Nerdly » ‘Impact Wrestling’ Review (Feb 14th 2019)

17th Feb2019

‘Impact Wrestling’ Review (Feb 14th 2019)

by Nathan Favel

Welcome to this week’s Impact Wrestling review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have the Uncaged special tonight, which includes several title matches. Here’s hoping that this turns out well and that the main event is a great match.

Match #1: Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie def. Tessa Blanchard – Street Fight for the Knockouts Championship

The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:

Tessa swings at Taya with a steel chair as she makes her entrance but Taya avoids it and fights back! Taya attempts a suicide dive but Tessa cuts her off with a shot to the head with a steel weapon. Taya jumps off the guardrail but Tessa hits her with a kick in mid-air. Tessa places a chair around the neck of Taya and drives her into the steel ring post. Taya attempts Road to Valhalla but Tessa counters with a faceplant into the mat. Tessa throws multiple steel chairs into the ring and climbs to the top rope. Taya throws a chair at Tessa, allowing her to connect with a Samoan Drop into the chairs below! Tessa hits multiple spears into a table but it’s not enough to keep Taya down! Taya connects with a double foot stomp off the top rope through a table to win the street fight and retain the Knockouts Championship!

My Take: 3.5 out of 5 – This was a fierce fight to the finish that both women performed very well. The match was for revenge as much as the title and they made the match work on both accounts. I loved seeing…well, I don’t love seeing them hurt each other, but it was great to have the match look spontaneous when they did the big spots, rather than timing every-thing to the point of perfection. Matches need to have some break in the rhythm so that can look like a real fight. This match was mean, mad stuff that looked like a true street fight all the way until the end.

Match #2: Willie Mack def. Ethan Page

The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:

Willie squeezes the chest of Page for some unique offense! Page turns the tide by taking Willie off his feet, followed by a running DDT. Willie hits a pump kick in the corner, then a standing Moonsault for a near fall. Willie connects with the Stunner to score the victory.

My Take: 2 out of 5 – This was well below Mack’s standard quality, which is a shame. The length was a big factor, which I would attribute to why the match failed. I think this is why Page is having such a hard time in Impact, because his matches are so short. Page usually takes about ten minutes to really get going in his matches, so having this all get done before he can find his stride is a real detriment to him and his career. Mack is one of the best and it’s a shame to see him spin his wheels in Impact, but at least he is on national TV in two places. Overall, this was good enough for what it was, but this show deserves to have both of these men at their best and it’s hard to get both guys there when they are wrestling a random match in so short a frame of time.

Match #3: Team AAA (Vikingo, Aerostar, Puma King & Psycho Clown) def. Team IMPACT (Sami Callihan, Fallah Bahh, Eli Drake & Eddie Edwards) – World Cup Elimination Match

The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:

Eddie Edwards and Eli Drake argue over the use of the kendo stick. Puma King rolls up Drake off the distraction to score the pinfall and the first elimination of the match. Team AAA is up 4-3. Vikingo goes for a springboard crossbody but Fallah catches him in mid-air and hits a running powerslam for the elimination! It is now tied 3-3. Fallah attempts a sit-down splash on Aerostar in the corner but Aerostar avoids it and gets a jackknife cover to pin Fallah! Team AAA once again takes the lead 3-2. Aerostar misses a springboard splash, allowing Eddie to follow up with the Boston Knee Party for the elimination. Team IMPACT ties it up at 2-2. Callihan connects with a sick Piledriver on Puma King to score the elimination. For the first time in this match, IMPACT takes the lead 2-1. Eddie Edwards hits Psycho Clown with the Boston Knee Party and goes for the pin but Callihan pushes him off, he wants to pin the clown himself! Psycho Clown turns it around and rolls up Callihan for the elimination! It is down this! Tied 1-1, Eddie Edwards and Psycho Clown go to war for their respective teams! Eddie wants to use the kendo stick but Drake once again stops him. However, this time Drake cracks Eddie over the head with it! Psycho Clown rolls up Eddie to score the final elimination and win World Cup for Team AAA.

My Take: 3 out of 5 – Lots of action was stuffed into a match that didn’t have enough time to show what it really had to offer. The idea didn’t get enough build over the past few weeks to feel like any-thing but a fun interlude on a good card. I get that this was all just an excuse to get luchadors on American TV, but it would have been nice for this match to be booked as being a bit more than just a clash of styles. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed seeing the blend of methodology here, in one country versus another, but even with the different types of lucha libre within Team AAA itself. Aerostar was great here and I think you could say Eddie and Sami were just as good as well. Overall, this was good fun that should have been given better placement on the card and received more attention from the bookers.

Match #4: (Main Event) World Champion Johnny Impact def. Moose, Brian Cage & Killer Kross – Four-Way Match for the Impact World Championship

The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:

Moose and Kross team up on Impact and Cage in the early going. However, their alliance doesn’t last long after Moose attempts to roll up Kross! Impact hits Kross with a swinging neckbreaker. Moose connects with a low blow on Impact, followed by dropkicks on Impact and Kross in the corner. Moose hits Impact with Go to Hell but Cage breaks the pin attempt. Cage hits a double German suplex on both Moose and Kross! All four men exchange shots in the middle of the ring. Impact is the last man standing in this exchange as he hits Cage with a springboard spear! Kross sends everyone crashing out of the corner with an insane Tower of Doom! Kross goes for the pin on Impact but he kicks out at two. Kross is in control when Impact hits him with a springboard kick out of nowhere for a near fall! Cage hits Moose with the Drill Claw. Kross hits Cage with the Doomsday Saito. Cage hits Kross with a discus clothesline. Impact hits Moose with Starship Pain! Meanwhile, Cage hits Kross with the Drill Claw but Impact pins Moose first to win the match!

My Take: 3.5 out of 5 – This was an excellent main event that had some fine action sequences throughout the whole bout. It’s weird to see Johnny fight three big men and not get squashed like he used to in the WWE. I bet he has a good laugh about stuff like that. I’ve said stuff a lot in this review. What am I, a valley girl? Any-way, this was like watching Samson hold up the pillars of the cathedral while getting a sun-tan, as three big brutes attacking the classically attractive Johnny could be considered a hate crime if their grievance with him is his six-pack abs. The neat effect of Johnny fighting the cast of the Clash of the Titans is that his unique offense looked even more impressive, as Brian, Moose and Kross were not taking to the sky just win over the crowd. I can say that I’d hate to run into these guys in a dark alley. Do you get that I think three of these guys were big? Vince would’ve liked this match. I liked this match. Maybe, you will like this match? Do I sound like an idiot…again?