Impact Wrestling recap & reactions (Jan. 7, 2020): Elgin & Edwards with an early match of the year contender

Impact Wrestling (Jan. 7, 2020) returned from New York City. This episode featured a fantastic bout between Michael Elgin and Eddie Edwards, Rich Swann and Willie Mack getting back on the same page, Johnny Swinger in a Soma coma, and more as the go-home to the Hard to Kill PPV.

Let’s blitz through the results.

Eddie Edwards vs Michael Elgin. The show started with the two brawling ringside. Edwards grabbed a mic to say they don’t have to wait until the Hard to Kill PPV this Sunday. They can do it now. Edwards wanted to break Elgin’s ass New York City style. He attacked with a suicide dive.

These two put on a fantastic match. Too many highlights and dramatic moments to list. In the end, Elgin was victorious after a buckle bomb and an Elgin bomb.

As a result of Elgin’s win, Edwards is putting up the Call Your Shot Trophy for the PPV match. I believe that trophy is similar to the Money in the Bank briefcase.

Desi Hit Squad vs TJP, Fallah Bahh, & Daga. A very solid six-man. Notable moments were Bahh’s failed kip up and Bahh’s suicide dive. In the end, Gama Singh grabbed TJP’s foot as he was running the ropes. Shera snatched TJP up for an elevated sitdown powerbomb to win.

Ain’t no stopping us. Willie Mack doesn’t think he’ll be healed for the tag team title match against The North at Hard to Kill. He doesn’t want to hold Rich Swann back from reaching his full potential. Swann gave a pep talk. Swann believes Mack is the guy to help Swann get to the top of the industry. Don’t ever sell yourself short. Swann needs Mack to win the tag belts. Together, ain’t no stopping them.

oVe is hard to kill. Hard to Kill will be a special night for oVe when Sami Callihan retains the Impact World Championship. Sami stood there hugging the belt, while the other three did the talking. This moment is bigger than all of them. Sami is the man to lead Impact into the future. Everyone thinks the title match is about Tessa Blanchard. It is really about how hard it is to kill oVe.

Soma coma. Johnny Swinger put some Soma pills into Joey Ryan’s water bottle. Tommy Dreamer caught Swinger in the act and made him drink the concoction.

James Mitchell was taking Havok to the ring. Suzie followed, but he told her to stay behind and locked her in a room.

Havok vs Rosemary. The ladies were beating each other up when Suzie came out to wave at the fans. She joined the commentary team. Suzie was looking for something, but she didn’t know what. Mitchell took her away from the table and covered her eyes from the violence in the ring. Rosemary was distracted by this and got pummeled by Havok. Havok won after a rope-hung DDT and a tombstone piledriver.

Taya, Madison Rayne, & Kiera Hogan vs ODB, Jordynne Grace, & Tenille Dashwood. Rayne and Hogan were in this match to watch Taya’s back in exchange for a title shot if she retains at Hard to Kill. For the finish, ODB hit a modified cutter on Taya. Grace came in for a Vader bomb and tried to pin Taya. ODB pulled Grace off and pinned Taya herself.

Afterward, Grace shoved ODB and denied an offer to drink from her flask. ODB flashed her ass.

Soma coma, part 2. RVD was kissing Katie Forbes when Moose came up to discuss their tag team main event. Moose wanted to make sure they can trust each other. RVD didn’t remember their history. RVD is out there to win. He has no problems with Moose. As the three left the scene, Johnny Swinger was in a Soma coma on the couch. Joey Ryan wanted to draw a dick on his face, but he didn’t have a marker.

RVD & Moose vs Cage & Rhino. This bout was about the two singles feuds of RVD and Cage along with Moose and Rhino. In the end, Moose missed a frog splash. That led to a Gore by Rhino and a discus lariat as Cage pinned Moose.

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Impact’s go-home show for Hard to Kill did a very good job of whetting the appetite for the PPV. Michael Elgin versus Eddie Edwards was top notch. The hype packages were solid, especially the ten-minute feature on Sami Callihan and Tessa Blanchard (which will receive its own spotlight in a separate post). There was also a good mix of wrestlers not on the PPV, so we don’t feel oversaturated with the same people right before the big show.

As good as the Elgin vs Edwards match was, I thought there was one completely ridiculous moment. Elgin cleaned Edwards clock with a discus forearm.

Edwards was out cold then back in the action five seconds later like nothing happened. That was not good storytelling. That spot could have been saved to end the match. It would have led to the same endpoint.

Another noggin scratcher was how Impact framed the finish for the six-women tag. They claimed ODB stole and screwed Jordynne Grace on the winning pin. If anyone is at fault, it is Grace. She was not the legal person and tried to pin Taya anyway. Grace should be thanking ODB for having the veteran savvy to overcome her thick-headedness.

My favorite moment of the show was seeing Johnny Swinger in a Soma coma. I was not expecting him to be a background accessory in the RVD and Moose conversation. I legitimately laughed out loud. Joey Ryan had to ruin the mood by being a dick. Drawing on people’s faces is a 100% heel move in my book. I’ll be rooting for Swinger to defeat Ryan when they wrestle next week.

Here’s the full card as advertised for Hard to Kill:

• World Championship: Sami Callihan vs Tessa Blanchard
• Tag Team Championship: The North vs Rich Swann & Willie Mack
• X Division Championship: Ace Austin vs Trey Miguel
• Knockouts Championship: Taya vs Jordynne Grace vs ODB
• Cage vs RVD
• Call Your Shot Trophy: Eddie Edwards vs Michael Elgin
• Moose vs Rhino
• Madman Fulton vs Ken Shamrock

Hard to Kill goes down Sunday, January 12 at 8pm ET. The show can be viewed on PPV and Fite TV.

We’ll close with a silly video from Taya. Enjoy the Real Housewives of Slamtown.

What was your favorite moment from this episode of Impact Wrestling? Did it do an effective job as a go-home for Hard to Kill?

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