By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Impact Wrestling TV
Taped in Nashville, Tennessee at Skyway Studios
Aired August 5, 2021 on AXS TV
A video package recapped last week’s segments that set up this week’s six-man tag main event… The Impact opening aired… Matt Striker and D-Lo Brown were on commentary, and David Penzer was the ring announcer…
1. Chris Bey (w/Jay White) vs. Juice Robinson (w/David Finlay). Bey threw a series of kicks that led to a Fameasser for a near fall. Bey followed up with a standing moonsault, but Robinson put his knees up. Robinson performed a spinebuster, but he was too weary to go for the immediate cover.
Robinson came to life and worked over Bey. Robinson threw right jabs. White climbed onto the apron and bickered with the referee. Finlay pulled White off the apron and roughed him up at ringside and on the entrance ramp. Meanwhile, Bey dropped Robinson with the Ultimate Finesse (springboard cutter) and scored the pin…
Chris Bey defeated Juice Robinson.
After the match, White and Bey went to the stage. White handed Bey a t-shirt. Bey unrolled it to reveal that it’s a Bullet Club shirt to signify that he’s in the faction. White and Bey did the too sweet hand gesture. A graphic plugged the August 14 NJPW Resurgence event. Striker plugged White vs. Finlay for the IWGP Never Openweight Championship for the Resurgence event…
Powell’s POV: A strong opening match. I’m surprised that White didn’t make Bey jump through more hoops to earn his spot in Bullet Club. I guess they want to establish the Impact version of the faction quickly. By the way, I’m filling in for John Moore this week. He will be taking care of the Impact Hit List on Saturday.
Gia Miller interviewed Kenny Omega, Don Callis, Doc Gallows, and Karl Anderson on the backstage interview set. Callis put over his trio. Omega mocked the idea of a battle royal determining his next challenger for the Impact World Championship. “Violent By Design” members Eric Young, Joe Doering, Deaner, and Rhino showed up. Young told Gallows and Anderson that they are enacting their Impact Tag Title rematch clause at Resurgence… [C]
Backstage, Miller asked Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz how they were feeling heading into their tag match. Hogan said they took some losses but were back on the same page. Hogan took a jab at Steelz failing to win the Homecoming tournament and said she believes Steelz now knows what a good tag partner looks like. Steelz laughed and said Hogan was right in that she does know what a good partner looks like…
The broadcast team hyped the X Division No. 1 contenders match and the main event… A video package recapped the Homecoming mixed tag team tournament that was won by “Drama King” Matthew Rehwoldt and Deonna Purrazzo…
The lights were out in the studio. Spotlights showed “Drama King” Matthew Rehwoldt standing in the ring wearing a crown. Rehwoldt introduced himself, which led to a “you still suck” chant from the fans. Rehwoldt said he shared his spotlight as the homecoming king with his queen.
The lights turned on and then Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo made her entrance wearing a tiera. Once she was in the ring, they went back to the spotlight approach and there were roses lying on the mat in front of them. A “no one likes you” chant broke out. Purrazzo told the fans that it was her coronation and she had all day.
Mickie James made her entrance. Purrazzo took issue with James stealing her spotlight again. James said she was there to congratulate them. James said she and Purrazzo only had a handshake deal for the (NWA) Empowerrr event. James handed her a contract. Purrazzo demanded to know who her opponent would be. James said her opponent was in the building.
Melina made her entrance. Striker gushed over Melina, calling her one of the most charismatic, enthralling wrestlers he’s seen in all of his time in the sport. Purrazzo and Melina went face to face for a moment. James asked Purrazzo to make the match official. Purrazzo signed the contract and handed it to Melina, who did the same.
Purrazzo said she’d never met Melina before. Purrazzo listed some of her credentials and said it was nice to meet Melina, but it will be her honor to defeat her at Empowerrr. Melina said she heard that Purrazzo won the Knockouts Title in her first opportunity. She said she’s excited to do the same thing at Empowerrr…
Powell’s POV: A good angle that was well received by the crowd. Purrazzo has her work cut out for her when it comes to carrying Melina to the type of match that Purrazzo is known for.
Taylor Wilde was interviewed by Gia Miller in the backstage area and asked where she was for two months. Wilde said she’s a proud Canadian and has to cross the border when she comes to the Impact Zone. Wilde said someone reported her as a suspicious person. Wilde accused Tenille Dashwood of being behind it, saying that the person who did it identified himself as “Kalvin with a K.” She said that’s why she beat Kaleb with a K last week. She demanded a match against Tenille Dashwood for next week… [C]
Powell’s POV: So they are basically booking in reverse by telling us why she beat Kaleb in what felt like a random intergender match last week. I guess that’s better than nothing.
A Su Yung and Kimber Lee vignette aired. Lee wore the Yung face paint and referred to Yung as “mother.” Lee asked Yung if she could bring her the soul that she requires. Young said something in response (I couldn’t make out what Yung said and didn’t come up on the closed captioning)…
2. Jake Something vs. Shawn Daivari vs. Rohit Raju (w/Shera) vs. Trey Miguel in a four-way to determine the No. 1 contender to the X Division Championship. Something immediately clotehslined Daivari over the top rope and they both tumbled to ringside. Rohit dove onto both men. Miguel performed a moonsault off the middle rope. A short time later, Daivari, Raju, and Miguel ended up seated on the apron. Something ran from the stage and performed a cross body block on all three men. [C]
Miguel put Raju in a leg lock and then suplexed Daivari while maintaining the hold. Something grabbed Miguel by the throat. Miguel went for a huracanrana, but Something rolled through and then powered him up and performed a sit-out powerbomb. A short time later, Daivari ran Raju into the ring post and then hit Something with a missile dropkick. Something came back with a swinging slam and scored the pin…
Jake Something beat Shawn Daivari, Rohit Raju, and Trey Miguel in a four-way to become No. 1 contender to the X Division Championship.
Powell’s POV: An entertaining four-way that sets up Something with what should be a good title match with Josh Alexander. Heck, everything with Josh Alexander is good these days.
An ad aired for Impact’s Emergence on August 20…
Backstage, Raju threw a fit about losing the four-way while Shera stood by. Matt Cardona entered the room with Chelsea Green. Cardona said Raju nearly hit Green with a bag that he threw. Shera said he didn’t want to hit a woman and then left the room. Raju backed down from Cardona… [C]
Josh Alexander was interviewed by Miller. Alexander said he would face Something at Emergence. Daivari showed up and said that Alexander was lucky that he wasn’t facing him. Alexander was game. Daivari said he wanted an X Division Title shot. Alexander said he was sure that Daivari would be first in line if he could beat him in a non-title match next week. Daivari said he was going to find Scott D’Amore to make sure that was the case…
Powell’s POV: It’s just a little thing, but Alexander is booked as a champion who will take on all comers, so why wouldn’t he volunteer to put his title on the line against Daivari?
[Hour Two] Entrances for the Knockouts Tag match took place…
3. Jordynne Grace and Rachael Ellering vs. Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz. Late in the match, Grace performed a Vader Bomb on Hogan and then Ellering went to the middle rope and dropped a leg on her before going for a pin that was broken up by Steelz. Hogan dropped Ellering with a superkick and covered her for a near fall. A short time later, Grace and Ellering performed a double team move that resulted in Ellering performing a spinning uranage slam on Hogan before pinning her.
Jordynne Grace and Rachael Ellering beat Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz.
Grace and Ellering celebrated and headed to the back. Hogan and Steelz looked at one another with Hogan looking remorseful over being pinned. Savannah Evans entered the ring and knocked Hogan down with a kick. Evans picked up Hogan and put her down again with a Samoan Drop. Steelz and Evans left together…
Powell’s POV: A cool finisher. There wasn’t much mystery regarding the outcome now that the word is out that Hogan’s deal is up, but at least we got the breakup angle. Hogan is really talented and I hope she gets a chance to shine as a babyface wherever she goes next. Meanwhile, Evans is physically impressive and I like the idea of her replacing Hogan in the tag team with Steelz.
Frankie Kazarian was interviewed by Miller, who asked why he returned to Impact after seven years. He spoke about how he and others built Impact Wrestling. He said that was yesterday and how he was there now for business and would get it. Miller asked if he was worried that Sami Callihan and Eddie Edwards would be able to coexist. He said he put his faith in Tommy Dreamer, and whatever issues Callihan and Edwards have need to be put aside in favor of ripping out the heart of The Elite… [C]
Backstage, Eric Young knocked on Scott D’Amore’s office door. Young was accompanied by Joe Doering, Deaner, and Rhino. Young informed D’Amore that they were enacting their rematch clause. D’Amore said they are entitled to a rematch, but he was talking about tag title shots. Rich Swann and Willie Mack exited D’Amore’s office. D’Amore pointed out that Swann and Mack beat Violent By Design, so it would be a three-way match for the Impact Tag Titles…
Powell’s POV: Whats up with the multi-team tag title matches on Impact’s pay-per-views lately? This was kind of a strange segment. Young was all business and wasn’t heeling it up in any way, but D’Amore still used his usual on-air sarcastic tone while announcing the three-way.
4. Steve Maclin vs. Jah-C. Jah-C stood on the middle rope and looked to the crowd when he was introduced. Maclin pulled him down aggressively and then referee Brian Hebner rewarded his heel antics by starting the match while Jah-C was still down. Maclin destroyed him and barked at Jah-C to never turn his back on him. Maclin threw elbows to Jah-C’s head and could have pinned him, but he picked him up instead and barked at the referee for touching him. Maclin performed a sit-out slam and scored the pin.
Steve Maclin beat Jah-C.
Maclin roughed up Jah-C after the match and then went to ringside and brought back a chair. Petey Williams ran out and performed a German Suplex on Maclin. Williams followed up with a running knee. Williams picked up the chair, but ended up dropping it while allowing Maclin to leave. Maclin teased returning, so Williams picked up the chair, which kept Maclin at ringside…
Powell’s POV: Another squash win for Maclin, who is off to a good start with his post WWE persona.
Tenille Dashwood hosted the “All About Me” talkshow in a backstage room. She was accompanied by Kaleb, who was selling a neck injury from his match against Taylor Wilde. Dashwood introduced Dr. Ross Forman, who ended up telling Kaleb to see a specialist regarding his neck.
Scott D’Amore showed up and dismissed Forman, then patted Kaleb on the back, causing him to cry out in pain. Dashwood hoped that D’Amore was there to announce the firing of Wilde. D’Amore said Wilde was willing to drop the investigation into who reported her as a suspicious person in exchange for a match against Dashwood. D’Amore hit Kaleb’s back again, then asked Dashwood if she spoke to Madison Rayne about taking her Locker Room Talk set… [C]
Powell’s POV: Forman is actually the head of Impact’s media relations department.
An ad aired for the NJPW Resurgence event on August 14 that listed the various matches…
Highlights aired of Moose beating Chris Sabin in last week’s main event followed by Sabin getting the better of Moose in a post match fight…
Backstage, Sabin was interviewed by Miller, who pointed out that Moose would be in the number one contenders battle royal. Sabin said he’s not a hateful person, but Moose brings it out of him. Sabin said he did something that Moose never did by winning the world championship. Sabin said he would win the battle royal and make sure Moose never wins the world championship…
Powell’s POV: A step back for Sabin on the mic. He’s produced better and more inspired promos than this one. The words were fine, this was all about his weak delivery.
The broadcast team listed the following matches for next week: the battle royal for a shot at the Impact World Championship, Tenille Dashwood vs. Taylor Wilde, X Division Champion Josh Alexander vs. Shawn Daivari, and Jay White and Chris Bey vs. Juice Robinson and David Finlay…
Entrances for the main event took place with the Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson coming out first. Don Callis delivered an over the top introduction for Kenny Omega… [C] The babyface trio were introduced coming out of the break…
5. Kenny Omega, Doc Gallows, and Karl Anderson vs. Sami Callihan, Frankie Kazarian, and Eddie Edwards. Omega was getting the better of Kazarian while Callihan and Edwards bickered on the apron heading into the final break. [C]
Late in the match, the heel trio took turns hitting Callihan with moves in the corner. They followed up with a double neckbreaker and side suplex combo move. Omega covered Callihan, who kicked out. Omega tagged out. Gallows and Anderson set up for the Magic Killer, but Kazarian broke it up and clotheslined Gallows to ringside.
Edwards tagged in and took a spinebuster from Anderson. The fans changed for Edwards, who stuffed a Gun Stun attempt. Edwards performed a Blue Thunder Bomb. Callihan piledrove Omega on the apron. Edwards hit Anderson with a Boston Knee Party and pinned him.
Sami Callihan, Frankie Kazarian, and Eddie Edwards beat Kenny Omega, Doc Gallows, and Karl Anderson.
Afterward, Callihan got in Edwards’ face and pointed to the Impact logo on the screen. Callis checked on Omega, who was down at ringside selling a neck injury. Callihan and Edwards played to the crowd. Callihan left the ring. W Morrissey entered the ring and attacked Edwards from behind. Morrissey powerbombed Edwards and then stood over him briefly before leaving the ring…
Powell’s POV: A good television main event. The history between Callihan and Edwards made their temporary alliance compelling and it felt like they could have done more with that creatively in terms of having promos throughout the night leading up to the match. Instead, we heard from Kazarian and never heard from Callihan or Edwards. Strange. Overall, this was a solid show with some storyline developments. I will return later today with my audio review for Dot Net Members. John Moore will be handling the Impact Hit List sometime this weekend. Speaking of which, have a great weekend.
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