Impact Wrestling Recap (3/9/2017): A new era for Impact
Impact Wrestling has been through some rough times in the recent past and unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’d have noticed that most of TNA’s top-tier talent have left the fledgeling enterprise for greener pastures. That being said, the company has been in bad spots many times since its inception in 2002 and have somehow managed to stay in the rat-race of the wrasslin’ business.
As we’d previously reported, Impact’s March 2nd tapings were set to air on March 9th and they did, featuring several impactful (pun intended) segments with the most significant of them all being the promise of a new era as the company celebrates its 15th year anniversary.
The show started with a video segment that highlighted its past as well as present stars and ended with a motivational line: ’It’s time we all make Impact great’, that was followed by the new intro theme of Impact Wrestling.
The show started with Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards brawling with one another in a segment that spilled over into the crowd. The friends-turned-foes were eventually separated by the TNA security officials.
This was followed by a so-so segment between Jeremy Borash and Josh Matthews after JB joined Matthews and The Pope on commentary. Matthews drew first blood by insulting JB and said that if he was deserving enough to be a part of the commentary booth, he’d have been a part of it way back.
Borash ignored him and went on to praise his mentor former play-by-play commentator Mike Tenay and stated that owing to the number of enemies Matthews has made backstage, Impact Wrestling is looking to replace him with someone more deserving. JB threw shade at WWE’s firing of Matthews and called him a ‘Ken-Doll with no balls’ (no, seriously!).
Matthews returned fire by bragging about having learnt the ropes of the business under the likes of the legendary Jim Ross and having called Wrestlemania over the course of his career. JB replied that Jim Ross is a close friend of his and unlike Matthews, commentators like Ross and himself actually communicate with the fans and form a bond with them.
This seemingly never-ending segment was thankfully cut-off by Cody Rhodes, who grabbed the mic from JB and called out Moose. However, it was later revealed that the Moose is loose in Japan.
Following this, Borash addressed the fans and informed them that he’s spoken to the new owners and that a new tag-team will make their first appearance on Impact after the commercial break.
#1. DCC vs. Reno Scum
The Death Crew Council (DCC) comprising Bram and Eddie Kingston faced Reno Scum (Adam and Luster) in a match that was over in an instant. Luster came off the ropes with an assisted double foot stomp from his partner and pins Kingston. Meanwhile, JB and Matthews continued the bickering with each other and having cringe-worthy exchanges.
Reno Scum def. Death Crew Council
After the matchup, DCC members had a brief misunderstanding that was quickly sorted out in the ring. This was followed by the Braxton-Laurel Van Ness- Allie saga and hey, Van Ness was still wearing her wedding dress and hanging on to that bottle of champagne. Nice!
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Sienna owing to the absence of Maria Kanellis-Bennett, to which Sienna stated that Maria is in seclusion owing to her nervous breakdown. McKenzie asked whether the rumours of Maria’s contract issues with Impact are the reason behind her absence, to which Sienna denied any such rumours as fake news. Furthermore, she stated that Allie will suffer for what she’s done and her happiness with Braxton won’t last long.
#2. 4-Way X-Division Match: Braxton Sutter with Allie vs. Caleb Konley vs. DJZ vs. Marshe Rockett
Braxton and Rockett started the match and their brawl moved outside the ring, with DJZ and Konley engaging in some high-flying sequences. Rockett then re-entered the ring and hits Konley with a spinebuster along with DJZ failing to land a high-flying move on Rockett.
Marshe Rockett then controlled the action for a bit and jumped off of the top rope but walked into three simultaneous dropkicks from Sutter, DJZ and Konley. They took their attack on Rockett outside the ring. Konley hit a suicide dive on DJZ and Rockett.
Konley hit a back suplex on Braxton while DJZ delivered a tornado DDT on Konley after using Rockett as a boost. Rocket then attacked Braxton after which Allie interfered in the match and leapt off the ropes into Rockett on the mat.
Braxton grabbed Marshe Rockett and pins him after finishing him with a spinning neck breaker.
Result: Braxton Sutter w/Allie def. DJZ, Caleb Konley and Marshe Rockett.
The post-match segment featured Laurel Van Ness yelling at Allie and Braxton and yes, she was still wearing the same dress and has that bottle of champagne. This was followed by a Broken Hardys teaser promo, featuring them prepping for a face-off against their Kangaroo ‘Smokin Joe’.
#3. Sienna vs. Rachael Ellering
Borash referred to Rachael Ellering being a second generation star and introduced her as the daughter of Paul Ellering. He also mentioned The Road Warriors but Matthews feigned ignorance (Impact please minimise the air-time focusing on the JB-Matthews segment!). The matchup itself was fairly entertaining with Rachael hitting a springboard twisting leg-drop that almost got her the victory. A few moments later, Sienna hit the Silencer and put Ellering away with the pinfall.
Sienna def. Rachael Ellering