wrestling / TV Reports
Cook’s Impact Emergence 2022 Review
Image Credit: Impact Wrestling
Loading...Hey kids! Impact Wrestling presented the 2022 edition of Emergence, and I was here to review it for 411. It went off with only one hitch, which was the part where I missed 1.5 matches due to technical difficulties. It might have been Impact Plus. It might have been my computer. It might have been a combination of the two. Either way, the fact that was the lowlight of the evening speaks well for the rest of the show. I was able to catch what I missed on Saturday morning though, so all’s well that ends well.
Cook’s Impact Emergence 2022 Review
Tom Hannifan & Matthew Rehwoldt are our announce team.
Impact Digital Media Championship Match: Brian Myers (c) vs. Bhupinder Gujjar: Myers has a microphone and uses it to tell us that Chicago absolutely sucks. No wonder he hasn’t gotten a deal with AEW. He has a blue checkmark on Twitter! Rehwoldt is now on Gujjar’s side after Myers’ remarks. Gujjar wins the first test of strength, then applies a headlock. Myers reverses, off the ropes with a shoulderblock. Gujjar with a reverse elbow, dropkick and a splash in the corner. Superkick to the back of the head gets two. Myers ducks outside when he sees Gujjar on the middle rope. Gujjar rams Myers’ back and head into the apron. Gujjar gets the rope against his lower abdominal region when he attempts to get back in the ring, leading to some offense for Myers and the fans chanting “New York Sucks”. Come on now, they’ve had a decent couple of weeks since Vince resigned. Suplex gets two, then it’s time for the chinlock. Myers goes for a superplex, but he gets dumped off the middle rope. Gujjar up top, hits a missile dropkick. Sling blade, back elbow, kicks from Gujjar. Jumping knee from Gujjar, then a Samoan drop gets two. Myers fights back, hits an Implant DDT for two. A spear gets a two count for the former Edgehead, who does some Edge motions before going for another spear. Gujjar blocks that, but Myers manages to get Gujjar’s head to bounce off an exposed turnbuckle. A rollup with a handful of tights ends it.
Winner: Brian Myers (8 minutes via pin)
Match Rating: **1/2
Pretty basic stuff, but completely inoffensive to the senses. Gujjar looks like he has some potential, and Myers is a decent hand to guide him on the way.
Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship Match: Rosemary & Taya Valkyrie (c) (w/Jessicka) vs. Chelsea Green & Deonna Purrazzo: Chelsea & Deonna are now known as VXT, complete with NXT 2.0 similar color scheme. It’s an idea. Taya & Chelsea start the match. Taya with a forearm, then a Mexican armdrag. Deonna tags in, knocks Rosemary down on the apron, but winds up on the defensive. Deonna ends up sitting on the second rope, Taya slides under and German suplexes her. Pretty spiffy. Rosemary tags in and I think she tried to bite Deonna’s face off. Didn’t work though. Tag to Chelsea, who kicks Rosemary, but that only hurts Rosemary for a second or two. On the outside we see a miscommunication, as Jessicka gets kicked into Rosemary. VXT double-team Rosemary in the corner, Rosemary fights back, but her upside down headscissors gets blocked. Green comes in, gets a nearfall and works the back. Chelsea goes for the I’m Prettier, but Rosemary blocks it and both women end up kicking each other in the head. Tag to Taya, who knocks Deonna off the apron, hits some knees & clotheslines Chelsea. Blue Thunder Bomb gets a two count on Green. Taya goes for the Road to Valhalla, but Deonna breaks it up. All four women in the ring now, Rosemary & Taya hit German suplexes. Doublestomp from Taya to Chelsea, a flurry of offense leads to a curb stomp from Chelsea to Rosemary. Taya gets kneed off the apron, Green goes for a dive but Jessicka takes it instead of Taya. Taya tags Rosemary, Chelsea’s isolated and they hit the Road to Valhalla for a two count. Rosemary gets booted by Chelsea and the referee checks on her. Jessicka up on the apron to distract the referee, but Rosemary ends up misting Taya instead of Chelsea! Double suplex on Rosemary leads to a three count and new champs!
Winners: Chelsea Green & Deonna Purrazzo (8 minutes via pinfall)
Match Rating: **3/4
Impact X Division Championship Match: Mike Bailey (c) vs. Jack Evans: It’s Evans’ first match with this company in ages. Evans with three near-falls right away, as he’s not getting paid by the hour. Then he walks about ringside for a minute, so maybe I was wrong. Bailey with a wristlock, Evans going to the ropes, eventually cartwheels into a headscissors. They exchange nearfalls, Evans with a crossbody, Bailey misses one. Evans misses a standing moonsault. They crossbody each other after running the ropes a few times. Bailey & Evans exchange kicks. Bailey wins the contest with a dropkick, then hits a tope suicida on Evans. One more on the other side! Evans rolls out to the other side, but Bailey’s not falling for that, he’ll just do a fun flip in the ring instead. Evans with a kick, then a spinning wheel kick off the ropes. Bailey gets put in a modified Muta Lock by Evans. Evans slows things down now, which is appreciated by those covering the show. Bailey fights back with a series of kicks. Twisting corkscrew splash gets two. Evans blocks a kick, hits a cartwheel back elbow in the corner. Northern Lights, Evans floats over into a Falcon Arrow for two. They exchange attempted strikes and end up kicking each other in the face. Evans goes for a springboard but gets knocked off the apron. Bailey with a Perfect 10 moonsault to the floor. Evans blocks a kick on the outside and both men are down. Back in the ring, Evans hits a Blockbuster for two. Evans goes up top, Bailey tries to meet him here, Evans keeps trying to knock him down, Bailey keeps fighting though. Evans ends up spider German suplexing Bailey! Bailey doesn’t stay down though. Shooting star knees from Bailey get a three count.
Winner: Mike Bailey (15 minutes via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***1/2
Some good spots from two folks who are very skilled at doing such things. Evans used to be the guy that did more flips than anybody, not sure if Bailey is there yet but it’s entertaining.
Eddie Edwards gives his Honor No More fellas a pep talk. They refuse to die! PCO injured Doc Gallows, and Eddie wants him to finish the job. Kenny King knows that even if he isn’t in the match, he’s still an important part of all this. He’s gonna set a Heath trap. Maria talks about how the Bullet Club has been chasing her & the Kingdom for 8 years. PCO screams the group name.
We see a video featuring the issues between Steve Maclin & Sami Callihan.
Sami Callihan vs. Steve Maclin: Maclin interrupts Callihan’s crazed entrance and suplexes him onto the apron. Sami suplexes Steve on the ramp, so I think they’re even. Sami gets a chair, which the referee isn’t feeling. Maclin tries to use it as well. The referee takes an awkward bump at the hands of both men, and Maclin & Callihan fight around ringside. Maclin gets sent through the safety rail into the crowd. Callihan runs into the wall, and both men disappear into the backstage area. Apparently that’s going to be all for that?
Winner: No Match
Looks like it, as now we’re seeing a video about Violent By Design’s issues with KUSHIDA and the Motor City Machine Guns.
Chris Sabin & Kushida vs. Deaner & Eric Young (w/Joe Doering): KUSHIDA & Young start the match, but not before Young can walk around ringside and get his bearings. Young with some strikes in the corner and a tag to Deaner. KUSHIDA goes on the offensive then, hits a gator roll and goes for the Hoverboard lock, but Deaner fights that off. Frequent tags from Sabin & KUSHIDA. Sabin works the arm of Deaner, including a kick. KUSHIDA continues the focus on the arm, hopefully setting up a submission victory later. Young kicks KUSHIDA while he goes off the ropes, changing the momentum possibly. Young with a Flair Flip in the corner, but KUSHIDA meets him up top. Young bites his way out of a Hoverboard lock, then drops the elbow on KUSHIDA’s back. Deaner & Young doubleteam while the referee is distracted. KUSHIDA’s neck gets focused on now, Young gets 2 with a neckbreaker. Deaner opts for some less scientific offense, gouging at KUSHIDA’s face. More double teaming in the corner. Young blocks the tag to Sabin, knocking Sabin off the apron. KUSHIDA fights back, jumps over VBD and tags in Sabin. Cross-body to both men, Deaner’s used for a tornado DDT on Young. Big boot in the corner by Sabin, another spinning kick gets a two count on Deaner. Young blocks the Cradleshock and sends Sabin outside. VBD sets up one of the Machine Guns’ moves, but Sabin & KUSHIDA can do it better. KUSHIDA kick into a Cradleshock only gets two. Young goes for a piledriver, Sabin rolls through for two. Deaner with a lowblow, series of neckbreakers. Diving headbutt by Deaner, elbowdrop by Young get two on Sabin. KUSHIDA with a handspring into a double elbow and everybody’s down. They face off & exchange strikes on the mat. Sabin & KUSHIDA get the upper hand, Deaner & Young get kicked down. Dream Sequence by Sabin & KUSHIDA on both Deaner & Young. Deaner tries to get a flagpole and distracts the referee so Joe Doering can knock KUSHIDA off the top rope. Young piledrives Sabin and that’s the three count.
Winners: Deaner & Eric Young (12 minutes via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***
Some solid textbook tag team rasslin.
Gia Miller interviews VXT, though the microphone doesn’t work until Chelsea Green starts talking. VXT is their entire friendship & history. They’ve always known how good they are, and now so does everybody else.
Kenny King comes out with a chair. He’s out here to make sure Heath doesn’t get involved in Honor No More’s match with Bullet Club later on. He’s got a concussion with his name on it! The crowd pops, but that’s because Sami Callihan & Steve Maclin are fighting in the crowd. Heath appears in the ring and hits the Wakeup Call on King. I don’t think that was the Honor No More plan, but they’re kinda weird so maybe it was. Gia Miller appears in the crowd to interview Heath, who has promised to hit the Wakeup Call on every Honor No More member. Heath says that Bullet Club can handle their business, but he’ll be waiting for Honor No More if they survive tonight.
Bandido vs. Rey Horus: AAA looking to steal another show here, as the Code of Honor is adhered to. Fans chant Lucha. Headlock by Bandido, off the ropes, they trade shoulderblocks and Bandido does some shimmying. Handspring by Bandido, knee to the face and a headscissors sends Horus down. Horus with a takedown off the ropes, but Bandido hits a kick, goes for the 21plex, that’s blocked, and after some evaded strikes we’re at a standoff. Another handshake, but the offense isn’t far behind. Bandido with a twisting splash off the ropes, then a Fosbury flop to the floor. Bandido up top, jumps into a dropkick from Horus for two. Horus calls for the brainbuster, but Bandido heard him and turns that into the three amigoes. Walking handstand into a senton gets two for Bandido, that was nice. Bandido misses in the corner, then misses along the ropes, tumbling to the floor. Bandido tries to evade Horus, but Horus ends up jumping over the ringpost onto Bandido. Crowd chants This Is Lucha, which is accurate. Top rope 180 splash gets two. Bandido with the one armed gorilla press, and a twisting legdrop gets two. Bandido & Horus exchange shots and head to the corner, some twists & turns end up with Bandido getting spiked on a DDT. Gracious. That gets two, of course. Bandido & Horus fight on the other turnbuckle, ending up with Bandido deadlift suplexing Horus back into the ring for two. Bandido working a modified abdominal stretch into a cradle for two. Pop up cutter by Bandido, Horus with a facebuster, both men with a kick. Quite the sequence. The crowd counts along with the referee in Spanish, and the wrestlers do a zombie situp just before 10. That counts as reaching your feet here, and is fine with me. Knee strike from Bandido, who goes up top and hits the froggy splash for two. Horus with another DDT after tiltawhirlage and another two count. Bandido gets Horus up, knees him in the face. Horus with the Flair Flop! Bandido goes fot it, hits the 21plex for three!
Winner: Bandido (12 minutes via pinfall)
Match Rating: ****
I’m guessing that the Bandido/Horus style is a bit divisive among the folks, but if you dig it like I do, you’ll dig the heck out of this sprint.
Gia Miller is with Moose, who was enjoying his night off until Gia asked him the same dumb question she always asks. Him & Steve Maclin is not a thing. He doesn’t need Maclin’s help to beat up Sami Callihan. Maybe he does, as Sami attacks & there’s Maclin to assist Moose. They’re heading down towards the ring now, and Callihan gets rolled down the ramp. D’Lo Brown directs security to break it up. Scott D’Amore’s music hits and everybody stands in the entrance. He should have known it wouldn’t be a regular match, so they’re going to try it again. Moose is banned from ringside, and Maclin vs. Callihan will be no DQ. So here we go.
Steve Maclin vs. Sami Callihan: Callihan uses some of the ringside plunder on Maclin, and rams his head into the steps. Sami bows for the crowd. He heads back outside as Maclin has donned a mask of the crimson variety. Sami misses Maclin and hits the safety rail. Maclin hangs Sami on the safety rail and spears him. That looked more dangerous for Maclin, to be honest. Maclin suplexes Callihan on the floor. He then knee drops Sami off the apron. Maclin gets a chair and introduces it to Callihan’s back. Now Maclin’s found some chairs under the ring and tosses them into the ring. He’s also found a Swiffer stick! The fans are intrigued with the Swiffer stick, but Maclin opts not to use it. Fans are pissed! Maclin uses the chair instead, and sits Sami on it. Sami spits on Maclin’s face, which just makes Maclin more upset. Sami then exploder suplexes Maclin into the chair. Sami tosses a chair off of Maclin’s head. Sabu would be proud of that one, and the following one, where the chair ends up wrapped around Maclin’s head. THUMBS UP THUMBS DOWN, but a low blow stops the piledriver from happening. Maclin repeatedly rams a chair into Sami’s ribs. Maclin has located a case under the ring and tosses it into the ring. Some interesting objects in there, but Sami fights back. Maclin hits the KIA DDT. He then puts a sleeperhold on Sami, but Sami powers up and mule kicks Maclin. Sami tosses the chair again, then just stomps the man in the balls repeatedly. Hey, it’s no disqualification. Sami gets some zipties that Maclin was looking to use earlier, and restrains Maclin’s hands behind his back. I’m guessing this isn’t the first time Sami has done something like this. Maclin spits in Sami’s face, which leads to a Cactusdriver ’97 and the three count.
Winner: Sami Callihan (12 minutes via pinfall)
Match Rating: **3/4
Well, that ended up going pretty fine after the weirdness earlier in the show. Chicago always likes a good brawl.
Bullet Club (Ace Austin, Chris Bey, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson & Hikuleo) vs. Honor No More (Eddie Edwards, Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, PCO & Vincent) (w/Maria Kanellis-Bennett): If Honor No More loses, the faction disbands. Unfortunately Maria leaves ringside, but it’s probably for the best since this is also Anything Goes. The bell rings and it’s a Pier 10 brawl. Edwards & Austin going at it on the outside like they have been the last few years in Impact. Doc & Karl isolate Vincent, but Taven & Bennett come to his rescue. Gallows double clotheslines them, but his shoulder’s giving him some issues. Bey & Austin doubleteam Vincent, then Eddie in the ring. Vincent gets kicked down to the floor. Bey dives onto PCO, who catches him and chokeslams him on the apron. Austin fires away on PCO in the ring, but eventually gets chokeslammed for his trouble. Hikuleo & PCO face off and exchange forearms. PCO eventually gets sent outside, and Bey vaults over Hikuleo onto the folks on the floor. Hikuleo gonna fly? Nope, Taven cuts that off. So Hikuleo tosses Taven onto those folks on the floor. Austin evades people on the apron, vaults back into the ring and ends up blockbusting Taven into the mass of humanity. That was neat. Gallows & Anderson look under the ring and find some chairs & a couple of trash cans. Vincent walks into a trash can shot. Eddie gets hit with a sign. Bey chills out at ringside after using a chair. Austin hits Taven with the trash can lid and gets a two count. Austin then gets sent crotchfirst into the ringpost by Edwards. Taven & Bennett double team Hikuleo. Bey has suddenly been isolated by Honor No More, but PCO misses the moonsault onto the trash can. Gallows sends PCO into the ramp, then gets double superkicked. Hikuleo gets a double low blow from the OGK. Now we’re in the crowd and it’s tough to see exactly what’s going on, but Gallows is getting the brunt of it before the fights back. Taven gets sent into the plexiglass, fortunately for him this isn’t CZW and the glass stays intact. Gallows then chokeslams PCO through a table from about 7 feet or so in the air. Meanwhile, Austin & Bey set a table up at ringside. Taven is surrounded by Bullet Club people by that table, but it’s Gallows who ends up on the table and it’s Vincent doing a dang swanton off the top rope to the table on the floor. Edwards has Kenny the kendo stick, and hits Anderson with him a couple of times. Gallows comes back and throws the trash can at people. Taven eats a sign from Anderson. Time for the Magic Killer? No, Gallows’ arm gives out, Edwards hits people with Kenny, and Taven hits the Climax on the trash can. Gallows is pinned, meaning that Honor No More is still a thing and Taven & Bennett get a tag team title shot.
Winners: Honor No More (16 minutes via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***
A crazy brawl, as one would expect from the folks involved here. Honor No More has gotten mixed reviews from people since its inception…I think it’s a perfectly fine stable. Not saying it’s a main event group that the promotion should be focused around, but the wrestlers seem to compliment each other pretty well. There have been far worse groups in this company.
Impact Knockouts Championship Match: Jordynne Grace (c) vs. Mia Yim: David Penzer enters the ring to do the super special ring announcing. Scott Armstrong is your referee. I believe that’s the first time he’s been around here in awhile, but I’ve missed some of the recent television so I could be wrong. Fans start the dueling chants before the bell. Some headlock takeovers and headscissors to start and evenly matched rasslin. A tieup ends up going into the corner. Mia jumps into an atomic drop, Jordynne deadlift Germans her for the one count. Yim dropkicks Grace down, then dropkicks her into the corner. Grace goes outside, and Yim meets her there with the tope suicida. Another one count. Little kick to the back from Mia, who goes on the offensive. Jordynne blocks the suplex, so Mia locks in a guillotine choke. Grace stands up out of it, and suplexes Yim over. Yim runs right into a boot, but punches Grace and follows her up top. Grace fights off the suplex, goes for a sunset flip powerbomb and ends up running out with it instead. Forearm exchange! Yim ends that with a kick, but Grace keeps going back to the forearms. Yim’s kicks are working though, a Pele kick gets a two count. Grace rings Yim’s bell with a knee, then hits a spinebuster for two. The Mia chants are louder at this point in the match, and Jordynne hits a Northern Lariat before applying the Muta Lock. Mia manages to break it, then both women apply inverted chinlocks while their legs are still locked. They exchange shots, and a headbutt from Mia breaks the struggle. Yim hits a tornado DDT for two. Grace fights back as the fans chant for the Knockouts, and she hits a Musclebuster for two. Yim hits an enziguri in the corner, but Grace follows her up top. Yim gets the advantage, and hits the Code Blue off the middle rope! Grace kicks at two. Grace lifts Yim up, we end up in a series of near-falls. Yim with two spinkicks, Grace hits the Grace Driver and that’ll get the three count!
Winner: Jordynne Grace (14 minutes via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***3/4
The fans loved that one, and I have to concur with them. Grace offers the handshake of honor, but before Yim can accept, Masha Slamovich makes her appearance! It seems that she has another death warrant, and she issues it to Jordynne. I’m very interested in seeing that confrontation.
Victory Road will be on Impact Plus on September 23 in Nashville, while Bound For Glory will be on PPV on October 7 in Albany. Back when the Voodoo Penguin & I did Royal Rumble review podcasts, we made many a reference to Albany.
Impact World Championship Match: Josh Alexander (c) vs. Alex Shelley: The MCMG theme song is one of the most underrated themes out there. Fitting, as Shelley & “underrated” often go in the same sentence. As Penzer makes sure to mention, this is Shelley’s first Impact World Title shot. He’s been around a long time too. Shelley offers the handshake, and Alexander abides by the Code of Honor. Shelley goes for a hammerlock, Alexander headlocks Shelley down and Shelley headscissors out of it. Alexander cartwheels out of a wristlock and applies one of his own. Shelley does some World of Sport style countering. Shelley works a headlock. Alexander tries to lift Shelley out, but Shelley holds on. Alexander works out of it, Shelley with a rana, then a shot to Alexander’s knee. Alexander’s headgear comes off, and Shelley kicks it out of the ring! Shelley targets the knee, and it’s apparent he’ll pull out all the stops here. Shelley showing some attitude, but Alexander fights back and applies an armbar. Shelley manuvers Alexander into the ropes, and kicks Josh’s left arm while it’s wrapped in the ropes. Shelley runs into an elbow, then gets booted down by Alexander. Backbreaker from Alexander gets two. Josh goes for an anklelock, Alex finds the ropes. Alexander with a Gory Special. He turns it into a backslide that gets two. Alexander runs into a boot in the corner, and Shelley goes back to the left arm. La Mistica by Shelley, which he turns into the Border City Stretch for a second before Alexander hits another backbreaker. Alexander gets knocked to the floor, then kicked a couple of times by Shelley while he’s on the apron. Shelley opts to toss Alexander back into the ring instead of doing anything on the floor, which may have been a mistake. Alexander cross-bodies Shelley off the apron onto the floor. Shelley kinda looked like he was looking for a tag while down on the mat, but he hits a dragon screw on Alexander to change the momentum. Shelley with a kneeling figure-4, then he transitions to a Kimura lock/Koji clutch combo. Shelley with a twisting forearm, he goes for a rana, but Alexander blocks that. He can’t do his C4 spike though, and Shelley kicks him down. They exchange suplex attempts, and Alexander wins the battle. His knee seems to be giving him some problems though. Strike exchange, and Alexander takes off his elbow pad to help things out. Alexander wins the strike battle, then lands a T-bone suplex. Finlay Roll by Alexander, then he goes to the middle turnbuckle. Nothing doing there, Shelley hits some kicks in the corner and then a Flatliner into the middle turnbuckle. Tornado DDT from Shelley, who goes to the top rope. Frog splash gets the two count, and Alexander grabs Shelley’s ankle, which was foolishly right in Alexander’s face! Shelley makes it to the ropes. Superkick from Shelley, and some Sliced Bread, but Alexander rolls through for the two count! Shelley turns a powerbomb attempt into a facebuster, kicks Alexander and hits the Air Raid Crash for two. Alexander rolled outside of the ring after that, and momentarily has the advantage out there before Shelley hits a Sliced Bread on said floor. Back in the ring, and it’s Border City Stretch time! Alexander finds the ropes. Alexander with some forearms, Shelley with some chops. Alexander’s getting mad now and wants more chops. Alexander with a chop, but Shelley kicks the left arm a couple of times. Armbreaker by Shelley, he goes for Shell Shock but it’s Aelxander with rolling German suplexes. Electric chair drop by Alexander, they exchange forearms and Alexander forearms Shelley down for the two count. Alexander goes back to the ankle lock after an attempted enziguri, and now locks in a Sharpshooter. Shelley breaks it, goes for the BCS, Alexander clotheslines him down for two, and there’s another ankle lock. Shelley kicks out of that, goes for a roll up and back to the BCS, Alexander counters, but Shelley hits two Shell Shocks for a two count! Rollup out of another BCS gets two, and Alexander hits a That’s Incredible for two. C4 Spike gets blocked, but Alexander hits a Shell Shock of his own. There’s the C4 Spike, and there’s the three count!
Winner: Josh Alexander (23 minutes via pinfall)
Match Rating: ****1/4
Damn, Shelley literally got spiked there. Alexander is a bit too worn out to celebrate a lot as we fade to black. Exactly the type of outstanding wrestling match you’d expect from two in-ring talents of this caliber. It’s nice to be able to tune into Impact and know the main event is more often than not going to deliver…that hasn’t always been the case over the years.
