Matt Cardona got his first taste of Impact gold Thursday as he defeated inaugural Digital Media Champion Jordynne Grace for the title.
Cardona made the challenge two weeks ago, saying he was the original Internet Champion which was the inspiration for the Digital Media title.
The story of the match is that it was Cardona’s first intergender bout and he had issues going after Grace as a result. Eventually, he took advantage of a distracted referee, hitting Grace with a chair and Radio Silence to get the pin and win the belt.
Later, Cardona was interviewed and said it was his biggest day after winning the gold. When asked about what Chelsea Green would think about how he won it, he told interviewer Gia Miller to instead ask ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham was it was like to be married to a loser.
Grace became the first champion at October’s Bound for Glory, winning a six-way tournament final match. She had defended the title successfully four times.
The belt was created to be defended on the company’s social media channels.
X-Pac will team with Joey Janela against Matt Cardona and Brian Myers at GCW Welcome to Heartbreak on Friday, February 25 in Los Angeles, California.
The match was set up at The Wrld on GCW pay-per-view when Myers helped Cardona defeat Janela in a singles match. X-Pac ran in to make the save for Janela after the match, but Cardona and Myers escaped before X-Pac could inflict any damage.
X-Pac last wrestled in April 2019 at the WrestleCon SuperShow, teaming with Hurricane Helms and Jushin Liger to defeat Caleb Konley, Jake Manning, and Zane Riley.
*BREAKING*
Just Signed for GCW's return to LA on 2/25:
He's BACK!…
XPAC & JOEY JANELA vs MATT CARDONA & BRIAN MYERS
Plus: Dr Wagner vs Homicide Blake Christian vs Nick Wayne Atticus vs Blackwood
Join on-air personality Denise Salcedo and her special guest, ESPN’s very own Marc Raimondi as they review Game Changer Wrestling’s The WRLD on GCW! A lot of crazy stuff happened on the show, hear all about it!
Topics Rundown:
Overall thoughts
A crazy grab the brass ring ladder match
Match of the night: Team Gringo vs. Team Bandido
Lio Rush wrestles Blake Christian
A LOT happened During Matt Cardona vs. Joey Janela– multiple appearances
Cyon started this week’s show by cutting a promo on Sal Rinauro, saying that he was going to show him what pro wrestling really is.
Matt Cardona and Mike Knox were then at the podium, insulting the NWA, saying that they were an amateur production for not playing his theme music on NWA Power, but Knox and he were the doctors that were going to fix it.
Trevor Murdoch came out defending the NWA, saying it’s 73 years of blood, sweat, and tears. He said that all you need is a ring and two people who want to fight, but Cardona and Knox wouldn’t take his spot. Cardona said that Murdoch needed to go through Knox to get to him, and asked Murdoch to put the title on the line. This was both a good promo from Murdoch and good heel work from Cardona.
Kylie Rae defeated Allysin Kay
This was a decent match with Kay looking stunned at the loss. Rae looked really good in her selling and offense. Kay is also quite good, so this was fun.
Velvet Sky asked if the title was on the line in this match and Joe Galli let her know that it was a singles match, so the Tag Team titles wouldn’t be on the line. She said, “You never know” which must be leftovers from her experience with Russo booking.
Kay locked on an armbar, leaving Rae struggling to get to the ropes. Before Rae could escape, Kay rolled it over into a pinfall for a two count. Rae rolled through after running the ropes, hanging onto Kay’s arm before kicking up over the downed Kay and hitting a superkick in a cool spot.
Kay blocked a crossface, hit a Samoan drop and then landed a kick for a two count. Rae countered an AK-47 attempt and rolled through into a sunset flip on Kay for the pinfall victory.
— Kiera Hogan and Women’s Champion Kamille were with May Valentine and Hogan claimed that she wanted the title. Kamille said that Hogan should be honored to face her that she was going to put Hogan’s flame out.
— Dango and JTG were with Kyle Davis and talked about wanting competition. Dango ate a candy cigarette. The Ill Begotten came out to challenge them when Dango accepted. Captain YUMA asked for a handshake. Dango pulled out baby oil and squirted the baby oil onto his hands for an uncomfortably long time while Yuma broke the fourth wall and turned to the camera. That was weird but I also laughed.
— Homicide and Tag Team Champions La Rebelion were with May Valentine and Homicide said he didn’t care who were in front of them or what match it was. Bestia 666 said that Homicide had their back they’ll take on all comers. This was a good promo.
Madi Wrenkowski defeated Melina
Melina gave a lot to Wrenkowski in this one as this was designed to make her look strong in defeat. If the NWA wanted to, they could do something with this. The crowd got behind Wrenkowski.
She immediately took it to Melina, staying ahead with a submission and then a pinfall attempt which seemed to surprise Melina. Wrenkowski hit a knee and then drove Melina’s face to the mat for a two count. Melina countered with a neckbreaker and was so visibly upset at Wrenkowski’s performance, she yanked Wrenkowski by the hair to take her to the mat before locking on a modified surfboard stretch.
Wrenkowski kicked out at one, which infuriated Melina more. Wrenkowski drove Melina’s face into the turnbuckles before they went into several pinfall attempts but Melina fired up and dared Wrenkowski to hit her. Melina countered after a few more attacks and was able to get the pinfall.
— Taryn Terrell, Paola Blaze and Jennacide were with May Valentine. Terrell claimed that she brokered peace between the both of them and then claimed she was going to create world peace and solve the climate crisis.
— Tyrus and Idolmania Sports Management were with Kyle Davis. Tyrus claimed he was going to keep the TV title as long as he wanted and when he successfully defended it seven times, he was going to take the NWA World title from Trevor Murdoch, but he was going to do it on his time.
Tyrus also announced that Jordan Clearwater and Marche Rockett were going to take the tag titles. I actually enjoyed that promo. Austin Idol then cut an awesome promo to the camera while on commentary about how he was wearing camo because it was hunting season, and Idolmania was running all over the NWA.
The Ill Begotten (The Fixers & Rush Freeman) (w/ Captain Yuma & Alex Taylor) defeated DSB (Dango & TJG)
Jay Bradley and Wrecking Ball (which is a name I love) surprised DSB (and Captain Yuma) as Yuma was sure he was competing in the match, but it seemed Freeman and Taylor went out and hired the Fixers. Bradley and Wrecking Ball got the heat on JTG in the early part of the match. After hitting a double brainbuster on Dango, Freeman paid the Fixers off and pinned Dango.
— Rodney Mack and Anthony Mayweather were with Kyle Davis. Mack said that Jax Dane disrespected his wife Jazz and he was going to show Dane why he is the baddest man in the world.
Mayweather went on to talk about Dane when a lawyer served him with papers for a restraining order where Mayweather cannot be within a mile of Dane.
— Galli announced a new match for the NWA called Team War with four trios teams in a fatal four-way with the winning team getting $30,000.
Clearwater claimed that Luke was not allowed to touch him, so he hit a forearm and drove Clearwater back into the corner. Clearwater tagged out in fear. PJ and Rockett exchanged some blows, sending Rockett back to the corner and Luke tagged back in. BLJ drove Luke into the apron behind the ref’s back and they moved into the heat.
BLK Jeez got on the apron so the ref missed the tag from Luke to his son, but it still wasn’t long before PJ tagged in and hit suplexes and strikes on everyone. Tyrus distracted PJ and the referee ejected BLK Jeez and Tyrus, but the damage was done and Marche Rockett dropped PJ. Rockett went for the Rockett Kick, but Luke moved, but Hawx Aerie hit a pop-up powerslam on Clearwater for the pinfall.
The show went off the air with Galli announcing that Trevor Murdoch would be defending the World title next week against Mike Knox.
Final Thoughts:
There was a lot to like on this episode of Power. I liked the growth of stables outside of Strictly Business with Idolmania Sports Management and attempting to highlight newer stars with Hawx Aerie and Madi Wrenkowski being showcased in particular. This was a good episode this week.
Stemming from an angle the two have been shooting on social media, Matt Cardona vs. Joey Janela has been announced for The Wrld on GCW pay-per-view on Sunday, January 23.
Playing off the Ric Flair-Randy Savage angle from WrestleMania VIII, Cardona and Janela have been going back and forth on Twitter regarding Cardona’s wife Chelsea Green. With Janela in the role of Flair, Cardona in the Savage role, and Green as Miss Elizabeth, Cardona demanded a match with Janela. That match is now set for the Hammerstein Ballroom on the 23rd, and Green will be in Cardona’s corner.
It was announced earlier today that The Wrld on GCW will be available on traditional pay-per-view in addition to FITE TV. Cardona vs. Janela is one of four matches now official for the card. Here is the lineup:
Matt Cardona (w/Chelsea Green) vs. Joey Janela
Ruby Soho vs. Allie Katch
ROH World Championship: Jonathan Gresham vs. Blake Christian
Team Bandido (Bandido, Laredo Kid & ASF) vs. Team Gringo (Gringo Loco, Demonic Flamita & Arez)
NWA Power opened with a promo from Melina saying that she should be the permanent number 1 contender because of her status as a legend. It’s a heel line, but I think she’s the babyface here. Babyfaces should be willing to work their way up the card, and Melina did not want to, so this was confusing to say the least.
That led into our first match.
Kiera Hogan defeated Jennacide (w/ Taryn Terrell), Kenzie Paige and Christi Jaynes to become the number 1 contender to the NWA Women’s title
This was an excellent match from all four as they put on quite the show. You have to think places like AEW would want to fill out their women’s division with the talent seen here. Hogan has an AEW contract, but she would be a great get for any organization out there.
Everyone tried to take out Jennacide at the onset, including Kenzie Paige hitting a dive on her. Hogan hit a dropkick in the corner on Jaynes while Jennacide pulled Hogan to the floor. Hogan went for a wheelbarrow on Jennacide, but Jaynes ran in and hit a cutter on Hogan for the two count in a cool spot.
Jaynes chopped Jennacide, who no sold it and chopped her back before hitting a fall away into a DDT. Paige and Hogan hit double superkicks on Jennacide. Paige then hit Hogan with a superkick, followed by Jaynes hitting a palm strike and ushigoroshi on Paige.
Jaynes hit a moonsault to the floor on all three women, but Hogan came back in and hit Face the Music (a swinging fisherman’s neckbreaker) for the pinfall to earn the title shot.
— The OGK (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) & Tag Team Champions La Rebelion were backstage with Homicide. Homicide bad-mouthed The OGK, asking why they were there. Bennett and Taven said they wanted a match against them for the titles, but La Rebelion said that they weren’t worthy. Bennett told Homicide to keep his boys in line and a brawl almost broke out.
— Jax Dane was with Kyle Davis and continued to talk about Anthony Mayweather (Crimson). Dane claimed that he set up Mayweather’s match against Mims tonight. Mims is the student of Mayweather, so he wanted to see how bad Mayweather wanted another match against him, going through his student.
Dane started bad-mouthing the NWA legends and Rodney Mack, the husband of Jazz, decided that was disrespectful and took him out to end the segment.
Anthony Mayweather defeated Mims by countout
This was an interesting way to book the match, but in this case, I think the finish served the story. Mims didn’t want Mayweather to play into the hands of Dane. Mayweather understood it as business and wanted his trainee to wrestle. Mims, in the end, was the one manipulated. If it goes somewhere, it’s interesting.
Mayweather and Mims exchanged some offense, but Mims kept letting up on him every time he had the advantage. Mims said he couldn’t do it and that Dane was manipulating both of them. Mayweather said it was just business and they should fight. Mims laid down for the pin, and Mayweather said that there was no honor in winning that way, so give him a fight.
Both men left the ring and Mayweather told him that this was part of his training, but Mims threw Mayweather into the ring before they could both get counted out, giving the teacher the win by countout.
— Cyon was with May Valentine and spoke about how his past doesn’t matter despite Valentine asking about his former NWA champion father. He chose to wore a mask because the past doesn’t matter and was going to continue to fight and prove himself, because Tyrus showed him what he needed to do to get to the top.
DSB (JTG and Dirty Dango) defeated The Rude Dudes (El Rudo & Jamie Stanley)
I like all four guys, but this wasn’t very good. Stanley and JTG, in particular, seemed to struggle, but I have seen far worse.
JTG started with El Rudo. Dango and JTG showed some good tag team offense in the early part with a few double teams on El Rudo. Rudo and Stanley kept the heat up for a few minutes until Dango hit a back suplex before making the tag to JTG.
JTG and Stanley had a bit of a miscommunication when JTG tried to wrap Stanley’s arm around his head and hit a neckbreaker, but it just didn’t come together. JTG got a uranage on Stanley before Dango hit the guillotine leg drop off the top rope for the finish.
NWA Television Champion Tyrus (w/ BLK Jeez, Jordan Clearwater & Marche Rockett) defeated Jaden Roller to retain
This match sucked. Tyrus is so lazy in the ring that he barely moved while doing anything. This was one of the most boring three-minute matches I have ever seen.
Roller hit Tyrus with a jawbreaker after Tyrus lazily shoved Roller to the mat. Roller attacked the knee and kept attacking until hitting a flying clothesline to drop Tyrus. Roller hit an Axe Kick on Tyrus for a two-count.
Tyrus couldn’t get up in time to hit Roller with a punch to the stomach, so Roller just stopped and sold it like Tyrus headbutted him. Wow, Tyrus is bad. Tyrus hit a corner splash and a heart punch for the win. This was horrible.
Cyon defeated Judias (w/ Sinister Minister) via DQ
This also sucked. Judias wasn’t over. I like Cyon, but Judias is terrible.
Judias controlled the early parts of the match with slow, awful offense. Sal Rinauro came out as he is still trying to join Sinister Minister. Judias then threw Rinauro at Cyon for the DQ. Rinauro then asked the Minister if he did good.
Matt Cardona & Mike Knox defeated Strictly Business (Thom Latimer & NWA National Champion Chris Adonis) & NWA World Champion Trevor Murdoch & Tim Storm in a three-way
This was a fine tag match, but was nothing too special.
Knox, Cardona, and Strictly Business seemed to agree that working together to beat on Storm and Murdoch made the most sense. Cardona entered the match when Murdoch was being beat on, but tagged out as soon as Murdoch showed any offense.
Cardona missed a boot scrape and Storm ran wild on Knox and Cardona. Cardona was able to steal the win after everyone exchanged finishers until Cardona hit Radio Silence on Storm.
Final Thoughts:
The opening match was the best on the show with the non-finishes hurting the show a bit. Judias and Tyrus being in featured matches and storylines suck the life out of Power, and the crowd usually responds with silence. I wish anyone else in Idol’s group would wrestle, but Tyrus wrestles the most for them.
The main event was a perfectly fine tag match, but Cardona vs. Murdoch needs to be heated up soon with more promos and angles.
A clash of generations has been added to GCW’s Say You Will event set for Saturday, January 15.
GCW has announced Matt Cardona vs. Ricky Morton for their upcoming show in the Chicago area.
Cardona will also be in action the night before at GCW Most Notorious in Detroit, taking on Rhino. That show also includes appearances from Kevin Nash and Sabu.
The Cardona vs. Morton matchup joins a card that includes a pair of ROH World Championship matches, plus the return of Jeff Jarrett following his surprise debut at Die 4 This on January 1.
GCW Say You Will will air at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday, January 15 on FITE TV from the Grand Sports Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Here is the lineup:
ROH World Championship match: Jonathan Gresham (c) vs. 2 Cold Scorpio
Disputed ROH title match: Bandido (c) vs. Blake Christian
Matt Cardona vs. Ricky Morton
GCW World Tag Team Championship match: Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe (c) vs. John Wayne Murdoch & Reed Bentley
After a storyline where Cardona said he would never return to the promotion, Cardona engaged in a social media exchange with Joey Janela playing off a WrestleMania VIII angle, with Chelsea Green in the role of Miss Elizabeth, Janela in the role of Ric Flair, and Cardona in the role of Randy Savage. Cardona agreed to return to the company to face Janela. Instead, the company announced Cardona vs. Rhino for their Friday, January 14 Most Notorious event.
Most Notorious will be held in Detroit, Michigan at the Harpos Concert Theatre. The show will air on FITE TV beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern time. Here is the announced lineup:
Impact World Champion Moose, W. Morrissey and Matt Cardona — the three men involved in the main event for January’s Hard to Kill — will sign their contracts on Thursday’s edition of Impact Wrestling.
On last week’s show, Cardona defeated Morrissey by DQ and all three men ended up in a brawl with Cardona standing tall.
Ahead of his challenge of Jonah at Hard to Kill, Josh Alexander will battle Rohit Raju. Alexander came out and beat up Raju and Raj Singh last week en route to calling out Jonah for a match.
After teaming last week, Knockouts Tag Team Champions The IInspiration and The Influence came apart leading to Jessie McKay vs. Tenille Dashwood tonight.
Doc Gallows, one half of the Tag Team Champions, will team with Joe Doering of Violent by Design for the first time to take on common enemies in Rich Swann and Willie Mack while in a pair of X-Division matches, champion Trey Miguel will face John Skyler in a non-title affair while Chris Bey takes on Laredo Kid.
Ace Austin vs. Hernandez is set for the BTI pre-show.
* * * * * * * * * *
Ace Austin (with Madman Fulton) defeated Hernandez (with Johnny Swinger) on BTI.
* * * * * * * * * *
Opening video recapped the ongoing build to Hard To Kill’s main event where Moose will defend the Impact world title against W. Morrissey and Matt Cardona.
Josh Alexander defeated Rohit Raju (with Raj Singh)
This match was booked after Alexander interrupted and attacked Raju’s match last week against Lawrence D.
Alexander started dominating the match, but after trying to take down both Raju and Singh, Raju took advantage of the distraction and cut him off for a couple of minutes in the ring. Alexander had a couple of chances to make a comeback, but Singh was there for the distraction and allowed Raju to cut him off and suplex him into the ropes.
Eventually, Alexander caught Raju with a belly-to-belly and a German to finally stop Raju. Alexander’s ribs were still hurting, so Raju was still able to get a couple of near falls with a bridge, but Alexander reversed into an ankle lock, but released to take out Singh.
Raju came back with a couple of running boots and a double stomp, but Alexander kicked out at 2.
Alexander went for the C4, but was too hurt to get Raju up, so instead took out Raju’s knee, powered up for the C4, and got the win. Really good opener, way more back and forth than I expected.
Josh Alexander will face Jonah at Hard To Kill.
– Gia Miller interviewed the Good Brothers and VBD about their alliance. Anderson said that as the champions, they could use any help they could get, so they took in EY’s offer to work together. Him and Gallows said they don’t trust VBD, but they’re willing to work together.
EY said this was a business alliance and nothing else.
– Gia Miller interviewed Chelsea Green about entering the Ultimate X match at Hard To Kill. She said it was historic and after she won it, she would finally go for the title. She said that Cardona will win the title and they’ll be a power couple.
Moose approached Green and was passive aggressive, talking smack about Cardona to her. He threatened that her marriage to Cardona will be short, even for wrestling standards.
Joe Doering & Doc Gallows (with Karl Anderson & VBD) defeated Rich Swann & Willie Mack (with Rhino & Heath)
These four teams have been feuding separately for months, but last week, we saw the union between the Good Brothers and Violent By Design be born as a means to take down their opponents.
Gallows started the match against both Swann and Mack, who tagged in and out and tried going for Gallows’ arm. Swann and Mack took down both big men with double dives.
Back in the ring, Swann and Mack kept that upper hand until Swann got cut off by Gallows with a big boot after he got distracted by Doering’s presence in the corner. Gallows and Doering worked over Swann’s midsection.
Swann managed to connect Doering with an enzuigi and tagged out. Mack came in and took down Doering and Gallows with some help from Swann. They took out Doering, but when they tried to take out Gallows, Swann was pushed off the top rope by Doering. A double chokeslam on Mack later, Gallows and Doering picked up the win.
After the match, Good Brothers and VBD attacked Swann, Mack, Rhino, and Heath, but Eddie Edwards ran down for the save. He took out Anderson, Deaner, and EY with a kendo stick and a dive, and the rest took out Doering and Gallows to clear the ring.
– VSK and Zicky Dice talked backstage about calling Myers about last week’s loss. Dice said to not call him until they face Decay and get a win.
– We got a promo from Jonah, explaining what being the top dog meant. He talked about the time his father was in prison. He compared it with how he attacked Alexander, but unlike his father, he didn’t have Alexander’s respect and thus would beat him up at Hard To Kill.
X-Division Champion Trey Miguel defeated John Skylar in a non-title match
Commentary sold this match as a speed vs power match, but they were not as mismatched.
Match started with a sequence of reversals where Miguel gained momentum catching Skylar with a dive, only to get cut off with a diving spear as he tried to do so again on the other side of the ring.
Skylar worked over Miguel and got a couple of near falls, at one point countering into a release belly-to-belly into the corner where Miguel almost landed on his neck. Miguel came back with some cheeky nandos and the Meteora for the win. Ok match, could have been better with more time.
After the match, Steve Maclin attacked Miguel on the ramp, took the title and knocked Miguel out with it. Maclin has been asking for a singles match with Miguel, and so he dragged the dead body of Miguel to the back. We then saw that Maclin had kidnapped Miguel, tied him, and seemed getting ready to torture him to get that title shot he wants.
Chris Bey (with Hikuleo) defeated Laredo Kid
Last week, Laredo Kid stood up to the Bullet Club after they bullied the staff backstage. Kid challenged Bey to a match, and thus, here we are.
Match started with a sequence of counters and reversals, with both men going for quick pin attempts.
The match would go back and forth between the both, as Bey would cut off Kid early on, but Laredo would make a comeback outspeeding Bey. It would be until Hikuleo started distracting Laredo Kid that Bey would regain control by ramming Kid to the ring post.
Back in the ring, Bey worked over Kid’s midsection, keeping Kid down and distracting the referee to allow Hikuleo to get some cheap shots in. Bey started getting too cocky and allowed Kid to slowly go for a comeback, but Bey was still able to cut him off and take him down with a flying elbow.
Bey caught Kid on the ropes and went for a springboard leg drop, but Kid was finally able to dodge him and take him out, hitting a dive that didn’t make much sense after Laredo ran the ropes on a different axis than the dive. Kid would go to the top rope to finish Bey, but Hikuleo would once again interfere and push Kid off.
The damage on Kid wouldn’t last long, he regained momentum with a series of moonsaults on Bey for a two count. Bey caught Kid with a huge spinning back kick and a slam, but only got a two count.
Laredo Kid hit an avalanche Michinoku Driver for another near fall, tried to follow with a phoenix splash, but Bey moved out of the way. They fought on top of the turnbuckles where Bey laid Kid on the ropes and hit a foot stomp for yet another two count.
Finish finally saw Kid hit a DDT, a huge senton to Hikuleo, but when he tried to go for Bey, got cut off. Kid managed to push off Bey from the top rope, but Bey was ready with a cutter as Kid dove on Bey with a plancha.
– We got a recap of Deonna Purrazzo showing up at ROH’s Final Battle to challenge Rok-C for the ROH Women’s title. We then saw footage of an autograph signing where Mickie James and Deonna Purrazzo had a confrontation that ended with a brawl.
Afterwards, Scott D’Amore and Gail Kim scolded both women and reinstituted the no contact rule. Kim said that their match at Hard To Kill will now be a Texas Deathmatch.
Last week, both teams joined forces to take on Decay, but after not finding chemistry, stepping on each other’s toes, and ultimately losing to Decay, Dashwood looks to get back at The IInspiration.
Story of the match was to see who was the bigger heel of the two. There were a couple of mirror spots and a lot of mocking early on. The bulk of the match continued with back and forth action, but as they went on, Dashwood got more dominant after snapping McKay’s neck on the ropes.
Dashwood got a couple of near falls, best one after her diving crossbody to the corner. She tried to submit Mckay with a full Nelson, but McKay fought her off and finally made a comeback. Dashwood went for a small package, but McKay kicked out and took down Dashwood with a big boot for a two count when Kaleb pulled the ref down.
Outside the ring, Rayne, Lee, and Kaleb all got in a fight, but after the distraction, Kaleb tripped McKay and set her up for Dashwood’s spotlight kick for the win. This was way better than I expected, and will surely end with an Influence vs IInspiration title match.
– Striker and Brown ran down the card for Hard To Kill, including the newly added stipulation for Purrazzo vs James in a Texas Death Match.
Hard to Kill World title contract signing
t was time for the Hard To Kill main event contract signing. This time around, the contract signing is taking place in the ring. D’Amore is proceeding with the signing.
W. Morrissey was the first out, and seemed a bit more babyface than usual. Matt Cardona came out second, along with Chelsea Green. Finally, Impact world champion Moose came out.
D’Amore ran down the accolades that the participants have achieved during 2021 before giving Cardona the contract to sign. Morrissey jumped in and took the contract before he could sign it.
Morrissey took the mic and said that this signing wouldn’t be about mind games, he was there to become the Impact world champion, signed the contract, and left the ring.
Cardona took the mic and agreed with Morrissey, the last couple of weeks, he had been dealing with Moose playing mind games, but he was someone that kept coming back after being pushed back and he was ready for Hard To Kill. Cardona signed.
Moose told Cardona that he will once again fail, signed the contract, and told Green that after Hard To Kill, she’s going to have to realize she’s married to a midcarder. Moose insulted Green and a brawl finally broke down.
Moose took out Cardona and put him through the table as Green looked on. Moose posed with the title over Cardona’s body before leaving, but halfway through the ramp, Moose came back to continue the beat down. He tried to Pillmanize Cardona, but Green interfered. The distraction gave enough time to Cardona to recover and get a chair, but when he swung at Moose, the latter dodged and Cardona nailed Green with the chair. Moose retreated as referees checked on Green and the show went off the air. Everyone was good until the unnecessary chair shot.
Matt Cardona and Dirty Dango made their NWA debuts at tonight’s Hard Times 2 pay-per-view.
Following the Trevor Murdoch vs. Mike Knox NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship match main event that saw Murdoch retain the title, Cardona entered and aligned with Knox. As Mick Foley appeared to chastise Cardona, The Pope rushed out to attack Cardona. Cardona and Knox left Murdoch and Pope laying, then Cardona posed with Murdoch’s title belt.
Earlier in the evening, Dirty Dango made his presence known and aligned with JTG following a World Tag Team title match between La Rebelion and The End. La Rebelion (Bestia 666 and Mecha Wolf) retained the Tag titles, then Dango and JTG appeared to assert themselves as the next challengers for the NWA Tag belts.
Other notes from the show:
Regarding the sparse crowd, we were told that the capacity was restricted to 90 as a result of a Georgia government mandate. The show was held at GBS Studios, a public television facility funded by the state government.
Homicide and Austin Aries both won qualifying matches for the NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship four-way match to be held at the next pay-per-view.
All the title holders retained in the night’s eight championship matches —
The Hex retained the Women’s Tag titles by defeating Kylie Rae & Tootie Lynn, Missa Kate & Natalia Markova, and Jennacide & Paulo Blaze.
Matt Taven and Mike Bennett retained the ROH Tag titles and will take on The Briscoes at ROH Final Battle.
Mickie James retained the Impact Knockouts Championship with a win over Kiera Hogan.
Tyrus retained the NWA Television title with a win over Cyon.
Chris Adonis defeated Judais to keep the NWA National Championship.
La Rebelion defeated The End to retain the NWA Tag titles.
Kamille defeated Melina to retain the NWA World Women’s Championship.
Trevor Murdoch defeated Mike Knox to retain the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship.
Our full live results post for Hard Times 2 can be found here.
Thursday’s Impact Wrestling is headlined by two high stakes matches that will crown new number one contenders for two different title matches at this month’s Turning Point.
Matt Cardona, Eddie Edwards and W. Morrissey will clash in a three-way match to determine the next challenger to Impact World Champion for Moose. Edwards and Morrissey have feuded in recent months, while Cardona and Moose had a backstage brawl recently.
As a result of another feud that has been ongoing for months, FinJuice and Bullet Club (Chris Bey & Hikuleo) will meet yet again with a shot at the Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers on the line. Impact VP Scott D’Amore decreed that there must be a winner.
After Madison Rayne and Kaleb with a K complained to Impact management about their treatment in the company, D’Amore awarded the two with matches Thursday. Rayne will face the next contender for the Knockouts title in Mercedes Martinez while Kaleb will take on Minoru Suzuki.
Also, The Undead Bridesmaids (Kimber Lee & Brandi Lauren) will face former Knockouts Tag Team Champions Decay (Havok & Rosemary) as current champions The IInspiration try to soften up the former titleholders ahead of their Turning Point rematch.
The BTI pre-show match is Savannah Evans vs. Rachael Ellering.
Bullet Club (El Phantasmo & Chris Bey) (w/ Hikuleo) defeated FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson) to earn a Tag Team title shot at Turning Point
Both teams have been chasing the titles, held by The Good Brothers. Last week, FinJuice came close to earning that fair shot they have been asking for, only for the Bullet Club to come out and interrupt the match. Scott D’Amore instead signed this match to crown the number one contenders.
This was similar to the match these teams have had in the past months. FinJuice started strong against Bey, but when Robinson was in there, Hikuleo and ELP started to distract him and eventually, they cut him off from his corner.
Bullet Club worked over Robinson for a couple of minutes. This was mostly ELP doing some of his shenanigans, but it wasn’t long before Finlay got the hot tag. FinJuice isolated Bey for their offense, eventually going for the Doomsday Device. After a distraction from ELP and Hikuleo, Finlay instead went to take them out, leaving Robinson in the ring to get reversed by Bey, superkicked by ELP and pinned.
After the match, Anderson and Gallows came out and brawled with Bullet Club, ending with Hikuleo taking out Gallows as Bullet Club controlled the ring.
— Gia Miller interviewed D’Amore about the three-way main event to find the new top contender for the World title. She asked why Josh Alexander wasn’t added to the match. Before D’Amore could answer, he was confronted by Alexander about it. D’Amore told Alexander that he wasn’t getting a shot until he fixed his focus issues. So instead, he was going to book Alexander vs. Minoru Suzuki so he could deal with him. Later on, he can continue his chase for the World title.
— We got a recap of last week’s BTI where Sam Beale pinned Brian Myers. Afterward, we got a new installment of Myers’ lessons where he berated VSK and Zicky Dice for losing last week. It was mostly a comedy skit with Dice getting slapped every time he or VSK talked. Myers ended the segment challenging Beale to a one-on-one match.
Minoru Suzuki defeated Kaleb with a K
There is no story to this match as it was just a quick squash to showcase Suzuki. Kaleb ran away from Suzuki at first and then tried to attack, but Suzuki easily blocked him and turned it into a submission. Suzuki won with the GSP. During the match, we saw Alexander watching from the back.
— Miller interviewed Moose about his potential challengers at Turning Point. Moose ran down the names, but in the end, he wasn’t concerned since he was the most dangerous man in all of professional wrestling.
This match came from Knockouts Tag Team Champions The IInspiration after they convinced the Bridesmaids to take on Decay prior to the IInspiration’s title defense at Turning Point against the former champions in Decay.
The match started with Decay taking out both Bridesmaids, but at that point, both Cassie Lee and Jesse McKay came out to interrupt and set themselves up on the ramp to watch the match.
With the distraction, the Bridesmaids were able to jump Decay and take control, separating Rosemary from her corner. The Bridesmaids showed some tag team work with a couple of double team combos, but Rosemary was still able to make a comeback against Lauren and tag in Havok. Decay got the win with the backbreaker and spear combo on Lauren.
After the match, The IInspiration came down to the ring, but avoided crossing paths with Decay.
— Heath and Rhino cut a promo about Heath’s rough year being out with an injury. Heath said that the tension between them and Violent By Design wasn’t over. Rhino said he wanted revenge against Eric Young, so they challenged VBD. Great promo by Rhino.
— We got footage of last week where Madison Rayne and Kaleb complained about losing to Mickie James. D’Amore approached them and booked Rayne vs. Mercedes Martinez.
Mercedes Martinez defeated Madison Rayne
Martinez is the current number one contender to the Knockouts Championship, held by Mickie James.
The match wasn’t that good. Martinez started with a delayed vertical suplex for a near fall. She tried to follow with a crucifix bomb, but Rayne escaped, hit a code breaker, and cut off Martinez for a bit with a cravat and some knees.
Martinez came back with a tiger driver for another near fall, followed with some strikes and a short DDT. Rayne got a near fall with an enzuigiri and a blockbuster, but couldn’t keep her down. Mercedes finally got the win with a jumping knee and a schoolgirl pin.
After the match, Rayne jumped Martinez and dropped her with a ripcord cutter. Afterwards, she attacked Martinez with a chair until James came out for the save. That was a lot of offense for Rayne against the number one contender. After Rayne left, Martinez no-sold the attack and dropped James with her driver.
— Steve Maclin cut a promo talking about losing in the last few weeks, but that he is still unpinned and unsubmitted. He said he deserved to be in the X-Division title match at Turning Point. Trey Miguel confronted him and told him if he wanted to get pinned, all he needed was to ask. Miguel asked D’Amore to make it a triple threat at Turning Point. D’Amore instead told Maclin that if he can defeat Laredo Kid next week, he gets added to the match.
— Beale addressed Brian Myers and accepted his challenge for next week. He talked about learning so much from him and knowing him well after having followed Myers for months. He told Willie Mack and Rich Swann to stay in the back, because he needed to take on Myers by himself.
Rohit Raju (w/ Raj Singh) defeated Rocky Romero
We saw footage from last week where Raju confronted Romero about jumping in line and getting a shot at the X-Division title, so he challenged Romero to a match.
It started with both men showing off and wrestling with some mirror spots into the standoff. It wasn’t long before Romero gained the advantage with his sneaky style and some lucha ranas.
The match continued back and forth except Raju managed to hurt Romero’s back and arm and thus gained more and more control as they went on. Singh also helped Raju every time that Raju could distract the referee.
Romero made a comeback with the forever lariats. Romero hit a double footstomp on Raju for a two count, followed with a backslide, but Raju blocked. Romero hit a satellite DDT for yet another near fall. Raju got a near fall himself with a flatliner, but as he tried to capitalize, Romero locked in an armbar, prompting Singh to distract the referee. Romero took out Singh and hit a sliced bread on Raju, but he still couldn’t get the win.
The finish finally saw Raju block a tornado DDT, hit a drive-by kick, and get the win in a really good match.
— Hernandez told Johnny Swinger that he asked D’Amore for a match against The Demon and Decay for next week. John E. Bravo brought in Fallah Bahh to be the third man for the team.
— Chelsea Green cut a promo about becoming the new number one contender to the Digital Media title, so D’Amore booked Green vs. Jake Something vs. Matthew Rehwoldt vs. Alisha Edwards. The winner gets a shot at Digital Media Champion Jordynne Grace.
— Also next week, Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Iinspiration vs. Undead Bridesmaids in non-title action; Laredo Kid vs. Steve Maclin for a spot at the Turning Point X-Division title match; the return of Deonna Purrazzo and in the main event, Suzuki vs. Alexander.
Eddie Edwards defeated W. Morrissey and Matt Cardona to earn an Impact World title match
After last week’s main event, D’Amore booked this match where the winner gets a shot at Moose in the Turning Point main event. As previously explained in the show, D’Amore decided to not give Alexander the spot until he fixed his focus issues.
With Morrissey being the biggest man, both Edwards and Cardona went after him first, but he easily took them out with boots. He tossed Edwards to the floor and worked on Cardona in the ring. Edwards recovered and he and Cardona managed to take down Morrissey for a bit, but Morrissey quickly recovered and took them down with a double chokeslam.
Morrissey maintained control, keeping Edwards out of the ring and working on Cardona. Later down, Edwards returned when Cardona had been taken out to the floor and managed to get some offense in, but it wasn’t long before Morrissey stopped him with a fallaway slam.
Edwards made a comeback and traded strikes with Morrissey, but he couldn’t keep up. Cardona and Edwards once again teamed up and took Morrissey down with a code breaker and blue thunder bomb combo, but neither man could capitalize.
Morrissey dropped them with a double suplex, followed by a tower of doom spot where Cardona got a near fall over Morrissey. Cardona kicked out of a black hole slam from Morrissey. Finally, Edwards and Cardona finally got rid of Morrissey, sending him to the floor and for the first time tonight, Cardona and Edwards exchanged strikes. It wasn’t long before they dove on Morrissey.
Back in the ring, Cardona missed an avalanche radio silence and while Morrissey lay on the floor, Edwards hit a BKP to Cardona for the win. This was a great showing for Morrissey, regardless of the winner as he was clearly the best man in the match.
It will be Moose vs. Eddie Edwards for the Impact World title at Turning Point.
Dave Meltzer on the new reports regarding Daniel Bryan and CM Punk possibly heading to AEW, Money in the Bank 2021 review, and more.
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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
Triple H turns 52 today. Stephanie McMahon wrote on Twitter: “Happy Birthday to my badass, Motorhead loving, man of my dreams!”
WWE released a statement on the death of Brazo de Plata: “The always charismatic and infectiously hilarious Lucha Libre Legend José Luis Alvarado Nieves, better known in the squared circle as “Super Porky” (Brazo de Plata), passed away Monday at the age of 58. The celebrated Mexican competitor was a proud member of the Alvarado wrestling family, which includes several generations of luchador athletes, as well as being a member of the squared circle for nearly 40 years — including a stint with WWE from 2005 to 2006. WWE extends its condolences to José Luis Alvarado Nieves’ family and friends.”
Hit Row spoke about teams like Legado del Fantasma and Imperium in a social media exclusive.
Keith Lee wrote on Twitter last night: “I’ve decided. I am just going to tell you guys the story myself. Give me a week or two .I wanted to do something educational, but also inspiring to tell you guys about everything since late January. Seems that is off the table for now. So….with that, I will find another way to tell guys about everything. It might simply a video of me chatting with you. We’ll see.”
Snoop Dogg has been announced as taking part in an in-game countdown to Summerslam that will take place in the WWE mobile game WWE Champions.
The lawyer that accompanied Jinder Mahal and Veer on yesterday’s episode of Raw has been identified as Arjun Singh, who recently competed on the episode of AEW Dark that aired on June 29, where he lost to Angelico.
The company announced that an Instagram photo of John Cena confronting Roman Reigns is their most-viewed post in WWE history at 3.5 million views.
Matt Cardona joined Busted Open Radio and talked about his Game Changer Wrestling World title win and the reaction that it got over the weekend. “In 2021, we all know the deal,” Cardona said. “I, personally, have never seen anything like that. Or, I’ve never been a part, or in the building as a fan as a wrestler, never. So for me it was a once in a lifetime experience. Do I wish the fans would’ve shown me a little more respect? Cool. Do I wish someone would not have thrown a pizza cutter? Cool. But man, I don’t regret any of that because that will live forever.”
WDBJ7 in Roanoke, Virginia did a story on the Boogie Woogie Man Jimmy Valiant preparing for what is being billed as his final wrestling match.
In an interview on the Indy Mayhem show, Danny Limelight spoke on his status following his signing with MLW. “I think for the foreseeable future you’ve seen the last of me in AEW. The door was kept open for a possible return one day. They spoke very highly of my work ethic and my work. I know I have a really good relationship with Tony Khan. He’s an amazing human. He’s an amazing person to work for. I am still able to work for New Japan Pro Wrestling and I’m still able to work for the United Wrestling Network. I’m still able to do my indie dates.”
Andrew Thompson of Post Wrestling interviewed Mr. Hughes on his WWF run, training Kiera Hogan, and wrestling in his 50s.
Muhammad Hassan has been announced for the upcoming “The Wrestling Code” video game.
Hangman Page turns 30 today. He wrote on social media: “thank you for all the birthday wishes and for not reminding me that at 30 statistically speaking over 38% of my life is over oh god now i thought about it.”
Joe D’Orazio, a British professional wrestler who later worked as a referee, turns 99 today. He is considered the current oldest living wrestler.
Matt Cardona is the new GCW World Heavyweight champion.
Cardona defeated Nick Gage on the first night of Game Changer Wrestling’s Homecoming event at the Showboat in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The finish of the match had Ricky Shane Page come out and, at first, helped even things out by taking out the 44OH stable that had surrounded Gage at ringside.. However, RSP then turned on Gage, allowing Cardona to attack Gage with a light tube and pinned him following the Radio Silence.
After the match, the irate crowd began throwing garbage, striking Cardona as he held up the title. Gage had held the title since April 9, when he defeated Ricky Shane Page at a GCW event held during WrestleMania 37 weekend.
Cardona and Gage have been feuding for the last month, which started when Cardona made a surprise appearance at a GCW show back in June under a mask. He imitated Jon Moxley, who Gage is also feuding with, then attacked Gage and revealed himself. Gage later confronted Cardona during a live episode of the Major Wrestling Figure podcast, which set up tonight’s match.
Gage is set to face Chris Jericho in a no disqualification match on this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite.
On a podcast appearance with Sean Waltman last week, Matt Cardona discussed how he ended up in Impact Wrestling and the end of his brief AEW tenure.
Cardona said he signed an AEW deal for multiple dates and that when it expired, he was not offered a new deal. Impact Wrestling came into the mix and the rest is history.
The 36-year-old known as Zack Ryder in WWE made his first in-ring appearance post-WWE release for AEW, teaming with Cody Rhodes in win over Dark Order’s Alex Reynolds and John Silver last July. He came out to Rhodes’ aid the week prior on Dynamite.
He was then part of an eight-man tag with Dustin Rhodes, QT Marshall and Scorpio Sky as they defeated Brodie Lee, Evil Uno, Stu Grayson and Colt Cabana at last September’s All Out. He didn’t have anything negative to say about AEW but that he wasn’t going to beg for a contract.
Cardona then didn’t appear in a wrestling ring until January of this year, debuting for Impact at the Hard to Kill pay-per-view. He has primarily worked there with some indie dates sprinkled in between. He made a surprise appearance at GCW’s Zombie Walk to set up a match against GCW Champion Nick Gage for their upcoming Homecoming event in July. He told Waltman he was surprised how much buzz that match is getting.
He also told Waltman he would never say never about a WWE return, but that he is having fun what he’s doing now and that his goal is to not go back.
A match between Nick Gage and Matt Cardona has officially been set.
Game Changer Wrestling announced that Cardona will face Gage for the GCW World Heavyweight title at GCW’s Homecoming event, which will take place on July 24 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This follows a confrontation that took place during a live podcast in Baltimore that was hosted by Cardona. Gage entered the room the podcast was being held at, looking for Cardona, but was eventually taken away by security.
This follows what happened at GCW’s Zombie Walk event on June 6, where a masked man attacked Nick Gage. The person appeared to have Jon Moxley’s mannerisms, another person that Gage has been feuding with. The person laid out Gage with Moxley’s paradigm shift finisher, but when the person took off their mask, it was revealed to be Cardona.
GCW will hold two events at the Showboat in Atlantic City on July 24 and the following day on July 25.
