Feast or Fired? Petey Williams, Moose, Ethan Carter III and Eli Drake will open the briefcases they won last week. Three of them will earn a Championship match and the last will be fired… You’re also invited to a Monster’s Ball this week, as Abyss and Kongo Kong will finally face off. Matt Sydal is putting the X-Division title on the line against Rohit Raju while Allie will square off with Sienna for the Knockouts title. And that’s not going to be 10 episodes of IMPACT in a row that has kicked off with a wrestling match, as we’ll start with Austin Aries and Alberto El Patron in the Impact Zone. Let’s get ready for some action so, your French Enygma Steph way, of course…
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTbKZlCXJTg]
My banana is better than yours… act 2
Alberto El Patron came to the ring to say he finally has a real champion to face and dubbed himself with Aries’ nickname, the “Greatest man who ever lived”. Out came Aries with his 4 titles, under Alberto’s claps. He sat on the top turnbuckle and told Alberto they may be from different places, they are similar because they both love wrestling. Aries said he calls himself “The Truth” in an industry with a lot of fake people. And Alberto is one of them. Aries announced he wanted to put all the nonsense aside and just fight in Redemption. Alberto told again to Aries he’s not the real champion until he defeats El Patron. After some trash talks and kowtow, Aries asked the back to play Alberto’s music so he could enjoy the only time Alberto’s music will be played last.
Trevor Lee (w/Caleb Konley) vs. Fallah Bahh
Different opponent, same scenario. Lee talked trash, Bahh belly bumped him, hit a shoulder tackle and stomped on Lee. Lee tried to drop down, but Bahh stepped right on his back. Konley interfered so Lee could attack. Bahh went for a crossbody, missed and went to the floor. Lee connected with a punt kick and pulled the referee away so Konley could toss Bahh into the stairs.
Back in the ring, Lee unloaded rights and a knee drop on the grounded Bahh. Lee went for a sunset flip. Huge mistake as Bahh sat right down on him (horror movie moment #1). Lee tried to get out of the ring but Bahh pulled both Lee and Konley into the ring and rolled over the two wrestlers (horror movie moment #2). Bahh connected with a Samoan drop on Lee and headed to the second rope for the Banzai drop. Lee tried to German suplex him off the turnbuckle, but he distracted the referee so Konley could hit an uppercut on Bahh. Roll-up from Lee for the pin.
The oVe cam was stalking out Alisha Edwards at a hotel. At the Impact Zone, Eddie Edwards saw the video of his wife and rushed to save her, as Callihan asked someone from the hotel to unlock her room door for him.
Meanwhile, Petey Williams reminded McKenzie Mitchell the first time he had a case, it led him to become the X-Division Champion. But he’s and will always be the Canadian Destroyer.
X-Division Championship Match: Matt Sydal (c) w/ Josh Mathews vs. Rohit Raju
They locked up to begin. Sydal looked to outwrestle Raju early on and grounded the action. Raju escaped and picked up the pace, taking Sydal down. Sydal cut him off with a spin kick and unloaded more kicks. Sydal locked Raju in the Muta lock but Raju escaped and connected with strikes and a spinning neck breaker.
Back from break, Sydal hit a standing moonsault. They traded kicks, Raju hit a sweep kick and went for some corner attacks. More strikes from Raju followed. Sydal connected with a head kick, new trade of strikes and kicks again, until Sydal hit a sliding German suplex. Sydal reached the top rope for the shooting star press but Raju followed him up. Sydal hit the sunset bomb before his signature Shooting Star Press for the win.
Backstage, after Moose told McKenzie Mitchell 2018 would be his year and he will be Impact World Champion, Eli Drake claimed he wasn’t worried about getting fired.
Impact Knockouts Championship Match: Allie (c) vs. Sienna
Sienna stomped away at Allie in the corner right at the bell. Allie replied with forearms in the corner, she went for a third one but got kicked in the face by Sienna. Allie went for a crossbody, Sienna caught her and hit a fallaway slam. Sienna choked out Allie, but Allie battled back with a backstabber. Sienna then missed a charge and Allie answered with strikes and a dropkick. The Champion unloaded her superkick/code breaker combo but Sienna nearly decapitated her with a discus lariat. She went for the AK-47 but Allie hit a hell of a superkick for the win.
After the match, Braxton Sutter came out to talk with Allie about their love. He called her Laurel again. He proposed to her again and Allie said no again. But right behind her was Su Yung who attacked the Champion. Yung hit a nasty Samoan driver as Sutter was looking on and clapped for her (if you never heard about Su Yung before, read the interview we had the chance to do with her last year here).
While, backstage, Moose, Richard Justice, Fallah Bahh, Moose, Tyrus, Taiji Ishimori, Johnny Impact, and Lashley all said to EC3 he would be fired, Eddie Edwards ran to see if his wife was okay. But he found her sleeping. Edwards headed out and bumped into a hotel worker who looked like Heath Ledger as The Joker when he’s dressed as a nurse. It was Sami Callihan, of course, and the brawl started out. The Crist brothers got involved and Alisha called the cops. Creepy…
Monster’s Ball Match: Kongo Kong w/ Jimmy Jacobs vs. Abyss w/ Father James Mitchell
A very light version of the Monster’s Ball… Kongo and Abyss traded strikes to begin, Kong then charged and knocked him down. Kong hit some corner splashes and choked out Abyss. Abyss then avoided a charge and knocked Kong to the floor with a trashcan shot. After the break, Kong was setting a table in the corner. Kong reached the top rope but Abyss stopped him and slammed him to the mat. Abyss got his bag of thumbtacks and spilt them out on the mat.
Jacobs got involved and attacked Abyss with a kendo stick, but Mitchell had Janice and Jacobs ran off the ring. The distraction allowed Kong to chokeslam Abyss into the thumbtacks. Kong set up another table, laid Abyss on it and headed up top. Abyss stopped him and powerbombed Kong through the table. Abyss then got a barbed wire board and his fellow Janice. But he missed a charge again and Kong chokeslammed him onto the barbed wire board. A top rope splash connected and Abyss was done. This match was a no-sense, where was Abyss ?!
Here come the briefcases…
Jeremy Borash (never forget Impact is tapped…) was in the ring with EC3, Moose, Petey Williams, and Eli Drake for the case reveal. Three title shots to earn and one guy is going to get fired. First up was Drake who got the tag team title shot. Drake was not thrilled at all. “What am I supposed to do with this? I don’t even have a tag partner, who am I supposed to win this with?” He launched the case out of the ring and headed to the back.
Next up is Petey Williams who received an X-Division title shot, which made him very happy (in 2007 he already got the X-Division shot). Last up were EC3 and Moose and Borash asked them to open their cases at the same time. Moose got the Impact World Championship shot and claimed again 2018 will be the year of Moose. He laughed when he understood EC3 was the one who’s fired.
Carter said it was not his case and refused to open it, what Borash did. EC3 said this was a joke but Borash told him it was very real and he was done with Impact. EC3 grabbed the mic to talk about how he’s carried this company for the past few years. He defeated Hall of Famers, he is the hardcore American icon, and the best guy here, there, and everywhere. He said he couldn’t be fired because he’s Dixie Carter’s nephew (we’re in 2018, EC3…). Carter and Borash shook hands but Carter then smacked Borash with the case. Brian Cage came out, hit the discus lariat and the Drill Claw. Goodbye Ethan Carter III!
The episode was not the most thrilling one. It just introduced Su Yung into the Knockouts division and built up the upcoming Redemption. But we have 4 weeks to go until the PPV… Next week, Su Yung will make her real debut with Impact, Fallah Bahh will take on KM and the Edwards/Callihan and Lashley/Cage wars will continue. One episode cannot be the best we could expect, as long as we have action. After all, that’s all that we wants… And if you agree with me, of course, I see you next week… And never forget to stay #eNYGMAtic…
All pics, videos, and screenshots courtesy of Impact Wrestling. Photomontage by @frenchnygma exclusively for @steelchairmag.