Impact Wrestling results: Elgin vs. Rhino, Tenille Dashwood debuts

Impact Wrestling returned to Fronton Mexico in Mexico City to kick off a new set of tapings on their road to Bound for Glory.

This week’s opening video mostly focused on the feud between Michael Elgin and Rhino, but it also featured The North defeating Reno Scum, the ongoing story between Ace Austin and the Edwards family, Moose calling out Ken Shamrock, Taya Valkyrie’s championship announcement, and oVe taking out Tessa Blanchard and Tommy Dreamer once again.

Golden Magic defeated TJP, Taurus, and Trey Miguel in a four-way match

TJP’s new Impact theme is so great — really energetic, as is Taurus’ entrance. Golden Magic, one third of the AAA Trios Champions, was making his Impact debut here. 

The story of the match was that Taurus was the biggest guy, so they quickly started by sending him out. That was followed by an Asai moonsault by Golden Magic. Trey and TJP stayed in the ring with a quick sequence of reversals and counters that ended with TJP faking out Trey. Golden Magic returned to the ring to join the sequence, getting the upper hand on both with a pair of superkicks and a pair of cutters. 

Golden Magic hit a top rope rana on TJP, sending him into Trey for a two count. Taurus returned and took out all three men with forearms and kicks, then hit a powerslam on Trey onto Golden Magic. Taurus got a two count on Trey with a flatliner.

Taurus was finally stopped when TJP and Golden Magic teamed up on him. TJP locked a double submission on both Trey and Golden Magic, but Taurus broke it up. Taurus then hit a double suplex.

Trey came back, taking out Taurus and hitting a double Pele kick on TJP and Golden Magic. Trey then hit a cutter and DDT combo on Taurus and TJP for an “Esto es lucha” chant by the crowd.

Golden Magic returned with a corkscrew and double underhook twisting suplex for a two count. Taurus took him out with a jumping plancha and a torture rack slam for two. TJP hit a tornado DDT to take down Taurus. 

The finish saw Golden Magic pin Trey after a 450. TJP had a submission on Taurus while that happened. Really good opener — a lot less flippy and fast paced than expected considering the names, but overall it was great wrestling.

After the match, TJP went face-to-face with Golden Magic and claimed he stole TJP’s win. 

Backstage, Kiera Hogan entered the locker room and told Chik Tormenta to take off. Vanilla Vargas came in and sided with Hogan. Jordynne Grace came in and they all started shouting until Madison Rayne interrupted them, broke up the fighting, and proposed a tag match for tonight. 

Michael Elgin cut a promo backstage and said that Rhino will pay the consequences of getting into a war with him tonight. 

Rich Swann & Willie Mack defeated The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) 

Wentz and Mack started the match fighting for wrist control, but they quickly started trading lucha arm drags and ranas. Xavier and Swann followed, also with a great sequence of reversals. Everyone ended up exchanging ranas into a stalemate. 

Back from commercial, Xavier and Swann were still at it. The Rascalz gained the upper hand with some quick tags and double-team moves. Swann dodged a moonsault by Xavier to get the tag to Mack, who took out Wentz with a German suplex, then hit the Samoan drop and moonsault on Xavier for a two count. 

Now in control, Mack and Swann worked on Xavier with a twisting neckbreaker for two. Xavier tried to make a comeback with strikes, which Mack blocked, but Xavier at least managed to tag in Wentz.

The Rascalz went for a tag move, but Mack blocked them and once again took it to Xavier, ending with a jumping rana by Swann and a frog splash by Mack for the pin. Good match, but it was a bit too one-sided. 

All four men embraced after the match.

We got a video from Ken Shamrock where he addressed Moose’s comments from recent weeks. Shamrock said that he’s seen what tough guys look like and Moose isn’t one of them. Shamrock read out his list of accolades and said that he will be there for the Vegas tapings. Shamrock’s arms look unreal.

Melissa Santos interviewed Moose about the video. Moose said that Shamrock was an “attention whore” and that Moose is better than Shamrock in all ways. Moose said that if Shamrock comes to Las Vegas, he’ll take him out. Fallah Bahh interrupted Moose and challenged him to another match.

We got an announcement video hyping Johnny Swinger’s debut.

Santos interviewed Taya Valkyrie about defending the Knockouts title tonight. Taya said that she’ll defend the title against someone that everyone has been talking about and that once she does, she’ll return to Slamtown and celebrate breaking the record with her husband. 

The Desi Hit Squad were riding horses in the Deaner compound and doing some hard work. The Deaners made them shovel a pile of manure and made them sleep among the horses. Rohit Raju is really enjoying this life.

We got a video package for the ongoing feud between Su Yung and Havok. They face off next week.

Sami Callihan cut a promo on Tessa Blanchard for interfering last week. He said that maybe Blanchard will finally learn to not mess with him and he said that he is now done with her and Tommy Dreamer.

Callihan said that he wants his World Championship shot and Impact management hasn’t given it to him. He said that if Brian Cage can’t get in the ring with him, then he expects to be granted the title. He gave management a one-week ultimatum for Cage to come out and give him his shot or oVe will burn the company to the ground. Good promo.

Taya came down for her match and cut a promo introducing her challenger. She cut the promo in both English and Spanish. 

Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie (w/ John E. Bravo) defeated Big Mami to retain her title

The “big surprise” was Big Mami, which the crowd did pop for. Commentary straight up said they really hoped for Tenille Dashwood. 

The first move of the match was Mami doing the Matrix to dodge Taya’s running clothesline. But from there on, Taya squashed Mami with forearms and kicks.

Halfway through the match, Big Mami had a hope spot when she hit a Stink Face and Bronco Buster, but when she went for a moonsault, she landed on her head. Taya locked in an STF for the submission win. The moonsault was incredibly scary — commentary couldn’t react to it in a serious manner and the crowd didn’t know how to react. 

After the match, Taya bragged about winning. Dashwood then made her much-anticipated debut. She looked like a superstar.

Taya called her something that had to be bleeped out, so Dashwood took her down. Bravo tried to save Taya, but Dashwood took him out with The Spotlight. Taya ran away, and Dashwood posed with the Knockouts title in the ring. Strong debut for Dashwood. 

Jordynne Grace & Chik Tormenta vs. Kiera Hogan & Vanilla Vargas (w/ Madison Rayne) ended in a no contest

Vanilla and Tormenta started the match, trading a couple of strikes and kicks. Tormenta had the upper hand early on with a fisherman suplex for a two count. Vanilla came back with a bulldog and tagged in Hogan.

When Tormenta went for the tag to Grace, Rayne pulled Grace from the apron. Grace and Rayne started brawling, so the referee threw the match out. 

After the bell, everyone brawled around the ramp until Rosemary came down to even the odds and send the heels running. We got the announcement that this was now a trios match.

Jordynne Grace, Rosemary & Chik Tormenta defeated Kiera Hogan, Madison Rayne & Vanilla Vargas

Rosemary and Rayne started the match, with the latter doing everything possible to evade and run away from Rosemary. Hogan came in and did try to attack Rosemary, but Hogan took a sidewalk slam instead. Grace asked for the tag, but Rosemary made her wait. 

Grace came in and ran wild on Hogan. She hit a couple of running attacks but failed to land the Vader Bomb. She and Hogan exchanged rolling pins until Hogan got a superkick in.

Tormenta and Vanilla tagged in and went back into striking. Tormenta earned a two count with a modified driver. Vanilla hit a botched Iconoclasm and followed with a corner spear, setting up for a springboard elbow for a two count. Tormenta and Vanilla took each other out with a double clothesline. 

Rosemary tagged in, but Rayne and Hogan jumped off the apron and left Vanilla alone in the ring. Rosemary hit a Butterfly Bomb on Vanilla for the win. This wasn’t bad, but it was too short. Hogan and Grace looked great. Vanilla has potential as a heel, but she really needs to work on her wrestling.

The Impact Plus Moment of the Week was again Ken Shamrock vs. Malice for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship from the first NWA/TNA show.

Ace Austin was working out at the beach and tricked Alisha Edwards into meeting him there. Austin set up a fake mugging so he could beat up some dudes and defend Alisha. This was way goofy, but it played into Austin’s dumb egocentric gimmick. Alisha’s acting was terrible as usual.

Afterwards, they revealed that Austin had paid off Reno Scum to be the fake muggers. 

Konnan and LAX were backstage when The North approached them. Ethan Page told LAX that they don’t belong in Impact anymore. Konnan threatened Page and Josh Alexander and demanded a Tag Team title shot.

Santana cut a promo saying that it was LAX that put Impact on the map again, which came off as a bit condescending if you ask me. Ortiz got hot and put their Impact careers on the line if they got a Tag title shot. The North accepted the match. Konnan was great, but Page outshined Santana and Ortiz by a mile.

Michael Elgin defeated Rhino in a falls count anywhere match

The match started at the ramp when Elgin rushed Rhino. They brawled around the ring. Rhino clotheslined the ring post to injure his arm, which Elgin targeted throughout the match. They traded momentum just ramming each other on the guardrails. Rhino was the first to go for a pin after dropping Elgin on the apron back-first. 

Finally in the ring, Elgin slammed Rhino and followed with a springboard plancha for a two count. They traded strikes in the middle of the ring until Elgin dropped Rhino with an enzuigiri. They once again brawled to the floor and traded chops again. 

Back from commercial, both men were still brawling outside the ring. Rhino was bringing out a couple of chairs from under the ring, but the distraction gave Elgin the time to recover and take the chair from Rhino’s hands. Elgin set up Rhino in a chair. He delivered a couple of strikes and a flying clothesline from the apron, earning a two count.

They brawled into the crowd and traded more chops. They started climbing higher into the crowd, which exposed that the show wasn’t all that packed. 

After a couple of minutes striking each other, Rhino teased suplexing Elgin to the floor, but Elgin blocked and knocked out Rhino on his feet. They went back down to the floor, with Rhino regaining control.

They brawled up to the stage. Rhino went for a piledriver, but Elgin escaped and hit a lariat and a series of forearms for a two count. Rhino hit a suplex on the ramp for two. 

Rhino brought out a table. Elgin superkicked Rhino and went to hit him with a chair a couple of times, but Rhino then used the chair to low blow Elgin. Rhino finally went for The Gore, but Elgin dodged him, sending Rhino straight through the table in the corner. Elgin followed with an Elgin Bomb for the win.

The match was okay, but it was nothing special. It felt long and tedious.

Final Thoughts — 

The episode started strong, but it dragged towards the end. The crowd was really quiet, making matches like the main event feel a lot less heated than the action in the ring was trying to portray. The ongoing storylines did develop throughout the show in a positive way.