By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling TV
Taped in Chicago, Illinois at Cicero Stadium
Aired August 25, 2022 on AXS TV
Highlights from last week’s Impact show aired. The focus of the highlights was the elimination match to become number one contender for the world title…
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt were on commentary. During the opening match entrances, Tom Hannifan plugged the movie sponsor of this week’s show…
John’s Thoughts: Not a fan of using the VXT name in Impact. Purrazzo said in an interview that the words are a pun on NXT and “vexed”. Purrazzo talked about how it was supposed to make TV, but Green’s injuries caused it never to make it to TV. I’m ok with them teaming, just a bit confused as to why they would want to utilize WWE branding. Marketing wise, it’s giving NXT free advertising because it does implant NXT’s logo in your mind.
1. “VXT” Deonna Purrazzo and Chelsea Green vs. Mia Yim and Jordynne Grace for the Impact Knockouts Championship. Grace started the match with side headlock takedowns. Purrazzo tagged in and ate a palm from Grace after Grace dodged all her strikes. Purrazzo took down Grace with a lariat, leading to Green and Purrazzo trading quick taggs. Yim tagged in and tossed Green into the corner. Green regained control leading to VXT trading quick tags to cut the ring in half on Yim.
Yim dodged a tackle leading to Grace tagging in and rallying against Purrazzo. Grace hit Purrazzo with a spinebuster. Green broke up the pin. Grace tagged in and took a rollup. Yim tagged in and hit Green with a Bridged German Suplex for a two count. Purrazzo tagged in. All four women took times trading signature dives. Yim and Grace went for stereo dives. Grace got her dive on Purrazzo but Green punched Yim to block her’s. Green hit Grace with a Jawbreaker. Green and Purrazzo hit Grace with a double pendulum suplex which Hannifan noted was called the “Due Collector”. Purrazzo pinned Grace for the win.
VXT defeated Jordynne Grace and Mia Yim via pinfall in 7:23 to retain the Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship.
John’s Thoughts: Really good tag team opener with the VXT team showing good quick-tag chemistry. Good to have Green and Purrazzo pick up the clean and dominant win as it gives them some cred while Grace and Purrazzo have been established as being rough as a tag team due to both women being focused on the singles division. This also sets up Purrazzo for a singles run in the near future because she gets the pin over the Knockouts champ. I wouldn’t mind seeing Green and Purrazzo go their separate ways because Purrazzo is Impact’s top women’s star while I would like to see where Impact was going with the Matt Cardona, Brian Myers, and Chelsea Green Major Players faction.
Eric Young cut one of his usual creepy promos alongside Joe Doering and Deaner. He used his usual rhetoric about how they are trying to take care of “the sickness”. He also hyped up VBD’s upcoming match against “Time Machine”…
John’s Thoughts: Is it just me or does Eric Young’s VBD faction come off similarly to Joe Gacy’s crappy Schism faction? Well, at least Deaner and Doering never had to get crappy names or wrestle in bath robes.
An ad for Bound for Glory aired…
Vincent showed up again to try to buddy up with Josh Alexander like he did last week. Josh said he sees that all Vincent is doing is mind games leading up to Josh’s match against Eddie Edwards. Josh said he’s going to drop Vincent on his head with the C4 Spike.
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt checked in on commentary where they hyped upcoming segments…
Entrances for the next match took place. Hannifan noted that if Anderson wins, then Maria is banned from ringside in the Good Brothers vs. Honor No More match. Rehwoldt noted that Bennett and Anderson’s feud goes back years ago when they made a memorable YouTube video where AJ Styles and Karl Anderson got distracted by Maria doing a sexy dance on the apron…
2. Mike Bennett (w/Maria Kanellis) vs. Karl Anderson. Anderson chopped Bennett and tossed him around to start the match. Anderson followed up with methodical strikes. Anderson dominated a few minutes.[c]
Bennett had Anderson in a cravate. Bennett hit Anderson with a forearm for a two count. Bennett teased a power strike by running, but then gave Anderson an eye poke. Anderson came back with a rocket kick. Bennett regained control with a discus forearm and front kick. Anderson came back with a spinebuster for a two count. Maria distracted the ref so Matt Taven could run out and punch Anderson.
Doc Gallows was walking behind Taven. Gallows gave Taven a backbreaker on the apron. Bennett rolled up Anderson for the two count. Anderson hit Bennett with the Gun Stun for the victory.
Karl Anderson defeated Mike Bennett in 6:45 of on-air time.
John’s Thoughts: Well wrestled match and Mike Bennett looks to be in great shape. I’m just not into anything involving Bullet Club or Honor No More at the moment. Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis were so good as singles stars back in 2016, to the point where the 2022 verson seems bland by comparison. Honor No More also continue to have their interference always backfire on them unless the match is involving Eddie Edwards. As much as I want to see Honor No More end, they’re definitely sticking around til at least October and beyond with Eddie challenging for the world title. My guess is that Gallows and Anderson drop the Impact titles in the next few weeks to Bennett and Taven as their contracts are up and it looks like Anderson might end up setting his sights on a feud with Tama Tonga.
Gallows and Anderson high fived Gallows and Anderson and noted that it was good to see Gallows looking medically cleared. D’Amore said he’s finally ready to book The Good Brothers vs. The Kingdom tag team title match next week. Anderson said the Good Brothers are the best tag team in the world. Gallows said the match will end in a magic killer, three count, and Too Sweet…
Tom Hannifan plugged upcoming Impact live events and tapings…
A replay was shown of Killer Kelly choking out Savannah Evans last week to win via submission…
Tasha Steelz and Savannah Evans were in the office of “Dr. Ross Forman” (who’s actually their PR guy) wondering about the health of Savannah after last week’s loss. Ross said there might be internal damage. Gia Miller interviewed Tasha Steelz about a health update on Savannah. Killer Kelly can be seen creeping around in the background. Tasha said Savannah obvously isn’t feeling well. Tasha said that Killer Kelly looks like Freedy Kruger, Strawberry Shortcake, and Raggedy Ann. Killer Kelly went on to choke Tasha. When Kelly let go she told Tasha that next time she won’t come from behind, and Tasha will see it coming…
Impact Digital Media Champion Brian Myers joined Hannifan and Rehwoldt on commentary. Jason Hotch made his entrance to the most jobber create-a-wrestler music ever. Hannifan noted that Impact had a Gut Check event this year at the Arnold Classic and Hotch won an Impact contract. Myers said that “Hooch” looks like John Skyler and VSK’s love child…
3. Jason Hotch vs. Bhupinder Gujjar. Gujjar dominated the match with a shoulder tackle and power strikes. Hannifan kept berating Myers for cheating in his last title defense. Hotch raked the eyes of Gujjar to turn the tide. Myers said Hannifan should start yelling and Hooch for cheating. Hotch hit Bhupinder with a gamengiri. Bhupinder set up and hit Hotch with his 2nd rope spear. Myers, rightfully show, talked about how boring and unimpressive the move is. Gujjar got the win.
Bhupinder Gujjar defeated Jason Hotch via pinfall in 2:16.
Brian Myers entered the ring and talked about how he wants to give Bhupinder a title shot and he might give him one now. Myers hit Gujjar with the microphone and planted him with an Impaler DDT.
Myers yelled at referee Scott Armstrong to make this a match(I think that’s him, Road Dogg’s bro). Gujjar then hit Myers with a kick and 2nd rope spear. Armstrong gave Gujjar a quick count. Bhupinder posed with the title belt and walked away with it. Rehwoldt noted that there wasn’t an official match so the title hasn’t changed hands…
John’s Thoughts: Good showcase win for Gujjar. Even though his presentation is very bland, he’s fairly solid in the ring. Brian Myers was the higlight of the match on commentary with all of his jabs at “Hooch” along with his bored reaction to Gujjar’s awkward finisher. The spear that he hit on Myers actually looked better than the one he usually does because he’s not awkwardly holding on to the ropes and waiting for his opponent to walk into position (If he insists on doing a spear, he might want to do a springboard one instead of the one that makes it look like hes falling down and eating dirt).
Chelsea Green and Deonna Purrazzo walked up to gloat and annoy Gail Kim. Green blamed Kim for showing favoritism all of the time to people she likes. Purrazzo demanded a Knockouts title shot for pinning the Knockouts champ. Kim said Purrazzo is right, but Masha also deserves a title shot. Kim booked Masha Slammovich vs. Gail Kim in a number one contenders match for next week…
John’s Thoughts: That’s a match that I’m looking forward to. Impact has done an amazing job with Masha and they did better by having her beat former knockouts champions in under a minute. I actually wouldn’t mind if Deonna loses in 2 or 3 minutes, but at the same time Deonna will get the boost if she can be the person who hangs in the ring the longest. Deonna has been able to get her heat back on many occasions, so I wouldn’t worry too much about overprotecting Deonna.
An ad aired for an upcoming Impact Plus show, Victory Road…
Scott Armstrong caught up with Bhupinder Gujjar backstage and talked about how he’s happy to see Gujjar put Myers in his place because Myers has been being a jerk. Armstrong noted that Gujjar isn’t an official champion now because that wasn’t an official match. Gujjar said that he knows, but if Myers wants the belt back, he can take it in-person. Bhupinder walked away…
Entrances for the upcoming match took place…
4. Impact World Champion “The Walking Weapon” Josh Alexander vs. Vincent in a non-title match. Alexander tossed Vincent across the ring with a suplex. Vincent came back with a Side Russian Legsweep. Vincent hit Alexander with a Swanton Bomb for a two count. Alexander no sold chest chops and returned fire with his own chops. Vincent gave Alexander a body slam and boots. Rehwoldt noted that it was impressive to see Vincent dominating the world champion.
Alexander dodged a knee in the corner and whiped Vincent into the corner. Alexander rallied back with tosses and kicks. Alexander locked in an ankle lock. Vincent got to the ropes for the break. Vincent put Alexander in a Guillotine Choke. Alexander reversed it into a vertical suplex and then followed up with the C4 Spike for the victory.
Josh Alexander defeated Vincent via pinfall in 3:05 in a non-title match.
John’s Thoughts: That match was way better than I expect in a short amount of time. Yes, it was still an enhancement win for Josh, which I expected, but Vincent was dominant for most of the match, which Rehwoldt pointed out. Josh was ultimately dominant in the 3 minute win, but he also boosted Vincent a bit by having Vincent carry the action.
Josh Alexander’s post-match celebration was cut off by Eddie Edwards walking to the stage with a mic. Eddie congratulated Alexander for the win. Eddie then went on to hype up his title match. Eddie said they will be opponents but they don’t have to be enemies. Eddie talked about how the wrestling industry breaks down great warriors like Josh and Eddie and treats them like mindless grunts without giving the wrestlers a chance to stand up for themselves. Eddie started to yell at the fans for cutting him off.
Eddie said he and Honor No More have stood up for themselves by standing up against the Impact Wrestling company. Eddie said the fans are just ignorant animals. He said they are just supporters of the machine. Eddie said the fans want to see honorable warriors be dragged down to their level. Eddie asked Josh which side he wants to stand on? Eddie said they will go to war at Bound For Glory, but at the same time they can stand together in the bigger war.
Eddie said that they will go to war and they will both win no matter who leaves BFG with the title. When Eddie entered the ring, he was hit by a Zig Zag from Honor No More Hunter Heath [Slater]. Heath celebrated with the fans with Hannifan noting that it looks like Josh Alexander is contemplating Eddie’s offer…
John’s Thoughts: A great promo from Eddie Edwards (that was taken down a bit due to Heath continuing to make Honor No More look like hapless chumps). In the most perfect of worlds, if Eddie Edwards was this good on the mic back in his Ring of Honor World Champion days, he would have been definitely been huge in the wrestling industry. There was a little bit of a “too little too late” feel to it. The promo content was solid heel logic. He’s been talking about this “message” and the message made sense with it looking to have caught Josh Alexander’s interest. What they might want to do is maybe prune Honor No More. Keep the faction, but prune off The Kingdom, PCO, and maybe Kenny King. Their big faction causes them to cannibalize themselves. They’re great wrestlers and talkers, but they are fighting for limited ring and mic time. On top of that, they always have a 5 on 1 advantage and find a way to lose and get beat up.
Raj Singh and Mahabali Shera were backstage. Raj said that Shera only lost to Alexander in a short match because he was injured. He called himself “Champagne Singh” and reiterated that Shera is the Indian Lion. The cameraperson got distracted and focused the camera on Moose and Steve Maclin having an argument at the bottom of the stairs. Sami Callihan showed up and chucked cardboard boxes at his enemies. The brawl spilled to outside, where Moose and Maclin had the numbers advantage. Maclin tied Callihan in barbed wire as he and Moose left Sami lying. Maclin had a crimson mask, while Moose called Sami a son of a bitch…
John’s Thoughts: Great stuff from those three and it’s the best they’ve looked in this long-ish feud. See! No teleporting. No hacking. No bad stock music. Just a violent brawl and a violent scene. Fingers crossed that Sami gets it through his head that the violent Death Machine Sami is the best Sami. NXT Hacker Solomon Crowe needs to eat crow and be put to rest. Another part that I liked about that segment was the camera man getting so bored of Raj Singh’s generic promo, to the point where he decided to find something more exciting.
A Bound for Glory ad aired…
A Masha Slammovich spotlight vignette aired. It showed her highlights and scenes of her in a room of photos. She was also licking a bloody knife…
Alicia Edwards made her entrance. She’s probably here to lose to someone. Rosemary made her entrance, but Jessicka interrupted with her own new theme. It starts off by saying she’s Jes Sick Ka because she’s “siiiiiick!”…
5. Alisha Edwards vs. Jessicka [Havok] (w/Rosemary). Jessicka and Alisha clapped to start the match. Rosemary stopped them and told Jessicka to put on battle paint. Jessicka no sold punches and returned with the Dusty Rhodes Bionic Elbow sequence. Jessicka hit Alisha with a body slam and basement lariat. Alisha went for a crossbody but was caught. Jessicka did a T Pose, said she’s sick, and hit Alisha with a pile driver for the victory.
Jessicka defeated Alisha Edwards via pinfall 1:56.
Shelley, Sabin, and Kushida were shown warming up backstage…[c]
John’s Thoughts: I’m still not sold on the whole Jessicka thing, but there is potential for this act to grow on me. It’s still a tough act to follow when Susie Yung played the converted child character so well (and Taya constantly talks about how this chararacter is the same as Su’s). The best part of this act is Rosemary as the straight-man. She’s toned down the rhetoric and it’s refreshing her character to be the straight-man between two over-the-top valley girls.
A highlight package aired spotlighting Mickie James’s recent losses in Impact. The video ended with Mickie walking away from the arena a few weeks ago, saying she was going home…
Matthew Rehwoldt and Tom Hannifan checked in from the commentary table and announced the following segments for next week: Mickie James making an announcement about her career, Masha Slammovich vs. Deonna Purrazzo in a number one contenders match, Good Brothers vs. The Kingdom for the Impact Tag Team Titles with Maria banned from ringside. Hannifan plugged the AXS show…
Sami Callihan stumbled to the commentary table, wrapped in barbed wire. Sami took the mic and said that Moose and Maclin are sons of bitches. He said that this barbed wire can’t hold him down because barbed wire is just a normal friday to him because he calls that a party. Sami challenged Maclin and Moose to a Barbed Wire Massacre match at Victory Road…
John’s Thoughts: Please Sami! For the love of God. Stay as this character. Someone needs to take Sami Callihan’s smartphone away and burn it so we don’t get hacker sami ever again.
Hannifan and Rehwoldt checked back on commentary after Sami stumbled away. Violent By Design made their entrance. For some reason Eric Young is wearing his usual Iron Man mask with white paint on it (didn’t he used to wear a hockey mask?). Kushida, Sabin, and Shelley came out to a mashup of their entrance themes…
6. “Violent By Design” Eric Young, Joe Doring, and Deaner vs. “The Time Machine” Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, and Kushida. Doering and Kushida started the match. Doering ran through Kushida and tagged in Young. Shelley and Kushida zig zagged around the ring and took down EY with a lariat.
Deaner and Sabin tagged in. The Guns alternated hitting Deaner with basement dropkicks. Time Machine trapped EY against the buckle and dropkicked his lower regions into it. Doering and Deaner traded quick tags to dominate Sabin. Doering planted Sabin with a seamless body slam and elbow drop combo.[c]
Violent By Design cut the ring in half on Sabin with quick tags and methodical offense. This lasted a few minutes. Sabin rolled out of the corner to tag in Kushida who took the hot tag. Kushida cleaned house with all three VBD members. Young ducked a Buzzsaw Kick and hit Kushida with a right hand. Shelley tagged in and hit Deaner with a basement dropkick combo.
Shelley hit Deaner with shortarm chops. Shelley tagged in as the Guns swarmed Deaner with alternating strikes. Young kicked Sabin to prevent him from hitting Deaner with a Cradle Shock. The Guns dumped all three VBD members to ringside. Time Machine took turns diving to ringside. Deaner raked Sabin’s eyes to escape the cradle shock. Young hit Sabin with a brainbuster for a two count.
Doering hit The Guns with a crossbody. VBD traded tags to get all of them in the ring. Doering side slammed Sabin, Deaner gave Sabin a diving headbutt, and Young hit Sabin with a diving elbow. Sabin kicked out of the finisher at two. Sabin backdropped Young. Deaner ran in to prevent Sabin from tagging his partners.
Kushida sacraficed his body to prevent Deaner from hitting Sabin with running axe handle strikes. The guns tripped up Deaner and hit him with their signature basement dropkick combo. They did the same combo to Eric Young. With Kushida’s help, they got the same combo on Doering. All three Time Machine members took turns kicking Deaner in the head to set up Deaner to be planted by Sabin’s Cradle Shock. Sabin picked up the pinfall.
The Time Machine defeated Violent By Design via pinfall in 16:32 of on-air time.
Time Machine cleebrated their win to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: A great 6 person tag match. You had to have high expectations given every single wrestler in this match being so damn entertaining. This is an example of the sum really leading to more than just the parts. This was stellar. This was refreshing too. We usually get that frantic Young Bucks or Lucha Brothers style of “Trios” match where it’s nonstop bodies flying all over the place. Nonstop bodies flying all over the place is fun, but I feel like that’s become the norm in 6 person tags.
Both teams here were more methodical and technical with nice usage of alternating strikes. I wouldn’t mind seeing more Time Machine on my television. This match also made me forget for a bit how much I feel like VBD has jumped the shark. If AEW can, I wouldn’t mind getting the Time Machine in a trios title match against Omega and the Bucks if that’s where the tournament leads (We are getting the weird Jay Lethal-Machine Guns team. Do we call them “The Lethal Machine Guns”?).
This was a stellar episode of Impact. Some of the things that I felt haven’t been booked well, swung in a positive direction this week. I still need Honor No More to truncate, it’s just too many main event talents fighting for TV time and made to look hapless at the hands of Heath F’n Slater. Sami stopped hacking for the night! Jessicka is starting to grow on me a bit. Eddie cuts a great mission statement promo. This was some good stuff. If they threw a Mike Bailey match on this show it would have been just overkill in a good way.
“Alicia Edwards made her entrance. She’s probably here to lose to someone. ”
Alicia Edwards is such a jobber. Speaking of Jobbers, is there any faction more worthless than Honor No More?