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Himanshu’s Impact Wrestling Review 12.01.22

December 1, 2022 | Posted by Himanshu Doi
Jordynne Grace Mickie James Impact Wrestling 12-1-22 Image Credit: Impact Wrestling
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Himanshu’s Impact Wrestling Review 12.01.22  

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 if you’d like) and you know how this works. Tonight, we have Mickie James vs. Deonna Purrazzo, Bully Ray vs. Rich Swann, Frankie Kazarian vs. Steve Maclin and Moose vs. Bhupinder Gujjar. 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

Bully Ray opened the show. He asks for the music to be shut off. He says he admits he’s a little nervous. Not for him but for the fans. He’s from New York, they’re from Kentucky so they might not understand him, so he’ll try to keep it simple. He threatened to slap some kid in the crowd in the face. He asked why people would be mad at him. He said he entered IMPACT, won the Call Your Shot Trophy, he told everyone that when he was going to call his shot, he was going to look him eye to eye and shake his hand and tell that he was coming for him, and that’s exactly what he did. That doesn’t bother him, because he thinks Josh Alexander is a great wrestler. He said Josh reminds him of Kurt Angle and is one of the greatest to step foot in an IMPACT ring. He says as great as he is in the ring, he’s not smart like Bully Ray. Bully says he is one of the smartest men in the industry. He says Josh might have forgotten who he was. He says he was the guy who ran Hulk Hogan out of IMPACT, he defeated Sting and made sure he could never challenge for the IMPACT World Title again, screwed Brooke Hogan and put Dixie Carter through a table. Bully says with all the things that he has done, why would Josh Alexander bring his wife to ringside. He says Josh is not going to be there for a couple of weeks. He has endured trauma. Bully tells Josh to take all the time he needs as long as he shows up at Hard To Kill. He says he is Bully Ray and he will be the 3-time IMPACT World Champion.

Rich Swann runs out and goes after Bully Ray. Bully Ray gets out of the ring but Swann hits a diving crossbody. A referee runs out as we go to commercial.

Match 1: Bully Ray vs Rich Swann

Back from commercial, and Bully takes Swann down with a clothesline. He takes Swann in the corner and slaps him on the chest. He takes Swann in another corner and slaps him in the chest again. He mocks the crowd to clap for Swann. Swann gets out of a Banzai Drop and hits a kick to Bully followed by a Top Rope Splash for a one count. Swann hits a jawbreaker on Bully and hits a dropkick followed by a kick. He hits a missile dropkicks from the second rope for a one count. Swann hits a 450 Splash for a two count. He goes to the top rope and hits a crossbody for another two. Swann runs towards Bully in the corner but Bully hits him in the face with a steel chain for a disqualification.

Result: Rich Swann def. Bully Ray by DQ
Rating: **1/2
Himanshu’s Hot Take: A match to put over the heel Bully Ray. Solid for what it was, and Bully is limited in what he can do in the ring. It’s unfortunate though that Swann seems like a bit of an afterthought in IMPACT right now and lacking real direction.

Bully grabs a steel chair from ringside and hits Swann in the back. He grabs a fan’s sign and tears it up before hitting Swann with another couple of chair shots. He looks under the ring and gets a zip tie and ties Swann to the ring rope. He is about to hit Swann with a steel chair but Tommy Dreamer comes out to stop him. Bully asks what Dreamer’s problem is. After everything they’ve been through, Dreamer is going to stick up for Swann. He shoves Tommy down. Scott D’Amore comes out and is irate. Bully Ray gets out of the ring. Scott D’Amore throws the Call Your Shot Trophy. Bully Ray says he agrees with D’Amore and says he is a piece of shit, and D’Amore is the guy that hired him. Bully Ray leaves as D’Amore throws a chair at Bully Ray.

A Trey Miguel taped promo where he says people are not happy with Trey Miguel. He says he lost the X-Division belt. He did what he did to get it back. He says he is the future and spray painted his logo on the X-Division belt.

Match 2: Moose vs Bhupinder Gujjar

Moose goes for Uranage but Gujjar fights out of it and Moose gets out of the ring. Moose hits a boot to Gujjar’s face and hits a powerbomb to Gujjar onto the apron. Gujjar gets back in the ring as we go to commercial.

Back from commercial and Moose whips Gujjar in the corner. He slaps Gujjar in the face but Gujjar slaps back. Moose hits a uranage. He goes for the spear but Gujjar moves out of the way. Gujjar hits an enzugiri followed by a ripcord knee and a Slingblade. Gujjar looks for the Gargoyle Spear but Moose gets out of the way. Moose goes for the spear and Gujjar gets out of the way, but Moose goes for it again and he hits it this time for the win.

Result: Moose def. Bhupinder Gujjar by pin.
Rating: ***
Himanshu’s Hot Take: Solid win for Moose and another solid showing from Gujjar who’s getting smoother with each match and expanding his moveset. It was interesting to see him call out the heel Bully Ray after the match as you don’t usually see a heel calling out another heel.

Moose throws Gujjar out of the ring. He gets a mic and asks, “Do you know who I am”. He warned people about Bully Ray but they didn’t listen to him. He said he won at Overdrive and he doesn’t want to listen to Bully Ray’s name again. He tells people should never say his name again. “Say his name and he appears”.

Joe Hendry’s music plays and he comes out. Moose asks what Joe is doing in his ring. Joe says Moose called him out. Moose said he was talking about Bully Ray. Hendry says he told “say his name” and he appears and thats a way of saying that they believe. “We believe” chants. Moose says he doesn’t have time for this so he tell Hendry to get out of the ring. Hendry says from a current champion to a former one, he sees a cry for help when he says one. Moose goes for the punch but Hendry fights out of it and hits a big boot. Hendry gets back up and Gujjar hits a Gargoyle Spear on Moose. Hendry and Gujjar celebrate.

Mike Bailey interviewed backstage and he says he believes he would’ve won if not for Kenny King. He says he’s not going to let King affect him and his goals will remain as they are.

A taped promo from Mickie James and she says she didn’t expect to win the Knockouts Championship. She feels like the new generation is a locker room of talented women. She says she felt that she belonged in the locker room, she should be able to stand toe-to-toe with them. Deonna says Mickie James is the biggest snake in the grass. Deonna says she is not looking to ruin Mickie’s career, she’s looking to end it. Mickie says she has to stay focused because if she doesn’t, it’s game over.

Match 2: Steve Maclin vs Kazarian

Maclin talks trash to start the match and it gets into punches. Kazarian punches Maclin in the corner. Whip into the corner but Maclin reverses it and Kazarian falls out of the ring. Maclin hits a uranage onto his knee. Maclin places Kazarian onto the second rope and hits a running knee on Kazarian. Maclin punches Kazarian and whips him hard into the corner. Maclin goes for a vertical suplex but Kazarian goes for a small package but Maclin takes him down. He whips Kazarian into the corner and runs into him but Kazarian goes for a roll up for two. Kazarian hits a running forearm and hits a double knee into the back onto Maclin the corner. Kazarian hits a legdrop for a two count. Maclin pushes Kazarian in the corner. Kazarian hits a guillotine legdrop on Maclin who was hanging on the second rope. Kazarian hits a slingshot on Maclin on the outside into a cutter in the ring and goes for the cover but Maclin’s foot is on the ropes. Maclin gets a steel chair and hits Kazarian with it for the DQ.

Result: Kazarian def. Maclin by DQ.
Rating: ***1/2
Himanshu’s Hot Take: Solid match. Kazarian continues to impress in IMPACT and I’m glad we’re continuing to see him in IMPACT. I’m guessing we get to see another match between these two again soon.

Maclin hits the double underhook DDT on Kazarian onto the steel chair.

We see a clip from Overdrive where Jessicka and Taya won.

Tasha backstage and she asks where Savannah Evans was. Tasha says because Evans she beat Jessicka, she is big and bad. She asks why not Evans face Taya next week and Tasha will learn from her.

A promo for IPWF Throwback Throwdown III.

Backstage interview of Eddie and says he doesn’t want to talk about his personal things, but this has affected his marriage. Be said he doesn’t regret anything over the past year. He said he did it for a reason. To build a better future, and now, he is focused on the future. Delirious shows up and they have a staredown.

Heath and Rhino are backstage. MCMG asks for a title show. Heath says they will go to D’Amore for a match. Rhino says he will rip them up in half with a Gore. Gore. Gore.

Next week on IMPACT, Taya vs Savannah Evans, Josh Alexander will be back in IMPACT.

Match 3: Deonna Purrazzo vs Mickie James

Lockup to start. Deonna takes Mickie down but Mickie reverses with Leg Scissors. Deonna goes after Mickie’s arm but Mickie counters it and hits armdrags for a two count. Purrazzo goes a cover but gets two. Mickie hits a kick to the midsection and goes for the Mick Kick but Purrazzo gets out of it as we go to commercial.

Back from commercial and Mickie hits Deonna with chops in the corner. She hits a Thesz Press on Deonna followed by punches. Deonna counters with a back elbow. Deonna hits a lariat hits elbows on Mickie’s shoulders for two. Deonna gets Mickie in the corner and kicks her in the face. Deonna gets a jacknife pin for two. Deonna put Mickie in a headlock. She whips Mickie into the corner but Mickie counters with a headscissors. Mickie hits a kick to the face for two. Mickie goes to the top rope but Deonna pushes her out of the ring as we go to commercial.

Back from commercial and Deonna hits a brain buster for two. Deonna locks in a Camel Clutch but Mickie fights out of it and hits forearms but Deonna counters with a forearm. Mickie James throws Deonna out of the ring and hits a dropkick to Deonna. Mickie goes to the top rope and hits a Thesz Press to the outside. Mickie tosses Deonna inside and goes to the top rope and hits a Missile Dropkick. She hits a neckbreaker for two. Mickie goes for the Mick DT but Deonna pushes her in the corner. Mickie hits a kick in the face for two. She goes for the Mick DT but Deonna counters into the Fujiwara Armbar but Mickie gets her foot on the bottom rope. Deonna goes for the roll up but Mickie reverses into her own roll up for 3.

Result: Mickie James def. Deonna Purrazzo by pin.
Rating: ***3/4
Himanshu’s Hot Take: Good match. The result was never in doubt and I’m glad they protected Deonna here with the roll up victory. Mickie James has been doing enough to hang with the current generation of IMPACT Knockouts and her match with Jordynne Grace should be interesting. One would assume that that would be the final match for Mickie James in IMPACT.

Mickie James is celebrating after the match but Jordynne Grace’s music hits and she comes out. She says Mickie wanted to work her way to the top and no one can dispute that she has done exactly that. She says it’s finally time and she says she will face Mickie James for the first time ever for the Knockouts World Title at Hard To Kill. Jordynne Grace and Mickie James face off.

A vignette for Violence By Design from a jail cell. Eric Young asks if he would do anything to eliminate the sickness. Deaner said anything. Eric asks if he would eliminate the sickness if it was in this room. Deaner hesitates and says yes. Eric says as would he. They fight each other for a knife. Eric says this world does not belong to them, it belongs to us. Eric gouges Deaner in the eye. Deaner punches Eric till he bleeds. Deaner asks why Eric made him do this. Eric tells him to do this and kill the sickness and embrace the violence. Deaner takes the knife and stabs Eric. Eric says he was the designer but Deaner was the design.

Himanshu’s Hot Take: This came a bit out of left field. It makes sense why they were promoting this segment on the show and why it was put in the final slot of the episode over Mickie James vs Deonna Purrazzo. It seemed like a way to write out Eric Young and soon after the show was done airing, we learned from PWInsider that Eric Young is going to WWE. Good luck to him on his return, but talking about Violence By Design, it will lose some credibility with Eric gone from the group. Of course Deaner, who I presume will be the leader of the group from here on, is capable of carrying a promo on his own, but Eric had the main event presence that nobody in the group has yet. Moreover, they have two new members that will take time to be built as well. Deaner, Alan Angels and Big Kon don’t seem as menacing a group as Eric Young, Deaner and Joe Doering did. Maybe they could add more members in the future? We’ll have to wait and see.

7.0
The final score: review Good
The 411
An interesting episode of IMPACT that was heavy on story this week. Scott D'Amore is irate with Bully Ray to the point of wanting to getting physical, so we'll see where that goes. It's cool to see Kazarian continue with IMPACT as he continues to do some good work putting over the IMPACT regulars. Deonna had another solid match with Mickie whose Last Rodeo continues on, but the show ended with an interesting vignette where Eric Young was written out of IMPACT. If you enjoy story in your wrestling, you might enjoy this show.
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Impact Wrestling, Himanshu Doi