Tag: Steve Maclin

Impact Down Under live results: Motor City Machine Guns vs. Chris Bey & Ace Austin

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Impact Wrestling will wrap up their two show Australian debut tour with another pay-per-view from Wagga Wagga.

The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) will attempt to win nearly all of Impact’s men’s titles as they challenge Impact Tag Team Champions Ace Austin & Chris Bey. Shelley is the current World Champion while Sabin is the X-Division Champion.

Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo will defend against Gisele Shaw. If Shaw wins, she will defend against both Purrazzo and Trinity at Slammiversary.

Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry will look to go 2-0 in title defenses this weekend as he attempts to fend off the challenge of Moose.

Brian Myers will battle Frankie Kazarian as Kazarian’s original opponent, Steve Maclin, was hurt on Friday.

Other matches include Killer Kelly vs. Steph De Lander; Robbie Eagles vs. Adam Brooks; Eddie Edwards vs. Slex; and the Natural Classics vs. The Velocities in a clash of Australian talent.

**********

Adam Brooks defeated Robbie Eagles to become the inaugural Oceania Pro Wrestling World Champion (13:01)

Oceania Pro Wrestling is a new Australian events company that is looking to bring international promotions into the country and has been instrumental in making this Impact Down Under tour a reality. They are looking to establish their own championship, which presumably will be defended at shows they promote along other promotions.

Brooks is opening an Impact PPV for the second night in a row in search of a win while Eagles also lost in yesterday’s X-Division three-way and wants to both pick up the win and capture some gold. Brian Myers was supposed to have been in this match, but will replace Steve Maclin (who got injured last night) and will face Frankie Kazarian later on tonight.

They started out with wrist locks and Eagles transitioned into a headlock before they started trading quick pinfall attempts. Eagles hit some quick head scissors that sent Brooks to ringside and then looked to follow up with a dive, but thought better of it and backflipped back into the ring instead.

Brooks tried a crossface, then suplexed Eagles into the turnbuckle and rolled to ringside, where he swiftly ate a running kick by Adams from the apron. Brooks proceeded to knee Eagles in the head and then hit a flying knee off the second turnbuckle for a near fall. Eagles came back with chops and rabbit elbow to the back of Brooks’ head.

Eagles hit running double knees in the corner and went for the Ron Miller special, his inverted figure four, but opted for a knee drop instead. Brooks trapped Eagles face down on the turnbuckle and delivered a kick to the face before hitting a TKO on the top rope that sent Eagles to the outside. Brooks followed with a dive and jumping DDT from the apron for another close two count.

Brooks was limping due to damage done to his knee by Eagles as the two got into a strike exchange. They traded spots and counters until Eagles hit a poisonrana, followed by Sliced Bread. Eagles locked in the Ron Eagles special, but Brooks eventually got to the ropes. Eagles went for a 450 splash, but Brooks got his feet up and hit a Swanton bomb to get the pin and title.

– The announcers ran down the card and recapped yesterday’s results which you can look up in yesterday’s report.

Gisele Shaw promo

Shaw talked about being a powerhouse, but also did her tape study and can be a technical wrestler. She said she would leave Wagga Wagga the new Knockouts champion, said she would break Deonna Purrazzo’s arm, and called her a bitch.

The Natural Classics (Stevie Filip & Tome Filip) defeated The Velocities (Jude London & Paris De Silva) (4:45)

The Natural Classics are part of NJPW’s Bullet Club through its Australian Rogue Army subgroup and were part of NJPW TAMASHII tapings over the past few months, as were their opponents. The Velocities also have been three-time tag team champions in their home promotions, PWA, wrestled for the NWA and in Europe, for promotions such as RevPro and OTT and had some bangers with fellow Australians, Aussie Open.

The Natural Classics face-palmed their smaller opponents before the match, earning a double dropkick for their troubles before being thrown to ringside with some impressive double team spots before the match even officially started.

Tome Filip got double-teamed early before Stevie came in and wiped out De Silva. De Silva managed to thwart both guys and dove for a hot tag, just as his partner got pulled off the apron. Finally, De Silva managed to tag in London, who ran wild with dropkicks and a flying wristlock/headscissor combo. He followed up with a springboard Stundog Millionaire on Stevie.

The Velocities were looking to hit a top rope move and a dive simultaneously but both got thwarted. The Natural Classics then hit a power bomb/neckbreaker combo on De Silva to pick up the impressive victory here. This was great while it lasted, but could easily have gone twice as long.

Deonna Purrazzo promo

She mocked Gisele Shaw for learning a submission hold but said she was not a technical wrestler and that she herself was the master of the Fujiwara armbar, the best female technical wrestler in the world, and a three-time Knockouts champion.

Impact Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry defeated Moose to retain (12:17)

Those two had some battles over the Digital Media championship earlier this year, including in a Dot Combat match at No Surrender.

Hendry cut a promo before the match and talked about being at the Wagga Wagga zoo yesterday and saw a lot of different animals. He then went to his Victoria hotel bar later that night and saw a dancing moose, which prompted an according chant from the crowd. He said the moose was not dancing to a song, but to two words: “We Believe.”

Hendry hit a shoulder block to start, but Moose didn’t budge. They started a test of strength that Moose initially got the better off, then kicked Hendry in the gut. He went for a corner charge, but Hendry just casually walked away while Moose ran into the turnbuckles. Hendry hit a suplex, but Moose popped right back up and they fought at ringside.

Hendry sent Moose into the ring post and then proceeded to smash Moose’s head into the apron ten times, which he eventually succeeded in after a brief interlude. Moose briefly appeared foggy, but managed to kick Hendry as he re-entered the ring. Moose chopped Hendry in the corner before hitting a uranage for a two count.

Hendry eventually blocked some of Moose’s punches and even did the Hulk Hogan “You!” finger point before hitting a cutter for a nearfall of his own. He followed with ten punches in the corner to complete the 1980s throwback. A fallaway slam followed before Hendry went for the Standing Ovation, which was blocked.

Moose hit a beautiful dropkick and power bomb for another near fall. Hendry evaded a spear that sent Moose into the corner, but still got rolled up. Hendry hit a lariat and an impressive pop-up power bomb that almost won him the match as the crowd erupted into “This is Awesome!” chants.

Moose hit a huge superplex from the top rope and held on to deliver another one, but instead Hendry suplexed him, which left both men at the mat. They traded elbows before Moose caught him in a backslide for another near fall. Moose rolled him up once more but grabbed the tights in plain sight of the referee, who stopped his count to reprimand Moose. Hendry used that opportunity to roll up Moose for the win. 

Quick trivia note: Hendry beat two former Impact World champions on back-to-back nights here.

Impact wrestlers at a special needs school

Another clip of some of the wrestlers talking at an alternative school for students with mental problems aired. This was really nice and it looked like they talked about some issues close to the kids’ hearts.

Eddie Edwards defeated Slex (11:49)

Slex beat Adam Brooks last night while Edwards lost to Joe Hendry. Both men also wrestled for NOAH in the past and Slex just returned from a tour with the group in May.

Edwards rolled to ringside right away as he was not happy with his crowd reaction. He eventually returned to the ring and proceeded to head butt Slex. Slex came back with some chops and quick arm drags that left Edwards visibly worried.

Slex used his speed to send Edwards to ringside and briefly worked him over on the outside. Edwards caught him with a hard right on a dive attempt though and they ended up on the apron where Edwards hit a high kick and slam onto the hardest part of the ring.

Edwards was in control and worked over Slex for a bit, before dropping him with a nasty elbow on a whip in. Eddie looked to be setting up for the Die Hard Driver and they had a battle of suplex attempts that Slex eventually won. Slex got a near fall off a crossbody, but got caught in a Blue Thunder Bomb for a two count.

Slex picked Edwards off the turnbuckles, hoisted him on his shoulders and hit a spinning fireman’s carry into a power bomb, a move he calls the Business Bomb. Edwards ended up at ringside and got caught with a tornado DDT off the apron and a top rope moonsault once back inside the ring for another near fall.

Edwards hit a backpack stunner and Tiger Driver, which each scored him a near fall. He followed up with the Boston Knee Party to pick up the win.

– Another Wagga Wagga holiday highlights video aired.

Steph De Lander defeated Killer Kelly (9:53)

De Lander cut a quick promo, talking about being better than all of the fans and Kelly.

Kelly once more slid towards her opponent on all fours, but De Lander quickly attacked her before finding herself on the receiving end of an onslaught. De Lander rolled to ringside, evaded a soccer kick and hoisted Kelly on her shoulders to no particular avail. She still managed to throw Kelly shoulder first into the ring post.

Back in the ring, De Lander took over, sat Kelly on the top turnbuckle and followed with a running kick and suplex. Kelly came back with forearm strikes, but quickly got clotheslined back down for a two count. De Lander choked Kelly in the ropes and followed with another suplex.

Kelly powered back up and got into a striking battle, but got beaten down again. De Lander locked in a bear hug, but Kelly fought out, trapped the arms, and hit a few head butts for good measure.

Kelly hit the shotgun basement dropkick in the corner for a near fall and then looked to lift her opponent up for a Death Valley Driver, who countered with a German suplex for a two count. Kelly got De Lander to tumble, then hit a running kick and went for another cover back inside.

De Lander got back in control for a bit, but Kelly managed to hit a DDT for a two. Kelly went to lock in the Killer Clutch, but De Lander repeatedly backed her into the corners and broke the hold. She hit a slightly ugly looking F5 to pick up her first victory in Impact Wrestling.

Frankie Kazarian promo

Franke Kazarian talked about how Steve Maclin was supposed to have been his opponent tonight, but Maclin apparently suffered an injury in his World title match last night. So, Kazarian will face Brian Myers instead. He said Myers could go back to playing with toys later but he would beat him tonight and Eddie Edwards next Thursday on Impact Wrestling.

Frankie Kazarian defeated Brian Myers (14:45)

Myers immediately dover out of the ring as the match started. As he got back inside, Kazarian also left the ring, which enraged Myers.

Eventually they properly started the match and traded wrist locks and head locks for the first few minutes. The pace eventually picked up when Kazarian hit a side Russian leg sweep and then bashed Myers’ head into the turnbuckle. He followed with a DDT for a two count.

Kazarian tried getting Myers on the top rope, but he slipped away and threw Kazarian to the mat. Myers continued to employ nefarious tactics and was firmly in the control for the next portion of the match. Kazarian came back with a rollup, followed by a small package for two quick nearfalls.

An enzuigiri by Myers stopped Kazarian in his tracks as Myers went for a chin lock and kick to the back. Kazarian got a few strikes in, but quickly fell victim to a DDT before getting locked in another chin lock on the mat.

Kazarian escaped via a belly to back suplex, a number of elbows, power slam and leg drop, Kazarian went to the apron, delivered a guillotine leg drop, and a floatover DDT for another two count.

Myers counted a chicken wing attempt into a Michinoku Driver for another two count and went for the Roster Cut, which was turned into a sunset flip. Myers got another near fall with a spear, then went up top and hit a top rope elbow for yet another close near fall.

Kazarian distracted Myers with another roll up, then locked in the chicken wing, forcing Myers to quickly tap.

Impact Tag Team Champions ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) defeated The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) to retain the titles (19:03)

These two have been battling each other in various matches and promotions for exactly one year now, having first met at Against All Odds in July of last year, which was also the debut match of ABC as a tag team.

Shelley and Bey started out and milked the crowd for almost two minutes. They quickly ended up on the mat trading holds. Bey hit a spinning uppercut to the back of Shelley’s neck before they traded punches. Sabin blind tagged in and hit a lariat on an unsuspecting Bey.

Austin tagged in and caught Sabin in a headlock before trading offense. The MCMG double teamed Austin before Shelley took him back down to the mat. He locked in a straight jacket choke. Austin eventually tagged out and hit a dive on the MCMG at ringside.

Shelley fought both members of ABC off, tagged Sabin and the MCMG once more overwhelmed ABC. Sabin had Bey firmly under control, then tagged in Shelley and hit a combo surfboard/bulldog on Bey, but not before taunting Austin about it.

Bey sent Sabin into Shelley twice to stop the MCMG’s momentum. Austin came in and ran wild, including hitting a leg drop and top rope double dropkick on both opponents which sent them to the outside. Austin evaded attacks by both men on the apron. Back in the ring, ABC isolated Sabin, who briefly made a comeback but got dropped with a head kick. Shelley managed to slam Austin into the turnbuckles, but also got taken out quickly.

Bey went for the Art of Finesse, but got caught and double teamed. He evaded a clothesline by Sabin who hit Shelley, followed by them taking MCMG down with a Double Art of Finesse (reverse springboard stunner).

ABC went for the One Two Sweet, but got thwarted with Sabin eventually hitting a cutter on Bey after some innovative tag team spots. MCMG hit a (kind of) assisted Sliced Bread on Bey for a close near fall. ABC took out Sabin, hit the One Two Sweet on Shelly, then hit an assisted top rope cutter, followed by the One Two Sweet on Sabin to pick up the victory and defend their titles in a wild and fun match.

After a few tense moments, both teams shook hands and embraced after the match.

Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defeated Gisele Shaw to retain (17:04)

If Shaw wins here, the Slammiversary Knockouts title match between Purrazzo and Trinity becomes a three-way with Shaw added to the mix as champion

Shaw immediately rolled to ringside, channeling her inner Brian Myers, I guess. They ended up on the mat with Purrazzo locking in a head scissors but Shaw escaping. Shaw tried the same move, but found herself on the wrong end of a wrist lock as Purrazzo proceeded to work over her arm.

Shaw offered a Roman knuckle lock into a test of strength that went back and forth, until Purrazzo managed to take Shaw down. Shaw hit a wheelbarrow roll up, then went for a leg submission, which quickly got countered. When both were back on their feet, Shaw grabbed a head of hair and rained down a few chops on the champion, but quickly got rolled up, which Purrazzo transitioned into an armbar. They ended up close to the ropes, sow Shaw easily forced a break.

Shaw smashed Purrazzo head first into the mat, then began attacking the left arm. Shaw kept working the arm over and locked in a hammerlock. Purrazzo escaped, but got thrown into the post shoulder first, further injuring the arm.

After a brief interlude at ringside, Shaw went for a cover right as they re-entered the ring. Shaw went for an arm bar on the injured arm and threw some elbows on it for good measure. Purrazzo powered out and managed to throw Shaw into the post shoulder-first to pay back the earlier attack.

Shaw fell to ringside but made it back into the ring at five. Purrazzo proceeded to chop Shaw with one arm, hit a side Russian leg sweep and went for the Fujiwara arm bar but could not lock the hold in due to her own injuries. Shaw went for an Fujiwara armbar of her own, but Purrazzo got her feet on the ropes. 

Purrazzo hit a pump kick, ate a superkick but still managed to hit a Flatliner and lock in a Koji clutch, but Shaw escaped. They traded elbows and Shaw hit Shock and Awe for a close near fall. Shaw went for the Fujiwara arm bar again, but Purrazzo knocked her off. Shaw went right back to the move, but Purrazzo rolled out again. Shaw went for the arm bar a third time, but Purrazzo escaped and locked in Venus di Milo with one arm, forcing Shaw to verbally submit.

Final Thoughts:

Another fun show and strong showing of Impact Wrestling. The show had everything from a high impact modern style to old school wrestling and great entertainment. I hardly get to watch Impact these days, but that is more a problem of too much wrestling and rather than not putting on a good product. If you want to get your wrestling fix in with a weekly two-hour show and the occasional streaming special and PPV, Impact Wrestling in 2023 might just be the wrestling product for you.

Impact Down Under live results: Alex Shelley vs. Steve Maclin World title rematch

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Impact Wrestling makes its debut in Australia Friday for the first of two straight nights of pay-per-views from Wagga Wagga.

Friday’s kickoff will feature a rematch for the Impact World title as Alex Shelley defends against Steve Maclin in a rematch from Against All Odds where Shelley won the title.

X-Division Champion Chris Sabin will continue his ninth reign as he defends against former champion Frankie Kazarian and Robbie Eagles. While this will be Eagles’ first Impact appearance, he competed for the title in a four-way for Australia’s WSW back in 2018.

In a pair of non-title matches, Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo will take on Steph De Lander while Tag Team Champions Chris Bey & Ace Austin face Moose & Brian Myers.

Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry defends against former World Champion Eddie Edwards.

The rest of the eight-match card will see Saturday Knockouts title challenger Gisele Shaw against Erika Reid; Killer Kelly vs. Aysha; and Slex vs. Adam Brooks.

**********

The show opened with “Auntie Sheryl” a native, Aboriginal woman of Wagga Wagga welcoming everybody to the show. The government of New South Wales brought in Impact for this tour.

Slex defeated Adam Brooks (6:21)

Those two natives of Australia have been feuding for years, including a Three Stages of Hell match. Brooks took the blunt of the matches. Slex also was part of NJPW’s recent TAMASHII shows in Australia.

Brooks offered a handshake, but Slex declined. They showed how well they know each other but avoiding most of the other’s offense for the first minute, until Brooks downed Slex with a right hand. Both looked to hit dives until Brooks finally did but got caught by Slex, who slammed him on the apron and got the first near-fall of the night back in the ring.

Brooks kneed Slex in the gut, then suplexed him into the turnbuckles for another near-fall. They battled on top until Slex hit a superplex. They went right into another suplex attempt and eventually both tumbled over the top rope to the floor.

They ran into each other before Slex hit a spinning punch. Brooks came back with a kick and went for a Swanton Bomb, but Slex evaded it, hit a springboard enzuigiri followed by another one, called the Slexecution to win the battle of Australian veterans.

Motor City Machine Guns promo

MCMG cut a backstage promo. Chris Sabin talked about how he once wrestled Frankie Kazarian for the X-Division title 20 years ago in Australia. Shelley said he would beat Steve Maclin tonight.

Gisele Shaw defeated Erika Reid (7:33)

Reid is native to New South Wales and made her Impact debut here. Shaw challenges Deonna Purrazzo for the Impact Knockouts title tomorrow.

They traded wristlocks and headlocks early before Shaw took down Reid with shoulder blocks repeatedly. Reid came back with running elbows into the corner and a suplex for a two count. The ended up outside and Shaw slammed Reid into the ring post shoulder first. Shaw immediately followed up back in the ring and started working over Reid’s arm with kicks and submissions.

Shaw kept mauling Reid, who briefly came back with a few elbows but quickly got knocked down a few pegs again. Shaw rammed Reid into the turnbuckle shoulder-first again, then locked in a mounted arm bar. Reid countered into a roll up for two, then followed up with a big DDT.

Reid sold the shoulder, even trying to knock the possible dislocated joint back into place. She hit a flying hurricanrana on Shaw who was on her knees for another near-fall. 

Shaw went back to the mounted arm bar again and then leaned back, forcing Reid to tap out.

Steve Maclin promo

He talked about looking past Alex Shelley toward Slammiversary and it cost him his Impact World title. He said he would not make the same mistake again and would win the title back tonight.

Impact Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry defeated Eddie Edwards to retain (11:42)

Hendry cut a promo before the match, talking about how he was in a good mood because Impact made its debut in Australia, in Wagga Wagga, a “town so great, they had to name it twice.” He said he prepared a special chant for Eddie, since they were on holiday. The chant was “Eddie sucks.” He said the people believed in Joe Hendry.

Hendry dominated early by controlling Edwards’ arm, then took him down with a shoulder block. Edwards tried one of his own, but got knocked down once more and rolled to ringside. Eddie wanted a test of strength, but kicked Hendry in the gut. Hendry quickly went back to shoulder block though. Eddie briefly got back into control, but quickly missed a body press when Hendry just took a step out of the way.

Hendry hit a delayed vertical suplex, then followed with ten punches in the corner. Eddie tossed Hendry out of the ring, hit an inverted atomic drop when Hendry slid back inside and downed him with a clothesline. Edwards hit a few chops in the corner, then thumbed Hendry in the eye. He locked in a choke but Hendry powered out and hit a few uppercuts but Eddie quickly regained control.

Hendry ate a few more chard chops and thumb to the eye, but powered  up, hit a few clotheslines and a big fall-away slam. He went for the Standing Ovation chokeslam but Eddie elbowed out. Hendry hit a cutter off the ropes instead for a near fall. Edwards back body dropped out of a power bomb attempt, but couldn’t evade a pop up power bomb seconds later. Edwards hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for another narrow two count. Edwards hit some knee strikes, but Hendry lifted him on his shoulders and threw him to the mat with a Trust Fall.

Hendry went to hit a lariat on Edwards in the corner and lifted him on the turnbuckle, but got power bombed off. Edwards went for the Boston Knee Party but got hit with the Standing Ovation for the win and successful title defense by Hendry.

At the zoo with Impact Wrestling

Steve Maclin, Deonna Purrazzo, Frankie Kazarian, Moose, Killer Kelly and Joe Hendry were at the Wagga Wagga zoo, played with dingos, fed kangaroos and touched snakes in a nice filler segment.

Killer Kelly defeated Aysha (7:09)

Aysha, a native of Australia, battled Killer Kelly from Portugal here. Kelly started out on all fours and intimidated Aysha. Things quickly turned serious when Kelly took Aysha down with a few arm drags then hit some knees and followed with punches in the corner and a running hip attack.

She downed with a running soccer kick on a sitting Aysha, then followed up with another one from the apron when Aysha rolled out of the ring. Kelly followed up with a deadlift delayed fisherman’s suplex for two. Aysha took over by pulling Kelly down by the hair and choking her with her boot in the corner.

Aysha followed up with a Stinger Splash in the corner and a running bulldog for another near fall. Aysha came back with a series of open palm strikes and head butts, then hit a butterfly suplex into the corner. Aysha briefly evaded a Shotgun dropkick into the corner, but seconds later ate one anyway. Aysha came back with a neckbreaker and back stabber for another two-count.

Aysha went for a double underhook DDT but got countered with a Death Valley Driver. Aysha grabbed a bottle of champagne from ringside but got caught be the ref. She grabbed an open one and spit champagne into Kelly’s face who was not all that impressed and took a hearty swig from the bottle. Aysha tried a roll up as Kelly handed her bottle to the ref.

Kelly hit a deadlift high angle German suplex and locked in the Killer Clutch for the submission victory.

Impact X-Division Champion Chris Sabin defeated Frankie Kazarian and Robbie Eagles in a three-way to retain (14:49)

All three men shook hands as the match started. Eagles got the crowd going with “Robbie Robbie Robbie! Oi Oi Oi!” chants.

Sabin got the first few moves in, but quickly clashed with Kazarian before all three men hit simultaneous dropkicks. Kazarian threw Eagles to the outside but got rolled up by Sabin for two. Sabin followed with a La Magistral cradle for two before falling prey to a hurricanrana by Eagles.

Eagles hit a springboard backflip but got floored by a clothesline from Sabin before the champ took both opponents down with clotheslines. Sabin hot a Stroke on Eagles before locking Eagles into an Indian Death Lock and getting an Octopus Hold on Kazarian at the same time.

Kazarian took over by Evading Sabin and dropping a guillotine leg drop on Eagles on the apron. Kazarian hot a back stabber on Eagles from the turnbuckle and a springboard spinning leg drop on Sabin for a two count. Kazarian had Sabin in some sort of double arm bar, then rolled up Eagles as he came wandering by. Kazarian locked Eagles in a Boston crab, then hit a Code Breaker on Sabin when  he looked to drop a defenseless Kazarian.

Eagles hot some kicks on Kazarian, thwarted Sabin and took both men down. Eagles launched Kazarian out of the ring, allowing Sabin to hit a running soccer kick on Kazarian and two somersault sentons from the apron on each opponent. Sabin rolled Eagles back into the ring, but Eagles escaped an attack, hit a plancha on Kazarian and locked the inverted figure four leg lock on Sabin. 

Kazarian hit an O’Connor roll on Eagles, then followed with a Northern Lights suplex on a charging Sabin to get a cover on both men, who narrowly managed to kick out. Eagles quickly flew in with a kick and got a near-fall of his own with a backpack snapmare slam.

Kazarian snatched Eagles out of the sky with a cutter on a springboard attempt and got a close near-fall, with Sabin making the save at the last possible moment. Sabin punched and elbowed both men, hot a tornado DDT on Kazarian and Cradle Shock on Eagles to pick up the win and retain the championship

– A video on ABC vs. Moose & Bryan Myers vs. Sami Callihan & Rich Swann vs. Subculture for the Tag Team titles at Slammiversary aired.

Impact Tag Team Champions ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) defeated Moose & Brian Myers in a non-title match (15:58)

Myers and Bey started out but Myers quickly escaped to ringside. He teased a test of strength, only to kick Bey in the gut. Bey quickly came back with punches in the corner, a backflip and superman punch. Austin tagged in and the champions double-teamed Mayers for a few seconds.

Moose kneed Austin in the back on a whip in, which got Austin distracted and allowed Myer to hit a running knee. Moose tagged in, but quickly got double teamed when Bey bling-tagged in. Bey hit a tope, then went for a plancha but got caught by Moose and power bombed on the apron. Myers then speared Austin on the outside.

Moose and Myers took turns beating Bey down, with Myers hitting a suplex for a two-count. Myers locked in a chin lock with Bey not able to tag out as Austin still lay hurting at ringside. Moose wen t for another power bomb, which Bey escape via hurricanrana only to be caught with a mighty uranage.

Myers tagged in and choked Bey in the ropes, then tagged Moose again. Bey managed to throw Moose out of the ring, hit a kick on Myers and went to tag Austin, only to watch his partner get dragged from the apron by Moose. Bey hit a sunset flip on Myers, who managed to tag Moose before going down for the cover. Bey escaped a power bomb, then managed to hit a cutter on Moose who was coming in with a springboard move from the turnbuckles.

Bey finally managed the hot-tag and Austin ran wild on both opponents. He got rid of Moose, then hit a spin kick on Myers for a two-count. ABC were looking for One Two Sweet, but Moose dragged Austin out of the ring. Myers hit the Roster Cut on Bey, with Austin making the save  at the last second.

Bey went to the top rope, but got hit by a high dropkick my Moose. Moose and Austin battled on the top turnbuckle before Moose hit a superplex on Austin, only for Bey to come off the top with a Frog Splash before getting wiped out with an enzuigiri by Myers.

Moose held Austin for Myers to hit a superkick before they hit stereo power bombs on both ABC members. Myers asked Moose to pick Bey up for him to hit another Roster Cut. Bey shoved Moose into Myers, then rolled up Myers for the pin as Austin grabbed Moose’s legs from the outside.

– A highlight video on fun things to do in Wagga Wagga aired.

Steph De Lander promo

Steph said she lost to Deonna before but will beat her tonight and go home the champion

Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defeated Steph De Lander in a non-title match (9:05)

De Lander briefly played to the crowd but then cut a heel promo to turn the crowd against her.

De Lander shoved Purrazzo down, but received a slap in return. A sunset flip by Purrazzo couldn’t get De Lander down, but she got thrown out of the ring anyway. De Lander then picked up Purrazzo on her shoulders and dropped her to the apron face-first.

De Lander put Purrazzo on he top turnbuckle, hit her with a running boot and suplexed her out of the corner for a near fall. De Lander kept it up with chops in the corner until Deonna ducked and hit a slew of her own. De Lander locked on a bear hug, then went for another pin and argued with the referee when Purrazzo kicked out at two.

De Lander went right back to a chin lock, which Purrazzo eventually escaped from De Lander went for a spear in the corner but Deonna moved and she crashed into the steel post shoulder first. Purrazzo smelled blood immediately and countered a choke slam attempt into an attempt to work over the shoulder. Seconds later, De Lander found herself locked in a Fujiwara arm bar that put pressure on her left shoulder and narrowly made the ropes.

De Lander back body dropped out of a Queen’s Gambit attempt, and took back over, including a big boot for another two count. De Lander grabbed the microphone and told the crowd to shut up, before trying to hit Purrazzo with the mic, which the referee prevented.

This was all Deonna Purrazzo needed to roll her up for two and then lock in another Fujiwara arm bar, this time on the previously injured right shoulder and De Lander tapped immediately.

Impact World Champion Alex Shelley defeated Steve Maclin to retain (21:05)

Both guys milked the crowd for a little before locking up. Shelly quickly forced Maclin to the mat with a wrist lock and retained control of the arm. Shelley transitioned into a hammerlock before Maclin locked in a side headlock. Shelley broke free, got shoulder blocked but quickly locked in a head lock of his own, which he held for a few minutes. 

Maclin eventually escaped and hit a few shoulder blocks in the corner, then slammed Shelley’s head into a turnbuckle. Shelley quickly turned the page again and went to town with elbows and chops, then downed the challenger with a running clothesline out of the corner.

Maclin finally hit a back elbow when Shelley hit the ropes and went back to some trusty chops. Shelley launched Maclin to the apron, jumped on his arm and hit a running knee strike from the apron. Back in the squared circle, Shelley dropkicked Maclin’s knee and followed up with a dragon screw. Shelley kept working the leg and locked in a step-over toe hold. Shelley next went to a straight jacket choke which he turned into a back stabber.

After some back and forth, they ended at ringside again, when Maclin hit a uranage on his knee and then belly-to-back suplexed Shelley on the apron twice. Back in the ring, he dropped a knee on the champion’s back and was looking to take Shelley’s back out.

Shelley came back with chops and kicks as Maclin urged him on. Maclin slammed Shelley’s face on his knee, hit a stiff lariat and locked in a Boston crab. Maclin hit a knee to the back as Shelley hung in the ropes, then slid outside, hit a hard slap and bent Shelley around the ring post backwards.

Shelley ended up on the apron and hit a dragon screw into the ropes, which further injured Maclin’s knee. Shelley followed with a stunner into the ropes but landed on Maclin’s knees as he launched himself over the top rope with a splash.

Shelley countered out of another uranage back breaker, then slammed Maclin’s head into the second turnbuckle. Shelley began targeting the other knee in the corner, including a nasty looking dragon screw as Maclin’s other leg was trapped between the ropes.

Maclin turned a Figure Four attempt into a small package but Shelley kept attacking the knee again. Shelley then hit a spinning fisherman’s suplex and went for the Figure Four again which he transitioned into a kind of Paradise Lock before kicking Maclin the face.

Shelley finally got the Figure Four on, but Maclin made the bottom rope. They ended up on the apron where Shelley went for Sliced Bread but got thrown into the post and speared in half. Maclin followed up with a Busaiku knee for a close near-fall. Maclin sold his knee and fell to the mat, Shelley capitalized and hit s superkick before hitting Shell Shock for the win to retain.

Shelley celebrated with his title as the show went off the air.

Final Thoughts:

This was a fun, if not particularly newsworthy show. Most matches felt like warm-ups to what is going to go down tomorrow and at Slammiversary but everyone had their working boots on and the local crowd had fun seeing a mix of Impact’s biggest stars and some of their own local talent. All the matches involving champions were good, the main event felt like an old school world title match, with the working of different body parts by both opponents. It will be fun to see how Impact concludes their mini-tour Down Under tomorrow.

Tomorrow’s Impact Down Under PPV card:

  • Impact Tag Team Champions ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) defend against the Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin)
  • Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defends against Gisele Shaw
  • Impact Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry defends against Moose
  • Frankie Kazarian vs. Steve Maclin
  • The Natural Classics (Stevie Filip & Tome Filip) vs. The VeloCities (Jude London & Paris De Silva)
  • Brian Myers vs. Robbie Eagles vs. Adam Brooks
  • Killer Kelly vs. Steph De Lander

Impact Saturday TV taping spoilers: Slammiversary go-home show

Posted on by Josh Nason

The following are spoilers from Saturday’s Impact Wrestling TV taping in Atlanta, Georgia, setting up the road to next month’s Slammiversary.

Here’s all the results from Friday. Everything taped this weekend will air through the July pay-per-view.

Results come courtesy of PWInsider:

  • Trinity defeated Jai Vidal
  • PCO def. The Good Hands (John Skylar & Jason Hotch) in a handicap match
  • Lio Rush & Nick Aldis defeated The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley)
  • Zachary Wentz defeated Chris Bey
  • Mike Bailey defeated Kevin Knight
  • Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defeated Jody Threat in an open challenge
  • Moose & Brian Myers defeated Sami Callihan & Rich Swann

  • Ace Austin defeated Angels, Trey Miguel and Jonathan Gresham in a four-way

  • Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Coven (KiLynn King & Taylor Wilde) and The Design (Kon & Deaner) defeated Decay (Crazzy Steve & Black Taurus) and The Death Dollz (Jessicka & Courtney Rush)

  • Killer Kelly & Masha Slamovich defeated Gisele Shaw & Savannah Evans

  • Tommy Dreamer defeated Champagne Singh in a hardcore match. This may have been taped for their Main Event Mondays on Impact Plus.

Impact Friday TV taping spoilers: Former WWE NXT wrestler returns

Posted on by Josh Nason

The following are spoilers from Friday’s Impact Wrestling TV taping in Atlanta, Georgia, setting up the road to next month’s Slammiversary. The company will hold another set of tapings Saturday in Atlanta as well.

The taping was highlighted by several returns, one of which is was Zachary Wentz of The Rascalz. Known as Nash Carter in WWE NXT, the former NXT Tag Team Champion was released in 2022 after past photos of him dressed as Adolf Hitler emerged.

Wentz has been gone from Impact since November 2020.

The following matches will begin airing over the next two weeks:

  • Dirty Dango defeated Crazzy Steve. Dango called out Santino Marella after the match which led to Heath attacking Dango from behind.
  • X-Division Champion Chris Sabin defeated Trey Miguel to retain the title. Zachary Wentz of The Rascalz made his return and attacked Sabin before Alex Shelley ran out to make the save.
  • Lio Rush defeated Jack Price
  • Masha Slamovich defeated KiLynn King. Courtney Rush took out King’s partner Taylor Wilde and choked her with a chain. Slamovich then took the other part of the chain and led Rush out.
  • Kenny King defeated Yuya Uemura. Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry came out afterward and aired a new video making fun of King.
  • Nick Aldis did an in-ring promo to explain last week’s attack on Shelley. The two then had a confrontation which led to Sabin coming out to aid Shelley. Lio Rush came out to help Aldis and they stood tall at the end.
  • Eddie Edwards defeated Frankie Kazarian
  • Sami Callihan & Rich Swann defeated Champagne Singh & Shera
  • Jonathan Gresham defeated Angels. After Deaner wouldn’t let Angels shake Gresham’s hand, Angels pushed Deaner and left with Gresham
  • Gisele Shaw defeated Courtney Rush
  • Chic Donovan defeated Johnny Swinger after Ernest “The Cat” Miller came out and reversed Swinger’s initial win, restarting the match.
  • Chris Bey defeated Kevin Knight
  • Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defeated Taylor Wilde to retain
  • Impact World Champion Alex Shelley defeated Brian Myers to retain
  • Steve Maclin defeated PCO in a street fight. Maclin cut a post-match promo that brought out the returning Tommy Dreamer. Dreamer took out Maclin and cut a babyface promo to end the show. He had taken a leave of absence due to his mother’s passing and his third bout with skin cancer.

Scott D’Amore & PCO vs. Steve Maclin & Bully Ray set for Impact Slammiversary

Posted on by Josh Nason

The blood feud between Impact president Scott D’Amore and Bully Ray will rage on at July’s Slammiversary.

D’Amore will return to the ring alongside PCO to take on Ray and former Impact World Champion Steve Maclin at the Saturday, July 15th show from Windsor, Ontario. Canada.

After Maclin defeated PCO at last month’s Under Siege to retain his then-World title, Ray made his surprise return and put D’Amore through a flaming table, putting him out of action. D’Amore returned at last Friday’s Against All Odds to hit Ray with a chair during the 8-4-1 match as Ray was about to lay out Jonathan Gresham.

On Thursday’s Impact on AXS TV, Ray filed an official complaint with Anthem Sports about D’Amore who is taking a storyline leave of absence. He then attacked Ray which brought out Maclin. As the two were attacking D’Amore, PCO came out to even the odds. D’Amore then said he was coming out of retirement and the match was made.

The 48-year-old hasn’t wrestled since November 2022 when he took part in a handicap match at Impact Wrestling’s comedy spinoff IPWF promotion.

Here’s the current card for the PPV:

  • Impact World Champion Alex Shelley defends against Nick Aldis
  • Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defends against Trinity
  • Steve Maclin & Bully Ray vs. PCO & Scott D’Amore

Alex Shelley vs. Steve Maclin World title rematch set for Impact Down Under

Posted on by Josh Nason

Two title matches have been announced for Impact Wrestling’s Down Under tour in Australia, both events of which will air live as pay-per-views on FITE.

On Friday, June 30th, new Impact World Champion Alex Shelley will defend the title against Steve Maclin in a contractually obligated rematch.

Shelley defeated Maclin at last Friday’s Against All Odds to end Maclin’s near-two month run with the title. 

As of now, Shelley is set to defend against Nick Aldis at next month’s Slammiversary pay-per-view but the result of this match could change that.

On Saturday, July 1st, Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo will defend her title against Gisele Shaw as part of the second event/PPV. These two have battled multiple times over the last year in a variety of matches, splitting two singles matches against each other.

If Shaw is to win the title, she will defend against both Purrazzo and no. 1 contender Trinity at Slammiversary.

Both events will air live at 5 AM Eastern and be available on demand afterward.

Here’s the current lineup for both events from Wagga Wagga, NWS, Australia:

Friday, 6/30:

  • Impact World Champion Alex Shelley defends against Steve Maclin

Saturday, 7/1:

  • Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defends against Gisele Shaw

Alex Shelley wins Impact World title at Against All Odds

Posted on by Josh Nason

In an surprise victory, Alex Shelley defeated Steve Maclin to win the Impact World title at Friday’s Against All Odds in Columbus, Ohio.

Shelley picked up the clean win after hitting his Shellshock finisher in the evening’s main event.

It’s the first World title reign for Shelley who was unsuccessful in besting then-champion Josh Alexander at last August’s Emergence. Shelley had previously held the Impact Tag Team titles three times and X-Division title once. He earned the shot with a win in a six-way no. 1 contender’s match at last month’s Under Siege.

Shelley’s Motor City Machine Guns teammate Chris Sabin earned his ninth X-Division title earlier in the night with a win over Trey Miguel.

The loss ends Maclin’s relatively short title reign which began at April’s Rebellion with a victory over KUSHIDA for the title vacated due to Alexander’s injury. Defenses against Rhino and PCO followed.

Shelley will defend the title against Nick Aldis at July’s Slammiversary after Aldis earned the shot by winning the first-ever 8-4-1 match earlier in the night.

Aldis was part of a four-on-four tag team match where the winning team immediately moved onto a four-way for the title shot. In a match that included Jonathan Gresham and Bully Ray, Aldis tapped out Heath to earn the win.

Aldis will be looking for his second run with the title and the first since 2014 when he was known as Magnus and the promotion was still called TNA.

Here’s the current card for the Saturday, July 15th pay-per-view in Windsor, Ontario, Canada:

  • Impact World Champion Alex Shelley defends against Nick Aldis
  • Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defends against Trinity

Impact Against All Odds live results: Steve Maclin vs. Alex Shelley title match

Posted on by Chris Maloney

Impact World Champion Steve Maclin will look for another successful title defense as he defends against Alex Shelley on Friday’s Against All Odds streaming special in Columbus, Ohio.

The next no. 1 contender will be made in the first-ever 8-4-1 match as Bully Ray, Jonathan Gresham, Heath & Nick Aldis take on Moose, Mike Bailey, Rich Swann & PCO. The winning team will immediately compete in a four-way with the winner challenging for the World title at Slammiversary.

In a pair of Under Siege rematches, X-Division Champion Trey Miguel will defend against Chris Sabin while Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry defends against Dirty Dango.

Tag Team Champions Chris Bey & Ace Austin defend against The Good Hands while Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo teams with Slammiversary challenger Trinity against Gisele Shaw & Savannah Evans.

Other featured matches include Killer Kelly vs. Masha Slamovich in a dog collar match, Frankie Kazarian vs. Eddie Edwards, and a trios street fight.

**********

KiLynn King (w/Taylor Wilde) defeated Nevaeh on the Countdown to Against All Odds pre-show




From Dayton, Ohio, Nevaeh made her return to Impact Wrestling after two years.

King had the early advantage after the bell rang and Wilde was sure to maintain that advantage for her partner from the outside of the ring.

Nevaeh attempted to gain momentum several times but King eventually landed the King’s Curse to get the 1-2-3 after a short uneventful match.

– A video package aired focusing on the ongoing feud between Sami Callihan and The Design leading into their upcoming Ohio Street Fight later on tonight.

Joe Hendry defeated Dirty Dango to retain the Impact Digital Media title on the Countdown to Against All Odds pre-show

Director of Authority Santino Marella made his way to the ring to join commentary before the match began.

After Dango entered the ring, Hendry’s music hit and he came out with a mic, reintroducing fans to his “Divas Reject” music video.

After the bell rang, Hendry gained early momentum causing a frustrated Dango to the outside of the ring. Dango saw a fan with a t-shirt in the crowd and grabbed the shirt and tossed it in the face of Marella, disrespecting the DOA. Hendry went to the outside and landed a neckbreaker on the floor before both men returned to the ring.

Dango managed to gain the advantage after hitting some top rope offence but Hendry quickly had momentum on his side once again. Dango remained resilient and once again went to the top attempting to land the Down & Dirty but Hendry caught up with him.

After Hendry initially was able to stop Dango, he was shoved back down to the mat and Dango attempted the Down & Dirty once again but Hendry moved and Dango crashed and burned.

Hendry capitalized on the missed attempt by Dango, landed a massive suplex followed by the Standing Ovation to retain his Impact Digital Media title.

– A video package aired focusing on the upcoming Impact World title match between Steve Maclin and Alex Shelley.

**********

– A cold open opened the show tonight and honestly folks, Impact Wrestling does some of the best video packages in the business.

Frankie Kazarian defeated Eddie Edwards (w/Alisha)

It was hard to believe this was the first ever singles match between Kazarian and Edwards with their storied careers in Impact Wrestling and both being trained by the late Killer Kowalski.

After some back and forth in the beginning moments of the match, Kazarian looked to have gained control with a great neckbreaker before Edwards was able to send him to the outside where Alisha was waiting with a cheap shot.

Both men were back in the ring and Edwards had the momentum going his way as Alisha continued to help assist her husband from the outside. Kazarian attempted a comeback with a springboard off of the ropes but Edwards sent him to the outside instead and followed it up with a dive through the ropes.

Kazarian wouldn’t stay down however as his perseverance led him to landing a hurricanrana on Edwards over the top rope to the floor. Kazarian attempted to land his spinning legdrop off of the ropes but Alisha once again interfered in the match.

Kazarian followed up by landing the spinning legdrop but Edwards persevered himself and landed a Blue Thunder Bomb but only managed a two count. Kazarian followed up with a reverse piledriver but before he could get the three count, Alisha placed Edwards leg on the bottom rope. The referee caught her however and Alisha was ejected from ringside.

Both men attempted to recover at this point and after what looked like a botched three count by the referee, Kazarian was able to roll Edwards up for a real 1-2-3 for the victory.

ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) defeated The Good Hands (Jason Hotch & John Skyler w/Brian Myers) to retain the Impact World Tag Team titles

Bey and Skyler began the match and after some quick back and forth, Hotch and Austin were tagged in. Austin gained control before Hotch and Skyler resorted to heel tactics to gain the upperhand.

Quick tags were made by The Good Hands to keep Austin grounded but it didn’t last long as Ace was able to make the hot tag to a fired up Bey. Bey took out both Hotch and Skyler before nailing Hotch with the Code Red but only managed a two count. 

A miscue by ABC sent momentum back in the way of The Good Hands but after Austin was sent to the outside taking out Myers, it was back and forth by both teams looking to gain that momentum needed to be tag team champions.

The Good Hands nailed Austin with a Magic Killer but Ace managed to kick out at two. Unfortunately for Hotch and Skyler, this would be the end of the night for them as far as offence went. Hotch was caught with the Art of Finesse before Austin nailed him with The Fold to give the champions another day with the titles.

– Backstage, Gia Miller was with Impact Knockouts World champion Deonna Purrazzo and Trinity. They made mention of their upcoming battle at Slammiversary but stated their focus tonight was Gisele Shaw and Savannah Evans.

Masha Slamovich defeated Killer Kelly in a Dog Collar Match

A match between two women that absolutely hated each other, locked in a dog collar with no disqualifications.

After it looked like an even matchup early on, it was all Slamovich with the referee even asking Kelly if she wanted to give up in the opening minutes of the match.

Kelly and Slamovich ended up on the outside of the ring and Slamovich continued her assault by pulling Kelly into the ring post before wrapping the chain around her neck and biting her in the process.

Slamovich dragged Kelly back into the ring but couldn’t capitalize any further as both women hit clotheslines on one another. After getting back on their feet, Kelly managed to gain much needed momentum by landing a running dropkick in the corner followed by a DDT. 

Slamovich refused to give up and after landing back on the outside, she was able to hang Kelly over the top rope but Kelly refused to submit.

Back in the ring and Slamovich attempted the Snow Plow but couldn’t execute it. Kelly attempted to lock in her Killer Clutch but failed as well. Kelly was then able to hit a Snow Plow of her own but only managed a two count.

A frustrated Kelly looked to finish the match but before she could continue her momentum, Slamovich was able to lock the chain around the mouth of Kelly. Slamovich followed up by finally landing her Snow Plow to get a massive win over her arch nemesis.

After the match, Slamovich went eye-to-eye with Kelly and after looking like she was going to land a post-match assault, threw her dog collar down and left the ring.

– Backstage, Gia Miller was with the Motor City Machine Guns. Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin stated they were focused on winning titles at Against All Odds.

Chris Sabin defeated Trey Miguel to win the Impact X-Division title

This match had the potential to be a X-Division classic but the arrogance of Miguel wasn’t about to let that happen.

Both men went back and forth in the beginning as Sabin was gearing towards a ninth X-Division championship and after landing a spear onto the outside of the ring, it looked as though the title was about to change hands.

Miguel wouldn’t give in however and after trapping the leg of Sabin, he caught him in an amazing series of submission moves but Sabin was able to escape. Sabin followed up by hitting the Angel’s Wings but only managed a two count. Miguel followed it up with a Cradle Shock but Sabin kicked out at two as well.

Sabin followed up with an avalanche gut buster to Miguel on the top rope and then hit a Styles Clash but could only once again get a two count. Miguel started playing dirty at this point and after getting a can of spray taken away, sprayed a second can of spray paint to the eyes of Sabin but couldn’t get the win.

Sabin recovered and after hitting a massive clothesline, nailed the Cradle Shock to win his ninth X-Division title!

Bully Ray, Heath, Jonathan Gresham & Nick Aldis defeated Mike Bailey, Moose, PCO & Rich Swann in a 8-4-1 8-Man Tag Team Match

Bailey and Ray began the match but before they locked up, Ray tagged out to Gresham. After some back and forth between Bailey and Gresham, Heath and Swann were tagged in and before they locked up, an impromptu dance off took place.

Moose soon tagged himself in and immediately went to the opposite to confront Ray as the two have a heated history. Bailey was tagged back in as he was attempting to gain momentum for his team by climbing to the top rope, he was confronted by Ray and crotched in the process.

Bailey recovered and made the tag to PCO and the French-Canadian Frankenstein quickly started beating down on his opponents. As PCO went to nail his PCOsault to the ring apron, Moose tagged himself back into the match and shoved PCO off of the top rope.

Moose attempted to end the match with a spear to Gresham but ended up nailing his teammate Swann instead. Gresham then sent Moose to the outside and seeing a downed Swann, covered him for the 1-2-3 to help his team advance to a four-way match to determine who will face the Impact World champion at Slammiversary.

Nick Aldis defeated Bully Ray, Heath & Jonathan Gresham in a 8-4-1 4-Way Match

Gresham gained the early advantage coming off the win for his team moments before and after grounding Ray, he nailed Bully with a diving headbutt to the lower midsection thanks to help from Aldis and Heath.

Ray wouldn’t stay down however and after looking for plunder underneath the ring, he was soon confronted by a returning Scott D’Amore on the inside of the ring. Ray told D’Amore he didn’t have the guts to do anything and after Bully turned his back, D’Amore nailed him with a massive chair shot.

With Ray now down and out, the other three men looked to finish the match and move on to Slammiversary. Aldis would be the one to capitalize however and after locking Heath in the King’s Lynn Cloverleaf, Heath tapped out and we now had our new number one contender going into Slammivesary.

– Backstage, Gia Miller was with Impact World champion Steve Maclin. Maclin stated that while guys like Chris Sabin and Nick Aldis were victorious tonight, he was focused on defeating Alex Shelley in the main event.

Deonna Purrazzo & Trinity defeated Gisele Shaw & Savannah Evans (w/Jai Vidal)

Purrazzo and Shaw began the match and as you would have guessed it, there was no love lost as both women looked to rip each other apart.

Trinity was tagged in and commentary made reference to the fact that Trinity hasn’t lost a tag team match in her last twenty-three appearances. How about that?

After some back and forth action and quick tags by both teams, Trinity attempted to hit a move from the top rope but after some interference by Jai Vidal, she failed to land her aerial assault as it was broken up by Evans.

Purrazzo got the hot tag in and after locking in the Fujiwara Armbar on Shaw, Trinity landed the Rear View but they couldn’t put Shaw and Evans away. Trinity was taken out and after Purrazzo decided enough was enough, she locked Evans in a Magistral Cradle to gain the win for her team.

After the match, Shaw, Evans & Vidal attempted to destroy Purrazzo with running knee strikes by Shaw by Trinity was able to make the save.

oVe (Sami Callihan, Jake Crist & Madman Fulton) defeated The Design (Deaner, Angels & Kon) in an Ohio Street Fight

As expected, this match was all about chaos, punishment and weapons. Chairs, tables, mailboxes, staple guns and sunset flips were highlights of the opening moments of the match.

Callihan yelled at Fulton to “Get the wire!” and we were greeted with two tables full of barbed wire. Fulton attempted to launch Angels through one of the tables but Angels blocked the attempt and then followed up by nailing Fulton with a barbed wire strike of his own.

Crist and Angels both went to the top rope and after simultaneously jumping off the top, Crist nailed him with a massive Crist Cutter. He could only manage a two count however as Deaner made the save.

Tacks were brought out by Callihan and it was soon a massive trainwreck as Deaner, Kon, Fulton and Crist were all sent through the destruction of the tacks and tables.

Callihan nailed Deaner with his Cactus Driver ’97 but Deaner kicked out. Callihan followed up with a piledriver through one of the barbed wire tables and that was enough to put away the leader of The Design to gain a victory for the newly reformed oVe.

Alex Shelley defeated Steve Maclin to win the Impact World title

It was definitely power and aggression versus speed and technicality in this one.

With both men feeling each other out in the opening moments, Shelley attempted to lock in the Border City Stretch but Maclin was quick to roll to the outside.

Shelley followed up by attacking the left arm of Maclin, stomping on his elbow and locking in an armbar as well before Maclin was able to land a German suplex and take the match to the outside that included a dive through the ropes.

After both men were back in the ring, Shelley attempted to gain the advantage in the match but Maclin’s power game was way too strong and after landing a series of moves including a monstrous backbreaker, Maclin could only manage a two count on the challenger. 

Shelley began to mount a comeback and after some near falls, Maclin soon found himself locked in an agonizing figure-four leglock before finally reaching the ropes, removing a turnbuckle pad in the process.

Maclin switched up momentum and after landing a psycho knee, he nailed a brainbuster. Maclin attempted to follow up with his Caught in the Crosshairs but failed. Shelley caught Maclin with a DDT to the apron followed by a Sliced Bread on the floor.

Back in the ring and Shelley went to deliver his Shell Shock but missed and Maclin nailed his KIA but only managed a two count. Both men went to the top rope and Shelley nailed Maclin with a Sliced Bread but again a two count.

Maclin rushed Shelley in the corner but missed and hit the exposed turnbuckle. Shelley looking to siege his moment, fought off Maclin’s attack and finally nailed the Shell Shock to capture his first Impact World title in a hell of a main event!

After the match, the new Impact X-Division champion Chris Sabin came down to the ring to celebrate with his Motor City Machine Guns partner.

Final Thoughts:

What a show!

My predictions on the event sucked but WOW the surprise results.

Sabin, Shelley and Aldis to name a few.

MCMG as individual champions in Impact Wrestling in 2023, forget about it! Impact pulling the trigger on Aldis this quickly, forget about it! Slamovich teasing a tag team with Kelly, forget about it!

I’ve loved Impact Wrestling since the mid-2000’s and 15+ years later and they keep solidifying my love as a fan. Do yourself a favour (that’s not a typo, I’m Canadian) and go out of your way to watch Against All Odds 2023 as the event was solid from start to finish.

With that being said, go out of your way to watch Frankie Kazarian, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin matches back in the day and realize how good they truly are.

Great show tonight Impact Wrestling!

Impact’s Steve Maclin on his violent PCO match, following Josh Alexander’s title reign

Posted on by Denise Salcedo

Steve Maclin first won the vacant Impact World title at Rebellion after defeating KUSHIDA. Since then, he has had two successful title defenses, one of which had people buzzing online due to the violent nature of the match.

Ahead of his Friday title defense against Alex Shelley as part of Against All Odds, I talked to the champion about his first World title run, that bloody affair against PCO last month, and former champion Josh Alexander. 

You can watch the video above on YouTube and read some highlights below.

Winning the title

Maclin was scheduled to face then-champion Alexander at Rebellion, but Alexander had to relinquish the title due to a triceps tear, thus ending his 335-day reign. That set the Maclin vs. KUSHIDA match into motion.

Not only did he win a championship, but his wife, Deonna Purrazzo, regained the Knockouts title for a third time by defeating Jordynne Grace in the evening’s main event.

“To win that night in Toronto, especially the night my wife and I won the world titles, it’s just cool to come out of that and share the moment together,” he said.

Maclin feels he is now the “flag bearer” of the company and simply wants to have the best matches possible, whether or not they steal the show. 

“I want to go out there and give the fans their money’s worth. I want to set the tone for what the World title should be, in my eyes, of how it should be defended and how you should fight for it,” he said.

The PCO match

Just a few weeks ago at Under Siege, Maclin fought PCO in a no DQ title defense and managed to retain the title after a bloody and violent spectacle. 

Maclin felt that at Under Siege, the two men showed what the “World title means in Impact Wrestling” and that they were able to “create a little bit more buzz” on a very busy wrestling weekend.

“I knew we were gonna go out there and try to do something different that people haven’t seen in a long time,” he said.

As champion, he said he puts the weight on his shoulders to help Impact keep growing because he believes that they have the “best professional wrestling show out there.” 

He added that he could relate his match against PCO to Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind at WWE In Your House: Mind Games from 1996, describing it as “one of those matches that evolved both talents.”

“It really was mayhem for all,” he stated.

Following the match, Maclin said he and Purrazzo spent his birthday night in the emergency room while he waited to get stitches on his head:

Josh Alexander’s reign 

When Alexander was Impact World Champion prior to Maclin, his reign became historic as he held the title for 335 days. I asked Maclin if he felt any pressure having to follow that.

As it turns out, Maclin feels “no pressure” at all from that. While he did want to be the one to defeat Alexander for the title, that was not able to happen due to the injury.

“What I worry about is whatever my next match and my next opponent is going to be. I have my body of work, he has his body of work. I am going to leave my version of a lasting legacy, he’ll leave his version of a lasting legacy. That’s what anybody does in wrestling. I think if you start worrying about other people, then that’s when you have problems with yourself and that’s where you start to lose confidence. I worry about me. But when the time comes and he is healthy, I am looking forward to that matchup,” he said.

Impact Wrestling’s Australia events to air as live FITE pay-per-views

Posted on by Josh Nason

FITE has revealed that both of Impact Wrestling’s upcoming Australian shows will air as live pay-per-views.

Impact first announced in May that they would be making their debut “Down Under” on Friday, June 30th and Saturday, July 1st in Wagga, Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. It will be part of a four-day, two show tour that includes a live Conrad Thompson podcast and fan events.

Impact is replacing NJPW on the shows who had to pull out due to talent scheduling issues. 

FITE announced a $24.99 bundle for the events. When first announced, Impact stated the shows would be available on their “broadcast platforms, digital and social media.” As FITE was the one to make this announcement Friday, it’s unknown if the shows will also be made available to Impact’s Ultimate Insiders subscribers live and, if not, when.

It will be Impact’s first shows outside North America since a September 2018 event in the United Kingdom.

Current Impact World Champion Steve Maclin, Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo, current Tag Team Champions Chris Bey & Ace Austin, current Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry and the Motor City Machine Guns have already been announced.

Impact Wrestling releases lineup for Saturday TV taping

Posted on by Josh Nason

The fallout from Friday’s Against All Odds will begin at Impact Wrestling’s Saturday TV taping in Columbus, Ohio.

The company announced seven matches for Saturday that will make up the June 15th and June 22nd episodes of the show:

Steve Maclin & Bully Ray vs. Frankie Kazarian & Eddie Edwards

Maclin will defend his Impact World title Friday against Alex Shelley while Kazarian and Edwards will go one-on-one for the first time.

oVe (Sami Callihan, Fulton & Jake Crist) vs. Brian Myers & The Good Hands (John Skyler & Jason Hotch)

The reunited oVe will come off a street fight against The Design Friday to take on Myers & The Good Hands, the latter of which will challenge Chris Bey & Ace Austin for the Impact Tag Team titles.

Moose vs. Rich Swann

Both men will be part of Friday’s first-ever 8-4-1 match to determine the Slammiversary World title challenger.

Killer Kelly vs. Taylor Wilde

Kelly will compete against Masha Slamovich in a chain match Friday while Wilde & KiLynn King will defend the Knockouts Tag Team titles against The Death Dollz.

Deaner vs. PCO street fight

Deaner will be part of the aforementioned trios street fight while PCO is also part of the 8-4-1 match.

The Design (Kon & Angels) vs. Jonathan Gresham & “Speedball” Mike Bailey

After his recent run in the NJPW Best of the Super Juniors tournament, Bailey returns to team up with past partner/rival Gresham against The Design. Gresham is also part of the 8-4-1 match.

Joe Hendry vs. Yuya Uemura

Hendry will defend his Digital Media title Friday against Dirty Dango while Uemura is part of the 8-4-1 match. At this point, it’s unknown if this will be a title match.

Impact Under Siege notes: Against All Odds main event, notable returns, Victory Road

Posted on by Josh Nason

On a night where all the champions retained their titles, a new number one contender for the World title was made during Friday’s Impact Under Siege and thus, a main event was confirmed for next month’s Against All Odds.

In a six-way match, Alex Shelley picked up the win over Moose, Eddie Edwards, Jonathan Gresham, Yuya Uemura and Frankie Kazarian. The Motor City Machine Guns member got the pin after hitting Shellshock on Uemura.

It was announced shortly after Under Siege that Shelley will face reigning champion Steve Maclin at the Against All Odds streaming special on Friday, June 9th in Columbus, Ohio. Shelley has held the X-Division and Tag Team titles, but never the big prize. He unsuccessfully challenged then-champion Josh Alexander at last August’s Emergence.

Maclin successfully defended the World title against PCO in a no DQ match Friday — one of five champions that left London, Ontario, Canada, with their title reigns intact.

**********

Bully Ray has returned to Impact.

The former title challenger made a surprise return after Maclin’s victory, attacking Impact president Scott D’Amore. He and Maclin put D’Amore through a flaming table despite the best efforts of the Motor City Machine Guns, PCO and Matthew Rehwoldt. He told D’Amore he would take down the whole company around him.

Ray feuded with then-champion Josh Alexander earlier this year with Alexander successfully defending the title against Ray in a Full Metal Mayhem match. After losing in a Hardcore War match with Tommy Dreamer earlier this year, Ray disappeared for some time only to return tonight.

**********

It was announced that Impact’s Victory Road event streaming special will take place on Friday, September 8th in White Plains, New York. The 1000th episode of Impact will taped the following night in the same venue. Tickets go on sale for both shows on June 2nd.

**********

Jake Crist made his return to Impact as the mystery man to team with Sami Callihan and Rich Swann in a win over The Design’s Deaner, Kon and Angels. Callihan’s oVe teammate was last seen in the promotion in August 2021 after spending the better part of five years there. He is a former X-Division and Tag Team Champion.

Impact Under Siege live results: Steve Maclin vs. PCO no DQ title match

Posted on by Josiah MacDonald

Impact Wrestling returns tonight with Under Siege from London, Ontario, Canada.

The event will feature nearly every championship defended with Impact World Champion Steve Maclin putting his title on the line against PCO in a no DQ match.

Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo gets a big test in her latest run as champion as she defends against Jordynne Grace. If Grace cannot regain the belt, she can’t challenge Purrazzo again as long as she is champion.

X-Division Champion Trey Miguel will defend against former multi-time champion Chris Sabin while Impact Tag Team Champions Chris Bey & Ace Austin will defend against the debuting Subculture (Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews).

In a six-way to determine the next World title challenger, it will be Eddie Edwards vs. Moose vs. Jonathan Gresham vs. Yuya Uemura vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Alex Shelley.

The 10-match card will also feature Trinity looking to go 2-0 in her early run as she takes on Gisele Shaw.

**********

Countdown to Under Siege:

The pre-show for Under Siege began with The Coven making their entrance.

Death Dollz (Courtney Rush & Jessicka) defeated Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Coven (Taylor Wilde & KiLynn King) in a non-title match

I like this presentation of Rush far more than her Rosemary character. This was a fun match.

Rush and Wilde started the match. After a brief exchange, Jessicka & KiLynn King tag in and start hitting some hard strikes. Jessicka gets the better of it and this leads to some double team offence from Rush and Jessicka. Rush went for a sharpshooter on Wilde, but King ran up and hit a big German suplex on Rush. Wilde and King got the heat on Rush for the next few minutes, including missing a tag by Jessicka, as the referee was distracted by KiLynn King.

Jessicka managed to tag in and hit a big kick to the face of King before hitting a low cross body to the seated King for a 2-count. Wilde and Rush both tagged in again, and Wilde tried to setup a double team move with King, Jessicka ran in and took out King while Rush countered and locked a sharpshooter on Wilde for the submission.

– Joe Hendry came out and cut a promo about how Dango was experiencing an identity crisis recently, attacking Santino. Hendry said that it didn’t matter if he came out as a ballroom dancer, a fake police officer, or a list of others jobs, because the only job he needed to worry about was coming down to the ring to get beat by Joe Hendry. This was a good promo.

Impact Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry defeated Dirty Dango via DQ to retain

There was not a lot to this match, but it was highlighted by Dango working over the left arm of Joe Hendry repeatedly. Dango hoped to get the win that way, but as he was on the middle turnbuckle holding Hendry’s arm, Hendry pulled him off and hit a cutter. Dango responded by low blowing Hendry for the DQ.

Dango continued the assault after the match, stomping on the arm of Hendry. As he went to the top rope, Santino’s music hit and he ran down and made the save. Dango ran away before Santino could attack, and handed Hendry his title.

Main Card:

Nick Aldis opened the show with his entrance and a great reaction from the Canadian audience.

Nick Aldis defeated Kenny King (w/ Sheldon Jean)

Good opening match here with Aldis and King. Kenny King has really been working different since his MMA style match with Mike Bailey. Aldis looked quite good here as well.

Aldis caught King on a crossbody, and picked it up into a nice vertical suplex. King rolled the floor and let Jean roll into he opposite side of the ring to distract Aldis, but Aldis responded and turned to elbow King as he was rolling back into the ring to attack. Aldis followed King to the floor and got hit with a drop toe hold that drove Aldis face first into the steps.

King managed to hit a great flip over the top rope to the floor on Aldis. King missed a springboard leg drop and Aldis got up and hit a suplex. Aldis went to the top rope for a flying elbow, but King cut him off and went for a superplex. Aldis shoved King off the ropes, but King landed in a back handspring and landed on his feet before running up the ropes with an enziguri. Both men stood up and started exchanging punches. King hit a powerslam for a 2-count.

Aldis hit a Michinoku driver and then an elbow drop off the top rope, but Sheldon Jean got on the apron to distract the referee. Aldis knocked Jean off the apron but gold rolled up by King, who put his feet on the ropes. The referee noticed and broke up the pinfall. King tried to hit a dropkick off the top rope, but Aldis caught him and locked the Kingsland Cloverleaf on for the submission win.

As Aldis was leaving, he noticed something in the audience, and it was Masha Slamovich and Killer Kelly brawling through the crowd. They brawled to ringside and Kelly hit a suplex on the floor that dropped Slamovich. Kelly grabbed a steal chain from ringside and wrapped it around the mouth and neck of Slamovich, attempting to choke her out, and a whole bunch of security and referees ran down to break it up as the fans chanted “Let them fight!” This was a great angle.

– Jordynne Grace was with Gia Miller backstage, and she talked about the potential of losing the match tonight against Deonna Purrazzo. If Grace lost, she would never be able to challenge for the title again as long as Purrazzo was champion, and that would mean her admitting that she wasn’t the best, and she didn’t know what to do if she wasn’t. She was quite emotional here, and Gia Miller looked ready to cry.

Sami Callihan, Rich Swann & Jake Crist defeated The Design (Deaner, Kon & Angels)

This was a really good tag match, with non-stop action and tons of time for everyone to shine. Kon was booked to hide his weaknesses and highlight his strengths, which was no selling and throwing people around. This was very well done.

Crist and Callihan double teamed Angels in the early portion, but it broke down to all 6 men being in the ring soon thereafter and the action spilled to the floor. Angels hit a tope on Callihan while Crist went for a suicide dive on Kon, but Kon hit a forearm to the face of Crist to drop him. Crist got up quickly as Callihan hit Kon with a kick and hit a springboard moonsault to finally drop Kon.

Callihan then power bombed Angels over the top rope onto everyone. Rich Swann was bleeding a lot from the mouth as he, Callihan, and Crist rolled Kon into the ring and hit a triple superkick that Kon no sold. Swann jumped onto the back of Kon and put him in a sleeper while Callihan and Crist hit two superkicks which failed to knock Kon down again. Kon then slammed Swann over his head and onto Callihan and Crist.

Deaner tagged in and got a big reaction, as he worked the Canadian indie scene for years. The Design isolated Crist, who was now bleeding from the ear. Crist managed to hit a flying forearm on Deaner and tag out to Callihan. Callihan signaled he wanted to fight Deaner, offering his chin for Deaner to punch. Both men started brawling, but Crist and Angels came back in again, and soon Callihan and Crist were hitting stereo Death Valley Drivers.

Kon chokeslammed both men, and Angels hit a huge spinning kick on Callihan before hitting a low down for a 2-count. Kon missed a corner charge and Swann came in and superkicked everyone before hitting a double handspring cutter on Kon and Deaner. Angels took out Swann but ate a superkick and a tiger suplex from Angels. Callihan came in and hit a Cactus driver on Deaner. Angels hit a half nelson suplex on Swan, and went for another, but Swann countered into a forward cradle for the pinfall. Good match.

– Gia Miller was with Santino backstage, and he talked about how Dango attacked him. Santino threatened to punch the lights of Dango out.

Trinity defeated Gisele Shaw (w/ Savannah Evans & Jai Vidal)

Trinity looked so happy as the fans cheered, and started the match hitting a nice leg drop on Shaw. Shaw rolled from the ring to regroup. Trinity dodged a corner charge and hit a Stinger splash before hitting flying head scissors on Shaw. Shaw rolled to the floor to regroup again, so Trinity tried to hit a basement dropkick.

Shaw moved, and Trinity came face to face with Savannah Evans. Trinity launched over Evans and hit a Thesz press on Shaw. After rolling Shaw back into the ring, Evans pulled Trinity from the apron onto the floor. Shaw got the heat over the next few minutes, slowly shoving Trinity with kicks.

Trinity blocked the next kick and hit a torture rack backbreaker on Shaw. Trinity hit a series of forearms and a dropkick before spiking Shaw with a head scissors takedown. Trinity hit the split legged moonsault for a 2-count. Shaw cut Trinity off and hit a draping DDT for a 2-count. Trinity dodged the running knee and hit two enziguris to take down Shaw and Vidal, who got on the apron. Trinity then reversed an attempt at a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker into a sunset flip before locking on Starstruck for the submission win.

– Gia Miller was with Subculture backstage, talking to Mark Andrews, & Flash Morgan Webster, & Dani Luna. Brian Myers and The Good Hands came up and said that they should be getting the tag title match first. Subculture then offered The Good Hands their first defense once they beat ABC.

Impact Tag Team Champions ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) defeated Subculture (Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster) (w/ Dani Luna) to retain

What a fantastic tag team title match. This was fantastic, and I hope we see more of Subculture in Impact. This is a team that and act that fits in very well with Impact, and they could use some more great tag teams.

Austin and Andrews started with Austin seeing a drop toe hold blocked, leading to Austin to kick Andrews in the back before tagging out to Bey who continued the assault. Subculture quickly hit some double team moves that involved several moonsaults and sentons on Bey, ending with a North Lights suplex on Bey from Andrews for a 2-count.

Austin managed to tag in and ABC hit the Click Click Boom on Webster, stealing from the Motor City Machine Guns. Austin low bridged Webster to send him to the floor, letting Chris Bey hit a tope con giro. Austin captured Webster’s head between his feet and stomped it down to the mat for a 2-count.

Webster managed to slip through the legs of Bey and tagged out to Andrews. Andrews can in and hit a moonsault to the floor on Bey before hitting a code red on Austin for a 2-count. Austin dodged a corner charge from Andrews and hit a springboard dropkick. Austin and Andrews both tagged out, and Bey and Austin hit a combo enziguri and torture rack bomb for a 2-count.

Andrews was sent to the floor after a low bridge from Austin. Bey and Austin were both sent to the floor by Webster, who hit a flip dive off the corner post to the floor. Andrews managed to hit Bey with a Stundog Millionaire and Webster hit a senton bomb on the back of Bey for a 2-count. Subculture went for a combo knee on Bey, but Bey ended up hitting a poison rana on both men before Bey and Austin hit the One Two Sweet for the win.

– An excellent hype video aired for Trey Miguel vs. Chris Sabin

Impact X-Division Champion Trey Miguel defeated Chris Sabin to retain

This was another excellent match. Impact’s show thus far has been a huge thumbs up, as Sabin showed why he still one of the best going, and Miguel was right there with him.

Sabin quickly outwrestled Miguel and sent him to the floor with an arm drag. Miguel went to the floor again after getting in the ring, thinking he escaped Sabin, but Sabin followed him and hit a running kick off the apron on Miguel. Sabin put Miguel in the tree of woe and hit a hesitation dropkick in the corner.

Miguel was able to get the advantage after sweeping the legs of Sabin with a tiger feint kick on the apron. Miguel hit a senton and a running knee drop in the ring, and locked on a dragon sleeper. Miguel switched to a sleeper hold, but Sabin fought out. Sabin hit a sunset flip for a 2-count and followed up with a DDT. Sabin hit a missile dropkick off the top rope on Miguel and a boot in the corner that Hannifan called a “hell of a kick” in the corner. I see what you did there, Tom.

Sabin hit a German suplex. Sabin and Miguel exchanged uppercuts and strikes back and forth running corner to corner, and it ended when Miguel hit a flying kick and a brainbuster for a 2-count. Sabin rolled under a meteora and hit a dropkick to the knees of Miguel before stomping on the legs of Miguel.

Miguel got hit with a dragon screw by Sabin before getting locked in a sharpshooter. Miguel got to the ropes to escape. Both men ended up fighting on the turnbuckle and Miguel tried to hit a sunset flip bomb off the corer, but Sabin countered. Miguel hit a cheeky nandos kick before hitting a meteora for a 2-count. Miguel slid on his knees through the lower ropes into a tornado DDT on the floor. Miguel missed a second meteora, landing right on the injured knee.

Sabin and Miguel started to exchange chops in the middle of the ring. Sabin kicked the knee of Miguel and hit a chop to drop him. Miguel went for the lightning spiral, but Sabin countered it into a Canadian Destroyer. Sabin hit a massive lariat and went for the Cradle Shock, but Miguel raked the eyes to escape.

Sabin grabbed the referee and thought it was Miguel, but put him down. Miguel dropkicked Sabin into the referee, and Sabin hit the Cradle Shock on Miguel, but there was no referee to make the count. Miguel rolled to the floor and grabbed his spray paint and sprayed it into the eyes of Sabin before rolling him up for the win.

Alex Shelley defeated Moose, Eddie Edwards (w/ Alisha Edwards), Jonathan Gresham, Yuya Uemura and Frankie Kazarian to become the no. 1 contender to the Impact World title 

Impact is in London, Ontario tonight, which is not far from Detroit, MI. Shelley spent a lot of time working Ontario indies in his career, so the right call was having him win here. This was fantastic.

Kazarian and Edwards immediately started brawling around ringside. Shelley and Gresham dropkicked Moose off the apron before locking up to start their technical wrestling exchange. Moose came in and tried to chokeslam both of them while Kazarian was suplexed on the floor by Edwards. Shelley and Gresham managed to block the chokeslam and hit dropkicks to Moose’s knees. Shelley hit dragon screw leglocks on everyone before Kazarian came in to cut him off.

Shelley hit a drop toe hold and Kazarian and locked a single leg crab on both Uemura and Kazarian. Moose pulled Shelley to the floor and drove him into the apron. Edwards tried to run at Kazarian, but Kazarian dodged and Edwards spilled to the floor and nailed Moose with an accidental tope suicida.

Gresham hit a hurricanrana on Kazarian but got hit with a big boot from Edwards. Kazarian fought back and hit his draping legdrop on Moose before hitting a springboard legdrop on Edwards. He went for the chicken wing, but Edwards fought out. Kazarian hit an unprettier on Edwards, but Shelley broke up the pinfall attempt. Kazarian hit a backstabber on Gresham and sent him into a flatliner into the turnbuckle by Shelley.

Uemura came into the ring and started exchanging chops with Kazarian and hitting a shoulder tackle. Moose came in and hit a huge uranage on Edwards before power bombing Uemura. Moose rolled through a backslide from Kazarian and hit yet another power bomb. Moose went for another power bomb on Gresham, but Gresham hit a hurricanrana. Moose held on, however, and picked Gresham up and hit yet another power bomb for a 2-count.

Moose tried to hit Uemura with a spear, but Uemura rolled out of the way and hit a flying forearm on Moose. Uemura went for a bulldog on Moose, but Moose shoved him off and Uemura ducked a clothesline from Edwards before hitting a capture suplex on Edwards and the bulldog on Moose for a 2-count.

Moose hit a sky high out of the corner on Uemura, but Shelly broke up the pinfall. Kazarian hit an O’Connor roll on Shelley and a Northern Lights suplex on Edwards at the same time for a 2-count. Gresham hit a few dives, but Kazarian hit slingshot cutter. Everyone hit big moves after this ending with Shelley hitting Shell Shock on Uemura and getting the win!

– Trey Miguel was met by Gia Miller backstage, and Miguel mocked Chris Sabin, leading to Sabin running up to him and attacking. Referees and security came in to separate them.

Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defeated Jordynne Grace to retain

This match was awesome. Grace and Purrazzo have a ton of chemistry, and the finish was spectacular. I can only imagine what this match would have been like in front of 10,000 people instead of the 1000 or so here at this show, but regardless, the fans loved this one.

The story of the early parts of this match featured Jordynne Grace trying to keep the match hard hitting while Purrazzo tried to turn it into a technical affair. Purrazzo hit a neck breaker on Grace on the apron before hitting a flipping senton off the apron to the floor on Grace. Grace tried to hit a clothesline or punch, but Purrazzo kicked the arm to stop it. However, Purrazzo unwisely tried to hit a head scissors takedown on Grace, but Grace caught it and dumped Purrazzo across the top rope.

Grace went up and over Purrazzo in the corner and hit a German suplex for a 2-count. Grace put Purrazzo on the top rope and went for a muscle buster, but Purrazzo fought out of it and tried to kick the left arm of Grace while coming off the turnbuckle, but Grace dodged and hit a lariat that sent them both over the top rope to the floor. Grace and Purrazzo came back into the ring and started exchanging forearms.

Purrazzo hit a running knee but was unable to hit a Russian leg sweep. Purrazzo hit a head scissors into a Russian leg sweep that she immediately transitioned into a Fujiwara armbar, but Grace countered into a roll up. Grace hit a torture rack bomb for a 2-count. Grace went for a tombstone piledriver, but Purrazzo countered into one of her own for a 2-count.

Grace hit a power bomb and a jackhammer for a 2-count. Grace picked Purrazzo up in a fireman’s carry and tried to climb the ropes, but Purrazzo slipped out and hit a  cheeky nandos kick in the corner before hitting a power bomb. Purrazzo went for the Queen’s Gambit, but Grace countered into a Jackknife pin, which Purrazzo countered into Queen’s Gambit for a 2-count. Grace hit a reverse piledriver for a 2-count.

Grace went for the Grace driver, but Purrazzo blocked it. Purrazzo and Grace hit open handed strikes at the same time and both went down. Grace tried to hit the Grace Driver off the middle ropes, but Purrazzo countered out of it and hit Queen’s Gambit off the middle ropes for the pinfall.

– Victory Road is set for Friday, September 8th in White Plains, New York, with the 1000th Impact being taped the following night. I remember the first episode, so this makes me feel very old.

Impact World Champion Steve Maclin defeated PCO in a no DQ match to retain

This is one of the bloodiest matches I’ve seen in Impact ever, and that includes all of Abyss’s wars, and Raven’s insanity. This is not my kind of match, with some of the things that happened, but holy cow they worked hard. Absolutely brutal war between the two, and if you ever doubted the toughness of either Maclin or PCO, then you really shouldn’t.

Maclin and PCO started brawling right away, with PCO hitting a clothesline that took them both to the floor. PCO hit a cannonball through the ropes on Maclin, leading to a huge reaction from the crowd. Maclin suplexed PCO into the ring steps, and it sounded horrifying. Maclin nailed PCO with a cookie sheet and sent PCO flipping to the floor in a horrific thud. It is hard to believe PCO has been taking that bump since the 90s.

Maclin went for a tope suicida and PCO nailed Maclin with a cookie sheet that busted him wide open. There looked to be a huge cut on his forehead, leading to the blood. Maclin hit a low blow and nailed PCO with a chair. Maclin was nailed PCO with the chair several more times and got a 2-count out of it. Maclin hit a spear in the corner on PCO into a garbage can for a 2-count.

Goodness gracious, Maclin took a staple gun and stapled PCO’s mouth shut. PCO grabbed pliers and took the staples out. That was horrifying. Maclin hit PCO with a sledgehammer, and then pulled slabs of concrete out from under the ring. Maclin then put the concrete on PCO’s back and hit it with a sledgehammer like he did on Impact 2 weeks ago, but only got a 2-count.

PCO fired up and hit a DDT on Maclin and then hit a lung blower off the middle ropes. PCO hit a leg drop to the back of the neck of Maclin for a 2-count. PCO hit a senton bomb off the top rope onto Maclin on the apron. Maclin then hit an iconoclasm off the top rope onto the apron on PCO.

PCO somehow got up after this and hit an inverted DDT on Maclin before setting up a series of cinder blocks in the ring. PCO went to the top rope but Maclin cut him off and threw PCO off onto the cinder blocks before hitting the KIA on the blocks for the pinfall.

Maclin grabbed a mic and demanded that Scott D’Amore keep his promise and come down to the ring to put the belt around Maclin’s waste while blood poured down his face and covered the ring. I can’t say that is an image I will ever forget, as D’Amore strapped him up. D’Amore offered to shake his hand, but Maclin refused, leaving the ring and a pool of his own blood behind. Maclin left screaming that he was D’Amore’s boss now.

As Maclin left, Bully Ray came out from the crowd and wrapped a strap around the neck of D’Amore and choked him out in the ring. Maclin said he liked the way Ray thought, and Ray told Maclin to get the tables. Bully Ray pulled out lighter fluid and went to light the table on fire Matt Rehwoldt ran in and told Ray and Maclin to stop. Ray took out Rehwoldt. PCO got back in the ring and briefly tried to fight back, but they took him out.

The Motor City Machine Guns tried to make the save, but they were fought off too. Ray and Maclin lit the table on fire and power bombed D’Amore through it, with Ray getting in the face of D’Amore after, saying that D’Amore would never get rid of him, and he was going to tag the entire company down around him. Ray then held Maclin’s hand up, celebrating with the bloody champion.

Maclin will defend against Shelley at next month’s Against All Odds.

Final Thoughts:

Well, a lot sure happened on this show. After a few shows that felt inconsequential, Impact fired back with this, literally in the case of D’Amore going through a flaming table. I know they tried this angle a few months back with Ray, but the table wouldn’t light. This time it did, and it made it better. The violence against D’Amore escalated from going through a table to going through a flaming table, and now it appears Bully Ray will be aligned with Steve Maclin going forward, hopefully in a more managerial role, with the occasional match.

If you are into great wrestling, this show had plenty of it, and it you are into freak show matches, that main event was definitely one of those. With the angles put forward, and with the quality of matches this didn’t feel like a monthly special, but a big time PPV for Impact. This show was a home run.

Impact Wrestling live results: Steve Maclin vs. Rhino World title match

Posted on by Josiah MacDonald

Tonight’s Impact on AXS TV will be headlined by World and Knockouts Tag Team title matches.

Impact World titleholder Steve Maclin will defend his gold for the first time against Rhino following the events of last Thursday’s trios match. The winner will defend against PCO at this month’s Under Siege.

Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Coven (KiLynn King & Taylor Wilde) will defend against the star studded team of Jordynne Grace & Deonna Purrazzo. Grace and Purrazzo will square off at Under Siege for Purrazzo’s Knockouts Championship.

In a clash of would-be title contenders, Masha Slamovich will go one-on-one with Killer Kelly.

Nick Aldis will have his first singles match in the company in six years when he faces Sheldon Jean.

The Good Hands (John Skyler & Jason Hotch) will face Decay (Crazzy Steve & Black Taurus) with both in search of a desperately needed win.

The show will also feature the third installment of an interview series with Frankie Kazarian.

**********

BTI pre-show: Ace Austin defeated Zicky Dice

In a good match, Austin got the win after The Fold. Gia Miller was hilarious on commentary during this match.

Main Show:

Impact opened with a recap of the much-hyped debut of Trinity, and a recap of Rhino’s career leading into his title match tonight. This was fantastic as a reminder of why Rhino was a main event guy outside of WWE for so long.

Masha Slamovich defeated Killer Kelly

Great opening match between Slamovich and Kelly. Despite the clean finish, there is more story to tell here with Kelly holding the submission on. This was a clever way to keep the feud going, and will hopefully lead to more great matches.

Kelly and Slamovich went to the floor quickly before returning to the ring so Kelly could hit a delayed fisherman’s buster for a two count. Slamovich slipped outside the ring and caught Kelly in an electric chair drop that drove Kelly into the apron. Slamovich hit a boot scrape kick to the face of Kelly as she was against the bottom turnbuckle.

Slamovich put a camel clutch on and then bit Kelly’s forehead instead. Slamovich hit a spinning backfist and a high kick. She went for a sleeper, but Kelly drove Slamovich backward and then hit a tiger suplex into the corner. Kelly hit a German suplex for a nearfall.

Kelly tried for a Killer Clutch, but Slamovich countered. Slamovich picked up Kelly and hit a sunset driver for a nearfall. Kelly countered a snow plow and hit a death valley driver for a 2-count. Kelly then locked on the Clutch, but Slamovich ran up the ropes and jumped backward into the Bret Hart/Roddy Piper pin finish. Kelly held the submission on despite being pinned while Slamovich passed out.

– Sheldon Jean was preparing for his match with Nick Aldis. Kenny King walked up and told him that he had to do what it took to win tonight, encouraging him to choose himself instead of doing the right thing.

– Trinity was with Gia Miller backstage, and talked about her debut last week. Jai Vidal walked up and marked out, asking for a selfie with her. Trinity obliged and then asked Miller, “Who was that?” Miller said, “That’s Jai. He works here.” I laughed.

Nick Aldis defeated Sheldon Jean

Aldis got the right match to show he was back to make an impact in Impact.

King joined the announce table for this match.

Aldis hit a series of shoulder tackles at the start, but as it went to the floor, Jean raked the eyes of Aldis and drove him into the ring post. It seems Jean took King’s advice to heart. Once they got back into the ring, Aldis was able to hit two hard clotheslines and a Michinoku driver for a 2-count. Jean tried to cut Aldis off as he went to the top rope, but Aldis shoved him off and hit a flying elbow before locking on the Kingsland Cloverleaf for the submission.

– Dango & Joe Hendry were backstage investigating who attacked Santino Marella recently and Hendry called for Zicky Dice & Johnny Swinger. Hendry said that they were here to answer for their crimes, and Swinger announced, “Hey! It wasn’t me doing gimmicks with Sheiky!” and I nearly died laughing.

Hendry accused Swinger and Dice of taking out Santino. Swinger was greatly offended. Dango called Santino and got him to book a match against Swinger tonight. Dango then invited Hendry to his birthday party and Hendry kindly said yes despite being the only guest and looking like he didn’t want to go.

– In the third part of Frankie Kazarian’s interview with Gia Miller, he talked about how the World title is his ultimate goal because his loss against Josh Alexander was eating away at him. But, if he saw a fight worth fighting, he was going to stand shoulder to shoulder with anyone that needed help.

The Good Hands (Jason Hotch & John Skylar) defeated The Decay (Crazzy Steve & Black Taurus)

The Good Hands got the heat on Steve almost immediately in this match. Steve bit the Good Hands’ good hands and hit a flatliner on Skylar before making a tag to Taurus. As Taurus was tagged in, Hotch tagged in and Brian Myers made his way down to ringside. Taurus hit an awesome pop-up Samoan drop on Hotch, but Skylar made the save.

Steve hit a plancha on Skylar and then started to argue with Myers. Myers attacked Steve on the floor, and Taurus went after him. This led Myers to hitting a stunner across the top rope and then a combo fireman’s carry blockbuster from The Good Hands for the three. Myers then posed with the Good Hands, apparently adopting them after Bully Ray’s defeat at the last PPV.

– Impact World Champion Steve Maclin was backstage with Shera and Champagne Singh, and Maclin said because they failed him last week, their business relationship is over. Singh said that he couldn’t let this slip through his fingers, so he had an idea to salvage the relationship. After they came back from break, Singh and Shera attacked Heath backstage and left him lying just before Rhino’s match with Maclin.

Impact World Champion Steve Maclin defeated Rhino to retain the title

There was nothing to this match, but it was actually went pretty much exactly as it should have with where both guys are on the roster right now. Maclin looked like a killer in this match, and this helped establish him as a serious threat to anyone he faces, along with showing how violent he can be with the post match angle.

Rhino and Maclin brawled all over the ringside area until Maclin started to focus on the left knee of Rhino. Rhino managed to cut Maclin off as he was on the ropes and hit a superplex for a nearfall. Maclin went for the KIA, but Rhino countered into a spinebuster for another nearfall. Rhino went for the gore, but was unable to run due to the attack on the knee. Maclin hit a chop block and a gore of his own for the win. 

Maclin continued to attack the knee of Rhino, wrapping it in a chair and slamming a shovel into the knee repeatedly. Rhino was carried out on stretcher. 

Later, Impact president Scott D’Amore went to see Rhino off, and Maclin walked up and said it was his fault. D’Amore then made his title defense against PCO at Under Siege a no DQ match. PCO then emerged from the ambulance and chased off Maclin as he went to do more damage to Rhino.

– Joe Hendry cut a promo about his broken nose (from his match with Sheldon Jean) and how Dango was going to win tonight as they got to the bottom of what happened to Santino.

Dirty Dango defeated Johnny Swinger (w/ Zicky Dice)

Dango caught a stomp from Swinger before standing up and hitting a falcon arrow for the pinfall.

– Deaner and The Design were backstage, and Deaner accused Sami Callihan of having no one to back him, not even Rich Swann, while his Army of Violence were there to defend him. Suddenly two people in the army started attacking everyone else and Deaner, Kon and Angels stepped aside. It was Swann and Callihan. For some reason, this promo had a soundtrack and turned from scary music to happy rock as the babyfaces attacked. This broke into an all out brawl with security trying break them up.

– Moose asked Brian Myers why he was taking on the Good Hands because he and Myers should be focusing on the tag titles. Myers said that Moose was focusing on both the World title and tag titles, so he could focus on the tag titles and mentoring the Good Hands before promising the Good Hands that he’d take them to the tag titles.

Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Coven (Taylor Wilde & KiLynn King) defeated Deonna Purrazzo & Jordynne Grace to retain

This was fine, but not a great match. Wilde and King haven’t quite gelled as a team yet, but they are clearly trying to make it work in the ring. I think given time, they could become a good tag team. The gimmick isn’t great at all, but at least they’re trying to make the tag team work.

Purrazzo and Grace had the advantage early on, but The Coven were able to get some heat on Grace after a kick from King and an elbow drop from Wilde. Even with Purrazzo tagging in, the champs were able to continue to double team, maintaining their advantage. The announcers asked if Purrazzo and Grace could compete with the well oiled teamwork of King and Wilde, who have teamed together around 4 or 5 times.

I’m fairly certain that is not well oiled. Grace and Purrazzo may have actually teamed more already in Impact! The Coven continued to cheat, choking Purrazzo on the ropes, distracting the referee, and maintaining the offence. Purrazzo managed to twist the arms of Wilde and King and slammed them into each other face first, leading to tagging out to Grace. Grace hit a spinebuster on King and a jackhammer on Wilde for a 2-count.

Grace dumped Wilde to the floor, and Wilde crashed tailbone first to the floor. That had to suck. Wilde and King then hit caught Grace on a dropkick attempt and powerbombed Grace on the apron. Wilde went for a suplex, but Grace fought out and hit a muscle buster on Wilde for a 2-count that King broke up. King pulled Purrazzo to the floor and as Grace tried to hit the ropes, Purrazzo got knocked off the apron after just getting onto it. Grace then tried to hit the Grace driver, but King broke it up and Wilde and King hit a combo spinebuster and pump kick for the win.

The Coven continued to attack Grace and Purrazzo after the match, leading to Trinity running down to make the save. Trinity cleared the ring, hitting a rear view on King before eyeing both Grace and Purrazzo as the show went off the air.

Final Thoughts:

I thought this was a very good episode of Impact this week. The angles were good, the matches were good, and Under Siege was built quite well. I can’t ask for more than that.

Next Week:

  • X-Division Champion Trey Miguel vs. Laredo Kid in a non-title match
  • Moose, Eddie Edwards & Frankie Kazarian vs. Jonathan Gresham, Yuya Uemura & Alex Shelley

New Under Siege additions:

  • Nick Aldis vs. Kenny King
  • No DQ stipulation added to Impact World Champion Steve Maclin vs. PCO

World title match announced for next Impact Wrestling

Posted on by Josh Nason

Steve Maclin will defend his Impact World title for the first time on next Thursday’s Impact Wrestling on AXS TV.

Maclin will face Rhino following the events of Thursday’s show where Maclin teamed with Champagne Singh & Shera against PCO, Rhino & Heath. Rhino gored Maclin on the outside of the ring, leading to his team taking the loss.

Backstage, he confronted Impact president Scott D’Amore about Rhino which led to D’Amore making the title match to the champion’s chagrin.

The Knockouts Tag Team titles will be on the line as The Coven (KiLynn King & Taylor Wilde) defend against Jordynne Grace & Deonna Purrazzo. The Coven have been targeting Purrazzo for weeks. She will defend against her partner for the night at this month’s Under Siege.

Nick Aldis will have his first singles match in the company since 2017 as he takes on Sheldon Jean.

In what promises to be a hard-hitting affair, Masha Slamovich will take on Killer Kelly.

The show will also feature the third installment of Frankie Kazarian’s recent sit-down interview series with Gia Miller.

Here’s the current lineup:

  • Impact World Champion Steve Maclin defends against Rhino
  • Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Coven (KiLynn King & Taylor Wilde) defend against Jordynne Grace & Deonna Purrazzo
  • Frankie Kazarian sit-down interview, part three
  • Nick Aldis vs. Sheldon Jean
  • Masha Slamovich vs. Killer Kelly