Coming out of Saturday’s Bound For Glory pay-per-view, Impact Wrestling has a busy slate for Thursday as two of their new champions will be on the show.
X-Division Champion Trey Miguel will defend against Rocky Romero in his first title defense as the latter answered an open challenge. Miguel won the vacant title with a win over Steve Maclin and El Phantasmo Saturday while Romero was part of the Call Your Shot gauntlet match.
New Knockouts Champion Mickie James will address the Las Vegas fans after defeating Deonna Purrazzo for the title Saturday. This reign marks the fourth time that James has held the belt.
A recent Knockouts Tag Team title rivalry will be renewed when Tasha Steelz takes on Rachael Ellering in singles competition. Steelz and then-partner Kiera Hogan feuded with Ellering and new Digital Media Champion Jordynne Grace over titles this past summer.
After both men fell short in the Call Your Shot Gauntlet match, Chris Sabin will face off against Ace Austin in a meeting of former X-Division champions.
Heath, competing in his first singles match in over a year, will go head-to-head with Violent By Design’s Joe Doering. VBD and Heath have been at odds in recent weeks after Heath returned from injury and rescued Rhino from the group. Heath and Rhino defeated Doering and Deaner Saturday.
The BTI pre-show will feature VSK vs. Sam Beale in battle of former Learning Tree teammates.
Here’s the announced lineup:
Impact X-Division Champion Trey Miguel vs. Rocky Romero title match
One of Impact Wrestling’s signature match types is making its return at this year’s Slammiversary pay-per-view.
Impact Wrestling has announced that Josh Alexander will defend his X-Division Championship against Trey Miguel, Ace Austin, Chris Bey, Rohit Raju, and Petey Williams in an Ultimate X match at Slammiversary. The PPV is taking place on Saturday, July 17.
A number one contender’s match featuring Miguel, Austin, Bey, Raju, and Williams had taken place at last Saturday’s Against All Odds Impact Plus special, but it ended in a no contest due to interference by Madman Fulton. Fulton is aligned with Austin.
This will be Impact’s first Ultimate X match since 2019.
Slammiversary is being held at Skyway Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. There will be a limited number of fans in attendance, making this the first Impact show with a live crowd since March 2020. Sami Callihan has been set to challenge for Kenny Omega’s AEW World Championship at the PPV, but Callihan is currently involved in a storyline where he’s been fired from Impact by Don Callis.
Tuesday’s Impact Wrestling is expected to follow up on several title changes from Saturday’s Sacrifice show, headlined by Rich Swann defeating Moose to unify the Impact and TNA World titles.
On Saturday, FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) defeated the Good Brothers to win the Tag Team Titles and will be in non-title action against XXXL (Larry D and Acey Romero).
Tuesday’s show will feature a 12-woman tag team match as Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo, Knockouts Tag Team Champions Fire ‘N Flava (Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz), Kimber Lee, Susan and Tenille Dashwood will face Jordynne Grace, Jazz, OBD, Havok, Nevaeh and Alisha.
Additionally, Sami Callihan vs. Trey Miguel and Rohit Raju vs. Shera is also scheduled for Tuesday. Black Taurus vs. Luster The Legend will be the featured match on the BTI pre-show.
While Swann and new X-Division Champion Ace Austin weren’t announced as appearing as of yet, it’s expected they will be on Tuesday’s show in some form.
Our live coverage starts at 8 PM Eastern.
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Black Taurus (with Decay) defeated Luster The Legend (with Adam Thornstowe) on BTI.
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Opening video was a recap of Sacrifice, including FinJuice winning the Impact tag team championships, and Rich Swann defeating Moose to win the TNA World Championship and unify it with his Impact World Championship.
Impact Tag Team Champions FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson) defeated XXXL (Acey Romero & Larry D) in a non-title match
They’ve added little camera shakes for XXXL’s entrance for each step they take, it’s a nice little touch.
Match saw FinJuice dominate early on, hitting a couple of double team moves on D, but then Romero tagged in, the size difference was a bit too much for Robinson, who took some offense by Romero. Robinson quickly escaped Romero and tagged Finlay in. Finish saw FinJuice hit a double flapjack on D and acid drop by Finlay for the win. Technically a squash with a short hope spot for XXXL.
After the match, Anderson and Gallows came out to confront FinJuice. Anderson asked them if they were happy to have won against a team that wasn’t on their 100%, they’ve been jumping between Dynamite and Impact, hungover, and jetlagged. Gallows challenged them for a rematch, which Robinson quickly accepted. FinJuice said that they would have to wait for April when they’re done with the New Japan Cup tour.
Anderson and Gallows, annoyed that they would have to wait, attacked FinJuice, but Finlay and Robinson dodged them and left them hanging.
– D’lo Brown & Matt Striker ran down tonight’s card.
– We got a promo by Sami Callihan talking about how Trey Miguel is a phony and how he lacks passion, which Miguel pretends to have. He said that tonight, he’d embarrass Miguel and make an example out of him. The production effects of these makes them funnier and not aggressive as they should.
– Anderson and Gallows went to D’Amore to complain about their title situation. D’Amore said that FinJuice will defend their titles against them at Rebellion on April 24. D’Amore said that FinJuice would be defending the titles in Japan, which I highly doubt.
– Tommy Dreamer came up to D’Amore too and brought up that they don’t have tag titles now and this is a mess. D’Amore said that it was a good price to have a working relationship with a promotion that used to hate them. D’Amore said that this wasn’t easy, so if Dreamer thought he could do better, then he should book the next Impact+ special — Hardcore Justice. Dreamer gave D’Amore some ideas.
Rhino (with VBD) defeated Jake Something (with James Storm & Chris Sabin)
Rhino turned heel at Sacrifice, turning on James Storm, Chris Sabin, and Jake Something, after he ran down and aided Doering and Deaner to defeat Sabin after hitting him with a Gore. Rhino had been feuding with EY and Doering prior to being taken out, along with his friend Heath.
This was more of an angle. They did about 3 minutes of wrestling before Beer Guns and VBD started brawling outside, distracting Something and allowing Rhino to gore him for the pin.
After the match, the brawl continued, Rhino gored everyone, and Violent By Design ended standing tall over their opponents.
This feels like it’s going to end in a big 8-man weapons match, potentially at Hardcore Justice.
– Backstage, Tenille Dashwood wanted to get her team for tonight to be called ‘Tenille and her followers”. Purrazzo instead wanted to offer the team guidance, but was interrupted by Hogan and Steelz, who are tag team specialists and it was them who had advice. Purrazzo then calmed things and said that they’re all the best and instead of going back and forward, they need to do their thing and win like they always do.
Rohit Raju defeated Mahabali Shera
A couple of weeks ago, Raju brought Shera back to the promotion as a backup against TJP. After failing to win the X Division title and a tag team match against Storm and Sabin, Raju berated Shera to the point that Shera had enough and fired back.
This was playing out to be another squash, but the match actually went back and forward, as Raju kept getting offense on Shera. This was a speed vs power match, with Raju being able to dodge and attack Shera, while Shera would capture Raju and drop him with power moves. At the end, Raju got a roll up on Shera with his feet on the ropes and got the upset win.
Seems like this will go on for some time. Shera hasn’t fully turned babyface, so it will be interesting to see if they keep him as a monster, or if the Shera Shake comes back.
– Willie Mack congratulated Rich Swann for defeating Moose. Swann said that it wasn’t time to party, he had business in the ring.
– Rich Swann walked out to the ring. Swann said that he may not like Moose, but respected that at Sacrifice, he and Moose went all out and showed what Impact is about, but now, Swann is a double champion. Swann addressed Kenny Omega, he had been dragging a pin loss to Omega since January, and now he had his chance to get it back and he would show who the real best wrestler in the world is.
Don Callis came out and congratulated Swann. He hugged Swann and told him he was proud of him. Callis said he was a big fan of Swann and that it was him that fought to sign Swann to Impact, it was Callis that made sure that Swann kept getting paid while he was injured and he checked on him weekly. Callis got him in the Bound For Glory 2020 main event, and none of this was denied by Swann.
Callis said that Swann was his shiny toy, but Kenny Omega was his new, shinier toy. Callis started getting in Swann’s head, talking about how Swann likely has been celebrating for a month now thinking of the One Winged Angel in the back of his head. He kept telling Swann that he was a once in a decade wrestler, but Omega was one in a millenia. Callis had been around for every big Omega moment and at Rebellion, he would be there, along with Swann, as they both witnessed history, when Omega hits the One Winged Angel.
Don Callis is FANTASTIC! This was a great segment.
– We got our weekly AEW commercial with Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone. They ran down the card for St. Patrick’s Day Slam episode of Dynamite. Tony Schiavone will interview STING.
– Backstage, Eddie Edwards thanked Matt Cardona for having his back this last month. Myers walked up and talked with Cardona, who told him to stop antagonizing him and Edwards. Myers told him that he didn’t want Cardona on Impact because this was his promotion and wanted to do it by himself.
Jordynne Grace, Jazz, Alisha, Havok, Nevaeh, & ODB defeated Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo, Impact Knockout Tag Team Champions Fire ‘n Flava (Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz), Susan, Kimber Lee, & Tenille Dashwood (with Kaleb with a K)
Alisha aside, all these women have crossed paths in the last months. At Sacrifice, we saw the heel side dominate all of their matches against their babyface counterparts, and so D’Amore booked this match. There are no stipulations to this match, but with both Knockouts championships on one side, we should be getting some progression.
Match started with a couple of pair ups with the babyface team maintaining control over their opponents. Dashwood vs Alisha, ODB vs Susan, Nevaeh vs Lee, Havok vs Hogan, and Jazz vs Purrazzo. At this point, every woman started taking turns to come and hit a move, ending with a big brawl outside the ring, perfectly set up for a double dive from Grace and Steelz.
Back from commercial, the referee had regained control and everyone was back in the ring, but once again, after a few spots with Grace and Lee, everyone started to take turns again to take out the previous one, ending with Jazz submitting Kimber Lee with the STF. This was 100% an exhibition match, nothing really happened, but everyone got something in.
Hard to say where this could go, but with Jazz getting the win, she could be getting a shot at Purrazzo.
– Gia Miller interviewed the new X Division champion, Ace Austin. He said that things were back to normal now that he had regained the title, and that defeating TJP was inevitable. Chris Bey and Josh Alexander interrupted Austin because both of them had beaten Austin. TJP then walked up and was told to go the back of the line, but TJP said he was getting his rematch next week, so he didn’t need to wait in line like the rest.
– Brown and Striker ran down next week’s card, including TJP vs Ace Austin rematch, Deonna Purrazzo vs Jazz in a non-title match, and Karl Anderson vs Eddie Edwards.
Sami Callihan defeated Trey Miguel
Ever since Miguel returned to Impact, Callihan has been stalking and teasing him about not having passion, about constantly quitting when things get hard, and about how he lacked the killer instinct. Last week, Callihan even used one of Miguel’s trainees to come after Miguel.
Match started with Miguel running wild over Callihan, in and outside the ring. He managed to dodge and counter everything that Callihan was throwing at him, but when he went for a 619 reversal, Callihan caught him, cut him off, and turned momentum around.
Callihan worked over Miguel’s ankle, which he initially injured by locking it between the metal frame in the ringpost. After tossing him from corner to corner and going for ankle locks, Callihan got overconfident and started taking his time to trash talk, but in doing so, Miguel got enough time to take a breather and counter Callihan with an enzuigiri.
Still hurting, Miguel made half a comeback, every time he jumped, he failed to stay on his feet, but he was able to take down Callihan along with him. He kept going for foot stomps for some reason.
Last couple of minutes saw both men go back and forward, trading some near falls. Miguel got close with a sharpshooter, but Callihan bit himself out of the submission, hit a powerbomb and into an STF for a big near fall. Match ended with Callihan hitting a package piledriver for the win after Miguel failed to hit the meteora.
Ok match, it was definitely too long. Miguel looked good, he sold his ankle as much as he could given that his arsenal is mostly kick based.
We’ll wait for next week to see how Miguel reacts to losing and how Callihan follows up, but we’re surely getting a rematch.
An eight-man tag match is set for Impact Wrestling’s No Surrender go-home show.
Impact Wrestling has announced that Trey Miguel, Josh Alexander, Willie Mack & Suicide vs. Chris Bey, Ace Austin, Blake Christian & Daivari will take place on Tuesday’s episode of Impact. The match involves the eight participants who will be taking part in the first-ever “Triple Threat Revolver match” at No Surrender.
Impact noted that the Triple Threat Revolver match “will be a revolving series of Triple Threat matches – three men begin, when somebody is pinned or submitted another man enters. When we get down to the final three, whoever scores the fall is the winner.” The winner will become the number one contender to the X-Division Championship.
TJP currently holds the X-Division Championship and is defending the title against Rohit Raju at No Surrender. No Surrender will air on Impact Plus on Saturday, February 13.
Here’s the updated lineup for Tuesday’s Impact:
Impact Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) defend against Chris Sabin & James Storm
Contract signing for Rich Swann and Tommy Dreamer’s Impact World Championship match at No Surrender
ODB vs. Kimber Lee
Kiera Hogan vs. Nevaeh
Trey Miguel, Josh Alexander, Willie Mack & Suicide vs. Chris Bey, Ace Austin, Blake Christian & Daivari
Cousin Jake gives an answer to Eric Young’s invitation to join Violent By Design
Trey Miguel returned to Impact on Tuesday, scoring the pinfall for his team in the main event.
Miguel teamed with Impact World Champion Rich Swann, Willie Mack & Tommy Dreamer to take on Moose, Sami Callihan, Ken Shamrock & Chris Bey in the main event of Tuesday’s Impact. Miguel ended up pinning Callihan following a hurricanrana. The show ended with an angry Shamrock putting the referee in an ankle lock submission.
Miguel had been off television since it was announced in November that The Rascalz would be leaving Impact. In The Rascalz’s farewell match, Swann & Miguel defeated Zachary Wentz & Dezmond Xavier on the November 17 episode of Impact.
It was announced in December that Miguel’s Rascalz stablemates Wentz & Xavier had signed with WWE.
Wentz & Xavier made their NXT debut on the January 13 episode of NXT. Going under the names Nash Carter (Wentz) & Wes Lee (Xavier), the team now known as MSK defeated Jake Atlas & Isaiah “Swerve” Scott in the opening round of the men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament.
Impact Wrestling returns for the fallout of Turning Point, where two championships changed hands and Eric Young introduced his new reinforcer — Joe Doering.
The opening video was a recap of Purrazzo regaining the Knockouts title from Su Yung, Rohit Raju retaining the X Division title from Cousin Jake, Joe Doering’s debut, the Good Brothers winning the Impact tag team championships from The North, and Rich Swann’s successful title defense against Sami Callihan.
Moose defeated Willie Mack in a No DQ match
This is a rematch from Turning Point, where Moose beat up Willie Mack. This, however, is a no DQ match. These two have been feuding since Moose started to antagonize the Impact World Champion Rich Swann, and Mack made a stand to support his friend.
Match saw a far more motivated and dominant Mack early on, but once Moose cut him off and gained control, it was once again all Moose. Every time Moose would hit a big move, he would call out Rich Swann, telling him that this is what pain looks like.
Mack started a short comeback, injuring Moose’s left shoulder, but when he went for the six star frog splash Moose moved out, hit the Lights Out, followed by strikes until the referee stopped the match. This was shorter, but better than the Turning Point match.
With two dominant wins over Mack, it’s just a matter of time before they kick off the Moose vs Swann feud.
– Josh Mathews and Madison Rayne ran down tonight’s card.
– We got one final Treehouse with The Rascalz, remembering some of their best moments in the Treehouse. They’re gonna be missed.
– The Bravo shooting investigation continues with Dreamer. The Deaners approached Dreamer about the gun they found at Turning Point.
Suicide vs Gio ended in a no contest
Not even a minute in, Eric Young and Joe Doering hit the ring and took both men out.
EY cut a promo saying that everything was Impact’s fault for interfering with his plans because the world belongs to them.
– Gia Miller interviewed Deonna Purrazzo (with Kimber Lee) about regaining the title. Purrazzo said she felt fantastic for being a two-time champion in only six months. Kimber Lee said that tonight, they’re going after the Knockouts tag titles. The lights then went all crazy and when they returned, a message was written on the mirror saying “Next week, ur time haz come”, bad spelling and all.
– Heath and Rhino were chatting backstage. Heath told Rhino that he would be rehabbing with Swann’s doctor. After that, Rhino walked out and confronted Erich Young and Joe Doering, telling them they wouldn’t get away with it. EY and Doering responded by beating up Rhino and went after Heath next.
Brian Myers defeated Crazzy Steve
At Turning Point, Myers defeated Swoggle in a singles match, but after he kept attacking Swoggle post-match, Crazzy Steve made the save.
The story of the match was that Myers wanted a straight collar and elbow match, but Steve went at him with his unorthodox style, annoying Myers, so he cut Steve off and worked over him.
Crazzy Steve made a comeback and came close to winning, but Myers resorted to poking Steve’s eyes before hitting his new lariat finisher for the win.
No idea where this is going, but the ‘professional wrestler’ gimmick seems to be working for Myers.
– Impact+ Flashback Moment of the Week was Tara & Brooke Tessmacher vs Gail Kim & Madison Rayne from the November 3, 2011 edition of Impact for the Knockouts Tag Team championships.
– Dreamer interrogated Johnny Swinger and asked to go over his fanny pack. Swinger straight up had a gun in there and said it was a gimmick, but Dreamer wasn’t having it and said that next week, Wrestler’s Court is coming back for Swinger.
Havok & Nevaeh defeated Tenille Dashwood & Alisha Edwards (with Kaleb with a K) in a Knockouts Tag Team Championship Tournament first round match.
Dashwood and Edwards became a tag team during Turning Point after Dashwood and Grace failed to get along as a team.
The story of the match was virtually the same one we’ve seen in the last month with Dashwood controlling early on, but once things get hard, she will tag out and leave her tag partner dry. Dashwood did at one point try to join Edwards on double teaming Nevaeh, but in the end, it’s all about her, and she left Edwards to get pinned by Havok.
The match was ok, Dashwood’s performance was good, and Edwards looked better than usual.
Havok and Nevaeh advance to face the winners of the team of Killer Kelly and Renee Michelle vs. Jordynne Grace and a mystery partner.
– We saw Jordynne Grace backstage talking to whoever her teammate will be next week. They hinted that this person was thinking about retirement before Grace contacted her.
Hernandez defeated Fallah Bahh
These two have been feuding ever since Fallah Bahh stole a roll of money from Hernandez.
Basic match, Hernandez dominated early on, Bahh made a comeback. Hernandez cut him off and won with the Superman splash. If anything else, this was Hernandez’ best performance so far and Bahh wasn’t doing comedy.
Hopefully this finishes the feud and they can move into something better, but we know that Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz are in possession of the money, so we can’t be sure just yet.
– Backstage, Rohit Raju is complaining to D’Amore about being attacked by Eric Young and Joe Doering. D’Amore told Raju off, but was then approached by TJP, who was reminded that no one named TJP could get a title shot again. D’Amore brought up the question of what Dusty Rhodes would do? He couldn’t have spelled it out clearer for TJP.
– We got a video package recapping the Good Brothers’ path to the tag team championships.
– Ethan Page went for D’Amore and requested The North’s Tag Team championship rematch against the Good Brothers. Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows were there and said that Page should have to go through someone of their choosing before they could earn a title shot. They hinted at someone that was “phenomenal”.
– Mathews and Rayne ran down some of the matches for next week, including Rich Swann vs. Ken Shamrock.
Rich Swann & Trey Miguel defeated The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) in the Rascalz’s farewell match
This is The Rascalz’s final match with Impact Wrestling. In the storyline, they’ve been evicted from the Treehouse and thus can’t stay with Impact anymore. Last week, they saved Rich Swann from a beat down at the hands of Callihan, Shamrock, and Chris Bey, and so in return, he wanted to close off this chapter of the Rascalz’s career with them.
The match was great, it was just a celebration of the Rascalz’s spots. Early on, all four men paired off with each other for some fast-paced sequences of reversals. The meat of the match would see the team of Xavier and Wentz gain control when working more as a team doing double team moves or cutting the ring in half, but once either of them wanted to go one-on-one with either Swann or Miguel, it was the latter that would dominate. Highlights of the match saw all four men trade strikes on one another until they all hit stereo superkicks and they all fell to the mat knocked out.
Finish saw Xavier and Wentz go for a second hot fire flame, but Miguel managed to take down Xavier with a top rope meteora, only for Swann to jump in with his new shotgun superkick for the pin.
After the match ended, all three Rascalz just sat on the ring shedding tears and hugging each other. They all celebrated together in the ring for a couple of minutes, leaving their jackets in the ring before heading to the back. Really emotional.
Backstage, Sami Callihan and Ken Shamrock beat them all down. Callihan then threatened Swann to close out the show.
The way that commentary put over the Rascalz on their way out was a complete 180 from what we see in every other promotion. Even when they did the job, commentary still celebrated the relationship between the promotion and the wrestlers.
Final thoughts —
Good show. Strong inside the ring, especially the main event. Storyline wise, we have some hints towards Hard To Kill, but with Final Resolution happening early December, nothing is set.
The Rascalz, along with Rich Swann, will compete in a match next week that will serve as the Rascalz’s Impact farewell match.
During a Treehouse segment that took place tonight on Impact, it was revealed that the Rascalz were evicted from their treehouse, and were out of Impact Wrestling.
The expectation right is that their Impact deals are up, and barring a change, are leaving the company, according to Dave Meltzer.
Later in the show, Dez, Wentz, and Trey Miguel came to the aid of Rich Swann after he was attacked by Sami Callihan, Ken Shamrock, and Chris Bey. Callihan was going for a baseball bat and was set to attack Swann when the trio showed up.
Backstage, Swann thanked the Rascalz for showing up. After they mentioned that next week would be their final day with Impact, Swann suggested a tag team match to close out their tenure with the company: Swann & Trey Miguel vs. Dezmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz. Everyone ended up agreeing.
As a trio, The Rascalz have been regularly wrestling for Impact Wrestling since the fall of 2018. Earlier this year, Miguel was a part of a scramble elimination match for the Impact World title, however that was won by Eddie Edwards.
A six-way scramble match for the X Division title has been added to Bound for Glory.
On tonight’s Impact, Rohit Raju came out and said he would defend his X-Division title. Willie Mack came out to accept Raju’s challenge, but Raju said that he had already defeated him at Victory Road this past weekend and wanted new competition.
Jordynne Grace then came out to challenge Raju. Grace rolled up Raju with an O’Connor Roll to win while Raju was arguing with the referee, refusing to give him the title. Grace thought that she had won the title, but the referee announced since he was not given the title to raise, the title was not officially on the line.
Backstage, Scott D’Amore congratulated Raju on “giving everyone opportunities”. He said at Bound for Glory, he would defend the title against Mack, Grace, TJP, Chris Bey and Trey Miguel.
Other matches announced for Bound for Glory, which takes place on October 24, include Eric Young vs. Rich Swann for the Impact World title, Deonna Purrazzo vs. Kylie Rae for the Knockouts title, and The Motor City Machine Guns vs. The Good Brothers vs. The North vs. Ace Austin & Madman Fulton in a fatal four way tag match for the Impact Tag Team titles.
Two weeks after winning the Impact World title for a second time, Eddie Edwards will defend the belt in seven days against one of the men that tried to win it at Slammiversary.
On Tuesday’s Impact, Edwards accepted a backstage challenge from Trey Miguel for next week’s show. Miguel was in the five-way main event for the vacant World title at Slammiversary but was eliminated by the returning Eric Young. Edwards and Young got in a pull apart brawl Tuesday after Young came out to confront the champion during a promo segment.
Next week’s show will also feature the Impact in-ring debut of The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows) against Reno Scum. The match was made Tuesday when Ace Austin and Madman Fulton distracted the Good Brothers as they were on the street, enabling Adam Thornstowe and Luster the Legend to jump them from behind. Anderson and Gallows fought them off before turning their attention back to Austin and Fulton who drove away.
For the first time since January’s Hard to Kill, Impact Wrestling returns to pay-per-view Saturday with Slammiversary, one of its biggest events of the year, live from Nashville, Tennessee.
A lot has changed since that January event: a pandemic, canceled shows, firings due to the #SpeakingOut movement, and a need to crown a new World Champion as the company parted ways with Tessa Blanchard in late-June. Blanchard defeated Sami Callihan for the belt in January, but neither of them will be involved in tonight’s main event.
That main event will feature some intrigue as Trey Miguel, Ace Austin, Eddie Edwards, and a mystery fourth entrant will compete in a fatal four-way for the title. Lots of names have been rumored for that fourth spot, teased by the company itself in preview videos.
Meanwhile, two wrestlers recently released by WWE in Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson officially announced they have signed with Impact and will debut on tonight’s show.
In other matches: Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace will defend against Deonna Purrazzo, X-Division Champion Willie Mack will defend against Chris Bey, The North will defend their tag titles against Callihan and Ken Shamrock, self-proclaimed TNA Champion Moose will defend against Tommy Dreamer, there will be a number one contender’s Knockouts gauntlet match, and The Rascalz have issued an open challenge.
Our coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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Show opened with an extended version of the tease commercial we’ve seen for months now, but now it ran down the card throughout the news cast. Two kids talked about being scared.
Josh Matthews and Don Callis on commentary, they announced that The Good Brothers have signed with Impact.
The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) defeated The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz)
The MCMG have made their return to accept The Rascalz’ challenge.
Wentz and Shelley started the match, they went straight for the collar and elbow, a couple of reversals and coutners for wrist control. Xavier and Sabin tagged in for another exchange of reversals and coutners, transitioned into a Sabin armdrag and clothesline for some momentum, but afterwards, Xavier would send Sabin outside with a rana, leaving Shelley aloneffor some double team moves. Sabin came back only to take a kick combo for a two count.
Ranscalz cut the ring in half on Sabin and worked over him with quick tags and sentons. Wentz would eventually get distracted by a kick from Shelley, allowing Sabin to recover and join Shelley for a series of punt kicks on the apron on both Rascalz.
Back in the ring, Xavier is down to tag out Wentz, so Wentz tried to strike out Shelley, who managed to take down Wentz regardless. Double elbow and kick by the MCMG for a two coutn on Wentz. MCMG gets Wentz at bay, also quick quick combos, sending him from corner to corner, kicking him for two counts.
Wetnz tried to comeback with strikes, but ended up getting another double discus elbows for his efforts. Wentz did however, managed to tag Shelley with a jumping knee and get the opening for Xavier to come in.
Dezmond hit several kick combos on Sabin, kept Shelley on the floor, Wentz came back and hit a footstomp on Shelley for a two count. Codebreaker on Sabin to get him out of the ring. Swanton bomb by Wentz on Shelley, but he got th eknees up, hit a desperation release German on Dezmond and tagged in Sabin.
Dropkick by Sabin on Xavier, another tandom strike combo, took out Wentz with the headlock and dropkick combo, and then hit the ASCS rush on Xavier for the win. Awesome opener.
Callis and Matthews ran down tonight’s card and hinted at least two more surprises.
Backstage, Taya berated John E. Bravo that she needed to win. Rosemary came in later and told Bravo that she had to win.
We got the Moose vs Dreamer build up video. Ok stuff.
TNA World Champion Moose defeated Tommy Dreamer in an “old school rules” match to retain
Moose started with control, pushing Dreamer to the corner by the neck, striking him, tossing him, big punt kick, and out of the ring. Dominant start, but Moose went for a dive, only to get a garbage can lid on the face. Dreamer started using some of the weapons on Moose, choked him with a jersey, whipped him to the guardrail, but when he went for the chair shot, Moose dodged, dropped him groin first into the rail, chairshot to the back, and dropped the rail on Dreamer.Moose hit a suplex on the stage.
Back in the ring, Moose used a kendo stick on Dreamer, but missed the last one, giving Dreamer the opening to hit a side leg sweep. Dreamer went for a second rope shot, but Moose caught him with a huge dropkick, completely taking out Dreamer. Dreamer set up a garbage can on Dreamer and followed with another dropkick. Moose, getting cocky, get for a top rope plancha, but Dreamer caught him with a ddt right on top of the garbage can for a two count.
Moose dropped Dreamer with a toe drop hold onto a chair. Moose went to powerbomb Dreamer into a pile of chairs, but Dreamer blocked and fought back with punches, went for a ddt, but Moose coutnered and hit a book end and standing moonsault for a two count.
Moose went for the top rope for another moonsault, but Dreamer moved, hit a ddt for a two count. Dreamer pulled out some tacks and ent for a piledriver, but Moose blocked and hit a low blow on Dreamer. Moose shoved Dreamer’s face into the tacks, but didn’t fully make contact as Dreamer powered up. Moose raked the eyes and slammed Dreamer into thet tacks.
Moose hit the lights out spear and Moose picked up the win. Really slow, but Moose was great.
Gia Miller tried to interview the arrival of a new superstar, but it ended up being Johnny Swinger. He seems to have stolen Karl Anderson’s car.
Kylie Rae won the Knockouts #1 Contender Gauntlet Match
Tasha Steelz and Kylie Rae started the match. They wrestled for wrist control and into headlocks until Tasha caught Rae with a shoulder block, who came out with a rana. Tasha went for one herself, but Rae countered.
Third participant was Taya, well, it was John E. Bravo dressed as Taya. He was superkicked and immediatly eliminated. Rae tried to high five Tasha, but was taken out with a clothesline instead.
Kimber Lee came in as 4th, took out Rae with a sidewalk slam, Tasha with a backbreaker. Delayed vertical suplex on Rae, but as she posed around, Tasha caught Lee with a kick. Rae and Steelz went back at it. Kiera Hogan came in as 5th and joined Steelz, going after Rae. Kimber Lee tried to team up with them, but was striken down by Hogan and Steelz.
Susie was next, who ran down to help out Rae and take everyone out with palm strikes and Thesz press. Susie went for the arachrana on Steelz, but was blocked, only to get a superkick by Rae and get eliminated.
Katie Forbes returned as 7th. She clothslined Susie and Rae, sholder block on Lee. Hogan instead tried to make friends with her, but instead got attacked. Madison Rayne came in next and went straight for Lee and Hogan with enzugiris and clotheslines. She made fun of Susie, but Hogan stepped up and got into a verbal exchanged with her before coming to blows.
Havok was next as 9th. Took down Forbes and Lee first, dropped Hogan with a Sidewalk Slam, took down Susie and Rae, and it was Rayne the only one smart enough to not antagonize her.
The real Taya Valkyrie came in and immediatly took down Lee, Rae, and Havok. Katie Forbes attacked her, but Taya countered and started striking down Forbes in the corner, eliminating her with a kick.
Alisha Edwards was next, hit a couple of ddts until Rae tried to military press her, only for Havok to take Alisha and toss her on Rae. Nevaeh came in and joined Havok, took out Susie, Lee, and Hogan with a combo move. Double team backbreaker and clothesline on Edwards.
Rosemary was next, went straight for Susie wit a spear. Taya and Rosemary eliminated Susie. Another Rosemary came out, it was again Bravo. Taya and Rosemary started fighting over him and Taya accidentally attacked Rosemary. Havok tried to eliminate them, but Bravo snuck up and eliminated Havok. Kylie Rae eliinated Bravo and felt terrible.
Rae eliminated Madison Rayne and apologize afterwards. Lee and Hogan paiered up to eliminate Nevaeh and Alisha Edwards. Rosemary kicked Hogan to eliminate her.
Final four are Kimber Lee, Taya, Rosemary, and Kylie Rae. They came to blows in the middle of the ring. Rae hit a cutter and elimnated Lee. Taya and Rosemary ganged up on Rae, but fought back. Rosemary locked in the upside down, but Taya took advantage to drop Rosemary.
Final two are Kylie Rae and Taya, one-on-one match rules start now. Rae hit an early destroyer and superkick for the win.
Heath Miller made his debut, coming down to the ring. He said that he was planning to challenge the Razcals, but didn’t make it in time. He said that there was a still vacant spot for the World Title and he wanted in. Rohit Raju interrupted him and told him that he wasn’t going to allow him to get a shot before him. Rohit attacked, but was quickly reversed and taken out with a reverse ddt.
We got the Swinger vs Bey video package.
Chris Bey defeated X-Division Champion Willie Mack to win the title
They talked some trash at each other before coming to blows. Mack got the early advantage, they traded lucha armdrags, but Mack hit the standing meteora to send Bey to the floor. Mack tried to follow with a senton, but Bey blocked, only for Willie to caught him on the apron and dropped him with a draping neckbreaker to the floor.
Back in the ring, Mack hit a fallaway slam, kip up and standing moonsault for a two count. Mack elbowed Bey in the corner, they exchanged kicks before Mack went for a superplex. Bey blocked him and went fo the sunset bomb, but instead kicked Mack’s legs in and hit a slingshot slingblade for a two count.
Bey hit a big jumping uppercut and swinging neckbreaker for a two count. Mack started slapping Bey, but Bey came back with a mule kick and bodyscissors for a two count. Third kick and an attempt to the dive, but Mack caught him with a bomb instead.
Mack hit a clothsline and spinning shoulder block, followed with more clotheslines and the running cannonball. Mack went for an exploder, but Bey countered into a roll up. Mack hit the exploder into the turnbuckles for a two count. Bey’s neck is getting destroyed.
Mack went for the 6 star, but Bey hid behind the referee, snuck a kick on Mack and followed with a dropkick to take down Mack. Bey caught Mack with a boot and the destroyer for a two count. Mack hit the stunner, but went for the 6 star that Bey dodged. Bey got pushed into the referee and took advantage to rake Mack’s eyes, hit the final finesse for the win. This match really needed fans.
Backstage, Heath Miller and Rhino had a small reunion. D’Amore walked up and told Miller that he doesn’t work here and that due to the pandemic, they can’t have guests. Rhino told Miller to show up on Tuesday and he’ll figure it out.
Impact World Tag Team Champions The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander) defeated Ken Shamrock & Sami Callihan to retain
Alexander and Shamrock started the match, going for some mat wrestling, trading momentum until Shamrock locked in the ankle lock. Callihan slapped himself in, but instead of wrestling, cheap shotted Alexander, took down both Page and Alexander.
Shamrock came back and worked on Page for a bit, punching him around, tagging in and out with Callihan, who would go for headbutts, headlocks, and quick pin attempts. Shamrock went for knees and a ddt. Shamrock and Sami kept the offense until Alexander interfered and pulled Page to safety.
The North ganged up on Shamrock outside and back into the ring. Alexander got Shamrock in the corner with shoulder thrusts. The North went for a double team move, but Shamrock caught them with a double clothesline and tagged out.
Callihan came out, took out Alexander, hit a superkick and brainbuster on Page for a two count. Page managed to get a dropkick on Callihan and tag in Alexander to keep Callihan down. They kept control with double team moves, a lot of striking, and quick tags. Eventually, Sami landed a desperation stunner to get an opening, but Page was smart enough to place himself between Sami and Shamrock. Sami tried to strike his way to his corner, ending in both men taking each other out with kicks.
Shamrock tagged in and ran wild with clotheslines and powerslams on both men. Callihan tagged in back again to early and got the cactus jack countered. The North caught Callihan with a double team Crucifix Bomb for a two count. Callihan once again managed to escape and tag in Shamrock, who came in and hit a belly-to-belly on Alexander to the floor.
Page took out Callihan, but then Shamrock and Alexander locked in the ankle locks on their respective opponents, both submissions were broken. Callihan took out Page, Shamrock locked in the ankle lock on Alexander, but Page managed to toss Callihan into Shamrock.
Shamrock and Callihan had some misdirection. Cactus Special on Alexander for a two count when Page broke it, but Shamrock just stood there, not knowing what to do. Shamrock caught Callihan with a kick accidentally and hit a top rope belly-to-belly on Alexander, who rolled out Shamrock went for a dive, but The North moved out of the way.
Back in the ring, The North finished Shamrock to retain their title. Good match, but it kinda broke down there at the end with Shamrock.
After the match, Page said that no one asked for their comments when they broke the year milestone. He said they decimated an entire division. Alexander said that they promised to make history and they have proved it. Page said that in this company, no one can touch them.
The Motor City Machine Guns came out and told them that in Impact history, the MCMG are the greatest. Sabin announced that office has granted them a title shot at The North on tuesday!
Gia Miller tried to interview The Good Brothers, but instead she got Rich Swann. He said that he was here to support Mack and announce that he wants a shot at the World Title once he is cleared to make his comeback.
We got the Purrazzo vs Grace video package
Deonna Purrazzo defeated Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace to win the title
Heated collar and elbow to start, Grace drove Purrazzo to the corner and wouldn’t let go. Purrazzo relied on leaving the ring and stalling to get her standing back. Back in the ring, Grace went for Purrazzo’s arm, but was outwrestled, only for Jordynne rely on her power advangage to send Purrazzo back to the floor.
Grace caught Purrazzo with a shoulder block and once again to the floor, but this time, Jordynne followed with a dive, taking her out. Jordynne went for an early muscle buster, but Purrazzo fought her off and dropped a knee on Grace’s arm to finally start working on it.
Purrazzo focused on the arm, switching between strikes, armbars, kicks, and snaps. Purrazzo tried to got for short distance clothesline, but Grace wouldn’t budge, so instead, went back for the armbar until Grace made the ropes.
Purrazzo locked in the Fujiwara armbar, but Grace rolled over. Purrazzo transitioned into another armbar, but Grace blocked and made the ropes again. Purrazzo went back into snapping Grace’s arm over and over again. Grace managed to land an elbow to get some space and latch on the ropes to block Purrazzo, getting the chance to recover and drop Purrazzo with a clothesline and senton for a two count.
Jordynne went for a backplex, but Deonna blocked and got a two count with the O’Connor roll, only for Grace to counter into a sleeper. Purrazzo rolled over for a two count. Grace caught her with a clothesline and got her in a bow and arrow onto the ringpost, but as Grace made her way back to the ring, Purrazzo once again snapped her arm on the ropes.
Grace tried to strike down Purrazzo and got a Grace Driver for a two count. Tried to follow with a powerbomb, but Purrazzo almost got the triangle lock, forcing Grace to release, yet she got a desperation spinebuster in the last second.
Both women started trading strikes in the middle of the ring until Jordynne just started hitting scoop slams over and over, they started trading German suplexes, and lastly, Purrazzo got two kicks in and the pendulum snap suplex for a two count.
Grace caught Purrazzo with kick, hit the running knees and diving elbow, followed with the Vader bomb, but only for a two count. Jordynne chased the Grace Driver again, but Purrazzo kept blocking, so she relied on strikes. Deonna locked in the armbar in the middle of the ring, made it double and submitted Jordynne Grace. Match of the night so far.
Matthews and Callis announced Bound for Glory for October 24th.
We got the video package for the main event.
Mystery opponent was Swann, who came out dancing with the crutches at hand, completely healed. Swann was getting a big push before the injury, and he’s right back at it. After his entrance, a 5th man made his entrance, Eric Young, now going as the World Class Maniac, so I guess this is a 5-way now.
Eric Young took the microphone and confirmed that it’s a 5-way.
Eddie Edwards defeated Ace Austin (w/Madman Fulton), Trey Miguel, Eric Young, and Rich Swann in a fatal five way to win the vacant Impact World Championship
Match stared, Ace and Trey went straight for it outside the ring. Inside, Young, Eddie, and Swann went at it. Young early on dropped Eddie with a slam, but Swann tossed him out with a dropkick. Swann got rid of Ace who tried to get in the ring, but wasn’t able to do the same with Trey, who he traded counters and reversals Jr. Heavyweight style.
Eddie came in and send them both out, went for a dive, but Fulton caught him and slammed him on the apron, prompting the referee to send Fulton to the back, or Ace was DQ’d. Ace sent Fulton acbk to not risk disqualification. The distraction allowe for Trey to recover and go after Austin, but Ace escaped.
Back in the ring, Swann took out Ace, Young took out Swann, then Eddie came in with Kawada style chops on Young and Swann. Mule kick by Swann on Eddie, followed with a rana, but Eddie blocked on powerbombed him into Young.
Backpack Stunner by Eddie on Ace, but Ace reversed, kicked out Eddie and Trey, but Swann was there with the cutter. Blue Thunder Bomb by Eddie on Swann, annndd DVD by Young on Eddie. Finally, Trey caught Young with a footstomp, who is already busted opened.
Trey went back at Ace and they started trading strikes in the middle of the ring. Trey managed to dodge most of Ace’s strikes until he dropped Ace. Trey hit a rana on Ace, but Young returned to the match, only to take a rana by Trey, who followed with a neckbreaker on Ace.
Trey dodged Eddie’s rush, landing in destroyer position on Swann outside the ring. Back in the ring, Young dropped Eddie with a superkick, but Ace was there to hit a suplex on Young to cut him off. Eddie started chasing the tiger driver, but Ace escaped blocked and backed Eddie to the corner, taking out Trey in the process. Eddie pancaked Ace, hit the tiger driver, but Trey was there with the meteora to break the pin. Young picked Trey, hit a piledriver and eliminated Trey Miguel.
Young stomped around everyone left. Swann made a comeback and punched down Young, but was caught with a big backplex for a two count. Young went for a weird piledriver attempt from the second rope, but Swann turned it into a second rope bulldog.
Eddie came back and tried to superplex Ace to the floor, but Swann stopped them. Young took away Swann, bombed him into Ace and Eddie, who crashed down to the timekeepers table outside the ring.
Young went to piledrive Swann, but Swann reversed, rolled up Young, and pinned him, eliminatng Eric Young from the match. Young took out Swann’s bad knee before leaving, Pillmanizing the knee over and over again. Young got taken away by security, shouting at Swann that he asked for it.
They teased Swann being taken out, but Swann denied. Ace went for the easy pick with a figure 4, but Swann kept reversing to pins. Swann started slapping down Ace, but Ace kicked his leg out, hit The Fold, and pinned Rich Swann to eliminate him from the match.
It’s down to Eddie Edwards and Ace Austin. They went straight to simultaneous kicks and trading forearms and chops. After about a minute of strikes, Eddie chopped down Ace to the mat. Ace still hit a desperation spinning kick to get some space.
Ace went for The Fold, but Eddie turned it into a belly-to-belly into the corner. Eddie hit the Boston knee party, but Ace kicked out at two. Ace hit The Fold, but Eddie kicked out at two. Ace went for the top rope, but Eddie dodged, hit a second BKP, hit the diehard flowsion and pinned Ace to win the Impact World Championship for a second time. This was a hell of a match, not the best of the night, but it had it all.
After the match, Madman Fulton attacked Eddie Edwards. Fulton set him up for Ace, but suddenly the Good Brothers made their debut. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows entered the ring, face off with Fulton and Ace, who tried to make friends, but instead, Anderson hit the gunstun on Ace, Eddie took out Fulton, and one final magic killer on Ace. Anderson and Gallows joined Eddie to celebrate with a beer bash.
Suddenly, the lights went out again, and we got a video of ECIII teasing his return as the show closed.
Opening video recapped The North’s assault on Ken Shamrock, Deonna Purrazzo’s in-ring debut, and the main event between Eddie Edwards and Ace Austin’s new backup — Madman Fulton.
Josh Matthews and Madison Rayne welcomed us to the show by addressing that the Impact World championship has been vacated and that the main event of Slammiversary XVIII will now be a four-way between Eddie Edwads, Trey Miguel, Ace Austin, and a mystery opponent.
Chris Bey (with Johnny Swinger) defeated Suicide
Bey started the match with some early strikes, but took too long to hit a standing moonsault, giving Suicide the time to recover, hitting an atomic drop, and a low dropkick for an quick two count.
Suicide hit an electric chair drop and a lionsault, but Bey was ready with the knees on Suicide to turn the match around and went back to striking Suicide, earning a two count with a clothesline.
Suicide caught Bey with an octopus stretch and transitioned into a sunset flip pin for a two count. Bey draped Suicide on the ropes for a spinning kick for another near fall.
Bey hit an high angle backplex, followed by a moonsault, but once again Suicide dodged. Suicide came back with a big shotgun dropkick, a series of chops and palm strikes, a running forearm and kick, but Bey escaped the German suplex. Suicide responded with a foot stomp for another two count.
Suicide faked Bey on the ropes, sending him to the floor, sent Swinger along with Bey, and hit an ugly trust fall from the top rope to the floor.
Back in the ring, Suicide got a near fall with a sunset flip pin. Bey recovered, hitting a spinning knee. Suicide went for the top rope, but Swinger tossed him off behind the referee’s back, allowing Bey to hit the springboard fameasser for the win.
Matthews and Rayne ran down the rest of the card tonight.
Gia Miller interviewed Moose about his match with Crazzy Steve. Moose said that Steve doesn’t take things seriously, but fun and games didn’t make Moose the TNA World champion. Tonight, Crazzy Steve will find out why Moose is the best wrestler on the planet.
Backstage, Johnny Swinger congratulated Bey for winning and that as long as he follows his plans, Bey will become the champion. Swinger said that dealing with Impact referees is a walk in the park and said he would pay them for Slammiversary. One of the referees overheard Swinger and banned him from the Bey vs. Mack match.
Reno Scum jumped TJP and Bahh during their entrance, but Bahh quickly regained control, throwing out Thornstowe and attacking Luster with a couple of shoulder blocks, feeding him to TJP for the school boy and the early pin attempt.
TJP and Bahh hit a couple of double team moves on Luster, including a poetry in motion and a double splash for another pin attempt. TJP had some offense on Luster, but Thornstowe interfered, pulled him to the floor, beat him up a bit, and sent him back for Luster in the ring.
Now under control, Reno Scum worked over TJP with quick tags, some double team moves, and a lot of striking. Luster tossed Thornstowe onto TJP for a senton, but TJP blocked with his knees, twisted Luster’s neck, and tagged Bahh.
Bahh came in strong, splashing Thornstowe with a running hip attack, but when he went for the Samoan drop, Luster blocked him off, setting up a footstomp version of the poetry in motion for a two count when Bahh broke it up.
TJP dropped Thornstowe for a springboard dropkick, but Luster blocked him from following up. Bahh took out Luster with a belly-to-belly. Thornstowe hit Bahh with a superkick, but when he tried to take out TJP, Thornstowe was blocked and ended up being tossed into Bahh’s Samoan drop, followed with a mamba splash for the win. Good match, TJP and Bahh have improved as a tag team.
We had another installment of Madison Rayne’s Locker Room Talk, with special guest John E. Bravo. Rayne asked about having to obey Taya, and about Bravo and Rosemary flirting. Bravo denied there being anything romantic. Madison Rayne brought in a second guest — Rosemary.
Rayne asked Rosemary about her and Bravo. Rosemary didn’t say anything either, but Swinger interjected saying that there was some sexual tension in the room between him and Rosemary, claiming that he had a thing for facepaint and that he and Aja Kong had a thing some time back.
Bravo stepped up and defended Rosemary. Bravo and Swinger got into a face off, while Rosemary enjoyed it.
Taya interrupted everyone and joined the party. Taya asked Rosemary to tag team together and Rosemary agreed. Swinger’s comedy is seriously underrated.
We got a recap of the ongoing feud between “The Virtuosa” Deonna Purrazzo and Jordynne Grace.
The North came out to address their attack on Ken Shamrock from last week. They said that the legend of Ken Shamrock is over and that he has no friends because he has rage issues and can’t control his anger.
Ken Shamrock came out and tried to get in the ring, but couldn’t. Sami Callihan hacked the screen and said ‘who needs a friend when you have an enemy’. When the lights came back, Callihan was in the ring, and along with Shamrock, they ran out The North. Afterwards, Callihan gave Shamrock the thumbs down and disappeared again. I guess we have our tag title match for Slammiversary here.
Backstage, The North approached Scott D’Amore while he was talking to some ‘good brothers’. Page complained about being jumped by Callihan and Shamrock. D’Amore made The North vs Shamrock and Callihan official for Slammiversary XVIII.
Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the Week was Magnus vs Eric Young from April 10, 2014.
Jimmy Jacobs tried to interview Trey Miguel, who was extra cautious about surprise attacks. Trey said that tonight, he was going to break his foot on Madman Fulton’s face.
Self-Proclaimed TNA World Champion Moose defeated Crazzy Steve to retain the title.
Match started with Moose using his strength to push around Steve, but the latter, with the speed advantage, started dodging and striking Moose until he sent Moose to the floor. As he went for a plancha, Moose caught him, slammed him on the apron, got him by the legs and swung him onto the steel steps. Moose punched into Steve’s ribs over and over again before sending Steve back to the ring. Moose suplexed Steve into the ropes ribs-first.
Crazzy Steve tried to make a comeback, striking Moose, but got easily cut off by a running back elbow. Once again, Moose locked in an abdominal stretch and sank his knuckles on Steve’s ribs.
Moose tried to superplex Steve, who had to rely on biting Moose’s face to stop him. Steve hit a sunset powerbomb, but Moose kicked out at one. Steve once again used his speed to strike Moose and got a two count with a school boy. Steve hit a running knee and a running cannonball to the corner, tried to follow with a crossbody, only for Moose to catch him again. Moose hit a fallaway slam, hit the lights out, and won the match. Arguably a squash, Moose looked really dominant.
After the match, Moose kept attacking Crazzy Steve until the referees and Tommy Dreamer pulled him off. Moose kicked Dreamer and attacked him before walking away.
Crazzy Steve was helped to the back while Dreamer cut a promo in the ring, calling out Moose for stealing a title because even with his natural talents, he couldn’t cut it in Impact. Dreamer told Moose to be a locker room leader, not a locker room cancer. He said that Moose wasn’t a draw and he wouldn’t even be a footnote in wrestling. This felt unnecessarily dramatic and a bit shooty.
Hernandez and Cousin Jake arm wrestled in the back with Cody Deaner watching along. Hernandez beat Jake. Cody challenged for a double or nothing, and also lost. Arm wrestling is the best use of Hernandez right now.
Hogan jumped Havok with a dropkick to start the match. She tried to strike down Havok, but got pushed back by Havok’s strength advantage and as soon as she recovered, Havok got a hold of Hogan and tossed her around from corner to corner. Havok then hit a scoop slam.
Tasha tried to stop Havok by grabbing her foot, but Havok took her out. The interruption was enough for Hogan to recoup and dodged the senton to regain some control.
Back from commercial, Hogan had Havok in a sleeper hold, right before Havok slammed Hogan back first into the turnbuckle. Hogan used her hair to choke Havok, but once again, Havok managed to get her hands on Hogan and toss her around. She then hit a backbreaker, a running knee, then a couple of running boots to a down Hogan. As Havok prepared to finish her off, Tasha stole Havok’s mask, distracting Havok, Nevaeh, and the referee as she tossed it to Hogan, who used it to take out Havok. Hogan finished her off with kicks to win the match.
Moose cut a promo on Dreamer, saying he doesn’t know anything about him and that Dreamer is nothing while he is the top man in the promotion. He gave Dreamer an ultimatum that if he doesn’t apologize publicly, he would sue him and the promotion.
Matthews and Rayne ran down the current card for Slammiversary XVIII, including the newly added tag title defense between The North and Shamrock and Callihan. Also, for next week, Sami Callihan takes on Josh Alexander in a singles match.
Madman Fulton (with Ace Austin) defeated Trey Miguel by disqualification
Story here is that Ace Austin is taking out each of his opponents for the Slammiversary XVIII main event by using Fulton, who defeated Eddie Edwards last week.
Trey rushed the ring to start the match, dodging Fulton, but took out Ace with a suicide dive, followed by a second one that was caught by Fulton.
In the ring, Trey used his speed to dodge Fulton’s strikes and land a kick or two when he had the opening. Trey tried to hit a crossbody, but Fulton caught him. Trey tried to armdrag Fulton, but again, he was stopped, this time with a chokeslam. Fulton hit a one arm military press. Trey went for some bodyscissors, but again, Fulton blocked and hit a reverse suplex.
Trey tried to strike down Fulton with forearms, kicks, or anything that worked, but Fulton was unstoppable and would flip around Trey as soon as he had a hold of him.
Fulton slammed Trey’s head to the turnbuckle over and over again, but as he whipped him to the ropes, Trey somersaulted off the ropes and locked in a sleeper hold. Fulton tried slamming Trey down, but he couldn’t break the sleeper off. After multiple slams, Trey eventually did.
Trey hit a couple of kicks and hit a second rope neckbreaker to bring Fulton down, followed by some buzzsaw kicks and two superkicks. Trey went for a springboard DDT, but Fulton blocked and hit a northern lights suplex for a two count.
Fulton splashed Trey in the corner and draped him over the ropes, but as he attacked him, Trey sneaked and grabbed Ace Austin’s magic stick and broke it off in Fulton’s face for the DQ.
Afterwards, Trey attacked Ace and Fulton with a chair until they were both down.Trey survived another day.
We got another tease, this time around, it was Eric Young’s old Super Eric costume. I don’t know if they’re teasing some of TNA’s worst gimmicks as a way to throw a curb ball at us.
Final thoughts —
Good show. Wrestling was decent to good and we had a lot of storyline developments towards Slammiversary XVIII. Episode went by faster than usual.
Impact confirmed on tonight’s episode of Impact Wrestling that the main event of Slammiversary will be a fatal four-way for the Impact championship.
Announcer Josh Mathews confirmed that Trey Miguel, Ace Austin, and Eddie Edwards will compete in a fatal four-way match for the vacant Impact championship. The fourth person in the match is being billed as a yet to be named mystery opponent.
The match originally was a five-way bout. Michael Elgin and Eddie Edwards were originally set to challenge champion Tessa Blanchard at Rebellion, but the match was unable to happen due to travel restrictions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. Trey Miguel later advanced to the finals of a number one contender’s tournament but was attacked before he could compete. That tournament was then won by Ace Austin.
Tessa Blanchard will defend her Impact World Championship against four challengers at next month’s Slammiversary pay-per-view.
After announcing that the future of their World Championship would be addressed on the episode, it was revealed on tonight’s Impact that Blanchard will defend her title against Michael Elgin, Eddie Edwards, Ace Austin, and Trey Miguel in a five-way match at Slammiversary. The PPV is taking place on Saturday, July 18.
Scott D’Amore made an appearance on tonight’s Impact to announce the title match for Slammiversary. The segment ended with Austin, Elgin, Edwards, and Miguel brawling.
Elgin and Edwards were supposed to challenge for Blanchard’s title in a triple threat match at Rebellion in April, but that match didn’t happen because Blanchard and Edwards weren’t able to attend the tapings for the show due to the coronavirus pandemic. Blanchard also missed the most recent set of Impact tapings.
On last week’s Impact, Austin defeated Zachary Wentz in the finals of a tournament to become the number one contender to Blanchard’s title. The tournament final was supposed to be Austin vs. Miguel, but there was an angle where Miguel was attacked backstage. Miguel’s attacker has yet to be revealed.
Impact Wrestling returns from Nashville, TN for tonight’s episode, main evented by the finals of the Impact World Title #1 contendership tournament between Ace Austin and Trey Miguel.
Opening video was a full recap of the tournament.
Impact made a dedication of tonight’s episode to George Floyd and his family. They were silent on social media throughout the show.
Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz defeated Kylie Rae & Susie
Rae and Steelz started the match with a lock-up, a couple of wrist control reversals ending with Steelz pulling on the hair to gain control. Susie tagged in and was mocked by Steelz, but Susie had enough and slapped Steelz. Hogan tagged in and once again Susie controlled her, tagging in Rae for the double team and a two count.
Steelz once again came in and trash talked Susie into Hogan’s hands for the attack behind Susie’s back. Hogan and Steelz worked over Susie with quick tags, a lot of strikes and trash talk, but eventually Susie hit a desperation bulldog and tagged Rae in.
Kylie came in and ran wild over both women with running european uppercuts and rolling sentons. She went from the top rope into the Kylie Special, but Hogan kicked out.
Susie tagged in and went for a fireman’s carry, but Tasha got her with a codebreaker. Rae took out Tasha, but Hogan was there to superkick Rae.
Susie came back and went for an airplane spin on Tasha, but Hogan cut her off. They superkicked Rae and hit a top rope rana by Tasha and a twisting fisherman’s suplex by Hogan for the win. Good match, the team of Tasha and Kiera is really good.
Josh Matthews and Madison Rayne ran down the card for tonight.
Ace Austin was interviewed about losing to Mack right before the tournament. Ace cut the interviewer off and said that he never dwells on the past. He is only focused on the future, and his future is the World title.
Moose interrupted him and congratulated him for making the finals. Moose sold Ace Austin how prestigious the TNA World title is, making an argument to go after his title, and not Tessa’s. Ace considered it.
Joseph P. Ryan (with oVe) defeated Crazzy Steve
Jake and Dave Crist are out with Ryan by invitation.
Steve started calling Ryan the ‘dick guy’, and thus got slapped by Ryan. Steve, however, reacted by getting fired up and running wild on Ryan, hitting a couple of clotheslines and kicks for a two count.
Ryan recovered and caught Steve with a great dropkick to cut his momentum off and start working over him. It’s hard to say with the facepaint, but it seemed like Steve was busted open with the dropkick.
Ryan got a couple of near falls before Steve started fighting back and biting Ryan’s hand. Steve hit a running cannonball and was going for the finish, but Jake and Dave Crist distracted the referee, allowing Ryan to superkick a distracted Steve for the win. Boring match, but at least it was short.
After the match, Joseph P. Ryan invited Jake Crist to join #CancelCulture, but Jake had to change his ways and make some sacrifices. Dave tried to talk Jake out of it, but with zero hesitation, Jake hit Dave with a spin kick.
Rohit Raju defeated Chase Stevens
Rohit started strong, clubbing Stevens to the mat, but Stevens came back with punches. Rohit kept that momentum by kicking Stevens’ leg out and hitting a running kneelift for a two count. Rohit kept going after the leg, but Stevens hit a short distance clothesline to stop Rohit’s momentum, getting a two count with a suplex.
Rohit hit a side leg sweep for a two count and followed through with stomps and a falling elbow for another near fall. Chase went for a German, but Rohit countered and dropped Chase with a Reverse STO. Rohit choked Stevens a bit, dropped him with a back elbow, but he kept getting distracted talking to the camera.
Chase made another comeback with strikes and kicks, hitting a release German and scissors kick for a near fall. Chase went for the second rope moonsault and almost broke his neck on Rohit’s knees.
Stevens hit a low kick that distracted the referee, allowing Rohit to hit a jumping knee and double stomp for the win. Good short match, Stevens looked in good shape.
After the match, Rohit said he was the most underrated wrestler of the world, which I’ve also been saying. After the promo, Rhino gored him from behind for no reason whatsoever.
Havok and Neveah were interviewed about her arrival to Impact. Neveah said that since Havok was now free from James Mitchell’s hand, she came in to make sure that Havok was doing good, and decided to rejoin her as the unstoppable duo they are.
We got a new episode of Locker Room talk with Madison Rayne and Johnny Swinger. Their special guest was Chris Bey. Swinger was extra excited about his new ‘tag team partner’.
Madison asked Bey about joining Impact, but before he could answer, Swinger jumped in and put him over in Swinger’s way. Madison asked about going for the X-Division championship, but once again, Swinger jumped in and answered for him, saying he could easily become the X-Division Champion, but that he was going to focus on his new tag team “The Finesse and Bench Press Express”, and they’re making their debut next week against “Willie Mark” and Jake “Ham n Egger”. Chris Bey agreed to team with him if Swinger would help him go after the X-Division title next.
This was great, but Swinger saying Madison “Square Garden” Rayne was the cherry on top.
Impact Plus Flashback Moment of the Week was the World Title KO or Submission match between Drew Galloway and Bobby Lashley at 2016’s Slammiversary.
Jimmy Jacobs interviewed Jordynne Grace, who said that she had been training in her absence and that she was returning to a far stronger Knockout’s division. Taya interrupted saying that if she was the champion, she wouldn’t have taken time off.
Jordynne Grace said Taya was right, and she was craving getting in the ring, even offered Taya her title rematch, but Taya wasn’t ready for tonight, so next week it is.
The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) defeated Fallah Bahh & TJP in a Tag Team championship #1 contendership match
Rascalz made some jokes about not having people there, but TJP said they were doing it for the fans at home. They bumped elbows, while actually saying they were about to wrestle anyway, but again, it was done as a sign of respect.
There was some comedy with TJP not getting Bahh to let him start, but once everything was good, the wrestling started.
Bahh and Dezmond started the match, with Bahh using his size advantage to cut off Dezmond’s attack and showing that Bahh could also do lucha style reversals to Dezmond’s quick attacks.
TJP and Wentz came in and had a far more serious and competitive sequence of counters and reversals, combined with a lot of chain wrestling in between the ranas and takedowns. Rascalz ended with the upper hand when TJP got too close to The Rascalz’ corner and started double teaming him with an enzuigiri and bronco Buster combo.
Bahh came in and took on both Rascalz and set up the Poetry in Motion on TJP for a two count. TJP with a suplex and was going for a backplex, but Wentz escaped and tagged in Dez for a kick combo and another two count.
From here on, The Rascalz worked over TJP with quick tags and double team moves, but TJP managed to dodge them and hit a Tornado DDT, getting his opening to tag in Bahh.
Fallah ran wild over both men with running splashes, used Dezmond as a longdart to land onto Wentz, followed by a Samoan drop for a near fall. Bahh hit a Hadouken, sending Dezmond into the corner, which was the set up for TJP to hit a Rolling fireman’s carry slam and the stacked-up plancha double team move for a two count.
TJP hit a twisting suplex and a dragon screw. TJP striked Dez over and over again, but eventually, Xavier fired up, hit a combo, and got the tag to Wentz, who came in hot. He took down TJP with a kick combo, a running knee, and finished it with a standing moonsault for a near fall.
Rascalz hit a superkick and foot stomp combo, but Bahh broke the pin, hit a belly-to-belly on Wentz, a Samoan drop on Dezmond, and after a couple of more near falls, everybody was down.
Wentz took out Bahh with a jumping boot, TJP hit Wentz with a backplex, only for Dez to come in with a Pele kick and get countered into an ankle lock. After a long struggle, Wentz assisted Dezmond with a punch, rolling him over to a bridging pin over TJP for the win. Great match with a cool unique finish.
Both teams made up after the match and The Rascalz offered a rematch whenever they wanted.
We got a second vignette for ‘The Virtuosa’ Deonna Purazzo. This was even better than last week’s, a lot more character in her promo. She debuts next week.
Rosemary and John E. Bravo walked down the street in what seemed like a work day. Bravo said that he never had this much fun with Taya, and so Rosemary invited him to work for her. Rosemary even tried seducing Bravo, but as he was about to bite the apple, Taya called him on the phone and Bravo ran off.
Michael Elgin barged into the production table and demanded his music get played as he headed to the ring.
Elgin said that he is the rightful World champion but he keeps getting screwed, and last week, he allowed himself to lose because of Sami Callihan. Incidentally, Sami’s hacking started.
Elgin said that Callihan knew he had nothing on Elgin and thus played his tricks on him. He said that tournament finals were next and he wasn’t leaving the ring until he was declared the #1 contender to the Impact World championship.
Out came Ken Shamrock. Elgin attacked Shamrock and they started brawling in the ring, Shamrock getting the better of Elgin with multiple knees, but when Shamrock went for the ankle lock, Elgin escaped.
Ace Austin came down to the ring for his match. When Trey Miguel was to make his entrance, we suddenly jumped to the back where Trey Miguel had been taken out and Dezmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz called for help. Wentz went after who he thought was the attacker.
In the ring, Ace Austin said it was unfortunate, but he may as well be declared the #1 contender. This was interrupted by Wetnz, who tried to attack him.
Scott D’Amore came down to deal with the problem and said that Wentz could take Trey’s place in this match, but he didn’t specify if he was Trey’s proxy or straight up replacement. Madison Rayne was the one that later made the note that Wentz could become the #1 contender tonight. This is straight out of the Russo era, Matthews defending this was pretty bad.
Ace Austin defeated Zachary Wentz in an Impact World championship #1 contendership match
Wentz started strong, taking down Ace with a running dropkick and the gunckle driver for an early two count. Wentz went straight for punches and stomps, but kept getting pulled away by the referee. Wentz hit a big superkick and more punches, but Ace finally managed to pull Wentz face-first into the buckle to cut him off.
Back from commercial, Ace had somewhat recovered and had Wentz on the floor, where he was dropped on the apron when Wentz swept his leg. Ace kept attacking Wentz on the floor, ramming him to the apron. Ace hit a Back Body Drop onto the ramp. They traded more strikes and whipped each other to the guardrails.
Ace stomped on Wentz’ hand when he tried to come back to the ring and worked more on his back, only for Wentz to counter Ace and send him towards the rail, followed by more stomps and kicks. Wentz went for a big running attack, but was caught with a spinning kick by Ace instead.
They made it back to the ring, where they traded kicks. Ace locked in a low abdominal stretch, but Wentz pushed over to the corner. Ace hit a slingshot onto the ropes for a two count. Ace hit a suplex for a two count, only for Wentz to come back with one of his own for another two count.
Ace hit a desperation Stunner to get some space and locked in an armbar for his papercut trick. Wentz came back with a chop, but Ace easily cut him off again with a kick. Wentz still tried to fight back with chops and punches, successfully bringing Ace to his knees, forcing Ace to rely on pulling Wentz’s hair to cut him off. Wentz hit a desperation jumping knee to finally bring down Ace.
Wentz hit a great striking combo, followed up with a jumping knee, a low kick, and landed a standing moonsault for a two count. Ace went for a backplex, but Wentz escaped and kicked Ace. Wentz hit a complex version of an uranage for a two count. Wentz went back for punches.
Wentz went for a suplex, but Ace rolled over for a two count. Wentz responded with a superkick for another near fall. Wentz went for the swanton bomb, but Ace got his knees up. Ace hit the double footstomp DDT and The Fold for the win.
Great match, but aside from giving us a new match-up, there was no point in doing this angle with Trey Miguel, only for Wentz to lose to Ace Austin.
A vignette aired with a hooded figure watching a newscast on television, mentioning twenty wrestlers that were released due to the global pandemic. After showing footage of Eric Young, a Bulgarian flag, Gallows, Anderson, Drake Maverick, Curt Hawking, Mike and Maria Bennett, and EC3, the vignette plugged this year’s Slammiversary.
Final Thoughts —
Ok show, we had some good wrestling, but that final angle with Trey Miguel really left a bad taste in my mouth. With the benefit of the doubt, it may go somewhere later on.
Impact Wrestling’s number one contender’s tournament is down to its final two wrestlers.
Trey Miguel and Ace Austin will face off in the finals of the tournament on next Tuesday’s episode of Impact. The semifinals aired on this week’s show, with Miguel defeating Michael Elgin and Austin defeating Hernandez.
Miguel and Elgin’s semifinal match was the main event of this week’s Impact. The finish of the match was Miguel pinning Elgin with a jackknife cover after Sami Callihan played mind games with Elgin and caused a distraction. Elgin defeated Callihan in the first round of the tournament.
Austin replaced Ken Shamrock in the tournament after an angle where Elgin attacked Shamrock.
The winner of Miguel vs. Austin will challenge Tessa Blanchard for the Impact World Championship. Blanchard was supposed to defend her title against Elgin and Eddie Edwards in a triple threat match at Rebellion last month, but neither Blanchard nor Edwards were able to attend last month’s Impact tapings due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Austin lost the X-Division Championship to Willie Mack at Rebellion. While X-Division Champion, Austin had a feud with Miguel.
Here’s the lineup for next week’s Impact:
Number one contender’s tournament finals: Trey Miguel vs. Ace Austin
Tag team number one contender’s match: The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) vs. TJP & Fallah Bahh
Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz vs. Kylie Rae & Susie (Su Yung)
Crazzy Steve vs. Joseph P. Ryan (Joey Ryan)
Chase Stevens vs. Rohit Raju
Chris Bey will appear on Locker Room Talk with Madison Rayne
