Impact Wrestling live results: Sabin vs. Shelley no. 1 contender’s match
Impact World Champion Josh Alexander’s opponent at next month’s Emergence will be decided Thursday as Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley battle in a no. 1 contender’s match.
The Motor City Machine Guns teammates were selected by Scott D’Amore last week to compete for the spot after they teamed with Alexander in a trios match.
In another X-Division title open challenge, “Speedball” Mike Bailey will defend against Deaner. Bailey was attacked by Deaner and Violent By Design last week backstage.
In a preview of their match at Emergence, Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace will team with no. 1 contender Mia Yim against former champions Deonna Purrazzo and Chelsea Green.
The feud between Honor No More and Bullet Club continues as Matt Taven & Mike Bennett take on Chris Bey & Ace Austin.
Masha Slamovich will look to continue her recent run of dominance as she faces Madison Rayne.
The BTI pre-show will see Laredo Kid take on Johnny Swinger.
**********
Laredo Kid defeated Johnny Swinger (w/Zicky Dice) on the BTI pre-show
**********
The opening video featured the legacy of the Motor City Machine Guns and their upcoming Number 1 Contender’s match against one another later tonight.
VXT (Chelsea Green & Deonna Purrazzo) defeated Jordynne Grace & Mia Yim
Grace and Purrazzo started the match and after a stalemate, the power of Grace was too much for Purrazzo as Jordynne gained the upper hand. Yim and Green got tagged in and it was much the same for Green as we a saw Yim with the advantage.
After some heel tactics by VXT, Green and Purrazzo were able to gain momentum of the match but not for long. Yim had tagged Grace and after a double suplex attempt, Grace suplexed both members of VXT.
After some double team offence to the outside by Grace and Yim, Green managed to make a comeback by hitting a stomp and facebuster on Yim. Grace attempted to switch momentum but was sent to the outside and VXT hit a double team move on Yim to gain a massive victory over the current number one contender and the Knockouts World Champion.
Not a bad match at all to gain some tension between Grace and Yim heading into Emergence next month.
– Backstage, Honor No More was upset at their current title situation in Impact Wrestling and the weekly antics of Heath.
Mike Bailey defeated Deaner (w/Joe Doering) to retain the X-Division title
Deaner was looking for the win right after the bell rang as Bailey was in no man’s land very quickly. Bailey was able to mount a small comeback but it didn’t last long as Deaner tied him up in the ring apron before Doering made his presence felt before heading to commercial.
We’re back from commercial and Deaner was laying a beatdown on Bailey. Bailey attempted a comeback but Deaner remained persistent and landed a corner powerbowb for a two count. Bailey recovered and both men were now battling in the center of the ring looking to take advantage of the match.
Deaner managed to gain the upper hand and nailed a modified neckbreaker on Bailey on the ropes before landing on the outside of the ring. Deaner wouldn’t be able to capitalize however as Bailey nailed him with a moonsault.
Back on the inside and it was all Bailey as he nailed Deaner with his spinning corner roundhouse followed by the Ultimate Weapon for the victory to remain X-Division champion.
– A promo aired for the Ric Flair “Moment of the Week” showcasing his performance against Sting on Impact Wrestling in September 2011.
– Backstage, VXT was celebrating their victory earlier tonight before being interrupted by Gail Kim. Kim announced that VXT would be challenging for the Knockouts world tag team titles at Emergence.
– Backstage, Eric Young confronted his Violent By Design teammates and stated that Deaner and Doering needed to prove themselves against the “sickness”.
Masha Slamovich defeated Madison Rayne (w/Giselle Shaw)
After Slamovich gained the upper hand very early on, she ripped the protective face gear off of Rayne before nailing her with the Snow Plow to gain the victory in less time than I could write this. Slamovich is now 12-0 in singles competition in Impact Wrestling.
After the match, Slamovich handed Shaw an envelope containing the potential future of Gisele.
– Backstage, Brian Myers was giving a motivational speech before being interrupted by Bhupinder Gujjar. Gujjar stated that he wanted and deserved a shot at the Digital Media title before Myers quickly excused himself.
– A promo was shown for Killer Kelly and her upcoming arrival in Impact Wrestling next week.
Bullet Club (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) defeated Honor No More (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett w/Maria Kanellis)
Taven and Austin began the match and instead of grappling in the opening moment, they both took exception to the other wearing the color purple.
We then got some back and forth action before Taven was able to gain the upper hand, looked at the hard camera and shouted “I’m Matt Taven” before being dropkicked. Austin then followed it up with his own “I’m Ace Austin”.
While it’s HNM vs. Bullet Club, it’s also veteran experience battling two of the youngest and most gifted wrestlers that Impact has to offer as Bey and Austin managed to seize the momentum over the next couple of moments.
The experience of HNM made them easy winners of this match but with that being said, every time they seemed to have the match in hand, Austin and Bey were able to use their speed and finesse to counter the veteran experience.
As the match was coming to a close and it looked like HNM had it in the books, Bey was able to ground both Bennett and Taven as Austin dealt with Maria on the outside. As all of this was taking place, Heath came out of nowhere to take out Bennett. Austin followed it up with The Flop and that was all she wrote for HNM as Bullet Club picked up a huge victory.
– Backstage, Gia Miller was with Steve Maclin. Maclin commented on his interaction with Sami Callihan last week and informed Miller that this was now war. The lights went out and when they came back on, Callihan was attacking Maclin. Maclin mounted a comeback and Callihan switched the lights off. When they came back on, Callihan was gone and Maclin and now Moose were looking for Sami.
– Backstage, Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie were with Jessica. Rosemary attempted to put a mask on Jessica but Jessica refused and referenced Game of Thrones. Rosemary got upset and stated that they needed to focus as they have an upcoming match at Emergence for the Knockouts world tag team titles against VXT.
– Backstage, Impact world champion Josh Alexander was with Scott D’Amore. As they were reflecting on the title and past challenges, they’re interrupted by Rich Swann. D’Amore stated that even though Alexander’s plate was full for Emergence, Swann could have a match next week on Impact against a debuting KUSHIDA.Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin in a number one contender’s match with the winner facing Josh Alexander at Emergence
Alex Shelley defeated Chris Sabin in a Number One Contender’s match with the winner facing Josh Alexander at Emergence
Commentary stated that this was Shelley’s first-ever number one contender’s match for the world championship. Shelley came out to the Motor City Machine Guns music while Sabin had his own music.
First things first…
Dream match taking place in Impact Wrestling in 2022 right now.
After some back and forth in the beginning, Impact world champion Josh Alexander was seen watching on a monitor backstage. Sabin has attacked the neck of Shelley and commentary made note that Sabin and Shelley have not had a singles match against each other since 2009.
Sabin was in full control until commentary made note that Sabin has had knee issues and seconds later, Shelley landed a dropkick to the knee of Sabin heading into commercial break.
We’re back from commercial and Shelley has Sabin and his knee trapped in a corner. Shelley took it to the center of the ring and locked Sabin in a modified figure-four leglock. Sabin was able to escape but Shelley wasn’t done and locked Sabin in a pretzel submission as a reward.
This match as technical as it was, you could easily tell that both men were hungry for a world title opportunity.
After Sabin nailed a tornado ddt but only managed a two count, Shelley landed a modified dragon corkscrew in the corner and then followed it up by spiking Sabin on his head.
We’re followed up by superkicks by both men, a Sliced Bread #2 opportunity missed, a Cradle Shock opportunity missed, a Sliced Bread #2 nailed by Shelley, a Border City Stretch missed, a roll-up by Sabin for a two count, a Shell Shock by Shelley for a two count followed by a Border City Stretch for a tapout!
After an amazing match between MCMG, Shelley is headed to Emergence on August 12th to battle Josh Alexander for the Impact world championship.
After the match, Deaner and Joe Doering ran down to the ring to attack MCMG. Before they could do too much damage, KUSHIDA arrived on scene to not only take care of VBD but to make sure that there was no talk about screwing up future events.
Next Week:
- Rich Swann vs. KUSHIDA
- Eddie Edwards vs. Ace Austin