Impact Wrestling live results: Eight-man tag team action
Impact World Champion Josh Alexander leads an all-star team into eight-man tag team action on Thursday’s Impact on AXS TV.
Alexander will team with former World Champion Rich Swann, Yuya Uemura & Frankie Kazarian to take on The Design’s Callihan, Deaner, Angels & Kon.
As Swann, Alexander’s next title challenger, was getting beat down by The Design last week, Alexander, Uemura and Kazarian ran out to make the save, setting this into motion.
After both teams won on last week’s show, Bullet Club’s Ace Austin & Chris Bey will take on KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight.
Now going into action alone, Savannah Evans will battle Gisele Shaw while Crazzy Steve takes on Sheldon Jean.
The BTI pre-show will see Jonathan Gresham look to win his second straight as he faces Aiden Prince.
**********
BTI Preshow
George Iceman ran down the main title matches for Impact No Surrender, and recapped Joe Hendry’s song mocking The Major Player. Cardona promised to retaliate against Hendry tonight.
Jonathan Gresham defeated Aiden Prince
Really good match for Gresham here, with Prince looking good, but Gresham looking vicious going after the knee repeatedly and tying it into the finish. Excellent match with a really fun story.
Gresham tied Prince up early on, causing Prince to reach for the ropes. Gresham offered his wrist to see if Prince could take him down, and Gresham sent him spilling out of the ring. Prince came back in and did manage to drop Gresham, but Gresham used his positioning to send Prince to the floor. Prince hit the ropes, hit a hurricanrana and sent Gresham to the floor.
Prince mocked Gresham by holding the ropes open like Gresham did for him earlier, and the crowd responded well to it. Gresham came back in and started working over the left knee of Prince. Gresham went for a bow and arrow lock, but Prince slipped out and got a near fall. Gresham set prince’s foot on the rope while he was standing and jumped up attacking the knee.
Prince hit a rolling kick from the mat and then a brainbuster for a 2-count. Gresham got hin knees up for a big splash, and then rolled through a sunset flip attempt before smashing the knee into the mat, forcing Prince to tap. That was awesome.
–Jonathan Gresham talked about how the company he was loyal to closed its doors (which is a bit of a stretch, as ROH still exists, though under different ownership). Gresham said that he saw Impact and wanted to be a part of it, to challenge himself, and make Impact better. Gresham gave an open challenge to Mike Bailey for Impact No Surrender. That is going to be one heck of a match.
Main Show
Impact opened with a recap of the Golden Six Shooter match from last week, including how Bully Ray felt he should have been included in it, and his threats against Santino Marella over it, ending with The Design attacking Rich Swann after he won the match.
Bullet Club (Chris Bey & Ace Austin) defeated Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA
This was a great tag team match, with an incredible finish. Knight and KUSHIDA never looked like they were out of the match until they were finished. The whole match highlighted Knight and his growth as a performer, being able to keep up with the more experienced Bullet Club.
The production team made a small change, but one that improved the look of the show, in having the hard camera face the elevated bleachers rather then facing the ramp. I much prefer this to having the hard camera face the ram and screen as it is nice to see the fans reacting.
Knight and Bey started the match with Bey and Knight countering each other with fast paced near falls and flips. Knight got a brief advantage hitting a very high elbow drop. Knight did a spring board but ate a dropkick from Bey, and Austin and Bey were suddenly using fast paced double team moves on Knight, finally gaining the upper hand.
Knight and KUSHIDA were able to turn it around when Knight and Bey ended up on the shoulders of their opponents and started a chicken fight. Knight slid off Austin’s shoulders and hit a dropkick over KUSHIDA’s head into Bey, knocking him off KUSHIDA’s shoulders. That was awesome.
Ace Austin responded with a springboard kick on Knight. Knight responded with a dropkick that sent Austin to the floor. Knight went for a slingshot crossbody over the ropes, but Bey flew off the ropes and hit a cutter on Knight as he was in midair and on his way to the floor, crashing into the apron. Bey and Austin hit the cutter and the fold for the finish.
–The Design talked about Callihan failing to win the Golden Six Shooter match last week. Deaner said that he failed step 3 in their 7 deadly steps to being a part of The Design, but unlike how he never received mercy, Deaner would extend mercy to Callihan and he had to secure victory in an 8-man tag tonight as step 4.
-A video aired for Steph De Lander debuting soon.
Gisele Shaw (w/ Jai Vidal) defeated Savannah Evans
Decent match here. It didn’t go too long, but I liked the story of Evans being dominant until Shaw finally had to cheat to win. Good story in this one.
An inset promo from Evans aired, calling Shaw a black widow who ruins every team she is in. Shaw decided to slap Evans to start the match, and this did not go well, as Evans beat Shaw around the ring with strikes. Evans hit a butterfly suplex that sent Shaw to the floor as they went to break.
A comment in the YouTube chat said that they were waiting for ‘The Cannibal’ Savannah Evans to actually eat someone, and it is nice to see someone asking the hard questions about wrestler nicknames. Evans hit a fisherman’s suplex for a 2-count. Jai Vidal got the attention of the referee, leading to Shaw raking the eyes of Evans, hitting a super kick, and a running knee for the win.
–Shaw grabbed the mic and owned the new nickname of ‘Black Widow.’ Shaw didn’t care about failing in several tag teams and driving them out of Impact, but is now focused on being a singles wrestler going for the Impact World Knockout’s Championship.
–Kenny King walked into the building and talked about exposing Mike Bailey when two wrestlers were talking about Rich Swann winning the Six Shooter Challenge. He stole their bag of popcorn. He walked around and Zicky Dice and Johnny Swinger were laughing at him, so King confronted them. Zicky Dice then challenged King to a match on Swinger’s behalf, and Swinger looked scared. Dice stole a giant handful of popcorn from the stolen popcorn bag.
–Santino Marella confirmed the match with King and Swinger. Steve Maclin walked up and asked to be added to the match with Swann and Alexander. Marella refused and informed Maclin he would be a qualifying match, where he could advance to a 4-way match at No Surrender, where the winner would be #1 contender. Dango walked up and offered to be Marella’s Assistant Dictator of Authority if he let Dango be in a qualifying match. Marella informed Dango he was already in a match, but he could not be the Assistant Director of Authority.
Crazzy Steve (w/ Black Taurus) defeated Sheldon Jean
This did not go long, with Steven hitting Belladonna’s Kiss to win after a minute or so.
–Trey Miguel ran down to the ring and threw Taurus into the ring post before trying to tag Steve, but Crazzy Steve bit Miguel, stole the spray paint, and then tagged himself with Miguel’s logo, indicating he wanted a title match.
–Jordynne Grace was with Gia Miller and commented about getting a rematch for the Knockout’s title soon, but Grace was also going to welcome Steph De Lander to Impact next week.
–Santino Marella was backstage, and he sat down with Raven and asked how he could be a success in his position, since Raven was a genius. Raven said, “Make me the champ,” and that they would make lost of money if doing so. Marella said, “Okay, I’ll think about it,” and walked away. Ron Reis walked up to Raven and asked if they were getting The Flock from WCW back together, and I laughed. This was right in random niche knowledge about 90s WCW that is right in my wheelhouse.
–Bully Ray came out and talked about how everyone hated him, including the entire industry, but warned Santino Marella about what happens when people cross him, like Scott D’Amore did. Bully Ray then targeted Tommy Dreamer, saying that they only tolerate each other, but they never really liked each other. Ray called Dreamer a snake because Ray was always open about who he was.
Mickie James interrupted Ray saying she was going to ruin his segment like he ruined hers. James claimed that her and Dreamer didn’t get along for years. That is a bit weird, given they were getting along until Bully Ray turned on him a few months ago. James said Ray was a politicking snake, rather then Dreamer. James told Ray to leave Impact Wrestling because he wasn’t welcome.
Ray threatened to beat up James if she wasn’t careful. Ray called her names before she slapped him. He slammed her and threatened to powerbomb her through a table that John Skylar and Jason Hotch tried to setup. Tommy Dreamer ran down to make the save. I’m not sure if this is the best usage of Mickie James since she is supposed to be feuding with Masha Slamovich, but that seems secondary to this. Dreamer challenged Skylar and Hotch to a match teaming with Mickie James. They refused.
Santino Marella came out and made the match anyway. Marella claimed to be a merciful dictator… director, and forbid Bully Ray from being at ringside for the match next week.
–Killer Kelly cut a promo on Taylor Wilde, saying they were going to face each other. Wilde walked up and said their future was actually as a tag team. Rosemary teleported on screen with the Death Dollz and accepted a match, with Rosemary saying she got a message from the dark realm. Then Rosemary, Wilde, and Kelly all laughed manically while Jessicka and Valkyrie laughed nervously. This was not good.
Kenny King defeated Johnny Swinger (w/ Zicky Dice)
This was a short squash, but I loved it because Johnny Swinger is so hilarious.
Swinger posed with confidence, and King did a spin kick that almost hit, and he fell backwards into the corner in fear. Dice tried to distract King, and King threw a kick that almost connected. Swinger tip toed behind King like a cartoon and tried to sneak up on him. It did not work. I laughed. King then hit the royal flush for the pinfall.
–Kenny King said anyone in the back with a title was his target, and he was coming for all of them.
–Bully Ray walked up to Masha Slamovich, and said Mickie James was being disrespectful to her. Ray promised that Slamovich was going to be the next Knockout’s champion. It seems Ray was trying to manipulate her into beating down James. Slamovich replied in Russian. Ray did not understand but seemed pleased.
–The Major Players called everyone backstage around saying he was going to debut his own music video. It was a rap video, and it was terrible. I loved it. He called Hendry out for his blonde hair and brown beard, which is funny because that was him at some point. Everyone left before the video was over, and Cardona and Myers turned around to one guy standing there questioning if his wife knew what he said about Hendry’s mom. The heels looking like absolute fools is always a delight.
The Design (Deaner, Callihan, Angels, & Kon) defeated Josh Alexander, Frankie Kazarian, Rich Swann, & Yuya Uemura
Callihan started the match with Rich Swann, picking up where he left off last week taking it to Swann at the request of Deaner. Swann tagged out to Uemura, who hit a dropkick on Angels. Alexander tagged in to face off with Deaner. Deaner slapped Alexander, leading to an exchange of hard chops.
Alexander hit a crossbody through the ropes on Kon, leading to the Design to all jump Alexander. Swann made the save wit ha flip dive off the apron onto everyone. When they came back from break, Angels and Uemura were in the ring, with Uemura hitting a hard forearm on Angels before tagging out to Kazarian, who hit a Russian leg sweep on Angels.
Deaner and the rest of the Design were able to cut off Swann and get the heat on him with Kon doing nerve holds. Kazarian made the save of a pinfall attempt, but the referee kept an eye on him, reminding him he wasn’t legal. Swann was able to tag out to Alexander, who threw everyone around the ring, and then came face to face with Kon. Alexander was unable to suplex him, and it soon broke down until everyone being in there, with Callihan ready to finish Uemura, but Deaner stopping him from doing the thumbs up and thumbs down.
Uemura ran in and actually lifted Kon above his head and suplexed him. That was impressive. Uemura went to the turnbuckle but Deaner cut him off and sent Uemura into Callihan, who hit the Cactus Driver for the pinfall.
Final Thoughts
A good episode of Impact that featured some good angles to setup the next few weeks of television, but very little to promote No Surrender. That said, there is still time, and I’m sure Impact will narrow the focus of the next few weeks to do so. The Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer story doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but Ray is good enough of a heel that is probably doesn’t matter, and Mickie James teaming with Dreamer, while making the build to her match with Slamovich secondary, will help Dreamer get babyface sympathy as well.
The Design being in a main event position is not something I would have done, but the main event match was fairly good barring the parts where Kon was doing nerve holds. The rest of the show was decent, but dragged in the middle with a lot of angles backstage and in the ring. I think an extra match there with a few minutes cut off some of the promos probably would have been better.
Impact Wrestling – Feb. 9, 2023
Impact Digital Media Championship: Joe Hendry (c) vs. Matt Cardona
The Good Hands vs. Tommy Dreamer & Mickie James
#1 Contender Qualifier Match: Brian Myers vs. Dirty Dango
#1 Contender Qualifier Match: Shera vs. PCO
Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship: Death Dollz (c) vs. Killer Kelly & Taylor Wilde