Emergence 2022
Date: August 12, 2022
Location: Cicero Stadium, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Matthew Rehwoldt, Tom Hannifan

I usually don’t do these shows but the Alex Shelley/Josh Alexander segment from this week’s Impact actually got me to check it out. This is the latest non-pay per view pay per view special from Impact and the card looks good enough to be worth a watch. In addition to the World Title match, Honor No More faces Bullet Club and has to disband if they lose. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Digital Media Title: Bhupinder Gujjar vs. Brian Myers

Myers is defending and stops to insult Chicago before the match. How great can this place be? DOES ANYONE ELSE HERE HAVE A BLUE CHECK MARK BY THEIR NAME??? They fight over wrist control to start until Gujjar takes him down and drops a jumping knee. It’s too early for the Gargoyle Spear though and Myers bails to the floor, setting up a quick fight on the floor.

Myers kicks the rope for the low blow on the way back in, setting up a suplex for two. Gujjar shoves him off the top though and scores with a missile dropkick into a ripcord knee. There’s a Samoan drop for two on Myers but he’s right back with an implant DDT for two. Myers hits a spear of his own for two but the roster cut misses, sending Myers into the corner. That’s fine with him though as Gujjar gets kicked into the buckle, allowing Myers to grab a rollup for the pin at 7:22.

Rating: C. Completely run of the mill match here and that was a fine enough way to ope things up. Gujjar continues to be ok enough in the ring but Myers is a good bit more interesting and offers more options going forward. I’m surprised to see Gujjar take a pin, but at least he has a bit of an out with the kicking into the buckle.

Knockouts Tag Team Titles; Taya Valkyrie/Rosemary vs. VXT

Valkyrie/Rosemary are defending and has Jessika in their corner. Taya sends Green up against the ropes to start and flips her into the corner, allowing the tag off to Purrazzo. Rosemary comes in for some choking in the corner but charges into an elbow to the face to put the champs in trouble for a change.

The fight goes to the floor where Jessika misses a clothesline and gets dropkicked into Rosemary, as there is no such thing as competent help these days. Back in and Green elbows Rosemary in the face over and over before cranking on both arms at once. They both hit big boots at the same time though and it’s a double knockdown. The hot tag brings in Valkyrie to start cleaning house but Green reverses Road To Valhalla into a rollup for two.

Stereo German suplexes drop VXT and Rosemary spears Purrazzo. The Stomp hits Rosemary though and Green dives onto Jessika. Rosemary comes back in for a Road To Valhalla/X Factor combination but Green makes the save. Jessika offers a distraction but Rosemary mists Taya by mistake. A double suplex (yes a double suplex) gives Green the pin and the titles at 8:00.

Rating: C. I’m not sure if I should be surprised by that one or not, but I’ll go with the result that doesn’t give us arguing champions. Valkyrie and Rosemary were kind of a thrown together team and while VXT are still new, they do feel like a regular team. The division still needs help, but at least they have some fresh teams out there for a change.

The opening video talks about how to change, everything has to emerge. We also get the usual look at the big matches.

X-Division Title: Mike Bailey vs. Jack Evans

Evans is challenging, because there is no way he would be champion in 2022. Bailey bows to him to start but gets rolled up when offering the handshake. Evans bails out to the floor as Bailey is frustrated, leaving commentary to tell us about Evans’ history in the company. Back in and they rollups to start, followed by an exchange of dropkicks.

Stereo crossbodies put both of them down before they trade kicks to the legs. Bailey gets the better of that (of course) to send Evans outside, setting up the required big dive. Back in and Evans hits a springboard spinning kick to the face, setting up the quickly broken Muta Lock. Evans kicks him down again but Bailey flips over him out of the corner and hits a kick to the face. The running corkscrew shooting star press gives Bailey two but Evans is right back with a Falcon Arrow for the same.

An exchange of kicks to the head means a double knockdown and they get a breather. Back up and Bailey kicks him outside, which of course means a big springboard moonsault (as X-Division champions tend to do). Evans shrugs that off and hits a Blockbuster for two back inside. Bailey catches him on top but it’s a German superplex to bring Bailey crashing down. The moonsault misses for Evans though and Bailey kicks him into the Ultimate Weapon for the pin to retain at 12:32.

Rating: C+. As I have said before, you know what you’re getting with the X-Division these days and they did it well anyway. This was a good way to get the crowd into the show and have Bailey get another win. Not a classic or really anything lose as the usual X-Division selling issues were all over the place, but it did its job just fine (as usual).

Here’s what’s coming tonight.

Eddie Edwards gives Honor No More their weekly pep talk, though Maria takes over this time.

We recap Steve Maclin vs. Sami Callihan. Sami has recently returned and thinks Maclin and Moose are working together, which they deny. Tonight is Callihan’s chance for revenge.

Steve Maclin vs. Sami Callihan

Callihan jumps him in the aisle and the fight is on outside with Callihan suplexing him on the ramp. A chair is thrown in and the referee gets decked, leaving Callihan to take Maclin down again. They fight into the crowd and then go backstage. The bell never rang so no match.

We recap Kushida/Chris Sabin vs. Violent By Design. Violent By Design is going after the Motor City Machine Guns but since Alex Shelley is busy tonight, Kushida is filling in to team with Sabin.

Kushida/Chris Sabin vs. Violent By Design

Eric Young and Deaner for Violent By Design here with Joe Doering in their corner. Young starts with Kushida and then drops to the floor just after the bell. Kushida takes him into the corner back inside so it’s quickly off to Deaner. That works for Kushida, who tries the Hoverboard Lock but goes with a tag to Sabin instead. Sabin holds Deaner up so Kushida can get a running kick to the arm but it’s right back to Young.

That’s fine with Kushida as well, as he catches Young up top with a running kick to the head. Deaner starts doing something though and catches him on top, setting up a double slam to take over. A Russian legsweep sets up Young’s knee drop for two and Sabin gets knocked off the apron to make it even worse.

The villains spend too much time setting up a double team though and Kushida uses both of them as a launchpad (cool) for the tag off to Sabin. House is cleaned, including a tornado DDT and a running kick to the face for two on Deaner. Young saves Deaner from the Cradle Shock but Kushida kicks Deaner in the face to break up the dive. Instead, Sabin hits the suicide dive onto Young and Kushida kicks Deaner into the Cradle Shock for two with Young making a save.

Everything breaks down and Young sends Kushida outside, setting up a running neckbreaker to drop Sabin. Deaner hits a top rope headbutt into Young’s top rope elbow but Kushida makes a diving save of his own. Kushida hits the double handspring elbow to leave everyone down. They all slug it out from their knees and then keep it going on their feet until Violent By Design gets kicked down. The Dream Sequence knocks Deaner silly and another version hits Young. The Skull And Bones is loaded up so Deaner grabs the flag, allowing Doering to shove Kushida off the top. Young piledrivers Sabin for the pin at 12:42.

Rating: C+. Nice tag match but words don’t describe how happy I am to see Violent By Design getting another win. The team who are managing to drag down anything they do and make anyone seem worse is getting a win on a major show because this team has to keep going. How lucky we all are.

We look at VXT winning the Knockouts Tag Team Titles on the pre-show.

VXT brags about their title win.

Here is Kenny King, in street clothes, with a chair to deal with Heath. After promising that Honor No More will beat the Bullet Club tonight, King gets distracted by Sami Callihan and Steve Maclin fighting in the crowd. Cue Heath who, after ducking a chair shot, hits the Wake Up Call to leave King laying. Heath says Bullet Club can handle itself, but if Honor No More is still around, the Wake Up Call is waiting for them.

Bandido vs. Rey Horus

AAA showcase match and believe it or not, Chicago likes Bandido a lot. Respect is shown to start before Horus’ running shoulder has no effect. Well no negative effect, as it makes Bandido do the Eddie Guerrero dance. Horus takes him down with a headscissors but Bandido is right back up with a superkick. Neither can follow up and we have an early standoff. Bandido kicks him in the face again to send things outside and of course the big running flip dive connects.

Back in and Horus kicks him down for two but gets Three Amigos for his efforts, setting up a handstand flipped into a backsplash. Horus manages to send him outside for the big running (no flip) dive, followed by a top rope spinning splash for two back inside. Bandido is right back with the one handed gorilla press and a running kick to the face for two. Not to be outdone, Horus gets a running start and flips up into a DDT out of the corner to put them both down again.

This time Horus takes him to the corner, where Bandido gets in a shot of his own and apron superplexes Horus down hard. Bandido cranks on both arms at once before grabbing a pop up cutter. Horus rolls up for a faceplant though and they trade kicks to the face for a double knockdown. After a double situp (nice), Bandido knocks him down and hits a frog splash for two. The satellite DDT gives Horus two but Bandido hits X Knee, setting up the 21 Plex for the pin at 12:57.

Rating: B-. Much like the X-Division Title match earlier, you have this match for one reason and one reason only. These guys are going to pop the crowd with their insane offense and look great doing it, so it makes sense to bring them in for a pick up in the middle of the show. As usual, Horus was very good but Bandido was better, but it was the awesome showcase as usual.

Moose again insists that he and Steve Maclin aren’t a team but here are Sami Callihan and Moose to brawl. Moose helps Maclin beat him down and they come into the arena with the double teaming continuing. D’Lo Brown and security come in for the save and here is Scott D’Amore to say let’s do this No DQ with Moose banned from ringside.

Sami Callihan vs. Steve Maclin

No DQ. Sami gets in a cheap shot to start fast and Maclin gets rammed into the steps over and over early on. Maclin is already busted open so it’s time to choke away in the corner. A good shot to Callihan lets Maclin tie him up in the Tree of Woe on the barricade, followed by a suplex on the floor.

Maclin bothers to throw him inside and piles up the chairs, one of which is used to crack Callihan in the back. Some shots to the face take too long though and Callihan gets in a suplex onto the open chair. The chair is pelted at Maclin’s head and hangs around it as Sami is starting to look confident.

Maclin has to low blow his way out of the Cactus Driver 97 and it’s time to pull out a toolbox (oh dear). Instead of using it though, Maclin plants him with the KIA to set up a sleeper. That’s broken up as well so Callihan stomps him low over and over. Callihan grabs some zip ties and ties Maclin’s hands behind his back, setting up the Cactus Driver 97 to give Callihan the pin at 11:23.

Rating: C. I’m still not sure what to think of a lot of these brawls as there is only so much you can get out of the violence. It’s what Callihan thrives on though and you can probably pencil him in for either a showdown with Moose or a handicap match at Bound For Glory (or maybe a three way). Either way, Callihan is going up and Maclin is going down, the latter of which I wouldn’t have bet on seeing.

Long recap of Honor No More vs. Bullet Club. Honor No More is tired of not getting their Tag Team Title shot but Bullet Club is tired of Honor No More. Therefore, it’s title shot vs. Honor No More’s future in a ten man tag.

Honor No More vs. Bullet Club

No DQ and that would be Eddie Edwards/Matt Taven/Mike Bennett/Vincent/PCO (with Maria) vs. Ace Austin/Chris Bey/Hikuleo/Good Brothers. It’s a huge brawl to start, because it shouldn’t be anything else. Everyone goes to the floor early on until Gallows runs over Taven and Bennett back inside. Edwards and Vincent fight up and stomp Anderson down in the corner but Austin and Bey come back in to clean house.

PCO cuts off Bey’s dive and chokeslams him onto the apron and does the same to Austin (in the ring this time as he’s being a nice monster for once). It’s Hikuleo coming in this time and knocking PCO into the corner, setting up a missed charge to put PCO on the floor. Bey hits a dive but Taven cuts off Hikuleo from doing the same. Austin is back up with a running Fold to Taven off the apron onto the pile on the floor (that was awesome).

Somehow we’ve gone about seven minutes without any weapons so the Good Brothers bring some in, as you had to know was coming. Gallows and Austin take turns knocking people down for two each before Bennett and Taven take Hikuleo down by the leg. Honor No More gets together to take Bey down but the PCOsault only hits the trashcan.

Now it’s Gallows being taken into the crowd to continue his beating but he gets up to brawl with PCO. Gallows shoves PCO off a barricade and through….something, which seems to get rid of him for the time being. Back at ringside and we get the required table being set up, with Vincent hitting Redrum off the top to drive Gallows through. Gallows is back up WAY too soon to save Anderson but the Magic Killer is broken up. A spear takes Gallows down and the Climax onto the trashcan gives Honor No More the pin at 15:23.

Rating: B-. Another wild match here and the only ending they could have had. You don’t need to do anything ridiculous like get rid of Honor No More here, as the team hasn’t really gotten off the ground yet. Give them at least some kind of a title shot and see what they can do, as it isn’t like Bullet Club losing is going to be a big problem.

We recap Jordynne Grace vs. Mia Yim for Grace’s Knockouts Title. Yim won the title shot and the two of them have been having problems teaming together, so now it’s time for a showdown over the title and respect.

Knockouts Title: Jordynne Grace vs. Mia Yim

Grace is defending and, after the Big Match Intros, takes Yim down with a headlock. Back up and Grace leapfrogs over her a few times before dropkicking the knee out. A German suplex drops Yim but she is back up with a basement dropkick of her own. Grace bails outside and that means a big running flip dive to take her down again.

Back in and Yim grabs a guillotine choke, only to get taken down with a heck of a suplex. They head up top so Grace tries a sunset bomb but gets blocked, leaving her to settle for a Liger Bomb and a big crash. Yim is right back up with some kicks to take over but Grace busts her spine for two. A Muta Lock goes on until Yim breaks the hand grip and starts slugging it out with Grace for a change.

Yim gets the better of it and comes back with a springboard tornado DDT for two. That isn’t cool with Grace, who comes back with a MuscleBuster for two of her own. Grace puts her up top and gets caught with Code Blue for another near fall. Eat Defeat is loaded up but gets countered into a pinfall reversal sequence. With that not working, Yim tries a kick to the head but gets pulled into the Grace Driver for the pin at 13:23.

Rating: B. These two beat the fire out of each other until Grace caught her in the end. That is the kind of match that makes both of them look good and they did so here. Grace is likely to head into Bound For Glory with the title and it is hard to imagine that she isn’t facing Masha Slamovich, or at least she should be, which should be good.

Post match respect is almost shown until Masha Slamovich interrupts and gives Grace the death warrant.

We recap Josh Alexander defending the World Title against Alex Shelley. After beating Chris Sabin in a #1 contenders match, Shelley has his first ever one on one World Title shot. It turns out that Alexander was inspired by Shelley, but Shelly wants to be the champion no matter what. They had a great contract signing too and that was enough to make me watch the show.

Impact Wrestling World Title: Josh Alexander vs. Alex Shelley

Alexander is defending. A fight over a lockup goes nowhere as they seem to have quite a bit of time. Shelley grabs a headlock and grinds away for a bit before changing gears and kicking at the knee. The knee gets tied up but Alexander fights up and switches into an armbar. Alexander starts cranking away again until Shelley slips out and hammers away in the corner. An armbar doesn’t work well for Shelley but he takes Alexander outside and stomps on the arm.

With the arm sufficiently worn down, Shelley goes back to the leg with a leglock on the mat, only to switch into another armbar. Thankfully commentary is right there to explain the idea of breaking Alexander down, as that is why you have a broadcast team. Alexander fights out and throws Shelley down for a double breather. Shelley hits him in the bad arm so Alexander uses the good one to hit him in the face.

A t-bone suplex sends Shelley flying but he’s fine enough to hit a Downward Spiral into the buckle. Shelley’s frog splash gets two, only to have Alexander pull him into the ankle lock. The rope gets Shelley out of trouble and the ankle is good enough to hit Sliced Bread for two. An Air Raid Crash gets two on Alexander, who rolls straight out to the floor.

Standing Sliced Bread rocks Alexander again and the Border City Stretch has Alexander in big trouble back inside. With that broken up, Shelley hits some chops to put Alexander down on one knee. Shell Shock is countered into some rolling German suplexes and Alexander falls on top of him for two.

Another enziguri is countered into the ankle lock, which Alexander switches into a Sharpshooter. That’s countered into the Border City Stretch but Alexander rolls out into a Tombstone for a rather near fall. Back up and the C4 Spike is countered so Alexander settles for a Shell Shock to Shelley. With Shelley knocked silly, the C4 Spike can retain the title at 27:32.

Rating: A-. This match went long and never felt like it did, as they knew how to get the most out of each other. Alexander is still great at being able to make it feel like everyone is working hard to take the title from him while Shelley is able to put together a match with anyone. What matters is they had me believing that Shelley could pull it off and in a way, I wanted him to. Alexander is heading into Bound For Glory as champion though and that should work well. Heck of a match here and a worthy main event.

Overall Rating: B. This felt like an In Your House style show with a great main event and a big showdown in the ten man tag. They didn’t go through a lot of their big matches and a good chunk of this show was designed to set up things for later, but they had a good show on the way there. I was convinced to watch this show and I wound up liking what I saw, so well done on doing so well with what you have. Check out the main event, but don’t skip the rest of the show if you have a chance.

Results
Mike Bailey b. Jack Evans – Ultimate Weapon
Violent By Design b. Chris Sabin/Kushida – Piledriver to Sabin
Bandido b. Rey Horus – 21 Plex
Sami Callihan b. Steve Maclin – Cactus Driver 97
Honor No More b. Bullet Club – Climax onto a trashcan to Gallows
Jordynne Grace b. Mia Yim – Grace Driver
Josh Alexander b. Alex Shelley – C4 Spike

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Impact Wrestling
Date: August 11, 2022
Location: Old Paristown Hall, Louisville, Kentucky
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

It’s the night before Emergence and that means it is time for the big final push towards the show. That could make for a good episode, as we might be seeing some Emergence build, plus some time for the people who don’t usually get the chance to shine. Oh and a contract signing, just because. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The opening recap looks at last week’s wild street fight.

Opening sequence.

Karl Anderson vs. Kenny King

Anderson’s Never Openweight Title isn’t on the line and no one is at ringside. King snaps off some armdrags into an armbar to start, which lasts all of a few seconds. Back up and they both miss kicks to the head, giving us another standoff. A back elbow to the face drops King but he snaps the leg across the middle rope to take over.

The seated abdominal stretch has Anderson in trouble but he fights up and twists King’s knee for a change. A running backsplash hits King and the Rocket Kick gets two. King kicks the leg out again and grabs a leglock, sending Anderson straight to the ropes. Back up and Anderson grabs a Gun Stun out of nowhere for the pin at 7:54.

Rating: C+. These guys did well and Anderson getting the win should give him some momentum on the way to Emergence is a good idea. There is a chance that the knee injury will play into the big showdown tomorrow night so this very well could have been setting things up. Nice opener though, as the Club is always going to get a reaction.

Post match King chairs Anderson in the leg but Heath runs in with a Wake Up Call before Pillmanization can occur.

Here’s what’s coming tonight and tomorrow.

Video on Alex Shelley finally becoming #1 contender.

Deaner vs. Kushida

Joe Doering and Chris Sabin are here too. Kushida snaps off an armdrag to start but a second one misses, allowing Deaner to stomp away. Back up and Kushida handspring kicks Deaner out to the floor but it’s too early for the Hoverboard Lock. Doering offers a distraction though and Deaner gets in a cheap shot.

We take a break and come back with Deaner raking the eyes to cut off some chops. Kushida goes right back after the arm but a knee and clothesline take him down. Doering’s distraction is cut off by Sabin though, allowing Kushida to grab a hammerlock northern lights suplex for the pin at 9:49.

Rating: C. Not too bad here, as Kushida is going to be good for at least a decent match every time. It takes something special to get around the mess that is Violent By Design but Deaner tends to be the easiest to watch. Just drop the team already though, because this is awful and going nowhere.

Flashback Moment of the Week: Alex Shelley b. Chris Sabin at Genesis 2009 to win the X-Division Title.

Bhupinder Gujjar AGAIN challenges Brian Myers for the Digital Media Title and finally gets the shot at Emergence.

Eric Young yells at Violent By Design and promises to get rid of Chris Sabin and Kushida at Emergence.

Tiffany Nieves vs. Killer Kelly

Nieves slaps her in the face to start so Kelly hits a kick to the face to take over. A running basement dropkick in the corner sets up a choke (the Killer Clutch) to make Nieves tap at 1:23. They’re doing a nice job at rebuilding the Knockouts division.

Eddie Edwards gives Honor No More a pep talk before tomorrow.

Madison Rayne vs. Mia Yim

Rayne drives her into the corner to start until Yim grabs a hammerlock. That’s broken up with a faceplant but Yim is fine enough to grab a rollup for two. A chase around the ring goes badly for Yim as she gets posted, setting up some choking on the ropes. Rayne charges into a boot though and the Tarantula has her in trouble.

Another faceplant gives Rayne back to back near falls but a hurricanrana is countered into Yim’s sitout powerbomb. Some dropkicks send Rayne into the corner for the Cannonball but Rayne counters the package piledriver. A crucifix bomb gives Rayne two so Yim is back up with an enziguri. Eat Defeat finishes Rayne at 9:25.

Rating: C+. It’s almost weird seeing Rayne on national TV twice in a week but she was working well enough here. Rayne is someone who has become a legend in Impact just due to how long she has been around and the championships she has won and she is always good for a match like this. Yim is a threat to Jordynne Grace this week though and it makes sense for her to get the win here.

VXT is ready to win the Knockouts Tag Team Titles.

Jordynne Grace wants to make sure Mia Yim is ready for tomorrow but they get catty over their recent tag matches.

X-Division Title: Mike Bailey vs. Rocky Romero

Bailey is defending. They go with the rapid fire technical off to start and that’s a standoff. Neither can get anywhere off an armdrag or a dropkick so Romero dropkicks the knee out and rolls him up for tow. Back up and they trade kicks to the legs until Romero sends him outside. That doesn’t last long and it’s Bailey blocking a middle rope hurricanrana by landing on his feet for another standoff.

We take a break and come back with Bailey kicking the post by mistake, allowing Romero to hit the Forever Clotheslines. Bailey’s leg is fine enough to kick him down again, setting up the running corkscrew shooting star press for two. Romero’s springboard tornado DDT gets the same and Bailey gets blasted with a clothesline. Back up and Bailey hits a superkick for a double knockdown and we take another break.

We come back again with Bailey hitting an Asai moonsault before kicking Romero down back inside. The moonsault knees to the chest give Bailey two but Romero Falcon Arrows him into a cross armbreaker. The standing shooting star press drops bailey for two more but Sliced Bread is countered into a rollup. More Forever Clotheslines are countered with a shot to the face and the Ultimate Weapon retains the title at 19:04.

Rating: B. This was the latest Bailey showcase match and it rather well, especially for a match on free TV. Bailey isn’t my taste but he can do some impressive looking stuff in the ring, which is exactly why he is in this kind of a spot. At the same time you have Romero out there doing the good version of his thing, which worked well. Nice stuff here.

Emergence rundown.

Here is Scott D’Amore to run the contract signing between Alex Shelley and Josh Alexander. D’Amore talks about how he has coached both of them and introduced Shelley, who is finally getting his World Title shot. Alexander gets quite the hype as well and D’Amore is really excited about the dream match.

Before signing, Alexander talks about going to his first wrestling show in 2005 and Shelley was on the card. Alexander knew that Shelley was special because he stood out in a world where it was hard to be unique. The next day, Alexander stepped into a ring for the first time and over the next seventeen years, he has seen all kinds of Shelley copycats. It will be an honor to get in the ring with him and Alexander signs.

Shelley talks about the similarities in his career and asks why Alexander isn’t just another of those copycats. Alexander: “I’ve always been more of a Chris Sabin guy. You know, someone who has actually won the big one.” Alexander thinks Shelley might be self sabotaging himself because he’s too talented to never be World Champion.

Shelley talks about the injuries that the two of them have had over the years and says that the problem for Alexander is who he is across the ring from tomorrow night. When Shelley gets in the ring, he won’t be looking at the champ, but rather at an Alex Shelley mark. Shelley promises to win the title but has a consolation prize. He signs the contract and hands it to Alexander. Shelley: “There’s your Alex Shelley autograph.” Shelley walks off to end the show.

This was GREAT and one of the best contract signings I’ve ever seen. They came in with little story beyond “Shelley has never had a title shot” and turned it into a personal story without ever going too far into hatred. Shelley isn’t really known for talking but he blew it away here and I want to watch the match. Great stuff and far, far better than I would have bet on seeing.

Overall Rating: B-. Rather good show here and I’m actually on the fence about watching Emergence. I had no interest in watching coming in and they might have talked me into it so well done on all accounts. Impact has come a long, LONG way in the last few months and that was on display again here. Good show with an awesome closing segment so well done.

Results
Karl Anderson b. Kenny King – Gun Stun
Kushida b. Deaner – Hammerlock northern lights suplex
Killer Kelly b. Tiffany Nieves – Killer Clutch
Mia Yim b. Madison Rayne – Eat Defeat
Mike Bailey b. Rocky Romero – Ultimate Weapon

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Cemetery Gates
Date: March 31, 2022
Location: Fair Park, Dallas Texas
Commentators: Sam Leterna, Veda Scott

This is from Glory Pro Wrestling out of St. Louis, Missouri and part of Game Changer Wrestling’s Collective as part of the Wrestlemania Weekend festivities. Every year you will see some promotions show up over the weekend for the big weekend and put on a bit of a showcase event. That is the case again, as we have another show with a pretty weird name. Let’s get to it.

As usual, I have no idea what is going on here with regards to storylines, characters etc., so if I miss anything major, I apologize in advance.

Also, this show is available for free on the company’s YouTube page if you want to see what they have.

Myron Reed vs. Shane Sabre vs. Danny Jones vs. Carlos Romo

Reed is a longstanding MLW star, Jones is now in NXT UK and this is one fall to a finish. Romo fires the crowd up to start and everyone is outside in a hurry. Reed takes down Romo and Sabre but gets suplexed by Jones. Back up and Romo leg lariats Jones and hits Sabre with a swinging suplex.

Neither Sabre nor Romo can superplex Jones so they both try at the same time. With that not working either, they launch Reed into a super hurricanrana because JONES MUST BE BROUGHT DOWN. Romo ties up Jones’ legs and dragon sleepers the other two at the same time because that’s something that would happen in a fight. With that broken up, Jones pulls all three of them into a submission each, though he’s nice enough to go one at a time.

Romo DDTs Sabre for two and Jones piledrivers Sabre onto the apron for what should be a knockout. I mean it won’t be, but it should be. Jones chokes Romo on the apron but Reed gets a running start for a super cutter to drop Romo again. Back in and Jones sleeper suplexes Reed but gets caught by Romo’s springboard cutter for a close two. Romo misses a moonsault and gets taken down by Sabre’s slingshot spear. Reed grabs Sabre with a springboard cutter into Captain Crunch (White Noise) for the pin at 8:23.

Rating: C+. The best thing here is that they kept if fast paced and didn’t have so many wrestlers in there that you lost track of what was going on. They kept things moving here and it’s a great way to start the show off. I liked what we got here and Romo stood out, while Reed had a bit of star power for a bonus. Nice opener here.

Midwest Territory Title: Tootie Lynn vs. Janai Kai

Kai is challenging and has been on AEW a few times. They fight over arm control to start until Lynn grabs a headlock takeover. Kai fights out and kicks her in the back before pounding away to take over. Arm cranking ensues but Lynn is back up with an enziguri and a middle rope crossbody connects for two. The strike off goes to Kai and she grabs something like Nightmare on Helm Street for two. Back up and they strike it out again until Lynn pulls her down by the arm and flips over with the armbar ala Tommaso Ciampa for the tap at 7:41.

Rating: C. Not bad here from two women I haven’t seen much of before. What matters is that they had something going with Kai’s striking against Lynn going for the grappling and submissions. That might not be a great or detailed story, but it’s better than nothing and more than you get on a good number of shows these days.

Jake Something vs. Max The Impaler

A big forearm drops Max to start but Something gets run over and slammed down without much trouble. Something hits something like a Thesz press (minus the press) out of the corner and a heck of a right hand gets two. Back to back suplexes set up back to back to back clotheslines, the latter of which just fire Max up (might not make sense but a lot of things in wrestling don’t).

An exchange of clotheslines doesn’t go to anyone until Max runs him over with a clothesline. There’s a spear for two more on Something but he’s back up with a hard forearm to the back of the head. A sitout powerbomb gets two on Max, who comes right back with a spinebuster for two more. Back up and a spear misses for Max, setting up a Boss Man Slam to give Something the pin at 9:34.

Rating: C+. They beat each other up rather well here and it was a nice hoss fight throughout. Something is someone who a good look and some nice power, but my goodness that is one of the most indy wrestling names you will ever see. Fix that and he might go somewhere, but it sounds like a joke that has gone on way too long. Max is a pretty good power brawler as well and could fit in somewhere one day.

Tag Team Titles: Alpha Omega vs. Fly Def vs. Technical Difficulties vs. The Hustle And The Muscle

That would be Camaro Jackson/Kenny Alfonso vs. Warren Johnson/Zack Mason vs. Moses The Deliverer/Rahim de la Suede vs. Karam/Xavier Walker (defending) and I’m going to be lost about ten seconds into this. Thankfully commentary says the same so I’m not alone. Fly Def are from Reality of Wrestling and trained by Booker T. The champs come out to Voodoo Chile and I have some Nitro flashbacks.

It’s a brawl to start as this does not seem to have tags, thereby negating the TAG part of TAG TEAM. Hustle and Muscle clear the ring to start but Technical Difficulties gets together to take Walker outside. Fly Def is back up with a big dive onto the pile but then it’s Alpha Omega getting to clean house.

That doesn’t last long either as everyone gets a quick burst in before Fly Def clears the ring again. Alpha Omega breaks that up and calls Technical Difficulties inside for the showdown. Fly Def breaks that up but Mason is sent outside, leaving Johnson to get pounded in the corner by de la Suede. Hustle and Muscle are back in though and a spinebuster to Mason retains the titles at 7:01.

Rating: C+. What do you say about something like this? It was eight wrestlers flying around and getting in whatever they could without much time to spare. This was the equivalent of a scramble match on this show and it did about as much: offer some entertaining spots and pop the crowd by never stopping. It was fun for what it was, but these matches are going to bleed together and then be forgotten pretty quickly.

We recap Allie Katch vs. Laynie Luck. Katch cheated to survive against Luck but got disqualified anyway. Luck is here for revenge plus a cleaner win.

Laynie Luck vs. Allie Katch

Submission match with No DQ, meaning no rope breaks. Luck goes for the legs to start and gets nowhere so it’s a dropkick to put Katch down instead. Back up and Katch grabs a quick backbreaker, only to get pulled into a Fujiwara armbar. That’s countered into a DDT but Luck is back with a sunset flip, which she rolls over into an STF. Katch is right out of that as well and hits a seated senton out of the corner.

They head outside with Katch not being able to hit a powerbomb but blocking another armbar. Back in and Luck grabs a sick German suplex into a guillotine choke. That’s broken up as well so Luck switches to a Regal Stretch (complete with the arm trap). Katch bites her way to freedom and takes it outside again, this time for a piledriver on the floor.

They get back inside where Luck (completely fine less than thirty seconds after a piledriver on the floor) hits an enziguri, setting up another STF. Another bite of the hand breaks that up so Luck tries a Boston crab. Katch has to get creative by grabbing the referee for the break, setting up her own Boston crab. With the rope break meaning nothing, Katch puts the Boston crab on again in the ropes to make Luck tap at 11:09.

Rating: C-. I wasn’t feeling this of this one as some of the holds were broken way too fast and a piledriver on the floor having no effect was a bit ridiculous. Katch having to cheat over and over again was a way to tie things into their backstory so at least there was a logic there. At the same time, Luck showed some promise here and there, but it just wasn’t that interesting most of the time.

Grindhouse vs. No Remorse Corps

Grindhouse is better known as the Besties In The World (Davey Vega/Matt Fitchett) and the Corps is Davey Richards/Rocky Romero, who were quite the Ring of Honor team way back when. Richards grabs a test of strength with Vega to start before twisting around into a wristlock. That’s reversed into one from Vega, which is broken up with a twist of the arm.

After the standoff, the fans demand and receive Romero, who trades wristlocks with Fitchett. Romero gets in a hurricanrana but Vega tags himself in for a cheap shot. That’s fine with Romero who starts the Forever Lariats, which are cut off by a well timed kick to the head. The double teaming is on in the corner with Fitchett grabbing an armbar and Vega stomping away.

A Grindhouse double team doesn’t work as Romero hits a standing Sliced Bread, allowing the hot tag off to Richards. Stereo rollups get two each on Grindhouse, followed by a leglock to Vega and an ankle lock to Fitchett, again because Davey Richards is apparently a genius. With that broken up, Romero is brought back in for some charges in the corner.

Richards adds a top rope knee to give Romero two but Fitchett is back up for the save. A running knee/kick combination in the corner gets two on Romero but Richards makes Vega DDT Fitchett, because that’s how wrestling works. Richards blasts Vega with a lariat and Moustache Mountain’s torture rack/top rope knee combination is enough for the pin at 12:29.

Rating: C+. Richards’ dominance aside, this was a hard hitting enough tag match with Grindhouse being overwhelmed by a better team. I’ve seen Grindhouse in their previous incarnation before and that was a lot more fun, leaving them as a not exactly unique team here. The Corps isn’t my favorite team, but they are pretty good at this style.

We recap Dan The Dad vs. Kody Lane (set to My Way by Limp Bizkit for a chuckle). Dad is a family man who likes being a good guy while Lane is messing things up. Therefore, it’s Loser Leaves The Neighborhood. That’s a unique one.

Dan The Dad vs. Kody Lane

No DQ. Dan charges in and slugs away as we hear about him not being happy with Lane leaving beer bottles on his lawn. They fight to the floor and the ladder is brought out, with Lane being sent into it for the crash. A trashcan shot gets Lane out of trouble though and they head back inside so Lane can stomp away. Dan dropkicks the knee out and goes for a Figure Four, which is kicked into the ladder in the corner. Back up and Lane kicks him in the face, setting up a backsplash for two.

Veda suggests that the two of them take a lesson from Sesame Street as Dan is sent outside, where he avoids a dropkick through the ropes. Back in and some chair shots to the back make Dan scream but he fights up and strikes away. A floatover DDT plants Lane and a hanging Downward Spiral onto an open chair gives Dan two. Land low blows his way out of a powerbomb though and a Jay Driller onto a ladder gets two more. A Lionsault hits ladder though and Dan crushes Lane’s leg in said ladder, setting up a Figure Four to make Lane tap at 10:19.

Rating: C+. I liked this more than I expected to and I could go for seeing some of the build to the match. Neither are exactly great in the ring but they had a story that made sense and built up well enough. The leg stuff was fine and Lane giving up because Dan wasn’t going to stop no matter what made sense. Nice stuff here with a unique story.

Josh Alexander vs. Warhorse

Feeling out process to start with Alexander breaking up an early headlock. It’s way too early for Alexander’s C4 Spike as he gets tossed outside for a double stomp to the back. They head back inside with Alexander hitting a rolling Death Valley Driver but Warhorse chops away in the corner. For some reason Warhorse turns his back on him though and Alexander gets in a leg dive to the mat so cranking can ensue.

Back up and they slug it out until Alexander rams him head first into the buckle. This has no effect on Warhorse for Warhorse reasons so it’s a flying forearm to drop Alexander. A flying forearm lets Warhorse go up top but Alexander rolls away before anything can launch. Warhorse takes him down by the legs though and the Sharpshooter goes on, sending Alexander straight to the ropes.

They head to the apron and slug it out with Alexander hitting a World’s Strongest Slam. Warhorse is right back up with a heck of a suicide dive, which shouldn’t be much of a surprise in his case. Back in and Alexander pulls him out of the air for an ankle lock, sending Warhorse over to the ropes. Alexander gets caught in the corner for an Alberto double stomp and a near fall. A top rope superplex drops Warhorse but he pops back up with a spinning kick to the face. Back up and Alexander hits him in the back of the head with a forearm, setting up the C4 Spike for the pin at 16:01.

Rating: B. Some of the no selling here was ridiculous but it was one of those matches where it was about giving us a cool pairing and letting Alexander continue to shine. He is one of the better stars outside of WWE and AEW at the moment and it is always cool to see him. Warhorse is a ball of energy so it is fun to see him as well, meaning this was a pretty nice pairing.

Crown Of Glory Title: Mike Outlaw vs. Brian Keith

Outlaw is defending the promotion’s top title. Feeling out process to start with Keith grabbing a headlock takeover, which is broken up for a bit of a frustrated standoff. Back up and Outlaw gets two off a rollup but gets kicked in the face to put him in trouble for the first time. Keith kicks him down again and starts stomping away in the corner as the control is on. Outlaw loses a chop off and Keith grabs a chinlock to keep him down.

Outlaw fights up and grabs a suplex for two, only to get caught in the chinlock again. That’s broken up again as well so Keith hits a fireman’s carry backbreaker for two. A tiger driver gets the same but Outlaw fights his way off the top. Outlaw, still on top, lifts Keith up (off the mat) for a swinging superplex into a release suplex for a heck of a sequence but only a near fall.

Keith gets dragon screw leg whipped and Outlaw slaps on a half crab, with Keith bailing over to the rope. They slug it out again until Outlaw grabs a Stunner, with Keith hitting a quick enziguri. Outlaw goes for the leg again but Keith powers up, only to get caught in a rollup to retain the title at 14:34.

Rating: B-. Not exactly a great match here but they did well enough and it felt like a title match. I’ve seen a bit of Keith before and he was good enough to make me think the title might be in jeopardy. I didn’t get much out of Outlaw, but he had a nice look and worked well, making him seem like someone who could be a top star in a smaller promotion like this one.

Respect is shown to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Pretty good show here, though nothing that you need to rush out to see. I’ve only heard a bit about Glory Pro before and they did well enough. It might not be a great show, but it was a fine way to spend about two hours, especially when it was free on YouTube. I could go for seeing some one of their regular shows, especially some of those Dan The Dad promos. Not too bad at all and that’s always a nice surprise.

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Ric Flair’s Last Match
Date: July 31, 2022
Location: Nashville Fairgrounds, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, David Crockett, Ian Riccaboni

We had to get here eventually and I’m not that happy about it. This is a show that I haven’t really wanted to watch since it was announced and that hasn’t changed since. While I absolutely respect what he did in the ring, I’m not the biggest Flair fan and seeing him do something this risky isn’t something I particularly needed to see. The good thing is that this is a full show and the undercard looks pretty awesome, but it’s all leading to one thing and that has me dreading the show. Let’s get to it.

This is billed as a Jim Crockett Promotions event for old times’ sake.

Pre-Show: Ren Narita vs. Yuya Uemura

They go with the grappling to start and get to a standoff as Crockett seemingly has no idea who either of them are. Tony doesn’t either, but at least he seems more interested. Narita gets the better of a chop off (Crockett: “They wish they could be Ric Flair.”) and kicks him in the back a few times, only to run into a dropkick.

A running clothesline in the corner sets up a running bulldog out of the corner before starting in on the arm. Something close to Antonio Inoki’s cobra twist has Narita in trouble but he comes back with a German suplex for two. Back up and they slug it out until Narita counters a charge into a belly to belly suplex with a bridge for the pin at 5:58.

Rating: C. This isn’t designed to be a great match or anything close to it but they were able to go out there and do their moves until one of them got the pin. That isn’t a bad thing and it works very well for a spot like this. Good enough match here as Narita and Uemura continue to showcase themselves well and grow in front of your eyes.

Bunkhouse Battle Royal

Sinn Bodhi, James Storm, Bully Ray, Mance Warner, 1 Called Manders, Gringo Loco, Kommander, Joey Janela, Kal Herro, Big Damo, Blake Christian, Crimson, Jordan Oliver, Rickey Shane Page, Wolfie D, Effy, Matthew Justice, Crowbar

It’s a brawl to start (of course) but after about a minute, here is Nick Gage to lead a GCW invasion, as he promised last night at a GCW show. Storm hits Herro with the Eye of the Storm and tosses him out and there goes Damo as well. Some double teaming takes Crimson out and Loco moonsaults out onto Damo to eliminate himself. Kommander runs the top rope and eliminates himself as well and Janela tosses Wolfie D.

Bodhi whips out a spare ring rope for some choking but gets kicked out. Effy crotches Crowbar on top and plays D-Von in an old What’s Up. The Ray tosses him, as well as Justice, Manders and Oliver in a roll. We’re down to Warner, Ray, Storm and Janela, with the latter two being knocked out. Ray drops Warner and loads up a table, with Warner being powerbombed through. Then Warner tosses him to win at 11:23.

Rating: D+. You’re only going to be able to get so much out of this as it was a pretty fast battle royal with an invasion angle going on in the middle. Warner winning is fine, and it was nice to see them go that route instead of the expected way with Storm or Ray. Not much to see here, but you know what you’re getting with a battle royal.

Warner wins a cowboy boot and belt buckle because of course he does.

Bob Caudle (92 years old on Tuesday) welcomes us to the show and sends us to ringside.

Motor City Machine Guns vs. American Wolves

Scott D’Amore is on commentary and Chris Sabin works on Davey Richards’ wrist to start. Richards spins out and kicks the arm for the break, only to get armdragged into the corner. Edwards comes in but Shelley tags himself in and slaps on a sleeper. The Guns start taking over in the corner with the alternating kicks but Richards comes back in for a cheap shot. Some alternating kicks put Shelley down and commentary starts making Rock N Roll Express vs. Midnight Express comparisons.

Richards puts Shelley down and gets a running start to kick Sabin off the apron. The Wolves grab stereo submissions but Sabin Edwards away and into the other two for the double break. Richards dragon screw legwhips Shelley’s knee onto the ropes but misses a top rope double stomp. Shelley takes both Wolves down at once and the hot tag brings in Sabin to clean house.

The missile dropkick/Downward Spiral combination drops Richards for two but Edwards is back in with a superkick. Edwards’ backpack Stunner sets up the top rope double stomp with Sabin having to make a save. Sabin cutters Edwards and it’s the Dream Sequence for Richards. Skull and Crossbones finishes Edwards at 10:49.

Rating: B-. This was the kind of hot opening match you want to have and it worked well. These teams are going to have a solid match against each other through talent alone and that was on display here. The Guns are one of the best teams of their generation and the Wolves were good if you can handle Richards, making this a fast paced opener, as it was designed to be.

Video on some great moments of Jim Crockett Promotions.

Various wrestlers are here, including Vickie Guerrero, Santino Marella, Al Snow and Mick Foley.

Killer Kross vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.

This is an MLW showcase. Scarlett Bordeaux is here with Kross, who has hair for a weird look. Smith drives him into the corner for a clean break to start so Kross takes it to the mat. The headscissors is escaped with a nip up and Smith cranks on the arm. The hammerlock goes on and we go to a wide shot for no apparent reason. They trade belly to back suplexes before a slugout goes to Smith. Back up and Kross pulls him into the Krossjacket but Smith flips back to escape. A t-bone suplex drops Bulldog again and it’s the Quickening (running forearm to the back of the head) to finish for Kross at 5:25.

Rating: C. They kept this one quick but the only thing that mattered was the belly to back suplexes. Smith is someone who should have all of the tools to be a top star but the lack of charisma hurts him a good bit. Then you have Kross, who feels like a killer (appropriately enough) and just isn’t that great in the ring. Mix those two together and you have something, but for now it’s two people missing something important.

More legends (Booker T., Shawn Michaels), plus Will Sasso, talk about what Ric Flair means.

Jonathan Gresham vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Alan Angels vs. Nick Wayne

The winner gets a future Progress World Title shot and I’ve never actually seen Wayne. He gets A LOT of praise though but I’ve never seen a match. Ian Riccaboni joins commentary to spruce things up a bit. Gresham seems a bit more enthusiastic here than he did at Death Before Dishonor. Angels and Gresham start things off but Gresham is sent outside and since lucha rules (because of course it is), Wayne comes in and sends Angels outside. Takeshita comes in with a running clothesline to put Wayne on the floor but it’s too early for the dive.

Gresham is back in to kick Takeshita down but Angels takes Takeshita’s place. Back in and Takeshita forearms Angels down before blasting him with a clothesline. Wayne grabs a Code Red for two on Angels but has to flip out of Takeshita’s German suplex. The Blue Thunder Bomb drops Wayne for two and everything breaks down. Angels and Wayne moonsault off the top and out to the floor for the big crash. Back in and Gresham drops Takeshita and Wayne, setting up the suicide dive to Angels. Gresham takes Angels back in and, after shrugging off the cradle attempt, tied Angels up for the rollup pin at 5:38.

Rating: C+. This was a fast paced match with so much crammed in that it felt like it could have been twice that long. Gresham is the most successful star here and him going on to the title match makes sense, though Wayne was looking smooth while he was in there. Takeshita was good as usual, with Angels continuing to be fast but small, which leaves him as just kind of a person.

Cody Rhodes sends in a video talking about how great he and his dad both think Flair is.

Rock N Roll Express vs. Brian Pillman Jr./Brock Anderson

That would be Ricky and Kerry Morton with Robert Gibson in their corner to counter Arn Anderson. Pillman and Brock have the 1990s Horsemen shirts to make things extra awesome. Nick Aldis joins commentary as the revolving door continues. I’m not sure if the bell rang but Pillman and Kerry start things off with Pillman taking him down without much trouble. They trade wristlock reversals until Kerry kicks him in the face to take over.

Pillman gets caught between the Mortons and pingponged back and forth with right hands. Brock comes in and wants Ricky, who kicks him into the corner and hammers away. It’s back to Kerry for the double dropkick but Brock takes Kerry into the corner for the tag off to Pillman. Kerry manages to send Brock into Pillman in the corner for a breather and the hot tag brings in Ricky. Everything breaks down and a Pillman cheap shot sends Ricky into a gordbuster to give Brock the pin at 7:39.

Rating: C. I get what they were going for here and the Express vs. Horsemen theme was a good idea, but Ricky and Kerry doesn’t have the same ring as Ricky and Robert. Pillman is someone else who seems to have a bunch of the tools but it hasn’t quite clicked yet. The match was another case where it wasn’t bad, but nothing I’ll remember in about five minutes.

JJ Dillon is here.

Bandido vs. Black Taurus vs. Laredo Kid vs. Rey Fenix

It’s a brawl to start with Taurus clearing the ring early on. Fenix and Kid are left alone with Kid shrugging off a chop and hitting a tornado DDT. A tiger driver plants Fenix but Kid misses a dive. Taurus comes back in and gets kicked in the face in the corner. Bandido is back in as well and gets caught with a rolling cutter from Fenix. Bandido sends Fenix outside and hits the one armed gorilla press on Kid.

There’s the running headscissors on Taurus but Kid knocks Bandido outside. Taurus dives onto everyone at ringside and then beats them up back inside as well. Bandido catches Taurus up top but he’s fine enough to super gorilla press Kid back down. Everyone is staggered and Taurus is sent outside, where Bandido nearly breaks his neck on a dive but manages to turn it into a Destroyer on the floor.

Bandido takes Kid up top for a super backflip fall away slam down onto Taurus and Fenix and everyone is down on the floor again. Back in and Taurus plants Bandido but Fenix makes the save with a top rope double stomp. Fenix’s Samoan driver finishes Taurus at 11:50.

Rating: B. When you put these four on the card, you do it so they can have a match like this. They had a very entertaining match with all kinds of high spots and fast paced action, which is all you would have needed here. It’s not about making sense or having any logic behind it, but rather about popping the crowd every chance they can. As usual, it worked.

Jim Ross wishes Flair well and thanks him for everything.

We recap Impact Wrestling World Champion Josh Alexander defending against Jacob Fatu. This is the match that got my attention more than anything else so this should be a heck of a fight.

Impact Wrestling World Title: Josh Alexander vs. Jacob Fatu

Alexander is defending and Fatu is part of the Anoa’i family with the nickname of the Samoan Werewolf. Tom Hannifan joins commentary this time around. Fatu charges at him to start and Alexander hammers away in the corner. Back up and Fatu uppercuts his way out of trouble, only to get elbowed in the face. Alexander starts cranking on the ankle but Fatu, who is built like Umaga, is back up with a running hurricanrana.

Fatu goes up but gets superplexed right back down. That doesn’t slow Fatu down, as he runs the corner and hits the Whisper In The Wind into a handspring moonsault, because he can do that. The running hip attack misses in the corner though and Alexander is back to the ankle. A powerbomb onto the knee gets two on Fatu, who is sent out to the apron.

Fatu’s slingshot is broken up and the running crossbody to the back puts him on the floor. Fatu is fine enough to run Alexander over and the top rope moonsault gets two back inside. Alexander manages to roll some German suplexes, only to walk into a pop up Samoan drop. Then Mark Sterling and the Major Players run in to jump them both for the DQ at 10:30.

Rating: B. Yeah this worked and the ending was about all they could have done. You don’t want one of the top stars of either promotion losing so doing the run-in is as logical as it gets. I could still go for Fatu to get a spot on a major roster at some point in the future because he is one of those freak athletes you do not find very often. Alexander continues to be one of the best stars going today and having him as the centerpiece of Impact is a great idea. Good match here and I expected nothing less.

Post match the beatdown is on but Diamond Dallas Page of all people runs in and Diamond Cutters Matt Cardona for the save.

An attempt at an interview with Jeff Jarrett finds his father Jerry Jarrett….and Jerry Lawler too. Lawler helped train Jeff so he’s ready to see Flair lose in his last match. Flair stole the strut from Jackie Fargo and ran out of Memphis the first time he faced Lawler, so it’s time to get rid of him for good. Lawler can still cut a fine enough heel promo.

Briscoes vs. Von Erichs

That would be Marshall and Ross Von Erich, Kevin’s sons. Ian Riccaboni is back on commentary as Mark takes Ross down to start. Marshall comes in to slam Mark but it’s off to Jay for a running clothesline. The Briscoes take over on Ross in the corner and the Von Erichs are sent outside for a big dive from Jay.

Back in and Jay hammers on Ross but a shot from Marshall puts the Briscoes in trouble for a change. That doesn’t last long as Jay gets over for the tag off to Mark and house is cleaned in a hurry. A shotgun dropkick sends Marshall into the corner as everything breaks down. Redneck Boogie is broken up and Marshall’s claw slam only gets two. Jay’s neckbreaker sets up the Froggy Bow to finish Marshall at 7:48.

Rating: C+. I haven’t seen the Von Erichs in a bit and they have gotten a bit better since then. It’s nice to see them looking more polished in the ring, which comes with experience. That being said, the Briscoes are one of the best teams of this generation and there is no shame in losing to a team that good. Nice enough match here, but the Von Erichs were overmatched.

Sting is grateful for Ric Flair.

We recap Jordynne Grace defending the Impact Knockouts Title against Rachael Ellering and Deonna Purrazzo. Not much of a story here but we need a women’s match on the show.

Impact Wrestling Knockouts Title: Jordynne Grace vs. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Rachael Ellering

Grace is defending. They trade the rapid fire rollups to start with no one being able to get anywhere. Purrazzo is sent outside so Grace and Ellering shake hands before starting up as well. Grace sends her into the corner and hits the running knees to the back, with Ellering seems to have hurt her ankle. Purrazzo is back up and sent right back to the floor, leaving Ellering to hit an STO into a middle rope spinning legdrop for two on Grace.

Back in and Purrazzo can’t get the Queen’s Gambit on Grace so Ellering comes in to beat on both of them. Grace spinebusters Ellering, who gets caught in a Fujiwara armbar from Purrazzo. With that being a problem, Grace grabs a choke on Purrazzo for the break. Back up and the Grace Driver plants Purrazzo and a rear naked choke makes Ellering tap to retain Grace’s title at 9:11.

Rating: C+. Another match that was fairly fast paced but without a ton of drama for the main event. Grace is a heck of a powerhouse and a good champion while Purrazzo has been the star of the division for a good chunk of the year. That left Ellering there to take the fall and it came at the end of a perfectly decent match.

We recap the main event, which is Ric Flair having his last match because he wanted to do it one more time. Then Jay Lethal no showed a podcast so Flair ripped into him, despite the two of them being friends. Jeff Jarrett wasn’t pleased so he and Lethal beat Flair down, drawing blood, because of course they did. Flair got Andrade El Idolo, his son-in-law, and the tag match is set. If this sounds not so great, it’s because it isn’t.

Undertaker and Michelle McCool are sitting next to Mick Foley.

Ric Flair/Andrade El Idolo vs. Jay Lethal/Jeff Jarrett

Karen Jarrett is here with Jeff and Jay. Jeff even shoves Conrad Thompson during his entrance so you know it’s serious. Flair, wearing the Big Gold Belt (looks to be the original too), uses the WWE version of his theme with the WOO to start. Kid Rock is at ringside (because of course he is) and Flair is wrestling in a sleeveless shirt, which is probably best for everyone at the moment. Flair and Jarrett start things off but it’s off to Lethal before anything big happens.

Lethal takes him down without much trouble and we’re at an early standoff. A headlock takeover takes Lethal over but he’s back up for an exchange of slaps in the corner. Lethal wants Andrade, who springboards in, making this a pretty run of the mill match instead of what we’re here to see. Some elbows to the face put Andrade in trouble but he’s fine enough to hiptoss Jarrett.

Flair comes in so Jarrett bails before hitting that strut. An Irish whip is blocked and Flair does his own strut, plus a crotch chop for fun. Flair chops away and kicks an interfering Lethal low, which is enough to send Jarrett up the aisle for a breather. Back in and Andrade gets in some kicks to Lethal’s ribs, allowing Flair to choke away in the corner. Some chops put Lethal down and Andrade comes back in, only to get taken down as well.

Now Jarrett can come in to stomp away, setting up another strut. Lethal’s Black Machismo (a name that has Crockett VERY confused) ax handle gets two on Andrade and the basement dropkick gets the same. Andrade counters a belly to back suplex from Jarrett but they bump heads for a double knockdown. The tag brings in Flair, who gets a Figure Four on Lethal but Jeff makes the save.

Karen slips in a high heel to bust Flair open, meaning Megan Flair (Ric’s daughter/Conrad’s wife) goes after her for the catfight over the barricade. Flair pokes Lethal in the eye to escape but gets taken back inside, where you can see him being VERY blown up. Lethal hits a suplex with Andrade having to make a save, leaving Lethal to hammer away even more. Hail To The King misses though and the tag brings in Andrade to clean house. A middle rope DDT gets two on Jarrett and Lethal superkicks Jarrett by mistake.

Andrade poisonranas Lethal and the ref is bumped, which is all this match needed. Flair tags in, despite laying on the apron at the time. Flair literally crawls over to Lethal for a cover but there’s no referee, so Jarrett brings in the guitar. That hits Lethal by mistake (duh) so Conrad throws Andrade some brass knuckles. Flair uses them on Jarrett and the Figure Four goes on. Cue another referee so Flair can pin the unconscious Jarrett (in the Figure Four) at 26:48.

Rating: D+. That’s about as generous as I can go as this was one of the hardest things I’ve sat through in a good while. Flair looked every bit of 73 years old out there and that was one of the worst possible outcomes. Seeing him laying on the apron and barely able to move was sad and the match was overbooked beyond belief in ways it didn’t need to be. If this is a ten minute match and they keep things as quick as they can go, it could have worked, but trying for some epic deal was a horrible idea.

The other problem is who was in there with him. I know there is a history/connection with most of them, but you would have go to pretty far down the list of Flair’s history to find Lethal and Jarrett. It comes off more like “here’s the best we can get to say yes” rather than someone special. The other problem is that needing them to be in the ring so long so Flair can recover left us with an only so interesting handicap match.

All in all, this is about what you had to expect: Flair talking up the match rather well and not being able to deliver in the ring. It was a passable match with the other guys in there, but this was all about Flair and at the end of the day, he wasn’t able to make it work. Cut this down to about 10-15 minutes and it could have worked, but it felt like Flair was dragged through this rather than going out on a happy note.

Post match Flair goes to ringside to thank some legends (Undertaker, Foley and Bret Hart, who are sitting together) before talking to Tony Schiavone. Flair talks about how he can’t believe how great this was and he’s in one of the best wrestling towns in the world. Then Kid Rock told him he was here to be entertained, just in case Flair didn’t have enough pressure on him. They’re hitting the town tonight, which isn’t quite how I was expecting such a speech to go.

Andrade hands Flair the Big Gold Belt and Flair hugs Lethal to end the show.

We get some credits, including a montage of Flair photos and Bob Caudle giving us the signoff (as he did back in the day).

Overall Rating: B-. This is a weird one as the main event is awful but that’s the only thing on the show that matters. I’ve heard this compared to a big boxing pay per view where no one watches anything but the last fight and that makes a lot of sense. The rest of the show was quite good and works as a heck of an indy show, but the main event didn’t work and dragged everything else down.

The other problem is the feeling of the show, as it might have been nice to have one more match, but it felt forced in a way. It’s like Flair decided it was time to praise him again and everyone had to line up with their nice things to say. The problem is they did that fourteen years ago on a bigger stage and after a better match. It didn’t feel fun or special, but rather “ok, he got what he wanted so let’s try to have a good time”. The Flair stuff was sad, and as good as the rest was, that’s all that mattered.

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Impact Wrestling
Date: July 28, 2022
Location: Old Forester’s Paristown Hall, Louisville, Kentucky
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

We are on the way to Emergence and now we have a main event set. This time it is going to be Alex Shelley getting his shot at Josh Alexander and the World Title, but odds are we are going to have more Violent By Design interference on the way there. Kushida is here too and that should help. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Alex Shelley becoming #1 contender but getting beaten down by Violent By Design, with Kushida running in for the save.

Eddie Edwards vs Ace Austin

Kenny King and Chris Bey are here too. Austin teases him with the posing to start so Edwards unloads on him in the corner. That earns Eddie a takedown and a playing card cut between the fingers in a spot Austin hasn’t used in a bit. King offers a distraction though and Edwards runs Austin over, setting up the choking on the ropes.

Austin is sat on top for some chops but comes back with a series of strikes. Back up and Austin sends him outside, setting up the big running flip dive. A springboard spinning Fameasser gives Austin two but Edwards’ Backpack Stunner gets the same. King and Bey get in a fight on the floor, meaning it’s a double ejection as Edwards and Austin knock each other down.

We take a break and come back with Edwards striking away before cutting Austin off with a clothesline. Austin gets back up with a springboard spinning kick to the head for two but the Fold is countered into a quick butterfly powerbomb. The Die Hard Driver finishes Austin at 15:34.

Rating: B-. This is the kind of match where you put two talented stars together and have them put on a good match. It works every time and that is what they did here, as Honor No More gets a victory for a change. Austin and Bey are in the Bullet Club to take the losses so this was a logical use of TV time.

Here’s what’s coming at Emergence and tonight.

Heath is ready to keep on Honor No More, like he did to Vincent on Before The Impact. I’m not sure hitting one finisher is taking them out but it’s better than nothing.

We look at Raj Singh and Shera cutting off Josh Alexander from making a save for the Motor City Machine Guns last week.

Alexander is ready for Shera tonight. Alex Shelley comes in to say being big and strong doesn’t make the best wrestler, so Alexander has to face the smartest wrestler around.

Laredo Kid/Trey Miguel vs. Johnny Swinger/Zicky Dice

Swinger seems to think Kid is Bob Seeger and fails to jump him to start. Dice comes in and is rather happy at dodging a charge, only to get double dropkicked out to the floor. That means it’s time to put on the dungeon masks, only to have Miguel take Swinger out with a dive. Dice drops Miguel to take over but a handspring kick to the face gets Miguel out of trouble. The hot tag brings in Kid for a high crossbody, setting up a quick frog splash to finish Dice at 4:00.

Rating: C. I know they’re nothing that matters but my goodness Dice and Swinger can be funny. Impact knows what they have with the two of them and they have some of the most entertaining moments on the show. Kid and Miguel aren’t much of a team but having them beat up the resident goofs isn’t a bad thing.

On Before The Impact, a fake Heath distraction helped Bhupinder Gujjar beat Vincent.

Brian Myers still doesn’t want to face Bhupinder Gujjar but Decay comes in to say Black Taurus will get the Digital Media Title shot instead.

Tiffany Nieves vs. Jada Stone

This is an OVW showcase match with Tasha Steelz, with Savannah Evans, on commentary. Nieves takes her down to start as Steelz rants about not being Knockouts Champion. Some kicks send Nieves into the corner but she misses a Cannonball. A rollup, with a grab of the rope, gives Nieves the pin at 2:06.

Post match Killer Kelly comes out to wreck Nieves and Stone, which doesn’t have Steelz very impressed.

Eric Young doesn’t want Deaner’s excuses for failing last week. First up it’s the Motor City Machine Guns and then Kushida.

Video on Alex Shelley becoming #1 contender for the first time, including a surprise video from Johnny Gargano, who praises Shelley as well.

Josh Alexander vs. Shera

Non-title and Raj Singh is here with Shera. Alexander gets blocked by the power to start but hits three straight clotheslines to knock Shera over the top. Shera wins the quick brawl on the floor and sends Alexander back inside, where Alexander hits the running crossbody to the back. Singh offers a distraction but Alexander is fine enough to ankle lock Shera for the tap at 3:15.

Rating: C. They didn’t have time to get anywhere here but my goodness it’s nice to stop pretending that Shera is going to be some big deal. This version of him is a lot easier to take than the dancing schmuck of years past but now he’s just a big guy who loses important matches. Alexander is always worth a look though and that’s part of how the champion should feel.

Moose says there is no alliance between himself and Steve Maclin. If anyone should be mad at Maclin, it’s him, who didn’t need help to beat Sami Callihan.

Honor No More wants to know what Scott D’Amore is going to do for them and want their Tag Team Title shot. Noise is heard though and Mike Bennett is gone.

VXT is preparing for Deonna Purrazzo’s bachelorette party when Jessika comes in to invite herself. She’s quite the life of the party but Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie come in to say that’s not happening.

Raj Singh is in the ring to complain about what happened to Shera. Cue Sami Callihan with the Cactus Driver 97 to drop Singh. Callihan says he’s going to take care of Steve Maclin and Moose on his own.

Ric Flair Flashback Moment of the Week: Flair forms Fourtune but Jay Lethal interrupts with his amazing impression.

Mia Yim is ready for Jordynne Grace but the video signal breaks up.

Commentary talks but the video signal breaks up.

Scott D’Amore finds Honor No More messing with the TV truck and is sick of this. They want their title shot so at Emergence, it’s five on five. If Honor No More wins, they get the Tag Team Titles but if they lose, they disband (with D’Amore bringing up Jim Cornette forcing Team Canada to do the same back in the day).

Rich Swann vs. Kushida

Kushida is billed as the Timesplitter and this is a first time ever match. Respect is shown before the bell as Kushida takes him down by the leg to start. Kushida takes him down again, which sets up a standoff. Back up and they run the ropes with neither getting very far, setting up stereo missed dropkicks. Kushida works on a wristlock and sends Swann outside for some posing as we take a break.

We come back with Kushida working on the arm but Swann knocks him into the corner. A running basement dropkick puts Kushida on the floor on the floor and Swann kicks him in the head back inside. The chinlock goes on for a bit but Kushida is back up for stereo crossbodies. The comeback is on for Kushida, including a running armbar takedown out of the corner.

Kushida gets the cross armbreaker but Swann gets his foot on the ropes pretty quickly. They strike it out with Kushida going for the arm but getting knocked down anyway. There’s a neckbreaker to drop Kushida again, only to have Swann miss the Phoenix splash. Kushida takes him down by the arm again but Swann snaps off a super hurricanrana. Swann goes up but gets pulled down into the Hoverboard Lock for the tap at 19:04.

Rating: B. Kushida is my favorite New Japan wrestler so it’s nice to see him on a show like this. Swann can go with anyone and beating him still means something so this was a great way to make Kushida seem like a big deal out of the gate. I’m curious to see what he is going to do and this is already a bit more than he ever did in NXT, so there is some hope to be had.

Overall Rating: B. Impact’s roll continues and I can certainly take that. The good thing here is that they are setting things up and making me want to see them, with Alex Shelley making more than a better fit in the main event than Violent By Design. Other than that, Honor No More’s issues continue to grow and we are getting a resurgence of Sami Callihan for a bit of fresh blood. I’m starting to look forward to seeing this show every week and that is not something I have not expected to say for a long time now.

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Impact Wrestling
Date: July 21, 2022
Location: Old Forester’s Paristown Hall, Louisville, Kentucky
Commentators: Matthew Rehwoldt, Tom Hannifan

We’re on a fresh taping cycle and on the way to the next special. That means we need a new #1 contender and thank goodness that means someone outside of Violent By Design. The main event of this week’s show is Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin for a shot at Josh Alexander and the World Title. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The opening video looks at the history of the Motor City Machine Guns, both together and against each other. They’re both ready for the chance to be #1 contender.

Opening sequence.

VXT vs. Mia Yim/Jordynne Grace

VXT is Deonna Purrazzo/Chelsea Green, who were absolutely needing a team name. Grace and Purrazzo start things off with Purrazzo taking her to the mat but getting reversed into a headscissors for a standoff. Back up and Grace runs her over with a shoulder before sending Purrazzo into the top turnbuckle over and over. Yim comes in for some rollups to Purrazzo and armdrags to Green.

It’s already back to Grace but everything breaks down, with Purrazzo offering a distraction so Green can take over on Grace. Some rams into the corner get Grace out of trouble and the hot tag brings Yim in to clean house. Grace has to save Yim from a double suplex and there’s the big dive to drop VXT on the floor. Back in and Purrazzo Downward Spirals Yim to set up Green’s Stomp for two but Yim grabs a double Stunner. There is no Grace though and VXT hits a kind of double suplex for the pin on Yim at 9:12.

Rating: C. You have to establish the new team with a win here and they did just that by having them pin the #1 contender. Granted this might be more about issues between Grace and Yim, which is a story that needs to be told as well. Nice job on the two birds with one stone shot, and the match wasn’t half bad either.

Post match Yim isn’t pleased with Grace. Good thing they have a title match coming up in a few weeks.

Honor No More wants the Tag Team Titles and aren’t surprised that Impact keeps moving the goalposts on them. They’ll take out Heath instead, because he keeps attacking them one at a time. Eddie Edwards wants to know where PCO was when Heath was attacking Vincent last week. There is no more room for mistakes.

Here’s what is coming tonight.

X-Division Title: Deaner vs. Mike Bailey

Deaner is challenging and has Joe Doering with him. Bailey unloads on Deaner in the corner and kicks him in the chest for a knockdown. The Ultimate Weapon misses but Bailey is right back with a Boston crab instead. Deaner gets out and bails to the apron, only to get kicked in the face. Bailey gets caught in the ring skirt though and Doering runs him over with a shoulder as we take a break.

Back with Deaner sending him into the corner, setting up the running dropkick to the back of the trunks. Bailey fires off the rapid kicks to set up the running corkscrew shooting star press for two. Something like a powerbomb plants Bailey for two more and it’s time to chop it out. Bailey gets the better of things and kicks him in the chest and then the head, only to miss the moonsault knees onto the apron. Deaner’s running flip neckbreaker in the ropes takes Bailey down but he slides back in for a heck of a moonsault to drop Deaner on the floor. Back in and the Ultimate Weapon retains Bailey’s title at 12:24.

Rating: C+. Another pretty solid defense for Bailey, but I still can’t get into him with that cheesy grin and bow. You can tell that he’s being presented as a star though and that is more than a lot of the champions. I’m not sure who is going to take the title from him, but giving him a weekly match where he gets to show off a bit is not a bad idea.

Ric Flair Flashback Moment of the Week: Sting beats Ric Flair on Impact in 2021.

VXT wants in the Knockouts Title match so Gail Kim gives them just that: a Knockouts Tag Team Title match.

Eric Young confirms Violent By Design’s loyalties to him and tells them to eliminate the sickness.

Madison Rayne vs. Masha Slamovich

Gisele Shaw is here with Rayne. Slamovich rips the face mask off of Rayne and throws her down, setting up the Snowplow for the pin at 1:14. Total squash, again.

Post match Slamovich gives Shaw an envelope, with a picture of herself covered in what looks like blood.

Bhupinder Gujjar still wants a Digital Media Title shot against Brian Myers. That works for Myers, but apparently Vincent has been talking trash about Gujjar so they can fight each other instead.

Killer Kelly says she is always watching you. A man comes up and Kelly says no one knows when to shut the F up.

Bullet Club vs. Honor No More

That would be Ace Austin/Chris Bey vs. Matt Taven/Mike Bennett with Maria Kanellis. Taven and Austin start things off and fight over wrist control until Taven takes him down into a chinlock. That earns Taven a kick to the head and a legdrop, only to have him come back with a dropkick. Bey and Bennett come in to chop it off until Bey snaps off a dropkick for two.

Taven comes back in off a blind tag though and a middle rope dropkick takes Bey down. It’s back to Austin to kick people in the head before sending Taven outside for a shot from the apron. Taven is thrown inside, leaving Bennett to kick Austin down and take over again. The Purple Thunder Bomb gets two back inside and Bennett grabs the chinlock. Austin fights up and avoids a charge in the corner, allowing the hot tag off to Bey to clean house.

A torture rack neckbreaker gets two on Bennett as everything breaks down. Austin gets sent outside and Bennett brainbusters Bey, only to miss Aurora Boreallis. Maria gets on the apron for a distraction so Austin pulls her down, with the distraction letting Bennett get in a low blow to Bey. Cue Heath with a Wake Up Call to Taven though and Austin runs in with the Fold for the pin at 10:32.

Rating: C+. I’m not sure what there is to say about a match like this, as it is all over the place near the ending until one of them gets a pin. The Heath deal was a fine enough way to go and follows the story that they have been telling in recent weeks. Other than that, Honor No More loses again, which is almost a trend for them lately.

Steve Maclin isn’t worried about Sami Callihan but the lights go out and Callihan attacks him. Cue Moose to help with the beatdown but Callihan turns the lights out again and disappears. Sami actually having a device to turn the lights off makes this at least a bit more plausible than the normal light powers.

Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie can’t get Jessica to put the Havok mask on but she’s not down for it. Jessica has an idea and leaves, with Rosemary freaking out over her not being herself. Taya thinks it’s cute, which has Rosemary contemplating violence.

Josh Alexander is ready for Chris Sabin or Alex Shelley, but he knows there are a lot of people waiting on him after Emergence. This includes Rich Swann, who pops in and asks for a title match. That’s currently taken, so Swann gets the debuting Kushida next week in what might be a #1 contenders match but D’Amore isn’t quite clear.

Here’s what’s coming on future shows.

Chris Sabin vs. Alex Shelley

The winner gets the World Title shot at Emergence and somehow this is Shelley’s first ever #1 contenders match. They shake hands and hug to start because this is all about competition. It’s a technical off (as you might have expected) to start with Sabin’s rollup giving us a standoff. Sabin spins around him into an armdrag before another cradle gets two. Shelley needs a breather on the floor as Josh Alexander is watching backstage.

Another rollup gives Shelley two for a change and we take a break. Back with Sabin grabbing a neckbreaker and another one gets two. The neck crank goes on to keep Shelley in trouble and the chinlock goes on. Another neckbreaker gets another two as Sabin certainly has a target. Back up and Shelley takes the knee out and we go to another break.

We come back again with Shelley tying up the legs before working on the arm for a change. Shelley ties Sabin up so much that Sabin is hooking his own leg (that’s a new one) before going with a more basic leg crank. Sabin slips out and grabs a DDT for a needed breather to go back to the neck. A tornado DDT gives Sabin two more but Cradle Shock is countered.

Shelley kicks him in the knee and drives said knee into the mat to cut him down again. A belly to back sets up the Border City Stretch, with Sabin having to go to the ropes. Sabin is back up with a jumping enziguri and another kick drops Shelley for a double knockdown. The Clothesline From Hell, Michigan misses so they trade superkicks. Now the Clothesline can connect but the Cradle Shock is blocked again. Shelley hits Sliced Bread for two and Shell Shock is good for the same. The Border City Stretch goes on and Sabin taps at 24:13.

Rating: B. Yeah this worked, as it’s nice to have the kind of chess match that you get from people who know each other so well. You can have all of the flips and dives that you want, but this was more about the technical side of things as the two of them tried to pick the other apart until one couldn’t hang on. Shelley winning is an interesting way to go, but it isn’t like there was a bad choice from the pair.

Post match Sabin raises Shelley’s hand but Violent By Design runs in for the beatdown. Kushida comes out for the save and checks on the Guns to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Pretty solid show here as they set things up for the future and did enough to make me want to stick around next week. Kushida debuting at the end was nice, though MY GOODNESS ENOUGH WITH VIOLENT BY DESIGN. They’re the weakest part of the show by a good while and there is nothing to suggest that they are going away anytime soon, which is hurting some of the good will Impact has had going for it lately. Fix that and Impact is one of the better weekly shows going, but there are still some holes to fix.

Results
VXT b. Mia Yim/Jordynne Grace – Double suplex to Yim
Mike Bailey b. Deaner – Ultimate Weapon
Masha Slamovich b. Madison Rayne – Snowplow
Bullet Club b. Honor No More – Fold to Bennett
Alex Shelley b. Chris Sabin – Border City Stretch

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Impact Wrestling
Date: July 14, 2022
Location: Center Stage, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Matthew Rehwoldt, Tom Hannifan

The rather long road to Emergence continues and we are going to need more than a few matches set for the show. There isn’t much announced yet, but at least now we should be able to set something up besides the Knockouts Title match. Josh Alexander certainly needs an opponent so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening recap.

Opening sequence.

Deaner and Joe Doering don’t know where Eric Young is but their six man tag is up right now. Maybe this is Young’s latest test for them! And yes, we really are giving this much focus to what Eric Young thinks.

Josh Alexander/Motor City Machine Guns vs. Violent By Design

It’s a handicap match to start as there is no Eric Young, meaning things are already looking up. Wait hold on as the bell rings and now Young comes out, because he likes teasing us for some reason. Alexander and Deaner start things off with Alexander bringing him over for the tag to Shelley.

The arm work is on, with Sabin coming in to jump onto said arm. Alexander grabs the ankle lock in the corner but Young gets in a cheap shot to take over. Doering puts Alexander in the corner for a running dropkick to the back and the chinlock goes on. Back up and Doering hits a hard running crossbody to send us to a break.

We come back with everything breaking down, including the Guns cleaning house. Sabin and Doering hit stereo crossbodies for a double knockdown, meaning it’s a double tag to bring in Young and Alexander. A northern lights suplex drops Young and the ankle lock goes on, only to be quickly broken. Sabin and Deaner come back in but Young has to yell, allowing the Guns to hit the Dream Sequence. Everything breaks down again and it’s the Motor City Stretch to make Deaner tap at 16:35 (with Young tapping to Alexander’s ankle lock a few seconds later).

Rating: C+. Pretty good six man tag here, though I have absolutely no idea why Violent By Design is still dealing with Alexander. I would really hope that the feud is done after this because there is no reason for the story to keep going. Alexander has beaten all of them in a row, so what in the world is left for them to do? Maybe split up, because Young being out of the main focus would be rather nice.

Post match Sabin and Shelley look at Alexander’s title and seem to like it.

Killer Kelly likes to prepare.

James Storm vs. Steve Maclin

Feeling out process to start until Maclin elbows him in the face. That earns him a hiptoss but the threat of the Last Call sends him bailing to the floor. A shot to the face drops Storm though and we take a break. Back with Maclin hitting an Irish Curse and something like an STO out of the corner gets two. Some rams into the buckle just fire Storm up and the comeback is on, including a running neckbreaker for two.

Maclin catches him on top though and we’re off to the Tree of Woe, with Maclin hitting the running spear. Back up and Storm can’t hit the Eye of the Storm but can drive him into the corner. This time it’s Maclin getting caught on top for a super hurricanrana into a top rope elbow for two, leaving Storm stunned. Closing Time looks to set up the Last Call but Maclin catches the leg and kicks Storm into the turnbuckle (which came exposed somewhere in there). The double arm DDT finishes Storm at 12:15.

Rating: C. The more I see of Maclin, the more I’m wondering just how far he’s going to be pushed. You have to imagine him getting a title shot somewhere, even if it is just headlining a lower level event. That is more than a lot of people get to do and it would be pretty impressive for someone who got here seemingly as a last resort.

Post match the lights go out and it’s Sami Callihan but Maclin is on the ramp to get away.

Ric Flair Flashback Moment Of The Week: Flair interfering in Lethal Lockdown at Lockdown 2010. Believe it or not, he got beaten up by Hulk Hogan and left bleeding.

The Motor City Machine Guns both want the World Title so Scott D’Amore puts them in at #1 contenders match next week. They’re both happy with that.

Chelsea Green vs. Mickie James

Green kisses her to start so Mickie does it right back before punching Green in the face. Mickie unloads in the corner and they go to the mat for some rolling around. After tossing Mickie outside, Green pulls her off the top for a crash. The hurricanrana out of the corner staggers Green though and a running knee to the face gets two.

More shots in the corner rock Green so she comes out with a heck of a big boot for two. They fight up the ramp and then get back inside, where Mickie grabs her neckbreaker. Some clotheslines set up a top rope Thesz press into the Mick Kick, with Green grabbing the rope for the save.

Since getting kicked in the head doesn’t matter much, Green is back up with a Stomp but she gets caught grabbing the skirt on the cover. I’m Prettier is countered into a rollup to give Mickie two more and they trade kicks to the head. Mickie grabs the MickDT but Green rolls her up and puts the feet on the ropes for the pin at 12:47.

Rating: C+. They got this rolling near the end and that was nice to see. What mattered here was having a good fight between two people who have gone from friends to not being able to stand each other. Mickie can absorb anything and it’s nice to see Green getting a win like this, as she has quite the up and down momentum swings.

Rehwoldt: “Green finds herself standing tall!” She’s sitting on the ramp.

Taya Valkyrie is sorry she’s late to go to the Undead Realm but she needed to get the right shirt (it says PURE EVIL). They go to the Undead Realm and Rosemary gets annoyed at having to explain things. Taya wanders off and winds up in a white room, with Rosemary following to find Taya and…..Jessica, who is formerly known as Havoc, but with a much more normal looking face.

Bhupinder Gujjar beat Johnny Swinger on Before The Impact, meaning he should be getting a Digital Media Title shot. Champion Brian Myers doesn’t think so just yet.

Tenille Dashwood vs. Masha Slamovich

The rest of the Influence is here too. Dashwood bails to the apron to start but gets pulled back in for a dragon screw legwhip. The Snow Plow finishes for Slamovich at 1:17 to complete the total squash.

We look at Violent By Design attacking Mike Bailey last week.

Bailey is glad to face Deaner next week.

Mickie James is disappointed and leaves.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Honor No More vs. Bullet Club

Hold on though as Heath jumps Vincent on the stage and hits him with the Wake Up Call. After a break, it’s Eddie Edwards vs. Chris Bey to start with the latter taking over. Ace Austin comes in to stomp Kenny King into the corner before dropkicking Matt Taven down. Everything breaks down early and the Club cleans house without much effort.

We take another break and come back with Taven in more trouble as Karl Anderson whips him hard into the corner. Doc Gallows comes in for those weird punches in the corner and a heck of a clothesline drops Taven. Bey drops a leg for two but makes the mistake of going after the rest of the team, allowing Bennett to get in a cheap shot to take over. It’s back to Edwards for a chinlock before Taven’s Just The Tip gets two.

Bey gets up and makes the tag to Anderson, but, say it with me, the referee doesn’t see it, meaning the beating continues. Some kicks to the face get Bey out of trouble and the hot tag brings in Anderson to clean house. The middle rope neckbreaker drops Taven and everything breaks down again. Maria Kanellis gets in a low blow on Gallows and it’s a series of big shots, setting up Aurora Boreallis to finish for Taven at 15:56.

Rating: C+. Aside from trying to figure out if Kanellis and Boreallis rhyme, I had a good time with the wild style main event. These groups seem like they could be setting up a pretty big blowoff match down the line and that is not a bad thing. Honor No More’s up and down push continues, but the Bullet Club isn’t going to be hurt by losing an eight man tag.

Overall Rating: B-. They kept the show moving this week and are putting things together for the upcoming bigger shows. There are a lot of things that still need to be fixed up (read as ENOUGH VIOLENT BY DESIGN) but what they have so far is working out well enough. Impact is doing well in recent weeks and I can always go for that, as they know how to do things well at times.

Results
Josh Alexander/Motor City Machine Guns b. Violent By Design – Motor City Stretch to Deaner
Steve Maclin b. James Storm – Double arm DDT
Chelsea Green b. Mickie James – Rollup with feet on the ropes
Masha Slamovich b. Tenille Dashwood – Snow Plow
Honor No More b. Bullet Club – Aurora Boreallis to Gallows

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

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Impact Wrestling
Date: June 30, 2022
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Matthew Rehwoldt, Tom Hannifan

We’re a day away from Against All Odds and that means it is time to wrap up the card. I’m not sure if that is going to work out in such a short term build but at least they have some time to get it done. The main event of Josh Alexander defending the World Title against Joe Doering is already set and should work out well enough for a one off. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Honor No More injuring Mark Briscoe last week and taking him out of Against All Odds (and probably out of the company).

America’s Most Wanted and the Good Brothers try to get PCO to jump from Honor No More to…whatever they’re calling themselves. Vincent comes in to say PCO belongs to Honor No More and no one else.

Trey Miguel vs. Steve Maclin vs. Laredo Kid vs. Chris Bey

The winner gets the X-Division Title shot at Against All Odds. Maclin gets double teamed to start and knocked outside, with Kid hitting a big dive to follow him out. That leaves Miguel to avoid a kick to the head and hits a basement dropkick. Kid comes back in for a spinning faceplant on Miguel but it’s Maclin coming back in for an elbow to the face.

Mayhem For All is broken up by Miguel so Maclin and Bey head to the apron. A running hurricanrana sends Maclin out to the floor and Kid hits the big dive, allowing Bey to moonsault onto the other three. Back in and Bey hits a pop up cutter for two on Kid with Miguel making the save. The top rope Meteora finishes Bey to send Miguel to the title match at 6:13.

Rating: C+. I’m running out of ways to say that a match with a bunch of cruiserweight style wrestling experience are going to have an exciting match like this one. Miguel getting the title shot makes sense and should give us a good match when they get the show tomorrw. I double Miguel wins there, but at least he did here.

Raven of all people joins us to talk about the Clockwork Orange House Of Fun match.

Against All Odds rundown, plus what’s coming tonight.

Gisele Shaw vs. Rosemary

Taya Valkyrie is at ringside and the Influence is on commentary. They go with the grappling to start until Rosemary grabs her by the hair and bites her head. Rosemary sends her into the buckle over and over, with Shaw going outside as we take a break. Back with Shaw chopping away in the corner as the Influence talks about Shaw getting a potential internship.

A series of running elbows gets two on Rosemary but Shaw misses a running knee. Rosemary’s exploder suplex drops Shaw for two but she’s back with a springboard cutter (didn’t look great) for two of her own. Back up and Rosemary gets in a shot of her own to set up the spear but everyone gets in a fight on the floor. The distraction lets Shaw knee Rosemary to cut off the spear for the pin at 9:22.

Rating: C. Shaw going to the Influence isn’t that interesting, though I don’t quite think that is where this winds up. Rosemary losing via a distraction/something close to shenanigans isn’t the worst ending, but I’m not sure where this story is heading. That being said, it’s a story involving the Women’s Tag Team Titles and I’ll take that over just random title matches.

Post match the Influence comes in to beat up Rosemary with Shaw’s help. The three of them pose together.

Mickie James isn’t worried about Deonna Purrazzo and/or Chelsea Green. The two of them come up and mock James for only thinking about herself, so James decks both of them.

Rosemary summons James Mitchell and ask about Havok. He has seen her in the darkness a bit, so Rosemary tells him to tell her that it’s ALL HANDS ON DECK.

Savannah Evans vs. Jordynne Grace

Non-title and Tasha Steelz is here with Evans. Grace gets driven into the corner to start for some shoulders to the ribs but runs Evans over to cut that off fast. They fight to the floor where Evans hits a chokeslam onto the apron, followed by some choking back inside. Evans’ full nelson is countered into a bulldog and Grace strikes away, setting up the MuscleBuster for the pin at 3:49.

Rating: C-. Grace didn’t squash her but rather muscled through Steelz’ bodyguard to set up tomorrow’s rematch. I don’t think there is a ton of reason to believe Steelz has a chance at Against All Odds, but maybe it’s a better move to just get the rematch out of the way and move on to someone else for Grace.

Video on Joe Doering, who was very big in Japan.

Josh Alexander is proud of getting to retain the World Title at Slammiversary but now he’s ready for Doering at Against All Odds.

Tag Team Titles: Honor No More vs. Good Brothers

PCO/Vincent are challenging for Honor No More, with the rest of the team and James Storm at ringside too. Anderson takes Vincent into some corners to start so PCO comes in to hammer away. That means it can be back to Vincent for some running forearms in the corner to rock Anderson again.

A middle rope legdrop crushes Anderson again as this is one sided so far. The Deanimator actually connects for once but Vincent’s chinlock doesn’t last long. Gallows comes in off the tag and starts cleaning house but the Magic Killer is broken up. Vincent misses Redrum though and it’s a rollup to give Anderson the pin at 5:19.

Rating: C. The Brothers are pretty good at what they do and Honor No More can be thrown together in almost any combination for a match like this. They didn’t have a ton of time here so they had to pack a lot of things into this one in a hurry. The division needs some more teams, but Honor No More works in a five minute match.

Post match Honor No More beats down the Good Brothers and James Storm but Chris Harris and then Heath, with pipes, come in for the save.

Post break the Good Brothers, Heath and America’s Most Wanted celebrate, but Storm says Harris isn’t wrestling at Against All Odds. Harris says he is and Storm gives in.

Ace Austin vs. Alex Zayne

Chris Bey is here with Austin, who bails to the floor at the bell. Back in and Zayne sends Austin into the corner before headscissoring him back out. A knee to the face drops Austin and we take an early break. Back with Austin working on the arm but Zayne slugs away and hits a clothesline.

The backbreaker into the faceplant drops Austin again but he’s right back with the Miz clothesline in the corner. The springboard kick to the face looks to set up the Fold, which is blocked by Zayne’s jumping knee. Austin bails to the floor so Zayne moonsaults onto both of them. Back in and a Bey distraction cuts Zayne off though, allowing Austin to hit the Fold for the pin at 10:29.

Rating: C+. This was your other X-Division match of the week as Austin gets a boost off a win on the way to….whatever else he is going to be doing. Zayne continues to be a guy who can do all of the flips and such, though he needs to win something if they want these wins over him to matter. He got close here, but that is only going to go so far.

Against All Odds rundown.

Trailer for a movie sponsoring Against All Odds.

Frankie Kazarian vs. Chris Sabin

Alex Shelley is here with Sabin and Kazarian’s wife and son are here. They trade armdrags to start and that means an early standoff. Armdrags and headscissors escapes give us another standoff as they’re even so far. Sabin dropkicks the knee out and we’re already in the Figure Four. The rope is grabbed so Sabin wraps the leg around another rope, only to get kicked away.

Kazarian hits the legdrop over the ropes to take over, setting up a fisherman’s suplex for two. Sabin sends him outside for a slugout, where the Wave of the Future sends Sabin into the post. We take a break and come back with Sabin fighting out of a front facelock and snapping off a DDT for two. Kazarian gets sent outside for a change and it’s Sabin hitting a suicide dive. They trade rollups for two each back inside until Kazarian hits a slingshot DDT for two more.

The Flux Capacitor is blocked so Kazarian settles for a northern lights suplex. Sabin is able to send him outside for a tornado DDT onto the floor, but since it’s modern wrestling, Kazarian is fine enough to grab a slingshot cutter for two back inside. The Cradle Shock give Sabin two so Kazarian takes him up for a superplex and a double knockdown. They slug it out and trade kicks to the face until Sabin hits the Clothesline From Hell, Michigan. The second Cradle Shock finishes Kazarian at 21:16.

Rating: B. That’s your wrestling match of the week and they made it work really well. There were no shenanigans and Sabin won with his finisher. It’s one of the better TV matches you’ll see, which was done with no gimmicks or insanity. That is the kind of thing that is going to work every time and they had a heck of a match here, which shouldn’t be surprising.

Overall Rating: B-. This was more of a wrestling heavy show and that isn’t a bad thing. There are a lot of talented people on the roster and this show served as a big table setter for Against All Odds. Maybe they can make the show work on such short notice, but I can’t imagine the expectations are that high. For now though, we had a good TV show and that is all you need sometimes.

Results
Trey Miguel b. Steve Maclin, Laredo Kid and Chris Bey – Top rope Meteora to Bey
Gisele Shaw b. Rosemary – Jumping knee
Jordynne Grace b. Savannah Evans – MuscleBuster
Good Brothers b. Honor No More – Rollup to Vincent
Ace Austin b. Alex Zayne – Fold
Chris Sabin b. Frankie Kazarian – Cradle Shock

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Impact Wrestling
Date: June 23, 2022
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Matthew Rehwoldt, Tom Hannifan

We’re done with Slammiversary and that means things need to pick up a bit. While a few lower level titles changed hands at the pay per view, Josh Alexander retained the World Title in the main event by defeating Eric Young. That means he needs a new challenger and we might find out who that is today. Let’s get to it.

Here is Slammiversary if you need a recap.

We open with a long recap of Slammiversary, as you probably saw coming.

Opening sequence, now back to We Own The Night instead of the mixtures from recent weeks.

Here is Honor No More to take over the show to start, with Mike Bennett stealing a camera so Eddie Edwards can talk about how the celebration is continuing today. Everyone has been going crazy with the nostalgia but Honor No More is the one thing that people should be talking about. They didn’t lose on Sunday…..except for PCO. Vincent says he brought PCO back to life for Honor No More instead of Impact.

We hear about Traci Brooks and D’Lo Brown interfering, plus Earl Hebner suddenly being a referee. All this happened while Scott D’Amore watched on, which has Vincent thinking. They are the ones who are always making this place more interesting, but here is America’s Most Wanted to interrupt. James Storm says the lyrics to his theme music before talking about how things used to be around here. Storm sums up the problem with Honor No More: they suck.

Kenny King asks what year it is and says Storm might as well have come out here on his own. Chris Harris says if King keeps talking, he’ll make King cry harder than he did on the Bachelorette. Violence is teased but AMW brings out the Good Brothers to even things up a bit more. The brawl is on but Honor No More gets the better of things until the Briscoes make the real save. House is cleaned and Honor No More is cleared out.

Gisele Shaw offers Alisha Edwards a cupcake after Masha Slamovich wrecked her. This turns into an argument, as Edwards mocks Shaw for having no friends but Shaw is off to find a partner to win the Tag Team Titles. They got more than a bit lost in the messaging here and I’m not entirely sure how they got from A to B.

Honor No More yells at Scott D’Amore so they get a ten man tag at Against All Odds and a six man tonight.

Chelsea Green vs. Mia Yim

Deonna Purrazzo comes out with Green and joins commentary. Green fires off the kicks to start and sends Yim pretty hard into the corner. They head outside with Yim hitting a suplex and we take a break. Back with Yim grabbing a bow and arrow but Green slips out and hammers away. That doesn’t last long as Green is up with a whip into the corner, setting up a Tarantula.

With that broken up as well, Green kicks her down to the floor for a breather. Back in and Yim kicks away, only to get caught with a Codebreaker into a Stomp for a rather close two. Green loads up Yim’s Eat Defeat but gets reversed into a quick belly to back suplex. Yim goes up but Purrazzo shoves her down for the crash. Cue Mickie James to jump Purrazzo, allowing Yim to hit Eat Defeat for the pin at 12:29.

Rating: B-. That might be high but I was getting into this one, even with the screwy finish. They got rolling here rather well and beat each other up for a pretty long while. It might be the best Green match I’ve ever seen and Yim wasn’t that far behind. Good stuff here and I was into it almost all the way throughout.

Post match Mia and Mickie look at each other, with a tag match seeming likely.

The Influence isn’t happy with their loss and don’t seem thrilled with each other either. Gisele Shaw comes in to offer her services to replace the injured Madison Rayne. That might be possible, if Shaw can take out Rosemary or Taya Valkyrie.

Bhupinder Gujjar/Shark Boy vs. Johnny Swinger/Zicky Dice

Shark Boy (with a rather good sized gut) starts with Swinger but it’s off to Dice before much happens. Gujjar comes in as well and gets to pummel both goons a bit before handing it right back to Shark Boy. Dice gets hammered in the corner but a Swinger distraction lets him hit a quick clothesline. That’s about it for Shark boy getting beaten on though as he gets over to Gujjar for the house cleaning. Everything breaks down and the Chummer hits Swinger, followed by the middle rope spear to finish Dice at 3:44.

Rating: C. The match was nothing to see but how could you not have a good time with this? They weren’t trying to do anything more than have a good time with the old guys and Dice while giving Gujjar a win. It was a quick, fun match and that is all it was supposed to be, especially with how short they kept things here.

Post match Deaner and Joe Doering run in and take out Gujjar and Shark Boy. Deaner wants Josh Alexander out here RIGHT NOW but that’s not what he gets. Instead, he gets Alexander after a break, with Alexander asking why he’s here. Deaner hypes up Doering as Alexander’s next challenger at Against All Odds. The staredown is on with Deaner keeping up the threats/promises but Alexander promises to take Alexander out. The brawl is on with Alexander getting beaten down until security comes out and gets beaten up too. Actually hold on because Alexander wants to do this now.

Josh Alexander vs. Deaner

Non-title. Alexander strikes away to start and drops an early knee, followed by a backbreaker for two. Deaner gets sent to the apron for the running crossbody dive from Alexander to put him on the floor in a heap. That works better for Deaner who manages a posting, setting up some shots to the back of the head back inside. Deaner ties him up in the corner and hits a running dropkick to the back to jar Alexander’s neck hard.

It doesn’t seem to do much damage to Alexander, who is right back with the rolling German suplexes. The ankle lock is blocked so Alexander hits another German suplex, followed by the ankle lock in the corner. Since that can’t last, Deaner is right back with a big boot but the Deaner DDT is countered into the ankle lock for the tap at 5:12.

Rating: C. Not too bad here but there wasn’t exactly a ton of drama. Deaner is little more than the designated goon of the team and while that is a good spot for him, it doesn’t exactly leave much for him to do in the ring. Alexander running through Violent By Design for a few weeks is a fine enough short form story before we get to the Bound For Glory build, though I can’t imagine it mattering anywhere beyond Against All Odds.

Frankie Kazarian calls Slammiversary one of the best nights of his career and we hear a quick recap of the ten man tag. Now though, he wants one more match with his career rival, Chris Sabin.

Jordynne Grace is happy with her Knockouts Title win and thanks Tasha Steelz/Savannah Evans.

Steelz is ready to get her title back at Against All Odds, but first, Grace can face Evans.

Sami Callihan vs. Jack Price

Sami offers him a headlock to start before hitting a fast clothesline. The Cactus Driver 97 finishes Price at 1:21.

Post match Moose comes in and jumps Sami, including putting him through a table at ringside.

The Good Brothers tell the Briscoes they have their back in the main event. James Storm is ready to go to the ring too but first he tells Chris Harris to stay in the back and Harris actually agrees.

Sami Callihan runs into Gail Kim and wants another match with Moose. That’s cool with Gail, who makes a Clockwork Orange House Of Fun match.

Here’s what’s coming up on upcoming shows.

Honor No More vs. James Storm/Good Brothers/Briscoes

Matt Taven/Mike Bennett/Eddie Edwards for the team here. Mark drives Taven into the corner to start with Taven hitting a quick dropkick. Back up and they chop it out until Taven is taken into the corner for a running big boot from Jay. Taven gets over for the tag off to Edwards, with Storm coming in to neckbreaker him down. Everything breaks down and both Briscoes hit a dive as we take a break.

Back with Storm cleaning house until Bennett gets in a shot to the face to cut him down. They get back in and Taven hits a middle rope moonsault for two on Storm and Eddie grabs the front facelock. As you might have guessed, that means Storm can get up and drive Eddie into the corner but the referee doesn’t see the tag.

Storm manages a Backstabber out of the other corner though and the hot tag brings in Mark to really clean house. Redneck Boogie hits Taven but Eddie is back up to drop Mark. The Last Call hits Eddie but Bennett is back with a superkick. The Broton Pack to finish Mark at 15:44.

Rating: C+. I was a little confused coming into this because of the ten man tag at Against All Odds but at least we got a decent enough match here. Storm is one of those wrestlers who never ages and it is always nice to see him back in an Impact ring. Honor No More winning to get back on track is a good thing too as they still have enough status to keep them as a threat, which is a valuable thing to have.

Post match the rest of Honor No More runs in to keep up the beating but the Good Brothers run in for the save. That doesn’t work either and Mark’s leg is Pillmanized over and over to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This was a weird show as they had to keep things moving to get towards Against All Odds, but at the same time they had to find a way to come out from Slammiversary. They managed to stick most of the landing and at least they didn’t do anything too bad. Fun enough show, though having Against All Odds next week isn’t a great move. At least they had something here though and it was a pretty good show.

Results
Mia Yim b. Chelsea Green – Eat Defeat
Bhupinder Gujjar/Shark Boy b. Johnny Swinger/Zicky Dice – Middle rope spear to Dice
Josh Alexander b. Deaner – Ankle lock
Sami Callihan b. Jack Price – Cactus Driver 97
Honor No More b. Briscoes/James Storm – Broton Pack to Mark

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Slammiversary 2022
Date: June 19, 2022
Location: The Asylum, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Matthew Rehwoldt, Tom Hannifan

It’s the big twenty year celebration of Impact wrestling and the company is doing its best to flash back and move forward at the same time. The main event is Josh Alexander defending the World Title, but we also have a Queen of the Mountain match and Ultimate X to keep up the tradition. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Digital Media Title: Rich Swann vs. Brian Myers

Swann is defending but Myers has the title belt. Myers shrugs off right hands to start so Swann snaps off a headscissors to send him outside. A drop onto the apron cuts Swann off though and we hit the chinlock back inside. With that not working, Myers grabs a chinlock to keep Swann down.

Swann fights up and strikes away for two but it’s too early for the Phoenix splash. Myers hits a spear (instead of the Roster Cut) for two, only for Swann to come back with a neckbreaker. An implant DDT gives Myers two more but Swann cuts him down with Lethal Injection. The 450 finishes Myers at 7:13.

Rating: C. This was a good bit more fun than I would have bet on with Myers hitting some nice stuff (that spear was quite impressive) before falling as he should have. Swann has fallen a very long way, but at least he is doing something and is valuable enough to be a champion. Now just find something more important for him and start using the talent that he has.

Reverse Battle Royal

Chris Bey, Steve Maclin, Zicky Dice, Johnny Swinger, Shark Boy, Raj Singh, Aiden Prince, Bhupinder Gujjar, David Young, Shera, Slash, Crazzy Steve, Mike Jackson, Nate Webb, Shogun, Chase Stevens

So there are ten people on the floor to start and the first eight to get inside have a regular battle royal, with the final two having a regular singles match for the win. I think. Even commentary isn’t too sure. Dice seems to get in and then get back out, followed by Bey, Swinger, Maclin and Young getting in. We more or less pause the match to watch Jackson (72 years old) go Old School on Shera while walking along the barricade. After 84 seconds (not exaggerating), Jackson drops down onto Shera’s arm, only to have Singh jump them and send Shera in anyway.

So the field of eight is Shera, Gujjar, Stevens, Bey, Shark Boy, Young, Maclin and Swinger. Shera tosses Stevens and it’s time for the brawling on the ropes. Maclin and Bey fight to the apron as we’re told the pay per view starts in less than five minutes. Bey hits the Art of Finesse on the apron to eliminate Maclin and himself. There go Shera and Gujjar so we’re down to Swinger, Young and Shark Boy.

The spinebuster plants Shark Boy but Swinger turns on Young and tosses him out, meaning it’s Shark Boy vs. Swinger in a regular singles match. Swinger throws him out and has to be told that’s not how it works. Worry not as Swinger stops to pose, allowing Shark Boy to hit the Chummer for the win at 9:44.

Rating: C. What else are you supposed to say about this? The match is more or less the Impact version of the gimmick battle royal and there is nothing wrong with that for a show like this one. I could have gone with a bit less of watching Jackson walking around the barricade, but Shark Boy winning the match is about as fun as it could have been. Nothing important, but it was fun enough while it lasted.

The opening video looks at the history of the company, which really does have some classic moments. I know the company has a bad reputation, but twenty years is a REALLY long time in the wrestling business and Impact deserves a lot of credit for sticking around. Now some of those stars are here (“In a place between yesterday and tomorrow.”) and it’s time for a celebration of the past and a step into the future.

X-Division Title: Trey Miguel vs. Ace Austin vs. Alex Zayne vs. Andrew Everett vs. Kenny King vs. Mike Bailey

Austin is defending and this is Ultimate X, with Everett taking the place of an injured Jack Evans. Tom: “This is the 47th Ultimate X match.” I don’t think that has the same zing that you think it does. It’s a big brawl to start with Bailey and Zayne clearing the ring so they can both go for failed climb attempts. With the two of them down, Miguel sends King outside and hits a big flip dive but has to cut Austin off.

Everett comes back in but Austin kicks Miguel and Everett down without much effort. Everything breaks down again and Everett German suplexes Miguel on the apron. The big dive drops the pile though and everyone is down on the floor. Back in and Zayne hits a running super hurricanrana on Everett, leaving us with Zayne vs. King. Bailey goes up but hits the Ultimate Weapon onto the pile instead of climbing, which doesn’t seem that bright.

A bunch of people go to the corner for a Tower Of Doom, with Miguel being smart enough to chill in the corner. Then he gives Zayne a super Canadian Destroyer, which doesn’t seem as bright as GOING FOR THE BELT. King, Austin, Miguel and Bailey all go up at the same time until Miguel and King are kicked down. Bailey and Austin hang on the top and slap away at each other but Everett goes above them, only to get headscissored down. Some kicks drop Austin as well and Bailey pulls himself up to win the title at 9:50.

Rating: C+. Ultimate X is one of those matches that sounds great on paper but it’s Impact’s version of the wacky ladder match: everyone does a bunch of stuff until someone shows enough intelligence to pull the belt down. Impact has been building towards Bailey winning for a long time now so this is about as good of an idea as they had. I’m not big on the guy, but at least it has been set up over the last few weeks.

Commentary pays tribute to Bob Ryder, who was a huge part of the development of Impact but passed away in 2020. This show is dedicated to him. That’s very nice.

We run down the rest of the card.

Scott Hudson (let the flashbacks begin) talks to the Motor City Machine Guns, Frankie Kazarian and Nick Aldis about their match with Honor No More tonight. First up though, the Guns are happy with being named the best team in the company’s history. Alex Shelley lists off some of the great teams over the years (and there are some impressive ones) but they are all ready to fight tonight. Aldis says the team doesn’t look the same but what matters is that they are here because they are serious about wrestling. They have a fifth man, but you’ll have to see who it is later. Hudson: “They’re keeping it kayfabe as always.”

We get a video from Sting, talking about what his time in Impact meant to him. He really was a big deal around here and it is nice to see him here. We even hear about his feud with Hulk Hogan, who I didn’t think you could talk about around here anymore.

Knockouts Tag Team Titles: Rosemary/Taya Valkyrie vs. Influence

The Influence is defending and hold their titles like babies. Valkyrie wrestles Rayne down to start and carries her into the corner, where Rosemary tags herself in. This doesn’t sit well with Valkyrie, even though that’s how you set up a tag most of the time. Dashwood comes in as well but gets taken into the corner for a kick to the head.

Back up and Dashwood gets in a shot on Rosemary to knock her into the corner so the champs can take over. The chinlock goes on, with Rosemary suplexing her way to freedom without much effort. Valkyrie comes in to strike away at both champs and something like a Blue Thunder Bomb gets two on Rayne. Everything breaks down and Rosemary’s spear is cut off.

That doesn’t seem to matter though as the champs are sent into each other, setting up stereo spears for stereo near falls. Rayne shoves Rosemary into Valkyrie though and a neckbreaker over the ropes drops Valkyrie. The Collab drops Rosemary but Valkyrie’s distraction lets Rosemary pop up. As Above So Below finishes Rayne for the pin and the titles at 7:19.

Rating: C. This could have been on any given edition of Impact and that isn’t a surprise. These titles still don’t mean much but at least it seems like teams are interested in winning them. Rosemary and Taya are kind of a thrown together team but they do have history so it could be worse. Not much of a match, though I can’t imagine that’s much of a surprise these days.

We get a video from Kurt Angle for thanking him for all of his time in Impact Wrestling. Simple and to the point here.

We recap Moose vs. Sami Callihan. Moose injured Callihan about ten months ago but Callihan is back and stalking Moose, setting up tonight’s Monster’s Ball match.

Sami Callihan vs. Moose

Monster’s Ball, meaning street fight, but with the gimmick that they have been locked away without food, water or light for 24 hours (as was the original idea of the match but it was dropped over the years). Sami jumps him during the entrance and they start fast with a slugout on the floor. A trashcan to the back drops Moose and it’s time for the cookie sheets to the head.

Moose gets in a trashcan lid shot of his own for a breather but gets smart enough to grab a water bottle and a hot dog from a fan. Sami is already busted open as Moose chokeslams him onto the apron. Moose does it again for a bonus as we’re told about this being the 54th Monster’s Ball match. Again: doesn’t sound so great. Sami gets put through a table and they get inside for the first time over four minutes into the match. Some shots to the ankle are blocked and Sami pelts a chair at Moose’s head.

The spear only sends Moose into the trashcan, which Sami stands up for a bonus. It’s time for the…barbed wire door (just go with it), allowing Moose to escape the trashcan. Moose goes up top, only to get shoved off and through a table at ringside. The thumbtacks are brought in but Sami’s tornado DDT is countered into a chokebomb into said tacks for two. Moose drags him through the tacks for a bonus but the spear is countered into a Death Valley Driver through the barbed wire door.

It’s time for a duel of the trashcan lids until both guys go down. Back up and it’s a regular slugout with Sami getting the better of things and hitting a Cactus Special for two. Another Cactus Special is cut off by a low blow and Moose sets up a trashcan. Moose goes up but gets powerbombed onto the (standing up) trashcan. Another Cactus Special gives Sami one so he grabs another one for the pin at 14:55.

Rating: B-. This is a good example of a match where if you’ve seen it once, you’ve seen it a dozen times. They hit all of the regular spots and Sami won to set him back on the right road after being gone for so long. I’m not sure what is next for Sami around here, but there are certainly a lot of people for him to beat him in one violent match like this after another.

We recap the Good Brothers vs. the Briscoes for the Tag Team Titles. The Briscoes won the titles but the Brothers said that it doesn’t matter until the Briscoes beat the. Throw in a trip to the Briscoes’ farm and it’s time for a title/grudge match.

Tag Team Titles: Good Brothers vs. Briscoes

The Briscoes are defending. It’s a brawl to start (shocking) with the Briscoes getting the better of things and double shouldering Anderson down. Some flip dives drop the Brothers again and Jay spinebusters Anderson on the stage. Mark gets back in and Jay tosses him a chair, which he uses for a running flip dive to take out the Brothers again. Back in and Mark hits Anderson with something like a Claymore but Anderson sends Jay into the chair in the corner to cut him off for a change.

The chinlock doesn’t last long on Jay as he fights up and superkicks his way to freedom. The hot tag brings in Mark to clean house with right hands and an enziguri as we hear about some great Impact teams of years past. An Iconoclasm gets two on Anderson but he’s right back with a spinebuster for two. The reverse 3D sets up the Magic Killer, with Jay making the save. Jay is sent into the post though and that means it is going to be awhile before he is ready for a tag.

Mark tries to fight his own way out of trouble but gets dropped with a single shot to the face. The Gun Stun is blocked and Jay comes back in (minus the tag) to help clean house. The Jay Driller and Doomsday Device are both broken up and a kick to the face drops Jay. Now the Magic Killer can connect to give the Brothers the pin and the titles at 10:06.

Rating: C+. This was surprisingly short as I was expecting something long and a bit epic. Instead, we got a pretty fast but hard hitting match without much of the Brothers being in control until the end. The Briscoes losing again is a bit surprising, but maybe they aren’t locked in as long as the Brothers at this point. I’m not thrilled with the Brothers winning, as they have dominated for far too long, but at least the Briscoes were able to breathe some fresh life into the division for awhile.

Post match respect is teased but here is America’s Most Wanted to interrupt. James Storm says tag team wrestling has always meant something around here and he is proud that this company has made it twenty years. After being told they wouldn’t last a week, a month or a year, sorry about your d*** luck. Beer is consumed.

We get a tribute to Mike Tenay and Don West. That’s rather awesome, though not so much with West battling lymphoma.

We recap Honor No More vs. the Impact originals. It’s the team that is all about respect and history vs. the team that doesn’t care in a story that pretty much writes itself.

Christy Hemme brings out Scott D’Amore (in Coach gear) for commentary.

Honor No More vs. Motor City Machine Guns/Frankie Kazarian/Nick Aldis/???

Maria is back with Honor No More (Eddie Edwards/Matt Taven/Mike Bennett/Vincent/PCO). Aldis is billed as a former NWA World Champion. True, but you would think his two Impact World Title reigns might carry a bit more weight here. There is a mystery partner and it’s….Dixie Carter? Ah never mind as she’s here for a speech (shocking I know) and also to introduce…Davey Richards. Not a name I would have bet on, or one I wanted to see for that matter, but he’s a name from the past.

It’s a brawl to start with the Guns beating up the Kingdom until we settle down to Aldis suplexing Bennett. Vincent and Kazarian come in to slug it out before we get the battle of the Wolves. Well maybe in a bit as Edwards hands it off to Taven instead, meaning it’s a parade of beatings. Everything breaks down and Honor No More takes turns getting beaten up in a bunch of corners. Shelley finally gets sent into the corner for a bunch of running shots, setting up Vincent’s running Downward Spiral for two.

Taven’s moonsault sets up Just The Top for two but PCO’s De-Animator misses. Shelley fights out of the corner, including a double Sliced Bread to Vincent and Edwards, which finally allows the hot tag off to Kazarian. House is cleaned again before it’s off to Aldis for a bunch of right hands. Everything breaks down again and it’s the Dream Sequence to Edwards, followed by a big dive to Bennett. Taven busts out the Flight Of The Conqueror to take out the pile, leaving Edwards vs. Richards again.

Richards gets the better of things and grabs the dragon screw legwhip in the ropes. The top rope double stomp misses but Richards is fine enough to grab a leglock on Edwards. Everyone in Honor No More outside of PCO gets caught in a hold so it’s PCO making the save. A Vader Bomb gets two on Sabin but the PCOsault misses Aldis. The Michinoku Driver puts PCO down and Richards adds the top rope double stomp for two.

Maria gets up on the apron for a distraction but Traci Brooks (Kazarian’s wife) pulls her off for a right hand. Kazarian saves Traci from PCO and it’s a top rope Flux Capacitor to plant PCO for two. Cue Kenny King to go after Kazarian but D’Lo Brown makes the save with a heck of a Sky High. There’s a Low Down to make it worse and the Guns strike away at PCO. The Kingdom gets dropped as well and there’s the Cradle Shock to PCO….with Earl Hebner coming over the barricade to count the pin at 18:46.

Rating: B-. This was the wild match that the show needed as a big celebration of the company’s history. That is something that you have to have on a show like this and it worked well enough. It helps that the match was good, but this was all about the history and tradition and that was a success.

AJ Styles talks about some of his favorite moments in TNA, including the Unbreakable three way with Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels. Styles has been named the Most Impactful X-Division wrestler and male wrestler overall and he thanks WWE for letting him do this, because Impact is that important. You can’t have a show like this without hearing from Styles so this had to be here.

We recap Queen Of The Mountain and go over the still ridiculous rules. It’s a five way match with wrestlers having to score a pin to become eligible to hang the title. When someone is pinned, they go to a penalty box for two minutes. The first person to climb a ladder and hang the title (because it’s a reverse ladder match with pins and a penalty box) wins.

Knockouts Title: Jordynne Grace vs. Tasha Steelz vs. Mia Yim vs. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Chelsea Green

Steelz, with Savannah Evans, is defending in Queen Of The Mountain and Mickie James is guest enforcer. Steelz has Mickie themed gear describing herself as “The Greatest Who Beat The Greatest” for a nice touch. The bell rings and Steelz bails to the floor to grab a table with Evans. Yim takes both of them out with a dive and Green hits her own flip dive (thankfully not breaking her arm for a change).

Purrazzo adds her own dive and Green rolls Steelz up to become eligible and send her to the penalty box for two minutes. Mickie sends Evans into the box as well, leaving Grace and Yim to beat up Purrazzo. Steelz and Evans are out with Steelz getting to strike away. Evans gets back inside and is ejected by Mickie, leaving Steelz to kick green down. Yim makes the save and suplexes Green for the pin/eligibility/penalty box time.

Green isn’t happy and hits Mickie with the door as Purrazzo has to cut off Yim from hanging the title. With Yim going up anyway, Steelz comes off the top with a cutter to pull her back down. As Purrazzo armbars Steelz, Green is released and takes Grace down with a spear. Steelz taps so Purrazzo can be eligible but it’s time to go after Grace. A Backstabber sends her outside as Green sends Yim into the corner for two. Green holds up the title as Steelz is released from the box.

The ladder is laid up against the ropes and it’s Yim coming off the penalty box to dropkick Green into said ladder. Yim hits a big dive to take out a bunch of people, setting up a package piledriver on the floor to pin Grace (remember Yim was already eligible). Green headbutts Steelz down and goes up but James is back in to break it up in an act of rather unprofessional revenge.

Purrazzo powerbombs Yim onto a ladder and goes up at the same time as Green. As Grace is released, Yim shoves the ladder over to put both Green and Purrazzo through the table. Yim gets dropped and double pinned by Grace and Steelz, meaning everyone is eligible. Steelz goes up but Grace hits her with a MuscleBuster for the pin, allowing Grace to hang the title for the win at 18:24.

Rating: C+. What do you say about a match like this? It’s total insanity and the rules are such a mess that it is quite the chore to keep track of everything that is going on. Grace was the monster throughout the match and it makes sense to have her win, as she hasn’t been around the title in a long time. Granted Masha Slamovich seems to be waiting on whoever won the title, but Grace winning is nice to see.

Goldilocks, the original backstage interviewer, talks to the most Impactful Knockout of all time: Gail Kim (I was hoping for Roxie Laveaux), who is rather pleased with everything that has been going on.

We recap Eric Young challenging Josh Alexander for the World Title. Alexander wants to lead the promotion into the future while Young wants chaos. And the title.

Impact Wrestling World Title: Josh Alexander vs. Eric Young

Young, with the rest of Violent By Design, is challenging. Feeling out process to start with Alexander driving him into the corner to little avail. A slap off goes to Alexander but seems to wake Young up a bit. Young clotheslines him down but gets kicked away to give us another standoff. Alexander grabs a quick Regal Roll, only to miss a moonsault. Young misses one of his own and it’s another standoff, because they like those things a lot.

This time it’s Alexander taking him into the corner for the Samoa Joe facewash but Young grabs a quick Death Valley Driver. Deaner loads up a table at ringside as Alexander fights back, only to get knocked off the top. Young’s top rope elbow gets two and it’s time to rip up the ring mat. The delay lets Alexander hit a powerbomb into some kind of a Boston crab (again with the Samoa Joe).

The C4 Spike is broken up and Young hits a Stroke for two of his own. A Black Hole Slam gives Young another two as the fans are rather pleased. Alexander drops him and hits a Christopher Daniels Best Moonsault Ever, followed by a Styles Clash into the ankle lock. Young is in trouble so Deaner throws powder into the referee’s eyes, meaning Young’s tap doesn’t count.

Doering gets up on the apron so Alexander hits an Angle Slam to drive him through the table. Deaner whips out the flag but Alexander has Coach D’Amore’s Canadian flag hockey stick. The distraction lets Young but a guitar shot for two and it’s time to rip up even more of the ring. A piledriver on the exposed wood gives Young two more and Alexander has had it. The release Rock Bottom onto the wood sets up the C4 Spike onto the same wood to give Alexander the pin at 18:45.

Rating: C+. As gimmicky as this was, and it was REALLY gimmicky, I had a lot more fun doing the tribute to the big moves of Impact’s past than trying to do a bunch of stuff that wouldn’t have been as interesting. Young vs. Alexander is not a big time main event so giving it a bunch of other stuff to hide that fact is a good idea. It was getting fun trying to guess what big move would be next and I had a much better time than I would have had with these two in a straight match.

Overall Rating: B-. There was a hard balance to hold together on this show and they wound up doing a good enough job with the whole thing. Balancing a big celebration of the past while also being a big show focused on the present is harder than it seems and they made it work for the most part. Nothing was too bad, though it also never had that one big match or moment that made it feel special. Seeing AJ Styles appear was a surprise and brought up the most emotions, but that isn’t exactly a good thing as he hasn’t worked here in years. Overall, a good show, but only a necessary watch if you’re a diehard Impact/TNA fan.

Results
Mike Bailey won Ultimate X
Rosemary/Taya Valkyrie b. Influence – As Above So Below to Rayne
Sami Callihan b. Moose – Cactus Special
Good Brothers b. Briscoes – Magic Killer to Jay
Frankie Kazarian/Motor City Machine Guns/Davey Richards/Nick Aldis b. Honor No More – Cradle Shock to PCO
Jordynne Grace won Queen of the Mountain
Josh Alexander b. Eric Young – C4 Spike onto the exposed boards

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