Impact Wrestling results: LAX vs. The Rascalz, Taya vs. Rosemary

Impact Wrestling returned from the 2300 Arena this week for the final episode of the Philadelphia tapings.

This week’s main event was LAX defending their Tag Team titles against The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz). In addition, Rosemary took on Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie in a non-title match, oVe faced Fallah Bahh & Scarlet Bordeaux, and Kiera Hogan battled Jordynne Grace.

The video recap of last week’s episode touched on the ECW originals taking on Moose & The North, Tessa Blanchard knocking out Glenn Gilbertti, LAX and The Rascalz agreeing to tonight’s match, the street fight between Eddie Edwards and Killer Kross, and the announcement that Brian Cage will return at Slammiversary to defend his World title against Michael Elgin.

The Twitch stream was hosted by Melissa Santos from Impact’s new set of tapings at the Melrose Ballroom in Queens, New York. There were several cameos from the roster.

Ace Austin defeated Cousin Jake (w/ Cody Deaner)

This was a speed vs. power match with Austin using his speed and kicks to take down Jake, but as soon as Jake would get his hands on Austin, he’d stop him and drop him. There was some miscommunication on a spot to get Jake outside for Austin to do his headstand into a kick, so they repeated the spot.

Once outside, Austin dove, only to get caught by Jake and slammed onto the apron. Jake followed with a running splash on the apron too, getting a two count.

Austin went for a Disaster Kick, but Jake just blocked him. Jake went for a spear to the corner, but Austin dodged, distracted the referee, and paper cut Jake’s hand. Austin hit a kick and a famouser for a two count.

Austin worked on the same injured hand, attempting a Kimura or a Vice, but Jake slowly started to power up and flip Austin off. Austin chopped Jake to no avail, so he hit another kick and the Curb Stomp, setting up The Fold, but Jake recovered and hit a huge lariat to earn himself a couple of seconds to recover.

Jake hit a close distance clothesline and a Michinoku Driver for a two count. Jake hit the corner spear, but suddenly, the Desi Hit Squad attacked Cody Deaner outside the ring, distracting Jake enough for Austin to hit The Fold for the win. Pretty good match — both men have a lot of potential.

– Melissa Santos interviewed Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie about facing Rosemary tonight. Taya said that she has moved on from fighting Rosemary and now Rosemary is crawling her way back to the championship. She said that tonight, she reminds Rosemary who she is.

Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie defeated Rosemary (w/ Su Yung) by DQ in a non-title match

The match started and Rosemary stayed distracted with Yung, giving Taya the opening to tackle Rosemary down and deliver a set of strikes, stomps, and hip attacks. Taya hit running knees to the corner.

Rosemary recovered and locked in the Upside Down to earn some distance. She went for a missile dropkick, but Taya dodged and hit a release German suplex in return. Rosemary got a desperation slingblade and a reverse DDT for a two count.

Rosemary hit a spear for another two count. She then followed with a Koji Clutch, but suddenly, James Mitchell brought out Jessicka Havok.

Havok and Rosemary had a staredown before Rosemary went to punch Havok, only to get blocked and taken down with one clothesline. Havok delivered a Tombstone piledriver on Rosemary.

Taya tried to run, but Havok caught her with a chokeslam. Mitchell released Yung from her chains. Yung, Havok, and Mitchell all left together. The match was pretty bad, but the ending angle saved it.

– The Rascalz were in the treehouse preparing for tonight’s main event against LAX. Trey Miguel wants to fight tonight, but he’ll just be out there supporting Zachary Wentz and Dezmond Xavier. Miguel’s character, like Ortiz, seems to be developing a drinking problem.

– The Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the Week was Shane Douglas vs. Raven in a hair vs. hair match from September 17, 2003.

– Backstage, Eddie Edwards thanked The Sandman for his help last week and told him that he can’t accept Sandman’s kendo stick because it’s not Kenny. Sandman drew a face on the stick and Eddie accepted it. This wasn’t good.

– We got a video showcasing Brian Cage’s recovery and him training to get back in the ring.

– Backstage, Michael Elgin cut a promo on Cage, telling him that he has proven that he can destroy Brian Cage. Elgin said that while Cage is at home being a coward, he’s out there sending people to the hospital. Elgin said that next week, he is sending Willie Mack to the hospital once and for all.

Madman Fulton (w/ Sami Callihan) defeated Firework Foxx Vinyer and his partner in a two-on-one handicap match

Fulton quickly took both men down with a double clothesline. Fulton went on to suplex one man onto the other, bite them, take them out with big boots, and hit chokeslams. He delivered a double chokeslam and hit the End of Days on one man onto the other for the pin. Total dominant squash.

After the match, Callihan cut a promo against the Knockouts division and brought out Jake & Dave Crist for their tag match.

oVe (Jake & Dave Crist) defeated Fallah Bahh & Scarlett Bordeaux

Jake and Bahh started the match, with Bahh getting the early advantage thanks to his size. Early on, Callihan and Fulton tried to get involved, so the referee sent them to the back.

In the ring, Bahh hit an elbow and a running splash in the corner on Dave. Bahh went for another, but Dave dodged and tagged in Jake, who came in and managed to cut off Bahh from his corner.

oVe worked with quick tags and kept Bahh down. They choked him against the ropes and went after his eyes over and over again. After a couple of minutes of torture, Bahh started to power up and slapped himself into a comeback, only to get cut off again.

Eventually, Bahh caught Jake with a kick and tossed Dave to the outside, but he still couldn’t tag Bordeaux. Jake thought he could piledrive Bahh, but he ended up getting hit with a Banzai Drop from Bahh. Finally, Bordeaux got the tag.

Bordeaux came in hot and hit a couple of hurricanranas and hip attacks on the Crist brothers. Bordeaux hit a flying crossbody and sent both Crists to the outside, setting them up for a Fallah Bahh tope suicida. Bordeaux followed with a top rope senton to the floor.

Back in the ring, Jake slammed Bordeaux and went for a Doomsday Device, but Bahh blocked Dave, allowing Bordeaux to hit a reverse rana on Jake. Bahh set up Dave for the Doomsday Device, which Bordeaux hit, earning a two count.

Bordeaux got on Bahh’s back and they went for the double Banzai Drop, but Dave dodged, grabbed a roll of quarters, and knocked Bahh out to steal the win.

This match got “this is awesome” chants. Bahh has lost a lot of weight and seems to be trying to change his moveset and do less comedy. Bordeaux looked great here too.

After the match, the Crist brothers attacked Bordeaux, but Tessa Blanchard came out for the save. Blanchard took on both Crists, dodging a superkick by Jake, who hit Dave. She low blowed Jake and hit the Magnum to send them packing. The crowd popped huge for Blanchard — she looked like a superstar.

– Santos interviewed Rich Swann and Willie Mack. She asked Mack about Elgin. Mack said that he’s not scared of Elgin and next week, he’ll teach him what The Mack is all about. Swann told Mack that he’ll have his back.

Johnny Impact interrupted them and told Swann that come Slammiversary, he’s cashing in his X-Division title shot. Johnny’s promo was amazing.

– Out in the parking lot, Callihan berated oVe for being embarrassed in the ring by Blanchard. Callihan threatened Blanchard that they’re not done.

Jordynne Grace defeated Kiera Hogan

Grace offered Hogan a handshake to start the match, but the now-heel Hogan rejected the offer. They started with a short sequence of reversals with Hogan having the speed advantage, getting the better of Grace, who had the power advantage and only needed to get her hands on Hogan to stop her.

Grace got an early two count after a second rope senton. She followed with a delayed Jackhammer for another two count. Hogan pleaded for forgiveness, but instead tried to cheap shot Grace, who caught her with a slap. The distraction was enough for Hogan to get a couple of kicks in afterwards in the corner, earning a one count.

Hogan choked Grace against the ropes and in the middle of the ring with a sleeper. She went for a suplex, but Grace simply used her power and hit her own suplex instead.

Hogan went for a knee version of Eat Defeat for a two count. She kicked Grace until Grace made a comeback and delivered a great desperation spinebuster. Grace slammed Hogan against the corner and hit a running knee and a Vader Bomb for a two count.

Grace went for a superplex, but Hogan escaped and went for a sunset bomb instead. After failing at that, Hogan superkicked Grace’s knee out and hit a neckbreaker instead for another two count.

Grace slammed Hogan for a two count, then followed with the Grace Driver for the win.

This was a great match, Hogan has improved so much since her last one-on-one match on Impact.

– LAX were in their clubhouse. Instead of preparing for their title defense tonight, Santana was sleeping and Ortiz was eating. Konnan berated them for not taking this seriously.

– Backstage, Moose cut a promo on the old ECW wrestlers, saying that they keep coming back and taking spots from others because they need to pay the rent. Moose challenged Rob Van Dam to a match at Slammiversary. Moose said that until RVD says yes, he’ll make his life a living hell.

Impact Tag Team Champions LAX (Santana & Ortiz) w/ Konnan defeated The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) w/ Trey Miguel by DQ

Wentz and Ortiz started the match with some chain wrestling and a couple of reversals, with Ortiz getting the upper hand early. They sped up to a series of reversals, with The Rascalz starting to do quick tags and getting rid of Ortiz after a Bronco Buster by Wentz.

Santana came in and got taken out with a kick combo. With both LAX members outside the ring, Wentz and Xavier dove to the outside.

Back in the ring, Wentz got the first near fall after a Swanton Bomb on Ortiz, only to have Santana make the save.

Back from commercial, both teams were exchanging quick moves back and forth, but LAX got the upper hand with a combo on Wentz, managing to cut him off from his corner. Santana looked for quick pin attempts after a German suplex and a backbreaker. Ortiz came in and got another two count after a combo, which Xavier broke up.

Outside the ring, we saw that Miguel had grabbed Ortiz’s flask and was drinking it.

In the ring, Wentz hit a desperation jumping knee on Santana to get some space and tag in Xavier, who took out Santana, hit a big elbow on Ortiz, and followed with a dropkick to the spine, sending him to the outside. That was followed with a suicide dive.

Xavier hit the wheel kick on Santana, only to get taken out by Ortiz’s enzuigiri. LAX went for roll-ups on Wentz, but Xavier broke them up again. The Rascalz hit Hot Fire Flame, but Ortiz broke the pin up at the last moment. Outside the ring, Ortiz grabbed his flask back, drank a bit, but got hit by Xavier, causing him to mist the referee.

Suddenly, the drunk Miguel got in the ring, hit a meteora on Santana, and pinned him. A second referee came in and counted the pin, but the official referee recovered, reversed the decision, and granted LAX the win by disqualification after Miguel’s interference.

The fans weren’t happy with the finish, but they reacted well to the referee fixing the decision. Overall, this was a good match — these two teams will be having great matches once they get more time.

Final thoughts —

This show felt like it had better direction towards Slammiversary than the previous weeks. The work inside the ring was really good and took precedence over the backstage segments. It was a night where people like Kiera Hogan and Fallah Bahh were out there trying to impress.