Tag: christian cage

The Impact World title will be on the line as Christian Cage defends the gold for the third time when he takes on former X-Division champion Josh Alexander in the main event of Saturday’s Bound for Glory.

Alexander earned the shot by relinquishing his title and exercising Impact’s “Option C” which is the ability to do so and get a World title match. Cage has defended the gold twice since taking it from Kenny Omega on the debut of AEW Rampage in August.

The Knockouts title will be on the line as Deonna Purrazzo defends against former champion Mickie James who returned to an Impact ring for the first time since 2015 Thursday. This has been building since just prior to NWA Empower. Purrazzo is approaching her first full year as champion and is looking for the 16th defense of the gold.

Other title matches include Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers vs. FinJuice vs. Chris Bey & Hikuleo; Steve Maclin vs. Trey Miguel vs. El Phantasmo for the vacant X-Division title; Knockouts Tag Team Champions Decay vs. the former Iiconics and a six-way to crown the first-ever Digital Media champion.

The show will also see a 20-man Call Your Shot gauntlet match, Heath and Rhino vs. Violent by Design, and Awesome Kong entering the Hall of Fame, inducted by Gail Kim.

Our live coverage begins with the Countdown to Glory pre-show.

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Live broadcast from Las Vegas, NV started with Awesome Kong’s Hall of Fame Induction. They initially showed a video package covering Kong’s history on Impact Wrestling, with comments from the Impact Knockouts, talking about Kong’s importance to women’s wrestling.

Gail Kim inducted Awesome Kong, she talked about Kong’s debut and how they worked together to create magic. She talked about how Impact took the risk with two women of color and allowed them to go out and do their thing and how that ended up changing the business. Kim talked about the personal relationship she has with Kong before bringing her out.  

Awesome Kong first of all thanked the crowd, for keeping Impact alive and for supporting the wrestlers that work for the company. She thanked God, she thanked Scott D’Amore and Dutch Mantel for working with the Knockouts throughout the years, she thanked her husband, she thanked SHIMMER, Lexi Faye, Dave Prazak, and closed the speech telling everyone to follow their dreams. 

The Knockouts locker room, including Cheerleader Melissa, came out to congratulate and accompany Kong on the ramp to close the ceremony.

Jordynne Grace (with Rachael Ellering) defeated Chelsea Green, Fallah Bahh, Madison Rayne (with Kaleb), John Skylar, and Crazzy Steve (with Black Taurus) to become the Inaugural Digital Media Championship

Each participant in this match qualified through a series of matches that took place in the last couple of weeks on Impact’s digital media channels. Originally, Tenille Dashwood had qualified to the match, but after not being able to make it to the show, her tag team partner Madison Rayne took her place.

Match started with a couple of pair ups, but it was Bahh and Grace that paired up inside the ring first, with Grace taking down Bahh with a shoulder tackle, the running elbow, and a Vader bomb for the first near fall of the night. Skylar and Green came in next, with the latter getting rid of Skylar early on with a dropkick. Rayne later on took down Steve with a DDT. 

The match continued with a couple more pair ups. Crazzy Steve at one point locked in a double Upside Down on both Rayne and Green. 

At the end, Grace dropped Skylar with the Grace driver for the win. The match was really short and not great for the amount of people involved, but it was all about building and crowning Grace as the inaugural champion.

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Main show opened with a video package about Josh Alexander’s rise to become the Impact World Championship challenger in tonight’s main event. Great Package. 

The IInspiration (Cassie Lee & Jessie McKay) defeated Knockouts Tag Team Champions Decay (Havok & Rosemary) to become the NEW Champions!

Harley Cameron sang the IInspiration’s theme for the debut. Prior to Decay’s entrance, McKay and Lee took microphones to tell Impact that they are there to inspire us all.

This is The IInspiration’s debut, therefore, these teams have not interacted since the announcement of the match, but they’ve had words for each other leading up to this match. 

Match started with Decay in control, they easily overpowered Lee and McKay in their initial efforts. Some of the spots came off as comedy. Rosemary locked in an early Upside Down on McKay but it wasn’t until Rosemary distracted herself with Lee, that the IInspiration managed to cut off Rosemary for a bit. 

It wasn’t long before Havok and Lee came in, with the former running wild over both McKay and Lee, but after some miscalculations, Havok ended up on the floor after crashing down. Back in the ring, The IInspiration once again worked over Rosemary, getting a couple of near falls. 

Havok came back to the match and got a near fall on Lee after a spear from Rosemary. 

Lee got rid of Rosemary, hit a spinning kick on Havok, and along with McKay, sent Havok into the ring post over and over again. Finish followed after a blind tag that Rosemary didn’t see, which allowed Lee to knee Rosemary, set up their finisher, and pin Rosemary to win the titles. Not the smoothest of matches, but there’s room to grow.

– Gia Miller interviewed Deonna Purrazzo about her defense tonight. Purrazzo complained that she is the victim because it’s been James that kept attacking her, but when she did it, they got punished while James got a title shot. Purrazzo said that James is not a legend to her and she will break James’ arms.

Trey Miguel defeated El Phantasmo and Steve Maclin to become the NEW X Division Champion.

After Josh Alexander relinquished the X Division title, a tournament to crown a new X Division championship started. All three men in this match won their qualifying 3-way matches, leading up to BFG. 

Match started with all three men in the mix, trading control of the match. First off, Maclin took down Miguel, only to get taken out by ELP, who then got taken out by Miguel. 

ELP and Maclin started to work together and take turns striking Miguel. ELP went for the titty twister on Maclin, but he didn’t sell it and instead took down ELP. Miguel came back with a submission on ELP, while he suplexed Maclin, but couldn’t keep them both down.

ELP and Maclin paired up with the former getting the upper hand, using his speed to hit a couple of moonsaults and walking the rope into a step-up-rana. ELP raked both men’s backs with theatrics. 

Maclin and ELP once again started working together against Miguel, who took them down with a couple of running forearms, but was quickly cut off. Maclin hit a DDT and Flatliner combo on ELP and Miguel respectively, but couldn’t get a pin on either.

Maclin hit the running spear on ELP. Miguel went for a Lethal Injection, only to get caught with a spear to and into the floor. Maclin followed with a tope suicida on ELP and a flying hip attack on Miguel again. Maclin went for the top rope, but got cut off by ELP, who hit an Asai Moonsault, only to take a cutter on the floor by Miguel.

Miguel and Maclin traded near falls, until ELP cut them off. ELP powerbombed Maclin, hit a super rana, tossing Miguel into Maclin, followed with a plancha on Maclin for a big near fall. Maclin came back with a powerbomb on ELP for a near fall. Maclin blocked a Meteora, but took a couple of kicks by both Miguel and ELP. 

ELP went for the low punch, but Miguel had a cup, followed by a couple of kicks and a deadlift brainbuster and Meteora for the win. Fantastic match.

– Miller interviewed Mickie James prior to her match. James acknowledged that Purrazzo may be her hardest challenge ever, but she made it personal by attacking her in her own home. James said that tonight, it will be more than the title, tonight she proves to herself that she can still be the champion.

Heath & Rhino defeated Violent By Design (Joe Doering & Deaner) (with Eric Young) 

This story goes back to 2020, when Violent By Design attacked Heath and was sidelined, which would later be followed by Rhino joining Violent By Design and being brainwashed. VBD turned on Rhino a couple of weeks ago after he lost the tag team titles, but right as they were about to make an example out of Rhino, Heath made his comeback. Rhino is still not himself, but Heath believes he can convince Rhino to join him against VBD. 

Rhino didn’t come out with Heath initially, so he started the match with the handicap. Deaner and Doering didn’t wait and jumped Heath. 

Once the bell rang, Heath did get some offense on Deaner and Doering, but eventually the numbers game was too much and Deaner cut him off while Heath was distracted with Doering. VBD worked over Heath, who had a couple of comeback attempts, but Doering kept cutting him off. 

Eventually, Rhino came out when Heath had managed to bring down Deaner. Heath tagged in Rhino, who ran wild over Deaner, hit a belly-to-belly on Deaner, hit Gore on Deaner, and picked  up the win. Not much of a match, but perfect for the angle. 

After the match, Rhino and Heath embraced and celebrated together.

– Gia Miller interviewed Jordynne Grace about winning the Digital Media title. Grace talked about becoming the first ever triple crown woman in the promotion. Ellering talked about going for the Call Your Shot Gauntlet, but was interrupted by Moose and Morrissey, who said they were going to win.

Moose won the Call Your Shot Gauntlet

Chris Sabin was the number one entrant, after losing to Morrissey a couple of weeks ago, when the #20 spot was on the line. Rocky Romero was entrant number 2. We got two full minutes of Sabin vs Romero chain wrestling, stand-offs, and Romero’s sneaky style.

Entrant #3 was Madman Fulton, who easily overpowered both Sabin and Romero, who worked together to try to eliminate Fulton, with no avail.

#4 entrance was Rohit Raju, who came in and exchanged strikes with Sabin and Romero, and got a good amount of offense. Raju made an alliance with Fulton for the moment. 

Tasha Steelz entered as number 5. Raju talked her into joining their little alliance. The numbers game was too much and Raju eliminated Romero.

Rachael Ellering was #6, she went immediately for Steelz, who she feuded with for months. Fulton tried to eliminate her, but she escaped and with the help of Sabin and Raju, eliminated Fulton. 

Savannah Evans entered next as number 7 and joined her tag team partner. Steelz and Evans ganged up on Ellering, while Sabin and Raju paired up on the opposite corner. Ellering managed to eliminate Evans just as Johnny Swinger made his entrance as number 8. 

We didn’t see Ellering’s elimination by Steelz since the camera focused on Swinger.

#9 entrant was Melina Perez. She went straight for Steelz, but was distracted by a hip-swinging Johnny Swinger. Entrant # 10 was The Demon, yes, WCW’s Demon! Johnny Swinger and I marked out. Swinger asked for an autograph, but instead got eliminated by the Demon. Swinger had been really popular with the crowd.

Brian Myers came out as #11, along with VSK and Zicky Dice as seconds. Myers paired up with The Demon, but couldn’t eliminate him. 

#12 was Matt Cardona. The Learning Tree tried to attack him, but Cardona took them down and went straight for Myers in the ring. #13 entrant was Laredo Kid, who paired up with Raju. At this point, Melina eliminated Tasha Steelz, only to get eliminated by Myers.

Sam Beale came in as #14, he was fired from the Learning Tree on Thursday, but he still joined Myers to try and eliminate Cardona. 

Rich Swann came in as #15. Swann and Myers have been feuding for some weeks, so he went straight for Beale and Myers, but in the distraction, Beale got the chance to eliminate Myers and took it. 

Ace Austin made his entrance at number 16. He eliminated The Demon quickly. #17 entrant was Moose, who also came in strong, powerbombing Beale over the ropes over into Dice and VSK. 

Entrant number 18 was Eddie Edwards, making his return after being sent to the hospital by Moose and Morrissey. Edwards tossed out Laredo Kid, who was used as a weapon by Moose, but afterwards, Edwards and Moose brawled to the floor, with Edwards hitting a tope through the middle rope. Moose hit an apron bomb. Alisha Edwards was #19, who brought out kendo sticks for Eddie and herself. They attacked Moose together, but #20 was previously set to be W. Morrissey.

Edwards and Alisha tried to gang up on Morrissey, but he overpowered them, and then military pressed Alisha to eliminate her. Morrissey and Moose joined up and eliminated Edwards fist. 

Raju tried to make an alliance, but he was next to be eliminated. 

Sabin eliminated Ace Austin, but Fulton came in and hit an End of Days on Sabin, leaving him ready for the elimination at the hands of Moose and Morrissey.

Final four were Cardona, Swann, Moose, and Morrissey. Morrissey was set to eliminate Swann, but Moose snuck up and eliminated both Swann and Morrissey. 

Moose worked over Cardona for the final run, but Cardona made a comeback with a huge lariat. Cardona went for Radio Silence, but missed, only to take Moose’s Lights Out for the pin. 

Moose has finally earned a singles shot for any title he chooses. 

– Gia Miller interviewed Heath and Rhino. Heath talked about being sure that Rhino would end up coming out and backing him up.

Impact Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) defeated The Bullet Club (Chris Bey & Hikuleo) and FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson) to retain their championships.

FinJuice and The Bullet Club have been feuding for months, but it was Anderson and Gallows’ idea to have them wrestle for a shot at the tag titles, as they felt that they had no competition left to wrestle. Both teams wrestled last Thursday, ending with a double pin that was later resolved by D’Amore by making this a 3-way match.

Finlay and Bey started the match with a fantastic sequence of counters and reversals. Robinson came in and continued working on Bey, but it wasn’t long before Gallows and Hikuleo tagged in for the big hoss clash. 

Gallows and Hikuleo traded shoulder tackles and strikes, and it was the latter that managed to get the upper hand. Bey tagged in, but before he could take on Gallows, Finlay blind tagged himself against Anderson. The quick tags kept coming as Hikuleo tagged himself in and cut off Finlay. Bullet Club finally controlled the ring, keeping Finlay away from either corner. Eventually, Finlay got an opening to tag in Robinson, who ran wild against both opposing teams. Robinson got a great near fall after a big gut buster. 

Match broke down as everyone came in and took turns to attack each other. Juice was the first up and cleared the ring for a superplex from Finlay, followed by Robinson’s plancha, but Anderson snuck in, threw Robinson out, and stole the pin. Good match, but a really underwhelming finish out of nowhere.

– Miller interviewed Christian Cage about his title defense tonight. Cage talked about the sacrifices he has made for Impact and that he’s not ready to pass the torch, nor is he ready to drop the title to Alexander. 

Mickie James defeated Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo to become the NEW Champion.

This feud started back when Mickie James invited Deonna Purrazzo to participate in NWA’s Empower show. Purrazzo considered James’ approach as disrespectful, and things only escalated from there. These two have been waiting to get physical after D’Amore proclaimed a ‘no touch’ clause after things had become personal. 

James jumped Purrazzo during the championship belt presentation, and immediately took the brawl to the floor and into the ramp area. Purrazzo was able to turn things around and pull James back to the ring by hair. 

The match officially started when both women got in the ring. Purrazzo was now in complete control of the match, doing some initial work on James’ back. James started making attempts at a comeback, but Purrazzo kept cutting her off, at one point blocking a rana and turning it into a powerbomb. 

James eventually caught Purrazzo with a forearm, followed by a double crossbody that left both women laying. James and Purrazzo traded strikes when James finally got some offense and her first pin attempt. James landed a rana and a Flapjack to bring Purrazzo down, followed with top rope takedown, but couldn’t capitalize and allowed Purrazzo to cut her off again. 

Purrazzo started to chase the Queen’s Gambit, but James dodged, hit the Mickie-DT for a huge near fall. Commentary sold it as a move that hadn’t been kicked out before.

Distracted, James fell to Purrazzo’s offense again, now going for the Fujiwara armbar. Purrazzo went for Venus de Milo, but James made the ropes. Purrazzo hit Queen’s Gambit, but James kicked out, and this move I can confirm had never been kicked out of.

Purrazzo went for a chair, but referee Tolle took it away from her before she could use it. They wrestled on the top rope, where James accidentally took out the referee, but she did manage to fend off Purrazzo’s attempt to use the chair. James only got a two count. 

Purrazzo blocked another top rope attempt with an armbar, brought down James with an armdrag, but she got cocky and taunted James, allowing James to hit a tornado DDT for the pin. Really good match. 

Mickie James ends Purrazzo’s title reign and once again captures the Knockouts Championship. Half of the crowd looked upset at the end of Purrazzo’s reign.

– Hard To Kill will take place on January 8th in Dallas, TX. Next Impact+ special is Final Resolution.

Josh Alexander defeated Impact World Champion Christian Cage to become the NEW Champion!

After one of the best X Division reigns of the last decade, Josh Alexander relinquished the title for a shot at Christian Cage’s Impact World Championship. While this rivalry had been friendly for the most part, things escalated in the last couple of weeks as these men kept making comments on each other.

Match started with a minute long lock up that ended with Cage messing around with Alexander’s headgear, immediately trying to get in Alexander’s head and provoke that anger problem that Cage claims Alexander has. The match quickly escalated to a strike exchange, which ended badly for Cage, who was pushed off the top rope to the floor. 

Both men kept trading momentum, countering each other. Cage countered a C4 attempt and sent Alexander to the floor, he tried to follow with a baseball slide, only for Alexander to counter into an ankle lock, which Cage countered, sending Alexander head-first into the guardrail. 

Back in the ring, Cage was now in control of the ring, he started working on Alexander’s midsection. Alexander kept chopping his way into a comeback, until he hit a scary release German into the turnbuckles. 

Alexander turned things around with a series of running kicks, and after surviving the 20 corner punches, dropped Cage with a powerbomb on his knee. 

Cage started to chase the Killswitch at the same time Alexander tried to find the ankle lock. Alexander hit a rolling plunge and a jumping knee, but only got a two count. Cage came back with a tornado DDT for a two count for himself. Alexander dodged a spear into another German. 

Alexander finally locked in the ankle lock, but transitioned into a sharpshooter after Cage tried to escape it. Cage made the ropes.

Alexander backdropped Cage from the top rope, but missed the moonsault. Cage followed with a spear, but Alexander kicked out at two. Cag went for Killswitch, but after failing to hit it, Cage snapped Alexander’s neck on the ropes instead. Cage hit a top rope splash, but only got a two again. 

Cage blocked a C4, but couldn’t follow up. Alexander locked in the ankle lock, and held on at every attempt from Cage to turn. He stepped on Cage’s left hand and Cage had to tap out. Fantastic match. 

Josh Alexander has won the Impact World Championship. Christian Cage himself strapped Alexander before embracing in the middle of the ring. Alexander was joined by his family for the celebration. 

Suddenly, Moose ran in the ring and cashed out his Call Your Shot chance!

Moose defeated Impact World Champion Josh Alexander to become the NEW Champion!

Moose immediately hit Lights Out as Alexander tried to protect his family, pinned Alexander, and finally won the title! 

Bound For Glory closed with Moose standing tall with the title.