Former Impact Wrestling X-Division Champion Rohit Raju made his AEW debut Saturday as part of the doubleheader of Dark tapings at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.
Raju (Hakim Zane) wrestled once, losing to Captain Shawn Dean in the second half of the tapings. It’s unknown at this time when the match will air.
Raju’s contract with Impact expired at the end of 2021, making him a free agent. This was his first match of 2022 in any promotion.
The 41-year-old won the X-Division title in August 2020, holding it for four months. His last appearance for Impact was at December’s Throwback Throwdown.
AEW has used the Orlando Dark tapings to work in some interesting names in recent months including Raju and Ring of Honor Pure Champion Josh Woods.
Saturday’s tapings also saw the return of several former WWE NXT wrestlers like Anthony Greene, Marina Shafir and Tiger Ruas. Indie wrestler Megan Bayne also returned for the tapings, picking up yet another win as it appears AEW has future plans for both she and Shafir.
– Gunn Club (w/ Billy Gunn) defeated two enhancement talents – Leyla Hirsch defeated Katalina Perez – Lance Archer defeated an enhancement talent – Varsity Blonds (w/ Julia Hart) defeated Adrian Alanis and Liam Gray. Post-match, they did an interview with Tony Schiavone to talk about the match against House Of Black Wednesday. – Brock Anderson and Lee Johnson (w/ Arn Anderson) defeated Waves and Curls. Post-match, Anderson and Johnson talked with Schiavone about the match against FTR Wednesday. – Anna Jay (w/ -1) defeated Tiffany Nieves – Daniel Garcia (w/ 2point0) defeated Anthony Greene in a competitive match, followed by an interview with Schiavone about The Inner Circle. – Bear Country defeated two enhancement talents wearing Zubaz pants – Orange Cassidy and Wheeler Yuta defeated Peter Avalon and JD Drake (w/ Ryan Nemeth) – Lee Moriarty defeated Joey Janela (w/ Kayla Rossi) in a competitive match that was given some time – Diamante defeated Milo – Kiera Hogan defeated Mazzerati – Anthony Ogogo defeated Marcus Kross – Penelope Ford defeated Angelica Risk – QT Marshall defeated Toa Liona – 2point0 (w/ Daniel Garcia) defeated Kidd Bandit and an enhancement talent – Lance Archer defeated an enhancement talent that he carried to the ring from the back – Marina Shafir defeated Reka Tahaka – Aaron Solo and Nick Comoroto defeated two enhancement talents – Tony Nese defeated Zack Clayton – Dark Order’s Alan Angels and 10 (w -1) defeated Ariya Daivari and Invictus Khash. Post-match, an interview with Schiavone was interrupted by QT Marshall and The Factory to set up a future match.
Session 2
– Adam Cole defeated Kaun in a good, competitive match. In a post-match interview with Schiavone, Cole ordered Schiavone to leave the ring and then talked about his mixed tag match coming up on Dynamite. – Fuego del Sol defeated Serpentico (w/ Luther) – Ryan Nemeth defeated Chandler Hopkins – Lance Archer defeated Dean Alexander – Sonny Kiss defeated J.P. Harlow – Daniel Garcia and 2point0 defeated three enhancement talents – Abadon defeated an enhancement talent – Cezar Bononi and Tiger Ruas defeated two enhancement talents – Dark Order’s Alan Angels and 10 (w/ -1) defeated Aaron Solo and Nick Comoroto (w/ QT Marshall) – Megan Bayne defeated Shaloncé Royal – Daniel Garcia defeated Tony Vincita – Powerhouse Hobbs defeated an enhancement talent – Skye Blue defeated Robyn Renegade (w/ Charlette Renegade) – Max Caster defeated Mike Reed – Dante Martin and Matt Sydal defeated Bear Country – Jora Johl defeated Teddy Goodz – Emi Sakura defeated Charlette Renegade (w/ Robyn Renegade) – Shawn Dean defeated Rohit Raju – Wheeler Yuta (w/ Orange Cassidy) defeated Jack Evans (w/ Angelico)
Former Impact Wrestling X-Division Champion Rohit Raju took to Twitter Sunday night to announce he is a free agent as his deal with the company has come to an end.
Raju (Hakim Zane) had been with the company since 2017. While not explicitly stated, it’s assumed his deal expired at the end of 2021.
His role increased and his ring name changed in 2018 as he became a fixture in the X-Division along with forming the Desi Hit Squad faction.
The 41-year-old first won the X-Division title in August 2020 in a three-way with then-champion Chris Bey and TJP at Emergence. He would lose the title nearly four months later to Manik (TJP) at Final Resolution and never regained it.
His last in-ring action on Impact TV was in a December loss to Josh Alexander, followed by a defeat to Josh Mathews at Impact’s Throwback Throwdown 2 event where he wrestled as Quincy Cosmos.
In addition to Impact, Raju has wrestled frequently on the indies through the years and has been a constant in Midwest indie AAW where he recently lost their Heritage title to Ace Austin and Myron Reed in a three-way.
One of Impact Wrestling’s signature match types is making its return at this year’s Slammiversary pay-per-view.
Impact Wrestling has announced that Josh Alexander will defend his X-Division Championship against Trey Miguel, Ace Austin, Chris Bey, Rohit Raju, and Petey Williams in an Ultimate X match at Slammiversary. The PPV is taking place on Saturday, July 17.
A number one contender’s match featuring Miguel, Austin, Bey, Raju, and Williams had taken place at last Saturday’s Against All Odds Impact Plus special, but it ended in a no contest due to interference by Madman Fulton. Fulton is aligned with Austin.
This will be Impact’s first Ultimate X match since 2019.
Slammiversary is being held at Skyway Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. There will be a limited number of fans in attendance, making this the first Impact show with a live crowd since March 2020. Sami Callihan has been set to challenge for Kenny Omega’s AEW World Championship at the PPV, but Callihan is currently involved in a storyline where he’s been fired from Impact by Don Callis.
An X-Division title match has been announced for No Surrender.
TJP will defend the championship against Rohit Raju at the Impact Plus event that takes place on February 13. This comes after Raju defeated TJP in a match on tonight’s episode of Impact after Mahabali Shera made his return to the promotion by aligning himself with his former Desi Hit Squad team mate, attacking TJP.
TJP had won the title as Manik in a triple threat match against Raju and Chris Bey at last month’s Hard to Kill pay-per-view event. The stipulation had been that TJP could not challenge Raju while Raju still had the title. After TJP won the title and the ruse was revealed, Scott D’Amore then set a rematch between the two for this week’s Impact.
Matches already announced for No Surrender include Rich Swann vs. Tommy Dreamer for the Impact World title and Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson squaring off against AEW’s Private Party for the Impact World Tag Team titles.
The X-Division Championship changed hands on Impact Wrestling’s final Impact Plus special of 2020.
At Final Resolution on Saturday night, TJP used his former Manik persona to answer Rohit Raju’s Defeat Rohit challenge and pin Raju to win the X-Division Championship. TJP also previously held the X-Division title as Manik in 2013.
In storyline, TJP couldn’t challenge for the X-Division Championship again as long as Raju was champion. Scott D’Amore said no one named TJP could challenge for the title and told TJP to think about what Dusty Rhodes would do.
Suicide answered the Defeat Rohit challenge on Impact two weeks ago. Raju thought it was TJP under the Suicide mask. He agreed to face Suicide but made it a non-title match. Raju unmasked Suicide during the match, but TJP’s music then hit and he walked out to the stage. Raju turned around and was pinned by Suicide, who was Crazzy Steve.
TJP tweeted after winning the X-Division title: “I knew I packed a little heavy before leaving for the #SJcup earlier…looks like I’m packing heavy going home too… #AndNew X Division Champion On to the next one… #ImpactWrestling #FinalResolution #NJPW #SuperJcup”
Raju wrote after his loss: “ABSOLUTE BULLSH*T!!! IT WAS A CONSPIRACY FROM THE START!! WE KNOW WHO’S UNDER THAT DAMN MASK!!”
Raju had been X-Division Champion since defeating Chris Bey and TJP in a triple threat match for the title at Emergence night one this August.
An X Division title match will headline next Tuesday’s Impact Wrestling as Rohit Raju will defend against TJP with a stipulation attached.
The match was made Tuesday when TJP came out for the Defeat Rohit Challenge and made an impassioned plea for a title shot, throwing hot tea on Raju which led to a brawl. Rahit later demanded Scott D’Amore do something about it and the match was made with this being the former champion’s final opportunity to win back the gold as long as Raju is champion.
Other matches announced:
Chris Sabin vs. Acey Romero (w/ Larry D): This has been building for two weeks since Romero and XXXL partner Larry D hurt Sabin’s Machine Guns partner Alex Shelley in an interview segment. Sabin challenged either man to a match next week.
Madison Rayne and Tenille Dashwood vs. Havok and Nevaeh: This was made during Rayne’s Locker Room Talk segment when Rayne suggested Jordynne Grace and Dashwood team up for the upcoming Knockouts Tag Team Title tournament. Instead, Dashwood suggested they team up instead, continuing her rivalry with Grace.
A six-way scramble match for the X Division title has been added to Bound for Glory.
On tonight’s Impact, Rohit Raju came out and said he would defend his X-Division title. Willie Mack came out to accept Raju’s challenge, but Raju said that he had already defeated him at Victory Road this past weekend and wanted new competition.
Jordynne Grace then came out to challenge Raju. Grace rolled up Raju with an O’Connor Roll to win while Raju was arguing with the referee, refusing to give him the title. Grace thought that she had won the title, but the referee announced since he was not given the title to raise, the title was not officially on the line.
Backstage, Scott D’Amore congratulated Raju on “giving everyone opportunities”. He said at Bound for Glory, he would defend the title against Mack, Grace, TJP, Chris Bey and Trey Miguel.
Other matches announced for Bound for Glory, which takes place on October 24, include Eric Young vs. Rich Swann for the Impact World title, Deonna Purrazzo vs. Kylie Rae for the Knockouts title, and The Motor City Machine Guns vs. The Good Brothers vs. The North vs. Ace Austin & Madman Fulton in a fatal four way tag match for the Impact Tag Team titles.
The no. 1 contender for the Impact X-Division Championship will both be decided and get their title opportunity on next Tuesday’s Impact Wrestling.
After weeks of making TJP, Trey Miguel and Chris Bey face each other to avoid facing them himself, X-Division champion Rohit Raju will finally have to defend the title against one of them. The three men confronted Rahit again after Miguel defeated TJP Tuesday, each making their case to face Raju. He suggested all three face each other in a three way with the winner facing him.
In another featured match, Tenille Dashwood will be in action for the first time since returning to Impact Wrestling against former Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace. The two have been circling each other since Dashwood’s return and Grace was happy to deliver the news of the match personally to Dashwood Tuesday during a photo shoot.
In the only other announced match, Kimber Lee will face Susie. The latter teamed with Kylie Rae on Tuesday’s show in win over Lee and Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo to extend a storyline that has played out over the last few weeks.
Impact Wrestling returns from Nashville, TN for tonight’s episode, which kicks off the #1 Contenders Tournament for Tessa Blanchards’s Impact World Championship, and headlined by Moose defending his TNA World Championship against Suicide.
Opening video started as a promo for the #1 contendership tournament for the Impact World championship that starts tonight. However, Moose interrupted the video, called in the former voice of TNA, Barry Scott, to do the introduction. The video became a Moose highlight reel, listing his accolades and featured old footage of Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, Bobby Roode, Bully Ray, Jeff Hardy, Jeff Jarrett, Dixie Carter, and Hulk Hogan putting him over. This was a hell of an intro.
Hernandez defeated Madman Fulton (w/oVe) in a World Championship #1 Contender first round match
Collar and elbow to start the match, with Fulton having the early power advantage, pushing Hernandez to the corner over and over again. Hernandez hit a headbutt and clothesline, but couldn’t put Fulton down, who even caught Hernandez mid-crossbody. Eventually, Hernandez hit a pounce out of nowhere to cut Fulton’s momentum.
Fulton hit a deadlift suplex over the ropes, followed with a front slam and a plancha for a two count. He had a choke in when Hernandez started to make a comeback. Fulton stomped him down. Hernandez kept fighting, but the Crist brothers were there to distract the referee and aid Fulton to cut Hernandez off again.
Fulton hit a huge sidewalk slam and went to follow with a second rope headbutt, but Hernandez moved away. Fulton tried to throw Hernandez into the rails, but Hernandez came back with a springboard shoulder tackle. Hernandez hit a chokeslam, but Dave Crist put Fulton’s leg on the ropes.
Hernandez went for a tope con giro on oVe, but the Crist brothers stopped him. Hernandez brought them in, took out Dave, then hit a Border Toss on Jake onto Fulton, but Fulton kicked out at one.
Fulton went back into the attack, hit a running splash to the corner, went for a second, but Hernandez blocked. Fulton went for a superplex, but Hernandez blocked and hit a Supermex Splash for the win. This was much better than I expected.
Michael Elgin cut a promo saying that he should be the #1 contender, but Impact keeps putting speed bumps on his way to the championship. He said that whatever happens to the talent on that way will be on Impact’s hands.
Backstage, Fulton was going crazy over losing. Fulton and Dave argued, while Jake tried to calm them down. Crazzy Steve walked up and told oVe that they seemed to be done and kind of implied that he could lead oVe. Dave Crist vs Crazzy Steve for next week.
Joseph P. Ryan walked up and said that it was offensive for crazy people to be calling others ‘crazy’.
Josh Matthews and Madison Rayne ran down tonight’s card.
Kylie Rae defeated Tasha Steelz
Match starts with a lock up, with a little bit of chain wrestling for wrist control and headlock counters. This went on for several minutes, with both women trading momentum. Eventually, the match picked up speed and Rae got the upper hand with arm drags, but when she thought she had it, Steelz dropped her face first on the turnbuckle to cut her off.
Tasha hit a couple of short-line clotheslines for a quick two count. Tasha locked in a sleeper, but Kylie powered up to her feet and slammed Tasha against the turnbuckles over and over again until she released.
Rae hit the Kylie Special for a two count. Kylie went for a STTF, but Tasha made the ropes. Tasha kicked Rae and hit a top rope crossbody for a two count. Kylie locked in the Smile To The Finish and Tasha tapped out. Good, short match.
Rohit Raju cut a promo about change coming to Impact now that he will become the #1 Contender. He said that he had been there for 3 years and he had not one t-shirt, but now everyone would realize how good he is. He said there is no more Desi Hit Squad, only the Desi Hitman Rohit Raju. Another awesome promo by Raju.
Backstage, Susie walked up to Kylie Rae. Susie didn’t remember Kylie, so they did some stuff about names. Pointless skit.
Kimber Lee defeated Havok
Lee tried to start the match strong, but Havok’s power advantage cut her off as she tossed Lee around a bit. Lee tried to chop herself back into the offense side, but Havok kept cutting her off.
Kimber Lee went for a rana, but Havok blocked her and hit a sit down powerbomb for a two count.
Kimber Lee connected with a spinning Kick and a step-up kick to bring down Havok. Lee choked her against the ropes, and kept up with strikes. Lee locked in a Koji Clutch around the ropes, dropped Haok with a low dropkick, then connected with a kick. She followed with a swanton bomb for a two count.
Kimber Lee went for a crossbody, but Havok caught her and hit a Swinging Side Slam for a two count.
Halfway through the match, Nevaeh was seen at the ramp watching the match. Havok eventually saw her and got distracted, allowing Kimber Lee to grab brass knuckles, which she used when Havok went for a superplex. Kimber Lee then rolled up Havok and picked up the win. Interesting that Lee debuted cheating.
We got another great Kiera Hogan vignette. She’s calling herself ‘The Hottest Flame’.
We got another episode of Locker Room Talk, with special guest, Ken Shamrock. Swinger and Shamrock have a past and Shamrock remembers. Madison Rayne asked about the last problems that Shamrock has been involved in, to which Shamrock said that people keep coming for him.
Shamrock said that he is now focused on the Impact World championship, but suddenly, Michael Elgin walked up and attacked Shamrock with a chair, delivered a con-chair-to, and walked away.
We got a promo by Sami Callihan. He talked about Elgin, who according to Sami, has always been trying to copy Sami’s career, except he always fails. Callihan said that next week, he collides with Elgin and that he’ll do whatever it takes to be champion again.
Trey Miguel defeated Rohit Raju in a World Championship #1 Contender first round match
Fast paced sequence of wrist control reversals into a lucha style armdrag exchange, at least until Raju got tired and took down Trey with his slight power advantage. Trey recovered and used his speed for another quick sequence, hitting a jawbreaker and footstomp.
Trey went for a dive, but Rohit blocked him, kicking him several times . Rohit, now in control, worked over Trey for a while, mostly strikes, slams, and some submission attempts. Rohit hit a jumping reverse STO for a two count.
Trey tried to make a comeback, but got cut off by a fisherman suplex for another two count. Trey finally connected a full kick combination and neckbreaker to bring Rohit down and get a breather.
Rohit went for a kick combo, but Trey blocked and dodged them all, connected a Pele kick, and got a two count. Rohit came back with a couple of running attacks and a front suplex for a near fall. Rohit whipped Trey and followed with a forearm, tried to do the same, but Trey countered, hit some Cheeky Nandos and the Trey19.
When he went for the Meteora, Rohit caught him with a jumping knee. Rohit hit a swinging neckbreaker, went for another Front Suplex, but Trey reversed into a roll up for the win. Pretty good match, easily the best of the night so far.
Rohit threw a fit after the match.
We got another video of Cody Deaner during his ‘Kwaranteen’, this time talking about loneliness and mental health during social isolation. He said he calls his fellow wrestlers on the phone, which was more like cutting promos on the phone. We got some footage of Cody learning how to dance and doing DDP Yoga. He also tried to wrestle a tree and the invisible man. These are funny.
Over in Canada, we got another match from The North. Before that however, Page cut a promo saying that he hired someone to get them competition. It was another team of geeks. Page is enjoying himself, while Alexander is getting tired of not having real competition.
Impact Tag Team Champions The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander) defeated The Smoes to retain their titles
Page superkicked one of The Smoes and knocked him out with one move. They did a Weekend At Bernie’s match, having the unconscious Smoe pretend to participate in the match. Alexander tagged in and killed his opponent with a powerbomb into the knee, an airplane toss, and Page finished him with a top rope body press into Alexander’s backbreaker. The North then hit their finisher and won. This was at least funny. Can’t wait for some real competition either.
Rosemary was at the bar trying to figure out her Tarot fortune and talking to Mr. Mundo. John E. Bravo walked up. They argued about who missed Taya the least. She wondered if Bravo was the ‘love’ that the cards predicted.
Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the Week was AJ Styles vs Matt Hardy from Victory Road 2011.
Backstage, Swinger and Chris Bey had a discussion, with the latter adding some bad blood between himself and Willie Mack
Swinger found Mack and told him that he was getting a big head since he won the X-Division title and told Mack that he was going to add him to the Royal Humble and win the X-Division title. Mack agreed and made the challenge for next week.
Also set for next week is Rhino vs. Ken Shamrock and Michael Elgin vs. Sami Callihan in the #1 Contendership tournament. Also, XXXL vs TJP & Fallah Bahh where the winners will become the next contenders for the Tag Team titles.
Self-Proclaimed TNA World Champion Moose defeated Suicide to retain his title.
During his entrance, Moose demanded that ring announcer, David Penzer, make special title match announcements for tonight.
Match started as Suicide got a couple of roll ups on Moose. Moose tried pulling from the mask, but Suicide recovered quickly. Moose hit a big Fenix-like Rana on Moose, sending him to the floor.
They started brawling around ringside, where Moose finally got the upper hand, whipping Suicide into the rails.
Back in the ring, Suicide recovered, blocking Moose’s rush, but Moose caught him on the top rope and tossed him across the ring to finally cut him off.
Moose worked over Suicide with chops, punches, and big boots when Suicide tried to make a comeback. At one point, they went back to the floor where Moose swung Suicide into the rails and followed with an apron bomb for a 10 count tease.
Suicide made it back, but was stomped back to the floor for a second time. But this time, Moose went down to talk trash. He tossed Suicide back to the ring, but kept talking trash to the camera, allowing Suicide to connect with a dive.
Back in the ring, Suicide faked Moose on the ropes and hit an apron senton onto Moose. Suicide hit a leg scissors takedown and went for a German, but Moose easily blocked. Suicide hit a big palm strike for a two count.
Suicide went to the top rope, but Moose rushed him and went for a pop-up powerbomb. Suicide reversed with a rana, landing on his head. Suicide followed with a rolling fireman’s carry slam and a lionsault for a two count.
Moose rammed Suicide to the corner where he stomped him, but got distracted with the referee, and accidentally slammed him. Suicide hit a superkick and an enzugiri. Moose came back with a big boot, and Suicide responded with a shotei and a backfist. Moose went for a top rope shoulder tackle, but Suicide caught him with a codebreaker for a visual pin. However, the referee was down.
Moose went for the No Jackhammer Needed, but Suicide reversed with a Code Red for a two count. Moose lowblowed Suicide behind the ref’s back and hit the No Jackhammer Needed to retain the championship. This was surprisingly good given the random pairing.
Given the storyline with the TNA Championship, a lot of recently released wrestlers like Eric Young and ECIII were named as people that could come to tell Moose what they thought about him proclaiming himself the champion.
Final Thoughts —
Good show by Impact. A positive start to the #1 Contender’s tournament, a great main event title defense, and two good debuts for the Knockout’s Division. I barely noticed that there were no people there.
Impact Wrestling has added another match to the lineup for tonight’s Rebellion pay-per-view.
Scarlett Bordeaux will be facing Rohit Raju of the Desi Hit Squad in an intergender match tonight. It was originally announced that Bordeaux would be hosting a live Smoke Show segment on PPV, but Impact noted that Bordeaux vs. Raju is replacing that.
Raju tweeted to set up the match: “My second year @IMPACTWRESTLING and I haven’t been on one major PPV, no t-shirts, and ZERO love for the DHS. Yet here we are GIVING @Lady_Scarlett13 a spot on the PPV to do that hot garbage Smoke Show. Truly ‘well deserved’. YOU DON’T BELONG IN THE RING! What a joke!!
Bordeaux & Fallah Bahh teamed together to defeat the Desi Hit Squad (Raju & Raj Singh) in a match that aired on the April 19 episode of Impact. On last month’s Against All Odds special episode, Bordeaux defeated Disco Inferno.
Rebellion is taking place at the Rebel Entertainment Complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada tonight and will begin at 8 p.m. Eastern time. Here’s the updated card for the show:
Impact World Champion Johnny Impact defending against Brian Cage (Lance Storm will be the special guest referee)
Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie defending against Jordynne Grace
Impact Tag Team Champions The Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix) defending against LAX (Santana & Ortiz) in a Full Metal Mayhem match
X-Division Champion Rich Swann defending against Sami Callihan in an oVe rules match
Tessa Blanchard vs. Gail Kim
Moose & The North (Josh Alexander & Ethan Page) vs. The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier, Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel)
