Post by fifthhorseman on Aug 31, 2018 20:47:53 GMT -5
GLOBAL IMPACT WRESTLING
presents...
MAJOR IMPACT
DARK MATCH
MIKE AWESOME vs. IRWIN R. SCHYSTER:
vs.
vs.
The former ECW champ entered the ring first, followed by the unpopular Schyster. “The Taxman” was no cruiserweight, but he was outweighed by an easy 50 pounds, so he tried to keep it on the ground, utilizing his superior collegiate wrestling skills. But it wasn’t that simple, and Awesome hit him with a series of slams and punches that forced him outside. So it went, back and forth, for about ten minutes. The referee dodged an Awesome clothesline, and Schyster seized the chance to lock in a sleeper on his grounded foe… but he also used his tie to choke the 300-pounder, hidden by his forearm. Awesome fought it for several seconds, but chose to tap out rather than pass out.
A 60-second highlight reel played, then it was lights and pyro to start the show.
Lance Russell: “Hello wrestling fans, and welcome to Global Impact Wrestling – Major Impact! I’m Lance Russell, and I’m joined on commentary tonight by GIW President Jeff Jarrett, and Ted DiBiase. Jeff, first off, what a card you’ve put together tonight – three championship matches, six matches in total… what a night it’s going to be!”
Jeff Jarrett: “Only the best tag teams in the world wrestle here, Lance. You just wait and see.”
Russell: “Looks like the referee is waiting and ready to go, so let’s go to the ring for our first match!”
GIW INTERCONTINENTAL TAG-TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
The GREAT BRITONS vs. the U.S. EXPRESS (c):
vs.
The GREAT BRITONS vs. the U.S. EXPRESS (c):
vs.
Russell: “Jeff, I can’t help but notice that there’s only one official down there tonight. Typically, GIW championship matches utilize both an inside and an outside referee… what say you?”
Jarrett: “Well, uh, I thought that we’d go old-school tonight. And we have the best referees in the business here in Las Vegas tonight – they can handle any situation.”
DiBiase didn’t say a word – he just smiled.
The challengers strode down the ramp first, carrying the Union Jack flag. Coming off Barrett’s solo win against Gordy earlier in the month, they were as arrogant as ever. Windham and Gordy came out second, the big Texan waving the stars and stripes… and “Bamm Bamm” the Confederate flag. The match itself was non-stop action – despite their size, both members of the Express could move like cruiserweights. Barrett and McGuinness were just as capable as well, and it was a great contrast of British and Southern-styled wrestling.
It became chaotic at the 16-minute mark. After a series of two-counts on Barrett by Windham, McGuinness decided that he would intervene. While Barrett drew the referee’s attention by fidgeting with a turnbuckle, the former ROH champion jabbed at Windham with the flagpole, narrowly missing his eye. In response, Gordy ran around the ring with his flag and cracked McGuinness with it. Windham nodded in thanks, and then warned his partner not to get then disqualified. But Gordy snapped, clotheslining his ally with the flagpole and in full view of the official. He called for the bell at 16:50, calling the bout a no-contest. The Great Britons screamed at the referee about the ruling, while Gordy just walked up the ramp. The heels continued to express their frustration with a series of cheap shots on Windham until they left in disgust; “the Widowmaker” staggered back to the dressing room a minute later, angry, confused, and in pain.
Meanwhile, backstage, the Revival was getting ready for the next match. Cornering a cameraman, Scott Dawson said, “It’s an absolute joke that we’re not wrestling on this show. Biggest show in the promotion’s existence, best team in the industry… and we’re out there as lumberjacks? Really?”
Dash Wilder: “No respect at all. Did you even watch the last episode of Friday Night Impact? Scott and I beat Edge and Christian from pillar to post. The GIW World Tag-Team champions… well, they didn’t look like champions that night. We showed the locker room, Jeff Jarrett, the entire MUW Universe, what the Revival is all about. No fists, just flips…”
Dawson: “And titles.”
Then a familiar face appeared, smiling. JJ Dillon looked at the two and said, “Gentlemen, you are absolutely correct, and it’s a travesty that you’re little more than highly talented window dressing tonight. Here’s my card… why don’t you give me a call after this match. I’d like to discuss a few things with you.”
LUMBERJACK MATCH:
The DYNAMIC 2UO (w/Jim Cornette) vs. the MIDNIGHT EXPRESS:
vs.
The DYNAMIC 2UO (w/Jim Cornette) vs. the MIDNIGHT EXPRESS:
vs.
The ring was surrounded by several members of the GIW roster, each armed with tennis rackets, and instructed to use it if any of the next match’s participants wound up outside the squared circle. Both teams were eager to get to work, in what was arguably GIW’s most personal and evenly-matched rivalry. At various points in the match, all four men were thrown to the outside, and each man felt the sting of a racket to whatever body part was closest to the wrestler swinging at it.
Perhaps surprisingly, the lumberjacks didn’t fight amongst themselves, distracting from the action inside the ring. Eaton and Lane, Hernandez and Aries – each man had his chance to shine in this intense battle. Unsurprisingly, however, Cornette tried to get involved… and it cost his team the win. With all four brawling in the center of the ring, the “Louisville Lip” threw his loaded racket towards Aries, but Eaton intercepted it. He cracked Hernandez over the head, and repelled Aries long enough for Lane to make the pin in this no-disqualification bout at 17:34. The Midnighters took the win, getting even against the 2uo for at least one night… but their feud was far from over.
Russell: “That result isn’t going to make Jim Cornette happy.”
Jarrett: “True, but that result also has rematch written all over it.”
TOP CONTENDERS GAUNTLET MATCH
3 COUNT vs. the ADDICTION vs. the BRISCOE BROTHERS vs. the DUDLEY BOYZ vs. the USOS:
vs. vs. vs.
vs.
A two-minute-long Pulp Fictionesque montage of the competing teams was shown, and then the Addiction – as they requested – entered the gauntlet first. Next up: the debuting duo of Shane Helms and Shannon Moore, also known as 3 Count. The boy banders were tougher than they looked, and it was a fierce seven-minute skirmish that ended with Kazarian pinning Moore with his Back to the Future electric chair drop.
The Addiction gathered their collective breath as the next team strode down the ramp – the Dudley Boyz. They brought their power game early on, and Daniels and Kaz did their best to weather the storm. The multi-territorial tag champs isolated Daniels, keeping him in the ring for about five minutes until he could finally escape and tag Kaz in. He was on fire, taking both Dudleyz on, and he nearly pinned D-Von as well. A couple of minutes later, all four were fighting in the ring until the “Fallen Angel” was thrown outside. The ECW icons pounded on Kaz for several seconds, then set him up for 3D. But as Kazarian was launched into the ropes, Daniels hit a top-rope dropkick on Bully Ray. Kaz went up over D-Von’s back with a sunset flip, and improbably, held him down for exactly 3.01 seconds to score the wild pin at 15:28.
The next team to enter was the Briscoe Brothers, just like Jeff Jarrett guaranteed. They sprinted down the ramp and slid straight into the ring even before the Dudleyz could depart; ignoring the winners, Mark and Jay started trading punches with Bully Ray and D-Von. The scene was insane, and the four tumbled over the top ropes after tandem clotheslines, all while the Addiction stood back and watched. The fight continued into the crowd, and various GIW officials and security guards streamed from the back to try to contain it. Meanwhile, the referee inside concluded his ten-count, and the Briscoes were eliminated from the gauntlet as well.
Russell: “This is incredible – the Addiction are just one team away from running the gauntlet, just like they promised.”
DiBiase: “I think they’ve both written checks that their bodies can’t cash. Hahaha!”
From one set of brothers to another; Jey and Jimmy Uso slowly made their way down the ramp, making last-minute adjustments to their strategy. The veterans in the Addiction huddled as well, and the referee signaled for the gauntlet to resume. For the next 15 minutes or so, it was a clinic in tag-team wrestling being showcased to an enthusiastic audience, with the volume getting louder and louder for every near-fall. The stakes were high, with an Intercontinental Tag-Team title shot awaiting the winners… and termination for the losers. Double splashes, moonsaults, top-rope bodypresses – the last couple of minutes all seemed to be fought in the air. However, the Usos landed a dual superkick on Daniels to take the fall at 33:31.
Kaz and Daniels were devastated, and they slowly rolled out of the ring, exhausted. However, as they walked up the ramp, they were roughly shouldered aside by a pair of men in street clothes. A pair of big men, a pair of powerhouses who sneered at the weary Usos, who thought by now that the gauntlet was over.
They were sadly mistaken, and the intimidating duo of Nikita Koloff and Alexander Rusev stepped into the squared circle like they owned it. They attacked the Usos without any warning, and manhandled the twin brothers before throwing Jey over the top rope to the floor, hard. Rusev hit Jey with a Machka kick, and then picked him up so his ally could nearly decapitate him with the Russian sickle clothesline. The gauntlet finally ended at 35:10, with the Soviets earning the title shot, and the Usos banished from Global Impact Wrestling.
Russell and Jarrett were momentarily speechless, so the “Million Dollar Man” filled the void. “Now that’s what you call an impressive debut! The Usos never saw what hit them, and that, my friends, is what you call a Major Impact.”
DOUBLE FIRST BLOOD MATCH
CACTUS JACK/UMAGA (w/Kevin Sullivan) vs. the ROAD WARRIORS (w/Paul Ellering):
vs.
vs.
Before the match started, a “hit list” montage was shown of the various men that Sullivan’s sinister squad had run out of GIW. They were followed by 60 seconds of pure, unadulterated, highlighted violence orchestrated by the Road Warriors over the years.
Jack and Umaga stalked around the ring like caged animals, frightening the ring announcer away. Sullivan laughed, as they terrified everyone from the timekeeper to the cameramen… but then suddenly, he was attacked by his own team! Not even the “Prince of Darkness” could control Umaga and Jack, and they pummeled him for several grueling seconds.
Fortunately for Sullivan, he was saved by the special enforcer assigned to this match…
...MUW World champion Braun Strowman, who stepped over the top rope and forced the team back to a corner. They paced furiously, yelling at the referee, Strowman, and the audience.
That didn’t intimidate Hawk or Animal in the slightest.
The Legion of Doom walked halfway down the ramp with their legendary manager at their side, and gestured for their opponents to meet them there. The wild men eagerly obliged, and for the next 12 minutes, they brawled without mercy in and out of the ring, and into the crowd. Fists and feet, chairs, signs… anything that could be picked up and used as a weapon was fair game. The area around the ring looked like a tornado blew through it, and the lead referee assigned to the match considered quitting several times just to insure his safety. Strowman, for his part, was perfectly willing to put his big hands on anyone that put the audience at risk. But in the end, the Road Warriors survived – battered and bruised, but unbloodied – and the same could not be said for their foes. Umaga and Jack staggered away angrily in defeat, both of their foreheads split open, their blood sealing their fate in this night. Strowman raised Hawk and Animal’s hands in the center of the ring, and the crowd roared in approval.
While the ring crew got to work repairing the damage, a cameraman showed a live shot of the GIW World Tag-Team champions preparing for their match, then it segued into a pre-taped segment. The two were talking directly into the camera.
Edge: “Curt Hennig. Brian Pillman. You guys are pretty good – I’d go so far as to call you great. You have, what, four World tag-team championships between you? That’s pretty impressive.”
Christian: “It’s true. I checked Wikipedia today. Say, do you know how many we have?”
Edge: “Gosh, I stopped counting after 20. I mean, between all the tag titles and the singles belts I’ve won-“
Christian: “Uh, yeah, me too. But back to the business at hand. Here’s all you need to know. There’s only ever been one World championship tag-team in Global Impact Wrestling, and you’re looking at it. We came, we saw, we conquered. No team has ever beaten us, no team ever will.”
Edge: “We don’t expect an easy match tonight, but that’s alright. That’s part of the job. But at the end of the night, the “Rated-R Superstar” and the “Instant Classic” are leaving Las Vegas the same way we arrived – as GIW World champions.”
GIW KING OF THE RING CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
WESLEY BLAKE (w/Buddy Murphy) vs. PAUL ORNDORFF (c, w/Eli Drake) vs. DAVEY BOY SMITH (w/Owen Hart):
vs. vs.
WESLEY BLAKE (w/Buddy Murphy) vs. PAUL ORNDORFF (c, w/Eli Drake) vs. DAVEY BOY SMITH (w/Owen Hart):
vs. vs.
As usual, the champion was all business, and arrogant as hell. The British Bulldog was no stranger to championship matches. Blake was a last-minute substitution for his partner, who was nursing a sprained ankle. All three men were seconded by their partners, and the referee warned Murphy, Hart, and Drake – especially Drake – to just observe, and not participate.
The first several minutes saw the powerhouses, Orndorff and Smith, trade heavy punches, while Blake snuck in with many of his own. Alliances were formed and discarded quickly, typical in this match, and all three went flying over the top rope. Of course, all six wrestlers got tangled up, and the three men not involved in the bout started brawling as well. The official jumped out of the ring, and waved Drake, Hart, and Murphy back to their dressing rooms. In the confusion, he didn’t see Drake hand a set of brass knuckles to “Mr. Wonderful”.
The match continued, and despite the flurry of offense he brought into the battle, Blake’s relative lack of experience cost him. At the nine-minute mark, he somersaulted out of an attempted piledriver by the champion, but wound up in Smith’s grasp, and the Bulldog eliminated him from the match with a running powerslam.
Orndorff pounced immediately with a flying knee, but only scored a two-count. The Hall of Famer was relentless, using everything in his arsenal. But Smith wouldn’t stay down, and he exerted his will, slamming and suplexing the champion. Orndorff rolled outside, and when Smith followed – and out of view of the referee – “Mr. Wonderful” reached into his trunks and slugged his foe with the brass knuckles.
Before he could muscle Smith up and into the ring, though, the Great Britons walked down the ramp and told the referee what happened. However, the conversation took so long that Orndorff threw the weapon under the ring – but he was furious. He barked at the Brits to go away, and when the official checked on him, he was unarmed. He went back outside and rolled Smith in, and put him in the middle of the ring, setting up for his vaunted piledriver.
He never saw the small package coming.
The Bulldog was still woozy, but strong enough to hold Orndorff down – just long enough for the ref to count to three. Barrett and McGuinness stood just in front of the curtain, pointing toward Smith and applauding as he was presented with the King of the Ring championship strap.
After the ring cleared out, DiBiase left the announcers’ table, walked down the ramp, and entered the ring. The crowd jeered him every step of the way, and it only got louder when he took the microphone from the ring announcer.
DiBiase: “This has been quite a night so far, hasn’t it? Well, enjoy it while it lasts and take plenty of pictures – because after tonight, Global Impact Wrestling is history.
You gave it a hell of a try, Jeff! Wrestling is in your family’s blood, but promoting just doesn’t seem to be your forte. What were you thinking? Running out of Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas? Friday Night Impact is a great show, but those rights fees aren’t covering your roster costs, are they? Of course they aren’t. It only took me a couple of weeks to figure that out - you’re overleveraged. That’s why I asked my good friend Irwin to come in and dig around a bit more.
You’re running on fumes, Jarrett. That’s the reason you’ve had to cancel house shows. That’s the reason you pulled the outside referees from tonight’s championship matches – you’re pinching pennies. That’s the reason you don’t have the Road Warriors on TV more often, and the same reason you didn’t have the MUW World champion, Braun Strowman, wrestling on your biggest show – you can’t afford their appearance fees! Hell, you even put the boots back on and entered the King of Trios tournament just to try to win a few dollars - and you failed!
All you fans out there booing me – you should be happy I’m here. You see, I’m not here to invest in GIW… but one of my business associates is. In fact, on behalf of my associate, Mr. Schyster presented an offer to Jeff Jarrett this morning. May as well tell the world now! Jeff, you tried your best, but you failed. Do what’s right, cut your losses, and take the deal. You have until midnight to decide.
Because, regardless of what you decide, you know and I know – and all these fans know – that they’re about to watch the last match in GIW history.”
GIW WORLD TAG-TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
EDGE and CHRISTIAN (c) vs. CURT HENNIG/BRIAN PILLMAN:
vs.
EDGE and CHRISTIAN (c) vs. CURT HENNIG/BRIAN PILLMAN:
vs.
After DiBiase’s stunning speech, the crowd was buzzing in nervous tones. That slowly changed to a solid wave of boos when Hennig and Pillman entered the ring, and THAT changed to a huge ovation for the World champions. Main event ring introductions for this one; both teams were in their prime and in peak fighting condition. If this really was the last match ever fought in Global Impact Wrestling, then they’d go out swinging.
Russell: “Well, fans, we’re just going to call it like we see it. Jeff, who do you favor in-“
But Jarrett stood up and left Russell alone; both he and DiBiase walked backstage, so Russell called the match by himself.
The first 15 minutes went by in the blink of an eye. Back and forth, constant motion, neither team gaining a definitive advantage. While the challengers certainly heeled it up, it was still a classic in the making. Mat wrestling, high-flying, double-teaming… all four men put their formidable skills on display.
A missed spear into the steel steps nearly put Edge out of commission, and Pillman and Hennig were quick to pounce. They worked his right shoulder over with an array of strikes and stretches, tagging in and out, catching their collective breath while the “Rated-R Superstar” suffered on the mat. Christian stomped on the canvas, trying to fire up the crowd and his friend.
20 minutes in, Edge finally made the hot tag. The former TNA World champ cleared house, and he landed several two-counts on “Mr. Perfect” before he scrambled outside. The break gained him nothing, though, and Christian kept the advantage for the next couple of minutes. But Hennig was double-tough, and wouldn’t stay down. The “Loose Cannon” on the outside got worried, though, and threw Christian over the top rope to the floor. Hennig and Pillman followed him out for the double-team, and as the referee bolted outside to break it up, Edge readied him for a suicide dive between the ropes.
He was so focused on his prey outside, he never saw the Revival come out from under the ring behind him. In the blink of an eye, he was hit by their Shatter Machine finisher.
Dawson and Wilder ducked back around the opposite side of the ring, then jumped the rail and went into the crowd before the oblivious official knew what happened. Meanwhile, the heels resumed control, and Hennig attacked Christian with violent precision. Slams, forearms, and clotheslines – and then the Perfectplex. Miraculously, “Captain Charisma” kicked out at 2.9, and Hennig angrily tagged in Pillman, who hit his opponent with a top-rope dropkick that sent him all the way into his corner. The Canadians collided, and the referee signaled that it was a tag.
Edge nailed Pillman with hard right hands before throwing Pillman into the ropes. However, “Flyin’ Brian” tagged his partner on the rebound, then hit his fatigued opponent with a vicious bulldog armbreaker. Without missing a beat, Hennig picked him up and went for another Perfectplex… and this time, it kept his opponent down. Pillman intercepted Christian, and the referee counted to three. 26 minutes and nine seconds from start to finish, and Hennig and Pillman celebrated their wild (and somewhat tainted) victory, standing on the middle turnbuckles, gold held high overhead.
The now-former champions were both in pain, bitter over the circumstances of their defeat. As they slowly wandered up the ramp, the Revival reappeared from the other end of the arena and entered the ring. For a moment, it looked like they were ready to fight the newly crowned champions… and then they smiled, shook hands… and right before the cameras faded to black, they all lifted one hand to the sky and extended four fingers.