Impact Wrestling results: Final match in best-of-five series

Impact Wrestling returns from Sam’s Town Casino for tonight’s show, headlined by the final match in the Michael Elgin vs. Eddie Edwards series. 

Opening video recapped the history making match of Tessa Blanchard and Taya Valkyrie from last week, where Tessa successfully defended her championship. 

Rhino defeated Madman Fulton (with oVe)

The Crist brothers immediately tried to distract both the referee and Rhino. They got ejected to the back. 

Rhino actually started the match on top with a shoulder tackle, sending him to the floor. They brawled for a bit, at which point Rhino clotheslined the ring post and allowed Fulton to gain control of the match. 

Fulton worked over Rhino with mostly strikes and chokes. The match slowed to a crawl from here. Fulton focused on the mid-section, with several shoulder thrusts against the corner, getting a two count at one point from them. 

Rhino tried some comebacks, but kept getting taken down by Fulton. After a couple of tries, Rhino dodged a flying headbutt and another running shoulder thrust into the corner, sending Fulton into the post. 

Rhino hit a couple of chops and punches, followed with clotheslines. He finally set up the Gore, but Fulton caught him with a big boot for a two count. Fulton went for another top rope move, and once again, Rhino dodged, hit the Gore and pinned Fulton. Good opener, but the wrong man won.

After the match, Jake and Dave Crist came out and jumped Rhino until Sabu and Genie came out for the save. Sabu took out both Crists with chairs, he low blowed Fulton and hit a DDT on a chair to send him packing. These cheap pops are just not worth it anymore.

We got another Chris Bey vignette. He debuts next week!

Gabbi Loren interviewed Tessa Blanchard about what is next. She brought up Elgin vs. Edwards tonight, to which Tessa said that she is ready for either man come Rebellion. She said that no matter who wins, she walks out the champion.

Commentary said that there is security in the production truck because of the hacker that has been messing around with the show.

The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) defeated Desi Hit Squad (Mahabali Shera & Rohit Raju) (with Gama Singh)

Rohit and Dezmond start the match with a nice sequence of counters and misdirections that Rohit got the better off for a bit. Xavier caught Rohit with a one-legged moonsault for a two count and tagged in Wentz, who came in with a senton atomico. Rascalz were going for some double teams, but Rohit poked their eyes and ran to Shera. 

Xavier got worked over by the Desi Hit Squad for a while. Shera did all power moves, including slamming Rohit on top for a two count. This didn’t last long, as Dezmond quickly escaped Rohit and tagged out.

Wentz ran wild over Rohit with strikes, earning a two count after a kick combo. Rascalz went for Hot Fire Flame, but Shera interrupted them, took out Wentz, and chokeslammed Xavier into his knee. Rohit followed with a neckbreaker, earning a two count when Wentz broke it up. 

Wentz tried to make a comeback with several kicks. Wentz and Xavier hit a kick combo on Shera, followed with a swanton by Wentz. Xavier ended up landing a tornillo on Shera for the win. Not surprised The Rascalz won, but over Shera was a surprise for sure. Rohit is so underrated.

Backstage, RVD and Katie Forbes talked about the fans being pervy trolls. The Deaners told her they thought she looked great, which prompted Joey Ryan telling Cody Deaner that he was objectifying her. Ryan challenged the Deaners to a match next week. Rob didn’t even know he was involved.

We got a vignette for Tenille Dashwood, but no return date.

Knockouts champion Jordynne Grace defeated Lacey Ryan (with Madison Rayne) to retain the championship.

Ryan is the lady that stood up to Kiera Hogan last week. I figured she would fight Hogan first, but that is not the case.

Collar and elbow lock up to start, Ryan actually met Grace’s power. Jordynne went for the headlock, but Ryan got the escape, provoking Grace to go at her with a shoulder block. Ryan was able to come back with one of her own. 

Ryan went to the top rope, but got caught by Jordynne, who tossed her down. Grace slammed her for a two count. Ryan snapped Grace’s arm against the ropes and hit a springboard arrow for a two count. 

Ryan looked to hook an armbar, but Jordynne rolled over for the pin attempt. Ryan rushed Jordynne, but got caught with a big boot, a running knee and a running shoulder combo to the corner. Ryan then took the Vader Bomb, but kicked out. 

Jordynne went for the Grace Driver, but Ryan blocked it, so Jordynne followed with a couple of clotheslines. Ryan caught Jordynne with a mule kick and a running kick for two.

Ryan once again went to the top rope, but Grace blocked her and hit the Muscle Buster for another two count. Ryan tried to make a comeback and managed to hit a frog splash.

Jordynne dodged a couple of kicks by Ryan, hit the Grace Driver, and took the win.

Pay attention to Lacey Ryan. While she needs to work on her landings, this woman can go! This was good.

Backstage, Fallah Bahh is talking to TJP about their title match against The North. He’s telling TJP that they can be the first ever Filipino World Tag Team champions. He says that Tito Boy is watching. TJP is ready.

Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the Week was the Ultimate X match from January 2004 between Chris Sabin, Low Ki, Christopher Daniels, and Michael Shane.

Gabbi Loren interviewed the returning Chris Sabin. He said that he will be the special guest referee for the King of the Mountain match at the TNA nostalgia show. Moose interrupted him, saying that he would win. Sabin tried to explain the rules, but Moose got confused and said that he’d win anyway. Moose said the match was stupid and stormed off. At least we now have a confirmed entrant for the KOTM match.

We got a video package with the story of Edwards and Elgin fighting for the Call Your Shot trophy that Edwards won back at Bound for Glory.

We saw Taya Valkyrie drinking her pain away at a bar. She is wearing all black and her mascara was running down her face.  For some reason, Rosemary is also there drinking her pain away, because her life is empty now that all her enemies are fighting themselves. Rosemary said that losing everything was the thing that would bring them together. This is going somewhere; these two are perfect for each other.

Willie Mack & Ace Austin defeated Swinging Disco Balls (Glenn Gilbertti & Johnny Swinger)

Before the match, the referee took away Swinger’s brass knuckles. 

Swinger started the match for his team and the first thing they did was have Swinger accidentally take out Disco to the floor. Disco tagged in and got easily taken down by Mack. Swinger tagged in and suffered the same fate, taking a samoan drop and dropkick combo for a two count.

At this point, the Disco and Swinger started using heel tactics to cut off Mack, using the roll of quarters on Mack’s throat. 

SDBs worked over Mack with quick tags, the roll of quarters, and striking behind the referee’s back, but Mack kept kicking out. Gilbertti hit the side Russian leg sweep and the Idiot’s Elbow for a two count. 

Suddenly, Ace Austin came down and got in Mack’s corner, asking for a tag. The distraction was enough for Mack to make a small comeback and hit the Stunner on Disco, but he couldn’t capitalize. Mack actually tagged Ace, who took down Glenn and Swinger. 

Mack and Ace started to work together, even hitting a double team move and connected with in-sync strikes. Mack hit the samoan drop and moonsault, then set up Ace for The Fold, and Mack hit the 6-Star Frog Splash on Disco and got the win. 

After the match, Ace offered Mack a hand shake, who was confused. He took it. Mack wasn’t that confused a minute ago when he was tagging in and out.

Somewhere backstage, Su Yung attacked Havok with the bull rope. They brawled with chairs until Yung locked went for the Mandible Claw and buried Havok in a coffin. Havok is dead. 

Backstage, Swinger blamed Disco for being rusty. He told him to go back to Memphis to get more work. The Swinging Disco Balls officially broke up. 

We got another installment of Gut Check, this week they showed a 6-way match of the surviving participants. It was an ugly indie match. Winner will be announced next week. 

Eddie Edwards (2) vs. Michael Elgin (2) in the fifth match of the Best of Five series ended in a double finish.

Elgin went straight to work early and took down Eddie with clotheslines, then sent him outside where he hit a DVD on the ramp for a two count.

Elgin went for the Buckle Bomb, but Eddie blocked. Elgin instead clobbered Eddie with forearms, but Eddie managed to dodge the final one and hit a desperation Blue Thunder Bomb. Eddie went to the top rope, but Elgin cut him off. They exchanged some strikes until Elgin hit an enziguri. Eddie once again managed to slip away and hit a sunset powerbomb from the ropes.

Back from commercial, Elgin sent Eddie to the floor the hard way with an over-the-top throw. Eddie recovered, but Elgin went to hit a DVD in the apron. Eddie escaped instead and slapped Elgin, but he couldn’t take him down until he kicked Elgin’s leg. Eddie then followed with a flip dive over the rope. 

Back in the ring, Eddie followed up with a running elbow, went for a German, but Elgin blocked it. Elgin caught Eddie with a F-5 style X-Factor and a DDT for a two count. Elgin followed with a draping neckbreaker. 

Elgin connected with more forearms and neckbreakers, but Eddie kept kicking out. Eddie tried making a comeback, but his strikes had no effect on Elgin. They got into a crazy stiff forearm and chop exchange until Eddie landed an over-the-belly suplex. 

Eddie rushed Elgin to the corner, but Elgin caught him with a sambo suplex. Eddie came back with a belly-to-belly, then a backpack stunner for a two count. Elgin went for an electric chair drop, but Eddie kicked out at two. Elgin went back to clobbering Eddie and tried to hit a top rope Dragon Suplex, completely flipping Eddie over, but Eddie still kicked out. This was crazy!

Elgin went for the buckle bomb, but on impact, Eddie rebounded with a clothesline. Eddie went for a Tiger Driver, but Elgin kicked out at two. 

Eddie finally went for the BKP, but Elgin caught him, slammed him with a powerbomb amd followed with a big Lariat, but Eddie still kicked out. Elgin hit the buckle bomb then the Elgin bomb, and Eddie still kicked out! Crowd was evenly split at this point.

Elgin finally went for the burning hammer, but Eddie escaped. Elgin and Eddie exchanged clotheslines, but Elgin accidentally took down the referee. Eddie hit the Boston Knee Party, but got a two count when a second referee came in. 

Elgin hit a piledriver, but couldn’t follow up. He managed to lock in the crossface. Eddie rolled over and hooked him for the pin, but tapped out right at the three count. 

The new referee gave Eddie the win, while the original referee gave Elgin the win. Scott D’Amore came down to settle things, but before they did, Tessa Blanchard came down. She said that at Rebellion, she’ll take on both of them. THAT is a fighting champion!

That was a fantastic main event with a weak finish, but it was saved at the last minute by Tessa Blanchard being a great champion.

Final Thoughts — 

Really good show, the main event alone is worth going out of your way to watch.