SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

IMPACT WRESTLING TV REPORT: “UNCAGED”

FEBRUARY 15, 2019

AIRED ON PURSUIT & TWITCH TV

REPORT BY JACK IRENE, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Josh Mathews, Don Callis

We enter the final episode of Impact for the latest set of tapings in Mexico City with the Uncaged special!

(1) TAYA VALKYRIE (CHAMP) vs. TESSA BLANCHARD – STREET FIGHT FOR THE IMPACT KNOCKOUTS CHAMPIONSHIP

Both women are in actual street clothes for this, which is always preferred. Callis claims Tessa is wearing a 4 Horsemen shirt that her father wore during a street fight of his own. Taya is rocking some face paint. Tessa does not waste time, charging Taya with a chair on the ramp. Taya was ready for it and brawls with her on the outside. Tessa props a chair in the corner attempting to send Taya head first into it but is met with a huge german suplex.Taya embraces the crowd but becomes distracted and eats a cookie sheet courtesy of Blanchard. Tessa makes up for her slow start by launching a chair at Taya’s face and propping it on her for a dropkick. Things get physical when Tessa sends Taya over the guardrail resulting in Taya splashing a beer. Tessa wraps the chair around Taya sending her straight into the post. Taya gets choked by the production cables ringside as Tessa demands that Kid Ref stops the match. Tessa takes Taya’s shirt off, spitting on it, and disrespecting her late friend Perro Aguayo. Tessa crashes into the propped chair from earlier, setting up Taya’s comeback. More and more steel chairs are brought in the ring. Tessa wants to crush Taya under the chairs, but Taya tosses one at her face. They both crash from the second rope onto a couple of steel chairs, sending us into a commercial break. Strike exchange as we come back. They take a seat, exchanging strikes face to face while sitting on the steel chairs. Taya grabs one more chair and kicks it into her. Tessa spears Taya into the board in the corner not once but twice, for a near fall. Tessa heads to the outside to fetch a table, setting it up near the corner. She heads to the top rope, only to be thrown off immediately. Taya goes up herself, flying to the outside with a crossbody. Not wasting any time, La Wera Loca sends her back inside, placing her on the table, and stomps her right through it for the victory.

WINNER: Taya Valkyrie by pinfall

J.I.’S THOUGHTS: (***) Really fun match that reminded me of the good old Last Knockout Standing matches. Taya got the win as expected and will likely move onto a new opponent with the new set of Vegas tapings. At times, it did feel like the same old TNA/Impact plunder brawl that we used to see way too much of but nonetheless this was a good way to kick off the show with both girls working hard.

(2) ETHAN PAGE vs. WILLIE MACK

Ethan Page has a new theme song and seems to have dropped the “third eye” gimmick. This isn’t too surprising with Sydal’s absence and is probably beneficial for Page’s future. Willie Mack sets the tempo early with high paced offense including the twisting of Page’s nipples. All Ego gets back on track with a big DDT. A more methodical pace is now seen with Page attempting some power moves on Mack, only to suffer a suplex. Chants of “Willie” fill the Fronton in Mexico City. Page shows off some impressive high flying including an enzuigiri from the second rope. Page works to get the big man up only to eat an elbow, pump kick, and cannonball in the corner. Mack follows up with the Samoan drop moonsault combo for a two count. Stunner attempt, bicycle kick by page, then a roundhouse and a suplex. 2 count. They trade-off reversals until Mack finally hits the stunner for the win.

RESULT: Willie Mack by pinfall

J.I.’S THOUGHTS: (**3/4) This was a short but solid match. It was nice to Mack build some needed momentum as he is too talented to not pick up a win every now and then. My only complaint would be the lack of reasoning for this match occurring at all, but that seems to be the theme of these Mexico tapings.

-Killer Kross is backstage analyzing the champion’s odds in the main event tonight. Unfortunately, we do not get a mathematical equation. The camera turns to Willie Mack heading towards the locker room but The Crists of oVe are not far behind.

-AAA Guys promo, Puma King lets out a beautiful meow.

-Sami Callihan comes out to awkward silence from the commentary booth. He starts speaking to Swann, preparing to reveal the unknown truths. He then accuses Rich Swann spread fake news. He shows off his bilingual skills by telling the crowd to shut up. After offering him one last opportunity to join oVe, Swann comes out to absolute crickets. The audio on Pursuit Channel went completely out of sync at this point and was nearly impossible to enjoy. Callihan piledrives Swann on the stage and assaults multiple officials. He launches Swann off the stage crashing through a table. This segment would have been really special with some commentary and some simple audio timing. I did hear this issue was on Twitch as well which is just unacceptable. The segment could’ve been really effective but the issues just completely took me out of it.

(3) TEAM AAA vs. TEAM IMPACT – 2019 WORLD CUP

None of the Impact guys are getting along as Team AAA comes out to a huge pop. This is an elimination tag team match for the World Cup Trophy that looks to have come from the local supermarket. The crowd is going crazy for Psycho Clown. He and Sami kick it off, in traditional Sami Sprint fashion, not wasting any time. Clown hits a crossbody off the top, followed by Aerostar coming in and bouncing off the ropes with a twisting crossbody. Callihan makes him pay for it after, sending Eli Drake into the ring to a surprising chorus of chants. Vikingo enters the ring with an awesome rebound off the ropes and a big kick to Edwards. Puma King goes insane on Edwards delivering a stalling suplex, superkicks, and a near fall. Puma King then casually releases a hairball, as the panda and the puma clash. Sami comes back in with some heat as both teams clash and all hell breaks loose.Psycho Clown goes up and over the top to the outside. Edwards and Puma remain in the ring, but they soon join in on the fun when Puma sends EE to the outside and we see a flying cat. Aerostar flies to the cosmos on a double springboard to the outside. Fallah Bahh then teases some “good lucha things” but springs off the apron instead. Vikingo continues to amaze me, now showing off a springboard 054 onto everybody. Wow. He goes back up for more but Drake catches him and powerslams him onto both teams. Drake snatches Puma and looks to put him away with an assist from Kenny, however, Eddie Edwards costs him this opportunity causing him to be rolled up for our first elimination. Commercial break. Sami spits a visible loogie on Bahh prompting him to be slammed on Puma. Vikingo is back with a double dropkick to Team Impact while Sami can’t catch him. He finally touches him, only to be on the receiving end of a springboard codebreaker. Edwards grabs him, only for Vikingo to backflip over him, sending the former world champ into the buckle. Vikingo gives him some quick kicks in the corner, but Bahh puts an end to the flurry, catching him in mid-air with a running power slam for the elimination. Aerostar is waiting with a pair of missile dropkicks. Bahh responds with a crossbody off the ropes but comes up empty on a bonsai drop attempt, leading to his demise as he is rolled up for the next elimination. Callihan tags in Edwards reluctantly. Aerostar shows off some athleticism only to be met with a Boston Knee Party for the fourth elimination. Callihan comes in and is met with a flurry of offense from Puma King. Callihan powerbombs Puma, rolls him through for a V trigger then a Cactus Driver for the pin. It’s two on one and Psycho Clown has the whole arena behind him. Edwards delivers a Boston Knee Party to him but Callihan craves the pin and pushes Edwards away, causing him to end up eating the pin. Ed Double and Psycho Clown remain. They meet in the middle with a brutal chop exchange. Edwards slides out of the ring on an Irish whip and is immediately met by a suicide dive. Back in the ring, they exchange some big moves and more stiff strikes. Eli Drake is back with Kenny in hands and smacks Edwards. Pycho Clown rips his shirt off and does an unnecessarily complicated roll up for the victory.

RESULT: Team AAA by pinfall

J.I.’S THOUGHTS: (**½) This was a solid match that dragged a bit in the middle. Going into this match, I was not too familiar with Psycho Clown but the crowd really ate him up, and he went on to impress me. Vikingo is always a treat to watch and gives me Rey Mysterio vibes. Puma King is a good worker even without his meowing and if you’ve ever seen Lucha Underground, you know Aerostar is awesome. This advanced the story between Drake and Edwards which I, unfortunately, don’t care about at the moment. It makes sense for the two characters, however, it’s not translating into anything entertaining between two guys that I do usually enjoy watching.

-Reno Scum returns in two weeks.

-Konnan will ask Lucha Bros for a trilogy, Konnan says it’s the last time ever.

-Allie and Su Yung are backstage, with Rosemary lurking in the shadows

-Scarlett wakes up in bed wearing a bra. She teases her debut in Sin City.

-Eli Drake vs. Eddie Edwards is advertised for next week.

(4) JOHNNY IMPACT (CHAMP) vs.. KILLER KROSS vs. BRIAN CAGE vs. MOOSE – FATAL FOUR-WAY FOR IMPACT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Cage is out with his Terminator costume. Hot start, as Cage, flips over the top rope. Moose agrees to work with Kross and immediately turns his back on him. They set their differences aside and hug as Kross gazes into the hard camera in a sinister fashion. Saito slam. A Moonlight Drive to Kross by Johnny and he is met by a low blow by Moose. He hits the Go To Hell on Johnny for a near fall. Cage throws a double german to Kross and Moose. He follows up with an effortless superplex from the apron to the champion for a two count. There is a superkick party involving all men followed by Johnny’s awesome springboard spear. A Tower of Doom and Kross’ veins are bulging. He puts Mr. Impact into an armbar, followed by Moose grabbing the legs for a figure four to add on, and finally Cage applying a dragon sleeper to Kross. Drags him up, Johnny reverses it. Kross stiffs Cage, belly to belly into Cage. Chuck kick off the ropes to. Moose gets a close near fall on Johnny after he nails a pop-up powerbomb and senton combo. Drill Claw to Moose, but Kross breaks it up. Cage no sells the Saito slam with a discus clothesline. He delivers a Drill Claw to Kross, but Johnny escapes with the title after a starship pain on Moose.

RESULT: Johnny Impact by pinfall.

MY THOUGHTS: (***¾) Really fun match. Everyone looked strong while telling an effective story that is easily enjoyable. Johnny really comes off as an unlikeable guy which seems to be the end goal. Cage seems to be next in line for the belt and rightfully so, as he receives big pops in every building Impact runs.

FINAL THOUGHTS (6 of out of 10): Pursuit may deliver the outdoors, but they can’t deliver basic production values. To my knowledge, the out of sync audio was not apart of the Twitch stream, which is just sad. As a long time supporter of the company, stuff like this bothers me more than a mediocre product. The audio on this show as a whole was hit and miss, with there being times where bumps sounded like they were underwater explosions. Technical difficulties aside, this was a solid show. Nothing really blew me away on this card, but I would recommend the main event. Hopefully, production improves in the company’s return to Sam’s Town.