By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling TV
Taped in Nashville, Tennessee at Skyway Studios
Aired September 29, 2022 on AXS TV
Highlights from last week’s Impact Plus Victory Road show aired… Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt were on commentary. Dave Penzer was the ring announcer…
1. “Bullet Club” Ace Austin and Chris Bey (w/Juice Robinson) vs. Trey Miguel and Laredo Kid. Kid started the match with quick rollups. Kid took down Ace after Ace attempted to give him a too sweet. Kid sent Ace to ringside. Bey stood on the apron to prevent Kid from doing a dive. Ace gave a distracted Kid a back suplex. Bey and Ace traded quick tags to swarm Kid with alternating techniques. Bey hit Kid with a backbreaker for a two count. Bey and Ace cut the ring in half on Kid for about a minute.
Kid hit Bey with a huracanrana to allow himself to tag in Trey. Trey rallied with flying forearms and a head-scissors combination. Trey hit Bey with a reverse Buzzsaw kick and double stomp for a two count. Bey blocked a Fujiwara armbar and got in a rope break for separation. Trey hit Bey with an Atomic Drop and Northern Lights for a two count. Bey managed to take down both opponents with a STF-DDT combo. Kid got the hot tag and cleaned house. Ace hit Kid with a Disaster Kick for a two count. Trey blocked a springboard cutter attempt midair by Bey by swatting him with a springboard dropkick.
Kid hit Ace with a suicide dive at ringside (looks like Kid’s head may have smashed into the guardrail). Grey and Kid hit Bey with a nice double team springboard Sunset Bomb to give Kid a two count. Ace tripped Kid off the top rope. Bey springboarded off Ace’s hands to hit Trey with a springboard cutter. Ace hit Trey with The Fold. Ace and Bey both pinned Trey for the win.
Bullet Club defeated Trey Miguel and Laredo Kid via pinfall in 8:16.
John’s Thoughts: Great tag match, but I can’t help but feel like every person in this match would be better served as spotlighted singles wrestlers, the two “Bullet Club” (in air quotes) specifically. Bullet Club in 2022 is an albatross not a bonus. Being a part of Bullet Club these days feels like dork posers who think they’re being cool heels. The only demographic that appeals to is the hardcore-hardcore wrestling crowd who knew it was cool 8 years ago and are late to the party. Seriously, Ace and Bey were bright singles stars before becoming the “young boys” of Bullet Club, where their jobs are to eat pins for Gallows, Anderson, and Jay White. As a whole from this match, I feel like instead of putting all four of these guys in homogeneous spotfests, you can rotate one to face Mike Bailey, and build the other three as potential Josh Alexander opponents (All four of these guys would be way more appealing than the damaged and undercooked Honor No More Eddie Edwards as a title contender).
Highlights from last week’s Brian Myers vs. Bhupinder Gujjar ladder match aired (Surprisingly good)…
Gia Miller interviewed Bhupinder, congratulating him on a good match against Brian Myers last week. Gujjar had a black eye. He was also sporting the new Joe Doering t-shirt (which I totally recommend people buy, most notably because the profits go directly to Doering and his fight against cancer). Gia asked Bhupinder on his health. Gujjar said he’s feeling fine, but he’s not medically cleared to wrestle this week due to a broken nose. He said he should be ready next week. Bhupinder said being close to the Digital Media Title was his first taste of gold. Bhupinder said he’s officially putting his name in the Bound For Glory Call Your Shot Battle Royal match. He spoke some words in his native Indian language…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Nothing too special, but I think with the war damaged face, the considerate Doering shirt, and his steady mic improvement, that was one of best times that Bhupinder has looked in Impact. Here’s hoping he adds another layer to his act, but the feud with Brian Myers has definitely been a good learning and developmental experience for him (With D’Lo Brown out, Myers might wanna consider doing double duty as a producer. He has a good in-ring and comedy mind and could be a good resource to young wrestlers. Sorta a real life “learning tree”).
Gia Miller interviewed Frankie Kazarian about winning the Triple Threat Revolver match at Victory Road, which gives him the match against Mike Bailey at Bound For Glory for the X Division Title. Kaz said he wrestled in the Revolver match to prove to himself that he can still hang with the current crop of X Division stars. He said he didn’t just hang he won and he’s still always a step ahead of the rest. Kaz said Scott D’Amore understands that you don’t keep a high batting average, high RBI, High Home Run guy on the bench, you keep them in the game all the time. Kaz said he’s a fan of Mike Bailey who’s been leading the game, but Kaz said he created the game. Kaz said he’s taking back his X Division title at Bound for Glory…
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt checked in from commentary. Before they could run through their plugs, they almost got attacked by a random “fan” in a yellow hoodie (presumably one of Eric Young’s not-Control-Your-Narrative/Violent By Design cultists). Security escorted the fan away, which allowed the commentary team to run through the Bound for Glory card. Tom noted that Eddie Edwards pinned Josh Alexander at Victory Road and that was the first pinfall loss that Alexander has taken since getting pinned by Moose at last year’s Bound for Glory…
Security cam footage showed that Masha Slamovich and Allie Katch have been locked up in dark rooms for 24 hours without food, water, or light. This is Impact’s usual stipulation for Monster’s Ball matches (which I personally totally forgot until Moose and Sami Callihan did it)…
Entrances for the next match took place…
2. Brian Myers vs. Crazzy Steve for the Impact Digital Media Championship. Myers avoided Steve’s biting attempts and tossed Steve into the rope. Myers worked on Steve with methodical offense. Steve tried to bite Myers again, but Myers tripped him.[c]
Steve used his boots to wrench the neck of Myers. Steve hit Myers with a cannonball in the corner. Myers faked out Steve with a enzuigiri and hit Steve with an implant DDT. Steve managed to bite Myers in the corner and lock Myers in the tarantula. Myers pulled the ref in front of him to block Steve from going high risk. Myers hit Steve with a thumb to the eye and followed up with the Roster Cut for the victory.
Brian Myers defeated Crazzy Steve via pinfall in 4:09 of on-air time to retain the Impact Digital Media Championship.
Myers took a mic to cut a promo. He talked about turning the title to the most prestigious title in all of Impact. He said it’s getting too easy for him and he doesn’t see any Blue [Twitter] Checkmarks challenging him. Myers said he’s issuing an Open Challenge for the Digital Media Title at Bound for Glory…
John’s Thoughts: Good match in the time given. There’s a part of me that wonders if they should rebrand the Digital Media Title, but that also might be more effort than the title’s worth. I do like that Myers is getting the most of it, even though he’s still treating it tongue-and-cheek by talking about blue checkmarks and the title being the best title in the company.
The show cut to a Johnny Swinger and Zicky Dice skit. Swinger told Dice that he used to own an underground casino before he owned the dungeon. Dice slid Swinger into the old Swinger’s Palace set where two of the old Swinger Girls were wearing street clothes and just hanging out there for some reason. Swinger said all four of them should have a four way. John E Bravo showed up and reminded Swinger that he’s married to one of the Swinger girls after Johnny left her at the alter. The other girl asked Johnny if he watched Wrestle House 2? Dice said nobody watched that. Taya Valkyrie and Jessicka showed up and talked about how they didn’t like Swinger. After Taya and Jessicka left, Dice ended up finding that random wad of cash that wrestlers in Impact feuded over for over a year (It was kinda like Impact’s 24/7 title to be honest). Swinger took the wad of cash and said he’ll give it back to Hernandez…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Ok, that segment actually got a chuckle out of me. Since we haven’t gotten the overload of crappy-esoteric Impact comedy for probably over a year at this point, it’s fun to see Impact do some self deprecating humor at their expense and be self-aware of how bad those skits are. It helps that they do that to contrast with how much better the show is these days. At the same time, where I think Impact can improve in terms of adding more comedy to the show is now that they aren’t doing esoteric comedy, they should find comedy that appeals to the fans (not the producers). Part of that could be giving Johnny Swinger more comedy skits because he’s really good and witty.
The show cut to this week’s Joe Hendry skit. They showed the random Scottish guy on a phone, recapping how his dad died and his wife got knocked up by someone else in the last two weeks. The guy said he hopes his dad’s inheritance can give him a fresh start. They cut to the lawyer telling the family that only one person will get the inheritance. The lawyer said it isn’t a family member in the room. The main Scottish guy said to “say the name” of the person to get the inheritance. The camera cut to Joe Hendry peaking in from a bookcase. Everyone in the office clapped and danced to Joe Hendry’s “I believe in Joe Hendry” song…
Rosemary was chatting with Father James Mitchell. Rosemary complained about Jessicka acting too much like a “human”. Mitchell said he doesn’t see why this is a big deal. He said he’s dealing with things like Max the Impaler running amok. Mitchell said Havok and Jessicka are different people. Rosemary said that’s the point and in order for her and Taya to win the tag titles, Jessicka needs to go. Taya and Jessicka showed up and Mitchell walked away. Taya said she doesn’t understand why Rosemary doesn’t like Jessicka. Taya said she’s fun, very positive, and super cute. Rosemary said they need a warrior like Havok and Jessicka doesn’t know who Jessicka is. Jessicka said she knows herself and doesn’t know what she can do to impress Rosemary. Taya said Rosemary needs to stop criticizing them and they all need to get on the same page. They all fist bumped. Rosemary said it was time for training. Taya and Jessicka were giddy…
Both men were already in the ring for the next match without entrances…
3. Black Taurus vs. Delirious. Delirious came at Taurus with a series of Shotgun Dropkicks which Taurus no-sold. Delirious mumbled at Taurus and then smashed Taurus into the turnbuckles. Taurus no-sold a shoulder tackle. Taurus came back with a shoulder tackle. Delirious hit Taurus with a throat punch. Taurus came back with a gamengiri and power slam for a two count. Delirious ran around the ring and stopped on a dime several times to dizzy Taurus and give Taurus a lariat.
Delirious gave Taurus a body slam and 10 running drop kicks. Taurus rolled to ringside. Taurus recovered and gave Delirious a swinging backbreaker and followed up with a pop up Samoan Drop. Delirious came back with a throat punch and punch combo. Taurus came back with a headbutt and Destination Hellhole (Michinoku Driver) for the victory.
Black Taurus defeated Delirious via pinfall in 4:59.
John’s Thoughts: A really fun and unorthodox match. The unorthodox nature of the match made it stand out in a good way. Very interesting to see Delirious, Hunter Johnston, wrestle these days because while he was head booker of Ring of Honor, he pretty much laid low and would only appear occasionally.
Gia Miller interviewed former Undisputed Era member Bobby Fish. Bobby Fish talked about being in Impact for legitimate competition. He said he doesn’t know anyone more legitimate than Josh Alexander. Fish talked about having a lot of history with Josh’s opponent Eddie Edwards from the Ring of Honor days. Bobby Fish threw his name in the Call Your Shot Battle Royal. Fish said that Albany, NY is also his home…[c]
John’s Thoughts: No joke, with all the Ring of Honor wrestlers roaming around in Impact, Impact Wrestling feels more like the old Ring of Honor than Tony Khan’s AEW-lite Ring of Honor. No joke, Khan really needs to hire a different mind to be the booker of that thing, if only to have a completely different vision driving the product. Hey, Hunter Johnston is a free agent. In all seriousness, Delirious was really good in trying to differentiate Ring of Honor in several ways during his run, and I really liked some of the stuff he tried to do before they closed. Hey, and if Tony Khan is all for the memes, he can say that he has his own Hunter running his wrestling promotion. Let’s book a Forbidden Door between Hunter Hurst Helmsley and Nick Khan vs. Hunter Johnston and Tony Khan. I digress.
Gia Miller informed Mia Yim that the Mickie James vs. Mia Yim match is made official and Yim can potentially retire James. Mia said that Mickie was one of Mia’s first opponents when she started wrestling. They cut to Maryland Championship Wrestling footage of Mia Yim wrestling Mickie with Mickie winning with a Mick-DT. She said she was intimidated at the time, but not no more. She said she’s not going to take it easy on Mickie, and if that means that she has to retire Mickie, then it is what it is. Giselle Shaw showed up to say that if Shaw couldn’t beat Mickie at Victory Road, then Yim can’t at BFG. Yim challenged Shaw to a match next week…
Honor No More all made their entrance. While most of them were in their usual attire, PCO was wearing a formal dress suit for some reason. Eddie Edwards led them all to the ring. Eddie said it was Honor No More’s Victory Road celebration. Eddie said they were here to celebrate Victory Road as a successful night for Honor No More. They said they put to rest the locker room doubts of Honor No More. Eddie said he also proved that he can beat Josh Alexander. Eddie said there was a setback though. Eddie said he still doesn’t trust PCO. He said PCO lost to the Machine Guns. Eddie said PCO failed at his one job. Eddie said PCO needs to stop stepping up. Eddie said it’s simple, PCO steps up when Eddie tells him, otherwise PCO steps back and shuts his mouth (he never really talks anyway).
Vincent put a sack on PCO’s head. Matt Taven took a mic and put a purple mic cube on it for some reason. Taven talked about how Impact continues to try to screw them over. Taven said Impact are acting like stupid Melvins just because Honor No More wasn’t made by Impact. Taven bragged about him and Bennett winning the tag team titles. He said it wasn’t a fluke, but due to pure talent. Taven said Eddie will pin Josh, again, at Bound for Glory. Bennett reiterated the earlier point that Eddie was the first person to pin Josh since Moose did last year at BFG. Maria said this pin was better because Moose cashed in his title shot against a beaten man, while Eddie beat a fresh Josh Alexander. Maria told the production truck to replay Eddie pinning Josh Alexander after a Die Hard Driver.
Eddie talked about how it was bold for him to join Honor No More. He said he brought Honor No More to Impact Wrestling (did he?). He said that the reason he turned his back on everyone he fought for was because they all turned their backs on him. Eddie said at Victory Road he’s fighting for true greatness. Josh Alexander made his entrance with a mic. Josh said Eddie sound like a broken record, so much that Eddie’s believing in his own BS. Josh said this is all about Honor No More being afraid of being overlooked, passed by, and insignificant. Josh said this is like any other fight for Josh, except he and Eddie have different visions. Josh said Eddie sees the belt as job security, while Josh sees it as the symbol of the best wrestler on earth. Josh said Eddie’s “war” is imaginary. Eddie said Josh is just blinded and his eyes need to be open. Eddie said Josh will regret facing Honor No More with his soul.
Eddie said he’s not just walking into BFG with momentum, but he’s walking with his family Honor No More. Josh said Eddie may think he has the numbers advantage by surrounding himself with the leaches from the unemployment line. Josh said Eddie should have know better for turning his back on the Locker room, crowd, and every Impact fan from around the world. Josh said he has all those people behind him. Josh said that with all the people behind him, Eddie is outnumbered. Eddie dared Josh to fight all of Honor No More right now. Josh said he’d be honored to. Josh walked into the ring and managed to fend off Honor No More initially, but was given the boots due to the numbers game. Rich Swann and Heath ran out and Honor No More still had the advantage. Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley ran out and were still beat up. The Guns managed to dump Honor No More to ringside to leave Eddie and Josh by themselves. Eddie rolled away as the babyfaces stood tall in the ring…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Too little and way too late here. I appreciate some of the effort they are trying to do to put heat on Honor No More; but even at the same time that effort feels a bit half-assed because Impact refuses to put solid heat on Honor No More. Their “celebration” made them come off as grateful to take any little victory, and little it is because their victory was on the filler Victory Road show, and leading up to Victory Road Honor No More were getting their asses kicked by Heath all by himself. They even had Heath make Eddie look like a punkass. On top of that, they had Josh Alexander and the babyfaces stand tall this week. The only way Honor No More will get any heat heading into Bound For Glory is if those guys tear up the ring Nexus Style next week, and I don’t think that’s happening. To throw a tiny positive in that segment, I did get a chuckle out of PCO being the only person dressed for the occasion with a dress suit and slacks.
Apparently a match is happening…
4. Rich Swann and Heath vs. PCO and Vincent. Vincent took down Rich with a flying axe handle. Swann came back with a dropkick. PCO tagged in. Swann tried to roll away, but PCO landed a series of DDTs and a dropkick on Swann. PCO and Vincent worked on Swann for a stretch. Swann managed to tag in Heath after an enzuigiri on Vincent. Heath rallied with lariats and a crescent kick. Heath hit Vincent with a power slam for a two count. Vincent grabbed PCO to prevent a Zig Zag. Heath managed to plant Vincent with an Impaler. PCO dumped Heath to ringside, but trapped his arm for a bit in the ropes.
Swann hit Vincent with a standing Tornado Kick. Swann hit Vincent with a Phoenix Splash for the win.
Rich Swann and Heath defeated Vincent and PCO via pinfall in 4:29.
John’s Thoughts: Seriously, no heat for Honor No More? I get that they’re trying to add to this PCO distrust storyline, but that story should have been over like 4 months ago or something.
Gia Miller interviewed Moose. Moose said he admits that he made a deal with Maclin where he helps Maclin win Call Your Shot while Maclin takes care of Sami. Moose said the deal is officially off and that he’s officially putting his name in the Call Your Shot match. Moose noted that he won last year and he’s going to shove this year’s win down Maclin’s throat. Maclin showed up and the two brawled…[c]
Scott D’Amore advised a random security guard to make sure to keep Maclin and Moose apart. Sami Callihan showed up and asked for another match with Moose and Maclin. D’Amore said that Sami isn’t cleared until BFG with a broken orbital bone. Sami begged for another match. D’Amore said he can compromise, Moose vs. Maclin next week with Sami as guest referee. Sami said “I’ll take it”…
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt checked in from the commentary table. They announced the following segments for next week: Moose vs. Maclin with Callihan as guest ref, Giselle Shaw vs. Mia Yim, Kazarian vs. Kenny King, and Matt Taven vs. Alex Shelley. Hannifan announced Scot Levy, Raven, as the newest inductee to the Impact Hall of Fame. More G1 2022 replays were hyped for the Impact on AXS show…
The cameras showed the security guards letting Masha Slamovich and Allie Katch out of their sensory deprivation rooms…
Entrances for the next match took place with Masha selling the sensory deprivation…
5. Masha Slamovich vs. Allie Katch in a Monster’s Ball Match. Both women traded forearms with Allie getting the upper hand. Both women no sold lariats. Both women took each other out with stereo lariats. Allie no sold Masha hitting her in the head with a trash lid. Masha was swatted to the ground with several lid shots to the head. Masha came back with a German Suplex. Masha fish-hooked Allie with a chain and even raked it on the head of Allie. Masha hit Allie in the arm with a parking sign. Masha fish-hooked Allie with a parking sign.
Masha tried to hit Allie with a cowbell, but Allie hit a home run shot with a trash can lid on Masha. Masha reversed a pile driver into an Air Raid Crash in the corner.[c]
Masha worked on Allie with methodical offense. Masha stuffed chains in the mouth of Allie. Masha gave Allie a snap suplex. Allie punched Masha in the head with her hand wrapped in chains. Masha escaped a hold and gave Allie a Scorpion Death Drop. Masha gave Allie a snap Suplex on a chair. Masha gave Allie a gut punch and short-arm axe kick. Masha gave Allie a Death Valley Driver into a chair for a two count. Masha went to the top rope, but Allie smashed Allie in the head with a trash lid shot. Allie hit Masha with a Superplex into a Death Valley Driver into the wooden door for a two count. Both women teetered trying to hit high impact moves from the apron. Masha ended up winning out the brawl with a Russian Legsweep into a table at ringside.
As usual in hardcore matches, Masha this time poured out thumbtacks, pouring some in her mouth for some added badassness. Allie was the one to recover though by hitting Masha with a Pile Driver into the tacks. Allie poured cut up soda cans on the ground. Masha hit Allie with a nice hook kick. Masha hit Allie with a Snow Plow on the thumbtacks and cut up soda cans for the win.
Masha Slamovich defeated Allie Katch via pinfall in 15:15 of on-air time to win the Monsters Ball Match.
Tom Hannifan closed the show…
John’s Thoughts: PPV worthy bout. I could do without the can lid shots to the head. Yes, I know they’re more face washed, but it can still go south and does make avoidance of chair shots more evident (at the same time I do congratulate them for not doing unprotected headshots with chairs). It is a bit odd at this stage of Masha’s push to see Masha have her first actual competitive match (she even mostly dominated the Deonna match in a 2 on 1 situation), but I’ll take this if they both run this back and also really stress that Masha was handicapped due to the sensory deprivation. Hey, one thing I’ll commend about Impact. You can argue that they have the best Women’s Division in all of wrestling and they aren’t afraid to feature women as main event stars, and this is dating back to Gail Kim and Awesome Kong. WWE can get there, but their Raw and Smackdown women’s rosters are a bit limited in terms of babyfaces.
As usual though, solid episode of Impact. The only real weakness of the build towards Bound for Glory is clearly Eddie Edwards as the title contender and how parity booking is making him look even weaker. At this point, I think the way they should have gone was Rich Swann. Reason being, they’ve been building up for months how Rich has been slacking and complacent in the tag team division. They also keep bringing up that he’s owed a world title match via his rematch with Kenny Omega. They have Josh Alexander bring that up every month or so. Eddie was shoehorned. They could have made Eddie and Honor No More work, but Honor No More got buried in pointless multi-person losses and tons of losses while cheating. They should have gone with Rich, worst case, not random Eddie (and I actually like the new Eddie. He just wasn’t ready for the random world title match coming off being Impact’s mid-card clownshoes act as “Crazy Eddie”).
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