Impact Wrestling
Date: September 29, 2022
Location: Skyway Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Matthew Rehwoldt, Tom Hannifan

We are done with Victory Road and that means we are only a little over a week away from Bound For Glory. I’m still not sure why Victory Road was such a necessary show before the biggest night of the year but at least it wasn’t an eventful night, meaning Bound For Glory got even more build. Hopefully that can continue tonight so let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

Bullet Club vs. Trey Miguel/Laredo Kid

It’s Ace Austin/Chris Bey for the Club, with Juice Robinson in their corner. Austin and Kid start things off with an exchange of wristlocks but hold on as Austin needs to hold up Too Sweet. A quick high crossbody gives Kid an early two so it’s Bey offering a distraction so Austin can take over on the arm. Bey comes in with a backbreaker as we hear about his album coming out around Halloween.

Kid slips away and hands it off to Miguel to fire off kicks at Bey. A northern lights suplex gives Miguel two but Bey is back with a reverse DDT/Downward Spiral combination to drop both of them at once. Austin comes back in and catches Kid with a springboard spinning kick to the face. Miguel pops up for a springboard sunset bomb for two on Austin. Back up and Austin shoves Bey at Miguel for the Art of Finesse, setting up the Fold for the pin at 8:19.

Rating: B. More of the X-Division goodness to open the show and yes, it still works. I can go for more of Austin and Bey as the two of them are very good on their own or as a team. Miguel and Kid are both guys who can do anything with anyone so this was always going to be entertaining while it lasted.

We look back at Bhupinder Gujjar losing the ladder match to Brian Myers last week.

Gujjar says he can’t wrestle this week due to a broken nose, but he’ll be ready for the Call Your Shot gauntlet match at Bound For Glory.

Frankie Kazarian is ready to win the X-Division Title at Bound For Glory. He wants to prove that he still has it.

Someone in a yellow hoodie tries to jump the barricade behind commentary but isn’t named. He looked like he was making a V sign with his fingers so…..Violent By Design maybe?

Bound For Glory/tonight rundown.

Digital Media Title: Brian Myers vs. Crazzy Steve

Steve, with Black Taurus, is challenging. They fight over wrist control to start until Steve goes after Myers’ face. A bite to the face is blocked with a throat snap across the top though and we take a break. Back with Steve hitting a Cannonball in the corner for two but getting caught with the implant DDT for two. Steve comes back with the Upside Down in the corner, which lasts about as long as it can. Myers distracts the referee though, allowing him to poke Steve in the eye. The Roster Cut retains the title at 3:54.

Rating: C-. This was little more than a way for Myers to cheat and retain the title and that is all it needed to be. Myers already won the big ladder match last week so this was a step down for him. The title works well enough for a lower card championship, even if the digital media stuff has already been heavily toned down.

Post match Myers says he has turned the title into the most prestigious title around here. Now he wants better competition so it’s open challenge time at Bound For Glory. That could be a fun reveal.

Johnny Swinger’s ex-fiance shows up and yells at him, despite now being married to John E. Bravo (from Wrestle House 2 apparently). Arguing ensues, with Taya Valkyrie wandering in to wonder what is going on here. Fair question.

The family from the recent Joe Hendry videos are at the reading of their father’s will and want a name said. Cue Joe Hendry, who everyone still believes in.

Rosemary begrudgingly asks James Mitchell for help with the Jessicka issue because she wants the Tag Team Titles back. Taya Valkyrie and Jessicka come in to say they can do it, so Rosemary eventually gives in.

Delirious vs. Black Taurus

Delirious’ dropkicks have no effect so he rams Taurus mark first into the buckles. That doesn’t work either as Taurus steps on Delirious’ bare feet but Delirious starts running the ropes in an odd pattern. Delirious manages to take the leg out and hit a slam, setting up a series of ten legdrops to send Taurus outside. Back up and Taurus hits a pop up Samoan drop and a headbutt. The spinning piledriver gives Taurus the pin at 5:04.

Rating: C-. This was as much as you were going to get out of Delirious vs. Black Taurus in a five minute TV match, meaning it was working with a low ceiling. Taurus getting some momentum is a nice thing to see, even if it is weird to see delirious anywhere but Ring Of Honor. Fine enough match, but what were they expecting to get out of this?

Bobby Fish is here and wants Josh Alexander so he’ll win the Call Your Shot gauntlet in his hometown of Albany.

Mia Yim is ready for Mickie James at Bound For Glory. They fought in one of Yim’s first matches and yes, we have a clip of Mickie beating her probably fifteen or so years ago. Gisele Shaw comes up to mock the idea of Mia beating Mickie so a match is made for next week.

Here is Honor No More for a chat, with the fans being way behind PCO. Eddie Edwards is happy with Victory Road because he showed he can beat Josh Alexander. There were some setbacks on the night though and yes, he is looking at PCO again. PCO lost to the Motor City Machine Guns and he likes to step up too much, so who does he think he is? Vincent puts a bag over PCO’s head to calm him down as Matt Taven takes the mic.

Taven rants about how Impact has tried to hold the team down but now the are Tag Team Champions. At Bound For Glory, Honor No More will leave with the World and Tag Team Titles, with everyone talking about how great Eddie is for pinning Alexander at Victory Road. Maria gives us a video looking at Eddie pinning Alexander over and over, leaving Eddie to rant about how everyone turned on him.

Cue Alexander to say he sees this as any fight he has ever had. He views the title as something that proves he’s the best while Eddie sees it as job security. At Bound For Glory, the only one outnumbered is Edwards. Alexander comes to the ring for the fight, with Heath, Rich Swann and the Motor City Machine Guns coming in to help clear out Honor No More.

Heath/Rich Swann vs. PCO/Vincent

Joined in progress with PCO coming in to make Swann roll around a bit. PCO powers him down though and drops a leg to the back of the head, allowing the tag to Vincent. A basement Downward Spiral gets two but Swann is back up with an enziguri. The tag brings in Heath to clean house with a powerslam getting two on Vincent. Heath sends Vincent into PCO and Swann gets in a cheap shot from the apron so an implant DDT gets two on Vincent. With PCO knocked outside, Swann hits a 450 to finish Vincent at 4:34.

Rating: C. They kept this one quick and that is the right way to go. Vincent is about as low on the Honor No More totem pole as you can get so having a former World Champion pin him is hardly the end of his momentum. It wasn’t much of a match but they continue to make Heath look like a big deal, which is rather impressive given how much of a comedy guy he has been for years.

Moose isn’t happy with Steve Maclin, who comes in for the brawl.

Scott D’Amore tells Sami Callihan that he can’t get in the ring because of a broken orbital bone, so D’Amore lets Sami referee Moose vs. Maclin next week.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Masha Slamovich vs. Allie Katch

Monster’s Ball and they’re still doing the “locked up for 24 hours deal”. They slug it out to start and an early double clothesline takes both of them down. A duel of the trashcan lids goes to Katch as she cracks Slamovich over the head. Slamovich is right back with a German suplex and it’s time to whip Katch with a chain.

We mix things up a bit with Slamovich putting the side of a street sign in Katch’s mouth before going with the more classic double arm crank. A cowbell is pulled out of the trashcan but since that takes some time, Katch cracks her with a trashcan lid to take over. Slamovich shrugs it off and hits an Air Raid Crash into the corner as we take a break. Back with Slamovich driving a chain into Katt’s (very busted open) mouth in the corner before grabbing a chair.

A reverse DDT drops Slamovich and now she is busted open as well. Slamovich is fine enough to kick her in the head and Death Valley Driver Katch into the chair for two. Katch is back up with a trashcan shot to the head to catch Slamovich on top and a Death Valley Driver sends her through the door (yeah a door) in the corner for two.

They fight to the apron and Slamovich Russian legsweeps her through a table to leave them both down. With Slamovich up first, it’s time for the thumbtacks (dang it) but Katch piledrives her onto them for two more. A trashcan full of broken cans is poured out and it’s a Snowplow to drive Katch into the junk on the mat for the pin at 18:44.

Rating: B. These two were having one heck of a fight and I was getting drawn into it, but then the thumbtacks killed off a lot of the interest. It’s still such a stupid spot and something that we’ve seen so many times before. Throw in a piledriver onto the tacks getting two and there was only so much I could get out of the second half of this. Great first half but it fell down pretty hard in the end.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a bit of a weird show with a good opener, a good main event, and almost nothing good in the middle. The idea of having Bound For Glory in eight days is more than a bit much and it’s a very rushed feeling, but at least the card is set. It should be a good major event, but the TV is a bit rough to put it mildly. At least we got two strong matches here though and that’s enough for two hours.

Results
Bullet Club b. Laredo Kid/Trey Miguel – Fold to Miguel
Brian Myers b. Crazzy Steve – Roster Cut
Black Taurus b. Delirious – Spinning piledriver
Rich Swann/Heath b. Vincent/PCO – 450 to Vincent
Masha Slamovich b. Allie Katch – Snowplow onto cans and thumbtacks

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: September 22, 2022
Location: The Factory, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

It’s the go home show for Victory Road, which means we are about a month away from Bound For Glory. Victory Road is being treated as a pretty big deal so it would make sense to have a good go home show. This week does feature a pretty big showdown with Aussie Open vs. the Motor City Machine Guns. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

Digital Media Title: Bhupinder Gujjar vs. Brian Myers

Myers is defending in a ladder match. Gujjar slugs away to start and hits a jumping knee to the face. A Samoan drop looks to set up the Gargoyle spear but Myers knees him out of the way. The first ladder is brought in but Gujjar dropkicks it into his face. Myers knocks him outside though and goes up for the title, only to be pulled down into a cutter.

Now the Gargoyle spear can send Myers into the ladder but the climb takes too long, as usual. The ladder is knocked into Gujjar and it’s time to bring in another ladder. Gujjar breaks that up and the other ladder is set up next to the first. They both climb with Myers being knocked off, only to come back up with a belly to back off the ladders.

That’s good for a crash out to the floor, where Myers bridges a ladder onto the steps. A powerbomb drops Gujjar onto the ladder but he’s still able to make the save back inside. Myers low blows Gujjar on the ladder though and then gets creative by duct taping Gujjar to the ladder. That’s enough for Myers to go up and retain at 12:20.

Rating: C+. This was a pretty run of the mill ladder match, albeit one with a creative ending. Gujjar continues to look good enough out there, but there is still something missing that is keeping him from breaking through to that next level. I’m not sure if this feud warranted a ladder match, but at least they had a decent one.

Heath comes up to Josh Alexander and Rich Swann to apologize for messing up last week. They have a six man tag at Victory Road, but Heath has an open challenge street fight against any member of Honor No More tonight. Swann offers help but Heath has to do this himself.

Victory Road rundown.

We look at Steve Maclin invading a Wrestling Revolver show to try to get to Sami Callihan.

Jordynne Grace vs. Zicky Dice

Johnny Swinger is here with Dice, whose boot to the ribs is quickly caught. Grace slaps him in the face a few times and the Grace Driver finishes Dice in 43 seconds.

Video on Max the Impaler, who is facing Grace tomorrow night as per Masha Slamovich’s choice.

Black Taurus vs. Mia Yim vs. Laredo Kid vs. Alex Zayne vs. Trey Miguel

One fall to a finish. The fans are behind Yim, who stands back as the four guys get into separate brawls. We settle down to Miguel trying to cover Zayne for some near falls but Yim middle rope dropkicks both of them down. Taurus comes back in to headbutt the heck out of Yim so Kid comes in with a very spinning headscissors to put Taurus down on the floor. There’s the big dive into a hurricanrana, followed by stereo dives from Zayne and Miguel.

Yim hits one of her own and is the only one left standing on the floor. We take a break and come back with Miguel sending Kid into Zayne in the corner. Taurus lifts Kid up for a double hurricanrana to Zayne and Miguel before a series of strikes puts everyone down. Back up and Yim powerbombs Zayne and Protect Yo Neck gives her two. Taurus gets up to clean house and the over the shoulder piledriver finishes Kid at 11:45.

Rating: C+. This is where the X-Division tends to shine: taking a bunch of people and letting them go nuts for a little while. The match doesn’t mean much for the #1 contenders match at Victory Road because the bigger names are involved in that one, but this was a nice way to fill in some time and do a bunch of high spots.

Eric Young tells the new Violent By Design to prove themselves to him. They chant answers in unison and he beats them all up.

A couple is arguing when the wife says that their kid isn’t his. The dad wants the name said, and cue Joe Hendry for the music video. This is still funnier than it should be.

Here is Heath for an open challenge to a street fight with any member of Honor No More.

Heath vs. PCO

Street fight. Well hang on a second though as Eddie Edwards comes out and doesn’t want PCO to do this. Not that it matters as Heath talks PCO into it anyway. Heath dives onto PCO, who pops up and hammers away, much to Vincent’s (at ringside too) delight. PCO gets backdropped onto the ramp and they fight on the floor up to the stage.

A cart full of chairs is shoved around until PCO throws them onto a bunch of already set up chairs. That takes too long though and Heath DDTs him on the stage. A big toss off the stage sends PCO into the chairs so here is Honor No More to surround Heath. Rich Swann and Josh Alexander come in for the save and the fight is on.

With everyone else down, Vincent chairs Heath down but Heath pops back up for a Wake Up Call. PCO gets up, with a bunch of chairs hanging off of him, and wins a slugout inside. The chairs are piled up and PCO Mandible Claws him down, only to miss the Swanton onto said chairs. Heath hits a Wake Up call onto the chairs for the pin at 9:09.

Rating: C. This was half match and half angle advancement but giving PCO a big win was a good idea. Heath isn’t exactly a top star but he is starting to get somewhere with the serious stuff. He’s still a bit goofy, though he is starting to figure things out and that is more than I would have bet on. PCO seems likely to split off from the team at some point though and having him get a nice face run could be interesting.

Aussie Open vs. Motor City Machine Guns

The winners get a Tag Team Title shot at Bound For Glory. Shelley and Fletcher start things off with the bigger Fletcher shouldering him down. That earns him a crank on the arm and it’s off to Sabin for a knee drop. The even bigger Davis comes in to power Sabin into the corner but some kicks break that up without much trouble.

The Guns clear the ring and some kicks to Fletcher leave him down on the floor. Back in and the Aussies drive them together for a crash as we take a break. We come back with Fletcher hitting a delayed vertical suplex for two on Shelley. The beating doesn’t last long as it’s off to Sabin to clean house.

A missile dropkick/Downward Spiral combination gets two on Fletcher as everything breaks down. The Aussies plant Sabin for two as Shelley makes the save, only to be sent outside. The assisted Iconoclasm gets two on Sabin but Coriolis is broken up. Shelley is back in and Skull And Bones finishes Davis at 14:21.

Rating: B-. This was a fast paced tag match between two talented teams so of course it wound up working out. The Guns can do well against anyone and Aussie Open are a good, young team. While seeing the Aussies get a chance at Bound For Glory would have been nice but the Guns are the team with the legacy around here and make for a bigger match.

Tasha Steelz aren’t having anything of Killer Kelly, who is sitting in Steelz’s locker room. Steelz isn’t sure what to think about that.

Gisele Shaw is ready to beat Mickie James and end her career.

Victory Road rundown.

And now, a contract signing, with Scott D’Amore emceeing. D’Amore brings out the three participants in Barbed Wire Massacre, with Moose, Steve Maclin and Sami Callihan…the latter of whom doesn’t show up. That’s cool with Moose, who compares Maclin’s time in the military with what is coming for him tomorrow night.

Maclin talks about how Moose has no idea what he is talking about and has never seen the things Maclin has seen. Tomorrow will be mayhem for all but here is Callihan to interrupt. Sami mocks both of them and has a seat, saying that the two of them made a grave mistake by crossing him.

Maclin wants Sami to sign….so Sami busts out a barbed wire pen. That takes too long so Maclin jabs Sami in the head with the other pen and it’s time to turn over some furniture. Sami gets tied in the Tree of Woe but Moose spears Maclin down. Another spear only hits table though, allowing Sami to sign in his own blood to end the show. This was every violent contract signing you would have expected.

Overall Rating: C+. Pretty nice show this week, even if having another big event just a few weeks before Bound For Glory still feels off. I could go for having a focus on the major show but thankfully we can get to that next week. This show didn’t have a ton of big stuff but they did the minor stuff well enough and that’s good for a week.

Results
Brian Myers b. Bhupinder Gujjar – Myers pulled down the title
Jordynne Grace b. Zicky Dice – Grace Driver
Black Taurus b. Laredo Kid, Mia Yim, Trey Miguel and Alex Zayne – Over the shoulder piledriver to Kid
Heath b. PCO – Wake Up Call onto a pile of chairs
Motor City Machine Guns b. Aussie Open – Skull And Bones to Davis

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: September 15, 2022
Location: The Factory, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Matthew Rehwoldt, Tom Hannifan

We’re rapidly approaching Victory Road and then Bound For Glory, meaning some of the shows’ major matches have already been announced. With some of the bigger shows on the way, it would make sense to give them that much extra attention. There’s a good chance of getting some more added to the cards this week so let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

X-Division Title: Mascara Dorada vs. Mike Bailey

Bailey is defending. They trade armdrags to start before both block one at the same time. An exchange of countered hurricanranas gives them a standoff and they chop it out until Bailey is knocked to the floor. The slingshot dive misses and Dorada wins a chop off outside. Back in and a heck of a suicide dive drops Bailey, setting up a missed top rope double stomp back inside.

Bailey pulls him into a kneebar but Dorada is in the ropes rather quickly. The running twisting shooting star gives Bailey two so Dorada sends him to the apron. That means the missed dive, allowing Bailey to hit the big springboard moonsault for the huge crash on the floor. Back in and Dorada catches him on top with an enziguri, setting up a jumping super hurricanrana for two. A Lionsault (minus the running) hits Bailey’s raised boots though and Bailey kicks away, setting up the Ultimate Weapon for the pin at 8:06.

Rating: C+. This is Bailey 101 and it’s still working well. Bailey is going to do the same stuff every week and have a pretty good match, though when you’ve seen one or two of them, you’ve probably seen them all. Dorada was built up with a win last week and then puts Bailey over here. That’s a good enough way to go, but Bailey needs a big challenger soon or this is going to get stale.

Post match Bailey shows respect to Dorada. Cue Kenny King to jump both of them from behind and the beatdown is on.

We go back to Violent By Design (because of course we are) where Deaner beats up one of the nameless guys in yellow. Someone else names Young the Designer and he’s cool with that. Then they all say their name is Violence and Young seems pleased. This is a nightmare right? It has to be. There is no other reason for this stupid thing to continue so I’m convinced that I’m dreaming.

Scott D’Amore gives Mike Bailey a title defense against Delirious at Victory Road. At the same show, there are a bunch of people in a #1 contenders match, including Mia Yim and Frankie Kazarian. Bailey is happy.

Here’s what’s coming at various shows.

Decay vs. Moose/Steve Maclin

Decay knocks Maclin into the corner to start and Taurus gets to stomp away. Moose gets in a cheap shot from the apron though and comes in to demonstrate proper stomping technique. Maclin comes back in but gets rammed into Moose, allowing Taurus to grab a rollup pin at 1:51. Well they got me there.

Post match Sami Callihan pops up to promise violence at Victory Road. We also see a clip of Moose saying he was going to screw Maclin over before Maclin can do it to him. Maclin promises to hurt Callihan at Victory Road, but Callihan has a clip of Maclin promising to screw Moose over. Violence ensues until Callihan comes in to leave them both laying.

We look at some miscommunication costing Taya Valkyrie a match against Chelsea Green last week.

Rosemary and Jessicka argue over the loss, with Taya Valkyrie thinking it might have been Rosemary’s fault. Jessicka needs help though and Taya has an idea.

Alisha vs. Killer Kelly

Tasha Steelz is on commentary. Kelly drives her into the corner to start but Alisha punches her way out. That earns Alisha a choke on the ropes into a release fisherman’s suplex as Steelz brags about herself nonstop. A missed charge in the corner looks to let Alisha grab a Backpack Stunner but Kelly grabs the rope. Kelly pump kicks her, setting up the Killer Klutch for the tap at 2:14.

Post match Steelz grabs a chair but Kelly takes it away and stares at her.

Some people are sitting around a dying man in a hospital bed. The man tries to say something….and Joe Hendry bursts through the door, turning it into a Hendry music video. The man dies but no one seems to notice.

Tag Team Titles: Josh Alexander/Rich Swann vs. Honor No More

Honor No More is defending. Bennett gets knocked into the corner by Alexander to start and Swann comes in with a running legdrop. Back up and Swann gets taken into the wrong corner so Taven can come in, allowing him to knock Alexander off the apron like a true villain should.

A catapult into a kick to the face gives Bennett two and we hit the corner stomping. Swann fights out of the corner and dives between the legs though, allowing the hot tag to Alexander. House is cleaned, including the running crossbody to the back to knock Bennett outside. Swann dives onto both champs and it’s a spinning kick into a bridging German suplex for two on Bennett back inside.

The threat of an ankle lock sends Bennett over to Taven as everything breaks down. Just The Tip gets two on Alexander but he gets his knees up to block a Lionsault. Maria gets on the apron so Eddie Edwards can run in and kendo stick Alexander, only to have Heath come in with the Wake Up Call to Taven for the DQ at 6:58.

Rating: C+. The Heath issues with Alexander continue and I’m curious to see where that is going. They have built Heath up rather well but at some point he needs to actually win something. The match was pretty good at least, which shouldn’t be surprising given who was involved, though the Heath part is what matters.

Johnny Swinger and Zicky Dice bring a Serious Pizza to Jordynne Grace but accidentally suggest that Masha Slamovich is going to destroy her. This earns Dice a match with her next week.

Heath tries to apologize to Josh Alexander and Rich Swann but Scott D’Amore comes in and seems to make a six man tag. Maybe?

Mickie James vs. Hyan

James gets rolled up for a fast two to start and a Wasteland into a legdrop gets the same. Mickie slips out of a suplex though and strikes away, including the flapjack into the top rope Thesz press. The MickDT finishes at 2:36.

Post match Gisele Shaw comes in to steal the spotlight, plus challenge her to Victory Road. Sure.

Vincent recharges PCO again.

Brian Myers talks about how he and Bhupinder Gujjar have a lot of similarities but he’s ready to climb the ladder next week.

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

Motor City Machine Guns vs. Good Brothers

Shelley and Anderson start things off as the fans seem more into the Brothers. With nothing going on, Gallows and Sabin come in with Sabin getting a boot up in the corner. The middle rope dropkick staggers Gallows and the Guns start the double teaming. Gallows finally kicks Shelley in the face and it’s Anderson coming in to hammer away.

The big elbows set up Gallows’ chinlock for as long as you would expect a chinlock to last. Back up and Sabin avoids a charge in the corner, setting up the hot tag to Shelley. Everything breaks down and the Guns hit stereo baseball slides as we take a break. We come back with Anderson getting taken down with a dragon screw legwhip and then Shelley doing it again in the corner.

The Figure Four stays on the leg but Anderson grabs the rope for the break. Sabin goes old school with an Indian Deathlock so Anderson rakes the eyes to break it up again. Shelley grabs a front facelock but gets caught in a spinebuster to give Anderson a breather. Gallows comes in and gets to kick away, including a pumphandle powerslam.

Everything breaks down and Gallows is sent outside for some kicks to the face. A missile dropkick/Downward Spiral combination gets two on Anderson but Gallows is back in for the belly to back suplex/neckbreaker combination for two on Sabin. Shelley is back in for the Dream Sequence and the Skull and Bones finishes Anderson at 18:10.

Rating: B. It was a good match and felt like something of a dream showdown, which it more or less is given how successful both of them have been. At the same time, this feels like a match that was designed to write off the Good Brothers, who lost clean after losing their titles. That might be the best thing too, as there is nothing left for the team to do. As for the match, they pretty much tore it up, which is what happens when two good teams get to put in the time.

Too Sweets are exchanged to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Solid show this week with the main event carrying things, as it tends to do. Other than that, they kept things moving with shorter matches that didn’t drag things down too much. What matters here is getting things ready for Victory Road so we can move on to Bound For Glory, even if it is more than a little strange to have them back to back. Good show here, and now we get to move on to the bigger stuff.

Results
Mike Bailey b. Mascara Dorada – Ultimate Weapon
Decay b. Moose/Steve Maclin – Rollup to Maclin
Killer Kelly b. Alisha – Killer Klutch
Honor No More b. Josh Alexander/Rich Swann via DQ when Heath interfered
Mickie James b. Hyan – MickDT
Motor City Machine Guns b. Good Brothers – Skull and Bones to Anderson

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Impact Wrestling
Date: August 25, 2022
Location: Cicero Stadium, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

Bound For Glory is starting to take shape and we now have a main event set for the show. Eddie Edwards won an elimination match last week to earn the spot and now we can begin the build towards the biggest night of the year. There is a lot more to get set up for the show though and maybe we can work on that this week. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Eddie Edwards winning the elimination match last week to earn the title shot.

Opening sequence.

Knockouts Tag Team Titles: Jordynne Grace/Mia Yim vs. VXT

VXT is defending. Grace and Green start things off with the former grabbing a headlock takeover. With that not working, Purrazzo comes in for a few shots before it’s right back to Green. Grace runs her over again and hands it off to Yim for a dropkick into the corner. The Cannonball gets two but Purrazzo’s cheap shot lets the champs take over for a change. Some clotheslines get two on Yim, followed by a clothesline for two on Yim. Purrazzo misses a charge into the post though and the tag brings in Grace.

Everything breaks down and Yim suplexes Green for two before missile dropkicking Purrazzo. Green is back up with a top rope Blockbuster on Yim, only to get gutwrench powerbombed by Grace. The champs are sent outside for stereo dives but Grace cuts Yim off. The distracted referee misses a neck snap across the top rope to Grace, setting up the Due Collector (that double suplex) to retain the titles at 7:28.

Rating: C. This was a good way to give VXT another title win while also having Purrazzo get built up for a possible title shot. Granted I would be shocked if we weren’t gearing up for Masha Slamovich challenging Grace at Bound For Glory, but at least they are trying something. VXT is starting to turn into a nice team and that is something the division really needs.

Violent By Design says they’re back and ready for Time Machine.

Vincent comes up to Josh Alexander, who he is facing tonight. Alexander isn’t dealing with the mind games and plans to drop him on his head.

Here’s what’s coming at various shows.

Mike Bennett vs. Karl Anderson

If Anderson wins, Maria, here too, is banned from ringside whenever Bennett and Matt Taven get their Tag Team Title shot. Anderson chops him down to start and stomps away before a clothesline puts Bennett on the floor. We take a break and come back with Bennett working on a chinlock before whipping Anderson hard into the corner.

The big running start sets up the poke to the eye and we’re back to the chinlock. Anderson fights up and hits the Rocket kick, only to get superkicked for two (Maria screams a lot). Maria offers a distraction so Taven can come in with a cheap shot, only to be cut off by Doc Gallows. That’s enough for the Gun Stun to finish Bennett at 10:16.

Rating: C. They kept this one moving well enough and I was a bit surprised by the ending. What matters here is setting up the title match, where Honor No More can win the titles in a more dominant fashion without having their backup in the corner. I can’t imagine the Good Brothers retaining and the better Honor No More can look in the process, the better for the future of the division.

Post match the Good Brothers go to the back where Scott D’Amore makes the Tag Team Title match for next week.

Savannah Evans is banged up after Killer Kelly beat her last week. Tasha Steelz is ready for revenge but Kelly chokes her from behind.

Jason Hotch vs. Bhupinder Gujjar

Brian Myers is on commentary. Gujjar runs him over to start and hits a shoulder in the corner for two. Hotch is back with a rake to the eyes and a kick to the head in the corner, only to roll into a spinebuster. The Gargoyle spear finishes for Gujjar at 2:18.

Post match Myers lays out Gujjar but he comes back with a Gargoyle spear. Gujjar steals the Digital Media Title.

VXT brags about their win to Gail Kim and Deonna Purrazzo thinks she should get a Knockouts Title shot. Gail gives her a #1 contenders match with Masha Slamovich instead.

Gujjar won’t give the title back, saying Myers can come get it.

Vincent vs. Josh Alexander

Non-title. Vincent drives him into the corner to start but gets belly to belly suplexed for his efforts. A Russian legsweep drops Alexander though and Redrum connects for a fast two. The running knee misses Alexander in the corner and he’s right back with a German suplex to send Vincent flying again. It’s too early for the C4 Spike so Alexander grabs the ankle lock instead, sending Vincent straight to the ropes. Alexander is right back with a Falcon Arrow into a C4 Spike for the pin at 4:05.

Rating: C+. Not much more than a squash here and it isn’t like Vincent is going to be hurt by losing to the World Champion. Alexander going through some of Honor No More on the way to Eddie Edwards should work well enough as a road to Bound For Glory and it isn’t like he’ll run out of opponents anytime soon. Vincent is fine in a spot like this, but he’s much better with those out there promos that he sells so well.

Post match here is Eddie Edwards to say he is going to be challenging Alexander at Bound For Glory, but they don’t have to be enemies. There is a war going on in wrestling and it has nothing to do with what is going on in the ring. These people in the arena support the machine instead of the wrestlers and Alexander needs to pick a side. Before Edwards can get very far, Heath runs in with the Wake Up Call. They got me with that one.

Raj Singh and Shera are complaining about things when they hear Moose and Steve Maclin arguing. Sami Callihan jumps Maclin and Moore, with Maclin being busted open. The villains manages to tie Callihan up in barbed wire and leave him laying.

Video on Masha Slamovich.

Alisha vs. Jessika

Rosemary is here with Jessika, who is billed from the Bright Light District. Rosemary gives Jessika some eye black to fire her up and Alisha gets crushed early. A running basement crossbody drops Alisha again and a fire thunder driver finishes her off at 1:56.

Video on Mickie James walking out of Impact.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Here is Sami Callihan, still wrapped in barbed wire. He wants Barbed Wire Massacre at Victory Road.

Time Machine vs. Violent By Design

That would be the Motor City Machine Guns/Kushida vs. Eric Young/Joe Doering/Deaner. Kushida charges at Doering to start but the shoulders bounce off of him. Young comes in so Shelley joins in to double team him down. It’s off to Deaner, who gets kneed in the back as everything breaks down. Deaner gets in a cheap shot on Sabin in the corner though and it’s Doering plants him to send us to a break.

Back with Young’s neckbreaker getting two, setting up Doering’s elbow drop for two. The alternating stomps and choking in the corner ensues but Sabin avoids a charge. That’s enough for the tag off to Kushida so the pace can pick way up. A basement dropkick hits Deaner and it’s right back to Shelley for some kicks to the face. Everything breaks down again and the villains are sent outside, with Sabin hitting a dive onto Doering.

Back in and Deaner rolls through Sabin’s high crossbody for two, setting up Young’s Death Valley Driver for the same. Deaner hits a top rope headbutt to set up Young’s top rope elbow for two but Young can’t hit the piledriver. Sabin gets over to the corner and everything breaks down again, with the villains being kicked out to the floor. Deaner gets kicked in the head by Kushida, sending him into Cradle Shock to give Sabin the pin at 18:42.

Rating: B. Maybe it’s enjoying seeing Violent By Design get hit and kicked a lot but this was a rather enjoyable main event. Kushida and the Guns work well together (shouldn’t be a surprise) and they picked up a win here to put Violent By Design back in trouble. I’m sure Young will monologue about this again next week, but for now, the team loses and gets shut up for another week so we’ll call that a win.

Overall Rating: C+. This was Impact doing what it does best: giving you a completely acceptable two hours of wrestling with its unique cast of stars. Some of the action was more ok than great or even good, but they aren’t doing anything too bad and you can follow the stories with no particular difficulty. That is a lot more than several promotions can claim, making Impact an enjoyable enough show. Good show this week, and I could go for more of this kind of show as the norm if that is what Impact can do.

Results
VXT b. Jordynne Grace/Mia Yim – Due Collector to Grace
Karl Anderson b. Mike Bennett – Gun Stun
Bhupinder Gujjar b. Jason Hotch – Gargoyle spear
Josh Alexander b. Vincent – C4 Spike
Jessika b. Alisha – Fire Thunder Driver
Time Machine b. Violent By Design – Cradle Shock to Deaner

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Impact Wrestling
Date: August 18, 2022
Location: Cicero Stadium, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

We’re coming off a pretty awesome Emergence and that means it is time to start getting going on the next special, meaning it’s off to Victory Road. I’m not sure what that is to entail but having the show just a few weeks ahead of Bound For Glory is more than a little weird. Let’s get to it.

Here is Emergence if you need a recap.

The opening recap looks at Josh Alexander escaping Alex Shelley at Emergence.

Opening sequence.

Black Taurus vs. Laredo Kid vs. Rey Horus vs. Trey Miguel

Crazzy Steve is on commentary. Taurus gets triple dropkicked to the floor to start and Kid dives on him. Back in and Kid hits some tilt-a-whirl backbreakers before headscissoring Taurus into the corner. Some Sling Blades put Kid down though and it’s Miguel coming back in, only to get taken down as well. Horus backdrops Taurus outside but a slingshot hurricanrana is pulled out of the air.

A headbutt drops Horus so Miguel hurricanranas Kid into Taurus for the knockdown. Everyone gets back in with Taurus dropping Miguel, only to get poisonranaed by Horus. With everyone else outside, Horus hits a huge top rope moonsault onto the pile for the huge knockdown. Back in and Miguel takes Horus down but gets Canadian Destroyed by Kid, who is spun into a piledriver to give Taurus the pin at 7:32.

Rating: B-. You remember what I say about how the X-Division style stuff is here to pop the crowd in an opening match and little more? That’s what we had here, as they had three people in there flying around, plus Taurus for the power. In other words, a very fun match and the right way to open any show as they packed in a lot of stuff without being out there too long.

We look back at Killer Kelly.

Zicky Dice and Johnny Swinger are impressed with Kelly. Cue Tasha Steelz and Savannah Evans to rant about how much better Steelz is. Kelly pops in and doesn’t seem to care, but seems to get a match with Evans for tonight.

Rich Swann talks to Josh Alexander about tonight’s #1 contenders match and Alexander wouldn’t mind Swann winning. Vincent comes in to say Eddie Edwards is going to win. Alexander glares at him.

Here’s what’s coming tonight.

Kenny King vs. Heath

Vincent is here with King and the slugout is on fast. An early Wake Up Call attempt is blocked so King is sent outside for a conference. Vincent offers enough of a distraction to get heath outside, with King hitting the corkscrew slingshot dive. We take a break and come back with Heath avoiding a springboard spinning legdrop and grabbing a jumping neckbreaker. King misses a charge in the corner and the Wake Up Call gives Heath the pin at 6:57.

Rating: C-. They didn’t have much time here but Heath’s roll continues. That takes something special, as they have turned Heath into someone with people getting behind him despite the fact that he’s, you know, Heath. Nice job with the story here, even if the match was only so good in the first place.

Post match here is Honor No More to beat Heath down, but Eddie Edwards spends awhile telling PCO to take Heath out. That takes so long that Heath hits a Wake Up Call on Bennett and gets out.

Kushida and the Motor City Machine Guns didn’t have a good night at Emergence but they’re ready to face Violent By Design next week. They are Time Machine, which is as clever of a name as you’re getting in their case.

Honor No More regroups until Scott D’Amore comes in. The team wants to know when their title shot is, but Doc Gallows is injured. Maria isn’t pleased, so D’Amore makes Matt Taven vs. Karl Anderson next week, and if Anderson wins, Maria is banned from ringside whenever the title match takes place.

Killer Kelly vs. Savannah Evans

Tasha Steelz is here with Evans. Kelly gets in her face to start before grabbing Evans’ hand and putting it around her own (as in Kelly’s) throat). That’s fine with Evans who sends her hard into the corner, only to have Kelly come back with a dropkick. A hard German suplex drops Kelly but she reverses a full nelson into the Killer Clutch for the tap at 3:32.

Rating: C. I remember wondering why Impact was bothering to bring Kelly in after her less than interesting NXT UK run. This is a complete surprise as Kelly is already making an impression and looks like she could be a player. That’s a lot more than I would have bet on and if Impact gets someone else in the Knockouts division, good for them.

Rosemary isn’t happy that she and Taya Valkyrie lost the Knockouts Tag Team Titles, saying that Havok would have been a better partner. Jessika has this though, as her debut match is next week.

We recap Masha Slamovich giving Jordynne Grace her death warrant.

Jordynne Grace is ready for Slamovich and respects Mia Yim. VXT comes in to mock her for not getting able to shake Mia’s hand. Trash is talked but here is Mia to issue the challenge for the titles. Deal.

X-Division Title: Chris Bey vs. Mike Bailey

Bailey is defending and armdrags him down a few times to start. Back up and Bailey kicks him in the head, sending Bey outside for a breather. The chase back inside lets Bey grab a slingshot DDT for two and Bailey is in trouble for a change. The Figure Four necklock goes on but Bailey is right back up with a running dropkick. It’s too early for the running corkscrew shooting star press but it’s not too early for Bailey’s bouncing kicks.

Bey is back up with a jumping Downward Spiral for two, only to miss a charge to the floor. That means Bailey can hit his middle rope moonsault but Bey kicks him down again. The big running flip dive takes Bailey down, setting up a top rope double stomp (with Bailey laying on the top rope for a unique spot). A sitout powerbomb gives Bey two but Bailey is back up with some more kicks. The Ultimate Weapon retains the title at 8:24.

Rating: C+. I don’t know what it is about Bailey but I can’t get myself to care about him. Maybe it is that his matches are similar most of the time (entertaining, but repetitive) or that stupid bow he does, but I can’t bring myself to get invested in him. He’s doing a good job as champion though and someone beating him will feel important when it happens. I’m just not getting behind him that much.

Flashback Moment Of The Week: Christian Cage b. Ace Austin at Victory Road 2011.

Brian Myers runs into Bhupinder Gujjar and says this isn’t over. Why can’t it be?

Eddie Edwards vs. Sami Callihan vs. Rich Swann vs. Moose vs. Steve Maclin vs. Bandido

Elimination rules with tags required and the winner gets the shot at Josh Alexander at Bound For Glory. Swann and Bandido start things off with Bandido having to flip out of a wristlock. They both miss a bunch of dropkicks until Eddie and Sami tag themselves in. Everything breaks down and commentary explains the logic of not needing/wanting to be in the ring until the end, which is an extra degree of psychology.

We take a break and come back with Swann getting beaten down in the corner by Moose and Maclin, which doesn’t sit well with Sami. That’s appropriate as Swann gets over for the tag off to Sami to clean some house. The double teaming slows him down though and it’s a spear to give Moose the pin on Sami at 11:04. Then Maclin rolls Moose up for the pin at 11:08, which has Moose mad.

Callihan doesn’t leave and sends Maclin into Moose, allowing Bandido to hit the big dive to drop Maclin on the floor. Back in and the 21 Plex finishes Maclin at 12:07, leaving us with Eddie vs. Bandido vs. Swann. We take another break and come back with Swann and Bandido trading big shots to the head. Bandido starts striking away and grabs the one armed gorilla press. The pop up cutter gets two, as does Swann’s Lethal Injection.

Eddie tags himself in though and sends Swann into the post. The Boston Knee Party connects to get rid of Bandido at 19:57. We’re down to one on one and Swann gets elbowed in the face for two more. Swann catches him on top and snaps off a super hurricanrana, setting up the running kick to the head for two.

That’s enough for Eddie to be sent outside where he gets in a shot with Kenny the kendo stick for two more. Back in and the tiger driver is countered so Eddie hits the Boston Knee Party for another near fall. That’s enough for Eddie who comes back with a vengeance with the Die Hard Driver and the winning pin at 25:29.

Rating: B. This worked well and Edwards winning is the right way to go. Honor No More is a team that could go somewhere rather quickly if given the chance and maybe this is that chance. Edwards is someone who can be put right back into the main event scene in the blink of an eye and that seems to be what they are doing here. It helps that there were other viable options to get the title shot, so it wasn’t exactly a foregone conclusion. Rather good match with some drama here so nice job.

Honor No More celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. It’s nice to see Impact shaking off their reputation for a weak followup to the bigger shows as this was a perfectly good episode. They have also got us ready for Bound For Glory, where you can probably pencil in Honor No More for two title shots. Other than that, more stories have been built up and we should be in for some interesting stuff on the way to Albany.

Results
Black Taurus b. Laredo Kid, Rey Horus and Trey Miguel – Piledriver to Kid
Heath b. Kenny King – Wake Up Call
Killer Kelly b. Savannah Evans – Killer Clutch
Mike Bailey b. Chris Bey – Ultimate Weapon
Eddie Edwards b. Rich Swann, Sami Callihan, Moose, Steve Maclin and Bandido – Die Hard Driver to Swann

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Impact Wrestling
Date: May 12, 2022
Location: Promowest Pavilion, Newport, Kentucky
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

We’re done with Under Siege and that means we need a new #1 contender. Josh Alexander successfully defended the World Title against Tomohiro Ishii so now it’s time for something new. That means the return of the Gauntlet For The Gold, a huge gauntlet match, to crown a new #1 contender. Let’s get to it.

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

Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt are in the ring to hype up the Gauntlet For The Gold.

Video on Gauntlet For The Gold.

Ultimate X Qualifying Match: Chris Bey vs. Kenny King

The winner is in the Ultimate X X-Division Title match at Slammiversary and Maria Kanellis-Bennett is on commentary. King takes him down with a headlock to start but gets armdragged into an armbar. A dropkick puts King on the floor, where he gets knocked down again for a bonus. Back in and King hits some running knees in the corner for two, followed by a snap powerslam for the same.

The neck crank goes on for a bit before King misses a springboard spinning legdrop. Bey’s torture rack neckbreaker gets two but King grabs the Chin Checker into the tiger driver for two. That has Maria VERY fired up and in full cheerleader mode but Bey cuts her off with a slingshot DDT for two of his own. Standing Sliced Bread plants King and Bey goes up, only to have Maria offer a distraction. The Royal Flush sends King to Slammiversary at 8:35.

Rating: C+. Good choice for an opener here as there was almost no way that this wasn’t going to work. King is someone with enough of a resume around here that he is going to tie into the history and feel like a viable challenger so the win is a good idea. Bey losing is a bit weird, but maybe he can get back in there some other way.

Gisele Shaw and Alisha Edwards don’t seem to get along before their Knockouts Tag Team Title shot. Yes, another thrown together team.

Knockouts Tag Team Titles: Influence vs. Alisha Edwards/Gisele Shaw

Edwards and Shaw are challenging and it’s Edwards rolling Rayne up for some near falls to start. Everything breaks down early and stereo Thesz presses have the champs in trouble as we take a break. Back with Edwards beating on Dashwood until a Rayne distraction cuts her off.

Dashwood grabs a neckbreaker for two and the champs take turns choking in the corner. Rayne’s neckbreaker gets two of her own but Edwards gets over for the hot tag to Edwards without much trouble. House is cleaned, including a spear for two on Shaw. Edwards tags herself back in though and it’s the double Stroke to retain the titles at 11:07.

Rating: C-. With the IInspiration gone, I continue to not exactly see the need for these titles to exist. Until some more teams are built up, they are glorified vanity trophies for the Influence and no one else. As usual, there just isn’t that much depth to support them and it shows more and more every time they get to face another thrown together tag team.

Violent By Design promises to get the Tag Team Titles back next week. For tonight though, Eric Young is winning the Gauntlet For The Gold.

Here is Gail Kim for a chat. She is excited about the 20th anniversary Slammiversary, which means we need something historic. This time around that is going to mean the first ever Queen Of The Mountain match. The five names participating are Tasha Steelz, Chelsea Green, Jordynne Grace, Deonna Purrazzo and….here are Steelz and Savannah Evans to interrupt.

Steelz can’t believe how much Kim is doing to take the title from her but she knows that Evans is going to be the fifth entrant. Actually no, because the fifth entrant is…..MIA YIM! That sends Steelz over the edge but the lights go out and Yim, with minions, is here for the save. Purrazzo comes in to help beat Yim down but Taya Valkyrie and Grace make the real save.

Rich Swann is ready for Gauntlet For The Gold but he also doesn’t think much of Digital Media Champion Matt Cardona.

Bullet Club vs. Tomohiro Ishii/Josh Alexander

Jay White/El Phantasmo for the Club. White and Alexander start things off but we’ll go with Phantasmo before anything can happen. Phantasmo actually takes him to the mat, which isn’t ok with Alexander. That means Phantasmo gets sent into the corner for the tag to White, who gets to face Ishii. White gets run over with a shoulder but it’s too early for the brainbuster. Instead White runs him over and gets to pose a bit, as he likes to do.

The choking on the ropes ensues and it’s back to Phantasmo, only to have Ishii get fired up. Some double teaming slows Ishii down though and it’s White chopping him in the corner. Ishii finally gets in a shot of his own though and the hot tag brings in Alexander to run over Phantasmo. Everything breaks down and the C4 Spike hits White, with Phtantasmo making the save. It’s back to Ishii, who German suplexes Phantasmo and Alexander decks White. The sliding lariat sets up the brainbuster to finish Phantasmo at 10:32.

Rating: B-. Pretty good match here, as the Bullet Club takes a hit. That being said, losing to the World Champion and a star like Ishii is hardly a devastating loss. White vs. Alexander has to be at least a candidate for the Bound For Glory World Title shot assuming it is still a possibility and keeping the two of them mostly apart here was a good idea. Alexander’s roll continues though, and I’m not sure who is supposed to stop him.

The Briscoes, the new Impact Tag Team Champions, are ready for Violent By Design again next week.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Gauntlet For The Gold

Royal Rumble style, twenty entrants, two minute interval to start then ninety seconds each (weird), regular match when it gets down to two. Chris Sabin is in at #1 and Alex Shelley is in at #2 by the power of coincidence. A battle over wrist control doesn’t get either of them anywhere as commentary talks about the history of Gauntlet For The Gold. Neither can get the better of anything and it’s Eddie Edwards in at #3.

The Guns wisely start in together on Edwards but he clothesliens both of them down in a bit of a surprise. Vincent, also of Honor No More, is in at #4 to give us a mini tag match. Oddly the Guns get the better of things when their odds are worse and it’s Steve Maclin in at #5. The Guns are dropped again and it’s Maclin working with Honor No More (though he doesn’t seem happy to do so) until Shark Boy makes his return at #6.

The Chummer hits Maclin and the Guns are back up to help clean house. A double Chummer hits Honor No More and we take a break. Back with Shark Boy gone, Raj Singh having come in at #7, Trey Miguel having come in at #8 and Bhupinder Gujjar coming in at #9. Gujjar beats up and elimiantes Singh, because that is the only reason these two exist around here.

Shera is in at #10 and slugs it out with Gujjar with Shera getting the better of things. W. Morrissey is in at #11 and gets to clean house, including eliminating Shera and Vincent. Eric Young is in at #12 and hits Morrissey with a hockey mask, setting up the piledriver. Young blocks Gujjar’s skinning the cat attempt and tosses him out and Maclin hits Miguel with an Irish Curse.

Johnny Swinger, in a mini Wrestlemania III ring cart (as powered by Zicky Dice in a hilarious bit) wacks to the ring like a Bushwhacker, is in at #13, gets tossed, and wacks his way out as we take another break. Back again with Black Taurus having come in at #14, Heath having come in at #15 and having to be saved by Rhino at #16. The Gore hits Edwards and he gets tossed out as we see Shelley being eliminated during the break.

Moose is in at #17 and tosses Taurus and Rhino in short order. Heath slugs away at Moose and gets tossed as well but it’s Rich Swann in at #18 to get the numbers back up a bit. Swann hits Moose with a Lethal Injection but Young slows him down with a low blow. Matt Cardona’s….music plays, as Matthew Rehwoldt is in at #19 to toss Swann from behind. PCO is in at #20 and gets to clean some house, including eliminating Rehwoldt.

Morrissey and PCO get the big slugout (with Morrissey TOWERING over him) until Maclin tosses both of them in an impressive feat. That gives us a final four of Moose, Young, Maclin and Sabin, with Moose being the only one standing. Then the lights go back and it’s Sami Callihan (who returned at Under Siege) to get rid of Moose. Rage seems to be implied as we’re down to three.

Maclin and Young start stomping on Sabin in the corner but he’s back up with a double clothesline. Sabin manages to send Maclin to the apron though and some dropkicks put him down,meaning it’s Sabin vs. Young in a regular match for the title shot. Young knocks him down and hits the top rope elbow for two, plus a clothesline for the same. Sabin is back with a tornado DDT for the same but the Cradle Shock is countered into a piledriver to give Young the pin and the title shot at 36:34.

Rating: C+. The best thing that you can say about a match like this is that it didn’t drag and they managed to make it work here. They even had some comic relief with Swinger and Shark Boy in there to make things a bit more fun. As for Young winning….I guess it works, though it doesn’t exactly feel like something that should be headlining what is often their best show of the year. Maybe it winds up working, but it isn’t exactly exciting.

Overall Rating: B-. This show was built around one match and that match wound up doing rather well. That is a rare change of pace for Impact, as they rarely come out hot after a bigger show. Hopefully they can keep that up, as Slammiversary could be quite the success if they put everything together well. They have a main event set, and while it could be good, they might have their work cut out for them to make the card feel that important. It can be done, but it won’t be the easiest trick.

Results
Kenny King b. Chris Bey – Royal Flush
Influence b. Gisele Shaw/Alisha Edwards – Double faceplant to Edwards
Tomohiri Ishii/Josh Alexander b. Bullet Club – Brainbuster to El Phantasmo
Eric Young won Gauntlet For The Gold last eliminating Chris Sabin

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: April 28, 2022
Location: Majed J. Nesheiwat Convention Center, Poughkeepsie, New York
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

We’re done with Rebellion and the big story is that Josh Alexander got the World Title back from Moose in a heck of a main event. Other than that, we are less than two weeks away from Under Siege and need to get a card together pretty fast. Odds are we’ll be seeing a bunch of rematches so let’s get to it.

Here is Rebellion if you need a recap.

The opening recap looks at Rebellion in rapid fashion.

Opening sequence.

Here is Violent By Design for a chat. Eric Young talks about desiring power and control, and that is exactly what they went and got. Now they have defeated seven teams and are the permanent Tag Team Champions. If you are being honest, their success shouldn’t surprise you and there is no team anywhere that can take them down.

Cue Heath and Rhino to say they want the Tag Team Titles (with Rhino’s voice getting a bit high) but here are the Briscoes to interrupt. Jay says Dem Boys are in the house and you should have known that they were going to be back after that BS at the Multiverse of Matches. They have won titles everywhere they have gone and this will be no different. Heath tells them to get in the back of the line but Jay says they don’t do that for anyone. Young says this isn’t “an us” problem so the other two can figure this out and come find the champs.

Briscoes vs. Heath/Rhino

For a future Tag Team Title shot. Mark starts fast and clears the ring, setting up the big flip dive to the floor. The brawl is on outside until we settle down so Mark can suplex Heath for two. Heath manages to kick Jay outside though and Rhino gets in a clothesline as we take a break with the Briscoes in trouble.

Back with Jay getting elbowed down and Rhino grabs the nerve hold. Heath switches to his own chinlock and pulls the hair to keep Jay away from the tag. That lasts all of eight seconds as the tag brings Mark in for Red Neck Kung Fu. Everything breaks down and Jay hits the neckbreaker onto Rhino, setting up the Froggy Bow for the pin at 9:57.

Rating: C+. I can always go for more of the Briscoes and while this might not be WWE or AEW, it is great to see them getting on a bigger platform. I’m not sure if they are going to be around long term but just seeing them in Impact is a good sign. Now just get them into the title picture permanently (if they’re staying) and things should pick up a lot.

Here’s what’s coming tonight.

Moose comes in to see Scott D’Amore and isn’t happy with getting his rematch on five days’ notice. D’Amore tells him to go win his title back.

EGV is coming.

VSK vs. Bhupinder Gujjar

VSK tries to jump him to start but Gujjar gets a running start and hits an elbow to the face. That’s enough to send him outside so Gujjar is right there with a dive to take him out. Back in and VSK gets in a shot to the face as some rather young children seem to be chanting for VSK. The chinlock goes on and lasts as long as expected, with Gujjar fighting up for a Sling Blade. What looks to be a powerslam is broken up but the second attempt works, setting up the middle rope spear to give Gujjar the pin at 4:32.

Rating: C-. This was ever Gujjar match but not as interesting. The guy just doesn’t have that much of note in the ring and is serviceable at best. It also doesn’t help that his story is involving two other people who haven’t been seen as big deals either, making it feel as low level as you can get around here.

Post match here are Raj Singh and Shera, with the latter beating up VSK again.

Ace Austin calls himself Trey Miguel’s greatest weakness but here is Rocky Romero to offer him a spot in the New Japan Best of the Super Juniors. Austin likes the idea but tells Romero to leave. This gets Romero to challenge him for a title match next week. Austin says get in line, but Romero is off to talk to Scott D’Amore. Mike Bailey comes in to offer Austin a handshake but Austin walks away.

Steve Maclin wants the World Title shot at Under Siege.

Honor No More vs. Motor City Machine Guns/Mike Bailey

Eddie Edwards/Mike Bennett/Matt Taven for Honor No More here, with the rest of the team at ringside. Bailey and Taven start things off but it’s a brawl less than fifteen seconds in. Taven tosses Sabin into a powerbomb from Edwards but Bailey flips over them and starts kicking away. A Kenny King distraction lets Taven and Bennett take over on Bailey and Edwards adds the suicide dive as we take a break.

We come back with Bailey kicking Taven down but Edwards in in for the save. As expected, the tag to Sabin goes through mere seconds later and it’s time to clean house. The Dream Sequence hits Bennett and it’s time for the exchange of strikes to the face. Bailey and Bennett chop it out with Bailey getting the better of things and hitting the running shooting star press. The Guns set up Bailey for a double Dream Sequence and it’s time for the series of dives to the floor. Back in and a Kenny King distraction breaks up the Ultimate Weapon and Bennett Spears Shelley. The Die Hard Driver finishes Bailey at 11:05.

Rating: C+. I can always go for a good six man tag and they had the talent in here to make it work. It’s a good sign to see Honor No More picking up a win and there is something satisfying about seeing Bailey getting knocked around. The Guns being back is nice to see too, leaving me pretty happy with everything going on here.

Post match Sabin and Bailey aren’t getting along. With the Guns and Bailey gone, here are the Good Brothers to take out Honor No More.

Josh Alexander says it’s time to shut Moose up for good. He’s ready to face whoever Scott D’Amore has in store for the title shot at Under Siege too.

Here is new AAA Reina de Reinas Champion Taya Valkyrie for a chat, though Matthew Rehwoldt is still trying to find the words to deal with Deonna Purrazzo’s loss. Taya talks about her passion and creativity being held captive for a long time (seemingly talking about her time in WWE) but now she knows who she is. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to reach the top again and now she is the champ again. Cue Purrazzo to jump Taya from behind though and the Fujiwara armbar goes on. Decay comes in for the save.

Tasha Steelz/Savannah Evans b. Decay

It’s a brawl around ringside before the bell until they head inside with Steelz being driven into the corner hard enough that the referee has to check on her. She’s fine enough to get splashed by both members of Decay before handing it off to Evans. The Upside Down is broken up by a grab of Rosemary’s throat and things slow down a bit. Rosemary claws her way out of a fireman’s carry though and it’s Havok coming in with a Death Valley Driver. Everything breaks down and a Havok backbreaker sets up a Rosemary spear finishes Evans at 4:51.

Rating: C. This was a quick one and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Havok as the challenger of the month. She makes for a good monster and hasn’t gotten much focus in recent years so it could be worth a shot. Sometimes you need to mix it up a bit and that is what we might be getting as Rosemary has already had her chance.

It’s time for It’s All About Me with the Influence bragging about their win. Gisele Shaw comes in and says she smelled cheap perfume and insecurity. A match with Dashwood is made for next week.

Vincent is ready to bring PCO back to fight in the coliseum, meaning Monster’s Ball, against Jonah.

Here’s what’s coming next week and at Under Siege.

Impact Wrestling World Title: Moose vs. Josh Alexander

Alexander is defending. Moose starts fast and powers him into the corner but Alexander switches places and chops away. That doesn’t last long as Moose sends him to the floor and we take a break. Back with Moose sending him ribs first into the apron and adding an apron powerbomb. Some shots to the face set up a chinlock with a knee in Alexander’s back.

That’s broken up and Alexander wins a slugout but can only roll so many German suplexes. The C4 Spike doesn’t work so Alexander grabs a Sharpshooter like any good Canadian. Moose makes the rope and gets back up for the exchange of forearms. Alexander rolls over into the ankle lock but Moose sends him into the corner, setting up the release Rock Bottom. A buckle bomb drops Alexander but Moose doesn’t launch the spear. Instead he tries another powerbomb, which is reversed into one from Alexander (with what seemed like a camera cut). The C4 Spike retains Alexander’s title at 16:10.

Rating: B-. These two work well together and they did it again here, though there wasn’t the same energy that the title match had over the weekend. It’s good to see Alexander pick up another win to really establish himself as champion, even if it is something that he already covered on Saturday. Now it is on to Under Siege for Alexander, as Moose might need to go away for a bit to reenergize.

Post match Tomohiro Ishii comes out to stare down Alexander and seems to be the challenger for Under Siege. Works for me.

Overall Rating: C. I wasn’t exactly feeling this one but Impact has a history of not having the strongest shows post pay per views. It doesn’t help that they had to jump right into the build for Under Siege in two weeks, but the card does seem to be made up of logical steps. This wasn’t a great show though and the best match, the main event, was done better just a few days ago. Not worth a watch, but that might be a one off problem.

Results
Briscoes b. Heath/Rhino – Froggy Bow to Rhino
Bhupinder Gujjar b. VSK – Middle rope spear
Honor No More b. Motor City Machine Guns/Mike Bailey b. Die Hart Driver to Bailey
Decay b. Savannah Evans/Tasha Steelz – Spear to Evans
Josh Alexander b. Moose – C4 Spike

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: April 21, 2022
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Matthew Rehwoldt, Tom Hannifan

It’s the go home show for Rebellion and we should be in for a solid night. The card is mostly set with the World Title being more than ready, so now it might be time to focus on just about everything else. I’m actually looking forward to the pay per view and if they can get in one last push, we should be in for a nice Saturday. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

Opening sequence.

Violent By Design vs. Decay

Non-title and it’s Eric Young/Deaner vs. Black Taurus/Crazzy Steve. Taurus hits Deaner in the face to start but Young gets in a cheap shot from the apron to take over. A running knee in the corner gives Deaner two but Taurus knocks him down and brings Steve in to clean house. Steve dropkicks Young off the apron and hits the Cannonball for two on Deaner, with Young dropping a top rope elbow for the save. Everything breaks down and Taurus is sent into the steps. The distraction is enough for Young to break a flag over Steve’s back, allowing Deaner to grab the DDT for the pin at 4:38.

Rating: C-. Not much to this one and the champs cheat to win. Decay is going to be in the elimination match for the titles at Rebellion but it is still a little hard to buy that Violent By Design would need to cheat to beat them. At least it was short though, which is how I tend to like my Violent By Design.

Video on Moose vs. Josh Alexander, which has turned into something of an epic feud.

During the break, Tasha Steelz and Savannah Evans jumped Rosemary and Havok as they checked on the rest of Decay.

Rebellion rundown.

Here are the Major Players (Chelsea Green/Brian Myers/Matt Cardona) for a chat. We look back at the three of them combining to put W. Morrissey through a table last week before Cardona says it is appropriate that he is in the ECW Arena because he is the Deathmatch King. Now he and Myers think they need some tag team gold around here, with Myers saying that they’re on the same page now. Green talks about how they were all you could talk about on their own, and now they’re united.

Cue Guido Maritato and Tony Mamaluke, better known as the FBI in ECW, to interrupt. Guido rants about how the Major Players are disrespecting this building and thinks the shirt says MAJOR SISSIES. The FBI clears the ring and Guido wants a Digital Media Title shot RIGHT NOW.

Digital Media Title: Matt Cardona vs. Guido Maritato

Cardona is defending and gets taken to the mat to start. A fireman’s carry takeover has Cardona messed up so he bails to the floor, where he almost hits Green in the face. The distraction lets Guido get in a shot but Myers offers a distraction of his own, allowing Cardona to kick a rope low on Guido. Back in and Cardona gets a bit more serious with some choking and the Reboot. Guido fights up as well and hits the Sicilian Slice, only to have Myers offer a distraction. The low blow and Radio Silence finish for Cardona at 4:56.

Rating: C. As much as I absolutely never need to see another ECW tribute or return again, they kept this short and Cardona won in the end so it could have been a lot worse. Cardona and Myers could make for a force around here and it is kind of amazing to see Cardona coming this far. This isn’t the same thing as having Hawkins and Ryder together again, so I’m curious enough about where this is going.

Post match the table is loaded up but W. Morrissey runs in and…gets taken down by Green’s low blow. Jordynne Grace of all people runs in for the save and cleans house, allowing Morrissey to chokeslam Cardona through the table.

Honor No More is ready to win all of their matches at Rebellion and mock Bullet Club for a bonus.

Jonah talks about how he hurt PCO and now he’ll do the same to Tomohiro Ishii at Rebellion.

Shera vs. Gabriel Rodriguez

The toss into the corner sets up the Sher Kamur for the pin at 16 seconds.

Bhupinder Gujjar isn’t regretting his decision to not join Raj Singh.

Moose is ready to go and make a public apology but wants assurances that Josh Alexander won’t attack him. Scott D’Amore isn’t impressed but he’ll be at ringside anyway.

Honor No More vs. Bullet Club

Vincent/Matt Taven/Mike Bennett/Kenny King vs. Jay White/Good Brothers/Chris Bey here with the rest of Honor No More at ringside too. Anderson shoulders Vincent down to start and hands it off to Gallows to do the same. Bennett comes in to get punched in the corner but avoids an elbow, allowing White and Taven to come in.

Taven dropkicks him down but spends too much time saying his name, allowing White to hit a chop. King comes in to trade missed dropkicks with Bey, with the latter being knocked into the corner. A Bennett brainbuster plants Bey and Taven gets two off a neckbreaker. Taven misses a charge though and the hot tag brings in Anderson to really clean house. Honor No More is sent outside and we take a break.

Back with Anderson and Bennett knocking each other down, setting up the double tag to White and Vincent. The spinning suplex gives White two but Vincent is back with a Russian legsweep for the double knockdown. The hot tag brings in Gallows to clean house as everything breaks down. Bey hits a big running flip dive to the floor, leaving Bennett to get Gun Stunned into the Magic Killer for the pin at 12:48.

Rating: C+. This was the kind of insanity that you might have expected and there was almost no way that Honor No More was going to win, especially without its ace in the match. Other than that, the Bullet Club instantly feels bigger because of White being around. He’s a star and the kind of person you can build around for a long time to come, assuming he wants to stick around. Good match here, with a lot of people getting to shine.

Steve Maclin is ready for Chris Sabin and Jay White at Rebellion because he is in a club of his own (meaning the military).

The IInspiration were having a signing earlier before stopping to talk to the camera. They’re glad that Kaleb With A K is gone, as now they can get the Knockouts Tag Team Titles back.

Taya Valkyrie is back for the Reina de Reinas Title, and maybe to shut Deonna Purrazzo up a bit.

Ace Austin/Mike Bailey vs. Trey Miguel/Laredo Kid

Austin forearms Miguel in the face to start and goes after his arm to limited avail. Bailey comes in to run the ropes with Kid, who sends him outside for a heck of a suicide dive. Back from a break and it’s Austin driving a shoulder into Kid’s ribs in the corner. Kid fights up and strikes away though, allowing the hot tag off to Miguel.

Everything breaks down and Kid’s springboard is broken up with a kick to the head. Bailey and Austin hit their stereo running flip dives but Miguel is back up to kick them both down. Back in and Bailey spends too much time setting up a kick and gets dropkicked down. That leaves Austin to load up the Fold, which is countered into a rollup to give Miguel the pin at 9:25.

Rating: B-. It’s the kind of a match that is going to be entertaining and high speed every time, even if it isn’t exactly a classic formula. It’s a bit of a weird choice to give the champ the pin going into the title match, but maybe Austin can get the win back at the pay per view to even it up. I’ll take that over Bailey, who still hasn’t clicked for me.

Post match Austin wants Bailey to deck Miguel but Bailey strikes Austin down instead to stand tall.

Another Rebellion rundown.

Vincent excuses himself from an Honor No More huddle so he can go find some jumper cables. He finds PCO and electrocutes him back to life, because PCO is not human.

Here is Moose, with his lawyer RD Evans, for the public apology. The statement, to Josh Alexander’s family, is rather formal and includes some information about Moose’s title reign. That’s not good enough for Moose, who cuts it off and wants a better apology. He is sorry that he exposed Alexander as a horrible father and husband, plus for the beating that Alexander is getting at Rebellion. Moose isn’t sorry for sending Alexander home for more than a month. Then Alexander is going to beg Moose to come to his home and show his wife and son what a real man is.

Cue Alexander for the brawl with Moose, who gets in a cheap shot to set up a chokeslam. The table is set up at ringside but Moose takes too long, allowing Alexander to hit the C4 Spike through said table to end the show. I have no idea why the table was needed when a regular C4 Spike inside would have worked just fine but that’s modern wrestling for you.

Overall Rating: B-. They’re doing a good enough job of setting up the pay per view, which has been built up long enough that it needs to just take place already. The good thing is that they haven’t burned me out on any of the feuds, with Moose vs. Alexander being timed about as well as it could have been. There was enough good wrestling on here to keep me interested and Rebellion still has my attention so it’s a success all around.

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: April 7, 2022
Location: Fairmont Hotel, Dallas, Texas
Host: Josh Matthews

It’s a special week this time around as rather than building towards Rebellion with a regular show, we’re going to look at some of the Multiverse Of Matches card. The show was held over Wrestlemania Weekend but a lot of it had little to do with the upcoming pay per view. It should be fun for a one off though so let’s get to it.

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

Note that I’ll be posting the full versions of the matches rather than the possibly clipped versions from the broadcast.

The opening video gives us a Multiverse Of Matches highlight reel.

X-Division Title: Jordynne Grace vs. Chris Bey vs. Blake Christian vs. Vincent vs. Rich Swann vs. Trey Miguel

Miguel is defending in Ultimate X and Swann busts out a Scott Hall pose for a great moment. It’s a group attempt to crawl across the ropes to start but that is all broken up. The audio gets a lot louder as Miguel is left alone, only to be pulled down by Swann and Bey. That means a three way exchange of strikes to the face with bey getting the better of things.

Grace is back in with a MuscleBuster to Bey but Christian clears the ring out again. Miguel takes Christian down though and goes up, only to get pulled down by Vincent. That earns Vincent a cutter from Swann, who is pulled down by Bey rather quickly. Bey plants Swann with the Art of Finesse so Christian goes up, only to drop does onto Bey with a Canadian Destroyer. Instead of climbing though, Christian hits a big flip dive onto the pile. It’s Grace going across the cables and using her legs, only to get knocked down by Miguel. That’s enough for Miguel to grab the title and retain at 7:25.

Rating: B-. This was one of those things where I’ve seen a bunch of Ultimate X matches over the years and a lot of them run together. The climbing was the focus here again as it tends to be, though it was a lot of two people do their thing and then some others take their place. Fun match, but if you’ve seen a few of these, you’ve seen them all.

Trey Miguel is ready for his triple threat title defense at Rebellion. If you can’t see the fire in his eyes right now, you aren’t looking close enough.

We look at Chelsea Green turning on Mickie James, who got taken out by Matt Cardona. A mixed tag match was set.

Mickie James is ready to take Green out and Nick Aldis is glad to be back for one night only. He just wishes it was under nicer circumstances than him stretching Cardona.

Matt Cardona/Chelsea Green vs. Nick Aldis/Mickie James

Green turned on James and Cardona took her out, so James brought in Aldis for a battle of married teams. The girls get in a brawl to start but we settle down to Aldis pounding on Cardona on the mat and in the corner. Mickie comes in but gets taken down by Cardona’s clothesline to put her in trouble. It’s off to Green to choke in the corner and forearm away, setting up the chinlock to keep James down.

The Reboot misses for Cardona though and Mickie grabs a flapjack, allowing the hot tag off to Aldis. The clothesline comeback is on, setting up a Tombstone. There’s a top rope elbow but Green makes the save as everything breaks down. Cardona has to save Green from the King’s Lynn Cloverleaf but she gets sent outside anyway. Back in and stereo King’s Lynn Cloverleafs make Cardona and Green tap at the same time at 8:00.

Rating: C. I remember this being a bit longer in person but it still worked out well enough. There is a simple story here with the two married couples going at it over one of them being attacked a few weeks ago. Aldis continues to look like a star, though he might be a bit dull, and James has been a legend for years. Green has come a long way and Cardona…my goodness he has had a career renaissance in the last year or so and it has been a lot of fun to watch.

Eddie Edwards is here representing Pro Wrestling Noah because they didn’t turn their backs on him. He is in his old school green and is ready to prove himself to Tomohiro Ishii.

Eddie Edwards vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Feeling out process to start with Edwards backing him up against the ropes to no avail. An exchange of shoulders (eventually) goes to Ishii but he is sent outside for the suicide dive. Ishii gets sent into the barricade but he is fine enough to hit a powerslam to drive Edwards into the floor. A DDT onto the apron rocks Ishii for two and Eddie is starting to get cocky.

That’s not a good idea against Ishii, who hits a suplex and unloads in the corner to take over. The Blue Thunder Bomb gets Eddie out of trouble for two and he kicks Ishii in the head in the corner. The Backpack Stunner is broken up so they trade snap German suplexes and clotheslines for a double knockdown.

Back up and Edwards starts striking away in the corner, earning a glare from Ishii and a YOU CENSORED UP chant from the crowd. Ishii hammers away but the sliding lariat is blocked and Edwards knees away. The Boston Knee Party is blocked and Ishii hits a running knee of his own. Edwards blocks the brainbuster and tries the Die Hard Driver but Ishii slips out. The big clothesline sets up the brainbuster to give Ishii the pin at 14:58.

Rating: B-. This felt like the match where they beat each other up until one of them just couldn’t get up again. That is a formula that will always work well enough, though it didn’t quite hit the highest point here. Ishii isn’t what he used to be but he is still good enough to get by on a combination of reputation and skill. If nothing else, it is nice to see a first time match that felt special, which is the point of this show.

Jonah/Josh Alexander vs. PCO/Moose

PCO jumps Alexander to start and knocks him into the corner. Alexander gets in a kick to the face though and it’s Jonah coming in, albeit after glaring at Alexander a bit (with commentary pointing out their previous issues). It’s off to Moose for the showdown with Jonah, but about ten shoulders won’t put Jonah down. One big shoulder does put Moose down, though Alexander tags himself back in to chase Moose around the ring.

PCO cuts Alexander off and it’s a double whip to send Alexander into the barricade. Back in and PCO drops his middle rope leg and Moose starts stomping on Alexander’s wrist. Alexander is able to grab a suplex on PCO but he’s back up to knock Jonah off the apron before the tag. The second attempt works just fine though and it’s Jonah coming in to clean house.

That doesn’t last long as the big backsplash misses and Alexander is already back in. Everything breaks down and PCO hits his big flip dive to the floor, setting up the Deanimator on Alexander. Back in and Jonah hits a superkick on PCO, leaving Alexander to blast Moose with a clothesline. We get the BOO/YAY slugout with Moose and Alexander until Moose bails from the threat of the C4 Spike. The Spike hits PCO instead for the pin at 12:48.

Rating: C+. Sometimes you need four big, strong guys to beat on each other for a little while. That is what we got here and it was entertaining while it lasted. That’s about all you can ask for here and they even built up Moose vs. Alexander at Rebellion. Throw in some fun interactions and this was about as good of a use of their time as they could have had.

We recap Jay White vs. Chris Sabin. They have met each other time after time and now it is Sabin’s chance to prove himself.

Chris Sabin vs. Jay White

White is a bit popular around here. A chop against the ropes wakes Sabin up to start and another hurts White’s own hand. Sabin grabs him by the arm and takes him down to the mat before grabbing an armdrag into a chop of his own. White is sent outside for the suicide dive and then gets dropped face first onto the apron. Back in and White catches him on top, setting up another chop out to the floor.

A pair of belly to back drops onto the apron have Sabin in more trouble and the half crab goes on back inside. With that broken up, White hits a backbreaker into a waistlock to stay on the back/ribs. Sabin fights up and hits a shot to the ribs of his own before another good one puts White down. Some elbows to the back of the head set up a missile dropkick to give Sabin two as his chest is a scary shade of purple.

White is back up with a snap DDT for two and a Saito suplex drops Sabin again. A swinging suplex gets two more and it’s White’s turn to be frustrated. The swinging Rock Bottom plants Sabin for another near fall and White is annoyed at the referee (the same one who allegedly messed up in the tag match last week).

Sabin counters the Blade Runner into a ram into the corner but White goes back to the damaged chest. That just fires Sabin up for some, ahem, machine gun style chops to put White down for a change. There’s the hard clothesline but the Cradle Shock is blocked. White tries the Blade Runner again, only to get rolled up to give Sabin the upset pin at 16:01.

Rating: B. I didn’t see that coming and I was actually surprised by the pinfall. White losing outside of anything but a big match is weird and Sabin winning a major singles match almost feels even weirder. It was a heck of a match though with both guys looking as smooth as they ever did. That’s the good thing about seeing people like these two getting in the ring and they made it work very well. Match of the night so far.

Post match Steve Maclin comes in to go after Sabin but White pulls him off. Maclin goes after Sabin again but gets hit low, leaving Sabin to celebrate.

Sabin talks about beating White in an upset because no one expected him to win. Now White will never forget it.

Good Brothers vs. Briscoes

This is a few hours after the Briscoes had their instant classic against FTR. We get the Big Match Intros and you really can feel the energy when the Briscoes are in the ring. They just make things feel big and the charisma is off the charts. Mark and Anderson go to the mat to start but everything breaks down in a hurry.

Back in and Karl rakes Jay’s eyes to take over and we settle down with Jay being sent into the corner. Gallows stomps away and Anderson goes back to the eyes like a villain (I think?) should. The chinlock goes on for a bit before Jay is taken into the corner for some right hands from Anderson. That doesn’t last long either and the hot tag brings in Mark to clean house.

The Iconoclasm gets two on Anderson and Redneck Boogie (commentary didn’t seem to know the name) connects for the same. Everything breaks down and the reverse 3D gets two on Jay. Mark breaks up the Magic Killer and everyone is down again. It’s Mark getting up first and heading to the top but Chris Bey pops up to distract the referee. Cue Jay White to shove Mark off the top, setting up the Magic Killer for the pin at 9:45.

Rating: C+. They went fast here and a lot of that is probably due to the Briscoes being a bit gassed after their earlier match. What mattered here was giving the Bullet Club a win and it isn’t like the Briscoes lose much after a previous match and interference. They had a good match here though and the energy was high to end the night.

Deonna Purrazzo doesn’t care that Mercedes Martinez won the Interim Ring Of Honor Women’s Title earlier tonight (at a different show) and she doesn’t care who answers her Champ Champ Challenge tonight.

Here’s Deonna Purrazzo for the Champ Champ Challenger.

AAA Reina de Reinas Title: Faby Apache vs. Deonna Purrazzo

Purrazzo is defending and defeated Apache to win the title in the first place. I had been hoping for Mercedes Martinez or Taya Valkyrie but this was certainly a surprise. Feeling out process with Apache taking her down by the leg and some legsweeps give them two each. A slugout goes to Purrazzo but Apache takes her down into the corner to stomp away. Purrazzo is back with some arm cranking but can’t get the cross armbreaker. Apache grabs a suplex into a legdrop as the fans aren’t sure what to make of her.

La majistral gives Apache two as Rehwoldt continues to sing Purrazzo’s praises. Something like a reverse Figure Four has Purrazzo in trouble until she gets over to the rope. Purrazzo is back up with a standing moonsault for two but Apache grabs the Fairy Tale Ending for her own two. The Fujiwara armbar is broken up and they kick each other in the face for a double knockdown. Back up and Purrazzo hits a German suplex but can’t get the Queen’s Gambit. With that not working, Purrazzo pulls her into the armbar for the tap to retain at 8:56.

Rating: C. The problem here is that the fans didn’t know Apache and they didn’t react tot he match as a result. While Apache is someone who was a threat to the title, you need something to care about and that isn’t the case with someone popping into the promotion for the first time. The match wasn’t bad, but it had almost no heat and that dragged things down.

Post match Purrazzo grabs the mic and says it doesn’t matter who what Mercedes Martinez won earlier tonight because she is the Champ Champ….and here is Taya Valkyrie to interrupt. The fans welcome her back and Valkyrie says Purrazzo should be worried about that Reina de Reinas Title. Valkyrie will see her at Rebellion.

Purrazzo says Valkyrie can bring it.

Valkyrie is ready to win the Reina de Reinas Title and shut Purrazzo up.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Alex Shelley vs. Mike Bailey

Bailey was all over Wrestlemania Weekend and this is one of a handful of matches I saw from him. The fans aren’t sure who to cheer for here but both seem rather popular. They take about a minute to lock up with Shelley working on a wristlock. Bailey breaks that up fast and sends Shelley into the corner to give us a standoff. A whip into the ropes doesn’t get Shelley anywhere as bailey is back with his bouncing kicks to the arms into the enziguri.

Shelley is sent outside where he seems to injure and then fix his own shoulder. A jawbreaker works a bit better for Shelley and they head outside again with Shelley chopping away against the barricade. We pause for a Ric Flair strut and a top rope knee is driven into the chest back inside. Shelley hits a leg trap DDT for two and we hit the crossarm choke. Bailey fights up again and kicks him down, setting up the running corkscrew shooting star press for two.

Shelley pulls him down into the Motor City Stretch, sending Bailey over to the rope. They head to the apron (oh dear) where Bailey trips him down but misses his moonsault knees (freaking ow man). That lets Shelley hit a slingshot DDT, which mostly drives Bailey’s shoulder into the apron to knock him silly. A brainbuster on the floor drops Bailey again but he dives back in and sends Shelley outside.

That means a big springboard moonsault because selling isn’t a thing on this show. Back in and Shelley gets annoyed so the real fight is on. Bailey kicks him down and hits the Ultimate Weapon (standing moonsault double knees) for two. A quick Motor City Stretch attempt is countered into a rollup for two before Bailey bounces him off the rope for another rollup and the pin at 15:03.

Rating: B-. You knew you were going to get this kind of a match on the show and it worked well here, though Bailey taking those big moves and popping up to win a few moments later was more than I could reasonably take. That was a problem for him all weekend long and while it is the kind of thing that you have to expect, it still isn’t easy to see over and over.

Overall Rating: B. This was more or less the Multiverse Of Matches show (minus the Knockouts Tag Team Title match) with Josh’s intros and some short promos added. It’s a pretty entertaining show and a nice way to take a breather after Wrestlemania Weekend. Rebellion can have its final push next week and they did advance enough on this show too. All in all, not a must see show, but worth a look if you don’t have time for the full Multiverse show.

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Multiverse Of Matches
Date: April 1, 2022
Location: Fairmont Hotel, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

This was a show that got my attention as it has a pretty nice card with a lot of things going on. The idea is that there are multiple companies coming together with some representatives for some matches we might not have seen before. That should be enough, even if this is just a side trip on the way to Rebellion. Let’s get to it.

I was in attendance for this show, sitting opposite the entrance in the fifth row center.

The opening video runs down the card.

X-Division Title: Jordynne Grace vs. Chris Bey vs. Blake Christian vs. Vincent vs. Rich Swann vs. Trey Miguel

Miguel is defending in Ultimate X and Swann busts out a Scott Hall pose for a great moment. It’s a group attempt to crawl across the ropes to start but that is all broken up. The audio gets a lot louder as Miguel is left alone, only to be pulled down by Swann and Bey. That means a three way exchange of strikes to the face with bey getting the better of things.

Grace is back in with a MuscleBuster to Bey but Christian clears the ring out again. Miguel takes Christian down though and goes up, only to get pulled down by Vincent. That earns Vincent a cutter from Swann, who is pulled down by Bey rather quickly. Bey plants Swann with the Art of Finesse so Christian goes up, only to drop does onto Bey with a Canadian Destroyer. Instead of climbing though, Christian hits a big flip dive onto the pile. It’s Grace going across the cables and using her legs, only to get knocked down by Miguel. That’s enough for Miguel to grab the title and retain at 7:25.

Rating: B-. This was one of those things where I’ve seen a bunch of Ultimate X matches over the years and a lot of them run together. The climbing was the focus here again as it tends to be, though it was a lot of two people do their thing and then some others take their place. Fun match, but if you’ve seen a few of these, you’ve seen them all.

Here’s what’s coming on the rest of the card as the structure is taken apart.

Earlier today, the Good Brothers promised to take the Briscoes out to even their career series.

Matt Cardona/Chelsea Green vs. Nick Aldis/Mickie James

Green turned on James and Cardona took her out, so James brought in Aldis for a battle of married teams. The girls get in a brawl to start but we settle down to Aldis pounding on Cardona on the mat and in the corner. Mickie comes in but gets taken down by Cardona’s clothesline to put her in trouble. It’s off to Green to choke in the corner and forearm away, setting up the chinlock to keep James down.

The Reboot misses for Cardona though and Mickie grabs a flapjack, allowing the hot tag off to Aldis. The clothesline comeback is on, setting up a Tombstone. There’s a top rope elbow but Green makes the save as everything breaks down. Cardona has to save Green from the King’s Lynn Cloverleaf but she gets sent outside anyway. Back in and stereo King’s Lynn Cloverleafs make Cardona and Green tap at the same time at 8:00.

Rating: C. I remember this being a bit longer in person but it still worked out well enough. There is a simple story here with the two married couples going at it over one of them being attacked a few weeks ago. Aldis continues to look like a star, though he might be a bit dull, and James has been a legend for years. Green has come a long way and Cardona…my goodness he has had a career renaissance in the last year or so and it has been a lot of fun to watch.

Aldis motions that he wants the NWA World Title back. Or maybe the Impact Digital Media Title.

Deonna Purrazzo doesn’t care that Mercedes Martinez won the Interim Ring Of Honor Women’s Title earlier tonight (at a different show) and she doesn’t care who answers her Champ Champ Challenge tonight.

Alex Shelley vs. Mike Bailey

Bailey was all over Wrestlemania Weekend and this is one of a handful of matches I saw from him. The fans aren’t sure who to cheer for here but both seem rather popular. They take about a minute to lock up with Shelley working on a wristlock. Bailey breaks that up fast and sends Shelley into the corner to give us a standoff. A whip into the ropes doesn’t get Shelley anywhere as bailey is back with his bouncing kicks to the arms into the enziguri.

Shelley is sent outside where he seems to injure and then fix his own shoulder. A jawbreaker works a bit better for Shelley and they head outside again with Shelley chopping away against the barricade. We pause for a Ric Flair strut and a top rope knee is driven into the chest back inside. Shelley hits a leg trap DDT for two and we hit the crossarm choke. Bailey fights up again and kicks him down, setting up the running corkscrew shooting star press for two.

Shelley pulls him down into the Motor City Stretch, sending Bailey over to the rope. They head to the apron (oh dear) where Bailey trips him down but misses his moonsault knees (freaking ow man). That lets Shelley hit a slingshot DDT, which mostly drives Bailey’s shoulder into the apron to knock him silly. A brainbuster on the floor drops Bailey again but he dives back in and sends Shelley outside.

That means a big springboard moonsault because selling isn’t a thing on this show. Back in and Shelley gets annoyed so the real fight is on. Bailey kicks him down and hits the Ultimate Weapon (standing moonsault double knees) for two. A quick Motor City Stretch attempt is countered into a rollup for two before Bailey bounces him off the rope for another rollup and the pin at 15:03.

Rating: B-. You knew you were going to get this kind of a match on the show and it worked well here, though Bailey taking those big moves and popping up to win a few moments later was more than I could reasonably take. That was a problem for him all weekend long and while it is the kind of thing that you have to expect, it still isn’t easy to see over and over.

The Influence isn’t worried about their Tag Team Title defense. Madison Rayne is reminded of one of her favorite quotes: “Everyone else sucks and we’re the Knockouts Tag Team Champions.” Who said that you ask? Tenille Dashwood of course. All three of the teams are going to hate each other or not get along so they should be fine.

Knockouts Tag Team Titles: Decay vs. Lady Frost/Gisele Shaw vs. Tasha Steelz/Savannah Evans vs. Influence

Influence is defending and there are actually no seconds here. Shaw and Frost are replacing the IInspiration, who are missing for no apparent reason. Rosemary and Steelz start things off but Steelz hands it off to Evans before anything happens. A dropkick to the leg takes Evans down so Rosemary can bite her head, only to get knocked into the corner. Evans hiptosses Steelz into her for two but Shaw tags herself in.

Something like Natural Selection gets two on Steelz and it’s off to Frost for Cryme Tyme’s old G9 of all things. Instead of covering, they let Steelz tag in Havok for the wrecking on Frost. Rosemary adds the spear before handing it off to Dashwood for the stomping. A northern lights suplex gives Rayne two and Steelz has to make the save after a neckbreaker.

Frost kicks her way to freedom so it’s off to Havok vs. Rayne, with no one interested in Rayne’s offer of a tag. Everything breaks down as we hit the parade of secondary finishers, leaving everyone down. Evans/Steelz and Decay fight to the floor, leaving Frost and Shaw to kick the champs down together. Frost gets knocked off the top though and a double Stroke is enough to retain the titles at 9:03.

Rating: C. What else were you expecting from a match like this? There are eight women fighting to get ring time and no one is going to get the chance to shine. The titles still don’t mean much and it is hard to imagine anyone but the IInspiration taking the Influence down. At least they weren’t out there long and the match wasn’t awful, but it isn’t like these things ever work that well.

Eddie Edwards is here representing Pro Wrestling Noah because they didn’t turn their backs on him. He is in his old school green and is ready to prove himself to Tomohiro Ishii.

Eddie Edwards vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Feeling out process to start with Edwards backing him up against the ropes to no avail. An exchange of shoulders (eventually) goes to Ishii but he is sent outside for the suicide dive. Ishii gets sent into the barricade but he is fine enough to hit a powerslam to drive Edwards into the floor. A DDT onto the apron rocks Ishii for two and Eddie is starting to get cocky.

That’s not a good idea against Ishii, who hits a suplex and unloads in the corner to take over. The Blue Thunder Bomb gets Eddie out of trouble for two and he kicks Ishii in the head in the corner. The Backpack Stunner is broken up so they trade snap German suplexes and clotheslines for a double knockdown.

Back up and Edwards starts striking away in the corner, earning a glare from Ishii and a YOU CENSORED UP chant from the crowd. Ishii hammers away but the sliding lariat is blocked and Edwards knees away. The Boston Knee Party is blocked and Ishii hits a running knee of his own. Edwards blocks the brainbuster and tries the Die Hard Driver but Ishii slips out. The big clothesline sets up the brainbuster to give Ishii the pin at 14:58.

Rating: B-. This felt like the match where they beat each other up until one of them just couldn’t get up again. That is a formula that will always work well enough, though it didn’t quite hit the highest point here. Ishii isn’t what he used to be but he is still good enough to get by on a combination of reputation and skill. If nothing else, it is nice to see a first time match that felt special, which is the point of this show.

We recap PCO/Moose vs. Josh Alexander/Jonah. This is double fallout from Sacrifice where Alexander returned to go after Moose and Jonah injured PCO. There is nothing wrong with combining two feuds and this should be a hard hitting fight.

Jonah/Josh Alexander vs. PCO/Moose

PCO jumps Alexander to start and knocks him into the corner. Alexander gets in a kick to the face though and it’s Jonah coming in, albeit after glaring at Alexander a bit (with commentary pointing out their previous issues). It’s off to Moose for the showdown with Jonah, but about ten shoulders won’t put Jonah down. One big shoulder does put Moose down, though Alexander tags himself back in to chase Moose around the ring.

PCO cuts Alexander off and it’s a double whip to send Alexander into the barricade. Back in and PCO drops his middle rope leg and Moose starts stomping on Alexander’s wrist. Alexander is able to grab a suplex on PCO but he’s back up to knock Jonah off the apron before the tag. The second attempt works just fine though and it’s Jonah coming in to clean house.

That doesn’t last long as the big backsplash misses and Alexander is already back in. Everything breaks down and PCO hits his big flip dive to the floor, setting up the Deanimator on Alexander. Back in and Jonah hits a superkick on PCO, leaving Alexander to blast Moose with a clothesline. We get the BOO/YAY slugout with Moose and Alexander until Moose bails from the threat of the C4 Spike. The Spike hits PCO instead for the pin at 12:48.

Rating: C+. Sometimes you need four big, strong guys to beat on each other for a little while. That is what we got here and it was entertaining while it lasted. That’s about all you can ask for here and they even built up Moose vs. Alexander at Rebellion. Throw in some fun interactions and this was about as good of a use of their time as they could have had.

Mickie James and Gail Kim are running something called Dresselmania II which seems to be some kind of charity deal. Cool.

Here’s Deonna Purrazzo for the Champ Champ Challenger.

AAA Reina de Reinas Title: Faby Apache vs. Deonna Purrazzo

Purrazzo is defending and defeated Apache to win the title in the first place. I had been hoping for Mercedes Martinez or Taya Valkyrie but this was certainly a surprise. Feeling out process with Apache taking her down by the leg and some legsweeps give them two each. A slugout goes to Purrazzo but Apache takes her down into the corner to stomp away. Purrazzo is back with some arm cranking but can’t get the cross armbreaker. Apache grabs a suplex into a legdrop as the fans aren’t sure what to make of her.

La majistral gives Apache two as Rehwoldt continues to sing Purrazzo’s praises. Something like a reverse Figure Four has Purrazzo in trouble until she gets over to the rope. Purrazzo is back up with a standing moonsault for two but Apache grabs the Fairy Tale Ending for her own two. The Fujiwara armbar is broken up and they kick each other in the face for a double knockdown. Back up and Purrazzo hits a German suplex but can’t get the Queen’s Gambit. With that not working, Purrazzo pulls her into the armbar for the tap to retain at 8:56.

Rating: C. The problem here is that the fans didn’t know Apache and they didn’t react tot he match as a result. While Apache is someone who was a threat to the title, you need something to care about and that isn’t the case with someone popping into the promotion for the first time. The match wasn’t bad, but it had almost no heat and that dragged things down.

Post match Purrazzo grabs the mic and says it doesn’t matter who what Mercedes Martinez won earlier tonight because she is the Champ Champ….and here is Taya Valkyrie to interrupt. The fans welcome her back and Valkyrie says Purrazzo should be worried about that Reina de Reinas Title. Valkyrie will see her at Rebellion.

We recap Jay White vs. Chris Sabin. They have met each other time after time and now it is Sabin’s chance to prove himself.

Chris Sabin vs. Jay White

White is a bit popular around here. A chop against the ropes wakes Sabin up to start and another hurts White’s own hand. Sabin grabs him by the arm and takes him down to the mat before grabbing an armdrag into a chop of his own. White is sent outside for the suicide dive and then gets dropped face first onto the apron. Back in and White catches him on top, setting up another chop out to the floor.

A pair of belly to back drops onto the apron have Sabin in more trouble and the half crab goes on back inside. With that broken up, White hits a backbreaker into a waistlock to stay on the back/ribs. Sabin fights up and hits a shot to the ribs of his own before another good one puts White down. Some elbows to the back of the head set up a missile dropkick to give Sabin two as his chest is a scary shade of purple.

White is back up with a snap DDT for two and a Saito suplex drops Sabin again. A swinging suplex gets two more and it’s White’s turn to be frustrated. The swinging Rock Bottom plants Sabin for another near fall and White is annoyed at the referee (the same one who allegedly messed up in the tag match last week).

Sabin counters the Blade Runner into a ram into the corner but White goes back to the damaged chest. That just fires Sabin up for some, ahem, machine gun style chops to put White down for a change. There’s the hard clothesline but the Cradle Shock is blocked. White tries the Blade Runner again, only to get rolled up to give Sabin the upset pin at 16:01.

Rating: B. I didn’t see that coming and I was actually surprised by the pinfall. White losing outside of anything but a big match is weird and Sabin winning a major singles match almost feels even weirder. It was a heck of a match though with both guys looking as smooth as they ever did. That’s the good thing about seeing people like these two getting in the ring and they made it work very well. Match of the night so far.

Post match Steve Maclin comes in to go after Sabin but White pulls him off. Maclin goes after Sabin again but gets hit low, leaving Sabin to celebrate.

Good Brothers vs. Briscoes

This is a few hours after the Briscoes had their instant classic against FTR. We get the Big Match Intros and you really can feel the energy when the Briscoes are in the ring. They just make things feel big and the charisma is off the charts. Mark and Anderson go to the mat to start but everything breaks down in a hurry.

Back in and Karl rakes Jay’s eyes to take over and we settle down with Jay being sent into the corner. Gallows stomps away and Anderson goes back to the eyes like a villain (I think?) should. The chinlock goes on for a bit before Jay is taken into the corner for some right hands from Anderson. That doesn’t last long either and the hot tag brings in Mark to clean house.

The Iconoclasm gets two on Anderson and Redneck Boogie (commentary didn’t seem to know the name) connects for the same. Everything breaks down and the reverse 3D gets two on Jay. Mark breaks up the Magic Killer and everyone is down again. It’s Mark getting up first and heading to the top but Chris Bey pops up to distract the referee. Cue Jay White to shove Mark off the top, setting up the Magic Killer for the pin at 9:45.

Rating: C+. They went fast here and a lot of that is probably due to the Briscoes being a bit gassed after their earlier match. What mattered here was giving the Bullet Club a win and it isn’t like the Briscoes lose much after a previous match and interference. They had a good match here though and the energy was high to end the night.

The Bullet Club poses on the stage to end the show.

After the show, the Briscoes called that a bunch of BOLOGNA (Mark’s word) and promised to be back in Impact.

Overall Rating: B-. This might not have been an instant classic, but it was a fun night and one of the shows I had been looking forward to leading up to the weekend. Impact continues to be good when they are able to focus on the wrestling itself and this time they were able to mix things up a bit and have a fun show. Rebellion is the show that mattered, but this was the lighter show and they made that work rather well.

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