Another stacked episode to come this week! We’ll hear from Tessa Blanchard after her sneak attack on Kiera Hogan last week, Brian Cage is continuing his World Tour, this week in Japan for Pro Wrestling NOAH. Moose is facing off Kongo Kong. We’ll have new #1 contenders for Tag Team and X-Division titles as LAX will square off with Andrew Everett and DJ Z, while AeroStar, El Hijo Del Fantasma, Drago and Taiji Ishimori will compete in a Fatal Four-Way match. And in the main event, Eli Drake is cashing in his second Feast or Fired briefcase and face Pentagon Junior for the World Title. And on another level, Impact Wrestling will air the video of Sami Callihan’s assault on Don Callis, Impact Wrestling executive. No more words, let’s get ready for some action, your French Enygma Steph way, of course…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxsJH8mmCl4]

An eye for an eye… 

The show opened with the footage of the assault. In the studio, Josh Mathews told about the incident that took place with Don Callis while he was accepting a “comeback of the year award.” Callihan wasn’t happy with Callis throwing in the towel during his match against Eddie Edwards. Callihan said Callis robbed him of the chance to end Edwards once and for all. We saw the whole footage (to watch here) of Callis accepting his award and Callihan busted open Callis with the help of his baseball bat. Back in the studio, Mathews said Impact executives were still deciding on what to do with Callihan.

#1 Contendership Match for the Impact Tag Team titles: Z & E (DJZ and Andrew Everett) vs. LAX

DJ Z and Everett showed last week how good they could be as a team. So here they were now. Santana and DJ Z started things off, but Ortiz was quickly brought in to hit some double team moves. Everett was tagged in, unloaded a missile dropkick and a hurricanrana on Ortiz. Ortiz then drove Everett into his corner and tagged in Santana tags in for a facebuster/cutter combo. Ortiz back in cut off Everett with a northern lights suplex. Everett cut off Ortiz and hit an enzuigiri. DJ Z was tagged in and flew in with a high cross. He ran LAX together but they stopped the double DDT attempt and hit enziguris.

Everett made the save, took out Santana and then Ortia with a flying kick. Ortiz fired back with a DDT, but DJ Z replied with a tornado DDT. Santana hit a superkick and all four wrestlers were down. LAX worked double team moves again but Everett cut them off with an assisted standing corkscrew while DJ A flew to the outside. Everett connected with a moonsault to the floor on Ortiz. Ortiz connected with a cannonball flip on both DJ Z and Everett. Santana looked to fly, but DJZ stopped him. LAX planted DJZ to the mat, looking for the Street Sweeper, but DJZ turned it into a hurricanrana for the win. Good match, but where is Konnan?

– Backstage, Grado was getting ready for his match and told Joseph Park he was waiting for his girlfriend. Joseph thought Grado was lying to him, but Katarina showed up. Park wondered why she could be with Grado (he’s not the only one…).

Rohit Raju vs. Grado w/ Katarina

Raju attacked before the bell and worked over Grado. Raju looked for a German suplex, but Grado was too big. Grado cut him off and hit a boot. Raju hit a slam from the second rope, hit some corner attacks, then tried to ground the action. Grado fought to his feet and laid in chops on Raju. Grado hit a corner splash, a side slam and the splash. Raju rallied with knee strikes, running kicks and a neck breaker. But Grado fired back with an elbow and hit the running cannonball for the win. Meanwhile, Joseph Park was the next victim of the mysterious Man with the Red Card…

Tessa is Undeniable… 

Tessa Blanchard told us about her pedigree, her Grandfather, Father (Tully), and Step-Father (Magnum TA). She talked about wanting to be the best at wrestling, constantly training along the way. She noted a number of her achievements and how she’s travelled all over the world. Blanchard said she came to Impact because it’s a platform where she can shine and that she’s better than everyone in the locker room. So she will become the next Knockouts Champion.

– Backstage, Eli Drake put over himself and Scott Steiner as a team. He told McKenzie Mitchell he wants to be recognized at the number one man and told Austin Aries there’s a new belt collector in town.

#1 Contender Match for the X-Division Championship: Taiji Ishimori vs. Aerostar vs. Drago vs. El Hijo del Fantasma

How to describe a match as quick and crazy as it was… Fantasma launched Ishimori into the corner and hit double knees, a step-up kick, a flying arm drag and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Ishimori unloaded the golden moonsault on his 3 opponents out on the floor, Aerostar went for a step-up splash but had a rough landing as he was targeting Drago. Back from break, Aerostar took out Ishimori with a coffin drop. Drago got into the match, hit a kick on Fantasma and took him down with a hurricanrana from the second rope. Ishimori ran in and took down Drago.

Ishimori continued with a handspring spinning kick, a rolling Death Valley Driver and a running kick. But AeroStar cut him off and was planted by Drago. Fantasma unloaded some superkicks, Drago took down Ishimori with a flip to the outside, Fantasma followed with the Arrow from The Depths of Hell. AeroStar cleaned the house with a step-up flip. Back in the ring, Drago looked to go up top but Ishimori cut him off and knocked him to the floor. Aerostar connected with a powerbomb out of the turnbuckle but Fantasma broke it up and hits the Thrill of the Kill on Ishimori for the win. Another good teaser match for Lucha Underground upcoming Season premiere, but what a match…

Fired or not fired?

We saw Eddie Edwards busting into the Impact Executive office. He asked them not to fire Callihan! Edwards said Callis screwed him up when he threw in the towel at Impact Wrestling vs. Lucha Underground. Executives agreed not to fire Callihan (seems like it was their first decision), but they told Eddie whatever he did, he had to do it outside of Impact Wrestling and the Impact Zone.

Moose vs. Kongo Kong w/ Jimmy Jacobs

The match happened at a House of Hardcore event. Kongo had control early in the match, locked Moose in a bear hug but Mr Impact Wrestling clapped his way out of it.  Moose went for a slam but hurt his back. Kongo threw him into the ring post, went for a cannonball, but missed. Moose rallied and was finally able to make the Monster shake. He unloaded a running senton but Jimmy Jacobs jumped into the ring and nailed Moose in the back with a chair. The referee called the match but Kongo struck again from behind and Moose clotheslined him to the floor.

– Backstage, KM tried to help Fallah Bahh lose weight while he was eating…

Brian Cage vs. Takashi Sugiura

Next step in Cage’s World Tour, Pro Wrestling Noah. Cage dominated the match with his repertoire of deadlift suplex, buckle bomb and TKO. The jumping knee, the discus lariat and the Drill Claw put an end to a pretty easy match.

A message from The Dead

In the dressing room, Allie stared in a mirror and we saw flashbacks to last week when Su Yung put Rosemary in a coffin. There was a knock at the door and she was given a voodoo doll with a note pinned to it. Allie brought it in and read the note. Was it from The Undead Bride or The Demon Assassin? But when she looked at the mirror again, Allie felt some weird vibes…

Impact World Championship Match: Pentagon Junior vs. Eli Drake

They brawled right away but Drake took early control. He choked out Pentagon in the ropes but Pentagon fired back with sling blades. Pentagon looked to break Eli’s arm, but Drake fought off and then hit a neck breaker. Drake laid in boots and rights to the champion. He choked him out again, before hitting a pop-up powerslam. A very clever Drake grounded the action, but Pentagon fought back and sent him to the floor.

Drake stopped a dive fro Penta but hit a nice springboard turned into a superkick for 2. Pentagon rallied with strikes and a backstabber. Pentagon headed up top but Drake leapt up and hits a superplex. But Pentagon fired back again with strikes, hit a superkick and countered the Gravy Train into an enzuigiri. Drake cut off Pentagon with an elbow to the face and missed the springboard moonsault attempt. The Penta driver struck Drake and gave the win to Pentagon. It could have been a way better and way longer match, these two were able to give us way, way more.

After the match, Pentagon celebrated, Drake was mad while Aries was approving.

This episode was good, but not of the level of last week’s. The X-Division match was great, the team of DJ Z and Andrew Everett is ready to rise to the top. But the rest of the show was sloppy because of Sami Callihan and the “expected” decision from the Executives. Luckily next week will provide us with the action we love, intense, unapologetic, and maybe gloomy. And if you agree with me, of course, I see you next week… And never forget to stay #eNYGMAtic… 

(click on the pic to enlarge)

All pics, videos, and screenshots courtesy of Impact Wrestling. Photomontage by @frenchnygma exclusively for @steelchairmag.

By Steph Franchomme

News, Reviews, Social Media Editor, Impact Wrestling Reviewer, Interviewer Well, call me The Boss... And French...