By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling TV
Taped in Chicago, Illinois at Cicero Stadium
Aired May 4, 2023 on AXS TV
[Hour One] Highlights from last week’s Impact Wrestling show aired. This was followed by Impact hyping the debut of Trinity Fatu (a.k.a. Naomi)…
Tom Hannifan and Matt Rehwoldt were on commentary. Dave Penzer was the ring announcer…
All of the wrestlers were already in the ring…
1. Moose and Brian Myers vs. Bhupinder Gujjar and Yuya Uemura. Myers started the match with a shoulder tackle on Bhupinder. Bhupinder came back with a series of dropkicks. Yuya tagged in and did some tandem elbow and leg drops on Myers. Yuya got a two count. Myers fended off Yuya with elbow strikes, which allowed him to tag im Moose.
Yuya dodged a tackle and rallied with dropkicks and kicks. Yuya dumped Moose to ringside. Bhupinder hip tossed Myers on Moose to ringside. Yuya and Bhupinder gave their opponents stereo Planchas. Yuya gave Moose a corner splash and then used a back elbow to set up a bulldog on Moose. Moose used a chop to trip Yuya off the top rope. Myers tackled Yuya onto the apron after tagging in. Myers got a two count.
Myers worked on Yuya with methodical offense. Yuya reversed a Roster Cut into an Underhook Belly-to-Belly. Moose and Bhupinder tagged in with Bhupinder having the hot rally. Bhupinder hit Moose with a front and pump kick. Bhupinder gave Myers a flapjack. Bhupinder hit Moose with a leaping knee and spinebuster for a two count. Bhupinder fended off Moose with a few face wash kicks. Bhupinder missed his 2nd rope spear finisher.
Moose missed his Spear because of a sidestep. Bhupinder hit Moose with a Sling Blade. Myers broke up the pin. Myers gave Yuya an elevated Flatliner. Bhupinder gave Myers a Springboard Rolling Sobat. Moose surprised Bhupinder out of nowhere with a spear for the win.
Moose and Brian Myers defeated Bhupinder Gujjar and Yuya Uemura via pinfall in 6:50.
Gia Miller met up with Steve Maclin, “Champagne” Singh, and Mahabali Shera. Gia wondered why Maclin would team with Singh and Shera? Maclin noted that it’s logical and tactical that he makes alliances because there are shots coming from every direction. Singh said money can’t buy rubbing elbows with the world champion. Maclin said he’s also taking into account that nobody will team with PCO in their six person tag. Singh gave Gia a few hundred dollars for some reason and sent her away…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A good opening match and I like that they had the heels go over clean. Yes, heels should cheat, but the cheating should come at moments where it’s meaningful, not as a plot obligation. I’m not sure why they’re sticking with Moose and Myers as a tag team. They were put together because they were trying to screw over Joe Hendry, but now they just seem to be spinning their wheels.
A replay from last week was shown where Santino was on the ground trying to figure out who beat him up. This led to Dirty Dango picking up hair left as a clue and deciding to be a detective…
Dirty Dango was standing in front of a photo investigation board. He said “say his name” on purpose to summon Joe Hendry to help. Dango said he’s stressed and went through many energy drinks. Hendry said Dango needs to analyze the hair. Dango said he lost the tuft of hair. Dango said the key to the mystery is his investigation board. Dango claimed that TNA announcer Mike Tenay laid out Santino.
Joe Hendry said Trey Miguel makes more sense because he would have a motive, due to Santino booking Trey in a match against his will. Dango said that that not only is Hendry the best tag partner he could have, but a best friend. Dango stared at a picture of Tyler Breeze for a second. Dango then gave Hendry a hug…
John’s Thoughts: Ugh, not only is he not able to let go of the Fandango, but now he’s trying to relive his Fashion Police days. Can’t this guy move on?
Sami Callihan made his entrance. The Design made their entrance, with Deaner holding a mic. Hannifan noted that it’s supposed to be Deaner vs. Callihan. Deaner said Callihan made the biggest mistake of his life when he hit him with a bat. Deaner berated the crowd for saying “you deserve it”. Deaner pulled the bait and switch and said that this match will now be against Kon. Kon and Angels beat down Callihan…
2. Sami Callihan vs. Kon (w/Angels, Deaner). Callihan sidestepped Kon and gave him a gamengiri. Callihan raked Kon’s eyes. Kon escaped a fireaman carry. Callihan dumped Kon to ringside by pulling down the top rope. Callihan hit Kon with a pump kick from the apron, which Kon no-sold. Kon tripped up Callihan after grabbing Sami’s foot. Kon laid out Callihan with a lariat heading into regular commercial.[c]
Kon worked on Callihan with his usual slow and methodical offense. Rehwoldt talked about having experience being beat up by Kon (back in the NXT days). Callihan powered out of a bear hug by giving Kon thumbs to the eyes. Kon and Callihan traded right hands in the center of the ring. Callihan ripped off Kon’s shirt and gave him chops. Kon came back with a knee.
Callihan ran the ropes and gave Kon a knee. Kon rallied with rights and lefts. Callihan came back with a Samoan Drop on Kon. Angels got on the apron for the distraction. Deaner also got on the apron. Because the referee was distracted by Angels, this allowed Callihan to Low Blow Kon. Callihan asked Deaner to enter the ring. Instead, a bunch of jobbers in yellow hoodies ran out and beat down Sami for the DQ.
Sami Callihan defeated Kon via apparent DQ in 5:40 of on-air time.
Deaner ordered the “cultists” to stop. After Callihan dared Deaner to attack him, Deaner hit Callihan in the face with Callihan’s baseball bat. The segment ended with the cult standing tall…
John’s Thoughts: This match was what it was. It could have meant something if the story was better, but I just can’t wait for this un-intriguing feud between Sami and The Design to end. Impact just doesn’t know how to book Violent By Design/The Design. They keep getting treated as a mid-card fodder cult. It’s a shame too because Deaner in particular is being held back by this crappy cult. The guy is deceptively good in the ring, and he’s proven that he can be taken seriously after being the Larry the Cable Guy parody for years.
Dango and Hendry dragged Trey Miguel into their “investigation” room. Hendry said that Trey is in the clear because he has all his hair. Dango said that Trey just shaved his body to hide the evidence. Trey said he didn’t beat up Santino buck naked. Dango said he’d beat up Santino naked…[c]
Jimmy Jacobs interviewed Nick Aldis. Jacobs talked about how PCO is going for the world title ahead of Aldis despite Aldis setting his sights first. Aldis said everything is moving fast and everyone is wondering when Nick Aldis will challenge for the world champion. Aldis said when he stepped foot back in Impact, he said he’ll be in the hunt. He said he didn’t expect to get an immediate shot. He said the title has a legacy of legends.
Aldis said he’s willing to go through the whole roster if he has to. Aldis said he’s willing to climb every rung on the ladder to get to the world title. Kenny King interrupted to mock Aldis. King asked Aldis if he’s actually willing to put in the work from the bottom.
Aldis talked about how he was already world champion when he and Kenny King were on the Impact Roster many years ago. Aldis said if King has balls, he should fight him now. King said he’s not Scott D’Amore and can’t book random matches. King said Aldis needs to work his way up the ladder to get up to face “The King”…
Alisha Edwards was already in the ring. Jody Threat got a televised entrance…
3. Jody Threat vs. Alisha Edwards. Edwards gave Threat a disrespectful slap to start the match. Threat came back with a shove. Threat caught Alisha with a draping front and pump kick. Threat returned the favor to Alisha with a right hand slap. Threat pummeled Alisha in the corner with close lariats.
Alisha sidestepped a meteora attempt and slammed Threat to the mat by the hair. Alisha used her hips to smash Jody’s face into the mat. Edwards worked on Threat with methodical offense. Threat draped Alisha on the ropes and gave her a meteora to the back. Threat gave Edwards a German Suplex. Threat gave Edwards the F416 (F5) for the win.
Jody Threat defeated Alisha Edwards via pinfall in 2:56.
John’s Thoughts: Well, there goes Alisha’s one match winning streak. Hey, that’s one more win than Johnny Swinger. This was a good showing for Jody Threat and she didn’t have to get overshadowed by any Paul Levesque fangirls this time.
Gia Miller interviewed Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley. Gia said even though the Machine Guns were successful at Rebellion in their quest to get back the tag titles, Chris Sabin now has an X Division title shot after pinning Trey Miguel recently. Sabin said even though The Guns are a successful tag team, that doesn’t mean they can’t have singles success.
Sabin said he loves the name Under Siege because it’s the name of his second favorite Steven Seagal movie. Shelley asked what was Sabin’s first favorite. Sabin said Under Siege 2 is his favorite. Sabin said he’s already a record breaking Tag Team Champion and if he beats Trey he’ll be a record breaking nine-time X Division Champion. Gia asked Shelley what he’s going to do.
Shelley nonchalantly said he’s going to win the world title since people say he’s the most successful Impact wrestler not to win the title. Gia asked Shelley if he was serious because of his tone. Shelley said “yeah”. Shelley and Sabin left the interview set…
Gia Miller sat down with Frankie Kazarian and introduced Part II of her sit-down interview with Frankie Kazarian. Gia asked Kazarian where he went after he left Impact the first time? Kaz said he and Chris Daniels did a few indies, but ultimately settled down in Ring of Honor. Kazarian noted that he got to wrestle people like The Briscoes or Roderick Strong.
Kazarian said at the time Jimmy Jacobs called him a “new guy”. Kazarian said that motivated him to not just be a TNA guy, but a “wrestler”. He talked about becoming friends with Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks, which led to him being one of the first people brought into All Elite Wrestling. He said he thought his ship has finally come in, but what he found out was that every man reaches a point where you can stick with the status quo or bet on yourself.
He said his history and legacy is with Impact Wrestling. He said when he said he’d bet on himself, the only way to do that was do it in Impact Wrestling…
John’s Thoughts: A nice set of interviews to introduce Frankie Kazarian to new viewers as well as giving Kazarian a bit of ethos. I wouldn’t mind seeing this sort of sit-down setting utilized to add credibility to more wrestlers, especially those with a lot of real-life history.
[Hour Two] Entrances for the next match took place. PCO’s teased not looking for partners, but he ended up picking Heath [Slater] and Rhino. Heath had a mic and said his “Oh baby” catchphrase. Rhino pointed out that PCO didn’t ask them to join him, but he and Heath have beef with the three clowns in the ring. Rhino and Heath agreed to team with PCO…
4. Champagne Singh, Shera, and Impact World Champion Steve Maclin vs. PCO, Heath, and Rhino. Maclin teased facing his Under Siege opponent, but Champagne Singh tagged himself in. PCO manhandled Singh and stomped a mudhole in him. Rhino tagged in and dominated Singh with power moves. Singh managed to land a few shots on Rhino.
Heath tagged in. Shera tagged himself in and blindsided Heath with right hands. Shera body slammed Heath into the corner and followed up with a body slam in the center of the ring. Maclin tagged in as the heels used tags to cut the ring in half on Heath. Heath got a window of opportunity after hitting Maclin with a Power Slam. Singh and PCO tagged in with PCO having the hot tag rally.
PCO gave Singh a snug DDT. PCO gave Singh a Suicide Cannonball. PCO gave Singh a De-animator. Shera blindsided PCO while PCO was posing. Singh and Shera put PCO on the top rope, but PCO rolled off. PCO gave Shera and Singh a double lariat. Maclin rolled away to avoid confrontation with Maclin. Rhino blindsided Maclin with a Gore to leave him lying at ringside. Singh tried to bribe PCO, which allowed Heath to nail Singh with a Zig Zag. PCO hit Singh with a PCO Sault for the win.
PCO, Heath, and Rhino defeated Champagne Singh, Mahabali Shera, and Steve Maclin via pinfall in 7:00.
The babyfaces posed to end the segment (and for some reason, they aren’t grabbing the many $100 bills littering the ring)…
John’s Thoughts: Hey! Ain’t no one gonna pick up all that free money in the ring? Anyways, standard stuff here. Personally, I wouldn’t have had Maclin participate in the match. He needs to be pushed as strong and here they had him being laid out by Rhino. Yes, they do need to give PCO wins. I like that. I just would have kept Maclin at arms length because his world title reign is just starting and I don’t think they should have him come off as a scrub.
Taylor Wilde and KiLynn King were talking about fire magic, or something like that. King said that fire comes from nature and is beautiful. Wilde lit a candle and said that when they blow out the candle Rosemary and Jessicka will disappear. King said “blessed freakin’ be”…
The camera focused on Trinity’s locker room door. Hannifan hyped her appearing later in the show…[c]
Rosemary and Jessicka met up with Father James Mitchell backstage. Mitchell teleported into the scene (because of course Impact needs to teleport people into the scene). Rosemary was holding a cleaver. Mitchell said it’s ironic that things go to hell when he’s not here. Jessicka said they wouldn’t have come to Mitchell if it wasn’t important.
Rosemary said somebody is blocking their way to the Undead Realm. Jessicka said she thinks it’s The Coven. Mitchell said The Coven don’t have that kind of power and it’s being blocked by someone more powerful. Mitchell said that he can still go through and he can take Rosemary and Jessicka there with him. Rosemary said she knows that Mitchell has an ulterior motive and would want something in return. Mitchell said Rosemary better come now or else he’d be busy with the harlots and minotaurs on the other side. Rosemary said she’ll go because she has no choice.
Jessicka wanted to go too. Rosemary said they can’t get another human trapped in the Undead Realm like Taya. Rosemary teleported an hour glass and told Jessicka that she’d be back once the hour glass runs down…
John’s Thoughts: Ugh.
Entrances for the next match took place. Hannifan noted that the upcoming match is the rubber match between Mike Bailey and Jonathan Gresham…
5. Jonathan Gresham vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey. Bailey and Gresham soaked in the chants. Both men shared a handshake, which Bailey made tense. Bailey and Gresham called for a time out after they thought of the same leg takedown. Gresham jokingly tripped Bailey. Gresham and Bailey had a rapid fire chain wrestling sequence with Gresham managing to get the upper hand with a head-scissors.
Bailey tried to use a handstand to escape, but Gresham re-locked in the head-scissors. Hannifan, as he has all night, continued to plug the appearance of Trinity. The show cut to regular commercial.[c]
Gresham and Bailey continued to be at a stalemate, going move for move. Hannifan plugged Mike Bailey being in the A-Block of the New Japan Best of the Super Juniors Tournament (A-Block is where all the best wrestlers are this year). Gresham pressured Bailey to the rope with a collar and elbow for the break. Gresham suplexed Bailey on his left arm.
Bailey and Gresham had a Test of Strength. Bailey dominated the Test of Strength. Gresham escaped and went into some Joint Manipulation on Bailey. After Bailey escaped, both men traded armdrags. Gresham hyperextended Bailey’s left arm. Bailey came back with a missile dropkick. Bailey was selling the injured arm.
Bailey hit Gresham with a Tae Kwon Do kick combo. Bailey hit Greaham with a Standing Shooting Star for a two count. Gresham ducked a Chamber Kick. Bailey went for an armbar, but Gresham blocked it. Both men traded rollup pins. Bailey hit Gresham with a standing Ultima Weapon. Gresham rolled up Bailey for a two count. Bailey hit Gresham with rapid kicks.
Bailey gave Gresham a big boot to leave him draping on the apron. Bailey hit Gresham with a slingshot meteora to shake him off the rope ot ringside. Bailey hit Gresham with a Triangle Moonsault for a two count. The show cut to commercial.[c]
Gresham worked on Bailey with quick rollup variations for several nearfalls. Bailey rocked Gresham with a pump kick. Bailey hit Gresham with a Standing Spanish Fly for a two count. Gresham put Bailey in an arm wrench with Bailey giving Gresham right elbows. Both men traded short-arm elbows. Gresham gave Bailey an uppercut on the injured elbow joint.
Bailey hit Gresham with a kick combination. Bailey hit Gresham with a 360 Tornado Kick. Gresham dodged an Ultima Weapon attempt. Gresham rolled through and put Bailey in an Octopus hold. Bailey tapped out.
Jonathan Gresham defeated Mike Bailey via submission in 13:17 of on-air time.
Bailey and Gresham shared a respectful handshake after the match…
John’s Thoughts: The match was actually closer to 25 or 30 minutes when you take commercials into account. Go out of your way to see it. Bailey and Gresham don’t wrestle like most wrestlers, so it’s cool seeing a clash of unorthodox styles. Gresham was the right person to put over, because he’s been booked 50-50 in Impact so far. He’s been spinning his wheels since joining Impact, so this could be a good launching point for him.
Sami Callihan met with Rich Swann backstage to ask him to help him fight 150 dudes in yellow hoodies. Callihan said Swann owes him. Swann said he doesn’t owe Sami a damn thing. Sami talked about his past where they Sami and his dad even gave Rich housing back in the day. Sami said he isn’t standing here as a friend, but as a brother. Sami walked off saying “are you going to help me, or not?”…[c]
John’s Thoughts: What? Are we doing the Good Value version of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens? Yes, these two do have a legit history; but why are we wasting this story on the lame ass Design faction. Violent By Design was way more menacing, especially when they had Eric Young and his VBD prison. “The” Design just seems lame.
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt checked in from the commentary table. Hannifan sent the show to a backstage altercation. Steve Maclin was berating Scott D’Amore for Rhino not following the rules. D’Amore said he’ll handle it. D’Amore got in Maclin’s face and booked Maclin in a match next week. D’Amore said Maclin better bring his A game because Maclin will also be defending his title next week against Rhino…
The following segments were advertised for next week: Steve Maclin vs. Rhino for the Impact World Championship, Part III of the Frankie Kazarian sit-down interview, Nick Aldis vs. Sheldon Jean, and The Coven vs. Jordynne Grace and Deonna Purrazzo for the Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championships, and Masha Slamovich vs. Killer Kelly. Hannifan sent the show to Kevin Kelly’s weekly New Japan on AXS plug…
Back at the Impact Zone, the former Naomi, Trinity, made her entrance. Her entrance was very similar to her “Feel the Glow” entrance where she had black lit attire. Hannifan sold this as a big moment in the history of Impact. Trinity soaked in “Trinity” chants. Trinity was choked up at the reception as she thanked the fans for the warm welcome. She then soaked in “welcome back” chants.
She said it felt so good to be back in the ring, and back in the place where she can “glow”. She said she was reintroducing herself as Trinity and she has arrived in Impact Wrestling. Trinity soaked in more chants. Trinity said there’s a reason she picked Impact, because this company has the most storied women’s division in pro wrestling. She said she wants a piece of that history.
Trinity talked about this division having legends like Awesome Kong, Gail Kim, the Legendary Mickie James, Deonna Purrazzo, and Jordynne Grace. She said she’s won championships, but she’s here to win more. She said the brightest star in the galaxy is ready to shine. Trinity said she came to Impact to make an impact and she’s here to win the Knockouts Championship.
Knockouts Champion, Deonna Purrazzo, made her entrance. Hannifan reminded viewers that if Jordynne Grace loses the match at Under Siege, Grace can no longer challenge for the championship while Deonna is Champ. Deonna took a mic and said since Trinity invoked her name, she’s here to be the first to welcome Trinity to Impact Wrestling. Deonna said that Trinity was right in saying that Impact is the place to make history.
Deonna said that Trinity isn’t just walking into Impact Wrestling, but into the “new age of the Virtuosa”. Deonna said she was in Trinity’s shoes before after joining a new company. A “feel the glow” chant ensued. Deonna said that if Trinity gets a shot at the title, and she hopes she gets a shot, when Trinity steps into the ring with Deonna, that’s not just “something you can just walk out on” (a reference to her walking out on WWE).
Trinity said when Deonna steps in the ring with her, Deonna will wish she gets fired again (a reference to WWE firing Deonna). Jordynne Grace made her entrance to join the confrontation. Grace said “is it hot in here, or is it just the heat between you two?”. Grace said it’s clear that the crowd wants to see Deonna and Trinity wrestle. Grace said she was here to remind Deonna that she and Grace have a match first.
Grace told Trinity if she’s looking for a title shot, to find Grace, because Grace will be winning at Under Siege. The crowd chanted “triple threat”. Trinity said she’ll be waiting for the winner at Under Siege and to whoever is champion, “Let’s Dance”. Trinity danced up the ramp to close the show with Grace and Deonna facing off in the ring…
John’s Thoughts: I had mixed thoughts on the segment going in. While I respect Hannifan treating Trinity as a big deal throughout the night, I never saw Trinity as this earth-shattering free agent, especially when compared to Sasha Banks. That said, I was won over by the end. The combination of Trinity’s mic work and the Chicago crowd really made this moment better. A bit awkward for Deonna and Trinity to bring up their WWE departures for heat, but in the end I thought it was fine in creating tension.
Good episode of Impact this week built around the hook of Trinity making her Impact debut. I still think they went a bit overboard in hyping up Trinity, but at the same time it worked out. The rest of the show as building towards Under Siege, and we got an awesome Bailey vs. Gresham match on top of all that.
>King said he’s not Scott D’Amore and can’t book random matches. <<
Since when? Wrestlers randomly book matches for themselves on Impact,AEW, WWE, ect…..
That Trinity and Purrazzo segment was fire as I had my doubts too, but at the end of the day Naomi was a big name, so it deserved the hype, I just wasn’t sure about it at first. They booked that segment greatly with the Chicago fans. I loved the dig at the WWE departures as it made things feel more personal between the two. Jordynne Grace came in great as well.
I think Trinity can definitely be a Knockouts Champion one day.
The Knockouts Championship has become one of the top 5 best titles amongst the three major US brands. When Trinity mentioned those legends names in her promo, I got goosebumps. I think Naomi made a good decision coming down to Impact like other former WWE female wrestlers have done in the past. Sasha Banks should’ve did the same thing, but at least she went to NJPW.