Warrior Wrestling announced today that the Kylie Rae vs. Thunder Rosa match has been delayed, but Kylie Rae will still make her return to pro wrestling on June 5.
In a press release, the company said that Thunder Rosa would not be available on June 5 due to the NWA changing its taping schedule. Warrior Wrestling said that the two companies have since worked together to move the match to August 21.
Kylie Rae, who is returning to professional wrestling for Warrior Wrestling, will still mark her return on June 5 and will defend the Warrior Wrestling Women’s title against Holidead. If Rae is still champion on August 21, she will defend the title against Rosa.
Rae announced her retirement from professional wrestling last year, saying she was unwell. She had missed a scheduled match that was set for Impact’s Bound for Glory event.
Warrior Wrestling is running three Stadium Series events this summer, taking place at Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, Illinois starting on June 5. Another show will run on July 17, and a third will take place on August 21.
Warrior Wrestling announced tonight that Kylie Rae would be taking part in their Stadium Series event on June 5 in Chicago. Rae, the Warrior Wrestling Women’s champion, will be defending her title against a currently unnamed opponent.
Rae has not been seen in pro wrestling since she missed a scheduled match set for Impact Wrestling Bound for Glory last October. She was scheduled to face Deonna Purrazzo for the Knockouts title. She was instead replaced by Su Yung, who won the title.
Two weeks later, she closed her Patreon account and announced she was no longer wrestling, saying she was unwell, and would try and fulfill any missed obligations when she became well again.
Also announced for Warrior Wrestling’s June 5 show include Trey Mguel, Jake Something, Warhorse, Arez, Aramis, Kongo Kong, Robert ‘Ego’ Anthony and Frank the Clown, Thunder Rosa, Brian Pillman Jr., and Sam Adonis. Warrior Wrestling will also run shows on July 17 and sometime in August.
In an update posted on her Patreon account on Monday morning, Kylie Rae announced that she’s no longer a professional wrestler.
After missing Impact Wrestling’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view last month, Rae issued an apology in her Patreon update and stated that she’s currently unwell:
Good morning,
I’m truly sorry for the pain I’ve caused and miscommunication, I am currently unwell.
I’m also sorry that I wasn’t able to get this out before your monthly subscription charge.
I wanted to take this time to say I am no longer a professional wrestler and am currently taking a break from social media. It’s been a very hard decision to make but please understand.
When I am well, I will try to fulfill any obligations that have missed.
During this time, most tiers will not be able to be fulfilled, please feel free to unsubscribe from this membership/PatreonAccount.
Thank you for your understanding. <3
Rae was scheduled to challenge Deonna Purrazzo for the Knockouts Championship at Bound for Glory on October 24. With Rae not appearing at the show, Su Yung instead faced Purrazzo and won the Knockouts title. Dave Meltzer wrote about the situation in last week’s edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter:
Purrazzo was to defend the title against Kylie Rae. In tracing back the story, Kylie Rae (Brianna Sperry, 28) was injured two weeks earlier in a match at The Collective, and missed one of her matches that weekend. But everything seemed fine for the show. She was in Nashville at the hotel on 10/23. And then, on the day of the PPV, she never showed up. She never left word. There was the hope during the show that she would show up. Because of the lack of communications, Impact never said anything.
It got weird on the broadcast. The match was held next to last. Before it started Josh Mathews talked about the match as if it was happening. At no point in the show did they indicate anything was wrong. They played the video package for the Purrazzo vs. Rae title match with all the weeks of angles leading to it. Purrazzo was in the ring and Rae’s music played. She never came out. Purrazzo cut a promo about how she wasn’t surprised by this and issued an open challenge to anyone, man or woman, who wanted to face her for the title.
Eventually Yung came out. Yung had been a babyface, Susie, dressed all in white, as Rae’s best friend. It was always pushed that innocent Susie was the alter ego of vile heel Su Yung. And in recent weeks, it was pushed that Su Yung was starting to invade Susie’s body, and how Rae doesn’t know about Su Yung. It appeared that Rae and Yung were being set up for a program. But with no transition, Su Yung came out, and ended up winning the title.
No mention was made about Rae on the broadcast and they really didn’t know anything at the time.
When she never answered messages from people in the company, the promotion contacted the hotel for a wellness check on her and found that she wasn’t there and had checked out. They also contacted her boyfriend and other friends. Later, I believe after the show was over, they did get word that she was physically okay. It was a very sensitive subject that nobody was allowed to talk about. During the show it evidently wasn’t addressed since at the time they didn’t know the situation and didn’t want to say something that could look bad in hindsight.
It was never said, but the idea they appeared to be pushing was that maybe Susie turned into Su Yung and laid out Rae, but that was never said and only slightly hinted at.
Obviously, Rae had issues in 2019 when she was in AEW and was expected to be one of the top women’s stars in the promotion. AEW was very quiet about the situation. She disappeared in June and was out of wrestling for three months, resurfacing at an independent show in Chicago in September. During that period AEW was quiet, and then in September, before she returned, Tony Khan just said that she had asked to be released from her contract and they granted her a release. When she returned, she never really gave answers but was very emotional on the return.
There were a few things that didn’t go as planned for Impact Wrestling on Saturday’s Bound For Glory pay-per-view in Nashville, TN.
As reported last night, Kylie Rae missed her scheduled Knockouts women’s title match with champion Deonna Purrazzo with no announcement made on the show as to why. This left a lot of fans unhappy with people noting that if she was injured or ill, they should have announced it and everyone would have understood.
The story that went around was she was injured, but we were later told that was not the case. We have confirmed that no announcement was made because the company did not know the situation at the time and there was no communication. It is possible she was injured, but it’s unknown what the situation is. Right now all that is known is that she was in Nashville ready to work on Friday and did not come to the building on Saturday.
**********
As noted earlier today, Heath (Miller/Slater) was scheduled to win the Call Your Shot gauntlet match, but suffered a hernia during the match and was taken to the hospital. Due to the stipulation that if either Heath or Rhino lost the match, both would be out of Impact, the only option they had on the fly was to have Rhino gore Sami Callihan and pin him when they were the last two in the match.
The good news from a storyline perspective is that everything fit with the new ending. The bad news is that Heath is likely to need surgery which would put him on the shelf temporarily. He was taken to the hospital and diagnosed, but was back at the hotel late last night. Miller was injured very early in the match, and he believed it was a groin tear at the time.
**********
There was also an issue in many parts of the country with Comcast/Xfinity not airing the PPV due to a snafu on the cable side although it appears the broadcast was fine everywhere else. People who contacted us being unable to order generally did order it off FITE.tv when their PPV orders couldn’t be processed.
**********
Bound for Glory was supposed to be available in French through FITE.tv with Marc Blondin and Sylvain Grenier on the call, the duo who did Impact every week on RDS in Quebec between 2004 and 2015. Due to technical issues, they had to cancel it at the last minute.
They ran a test Friday night and everything was working with the platform they were asked to use. But, no test was done with actual live footage from the venue. Impact asked the duo to be ready for 7:25 pm on Saturday. They were all set up and when they tested it with the live footage, there were audio issues.
Blondin and Grenier could hear themselves and could see the video, but their audio wasn’t going out to where it needed to get to. They asked Blondin and Grenier to fix the problem and they were not able to since the night before everything was working and they had not changed anything since that point. Given the short timeframe from when the issues started to when the broadcast was starting, they had to cancel it.
Impact Wrestling fans tuning into Bound For Glory Saturday were surprised to see that the top challenger to Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo — Kylie Rae — didn’t challenge the champion as advertised.
It was said on the PPV that she was a no show and our Bryan Alvarez was initially told it was due to a non-serious injury. However, we were later told that wasn’t the case and that no announcement was made because the company did not know the situation at the time. All that is known right now is that she was in Nashville ready to work on Friday and did not come to the building on Saturday.
Rae has been active on the indies between Impact taping dates, wrestling as recently as two weeks ago.
Purrazzo issued an open challenge on the show and Su Yung, the former Knockouts Champion, answered. Since 2019, she had been known as Susie, an alter ego of the Yung character that had forgotten her past. Yung, who had been aligned with Rae in recent weeks, defeated Purrazzo to begin her second title reign.
The 28-year-old Rae signed a long-term deal with Impact in March after requesting her release from AEW in 2019. She had earned the title shot with a win in the Gauntlet For The Gold match at July’s Slammiversary.
A Knockouts title match has been added to Bound for Glory.
Deonna Purrazzo will defend the Knockouts title against Kylie Rae following events that took place on tonight’s Impact.
Rae’s friend Susie (Su Yung) faced Kimber Lee on tonight’s show. Purrazzo was in Lee’s corner and got involved in the finish. She tried to attack Susie, but accidentally struck Lee, allowing Susie to pick up the win with Su Yung’s panic switch.
After the match, Susie attempted to switch into the Su Yung persona. Rae calmed her down, but it gave Purrazzo the chance to jump Rae, with Susie going after Purrazzo for the save. Purrazzo attacked Susie with a fujiwara armbar, but Rae recovered and tossed her out of the ring.
Once everything settled, Rae told Purrazzo that if she likes to bully people, she’ll face her at Bound for Glory and will take the title from her.
The event, which takes place on October 24, will also have an Impact World title match between champion Eric Young and challenger Rich Swann.
Tessa Blanchard will make her first appearance in the independent scene since being released by Impact Wrestling.
She will headline the first Warrior Wrestling Stadium Series event on September 12. She will defend the Warrior Wrestling Women’s championship against current Impact star Kylie Rae.
Blanchard was released from Impact on June 25th. The Impact World title was vacated and was later determined in a five way match that took place at Slammiversary on July 18. Eddie Edwards won the vacant title that night.
The full card for this weekend’s show includes:
TJP vs. Alex Shelley
The Rascalz vs. Myron Reed, Chris Bey, and Jordan Oliver
Thunder Rosa vs. Kimber Lee
Dan the Dad vs. Elayna Black
Joey Janela vs. Warhorse
Daga vs. Isaias Velazquez
Tom Lawlor vs. Kevin Ku
Brian Cage vs. Alex Zayne
The event will stream this weekend on FITE.TV. Other Warrior Wrestling Stadium series events are scheduled for September 19 and September 26 at Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, Illinois.
Impact Wrestling returns from Nashville, TN for chapter one of Emergence, main evented by the rematch between The North and the current Impact Tag Team Champions The Motor City Machine Guns.
Opening video ran down tonight’s card, making allegory comments about the company’s evolution.
Rohit Raju defeated X-Division Champion Chris Bey & TJP (with Fallah Bahh) to become the NEW champion
TJP started the match by hitting a pescado on both Rohit and Bey. In the ring, Rohit and TJP had a nice quick sequence of counters and reversals. Once Rohit was taken out, Bey came in and took his place until he found himself draped in the ropes, waiting for a kick from TJP, but Rohit was there to save him, setting up TJP for a second rope elbow.
Bey stomped and punched TJP while Rohit cheered him on. TJP managed to dodge Bey and Rohit and locked a sharpshooter on Bey. Rohit tried to break it, but TJP got him with a northern lights for a pin attempt while he kept Bey in the sharpshooter. TJP broke it up, but hit the Pentagon armbreaker on Bey.
Rohit cut off TJP and stomped him around for a bit while Bey was out. TJP once again managed to escape and lock a Gory special and a pendulum on both Bey and Rohit respectively. TJP tried to go for Bey’s arm again, but Rohit broke it up and went back to the stomps and falling elbows.
TJP went for a tornado DDT on Rohit. Bey stopped him, but accidentally took out Rohit with a jumping knee. TJP took down Bey with a springboard crossbody, hit a tombstone piledriver, but he went for the mamba special instead and was taken out by Rohit.
Rohit and Bey went for a doomsday device, but TJP got a hold of Rohit and hit a superplex instead, locked the octopus stretch, and when Bey tried to break it, he locked a double octopus stretch into a crucifix pin for a two count.
TJP kicked Bey down, hit a backplex on Rohit, who later recovered and hit a jumping knee on TJP, followed by a running boot, but missed the cannonball. Bey rolled TJP for a two count, kicked him and into a gutwrench pancake for another two count.
Bey went for the finisher, but got a clutch dagger from TJP instead. TJP chased the detonation kick on either man, but couldn’t land it and instead locked in an STF on Bey, but Rohit was there to save Bey.
TJP took out Rohit with a springboard dropkick to the floor, a second on Bey, but as he went for the top rope, Bey stopped him. TJP slipped away and went for a superbackplex, but Rohit and Bey blocked him. Rohit dropped TJP and hit the double stomp on Bey instead of TJP to get the pin and win the championship.
Over at Wrestle House, Crazzy Steve and Johnny Bravo are playing with their dolls talking about Taya vs Rae tonight. Steve then said that the people in the house have started to lose their minds.
In another room, Larry D was getting pretty to go hit on Rosemary. Acey Romero wasn’t happy about it. Acey is a really bad actor.
Backstage, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows cut a promo about Ace and Fulton wanting to get their attention and succeeding. They promised an ass kicking tonight. Pretty good promos.
Josh Matthews and Madison Rayne ran down tonight’s card.
Self-Proclaimed TNA World Champion Moose defeated Trey Miguel to retain the title.
This was speed vs power. It started with Trey going after Moose with strikes, but Moose easily got him by the neck, tossed him to the corner and dropped him with one single chop. Trey tried to come back with kicks, but as soon as Moose got a hand on Trey, he’d toss him around and land a clothesline or uppercut.
Trey went for a lucha armdrag, but Moose blocked him, set him up on the top turnbuckle, and connected with a great dropkick. Outside the ring, Moose punished Trey with chops and dropped him on the apron.
Back in the ring, Moose tossed Trey from corner to corner, stomped on in, choked him, and a big fallaway slam when Trey tried to make a comeback. Moose kept this punishment for a while, and when Trey made another comeback, Moose shot him down again with a dropkick and a two count.
At this point, Moose started talking trash and getting cockier than usual, but Trey finally caught Moose with a superkick and a second spinning kick, Trey landed two more low dropkicks and finally had Moose down. Trey went for a springboard DDT, but Moose blocked him initially, but Trey gathered momentum and hit it anyway.
Trey went for a tope con giro, but Moose caught him in a powerbomb position, rammed him against the guardrail, and hit an apron bomb for the countout win. Trey made it back at 9. Moose went for the lights out, but Trey initially dodged and tried to sunset flip Moose, but Moose simply blocked it, stoop Trey up, hit lights up for the win. Moose was unstoppable.
After the match, ECIII jumped Moose and stole the TNA World Championship.
Backstage, Reno Scum gave Hernandez his money. Hernandez paid them and told them to come see him later for more work.
We got a video package for Eric Young talking about his career and all he has done. This was great.
Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the week was 2015’s Kurt Angle vs Eric Young stretcher match.
Jimmy Jacobs interviewed Willie Mack about Eric Young. Mack said he was talking about Swann when Brian Myers pulled the camera and Jimmy away for his own interview. Myers said that he was sick of being someone’s good hand, talked trash about WWE, and said that he was taking his career in his hands. Mack jumped Myers for interrupting his interview afterwards.
We got another commercial by Heath, making a plea to get #Heath4Impact trending so he could get hired.
The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) defeated Ace Austin & Madman Fulton
Anderson and Ace started the match with the former in control, with the latter only managing to get a shot for every five Anderson would. Gallows and Anderson kept this initial control with quick tags until Ace surprised Anderson with a school boy and Fulton tagged in.
Fulton successfully cut off Anderson from his corner. Ace tagged in again and Anderson regained control, tagging in Gallows back in.
Fulton and Gallows met in the middle of the ring and started exchanging clotheslines with neither men giving an inch. They traded strikes and Gallows finally got some momentum, but Fulton cameback with a clothesline and rammed Gallow’s head to the turnbuckle.
Ace tagged in again, and once again, the Good Brothers regained control, hit a running clothesline and kick combo. Anderson then distracted himself with Fulton, allowing Ace to dropkick him from behind and take him down. Fulton and Ace hit some double team moves, including a scoop slam into Ace’s knees for a two count. Ace did the paper cut trick on Anderson before going for the same double team move, successfully landing it. They went for it a third time, but this time Anderson escaped, hit a spinebuster on Ace and tagged out.
Gallows came in hot, took out Fulton to the floor, hit a fallaway slam and shoulder tackle on Ace. He followed that with a pump kick and called for a magic killer, but Fulton stopped them. Fulton and Gallows brawled to the floor, leaving Anderson and Ace in the ring, with the latter kicking Anderson down and tagging out. Fulton tossed Anderson like a dart into Ace’s knee for a two count.
Anderson started to make a comeback with punches and forearms, took down Fulton in the corner, but Ace caught him back with a kick. On the other side, Gallows and Fulton brawled again, with Gallows sending Fulton into the crowd area.
Gallows tagged in again, hit the magic killer with Anderson on Ace, and picked up the win.
Back at Wrestle House, the group talked about the match. Suddenly the Deaners realized that their beer had been stolen. The suspect Acey Romero and were about to fight, but Susie reminded them about the truce. Larry D started hitting on Rosemary when Bravo walked up, and they agreed to do something next week. Cody Deaner and Cousin Jake are pretty good at this.
Wrestle House: Kylie Rae defeated Taya Valkyrie
Rosemary is the referee for the match.
Rae wanted to shake Taya’s hand, but Taya said that she trained in Mexico and only slapped her hand away. No handshakes in Mexico.
Taya got Rae’s back early on and pushed her around, making fun of her. Rae came back with the same move and got the better of Taya, also tossing her around and inraging Taya who instead went after Rae with punches.
Rae hit a great rana and a superkick, but when Rae went for the running attack, Rosemary tripped her and allowed Taya to regain control. She shoved her to the corner where she bit her hand and put pressure on the elbow.
Taya choked Rae against the ropes, stomped on her, posed for the camera, and shot down Rae every time she tried to strike into a comeback. Suddenly, Rae caught Taya with a lucha armdrag and a superkick for a slow two count.
Taya hit a great Saito suplex for a two count. Taya rushed at Rae, who moved away, causing Taya to almost take out Rosemary, but when Taya turned around, Kylie caught her with a superkick for the pin and won.
After the match, Crazzy Steve tried to tell Bravo that he was blowing his chances with Rosemary.
Matthews and Rayne ran down the card for next week, including Willie Mack vs Brian Myers, and address from ECIII, Eddie Edward’s open challenge, and the first ever 30 minute Knockout’s Ironman match between Jordynne Grace and Deonna Purrazzo.
Impact Tag Team Championships The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) defeated The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander) to retain the titles
Sabin and Alexander started the match for their teams. Sabin went for early strikes, but Alexander easily dropped him. Sabin still used his speed to dodge Alexander and take him down with a jumping calf kick, but when he went for a crossbody, Alexander caught him and took him down along with Page. Shelley went for the save, but Alexander and Page also took him down with a suplex and top rope knee combo.
The North, now in control, worked over Sabin with strikes, chokes, and quick tags. Sabin tried to make a comeback and managed to dodge Alexander, who accidentally took down Page with a forearm. Sabin escaped and tagged out.
Shelley came in, dropkicked Page to the floor, went after Alexander with strikes and a low dropkick. Page jumped back into the ring, but was met but the double team moves of the MCMGs, followed with a kick combo for Alexander’s knee.
Back from commercial, Shelley is still in control over Alexander, who is trying to strike his way back to his corner, but Shelley has a deep single leg Boston crab. It took Page to jump in and interfere to break up the submission. The distraction alone was enough for Alexander to recover and kick Sabin off and into Page’s waiting punch. The North hit an assisted DDT for a two count on Shelley.
Page tagged in and cut off Shelley from Sabin, going after Shelley’s back and knee. Alexander and Page both hit backbreakers for a two count when Sabin broke it off. Finally, Shelley managed to counter The North, sending Alexander to the floor and hitting a DDT on Page against the turnbuckle, earning himself the space to tag out.
Sabin came in and took down Page with a jumping forearm and a neckbreaker. Sabin hit a punt kick on Alexander on the apron and followed with a missile dropkick on Page. Sabin hit a tope suicida on Alexander, but Shelley managed to tag in during the jump. Shelley hit an STO on Page with an assist from Sabin’s missile dropkick, but only for a two count.
Shelley and Page exchanged strikes before Shelley went for a sliced bread #2 that Page escaped. However, Shelley hit both Page and Alexander with an assisted sliced bread for a two count.
All four men exchanged superkicks, but Alexander hit a German on Sabin, setting up The North’s finisher for a two count as Page’s pin was cocky and weak. The North went for the northern assault, but once again Page was small packaged, similar to the day MCMG took their titles, except this time Alexander was there to reverse it for a two count for the The North.
Shelley went for slice bread #2 again, but Alexander blocked and hit a backbreaker instead. Sabin caught Page with a tornado DDT, but ate a discus forearm by Alexander, who tried the same with Shelley, but Shelley blocked, hit atomic drop, quick reverse STF into dropkick combo by MCMGs, double superkick to Page and tandem running kick before setting up the skull and bones for the win. Another fantastic match between these teams.
Final thoughts —
Great show by Impact, good wrestling all around. Night two has less matches announced, but with promising outcomes.
Impact Wrestling returns from Nashville, TN for tonight’s episode, leading up to the two week Emergence event starting next week.
Opening video focused on Rich Swann’s story, from the injury, to his return at Slammiversary XVIII, to Eric Young’s initial attack at the pay-per-view, and ending with Swann’s retirement speech and second attack by EY.
Willie Mack and Eric Young were already fighting as the show began. We were told that Mack didn’t wait and went after Young backstage. They brawled for a bit until security tried to break them up, but EY and Mack kept brawling towards the ring.
The referee wouldn’t start the match, so Mack took the microphone and told EY and the referee to start the match already. EY tried to leave, but Mack brought him back the hard way, and once in the ring, the referee finally started the match.
Eric Young defeated Willie Mack
Mack started with control taking down EY with some spinning back kicks and a couple of elbows. EY did manage to snap Mack’s neck on the ropes, but Mack was still able to toss EY to the floor and land a pescado to maintain control and get a two count.
Mack went for a superplex, but EY dropped him after he bit him and hit a diving elbow for a two count. Young dropped a couple of knees and elbows for another pin attempt. Young choked Mack in the corner and went for a double axe handle from the second rope, but Mack caught him with a northern lights bridge for a two count, Young responded with a clothesline to regain control.
EY went back to work for the neck, almost choking out Mack, but Mack made a comeback. He took down EY with a sidekick, a scoop slam, and dropped a knee to the face. Mack hit the Samoan drop and standing moonsault combo for a two count.
Mack went for the stunner, but EY raked Mack’s eyes to counter. Mack was able to still hit the stunner. Mack teased going for the 6-star frog splash, but instead took out a chair. The referee told him he’d DQ Willie, but Mack said he didn’t care this time, set up a Pillmanizer and went for the top rope. However, Mack wasted too much time talking to the referee, allowing EY to recover, block Mack, and dropped him with a piledriver to pick up the win. Pretty good opener.
After the match, EY called out Eddie Edwards.
Josh Matthews and Madison Rayne ran down the card for tonight, and some of Emergence’s matches.
Backstage, The Good Brothers were out looking for Ace Austin and Madman Fulton.
We now went to Wrestle House. Taya is getting everyone together to give them good news and another activity. She wants to show them Taya’s Greatest Hits. Cody Deaner told us that Cousin Jake was sick. Alisha Edwards said that Susie was sick too. So Taya played her Impact debut to everyone while she made Bravo give her a massage.
Johnny Swinger is telling stories to Crazzy Steve, who is eyeing Rosemary, who is eyeing Bravo. So Crazzy Steve sat down with Rosemary and asked her if she’s troubled or something, jealous maybe.
In another room, Susie and Cousin Jake are going on a date.
Back on Impact, Reno Scum jumped Rhino and stole back the money for Hernandez.
Jordynne Grace defeated Kimber Lee
Collar and elbow to start the match. Grace got the early advantage with a couple of clotheslines and a sidewalk slam for a two count. Grace whipped Lee from corner to corner; she went for another clothesline, but Lee pulled the referee between them, allowing Lee to catch Grace with a roundhouse kick and gain control.
Back from commercial, Kimber Lee has been working on Jordynne’s left knee, stomping it against the ring and locking in a kneebar. Lee chopped Grace a bit and went for a suplex, but Grace blocked it and reversed to one of her own.
Grace came back with shoulder blocks and an elbow to the back, ending with a spinebuster for a two count. Lee tried to go for a sunset flip pin that triggered a couple of pin reverses until Lee hit an enzuigiri and German bridge for a two count.
Kimber Lee went for a swanton, but Jordynne blocked her and went for a superplex. Lee heatbutted Grace down and hit the swanton, but Grace got the knees up, took a hold of Lee with a sleeper, and tapped out Lee. Good short match.
We got a new episode of Locker Room Talk with Madison Rayne, with guests Rob Van Dam and Katie Forbes. Madison asked how they felt being back to their normal selves. They said it was great and started making out, so Madison just walked out on them. They took over and Katie interviewed Rob instead, they mostly talked about themselves when suddenly Sami Callihan appeared and jumped on Rob. Katie saved Rob from a Cactus special by spraying Sami’s eyes, allowing Rob to recover. They both stomped on Callihan before leaving.
Heath Miller bought a 30-second ad from Locker Room Talk to make a case to get signed by Impact.
Somewhere backstage, Trey Miguel surprised Wentz and Xavier with a Suicide mask. Moose stumbled up to them and berated Wentz who had an ECIII hoodie. Trey had the Suicide mask on, so Moose mistook him and got an invitation from Moose for a title shot next week.
Back at Wrestle House, Taya was still making everyone watch her matches, while Rosemary started eyeing someone that she could make Bravo jealous with. She put a love curse on Larry D. Acey Romero noticed something odd in Larry D when he said that there’s more to life than food, and so they got into a fight so Acey could knock some sense into Larry.
Wrestle House: Larry D defeated Acey Romero
They started punching each other, Acey hit the first body block to bring Larry down. Acey hit a dropkick, but failed to hit a senton when Larry D moved away. Larry went for the clothesline, but Acey dodged the first, Larry landed a second one and won the match. Larry D dedicated the match to Rosemary.
Susie and Cousin Jake went to their date. They had nothing to talk about. Susie just said she had the runs for some reason.
Deonna Purrazzo cut a promo on Jordynne Grace. She said that Grace had been acting aggressive and ruthless, not apt for a champion, but she did deserve a rematch. She challenged Jordynne Grace to a 30 minute Knockout’s Ironman match at Emergence.
We got a video package for The North vs The Motor City Machine Guns for Emergence. MCMG talked about new teams copying them, while The North talked about being the best because they studied their opponents and were caught unprepared. Winning one time doesn’t mean they’re better than The North.
Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz defeated Havok & Nevaeh in a No DQ match
Tasha and Hogan came out but hid from their opponents. Havok and Nevaeh came out for their entrance, but Tasha and Hogan were there to jump them from behind to start the brawl. Tasha choked Havok on one side, while Hogan and Nevaeh brawled on the other side.
In the ring, Havok caught Tasha from the top rope and dropped her with a black hole slam. She set her up on the tree of woe and dropped her with an elbow. Havok followed with the running boot, but Hogan grabbed at Havok’s leg to save Tasha, allowing her to take a chair and drop Havok. Hogan and Tasha superkicked Havok to take her out.
Nevaeh jumped to the ring and clotheslined both Hogan and Tasha, then followed with suplexes on Tasha, getting a two count.
Outside the ring, Hogan tricked Havok into running knee first into the steel steps. Hogan helped out Tasha, attacking Nevaeh from behind with an object. They connected a couple of running dropkicks to Nevaeh in the corner while they kept Havok at bay. Hogan hit a neckbreaker on Nevaeh for another two count.
Havok brought out a table outside the ring. Havok and Nevaeh tried to toss Hogan to the table, but Tasha saved her and all four started trading strikes, ending with everyone getting a kick. Havok went for a tombstone on Tasha, but was saved by Hogan, and instead went for a double suplex, blocked by Havok and reversed into a suplex of her own.
Havok charged at Hogan and Tasha, but was sent into the apron instead. Havok tried to suplex Tasha to the table, but Tasha blocked and locked in a sleeper. Tasha released, superkicked Havok, and Hogan hit a second, sending Havok to the table.
Nevaeh attacked them with a street sign, but Hogan dodged, hit a swinging neckbreaker, and pinned Nevaeh for the win. Good match, went by quick. Tasha and Hogan are great.
Gallows and Anderson asked D’Amore about Ace Austin’s whereabouts, but he said he didn’t know.
Moose was walking backstage when a video played of ECIII saying he was going after Moose because Moose had decided to become synonymous with TNA.
Dezmond Xavier (with Zachary Wentz) vs Suicide was a no contest
Match started with a sequence of counters and reversals, wrestling for wrist control. Xavier was going for some punches, when suddenly, The Good Brothers came down.
Gallows and Anderson took out The Rascalz and Suicide, the latter with the magic killer. This felt totally WCW/WWE how they treated their young talent.
Anderson cut a promo saying that they were going to wait all night for Ace Austin and Fulton to come out and fight. Ace and Fulton appeared on the tron, telling them they’re not there, not even in the same state. Ace said they’ll get their fight next week at Emergence.
Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the Week was Cody vs Eddie Edwards from October 2nd, 2016’s episode of Impact.
Backstage, Rohit Raju approached Chris Bey about losing last week. Rohit tried to get himself into a three-way at Emergence so they could gang up on TJP. Bey accepted since he had already beaten Rohit before.
We got yet another vignette for Brian Myers. He called himself the most professional wrestler.
Back at Wrestle House, Susie and Jake ended their really awkward date with Jake kinda provoking Su Yung to come out. Alisha asked Susie if she had done everything she told her for the date, but Susie said her advice was bad. This was enough for Alisha to ask for a match with Susie. Zero patience this lady.
Wrestle House: Susie defeated Alisha Edwards
Alisha started pushing around Susie, causing her to slap Suzie. They had an overplayed catfight spot before the referee, Crazzy Steve, separated them. Susie caught Alisha with a palm strike, but when she tried to follow up, Alisha caught her with a clothesline. They traded some strikes in the middle of the ring before Alisha dropped Susie, but the latter schoolgirled Alisha for the win. The best thing about this was Crazzy Steve as the referee.
After the match, Taya told them all to go back to the house to watch more Taya matches. Kylie Rae objected. Taya told that Rae had never beaten a champion, so Rae challenged Taya. Rosemary stopped Dreamer from calling the match.
Matthews and Rayne ran down the card for Emergence. Next week is Kylie Rae vs. Taya, Moose defending the TNA World title against Trey Miguel, Chris Bey vs. TJP vs. Rohit Raju for the X-Division title, The Good Brothers vs. Ace Austin and Fulton, and finally, The North vs MCMGs for the tag titles.
In Emergence night two, Deonna Purrazzo will defend against Jordynne Grace in a 30 minute ironman match, and Eddie Edwards will hold another open challenge if he can defend tonight.
Eddie Edwards came down for his open challenge. He took a microphone and called out Eric Young for the challenge. Instead, Brian Myers came out. Myers said that in his hands, that belt would become a ‘championship’.
Impact World Champion Eddie Edwards defeated Brian Myers to retain the title
Match started with Myers relying on the ropes to escape Edwards as he was getting pushed around. Eventually, he managed to be the one to push Eddie to the ropes but instead he went for the strike that Eddie dodged, but not the clothesline that followed.
Eddie and Myers traded some shoulder tackles, but it was the latter that managed to capitalize for a bit, at least until Eddie clotheslined him to the floor.
Back from commercial, Myers is back in the ring, trading momentum with Eddie, who hit an atomic drop and over-the-head suplex. Myers caught Eddie in the ropes and sent him shoulder first to the ring post to finally stop Eddie’s momentum.
Myers worked on Eddie’s back, ramming him to the apron and a couple of knees for a two count. Myers kept the offense until Eddie managed to send him to the floor and follow with a quick suicide dive. Eddie seemed to hurt his knee, which Myers took advantage of.
Back in the ring, Myers hit a backplex for a two count, then went into a sleeper. Eddie made a comeback, suplexing Myers into the turnbuckles. Eddie hit a step-up enzuigiri and the backpack stunner for a two count.
Eddie went for the tiger driver, but Myers escaped and hit an evenflow DDT for a two count. Eddie caught Myers with a superkick, a forearm, and hit the tiger driver, but Myers kicked out at two. Eddie set up for the BKP, but Myers dodged and hit a pele kick. Myers hit the ropes, but Eddie caught him with the BKP on the comeback and picked up the win. Good match, Myers looked okay.
Final thoughts —
Good show by Impact, quite strong in the ring, and it worked as a go-home show for next week’s Emergence show.
Tonight’s Impact Wrestling episode hails from the Coca-Cola Roxy in Atlanta, GA. This was the first episode in the new set of tapings. Madison Rayne replaced Don Callis on commentary for tonight’s show.
Opening video showcased the death of Father James Mitchell at the hands of Su Yung and Havok.
Josh Alexander (with Ethan Page) defeated Eddie Edwards
Collar and elbow to start the match. They were both equal, but Alexander got to push Eddie to the corner. Eddie tried to come back with chops, but Alexander returned the favor in kind.
Eddie recovered a bit and hit a belly-to-belly and followed with strikes, but Alexander stomped his foot and cut him off. Eddie sidestepped Alexander to the floor, but the latter pulled Eddie down for more.
They brawled a bit outside the ring, mostly Eddie chopping Alexander and distracting himself with Page, giving Alexander the time to recover and takedown Eddie with a running boot.
Alexander started working over Eddie at this point, going after his back. High angle backplex for a two count. Kicks and chops in the corner sprinkled with some trash talk.
Eddie fired up and started asking for slaps, Alexander obliged, but it woke up Eddie, who came back with chops, sent Alexander to the floor and followed with a suicide dive.
Back in the ring, Eddie hit a blue thunder bomb for a two count. Eddie went for the tiger bomb, but Alexander escaped. He ate a forearm to the face, took an enzuigiri, but managed to counter the backpack stunner and hit an airplane slam for a two count.
Both men started exchanging strikes in the middle of the ring; they got into a great chop exchange. That ended with Eddie going Kobashi on Alexander, hitting a clothesline, and ending with a tiger bomb for a near fall.
Ethan Page distracted Eddie Edwards, which allowed Alexander to roll Eddie for the pin.
After the match, The North attacked Eddie until Tessa Blanchard came down for the save. Eddie and Tessa teamed up and sent The North packing. Tessa and Eddie had a little friendly face-off.
Backstage, Alexander hyped up Ethan Page about beating a main eventer and number one contender. Page was mad that Tessa Blanchard got in their business and said that they were better champions than Tessa could ever hope for. Ethan Page challenged Tessa Blanchard for a match tonight.
Kylie Rae defeated Cassandra Golden
Golden jumped Rae while she was still smiling at fans. She tossed Rae around the ring for a bit, from turnbuckle to turnbuckle, but when she went for the running attack, Kylie moved out of the way. Rae came at Golden with a flurry of strikes and a roll-up for a two count.
Kylie kept it up with strikes, connected the Kylie Special for a two count then followed with a rolling cannonball for another two count.
Kylie missed the Superkick, escaped a Samoan drop then hit a side leg sweep. She followed up with an STF and tapped out Golden. Good debut for Kylie!
Jimmy Jacobs interviewed Kylie Rae about her debut. She said it was amazing to be back and that she knew that Impact was her home. She announced that she has officially signed with the company.
Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the Week was Scott Steiner’s Math Promo.
Moose came down to the ring to talk about the return of TNA and all the ghosts from the past along with it. He said that he was better than everyone who ever wrestled for TNA, and immediately, Kid Kash interrupted him.
Kash said that he had been paying attention to Moose for a while and that he agreed that he was amazing, but in his educated opinion, Moose would have never made it in the original TNA. So is he saying that the current Impact can’t hold? Moose challenged him to a fight and to prove it.
Moose defeated Kid Kash
Kash went for kicks early, but Moose blocked him, so Kash hit him with a rana instead, sending him to the outside. Kash went for an over the top rope rana, but just threw himself on top of his head.
Back in the ring, Kash tried to strike Moose, who simply fired up, hit the No Jackhammer Needed and took the win. Complete squash, Moose proved that the old TNA can’t hold with the current talent of Impact Wrestling. Good for Impact for protecting their roster.
Jimmy Jacobs interviewed XXXL, the new team of Acey Romero and Legendary Larry D about joining Impact. They said that size matters. Fallah Bahh and TJP greeted them and gave them a welcome gift, telling them that the line to the tag team titles is behind them.
Jacobs interviewed Rich Swann via satellite. Swann talked about how recovery has been hard, saying that he wants to come back so much. He said Willie Mack is going to win the X-Division Championship.
Ace Austin joined Jacobs and kicked him off the interview. Ace told Swann that Mack will never win the title because he was the weak link in their team. He tried to play tricks saying that Mack wasn’t there to help Swann during his recovery. Suddenly, there was a knock in Swann’s door. Ace said that he cared for Swann so much that he sent Reno Scum to check on him. We then just hear the noise of Swann getting beat up.
Back from commercial, Mack tried to fight Ace Austin for what he did to Swann.
Sami Callihan came down to the ring, debuting a new theme.
Callihan said that after he lost the title to Tessa, he decided to set himself aside and do some soul searching. He said that his issues were not just with Impact, but with the whole industry because all companies kept putting over old talent over the new talent and that he wasn’t going to allow Shamrock to take his HOF spot without going through him.
He said that Shamrock wasn’t the most dangerous man in the world, it was him, hitting people with baseball bats and setting them on fire.
Tommy Dreamer came out to confront Callihan, who immediately cut him off and said that Dreamer was the type of guy always looking to get the rub. He asked the fans to post photos of this moment so Dreamer could trend at least once. Dreamer pulled the nostalgia card and listed a bunch of old-timers who paved the way for guys like Callihan.
Callihan, tired of Dreamer, attacked him with the mic. Dreamer challenged him to a fight instead.
Sami Callihan defeated Tommy Dreamer in an Old School Rules match
The match started mid-brawl outside the ring, with Callihan being posted on the corner. Dreamer brought out the weapons, starting with a plunger. Callihan responded with chair shots. Callihan went to kick Dreamer from the apron but was blocked and dropped face-first on the apron.
Back in the ring, Dreamer used cooking sheets on Callihan to take him down. Dreamer tried to powerbomb Callihan into the fans but was cut off with a groin claw. Dreamer hit the Bionic elbow and some shots with the garbage can.
Dreamer went for a staple gun but was met by a challenging Callihan, who had set up two chairs in the middle of the ring. They exchanged staples until Dreamer stapled Callihan’s groin, followed by a running clothesline. Dreamer hit the ropes but got hit with a drop-toe hold into the chair. Callihan was then sent headfirst into a chair in the corner and a cutter for a two count.
Dreamer tried to piledrive Callihan on a chair, but Sami blocked and hit an STO onto the chair. Callihan set up a chair bridge, but Dreamer blocked and went for a DVD. Callihan blocked and was the one who hit the DVD into the chairs instead. A Cactus special followed, allowing Callihan to pick up the win.
After the match, Callihan tried to take out Dreamer with a senton. Rhino came in for the save. The rest of oVe came out to take out Rhino and Dreamer. oVe was happy to have Sami back. Sami turned off the lights and disappeared, not even oVe knew where he went. Dissension between oVe and Sami brewing?
Rosemary was at a pub offering shots and scaring off the clients. She started talking to someone about once falling in love with a mortal, but she had learned about her mistakes and now was going to take advantage of them. Drunk Rosemary is getting interesting.
We got a video package of Su Yung’s career with Impact, from her debut all the way to the death of Mitchell. Afterward, Suzie was walking around the hallways of Impact. Everyone was avoiding making contact with her. Suzie acknowledged being Su Yung, but that she didn’t like that side of her.
Cody Deaner (with Cousin Jake) defeated Joey Ryan
Collar and elbow to start the match. Ryan pushed Deaner to the corner, but after a sip of beer, he fired up and got an armbar locked in. Ryan pushed him to the corner again, but Deaner attacked him with strikes, dropped an elbow, and drank the rest of the beer.
Joey Ryan poked Cody’s eye to gain control of the match. He hit a scoop slam and a knee for a two count. Joey mocked Deaner’s hat and played to the crowd, which only provoked Cody to fire up and come back with strikes. Deaner hit a clothesline and went for the Deaner DDT, but Joey escaped. Unfortunately for Ryan, he escaped into Cousin Jake’s hands, who fed him a beer. Cody Deaner hit the Deaner DDT for the win.
Backstage, Eddie Edwards thanked Tessa for helping him out earlier today, so he offered his help for her match tonight. Tessa said she had this on her own tonight. Eddie was like “cool then”.
Michael Elgin cut a promo. He said that he beat Eddie over and over. He is now stronger than he was before, but Eddie wasn’t. He said that Tessa had bigger balls than everyone in the back, but Rebellion marked one year from him joining Impact, and so his time is coming. As long as Tessa has been undeniable, he’s been unbreakable.
Next week will have Daga vs Chris Bey, oVe vs Dreamer and Rhino, and Shamrock returns to address Callihan.
Impact World Champion Tessa Blanchard defeated Impact Tag Team Champion Ethan Page (with Josh Alexander) in a non-title match
Before they started fighting, Page mocked Tessa’s size. But in return, Tessa took him down and connected with two dropkicks. Page, angered, simply grabbed Tessa and slammed her down with a backbreaker.
Tessa tried to come back with strikes, but Page took her down with a back elbow and from there started working Tessa with chokes, whipping her from corner to corner. Tessa fired up and hit a flurry of elbows and strikes, but Page once again cut her off with a shoulder tackle.
Page started going after Tessa’s back with knees and hit a delayed suplex for a two count. Page hit another backbreaker, even with Tessa punching him.
Tessa started to make a comeback again but this time, Page had to rely on poking her eyes in order to get her off him. Page continued whipping her from corner to corner, but as Page got cocky, Tessa managed a top rope rana to finally get Page off his feet.
Page rolled out and Tessa followed with a trio of suicide dives, but she distracted herself with Alexander, giving Page some time to recover. Page pulled her into the ring, but Tessa was ready and hit a big tilt-a-whirl DDT for a two count.
Tessa started to set up Magnum, but Page caught her in the middle of the air, pulled her into the corner and connected with an elbow to the face. He followed with a punt kick for a two count. Page set up Tessa on the top rope for a superplex, but Tessa fought him off and dropped him. Page distracted the referee, giving Alexander the opening to attack her, but Eddie Edwards came in to take him out. Tessa hit Magnum on Page for the win.
After the match, Tessa and Eddie had a stare-off, but suddenly out came Elgin, who went to Elgin Bomb Tessa, but both Edwards and Tessa fought back. They all stared at each other to end the show.
Final Thoughts —
This was a really fun show. Two great matches to open and close the show, plus many developments heading into Rebellion.
Kylie Rae has officially joined Impact Wrestling’s Knockouts division.
It was confirmed on tonight’s episode of Impact that Rae has signed with the promotion. Rae defeated Cassandra Golden in a match on the show, then did an interview backstage where she announced that she’s signed a “long-term wrestling contract” with Impact.
In her promo, Rae said it’s been an emotional year with ups and downs and highs and lows, but she knew from the moment she stepped in an Impact ring that it was her home.
Rae wrestled at Impact’s All Glory Twitch special in October, which featured matches from local independent promotions. The next night, she appeared at Bound for Glory and was an entrant in the Call Your Shot gauntlet match.
Rae’s match against Golden was part of Impact’s television tapings in Atlanta earlier this month.
Tony Khan confirmed in August that Rae had been granted her release from AEW. In November, Rae posted a statement on Instagram addressing her departure from the promotion:
I don’t know how to start this and I can’t speak on other’s behalves. I can only speak for myself and what’s in my heart. I don’t know many rumors and honestly try to stay away from everything, obviously. But here: nobody made me leave. AEW took my career to new levels and I’m beyond grateful for every opportunity and experience that has come along the way and wish nothing but the best. It’s a great group of people who truly love wrestling and just want everyone to succeed. I’ve always tried to be a good person but I make many mistakes along the way. I needed to get my mind, body, and soul right with God. I wish I had the answers but the truth is I don’t. We all go through obstacles in life and we may want all the answers but we don’t need them. It’s God’s plan and he has shown me what’s truly important in life and to find a blessing in every moment because in the blink of an eye, everything can be gone. So instead of bashing, let’s just love one another and appreciate what we have, or something like that lol sorry I’m awkward.
For the first time since leaving AEW, Kylie Rae has addressed her departure from the promotion.
Rae posted a statement on Instagram today about why she left AEW. She wrote that no one made her leave the promotion and that she “needed to get [her] mind, body, and soul right with God.” She noted that AEW took her career to new levels, that she’s beyond grateful for every opportunity and experience that has come along the way, and that she wishes AEW nothing but the best.
Rae’s full statement is available below:
I don’t know how to start this and I can’t speak on other’s behalves. I can only speak for myself and what’s in my heart. I don’t know many rumors and honestly try to stay away from everything, obviously. But here: nobody made me leave. AEW took my career to new levels and I’m beyond grateful for every opportunity and experience that has come along the way and wish nothing but the best. It’s a great group of people who truly love wrestling and just want everyone to succeed. I’ve always tried to be a good person but I make many mistakes along the way. I needed to get my mind, body, and soul right with God. I wish I had the answers but the truth is I don’t. We all go through obstacles in life and we may want all the answers but we don’t need them. It’s God’s plan and he has shown me what’s truly important in life and to find a blessing in every moment because in the blink of an eye, everything can be gone. So instead of bashing, let’s just love one another and appreciate what we have, or something like that lol sorry I’m awkward.
Rae was officially introduced as a member of the AEW roster at February’s Double or Nothing ticket announcement party. Her only in-ring appearance for the promotion was a four-way match against Britt Baker, Nyla Rose, and Awesome Kong at Double or Nothing.
Rae was advertised for a match against Leva Bates at June’s AEW Fyter Fest event at one point, but Allie faced Bates instead. Rae also stopped being active on social media around that time.
During his post-All Out media scrum, AEW president and CEO Tony Khan was asked about Rae’s status. He said that Rae had asked for her release and it had been granted. Khan said her departure was “super amicable.”
Rae returned to the ring starting with a match at a Freelance Wrestling/Freelance Underground show in September. She made an appearance at Impact’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view in October and was an entrant in the Call Your Shot gauntlet match.
Kylie Rae appeared at tonight’s Impact Bound for Glory event in Chicago.
She appeared in the opening match of the show, a intergender battle royal called Call Your Shot where the winner would get a championship match of their choice. Rae entered at number 17 and held her own, taking out people with superkicks. She was eventually eliminated by Mahabali Shera.
Eddie Edwards ended up winning the match, pinning Shera in short fashion with the Boston Knee Party.
Rae’s status with Impact isn’t currently known. She appeared on a card last night in Merrionette Park, Illinois that streamed on Impact Plus called All Glory, where she took part in a triple threat match featuring Laynie Luck and Shotzi Blackheart.
Although signed by AEW, Rae had gone dark following Double or Nothing and had stopped posting on social media. It was later confirmed following All Out that she had been granted her release from the company. She resumed wrestling on the independent scene in September, appearing on a Freelance Wrestling card.
Less than a month after getting her release from AEW, Kylie Rae will return to the ring Saturday night.
Chicago-based indie group Freelance Wrestling announced on Twitter Saturday afternoon that Rae would be stepping in for Shotzi Blackheart to face Isaias Velazquez in an intergender match at their Game of the Genders event Saturday night.
Blackheart is wrestling for both SHINE and EVOLVE Saturday, so it’s unclear as to why the announcement for Rae, their former champion, was made on the afternoon of the show. The show isn’t being streamed live, but will be available on IndependentWrestling.tv at a later date.
This will be Rae’s first in-ring action since she competed in a four-way at AEW’s Double or Nothing PPV on May 25th.
Following the All Out pay-per-view, AEW owner Tony Khan announced that the 27-year-old was amicably released from her deal after she requested it and our Dave Meltzer has reported that everyone involved has been very quiet about the situation. As of this writing, her Twitter account is still deleted and she hasn’t posted to her Instagram since late-July.
Kylie Rae (Brianna Rae Sparrey) requested and has been granted her release per AEW owner Tony Khan.
Speaking at a media scrum after AEW All Out Saturday, Khan was asked about her status and said Rae was no longer with the company and asked for her release. Khan said he asked if everything was ok and that she said it was, adding the split was “very amicable”.
“We talked about it and it was very simple,” he said without going into further details.
The 27-year-old made her AEW debut at Double or Nothing in a four-way with Britt Baker, Nyla Rose, and Awesome Kong. Advertising for Fyter Fest had her facing Leva Bates, but she was replaced by Allie instead.
She has been relatively quiet on social media this summer, last sharing an AEW on TNT video in Instagram in late-July, and deleted her Twitter account in August.
In recent Wrestling Observer Newsletters, Dave Meltzer has reported Rae is on a medical leave and that her status was “a subject nobody has talked about.”
