Himanshu’s Impact Wrestling Review 08.10.23

Hey there, IMPACT fans! It’s Thursday and that means it’s time for another episode of IMPACT Wrestling. I’m Himanshu (you can follow me on Twitter @Himanshu_Doi) and you know how this works. Tonight on IMPACT, Samuray Del Sol makes his IMPACT debut teaming with Laredo Kid and Black Taurus against Bully Ray, Moose and Brian Myers, Rich Swann and Sami Callihan battle ABC in the Tag Team Title Contenders Tournament, Mike Bailey takes on KUSHIDA, Alisha Edwards engages in Knockouts warfare against Jody Threat, Dirty Dango goes one-on-one with Bhupinder Gujjar and so much more. So let’s jump right in!

As a reminder, the GoFundMe for Larry’s daughters is still active and if you can make a donation, that would be awesome. Thank you so much to everyone who’s done so thus far.

IMPACT Wrestling

Date: August 10th, 2023
Location: Cicero Stadium, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matt Rehwoldt

Match 1: Rich Swann and Sami Callihan vs. ABC

Sami hits a DDT and facebuster combination on Ace and Bey and hits a Death Valley Driver on Bey for two. Tag to Swann and Bey tags to Ace. Bey lifts Swann on his shoulders and Ace hits a single leg kick from the middle rope. Sami gets the tag and they all hit kicks on each other. Bey goes for the Art of Finesse but Sami catches him with a chickenwing but Bey reverses it. Ace and Bey hit the Art of Finesse followed by The Fold and go for the cover, but Swann breaks it up and two. Austin hits a spin kick on Sami and goes for the cover, but Jason Hotch pulls out the referee. Brian Myers hits the stroke on Austin and Sami Callihan pins him for the win.

Result: Rich Swann and Sami Callihan def. ABC by pinfall
Rating: ***

We see Santino Marella backstage, and The Coven come up with them and talk to them about the tag team situation. Courtney Rush and Jessicka come up to them and say they want to be added to the tag team match at Emergence because they’re awesome. MK Ultra show up and Masha says they’ll take them all.

Match 2: Bhupinder Gujjar vs. Dirty Dango

Before the match, Dango gets on the mic and says he hates professional wrestling. Gujjar hits a spinebuster on Dirty Dango. Gujjar looks for the Gargoyle Spear, but Alpha Bravo flashes a flashlight in his eyes. Dirty Dango hits a reverse DDT for the win.

Result: Dirty Dango def. Bhupinder Gujjar by pinfall
Rating: **

After the match, Dango gets on the mic and says he still hates professional wrestling. He says he can literally smell the body heat on everyone in the crowd. Jake Something’s music hits and Jake comes to the ring. Jake asks if he knows how hard it was for him to come back to IMPACT. He tells Dango that if hates pro-wrestling so much, get out of there or Jake would make him. Dango gets out of the ring. Bravo distracts Jake and Dango tries to attack Jake from behind but Jake hits him with a forearm.

A vignette for the Design and Deaner said he is not a failure. He said Eric Young returning is not his failure, it is Eric’s betrayal. He says Kon will never betray him. Kon says Young is a sheep and we all know how this story ends. Kon says Eric’s ass is his.

Backstage interview of Johnny Swinger and Gia asks if he’s ready to challenge for the championship. Swinger says he is ready. Kenny King comes up and says he is the DMC Champion, which means he is the Internet Champion, and the Internet goes out into the galaxy which means he is the DMC Champion of the galaxy. Swinger asks what the Internet is.

Match 3: Alisha Edwards vs. Jody Threat

Jody Threat hits a German Suplex and goes for the F416, but Alisha gets out of it and Eddie trips her from the outside with the kendo stick. Kazarian comes out and clears out Eddie. Jody hits the F416 for the win.

Result: Jody Threat def. Alisha Edwards by pinfall
Rating: **

After the match, Kazarian looks to hit Eddie with the kendo stick but accidentally hits Alisha. Kazarian is sorry about doing it and Eddie carries her to the back.

Deonna is backstage and she challenges Kilynn King to a match and tells Trinity to watch.

Match 4: Mike Bailey vs. KUSHIDA

Mike Bailey hits a running Shooting Star Press for two. Bailey and KUSHIDA exchange chops. KUSHIDA whips Bailey shoulder first into the post on the outside as we go to commercial.

Back from commercial and KUSHIDA picks Bailey and drops him knee first onto the floor. Bailey is on the apron and KUSHIDA slides out of the ring, but Bailey catches him with a springboard moonsault. Bailey gets an armbar on KUSHIDA and hits a moonsault double knees for two and goes for the armbar, but KUSHIDA gets his foot on the ropes. Bailey kicks KUSHIDA in the face and gets two. Bailey hits a tornado kick on KUSHIDA in the corner and goes to the top rope, but KUSHIDA catches him with a Hoverboard Lock. KUSHIDA hits the package driver for the win.

Result: KUSHIDA def. Mike Bailey by pinfall
Rating: ***¾

We see a backstage interview by Tom Hannifan of Crazzy Steve. Steve says he requested Tom for this. Steve says he’s legally blind and he’s come up to roadblock after roadblock. Tom asks who is his family that is supporting him. Steve says that is a very interesting story.

We see footage of Subculture defending their tag titles in the UK. Subculture cut a promo and Mark Andrews says they will defend their tag titles.

We see a man and woman arguing backstage and the guy tells her to say his name and Joe Hendry appears. The guy asks Joe what he’s doing there, and Joe says he said his name. Yuya shows up. Joe says Yuya interjected himself in Joe’s one contractually obligated rematch and asks what Yuya has to say. Yuya says “champions” and Joe agrees that they should go after the tag team titles.

Match 5: Samuray Del Sol, Laredo Kid and Black Taurus vs. Bully Ray, Moose and Brian Myers

Before the match, Lio Rush takes out Samuray del Sol backstage, making it a 2 vs. 3 match. Samurai hits a tilt-a-whirl DDT on Moose and a Frankensteiner off Bully. Bully whips Laredo into the referee in the corner. Bully Ray tries to pull off the mask of Laredo, but the lights go out and when they come back on, PCO is in the ring. Bully Ray is shocked as PCO throws Moose and Myers out of the ring and Bully gets out of the ring and PCO hits a Suicide Dive and clears Moose and Myers. Taurus hits a Suicide Dive on Moose as Laredo Kid hits a Frog Splash on Myers for two. Myers hits the Roster Cut on Laredo Kid for the win.

Result: Bully Ray, Moose and Brian Myers def. Samuray Del Sol, Laredo Kid and Black Taurus by pinfall
Rating: ***

After the match, Bully Ray is seen getting out of the arena and into a car and PCO knocks on his window as Bully drives away.

6.9

The final score: review Average

The 411

Decent show closing with the return of PCO who had been lit on fire by Bully Ray and Maclin. Rich Swann and Sami Callihan beating ABC was a surprise, but they had it make sense with Brian Myers and Jason Hotch interfering in the match. It's good to see Jake Something get a push this time around and I hope it continues as he could potentially be a main eventer in the future. Yuya and Joe Hendry as a tag team is an interesting development and gives the tag division one more team to work with. They've come up with a new direction for Crazzy Steve by showing a more human side to him and I'm curious to see where they're going with this. Since Steve seems to be on his own, I'd like to see Black Taurus be a part of a tag team with Laredo Kid from here on as he's too good to not be used in a more meaningful way.