Steve Maclin’s desire for an Impact World title match has taken some unique directions the past few months and next Friday’s Hard to Kill will see another one.
Announced during Thursday’s Impact on AXS, Maclin will face former champion Rich Swann in a falls count anywhere match on the Friday, January 13th pay-per-view in Atlanta, Georgia.
Swann issued the challenge Thursday after their last match ended in a countout:
Impact World Champion Josh Alexander defends against Bully Ray in a Full Metal Mayhem match
Impact Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Mickie James in a title vs. career match
Impact Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) defend against The Major Players (Matt Cardona & Brian Myers), Bullet Club (Chris Bey & Ace Austin), and Heath & Rhino in an elimination match
Impact X-Division Champion Trey Miguel defends against Black Taurus
Impact Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry defends against Moose
Jonathan Gresham vs. Eddie Edwards
Steve Maclin vs. Rich Swann falls count anywhere
Number one contender’s match: Masha Slamovich vs. Taylor Wilde vs. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Killer Kelly
While Steve Maclin is no stranger to violence in the ring, he will experience some like no other on Friday, September 23rd at Impact’s Victory Road when he faces Sami Callihan and Moose in a barbed wire massacre match — only the fifth in company history.
The former Steve Cutler and Forgotten Sons member in WWE and NXT has been plying his trade in Impact since June 2021, just a few months after getting released by WWE. Fans saw a new side of Mr. Mayhem that had never been seen before as the past U.S. Marine brought a darker, more menacing presence to the promotion.
Along with the character development has come the opportunity to work with a slew of top talents like Tomohiro Ishii, Alex Shelley, Jonathan Gresham, PCO, Trey Miguel, Eric Young and others.
I caught up with Maclin recently to talk about Victory Road, his character development, and more.
Barbed Wire Massacre
“I am going to get cut, I am going to bleed, I am probably gonna fall off of something, I don’t know,” he joked. “I just have the plan of knowing my body is gonna hurt the next day and it’s going to take time off of our careers, probably. But, it’s gonna be one of those matches where I feel the three of us will go out there and show out but also tell the story we have been telling.”
Maclin said he has gone back to watch past BWM matches in Impact that includes Sabu vs Abyss from 2005’s Turning Point.
“Obviously with Sami having the experience in this, I went and watched some of his matches, I know Moose hasn’t been in one of these matches, so that’s kinda an advantage of mine. The specimen that he is for the “Wrestling God,” that’s an advantage I have over him because I know he probably doesn’t like to get hit or bleed as much because he was a former NFL player.”
Character development
I asked about his character development and having the freedom to showcase this version of himself to the audience.
“It’s funny that everybody keeps saying, ‘Oh, this is a completely different person,’ but no, it’s the same person. I just never got that platform or opportunity to showcase everything that I am about and that’s the one opportunity that I love about Impact. They give guys like me and just all the Impact talent in general, that platform to showcase and whether you can hit the ground running or not.”
Maclin said that when he got fired from WWE, now-fiancee Deonna Purrazzo was there for him as a support system. Her reaction to his firing was that this was his opportunity to show the world what he can do. Maclin got working on vignettes right away to prepare for a debut anywhere, and instantly was thinking of ways to get booked on the independents and get his name out there. When Impact came along, they ended up loving what he had worked up already with his vignettes.
“So, it was one of those moments where I knew the work I put in and the vision that I have of Steve Maclin was going to be showcased.”
A six-way number one contender’s elimination match has been announced for Thursday’s edition of Impact Wrestling.
The promotion revealed on Monday that Eddie Edwards, Steve Maclin, Moose, Sami Callihan, Bandido, and Rich Swann will be the participants. The winner will go on to challenge for the Impact World Championship at Bound for Glory.
The match was filmed on Saturday, August 13 at Impact’s Second City Slamm set of television tapings. The event took place in Cicero Stadium in Cicero, Illinois. Impact presented Emergence the night before from the same venue.
Bound for Glory will take place on Friday, October 7 from the Albany Armory in Albany, New York.
Next up for Impact Wrestling will be a set of television tapings from Dallas on August 26 & 27. They will then travel to Nashville for Victory Road on September 23. A set of television tapings will take place from the same venue the following day.
PCO vs. Steve Maclin has been booked for Impact Wrestling.
The promotion announced on Monday that the match has been added to the lineup for Thursday’s show. The two were on opposing sides of a tag team match on last week’s episode. Maclin teamed with Moose and defeated PCO and his partner, W. Morrissey.
PCO vs. Maclin was filmed on night two of Impact Wrestling Citrus Brawl from Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Florida. The promotion held tapings in the venue on May 13 & 14.
This will be the first time the two have faced off in singles competition.
Impact Wrestling airs Thursday evenings at 8 p.m Eastern time. The updated lineup for this week’s show is as follows:
Impact World Champion Josh Alexander vs. Joe Doering non-title match
Tenille Dashwood vs. Rosemary
Frankie Kazarian & Motor City Machine Guns vs. Eddie Edwards, Matt Taven and Mike Bennett
Ahead of his challenge of Impact World Champion Josh Alexander at Saturday’s Under Siege, NJPW star Tomohiro Ishii will take on Steve Maclin on Thursday’s Impact on AXS TV.
Ishii was the surprise challenger revealed at the end of last Thursday’s show that would challenge the winner of the Alexander vs. Moose rematch. Earlier in the broadcast, Maclin felt he like should be in line for a title shot himself and bristled at the fact he wasn’t the one to take on Alexander.
This will be Ishii’s third match in the company since April as he has wins over JONAH and Eddie Edwards in that time. It will also be his first match on Impact TV.
The show will also feature Bullet Club’s Jay White & Chris Bey against Rich Swann & Willie Mack, made during the following backstage segment released Monday:
The two call Impact Wrestling their primary working home while also doing indies.
The 27-year-old Purrazzo spent three years in WWE developmental from 2018 through April 2020 when she was part of the big round of pandemic cuts. She returned to Impact that same year and re-invented herself, winning the Knockouts title and later the ROH and AAA women’s belts as well.
The 34-year-old Maclin (Stephen Kupryk) was in WWE from 2014 through 2021, spending most of his time in NXT and making his main roster debut in April 2020. He was cut in February 2021 and later signed with Impact.
Maclin will be part of next Saturday’s No Surrender as part of Team Impact vs. Honor No More. Purrazzo isn’t booked for the show as of now.
Several new matches and a change for the main event have been made for Impact Turning Point this Saturday.
After a brawl during Thursday’s show, the title match between Impact World Champion Moose and Eddie Edwards was made into a Full Metal Mayhem match, Impact’s version of TLC.
After getting Scott D’Amore to agree to the stipulation last week, Steve Maclin defeated Laredo Kid Thursday to earn a slot in the X-Division title match between champion Trey Miguel and Kid this Saturday, making it a three-way.
Three new singles matches include Rich Swann vs. Brian Myers; Chris Sabin vs. Ace Austin; and Matt Cardona vs. W. Morrissey, the latter coming out of a recent no. 1 contender’s match. In a new tag team match built on a grudge, Violent by Design (Eric Young and Joe Doering) will take on Heath and Rhino.
The Turning Point countdown show will see Digital Media Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Chelsea Green while FinJuice will face Decay (Crazzy Steve & Black Taurus).
Here’s the updated Turning Point card, set for 10 PM Eastern on Impact Plus from Las Vegas:
Impact World Champion Moose vs. Eddie Edwards in a Full Metal Mayhem title match
Impact Knockouts Champion Mickie James vs. Mercedes Martinez in a title match
Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champions The IInspiration vs. Decay (Rosemary & Havok) in a title match
Impact Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers vs. Bullet Club (Chris Bey & Hikuleo) in a title match
X-Division Champion Trey Miguel vs. Steve Maclin vs. Laredo Kid in a title match
Ace Austin vs. Chris Sabin
W. Morrissey vs. Matt Cardona
Rich Swann vs. Brian Myers
Violent by Design (Eric Young and Joe Doering) vs. Heath and Rhino
Countdown Show: Digital Media Champion Jordynne Grace vs. Chelsea Green in a title match
Countdown Show: FinJuice vs. Decay (Crazzy Steve & Black Taurus)
The post-WWE run of Steve Maclin will officially begin this Thursday on Impact Wrestling against an opponent to be named.
Maclin is the former Steve Cutler in WWE and was released in February. Vignettes featuring his new character debuted two weeks ago on Impact.
In his first action since being released, Maclin wrestled twice for Massachussetts-based Beyond Wrestling on June 3rd, losing to Tony Deppen while defeating Teddy Goodz. He is also working on a Monster Factory show in late-June.
After going pro in 2013, Maclin spent nearly the entirety of his career in the WWE system, signing in 2014. The 34-year-old was best known for being part of the Forgotten Sons with Wesley Blake and Jaxson Ryker.
After spending nearly all their time in NXT, they were called up to the main roster for a short run in 2020.
The New Jersey native is the boyfriend of current Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo.
