By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling TV
Taped in New Orleans, Louisiana at Alario Center
Aired February 24, 2022 on AXS TV
[Hour One] The opening intro video focused on Eddie Edwards betraying Team Impact in favor of joining the Honor No More faction… Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt were on commentary…
Moose made his entrance to start the show. Hannifan noted that Moose retained his title over W Morrissey at No Surrender. Moose said that people should be talking about his title defense but people are instead talking about Eddie Edwards. Moose said that once he beats people he changes their careers. Moose noted that he beat Eddie which would lead to him turning on people that trusted him. Moose said that Josh Alexander ended up losing his mind after losing the title to Moose. Moose then pointed out that Matt “Mid” Cardona turned his back on the fans once he lost to Moose.
Moose said that only God knows what downward spiral would befall W Morrissey. Suddenly, Heath [Slater] made his entrance. Heath said that Moose shouldn’t be cutting jokes when Impact is at war. Heath said he busted his ass to get to Impact. He said he may have been out for a year via injuries, but he has kids. Heath talked about how Impact always had his back during his time out. Heath said Moose is supposed to be a leader in this war, but isn’t coming off like one. Moose said that Heath is calling himself an “Impact guy” even though he’s only been around, so far, for a cup of coffee.
Moose asked Heath where he’s been when Impact and Honor No More were at war. Heath said he’s been out due to COVID protocols. Heath said he tested negative recently. Heath said his first match in Impact was against Moose and he wants to face Moose now for the title so Impact can have a champion that would fight for the company. Moose said Heath shouldn’t want to go down the same downward spiral as everyone. Moose said he doesn’t care about anyone, the fans, Impact, Honor No More, Heath’s family, or Heath’s ugly ass kids. The last comment fired up Heath. Heath left Moose lying after hitting him with a Zig Zag…
John’s Thoughts: Decent setup for Moose’s presumed next title contender. Heath comes off as pretty pedestrian, but that sorta works for him because he’s an everyman. I actually like that he’s acting less goofy and talking in a more natural tone. It would help if he would distance himself totally from his WWE “I have kids” gimmick (look at someone like Maclin who shows the fruits of ditching your tired persona). It also wouldn’t hurt the guy to give himself a last name. His real name Heath Miller wouldn’t be bad (even though it also reminds me of the former Pittsburgh Steelers’ tight end).
Heath met up with Chris Sabin, Willie Mack, Rich Swann, and Rhino backstage. Sabin wanted to randomly attack Honor No More. Scott D’Amore showed up and said that they need to honor the stipulation at No Surrender and that Honor No More is here to stay. D’Amore said they can get their revenge later in a six man tag. D’Amore said he also wants to hear why Eddie betrayed Impact so nobody is allowed to attack him. D’Amore said Rhino will be able to get his revenge at the Impact Plus Sacrifice show in a match against Eddie. Rhino said he’s going to rip Eddie apart violently at Sacrifice and the blood will be on D’Amore’s hands…[c]
Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, PCO, Vincent, Kenny King, and Maria Kanellis were entering the building where Scott D’Amore told them they were late for their first day on the job. D’Amore noted that he granted Honor No More safe passage for the night until the six man tag. D’Amore asked where Eddie Edwards was? Taven said that he trusts D’Amore but he doesn’t trust the Melvins in the locker room to be as trustworthy. Taven said Eddie doesn’t trust them either and will show up on his time. Moose showed up. Taven said it was a long time since he and Moose last met.
Moose told Taven and the rest of Honor No More to not come after him or the world title or there will be issues. Taven said he’s just happy to see Moose again. Honor No More walked past Moose and D’Amore. D’Amore got in Moose’s face and wondered why Moose doesn’t care about what is happening. D’Amore said that maybe Heath is right and that Moose is actually a joke. D’Amore booked Moose vs. Heath for the Impact World Title…
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt checked from the commentary table and ran through upcoming advertised segments…
Entrances for the next match took place. Hannifan noted that this is a rematch between Matt Cardona and Jordynne Grace after Grace got disqualified for kicking Cardona in the balls at No Surrender. For some reason, Grace brought a DVD player to the ring as a weapon…
1. “Alwayz Ready” Matt Cardona vs. Jordynne Grace in a No-DQ match for the Impact Digital Media Championship. Grace hit Cardona with the DVD player. Cardona tossed Grace and then hit her with an elbow drop. Grace dumped Cardona to ringside with a backdrop. Grace hit Cardona with a suicide dive. Jordynne threw random keyboards and power cords in the ring.[c]
Rehwoldt noted that Grace tossed digital media equipment in the ring. Cardona dominated Grace back from the break with methodical offense. Grace reversed a suplex and suplexed Cardona gut first into a set up chair. Grace attacked Cadona with a selfie stick. Grace hit Cardona wiht a back suplex on a chair. Grace hit Cardona with a meteora and basement lariat. Grace hit Cardona with a Vader Bomb for a two count. Grace teased pouring out a bag of thumbtacks, but then poured out a bag of random cell phones.
Cardona recovered and tossed Grace into the corner. Cardona wrapped a mouse around his fist. Grace power bombed Cardona on top of the phones. Cardona escaped the pin by punching Grace with the mouse. Grace low blowed Cardona, but Cardona no-sold it due to wearing a nut cup. Cardona pulled out the cup and showed the camera that he has the words “Alwayz Ready” on it. Cardona tried to shove the cup in Grace’s face, but Grace blocked it and kicked Cardona in the unprotected nuts. Grace then shoved the cup in Cardona’s face. Cardona kicked out at two. Cardona tossed Grace into a chair he set up in the corner. Cardona rolled up Grace for the victory.
Matt Cardona defeated Jordynne Grace via pinfall in 8:40 of on-air time to retain the Impact Digital Media Championship.
John’s Thoughts: A fun match and it’s a treat to see Cardona having fun being a heel. While some of the gags worked, they did get a bit too cute with the Digital Media stuff. I just thought it was a bit odd for Jordynne Grace, the babyface, to be treating this match like a joke by instigating all the random “Digital Media” references. It’s not a huge issue, but I feel like if they want to really have people care about the Digital Media Championship, then they shouldn’t be making tongue-in-cheek jokes at it’s expense.
The show cut to Tenille Dashwood, Madison Rayne, and Kaleb Konley backstage. Dashwood was talking about how Kaleb cost her her last match. Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay showed up and pointed out that they can finally have their match against the Influence at Sacrifice. Rayne shoo’d them off and told them not to talk to Kaleb. Rayne said she’d see Lee in a match next week. After the IInspiration left, Rayne told Kaleb not to cost her the match like he cost Dashwood…[c]
Clips from the Before The Impact show aired where Mike Bailey and Ace Austin defeated Jake Something and Trey Miguel in a match with Ace getting the jackknife pin on Something. Hannifan noted that Something became number one contender for the X Division Title at No Surrender…
Gia Miller interviewed Jake Something and asked him for his thoughts about losing to Ace and Bailey even though he’s number one contender. Trey Miguel showed up and told Something that he shouldn’t worry and that they looked good their first time teaming together. Something told Trey to not cut him off. Something said his eyes are set on the X Division Championship. He said he doesn’t need Trey’s pity. He said he’s twice Trey’s size and Trey needs to fear him. Something walked off…
John’s Thoughts: I wonder if they’re turning Something heel? A fresh start wouldn’t be the worst thing for him because he’s been pretty devalued as a babyface in terms of wins and losses. That said, if Josh Alexander isn’t coming back, Jake Something is someone I’d look at to push as a future face of the company.
Hannifan pointed out that Brian Myers had set up his own personal announce table at ringside…
2. John Skyler vs. Bhupinder Gujjar. Skyler hit Bhupinder with methodical strikes. Bhupinder rallied back with strikes and a backdrop. Hannifan flipped a switch on his sound system to show that Myers was commentating on an “alternate feed”. Bhupinder hit Skyler with a ripcord knee and spinebuster for a two count. Skyler hit Bhupinder with a shoulderbreaker for a two count. Bhupinder escaped a Superplex attempt from Skyler. Bhupinder hit Skyler with a second rope spear for the victory.
Bhupinder Gujjar defeated John Skyler via pinfall in 3:38.
W Morrissey appeared to try to chokeslam Brian Myers. Skyler helped Myers escape by punching him in the back. Morrissey gave Skyler a powerbomb through Myers’s personal announce table…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A good showcase squash for Bhupinder. So far though, he’s been very generic milquetoast. Just that “happy to be here” babyface. Hopefully he’ll develop an identity in time because he is just starting in Impact. He does have a decent look though. I’m not a huge fan of his finisher. It looks less impressive than a regular spear, and it also reminds me of Scott Steiner and Bron Breakker tripping off the ropes in their famous botch moments (Breakker might have been honoring Scott). I can’t say I’m excited to see Skyler and Myers potentially team. I feel like it would just lead to The Learning Tree 3.0 following the Sam Beale and the VSK/Dice iterations.
Steve Maclin cut a promo backstage. Maclin noted that Eddie Edwards was putting out a fake narrative by casting doubt on Maclin and questioning Maclin’s loyalty to Impact. Maclin said it was Eddie in the end who turned his back on his brothers and company. He said he doesn’t care about what Eddie has to say because Eddie will have to answer to him next week…
John’s Thoughts: There’s another guy Impact might consider making a face of the company. Who knew that WWE had such a hidden gem on their hands with Steve Maclin? I still can’t believe this guy was generic ass Steve Cutler.
Deonna Purrazzo made her entrance for her open challenge. Lady Frost took up the challenge.
[Hour Two] Frost picked the Reina de Reina’s title to challenge for…
3. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Lady Frost for the AAA Reina de Reina’s Title. Frost and Deonna soaked in dueling chants. Purrazzo locked Frost in a side headlock. Deonna tured the move into a Kata Gatame. Frost escaped and Deonna taunted her with a cartwheel. Frost taunted Deonna with a backflip and cartwheel. Deonna worked on Frost with methodical offense. Frost hit Deonna with a nice moonsault to end Deonna’s momentum. Frost sold an injured left leg.
Frost hit Deonna with a dropkick and Liger Kick. Deonna ended Frost’s momentum with a chop block. Frost escaped a Boston Crab by grabbing the bottom rope. Deonna locked Frost into the Rings of Saturn for the victory.
Deonna Purrazzo defeated Lady Frost via submission in 5:44 to retain the AAA Reina de Reina’s Championship.
Deonna posed with both title belts. Giselle Shaw made her entrance and crossed paths with Deonna. Giselle got in the ring to taunt Frost. Giselle posed under the spotlights…
John’s Thoughts: Impact has a good thing going with Mickie James and Deonna Purrazzo running around as women’s champions. It helps that Deonna is differentiating her title run with the weekly open challenges. Deonna is really good at playing the cocky but dominant heel fighting champ. They can have her run with the titles for a while by being a buzzsaw. This also allows Impact to bring in guest wrestlers from other promotions to challenge for either title. I wonder, Deonna is the AAA Reina De Reina’s champ. I wonder if Impact would use this weekly challenge to build towards a Deonna Purrazzo vs. Taya Valkyrie match? Valkyrie is not only one of the best Knockouts Champions of all time, but Valkyrie is arguably the best Reina de Reina’s champ of all time.
Jay White, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, and Chris Bey were backstage. White hyped up his match against Alex Shelley at the upcoming No Surrender. White then talked about it being strictly business when he kicked Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa out of the Bullet Club in favor of putting the Good Brothers back in. Anderson said it’s not the Bullet Club without the Good Brothers. Gallows said that the Guerrillas of Destiny were just dead weight.
Eric Young, Joe Doering, and Deaner showed up. Young said that they deserve a title shot at the tag titles (why? Violent By Design keep losing these days). Young said the Good Brothers owe VBD due to their business arrangement. White noted that the Good Brothers are under new management and their old business doesn’t count anymore. Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa showed up leading to a brawl. The Guerrillas of Destiny and VBD ran off the Bullet Club members…
John’s Thoughts: Oh? Who knew that Jay White turned on the GoD at No Surrender. You would have thought that would have been big news coming out of that show but they sorta just threw that out randomly in the second hour of the show. I’m not the biggest fan of Gallows and Anderson being back in Bullet Club. Feels like we’re just back to Gallows and Anderson being stooges to whatever former Bullet Club leader they can team up with. AJ Styles, Finn Balor, Kenny Omega, and now White? This gimmick is a bit played out. What is also played out is Violent By Design, who just lose to everyone it seems.
Entrances for the next match took place…
4. Jonah vs. “Outlandish” Zicky Dice. Dice managed to get Jonah to a knee with a chop block. Jonah quickly came back with a shoulder block, suplex, and running senton. Jonah hit Dice with a power bomb for the win.
Jonah defeated Zicky Dice via pinfall in 0:58.
Jonah hit Dice with a Tsunami Splash after the match…
Gail Kim berated Jonah for attacking Zicky Dice after the match. Jonah said Impact needs to stop giving him appetizers and give him something he can sink his teeth into. Kim noted that Honor No More are on the Impact roster now so she’s booking Jonah vs. PCO at Sacrifice. Jonah said he liked it and walked off. Johnny Swinger showed up to demand a rematch against Jonah, claiming to be training in the Swinger Dungeon with Bill Dundee, learning the secrets of Australian wrestling. Kim agreed to give Swinger a match against Jonah next week…
Mickie James and Chelsea Green were having a meeting in Gail Kim’s office. James wanted a match against Green at Sacrifice. Tasha Steelz and Savannah Evans showed up. Steelz wondered what Green ever did to earn a title shot. Kim noted that Green won a match against Mickie via DQ when Tasha Steelz interfered. Steelz claimed that Mickie used Green to cheat and retain the title. Steelz and James bickered. Gail Kim booked Tasha Steelz vs. Chelsea Green in a number one contenders match for next week. Steelz and Evans left. Mickie told Green not to worry. Green said James doesn’t have to worry because Green will take care of business by herself…
Tom Hannifan and Matt Rehwoldt checked in from the commentary table and ran through the advertised Sacrifice show so far. They announced the following segments for next week: Bullet Club vs. VBD and GoD, and Madison Rayne vs. Cassie Lee. Rehwoldt hyped up Kota Ibushi vs. Jay White on the New Japan on AXS show…
Entrances for the next match took place…
5. “Honor No More” Mike Bennett, Matt Taven, and Kenny King (w/Maria Kanellis, Vincent, PCO) vs. Chris Sabin, Willie Mack, and Rich Swann (w/Rhino, Heath). Honor No More dominated early on by isolating Swann. Sabin cleared everyone from the ring. Team Impact isolated King and got a two count. Sabin and Bennett tagged in. Bennett hit Sabin with a Yakuza Kick. Sabin recovered and hit Bennett with a PK. Bennett hit Sabin with a rebound forearm. Taven tagged in and hit Sabin with a twisting neckbreaker for the two count. [c]
Honor No More continued to cut the ring in half on Sabin. Sabin hit Bennett with a drop toehold which sent him into Taven. Swann and Mack tagged in to hit Taven with a double team bulldog. Mack got a two count. Mack hit Taven with his signature moonsault combo. Honor No More swarmed Mack. Taven hit Mack with a Beautiful Disaster Kick. The Kingdom members hit Mack with The Proton Pack to give Bennett the win.
Honor No More defeated Willie Mack, Rich Swann, and Chris Sabin via pinfall in 5:37 of on-air time.
Maria Kanellis took the mic and introduced Eddie Edwards. Maria noted that Eddie is a Triple Crown Champion for both Ring of Honor and Impact. Eddie Edwards made his entrance to Honor No More’s theme. He wore regular clothes. Swann got in Eddie’s face heading into commercial…
John’s Thoughts: Good momentum building win for Honor No More who had to dominate in their first match since picking up the with at No Surrender. The group warfare thing can be fun for a little while. Maybe they do something like War Games/Lethal Lockdown down the road. I wouldn’t mind seeing them move on towards individual feuds eventually to get more out of Honor No More than just being a homogeneous group of former Ring of Honor wrestlers.
Scott D’Amore chased off the Chris Sabin and Team Impact from ringside so Eddie can give his speech. Eddie took the mic and said that the crowd has the right to feel betrayed but they shouldn’t blame Eddie. Eddie said he’s known Honor No More for a long time and came up through the business with most of them. Eddie noted that he spilled blood for ROH and felt betrayed himself when ROH decided to go on hiatus. He said that is not the reason he joined ROH. Eddie said the members of Honor No More have uncovered a cancerous growth on the wrestling industry, dishonor.
Eddie said they are here to expose the dishonor and corruption. Eddie said he sees that corruption in Impact. Eddie talked about how the world had to change in 2020. Eddie said Impact changed with the world. Eddie noted that Impact innovated working with other companies. Eddie said he supported that initiative because he felt that Impact was doing what was best for the company. He said he was even on board when Kenny Omega challenged for Impact’s world title. Eddie said that Rich Swann failed to do his job and lost the title to a man who wasn’t in the company.
Eddie said the corruption was from within and Impact failed to see this corruption. Eddie said he wanted to lead the locker room to do what was right. Eddie said he waited and waited for his shot. He said that Sami Callihan failed to win back “our” world title. He said that Moose also failed to take that title back. Eddie said he was the man who pinned Kenny Omega in a tag match and that should have signaled him getting a shot. Eddie noted that instead of picking him, Impact management put their trust in Josh Alexander.
Eddie said at that moment he noticed that Impact Wrestling had “Honor… no more”. Eddie said that Impact showed they had zero faith in a man who stuck with the company. Eddie said he was once called the “heart” of Impact Wrestling. He said he did not turn his back on Impact, Impact turned their back on him. Eddie said that Scott D’Amore helped rip the heart out of Impact with all the corruption. Eddie said people are asking him “why?”. He said he gave everything to the company and got nothing in return. Eddie said him standing next to Honor No More proves his motto, “anything is possible”.
Alisha Edwards walked to the ring and asked Eddie “what are you doing”? Alisha noted that they did talk about this privately, but Eddie is making things public. Alisha said that she can’t believe Eddie’s trying to defend his actions rather than apologize to the locker room and fans. Eddie said Alisha should understand because she was there with him while he suffered and waited. Alisha said she understands but Eddie also taught her to keep faith and that anything is possible. Alisha said she doesn’t think that Eddie didn’t think that Moose, Sami, and Josh didn’t deserve their opportunities.
Alisha said Josh actually took care of business by taking the title back home. Alisha said Eddie needs to stop bitching and celebrate with his real family. Eddie said Alisha is wrong and Honor No More is his family now. Alisha asked Eddie if she was still his family. Eddie said that is up to Alisha. He said he didn’t turn his back on family, he’s just walking away from those who turned their backs on him. Eddie dropped the mic and walked away with Honor No More…
John’s Thoughts: Great stuff. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off Impact with the totally needed death of the Crazy Leprechaun Eddie Edwards character (as far as I’m concerned, Crazy Eddie was like a cancerous tumor in Impact. I kid, I kid). I actually liked the promo by Eddie. He’s actually come a long way since being the white meat World Champ of Ring of Honor. He’s gained confidence. It’s not like he’s a deer in the headlights like Roderick Strong who’s trying to lead his own faction right now (and I bring up Roddy because Roddy has the same mic issues as Eddie did at one point).
Eddie used good heel logic to explain turning on Impact. I liked his actions leading up to the betrayal because it was a nice attention to detail by having him never laying his hands on Honor No More at all leading up to No Surrender. It also seems like he singled out Rich Swann in the promo and by crossing paths with him. Some of Eddie’s criticisms are valid and it doesn’t help that Rich seems content trading wins in the tag team undercard when he was the face of the company at one point. I wouldn’t mind seeing Eddie vs. Rich now and it’s more fresh now that Eddie is no longer a leprechaun.
Alisha was solid too. Yes, she yelled at Eddie again, like she always does, but she had passion behind her words and it was smart to have her go out there and counter Eddie’s heel logic by pointing out Josh Alexander getting the job done. It’ll be an interesting layer to see if she reluctantly joins Eddie in Honor No More. This was yet another solid episode of Impact and the Eddie Edwards promo at the end was the focal point. Again, I’m just happy Crazy Eddie is dead! That’s a win for Impact.
Be the first to comment