Impact Wrestling presented their 3rd episode from Melrose Ballroom last night. There will be one more episode from New York (Final Hour next week) before the promotion heads to Las Vegas for 3 nights of tapings.

The OGZ Vs Lucha Brothers Rivalry Continues To Build

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=302kfjH5QXU

• Pentagon Jr defeated Homicide

King has found another way to get at Konnan since the New York bosses won’t let him go after LAX. Now King’s OGZ has their sights on Konnan’s allies, Pentagon Jr. and Fenix. While Pentagon picked up the win this week over Homicide with a schoolboy, the OGZ had the numbers advantage in the post-match beatdown.

Tessa Blanchard DQ’ed, Taya Valkyrie Denied Championship Again

• Knockouts Championship
  Taya Valkyrie defeated Tessa Blanchard (c) via DQ

In a rematch from Bound For Glory, Taya looked as though she had the upper-hand against Blanchard. She had been able to avoid Blanchard’s “Magnum” move which beat her at the PPV but the champ found another way out of the situation. Blanchard straight up punched the referee in the face, causing a DQ and saving her title. Did she sense she wouldn’t be able to defeat Taya and did what she had to do to save her title?

Sami Callihan Beat Up An Imposter Brian Cage In Ohio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2vFb_lV30A

Sami Callihan announced that he would face Brian Cage at a show in Ohio but all was not quite what it seemed. When Brian Cage entered the ring area it was clear Callihan had simply hired an imposter to dress and act like Cage.

Cage cut a promo later in the night that he’ll be in Ohio next week and he’s bringing the X-Division title.

There’s Something Wrong With Allie

Allie told Kiera Hogan she left her soul in the undead realm at Bound For Glory. She feels something dark has a hold of her. Allie also said she is unable to get the thought of what happened to Rosemary out of her head.

Hogan then told Allie they will finish this by ending Su Yung. Evidently, Impact opted not to put highlights of this on YouTube.

Rich Swann Defeated His Friend, Willie Mack

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZTYjyo3UV0

• Rich Swann defeated Willie Mack

As this was Willie Mack’s single’s debut in the promotion, he chose Rich Swann as his opponent. He said he wants to show everyone what the two of them can do in a ring together. As the night’s opener was drawing to a close, Swann was able to get his foot on the rope after Mack hit a stunner. A few moves later, Swann hit the Phoenix Splash and got the 3-count.

LAX Defeated Matt Sydal & Ethan Page

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhhp5yXaGbA

• LAX w/Konnan defeated Matt Sydal & Ethan Page

This non-title match was made after a backstage confrontation last week. LAX picked up the victory over Sydal and his new teammate. With the OGZ out of the tag-team title picture, things are wide open in the division for new challengers to emerge.

Raj Singh Is The Great Gama Singh’s Son

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPq3FDRVggA

• Desi Hit Squad defeated the Beach Bums

Before the Desi Hit Squad were in action this week, the Great Gama announced the new member who attacked Rohit Raju last week is Gama’s son, Raj Singh. The new and improved Desi Hit Squad were victorious this week over the Beach Bums, TJ Crawford, and Freddie IV.

Jordynne Grace Debuts Next Week

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHlKXKHNmqI

The Knockouts division gets a new powerhouse next week. Jordynne Grace received the biggest exposure of her career thus far in the Over Budget Battle Royal at All In. She’s one who could move up the rankings quickly in the Knockouts division.

Final Hour Next Week

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV7ujl7EvNU

Impact Wrestling will present a branded episode next week. Final Hour will feature Johnny Impact defending the Impact World Championship against Killer Kross. It was also revealed this week that Moose and Eddie Edwards will go one-on-one next week.

• Johnny Impact (c) vs Killer Kross – Impact World Championship
• Brian Cage (c) vs Sami Callihan – X-Division Championship
• Moose vs Eddie Edwards
• Jordynne Grace debuts

Quick Results:

• Rich Swann defeated Willie Mack
• Desi Hit Squad defeated the Beach Bums
• Knockouts Championship
  Taya Valkyrie defeated Tessa Blanchard (c) via DQ
• LAX w/Konnan defeated Matt Sydal & Ethan Page (non-title)
• Pentagon Jr. defeated Homicide

In the build-up to Bound For Glory, the line between reality and fiction was blurred. As it turns out, even management wasn’t entirely sure how much was fact and how much was fiction.

According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, Impact and Aries decided to run with a social media angle without the company’s permission.

“The twitter stuff was actually Aries and John Morrison trying to work their own angle and making it personal with Aries calling Taya husky,” Dave Meltzer wrote. “Management wasn’t happy with that because they don’t want people working angles they aren’t appraised of, because it could contradict where they are going.”

Austin Aries’ “Loose Cannon” Gimmick

Aries is said to have suffered a mild concussion during his match at Bound For Glory. He was sent home from the New York tapings the following day.

“On the Austin Aries thing, as noted last week, his contract has expired but the company is very high on him,” Meltzer continued. “My sense is he’ll be back and there’s a lot of Brian Pillman stuff in what he’s been doing.”

The Aries vs Impact match itself appeared to be quite stiff. Early moments in the match indicated the two were trying to make the bout look as real as possible. Aries then no-sold the finish to the match and flipped off Don Callis before leaving the arena.

Don Callis also commented on the worked-shoot/unplanned parts of the angle on his podcast, Killin the Town.

“Effectively we had an issue earlier in the week with some Tweets between talent. They were told to take those Tweets down,” Callis said. “Things got a little heated at the press conference. People said ‘Well, why didn’t this happen at the press conference if they were going to have a face-to-face?’ Well, because it wasn’t really planned. I’m just going to leave it at that.”

Impact Wrestling will present their third show since Bound For Glory tonight. The episode was filmed inside New York’s Melrose Ballroom. The main event will be a rematch from Bound For Glory when Tessa Blanchard defends her Knockouts Championship against Taya Valkyrie.

Impact is also just one-week away from their next branded episode, Final Hour. Johnny Impact will defend the title against Killer Kross on that show.

Impact Wrestling Preview 11/1

Knockouts Championship
Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Taya Valkyrie

Last week, Blanchard confronted Taya in the back. Two weeks ago, Taya had said she doesn’t respect Blanchard anymore after she used underhanded tactics to secure the victory at the PPV. Tonight, Blanchard wants to show she doesn’t need any help from the referees to defeat Taya.

Impact Wrestling Tag Team Championships
LAX (c) vs Ethan Page and Matt Sydal

Despite losing at Bound For Glory, Ethan Page and Matt Sydal will get a title match against LAX tonight. The third-eye seeing tandem confronted Konnan and LAX in the back last week which led to them receiving a title match this week.

As for LAX, they might believe they don’t have to worry about King and the OGz anymore but King seems to have found a way to get to Konnan without going through them.

Pengaton Jr. vs Homicide

Kings’ OGZ have figured out they can get to Konnan without skirting the rules set out by the crime bosses in New York. To do so, they just have to get to Pentagon Jr and Fenix, the Lucha brothers. Tonight, former Ring Of Honor World Champion Homicide takes on former Impact (and LU) World Champion Pentagon Jr.

Willie Mack vs Rich Swann

Last week on Impact Wrestling, Rich Swann and Willie Mack were shown in the backstage area. They appeared to be celebrating their win at Bound for Flory when Mack said he wanted to face Swann in his single’s debut next week. His reasoning was that he wants to show everyone what the two of them can do. Meanwhile, the team they beat at Bound for Glory will take on the tag team champions tonight.

Reports coming from the Chris Jericho Rock N Rager At Sea are that Johnny Impact and Jay Lethal have agreed to a match. While no date or time has been scheduled, the ROH World Champion and the Impact World Champion have agreed to go one-on-one.

Johnny Impact vs Jay Lethal

“Johnny Impact, the Impact champion and Jay Lethal, the ROH champion, agreed to a title vs. title match,” wrote Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. “We don’t have the date and place confirmed. Impact and ROH talked about this months ago, the idea of a match with neither title at stake.”

Earlier this year, then Impact World Champion Austin Aries, appeared on several ROH shows as part of a program with Kenny King.

Ring of Honor and Billy Corgan’s NWA

Ring of Honor has also been working with the National Wrestling Alliance as of late. ROH COO, Joe Koff, had the following to say in regards to the relationship.

“We have a great relationship with Dave and Billy with meetings planned down the road to make decisions that benefit both companies but more importantly the fans.”

Billy Corgan offered up the following, “Our relationship with ROH thus far has been stellar and beyond beneficial to the NWA. And we owe much of where we stand currently to Joe. His trust means a lot to us, I can assure you.”

Former WWE and Impact Wrestling star, Brooke Adams, and her partner, Weston Piper, welcomed their daughter to the world. Phoenix Presley-Lee Piper arrived at 4:45 a.m. this morning weighing in at 7lbs and 15oz. This is Piper and Adams’ second child. They also have a son named Jace.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpmHbTnhnIF/?taken-by=realbrookeadams

WWE Wrestling Career

Brook Adams’ wrestling career began at WWE’s 2006 Diva search. While she did not make the final cut, Adams was offered a developmental contract. She was sent to the promotion’s previous developmental territory, Deep South Wrestling.

In 2007, Adam’s made her main roster debut on ECW as one-third of Extreme Expose along with Kelly Kelly and Layla. She would later be released that November, however.

TNA Wrestling Career

It would be some time before Adams would return back to the square but on March 29th, 2010 she would debut as Eric Bischoff personal assistant Ms. Tessmarcher. As one half of TnT with Tara (known as Victoria in WWE) they would win the TNA Women’s Tag Team Belts. Tessmarcher would win her first singles title against Gail Kim at Slammaversy. She would go on to win the TNA’s Women’s Knockout Championship a second time, making her a two-time TNA Women’s Knockout Champion.

Thursday’s edition of Impact Wrestling on Pop TV, the first episode in the new 10pm time slot, averaged just 98,000 viewers. This was down from 189,000 viewers the previous week, making it the least-watched episode of Impact in history.

• 10 Takeaways From This Week’s Impact Wrestling

The show featured new Impact World Champion Johnny Impact retaining against Rey Fenix in the main event, Killer Kross attacking the champion backstage, Sami Callihan vs. Trevor Lee, Su Yung in action against Kiera Hogan and the latest chapter of Eli Drake “suing” the company.

Hopefully viewership rebounds once fans become accustomed to the new air time, because this is a disturbing development for the company. Viewership wasn’t going to increase by moving out of prime time, but this is entering dangerous territory.

Impact was consistently drawing over 300,000 viewers for the first half of the year, topping out at 399,000 on March 29th. Impact hasn’t cracked 300,000 since July 5th and was doing 180,000-190,000 for the first 3 weeks of October before moving to 10pm.

Impact’s TV deal with Pop runs through the end of 2018.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9H_uV7qycc

Impact Wrestling debuted in a new timeslot Thursday night on POPTV. The station bumped the program back from 8 PM to 10 PM. For the first time in the show’s history, their rating dropped below 100,000 people when they topped out at 98,000. Their previous low-mark had been 161,000.

It should be noted that the importance of Impact’s POP TV deal to the overall financial health of the company is not clear. Impact is owned by Anthem Sports and Entertainment, a Canadian-based media company which also owns the Fight Network. The wrestling promotion helped Anthem secure a deal to get the Fight Network broadcast across the UK earlier this year. Other international television deals are also said to be more lucrative than the deal the company has with POP TV.

Impact Wrestling in 2018

Impact has stated the company is in a far better financial position in 2018 than they were in 2017. They’ve also recently signed Willie Mack and Jordynne Grace to 2-year deals as well as re-upping Sami Callihan to a new deal.

Former Impact World Champion, Austin Aries, is no longer under contract according to comments made on Petey Williams’ Wrestling Perspective podcast. A report from the Wrestling Observer states he is suffering from a concussion at the moment.

Fight Network UK has announced that Bound For Glory will be airing on their UK channel for free. The channel will be broadcasting the show on Sunday 28th at 9pm.

Sky users will be able to find the show on channel 192 and Freesat users on channel 161. You can read the full results for the show here.

One of the biggest stories coming out of the show of course emanated from the Austin Aries angle. Aries had everybody guessing whether his bizarre antics from IMPACT’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view were a work or a shoot. The situation unfolded following the main event, which saw Johnny Impact capture the Impact world title. Following the finish, Aries immediately leapt up, exited the right, shouted a profanity at commentator and IMPACT executive vice president Don Callis before flipping off the crowd as he exited the arena.

Aries’ reaction had a lot of people questioning how much of what transpired was scripted. Aries’ feud with Johnny Impact grew increasingly personal in the days leading up to the show, which included deleted tweets about Johnny Impact’s wife Taya Valkyrie.

You can read the full story surrounding Aries here.

Fight Network has also confirmed that their first run airing of IMPACT will be changing. The company’s official Twitter account sent out the following message: “Fans still have three way to watch IMPACT each week – live and free on @GWNapp at 3am on Friday (and any time thereafter), the TV premiere each Friday night at 11pm on @5spiketv and the repeat on Sunday nights at 9pm on @FightNetUK. 3/3 #IMPACTUK #FNUK“

Bound For Glory 2018 is coming exclusively to Fight Network UK (Sky Channel 455) this Sunday night!

This will be the FIRST television airing of IMPACT Wrestling's flagship event anywhere in the world. 1/3 #IMPACTUK #FNUK @IMPACTonSPIKE @fightnet @IMPACTWRESTLING pic.twitter.com/1IcAt2WbV6

— Fight Network UK (@FightNetUK) October 24, 2018

Impact Wrestling presented their second show from the Melrose Ballroom tapings held in the days following Bound For Glory. Johnny Impact vs Fenix for the world title was the night’s main event.

Here are 10 Takeaways from Impact Wrestling 10/25:

Killer Kross Attacked Johnny Impact In The Back

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCuwnJQPjyY

Killer Kross is a frightening individual. The final scene of Impact this week was Killer Kross standing over an unconscious Impact World Champion, Johnny Impact.

Kross then said the following to the knocked out champion, “I don’t like that word (crazy), I find it offensive because when someone calls you crazy they’re insinuating that you’re not very intelligent. In this particular circumstance, I’d call you crazy because you really believe that you can change things and you can’t because I am the change and all paths moving forward lead to damnation.” Creepy guy.

A title match was then made official between the two for the November 8th branded-edition of Impact named “Final Hour.”

Knockouts Championship Rematch Next Week

.@Tess_Blanchard insists she can beat @TheTayaValkyrie no matter the circumstance and she plans to do that in a Knockouts Championship match NEXT WEEK.

See you next Thursday… #IMPACTonPop pic.twitter.com/sun65zOGdh

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 26, 2018

Tessa Blanchard cut a promo on Taya Valkyrie in the back. The Knockouts Champion was not happy with what Taya said last week about her using underhanded tactics in their match at Bound For Glory. Blanchard said she doesn’t need shortcuts to beat Taya and said she’d put the title on the line again next week.

The OGZ Get To Konnan Through Fenix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QD_EuaJlKlo

Earlier in the night, King told Homicide and Hernandez he had an idea about how they can get to Konnan even though the bosses say they can’t touch him or LAX. Then after Johnny Impact and Fenix had a stellar main event match, the OGZ hit the ring and continued the attack on Fenix until Pentagon came in with a chair to make the save. It looks like King and the OGZ will look to get at Konnan by attacking his longtime allies, Pentagon and Fenix.

Allie Backs Away From Su Yung

Last week, Allie continued to attack Alisha Edwards after defeating her. This week when she attempted to prevent Su Yung from giving Kiera Hogan a Panic Switch off the entrance ramp she stopped in her tracks at only a creepy stare from Yung. Allie uncharacteristically backed away and left Hogan alone.

Yung would pin Hogan after giving her a Panic Switch moments later.

Sami Callihan’s Bat Is Ineffective Against Brian Cage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FRXIUJUOKA

Sami Callihan defeated Trevor Lee in single’s action this week. After the match, however, Brian Cage hit the ring to attack the guy who pinned him at Bound For Glory. Callihan was ready with a bat but even that wasn’t effective against the X-Division Champion. Cage stood in the ring as Callihan and OVE backed off to close the segment.

Eddie Edwards Has Come Back For Moose

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lUbSVEcDLU

Killer Kross and Moose defeated KM and Fallah Bah this week but it’s not clear if Moose knows that or not. Eddie Edwards returned during this match and dragged Moose away. Kross then choked out Fallah Bah to end the match.

Moose and Edwards then continued to brawl throughout the backstage area and eventually onto the roof. Moose eventually locked Edwards on the roof and got away. Alisha Edwards would later berate Edwards for being out of his mind.

LAX Defend Against Matt Sydal & Ethan Page Next Week

.@findevan and @OfficialEGO have achieved a higher plane of knowledge and they feel like that's led them to the IMPACT Tag Team Championships. #IMPACTonPop pic.twitter.com/RuURvr8tc8

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 26, 2018

Sydal and Page confronted LAX in the back and said they were destined for greatness. Konnan said they were consuming too much peyote and/or mushrooms. Despite this, a match between the two teams for the tag-team titles was made official for next week.

There Is A New Member Of The Desi Hit Squad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIe0h6flNn4

The Great Gama Singh took on Rohit Raju this week. While the 63-year-old may not be as athletic as he once was he still knew to have a devious plan to get the victory. Someone who appears to be a new recruit into the Desi Hit Squad attacked Raju from behind and gave him a super gut-buster. Gama Singh then lifted Raju up and the three of them left the ring together.

Scarlett Bordeaux’s Talent Search Open To Everyone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMJfEZ9Gbnk

Scarlett Bordeaux continues to scout for talent both from the Impact roster and also from fans submitting their videos. She was watching a few of such videos in the bath this week.

Eli Drake’s Lawsuit Against Impact Continues

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwG8a1jZS9Y

Eli Drake is suing Impact Wrestling. This was revealed last week but this week Drake still decided up to do commentary for LAX’s victory over the Heavenly Bodies. Josh Mathews was critical of Drake’s lawsuit but Drake insisted he’s just one of a few to sue the company.

Quick Results:

• Sami Callihan defeated Trevor Lee
• LAX defeated the Heavenly Bodies
• The Great Gama Singh vs Rohit Raju – no contest after interference
• Killer Kross and Moose defeated KM and Fallah Bah
• Su Yung defeated Kiera Hogan
• Impact World Championship
  Johnny Impact (c) defeated Fenix

Next Week:

• Willie Mack vs Rich Swann
• Impact Tag Team Championships
  LAX (c) vs Matt Sydal and Ethan Page
• Knockouts Championship
  Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Taya Valkyrie

Sami Callihan had plenty to say on today’s Impact Wrestling Press Pass. Perhaps the most impactful statements he made, however, were in regards to the X-Division. Callihan echoed sentiment previously expressed by Brian Cage in regards to wanting to bring the title back to the prominence it once enjoyed.

Sami Callihan On The X-Division And Wrestling Kangaroos

I had the chance to ask Callihan on today’s call about what competing in the division means to him.

“I remember being a young little death machine and watching Impact and TNA PPVs back before I was even in the wrestling business,” Callihan said. “The X-division title was something I always wanted to be a part of. Now, getting a chance to actually make this division mean something again, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

Callihan then spoke about how the importance of the X-Division decreased for a period.

“The fact the X-Division Championship isn’t up to where it used to be is sad,” he continued. “And I want to be one of the people, just like I’m saving Impact Wrestling, I want to be one of the people that saves the X-Division title.”

At this point, Callihan received a text message which he felt contained some disturbing information. He learned from the text that there are roughly 40 million people worldwide and only 8 million people in Ohio. Callihan then did some surprisingly quick math to work out each person from Ohio would have to fight 5 kangaroos. He was quick to say he felt OVE vs a trio of kangaroos would do great buyrates on PPV.

https://youtu.be/1IjpPakgm9g

Sami Callihan vs Brian Cage – X-Division Championship

At Bound For Glory, Sami Callihan became the first man in Impact Wrestling to pin Brian Cage. It took a barrage of super-kicks from OVE and a Cactus Driver from Callihan to do it, however. Last week on Impact, Callihan made his intentions to challenge for the X-Division title known.

X-Division History

When TNA Wrestling debuted in 2002, many feel it was the X-Division matches which separated it from other promotions. The early X-Division was dominated by guys like AJ Styles, Low-Ki, and Jerry Lynn. Other names such as Christoper Daniels, the Amazing Red, Frankie Kazarian, and Chris Sabin would follow.

The X-Division became so popular many felt it had risen to the same level (if not greater) that the World Title. Over time the title’s importance faded, seemingly relegated to mid-card status. 2018 has seen a change in how the division has been handled, however. With names such as Brian Cage and Matt Sydal leading the charge, the division has a larger spotlight on it now than it has in years. If Sami Callihan gets his way, the title will be back to main event PPVs sooner rather than later.

Impact Wrestling presents their second episode since Bound For Glory tonight. Already scheduled for tonight’s show will be Johnny Impact defending the Impact World Championship for the first time against Fenix.

Impact Wrestling 10/25 Preview

Impact World Championship
Johnny Impact (c) vs Fenix

Last week on Impact Wrestling, Johnny Impact said he would be a fighting champion. That brought out Fenix who said he wanted a title shot. Impact agreed and the match was made official for tonight.

Killer Kross & Moose vs KM & Fallah Bah

Austin Aries might be gone but Killer Kross and Moose aren’t slowing down their path of destruction. The team recently named “Money & Violence” will take on KM and Fallah Bah tonight. Remember it was Moose and Kross who assaulted KM and Fallah Bah back in Toronto at the tapings following Bound For Glory. They will be looking for a little revenge for that tonight.

Tessa Blanchard Replies To Taya Valkyrie

Last week on Impact Wrestling, Taya Valkyrie said she no longer respected Tessa. Valkyrie had just defeated Katarina when she made the comments in a post-match interview. She is upset that Tessa dragged the ring apron into the ring moments before Taya gave her the Road to Valhalla. The referee was momentarily out of position, which allowed Blanchard to get a shoulder up just before the 3-count. Blanchard then hit Taya with a Buzzsaw DDT, which Taya kicked out from, making her the first in Impact to do so. She then debuted a new move, however, a top-rope codebreaker she calls Magnum. After hitting Magnum on Taya, Blanchard got the pin and retained her title.

Tonight, Tessa Blanchard will respond to Taya’s comments from last week.

Su Yung vs Kiera Hogan

Su Yung locked Kiera Hogan in a coffin before Bound For Glory. Allie had to travel to the Undead realm to rescue her. When Su Yung locked Madison Rayne in a coffin, however, she just went to Ring of Honor. Regardless, Hogan will get a chance for revenge tonight but the real question might be how Allie reacts to all of this. Allie showed a new vicious side last week when she continued to attack Alisha Edwards even after defeating her single’s competition. We might find out more about Allie’s condition tonight.

The Great Gama Singh vs Rohit Raju

Arguably the biggest heel in the history of the Hart Family’s Stampede Wrestling promotion, the Great Gama Singh returns to in-ring action tonight. The 63-year-old will face his pupil, Rohit Raju tonight. Singh has said it will be Raju’s final test.

Raju defeated Gursindher Singh in a loser-leaves-the Desi Hit Squad match last week.

Don Callis addressed the Austin Aries-Johnny Impact situation from Bound For Glory recently on his podcast. Callis wouldn’t address Aries’ post-match antics but he did address the events leading to the PPV.

Callis’ comments convey that neither the Tweets between Aries and Johnny nor the pull apart during the press conference was planned. While he didn’t say so specifically, it’s assumed he would have said the same thing about Aries no-selling and flipping him off at the end of the show.

“Effectively we had an issue earlier in the week with some Tweets between talent. They were told to take those Tweets down,” Callis said. “Things got a little heated at the press conference. People said ‘Well, why didn’t this happen at the press conference if they were going to have a face-to-face?’ Well, because it wasn’t really planned. I’m just going to leave it at that.”

As for how Johnny Impact performed in the match, Callis offered up a lot of praise.

“You really felt the personal distaste there was between he and Austin Aries in that main event,” Callis continued. “I thought it was a great main event and a great win for Johnny.”

Callis continued to say one of his favorite matches was the Knockouts title bout between Taya Valkyrie and Tessa Blanchard. Based on Taya’s comments on Impact last week, we could get a rematch between the two in the not too distant future. He also said the tapings in New York was a breakout moment for Killer Kross. Brian Cage was also mentioned as someone fans are giving a rockstar reaction to wherever they go.

Austin Aries and Impact Wrestling

Just days before Bound For Glory, Aries was on Chris Jericho’s podcast and stated he’s never been happier than he has been with Impact Wrestling. Then at the PPV he is evidently so upset with management that he no-sells the finish, flips off Don Callis, and leaves. He was not at the following set of television tapings over the next two days either.

Impact Wrestling will be back in Scott D’Amore’s hometown in March. The promotion recently announced they will be returning to Windsor, ON, Canada for 2 nights of tapings. Impact held 2 nights of tapings in Windsor back in early June as well.

Border City Wrestling and Impact held a joint show just outside of Detroit recently dubbed Motown Showdown. That show is available on the Global Wrestling Network.

Impact Wrestling Tapings

Following the purchase of the company by Anthem Sports and Entertainment last year, the company has become more international. Television deals Anthem has in place in the UK, Mexico, and India have led to stars from those locations playing prominent roles on Impact television. It has also led to the promotion holding tapings and One Night Only PPVs across the globe.

In 2018, Impact Wrestling has traveled to Orlando, Windsor, Toronto, Mexico City, New York, and soon will head to Las Vegas. They’ve also held a Twitch special in the UK.

The next Twitch special the promotion is producing will take place on November 30th. “Gold Rush” will take place from Newark, California and will feature Eddie Edwards, Tessa Blanchard, Moose, and Eli Drake. The event will be held in conjunction with Big Time Wrestling. They will then hit Nashville for the Homecoming PPV in January with nothing else booked until the Windsor tapings in March.

Impact Wrestling aired their first episode since Bound For Glory last night. For the next 4 weeks the Impact will take place inside New York’s Melrose Ballroom.

Here are 9 Takeaways From Impact Wrestling 10/18:

Fenix To Challenge For Impact World Championship Next Week

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExgKZhn5VUo

Johnny Impact kicked off this week’s episode with an in-ring promo. He said he will be a fighting champion and then threw some shade on Austin Aries for having been the opposite. Impact also said if he felt someone deserves a title shot, he will give one to them. This brought out Fenix who said he wanted a shot at the title. That title match was then made official for next week.

Sami Callihan Wants A Shot At The X-Division Championship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odg2NQ1acxE

• X-Division Championship
  Brian Cage (c) defeated Rich Swann

Brian Cage defended his title this week against Rich Swann in the main event. After finishing off his challenger with Weapon-X, Sami Callihan hit the ring. Callihan made it clear he wants a shot at Cage’s title next. The Draw became the first person to pin Cage at Bound For Glory on Sunday, albeit it took a barrage of super-kicks from 3 wrestlers and Callihan’s Cactus Driver to do it.

Taya Valkyrie Doesn’t Respect Tessa Blanchard Anymore

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oECJpljQHcQ

• Taya Valkyrie defeated Katarina

On Sunday, champion and challenger each kicked out of the other’s signature finishing moves. In Tessa’s case, however, the referee was momentarily out of position putting away the ring apron which she had dragged into the ring. The question is then would Valkyrie have won if Tessa hadn’t of brought the ring apron into play? Valkyrie kicked out of Blanchard’s Buzzsaw DDT but was then unable to kick out after a top-rope codebreaker (Magnum – named after her step-father, Magnum TA), allowing Blanchard to retain.

After defeating Katarina this week, Valkyrie said she was not impressed with the champion’s tactics at the PPV, referring to bringing the ring apron in to buy time. Lucha Royalty continued to say she has lost her respect for Tessa Blanchard.

“I’m just more disappointed more than anything,” Valkyrie said after her match with Katarina. “I really respected Tessa and after that, I don’t.”

Allie’s Fine, Totally Fine. Don’t Even Worry About It

• Allie defeated Alisha Edwards

Despite having descended into the Undead realm on Sunday, Allie’s fine, don’t even worry about it. That was what she told Kiera Hogan earlier in the show. She defeated Alisha Edwards this week but it’s clear her experience in the underworld has left her unhinged or possibly even possessed. Allie was adamant on Sunday that she and Hogan had to go back for Rosemary.

She began slapping herself in the face near the end of the match. She finished Edwards off with a codebreaker shortly after. Allie then continued to beat down Edwards after the match, choking her until Kiera Hogan brought her back to her senses.

Killer Kross And Moose Have Taken Out Their Competition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecSpkIKRZC0

• Killer Kross defeated Tommy Dreamer via referee stoppage

Austin Aries may be gone but his two henchmen are still running rampant over the Impact Wrestling roster. They may have lost to Edwards and Dreamer at the PPV, they won the war by taking out Edwards after the match. They delivered a beatdown to Tommy Dreamer this week. Kross defeated Dreamer in single’s action via referee stoppage after 2 Doomsday Saito suplexes. Moose and Kross again kept up the attack after the match.

With Edwards and Dreamer out of the way, Moose and Killer Kross have an open road ahead of them.

The Great Gama Singh Returns To The Ring Next Week

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X8ReWGJuCI

The Great Gama Singh hasn’t wrestled since some reunion shows in Alberta in 2006-07 and also in Puerto Rico around the same time. Backstage this week, Singh told Rohit Raju he would have to face him next week in Rohit’s final test. Raju defeated Gursinder Singh last week in a match where the loser had to leave the Desi Hit Squad and go back to India.

The OGZ Still Have A Piece Of New York

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSPcDHGsAi8

After losing the Concrete Jungle Deathmatch at Bound For Glory, the OGZ met with the family bosses. King told Konnan the bosses were kind enough to allow them to keep a piece of New York provided they stay on their side and leave LAX alone. Then they left. So, I guess this means King and the OGZ are still around but they can’t do anything to mess with LAX, for a while at least, anyway.

Ethan Page and His 3rd Eye Pick Up A Victory

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkMR8u3Q8QA

• Ethan Page defeated Trevor Lee

Page and Sydal lost at Bound For Glory but that’s ok because as the Buddha teaches, life is suffering. That was how Sydal told Page to think about it, at least. They got back into the win column this week when Page defeated Trevor Lee in single’s action.

Jordynne Grace Is On Her Way To Impact Wrestling

Josh Mathews mentioned the news that Impact signed Jordynne Grace to a contract. Grace competed in the Battle Royal at All In. With the nickname “Thick Mama Pump”, Grace is a powerhouse who has won over fans across the independent scene.

Check out Grace in this free match from Smash Wrestling’s Northern tournament held this summer. Grace takes on Joey Janela in the tournament’s 1st round:

Quick Results:

1. Taya Valkyrie defeated Katarina
2. Ethan Page defeated Trevor Lee
3. Killer Kross via referee stoppage
4. Allie defeated Alisha Edwards
5. X-Division Championship
   Brian Cage (c) defeated Rich Swann

Tessa Blanchard joined Dave Lagreca and Bully Ray on Busted Open Radio this week to discuss the fallout from Bound For Glory. The Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion gave an insider perspective on the controversy surrounding Austin Aries, which involved him “no selling” the finish to the show’s main event and flipping off the crowd on his way out of the arena. Here are some highlights of what Tessa said about:

Her thoughts on the Austin Aries controversy:

Blanchard is taking the position that she’s not sure what to think about the situation.

“I agree with a lot of what Brian [Cage] said earlier. I think it was just a lot of Austin being Austin. I honestly don’t really know what to think about it. Just watching it, I’m kind of at a loss for words, I guess? ‘Cause I don’t know what to think”

If she questioned what transpired:

Lending credence to our report that Impact performers were left in the dark about whether the Aries situation was a shoot or a work, Blanchard says there’s a lot of uncertainty going around and she doesn’t know quite what to think.

“To myself, yeah, of course. I’m sure everyone had a lot of questions. There’s a lot of uncertainty. The whole locker room was kind of not really sure what was going on, I guess. But yeah, I honestly I’m very indifferent ’cause I don’t know what to think.”

If she feels Austin Aries disrespected the locker room and the fans:

At the end of the day, Blanchard feels that Austin Aries’ actions were disrespectful and wonders how he would feel if he was on the receiving end of what he did.

“To an extent, yes. I’m not really sure what Austin was trying to accomplish. Brian said it before, I think if the roles were reversed and Austin was sitting in the locker room watching that happen, I’m sure he would feel disrespected, I’m sure he would not be so happy. He would have some things to say and some questions. So if the roles were reversed, I’m sure he would be in the same position as the whole locker room kind of felt, I think.”

Listen to Tessa Blanchard’s appearance on Busted Open Radio:

Impact Wrestling will air their first show since Bound For Glory tonight. This episode will also kick-off the first from the Melrose Ballroom tapings held Monday and Tuesday this week.

Johnny Impact World Championship Address

Johnny Impact defeated Austin Aries at Bound For Glory. While the post-match antics of Austin Aries may have dominated headlines, Johnny’s title reign is will be on center stage tonight. We’ll find out what Impact has to say about his championship win tonight.

X-Division Championship
Brian Cage (c) vs Rich Swann

Rich Swann has been one of the X-Division’s most consistent stars this last year. He also pinned former X-Division Champion, Matt Sydal, at Bound For Glory. Tonight, he has a chance to earn the title but he’ll have to go through Brian Cage to do so.

As for Cage, he suffered his first pinfall loss at Bound For Glory in trios action. Sami Callihan and OVE may not be finished with the Machine, however.

Allie vs Alisha Edwards

With the help of Rosemary and some black magic sorcery, Allie was able to escape the Undead Realm with Kiera Hogan at Bound For Glory. Allie seems shook up by what happened on Sunday, however. She didn’t seem comfortable leaving Rosemary in the Undead World with Su Yung. Anyway, she’ll go up against Alisha Edwards tonight.

LAX Celebration

LAX won the Concrete Jungle Death Match at Bound For Glory. They will hold a celebration for that tonight. The last time LAX held a big celebration a child got run over by a car. They might try to be more careful tonight, however.

Those Impact Tag Team Championships haven’t been defended in a while. We could hear more about what happens next with them tonight.

Scarlett Bordeaux’s Open Talent Search

Scarlett Bordeaux is searching for someone to be her full-time client. She’s opening up her talent search tonight. Allowing anyone to demonstrate to her why she should dedicate her services to them.

Ethan Page vs Trevor Lee

Ethan Page is now under the mentorship of Matt Sydal. He’ll have a chance to show how in-tune with his 3rd eye he is when he takes on a former X-Division champion in Trevor Lee tonight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d7bRzpt-kk

Sami Callihan became the first man in Impact Wrestling to pin Brian Cage on Sunday at Bound For Glory. According to a recent report from PW Insider, Callihan has also come to terms on a new contract with Impact Wrestling.

Impact Wrestling contracts allow talent to work for other promotions provided they make Impact TV tapings their first priority. Callihan also competes regularly for promotions such as MLW and Lucha Underground.

Other Impact Wrestling talent also frequently appear on MLW and Lucha Underground as well. Additionally, Tessa Blanchard is primed to become the face of the WOW promotion next year. The all-female promotion debuts on AXS this January.

Sami Callihan in Impact Wrestling

Sunday at Bound For Glory, Callihan and OVE teamed up against Brian Cage and the Lucha Brothers. After his trio had taken out Pentagon and Fenix, they triple-teamed Cage. After a barrage of super-kicks, Callihan gave Cage his Cactus Driver and pinned him. Previously, nobody in Impact had pinned or submitted Cage.

This could set-up a future X-Division Championship match between Brian Cage and Sami Callihan.

Callihan is approaching his 1-year anniversary with Impact. He debuted in November last year along with Dave and Jake Crist, entering into a rivalry with LAX.

John Hennigan is having a terrific year. The current Impact Wrestling World Champion competes regularly for both Lucha Underground and Impact and is also a contestant on this season of the hit reality TV show “Survivor”.

According to Hennigan, giving out scoops on Survivor is a far riskier proposition than doing so for pro-wrestling.

“Nobody gets Survivor scoops!” Hennigan said to Fightful recently. “There are some pretty iron-clad NDAs (non-disclosure agreements). I think you have to chop off your left arm if you give away a secret (laughs). They don’t mess around at all. Hunting for Survivor scoops would be a very tough job.”

John Hennigan On Survivor

Hennigan’s season of Survivor pits “Davids” against “Goliaths”. He spoke to Fightful regarding his experience filming the show.

“I cleared my schedule and everyone was supportive, and seemed pretty happy I was doing something. There’s a lot of people who watch Survivor and a lot of Survivor fans — that’s certainly true about the Impact office. Every time I come to work and everyone’s asking me what happened and I can’t say anything. It’s cool to be a part of something like Survivor, that’s a mainstay of pop culture. It’s good to be on the other side and get to experience it.”

Popular independent wrestler Jordynne Grace made her Impact Wrestling debut at Tuesday night’s Impact TV tapings from Queens, NY at the Melrose Ballroom. According to PWInsider, Grace is said to have signed a two-year deal with the promotion.

Grace is 22 years old and hails from York, PA. She made her professional debut back in 2012. Grace has been wrestling for SHINE since last year and was one of the standout competitors in the ALL IN Over Budget Battle Royal last month.

Jordynne Grace joins Impact’s growing Knockouts roster. In addition to Knockouts Champion Tessa Blanchard, the division also features competitors such as Taya Valkyrie, Scarlett Bordeaux, Su Yung, Kiera Hogan, Rosemary, Allie.

The self proclaimed “Thick Mama Pump” is a great signing for Impact. Follow her on Twitter @JordynneGrace.

https://twitter.com/metalhead100117/status/1052460475437522944

The spoilers from the Impact Wrestling TV taping that took place on Tuesday, October 16th, 2018 in Queens, NY at the Melrose Ballroom has surfaced online.

The promotion held another set of tapings on Monday night and you can see those spoilers at this link. These matches and segments will air over the coming weeks on POP TV. As a reminder, Impact Wrestling will be moving to 10 PM Eastern on Pop TV starting on October 25th. The flagship show of the promotion will remain at 8 PM with a 10 PM replay for next week’s show.

Impact Wrestling TV Taping Results

Rich Swann defeats Willie Mack

Desi Hit Squad (Gama Singh Jr. and Rohit Raju) defeat The Beach Bums

Taya Valkyrie defeats Tessa Blanchard by DQ once Tessa attacked the referee.

LAX defeat Ethan Page & Matt Sydal

Sami Callihan defeats Trevor Lee. Post-match, X-Division Champion Brian Cage came out and got in the face of Callihan.

Pentagon Jr. & Rey Fenix defeat The OGz

Jordynne Grace defeats Katarina

Moose defeats Eddie Edwards

Eli Drake attacks Joseph Park during an in-ring segment

Su Yung defeats Keira Hogan

Johnny Impact defeats Killer Kross to retain the World Title.

What are your thoughts on these results? Sound off in the comment section.

Here are several Impact Wrestling news items coming out of Sunday’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view and Monday’s Impact tapings from Queens, NY:

– Impact is looking to bring back Alberto El Patron. The company feels his personal issues have calmed down and the upside of his name recognition outweigh the risks. The hope is to have him work the November Las Vegas TV tapings (11/11-13). Alberto has been keeping busy lately with bookings in Mexico and his role with the Combate Americas MMA promotion.

– James Ellsworth, who made a surprise appearance at Bound For Glory as Eli Drake’s mystery opponent, has turned down an offer to join the Impact roster. Ellsworth was said to be very appreciative and gracious about the offer, but is still on WWE’s radar and will be working SmackDown 1000 tonight.

– There was heat on several wrestlers for arriving late for Bound For Glory at the Melrose Ballroom. Pentagon Jr., in particular, arrived very late.

– Impact is planning to run more “undead realm” vignettes and some sort of cosmic-themed stipulation match for TV in December.

Click here to read spoiler results from Monday night’s Impact Wrestling TV tapings from Queens, NY. Impact will be running another round of tapings tonight. Check back later for those results.

The future of IMPACT Wrestling’s future on television has grown uncertain after it was announced that Pop TV was moving the company’s flagship show out of primetime.

Last week, news broke that Impact TV was being moved from the Thursday night’s 8PM time slot to a less desirable 10 PM start time. As a result of this setback, Impact hired former WWE executive Andrew Whitaker to help manage the PR fallout of the story.

Whitaker has a bit of a checkered past with the wrestling industry following his exit from WWE and previous occupation with GLORY kickboxing before he let go from that organization as well. More recently, Whitaker has been consulting from his own company based out of Stamford, Connecticut.

Interestingly, Whitaker has ties to the former SPIKE TV — now the Paramount Network — and the hope is that perhaps he could potentially spark interest in bringing IMPACT wrestling back there again. Unfortunately, Paramount Network has largely shifted away from the programming parameters at the old SPIKE TV with the network launching several high profile original shows including ‘Yellowstone’, which was one of the highest rated new series in 2018.

Sources close to Paramount Network have stated that the network is staying focused on that original programming rather than adding elements similar to what previously aired on SPIKE TV. Then again nothing is written in stone so it’s impossible to tell what the future might hold now that Whitaker is involved with IMPACT.

In addition to the tumultuous situation with the television deal, production is also suffering right now at IMPACT.

Michael Vettor, the head of IMPACT TV, had apparently reached out to several MLW production personnel over the past 10 days to contract them to work the Bound for Glory pay-per-view and subsequent television tapings. Several people were contacted including at least two producers and several cameramen but only one person ultimately accepted the job due to Vettor’s reputation and aggressive approach when trying to secure production staff.

This all adds up to a volatile time at IMPACT wrestling, especially after holding their biggest pay-per-view event of the year and now the company faces a ton of uncertainty going forward into late 2018 and beyond.

We have an exclusive update on Austin Aries’ status with Impact Wrestling, company attempting to ‘work’ the wrestlers backstage at Bound for Glory and plans for a ‘loose cannon’ storyline in the months ahead.

Aries had everybody guessing whether his bizarre from IMPACT’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view was a work or a shoot. The situation unfolded following the main event, which saw Johnny Impact capture the Impact world title. Following the finish, Aries immediately leapt up, exited the right, shouted a profanity at commentator and IMPACT executive vice president Don Callis before flipping off the crowd as he exited the arena.

Aries’ reaction had a lot of people questioning how much of what transpired was scripted.  Aries’ feud with Johnny Impact grew increasingly personal in the days leading up to the show, which included deleted tweets about Johnny Impact’s wife Taya Valkyrie.

According to sources backstage at the Bound for Glory pay-per-view, Impact wrestlers were not told about the finish to the BFG main event and felt like they were being worked by management. One source who has been with the company for years told us it felt like a move the old TNA regime would have orchestrated.

Immediately after the pay-per-view broadcast ended, IMPACT media relations personnel were shopping the story to outlets such as TMZ, which had covered Aries & Johnny’s social media feud last week.

Apparently the entire program was set up because Aries wants to do his own take on the classic ‘Loose Cannon’ storyline that Brian Pillman did several years ago in WCW before leaving to join ECW. During that time, Pillman’s behavior got so out of line that he was ‘fired’ by Eric Bischoff but he later admitted that the entire situation had been planned so he could exit WCW and earn some legitimate heat when he showed up in ECW.

As of Sunday night, the plan was for Aries to start showing up in other promotions such as Ring of Honor to sell the idea that he really did ‘walk out’ at Bound For Glory. Eventually, he would return portraying a loose cannon character. Aries did not work Monday night’s Impact TV tapings and is not scheduled to be at tonight’s tapings either.

After it was revealed that Austin Aries wouldn’t be working the upcoming Impact Tapings following the Bound For Glory controversy, an Impact producer has claimed that the former World Champion is no longer with the company.

Producer Petey Williams spoke to The Wrestling Perspective podcast after Sunday’s Bound for Glory event, and during the episode, he was asked several questions about Aries and his status with the company.

Williams was asked if he talked to Aries after the bout and he said that he is a professional person, so he talked to both Johnny Impact and Austin after the bout to ensure that they were ok and to thank them.

When asked about A Double’s contractual status, Petey revealed that Aries does not have any more dates left with the company after the PPV, meaning that he is essentially done with the promotion.

Finally, the hosts asked if what transpired after the BFG main event was disrespectful and responding to it, the Impact Official said that he will dodge this question since the former WWE Star is not with the company anymore.

As noted before the line is still blurry and at this point, it’s still hard to say if the whole situation is a work or if Austin Aries was actually unhappy with the finish and decided to walk out of the company.

All we know for sure is that some parts of his feud with Johnny Impact did go off script and we should get a better idea about his future with the company in the upcoming days.

The spoilers from the Impact Wrestling TV taping that took place on Monday, October 15th, 2018 in Queens, NY at the Melrose Ballroom has surfaced online.

The promotion will hold another set of tapings on Sunday night and we’ll have those posted on the site that night. These matches and segments will air over the coming weeks on POP TV.

Impact Wrestling TV Taping Results

– Impact Wrestling X-Division Champion Brian Cage defeated Rich Swann to retain. Following the match, Sami Callihan entered the ring and faced off with Brian Cage. This led to Callihan pointing to the video screen that showed the finish of the Bound for Glory six man tag where Sami pinned Cage. He told Cage that was what was coming for him. A brawl broke out with Cage standing tall.

– Impact Wrestling Champion Johnny Impact walked out to the ring to cut a promo about how crazy Bound for Glory was. He stated that he always wanted to be the World Champion and now that dream had a reality. He brought up overcoming adversity but now knows that all of his training and fighting has come to this moment. He believes the business is what “we make it.” He ended it by stating that he’s going to be a fighting champion. Fénix then comes out and challenges him for the title next week. Impact accepts the challenge.

– Killer Kross defeats Tommy Dreamer (via ref stoppage)

– Taya Valkyrie defeats Katarina. Post-match, Taya says she no longer respects Tessa Blanchard after how she won on Sunday.

– Ethan Page defeats Trevor Lee

– Allie defeats Alisha Edwards. Edwards was beatdown afterward until Keira Hogan saved her.
Pentagon Jr. defeats Homicide

– LAX defeat The Heavenly Bodies

– Gama Singh defeats Rohit Raju

– Su Yung defeats Keira Hogan

– Killer Kross & Moose defeat Fallah Bahh & KM

– Impact Champion Johnny Impact defeated Rey Fenix to retain. Post-match, The OGz attacked Fenix.  Pentagon hit the ring for the save with a chair to close the show.

What are your thoughts on these results? Sound off in the comment section.