The 30-minute Ironman match between challenger Jordynne Grace and champion Deonna Purrazzo for the Knockouts championship stole the show on Tuesday’s Impact Wrestling’s Emergence Night Two. The rest of the show – which featured a couple of decent, if unspectacular matches, and setups for matches to come next week – was fine, but couldn’t really compare to the main event.

Match 1: Eddie Edwards (c) vs. Rob Van Dam (w/ Katie Forbes) – for the Impact World Championship

In the early minutes, the action spilled outside, and when RVD planted a smooch on Katie, Eddie took advantage, hitting the horny challenger with a flying dive. But as Katie started arguing with Eddie, RVD took control by smashing Edwards into the post, then using some vintage RVD moves to punish the champ.

 

Some more distraction by Katie led to RVD hitting his split-legged moonsault for two. Eddie Hulked up, though, and hit a Tiger Driver for a near-fall. A top rope move attempt by Edwards backfired, as he got crotched on the top rope and kicked in the face for his troubles. RVD had trouble getting onto the top rope, and the delay gave Eddie the time he needed to recover and roll out of the way of the Five-Star Frogsplash. He then blasted RVD with the Boston Knee Party to get the win. This one was fine, if a bit slow-paced. It didn’t help that there was no sense that RVD was ever a threat to Eddie’s title reign.

Winner, and still Impact World Champion: Eddie Edwards

After the match, Eric Young ran in and attacked Eddie from behind, stomping a mudhole into the champ. He angrily informed Eddie that he was going to challenge Edwards for the title next week.

Wrestle House segment

This week, Taya organized a toga party for the residents, and everyone was getting ready for that. Swinger introduced the prank of “Fuji-ing” everybody by throwing powder in their eyes. His plan was to blind every other guy and eliminate the competition for the women in the house, so that his protégé, Crazzy Steve, could finally land one. #SwingerSpinoff

The party was a rager with many people getting drunk. Kylie tried to make peace with Taya after their match last week, but then Taya hurled before they could talk. The Deaners again accused Acey Romero for stealing their beer last week, but since they had no proof, they let it go. Swinger and Steve tried to Fuji Larry D, but the plan went awry and Steve got powdered instead. Tommy Dreamer made a match, but in order to even the odds, he made it a Blindfold Match.

Wrestle House Match: Crazzy Steve vs. Johnny Swinger – Blindfold Match

Some shenanigans with a bicycle horn, and the fact that nobody likes him led to a quick loss for the Swingman. This was about as throwaway a comedy segment as you can get.

Backstage, Eddie was storming around, looking for Eric Young. Props to Eddie for using the “You wanna get nuts? Let’s get nuts” line from Michael Keaton’s Batman, but it would have been more effective if he’d have saved it for next week and actually gotten nuts.

Speaking of nuts, they then showed Eric Young’s package. I mean, Eric Young was in a video package that announced that Bound For Glory will take place on Saturday, October 24 on Pay-Per-View.

Rhino challenged Reno Scum to a tag team match next week. He hopes that his partner will be Heath, and asked everyone to support the #Heath4IMPACT campaign to make that happen.

Eddie Edwards came to the ring and called out Eric to face him now instead of waiting until next week. He used the Batman line again, which was unfortunate. The first time, it’s cool; the second time, it’s forced. Eric came to the entrance ramp, and said that he was the one in control, and that the match will take place next week like he planned it. Edwards said that Young’s beating would start then and there. With that, he charged Eric and they brawled down the ramp and ringside until referees and officials pulled them apart. Even Impact Executive Vice-President Scott D’Amore wasn’t safe from the skirmish, as he ended up getting shoved hard and went down tail-over-teakettle before the two were separated.

Rohit Raju was interviewed about his sneaky plan to win the X-Division Championship. He said that he was forced to take the shortcuts he did because the company was holding him down, but that would never happen again now that he’s the champ.

Madison Rayne hosted another edition of Locker Room Talk with her co-hosts, Dez and Wentz from the Rascalz. They were stoned, of course. It was about to turn into one of their Treehouse segments, but the narc Madison wouldn’t let it happen. She introduced her guests, Ace Austin and Mad Man Fulton, who got upset with questions about their loss to the Good Brothers last week, so they left. This was pointless.

Sami Callihan was in his hacker’s lair, and he said that Rob Van Dam lost earlier tonight because Sami was in his head and that distracted him from the match. Sami said that he’d stop with the mind games, and he challenged RVD to come to the ring and face him next week.

A good video package for EC3 relived his first TNA Championship win. He said that as long as the title exists, he will never have peace. So he was going to destroy it. Great video, excellent use of music in this one.

Match 2: Brian Myers vs. Willie Mack

Brian wasn’t really able to solve the Willie Mack equation early on, so had to resort to dirty tactics, cleverly using the ring ropes to assault the big man. Myers grounded Willie, locking on a exciting chinlock for an extended period. Mack powered up and hit Myers with a huge Pop-Up Powerbomb to reverse the momentum. Willie followed that up with a number of power moves, including a standing moonsault. Myers got the best when they scaled the ropes, and shoved Willie hard to the mat. They exchanged some pinfall attempts, but in the end, Myers used the tights to roll up Willie and steal the win. This was fine, but Myers has zero star power. After his loss last week, they had the opportunity to give him a losing streak story, which could have at least been amusing. Instead, they’ve made him just another mid-card guy but with no real personality.

Winner: Brian Myers

A #Heath4IMPACT video aired, as he wants to join Rhino next week against Reno Scum. These are great.

Wrestle House segment

Rosemary flirted with Larry D before their date – which, you’ll recall, she’s going on in order to make John E. Bravo jealous. Alisha Edwards pulled her aside to call her out on it. Tommy Dreamer told Bravo to fight for his girl, so the glittery-shirted one barged into their date, and slapped Larry, not knowing that he didn’t have to, since Rosemary was unable to go through with it and was going to break it off with Larry anyway. Larry understandably took offense at getting slapped, leading to…

Wrestle House Match: Larry D vs. John E. Bravo

Two hits. Larry hitting Bravo, Bravo hitting the mat. After the match, Rosemary apologized to Bravo for trying to make him jealous. But he apologized to her, saying that he should have told Taya from the beginning of his feelings for Rosemary. Taya stumbled her way over to them, and Bravo told her. Taya was angry and called out Rosemary for locking them all in the Wrestle House to play out this drama. She challenged Rosemary to a match next week, with the winner taking all – including Bravo.

 

Match 3: Jordynne Grace vs. Deonna Purrazzo (c) – 30-minute Ironmatch for the Knockouts Championship

Good technical wrestling started off this one, with Grace coming out on top, proving that she has technique and not just power. But she put the power on display too, hurting the champion with a Half Carb submission attempt that forced Purrazzo to scramble desperately to the floor to avoid tapping out. After a commercial break, Grace was still in control, throwing the champ hard into each corner. But Purrazzo was able to use her quickness to outmove Grace, and she nailed the challenger with a huge Pump Kick to the face. She then targeted Grace’s arm to set up for her arm submission finisher, which she calls the Venus De Milo. In a nasty-looking spot, Purrazzo crunched a boot down hard onto Grace’s over-extended elbow – ouch! Her aggressive assault on Grace continued for a while, smashing the arm with elbows, punches, kicks, and even used the ring steps on the outside to administer some pain. Over twenty minutes into the match, and it was pretty much all Deonna. But Grace got her second wind, and was able to muscle her way back into the match, rocking the champ with some hard shots, building up to a superplex that knocked the air out of Deonna. Grace, with a burst of energy, hit a series of senton splashes, but could only get a two-count. She then wrapped up Deonna in a Kokina Klutch, and Deonna’s arm fell for a third time, leading to a score of 1-0 for Grace with less than five minutes to go. After waking up, Purrazzo felt the urgency, and she hit a series of knees on Grace to ground her. She then clamped on a neat-looking submission, working on Grace’s weakened arm, but Grace got to the ropes to break it. When Grace charged Deonna in the corner, the champion pulled the referee between them, and he got squashed, sending him down hard. Grace hit Purrazzo with the Grace Driver, but the ref was down and couldn’t see it. As she tried to revive him, Deonna went out side and grabbed the Knockouts Championship belt. She clocked Grace with it and got the pin, tying things up at 1-1, with a minute to go. Dazed from the belt-shot, Grace was easy pickings for Purrazzo who locked her up in the Venus De Milo. With five seconds left to go, Grace succumbed to the pain of the move and tapped out as the time ran out. Final score: 2-1 for Purrazzo.

Winner, and still Knockouts Champion: Deonna Purrazzo

Emergence Night Two ended with “The Virtuosa” hoisting her championship and celebrating her victory.

IMPACT Wrestling - 2020/08/25
3.5

Impact Zone - Nashville, TN

This was really a one-match show, with the 30-minute Knockouts match delivering as promised. The rest of the show included a lot of filler, with a few highlights (as per usual, EC3, Swinger, and anything to do with Heath), and a lot of buildup for next week. The women’s match was worth seeking out, the rest not so much.