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Impact: ROH invaders steal spotlight, ROH Champion steals show

Bob Kapur

The Ring of Honor crossover continued on Thursday night’s episode of Impact, and once again the show benefited from the open (forbidden) door policy. While the invading rogue faction – now apparently going by the name ‘Honor No More’ – made their presence known, it was ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham who was the highlight this week, defending his title against Steve Maclin in a match that you should go out of your way to watch.

 

Match 1: Tasha Steelz (w/ Savannah Evans) vs. Chelsea Green

Knockouts Champion Mickie James joined Tom Hannifan on commentary, as D’Lo Brown was still injured after he was attacked last week by the ROH invaders.

During her introduction, Steelz was carrying the big red X from the Ultimate X match she won, thereby earning a future Knockouts title match. Not as easily portable as a briefcase – maybe she should wear it around her neck like a Flava Flav clock?

There was some quick back-and-forth early on, but a big Stunner by Steelz slowed down the pace. Steelz tried to follow that up with a Superplex, but Green escaped and hit a High Cross Body, and a Flapjack Facebuster, but Tasha kicked out.

 

Steelz then kicked Chelsea in the face and hit a hard-looking Crucifix Bomb for the pin.

After the match, Steelz cut a promo directed to Mickie James, saying that she will send Mickie home as a failure. But when she mentioned Mickie’s son, Mickie hit the ring and they started to fight. Savannah tried to help out Tasha, but Chelsea Green took Evans out of the equation. Then, Mickie dropped Tasha with a Mick Kick and Steelz and Evans skedaddled.

This was fine, though the pacing seemed a bit off at times. With Steelz being the number one contender, it wasn’t surprising to see her win. But it was surprising to see her win cleanly and have Chelsea lose without some kind of interference from Evans. The post-match sequence didn’t look great – the positioning on the final Mick Kick looked way off. Look for a tag team match next week to continue this build.

Winner: Tasha Steelz

 

They showed a clip from the Before the Impact pre-show (which didn’t air on The Fight Network tonight). Jordynne Grace had just beaten Lady Frost to successfully defend her Digital Media Championship, when Matt Cardona came into the ring and pointed to the title, presumably indicating that he was looking to challenge Grace for it.

Backstage, Gia Miller interviewed Cardona to confirm if that is indeed his intention. If this is the trajectory he’s on, what was the point of having him compete for the World Championship at the PPV a couple of weeks ago?

They showed a highlight reel of Charlie Haas, featuring clips of him from Ring of Honor. He takes on Josh Alexander tonight.

 

Match 2: The Influence (Tenille Dashwood and Madison Rayne) (w/ Kaleb) vs. Decay (Rosemary and Havok)

The Influence used Kaleb as a distraction during Decay’s introduction and hit a big sneak attack. On the floor, they rammed Rosemary’s shoulder into the ring-post.

 

Rosemary was incapacitated and the referee called for help. As Rosemary went to the back to seek medical assistance, she told Havok to proceed with the match, leading to…

Match 2a: The Influence vs. Havok

Kaleb joined Hannifan on commentary.  The story of this one was the Influence trying to use their numbers advantage to neutralize Havok’s power. They did a pretty good job for a while, hitting her from the blindside when she was dealing with the other opponent. Havok tried, but couldn’t withstand the double-teaming, finally falling to a Double Faceplant.

Havok had a couple of moments, but overall this was pretty much a 2-on-1 squash. Not sure anyone looked good coming out of this one.

Winners: The Influence

After that came a pre-taped promo by the Knockouts Tag Team Champions, the Iinspiration, who will defend the titles against The Influence next week. They said that the dirty tactics the Influence used to get a 2-on-1 advantage tonight won’t work on them. Then they tried to create a wedge between the Influence, saying that neither of them could trust the other. They sounded pretty serious in the end, a nice change from their normal comedic style.

They showed a preview of the movie The King’s Daughter, which is sponsoring this episode.

A quick video teased the impending arrival of “The Quintessential Diva” which is the moniker used by Gisele Shaw, who is currently Progress World Women’s Champion, and has previously competed in a few Impact matches.

“Speedball” Mike Bailey was meditating in his dressing room when Ace Austin and Mad Man Fulton barged in. They told him to come to their locker room and tried to recruit him into their fold, saying that he needed friends like them in the locker room. He gave Bailey his card and they left. John E. Bravo made a quick and unrelated cameo during this one for some reason.

 

Match 3: The Learning Tree (VSK and Zicky Dice) (w/ Brian Myers) vs. W. Morrissey

Myers joined Tom on commentary tonight, which isn’t ideal, but better than seeing him wrestle.

The Learning Tree attacked at the bell, but Morrissey destroyed them in their attempt. He then battered them around, pillar to post. He planted Dice with a Chokeslam and hit a Powerbomb on VSK, and pinned them both simultaneously.

After the match, Morrissey got a mic and gave a warning to Moose, saying that if Moose wasn’t going to give him a match for the World Championship, Morrissey would hunt him down. He headed to the back where he ran into Impact Executive Vice-President Scott D’Amore. D’Amore tried to talk him down, informing Morrissey that Moose wasn’t there. But that he would get a chance to face Moose for the title at February’s No Surrender. After he said this, one of his backstage stooges let D’Amore know there was an urgent situation taking place out front.

This was the second squash match in a row, and really was all just a set-up for the announcement of the title match. The Learning Tree and Myers continue to be booked like jobbers and inconsequential jokes which is appropriate.

Winner: W. Morrissey

In the back, the ROH invaders were trying to get into the building – they had bought tickets for the event, ostensibly to support ROH Champion Jonathan Gresham as he defends against Steve Maclin. D’Amore said they could come in, but they would need to sit in the Skybox, which is away from the ring, and then would have to leave after the match. D’Amore warned them that if they tried anything, the entire locker room would be there to stop them.

 

Match 4: Steve Maclin vs. Jonathan Gresham (c) – Pure Wrestling Rules match for the ROH World Championship

Bobby Cruise did the introductions for this one, and Ian Riccobani joined Tom on commentary.

Maclin, not unexpectedly, didn’t adhere to the Code of Honor handshake rule. He also got tripped up by the Pure rules, wasting one of his three rope breaks in the first few seconds of the match. As the match got underway, the ROH invaders were shown entering the Skybox.

After Maclin forced Gresham to use a rope break, Gresham again went for a handshake, and again was rebuked. Gresham tried again after forcing Maclin to use his second, but Maclin instead opted to punch Gresham in the head, using up his only allowed fist – the next one will result in a disqualification under Pure rules.

Still, the punch stunned Gresham, and allowed Maclin to outpower him, forcing Gresham to use his second rope break. But Maclin kept up the assault, hitting an Olympic Slam and then locking on a Boston Crab, which forced Gresham to use his final rope break. Maclin then put on a Camel Clutch, forcing Gresham to power out of it. Maclin stayed on offense, but a surprise boot to the face bought Grehsam some space, and then he hit a Springboard Moonsault to surprise Maclin, and then a Missile Dropkick to take over. But Maclin used his power to come back, and hit Gresham with the Crosshair for a very close count.

Gresham fought back, though, and jammed Maclin’s knee, forcing Maclin to use his third rope break. Tweaking Maclin’s knee would be a pivotal move for the match, and things actually picked up from there, as Maclin had to fight from the ground while Gresham tried to beat Maclin with both pinfall and submission attempts.

In a neat finish, Gresham locked on a Figure Four Leglock, and then used the ropes to climb himself up, so he was vertically putting on the move while Gresham was trapped in it while his upper torso was flat on the ground. Maclin couldn’t get out of the move and got pinned while in the submission hold.

 

After the match, Gresham offered his hand for the Code of Honor, but Maclin defiantly walked away.

This was an absolute home run. It was easily Maclin’s best match since coming to Impact – and he’s had some good ones. But this was so different because they used the Pure Rules to tell a great story, and the finish played into that story perfectly.

Winner, and still ROH World Champion: Jonathan Gresham

They showed the ROH invaders leaving the Skybox after the match, and later they were shown being watched by security as they made their way out of the building. They said that they were living up to the agreement they’d made with D’Amore to leave after the ROH match. Well, that was easy, right?

Right?

 

The Flashback Moment of the Week was from No Surrender 2009, when Sarita and Taylor Wilde beat the Beautiful People to become the first Knockouts Tag Team Champions.

 

Match 6: Doc Gallows and Joe Doering (w/ Karl Anderson, Eric Young, and Deaner) vs. Heath and Rhino

Anderson joined Tom at commentary, which is a step up from Brian Myers for sure, but still not that great.

Rhino and Heath started off doing well, but the size and strength of Doering and Gallows was hard to withstand. They eventually trapped Rhino in their corner and took turns putting the hurt on him. Eventually a big collision flattened both Rhino and Gallows, and Rhino was able to get the hot tag to a fresh Heath.

He was on fire and tried to chop down the mighty redwoods, but some dirty tactics by Doering drew the referee’s attention. As a result, he missed seeing Deaner spear Heath with the VBD flagpole. A stunned Heath walked right into a Double Chokeslam and that was all she wrote.

 

This was fine. The eventual collision between VBD and the Good Brothers could be good if they can find a way to steer this one into have a good face-heel dynamic. It still surprises me that they haven’t pushed Doering as a singles star. He’s a beast and could easily have been the one in the Morrissey spot. Someday, maybe.

Winners: Doc Gallows and Joe Doering

 

Match 7: Josh Alexander vs. Charlie Haas

Chris Sabin was Hannifan’s guest for this one. He’s not involved with either of these guys, but said he just wanted to watch their match.

They started off with a good technical exchange for several minutes. Haas looked to be somewhat tired after this, and rolled out of the ring to take a breather, as the show went to commercial.

Back from the break, and things were still pretty even-steven. Until Josh went for a Springboard Corner Escape and tweaked his knee on the landing, sending him crashing to the mat.

Haas immediately went to work on the injured leg, wrapping it around the ring post a couple of times, and targeting it with kicks and strikes, and locking on submission holds.

Alexander fought back, and they exchanged a series of German Suplexes. Alexander’s knee prevented him from completing the bridge, though, and Haas escaped the pin attempt on the last set.

Haas went for a Running Shoulder Block in the corner, but it looked like he stumbled and fell and his face hit the corner hard and ugly, and it seemed to slow him down. He tried to take Josh down, but Josh escaped and reversed Haas into an Ankle Lock. Haas tried to escape, but Alexander tightened his grip and Grapevined Haas’ leg so he had nowhere to go. Trapped, Haas had no choice but to submit.

After the match, Alexander and Haas showed each other some mutual respect, but the good times would not last long. The ROH invaders slid into the ring and beat down both men. Sabin ran in to fend off the invaders, but he got beaten down, too. Rich Swann and Willie Mack then ran down, and they were followed by Heath and Rhino to even the odds somewhat. But the ROH crew were fresh and put the boots to everyone. Finally, Eddie Edwards ran in, wielding a Singapore cane, and that was enough to back off the invaders, who ran off.

 

They re-appeared in the Skybox, where Maria had a mic. She said that they used to believe that Honor is real. But that’s changed. And now they are Honor No More. The show ended with them looking down on the Impact roster and fans.

The match had some good moments, but felt a bit disjointed. Haas reportedly was injured during this one, but even before that, he seemed to be showing the effects of ring rust and age.
The post-match stuff and the ROH invasion angle continued to work, though. It will be interesting to see where this leads, and if done right, could be fun feud for some time.

Winner: Josh Alexander

 

 

Impact Wrestling - January 20th, 2022
3.5

The Factory - Dallas, TX

The ROH World Championship match felt like it was on another level compared to the rest of the matches on tonight’s show. Unfortunately, the injury to Haas prevented his match with Alexander from living up to expectations, though kudos to them for working through it. The ROH invasion continues to be fun, and hopefully the Honor No More faction will continue to make an impact (pun intended) on the show and build up this storyline even more.

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