Honor No More had a night of ups and downs during Thursday night’s Impact Wrestling. Heath has outsmarted her once again, Maria Kanellis has got herself into hot water and Eddie Edwards has earned No. 1 status as a contender for the Impact World Championship.
It started with a double downer when Heath defeated Kenny King. Vincent was at ringside to help, but Heath hit him with a punch and pinned King from a wake-up call.
Honor No More launched a contingency plan by surrounding the ring at full force. Heath fought back bravely, but the numbers were too big. Honor No More took turns pounding Heath. Eddie Edwards ordered PCO to finish the job. As PCO mounted with excitement, Heath slipped away to give Mike Bennett a wake-up call, then escaped through the crowd.
Vincent had other duties as he tried to sow discord to convince Josh Alexander that Honor No More is right about Impact. The scene started with Rich Swann looking to win the No. 1 Main Event. Alexander said he would prefer to defend against Swann out of respect as a competitor. Enter Vincent. He warned that as a champion, Impact Alexander will run into the ground until he collapses. If Alexander realizes he needs friends, then check out Honor No More.
Backstage, Edwards was confused at how Heath kept defeating her. Matt Taven and Mike Bennett have mentioned that Doc Gallows is injured, so they have no idea when they will shoot their tag title against the Good Brothers. OGK exited the room and appropriately ran into Scott D’Amore. The boss had no answers for OGK. Gallows takes time to heal. Maria Kanellis kicked him in the face, claiming a handicap title match for OGK against Karl Anderson. D’Amore countered with a twist for another match. Bennett booked against Anderson for next week. If Anderson wins, Maria will be banned from the ring for the tag title match.
Despite all of Honor No More’s troubles, the show ended on a high note as Edwards won the No. 1 six-way elimination Main Event. Edwards outlasted Bandido, Moose, Rich Swann, Sami Callihan and Steve Maclin. (Full game details here.)
The last two went to Edwards and Swann. Edwards cheated with a kendo stick, but Swann didn’t stay down. After a brief babyface rally, Edwards caught Swann for a Blue Thunder Bomb and a Boston Knee Party. Swan still had some fighting spirit left, so Edwards executed the Die Hard Driver for the win.
Honor No More burst into the ring to celebrate with Edwards perched on her shoulders. Edwards will wrestle Alexander for the Impact World Championship at Bound For Glory on October 7th.
In other action from Impact Wrestling:
- Black Taurus defeated Laredo Kid, Rey Horus, and Trey Miguel. Four-way action opened the show with wild moves all around. In the end, Laredo hit Taurus with a Crucifix Bomb, Horus hit Taurus with a Satellite DDT, Trey hit Horus with a Rolling Cutter, Laredo hit Trey with a Flipping DDT, then Taurus hit the Power Bull Piledriver on Laredo to win.
- Tasha Steelz started a fight with Killer Kelly and vice versa. Savannah Evans stepped up to protect the Boricua Badass, so Kelly suggested a match against Evans later in the show.
- Killer Kelly defeated Savannah Evans. Kelly toyed with Evans in a strange way. As Evans goozed Kelly with one hand, Kelly placed Evans’ second hand on her neck for a double goozle as well. Kelly took a power pound and didn’t seem to mind. In the end, Kelly worked for a positional advantage to engage a Cobra clutch choke. Evans approached the ropes but didn’t get close enough for the break. Evans was forced to tap. Steelz talked rubbish to the outside world with Kelly.
- Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley and Kushida revealed their team name as Time Machine. They will face off against Violent By Design in trios action next week. (All details here.)
- Rosemary lost to Gisele Shaw on the BTI Pre-Show. She sort of blamed Jessicka, although it wasn’t exactly anyone’s fault. The same goes for Rosemary and Taya who lost the tag titles. Rosemary regrouped with a plan to restore Ragnarok as champions and turn Jessicka back into Havok. Jessicka has already started the plan by sharing that she has a match next week. Rosemary was frustrated at the lack of patience for the plan.
- Deonna Purrazzo and Chelsea Green interrupted Jordynne Grace’s backstage interview. Grace challenged to fight both of them. Mia Yim stepped in to support Grace for a decent tag fight and suggested it be a title match. VXT accepted for next week. (All details here.)
- X-Division Championship: “Speedball” Mike Bailey retained against Chris Bey. Bailey used his nimble feet to take control with kicks and land the ultimate weapon for victory. (All details here.)
- Brian Myers faced Bhupinder Gujjar. Myers challenged Gujjar to get to the end of the line for a shot at the Impact Digital Media Championship. Pushers were exchanged. Gujjar was angry and said that this was far from over.
This episode of Impact Wrestling was very productive. The elimination factor for the No. 1 fight added extra drama to the way it unfolded. Eddie Edwards was the right choice to win. The tension was teased long ago when Edwards joined Honor No More and it’s time to revisit the idea of Edwards blaming Alexander for being passed over to bring home the world title to Impact. Bandido and Rich Swann lit the match with their exchange. The Victory Road Special takes place before Bound For Glory. If Alexander has to defend at Victory Road, maybe they can squeeze in Bandido or Swann as a challenger.
“Speedball” Mike Bailey continues to excite in his X Division title defense. There are still many wrestlers on the list that Bailey needs to beat before he vacates the division. Black Taurus, Laredo Kid, Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, and Kushida are just a few that would be cool matchups. Speaking of bull, the four-way opener was a dandy of athletics. It’s nice to see the bull win.
Killer Kelly has my attention. That was an impressive win over powerhouse Savannah Evans. Kelly’s ring skills are a work in progress, but her character development is interesting. Kelly’s presence demands focus.
The backstage scenes were great all around. There were lots of little details that made me laugh like Jessicka’s battle cloak with the words ‘battle cloak’ written on the back, Taya Valkyrie making faces at whatever Rosemary says, Bhupinder Gujjar catching Bryan Myers’ fist. As usual, these scenes never feel like filler and are intended to advance stories.
We close with a nice visual tidbit. When Alexander wrestled Eric Young at Slammiversary, there were numerous tributes to stars from Impact’s past. Impact posted a highlights video alongside the original inspirations.
Share your knowledge of Impact Wrestling. What was your favorite match? Who Stole the Show?