“Speedball” Mike Bailey and Lio Rush are getting their IWGP Junior Heavyweight title shots in a three-way match.
NJPW has announced that Hiromu Takahashi will put his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship on the line against Bailey and Rush at Destruction in Ryogoku. The show is taking place on Monday, October 9 and will air live on NJPW World.
Bailey and Rush were both set up as the next challengers for Takahashi at NJPW’s events in Philadelphia this past weekend. At All Star Junior Festival USA, Bailey won a one-night tournament and then called out Takahashi for a title match.
Takahashi & Bailey then teamed together in a loss to Rush & Trey Miguel at NJPW x Impact Multiverse United. Rush pinned Takahashi after hitting a low blow. With the win, Rush also declared that he wanted a shot at Takahashi’s championship.
Bailey has a victory over Takahashi from when they faced off in NJPW’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament earlier this year.
Rush is the current Impact Wrestling X-Division Champion.
An IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team title match with KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight challenging Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney has also been added to Destruction in Ryogoku. Plus, there will be a singles match between Tanga Loa and Chase Owens.
Here’s the updated card:
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA defends against EVIL
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi defends against Mike Bailey and Lio Rush in a three-way match
NEVER Openweight Champion David Finlay defends against Tama Tonga
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney defend against KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight
Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions Gabe Kidd & Alex Coughlin defend against El Phantasmo & Hikuleo
Tanga Loa vs. Chase Owens
Best-of-seven series finale: Shota Umino, Master Wato & Yuji Nagata vs. Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki (if necessary)
Lio Rush has his eyes set on Hiromu Takahashi’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.
Rush teamed with Trey Miguel and defeated Takahashi and Mike Bailey at Impact x NJPW Multiverse United 2 on Sunday in Philadelphia. The finish of the match saw Rush hit a low blow on Takahashi and roll him up for a three count.
After the match, Rush, already the X-Division Champion, cut a promo about wanting more gold and challenged Takahashi to a IWGP Junior title match. Takahashi appeared to accept but this didn’t seem to sit well with Bailey, who had issued a similar challenge to Takahashi the night before at All Star Junior Festival USA.
Bullet Club (Ace Austin, Chris Bey, KENTA, Clark Connors, Alex Coughlin & David Finlay) defeated The World (The DKC, PCO, Josh Alexander, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & El Phantasmo)
Trey Miguel & Lio Rush defeated Mike Bailey & Hiromu Takahashi
Impact World Champion Alex Shelley defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to retain
In another new bout announced Thursday, Time Machine (Impact World Champion Alex Shelley, KUSHIDA & Chris Sabin) will team with Josh Alexander to take on Bully Ray, Moose, Brian Myers & X-Division Champion Lio Rush.
After things started simmering last Thursday, the eight-man bout was made Thursday after KUSHIDA and Shelley defeated Moose and Myers. Ray started attacking Shelley which brought out Alexander to even the odds. Rush then joined the fray and attacked Shelley which brought out Sabin to even things out and run Rush off.
It was Sabin’s first appearance since Rush jumped him before their Slammiversary match which saw Rush defeated a weakened Sabin for the title. KUSHIDA has the next shot at Rush after winning an Ultimate X match at Slammiversary.
Alexander has yet to wrestle since March due to a torn triceps that forced him to relinquish the Impact World title. There is also intrigue between himself and Shelley as the former has made his intentions clear that he wants his title back.
Here’s the current card:
IWGP World Champion SANADA in action
Impact Knockouts Champion Trinity defends against Deonna Purrazzo
Time Machine (Alex Shelley, KUSHIDA & Chris Sabin) and Josh Alexander vs. Bully Ray, Moose, Brian Myers & Lio Rush
Lio Rush is currently out of action due to an injury.
He was set to take on Blake Christian for the GCW World Title on August 4th in Detroit. However, GCW announced Rush will be unable to compete due to an injury.
According to Haus of Wrestling, Rush will only miss about a month after suffering what he called a “not serious” injury.
Stepping in for Rush will be “Speedball” Mike Bailey, who will now face Christian for the title instead.
Rush is currently the Impact X-Division Champion after defeating Chris Sabin for the X-Division title at Impact’s Slammiversary earlier this month. He was not previously announced for their tapings this weekend in Chicago.
The last time Rush competed for GCW, he defeated Komander in February at the company’s Middle Of The Night PPV.
Rush debuted in NJPW’s Best of the Super Juniors in May, where he finished tied for second in the A Block with 12 points.
The power of love and support is a beautiful thing. Just wanted to take this second to thank my parents for all of the sacrifice, the support, the unconditional love and belief. I always knew I’d make it, but i never thought it would be like this. Living out my dream in front of… pic.twitter.com/nPIsRiAmPu
The X-Division will be on display in the first officially announced match for Impact x NJPW Multiverse United 2.
New X-Division titleholder Lio Rush will team with former champion Trey Miguel to take on IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi & former X-Division champion “Speedball” Mike Bailey in a tag team match.
The pay-per-view is set for Sunday, August 20th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Rush defeated Chris Sabin at Saturday’s Slammiversary to win his first X-Division title while Sabin had just defeated Miguel for the belt in June.
Takahashi is in his fifth reign as IWGP Junior Heavyweight titleholder and has shared the ring with Rush 15 times through the years. While he has faced Bailey twice in singles action, this is his first time teaming with him. He has never shared a ring with Miguel.
The only other announced wrestler for the show is NJPW legend Hiromu Tanahashi.
Here’s the current card:
Lio Rush & Trey Miguel vs. Hiromu Takahashi & Mike Bailey
In the night’s co-main event, Trinity (the former Naomi in WWE) defeated Deonna Purrazzo to kick off her first run as Knockouts Champion.
Trinity got the victory following a series of headbutts, a full nelson bomb off the middle rope, and then Starstruck for the submission victory.
It’s the first major singles title for Trinity since her second run as WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion ended in 2017. After eventually gaining her WWE release, Trinity debuted with Impact in March of this year and is now 5-0 in her new home.
The win ends the three-month reign of Purrazzo who began her third run with the title back in April.
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In another high-profile change, Lio Rush defeated Chris Sabin to kick off his first-ever run as X-Division Champion.
The result didn’t come without controversy as Rush attacked Sabin before the match, hitting a suicide dive that drove Sabin into the ramp that he sold as being knocked out. After an Impact doctor suggested he not wrestle, he continued and Rush eventually finished him off with two Final Hours to get the win and title.
Sabin had defeated Trey Miguel last month to begin his ninth reign.
Rush’s first challenger for the X-Division title is likely to be KUSHIDA who won an Ultimate X match to earn a future title shot. The former NJPW star picked up the win after punching Alan Angels in the face, knocking him off the ropes to get the victory.
Rush and KUSHIDA are scheduled for a match on Sunday’s TV taping.
Right afterward, Subculture (Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster) won their first-ever Impact Tag Team titles by winning a four-way that included now-former champions Ace Austin & Chris Bey, Moose & Brian Myers, and Sami Callihan & Rich Swann.
Predictably, The Rascalz (Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz) got involved after failing to gain entry into the match despite the stipulation of Wentz defeating Bey last Thursday to earn the opportunity.
Wentz and Miguel prevented Bey from landing the Art of Finesse on Myers, pulling Bey and Austin outside the ring. Webster took out everyone on the outside of the ring with the exception of Myers who was hit by an Andrews’ shooting star press for the win and title change.
This was the first win in Impact for the former WWE NXT Tag Team Champions.
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The multi-month run for Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry has ended as Kenny King defeated him Saturday for the title.
King took home the win thanks to the aid of Sheldon Jean who held onto King’s feet while they were on the ropes, giving him the additional leverage he needed to get the pin and title change.
This is King’s first Impact title of any kind since his second X-Division title run ended in 2015. Since winning the title in November 2022, Hendry had successfully defended the title 13 times.
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Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly are leaving Windsor, Ontario, Canada, as the new Knockouts Tag Team Champions.
The duo defeated The Coven (Taylor Wilde & KiLynn King) to win the titles, their first in Impact. The end came when Slamovich countered a Witch’s Wrath with a snowplow for pin and win.
Wilde and King’s reign ends after just three successful title defenses dating back to February when they first won the titles.
Impact Wrestling will celebrate their 21st anniversary at Slammiversary from Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
In the main event, Impact World Champion Alex Shelley will defend against former champion Nick Aldis while Shelley’s Motor City Machine Guns teammate Chris Sabin will defend his X-Division title against Lio Rush.
Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo will defend against Trinity who is looking for her first run with the gold.
Tag Team Champions Ace Austin & Chris Bey will defend against Subculture (Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews), Sami Callihan & Rich Swann, and Brian Myers & Moose in a four-way.
Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Coven (Taylor Wilde & KiLynn King) will defend against Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly.
Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry will defend against Kenny King on the pre-show.
Also part of the ten-match card is a five-way Ultimate X match with Mike Bailey vs. Jonathan Gresham vs. Angels vs. Kevin Knight vs. KUSHIDA.
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Jody Threat & The Death Dollz (Courtney Rush & Jessicka) defeated The SHAWntourage (Gisele Shaw, Savannah Evans, & Jai Vidal)
Jai Vidal got in the ring with Jessicka, and it did not end well for him, with Jessicka hit a series of punches that dropped him. Vidal tagged out to Shaw soon thereafter. Jessicka resumed handing out beatings, driving Shaw’s head repeatedly into the turnbuckle before tagging out to Rush, who hit a bulldog on Shaw across the knee of Jessicka. Jai Vidal distracted Rush, leading to Savannah Evans hitting a big boot on Rush on the floor.
The SHAWntourage draped Rush across the middle ropes in their corner and hit several moves as they tagged out to each other. Rush managed to slip out of a Fireman’s Carry from Evans and then hit an inverted DDT to tag out to Jody Threat. Threat ran wild, hitting suplexes on everyone before tagging back out to Rush, who hit a spear on Vidal for the win.
–We saw video of Trinity and Deonna Purrazzo arriving at the arena.
–A video aired about Joe Hendry and Kenny King, and they added some unnecessary goofy music, but thankfully the music didn’t last long, and they retained the humour of this angle.
–Joe Hendry grabbed a mic and talked about Kenny King liking it when he lost his clothes, and this infuriated Kenny King. He said King wanted him to lose some of his clothes – the Impact Digital Media Championship, and since he wasn’t Stripper Hendry, it would be ridiculous for him to lose. This was entertaining.
Kenny King defeated Joe Hendry to win the Impact Digital Media Championship
Rather than being worried about losing his shirt this time, Kenny King threw the shirt at Hendry, but Hendry ducked and hit a stalling vertical suplex on King. Sheldon Jean got the attention of Hendry by running through the ring, leading to King attacking Hendry from behind and then taking out the knees and kicking King in the chest for a 2-count.
Sheldon Jean got on the apron to distract the referee, and he handed King a bowtie, which King used to choke Joe Hendry before putting it on Hendry’s neck. King put a guillotine choke on Hendry, who powered out and hit another vertical suplex out of the choke. Hendry caught King on a crossbody and hit a fallaway slam. Hendry did a hip swivel after realizing he had a bowtie on, and hit King with a back body drop.
Hendry hit a standing ovation on King, but Sheldon Jean put King’s foot on the ropes to break the pinfall. King tried to hit a corkscrew plancha on Hendry who was on the floor with Jean, but Hendry moved. As they got back in the ring, Kenny King rolled up Joe Hendry with his feet on the ropes, and Jean held onto the feet of King to maintain leverage, and King won!
–The great hype video for Alex Shelley and Nick Aldis aired to close the preshow.
Impact Slammiversary Main Card
Impact Slammiversary wasted no time getting into the action, with the Ultimate X match to determine the #1 Contender to the Impact X-Division Championship.
KUSHIDA defeated Jake Something, Mike Bailey, Kevin Knight, Jonathan Gresham, & Alan Angels in an Ultimate X Match
Very good match to open the PPV, with KUSHIDA getting the shot at the X-Division Championship. Love to see KUSHIDA getting used in a top position in Impact.
Jake Something joined the match as a surprise right when the referee went to ring the bell. Kevin Knight almost got the X immediately by climbing Jake Something, but Something grabbed him in a powerbomb position and threw Knight over the ropes onto everyone. Gresham and Bailey ate a double shoulder tackle as Something tried to figure out how to get the X. Gresham, KUSHIDA, Bailey, and Knight hit a quadruple dropkick on Something, only driving him back into the ropes, where Angels hit a Cactus clothesline to take him to the floor.
Gresham and Bailey seemed to team up against Knight and KUSHIDA, forming tag teams briefly. Gresham then hit a suicide dive on Something followed by Mike Bailey hitting a triangle moonsault to drop Something again. Gresham and Bailey started to fight on the ropes a bit about who would grab the X, so they started righting on the top ropes. Angels ran up the ropes and hit a Spanish Fly, and I think he planted himself head first on the mat, as he did not land on his stomach.
KUSHIDA put Angels on his shoulders and Knight hit a standing dropkick on Angels, leading to Angels moonsaulting backwards onto everyone on the floor. Bailey and KUSHIDA fought on one of the posts, with Bailey knocking KUSHIDA off with a kick. Bailey climed to the topand hit a moonsault onto everyone on the floor. That was insane.
Angels grabbed a chair and started hitting everyone, including hitting 5 chair shots on Something. Angels was on the ropes and shimmied over to where Kevin Knight was climbing the ropes and jumped into a poison rana on Knight. Jonathan Gresham tried to cut off Angels, but Angels hit him low. Something climbed the ropes, but Angels jumped off the top rope and hit a low blow. Bailey tried to bring Angels down, but Angels hit him with a low blow too. KUSHIDA punched Angels right in the face and dropped him from the ropes, letting KUSHIDA grab the X for the win!
–Tom Hannifan pointed out former Team Canada member, A1 in the crowd with his family.
–Gia Miller was with Kenny King and Sheldon King backstage, and King said that he did strip – he stripped Joe Hendry off his Impact Digital Media Championship. King cut a promo on Shelley, calling him MySpace, and saying Sabin used to be cool, as X-Division Champion, but he’s like Twitter, whereas King is cutting edge and hit title is the only one that matters. This was a good promo!
Killer Kelly & Masha Slamovich defeated The Coven (Taylor Wilde & KiLynn King) for the Impact Knockouts World Tag Team Championship
This was pretty good, by all standards. Killer Kelly and Masha Slamovich were awesome in this, and putting the tag titles on them is a good call for match quality in the women’s tag division.
Slamovich and Kelly immediately charged The Coven, throwing them around the ring before Kelly hit a pump kick on Wilde and a suplex for a 2-count. Kelly continued the assault, hitting knees and elbows to the face of Wilde. Wilde tagged out after hitting an inverted DDT on Slamovich, telling King to get in there. Slamovich got briefly laid out by King, but Slamovich hit a forward roll into a pinfall on King and immediately leaped into the air and hit a double stomp before tagging out to Kelly.
King dropped Kelly with a boot, but Kelly got right up. King sort of botched a stun gun, so she quickly recovered and hit a flatliner into the middle rope instead. Wilde and King got the heat on Kelly for the next few minutes. King hit running double knees to the face of Kelly in the corner. King missed a senton off the middle rope and it led to Kelly tagging out to Slamovich, who hit a superkick on Wilde, a clothesline on King, a mafia kick on Wilde, followed by a climb up knee strike in the corner and spinning wheel kick for a 2-count on Wilde.
Slamovich hit a buzzsaw kick on Wilde, but King broke up the pinfall attempt. King hit Kelly with a headbutt, and helped set Wilde up to hit a code breaker on Slamovich. King hit a German suplex on Slamovich, but missed her corner knees. Slamovich hit a missile dropkick on King, while Kelly hit a dropkick on Wilde. Kelly and Slamovich tried to hit a double powerbomb on Wilde, but King broke it up. Wilde hit the Witch’s Wrath on Slamovich for a 2-count, but she kicked out. Kelly pulled King from the ring and Slamovich countered the Witch’s Wrath into a Snow Plough for the win.
Team Canada (Scott D’Amore & Eric Young) defeated Deaner (w/ Kon) & Bully Ray
This was all sorts of fun. Not a great match in terms of star ratings, but fun. As a Canadian, it made me smile to see all the Canadiana in it too.
Scott D’Amore came out wearing a robe that he last wore in 2004 when facing Dustin Rhodes. The Canadian National anthem hit, and Eric Young came out to team with his mentor. The announcers were baffled that Eric Young was back from the dead as the crowd (including A1) cheered on the old Impact Wrestling stable reunited. Young started the match with Deaner as the crowd chanted loudly for Young.
Deaner looked terrified, and immediately tagged out to Ray. Young got an arm wringer and tagged out to D’Amore, who did a jumping splits when in the ring. I did not expect that. Deaner tagged back in and ate a leaping kick from D’Amore. Young tagged in and a backdrop into a neckbreaker with D’Amore while pointing at Ray.
D’Amore hit a sky high powerbomb on Deaner for a 2-count. Kon got on the apron and Darren McCarty, the special enforcer, came in to get rid of him, but the referee got distracted by it, letting Ray attack D’Amore from behind. Bully Ray got in the face of Scott D’Amore’s mom, who was in the front row, taunting her while beating on D’Amore.
Eric Young led the crowd in singing “O Canada,” but Ray responded with low blowing D’Amore. Ray did it right in front of the referee, and demanded to be disqualified, but after being shoved a few times, the referee took off his shirt and threw it across the ring. Darren McCarty grabbed the shirt and put it on to become the referee.
D’Amore speared Ray and then made the hot tag to Eric Young, who ran wild, taking out both Deaner and Ray, hitting a rolling lariat on Deaner. Young followed this with a piledriver and got a 2-count as Kon pulled McCarty from the ring. A1 ran in and clotheslined Kon over the top rope, while McCarty hit a stunner on Bully Ray. Young and McCarty split Ray’s legs and D’Amore hit a headbutt to the lower regions off the top rope. D’Amore, Young, and McCarty screamed “Get the tables!” and set one up in the ring as Eric Young ran around the ring waving a Canadian flag.
McCarty and D’Amore hit a chokeslam on Ray through the table. D’Amore hit a Canadian Destroyer on Deaner, and Young flew off the top rope with a flying elbow on Deaner for the win. This was lots of fun. A1, Young, D’Amore, and McCarty all celebrated after the match before putting the Canadian flag on Ray.
Lio Rush defeated Chris Sabin to win the Impact X-Division Championship
I did not expect this to be what it was, but Sabin has an excuse for losing because Rush jumped him before the bell and knocked him out.
Lio Rush attacked Sabin before the bell, hitting a suicide dive on Sabin on the floor, driving Sabin backwards into the ramp. Sabin sold this like he was knocked out. The doctor said Sabin shouldn’t wrestle, so Sabin shoved him away and made his way into the ring. Rush immediately hit a running kick and Sabin went down. Rush hit a spinning kick and then hit the Final Hour, but Sabin kicked out at 2. Rush hit a second Final Hour and won the X-Division title.
Subculture (Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster) (w/ Dani Luna) defeated ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) (Bullet Club) Moose & Brian Myers, and Sami Callihan & Rich Swann to win the Impact World Tag Team Championship
Chris Bey and Mark Andrews started the match with fast offence, before Bey tagged out to Austin, who hit a kick to the face of Andrews, and tried a head scissors. Andrews and Austin exchanged some headlocks while Webster tagged in blind and both men hit a series of high flying moves on Austin.
Webster hit a lionsault on a standing Austin, who rolled to the corner and Rich Swann tagged in. Moose came in and tried to send Swann to the floor, but Swann blocked it and then hit a cannonball off the apron onto Myers. Moose charged ABC, but they low bridged him and sent him to the floor. Bey tried to hit a flip dive, but Moose caught him and powerbombed Bey on the apron.
Myers speared Austin on the apron, and Andrews hit a flip dive on Myers. Callihan grabbed Webster and dumped him over the top ropes onto everyone before hitting a flatliner and DDT on Subculture. Callihan hit a DVD on Webster while Swann followed with a splash for a 2-count. Austin and Bey hit some double team moves on Swann before Moose and Myers ran in and hit stereo powerbombs on Bey and Austin.
Swann tagged out to Andrews because he was about to be killed by Moose and Myers, and Andrews tried to fight Moose, but ate a pump kick. Andrews hit a Stundog Millionaire, while Webster hit Shadows over Malice on Moose for a 2-count. This match completely broke down at this point with everyone hitting big moves, and I can’t keep up with it. Moose ran up the ropes and went for a crossbody to Bey and Swann, but Swann and Bey responded by both hitting a cutter on Moose.
ABC went for the fold/art of finesse on Myers, but The Rascalz ran out and pulled them from the ring, before sending Austin into the steps and neutralizing Bey. Webster responded by hitting a senton bomb onto everyone on the floor leading to Andrews hitting a shooting star press on Myers for the win.
This was a very good match that felt like it could have been better.
Edwards and Kazarian exchanged some basic holds to start, but Alisha Edwards tripped Kazarian, leading to Edwards hitting Kazarian with a brutal chop. Edwards hit the ropes, and Brooks tripped Edwards, letting Kazarian hit a back stabber. Edwards got the advantage back on the floor and hit several hard chops again.
Kazarian ate a Manhattan drop and belly-to-belly from Edwards for a 2-count. Edwards followed up with another hard chop and Kazarian collapsed to the mat. Edwards hit a running back elbow for a 2-count. Edwards continued his attack with hard chops for the next minute until Kazarian ducked under a lariat attempt and hit a German suplex on Edwards.
Every time Kazarian would try to get the advantage back, Alisha Edwards would get involved, including raking the back of Kazarian, which led to Edwards hitting a suicide dive on Kazarian, absolutely crushing him with it. That looked brutal. Edwards trash talked Kazarian’s son while the fans chanted “Boston sucks!” As a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, I can get behind that chant.
After this extended heat on Kazarian, both men ended up facing off in the middle of the ring, hitting Yakuza kicks until Kazarian hit a back elbow and then a clothesline. Kazarian hit a springboard leg drop for a 2-count. Edwards hit a series of enziguris in the corner before hitting the backpack stunner for a 2-count.
Edwards hit a big top rope superplex on Kazarian. Edwards went for the chicken wing on Kazarian, but Kazarian shoved him off and went for the Boston Knee Party, but Edwards ducked. Edwards suplexed Kazarian over the top rope, and both men went tumbling to the floor. Brooks and Alisha Edwards looked on concerned for their husbands, but as they came back into the ring, Kazarian managed to hit a slingshot cutter on Edwards for a 2-count.
Kazarian went for a flying forearm but accidentally hit the referee, then both men hit clotheslines at the same time. Alisha Edwards grabbed a kendo stick and entered the ring. Traci Brooks came into the ring and took the legs out of Edwards and started fighting with her. Brooks hit a clothesline that sent Alisha to the floor. Kazarian locked on the chicken wing and got the tap out, but the referee was out. As Kazarian tried to wake up the referee Edwards hit Kazarian with a kendo stick and followed up with the Boston Knee Party of the 3-count.
Trinity defeated Deonna Purrazzo to win the Impact Knockouts World Championship
Solid match here, with Trinity going over and winning the Knockouts title. This was easily one of the better matches in Trinity’s career, and my recap really didn’t do it justice.
Purrazzo almost got an armbar early on, but Trinity managed to get out. As Trinity tried to pick up the pace, Purrazzo broke it down and started working over the arm of Trinity. This is a very different style match than Trinity would be used to working in WWE, as Purrazzo worked over the arm, continually getting heat as Trinity sold. Trinity got a leg trip, but missed a leg drop and ate a basement dropkick from Purrazzo for a 2-count.
Trinity rebounded with a kick when Purrazzo tried to put her on the top rope, and she hit clotheslines with hir right arm rather than her left. Purrazzo got hit with a face buster and a split legged moonsault for a 2-count. Purrazzo managed to hit the Queen’s Gambit on the apron, and got a 2-count. Purrazzo went for the Queen’s Gambit off the middle ropes, but Trinity hit a series of headbutts on Purrazzo before hitting a full nelson bomb off the middle ropes before rolling into Starstruck, and Purrazzo tapped out.
Impact World Champion Alex Shelley defeated Nick Aldis defeated to retain
This was a very good match, with Shelley working a mat based style and viciously attacking the arm, while Aldis clearly underestimated Shelley’s ability and paid for it. Aldis’ cheating backfiring leading to Shelley hitting Shell Shock proved to be a great finish on a show that had a lot of heel heat.
Shelley started the match spitting water into the eyes of Aldis, but Aldis powerbombed Shelley off the top rope right away, and Aldis locked the Kingsland Cloverleaf on Shelley. Shelley managed to drag himself to the ropes to escape, and the crowd showered Aldis with boos. Aldis slowed the match down and acted as the bully to Shelley for the next few minutes, including catching Shelley as he jumped from the ropes and turning it into a vertical suplex.
Shelley managed to get Aldis’ knee caught in the ropes, and hit a dragon screw through the ropes to begin an attack on Aldis’ left leg. Aldis managed to trap Shelley in the apron and hit a punch before shoving Shelley back first into the ring post. Aldis hit a snake eyes into the apron on Shelley. Aldis tried to suplex Shelley to the floor, but Shelley responded with a stunner across the ropes and hit a slingshot stomp to the arm of Aldis.
Aldis tried to send Shelley into the post again, but he slipped out and sent Aldis face first into the post. Shelley stuck the fingers of Aldis into the turnbuckle and twisted the metal to work over the hand. The fans in the front row told him to break his fingers, so Shelley stomped on the hand to their delight. Shelley hit another dragon screw in the ropes, going back to the leg. Shelley hit a chop block to the knee of Aldis, and Aldis collapsed in a heap. As he was struggling, he raked the eyes of Shelley.
Shelley went back to the hand and wrist of Aldis, snapping the wrist with his feet. Shelley hit a superplex on Aldis. Aldis and Shelley got up and they started exchange punches and chops. Shelley hit Sliced Bread #2 on Aldis before transitioning into the Border City Stretch, but Aldis countered into a pinfall attempt. Aldis went for the Kingsland Cloverleaf, but Shelley went after the fingers and snapped them.
Shelley went for Sliced Bread #2 again, but Aldis caught him and hit a tombstone for a 2-count, and then followed with an elbow drop for another 2. Aldis grabbed the Impact World Championship and went to hit Shelley again, but Shelley kicked Aldis in the gut and went to hit Aldis with the title while the referee protested. Shelley gave the title to the ref, but as he was putting it aside, Aldis low blowed Shelley and hit a Michinoku driver for a 2-count. Aldis tried to hit Shelley with the belt again, but Shelley stopped him and hit a DDT onto the belt by accident, busting Aldis open. Shelley hit the Shell Shock and got the pin to retain his title.
–As Shelley was celebrating, Josh Alexander’s music hit and he made his way down to the ring to face off with Alex Shelley. It’s clear that we are heading towards a big match between Alexander and Shelley based on this, though I am surprised Alexander is back already after his surgery. The fans chanted “Welcome back” as Alexander grabbed a mic and said “I’m back!”
Final Thoughts
This was a good show, but not a great one. That said, I didn’t feel like my time was wasted, and that the matches had finishes that were mostly satisfying or leading somewhere. I was surprised Shelley retained, as I thought Aldis and Alexander would be a bigger match for upcoming shows, but Impact seems to want to establish Shelley as a viable and real world champion, which I’m in favour of. Shelley is still great, and having some of the best matches of his career, and I can’t wait to see him and Alexander wrestle.
This week’s MLW Fusion was taped in Philadelphia and New York earlier this year as part of the promotion’s Battle Riot and War Chamber tapings earlier. Matt Striker and Joe Dombrowski were on commentary.
The episode also included recaps and the fallout from Saturday’s Never Say Never show, including Alex Kane defeating Alex Hammerstone to win the MLW Heavyweight title, and the shocking revelation of Don King being the financial backer of Kane and the Bomaye Fight Club.
We started with a post-match press conference from the event with Kane and Mr. Thomas. A sweaty and passionate new champion called out his doubters and naysayers before listing his accomplishments and what he had to overcome, both exaggerated and true, before winning the title. He then said Hammerstone still hasn’t earned his respect and he will beat him again if he comes because this is Alex Kane’s house, kingdom, and empire.
Taya Valkyrie then told Women’s Featherweight Champion Delmi Exo she is going to prove why she is “the craziest bitch” tonight as she attempts to regain her title. Valkyrie portrays the crazy multi-persona/serial killer character really well as she cheerfully and happily mentioned that she intends on ripping Exo limb from limb tonight.
Delmi Exo defeated Taya Valkyrie (w/John Hennigan) to retain the MLW Women’s Featherweight title
During the ring entrances, highlights were shown of Valkyrie attacking Exo two weeks ago, and curb stomping her onto the title. Valkyrie was fined and given a one week suspension for her actions.
The match started hot and escalated when Valkyrie took control by using the ring post and dropping Exo face-first onto the apron. Valkyrie hit Sheamus’ 10 Beats of the Bodhran and even added in his mannerisms as she flaunted in front of Exo, but she took too much time showing off and let the champion back into the match.
The champion hit Valkyrie with a fisherman’s suplex, a low dropkick, and a dropkick from the middle rope for a near fall. It was not long before the challenger came back and hit a pair of curb stomps with the second one going into the bottom buckle.
Exo rolled through the Road to Valhalla and elbowed her way out of a second attempt before going for her Delmi Driver, but a distraction from Hennigan stopped her. Hennigan got up on the apron and, similar to the previous title match, Valkyrie collided with him. Exo then tried a roll-up but Valkyrie kicked out.
Valkyrie tried to take advantage of the distraction but Exo hit a tilt-a-whirl head scissors takedown into a Fujiwara armbar, getting the tapout and successful title defense.
– We saw another recap of Never Say Never where Mister Saint Laurent announced the drafting of Matt Cardona, who will be the newest member of MSL’s group, joining Davey Boy Smith Jr. who turned heel by attacking Microman on last week’s Fusion.
– Another recap showed the revelation of Don King as the Bomaye Fight Club financial benefactor which was followed by interviewer Sam Leterna trying to get a word with Court Bauer who only told her to never do business with the “crook” Don King.
– O’Shay Edwards joined Kevin Blackwood and Matt Cardona as the latest draft picks. Edwards will be officially coming to MLW soon to join the Bomaye Fight Club while we have already seen Edwards in MLW this year in the Battle Riot.
Ken Broadway defeated TJ Crawford
This was really good and brought the crowd into it, especially toward the end during the nearfalls.
The “Silver Sniper” Crawford got the early advantage with a big boot and dropped Broadway hard with a suplex. The bigger Broadway came back with a strong lariat that turned Crawford inside out.
Broadway got a close near fall after a power bomb and a face-first swinging Bossman slam to the shock of the commentary team. Crawford then got a near fall after some strikes, a middle rope dropkick, and a double underhook driver. As the match started heading toward the finish, you could hear the crowd getting more into it the longer it went on.
Crawford then hit a great standing spin kick to the jaw and a springboard stunner, which normally sets up his brain buster finisher. Broadway fought out of it and hit a penalty kick and a pop-up bridging German suplex that he calls the Travis Plex (in honor of Matt Travis) to get the pin and win.
– Another Never Say Never recap showed Ricky Shane Page and AKIRA from The Calling winning the MLW Tag Team titles, making AKIRA a double champion as he also holds the Middleweight title.
– We saw the brackets for the 2023 Opera Cup which begins next week. Davey Boy Smith Jr. will face Calvin Tankman in one semifinal while Tracy Williams and Tony Deppen face off in the other.
Willie Mack defeated John Hennigan (w/ Sam Adonis) and Lio Rush in a triple threat match to become the no. 1 contender to the MLW Championship
This was a great match and a great way to end a good episode.
This was great and fast-paced throughout. You can imagine the spots Rush and Hennigan were able to do as well as having the size, power, and impressive explosive agility of Mack. They all combined brilliantly.
Mance Warner was drinking light beers on commentary. Warner was out there to continue his feud with Adonis who accompanied Hennigan to the ring. Rush was also announced as representing New Japan’s CHAOS faction.
Hennigan and Rush distracted Mack by forming an alliance on the outside, but the main reason was to let Adonis distract Mack, which let both heels jump him at the onset.
Their alliance lasted all of 30 seconds as Rush tried a sneaky roll-up once Mack was disposed of. Rush and Hennigan then had a parkour-tinged minute of dodges, feints, and reversals. Mack re-joined the action, but promptly ate a springboard kick to the face from Hennigan. Mack then hit a Samoan drop to slow the frantic opening minutes down.
Rush hit a great poisonrana after reversing a gorilla press by Mack, but Mack came back with a pop-up forearm to the jaw. Later on, Rush hit his low dive combo through opposite sides of the ring, nearly sliding and ramming Mack into the front row in the process.
The finishing sequence saw Mack send Rush out after a missed frog splash and a stunner. Hennigan then reversed a Mack stunner. Adonis got involved and grabbed Mack’s leg from the outside, but Hennigan hit Adonis by accident, giving Mack the opportunity to roll up Hennigan for the win.
Next week:
2023 Opera Cup semifinal match: Davey Boy Smith Jr vs. Calvin Tankman
Impact Wrestling announced several matches for its Slammiversary Fallout TV taping from Windsor this weekend.
Detroit Red Wings legend Darren McCarty will return to the ring on Sunday’s show. He’ll team with Tommy Dreamer to face Champagne Singh & Shera.
Also booked for the taping is a singles match between Dirty Dango and Santino Marella.
Lio Rush vs. KUSHIDA is advertised for Sunday as well. The last time the two wrestled each other was back in May when Rush defeated KUSHIDA in the Best of the Super Juniors.
Chris Bey & Ace Austin vs. Subculture is also advertised for Slammiversary Fallout. Austin and Bey will defend the Impact tag titles against Sami Callihan & Rich Swann, Brian Myers & Moose, and Subculture the night before at Slammiversary.
Zachary Wentz vs. Chris Bey with a Slammiversary Tag Team title opportunity on the line
Kevin Knight vs. Mike Bailey
Moose & Brian Myers vs. Rich Swann & Sami Callihan
Deonna Purrazzo open challenge
Dirty Dango vs. Heath (Before the Impact)
Impact Wrestling Slammiversary 2023 (Saturday, July 15) —
Impact World Champion Alex Shelley defends against Nick Aldis
Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defends against Trinity
X-Division Champion Chris Sabin defends against Lio Rush
Impact Tag Team Champions ABC (Chris Bey & Ace Austin) defend against Sami Callihan & Rich Swann, Brian Myers & Moose, and Subculture (Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews) in a four-way match
Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Coven (Taylor Wilde & KiLynn King) defend against Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly
Bully Ray & Deaner vs. Scott D’Amore & TBA with former NHL player Darren McCarty as special enforcer (PCO’s status for the match is in question following an angle on last week’s Impact)
Ultimate X match: Mike Bailey vs. Jonathan Gresham vs. Angels vs. Kevin Knight vs. KUSHIDA
Frankie Kazarian vs. Eddie Edwards
Countdown to Slammiversary: Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry defends against Kenny King
Countdown to Slammiversary: The Death Dollz (Courtney Rush & Jessicka) & Jody Threat vs. Gisele Shaw, Savannah Evans & Jai Vidal
Impact Wrestling Slammiversary Fallout (Sunday, July 16) —
Santino Marella vs. Dirty Dango
Tommy Dreamer & Darren McCarty vs. Champagne Singh & Shera
Ace Austin & Chris Bey vs. Subculture (Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews)
A tag team clash previewing this month’s Slammiversary will highlight tonight’s Impact Wrestling on AXS TV.
The Motor City Machine Guns will take on Nick Aldis & Lio Rush after last Thursday’s incident where Aldis attacked Alex Shelley, was run off by Chris Sabin and then Sabin was laid out by Rush.
Shelley will defend the World title against Aldis while Sabin defends the X-Division title against Rush at the pay-per-view.
After a failed effort to be tag team partners, Frankie Kazarian will have a rematch with Eddie Edwards.
PCO will take on The Good Hands in a handicap match after John Skyler & Jason Hotch tried to bait PCO’s Slammiversary tag team partner Scott D’Amore into a warmup match last week.
In a preview of the Ultimate X match, Jonathan Gresham goes one-on-one with Angels.
Gisele Shaw will battle Courtney Rush while Sami Callihan & Rich Swann will be in tag team action. Dirty Dango vs. Crazzy Steve will be on the BTI pre-show.
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BTI pre-show:
George Iceman promised surprises for Impact Slammiversary.
Dirty Dango defeated Crazzy Steve
Dango came out and said he hated pro wrestling before Steve made his entrance. Dango won this after a few minutes with an inverted DDT.
Dango took a mic after the match and said he was going to enjoy ending Santino’s “puppet,” the cobra, at Slammiversary. Santino came out and claimed that the cobra was martial arts, while listing several others that he trained in. Santino said that he was going make Dango pay as Heath ran out and hit the Wake Up Call on Dango to Santino’s surprise.
Tom Hannifan noted that Heath said he was going to start fighting for what he believed in, which is apparently attacking unsuspecting people from behind.
Main Card:
Eddie Edwards (w/ Alisha Edwards) defeated Frankie Kazarian
This was a great match to open the show. I suspect we’ll be seeing more of these two given the finish.
Alisha was immediately trash talking Kazarian when the bell rang, and it briefly distracted Kazarian, but to no effect as he hit a right hand and some clubbing blows before hitting a suplex. Alisha hit a tornado DDT on Kazarian when she jumped off the apron onto him when the referee’s back was turned.
Kazarian tried to fire back, but Edwards raked the eyes and hit some chops. Alisha kept attacking at several points, always letting Edwards get the advantage, but after Eddie was kissing Alisha, Kazarian managed to hit a slingshot DDT over the ropes onto Edwards on the apron. Kazarian hit a springboard leg drop back in the ring for a 2-count.
Edwards went for the backpack stunner, but Kazarian countered out. After a few more counters, Kazarian hit a Unprettier for a 2-count. Kazarian went for the chicken wing, but Edwards countered out. Kazarian hit a back stabber, and Edwards hit a lariat before hitting a Tiger Driver for a two count.
Edwards went for a Boston Knee Party, but Kazarian ducked under and put on the crossface chicken wing. Alisha got on the apron and distracted the referee as Edwards drove Kazarian backwards into the referee. Kazarian went for the Flux Capacitor but Alisha Edwards hit Kazarian with a kendo stick, and Edwards followed up with the Boston Knee Party for the win.
– In a promo that initially aired on Twitter after last Thursday’s Impact, Chris Sabin cut a promo after being attacked by Lio Rush last week, saying that he was challenging Rush for Slammiversary and put his X-Division Championship on the line.
Rush then talked about how he wasn’t in Impact to make friends when Nick Aldis walked up and said that he didn’t do enough to beat Sabin yet, and they needed to win their tag match tonight. Aldis said that he didn’t want Rush’s ego to get in his way of winning tonight.
– Kazarian was backstage and talked about how Edwards cheated and wanted him one more time. Kazarian said that since Alisha would be at ringside, so he as bringing his wife, former Impact star Traci Brooks, to ringside for the trilogy match at Slammiversary.
Rich Swann & Sami Callihan defeated Champagne Singh & Shera
This was mostly a squash match with Swann and Callihan getting the win with Callihan picking Singh up for a piledriver, then Swann superkicking Singh in the face before the drop down for the win.
Moose & Brian Myers were backstage with Gia Miller scouting the match, and Miller wondered what they were going to do. Moose announced that they would be facing Callihan and Swann next week.
– Dango did another video package promo, talking about the last time he watched wrestling, apparently in 1998. His advice for all the young wrestlers was for them to go back to school. He said talking about the concrete construction of the wall behind him was more interesting than wrestling. Dango claimed Santino Marella wasn’t talented in any way and was just a one hit wonder. He claimed Heath was just hanging on and not a star, and suggested he work at Home Depot.
Jonathan Gresham defeated Angels (w/ the Design)
This was a quick, but fun match. Gresham is always a delight, and Angels is really good too.
The early parts of this match saw Angels getting into arguments with Deaner, with Deaner yelling that Angels should listen to him. Gresham took advantage of this and took control, hitting a dropkick that sent Angels to the floor to face more yelling from Deaner. Both men struggled over a vertical suplex, with neither being able to get it, and Angels hit a hip toss to drop Gresham.
Angels hit a half and half suplex on Gresham and then 10-punches in the corner. Angels hit a Northern Lights suplex for a 2-count. Angels and Gresham exchanged a series of pinfall attempts to no luck from either one until Gresham was finally able to lock on the Octopus stretch and pull Gresham to the mat for the tap out.
Gresham offered a handshake, but Deaner told Angels not to do it. Angels told Deaner that he decides what he does, and shoved Deaner away before shaking hands with Gresham and leaving. Deaner tried to tell Kon to take out Angels, but Kon tried to play peacemaker.
– ABC was backstage and talked about how they would be defending the Impact Tag Team titles and The Rascalz walked up and talked about wanting a shot. ABC said that they couldn’t jump the line, but Trey Miguel challenged Chris Bey, and said that if he won, they would be added to the match at Slammiversary.
– PCO was using car cables to electrocute himself while Scott D’Amore looked on in fear in preparation for PCO’s handicap match against The Good Hands.
– Highlights of the tour of Australia were shown with all the charity work they did, and the great time they had on the tour. This was great.
PCO defeated The Good Hands in a handicap match
D’Amore joined the commentary team for this match as the Good Hands (John Skyler & Jason Hotch) came out and said they were going to slay the monster, PCO. The Good Hands punched PCO, and it hurt them. PCO hit a double lariat and then a cannonball suicida to the floor. PCO hit a moonsault on to both men for the pinfall.
Hotch attacked D’Amore after the bell, but D’Amore responded with a popup sit-out power bomb and was about to hit the Canadian Destroyer when Bully Ray’s music hit and he came out. Steve Maclin came in through the crowd and low blowed PCO before hitting D’Amore with a chair.
Ray and Maclin beat on both men with chairs before handcuffing D’Amore to the ropes and getting a table from Hotch to put PCO through. Maclin and Ray put PCO through the table and then backstage, where they poured battery acid on his face and down his throat. Bully Ray then covered him in lighter fluid and set him on fire as PCO ran at the camera and collapsed in front of it. This was a crazy heat angle, which is fitting for the fire, and for Bully Ray — no pun intended.
Gia Miller met with D’Amore backstage and asked how all that would effect the match at Slammiversary. He said he didn’t know or care at the moment.
Gisele Shaw (w/ Jai Vidal & Savannah Evans) defeated Courtney Rush (w/ Jessicka)
I liked this match. Rush in this character is much needed change for her, and she was a fantastic babyface in this one. Solid performance from both wrestlers!
Shaw was trying to recover from a loss at the Impact Down Under tour, but had to retreat when Rush went for the sharpshooter. Shaw hit several running elbows in the corner before hitting a running European uppercut. Rush was draped across the middle ropes and got hit with a stomp from Shaw. Rush hit a Samoan drop after dodging the Denouement, but Savannah Evans and Vidal distracted Rush by attacking Jessicka on the floor so Shaw was able to roll up Rush and grab the tights for the win.
– Kenny King and Sheldon Jean were backstage when a fan walked up to King and asked for a picture. Then the fan tried to slip him some money because of Joe Hendry’s song exposing King’s time as a dancer. Another person walked up trying the same and said after that video the previous week, they were curious.
King said, “Don’t you dare say his name!” and Hendry showed up. Jean and King claimed that Hendry had no friends or backup, and his music hit again, and Yuya Uemura showed up with a new version of Hendry’s song. Hendry then asked how to say “champion” in Japanese. Uemura replied, “Champion.” I loved this so much.
Nick Aldis & Lio Rush defeated The Motor City Machine Guns
This long run of putting the Machine Guns in long matches on TV is paying off for Impact lately, because they have a fantastic match every single time. Lio Rush and Nick Aldis were excellent as well. This was a really great TV main event.
Aldis and Rush got the heat on Chris Sabin in the early portion of the match, using both Aldis’ size and Rush’s speed to keep the advantage. Sabin was able to break free when he slid to the floor after being Irish whipped and blind tagged by Alex Shelley. Sabin pulled Aldis from the apron before coming back in and hitting a double team PK with Shelley.
Aldis was able to ambush Shelley with some help form Rush before the ad break. When they came back, Rush and Aldis were continuing to get the heat on Shelley. Shelley blocked a punch from Rush and hit a flatliner into the middle turnbuckle on Aldis allowing Sabin to get the hot tag. Sabin ran wild, hitting dropkicks on both Aldis and Rush before punting Aldis from the apron and sending Rush backwards with a sunset flip into a rolling elbow from Shelley followed by a magic killer for a 2-count.
Rush managed to hit a handspring kick on both Machine Guns and then a tope con giro to the floor. Rush hit a Michinoku Driver on Sabin for a 2-count, and then Aldis hit a flying elbow, allowing Rush to get another 2-count. Sabin rolled out of a frog splash attempt and then hit some classic MCMG offence on Rush. Aldis made the save in a pinfall and locked the Kingsland cloverleaf on Shelley, but ate a superkick from Sabin. Rush hit a low blow on Sabin and then hit The Final Hour on Sabin while Aldis managed to keep Shelley from making the save.
Final Thoughts:
This was a very good episode of Impact this week, featuring some great wrestling and good build for Slammiversary. It honestly would have functioned well as a go-home show, but that will be next week. We’ll see if they can top this one.
Next Week:
Zachary Wentz vs. Chris Bey with a Slammiversary Tag Team title opportunity on the line
Kevin Knight vs. Mike Bailey
Moose & Brian Myers vs. Rich Swann & Sami Callihan
Deonna Purrazzo open challenge
New for Impact Slammiversary (July 15):
Impact Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry (w/ Yuya Uemura) defends against Kenny King (w/ Sheldon Jean)
Frankie Kazarian (w/ Traci Brooks) vs. Eddie Edwards (w/ Alisha Edwards)
The final pieces for this Thursday’s Impact Wrestling on AXS TV have come into place with a high-profile tag team match as the main attraction.
The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) will take on Nick Aldis & Lio Rush following the events of last Thursday where Rush assisted Aldis in a beatdown of Shelley and Sabin. Shelley will defend the Impact World title against Aldis at this month’s Slammiversary while Sabin will defend the X-Division title against Rush.
PCO will battle The Good Hands (Jason Hotch & John Skyler) in a handicap match. This was made after Hotch and Skyler challenged Scott D’Amore to a warmup match ahead of he and PCO teaming up against Bully Ray & Steve Maclin at Slammiversary. D’Amore then made the handicap match to their chagrin.
Former Impact World Champions Sami Callihan & Rich Swann will be in tag team action against opponents to be named.
Here’s the current lineup:
Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) vs. Nick Aldis & Lio Rush
PCO vs. The Good Hands (Jason Hotch & John Skyler)
After the events of Thursday’s Impact on AXS TV, X-Division Champion Chris Sabin will defend the title against Lio Rush at next month’s Slammiversary.
After Nick Aldis and Alex Shelley got into a brawl ahead of their own Slammiversary match, Sabin came out to aid his partner as Aldis was about to hit Shelley with the World title belt. Rush then attacked Sabin from behind and he and Aldis laid out the Motor City Machine Guns with Rush knocking Sabin out with the X-Division title.
In a clip released on Twitter, Sabin said he would give Rush what he wanted: to jump to the front of the line and get an X-Division title match. While the two men have battled in multi-man and tag team matches in Ring of Honor, this will be their first-ever singles match.
An Ultimate X match for Slammiversary was also announced Thursday with the winner earning a future X-Division title shot anytime they want.
The match will include former champion “Speedball” Mike Bailey, Jonathan Gresham, Angels, Kevin Knight and the returning KUSHIDA.
It will be the first Ultimate X match for everyone involved with the exception of Bailey.
The pay-per-view is set for Saturday, July 15th in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, with the following announced thus far:
Impact World Champion Alex Shelley defends against Nick Aldis
Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defends against Trinity
X-Division Champion Chris Sabin defends against Lio Rush
Steve Maclin & Bully Ray vs. PCO & Scott D’Amore with Darren McCarty as special enforcer
Impact Tag Team Champions ABC (Chris Bey & Ace Austin) defend against Sami Callihan & Rich Swann, Brian Myers & Moose, and Subculture (Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews)
Mike Bailey vs. Jonathan Gresham vs. Angels vs. Kevin Knight vs. KUSHIDA in an Ultimate X match
Impact Wrestling has released a pair of lineups ahead of this weekend’s double-dip of TV tapings in Atlanta, Georgia.
As previously announced, Lio Rush will make his return to Impact on Friday for the first time since Impact x NJPW Multiverse United during WrestleMania weekend.
In a trio of title matches set for Friday, Impact World Champion Alex Shelley will defend his title for the first time as he takes on Brian Myers, Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defends against former champion Taylor Wilde, and X-Division Champion Chris Sabin defends against former champion Trey Miguel in a rematch.
Here are Friday’s announced matches:
Impact World Champion Alex Shelley defends against Brian Myers
Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defends against Taylor Wilde
X-Division Champion Chris Sabin defends against Trey Miguel
Lio Rush appearance
Jonathan Gresham vs. Angels
Courtney Rush vs. Gisele Shaw
Masha Slamovich vs. KiLynn King
On Saturday, Rush will officially return to action as he teams with Nick Aldis against the Motor City Machine Guns (Shelley & Sabin). If he defeats Myers Friday, Shelley will next defend against Aldis at July’s Slammiversary, leading to speculation Sabin could defend his title against Rush at the PPV if Sabin successfully defends his title Friday.
Here are Saturday’s announced matches:
Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) vs. Nick Aldis & Lio Rush
Trinity vs. Jai Vidal
Deonna Purrazzo open challenge
Rich Swann & Sami Callihan vs. Moose & Brian Myers
Mike Bailey vs. Kevin Knight
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Impact’s flagship weekly show will now be seen on DAZN’s linear channel on Sky UK.
The show, seen Thursdays on AXS TV in North America, will now also be available on DAZN HD 1, channel 429 for UK and Ireland viewers on Fridays at 23:00 BST (11 PM).
The latest move is part of a November 2022 deal done between DAZN and Anthem Sports Group which owns Impact. The channel will also air monthly specials, original series, and content from Impact’s library.
DAZN HD 1 was launched on Sky UK in March with a focus on combat sports, women’s football and documentaries.
This week’s MLW Fusion was taped in New York City as part of MLW’s War Chamber tapings earlier this year. Matt Striker and Joe Dombrowski were on the call.
AKIRA (w/Raven) defeated Lince Dorado (c) and Lio Rush to win the MLW Middleweight title in a three-way
There were a lot of interlocking storylines going on here. Rush had previously stolen Dorado’s title as he claimed himself to be the real Middleweight champion while Dorado was on the end of a recent Calling attack, setting up this intriguing triple threat match.
AKIRA jumped Dorado during his entrance, dropping him with a hard suplex on the floor and taking him out of the opening of the match.
But the champion got back into it with springboards and a top rope twisting dive to the floor. He and Rush then took turns hitting handspring cutters and stunners to take AKIRA out temporarily.
Dorado momentarily got his own torturous revenge by locking AKIRA in an armbar, but Rush quickly broke it up with a frog splash. Rush then hit a dive to the floor but was taken out when he missed another frog splash.
AKIRA capitalized with Rush out of the ring to hit his Death Penalty (lifting reverse DDT) to pick up the pinfall victory and the MLW Middleweight title win — his first in MLW.
– We heard from Jacob Fatu who is set to return to action next week against John Hennigan. We last saw Fatu being attacked by Raven, AKIRA, and Ricky Shane Page. The Samoan Werewolf is out for revenge. He said his Openweight title shot against John Hennigan – that he lost due to The Calling’s attack- will take place next week.
Raven and The Calling then brought Mandy Leon to life in an ominous pre-taped video package. Leon was motionless wrapped in a plastic sheet, but after a kiss to her forehead, Leon’s eyes popped open.
Sam Adonis (w/ John Hennigan) defeated Willie Mack
After being part of the party that screwed Mack out of an Openweight title win against Hennigan last week, Adonis faced the revenge-minded Mack this week.
Adonis got on the mic before the match to rile up the New York crowd, but Mack had his own words for Adonis and Hennigan, promising to put his boot up both their asses.
Mack moves very impressively for his size. In the early going, he worked up the speed to hit a flying kick to Adonis in the face and vault to the floor. After catching his leg on Adonis’ head during a leapfrog, Mack hit another jumping kick to stay in control.
After a break, Mack pulled Adonis off the top rope as Adonis tried to bring some of his AAA moves into the match. Mack again caught Adonis off guard and rammed his fist into Adonis’ gut as the Azteca Lucha member came off the top.
Mack was selling the earlier leapfrog collision as he could not complete his usual kip-up, struggling to hit his standing moonsault.
Hennigan got knocked off the apron after tripping Mack’s leg behind the referee’s back. But with Mack momentarily distracted, Adonis hit a Death Valley Driver/Air Raid Crash slam and a 450 splash from the top rope to pick up the tainted distraction win.
After the match, Sam Leterna brought out Mance Warner for an interview on the stage, but Adonis and Hennigan quickly interrupted and jumped him. Adonis used a leather strap to choke Warner out over the top rope.
– Ahead of his MLW title match against Alex Hammerstone at Never Say Never, Alex Kane again promised to reveal the money man behind the Bomaye Fight Club at the event. Before that, he also mentioned a cash prize being up for grabs in a “Big Apple Grapple” open challenge.
– Before the main event and after a few failed attempts to cut a promo on Delmi Exo due to technical difficulties, Taya Valkyrie stormed off saying she is leaving MLW because of issues like this.
Delmi Exo defeated Taya Valkyrie (w/ John Hennigan) to win the MLW Women’s Featherweight title
Valkyrie had been playing politics recently to delay this eventual title match, but the ending did not disappoint with Exo picking up the win and the title to end Taya’s one year reign as champion.
Earlier in the night, Exo said there was only one way she wanted to win the title and that was with the Delmi Driver, and she did just that after Hennigan’s constant distractions came back to haunt him and Valkyrie.
After a slow-building start, Valkyrie dropped Exo face-first on the apron and Hennigan added a few sneaky shots as Valkyrie distracted the referee. She slowed the match down again and kept in control as she double foot stomped Exo in the gut.
They exchanged close near falls when Exo hit a cross-legged fisherman suplex and a Pedigree for close calls, followed by Valkyrie hitting a Blue Thunder Bomb for one as well. Similar to the earlier match with Adonis, Hennigan grabbed Exo’s foot from the outside, causing the challenger to switch her focus to him.
The champion then went for a rollup, but Exo countered with her own pinning combination. Exo had Valkyrie pinned, but the referee was distracted by Hennigan on the ring apron.
Valkyrie and Hennigan then accidentally collided on the apron which distracted the champion enough to give Exo the opening to hit her Delmi Driver to win both the match and the Featherweight title.
Next week:
MLW National Openweight Champion John Hennigan defends against Jacob Fatu
The company announced on Tuesday that Rush will be a part of their Summer Sizzler event that will take place on June 23 in Atlanta, Georgia at Center Stage.
“BREAKING: After his incredible match against KUSHIDA at #MultiverseUnited, @IamLioRush returns to IMPACT at #SummerSizzler in Atlanta on June 23!,” their tweet reads.
Rush’s last appearance for Impact took place at Multiverse United back during WrestleMania weekend. The joint show between Impact and New Japan Pro Wrestling had KUSHIDA defeat Rush. Rush spent most of 2023 wrestling for New Japan Pro Wrestling. He took part in the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, scoring 12 points in Block A.
A second Multiverse event is scheduled to take place on August 20 at the 2300 Arena. Hiroshi Tanahashi has been announced for the show. It will take place one day after the New Japan’s All Star Junior Festival 2023 event.
