Impact 1/25/2018

This week Impact Wrestling presents a special edition of Impact. It is time for GENESIS! On the show, Impact Grand Champion Ethan Carter III defends against Matt Sydal, Impact Global Champion Eli Drake defends against Johnny Impact and Alberto El Patron inside a STEEL CAGE! Plus, the Knockouts Championship is defended and a grudge match takes place!

Impact Wrestling presents Genesis
Date: 1/25/2018
From: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Impact starts off with a video package promoting the Genesis special. It was actually a well done video package with a good music selection to make the matches feel dramatic and important.

Opening Contest: Impact Gand Champion Ethan Carter III vs. Matt Sydal: This match doesn’t have judges or rounds and is instead just a singles match, per Sydal’s request. Sydal starts the match with a quick dropkick and stomps away on Carter in the corner. Carter bails to the floor but Sydal continues with deliver chops. Sydal delivers a kick to the chest to maintain control on the floor. Carter stops Sydal with a knee lift in the ring but Sydal hits a head scissors and a dropkick to a kneeling Carter. Sydal continues with a running knee strike in the corner for a near fall. Carter comes out of the corner to run over Sydal with a clothesline for a near fall. Carter continues to chop Sydal in the corner several times. Carter takes Sydal over with a snap suplex. Sydal leg sweeps Carter and attempts a standing moonsault but Carter got his knees up to block the move. Carter mocks Sydal with a choke signal. Carter sends Sydal hard back first into the corner. Carter does it again and Sydal falls to the canvas yet again. Carter drives Sydal down to the mat with a back suplex. Sydal elbows out of a sleeper hold and kicks Carter into the corner. Carter comes out of the corner with a sit down powerbomb for a near fall. Carter mocks Sydal again managing to get the crowd to chant “choke”. Sydal kicks Carter several times and drops Carter with a kick to the head. Sydal hits a standing moonsault for a near fall. Carter misses a splash in the corner and Sydal comes off the top hitting a double knee strike for a two count.

Sydal can’t believe he didn’t get a three count. Sydal continues to work over Carter with a kick in the corner and puts Carter on the top turnbuckle. Sydal attempts a hurricanrana but Carter avoids it and Sydal dangerously crashes to the canvas nearly landing directly on his neck. That should have ended much morse than it did. After a commercial, Carter has kept control and hits an ace crusher for a near fall. Carter drops Sydal throat first over the top rope. Sydal nails Carter with a spinning heel kick to send Carter to the floor followed by a baseball slide strike. Carter drops Sydal face first over the apron with a DDT. Sydal gets back in the ring before the count of ten. Sydal connects with a hurricanrana and a spin kick. Sydal drops Carter with a knee strike and heads to the top rope. Carter avoids the shooting star press and hip tosses Sydal into the corner. Carter plants Sydal with the One Percenter. Carter continues to taunt Sydal with a choke taunt. Carter attempts a middle rope move, but Sydal hits a powerbomb off the middle rope and connects with the shooting star press to win the match. (***. There were a couple of moments in the match where I was surprised that Sydal didn’t cripple himself. The commentary team didn’t do a good job of conveying how big a victory this was for Sydal considering his failures in the past. They didn’t have much excitement to their tone. I enjoyed the match and there weren’t any dull moments, really.)

Prior to the next match, a video promoting Allie is aired.

Second Contest: Impact Knockouts Champion Laurel Van Ness vs. Allie: They lockup and roll to the floor. Allie comes off the ropes with a few clotheslines once they get back in. Allie clotheslines a seated Van Ness for a two count. Van Ness bails to the floor to regroup and avoid a superkick. Allie leaps off the ring steps to nail Van Ness with a forearm shot. Van Ness stops Allie on the floor and connects with a boot to the face. We go to commercial.

Van Ness works over Allie with kicks in the corner and chokes Allie. Van Ness sends Allie face first into the turnbuckle a few times. Van Ness kicks Allie face first into the bottom turnbuckle for a near fall. Van Ness comes off the ropes to deliver a bulldog for a two count. Allie elbows Van Ness in the corner and delivers a shoulder block from the apron. Van Ness punches Allie and hits an elevated DDT for a two count. They begin to trade forearm strikes and Van Ness drops Allie with a clothesline. Van Ness hits the ropes chest first and Allie delivers a couple of running forearm strikes. Allie rams Van Ness into the middle turnbuckle followed by a dropkick to Van Ness into the middle turnbuckle. Allie takes Van Ness into the corner with a snap suplex for a two count. Van Ness misses a clothesline but is able to drive Allie into the corner to avoid a Codebreaker. Allie hits the Codebreaker on a second attempt for a near fall. Allie gets stopped with a boot to the knee and Van Ness nearly wins with a Curb Stomp. Van Ness attempts the Un-Prettier but Allie wiggles free to superkick the champ. Van Ness manages to get her boot on the bottom rope to break the count. Van Ness elbows Allie and the referee gets knocked down. Van Ness hits Allie with the Knockouts Championship to win the match. (**1/4. They got plenty of time and they worked a decent enough match. They performed better than the WWE female wrestlers normally do, if I’m being honest. Impact doesn’t toss around a women’s revolution around every two minutes. They just went out there and had a wrestling match. I’ve always liked Allie and Van Ness looks to be a quality wrestler.)

A video promoting the feud between Lashley and Moose is aired.

Third Contest: Lashley vs. Moose: KM and Dan Lambert are at ringside. Lashley takes Moose down to the mat and delivers several right hands. Lashley continues to work over Moose in the corner with right hands and elbow strikes. Lashley delivers a shoulder ram in the corner but Moose comes back with a series of chops and strikes. Moose decks Lashley with a right hand and rams Lashley face first into the corner. Lashley continues to work over Moose with shoulder rams. Lashley staggers Moose with a throat thrust and a snap suplex for a one count. Lashley splashes down across the back of Moose to keep him on the mat. Lashley comes off the ropes and is met with a knee strike. Moose continues to work over Lashley with chops. Moose springboards off the top rope and hits crossbody. KM trips Moose to distract him and Lashley drops Moose with a clothesline. Lashley goes to the floor and yells at KM to not interfere in the match. We go to commercial.

Lashley has kept control of Moose with stomps. Lashley drives Moose down to the mat with a neckbreaker. Lashley dumps Moose through the middle rope to the floor. Lashley drives Moose chest first into the guard railing. Lashley slams Moose’s arms onto the mat and chokes Moose over the middle rope. Moose dropkicks Lashley off the top turnbuckle to the floor. Lashley sends Moose shoulder first into the ring steps. Lashley rams Moose face first onto the apron and sends Moose into the guard railing again. KM has gone under the ring and brought a table out. KM slides the table into the ring and Lashley is pissed. Moose ducks a clothesline and delivers a headbutt to the chest of Lashley. Moose splashes Lashley a few times in the corner followed by a dropkick. Moose grabs Lashley off the middle rope and nearly wins with the Go To Hell. Lashley comes off the ropes to take Moose over with a running head scissors and a spear! Lashley has the cover but Moose puts his boot over the bottom rope to break the count. KM is on the apron and Moose sends Lashley into KM. Moose hits a discus clothesline but Lashley kicks out at two. Moose connects with the Game Changer and pins Lashley. (**. The final few minutes was entertaining, but before that I thought the match was rather bland didn’t hold my interest all that much. I was surprised to see Moose go over, but I’d assume he’s going to be a major focus in 2018 for Impact. Lashley seemed motivated and that was a good thing to see.)

Dan Lambert is on the outside blaming Lashley for the loss. Lambert shoves Lashley and KM tries to keep them apart and remind them they are a team. Lashley proceeds to take KM out with a spear on the floor. Lashley rolls Lambert into the ring and Moose drops Lambert with a kick to the face. Moose sets the table up in the corner. Lashley takes out Lambert with a spear in the corner driving Dan through the table. John Hartman is in the ring with a neck brace trying to get Lambert out of the ring. Lashley slams Hartman down to the mat and Moose hits a spear. Moose and Lashley shake hands and show respect for each other.

Before the main event, footage of Impact X-Division Champion Taiji Ishimori defending the championship against Andrew Everett is aired, however it’s only clips. The match took place on January 6th for Pro Wrestling NOAH. According to reports, it’s a really good match.

Main Event: Impact Global Champion Eli Drake vs. Alberto El Patron vs. Johnny Impact inside a steel cage: You can win the match by pin, submission or escape. Drake and Patron work over Impact with strikes and stomps in the corner. They both choke Impact on the mat. Drake wants to work with Patron and Impact gets driven face first into the cage. Patron and Drake trade right hands and then try to escape at the same time. Patron rams Drake face first into the cage and Patron comes off the top rope with a strike. Impact leaps off the top to dropkick Patron. Impact sends Drake face first into the cage along with Patron. Impact catapults Drake face first into the cage. Impact hammers away on Patron with right hands. Impact sends Patron into the cage face first. Impact takes Drake down with a swinging neckbreaker for a two count. Impact decides to try and escape the cage. Patron yanks Impact down and he drops throat first over the top rope. Patron clotheslines impact and hits a backstabber on Drake for a two count. Patron hits a tilt a whirl backbreaker on Impact. Patron climbs the cage looking to escape over the top. Impact holds Patron but is kicked down into a tree of woe. Patron misses a double stomp attempt. Impact comes off the top to double stomp Patron. Drake drives Impact down with a powerslam. All three men are down as we go to commercial.

All three men are trading right hands in the middle of the ring. Drake low blows both challengers. Drake stomps on both opponents and powerslams Impact. Drake sends Patron face first into the cage and same happens to Impact. Drake stomps away on Patron and chokes him. Drake sends Patron face first into the cage. Drake sends Impact into the cage, but Impact gets his feet up to walk the cage. Impact is able to send Drake face first into the cage. Impact dropkicks Patron and knee lifts Drake against the cage. Impact hits a shining wizard for a two count. Impact tries to escape over the top but Patron pulls Impact down. Patron hits a step up kick to drop Impact in the corner. Drake breaks up the cover and is sent face first into the cage seven times and Patron plants Drake with a DDT. Patron has the cover but Impact breaks up the cover. Patron tries to escape the cage but Impact stops him. Impact kicks Patron and they trade strikes on the top rope. Patron rams Impact face first into the cage. Impact gets stuck in a tree of woe a second time. Patron hits a double stomp. Drake went for the Gravy Train on Patron, but Patron countered with a cross arm breaker. Impact comes off the top to elbow drop Patron to break up the pin attempt.

Impact tries to escape the cage but all three men are on the top rope. Patron gets knocked off the mat and Impact kicks Drake off as well. Impact has a clear path to hit the floor. Impact decides to leap off the top of the cage and hits a crossbody to take out both Patron and Drake. Impact kicks Patron and Drake hits the Gravy Train on Patron for a near fall. Drake shoves Impact away and tries to escape the cage. Impact stops Drake rather quickly with kicks. Drake is on the top of the cage but is kicked by Impact. Patron is trying to escape through the door, but Impact pulls Patron back in. Drake is still on the top of the cage. Patron kicks Impact with his free leg. Patron tries to escape through the door, but Chris Adonis slams the cage door into Patron’s face. Impact tries to climb the cage and jump to the floor before Drake, but Adonis is able to catch Impact and prevents him from hitting the floor. Drake touches the floor and retains the title. As a result, Drake doesn’t have to defend the title against Impact or Patron ever again. (***1/4. It’s a good cage match even if they did the usual cage match spots like the crossbody off the top. The finish was clever and isn’t one you see very often. It reminded me of the cage match finish from a Money Inc. vs. Steiner Brothers cage match in 1993. I’m intrigued to see where Drake goes from here with two of his top challengers no longer able to challenge him.)

Final Thoughts:
A good episode of Impact since it was a special edition and they seemingly finished three feuds while likely dragging on the Van Ness/Allie issues. There wasn’t a lengthy talk segment and it was all wrestling. Every match got plenty of time to develop and it made for a good show.

Next week is the first episode of the Don Callis/Scott D’Amore era for Impact. I’m interested to see how their vision plays out on television. I’m cautiously optimistic.

Thanks for reading.