By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling TV
Taped in Chicago, Illinois at Cicero Stadium
Aired May 18, 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. X Division Trey Miguel vs. Laredo Kid in a non-title match. Both men started with chain wrestling, ultimately ending in a stalemate. Trey ducked out to recover at ringside during the sext sequence. Kid hit Trey with a suicide dive. Trey tripped Kid off the apron with a Tiger Feint Kick. Trey hit Kid with a slingshot senton and dropkick, leading to a two count. Trey worked on Kid with methodical offense.
After Trey gloated a bit, Kid rallied with lariats and a moonsault. Kid hit Trey with a moonsault to the back for a two count. Hannifan talked about Kid recovering from a ruptured intestine. Trey took down Kid with a CQC combo. Kid came back with a Blockbuster. Kid got a two count. Kid put Trey in a unique leg scissors submission. Trey escaped and hit Kid with a basement dropkick for a two count.
Kid went to the top rope and did the Eddie shimmy. Kid avoided a dive. Kid escaped a lightning spiral attempt. Kid put on the brakes when almost running into the referee. Trey snatched the mask right off Kid’s face and rolled him up for the victory.
X Division Champion Trey Miguel defeated Laredo Kid via pinfall in 8:53 in a non-title match.
Trey took the mic and called the Chicago fans “bitches” instead of being tough. Trey said he’s a generational champion who receives disrespect. Trey said the people and the suits in the back need to respect the champion. Trey called the crowd sheep and said he’s holding the show hostage…[c]
Chris Sabin made his entrance to confront his challenger at Under Siege. Sabin said he hears Trey’s pleas that he’s receiving disrespect. Sabin talked about Trey disrespecting the X Division Title by spray painting it. Sabin listed AJ Styles, Jerry Lynn, Low Ki, Amazing Red, Alex Shelley, Petey Williams, Sonjay Dutt, Jay Lethal, Mike Bailey, Rich Swann, and Josh Alexander as wrestlers that Trey is disrespecting.
Sabin said if Trey wants respect, he has to give respect. Sabin said he’s a former tag team champion, 8 time X Division Champion, and former world champion. Sabin said he’s giving respect to Trey and telling Trey that he’s going to be a 9 time X Division Champion. He led the crowd in a “9 time” chant and said “I’m Chris Sabin, Bitch!”. Sabin asked Trey to get out of the ring. Trey rolled out of the ring and glared at Sabin, posing with the title at the top of the ramp…
John’s Thoughts: Unique way to open the show. It seemed like they put all the build to Trey Miguel’s next X Division title defense into one segment. That said, I thought they did a decent job. Sucks that Laredo Kid has to take yet another loss, but the dirty nature of the loss sets up Trey presumably with a natural feud against Kid once he moves past Chris Sabin. Sabin didn’t say anything unique in his promo, but he did a solid job to make the X Division title match meaningful and less filler.
Jai Vidal confronted Trinity backstage saying the selfie he took with her last week got him in trouble with Gisele Shaw. Trinity said if Shaw has a problem with Trinity, she should say it to her face. Vidal said Shaw is injured this week and will be ready next week. Trinity said that Shaw should accept the “Open Challenge” challenge for Under Siege. Vidal said Shaw will think about it…[c]
A sit-down promo with Rich Swann and Sami Callihan aired. Swann talked about how Sami grabbed his attention the first time he met with Sami. Sami talked about being booked to wrestle Swann the first time they met. Rich said he ain’t scared of no bunk, even Sami. Rich said after they wrestled, they became instantly best friends. Rich talked about becoming family with Sami, even though they fight on occasion. Rich talked about how he feuded with Sami and Ohio Vs. Everything in Impact.
Sami said that even when he’s at odds with Rich, he always hypes up Rich to the locker room as talented. Sami said he needs help to fight 40 men in hoodies. He said he’s not going to just call any rando he has no history with. Sami said calling his brother made the most sense. Rich said when Sami puts his thumbs up, the Impact faithful chants with him. Rich Swann said with him there, the fans will be doing the thumbs up thing all night long…
John’s Thoughts: Good sit-down promo to add context to their relationship. They didn’t provide excessive exposition, but enough to make their friendship make sense. This package was especially helpful because most wrestling fans aren’t aware that Sami Callihan and Rich Swann has such deep history as friends (especially since Jon Moxley’s friendship with Sami Callihan is the brotherhood that most people are aware of).
Entrances for the next match took place. Ace Austin and Chris Bey are now calling themselves the “Ace and Bey Club” division of the Bullet Club. Hannifan announced that at Under Siege, ABC will be facing “The South Wales Subculture” team of Flash Morgan Webster and former TNA British Bootcamp winner Mark Andrews. Brian Myers cut a promo on behalf of The Good Hands to hype up Hotch. Skyler called Bey a coward and scumbag, like Chicago fans…
John’s Thoughts: With “Bullet Club Gold” and “ABC” running around, how many Bullet Club subdivisions should we be having out there. My favorite is Prince Devitt’s Judgment Day, just because it’s not hanging on to a washed up fame from ten years ago (though I do get a kick out of Bullet Club Finn’s quirkiness).
2. Ace Austin (w/Chris Bey) vs. Jason Hotch (w/John Skyler, Brian Myers). Ace dominated the collar and elbow and chain wrestling to open the match. Rehwoldt compared Ace and Bey to a young Motor City Machine Guns. Both men reversed suplex. Hotch gained the upper hand with a deep lariat.[c]
Ace made a comeback with a series of superman forearms. Hotch came back with a Blue Thunder Bomb for a two count. Ace caught Hotch with a ripcord knee and Side Russian Legsweep. Hotch avoided a leg drop. Ace hit Hotch with a Final Cut and Double Head Stomp. Myers got on the apron for the distraction. Skyler dragged Ace to ringside. Bey did a leapfrog over Ace to nail Skyler with a roundhouse.
Hotch caught Ace with a Standing Spanish Fly for a two count. Ace escaped a Torture Rack. Myers caught Ace with a right hand when the referee was looking the other way. Hotch rolled up Ace for the surprise win.
Jason Hotch defeated Ace Austin via pinfall in 7:30 of on-air time.
The commentators sold the surprise of Hotch pinning a tag team champion…
John’s Thoughts: Seriously! This finish caught me off guard. I was totally ready to write “Jason Hotch had his best Impact match to date in the expected loss”. He won! Dirty win, but Ace losing nothing due to the dirty finish, and Hotch gets the rare win. Cool to see Impact getting behind The Good Hands with two shocking wins given how these two guys are established as enhancement talent. Coming off two surprising wins, I’m looking forward to see what Impact has in mind for their association with Brian Myers, who has the history of being a “Good Hand” himself.
Steve Maclin praised Champagne Singh and Shera for beating up Heath last week. Maclin told them to not ask questions, follow orders, and follow him…[c]
A replay aired of the finish of last week’s main event. Gia Miller interviewed Jordynne Grace about her loss last week. Grace praised Deonna Purrazzo as a talented wrestler. Before she could get to talking about the loss last week, Alisha Edwards showed up to antagonize Grace. Alisha wanted Grace to admit that she attacked Purrazzo on purpose last week when running the ropes. Alisha flinched and backed down when Grace teased a punch…
Entrances for the next match took place…
3. Trinity vs. KiLynn King (w/Taylor Wilde). Trinity fired up the crowd with claps. King slapped Trin. Trinity came back with a dropkick. King rolled to ringside to avoid a rear view. King reentered the ring with a tackle to the gut. Trinity got a two count off a Magistral. Trinity got a two count after a splits leg drop (actually a good looking one compared to the once that Melina or Nikkita Lyons use). King slowed down Trinity’s momentum by tossing her to the ring post.
Trinity came back with some kicks in the corner and a standing Stink Face. Wilde grabbed Trinity’s leg for the distraction. King gained the advantage after the distraction. King worked on Trinity with methodical offense. Hannifan framed King’s style as “powerhouse”. After getting chopped a few times, Trinity turned the tables a bit, hitting King with a Scorpion Kick. King regained control with a toss into the corner.
King hit Trinity with an inside out suplex. Wilde got another cheap shot in when the ref was distracted. Trinity made a comeback by giving King a bulldog into the ring post. Trinity was crotched on the top rope when Wilde tripped her in front of the referee. The referee ejected Wilde. Trinity knocked King off the top rope with a knee and hit her with a crossbody. Trinity hit King with back elbows.
Trinity hit King with a Super Blockbuster for a two count. King hit Trinity with elbows in the corner and a running power slam for a two count. Trinity hit King with a head-scissors facebuster for a two count. A “this is awesome” chant ensued, for good reason. Trinity dominated a Yay-Boo exchange, but King came back with a Death Valley Driver for a two count. Trinity reversed a Pump-handle Slam into a Sunset Flip. Trinity locked in a submission which Hannifan noted that Trinity calls “Starstruck” (Looks like a Rings of Saturn and Koji Clutch combined). King tapped out.
Trinity defeated KiLynn King via submission in 10:33.
Hannifan talked about how he’s called a bunch of Trinity matches and how he’s seen how powerful that finisher is. Jai Vidal made his entrance. Jai said Gisele Shaw is the hottest thing in Impact, not Trinity. Jai entered the ring and said that Gisele Shaw accepts Trinity’s challenge for Under Siege.
Jai was about to slap Trinity, but Trinity caught it. Trinity said she’d see Shaw at Under Siege. Trinity sent Jai to ringside with a short-arm roundhouse. The segment ended with Trinity dancing under the blacklight…
John’s Thoughts: That match was way more epic than it had any right being. Completely unexpected, but awesomely welcome. Props to Trinity for both looking good and elevating KiLynn King in the process. This also coming off being off TV for what seems like a year. Trinity didn’t miss a step and pulled out some of her innovative offensive moves. We don’t see too much of KiLynn King in a singles capacity and she really shined here herself.
Steve Maclin, Champagne Singh, and Mahabali Shera pulled up on and jumped PCO backstage. Shera chokeslammed PCO. Singh laid cement tiles on PCO’s back. Maclin smashed the tiles on PCO’s back with a sledgehammer. The heels left with PCO convulsing in pain…[c]
KiLynn King and Taylor Wilde confronted Jessicka in front of the “door to the Undead Realm” I presume. Apparently this “Hour” glass takes more than a week to run down because it’s not run down yet. Wilde said that Jessicka should enter the door to the Undead Realm. Jessicka said Rosemary said the door was magic and she was ordered to not mess with magic. Wilde said she’ll ask a spirit to unlock the door.
Jessicka said that James Mitchell pointed out how Wilde and King aren’t powerful enough to open the door. King said Jessicka has a thunderbolt ass. Jessicka mocked Wilde’s tarot cards and mocked King for losing her last match. Wilde said that King didn’t lose and was just “setting groundwork”. The heels chuckled and left…
Jody Threat got a televised entrance for the next match…
4. Jody Threat vs. Sierra. Threat dominated the collar and elbow. Threat caught Sierra with a knee and corner clotheslines. Threat hit Sierra with a backdrop suplex Threat hit Sierra with a seated senton. Sierra came back wiht a Jawbreaker. Threat came back with a shoulder tackle. Threat tossed Sierra into the ropes and hit her with a Meteora to the back. Threat hit Sierra with the F416 for the win.
Jody Threat defeated Sierra via pinfall in 2:23.
John’s Thoughts: Simple and effective squash as Impact continues to show that they have the best booked women’s division in all of wrestling. Maybe Don Callis should call up his buddies Scott D’Amore and Lance Storm to help book AEW’s women’s division. It’s not hard! This simple effective build only took three minutes of TV time.
Eddie Edwards and Alicia Edwards confronted Frankie Kazarian backstage. Eddie said he liked Frankie’s recent interviews. Eddie said they need to be on the same page in their upcoming tag team match. Eddie and Alisha asked Kazarian to follow Eddie’s lead. Kazarian sarcastically agreed and mocked Eddie for Honor No More breaking up. Tom Hannifan hyped up the match they were talking about which is a preview to the world title number one contenders match at Under Siege…
Dirty Dango was talking with Johnny Swinger and Zicky Dice. Dango said Swinger and Dice were in the clear and didn’t attack Santino. Dango asked Swinger to “say his name”, of the culprit. Say his name and he appears, I believe in Joe Hendry, clap clap. Of course. Dice said even though he doesn’t want stooge out the boys, Joe Hendry is the culprit. Dango asked Hendry if it was true? Dango called Hendry an egomaniac for stealing his spotlight.
Hendry said he was done with this nonsense. Hendry ripped off Dango’s shirt during a scuffle to reveal that Dango has a missing patch of chest hair. Dango claimed that he was getting surgery to remove a third nipple. Dango slammed Hendry into the wall. Dango walked away saying case closed…
John’s Thoughts: Eh, more Dango nonsense. Hopefully this heel turn means he’ll try something different for once. I also feel like Joe Hendry needs to add more layers to his character too because right now he’s a one-note gag. Hendry is capable of better character work because we saw him do some good stuff when he was teaming up with Grado during his first run in Impact. There he had his usual comedy, but it was intriguing when he was being presented as a potential fraud.
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt checked in from the commentary table with Hannifan pointing out that Dirty Dango was the person who attacked Santino Marella. Hannifan ran through the advertised Under Siege card. On-paper, the card is actually strong and looks like a PPV card. Next week Rich Swann vs. Alan Angels and Mike Bailey vs. Chris Sabin was announced. Rehwoldt sent the show to the weekly Kevin Kelly New Japan plug…
Entrances for the main event took place…
5. Moose, Eddie Edwards, and Frankie Kazarian vs. Jonathan Gresham, Yuya Uemura, and Alex Shelley. Eddie and Shelley started the match with technical chain wrestling. Moose aggressively tagged himself in. Yuya tagged in too. Yuya took down Moose with a deep armdrag. Moose escaped and aggressively tagged in Kazarian. Kazarian and Gresham had a wristlock sequence. Kazarian got a two count after a jackknife pin.
Kazarian got a one count on Gresham after a back suplex. Eddie tagged in and ordered Kaz out. Shelley took down Eddie with a chop block after tagging in. Eddie used the rope to break a crossface. The faces traded quick tags to cut the ring in half on Eddie. Eddie fended off submissions. Yuya tripped Eddie with a basement dropkick. Gresham hit Eddie with a moonsault and hit Moose with a suicide dive.[c]
Shelley hit Moose and Eddie with a lariat. Moose gave Shelley a backbreaker on the apron. Kazarian tagged in and hit Shelley with a dropkick for a two count. Kazarian aggressively tagged in Moose. Moose hit Shelley with a dropkick and did a kip up. The heels and Kaz cut the ring in half on Shelley with reluctant tags. Shelley reversed Kaz’s Unprettier and hit him with a Flatliner into the buckle. Yuya and Eddie tagged in with Yuya having momentum.
Yuya stacked Moose and Eddie in the corner and hit them with a corner splash. Yuya slammed Moose and got a two count off Eddie. Eddie came back with a Blue Thunder Bomb on Yuya. Yuya escaped Moose’s power bomb. Moose came back with a Backbreaker and Power Bomb for a nearfall on Yuya. Gresham tagged in and hit Moose’s calfs with dropkicks. Gresham caught Moose with an enzuigiri and dragon screw.
Moose gave a haymaker to Moose’s calf. Gresham got a two count off a rollup on Kazarian. Kazarian took down Gresham with a dropkick. Kazarian got a flurry of offense on Shelley. Rehwoldt noted that Shelley and Kazarian may be the two most successful Impact wrestlers not to win the World Championship. Shelley blocked a Chicken Wing attempt. Kazarian hit Shelley with One Final Beat for a two count. Eddie tagged himself in when Kazarian had the Chicken Wing locked.
Shelley hit Eddie and Kazarian with a Flatliner and DDT. Eddie hit Shelley with a Backpack Stunner. Yuya broke up the pin. Everyone traded signature moves. Yuya hit Moose at ringside with a crossbody. Shelley tossed Eddie into Kaz to put them at odds. Kazarian took out Eddie with a lariat. Shelley hit Shellshocked on Eddie to pick up the win for his team.
Alex Shelley, Yuya Uemura, and Jonathan Gresham defeated Eddie Edwards, Moose, and Frankie Kazarian via pinfall in 16:03 of on-air time.
Tom Hannifan closed the show…
John’s Thoughts: Great match with a finish that you could see from a mile away given Kazarian sticking out like a sore thumb as the lone babyface on the team of petty heels. I wonder if Impact is telegraphing that Alex Shelley is going to be the number one contender coming out of Under Siege to go after Steve Maclin. The commentary team was laying it on thick about Shelley’s recent interview where he said he was going after the world title. Shelley would be a good opponent for Maclin because we’ve seen Shelley being a great utility player, doing extremely well recently when they need him in the main event scene.
Nothing to consequential this week, but another entertaining episode of Impact nonetheless. Most of this was to continue Under Siege build. What was noteworthy, and delivered, was Trinity wrestling for the first time in a long time. Credit to her and KiLynn King for putting on a great match. The main event was solid too. Impact continues to be an entertaining weekly television show. You just may have to run across a lame, but harmless, two-minute Undead Realm segment.
Be the first to comment