Tonight’s show featured the fallout from Bound For Glory where three championships changed hands as The North reclaimed the tag team titles, Su Yung defeated Deonna Purrazzo for the Knockouts title, and Rich Swann defeated Eric Young for the Impact World title.
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The show opened with Eric Young and Rich Swann brawling backstage on their way to the ring. They brawled more in and around the ring until referees and security came down for the pull-apart. Young asked for his rematch now, but D’Amore wouldn’t give it to him just yet. Swann asked D’Amore to do it now too, and so…
Impact World Champion Rich Swann defeated Eric Young to retain
Swann was wrestling barefoot and in chinos. He was also recovering from a low blow that took place during the brawl.
This was not much of a match. Young had control early on and worked over Swann, but soon after, Swann recovered, hit the lethal injection and the phoenix splash to retain his title. This must have gone about five minutes.
We got the title rematch out of the way now, so both men can pursue whatever their direction will be after BFG.
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– We saw Nevaeh and Havok backstage where Havok confirmed that Father James Mitchell has been brought back to life. They walked away and headed to D’Amore’s office with the rest of the Knockouts roster where they all wanted news about the soon to be revived Knockouts Tag Team Titles. D’Amore was not there. Kaleb with a K, however, let them know the company just announced online that a tournament will begin in three weeks. Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz made fun of Alisha Edwards for not having a tag partner, but Jordynne Grace was there to back her up and challenged Hogan and Steelz to a match.
Tommy Dreamer defeated Brian Myers in a Hardcore Halloween match
Dreamer was still wearing Road Warrior Animal face paint and spikes. He’s really getting some matches out of the haircut. These two have been feuding for about a month now based out of Myers’ lack of respect for Dreamer.
This was an okay time filler match. Dreamer ran wild early when they brawled around the ring, but once in the ring, Myers gained control. They hit each other with walkers, garbage cans, crutches, kendo sticks, and chairs, but there was nothing really Halloween about it.
Then, Dreamer pulled out a bag with candy corn and thumbtacks when he dropped Myers from the top rope. The fInish saw Swoggle sneak out of a garbage can and low blow Myers, setting Myers up perfectly for Dreamer to hit a DVD through a table for the pin.
Hopefully, this is the end of this feud.
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– Gia Miller interviewed Rhino and Heath about what Rhino wanted for his title shot. He said that he and heath would be chasing the tag titles, but before that, they would go sign Heath’s contract. It was never brought up that Heath was legit hurt during Bound for Glory but it was made out to be obvious the two were covering something up.
– Reno Scum and Hernandez grabbed Fallah Bahh backstage to recover their money. Bahh told them he didn’t have the money anymore as he gave it to Bravo. After they left, Bahh revealed he still had the money.
XXXL (Acey Romero & Larry D) defeated The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz)
Neither team was able to make it to the four-way tag title match for Bound For Glory, so commentary sold this as a start on that pursuit.
The match saw XXXL dominate early on, working over Wentz with power moves. Xavier got the hot tag and ran wild over Romero, but eventually D joined in and cut off Xavier. The finish saw the Rascalz try to superplex D, but Romero broke it off, leaving Xavier down for D to finish him off with a top rope splash.
Both teams have been trading wins for a while, so it’s still up in the air to see where they go. It would be nice for XXXL to mix it up with other teams.
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– D’Amore met with Deonna Purrazzo, Kimber Lee, and “Barrister” R.D. Evan who was there to make an argument for Purrazzo to get the Knockouts championship stripped away from Su Yung and awarded back to her. D’Amore said he was headed to the ring to address this.
– Miller interviewed Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin. She asked about Shelley’s health update and he said he was hurting and would be hurt for a couple of months. Sabin added that once they’re healthy, they’ll be coming for the titles. XXXL interrupted them and said they deserved to be the No. 1 contenders since they have been running over the competition. MCMG told them to screw off because they had nothing for them, and so in return, XXXL squashed Shelley, injuring him further.
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Deonna Purrazzo/Scott D’Amore segment
D’Amore, now in the ring, addressed the Knockouts championship situation. He explained that Evans and Purrazzo had threatened legal action, but that after having reviewed the situation, Su Yung was the rightful champion.
Purrazzo, Lee, and Evans all walked out to the ring. Evans said that the only reason that Yung won the title was because something happened to Kylie Rae, likely at the hands of Yung herself, and thus Purrazzo had to wrestle an unknown competitor. Evans tried to make an argument that changing the title now would save Impact a lot of money, time, and problems.
D’Amore played the same game with Purrazzo, telling her that she could get her rematch next week and reclaim the title, or wait years for the court date and the process to find her in the right. This took too long to set up a title rematch that Purrazzo had the rights to anyway, but at least it was nice to see Evans on screen.
After all that, Yung walked down to the ring and put the mandible claw on both Evans and Lee, hit the poison mist on D’Amore, and then when Purrazzo tried to attack her, Yung locked in the claw on her as well.
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– Backstage, Swann talked with The Rascalz and Willie Mack about having no days off now as a champion. Moose walked up to him and told him that he had the TNA World title and that made him no. 1 in the company. Moose talked trash. Swann got hot and wanted to fight, but instead Mack stood up to Moose. Swann headed to his locker room and came across Callihan and Shamrock, who also gave him threatening looks.
– We got a recap of Ken Shamrock’s Hall Of Fame induction, including brief clips of messages by Bas Rutten, Chael Sonnen, Bret Hart, Ariel Helwani, Mick Foley, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
– Ethan Page and Josh Alexander talked to some of the building security until the Good Brothers interrupted them. They talked some trash to each other before coming to blows.
– The Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the Week was Rohit Raju defending the X-Division title against Willie Mack at Victory Road 2020.
– Backstage, Raju was hosting a party for himself, but only Jimmy Jacobs showed up. Jacobs brought up that TJP had the match won, so Raju kicked out his only guest.
– Bravo confronted Bahh about him sending Hernandez out for him and told him he’d tell the truth to Hernandez. He shunned Bahh, saying that he was dead to him. By the way, Bahh’s attire for the wedding is a Ghostbusters Stay Puft marshmallow man sumo suit.
Even before the match, it became clear that Grace was not exactly excited about tagging with Edwards.
The story of the match was that Grace and Edwards had a lot of trouble working together with Grace wanting to command the match, but Edwards didn’t want to follow Grace’s instructions. So, Hogan and Steelz cut Edwards off for a large part of the match. Eventually Grace got the hot tag and was dominating by herself, but decided to tag in Edwards. This led to the finish where Edwards accidentally took out Grace with a splash. Steelz then rolled Edwards up for the pin.
On commentary, they sold that Grace and Edwards were a good team, but I just didn’t see it. After the match, they confronted one another which ended up in a shoving match. I can now unfortunately see the “team that doesn’t get along” make it far in the tournament.
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– Mack was headed to his car when Moose jumped him from behind and dropped him with a belt shot.
– Taya Valkyrie met up with Rosemary before the wedding. She tried to warn Rosemary that Bravo had become a bit of a lunatic in the past few weeks. Rosemary said she had better plans for Bravo than leaving him at the altar.
– Matthews and Rayne ran down next week’s card: Chris Bey vs Trey Miguel, Purrazzo vs. Su Yung for the Knockouts title, Doc Gallows vs. Ethan Page, and Rich Swann and Eddie Edwards vs. Eric Young and Sami Callihan.
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The Wedding of Rosemary and John E. Bravo
Everyone was wearing costumes. Father James Mitchell was there to officiate the wedding.
The wedding went quick. Mitchell asked if anyone disagreed with the wedding and no one stood up. Bravo, in his vows, did some cutesy Halloween rhymes and threatened anyone that would ruin their day. Rosemary said that once she got a scent of Bravo’s virginal blood, she knew they were meant to be together and that no one from either realm would stop her from getting what she wanted.
They both said “I do” but as they were about to kiss for the first time, the lights went out. A gunshot was heard and when the lights came back on it was revealed that Bravo had been shot. Dreamer, still in full Road Warrior Animal makeup said, “Who shot Bravo? Nooooo!!!!”
This was far less eventful than I expected, but it seems that we are headed into a “Who shot Mr. Burns?” storyline with Bravo. Mitchell was fantastic as always.
Final thoughts:
This was an ok show, but not a strong one coming out of Bound For Glory, especially with the in-ring action. We got some hints for future directions of certain wrestlers, but nothing particularly big.
Opening recap focused on the ongoing feud between Ken Shamrock and Sami Callihan, building towards tonight’s contract signing. In addition, we got a recap of last week’s main event, when Josh Alexander of The North pinned the World Champion Tessa Blanchard when Tessa wouldn’t tag Eddie, and thus ended up getting taken out by Elgin moments later.
Johnny Swinger came down to the ring, and as he had promised, tonight he would wrestle a Young Buck M. Jackson. He introduced Mike Jackson.
Johnny Swinger defeated Mike Jackson
Mike Jackson was a 70-year-old buck with a hell of a promo.
Mike Jackson got a lot of offense early on, hitting ranas and suicide dives on Swinger. Jackson hit an arm breaker, then grabbed Swinger’s arm and rope walked all around the ring!
Swinger came back with an atomic drop, a neckbreaker, a deadlift suplex for a two count. He worked over Jackson’s head for a bit, until he went for the double ax handle from the second rope, but Jackson came back with clotheslines, a neckbreaker, the ten corner punches. As he went for more, Swinger rolled him over, got his feet on the ropes, and stole the pin. This was incredible!
Backstage, Ace Austin cut a promo on Willie Mack. Ace said that Mack had no good odds against him. He said that Mack shouldn’t be focusing on him, but on helping his best friend.
Trey Miguel approached him and told him that Ace was the biggest scumbag in the locker room. They got into each other’s faces until Ace asked about Trey’s mom. They ended up brawling.
We saw Ken Shamrock arriving at the venue. Scott D’Amore told him that there was to be no physical contact tonight, or the match was off. Shamrock that was ok, but he told D’Amore to control ‘his boy’.
TJP & Fallah Bahh defeated The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz), Reno Scum (Luster The Legend & Adam Thornstowe), and XXXL (Larry D & Acey Romero)
Romero and Thornstowe started the match, Acey used his size to easily control Adam with a shoulder tackle and clothesline him around. Larry D tagged in, and along with Romero, they squashed Adam in the corner with several splashes. Thornstowe hit a desperation jawbreaker to send Larry D into Wentz’s tag. Luster tagged in and double teamed Wentz along with Thornstowe.
Back from commercial, Reno Scum is still under control of the match, working over Wentz, who is desperately trying to make the tag to Xavier. Thornstowe got a two count with a standing moonsault. Luster with a scoop slam and the scum armpit. Luster locks in a sleeper and tags in Thornstowe, but Wentz finally manages to dodge Adam and tags in Dezmond.
Xavier ran wild over Reno Scum, taking them out with superkicks. Double team by The Rascalz for a two count, but TJP sneaks in a tag and gets in.
Everyone started taking turns hitting their signature moves until Luster was left alone with XXXL who hit a sandwich on him, followed by synched dives to the outside.
Back in the ring, TJP is fighting Reno Scum, who went for the Doomsday Device, but TJP escaped and hit a frog splash on Thornstowe, who was set up by Bahh’s Samoan Drop. Good short match.
After the match, The North came down and got face to face with TJP and Bahh.
Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the Week was Gail Kim vs. Tessa Blanchard from 2019’s Rebellion pay-per-view.
Rohit Raju told Gama Singh that he didn’t want to fight Hernandez because he needed to be ready for Rebellion. Gama slapped him and told him to respect his decision and think of the team. One day, Rohit will turn on the Desi Hit Squad and it will be great.
We got a video package for the feud of The Deaners and #CancelCulture, which was mostly a recap of the Cody Deaner and Joey Ryan match. Joey Ryan interrupted the production truck telling them to stop that video package and to play the video he had.
The video was a promo by Rob Van Dam and Katie Forbes from their jacuzzi. Rob said that he wanted to be there with Joey Ryan, but that they had to stay home to be safe from all the toxic masculinity of the Deaners.
Hernandez defeated Rohit Raju (with Gama Singh)
Rohit used his speed advantage to start the match, getting some offense, at least until Hernandez got his hands on him. Hernadez whipped him around, caught him mid air from a dive, blocked a sunset flip attempt and finally hit a pounce when Rohit tried to run at him. Hernandez then hit the Border Toss for the win. Total squash match.
We got a new talk show called “Locker Room Talk”, hosted by Madison Rayne and Johnny Swinger. Rayne asked him if he really needed to cheat to defeat Jackson, to which Swinger said it didn’t matter, he won anyway. Rayne’s guest tonight was Kylie Rae. She said that everyone had been really nice to her, that it was wonderful being part of the roster. She said she was excited to make her Rebellion debut versus Kiera Hogan.
Madison Rayne tried to get dirt on Rae’s thoughts of Hogan. She pushed Rae to say that Hogan was kinda mean, but Rae kept saying that she was nice.
Rayne then introduced Kiera Hogan as the second guest. Hogan told Rae that she’ll never be able to beat her, that she’ll humiliate her in the ring, and that she’ll show Rae that there are no friends in the Impact roster.
Rae snapped and told Kiera that she’s not very nice. This was weird, but it worked.
We got footage of a match between Michael Elgin and Eddie Edwards from Qatar Pro Wrestling’s Super Slam II show back in February. They didn’t show the whole match, they jumped around to some of the bigger spots only.
The crowd was surprisingly behind Michael Elgin more than Eddie, and so they switched alignments and Eddie worked heel, shielding himself behind the referee, going for the title as a weapon, which was even weirder when Brian Cage came to save Michael Elgin from getting hit by the belt. Michael Elgin won the QPW Middle Eastern Championship at the end.
X-Division Champion Ace Austin defeated Trey Miguel in a non-title match.
Match started with a great, fast paced sequence of counters and reversals. Trey was the first to gain control when he flapjacked Ace, dropkicked him to the floor, then followed with a rana.
Down on the floor, Ace gained control, dropping Trey face first on the apron when he countered a rana.
Back in the ring, Ace worked over Trey’s neck with kicks and by stepping on top of it. He landed a snap suplex then went into a submission hold, but Trey finally fought back and hit a desperation neckbreaker.
Trey dodged Ace’s rush, swept the leg then hit a missile dropkick to send Ace to the apron. Ace went for a disaster kick, but Ace dodged, hit a springboard spinning kick and went for The Fold, but Trey avoided.
Trey went for the cheeky nandos kick, the Trey19, and finally for a meteora, but Ace moved away. Trey went for a foot stomp, but Ace rolled him over, pulled the tights, and stole the pin. Great fast-paced action.
Willie Mack cut a promo on Ace Austin. He told him to not play mind games. He knows that Ace couldn’t get to him and so he went after his friend Rich Swann. Mack said that this wasn’t about the title anymore, but about showing Ace some respect, and to do so, he would beat him up and take that title from him. Bad promo.
Tenille Dashwood defeated Taya Valkyrie (with John E. Bravo)
Tenille came right in for offense, rushing Taya with strikes. She dropped Taya with a Headscissors and draping neckbreaker. Taya went to the floor, only to be followed by Tenille jumping from the apron. Tenille went to follow with another, but Bravo pulled Tenille’s leg to cut him off.
Taya, now in control, hit a superplex for a two count. Taya started working over Tenille, choking her all around the ring, even enlisting the help of Bravo. Taya hit the running hip attack and the running double knee for a near fall. She then locked up a single crab, but Tenille managed to roll over for a two count, only to get taken out again by Taya’s clothesline.
Continuing her offense, Taya kept landing knees and even choked Tenille, but she kept distracting herself with the crowd until she allowed Tenille to recover. Tenille then dodged her, blocked her attacks, and hit a kneelift and a running splash for a two count.
Tenille followed that with a double underhook suplex for a two count. Taya reversed a German and hit a Spear for another near fall.
Back from commercial, Taya had regained control of the match, trying to lock up Tenille in the Scorpion Deathlock, but when Tenille escaped Taya hit a Road To Valhalla out of nowhere for a two count.
Taya went for a chair, but the referee took it away. This distraction allowed Tenille to get one on Taya, reversing Taya’s fireman’s carry attempt into a roll up pin.
After the match, Taya attacked Tenille with a chair and a garbage can. Taya buried Tenille under chairs. Commentary kept asking if Tenille had no friends, or where security was. Neither came out. Taya just kept destroying Tenille until Bravo himself tried to stop her.
Taya pushed down Bravo and went for a top rope senton when finally, Jordynne Grace came out for the save with a kendo stick. Grace took out both Taya and Bravo with the kendo stick.
Jordynne and the referee helped Tenille to the back.
Tommy Dreamer and Rhino cut a promo on oVe, announcing that next week, Dreamer and Rhino are going to find a partner and finish things once and for all. Awesome promo by both.
We got a rundown of the Rebellion cards. Next week, Callihan vs Shamrock will be the main event.
We got a video package recapping Callihan’s I.C.U. hackings of the last months, all leading up to his return during Shamrock’s Hall Of Fame announcement.
Ken Shamrock came down to the ring first for the contract signing. Sami Callihan came out next and immediately told Matthews to leave the ring.
Callihan cut a promo, making fun that Shamrock couldn’t touch him because he would lose the right to get him in the ring, which shouldn’t really matter if all he wants is to hurt Callihan. He did bring up all of Shamrock’s accolades. Callihan then said that fighting him would bring the biggest buzz to Shamrock’s career.
Shamrock, completely stoic, didn’t say anything and signed the contract with his eyes fixed on Callihan. Callihan threatened Shamrock to not do anything because at the push of a button, he could hack his family. Shamrock finally snapped, but the lights went off and Sami disappeared. The lights kept going on and off with more and more of Callihan’s followers appearing around the ring, and then they all disappeared.
Shamrock chased him backstage and to the parking lot. Shamrock got a call from Callihan, revealing that Shamrock’s driver was working for Sami, and suddenly, his whole car was ganged up by Sami’s followers before the show went off the air. Great angle up until the weird follower stuff.
Final Thoughts —
Good show, particularly inside the ring. If we see this as the go-home show for Rebellion, it was somewhat weak, but given that Rebellion is broken up into two nights now, this was good enough build for the first night.
The man of many ring names is returning back to where he earned his first one as PW Insider’s Mike Johnson reported Thursday morning that John Morrison is returning to WWE for the first time in eight years.
No contract details or start date was given. Our Dave Meltzer also confirmed the report.
The 39-year-old has remained busy since leaving WWE in late-2011 with runs in Lucha Underground, AAA, and Impact Wrestling. He has also been involved with several independent film projects and TV shows including an appearance on CBS’ Survivor.
Morrison (real name John Hennigan) won a developmental contract on the third season of WWE Tough Enough in 2002. After working in OVW, he earned a brief call-up in 2004 before coming up full-time in 2005 as part of MNM with Joey Mercury and Melina. During his six years in WWE, he won the Intercontinental title three times, the tag team titles five times, and the ECW title once.
Impact Wrestling returns from the Melrose Ballroom in Queens, NY for the final stop before Slammiversary this coming Sunday. Opening video recapped the ongoing stories surrounding the main championship feuds, the war between Killer Kross and Eddie Edwards, and Tessa Blanchard’s beat down at the hands of oVe.
Twitch stream was hosted by Melissa Santos. She broke the news that The North defeated LAX for the tag team titles at Bash at the Brewery, and showed the post-match promo from Ethan Page and Josh Alexander. There was another earthquake during the broadcast, but Melissa kept hosting.
TJP defeated Ace Austin
Different from other Ace Austin matches, this started with some hold-by-hold series of reversals for wrist and head control. TJP got to display his proficiency, while Ace would fail at trying to copy TJP, playing into Ace’s cockiness, and pushing him to resort to kicks instead.
TJP locked in a really innovative Sharpshooter while holding both of Ace’s hands, and later transitioned into a Last Chancery. Ace once again resorted to use his kicks to take control of the match for a bit, but TJP kept escaping, but it was until TJP went for a springboard dive that Ace got the upper hand. Ace hit a Space Flying Tiger Drop, cut TJP’s finger with a card, and worked over TJP’s arm with an elbow bar.
Ace Austin hit the jumping curb stomp, but TJP dodged it, hit a Springboard dropkick. Ace hit a Disaster Kick for a two count. Ace went for a Superplex, but TJP blocked it, so instead Ace hit a beautiful leg-scissors takedown. Ace went for a roll up with the ropes, but the ref caught him, giving TJP time to recover, take out Ace’s leg and connect with a lungblower for a two count.
Ace and TJP exchanged strikes and kicks with the latter getting the upper hand, as he went for House of Cards, TJP dodged, grabbed the leg, locked in a kneebar, and submitted Ace Austin. Great opener.
– We got a video recapping Brian Cage’s title win, injury, and road to recovery. It also featured Michael Elgin’s path of destruction into Sunday’s title match.
– Melissa Santos interviewed Johnny Impact and Bravo. She asked if he would be able to survive with Bravo as his tag team partner. Johnny said he is the one man Mega Powers. Johnny Bravo had a fake man-bun. This was funny.
Kiera Hogan defeated Madison Rayne
Hogan has dyed her hair blue-ish, so she’s no longer the ‘Girl on Fire’. Jordynne Grace joined commentary for the match.
Match started with Hogan running at Rayne, looking for the quick roll up, and thus they traded a couple of near falls with quick roll-ups until Hogan left the ring. Madison went for the chase, but Hogan caught her with a kick. Hogan antagonized Grace at the commentary table, but it was enough distraction for Rayne to recover.
Back in the ring, Hogan kicked out Rayne’s leg while climbing the turnbuckles, and got a two count after her running hip attack combo. Hogan stayed in the offense, while constantly mocking Jordynne outside. Rayne started a comeback after a desperation enzuigiri, hit a couple of strikes, and landed a cutter for a two count.
Hogan went for a school girl with her legs on the ropes, which prompted Grace to leave the table. Hogan hit a swinging neckbreaker and pin for the win.
After the match, Jordynne went after Hogan, but the Girl no longer on Fire ran off. In the ring, Madison Rayne blamed Jordynne Grace for losing the match.
– Outside the building, Gama Singh gave Rohit Raju a surprise for tonight’s match. It was the Singh Family Tea set, it’s been in the family for generations, while he explained this, the Deaners poured some beer into the teapot behind their backs. The immediately figured out it was beer. Rohit drank it anyway.
– Somewhere in the Undead Realm, James Mitchell is trying to break up the tension between Su Yung and Havok. He tells them that they need to be patient and work together this Sunday. Their plan is for Havok to walk out as the Knockout’s champion.
– Impact Plus Moment of the Week was Jeff Hardy vs Broken Matt Hardy from Slammiversary 2016.
– We got a video recap of the ongoing story with Taya, Rosemary, Su Yung, and the returning Havok.
– We got a showcase video for Sami Callihan that built into the Tessa vs Callihan feud.
Rohit Raju (w/Raj and Gama Singh) defeated Laredo Kid
Match started quick with what would seem to lead to a series of reversals and counters, but Rohit got a quick clothesline to gain control, which didn’t last long as he played to the crowd and got taken out. Laredo Kid jumped on the first rope and the rope snapped on him, but he was safe. Laredo still hit a moonsault from the second rope for a two count. Don Callis said that a two-rope ring is still better than a 6-sided ring.
Rohit regained control of the match and went after Laredo with stomps to the back. Rohit swept the leg, but once again started playing to the crowd. Snap suplex for a two count. Laredo hit a rana and Tope Suicida to get back in the match, earning a two count.
Laredo went for a top rope corkscrew, but Gama and Raj distracted him, giving Rohit the time to recover, dodge the move, hit a big foot stomp, and get the win.
– We got a video recapping RVD’s return and feud with Moose. Good promo by Moose.
Moose came down to the ring, looking amazing like always. He cut a promo saying that he loved RVD as a kid, he put over his matches in ECW, but that was 20 years ago and things have changed. He said that he can’t be a fan of him anymore because he’s now better than him in every sense. He then showed a video of Moose beating up Sabu someone backstage. He told RVD that at Slammiversary, he will retire him.
Rob Van Dam finally came out and brawled with Moose. They got into a short pull-apart.
Zachary Wentz defeated Trey Miguel and Dezmond Xavier, he pinned Trey Miguel to eliminate him from the Slammiversay Tag Team title match.
Match stipulation was that the man taking the fall would sit out the Slammiversary tag title shot. All men shook hands before starting.
All men started the match trying to get quick roll ups on each other. Dez and Wentz hit a combo on Trey, but Wentz was taken out before they could end, leading Xavier and Trey doing a sequence of reversals, with Trey getting the upper hand. Wentz returned and also did a sequence with Trey before Dezmond returned, superkicked Wentz, hit a rana on Trey Miguel, and sending both of them to the outside. Dezmond went for a dive, but Wentz caught him. Trey Miguel instead hit a rana to the outside on Wentz. Dezmond and Wentz got dives in before Dezmond got a two count after a top rope corkscrew on Wentz.
All men traded strikes in the middle of the ring that ended with a double move on Trey and a standing shooting star from Wentz to Dezmond for a near fall. Xavier and Wentz traded strikes until Trey returned with a springboard senton and a double cutter for two separate near falls. Trey went for Meteora on Dezmond, but took enough time for Xavier to dodge. Wentz took him out and together with Dezmond, hit Hot Fire Flame on Trey for the finish.
All men embraced after the match and consoled Trey for losing.
– Tessa Blanchard arrived at the arena with a baseball bat.
– We got the buildup video for Killer Kross vs Eddie Edwards. From start to finish, we got to see how Kross’ character has changed so much in so little time. After the video, we saw Killer Kross at the same church from last week, he cut a promo in the form of mass. He said that at Slammiversary, someone will die and that he is Edward’s only true salvation.
– We got the video building up Johnny Impact chase for Swann’s X-Division championship and the consequent wins they’ve traded. They’re selling this as Johnny wanting to add his name to the X-Division championship’s legacy.
– Commentary ran down the card for Slammiversay, adding an open challenge by TJP.
X-Division Champion Rich Swann & Willie Mack defeated Johnny Impact & Johnny Bravo
Swann and Impact started the match with a quick sequence, trading kicks and a series of reversals. Mack tagged in, but Impact decided to stay in the ring, with whom he traded another sequence of counters and reversals with some Lucha flavor. Swann and Mack hit a double team move, but Bravo finally made his presence felt, distracting Swann and giving Impact the opening to turn things around. Swann was tossed outside where Johnny worked over his neck.
Back in the ring, Impact used Bravo as a weapon, slamming him on to Swann. Bravo tagged in and got a couple of strikes in and a two count. Bravo telling Kid Ref to count faster was great. Bravo choked Swann, but Impact tagged in before Swann could break out. Mack tagged in and ran wild over Impact, but also got distracted by Bravo. Impact went for a Spanish Fly, but was countered into a top rope Neckbreaker instead. Mack hit a running Cannonball, Samoan Drop, and Moonsault combo for a two count when Bravo broke the pin.
Mack got distracted with Bravo again, allowing Impact to hit a Disaster Kick. Swann tagged in and took out Impact with a shotgun dropkick, leaving Bravo stuck between Mack and Swann, who beat him up. Mack hit a stunner on Bravo, and after a Phoenix Splash, Swann picked up another win over Impact. This was surprisingly good considering Johnny Bravo was part of the match, he played his part perfectly.
– Outside the building, Sami Callihan and Jake Crist are celebrating early their win over Tessa, who arrives wielding a bat and tossing Dave Crist over the food table. Tessa takes out Jake first. Sami and Tessa brawl with the former having an obvious strength advantage, but Tessa has no off switch. Jake recovers and holds Tessa for Callihan to get another bat shot, but Tessa low blows Jake, dodges Callihan, and hits him with the bat. Tessa stands tall to end the show.
Final Thoughts –
Impact had been closing feud builds for the last two weeks, so this show mostly consisted of video recaps and a set of good matches. By the time the stream ended, there was unfortunately, no update on the status of the LAX vs Rascalz match for Sunday.
This week’s episode was from Impact’s television tapings at the Melrose Ballroom in Queens, New York. The opening video recapped the ongoing story between Moose and RVD, Jessicka Havok’s return, Sami Callihan antagonizing the Knockouts, the escalating feud between Eddie Edwards and Killer Kross, and Michael Elgin taking out everyone in front of him.
The Twitch stream was hosted by Don Callis at some points. Callis wasn’t in all of the commercial breaks, so we got a couple of Flashback Moments too.
Tessa Blanchard defeated Jake Crist
The match started with fast-paced action as Blanchard went straight for Crist with forearms, a cutter, and a trifecta of suicide dives. Blanchard quickly went for the Magnum, but Crist caught her with a superkick as she came down.
Crist worked over Blanchard and raked his arm all over her face. He got cocky and gave Blanchard a small chance for her to come back with more forearms, but the offense didn’t last long as Crist locked in a great looking modified Koji Clutch until Blanchard made the ropes.
Crist got a couple of moves in, then Blanchard started a slow comeback via strikes, finally managing to take him down with a tornado DDT counter for a two count. Crist caught Blanchard with a Death Valley Driver for two.
Blanchard hit three superkicks and suckered Crist into the Magnum for the pinfall victory. Strong win for Blanchard — the build to Impact’s intergender matches is going good and makes the whole story with Glenn Gilbertti worth it in hindsight.
After the match, the rest of oVe came out to berate Jake Crist. Blanchard got out of the way, but locked eyes with Callihan and called him out.
Without wait, Eddie Edwards came out for the next match.
Madman Fulton (w/ Sami Callihan) defeated Eddie Edwards
Edwards took out Dave Crist and Callihan, then clotheslined Fulton to the outside as they started brawling around the ring before the match started. Fulton chokeslammed Edwards onto the apron and finally tossed him into the ring and the bell rang.
Fulton tossed Edwards around the ring, hit a second chokeslam, and then hit a third vicious one. Fulton hit a double underhook suplex for a two count. As he went for a running clothesline, Edwards hit a desperation dropkick to earn a couple of seconds.
Fulton went to powerbomb Edwards to the floor, but Edwards held on and reversed it into a rana. Edwards landed a German suplex and a Blue Thunder Bomb to earn a two count.
Callihan kept distracting from the outside, so Edwards took him out with a dive. Edwards grabbed his new kendo stick, but suddenly, Killer Kross was on the screen with Sandman tied up. Kross tortured Sandman as he teased Edwards. The distraction gave Fulton the time to recover, hit the End of Days, and pin Edwards.
– Backstage, Alisha Edwards tried to talk Eddie out of getting into another crazy war, now with Killer Kross. Eddie didn’t want to listen to her.
Moose defeated Tommy Dreamer
Dreamer took advantage of Moose coming out hot, but Moose had the power advantage and quickly gained control outside the ring. Dreamer managed to reverse Moose and whip him to the ring post and drop him over the shoulder. Dreamer then started removing the floor pads, only for Moose to drop him back-first onto the apron.
Back in the ring, Moose choked out Dreamer against the ropes and tortured Dreamer with strikes and chokes, but he kept underestimating Dreamer. Eventually, Dreamer hit a desperation cutter, dropping Moose and earning a couple of seconds to recover. They traded blows until Dreamer got the Dusty Elbow and dropped Moose with a DDT for a two count.
Dreamer hit a superplex for another two count. Moose whipped Dreamer into the buckle and went for a spear, but Dreamer blocked it and hit one of his own. After failing to pin Moose, Dreamer went for a steel chair, but Moose pulled the referee to protect himself, kicked the chair into Dreamer’s face, and hit No Jackhammer Needed to pin Dreamer for the win.
This was an okay match — nothing special. Dreamer using the chair felt backwards considering Moose is the heel.
After the match, Moose attacked Dreamer with the chair and went for a Van Terminator, but RVD came out for the save before Moose could hit it.
– Backstage, Taya Valkyrie and John E. Bravo were looking for Rosemary. Taya told Rosemary that she needs her to deal with Su Yung and Havok. Taya offered Rosemary a shot at the gold if she takes care of the pest.
– Melissa Santos interviewed Johnny Impact and Bravo. Impact talked about Elgin making a big mistake by attacking him last week after he helped him. Impact said he gets his payback tonight — and after he’s done with Elgin, he’s cashing in his X-Division title shot at Slammiversary.
Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie defeated Su Yung (w/ Father James Mitchell and Havok) by DQ
They started the match by trading slaps and forearms. Yung went for an early Panic Switch, but Taya blocked it and hit a rolling German. Taya went for the running hip attack, but Yung dodged and hit some strikes before Taya once again hit a German, but into the turnbuckles now, getting a two count.
Taya hit the running hip attack and running knees into the corner for another two count. She started getting more and more comfortable, playing to the crowd, until she gave Yung enough time to recover and get some offense in.
Yung hit the turnbuckle crawl rana for a two count and locked in something similar to Napalm, but Taya made the ropes. Yung hit a draping DDT for another near fall. Yung finally went for her glove.
Yung went for the Mandible Claw, but Taya blocked her and hit a Curb Stomp for a two count. Yung kept chasing the Claw, but Taya instead hit an armbreaker and started working on Yung’s arms.
Taya went for a moonsault, but took too long and gave Yung the time to stop her and for Havok to get in the ring and attack Taya for the disqualification. This was pretty good and clean given the participants.
Yung seemed mad with Havok for costing her the title. All three ganged up on Taya, but Rosemary came out for the save.
James Mitchell took the mic and told Rosemary that this was a time for celebration and said that at Slammiversary, all four women present are invited to a Monster’s Ball. Everyone except Taya seemed excited for this four-way Monster’s Ball match.
– Ace Austin cut a promo in the ring. He was arrogant and brought up that he is the only one in Impact that is still unpinned and undefeated. He said that he is the future of the X-Division and beyond, and soon, Impact will be the Ace Division.
Austin made his intentions clear for the X-Division Championship and made an open challenge. Out came the returning TJ Perkins.
TJ Perkins defeated Ace Austin
TJP got the upper hand quickly with speed, tossing Austin outside with a rana and following up with a springboard dropkick to the floor. Austin hit a forearm, rammed TJP into the apron, and landed a knee strike.
Back in the ring, Austin went for a rana, but TJP countered into a powerbomb and followed with a flying crossbody and the Detonation Kick for the win.
This was good, but too short. It was underwhelming for Austin’s first loss, but a great return for TJP. It’s best to get rid of Austin’s streak so he can start a proper feud now.
– Backstage, Eddie Edwards was looking for Kross before going to commercial.
– The Rascalz cut a promo from their tree house. They talked about their upcoming Tag Team title shot at Slammiversary. Konnan joined them and put them over as great upcoming kids, but he said that they lacked respect. Konnan told them to earn respect in the ring and get work done in the ring. Konnan then asked for a hit of whatever they were smoking. Good promo by Konnan.
– The Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the Week was the mask vs. hair match between Pentagon Jr. and Sami Callihan from last year’s Slammiversary.
– Eddie Edwards finally found the hooded man that Kross had, but it was a swerve and Kross blindsided him. They brawled until Alisha Edwards tried to stop Eddie again. Kross was spitting blood asking for more, and it seemed like Eddie drank the blood as he rose with a mouth full of it, scaring his wife away. I don’t think this writes off Kross, but it was pretty brutal.
– Callihan cut a video promo. He said that he is a calculating man and knew that Blanchard wanted to be treated as equal and make history. He challenged Blanchard to a one-on-one match at Slammiversary and promised to treat her like he treated Pentagon Jr., Brian Cage, and Rich Swann.
X-Division Champion Rich Swann defeated Johnny Impact and Michael Elgin in a non-title triple threat match
Elgin and Johnny argued with each other over who would take out Swann first until they decided to work together against him, but Swann smartly decided to exit the ring and let Elgin and Johnny fight it out for a bit until he came back with a flying crossbody.
Elgin was sent outside and kept there while Swann and Johnny traded reversals inside the ring. Swann hit a tornillo on Elgin, followed by one from Johnny. Swann and Johnny started a battle of one-upsmanship until Elgin came back in the ring and took them out with a double German suplex.
Elgin worked on both of his opponents with running clotheslines, but once again he couldn’t handle both of them at the same time. Swann hit a jumping rana on Johnny, tossing him on top of Elgin for a two count. Swann chased the 450, but Elgin blocked him and hit an Air Raid Crash. Johnny hit a running knee and standing splashes on both men.
Elgin went for a German on Johnny, who blocked it and got a discus lariat instead. Elgin hit a Thunder Bomb for a two count. Elgin went for the Elgin Bomb, but Swann stopped him and all three men traded superkicks. Swann got the final hit with a double cutter on both men.
Swann went for a superplex on Johnny, but Elgin got him in an electric chair, setting him up for a Disaster Kick from Johnny, which then became a reverse rana on Elgin. Johnny went for Starship Pain on Elgin, but Elgin dodged. Elgin went for a lariat, but Johnny dodged that.
Johnny and Elgin traded superkicks until Johnny hit a Spanish Fly on Elgin, but as he landed, Swann surprised Johnny with a 450 from the other corner for the win. Great match given the short time it got.
After the match, Swann celebrated — but Elgin stood up behind him. Swann hit Elgin with a roundhouse kick and connected with a spinning back kick on Johnny, but John E. Bravo came in with the big red X and took out Swann.
Elgin and Johnny traded words, but suddenly, World Champion Brian Cage finally made his return, took out Johnny Impact and John E. Bravo, and faced off with Elgin. Elgin went to attack Cage, but Cage took him out with a jumping knee and a powerslam. Cage looked healed and has good motion.
Final Thoughts —
Good episode. It wasn’t the go-home show, but it did a great job at building some of the final touches for Slammiversary with the announcement of new matches and the return of Cage. The show inside the ring was really strong, but the matches were not particularly long.
After it was all but confirmed last week, Impact Wrestling has made Rich Swann vs. Johnny Impact official for Slammiversary XVII.
Swann will defend his X-Division Championship against Johnny at Slammiversary, which is taking place in Dallas, Texas on Sunday, July 7. Johnny is cashing in his X-Division title shot to get the match.
Johnny got the title shot by defeating Jake Crist, AR Fox, Ace Austin, and Pat Buck in an Ultimate X match at Impact’s United We Stand show during WrestleMania week in April.
On last week’s Impact episode, Johnny did an interview saying he was going to challenge for Swann’s X-Division title at Slammiversary. Swann teamed with Willie Mack in the main event of the episode and defeated Johnny & Michael Elgin. Swann got the pin on Johnny after Elgin walked out on the match. Johnny was thrown into Elgin before Elgin walked out.
Elgin will challenge for Brian Cage’s Impact World Championship at Slammiversary. The PPV is being held at Gilley’s Dallas.
The night before Slammiversary, the first day of this year’s NJPW G1 Climax will take place at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The American Airlines Center is also hosting WWE Raw on July 1.
This week’s Twitch stream was hosted by Melissa Santos. She ran the show and gave a small update on Brian Cage, who will defend his Impact World Championship against Michael Elgin at Slammiversary XVII on July 7. They also showed an Impact Plus Flashback from Jeff Hardy’s debut for TNA, challenging AJ Styles for the X-Division title.
Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer & Sabu (w/ Super Genie) defeated Moose & The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander)
Page and Dreamer started the match with a quick exchange for wrist control. It quickly became Sabu vs. Alexander, who easily overpowered Sabu at first, but Sabu would use his style to drop Alexander with a tornado DDT.
Moose came in and asked for RVD. They went for the collar-and-elbow lock, with RVD being fast enough to escape Moose’s strength. RVD hit a Rolling Thunder on Moose, along with a Sabu leg drop. Dreamer came in and went for the atomic elbow, but Moose pulled the referee in front of them to distract him. Moose hit Dreamer with a low blow.
Back from commercial, Moose and The North were still in control of Dreamer. Moose went for a Rolling Thunder on Dreamer with a chair, which Dreamer managed to toss to Moose’s head. Dreamer got an opening to drop Moose with a DDT, then made the tag to RVD.
RVD ran wild on Page, getting a two count with a split-legged moonsault. Sabu dropped Alexander with a DDT while Page and RVD spilled to the outside.
Sabu got a couple of chairs and did a couple of his signature jumps — even Super Genie joined in for a corner splash on Alexander. Sabu did a step-up dive over The North on the outside. Sabu was just throwing chairs everywhere while Dreamer was setting up a table now with Page on it.
Sabu went for a dive, but Alexander blocked him. Dreamer dropped Alexander with the Spicolli Driver, only to take a spear from Moose. RVD took out Moose while Sabu set up a table inside the ring, again with Page on top. Sabu hit the Arabian facebuster. RVD hit the Five Star Frog Splash on Page for the win.
Not exactly a great match, but it was a nostalgia showcase for the ECW originals.
– Impact World Champion Brian Cage gave an update from his house. He told us that he feels better. He’s been cleared to train again, but not to wrestle. He cut a promo on Michael Elgin, who has bragged about attacking Cage and said he’s going to send Cage’s friends to the hospital. Cage claimed that no matter what, he’ll be at Slammiversary defending his championship.
On Twitch, Melissa Santos unofficially said that as of today, Cage has been cleared to wrestle again and is currently in Germany.
– Backstage, Moose cut a promo saying that he has thought about this all wrong. He misjudged Killer Kross and The North’s ability to help him, and so now he’s going solo.
Total squash. Disco started the match cutting a promo, telling Blanchard that he gave her credit for being one of the most talented women out there — but then Disco brought her down saying it doesn’t really count for much. He made fun of women drivers and the women’s revolution. He then brought up that Blanchard had daddy issues, and so tonight, he was going to be her daddy.
Blanchard took him down with strikes and pinned him after an elbow about 30 seconds in.
– LAX cut a promo from their clubhouse. They were talking about going back to New York when smoke appeared on the screen, but it wasn’t Scarlett Bordeaux, it was The Rascalz.
The Rascalz told LAX that they’re ready for a Tag Team title shot. LAX denied offering them a title shot, but as it happened in the tree house, no one can remember. They all agreed and Konnan confirmed the match.
– Melissa Santos interviewed Rich Swann and Willie Mack about their match with Elgin & Johnny Impact. Swann said that as much as Elgin has tried to injured them, they’re still standing. Swann and Mack said that tonight, they win.
The Deaners defeated The Desi Hit Squad (Rohit Raju & Raj Singh w/ Gama Singh)
Cody Deaner and Raju started the match with a short sequence of counters and reversals, fighting for wrist control, but Raju infuriated Cody when he grabbed him by the beard. The Deaners went for a double team, but Raj pulled out Raju to save him, only to be taken out by a dive from each of the Deaners.
Back in the ring, Cody hit a gutbuster on Raju and a big boot. Raj pulled Cody’s leg, giving Raju the opening for a running kick and a two count.
From here on, Desi Hit Squad worked over Cody for a couple of minutes. Cousin Jake came in with the hot tag and overpowered both Desi Hit Squad members, hitting a huge spear on Raj. The Deaners went for their finish, but Raju returned for the save and hit a foot stomp for another two count when Jake broke up the pin.
Jake hit a Black Hole Slam on Raj for a two count. Raju tricked Jake into running into the post. In the ring, Cody rolled up Raj for the win with a schoolboy. Okay match.
– Killer Kross cut a promo on Eddie Edwards. He pretty much said that tonight, he’ll punish Edwards in their street fight. Awesome promo by Kross.
– Santos interviewed Elgin about teaming with Johnny Impact, but instead, Elgin addressed Cage returning. Johnny interrupted and said that at Slammiversary, he may cash in his X for a shot at Rich Swann’s X-Division title. They agreed that tonight they will send Swann and Mack to the hospital.
– Elgin & Johnny are also taking on Tommy Dreamer & The Great Muta at Impact’s A Night You Can’t Mist, which is airing live on Impact Plus on June 8.
Other matches announced for A Night You Can’t Mist are Eddie Edwards vs. Sami Callihan in a street fight, Rich Swann vs. Willie Mack vs. Teddy Hart for the House of Hardcore title, Taya Valkyrie vs. Jordynne Grace for the Knockouts title, and Billy Gunn vs. Joey Ryan.
Eddie Edwards defeated Killer Kross in a street fight
Edwards ran into the ring and a brawl started immediately. Edwards hit an early pescado to gain control. He dropped Kross with a couple of backbreakers on the apron before pulling out a bunch of weapons from under the ring.
Kross returned with a suplex on the floor and Edwards started clutching his ankle. Kross hit a couple of knee strikes and rammed him into the ring post. Edwards tried to hit a suicide dive on Kross, only to be met by a trash can. Kross then dropped Edwards with a brainbuster on the floor.
Back in the ring, Kross went for a slam, but Edwards escaped and hit a Blue Thunder Bomb onto a trash can. Edwards hit Kross with the trash can lid a couple of times, but Kross wouldn’t drop until the third try. Edwards only got a one count.
Edwards brought out a small ladder. He went for more trash can lid attacks, but Kross locked in the straightjacket lock instead, only for Edwards to get released after about 10 strikes with a baking board.
Kross brought out two chairs and set up a table with the ladder, then hit a two-handed chokeslam onto the ladder. Kross brought out a bunch more chairs and set up a pile in which he went to hit a second rope brainbuster, but Edwards managed to fight back and escape. He dropped Kross with a sunset bomb onto the pile of chairs, getting a two count.
Eddie went for a Tiger Driver onto chairs, but instead Kross reversed and dropped Edwards in a weird version of a Vertebreaker. Kross delivered a second two-handed chokeslam onto more chairs. Kross hit a Doomsday Saito, but he still wouldn’t go for the pin.
Kross went for the kill, but suddenly The Sandman hit the ring. Sandman hit Kross with a kendo stick, giving Edwards the opening to hit the Boston Knee Party and get the win. This was a great and really violent match. Sandman gave Edwards a new kendo stick — don’t enable this man!
– During the commercial, there was a special Twitch post-match celebration with Sandman and Edwards. They played “Enter Sandman “by Metallica and did the beer can gimmick.
– Somewhere in the Undead Realm, James Mitchell met with Rosemary. Mitchell told Rosemary he was tired of her and reminded her that everything that has happened was all Allie’s fault for not following on his warnings. Then it was Allie that went looking for him. He even gave her back as they agreed, but it was still Rosemary that kept making things wrong and blaming him.
Mitchell kept saying the truth until Rosemary got tired of him and attacked him. This really made Rosemary seem like the heel since Mitchell was making a really good point there.
– The Impact Plus Flashback of the Week was Raven vs. Rhino in a Raven’s Rules match from TNA Unbreakable 2005.
– oVe cut a video promo. Sami Callihan addressed Fallah Bahh and Scarlett Bordeaux. He talked trash to the Knockouts like if they’ve been hanging out with Glenn Gilbertti. Please tell me we’re not doing Sami Callihan vs. Tessa Blanchard. Bahh & Bordeaux will face Jake & Dave Crist next week.
Also next week: Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie vs. Rosemary in a non-title match, and Impact Tag Team Champions LAX will defend their titles against The Rascalz.
Rich Swann & Willie Mack defeated Michael Elgin & Johnny Impact (w/ Johnny Bravo)
Swann and Mack surprised Elgin and Johnny with topes to start the match. In the ring, Mack and Swann worked over Johnny with quick tags. Mack got a one count after a rolling cannonball. Mack and Johnny traded slaps — and Johnny actually got in Mack’s head, distracting him and getting the upper hand.
Elgin and Swann came in, with Swann having the speed advantage, but Elgin used his strength to block Swann’s moves. Swann managed to hit a suplex on Elgin.
Johnny and Elgin had a bit of miscommunication that ended with Johnny being tossed to the floor — where Swann dove on him. Mack came in, only for Elgin to hit a DVD on Mack onto Swann (who was in the corner), earning a two count.
Elgin and Johnny kept control of Swann for a couple of minutes, also working with quick tags, big spots, and making sure that Swann stayed away from Mack. Swann would end up finding the opening to tag Mack, who came in and ran wild with exploder suplexes on both Elgin and Johnny.
Mack went for a double stunner, but he got blocked and hit a double lariat instead. Mack hit a couple of fireman’s carries and a gutbuster for a two count.
Johnny went for Moonlight Drive, but Elgin blind tagged in and caught Mack with a handspring back elbow. He caught Swann with a powerslam, then dove over Mack and Johnny. Swann followed with a dive while Elgin and Johnny argued about that last dive.
Back in the ring, Swann and Mack went for a slingshot neckbreaker and big time elbow combo for a two count on Elgin. Swann went for the Phoenix Splash, but Elgin dodged and hit a couple of superkicks to take out Swann. Johnny tagged in, and along with Elgin, hit a Disaster Kick and German suplex combo for a two count.
Johnny hit Moonlight Drive for a two count and went for Starship Pain, but Swann dodged and caught Johnny with a kick. Mack returned and hit a step-up enzuigiri on Elgin, then gave Johnny a Samoan drop and moonsault.
Elgin chopped both Mack and Swann and got a double superkick in return. Mack and Swann hit Johnny with a Rock Bottom and neckbreaker for a two count, with Elgin breaking up the pin.
Elgin took out Swann with a chop. Mack hit a meteora on Elgin. Johnny hit a Spanish Fly on Mack, only to get taken out by a spinning kick by Swann.
All four men traded strikes in the middle of the ring, ending with tandem superkicks by Elgin and Johnny. Elgin went for the Elgin Bomb, but Swann rammed Johnny into Elgin, who decided to walk out on Johnny. In the ring, Swann caught Johnny with a cutter and a 450 splash for the win. This was an awesome match.
Final thoughts —
A great show inside the ring thanks to the main event and the street fight. Storyline developments are still in a weird place, but it does feel like things are moving forward.
The Great Muta will team with Tommy Dreamer against Johnny Impact & Michael Elgin at “A Night You Can’t Mist.” The show is named after Muta and is taking place at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Saturday, June 8.
Former ECW World Champion Jerry Lynn, who works as a coach/producer for All Elite Wrestling, will be the special guest referee for the match.
Muta most recently wrestled in the United States over WrestleMania weekend in New York City last month. He was a surprise entrant in the Honor Rumble match on the ROH/NJPW G1 Supercard pre-show and teamed with Pentagon Jr. & Tajiri against Low Ki & LAX for House of Glory Wrestling.
Impact Plus launched at the beginning of this month, replacing the Global Wrestling Network and serving as a rebranded version of it.
A Night You Can’t Mist is in partnership with Dreamer’s House of Hardcore promotion.
Fallout from Rebellion was the theme of this week’s episode of Impact from the Rebel Entertainment Complex in Toronto. The opening video was a full recap of the Rebellion pay-per-view, showcasing all of the matches.
The Twitch stream was hosted by Melissa Santos from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, where Impact was having television tapings. There was a great cameo from Disco Inferno talking trash about the Philly fans and some of the Knockouts until Taya Valkyrie came out to get rid of him. Valkyrie then bullied Santos instead. Matt Striker also made a surprise appearance.
– Michael Elgin came down to the ring to open the episode. He cut a promo saying that Brian Cage wasn’t there to open the show, which is usually the tradition for a new champion. Elgin said it’s all because he took Cage out.
Elgin talked trash to the Canadian crowd for cheering on Cage instead of him. Elgin compared himself to Georges St-Pierre and Wayne Gretzky. He sent Cage a message, telling Cage that he left Japan to become the Impact World Champion.
Johnny Impact came out to interrupt Elgin. He told Elgin that he can’t just come out and jump the line. They talked trash to each other before Johnny finally claimed that it was him that sent Cage to the hospital. Johnny said that as the former World Champion, he deserves his rematch.
Suddenly, Konnan of all people came out to interrupt them. Konnan said that once again, Pentagon Jr. and Fenix are under his management, and he is here to represent Pentagon. Konnan said he thinks Pentagon is the one man to have a claim to the title.
Elgin tried to attack Konnan, but Pentagon came out and brawled with Elgin. They had a pull-apart, with Johnny getting a cheap shot on Elgin before taking off. Elgin took out the group of security and called out Johnny. The fans were mostly behind Pentagon.
– Josh Mathews and Don Callis gave an update on Cage, saying that he is recovering at home. Elgin, Johnny, and Pentagon are set to face off in a number one contender’s match later, with the winner getting the next shot at Cage’s World title.
Ace Austin defeated Petey Williams
Austin offered a handshake, but he pulled Williams into a headlock. That advantage didn’t last long as Williams got him with a dropkick to the back, a rana tossing Austin outside, and a dive on him.
Back in the ring, Austin took out Williams and hit a dive himself. Austin did a couple of headstands on the apron and dodged Williams’ offense. Williams did the corner National Anthem, but he gave Austin time to recover and come back with a springboard kick for a two count.
Austin got an armbreaker, slicing Williams’ fingers with the playing card while at it. Williams got a two count with a schoolboy. He hit a German suplex and a Russian leg sweep. Williams finally started chasing the Canadian Destroyer, but Austin was ready to cut him off with a kick for another two count.
Austin hit the Curb Stomp, but Williams reversed The Fold. Austin hit a swinging neckbreaker, and when he went for a second stomp, Williams reversed into a Sharpshooter. It was broken when Austin got to the ropes.
Austin hit a big top rope famouser for a two count. He hit a headscissors takedown from the top rope, then followed with The Fold to take the win. Good match, but it was starting to drag when the finish came.
– Somewhere in the Undead Realm, Rosemary was walking around with the stolen Undead Maid of Honor. She is waiting for the firefly to come out.
– oVe cut a video promo. Sami Callihan said that Impact management screwed him by banning his family from being out there for his match against Rich Swann at Rebellion. Callihan made the challenge for a four-on-four oVe rules match next week.
Rosemary (w/ The Undead Maid of Honor) vs. Kiera Hogan ended in a no contest
Hogan started with a couple of forearms on Rosemary and dodged Rosemary’s attacks. Hogan hit her running hip attack combo, then hit a rana and a top rope plancha. Rosemary cut her off with a sidewalk slam and went to attack her. Hogan took down Rosemary with a kick to the knee and followed with a couple of superkicks for a two count.
Hogan went for the finish, but Rosemary hit a big German suplex to cut her off. Rosemary went for a spear, but Hogan dodged it. Rosemary locked in the Upside Down. Hogan kicked Rosemary, with Rosemary crashing into the ramp. Rosemary shoved her down to the floor.
Suddenly, Su Yung came out with her Undead Bridesmaids and attacked Rosemary. Hogan teased helping Rosemary, but she decided not to. In the ring, the Undead Maid of Honor and Yung took their turns attacking Rosemary. Pretty bad match — Rosemary hasn’t looked good since her return from injury.
– Melissa Santos interviewed Taya Valkyrie, asking how she felt after defending her Knockouts Championship at Rebellion. Valkyrie said she has defeated everyone and there is no one left.
Madison Rayne walked up and said that she pinned Valkyrie last time. Rayne challenged Valkyrie to put the Knockouts title on the line against her tonight. Valkyrie blew her off, telling Rayne that one day she’ll get the match, but it’s up to Valkyrie to say when.
– Josh Mathews announced that The Great Muta returns to Impact for the Impact Plus special event “A Night You Can’t Mist” on June 8 from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.
– The Impact Plus Flashback of the Week was the first blood match between RVD and Rhino from TNA Final Resolution 2010.
– Valkyrie had a meeting with Impact management. Melissa Santos was outside hearing the meeting along with us. Valkyrie came out and told Santos that this is how things are dealt with, and she announced that she doesn’t have to defend the title for 30 days — so if Rayne wants a fight next week, she can have it, but it won’t be for the Knockouts Championship.
– Santana and Ortiz were backstage. Ortiz was binge drinking and Santana called him out, but Konnan came in. He told LAX that in two days, they’re defending their Tag Team titles at Code Red. Ortiz told Konnan that The Rascalz invited them to the Treehouse.
Fenix defeated Eddie Edwards
They shook hands to start the match. They went to have a fast-paced sequence with counters and reversals, going for wrist control. Eventually, Edwards found himself on the floor, which frustrated Edwards enough to pick up his kendo stick, but the referee stopped him.
Fenix once again kicked Edwards, and once again Edwards went for the kendo stick, only to get kicked again by Fenix. Edwards finally dropkicked Fenix to the floor and got a bit of control of the match.
Suddenly, we got the visual that Killer Kross was on the ramp watching the match.
Back in the ring, Edwards started stomping on Fenix, but Edwards kept getting distracted by Kross’ presence, giving Fenix the opening to hit a crucifix bomb for a two count. Edwards hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for two.
Edwards once again distracted himself with Kross, giving Fenix time to recover and exchange some chops before superkicking Edwards and hitting a cutter. Edwards hit a big forearm and a Tiger Driver for a 2.99 near fall.
Kross took Kenny the Kendo Stick and offered it to Edwards, and it was this distraction that gave Fenix the opening for a couple of kicks and a spinning Muscle Buster to pin Edwards.
Kross walked away with the kendo stick. Kross was wearing a T-shirt that said “Every great hero needs an even greater villain,” which I’m guessing is a hint towards Cage vs. Kross down the line.
– Backstage, Tommy Dreamer offered his help to Rich Swann for next week’s battle against oVe. Swann said he had Willie Mack and they were missing one more man. Suddenly, Scarlett Bordeaux came up and hinted at offering her help. Swann tried to talk her out of it, but she brought up Fallah Bahh instead.
– Rob Van Dam made his return to Impact Wrestling. He used his same old theme song, which is still terrible, but it now holds a nostalgic spot in my heart.
RVD cut a promo saying that he could just go on naming names he wants to wrestle, but instead he talked about seeing all the wrestlers do his moves. He said he wants to show them the difference between imitating the hero and being Rob Van Dam.
Ethan Page then came out. He had a couple of chairs and taunted RVD with them, showing him how to use chairs for once — by sitting down. They talked a bit of trash before Page disagreed about RVD being everyone’s hero — because Page would never do one of RVD’s signature moves.
RVD offered to face Page right now. Page told him they’ll face each other next week. RVD responded with a Van Daminator instead. RVD’s promo was a bit egotistical, but the reception of the fans was huge.
– Backstage, Josh Alexander berated Page for picking up matches with RVD instead of focusing on the Tag Team titles. Moose, dressed like Taichi, met up with them and told Alexander that he’ll team with him against LAX.
– We got a video package about the Tessa Blanchard vs. Gail Kim match from Rebellion. Kim said some words about her thoughts on the match and the moment of coming back to face Blanchard. She said that retiring like a champion left her with a sense of incompleteness, and putting over someone like Blanchard had given her the closure she needed.
– We then saw a video from Rebellion with Tully Blanchard congratulating Tessa backstage and talking about seeing her blossom into a great wrestler.
Michael Elgin defeated Johnny Impact (w/ Johnny Bravo) and Pentagon Jr. in a triple threat number one contender’s match
Johnny Impact came out with the X he won at United We Stand, reminding us that if he loses tonight, he still has a plan B in his pocket.
They started by trading quick roll-up attempts but went to a stalemate. Elgin and Johnny found themselves outside, with Pentagon taking them out with a baseball slide. He chopped and kicked Elgin, then went back to the ring to work on Johnny.
Johnny dodged Pentagon, but when Johnny went for a springboard, Elgin cut him off and hit an apron bomb. Elgin hit a German suplex and a clothesline on Pentagon. He went for a superplex, but Pentagon slipped out and hit a foot stomp onto a tree-of-woe position.
Pentagon went for a top rope move, but Elgin cut him off with a kick and once again went for a superplex, but instead Pentagon and Elgin traded chops, giving Johnny time to return and hit a German on Elgin as he superplexed Pentagon. The crowd popped for this spot.
All three men started exchanging strikes in the ring. Pentagon hit a springboard crossbody and a superkick on Johnny, then one on Elgin, who came back with a clothesline on both Pentagon and Johnny, followed by suplexing Johnny into Pentagon. Elgin hit a huge clothesline on Johnny, but Pentagon broke up the pin.
Pentagon and Elgin exchanged strikes and once again found themselves on the top of the ropes. Johnny took out Pentagon and hit a spinning Razor’s Edge on Elgin for a two count. Johnny went for the Countdown to Impact, but Elgin rolled out and hit an enzuigiri and a superkick.
Elgin went for the Elgin Bomb, but Pentagon returned with a couple of slingblades on both and a Pentagon Driver on Elgin for a two count. Pentagon hit a powerbomb backbreaker on Johnny for another two count.
They all fought on the apron, with Pentagon taking out Elgin with a couple of superkicks. Pentagon went for a Spanish Fly on Johnny, but he got cut off. Johnny went for a rana to the floor, but he botched it and they fell to the floor instead. Johnny made up for it by using a chair on Pentagon.
Back in the ring, Johnny hit a running knee on Elgin and set up Starship Pain, but Elgin dodged, hit a huge lariat, and then the turnbuckle bomb and Elgin Bomb combo for the pin.
Really great match for the time they got, though it didn’t seem like the crowd wanted to boo or cheer.
Final thoughts —
A really packed fallout episode for Impact Wrestling. It was a storyline heavy show — for the most part setting up some of the programs that will take us through the first part of episodes that will build towards Slammiversary in July. Aside from the Rosemary vs. Hogan match, the wrestling was really good.
Brian Cage, who captured the Impact championship tonight from Johnny Impact at the Rebel Complex in Toronto, suffered a back injury in the match.
The injury is believed from the spot where he took a Spanish fly off the ramp and onto the floor. He continued the match, but shortly after the show was over, Cage was barely able to walk and was rushed to the hospital.
Cage had gone into the ring with cupping marks all over his back. Cupping is a therapy treatment popular in Japan since the 70s and gained some American use in the 2016 Olympics. But that would indicate that he went into the match with some back issues.
After the match was over, Cage was confronted by the debuting Michael Elgin. It ended up being physical when Elgin attacked Cage, laying him out with the Elgin bomb, setting up a possible future title match between the two.
Impact Wrestling returns to pay-per-view tonight as the Rebel Entertainment Complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada hosts Rebellion.
A World Championship match will headline the show, with Johnny Impact set to defend his title against Brian Cage. Lance Storm will be the special guest referee for the match.
Three other title matches are set for tonight: Jordynne Grace challenges for Taya Valkyrie’s Knockouts Championship, The Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix) put their Tag Team titles on the line against LAX (Santana & Ortiz) in a Full Metal Mayhem match, and Rich Swann defends his X-Division Championship against Sami Callihan in an oVe rules match.
Gail Kim comes out of retirement to face Tessa Blanchard tonight. Moose & The North (Josh Alexander & Ethan Page) team against The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier, Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel, and Scarlett Bordeaux takes on Rohit Raju.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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Ace Austin defeated Petey Williams, Jake Crist, Aiden Prince, Eddie Edwards, and Cousin Jake in a 6-Pack Scramble
Great actioned packed opener, all men had a small chance to shine. Cousin Jake was towering over everyone. Match started with all men outside brawling, Eddie and Petey being the firsts to dive to the outside. Prince was looking to be the third, bu got caught by a spinning kick by Ace. Jake Crist then hit a flying cutter on Ace from the apron into everyone else down in the floor.
Back in the ring, Petey started looking to hit the Destroyer, but instead locked in the Sharpshooter on Eddie. Cousin Jake cut him off hitting a big scoop slam. Jake Crist took him off, sent him outside and went for a dive, but Ace cut him off. Ace took out Petey and Prince, went to take out Jake Crist, but got dropped by a cutter. Prince hit a 450 on Jake Crist for a two count that Ace broke, they traded a couple of kick counters until Eddie came in and hit a Tiger Driver on Ace for a two count.
Eddie went for the Boston Knee Party, but Cousin Jake caught him with a Sidewalk Slam. Petey came in and hit the Destroyer on Cousin Jake, but as he went for the pin, Ace Austin jumped in and rolled Petey Williams for the surprise win.
Josh Matthews and Don Callis introduced Impact+, which seems to be the evolution of the GWN network with live streaming, independent promotions, and the Impact library.
Sami Callihan cut a promo on Rich Swann. He told Swann that tonight he is getting all Swann deserves for betraying the family and that he got oVe rules for tonight’s match.
This match is replacing Scarlett’s live Smoke Show after they had an interaction on Twitter that escalated to this match.
This was a far different match from their Impact match, this time, Rohit Raju didn’t avoid wrestling a woman, this time he went straight to take her out. He jumped her, but Scarlett was ready for him and tossed him to the outside with a rana, Scarlett hit a Baseball Slide, but Rohit dodged and she instead took out Raj. Rohit used the distraction to slam Scarlett into the apron.
Back in the ring, Rohit worked over Scarlett’s back, whipping her to the corners, stepping on her hands, and stomping her. He hit a Snap Suplex for a two count that Rohit himself broke as he wasn’t done torturing her. All the meanwhile, Scarlett was fiercely trying to start a comeback, getting a couple of strikes in on Rohit, but she kept getting cut off until she finally manage to get some space and hit a Hurricanara, transitioned into a Crossface for a close submission.
Scarlett went for a German, but couldn’t pick up Rohit, but after the second try, she manages to use momentum to suplex Rohit to the outside, where she hit a top rope Plancha, taking out both Desi Hit Squad wrestlers. She went for a second one to take out Rohit, but Gama distracted the referee, allowing Raj to take out Scarlett. Rohit went to hit the Stinkface on Scarlett, but the referee was still distracted with Bahh and Gama, giving Scarlett the opening to low blow Rohit, hit him with the Dudebuster and pin him 1-2-3.
Moose & The North (Ethan Page & Jason Alexander) defeated The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier, Zachary Wentz, & Trey Miguel)
Moose and Trey started the match, with the latter working a kick combo and giving Dezmond and Wentz the blind tags. They continue working with quick blind tags, hitting a couple of Senton Atomicos on Moose, but Moose kicks up and blindsides them, giving the North the chance to manhandle Dezmond for a two count. North hit an assisted Falcon Arrow for another two count.
Moose and The North kept control over the ring, working on Xavier with a series of great power moves, complete dominance. Moose hit a beautiful Okada Moonsault on the corner, before tossing him to the other side of the ring. Dezmond eventually, caught Moose with a desperation Tornado DDT, but The North caught him off. Dezmond took out Alexander, only to get taken out by Page again. The match spilled out of the ring, allowing the Rascalz to work as a team and take out each man one by one, at one point hitting their finishing move from the ramp into the floor on Page. Outside the ring we saw Moose catch Trey’s Tope con Giro, and slam him into the guardrail, only to get taken out by a flying Xavier from the ramp.
Back in the ring, Alexander caught both Xavier and Trey for a slam, but they escaped. Wentz took out Moose. Trey hit the X69 on Alexander, followed by a Meteora, and a dive from his partners, but Page was there to powerslam Trey into the pin attempt. Page got rid of Wentz and Trey, leaving Dezmond oven for a combo by the heels, ending with the North hitting their finisher and a No Jackhammer Needed by Moose for the win. Great match, some spots looked mispositioned, but overall great. The tag team work in this match was top notch and by the match came to a close, the fans were completely into the match.
Melissa Santos interviewed Johnny Impact & Taya Valkyrie. Johnny Bravo was there too. They talked trash to Melissa. Johnny cut a promo on Cage saying that he doesn’t know what being a champion is like and that he is not worried about Lance Storm. He hinted having a secret up his sleeve.
Taya cut a promo on Jordynne Grace, saying that Grace’s streak ends tonight.
Impact Knockout’s Champion Taya Valkrye defeated Jordynne Grace to retain the Championship
Jordynne attacked Taya at the sound of the bell and quickly took her down. They went outside and hit an Electric Chair onto the apron, followed by a Apron Bomb. Back in the ring, Grace got a two count out of her initial flurry. Taya tried to comeback, but Jordynne hit a top rope senton for a second two count.
Taya started to escape Jordynne and use dirty tactics to get some control of the match. She rammed Jordynne arm into the ring post to start working on the limb. Taya would go and stretch Grace’s arm against the ropes, or chasing an armbreaker. Taya hit an Hanging DDT for a two count. Taya kept manipulating the joints until Jordynne overpowered herself out of the lock and hit a desperation clothesline to take out Taya, unfortunately using her hurt arm. Grace finally starter a comeback using Scoop Slams and a Michinoku Driver for a near fall. Taya went to use of of Johnny’s offense, but she wasn’t as fast, giving Grace the opening to set her up for the Muscle Buster for a 2.99 second near fall. Both women started trading roll ups until Taya just started hitting some knee shots. Jordynne went for the Grace Driver, but Taya got off and hit Road To Valhalla to retain the championship and give Jordynne her first one-on-one defeat. This was a lot better than I expected going in. Jordynne’s selling was great, and the final near falls had me excited.
Melissa Santos interviewd Gail Kim. Santos asked about how she decided to return to the ring after retiring. Gail answered that she doesn’t miss wrestling, but she needs to teach Tessa a lesson in respect.
X-Division Champion Rich Swann defeated Sami Callihan in an oVe Rules Match to retain his championship
Callihan came out with Madman Fulton, but sent him to the back for the match. Swann came out all serious, no dancing, no smiling, completely focused on Callihan.
Story of the match was that Swann brought out the violent side of himself for this match, going down to Callihan’s level. They talked trash to each other as they started pushing each other and went straight up to trading superkicks and strikes. They did a couple of reversals and counters, sending Callihan to the outside, but Swann swerved Callihan with the dive and revealed he had a stapler, chasing Sami around the ring, stapling him. Swann then tossed a couple of weapons into the ring.
Back in the ring, Callihan took the stapler and used it on Swann when the champ went for a Sunset Flip. Callihan used the momentum to start working on Swann’s head with a couple of running boots. Swann would return with a superkick and a dive, only to be received by a metal plate to the head as he flew through the ropes. Callihan hit the Cactus Special on the apron.
Callihan brought one of the guardrails to set up a metal bed next to the ramp, and continued beating up Swann around the ring. Sami went for a Razor’s Edge onto that guardrail, but Swann escaped and took out Sami with a chair. Callihan hit an Exploder Suplex onto an open chair, looked incredibly painful. Callihan went for a powerbomb, but Swann got him with a metal plate, set up a trash can on Sami’s head, and connected with a kick combo before hitting a Twisting Suplex onto the trash can for a two count.
Callihan escaped to the ramp, but Swann chased him, hitting him with safety signs. They fought up the stage where Swann used the setup for his offense, ending with a cutter on the ramp. Swamm chased the Phoenix Splash, but Callihan caught him coming down. They traded strikes and kicks, before Sami grabbed Swann by the groid and hit the Cactus Special on to the set up guardrail, but he only got a two count out of it.
Back in the ring, Sami Callihan brought out a Lego playing set that he brought and dropped them as tacks, and we know they hurt more than tacks. Sami went to piledrive Swann into them, but Swann reversed with a Jumping Frankensteiner for a two count. Callihan hit Swann with powder and hit the Cactus Special from the second rope, and he still couldn’t put down Swann for the pin.
Finally, Swann brought out a barbed wired baseball bat. This time i was Swann who went for the groin, getting control of the bat and hitting Callihan with it on the head. Swann used the bat for a Crossface, forcing Callihan to tap out. Great match, violent, and even with the weapons used, they kept it different to the ones we usually see on a Full Metal Mayhem coming later tonight.
We got the commercial for Impact’s return to New York City.
Melissa Santos interviewed Tessa Blanchard, who said that she knows about respect and that she has earned it, her family has earned respect, and while she used to look up to Gail Kim, it was respect that she has lost for her. It will be Tessa teaching Kim a lesson tonight. Tully Blanchard walked up and congratulated Tessa for her match tonight and cut a promo hyping her up. Well now i’m completely behind Tessa after Tully’s words.
Tessa Blanchard defeated Gail Kim
Robert Irvine and Tully Blanchard are both ringside. This match was a sprint, which helped to tell the story that Tessa is on her prime and the floating question whether Gail Kim has ring rust. They went back and forward all match, but there was a slight dominance to Tessa’s offense, while not taking anything away from Gail who looked great and had some great offense.
Tessa hit the first punch, but Gail came back and went for a quick paced flurry of offense striking and stomping Tessa. Gail hit a springboard leg drop for a one count. Tessa came back with a rana and caught Gail Kim in the corner, tossing her outside. Tessa dived on Kim, but she got distracted with the crowd, giving Gail time to recover.
Back in the ring, they went back and forward, Gail going after the legs, and Tessa the head, at one point hitting a big Magnum on the corner. Tessa went for a Saito Suplex, but Kim blocked and got a two count after a powerslam. Gail Kim dodged Tessa’s running tackle and locked in a headscissors that Tessa reversed into a backbreaker and a Saito for a two count.
Tessa kept working over Gail’s head, mocking Robert Irvine when possible. They fought up the turnbuckle that ended with both women spilling down to the floor. Gail Kim locked in the Figure Four on the ring post to finally take out Tessa’s knee. Back in the ring, they traded strikes ending with a crossbody from Gail for a near fall.
Gail started chasing Eat Defeat, but Tessa countered as they started brawling in the ramp. Tessa hit a huge Bitter End from the ramp to the floor. Gail made the count. Tessa went for the Buzzsaw DDT, but Gail espaced and hit Eat Defeat for a two count. Gail went to the top rope, but Tessa stopped her, where Tessa hit a Military Slam from the rope and hit Magnum for a huge near fall, but Tessa transitioned into an modified Anaconda Vice for the submission win. Dominant win for Tessa, she is no doubt the top woman in the promotion.
After the match, Tessa and Tully embraced. Tessa returned to the ring and with tears in her eyes, offered Gail Kim her hand, only to have Kim hug her and put her over. Great heartfelt ending.
Tessa left the ring for Gail, who got “Thank You Gail” chants. This was a far better farewell match for Gail Kim.
Brian Cage cut a promo backstage telling Johnny that he knows he is the deserving champion, that their friendship is over, and that there is no escape for him and tonight, the Age of Cage begins. Seems like Full Metal Mayhem is closing the show tonight.
“The Machine” Brian Cage defeated Impact World Champion Johnny Impact (w/Taya Valkyrie & Johnny Bravo) to become the NEW Impact World Champion. Special Guest Referee Lance Storm
Cage didn’t wait to talk tash and went straight for Johnny, with a shoulder tackle. Cage hit a German and an F-5 for an early near fall. Cage hit a version of the Rainmaker and a Facebuster for a second two count. Cage went for a Buckle Bomb and a Deadlift Suplex for yet another two count. Cage went for a second Deadlift Suplex, but Johnny countered into a German from the top rope.
Johnny went to get some offense, but Cage kept control until Cge distracted himself with Storm and got his eyes poked by Johnny, who finally had the opening for a combo that ended with a Standing SSP, which Cage kicked out at one, rolled over, and hit a Standing Moonsault for a two count.
Johnny tried to escape to the ramp, but Cage followed and went for a powerbomb, but Johnny instead hit a Spanish Fly from the ramp into the floor! Johnny was the first up and broke the count and went to knee Cage’s back. Johnny wanted the countout, but Lance wouldn’t give it to him and checked on Cage, who was busted open.
Back in the ring, Johnny went to choke out Cage. Johnny used his speed advantage to work over Cage with strikes and a springboard spear. Outside the ring, Taya and Bravo started setting up a table. Johnny tried to send Cage into the table, hitting a Spinning Neckbreaker for a two count. They went outside and Cage caught Johnny and powerbombed him into the table.
Johnny Bravo tried to distract Cage, who focused on him, while on the other side, Johnny hit Cage with the belt. Taya pulled Lance outside, giving Johnny the opening to take out Lance Storm as Johnny Bravo revealed his own ref t-shirt. Cage powerbombed Taya after Johnny threw her under the bus, but it was enough for Johnny to take out Cage with the belt for a two count (counted by Bravo). Lance Storm returned and took out Bravo and was going for the DQ, but Cage stopped him, hit a superkick and the Drill Claw to capture the championship.
Good, but not great match, I don’t know if someone was hurt or if there was an audible, but there was a lot of visible communication between Cage and Johnny.
Suddenly, Michael Elgin came out! He and Cage got face to face as Elgin made her intentions known that he wants a shot for the title. Elgin hit a Backfist, knocking out Cage. Elgin Bomb and visible 3-count before posing the with the championship over Cage’s body.
We got the commercial for Impact’s Slammiversary from Dallas, Texas on July 7th. G1 Climax weekend just got better!
Backstage, Konnan hyped Santana and Ortiz, who was just slamming Tequila shots one after the other.
LAX (Santana & Ortix) w/Konnan defeated Impact Tag Team Champions Lucha Bros! (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix) in Full Metal Mayhem to become the NEW Impact Tag Team Champions
LAX jumped Lucha Bros during their entrance with stereo dives. Ortiz beat up Fenix on one side of the ring, while Santana attacked Pentagon on the other. LAX distracted themselves setting up a table, giving the Lucha Bros the opening to hit a double top con giro on to LAX and through tables.
Back in the ring, Lucha Bros worked on Ortiz with a series of kicks, a Slingblade, and a team move for a two count. Next in line was Santana who took a flurry of kicks and knees from all sides. Lucha Bros started setting up tables, giving LAX time to recover and hit Pentagon with a cutter, codebreaker, and Double Flapjack combo for a two count when Fenix flew to break up the pin. Fenix made a stand against both men, but would eventually get taken out with kicks and a big Cannonball on the corner. LAX dropped Fenix with a cutter and double footstomp combo on to a bed of chairs for a two count.
LAX brought out a ladder before they all started trading strikes in the ring and setting up the sit down Strong Style challenge. Konnan gave LAX some forks, but Lucha Bros blocked them. They traded chair shots before everyone collapsed.
LAX set up a bed of chairs and went to hit a superplex on Fenix, but Pentagon stopped him and instead hit the Spiked Fear Factor into the bed of chairs, but Santana managed to kick out. Lucha Bros went for another Spike Fear Factor, but LAX countered. Santana hit a F-5 into a chair. Ortiz set up Pentagon on to a table on the ramp, while Santana set up the ladder at the ropes. Fenix instead walked the ropes, caught Ortiz into a Spanish Fly, and managed to not kill himself when he landed head first.
Back in the ring, Pentagon hit a Penta Driver into a chair for a near fall. Pentagon set up another set of tables next to the ladder, and to top it off, thumbtacks on the table. He gave Santana enough time to recover and counter. Both men climbed to the top of the ladder where they exchanged strikes, but Ortiz came out and powerbombed Pentagon on the tables after Santana had stabbed Pentagon with a fork. Ortiz pinned Pentagon to recapture the championships.
This match had some ups and downs, a lot of spots seem way choreographed, and some took too much time to set up given the props involved. When the match was straight up wrestling, the match was fantastic.
After the match, Konnan and LAX made peace with the Lucha Bros as they all embraced in the middle of the ring. The entire Impact locker room came out to celebrate with both teams. Former Knockout’s champion Taylor Wilde made a special cameo around the group.
Final Thoughts —
Impact Wrestling had a lot of eyes on them tonight and they delivered with a solid, worth watching show. Arguably, one of the better shows they’ve had so far since their new management team came in.
Impact Wrestling’s road to Rebellion continued from St. Clair College Sportsplex in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The opening video recapped last week’s show and gave us the build to tonight’s main event of Johnny Impact & Taya Valkyrie vs. Brian Cage & Jordynne Grace.
This week’s Twitch stream was hosted by Don Callis. Melissa Santos was out of commission due to a knee injury.
Moose defeated Zachary Wentz (w/ The Rascalz)
Out of the norm, The Rascalz decided to stay at ringside for Wentz’s match. Moose mocked Wentz before the match and bullied him, provoking Wentz to go for the first strike. Wentz went for wrist control, but Moose easily overpowered him and chopped him.
Wentz took advantage of Moose playing to the crowd to kick him, send him outside, and hit a moonsault to the outside that Moose caught. Moose got sent to the ring post instead.
Wentz hit a couple of running strikes, but Moose again powered himself back and hit a couple of impressive dropkicks. Moose worked over Wentz for the next few minutes, using mostly strikes and tossing him around the ring. But once again, Moose got cocky and started playing more to the crowd and getting distracted with the referee. Wentz found himself outside, where Moose pursued and went for an apron bomb, but instead swept the leg when Wentz tried to escape.
Moose got cocky again, and this time Wentz had the opening to dive on Moose and finally rock him. Wentz hit a couple of running dropkicks, a striking combo, and a corkscrew plancha, but he only got a one count. He hit a knee to finally get Moose off his feet. Wentz went for a plancha, but Moose caught him and tossed him outside onto his partners.
Back in the ring, Wentz got a couple more kicks in, but when he went for the kill, Moose caught him, hit the No Jackhammer Needed, and pinned him for the 1-2-3. Pretty good opener.
Rob Van Dam’s official return was announced for the April 29 Impact tapings. He cut a promo about coming back.
Melissa Santos interviewed Madison Rayne about losing to Jordynne Grace and being back in Impact. Rayne said that she unfortunately lost, but she is back to win the Knockouts Championship and take on the competition. Tessa Blanchard interrupted her, talking trash about Rayne coming back to relive her glories and piggy backing on her. Blanchard said Rayne is just like Gail Kim.
Rayne brought up that she has a winning record against Blanchard and challenged her to a match.
Su Yung vs. Rosemary ended in a no contest
Rosemary jumped Yung and started taking out each of the Undead Bridesmaids one by one. Rosemary kicked Yung to the outside, but the Bridesmaids saved her, so instead, Rosemary locked Yung in the Upside Down. Rosemary went for a spear in the corner, but Yung dodged and worked on Rosemary’s weak knee with several strikes and a single-leg Boston Crab.
Yung went for a dragon leg whip to take down Rosemary, then used the opening to go for her dirty glove.
Rosemary battled Yung, hitting a reverse DDT to get her away. They traded strikes and clotheslines. Rosemary hit a running knee for a two count. Yung came back with a palm strike, but Rosemary recovered and hit a German suplex.
All the Bridesmaids got on the apron, and once again Rosemary went for them. Kiera Hogan came to Rosemary’s aid, but they ended up arguing outside the ring because Rosemary didn’t want Hogan’s help. All the Bridesmaids jumped them and the match ended in a no contest.
After the match, the Bridesmaids tossed Rosemary back in the ring, where Yung locked in the Mandible Claw. Yung hit the Panic Switch on both Rosemary and Hogan to lay them out.
We got a recap and backstage look of the United We Stand show in New Jersey and some comments from talent involved with the show.
Ace Austin cut a promo about losing the six-way match from last week. He said that he was about to win, and blamed Aiden Prince for his loss. He challenged Prince to a match.
The GWN Flashback Moment of the Week was Rob Van Dam vs. Joey Ryan for the X-Division Championship from TNA Turning Point 2012.
Backstage, Killer Kross met with Willie Mack. Kross asked Mack if he liked jazz music. Kross got in Mack’s head by saying that Rich Swann was playing him for a fool. This is an interesting direction, with Kross trying to intervene in Swann’s affairs.
We got a promo by The Deaners saying they’re headed to Impact and they’re getting focused. Good promo and promising gimmick.
The North (Josh Alexander & Ethan Page) defeated El Reverso & Sheldon Jean
Commentary brought up Page and Alexander’s history together, but not as Monster Mafia. This match was a showcase for Alexander and the tag team work of The North.
El Reverso had a hope spot on Alexander, but he stopped him with a Plunge before hitting a twisting facebuster double team. Page tagged in and hit a backbreaker on Reverso. Alexander came back in, locked in an ankle lock, and turned it into a powerbomb backbreaker.
Reverso finally tagged in Jean. He had a good hot tag and hope spot, getting a two count on Page with a flying forearm. Reverso tried to make a stand against both men, but The North picked up the win over Reverso with a double-team maneuver. Great debut for Alexander.
Backstage, Melissa Santos told Gail Kim about Blanchard’s comments. Kim said she would go out to the ring for Blanchard vs. Rayne.
Back from commercial, The North cut a promo about them taking over the tag team division. Good promo by both men.
Kim came down to the ring and joined commentary for the next match.
Madison Rayne defeated Tessa Blanchard
Blanchard, right from the start, focused more on Kim outside the ring than Rayne, who took advantage of the distraction on several occasions. Blanchard got the upper hand on Rayne with a set of running forearms and dropkicks.
Rayne came back with a couple of roll-ups, but Blanchard easily kicked out. Blanchard hit a brainbuster and went to choke out Rayne.
Blanchard kept messing with Kim, striking Rayne right in front of the commentary table. Blanchard hit a corner Magnum, and once again talked trash to Kim instead of pinning Rayne.
Back from commercial, Rayne and Blanchard exchanged strikes in the middle of the ring. Rayne hit an enzuigiri and a Northern Lights suplex for a one count. Blanchard hit a double underhook modification of the Bitter End for two.
Rayne hit a crucifix bomb for a two count. She went for a reverse DDT, but Blanchard blocked it and hit a slingshot suplex, rebounding Rayne twice on the ropes for a two count. Blanchard hit a superplex for two.
Blanchard went for a steel chair and attacked the referee, provoking Kim to take the chair away. It gave Rayne time to recover, and she blindsided Blanchard with a schoolboy to get the upset win.
On commentary, Kim kept putting Blanchard over with comments like Blanchard being able to achieve top level greatness at such a young age and Blanchard reminding Kim of herself. However, Kim said it was unfortunate that Blanchard had a terrible attitude.
Backstage, Eli Drake and Eddie Edwards asked the Lucha Bros for a Tag Team title shot since they beat LAX last week. Suddenly, LAX attacked the Lucha Bros while Drake dragged Edwards away.
We got another vignette for The Deaners. They’re going hard on these guys.
Melissa Santos interviewed Johnny Impact & Taya Valkyrie. They talked about tonight’s match against Brian Cage & Jordynne Grace. Johnny put over Cage as a wrestler, but then buried him for being one-of-a-kind dumb. Valkyrie provoked Santos by implying that Cage and Grace had an affair.
We got an oVe cam promo. They were in some back alley. Sami Callihan cut a promo about giving Swann everything and now Swann will have nothing for betraying oVe. At Rebellion, Callihan will take the X-Division Championship.
Blanchard cut a promo backstage on Kim. She said that she was only thinking of beating Kim at Rebellion, but now that Kim decided to interfere in her matches, it will be personal.
Fallah Bahh was backstage looking for Scarlett Bordeaux, who eventually showed up. Bahh thanked Bordeaux for the save last week. Bordeaux told Bahh that she’ll team with him next week against the Desi Hit Squad.
Impact World Champion Johnny Impact & Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie defeated Brian Cage & Jordynne Grace
This had WWE-style mixed tag match rules with the wrestlers having to pair up by gender, so Valkyrie started the match by trying to provoke Cage into a DQ — but Grace was right there to take her on.
Grace got the upper hand early with a series of shoulder tackles and clotheslines. She sent Valkyrie right into the corner and hit a running knee and a running elbow right before a Vader Bomb for a two count. Valkyrie finally got some space and went to Johnny for the tag, but Johnny actually got off the ring to avoid getting in the ring with Cage.
Grace tagged in Cage instead, forcing Johnny to become legal. They did a small sequence with Johnny escaping Cage’s attacks and getting cheap shots in — until Cage caught Johnny, curled with him, and tossed him like a rag doll.
Johnny hit a springboard corkscrew, but got too cocky to follow up. Cage came back with a clothesline and a backdrop that over rotated Johnny. Johnny tried to find a way to tag Valkyrie, but Cage blocked him until Johnny simply poked Cage’s eyes and got the tag.
Grace didn’t wait and rushed at Valkyrie in the corner, but Johnny was still there to aid his wife and give Valkyrie the opening for a shotgun dropkick. She stomped on Grace for a bit and went for an armbar submission and a curb stomp on the same arm.
Valkyrie hit a running hip attack and the double knees for a two count. Grace hit a desperation running powerbomb. Valkyrie tried to make the tag to Johnny, but instead was talked into stopping Grace — with Johnny again trying to avoid Cage. Valkyrie failed to stop Grace, so Johnny straight up went in to attack Grace, but it was too late as she tagged Cage back in.
Cage ran wild on Johnny with a combo neckbreaker and a huge release German suplex for a two count. Cage went for the F5, but Johnny reversed it into a swinging neckbreaker for two. Johnny went for Starship Pain, but Cage caught him. Cage and Johnny took each other out with a lariat and a kick respectively.
Grace and Valkyrie came in, with Grace hitting a German to throw Valkyrie to the outside. Grace followed with a tope suicida on Johnny, only to be taken out by Valkyrie. Cage then hit a tope con giro on Johnny, tossed him in the ring, and went for the Drill Claw. Suddenly, referee Johnny Bravo buckled Cage’s leg, giving Johnny the opening to hit a shining wizard and win via quick count. The referee got a lot of heat.
After the match, Cage got back up and went after Bravo, but Valkyrie low blowed him and the couple beat up Cage. Johnny Bravo hugged with Johnny and Valkyrie.
Don Callis and Josh Mathews said on commentary that they’ll review all of the recent Johnny Bravo matches since they now suspect Bravo is the only reason Johnny has been able to retain the championship all this time.
Final thoughts —
Good show. With two more weeks to go until the Rebellion pay-per-view, this episode was all about escalating feuds. The wrestling was good all around.
Impact Wrestling returned from Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall in Las Vegas, Nevada this week.
The opening video touched on all ongoing feuds as we head into next week’s Against All Odds special episode — with an emphasis on Johnny Impact’s turn and what he has to say about it tonight.
The Twitch stream was hosted by Melissa Santos. She was live from St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, where Impact is taping their next set of shows. There was a St. Clair E-Sports Team vs. Team Impact Wrestling competition going on, with Santos interviewing some of the players from both teams. At one point, Melissa played games while Kid Ref hosted the show.
Moose defeated Trey Miguel
The story of the match was that Trey had to overcome Moose’s size, which helped Moose block most of Trey’s offense. They started with Trey going after Moose’s legs with kicks. When Moose stopped him, Trey went for quick moves and ranas, managing to toss Moose outside the ring. But as he went for a dive, Moose cut him off.
Trey got himself a second chance and hit two suicide dives. But on the third dive, Moose caught him in the middle of the air and hit an apron bomb. Trey seemed like he wasn’t making the count, but Moose stopped it and went for another apron bomb, waking up Miguel. Miguel went for yet another dive. Moose caught him again — but this time he swung Trey into the steps.
Back in the ring, Moose worked over Trey for a bit before he reversed Moose’s Go To Hell into a pinning attempt. Moose seemed to regain control by hitting a huge lariat, but Trey finally got an opening and hit a top rope dropkick and a springboard dive to get Moose down for a frog splash.
Moose hit a pop-up powerbomb for a two count. They traded a few kicks before Trey hit a reverse rana for two. Moose blocked a codebreaker, then tossed Trey into the ring post twice before hitting the spear for the win. The match had several spots that were botched, or looked botched, but aside from that, it was good action.
Sami Callihan cut a promo in their oVe TV. Callihan gave Rich Swann one final threat that he will take the X-Division Championship tonight. Okay promo.
Back from commercial, Santos interviewed Tessa Blanchard about Gail Kim being suspended. Blanchard said that Kim being suspended is not enough for her and said that if Impact doesn’t want to be sued, they’ll send Kim to the ring to publicly apologize to her and then fire Kim for good.
Josh Mathews made the announcement that Johnny Impact defending his World Championship against Brian Cage will be the main event of next month’s Rebellion pay-per-view.
Eddie Edwards & Eli Drake defeated KM & Fallah Bahh
Drake and Bahh started the match, with Bahh using his size to counter Drake going for a shoulder block and a crossbody. KM and Edwards came in, with Edwards gaining control. With quick tags, Edwards and Drake started working over KM’s arms until he got away to tag Bahh. They traded control of the match for a bit with quick tags, mostly when KM and Bahh tagged in and out.
Drake hit a fantastic superplex on KM. Bahh came in and took out Drake with a crossbody. Edwards hit a tope suicida to Bahh, completely wiping him out. Edwards went to get Kenny the Kendo Stick, the most famous Kenny in the world according to Don Callis. The referee tried to stop Edwards, but he tossed the kendo stick to Drake, who hit KM and set him up for Eddie’s Boston Knee Party for the win.
The match wasn’t much, but the chemistry between Edwards and Drake is really good.
Rolando Melendez, investigative reporter, tried to interview Johnny Impact and Taya Valkyrie outside the venue as they arrived, asking about them turning against Brian Cage. Johnny just blew him off and told him he’ll find out with the “rest of the marks.”
The GWN Flashback Moment of the Week was Cage vs. Fenix from last year’s ReDefined special episode.
Melendez once again tried to interview Johnny Impact — but this time, Valkyrie literally pushed him into a trash can.
Backstage, Rich Swann was with Willie Mack, who told Swann that he has his back tonight when Swann takes on Callihan. Ethan Page walked up and told Mack that he won’t get a chance to go fight oVe because Page is what Mack needs to worry about.
Ace Austin defeated Damian Hyde
Austin started the match by hitting several kicks from complicated positions, ending with a Space Flying Tiger Drop. Back in the ring, Hyde tried to get some offense in, but Austin easily dodged him and hit a springboard boot.
Austin hit a senton, a kick combo, a two-foot Curb Stomp, and finally The Fold for the win. Total squash — Hyde had no offense. Austin has a basic moveset, but he makes everything look incredibly complicated.
We got a vignette for Madison Rayne’s return.
We also got a video package going over the story between Swann and Callihan.
In the ring, Mathews brought out Johnny Impact and Taya Valkyrie. Johnny said that he turned because of the fans. He said that even though he came out and defended the title against everyone, fans didn’t care about him, they only wanted to see crash TV and see him get hurt.
Impact said that as soon as a new big meathead came up, they all turned to the new flavor of the month — except Brian Cage actually believes the fans like him. Johnny said he can’t be loyal to the fans because the fans were never loyal to him.
Mathews then asked Valkyrie about facing Jordynne Grace next week for the title. Valkyrie just kind of blew off the question and also went into attacking the fans and defending her husband. Valkyrie said that once she is done with Grace, she won’t allow Impact to decide for her who she faces and when she defends.
Finally, Mathews asked Johnny about the Rebellion match with Cage. Johnny said that Cage will get his match, one-on-one, and he’ll once again defeat Cage. He threatened that Cage may not make it to Rebellion, implying that accidents happen.
Johnny closed the promo by saying he used to care for all the fans, but now he just cares about Valkyrie and the World Championship. Overall, a good interview — Johnny was great.
Somewhere in the realm of the living, Rosemary met with Father James Mitchell. Rosemary confronted Mitchell about getting the empty vessel that Dark Allie is, but not her actual soul. Mitchell told Rosemary if she wants Allie back, she needs to go talk to his boss. Rosemary hinted she will go talk to “him” in the realm of the undead and get Allie’s soul back. Interesting turn of events.
Willie Mack defeated Ethan Page
Page jumped Mack before the bell. Page manage to keep the momentum for a while until Mack countered a shoulder tackle into a Samoan drop and moonsault combination. Page left the ring, but Mack followed and they exchanged a few shots, ending with Page having the advantage.
Back in the ring, Page worked over Mack, cutting off any chance for a comeback. Page locked in a sleeper, but Mack managed to escape and turned the match with a couple of running strikes and an atomic drop.
Mack hit a shotgun dropkick and the running cannonball to the corner for a two count. Mack then hit a DDT for another two count. Page hit a flying elbow for two after tossing Mack from the top rope. They traded a few kicks before Mack hit the stunner for the win. Okay match — nothing special.
Backstage, Melendez tried to interview Johnny and Valkyrie one last time, but up walked Killer Kross, who said something in Johnny’s ear that seemed to benefit him. Johnny walked away while Kross gave the camera a mad look.
We got a video package hyping up next week’s Disco Inferno vs. Scarlett Bordeaux match. Melendez interviewed Disco, who was just drinking. Disco said he doesn’t need to train since he’s fighting a girl and he is going to prove to Bordeaux she doesn’t belong in the ring.
Santos interviewed Gail Kim, who was coming out of a meeting with Impact management. She said that management was taking things seriously. Suddenly, the camera turned to the back where LAX and the Lucha Bros were brawling until security pulled them apart. Konnan came out and said that this is what the Lucha Bros wanted — LAX just wanted a rematch.
Willie Mack was making his way back to the locker room, but he was followed by Jake and Dave Crist. They closed the door and we heard a brawl go on inside before Mack walked out and locked the door.
X-Division Champion Rich Swann defeated Sami Callihan to retain his title
They started quick, with both men trading fists and a quick cutter from Swann to set up Callihan receiving a tornillo dive on the outside. Swann and Callihan then brawled outside the ring — and within a minute, they made their way to the steel steps. Callihan went for a piledriver, but Swann escaped and used the steps instead to hit a flying elbow.
The brawl outside continued with both trading strikes. Callihan dropped Swann with an exploder on the ramp.
Back from commercial, Callihan was choking out Swann in the middle of the ring, while also working on Swann’s back with knee strikes. Callihan did his spit chops and hit a big scoop slam before going back to working on Swann’s head — this time twisting the neck.
Callihan got a second sleeper, but Swann reversed it into a stunner and finally got an opening to strike down Callihan and build momentum to take down Callihan with a headscissors.
Swann and Callihan traded strikes until Swann got another headscissors takedown for a two count. Callihan hit a powerbomb, a knee to the jaw, and the Get Outta Here for a close near fall.
Callihan finally chased the piledriver, but Swann escaped and superkicked Callihan. After a few more kicks, Swann hit a second rope 450 for a two count. Swann went for another, but Callihan recovered. Swann went for Checkmate, but Callihan countered and hit a top rope powerbomb, and after a two count, transitioned into a crossface and into an STF. Swann escaped by reaching the ropes.
Callihan spat on Swann, finally pushing him to the limit. Swann hit a Lethal Injection for a two count. Swann went for the Phoenix Splash. Callihan dodged and went for the piledriver, but because he had to do his taunt, he got distracted and Swann rolled him up to retain the X-Division title.
After the match, Callihan went to attack Swann with a chair, but Swann stopped him. Swann had the opportunity to take out Callihan with the chair, but suddenly, Mad Man Fulton, formerly Sawyer Fulton in NXT, debuted and took out Swann with a one-handed chokeslam.
Mack came out for the save, but Fulton hit an End of Days to take him out too. Callihan hit Swann with a bat to the jaw to finish the job and close out the show. oVe just got a bit stronger.
Overall, this was a good show — mostly when it comes to storyline development heading into next week’s Against All Odds special episode and the upcoming Rebellion PPV.
Impact Wrestling returns from Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall in Las Vegas, Nevada. Opening video recapped the state of all ongoing championship feuds as well as the angle between Scarlet Bordeaux and Disco Inferno setting up their match for the Against All Odds special episode.
Twitch stream tonight was hosted by Melissa Santos with a cameo from Don Callis. Alisha Edwards was the special guest for the post-show interview.
oVe (Sami Callihan, Jake Crist, Dave Crist) defeated Rich Swann, Willie Mack, & Tommy Dreamer
Match started with the babyfaces clearing the ring. Dreamer and Callihan went at it first, with Callihan getting the better of Dreamer with a few strikes, but as soon as he tagged in Jake Crist, Dreamer caught him and tagged in Swann. The babyfaces proceeded to punish Jake Crist for a bit with quick tags and wrist control. Eventually, Dreamer got too funny and gave Jake enough time to recover and turn the match around.
Willie Mack got the hot tag and took out both Crist brothers. Mack hit a Samoan Drop and Moonsault combo on Callihan before tagging in Swann, who hit a Rolling Thunder. Dreamer came in again and did some comedy trying to do a nip up. Mack hit a Corkscrew Plancha on oVe, followed by a Phoenix Splash to the outside, and to a big pop, Dreamer hit a rolling senton from the apron.
Back from commercial, oVe had turned the match around, now with Callihan choking out Swann with a sleeper. Jake and Dave came in and out with quick pin attempts and submissions on all of Swann’s limbs. Eventually, Swann managed to escape Dave Crist and tag in Dreamer for another hot tag, taking out Jake and Dave with atomic elbows. Callihan spit on Dreamer, who lived up to his ‘hardcore’ nickname actually eating Callihan’s spit.
All men came in and hit their finisher, ending with all of oVe taking out Dreamer with several clotheslines. Dreamer dodged them to set up Willie Mack’s cannonball on all three. Mack and Swann hit stereo Frog Splashes on Dave and Jake respectively, while Dreamer hit his on Callihan. When Dreamer went to finish Callihan with the DVD, Callihan recovered, did a Groin Claw and hit the piledriver to pin Dreamer. Good match, quick paced, Dreamer’s comedy felt out of place, since Swann and Callihan’s feud is pretty heated.
Backstage, Johnny and Taya are in their locker room, Cage comes up and asks if Johnny is ready for tonight. Johnny simply responds to Cage that he’s the one that needs to be ready.
We got a video package recapping the story between Brian Cage and Johnny Impact up until last week. Good production here.
The Rascalz did their smokeout round table. They talked about losing to the Lucha Brothers. Moose appeared out of nowhere and asked about where the smoke was coming from, he started talking about Melissa Santos, and it all led to all Rascalz just laughing about Moose. All Rascalz got beat up by Moose in a comedic way.
Glenn Gilbertti came out to the ring. He talked trash to Scarlett Bordeaux before asking for competition for an exhibition of skills.
“Disco Inferno” Glenn Gilbertti defeated Kikutaro
Match started with both men doing a series of reversals and counters, not at the level of the X-Division, but the basics were all there. Kikutaro ended with the upper hand and mocked Disco by dancing. Kikutaro kept making fun of Disco until Gilbertti got mad and took out Kikutaro with a clothesline. Gilbertti punished Kikutaro, whipping him to all corners until Kikutaro just dropped. Gilbertti hit a neckbreaker for a two count. Gilbertti hit a Russian Leg Sweep and hit the Village People’s Elbow, but Kikutaro got out of the way.
Kikutaro made a comeback hitting a Dragon Screw and a Shining Wizard for a two count. Kikutaro went for a moonsault, but Disco dodged, hit a Stunner, and picked up the win. This was actually well wrestled and a lot more competitive than you would imagine.
Backstage, Rolando Melendez interview Taya Valkyrie. Rolando asked about the Tessa Blanchard vs Jordynne Grace match tonight for the Knockout’s No 1 contendership spot, but she said that she was more worried about Johnny’s health and match tonight.
Fallah Bahh & KM defeated Reno Scum
Bahh and KM actually came out ready for business and were met on the ramp by Reno Scum for a small brawl before starting the match. Reno Scum took out Bahh before getting in the ring where they worked over KM as the match started. Lester The Legend and Thornstowe beat down KM with a series of strikes and quick tags. The beatdown went on for several minutes, with KM having a couple of hope spots, but Bahh was still down. Eventually, Bahh made it to the apron and got the hot tag, taking down both Scum guys with running splashes to the corner.
Bahh hit a Samoan Drop on Thornstowe for a two count. Fallah hit a body-to-body suplex to pick up the win over Thornstowe after KM had taken out Lester The Legend. Quick match, felt like a reverse squash match since Bahh’s comeback was so short at the end. Reno Scum lost their second match since returning, so let’s see where that goes.
Backstage, Konnan met up with Pentagon and Fenix. He said that he told them he wanted a date for a rematch, but Pentagon was tired of getting bossed around by Konnan and mocked him with the Cero Miedo sign instead. They walked out while Konnan shouted at them.
Back from commercial, Santana and Ortiz were talking about their rematch before Konnan came in and told them that Pentagon and Fenix were going to pay for disrespecting them. Konnan said he didn’t have the rematch yet, but he wanted a Street Fight.
Jordynne Grace defeated Tessa Blanchard in a Knockout’s Championship No. 1 Contendership Match
They started locking in and challenging each other with shoulder tackles with Jordynne easily won and gained control of the match. Grace hit a Stalling Jackhammer for at two count. Jordynne tossed Tessa around the ring with huge whips, provoking Tessa to use the ref to shield herself from Grace, and using the distraction to cheap shot Grace to get some momentum back.
Tessa worked on Jordynne’s head with forearms and slaps. Tessa hit the draping codebreaker fo a near fall. Tessa unloaded on Jordynne with a series of strikes, but got distracted with the ref as usual, allowing Grace to recover and hit a huge Spinebuster.
Back from commercial, both women are going back and forward in a striking contest. Jordynne keeps going for scoop slams, getting a two count with one that looked more like a Michinoku Driver. Jordynne went for the Muscle Buster, but Tessa got free and dropped her with a DDT. Tessa once again got distracted shouting at the ref, giving Grace enough time to recover and tossing her with a Press Slam. Jordynne Grace hit the Grace Driver and pinned Tessa for the win. This match was great for the time it got. These two need to get more time at a PPV one day.
After the match, Tessa attacked the referee. Tessa had a meltdown in the ring. Attacked the ring bell keeper, she was beating up this kid pretty bad until Gail Kim came out for the save. Tessa went to attack Gail Kim, but Gail caught her and ran her off the ring instead.
We got a great commercial for Impact and company’s United We Stand show on April 4th. They also announced that Impact will be taping from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia on May 3rd and 4th.
Backstage, Scott D’Amore checked on Tessa Blanchard, who only berated D’Amore claiming that he allowed to be attacked by an official. Gail Kim confronted them both, and D’Amore actually backed up Tessa Blanchard’s claim and suspended Gail Kim for a week for attacking an active competitor. D’Amore’s wording actually works great to push Gail Kim back into the active roster.
GWN Flashback Moment of the Week, voted by the Twitch fans, was Sting vs RVD from 2010’s Slammiversary PPV.
From an undisclosed location, Rosemary had Dark Allie chained up and they talked about Allie losing her soul, in a way, recapping their story by conversation. Allie was trying push Dark Allie’s buttons while Rosemary kept interrogating her about the real Allie’s whereabouts.
Callihan cut a promo on the oVe Cam. Callihan said that he gave Swann the opportunity of a lifetime when he asked him to join oVe, and instead, Swann messed everything up. Callihan said that starting next week, Calliahn will take everything from Swann’s life, and he will start with the X-Division championship.
Eli Drake & Eddie Edwards defeated Desi Hit Squad (Rohit Raju & Raj Singh) w/Gama Singh
Raj and Eddie started the match with the former getting the early upper hand due to his size, but Eddie quickly turned it around. Eli Drake came in and also got overpowered by Raj, but once Rohit Raju came in, his speed wasn’t enough to control Drake, who took him down with a Swinging Neckbreaker.
Eddie Edwards came in and worked over Raju, but Raj jumped in with the blind tag and blindsided Eddie. Raj worked on Eddie’s neck for a bit. Desi Hit Squad did some double team moves on Eddie while Raju kept teasing Eli Drake in the corner. Raju hit a big cannonball on Eddie and Eli Drake finally got tired of Raju’s antics and jumped in, took out both Desi Hit Squad members, tossed Kenny to Eddie, who used it on Rohit Raju to pick up the win. Ok match, it was short. After the match, Drake told Eddie Edwards to think about teaming more.
Back from commercial, Johnny’s entrance theme came up for his main event, but he wasn’t coming out, instead, out came Killer Kross carrying Johnny’s unconscious body and a cinder block. Killer Kross attacked a group of security guards that tried to stop him. Seems like Kross is keeping this promise from last week.
Kross set up Johnny’s head against the cinderblock and was going to smash Johnny’s head in, but Taya brought out Cage with her. Taya went to cover Johnny with her body as Cage just watched from the ramp. Taya attacked Killer Kross, but didn’t do anything to him, and finally, before Kross could hurt Taya, Brian Cage came to the aid of Johnny and Taya, taking out Killer Kross with a chair.
Taya thanked Brian Cage, but out of nowhere, she low blowed Cage as Johnny nipped up like nothing. He took off his neck brace and attacked Brian Cage!
Johnny hit a Shining Wizard, and now it was him setting up the cinder block against Cage’s head. Johnny slammed the cinder block, which didn’t break. Outside the ring, Killer Kross looked on with a huge smile on his face as Johnny and Taya posed over Cage’s body as the show went off.
Good strong show, big storyline developments with all the championships and a big heel turn by both the world champion and the Knockout’s champion. Wrestling-wise, Tessa Blanchard vs Jordynne Grace was great for the time it got, with the rest of the matches being ok.
Tonight’s Twitch broadcast is hosted by Melissa Santos. Josh Alexander did a post-show interview talking about how he started to wrestle and his plans for the future with Impact. During the broadcast, we got commercials specifically promoting the Twitch channel. Twitch viewership topped around 14k.
Impact Wrestling returns from Sam’s Town Casino from Las Vegas, Nevada. Opening video focused on lasts week’s title match between LAX and the Lucha Bros! where LAX unmasked Pentagon and Fenix to close the show. Also, Johnny Impact’s ongoing story with Brian Cage, Moose, and Killer Kross; Tessa’s threats to Impact management; and the incoming Dark War between Rosemary and James Mitchell’s army.
Willie Mack defeated Jake Crist (w/Dave Crist) by DQ
Match started quick with Mack landing a Thesz Press and a quick neckbreaker on Crist. Jake retaliates with a series of kicks, a snap German, and Tope Suicida, a Tope con Giro, and finally, a tornado DDT to the outside. Jake got a two count after a flying elbow.
Jake went for a crossbody, but Mack caught him, hit a Samoan Drop and a Moonsault for a two count. Mack hit a draping Codebreaker, and as he went for a top rope move, Dave Crist attacked him giving Mack the win by DQ.
Jake and Dave Crist attacked Willie Mack until Tommy Dreamer came out to even out the odds and take out oVe. Dreamer cut a promo saying he has been trying to correct the wrongs in Pro Wrestling, he cut that usual promo asking the fans if they want to see Mack and Dreamer tag team, so instead we got…
Willie Mack & Tommy Dreamer defeated oVe
Match started during the commercial break, when the show came back, Dreamer and Mack have the upper hand as they brawl outside the ring. Back in the ring, Dreamer and Mack hit a couple of double team moves over both Crist brothers.
As Tommy Dreamer worked over Jake Crist, Dave got a sneak attack turning the momentum to their side and cutting the ring in half on Dreamer. oVe worked mostly with quick tags and strikes over Dreamer, going for quick pin attempts to tire out the old timer. Eventually, as Jake Crist went for a top rope move, Dreamer managed to cut him off and drop him with a superplex, getting enough time to tag in Mack.
Willie Mack came in throwing around both Jake and Dave. Dreamer got rid of Dave Crist outside the ring, leaving Jake Crist opened for Mack to hit his rolling Senton to the corner. Mack hit Dave with a Stunner, Dreamer hit the Spicolli Driver on Jake, and after a Frog Splash, Mack pinned Jake Crist to win the match. This was ok, nothing special, felt somewhat long if you take in both matches as one.
Johnny Impact was interviewed in the back by Rolando Melendez, investigative reporter, who inappropriately said that Johnny is giving out title shots for ‘favors’. Johnny said that he gives title shots to who he thinks deserves one. He blamed Moose and Kross for Cage not getting his singles title shot. I like this Melendez guy, he’s bold and straight forward.
KM & Fallah Bahh defeated Reno Scum
Thornstowe looked a lot different from their first Impact run. Bahh and Thornstowe started the match with the latter trying to pick up Bahh, but failing at Bahh’s weight. KM came in with a slingshot plancha, but Lester took him out from the apron and they turned the match around.
Reno Scum worked over KM for a bit, mostly with punches and stomps, nothing particularly pretty or impressive. KM eventually got himself an opening and tagged in Bahh.
Fallah Bahh came in and quickly took out Thornstowe and Lester with chops and crossbodies. Bahh and KM rolled over Lester, but distracted themselves playing at the fans. Thornstowe came back, only to take a Rocket Launcher into a Samoan Drop combo and get pinned by Fallah Bahh.
After the match, Reno Scum attacked KM and Bahh from behind, they hit a top rope Footstomp and Curb Stomp combo on KM. They posed over KM’s body.
Backstage, Glenn Gilbertti asked Ethan Page about the Impact Management offices were. Page blew him off, but pointed to the door. D’Lo Brown opened the door and revealed he’s a new producer. Gilbertti went to the office and was told that he is a week late. Gilbertti wanted to bring up an idea for a G1 Climax style tournament for the X-Division, but management also blew him off making fun of some old Russo bookings. Gilbertti walked out to search for Don Callis. I wouldn’t mind a round robin tournament for the X-Division while Swann deals with Callihan.
Backstage, KM and Bahh cut a promo. They said that for two years, they’ve been crawling to make it in Impact, and now Reno Scum comes back from being gone for so long and tried to make a name out of them. Awesome fired up promo by KM and Bahh, who are technically, comedy acts.
GWN Flashback Moment of the Week was Rosemary vs Jade’s Monster’s Ball match from January 2017.
Eli Drake and Eddie Edwards met backstage. Drake said that they are one and one, but he brings up that he was right about Eddie not needed his kendo stick to win. Eli Drake proposed becoming a tag team and chase the tag team championship, but Eddie rejected the idea.
Scarlett Bordeaux was shown in her locker room, she called us all 5s and said that next week, she announces her opponent for her debut. They’re really milking this debut.
Tessa Blanchard defeated Delilah Doom
Doom rushed the ring, but Tessa caught her. Doom took down Tessa, hit a few lucha arm drags and ranas, but eventually, Tessa overpowered her and stopped a rana into a sit down powerbomb. Tessa hit a few short distance lariats, maintaining wrist control. Tessa hit a modified Saito Suplex for a two count. Doom started a comeback, but was quickly stopped by another clothesline. Tessa hit a vicious running dropkick to the back of Doom’s back.
Delilah Doom caught a hope spot hitting a 619 and a flying dropkick for a two count, she went for a Crucifix pin, but Tessa straight up stood up from pin position with Doom on her shoulders. Tessa hit the Hammerlock DDT for the pin. Pretty much a squash match. Delilah Doom is still somewhat green, but she has good fire and potential.
Tessa talked to the camera telling management that she’ll get her rematch ‘or else’.
Melissa Santos interviewed Brian Cage. She asked about coexisting with Johnny Impact tonight. Cage said he and Johnny can coexist, because tonight it’s about taking out Kross and Moose and that no matter what happens tonight, his title shot is already on paper.
Rosemary cut a promo. She talked about going in along against James Mitchell’s army, but Kiera Hogan and Jordynne Grace came up to her, offering to help. Rosemary told them this was not their fight. I take it Rosemary hasn’t been watching Impact the last months with Kiera and Grace taking on Allie and Yung week to week. Rosemary accepted the help, but she warned them that once Allie is back, they need to back off.
Zachary Wentz defeated Ethan Page
Match started with a series of counters and reversals, quick action that ended with Wentz dropping Page with a twisting crossbody. Wentz went to whip Page, but Page used his strength to cut him off. Page hit a flapback, blocked some kicks, and hit a reverse suplex and big scoop slam.
Wentz started to make a comeback with striking combo. Wentz hit a running knee, a PK, and a standing SSP for a two count. Wentz went for a suicide dive, but Page caught him and turned it into a back breaker.
Outside the ring, Page started to antagonize some of the NFL Hall of Famers in the crowd, he pushed one of them, causing a big distraction that allowed Wentz to recover, enough to hit a big dive, a What-a-Cutter and the pin for the win.
Backstage, Gilbertti met with Dreamer. Disco walked into a room with THE Anthem Owl, who I guess ended up attacking Gilbertti. I don’t know what this was supposed to be.
We got another vignette for Ace Austin, debuting next week.
We got a video package recapping the story between Sami Callihan and Rich Swann. Callihan explained that Swann had no family and he took him in and gave him everything, and now, Rich Swann is turning his back on him and the oVe family. Callihan said he only asked for a little bit of loyalty. He said that he attacked Swann in Mexico, not because he hates him, but because he loves him and wants him to wake up and come to their family.
Melissa interviewed Moose and Killer Kross backstage. Kross tried to talk some sense to Moose, bringing up that Johnny is getting in their heads and in between them. He said that tonight, they’re not going out there to lose. Moose then cut a great promo about Johnny cheating everyone out of title shots.
LAX were in their club’s corner. Santana is explaining why they unmasked Pentagon and Fenix last week. Him and Ortiz explained Konnan why they did it. Konnan said that it’s because of this behaviour that they’re in that situation. Konna said he was going out there to ask for another match, but they have to stay low and do it his way.
Moose & Killer Kross defeated Impact World Champion Johnny Impact & “The Machine” Brian Cage
Moose came out wearing what can be described as a sleeveless Ric Flair robe with spray painted dollar signs. He’s the only man that could pull this off.
The story of the match was great. It played off their previous tag match where Johnny and Cage couldn’t work together at all, which led to their loss, but even with good team work, Cage once again ended getting the short end of the stick when Johnny was taken out and he had to fight off both Kross and Moose.
Match started with Kross and Cage trading forearms and kicks. Cage got an early 619 in and tagged in Johnny, who used his speed to work around Kross’ strength. Moose came in and suffered the same fate against Johnny’s athleticism. Johnny and Cage hit a few double team moves on Moose.
Back from commercial, Johnny worked over Moose, right when Kross tagged in, who also got taken down by Johnny and Cage’s team work. Cage hit a deadlift suplex from the apron to the ring, then Johnny followed with a Countdown to Impact, but in landing, Johnny seemed to have hurt his neck. Johnny dragged himself to tag in Cage, who came in against Kross while Johnny was still laying in the ring.
The numbers game of Moose and Kross got the better of Cage, who tried to take on both at the same time, but ended up outside the ring, being rammed to the ringpost by Kross while the referee was distracted with Johnny.
A group of refs came out to check on Johnny; meanwhile, on the other side of the ring, Kross was just torturing Cage with the championship belt, busting him open. A bloody Cage was tossed back to the ring, where Moose continued with a series of strikes. At this point, Moose and Kross just tortured Cage inside the ring, who hoped to tag out, but there wasn’t anyone left in his corner.
Cage made one final comeback, but having lost so much blood and not having anyone to tag in was too much. Cage managed to hit Kross with an F-5 and went to the corner and asked for Johnny, distracting himself from Kross, who hit a Doomsday Saito from behind, and locked in the Straightjacket Hold for the submission win when Cage faded out.
Johnny was carried to the back by the refs and Taya, while Kross and Moose posed over Cage’s bloody body in the ring, as the show went off the air.
Overall a good show, it went by fast. The wrestling was nothing special, but we got several storyline developments. Next week, The Dark War between Rosemary’s army against James Mitchell’s army takes place.
