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Impact, Inc. Outsmarted At Every Turn...Or Are They?

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 By: CMBurnham

They have called the shots so long that they don't really know what to do when things don't go their way. Impact, Inc. stands as the longest surviving faction in Oklahoma wrestling, reinventing themselves as needed to keep up with the times. Perhaps those times have come to an end as 2011 seems to show the group desperately clutching to remain in power while outside forces wither them slowly away.

MSWA Mid-South Champion Johnny Z is just a few weeks shy of celebrating one year as champion, but his issue with Double D has taken on a life of it's own, both in MSWA and IZW. Due to a loss to IZW Champion Jermaine Johnson, Dustin Daniels had been forced to watch as La Reina de Corazones was turned into Johnson's personal property. That stipulation only held true in MSWA events, though, and Double D knew that he would have her by his side at the IZW matches. But even that was taken away from him recently when he put his hands on Johnny Z and Z forced D into a deal where Erica became Z's personal assistant so that D could keep his job. D's anger with Z & Johnson have forced him to take some desperate measures to make sure that they bully tactics of Impact, Inc. don't prove victorious.

Daniels was supposed to face Johnson in a Ladder Match for possession of La Reina on January 8, but that match got cancelled by MSWA Commissioner Shawn McKeaigg. Instead, D faced Johnson in a regular match that ended in a DQ win for him after Impact, Inc. hit the ring. Erica covered Double D to protect him from the attack and much like he did many months ago, Johnny went to hit Erica with one of Jordan Jacobs' crutches, but hesitated. Erica was then picked up and forced into the corner by Johnny & Jermaine, who then berated her over who the best in the state were. Double D fought off Bernie D and moved in to protect Erica. Johnny charged across the ring to kick Double D, but Double D moved and Johnny instead delivered a boot to the face of Erica. Impact, Inc. slithered out of the ring, but Jermaine grabbed Johnny's title belt and went back in to hit D from behind with it. D blocked that, but Johnny was still able to use that distraction to clobber D from behind and leave him laying for dead. Johnson then put Erica over his shoulder and carried her to the back.

The main event that evening saw Johnny & Bernie face off against IZW Tag Team Champions Awesome X. Things were going as expected until Kevin Morgan accidentally hit referee Mark Wilson, knocking him out. Johnny kicked Kevin in the face with the Big Boot, but there was no referee to make the count. Johnny then grabbed his title belt and Bernie hoisted Kevin up, ready to let Johnny imprint the plate all over Kevin's face. But Double D ran down and chased Johnny out of the ring. Morgan and Xavior hit a double Spinebuster on Bernie D and Bad Boy ran down to the ring in a referee's shirt to count the pinfall for the win.

That wasn't the way things were supposed to go for Impact, Inc. and it appeared when Shawn McKeaigg came to the ring on January 23 that he was disappointed in his associates. McKeaigg told the assembled crowd that he had some things to get off his chest and needed to say some things to the people in the back. So he called Impact, Inc. out to the ring and told them that he had some explaining to do and some punishment to give out. He noted that Bernie D was a winner and was undefeated in 2011, so as a "punishment" for his failure at the last show, he was putting him up against another undefeated star in the Canadian Red Devil. Bernie feigned outrage at this and Jermaine protested that he wasn't sure the Devil was legal to work in Oklahoma while Johnny suggested that Bernie might get "cooties" from the masked superstar. McKeaigg then went on to address the situation with Erica. He told Impact, Inc. that it wasn't right for them to kick a woman, even though they had great form. That was as far as he got before Double D hit the ring. McKeaigg made it very clear that D would be fired on the spot if he didn't back up because he was "trying to make things right.". He then said that there would be another punishment match involving Double D, but the punishment would be on D as he would be facing Johnny Z & Jermaine Johnson in a Handicap Match.

Bernie D dealt with the Devil after a long match by delivering a Sky-High for the win. But Double D wasn't going to be as lucky in his match. When it came time for the Handicap showdown, McKeaigg changed the rules once again. He said he'd thought about it while he was backstage and realised that it wasn't fair to put D in a Handicap match. He was going to give D a partner and make it a standard tag team match. That partner: Bernie D!. So now, Double D was stuck in what was essentially a 3-on-1 match, having a partner that he coudn't trust. And after a short match, that distrust proved itself as Bernie jumped in and a 3-on-1 beatdown began until Kevin Morgan came to the rescue. McKeaigg was outraged, demanding to know why Morgan was ruining the main event and decided that if he wanted to be in the match, then he'd let him tag with Double D, but it would once again be a Handicap Match against all of Impact, Inc.

Impact, Inc. was able to isolate Kevin and keep him in the ring for quite a while until he finally made the tag to Double D. The diminutive superstar took on all of Impact, Inc. himself. Morgan rallied with a doubel clothesline, taking Bernie & Johnny over the top rope and Daniels hit a crossbody off the top rope on Jermaine for the win. After the match, Bernie attacked Double D with Jacobs's crutch. Jermaine then grabbed the other crutch and went after Morgan. Xavior came running out to help, but he got laid out with Johnny's title belt. Even though they had lost the match, Impact, Inc. still managed to find a way to maintain their control. With Johnny as co-commissioner of IZW and with Shawn McKeaigg in their back pocket in MSWA, it seems that nothing can take Impact, Inc. out of the picture in either federation.