By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling TV
Taped April 1 in Dallas, Texas at WrestleCon
Aired April 7, 2022 on AXS TV
[Hour One] Highlights from the Impact Multiverse of Matches show aired… Josh Mathews checked in from the Skyway Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. Mathews noted that this week’s show would be a recap of the Multiverse of Matches show from WrestleMania weekend…
The first match recapped was Ultimate X. Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt were on commentary.
1. Trey Miguel vs. Vincent vs. Rich Swann vs. Chris Bey vs. Jordynne Grace vs. Blake Christian in an Ultimate X match for the Impact X Diviison Championship. Trey sent Vincent to ringside with a huracanrana. A bunch of wrestlers took each other out with kicks. Grace hit Swann with a Kinniku Buster but was also hit with a chop block by Blake Christian. Christian hit Vincent with knees and a DVD.
Trey hit Christian with a twisting backbreaker and suicide dive. Vincent hit Trey with a Saito Suplex and Flatliner to prevent him for going for the title. Swann hit Vincent with a spine kick and Lethal Injection. Bey hit Rich with a spinebuster and springboard cutter. After Christian kicked Bey down, he hit him with a Canadian Destroyer. Miguel hit Christian with a dropkick and hit everyone else with a tope con hilo.
Christian hit the pile of wrestlers with a cannonball from the top of the scaffolding. Grace wasn’t a part of the pile and went for the belt. Miguel recovered and kicked Grace off. Miguel took down the belt to retain the championship.
Trey Miguel defeated Jordynne Grace, Vincent, Blake Christian, Rich Swann, and Chris Bey in Ultimate X to retain the X Division Championship.
The show cut to Trey Miguel talking about his tough victory and how inspired he is to defend the title against Ace Austin and Mike Bailey at Rebellion…
John’s Thoughts: I was dreading reviewing this week’s episode of Impact because they advertised that this week’s show was supposed to be their stupid Southpaw Regional Wrestling ripoff show (I had bad flashbacks to reviewing their stupid Wrestle House edition). I’m pleasantly surprised they decided to recap their better show from the weekend, the Multiverse show. The one that actually is a part of their storyline universe. It was a good X title match for what they showed. I still wish Rich Swann would stop tag teaming and stay a singles wrestler because this guy is hindering himself as the happy go lucky tag guy.
Josh Mathews hyped Alex Shelley vs. Mike Bailey for later in the show and said that it’s a “Match of the Year Candidate”…[c]
Josh Mathews said the next recap will be Mickie James and Nick Aldis vs. Chelsea Green and Matt Cardona. Nick Aldis is the former NWA Champion and husband to Mickie James (To Impact fans he’s the former [Brutus] Magnus)…
Highlights from Impact Wrestling two weeks ago aired where Chelsea Green turned on Mickie James at the end of the show. The show then cut to Mickie James and Nick Aldis cutting a promo to hype up their Multiverse Match. Aldis noted that he was returning to Impact after being a mainstay there for years. Magnus also noted how he’s had a personal feud with Matt Cardona over the past few months which got more personal due to him putting his hands on Mickie…
2. Mickie James and Nick Aldis vs. Chelsea Green and Digital Media Champion “Alwayz Ready” Matt Cardona. Green and Cardona traded quick tags to cut the ring in half on James. James avoided a Broski Boot and gave Cardona a flapjack. Aldis took the hot tag and hit Cardona with clotheslines. Aldis hit Cardona with a pile driver and elbow drop for a two count. Green took down James with a pump kick. Cardona hit Aldis with a Codebreaker.
Aldis dumped Cardona to ringside. Green accidentally hit Cardona with a superkick. Aldis dumped Green to ringside. Aldis and James put Cardona and Green in stereo Texas Cloverleafs. The Cardonas tapped out.
Mickie James and Nick Aldis defeated Chelsea Green and Matt Cardona via submission.
Josh Mathews hyped Eddie Edwards vs. Tomohiro Ishii after the break. Josh noted that Eddie wasn’t representing Impact and that this was a Pro Wrestling Noah vs. New Japan match…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A fun feel good match with the face team going over. Nothing too serious. In that sense, I wouldn’t mind seeing a Nick Aldis vs. Cardona singles match with more stakes and a Mickie vs. Chelsea match given some time. I wouldn’t mind Matt Cardona eventually moving away from this couples feud and onto more serious programs because Impact has barely scratched the surface with his fun heel persona.
Eddie Edwards cut a promo while interviewed by Gia Miller. He talked about joining Honor No More because Impact turned their back on him. He mentioned that he wears green colors because it reminds him of 2005 when he first joined Pro Wrestling Noah. Edwards said Noah treated him with Honor, unlike Impact. Edwards said that there is “Honor No More” in pro wrestling these days and the Stone Pitbull will fall to Die Hard Eddie…
3. Eddie Edwards vs. Tomohiro Ishii. Ishii escaped a backpack stunner and hit Eddie with a lariat. Ishii no sold a lariat from Eddie and rallied at Eddie with lariats and suplexes. Eddie and Ishii took each other out with lariats. Ishii no sold Eddie’s forearms and took down Eddie with a headbutt. Eddie reversed a lariat into knees. Eddie hit Ishii with a forearm and Tiger Driver. Ishii withstood a Boston Knee Party and came back with his own Boston Knee Party.
Ishii hit Eddie with a basement Lariat for a two count. Eddie recovered and hit Ishii with a Superkick and Boston Knee Party. Ishii recovered quickly and blocked Eddie’s Emerald Flowsion. Ishii hit Eddie with an enzuigiri and a headbutt for a two count. Ishii hit Eddie with a brainbuster for the win.
Tomohiro Ishii defeated Eddie Edwards via pinfall.
In a fun note, Hannifan and the ring announcer both pronounced Ishii’s name differently…
John’s Thoughts: A nice taste into the Never Openweight style for the Impact audience. Impact has been in the business of protecting the newly turned Eddie in recent months, but this loss shouldn’t do much to halt his momentum especially if viewers don’t take it as a huge part of his current Honor No More story. Some may be turned off by Ishii’s no selling, but if he’s the only one who does it and it’s seen as a strength and weakness of his, it’s totally fine because it comes off as a part of who he is. Fun to see Ishii wrestle too. I actually was really introduced to his stuff via the matches he had in Ring of Honor.
Josh Mathews hyped Eddie Edwards vs. Undisputed ROH Champion Jonathan Gresham and Jonah vs. Tomohiro Ishii for the Rebellion PPV. Josh also reiterated that Alex Shelley vs. Mike Bailey from the Multiverse show is a match of the year candidate…[c]
Josh Mathews transitioned to talking about the Moose and Josh Alexander feud…
4. Josh Alexander and Jonah vs. Moose and PCO. Jonah and Moose tagged in with Jonah having the momentum. Moose hit Jonah with a Belly to Belly. Jonah and Alexander were dumped to ringside. PCO hit both of his opponents with a cannonball dive. PCO hit Alexander with his signature cannonball on the apron. Jonah caught PCO with a superkick. Alexander recovered and hit Moose with a suplex. Moose took out Alexander with a dropkick to leave him lying. Both teams got to their feet and traded punches.
Alexander rolled up Moose into an ankle lock. Moose rolled away from the ankle lock and Jay Driller. PCO tried to blindside Alexander, but Jonah hit PCO with a torpedo spear. Alexander hit PCO with a Jay Driller for the win.
Josh Alexander and Jonah defeated PCO and Moose via pinfall…
Josh Mathews advertised Jonah vs. PCO for next week’s Impact. Josh also noted that Alex Shelley vs. Mike Bailey would be shown in full as opposed to just the ending like the rest of the matches on the night…[c]
A hype video aired for the Jay White vs. Chris Sabin match from the Multiverse show…
5. Jay White vs. Chris Sabin. Sabin dominated White with chain wrestling. Sabin hit White with a missile dropkick. Sabin hit White with a Northern Lariat and DDT. White surprised Sabin with a snap DDT to get a moment of respite. Sabin recovered and hit White with a Tornado DDT. After both men traded counters, White hit Sabin with a Saito Suplex. White made Sabin crumple with a chop. White hit Sabin with a Final Cut Suplex for a two count. White hit Sabin with a Flatliner and German Suplex.
White hit Sabin with a twisting Uranage for a two count. Tom Hannifan threw in the fact that White may be distracted with the referee because the referee is the same referee that cost him the match against the Machine Guns a few weeks ago when he broke up the pin. Sabin avoided a Blade Runner and hit White with a Yakuza Kick in the corner. Sabin and White traded fatigued strikes.
[Hour Two] White made Sabin crumple a few times with chops. Sabin got his fighting spirit and made White fall to rapid chops. Both men escaped each other’s finishers. Sabin took down White with a lariat. White hit Sabin with a Full Nelson Suplex. White went for Blade Runner, but Sabin rolled up White for the clean win.
Chris Sabin defeated Jay White via pinfall.
Tom Hannifan noted that this is Jay White’s first pinfall loss in Impact. White argued with the referee. Steve Maclin ran into the ring and beat up Chris Sabin. White tossed Maclin to the mat and beat up on Sabin too. Maclin pulled White aside and both men got in each others’ face. Hannifan noted that Maclin’s goal at the moment is to beat down everyone that doubted him from Team Impact when Eddie Edwards was the actual traitor.
Maclin turned his back on White when he thought White would join him in beating down Eddie. White gave Maclin a low blow. Maclin quickly recovered and White ran to the back. Maclin limped to the back to chase White. Maclin was selling ball pain. Sabin recovered and soaked in the cheers. Hannifan reiterated that it’s a big deal that Sabin defeated White…
John’s Thoughts: Wow. I know that Impact keeps giving Sabin big wins against credible opponents, but I didn’t think they’d put him over one of New Japan’s potential aces on TV? This is also coming off Sabin actually going over in the feud against Moose before Moose became world champ. I guess Impact really likes Sabin? My guess is that White blames the referee, which is maybe why Hannifan threw in that line during the match, but it would be tough for White’s character to argue because Sabin had the rollup pinfall held one second after the three count so you can’t really go to instant replay to overturn the finish.
Chris Sabin cut a promo backstage with his chest looking like hamburger meat. Sabin brought up how everyone doubted him, yet he beat a former IWGP World Champion in Jay White. Sabin talked about how he has multiple wins over White now (one as a result of a tag match where White wasn’t pinned)…
Josh Mathews announced Chris Sabin vs. Steve Maclin vs. Jay White for Rebellion…
John’s Thoughts: Hey, if New Japan was willing to do business with Impact, I would have found a way to have Maclin pin White. Sabin’s great, but Maclin is truly Impact’s future in terms of potential. Maclin is something else. I bet if Steve Maclin walked into the WWE Performance Center today, Hunter wouldn’t recognize this guy once forgotten as a Forgotten Son.
6. “The Good Brothers” Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows vs. Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe. The Good Brothers cut the ring in half on Jay with quick tags and isolation. After minutes of selling, Jay fought out of the corner with right hands. He lept to tag in Mark. Mark hit Gallows with a Pele Kick and sent him to ringside. Mark hit Anderson with a T Bone suplex. Mark hit Anderson with a straitjacket bomb. The Briscoes hit Anderson with a neckbreaker bomb for a two count.
Jay tagged in and ate a spinebuster from Anderson. Gallows and Anderson hit Jay with a Backbreaker and Neckbreaker combo to give Anderson a two count. Mark helped Jay escape a Magic Killer. All four men took each other out with strikes to leave everyone recovering on the mat. Mark hit Anderson with a cartwheel DVD. Mark went high risk but was shoved off the top rope by Jay White. The Good Brothers hit Mark Briscoe with the Magic Killer to give Anderson the win.
The Good Brothers defeated The Briscoe Brothers via pinfall.
Anderson, Gallows, Bey, and White posed at the top of the stage while Jay went to check on Mark…
John’s Thoughts: Kudos to The Briscoes for working this match immediately after their match of the year classic with FTR just a few hours before. This match had a lot more shortcuts of course, namely with White running in, but it was still solid for what we got. It’s a shame that AEW is hesitant to sign the Briscoes. Hey, maybe Impact should consider bringing in the team you can make a good argument for as best tag team in the world.
Josh Mathews hyped The Briscoes appearing for the Impact Wrestling show being taped the day after Rebellion…[c]
Josh Mathews checked in from Skyway and noted that Deonna Purrazzo is pissed at AEW crowning an interim ROH Women’s Champion for some reason (logically, I’d be pissed to if I were the character of Deonna. Why not crown a number one contender?)…
Gia Miller interviewed Deonna Purrazzo at the Multiverse show about AEW crowning a interim champion at the Supercard of Honor show. Deonna ranted about how she’s the rightful champion and how she’s defending her title like a champ champ at the Multiverse show…
John’s Thoughts: Is it just me or does “Champ Champ” sound a bit cheesy?
7. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Faby Apache for the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship. Deonna hit Faby with a moonsault for a two count. Faby took down Deonna with a Yakuza Kick and Fairy Tale Ending for a two count. Faby blocked a Fujiwara Armbar attempt by Deonna. Both women took each other out with big boots. Both women traded a series of counters. Deonna ended up coming out on top by wrenching in a Fujiwara Armbar. Faby tapped out.
Deonna Purrazzo defeated Faby Apache via submission to retain the AAA Reina De Reinas Championship.
Tom Hannifan noted that Deonna Purrazzo is 6-0 in the double champion open challenge. Deonna took the mic and claimed to be the real Ring of Honor women’s champion while Mercedes Martinez is a paper champ.
Taya Valkyrie’s Impact theme played to cut off Deonna’s promo. Taya seemingly was talking about challenging Deonna for the Reina De Reinas title (Her mic’s volume was off). What I did hear over the cheers was that Taya said she’d see Purrazzo at Rebellion…
John’s Thoughts: Faby’s a legend, but at the same time she’s years since her prime and her legacy has almost been overshadowed by the rise of Taya Valkyrie in AAA over the past decade. Speaking of Taya, this is what I’ve been expecting ever since Taya got released by WWE and Deonna won the Reina De Reinas title. As great as Taya has been, arguably one of the best women wrestlers of the past few decades, I feel that Impact Wrestling’s Knockouts Champion version of Taya was the best version of Taya over the years. Believe it or not, I think that Taya (and Johnny Morrison) would be great additions to Impact and would be best utilized there.
Deonna cut a promo about how she sent Taya packing the last time she was in Impact and Deonna only got better since then…
Josh Mathews hyped Deonna vs. Taya for the AAA Women’s Title at Rebellion…[c]
Taya cut a promo to respond to Deonna and talked about how she’s going to become a four-time Reina de Reinas champion…
Josh Mathews checked in again from Skyway. He announced the following matches for next week: Rocky Romero vs. Jonathan Gresham in a non-title match, Deonna Purrazzo’s championship open challenge, Steve Maclin vs. Alex Shelley, and PCO vs. Jonah. Josh also plugged the New Japan Show that follows Impact on AXS…
Josh sent the show back to the Multiverse show for the full Shelley vs. Bailey match. Tom Hannifan noted that Bailey spent most of the last few years stuck in Canada…
8. Alex Shelley vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey. Both men soaked up cheers from the WrestleCon crowd. Bailey and Shelley started the match off with the Code of Honor handshake. Hanninfan noted that the handshake means a lot to Shelley especially after Jay White refused to handshake him. Bailey took out Shelley with flutter kicks and a Tope Con Hilo. Hannifan noted that he thinks that Shelley dislocated his shoulder during the Bailey flip dive. Shelley caught Bailey with a jawbreaker in the ring. Shelley hit Bailey with a few slingshot strikes and a baseball slide.
Shelley caught Bailey with a Plancha at ringside. Shelley beat up Bailey around the ringside. Shelley drove his knee into the chest of Bailey. Shelley hit Bailey with a Fisherman DDT for a two count.[c]
Shelley hit Bailey with a modified Surfboard. Bailey and Shelley traded strikes. Bailey caught Shelley with a leaping leg lariat. Bailey took down Shelley with a few kicks and a standing corkscrew Shooting Star for the two count. Shelley shoved Bailey into the buckle. Shelley locked Bailey into a Crossface. Bailey broke the submission with a rope break. Bailey tripped Shelley and went for a standing Ultima Weapon, but Shelley dodged and Bailey’s knee ate the apron.
Shelley hit Bailey with a slingshot DDT onto the apron which looked ugly with Bailey’s shoulder driving into the apron. Shelley recovered and hti Bailey with a Brainbuster. Bailey used an Asai Moonsault to counter Shelley’s baseball slide trip. Shelley used clean blocks to block roundhouse kicks, but Bailey caught Shelley with a heel kick. Bailey caught Shelley with a hook kick and MeteoraSault.
Bailey caught Shelley with a Buzzsaw Kick for a two count. Shelley avoided Bailey’s cyclone kick. Shelley hit Bailey with Sliced Bread #2. Bailey escaped the Crossface with a rollup. Bailey hit Shelley with a feint Roundhouse. Shelley rolled out of the way from Bailey’s Ultima weapon. Shelley kicked Bailey in the back of the head. Bailey rolled up and slammed Shelley’s head into the second rope for the rebound. After the rebound, Bailey rolled through for the rollup win.
Mike Bailey defeated Alex Shelley via pinfall in 14:39.
Tom Hanninfan hyped up Trey Miguel vs. Mike Bailey vs. Ace Austin for the X Division Championship at Rebellion. Impact closed…
John’s Thoughts: Great match. For some reason, this match had me thinking of Rob Van Dam and Jerry Lynn with Bailey and Shelley respectively. It was a light heavyweight match, but with all of the no-selling and rapid firing we see in modern light heavyweight matches, it was refreshing to see more of a methodical version of that match (There’s a part of me that wants to see Bailey wrestle Santos Escobar now due to Escobar being a master of the methodical Cruiserweight style). Mike Bailey is really growing on me. His style reminds me a bit of RVD, but I also really relate to the guy due to Bailey’s Karate moveset (I’ve practiced Tae Kwon Do all my life, the Korean variant of Karate).
This week’s Impact was a refreshing surprise. I was dreading going into this show and had a negative expectation going in because Impact advertised their goofy ass Southpaw Regional Wrestling gimmick as this week’s two hour show. This is a bait and switch that I truly welcome. Hey! I actually truly adore Southpaw, but Impact has this bad habit of taking a five-minute joke and dragging it out for multiple hours and weeks to run that joke into the ground. Ey, if they do a Southpaw show, I wouldn’t mind if Impact brought in Fandango as John Cena’s alcoholic color commentator who had that infatuation with Renee Young.
Anyways, I wouldn’t mind if more wrestling companies did what Impact did tonight. Indie shows that have eight or more matches with each match going over 10 to 15 minutes at minimum are just exhausting. Sometimes less is more. Jason Powell’s Impact audio review and Hit List will be back next week with the return of first-run content.
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