Impact: Heath’s contract is up in the air, Rich Swann is down on the ground

Bob Kapur

Impact: Heath’s contract is up in the air, Rich Swann is down on the ground

With Victory Road in the rear-view mirror, this week’s episode of Impact Wrestling focused on the build to Bound For Glory. As most of those storylines are pretty well-baked, this show felt a bit predictable at times, and with two rematches from Saturday’s Victory Road, a bit repetitive. Perhaps the biggest swerve was the way the whole #Heath4Impact campaign came to an end… or not. Still, the matches delivered, the comedy worked well, and the show continued Impact’s string of good shows.

Match 1: Tommy Dreamer vs. Brian Myers

Dreamer started off with intensity in this rematch from Victory Road, taking things to the floor in the opening minutes. But Myers ducked a chop and Tommy ended up smashing his hand on the ringpost. The pain jarred him, and Myers capitalized, dropping Dreamer with a suplex on the entrance ramp. Back in the ring, and Myers smothered Dreamer with a headlock, and then pounded him with stomps and smashes. The match went back and forth, with both men attempting – and missing – big moves, and eventually both getting near-falls after a DDT. A frustrated, Myers went under the ring and grabbed a Singapore cane, but Dreamer fought it away. Dreamer was going to hit Myers with it, but backed off when Myers begged him for mercy. That hesitation gave Myers the opening he was looking for, and he snatched the cane away and waffled Dreamer in the head with it, earning himself a disqualification. Myers went ballistic after that, waylaying Dreamer repeatedly with more cane shots until Impact Executive Vice-President Scott D’Amore came to the ring and sternly ordered Myers to stop the beating.

This was fine. Myers still isn’t particularly interesting, but the introduction of the Singapore cane into this feud makes it more likely that this will lead to a hardcore match, which could be fun (his involvement notwithstanding).

Winner, by disqualification: Tommy Dreamer

Moose was shown looking all around the building for his TNA World Heavyweight Championship that EC3 had stolen.

In the back, John E. Bravo told his groomsmen that his wedding costs were way too high, so he was hitting them up for contributions. Fallah Bahh said that, as Bravo’s Best Man, he would find a way to get the money. Swinger and Cody Deaner started arguing and the challenge was made for a match. Swinger is still comedy gold.

X-Division Champion Rohit Raju came to the ring. He cut an amusing promo, bragging about his smarts that have allowed him to keep the title, despite offering anyone an opportunity for a match in the Defeat Rohit Challenge. Willie Mack came to the ring to accept the challenge. Rohit said that Willie was no longer eligible, since he had this opportunity at Victory Road this past weekend, and couldn’t win the title. Jordynne Grace them came to the ring, leading to…

Match 2: Jordynne Grace vs. Rohit Raji (c) – for the X-Division Championship

Raju stalled for time, refusing to take off his title belt. He slowly did, and after he’d undid it, Willie Mack reached through the ropes from the floor and tried to pull it away. As they played tug-of-war, Jordynne rushed up behind Raju and rolled him up for the win. As Jordynne and Mack celebrated and put the title around her waist, Raju protested the outcome with the referee. The ref talked with the ring announcer, and it was explained that the title was not actually on the line, so Grace was not the new champion. #DustyFinish

The angle was poorly-executed, because they could have had the ring announcer or commentators clearly explain why the title wasn’t on the line. I had to re-watch the segment, and only then did I hear Raju say during his whining that since he didn’t give the title to the referee to hold up before the match, that meant it wasn’t an official title match, and that’s both a lame reason and contradictory to his pre-match promo. I get that he’s a weaselly character who will use every loophole and sneaky trick to keep his title. They could have done it in the same way, just with a better-written explanation. Raju continues to get better every week, and he plays obnoxious great.

Winner: Jordynne Grace

Still X-Division Champion: Rohit Raju

Backstage, Scott D’Amore sarcastically praised Raju for his competitive spirit and his willingness to give everyone an opportunity. So he booked Raju to defend the X-Division Championship at Bound For Glory against Willie Mack, TJP, Chris Bey, Trey Miguel, and Jordynne Grace in a 6-way Scramble. As can imagine, this didn’t sit well with Rohit.

Backstage, Fallah Bahh found Hernandez and challenged him to an arm wrestling match with Hernandez’ wad of cash on the line.

Match 3: XXXL (Acey Romero & Larry D) vs. the Rascalz (Dre & Wentz)

This was another rematch from Victory Road. XXXL jumped the Rascalz during their introductions, dumping them off the turnbuckles during their money pose. They Stretch Armstronged Dez and bombed him hard to the mat before the show went to commercial.

They were still beating him up after returning from break, using their bulk to trap him in the corner and wear him down with power moves. Dez finally escaped and tagged Wentz, who was a house on fire. XXXL tried to slow him down, but some miscommunication led to Acey accidentally dropping Larry D. The Rascalz took advantage, dispatched Acey, and got the cover on Larry after a Treehouse Splash. This was good, though with the Tag Team Title match at BFG already set up, it raises the question of what comes next for these teams.

Winners: The Rascalz

Backstage, Falllah Bahh sneaked into the locker room, and stole Hernandez’ wad of cash while Hernandez was in the shower.

Jimmy Jacobs was at a physical therapy clinic where Rich Swann was training to prep for Bound For Glory. Swann’s doctor, Dr. Forman, said that Rich’s rehab was going well, and that he was at 100%. Jimmy asked Rich to comment, but then someone decked out in scrubs and a surgical mask attacked Swann. It was the vile World Champion Eric Young! Young tied Swann’s ankle to a weight machine and then hammered it with a dumbbell, leaving Swann screaming in pain.

Gia Miller interviewed the Motor City Machine Guns about their match tonight against Ace Austin and Mad Man Fulton. As they spoke, the Good Brothers walked in and said that they would have the Guns’ backs during the match, because they wanted the Guns at 100% at BFG so they had no excuse when the Good Brothers walked away from that match with the titles.

Match 5: Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie vs. Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz

Taya and Rosemary used their strength to pummel their smaller opponents, and it looked like this one would end very quickly. But some shady tactics by Hogan sent Rosemary hard to the floor, and the momentum shifted. Hogan and Steelz hit some nice double-team moves to punish Rosemary, but eventually, the demon strength of Rosemary allowed her to break free. Rosemary tagged in Taya who dominated with power moves on both opponents, including an vicious high Sheik Suplex on Steelz. Rosemary tagged back in and hit Steelz with a huge Spear and then the Demon Bomb to get the win. Havok and Neveah were shown watching the match backstage, staring daggers at Taya and Rosemary through the TV screen. This was a good match in which both teams looked good.

Winners: Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie

Match 6: Cody Deaner and Cousin Jake vs. Johnny Swinger and Crazzy Steve

This one had lots of comedy, as you can expect given the teams involved. But it wasn’t for long, as the match only went a few minutes. Although he was in control, Swinger felt the need to cheat, and grabbed Steve’s monkey in order to hit Cody with it. But Steve wasn’t into the monkey business, and pulled it away from his partner. The confusion led to Swinger walking into a gut kick and a Deaner-D-T for the pin.

Winners: Cody Deaner and Cousin Jake

They showed Deonna Purrazzo’s post-match attack on Susie from Victory Road, and it was said that Susie’s arm was broken as a result, and that she would be out for an unknown length of time.

Gia Miller interviewed Kylie Rae about it, and Kylie was not her usual chipper self, but was almost showing anger. Kimber Lee interrupted the interview, and told Rae that Purrazzo would do the same to her at BFG. Lee said that Rae didn’t know Su…sie that well, and that she was actually bad. This angered Rae, who jumped Lee and started pounding her. After a few punches, Rae stopped, surprising even herself at how her temper had flared.

In a conference room, Scott D’Amore was sitting down with Heath. Scott told Heath how impressed he was with Heath’s tenacity to get a job, and that he was happy to give him the opportunity. D’Amore was ready to show Heath the contract to start the negotiations, but Heath pulled out one that he’d drafted. D’Amore was surprised by the numbers that Heath had proposed, suggesting that it was way above Heath’s market value. Heath said that he needed that much because he brought a lot of eyes to the company, he’d invested a lot into getting noticed, and besides all that… he’s got kids. D’Amore said that Heath would need to prove himself before he could even dream of making that much. Then things got heated, and the two started arguing. D’Amore ended up throwing Heath’s contract up in the air, scattering the pages everywhere, and left the room.

Rhino was waiting for Heath outside the room, and was surprised when Heath told him he didn’t sign a deal. Heath blew up at Rhino, saying that he’d rejected an offer with WWE because Rhino persuaded him to come to Impact. He angrily thanked Rhino for nothing and stormed off.

EC3 was somewhere outside and delivered a message to Moose, saying that Moose had to give up his attachment to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. He then threw the title off a bridge and delivered this message: Free Moose. This storyline has run its course to a tiring degree, and the two of them haven’t even faced each other yet. #ChangeTheNarrativeAlready

Sami Callihan came up to Ken Shamrock in the locker room. He told Ken that his attack on Eddie Edwards was a social media hit, which meant that Ken Shamrock was back. He then told Shamrock to beat up a security guard who was passing by, and Shamrock pounded the bejeezus out of the hapless victim.

Josh Matthews and Madison Rayne announced that next week’s show will include: a medical update on Rich Swann; Mad Man Fulton vs. Doc Gallows; Neveah and Havok vs. Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie vs. Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz; and Kylie Rae vs. Kimber Lee.

Match 7: Ace Austin and Mad Man Fulton vs. the Motor City Machine Guns

The Guns dominated Austin early on, using their tag team experience to isolate him far away from his corner where Fulton was itching to come in. But when Shelley got a bit cocky, Austin was able to slip out the back door and tag the angry monster. Fulton overpowered Shelley and soon he and Austin were tagging in and out quickly to take turns battering him. Shelley slowed down Fulton with a 5-on-2, and he evaded an Austin attack, leading to Austin colliding with Fulton on the apron. Shelley used this as a chance to tag in Sabin who battered Austin with a top rope smash and a mega-DDT that would have ended things if not for Fulton breaking up the count. Things sped up in the end, with the Guns able to chop down Fulton with double-team Superkicks, and then flattening Austin with some speedy attacks as well. Later, when all four men were down, The North came to the ring. They were going to take out both teams with steel chairs, but the Good Brothers ran to the ring and took The North out of the equation. Gallows decked Fulton from the outside, staggering him, and leaving him prone to the Eight Mile to end the match.

This was good, especially near the end when things really picked up. With the way that the other three teams have been interacting, Austin and Fulton seem to be merely bit players in this four-way feud. If they don’t win the titles at BFG, then the way they’ve been presented won’t really have done them many favours. We’ll see how Fulton fares next week in his singles match against Gallows.

Winners: the Motor City Machine Guns

The Guns, North, and Good Brothers yelled at each other as the show came to a close.

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