By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Impact Wrestling Multiverse of Matches
Streamed on FITE TV
April 1, 2022 in Dallas, Texas at WrestleCon
Attendance was maybe 400. Matt Rehwoldt and Tom Hannifan were on commentary. This is at the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas, and the same location as Thursday’s Mark Hitchcock Memorial Super Show. The lighting is good but this is a smaller venue than I anticipated.
1. Trey Miguel defeated Jordynne Grace, Chris Bey, Blake Christian, Vincent and Rich Swann in an Ultimate X match at 7:22 to retain the X Division Title. In the past few days, Blake Christian replaced Willie Mack in this match. I saw Grace posted on her Twitter feed this week she was going to race from her match here over to the ROH show to watch husband Jonathan Gresham in the main event, so it’s nice that Impact put this match on first. I don’t know the Friday night timeline of how recently Christian wrestled the first match for ROH. Was it an hour ago? Grace hit a dive on the floor on Blake. Vincent hit a flatliner on Miguel. This action is quick. Swann hit a Lethal Injection cutter at 4:30. Bey hit a spinebuster on Swann.
Blake hit a Canadian Destroyer on Bey. Blake dove off the top of the Ultimate X structure onto the men on the floor. Jordynne Grace went for the belt, locking her legs around the rope. However, Miguel beat her to it and pulled down the belt. Very fast-paced opener, and should have gone longer.
An interview aired from earlier in the day at a convention, where the Good Brothers said their match vs. the Briscoes tonight is “seven years in the making.”
2. Nick Aldis and Mickie James defeated Matt Cardona and Chelsea Green at 8:03. Mickie charged at Chelsea, and the men tried to separate them, but then they started fighting too. (NOTE: I always start my stopwatch at physical contact, if it comes before the bell.) Chelsea accidentally hits Cardona’s groin. Cardona clotheslined Mickie; the bell still never rang to officially start this. The heels are working over Mickie in the corner. Cardona hit a standing neckbreaker at 3:00.
Hannifan finally made the hot tag at 5:30; Hannifan said this is Aldis’ first action in an Impact ring in five years. He hit a top-rope elbow drop on Cardona for a nearfall. Chelsea accidentally slapped Cardona. Aldis applied the Cloverleaf on Cardona. Micke applied one on Chelsea too, and both heels tapped out simultaneously. I generally don’t like intergender matches, but neither woman was really roughed up by a man here. This was the right length.
In a backstage interview, Deonna Purrazo got irritated that ROH held a match earlier in the day that made Mercedes Martinez the interim women’s champion. Who will answer the champ-champ challenge?
3. Mike Bailey defeated Alex Shelley at 15:03. Rehwholdt noted how Bailey is making up for lost time of not being allowed to compete in the U.S. with his breakneck schedule. This is a first-time-ever matchup, and the crowd chanted for both. Basic reversals to start, and Bailey hit his rapid-fire kick sequence at 2:30, then a flip dive to the floor. Hannifan wondered if Shelley hurt his shoulder. They brawled on the floor.
Shelley wrestled with an edge, not quite a heel, but borderline heelish actions. He hit a fisherman’s DDT at 6:30 for a nearfall; never seen that before. Bailey hit a spin kick to the face, then a series of kicks mid-ring. Shelley applied the Border City Stretch at 9:00. Shelley hit a belly-to-back suplex. Shelley dove over the top rope and slammed Bailey’s head on the ring apron, and both were down on the floor at 11:00.
Shelley hit a brainbuster on the floor; Bailey barely got in before the 10 count. Bailey hit a springboard moonsault to the floor on Shelley, and the crowd popped. In the ring, Bailey hit his 450 kneedrop to the ribs and got a believable nearfall at 13:30. Bailey missed a top-rope 450 kneedrop, and Shelley hit a hard kick to the back of the head. Bailey bounced Shelley off the ropes, got an inside cradle, and scored the clean pin. Excellent match.
Tenille Dashwood and Madison Rayne were interviewed backstage. Gia Miller wondered where is Kaleb. The girls didn’t care.
4. Tenille Dashwood & Madison Rayne defeated Rosemary & Jessika Havok and Tasha Steelz & Savannah Evans and Lady Frost & Gisele Shaw in a four-way at 9:00 even to retain the Knockouts tag Titles. Shaw and Frost argued as they walked to ringside. Rosemary and Tasha started, so just two women in at a time. Rosemary bit Savannah. Gisele and Lady Frost actually hit a team move. Havok tagged in and no-sold Frost’s punches to the gut. Havok hit a Hogan legdrop for a nearfall at 3:30. Madison hit a nice Northern Lights Suplex on Frost.
It was suddenly Havok vs. Madison at 6:30, and no one would let Madison tag out. Havok hit a Death Valley Driver. Rosemary hit a spear on Rosemary. Everyone is suddenly hitting finishers, and all eight women are down at 7:30. Frost and Shaw hit kicks on the Influence, as the other two teams brawled up the ramp to the back. However, Madison and Tenille hit a team DDT move on Shaw for the pin.
Gia Miller interviewed Eddie Edwards, who reiterated that Impact chose not to represent Eddie Edwards, and turned their back on him. He wore green because that is the color he wore when he toured NOAH, and got respect in Japan.
5. Tomohiro Ishii defeated Eddie Edwards at 14:56. They had an intense lockup and hit some chops on each other. Eddie hit a dive through the ropes at 2:00. Ishii hit a powerslam on the floor and the crowd popped. Edwards hit a DDT onto the ring apron. In the ring, Edwards hit a series of chops until Ishii collapsed at 5:00. Ishii hit a suplex, and they were both down. Ishii fired up with a series of chops. Edwards hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall at 8:00.
Edwards hit a German suplex, but Ishii popped up and hit his own German suplex, then they both collapsed, and the crowd applauded. This has been good but the crowd is quieter than expected (exhausted from a full day of shows?). Edwards hit some forearm shots, but Ishii shrugged them off, and Ishii hit a headbutt that dropped Edwards at 11:30.
Edwards hit a series of forearms, then a Tiger Driver for a believable nearfall. Ishii blocked the Boston Knee Party, and he hit his own Shiny Wizard. Ishii hit a basement clothesline for a nearfall. Edwards then hit a Boston Knee Party. Ishii hit an enzuigiri and a clothesline for a nearfall at 14:30. Ishii then hit the brainbuster for the clean pin. Excellent, first-time-ever matchup.
6. Jonah and Josh Alexander defeated Impact World Champion Moose and PCO at 12:47. PCO attacked Alexander to start the match. PCO and Jonah traded clotheslines with neither budging. Jonah knocked Moose off his feet. Moose hit a series of running shoulder blocks but couldn’t knock Jonah down! This was fun. Alexander tagged in and Moose ran away from him. The heels threw Alexander into the guardrails at 4:00.
Back in the ring, PCO was in charge, hitting a sideslam on Alexander and a second-rope legdrop. Moose stomped on Alexander’s hand. PCO missed a top-rope moonsault but hopped back to hsi feet. Jonah made the hot tag at 8:00 and brawled with Moose, hitting a Samoan Drop, but he missed a senton splash. PCO hit a dive through the ropes, and everyone was down at 9:30. PCO hit his top-rope flip onto Alexander on the ring apron.
Jonah hit a superkick on PCO. Moose and Alexander finally squared off, and Josh hit a clothesline, and all four were down at 11:00. They got up and brawled. Alexander locked in the ankle lock on Moose. He went for a Jay Driller, but Moose escaped and rolled to the floor. Jonah speared PCO. Alexander hit the Jay Driller on PCO to score the pin, as Moose watched from the floor, unwilling to enter the ring and break up the pin. Good match.
7. Deonna Purrazo defeated Faby Apache at 8:52 to retain the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship. Faby, of course, wanted a shot at the AAA title. I actually wondered if Mercedes would show up and accept the champ-champ challenge. They traded mat holds early. Faby hit a suplex and a legdrop at 4:00, then a basement dropkick to the face for a nearfall. Faby hit an X-Factor faceplant for a nearfall at 7:00. They hit simultaneous Mafia Kicks and were both down. Deonna applied an armbreaker, and Faby tapped out.
Purrazo got on the mic and called Mercedes Martinez a paper champion. Music hit and I assumed it was going to be Mercedes, but instead, it was Taya Valkyrie! The crowd chanted “welcome back!” Taya challenged her to a match at Rebellion. Excellent.
8. Chris Sabin defeated Jay White at 15:59. They traded hard chops and quick mat reversals. Sabin dove through the ropes onto White at 2:30. Sabin hit a top-rope crossbody block. White hit a chop that sent Sabin tumbling from the corner to the floor at 5:30. Shelley took control on the floor with chops and a back drop onto the ring apron. In the ring, White hit a backbreaker over his knee at 7:00.
Sabin hit a kick to the chest, then a missile dropkick for a nearfall at 10:30. White hit a DDT. Sabin hit a Tornado DDT from the corner for a nearfall. White countered with a Saito Suplex, and they were both down at 12:00. White hit a Flatliner and a German Suplex, then a spinning uranage/rock bottom for a believable nearfall. Sabin hit a running Mafia Kick in the corner.
White unloaded some loud chops. Sabin hit a clothesline and the crowd was fired up. Sabin couldn’t hit the Cradle Shock. White went for the Blade Runner, but Sabin escaped, got an inside cradle, and the clean pin. The crowd popped at the finish. Very good match.
Afterward, Steve Maclin ran in and attacked Sabin. White watched for a second, but then he hit a low blow on Maclin and left.
9. Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson defeated Jay and Mark Briscoe at 9:35. It’s worth reiterating that the Briscoes just had an epic tag match against FTR within the last hour or so of this match. Almost immediately, all four brawled to the floor. In the ring, the Good Brothers worked over Jay, who has black tape covering a cut on his forehead. Rehwohldt noted the Good Brothers are fresh. Mark made the hot tag at 5:30 and beats up both Good Brothers. Mark hit the Iconoclasm flip slam on Karl for a nearfall. The Briscoes hit their team neckbreaker for a believable nearfall at 7:00, and Jay jawed at the ref.
Karl hit a big spinebuster on Jay. Gallows hit a splash in the corner. The Good Brothers hit a team neckbreaker on Jay for a believable nearfall. All four fought in the ring and all collapsed. Suddenly, Jay White appeared and pushed Jay Briscoe off the top turnbuckle. The Good Brothers immediately hit Magic Killer/team spinning faceplant on Mark for the pin. Good match. Not best of the show, but a good main event.
Final Thoughts: Just shy of three hours. A good show that built toward Rebellion. I really liked Sabin and Shelley’s singles matches, and either could be best of the show. The PCO tag was really good too, and was a nice tease of Alexander barely getting his hands on Moose. The opening Ultimate X match could have used another five minutes. Nothing bad here at all.
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