Impact Wrestling live results: Victory Road go-home show
Impact Wrestling is again on the doorstep for another streaming special with tonight’s Impact on AXS TV ahead of Friday’s Victory Road.
Josh Alexander will team with PCO to take on Steve Maclin & Bully Ray. Alexander takes on Maclin while Ray faces PCO tomorrow night.
Knockouts Champion Trinity and no. 1 challenger Alisha Edwards will sign their contracts for their title match tomorrow.
Ahead of the resumption of her rivalry with the returning Jordynne Grace Friday, Deonna Purrazzo will take on Dani Luna of Subculture.
After losing the Tag Team titles to The Rascalz at Emergence, Subculture (Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews) will compete against Sami Callihan & Rich Swann.
In a non-title match, X-Division Champion Lio Rush will face Kevin Knight, protege of KUSHIDA who Rush defends against tomorrow night.
JOYA (Joe Henry & Yuya Uemura) will be in action while the BTI pre-show bout will see Ace Austin take on Jason Hotch.
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Ace Austin (w/ Chris Bey) defeated Jason Hotch (w/ John Skylar)
Ace Austin won a decent match against Hotch here, as Chris Bey prevented interference from John Skylar.
Impact Wrestling Main Card
The build to Victory Road continued as Deonna Purrazzo opened the show to face Dani Luna.
Deonna Purrazzo defeated Dani Luna (w/ Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster)
Luna took it to Purrazzo early in the match, but ate a forearm from Purrazzo once Purrazzo blocked a suplex on the apron. Purrazzo then hit an arm wringer onto the apron, causing Luna to crash to the floor. Purrazzo hit the backstabber for a two count. Luna blocked a punch, but sold her arm in the process. Luna still hit a forearm and a dropkick. Luna hit a powerbomb for a 2-count. Purrazzo was able to counter and lock on an armbar for the submission.
–Crazzy Steve was in a pretaped promo talking about how “People get what they deserve,” but that rule does not apply to all people, and he was not like most people. When he looked into Taurus’s eyes last week, he saw what he saw in so many others – people who abandon him, and he was going to severe his relationship with Black Taurus at Victory Road.
–Tommy Dreamer talked about his upcoming match with Kenny King at Impact Victory Road. Dreamer cut what was a very good promo, full of tears, about how he was going to beat Kenny King, and if he couldn’t, he would retire. Heath walked up and asked him if it was worth risking his career, but Dreamer said that it was either going to be the end or the start of a new chapter.
Joya (Joe Hendry & Yuya Uemura) defeated Champagne Singh & Shera
This was a fun match. Nothing special, but it is clear Hendry and Uemura are getting over. I see a tag title reign in their future if Impact plays it right.
I am not sure what it was with the sound production on this match, but I could barely hear the entrance of Joya. It did appear to be getting over with the audience though, as expected. The sound went back to normal after that, with the crowd heard fine. Uemura started the match with Singh and it wasn’t long before he fell victim to Shera and his powerful attacks.
The fans got heated, cheering for Uemura and chanting for Joya, so again, it’s working. Singh hit a flatliner on Uemura for a two count. Once both were on their feet, Uemura hit a flying forearm and tagged out to Hendry, who hit a big vertical suplex on Singh. Hendry hit a vertical suplex on Shera, and then Hendry and Uemura hit the One Hit Wonder for the 3-count.
–Steve Maclin was backstage with Bully Ray, and Maclin claimed that everything they planned was within reach as they faced Josh Alexander and PCO. Ray said that PCO wasn’t what they wanted, but he might be able to beat Carl Oulette. Cinder blocks, battery acid, and fire didn’t keep him down, so he needs to face Oulette and not PCO. Ray asked Maclin to trust him, and Maclin said he would follow him, but he was going to take care of himself first. This was pretty good, all things considered with the weirdness of PCO/Carl Oulette.
–Josh Alexander was with Gia Miller and talked about his match with Steve Maclin at Victory Road, and the matches tonight. Alexander assured Maclin and Ray that tonight, him and PCO were going to bring violence to them and at Victory Road, he would settle their differences. Good promo.
Sami Callihan & Rich Swann defeated Subculture (Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster)
This was a good tag match, with Callihan and Swann getting a win to setup their eventual challenge for the tag titles against the Rascalz.
Andrews and Swann started off with some good chain wrestling, ending with both going for a dropkick at the same time. Swann blocked an armdrag, so Andrews pulled himself up and shifted to the other arm. Swann ended another exchange with a successful dropkick this time and tagged out to Callihan, who hit a sidewalk slam for a 2-count.
Callihan ate a double dropkick from Subculture, leading to Webster hitting a flip dive off the top rope onto bout Swann and Callihan. Subculture used this advantage to get the heat on Swann. A few minutes later, Swann hit a running cutter by running down the ramp, jumping over the top rope, and hitting a cutter. Callihan hit a Death Valley Driver and then Swann hit a 450 splash for the win.
–Gisele Shaw, Savannah Evans, & Jai Vidal were backstage, and they talked about how Shaw eliminated MK Ultra from the battle royal last week, so they were going to challenge for the tag titles at Victory Road.
–The Rascalz were backstage talking about their tag title reign, and The Good Hands walked up and said they deserve a tag team title shot. The Rascalz shooed them away, almost literally, saying they were more concerned with the Motor City Machine Guns. The Good Hands asked for a title shot after that, so Wentz implied that The Good Hands would benefit if The Rascalz retained their titles.
Lio Rush defeated Kevin Knight
This match was so good. Easily the best match of the night. Maybe the best match for Knight as well. I can’t wait for KUSHIDA and Rush tomorrow night.
Knight did an inset promo, saying that he wanted to beat Rush here and then challenge KUSHIDA for when he wins the X-Division championship, as there is no better way to challenge for a title then against his mentor. Knight managed to keep up with the speed of Kevin Knight early on, hitting a dropkick, and Rush rolled to the floor and tried to get away.
Knight didn’t let him though, hitting a splash for a 2-count. Every time Rush tried to get one up on Knight, Knight had an answer, leading to Rush bailing to the floor again. Rush ducked under a few chops and hit some of his own. Knight was so aggressive the referee had to pull him off a few times as they got caught in the ropes. Rush raked the eyes and then knocked Knight to the floor.
Rush hit a lowpe between the middle and bottom ropes, and hit a second that drove knight back into the guardrail. Rush flew through the air and hit a clothesline that dropped Knight for a 2-count. Rush got on his back and hit some face smashes and went for a rear naked choke, but Knight blocked it. Rush kept the hooks in, but Knight stood right up and drove backwards into the turnbuckle. Rush leaped from the turnbuckle into the choke again, but Knight drove him back once more to break it and hit a hurricarana from the mat to the top rope on Rush. Knight hit a clothesline from the middle rope for a 2-count.
Knight and Rush exchanged running forearms, and switching directions as they ran, leading to Knight hitting an incredible dropkick. Knight missed a springboard crossbody, and Rush managed to hit a spin kick to knight before hitting the Final Hour for the 3-count. This match ruled.
–Lio Rush continued the assault after the match, attacking Knight with punches and then locking on the Hoverboard Lock. KUSHIDA ran down to make the save and hit his big punch to send Rush to the ramp and out of the ring.
–Dango & Bravo did a promo, with Dango saying that they were going to be at Impact 1000 and they were doing it for Dixie Carter. Dango then asked if she was single. Dango then said he was going to teach Jake Something how to do a good promo.
–A great hype video aired for Jordynne Grace again, as she walked up to a picture of Deonna Purrazzo that said 0-4, and she tore it in half before leaving her gym, implying she was ready to finally face her greatest rival and win.
–Santino was in the ring and introduced “Daleesha” Edwards for the contract signing against Trinity for the Impact Knockouts World Championship. Edwards walked out with Eddie Edwards and they were both drinking in celebration of her title win, despite the fact that the match is tomorrow.
Eddie Edwards was white man dancing to her music, which was hilarious. Santino introduced Trinity, and she came down and sat at the table. Alisha Edwards insisted she couldn’t understand Santino’s accent and one fan yelled very loudly “Thank you!” Edwards said that she has changed and found the killer instinct she needed to beat Trinity. Trinity signed the contract without a word, and then said she couldn’t understand Edwards accent, with popped the fans.
The fans then chanted “Boston sucks!” As a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, and a Canadian, I agree. Trinity said she chose Impact despite being able to go anywhere, and she did so because it was the place where the toughest competition was. Eddie Edwards cut her off, saying that she had no right to wave the Impact banner, because they’ve been here longer than everyone.
Trinity rightly pointed out that Edwards turned his back on the company with Honor No More, and Alisha threw a drink into Trinity’s face. Trinity took her time cleaning up the drink, taking off her earrings, and wiping her eyes, before standing up and kicking Edwards in the face. That was awesome. Trinity went to powerbomb Edwards through the table, but Eddie Edwards saved her, and then at Alisha’s instruction, picked Trinity up and powerbombed her through the table. Kazarian ran down to chase them off, as Santino checked on Trinity. This segment was awesome. The match, I’m not sure about, but this segment was great.
–The Motor City Machine Guns talked about how they were going to tag the tag team titles back at Victory Road, and that they were going to defeat The Rascalz who have disgraced the titles with their heelish ways.
Bully Ray & Steve Maclin defeated Josh Alexander & PCO
Bully Ray looked terrified of PCO, so he tagged out to Steve Maclin. Hannifan reminded us the last time we saw PCO and Maclin, Maclin was bleeding everywhere in a horrifically bloody match at Impact Under Siege. As they came back from break, Josh Alexander was hitting an arm drag on Maclin.
Alexander hit a hard chop on Maclin, and his home province crowd cheered. PCO tagged in to continue the assault. PCO tried to go after Bully Ray, but Ray ran away, and Maclin took advantage to attack PCO. Unfortunately, PCO is not human, so he no sold it and tagged in Alexander. Maclin, relived to face a human, chopped Alexander, but ate a knee lift.
Ray tagged in but ate a dropkick from Alexander. Alexander went for a suplex on Ray, but Ray broke out and hit a few jabs. Ray showboated a bit, so Alexander necked him on the ropes. As Alexander hit the ropes, Maclin low bridged him and Alexander fell to the floor. They got the heat on Alexander for a but Maclin did everything he could to keep PCO from Bully Ray until Bully was yelling for Carl Oulette again. PCO paused briefly before trying to hit a chokeslam, but Maclin saved him again, and PCO swung wildly and almost hit the referee. Ray took advantage, hit a low blow, and rolled up PCO for the win.
Final Thoughts
In terms of in ring action, this Impact was merely fine, but the Lio Rush and Kevin Knight match was fantastic. Some good storytelling, and the contract signing really may have been the best segment on the show. Kudos to Trinity and Alisha Edwards for that!
Impact Wrestling Countdown to Victory Road
- ABC vs. Moose & Myers
Impact Wrestling Victory Road
- Impact Knockouts World Championship: Trinity (c) vs. Alisha Edwards
- Deonna Purrazzo vs. Jordynne Grace
- Impact X Division Championship: Lio Rush (c) vs. KUSHIDA
- Impact Knockouts World Tag Team Championship: MK Ultra (c) vs. Gisele Shaw & Savannah Evans
- Impact Digital Media Championship: Kenny King (c) vs. Tommy Dreamer
- Josh Alexander vs. Steve Maclin
- Bully Ray vs. PCO
- Crazzy Steve vs. Black Taurus
- Impact World Tag Team Championship: The Rascalz (c) vs. The Motor City Machine Guns