Tonight is IMPACT Hard To Kill which features AEW World Champion Kenny Omega teaming up with IMPACT World Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers against Rich Swann, Chris Sabin and Moose. Moose was the announced replacement for Alex Shelley who could not attend tonight’s show.
IMPACT Wrestling Hard To Kill, January 16, 2020
Commentators: Matt Striker & D’Lo Brown
MATCH 1
Decay (Rosemary & Crazzy Steve) vs. Tenille Dashwood & Kaleb With A K
Steve and Rosemary crawl out into the ring like Walking Dead zombies as KwaK is documenting Tenille’s entrance. Steve & KwaK start it off as Kaleb does a headlock. Steve quickly escapes. Knee to Kaleb’s gut. Tag to Rosemary and she bites & wrenches the arm of Kaleb. Steve does the same and Rosemary does it again. KwaK tries diving to the outside but Steve uppercuts hims. Kaleb escapes Rosemary and tags in Tenille who receives a sideslam. Mounted punches. Kaleb pulls Rosemary down from the apron. Tenille covers for two. She stomps on Rosemary. She pulls Rosemary’s pigtails underneath the top rope. Snapmare and noogies to Rosemary.
Underhook suplex from Tenille. Tag to Kaleb. Tenille goes for the Dudley drop but gets vaulted into Kaleb, knocking him down. Steve gets the hot tag . Neck crank on Kaleb. Low Flatliner by Steve, but Tenille interrupts. Steve looks at Tenille and Kaleb nails a dropkick. Tag to Tenille who kicks Steve’s arm. Arm wrench and tag to Kaleb a-gain. Russian leg sweep. He talks to Tenille as they both climb their corner. High-five. Tenille has a phone and is going to take a picture of KwaK doing a moonsault, but Kaleb misses and Rosemary gets the hot tag. Exploder suplex to Tenille before a tag to Steve. Double mandible chokeslam to Kaleb. Steve covers, but Tenille breaks it up. Rosemary spears. Superkick to Rosemary by Kaleb. He clubs the back of Steve’s neck. Steve green mists Tenille and Kaleb hits a backfist. Rosemary is the legal person and Kaleb tries to drag her back in. He gets green misted. Steve hits a tornado DDT and gets the pinfall.
WINNERS: Decay
We see Don Callis walking in with Kenny Omega and The Good Brothers disrespecting the door man. Matt Striker takes exception. How dare they.
MATCH 2
Violent By Design (Eric Young, Joe Doering & Deaner) vs. Rhino, Tommy Dreamer & Cousin Jake
The fight starts between all six men. Joe Doering tosses out Rhino as Jake lariats EY right out. Deaner and Jake. Deaner slaps Jake and Jake levels him. Mounted punches and Deaner goes for a powder. Brawl on the outside. It’s Doering and Rhino in the ring. They too brawl to the outside as EY attacks Jake. Deaner bites Dreamer on the forehead. Knees to Jake via EY. Striker mentions Dreamer always honoring the legends who have passed. Dreamer nails EY with cookie sheet before hitting him with a cutter. Jake stands over Deaner and Rhino brings in a chair to showdown with Doering. So does Dreamer, so does Jake. Doering takes several shots across the back but the big man doesn’t go down. He fights everyone off and bites Dreamer before erasing him with a lariat. Doering chokes Dreamer on the ropes and then chokes him on the second turnbuckle. Violent By Design is in control of our three heroes. Jake fights off Deaner but Deaner strikes back and sends him on top of two steel chairs. Doering and EY attempt to pull up the outside mat, but Jake dives onto them. Dreamer is down and Jake meets Deaner up top. Doering catches Jake and powerbombs him as Deaner gets suplex and Dreamer inadvertantly gets taken out. Doering takes out Rhino and breaks a kendo stick in half.
Doering charges into the ring post on the outside. Dreamer pulls out thumbtacks and soon backdrops EY onto them. Rhino gores Doering in the ring as well. Deaner hits his DDT on Rhino. Jake hits a side effect slam on Deaner and EY makes the save. Piledriver to Cousin Jake and EY gets the 1-2-3.
WINNERS: Violent By Design
Sabin and Swann are backstage as in comes Moose. Swann expresses his displeasure of him partnering up with the two. Moose says he’s played football with people he doesn’t like. He doesn’t appreciate an outsider like Omega coming into IMPACT. He’s gonna do like Sabin said weeks ago. They’re gonna kick Kenny and The Good Brother’s ass all night long. Rich and Sabin are cautiously on board.
MATCH 3
Knockouts Tag Team Championships Finals
Tasha Steelz & Kiera Hogan vs. Havok & Nevaeh
Immediate brawl as Brian Hebner is the official. Tasha and Nevaeh begin matters. She tags in Hvok and the two splash Steelz in the corner. Kiera gets tagged and she receives a double team backbreaker lariat. Kiera gets a neckbreaker and then a two count. Big knee by Havok as she takes it to both foes in different corners. She misses a leg drop on Steelz and the two double team kick Havok. Hogan gets a near fall. Tag to Steelz. Jabs to Havok, then a kick and then a two count pin attempt. Havok fights off both opponents, but she does get isolated and Hogan hits a beautiful baseball slide to her in the corner for a two count.
Tag to Steelz who stays on top of Havok. Steelz gets a sleeper on Havok but Havok backs her intot the corner two times to free herself. Havok catches both of them for a double fallaway slam. The three women are down as Hebner begins his 10 count. Havok tags in Nevaeh for the hot tag. She slams and she boots away. She forces Tasha to DDT Kiera for a near fall. Neveh almost gets double suplex from the top but Havok powerbombs both of them off. Rolling DDT by Nevaeh on Kiera. Nevaeh goes to do the same to Tasha but she fights away causing Nevaeh to tag in Havok. Soon after, Steelz hits a jumping neckbreaker on Havok and Nevaeh has to make the save. Havok gets a stunner from Kiera and then gets kicked out of the ring. Steelz and Hogan work on Nevaeh and Hogan hits her spinning fisherman for the pinfall and the title win!
WINNER and NEW Knockouts Tag Team Champions: Tasha Steelz & Kiera Hogan
Post-match, out come Madison Rayne and Gail Kim to present the belts to the two champions.
Rosemary & Steve are backstage to support Taya Valkyrie. They convince her to have both of them at ringside for her title match tonight against Deonna Purrazzo. As they exit, Romero in detective mode and enters the Knockouts locker room.
Unplanned, out comes Ace Austin with Madman Fulton. He’s insulted that he was on the countdown show and nothing else. He became the Super X Cup Champion last week. He wants to be the number one contender for the X-Division belt and demands Scott D’Amore to come out. He does. He appreciates Ace’s passion. It’s not going to be an X-Division Title match. Instead, he’s fighting a man that’s alwayz ready….
MATCH 4
Matt Cardona vs. Ace Austin
Matt goes on the attack and takes Ace to the outside. He trips an athletic Ace up on the apron and it causes Madman to interfere. Ace is in control for awhile. Matt gets his knees up to deflect a charging Ace, but a distraction from Fulton gets Ace back on the offense. Ace goes for a springboard senton but misses. Flapjack by Cardona. He hits his Broski boot and then sizes Ace up. Fulton comes in to interfere and the match gets thrown out.
WINNER via DQ: Matt Cardona
Post-match Cardona gets back at the two and hits his running leg lariat to Madman. Ace and the big man bail as Cardona stand tall.
MATCH 5
X-Division Championship
Chris Bey vs. Rohit Raju vs. Manik (c)
Manik crouches low before dropkicking Bey. Avoids chop from Rohitand shoulder tackles him. Bey shoulder tackles Manik and the three meet on their feet. Spinning forearm from Bey onto Manik. He downs Raju and uses his back to dropkick Manik. Two count. He and Rohit trade shots. Jumping flatliner and he gets a kickout. Running corner clothesline. Rohit knocks Bey off the apron. Rohit plants Manik after reversing a tilt-a-whirl headscissors. Rohit goes for the mask of Manik but he fights off. Bey dispatches Rohit on the outside but they all get back in the ring. It gets down to Manik and Bey. Manik jackknifes Bey for a two count, but Bey fights off only to get locked into a modified Texas cloverleaf. IN comes Rohit with a standing Fujiwa armbar. Back suplex breaks it all up. Manik dropkicks Rohit off the apron and Bey catches Manik with a jumping elbow drop over the ropes. Bey gets caught by Rohit and gets bombed onto the apron.
In the ring, fireman’s carry by Manik but Rohit goes for the mask. He pulls off the mask and Rohit is infatuated with it. TJP shows his face, but it’s painted. He downs Rohit and leaps off for the Mamba Splash from the top, but Bey catches him with a cutter. Bey then hits both of them with the Art of The Finesse.
Bey hits a jumping back elbow in the corner to Rohit. Bey soon finds himself in a tree of woe, but Manik hits him with a frankensteiner. He covers and gets a two count before Bey breaks it up.
Manik hits a tombstone on Bey. Rohit downs Manik and covers, but only gets a two.
Rohit gets to his feet and so does Manik. The two trade shots. It’s not long before Manik hits a spike DDT on Bey and then hits a thumbalina crucifix bomb for the pin attempt, but Bey kicks out at two. Manik hits a Mamba splash on Bey and Rohit knees Manik, covers Bey, but only gets a two again.
Soon, Rohit shoves, Manik off the top. Bey finds himself in the tree of woe again and Rohit stomps down. He locks a crossface on Manik and even rolls him into the center of the ring. Bey does break it up. Small package to by Rohit. Kickout. Rohit is on flurry, but Manik rolls him up for the pinfall victory.
WINNER and STILL X-Division Champion: Manik
Alisha Edwards is concerned about Eddie tonight. She wants to go out there and Eddie doesn’t want her to be involved. She needs to be home. She needs to go home to her daughter. She can’t risk it. Eddie makes her promise to not go out there. She promises to not go out there. Eddie smooches her.
MATCH 6
Knockouts Championship
Taya Valkyrie (with Rosemary & Crazzy Steve) vs. Deonna Purrazzo (w/ Kimber Lee & Susan)
The two women go right at it. Taya takes on the offense to Deonna. Striker compares the tactiction style of the two to Nick Bockwinkel. Deonna bails and Taya pursues. Lee attacks Taya from behind. The ringside people begin to mix it up. Kinda chaotic and Striker and D’Lo note such. Ref gets knocked down. He kicks everyone out.
Back in the ring, Taya is back on offense. Big chest slap to Deonna and Valkyrie screams wildly. Deonna catches her on the apron and kicks her back in the ring. Purrazzo twist back the left arm of Taya before stomping on it. Deonna continues to work the arm. Taya manages to get a half cradle for a two count on Deonna. Deonna begins to work the left leg of Taya. Some unique joint manipulation. She slams Taya’s leg straight on the mat DDT style. Taya begins to fight back with a flurry of chops. Spear by Taya gets a two count, but she’s favoring her arm and knee.
Tay goes for the Road To Vahalla, but her knee buckles. She soon gets a pin attempt on Deonna nonetheless. Taya gets Deonna in an extreme standing bow and arrow lock before curb stomping her. Modified STF to Deonna. She wrenches back. Deonna gets a foot on the ropes. European uppercut to Taya. They trade shots. Jumping pump kick by Deonna but Taya comes back. Deonna tilt-a-whirls to a fujiwa armbar. Taya rolls it up for a pin attempt, but Deonna rolls it back to the armbar. She turns that into a double Fujiwa and Taya submits.
WINNER and STILL Knockouts Champion: Deonna Purrazzo
Acey Romero shows John E. Bravo that he found Ring Rust cologne in someone’s bag, but who?
MATCH 7
The Karate Man vs. Ethan Page
Very B-rated backdrop as Karate Man and Page charge at one another. It reminds me of early 90’s Power Rangers. Karate Man calls Ethan a motherfucker as they continue to fight. Ethan uppercuts Karate Man down, but he gets back up. Karate Man gives him a Liu Kang lighting kick, before hitting The Mortal Kombat character’s bicycle kick. He then literally rips Ethan Page’s heart out Dumb & Dumber style. He walks away with his heart.
WINNER via MURDER: The Karate Man
Don Callis tries to sweet talk Moose, noting that he has two years with IMPACT. It doesn’t work.
MATCH 8
Barbed Wire Massacre Match
Sami Callihan vs. Eddie Edwards
Barbed wire is wrapped around one side of the ring while the side left of hard cam has a mesh cage wall with barbed wire and planks of plywood in the opposite corner.
The bell rings and the two lock up. Plywood falls over and Sami Callihan props it back up again. Another lock up. Plank falls over again (lolz) as the two trde shots. Big pump kick sends Sami into the barbed wire side of the ring. Eddie grabs a spool of barbed wire and pulls it across the forehead of Sami. Eddie looks to Steiner recline Sami who shoves the barbed wire plank out of the ring. Eddie boots Sami on the apron. Striker notes that the board getting shoved out of the ring has cut D’Lo’s audio out. Soon he’s back in the ring. There’s also an N64 controller wrapped in barbed wire. Intriguing. The two fight on the apron and Sami gets knocked off once more. Eddie tries to fly onto Sami from the outside but Sami moves and Eddie goes crashing into the plywood plank full of barbed wire. Sami grins fiendishly. He sandwiches Eddie with the broken plywood and does a Cactus elbow from the plywood (Sami even does “bang bang” as a hat tip). Eddie is all tangled up in the wire.
Back in the ring, Sami hangs Eddie over the barbed wire ropes before striking him with the N64 controller in barbed wire. He then grates it across Eddie’s forehead. D’Lo is at a loss for words.
Eddie regains momentum with an enziguri and then a piggyback stunner. Eddie is bloody and grins at the sight of it. He grabs the barbed wire chair (everything is barbed wire wrapped if you haven’t guessed). Eddie hits a blue thunder bomb on top of the chair and gets a two count.
Eddie charges at Sami towards the steel cage side, but Sami moves and Eddie crashes into it. Eddie is in between the ropes and the cage wall. Sami grabs another spool of wire (yes, barbed). He knuckles it and sizes Eddie up. Eddie does the same. The two block the attempts. They both hit each other at the same time and both men drop.
Sami grabs Eddie’s kendo wrapped in wire while Eddie grabs Sami’s bat. The two respectively trade objects and Eddie gives him a shot to the gut. Sami, however gulliotines Eddie with a chain in the corner. Sami covers Eddie in plywood and sets a chair underneath it too. He then hoists Eddie up top and gives him a thumb to the eye. Top rope piledriver onto the plywood. Eddie still kicks out. Sami smacks him with the chair. Sami grabs the bat and goes to swing it, but Eddie kicks him in the balls. Boston Knee Party on the chair. Sami kicks out at one. Eddie hits a cross-legged Emerald Flowsion courtesy of the late Misawa for the pinfall victory.
WINNER: Eddie Edwards
MAIN EVENT
Moose, Chris Sabin & Rich Swann vs. Kenny Omega & The Good Brothers
Don Callis introduces Kenny “By God” Omega. Kenny comes out wearing a Halloween-themed Bullet Club tee (wowsers). Anderson and Sabin start things off. Karl corners Chris before backing off. Lock up. Anderson controls the arm. Sabin arm drags free. Another arm drag soon after and the two dudes get to a stand-off. Tag to Gallows, tag to Moose. The two bump one another center ring. Three times. They trade shots.
Kenny and Swann get tagged in. Things unravel as Kenny stays on top of Swann before choking him briefly with the tee. Front chancery by Kenny. tag to Karl. Head scissors by Swann. Tag to Kenny, tag to Moose. Big triple team to Anderson. Moose moonsaults Karl and there’s a two count from Chris. Anderson corners Sabin and tags in Gallows.
Kenny soon becomes the legal man and gives Sabin a backbreaker for a near fall. Tag back to Anderson and Sabin remains isolated. Anderson has him grounded with a headlock. Sabin fights to his feet and it leads to a double lariat. The champs get tagged in. They out-manuever one Another until Swann hurricanranas Omega onto Anderson. Double team DDT to Kenny. Same to Anderoson. They dive onto both men via the apron soon after. Kenny blocks a frog splash from Swann. Anderson becomes legal man and washes his boot with Rich’s face. He slams Swann down. Another slam before tagging Doc. Massive bodyslam to Swann. Tag to Kenny. He picks Swann up for his own slam, but Swann slips free, leg lariat bulldog by Kenny. Cover, two count. Triple splash by Bullet Club on Swann and Sabin has to break it up. Kenny stomps the back of Swann before pulling him to his half of the ring. Swann kicks him and Moose tags in. Shoulder tackle, uranage on Anderson and a heabutt to Doc. Top drop kick from Moose before Kenny get hit with a triple dropkick. Moose covers and gets a near fall on Kenny.
The Brothers and Kenny team up on Sabin. Kenny gets a sit-out powerbomb on Sabin.
Later on, Kenny hits a V-Trigger on Swann. Moose hits a top rope Spanish Fly on Kenny. Sabin hits a package falcon arrow for an almost win, but it gets broken up. Doc becomes the legal man and shin kicks Sabin before tagging in Karl. Double team, but Swann makes the save. They go for the Magic Killer on Sabin but a tornado DDT frees him. Kenny and Swann both get tagged. Shots traded. Snap suplex by Kenny, followed by piledriver, but Swann gets saved. Kenny goes for a superplex but Swann fights him off. Moose gets him in an electric chair and soon does do it for a Doomsday device. Kenny kicks free. V-Trigger to Swann. Reverse hurricanrana by Swann. Kicks by Swann before his 450 splash. Kenny kick out. Swann goes oup top, misses a flip and gets caught with a Magic Killer. Moose saves him. He slugs it out with Kenny, but Omega hits a V-Trigger. V-Trigger on Swann followed by a One-Winged Angel for the win.
WINNERS: Kenny Omega & The Good Brothers
Post-match, the four celebrate, and yep, that’s it.
