Months after making his surprise debut on AEW Dynamite earlier this year, W. Morrissey made his return to the show on Wednesday and appears to already have a new manager.
As The Wingmen were in the ring complaining about not being booked on the show, Morrissey’s music hit and he came out the ring, laying out all four men in short order.
That prompted Stokely Hathaway to quickly emerge from the back and give Morrissey a business card which Morrissey accepted and put in his pocket. As Tony Schiavone attempted to get an explanation afterward, an aggravated Hathaway refused to answer, backed up by Morrissey.
While still with Impact Wrestling, Morrissey made his AEW debut in May as one of MJF’s hired guns in his efforts to thwart Wardlow who was attempting to get a match with him at Double or Nothing. Wardlow got the victory and Morrissey wrapped up with Impact that same month.
Since then, he’s only wrestled once with that being a June indie match. AS of this writing, AEW has not sent out their customary #AllElite tweet that he’s been signed.
W. Morrissey is done with Impact Wrestling with his final match airing Thursday night.
PWInsider first reported the news Thursday, but didn’t have details as to whose decision it was to move on. It’s unknown what is next for the 34-year-old.
Morrissey, a former World title challenger, will team with PCO to take on Moose and Steve Maclin in a match taped several weeks ago.
The former Big Cass in WWE has talked about dealing with mental health issues, alcoholism and health issues that saw him have a seizure at an indie show in December 2018. He took nearly two years off between 2019 through 2021, returning in February 2021 as a surprise for Luke Gallows’ promotion, looking in fantastic shape.
He signed with Impact in April 2021 and debuted at that year’s Rebellion in an eight-man tag team match. During the last year, he feuded with Eddie Edwards, Matt Cardona and then-World Champion Moose, unsuccessfully unseating the champion at this past February’s No Surrender.
He has continued to work select indies like Northeast Wrestling and made his AEW debut last month against Wardlow as a hired gun as part of the MJF storyline.
It’s the latest talent to leave Impact in recent months as JONAH, Willie Mack and The IInspiration have also moved on for different reasons.
Heads up, it’s Wednesday which means it’s time for AEW DYNAMITE! Join Denise Salcedo on Speak Now Pro Wrestling as she does an honest, in-depth recap of the show while sharing her analysis on stories and matches. She also engages with the live audience! Tune in for a good time.
Some of the items talked about on the show include lots of Owen Hart Cup talk, AEW Double or Nothing build up, Wardlow facing W. Morrissey, did Hangman Adam Page turn heel, Julia Hart’s storyline, Deonna Purrazzo vs. Mercedes Martinez, and more!
W. Morrissey appeared on tonight’s AEW Dynamite, facing Wardlow in a singles match.
On tonight’s Dynamite, MJF introduced Morrissey as Wardlow’s surprise opponent. He was announced as William Morrissey, with announcers noting he was part of Impact Wrestling. The finish had Wardlow countering Morrissey with a moonsault, pinning him with a powerbomb.
Last week’s Dynamite had MJF fuming after Wardlow was able to defeat Lance Archer. He then calmed down and made a phone call. He said that next week he would have someone bigger, stronger, and taller than Wardlow, and “you can’t teach that”, using the former catchphrase of the Enzo & Big Cass (Morrissey) tag team in WWE.
Morrissey made his debut for Impact last year, and has since feuded with the likes of Rich Swan and Moose. He most recently appeared at Impact’s Rebellion event, where he and Jordynne Grace failed to win the Impact Tag Team title elimination challenge that was later won by champions Eric Young & Joe Doering.
Moose will put his Impact World title on the line against W. Morrissey at next month’s No Surrender.
The live Impact Plus event is set for Saturday, February 19th in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Along with Matt Cardona, the two squared off in a three-way for the title at this month’s Hard to Kill that Moose won. On the following Impact, Morrissey made it clear that he wanted Moose one-on-one for the gold, but the champion had no interest.
On Thursday’s show, Morrissey won a handicap match against VSK and Zicky Dice and went searching for Moose but Scott D’Amore said he wasn’t there and then made the match for the special.
Moose will be looking for the sixth defense of the title he won at October’s Bound for Glory while Morrissey is still looking for his first taste of Impact gold.
No other matches have been announced for the event.
Impact World Champion Moose, W. Morrissey and Matt Cardona — the three men involved in the main event for January’s Hard to Kill — will sign their contracts on Thursday’s edition of Impact Wrestling.
On last week’s show, Cardona defeated Morrissey by DQ and all three men ended up in a brawl with Cardona standing tall.
Ahead of his challenge of Jonah at Hard to Kill, Josh Alexander will battle Rohit Raju. Alexander came out and beat up Raju and Raj Singh last week en route to calling out Jonah for a match.
After teaming last week, Knockouts Tag Team Champions The IInspiration and The Influence came apart leading to Jessie McKay vs. Tenille Dashwood tonight.
Doc Gallows, one half of the Tag Team Champions, will team with Joe Doering of Violent by Design for the first time to take on common enemies in Rich Swann and Willie Mack while in a pair of X-Division matches, champion Trey Miguel will face John Skyler in a non-title affair while Chris Bey takes on Laredo Kid.
Ace Austin vs. Hernandez is set for the BTI pre-show.
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Ace Austin (with Madman Fulton) defeated Hernandez (with Johnny Swinger) on BTI.
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Opening video recapped the ongoing build to Hard To Kill’s main event where Moose will defend the Impact world title against W. Morrissey and Matt Cardona.
Josh Alexander defeated Rohit Raju (with Raj Singh)
This match was booked after Alexander interrupted and attacked Raju’s match last week against Lawrence D.
Alexander started dominating the match, but after trying to take down both Raju and Singh, Raju took advantage of the distraction and cut him off for a couple of minutes in the ring. Alexander had a couple of chances to make a comeback, but Singh was there for the distraction and allowed Raju to cut him off and suplex him into the ropes.
Eventually, Alexander caught Raju with a belly-to-belly and a German to finally stop Raju. Alexander’s ribs were still hurting, so Raju was still able to get a couple of near falls with a bridge, but Alexander reversed into an ankle lock, but released to take out Singh.
Raju came back with a couple of running boots and a double stomp, but Alexander kicked out at 2.
Alexander went for the C4, but was too hurt to get Raju up, so instead took out Raju’s knee, powered up for the C4, and got the win. Really good opener, way more back and forth than I expected.
Josh Alexander will face Jonah at Hard To Kill.
– Gia Miller interviewed the Good Brothers and VBD about their alliance. Anderson said that as the champions, they could use any help they could get, so they took in EY’s offer to work together. Him and Gallows said they don’t trust VBD, but they’re willing to work together.
EY said this was a business alliance and nothing else.
– Gia Miller interviewed Chelsea Green about entering the Ultimate X match at Hard To Kill. She said it was historic and after she won it, she would finally go for the title. She said that Cardona will win the title and they’ll be a power couple.
Moose approached Green and was passive aggressive, talking smack about Cardona to her. He threatened that her marriage to Cardona will be short, even for wrestling standards.
Joe Doering & Doc Gallows (with Karl Anderson & VBD) defeated Rich Swann & Willie Mack (with Rhino & Heath)
These four teams have been feuding separately for months, but last week, we saw the union between the Good Brothers and Violent By Design be born as a means to take down their opponents.
Gallows started the match against both Swann and Mack, who tagged in and out and tried going for Gallows’ arm. Swann and Mack took down both big men with double dives.
Back in the ring, Swann and Mack kept that upper hand until Swann got cut off by Gallows with a big boot after he got distracted by Doering’s presence in the corner. Gallows and Doering worked over Swann’s midsection.
Swann managed to connect Doering with an enzuigi and tagged out. Mack came in and took down Doering and Gallows with some help from Swann. They took out Doering, but when they tried to take out Gallows, Swann was pushed off the top rope by Doering. A double chokeslam on Mack later, Gallows and Doering picked up the win.
After the match, Good Brothers and VBD attacked Swann, Mack, Rhino, and Heath, but Eddie Edwards ran down for the save. He took out Anderson, Deaner, and EY with a kendo stick and a dive, and the rest took out Doering and Gallows to clear the ring.
– VSK and Zicky Dice talked backstage about calling Myers about last week’s loss. Dice said to not call him until they face Decay and get a win.
– We got a promo from Jonah, explaining what being the top dog meant. He talked about the time his father was in prison. He compared it with how he attacked Alexander, but unlike his father, he didn’t have Alexander’s respect and thus would beat him up at Hard To Kill.
X-Division Champion Trey Miguel defeated John Skylar in a non-title match
Commentary sold this match as a speed vs power match, but they were not as mismatched.
Match started with a sequence of reversals where Miguel gained momentum catching Skylar with a dive, only to get cut off with a diving spear as he tried to do so again on the other side of the ring.
Skylar worked over Miguel and got a couple of near falls, at one point countering into a release belly-to-belly into the corner where Miguel almost landed on his neck. Miguel came back with some cheeky nandos and the Meteora for the win. Ok match, could have been better with more time.
After the match, Steve Maclin attacked Miguel on the ramp, took the title and knocked Miguel out with it. Maclin has been asking for a singles match with Miguel, and so he dragged the dead body of Miguel to the back. We then saw that Maclin had kidnapped Miguel, tied him, and seemed getting ready to torture him to get that title shot he wants.
Chris Bey (with Hikuleo) defeated Laredo Kid
Last week, Laredo Kid stood up to the Bullet Club after they bullied the staff backstage. Kid challenged Bey to a match, and thus, here we are.
Match started with a sequence of counters and reversals, with both men going for quick pin attempts.
The match would go back and forth between the both, as Bey would cut off Kid early on, but Laredo would make a comeback outspeeding Bey. It would be until Hikuleo started distracting Laredo Kid that Bey would regain control by ramming Kid to the ring post.
Back in the ring, Bey worked over Kid’s midsection, keeping Kid down and distracting the referee to allow Hikuleo to get some cheap shots in. Bey started getting too cocky and allowed Kid to slowly go for a comeback, but Bey was still able to cut him off and take him down with a flying elbow.
Bey caught Kid on the ropes and went for a springboard leg drop, but Kid was finally able to dodge him and take him out, hitting a dive that didn’t make much sense after Laredo ran the ropes on a different axis than the dive. Kid would go to the top rope to finish Bey, but Hikuleo would once again interfere and push Kid off.
The damage on Kid wouldn’t last long, he regained momentum with a series of moonsaults on Bey for a two count. Bey caught Kid with a huge spinning back kick and a slam, but only got a two count.
Laredo Kid hit an avalanche Michinoku Driver for another near fall, tried to follow with a phoenix splash, but Bey moved out of the way. They fought on top of the turnbuckles where Bey laid Kid on the ropes and hit a foot stomp for yet another two count.
Finish finally saw Kid hit a DDT, a huge senton to Hikuleo, but when he tried to go for Bey, got cut off. Kid managed to push off Bey from the top rope, but Bey was ready with a cutter as Kid dove on Bey with a plancha.
– We got a recap of Deonna Purrazzo showing up at ROH’s Final Battle to challenge Rok-C for the ROH Women’s title. We then saw footage of an autograph signing where Mickie James and Deonna Purrazzo had a confrontation that ended with a brawl.
Afterwards, Scott D’Amore and Gail Kim scolded both women and reinstituted the no contact rule. Kim said that their match at Hard To Kill will now be a Texas Deathmatch.
Last week, both teams joined forces to take on Decay, but after not finding chemistry, stepping on each other’s toes, and ultimately losing to Decay, Dashwood looks to get back at The IInspiration.
Story of the match was to see who was the bigger heel of the two. There were a couple of mirror spots and a lot of mocking early on. The bulk of the match continued with back and forth action, but as they went on, Dashwood got more dominant after snapping McKay’s neck on the ropes.
Dashwood got a couple of near falls, best one after her diving crossbody to the corner. She tried to submit Mckay with a full Nelson, but McKay fought her off and finally made a comeback. Dashwood went for a small package, but McKay kicked out and took down Dashwood with a big boot for a two count when Kaleb pulled the ref down.
Outside the ring, Rayne, Lee, and Kaleb all got in a fight, but after the distraction, Kaleb tripped McKay and set her up for Dashwood’s spotlight kick for the win. This was way better than I expected, and will surely end with an Influence vs IInspiration title match.
– Striker and Brown ran down the card for Hard To Kill, including the newly added stipulation for Purrazzo vs James in a Texas Death Match.
Hard to Kill World title contract signing
t was time for the Hard To Kill main event contract signing. This time around, the contract signing is taking place in the ring. D’Amore is proceeding with the signing.
W. Morrissey was the first out, and seemed a bit more babyface than usual. Matt Cardona came out second, along with Chelsea Green. Finally, Impact world champion Moose came out.
D’Amore ran down the accolades that the participants have achieved during 2021 before giving Cardona the contract to sign. Morrissey jumped in and took the contract before he could sign it.
Morrissey took the mic and said that this signing wouldn’t be about mind games, he was there to become the Impact world champion, signed the contract, and left the ring.
Cardona took the mic and agreed with Morrissey, the last couple of weeks, he had been dealing with Moose playing mind games, but he was someone that kept coming back after being pushed back and he was ready for Hard To Kill. Cardona signed.
Moose told Cardona that he will once again fail, signed the contract, and told Green that after Hard To Kill, she’s going to have to realize she’s married to a midcarder. Moose insulted Green and a brawl finally broke down.
Moose took out Cardona and put him through the table as Green looked on. Moose posed with the title over Cardona’s body before leaving, but halfway through the ramp, Moose came back to continue the beat down. He tried to Pillmanize Cardona, but Green interfered. The distraction gave enough time to Cardona to recover and get a chair, but when he swung at Moose, the latter dodged and Cardona nailed Green with the chair. Moose retreated as referees checked on Green and the show went off the air. Everyone was good until the unnecessary chair shot.
Thursday’s Impact Wrestling is headlined by two high stakes matches that will crown new number one contenders for two different title matches at this month’s Turning Point.
Matt Cardona, Eddie Edwards and W. Morrissey will clash in a three-way match to determine the next challenger to Impact World Champion for Moose. Edwards and Morrissey have feuded in recent months, while Cardona and Moose had a backstage brawl recently.
As a result of another feud that has been ongoing for months, FinJuice and Bullet Club (Chris Bey & Hikuleo) will meet yet again with a shot at the Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers on the line. Impact VP Scott D’Amore decreed that there must be a winner.
After Madison Rayne and Kaleb with a K complained to Impact management about their treatment in the company, D’Amore awarded the two with matches Thursday. Rayne will face the next contender for the Knockouts title in Mercedes Martinez while Kaleb will take on Minoru Suzuki.
Also, The Undead Bridesmaids (Kimber Lee & Brandi Lauren) will face former Knockouts Tag Team Champions Decay (Havok & Rosemary) as current champions The IInspiration try to soften up the former titleholders ahead of their Turning Point rematch.
The BTI pre-show match is Savannah Evans vs. Rachael Ellering.
Bullet Club (El Phantasmo & Chris Bey) (w/ Hikuleo) defeated FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson) to earn a Tag Team title shot at Turning Point
Both teams have been chasing the titles, held by The Good Brothers. Last week, FinJuice came close to earning that fair shot they have been asking for, only for the Bullet Club to come out and interrupt the match. Scott D’Amore instead signed this match to crown the number one contenders.
This was similar to the match these teams have had in the past months. FinJuice started strong against Bey, but when Robinson was in there, Hikuleo and ELP started to distract him and eventually, they cut him off from his corner.
Bullet Club worked over Robinson for a couple of minutes. This was mostly ELP doing some of his shenanigans, but it wasn’t long before Finlay got the hot tag. FinJuice isolated Bey for their offense, eventually going for the Doomsday Device. After a distraction from ELP and Hikuleo, Finlay instead went to take them out, leaving Robinson in the ring to get reversed by Bey, superkicked by ELP and pinned.
After the match, Anderson and Gallows came out and brawled with Bullet Club, ending with Hikuleo taking out Gallows as Bullet Club controlled the ring.
— Gia Miller interviewed D’Amore about the three-way main event to find the new top contender for the World title. She asked why Josh Alexander wasn’t added to the match. Before D’Amore could answer, he was confronted by Alexander about it. D’Amore told Alexander that he wasn’t getting a shot until he fixed his focus issues. So instead, he was going to book Alexander vs. Minoru Suzuki so he could deal with him. Later on, he can continue his chase for the World title.
— We got a recap of last week’s BTI where Sam Beale pinned Brian Myers. Afterward, we got a new installment of Myers’ lessons where he berated VSK and Zicky Dice for losing last week. It was mostly a comedy skit with Dice getting slapped every time he or VSK talked. Myers ended the segment challenging Beale to a one-on-one match.
Minoru Suzuki defeated Kaleb with a K
There is no story to this match as it was just a quick squash to showcase Suzuki. Kaleb ran away from Suzuki at first and then tried to attack, but Suzuki easily blocked him and turned it into a submission. Suzuki won with the GSP. During the match, we saw Alexander watching from the back.
— Miller interviewed Moose about his potential challengers at Turning Point. Moose ran down the names, but in the end, he wasn’t concerned since he was the most dangerous man in all of professional wrestling.
This match came from Knockouts Tag Team Champions The IInspiration after they convinced the Bridesmaids to take on Decay prior to the IInspiration’s title defense at Turning Point against the former champions in Decay.
The match started with Decay taking out both Bridesmaids, but at that point, both Cassie Lee and Jesse McKay came out to interrupt and set themselves up on the ramp to watch the match.
With the distraction, the Bridesmaids were able to jump Decay and take control, separating Rosemary from her corner. The Bridesmaids showed some tag team work with a couple of double team combos, but Rosemary was still able to make a comeback against Lauren and tag in Havok. Decay got the win with the backbreaker and spear combo on Lauren.
After the match, The IInspiration came down to the ring, but avoided crossing paths with Decay.
— Heath and Rhino cut a promo about Heath’s rough year being out with an injury. Heath said that the tension between them and Violent By Design wasn’t over. Rhino said he wanted revenge against Eric Young, so they challenged VBD. Great promo by Rhino.
— We got footage of last week where Madison Rayne and Kaleb complained about losing to Mickie James. D’Amore approached them and booked Rayne vs. Mercedes Martinez.
Mercedes Martinez defeated Madison Rayne
Martinez is the current number one contender to the Knockouts Championship, held by Mickie James.
The match wasn’t that good. Martinez started with a delayed vertical suplex for a near fall. She tried to follow with a crucifix bomb, but Rayne escaped, hit a code breaker, and cut off Martinez for a bit with a cravat and some knees.
Martinez came back with a tiger driver for another near fall, followed with some strikes and a short DDT. Rayne got a near fall with an enzuigiri and a blockbuster, but couldn’t keep her down. Mercedes finally got the win with a jumping knee and a schoolgirl pin.
After the match, Rayne jumped Martinez and dropped her with a ripcord cutter. Afterwards, she attacked Martinez with a chair until James came out for the save. That was a lot of offense for Rayne against the number one contender. After Rayne left, Martinez no-sold the attack and dropped James with her driver.
— Steve Maclin cut a promo talking about losing in the last few weeks, but that he is still unpinned and unsubmitted. He said he deserved to be in the X-Division title match at Turning Point. Trey Miguel confronted him and told him if he wanted to get pinned, all he needed was to ask. Miguel asked D’Amore to make it a triple threat at Turning Point. D’Amore instead told Maclin that if he can defeat Laredo Kid next week, he gets added to the match.
— Beale addressed Brian Myers and accepted his challenge for next week. He talked about learning so much from him and knowing him well after having followed Myers for months. He told Willie Mack and Rich Swann to stay in the back, because he needed to take on Myers by himself.
Rohit Raju (w/ Raj Singh) defeated Rocky Romero
We saw footage from last week where Raju confronted Romero about jumping in line and getting a shot at the X-Division title, so he challenged Romero to a match.
It started with both men showing off and wrestling with some mirror spots into the standoff. It wasn’t long before Romero gained the advantage with his sneaky style and some lucha ranas.
The match continued back and forth except Raju managed to hurt Romero’s back and arm and thus gained more and more control as they went on. Singh also helped Raju every time that Raju could distract the referee.
Romero made a comeback with the forever lariats. Romero hit a double footstomp on Raju for a two count, followed with a backslide, but Raju blocked. Romero hit a satellite DDT for yet another near fall. Raju got a near fall himself with a flatliner, but as he tried to capitalize, Romero locked in an armbar, prompting Singh to distract the referee. Romero took out Singh and hit a sliced bread on Raju, but he still couldn’t get the win.
The finish finally saw Raju block a tornado DDT, hit a drive-by kick, and get the win in a really good match.
— Hernandez told Johnny Swinger that he asked D’Amore for a match against The Demon and Decay for next week. John E. Bravo brought in Fallah Bahh to be the third man for the team.
— Chelsea Green cut a promo about becoming the new number one contender to the Digital Media title, so D’Amore booked Green vs. Jake Something vs. Matthew Rehwoldt vs. Alisha Edwards. The winner gets a shot at Digital Media Champion Jordynne Grace.
— Also next week, Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Iinspiration vs. Undead Bridesmaids in non-title action; Laredo Kid vs. Steve Maclin for a spot at the Turning Point X-Division title match; the return of Deonna Purrazzo and in the main event, Suzuki vs. Alexander.
Eddie Edwards defeated W. Morrissey and Matt Cardona to earn an Impact World title match
After last week’s main event, D’Amore booked this match where the winner gets a shot at Moose in the Turning Point main event. As previously explained in the show, D’Amore decided to not give Alexander the spot until he fixed his focus issues.
With Morrissey being the biggest man, both Edwards and Cardona went after him first, but he easily took them out with boots. He tossed Edwards to the floor and worked on Cardona in the ring. Edwards recovered and he and Cardona managed to take down Morrissey for a bit, but Morrissey quickly recovered and took them down with a double chokeslam.
Morrissey maintained control, keeping Edwards out of the ring and working on Cardona. Later down, Edwards returned when Cardona had been taken out to the floor and managed to get some offense in, but it wasn’t long before Morrissey stopped him with a fallaway slam.
Edwards made a comeback and traded strikes with Morrissey, but he couldn’t keep up. Cardona and Edwards once again teamed up and took Morrissey down with a code breaker and blue thunder bomb combo, but neither man could capitalize.
Morrissey dropped them with a double suplex, followed by a tower of doom spot where Cardona got a near fall over Morrissey. Cardona kicked out of a black hole slam from Morrissey. Finally, Edwards and Cardona finally got rid of Morrissey, sending him to the floor and for the first time tonight, Cardona and Edwards exchanged strikes. It wasn’t long before they dove on Morrissey.
Back in the ring, Cardona missed an avalanche radio silence and while Morrissey lay on the floor, Edwards hit a BKP to Cardona for the win. This was a great showing for Morrissey, regardless of the winner as he was clearly the best man in the match.
It will be Moose vs. Eddie Edwards for the Impact World title at Turning Point.
