Wrestling Past And Present: 05/20/21

Thursday, May 20, 2021

Tag Team Partners COLLIDE! (And THIS, Was Way Better Than The Men's Matches, "OOOO", Zing!) | IMPACT! Highlights May 20, 2021

The only gripes on this are. Why have tag team partners face each other in a singles match? This be from the file of "We have nothing else for you"? The "Creative' at Impact getting 'creatively challenged"?

And when Grace missed her 'Vader Bomb" and bounced hard on the mat, the whopping second and a half of 'selling' that miss was very obvious. I guess she wasn't properly trained in how to 'sell' misses like that. Maybe someone there should actually show her, how that's done.

Other than that, THIS MATCH blew away all the men's matches easily.

Great back and forth action. Nice technical wrestling from both competitors. None of that flip flop dumb ass acrobatic shit that nobody believes anyway.. And the announcers actually put in the time and effort to get a fan to be emotionally involved and interested in it.

Someone in charge at Impact should take notes from this because THIS, is how you get a match over. Impact should try doing more of this more often.

Sad part is, between this match and Tasha Steele's great 'selling' in a match I saw a few days ago.. The women are slowly blowing the men away when it comes to great performances.

Of course nobody at Impact will be paying attention to that, don't you know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyKkybB3QZM

NEW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS in Shocking Finish (Not Really) | IMPACT! Highlights May 20, 2021

FinJuice defend the IMPACT Tag Team Championships against #1 contenders Ace Austin and Madman Fulton, but they can't possibly be ready for what comes next!

What comes next is the reasons why many people watch something other than Impact Wrestling.

Thankfully the 'selling' in this is way better than it usually is. Guess someone heard me when i said a few days back that Tasha Steele "sells" better than 98% of the wrestlers in all the major federations today. Guess someone in Management actually said "Hey, you guys actually have to 'sell' moves out there". Imagine that.

That leaping spin kick to Finley was so slow, HOW could Finley NOT, see that coming? (rolls eyes)

I think it's the way Impact presents their wrestlers that has me wondering "Why am I giving a shit about this match"? They do have a long, sad and bad habit of not presenting their wrestlers well.

And why is it it seems, every tag team, in Impact, AEW and WWE seem to do all the same kind of moves? Nothing really makes either of these two teams stand out, over any teas in AEW or WWE. Pretty much all doing the same ol same ol moves. BBOORRIINNNGG! Slater and Orton, Gordy and Snuka, Hell I watched a match from Japan that featured Kerry Von Erich and Dory Funk jr. as a tag team and all the teams I just listed, did stuff that stood out, even to this day you watch them old matches. Stand out way better than this crap here on Impact.

Sorry but someone has to tell the truth here. So I'll do it for you. You're welcome.

OOHH No, the Lame By Design, er.. Violent By Design have come out. "OOOOO" earth shattering moments here, NOT!

Love how Ryno and his partner stand on the ring apron and 'pose' like there's fans in the arena, LMAO! DUH, Dumb asses. Nothing like 'posing' for piped in cheers and boos, hahahahahahaha!

So now we have Ryno and Joe Doering (Yawn) challenging for the tag titles that Finley and Robinson just won. There's a minute and forty five seconds left in this highlight and I have a feeling, it's going to be a LLOONGG minute and forty five seconds.

I was right, it was. And Ryno's Gore on Juice looked so weak too, especially when Juice literally took three steps into it. Nothing like making it obvious, eh?

One of the commentators said "Ryno has such a legacy". He does? Yeah ok, if you say so.

And now you have Ryno and Doering as the NEW Impact tag Champions. ZZZZZZZZZZZ.

Here's the link, you're not missing much here, believe me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In0Yxexn_GE

Kenny Omega & Moose SQUARE OFF, And Boy, Is It Boring As Hell. | IMPACT! Highlights May 20, 2021

They really should get rid of that ridiculously stupid piped in fan noise. Everyone knows nobody is there, and as bad as this product continues to be you could see why, even if they COULD have fans there.. Why Nobody would be there.

Callis, the guy who has the "grab the remote and change the channel" kind of heat, says "There's nothing sadder on this earth, than wasted talent". This coming from a guy who has barely any talent. Yeah, nice call Hawkeye. Believe me when I say, MANY people are very happy that Don Callis no longer has a booking role in Impact Wrestling, many people.

How many world titles has Callis won? Zero, zip and nada one.. So this is another example of why Don Callis, should just, stay silent. he says so many stupid things. How anyone thinks Callis has great 'heat' is beyond me, he simply doesn't have it.. And the only one who doesn't want to realize that? is Don Callis.. Imagine that.

The back and forth between moose and Omega was so lame, and boring. That I can find an exchange between Paul Ellering and Ole Anderson from the 80's that would get over better than this weak shit.

And ol Sami Callahan coming in? ZZZZZZZZ. Of all the people on the roster HE, was the best choice to come into the ring when Omega's partners showed up?

Sorry but I don't see Sami as any kind of credible threat, to anything or anyone. He looks like a guy trying to 'play' pro wrestler, than actually BEING a pro wrestler.

But for the three people who want to fall asleep to this crap, here's the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bFSeiFjVio

Michael Elgin vs. TJ Perkins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kie8XNbUuc

Ric Flair vs. Chris Adams for the World title. WCCW, February 1984.

World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair defends his title against "Gentleman" Chris Adams at the Sportatorium. Sunshine at ringside. WCCW, February 1984.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW8cLhsJqiw

Bryan Keith vs Rudy Garza (Reality Of Wrestling)

This match was the opening match Reality of Wrestling's "Rise To Wrestling Royalty" One-Night 16-Man Single Elimination Tournament in April of 2021. Round One Match: Bryan Keith vs Rudy Garza

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rcHbXNsXkQ

Thank God, Now Maybe the Booking At Impact Will Improve As- Don Callis Is No Longer An Impact Executive

Don Callis is no longer working as a Co-Executive Vice President of Impact Wrestling, according to multiple sources. Let the celebrations begin.

It was reported today by a few sources and outlets that Callis is no longer an executive in any capacity for Anthem Sports & Entertainment or any of their brands, including Impact Wrestling. Callis remains with the company as a performer.

Callis reportedly officially finished up his Impact duties last month. He had slowly been decreasing his responsibilities outside of the Impact creative team for some time, going back to last year. Callis officially left the Impact creative team in April. Impact streamlined their creative team with Callis’ exit, and there are no current plans to replace him. It was noted that the nucleus of the current Impact creative team is Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore, Tommy Dreamer, RD Evans and Jimmy Jacobs.

Callis and Impact officials remain on good terms and this exit was not a dramatic one. He worked the most recent set of TV tapings, and will continue to appear as a manager for The Good Brothers and Kenny Omega, who is the current AEW World Champion, Impact World Champion and AAA Mega Champion. Omega and Callis only worked the first day of the recent Impact TV tapings as they filmed their content and were not there for the remaining three days.

There had been speculation on Callis’ status after he was removed from the Anthem corporate website this past weekend. Wrestling Inc. exclusively reported back in early December that Callis’ Impact contract was coming up in January of this year. It was speculated then that once he was done with Impact, Callis may move to AEW for a full-time gig as the manager of his friend Kenny Omega, who is the current AEW World Champion, Impact World Champion and AAA Mega Champion.

Regarding that speculation on Callis and AEW, word now is that he is expected to end up with AEW in a full-time role. However, there is no timetable for if and when that may happen.

It was noted that some within Impact were not surprised by Callis’ exit as D’Amore has pretty much led things since the beginning. Impact announced back in December 2017 that they had hired Callis as the new Co-Executive Vice President, to work alongside D’Amore. And his booking ideas had been dismal and a disaster in many fans' eyes from the beginning. Callis's claim that he was going to "Get rid of the silliness that has plagued Impact" proved to be wrong as he in turn started writing and booking the same kind of silliness he claimed he was going to get rid of. And every time he was called out on that very fact, he refused to answer and avoided the topic at every turn.

Maybe NOW, with him gone, the product can start improving. Kenny Omega (Callis's buddy) as Impact World Champion has proven that HE, isn't the improvement Impact really needs. lord knows though, Impact does need, some SERIOUS improvement.

THE DREAM IS OVER AS- VELVETEEN DREAM IS RELEASED BY WWE

Velveteen Dream has been released by WWE, confirmed by Several places.

Dream (Patrick Clark Jr.) was part of several NXT releases over the past two days. He hadn't competed in a match since December 2020, losing to Adam Cole on an episode of NXT. He had been used sparingly through the last four months of the year, wrestling just five times.

As of now, there is no news as to what caused his release.

Part of the sixth season of Tough Enough, the 25-year-old was signed by WWE in the fall of 2015 and competed under his real name for nearly two years. He debuted the Velveteen Dream character in the spring of 2017 and it quickly became a fan favorite.

He won the North American title from Johnny Gargano in early-2019 and held the title through September of that year, losing it to Roderick Strong after 231 days a champion.

As part of the Speaking Out movement last April that shone a light on sexual abuse and misconduct in the pro wrestling industry, he was accused of sending pictures to underage boys. More allegations arose in June, but he denied all allegations, saying, "A private photo of mine was shared without my consent or knowledge and I am working with a third party to look into this matter." He was also involved in a car accident around the same time in June that took him off TV.

Last August, Paul Levesque was asked about the allegations and said WWE looked into them and "there was nothing there," again saying the reason he was taken off TV was due to the car accident.

WWE has not publicly announced Clark's release.

1983 AJPW Giant Baba And The Great Kabuki vs Bruiser Brody And Killer Tim Brooks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFmkg55rTzs

Jim Cornette on Cody Rhodes' Response To Criticism Of His "American Dream" Promo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxiyuSkzhH8

Jim Cornette on Rumors About AEW Executives Not Speaking To Each Other

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BZKzbk5wuo&t=134s

WILL OSPREAY VACATES IWGP WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

Will Ospreay has vacated the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship due to a neck injury sustained on the second night of Wrestling Dontaku on May 4.

Ospreay has returned to England for treatment and rehabilitation and there is no timetable for his return. New Japan’s official statement can be read here.

https://www.njpw1972.com/96992

Ospreay defeated Kota Ibushi to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Sakura Genesis on April 4, becoming the second person ever to hold the title. He made one successful defense in his reign against Shingo Takagi on May 4 (when the neck injury happened) and was set to attempt his second defense against Kazuchika Okada at the second night of Wrestle Grand Slam on May 29 in the Tokyo Dome until the show was postponed.

New Japan has announced the full card for its show on May 22 in Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall. It will be New Japan’s first show since May 4 due to the extended state of emergency in Japan. There was also an outbreak of COVID-19 on the roster, with nine positive tests publicly announced.

The full card for the show is:

• YOSHI-HASHI vs. Yota Tsuji

• Chase Owens and Gedo vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Master Wato

• Hirooki Goto and Tomohiro Ishii vs. SANADA and Tetsuya Naito

• Great-O-Khan and Jeff Cobb vs. Kota Ibushi and Tomoaki Honma

• BUSHI and Shingo Takagi vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Ryusuke Taguchi