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Welcome to the Impact Wrestling: Final Hour Report here on PWInsider.com!
We open up with a video package hyping the Johnny Impact-Killer Kross title match tonight, then we head to the ring for our opening match...
The OGz vs Pentagon Jr & Fenix
Hernandez easily overpowers Fenix, then Homicide suddenly goes after Pentagon on the outside of the ring as Hernandez turns Fenix inside out with a Pounce. Homicide goes after Pentagon with his Abby fork, but the referee prevents that, so Homicide and Pentagon brawl onto the apron as Hernandez hits an over the shoulder backbreaker for 2 on Fenix. Pentagon tags in and immediately finds himself in peril at the hands of the OGz, but quickly tags out to Fenix, who cleans house with some high flying moves. Eddie Kingston drags Pentagon off the apron, but Fenix wipes him out with a dive, then Hernandez ups the ante with a dive of his own. OGz double team Pentagon back in the ring, and Fenix tries to make the save but winds up on the hands of a beating of his own. Hernandez easily hoists Fenix up into a sitout powerbomb for 2. Lucha Bros turn the tide with some fast-paced double team moves and hit a dropkick version of WHAZZUUUUUP on Homicide, then chop Hernandez down with a series of superkicks. Assisted springboard splash gets 2 on Hernandez. Kingston tosses his slapjack to Homicide, but Fenix knocks him out with a superkick, then a superkick knocks King off the apron, and Fenix hits a Swanton, Pentagon with a top rope double stomp, and a double team wheelbarrow splash finishes Hernandez.
Winners: Pentagon Jr & Fenix
Excellent match that did a great job combining brawling and high-impact stuff. I just have to wonder if the OGz are ever going to win a match again.
We come back from commercial and Konnan is backstage congratulating the Lucha Bros, and LAX comes in and asks what they're doing here. Konnan says he was just inviting them to the party, and LAX seems nonplussed but doesn't say any more.
Katarina vs Jordynne Grace
Katarina takes Jordynne to the corner and stomps her out, but Jordynne blocks a monkey flip and press slams Katarina clear across the ring. Katarina with a bicycle kick and goes for a sunset flip, Jordynne blocks that, blocks a clothesline, and goes for a pump handle move, but Katarina blocks, so Jordynne just tenderizes her with front and back clotheslines. Katarina with a tornado DDT, but takes too long playing to the fans and gets caught in a bearhug. Jordynne swings Katarina around while crushing her ribs until Katarina is forced to quit.
Winner: Jordynne Grace
Great debut for Jordynne, I get the sense she is going to be a big deal in the coming months.
Brian Cage is driving through Ohio, making his way to the Rockstar Arena where oVe has a bunch of flunkies waiting outside for him. He plows through all of them, then destroys the Crists while demanding to know where Sami Callihan is.
We come back from commercial as Brian Cage makes his way into the arena and says that if he wants Brian Cage, the real Brian Cage is here, and to bring his derriere out there so he can kick it, and even offers to put the X Division Title on the line. Sami comes into the ring and a referee rings the bell, so I guess we've got...
X Division Title Match: Brian Cage vs Sami Callihan
Cage flattens Sami as soon as he gets in the ring, but Sami dumps Cage to the apron and knocks him to the floor with the springboard lariat. Sami with a couple of running punts across the apron, but Cage catches him on the third attempt and powerbombs him into the barricade. Cage then tops that by picking Sami up by the neck and tossing him over the rail and onto the fans. Sami has the gall to come back over the rail, so Cage dumps him back into the ring and hits a sitout version of the Alabama Slam. He goes for the Drill Claw, but the Crists rush the ring to cause the DQ.
Winner by DQ: Brian Cage
Cage responds by German suplexing both Crists at once, then a bunch of local guys run in and are summarily destroyed by Cage. Finally all six guys grab Cage and hold him so Sami can knock him out with the X Division Title belt, then the entire locker room puts the boots to Cage like a gang beating. Then they all hit what I assume are their finishing moves, then they pick Cage up again so Sami can drive him into the mat with the short piledriver. Sami holds the title belt up with his 87 cohorts standing victoriously behind him.
Taya Valkyrie is backstage saying she should have known Tessa is a coward after what's happened the last few weeks, and Tessa may think she's unbeatable, but Taya gets what she wants, and it doesn't matter what it takes, she's coming for what she deserves, and whenever Tessa is ready to step up, she'll be waiting.
The GWN flashback takes us back to the Motor City Machine Guns beating Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino, then we go to McKenzie with Killer Kross and Moose, who says Eddie has been a thorn in his derriere, and he used to be his best friend, but tonight, he's going to hurt him and put an end to this. Kross tells Johnny Impact that they're standing at the edge of the world, and he hopes Johnny signed the waiver twice, because when he rips the belt from his waist like flesh from the bone, he'll realize that annihilation is the only solution.
We see more of Scarlett Bordeaux's goofy talent search, then KM and Fallah Bahh find Scarlett backstage to ask her if they're at the front of the line since her advice took them straight to the top. She says they were doing well for a while, but Fallah lost his title shot, and close doesn't get you THIS (indicating her body). KM frantically asserts that they'll do whatever she wants, and to prove this, Bahh takes his robe off and dances while disco music and lights blare. Scarlett says next week, they go to Las Vegas, the City of Sin. He asks what their favorite game is, and says that if they win her something, maybe they'll get lucky. She walks out as Fallah Bahh passes out.
Moose vs Eddie Edwards
Eddie blindsides Moose with a dive to the floor, then a second one before whipping Moose with his ring vest. Eddie dumps Moose into the ring, then throws him right back out and into the barricade. Eddie bashes Moose with an empty metal bucket and throws him back inside, but Moose kicks the middle rope into Eddie's ding ding as he tries to come back into the ring, then dropkicks Eddie off the apron and into the barricade. Josh points out that the opening bell hasn't actually rung yet as Moose catapults Eddie into the underside of the ring. OUCH! Moose puts the bucket over Eddie's head and drills him with a bicycle kick, then throws him into the ring to officially start the match.
Moose gouges Eddie's eyes before hammering him in the chest with a series of clublike forearms. Eddie reverses a vertical suplex and goes to the second rope, but Moose dropkicks him to the floor with grace (not Jordynne Grace). Moose goes for a powerbomb on the outside, but Eddie reverses to a Frankensteiner, then catches a charging Moose with an overhead belly to belly suplex. Eddie dodges another bicycle kick attempt and Moose wraps his leg around the post, and Eddie uses the opening to batter Moose and repeatedly ram him into the post. Eddie rolls Moose into the ring for a running double chop, then hits a blue thunder bomb for 2. Moose goes to the second rope, but Eddie catches him with a leaping enziguiri, a couple of knife-like chops, but an attempt at a top rope move is stopped when Moose gouges his eyes and hits a top rope sitout powerbomb for a close 2. Moose charges Eddie, but eddit drills him with a spear of his own, followed by a tiger driver for 2. Moose counters a DDT attempt to a pop-up spinebuster as we go to commercial.
Eddie and Moose are going toe-to-toe in the middle of the ring when we come back from commercial, and Eddie actually no-sells Moose's chops and tears his shirt open, daring him to do it again. THAT is badass. Another chop exchange ensues, Moose gets the better of it, but Eddie dares him to do it again, and back to the chop exchange we go. Both men are still standing, and they CONTINUE going blow-for-blow until changing to a forearm exchange, they knock heads on a double headbutt, and Eddie turns Moose inside out with a hard clothesline that puts both men down. Eddie comes off the ropes with a headscissors attempt, but Moose catches him, runs across the ring, and powerbombs Eddie halfway down the ramp with such velocity that he rolls all the way up the other half. Alisha comes out to check on her husband, and Moose comes over to intimidate her before turning his attention back to Eddie, who is somehow still alive. Moose tries a spear down the ramp, but Eddie dodges, Moose flies into the ring, Eddie hits a leaping enziguiri, but Moose catches him with a spear as he enters the ring and covers for the win.
Winner: Moose
And that, my friends, is THE Imapct Wrestling Match of the Year for 2018, hands down. I can not say enough good things about what I just watched.
Allie and Kiera Hogan are talking things over when Jim Mitchell shows up to check on his investment. Allie says she fought her way out of the undead realm and will do it again, and Mitchell says he admires her spunk, and that tenacity will server her well in her new life, but they made a deal. He kept his end of the bargain, and she'll keep hers. He knows how Allie feels, he's been there, and one day he decided to just embrace the darkness and let it consume him, and that made him the man he is today. Allie is clearly hurting, so he wants to heal her and fill the empty hole of darkness within her. Kiera tries toremind Allie about what he did to them and to Rosemary, so Allie asks if she goes with him if he'll leave her friends alone, and Mitchell assures her that he will. Su Yung magically materializes out of nowhere and Allie takes both of their hands. Kiera asks her what she's doing, and Allie says she doesn't want to do this, but it's how it has to be, and she turns around to reveal that HER EYES HAVE TURNED COMPLETELY BLACK!!!
Back to the world of the comparatively sane, Eddie Edwards is backstage being checked for concussions, and the doctor says to keep an eye on him and not let him go right to sleep tonight. Eddie swears he's fine and wants to know where Moose is, and Alisha tries to talk him out of it, apparently to no avail.
Eli Drake comes out with Joseph Park and says the business was full of larger than life characters who did things with their fists and their words, and that makes him the last of a dying breed. All he's seen here has been a bunch of nerds who saw what Abyss did and thinks all they need to do is have hardcore matches to get in the business, and they've done this with the endorsement of Impact management, who wants him to go extinct. The open challenge is retired, and he's filing suit against Impact for an unsafe working environment. He's been referred to a lawyer (and it would have been nice if he dressed up), but he wants Park to explain the legal wording of this lawsuit. Park reiterates that he has filed his suit on behalf of Eli Drake, and after reviewing the evidence, has determined that this is an unsafe working environment. Just look at what LAX and the OGz did, or what his brother Chris did when he came out and chokeslammed Eli through that table. Drake gave him one last surprise when he says there are others who want to join the class action lawsuit, even some of the Knockouts. Park introduces the other members of the roster who will join their lawsuit, and out of nowhere, Drake uppercuts Park in the ding ding. He puts the boots to Park while ripping him for talking about his brother, for ruining the business, and for having a fat and depleted body, and how he should call it quits before he makes him do it. Drake gets a chair from under the ring and massages Park's midsection and back with it, then proceeds to hammer Park with MERCILESS chairshots to a prone Park. Then he does it some more. Drake finally gets right in his face and tells him that this is where it dies: the garbage, the tables, the thumbtacks, it all ends because he's the last of a dying breed, and Park is a dead breed. Drake goes to leave, then comes back and uses his jacket to choke Park, chases off the referees who try to break it up with a chair, and then finally leaves.
McKenzie is backstage with Johnny Impact, who says he's only been the champion for a short time, but he's not a hard guy to find. Fenix asked for a title shot like a man and he gave it to him, and Killer Kross could have done the same thing, but his deranged made thought it made more sense to jump him after a match and leave a calling card. He gets his title shot, but he has a calling card too, and it's called Starship Pain.
Josh and Don talk about stuff, and then...IT'S MAIN EVENT TIME!
World Title Match: Johnny Impact vs Killer Kross
Impact tries taking it to the mat, but Kross uses his power to escape, hoist Impact up, and slam him into the mat before unloading on him with hard strikes in the corner. He sits Impact on the top rope and goes for a belly to back superplex, but Impact fights him off and...is distracted by Moose as Kross rolls to the floor to catch a break. The referee kicks Moose out of ringside, and the action continues with Impact coming at Kross with a hard and fast flurry. Impact goes to the second rope, but Kross drills him with a charging clothesline that sends him tumbling to the floor. Kross dumps Impact right back into the ring and torques Impact over with a dragon screw legwhip, then mocks Impact's now-injured knee before covering for 2. Kross counters a springboard attempt into a powerslam for 2, then Impact gets an O'Connor roll for 2 before knocking Kross into next week with a running kneestrike. Impact follows that up with a piledriver for 2, then a DDT for another 2. Impact hits a rolling neckbreaker, but again only gets 2. Impact goes for another springboard move, but Kross just shoves him backward onto the ramp and stalks after him as if nothing Impact just did had any effect. Kross immediately regains control, beating Impact down and hitting a running Awesome Bomb down the ramp and into the ring. He stops to smile and admire his handiwork before covering for 2, then immediately going right into a Liontamer. Impact makes the ropes, Kross goes for the hold again, and Impact reverses to a rollup for 2. Impact knocks Kross the the apron with a leaping enziguiri, a second one knocks Kross backward into a Tree of Woe hanging off the apron, and Impact drills him with a top rope double stomp. That appears to have finally hurt Kross, and Impact immediately capitalizes with the twisting elbowdrop, but only gets 2. Impact picks Kross up, but Kross suddenly hits a gutwrench suplex out of nowhere, rolls through, and hits a gutwrench powerbomb. He calls Impact a stupid bastard, then goes for the straitjacket choke. Impact gets out, connects with a superkick, a knockout kick, another superkick, and Kross is right back up and goozles Impact into the corner. Impact hits a Frankensteiner into the corner, hits Starship Pain, and that's enough to finally put Kross down.
Winner: Johnny Impact
TERRIFIC main event! These guys have great chemistry, I want to see them do this again. Hell of a way to wrap up their stay in New York.
Thanks for reading the Impact Wrestling Report here on PWInsider.com, I'll be back on Monday to discuss Impact and more with Dave Scherer on the Stu & Pid Show!
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