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IMPACT WRESTLING TV REPORT
AUGUST 18, 2022 (RECORDED)
CHICAGO, IL AT CICERO STADIUM
AIRED ON AXS TV
REPORT BY DARRIN LILLY, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Impact Wrestling Announcers: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt
-Recap of Josh Alexander’s win over Alex Shelley at Emergence.
-Weekly intro video. Afterwards, the announcers pitched to a Diane Keaton movie that was a sponsor. An odd pairing.
(1) BLACK TAURUS vs. LAREDO KID vs. REY HORUS vs. TREY MIGUEL – Fatal 4-Way Match
Crazzy Steve joined the commentary team. All four wrestlers started in the ring. Kid did a dive on Taurus early. Kid and Rey had an exchange in the ring, Taurus gave Kid a sling blade. Trey hit some moves on Taurus. Taurus made a comeback on all three opponents. Taurus gave Rey a big headbutt at ringside. Trey did a rana to the floor on Kid, who landed on Rey and Taurus.
Kid and Trey punched each other. Trey gave Kid a brainbuster. All four wrestlers exchanged moves, to a nice ovation. Trey did a dive on Taurus to the outside. Rey did a dive on the pile, followed by Kid doing a moonsault from the post to the floor on the pile. In the ring, all four took turns hitting big moves. Taurus put Kid away after a piledriver.
WINNER: Black Taurus 8:00.
(D.L.’s Take: A fast paced match that was an excellent start to the show. Glad to see Black Taurus get featured and I hope this leads to an X Division Title match).
-Killer Kelly’s debut win was replayed. A bunch of wrestlers looked on a monitor backstage. Tasha Steelz confronted Zicky Dice about being impressed with the win. Kelly showed up and had an exchange with Tasha. Kelly was about to step to Tasha, but Savannah Evans stepped between them. Kelly challenged Evans to a match. Tasha said she will be watching. [c]
-Plug for Bound For Glory tickets going on sale.
-Josh Alexander and Rich Swann were backstage. Alexander said he would like to face Swann for the title. Vincent showed up. He said that Alexander keeps racing around the track and he would drop. He said that eventually Alexander would need a friend. He left and Swann said he was off his rocker.
-Hannifan and Rehwoldt appeared on camera and plugged Bound for Glory as well as the rest of the matches for tonight.
(2) HEATH vs. KENNY KING (Vincent)
They brawled at the start and eventually King fled from the ring. King did a spinning dive on Heath to the floor, [c]
King had Heath on the mat. Heath made a comeback and got a close two count. Heath got the Wake Up Call on King and got the pin,
WINNER: Heath in 7:00.
Honor No More surrounded the ring and attacked Heath. Eddie Edwards yelled at PCO to destroy Heath, As they argued, Heath hit the Wake Up Call on Bennett and escaped through the crowd.
(D.L.’s Take:The vast majority of the match took place during the commercial. It was mostly a setup to continue the HNM drama).
-Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, and Kushida were backstage. Sabin said they all lost at Emergence. He said they would team up against Violent By Design next week. Shelley said that Kushida was the most underrated wrestler. [c]
-Honor No More was in a stairwell. Eddie wanted to know how this keeps happening. Matt Taven was upset too. They said they would figure it out. They walked out and confronted Scott D’Amore. Taven asked when they would receive their tag team title shot. Maria told Scott he was lazy. Scott said that Mike Bennet would face Karl Anderson next week and if Anderson won, Maria would be banned from ringside at the title match.
(3) KILLER KELLY vs. SAVANNAH EVANS (w/Tasha Steelz)
Evans got some offense but Kelly kept smiling. Kelly put Evans away with the Killer Clutch and Evans tapped.
WINNER: Killer Kelly in 3:00.
(D.L.’s Take: Quick match. Evans got some offense to keep her strong, but Kelly got the quick victory. Kelly already has lots of fan support.)
-Rosemary, Jessicka, and Taya Valkyrie promo. Rosemary was upset that they lost the tag team belts, but vowed to regain them. Jessicka announced that her debut match would be next week. Rosemary said she would get her ready for it. [c]
-Clips of Jordynne Grace’s victory over Mia Yim at Emergence. Gia Miller interviewed Grace. Grace said that she would take on anyone and that Masha Slamovich was at the top of the list. Deonna Purrazzo and Chelsea Green walked in and said that Grace was the least liked person in Impact and they were the most liked. Grace said she would take on both of them. Mia Yim walked in and said she would team with Grace to challenge for the tag team belts. Deonna reluctantly agreed.
(4) MIKE BAILEY (c) vs. CHRIS BEY — Impact Wrestling X Division Title Match
After trading the advantage early, this went back and forth with high flying and innovative moves. Bailey put Bey away with the Ultima Weapon.
WINNER: Mike Bailey in 9:00.
(D.L.’s Take: Super match that was all action and featured all kinds of innovation and athleticism. This could have gone longer for me. I would love to see a rematch on an upcoming PPV.)
-Bhupinder Gujjar confronted Brian Myers backstage. Myers said Gujjar would have to get in the back of the line for a title shot. Gujjar said they weren’t through yet.
-Hannifan and Rehwoldt ran down the matches for next week:
- Deonna Purrazzo & Chelsea Green vs. Jordynne Grace & Mia Yim
- Jessicka debut
- Violent By Design vs. Time Machine
(5) EDDIE EDWARDS vs. RICH SWANN vs. SAMI CALLIHAN vs. STEVE MACLIN vs. MOOSE vs. BANDIDO
The winner of the match would go on to challenge for the World Title at Bound for Glory. Swann and Bandido started the match. Fans were solidly behind Bandido throughout. Swann did a dive on Maclin and Edwards on the outside. [c]
Maclin and Moose kept the advantage on Swann. Moose hit the spear on Sami for the pin. Maclin quickly rolled up Moose for the pin. Moose and Sami brawled at ringside. Bandido pinned Maclin after a suplex. [c]
Swann and Bandido exchanged cutters. Eddie threw Swann into the post, then got the pin on Bandido after the Boston Knee Party. The last two wrestlers left were Eddie and Swann. They had a great match with lots of cool false finishes and the fans were really into it. Eddie eventually got the pin after the Die Hard Driver. Honor No More came out to celebrate with Eddie. Good match.
WINNER: Eddie Edwards in 27:00.
FINAL THOUGHTS: A really good follow up to Emergence. The action was good and the two hours flew by. Impact’s mix of wrestlers is really clicking and making for entertaining shows. The in-ring action was highlighted by Bailey vs. Bey and the main event. The table is slowly being set for Bound For Glory.
CATCH-UP: 8/4 IMPACT WRESTLING TV REPORT: Doc Gallows vs. PCO, Purrazzo vs. Rosemary, more
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