Impact Wrestling (Dec. 28, 2019) aired Part 1 of their best of 2019 and awards show, as voted on by the fans.
We'll be revealing the 2019 Best of IMPACT Awards that you voted on in all the categories below on two special episodes on December 28th and January 4th! pic.twitter.com/ST8S7bUu3c
— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) December 21, 2019
It featured several top bouts and winners for Knockout of the Year, One to Watch in 2020, and Moment of the Year.
Let’s blitz through the results.
Moose vs Eddie Edwards at Homecoming in falls count anywhere. Top highlights were a slingshot crossbody from Edwards from the balcony down to the floor and a back body drop to Moose over the ropes onto a guardrail hung between the apron and ring steps. Eddie’s wife played a role in the finish. He was going crazy with a kendo stick on Moose. She ran down to stop him then took a turn herself hitting Moose. Edwards won via DDT.
X-Division Championship ladder match at Bound for Glory. Tessa Blanchard, Daga, Ace Austin, Acey Romero, and champion Jake Crist were the participants. Top highlights were Daga with a Mexican Destroyer to Crist off the apron onto a ladder hung across the apron and guardrail and Tessa pushing Romero off a ladder down onto a table on the floor. The table was smashed to smithereens. For the finish, Tessa fought off oVe and climbed the ladder. Austin shot up and bonked her on the head with his magic baton. Austin snatched the title belt to win.
2019 Knockout of the Year: Taya. Taya thanked the person that hand selected her outfits, gear, theme music, and inspired dreams. Herself. She did it all by herself. She had two glasses of champagne. One was for the Impact fans, which she poured into a potted poinsettia. This was her moment. Cheers to Taya.
LAX vs Lucha Bros for the World Tag Team Championship at Homecoming. Top sequence was Santana catching a hurricanrana from Fenix into a reverse powerbomb followed by a frog splash from Ortiz followed by a Mexican Destroyer by Pentagon to Santana. The finish saw each team hit their teamwork finishers with dramatic saves on the pinfall. LAX finished off Fenix with a teamwork inside out slam to win and retain the tag titles.
One to watch in 2020: Willie Mack. They showed a match between Mack and Trey Miguel. Mack won after catching a high-flying Trey with a big stunner.
Michael Elgin vs Marufuji at Bound for Glory. Strong style to the next level. Elgin won the war after a barrage of offense. Big clothesline, kick out. Buckle bomb then sitdown powerbomb, kick out. A discus strike and a reverse fireman’s carry slam finally put Marufuji away for Elgin to win.
2019 Moment of the Year: Sami Callihan wins the World Championship. Sami congratulated himself. He has won Moment of the Year two years in a row. Everyone seems to hate him, but they can’t keep his name out of their mouth. Why? Because he equals ratings. He is must-see.
Sami Callihan vs Brian Cage in a cage match for the World Championship on the AXS debut. Cage was champ going in. He was bloodied early with a baseball bat. Cage was a machine for the finishing story. Callihan hit his piledriver finisher. Cage kicked out at one. He pummeled Callihan with a powerbomb and a buckle bomb. Cage set up a Drill Claw, but Sami rolled him up. Cage escaped. After various strikes to Cage’s head, Callihan hit three consecutive piledrivers. Cage kicked out. Cage reversed another piledriver attempt into an Alabama slam. Sami kicked out after a discus lariat. The action went into the corner as Callihan used a super piledriver off the middle rope to finally defeat The Machine and become new champ.
Two awards were handed out on Twitter. Rich Swann won 2019 X-Division Star of the Year, and Tessa Blanchard won 2019 Finishing Move of the Year with her Magnum diving double knee facebreaker.
If you don’t watch much Impact, then this is a good episode to catch if they do a rerun on AXS, or whichever channel carries Impact in your country. All the bouts were top notch, except Willie Mack vs Trey Miguel. That was more of a regular contest. I hadn’t seen any of them before and was entertained by the big moments.
Knockout of the Year, Moment of the Year, and X-Division Star of the Year were good choices for Taya, Sami Callihan, and Rich Swann to win. I’m not so sure about Mack winning the One to Watch in 2020. That award feels like it should go to a youngster. Mack is 32. If it pays off in success for Mack, then I’m all for it. He is a fun wrestler to watch.
I’m definitely not on board with Tessa Blanchard winning Finishing Move of the Year. A flying Codebreaker isn’t super special in this day and age. I don’t feel strongly about which move should win, but there has to be several more impressive than that. Off the top of my head, I’d probably go with one of Cage’s finishers.
What was your favorite moment from this episode of Impact Wrestling? Do you agree with the award winners? If not, who would you have chosen?