Impact Wrestling “Uncaged”
Friday, February 15th, 2019
RESULTS: Taya Valkyrie over Tessa Blanchard in a Street Fight to retain the Knockout’s title, Willie Mack over Ethan Page, Team AAA (Psycho Clown, Aerostar, Puma King and Vikingo) over Team Impact (Sami Callihan, Eli Drake, Eddie Edwards and Fallah Bahh), Johnny Impact over Killer Kross, Moose and Brian Cage to retain the Impact title
-This was the final episode from the tapings in Mexico City and promoted as “Uncaged” featuring two titles matches.
-The main event saw Johnny Impact retain the Impact title over Moose, Killer Kross, and Brian Cage after pinning Moose with Starship Pain. The finish was clever as the rematch between Impact and Cage is the direction they wanted. Cage hit the Drill Claw onto Moose and had the match won, but Kross broke up the cover and fought with Cage. As Cage was about to hit a Drill Claw onto Kross, Johnny Impact was too quick hitting Starship Pain onto Moose and pinned Moose before Cage could pin Kross. It was a very well thought out with Cage being the one to leave Moose prone for Starship Pain and Cage was screwed out of the title win, yet again. It was an effective way to leave the audience clamoring for Cage to get his eventual rematch in an even environment.
-The Knockout’s title match between champion Taya Valkyrie and Tessa Blanchard was a street fight. Blanchard wore an original Four Horsemen shirt from her father and Valkyrie wore a Los Perros del Mal shirt. This was a really good match and I’d say the best of their matches in Impact, ahead of Bound for Glory and the Homecoming ones. There was a lot of weapon use but never like overkill, including the chair wrapped around Taya’s neck as she was sent into the post like EVIL’s spot. They had a hell of a time with the tables as Taya bounced off a large table in the corner twice. They got a regular table and Tessa was placed on top and the leg gave out, so they were cursed. It ended with Tessa on the table and Taya hit a double foot stomp to retain the title. Table issues aside, this was a very good street fight and as great Tessa is as a heel, she will have a great babyface run when the timing is right.
-Team AAA defeated Team Impact for the World Cup in a 4-on-4 elimination match. Team AAA featured Psycho Clown, Aerostar, Vikingo and Puma King defeating Impact’s Sami Callihan, Eddie Edwards, Eli Drake, and Fallah Bahh. It came down to Psycho Clown and Eddie Edwards when Eli Drake returned after his elimination, hit Edwards with the kendo stick and Psycho Clown pinned him with la magistral cradle. They had a lot of time, I wouldn’t say the match was great but there were some standout moments for Vikingo, who is excellent and someone that received high marks at these shows.
-Prior to the World Cup match, Rich Swann turned down Sami Callihan’s offer to join oVe. They fought on the floor and culminated with Callihan hitting Swann with a piledriver at the entrance and then threw him off the stage through a table. Whenever a big angle is done, it should be given heavy weight on the program and treated like a major injury, or else why do it? Swann was thrown off the stage and within a minute, Josh Mathews is teeing up the World Cup match, which Callihan is wrestling in. There were no updates later in the show and no urgency to leave the viewer with any reason to be concerned for Swann’s well-being.
-Melissa Santos appears to be the regular backstage interviewer and has done a great job, so far.
-There was a quick segment with Dark Allie and Su Yung joining us by satellite from the underworld or the electricity bill was due. Production wise, these are edited well but it’s the wrong tone and I’ve never been into the story despite the performances from the characters. The supernatural elements embedded in professional wrestling don’t have a strong track record.
-They aired highlights of Pentagon Jr. and Fenix winning the Impact tag titles from LAX on last week’s show with Konnan’s reaction to the loss. Konnan told Santana and Ortiz that he will get them a rematch, but that’s the last time the two teams will meet because LAX is his family and is all he has. This feud has been excellent with both teams having tremendous matches this year.
-Overall, a very good show from Impact Wrestling. I’d recommend the women’s street fight to check out, the World Cup match had a lot of time but was fast-paced and showcased different styles, and the main event was a bit of a sprint with all four guys with a clever finish to lead to a rematch down the road.
