Slammiversary XVII Recap

By Steve Ward

The seventeenth installment of Impact Wrestling’s Slammiversary emanated from a sold out Gilley’s Complex in Dallas, TX this evening. The stacked card featured eight matches and was headlined by Tessa Blanchard battling Sami Callihan in an intergender match. Impact Wrestling continues to put forth a solid product as they have shown true perseverance after several years of turmoil within their ownership structure that had them on the brink of disaster and they needed to deliver again this evening with the quickly evolving landscape of professional wrestling. Impact did just that but only time will tell how things shape up with AEW coming on strong as their weekly tv program debuts on TNT in October, Ring of Honor is maintaining their foothold with their partnership with NJPW, and of course WWE -despite their stale writing and booking- is still the standard bearer in sports entertainment.

TJP vs. Trey Miguel (of the Rascalz) vs. Jake Crist (of OVE) vs. Willie Mack

Winner: Willie Mack via pinfall

The opening contest of Slammiversary was an X-Division fatal four way attraction featuring TJP (T.J. Perkins) in his first pay per view appearance since his return from being buried in WWE on 205 Live. The action was fast and furious and certainly set the tempo for the evening. The body flying action culminated with the 285 lb Willie Mack executing a frog splash on Jake Crist to solidify the pinfall victory.

Impact Tag Team Championship

The Rascalz (Dez & Wentz) vs. LAX (Santana & Ortiz) w/ Konnan vs. The North (Josh Alexander & Ethan Page) (c)

Winners: The North via pinfall

After shockingly losing their tag team titles to The North Friday night at Bash at the Brewery - an Impact Plus event that literally looked like it was in front of a crowd of 100 people at a brewery - LAX entered as the challengers. Unfortunately for The North, the retention of their titles was overshadowed in this one by a bad landing Santana took that required him to be helped out of the arena after the contest.

First Blood Match

Killer Kross vs. Eddie Edwards

Winner: Eddie Edwards

After weeks of mind games initiated by Killer Kross including the destruction of Edwards’ best friend Kenny - the kendo stick - Edwards achieved retribution this evening as he made Kross bleed by raking the splintered edge of a kendo stick across his mouth.

RVD vs. Moose

Winner: Moose

For several weeks, Moose proclaimed that the old legends needed to retire and go away. This generated a brief feud between Moose and The North and ECW originals RVD, Tommy Dreamer, and Sabu. This short lived program seemingly reached it’s climax this evening in Dallas as Rob Van Dam stood toe to toe with Moose. First things first, RVD may be 48 but he certainly can still keep up with the best of them and has aged pretty well considering the wars he’s been in as he doesn’t look much different than the last time he had a significant run in WWE - with the exception of appearing to enjoy a few beers here and there. It appeared RVD would walk out victorious as he had Moose laid out on top of a chair as he scaled to the top rope for the Five Star Frogsplash. As Van Dam took flight, Moose rolled out of the way leaving nothing but unforgiving steel for RVD to land on. Moose jumped to his feet and nailed RVD with the spear for the pinfall.

Impact Knockouts Championship Monster’s Ball Match

Taya Valkyrie (c) vs. Rosemary vs. Su Yung w/ Father James Mitchell vs. Havoc

Winner: Taya Valkyrie

These ladies wasted no time after the opening bell as they rapidly transformed the ring into a visceral playground littered with chairs, ladders, tables, and eventually thumb tacks. Havoc seemed poised to solidify a dominating victory after she Tombstoned Su Yung from the top rope - yes you read that correctly - onto a bed of tacks but Taya Valkyrie returned to the ring and greeted Havoc with a chair to the face. As Havoc rolled out of the ring, Valkyrie covered Su Yung to retain her title.

X Division Championship

Rich Swann (c) vs. Johnny Impact w/ Johnny Bravo

Winner: Rich Swann

Two of the best high-fliers in not only Impact, but potentially all of pro wrestling, squared off for the storied X Division Title this evening. After a fairly even bout where neither man was really able to create much momentum, Rich Swann was able to persevere. In the closing moments of the match, Swann withstood a series of Spanish Flys (the first from the top rope), Starship Pain, and the antics of Johnny Bravo at ringside to answer with two springboard cutters and the Phoenix Splash to retain his title.

Impact World Championship

Brian Cage (c) vs. Michael Elgin

Winner: Brian Cage

Former Ring of Honor and New Japan star Michael Elgin made his in-ring pay per view debut this evening as he challenged “The Machine” Brian Cage for the Impact Heavyweight Championship. Cage wasted no time bringing the fight to Elgin as the first time Elgin rolled to the outside of the ring, Cage ensured there would be no reprieve for him as he ran and vaulted straight over the top rope to the arena floor taking out Elgin and landing on his feet in the process. In the final minutes of the contest, Cage attempted the Drill Claw but his back “went out” and he dropped Elgin. Elgin answered with a buckle bomb and as he hoisted Cage up for the Elgin Bomb, The Machine slipped out and rolled Elgin up for the pinfall. After the match, Elgin assaulted Cage with the title and then dragged Don Callis into the ring from his commentary position. Just before Elgin was going to lay waste to Callis, a masked man entered the ring from the crowd, executed a spear that looked a lot like a Gore (wink wink), and escaped through the crowd.

Intergender Match

Tessa Blanchard vs. Sami Callihan

Winner: Sami Callihan

A rarity in pro wrestling today, at least in televised matches and never in WWE, Impact decided to push the envelope and headlined this pay per view with an intergender match between Sami Callihan and Tessa Blanchard, the daughter of former Four Horsemen member Tully Blanchard. Blanchard made another huge step this evening as she continued her ascension from barely gaining air time in NXT towards becoming a bona fide superstar as she more than hung in with “The Draw.” Blanchard displayed her grit as she took some huge bumps in this bout but also demonstrated her impressive strength as she hoisted Callihan up for a Samoan Drop at one point. In the closing moments, Callihan escaped a crossface submission to finish Blanchard off with a Cactus Special piledriver allowing him to earn the pinfall.

Support The Weigh-In: Your Home for Combat Sports by Shopping World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Products!

Impact Wrestling Rebellion Recap

By Steve Ward

Impact Wrestling returned to pay per view this evening with Rebellion as they emanated from the Rebel Entertainment Complex in Toronto-Ontario, Canada. The card featured four titles contested amongst the eight matches on the card. While this was an excellent show, there were some notable omissions from the card as Eli Drake, Rosemary, Su Yung, Killer Kross, and Willie Mack found themselves without a match and unfortunately, based on the timing of his new contract signing, Rob Van Dam will not appear for the company until their TV tapings this coming weekend at the legendary 2300 Arena in Philadelphia - of course this is the birthplace of extreme, the former ECW Arena.

Petey Williams vs. Aiden Prince vs. Ace Austin vs. Cousin Jake Deener vs. Jake Crist vs. Eddie Edwards

Winner: Ace Austin via pinfall

The opening contest of the card was an X-Division contest that would help sort out the landscape of the crowded division to help determine who may be in line for a future title shot. The match came to a quick conclusion after Petey Williams first executed the Canadian Destroyer on the much larger Cousin Jake only to have Ace Austin emerge from outside of the ring to unceremoniously roll up Petey with a handful of tights for the pinfall.

Rohit Raju w/ Gama Singh vs. Scarlett Bordeaux w/ Fallah Bahh

Winner: Scarlett Bordeaux via pinfall

Announced earlier in the day, the fans in attendance were treated to a rare inter-gender match between “The Smoke Show” Scarlett Bordeaux and Desi Hit Squad member Rohit Raju. Also of note, I was happy to see fan favorite and New Jersey’s own Fallah Bahh accompany Bordeaux to the ring despite not getting involved in the match. Bordeaux displayed outstanding ring presence and strength as she executed a German Suplex on Raju and finished him off with a modified Gringo Killer for the pinfall.

Six Man Tag Team Match

Moose, Ethan Page, & Josh Alexander vs. The Rascalz (Tre, Dezmond Xavier, and Zachary Wentz)

Winners: Moose, Ethan Page, & Josh Alexander via pinfall

Moose recruited Josh Alexander and Ethan Page, collectively known as The North (which went over in a huge way in Canada), to exact revenge against The Rascalz after he was embarrassed by the trio on Impact. While The Rascalz did put on a good showing with a plethora of aerial maneuvers, the power of The North and Moose could not be overcome. The match reached it’s conclusion after The North propelled Dez at Moose as he speared him to set up the pinfall.

Knockouts Championship

Taya Valkyrie (c) vs. Jordynne Grace

Winner: Taya Valkyrie

Jordynne Grace earned this title shot after she defeated the returning Madison Rayne recently on Impact and came in ready to go. Grace controlled the tempo early as she took the fight to Taya on the outside of the ring and displayed her impressive strength with a powerbomb that propelled Valkyrie’s back into the edge of the ring apron. It appeared Grace would win her first title after executing a Muscle Buster but Taya was able to neutralize Grace’s strength game as she continued to work on her arm and eventually found her window to land the Road to Valhalla to retain her title.

X-Division Championship

Sami Callihan vs. Rich Swann (c)

Winner: Rich Swann via submission

Per the request of Sami Callihan, this match was contested under OVE rules - which essentially meant this was a hardcore match. It didn’t take long for the ring to become littered with chairs, a staple gun, a wet floor sign, and a cookie sheet, all of which became instruments of carnage sooner than later. Just one of the many highlights of this contest came after thousands of Legos, yes Legos, were dumped onto the ring canvas. First, Swann was able to drop Callihan onto the Lego blocks with a perfectly executed hurricanrana only to have Callihan regain the upper hand with a piledriver off the top turnbuckle that drove Swann’s head into the blocks. The conclusion of the match came after Swann was able to wrestle a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire from Callihan and raked it across his face in a modified crossface for the submission victory.

Tessa Blanchard vs. Gail Kim

Winner: Tessa Blanchard via submission

After Gail Kim cost Blanchard the Knockouts title at Homecoming, she went on a crusade to cost Kim her job in Impact Management. After the Impact Hall of Famer tendered her resignation, Gail Kim came out of retirement to challenge Blanchard this evening. Gail Kim certainly looked like she was in phenomenal shape with minimal ring rust as she took Tessa to the limit. Tessa was able to withstand a figure four leg lock with her leg twisted around the ring post, as well as, Eat Defeat to conquer Gail with a new submission she unleashed that resembled a modified LeBell Lock.

Impact World Championship

Johnny Impact (c) vs. Brian Cage

Winner: Brian Cage via pinfall

After Cage was “screwed” out of his title opportunities at Homecoming, as a result of ringside interference by Impact’s buddies from his Survivor appearance, and recently on Impact, as a result of senior official Johnny Bravo being in the pocket of the defending champ. In an attempt to even the playing ground, the legendary Lance Storm was inserted as the special guest referee. It appeared Impact was going to retain his title after he took out Lance Storm and Johnny Bravo unveiled a referee shirt under his jacket, however, Impact wasn’t able to secure the pinfall after he dropped The Machine with the title. After Cage disposed of Bravo, he executed The Drillclaw as Storm counted the 1-2-3. Cage’s celebration as new champ was short lived as the crowd was shocked with the debut of Michael Elgin! Elgin, who most recently performed for New Japan Pro Wrestling, got in the face of Cage, delivered a brutal backhand that staggered him, and hoisted him up for a spinning sit down powerbomb.

Impact World Tag Team Championship Full Metal Mayhem Match

The Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix) (c) vs. LAX (Santana & Ortiz) w/ Konnan
Winners: LAX via pinfall

This bout marked the return match for LAX after they recently dropped their tag team titles to The Lucha Bros. It appeared that The Lucha Bros were going to walk away with their titles for the majority of this bout as they landed punishing move after punishing move. One of the many highlights in this match occurred after a table was staged on the entrance ramp just outside the ring with a ladder propped up just inside the ring ropes. Ortiz scaled the ladder, however, Pentagon Jr. ran along the top rope from the corner to meet Ortiz at the top of the ladder and launched him through the table with a beautifully executed Spanish Fly. The conclusion of this match arrived with Santana and Pentagon Jr. battling at the top of a ladder in the center of the ring with a table covered in tacks set-up just below the man with no fear. Ortiz made his way into the ring and positioned himself to attempt a powerbomb of Pentagon Jr. but he held firmly to the ladder…that is until Santana stabbed him in the forehead with a fork several times. This allowed Ortiz to powerbomb Pentagon through the table as his body sickeningly buckled in half. Ortiz covered him for the pinfall to crown new Impact World Tag Team Champions!

Support The Weigh-In: Your Home for Combat Sports by Shopping World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Products!

Impact Wrestling Homecoming Recap

By Steve Ward

Impact Wrestling returned to The Asylum in Nashville, TN where Jeff Jarrett and his father Jerry created Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) after the demise of WCW back in 2002. Having survived through multiple ownership battles, roster overhauls, and several network changes, this pay-per-view seemed to symbolize a sort of rebirth for the company…again…as they returned to their roots and are about to embark on another new TV deal beginning this week as they move from Pop TV to the Pursuit Channel (one I wasn’t even sure if my cable provider offered until I searched for it).

The card featured eight bouts with four titles contested. My only gripe with the show was if Impact Wrestling was attempting to have a sense of nostalgia surrounding it, then where were Tommy Dreamer and Raven who laid out Eli Drake on the final Impact before the event? The only legends that appeared on the pay-per-view were Abyss and Konnan, aside from those featured in the vignettes produced to display the history of The Asylum. Nonetheless, this was still an entertaining event and I continue to be pleased with the vast improvement of the product’s announce team since the introduction of ECW and TNA stalwart Don Callis on color commentary.

Ultimate X Match for the X Division Championship

Rich Swann vs. Trey of the Rascalz vs. Ethan Page vs. Jake Crist of OVE

Winner: Rich Swann

This match came to fruition after Brian Cage utilized Option C and relinquished the X Division title in exchange for a shot at Johnny Impact’s Heavyweight Championship. It was apparent that selection of the participants in this bout was strategically designed to put Trey, Page, and Crist on a major platform with the veteran Swann carrying them through the match. Swann clearly shined in this contest and put his full arsenal of high flying acrobatics on display. In the end. Swann and Trey simultaneously scaled the Ultimate X scaffolding as Swann just beat him to the center of the ominous structure and retrieved the title to become the new champion.

Su Yung & Allie vs. Kiera Hogan & Jordynne Grace

Winners: Su Yung & Allie via submission

After Allie “lost her soul” to Father James Mitchell at Bound for Glory when she entered the undead realm to save Kiera Hogan, she slowly displayed a much darker character over the past couple months which culminated in this contest coming to the forefront after fruitless efforts by Hogan to save her. Yung and Allie controlled the majority of this match as they prevented Grace from making any impact in this contest and in the end Hogan fell victim to the mandible claw from Allie. After the conclusion of the match, the undead bridesmaids carried out a casket for Hogan, however, when it was opened Rosemary emerged! After she laid waste to Su Yung and the bridesmaids, she encountered Allie in the ring briefly only to have Allie flee.

Falls Count Anywhere Match

Eddie Edwards vs. Moose

Winner: Eddie Edwards via pinfall

The feud between these former friends finally came to a head this evening. After Edwards “snapped” backstage shortly after Bound for Glory, he was “committed” to Shady Acres Mental Institution in Baltimore, Maryland. Edwards finally made his escape after he was supplied with a keycard by the one and only Raven-who told him he checks himself in once a month. The bout arrived at its conclusion as Edwards proceeded to brutalize Moose with a kendo stick late in the contest. Edwards’ wife Alisha then came down to the ring to seemingly stop him from inflicting more damage to Moose’s cranium. Instead, Alisha took the kendo stick from her husband and continued the assault. Edwards put an exclamation point on his performance as he nailed the DDT to seal the victory.

Willie Mack vs. Sami Callihan

Winner: Sami Callihan via pinfall

Sami Callihan withstood a stunner, a standing moonsault, and the momentum Willie Mack carried throughout the match to finally execute a devastating piledriver for the pinfall victory, with a surprisingly minimal amount of influence from Dave Crist at ringside.

Monster’s Ball Match

Abyss vs. Eli Drake

Winner: Eli Drake

Eli Drake entered this match claiming that he would put an end to hardcore wrestling by defeating The Monster Abyss. Despite being choke slammed onto a pile of thousands of tacks which left his back a bloody and metallic mess, despite being tossed out of the ring and through a table propped up on the outside, and despite the introduction of “Janice” (Abyss’ 2x4 lined with nails), Drake got the upper hand after he tossed a handful of tacks into the face of Abyss late in the contest. Drake proceeded to victimize Abyss with a plethora of chair shots before he finally broke a boat oar over his head to earn the pinfall.

Impact Wrestling Tag Team Championship

The Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix) vs. LAX (Santana & Ortiz)

Winners: LAX via pinfall

LAX confronted the Lucha Bros on a recent episode of Impact boasting how they had beaten every tag team in Impact Wrestling and challenged them to a match with their titles on the line at Homecoming. This challenge was much to the behest of their manager Konnan who decided not to accompany them to the ring for the contest. The action was fast and furious throughout. Unfortunately, it seemed to end very abruptly as Fenix was the victim of a blitzkrieg as Ortiz hit him with a top rope Code Breaker, then Santana clocked him with a super kick, and finally both double teamed a dazed Fenix with a suplex that allowed Santana to earn the pinfall victory.

Impact Knockouts Championship

Tessa Blanchard (c) vs. Taya Valkyrie

Winner: Taya Valkyrie via pinfall

The feud between Valkyrie and Blanchard became so heated leading up to Homecoming that Impact Wrestling instilled Hall of Famer Gail Kim as the special guest referee. Late in the contest, Blanchard got into a verbal scuffle with Kim as she was seemingly frustrated with her inability to earn a pinfall. The war of words quickly escalated as Blanchard decided to shove Gail Kim. Kim took exception to this and caught Blanchard off guard with her finisher, Eat Defeat. Taya capitalized and followed up with the Road to Valhalla to become the new Knockouts Champion!

Impact World Championship

Johnny Impact (c) vs. Brian Cage

Winner: Johnny Impact

Brian Cage decided to implement Option C, made famous by Austin Aries, back in November as he cashed in the X Division Title for an opportunity to compete for the World Championship. Brian Cage should receive credit for putting on a very competitive match despite apparently nursing a hamstring injury (his hamstring was virtually covered in kinesio tape) which seemed to limit his typical variety of aerial maneuvers ,a man his size should not be able to execute.

After a evenly contested match, Johnny Impact attempted to end the contest as he landed Starship Pain and a top rope Spanish Fly, both of which Cage kicked out of. Then Brian Cage hit several power bombs and the Drill Claw, neither of which could put away Impact. Moments later, Cage was propelled into the barricade at ringside where two former Survivor contestants sat and proceeded to shove Cage. After Cage laid waste to one of them, he returned to the ring as the ref remained distracted and was not there to count Cage’s attempted pinfall.

The conclusion of the match arrived as Johnny Impact stood on the ring apron with Cage inside standing on the rope in an attempt to suplex him back inside. I’ll be honest, the end of this match just looked off. Cage attempted to suplex him multiple times to no avail and his final attempt saw Impact vault over the top and land on Cage in an awkward pinfall. The ref’s count even appeared as if it didn’t make it to three before Cage kicked out, but nonetheless, Johnny Impact’s music echoed through the arena before the ref made any indication of a pinfall putting an end to the contest. Cage then swiped the title from the ref and held it up in a brief protest before he dropped it in front of Impact and walked out of the arena.

After the match, Impact’s wife Taya Valkyrie joined him in the ring as the two world champs celebrated together. The two walked to the top of the exit ramp to again pose with their titles as everyone assumed the pay-per-view was over. Just then, Killer Kross emerged from the back to victimize Johnny Impact. As he was laid out at ringside, Taya tried to avenge her husband only to be hoisted up by Kross in a power bomb starting position and he proceeded to vault her into the crowd. The show ended with Kross exiting the arena, maniacal expression and all, seemingly propelling himself into the title picture.

Support The Weigh-In: Your Home for Combat Sports by Shopping World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Products! 

IMPACT WRESTLING PRESENTS: BOUND FOR GLORY 2018 Recap

Impact Wrestling presented Bound For Glory this evening from a sold out Melrose Ballroom in Queens, New York. While the venue was comparable in size to the Impact Zone utilized when tapings have been done at Universal Studios in Orlando, the rabid New York wrestling fans brought an energy comparable to a much larger audience. The card boasted seven matches, with two titles contested, in addition to Allie’s trek into the “undead realm.”

Rich Swann & Willie Mack vs. Matt Sydal & Ethan Page

Winners: Rich Swann & Willie Mack

This bout featured the debut of Willie Mack of Lucha Underground fame and the re-branding of Ethan Page as fans may recognize him from his previous portrayal of Joseph Park’s (Abyss) cousin Chandler Park. Mack was immediately serenaded by the fans with chants of “Return of the Mack” which he obliged by putting his gravity defying agility, especially for a 280lb man, on full display.  The action was fast and furious in this contest and came to it’s conclusion as Rich Swann hit a awe-inspiring Phoenix Splash from the middle turnbuckle on Matt Sydal for the pinfall.

Eli Drake Open Challenge

Eli Drake vs. James Ellsworth

Winner: Eli Drake

The “Chinless Wonder” shocked the fans in attendance as he answered the challenge of Eli Drake. Despite Drake showering New York with insults, the crowd wasted no time greeting Ellsworth with a “F#ck you Ellsworth” chant. This match didn’t last long as Drake was able to overcome the No Chin Music to obliterate Ellsworth with the Gravy Train two times.

Drake proceeded to run his mouth after the bout insisting that he came to New York for hall of fame caliber competition. It didn’t take long for the music of the new Impact Wrestling Hall of Famer, “The Monster” Abyss to resonate throughout the venue. Abyss wasn’t finished after he hit promptly hit the Black Hole Slam on Drake as he proceeded to retrieve a table from beneath the ring and thwarted Drake’s offensive attempts with a choke slam through it.

Impact Women’s Championship

Tessa Blanchard (c) vs. Taya Valkyrie

Winner: Tessa Blanchard

Tessa Blanchard was challenged this evening by the returning Taya Valkyrie (real life wife of Johnny Impact) and she was ready to bring the fight. This was easily Blanchard’s stiffest competition to date in her tenure with Impact Wrestling. Valkyrie hit the Road to Valhalla and Blanchard the Buzzsaw DDT, but these signature maneuvers were not enough to put either lady away. This match did not reach it’s culmination until Tessa landed a devastating Codebreaker that she initiated by propelling herself from the top turnbuckle to finally put away Valkyrie for the pinfall to retain her title.

Moose vs. Eddie Edwards

Winner: No contest

This “contest” didn’t last long as Killer Kross attacked Eddie Edwards from the crowd, acquiring a kendo stick from ringside, leading the referee to call for the bell. As Moose and Cross beat Edwards in the center of the ring, the crowd was shocked by the entrance of “The Innovator of Violence” Tommy Dreamer. This immediately lead us to an impromptu tag team match.

Tommy Dreamer & Eddie Edwards vs. Moose & Killer Kross

Winners: Tommy Dreamer & Eddie Edwards

Moose attempted to punish Edwards with a kendo stick strike only to have Edwards get the best of him with a Schoolboy rollup for the pinfall. There was no celebration as Moose and Kross quickly laid waste to Edwards after Dreamer had been dropped on his head by Kross. Edwards suffered a spear from Moose and then was taken to the outside of the ring to be unceremoniously power bombed on the hardest part of the ring apron.

Sami Callihan & OVE vs. Pentagon Jr., Fenix, and Brian Cage

Winners: Sami Callihan & OVE

This match was contested under OVE rules which essentially meant there were no rules.  After OVE was able to take the Lucha Bros out of the equation it left Cage in a one on three situation-for those familiar with Cage’s body of work, these are odds he would typically be comfortable with.  OVE proceeded to hit Cage with a plethora of super kicks before Callihan shocked the fans in attendance and hit him with a piledriver to become the first man to pin Cage in Impact Wrestling.

Concrete Jungle Death Match

The OGz vs. LAX

Winners: LAX

The ring itself was a true spectacle in this contest as the mat, apron, and turnbuckles were all removed leaving a stripped down squared circle. Earlier in the evening, Konnan was “taken out” changing the dynamic of this match to a handicapped bout. Just as things began to look dire for LAX, their music hit and Konnan made his way to the ring to help even the odds. Konnan turned the tides of the match as he Irish whipped  King through a table propped up in the corner of the ring. King was then set up for the Street Sweeper by Ortiz and Santana to score the pinfall for LAX.

Allie Goes to the “Undead Realm” in Search of Su Yung Vignette

This segment was just weird and looked like something out of a low budget horror film. It was also apparent that this segment was presented at this juncture of the evening to allow the crew to reassemble the ring for the main event. Essentially, Kiera Hogan was taken to the undead realm by Su Yung and Allie sought the assistance of Father James Mitchell to gain entry there so she could rescue her. Allie, with an axe in hand, proceeded to take out several undead bridesmaids until she finally found Kiera in a coffin leading to another encounter with Su Yung. As Allie and Kiera made it back to the entrance of the realm, James Mitchell wouldn’t allow them to leave. Rosemary then emerged to fend off Su Yung allowing their escape.

Impact World Championship

Austin Aries (c) vs. Johnny Impact

Winner: Johnny Impact

The fans in attendance were at a fever pitch for this encounter with the world title on the line. Johnny Impact and Austin Aries certainly were primed for this bout as they both brought their A-games to the table. One of the highlights of the match occurred on the outside of the ring as Impact leapfrogged a charging Aries, landed with one foot on the guardrail and the other on the ring apron (this was possible due to the incredibly close proximity between the ring and the crowd), and countered with a backflip. The conclusion of the match came after an incensed Johnny Impact, moments after his wife was knocked down outside the ring by a diving Aries, took down the champ and ascended to the top turnbuckle to finish him with Starship Pain for the 1-2-3! Your winner and the new Impact World Champion, Johnny Impact!

-Steve Ward

Support The Weigh-In: Your Home for Combat Sports by Shopping World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Products!