Welcome to POST Wrestling’s coverage of Impact Wrestling’s Homecoming pay-per-view from the Nashville Fairgrounds.
Nate Milton will be joining me tonight for a Homecoming POST Show that will be available free on the site.
The opening video package featured classic clips from Impact’s history going back to 2002 and narrated by Johnny Impact. This featured almost every major star to appear in their history and transitioned into the modern stars and tonight’s programs.
Josh Mathews and Don Callis are on the call.
Rich Swann vs. Trey vs. Ethan Page vs. Jake Crist in an Ultimate X match for the vacant X division title
Trey was introduced without a last name while the other Rascalz were just identified as “Dez” and “Wentz”.
All four go to individual corners and climbed towards the title at the start of the match and all fell to the mat. Page lifted Trey and dumped him onto Crist and Swann on the floor from the second turnbuckle. The audience was reacting to everything and sounded great.
Page scaled the rope but let go to drop an elbow onto Crist rather than proceed for the title. Page yanked Trey off the rope into a backbreaker. Crist scaled the rope and instead let go for a leg drop onto Page. Swann hit a gorgeous tornillo to the floor.
Trey climbed the metal rig in the corner and landed a moonsault to the floor. Crist caught Swann with an enzuigiri from the floor and continued with a tombstone on the floor and dropped it by the entrance.
Swann returned and landed on his feet from a top rope huracanrana from Trey. They both went for the title and Swann grabbed it with his feet to win.
WINNER: Rich Swann at 14:03 to become the X division champion
It was a good opener with a great crowd. It wasn’t the best Ultimate X match you’ve ever seen but Swann was the standout in the match and seemed like the right choice to go over. It was a good start to the show.
Allie and Su Yung vs. Jordynne Grace and Kiera Hogan
Despite how wacky the angle has been, you can see Allie is very dedicated to getting her new character over.
Yung and Allie got the advantage on Hogan and Yung hit a reverse neck breaker off the turnbuckle.
Grace stopped Yung from diving to the floor, lifted her and Hogan came off the apron with a crossbody sending Yung onto the floor. Hogan hit a Roll of the Dice onto Allie and was saved by Yung.
Grace lifted both Yung and Allie for a combination slam and powerbomb the received a big reaction. Yung hit Grace with the red mist, Hogan was concerned with Grace and took the codebreaker from Allie. Allie took Yung’s bloody glove and applied the mandible claw and the referee stopped the match.
WINNER: Allie and Su Yung at 8:53
The audience was chanting for Rosemary as Allie and Yung continued to attack Hogan after the match. The undead bridesmaids brought a coffin out to the ring, but Rosemary was inside the coffin and attacked the undead bridesmaids and threw Yung into them. Rosemary stared down Allie in the ring and she looked scared, Rosemary attempted to pat her on the head and Allie ran away.
The match was good and the angle involving Rosemary’s return got over in front of the audience. They did a good job of getting Grace out of the scene with the red mist and not having her tangled in this program as she was never connected to this story.
Moose vs. Eddie Edwards in a Falls Count Anywhere match
Edwards jumped Moose as he was making his entrance. They brawled on the floor and led to Moose catching Edwards and powerbombing him onto the edge of the apron twice. Edwards came back with a huracanrana in the ring and suicide dive that led to a big “Eddie” chant.
They fought into the crowd and Edwards landed a pescado off the stairs to the floor. Moose recovered and tossed chairs into the ring. Edwards was busted open as he grabbed the chairs and blasted Moose with them.
Edwards landed a superplex onto the chairs inside the ring. They exchanged chops and built to a spot where Moose was back body dropped to the floor and went through a guardrail that was balanced between the ring and the steps, which Moose had set up earlier.
Edwards brought out ‘Kenny’ the kendo stick, which Callis said may be the most dangerous Kenny in the wrestling business. Alisha Edwards ran in, took the kendo stick and attacked Moose herself with it. The audience chanted, “she’s hardcore”. Eddie broke the kendo stick over Moose’s head and landed the DDT and pinned him.
WINNER: Eddie Edwards at 13:20
For a hardcore style of match, this was very strong, the audience was with it the whole way and both guys worked their asses off. It was very good, even if I could have done without some of the head shots but it was a very well put together match and never dragged.
Sami Callihan cut a promo on Willie Mack and told him he should have listened to Rich Swann. Mathews stated we don’t know the history between Callihan and Mack, so I guess we don’t know why they are fighting.
Willie Mack vs. Sami Callihan
Callihan hit a running kick from the floor with Mack caught underneath the ring skirt. Inside the ring, Callihan chopped Mack after spitting onto his hand. Mack finally landed a head kick to turn the tide and hit a standing moonsault for a two-count.
Callihan hit a V-Trigger, which is how it was identified by Callis. Mack came back and hit a stunner with Callihan getting his foot onto the bottom rope. Dave Crist was in Callihan’s corner and tried to stop Mack on the turnbuckle. This allowed Callihan to hit a Death Valley Driver off the turnbuckle and Mack kicked out at one. Mack kicked out of a lariat at one and they were chanting for Mack.
Callihan finally hit him with a piledriver and Mack stayed down for the count.
WINNER: Sami Callihan at 10:20
They gave a lot to Mack before finally going down due to the piledriver. Both worked hard, and it was another good match on the card. While insinuating there was a deep history between Callihan and Mack, this felt conclusive for the program’s end.
Mitchell spoke to Eli Drake under a blindfold and was in the garbage area of the Nashville Fairground where Abyss was born in TNA. He insisted he wasn’t scared of the match and he possessed the “monster balls”. This guy is a fantastic promo.
Eli Drake vs. Abyss in a Monster’s Ball match
Abyss grabbed the staple gun Drake brought in and stapled Drake in the chest. Abyss tossed Drake into the crowd and hit Abyss low and ran an equipment box into Abyss.
There was a huge belly-to-belly from the ring and Drake crashed through a table on the floor, which got a big reaction.
Abyss brought out the thumbtack and poured them onto the canvas, Drake stopped a chokeslam and picked up the tacks. Drake threw them at Abyss, who ducked, and the tacks went into the face of the referee. Abyss hit the Black Hole Slam, but the referee was unable to count.
Abyss brought out Janice, Drake avoided it and Abyss grabbed Drake and chokeslammed him onto the tacks and he yelled, “holy shit”. Drake kicked out and then threw tacks into the face of Abyss and used the chair to knock Abyss down.
Drake used zip ties to tie the wrists of Abyss, this took way too long to apply as Abyss had to lay there and wait for Drake to tie him. Drake bashed Abyss with chair shots but couldn’t pin him. Drake used a paddle and broke it over his head and finally pinned Abyss.
WINNER: Eli Drake at 12:12
This was a more violent match than the previous hardcore match on the show. It was designed in the same way Randy Orton and Mick Foley was booked in 2004 with the younger star beating the hardcore legend and showcasing his violent side.
Santana and Ortiz vs. Pentagon Jr. and Fenix for the Impact tag titles
Konnan did not come out with LAX, but he is there in Nashville on his 55th birthday.
They exploded out of the gates and it was all-action from the start.
Ortiz landed a splash, Pentagon jumped off his back to break the cover and into a Canadian Destroyer onto Santana. They did a huge sequence of kicks with all four going down and the audience was loving the match.
Pentagon went for the package piledriver, which Fenix spiked him on and Ortiz made the save tackling Fenix onto them. LAX came back and hit the street sweeper onto Pentagon and Fenix saved. The match ended with LAX double teaming Fenix and hitting a reverse vertical suplex as Santana got the pin.
WINNERS: Santana and Ortiz at 10:44 to retain the Impact tag titles
This match was incredible.
Konnan came out and said he was wrong and didn’t think they could separate the personal from the professional.
Tessa Blanchard vs. Taya Valkyrie with Gail Kim as the special referee for the Knockout’s title
Valkyrie fought back early with the double knees into the corner and landed a Northern Lights suplex while in control. Valkyrie climbed to the top and missed with a moonsault. Blanchard got up and speared Valkyrie for a two-count.
Blanchard missed Valkyrie with a forearm strike and knocked Kim down. Blanchard hit the Buzzsaw DDT and Kim was reeling from the forearm shot and couldn’t count. Blanchard brought the belt into the ring, but Kim pulled it away and they had a tug-of-war with Kim accidentally hitting Valkyrie with it when she got the title. Kim reluctantly when to count and Valkyrie kicked out at two.
Blanchard shoved Kim twice, she shoved Blanchard into a rollup for a near fall spot. Blanchard landed a codebreaker off the second turnbuckle for another two-count.
The focus was on Blanchard and Kim as she grabbed Kim by the throat, who responded with Eat Defeat and Valkyrie hit Road to Valhalla and pinned Blanchard to win the title.
WINNER: Taya Valkyrie at 10:41 to win the Knockout’s title
I thought this match was not at the level of their Bound for Glory match, but had a lot of great sequences and near falls. The focus appeared more on building to a Tessa Blanchard match with Gail Kim and not on crowning a new champion with the long reign of Blanchard ending because of Kim’s involvement. It was still a very good match.
Johnny Impact vs. Brian Cage for the Impact Wrestling title
George Iceman from Destiny Wrestling in Canada is the ring announcer.
Impact hit a springboard onto the middle rope and into a spear into the ring that looked impressive and then started working for an armbar on Cage.
Cage was in control until Impact landed a tilt-a-whirl DDT. Impact went to the top and hit a forward flip to the floor connecting with a knee to Cage. The audience started chanting “TNA”, which was funny.
Impact went for a sliding German suplex with Cage seated on the second rope, but barely grabbed him, which Callis acknowledged. The audience started chanting “new champ” at Cage and he proceeded with a buckle bomb and had Weapon X blocked.
Impact made his comeback and hit Starship Pain for a near fall. Impact hit Cage with a Spanish Fly off the top, but Impact hurt his shoulder from landing and then Cage kicked out before the count of one. Cage hit a pop up powerbomb, buckle bomb and spinning powerbomb for a two-count.
Cage hit Weapon X and Impact got his foot on the bottom rope.
Cage was sent to the floor and the Survivor guys started shoving Cage and he shoved one of them down. Cage returned to the ring and hit the Drill Claw, but the referee Johnny Bravo was dealing with the Survivor guys and couldn’t count. They explained Cage the match won.
Cage went for a dead lift vertical from the apron, he struggled to lift him, and Impact flipped around and turned it into a roll up to catch Cage for the three-count.
WINNER: Johnny Impact at 19:10 to retain the Impact title
Cage was furious and grabbed the title, tossed it to Impact and stormed to the back. Callis said the Survivor guys cost Cage the match.
Taya Valkyrie came out with her own title and they posed together with their belts. They walked up the ramp and the show ended with Killer Kross coming out and attacking Impact right as Mathews was signing off.
Kross took Valkyrie and powerbombed her into crowd.
The main event was missing something that you expect from a big title match. They were a bit off in some of their sequences, but Cage hit all his big spots. The Survivor guys just seemed to be a lame way to get out of the match and didn’t elicit the right reaction.
Overall, this was a very good show and the tag title match was excellent.
