IMPACT! Wrestling Review - January 14, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Desi Hit Squad def. The Rascalz, Reno Scum, and TJP & Daga in a Four-Way Tag Team Match

This was one of the dark matches that took place before Hard to Kill on Sunday. It's nice to see that IMPACT's tag team division is growing, even though I'm not all that invested in any of these teams except for The Rascalz. TJP and Daga have potential to go far together, but the sole reason they teamed here was because Bahh was in action in the main event. Speaking of Daga, he competed twice in the same night as he went on to fill in for Brian Cage against Rob Van Dam on the actual pay-per-view. This was a fun four-way with very little rest time and everyone bringing the goods (yes, that includes Desi Hit Squad). They were the least compelling option to win and I sure as hell hope this doesn't mean a tag team title shot is in their future.

Joey Ryan def. Johnny Swinger

This was also filmed prior to the pay-per-view. They've been teasing a face-off for a while now and I can't say I care that it finally happened. Neither of their gimmicks do anything for me, but this wasn't too bad of a match. It was actually pretty fine for the most part, aside from the stupid penis stuff that Ryan does. I'm all for wrestling companies having comic relief, but Ryan isn't the answer. I know there's a lot of people out there who dig his shtick, but I am not one of those people.

Impact X-Division Champion Ace Austin def. Fallah Bahh, Moose and Eddie Edwards in a Four-Way Match

House of Hardcore hosted this match. It was really random for these three guys in particular to get a shot at the X-Division Championship, so although it was obvious Austin would retain, it was a well-worked four-way, nonetheless. Most of these men have history with each other anyway and thus the chemistry was already there. They could have shaved off a few minutes and it would have been even better I think.

Sami Callihan Interrupted Josh Mathews' Sit-Down Interview with Impact World Champion Tessa Blanchard

For those wondering, no, Blanchard didn't address the accusations made against her on social media over the weekend, nor were they even alluded to. In all seriousness, she came off very well here in addressing her history-making world title win from Hard to Kill, how she's broken barriers, and how she has a target on her back as the world champion. Callihan interrupted her from a screen where he was shown in a different room in the same building Blanchard was in. She couldn't find him after going to that room and Callihan teased that he'll strike when she least expects it. This was a terrific segment and a great way to keep their feud alive. If I had to guess, their rematch will happen at the Lockdown special in March, but it's very possible it goes down before then.

Overall Show

No new content was taped considering the pay-per-view just happened and the company's next set of TV tapings in Mexico aren't until this weekend, but it still managed to be an above-average fallout show. They did a hell of a job of recapping Hard to Kill, the matches that were taped beforehand served their purpose, and even the one match from House of Hardcore ate up a good chunk of time. The segment with Blanchard and Callihan at the end was the highlight and ended the episode on a high note. While I didn't think Hard to Kill was one of their best pay-per-view efforts in recent memory on the whole, they got back on track with a strong show here (even though I personally could have done without the Rob Van Dam and Katie Forbes stuff).