Impact Wrestling live results: Kenny Omega championship celebration
Preview by Josh Nason
Kenny Omega’s life of self-celebration will continue this Thursday on Impact Wrestling as the AEW World Champion will recognize his title victory over Impact World Champion Rich Swann at Rebellion with an in-ring celebration.
Former X-Division Champion Ace Austin will get a rematch against new champion Josh Alexander. Alexander won the title Sunday in a three-way featuring Austin and TJP.
The show will also feature the return of Taylor Wilde after more than a decade out of the promotion as she faces Kimber Lee. Wilde ran off Lee, Susan, and Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo following Purrazzo’s Sunday win over Tenille Dashwood after the trio beat down the challenger.
Additionally, W. Morrissey (the former Big Cass) will make his TV debut for the company after making a surprise debut Sunday as part of Violent By Design. Also coming out of that match is James Storm vs. Deaner which will be on the BTI pre-show.
Our live coverage begins at 8 PM Eastern.
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— James Storm (with Chris Sabin) defeated Deaner (with VBD) on the BTI pre-show
The show opened with the Impact roster wanting answers from Scott D’Amore about who was going to challenge Kenny Omega for the title. D’Amore said he’d address this situation in the ring. Out came Don Callis who told D’Amore that Omega wasn’t in the building but would make a Zoom appearance. D’Amore got angry and told Callis that if Omega doesn’t adhere to the contract and is not present tonight, he’d be stripped of the title and suspended. Callis said he’d take care of it.
Over in the ring, D’Amore announced that Rich Swann lost in a one time match that had no rematch clause so he wasn’t getting a title rematch. Instead, there will be a series of qualifiers leading to Under Siege where the winners will face off in a six-way match with the winner becoming the no. 1 contender. If Omega doesn’t make it to the arena by the end of the show tonight, that 6-way match at Under Siege will be for the vacant Impact World title.
D’Amore then booked the first match on the spot.
Chris Bey defeated Jake Something in an Under Siege no. 1 contender six-way qualifier
This was a speed vs. power match. It started with Bey controlling the action, but it wasn’t long before it became a back-and-forth affair. Something got some near falls, but at the end, for no reason whatsoever, Rohit Raju grabbed on Something’s leg to distract him which allowed Bey to dropkick him into the corner and schoolboy him with his feet on the ropes to win.
— Backstage, Callis talked with Omega on the phone and told him to take the jet back to Impact. Then walked up Sami Callihan who told Callis that if Omega showed up, he was targeting him and reclaiming the title.
— Gia Miller interviewed Taylor Wilde about having her first match in more than a decade. She said she was happy and ready, but Tenille Dashwood interrupted her about being her partner. Wilde rejected her, saying she was here for the title.
W. Morrissey defeated Sam Beale
Morrissey cut a promo before his match, saying that the wrestling business is full of bad people and he’s not afraid to accept he is one of them. This was a squash as Beale didn’t get a single shot in before Morrissey won with a power bomb.
— Miller interviewed Kimber Lee, Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo and Susan about Wilde making her return to Impact. Lee said that tonight, Wilde would make her return and she would beat her. Purrazzo told Lee she was taking the night off and that Lee and Susan could take care of Wilde alone. Miller asked Purrazzo why she wasn’t going to be out there. The champion lashed back, saying she wasn’t running away from Wilde. Before she left, Havok walked up and got in Purrazzo’s face but didn’t say anything.
— Miller interviewed Wilie Mack about being pinned by Morrisey at Rebellion. Mack said he doesn’t understand what Morrissey’s problem with him is, but if he wants to fight, he’d be happy to. He challenged him to a match at Under Siege.
Taylor Wilde defeated Kimber Lee (w/ Susan)
Wilde made her big return to the promotion at Rebellion, saving Dashwood from a 3-on-1 beatdown at the hands of Purrazzo, Lee, and Susan. Lee started the match by catching Wilde by surprise with a shotgun dropkick, quickly gaining control of the match. After a couple of minutes, Wilde recovered and made a short comeback/ Wilde was running…wild, but as she went for a sharpshooter, Lee managed to block her, take her down, and start working on her knee.
After a couple of minutes getting heat, Lee started getting cocky and got into a striking exchange that she ended up losing. Lee regained control, but when she went for a top rope senton, Wilde dodged, hit a codebreaker and locked in an Indian deathlock for the submission win. This wasn’t a great return for Wilde who took way too much offense. The match was ok at best.
After the match, Susan attacked Wilde, but Dashwood made the save. Wilde said that she didn’t need the help.
X-Division Champion Josh Alexander defeated Ace Austin (w/ Madman Fulton) to retain
Alexander won the title at Rebellion after pinning Austin in a match that also included TJP. Austin activated his rematch clause.
Alexander started the match dominantly with a combination of mat work and striking. He quickly took Austin down and kept him at bay. Austin had to rely on his speed to start dodging Alexander and manage to take out his leg. With Alexander down, Austin started going after his back and neck. As soon as Alexander got to his feet, he slowly made a comeback, ending with a desperation chaos theory that rocked Austin.
Alexander and Austin traded strikes while the former started chasing the ankle lock (Divine Intervention). Austin got a great near fall after knocking out Alexander with a kick, but Alexander still came back and got into a fight with Austin on the apron where he dropped Austin and dodged a Fulton attack.
The finish saw Austin with a flurry of offense, almost killing himself with a moonsault. When he went for Divine Intervention, Alexander blocked him, hit a senton bomb on the back, locked in an ankle lock, and tapped out Austin. This was an awesome match.
Matt Striker and D-Lo Brown sold that there is international talent coming for Alexander, so we’ll see who he gets later.
— Callis was approached by Johnny Swinger and Hernandez. They owe money to Callis for the Swann vs. Omega bet, but if Swinger could get him a driver to pick up Omega, the debt was paid. Callis putting his faith on Swinger is gonna be golden.
— Miller interviewed Jordynne Grace and Rachael Ellering about winning the Knockouts Tag Team titles. Grace said that Ellering was the missing piece for her to win the titles. They kept putting each other over, but Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz interrupted them and said Ellering is the real star. They had defeated Grace many times, but Ellering could have won that match by herself. Hogan and Steelz claimed their rematch clause at Under Siege.
Matt Cardona defeated Brian Myers in an Under Siege no. 1 contender six-way qualifier
Myers defeated Cardona at Rebellion after taking advantage of Cardona’s injured knee on a failed Radio Silence. Cardona had his knee heavily bandaged.
The match started with Cardona trying to get the jump on Myers with a dive, but once in the ring, Myers kicked Cardona’s knee and immediately took him down. Myers completely focused on the knee.
Cardona had some hope spots fighting through the pain, but Myers easily got the advantange by kicking the knee again and regaining control. Myers started going for pins, but couldn’t keep Cardona down. At the end, Myers went for the Roster Cut, but Cardona caught him with a Radio Silence out of nowhere for the win. This was a good match, but I wasn’t a big fan of the one move win.
Cardona advances to the Under Siege no. 1 contender six-way, along with Bey.
— Eric Young, along with VBD, cut a promo about Deaner losing to James Storm but he had also lost to Storm before. He said that disappointment can be used to elicit rage and violence, and so next week, it’s Rhino’s turn to win and represent VBD at Under Siege.
— We got a vignette for NJPW’s El Phantasmo, coming to Impact next week.
— Brown and Striker ran down some of the matches for next week including the other Under Siege qualifiers: Rohit Raju vs. Trey Miguel, Rhino vs. Chris Sabin, and Moose vs. James Storm.
— As of this point, Kenny Omega hasn’t made it to the arena and is minutes away from being stripped of the title — brought up by commentary every ten minutes.
Eddie Edwards defeated Sami Callihan by DQ in an Under Siege no. 1 contender six-way qualifier*
Callihan lost his last man standing match against Miguel at Rebellion and still managed to make it into the qualifier. Edwards, while not directly taking the loss, also lost at Rebellion against VBD. The argument for including them is that they’re former Impact World champions.
This was a good basic match. They have had so many with all types of stipulations that seeing them just having a normal singles match at this point felt different.
Edwards took control early, but Callihan cut him off and worked over Edwards’ head, chasing the package piledriver. Edwards made a comeback with a desperation stunner and a top rope rana.
Edwards got a near fall with a blue thunder bomb, but suddenly, right before time ran out, Omega and the Good Brothers ran out to attack both men, hitting Callihan first. They also took down Edwards with a Magic Killer and prepared to hit a V-Trigger on Callihan, but Tag Team Champions FinJuice made the save. However, Juice Robinson and Dave Finlay also got taken out by the numbers game. Callis said that if they wanted the champion, they had him, taking everyone out.
*While they didn’t announce a winner on the show, they announced on social media afterward that Callihan won by DQ.