By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling TV
Taped in Nashville, Tennessee at Skyway Studios
Aired July 29, 2021 on AXS TV
Highlights from last week’s Impact Wrestling show aired…
Gia Miller opened up the show backstage, interviewing Scott D’Amore about how she heard that he has “something big planned”. D’Amore told Gia that he always has something big in the work. D’Amore brought Slammiversary happening, Jay White showing up, Moose vs. Chris Sabin, and the next Impact Plus show as some of the recent “Big things” that Impact has planned. Gia said it’s been odd that D’Amore has been behind closed doors all day. D’Amore said as a person who grew up in the construction industry, he learned that the best way to use a door is to keep it closed. D’Amore said the reason he keeps his door closed is because every time he is out in the open, someone is coming up to him with a random demand.
D’Amore brought up always being interrupted. Just as he said that, Tommy Dreamer showed up behind him and interrupted him. Dreamer noted that Impact needs a new number one contender for Kenny Omega’s Impact Championship and that D’Amore keeps pushing that issue aside. D’Amore went into his usual sarcastic rant mode where he ultimately put the number one contendership of the Impact Championship in the hands of Tommy Dreamer…
The show cut to the Skyway Studios ring. Matt Striker and D’Lo Brown were on commentary. Dave Penzer was the ring announcer…
1. Impact Tag Team Champions “The Good Brothers” Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows vs. Chris Bey and NJPW Never Openweight Champion Jay White in a non-title match. White dominated early on by laying strikes on Anderson. Bey tagged in and put the boots to Anderson in the corner. As Anderson attempted to run the ropes, Bey caught Anderson with a dropkick. Anderson tackled Bey into his corner and tagged in Gallows, who worked on Bey with methodical strikes. Gallows hit Bey with a delayed vertical suplex.
The Good Brothers cut the ring in half on Chris Bey. Bey got his hot tag opportunity with a crossbody on Gallows. Anderson and White tagged in with White catching both Good Brothers with DDTs. White hit Anderson with a Final Cut for a two count. White hit Anderson with a Dragon Screw and tagged in Bey. Bey hit Anderson with a reverse TKO for a two count. Gallows hit White with a lariat at ringside. Anderson kicked Bey to end Bey’s momentum. Gallows tagged in and the Good Brothers went for a Magic Killer, but White broke up the move.
Gallows and Anderson managed to take down Bey and White with strikes. Gallows caught a flying Bey with a chokeslam. Anderson tagged in and the Good Brothers hit Bey with a Magic Killer to give Anderson the clean pinfall win.
The Good Brothers defeated Chris Bey and Jay White via pinfall in 8:55.
John’s Thoughts: The match was pretty standard for the most part, but I really like the ending sequence and the developments coming out of the Good Brothers winning cleanly. It’s refreshing to see heels win clean, for one, in that it’s become too formula to expect crap finishes in every heel, especially Elite, win. The Good Brothers could use credible wins too, because when they get paired with Kenny Omega (and AJ Styles before him), they get treated as cannon fodder stooges. Jay White is kept out of the finish, so his mystique in Impact is preserved. Bey taking the loss is fine because his story is that he needs Jay White and Bullet Club’s help to move to the next level. All things considered, I felt like this match accomplished a good amount of storyline progression.
Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz were backstage(oh! She isn’t done with Impact just quite yet. Even though we know she’ll be done once this set of tapings wraps up). Kiera was cutting a promo about how Fire N’Flava are going to get back on track and go after the tag titles again. Fallah Bahh showed up and asked one of them to go to Homecoming with him. Kiera assumed the request and flowers were for her, but Bahh said the request was for Tasha. Tasha accepted and said that she knows why Bahh would ask her to be a tag partner, because Kiera was the one who lost the match last week in their tag title rematch. Tasha reminded Bahh Homecoming was a turnament, not a school dance…
Matt Striker and D’Lo Brown checked in from their commentary set. An incomplete tournament bracket for the Homecoming King and Queen Mixed Tag Tournament were shown. D’Lo advertised W. Morrissey vs. Eddie Edwards for the Homecoming show. The commentary team then ran through some upcoming segments on this week’s show…
Entrances for the upcoming Intergender Match aired…
2. Kaleb Konley (w/Tenille Dashwood) vs. Taylor Wilde in an intergender match. Kaleb hit Taylor with a hip toss to start. Wilde got a victory roll for a two count. Kaleb took down Taylor with a standing lariat for a two count. Wilde fought her way out of a headlock, but Kaleb shoved Taylor to the mat. Kaleb went for a knee on Taylor, but Taylor dodged and Kaleb crotched himself on the 2nd rope. Wilde attacked Kaleb in the corner with punches.
Kaleb took down Tenille with a superkick for a two count. Kaleb was about to hit Taylor with his fanny pack but Taylor avoided it and dumped him to ringside. Taylor hit Kaleb with a Tornado DDT at ringside. Taylor hit Kaleb with a Poisonrana. Taylor hit Kaleb with a Bridged German Suplex for the pinfall win.
Taylor Wilde defeated Kaleb Konley via pinfall in 4:22.
John’s Thoughts: Intergender matches can be hit or miss, and this was more on the miss end. Why did it happen? Did they just want an intergender match or intergender match sake? I’m not an opponent of Intergender matches either as I’ve reviewed a ton of good intergender matches (including an amazing Chelsea Green vs. Pentagon Jr. match that I witnessed in-person). This felt unnecessary and weak. I also don’t know what to think of Taylor Wilde? She just showed back up as some proud American girl? I guess? I don’t know who she is or what she’s going for? This is coming from a person who was a huge Taylor Wilde fan back in the day when she was Impact’s designated plucky babyface, and she played the plucky babyface role well.
Chris Bey told Jay White backstage that he takes full responsibility for their loss. Bey said he was disappointed because this was also his first match in the Bullet Club. White told Bey that nobody ever said that Bey was in the Bullet Club. White said that Bullet Club has standards and after Bey’s loss, Bey isn’t living up to those standards. White said he is a fan of redemption stories though and he has an idea on how to make this work out for Chris Bey…[c]
An ad aired for Impact Plus’s Homecoming show which is happening this Saturday…
Josh Alexander was backstage cutting a promo about how he wants competition and doesn’t like not having opponents lined up to take down. Scott D’Amore showed up and agreed that it would be good for Alexander to have opponents. D’Amore randomly booked Josh Alexander vs. Black Taurus for the X Division Championship at Homecoming…
John’s Thoughts: That’s random. Can they put Josh Alexander in a meaningful story so the guy can sink or swim (and I’m confident that he’ll swim with flying colors)? Also, can we also get some sort of character development for Black Taurus? He’s just a guy in a bull mask that may or may not make weird sex grunts on occasion.
Gia Miller interviewed Deonna Purrazzo about both facing Faby Apache at AAA’s TripleMania show as well as appearing on the NWA Empowerrr show, and how that may be too much to handle for one champion. Deonna said Gia wouldn’t ask that question to Kenny Omega and as Virtuosa she can handle all challenges. Deonna then introduced Invicta MMA’s Alesha Zappitella as one of her training partners. Deonna said she wasn’t training for an MMA fight, but she brought in Alesha Zappitella to help her get better as a champion. Deonna announced that she’s also going into the Impact Homecoming tournament. Gia asked about who Deonna’s partner will be and Deonna kept that secret…
Fallah Bahh and No Way [Jose] Made their entrance for an upcoming tag match. No Way still has his knockoff Rosebud conga line…
John’s Thoughts: Holy Zack Ryder Batman! Here’s a man with so much potential, but he won’t give up the failed gimmick that WWE implanted on him. Here’s the thing, in NXT, I thought the guy was great as the upbeat, positive, dancing guy who had his energy translate well in the ring. One of my favorite early NXT feuds was Austin Aries vs. No Way Jose! Main roster stripped him down to being the conga line guy who was Adam Rose Lite. I was hoping for something new from him and hope he ditches this jabroni gimmick ASAP. It’s so disappointing when you see the Stars of WWE Superstars (No Way Jose, Heath Slater, Zack Ryder) show up and not have any aspirations to be greater than the guy who lost on WWE Superstars alot. This world needs more Brian Myers’s or Eric Young’s.
3. Fallah Bahh, No Way [Jose], Dave Finlay, and Juice Robinson vs. Rohit Raju, Ace Austin, Mahabali Shera, and Madman Fulton. Bahh tried to lead a Bahh chant, but was attacked by Madman Fulton. Fulton went for a body slam on Bahh, but couldn’t lift him. Bahh hit Fulton with a Kamehameha shove. The face team traded quick tags to swarm Fulton with tandem offense. Rohit Raju tagged himself in to save Fulton. The heels cut the ring in half on Bahh with quick tags and isolation.
Bahh no-sold Ace’s punches, but Ace took down Bahh with a kick. Bahh reversed Ace with a sitting Banzai Drop. Finlay tagged in and took down all his opponents with flying shoulder tackles. Finlay got a two count on Raju. Shera hit Finlay with a big boot. Juice helped Finlay escape a suplex. Juice and Dave dropkicked Shera to ringside. Juice hit Shera with a plancha. Raju hit Dave with a front suplex in the ring.
No Way caught Raju with a pop up punch. Fulton hit No Way with an End of Days. Ace caught Bahh with a back kick. Bahh caught a flying Fulton with a Samoan Drop. Ace caught Bahh with a spinning kick. Ace sent Bahh to ringside with a Shotgun Dropkick. Ace hit the pile of wrestlers at ringside with a Fosbury Flop. Rohit got a small package on Finlay for a two count. Finlay reversed Raju into his finisher, the Trash Panda, for the victory.
Dave Finlay, Juice Robinson, No Way [Jose], and Fallah Bahh defeated Rohit Raju, Ace Austin, Madman Fulton, and Mahabali Shera via pinfall in 6:44.
John’s Thoughts: While I don’t like that he has the conga line gimmick, one thing that No Way is the best in the business at is firing up crowd while waiting for tags on the apron. I’ve witnessed this going to NXT shows in California. WWE really could use someone like No Way for their house shows because he has a talent and energetic personality that a lot of wrestlers don’t have. As for this match, solid stuff with a lot of good workers involved. I am starting to worry about Ace Austin. This guy was Impact’s fastest rising star, but over the past year they’ve turned him into a stepping stone and utility guy. What caused Impact’s creative team to give up on Ace Austin for so long?
Gia Miller was at Kenny Omega’s locker room wanting to interview Kenny Omega, but he got Don Callis instead. Callis did a introduction for Kenny and Kenny got out of the locker room. Omega joked about Gia looking like a fan. Callis said it was a great day because Omega’s recovered and the Good Brothers beat Bey and White earlier. Tommy Dreamer showed up to interrupt Callis’s gloating.
Dreamer told Omega that in two weeks a number one contender will be decided via battle royal and that the winner will face Kenny Omega for the Impact title at Emergence. Callis wondered why a washed up wrester was booking matches now. Dreamer can because he fired Callis. After Dreamer left, Callis yelled that Dreamer is going to put ECW out of business just like Dreamer put ECW out of business. Callis yelled that Dreamer better call his good friend Paul [Heyman]. Omega said he was going to take care of things right now in the ring…[c]
A debut vignette aired for “The Drama King”…
Juice Robinson and Dave Finlay tried to cut a promo backstage, but they were attacked by Jay White and Chris Bey. White ended up ramming a production crate into the head of Dave Finlay, his singles opponent at the next NJPW PPV. White told Finlay that he is not ducking out on White and will never beat him ever again…
Kenny Omega and Don Callis made their entrance to the Skyway Studios ring. Matt Striker noted that Kenny Omega is still listed as day-to-day on the Injury Report. The crowd gave Callis “you got fired” chants. Callis said real men don’t quit, they get fired, “by that T-shirt you Marks!”. Omega said that since it’s 2021, Callis should mention that real women don’t quit either. Callis said they can’t forget the trolls and troglodytes like Tommy Dreamer either. Callis bragged about Omega leaving Sami Callihan in a pool of his own blood at the last PPV. Callis also bragged about the Good Brothers beating Jay White and Chris Bey earlier.
Callis said you would think that he and Omega would be respected after delivering hte biggest buyrates of the company. Callis said Tommy Dreamer is disrespectful by setting up the battle royal. Callis said that Omega is the hardest working champion that makes Ric Flair look like a slacker. Callis listed off many countries and said that Omega has done it all. Sami Callihan’s entrance interrupted as Callihan walked onto the stage with his bat in hand. Callis called Callihan a piece of trash and that he go back to Dayton. Callihan asked the crowd “how are you doing Nashville!” which drew cheers from the crowd.
John’s Thoughts: Well. That line clearly states that Sami Callihan is the designated top babyface of the company.
Callihan said if he has to hear the dumbasses in the ring talk longer, then he’s going to jump off a cliff. Callihan said the men in the ring are supposed to be the best wrestlers in the world, but all he sees are a bunch of bitches. A “bunch of bitches” chant ensued. Callihan mocked Omega for whining about being overworked. Callihan said Omega is lucky that Callihan didn’t beat Omega to death at Slammiversary. Callihan said he isn’t done and he’s going to win the Battle Royal in a few weeks.
Callihan said two weeks is too long and he got a match approved by Scott D’Amore. Callihan said it’s Callihan and two mystery partners vs. The Good Brothers and Kenny Omega. Callihan said that Omega should watch his back because Callihan can strike from anywhere. Callihan said he might even jump the guardrail to jump Omega now. Suddenly the “Elite Hunter” Frankie Kazarian showed up and cleared the heels from the ring. The Impact crowd gave Kaz a “welcome back” chant…
Callihan and Kaz met up with Dreamer backstage. Dreamer noted that he’s going to find the third partner to team with Kaz and Callihan. Kaz wanted Dreamer as the tag partner. Dreamer said he’s not good enough and has someone else in mind. Dreamer whispered the person’s name into Kaz’s ear…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Good segment to have the heels gloat while allowing Sami Callihan to have more time to establish himself as the top babyface of the company. I think Sami Callihan can pull this off, especially since he’s very similar to his old long-time tag team partner Jon Moxley in terms of being an edgy babyface. What I’m still not sold on is Frankie Kazarian as this “Elite Hunter” character. I think the concept of “Elite Hunter” has potential, but the “elite hunter” has to be effective at beating the Elite. Last I checked, Kaz lost his first match against Doc Gallows a few weeks ago, and has been nothing more than this random annoying guy in a hoodie who randomly shows up. He kinda reminds me of when Yoshi Tatsu was the “Bullet Club Hunter” in New Japan, and was so ineffective that they just scrapped the gimmick ultimately.
Su Yung was shown backstage looking creepy and ominous. The camera panned up to show that Kimber Lee was now dressed up in a similar “zombie bride” look that Su Yung wears. Kimber said “my time has come”…
Brian Myers talked about how he still needs to find a partner and he has to face Tommy Dreamer and Rachael Ellering in the first round of the Homecoming Tournament. Myers said he got a great idea from Dreamer’s old rival Raven. Myers said he’s enlisting Beulah Mcgillicutty as his mixed tag partner to take down Dreamer and that Sam Beale found her number. Beale gave Dreamer the ECW hotline number, and Myers yelled that the ECW hotline has been down for years. Myers said thankfully he has several women on speed dial.
Myers made a call and got ECW Original Francine on facetime. Francine was wearing a bikini top. Francine plugged her podcast, twitch, cameo, and other social media. Francine then roasted Myers for picking her as her “2nd choice” after people like Tenille Dashwood and Beulah. Myers was surprised that Francine actually was watching Impact. Myers ultimately hung up on Francine. Myers said this was Sam Beale’s fault…
Entrances for the next match took place…
4. “Violent By Design” Rhino and Deaner (w/Eric Young, Joe Doering) vs. Rich Swann and Willie Mack. Mack and Swann got the advantage early on with tandem offense. Swann hit Rhino and Deaner with a Phoenix Splash at ringside.[c]
Mack and Swann hit Deaner with a Flapjack Slam for a two count for Swann. Swann hit Deaner with a leaping leg drop for a two count. Young distracted Swann with a flag which allowed Deaner to trip swann and attack him in the corner for a two count. Rhino tagged in and hit Deaner with a shoulder tackle. Rhino hit Swann with a shortarm clothesline. VBD cut the ring in half on Swann. Swann managed to get Mack in for the hot tag. Mack hit Deaner with a bicycle knee. Mack hit Deaner with his signature Samoan Drop and Moonsault combo for a two count.
EY tripped up Mack to allow Deaner to hit Mack with a Blockbuster for a two count. Rhino hit Mack with an assisted neckbreaker for a two count. Swann got a blind tag and hit Rhino with a Lethal Injection for a two count. Rhino tackled Swann in the corner. Mack tripped Rhino off the top rope into Mack’s Stunner. Swann hit Mack with a 450 for the win.
Rich Swann and Willie Mack defeated Violent By Design via pinfall in 7:09 of on-air time.
John’s Thoughts: A logical finish to put some steam behind Mack and Swann, presumably to set them up for a future match against the Good Brothers. As good as that match should be, I can’t help but feel like Swann and Mack are two strong singles wrestlers being wasted in the tag team division. Swann was just world champion not too long ago and he’s totally not acting like he was the guy that still has unfinished business with Kenny Omega.
The show cut to this week’s Swinger’s Palace segment. Matt Cardona and Chelsea Green were a part of this week’s segment. The segment was used to hype the Homecoming mixed tag tournament. Petey Williams and Jordynne Grace were cosplaying as Scott Steiner for some reason with Petey doing Steiner’s math promo. W Morrissey then showed up to interrupt the segment. Morrissey told Alisha Edwards to tell her husband that after his hardcore match with Eddie on Saturday, Eddie will not be coming home safe and sound ever again. Alisha looked unnerved as the segment ended…
John’s Thoughts: Another eh segment until W Morrissey showed up and changed the tone. Morrissey continues to do a great job with his new bitter character. I also thought it was a really cool visual to see him standing next to Hernandez and making Hernandez look short by comparison.
Gia Miller interviewed Eddie Edwards about W Morrisey confronting Alisha Edwards. Eddie said at least he has a wife that cares about him while Morrissey cares about no one and nobody cares about Morrissey. Eddie said he had Morrissey beat at Slammiversary and in the Parking Lot. Eddie said that he will beat W on Saturday and W will find out that Impact Wrestling is Eddie Edwards. Tommy Dreamer showed up and asked Eddie Edwards to be Kazarian’s and Sami’s tag partner next week against The Elite. Eddie said he doesn’t think he can because of his history with Sami.
Dreamer brought up having to wrestle his best friend in ECW to get the title, and while he didn’t want to do it, he had to do it for the greater good of the company. Dreamer said the fans and company need Eddie to do this. Eddie said he doesn’t trust Sami, but he trusts Dreamer with his life. Eddie said he’s in…
John’s Thoughts: While he still looks a bit off, Eddie had a cleaner look in that promo and cut one of his better and more straight-forward promos in recent memory. I hope this is a first step in Eddie reverting back to more of his Ring of Honor American Wolf persona (I’m not getting my hopes up, of course). What I ultimately hope is that Impact sees that having Eddie Edwards parade around in his weird “Crazy Eddie” character is just embarrassing for the company, especially when Impact has designated Eddie as their de facto flagbarer.
Matt Striker and D’Lo Brown checked in from their commentary set. The Elite vs. Callihan, Kaz, and Edwards was hyped for next week. The following matches were advertised for the Homecoming show: W Morrissey vs. Eddie Edwards, Josh Alexander vs. Black Taurus for the X Division Championship, and the Homecoming Queen and King Tournament…
Entrances for the next match took place…[c]
5. Moose vs. Chris Sabin. Sabin took down Moose with a Dragon Screw right into a heel hook. Moose got to his feet. Sabin used a sunset flip to get a two count. Sabin used a victory roll to get another two count. Sabin used a Victory Roll to lock a Figure Four on Moose. Sabin went for a huracanrana at ringside, but he was caught by Moose, who swung Sabin into the steel steps. Sabin ran the ropes and ran into Moose’s high dropkick. There were dueling “hail Sabin” and “Moose” chants.
EC3 Jacket guy was shown in the camera (I think his name is Bill) cheering for Moose. Moose took someone’s Smart Water and splashed it on Sabin. Moose then gave Sabin a loud chop. The crowd gave Moose a one more time chant. Moose didn’t oblige and instead gave Sabin an eye rake. Moose told Sabin “screw you” and pie faced Sabin with a middle finger. Sabin bit Moose’s finger. Moose tried to chop Sabin, but missed and hit the ringpost. Sabin hit Moose with a Plancha at ringside.
Moose kicked out of Sabin’s pin at one. Moose showed fighting spirit and withstood Sabin’s punches. Sabin used two superkicks to take down Moose. Sabin went high risk, but Moose met Sabin at the top rope. Sabin shoved Moose off and hit Moose with a Tornado DDT for the two count. Moose escaped a Cradle Shock and then tossed Sabin into the corner. Moose hit Sabin with a spear for the clean win.
Moose defeated Chris Sabin via pinfall in 8:24.
As Moose was posing for his win, he was caught off guard by Chris Sabin’s flying crossbody. Moose tried to head up the ramp, but was hit by Sabin’s suicide dive. Security guards ran out to break apart Moose and Sabin to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: A nice efficient win for Moose that sets up a rubber match between these two at the next PPV. I was actually looking forward to this match even more than their Slammiversary match (even though the outcome was not in question here) just because the upset Slammiversary win for Sabin really did a good job building Sabin up and setting up for their series of matches with each other. I actually took Sabin seriously as a threat this time and his rollups/nearfalls had impact this time. Kudos to Moose for taking the loss to Sabin and still coming out unfazed. Sabin attacking Moose after the match was a good move to put heat behind Sabin. While I expect Moose to come out of the next match as the winner, I am looking even more forward to these two putting on a clinic, especially if they decide to give them over 15 minutes.
Interesting episode of Impact. Overall, I thought the show was missible because it’s a go-home and setup show for the random Impact Plus show that Impact decided to shoehorn into their lineup not too long after Slammiversary. It also doesn’t help that the Impact Plus show seems very tongue-in-cheek with the whole Homecoming Dance gimmick. I’m looking forward to next week’s show when hopefully Impact will get back to building towards one of their serious PPVs or Specials.
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