Impact Wrestling 12.10 Review: Shamrock vs Callihan

[cero2k]

Impact Wrestling
December 10th, 2019
Queens, NY

Full Recap: https://www.f4wonline.com/news/impact-w ... han-299251

Old School Rules match
Rob Van Dam (w/Katie Forbes) vs Rhino - 4/10
Tommy Dreamer served as the special guest referee. Old School Rules means that there are no rules according to Don Callis. 5-Star Frog Splash to pick up the win. Match was weak, way to slow even for these guys, but the last minutes were ok. It was mostly punches, kicks, and weak weapon shots. After the match, RVD attacked Dreamer with a Superkick.

Sami Callihan Promo - he cut a promo saying that oVe equals ratings and that Impact owes everything to him. He said that the Crist brothers are winning tonight’s Tag Team No. 1 Contendership match, that Fulton will destroy Tessa tonight, and that he will hurt and defeat Ken Shamrock. Good promo.

Hard To Kill Updates - Josh Matthews and Don Callis ran down the card for tonight, talked about ODB being added to the Knockout’s Title match at Hard To Kill, and announced that Eddie Edwards vs Michael Elgin has been signed for Hard To Kill. Tonight’s theme is Pick Your Poison style, with Tessa picking Sami’s opponent, and vice versa.

Moose vs Acey Romero - 7/10
Finish saw Acey go for a running splash to the corner, but Moose dodged and hit the No Jackhammer Needed for the win. Pretty good hoss fight, a lot of shoulder tackles and chops, with some Moose dropkicks and the big Acey spots like his Dive and Pounce.

James Mitchell/Suzie Skit - Somewhere in the Underworld, James Mitchell kept introducing Suzie around, when she accidentally touched the noose she was hanged with, which kinda gave her flashbacks to her former self. Not sure why Mitchell decided the noose should stay as decoration.

Michael Elgin Interview - Gabbi Loren interviewed Michael Elgin, asking about his motivation to interrupt the Cage vs Edwards match last week. Elgin said that he attacked him both to show Impact mgmt that he had defeated them before and he didn’t get anything out of it. He challenge Eddie Edwards to put his title shot on the line at Hard To Kill.

Fallah Bahh vs Raj Singh (w/Desi Hit Squad) - 6.5/10
Two weeks ago, Raj and Rohit attacked Bahh, so he came in hot and went after them. This was pretty decent and enough back and forward to not call it a squash, just a short match instead. Bahh looked great, and surprisingly, Raj got a chance to shine a bit too. Bahh won with the Banzai Drop.

Post-match - Rohit caught Bahh with a Superkick and him and Raj jumped him until TJP made his return and took out both Hit Squad members with kicks and DDTs.

Backstage, Joey Ryan is told to go to the management office, which is all a rouse since it’s in the bathroom. It turns out it’s Wrestler’s Court, judged by Tommy Dreamer.

Joey Ryan Goes To Wrestler's Court - This was done in People’s Court comedy style. It’s Johnny Swinger accusing Joey Ryan for not helping him out last week, but overall, Joey is being accused that he is killing the business. Joey Ryan is not selling it and is calling this stupid.

We got a cameo by the returning KM. D’Lo Brown was a witness and is revealed to be called Dee Lorean Brown. Several wrestlers made statements against Joey Ryan’s penis. Joey Ryan made a statement against all those people that try to take all their insecurities and failures against him. Ryan said that wrestling should be fun.

Dreamer proclaimed that Ryan was sentenced to face Acey Romero in a match. This was stupid, but hilarious. I think we all felt like Joey Ryan for a while. This segment was apparently written by R.D. Evans.

Tornado Tag for the No. 1 Contenders to the World Tag Team Championships
Rich Swann & Willie Mack vs The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) vs oVe (Jake and Dave Crist) vs Reno Scum - 7.5/10
This is Tornado Style, so no tags necessary in this match, as everyone is in the right at the same time. One fall to the finish.

Great action packed match, the story was mostly that Mack injured himself in a dive and so Swann had to wrestle by himself, building to another 'great underdog Swann performance'. I didn’t see the need in doing the Mack injury angle unless it becomes a thing all the way to Hard To Kill.

Backstage, Josh Alexander wants to go and take out Swann, but Page stops him and tells him to trust him and do it his way instead.

Taya Valkyrie Interview - Loren interviewed Taya Valkyrie about having to defend her title against ODB and Jordynne Grace. Taya said that everyone is always trying to get in her space. She doesn’t understand why Jordynne would help ODB get in the match and worsen her chances at winning. Taya said that at Hard To Kill, she proves she’s the woman on power. Usual great Taya promo.

Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the Week - It was ODB vs Gail Kim vs Brooke Tessmacher from Bound For Glory 2013. I had completely forgotten about Lei’d Tapa.

Brian Cage Interview - Jimmy Jacobs interviewed Brian Cage backstage. Cage talked about losing the championship, the rematch, and the chance to regain it. Cage said he supported Tessa as the new contender to Sami’s championship and said that he will be looking close to whoever wins. He said that for now, he wants to take the opportunity to challenge someone he hasn’t had the chance to fight. Suddenly, RVD and Katie Forbes started making out on the couch they Cage and Jacobs were on. Cage was annoyed at RVD.

Before leaving, RVD said that Cage has stolen a lot of his moves, except for the time he got beat by Tessa.

Tessa Blanchard vs Madman Fulton - No Rating, ok segment
This match was more of a squash with Tessa having a great hope spot until Jake and Dave Crist interrupted and gave her win DQ win, but the beat down. Fulton was about to chokeslam her when suddenly, Ken Shamrock came out for the save. Shamrock took out both Crists, faced off against Fulton, starting fighting him, but Callihan came out and pulled Fulton away, Callihan wanted Shamrock for himself.

Sami Callihan vs Ken Shamrock - No Rating, better segment, mainly overall
This was more of a match, but also felt like an extension of the previous match. This was mostly Callihan antagonizing Shamrock, trying to piss him off by slapping him and spitting at him, and Shamrock straight up kicking Callihan's ass.

It all built to Callihan taking out the ref and Fulton coming out, knocking out Shamrock, allowing Callihan to lock in the Ankle Lock and winning via ref stoppage since Shamrock was out.

Post-match - Madman Fulton came back, hit an End of Days on Shamrock, giving Callihan to lock in the Ankle Lock, but with Shamrock already knocked out, the referee awarded the match to Callihan via ref stoppage.

After the match, Callihan celebrated while Shamrock recovered. Fulton went after Shamrock again and had to be pulled off by Callihan, but drowned in the rage, Fulton even pushed off Callihan. Fulton hit a Front-facing Suplex on Shamrock to the outside, it looked ugly enough that even Callihan told Fulton to stop. Referees checked on Shamrock as the show went off. I wonder if this 'unleashed' Fulton will go anywhere.

OVERALL THOUGHTS
An ok show for Impact. We got some good wrestling and a great Wrestler’s Court skit, but not many great storyline developments.