Impact Wrestling recap & reactions (Dec. 17, 2019): Tessa & Sami brawl in the streets of NYC

Impact Wrestling (Dec. 17, 2019) returned from New York City. It featured spears, mind games, canoodling, and an all out brawl spilling into the streets on NYC.

Let’s blitz through the results.

Tenille Dashwood vs Jordynne Grace. This was a much more technical match than I was expecting with mat work and solid suplexes. Grace won when she leaned her weight back while Dashwood was working for a Magistral cradle. Good sportsmanship after the match. Boom! Taya attacked Grace, who will be a future title challenger at Hard to Kill on January 12. Dashwood made the save.

Rhino’s Gore couldn’t do what Moose’s spear did. Moose nonchalantly mentioned how he defeated RVD at Slammiversary with a spear, while Rhino’s Gore couldn’t get the job done last week. That lead to Rhino spearing Moose. “Who’s the man!?!”

Mind games. The North walked up on Willie Mack in the stairwell. They just wanted to talk. They tried to drive a wedge between Mack and Rich Swann by planting the seed that Mack is the weak link holding Swann back. Swann popped up to interrupt and talk smack to the tag champs.

TJP vs Daga. Fallah Bahh was ringside in support of TJP. For the finish of this solid bout, TJP hit a superplex, rolled into a fireman’s carry overhead kick, then snatched Daga’s leg for a submission. As Daga reached for the ropes, TJP grabbed his arm to lock it in even deeper. Daga tapped. Afterward, the Desi Hit Squad attacked TJP and Bahh. Daga made the save for the good guys, then Mahabali Shera came down to chokeslam Daga. The Desi crew stood tall.

RVD is an innovator and canoodler. Cage opened a door and RVD and Katie Forbes came out engaged in heavy lip locks. RVD wished Cage luck for their match against one another at Hard to Kill, but RVD wasn’t too concerned. Cage does RVD’s moves and RVD knows how to counter them.

RVD hit the ring for a promo with plenty of tongue action for Katie.

He’ll take all the long overdue attention he’s getting, since wrestling fans have a short attention span. RVD inspired every wrestler in the building and gave them their moveset; if by give, you mean steal. His bout against Cage is considered a dream match, but the reality is that it is a dream for Cage. Cage is the biggest RVD mark of them all. Cage ran out for fisticuffs, but Katie low-blowed him and RVD dropkicked a chair into his face.

Memory flash. Rosemary chatted with Suzie Yung. Suzie was looking for James Mitchell and also something else. Rosemary tried to trigger Suzie’s memory. Mitchell ran up to warn her about trusting Rosemary. Jessicka Havok ran up to choke Rosemary against the wall. That violence caused Suzie’s mind to explode. Suzie stood there smiling as a cliffhanger to the next installment of this saga.

Taya needs help. The Knockouts champ sidled up to Madison Rayne and Kiera Hogan looking for help against ODB, Grace, and Dashwood. Rayne and Hogan wanted to know what’s in it for them. If Taya is still champ after Hard to Kill, then they both get a title shot. Rayne and Hogan will think it over.

Ethan Page vs Rich Swann. Josh Alexander and Mack were ringside. Move of the match was a cartwheel standing moonsault by Swann.

Page also had a nifty sequence with a super body slam then a flying senton.

For the finish, Alexander shoved Page out of the way and took a tope con hilo from Swann. Page sucker punched Mack, so Mack clobbered him. The referee called for the DQ and gave the win to Page. Swann was visibly frustrated with Mack costing him.

Revenge spear. Moose tried to surprise spear Rhino, but Rhino dodged out of the way. The two had to be separated backstage.

Joey Ryan vs Acey Romero. This match was Ryan’s punishment for Wrestler’s Court last week. Johnny Swinger was on commentary. The referee went down when he inadvertently had Ryan’s lollipop shoved into his mouth. Ryan went for his dick move, but Swinger interfered to break it up. Ryan ended up executing the deadly dick flip then Sweet Tooth Music to win.

Tessa Blanchard isn’t worried about Sami Callihan’s threats to expose her later. She will make history by becoming Impact World Champion at Hard to Kill.

Michael Elgin entered the locker room to look for Eddie’s Edwards stuff. He grabbed the Call Your Shot Gauntlet trophy. “It’s my stuff now.”

Ace Austin vs Petey Williams. Lots of cool flippy stuff. Austin pulled it out by winning via The Fold blockbuster. Ace grabbed a mic to dedicate the win to Trey Miguel’s mom.

Trey confronted Ace in the stairwell. Punches were thrown until Trey was pulled off by Impact officials.

Brawl in the streets. Sami Callihan cut a promo in the ring to expose Tessa Blanchard as the entitled brat she is. He flipped the script on equality by saying he should be looked at as a hero for spitting in her face like he would any other man. Tessa has had everything handed to her, while Sami had to scratch and claw his way to the top.

Tessa ran out for a fight. Madman Fulton seized her from behind. Ken Shamrock made the save. Sami and Tessa brawled out into the streets of NYC. The good parts were Sami choking Tessa with caution tape and Tessa with a diving tackle out of the back of a rented moving truck.

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Impact had a decent show. I wasn’t too enthused when I saw the lineup prior to watching, but the matches ended up being solid. All the backstage scenes were enjoyable. A battle of spears catches my attention, Taya’s facial reactions are fantastic, thieving Michael Elgin is a nice touch, and Suzie Yung’s saga continues to pique my curiosity. RVD was the standout for his interactions with Cage. There’s something about seeing RVD swap spit so fervently as a heel move that makes me laugh.

The main event promo was more of the same spiel from Sami Callihan. The moment Tessa Blanchard decided to come out felt kind of weak. Of course she was always going to interrupt Sami, but it could have come after something really terrible was said instead of the same talking points.

The brawl to close the show was a fun time. Wrestling fights that spill into the streets usually are. So, thumbs up for chaos. I always wonder what people think when they are driving by and have no clue a wrestling show is in the neighborhood.

Acey Romero isn’t off to a good start in Impact. He lost to Moose last week, which is understandable. Losing to Joey Ryan by dick flip and lollipop superkick was kind of lame. That shows they have no big plans for Acey Baby anytime soon. I’m not a fan of the dick flip. It was neat and novel at first, but it is played out now. What do I know though. If the fans want it, I guess Ryan has to give it.

Here’s a programming reminder as Impact Wrestling moves to Saturdays over the next two weeks.

We’ll close with a goofy scene of Taya giving a gift to Rosemary that was filmed for Impact’s Twitch live special last weekend.

What was your favorite moment from Impact Wrestling? Did the closing brawl pump you up for Hard to Kill?

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