For the past few weeks, Mickie James and Chelsea Green were good friends who would always watch each other backs. Well, it would seem that Green was only watching Mickie’s back to figure out where to stick the knife. Because that’s what happened at the end of Thursday night’s episode of Impact, when Green turned on Mickie, costing her a chance to regain the Knockouts Championship, and – with help from her husband Matt Cardona – leaving Mickie beaten, battered and betrayed.

 

Josh Alexander / Moose confrontation

The show started with an angry Josh Alexander storming to the ring. He said that he didn’t think Moose was stupid enough to go to Alexander’s house last week where he intimidated Josh’s wife and son. That act has pushed Josh over the edge. And Josh would get his revenge on April 23rd at Rebellion by beating Moose for the World Championship.

Moose came out onto the entrance ramp, and said that Josh failed at protecting his family last week, and will fail at beating him at Rebellion. Moose then talked about Josh’s family again, and that triggered Josh, who ran down the ramp to attack. The two fought their way into the back and up to the backstage balcony. Alexander tried to throw Moose over the side and onto the floor below until Mad Man Fulton  stopped him, letting Moose escape.

 

Backstage, Impact Executive Vice-President Scott D’Amore tried to talk down Josh, saying that Fulton did Alexander a favour, lest his temper again result in him getting sent home and losing his title shot. Alexander said that his emotions will be in check as long as Moose stays away from his family.

 

Match 1: Willie Mack vs. Laredo Kid vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey

The winner of this one will be included in the Triple Threat match for the X-Division Championship at Rebellion against the champion Trey Miguel and Ace Austin. Some quick action from all three guys early on, with Willie taking out both opponents with a Somersault Dive to the floor about a minute in.

 

Back from break and Mack was in control, using his power advantage. The speedsters fought back, though, and they soon got a chance to shine, with Laredo Kid in particular hitting a crazy Corkscrew dive off the top that saw him do three or our full revolutions. But Kid got sent hard over the rope by Mack. Bailey then surprised Mack with a huge Roundhouse Tornado Kick and put him away with the Ultimo Weapon.

This was quick, but fun while it lasted. Bailey and Austin have an alliance of sorts happening, so it will be interesting to see whether it can last in the three-way against Miguel.

Winner: “Speedball” Mike Bailey

The Bullet Club and The Good Brothers cut a promo in the back. Jay White and Chris Bey challenged the Motor City Machine Guns to a match next week. The Good Brothers said that they would regain their Tag Team Championhship when they face Violent By Design in a Lumberjack match later tonight.

They showed a clip of the BTI pre-show match where Mahabali Shera beat Crazzy Steve. After that, Shera was with Raj Singh in the back and cut a promo against Bhupinder Gujjar. He said that Gujjar should have teamed with him, and since he didn’t, he’ll have to face Singh’s wrath in the form of Shera.

 

Match 2: Steve Maclin vs. Heath (w/ Rhino)

Before the match, Maclin said he was going to go after all of the Team Impact partners who doubted his intentions at No Surrender, and Heath was next in that line.

The two went at it with some aggression early on. When the fight spilled to the floor, Maclin took a cheap shot, poking Heath in the eye. As the ref checked on Heath, Maclin pulled an Eddy Guerrero style trick, lightly running himself into the ring steps and blaming Rhino for it. The ref fell for it and unjustly sent Rhino to the back. Maclin was then able to take over, battering Heath for a bit. Maclin spent too much time trash-talking the crowd, and this let Heath get his foot up during a Maclin finisher attempt. Heath hit a series of move for near-falls, but Maclin blocked the Wake-Up Call and rolled up Heath – using the ropes as leverage to get the dirty pin.

Again, this was good, but it felt almost too quick. It’s good to see Maclin getting some wins, as he is still fresh enough to keep strong and on-deck for a future title shot.

Winner: Steve Maclin

After the match, Maclin was milking a celebration for his underhanded win, and didn’t notice Rhino slide back into the ring. When Maclin turned around, he got cut in half by a GORE! GORE! GORE! and giving the Philly crowd an ECW throwback moment.

 

 

The Influence segment

Tenille Dashwood and Kaleb were on the set of Tenille’s “All About Me” talk show. She questioned Kaleb’s loyalties, suggesting he might be on the side of the Iinspiration instead of her and Madison Rayne (i.e. Knockouts Tag Team Champions, the Influence). He stammered for a bit and then claimed to have a neck injury, sending him scurrying out the door.

After leaving, Kaleb stumbled onto the set of Madison Rayne’s “Locker Room Talk” show. Tenille joined him on the couch and then she and Rayne both grilled Kaleb about his loyalties. He said that he supported them and not the Iinfluence. Rayne told her co-host Johnny Swinger to hook Kaleb up to a lie detector but Kaleb ran away before he could get strapped in.

A short video package aired of Tomohiro Ishii. Then a pre-taped promo video aired, where JONAH said he would beat Ishii at Rebellion. That one should be must-see.

 

Match 3: The Good Brothers (w/ Chris Bey and Jay White) vs. Violent By Design (c) – Lumberjack Match for the Tag Team Championship

Eric Young and Joe Doering were the VBD members competing tonight, while Deaner joined Bey, White, and various other members of the locker room (including members of Honor No More) around the ring where they would act as lumberjacks.

The referee lost control of this one and members from both teams experienced the lumberjack treatment in seconds. When things settled down a bit, VBD had Karl Anderson in some jeopardy, isolating him on their side of the ring. He escaped, and then the momentum changed hands a couple of times. Anderson was getting beaten up for a second time and a frustrated Gallows could take it no more. He came in and they hit a Magic Killer on Eric Young, but Deaner distracted the referee before he could make the count. This led to some chaos on the outside, including Doering flattening Gallows and a bunch of lumberjacks with a Flying Dive from the apron. Meanwhile, Matt Taven and Mike Bennett slid into the ring, hit Anderson with a low blow and a Climax, allowing Young to get the easy pin.

 

Another good, but short match. Watching Doering and Gallows go at it is like watching the Godzilla and Kong movies, and more of that would be welcome. The actions of Honor No More against the Good Brothers is an interesting development and could be the start of a neat feud.

Winners, and still World Tag Team Champions: Violent By Design

Gia Miller interviewed Knockouts Champion Tasha Steelz about her Philly Street Fight title defense against Mickie James tonight. Gia asked Tasha if she would leave Savannah Evans in the back tonight, as Mickie has told Chelsea Green to not get involved in the match. Tasha agreed and told Evans she had the night off.

 

Match 4: Eddie Edwards vs. Rocky Romero

This was billed as a preview for the “Multiverse of Matches” special event that Impact will be running in Dallas as part of WrestleCon over WrestleMania weekend. That show will see Impact stars taking on a number of outsiders, including Eddie facing Ishii, and the Good Brothers taking on the Briscoe Brothers. The show won’t be on Impact Plus, unfortunately, but only on Fite-TV.

They started off with a good ground exchange before elevating things with a chop exchange that Eddie technically won, but was embarrassed nonetheless when Romero outsmarted him, sending Eddie to the floor with a Hurancarana. Eddie went for a Clothesline, but ended up hitting the ring post when Rocky dodged it.

After the break, Rocky tried to maintain control by targeting Eddie’s arm, but Edwards hit a Lariat that turned Rocky head-over-feet. Rocky fired back but when he went for a Flying Dive to the floor, Eddie caught him and used the apron and the ring steps to punish Romero. Romero gutted it out, though, and went after Eddie in the ring, hitting a Tornado DDT and blasting Eddie with some kicks for a close count. Eddie fired back and hit a Tiger Driver for 2. Romero locked on an Armbar, but though his arm was hurting, Eddie was still able to roll over on top of Rocky and hold him down for three.

After the match, Eddie feigned a handshake, but instead drilled Rocky with a knee to the face. He was going to do some more damage, but Jonathan Gresham ran to the ring and attacked Eddie, looking for some payback for Eddie’s betrayal at No Surrender. Eddie had no choice but to skedaddle. Afterwards, Rocky and Gresham seemed like they might fight, but instead they shook hands.

 

This was a good match, probably the best of the night so far. Gresham and Eddie should be a fun match when they eventually meet up.

Winner: Eddie Edwards

Backstage, Johnny Swinger was in front of his new training centre, Swinger’s Dungeon. Zicky Dice emerged and he seemed thrilled with the training he was getting. He went in there for another workout, but Swinger told him that he had to prove himself first by teaming with Swinger next week.

 

Match 5: Mickie James vs. Tasha Steelz (c) – Philly Street Fight for the Knockouts Championship

Mickie threw a trash can lid at Tasha’s back during Tasha’s introduction, and that set the tone for the match, as they started off with a heated exchange of punches. The match spilled to the floor and Mickie threw Tasha all around the entrance ramp and then dropped her hard with a Neckbreaker on the entrance stage. After Mickie dumped Steelz in a garbage can and rolled her down the ramp in same, Savannah Evans ran out (breaking her word in doing so), and attacked Mickie.

This allowed Tasha to take over during the break, where she beat down James with a baseball bat, and then Tasha smashed Mickie with a garbage can and ran her face-first into a chair. They had a chair duel that flattened both of them.

As Mickie struggled to stand up, Savannah Evans grabbed her and tried to throw her off the apron and through a table, but Mickie reversed it and did it to Evans instead – though the table didn’t break… ouch! Steelz then rammed Mickie off the apron and Mickie also bounced off the table.

Mickie fired up and took Evans out of the equation with a few garbage can shots, but when she got in the ring, she was hit with a surprise Stunner by Steelz for a two-count.

They hit each other with a metal road sign, and then more chairs came into play, with Mickie taking over. She hit a Super Thesz Press for two and would have gotten the pin after a MickDT but Evans pulled referee Brian Hebner out of the ring before his hand could hit the mat a third time. Mickie went after Savannah, but got rammed into the ring post for her troubles. Evans threw Mickie back into the ring and she and Steelz double-teamed her.

This brought out Chelsea Green who ran into the ring with a chair. But rather than use it on Steelz and Evans, she set it up, sat down, and encouraged them to continue the beat-down on her supposed friend, while she soaked it all in.

 

They obliged of course, and double-teamed Mickie some more. James was laid out and a Frog Splash by Steelz was really only academic at that point, as Mickie wasn’t going to kick out in any case.

After the match, Green smugly taunted James who looked devastated by the betrayal. Mickie’s anger finally surfaced and she slapped Green, sending her running to the floor. As Mickie yelled at her, she didn’t notice Matt Cardona enter the ring behind her. When Mickie turned around, Cardona nailed her with Radio Silence, knocking her out.

 

Afterwards, he picked up Mickie so Green could blast her in the head with her cast -which she then removed, revealing that she wasn’t injured anymore. Green and Cardona posed over Mickie’s fallen body to end the show.

This was a fun match, though it may have been a bit tame for a Philly street fight, particularly in that building which has a legacy of some really violent matches. The turn by Green was the logical next step given the storyline that they’ve been building between her and Mickie. It will be interesting to see whether this story plays out in Impact only or whether there will be some crossover into – and potentially with – NWA. It’s also great to see Cardona finally bringing some personality into Impact. It’s night and day from where he used to be, and thank goodness for that.

Winner, and still Knockouts Champion: Tasha Steelz

 

Impact Wrestling - March 24th, 2022
3.5

2300 Arena - Philadelphia, PA

The flow of tonight’s show felt a little different from most weeks, as they had less matches than normal, but with two of them going pretty long. The two title matches were good, though the rest of them felt a bit short, possibly because of the placements of commercials. They’re building some really compelling stories right now with Josh and Moose and now with Green and Mickie. With a full month to go until the next Impact Plus special, it could be a challenge to keep building the storylines without them feeling like they’re dragging.