Hello Impact Asylum members, it’s your weekly Hot Fire! Sorry for the late release of this week’s edition, since I’m Canadian and we have our Thanksgiving to celebrate! We’re just a bit over a week away from Bound For Glory so time to get right to it and let’s see if Impact can deliver another good episode!
The Rating Scale:
HOT FIRE - Amazing/5 Stars
HOT - Great
WARM - Good
LUKEWARM - Okay/Decent
COLD - Bad
FREEZING - Horrible/1 Star
Impact Wrestling October 11th 2019: Location: Sam’s Town Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Commentary: Josh Mathews & Don Callis
X-Division Title Ladder Match Qualifier: Eddie Edwards vs Ace Austin:
Winner: Ace Austin
WARM - The match was the expected quality from a veteran in Eddie Edwards and a very good talent in Ace Austin but the shenanigans that happened before, during and after the match is what really did it for me. Ace Austin’s shirt was AMAZING and really got a laugh out of me and him making out with ‘’fans’’ at ringside was also funny as hell (although I’m not sure how that’s supposed to help him win over Alisha). I’m glad that Ace got the win here as I think Eddie and Ace are now 2-1 if I’m not mistaken and this was obviously not the blowoff match. Reno Scum coming out for the beatdown and the distraction was really not necessary either as Eddie beating them last week should have written them off TV for a while as they only usually appear during the Las Vegas tapings. This storyline has been one of the more consistently entertaining stories in Impact right now so I feel like they still have some more gas in the tank to keep it going.
- Rosemary confronts Taya Valkyrie backstage. Taya goes on a rant about how she wouldn’t be in this mess with Havok if it wasn’t for the fact that Rosemary refused to take out Tenille Dashwood. Rosemary smiles and says it’s not fair and walks away.
Desi Hit Squad vs The Rascalz:
Winner: Desi Hit Squad
LUKEWARM - So it seems like with the addition of Mahabali Shera to the DHS they’re going to start pushing them harder. Not necessarily against that as all 3 members have definitely
improved in the ring over time but at the expense of the Rascalz, who have a match at BFG (albeit a forgotten one) kind of sucks. It seemed like the Rascalz were being positioned to be the next best thing after LAX yet their BFG match has gotten no build and they haven’t been used on TV significantly in weeks. I hope they touch upon that during their BFG match or something as Impact shouldn’t be wasting talent like that. They’ve already wasted Dezmond Xavier once before, don’t do it again.
- Jordynne Grace is stretching backstage as Katie Forbes arrives. Katie gives her keys to Jordynne and tells her to go park her car as she thinks Grace is a valet. Grace sticks her keys into her…. Cleavage (is that politically correct?) and says she will kick her ass tonight. Then Katie starts twerking and says ‘’this ass?’’ as Grace walks away. Oh boy..
Knockouts Title: Taya Valkyrie vs Havok w/James Mitchell:
Winner: No Contest
COLD - This was a very meh match and Tenille Dashwood on commentary did absolutely nothing for me as she’s just as boring talking as she is in the ring. I don’t know if it’s because of the long time away from the ring or what but she’s definitely lost that flair she had once upon a time. I’m glad that Taya is now the longest reigning Knockouts Champion (on Wikipedia too now) as she definitely deserves it for the work she puts in. So hopefully she can pull a good match out of Tenille at BFG. Whether Dashwood stays past BFG or not still seems to be up in the air but hopefully she becomes more motivated.
- Sami Callihan calls Brian Cage an animal. He’s unhinged and the only reason why his wife got hit with the bottle is because he duck. He attacked that fan last week because he’s an animal that can’t be controlled. OVE chant and thumbs up, thumbs down.
- Gabby Loren ask The North if they know what happened to Konnan last week. They act super surprised and worried for Konnan (Page saying he should have used his Life Alert button LOL). Rich Swann and Willie Mack arrive, saying they beat Page last year at BFG and they will do it again except this time, they will leave as champions. The North inform Swann and Mack that the match is actually a triple threat as the ECW originals skipped the line. Rhino and RVD arrive and said they did no such thing as they were in line before Swann and Mack were even born. The North walk away as Rhino thanks Swann for a rug??
Moose w/Frank Triggs vs Stephen Bonnar:
Winner: Stephen Bonnar (DQ)
HOT - Impact… Impact… Impact. You were SO CLOSE, SO CLOSE from a Hot Fire but then you had to ruin it. This match served its purpose tremendously. Moose beatdown Stephen
Bonnar pretty much for the whole match and the post beatdown while Stephen Bonnar was bleeding everywhere was an AMAZING visual as not only Moose looks like a huge dick, he also just beat to a pulp another big MMA name, foreshadowing what he will do to Ken Shamrock at BFG. What kicked this down a notch on the rating scale is the fact that Ken Shamrock and Moose got physical. They haven’t gotten really physical at all yet this entire feud and they should have kept it that way until BFG. Moose should have just taunted Shamrock to charge the ring and then he should have slid out and ran away. That would have made this segment a HOT FIRE for me. Overall though, still an AMAZING segment and somehow, some way, Impact have managed to make this feud one of the more interesting ones heading into BFG.
Jordynne Grace vs Katie Forbes:
Winner: Jordynne Grace
LUKEWARM - This wasn’t that bad of a match as people exaggerate again and say that Katie Forbes is garbage in the ring. She isn’t nothing revolutionary but she’s a solid hand and I guess we needed a more edgier Knockout now that Scarlett Bordeaux is gone. Jordynne Grace is another name that has just fallen into purgatory around here as it seemed like she was set to feud with Rosemary but it seems like they’re holding back on Rosemary going into the ring again until she’s fully healed up and back into full in ring shape. A decent match, but I’m not sure of the purpose.
- Johnny Swinger approaches Katie Forbes backstage and tells her he was impressed with what he saw. But a little piece of advice would be to show more skin like he does. Swinger wants to give her more tips later on (wink wink). Katie Forbes reminds him she’s dating RVD. Swinger says he’s good friends with RVD because they wrestle (current tense) in ECW. Swinger then asks Katie before she can walk away if her and RVD swing. Jordynne Grace walks in and shoves Johnny Swinger down as he says he also likes it rough. Johnny Swinger is hilarious in a lowcard comedy role like this, just don’t give him more.
- Impact Moment of the Week: Some Ultimate X match that I won’t bother trying to find alone to figure out what show it came from.
- Daga tells Tessa Blanchard that he is thankful for her saving him last week but he can fight his own battles. Tessa warns Daga that anything OVE related is her battle. Tonight, she has Daga’s back, but come Sunday at BFG, they’re on their own.
- Fallah Bahh is working out as TJP arrives with a plate of donuts. Bahh wants some but TJP tells him to do push ups. TJP then gives him a donut and hypes him up saying he will break the unbreakable Michael Elgin next week. Bahh ‘’Bahh’s’’ and throws the donut.
Tessa Blanchard/Daga vs Jake Crist/Madman Fulton w/Dave Crist:
Winner: Tessa Blanchard/Daga
COLD - The closer we get to BFG, the more certain I am regarding the fate of the X-Division and World Heavyweight title. There was absolutely no reason for Tessa defeating Jake Crist in 5 minutes. There was also no reason for Jake Crist to eat the pin as we have Madman Fulton, who even though shouldn’t be taking any pins since he should be booked as a monster, who gets beat up by everyone regardless so at least it makes a bit more sense. This match was just no good due to the booking decisions.
- For the sake of not giving a crappy rating the post match segment, I will consider it a separate segment. OVE start beating down Daga and Tessa as we see a car arrive to the arena on the big screen, Brian Cage arrives (back from jail) and starts screaming at Jimmy Jacobs asking him where Sami Callihan is. He heads towards the ring and beats the hell out of all of OVE as Sami comes up from behind and hits Cage with a chair. He no sold it and then chased after Sami. The numbers game finally gets to Brian though as he’s handcuffed to the ropes. Sami Callihan grabs a bat, and is about to hit Brian with it but here’s Melissa Santos to plead Sami not to do it. Sami warns her to leave, but then out of nowhere grabs her and hits a pile driver as Brian Cage screams and asks her if she’s okay as OVE leaves. Thoughts: THIS WAS FANTASTIC. This could have easily been on the go home show as the main event to an Impact PPV hasn’t been this interesting in a very long time. I’m super excited to see the intensity these two bring to the ring come Sunday and the story leading up to it as been very good thus far.
OVERALL:
WARM - This was a weird episode as what worked, REALLY worked and what didn’t work, REALLY didn’t work. But the good outweighs the bad hence why I still gave this episode a WARM. The truth of the matter is even though some matches haven’t really had that much of a build the matches that have gotten a good build have got me super pumped for this PPV. Hopefully the go home show can give us a bit more focus on the tag title match and a few of those non title matches that have gotten zero build.
This Week’s Impact MVP:
MOOSE - I feel like I’m always picking the same people around here but Moose has done a TREMENDOUS job with this feud, and him beating Stephen Bonnar down to a bloody pulp was an AMAZING visual. I am super excited for this match at BFG even though I know it won’t be a 5 star clinic. Props to you Moose. Let’s just hope we don’t get a repeat of Slammiversary when it comes to the outcome of the match.
Next Week on Impact:
- 20 man Battle Royale, winner gets spot number 20 in the Call Your Shot 20 man Gauntlet Battle Royale at BFG, runner up gets spot number 1 (what a title) - X-Division Title Ladder Match Qualifier: Rohit Raju vs Sabu - Michael Elgin vs Fallah Bahh - Josh Alexander vs Rhino vs Rich Swann - Jake Crist vs Chris Bey
Prelude to Glory Card: - Rich Swann/Willie Mack vs Desi Hit Squad
- Sami Callihan vs Dez
- Brian Cage/Tesa Blanchard vs Jake Crist/Madman Fulton
- Ace Austin vs Eddie Edwards
- Tenille Dashwood/Jordynne Grace/Rosemary vs Kiera Hogan/Taya Valkyrie/Madison Rayne
- Michael Elgin/The North vs Rhino/RVD/Naomichi Marufugi
All Glory Event: - Hemi perform live (concert)
- Sami Callihan Video Game Tournament
- Card Game Tournament
- Isaias Velasquez vs Brubaker vs GPA vs Monix vs Bryce Benjamin
- Zelo’s Pro Women’s Championship: Laynie Luck vs Shotzi Blackheart vs Kylie Rae
Man oh man Impact Wrestling has an incredibly busy week, add to this Throwback Throwdown the week after BFG and the Turning Point in November, Impact has a really busy schedule. Anyways, this wraps up another edition of Hot Fire! Please stay tuned as I will be making another Fireguy’s Predictions column for Bound For Glory, as well as not ONE but TWO Hot Fire’s, one for the go home show and one for THE Impact PPV of the year, Bound For Glory. My name’s Fireguy and I’ll talk to you all a little bit later!
The Rating Scale:
HOT FIRE - Amazing/5 Stars
HOT - Great
WARM - Good
LUKEWARM - Okay/Decent
COLD - Bad
FREEZING - Horrible/1 Star
Impact Wrestling October 11th 2019: Location: Sam’s Town Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Commentary: Josh Mathews & Don Callis
X-Division Title Ladder Match Qualifier: Eddie Edwards vs Ace Austin:
Winner: Ace Austin
WARM - The match was the expected quality from a veteran in Eddie Edwards and a very good talent in Ace Austin but the shenanigans that happened before, during and after the match is what really did it for me. Ace Austin’s shirt was AMAZING and really got a laugh out of me and him making out with ‘’fans’’ at ringside was also funny as hell (although I’m not sure how that’s supposed to help him win over Alisha). I’m glad that Ace got the win here as I think Eddie and Ace are now 2-1 if I’m not mistaken and this was obviously not the blowoff match. Reno Scum coming out for the beatdown and the distraction was really not necessary either as Eddie beating them last week should have written them off TV for a while as they only usually appear during the Las Vegas tapings. This storyline has been one of the more consistently entertaining stories in Impact right now so I feel like they still have some more gas in the tank to keep it going.
- Rosemary confronts Taya Valkyrie backstage. Taya goes on a rant about how she wouldn’t be in this mess with Havok if it wasn’t for the fact that Rosemary refused to take out Tenille Dashwood. Rosemary smiles and says it’s not fair and walks away.
Desi Hit Squad vs The Rascalz:
Winner: Desi Hit Squad
LUKEWARM - So it seems like with the addition of Mahabali Shera to the DHS they’re going to start pushing them harder. Not necessarily against that as all 3 members have definitely
improved in the ring over time but at the expense of the Rascalz, who have a match at BFG (albeit a forgotten one) kind of sucks. It seemed like the Rascalz were being positioned to be the next best thing after LAX yet their BFG match has gotten no build and they haven’t been used on TV significantly in weeks. I hope they touch upon that during their BFG match or something as Impact shouldn’t be wasting talent like that. They’ve already wasted Dezmond Xavier once before, don’t do it again.
- Jordynne Grace is stretching backstage as Katie Forbes arrives. Katie gives her keys to Jordynne and tells her to go park her car as she thinks Grace is a valet. Grace sticks her keys into her…. Cleavage (is that politically correct?) and says she will kick her ass tonight. Then Katie starts twerking and says ‘’this ass?’’ as Grace walks away. Oh boy..
Knockouts Title: Taya Valkyrie vs Havok w/James Mitchell:
Winner: No Contest
COLD - This was a very meh match and Tenille Dashwood on commentary did absolutely nothing for me as she’s just as boring talking as she is in the ring. I don’t know if it’s because of the long time away from the ring or what but she’s definitely lost that flair she had once upon a time. I’m glad that Taya is now the longest reigning Knockouts Champion (on Wikipedia too now) as she definitely deserves it for the work she puts in. So hopefully she can pull a good match out of Tenille at BFG. Whether Dashwood stays past BFG or not still seems to be up in the air but hopefully she becomes more motivated.
- Sami Callihan calls Brian Cage an animal. He’s unhinged and the only reason why his wife got hit with the bottle is because he duck. He attacked that fan last week because he’s an animal that can’t be controlled. OVE chant and thumbs up, thumbs down.
- Gabby Loren ask The North if they know what happened to Konnan last week. They act super surprised and worried for Konnan (Page saying he should have used his Life Alert button LOL). Rich Swann and Willie Mack arrive, saying they beat Page last year at BFG and they will do it again except this time, they will leave as champions. The North inform Swann and Mack that the match is actually a triple threat as the ECW originals skipped the line. Rhino and RVD arrive and said they did no such thing as they were in line before Swann and Mack were even born. The North walk away as Rhino thanks Swann for a rug??
Moose w/Frank Triggs vs Stephen Bonnar:
Winner: Stephen Bonnar (DQ)
HOT - Impact… Impact… Impact. You were SO CLOSE, SO CLOSE from a Hot Fire but then you had to ruin it. This match served its purpose tremendously. Moose beatdown Stephen
Bonnar pretty much for the whole match and the post beatdown while Stephen Bonnar was bleeding everywhere was an AMAZING visual as not only Moose looks like a huge dick, he also just beat to a pulp another big MMA name, foreshadowing what he will do to Ken Shamrock at BFG. What kicked this down a notch on the rating scale is the fact that Ken Shamrock and Moose got physical. They haven’t gotten really physical at all yet this entire feud and they should have kept it that way until BFG. Moose should have just taunted Shamrock to charge the ring and then he should have slid out and ran away. That would have made this segment a HOT FIRE for me. Overall though, still an AMAZING segment and somehow, some way, Impact have managed to make this feud one of the more interesting ones heading into BFG.
Jordynne Grace vs Katie Forbes:
Winner: Jordynne Grace
LUKEWARM - This wasn’t that bad of a match as people exaggerate again and say that Katie Forbes is garbage in the ring. She isn’t nothing revolutionary but she’s a solid hand and I guess we needed a more edgier Knockout now that Scarlett Bordeaux is gone. Jordynne Grace is another name that has just fallen into purgatory around here as it seemed like she was set to feud with Rosemary but it seems like they’re holding back on Rosemary going into the ring again until she’s fully healed up and back into full in ring shape. A decent match, but I’m not sure of the purpose.
- Johnny Swinger approaches Katie Forbes backstage and tells her he was impressed with what he saw. But a little piece of advice would be to show more skin like he does. Swinger wants to give her more tips later on (wink wink). Katie Forbes reminds him she’s dating RVD. Swinger says he’s good friends with RVD because they wrestle (current tense) in ECW. Swinger then asks Katie before she can walk away if her and RVD swing. Jordynne Grace walks in and shoves Johnny Swinger down as he says he also likes it rough. Johnny Swinger is hilarious in a lowcard comedy role like this, just don’t give him more.
- Impact Moment of the Week: Some Ultimate X match that I won’t bother trying to find alone to figure out what show it came from.
- Daga tells Tessa Blanchard that he is thankful for her saving him last week but he can fight his own battles. Tessa warns Daga that anything OVE related is her battle. Tonight, she has Daga’s back, but come Sunday at BFG, they’re on their own.
- Fallah Bahh is working out as TJP arrives with a plate of donuts. Bahh wants some but TJP tells him to do push ups. TJP then gives him a donut and hypes him up saying he will break the unbreakable Michael Elgin next week. Bahh ‘’Bahh’s’’ and throws the donut.
Tessa Blanchard/Daga vs Jake Crist/Madman Fulton w/Dave Crist:
Winner: Tessa Blanchard/Daga
COLD - The closer we get to BFG, the more certain I am regarding the fate of the X-Division and World Heavyweight title. There was absolutely no reason for Tessa defeating Jake Crist in 5 minutes. There was also no reason for Jake Crist to eat the pin as we have Madman Fulton, who even though shouldn’t be taking any pins since he should be booked as a monster, who gets beat up by everyone regardless so at least it makes a bit more sense. This match was just no good due to the booking decisions.
- For the sake of not giving a crappy rating the post match segment, I will consider it a separate segment. OVE start beating down Daga and Tessa as we see a car arrive to the arena on the big screen, Brian Cage arrives (back from jail) and starts screaming at Jimmy Jacobs asking him where Sami Callihan is. He heads towards the ring and beats the hell out of all of OVE as Sami comes up from behind and hits Cage with a chair. He no sold it and then chased after Sami. The numbers game finally gets to Brian though as he’s handcuffed to the ropes. Sami Callihan grabs a bat, and is about to hit Brian with it but here’s Melissa Santos to plead Sami not to do it. Sami warns her to leave, but then out of nowhere grabs her and hits a pile driver as Brian Cage screams and asks her if she’s okay as OVE leaves. Thoughts: THIS WAS FANTASTIC. This could have easily been on the go home show as the main event to an Impact PPV hasn’t been this interesting in a very long time. I’m super excited to see the intensity these two bring to the ring come Sunday and the story leading up to it as been very good thus far.
OVERALL:
WARM - This was a weird episode as what worked, REALLY worked and what didn’t work, REALLY didn’t work. But the good outweighs the bad hence why I still gave this episode a WARM. The truth of the matter is even though some matches haven’t really had that much of a build the matches that have gotten a good build have got me super pumped for this PPV. Hopefully the go home show can give us a bit more focus on the tag title match and a few of those non title matches that have gotten zero build.
This Week’s Impact MVP:
MOOSE - I feel like I’m always picking the same people around here but Moose has done a TREMENDOUS job with this feud, and him beating Stephen Bonnar down to a bloody pulp was an AMAZING visual. I am super excited for this match at BFG even though I know it won’t be a 5 star clinic. Props to you Moose. Let’s just hope we don’t get a repeat of Slammiversary when it comes to the outcome of the match.
Next Week on Impact:
- 20 man Battle Royale, winner gets spot number 20 in the Call Your Shot 20 man Gauntlet Battle Royale at BFG, runner up gets spot number 1 (what a title) - X-Division Title Ladder Match Qualifier: Rohit Raju vs Sabu - Michael Elgin vs Fallah Bahh - Josh Alexander vs Rhino vs Rich Swann - Jake Crist vs Chris Bey
Prelude to Glory Card: - Rich Swann/Willie Mack vs Desi Hit Squad
- Sami Callihan vs Dez
- Brian Cage/Tesa Blanchard vs Jake Crist/Madman Fulton
- Ace Austin vs Eddie Edwards
- Tenille Dashwood/Jordynne Grace/Rosemary vs Kiera Hogan/Taya Valkyrie/Madison Rayne
- Michael Elgin/The North vs Rhino/RVD/Naomichi Marufugi
All Glory Event: - Hemi perform live (concert)
- Sami Callihan Video Game Tournament
- Card Game Tournament
- Isaias Velasquez vs Brubaker vs GPA vs Monix vs Bryce Benjamin
- Zelo’s Pro Women’s Championship: Laynie Luck vs Shotzi Blackheart vs Kylie Rae
Man oh man Impact Wrestling has an incredibly busy week, add to this Throwback Throwdown the week after BFG and the Turning Point in November, Impact has a really busy schedule. Anyways, this wraps up another edition of Hot Fire! Please stay tuned as I will be making another Fireguy’s Predictions column for Bound For Glory, as well as not ONE but TWO Hot Fire’s, one for the go home show and one for THE Impact PPV of the year, Bound For Glory. My name’s Fireguy and I’ll talk to you all a little bit later!
