IMPACT! on AXS TV Results (5/4) – For the first time in a year, Trinity will appear on national TV as she makes her Impact Wrestling debut Thursday on AXS TV. But first…
Laredo Kid defeated Jack Price
It’s nice to see Kid back doing well after the serious injury he had awhile back. Kid looked fantastic, and Price worked very hard to make him look good too. Solid match for the preshow.
Moose & Brian Myers defeated Bhupinder Gujjar & Yuya Uemura
This was a good opening tag that saw Moose and Myers give a lot to Uemura and Gujjar, before getting the clean win. Gujjar is slowly improving, though still quite green.
Uemura and Gujjar had a good start to this match, sending Myers flying over the top rope into a flip dive on his own partner, and then hit stereo topes to the floor on Moose and Myers. Uemura hit a nice bulldog off the middle ropes on Moose. Gujjar and Uemura showed some great offence, almost beating the two more experienced wrestlers, but after Gujjar managed to send Myers to the floor, Moose hit a spear out of nowhere for the win.
–Steve Maclin was backstage with Champagne Singh and Sheera, as Gia Miller walked up and asked about their upcoming 6-man tag against PCO. Maclin said that PCO wouldn’t be able to find partners, while he is establishing alliances.
–Dango was backstage with a murder board trying to figure out who attacked Santino last week. This included images of Tyler Breeze with “Dirty cop?” written underneath it, Tomko, and Dango’s belief that Mike Tenay was responsible. Joe Hendry showed up and said that the likely candidate was Trey Miguel given he hasn’t been getting along with Santino lately. Dango called Hendry his best friend while side eyeing the picture of Tyler Breeze. A hint? Or just wackiness? Or both? Time will tell.
–The Design entered after Callihan and informed Callihan that the match would not be against Deaner, but against Kon. Kon attacked Callihan before the bell, chokeslaming him.
Sami Callihan defeated Kon (w/ The Design) via DQ
This was a poor match, but not due to Callihan.
Callihan quickly got back in the fight, low bridging Kon and then hitting a kick from the apron. Kon caught a second kick and pulled Callihan’s leg out from under him causing him to crash into the apron. As the came back from break, Kon was hitting a legdrop on Callihan for a 2-count. Kon did WWE big man offence, with bear hugs and rest holds, which slowed the match down considerably.
Callihan turned around in the bear hug and punched Kon in the face, ripped Kon’s shirt off, hit some hard chops, and then hit an impressive Death Valley Driver on Kon. Angels tried to distract Callihan, but Callihan brought him into the ring to distract the referee. As the referee was dealing with Angels, Callihan low blowed Kon before smiling and inviting Deaner to come into the ring. Deaner signaled and a ton of men in yellow sweaters, the Army of Violence, to attack Callihan.
–Dango and Hendry interviewed Trey Miguel, who insisted he was innocent. Hendry examined his head for missing hair and determined it couldn’t be him. Dango was conspicuously wearing a hat, and Miguel pointed out Dango had the most motivation to attack Santino as it elevated him to director of authority, which I don’t think it is how it works.
–Jimmy Jacobs was with Nick Aldis, and Aldis talked about wanting to climb the ladder up to face Steve Maclin. Kenny King walked in and was skeptical. Aldis said King was acting like a gatekeeper, so Aldis challenged him to a match. King said that Aldis needed to work his way up to him, denying the match for now.
Jody Threat defeated Alisha Edwards
Edwards immediately slapped Threat. Threat responded with knees and a hard kick. Threat hit a shoulder tackle and a slap, in a bit of revenge. Threat dumped Edwards onto the middle rope and went for double knees to the back, but Edwards moved, sending Threat into the ropes. After a brief time of offense, Threat went back to the double knees before hitting the F416 for the pinfall.
–The Motor City Machine Guns were backstage with Gia Miller, and Sabin talked about how he has done it all in Impact, and he wanted to win the X-Division title for a 9th time, hopefully dethroning Treg Miguel. Alex Shelley said folks were asking him what was next since Sabin was chasing the X-Division title, and Shelley said, “I guess I’ll go win the World title.” Shelley heading back into the world title picture would be a delight. This is a good answer to the injuries in the main event scene, since Shelley is a good promo, great worker, and guy that can always main event a show when called upon.
–The second part of the in depth interview with Frankie Kazarian continued, as he talked about his time in ROH and how he helped found AEW with the Young Bucks, Christopher Daniels, and Cody, before returning to Impact and taking a chance on himself. I am not sure you can keep doing interviews like this and not make Kazarian champion at some point. It is the perfect story, and as his last major run, it would be fantastic to see him get a World title run.
PCO, Rhino, & Heath defeated Steve Maclin, Champagne Singh, and Sheera
This was a fun 6-man tag. The crowd was into everything that the babyface did.
PCO was prepared to fight all 3 men himself, but Rhino and Heath came out to join him, since they have their own issues with Singh and Sheera lately. Singh tried to overpower Rhino. This did not go well. Rhino tagged in Heath, who hit an axe handle to the arm on Singh. Maclin tagged in and beat on Heath for a bit before Heath was able to hit a powerslam on Maclin, leading to the hot tag to PCO.
PCO took everyone out as Maclin rolled to the floor to get away. PCO hit a DDT on Singh before hitting a cannonball through the middle ropes on Singh. PCO hit the Deanimator off the top rope onto the apron, crushing Singh like he did last week. Sheera and Maclin mauled PCO, and Maclin called the shots, getting Singh and Sheera to put PCO on the top rope. As they tried to attack, PCO slipped off the turnbuckle, took them both out, and faced off with Maclin. Maclin fled to the outside and ate a gore from Rhino. Heath hit the wake up call on Singh as he tried to buy off PCO, sending money flying everywhere. PCO then hit a moonsault on Singh for the pinfall.
–The Coven were in an unknown area, with Taylor Wilde carving something into a candle. She said that when the candle disappeared, so would Jordynne Grace & Deonna Purrazzo. I somehow doubt that will happen.
–Rosemary & Jessicka were backstage, and they summoned James Mitchell. Mitchell said The Coven was not powerful enough to keep Rosemary from the dark realm, but he could guide her directly into it. Rosemary didn’t trust him, but believed she didn’t have any other options. Jessicak wanted to come along, but Rosemary said that the last thing they needed was for her to get kidnapped. Rosemary gave Jessicka an hourglass and then said by the time it ran out, they would be back.
Jonathan Gresham defeated Mike Bailey
What a match. These guys could be generational rivals given how well they work together. Gresham and Bailey looked great throughout their series of matches, with Gresham getting the win to take the lead in the series for now. I suspect we’ll see them clash again down the line in another classic. One of the best parts of these matches was that every one of them were different.
The fans gave a huge ovation for Bailey and Gresham, showing that the series of great matches they had thus far have been appreciated. Gresham and Bailey quickly picked up where they left off with Miguel causing a no contest in their last one, with Gresham getting a headscissors locked on Bailey. After a stalemate, but men locked up and got caught in the ropes.
As they came back from break both men were exchanging shoulder tackles before Bailey hit a kick to drop Gresham. Gresham targeted the left arm of Bailey in this match, changing tactics from targeting the knee previously. Gresham did have to face some kicks, and then an unexpected armbar from Bailey that almost got the submission.
Bailey kept up with the submission before getting back to his feet, hitting a moonsault double knees, and then transitioning immediately back to an armbar that Gresham countered into a pinfall attempt. Bailey hit a series of kicks and then went over the top rope to hit double knees on Gresham, who was on the apron. Bailey then hit a triangle moonsault to the floor that Kota Ibushi would be proud of.
Gresham went back to the arm back in the ring, but Bailey continued his assault with a pump kick and standing Spanish fly. Bailey went for Ultima Weapon, but Gresham moved and countered into the Octopus stretch on Bailey to get a quick submission due to the arm submission.
–Sami Callihan was backstage admitting that he did the stupid thing trying to take on The Design on his own. He was asking for help from Rich Swann, saying that they have been family for years, and Swann was saying that this isn’t the first time that Callihan got him in trouble. Callihan left Swann with some things to think about, asking clearly for help, which is not something he usually does.
–Steve Maclin was backstage with Scott D’Amore, and he demanded D’Amore handle what Rhino did to him. D’Amore handled it by booking him against Rhino next week for the Impact World Championship.
–Trinty made her Impact debut to close the show to a fantastic reaction from the audience. Impact did a great job making this feel like a huge deal, and having her close the show also puts a lot of trust in her, showing they see her as a huge star. This was awesome. Trinity put over the Impact Knockouts division, and said she has wanted to be a part of it for years. Trinity said she was looking forward to fighting all the women the division had to offer, and that she was coming for the Knockouts Championship.
Deonna Purrazzo made her entrance, and welcomed Trinity to Impact. Purrazzo said that when they stepped into the ring together, Trinity wouldn’t be able to walk out on it. Trinity fired back, saying that Purrazzo would wish she got fired again. Jordynne Grace came down to the ring, and said it was feeling hot out there because of the heat between those two.
Grace indicated that everyone wanted to see them wrestle, but Grace was still in line first for the Knockouts title. Grace said the title was hers, so Trinity would have to face Grace first. Trinity made it very clear that no matter who was champion, they would have to face her next. The dialogue was a bit forced at points, but this was an excellent segment that immediately positioned Trinity as a main event star. That is how its done.
Final Thoughts
This episode felt like a lot of important things happened in terms of storyline development. From the debut of Trinity, to the Motor City Machine Guns chasing singles titles, to advancing Purrazzo and Grace while tying Trinity into it, a lot of what was on this show was good. The Bailey/Gresham match delivered, as those two always do. A good show, despite the wacky Dango/Hendry, Undead Realm, and Coven stuff.
IMPACT! on AXS TV Results (5/4) – Comments and results by f4wonline
