Hello Impact fans and curious rubberneckers! I’m Elle Collins, and this is the Knockout Report. I’ll fill you in on everything that happens in Impact Wrestling, but I’m always going to lead with the Knockouts Division, because they deserve it. You can follow me on Twitter here, With Spandex here, and Uproxx here. You can watch Impact Wrestling on Pop every Thursday at 8 p.m. Then on Fridays, read this column and share it with everyone you know.
Last week Madison Rayne defeated Taya Valkyrie to become the Number One Contender for the Knockouts Championship, and LAX regained the Tag Team Titles.
Without further ado, here’s the Knockout Report for June 28, 2018.
Madison Rayne’s Moment Got Interrupted
So Madison was in the ring talking about creating moments for herself—the moment she defeated Tessa Blanchard, the moment she defeated Taya Valkyrie, and the moment when she hopes to defeat Su Yung and become Knockouts Champion for the sixth time. Then Tessa Blanchard showed up to say the same thing that I said last week: that Madison is a relic of the past and it’s not 2011 anymore.
Understandably, Tessa viewed her recent defeat at Madison’s hands as a fluke (which it kind of was), and didn’t think she could do it again. Madison disagreed, and as the two were about to come to blows, the arena went semi-dark and Su Yung’s laughter rang out. That gave Tessa her moment to take Madison down with one punch and take off. They’ll meet again in the main event.
Katarina Revealed Her True Form
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIgC4h-0YSo
When the Knockout once known as Winter reappeared with a new name as Grado’s girlfriend, we weren’t sure if she was meant to be the same character, and whether or not she’d be wrestling. Grado, meanwhile, had no idea she was a two-time Knockouts Champion until she told him that in this backstage segment. She even explained that she had a different name and “it was a different season.” Grado responded like he gets it, but it’s not clear if he really does or not. In any case, Katarina will be in the ring (we don’t know against who) next week. I’m interested to see whether she’ll be fighting a heel or a face, because her warm but untrustworthy behavior toward Grado has made it unclear which she is herself.
Madison Rayne Defeated Tessa Blanchard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAFnQuf4zKg
Honestly, it strains credibility a bit that Madison can keep beating Tessa clean, given their visible difference in size and strength, but the story they’re telling is that Madison is more experienced and Tessa’s too full of herself to be as great as she could be, and they’re selling that story as well as it can be sold. Also, as I’ve said before, Madison has that magical oldschool babyface luck, where she can get beaten up a lot and then catch just the right opportunity to get the pin.
Whether that will work on Su Yung at Slammiversary is doubtful, though. Tessa Blanchard’s a bully, but Su is a zombie who kills people, and she’ll stick her hand all the way down Madison’s throat if given half a chance. I’m also interested in the long term development of Tessa’s character. She might brag about being the best, but when the Undead Bride showed up, she froze for a long moment and then quietly slunk away. Even though they’re both heels, you can feel a Tessa/Su match on the horizon, and it’s going to be quite a thing to see.
Allie’s Back!
Tessa was beating down Madison after the match when Su Yung showed up with her Undead Bridesmaids. Tessa fled, and Su oversaw the group beatdown of Madison by her minions. Then, to everyone’s surprise, some familiar upbeat music hit and Allie came back! And she’s Allie again, not pseudo-Rosemary! She took down most of the Bridesmaids and chased Su off. It seems clear now that Madison/Su is a quick stop on the way to Allie/Su Part 2, but I’m extremely okay with that development, and happy to have Allie back. Hopefully next week we’ll see more of her.
Meanwhile, In Guyville
Rich Swann Defeated Trevor Lee
I’m just going to be open about this: I have serious reservations about Rich Swann ever since he was witnessed physically abusing his wife in public. Here’s the thing, though: his wife is the current Knockouts Champion Su Yung, and just as she declined to press charges (all of which were then dropped), she certainly would have vouched for him to Impact, which makes it hard to hold his hiring against them. He’s still a great wrestler, even if his dancey antics are harder to enjoy than they used to be, and he and Trevor Lee make for a good matchup. Swann’s hair (shaved into a star on the top of his head) looks completely ridiculous, but that’s a separate concern.
Sami Callahan Unmasked Pentagon Jr.
In footage from PCW Ultra, oVe beat down Pentagon Jr. in a steel cage. As the Crists hoeld Penta up, Sami Callahan fully removed off his mask, something I never thought I’d seen on TV. Penta quickly hid his face, but we now know that he has a normal-looking head of short dark hair.
In a subtitled Spanish promo later in the show, Pentagon responded by challenging Sami Callahan to a mask versus hair match at Slammiversary, which Sami accepted. It should be a fun, intense match, even though we all know going in that Sami is coming out bald.
Desi Hit Squad Defeated Z & E
I don’t know the Desi Hit Squad (Rohit Raju and Gursinder Singh, managed by Gama Singh), but they look cool and I enjoyed their heel antics, so lets see where they go. Z & E (that’s DJZ and Andrew Everett) never seem to have time to develop much in the way of character, but they’re a solid tag team.
Moose Opened Up
He talked about his struggles, and said that wrestling has always been his dream, football was just something he did because it came easy to him. This was obviously an attempt to impart some character to the somewhat bland babyface Number One Contender, and I guess it worked marginally well, although at the end of the day Moose just doesn’t have a lot of natural charisma when he talks. Certainly not compared to Austin Aries.
Eddie Edwards Still Loves His Stick
At House of Hardcore, Eddie beat on Tommy Dreamer with his kendo stick. Moose confronted him in the parking lot afterwards, but Eddie just yelled that he wants to be left alone. Tommy Dreamer’s supposed to address all of this on next week’s show, which is presumably where we get the inevitable announcement of his hardcore match with Edwards at Slammiversary.
Konnan Has King’s Number
In the LAX clubhouse, Santana and Ortiz found themselves caught up in an intense argument between Konnan and King. King stormed off, and Konnan promised to show the Tag Team Champs proof that King is a bad guy. Meanwhile Diamante was not around at all. But hey, maybe she’s the one fighting Katarina next week.
Matt Sydal Defeated Dezmond Xavier
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jutIGsxA0cA
Sydal messed up Xavier’s knee with a dragon screw and kept working it to get the win. After the match, Brian Cage came out to confront Sydal, but Jimmy Jacobs and Kongo Kong soon followed. Jacobs and Sydal bowed at each other (an ill omen if ever there was one), as Sydal and (mostly) Kong took down Cage. Sydal made his way up the ramp as Kong and Jacobs stood tall in the ring.
Austin Aries Is Unimpressed
New backstage interviewer Alicia Atout asked her fellow A Double “What are your thoughts on everything?” Unsurprisingly, Aries’ thoughts are that he’s the best and Impact’s only Undisputed Champion and that Moose ain’t all that. He also promised to turn his own story next week.
That’s all for this week’s Knockout Report. Join me next week, when Austin Aries tells his story, Brian Cage faces Kongo Kong, Killer Kross makes his in-ring debut, and maybe if we’re lucky Allie will have something to say.
