IMPACT HITS & MISSES 12/15: Swann vs. Chris Bey, The Omega Effect, Justice Served for John E. Bravo Shooter, Hernandez vs. Fallah Bah, Karl Anderson vs. Ethan Page, more

Final Impact – HIT: While not a must watch show, Final Resolution won’t waste too much of your time, especially if you skip the first few matches and head straight for the championship matches, picking up the Kenny Omega storyline pieces along the way.

The Omega Effect – HIT: Throughout the show, Kenny Omega’s presence was felt. First, we got a shot of his bus, then Gia Miller tried to find out what was going on only to be rebuffed by a prickish Don Callis saying only that he and Kenny were here to visit family. We would learn later that the family he spoke of was Karl Anderson and we got to see Kenny and Karl talk about old times. The dialogue was not great since it was mainly a vector to dump a lot of exposition at once for those fans not aware of the two wrestlers’ prior history (and Fat Masa even got name dropped which was cool for long time fans). Karl had to leave for his match with Ethan Page (Karl said he didn’t want to work, dropping a hint that he may be going fully heel) and Kenny and Don psyched him up, hoping to get Karl to beat Page quickly.

Tommy Dreamer vs. Tommy Dreamer, Old School Rules match – MISS: At the very least, justice was served, and Larry D is off to jail for shooting John E. Bravo, now that he lost to Tommy Dreamer. Acey Romero got involved but John E. Bravo came out to be the equalizer. I’m way over these Old School Rules matches though.

Sea Stars vs. Havok & Nevaeh – PUSH: This was a glorified enhancement match to build up Havok & Nevaeh and pad the shows runtime while giving us a look at the Sea Stars, Ashley Vox and Delmi Exo. It succeeded at both and was a rather inoffensive meat and potatoes match. (I should say “fish and chips,” but Josh Mathews ran the fish puns into the ground.) No need to go out of your way to watch it though.

Tenille Dashwood & Kaleb with a “K” vs. Alisha & Eddie Edwards – PUSH: I think I enjoyed this match more that I should’ve. Alisha Edwards looked the best she ever has in the ring (that may be a low bar but still a complement). Kaleb with a “K” and Tenille were absolutely obnoxious.  Unfortunately, we got a WWE-style distraction finish when Sami Callihan’s intro played leading to Tenille getting the win. While the distraction was designed to further the feud between Sami and Eddie instead of protecting the loser, but it’s still furthering a feud I have little interest in revisiting. After the match Sami attacked Eddie and almost got his hand on Alisha.

Hernandez vs. Fallah Bah with Kiera Hogan as special guest referee and Tasha Steelz as guest announcers – HIT: The saga of the “precious”, Hernandez’s wad of cash, continues. The winner of the match gets the cash, but Tasha Steelz and Kiera Hogan tried to concoct a plan to make out with the cash. Fallah Bahh had Hernandez pinned at one point but Hogan gave a long, let’s say, “stylish” count that gave Hernandez time to kick out. This led to Fallah getting pinned by Hernandez. Hernandez wanted his money back from Tasha but her fanny pack (did they clear this with Swinger?) was empty and the two women skedaddled. Overall, the whole thing was fun with Tasha and Hogan keeping things lively.

Rhino vs. Eric Young – HIT: Rhino had to contend with both Eric Young in the ring and Joe Doering on the outside, so things were obviously skewed against him from the get-go. Rhino stood his ground valiantly. Unfortunately, the ref went down, and Eric retrieved his mask and prepared to wallop Rhino. Cody Deaner and Cousin Jake came to make the save, Cody taking Eric’s mask. However, instead of laying out Eric, he turned on his Cousin and laid him out instead. Eric hit Rhino with the mask and the ref counted to three. Interesting turn for Cody, and I’m curious as to where this goes.

Rohit Raju vs. Manik, Defeat Rohit Challenge – HIT: HIGHWAY ROBBERY!!! Robbery I tells ya! “Manik” who was obviously TJP in a mask, who after MULTIPLE failures to win the X Division title was barred from ever challenging Rohit Raju again, defeats Rohit becoming the new X Division champ. I demand a recount!!! That referee was obviously crooked as he got involved several times in the match leading to Rohit getting pinned. In attempting to NOT bump the referee, the magnanimous Mocha Manimal was rolled up by TJP/Manik. Someone checkout that ref’s credential. I bet he’s Russian. Collusion I say! 2020 is now OFFICIALLY the worst year ever. (Also, this really good match and props for commentary not pretending to be idiots and recognizing that it was TJP under the mask. Hopefully Rohit stays in this mix; I have legitimately enjoyed his title reign.)

Rosemary vs. Deonna Purrazzo – Impact Knockouts Championship match – HIT: This was a good match perhaps sullied by another distraction finish. It’s becoming a theme lately and something Impact might want to start pulling back from. Taya Valkyrie and Kimber Lee were there to counter each other’s interference, but Kimber got the last laugh when she pulled the ref out of the ring leading to the finish. After the match, Taya got into it with Kimber and Deonna setting up what will presumably be Deonna’s next challenger.

Ethan Page vs. Karl Anderson – HIT: It is hard for me to watch the disintegration of one of my favorite tag teams of recent times but that where we are now. Ethan Page and Karl Anderson had a good back and forth match, but it was Ethan Page left staring at the lights. Afterwards, once he came to, he told Josh Alexander that “everything will be fine” but it looks like Josh has had enough and he walked away.

Chris Bey vs. Rich Swann, Impact World Championship match – HIT: This was a litmus test for me to see what Chris Bey can do in a main event position and he acquitted himself well. The match was more of a grounded affair as opposed to a highflying act which was not what I expected but not unwelcomed either. Rich Swann retained, of course, but he received a visitor after the match. Moose was interviewed earlier and said he was keeping an eye on this match, so obviously he came out at the conclusion and handed Rich Swann the Impact Title, just to remind Swann of his presence.

RECOMMENDED: 12/15 IMPACT WRESTLING TV REPORT: Kenny Omega-Rich Swann angle leads to six-man tag match for Hard to Kill PPV, Manik vs. Bey, Dashwood vs. Edwards, Anderson vs. Sabin