Impact: In-house crew brings the war to Honor No More

Bob Kapur

Impact: In-house crew brings the war to Honor No More

After a few weeks of attacks by the Honor No More, the Impact roster made a defiant stand on Thursday night, taking the fight to the rogue ROH faction. The date was set for the two teams to meet – February 19th at No Surrender – but based on the fight tonight, it’s safe to say that neither side will be waiting to get their hands on the other, should the opportunity arise.

This new batch of shows – taking place from the Charles Dodge Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida – had a bit of a different look and feel. Notable was the introduction of Matthew Rehwoldt as the new colour commentator, replacing D’Lo Brown who was injured by Honor No More two weeks ago. There was also a change in ring announcers, with George Iceman doing the introductions. Lastly, the company debuted a new referee, Darrick Moore, who sharp-eyed fans may remember seeing on NXT until very recently.

Match 1: Chris Bey vs. Jake Something

Bey blasted Something with a Flying Dropkick right at the bell, and then tried some hit and move, but Something’s strength stopped all of that. He was in control, but Bey avoided a charge on the floor and Something hit the ring post. Bey followed that up with a Flying Dive to the floor and Something was knocked a bit loopy. Something tried to mount a comeback, but Bey hit a huge Standing Blockbuster and took control again. Bey worked a headlock for a while, even keeping it on when Something tried to escape with an Electric Chair, but eventually Something was shake him off. Something fired up and started a-clubberin’ including hitting a huge Powerbomb for a 2-count. Something hit a few more power moves, but Bey deked out of the way and hit a huge Poison Rana – but Something kicked out! He Hulked up and was able to catch Bey in a top rope move attempt, and planted Bey with a Black Hole Slam for the pin.

After the match, Bey’s Bullet Club buddies the Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) ran in and beat up Something. “Speedball” Mike Bailey ran in for the save, but he got blindsided by “Switchblade” Jay White who ran in right after him.

This was a pretty long match, and it was good, though they may have done a bit too much. It seems like they want to push Something but something keeps preventing them from pulling the trigger. Maybe this will be the start of bigger things to come?

The insurgence of the Bullet Club is curious in its timing, since they are already doing a faction invasion storyline with the Honor No More stuff. Hopefully this storyline doesn’t get lost in the shuffle due to its similarity and lack of name recognition compared to that one.

Winner: Jake Something

Before heading to commercial, Honor No More were shown in the crowd, trying to make their way to the ring, but security held them back.

When we returned from the break, Chris Sabin, Rhino, Eddie Edwards, Rich Swann, and Josh Alexander were in the ring defending their turf. They challenged Honor No More (HNM) to a fight right then and there. Before the challenge could be accepted, Impact Executive Vice-President Scott D’Amore came to the ramp. He read the riot act to HNM, saying that they don’t represent Ring of Honor because none of them work for that company any more. He said that people like Cary Silkin and Jonathan Gresham represent ROH and HNM are a bunch of carny POS’s. Maria answered, saying all they wanted was an opportunity. D’Amore said that if they wanted to do business, they could face the Impact crew at No Surrender on February 19th. If HNM wins, they will be allowed to stay in the company. If they lose, they have to leave for good. Maria accepted the offer.

Chris Sabin still wanted a piece of HNM, so D’Amore told them to pick one representative to take on Sabin in the main event tonight. They chose PCO. D’Amore was on fire for this one, and Maria was great too.

In the dressing room, Madison Rayne reminded Kaleb that since he is only a replacement for Tenille Dashwood in their tag team match against The Iinspiration, they won’t be competing for the Knockouts Tag Team Championship. Instead, his role will only be to help Rayne scout the competition for when Dashwood ultimately returns.

Scott D’Amore brought HNM to their “locker room” which was really a backstage storage area. He said that he was putting them there to protect them from the locker room who wants to beat them up. Cary Silken came in and he exchanged words with HNM before leaving with D’Amore.

Match 2: Madison Rayne and Kaleb vs. The Iinspiration (Jesse McKay and Cassie Lee)

Lee outwrestled Rayne early on, so Rayne made the quick tag to Kaleb, who didn’t fare much better against Lee, or McKay for that matter. But when Rayne offered a distraction, Kaleb took advantage, hitting Lee with a Superkick, to take us into the ads.

Rayne was controlling Lee when we returned from the break, and she and Kaleb took turns beating on her in their corner. But when Kaleb went for a move off the top, he got hit in the Little Kalebs and that allowed Lee to get the tag to a fresh McKay. She fared well until a hard takedown by Kaleb stunned her. Instead of capitalizing, a cocky Kaleb tried to take a picture of the downed McKay and this allowed her to hit him with a surprise kick and scramble over to tag Lee. Lee was able to surprise Kaleb with a rollup and get the pin.

This was fine. It’s unfortunate that the title match couldn’t have happened, though, since that had been billed for the past few weeks. This could have descended into straight comedy which is often the case with Kaleb, but other than the ending it didn’t, and it was better than expected as a result.

Winners: The Iinspiration

Backstage, Jake Something thanked “Speedball” for helping him out earlier when the Bullet Club attacked. Ace Austin and Mad Man Fulton walked in and feigned playing nice. Bailey said that if they really wanted to help, they would team up with him and Something and take on the Bullet Club. Austin tried to squirm his way out of it, but Impact official Gail Kim walked in and said she’d overheard Bailey, and made the match between the four of them versus the Bullet Club next week.

A hype video for “The Quintessential Diva” Gisele Shaw aired. She is coming soon.

In the back, The Good Brothers told Violent By Design that they collectively had a problem with the arrival of the Bullet Club. VBD tried to brush them off, but the Good Brothers reminded them that they had a successful business relationship, and were looking to extend that relationship. VBD agreed.

Mickie James’ State of the Knockouts Division address

The members of the Knockouts division were standing around the ring. Gail Kim introduced Knockouts Champion Mickie James. The commentators mentioned that James will be representing Impact during WWE’s Women’s Royal Rumble match this Saturday.

James said that the division is the best women’s division in all of wrestling, and talked about the history that many of them had been making over the past few months. In doing so, she threw a backhanded compliment at Deonna Purrazzo, saying that while she may be a terrible person, she’s a great talent. Purrazzo got angry about what James said, and headed to the back. Mickie shrugged off her interruption and continued with her address.

Mickie said that if she wins the Royal Rumble, she would go on to compete at WrestleMania, and would actually put the Knockouts Championship on the line, making it a title vs. title match.

Chelsea Green then interrupted and came into the ring. She said that Mickie shouldn’t talk about “if” she wins the Rumble, but rather “when.” She asked Mickie for the first title match after James is finished at the Rumble. This earned an objection from Tasha Steelz, and she and Savannah Evans entered the ring. Steelz reminded everyone that she won the Ultimate X match to earn a title shot so Green wasn’t next in line. The four of them started brawling, with Mickie and Green dumping them both out of the ring.

It’s a bit weird to do this kind of segment with a babyface holding court – typically, this kind of ceremony gives the heel a chance to boast and brag and belittle the others, so it was weird to see James do it. That said, it was harmless enough and looks like it’s leading to a tag team match next week and possibly setting up Chelsea for a future title program. In terms of Mickie’s Rumble changes, there was little chance of her winning it before this, but but suggesting that her Mania match would be title vs. title pretty much cements it.

Gia Miller interviewed Steve Maclin, who wasn’t pleased about having lost his title match against ROH Champion Jonathan Gresham last week. Maclin said that the loss shouldn’t count since the match was competed under ROH Pure rules. He scared Gia off and then started menacing the security guards. Gresham came up to him and offered Maclin a match next week. This one would be under traditional Impact rules but would not be for Gresham’s title. Maclin accepted.

They showed a short clip of Jordynne Grace defending her Social Media Championship against Knockout division alumnus Kiera Hogan at a Terminus Wrestling show. Grace won to retain the title. That led to Gia Miller interviewing Matt Cardona, who challenged her to a title match last week. Grace said that Cardona had no chance beating her, but she would accept the challenge anyway.

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

The Learning Tree now consisted of seven new recruits in addition to Zicky Dice and VSK. Joining the commentary desk, Myers explained that he had done a recruiting drive after Morrissey accepted the challenge to face The Learning Tree last week, when it was just comprised of VSK and Dice.

Despite the numbers disadvantage, Morrissey completely dominated, beating up every member of the Learning Tree. He Powerbombed one schlub on top of Dice and then pinned them both to end things.

After the match, Myers confronted Morrissey and was about to get beaten up as well, but Moose ran in and attacked Morrissey. Myers and Moose then watched in glee as all of the Learning Tree guys swarmed Morrissey. Morrissey broke out of the pile and scattered them, but then got Speared by Moose and was laid out.

This was a fun segment. The match itself was a joke, as were the Learning Tree guys, but this was all a build for the final Spear spot, and that was done well. The title match between Moose and Morrissey has been built up well so far.

Winner: W. Morrissey

Raj Singh cut a promo, saying that despite the injury to Shera and Rohit Raju leaving, he has some good news to share: his new protégé, the “Indian Tank” Bhupinder Gujjar, would be coming next week. John Skylar barged in and complained that he wasn’t getting any time on the show. Singh offered Skylar a match against Gujjar next week, and Skylar accepted.

Match 4: Johnny Swinger vs. JONAH

During the introductions, they showed a clip from earlier today when Swinger was overly-chatty and JONAH threw him into a wall. Later, Decay found Swinger laid out and were amused.

This was a complete squash. JONAH won in about a minute, finishing off Swinger with a Superfly Splash. Dan Lambert was shown in the crowd during this one.

After the match, Decay came down the ramp and gawked at Swinger’s fallen body. JONAH and Black Taurus had a bit of a stare-down.

This was another good showcase for JONAH, and more matches like this will help put his loss to Josh Alexander further in the rear-view, so as to build him up again as a monster threat. The Lambert thing could be neat, provided they don’t over-expose Lambert or make him a caricature like they’ve done with him in AEW. JONAH vs. Black Taurus? Yes, please.

Winner: JONAH

Match 5: PCO (w/ Honor No More (Matt Taven, Vincent, Mike Bennett, and Maria)) vs. Chris Sabin (w/ Rich Swann, Eddie Edwards, Rhino, and Josh Alexander)

In the early minutes, PCO simply stalked Sabin and hit him with hard shots, moving and acting like the Frankenstein’s monster that’s he’s billed as. Sabin tried to come back, but some interference by HNM from the outside let PCO maintain his edge. But when the Impact home crew did the same, the referee saw it and send them to the back. As the ref ejected them, we went to the final commercial break of the night.

Returning from commercial, Sabin was trying his best to take the fight to PCO, but PCO caught him by the throat in a Springboard attempt and sent Sabin sailing over the top rope. He then threw Sabin back in the ring, only to hit him with a hard Clothesline that sent Sabin toppling to the floor yet again. PCO then hit a huge Somersault Dive to the floor, flattening Sabin, and then used the ring steps and ring post to continue the beatdown.

PCO then draped Sabin on the ring apron and hit him with a Somersault Senton off the top turnbuckle – that looked painful.

PCO looked to end things with a Moonsault, but Sabin moved and PCO crashed hard. Sabin rallied and hit PCO with a big Dropkick and a Boot to the Head in the corner. A Springboard Dropkick then sent PCO to the floor, where Sabin hit a Flying Dive of his own. A High Cross Body by Sabin nearly got him the win, but PCO kicked out.

Sabin went for a Cradle Shock but couldn’t get the big man up. Instead, he ate a big Clothesline that put him in position for a Vader Bomb – luckily, Sabin got the knees up and that hurt PCO. Sabin had PCO up for the Cradle Shock, but HNM made their move. Sabin went after each of them, but the numbers game was too much. As he went for a top rope move, Maria distracted the ref, and Bennett shoved Sabin off the top and into the clutches of PCO. PCO hit a Full Nelson Bomb on Sabin and got the pin.

After the match, HNM beat down Sabin until the Impact crew ran down for the save. They got the better of HNM, even hurting Vincent when Alexander clamped on the Ankle Lock until the rest of HNM could pull Vincent out of his clutches.

This was a good David vs. Goliath match, though not with the same outcome as that battle (spoiler alert if you didn’t know how that one ended). PCO is such a different style of wrestler from almost anyone out there today, and Sabin was a great opponent for him to highlight the difference. It’s good that Impact has started to take the fight to HNM and aren’t just going to look like chumps during this one. The war is heating up and the build to their match at No Surrender could be a fun ride.

Winner: PCO

The show ended with the Impact crew standing tall in their ring while Honor No More retreated up the ramp, licking their wounds.

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