Jump to content
Pro Wrestling Only

[2019-01-06-Impact-Homecoming] Tessa Blanchard vs Taya Valkyrie


Superstar Sleeze

Recommended Posts

Impact Women's Champion Tessa Blanchard vs Taya Valkyrie - Impact Homecoming 2019 SGR: Gail Kim

Gail Kim in that referee outfit...Shawn Michaels eat your heart out...WOW!

Impact being a well-booked company actually set up the troubleshooting referee well with Tessa getting two retentions because of a questionable refereeing and the other being her slugging the ref. So we need a badass ref like Gail Kim who can impose her authority and not take shit. I dig. I am glad Taya dropped the Viking Queen aspect of her gimmick and embraced being Wera Loca. 

I liked this match and was close to loving it, but fell out of love with it by the end. Taya used a Lucha Armdrag very early and after that it was off to the races. A good combination of Lucha Libre/solid kicks made for a fun shine. I liked the double stomp a lot. Tessa powdering was great and I loved how she transitioned to heat where Taya was caught in between the ropes trying to give chase. The best part of the heat segment was on the outside. Tessa let that mean streak out and she hit hard & furious. Good stuff. Back in, we start to see that friction between Kim and Blanchard. Ultimately, the match became a backdrop for the angle, which is disappointing in a way because I had grown fond of Taya and didnt think she deserved to be the third wheel in her big championship victory. Taya uses her power advantage to work her way back into the match big time German Suplex and Northern Lights Suplex. Tessa is a powerhouse in her own right so it is cool to see someone throw her around. Taya's moonsault is very graceful, nice arch, very pretty but in this case she crashes & burns. Now here come the shenanigans. First Gail Kim gets bumped. Tessa hits her finish but Gail isnt around. So Tessa gets the Title Belt presumably to crack Taya. At this point, Gail has arisen from her slumber. They tussle over the championship but Gail Kim as she wrests the belt from Tessa loses control and whacks Taya with it. Ruh roh! Shades of Summerslam 1997?!? Taya kicks out at 2. I think Gail Kim and Tessa brawl breaking out at this point makes more sense. The kickout at 2 didnt have much heat on it. Lots of shoving. Tessa got another nearfall, which I was surprised by again not much heat. Im really glad the quick schoolboy rollup didnt win for Taya that would have been lame. However, it doesnt get much better as Gail Kim hits Eat Defeat and Taya hits Road to Valhalla to win. I think if I was booking. It would be errant belt shot. Brawl for 2 minutes or so, but no clear winner. Taya recovers and hits a setup move and then Road to Valhalla to win. You put over the Gail Kim/Tessa feud, give the people a hot brawl and Taya gets a much better win. I think another reason they didnt get much heat is that Tessa didn't do anything heelish! Yes mean muggin' and aggression arent endearing, but she was not being a coward, overtly violent or a cheat (ok belt shot). I think if Tessa ratchets up the heel heat the finish gets way more over and there is less booing of Taya's victory. They were turning Taya/Morrison heel so I think that's why they didnt protect her more, but still Tessa ratcheting up the heel heat helps her feud with Gail Kim. There was good stuff in this match but the finish was flat when I think it could have been a home run. ***  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • paul sosnowski changed the title to [2019-01-06-Impact-Homecoming] Tessa Blanchard vs Taya Valkyrie

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...