By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Impact Wrestling TV (Episode 1,009)
Taped October 22, 2023 in Cicero, Illinois at Cicero Stadium
Aired November 16, 2023 on AXS TV
Impact opened with a recap of the previous episode… Tom Hannifan and Matt Rehwoldt were on commentary, and David Penzer was the ring announcer… Entrances for the opening match took place…
1. Ace Austin and Chris Bey vs. Kenny King and Sheldon Jean for the Impact Tag Team Titles. King performed a sit-out powerbomb on Bey and covered him for a near fall. King followed up with a Blockbuster on Bey and then Jean hit Bey with a neckbreaker for another near fall. Austin avoided a dive by King to ringside and then Bey dove onto King. Austin elevated Bey for a cutter on Jean, and then Austin followed up with The Fold on Jean and pinned him…
Ace Austin and Chris Bey defeated Kenny King and Sheldon Jean in 7:40 to retain the Impact Tag Team Titles.
The champions celebrated their win while Hannifan hyped the Will Ospreay vs. Josh Alexander main event… [C]
Powell’s POV: A nice television title defense for the tag team champions. King and Jean made a solid team, yet they were expendable given the current depth of the impressive Impact tag team division. By the way, I’m filling in on coverage for John Moore on short notice this week. I’d already watched the majority of the episode when I found out that John was unable to cover the episode. I don’t have time to go back and watch everything again, so I’m going brief with the match descriptions and repurposing some of the commentary I had written for a Hit List into the commentary. Due to the switch, I won’t have a Hit List for this episode, but I will let you know whether I think the various segments were Hits or Misses. In this case, I’d go with a Hit.
An MK Ultra (Masha Slamovich and Killer Kelly) vignette aired. They spoke about controlling the Knockouts tag team division and controlling your reality. They said they harness the power of the unknown and are unstoppable…
Powell’s POV: I like Slamovich and Kelly together, but the mention of them harnessing the power of the unknown is worrisome. We finally seem to be past the Undead Realm and even the witch team broke up, so the last thing I want to see are any Knockouts with special powers.
2. Moose (w/Brian Myers) vs. Heath. Late in the match, Heath powerslammed Moose and got a two count. Myers climbed onto the apron with Moose’s Feast or Fired briefcase. Heath fought off Myers, but then walked into a uranage from Moose. Heath came right back and went for his finisher, but Myers held onto Moose to prevent him from taking the move. Moose speared Heath and pinned him…
Moose defeated Heath in 6:00.
After the match, Rhino ran out to help Heath fight off the heels. Rhino gored Myers. Moose clutched his briefcase while backing up the entrance ramp… [C]
Powell’s POV: Miss. It’s hard to be excited by Moose getting an Impact World Championship shot at the Hard To Kill event. That’s not a knock on him as a wrestler. He’s just done everything there is to do in Impact and it’s not like his character is hot these days. He followed up the strange creative call that had him taking the pin in the four-way Monster’s Ball at Bound For Glory with a win over Heath that required outside interference from Brian Myers. Have the creative forces have given up on making Moose seem like a threat to win the title on his own and are instead playing up the possibility of Myers interfering in the title match?
Backstage, Moose cut a promo while Myers sold the Gore. Moose asked Rhino who the hell he thinks he is and said he would end his career…
3. “The Rascalz” Zachary Wentz, Trey Miguel, and Myron Reed vs. Black Taurus, Juventud Guerrera, and Laredo Kid. Konnan sat in on commentary for the match. There was an early break. [C] Late in the match, Taurus speared Reed. Taurus followed up with a piledriver on Reed and then pinned him…
Black Taurus, Juventud Guerrera, and Laredo Kid beat “The Rascalz” Zachary Wentz, Trey Miguel, and Myron Reed.
Powell’s POV: A hot match. It’s always nice to hear Konnan on commentary. There’s no way I can give this a Miss, but I was disappointed by the outcome. Reed finally made his Impact debut only to take a clean loss. I’m open to the possibility that there’s a storyline reason that will play out, but it struck me as a strange move in the moment.
4. Bully Ray and Jordynne Grace vs. Steve Maclin and KiLynn King. Late in the match, King accidentally caught Maclin with a kick. Bully threw Maclin to ringside and then Grace hit King with a spinning back fist. Grace followed up with a Juggernaut Driver and got the pin.
Bully Ray and Jordynne Grace beat Steve Maclin and KiLynn King in 6:50.
After the match, Bully grabbed Grace’s Call Your Shot trophy and told her to take it. Grace grabbed for the trophy, but Bully held on. He once again told her to take it, which she eventually did. Bully offered a handshake, which Grace eventually accepted… [C]
Powell’s POV: A Hit for an entertaining mixed tag match. As much as I would prefer to see King rack up wins to become a player in the Knockouts division, Impact is telling a story with Bully and Grace. Will it be the usual where Bully teases kindness and just about the time you let your guard down, that’s when he’s been setting up his target and the fans all along?
5. Knockouts Champion Trinity vs. Sonny Kiss in a non-title match. Both entrances were televised. Trinity and Kiss took a moment to look across the ring from one another and smile. The fans chanted for both wrestlers. Hannifan noted it was the first match between the two. Late in the match, Kiss performed a step over handspring boot in the corner and then covered Trinity for a two count. Trinity came back and used her legs to drive Kiss’s face into the mat. Trinity slammed Kiss’s backside to the mat and then used her legs to transition into a pin for the three count…
Knockouts Champion Trinity defeated Sonny Kiss in 8:05 in a non-title match.
Separate shots were shown of Josh Alexander and Will Ospreay while Hannifan hyped the main event as coming up next… [C]
Powell’s POV: A Hit for a nice match. Kiss worked in the men’s division in AEW, but I’m not sure if this match means Kiss is going to be exclusive to the Knockouts division in Impact.
Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin delivered a backstage promo while holding the Impact World Championship and X Division title belts over their respective shoulders. Shelley spoke about teaming with Sabin to face Alexander and Zack Sabre Jr. at Final Resolution. Sabin said their opponents are great technical wrestlers, but they would find out why individually and collectively the Motor City Machine Guns are the two greatest wrestlers of this generation…
The broadcast team hyped Final Resolution for Saturday, December 9 in Toronto. They also hyped TNA returning with Hard To Kill on January 13 in Las Vegas, and the Snake Eyes taping that will be held the next day. They also hyped TNA in Orlando. Hannifan said the IPWF Throwback Throwdown 4 show will be broadcast in the usual Impact time slot in two weeks.
Powell’s POV: Impact is listed for next Thursday, but there was no mention of what’s on the Thanksgiving episode. My guess is they run some type of clip show as opposed to a new episode since no matches were advertised. I won’t be covering the silly IPWF show because it’s a non-cannon episode and the throwback campiness does nothing for me. Have fun with it if you dig it, but it’s just not worth covering when there’s so much meaningful content these days.
Entrances for the main event took place…
6. IWGP US/UK Champion Will Ospreay vs. Josh Alexander in a non-title match. The match started roughly 28 minutes before the top of the hour. The crowd was hot as the match got underway with many of the fans standing. They cut to an early break. [C]
Alexander caught Ospreay going for a springboard move. Alexander ran the ropes and then knocked Ospreay to the floor heading into a picture-in-picture break. [C] Ospreay threw chops at Alexander, who asked for more. Alexander kicked Ospreay and eventually caught him leaping into the air. Alexander slammed Ospreay to the mat. Alexander got Ospreay on the ropes and hit him with a rolling senton for a near fall.
Ospreay came back with a sit-out powerbomb, but he sold exhaustion and did not go for the cover. Ospreay caught Alexander with a big boot in the corner and then placed him on the second rope and kicked his mouthguard out of his mouth. Ospreay went up top, but Alexander shot up and cut him off. Alexander set up for a suplex. Ospreay threw elbows at him. Alexander fired back, but Ospreay used the back of his head to knock Alexander off the ropes.
Ospreay went for a corkscrew moonsault, but Alexander moved. Ospreay landed on his feet, but sold it as if his knee buckled. Alexander applied an ankle lock. Ospreay rolled out of it and broke free. Ospreay threw a kick and then went for a springboard move, but he sold leg pain. Alexander capitalized and then stuffed a kick attempt before putting Ospreay in an ankle lock. Ospreay teased tapping and then reached the ropes to break the hold.
Moments later, Alexander hoisted up Ospreay for a move, but Ospreay caught him with a Stundog Millionaire. Ospreay followed with a leap from the ropes into an OsCutter for a two count. Ospreay charged for his Hidden Blade, but his leg gave out when he tried to run across the ring. Alexander was on his knees and headbutted Ospreay, who returned the favor.. Rinse and repeat with headbutts followed by both wrestlers throwing forearms from while on their knees and then getting to their feet and trading strikes.
Ospreay caught Alexander with a shot to the face and another to the back of the head. Alexander performed a Chaos Theory suplex for a nice near fall. Alexander went back to the ankle lock. Ospreay teased tapping agin, but he eventually rolled onto his back and then grabbed Alexander’s arms and kicked his way free. Ospreay hit Alexander with a Spanish Fly for another near fall. A “fight forever” chant broke out.
Ospreay went to the ropes and hit the OsCutter. Ospreay set up for another move, but Alexander countered into a piledriver for a great near fall. Alexander showed frustration and then fired up before going for his C4 Spike finisher. Ospreay broke free and then hit the Hidden Blade for a near fall. Ospreay followed up with a Storm Driver 93 for a near fall. Ospreay hit the Hidden Blade and a Storm Breaker and then got the clean pin…
IWGP US/UK Champion Will Ospreay defeated Josh Alexander in 21:35 in a non-title match.
After the match, Ospreay removed his boot and continued to sell his leg while holding up his title belt…
Powell’s POV: An outstanding match that lived up to my ridiculously high expectations. This was a blast and is an absolute must see. Overall, you can’t go wrong with a show headlined by Ospreay vs. Alexander, but it was a good show from start to finish. I really enjoyed last week’s Alex Shelley vs. Jonathan Gresham main event as well. It’s too bad that Impact will seemingly be slowing down due to the holiday weeks and won’t be able to follow up on the momentum of the last two shows. I will be back later today with my audio review of Impact Wrestling for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons).
So is he Josh Alexander or Josh Woods? That was confusing.
But was it really?