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Impact Wrestling continued its journey to Victory Road on September 18 with another jam-packed episode that continued top rivalries, ignited new feuds and determined Tommy Dreamer's fate as he chased a championship opportunity.
Was The Innovator of Violence able to defeat Ace Austin, thus earning an opportunity to challenge friend Christian Cage at the live event special?
That question dominated the discussion Thursday night.
Find out the answer with this recap of the September 2 AXS TV presentation.
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The Influence's Tenille Dashwood, Madison Rayne and Kaleb (with a K) hit the ring to kick off the show, battling Taylor Wilde, Rachael Ellering and Jordynne Grace in a six-person mixed tag match.
The babyfaces controlled early, with Grace taking the fight to Kaleb, before Rayne tripped up Big Mama Pump and allowed the heels to seize control of the bout.
Grace eventually created separation and made the tag to Wilde. The babyfaces fended off the heels, culminating in Ellering kicking Kaleb's arms to break his grip on his partners and Wilde delivering a German suplex to the only man in the match for the win.
Result
Wilde, Grace and Ellering defeated The Influence
Grade
C
Analysis
In theory, this should wrap up Wilde's feud with The Influence and allow her to move onto other things. That she pinned Kaleb likely means that will not be the case.
The feud to this point has been effective in giving a lot of talented people something to do but no one has really emerged better than they were prior to it. It's been treadmill booking of sorts, with no forward progression but lots of entertaining booking. That works for a bit but it's time to take things to the next level for all involved.
This opener was an energetic sprint of a match with a feel-good outcome. Sometimes, that's all a show needs to get things off to a solid start.
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As No Way and Fallah Bahh made their way to the ring for their scheduled tag team match against Decay's Crazy Steve and Black Taurus, one of the members of the conga line attacked Rosemary and revealed herself to be Tasha Steelz.
Steelz and Savannah Evans beat The Demon Assassin to the backstage area, ensuring the match is a fair tag match.
Taurus rocked No Way early, showcase his speed agility, rarities for a performer of his size. The fun-loving tandem of No Way and Bahh halted his momentum and cut him off from his partner, showing frustration and intensity as the Impact faithful showered them in jeers.
Taurus downed No Way and made the tag to Steve, who exploded into the ring and teed off on the massive Bahh. He ultimately slowed Bahh by biting his head and delivering a jumping DDT from the middle rope for the win.
Result
Decay defeated Bahh and No Way Out
Grade
C
Analysis
The actions of the performers themselves, coupled with the words of the commentators, suggest Bahh and No Way are en route to a heel turn. Dismayed by the lack of love from the fans for them in relation to a darker act like Decay, they showed a different attitude throughout Thursday's match.
That would certainly be an interesting booking choice if nothing else. We are in an era of wrestling where the smiling good guy isn't nearly as over as the layered or charismatic villain so a heel turn that sees them embrace the fan's dislike would be welcome.
Decay, on the contrary, remains incredibly over with the fans and them winning here to continue their opponent's descent into frustration makes sense.
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After a backstage confrontation that saw them agree to an alliance, Moose and W. Morrissey attacked and beat down Eddie Edwards in the middle of the ring, leaving the heart of Impact in a heap and announcing to the company a seemingly insurmountable force.
In a pre-taped video package, Eric Young chastised Rhino for costing Violent By Design several victories of late and told him the only way to exorcise him of the sickness is for him to suffer first.
Back in the Impact Zone, X-Division champion Josh Alexander made his way to the ring, ready to see who accepted his one challenge. The answer? Former champion Jake Crist, making his return to the promotion.
Crist took control of the bout on an inverted DDT but his dominance was short-lived as Alexander fired off Chaos Theory and scored the clean pinfall victory with the C-4 spike piledriver.
After the match, Alexander staked his claim to being the greatest X-Divison champion of all time. This brought out Chris Sabin, who reminded Alexander of his successes and challenged him for a title shot on September 18 at Victory Road.
Result
Alexander defeated Crist
Grade
A
Analysis
Alexander beating former champions who have walked in his shoes is a great way to establish him in his role as the top competitor in the division and one of the most credible wrestlers in the company. That Sabin took exception to his claims of being the best instantly elevates the X-Division title.
More importantly, it sets up Alexander vs. Sabin in a high-profile title match with high stakes beyond a championship belt. A win for Alexander takes him one step toward proving himself as an all-time elite X-Division competitor. A loss and he falls out of contention for that label while Sabin etches his name in the history books as the first nine-time X-Division champ.
That match should be a hell of a battle and a show-stealer on any card.
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The rivalry between Matt Cardona and Rohit Raju continued this week as the former WWE Intercontinental champion teamed with fiancee Chelsea Green to battle Raju and Shera in a mixed tag team match.
Green and Cardona rolled early, executing a nice bot from the former into side Russian leg sweep for two. Green outwrestled Raju, frustrating him and keeping him off-guard. Shera entered the math but refused to combat Green. Instead, he paired off with Cardona, allowing Raju to rock Chelsea with a jumping knee to the face for the win.
Result
Raju and Shera defeated Green and Cardona
Grade
B
Analysis
This worked as well as it did because of Raju's antics during and after the match.
He sold Green out-wrestling him perfectly, showing just enough arrogance when he had the upper hand, then flipping the script and selling the disbelief when she got the best of him. Then, moments after he pinned her shoulders to the mat, he yelled, "this is on you" at Cardona.
Not only does that resolve himself of the disgusting antics, but it also enhances the rivalry with the Long Island Broski.
We have seen Cardona turn it up more than once during his brief stint with Impact, to considerable success. Now that the love of his life has been assaulted by Raju, it will be interesting to see how he responds and just how much it intensifies their ongoing rivalry.
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The Good Brothers made their way to the ring, where Karl Anderson wasted little time talking about the Impact Tag Team champions’ success. Part of that included recalling their assault on Rich Swann and Willie Mack a week ago that ended with the latter hospitalized.
Swann entered the Impact Zone, ready to attack the champs, but security separated them.
Backstage, Scott D’Amore met the champions and Swann and announced a Bunkhouse Brawl for next week’s show between the former world champion and Anderson.
Grade
C+
Analysis
The promo segment escalated the heat between The Good Brothers, Swann and Mack and set up a big main event-worthy match for next week’s show.
Whether you’re feeling what The Good Brothers are doing right now in Impact or AEW, that is solid booking. Not only does next week’s card benefit, but one of the rivalries that will inevitably lead to a big championship match will be heightened because of it.
Besides, Good Brothers vs. Swann and Mack should bring the hard-hitting fun come their title showdown.
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Tommy Dreamer's quest for a showdown with Christian Cage culminated in a high-stakes main event Thursday against No. 1 contender Ace Austin. A win over The Inevitable and the Innovator of Violence would be added to the Victory Road main event.
He attacked like a competitor with everything to gain early but interference from Madman Fulton on the floor halted his momentum.
He never regained it.
Austin dominated the action and just when it looked like Dreamer might mount a comeback and cash his ticket to Victory Road, the former X-Division champion caught him with The Fold for the pinfall victory.
Result
Austin defeated Dreamer
Grade
A
Analysis
Dreamer was chasing a goal, a dream of his, and Austin snuffed it out.
Yes, he had the assistance of Fulton but his dominance throughout was such that it is not a stretch to believe that he would have won the match even without the help. He was nearly flawless and his Fold finisher is the sort of move that can be hit from out of nowhere, with devastating results.
Austin has been one of the MVPs of Impact for two or three years now, every bit as talented as he claims to be and one of the most reliable in-ring performers on the roster. He probably won't win the Impact world title from Christian at Victory Road but another superb performance will go a long way in explaining to company officials that he belongs in that spot consistently.
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