Impact No Surrender live results: Josh Alexander vs. Rich Swann title match

Impact World Champion Josh Alexander will defend the title against former champion Rich Swann in the main event of tonight’s No Surrender streaming special.

Knockouts Champion Mickie James will have the first defense of the title she won at Hard to Kill when she faces past challenger Masha Slamovich.

The next World title contender will be determined in a four-way between PCO, Brian Myers, Eddie Edwards and Steve Maclin.

Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Death Dollz will defend against the debuting Hex while Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry will rematch Moose in a Dot Combat match.

KENTA will make his Impact debut, joining Chris Bey & Ace Austin against Time Machine (KUSHIDA & Motor City Machine Guns).

Frankie Kazarian will face Kon of The Design while Dave LaGreca, Bully Ray & Tommy Dreamer will host a live Busted Open Radio segment.

The pre-show will see “Speedball” Mike Bailey vs. Jonathan Gresham and Deonna Purrazzo vs. Gisele Shaw.

**********

Countdown to No Surrender

It’s unusual seeing Deonna Purrazzo on the preshow, but they waste no time with Purrazzo and Shaw making their entrance for the first match of the night.

Gisele Shaw (w/ Jai Vidal) defeated Deonna Purrazzo

Fairly basic match here, but one that served as a decent opener. The biggest part of the story in this one was Shaw and Evans joining forces.

Purrazzo was able to hit Shaw with a hurricanrana and pump kick, but Shaw got Purrazzo trapped in the apron once it spilled to the outside. Purrazzo initially fought it off, but the trap eventually paid off and Shaw was able to attack successfully. Shaw choked Purrazzo on the ropes and mocked Purrazzo’s pose.

Purrazzo and Shaw attempted a clothesline at the same time and both crashed to the mat. Shaw hit a flatliner for a 2-count. Shaw went for the Queen’s Gambit, but Purrazzo countered into a pinfall attempt. Shaw went for a knee strike, but Purrazzo countered into a Fujiwara armbar. Shaw made the ropes to escape after Vidal pushed the ropes towards Shaw. Purrazzo went for the Queen’s Gambit, but Vidal distracted the referee and Savannah Evans ran down and attacked Purrazzo with a full nelson slam. Purrazzo hit a running knee and pinned Purrazzo for a big victory.

It appears Savannah Evans joined forces with Shaw and Vidal.

–A fantastic hype video aired for Rich Swann and Josh Alexander, as Swann detailed Kenny Omega taking the Impact World Championship from him, and leaving him broken as he lost everything. It also detailed Alexander’s journey from being the shortest reigning Impact champ ever to being the longest.

Jonathan Gresham defeated Mike Bailey

This match was awesome. I wish this was on the main card and they gave them 25-30 minutes, because it could have stolen the show with that kind of time. Gresham and Bailey are great, and I’m really glad they are getting showcased in Impact.

Gresham and Bailey countered each other like crazy in the opening portion of the match. Instead of doing the usual pose for applause they went right back to a lock up and continued trying to get the advantage over each other. Every stalemate they met was ended with a strike from one and then an immediate lock up until they started chopping each other in the middle of the ring.

Bailey and Gresham continued to strike, with Bailey mixing kicks in. Gresham attacked the leg with chops, which was cool. Bailey was able to use his kicks to get the advantage, but Gresham began attacking the leg with violence, smashing the knee into the mat. Gresham put a figure four on and Bailey selling in this was fantastic.

Bailey finally sat up, psyched himself up, and dragged himself to the ropes. Bailey and Gresham exchanged strikes as Gresham chopped Bailey so hard it apparently messed up the sound mixing, as the announcers started echoing. I think there is weight to this theory because the echoing stopped when Gresham started selling the kicks. Bailey tried to hit the ropes, but his leg was too sore, so Gresham hit a springboard moonsault and suicide dive. Gresham went for another, but Bailey jumped up onto the ropes and did a moonsault to the floor, but sold his knee on the landing.

Bailey went for the bayonette, but his knee gave out. Gresham hit a sliding lariat for a 2-count. Bailey managed to hit a poisonrana, but missed with Ultima Weapon and ended up getting caught in a cradle from Gresham.

Main Card

The announcers introduced the card before Santino Marella made his way to the ring. Santino talked about his times in Vegas and how social media led to his wife find out about it. He then introduced Kazarian, his first signing as Director of Authority.

Frankie Kazarian defeated Kon (w/ The Design)

This was better than you would expect as Kazarian is very good, but Kon is not that great. Kazarian got a good match out of him though.

Santino joined the commentary table and was better than you’d think he would be. Kazarian surprised everyone by hitting Kon with a lariat and sending Kon to the floor. Of course, just after I say that about Santino, he says “Do you know Kon’s father is named Popkon?” There was utter silence from the commentators and Rehwoldt said, “Well, Deaner is more like his father now,” driving that gimmick home.

Kon hit Kazarian with a lariat on the floor and a spinebuster in the ring a few minutes later. Kazarian hit a few forearms in an attempt to drop Kon to the floor. Kon tried to hit a sunset flip, but Kazarian dodged and hit a leg drop to the back of Kon’s head. Kon did a shoulder block through the ropes to drop Kazarian, and looked utterly gassed at this point. Kazarian slipped out of a fireman’s carry into an inverted DDT. Kazarian went for the crossface chicken wing, but Kon fought out.

Kazarian tried to hit the Flux Capacitor on Kon, but Kon shoved him off the ropes. Kon went for a flying headbutt but Kazarian dodged and did a La magistral cradle for a 2-count. Kazarian immediately transitioned into a chicken wing but the referee was distracted by Angels. As Kon tried to send Kazarian into the ropes, Callihan accidentally hit Kon with a chair, and Kazarian was able to slingshot Kon into a cutter for the pinfall.

–Gia Miller was with Brian Myers and they discussed his upcoming match to determine the #1 contender for the Impact World Championship. He also talked about Matt Cardona and how the Major Players are on a temporary hiatus, but Myers expects Moose to make a fool out of Hendry tonight.

–A hype video for the Hex and Death Dollz aired with more creepy promos from James Mitchell. I am not a fan of this supernatural stuff in my wrestling.

Knockout’s World Tag Team Champions Death Dollz (Taya Valkyrie & Jessicka) (/w Rosemary) defeated The Hex (Marti Belle & Allysin Kay) to retain

This match was mostly fine, but Jessicka and Belle missed a fair few spots. Belle is the weakest worker in the ring, and like I have said in my NWA recaps many times – she is best served selling and making a hot tag to Kay.

The production issues continued here with the sound randomly turning up and down during the entrances and start of the match. Whoever was controlling it turned the sound way down, so I had to turn my sound up, and then got blasted with noise when it returned to normal volume. Until it was turned down again.

This unfortunately took away from the work in the match, which was fine in the opening portions. Kay and Belle got the heat on Jessicka, stomping and choking in the corner before knocking Valkyrie off the apron. Jessicka managed to hit a torpedo headbutt to Belle before tagging out to Valkyrie.

Valkyrie hit a blue thunder bomb on Kay for a 2-count before hitting a crub stomp on Kay. Belle made the save. Valkyrie went for a DDT on Kay, but Kay countered into a Samoan drop. They fixed the sound at this point and blew my ears off again, but at least I could hear everything better now. Valkyrie hit a powerbomb on Kay, but Belle blind tagged in. Valkyrie fell into the corner and Jessicka tagged in and hit a kick on Belle. Kay and Valkyrie continued to fight in the middle, but Jessicka hit a tackle on Belle and hit the sick driver for the win.

Impact Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry defeated Moose to retain in a Dot Combat Match

Moose immediately attacked Hendry, especially after Hendry’s promo before the start of the match. Since this is essentially a hardcore match with digital themed weapons, Moose pulled a Sega Dreamcast out from under the ring. If they destroy the Dreamcast, that would be a tragedy as they are quite rare these days. Hendry hit Moose with a keyboard and sent him to the floor and into a ring post.

Moose wasn’t down long though, putting Hendry through a ringside table, and then flipping off Hendry in the ring. Hendry picked up the Dreamcast and popped up the lid. The crowd laughed. Hendry hit Moose with the Dreamcast and the fans chanted “Thank you Dreamcast!” which made me laugh. Hendry grabbed a tiny remote-controlled car and drove it into Moose’s foot. Moose kicked the car out of the ring and the crowd booed.

Hendry hit a powerslam and pulled a box out from under the ring, which contained a larger remote control car. The controls didn’t work, so Hendry picked it up and threw it into the lower regions of Moose. Hendry went was sent into the corner where Moose previously set a chair up. Moose hit Sky High on Hendry for a 2-count.

Moose brought out a bag of what appeared to be thumbtacks, but it was actually keyboard keycaps. Hendry superplexed Moose onto the key caps, which actually may be worse than taking it into thumbtacks since they have all those edges. Moose rolled to the floor and Hendry pulled a gaming chair out from under the ring while Moose brought in a steel chair. Hendry ducked the chair attack and threw the gaming chair at Moose before hitting a pop-up powerbomb for a 2-count.

Hendry pulled out a set of VR Goggles and put them on Moose’s head. Moose could take it off, of course, but he was distracted because there were women dancing in the VR video, so Moose started dancing. Hendry changed the video to Dancing Moose and Moose ripped the VR headset off in anger. Hendry hit a cutter, but Moose kicked out. Moose then low blowed Hendry. Hendry kicked out. Hendry rolled up Moose and pulled the tights for the win.

–Mickie James cut a great promo on Masha Slamovich and Jordynne Grace, saying she was dealing with Slamovich first. She said her last rodeo was over, but she was not done establishing her legacy as the best Knockout of all time.

–David LaGreca came out for the Busted Open Live segment, that isn’t actually Busted Open Radio, but a debate or whatever between Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer. I really don’t want to see this.

LeGreca gave Bully 60 seconds, and 30 were wasted as the crowd booed. I think he started talking long after the 60 seconds expired. So that gimmick is dead. Ray’s first words were “I’m sorry.” That was all he got to say. Dreamer didn’t accept it, said a bunch of stuff that we were unaware of on screen, like Ray making fun of Dreamer’s sick mother.

Bully Ray started talking about the NWO and how Kevin Nash lost his friend, Scott Hall and it was the first time he had to do a documentary without Hall. Apparently this made Ray think about what would happen between him and Dreamer if they never talked again, and he would rather work it out before death. Ray said that if something happened, life is far too short, so they need to bury the hatchet.

He said he didn’t have to shake hands or work together, but that he needed to make amends and they were done. Dreamer agreed that they would both go their own directions, and that they agreed they are done, but they are not shaking hands on this. He said he knew how hard it was for someone like Bully to say the things he did, so he appreciated it. Bully Ray then grabbed hot coffee and thew it into the eyes of Dreamer. Ray then took a stool and shoved LaGreca away before smashing the coffee kettle over Dreamer’s head. Ray screamed “What did you mean by someone like me?” as he beat on Dreamer.

Ray’s performance as a character here was outstanding, but this was in very poor taste given the real pain of Kevin Nash. I also really don’t want to see Tommy Dreamer and Bully Ray have a match, but that is what it building towards.

–Rich Swann was with Gia Miller and talked about how he was ready to face Josh Alexander tonight. Steve Maclin came on set, and Swann said that Maclin needed to be more concerned about his 4-way match tonight.

Steve Maclin defeated PCO, Heath, & Brian Myers

Maclin finally got his #1 Contendership officially. This match was fine. Nothing special, but I enjoyed it. All 4 guys hit their spots well. PCO was very over.

Maclin, Myers, and Heath all attacked PCO, but PCO shrugged them off and started throwing right hands to everyone before doing a Cactus clothesline on Maclin to the floor. Maclin hit a low-pe on Myers and Heath, leaving PCO to go to the top rope and moonsault to the floor on everyone.

PCO tried to powerbomb Myers to the floor, but Myers countered into a back body drop and sent PCO crashing to the floor. Myers and Maclin back suplexed PCO on the ramp, but he was nearly up before Myers was. Myers and Maclin shoved PCO under the ring. Not sure what good that does, but I expect PCO will come back through the ring at this point.

Heath took this opportunity to throw some punches, but Maclin hit a back elbow and Heath took quite a bump to sell it. Maclin hit a uranage into a back breaker on Heath for a 2-count. Heath dumped Maclin to the floor but ate a knee from Myers. Myers posed, but PCO crawled out the other side of the ring and roared, which scared Myers.

Myers then hit a cannonball through the ropes on Myers to wipe him out. Heath hit the wake up call on Maclin, but he was way too close to the ropes. Unfortunately, he was draped over the apron, and PCO hit a flipping senton onto Maclin, crushing him, and then spilled to the floor. Myers went for a spear, but PCO came back in and took out Myers and hit an inverted DDT.

PCO went for another moonsault, and he nailed Myers, but Eddie Edwards ran down and hit PCO with a shovel. Edwards hit PCO in the face with the shovel and followed PCO to the floor. Heath hit the wake up call on Myers, but Maclin was able to slide in and hit the KIA on Heath for the win.

–As PCO was recovering, Trey Miguel came down to the ring and he asked about why he wasn’t on the show. He asked if AJ Styles was X-Division champion, or Samoa Joe, if he would be left off the show. One guy in the crowd yelled “No!” which was funny. Miguel commented on PCO being slain, which woke PCO up, so he chokeslammed Miguel on the apron and then hit him with a clothesline. Maybe PCO will win the X-title and exercise option C? Or maybe this will go nowhere and the X-Division champ is made to look like a geek. The latter is my guess, but we’ll see.

Bullet Club (KENTA, Chris Bey, & Ace Austin) defeated Time Machine (KUSHIDA, Alex Shelley, & Chris Sabin)

Fantastic 6-man tag here, with all 6 men looking good. KENTA was able to pick his spots and look good despite not doing much, and Bey and Austin carried the bulk of the match. Now Bey and Austin are setup for a future tag title match since Austin pinned Sabin. Good booking, and a great match.

KENTA and KUSHIDA started the match with some great mat wrestling. The announcers were putting over how much of a legend KENTA is, which you need to do. KUSHIDA hit a flying armbar, but KENTA quickly countered out of it, and the exchanges continued. That was great. Bey and Shelley got in there and had a great exchange that ended with Bey hitting Shelley with a dropkick.

Austin tagged in and used a playing card to papercut the fingers on Shelley. Gah. Sabin and Shelley returned this offence with a double dropkick to Austin. Time Machine isolated Austin, leaving KUSHIDA to work over Austin before tagging out to Sabin. Austin almost died trying to do a Fosbury flop, but Sabin and Shelley saved his life and still made it look good. Bey then hit a tope con giro on everyone. KENTA power walked to the ropes, stepped outside, and punched KUSHDIA in the stomach.

KENTA kicked KUSHIDA right in the face after Bey and Austin slingshotted him into it. Sabin made the hot tag and was impressive with his speed in taking everyone out before hitting a crossbody on both Austin and Bey. Sabin then hit a suicide dive on KENTA while KUSHIDA hit a flying knee off the apron on Bey. Sabin hit one on Austin as well. Sabin accidentally had his foot sent into the face of Shelley.

KENTA then hit the hesitation dropkick on Sabin and hit a giant double stomp on Sabin for a 2-count. Bey and Austin hit a kick and torture rack neck breaker combo on Sabin for a 2-count. KUSHIDA came in and hit a handspring elbow on KUSHIDA. Bey made the save from the kimura, and then all 6 men started hitting kicks and big moves.

KUSHIDA hit a moonsault on Austin while Sabin hit a neckbreaker, and as Shelley set it up to hit Skull and Bones, Bey shoved Shelly and Austin hit a backslide on Sabin for the win.

Impact Knockouts World Champion Mickie James defeated Masha Slamovich to retain

The story of this match saw Mickie James barely win by outwrestling Masha Slamovich. This was a good match. I think there is more story to tell here, as they wanted to make Slamovich look as strong as possible in losing, and it was clear she had this match won but James barely escaped.

Slamovich and James exchanged some good mat wrestling to open the match with a lot of counters. Slamovich looked to up the violence with some chokes and then ground and pound. Slamovich tried to psych out Mickie James while sticking out her tongue, so James bit her tongue. Yes, that happened, and it was gross.

James countered a submission into a pinfall attempt for a 2-count. James was finally back up, but ate a kick from Slamovich that brought James back to the mat. Slamovich hit a series of forearms to the face of James. James countered a corner charge and hit a headscissors takeover. Slamovich hit a shotgun dropkick that sent James to the floor. Slamovich hit an attempted cannonball. Not quite what it ended up being, but it worked fine.

James and Slamovich exchanged forearms until James ducked a clothesline and hit a neck breaker. James hit a crossbody and a flapjack before kicking up. Slamovich hit a kick on James, who climbed to the top rope. James sent Slamovich off and hit a seated senton for a 2-count. Slamovich hit a strong zero for a 2-count. James blocked a kick and countered into a half crab.

As James picked up Slamovich, Slamovich countered into a rear naked choke. James tried to escape by dumping both her and Slamovich to the floor. They got caught up in the ropes, and Slamovich held on, trying to choke James out before letting go. Slamovich had the advantage and stayed on James trying to hit a monkey flip, but James floated over mid flip and caught Slamovich in a pin for the win.

Impact World Champion Josh Alexander defeated Rich Swann to retain

This was a good match for the main event of this Impact Insider event, but it wasn’t as good as the Bailey/Alexander match 2 months ago. That said, it was still a very good match, with the last 15 minutes being particularly great. This started slow but had a very fast pace at the end and the crowd started to get into the near falls, but no one expected Swann to actually win, so that hurt it a little bit. Still an excellent match on a decent show.

Alexander and Swann started the match simple enough, exchanging basic moves, but Swann slapped him, and suddenly the pace increased. After some more exchanges, Alexander slapped Swann. Swann hit a sole butt and went for a second, but Alexander caught it and went for an ankle lock. Swan countered with an enziguri and hit a flipping senton off the apron onto Alexander.

Alexander back dropped Swann so hard he did a 450 and landed on his face. Alexander then hit a chaos theory for a 2-count. Alexander started kicking the back of Swann and then hit a back elbow that dropped Swann. Swann chopped Alexander and his hand slipped up and hit Alexander right in the chin. Alexander replied with a kick to the face of Swann.

Alexander started to show some cockiness here, lightly hitting Swann in the corner with his feet. Swann fired up and hit a rolling clothesline on Alexander in response. Swann hit a kick to the face of Alexander and then a Cactus clothesline to the floor. Swann hit a rolling 450 splash on Alexander for a 2-count.

Alexander got hit with a poisonrana for a 2-count. Swann went for a handspring but Alexander ran and hit a crossbody to Swann as he was upside down. That was awesome. Alexander missed a moonsault, and both men were down. Swann hit a falcon arrow, but Alexander kicked out as Swann struggled to hook the leg.

Alexander hit the C4 Spike, but was unable to get the pin as he stayed down. Alexander stomped on Swann at the apron and then hit a world’s strongest slam on the apron. Swann managed to hit a spin kick back in the ring before hitting a phoenix splash for a 2-count. Swann went for a second phoenix splash, but Alexander dodged and put the ankle lock on, grapevining the leg.

Swann fought out and went for a cutter, but Alexander countered into a tombstone piledriver and then rolled onto a C4 spike for the win.

Final Thoughts

This was not the best Impact show I’ve seen since I have started covering it weekly last year, but it was definitely good. If you watch it, you won’t be wasting your time, but comparing it against some of Impact’s better shows in the last year leaves it a bit short. All the matches were relatively good though, for the most part, and it certainly delivered in terms of action. I expect Sacrifice in Windsor, Ontario next month will have a hotter crowd with Alexander in the main event there, given he’ll be in his home province.