By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling TV
Taped in Atlanta, Georgia at Center Stage
Aired July 7, 2022 on AXS TV
Highlights from the Impact Plus Against All Odds show aired. Apparently, Honor No More lost yet again. Joe Doering was also finally pinned on Impact TV by Josh Alexander in the main event…
John’s Thoughts: What’s the point of Honor No More?. There’s a ton of main event level talent there and they’re relegated to losing 10-person tags every few weeks.
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt were on commentary. Dave Penzer was the ring announcer…
1. “Speedball” Mike Bailey vs. Alan Angels for the Impact X Division Championship. Speedball bowed and accepted Alan’s handshake. Alan immediately slapped Speedball. Bailey pummeled Alan with a series of rapid kicks. Bailey hit Angels at ringside with a Triangle Moonsault. Angels made a comeback and gave Bailey a clothesline to the gut on the apron. Angels followed up with a Frog Splash from the apron for a two count.
Angels kept momentum in his favor for a few minutes. Angels got a two count off a Northern Lights. Angels went for a dive, but he ate a superkick from Bailey. Bailey hit Angels with a Karate Kick Combo followed by a standing Red Arrow for a two count. Angels avoided an Ultima Weapon attempt and gave Bailey a double stomp on the back. Bailey gave Angels a lariat and Spanish Fly. Both men struggled to get to their feet, where they ended up trading strong style strikes. Bailey hit Angels with an awesome chops into roundhouse combo.
Angels spun Bailey off a kick attempt and staggered him with a forearm. Angels hit Bailey with a Halo Breaker (Helicopter TKO) for a two count. Bailey reversed a wing snapper into an inverted jackknife pin for a two count. Both men traded rapid pin attempts. Angels countered a Flamingo Driver into a Wing Snapper for a good nearfall. Angels hit Bailey with a PK. Angels missed a splash. Bailey hit Angels with a 360 Cyclone Kick followed by Ultima Weapon for the pinfall.
Mike Bailey defeated Alan Angels via pinfall in 8:34 to retain the Impact X Division Championship.
Bailey and Angels shared a handshake after the match. All of a sudden, Joe Doering and Deaner entered the ring and beat up both Bailey and Angels. Deaner took a mic and said it’s not over between VBD and Josh Alexander until he says it’s over. Deaner demanded Josh Alexander enter the ring. Instead, the VBD theme played and Eric Young made his entrance heading into the break… [C]
John’s Thoughts: Great X Division bout. See Impact?!? These singles matches are so much better. But this is a pro-wrestling wide problem where all the larger promotions are doing homogeneous multi-man matches. Impact falls under that problem too, but we’ve seen some very solid singles X Division matches to recently with Speedball wrestling Angels and Miguel. Alan Angels looked great here. He wasn’t “just another guy in the Dark Order”. Loved his hard hitting style which complemented Bailey’s Karate/TKD style. Mike Bailey has become one of my favorite wrestlers to watch. Part, because I’m biased seeing the striking moves I practice finally look good on TV (Low Ki was also good at this). Also, the guy’s just damn fun to watch. He also comes off as a cool dude (and presumed fan of Final Fantasy given the Ultima Weapon).
Eric Young asked Deaner “what happened” and why are they in this position? Deaner said they thought that they were trying to bring the belt to the family, which was Young’s plan. Deaner said he thought if Young couldn’t do it, then Doering could maybe bring the belt over. Young said that Doering was undefeated and one of the most feared men in pro wrestling when EY was around. Young said it’s clear that the sickness has taken back a hold of Deaner and Doering. He said he thought they were better than the diseased fans. He said the fans can’t see the truth and are worthless. He said he might just have to purge both Deaner and Doering. Deaner said Young is 100 percent correct.
Deaner said it’s crystal clear that Young is “the designer”. Deaner begged Young for a chance to make things right. Young said Deaner should have no doubt moving forward. Young said that Deaner and Doering need to accept that the world doesn’t belong to them, it belongs to “me” (Eric Young)…
John’s Thoughts: Interesting promo. There’s a part of me that wonders if it’s even worth getting a story out of the Violent By Design dissolution, but I won’t fault Impact for at least trying to salvage something out of the end of VBD. Personally, I would have just had everyone go their separate ways and not waste time here given how Violent By Design has jumped the shark. Ultimately though, I hope this leads to the end of Violent By Design and not lead to a “reinvigorated” VBD. Like all the main event talent trapped in Honor No More, Young and Doering are really suppressed in this dead faction. Heck, Deaner has a brighter and better future now that he’s dropped the Larry the Cable Guy gimmick.
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt checked in from the commentary table. Hannifan hyped up the Impact Plus Emergence show happening in Chicago on August 12th. The commentary team ran through upcoming segments…
Mike Bennett was rallying the Honor No More troops backstage by cutting a promo. Bennett said they keep getting screwed over and over again. He said he understands that Impact Wrestling doesn’t like what they do, but Impact’s the problem not them. Kenny King said that Impact is trying so hard to stop them by pulling all the stops and bringing back wrestling corpses to take them down. King said Impact couldn’t stop them then and they can’t stop them now (Uhm? From what I see, Honor No More keeps getting “stopped”).
Maria said they had a setback at Against All Odds. Eddie Edwards said it was time for them to start making tough decisions to persevere and spread their message. Eddie told PCO to tell him how much he believes their message. Eddie told PCO not to answer with words, but to answer by beating Black Taurus. Eddie said that failure was not an option…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Ohhhhhh. The great defender of Impact, Black Taurus (?). All these guys are so talented and great talkers. Heck, now that Crazy Eddie is dead, he’s a great talker too. All of these guys are repressed in this hapless faction. Josh Alexander needs PPV opponents? Aside from Vincent and King (who can be built up), all those guys would make money opponents with proper builds. I’m also a bit tired of Mike Bennett being all serious since leaving WWE. Can we get “The Miracle” back?
Gia Miller interviewed Deonna Purrazzo and Chelsea Green on Purrazzo wrestling Mia Yim in a number one contenders match later. Purrazzo talked about how she’s taking this rivalry with Yim personally and Green talked about how she and Purrazzo are going to run the Knockouts division. Gail Kim showed up and said she likes seeing Green and Purrazzo as a tag team. Kim booked Chelsea Green vs. Mickie James for next week. Purrazzo and Green protested. Kim also said that everyone was banned from ringside in both their matches this and next week…
Entrances for the next match took place. Trey Miguel was limping on his way to the ring…
John’s Thoughts: Oh shoot. This is a singles match. No joke, given Trey and Kid showing up, I had already typed Trey Miguel vs. Laredo Kid vs. _____________. Good on Impact for toning down the homogeneous multi-man matches for the episode.
2. Laredo Kid vs. Trey Miguel. Trey and Kid started the match at a stalemate. Trey hit Kid with a snap Northern Lights. Kid countered a baseball slide into a knee takedown. Trey avoided a suicide dive. Trey’s gave up on him during an Asai moonsault attempt. Trey adjusted to a one leg Asai Moonsault to hit Kid.[c]
Kid focused his attack on Trey’s injured right knee for a few minutes. Trey managed to avoid a dive. Trey fired up with a one legged Kip up where he took down Kid with a kick combination. Trey hit Kid with a Scorpion Kick and twisting backbreaker for a two count. Kid reversed a crossbody into a Michinoku Driver for a two count. Trey got a two count off a sunset flip. Kid rolled up Trey for a two count. Trey hit Kid with a Cross Rhodes for the victory.
Trey Miguel defeated Laredo Kid via pinfall in 7:40 of on-air time.
Rehwoldt noted that Trey had to use a different finisher due to his knees being injured…
John’s Thoughts: Good storytelling with Miguel coming out strong and overcoming the odds. That said, why did they have to bury Laredo Kid like that. It wasn’t a complete burial, but he lost to essentially a one legged and fatigued wrestler. I keep waiting for this Laredo Kid push because he continues to look good, but they always keep him at fodder level. I’m also hoping for something fresh, because it seems like they just keep going to Trey Miguel at the top of the X Division, while also never really giving him promo time.
Tom Hannifan hyped up the Ric Flair Flashback Moment of the Week to hype up the Ric Flair last match show…
The Impact Plus Ric Flair Flashback Moment of the Week was Ric Flair making his Impact debut at Universal Studios. He walked out during an AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle TNA Championship match…
Joe Doering and Deaner were walking and yelling backstage looking for Josh Alexander. Gia Miller called for security. Doering and Deaner walked into Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley. Deaner ended up punching Sabin. Security ran in to break the teams apart. Josh Alexander also showed up saying that he’s here…
A cinematic vignette aired for a former NXT UK Wrestler Killer Kelly. She was shown staying at motels. She talked about the Fight Club line where Brad Pitt said it’s after you lost everything, you’re free to do anything. The cinematic ended with the camera on the ground in her motel restroom as she was entering the shower. A graphic said she’s “coming soon”…
John’s Thoughts: Kelly has had a lot of really good matches in NXT and other places. I’ve always felt like no one ever took the time to give her a vignette or something. She never had a defined character. This was a good vignette and I’m looking forward to see if we can finally get some character development for Killer Kelly.
Gia Miller congratulated James Storm and Chris Harris for winning their match at Against All Odds. Storm talked about how Harris had a totally different path to that match than him. Harris said that match meant everything to him. He said standing next to Storm and walking down that ring in an Impact ring, he couldn’t have asked for more. Harris said that you never say never in wrestling, but if this is America’s Most Wanted’s last right, this is exactly how he wanted to go out. Storm and Harris fist bumped.
Gia said it looks like we’ve seen the last ride of AMW for now, but she wondered when James Storm was returning to wrestle in Impact. Storm said you never know when or where the Cowboy James Storm will show up, but now he has unfinished business. Gia asked Harris if he knew what Storm was talking about. Storm walked off and Harris said that was just Storm being The Cowboy…
James Storm walked into the dressing room where Steve Maclin was sitting. Storm said it looked like Maclin and Moose were now friends given how Maclin helped Moose at Against All Odds. Maclin said that he understands that Storm is a legend, but he doesn’t the right to ask all these questions. Maclin said he thought Storm was retiring after Against All Odds. Storm said he’s actually in his prime. Storm said next week Maclin can stop climbing pine trees and end up taking on the biggest oak in the forrest. Storm said he can see it in Maclin’s eyes that he’ll see Maclin next week…
Entrances for the next match took place…
3. PCO (w/Vincent) vs. Black Taurus (w/Crazzy Steve). Both men started the match no selling shoulder tackles. Taurus gave PCO a tackle and PCO came back with a uppercut. Taurus got a two count off a chop block. PCO caught Taurus by the throat and dumped him to ringside. PCO dragged Taurus back in the ring and took him back out with a lariat. PCO hit Taurus with a Tope Cannonball. PCO gave Taurus elbows on the apron and followed up with a Deanimator on the apron.
PCO got a two count off a rope break. Taurus came back with a series of reverse sling blades. Taurus gave PCO an elbow drop. PCO kicked out at two. Taurus missed a twisting moonsault. PCO gave Taurus a forearm and reverse DDT. PCO hit Taurus with the PCO-sault for the win.
PCO defeated Black Taurus via pinfall in 6:06.
Eddie, Kenny, Matt, Mike, and Maria walked out to join Vincent in celebrating PCO’s win. While Honor No More was distracted, Heath [Slater] hit Kenny King with a Zigzag and then ran away into the crowd. Heath celebrated with the crowd…
John’s Thoughts: Simple showcase for PCO. They’re obviously booking towards PCO getting kicked out of Honor No More, but I wouldn’t take my time on this one. This goes into me saying that everyone should be kicked out of Honor No More because Honor No More is holding so much main event talent back while also forcing them to constantly lose meaningless 10 man tag matches. And look, they’re still hapless and getting punked out by Heath Slater.
Gia Miller interviewed Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson. Anderson was carrying his NJPW Never Openweight Championship with his Impact Tag Team Championship. Chris Bey and Ace Austin were also there because they are a part of Impact’s Bullet Club. Gia Miller asked Anderson why he’s still watching to see what Honor No More is doing even though they took care of them at Against All Odds. Anderson said it looks like Honor No More has problems now. Gallows said Honor No More has an easy time starting problems, but not dealing with them. Chris Bey talked about how Bullet Club is good at dealing with problems. Ace said he’s starving for action. He said even though they already dealt with Honor No More before, he’s a new member and wants a piece of this. They all ended the promo with a Too Sweet…
John’s Thoughts: Oh no… Don’t tell me we’re getting yet another Honor No More 10 person tag match that they’re gonna lose? Honor No More vs. Bullet Club? Ugh. Not to mention, this is the “understudy” Bullet Club because real Bullet Club isn’t around at the moment (combined with the fact that Bullet Club jumped the shark several years ago. They only work in Japan because in Japan they’re the “foreign menace” group).
Impact Digital Media Champion Brian Myers was walking around backstage. Johnny Swinger and Zicky Dice met up with him. Swinger assumed Myers was offering Swinger a crack at the strap. Myers said he’s the Digital Media champion while Swinger is public access. Dice said that he’s learned more from Swinger’s dungeon than he ever did under Myers’s Learning Tree. He said he has a PHD at Swinger’s dungeon. Myers walked away saying that Swinger’s Dungeon is not a credible institution.
Myers then walked into Bhupinder Gujjar who said he would like an opportunity to wrestle for the Digital Media Championship. He started speaking in his native language. Myers proposed a match between Swinger vs. Gujjar for next week to see who should go after the Digital Media Championship…
Footage from Against all Odds was shown where Mahabali Shera and Raj Singh challenged Rich Swann for some reason…
4. Rich Swann vs. Mahabali Shera (w/Raj Singh). Swann used Judo rolls to avoid lariats. Swann fought his way out of a choke bomb. Shera caught Swann off a crossbody and hit him with a gutbuster. Shera hit Swann with a one handed Military Press. Shera locked Swann in a chinlock. Shera worked on Swann with methodical offense. Swann ended up avoiding a corner splash. Swann hit Shera with a 619 and it Singh with a cannonball. Swann hit Shera with spinning roundhouses. Shera no sold buzzsaw kicks. Shera fell after a thrust kick. Swann hit Shera with a 450 for the win.
Rich Swann defeated Mahabali Shera via pinfall in 3:50.
John’s Thoughts: Talk about repressed, Why is Rich Swann still content being in the undercard? Another main event singles talent just meandering on the undercard. The match was fine, but I still can’t help but feel like Rich Swann is being wasted. And he’s been wasted ever since losing that Kenny Omega match.
Tenille Dashwood and Madison Rayne walked up to Giselle Shaw. Rayne was wearing a nose injury mask. Dashwood showed Shaw the calling card Masha Slamovich sent her, which was her picture with an X written across her face. Shaw said it’s simple and it just means that Masha is going to kill Dashwood. Dashwood said she doesn’t want to deal with death threats. Dashwood walked off after Rayne saying she can’t help due to the nose injury…[c]
An ad aired for the Impact Plus Emergence show…
Impact Tag Team Champions “Ragnarok” Taya Valkyrie and Rosemary were backstage. Rosemary was yelling, talking about how James Mitchell didn’t come true with delivering Havok to them to join them. Rosemary said she has to go to the Undead Realm to get Havok. Valkyrie said that she wants to go with Rosemary. Rosemary said people die in the realm. Valkyrie said best friends should have each others’ back. Rosemary said they are going together next week to find Havok…
John’s Thoughts: Ugh. Someone still likes this in Impact creative for some reason. Johnny Swinger isn’t public access, it’s whoever does the Undead Realm cinematics and teleporting.
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt checked in from the commentary table. They announced the following segments for next week: Cheslea Green vs. Mickie James, James Storm vs. Steve Maclin, Tenille Dashwood vs. Masha Slamovich, Honor No More vs. Bullet Club in an 8 person tag, and Violent By Design vs. Josh Alexander and the Motor City Machine Guns . Rehwoldt noted that next week’s show is sponsored by a movie staring Paul “Big Show” Wight. Rehwoldt hyped Seiya Sanada vs. Will Ospreay as well as United Empire vs. Bullet Club for the New Japan AXS show…
Entrances for the next match took place. Rehwoldt reiterated that Mickie James and Chelsea Green aren’t at ringside due to being banned by Gail Kim from ringside earlier…
5. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Mia Yim to become number one contender to the Impact Knockouts Championship. Both women started the match with a shoving match. Yim took down Purrazzo with a shoulder tackle. Purrazzo came back with a drop toehold and crossface. Yim got to her feet and came back with an armdrag. Yim hit Purrazzo at ringside with a wrecking ball kick.
Yim followed up with a suicide dive. Yim rolled up Purrazo with a plethora of rollup variations. Yim hit Purrazzo with a huracanrana. Purrazzo came back with a rollup into a Sacrifice Arm Breaker. The show cut to commercial.[c]
Purrazzo worked on Yim at a methodical pace. Rehwoldt noted that Purrazzo was focusing her attack on the left arm of Yim to set up for submissions. Yim came back with punches and an armdrag. Both women ran head first into each other to take each other out. Both women beat the ten count at 9. Yim and Purrazzo traded strong style strikes. Yim hit Purrazzo with kicks and a shotgun dropkick. Yim hit Purrazzo with a Yakuza Kick and cannonball for a two count. Yim hit Purrazzo with Eat Defeat, but Purrazzo rolled to ringside.
Purrazzo escaped a package pile driver attempt and hit Yim with a Yakuza Kick. Yim kicked out at two. Yim hit Purrazzo with a backdrop. Purrazzo tossed Yim of the top rope. Yim dodged Purrazzo sending Purrazzo into the ringpost. Yim hit Purrazzo with a Code Blue (Code Red) for a two count. The crowd rallied up Mia. Both women traded fatigued strikes. Eventually, Purrazzo hit Yim with a Russian leg sweep.
Yim blocked a Fujiwara Armbar. Deonna hit Mia with a Gotch Style Pile Driver for a nearfall. Yim hit Purrazzo with a Power Bomb and Package Pile Driver for a nearfall. Both women traded right hands which turned into a Strong Style exchange. Yim hit Purrazzo with Kawada Kicks and a Package Pile Driver. Yim hit Purrazzo with Eat Defeat for the win.
Mia Yim defeated Deonna Purrazzo via pinfall in 15:10 of on-air time to become number one contender to the Knockouts Championship. .
Jordynne Grace made her entrance after the match to congratulate Mia Yim in the ring. Yim and Grace shook hands to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: Great NXT Takeover paced match. The multiple-finisher kickouts work when it’s not overdone, and thankfully Impact doesn’t overdo it. It’s still odd that Jordynne Grace won the Knockouts Title, because they could have taken this match and had it be between Mia and Purrazzo at a PPV for the Knockouts title. That said, Yim and Grace should be a great one too if the chemistry is right.
This week’s Impact was better than the last two weeks. They were allowed to slow down and develop stories. The last two weeks were rushed due to them rushing to a Impact Plus special. Looks like we might get some resh faces on the roster too. I hope Alan Angels sticks around. They’re also bringing in Killer Kelly with some vignettes. Impact would actually have more fresh faces if they fix their biggest problem, they need to break apart Honor No More ASAP.
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