Impact Emergence night 2 recap & reactions: Eric Young’s master plan

ImpactWrestling.com

Night 2 (Aug. 25, 2020) of Impact’s special Emergence event has come and gone. Two title fights were on the menu as Deonna Purrazzo defended the Knockouts Championship against Jordynne Grace in a 30-minute ironman match and RVD answered Eddie Edwards’ World Championship open challenge.

Let’s jump right into those top two results. The women’s main event went down to the wire in controversial fashion. Purrazzo kept her title under dubious circumstances with a 2-1 ironman score. Get those details here. Eddie Edwards took down RVD in his championship match, but the bigger story was Eric Young becoming next week’s challenger.

Edwards’ opened the show by taking all RVD could dish out. RVD hit his signature moves, such as a spinning kick off the apron to Edwards hanging over the guardrail and a split-legged moonsault. Edwards came back with a Blue Thunder Bomb and a Tiger Driver, but RVD stayed alive. RVD had momentum after a Rolling Thunder then went high-risk for a frog splash. Edwards rolled out of the way as RVD met the mat. The champ pounced with the Boston Knee Party to win.

Once the match was over, Young ran down to get physical with Edwards. As the champ was left pummeled in a heap, Young yelled that he will be next week’s challenger. The fate of the world title goes through EY. It is all by his design.

Later in the show, Edwards failed to find Young for a backstage beatdown, so he went to the ring to call out EY. Young mocked Edwards as a pathetic hero tough guy. EY has been playing chess, while Edwards has been playing checkers. Young is five steps ahead by design. Edwards wanted the match right then, but Young held firm on next week, just like he planned. Edwards agreed to wait, but the ass whopping starts right now. Fight! The two had to be separated by officials.

Young talks a good game, but I’m not following how his antics have all been by design. So, he was pinned by Rich Swann on purpose then waited a few weeks until coming for the open challenge? I suppose it could be mental warfare forcing Edwards to fight sloppy with rage, but this scheme seems rather elaborate for such a simple tactic. It feels like a piece is missing from this puzzle so far. There must be a shock coming next week to make this story blow up. A clean match next week to become champ wouldn’t match Young’s boisterous mastermind claims. Could Swann be in cahoots with EY? That seems farfetched, but I don’t know what else could arise by Young’s design.

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Let’s roll through last night’s episode from beginning to end.

Josh Mathews and Madison Rayne handled commentary duties.

World Championship: Eddie Edwards retained against RVD in an open challenge. Edwards won with a Boston Knee Party after RVD missed a frog splash. Eric Young ambushed Edwards after the match and announced his intention to challenge Edwards next week.

Wrestle House, part 1. The Deaners organized a toga party. Johnny Swinger planned to throw white powder, a la Mr. Fuji, in all the men’s eyes, so he could have all the women. Taya got drunk and threw up. Swinger’s gimmick backfired when he accidentally powdered his young boy, Crazzy Steve. That led to an argument. Match time!

Blindfold match: Crazzy Steve defeated Johnny Swinger. Since Steve was already blind from Fuji powder, they both wore a sack on their heads to make it fair. The loser has to dress like the winner next week. The ringside wrestlers tricked Swinger to run into the turnbuckles. Steve rolled up Swinger for the win.

Edwards searched for Young backstage. Eddie wanted to get nuts.

Rhino was angry about Reno Scum stealing his money. He wants a match next week, but he needs Impact fans to rally around Heath to be his partner. If not, then Rhino will get revenge alone.

Edwards was back in the ring to call out Young. He wanted the match now, but Young was content to wait. Edwards brawled with Young instead. The two were separated by officials.

Rohit Raju has been a victim of political games, so he manipulated Chris Bey to get his shot. As X-Division champ, he will make it an opportunity for all. Rohit’s been called a loser, but now he’s called champ. Who can defeat Rohit? This sounded a little like a potential face turn, but it also came across as him being arrogant and untrustworthy. His ‘opportunity for all’ is probable some heel shtick.

Locker Room Talk with Madison Rayne. Dez and Wentz were co-hosts. Ace Austin and Madman Fulton were guests. The Rascalz laughed when the topic came up of Ace and Madman losing to the Good Brothers. Ace calmed Madman not to fight on set. It was later announced that they will wrestle next week in tag action.

ICU. Sami Callihan was screwed from becoming Impact World Champion by RVD’s attack. What’s RVD’s excuse for losing? At RVD’s best, he can beat anyone in the world, but RVD is not at his best with Sami in his head. Callihan felt generous and let everyone know he will be ready to fight RVD next week.

EC3 speaks. His last happy moment was winning the TNA Heavyweight Championship. He expected respect, pride, and love. Instead, EC3 got pain, regret, and hate. As long as the physical manifestation of the title exists, he can never be free. Moose has potential to be the most dangerous weapon the industry has even seen, but he has been hiding behind robes and other gimmicks. EC3 invited Moose to come see the destruction of destroying the title.

Brian Myers defeated Willie Mack. Myers attempted to grind Mack down. Myers had control until he ran into a sitout spinebuster. Mack unloaded offense then climbed the corner. Myers pushed Mack off the turnbuckles and attacked with a flying elbow drop. Mack kicked out on the cover. Myers talked smack about being the most professional wrestler, so Mack slapped him. Myers then stole the win by rolling up Mack off the ropes and grabbing the tights.

#Heath4Impact. Heath needs us to make him trend so he can come to Impact to help Rhino against Reno Scum.

Wrestle House, part 2. Rosemary and Laurence D prepped for a date, but Alisha Edwards and Tommy Dreamer sniffed out her plan to make John E. Bravo jealous. Alisha criticized Rosemary about breaking Bravo’s heart, while Dreamer tried to pep talk Bravo. Drunk Taya stole the scene by falling off the couch. Laurence D laid sexily on the dinner table. Rosemary tried to spill the beans of her plan to Mr. D, but Bravo came in to get his girl. He slapped Larry D. Match time!

Larry D defeated John E. Bravo. One shove and one punch was all it took. Afterward, Bravo confessed his feelings to Rosemary. He should have told Taya. Drunk Taya flew off the handle and accused Rosemary of jealousy. Winner takes all next week for Taya vs Rosemary. That includes the rights to Bravo.

Knockouts Championship: Deonna Purrazzo retained against Jordynne Grace. Purrazzo won the ironman match, 2-1, with a last second armbar submission. Full details here.

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Night 2 of Emergence was solid, but I wouldn’t say it lived up to special event standards. The two title matches were good and took up close to half the show. The rest faltered for big show status. The story for Brian Myers versus Willie Mack was made last week, so it didn’t come across as a hot attraction. Wrestle House was what it was. It seems like a love or hate commodity. There are little moments I find funny, but it takes up too much time for my liking.

I wasn’t a fan of EC3’s promo this week. The segment had a soundtrack that made it feel overproduced compared to EC3’s effective internet promos. The story is slowly progressing, but I’m starting to lose interest. EC3 has been saying much the same each week about destroying his past. I’m sure the payoff will be entertaining though.

We’ll close with some positives. Drunk Taya, Johnny Swinger’s Fuji dust, and sex symbol Laurence D all made me chuckle. Fighting champ Eddie Edwards is becoming a fan favorite for me. He brings it hard for each open challenge. Edwards’ hot-blooded brawl with Eric Young did a good job to build hype for next week. The Knockouts main event provided enough drama and intrigue keep me invested in the finish.

Share your thoughts on Impact Wrestling. Who stole the show? Did night 2 of Emergence live up to special event status? What do you think is Eric Young’s big design?

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