The 32-year-old had been with Impact Wrestling since 2020 but hadn’t performed for the promotion since late 2021. She’s wrestled sparingly over the last year, performing for promotions such as SHINE and FEST.
On Saturday, Lee put out a statement announcing that her “heart is not in this anymore” and she will no longer be taking bookings for the foreseeable future.
Her statement reads:
The goodbye that I thought would never come. The mistress that has overtaken my life for the past 15 years. At times, wrestling was the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I have been to places and I have gotten to see things that I never would have dreamed of in my lifetime. But at the some time, there comes a point in everyone’s life where things just cannot continue in the same fashion that they have, because circumstances and goals evolve and change.
I originally thought that this was just going to be a break from wrestling. That after some time I would be ready to put my heart into this again and come back better than I have ever been before. But the thing is, the more I think about it, the more I come to realize that my heart is not in this anymore. Kimber Lee brings me instant heartache and anxiety, not the butterflies and joy that once was. There are too many painful wounds that come with going back into this world, and I am not willing to give those wounds my power or dominion over my life anymore.
With that being said, I will no longer be taking active bookings for the foreseeable future. Kimber is going to step away from the squared circle, and Kimberly Frankele is going out into the world, ready to become something amazing. I know I am being called into my healing abilities, and will be continuing to step forward in that space and I would love to have as many of you as I can along for that journey. When you close one door, you give yourself the opportunity to open up any new door you choose. I have lives to change and heal, and this is my first official step into my true self. As the real me.
I love you all so much, and with this, the Princess takes her final bow. Let the curtain fall….
Before signing with WWE in 2016, Kimber Lee had a successful run in Chikara as Princess KimberLee. She won the promotion’s top title, the Chikara Grand Championship, in 2015. Kimber is also a former Shimmer Champion and twice held the SHINE tag titles, once with Stormie Lee and once with Cherry Bomb (AKA Allie, The Bunny).
Kimber Lee signed with WWE in 2016 and performed as Abbey Laith in NXT until she was released in 2018.
Lee was married to Zachary Wentz (Nash Carter in NXT) from 2020 until 2022. She posted to social media in April 2022 that Wentz had been physically abusive and also posted a photo of him imitating Adolf Hitler. Wentz was released from WWE shortly after. He was one-half of the NXT Tag Team Champions along with Wes Lee at the time.
Lee says she is currently enrolled in Reiki and Meditation teacher training.
As first reported by Sean Ross Sapp, the 27-year-old Carter has been let go following allegations of domestic abuse by his wife, Impact Wrestling’s Kimber Lee. Photos of Lee with her lip split open, allegedly caused by Carter, were posted by her on Monday.
Lee tagged the official NXT Twitter account in her tweet along with the caption, “Hey @WWENXT this is my face after your tag champ @NashCarterWWE got wasted and hit me so hard he split my lip open. He told me I’m a wrestler so I’m always marked up. I’ve hid this for a year and even forgave him. But I can’t hide it anymore.”
“You all wanted the proof. There it is. I’m sorry I backed out but he was telling me lies all weekend to get me to not say anything,” a follow-up tweet reads.
On Tuesday, Lee posted a photo of Carter impersonating Adolf Hitler and giving a Nazi salute. She captioned the photo with, “Just another look into the kind of person @NashCartweWWE is….@WWENXT @WWE I’ve hid so much for so long because I was so mentally abused. Not to mention the countless anti LGBTQIA+ statements him and his family make…..”
At the time he was released, Carter was one-half of the NXT Tag Team Champions along with his MSK partner, Wes Lee. They defeated The Creed Brothers and former champions Imperium in a triple threat match to win the belts at NXT Stand & Deliver last Saturday.
Two matches have been announced for Tuesday’s Impact.
Eric Young will face Rhino in a singles match. This follows their match from this weekend’s Hard to Kill pay-per-view event, when Eric Young, Deaner, and Joe Doering defeated Rhino, Cousin Jake, and Tommy Dreamer in a six-man old school rules match.
Another match that has been announced is Kimber Lee and Susan (Su Yung under a new persona) taking on Jordynne Grace and Jazz. The latter team competed in the Knockouts Tag Team title tournament, but lost in the semifinals to Havok and Nevaeh. Jazz and Grace then had a match at Genesis on January 9, with Grace scoring the win.
In the main event of Hard to Kill, AEW World champion Kenny Omega teamed with The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows) to defeat Impact World champion Rich Swann, Chris Sabin, and Moose, with Omega pinning Swann. The next pay-per-view from Impact will be Rebellion, which takes place on April 24.
After debuting for the promotion earlier this year, Kimber Lee has officially signed with Impact Wrestling.
“As first reported by The Hype Magazine, Kimber Lee has signed a long-term contract with IMPACT Wrestling. Lee makes an incredible addition to an already stacked roster, proving why IMPACT Wrestling’s Knockouts division is the greatest women’s division in professional wrestling today,” Impact Wrestling announced.
Lee made her Impact Wrestling debut on the May 5 episode of Impact. She had her first match for the promotion the next week, defeating Jessicka Havok.
Last month, Lee took part in the Knockouts number one contender’s gauntlet match at Slammiversary that was won by Kylie Rae. Lee lost a non-title match to Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo on last week’s Impact. Purrazzo defeated Jordynne Grace at Slammiversary to win the Knockouts title.
An independent wrestling standout, Lee reported to the WWE Performance Center in January 2017. She used the name Abbey Laith in NXT and was one of the entrants in the inaugural Mae Young Classic. Lee was released by WWE in 2018.
Impact Wrestling returns from Nashville, TN for tonight’s episode, which kicks off the #1 Contenders Tournament for Tessa Blanchards’s Impact World Championship, and headlined by Moose defending his TNA World Championship against Suicide.
Opening video started as a promo for the #1 contendership tournament for the Impact World championship that starts tonight. However, Moose interrupted the video, called in the former voice of TNA, Barry Scott, to do the introduction. The video became a Moose highlight reel, listing his accolades and featured old footage of Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, Bobby Roode, Bully Ray, Jeff Hardy, Jeff Jarrett, Dixie Carter, and Hulk Hogan putting him over. This was a hell of an intro.
Hernandez defeated Madman Fulton (w/oVe) in a World Championship #1 Contender first round match
Collar and elbow to start the match, with Fulton having the early power advantage, pushing Hernandez to the corner over and over again. Hernandez hit a headbutt and clothesline, but couldn’t put Fulton down, who even caught Hernandez mid-crossbody. Eventually, Hernandez hit a pounce out of nowhere to cut Fulton’s momentum.
Fulton hit a deadlift suplex over the ropes, followed with a front slam and a plancha for a two count. He had a choke in when Hernandez started to make a comeback. Fulton stomped him down. Hernandez kept fighting, but the Crist brothers were there to distract the referee and aid Fulton to cut Hernandez off again.
Fulton hit a huge sidewalk slam and went to follow with a second rope headbutt, but Hernandez moved away. Fulton tried to throw Hernandez into the rails, but Hernandez came back with a springboard shoulder tackle. Hernandez hit a chokeslam, but Dave Crist put Fulton’s leg on the ropes.
Hernandez went for a tope con giro on oVe, but the Crist brothers stopped him. Hernandez brought them in, took out Dave, then hit a Border Toss on Jake onto Fulton, but Fulton kicked out at one.
Fulton went back into the attack, hit a running splash to the corner, went for a second, but Hernandez blocked. Fulton went for a superplex, but Hernandez blocked and hit a Supermex Splash for the win. This was much better than I expected.
Michael Elgin cut a promo saying that he should be the #1 contender, but Impact keeps putting speed bumps on his way to the championship. He said that whatever happens to the talent on that way will be on Impact’s hands.
Backstage, Fulton was going crazy over losing. Fulton and Dave argued, while Jake tried to calm them down. Crazzy Steve walked up and told oVe that they seemed to be done and kind of implied that he could lead oVe. Dave Crist vs Crazzy Steve for next week.
Joseph P. Ryan walked up and said that it was offensive for crazy people to be calling others ‘crazy’.
Josh Matthews and Madison Rayne ran down tonight’s card.
Kylie Rae defeated Tasha Steelz
Match starts with a lock up, with a little bit of chain wrestling for wrist control and headlock counters. This went on for several minutes, with both women trading momentum. Eventually, the match picked up speed and Rae got the upper hand with arm drags, but when she thought she had it, Steelz dropped her face first on the turnbuckle to cut her off.
Tasha hit a couple of short-line clotheslines for a quick two count. Tasha locked in a sleeper, but Kylie powered up to her feet and slammed Tasha against the turnbuckles over and over again until she released.
Rae hit the Kylie Special for a two count. Kylie went for a STTF, but Tasha made the ropes. Tasha kicked Rae and hit a top rope crossbody for a two count. Kylie locked in the Smile To The Finish and Tasha tapped out. Good, short match.
Rohit Raju cut a promo about change coming to Impact now that he will become the #1 Contender. He said that he had been there for 3 years and he had not one t-shirt, but now everyone would realize how good he is. He said there is no more Desi Hit Squad, only the Desi Hitman Rohit Raju. Another awesome promo by Raju.
Backstage, Susie walked up to Kylie Rae. Susie didn’t remember Kylie, so they did some stuff about names. Pointless skit.
Kimber Lee defeated Havok
Lee tried to start the match strong, but Havok’s power advantage cut her off as she tossed Lee around a bit. Lee tried to chop herself back into the offense side, but Havok kept cutting her off.
Kimber Lee went for a rana, but Havok blocked her and hit a sit down powerbomb for a two count.
Kimber Lee connected with a spinning Kick and a step-up kick to bring down Havok. Lee choked her against the ropes, and kept up with strikes. Lee locked in a Koji Clutch around the ropes, dropped Haok with a low dropkick, then connected with a kick. She followed with a swanton bomb for a two count.
Kimber Lee went for a crossbody, but Havok caught her and hit a Swinging Side Slam for a two count.
Halfway through the match, Nevaeh was seen at the ramp watching the match. Havok eventually saw her and got distracted, allowing Kimber Lee to grab brass knuckles, which she used when Havok went for a superplex. Kimber Lee then rolled up Havok and picked up the win. Interesting that Lee debuted cheating.
We got another great Kiera Hogan vignette. She’s calling herself ‘The Hottest Flame’.
We got another episode of Locker Room Talk, with special guest, Ken Shamrock. Swinger and Shamrock have a past and Shamrock remembers. Madison Rayne asked about the last problems that Shamrock has been involved in, to which Shamrock said that people keep coming for him.
Shamrock said that he is now focused on the Impact World championship, but suddenly, Michael Elgin walked up and attacked Shamrock with a chair, delivered a con-chair-to, and walked away.
We got a promo by Sami Callihan. He talked about Elgin, who according to Sami, has always been trying to copy Sami’s career, except he always fails. Callihan said that next week, he collides with Elgin and that he’ll do whatever it takes to be champion again.
Trey Miguel defeated Rohit Raju in a World Championship #1 Contender first round match
Fast paced sequence of wrist control reversals into a lucha style armdrag exchange, at least until Raju got tired and took down Trey with his slight power advantage. Trey recovered and used his speed for another quick sequence, hitting a jawbreaker and footstomp.
Trey went for a dive, but Rohit blocked him, kicking him several times . Rohit, now in control, worked over Trey for a while, mostly strikes, slams, and some submission attempts. Rohit hit a jumping reverse STO for a two count.
Trey tried to make a comeback, but got cut off by a fisherman suplex for another two count. Trey finally connected a full kick combination and neckbreaker to bring Rohit down and get a breather.
Rohit went for a kick combo, but Trey blocked and dodged them all, connected a Pele kick, and got a two count. Rohit came back with a couple of running attacks and a front suplex for a near fall. Rohit whipped Trey and followed with a forearm, tried to do the same, but Trey countered, hit some Cheeky Nandos and the Trey19.
When he went for the Meteora, Rohit caught him with a jumping knee. Rohit hit a swinging neckbreaker, went for another Front Suplex, but Trey reversed into a roll up for the win. Pretty good match, easily the best of the night so far.
Rohit threw a fit after the match.
We got another video of Cody Deaner during his ‘Kwaranteen’, this time talking about loneliness and mental health during social isolation. He said he calls his fellow wrestlers on the phone, which was more like cutting promos on the phone. We got some footage of Cody learning how to dance and doing DDP Yoga. He also tried to wrestle a tree and the invisible man. These are funny.
Over in Canada, we got another match from The North. Before that however, Page cut a promo saying that he hired someone to get them competition. It was another team of geeks. Page is enjoying himself, while Alexander is getting tired of not having real competition.
Impact Tag Team Champions The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander) defeated The Smoes to retain their titles
Page superkicked one of The Smoes and knocked him out with one move. They did a Weekend At Bernie’s match, having the unconscious Smoe pretend to participate in the match. Alexander tagged in and killed his opponent with a powerbomb into the knee, an airplane toss, and Page finished him with a top rope body press into Alexander’s backbreaker. The North then hit their finisher and won. This was at least funny. Can’t wait for some real competition either.
Rosemary was at the bar trying to figure out her Tarot fortune and talking to Mr. Mundo. John E. Bravo walked up. They argued about who missed Taya the least. She wondered if Bravo was the ‘love’ that the cards predicted.
Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the Week was AJ Styles vs Matt Hardy from Victory Road 2011.
Backstage, Swinger and Chris Bey had a discussion, with the latter adding some bad blood between himself and Willie Mack
Swinger found Mack and told him that he was getting a big head since he won the X-Division title and told Mack that he was going to add him to the Royal Humble and win the X-Division title. Mack agreed and made the challenge for next week.
Also set for next week is Rhino vs. Ken Shamrock and Michael Elgin vs. Sami Callihan in the #1 Contendership tournament. Also, XXXL vs TJP & Fallah Bahh where the winners will become the next contenders for the Tag Team titles.
Self-Proclaimed TNA World Champion Moose defeated Suicide to retain his title.
During his entrance, Moose demanded that ring announcer, David Penzer, make special title match announcements for tonight.
Match started as Suicide got a couple of roll ups on Moose. Moose tried pulling from the mask, but Suicide recovered quickly. Moose hit a big Fenix-like Rana on Moose, sending him to the floor.
They started brawling around ringside, where Moose finally got the upper hand, whipping Suicide into the rails.
Back in the ring, Suicide recovered, blocking Moose’s rush, but Moose caught him on the top rope and tossed him across the ring to finally cut him off.
Moose worked over Suicide with chops, punches, and big boots when Suicide tried to make a comeback. At one point, they went back to the floor where Moose swung Suicide into the rails and followed with an apron bomb for a 10 count tease.
Suicide made it back, but was stomped back to the floor for a second time. But this time, Moose went down to talk trash. He tossed Suicide back to the ring, but kept talking trash to the camera, allowing Suicide to connect with a dive.
Back in the ring, Suicide faked Moose on the ropes and hit an apron senton onto Moose. Suicide hit a leg scissors takedown and went for a German, but Moose easily blocked. Suicide hit a big palm strike for a two count.
Suicide went to the top rope, but Moose rushed him and went for a pop-up powerbomb. Suicide reversed with a rana, landing on his head. Suicide followed with a rolling fireman’s carry slam and a lionsault for a two count.
Moose rammed Suicide to the corner where he stomped him, but got distracted with the referee, and accidentally slammed him. Suicide hit a superkick and an enzugiri. Moose came back with a big boot, and Suicide responded with a shotei and a backfist. Moose went for a top rope shoulder tackle, but Suicide caught him with a codebreaker for a visual pin. However, the referee was down.
Moose went for the No Jackhammer Needed, but Suicide reversed with a Code Red for a two count. Moose lowblowed Suicide behind the ref’s back and hit the No Jackhammer Needed to retain the championship. This was surprisingly good given the random pairing.
Given the storyline with the TNA Championship, a lot of recently released wrestlers like Eric Young and ECIII were named as people that could come to tell Moose what they thought about him proclaiming himself the champion.
Final Thoughts —
Good show by Impact. A positive start to the #1 Contender’s tournament, a great main event title defense, and two good debuts for the Knockout’s Division. I barely noticed that there were no people there.
A new addition to the Knockouts division emerged on this week’s episode of Impact.
Kimber Lee made her Impact debut in a segment that aired on this week’s show. It set up that Lee will make her Impact in-ring debut against Jessicka Havok next Tuesday.
Havok was the guest on Madison Rayne’s Locker Room Talk segment on this week’s episode of Impact. Rayne asked Havok about losing to Rosemary in their Full Metal Mayhem match at Rebellion and Nevaeh appearing in the arena and watching the match. Havok said Nevaeh is an old friend, but she doesn’t know why she’s here.
Rayne revealed that she had a surprise for Havok and said Nevaeh wasn’t Havok’s only old friend in Impact. She then introduced Lee as her next guest. Lee said she might be new around here, but Havok knows exactly who she is. Lee called herself the crown jewel and said she’s ready to rise to the top. Havok responded by saying she knows who Lee is, but Lee knows exactly who Havok is too.
Lee tweeted after her debut aired: “THATS RIGHT IM HERE!! AND ITS ABOUT DAMN TIME THE CROWN JEWEL SHOWED UP #CrownJewel #IMPACTonAXSTV”
An independent wrestling standout, Lee reported to the WWE Performance Center in January 2017 and used the name Abbey Laith in NXT prior to being released in 2018. She was one of the entrants in the inaugural Mae Young Classic.
Impact’s tournament to decide a new number one contender to Tessa Blanchard’s Impact World Championship will kick off with two first round matches next week: Rohit Raju vs. Trey Miguel and Hernandez vs. Madman Fulton. Moose will also defend his TNA World Heavyweight title belt against Suicide.
Impact Wrestling returns from Nashville, TN for the fallout of Rebellion.
Opening video was a quick recap of the second night of Rebellion, where Kiera Hogan said she’d be taking a break after losing to Kylie Rae, while Willie Mack won the X-Division Championship, Shamrock defeated Callihan in a unsanctioned match, and Moose proclaimed himself the new TNA World Champion in the wake of Tessa’s absence.
Sami Callihan came down to the ring to open the show. Callihan cut a promo saying that he had the fight of his life against Shamrock, but he was still standing and it would take a lot more to take him out. Callihan blamed the referee for losing as he stopped the match. He said he didn’t need help from anyone, not the referee nor oVe.
Callihan called out Ken Shamrock, who came out and got in the ring. Shamrock told Callihan that he is one of the toughest men he’d been in the ring with for not tapping out. Shamrock told Sami that they could go back outside to keep fighting, or they can shake hands and let it go and they can go chase the World Title. Looks like a Callihan babyface run is coming.
Michael Elgin came out to interrupt. He said that he is the only man that is next in line to be the World Champion. He talked trash to Callihan for his antics, because Elgin’s wrestling speaks for him. Shamrock was ready to get in a fight with Elgin.
Elgin attacked Callihan, Shamrock went in for the save and took down Elgin. Callihan was going to deliver the Cactus Special on Elgin, but the latter escaped. Good little angle, with two new names entering the title chase.
Chris Bey cut a promo saying that while there was uncertainty about the next World Title contender, there was no doubt that HE was the no. 1 contender to the X-Division Championship. Bey said that tonight, he was going to challenge Willie Mack for the title. Good promo.
Willie Mack cut a promo. He accepted Chris Bey’s challenge. Mack is such a weird promo.
XXXL (Acey Romero & Larry D) defeated oVe (Madman Fulton & Jake Crist) with Dave Crist
Fulton and Larry D started off with a clash of big lads. They tried to lock up, but neither had the upper hand until Crist slapped Fulton. They traded some shoulder tackles before Larry landed a scoop slam and tagged in Acey for the senton.
Jake Crist tagged in, but was easily taken down and tossed around by Acey. XXXL double teamed Crist for a two count. Larry D landed some splashes and sentons. Eventually, Dave Crist saved his brother by pulling him out of the ring before XXXL could double team him again.
Back from commercial, we saw footage of how Fulton tackled Acey Romero into the steel steps and successfully cut him off.
oVe, now in control, worked over Acey. At one point, Fulton got Acey on the top rope, got him up on his shoulders and hit an impressive Lambeau Leap. Fulton hit a running splash and boot. After some more offense, Acey managed to hit a desperation spinebuster on Fulton to get the tag to Larry D.
Larry ran wild over Jake Crist, hit a release suplex and plancha for a two count. Jake recovered and hit a kick combo, but was sent outside the ring and taken out by a suicide dive by Larry D. Fulton stopped Larry from hitting a moonsault, and along with Jake Crist, hit a doomsday cutter for a two count when Acey broke it up.
Acey pounced Fulton to the floor. Larry knocked out both Dave and Jake Crist and pinned the latter for the win. Good match towards the end, Larry D is so good. The oVe losing streak continues.
Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the Week was Victory Road 2009’s Kurt Angle vs Mick Foley.
We got another episode of Madison Rayne’s Locker Room Talk show. Havok was the guest tonight, introduced as “dark and boring”. Madison asked Havok about losing to Rosemary and what was next, even brought up the possibility of retirement. Havok said that Madison would end up like the last person that got under her skin, meaning either James Mitchel or Su Yung.
Rayne asked about Nevaeh, who was there during Havok’s match at Rebellion. Havok said she was an old friend, but didn’t know why she was here. Rayne brought up a surprise guest and brought in Kimber Lee. Lee said she was here to rise to the top. Havok and Lee got face to face. Knockouts’ Division just improved even more!
Jake Deaner cut a promo from outside his trailer. He said that since the “kwaranteen” started, he has been living in the middle of nowhere, but it was more like squatting in someone’s ranch. He now has a merch table in the middle of the highway. This was good.
Suicide defeated Johnny Swinger
Swinger jumped Suicide when the ref was checking in for weapons. Swinger mostly tried to choke and rake Suicide, but Suicide has a full body suit so that didn’t do much harm.
Suicide came back, sent Swinger outside and hit a Plancha. He went to the top rope, but Swinger hit the ropes and dropped Suicide. Swinger went back for more chokes, hit an Olympic Slam for a two count, then went for a headbutt. Suicide dodged striking his way back.
Suicide finished the match with a couple of palm strikes, a codebreaker, and a swanton bomb for the win.
Swinger kept calling him Spidey, which was funny.
Backstage, Ace Austin cut a promo saying that Bey didn’t deserve a title shot because Bey has only been here a couple of weeks, while Ace has beaten everyone. Ace inserted himself into the X-Division title match with his rematch clause.
Josh Matthews interviewed Moose. After a quick recap of last week’s main event, Josh asked why Moose thought he was the champion. Moose said that he disagreed with Elgin being champion by forfeit while he had been out there beating up legends and that made him the real World Champion, because not even Tessa was there.
Josh said that the TNA title was locked up in a warehouse, it doesn’t really mean anything in the books. Moose said that he was there as THE champion. He won it by beating men all year.
Josh announced that starting next week, there will be a tournament to crown a new No. 1 Contender for Tessa Blanchard’s title. Moose told Josh that he was pulling himself out of the tournament because he was the TNA World Champion and didn’t care about the Impact World title.
This delusional Moose is interesting.
Joseph P. Ryan defeated Cousin Jake
Ryan started the match stalling, but after leaving the ring over and over, Jake got his hands on Ryan and started pummeling him. Jake stomped on Ryan and hit a body block before Ryan once again ran out and asked for a time out.
Ryan went back to work on the same arm he worked on during their Rebellion match, but Jake was still more powerful and took him out with clotheslines, landed a dropkick, and hit a two handed chokeslam.
Outside the ring, Ryan managed to toss Jake into the ring post shoulder first, and got the chance to work over the injured arm some more. Ryan hit a scoop slam for a two count. Ryan kept working until Jake hit a desperation slam to get some space.
Jake made his comeback with clotheslines and a discus lariat to take Ryan down. Jake hit a deadlift Powerbomb for a two count. Jake sent Ryan to the floor, but when he went for the dive, he was caught by a superkick by Ryan for a two count.
Blocking a slam attempt by Ryan, Jake instead landed one of his own. Jake went for the pounce, but Ryan pulled the ref in front of him, poked Jake’s eyes and rolled him up, grabbing his tights to steal the win.
We got a vignette for Kiera Hogan. This was fantastic, she talked about being born and raised in Atlanta, about always being in the passenger seat and being ready to be the driver.
We got a match from Canada for The North’s title defense. The crowd was made of dummies with Impact and North shirts on, and fake audience sound bits. Ethan Page played into it, but Josh Alexander no sold it.
Page cut a promo putting over Canada and said that they were the best tag team in the world and that all they wanted to do was to compete. Josh Alexander called out Kurt Angle of all people in tonight’s third name drop of Angle. Interesting.
Out came the challengers, two skinny wimps.
Impact World Champions The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander) defeated The Creeps
This was a squash match, but it was shown as a long highlight reel of The North torturing these two guys. Page got the pin for the win. This wasn’t good, segment included.
Rosemary was at the bar. She said that it was nice to be back in the ring last week, and then started to read her tarot cards, which told her to follow her instincts. Too cryptic to be useful.
Rohit Raju cut a promo about being entered as Moose’s replacement in the World Title No. 1 Contender’s Tournament. He said that he’d been there for years and that he would be the Impact World Champion. Awesome promo!
Josh Matthews ran down the #1 Contender’s Tournament matches, with Rohit Raju vs. Trey Miguel and Hernandez vs. Madman Fulton next week. Later on, Sami Callihan vs Michael Elgin, and Ken Shamrock vs Rhino.
Also next week, Kimber Lee debuts versus Havok. Moose will defend the TNA World Championship versus Suicide.
X-Division Champion Willie Mack defeated Chris Bey and Ace Austin to retain the title
Match started with Ace trying to use the title belt to take out Mack. Instead, Mack took both men down. Mack took on both men with chops, forearms, double clotheslines, and at one point, hit a double Samoan drop and moonsault into both.
Ace and Bey got in each other’s faces, but agreed to team up to take out Mack, but it didn’t last long when Ace sent Bey head first into the ring post.
Mack and Ace went at it one-on-one for now, mostly Mack chopping Ace, but the latter managed to sweep Mack, kick him and lock in an armbar for the card-cutting spot. Ace dropkicked Mack to the floor, but Bey cut him off when he attempted the dive. Bey went for the dive instead, but Mack had recovered and caught him with an uppercut.
Mack now worked on Chris Bey, but once again fell to a kick combo. Mack then went for a pop-up bomb, but Bey countered into a rana. Ace pulled out Bey and brawled with him for a bit, only for Mack to take both out with a tope con giro.
Back from commercial all men are in the ring, with Bey taking out Mack with a missile dropkick and stomping on Ace on the corner. Ace came back with a beautiful snap suplex for a two count. Ace went after Bey’s ribs with knees while keeping Mack at bay outside the ring.
Bey got a couple of near falls himself on Ace, but then went after Mack and distracted himself from Ace who took him out again. Ace hit a second rope leg drop for a two count. Ace and Bey then took each other out with synched kicks, allowing Mack to come back to the ring.
All three got into a strike exchange that Ace was winning for a while, but when he started going corner to corner, Mack came back with a palm strike. Mack hit running clotheslines and a cannonball on Ace, followed by an exploder on Bey.
Mack went for the 6-Star Frog Splash, but Ace cut him off with an enzuigiri. Ace went for a top rope rana, but Mack escaped and went for a powerbomb. Ace blocked, but Bey was there to hit a jumping German.
Mack hit the stunner on Bey and went for the 6-Star again, but Ace cut him off, with a rana, sending Mack on top of Bey. Ace hit The Fold on Mack, but Bey broke up the pin. Ace got rid of Mack and went for Bey, but Bey came back with a kick. Ace managed to hit a Fold out of nowhere on Bey, but Mack broke up the pin.
Ace hit a spinning kick on Mack, and a second to set up the top rope tana, but Mack held on, hit the 6-Star Frog Splash, and retained his title. Great match, Bey and Ace Austin were great.
Final thoughts —
Pretty good show, it was fun and had good in-ring action. Not really hurt by the lack of audience. The direction out of Rebellion is interesting now that they have too fallen into the quarantine taping issues.
A delusional champion and a tournament may be the best way to proceed. In addition, the new members of the Knockouts division seems to be a huge improvement.
WWE has confirmed five more wrestlers who will be participating in this summer’s Mae Young Classic.
In an announcement that was made by ESPN, it was noted that Tessa Blanchard, Abbey Laith, Taynara Conti, Kavita Devi, and Jazzy Gabert would be taking part in the women’s tournament. They join Toni Storm, Princesa Sugehit, Lacey Evans, and Sarah Logan as names already confirmed for the 32-competitor field.
Blanchard is the daughter of Tully Blanchard and the stepdaughter of “Magnum T.A.” Terry Allen. She is only 21 years old but has been wrestling since 2014. She debuted for Stardom last year and has continued to appear for the promotion.
Dave Meltzer previously reported that Blanchard was a name that had been mentioned for the tournament.
With her getting a new in-ring name yesterday, Laith seemed like a lock for the Mae Young Classic. She wrestled as Kimber Lee and was a standout on the indies before being signed by WWE. She had been using her real name (Kimberly Frankele) in NXT before the name change.
Conti is also a fairly recent WWE signing who has been given a new name. The Brazilian (named Taynara Melo) debuted in a battle royal at an NXT house show earlier this year. She has a background in judo and jiu-jitsu.
Devi is from India and attended WWE’s tryouts in Dubai this past April. She has trained with The Great Khali and has participated in weightlifting. Her being in the tournament was first revealed by the Times of India this morning.
Rounding out the list, Gabert (also known as Alpha Female) is a veteran pro wrestler from Germany. She has wrestled for wXw, Stardom, and has done a few matches for TNA. She has also competed in MMA.
The Mae Young Classic will begin taping on July 13th and 14th at Full Sail University.
– Daria Berenato defeated Macey Estrella with a spinebuster.
– Tozawa defeated Kona Reeves after hitting a delayed German suplex to win a good match.
– Babatunde defeated Chris Atkins
Two huge men were facing each other here. Babatunde won it with a splash in the center of the ring.
– Cedric Alexander did an interview in the ring. He said he’s done with Alicia Fox and Noam Dar, that they deserve each other, and right now he wants to prove he’s the best cruiserweight in the world by winning the title.
– Tony Nese defeated Mustafa Ali
Nese was the aggressive heel here and won with a powerslam.
– Jack Gallagher defeated Buddy Murphy
Good matchup here. It was the entertaining Gallagher style against the angry Murphy. In a different finish than usual, Gallagher used an armbar for the submission.
– Aliyah & Liv Morgan defeated Heidi Lovelace & Kimber Lee
This was Kimber Lee’s debut as a member of the NXT roster. Everyone looked good here. It was a fast-paced match with good work in the ring. Lovelace and Lee worked over Morgan as heels and prevented the tag through the match. Aliyah ran wild and hit a tornado DDT on Lee for the win.
– Wesley Blake defeated Dan Matha
Matha took most of the match before going for a big lariat and being rolled up for the pin.
– The Revival defeated Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford
This was an entertaining match with all types of one up-manship with the two teams taunting each other. Revival won it with a Shatter Machine but got sent packing after trying to cheap shot Ford and Dawkins after the bell.
Submitted by Craig Russell | The Orpheum, Ybor City, FLA
Maria Maria over at Kennadi Brinks
Maria won via a bridging roll up.
Barbie Hayden over Leah Vaughan
Spear on the apron on Vaughan by Hayden then a pin by Hayden with her feet on the ropes.
Andrea w/ April Hunter over Tracy Taylor
Andrea hit her running death valley driver after Hunter distracted Taylor.
Luscious Latasha over Mia Yim via countout
End came when Leva Bates’ masked “groupies” came out and made Mia run to the back. Mia completely trolled “Blue Pants” Bates the entire time from wearing blue pants to using Leva’s moveset and mocking Leva’s thumbs up gesture.
NWA Women’s Champion Amber Gallows over Thunderkitty
Gallows won with a bridging backslide pin after Malia Hosaka hits Thunderkitty with a steel chair while the ref was distracted. Hosaka continued to attack Thunderkitty after the match.
Crazy Mary Dobson over Su Yung w/ April Hunter
Allysin Kay distracted Yung and Hunter at ringside by taking away Yung’s kendo stick. Dobson pinned Yung after coming over the top rope (some kind of suplex or a split legged moonsault perhaps, the camera man did not catch it cleanly).
SHINE Tag Team Champions Better Than You (Jamye Jameson and Marti Belle) w/ April Hunter beat Ivelisse and Amanda Rodriguez w/ La Rosa Negra
Champs retained when Hunter attacked Negra, Ivelisse got distracted, and Better Than You hit a combination spinning side slam and splash on Amanda Rodriguez for the pin.
Jessica Havok vs Vanessa Kraven – Double DQ
Both ladies were DQ after they killed refs three times and then had a pull apart brawl afterward.
SHINE Champion Taylor Made over Kimber Lee
End came when Lee tried to hit her finisher but Taylor hits/chops Lee in the throat and then hit an Ace Crusher for the clean pin.
After the match, Valkyrie ganged up on Kimber Lee; Ivelisse, Amanda Rodriguez, and La Rosa Negra made the save. Ivelisse announces that she gets the next title shot against Taylor Made at Mercury Rising in Dallas on Wrestlemania Weekend.
