times, it looks sloppy, and the story element gets lost. Not here. It was a fluid performance; they kept the audience engaged in the story being told. Austin delivered a belly-to-back suplex in the corner and hit a helicopter fameasser. It kind of needs to be seen to be believed. Austin puts on his “I BEAT CHRIS SABIN” shirt, charges in but gets caught with cradle shock for the pin. Super strong opening!
2.) Violent By Design (Eric Young and Joe Doering) defeated Heath and Rhino
The story revolved around whether Rhino would hit Eric Young when the time came. Young and Doering cut off the, preventing Heath from making the tag. After some hesitation, Rhino drops Young but gets walloped with Young’s knee brace to lose the contest. Eleven minutes flew by here with a simple tale that garnered the desired result.
Eddie Edwards Interview with Gia Miller: Edwards sets the tone highlighting how he’s the company’s measuring stick while Moose is making his first world title defense. Edwards mentioned their long history in Impact, which was refreshing to hear instead of ignoring it.
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3.) Rich Swann w/ Willie Mack defeated VSK w/ Zicky Dice
Lots of fun action that resembled a firework show more than a concise story. The stakes in this one felt moot since VSK was a last-minute replacement for Brian Myers, who was not medically cleared. Swann hit a back handspring cutter, a frog splash, and a phoenix splash to close it out.
4.) W. Morrissey defeated “Always Ready” Matt Cardona
The flow in this one was wired. They would battle in the ring, and just as things got going, someone got thrown out of the ring, and they would brawl on the floor. This was the formula of the match, and it occurred several times as Morrissey outpowered Cardona. It was boring until Moose interfered and drilled Cardona with a spear behind the referee’s back for Morrissey to win.
5.) Knockouts Tag Team Championship: The IInspiration (Cassie Lee & Jessie McKay) (c) defeated Decay (Havok & Rosemary)
Lee and McKay and never going to deliver a five-star mat classic. They’re more of a “Mean Girls,” punch, kick, get heat type of duo, which is fine. The match was good in some spots and rough in others. Overall, not the worst thing I’ve ever seen. The IInspiration injured Havok’s arm early on and took advantage of it throughout the match. McKay rolled up Havok while Lee held her legs to retain.
6.) X Division Championship: Trey Miguel (c) defeated Laredo Kid and Steve Maclin.
I provided live coverage of this show at gerweck.net, thanks to our friends at Fite TV. The action in this match was so fast and furious; I could barely type fast enough to keep up. I’m going to put a no X-Division Match coverage clause in my next contract.
Steve Maclin earned his way into the match two nights ago on Impact when he defeated Laredo Kid in a singles match. Maclin’s domination was the story here. Kid and Miguel couldn’t maintain control for long as Maclin used his size and power advantage. Miguel and Kid eventually got Maclin out of the picture and wrestled each other for a spell.
Miguel pinned both men simultaneously and immediately argued with the referee. It was odd and looked like an error or miscue had occurred. It turns out Miguel wanted to beat Maclin as payback for getting shoehorned into the match. Maclin got his shoulder, meaning Miguel officially beat Laredo. It did not come off well. Overall, the match was great in some spots and sloppy in others. Still, all three men shined.
7.) Knockouts Championship: Mickie James (c) defeated Mercedes Martinez.
James controlled the mat exchanges while Martinez delivered a lot of big shots and power moves. James countered some of Martinez’s offense but couldn’t maintain control. James eventually created enough separation to hit a jumping DDT to close it out. Fantastic match and might be my pick for match of the night.
– Scott Demore announced that the first-ever Women’s Ultimate X match would occur at the next pay-per-view Hard to Kill, and the winner becomes the number one contender for the Knockouts Championship. This could either be very good or very bad.
8.) World Tag Team Championship: The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) (c) defeated The Bullet Club (Chris Bey & Hikuleo)
This was not good. No blown spots or moves, but there was an awkward pace with no decipherable story told. Hikuleo was used sparingly, which is smart because he’s green, but they were so careful with him that it took away from the match.
Chris Bey was the standout here, but it wasn’t enough to reign it in. Bey was going for the finish, but Gallows cut him off from outside the ring. Anderson took advantage and rolled up Bey. It was a bad night at the office. It happens.
–Josh Alexander Gets Destroyed
Josh Alexander came out for an unannounced promo. He was angry about not getting a title shot against Moose, who stole the title from him last month.
The lights flicker, music plays, and Jonah (FKA Bronson Reed) blindsided Alexander. Jonah hit four senton splashes, two frog splashes and beat up anyone who tried to break it up. Alexander was left lying with blood coming out of his mouth.
This was a great piece of business where Jonah came off like a monster. His arrival was quite a surprise since he did the same thing to Juice Robinson last week at the New Japan Pro Wrestling show in San Jose. Props to Alexander for his selling.
9.) Impact World Championship – Full Metal Mayhem: Moose (c) vs. Eddie Edwards
While slow-paced hardcore matches are rather dull, this one was different. These two traded big moves and clubbed each other with weapons at a plodding pace. Edwards and Moose sold every big move off the ladder or through a table.
Selling took up a lot of time here, but it made sense. Moose power bombed Edwards on the ring apron. A few minutes later, Edwards back body dropped Moose over the top rope through a table to the floor.
Edwards is still in pain from the powerbomb, and now Moose is in pain as well. The constant trade-off of big moves had both men selling afterward. Most times, the wrestlers look like they are simply lying on the ground until they get the cue to get up.
Edwards and Moose sold the pain of it all, and Matt Striker & D Lo Brown on commentary did an excellent job of getting that over. It made sense. If someone hits me with a steel chair and I conjure up enough strength to put my opponent through a table and see that they are down, I’m going to collapse and take a few to get over the pain.
W. Morrissey returned the favor from earlier and drilled Edwards with a big boot and held him and a Moose spear. Matt Cardona ran in, pulled the referee out of the ring, and brawled back to the locker room with Morrissey.
The finish saw Edwards remove the ring canvas taut and padding to expose the wood planks. Moose turned Edwards’ plan against him and delivered a uranage on the exposed wood to close out the show.
Final Logic: Impact produced an enjoyable show that opened strong, declined in the middle, and ended on a solid note. Chris Sabin used to be on the top of everyone’s lips as one of the best wrestlers in the world. Sabin proved he still has it, and Ace Austin has the tools to be great someday. Jonah coming in was a nice surprise, and targeting Josh Alexander instantly made this an anticipated match. Alexander is on the badass side of the babyface spectrum, so seeing him so vulnerable at the hands of the larger Jonah worked wonders.
While I never want to see another powerbomb again after watching Eddie Edwards and Moose in the main event, they told an engaging story. I’ve been a fan of Edwards’ work long before he made it big time. Heck, I tried to book him back in the day, but it never worked out for one reason or another. I wasn’t sold on Moose until this show. He more than held his own, and I’m interested in seeing what he does next as champion.
Ringside Logic 