Slammiversary is in the rear-view mirror, but there’s no rest for the wicked – or the babyfaces – as Impact’s next special event, Against All Odds, will be taking place on July 1st. That means that there is a lot of building to do on this and next week’s episodes of Impact Wrestling. In the case of World Champion Josh Alexander, that meant being confronted by his next challenger. And in the case of Honor No More, that building involves tearing down anyone who gets in their way, as they showed in the opening and closing segments on Thursday.

 

Honor No More promo

Honor No More made their way to the ring to kick off the show. Eddie Edwards complained about people continuing to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the company, and said that people should be celebrating them instead. They argued that the Impact originals didn’t win their match at Slammiversary, and Honor No More didn’t lose. But then Eddie said that one of them did, calling out PCO, who got some cheers from the crowd. Vincent defended PCO and instead blamed Traci Brooks, D’Lo Brown, and Earl Hebner for getting involved in the match, and suggested that it was Impact Executive Vice-President Scott D’Amore that led a conspiracy to beat HNM.

Matt Taven took some more swipes at D’Amore and said that they had not only made Ring of Honor relevant while they were there, but are now doing that for Impact, too. America’s Most Wanted – “Cowboy” James Storm and “Wildcat” Chris Harris then came out on the entrance stage.

 

They exchanged verbal swipes, and then AMW headed to the ring. It looked like AMW were going to walk into battle despite the numbers disadvantage. But they decided to instead do the smart thing and they called on the Good Brothers to join them. The four of them put up a valiant fight, but HNM still had the numbers and it looked like AMW and the Good Brothers were in danger. But then the Briscoes ran to the ring and evened things up, and HNM skedaddled.

In the back, Gisele Shaw tried to talk with Alisha, who wasn’t thrilled that Shaw didn’t have her back last week, and Alisha accused her of being afraid of Masha Slamovich. Shaw didn’t deny it, nor did she deny being wary of Lady Frost as well. Shaw said that she was going to find a better tag team partner than Alisha was. Alisha said to do that, and said she would find someone who hated Shaw. It looks like a match is forthcoming.

Outside his office, Impact Executive Vice-President Scott D’Amore was accosted by Honor No More. He wasn’t sympathetic to their complaints that their loss at Slammiversary was a fluke and shouldn’t have counted because the referee wasn’t official. But he said they could try again at Against All Odds when they complete in a 10-man tag match against the Good Brothers, the Briscoes, and “Cowboy” James Storm. In addition, he said that Eddie Edwards, Matt Taven, and Eddie Edwards would take on the Briscoes and Storm tonight in the main event.

 

Match 1: Chelsea Green (w/ Deonna Purrazzo) vs. Mia Yim

Purrazzo joined the commentary team for this one. Green was aggressive early on, including hitting a vicious Curb Stomp in the corner. She dragged Yim out to the floor, but Yim countered a Suplex with one of her own to take control. Yim worked over Green with some submission attempts until Green got free and went back to her angry assault. A great-looking move saw Green thwart a Springboard attempt by dropkicking Yim from the apron to the floor. After some lengthy back-and-forth action, Green nearly got a pin after a Lung Blower followed by a Stomp, but Yim kicked out. Green went to hit Yim with her own Eat Defeat finisher, but Yim blocked it and escaped with a German Suplex. She followed that up with HBIC for a two-count. Green distracted the ref, and when Yim went for a move off the top, Deonna abandoned the commentary desk and pushed Yim and sent her crashing to the mat. This brought out Mickie James who ran down and flattened Deonna.

Green looked back to see that and Yim capitalized, hitting Green with Eat Defeat and getting the pin.

This was good, and pretty lengthy for a TV match. The Deonna-Mickie feud seems to still be going on, so it will be interesting to see if they build to some kind of big gimmick match to end this one – bigger, that is, than the Texas Death Match they already had.

Winner: Mia Yim

Backstage, Gia Miller interviewed the Influence, and pointed out that they may not be able to cash in their rematch clause for the Knockouts Tag Team Championship for a while, since Madison Rayne broke her nose. Gia noted that the injury was caused when they bumped heads during their Slammiversary match, but while there was some resulting tension between them, the Influence blew off that explanation. Gisele Shaw walked up and tried to ingratiate herself into the Influence. The Influence told Gisele that if she took out either Rosemary or Tara, maybe they’d consider a partnership with her.

 

Match 2: Bhupinder Gujjar & Shark Boy vs. Johnny Swinger & Zicky Dice

Is it racist to suggest that the team of Gujjar and Shark Boy should be called Fish Curry? Gujjar and Sharky dominated in the early moments, including Sharky taking a bite out of Swinger’s glutes. Even some dirty tactics by Dice and Swinger couldn’t get them any momentum, and after being thrown into one another, they were discombobulated and prone for a couple of finishers. Shark Boy hit Swinger with a Stunner, and Gujjar hit the Gargoyle Spear on Dice for the pin.

This was a fun little throw-away match. They noted that Gujjar is undefeated so far, so they may be looking to give him a little push. Quick, easy wins like this are a good way to get him over with the crowd.

Winners: Bhupinder Gujjar & Shark Boy

 

After the match, Deaner and Joe Doering of Violent By Design ran down to the ring and they laid out all four of the participants of the last match. Deaner grabbed a mic and called out the World Champion, Josh Alexander.

Alexander quickly obliged and made his way to the ring. During his entrance, they showed a clip of Deaner and Doering attacking Josh after Slammiversary had gone off the air. Deaner hyped up Joe Doering and tried to intimidate Josh, reminding him that Doering was undefeated – including having beat Alexander (by disqualification, but still) during their match last week.

Alexander pointed out that Eric Young wasn’t there and that he hadn’t been seen since losing the title to Josh. And said that the same thing might happen to Doering at AAO, in which case Deaner would be left all alone. VBD tried to sucker-attack Alexander, but he went on the offense. Unfortunately, it was 2-on-1 and Deaner and Doering pounded on him until a Security team ran down to break it up. A few of them got manhandled by Doering, but Deaner pulled him away and led the angry Doering back up the ramp.

As he did, Alexander told Josh that they could have a match right then and there, leading to:

 

Match 3: Josh Alexander vs. Deaner

Josh took control immediately, battering Deaner with power moves and hard shots, including his Low Cross Body that drove Deaner hard from the apron to the floor. After some dirty tactics by Deaner, including an eye poke, the pendulum swung his way. But only for a short while, as Alexander hit a chain of German Suplexes to punish Deaner and regain the offense. Deaner escaped a C-4 Spike attempt, and tried for a Deaner-DT, but Alexander avoided that, locked on an Ankle Lock, and Deaner had no choice but to tap out.

This was a good showcase for Alexander. Deaner was good, as usual, but this one was rightly about making Alexander look like a strong champion, heading into his big match against Doering.

Winner: Josh Alexander

Backstage, Gia Miller interviewed Frankie Kazarian, who was happy to have been on the winning team at Slammiversary with his fellow TNA/Impact originals. But he said as good as that felt, he still hasn’t gotten the closure he was looking for when he returned to Impact. For that, he would still need to complete his match against Chris Sabin to determine which one was indeed “the Future.” He challenged Sabin to find out by facing him next week.

They showed a promo video from Jordynne Grace, shot right after winning the Knockouts Championship in the Queen of the Mountain match at Slammiversary. She thanked all her opponents, and then said that if anyone wanted to beat her, they would have to work harder than her, and she didn’t think that was possible.

After that, they cut to a promo from Tasha Steelz, who was accompanied by Savannah Evans. Steelz wasn’t as gracious as Grace was, and said that Jordynne shouldn’t thank her. Because at Against All Odds, she would be regaining the title when she faced Jordynne. But first, Grace would need to get past Savannah when they meet in the ring next week.

 

Match 4: Sami Callihan vs. Jack Price

The commentators noted that Price was one of the co-winners of the 2022 Gut Check competition. If winning that gets you a match against Sami, what does losing get you? Two matches? This was a complete squash. Sami beat him in under a minute, finishing off Price with a Cactus Special.

Winner: Sami Callihan. Flawless victory.

After the match, Moose ran to the ring and attacked Sami from behind. He flattened Sami with a Spear, and then battered Sami with a steel chair, before putting him through a ringside table with a Uranage.

This one seems to have a similar problem as the Deonna-Mickie situation – i.e. after their Monster’s Ball deathmatch, how can they top that with something even bigger? But the ride to the end of the road could be fun.

Backstage, AMW were with the Briscoes prepping for their match. The Good Brothers walked in and said they’ll be accompanying them to the ring and they had their backs. As everyone left, James Storm stopped Chris Harris. Harris insisted that he wanted to be out there to support Storm, but Storm reminded Harris of a promise Harris had made to his family, which was to stay out of action, lest he go back to the dark places where he’d fallen in the past. Harris promised to keep his word and agreed to go home.

Sami was tearing through the backstage area looking for Scott D’Amore. Instead, he ran into Impact Executive Gail Kim. She asked the same question I asked a paragraph ago, wondering what could be done between Sami and Moose after Monster’s Ball. Sami suggested a Raven’s Clockwork Orange House of Fun match, and Gail agreed, making the match official for Against All Odds.

 

Match 5: Honor No More (Matt Taven, Mike Bennett & Eddie Edwards) (w/ Maria Kanellis-Bennett) vs. The Briscoes (Jay and Mark Briscoe) & “Cowboy” James Storm

I’m not sure when Maria changed from the dress she wore in the earlier segment to her bikini briefs that she wore at ringside, but I’m for it, and always will be. Match-wise, there were some early highlights, too, including a hard chop battle between Mark Briscoe and Mike Bennett. Storm showed that he’s still got it, sending all three HNM members to the floor, where they were bowled over by a Flying Somersault Dive by Jay, and then a Moonsault from the top by Mark.

But when Storm tried again to fight all three HNM members on the floor, his luck ran out, and soon he was trapped in their corner, and subject to their mercy – or lack thereof. HNM used some smart old-school tactics to keep him there, and took turns beating him up, both legally and otherwise.

Storm finally was able to dodge Edwards and got the tag. The action picked up further here, with the Briscoes flying around like camo blurs. HNM continued to violate the rulebook, and were going to end Mark with a triple attack, but luckily, Jay made the save. But after some shady tactics, HNM were able to dispatch Storm and Jay, and then Taven and Bennett hit Mark with the Proton Pack for the pin.

This was good, although some of the refereeing was spotty in terms of enforcing the rules near the end, even when HNM were blatantly cheating in front of him. That was particularly noticeable, since HNM had done such a good job of using some traditional cheating tactics earlier in the match. That said, it was right for HNM to get the win to get back some of their momentum after losing at Slammiversary.

Winners: Matt Taven, Mike Bennett & Eddie Edwards

After the match, the rest of Honor No More ran to the ring and beat up Storm and the Briscoes, until the Good Brothers ran in for the save. Or rather, the attempted save. Because HNM swarmed them, too. Honor No More then went to town on everyone, but saved the biggest beatings for Mark Briscoe, hitting his ankle with a Conchairto Pillmanizer. The show ended with HNM celebrating their heinous actions, standing tall in the middle of the ring.

Impact Wrestling - June 23rd, 2022
3.5

The Asylum, Nashville Fairgrounds - Nashville, TN

With only two weeks to go until Against All Odds, they had to pack a lot into this show. Not sure that having two squash matches did wonders for that, though they were at least short enough that the aftermath of both led to some build. But the women’s match and the main event helped balance things out somewhat. Still, next week needs to be pretty stacked to garner more interest for AAO, and they will likely need to change the blueprint from tonight’s to accomplish that.