By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling TV
Taped in Kissimmee, Florida at Osceola Heritage Park
Aired June 2, 2022 on AXS TV
Highlights from last week’s Impact Wrestling show aired. A TNA themed intro theme aired…
Tom Hannifan started the show solo on commentary, Hannifan noted that Rehwoldt was preparing for his match against Rich Swann. Dave Penzer was the ring announcer…
Deonna Purrazzo joined Tom Hannifan on commentary for the opening match…
1. Mia Yim vs. Savannah Evans (w/Tasha Steelz). Evans dominated early on with power moves and shoves. Yim’s first landed move was a huracanrana. Yim gave Evans a chop block and dropkick. Evans tossed Mia into the ropes and gave Mia a DDT for the two count. Evans gave Mia several boulder tosses and a tackle in the corner. Evans gave Mia a Butterfly Suplex for a two count. Yim hit Evans with a CQC combo. Evans came back with a power bomb for a two count.
Evans gave Yim a body slam. Yim avoided a leg drop and got a few nearfalls off several rollups. Evans gave Yim a slam for the two count. Evans sent herself shoulder-first into the ring post, which gave Yim a moment of respite. Evans stayed on her feet after three dropkicks form Yim. Yim grounded Evans with a German Suplex. Yim hit Evans with a cannonball for a two count.
Evans blocked a Tornado DDT and gave Yim a Samoan Drop. Evans gave Yim a Fisherman Suplex for a two count. Yim gave Evans a PK from the apron. Tasha Steelz draped Yim on the ropes when the referee was distracted. Jordynne Grace ran out to drag Steelz away. Yim recovered and hit Evans with Eat Defeat for the win (Shouldn’t she call the move “Seoul Food” for the Korean pun connected with her heritage?).
Mia Yim defeated Savannah Evans via pinfall in 7:51.
Jordynne Grace celebrated with Mia Yim while Purrazzo walked past Tasha Steelz and up the ramp…
John’s Thoughts: Good first singles match back on Impact for Mia Yim where she got to sell to the larger Savannah. One thing that stood out positively since her last Impact run as “Jade” is that she’s vastly improved in the ring and some of the chunkiness we saw back then is fairly non-existent this time around. They also have her personality right this time where they were forcing her to be a bit too goody-two-shoes last time and now they’re allowing her to be herself. We rarely see Savannah Evans in matches due to her role as Tasha’s enforcer, but the few times we have seen her she’s been surprisingly good. I remember having a really good match with Mickie James. She’s slotted fine in the enforcer role because it keeps her protected in losses, but they might have a breakout star on their hands whenever they decide to separate her from Steelz.
Tom Hannifan checked in solo from the commentary table. Hannifan noted he was surprised that Deonna Purrazzo didn’t interfere in the last match. Hannifan ran through the advertised card for Imapct Slammiversary. Hannifan ran through this week’s advertised matches which included Matthew Rehwoldt facing Rich Swann…
Shark Boy confronted Eddie Edwards “earlier today” and said that Eddie needs to show respect to TNA legends like Chris Sabin. Eddie grabbed Shark Boy by the collar and pinned him to the wall talking about how he’s showed respect for so long and all the company did to him was disrespect him. Eddie said Shark Boy has no idea what has happened to this company in recent years.
Braden Walker, I mean, “Wildcat” Chris Harris asked Eddie to put down Shark Boy. Eddie said he’s not surprised to see TNA guys stick together. Harris said he’s been away for years but he doesn’t mind throwing down with Eddie today. Eddie said Shark Boy and Harris should enjoy this reunion because at Slammiversary Honor No More will put it all to an end. Shark Boy and Harris high fived each other and said “Shell Yeah”…
John’s Thoughts: I couldn’t help but make the Braden Walker joke. I actually really liked Harris from the America’s Most Wanted tag team, but I feel like online memes has turned Harris’s legacy toward being the famous “Braden Walker” that guy who talked to Matt Hardy that one time backstage. In all seriousness, I like Eddie Edwards planting the seed of Honor No More doing something big. The only problem is it’s tough think of them being a threat due to them bumbling all of the time and losing a majority of their matches (unless your name is Eddie Edwards).
Madison Rayne and Tenille Dashwood were holding their tag title belts and approached Rosemary to cheer her up Rosemary after “losing her friend”. Rosemary was depressed and holding Havok’s gas mask. Rayne gave Rosemary a mirror of makeup. Rosemary said that Rayne needs the makeup to cover her face up when “we” bite Rayne’s face off. Rayne said there is no we with Rosemary without Havok. Rayne and Dashwood backed down when Black Taurus and Crazzy Steve walked in laughing…
Honor No More accompanied Kenny King to the stage. Trey Miguel joined Tom Hannifan on commentary. Blake Christian made his entrance. He now has punk pop music and he wears a fur rimmed jacket to the ring…
John’s Thoughts: I still think Blake Christian has a generic “Create a Wrestler” look, but I appreciate the effort for trying to add things. There’s a part of me that is curious about what WWE had in mind when they teased making him a Superhero in NXT 2.0. Because it was one of those early 2.0 gimmicks, it probably would have sucked.
2. Kenny King vs. Blake Christian for Kenny King’s spot in the Slammiversary Ultimate X match. Christian wanted to start the match with the code of honor handshake, but King gave Christian punches and boots. Christian recovered and swarmed King with kicks and a corkscrew Liger Kick. King avoided a baseball slide. Christian hit King with a karate combo, King came back with a punch combo. Christian knocked King off the apron with boots and followed up with a flip dive heading into the commercial.[c]
King gave Christian a combo into a chop block. King gave Christian a discus forearm and Belly to Belly suplex. King worked on Christian with methodical offense. Christian draped King on the ropes with a dropkick and followed up wtih a 619. Christian hit King with a half and half suplex for a two count. Christian rolled King into a standing frog splash for a two count. King hit Christian with a slingshot blockbuster for a two count.
King hit Christian with a handspring kick and got a two count. Christian came back with a kick combination. Christian caught King on the apron with a pump kick and hit a draped King in the back with a Frog Splash. King avoided a 450, but Christian hit King with a frankendriver. Christian got a two count off a octupus hold. Christian got a nearfall off a backslide.
Christian knocked King out with a roundhouse. King got the knees up to block a 450. King hit Christian with the Royal Flush for the victory.
Kenny King defeated Blake Christian via pinfall in 9:30 of on-air time to retain his spot in the Ultimate X Match.
John’s Thoughts: I talked about Honor No More being bumbling and losing a lot, but I do like that Kenny King got two wins in a row, both having Honor No More stay in the back to give King some in-ring credibility (and he retains his heel heat because he’s coming off as a cocky veteran). I hope they continue to do right by King. I just wished they’d do right by Mike Bennett and Matt Taven, who can’t catch a break despite having the most main event potential in the crew next to PCO. The match was fun as well and one of Blake Christian’s more credible showings on Impact. The guy is wonderful in the ring, but for years he’s just been very dry and generic as a personality. He kinda reminds me of Shane Strickland, but at least Strickland was carried for years with his Chaka Khan. I make the comparison because Strickland finally made it work after all these years once he found himself in the Hit Row faction.
Tom Hannifan noted that there are two more spots in the Ultimate X match in Slammiversary. Hannifan then sent the show to a video package for the next entrant in Ultimate X. A video package aired for former Lucha Underground, AAA, and AEW star Jack Evans…
John’s Thoughts: Ey! I’m a huge proponent of Jack and felt like he was wildly underutilized in AEW (I can see other people making a counter argument, but I became a huge fan of his character work). He has said that his character work is a combination of Steve Corino and Teddy Hart, and I thought he played that character to perfection. On top of that, he’s good at playing heel while also being an innovative high flyer. Because of the Steve Corino influence, I’d compare Evan’s heel character to Johnny Gargano’s Way Character in NXT.
It was time for the obligatory Bhupinder Gujjar segment of the week (I partially kid). Bhupinder Gujjar thanked W Morrissey backstage for having his back. W Morrissey said he would like to advise Gujjar that it doesn’t hurt to have someone have your back. Gujjar said he’s got Morrissey’s back too if Morrissey needs help. For some reason, PCO was in the same hallway, banging on a production crate like a baby while yelling the name “Morrissey!!!”. Morrissey brushed it off and high fived Gujjar…
Entrances for the next match took place. Rich Swann is back to dancing again. Footage aired of Rich Swann defending his Pro Wrestling Revolver Championship at Las Vegas this past weekend against Matthew Cardona (Pro Wrestling Revolver is the promotion owned by Sami Callihan). Cardona jumped Swann after the match and stole his PWR world title belt. Hannifan noted that Rehwoldt hasn’t wrestled in five months…
John’s Thoughts: Welp, I assume this indie title at least means more than Impact’s worthless Digital Media Championship. Heck, the WWE 24/7 title means way more than the Digital Media Chamipionship. What’s also funny is Swann seems to care about this title way more than Matt Cardona who’s at least being ironic about the belt.
3. Rich Swann vs. “The Drama King” Matthew Rehwoldt. Rehwoldt asked Swann for a test of strength, but then used it to show how short Swann is. Swann turned the tables, by making Rehwoldt do the All Night Long dance. Rehwoldt took down Swann with a shoulder tackle. After running the ropes, Swann hit Rehwoldt with a dropkick. Rehwoldt and Hannifan chatted a bit with Hannifan saying he can’t help. Rehwoldt tossed Swann into the ringpost. Rehwoldt hit Swann with a slingshot stomp.
Rehwoldt worked on Swann with methodical strikes. Swann grounded Rehwoldt with a swinging neckbreaker and back kick while Rehwoldt was gloating. Swann caught Rehwoldt with a Frankensteiner. Rehwoldt hit Swann with a modified TKO for a two count. Swann caught Rehwoldt with a Lethal Injection. Swann hit Rehwoldt with a Phoenix Splash for the win.
Rich Swann defeated Matthew Rehwoldt via pinfall in 5:13.
John’s Thoughts: A good match. Nothing too special, but it was solid and well wrestled. Rehwoldt was solid and didn’t show ring rust. While Swann’s pursuit over the stupid Digital Media title doesn’t nothing for me, the silver lining behind it is seeing Rich Swann wrestle in singles matches and singles feuds again. Swann has been a background parity character for way too long ever since losing to Kenny Omega in that huge match a year ago. I hope Impact figures out that they’re wasting a potential face of the company if they continue to trap him in the undercard. Either that or maybe there’s something we don’t know and for some reason World Champion Rich Swann really likes being hidden in an undercard tag team with Willie Mack?
Tom Hannifan hyped Moose and Maclin vs. PCO and Morrissey as the main event of this week’s show…[c]
Footage aired of Alisha Edwards defeating Renee Michelle on Before the Impact. Hannifan noted that Alisha Edwards does in fact have a finisher and it’s called the “De-lish”. Masha Slammovich appeared after the match to hand Alisha a random envelope…
Gia Miller asked Alisha Edwards during an interview what the “mysterious” envelope contained. Alisha showed that the envelope had a 8 x 10 photo of her self with a giant x on it (Oh, so Masha is doing Killer Kross’s old gimmick? I kid). Gissele Shaw showed up and said that it’s simple and it means that Masha is going to kill Alisha…
Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson, the Good Brothers, made their entrance for an in-ring promo. Anderson said that his skinny jeans looked slick. Anderson announced The Briscoe Brothers vs. Good Brothers at Slammiversary for the tag titles. Gallows talked about how they win titles all over the world and they didn’t have to earn the title shot, because they deserve a title shot.
Anderson talked about wrestling at the Tokyo Dome. Anderson noted that they are like The Beetles and Shakira by performing at the O2 Arena in England. Anderson noted that they won a World’s Greatest Tag Team trophy at one of the WWE Saudi Arabia shows. That drew some boos. Anderson said the Briscoes have similar accomplishments, but not as much as the Good Brothers.
Anderson said the Good Brothers main event Madison Square Garden, while the Briscoes main event chicken farms. The good brothers continued to gas themselves up. Anderson ran through a top ten list of them hitting Magic Killers and winning matches in Impact. The top 5 was them replaying footage of beating the Briscoes. The Impact Tag Team Champions cut off the promo and confronted Gallows and Anderson in the ring.
Jay said that the Good Brothers are soft. He said the Briscoes get up and grind every day. Mark said the Good Brothers can’t even cut it on a chicken farm. Jay said that the Good Brother’s asses are paper. Jay talked about how the Briscoes won’t stop grinding. Jay called the Good Brothers comedians and said that’s why the Briscoes have the tag titles today. The Good and Briscoe Brothers brawled with each other. The Briscoes tumped the Good Brothers to ringside to stand tall and pose to end the segment…
John’s Thoughts: More of the same schtick from Gallows and Anderson who have been doing this quirky comedy act since they were teamed up with AJ Styles in WWE. It’s a bit old at this point, but it wasn’t too harmful here. The positive is the Briscoes got some mic time.
Gia Miller interviewed Josh Alexander. Alexander said he’s not concerned after his team losing to Eric Young last week. Alexander said he just needs to prepare for his next match. Deaner walked up to Josh and said that Josh needs to be concerned. Young, Deaner, and Doering showed up to punch Alexander. Security ran in to pull everyone apart…[c]
Tom Hannifan announced Impact’s upcoming live events…
Josh Alexander asked Scott D’Amore for a match against Joe Doering next week. D’Amore noted that Joe Doering is undefeated and that Alexander needs to focus on Eric Young. Josh said he is focused and just wants to take care of Doering so Doering doesn’t interfere at Slammiversary. D’Amore said he’ll give Alexander the match as long as Alexander gets focused on Slammiversary after…
Vincent and PCO led Mike Bennett, Matt Taven, and Eddie Edwards to the stage before heading to the back. Eddie Edwards joined Tom Hannifan on commentary and threated Hannifan physically. Edwards continued to argue that Maria Kanellis is out of action due to Impact being an unsafe working envirionment…
4. “Honor No More” Mike Bennett and Matt Taven (w/Eddie Edwards) vs. Heath and Rhino. Rhino manhandled Bennett and tagged in Heath who continued to dominate. Bennett gave Heath a knee and tagged in Taven. Heath tagged in Rhino who tackled Taven. Taven and Bennett rested at ringside heading into commercial.[c]
Bennett got a two count after Heath ate a kick from Taven. Bennett and Taven cut the ring in half on Heath. Heath got a window of opportunity after nailing Taven with an enzuigiri. Taven recovered and gave Heath a knee to the gut. Heath came back with a clothesline. Rhino tagged in for the hot tag. Bennett broke up Rhino’s pin on Matt. Bennett gave Rhino a superkick so Matt Taven could hit Rhino with The Climax for the win.
Honor No More defeated Rhino and Heath via pinfall in 6:15 of on-air time.
Honor No More all ran into the ring to put the boots to Heath and Rhino. Honor No More pilmanized Rhino’s leg. Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, and Frankie Kazarian ran out with steel chairs to chase off Honor No More. The babyfaces checked on Rhino who was selling his knee. Hannifan reminded the viewers of Edwards saying that if Honor No More doesn’t get what they want, then no one will…
John’s Thoughts: Well, at least Honor No More is picking up clean wins. Impact can easily reverse course and start having them lose again (which they have done in HNM’s short stint so far in Impact), but I hope they continue to build up Honor No More after damaging them a bit. I do feel like Mike Bennett and Matt Taven are two of the most underutilized members of Honor No More. Vincent is even getting a chance to show off his quirkyness with PCO. Taven and Bennett are proven singles main event players, but so far they are coming off less defined than when they were the Kingdom tag team in ROH and New Japan. On the other side, I don’t wanna see Heath and Rhino on my TV again as a tag team. The ship has sailed and it sailed a long time ago when Rhino was eating Cheese Wiz on Friday Night Smackdown in Heath’s trailer.
A replay aired of Honor No More pilmanizing Rhino’s leg. Scott D’Amore and Heath [Slater] were shown helping the medics put Rhino into an ambulance. Kazarian, Shelley, and Sabin approached D’Amore. Kazarian said that D’Amore has to do a better job protecting his friends like Rhino. D’Amore yelled at Kaz, saying he knows because Rhino is one of his oldest friends in his freakin’ life. Sabin wanted a match with Honor No More.
Scott said that he, Sabin, Shelley, and Kazarian have been here since day 1 and Honor No More is trying to ruin this company. D’Amore noted that Kenny King is tied up in Ultimate X. D’Amore said that they can face Honor No More if they can find another few members to join them. D’Amore said the only condition is that their teammate must be a current or former member of Impact/TNA…
John’s Thoughts: I kinda hope it’s not Shark Boy or Chris Harris. That would be disappointment. I also hope it isn’t Curry Man because Chris Daniels would be much better.
Tom Hannifan checked in from commentary and ran through the advertised Slammiversary card. Hannifan announced the following segments for next week: Rosemary vs. Tenille Dashwood, Josh Alexander vs. the undefeated Joe Doering in a non-title match, and Honor No More vs. The MCMG and Kazarian. Hannifan hyped Okada vs. Naito from Dontaku 2022 on the New Japan AXS show…
Moose made his entrance for the next match. Hannifan noted that Maclin eliminated both PCO and Morrissey from Gauntlet for the Gold…[c]
The rest of the entrances took place. Matt Rehwoldt returned to the commentary table for the main event…
5. Moose and Steve Maclin vs. W Morrissey and PCO. PCO hit Maclin with a power slam. Morrissey and Moose tagged in. Moose pressured Morrissey to the corner. Both men turned the tables on each other and traded chest chops. Morrissey took down Moose with a big boot. PCO and Morrissey dominated the match with alternating tandem offense. PCO and Morrissey gave Maclin a double chokeslam. Morrissey and PCO traded quick tags to cut the ring in half on Moose.
Moose gave Morrissey a chop block after the distraction from Maclin. Maclin tagged in and gave Morrissey a modified Dragon Screw. Maclin focused his offense on Morrissey’s injured left leg. Moose and Morrissey cut the ring in half on Morrissey whiile focusing on the left leg. Morrissey fended off both opponents with boots and tagged in PCO for the hot tag. PCO hit Maclin with a cannonball. PCO hit Maclin with a De-animator on the apron.
PCO gave Moose a Belly to Belly. PCO gave Moose a headbutt. Maclin broke up the pin. PCO dumped Moose and Maclin to ringside. PCO hit both opponents with a Cannonball Tope. Moose avoided a PCOsault. Both men took each other out with lariat. PCO “revived” himself and tagged in Morrissey. Moose avoided a splash in the corner. Moose used a dorpkick to put Morrissey into a tree of woe. Maclin hit Morrissey with a speark and gave PCO a Suicide Dive. Maclin gave Morrissey a Dirty Deeds DDT for the clean win.
Steve Maclin and Moose defeated W Morrissey and PCO via pinfall 10:51.
Maclin attacked PCO after the match. PCO took down Maclin with a lariat. Moose gave PCO a spear. The lights went off and Sami Callihan appeared in the center of the ring. Moose saw it coming and went for the spear, but Callihan dodged it and left Moose lying by hitting him with a baseball bat. Callihan said Moose had a date with the Death Machine. Impact closed with Sami Callihan doing his random thumb thing and then yelling at the camera…
John’s Thoughts: A very fun match with a lot of athletic big men involved. I thought Impact picked the perfect person to take the win and even better they had him do it clean. Heels don’t always have to cheat. Heels can be heels by simply being a-holes and bullies. Impact is doing some really good booking of wrestlers in recent weeks. I think of Masha Slammovich last week, Steve Maclin today, and Kenny King today really gaining by picking up a clean win. Wrestling companies are usually lazy by booking heels with expected interference and cheating to the point where booking like this is nuance. Companies should also not be afraid to have feuds end one-sided because parity booking does both sides harm.
Same story every week with Impact. This is a solid weekly wrestling show with minimal BS. There was that one week where Swinger’s sex dungeon and Rosemary’s undead realm showed up to cause me to groan, but thankfully they didn’t go back to that (though, I wouldn’t mind more Swinger jokes. he’s actually some of the rare good comedy on Impact). The road to Slammiverary looks solid too with Ultimate X and the Women’s Title match. Too bad they have an uphill battle to make Eric Young seem like a credible opponent for Josh Alexander. I wonder if they might consider having another match in the main event slot of that show? Hey, I’m actually looking more forward to Josh Alexander vs. the undefeated Joe Doring more than Josh Alexander vs. Eric Young. Give Joe Doring a singles push please!
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