By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling TV
Taped in Toronto, Ontario at Rebel Entertainment Complex
Aired April 27, 2023 on AXS TV
Highlights from last week’s Impact Wrestling aired…
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt were on commentary. Dave Penzer was the ring announcer…
1. Jordynne Grace vs. Masha Slammovich. Grace gave Masha a shoulder tackle and some wrist work. Masha came back with an armdrag and armbar. Grace caught Masha with a palm strike combo and a meteora in the corner. Grace hit Masha with a basement uppercut and Vader Bomb for a two count. Masha whipped Grace into the rope to get the upper hand. Masha got a two count off a PK.
Grace came back with a snap suplex. Masha knocked down Grace with a kick combination. Masha put Grace in a modified Camel Clutch. Grace powered out and slammed Masha to the mat. Both women traded counters. Masha slowed down Grace by yanking her into the top rope. Grace blocked a neckbreaker and Masha blocked a move in the corner. Grace recovered and hit Masha with a Kinniku Buster for a two count. Grace took Masha’s strikes and body slammed her a few times.
Grace hit Masha with a Michnioku Driver for a two count. Grace reversed a rollup into a sleeper. Masha countered into how own sleeper. Masha turned the sleeper into a Trap German Suplex with a bridge for a two count. Masha escaped Grace’s Kinniku Buster attempt. Both women traded rapid fire pin attempts. Grace ended up getting the three count from the rapid attempts.
Jordynne Grace defeated Masha Slammovich via pinfall in 11:04.
John’s Thoughts: A good match that could have been in a main event slot if they wanted. The rapid rollups does protect Masha a bit, but they also have it set up where Masha seemingly can’t beat Grace. Grace is the gold standard in the women’s division, that they established well. What I’m a bit confused at is why Masha has been losing so much after her initial buzzsaw push.
A Nick Aldis profile package aired. It talked about his time as [Brutus] Magnus in TNA. The package mentioned him winning the TNA Tag Team and World Titles during his initial run. It talked about him leaving TNA and becoming NWA World Champion after 2015. The package noted that Aldis headlined the All In event when he defended the NWA title against Cody Rhodes. The package noted that Aldis was NWA champion for over 1000 days before losing…[c]
Pictures showed that Impact Digital Media Champsion Joe Hendry had a broken nose after his match with Sheldon Jean last week…
Impact World Champion Steve Maclin made his entrance with a mic. Maclin said that PCO caught him off guard last week. Maclin said he ran away not as a coward, but in a tactical retreat. Maclin said he doesn’t want to wait to Under Siege, but would rather face PCO right now. PCO ended up making his entrance. PCO was attacked on the ramp by Mahabali Shera and “Champagne” Singh. Maclin left so Singh and Shera could take down PCO. PCO ended up flouring Shera and Singh with a lariat.
Impact “Director of Authority” Santino Marella made his entrance. Singh tried to bribe Santino with a wad of cash. Marella took the bribe and booked Singh in a match against PCO. Marella also banned Shera from ringside…
2. “Champagne” Singh vs. PCO. PCO dumped Singh to ringside and hit him with a Suicide Cannonball. Singh came back with boots and a few dropkicks, which Hannifan claimed was Louis Vuitton. Singh hit PCO with a Codebreaker for a one count. PCO was “glitching” out a bit, leading to his hulk up moment.
PCO hit Singh with a DDT. PCO tripped Singh on the 2nd rope and hit Singh with a lungblower. PCO hit Singh with a diving leg drop. PCO hit Singh with a deanimator. Singh recovered and gave PCO a whip into the ringpost. PCO recovered and gave Singh a kick and Scorpion Death Drop. PCO gave Singh a PCO-sault for the win.
PCO defeated Champagne Singh via pinfall in 5:32.
John’s Thoughts: Fun little exhibition match for PCO. I feel like PCO needs a few of these to reset him after that endless feud with Eddie Edwards.
The Impact Plus Flashback Match of the Week aired. It was Magnus (Nick Aldis) vs. Christopher Daniels from an episode of Impact Wrestling back in 2013. The match was taking place in a huge arena. Magnus won after an elbow drop…
The show cut to a promo by Deaner and The Design. Deaner talked about how he put his trust in Sami Callihan. Deaner yelled that Callihan betrayed the Design to be a death machine. Deaner said Machines aren’t supposed to feel pain, but Sami is going to feel pain after what he did to The Design. Deaner talked about how he was commissioned by The Designer (Eric Young) to eliminate the sickness and how that led to him ripping EY’s heart out and feeding it to the wolves.
Deaner said if he’s willing to do that to family, what will he end up doing to Callihan? Deaner asked Callihan to watch what pain Kon and Angels inflict on the world tag team champions later on…[c]
Taylor Wilde and KiLynn King were holding hands over candles and a picture of Deonna Purrazzo. They were trying to “cast a spell” on Deonna. Wilde didn’t know if the spell would work. King flipped over a card and said the spell would work…
Zicky Dice rolled out Johnny Swinger on his signature WrestleMania 3 ring cart. Dice took a mic and addressed Swinger’s quest to getting 50 wins. Dice hyped up getting a person that Swinger could beat. Dice left the ring to retrieve the Luchador. “El Dineroco” made his entrance (and we can assume that this is Zicky Dice, not Sami Zayn)…
3. Johnny Swinger vs. El Dineroco. Dineroco got a few rolls in. Swinger got the quick win after a drop toehold and La Magistral Cradle.
Johnny Swinger defeated El Dineroco via pinfall in 0:30.
Swinger grabbed his 0-50 sign and crossed out the 0 from it….
Swinger and Dice celebrated Swinger’s shady win at the Gorilla Position. Santino Marella showed up and told Dice that he knew Dice was pulling a fast one. Dice claimed not to speak English. Santino took of Dice’s mask and said that the win was nullified. Swinger berated Dice. Dice asked Swinger “Amigo? Por que?”…
Footage aired of Kenny King defeating “Decker” from Before The Impact….
Kenny King was backstage. “Decker” met King backtage and congratulated King for the win. Decker said he appreciated the opportunity. King said he appreciates kicking Decker’s ass. King walked past Decker and sat next to Sheldon Jean. King talked about people comparing Jean to King (due to their reality television background). King said that Jean has potential and needs help to steer the ship.
Jean said that “potential” is the last word you want to hear about yourself. Jean wondered why King was trying to help him? King said he’s just there to help Jean keep his head on a swivel and expose the fakes out there. King talked about putting his best work in the ring, yet people only talk about some guy named Nick Aldis once Aldis made his return. King told Jean to look out for himself…
Entrances for the next match took place. “ABC” either means “Ace and Bey Club” or “Ace and Bey Connection” because both were mentioned by the commentators…
4. “ABC” Chris Bey and Ace Austin vs. “The Design” Angels and Kon (w/ Deaner) in a non-title match. Angels dominated the match with strikes and a neckbreaker. Austin tagged in and dominated Angels with tandem offense. Kon tagged in. Kon no sold ABC’s offense, even putting Bey in a piggy back. The picture-in-picture showed Santino Marella laid out backstage. The commentators pointed out that Callihan attacked Santino while he was being initiated by The Design, but it would make less senese for him to do it now.
Kon and Angels traded tags to cut the ring in half on Ace. Ace made a comeback with shortarm forearms and a lariat on Angels. Angels came back with a half and half suplex. Ace came back with a Disaster Kick. Bey got the hot tag and rallied with dives on Angels. Bey hit Kon with a dropkick and hit Angels with a Code Red for a two count. Kon distracted Bey to allow Angels to nail him with a legsweep for a two count.
Ace tossed Angels into Kon at ringside, which Kon no-sold. Bey and Ace gave Kon dives, which couldn’t take Kon off his feet. Deaner tried to distract ABC, but Callihan ran out to attack Deaner. Ace and Bey took out Kon with a suicide dive. Bey hit Angels with an assisted cutter. Ace hit Angels with The Fold. Bey picked up the pin.
Chris Bey and Ace Austin defeated The Design via pinfall in 8:26.
Sami Callihan taunted The Design from the ramp…
John’s Thoughts: Good win for the current tag champs, but the Design are already getting treated as midcard chumps. I’m still hopeful that the former Cody Deaner thrives in his reinvented persona, but I don’t think that’s going to happen in this midcard cult.
The show cut to “Doctor” Ross Foreman and Dirty Dango who were checking on Santino Marella who was attacked backstage. Santino said he didn’t know who attacked him, and retrieved a tuft of hair from the culprit. Foreman told Santino to take some time off. Dango said he’s going to resign from being Santino’s assistant, and about to become a “Detective or Authority”…[c]
Jessicka was arguing with Rosemary about why they aren’t able to get into the Undead Realm or why they can’t find Taya Valkyrie? Rosemary claimed that someone or something is blocking them from entering the undead realm and they don’t have enough power without the Tag Team Championships. Crazzy Steve showed up. Jessicka introduced herself and said her name has a k in it because she’s “Sick”. Steve implied that Rosemary needs to contact James Mitchell to get back in the undead realm…
Jody Threat got a televised entrance for the next match…
5. Jody Threat vs. Seleziya Sparx. Threat dominated the inital extended wristlock and collar and elbow sequence. Sparx came back with a clubbing blow. Jody came back with a shoulder tackle. Rehwoldt noted that Threat was a bouncer at the venue before she became a wrestlers. Threat pummeled Sparkx with lariats in the corner. Threat gave Sparks a German Suplex. Jody gave Sparx an F5 which she calls the F416 in honor of her area code.
Jody Threat defeated Seleziya Sparx via pinfall in 4:21.
John’s Thoughts: Jody’s in need of some sort of vignette to define her character. I appreciate the announce team trying to give some exposition of her background as a bouncer for the venue. Only problem is, so far, Tara Rising, Jody’s enhancement fodder, has been getting more attention due to the Triple H name. Jody Threat, meanwhile, is known for getting her ass kicked by Athena that one time.
A Killer Kelly vignette aired where she talked about savoring her time in the Hardcore War. She then singled out Masha Slammovich as her next target…[c]
An ad aired for the Impact Plus Under Siege show…
Gia Miller had a sitdown interview with Frankie Kazarian. Gia asked Kaz about his initial debut in Impact. Kazarian talked about being brought into Impact by Scott D’Amore and Jeff Jarrett back in the early 2000s. Gia talked about Kaz being a cornerstone of the X Division. Kaz said he was having the time of his life wrestling people like Amazing Red, Chris Sabin, Jerry Lynn, Low Ki, and Christopher Daniels.
Kazarian said he got put in a world title match against AJ Styles just a month into his Impact Career. Kazarian talked about the “Good ol’ boy” mentality of the Locker Room, where younger stars were being passed over in favor of veterans like Jeff Jarrett, Booker T, or Kurt Angle. Kaz said he didn’t want to end up like those guys who were clinging to their spot because of up and comers. Gia asked Kaz why he left TNA initially.
Kazarian talked about doing everything he could do in Impact. Kaz talked about how TNA’s management was in constant flux and how the existing regime didn’t care about him and Chris Daniels. Kazarian said he was tired of being underutilized and he walked away…
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt checked in from the commentary table and announced the following segments for next week: The continuation of the Kazarian sitdown interview, PCO and two mystery partners vs. Champagne Singh, Shera, and Steve Maclin, Moose and Brian Myers vs. Bhupinder Gujjar and Yuya Uemura, and Alicia Edwards vs. Jody Threat. Hannifan also announced a “Major Surprise” for next week from their Chicago tapings. Hannifan sent the show to the weekly New Japan on AXS plug…
Taylor Wilde and KiLynn King made their entrances…[c]
Deonna Purrazzo made her entrance. The commentators noted that Wilde defeated Awesome Kong to win her first Knockouts Championship…
6. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Taylor Wilde (w/KiLynn King) for the Impact Knockouts Championship. Both women started with a collar and elbow stalemate. Wilde got a single leg takedown, which Deonna reversed with ground holds. Both women traded ground holds. Wilde got the advantage after King distracted Deonna. Deonna regained control after an armbar. Wilde rolled to ringside and put a Tarot Card on her head for some reason.[c]
Deonna had the advantage after armdrags. Deonna took out King with a baseball slide and forearm. Wilde dragged Deonna to the ring and gave her mounted forearms. Deonna fended off Wilde with strikes in the corner, but King continued to distract her to allow Wilde to regain control. Wilde used a La Mistica to lock in a crossface on Purrazzo. Purrazzo countered into a Fujiwara Armbar, which Wilde quickly countered with a rope break.
Purrazzo and Wilde traded crossface and pin counters. Both women took each other out with stereo crossbodies. Wilde use a few strikes to get back into Fujiwara Armbar position. Wilde got to the bottom rope for the break. Wilde hit Purrazzo with a German Suplex. Purrazzo countered a Suplex into a Rings of Saturn for the submission win.
Deonna Purrazzo defeated Taylor Wilde via submission in 12:58 of on-air time to retain the Impact Knockouts Championship.
King and Wilde beat down Purrazzo due to the numbers advantage. Jordynne Grace ran out to help Purrazzo clear the heels from the ring. The show closed with Purrazzo and Grace sharing a respectful handshake…
John’s Thoughts: A good match, but I can’t help but feel that they shouldn’t have devalued the Knockouts Tag Titles by having the top champ beat the tag team champion. At least allow The Coven to have a bit of a run before defeating them. Interested to see where they go with Deonna Purrazzo now that’s she’s a babyface. They have Grace in the cut as a rival for Deonna. They also have Mickie James laying in the cut as the champion who never lost her title. On top of that, there’s the “Huge surprise” that has leaked, which will only boister Deonna’s upcoming challengers.
Nothing too impactful, but another solid edition of Impact. Impact seems to be resetting a lot of their deck coming off the PPV where they had to crown two new champions and handle a handful of storyline conclusions. They’ll probably be able to set a few more stories in motion coming out of the Chicago tapings this weekend. I can’t blame them for not having much in motion at the moment because they were blindsided by their top champions having big injuries at the same time.
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