Impact Wrestling Uncivil War

Impact has a live co-promoted show on at the same time as the Summerslam pre-show - but starting an hour earlier. Josh and Sonjay talk about how big Knoxville was many years ago, with its last hurrah probably being the SMW Night of the Legends show. Josh calls Kane the mayor of Knoxville - well, he's the mayor of Knox county and not Knoxville. Sonjay tells folks to get either an Uber or a Lyft to the show if you're in the area - and Josh says that if either of them want to sponsor the show, then they'll be biased.

Rich Swann is out for the opener with Sydal facing Menace and AR Fox. Ads are constant on this show and randomly placed - so I missed the opening action. Sydal works with Menace for a bit while Josh talks about Impact building bridges with any company out there.Swann comes in and sends AR packing before Fox blocks a cutter and hits a splash. Sonjay talks about Sydal leading a yoga class at an airport gate one time. Fox hits a moonsault off the post to the floor! Sydal avoids a spin kick and hits a Cro Cop kick and a Paige turner for an ad break. And then the finish happens and I miss it. Okay, these random ad breaks are terrible.

Trevor Lee faces Myron Reed next. Josh talks about Trevor being born into pro wrestling - but doesn't mention his departed father. Myron hits a big dropkick for an ad break. Sonjay mocks Josh for him not being able to grow a beard before Josh buries Sonjay for having to redo his facial recognition when he grew one out. NO TOUCH TOPE GO HILO BY MYRON! Deadlift German leads to a flip! GIANT TAKER DIVE! AND ANOTHER! Mushroom stomp wins it! Sonjay calls this a star-making appearance - and it was for Myron.

Su is out to face Nicole Pain. Nicole hits shotgun knees. Josh talks about how TMZ reported Su Yung lost the title to Tessa at hte tapings. Nicole hits a giant dive off the top to the floor. Sonjay asks if Josh will gamble in Vegas and Josh says he's an adult and his wife hasn't been seen since she was put in a coffin! Pain hits a corkscrew splash for 2.5. Su hits a giant palm strike and lands a draping pedigree for 2. Nicole hits a DVD and a head kick for the win! This was pretty good stuff - Nicole pain shined quite a bit. Josh says Nicole Pain should be seen on Thursdays soon.

Joey Ryan faces Eli Drake next, which Sonjay is hyped about due to how goofy Joey is. Sonjay talks about what Joey's famous for - but he can't talk about it, BUT HE WILL - he's the King of Dong Style. Eli says he hates blowpolls - so Joey rubs baby oil on himself. Eli talks to Joey's dick for a while and Joey calls him out for interviewing his dick. I guess Joey's the mayor of Cox County.

We get a bit of wrestling alongside the dick spots. Joey goes for a dick flip on Eli, but Eli's dick just isn't strong enough. Joey forces Eli's hand on his dick and he lands the dick flip hiptoss for 2! An ad break nixes the finish, but Eli wins it somehow.

The War Kings, who were VOW in Impact, are out for a non-title match against the Lynch Mob. The Lynches go for a double dive, but the vets hit a pair of forearms to end that before Crimson hits a back suplex for 2. Dain hits a big double Samoan drop! Joey tags in with stinger splashes and corner knees, before landing a DDT. A one on 2 tope takes out the kings. Joey goes up top for a moonsault to the pair. Crimson pops one of them up for a double team spinebuster. VOW hits a 3D on one guy, but the other gets a schoolboy on Crimson for 3.

Eddie Edwards is out and twirls the streamers with his kendo stick to face Lenny Stratton  Eddie eats an arm wringer into the corner. Eddie stuffs streamers down the throat. Josh rattles off a list of where folks are streaming from - but pretty much stops after Dudleyville since he says he doubts it. Eddie gets the backpack stunner for 2. Ad break and the match is over. Yowza.

Hoodrich is out to face Moose. Hoodrich dominates in the corner, but eats some chops. Hoodrich attacks and Moose wants more. Moose lands the big spear and would've won, but Hoodrich's lawyer pulls the ref out. Hoodrich hits a cutter and Moose is just up before a spear and a big elbow off the second rope gets 2.5. Briefcase to the head gets 2.9. Ref gets bumped and Moose eats a superkick. Moose does an homage to Eddie putting the chair on his head and wins by DQ.

Sami's out to face Matt Cross, who really needs to work in a mask now given that he looks 55 with his balding hair and what's left is all grey. Springboard elbow to Sami! Sami hits the apron piledriver after spitting. Sami hits his back with a chair. Sami charges in the corner, but eats a boot and a lariat. Sami gets a crossface, but eats a cutter for 2. SSP misses, so Sami tosses the ref into Matt and drives him down with the double arm DDT to win.

NXT Takeover Brooklyn 2018

Undisputed Era vs. Moustache Mountain starts things off. TUE demolishes Trent and Bate for a bit, before an indy standoff. The crowd is going balistic for EVERYTHING, it's nuts! Roddy is such a dickhead with his cocky kicks to the head. Tyler hits a German while IN A SLEEPER, and it's amazing. Running uppercut from Tyler leads to him eating a running flying lariat. Trent gets a big hot tag and runs wild. Trenteats a uranage and a Strong Hold while Tyler is in a triangle, which leads him to break up the Strong hold. Kyle eats a deadman dive and the Tyler Driver gets 2.9. Roddy gets an Indian deathlock, and Trent can't make a save due to the one save rule - which they should drive home better. Tag is made and the seven stars lariat gets 2.9! Burning hammer knee drop gets 2.9! Total Elimination to Trent ends it! After the match, the War Raiders maim TUE.

Velveteen gets a giant star video package and then gets a big star entrance. He's got CALL ME UP VINCE on his ass. This EC3-Dream kick in the corner bit is 1,000 times more contrived than anything from Ricochet-Ospreay. Dream goes for a sunset flip, so EC3 does a Rick Rude hip swivel and Dream pulls the tights down. Dream hits a twriling DDT on the ramp. EC3 can barely move and is struggling to even run the ropes. EC3 hits a sloppy STO after Dream dowses him with water. I'm astonished EC3 was able to actually land that somersault neckbreaker. HEADLOCK DRIVER GETS 2.9! Dream Valley Driver gets 2. DREAM VALLEY DRIVER ON THE APRON AND THEN A PURPLE RAINMAKER ON THE APRON ENDS IT!

Matt Riddle is shown in the crowd and gets a big BRO chant. Ricochet does some flips and rolls before landing a sweet dropkick while Cole goes for a leapfrog. Cole hits a backstabber on him after a handspring for 2. Cole avoids a quebrada with a superkick and then hits his suplex onto the knee thing for 2. Cole wins a crazy strike exchange for 2.5! REVERSE RANA BY RICOCHET HITS! He hits a running rana to the floor OFF THE APRON! 630 HITS AND HE WINS THE TITLE!

Marina, Jessamyn, and Ronda are ringside for Shayna-Kairi. Kairi sends her out with a dropkick to the floor. Shayna attacks the knee and blocks her attempt to guard by trapping the knee and slugging away. Shayna twists the foot around a bit before stomping it. Kairi gets a comeback, but eats a super gutwrench suplex. Shayna kicks the leg before a pump knee strike gets 2.5. Sane gets a spear and a second rope elbow before going for the insane elbow - but Shayna goes outside and eats a crossbody. INSANE ELBOW HITS FOR 2.9! Anchor is on, but Shayna gets the clutch! KAIRI GETS THE ROPES. Shayna gets a heel hook ANCHOR IN THE ROPES! Kairi goes for the elbow, but eats boots and the clutch is on! KAIRI CRADLES HER ALA BRET TO WIN IT!

I love that Ciampa has no theme music so you can hear the boos. Johnny jumps him during the ring intros! Johnny tosses Ciampa into the broacast area, but Ciampa recovers and hits an air raid crash from table to table! Ciampla hits a corner knee, but goes for it again with a chair and the brace eats the chair this time. Ciampa gets a sleeper and uses the ropes. Lawn Dart into the chair! Johnny sets up a nasty table deal. Two Project Ciampas hit and Ciampa just sits to enjoy the count, and eats a superkick. They slug it out and a slingshot spear is met with a punt. Johnny goes for a flip off the apron, but misses. Sitout pedigree from Ciampa on the steps!

Ciampa gets scissors and slices the ring up more. Johnny lands a crutch to the back. Outside in DDT on the wood. Johnny eats a shot and gets buried by people and things. JOHNNY GETS UP AT 9! Ciampa goes for handcuffs, but Johnny sends him into the post! They fight over the double tables, and Ciampa eats a superkick off the apron and goes through them! Gargano Escape on the stage and he locks him onto part of the stage! SUPERKICK! Ciampa says sorry, but Johnny says it's too late and kicks him again. Johnny hits a running knee with the pad down, but flies off the stage to seemingly set up a tie with Ciampa retaining. No, Ciampa flips over off the stage and actually wins! Wow. Johnny took things too far and lost.

Impact Wrestling Slammiversary 2018

Barry Scott does another voiceover package showcasing the year in Impact. He is absolutely remarkable in this role and makes the whole company feel major league once again. This thing is so great it almost makes the Madison-Young angle less stupid. The Moose-Aries video almost works too. The building itself looks fantastic and they've got a perfect lighting setup. The neon orange rope look cool too - a bit like peak OVW and NXT, but super-bright and they pop off the screen.

TNA gonna TNA with the BONE SOLIDER graphic. An IMPACT WRESTLING chant breaks out for the first time ever. Fenix does 5,000 things and Ishimori shines too with a big springboard rana. Fenix does a split-roped double jump rana onto Impact! Tons more stuff happens alongside a "THIS IS IMPACT" chant. Golden Triangle by Ishimori! TOWER OF DOOM SAMOAN DROP!

Sharpshooter to Ishimori, but Johnny comes in and gets 2 off a moonlight drive. Double somersault cutter by Fenix! Ishimori hits a shotgun dropkick and shotgun knees to Fenix. Superkicks aplenty, but Fenix hits a massive one! 450 hits Johnny, but Petey gets the destroyer! Fenix double stomps him for 2.9! Muscle buster up, but Johnny superkicks Fenix and hits Starship Pain to win! This match ruled!

The OGz talk about taking out LAX and taking the name back. Homicide in a PPV T-shirt just looks odd for the gangster gimmick.Tessa vs. Allie is up, and Allie is over huge in Toronto. They have an awkward armdrag and a weird basement crossbody. Rope shots miss for each, but Tessa smashes her with big forearms akin to Sheamus over the apron. Allie hits a blind dive to Tessa and she suplexes her into the buckle. Tessa avoids a death valley driver and counters it into the hammerlock DDT to win.

Moose is in a super-shiny silver and black suit and says the world will chant MOOSE. Okay then. Eddie vs. Tommy is hyped up nicely. Tommy and Eddie brawl a ton and Tommy hits a neckbreaker on the apron. Tommy avoids a sunset flip with a staple gun! Kendo sticks to the head for both before a double chair Spicolli Driver off the top! Boston Knee Party with a chair ends it for Eddie. We get some post-match stuff with his wife and they're  splitting for now.

Matt Sydal says some words in front of a floral backdrop. Sydal is hyped up as a veteran who wrestled on the first Victory Road and Cage is just gigantic. Sydal takes a nasty bump off the top to the apron and the floor. SSP is avoided, but Sydal hits the jumping kick, but he eats the discus lariat and flips for 2. Sydal goes for an SSP, but his foot catches the rope and Cage puts the boot up to give him something to grab quickly before ending it with the Drill Claw. All  hail the weapon X division champ!

Aries is an asshole backstage. Aries says that Moose's dream has been to be the man, but for him, he's done that his whole life. Rayne-Yung features the bridesmaids bringing a casket out. They have a really sloppy match and Su ends it with the mandible claw before they put Madison in a casket. LAX talks about having a battle plan tonight. The street fight is set up with painted tables and brooms in garbage cans - as it of course should be. The OGz come out of "the clubhouse" to show their superiority. LAX's extended intro theme is outstanding and makes them seem so different.

LAX has war paint and a brawl erupts. Hernandez hits a big double lariat, but Santana avoids a border toss. Double flip dives from LAX! Hernandez hits the deadman dive to both LAX guys. They fight on the stage and a backdrop from the ramp to the ring hits. Santana dives off of Homicide's back onto Hernandez, WHO CATCHES HIM and powerbombs him him 'cide chokes Ortiz. Santana hits a big FUCK YOU lionsault onto Hernandez. Street Sweeper to Homicide gets 2.9, and Homicide hits a flip dive tope through a table! Ortiz hits a running DVD through a table in the corner! Hernandez prevents another one and Border Tosses him through a table! Cannonball to Hernandez! Konnan chokes Homicide and tosses tacks in. Homicide has tacks thrown in his face and gets slammed on them. Frog splash hits and ends it! This was insane, but awesome. LAX eats a beating with a blackjack. King tags the belts - so this feud continues. YES!

Sami talks about beating Pentagon tonight. Josh talks about Pentagon's many accomplishments. Don talks abouts the Jericho Cruise and Impact vs. ROH, which is just bizarre. Stiff kicks start and Penta hits a slingblade. Sami eats a chop, but takes the vest down to eat a harder shot to prove that he can. Sami chairshots him and grabs a pair of spikes. He rips the mask up a bit to spike him and does so! Pentagon's tied by the mask and avoids a bat shot and hits a backstabber. PENTAGON SPIKES HIM WITH THE SECOND SPIKE! HE SPIKES HIM WITH THE BAT! THEY SPIKE EACH OTHER WITH A FRYE-TAKAYAMA EXCHANGE! Dueling slaps from a chair before we get dueling chair shots!

Sami eats two superkicks and a backstabber for 2! Penta goes for the arm snapper, showing just how terrible Sami's hair looks. Sami avoids it and Penta lands a chair toss before hitting the Crists with a chair. Sami tosses powder in the eyes and Penta attacks a ref and does the arm snapper to him! He gets a "you fucked up!" chant and Don says "he sure did" and the Pentagon driver hits, but there's no ref. Sami fish hooks the eyes and does the pulling piledriver for 2.9. A four chair bridge is set up by Sami, but he eats a Fear Factor through it and it only gets 2.9!

Goddamn what a great match! Sami wants kneeling superkicks and gets them! ARM SNAPPER! Fear Factor ends it! The Crists go to prevent the head shaving. Sami leaves, but Fenix attacks him and Penta grabs scissors and cuts his hair. Sami gets the clippers and the crowd chants "SHAVE HIS BEARD", which makes Sami go even crazier. This was just an incredible spectacle.

A Blue Jay comes out to hand the belt to the winner of the main event. Aries comes out with just the Impact belt, whicih looks fantastic on its own. A fan arguement between Mosoe and Aries breaks out. Aries slaps him, but Moose tosses him around. Aries sends him into the crowd for a countout win attempt. Aries hits a crucifix bomb, but Moose swings him around ringside. Guardrail pump kick hits for Moose! Moose tosses him from the ramp into the crowd! Discus forearm to the back of the head of Moose! BRAINBUSTER ON THE FLOOR! Aries grabs the belt, but the Blue Jay grabs it from him and Moose gets 2 off a schoolboy. PK and a brainbuster end it.

WWE Extreme Rules 2018

A wee bit late on this one - had a taxing shift at work, but better late than never and it was well-worth missing a PPV live in order to prove to myself that I can do whatever I set my mind to. Almas vs. Sin Cara on the damn pre-show features Almas taking a flip bump off the top to the apron, which is so stupid. Almas wins with a hammerlock DDT thanks to a Vega distraction - so he's just barely good enough to beat Sin Cara with cheating. Sanity beats New Day in a table match when EY elbows Kofi off the top to the floor.

Ronda and Travis Browne enter the building as fans. Deleter of Worlds face the B-Team, who get a huge pop. B-Team wins it after a mscue and Bo hits the draping neckbreaker on Matt - good for them, they're more over and it gives them some momentum. WWE actually comes off like they're rewarding a somewhat naturally-evolving act here. Kurt gives Brock an ultimatum to etiher show up on Raw to negotiate terms for his next defense or Brock will be stripped of the title. Balor comes out in new, awesome silver and black gear to face Constable Corbin. Balor wins off a cradle to avoid the End of Days.

We get a wacky WWE Superstar Memes video for Summerslam.  Kane is beaten up backstage by the Bludgeon Brothers with a door and Bryan is tossed into a sheet metal door. THE MALLET is used on a door on Kane's leg. NOT THE MALLET NO! Paige demands medical attention ASAP. Asuka vs. Carmella features an Edge-O-Matic to start and then Ellsworth drops a chain in the ring from the cage. Hip Attack misses by a mile. ASUKA LOCK IS ON, but Mella gets to the ropes and goes outside. Ellsworth is stuck upside down trying to get out of the cage. Asuka beats him up and jiggles nicely. Asuka beats up guys trying to put him back in the cage and kicks Ellsworth's ass - literally. Carmella tosses her head into the cage in front of the ref and wins...how was none of this crap a DQ?

Nakamura beats Jeff Hardy with a dick punch before the bell and an instant Kinshasa. Nakamura wore Hashimoto tribute pants tonight and they looked fantastic. Orton returns and kicks Jeff Hardy in the balls. So he and Nakamura can be the Nut Crackers now.

Braun and Owens have a pretty nothing cage match until the finish. Owens gets a stunner and a bit of heat with handcuffs, but gets chokeslammed off the top of the cage through an announce table in one of his craziest bumps ever. Somehow, a decade into the HD era and 20 years after Mick's bump, they almost completely miss the landing in real-time. Owens wins the match to an "OH. MY. GOD!" from Coach that sounds so fake. A "Get These Hands" chant breaks out and KO gets really nothing out of the win.

Bryan faces the Bludgeon Brothers 1 on 2. Bryan eats a ton of offense until Kane comes out with a walking boot and chokeslams the Bludgeons. He gets his knee kicked out and Bryan tags in for a missile dropkick and the yes kicks. Rowan hits the spin kick and a powerbomb/lariat combo ends it. The B-Team cheers on Roman and Roman is a dick to them. Lashley and Roman have a fun hard-hitting (bot not soft-spoken) match. Roman hits a superman punch, but eats a rebound spear and Lashley wins it.

Alexa vs. Nia features Nia tosses weapons around. Corey explains all the kendo sticks by saying they're here for ninjas. Alexa puts a chair in the corner and Nia of course misses and hits the chair. Ronda watches Nattie get beaten up and mean mugs until she jumps the rail to attack Mickie. Ronda hits the spinning Samoan drop and throws her into the German announce table and mean mugs Alexa from across the ring.

 

Ronda attacks her, but Mickie hits her with a kendo stick. A crossbody leads to a Samoan drop setup, but Mickie chairshots her! Alexa hits a chair to the gut of Nia, then to the back and DDTs her on the chair to win. Ronda runs in immediately - so that win itself sure helped no one. Rusev's intro is so important that he gets the Hulu plug intro. A fan with a Rusev Day shirt looks at his phone instead of Rusev.

AJ's reign is at 250 days - making him the longest-reigning WWE Champion in five years. It's an impressive stat and most importantly, began when it ended Jinder's reign! Rusev looks pretty good here, hitting the fallaway Samoan drop. Aiden pulls the pad off the top rope, but Rusev bonks it and eats a Phenomenal Forearm to end it! Seth vs. Dolph is up with Dolph in new, good-looking blue, white, and red tights.

Buckle bomb into a cradle gets a fall for Seth 4 minutes in. STOMP gets another fall 8 minutes in. Drew attacks Seth for a DQ, so he's up 3-0. This costs him 1 fall, but Dolph gets 1 fall off of it right away and a superkick gets him a second - so the attack got him one more fall than it cost him. A post shot and a Zig Zag ties it at 3-3. A dive is met with a forearm and Dolph cradles him with the ropes to go up 4-3. Dolph gets 2 off an amateur cradle, but Seth pins him with a sunset flip after Dolph's head hits the post. Seth locks on a sharpshooter and then a crossface, but the time limit expires with a tie - and Dolph retains.

Kurt comes down and says it was an incredible match - but nothing was settled. Kurt makes it sudden death. Zig Zag off a Drew distraction gets the win. They were given the main event slot here and felt elevated by the match - which was the best overall one on the show. All three guys feel like top-level guys and the key is the follow-through. Dolph in particular feels like he has been completely resurrected, and that seemed impossible before as he was such a jobber and goofball before this Raw push.