Impact has put on quality shows since moving to Twitch/Pursuit. Do they continue the upward momentum? And what new tweak do they add to the Twitch stream this week?

Eli Drake challenged Eddie Edwards to drop the hardcore crap and go back to being a great wrestler, Tessa Blanchard got suspended and Brian Cage is ready to kill Johnny Impact. What happens tonight in Mexico?

Let’s get to it.

Ratings:

• Rich Swann vs Hijo del Vikingo: Swann wins via 450 Splash – *** 1/2
• Keyra vs Taya Valkyrie:  Taya wins via modified STF – ** 1/4
• Dez & Wentz vs Desi Hit Squad: Wentz wins via Hot Fire Flame – ***
• Trey vs Ethan Page: Trey wins via Fresh to Death – ** 1/2
• Impact World Championship Match: Johnny Impact (c) vs Killer Kross w/Moose: NO CONTEST – ** 1/2

Review Notes:

• Hijo del Vikingo and Swann put on a clinic. They trade Flying Headscissors, but with each person flipping out. Vikingo hits a Rolling Fisherman Buster and Swann even pulls out the Mexican Stretch submission. Vikingo catches Swann off the ropes perfectly and turns it into a Swinging Rock Bottom, but all for near falls. Eventually Rich gets the better of the situation, a nice Hook Kick drops Vikingo and a second rope 450 Splash wins the match for Swann. Damn fluid and good match.

We're pretty sure this isn't the way the human body is meant to bend #IMPACT @GottaGetSwann

WATCH NOW FOR FREE – https://t.co/jyZYT78lVE pic.twitter.com/lxclKec31L

— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) January 26, 2019

• Sami Callihan comes out again to offer the oVe shirt to Rich Swann. He takes the promo down a very personal path. Talks about taking him in when he was homeless, says he’s the reason Swann is in Impact. Wonder how much is from reality and how much is just angle? Either way, Sami cuts a damn passionate and believable promo.
• Melissa Santos has her first backstage segment with Moose and Killer Kross. McKenzie Mitchell, Alicia Atout and now Melissa Santos is a perfect trio since they like to float between the States, Canada and Mexico. As per usual, Kross cuts an insane, but fantastic promo. Melissa started the question off with “How are you feeling?” and he says something to the effect of ” The same as always…Homicidal”.
• Tonight it’s Don Callis and…someone else bouncing questions off to him (some Scott Ball person). So it’s nice that they did decide to switch it up from Josh Mathews. Tessa and The Rascalz are in the chat so far.
• Backstage interview with Kiera Hogan and Jordynne Grace about Allie and Su Yung. It’s an awkward promo that ends with Rosemary playing with the effects and putting a message on the monitors saying “The Darkness will take you. It’s not your fight”, so this weird story may be continuing.
• Keyra tries to start off quickly, but Taya eventually takes control. Double Knees in the corner, Hammerlock Suplex, Curb Stomp and an Avalanche Powerbomb set up her path to victory. Keyra had a few flourishes with a Dropkick in the corner and a very nice middle rope Moonsault, but it just wasn’t enough. Taya gives a promo afterwards talking about how Johnny will win tonight, teases Tessa for getting suspended and basically sets the open challenge for “La Era de la Wera”. Which is a reference to her Wera Loca nickname, which effectively means Crazy White Bitch.
• The Rascalz are so stoned, Wentz can apparently speak Spanish and subtitles appear so Dez and Trey can read them. This stoner gimmick is hilarious.
• Scarlett Bordeaux is working out in lingerie or something, looking delicious. Bobo is trying to spot her as the vignette is just sexy. She then asks for something to eat, Bobo gives her a banana, and she gets about 3/4 of it down her throat before taking a bite. Umm…well…HEY! Stop judging me! I’m a guy and she’s a 10. You…stop.
• The Rascalz continue to look impressive. They sell well, they’re fun in the ring, sure it’s very spot heavy, but the styles were different and it worked. Desi Hit Squad is more of the old school heel team, and it worked well. Everyone looked good in this match and we got to see the tandem Push Moonsault known as Hot Fire Flame again. So this is just all fun.
• LAX segment in the back, it’s funny how Santana throws Ortiz under the bus a little when Konnan confronts him about what was said at the end of last week’s show. It’s a good segment, seems realistic and also drop the info that Taurus and Daga will be on Impact next week.
• We come off commercial break with the match in progress. A nice Asai Moonsault from Trey before things get back in the ring. Page manages to put his size and weight advantage to work, but eventually Trey’s speed catches him. A Tiger Feint from outside in while Ethan is seated, into a Split Legged Moonsault. Then we get another Tiger Feint with Page’s head tucked like Ospreay’s Cheeky Nando’s Kick, then Trey hits him with the Fresh to Death for a kind of surprising win. Match was a little clunky at points, but still solid, no real complaints.
• Eli finds Eddie and talks about how they will have a World Tag match with AAA vs Impact and since they’re on the same team, he wants to work things out. Asks Eddie to bring back the old green tights wearing Eddie Edwards for a match next week. Eli & Eddie vs The Rascalz.

.@TheEliDrake wants to ensure that he and @TheEddieEdwards are entirely on the same page as they'll face @DezmondXavier and @zachary_wentz NEXT WEEK. #IMPACT

WATCH NOW FOR FREE – https://t.co/jyZYT6QL46 pic.twitter.com/f5Xm33Iet4

— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) January 26, 2019

• It’s not a surprising finish since we know Kross, Moose, Cage and Johnny have been in this developing storyline, but it does lead to things. The match was fine. We saw Kross hit some great mixed martial arts moves, Round Kicks, Mounted Ground and Pound, transitions to different submissions, so we get to see him do more then just crazy tough guy stuff. Johnny did pull off a Split Legged Springboard Spear from the second rope. So that was unique. When Cage crashed the party, he looked like a beast, no sold the Doomsday Saito Suplex, and the brawl was the best part of the main event. Nothing flashy happened since it’s leading to Killer Moose vs Johnny Cage next week, but it was still good.

Overall Score: 7/10

Solid show, Callis being part of the Twitch commercial breaks was different. Pro being that Don is more likable than Josh, but the con being that Don was never on time with kicking back to the show. So some of the breaks seemed to drag a little, but as soon as the show ended Scarlett Bordeaux joined the Skype chat to hype up their Vegas shows.

Hijo del Vikingo stole the show this week and the Rascalz continue the upward trajectory of becoming a successful babyface team. Also an interesting point, the show wavered between 7,900 and 8,500 the entire night. So the show basically held, and exceeded where they were at last week. Compared to the 10k viewers from the first week, the show is up 5% with the least amount of wavering I’ve seen so far.