Thursday's Impact Wrestling will deal with the fallout of last Friday's No Surrender on the road to this month's Sacrifice.
As has been the case with past streaming special/PPV follow-ups, there are usually surprise matchups and bigger storylines for the future that develop during the the show.
To that end, while very few matches have been announced, one will see former Impact X-Division Champion "Speedball" Mike Bailey against the debuting Shane Haste of NJPW for the first time ever.
In a non-title match, X-Division Champion Trey Miguel takes on PCO. Miguel is coming off a title defense last Thursday over Crazzy Steve in a Monster's Ball match while PCO was in a four-way no. 1 contender's match on Friday.
Budding NJPW star Kevin Knight will return to the main show to take on Kenny King who will look to rebound from his mid-February Pit Fight loss to Bailey.
The BTI pre-show match will see former Impact Tag Team Champions Heath & Rhino against Decay's Black Taurus & Delirious.
BTI Preshow
George Iceman joined to talk about the upcoming Multiverse United show with NJPW, and Callihan may have hit Kon with a chair deliberately on the PPV.
The Decay (Crazzy Steve & Black Taurus) defeated Heath & Rhino
Heath and Steve started the match, and the fans were actually behind Steve in this one. Rhino and Taurus tagged in and the meeting of the bull and the rhino delighted the fans. Rhino hit some hard chops on Taurus but got some uppercuts and kicks in response. Taurus suplexed Steve on Rhino for a 2-count.
Heath hit some punches on Steve, but Steve hit a neck snap and tagged back out to Taurus. Taurus tried to hit a pop up Samoan drop, but Heath turned it into a crucifix driver, and Gia Miller yelled “Egad! That was awful!” which made this match worth watching. Steve bit Heath and Gia then said “I wonder what a rhino tastes like. I wonder if it’s gamey.” Again, she is a delight on commentary. Rhino soon hit a gore after the biting on Steve for the pinfall.
Very strong promo segment to open the show, with Bullet Club and MCMG both looking great.
The Bullet Club (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) made their way down to the ring to open the show. Chris Bey and Ace Austin ran down their history in Sam’s Town in Las Vegas. Bey and Austin were great here, talking about how they were influenced by the Motor City Machine Guns, but today they are the best tag team in Impact.
Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley made their way down to the ring, and Sabin talked about how they first started teaming in 2006, and that they are still the best tag team in the world, better than they ever have been. Bey asked for a title shot for Impact Sacrifice. Shelley responded by saying that all Bey and Austin only had to imitate them to be great and then said instead of waiting for Sacrifice, they should fight tonight and make some more memories for them in Sam’s Town. This was awesome.
Shane Haste from TMDK in NJPW was backstage, talking about his upcoming match with Speedball Mike Bailey and his match for NJPW/Impact Multiverse United.
Rich Swann was with Gia Miller and talked about his loss against Josh Alexander, but he was getting ready to make another run at it to get a title shot. Raj Singh & Shera walked up throwing money at the camera man and the man hold the boom mic, and Swann took exception to being interrupted and threatened to fight them both. Shera was ready to go, but Singh told him to back down. This was fine.
Mike Bailey defeated Shane Haste
What a great match to open the show. Bailey and Haste worked very well together, with Haste using more power and Bailey trying to keep the pace fast for his advantage. Great stuff.
Shane Haste was the bigger wrestler, so he used that to drop Bailey more than once with shoulder tackles. Bailey, on the other hand, kept getting back up and hitting hard kicks. Haste kept hitting hard though, and suddenly Haste was getting the heat with his strikes and power moves.
Bailey refused to give up though, hitting a hard chop. Haste chopped him back and dropped him. Haste hit a Saito suplex for a 2-count. Someone in the live chat for the show noted Shane Haste looked like Liam Neeson, and I can’t unsee it. Bailey hit a missile dropkick off the top rope after shoving Haste off. Bailey hit a standing corkscrew shooting star press for a 2-count.
Bailey hit a standing moonsault into double knees on Haste, but Haste ducked a kick, hit a pump kick, and then hit a back suplex into a cutter. Haste went for a powerbomb, but Bailey kicked out and then cradled Haste so he fell to the floor before hitting a triangle moonsault to the floor on Haste. That was awesome.
Haste came back in and hit an Okada style dropkick on Bailey before hitting the dynamic bomb for a 2-count. Haste picked up Bailey in a fireman’s carry, but Bailey quickly hit a poisonrana. Bailey then faked Haste out with some kicks before hitting a few, then a spinning kick in the corner and an Ultima Weapon for the pinfall.
The Design were backstage and Angels was trying to convince Deaner that Callihan was trying to infiltrate The Design. Rhino walked up and said that he wasn’t going to let The Design mess with Callihan’s head. Callihan then walked up and said that he wasn’t being manipulated and he knew exactly what he was doing. He wanted to be in the design. Apparently this led to step 6 for Callihan, which was supposed to end after Callihan failed the last two, but here we are.
Kenny King defeated Kevin Knight
Another good match. Kenny King has been having some really great matches since the pit fight with Bailey. Seems like he is getting into a groove that he hasn’t had for quite some time. This was a really fun match.
This was a chess match. I’ll see myself out. Knight sent King to the floor quickly, but missed a tope. King refused to get thrown in the ring, floating through and hitting a forearm before throwing Knight into the ring. King turned around to taunt the audience, but turned around into Knight hitting a tope con giro.
Knight and King got back in the ring and when King threw Knight over the ropes, he almost took out a cameraman. Knight tried to hit a springboard, but King kicked the ropes and Knight crashed to the mat. King hit a hard clothesline and started getting the heat. Knight hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and then a springboard crossbody for a 2-count. King hit a dropkick on Knight, who climbed the top rope. King then picked Knight up on his shoulders and hit the royal flush for the pinfall.
Highlights from NJPW Battle in the Valley aired, with KUSHIDA getting the win in a tag match against Josh Alexander. Gia Miller was backstage with Alexander, and he talked about how he couldn’t afford to overlook KUSHIDA because he is one of the best in the world, and he needed to face him before he faced Steve Maclin.
Alexander then challenged Time Machine (KUSHIDA, Shelley, and Sabin) to a 6-man tags with two partners he hasn’t found yet. Steve Maclin walked up and said he wanted Alexander to retain the title because he wanted to beat the greatest Impact champion of all time. This was good too.
Dango, Santino Marella, and a doctor were backstage and they explained that Tommy Dreamer was fine, with minor burns and retina damage (the latter sounds quite serious, Mr. Doctor). Dango said, “God rest his soul.” The doctor had to inform him that Dreamer was not dead.
Bully Ray walked up and threatened the doctor after calling Santino “Santio Salmonella.” Bhupinder Gujjar walked up and shoved Bully Ray against the wall, saying that Dreamer was his friend, and what Ray did was unacceptable. Ray backed down and said he respected Gujjar for defending his friend. Ray then slapped him and walked away. Gujjar had to be held back and showed some fire here.
Mickie James came out and addressed Jordynne Grace wanting to fight for the title again. Gisele Shaw came out and accused James of ducking the real #1 contender. Mickie James offered to fight Shaw right there and then, and Shaw suddenly backed down. Gail Kim came out and announced a title match between Shaw and Mickie James, but did not identify when it was going to happen.
Brian Myers was backstage trying to convince a truck driver to become a podcaster. The driver walked away. Moose walked up and said he wanted to help Myers win the Impact Digital Media Championship to embarrass and humiliate Joe Hendry.
Jordynne Grace walked up to Santino Marella, destroying the crime scene Dango was trying to establish after the Ray/Gujjar incident earlier, and said that she was going to challenge the winner of the James/Shaw match next week.
Johnny Swinger was pushed up in his little ring by Zicky Dice, ruining the crime scene again. Swinger claimed winning 50 matches was too hard, and called Santino “Sammartino” which popped me. Santino said that he could pick a match with anyone on the Impact roster next in his efforts to get to 50 wins.
PCO defeated Trey Miguel via DQ
Miguel was terrified of PCO, and rightfully so, as PCO threw him all over the ring. Miguel got hit with a backbreaker from PCO on the floor. PCO tried to hit a cannonball to the floor on Miguel, but Miguel rolled out of the way and PCO crashed to the floor hard. PCO sat up in the ring and hit a massive pop up powerbomb.
PCO hit a code breaker in the corner and then hit a guillotine leg drop off the middle rope to the head of Miguel. As PCO was getting ready to chokeslam Miguel, Eddie Edwards ran down and hit PCO in the back of the head with a shovel. PCO no sold it and hit a cannonball onto Edwards and then hit a chokeslam as PCO ended up winning by DQ.
Security tried to hold PCO back as they spilled down the ramp to the ring. PCO threw them all across the ring and hit a moonsault to the floor on them all and Edwards ran away through the crowd. This angle was great.
NJPW on AXS was advertised next, and on the episode tonight they are airing Mercedes Mone and KAIRI for the IWGP Women’s Championship. This was great. The match was too! Mone hinted strongly she was going to take the title all over the place, and not just to NJPW or Stardom. I suspect that is foreshadowing for an upcoming Multiverse United show.
The Bullet Club (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) defeated The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) to win the Impact World Tag Team Championship
What a fantastic main event on the show tonight. The match was given a lot of time, told a great story with MCMG constantly showing more experience with their little tricks and brutal attack of Bey’s arm, but Bey and Austin showing youthful vigor and not wanting to give up until they finally scored the win.
Ace Austin and Chris Sabin started the match, and after an exchange, Austin didn’t notice a blind tag from Shelley and he was able to sneak up on him and hit a double kick with Sabin. It wasn’t long before Bey was able to get in there with Shelley. Bey also didn’t notice a blind tag from Sabin to Shelley, letting MCMG to get the advantage again. This is a small thing, but it’s showing that MCMG is the team with more experience. Little things like that are great.
Shelley and Sabin started to get a little cocky, and Bey leap frogged Sabin, who got sent into a shoulder tackle on Shelley. Bullet Club hit double dropkicks and then stereo suicide dives. Bey hit an uppercut to the back of Shelley, but ate a back elbow in a corner charge. Shelley hit a flying knee on the left arm of Bey, which is a limb KUSHIDA worked on in their match.
MCMG immediately went after the arm hard, weakening him for the Border City Stretch. Ace Austin tried to do his handstand to dodge an attack on the apron, but Shelley ripped the arm out from under him, causing Austin to crash face first hard into the apron. Awesome spot. Shelley tried to chop Bey on the floor, but Bey ducked and Shelley chopped the ring post.
Sabin immediately attacked and tried a chop of his own and met the same fate. Shelley finally dodged Bey and sent him arm first into the ring post. MCMG started working heelish in this one over the last few minutes, and the crowd was starting to boo. Masters of the game, these guys. Austin managed to make the tag in, saving the arm of Bey. Bey hit a tope con giro with a too sweet onto both Shelley and Sabin.
Austin and Bey hit click click boom for a 2-count. Bey hit cutters on both men and then went for a the 1-2-sweet but Sabin and Shelley escaped and hit a doomsday device with a dropkick. Shelley hit the shell shock for a 2-count. Shelley transitioned into a border city stretch on Bey, but Bey made the ropes. Sabin kicked the arm of Bey and Shelley rolled back to the middle of the ring. Bey managed to counter it into a pinfall attempt, but Shelley kicked out.
MCMG ate an enziguri from Ace Austin, and then Bey and Austin hit the art of finesse followed by the fold and scored the pin on Alex Shelley.