wrestling / TV Reports
Cazer’s Impact Wrestling Review 4.7.22
Image Credit: Impact Wrestling
Loading...We’re back Impact Wrestling fans for another episode of Impact on AXS TV. We’re just a few weeks out from Impact’s next big PPV Rebellion, but before we get there we have to revisit some of the action the Impact Wrestling roster found themselves involved in this weekend. This weekend Impact held their multiverse of matches event at WrestleCon featuring a number of very interesting matchups. This week on Impact we’ll be given the pleasure of watching some of the matches from the event including the massive main event featuring The Briscoe Brothers taking on The Good Brothers. This should be a fun show for anyone who may have been watching another show or attending another event that night. I missed the show live so this is an awesome chance for me to see some of the matches I was interested in.
– Josh Matthews is live from the Impact control room to tell us what we’re going to see tonight. He leads us into the X-Division championship match at Multiverse of Matches.
Ultimate X, X-Division Championship
Trey Miguel (c) vs. Chris Bey vs. Rich Swann vs. Vincent vs. Blake Christian vs. Jordynne Grace
We jump into the match as Trey is taking control and climbing the rafter the grab the cables but he’s stopped by Rich Swann and Chris Bey. All three men mix it up momentarily until Bey sends them both to the outside. Jordynne Grace catches Bey on the corner and hits Bey with a muscle buster and Swann with a clothesline simultaneously. Blake Christian takes out Jordynne Grace then hits Vincent with a death valley driver and follows it with double knees to the face. Christian scales the rafter and grabs the cables to try and grab the x-division title. He nearly grabs it before getting cut off by Trey Miguel. Trey sends Christian to the outside and hits him with a tope. Trey rushes back into the ring and tries to grab the title but he’s cut off by Vincent. Vincent with a suplex to Trey and then taunts the crowd before climbing up the rafters. Vincent grabs the cables and inches himself near the championship but Rich Swann breaks it up and hits Vincent with a superkick. Swann with a springboard cutter on Vincent. He takes a moment to taunt before climbing up the rafters for the cables. Swann leaps to the middle of the cables but Chris Bey brings him down and hits him with a spinebuster. Bey with the art of finesse on Swann before climbing for the championship. Blake Christian follows Bey and they start exchanging kicks on the cable. Bey falls and tries to bring Blake down, Blake falls right into a Canadian destroyer on Bey. Trey Miguel drops Blake then dive with a tope onto the crowd of wrestlers outside the ring. Trey tries to get back into the ring but Blake hits him with a springboard kick. Blake climbs up the top rope and onto the scaffold, rather than chasing the championship he goes further up the scaffold and dives onto everyone outside the ring. Jordynne Grace starts to climb across the ultimate x she recently won this style of match. Vincent pulls Jordynne down but Trey secures himself and grabs the championship down to retain.
Rating: ***1/2
Review: This was fun, we jumped in during the middle so we were right in on the action. It’s an ultimate x match so it’s not going to be the best structured match and from time to time the finish may not seem the best. The finish here was not exactly the most sensible, but we’ve seen much worse from X-Division matches in the past so I won’t act like it was awful.
– Post match Trey cuts a promo about being champion and saying he plans to retain his championship at Rebellion.
– Josh Matthews tells us that we will see highlights of The Cardonas vs Mickie James and her husband Nick Aldis from this weekend but first we’re going to recap the issues between Mickie, Chelsea and Matt Cardona. They show a recap of Chelsea turning on Mickie and Matt helping with the attack. After the recap we see Mickie James backstage and she says she has seen the true colors of Chelsea Green, she goes on to say that there’s one man who has a big problem with Mickie being attacked by Cardona. Aldis joins his wife and says his one night return to Impact should be a special moment but Cardona ruined this moment for him. They had to cut this promo up quite a bit so I wonder what the raw footage looked like.
Matt Cardona & Chelsea Green vs. Mickie James & Nick Aldis
Honestly surprised this wasn’t a match set up for an actual Impact PPV but perhaps this is just the beginning of a future match down the line. We jump into the match and Cardona is choking Mickie in the corner. Cardona distracts the referee allowing Chelsea to attack Mickie from the outside. Mickie looks for a tag but Matt prevents it from being possible. Matt tags in Chelsea who tosses Mickie into the corner as hard as she can. After the short moment of offense Matt tags in and goes for the reboot on Mickie but she moves. Chelsea tries to attack but Mickie drops her, Mickie reverses radio silence and drops Cardona right on his face. Aldis tags in and runs through Cardona. Aldis lifts Cardona up and drops him with a piledriver. Nick up to the top rope and drops an elbow across the chest of Matt Cardona. Cardona yells for Chelsea and she makes the save on the pinfall attempt. Mickie with a seated senton onto Chelsea off the top but Chelsea follows with a pump kick. Cardona with a codebreaker to Aldis, he charges him in the corner and is sent to the outside. Aldis and Chelsea alone in the ring, Aldis hesitates but goes for a cloverleaf before Cardona can break it up. Cardona hammers away at Aldis with rights, he holds him up for Chelsea to slap him but Aldis ducks it and she hits Cardona. Chelsea sent to the outside and Cardona goes for Radio silence but its turned into a powerbomb. Aldis locks in a cloverleaf, Chelsea tries to break it up but Mickie jumps in and locks in a cloverleaf of her own. The Cardonas simultaneously tap out to end the match.
Rating: ***
Review: I gotta be honest, i’m glad I didn’t have to watch that entire match to see that finish. All parties involved are fine but I’m not huge on the couple vs couple story especially with Aldis leaving right away. I dont understand why you’d have Cardona and Chelsea lose in this position especially with Cardona as digital media champion. Booking decisions aside this was fine.
– Josh is at Skyway studios and introduces the next match, he calls it a match everyone was anticipating and i’ll say I have to agree, I love me some Ishii.
– We join Eddie Edwards in the middle of a promo as he tells us that the fans and Impact turned their backs on him but it’s fine because he has surrounded himself with people who have been disrespected and stabbed in the back in honor no more. Eddie says he wears his green because it takes him back to the first time he went to Pro Wrestling Noah, he says that when he was there he was treated with respect and honor, but tonight he wont show Ishii the same. Eddie says it doesn’t matter where you come from, because in pro wrestling there truly is Honor No more. Another cut up promo so clearly not bad promos just long winded and need cut for time.
Ishii vs. Eddie Edwards
We jump into this one midway through and i’m a bit bummed at that. I get it you can’t show an entire PPV for free but c’mon it’s Ishii. Eddie sets Ishii up on the top rope and eats a headbutt from Ishii, Eddie gets Ishii up in the backpack position but Ishii fights out. Eddie with a superkick and a suplex on Ishii but Ishii gets right up and responds with one of his own. Ishii and Eddie both go for clotheslines but neither falls, they go for it again both stagger and then fall at the same time. The crowd with a round of applause for the spot and that tells me this match has been a banger up to this point. Both men are slow to their feet, the referee starts a count but has to stop because Ishii is used to Japans 20 count so he’s not up by 10. Eddie catches Ishii in the corner with a clothesline and tries to hammer Ishii with forearms but Ishii just eats all of them and drops Eddie with a headbutt. Ishii goes for a seated clothesline but Eddie caw it coming and turns it around, Eddie lays into Ishii with knees and the referee checks on him. The referee says Ishii is good to go, Eddie with a forearm and right into a tigerdriver. Eddie with the cover but Ishii kicks out just in time. Impact wrestling chant neither of these guys are Impact representatives. Eddie with a running knee but Ishii blocks it. Ishii with a running knee of his own. Ishii with the seated lariat on Eddie and covers for a two count. Ishii goes for a brainbuster but Eddie blocks it and hits a superkick on Ishii, Eddie with the boston knee party. Eddie lifts Ishii up and calls for the diehard driver. Ishii blocks it and hits Eddie with a headbutt and an enziguri. Ishii bounces off the ropes, he runs into a forearm but Ishii drops Eddie with a lariat. Ishii covers for a two count, Ishii lifts Eddie up and hits him with the brainbuster. Ishii covers and gets the victory over Eddie Edwards.
Rating: ***1/2
Review: Bummer that we only got the second half of this match, I also have to question the purpose of this booking. Ishii just beat Eddie clean in a random throw away match. At least Ishii will be back at Rebellion but Eddie hasn’t even lost to an Impact roster member since turning heel but loses to Ishii here? The biggest thing is if this show isn’t aired like this noone even really knows but airing it like this tells us all that Eddie has lost. Ishii’s as good of a guy to beat him as anyone so i’m not ‘that’ upset here, especially as someone who isn’t fond of Eddie, but man keep him strong. Even with the match being good, the condensed version makes it even worse to me.
Josh Alexander & JONAH vs. PCO & Moose
We jump into this match as PCO is looking for a moonsault on Josh, Josh moves just in time and tags in JONAH. PCO tags in Moose and the two big men square off. JONAH with a clothesline on Moose and sends him inside out. Moose in the corner and JONAH hits him with a samoan drop. JONAH goes for a senton but Moose moves out of the way. JONAH tags in JOSH and PCO tags in as well. PCO sends JONAH out of the ring with a clothesline. Josh charges PCO but gets dumped to the outside. PCO with a running dive to the outside on Josh and JONAH. PCO sets Josh up on the apron and hits the top rope swanton onto Josh on the apron. PCO connects for one of the first times in his impact tenure but he still took the brunt of it. JONAH with a superkick to PCO but Moose is in the ring and hits JONAH with a pounce. Josh back in the ring and lays out Moose as well as himself. All four men down and we get another Impact Wrestling chant at least this one makes sense. All four men get to their feet at the same time. JONAH charges PCO, Josh charges Moose and all four men brawl. JONAH and PCO with double clotheslines. Josh and Moose exchange blows in the center of the ring. Josh goes for a spinning forearm but runs into a headbutt from Moose, Moose spins around into a forearm from Josh, Josh with the ankle lock on Moose but Moose frees himself. Josh goes for the C4 spike but Moose reverses and rolls out of the ring. PCO tries to set up Josh for something but JONAH with a pounce on PCO. Josh with the c4 spike on PCO and covers him for the cover as Josh stares down Moose.
Rating; ***
Review: What we got of this one was fun, I don’t want to complain about the booking of every match so i’ll keep it short here, but Josh went this long without really getting his hands on Moose and we just give it away in a tag match. It’s not bad but I did feel a bit weird about it. Save it for the big PPV. Otherwise the match was good and I am still excited for Josh vs. Moose so it’s not like they gave away too much just questionable to do this far along into them not really doing it.
– Josh Matthews runs down the upcoming Rebellion card and tells us we’ll see highlights of Chris Sabin vs. Jay White next.
– White and Sabin each cut a promo and we go back and forth between the two leading into the match. Sabin says that he’s seen guys like Jay plenty of times before and hurt their Ego plenty, he’s not afraid to do it here. Jay mentions that Sabin has beat him in tag team action he wont do it 1 on 1.
Chris Sabin vs. Jay White
These two have been mixing it up in tag matches lately but now we’re getting a singles match between the two. Jay is awesome and Sabin is great so this match should be fun, it also looks like this feud will continue and i’m all for that. We jump into the match as Sabin drops Bey with a spinning kick and heads to the top ropes. Weird to have these promos then jump into the middle of the match. Sabin with a dropkick off the top rope and covers Jay for a two count. Sabin with a forearm and then follows into a DDT. Sabin lifts White up but gets hit with a DDT instead. Sabin to his feet and on the top rope, Jay turns around into a tornado DDT, Sabin covers for a two count. Sabin lifts Jay up for the cradleshock but he slips free. Jay with a suplex on Sabin. Jay with a chop to Sabin in the corner. Jay brings Sabin out and hits him with a twisting suplex and covers for two. Jay’s getting upset and lifts Sabin up for a urinage, Sabin counters but runs right into a flatliner. Jay with a german suplex on Sabin and then hits the urinage. Jay covers for a two count. Tom tells us that this referee is the one who messed up the count during a previous match between MCMG and Bey/Jay. Glad they reminded us because I never would’ve remembered. White in the corner and eats a big boot from Sabin. Sabin lifts Jay up and starts to slap himself awake too. Jay bounces off the ropes and they begin exchanging strikes in the center of the ring. Jay with a LOUD chop on Sabin and it staggers him into the corner. Jay with ANOTHER and then chops the hell out of him in the corner. Sabin with chops of his own and drops Jay with a clothesline. Sabin goes for another clothesline but Jay counters into a bladerunner but Sabin counters, he looks for the cradleshock, Jay escapes but runs into a clothesline. Sabin again goes for the cradleshock but Jay counters and sends him on his neck, Jay looks for the bladerunner but Sabin rolls him up for the victory.
Rating: ***
Review: I’m sure this was another banger start to finish, I am not mad at the finish even if it is Jay’s first pinfall singles loss in Impact, I would’ve saved it but oh well.
Post match: Maclin hits the ring and beats up Eddie, Jay throws him off and gets some shots in. Jay and Maclin talk for a moment and Jay lets Maclin go after Eddie. Jay decides to follow this with a lowblow on Maclin, you can’t trust him. Odd decision by Jay but that’s the bullet club for ya. Maclin heads to the back leaving Sabin standing tall to close out the match.
– Sabin is backstage and says noone expected him to win, he’s been the underdog all his life. Sabin shows off his battered chest from Jay White but he says that Jay will never forget that Sabin beat him in Dallas Texas. Sabin says that emotions are high but he’s on top of the world because he just beat Jay White.
– Josh tells us that at Rebellion we’re going to see Jay White vs. Steve Maclin vs. Chris Sabin.
The Good Brothers vs. The Briscoes
I really wish this was the match we got in full but i’ll take what I can get. Karl has Jay in the corner and tags in Gallows who sends Briscoe to the opposing corner and lays into him with shots in the corner. Gallows lifts Jay up and launches him into the corner before stepping on him and taunting. Gallows with a right hand and tags in Karl. Gallows lifts Jay up for Karl to get a shot in. Karl drops Mark off the apron and goes back after Jay. Gallows tags in and bounces off the rope hitting Jay with a big boot. Gallows covers for a two count and starts laying into Jay with elbows. Jay is bleeding from his matches early on in the day. Gallows tags in Karl and he starts kicking at the head of Jay. Gallows and Anderson start talking with a fan giving Jay a chance to fight back. Karl regains control with a right hand in the corner. Jay fights back hitting Karl and Gallows with rights and elbow shots. Jay ducks a Karl lariat and tags in Mark. Mark with strikes on both Gallows and Anderson, Gallows tries to lift him up but Mark fights out with a kick to the head. Anderson charges Mark in the corner but runs into a urinage from him. Mark with a clothesline in the corner followed by a palmstrike to the face of Anderson. Jay with a boot to the face of Gallows in the corner. Mark with an assisted neckbreaker on Karl. Jay gets pissed off and gets in the face of the referee. Jay tags in but Karl with a spinebuster. Gallows trips as he gets into the ring and knocks Mark off the apron. Gallows with a splash on Jay in the corner, double team neckbreaker on Jay and Karl covers for a two count. The Good Brothers go for the magic killer but Mark breaks it up. Jay with a superkick on Gallows, all four men are down. Mark to his feet first, he spits something out, picks it up and puts it back in his mouth, sicko. Mark on the top rope but Jay White hits the ring to shove him off while the referee is distracted. The Good Brothers hit the magic killer and cover Mark for the victory.
Rating: ***
Review: This was fun, I hope they run it back down the line. I enjoyed this for what it was, it’s interesting Impact didn’t mention the Briscoes matches earlier in the day at GCW when talking about their battle scars. I’m sure in full this deserved more than 3 stars but condensed it’s hard to properly rater these matches. If the Briscoes aren’t AEW bound it’ll be a travesty if Impact doesn’t pick them up. As I say that the Briscoes get announced for Impact’s next set of tapings.
– Josh tells us we’re about to see the champ champ challenge from the multiverse of matches. He says Deonna was upset after ROH decided to crown an interim champion in her absence. He also says that there were many things she was upset about going forward.
– Deonna is backstage with Gia and asks how she feels about the interim champion. Deonna says its a ridiculous charade to crown a new ROH womens champion especially Mercedes Martinez as the last time she was here she was losing to Deonna.
Deonna Purazzo vs. Faby Apache
Deonna with a standing moonsault to try and retain the triple a womens championship but Apache kicks out at two. Deonna attacks the shoulder and sends Faby into the corner but Deonna runs right into a kick from Faby. Apache with a cover for a two count. Faby starts arguing with the fans and turns around into an armbar attempt, both women run into clotheslines and stay down for a moment. Deonna and Apache exchange strikes as they get to their feet. Deonna lays into Faby with forearms and bounces off the ropes right into a boot from Apache. Deonna regains momentum, goes for the queens gambit but Apache counters. Deonna locks in the armbar and starts pulling back on her arm forcing a submission.
Rating: **1/2
Review: It didn’t feel like this was anything spectacular, it’s tough on a weekend like this with so many opponents they couldn’t get a babyface to challenge Deonna? It felt like the crowd didn’t know who to cheer but was primarily behind Deonna as they were more familiar with her. I get the thought of using a AAA superstar but I think for a show like this they had a lot of interesting choices that they didn’t use. Taya coming out after easily made up for that though.
Post match: Deonna cuts a promo and calls out Mercedes, before she can say all she needs to say Taya Valkyrie comes out. The crowd responds well to Taya and welcomes her back. Taya says Deonna needs to stop worrying about the ROH Womens championship and worry about the AAA reina de reinas championship. Taya tells Deonna she’ll see her at Rebellion.
– We get another Deonna Purazzo promo and she responds to Taya’s challenge. Deonna tells Taya if she wants a date for Rebellion she’s got it but the result will always be the same because the Champ Champ is forever here. I really like Deonna, typically one person getting three promos in one show would be a lot but all of these made sense and were good.
– Taya is backstage and cuts another promo talking about how she never lost the reina de reinas championship. She says at Rebellion she will become a four time champion and you better believe it. Again I usually wouldn’t be all for another promo especially filmed like this with so much background noise but Taya’s a good promo so I enjoyed it overall.
Mike Bailey vs. Alex Shelley
Finally, a full match. I get why they couldn’t show full matches top to bottom because this was technically a PPV, but i’m not sure that showing the finish to every match is much better. Slow start to this one as the crowd goes back and forth chanting for both men. They chain wrestle to kick things off as the crowd continues chanting for both. They exchange grapples and both get to their feet neither really gaining a clear advantage yet. Bailey offers a handshake, Shelley accepts but then kicks Bailey in the stomach. Messed up by Shelley who is always worried about handshakes, glad commentary caught that. Bailey with his quick kicks to Shelley and sends him to the outside. Bailey follows Shelley to the outside and hits him with some strikes on the outside. Tom tells us that it looked like Shelleys shoulder was out of place when he was down in front of him. Bailey on the top rope but Shelley catches him with a jawbreaker from the top. Shelley with a forearm to the face of Bailey and then a stomp to the throat. Shelley dropkicks Bailey to the back sending him on the apron. Bailey to his feet but Shelley kicks his feet out from underneath him. Shelley with a dive to Bailey on the outside. Shelley fist bumps a fan and then chops Bailey multiple times on the barricade before rolling inside to break the count. Shelley with a chop to Bailey and then does a nature boy taunt. Shelley sends Bailey inside and then heads to the top. Shelley with a knee to the chest of Bailey. Shelley kicks to Bailey and then lifts him up for a unique ddt. Shelley covers for a two count before Bailey can bridge out.
Back from break and Shelley has Bailey locked in a submission. Bailey to his feet and Shelley slaps at the back of his head. Shelley bounces off the ropes and runs right into a huge kick to the chest from Bailey. Bailey with a spinning kick and kick to the face of Shelley. Shelley with a twisting shooting star press and cover on Shelley for a two count. Shelley fights back and sends Bailey face first into the turnbuckle. Shelley locks in the border city stretch but Bailey crawls to the rope and gets free. Shelley pulls Bailey to the center of the ring but Mike fights back with a series of strikes but Shelley lays into Bailey with some of his own and follows with a suplex. Shelley to his feet and slaps at his knee. Bailey to his feet on the apron, Shelley grabs him and looks for a suplex but Bailey escapes and goes for an inverted ultima weapon on the apron but Shelley moves and crashes his knees into the apron. Shelley with a DDT on Bailey on the apron to the outside taking both men out. Rehwaldt talks up Bailey’s matches earlier in the day as Shelley tries to win via count out but Bailey makes the ten count. Shelley goes for a baseball slide but Bailey with a springboard moonsault onto Shelley as he slid outside of the ring. This was a freakin awesome spot. Bailey sends Shelley into the ring and follows him in. Bailey with kicks to the chest and finally drops Shelley with one. Shelley pops right up but Bailey doesn’t notice it immediately. Shelley with forearms to the face of Bailey and a boot to the face, this pisses off Bailey so he pops up. Bailey goes for some stiff kicks but Shelley blocks it. Bailey with a series of stiff kicks and follows with a moonsault and knees to the ribs. Bailey with a kick to the face of Shelley and covers him for a two count. Bailey waits for Shelley to get up he goes for a spinning kick but Shelley ducks it and hits Bailey with a forearm and then a sliced bread, Shelley covers for two but rolls right into the border city stretch, Bailey rolls through into a cover and Shelley just barely kicks out. Bailey with the kick in the corner. He heads to the top and goes for ultima weapon but Shelley moves, Shelley with a kick to the back of the head, he goes for shell shocked but Bailey counters into a roll up for the victory.
Rating: ****
Review: This was a hell of a match, both men are awesome and it’s exactly what you might expect. It makes sense they went with the roll up victory, not sure how I feel about another roll up win on this show but I get Shelley not wanting to take Ultima Weapon. I would love to see a full length program from these two but if not at least we got a hell of a singles match.
