Here are some notes from TNA No Surrender which took place Friday in New Orleans — the first show the company has held since the surprising firing of Scott D’Amore.
MK Ultra regained the TNA Knockouts Tag Team titles at No Surrender, taking the gold from now-former champions Decay.
The end came when Havok hit a spinebuster on Killer Kelly for a near fall, leading to her teammate Rosemary looking for a spear to end it. However, she took a Snow Plow from Masha Slamovich to give MK Ultra the win.
Slamovich and Kelly held the titles for roughly six months from the summer of 2023 through January’s Hard to Kill when they lost the titles to Havok and Rosemary. This was the champions’ first title defense.
In a rematch from January’s Hard to Kill, Moose retained the TNA World title by defeating Alex Shelley under No Surrender rules which means the match could only end after one of the two men’s cornermen threw in the towel. KUSHIDA did the duties for Shelley after the challenger took three spears, including one with a chain wrapped around Moose.
After winning the title at Hard to Kill, Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace successfully retained the title by defeating past title challenger Gisele Shaw. Shaw had earned the shot with her win in an Ultimate X match at Hard to Kill.
ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) successfully defended the TNA Tag Team titles by defeating the Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) in the third of their best-of-three series. The first two matches took place on TNA Impact.
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Eric Young will once again have the opportunity to be called TNA World Champion for a third time after he defeated recent rival Frankie Kazarian to earn a future title shot.
Young first won the title in the spring of 2014, holding the gold for 70 days before losing it to Bobby Lashley. Six years later, Young held the title for a short two-month run in September/October 2020 before losing it to Rich Swann at that year’s Bound for Glory.
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PWInsider reported that all the top Anthem Sports & Entertainment executives were on hand in New Orleans for the first event after D’Amore’s firing.
The outlet also reported an attendance of 750 for the show and that the company added more seats after initially being set up for 600.
After presenting a Bound for Glory recap episode last week, Impact Wrestling is back with new matches tonight.
Tonight’s Impact will feature matches taped at the promotion’s UK Invasion tour in Glasgow, Scotland. Impact Wrestling returned to the United Kingdom last week for its first full tour in the country since 2016.
Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) vs. Josh Alexander & Eric Young headlines tonight’s show. Shelley retained his Impact World Championship against Alexander in the main event of Bound for Glory.
Trinity also made a successful title defense at Bound for Glory, defeating Mickie James. Trinity defends her Knockouts Championship against Scottish wrestler Emersyn Jayne tonight.
Moose, Brian Myers & Deonna Purrazzo team up in a six-person tag team match against Mark Andrews, Flash Morgan Webster & Dani Luna.
In the finals of the Glasgow Cup, Joe Hendry takes on Frankie Kazarian tonight.
Plus, Grado makes his Impact return in a match against Trey Miguel.
Joe Hendry defeated Frankie Kazarian to win the Glascow Cup
This was a very solid opening match, and Hendry got to win in front of his home country crowd in Scotland.
It appears by the time they finally arrived in Glascow, Hannifan learned how to pronounce Glascow. The production of the show was noticeably worse than usual as Hendry made his entrance, and spoke on the mic about how it was a privilege to bring Impact Wrestling back to Scotland. Hendry’s promo was a very good babyface promo about proving he was worthy of being on the Impact stage. I can tell the crowd was cheering loudly, but the micing of the arena was quite terrible.
This was a very solid professional wrestling match, with Kazarian and Hendry working a basic, effective opening match to warm up the crowd. Hendry showed some power with a stalling suplex for a two count. Hendry hit an elbow drop for a two count. Kazarian shoved Hendry from the ropes to the floor to get a little heat on Hendry. Hendry made a comeback and hit a fallaway slam before doing the “We Will Rock You” beat and the fans started singing the song.
Hendry launched Kazarian off his shoulders into a face plant and hit a cutter for a two count. Kazarian popped up out of nowhere and hit Fade to Black for a two count. Hendry hit a superplex on Kazarian and both were down in the middle of the ring. Hendry and Kazarian exchanged some pinfall attempts before Hendry hooked the leg and got Kazarian out of nowhere.
–Deonna Purrazzo, Moose, and Brian Myers cut a promo on Subculture about their match tonight. They badly need to white balance the camera.
–Joe Hendry was backstage after his win, and said that he was not going to let Simon Miller disrespect him and he was going to beat him at Turning Point tomorrow night.
The Most Professional Wrestling Virtuosas (Moose, Brian Myers, & Deonna Purrazzo) defeated Subculture (Mark Andrews, Flash Morgan Webster, & Dani Luna)
Purrazzo’s team had to win this one with Purrazzo going on to face Trinity tomorrow night at Turning Point, but they gave Subculture everything in losing here, and they did not feel out of place with the larger stars in the company.
As Rehwoldt was saying that Myers wouldn’t be taken down without a fight, he was taken down with a fight through an arm drag from Webster. Luna and Purrazzo did a series of standing switches ending with Luna hitting a back elbow and then a suplex for a 1-count. Purrazzo rolled to the corner and tagged Moose in.
Moose overpowered Webster and Luna both, before Andrews tagged in. Andrews hit two chops that just made Moose mad, but Andrews hit a dropkick off the middle rope. Andrews went to the top rope, but Moose hit the ropes and crotched him before hitting a few chops of his own. Purrazzo hit a short arm clothesline on Andrews before tagging out to Myers, who hit a suplex.
Moose, Myers, and Purrazzo continued to get the heat on Andrews for the next few minutes, making quick tags, while the audience taunted Brian Myers. Andrews tagged in Luna after hitting an enziguri on Myers, and it led to all of Subculture powerbombing Moose for a 2-count that Purrazzo and Myers broke up. Purrazzo then locked in the Fujiwara armbar on Luna, but Andrews broke it up.
Webster kicked moose with a kick from the apron, but Moose ended up running up the turnbuckle and hitting a suplex on Webster, while Andrews flew into the ring with a splash on Moose. Myers cut him off, but Luna took him out, and then Purrazzo hit a pump kick on Luna, followed with a double clothesline and everyone was down. Andrews hit Moose with Stundog Millionaire, while Purrazzo hit a pump kick on Webster. Luna dragged Purrazzo to the floor while Moose hit a hotshot on Andrews and hit the spear for the win.
–Josh Alexander and Eric Young were backstage standing under a purple light for some reason. They talked about their differences, but how there was respect between them, and there was no better way for them to test themselves than face the Motor City Machine Guns, and how the two Canadians will take on Subculture tomorrow night as well.
–Tom Hannifan and Matt Rehwoldt talked about Grado being back in Impact for the next match.
Grado defeated Trey Miguel
This was a total comedy match with Grado doing several comedy spots, including holding the arms of Miguel behind his back and letting fans chop him. As Grado celebrated, Miguel shoved him into the ring post. Miguel then posed and trie to pin Grado cockily, but Grado kicked out. Grado went for a bionic elbow, but Miguel kicked him in the stomach, hit the ropes, and then ate a bionic elbow anyway.
Grado charged the corner and had the funniest sell of a superkick I have seen in awhile for a 2-count. Miguel missed a double stomp and ate a Death Valley Driver from Grado for a 2-count. Grado went for the Wee Boot, but Miguel blocked it. Grado hit a spike small package for a 2-count and then hit the Wee Boot for the win.
–Eddie Edwards cut a good promo on Will Ospreay about their different paths in Japan, Edwards in NOAH, and Ospreay in NJPW, but that Edwards is the best in Impact, and he is going to have a very hard match at Turning Point.
Trinity defeated Emersyn Jayne
This was not a squash, as Trinity gave Jayne a lot in this match.
Jayne took way more in this match than I expected, with Trinity spending a lot of time selling, including Jayne catching Trinity on a crossbody and hitting a Northern Lights Suplex for a 2-count. Trinity hit a kick and a bulldog into the middle turnbuckle before hitting a flying forearm and elbow. Jayne hit a falcon arrow for a two count. Trinity hit a full nelson bomb for the win after this.
–A hype video aired about Impact’s tour of the UK, as Hannifan mispronounced Coventry again. Ah well, you can’t win them all. This video was actually really great, including Grado trying to cut a promo but Moose making noise in the background and interrupting his thoughts.
–Trinity talked about her victory against Emerson Jayne, and how she was going to have the final match with Purrazzo in their trilogy, because if Purrazzo loses, she will not be able to challenge for the title again as long as Trinity is champion.
The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) defeated Josh Alexander & Eric Young defeated
This was basically a house show main event tag, but that doesn’t mean it was bad. This was a fun match overall, with both teams doing what they could to bring an easy, entertaining match to the audience. By the end, this was excellent, and it would hard to be any less than that with these four in the ring.
Shelley and Alexander shook hands as the match started, showing respect between the two since their main event at Bound for Glory. Shelley and Alexander showed some great technical wrestling, picking up where they left off a few weeks ago, with Shelley tying Alexander up in the ropes. Alexander and Shelley both went for their finishers, both countering, and Shelley escaping the ring before Alexander got an ankle lock on.
Sabin tagged in while Eric Young tagged in on the other side. Shelley and Sabin faked out Young on the floor and isolated him briefly, but Young dumped Sabin to the floor and then tagged out to Alexander. Alexander and Young isolated Shelley for the next few minutes. Shelley and Alexander exchanged submission attempts again, and Alexander went for the ankle lock, but Sabin ran in and broke it up, letting Shelley hit a dragon screw legwhip on Alexander.
Shelley charged the corner, but Alexander got his foot up. Shelley caught it and sent it to Sabin on the apron, who hit a dragon screw over the ropes. Shelley responded with one of his own as well, s they aimed to rip apart the knee of Alexander. That was a really cool sequence of moves. Sabin stomped the knees and tagged back out to Shelley, and the assault continued.
Young was desperate to get in the ring as Shelley put a figure four leg lock on Alexander. Young ran int to try to break it up, but Sabin ran in and put a figure four on Yonng to the delight of the crowd. Alexander hit a vertical suplex and tried to tag out to Young. Shelley hit a flatliner into the corner on Young, allowing Sabin to hit a missile dropkick on Young. Alexander rushed in and hit a series of German suplexes on Sabin.
Alexander hit a belly-to-belly suplex for a two count. Sabin went for Cradle Shock, but Alexander countered into trying for the C4 Spike, but Shelley countered with a hurricanrana. Sabin hit a flying kick for a 2-count that Young broke up. Alexander slipped out of Cradle Shock again, but ate some elbows until Alexander rolled through and locked on an ankle lock.
Alexander locked on a sharpshooter, but Sabin fought to the ropes. Alexander had to let go because of the damage done to his knees earlier, but he did what he wanted to wear Sabin down. Young went to the top rope for a doomsday device, but Sabin shoved Alexander into the corner and hit the Cradle Shock for a 2-count on Alexander.
Young bit the face of Sabin and hit a big flying elbow, but Young was not legal, but Sabin kicked out once Young tagged in. Sabin hit a Tornado DDT on Young and went for Cradle Shock, but Young slipped out and called for a lariat, but he walked right into the cradle shock for the 3.
Final Thoughts
This was a mostly nothing show of Impact, and aside from the very good main event, it was a largely missable show. It was nice seeing Hendry win in his hometown, but this was basically a house show as Impact spins it wheels until TNA comes back in the new year.
The full lineup for Thursday’s Impact Wrestling on AXS TV has been announced featuring action from last week’s UK tour kickoff in Glasgow, Scotland.
Former Impact Tag Team Champions the Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) take on former Impact World Champions Josh Alexander & Eric Young.
Shelley defended his Impact World title against Alexander at last month’s Bound for Glory.
Before she defends against former champion Deonna Purrazzo at Friday’s Turning Point, Knockouts Champion Trinity will take on Scotland native Emersyn Jayne in non-title action.
In a mixed trios match, Purrazzo will team with Moose & Brian Myers against Subculture (Dani Luna, Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews).
In the finals of the Glasgow Cup tournament, Frankie Kazarian will face native son Joe Hendry.
Former X-Division Champion Trey Miguel will take on the returning Grado, also a Scotland native. He will be making his first Impact appearance since a September 2018 event in Mexico.
Here’s the full lineup:
Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) vs. Josh Alexander & Eric Young
Knockouts Champion Trinity vs. Emersyn Jayne in a non-title match
Deonna Purrazzo, Moose & Brian Myers vs. Subculture (Dani Luna, Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews)
Glasgow Cup Finals: Joe Hendry vs. Frankie Kazarian
What’s believed to be the final match for this Sunday’s Emergence streaming special was announced during Thursday’s Impact on AXS as former Impact World Champion Eric Young will take on Deaner in a no DQ match.
In storyline, Deaner “killed” Young late last year on Impact to explain Young leaving to sign with WWE. However, Young was granted his release earlier this year and returned at Slammiversary. His non-death was later explained in a taped vignette to reveal he never actually died.
In his absence, Deaner took over Young’s Violent by Design group and renamed it The Design, aligning with Kon and Angels, the latter of which just left the group.
Here’s the updated card for Toronto, Ontario, Canada:
Impact Knockouts Champion Trinity defends against Deonna Purrazzo
Alex Shelley, KUSHIDA, Chris Sabin & Josh Alexander vs. Bully Ray, Moose, Brian Myers & Lio Rush
Impact Tag Team Champions Subculture (Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews) defend against The Rascalz (Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz)
IWGP World Champion SANADA vs. Jake Something in a non-title match
Knockouts Tag Team Champions Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly defend against Gisele Shaw & Savannah Evans, The Death Dollz (Jessicka & Courtney Rush), and The Coven (KiLynn King & Taylor Wilde)
Eric Young vs. Deaner in a no DQ match
Digital Media Champion Kenny King defends against Johnny Swinger
Back to School match: Eddie Edwards vs. Frankie Kazarian
The next contenders for the Impact Tag Team titles will be decided on next Thursday’s Impact Wrestling on AXS TV.
After defeating former champions ABC (Chris Bey & Ace Austin) in a semifinal on Thursday’s show, former Impact World Champions Rich Swann and Sami Callihan will face the Rascalz (Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz) next Thursday. Bey and Austin were attacked by The Good Hands which helped cost them the match.
The winners of the four team tournament will face current titleholders Subculture (Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster) at this month’s Emergence.
Ahead of her challenge of Knockouts Champion Trinity at Emergence, former champion Deonna Purrazzo will face KiLynn King. King, alongside Taylor Wilde, recently pinned Purrazzo, alongside Trinity, in a tag team match to set this up.
Eric Young will begin his run through The Design as he takes on Kon.
Next week’s show will be the go-home for next Sunday’s Impact x NJPW Multiverse United 2.
Here’s the current lineup:
Eric Young vs. Kon (w/ Deaner)
Rich Swann & Sami Callihan vs. The Rascalz (Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz) in a no. 1 contenders’ tournament final
For the first time since 2014, two Impact World Champions will clash as Eric Young takes on Nick Aldis on tonight’s Impact on AXS TV.
The two last wrestled one-on-one on a September 2014 One Night Only pay-per-view when Aldis was known as Magnus. Tonight’s match was made after a backstage challenge last week.
After the closing events of last week’s show, The Time Splitters (Impact World Champion Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA) will unite to face Moose & Brian Myers.
Gisele Shaw will face Masha Slamovich after a backstage confrontation last week.
In a loser leaves Impact bout, friends will turn foes as Zicky Dice will take on Johnny Swinger.
Knockouts Champion Trinity will team with Subculture’s Dani Luna against former Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Coven (KiLynn King & Taylor Wilde).
Digital Media Champion Kenny King & Sheldon Jean will take on former champion Joe Hendry & Yuya Uemura on the BTI pre-show.
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George Iceman talked about Deonna Purrazzo losing the Knockout’s championship at Slammiversary, and said we would hear from her soon about what she was going to do next.
Joe Hendry & Yuya Uemura defeated Kenny King & Sheldon Jean
Uemura got a big win over Kenny King in this one, presumably setting up a future Impact Digital Media Champonship match.
Impact Wrestling
Trinity opened the show, making her entrance to the ring to team with Dani Luna from Subculture.
Trinity & Dani Luna defeated The Coven (KiLynn King & Taylor Wilde)
This wasn’t very good. I’m not sure if it was the extended heat on Luna, or something else, but this was fine at best.
King managed well against both Luna and Trinity in the early part of the match, but was dropped after a flying back elbow from Luna. King rolled the corner to escape and tagged out, only for Wilde to get caught on a crossbody attempt and hit with a fall away slam. Luna hit a sliding clothesline for a 2-count. King necked Luna on the top rope, letting Wilde get control. After several minutes of heat, Luna managed to dump King to the floor while Trinity hit a full nelson bomb on Wilde before rolling over into a pinfall.
–Deonna Purrazzo came down to the ring to announce that she was getting her rematch for the Knockout’s championship at Impact Emergence.
–Lio Rush was backstage and Moose & Myers walked up, complaining that Rush left them hanging last week. Rush said, “Why would you align yourself with someone like him?” and Bully Ray walked up behind him, “Who?” right into his ear. Moose said they weren’t asking to be friends, and Ray said that he was with them or against them, so he would need an answer by the end of the night.
–Dirty Dango was with Johnny Bravo, and talked about why he needed security because Scott D’Amore has been hitting people with chairs, and Santino is attacking people lately. He introduced Bravo’s new name, Alpha Bravo.
Johnny Swinger defeated Zicky Dice in a Loser Leaves Impact Match
Dice and Swinger feigned not wanting to fight, and then Swinger did the finger poke of doom, but Dice cradled Swinger when he went for the pinfall. Dice and Swinger then exchanged eye rakes. Dice slammed Swinger and said, “I’m sorry, I love you.” Swinger kicked out at 2. Swinger rolled to the floor and said, “I’m done, count me out.” Dice looked really sad as Swinger tried to take his cart and go home.
Swinger said it was Dice’s time and told him to ride the cart. Dice rode the Cart and Swinger pushed it before hitting Dice with a lariat. Swinger then threw Dice into the ring and pinned Dice with his feet on the ropes, and Zicky Dice must leave Impact. Dice looked heartbroken as Swinger celebrated.
–Yuya Uemura & Joe Hendry were backstage with Santino and he made a triple threat for the Impact Digital Media Championship next week between Kenny King, Hendry, and Uemura.
This was a great match. I’m excited to see more between these two as the Knockouts tag title feud was advanced here.
Shaw had a surprising amount of intensity in this, taking it right to Slamovich. Shaw dumped Slamovich to the floor and when they came back from break, Shaw continued the assault with a European uppercut. The announcers noted that this was a new level of intensity for Slamovich, which his what Shaw needs to compete against such a strong wrestler.
Shaw missed a running knee and ate a spin kick from Slamovich. Slamovich setup for the Snow Plough, but Jai Vidal came up on the apron to distract Slamovich. Killer Kelly pulled Vidal from the apron, but Savannah Evans dropped Kelly, and Shaw rolled up Slamovich and hit the Denoument for the pinfall.
–A video aired for Jake Something, hyping up his return to Impact.
–Frankie Kazarian was with Traci Brooks backstage and they were talking about how much trouble Alisha Edwards and Eddie Edwards was giving them, and Kazarian had to talk Brooks out of wanting to fight Alisha.
Time Splitters (KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley) defeated Moose & Brian Myers
Moose was able to get some heat on KUSHIDA due to his size, but the Time Splitters proved to be a more experienced tag team, soon taking advantage of Myers. Myers ran around the ring trying to escape Shelley, which baited Shelley into a clothesline from Moose who was somehow hiding near the corner. Myers tagged back in to take on Shelley, but as he tried to tag out to Moose, Shelley manage to pull him into a crucifix pin, outwrestling him.
–Bully Ray immediately ran in and started beating on Shelley. Josh Alexander ran down to make the save. Lio Rush ran down and jumped Alex Shelley, making his decision by siding with Ray and his crew. Chris Sabin ran in to make the save, and suddenly Lio Rush was left in the ring with nowhere to run, and Sabin hit a superkick and threw him from the ring.
–Alan Angels cut a promo via pretaped video, saying that Heath is an imaginary rockstar while he was a real one, calling himself the Celestial again. He still needs to find his way with his promos, but this is the best way for Angels to learn.
Zachery Wentz (w/ Trey Miguel) defeated Mike Bailey
Wentz had some offence early, but did not account for Bailey being able to kick very hard, and after getting hit with several kicks, Bailey got a two count. Bailey attempted to kick Wentz in the face, but Wentz kept ducking close to the mat. Bailey then faked him out, paused mid kick, waited for Wentz to look up, and kicked him right in the face for another 2-count, where Trey Miguel made the save.
Bailey got into an argument with Miguel on the floor after hitting a trianagle moonsault on Wentz. Wentz responded by hitting a slam onto the apron. Bailey and Wentz exchanged kicks, with Miguel pulling Wentz from the ring to avoid a tornado kick. The referee sent Miguel to the back, who blamed Bailey for everything. Bailey turned around into spray paint in his eyes from Wentz, who hit a cravate into a DDT for the win.
Eric Young defeated Nick Aldis
Eric Young got the win here, with Nick Aldis on his way out of Impact almost as fast as he arrived. This was a good match though. I wish Aldis had more time in the company, and maybe they will come to a new deal, but for now, it seems his short-term deal is up.
The first part of this match featured Young and Aldis both trying to one up each other, with Young and Aldis both skinning the cat. Aldis did it back into a punch from Young, so he bailed to the floor as they cut to a break. As they came back, Young dumped Aldis to the floor, but got caught in the apron when Young went for a baseball slide dropkick.
Aldis hit a big clothesline back in the ring for a 2-count. Young hit a flying forearm off the ropes, and Young followed with a belly-to-belly suplex for a 2-count. Young went to the top rope for an elbow drop, but Aldis cut him off and hit a superplex. Aldis hit a Michinoku driver on Young for a near fall. Aldis locked on the Kingsland cloverleaf, but Young fought out. Aldis went for the figure four leglock, but Young cradled him and then hit a piledriver out of the cradle for the win.
–Deaner ran down to the ring and attacked Eric Young, and Kon chokeslammed Young at Deaner’s directions. I’m not sure if this was the feud I would go with, despite it making sense due to Deaner killing Young months ago. Young could have a better feud given he just beat the person who main evented Slammiversary a few short weeks ago. Kon chokeslammed Young twice and then sent him into a DDT from Deaner.
Final Thoughts
I am really disappointed with Young immediately stepping into a feud with The Design, rather than doing something new. The rest of this show was pretty good, including the main event match, but that angle did not work for me. I can say at least Deaner is giving it his all with this gimmick. He has since day one in Impact, back when he was the redneck with ODB. The guy always gives it 100%. It’s just too bad this character really doesn’t work for me. Hopefully Young can get beyond this feud quickly and move onto better things.
Impact Wrestling – August 3, 2023
Impact Digital Media Championship: Kenny King (c) vs. Joe Hendry vs. Yuya Uemura
Impact Wresting x NJPW MultiVerse United II – August 20, 2023
Impact World Championship: Alex Shelley (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Impact Wrestling Emergence – August 27, 2023
Time Machine (Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, & KUSHIDA) & Josh Alexander vs. Bully Ray, Moose, Brian Myers, & Lio Rush
Impact Knockouts World Championship: Trinity (c) vs. Deonna Purrazzo
Back in December 2022, it was first reported that former two-time Impact World Champion Eric Young would be headed back to WWE, but no additional details were known at the time.
Young’s departure became evident after he was killed in storyline by Deaner, his Violent by Design stablemate.
Months went by and Young was never seen on WWE television and it was recently reported by Fightful that Young had asked for his release only a few months after signing. They later reported that WWE sources confirmed Young “cited moral, creative and personal reasons as why he didn’t want to work with Vince McMahon.”
By this past April, his release had been granted and his 90-day non-compete clause was up just in time for him to make his surprise return at Impact Slammiversary as the mystery partner of Scott D’Amore.
I recently caught up with Young to set the record straight and learn more about what’s ahead. The entire interview is available above for free on YouTube.
Why did he leave WWE?
“I can say that I signed up for one thing and then was presented with a completely different thing and personally, professionally and for me, more importantly morally, I can’t take instruction and work for a person like that,” he said with “a person” assumed to be McMahon.
He explained that he didn’t want to leave Impact in the first place, but “business is business” and he couldn’t decline the opportunity being offered to him by WWE.
“If you would have said that nine months ago, six months ago, I probably would have said ‘No, I wouldn’t be back in Impact.’ But fate’s got a funny way of doing things. And like I said, I didn’t really want to leave in the first place, but business is business. An opportunity had presented itself that I just couldn’t say no to,” he said.
“I made the move and I don’t regret it at all. Nine months vacation, there’s worse things that could happen to a person for sure,” he said.
Young also explained that he considered himself “lucky” to be in a position where he could ask for, and be granted, his release. It was a decision he knew came with risks.
“I know that there are tons of people that won’t have that ability and can’t make that choice, but I could. And for me, it was undoubtedly, unequivocally and unabashedly the right choice for me. And it’s not going to be the same for everybody, but for me, it’s the right choice.
“I walked away from a massive opportunity & life-changing money and I don’t regret it. I didn’t regret it then and I certainly don’t regret it now. And I know in ten years I certainly won’t regret it. And I’ll know it was the exact right decision. And I’m glad that I have the ability to make it,” he said.
In my new interview with Eric Young he addresses the report by @SeanRossSapp, regarding his departure from WWE and return to IMPACT Wrestling.
"I walked away from a massive opportunity & life changing money and I don't regret it."
Three matches have been announced for next Thursday’s Impact on AXS TV including a clash between former World Champions.
Made during a backstage segment during Thursday’s show, Eric Young will take on Nick Aldis.
It will be Young’s first singles match since making his surprise return at Slammiversary, made possible after he quietly requested his release from WWE after signing there late last year. His last Impact TV match was in late-October and he was eventually killed off by Deaner before he left.
For Aldis, he will be looking for redemption after he failed to defeat Alex Shelley for the World title at last Saturday’s Slammiversary. His status with the company has also been a point of discussion.
In a loser leaves Impact match, Johnny Swinger will take on his friend, Zicky Dice. With a win, Swinger also earns a future title shot, thanks to Scott D’Amore’s decision on Thursday.
In women’s tag team action, former Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Coven (KiLynn King & Taylor Wilde) face Knockouts Champion Trinity & Dani Luna of Subculture.
Here’s the current card:
Johnny Swinger vs. Zicky Dice loser leaves Impact match
The Coven (KiLynn King & Taylor Wilde) vs. Trinity & Dani Luna
Eric Young explained his decision to leave WWE in a newly released interview.
Young re-signed with the company in November 2022 during Vince McMahon’s brief “retirement.” However, McMahon returned as the executive chairman in January and Young recently alluded to PWInsider that this led to him asking for his release.
Young said:
I signed up for one thing and it turned into something completely different, and personally, professionally, and more importantly for me, morally, I just couldn’t work there anymore. If you’re a wrestling fan, you know what’s going on, and I know that you’re a smart guy, Mike (Johnson), and you’re well aware of what I’m saying and what’s going on.
It was not a super difficult choice for me to be honest. I know it was a dream come true, going back, for sure. The contract was fantastic and all this other stuff and what I was poised to do on the TV show was excellent, but in the end, I would’ve had to answer to somebody that I’m just not willing to. That’s where we ended up now. Like I said earlier, I’m a believer in fate and everything happens for a reason, and I’m not mad about it. I’m not bitter about it, just like I wasn’t last time. Obviously, it’s a massive mistake on one person’s part, but a huge gain for wrestling.
According to a report from Fightful Select, Young was to be part of a new version of The Wyatt Family that would debut following WrestleMania 39. He would join Wyatt, Bo Dallas, and Alexa Bliss, who were also to be part of the act. Wyatt has been sidelined with an undisclosed illness since January, however.
Young requested and was granted his WWE release in April. He then returned to Impact Wrestling at Slammiversary following the expiration of his 90-day no-compete clause.
“WWE sources confirmed to Fightful that Young had cited moral, creative, and personal reasons as why he didn’t want to work with Vince McMahon,” Fightful reported.
Young continued to praise Impact Wrestling during the interview, calling it a “special place to work.”
I think IMPACT Wrestling (is) for people that love pro wrestling… it’s a very special place to work. You could ask almost anybody that’s on the roster and they’re gonna tell you the same thing to varying degrees. But, to me it’s the best minute-for-minute pro wrestling show in the world. That’s biased because I work there, but, I would’ve told you that at any point because it’s written for pro wrestling fans by pro wrestlers, so it’s minute-for-minute, the best one. I’m proud to be part of it, but (do I have) regrets? No, but I didn’t want to leave. That’s the truth. It was what it was business-wise. It totally made sense to me. I can’t do this forever and, uh, I’m hoping to not work when I’m 55.
Eric Young has “no doubt” that his decision to return to Impact Wrestling was the right one.
Young returned to Impact at the promotion’s Slammiversary pay-per-view this past weekend, appearing as Scott D’Amore’s mystery partner for a tag team match against Bully Ray & Deaner. With former NHL player Darren McCarty serving as the special guest referee, Young & D’Amore were victorious in the tag team match.
In a tweet on Monday, Young reflected on his Impact return. Young wrote that it was a hard choice, but there’s no doubt in his mind it was the right one: “This felt good! This felt right! I made a hard choice and there is no doubt in my mind it was the right one!”
This was Young’s first match for Impact since departing the promotion late last year. Young signed with WWE following his Impact departure but ended up never appearing on television. Fightful reported that Young asked for his release and was granted it, with Young not wanting to work for Vince McMahon.
“WWE sources confirmed to Fightful that Young had cited moral, creative and personal reasons as why he didn’t want to work with Vince McMahon,” the report said.
Young was previously with WWE from 2016-2020.
Young’s history with Impact/TNA Wrestling dates back to 2004. He’s twice been a World Champion for the promotion.
Former Impact World Champion Eric Young returned from the dead at Slammiversary, teaming with Scott D’Amore in a surprise appearance.
Young and D’Amore, part of the former Team Canada from the early TNA/Impact days, defeated Bully Ray & Deaner in a tag team match. Young was the mystery partner for D’Amore after PCO was taken out by Ray and the injured Steve Maclin several weeks ago. Deaner replaced Maclin due to the injury.
Former Team Canada member A1 also was in attendance and got involved in the match.
In late-November 2022, Young was killed off in storyline in brutal fashion by Deaner who then took over The Design faction. The reason for that was because Young signed with WWE in early-November for an eventual in-ring return in either WWE or NXT.
Fightful reported that Young asked for his release a few months later and in April 2023, it was granted with his 90-day non-compete clause running out last week. They also reported that it wasn’t a coincidence he requested it after Vince McMahon returned to the company as he had no interest in working for McMahon or the eventual new TKO company.
“WWE sources confirmed to Fightful that Young had cited moral, creative and personal reasons as why he didn’t want to work with Vince McMahon,” they stated.
Former two-time Impact World Champion and three-time Impact Tag Team Champion Eric Young is returning to WWE, per a Thursday report from PWInsider.
There were no reported details as to what Young’s role and start date will be, or whether he is heading to the main roster or NXT.
Young was written off in storyline on Thursday’s Impact on AXS where he appeared to be killed by fellow Violent by Design member Deaner in a vignette taped in a prison. The two men were fighting over a shiv when Young urged Deaner to “eliminate the sickness” and that while he was the designer of VBD, Deaner was the design.
PWInsider reported the vignette was filmed in secret:
Young first spent time in WWE from 2016 through 2020 with most of it spent leading the Sanity faction in NXT, winning their Tag Team titles in the process.
Eventually called up to the main roster, the group was disbanded over time and Young was relegated to mainly having matches on WWE Main Event. He was released in April 2020 as part of the company’s pandemic cuts.
That same year, Young returned to Impact where he had spent the previous 12 years, making a surprise appearance at Slammiversary and regaining the company’s top title a few months later. He formed the VBD faction that he led for the nearly the full duration of his return.
Deaner is now expected to lead the new version of the group along with Big Kon (fka Konnor in WWE) and Angels (fka Alan Angels).
Four matches have been announced for next week’s Impact Wrestling episode.
In a tag team match, Honor No More’s Mike Bennett and Matt Taven will team against Heath and Rhino. The teams brawled backstage on this week’s episode after Bennett and Taven were denied a Tag Team title match with The Briscoes at Slammiversary.
In another tag bout, Moose and Steve Maclin will team up to face PCO and W. Morrissey.
In a Knockouts Division match, Mia Yim will take on Savannah Evans, with Deonna Purrazzo announced as a special guest commentator for the bout.
Rich Swann will look for revenge against Matthew Rehwoldt for costing him a title shot in the Gauntlet for the Gold next week, as the two will meet in singles competition.
Here is the announced lineup:
Impact Wrestling, Thursday, June 2–
Mike Bennett & Matt Taven vs. Heath & Rhino
Moose & Steve Maclin vs. PCO & W. Morrissey
Mia Yim vs. Savannah Evans (w/Deonna Purrazzo on commentary)
A preview of the Slammiversary main event will take place on Impact Wrestling this week.
This Thursday’s episode of Impact will see Impact World Champion Josh Alexander & Impact Tag Team Champions The Briscoes team up as they take on Violent By Design (Eric Young, Joe Doering & Deaner) in a six-man tag match. Alexander is set to defend his title against Young at Impact Wrestling’s Slammiversary pay-per-view on Sunday, June 19.
At Under Siege earlier this month, The Briscoes defeated Young & Deaner to win the Impact Tag Team titles. The Briscoes then retained against Doering & Deaner on Impact last week. Young attacked The Briscoes after the match, but Alexander ran out to save The Briscoes from Violent By Design.
Here’s the updated lineup for this Thursday’s Impact:
Josh Alexander & The Briscoes vs. Violent By Design (Eric Young, Joe Doering & Deaner)
Frankie Kazarian vs. Chris Sabin
Masha Slamovich vs. Havok
Slammiversary Ultimate X qualifying match: Trey Miguel vs. Alex Shelley
Jordynne Grace vs. Chelsea Green
Bhupinder Gujjar & W. Morrissey vs. Shera & Raj Singh
A street fight between former faction-mates headlines Thursday’s Impact Wrestling as Violent by Design’s Eric Young takes on Rhino.
Rhino was part of VBD until they gave him a beatdown after Rhino didn’t appreciate Young berating him after a mid-September tag team loss. He eventually re-aligned with the returning Heath and they have been feuding with his old teammates.
Thursday’s AXS TV show will also see Knockouts Champion Mickie James team with Chris Sabin against “Drama King” Matthew Rehwoldt and Deonna Purrazzo. Ahead of their title match at January’s Hard to Kill, James and Purrazzo got into a brawl as Sabin and Rehwoldt were having a match last Thursday.
The rest of the lineup includes Knockouts Tag Team Champions The IInspiration and The Influence (Madison Rayne and Tenille Dashwood) against Decay (Crazzy Steve, Havok, Black Taurus and Rosemary) in an intergender match; FinJuice vs. VSK and Zicky Dice of The Learning Tree; and Rohit Raju vs. Lawrence D.
The BTI pre-show match will see Lady Frost against Kimber Lee.
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Lady Frost defeated Kimber Lee (with Brandi Lauren) on BTI
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Opening video was a build-up to Hard To Kill’s main event, where Moose will defend against both Matt Cardona and W. Morrissey. They recapped last week’s main event where Cardona pinned Moose, and where Morrissey had enough of Moose and turned on him.
Deonna Purrazzo & Matthew Rehwoldt defeated Knockouts Champion Mickie James & Chris Sabin
Deonna Purrazzo has called for her rematch against James at Hard To Kill, but this tag team match comes after Rehwoldt challenged Sabin to a match, where Purrazzo got involved.
James and Rehwoldt started the match at the request of Rehwoldt. They did a little of power versus speed wrestling, where James dodged and took down Rehwoldt before tagging in Sabin.
Sabin and Rehwoldt went back and forth until Purrazzo distracted Sabin, who got cut off. Purrazzo and Rehwoldt worked Sabin focusing on the head, going for quick pins, and teasing James throughout to keep the referee’s attention divided.
Sabin made a comeback with a desperation dropkick as Rehwoldt went for a top rope move. James and Purrazzo came in with the tags and straight to the brawl, trading mount and strikes. James went for the MickieDT, but Purrazzo blocked.
Rehwoldt was taken out, Purrazzo blocked a Cradle Shock, only for Sabin to let her go and dive on Rehwoldt. Followed by a dive from Purrazzo, and one from James on top of her opponents.
James hit her top rope press, but Purrazzo rolled her over on landing, and with the aid of Rehwoldt outside the ring, Purrazzo kept the pin down for the win. Really good match.
– Gia Miller interviewed Matt Cardona about his win last week and his upcoming title challenge. Cardona talked about coming close to being with Impact for a year and how the title had been the goal. He said that title matches are rare and he will go all out with this opportunity.
Morrissey interrupted him and said that while Cardona always awaits his chances, Morrissey takes them, and this match at Hard To Kill should be a singles match. He threatened Cardona that accidents could happen, so Cardona challenged him to a match with his spot on the line.
– Eric Young cut a promo prior to his street fight with Rhino. He said that he will teach Rhino a violent and beautiful lesson. Doering will make sure that Heath, Swann, and Mack are not a factor.
– Striker and Brown announced that we have a new main event tonight, with Cardona vs Morrissey.
Rohit Raju (with Raj Singh) vs Lawrence D ended in a no contest
This match comes after Raju and D challenged each other to a match last week after D called Raju and Singh ‘riff-raff’.
This was a speed vs power match, but D did pretty well at keeping up with Raju’s speed. D controlled the match early on, but Raju eventually recovered and took down D with a couple of kicks.
Suddenly, we saw a split screen of Alexander storming to the ring. He came out, took out Raju and Singh, and smartly enough, D rolled out.
Alexander called out Jonah to the ring. Instead, Josh got Scott D’Amore, who tried to stop Alexander. He said that he told Jonah to stay at home while he dealt with this problem, and thus booked Alexander vs Jonah at Hard To Kill.
Alexander didn’t want to wait until Hard To Kill, and just like Moose, D’Amore kept making him wait and wait. Alexander told D’Amore that he was starting to lose his patience, but all that D’Amore could answer was that he was trying to help Alexander learn some patience. Alexander picked up Raj Singh and hit the C4, defiantly in front of D’Amore.
– Backstage, The Bullet Club were asked to sign Turning Point posters, so instead they bullied the merch guy. Laredo Kid confronted them in Spanish, so neither Bey nor Hikuleo knew what he had said.
– Steve Maclin approached D’Amore and once again called for a singles match with Trey Miguel since he was still unpinned and unsubmitted. D’Amore told him that he also hasn’t won and he even attacked a security guard, so the answer was no.
Rosemary and Havok also approached D’Amore about the Ultimate X, but D’Amore said that he had delegated the Ultimate X news to someone else.
FinJuice (Juice Robinson & David Finlay) defeated The Learning Tree (VSK & Zicky Dice)
Two stories coming together in this match. FinJuice is racking up wins on their path to another shot at the tag titles; whereas Dice and VSK are trying to impress Brian Myers and make up for their loss at Turning Point.
Story of the match was that VSK was professional and had a good gameplan, but Dice’s shenanigans kept getting in the way.
Robinson started the match and was cut off by VSK, only to recover and tag in Finlay for the hot tag. Finlay took down both VSK and Dice, at which point, FInJuice easily dominated the match and won with a diving elbow and backbreaker combo.
– Moose approached Morrissey backstage. Told him he wasn’t mad Morrissey turned on him, but he and Moose knew they didn’t want Cardona involved at Hard To Kill. Moose proposed they work together one last time and take out Cardona. Morrissey told Moose he didn’t trust him and that he’d take out Cardona by himself.
– Prior to the match, we saw Eric Young tell Deaner and Doering to stay behind. Then he started his entrance and the camera angle looked cool.
Eric Young defeated Rhino in a Street Fight
This match is almost a year in the making. EY and Rhino started their feud a while back when VBD took out Heath, but instead of feuding, EY would brainwash Rhino into joining VBD for months until Heath came back and talked Rhino into leaving the team, as Rhino had started having problems with VBD.
Both men started brawling in and outside the ring, mostly ramming each other into the ring or the guardrail. Rhino was the first to bring out weapons into the ring, but he gave EY too much time to recover. Rhino was able to block a suplex attempt from EY and drop him on the ramp.
Back in the ring, Rhino started using weapons on EY over and over, but out of desperation, EY dodged and tricked Rhino into going head-first into a garbage can, and just like that, EY turned the match around.
EY now in control, attacked Rhino with weapons, went for a diving elbow, but Rhino recovered and instead caught EY with a superplex. Hit a couple of short clotheslines and shoulder tackles before setting up for the gore.
Deaner and Doering ran down and went after Rhino, but Heath ran down and managed to take down Doering. EY used the distraction to use his mask and take down Rhino, but he only got a 2 count in the first pin of the match.
EY went for a piledriver, but it was Swann and Mack now that came down and attacked EY, but as Rhino set up a piledriver himself, the Good Brothers ran down and took out Swann and Mack. In the ring, EY low blowed Rhino and hit the piledriver for the win. Good match, but Swann and Mack’s involvement was positioned at an odd time.
After the match, all four teams brawled with VBD and the Good Brothers controlling the ring.
– Gia Miller interviewed The Influence and The IInspiration about their upcoming match and becoming a super group. Dashwood and McKay kept talking over each other and had some disagreements on the super group’s name.
Decay (Rosemary, Havok, Black Taurus, & Crazzy Steve) defeated Knockout Tag Team Champions The IInspiration (Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay) & The Influence (Tenille Dashwood & Madison Rayne) (with Kaleb)
Taurus started the match for his team, so all of the opponents ran away, so Decay used the opportunity to tease them with a fake out dive.
Once back in the ring, Decay controlled early on, but Rosemary was cut off after some illegal double teaming and interference. It wasn’t long before Lee and McKay’s shenanigans allowed Rosemary to recover and push them back to Decay’s corner.
Things came down to Rayne and Crazzy Steve, which was more of a dance than a match. Taurus and Dashwood were tagged, only for Dashwood to get military pressed to the floor, taking out Kaleb. The IInspiration and Rayne argued outside the ring, not noticing that Rosemary pinned Dashwood in the ring after a spear. If anything, this was fun.
This seems to be leading to an IInspiration vs Influence match at Hard To Kill.
– We got a recap of Lady Frost’s BTI debut. Afterwards, Miller congratulated her for officially signing with Impact. Before she could talk about her plans, D’Amore approached Frost and also congratulated her. Frost asked to enter the Ultimate X match at Hard To Kill, but D’Amore told her that she needed to go after the newest member of Impact’s office, Gail Kim.
Gail Kim told her she’d be in the match, against Rosemary, Jordynne Grace, Tasha Steelz, Chelsea Green, and Rachael Ellering.
Striker ran down the current card for Hard To Kill, confirming Alexander vs Jonah and the Ultimate X Match.
Matt Cardona defeated W. Morrissey via DQ
This match was signed earlier today after Cardona challenged Morrissey to prove that he belongs in the Hard To Kill main event.
Match started on the ramp, as Morrissey rushed Cardona during his entrance. They brawled around the ring, but the referee wouldn’t sound the bell to start the match. After about 3 minutes of Morrissey’s beat up on Cardona, they finally made it to the ring and the match officially started.
As soon as the bell rang, Cardona caught Morrissey with a codebreaker, but couldn’t keep Morrissey down, who came back and cut off Cardona once again. Morrissey worked over Cardona, mostly switching between big boots and choking Cardona. When Cardona tried to make a comeback, Morrissey pushed him off the ring onto the floor, maintaining control. Morrissey busted open Cardona, sending him to the ring post as a lawn dart.
Morrissey continued the beatdown, but Cardona managed to dodged one of Morrissey’s corner splash and got enough time to recover and come after Morrissey with strikes. Cardona managed to bring down Morrissey, hit a dropkick and the corner running boot for a near fall. Cardona couldn’t follow up after suffering blood loss, but when Morrissey went for the powerbomb, Cardona managed to drop down, and hit Radio Silence for a huge near fall.
Morrissey caught him with a big boot and continued the beatdown, but after the referee tried to stop Morrissey, the latter pushed the referee away and so Morrissey got DQ’d. Morrissey answered with a big boot to the referee’s face. Morrissey hit the powerbomb on Cardona for good measure. Chelsea Green ran down to check on Cardona. Moose tried to get Morrissey to take out Cardona, but instead Morrissey hit Moose with a big boot. Morrissey threatened Green, but after Morrissey pushed Green, Cardona jumped in and took down Morrissey. Show ended with Cardona and Green posing with the title in the ring, as Moose and Morrissey looked on.
This was really good, the finish was unfortunate, but the match and post-match angle were the perfect build to Hard To Kill.
