Welcome to JJA Sport Studio’s coverage of IMPACT Wrestling!
After a video package recap of last week, we send it to the ring for the second tag team tournament match.
#1 Contenders Tournament First-Round: ABC vs. Sami Callihan & Rich Swann
Bey and Swann start by running around and countering each other. Bey lands a midsection kick followed by a dropkick. Ace comes in and traps Swann in a headlock. Swann works his way up and tags out. Sami assists Swann with a crossbody before hitting his own shoulder breaker and knee to the face. Swann kicks Bet on the outside before Ace kicks him from the apron. Sami follows and rakes Ace’s eye before nailing the Cactus Driver on the apron.
Bey kicks Sami before hitting a moonsault off the middle rope. After the break, Swann and Bey are in the ring. Bey lands a spinebuster, cover. ABC hits Click Click Boom on Swan, cover again. Bey lands a couple chest kicks. Bey finally kicks Ace in the head to get the tag out. Sami comes in with clotheslines to Bey. He hits the two for one DDT combo on ABC. Bey strikes Sami, but Sami counters with DVD, cover. Swann attempts a 450, but Bey evades.
Ace tags in before ABC double team Swann with a neckbreaker for a nearfall. Sami traps Bey in a chicken wing. Bey manages to roll back and out to escape while Ace and Swann battle on the outside. Ace tags in, double kick to Sami. AOF and The Fold connect on Sami, but Swann makes the save. Ace nearly wins it over Sami, but Jason Hotch pulls the ref out of the ring. Skyler plants Ace while the ref is still down. Sami gets up and hits Ace with the Cactus Driver for the win.
Winners: Sami Callihan & Rich Swann
Callihan and Swann will battle The Rascalz in the tournament finals.
Santino is backstage hydrating when The Coven walks up. They say the energy in Impact has been off lately. They pitch themselves for a tag title match when The Death Dollz walk up and stake their claim for being added to Emergence. MK Ultra walk up. Kelly says they’ll take them all.
Bhupinder Gujjar vs. Dirty Dango
Gujjar applies a left wrist lock to start before arm dragging Dango to break. Dango’s headlock turns into a shoulder block, but then Gujjar comes back with another arm drag and dropkick. Gujjar splashes into the corner and follows it with another dropkick, cover. Dango rakes the eyes to break out of a hold. He attempts a cover before applying a headlock on the mat.
Once back on his feet, Gujjar hits a scissor kick and flapjack. He tries to stomp Dang, but Dango evades. Knee strike connects, followed by a spinebuster. Dango kicks out again. Gujjar goes up top for the spear, but Bravo shines a flashlight in his eyes. Dango plants Gujjar with the DDT for the win.
Winner: Dirty Dango
After, Dango says that he still hates pro wrestling even when he wins. Jake Something interrupts and marches down to the ring. He takes the mic from Dango asks him if he knows how long it took him to get back to Impact. If Dango hates it so much, then get the hell out… or Jake will make him. Dango rolls out, but Bravo shares words with Jake. Dango tries to attack from behind, but Jake punches him to send him retreating.
A vignette from The Design airs.
Johnny Swinger is interviewed backstage about training for his title shot. Kenny King interrupts and hypes himself up as being bigger than World Champ Alex Shelley. Swinger asks, “What’s the internet, daddy?”
Jody Threat vs. Alisha Edwards
Threat clotheslines to start. She drags Alisha out of the corner and then throws herself back onto her. Threat charges the corner but Alisha throws a hand. Threat gets caught up in the ropes as Alisha drags her down to the mat. Alisha gloats for a moment before chopping Threat in the corner. Alisha scratches Jody’s back, which fires Jody up. Alisha takes her down into a brief cover.
Threat crawls to the ropes but ends up getting choked. Alisha chops her again until Threat cuts her off with a boot followed by a shoulder tackle. Alisha is tossed face-first into the turnbuckle before getting clobbered by corner clotheslines. Threat pump kicks her, double knees in the ropes connect. Alisha is thrown with a German. Alisha rakes the eyes to escape. Eddie then uses a kendo stick to trip Threat. Kazarian ambushes Eddie in return. Threat grabs Alisha and hits the F5 for the win.
Winner: Jody Threat
After, Kazarian accidentally whacks Alisha with the kendo stick as he winds up to hit Eddie. A bunch of officials check on her as he’s in shock.
Deonna cuts a promo backstage and challenges KiLynn King to a singles bout next week. She wants Trinity to be watching as well.
Mike Bailey vs. KUSHIDA
They chain wrestle to start with locked hands. Once free, they flip around each other before kicking each other in the chest. They meet head to head as the crowd is chanting for both of them. Bailey starts kicking again but Kushida goes for a wrist lock. Bailey falls out of the ring, which leads Kushida to flip onto him. Back inside, Kushida traps Bailey in a stretch before bending him back. Bailey grabs the rope to break.
Kushida hits a cartwheel dropkick. Bailey comes back with a single leg dropkick and both take a moment getting up. Bailey gets more kicks before a running shooting star, cover. They trade chops in the center of the ring. Bailey pivots to the apron but Kushida springboard kicks him off. Kushida slides out and sends Bailey into the post shoulder-first.
After the break, Kushida kicks Bailey down again. Kushida picks apart an arm and then focuses on the legs with a hold. His left knee gets slammed against the mat. Kushida goes up top to stomp on him with emphasis. Bailey tries for a kick, but Kushida rushes his knee to send him falling out. Kushida slides out but is immediately taken down by a moonsault off the ropes. Back inside, Bailey leaps off the top. Kushida gets his right arm kicked mid springboard.
With each man suffering from a damaged limb, they kick each other several times again. Kushida traps Bailey in the hoverboard lock. Bailey gets to his feet and pivots it into an armbar twice. Bailey backflips into a double knees. Bailey shoots the half, kickout. Another armbar applied, but Kushida’s feet reach the ropes. They counter each other several more times until Bailey gets a knee to the face. Kushida grabs the rope again. Another kick to the face before the tornado kick lands.
Bailey goes up top and gets cut off. Kushida throws a kick, then flips Bailey to the mat with the hoverboard lock in. Bailey stands up but gets hit with the small package driver. The ref counts three.
Winner: KUSHIDA
Tom Hannifan sits down with Crazzy Steve, per Steve’s request. Steve says he needs Tom’s help. He discusses how Courtney and Jessicka are on their own path while Black Taurus has his own match tonight. He’s growing lonely. References The Menagerie, splitting from Abyss, and now his new Decay mates. He speaks on being legally blind, which brings its own challenges. Tom asks where Steve’s family has been in all of this. Steve says that’s a very interesting story, which is to be continued.
We see footage from Attack Pro Wrestling where Subculture defended the tag titles in the UK.
Joe Hendry interrupts a counseling session between a man and woman. Yuya Uemura also pops up. Yuya simply says, “champion.” Hendry can’t believe he’d throw that in his face again. Hendry says they’re going to go their separate ways. Yuya says, “champions.” Hendry starts to come around on the idea of them going after tag gold.
Set for next week:
EY vs. Kon
Deonna Purrazzo vs. KiLynn King
Swann & Callihan vs. The Rascalz in the tag tournament finals
Bully Ray, Moose & Brian Myers vs. Samuray Del Sol, Laredo Kid & Black Taurus
Laredo and Taurus are waiting for Del Sol to enter when it’s shown on the tron that Lio Rush attacked Del Sol backstage.
Taurus and Myers start the bout. Laredo Kid eventually comes in with a missile dropkick to ground Myers. Moose tags in but Kid can’t arm drag him down. Kid manages to flip Moose over on another attempt. Moose rolls out to regroup with Myers. Bully gets the tag and so does Taurus. They give each other big chops and forearm shots. Taurus manages to hit a big shoulder block to knock Bully off his feet twice.
Taurus charges the turnbuckle but his knee hits the exposed part as Myers pulls Bully out. After the break, Moose slings Myers into Taurus. Moose returns and slaps Taurus across the face. They trade headbutts to knock each other down. Myers and Kid come in off tags. Kid flips Myers over then lands a neckbreaker. Kid plants Moose with a DDT. Bully runs in but gets flipped over as well. Kid splashes onto all three in different corners.
Bully whips Kid into the ref as Moose takes Taurus off the apron. Bully and Myers double team Kid when the lights go out. Lightning strikes and it’s PCO in the ring with Bully. Bully is frozen in shock. Moose runs in but gets tossed out. Myers follows suit. PCO dives onto Moose and Myers as Bully retreats to the back. Taurus dives onto Moose as Kid splashes onto Myers. The ref rolls back in but Myers kicks out. Myers and Moose double team Kid while the ref is still coming to. Myers hits Roster Cut on Kid for the win.
Winners: Brian Myers, Moose & Bully Ray
Backstage, Bully continues running away until he’s out of the building. He hijacks a car as PCO almost catches him.
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