IMPACT! on AXS TV Results (1/19) – During the BTI pre-show, George Iceman promised that superstars from around the wrestling world would be at Impact tonight to celebrate Mickie James’ Knockouts title win.
The Design (Kon & Angels) (w/ Deaner) defeated Delirious & Yuya Uemura
Angels really has something and I am interested to see what Impact does with him as he was awesome in this match.
Delirious and Angels started the match with some mat wrestling, leaving Angels fleeing to the ropes and tagging out to Kon. Delirious hit some strikes on Kon but none of them had any effect, and Kon took Delirious down with a shoulder tackle. Kon hit a big boot on Uemura and tagged out to Angels.
Angels hit a dragon suplex on Uemura, which Hannifan called a half and half. Uemura hit a back elbow as Angels charged in the corner then hit a bulldog before tagging out to Delirious, who hit a Manhattan drop on Angels followed by a back body drop. Delirious hit a lariat, and then hit a dropkick off the middle ropes on Kon.
Uemura and Delirious suplexed Kon. Uemura went for a crossbody off the apron onto Kon, but Kon blocked it and sent Uemura crashing to the floor. Again, Uemura moved exactly like Tanahashi getting over the ropes. It really is uncanny. Delirious missed hitting shadows over hell on Angels, who nailed a halo strike spinning back kick for the win.
Deaner requested Callihan come down to the ring and cut off his music as it played because the “Death Machine” was dead, according to him. Deaner said it was time for Callihan to make the next right choice in the process, so he was going to see if he was willing to follow orders. Deaner demanded that Callihan take Delirious out. Callihan hit a Cactus Driver ’97 in obedience.
Main Show:
Impact opened with a wonderful tribute to Jay Briscoe to open the show before going to highlights of Hard to Kill.
Mickie James promo
James made her entrance, celebrating her winning the Impact Knockouts title at Hard to Kill. James talked about how the Last Rodeo ended with her winning, so “Hardcore Country” was going to live forever.
As James thanked the fans, Bully Ray made his way down to the ring. He told Mickie James to leave the ring, but James said the fans wanted him to leave, and they chanted “Get out Bully!” as James told Ray to get out of her ring. Ray took credit for the being the main event of Hard to Kill, which the fans did not like.
Ray said the no one talked about Impact before he got there, and that he was the one that made Josh Alexander. James made the comment that Ray tapped out, and that was all anyone talked about. Ray threatened James, and James called him a bully who threw a temper tantrum when he didn’t get his way, but she wasn’t going to back down, and if he wanted her out of the ring, he’d have to take her out of it.
Tasha Steelz and Savannah Evans made their way to the ramp. Steelz said she would be glad to see Bully Ray beat up James, but Steelz wanted to take the Knockouts Championship from her. Evans and Steelz attacked James, and Ray went to grab a table, but Frankie Kazarian and Jordynne Grace made the save.
Santino Marella came out and claimed he was going to make a decision about what was happening in the ring, but Ernest “The Cat” Miller came down to the ring and gave advice to Santino about what to do, so they booked a 6-man tag. Ray claimed he was to karate chop Miller’s head off, and tried to leave, but Santino called “Bobby Ray” back to the ring for the 6-man tag.
Frankie Kazarian, Knockouts Champion Mickie James & Jordynne Grace defeated Bully Ray, Tasha Steelz & Savannah Evans
Bully Ray was a good heel here, and using him as a midcard heel act is probably the right call. Get him away from the main event and let him be a heel that is beat by up and coming babyfaces.
Grace gave Steelz and Evans significant trouble in the early part of the match, but Grace called Ray into the ring. As Grace was doing that, Evans attacked Grace from behind. Grace managed to tag James in, who went right after Evans. Evans hit a pump kick for a 2-count on Mickie James.
Evans hit a butterfly suplex on James, but got a kick to the face in the corner, and James hit a hurricanrana and the Thesz press. Steelz grabbed James in the corner and tagged in Bully Ray after the break, and he hit a powerslam on James. Ray trash talked James, so James slapped him, but he slammed her. Ray tagged in Evans, who choked James in the corner. Steelz tagged in and hit some crossfaces on James as the heat segment continued.
James dodged Evans and dumped her to the ramp and tagged out to Grace, who hit a spinning backfist on Steelz before hitting a series of corner attacks ending with a Vader bomb for a 2-count. Bully Ray got in the ring, and Grace picked him up in a fireman’s carry, but Bully Ray slipped out. Kazarian ran in and attacked Ray, who seemed to leave the ringside area. James hit a Thesz press off the top rope onto Steelz for the win.
After the match, Masha Slamovich’s music hit and she issued a death warrant to James, so that seems to be the next program for the title. This is the right call too as Slamovich is on the rise.
– Marella and Miller were backstage with Santino announcing the Golden Six Shooter match where six former champions would be in a match to determine who the next no. 1 contender to the World title would be.
Santino walked up to Dango, saying he spent time in the force (as the Fashion Police) and asked for advice. Steve Maclin walked up, upset that he was being overlooked again, and complained about Rich Swann being in the match after he beat him. Santino then made a match with Dango and Maclin for later tonight.
Deonna Purrazzo defeated Ashley D’Amboise
Purrazzo is lacking a direction lately, but it is clear Impact still has a lot in mind for her with this squash match.
Purrazzo actually gave D’Amboise a little bit in this match to highlight that her opponent wasn’t just an easy squash. Purrazzo had everything well in hand, but it gave the impression that D’Amboise could be right there with her with some more experience. Every time D’Amboise would make some progress, Purrazzo shut it down, finally hitting a powerbomb and the Queen’s Gambit for the pinfall.
– Gia Miller walked to the basement of the building looking for PCO and was fantastic acting like she was terrified.
– Trey Miguel was backstage trying to give both a wrestling and respect lesson to D’Amboise. Mike Jackson walked up and said he wanted to teach Miguel a lesson in respect and challenged him to a match next week for the X-Division title.
Killer Kelly defeated Taylor Wilde
While Wilde’s return to Impact and her new character is fresh, Killer Kelly is one that can carry the title at some point, so having Killer Kelly win here was the right way to go. They could establish a feud with Wilde too, as she tries to get that win back.
Kelly almost got the killer clutch in the opening part of the match, but Wilde hit a back elbow that ended that. Kelly took it to Wilde with knees to the gut, but Wilde turned one around and hit a suplex before rolling into a guillotine. Kelly fought out and then hit a series of mounted punches to Wilde.
Wilde and Kelly both smiled as they exchanged strikes, with Wilde hitting a code breaker and a kick for a 2-count. Kelly charged at Wilde, who was on the apron, but Wilde used the ropes to launch herself into the air and hit a double stomp on the back and neck of Kelly, driving the face of Kelly into the apron. That was really cool.
Kelly blocked some strikes and hit a series of arm capture headbutts and a suplex into the corner on Wilde. Kelly hit a dropkick to Wilde’s face for a 2-count. Kelly went for the killer clutch, but Wilde escaped and hit a German suplex for a 2-count. Kelly countered some pinfall attempts before locking on the killer clutch for the submission.
– The Design were with Callihan, saying that joining The Design was a seven step process, and Callihan had completed the first two steps. The next step: win the Golden Six Shooter match and take the Impact World title.
– Gisele Shaw walked up to Santino and asked for a Knockouts Tag Team title match, but couldn’t find a partner. Santino asked Alisha Edwards, who was walking by, and Edwards refused. A backstage staff member refused as well. Marella then promised to find a partner for Shaw.
Steve Maclin defeated Dirty Dango
Maclin is starting to get on a roll in the ring, and it absolutely looks like they are building him up for a title match. I think there is a good chance Maclin will be the guy to beat Alexander, as a talent that largely redefined himself in Impact, I think that is a great call.
Maclin was not pleased with not being in the Golden Six Shooter match, and he showed violence to Dango for it. Maclin put a chinlock on Dango and said “You asked for this!” as Dango tried to fight out. Dango managed a back suplex, followed by a series of chops. Dango hit a series of European uppercuts and a Russian leg sweep.
Dango then gyrated before hitting a leg drop for a 2-count. Dango hit a falcon arrow and went for a guillotine leg drop, but Maclin rolled to the ramp. Dango hit a double axe handle off the ropes to the ramp and went for a tornado DDT on the ramp. Maclin back dropped Dango over the ropes into the ring, hit a dropkick in the tree of woe, and then hit KIA for the pinfall.
– The Major Players talked about how they were on a poor run lately when Moose walked up and pointed out that their bad luck started when Joe Hendry defeated Brian Myers for the Digital Media Championship. Cardona replied that he wasn’t planning on doing Moose’s dirty work, but he did want his Digital Media Championship back.
– David LaGreca did a sit-down with Tommy Dreamer and talked about how he and Bully Ray were not getting along. LaGreca asked if there was any way the relationship could be mended. Dreamer said he was done dealing with Bully Ray’s negativity, that the two of them were going to go to war in Impact, and Tommy Dreamer never loses the war.
Mike Bailey defeated Kenny King in a Pit Fight match
This was a lot of fun. Bailey and King worked very hard, and you can tell they wanted to make this pit fight match one that would introduce fans to the concept of it. Maybe Impact will bring these out every now and then for people who can work the style. I think Bailey could have a good one with Josh Alexander, for example.
I like how they gave Bailey and King MMA style entrances, including a cut man putting Vaseline on the faces of both men. If they work this like a Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport match, this is going to be a lot of fun.
Bailey immediately took King down and took his back, but King turned it around and hit a few punches before getting up. King did take it to the floor and throw Bailey into the steps before trying for a triangle choke, but King fought out. Bailey hit a series of strikes, but King caught the foot and hit a dragon screw that sent Bailey to the ramp.
King hit a kick that drove Bailey headfirst into a light on the ramp that busted him open. When they came back from break, King hit a capture suplex. King hit another dragon screw. Bailey hit a teep, and Hannifan called it a Sparta kick, which is what it was called in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, so I geeked out. Bailey hit a series of kicks that sent King crashing to the mat. Bailey tried to get past the guard of King, so he cartwheeled past it into an armbar. That was awesome.
King stood up and powerbombed Bailey in the middle of the ring. King went to Bailey, and Bailey did a Minoru Suzuki style armbar over the apron of the ring to the floor. King blocked another kick and hit a dragon screw that sent Bailey to the floor. King hit a blockbuster to the floor, but King crashed knee first into the guardrail. That looked nasty.
King grabbed a chair and brought it into the ring and tried to suplex Bailey on it. Bailey hit some strikes to drive King back but missed a kick and hit the ring post. King went right to a figure four, and they rolled all over the ring then to the floor. Bailey got up first and ran down the ramp to hit a kick and then climbed the ropeless turnbuckle hitting a twisting moonsault to the floor. That was incredible. Hannifan said it was total non-stop action, and he was right.
Bailey went for Ultima weapon from the apron, but King replied with a kick, a spinebuster into the apron, and then a spinning kick. King locked on a toe hold, but Bailey used the chair that King brought into the ring to break it before hitting mounted punches and an armbar. Bailey put the chair onto the back of King’s head and then stomped on it to knock him out for the win. Hannifan said that Bailey turned to pure Bloodsport, which was a nice nod to Barnett’s show.
Final Thoughts:
This was a very solid episode of Impact to follow up Hard to Kill. We are getting a clear direction for many of the major players (including the Major Players) and all the titles going forward. The Santino Marella stuff was close to being overused on this show, but it was still funny, so hopefully they can find the right balance of not overusing him in several segments a show, keeping it to one or two funny ones.
Next week:
- Golden Six Shooter match for an Impact World title shot: Moose vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Callihan vs. Rich Swann vs. Rhino vs. Chris Sabin
- X-Division Champion Trey Miguel defends against Mike Jackson
- Major Players vs. Bullet Club (Ace Austin & Chris Bey)
- Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Death Dollz vs. Gisele Shaw & TBA
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IMPACT! on AXS TV Results (1/19)
