Impact Wrestling results: Mash-Up Tournament
Tonight’s Impact episode was a special one-night-only tournament edition, taped in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
The Twitch stream was hosted by Melissa Santos from St. Clair College in Windsor, where Impact is holding their new set of tapings. She joined tonight’s St. Clair E-Team vs. Impact Wrestling Fortnite tournament.
Josh Mathews and Don Callis introduced the show and presented the logistics of the Mash-Up Tournament. It is technically a tournament of Parejas Increibles like in CMLL, taking two wrestlers currently in a feud and teaming them together in this tag team tournament. The winning team will face each other for a World title shot.
Sami Callihan cut a promo talking about his match against Tessa Blanchard at Slammiversary and their Mash-Up team. Blanchard then said that she is the team captain and Callihan just needs to follow her lead.
Moose & Eddie Edwards defeated Rohit Raju & Cody Deaner (w/ Raj Singh and Cousin Jake) in a Mash-Up Tournament first round match
Raju and Moose started the match, but Raju tagged out quickly. Deaner went for strikes and took down Moose. Edwards came in and suffered the same fate at Deaner’s strikes, but Moose actually saved Edwards with the distraction.
Raju tagged in and got chopped by Edwards, but Raj Singh interfered, giving Raju the opening to get the upper hand. Edwards went for a comeback, but Raju went for the eyes and kept control, tagging Deaner in. Raju and Deaner went for a double suplex, but Moose saved Edwards again and they started working together like their old tag team days.
Deaner got rid of Moose, hit a powerslam on Edwards, and went for his finisher, but Raju tagged in and mocked Deaner. Moose took advantage of the miscommunication and took out Deaner while Edwards hit the Boston Knee Party on Raju to win and advance. Okay match, nothing special.
After the match, The Deaners and Desi Hit Squad brawled, with the latter getting the upper hand in this feud as they took Cody Deaner out.
– Jimmy Jacobs interviewed Ace Austin and Aiden Prince. Prince tried to answer the question about their match tonight, but Austin just cut him off and talked down to him. Austin said he didn’t even need Prince there, so Prince took off — leaving Austin without a partner for tonight.
– We got a commercial for Impact’s California tour in August for two specials and a set of TV tapings.
– We got a video about women’s wrestling, narrated by Tessa Blanchard saying that they will break barriers and continue to make history. This was really awesome.
– Backstage, Moose and Edwards celebrated their win.
Zachary Wentz & Jake Crist defeated Rich Swann & Madman Fulton in a Mash-Up Tournament first round match
Forcing enemies to team with each other, and now forcing a team to fight each other too as Jake takes on Fulton. Before the match started, Swann slapped Fulton to motivate him just like Callihan does.
Fulton started against Wentz, completely dominating him and tossing him around. Fulton went for the one-handed chokeslam, but Wentz dodged and hit a rana. Swann tagged in and did a sequence of rana reversals before Jake tagged himself in. Jake came in and hit a great kick combo on Swann, gaining control of the match.
Back from commercial, Swann and Jake were exchanging strikes and roll-ups, but it was Jake and Wentz that kept the upper hand. Wentz got a couple of near falls after a standing moonsault and a Last Chancery.
Swann made a comeback and hit an OsCutter, but he couldn’t get the tag to Fulton. Swann fought off Jake with another OsCutter, and this time he was about to tag Fulton, but the big man just got in the ring, took out Wentz, turned on Swann, an hit a couple of one-handed chokeslams before setting Swann up for Jake to pin after a fisherman’s buster.
Wentz & Jake advance, and I presume Jake earns a shot at Swann’s X-Division Championship too. Good action if nothing else.
– Backstage, Ace Austin asked Madison Rayne to be his partner by using magic tricks. Rayne rejected him, calling him a court jester. Considering that she doesn’t have a shot at the title, she should have considered. Adventure Man Stone Rockwell jumped in and took the spot.
Michael Elgin & Willie Mack defeated Stone Rockwell & Ace Austin in a Mash-Up Tournament first round match
Elgin jumped Rockwell and Austin before the match. He started with the upper hand on Austin as he tagged in Mack to take care of him. Mack and Austin did a short sequence of counters and reversals. Austin used his speed to get some kicks on Mack and killed any momentum Elgin and Mack got with the opening attack.
Austin and Rockwell had some team issues, giving Mack the opening to hit the Samoan drop and moonsault combo before tagging in Elgin, who came in to big chants of “Big Mike.” Elgin hit a couple of kicks on Austin before going for the Elgin Bomb, but Austin escaped and tagged Rockwell.
Rockwell got a suplex on Elgin, but distracted himself by playing to the crowd, allowing Elgin to recover and hit the Buckle Bomb and Elgin Bomb combo for the win. This was pretty much a squash.
– oVe cut a promo backstage saying they had plans for tonight with a series of “Finger Pokes of Doom” all the way to the finals, where Callihan would take care of Blanchard again and finally get his title shot.
– Jacobs interviewed Taya Valkyrie about the three-way match tonight. Valkyrie said that in tonight’s match, she wouldn’t be putting the Knockouts Championship on the line. Jacobs asked about Johnny Impact, but John E. Bravo acted as though the question was about him and said they’re not married yet. Valkyrie was disgusted.
Tessa Blanchard & Sami Callihan defeated Dave Crist & Trey Miguel in a Mash-Up Tournament first round match
Miguel was cosplaying as Callihan. Blanchard came off as a superstar tonight after her match against Callihan at Slammiversary. Even before the match, Blanchard and Callihan were showing a lot of miscommunication, but it didn’t matter because Callihan had a plan.
Callihan and Dave started the match. Callihan went straight for the Finger Poke of Doom, but Miguel broke the pin!
All four competitors argued in the ring, which ended with Blanchard and Miguel kind of teaming up to take care of Callihan and Dave. Miguel went for a suicide dive on Callihan, but he got out of the way and Miguel took out Dave.
Miguel went at it again — and this time took out both oVe members. Callihan retaliated by going after Miguel’s eyes, chopping him, and when he went for the spit chop, Miguel woke up and superkicked him.
Back in the ring, Callihan worked over Miguel, and as much as Blanchard and the fans chanted for a tag, Callihan wouldn’t tag in Blanchard. Miguel dodged some lariats and went for a tornado DDT, but Callihan reversed it and took out Miguel.
Blanchard finally tagged herself in and got slammed onto Miguel in return. Blanchard hit a running elbow and kick combo on Miguel, only for Callihan to chop Blanchard in the back as a tag. Blanchard responded by slamming Callihan over Miguel this time.
Callihan continued working on Miguel, but kept getting distracted by Blanchard, allowing Miguel to hit a Cheeky Nandos kick and the Trey19, but he failed to land the meteora.
Dave and Blanchard tagged in, with the latter going strike crazy on Dave. Blanchard hit a cutter and the corner codebreaker for a two count. She went for Magnum, but Dave dodged. Dave hit a version of the GTR before Miguel tagged in again. Blanchard fought off both Dave and Miguel before eating a Square & Compass by Miguel and a DDT by Dave. Callihan broke up the pin.
Miguel went for the Cactus Special, but Blanchard reversed to a roll-up for a two count. She spiked Miguel with a tilt-a-whirl DDT, getting the opening to tag in Callihan, who took some kicks by Miguel, but reversed the Cactus Special.
Blanchard hit Magnum and Sami hit the Cactus Special to pick up the win. Really good and fun match. The finals is a four-way elimination match with all the winning teams.
– Backstage, Blanchard and Callihan argued about their team dynamic.
– The Impact Plus Moment of the Week was oVe vs. Tommy Dreamer, Eddie Edwards & Moose in a street fight from Redemption.
Havok defeated Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie (w/ John E. Bravo) and Madison Rayne in a non-title triple threat match
Taya and Rayne tried to team up against the bigger Havok, but it was to no avail, as Havok simply took out Taya and tossed Rayne to the buckle. Taya returned with strikes on Havok and set up the running hip attack and knees to the corner. Rayne took advantage and hit Taya with an enzuigiri, but Taya took care of her too.
Havok returned to the match, choked Taya, and tossed her around by the hair a couple of times. Bravo distracted the referee, allowing Taya to rake the eyes and give Rayne the opening for a DDT on Havok. Taya speared Rayne, but ate a big boot by Havok before going down herself.
All three exchanged strikes in the middle of the ring, with Havok winning the battle. Havok carried both women and hit a Samoan drop and fallaway slam combo on both. Havok hit a couple of running boots on Taya before Bravo saved Taya by pulling her away from the match.
Rayne went for a hurricanrana, but Havok blocked it and hit a piledriver for the win. Taya and Bravo ran away.
– Jacobs interviewed Elgin backstage. Elgin said that it was perfect that once he wins the tournament tonight, he beats Mack at Unbreakable. He also talked about his upcoming non-title match with Impact World Champion Brian Cage.
Tessa Blanchard & Sami Callihan defeated Eddie Edwards & Moose, Micheal Elgin & Willie Mack, and Zachary Wentz & Jake Crist in the Mash-Up Tournament finals
The match was going to start with Blanchard and Edwards, but Callihan and Blanchard kept distracting each other by tagging in and out, which gave Edwards the opening to start with the upper hand.
Callihan and Edwards exchanged some strikes until Moose tagged himself in. He was going for the big discus lariat, but Callihan grabbed the Groin Claw. Edwards returned to the match to exchange a couple of more strikes. Edwards and Callihan played cat and mouse a bit until Elgin tagged himself in on Callihan.
Elgin and Edwards traded strikes for the first time in Impact. Edwards dove on Callihan and a brawl spilled out outside the ring with all competitors involved. Moose powerbombed Edwards on top of everyone outside.
Back from commercial, Elgin and Moose were wrestling and exchanged German suplexes. Edwards and Elgin went at it again and did an awesome exchange of forearms and kicks.
Mack came in, took out Edwards, and hit a tope con giro on everyone outside. Elgin hit a back fist, the Buckle Bomb, and the Elgin Bomb to eliminate the team of Edwards & Moose.
Callihan tossed Wentz into the ring while he brawled with Mack outside. Wentz went for some kicks, but Elgin blocked him. Wentz got a corkscrew for a two count. Mack and Jake came in. Mack went for the standing moonsault, but Jake got his knees up. Instead of tagging Wentz, Jake tagged in Callihan.
Callihan worked over Mack for a bit before Mack came back with the Samoan drop and moonsault combo. Elgin got in the ring and took out Wentz and Jake before Blanchard stepped up to him. Callihan in a way saved Blanchard by taking her out, but ate a forearm by Elgin instead.
Elgin took out his partner Mack and left the match. Does he remember there is a World title shot on the line? Callihan took out Mack with the Cactus Special to formally eliminate Elgin & Mack.
We found ourselves in the same situation as before, but Blanchard and Callihan actually acted like a team this time around and got into a kick fight with Wentz and Jake, the latter earning a two count on Blanchard after a spinning kick, but Callihan broke it up.
Callihan and Jake went face to face. They went for the Finger Poke of Doom, but Jake tried to roll-up Callihan instead for a two count. They fought and superkicked each other, ending with Callihan hitting the Cactus Special, followed by Magnum from Blanchard for the win.
It will be Blanchard vs. Callihan II at the Unbreakable Impact Plus special on August 2 with a shot at the World title on the line.
Final thoughts —
This was an interesting show. It was self contained, and while it’s not following the fallout of Slammiversary, the title contention on the line between Blanchard and Callihan is a big story development that surely builds all the way to Bound for Glory. The wrestling was good — with some fun tag matches.