Impact Wrestling results: Against All Odds

Impact Wrestling closed out their set of tapings from Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall in Las Vegas, Nevada with Friday night’s Against All Odds special episode.

The episode had a special opening video narrating all the build up to tonight’s card. I found it really interesting that they made Killer Kross out to be the “Anti-Machine” and not Johnny Impact.

The Twitch stream was hosted by Melissa Santos. Pat Buck, owner and operator of WrestlePro, was the post-show guest.

LAX and Konnan opened the show coming down to the ring. Konnan cut a promo saying they have a problem with Pentagon Jr. & Fenix, claiming that he told them all about the problems that come from wrestling for the titles. He called out the Lucha Bros for a fight.

Pentagon & Fenix immediately came out. The teams brawled inside the ring until security ran down to pull them apart. The fans chanted “Let them fight!” while all four wrestlers kept trying to reach one another.

The Lucha Bros and LAX started superkicking security. LAX hit a border toss with one of the security guards into the rest, but as they turned their backs, Pentagon & Fenix greeted them with chairs.

Lucha Bros brought out two tables and set them up in the corners. Pentagon kept talking trash to Konnan before LAX recovered and hit stereo DVDs through the tables. Santana & Ortiz grabbed the belts and posed over the fallen bodies of the Lucha Bros.

Backstage, Konnan, Santana, and Ortiz said that this is not even about the titles anymore — now they’re out there for respect. Konnan then made the challenge — Full Metal Mayhem for the Tag Team titles at Rebellion.

Scarlett Bordeaux defeated “Disco Inferno” Glenn Gilbertti

Before Bordeaux’s entrance, Gilbertti gave her one last chance to cancel the match. Bordeaux just told him to “shut up and wrestle — turkey boy.” The match was what it had to be in terms of competitiveness — I would have liked for Bordeaux to be more vicious on Gilbertti to show off more.

Bordeaux got a quick two count with a schoolboy and then proceeded to chop Gilbertti out of the ring. Back in the ring, Gilbertti grabbed Bordeaux by the hair and axed her down. He went for a fist drop and elbow, but Bordeaux dodged. Bordeaux hit an armbreaker and a top rope crossbody for a two count.

Bordeaux went for a clothesline, but Gilbertti blocked and took her down with one himself. He started to throw Bordeaux around the ring, then stomped each of her limbs over and over again — with a huge smile on his face.

Gilbertti went to hit her in the face, but Bordeaux made a comeback by punching back. Gilbertti whipped Bordeaux to the corner and went for a lariat, but Bordeaux dodged, hit a couple of lariats, and hit a running hip attack.

Bordeaux hit a stunner for a near fall. Gilbertti hit a side Russian leg sweep and went for the Village People’s Elbow, but he didn’t cover her, giving Bordeaux time to recover. Gilbertti went for the 10 punches in the corner, but Bordeaux hit a powerbomb pin instead and picked up the win.

Melissa Santos interviewed Taya Valkyrie and Johnny Impact. Valkyrie talked about scouting Jordynne Grace, and she said that Grace is strong, but just not “Wera Loca” strong. Johnny said that tonight he’s just going to enjoy how Killer Kross takes out Brian Cage.

Backstage, Gilbertti made his way to the back while Kiera Hogan and Alisha Edwards made fun of him and called him a loser.

Josh Mathews announced that Johnny Impact said he doesn’t want to team with Brian Cage as part of Team Impact at United We Stand and instead wants to be part of the Ultimate X match.

The GWN Flashback Moment of the Week was RVD defeating AJ Styles for the World title from the April 19, 2010 episode of Impact.

We got an awesome vignette for “The Walking Weapon” Josh Alexander, with him being sold as Canadian Strong Style.

A trailer for the new Rob Van Dam documentary “Headstrong” aired. Looks interesting.

We also got another vignette for Madison Rayne’s return.

Santos interviewed Tessa Blanchard. Blanchard said that Gail Kim had no other choice than to give in to her demands. She said that Kim deserves everything that is coming to her and that legends come and go, but Diamonds are forever. She went straight to the ring to get her apology.

Out in the ring, Blanchard cut a promo saying that today was a great day. Today was the day that she gets what she deserves and that is payback from Gail Kim. Blanchard said today was the day she gets justice, then called out Gail Kim.

Kim came out. Blanchard talked trash to her for a bit and told her to apologize. Kim did so. Blanchard then moved on to the other demand — for Kim to resign from Impact Wrestling.

Kim said that earlier today, she had given Impact management her resignation. Blanchard then mocked Kim for being part of the bra and panties era of wrestling and said that if she had been part of Blanchard’s era, she wouldn’t even be good enough to lace her boots.

Kim told Blanchard that she resigned from Impact, but under the condition that she was coming out of retirement to kick Blanchard’s butt. They brawled and Kim ran off Blanchard to the back.

Matthews and Don Callis confirmed that Blanchard vs. Kim will take place at the Rebellion pay-per-view.

We got a video recapping the Rich Swann vs. Sami Callihan X-Division Championship match from last week and the debut of Madman Fulton. We saw a video with oVe forcing Fulton to watch violent television a la Clockwork Orange. Callihan said that they brought out the potential inside Fulton.

Jordynne Grace defeated Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie by countout

During Valkyrie’s entrance, Callis called her the “Queen Bee,” which may or may not be a hint to Valkyrie feuding with Madison Rayne once she is done with Grace.

The match started with a collar-and-elbow lock and a series of reversals and quick pin attempts. Early on, Valkyrie started using some dirty tactics like poking Grace’s eyes, but Grace still held control thanks to her strength advantage.

Valkyrie regained control with some misdirection, dropping Grace with a set of kicks and the running knees to the back for a two count. Grace came back with a German suplex, but Valkyrie escaped outside. Grace followed her, but unfortunately for the challenger, Valkyrie caught her and rammed her to the ring post.

Back in the ring, Valkyrie kicked and chopped Grace while she mocked her. Valkyrie hit a running hip attack and followed with a running double knee to the corner for another two count. Valkyrie kept that same level of dominance for a while, at one point hitting a huge spear for a two count.

Back from commercial, Grace finally hit a desperation suplex to get some space. She blocked a rushing Valkyrie with a kick and managed to hit her running knee and shoulder combo. Grace hit the running Vader Bomb for a two count and finally balanced the match out.

Grace set up the Muscle Buster. Valkyrie escaped it, so instead, Grace went for a superplex — which Valkyrie also escaped with a headbutt. Valkyrie went for a moonsault, but Grace moved away and went for the Grace Driver. Valkyrie once again went for Grace’s eyes and started faking a rib injury.

Johnny Impact came out to check on Valkyrie. As they walked to the back, the referee counted Valkyrie out. Grace won, but Valkyrie retained the championship due to the champion’s advantage.

Before Johnny and Valkyrie walked to the back, Brian Cage came out and chased after Johnny while Valkyrie backed up into Grace. Cage cornered Johnny and Valkyrie, but Killer Kross jumped Cage from behind, throwing him into the ring post.

Back from commercial, a new referee made his way to the ring to start the match.

Killer Kross defeated Brian Cage

The match started with Kross having the advantage, but Cage quickly regained his composure and started running wild over Kross with a series of clotheslines and shoulder blocks.

Kross kept working over the same shoulder and arm he attacked before the match. He stomped on Cage’s arm and hit an armbreaker. Kross hit an exploder for a two count and locked in an armbreaker at the kick out. Cage escaped, stomping Kross.

Cage went for the deadlift suplex, but Kross caught him and hit another armbreaker, this time against the ropes. Kross manipulated the hand with arm tosses in between. He transitioned into armbreakers at every move Cage tried to get away from. Kross has been following Zack Sabre Jr. this last month.

Kross now started to change his offense into strikes, but it gave Cage the opening to hit a desperation DDT to cut off Kross’ momentum.

Back from commercial, Cage and Kross were exchanging strikes. Cage was trying not to use his arm, so Kross had the easy opening to lock in a sleeper. Cage only managed to escape by ramming himself into the corner.

Cage hit a moonsault for a two count. Cage hit a jumping knee, but he lacked the strength to go for the Jackknife. Kross hit a suplex, but Cage powered up and kicked out at one. Cage hit a pop-up powerbomb, a powerbomb into the knee, and a discus lariat for a near fall.

Cage chased the Drill Claw, but his arm wouldn’t allow it. He hit an F-5 instead, but Johnny came out and put Kross’ foot on the ropes to break the pin.

Johnny distracted Cage while Valkyrie sneaked behind for a low blow. Kross hit two Doomsday Saitos, but Cage still kicked out. The referee called for the bell and raised Kross’ hand, but the fact that Callis and Mathews called the ref out on it hints that Kross and Johnny most likely forced him to.

Pretty good match, but that finish and the confusion about it is not going to sit well with the fans.

After the match, Johnny Pillmanized Cage’s arm.

Mathews and Callis closed their side of the show, sending us to Rosemary’s return to the Undead Realm. We first saw Rosemary grab a meat cleaver and Dark Allie as they headed into the Undead Realm.

We got a couple of funky visuals before we saw that Kiera Hogan also snuck into the Undead Realm behind them. As Rosemary and Dark Allie walked around, they reached a ring with several undead citizens around it. James Mitchell welcomed them all.

Mitchell told Rosemary that he is only setting up the stage for her to meet “the boss.” Rosemary battled The Luchasaurus first, who got an early advantage. He was going to attack her with a wrench, but Rosemary hit the mist, took the wrench, and killed him.

Rosemary then fought against two face painted barbarians, and Rosemary straight up cut their throats with the cleaver. Third, Rosemary fought against an army of Undead Bridesmaids, but out came Kiera Hogan for the assist, giving Rosemary a sword, which she used to take them all out.

Finally, out came Su Yung, who released Dark Allie from her chain.

Yung and Dark Allie fought Hogan and Rosemary, but Allie had a change of heart and couldn’t take out Rosemary at the end. Rosemary took out Yung, but as the battle settled down, Mitchell had Hogan hostage.

Finally, the master came out — Kevin freaking Sullivan! Rosemary claimed Allie’s soul, but Sullivan told her that this is his realm and Rosemary has no claims here. Behind her, Yung, wearing a Freddy Krueger looking glove, went to stab Rosemary, but suddenly, Allie pushed Rosemary and took the knife to the throat.

Allie bled and fell as Rosemary caught her. Rosemary and Allie had a touching goodbye before Allie’s body disappeared and the show went to black. RIP Allie.

A lot of people dislike this sci-fi content for being too wacky, but this ended up being really emotional and the best way to write off Allie from Impact Wrestling.

Overall, this was a great show. Inside the ring, we got two good matches that unfortunately had bad finishes. However, outside the ring, we got a good amount of storyline development and angles that have now started shaping up next month’s Rebellion PPV.