By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling TV
Taped in Pembroke Pines, Florida at Charles Dodge Center
Aired January 27, 2022 on AXS TV
Highlights from last week’s Impact Wrestling show aired…
Tom Hannifan was on commentary. Hannifan introduced Matthew Rehwoldt as the new (temporary?) color commentator for Impact while D’Lo Brown is out…
John’s Thoughts: Rehwoldt actually ended his WWE run as the main color commentator on WWE 205 live. He’s decent. Only odd thing is that when you hear him for long stretches of time he sounds like a more elegant version of Disco Inferno.
Chris Bey made his entrance, to is modified original theme as opposed to the OG Bullet Club theme he’s been coming out to in recent months…
1. Chris Bey vs. Jake Something. Bey sent Something into the corner with a dropkick. Something tossed Bey aside and after some running of the ropes he hit Bey with a backdrop. Bey hit Something with a tiger feint kick. Something caught Bey during a Asai Moonsault attempt and gave him a Snake Eyes. Bey shoved Something into the ring post and then hit Something with a cannonball. Bey dominated Something for a stretch of time.
Something tried to mount a comeback but Bey came back with a superkick for a two count. Bey locked Something in a leg scissors and transitioned to a sleeper. Something got to his feet and rammed Bey into the turnbuckles but Bey wouldn’t let go of the Rear Naked Choke. Bey tried to back slam Bey but Bey still wouldn’t let go. Something got a hand on Bey and broke the hold with a back suplex.
Something hit Bey with an axe handle strike. Bey got a jackknife counter for a two count. Something hit Bey with a sit-out power bomb for a two count. Bey sidesteped Something’s spear and hit Something with a double stomp. Something blocked Bey’s cutter. Something sent Bey into the corner and hit Bey with a spear into the buckle. Bey hit Something with a huracanrana for a two count. Bey hit Something with a kick, but Something no sold it and hit Bey with a front hip attack. Bey went for a dive on Something, but Something caught Bey and hit Bey with a twisting Bossman Slam for the victory.
Jake Something defeated Chris Bey via pinfall in 9:20.
Tanga Loa (f.k.a. Camacho) and Tama Tonga, the Guerrillas of Destiny, ran out and beat up Jake Something. Speedball Mike Bailey ran out to kick both Guerrillas. Switchblade Jay White ran out and gave Bailey a suplex to leave him lying. The Guerrillas got in the camera and called out the Good Brothers, saying that the Guerrillas of Destiny are here now. The Bullet Club members all two sweeted each other before ending the segment…
John’s Thoughts: Is it just me or does Tama Tonga with short hair make him look like the director Taika Waititi (sorry, I just watched Free Guy recently where Taika was the villain in that). Anyways, good to see Something finally get a win. It almost seemed like he had one foot out of the door given how many losses he’s been taking in the undercard. They still might not have big plans for him, but if they are going to use him to put people over, it would help to give him credibility so that his losses mean “something” (pun intended). While I don’t like Chris Bey hanging out with Bullet Club because it makes him look like he’s the dork trying to hang out with the cool kids (who aren’t even that cool in 2022), I do like Impact bringing in the White, Tonga, and Loa version of Bullet Club because that feels like a huge upgrade over the makeshift Hikuleo and El Phantasmo version.
Tom Hannifan and Matt Rehwoldt checked in on commentary. Hannifan hyped up the 20 Years of Impact anniversary. The commentators ran through the advertised Impact Plus No Surrender card. They also ran through upcoming segments…
The camera caught Honor No More, Matt Taven, Maria Kanellis, Mike Bennett, Vincent, and PCO, trying to get past ringside security…[c]
Rich Swann, Rhino, Josh Alexander, Willie Mack and Eddie Edwards were in the ring in red track suits. Honor No More managed to get to the front row ringside. Rhino asked security to let Honor No More through so they can kick their asses. Scott D’Amore’s entrance theme played as D’Amore walked out to try to bring order to the arena. D’Amore talked about how 2022 is the time when people want to see companies break down doors.
D’Amore said Honor No More don’t represent Ring of Honor because they don’t even work there anymore. D’Amore said they don’t even represent what Ring of Honor stands for. D’Amore said that people like Cary Silkin or Jonathan Gresham represent what Ring of Honor stands for. D’Amore yelled that Honor No More are just a bunch of carny pieces of shit (censored) that want to cause mayhem. Maria laughed it off and said hi to Scott.
Maria asked why they have to play by Scott’s rules. She then said they didn’t have to wait for Scott’s bullshit answer. She said Honor No More just wants an opportunity. D’Amore said they don’t deserve anything after the shit they’ve pulled in recent weeks. Rhino cut in and said they deserve to get their asses kicked. D’Amore said one thing he agrees with Maria about is that business is business.
D’Amore booked Impact Wrestling vs. Honor No More in a 5 vs. 5 match where if Honor No More loses they have to leave Impact. Sabin cut in and said that no one wants to wait until them. D’Amore said that each team can pick one of their members to fight against each other. PCO wanted to cross the barricade. D’Amore took that as an answer and booked PCO vs. Chris Sabin as the main event of this show…
Madison Rayne and Kaleb Konley were chatting in the room where Locker Room Talk is filmed. Rayne noted that they weren’t wrestling for the tag titles later and the purpose of her and Kaleb’s match against the IInspiration is to scout the IInspiration…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A fun and straightforward segment to set up the battle lines between the Impact defenders and Honor No More. Kudos to Maria Kanellis for speaking up against Scott D’Amore. Most heels just take it and leave when he berates them. Anyways, I like like injection of the former ROH talent into the show as it adds a lot of freshness to it. Another plus is hopefully seeing one of the best and most underrated talkers, Maria Kanellis, work her magic. I believe the 5 vs. 5 HNM has to leave stipulation spoils the outcome, but at the same time not everything has to be unpredictable.
Scott D’Amore showed Honor No More to their personal “locker room”. It was a storage room. Matt Taven complained about the paint buckets and how there was no purple paint. D’Amore said he wants to put them in the main locker room, but the main locker room wants to beat the snot out of them all. Cary Silkin showed up to hug Scott D’Amore. The Honor No More crew acted happy to see Cary. Vincent asked for his last paycheck. Maria said that Ring of Honor is supposed to represent Honor, but she’s not seeing that Honor shown to her and her family.
Cary brought up all the great things the wrestlers of ROH have done in recent years including their show at Madison Square Garden. Matt Taven talked about giving his all to ROH the last 10 years and all that gave him was it put him back on the unemployment line. Taven said ever since the Madison Square Garden show, all the “Melvins” have been blaming him for what has happened to Ring of Honor (a reference to Taven being the long time ROH champion during that period of time). D’Amore dragged Silkin away to chat…
John’s Thoughts: I really like what they’re doing so far with the Honor No More faction and Impact’s working relationship with Ring of Honor. This is a stark contrast to their relationship with New Japan where a bunch of New Japan wrestlers show up in Impact without context. With Ring of Honor, there’s world building, character development, and storyline development being put in to keep Impact viewers invested and not feel late to the party with the need for an exposition dump. This is probably due to ROH being temporarily defunct at the moment where with New Japan they have to walk on eggshells to stay in their good graces (I don’t blame Impact either, they are still trying to prove their kindness after the sins of the old creative regime. The regime that treated Okada and Naito poorly).
Entrances for the next match took place…
2. Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champions “The IInspiration” Jessie McKay and Cassie Lee vs. “The Influence” Madison Rayne and Kaleb Konley in a non-title intergender tag team match. Rayne and Lee started the match. Lee hit Rayne with an arndrag and backslide for a two count. Lee got a two count after a crucifix pin. Kaleb tagged in wearing a neckbrace. Kaleb and Lee traded armwrenches. Lee hit Kaleb with an armdrag. Kaleb hit Lee with a shoulder tackle and mocked the IInspiration pose.
Jessie tagged in. Lee and McKay took down Kaleb with kicks. Rayne tossed Lee to ringside. Kaleb gave McKay a superkick. For some reason Kaleb did Dashwood’s Emma bubble dance out of nowhere. The show cut to commercial.[c]
Rayne had Lee in a armbar. The Influence traded tags to isolate Lee in their corner. Lee caused Kaleb to accidentally dive crotch first into her fist, sending Kaleb crotch first into the top rope. McKay tagged in for the hot tag. McKay hit Rayne with asuplex. McKay gave Rayne a boot which caused Rayne to accidentally DDT Kaleb. Kaleb blind tagged himself in. McKay slapped McKay. Kaleb body slammed McKay. Kaleb tried to take a photo of McKay. Hannifan said he hopes his battery is dead. McKay tagged in Lee.
Lee caught Kaleb with a Scorpion Kick. Lee rolled up Kaleb for a two count. Kaleb gave Lee a knee. Kaleb went for a power bomb on Lee, but Lee reversed it into a victory roll for the win.
The IInspiration defeated The Influence via pinfall in 7:40 of on-air time.
The IInspiration posed with their titles as they headed up the ramp…
John’s Thoughts: Solid tag team match to get the Knockouts Tag Team Champs on television after they’ve been out of the ring for a hot minute. Impact’s intergender matches still do nothing for me. Aside from a few good ones (mostly including Glenn Gilbertti. Hmmm… The 2nd Disco Inferno reference I’ve made tonight. Odd), they mostly lead to the same awkward spots where the male gets one or two power moves in only for the female wrestler to cause the male to slip on a bannana peel. I get that they’re going for heat, but at this point no heat is generated. What made Lucha Underground’s intergender matches work was that they allowed women to utilize their strengths to hang in there with the men. AAA does the same thing too. Impact just repeats these awkward intergender standoffs.
Backstage, Jake Something thanked Mike Bailey for having his back when the Bullet Club jumped him. Ace Austin and Madman Fulton showed up. Ace acted worried and said he should have come out to help. Ace tried to act sympathetic and said that Jake was wrong in saying you can’t trust him. Jake Something brought up Ace trying to sleep with Alisha Edwards, Eddie’s wife. Ace claimed that was a misunderstanding.
Bailey tried to be peacekeeper and said that issues aside, they’d like to have Ace’s help to fight against Bullet Club. Ace said he and Fulton would like to do that but they might be busy next week. Something wondered if Ace was trying to sleep with someone else’s wife. Ace said it was complicated because they have to run things through management. Gail Kim showed up and said she’s management. Kim booked Ace, Fulton, Bailey, and Something in a match against Bullet Club for next week…
A vignette aired to hype the debut of “The Quintessential Diva” Gisele Shaw on Impact…
John’s Thoughts: Very simple, but effective. Good to see them utilize a vignette to set up a debut as opposed to randomly debuting a wrestler out of nowhere.
Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows walked up to Eric Young and Violent by Design and told them that the Bullet Club is here and that they are a big problem. Young said it was none of their business. Anderson brought up how Young came to the Good Brothers for help a few months ago. They talked about taking down all the top contenders in the tag division and even showing power with Gallows and Doering teaming together. Anderson said Bullet Club is another team that will get in all their ways. Gallows said he and Anderson helped create Bullet Club, and now they have to kill it with a lethal injection of violence. Young said Violence is what VBD does best and their business arrangement will continue…
Gail Kim introduced Mickie James for her “State of the Knockouts Division” address. The ring was surrounded by the Impact Knockouts locker room. Knockouts Champion Mickie James made her entrance. Mickie made sure to thank Gail Kim for her introduction and she called Gail the Greatest Knockouts Champion of all time. Mickie said Impact has the arguably strongest women’s division in all of wrestling and how they continue to make history. Mickie talked about the IInspiration being great tag champions.
She talked about Jordynne Grace being a great Digital Media Champion (even though that title kinda sucks). Mickie praised the women for a great Ultimate X match, and the camera showed the winner, Tasha Steelz, looking mopey (because Mickie is her next opponent). Mickie talked about Deonna Purrazzo making history by winning the Ring of Honor Women’s title. She talked about even though they have personal differences, Deonna is still amazing. She said that Deonna is probably the third best Knockouts Champ, behind Gail Kim and Mickie. Deonna cut off Mickie and said this was a waste of time for the locker room and fans.
Deonna said she doesn’t have to be told she’s the third best Knockouts Champ because she knows she’s the top best. Deonna said it’s a lie to say that everyone is “the greatest”. Deonna said she’d just see herself out and leave. Mickie said Deonna just constantly proves her right. Mickie started the Na na na na goodbye chant for a bit. She said to not let the door hit her where the good lord split her. Deonna walked out. Mickie talked about making history in a few days by being a world champion from non-WWE company wrestling in the Royal Rumble. Mickie said she’s in it to win it. She said she’s trying to go to WrestleMania in a Title vs. Title match.
Chelsea Green cut off Mickie and talked about Mickie saying “if” she wins. She said Mickie is a legend and it should be “when” she wins. Chelsea said when she wins she wants the first title shot. Tasha Steelz cut in and said no one cares what Chelesa wants. Tasha talked about beating Green twice in a row. Tasha talked about how she’s the first in line to face Mickie at No Surrender and she’ll beat Mickie before she has a chance to go to WrestleMania.
Tasha jabbed Mickie James in the gut with the giant red X. Savannah Evans tossed Green in the corner. Mickie recovered and hit Green with ground and pound. Green sent Evans to ringside with a big boot. Mickie and Green stood tall as Evans and Steelz retreated…
John’s Thoughts: Solid segment to elevate the prestige of the Knockouts Division. Even though I don’t think they have Mickie along long-term, she’s doing a good job as the flagbarer of Impact Wrestling as the Knockouts Champ (very similar to Christian Cage as Impact Champ). I liked that they boosted Tasha Steelz a bit in the end too while also keeping up the heat between Deonna and Mickie.
Gia Miller interviewed Steve Maclin about losing to Jonathan Gresham last week. Maclin said he was out of his element with it being a Pure Rules match. Maclin yelled at Gia to leave. Maclin also threatened random security guards. Jonathan Gresham said that Maclin doesn’t have to take out his anger on everyone. Gresham challenged Maclin to a non-title match next week. Maclin nodded and said that Gresham knows his answer…[c]
Footage aired of Jordynne Grace defending her Digital Media Title against Kiera Hogan at Jonathan Gresham’s Terminus show…
John’s Thoughts: There’s someone who’s still underutilized. Kiera Hogan needs to be a top babyface in some company.
Gia Miller interviewed Jordynne Grace and brought up how Matt Cardona has laid out a challenge to her. Grace brought up how “Zack” is a pioneer in the digital media space by being the first “Internet Champion” (The Internet Championship is a personal belt he made for his True Long Island Story online show). Grace said the only problem is that Cardona was champion when Myspace was still a thing. Grace said Cardona isn’t going to be an internet champion in 2022. Grace said she’s a fighting champion and totally willing to defend her title against Cardona. Grace said that Cardona better not go crying on live journal when he loses…
Brian Myers and The Learning Tree (which consisted of VSK, Zicky Dice, and a bunch of random indy enhancement wrestlers) made their entrance. Footage from earlier today showed Myers recruiting a bunch of goofballs to join the learning tree to face W Morrissey. Brian Myers joined Hannifan and Rehwoldt on the commentary table…
3. W Morrissey vs. A bunch of random Learning Tree members in a handicap match. Morrissey swatted the random Learning Tree members like flies. Morrissey threw the random enhancement wrestlers at each other. Morrissey grabbed the jobber looking guy in the pink tights and power bombed him on Zicky Dice for the win.
W Morrissey defeated a bunch of random Learning Tree members via pinfall in 2:34.
Hannifan said he believes Morrissey broke the Impact record for defeating that many people in a handicap match. Brian Myers got in Morrissey’s face and berated him. Myers then laid punches and a kick on Morrissey. Morrisey came back with a choke on Myers. Moose ran in and blindsided Morrissey when Morrissey conveniently turned his back away from the ramp. Morrissey laid punches on Moose.
Myers distracted Morrissey which allowed Moose to nail Morrissey with a belt shot. The large group of jobbers tried to put the boots to Morrissey, but he powered them all out of the ring. Moose then hit Morrissey with a spear to leave him lying. Moose posed with his world title to end the segment…
The camera had a close up shot of PCO making weird face reactions. I guess he’s electrifying himself up or something…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Another positive step in building up babyface W Morrissey by having him easily dispatch cannon fodder while also giving the heel Moose some heat by getting the upper hand over him. Morrissey is someone who should be looked at down the road as a great comeback story so I’m looking forward to seeing his journey. I still feel bad for Dice, VSK, and even Myers. They’ve really gone downhill since losing Sam Beale and the story that came with Beale (he was Impact’s version of childish Austin Theory). Dice in particular has shown a lot of comedy personality in other companies so it’s a shame to see him just as generic cannon fodder. I still think Zicky Dice and Johnny Swinger would be a perfect match due to their throwback gimmicks.
Raj Singh cut a promo saying he’s been down on his luck after Rohit Raju left the company and Mahabali Shera got injured. He said times are going to change. He said he gets to face a blue chipper from Punjab, Bhupinder Gujher (I’m pretty sure I spelled that wrong). John Skyler showed up and cut off Raj, saying that he beat Matt Cardona in his first match. Skyler said that it’s not fair that Raj’s friend gets TV time ahead of him. Raj said that instead of Raj facing Bhupinder, Skyler can face him. Skyler accepted…
Entrances for the next place took place. Footage aired of Johnny Swinger annoying Jonah backstage causing Jonah to slam him against the wall. Rosemary and Decay showed up to laugh at the fallen Swinger…
4. Johnny Swinger vs. Jonah. Hannifan talked about knowing Jonah for a long time and how Jonah must be furious after losing to Josh Alexander. Swinger couldn’t lift Jonah. Swinger managed to stagger Jonah with an eye rake. Former top star on Impact with more TV time than he ever deserved, Dan F’n Lambert, was shown in the audience. Lambert is the owner of the American Top Team MMA gym. Jonah gave Swinger a military press and running senton. Jonah hit Swinger with a Tsunami Splash for the quick win.
Jonah defeated Johnny Swinger via pinfall in 1:17.
Dan Lambert clapped in approval of Jonah’s quick win. Jonah grabbed Swinger and tossed him to ringside. Suddenly Rosemary, Taurus, and Crazzy Steve made their entrance to stand over Swinger while also staring down Jonah…
John’s Thoughts: Dan F’n Lambert in Impact gave me a bit of reviewer PTSD. Lambert’s a great heel promo, but I was just taken back to bad memories where Dan Lambert was presented as the top act on Impact where he was given way more TV time than he needed. He even made Bobby Lashley play second fiddle to him. PTSD aside, Lambert is a good heat generator and great when he’s not overexposed on TV. I wonder if they’re going to be doing some American Top Team stuff in Impact? Hopefully “dumbass Moose” (my name for dumb babyface Moose) doesn’t decide to get his ass kicked every week by randomly antagonizing Lambert’s gym of MMA badasses.
Tom Hannifan and Matt Rehwoldt checked in on commentary and announced the following matches for next week: Jordynne Grace vs. Matt Cardona for the Digital Media Championship, ROH Original Champion Jonathan Gresham vs. Steve Maclin in a non-title match, and Austin, Fulton, Bailey, and Something vs. Bullet Club and Chris Bey. They also hyped up a replay of Okada vs. Naito from Wrestle Kingdom 12 on the NJPW AXS show…[c]
Entrances for the next match took place. PCO came out came out to the Honor No More theme and he was joined by his Honor No More teammates…
John’s Thoughts: Hmmmm… Is Heath [Slater] injured? Because it’s odd that they randomly slid Josh Alexander in his spot and he’s nowhere to be seen. Maybe he just missed the taping.
5. Chris Sabin (w/Josh Alexander, Rhino, Willie Mack, Rich Swann) vs. PCO (w/Maria Kanellis, Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, Vincent). PCO powered Sabin in the corner. Sabin came back with chops, which PCO no-sold. PCO manhandled Sabin around the ring by the wrist. Sabin managed to get PCO to the mat with a dropkick and shoulder tackle.
PCO blocked a Cradle Shock attempt. Matt Taven tripped Sabin when the ref was distracted with PCO. Eddie Edwards tripped up PCO in front of the ref to cause him and his crew to be ejected.[c]
John’s Thoughts: Eddie Edwards has kinda been a dumbass in terms of the ways he’s trying to counter Honor No More (like when he got everyone’s asses kicked by telling everyone to split up). Either he’s a dumbass (which is totally possible given the Crazy Eddie character), or he is secretly aligned with Honor No More given he was at one time the face of Ring of Honor and former Ring of Honor world champion. I hope that’s the case. If only to get rid of dumbass leprechaun Eddie.
PCO took Sabin over the top rope with a lariat. PCO hit Sabin with a crazy cannonball tope. PCO tossed Sabin into the steel steps. PCO hit Sabin with a senton bomb on the apron. PCO planted Sabin with a DDT in the center of the ring. Sabin avoided a PCO moonsault. Sabin got PCO to his knee with a missile dropkick. Sabin hit PCO with Yakuza Kick and sent him to ringside with another missile dropkick. Sabin hit PCO with a suicide dive. Sabin hit PCO with a crossbody for a two count.
Sabin hit PCO with a Crucifix Driver for a two count. PCO got a moment to recover after a lariat on Sabin. PCO hit Sabin with a Sidewalk Slam. Sabin recovered and tackled PCO. Sabin gave the Honor No More guys at ringside PKs. Maria got on the apron to distract the referee which allowed Mike Bennett to shove Sabin off the top rope. PCO to put him in the Full Nelson. PCO hit Sabin with a Sit-out Full Nelson Atomic Drop for the win.
PCO defeated Chris Sabin via pinfall in 11:46 of on-air time.
The rest of Honor No More ran in to put the boots to Sabin. Josh Alexander, Willie Mack, Rich Swann, and Rhino ran out for the save. Eddie threatened to hit Vincent with the kendo stick. Josh Alexander tripped Vincent and put him in an ankle lock. Oddly enough, Eddie didn’t lay a hand on any of the HNM wrestlers, he even told Alexander to not go too far with the ankle lock. The Impact wrestlers stood tall in the ring to Josh Alexander’s entrance theme to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: This story has me very intrigued in two ways, and it’s the most I’ve been intrigued by Eddie Edwards in years. I’m not sure if I’m over-reading, but Eddie is constantly “unintentionally” sabotaging his fellow Impact wrestlers against Honor No More, and when he came out to do hold ground with Impact he avoided making any contact with Honor No More. I hope this isn’t a red herring because Eddie Edwards really needs to get away from his dead on arrival Crazy Eddie gimmick, which was dead 3 or 4 years ago.
Good match between PCO and Sabin. PCO is 50+ years old, yet the guy wrestles like he’s an indy wrestler in his 30s with all of the high spots he does. This guy is a modern day wonder. A good match to introduce that wonder to the Impact audience. This was a great Impact show and Impact has been really good the last few weeks. The injection of Ring of Honor has gotten rid of a lot of the dumb s*it that Impact is prone to do. No Wrestle House, no teleporting, no zombies, no undead realm. Even the comedy they are doing currently is not cringe. This Ring of Honor thing has breathed some new life into Impact and breathed some sensibility into them. On top of that Tom Hannifan has been a top tier signing for Impact. God Bless Tom Phillips. Rehwoldt was also an upgrade over D’Lo for the night. Not that D’Lo’s horrible, but he was very inexperienced and it didn’t help that Matt Striker didn’t necessarily emphasize his strengths on the headset. Rehwoldt was a bit more crisp, probably due to his experience as the 205 Live commentator.
Be the first to comment