Himanshu’s Impact Wrestling Review 11.09.23

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, Alex Shelley vs Jonathan Gresham for the IMPACT World Title, Tommy Dreamer vs Crazzy Steve for the Digital Media Title, 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: November 9th, 2023
Location: Cicero Stadium in Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matt Rehwoldt

Match 1: Deonna Purrazzo vs. Tasha Steelz

Tasha takes down Deonna and twerks. Deonna takes Tasha down with a snapmare and ties her up and hits her with a basement dropkick and twerks. Tasha goes to kick her but Deonna catches her leg and goes for a Queen’s Gambit but Tasha gets out of it. Tasha whips her into the ropes but Deonna with a Sunset flip and they exchange pins. Deonna and Tasha clothesline each other and they’re both down. Deonna and Tasha exchange forearms. Deonna hits a knee followed by a side Russian leg sweep and Fujiwara Armbar. Tasha gets out of it and locks in a Venus de Milo. Deonna reverses it into a Fujiwara Armbar. Tasha goes after Deonna’s eyes. Tasha throws Deonna into the turnbuckle and hits a cutter followed by another cutter for the win.

Result: Tasha Steelz def. Deonna Purrazzo by pinfall
Rating: ***½

Alex Shelley is backstage and he says he knows Gresham is a former World Champion and he complains about not getting opportunities but he’s getting his opportunity now so let the best man win.

They show a recap of ABC winning the tag titles at Bound For Glory.

ABC is backstage and Bey says Ric Flair wanted to exchange Rolexes with him. Santino Marella shows up. Kenny King and Sheldon Jean show up and King asks why Santino wouldn’t pick up his calls and he wants a rematch for the Digital Media Championship. Santino says he doesn’t get a signal here. Santino books a tag team title match between ABC and King and Jean.

Match 2: Crazzy Steve vs. Tommy Dreamer for the Digital Media Championship

Tommy Dreamer hits Crazzy Steve with the Bionic Elbow followed by a reverse DDT for two. Tommy goes for a Death Valley Driver but Steve pokes his eyes and hits a Cannonball onto Dreamer in the corner. Steve grabs his suitcase from ringside and brings a fork out of it. Steve goes to stab Dreamer but Dreamer catches his hand and bites it. Dreamer hits a cutter and grabs the fork. He hits the fork into Steve’s head and gets disqualified.

Result: Crazzy Steve def. Tommy Dreamer by disqualification
Rating: **½

Crazzy Steve is busted open and leaves the ring laughing.

Gia Miller is backstage with Jonathan Gresham and he says he will prove that talent will rise above chaos and he will bring true honor to this ring by any means necessary.

Match 3: Joe Hendry vs. Brian Myers

Joe Hendry cuts a promo before the match and asks if they’ve all heard the news and that a rebrand is taking place. He says another rebrand is taking place tonight as Brian Myers is no longer Edge’s bitch, he is Adam’s bitch. He says the people in Chicago believe in Joe Hendry.

Hendry takes down Myers with a fireman’s carry and hits a vertical suplex for two. Hendry hits a scoop slam followed by a running elbow drop for two. Myers hits a side Russian leg sweep for two. Hendry picks up Myers and hits the Trustfall. Hendry picks up Myers for a stalling suplex for two. Myers sends Hendry into the steel post. Myers gets Hendry into a sleeper hold but Hendry reverses it into a vertical suplex. Hendry takes down Myers with clotheslines followed by three Fallaway Slams for two. Myers hits an enzugiri followed by a implant DDT for two. Hendry hits a pop-up powerbomb for two. Hendry went for the Standing Ovation but Myers pokes his eye and hits the Roster Cut for the win.

Result: Brian Myers def. Joe Hendry by pinfall
Rating: ***½

A video package airs hyping Will Ospreay vs. Josh Alexander.

Gia Miller is backstage with Will Ospreay and Will says he’s a former World Champion, the IWGP World Champion and on his shoulder is the IWGP UK Championship. He’s been in every promotion. He says Josh Alexander is good but no one is better than the Billy Goat. He says they’ll see if he’s got what it takes to be the best.

Match 3: Eddie Edwards vs. Eric Young

Eric Young goes a piledriver but Alisha distracts Eric and Eddie hits a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Alisha Edwards tosses a steel chair into the ring and the referee takes it away. Alisha looks to hit Eric with the kendo stick but she hits Eddie instead. Eric Young hits a piledriver for the win.

Result: Eric Young def. Eddie Edwards by pinfall
Rating: ***

Moose walks up to Myers and said he looked great. Myers asks where he was. Moose says Myers didn’t need his help at the Call Your Shot Gauntlet when he teamed with Matt Cardona. Heath walks up to Myers and Moose says he doesn’t talk to Myers like that. Heath says he will face the both of them.

Gia Miller is backstage with Sonny Kiss. Kiss says they would’ve loved to win the Call Your Shot Gauntlet and go after the Knockouts Championship. Trinity comes up and says maybe she could go to IMPACT management and get that match done.

Match 4: Dirty Dango and Oleg Prudius vs. Nick Diamond and Storm Graysin

Dirty Dango says he hates professional wrestling. Oleg Prudius hits a fallaway slam and pushes off Storm as he tries to hit a crossbody. Prudius tags to Dango who hits the Showstopper for the win.

Result: Dirty Dango and Oleg Prudius def. Nick Diamond and Storm Graysin by pinfall
Rating: **

Jordynne Grace is backstage with her Call Your Shot Gauntlet. Bully walks up to her and applauds her. Kilynn King walks up and says she was one of the four in the Call Your Shot Gauntlet. Bully tells her to back off. Kilynn says the first thing he told her was to never back down. Bully says not to back down until he tells her to. Kilynn asks what happened to him. Maclin walks up and says Bully has become soft. Bully says Maclin didn’t call him soft when he put Maclin through a table. Maclin says he’s still standing there and calling Bully soft. Bully says Maclin is still standing because Bully let him.

The Rascalz are backstage and Trey talks about the various versions of the Rascalz and introduces Myron Reed to IMPACT Wrestling.

Match 5: Alex Shelley vs. Jonathan Gresham for the IMPACT World Championship

Shelley hits Gresham with a headbutt. Gresham goes for a dropkick onto Shelley’s knee but Shelley moves and hits a flatliner onto the turnbuckle. Shelley hits a tornado DDT for two followed by a crossface. Gresham grabs the referee and gets to the rope to break the submission. Gresham chops Shelley’s knee. Shelley hits a rolling elbow and goes for a Border City Stretch but Gresham gets out of it. Gresham covers Shelley for two. Gresham and Shelley exchange forearms and Gresham rakes Shelley’s eyes. Shelley hits a back elbow but can’t run and Gresham hits a moonsault. Shelley and Gresham exchange a sequence of various kinds of pins. Gresham gets a Figure 4 Leglock onto Shelley but Shelley gets to the ropes. Shelley gets a package pin for two and hits Shell-shocked for the win.

Result: Alex Shelley def. Jonathan Gresham by pinfall
Rating: ****½

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

A really good episode of IMPACT. It was a little odd to go back to continuing storylines coming out of Bound For Glory after kind of ignoring it for the UK shows, though I understand why that happened. Tasha beating Deonna was an interesting result and you have to wonder if Deonna's contract is coming up soon and whether that plays into how she is booked in the next few months of TV. It is great to see Kilynn King become a singles competitor and she has gotten to shine with her promos which has really improved since her debut as part of The Coven. It's really exciting to finally see Myron Reed in IMPACT and I'm looking forward to seeing what he does in TNA in 2024. Shelley and Gresham put on a wrestling clinic as one would expect of them and Gresham showed that he could slip into that main event scene as and when needed and wrestle some of IMPACT's best. Do check out that main event.