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Impact Spreads Holiday Cheer with Best of 2020 Part 1 Show [Recap]

Welcome to Bleeding Cool's weekly Impact Wrestling recap. Yes, this week's episode of Impact is a best-of show, but there's a few interesting things happening between the matches, including a special Christmas commercial from AEW's Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone and the reveal of the winners of half of Impact's year-end awards. Read on! Or don't. You already clicked so it doesn't matter much to me.

Best of Impact 2020 Part 1 Recap

Scott D'Amore and Josh Matthews, who are either sitting in a Christmas-themed fireplace display at a department store or in front of a green screen designed to look like a Christmas-themed department store display, welcome us to the Best of Impact 2020 Part 1 show. They talk a little bit about recent events in Impact and the Kenny Omega stuff and then D'Amore gets a phone call and has to leave.

The first match in the Best of Impact 2020 series is from Hard to Hill, Trey vs. Ace Austin for the X-Division Championship.

Rohit Raju catches Chris Bey leaving Impact Management. Bey says he's gotten himself added to Raju's rematch against Manik at Hard to Kill in January. Raju flips out and calls Bey a nimrod. Great insult!

Josh Matthews reveals that Ace Austin has been voted X-Division Wrestler of the YEar. A shirtless Austin standing in front of a Christmas tree in a Santa hat and heart-shaped glasses gives an acceptance speech. I didn't pay attention to a thing he said because… well, how could you when you're looking at a scene like this?

Brian Myers names his own return to Impact as his favorite Impact moment of 2020.

Scott D'Amore is back with Josh Matthews at the mall fireplace. Matthews and D'Amore talk about all the hype around Slammiversary because it was when all the non-compete clauses for laid-off WWE mid-carders expired. We see a video package celebrating Slammiversary and its aftermath.

The second Best of Impact 2020 match is The Good Brothers vs. The North at Turning Point.

Over the phone, Ethan Page tells Josh Alexander that The North won best tag team again this year. At Alexender's house, Alexander wonders if this is enough to get the real Ethan Page back. He decides to call Page. Of course, Karate Man answers. Alexander gets mad.

Rich Swann sings about his holiday traditions. Josh Matthews shills for the Hard to Kill PPV. Scott D'Amore shares his thoughts on the Knockouts Tag Championship tournament (he likes it) and Knockouts division (he thinks it's good). D'Amore teases a surprise for the end of the tournament, hinting maybe at legends presenting them.

The third Best of Impact 2020 match is Deonna Purrazzo vs Jordynne Grace in an Iron Man Match during the Emergence two-week Impact special. They don't show the whole thing.

Taya Valkyrie cuts a promo on Purrazzo from what appears to be inside a boat. She challenges Purrazzo for a match at Hard to Kill.

Deonna Purrazzo is voted Knockout of the Year and gives an acceptance speech from a laptop in her bedroom.

Josh Matthews and Scott D'Amore discuss how nasty Sami Callihan is. We see a video recapping his friendship with Old Man Shamrock and their feud with Eddie Edwards. D'Amore makes the match official for the January 5th Impact.

Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz talk about their holiday traditions, which are to get lit. Scott D'Amore names his favorite wrestling move: being the booker. We see a video about the EC3 vs. Moose feud and then we see the segment between Moose and Willie Mac from the most recent episode of Impact setting up an I Quit match between the two of them at Genesis.

Matthew Palmer, the "security guard" who Moose called out in his promo about an "indie wrestler" riping his suit cuts his own promo insisting he's a "pro wrestler" and that he can in fact last three minutes with Moose in the ring. Scott D'Amore makes the match official, presumably for the January 5th Impact. Josh Matthews talks about the Super X Cup tournament, also happening at Genesis. Here's the brackets:

Johnny Swinger says his holiday tradition is that he opens the gifts first.. Then Acey Romero visits Larry D in prison. You know he's in prison because it's the same building Impact is always filmed in and Larry D is wearing a skintight spandex orange jumpsuit. Then we see a video about the Who Shot John E. Bravo? saga.

Time for a special Christmas commercial from Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone. Schiavone introduces Kahn as the only owner in wrestling who isn't a carny. Tony Khan is in town as a partner of a big music company in Nashville. Khan heard about Impact's plans to have Kenny Omega wrestle at Hardy to Kill. Khan says he could stop that if he wanted, but he's fine with it. And he says Impact is welcome to send their people to invade AEW Dynamite tomorrow. Tony Schiavone reviews Dynamite's card for tomorrow night's Holiday Bash, which airs after the NBA game is over. Khan says he may try to sign some of Impact's tag teams to AEW with his seven billion dollars.

Eddie Edwards says his holiday tradition is to put a fake tree up before Thanksgiving and then a real one after. He says anyone without a real tree is a poser.

Matthews and D'Amore talk about Eric Young and his recent antics. We see a video about him and his new stable with Joe Doering and Cody Deaner. Willie Mack's holiday tradition is to put up a Christmas tree. Dude, that's everyone's tradition. Scott D'Amore says Willie seems more focused now. Really? He seems high as hell.

Matthews and D'Amore relive the Kenny Omega AEW Championship win. We see a video about that. Then Don Callis and Kenny Omega talk about their favorite holiday memory, which was Don hanging out with Kenny when he was eleven years old. He asked Kenny what he wanted for Christmas, and Kenny said one day he wants to run the wrestling business. Now he's got it. Kenny says Santa Claus delivered the AEW Championship to him. Callis says Kenny showing up on Impact was a Christmas present to Impact. Callis says if there were more kids like Kenny, he might have had a bunch of children himself. Kenny says he's often imitated, never duplicated, and then he takes credit for coining that phrase.

Matthews does some last-minute shilling for Hard to Kill and its main event of Kenny Omega and the Good Brothers vs. Rich Swann and the Motor City Machine Guns.

Finally, it's time to learn who the best Impact wrestler of 2020 is… after some commercials. Okay, it's Deonna Purrazzo. She's the best Knockout and the best wrestler of 2020. She gives a second acceptance speech. Wow, huge push for Purrazzo. Good for her.

And that's it for this week. Next week will be more of the same and then matches return the following week.

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