By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling TV
Taped in Dallas, Texas at the Bomb Factory
Aired January 20, 2022 on AXS TV
Highlights from last week’s Impact Wrestling show aired. The “We Own The Night” theme aired (with updated graphics to showcase the wrestlers that joined Impact recently)…
Tom Hannifan was on commentary. Mickie James made her entrance and joined Hannifan on commentary. Hannifan wished D’Lo Brown well and hopes he makes a full recovery after being attacked by the rogue ROH wrestlers last week…
John’s Thoughts: While I’m guessing she’s only here for the match, I wouldn’t mind seeing Mickie try things out on the commentary booth one day? Before Mickie left WWE, it looked like Paul Levesque and others were positioning her to be a commentator down the road. They had her take part in Takeover pre-show panels and she was the weekly commentator on Main Event (She may have called it with Hannifan too? It also might have been good ol’ Scott Stanford). That said, they’re probably doing rotating commentators this week.
Entrances for the next match took place. Tasha Steelz was carrying around the giant red X she earned for winning the Ultimate X match…
1. Tasha Steelz (w/Savannah Evans) vs. Chelsea Green. Green started the match with a shotgun dropkick and a stomp. Steelz reversed a Unprettier unto a slam for a two count. Steelz worked on Green with ground and pound. Steelz dominated Green with methodical strikes. Green tried to go for an Air Raid Crash, but Steelz reversed into a neckbreaker for a two count. Steelz went back into methodical offense.
Green slammed Steelz for a two count. Steelz reversed Green’s butterfly hold with an overhead kick. Steelz hit Green with a Crucifix Driver for the clean win.
Tasha Steelz defeated Chelsea Green via pinfall in 4:23.
Highlights from the match aired. Steelz took the mic and said that another one bites the damn dust. Steelz congratulated Mickie for her title defense at Hard to Kill. She said Mickie is done playing with Barbie Dolls because she’s now stepping to the bad side, the wrong side of the street, the wrong side your parents warned you about. Tasha said the game is over because they bout to get dirty.
Tasha said she was going to give a “spoiler alert.” Steelz said she’s going to send her back to Virginia. She said she’s going to send Mickie back to produce NWA Powerrr with her husband (Nick Aldis/Magnus) as a failure. Steelz said she’ll send Mickie back to her child as a failure. That ticked off Mickie and a brawl ensued in the ring. Mickie reversed a DDT and was about to hit the Mick-DT, but Evans got in the ring and hit Mickie with a big boot. Green gave Evans a missile dropkick and Mickie sent Steelz to ringside with a Mick Kick. The segment ended with Mickie and Chelsea standing tall while the Hardcore Country theme played…
John’s Thoughts: Wow! A clean win for a heel? You don’t see that everyday in Impact. In all seriousness, that one did catch me off guard a bit because pro wrestling in general tends to always have to book their heels to cheat. I really like the result. Steelz has tremendous upside and I’ve been a huge proponent of giving her a bigger push ever since she drastically altered her character after leaving the tag team with Kiera Hogan. She’s come a long way since her days as the generic plucky babyface on NWA Powerrr. That promo after the match was great too (though I probably wouldn’t have ripped off the Paul Heyman “spoiler” line, because that just makes her come off as less organic).
A replay aired of Jordynne Grace defeating Lady Frost on Before the Impact to defend the Digital Media Championship. “Always Ready” Matt Cardona made his entrance to stare down Grace and the title…
Gia Miller interviewed Matt Cardona and asked him if he was going after the Digital Media Championship after what he did on Before the Impact? Matt Cardona said he came to Impact for the world championship and even though he didn’t succeed there are other world championships in the company. He said there’s the women’s championship, which he’s not qualified to challenge for. He said there’s also the Ring of Honor (Original) championship. He said there’s one more World Championship, the “World Wide Web” championship. Cardona said Grace should consider what he did as a challenge…[c]
John’s Thoughts: So? Zack Ryder decides to go out there and challenge a female wrestler just because he can’t beat Moose? Interesting. I actually kinda hope this leads to him turning heel because he’s been such an entertaining heel in places like GCW and he’s even doing things with NWA now. Heck, maybe he can bring back the Zack Ryder “Internet Championship” he had all those years ago.
An ad aired for the Impact Rebellion PPV in April…
A highlight vignette aired of Charlie Haas’s Ring of Honor career…
Tom Hannifan checked in on solo commentary. Hannifan ran through the upcoming segments…
Entrances for the next match took place. Before the match, Rayne tossed Rosemary into the ring post, shoulder first. Brian Hebner put up the X arm sign to say that Rosemary was injured. Rosemary wanted to fight, but the referees forced her to the back…[c]
Kaleb joined Hannifan on commentary…
2. “The Influence” Madison Rayne and Tenille Dashwood (w/Kaleb Konley) vs. Jessika Havok in a handicap match. Dashwood and Rayne traded quick tags to maintain a two on one advantage over Havok. Havok stood tall after hitting both Influence members with a bunch of kicks. Havok lifted up Rayne, but Dashwood gave Havok a crossbody to put Rayne in position for a two count.
Rayne hit Havok with a ripcord cutter. Dashwood hit Havok with a Spotlight Kick. The Influence hit Havok with a double legsweep to give Dashwood the pinfall win.
The Influence defeated Havok via pinfall in 3:34.
John’s Thoughts: More logical booking tonight. Makes sense not to make the heels look like garbage by getting toyed with during a handicap match. Impact needs to keep this up. That said, they need to find a way to make The Influence mean more. The weak link there is Dashwood who continues to be very stale as a character. Decay needs to get back to their 2016 mode where they were cool and goth based. Impact really like to make them come off as magic wizards for some reason?
Jessie McKay and Cassie Lee cut a promo from Florida. They responded to The Influence and claimed that The Influence was a ripoff of them. They said they’d see the Influence soon…
Josh Matthews appeared from a production room to plug the movie sponsor of the show…
Ace Austin and Madman Fulton confronted Speedball Mike Bailey in the backstage lounge area. Ace tried to make amends with Bailey. John E Bravo randomly was wandering around looking for his Swinger Girl wife (I think they got married at Wrestle House? I wiped that show from my memory). Austin left Bailey with a playing card, presumably as a calling card…
Brian Myers joined Hannifan on commentary for the next match. Myers joked about knowing Hannifan once upon a time ago…
3. “The Learning Tree” Zicky Dice and VSK (w/Brian Myers) vs. W Morrisey in a handicap match. Morrissey took down both men with big boots. Morrissey then hit both opponents with a series of corner splashes. Morrissey planted Dice with a chokeslam. Morrissey planted VSK with a power bomb. Morrissey pinned both opponents at the same time.
W Morrissey defeated The Learning Tree via pinfall in 1:12.
John’s Thoughts: A contrast to my last statement about handicap matches, but this was still logical. Morrissey is a giant main eventer and The Learning Tree are jobber scrubs (as presented in Impact, because I still say Dice and VSK are underutilized), therefore it was completely logical to have it be quick.
Morrissey took the mic and said he’s not going to stop until he gets a world title match. He said if Moose isn’t going to show up, he’s going to find Moose…
Scott D’Amore stopped Morrissey at the gorilla position. D’Amore said that Moose isn’t here and that Morrissey will get a title shot at No Surrender. A staff member told D’Amore that an emergency was happening and D’Amore left the scene…
Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, Maria Kanellis-Bennett, PCO, and Vincent were backstage. They met up with D’Amore. Taven claimed they were here to support Jonathan Gresham. Taven said they even had tickets. D’Amore said he wasn’t buying it. D’Amore said they were going to stay far from the ring and he has security to make sure that happens. D’Amore said they can support Jonathan, but they should get the hell out of here…
Ian Riccaboni joined Tom Hannifan on commentary. Bobby Cruise was the guest ring announcer. Riccaboni said Hannifan doesn’t have to be suspicious of him because even though he’s representing Ring of Honor, he doesn’t condone what Matt Taven and his crew are doing…
4. Jonathan Gresham vs. Steve Maclin in a Pure Rules Match for the Original Ring of Honor Championship. Gresham put out his hand for the code of honor handshake. Maclin declined. Gresham went for a submission which led to Maclin using his first rope break. Gresham used his first rope break after Maclin went for a heel hook. Gresham asked for the Code of Honor again. Matt Taven and the rogue ROH wrestlers appeared at the balcony area.
Maclin got a warning after a closed fist punch. Gresham went for a takedown, but Maclin shrugged him off with forearms. Maclin hit Gresham with a butterfly backbreaker for a two count. Riccaboni thanked Impact for helping them keep the ROH fire alive until their relaunch in April. Gresham used his 2nd rope break after another hold by Maclin. Maclin planted Gresham with an Olympic Slam for a two count.
Maclin put Gresham in a Boston Crab. Gresham used his final rope break to break that hold. Maclin stomped Gresham in the kidney. Maclin put Gresham in a Camel Clutch. Gresham tried to use the rope for leverage to escape, but Riccaboni noted that it might have put him in a worse position. Gresham ended up wiggling out. Maclin planted Gresham with three body slams for a two count. Gresham hit Maclin with a uppercut and springboard moonsault for a moment of respite.
Gresham caught Maclin with a boot. Gresham hit Maclin with a top rope shotgun dropkick. Gresham rolled up Maclin for a two count. Maclin put Gresham in a Tree of Woe for a spear for a two count. Maclin burned his last rope break after Gresham went for a heel hook. Gresham hit Maclin with a series of elbows for a two count. Maclin got a few two counts after lariats. Gresham hit a basement elbow on Maclin for a two count. Gresham put Maclin in a Figure Four.
Gresham and Maclin traded punches. Maclin struggled to keep his shoulders off the mat. Maclin got to the ropes, but for leverage. Gresham grabbed the top rope for his own leverage to pick up the pinfall.
Jonathan Gresham defeated Steve Maclin via pinfall in 10:18 in a Pure Rules Match to retain the Original Ring of Honor Championship.
The Rogue Ring of Honor wrestlers walked to the back. Gresham asked for the Code of Honor handshake again, but Maclin walked past him…
John’s Thoughts: The pacing was a bit off at first because they front-loaded the match by introducing all of the Pure Rules rules to the Impact TV audience. I thought that was ok and had to be done. Think of it as the intro stage of a video game when you play a new video game. After that, the match was solid. Maclin was protected because he lost in a match he’s not familiar with along with his opponent getting a “legal” leverage pin. Maclin is someone Impact really needs to consider elevating to a main event level someday because the former “Forgotten son” has really transformed himself into a top level pro wrestler in short time. Remember, this guy was “the other guy” in the Forgotten Sons and Wesley Blake was “The other guy” for Buddy Murphy.
An Impact Plus Flashback Match of the Week aired from TNA No Surrender 2009. It was The Beautiful People, Velvet Sky and Angelina Love, against Taylor Wilde and Sarita. Wilde and Sarita won and became the inaugural women’s tag team champions…[c]
An ad aired for Impact Rebellion…
Tom Hannifan hyped up Impact going on tour and their upcoming live event dates…
The Ring of Honor rogues walked past the stoic security guards as they left the building. PCO scared one of them with a boo…
Entrances for the next match took place. Karl Anderson joined Tom Hannifan on commentary…
5. Doc Gallows (w/Karl Anderson) and Joe Doering (w/Deaner, Joe Doring) vs. Heath and Rhino. Rhino pressured Gallows to the corner with chops. Heath gave Doering a boot to send him off the apron.[c]
Heath and Rhino traded quick tags to keep control of Gallows. Deaner got on the apron for the distraction which allowed Gallows to hit Rhino with a big boot. Doering tagged in and hit Rhino with a lariat. Doering and Rhino traded quick tags to isolate Rhino. Rhino managed to tag in Heath how rallied with right punches against Doering. Gallows took a jawbreaker from Heath. The referee was distracted with Doering which allowed Eric Young to hit Heath with the VBD flag. Doering and Gallows hit Heath with a double chokeslam to give Gallows the win.
Doc Gallows and Joe Doering defeated Heath and Rhino via pinfall in 5:11.
John’s Thoughts: Eh, nothing much and I feel like everyone involved here has lost their way. Impact should be doing way more with Heath. Heath was really good coming off trying to un-brainwash Rhino and even better about a year ago when he had that segment on Raw where he confronted Drew McIntyre. The Good Brothers are just bleh at this point. They are holding the Tag Team Titles hostage (and their tag division is pretty much non-existant). They’ve been completely lost ever since the Forbidden Wall got put up between them and Kenny Omega. I don’t wanna see Mack and Swann challenge them either because Swann needs to get back in that main event.
An ad aired for the return of New Japan on AXS…
An in-show ad aired for the movie sponsor of this week’s show…
Tom Hannifan advertised Moose vs. W Morrissey for the World Championship at the No Surrender show on Impact Plus. Hannifan then hyped up Mickie James appearing on Impact next week leading up to her appearance in the WWE Royal Rumble…
Chris Sabin joined Tom Hannifan on commentary…
John’s Thoughts: By the way, Tom Hannifan has been a top-tier pickup for Impact. This guy is great and has been carrying this show on commentary the last two and a half weeks. He’s very engaged, very prepared, and very affable. He was one of my favorite announcers in WWE and I’m glad he’s able to take things to another level in Impact.
Entrances for the next match took place…
6. Josh Alexander vs. Charlie Haas. Haas and Alexander started off the match with chain wrestling. Both men exchanged takedowns. Haas got a two count off a rollup. Alexander sent Haas to ringside with a big boot.[c]
Haas worked on Alexander with a knee. Alexander came back with a ripcord elbow. Haas targeted Alexander’s ankle by slamming it on the ropes and ring post. Haas and Alexander traded punches from the prone position. Alexander hit Haas with a rolling senton but Haas rolled into a two count. Alexander hit two German Suplexes on Haas. Haas came back with two of his own. Alexander came back with another two German Suplexes. Alexander got a two count after a bridge.
Haas speared Alexander in the gut. Haas hit Alexander with a Belly to Belly for a two count. Haas put Alexander’s injured leg in a half crab. Alexander used his boot to trip Haas into a ankle lock. Alexander grapevined the ankle lock for the win.
Josh Alexander defeated Charlie Haas via submission in 7:50 of on-air time.
Haas sold the agony of defeat and a leg injury after the match. Haas gave Alexander a handshake after the match. Taven, Bennett, PCO, and Vincent ran out to put the boots to Alexander and Haas. Sabin tried to run in for help, but was overwhelmed. Swann and Mack ran out but were taken care of by the Ring of Honor wrestlers.
Rhino and Heath ran out and weren’t able to get control because everyone was already laid out. Eddie Edwards cleared everyone from the ring because he had a kendo stick.
The Ring of Honor wrestlers appeared at the balcony area again. Maria asked, “Do you believe, because I used to believe in honor?” Maria said they used to like playing by the rules and doing what was right. Maria said change is upon us and this is “Honor No More”. Impact closed…
John’s Thoughts: Great technical match and one of the better Haas singles matches I can remember, mostly because most of his standout matches were tag team matches with Shelton Benjamin. I really liked Haas’s focus on Alexander’s left ankle and bonus points for the commentators for pointing that out. It’s novel these days to have a simple story like targeting a body part carry a match. They are also doing a good job telling the story of Alexander’s growing frustration of hurdle after hurdle being put up in front of him.
The Ring of Honor rogues seemingly have a name now, Honor No More. Ring of Honor’s injection into Impact while they are on hiatus has breathed new life into both Impact and Ring of Honor. For ROH, it allows them to stay on TV for a bit. For Impact it freshens up what was a stale product for months. It has seemingly pushed them away from dumb comedy or superpower segments. It also gives them fresh matchups. Heck, I think Ring of Honor and Impact’s relationship has been way better (at least for now) than their relationship with All Elite Wrestling in terms of Impact content. Combine that with Tom Hannifan adding new energy to the narration of the show.
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