Originally published at IMPACT REPORT: Cage and Alexander Summit, Battle Royal
IMPACT! Wrestling
October 14th, 2021
Skyway Studios in Nashville, Tennessee
Commentary: Josh Mathews & D’Lo Brown
Before the IMPACT! – Fallah Bahh def. Hernandez (w/ Johnny Swinger & The Swingerellas) by pinfall at 7:36
X Division Championship Tournament Match: El Phantasmo (w/ Chris Bey & HIKULEO) vs. Rohit Raju vs. Willie Mack
ELP rushes Mack to start the match and gets tossed to the outside while Mack takes Raju down with a shoulder block and scoop slam to send him outside also. ELP comes in to try and take Mack down, but he doesn’t budge until ELP pokes him in the eye. Mack gets knocked off the apron as Raju and ELP go at it. Mack comes back in and hits an uppercut to take Raju out, ELP comes in and hits a springboard crossbody followed by a Lionsault for a two count, before diving to the outside taking out Raju, and comes back to hit a springboard senton on Mack for a two count. ELP goes to the top rope but gets knocked down in a Tree of Woe by Raju so Raju and Mack both take advantage and attack him. All three men start trading strikes and kicks before Mack clotheslines them both down then delivers a couple of running clotheslines to the corners to them. Mack then delivers a double Samoan Drop to both of them followed by a standing moonsault on both of them for a two count. Raju stops Mack on the top rope but gets knocked off. ELP then joins him up there and hits a Frankensteiner/Senton followed by a Frog Splash for a two count. Mack blocks ELP superkick attempt and hits a stunner, as he goes for a pin, Bey and HIKULEO get on the apron to distract the referee before they get drop kicked off the apron by Mack, then follows that with a dive onto them. Raju runs back in and tries to take advantage of the distracted ELP with a couple pin attempts. ELP knocks Mack off the apron and hits Raju with the CRII for the win.
Winner: El Phantasmo by pinfall at 9:38, to advance
Making My Own Luck
Gia Miller is backstage with Ace Austin and Madman Fulton and says they will both be in tonight’s 20-man battle royale and asks what their plan is for tonight. Austin says his business with Christian Cage is far from over, but Josh Alexander has made it more difficult for him, but with Call Your Shot it’s the perfect opportunity for him to get back on track and his chances of winning are doubled with the runner-up getting a spot regardless, so he plans on teaming up with Fulton and taking everybody out tonight.
Savannah Evans (w/ Tasha Steelz) vs. Lady Frost
Frost goes to the attack quickly and early, but Evans fails to get knocked down and she stops Frost in the corner with a shoulder block and a butterfly suplex. Frost tries to fight back but Evans stops her again and keeps her in the corner with strikes and chops. Frost escapes out of a bear hug, but Evans stops her with a big boot as they go to the commercial.
When we come back, Evans is still in control until Frost dodges her in the corner and delivers a couple of kicks and shoulder blocks. Evans stops her momentum with a big clothesline followed by a Full Nelson Slam for the pin.
Winner: Savannah Evans by pinfall at 8:19
Mickie James’ Poison
As Evans and Steelz are celebrating, Deonna Purrazzo comes to the ring with Matthew Rehwoldt. Purrazzo says she is here because she still has to pick a poison for Mickie James to fight, just like Mickie picked Masha Slamovich for her match on Knockouts Knockdown. Deonna says she was impressed by Evans’ performance at Knockouts Knockdown as well as tonight and asks her to fight James next week and Evans agrees.
Ribbon Chasers
Steve Maclin has a video backstage and says not a lot of people know much about him and that’s because of him as he controls his background, but tonight that changes. Where he is from there are people called ribbon chasers that get others killed just like they are ribbon chasers here who talk on social media and show weakness. Come Bound for Glory, he will be the X Division Champion, and this isn’t weakness this is mayhem and he’s in for the mayhem and you are looking at your new X Division champion.
The IInspiration is Excited
Gia Miller is backstage with Gail Kim and calls Knockouts Knockdown a success and mentions all the highlights until Rosemary and Havok interrupt her and ask about The IInspiration coming and if it’s the right move to bring in two humans who have never experienced the darkness. This delivery guy comes in with a package for Gail Kim from Sidney, Australia. Gia Miller reads it and says on behalf of Cassie Lee and Jessica McKay they are excited about their match on Bound for Glory, and it’ll be an honor to share the ring with Decay and says it must have been read with an Australian accent and Gia doesn’t read it over. Rosemary says they are excited as well and laugh.
VSK (w/ Brian Myers) vs. Rich Swann (w/ Willie Mack)
They start the match fast, but VSK hits a Death Valley Driver and starts working on Swann’s back and transitions into working on Swann’s head and neck. Swann fights out and delivers a couple punches and kicks to knock VSK down followed by a neckbreaker. Swann hits a splash then goes up to the top rope and hits the Phoenix Splash for the pin.
Winner: Rich Swann by pinfall at 3:00
RIP Swinger’s Palace
We go to Swinger’s Palace as they are still closing shop and John E. Bravo says his time is up and leaves, Alisha says she’s really sorry as Bravo leaves. Hernandez says he’s leaving also but Swinger owes him 3 weeks of back pay. Alisha apologizes to the Swingerellas for not being there, as one of them goes to Swinger and his portrait and says he looks very handsome and says over the last year of getting to know him she’s become really fond of him and has feelings for him. Swinger says there are two rules in wrestling: you never fall in love with a riz-at and you never fall in love with a Swingman and he’s not a one-woman man, as the Swingerella cries and leaves. As Swinger leaves, he bumps into Chris Sabin and says nice match out there. Sabin goes to the other Swingerella and says he just wanted to see this place one last time, this Swingerella says she really likes him and says her real name is Riley and wants Sabin to stay here in Nashville with him. Sabin says his one true love is the wrestling ring and he has to go to Bound for Glory. Sabin sits down as flashbacks start showing off all the memories from Swinger’s Palace and Sabin says he’ll always love this place as the camera fades up and away and the lights shut down on Swinger’s Palace forever.
Heath Finally Signs to IMPACT
We go to Heath who goes into Scott D’Amore’s office and says this has been a long time coming and now he’s healthy and clear and wants to sign his contract. D’Amore says he is true to his word, and we are finally here and time to make it official as he welcomes Heath to the IMPACT Wrestling roster. Heath asks for one thing before signing and that is his first match back, he wants it to be at Bound for Glory with Rhino as his partner against Violent by Design. D’Amore says he’s happy to do that but he doesn’t think Rhino even wants to be his partner. Heath says he knows Rhino, and Eric Young is just in his head, and he wants to talk to Rhino and if Rhino doesn’t show up at Bound for Glory, he’ll walk into that match alone. D’Amore agrees and Heath signs his contract.
Chris Bey (w/ El Phantasmo & HIKULEO) vs. Chris Sabin (w/ David Finlay & Juice Robinson)
They lock up to start the match, with Bey backing up to the corner until the referee breaks it up. Sabin comes back with a takedown as he works on Bey’s arm, as they go back and forth trading off more arm drags until ELP gets on the apron. FinJuice and Bullet Club start brawling outside as the referee, Brandon Tolle, ejects all four of them out. Bey and Sabin go back at it, with Sabin hitting a snap suplex for a two count. Sabin places Bey in the tree of woe and hits an elevated dropkick. Bey rolls to the outside, Sabin tries to go after him, but Bey hits an elbow off the middle rope to the back of Sabin who was tied in the ropes, for a two count. Bey stays in control with a bit of offense and pin attempts. Bey hits a clothesline off the top rope for a two-count. Sabin comes back with a kick to the stomach of Bey and a rolling Fisherman’s Buster for a two count. Bey hits a Torture Rack into a neckbreaker for a two himself. Bey missed a frog splash, as they got up and hit two back-to-back double clotheslines on each other. They get up and start trading chops. Sabin hits the Enziguri and the Cradle Shock for the win.
Winner: Chris Sabin by pinfall at 12:06
Bring the Sauce
Gia Miller is backstage with Trey Miguel and says at Bound for Glory it’ll be him vs. Steve Maclin vs. El Phantasmo and the winner will be X Division and asks what his chances are. Miguel says he’s heading into this more calculated than he’s ever been before Alex Zayne interrupts him and says Zayne says there’s a lot of hype about the Miguel name and he saw it firsthand, but he wasn’t fully satisfied, and he might have beaten Laredo Kid, but that was after Zayne put him down and he will not beat Alex Zayne. Miguel says that point is valid but if he’s asking to go one-on-one with him, he can and tells Zayne to bring all the sauce he’s got.
Handing Out Magic Killers
The Good Brothers are still on their vacation and talk about how they do everything together including drinking cold drinks and they don’t go anywhere without each other. Doc Gallows says they are enjoying this vacation and say IMPACT Management have been acting like they are on vacation as well as they don’t have a match for Bound for Glory, and they might have to come back from vacation and hand out Magic Killers. Karl Anderson says he just wants to see FinJuice vs. the Bullet Club in a number one contender’s match, and they should get an answer before the end of the night.
20-Person Battle Royal
The winner of this match gets to enter #20 in the Call Your Shot Gauntlet Match at Bound for Glory, while the runner-up is the #1 entrant. The entrants are Moose, W. Morrissey, Hernandez, Kimber Lee, Brandi Lauren, Rachael Ellering, Alisha Edwards, Fallah Bahh, Johnny Swinger, Madman Fulton, Chris Sabin, Matthew Rehwoldt, Black Taurus, Ace Austin, Jake Something, Petey Williams, Laredo Kid, Matt Cardona, Brian Myers, and Raj Singh. Moose immediately eliminates Alisha. Swinger gets scared of Kimber and Lauren and eliminates himself. Myers eliminates Williams, as Cardona tries to eliminate Myers, he gets saved from the Learning Tree before Rachael Ellering does eliminate Myers. Hernandez eliminates Laredo Kid. Taurus and Hernandez eliminate each other. Cardona eliminates Rehwoldt. Singh eliminates Ellering but then gets eliminated himself by Something as they go to the commercial.
When we come back, the ring only has 9 people left as they announce Fallah Bahh was eliminated during the commercial. Something and Fulton fight on the apron, but Austin superkicks Something out of the match. Kimber Lee and Lauren spray mist in Fulton’s face and try to eliminate him but Austin eliminates Lee and Fulton throws Lauren out of the match. Fulton eliminated Cardona with the pounce as it’s down to Moose, Morrissey, Sabin, Fulton, and Austin. Morrissey and Moose hit a double boot and eliminate Fulton and they go to commercial as it’s down to the final four. When we come back, Moose, Morrissey, and Austin are all ganging up on Sabin. Moose and Morrissey turn on Austin and throw him to the outside on top of Fulton to eliminate him. Moose and Morrissey double team Sabin, but Sabin knocks Moose off the apron. Sabin hits a pair of missile dropkicks, tries to eliminate Morrissey, but Moose is there to push Morrissey back in. Sabin goes to attack Morrissey, but Morrissey easily just tosses Sabin out of the match to get the win.
Winner: W. Morrissey wins the Battle Royal at 19:01
Next Week
· Mickie James vs. Savannah Evans
· Alex Zayne vs. Trey Miguel
· IMPACT World Tag Team Championship #1 Contenders Match: FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson) vs. Bullet Club (Chris Bey & Hikuleo)
Minoru Suzuki Coming Soon
We get a video with NJPW footage from Minoru Suzuki and says he is coming soon to IMPACT Wrestling.
Bound for Glory Summit
Josh Mathews is in the middle of the ring and has a sit down with Christian Cage and Josh Alexander for a summit and asks Cage how it felt to pin Kenny Omega in AEW and Cage to come back and be the face of IMPACT is a big deal for him for what IMPACT did for him. Mathews asks Alexander what his thought process was for exercising Option C and Alexander says the X Division meant a lot to him, but he’s always known he could be a main eventer and world champion, but it wasn’t until he beat Chris Sabin who planted Option C in his ear and as difficult as it was to hand over the X Division title, he knew the prize on the other side will be much sweeter. Mathews asks if he has any regrets relinquishing the title going into his match with Cage if he loses, and Alexander says not a single one. Mathews asks Cage if he sees any similarities between him and Alexander. Cage mentions the hunger and the passion and, in his opinion, Alexander has been overlooked but that’s where the similarities end because there is nobody that compares to him as he is a ring general and that’s the way that it is.
Mathews asks Alexander the same question and Alexander says he was a child watching Cage and he made it possible that someone from a small town in Canada can ascend and be a world champion and he is a huge fan of him but he’s the wild card and will be the one Cage has to watch because he knows the cards Cage is playing. Mathews asks Cage his thought process walking into this match and Cage says he’s been the challenger and the champion, so he knows what it takes, and he thinks Alexander has a hard time channeling his emotions and that’s the difference when you get into the water it’s sink, or swim and Cage is a damn good swimmer. Mathews asks Cage if he’s aware of Alexander and Cage says of course he is and saw him win all the titles and knows how dangerous he is and Alexander has to act like he’s been there before and he hasn’t done that before. Mathews shows footage of an AEW Fan Fest where a fan asks who Cage would like to work with outside of AEW and when someone says Josh Alexander, Cage says I don’t know who that is. Alexander gets upset and tells Cage to stop and he has no more respect for him and at Bound for Glory he’s going to find out what it feels like to be in the ring with a Walking Weapon and leaves the ring. Cage says he thinks he just proved his point.