Tag: jordynne grace

Impact Wrestling live results: Steve Maclin vs. Rhino World title match

Posted on by Josiah MacDonald

Tonight’s Impact on AXS TV will be headlined by World and Knockouts Tag Team title matches.

Impact World titleholder Steve Maclin will defend his gold for the first time against Rhino following the events of last Thursday’s trios match. The winner will defend against PCO at this month’s Under Siege.

Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Coven (KiLynn King & Taylor Wilde) will defend against the star studded team of Jordynne Grace & Deonna Purrazzo. Grace and Purrazzo will square off at Under Siege for Purrazzo’s Knockouts Championship.

In a clash of would-be title contenders, Masha Slamovich will go one-on-one with Killer Kelly.

Nick Aldis will have his first singles match in the company in six years when he faces Sheldon Jean.

The Good Hands (John Skyler & Jason Hotch) will face Decay (Crazzy Steve & Black Taurus) with both in search of a desperately needed win.

The show will also feature the third installment of an interview series with Frankie Kazarian.

**********

BTI pre-show: Ace Austin defeated Zicky Dice

In a good match, Austin got the win after The Fold. Gia Miller was hilarious on commentary during this match.

Main Show:

Impact opened with a recap of the much-hyped debut of Trinity, and a recap of Rhino’s career leading into his title match tonight. This was fantastic as a reminder of why Rhino was a main event guy outside of WWE for so long.

Masha Slamovich defeated Killer Kelly

Great opening match between Slamovich and Kelly. Despite the clean finish, there is more story to tell here with Kelly holding the submission on. This was a clever way to keep the feud going, and will hopefully lead to more great matches.

Kelly and Slamovich went to the floor quickly before returning to the ring so Kelly could hit a delayed fisherman’s buster for a two count. Slamovich slipped outside the ring and caught Kelly in an electric chair drop that drove Kelly into the apron. Slamovich hit a boot scrape kick to the face of Kelly as she was against the bottom turnbuckle.

Slamovich put a camel clutch on and then bit Kelly’s forehead instead. Slamovich hit a spinning backfist and a high kick. She went for a sleeper, but Kelly drove Slamovich backward and then hit a tiger suplex into the corner. Kelly hit a German suplex for a nearfall.

Kelly tried for a Killer Clutch, but Slamovich countered. Slamovich picked up Kelly and hit a sunset driver for a nearfall. Kelly countered a snow plow and hit a death valley driver for a 2-count. Kelly then locked on the Clutch, but Slamovich ran up the ropes and jumped backward into the Bret Hart/Roddy Piper pin finish. Kelly held the submission on despite being pinned while Slamovich passed out.

– Sheldon Jean was preparing for his match with Nick Aldis. Kenny King walked up and told him that he had to do what it took to win tonight, encouraging him to choose himself instead of doing the right thing.

– Trinity was with Gia Miller backstage, and talked about her debut last week. Jai Vidal walked up and marked out, asking for a selfie with her. Trinity obliged and then asked Miller, “Who was that?” Miller said, “That’s Jai. He works here.” I laughed.

Nick Aldis defeated Sheldon Jean

Aldis got the right match to show he was back to make an impact in Impact.

King joined the announce table for this match.

Aldis hit a series of shoulder tackles at the start, but as it went to the floor, Jean raked the eyes of Aldis and drove him into the ring post. It seems Jean took King’s advice to heart. Once they got back into the ring, Aldis was able to hit two hard clotheslines and a Michinoku driver for a 2-count. Jean tried to cut Aldis off as he went to the top rope, but Aldis shoved him off and hit a flying elbow before locking on the Kingsland Cloverleaf for the submission.

– Dango & Joe Hendry were backstage investigating who attacked Santino Marella recently and Hendry called for Zicky Dice & Johnny Swinger. Hendry said that they were here to answer for their crimes, and Swinger announced, “Hey! It wasn’t me doing gimmicks with Sheiky!” and I nearly died laughing.

Hendry accused Swinger and Dice of taking out Santino. Swinger was greatly offended. Dango called Santino and got him to book a match against Swinger tonight. Dango then invited Hendry to his birthday party and Hendry kindly said yes despite being the only guest and looking like he didn’t want to go.

– In the third part of Frankie Kazarian’s interview with Gia Miller, he talked about how the World title is his ultimate goal because his loss against Josh Alexander was eating away at him. But, if he saw a fight worth fighting, he was going to stand shoulder to shoulder with anyone that needed help.

The Good Hands (Jason Hotch & John Skylar) defeated The Decay (Crazzy Steve & Black Taurus)

The Good Hands got the heat on Steve almost immediately in this match. Steve bit the Good Hands’ good hands and hit a flatliner on Skylar before making a tag to Taurus. As Taurus was tagged in, Hotch tagged in and Brian Myers made his way down to ringside. Taurus hit an awesome pop-up Samoan drop on Hotch, but Skylar made the save.

Steve hit a plancha on Skylar and then started to argue with Myers. Myers attacked Steve on the floor, and Taurus went after him. This led Myers to hitting a stunner across the top rope and then a combo fireman’s carry blockbuster from The Good Hands for the three. Myers then posed with the Good Hands, apparently adopting them after Bully Ray’s defeat at the last PPV.

– Impact World Champion Steve Maclin was backstage with Shera and Champagne Singh, and Maclin said because they failed him last week, their business relationship is over. Singh said that he couldn’t let this slip through his fingers, so he had an idea to salvage the relationship. After they came back from break, Singh and Shera attacked Heath backstage and left him lying just before Rhino’s match with Maclin.

Impact World Champion Steve Maclin defeated Rhino to retain the title

There was nothing to this match, but it was actually went pretty much exactly as it should have with where both guys are on the roster right now. Maclin looked like a killer in this match, and this helped establish him as a serious threat to anyone he faces, along with showing how violent he can be with the post match angle.

Rhino and Maclin brawled all over the ringside area until Maclin started to focus on the left knee of Rhino. Rhino managed to cut Maclin off as he was on the ropes and hit a superplex for a nearfall. Maclin went for the KIA, but Rhino countered into a spinebuster for another nearfall. Rhino went for the gore, but was unable to run due to the attack on the knee. Maclin hit a chop block and a gore of his own for the win. 

Maclin continued to attack the knee of Rhino, wrapping it in a chair and slamming a shovel into the knee repeatedly. Rhino was carried out on stretcher. 

Later, Impact president Scott D’Amore went to see Rhino off, and Maclin walked up and said it was his fault. D’Amore then made his title defense against PCO at Under Siege a no DQ match. PCO then emerged from the ambulance and chased off Maclin as he went to do more damage to Rhino.

– Joe Hendry cut a promo about his broken nose (from his match with Sheldon Jean) and how Dango was going to win tonight as they got to the bottom of what happened to Santino.

Dirty Dango defeated Johnny Swinger (w/ Zicky Dice)

Dango caught a stomp from Swinger before standing up and hitting a falcon arrow for the pinfall.

– Deaner and The Design were backstage, and Deaner accused Sami Callihan of having no one to back him, not even Rich Swann, while his Army of Violence were there to defend him. Suddenly two people in the army started attacking everyone else and Deaner, Kon and Angels stepped aside. It was Swann and Callihan. For some reason, this promo had a soundtrack and turned from scary music to happy rock as the babyfaces attacked. This broke into an all out brawl with security trying break them up.

– Moose asked Brian Myers why he was taking on the Good Hands because he and Myers should be focusing on the tag titles. Myers said that Moose was focusing on both the World title and tag titles, so he could focus on the tag titles and mentoring the Good Hands before promising the Good Hands that he’d take them to the tag titles.

Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Coven (Taylor Wilde & KiLynn King) defeated Deonna Purrazzo & Jordynne Grace to retain

This was fine, but not a great match. Wilde and King haven’t quite gelled as a team yet, but they are clearly trying to make it work in the ring. I think given time, they could become a good tag team. The gimmick isn’t great at all, but at least they’re trying to make the tag team work.

Purrazzo and Grace had the advantage early on, but The Coven were able to get some heat on Grace after a kick from King and an elbow drop from Wilde. Even with Purrazzo tagging in, the champs were able to continue to double team, maintaining their advantage. The announcers asked if Purrazzo and Grace could compete with the well oiled teamwork of King and Wilde, who have teamed together around 4 or 5 times.

I’m fairly certain that is not well oiled. Grace and Purrazzo may have actually teamed more already in Impact! The Coven continued to cheat, choking Purrazzo on the ropes, distracting the referee, and maintaining the offence. Purrazzo managed to twist the arms of Wilde and King and slammed them into each other face first, leading to tagging out to Grace. Grace hit a spinebuster on King and a jackhammer on Wilde for a 2-count.

Grace dumped Wilde to the floor, and Wilde crashed tailbone first to the floor. That had to suck. Wilde and King then hit caught Grace on a dropkick attempt and powerbombed Grace on the apron. Wilde went for a suplex, but Grace fought out and hit a muscle buster on Wilde for a 2-count that King broke up. King pulled Purrazzo to the floor and as Grace tried to hit the ropes, Purrazzo got knocked off the apron after just getting onto it. Grace then tried to hit the Grace driver, but King broke it up and Wilde and King hit a combo spinebuster and pump kick for the win.

The Coven continued to attack Grace and Purrazzo after the match, leading to Trinity running down to make the save. Trinity cleared the ring, hitting a rear view on King before eyeing both Grace and Purrazzo as the show went off the air.

Final Thoughts:

I thought this was a very good episode of Impact this week. The angles were good, the matches were good, and Under Siege was built quite well. I can’t ask for more than that.

Next Week:

  • X-Division Champion Trey Miguel vs. Laredo Kid in a non-title match
  • Moose, Eddie Edwards & Frankie Kazarian vs. Jonathan Gresham, Yuya Uemura & Alex Shelley

New Under Siege additions:

  • Nick Aldis vs. Kenny King
  • No DQ stipulation added to Impact World Champion Steve Maclin vs. PCO

World title match announced for next Impact Wrestling

Posted on by Josh Nason

Steve Maclin will defend his Impact World title for the first time on next Thursday’s Impact Wrestling on AXS TV.

Maclin will face Rhino following the events of Thursday’s show where Maclin teamed with Champagne Singh & Shera against PCO, Rhino & Heath. Rhino gored Maclin on the outside of the ring, leading to his team taking the loss.

Backstage, he confronted Impact president Scott D’Amore about Rhino which led to D’Amore making the title match to the champion’s chagrin.

The Knockouts Tag Team titles will be on the line as The Coven (KiLynn King & Taylor Wilde) defend against Jordynne Grace & Deonna Purrazzo. The Coven have been targeting Purrazzo for weeks. She will defend against her partner for the night at this month’s Under Siege.

Nick Aldis will have his first singles match in the company since 2017 as he takes on Sheldon Jean.

In what promises to be a hard-hitting affair, Masha Slamovich will take on Killer Kelly.

The show will also feature the third installment of Frankie Kazarian’s recent sit-down interview series with Gia Miller.

Here’s the current lineup:

  • Impact World Champion Steve Maclin defends against Rhino
  • Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Coven (KiLynn King & Taylor Wilde) defend against Jordynne Grace & Deonna Purrazzo
  • Frankie Kazarian sit-down interview, part three
  • Nick Aldis vs. Sheldon Jean
  • Masha Slamovich vs. Killer Kelly

Last chance Knockouts title match set for Impact Under Siege

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Jordynne Grace is getting another shot to become Knockouts Champion.

Impact Wrestling has announced that Deonna Purrazzo will defend the Knockouts Championship against Grace at Under Siege 2023. If Grace loses, she can’t challenge for the title again while Purrazzo is champion.

After Mickie James had to vacate the Knockouts Championship due to injury, Purrazzo defeated Grace to win the title in the main event of Impact’s Rebellion pay-per-view earlier this month.

There was an angle on this week’s Impact where Grace saved Purrazzo from an attack by The Coven (Taylor Wilde and KiLynn King). Grace then pointed at Purrazzo’s Knockouts title belt. The show ended with Purrazzo and Grace shaking hands and Purrazzo posing with the Knockouts title.

This is Purrazzo’s third reign with the Knockouts Championship. Grace has held the title twice.

Under Siege is taking place at the Western Fair District Agriplex in London, Ontario, Canada on Friday, May 26. The show will stream live via Impact Plus, Impact’s Ultimate Insiders YouTube service, and Fite TV.

Impact Wrestling Under Siege 2023 (Friday, May 26) —

  • Impact World Champion Steve Maclin defends against PCO
  • Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defends against Jordynne Grace (if Grace loses, she can’t challenge for the Knockouts title again while Purrazzo is champion)

Impact Wrestling live results: Knockouts title match

Posted on by Josiah MacDonald

Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo will defend against Taylor Wilde in the first match of her third title reign.

Purrazzo regained the vacant title at this month’s Rebellion by defeating Jordynne Grace. Wilde will be looking to become a multi-time Knockouts Champion while also holding the Knockouts Tag Team titles with KiLynn King.

Former Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace will rematch with her rival Masha Slamovich in another high-profile bout. This will be their fourth meeting in Impact with Grace undefeated in the previous three. Their last meeting was for Grace’s then-Knockouts title in a last woman standing match at November 2022’s Over Drive.

In a non-title match, Impact Tag Team Champions ABC (Chris Bey & Ace Austin) will take on The Design’s Angels & Kon. ABC is coming off a successful title defense at Rebellion while Sami Callihan turned on The Design at the PPV.

The BTI pre-show will see Kenny King battle Channing Decker.

**********

BTI pre-show: Kenny King defeated Channing Decker

This was a good match that saw Decker show why he is one of the up and coming indie talents in Canada.

Main Show:

Impact opened with a big match.

Jordynne Grace defeated Masha Slamovich

I think it is time to start getting behind Slamovich, but I can’t deny that this match was awesome. Grace winning is a sign she must be around for at least a little more. Absolutely fantastic performance between both wrestlers.

Slamovich spent the early part of the match hitting hard strikes and keeping the pace of the match slow. Grace eventually fired up and hit a muscle buster for a 2-count, the same move that finished Slamovich a few months ago. Grace hit a hard bodyslam and then hit an awesome Michinoku driver for a 2-count.

Slamovich countered a German suplex into an O’Connor roll, but Grace pulled her back into a rear naked choke. Slamovich floated backwards like when Bret Hart pinned Roddy Piper, and transitioned into a choke of her own. Slamovich hit a pumphandle German suplex on Grace as Grace fought out of the choke for a 2-count.

Slamovich blocked a muscle buster, and a series of near falls exchanged between them until Grace finally sat down after a nearfall in a sunset flip and pinned Slamovich.

Steve Maclin segment

The new Impact World Champion came out and talked about his strategic retreat from PCO last week. PCO’s music hit, followed by Champagne Singh and Shera attacking PCO from behind as Maclin retreated again. PCO took out Singh and Shera before Santino Marella came out. Singh tried to pay off Santino. He took the money, banned Shera from ringside and sent Singh to his death against PCO.

PCO defeated Champagne Singh

This went too long for a squash, but it was effective in showing PCO as a monster.

Singh got more offense than I expected, but made the foolish mistake of shoving money into the mouth of PCO after a flatliner. I don’t think that is how one normally attempts to pay off their opponents. PCO spit the money out and proceeded to hit code breaker and guillotine leg drop on Singh. PCO got the win after a moonsault, crushing Singh.

– The Impact Plus throwback involved Nick Aldis (as Magnus) getting a win against Christopher Daniels.

– The Design were backstage and Deaner cut a promo about Sami Callihan turning on them. This was actually a good delivery by Deaner, but he talked about how he was created by The Designer (Eric Young) to eliminate weakness. He confessed he ripped Young’s heart out and fed it to the wolves. Well then. Guess we know he’s dead now.

– Oh good, we got another creepy promo from The Coven. Taylor Wilde and KiLynn King were trying to cast spells on Deonna Purrazzo to rip her limb from limb. King turned over the Eight of Swords tarot card. It sucked.

Johnny Swinger defeated El Dineroco

The luchador that Swinger and Dice paid to bring into face Swinger was Zicky Dice under a mask,. Swinger won with a La Magistral cradle.

Dineroco and Swinger went back behind the curtain and the camera saw Dineroco take off the mask to reveal it was Dice. Santino walked up and said the match didn’t count since it was supposed to be someone not contracted. Dice asked for a contract anyway. Swinger walked away upset at Dice, saying he knew it wasn’t going to work. Swinger is back to zero wins.

– Kenny King was backstage and Channing Decker thanked him for the match on BTI. King said he was thankful Decker let King beat him in his hometown. Decker walked away offended. King then sat down next to Sheldon Jean and offered to help mentor him so he could help him climb the ladder in Impact, doing what needs to be done.

Impact Tag Team Champions Ace & Bey Connection (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) defeated The Design (Angels & Kon) (w/ Deaner) in a non-title match

I was worried Kon broke Bey’s ankle by accident in a botch, but he recovered. Kon could have also severely hurt himself, and then nearly killed Angels too. Not a good night for Kon. Match was pretty good otherwise, honestly.

Kon hit the ropes with Bey on his back and hit a shoulder tackle on Austin before tripping and face planting right into the middle rope in a botch, leading Bey to scream “My ankle!” Kon threw Bey from the ring, and he was grabbing at his ankle. I hope he didn’t hurt himself, as that didn’t look good.

As the match went on, we saw an update from backstage and Santino was taken out by someone. Bey made it back to the apron. The heat continued on Austin for a bit, but the tag was made to Bey, who looked okay. Bey went for the art of finesse, but Angels and Kon stopped him, and Angels hit a Russian leg sweep off the middle ropes.

Austin low bridged Kon to send him to the floor and hit a back body drop on Angels that sent him over the ropes onto Kon. Instead of catching Angels, Kon just stood there, and Angels bounced off him and nearly landed on his head on the floor. Kon’s second botch of the night. As Bey and Austin were hitting dives on Kon, Callihan ran out and dropped Deaner on the floor and brawled backstage with him. ABC hit the art if finesse and the fold on Angels for the pinfall soon thereafter.

– Santino said he tried to fight back against who hit him, but he had no idea who it was. The doctor said he was recommending Santino take time off. Dango then appointed himself the Detective of Authority and offered to investigate what happened.

– The Death Dollz were backstage discussing how they needed the Knockout Tag Team titles to use magic powerful enough to see who was blocking them from the Undead Realm. Crazzy Steve walked up and Rosemary smiled at her mutual Decay friend. Steve said she needed to go talk to James Mitchell, and Rosemary was reluctant. A third weird supernatural promo. Rosemary, Steve, and Jessica were all great in their performances, but I really don’t like this kind of thing in my wrestling. If this wasn’t wrestling, I’d be intrigued.

Jody Threat defeated Seleziya Sparx

The fans chanted “She’s a threat!” which Threat should adapt as her catchphrase immediately. Threat controlled most of the match, outside of a brief heat segment. This was a pretty standard squash. Threat hit a seated senton and a series of corner lariats before hitting a pump kick and a German suplex and the F416 for the pinfall.

Frankie Kazarian sit-down interview

Gia Miller sat down with Kazarian to discuss his career and his original signing with Impact, saying Scott D’Amore and Jeff Jarrett were why he got a shot in TNA. He talked about his world title match with AJ Styles a month into being there, but also talked about the business where the old mentality was still active with older veteran wrestlers holding back younger talent for years.

Kazarian talked about why he left TNA with Daniels and went to ROH in 2014 because of the turmoil backstage in TNA at the time, and he decided he needed out because he was never going to get the chances he wanted there. This was accompanied by highlights of Dixie Carter, Hulk Hogan, and Jeff Jarrett all shown in negative light, including Dixie Carter being dragged backstage holding onto the foot of Hogan as he left the company. 

I appreciate the honesty of how bad a state Impact was in then, but I’m not sure if it was wise to show this on TV, but I can’t deny it was compelling as Kaz told a very honest story about his journey in the company.

Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defeated Taylor Wilde (w/ KiLynn King) to retain

Solid match between these two, with Purrazzo looking absolutely fantastic and helping Wilde look good. It’s interesting that Grace saved Purrazzo, clearly setting up a tag match. Maybe Grace and Purrazzo will challenge for the tag titles at some point.

Deonna was not ripped limb from limb, so I don’t think the spell from earlier worked. Purrazzo immediately started trying to work over the arm, getting a cross armbar quickly, and every time Wilde tried to counter out, Purrazzo transitioned right back to some sort of arm lock. Wilde had a few moments of looking lost, but recovered fast enough that you probably wouldn’t notice unless you were looking for it. Purrazzo helped cover for it well too.

Wilde went to the floor and King gave her a Priestess tarot card, she smiled and they went to break. They came back and Purrazzo sent Wilde to the floor again. These cards really aren’t working for her. Purrazzo hit King with a forearm by accident, leading Wilde to attack Purrazzo from behind.

Wilde got the heat for the next while, including a headscissors into a crossface. Wilde tried to match Purrazzo with forearms, but was unable. Purrazzo hit a running knee and Russian leg sweep before floating over into a Fujiwara armbar. Purrazzo tried to tie Wilde up wit the Venus de Milo, but Wilde made the ropes. Wilde avoided the Queen’s Gambit and hit the Wilde ride for a 2-count, and went for the witch’s wrath, but Purrazzo immediately countered into Venus del Milo for the submission.

King and Wilde attacked Purrazzo after the bell, but Jordynne Grace made the save and both of them cleared the ring. Grace then faced off with Purrazzo, shook hands, and pointed at the Knockouts title. This was good.

Final Thoughts

A fair bit of squash matches, but there were 3 good matches on this show tonight with Slamovich/Grace, and Purrazzo/Wilde being quite good, and ABC/The Design being decent despite the botches of Kon. Not a lot of major angles, but they are clearly setting up stuff to slow burn, which I am okay with. Hopefully the seeds they are planting actually sprout, as there are some interesting stories they could try to tell.

Next week:

  • Major surprise debut
  • Steve Maclin, Champagne Singh & Shera vs. PCO and two partners of his choosing
  • Jody Threat vs. Alisha
  • Moose & Brian Myers vs. Yuya Uemura & Bhupinder Gujjar
  • Frankie Kazarian sit-down interview, part two

Knockouts title defense, Grace vs. Slamovich set for next Impact

Posted on by Josh Nason

Nearly two weeks after she regained the Knockouts title at Rebellion, new champion Deonna Purrazzo will defend it on next Thursday’s Impact on AXS TV.

Purrazzo will face former champion and reigning Knockouts Tag Team Champion Taylor Wilde. This follows Wilde and her partner KiLynn King cutting a backstage promo Thursday in which they called her a fraud.

The show will also feature former champion Jordynne Grace take on Masha Slamovich in the latest chapter of their intense feud. Grace was unsuccessful in defeating Purrazzo for the vacant title at Rebellion while Slamovich is still looking for her first title reign.

Impact Tag Team Champions ABC (Chris Bey & Ace Austin) will take on The Design’s Kon & Angels in non-title action. The Design are reeling after Sami Callihan turned on the group at Rebellion and will look to get back on track.

Here’s the current lineup:

  • Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defends against Taylor Wilde
  • Jordynne Grace vs. Masha Slamovich
  • Impact Tag Team Champions ABC (Chris Bey & Ace Austin vs. The Design (Kon & Angels) in non-title action

Impact TV taping spoilers: Rebellion fallout, Under Siege main event set

Posted on by Ian Carey

The following are spoilers from Impact Wrestling’s television tapings on April 17 from the Rebel Entertainment Complex in Toronto. 

Perhaps the most notable event to occur at the tapings was the announcement that new Impact World Champion Steve Maclin will defend his title at Under Siege against PCO. 

A program between Deonna Purrazzo and Jordynne Grace appears to be continuing after their match at Rebellion as well. Grace came out to save Purrazzo from an attack by the Coven on Monday’s event. 

Additionally, Jody Threat got a nice hometown reaction from the fans and now appears to be entering a program with Alisha Edwards. 

Impact TV tapings 4/17:

  • Heath & Rhino defeated Jack Price & Shogun
  • Kenny King defeated Channing Decker
  • Time Machine (Alex Shelley, KUSHIDA, & Chris Sabin) defeated “Speedball” Mike Bailey, Trey Miguel & Jonathan Gresham
  • Alisha Edwards defeated Tara Rising – Jody Threat came out and confronted Edwards after the match
  • Moose w/Brian Myers defeated Yuya Uemura w/Bhupinder Gujjar 
  • Frankie Kazarian defeated The Good Hands (John Skyler & Jason Hotch)
  • Impact Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry retained his title against Sheldon Jean (Reality star from Big Brother Canada)
  • A Changing of the Guard Ceremony was held for new champion Steve Maclin. Scott D’Amore then announced Maclin will defend his title against PCO at Under Siege
  • Jordynne Grace defeated Masha Slamovich
  • Johnny Swinger defeated El Dinerico (Zicky Dice)
  • Chris Bey & Ace Austin defeated The Design (Angels & Kon) – Sami Callihan ran off Deaner
  • Jody Threat defeated Seleziya Sparx – Threat got a nice hometown reaction
  • Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defeated Taylor Wilde to retain her title. KiLynn King and Wilde then attacked Purrazzo after the match until Jordynne Grace came to the new champion’s rescue. 
  • An angle between Maclin and PCO played out that saw Maclin convince PCO he would get an impromptu shot at the title. PCO was then jumped by Champagne Singh and Mahabali Shera. This led to an impromptu match between PCO and Singh.
  • PCO defeated Champagne Singh
  • Sami Callihan defeated Brian Myers in a Street Fight

Deonna Purrazzo regains Knockouts title at Impact Rebellion

Posted on by Josh Nason

Deonna Purrazzo is the new Impact Knockouts Champion after defeating Jordynne Grace to win the vacant title at Sunday’s Rebellion pay-per-view.

Purrazzo picked up the win after a sunset bomb off the top rope followed by the Queen’s Gambit piledriver to get the pin in the middle of the ring.

The two battled in the main event of the PPV, following the co-main event that saw Purrazzo’s husband Steve Maclin win the vacant Impact World title with a win over KUSHIDA.

With the win, Purrazzo became a three-time Knockouts titleholder while Grace was denied her third run with the gold. 

The match was a physical one that saw both women go all out, unable to finish the other with various finishers. Both shook hands and embraced after the match in a show of respect.

The bout was originally supposed to feature Mickie James defending in a three-way, but James relinquished the title this past Thursday due to her dealing with several injuries that have kept her out of her last two title defenses.

Purrazzo earned her spot with a win in a four-way at Multiverse United while this was Grace’s automatic rematch after losing to James at January’s Hard to Kill.

Impact Rebellion live results: Steve Maclin vs. KUSHIDA World title match

Posted on by Chris Maloney

Impact Wrestling returns to Sunday pay-per-views with Rebellion, live from Toronto, Canada — an event that is guaranteed to crown two new champions.

After Josh Alexander relinquished the Impact World title due to injury, KUSHIDA will face no. 1 contender Steve Maclin to determine the new titleholder.

After Mickie James relinquished her Knockouts title on Thursday and had to pull out of Rebellion, former champions Jordynne Grace and Deonna Purrazzo will clash to determine the new titleholder.

X-Division Champion Trey Miguel will defend against both Mike Bailey and Jonathan Gresham in a three-way elimination match while Tag Team Champions Chris Bey & Ace Austin defend against the Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) in an Ultimate X match.

Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Coven (Taylor Wilde & KiLynn King) defend against The Death Dollz (Jessicka & Rosemary).

The show will also feature a Hardcore War match and several other bouts.

**********

Champagne Singh & Shera defeated Heath & Rhino on the Countdown to Rebellion pre-show

It’s been four years since Impact made their presence felt in Toronto and it was the exact same PPV in 2019 that had Impact Wrestling fans on the edge of their seats.

Heath and Singh started things off with Heath getting the early advantage. Heath tagged in Rhino and and we heard our first ECW chant of the night as Singh tagged in the massive Shera.

Shera managed to trap Rhino in the corner and told him he was “nothing” before landing a solid shot to the head. Rhino attempted a comeback but Singh played interference and Rhino soon found himself being grounded in the middle of the ring.

Rhino would eventually make the hot tag to Heath as Singh was tagged back in and as Heath was looking to finish the match, Singh quickly rolled up Heath out of nowhere and with his feet on the ropes and an assist by Shera, that was all she wrote for Heath and Rhino as Singh scored the pinfall.

After the match, Rhino hit Singh with a massive Gore to the delight of the fans.

– A video promo aired focusing on Steve Maclin battling KUSHIDA for the vacant Impact World Championship.

The Coven (Taylor Wilde & KiLynn King) defeated Death Dollz (Rosemary & Jessicka) to retain the Impact Knockouts World Tag Team Championship on the Countdown to Rebellion pre-show

Rosemary and Wilde were about to start the match before Taylor took exception and called out Jessicka. Rosemary made the save and after Wilde was unsuccessful in gaining momentum, she tagged in King.

As the two team powerhouses stared one another down, Jessicka gained the advantage for her team and the challengers were in control for the next several moments.

King managed to hit a jawbreaker on Rosemary allowing her to make the tag to Wilde and the current champions now had the advantage using illegal tactics to keep the momentum in their favor.

Rosemary attempted a comeback locking Wilde in the upside-down but King nailed her with a superkick to the face on the outside to keep the champions staying strong in the match.

Wilde landed a codebreaker to Rosemary but as opposed to going for the pin, she decided to showboat and Rosemary rised from the ashes. Rosemary finally made the tag to Jessicka and a fired up Jessicka evened the playing field and took advantage for her team.

Rosemary was tagged back in and she nailed King with a spear but could only land a two count. King was able to land a blind tag to Wilde and as Rosemary landed another spear, the referee informed Rosemary that King wasn’t the legal competitor. Wilde entered the ring and took advantage of Rosemary’s confusion and quickly nailed her with her finisher to retain the tag team championship for The Coven.

– A video promo aired focusing on Jordynne Grace battling Deonna Purrazzo for the vacant Impact Knockouts World Championship.

**********

ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) defeated Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) in an Ultimate X Match to retain the Impact World Tag Team Championship

It was legends battling future legends as the Impact world tag team championship were hung high above the ring.

Both teams started strong and full of energy but the cockiness of ABC played against the current champions as MCMG were able to slow down the pace and capitalize with their experience. As Shelley nailed Bey with a dragon corkscrew, Sabin slammed Austin’s arm off of the ring apron to further prove the veterans knew what it took to pace the match.

Shelley managed to lock Bey in a leg submission using Austin as the middleman and as this was taking place, Sabin attempted to use the advantage to climb the post but was quickly stopped.

Bey followed up with a DDT and ABC was finally looking like they were ready to prove their worth as champions as both Bey and Austin landed huge moves to the outside on MCMG.

Austin attempted to climb to retrieve the titles but he was caught by Sabin just inches away and kicked back down to the apron. All four men then climbed the posts and it was soon a kicking battle in the middle of the X before all four men were grounded once again.

Out of nowhere, Bey nailed Sabin with the Art of Finesse and Austin nailed Shelley with The Fold knocking Shelley to the outside. Austin assisted Bey in reaching the cables again and as Sabin attempted to recover and chase Bey, Bey swung his legs up over the cables and retrieved the titles to retain the tag team championship as a frustrated Sabin looked on.

– A video promo aired featuring a disgruntled Steve Maclin upset about the fact that he was in Toronto and focused on defeating KUSHIDA for the vacant Impact world championship.

Joe Hendry, Dirty Dango & Santino Marella defeated The Design (Deaner, Kon, Angels & Callihan) in a 4-on-3 Tag Team Match

After Dango and Hendry entered the ring, the current Digital Media champion grabbed the mic and shared his thoughts on The Design, doing a very great impression of Deaner.

The 4-on-3 advantage and the mere size of Kon played a major factor in The Design taking control of the match over Dango for several moments in the beginning.

Dango was finally able to land a hot tag to Marella and for the next few moments, it was back and forth action between both teams. Things changed however when Callihan nailed Hendry with the Cactus Driver ’97 and Deaner looked to capitalize even further grabbing a baseball bat from underneath the ring. Deaner handed the bat to Callihan and as Callihan looked like he was about to destroy his opponents, Callihan turned on Deaner!

Callihan nailed Deaner with the bat and left the ring leaving the leader of The Design down in the center of the ring. Marella saw the opportunity, grabbed the cobra and finished off Deaner to get the 1-2-3 for his team.

– Backstage, Gia Miller was with Team Dreamer. An emotional Tommy Dreamer stated that his mother was ill and tonight was for her.

PCO defeated Eddie Edwards (w/Alisha) in a Last Rites Match

There were no rules in this match and the only way to win was to put your opponent in a casket and shut the door.

PCO took out Edwards seconds after the bell rang with a high flying assault and Edwards returned the favor moments later to set the stage for what this match was going to be all about.

PCO followed up with multiple DDT’s and the “French Canadian Frankenstein” wasn’t satisfied as he then went up top to nail Edwards with a Deanimator. PCO attempted to put Edwards in the coffin but Edwards countered and PCO soon found himself with a dislocated right shoulder as the fans shouted “Boston Sucks!”.

PCO recovered and after using the ring post to pop his shoulder back in, he reentered the ring and it was soon a chopfest between both competitors before Edwards was finally able to get the momentum and land a massive bucklebomb.

PCO wouldn’t stay down and after nailing Edwards, he once again climbed to the top turnbuckle to follow through with a huge PCOsault. A resilient Edwards wouldn’t stay down either and the match was soon sent to the outside with both men teasing a victory as the referee had the casket door wide open.

As both men were at the top of the entrance ramp, Edwards nailed PCO with “Kenny” and followed it up with a double-armed suplex before landing a huge Boston Knee Party. Edwards rolled PCO into the coffin but as he was shutting the door, PCO got his right arm out of the coffin to keep the match going.

PCO powered out of the coffin and as he was attempting to switch the match in his favor, Alisha returned to ringside and nailed PCO with a shot to the back with a shovel but it did nothing to a fired up PCO.

Edwards attempted to subdue the monster with a superkick but nailed his wife instead. PCO grabbed the shovel, nailed Edwards with a massive shot and put him to rest as Edwards was sent into the coffin. PCO closed the coffin door and climbed atop the coffin to secure the win and potentially finally put this feud with Edwards behind him.

– Backstage, Gia Miller was with Impact X-Division champion Trey Miguel. Unfortunately, there was no audio that was heard through the broadcast on Fite.

Trey Miguel defeated Jonathan Gresham and Mike Bailey in an Elimination Match to retain the Impact X-Division Championship

As you would expect, it was a fast-paced match in the beginning moments of the match as all three men looked to gain the early advantage.

As Miguel looked to pace himself, Bailey and Gresham were hitting each other hard with Bailey landing a reverse hurricanrana to Gresham in the ring before taking out Miguel with the same move to the outside.

Miguel managed to make a comeback and nailed Gresham with a huge cutter off the turnbuckles. When Gresham recovered, he locked Bailey in a figure-four leglock and as Bailey grimaced in pain, Miguel came out of nowhere and landed a massive splash on Gresham to get the 1-2-3 on “The Octopus” as he had Bailey trapped in the submission to get the first elimination of the night.

Miguel followed up by locking Bailey in with another figure-four leglock before both men started getting hungrier for the victory and Bailey finally gained the advantage. Bailey failed to hit his Ultima Weapon but he wouldn’t give up and continued to nail Miguel with devastating offense.

As Miguel was grounded, Bailey attempted to hit Ultima Weapon again but once again failed. Miguel saw the opportunity, rolled up Bailey and hooked the tights to get the shady victory and retain his X-Division championship.

Team Dreamer (Tommy Dreamer, Yuya Uemura, Bhupinder Gujjar, Killer Kelly & Frankie Kazarian) defeated Team Bully (Bully Ray, Brian Myers, Moose, Masha Slamovich & Kenny King) in a Hardcore War Match

Two competitors started the match for the first three minutes before another competitor entered. Every ninety seconds after that, another competitor entered until all ten competitors were in the match.

Moose entered the ring first for Team Bully while Kazarian entered the ring first for Team Dreamer, tossing a trash can at Moose on his way to the ring.

This match was going to be nothing short of one massive brawl and both Moose and Kazarian fought back and forth, the music of Brian Myers hit and we soon had table time in the Impact Zone. Bhupinder Gujjar entered the ring next and to the delight of the fans in attendance, he took a cheese grater to the forehead of Myers.

Killer Kelly made her way down to the ring with a staplegun in hand and after taking out both King and Myers, Moose was left singing soprano as Kelly went “nuts”.

Masha Slamovich was out next and after some small momentum, she soon found herself being tossed to the outside over the top rope as Kelly was simultaneously getting the same treatment.

Yuya Uemura entered next and used his quick offense to gain momentum for his team as the only two men left to enter were the team captains.

Bully Ray’s music hit and with a table and chain in hand, he immediately focused his attention on Killer Kelly. His teammates grabbed Kelly and Bully yelled at her asking her what she was going to do as a helpless Kelly kicked and screamed.

Tommy Dreamer finally made his way down to the ring as the final entrant in the match and after taking out Bully, we soon saw Kelly and Slamovich battling each other with chairs in the middle of the ring. Kelly nailed Slamovich with a death valley driver through a chair but could only manage a two count.

After offense by both teams, Slamovich managed to follow up with the Snow Plow on Kelly but could only manage a two count as well. Dreamer grabbed Slamovich and nailed her with a huge old school ECW piledriver but before he could make a pin attempt, Jason Hotch and John Skyler hit the ring from the back.

Hotch and Skyler attempted to wipe out Kelly but they were thwarted and Kazarian was able to wipe them out through a table setup on the outside.

Back in the ring and it was down to Dreamer and Bully and as Dreamer was laid out face first on a table in the middle of the ring, Ray attempted to climb a ladder asking the referees for assistance. After the referees refused, Ray started assaulting them before the four referees ganged up on Bully and started beating on him.

Dreamer recovered at this point and nailed Bully with the Dreamer Driver but could only manage a two count. Dreamer climbed the ladder as the four referees assisted him and nailed Bully with a huge splash off the ladder through the table to get the 1-2-3 and get the emotional win for his team.

Steve Maclin defeated KUSHIDA to become the new Impact World Champion

Before the match began, David Penzer announced that we had a special guest commentator… With that being said, “The National Treasure” Nick Aldis made his way down to the ring and stated that he has officially returned to Impact Wrestling!

Steve Maclin made his way to the ring first and we were reminded that Maclin had defeated ten former Impact world champions on his way to this match tonight.

KUSHIDA made his way to the ring and as Penzer was doing the introductions, Maclin was booed and KUSHIDA surprised fans by being introduced with a Canadian flag.

After the bell rang, KUSHIDA landed a quick dropkick and attempted an early hoverboard lock before Maclin escaped to the outside. Maclin, not a fan of Canada as per his promo earlier tonight, grabbed KUSHIDA’s Canadian flag and disrespected it before tossing it on the ground and stepping on it.

We’re back in the ring and it was all KUSHIDA using his speed and technical skills to keep the match grounded as the powerful Maclin couldn’t gain any momentum in the match.

Maclin was finally able to gain the upperhand and after stepping to the outside, KUSHIDA found himself stretched around the post before finding himself on the outside of the ring as well. Maclin followed up by jumping off the apron and nailing KUSHIDA but not before giving a friendly salute to the Toronto crowd.

The match was back in the ring and after landing some forearm shots, Maclin has grounded KUSHIDA. Before Maclin could do any further damage, KUSHIDA was finally able to get back in the match by landing a springboard elbow off the ropes. KUSHIDA followed it up with a fisherman buster but could only manage a two count.

KUSHIDA attempted to climb the turnbuckle but Maclin caught him. Maclin attempted to hit his caught in the crosshairs but KUSHIDA was able to move in time. Both men were now on the entrance ramp and after KUSHIDA went to the top of the ramp, he came running down and nailed the left arm of Maclin.

Both men were back now in the ring and Maclin nailed a buckle bomb followed by a powerbomb but could only get a two count. KUSHIDA followed up with a top rope hoverboard lock but KUSHIDA could not hold on. Maclin recovered and after finally nailing his caught in the crosshairs, he landed a massive KIA but KUSHIDA kicked out!

KUSHIDA locked in his hoverboard lock but Maclin powered out. KUSHIDA continued to persevere and attempt to lock in his finisher but after Maclin countered with a death valley driver into the turnbuckles, he followed it up with one final KIA to seal the victory and become the new Impact world champion.

After the match, the referee attempted to present Maclin with the Impact world title but Maclin grabbed the mic and refused. He stated that he wanted Scott D’Amore to come out from the back and do what he promised and present him with the championship.

D’Amore came down to the ring and grabbed the title and attempted to present Maclin with it but Maclin was being difficult. D’Amore became fed up and shoved the title into Maclin’s chest and then turned his back on Maclin. Maclin nailed D’Amore with the title knocking him to the mat and Nick Aldis on commentary stated that he had seen enough.

Aldis entered the ring and stood face to face with Maclin before Maclin backed down and left the ring as the new Impact world champion.

Deonna Purrazzo defeated Jordynne Grace to become the new Impact Knockouts World Champion

Just like the men’s match, you can feel that “Big Fight” stature in this one.

Both women were pretty evenly matched but Grace had the power advantage and proved that in the opening moments of the match as both women looked to gain the early advantage.

After some back and forth action, Purrazzo found herself on the outside and after Grace landed a massive dive to the outside through the ropes that looked ugly but successful, she followed it up with a jackhammer to the floor.

Grace sent Purrazzo back to the inside and the power game continued as Jordynne locked Purrazzo in a stalled vertical suplex for the next twenty seconds. Unfortunately for Grace, her cockiness got the better of her and after the action spilled to the entrance ramp, Purrazzo was able to land a moonsault off the ramp to the floor to finally switch up momentum.

We’re back on the inside and Purrazzo locked Grace in a Koji Clutch before Grace was able to reverse it into a pinfall attempt for a two count. Grace followed it up with a Vertebreaker and attempted to get Purrazzo to tap out but Deonna wouldn’t give up.

After both ladies butted heads, Purrazzo attempted to get Grace to tap out with her Venice de Milo but Jordynne refused. Grace followed up by nailing Purrazzo with the Grace Driver but Purrazzo kicked out!

With both ladies exhausted at this point and battling in the corner, Purrazzo was finally able to seize the moment. Purrazzo successfully managed to set up and nail Grace with The Queen’s Gambit to score the massive victory and become the new Impact Knockouts world champion.

After the match, both women shook hands and embraced showing respect to one another before Grace left the ring allowing Purrazzo to soak in her world championship victory.

Final Thoughts:

Wow, what a night for Impact Wrestling!

From the pre-show all the way through the main event, Impact presented and delivered a homerun. Rebellion had everything you crave as a wrestling fan. From new world champions being crowned to the hardcore element to the surprise return of “The National Treasure”, I couldn’t have asked for a better PPV especially considering the fact that both of the company’s world champions went down due to injury leading into this.

“Card subject to change” is a term most wresting fans know very well but you wouldn’t have known that existed tonight with the way Impact presented their product.

Impact’s champions are some of the best in wresting right now and it’ll be interesting to see where they go from here leading into Under Siege taking place next month in my hometown of London, Ontario, Canada. I’ll be there for the PPV and the next night for the TV tapings and I’m looking forward to the next month of Impact television leading into the PPV.

From the new reigns of Steve Maclin and Deonna Purrazzo to the return of Nick Aldis to what Sami Callihan does next, Rebellion tonight was a great step in the next chapter of Impact Wrestling.

Mickie James relinquishes Impact Knockouts title, off Rebellion

Posted on by Josh Nason

Mickie James has relinquished the Impact Knockouts title due to several injuries that have kept her out of action for more than a month.

With the move, Jordynne Grace vs. Deonna Purrazzo at Sunday’s Rebellion pay-per-view will determine the new champion.

In April, it was revealed on Busted Open Radio by James and Tommy Dreamer that she has been dealing with three broken rib caps, a slight shoulder tear and possibly a torn pectoral muscle but still managed to wrestle on an Impact TV taping in February.

In a show-closing promo in an empty arena Thursday, James delivered a promo where said she had to do what’s right for the business, the locker room and for the title. She thanked the viewers for the “Last Rodeo” that brought her to the title and said she is not cleared to compete at Rebellion.

“Deonna, Jordynne…it’s your time now,” she said before putting the title and her cowboy hat in the ring and then leaving. Grace and Purrazzo were watching in a control room with Grace scowling at Purrazzo and storming off after the news.

James was to defend against Grace at March’s Sacrifice in a rematch from January’s title vs. career match but had to withdraw due to the injuries. James then had to withdraw from a four-way title defense at Multiverse United a week later.

Impact management announced that James, Grace and Purrazzo (the winner of the four-way) would face each other in a three-way for the title at this Sunday’s PPV. If James couldn’t compete, Grace vs. Purrazzo will compete for the title instead.

Both women will be looking for their third reign as Knockouts Champion.

Knockouts title rematch, three other bouts official for Impact Sacrifice

Posted on by Josh Nason

After Mickie James was successful at both staving off elimination and winning the Knockouts title at January’s Hard to Kill. she will rematch the woman on the losing end of that bout at this month’s Sacrifice.

Made official Thursday following her defense against Gisele Shaw, James will defend against Jordynne Grace who recently gave her intent to cash in her rematch clause from January.

The streaming special will take place on Friday, March 24th from Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

In an all-star trios match confirmed Thursday, Impact World Champion Josh Alexander will team with Rich Swann and Frankie Kazarian to take on Time Machine (KUSHIDA and the Motor City Machine Guns). This will act as a preview of the Alexander vs. KUSHIDA title match at this month’s Multiverse United.

After being cross with Santino Marella about not being on the No Surrender card, X-Division Champion Trey Miguel will defend against an opponent of Marella’s choosing.

Tommy Dreamer and Bully Ray will finally go head-to-head in the first-ever Busted Open match (aka a first blood match).

Here’s the current lineup:

  • Impact World Champion Josh Alexander, Rich Swann & Frankie Kazarian vs. Time Machine (KUSHIDA & Motor City Machine Guns)
  • Knockouts Champion Mickie James defends against Jordynne Grace
  • Tommy Dreamer vs. Bully Ray Busted Open match
  • X-Division Champion Trey Miguel defends against TBA

Jordynne Grace vs. Mickie James title vs. career match set for Impact Hard to Kill

Posted on by Josh Nason

Mickie James will face her toughest test yet as part of her “Last Rodeo” series as she is set to challenge Impact Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace at January’s Hard to Kill.

It will be Grace’s title against James’ career per the self-induced stipulation by James several months ago that her next loss would send her into retirement.

James defeated Deonna Purrazzo in Thursday’s main event on AXS with Grace coming out afterward to congratulate James and offer up a challenge for the title at the January 13th pay-per-view.

James is a four-time Knockouts Champion and has never faced Grace before. Grace will be looking for the seventh defense of the title she won at June’s Slammiversary.

The title match is the second made for the January show from Center Stage in Atlanta, Georgia.

Here’s the current card:

  • Impact World Champion Josh Alexander defends against Bully Ray
  • Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Mickie James in a title vs. career match

Last Knockout Standing match added to Impact Wrestling Over Drive

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A new title match has been made official for Impact Wrestling’s Over Drive special.

The Knockouts Championship will be on the line as Jordynne Grace defends against Masha Slamovich in a Last Knockout Standing match at Over Drive this Friday night. The special is airing live on Impact Plus and for Impact’s Ultimate Insiders subscribers on YouTube.

Grace vs. Slamovich was set up when Slamovich made her return to Impact Wrestling last Thursday. After Grace retained her Knockouts Championship against Gisele Shaw, Slamovich attacked Grace with a steel chair. Slamovich then slammed Grace onto a pile of chairs.

Slamovich unsuccessfully challenge for Grace’s Knockouts Championship at last month’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view. The loss ended an undefeated streak that Slamovich had been on in Impact Wrestling this year.

Grace has been Knockouts Champion since winning the title at Slammiversary this June.

Grace and Slamovich also faced off against each other at a PWG show earlier this month.

Over Drive is taking place at Old Forester’s Paristown Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. Here’s the updated card for the special:

  • Impact World Champion Josh Alexander defends against Frankie Kazarian
  • Last Knockout Standing match: Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Masha Slamovich
  • Impact Tag Team Champions Heath & Rhino defend against The Major Players
  • Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Death Dollz defend against Tasha Steelz & Savannah Evans
  • Mickie James vs. Taylor Wilde
  • X-Division title tournament finals: Trey Miguel vs. TBD
  • Tables match: Bully Ray vs. Moose

Three new matches announced for Impact Derby City Rumble tapings

Posted on by Ian Carey

Impact Wrestling has added three matches to the lineup for its next set of television tapings. 

The promotion will be in Louisville, Kentucky on Friday and Saturday for Derby City Rumble. 

Deonna Purrazzo & Chelsea Green vs. Jordynne Grace & Mia Yim has been added to the lineup for Friday, July 15. Purrazzo and Green also teamed together recently at Impact Against All Odds on July 1. They defeated the team of Mia Yim and Mickie James. 

X-Division Champion Mike Bailey vs. Rocky Romero has been announced for Saturday, July 16 as well. It is not advertised as a title match. 

Honor No More’s Mike Bennett & Matt Taven vs. Bullet Club’s Chris Bey & Ace Austin has also been announced for the show on Friday. 

Impact Wrestling Derby City Rumble will take place from Old Forester’s Paristown Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. The updated lineup for the television tapings is as follows: 

Friday, July 15:

  • Chris Sabin vs. Alex Shelley
  • KUSHIDA vs. Rich Swann
  • Deonna Purrazzo & Chelsea Green vs. Jordynne Grace & Mia Yim
  • Mike Bennett & Matt Taven vs. Chris Bey & Ace Austin 

Saturday, July 16:

  • Impact X-Division Champion Mike Bailey vs. Rocky Romero in a non-title bout. 

Jordynne Grace launches CTE fundraiser following controversial Benoit tweet

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace is doing her best to make something positive come from a negative situation.

After drawing criticism for a tweet she made about Chris Benoit last week, Grace issued a statement on Monday announcing that she’s launching a fundraiser to benefit the Concussion Legacy Foundation. The fundraiser “will serve to push forward the research and education of CTE.”

The fundraiser has a goal of $20,000, with Grace donating $5,000 of her own money to begin the campaign. Grace launched the fundraiser after speaking privately to friends and family of Benoit’s that she angered or hurt, including Benoit’s son David and Benoit’s friends Chris Jericho and Chavo Guerrero.

Grace wrote:

Last week I made an irresponsible and unnecessary tweet. Regardless of how my personal emotions influence my opinion, I should have recognized the impact my words would have on friends and family close to the situation. I was completely thoughtless in that regard.

Since reflecting this past week, I’ve reached out privately to friends and family that I angered or hurt.

Among those was David Benoit, Chavo Guererro, and Chris Jericho, who are supporting me in the decision to partner and fundraise with the Concussion Legacy Foundation (formerly Sports Legacy Institute). I have pledged $5,000, with the overall campaign goal being $20,000.

I’m acutely aware that the damage has been done. I would never intentionally add onto the suffering of those already dealing with such a traumatic event, and I am sorry for my insensitivity and aggravating this already delicate topic.

This is my way of attempting to squeeze something positive out of the negative situation I created. Thank you in advance to everyone who donates. 

In response to a tweet about wrestlers who still praise Benoit in a professional context despite his heinous actions, Grace wrote on July 6: “This is gonna be the coldest take I ever tweet on this app. I already know y’all gonna be mad. I don’t think Benoit could 100% hang with most of the present day best wrestlers. He would not be able to remember matches. Also may he burn in hell, amen.”

Guerrero then responded to Grace: “I think @JordynneGrace just lost a lot of wrestling credibility from some of her comments.”

Last month marked 15 years since the Benoit double murder and suicide, where Benoit murdered his wife Nancy and seven-year-old son Daniel before killing himself.

Jordynne Grace on Impact Knockouts Champion goals, Queen of the Mountain match

Posted on by Denise Salcedo

Jordynne Grace made history against last Sunday by competing in the first-ever Queen of the Mountain match at Impact Slammiversary, winning the title to begin her second reign as Knockouts Champion. 

Following the show, I talked with her about her victory, the ins and outs of the match itself, her recent reinvention, and body transformation. 

Some interesting quotes are below, but please watch the whole video on YouTube above.

“Everybody was freaking out.”

Last Sunday’s match was unlike any other when it comes to the rules. The competitors involved had to hang the championship instead of pulling it down like a normal ladder match. However, not everyone gets the opportunity to hang the belt as the competitors qualify within the match by pinning someone at some point in the match. However, if you are pinned, you must spend two minutes locked inside a penalty box. It’s a fun concept, but a complicated one.

“We really had an uphill battle because a) in the first women’s anything, there’s always so much pressure on the girls to do an amazing job. And then 2) people already hate that kind of match. People were talking about how stupid it was and how complicated the rules were, so we really had two uphill battles to fight through.” 

It was the most nervous she had ever seen any of the competitors prior to a match. 

“Before the match, everybody was freaking out. I’ve never seen a group of girls that anxious before a match before. Even in the Ultimate X match, no one was that nervous. But I think it was because there were the rules and we had to think about who was in the box at a certain time and that was complicated in of itself. 

“Actually something that we were told was gonna happen during the match didn’t happen which was that the timer was not on the Titantron. I think everybody was just so relieved that no one got hurt and it went as well as it did. Everybody was doing these high risk spots and I was like, ‘I pray that I am in position to catch people and that no one gets hurt.’ And we did it, and I think we killed it.

“Watching everybody’s feedback and seeing that everybody really seemed to enjoy the match, I was over the moon about it. It could have not gone better for us.”

Grace was thankful that Impact management trusted this group of Knockouts to take on the first-ever match for the women.

“It’s incredible that they are handing us the ball like this and trusting us to do it, because they could have given these matches to any other Knockouts at any other point in time, like, before I was here. I feel like they trust this group of Knockouts enough to go out and do these kinds of matches and do them well. I feel that says a lot about the current Knockouts division, how much they trust us, and how much they respect us.”

A title run with fans in attendance

The result saw Grace winning and becoming Knockouts Champion for a second time, ending the reign of Tasha Steelz. The two will rematch at next month’s Against All Odds.

“I feel awesome about that. Physically, I feel exhausted, it was a really, really long weekend and the tapings afterward were really long, but I feel great. I feel proud, I feel motivated. I am just ready to represent the Knockouts division as best as I can.” 

Grace is no stranger to holding the title after her first run in 2020. However, the landscape in wrestling during that time was different due to the pandemic. She talked about how that impacted her first reign and what she plans on doing differently this second time around. 

“2020 was a difficult time period for me to be Knockouts Champion because I won it and basically immediately, the pandemic happened. So I did a lot of my title defenses and lost my title with no fans. I feel like that almost wasn’t really fair to me as a champion to have to go through that. And it’s really been an uphill battle to get back to this title. I felt the only thing I can do to get back to this title was reinvent myself and I think I’ve done that. I started leaning into powerlifting a lot more. 

“The less I thought about the Knockouts title, the more I feel like they wanted to give me the opportunity again. I just kept focusing on myself. I was just like ‘Don’t worry about who has the title. Don’t worry about the opportunities anybody else is getting because all you can do is focus on yourself.’ I feel like that has finally paid off.” 

Grace wants to bring more eyes to the Knockouts division and Impact.

“I feel like we put out such an incredible product and the women are given more opportunities here than any other promotion. I feel like fans need to start watching Impact Wrestling and see these things. A lot of people still have in their head that ‘Back in the day, they messed things up a little bit,’ but it’s a completely new crew now. Everything is different and I think we need to be given that opportunity again to be one of the top companies. We need more eyes on us and that’s my goal as champion.” 

Reinvention 

Those that have been following Grace and Impact have most likely noticed a change in Grace’s presentation. Grace said she has been working a lot harder in the gym and leaning into powerlifting a lot more. 

“I just think over time, hearing and reading these comments no matter what my body looked like at the time, there was always something negative about it. I thought to myself, ‘I need to stop worrying about these people and worry about the way I wanna look.’

Grace noted that she does more cardio now on top of powerlifting. She also walks on the StairMaster carrying ankle weights four-to-five times a week. She also consistently goes to the gym five-to-six times a week. If she takes a day off, she does yoga or gets a massage. In order to slim down for Queen of the Mountain, she did all this consistently for six weeks. 

To hear more, watch the video above.