Former Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion Austin Aries will not be working Monday and Tuesday’s Impact tapings from Queens, New York.
Aries was involved in a controversial scene at the conclusion of Sunday night’s Bound For Glory pay-per-view at the Melrose Ballroom. After losing the belt to Johnny Impact in the main event, Aries immediately stood up and effectively no-sold Johnny’s finishing move. Aries flipped off the crowd as he exited the arena. Fans were left to wonder if this incident was scripted or a shoot.
On Monday’s edition of Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez speculated that aspects of this feud have gone off-script, but the majority of what’s transpired has been part of the storyline. We’ll keep you posted as this situation continues to unfold, but the biggest takeaway here is that Austin Aries won’t be on television for the next several weeks. Based on how much television Impact tapes tonight and Tuesday, he could be off TV through December.
Check back later tonight for Impact Wrestling tapings results.
Impact Wrestling is ‘coming home’ for its next pay-per-view event.
Impact Wrestling: Home Coming will take place on January 6th, 2019. The show will emanate from the former ‘TNA Asylum’ at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in Nashville, TN.
The TNA Asylum is the venue the promotion held many of their big events from their early years. The promotion’s first venue was the Martin Van Buren Arena in Huntsville, Alabama. In the summer of 2002, Impact moved most of their events to the Asylum, however.
Most of these shows are available on the Global Wrestling Network, which also features promotions such as World Series Wrestling, Destiny, Smash, and now Championship Wrestling From Hollywood as well.
The TNA Asylum is the nickname given to the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in Nashville. The company was founded in the city by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett. TNA was originally part of the National Wrestling Alliance now owned by Billy Corgan. Their first recognized World Champion was Ken Shamrock, who won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at TNA’s first-ever weekly PPV.
The genesis of the promotion was evidently a fishing trip taken by WCW’s Bob Ryder, Jeff Jarrett and his father Jerry. WCW and ECW had just closed and at the time there was only one wrestling promotion on television.
Swann announced Mack as his partner this week on Impact after Page and Sydal challenged him to find someone to face them at the PPV. Swann pinned Sydal with a Phoenix Splash after a fast-paced opener. Mack cut a promo after, encouraging fans to make noise and running a sponsorship promo giving two fans front row seats.
Konnan was shown beat up in the back. He said King attacked him.
Eli Drake defeated James Ellsworth
James Ellsworth answered Drake’s Open Challenge. He was not well received and booed heavily. Fans cheered for Drake, who defeated him quickly with Gravy Train.
Drake cut a promo after saying he wanted stiffer competition, which brought out Abyss. The recently inducted Hall of Famer gave Drake the Blackhole Slam and a chokeslam through a table.
Valkyrie looked to have Blanchard beat after giving her the Road to Valhalla but the referee was momentarily out of position, allowing Taya to kick out. Blanchard hit her Buzzsaw DDT but Taya kicked out. She then hit a codebreaker from the top rope and got the pin.
Eddie Edwards and Tommy Dreamer defeated Moose and Killer Kross
This match was originally scheduled to be Moose vs Edwards but after Kross interfered and Dreamer made the save, it was turned into a tag match. Edwards won with a roll-up on Moose. After the match, Kross and Moose kept up the attack, delivering a powerbomb onto the ring apron to Edwards.
Sami Callihan & OVE defeated Brian Cage and the Lucha Brothers (Pentagon Jr and Fenix)
Sami Callihan became the first person in Impact to pin Brian Cage here. Fenix had been thrown from the top onto the stage ramp and Callihan gave Pentagon a piledriver on the apron, leaving Cage alone with OVE. After the trio gave Cage a series of superkicks, Callihan delivered his Cactus Driver and got the pin. This will likely lead to Callihan vs Cage for the X-Division title sometime in the future, likely in the coming days of television tapings.
Concrete Jungle Deathmatch
Konnan & LAX defeated King and the OGZ
This match consisted of no mat on the ring, exposed boards, and exposed turnbuckles. Konnan was not there to start the match. Lots of weapons, brawling, and a few table spots. Then they actually started taking big bumps on the exposed boards as well. After everyone was down after a big superplex spot, Konnan came out and brawled with King. LAX then hit Street Sweeper for the win.
Allie Rescues Kiera Hogan From the Undead Realm (W/ Rosemary’s Help)
.@WeAreRosemary stayed behind to fight The Undead Bride and allow @AllieImpact to escape. #BFGCOMDA
James Mitchell arranged for Allie’s safe passage into the undead realm and we got a rather intense Final Deletion style mini-movie here. Allie started her trip into the undead realm by killing several undead bridesmaids with an ax. She then found Hogan in a coffin but Su Yung was not far behind. Yung and Allie then had an ax fight but Allie eventually rescued Hogan from the coffin and got away. James Mitchell then revealed he would not grant them passage out of the undead realm. Rosemary then showed up to fend off Su Yung with some sorcery and black magic feasible only in the undead realm. So both Rosemary and Su Yung are still in the undead realm but Allie and Kiera Hogan are out.
The company then announced their next PPV in Nashville:
They say you can't go home again? We disagree!
We're delighted to announce our return to where it all began – The Asylum in Nashville, TN on January 6th for our next live PPV event Homecoming. pic.twitter.com/InunQhnxb9
Impact World Championship
Johnny Impact defeated Austin Aries (c)
In the days leading up to this match, they started to blur the lines between reality and fiction through social media. They kept the theme up in this match by starting with a realistic MMA approach and stiff looking shots. The stiffness kept up throughout most of the match. Taya was at ringside for Johnny and Kross and Moose were there for Aries. In the closing moments, Aries was sent to the ropes and ended up doing a suicide dive into Taya. Johnny then capitalized on that by hitting Aries with his own brainbuster, followed by Starship Pain for the win.
Johnny Impact (John Hennigan) – Impact World Champion
The title is his first in Impact. He’s previously been Lucha Underground Champion as well, having won the title in Season 3. In WWE, he’s a 3x former Intercontinental Champion, a 4x Tag Team Champion, a WWECW World Champion, and a 2-time Slammy Award winner. PWI ranked him #24 in their Top-500 rankings last year. He won the AAA Mega Championship in Mexico as well.
The loss for Austin Aries concludes his 3rd run as Impact World Champion. He had lost and regained the title to Pentagon Junior earlier in the year. He originally won the title from Eli Drake shortly after the new management team took over in January.
Impact will hold two nights of tapings in the Melrose Ballroom over the next two nights. They will then travel to Las Vegas for 3 nights of tapings in November. Tonight, they announced their next PPV will take place on January 9th, 2019 in Nashville, TN.
Tonight’s Concrete Jungle Deathmatch at Bound For Glory will be contested between Konnan and LAX against King and the OGZ. Impact Wrestling recently unveiled the unique set of rules for the match.
The ring mat will be gone, exposing just the boards underneath. Also gone will be the turnbuckle coverings. Josh Mathews goes into greater detail regarding the stipulations in the video below.
The ringboards will be exposed. The steel turnbuckles will be uncovered.
The unique gimmick match comes by way of an order from a crime boss. King would later admit he put a hit out on Konnan and that he feels Konnan leaches off of the talent he represents.
Konnan recently returned to the ring for Major League Wrestling in their Battle Riot event. This will be the first non-battle royal match for Konnan in over 5 years, however.
Bound For Glory Lineup
Impact World Championship
Austin Aries (c) vs Johnny Impact
Knockouts Championship
Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Taya Valkyrie
Eddie Edwards vs Moose
Sami Callihan & oVe vs Brian Cage & the Lucha Brothers
Concrete Jungle Deathmatch
LAX & Konnan vs OGZ & King
Rich Swann & Willie Mack vs Ethan Page and Matt Sydal
Eli Drake Open Challenge
Allie Travels To the Underworld
The event takes place at 8 PM inside the Melrose Ballroom in NYC.
There is growing speculation Chris Jericho could make an appearance at tonight’s Bound For Glory event in New York City. Jericho was asked on Twitter if he might be at the event and he didn’t deny it was possible.
Jericho’s band Fozzy isn’t on tour at the moment. A Fozzy tour didn’t stop him from appearing at All In last month, however.
Rumors regarding Jericho’s involvement with Impact Wrestling began shortly after Don Callis was named to the promotion’s management team. Callis told me this spring he was interested in bringing both Jericho and Kenny Omega into the promotion.
One possible way for Jericho to appear on tonight’s PPV is if he was to answer Eli Drake’s Open Challenge. On the most recent episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake said he was bringing his Open Challenge to New York. He added the stipulation, however, that the person who answers his Open Challenge at Bound For Glory has to be from New York. Chris Jericho was born in New York in 1970.
Bound For Glory takes place tonight at 8 PM from the Melrose Ballroom in New York City. It will be available for purchase via the FITE app. The Chris Jericho Rock N Rager at Sea sets sail on October 27th as well.
This Sunday night, Impact Wrestling presents Bound For Glory live on pay-per-view from the Melrose Ballroom in New York City. Let’s take a look at what’s scheduled for the big event.
Impact World Championship
Austin Aries (c) vs Johnny Impact
The main event of Bound For Glory 2018 will feature Johnny Impact taking on Austin Aries for the Impact World Championship. Impact Wrestling is likely hoping Johnny’s exposure in the hit reality show Survivor helps to draw interest in the show’s main event.
Aries has been atop Impact Wrestling for the majority of 2018. He won the title from Eli Drake on January 10th, 2018. Aries would then drop it to Pentagon Jr, however, at the Lucha Underground vs Impact Wrestling show over WrestleMania weekend. He’d win it back at the tapings over the following 2 days, however. Since then, he’s held the belt 172 days and defended it 11x. Johnny Impact might represent the biggest threat to his title reign yet, though.
Knockouts Champion Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Taya Valkyrie
Tessa Blanchard says she’s cleaned out the entire Knockouts division since debuting with the company this spring. Taya Valkyrie disputes this, saying Blanchard can’t claim to have cleared out the division until she faces her.
Blanchard is 13-2 in Impact Wrestling. Her only losses both came to Madison Rayne, who won by clever pinning combinations each time. She’s defeated Kiera Hogan, Mercedes Martinez, Allie, Rebel, Alisha Edwards, Su Yung, Gisele Shaw, Faby Apache, and Keyra. Blanchard hasn’t defeated, or faced, Taya Valkyrie yet, however.
Sami Callihan & oVe vs Brian Cage & the Lucha Brothers
Brian Cage won’t defend his X-Division Championship at Bound For Glory. Instead, he accepted the offer by the Lucha Brothers to join them in their rivalry with OVE. Callihan and his cronies claim they are the best trio out there but Fenix, Pentagon, and Brian Cage will have something to say about that at Bound For Glory.
Eddie Edwards vs Moose
Moose main event’ed the last PPV against Austin Aries. Now, Moose is aligned with the Impact World Champion and taking on his former friend Eddie Edwards. According to Moose, Aries was the only one who called him while he was in the hospital post-Slammiversary. He then cost Edwards a shot at the Impact World Championship during the Toronto tapings this summer. Edwards will be out for revenge tonight.
Concrete Jungle Deathmatch
LAX & Konnan vs OGZ & King
A ceasefire was ordered in this storyline after King ran over a child with his car. LAX and the OGZ were not permitted to get physical with each other until the PPV in NYC. Konnan brought the ceasefire to a premature end Thursday night, however.
This is likely the blow-off to this feud which has been building for 8 months.
Rich Swann & Willie Mack vs Ethan Page & Matt Sydal
After losing the X-Division title to Brian Cage, Sydal began pitching Swann about being his mentor. Swann isn’t into yoga and spirituality, however, so he rebuffed Sydal’s offer. They would then meet in single’s action in Mexico City. Sydal won after interference from his newest protege, Ethan Page. The team of Page and Sydal challenged Swann to find a partner for Bound For Glory. This week on Impact, Swann announced Willie Mack will be his partner and make his Impact debut on Sunday.
Allie Travels To the Undead Realm
2 weeks ago Su Yung locked Kiera Hogan in a coffin. Allie had promised that she would stop Yung from ever doing that to anyone ever again. This week on Impact, Allie enlisted the help of Father James Mitchell, who promised her safe passage to the Undead Realm at Bound For Glory. Allie looks to be traveling to the land of the dead to rescue Kiera Hogan from Yung this Sunday in what might be a Final Deletion style segment.
Eli Drake Open Challenge (NYC Wrestlers Only)
The last time Eli Drake did an open challenge it was answered by La Parka in Mexico City. Drake opted to leave the match and get counted-out rather than face the legend. Although now Drake is claiming La Parka should have been DQ’ed for that match.
Drake said he’s bringing his open challenge to Bound For Glory but that only wrestlers from New York City are eligible to answer. That surprise will only be revealed at the PPV.
Join us here this Sunday for Bound For Glory Results & Live Coverage.
It looks like David Arquette will be a part of IMPACT Wrestling’s “One Night Only” pay-per-view (PPV). The former WCW World Heavyweight Champion has reentered the professional wrestling world in recent months. He recently teamed up with RJ City at a Border City Wrestling event. In fact, it was Border City Wrestling’s 25th-anniversary show from Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
The show took place at the St. Clair College Gymnasium last weekend. Arquette and RJ took on “Halal Beefcake” Joe Coleman and Idris Abraham in a Tag Team match. Arquette and City picked up the win, in a match professional wrestling fans will now get to witness next month.
It looks like IMPACT Wrestling will air the match during their “One Night Only” PPV on Friday, November 9th on the Global Wrestling Network. It’s unknown as of this writing if Arquette has come to any sort of agreement with the promotion.
However, it should be known that he has been working the indy scene a lot lately. He also recently visited WWE headquarters for unknown reasons. It’s believed he was likely filming material for the WWE Network. TMZ Sports was able to get some video of Arquette and RJ City’s match in Windsor. Check out a clip of Arquette hitting a flying maneuver during the bout here:
What do you think about IMPACT airing one of Arquette’s matches?
X-Division Champion Brian Cage recently spoke withSports Illustrated to promote Sunday’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view event.
At this show, he’s slated to team up with Pentagon Jr. and Fenix to take on Dave Crist, Jake Crist, & Sami Callihan in an OVE Rules match. When asked about it, Cage pointed out that OVE has a nice formula for amazing six-man tags but it does depend on who is working the match as it makes or breaks it.
“I have no doubt that the six of us are going to tear the house down. We can steal the show, it’s ours to take.”
Cage was also asked about who his dream opponent would be as well as being the king of the X-Division in Impact Wrestling. Cage brought up how he has always been a fan of the division and wanted to be a part of it.
“I know I’m bigger than most of the guys, but it’s a style and not a weight class, and I love to perform that style. To me, the X Division has been the core of Impact, and my all-time dream match is AJ Styles, and he was one of the pioneers of the X Division. I can’t wait to defend the title against Pentagon, Fenix, Rich Swann, and some former champions, too.”
Impact Wrestling will hold their Bound for Glory pay-per-view event on Sunday, October 14, 2018, at the Melrose Ballroom in New York City, New York. As a reminder, we will be providing live coverage of this event.
Impact Wrestling has announced who will induct Abyss into the 2018 class of their Hall of Fame. On Thursday night, the promotion revealed that James Mitchell will do the honors.
The TNA Original will be celebrated and honored for his contributions to Impact Wrestling this weekend. The ceremony will take place on Saturday, October 13th in New York City at McHale’s Pub. He’s a former World Champion, X-Division Champion, and World Tag Team Champion. He joins Kurt Angle, Sting, Jeff Jarrett, Gail Kim, Earl Hebner, and Team 3D as members of the Hall of Fame.
The pre-show will air on Twitch at 7:30PM ET that will see stars of the roster arrive while the Hall of Fame ceremony will begin at 8PM ET. Fans who purchased VIP Tickets for Bound For Glory will be invited to attend the Induction Ceremony the night before Bound For Glory. Also, tickets are available as well, it will be a limited engagement.
BREAKING: Father James Mitchell will induct @TherealAbyss into the IMPACT Hall of Fame as it streams TOMORROW live on Twitch.
As of this writing, Abyss doesn’t have a match lined up for the biggest pay-per-view event of the year for Impact Wrestling, which is Bound For Glory, but with only six matches advertised to take place, it’s possible that they can book him in a match that would follow up his induction night.
Posted October 12th, 2018 in TNA, News. Tagged: Abyss.
Willie Mack will compete this Sunday at Impact Wrestling’s Bound For Glory. The current HOH Twitch TV Champion will team with Rich Swann to take on Matt Sydal and Ethan Page.
Swann announced Mack will be his partner last night on Impact Wrestling’s go home show before the PPV.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PaKXHuU87Y
Willie Mack & Rich Swann vs Matt Sydal & Ethan Page
Following Slammiversary and losing his X-Division Championship to Brian Cage, Matt Sydal began approaching Rich Swann about being his mentor. Swann said, however, that he’s not into yoga and Sydal’s style. The two had a single’s match in Mexico City last week which Sydal won after interference from Ethan Page.
Page accepted Sydal’s offer fro mentorship and the two challenged Swann to find a partner and face them at Bound For Glory. Swann only needed a week to announce Willie Mack as his partner.
Mack has not competed in Impact Wrestling before. He was on the Lucha Underground side of the Impact vs Lucha Underground show over WrestleMania weekend, however. Most recently, Mack challenged Cody for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The NWA posted the full match to their YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwkiiSyJoME
In addition to being the current HOH Twitch TV Champion, Mack is also a 2x former Trios Champion on Lucha Underground.
Impact Wrestling presented the Go Home Show before Bound For Glory last night. Below we have the top 9 takeaways from Impact Wrestling 10/11 from Mexico City, Mexico.
Impact Wrestling 10/11
The Ceasefire Is Over
In the final segment before Bound For Glory, King cut a promo on Konnan as both the OGZ and LAX stood watch. He said that Konnan leached off of the Mexican wrestlers he’s mentored over the years and then admitted to having put a hit out on him.
Konnan then said King’s actions were not the actions of a leader and that the bosses were watching. He then said the ceasefire was over and a brawl started between the two sides.
Austin Aries Pinned Johnny Impact
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DttTUk79hxA
Austin Aries, Moose, & Killer Kross defeated Johnny Impact, Eddie Edwards, & Fallah Bah
With just days before Bound For Glory, the Champion is going in on a high note, having just pinned his upcoming challenger. Aries pinned Johnny after a brainbuster. Callis and Mathews commented on how much damage Johnny’s neck took during the match and how that may impact him heading into Bound for Glory.
Tessa Blanchard Pins Keyra On Route To Bound For Glory And Taya Valkyrie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh-bigGMwK0
Tessa Blanchard defeated Keyra
Blanchard’s Knockouts Championship reign will face its biggest test yet on Sunday. She was able to get by Keyra this week, finishing off the 22-year-old luchadora with her patented Buzzsaw DDT.
Taya Valkyrie has spent most of her career in Mexico wrestling stars like Faby Apache, who Blanchard defeated earlier in Impact’s trip to Mexico. Blanchard’s been able to wrestle two luchadoras in Mexico who have a similar style to her BFG opponent.
The Undead Realm Is Bound For Glory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xgSZC1Yd68
This Sunday there will be a segment (of sorts) held in the “undead realm”. Allie will travel there with the help of James Mitchell in an attempt to save Kiera Hogan from Su Yung.
Father James Mitchell has re-appeared in Impact Wrestling. We last saw Mitchell as the manager of Abyss in his feud with Kongo Kong. This week he was approached by Allie as she requested safe passage to the underworld. Mitchell said Allie must sell her soul but that her soul won’t belong to him, it will belong to someone down low. He then started to say he would get heat with the office when she interrupted him. Allie and Mitchell made a deal to meet Sunday night and he would bring her into the undead realm. What exactly this means for Allie, Su Yung, and Kiera Hogan
Willie Mack Is Bound For Glory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PaKXHuU87Y
Rich Swann announced this week that he’s found a partner for Sunday. Matt Sydal will team against his newest protege, Ethan Page. Swann revealed Willie Mack will be his partner to take on Sydal and Page at Bound For Glory
Eli Drake’s Open Challenge Is Bound For Glory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1qgm0DMIQY
Last week, Eli Drake’s open challenge was answered by LA Parka. Drake seemed to be of the belief that he defeated LA Parka by DQ last week even though that’s not what happened. He then announced he was bringing his Open Challenge to New York City for Bound For Glory. The Open Challenge is only open to people from New York City, however.
Petey Williams Picks Up A Win In 4-Way Action
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9tOMkkwIdg
Petey Williams defeated Trevor Lee vs Puma King vs Jack Evans
In a match which consisted entirely of wrestlers who were shown trying to impress Scarlett Bordeaux in the back last week. Williams picked up the win after landing the Canadian Destroyer on Trevor Lee.
Gursinder Singh No Longer Part Of The Desi Hit Squad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHjTXgCaRRQ
Rohit Raju defeated Gursinder Singh
Rohit Raju was victorious over Singh this week. The inter-Desi Hit Squad match was booked by the Great Gama Singh to determine who the weak link of the team is. Singh will now have to go back to India while it appears Gama will continue to work with Raju.
Joe Hendry and Grado On Losing Streaks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AaLrwziQO0
Maximo defeated Grado
Last week, Joe Hendry was defeated by Murder Clown. This week, Grado was defeated by Maximo. It hasn’t been a successful trip to Mexico for the best friends. Perhaps Scarlett Bordeaux’s advice to the pair wasn’t so great after all.
Quick Results:
Petey Williams defeated Trevor Lee vs Puma King vs Jack Evans
Maximo defeated Grado
Rohit Raju defeated Gursinder Singh
Austin Aries, Killer Kross, & Moose defeated Johnny Impact, Eddie Edwards & Fallah Bah
Tessa Blanchard defeated Keyra
Bound for Glory LIneup
October 14th
Melrose, NY
New York City, NY
Impact World Championship
Austin Aries (c) vs Johnny Impact
Knockouts Championship
Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Taya Valkyrie
Eddie Edwards vs Moose
Sami Callihan & oVe vs Brian Cage & the Lucha Brothers
Concrete Jungle Deathmatch
LAX & Konnan vs OGZ & King
Rich Swann & Willie Mack vs Ethan Page and Matt Sydal
Impact Wrestling presents the final episode before Bound For Glory this Sunday on PPV tonight. The episode will feature the final matches and segments taped from Impact’s trip to Mexico City, Mexico.
Impact Wrestling 10/11 Preview
Eddie Edwards, Johnny Impact, and Fallah Bah vs Moose, Austin Aries, and Killer Kross
6-Man tag-team action this week features Impact’s top heel stable going up against the men they’ve been feuding with. Aries, Kross, and Moose have attempted to injure all 3 of their opponents tonight over television tapings in Canada and Mexico.
Coming up on Sunday Moose goes one-on-one with Edwards and Johny goes one-on-one with Aries. Tonight, however,
LAX and OGZ Summit
The crime family which controls this storyline ordered a ceasefire between the two factions after King ran over a little kid with his car on the streets of Toronto. That ceasefire is up in 3 days at Bound For Glory.
Konnan has been sure that neither Santana or Ortiz attack the OGZ and break the ceasefire but how much longer can they hold out? King has burned Konnan’s mask and continuously disrespected LAX.
Tessa Blanchard vs Keyra
Tessa Blanchard will have the toughest test to her Knockouts Championship on Sunday when she faces Taya Valkyrie. Before she gets to Bound For Glory, however, she’ll have to face the luchadora, Keyra.
The 22-year-old Keyra is tearing it up in Mexico at the moment. Will she have enough to give Blanchard a run for her money is another question, however.
Petey Williams vs Trevor Lee vs Jack Evans vs Puma King
All four of these wrestlers were shown in the back last week attempting to impress Scarlett Bordeaux. The Smokeshow is still holding her Global Talent Search for a full-time client and it is likely all four of the men involved in this match want to obtain her services.
Rohit Raju vs Gursindher Singh
Although not advertised by Impact Wrestling, it was mentioned that last week that these two teammates Will face each other in singles action to determine who the weak link is. The Desi Hit Squad has not been picking up many wins lately and the Great Gama Singh is not pleased.
Who Will Rich Swann Choose As His Partner?
Rich Swann will face Ethan Page and Matt Sydal at Bound For Glory but who will his partner be? We might find out more about this tonight on Impact.
Bound for Glory LIneup
October 14th
Impact World Championship
Austin Aries (c) vs Johnny Impact
Knockouts Championship
Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Taya Valkyrie
Eddie Edwards vs Moose
Sami Callihan & oVe vs Brian Cage & the Lucha Brothers
Concrete Jungle Deathmatch
LAX & Konnan vs OGZ & King
Impact Wrestling World Champion, Austin Aries, says he has never had more fun in his wrestling career than he has had in 2018 with Impact Wrestling. He was not as enthusiastic about the company during his initial two runs with them, however.
Aries wrestled in Impact from 2005 to 2007 and again from 2011 to 2015. According to Aries, his run with the company ended in 2007 after he was suspended for “bad behavior”. He revealed what it was which led to his suspension and subsequent leaving of the company on the latest edition of Talk is Jericho.
Austin Aries on Suspensions from TNA Wrestling
Aries mentioned that he was suspended twice while wrestling in TNA from 05-07. A conflict with Vince Russo then led to him deciding to leave and go back to Ring of Honor.
Jericho asked Aries what he got suspended for and Aries didn’t hesitate to answer that it was “a bad attitude”.
“So basically the story is, we are at the tail-end of this PPV which is obviously leaving a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths,” Aries said. “The next day was a travel day, this happened to be my birthday weekend. We had a travel day Monday, we had television on Tuesday. At this point, the company decided to inform us shortly around the holidays that they are no longer going to provide our hotel rooms or transportation, Merry Christmas.”
Aries continued to say he cashed in some favors and he and the X-Division guys got a nice hotel, some food, and some alcohol for their day off. Vince Russo then came in and told everyone to be by their phones on their day off in case they needed someone to come in and film vignettes. Aries made a point of not being by his phone. He would also say the company got mad when he began asking questions such as why he couldn’t do the vignettes the next day while he was there for 8 hours. These question evidently did not go over well.
Jericho then asked if he got a letter saying he was suspended. Aries then said they opted to call him and leave a voicemail when they knew he was on a flight.
“Like real men do they dropped the voicemail when you are in the air,” Aries said. He decided at that time it was time to leave and go to ROH.
We recently reported on the Twitter storm that was brewing between Austin Aries and Johnny Impact as the two took to social media to sling insults at one another.
In a series of Tweets that have since been deleted, Austin Aries spoke up against the “short shaming” by Johnny Impact. In turn, Aries directed his anger towards Impact’s wife, Taya Valkyrie, referring to her as “husky” amongst other unfavorable remarks.
Since then, Aries has spoken with WOL to defend his position.
He claimed that “when it comes to short things, it’s something I’ve dealt with my whole life. I’m used to it. It drives me.”
“If you want to make things personal, I can get personal and clap back,” he stated, before stressing that if you were to read his tweet and understand what he’s actually attempting to express he’s “not condoning any of those things. I’m saying if I were to make a joke on any of those things or mention these words or type them out in a derogatory way that people would be outraged.”
Further defending his stance, Aries believes “In this day and age, we’re outraged about making fun of people or telling them that they are less than for things that are out of their control. Yet, when it comes to people’s heights, it’s ok for people to continue to use that. I was simply pointing it out.”
“I Didn’t Take Personal Shots”
Austin went on to say that in the build-up to his Bound For Glory match with Johnny Impact, he has never taken “personal shots” or focused on “his real deficiencies.”
The Belt Collector continued, stating that he “never talked about the fact that you’ve never been the guy that you look like because your personality is non-existent. You’re kind of a dork.”
“You come out with this cool image but anyone in the back knows that you’re not cool. I didn’t say any of that. I didn’t take personal shots.”
Austin Aries will face Johnny Impact for the Impact World Championship in 4 days at Bound For Glory. The event takes place October 14th from the Melrose Ballroom in Astoria, New York.
PROGRESS Wrestling has announced that LAX will be heading to the company in December. The company will be holding a weekender of events on Saturday December 8th and Sunday December 9th.
This will be the UK PROGRESS debut for the team. Santana and Ortiz had an incredible bout against Chris Brookes and Jon Gresham as part of the United States Coast to Coast tour back in August. The New York City stop of the tour featured the match that many fans have described as the best ever tag bout in PROGRESS history.
Chapter 80: Gods And Monsters and Chapter 81: Pour Some Progress On Me will be two of the biggest outside London for the company this year. The company recently held a mega event in Wembley Arena that drew the biggest crowd in English wrestling for 30+ years. Headlined by an incredible bout between Tyler Bate and WALTER for the PROGRESS World Championship which is available to view online in its entirety for free.
After participating in possibly the finest tag-team match in our company's history, we can't wait to have #LAX with us in Manchester and Sheffield. Few tickets remainhttps://t.co/k9jcAjxzBapic.twitter.com/xp7pSYqRtf
The end of 2018 is shaping up to be the most important free agency period in pro-wrestling since the Attitude Era. Members of Bullet Club Elite are all going to hit free agency at the end of the year and have stated they plan to stick together as a group.
Kenny Omega Teases Signing With WWE or Impact On Latest Being The Elite
On the latest edition of Being the Elite, Kenny Omega teases potentially signing with WWE or Impact Wrestling.
During the episode, Omega is shown in a hotel room speaking on the phone. Omega makes it clear he is speaking to his friend, Impact Vice President Don Callis, when he says the line “Anyway, sucks you couldn’t be on commentary this week.” A reference to Callis not being available to call King of Pro Wrestling.
Then several notes are slipped under Omega’s door which seemed to be encouraging him to sign with WWE.
“Stuck in Japan but looking for more, why not come on down as entry #4? – H” reads one of the notes slipped under Omega’s door.
“Perhaps looking for a better payday? What about a single’s match with AJ? – H” reads the second note slipped under Omega’s door. He then decided to keep that note in his back pocket. When Omega finally did find who was slipping notes under his door, however, it turned out to be Cody. After Omega was able to get Cody to show him both his hands at the same time, the NWA Champ admitted he was just trying to give Omega a promotional code for Blue Chew.
A countdown was shown at the end of the episode. The same countdown was shown after the last episode as well. The clock is counting the days, hours and minutes until the group becomes free agents.
The full episode is listed below. Omega’s part starts at the 7:31 mark.
It’s well known that last month WWE and Impact Wrestling officials had a meeting at WWE headquarters in Connecticut. It was reported that the meeting had members of Triple H’s team there as well as Scott D’Amore and Ed Nordholm from Impact where both sides had a general discussion.
Over the last few years, both promotions have been building a relationship. WWE is allowing footage of Impact to be shown on their streaming service. WWE has paid for material from Impact’s video library to use as content on the WWE Network.
Impact Vice President Scott D’Amore recently appeared on Wrestling Perspective podcast with hosts Petey Williams and Dennis Farrell where he talked about a wide range of topics including this meeting. In this podcast, he noted that there was “no agenda” as he made it known that the meeting was just to establish a better relationship between both promotions going forward.
D’Amore stated that since the start of 2018, they’ve done three content deals with WWE and he thinks the WWE is looking at Impact Wrestling in a different way now as it’s a different day and age in wrestling. He added (transcript courtesy of Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet), “There was a meeting, we got together, we talked. It was kinda like ‘Hey, it’s kinda nice to be face-to-face and say hello. Just say that it’s 2018, it’s a whole different world, and there’s no reason why people shouldn’t communicate.’”
D’Amore made it known that there was no agenda as he thinks that is how the business is now, which he thinks is tremendous. You can hear his comments about this meeting around the 33: 00-minute mark here.
Impact Wrestling will present a live show on Twitch tonight in conjunction with Scott D’Amore’s Border City Wrestling. “Motown Showdown” will begin airing at 7PM live from Detroit city.
The show can be watched live and for free on Impact’s Twitch channel.
Impact Wrestling/Border City Wrestling
Motown Showdown
Johnny Impact vs Moose
Eddie Edwards and Tommy Dreamer vs Johnny Swinger and Jon Bolen
Kiera Hogan vs Gisele Shaw vs Scarlett Bordeaux
D-Lo Brown vs Kongo Kong
Ace Romero vs Sami Callihan
N8 Mattson vs Petey Williams vs Ace Austin vs Matt Sydal
The promotion released the following promotional video for the event:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCKaT4Rj6sM
Impact Wrestling Upcoming Schedule
Impact Wrestling kicked off a busy October last night in Windsor. They filmed a One Night Only PPV with Border City Wrestling which is scheduled to air on the Global Wrestling Network on November 9th. They have the live Twitch show tonight and then head to New York for Bound For Glory.
Following BFG, Impact will remain in the Melrose Ballroom for 2 nights of television tapings. Their November tapings will take place over 3 days in Las Vegas’ Sam’s Town Casino, a former longtime ROH venue. Impact will film episodes there from November 11-13th. They will also run a seminar the night before for wrestlers, referees, and personalities.
Austin Aries and Johnny Impact will face each other for the Impact World Championship in 8 days at Bound For Glory. They took some time to build up their feud today through social media and they were not holding anything back. In fact, it’s not altogether clear things didn’t just get intensely “real” between the two.
Austin Aries and Johnny Impact
Johnny got things started by taking a stab at Aries’ height:
Aries took offense to the “short shaming” and offered up some negative comments of his own. He referred to Taya Valkyrie (Johnny’s wife) as “husky” and also made other disparaging comments.
Due to the nature of the wrestling business, it’s not easy to determine how much of what is written above was real and how much was in an effort to build up their match at Bound For Glory. It’s possible it started as a way to build up the match and was taken too far. On the other hand, it’s possible everything written above was a work. Then again, on a rare 3rd hand, it could be that everything happened organically in this situation.
Taya and Aries each offered closing thoughts on the matter earlier today:
Don’t worry about me…after years of this kinda stuff you grow a very veryyyyyy thick skin. I’m human, but I’m also Taya…..and I won’t let anyone ruin or I should say try to ruin what I’ve worked so hard for. It’s really a shame that some ppl are still so hateful. Adios haters https://t.co/vz8RlD6lbV
With just 10 days to go until Bound For Glory, Impact Wrestling presented their third show from the Mexico City tapings held last month. Here are 10 key takeaways from the show.
Impact Wrestling 10/4
Bound For Glory Came Early In The Main Event
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjBi_RdB1ZI
We are now just 9 days away from Bound For Glory but we got Brian Cage and the Lucha Brothers vs Sami Callihan and OVE tonight. The difference this week is that it wasn’t under OVE rules as will be the case at Bound For Glory. As a result of the difference in rules this week, the match was declared a DQ after Callihan pushed the referee. Not a bad move to get intentionally disqualified when you are in the ring with Brian Cage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01kI289R2ig
Dave Crist, who was kidnapped by the Lucha Brothers recently, has come under the belief that Pentagon and Fenix have magical powers. Sami Callihan does not agree but he’s really upset regardless.
Austin Aries Offer Johnny Impact A Spot In His Faction – Johnny Declined
Austin Aries promised he will go into Bound For Glory without the help of Moose and Killer Kross. Is he telling the truth? Or will he stoop to all levels to keep his belt on October 14th?
Johnny Impact knew Austin Aries was alone tonight in Mexico City. Eddie Edwards let him know Moose and Killer Kross were tied up with him. So Johnny called out Impact World Champion, Austin Aries.
Impact commended Aries on coming out by himself, even with his hand in a sling after Johnny’s attack last week. Aries promised he’d do the same at Bound For Glory because he’s the best wrestler in the world.
The Impact World Champion then offered Johnny a spot in his faction with Kross and Moose but obviously, Johnny declined. Aries then hit Johnny with the microphone and looked to soften up his upcoming challenger. Johnny got the better of the exchange, however, and ended the segment with Starship Pain.
Moose Kidnapped Alisha Edwards, Eddie Edwards Came To The Rescue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn2QROyogrw
Moose kidnapped the wrong Bostonian woman this week. He opted to kidnap Alisha Edwards as if she was helpless or something. He did this to lure Edwards into a trap. Like most heels luring a babyface into a trap, Moose spent some time explaining to Edwards his motivation for turning on him. He talked again about how Aries was the only one to call him in the hospital after Slammiversary. Edwards explained he didn’t call Moose because he was just a few rooms down in the hospital as a result of what happened in his match with Tommy Dreamer.
Alisha attacked Moose and Eddie was able to get away from Killer Kross in the melee. This allowed both Eddie and Alisha to escape and Eddie to call Johnny and let him know Aries was by himself.
Su Yung Locked Kiera Hogan In A Coffin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PguGITAm8sk
Su Yung defeated Kiera Hogan
Former Knockouts Champion Su Yung picked up a victory this week over up-and-coming Kiera Hogan. She then motioned for the undead bridesmaids to bring the coffin down to ringside. Allie attempted to break up the attack but was simply out-numbered. Cameras caught Allie in the back reacting to what happened.
Petey Williams Teaches Scarlett Bordeaux The Canadian Destroyer
Several wrestlers were attempting to impress Scarlett Bordeaux in the back. One of the wrestlers, Petey Williams, attempted to teach Scarlett the Canadian Destroyer piledriver, a move I have a feeling we might see her attempt in Impact at some point.
Trevor Lee took offense to Petey’s actions and Scarlett suggested the two should take it up in the ring.
Murder Clown Got Revenge For Katarina
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfYditQjyh8
Murder Clown defeated Joe Hendry
Joe Hendry may have dropped a new music video this week but Katarina was the last one laughing this week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tqyfw6lCAcY
Katarina has enlisted the help of Murder Clown in her quest for revenge against Joe Hendry and Grado. So far, her plan is working to perfection. Not only did Murder Clown defeat Joe Hendry, but he also delivered a splash off the top and through a table to end the segment.
LA Parka Answered Eli Drake’s Challenge
LA Parka defeated Eli Drake via count-out
Scarlett Bordeaux joined Don Callis and Josh Mathews on commentary for this match. She’s holding her Global Talent Search to find the right wrestler to earn her services full-time.
Drake likely didn’t expect one of the most legendary and high-profile luchadors in Mexico to answer his call. As a result, Drake ended up abandoning the match and allowing La Parka to pick up the win via count-out. Bordeaux indicated she was shocked at what Eli Drake did and wouldn’t mind asking him in the back about what was going through his head.
Taya Valkyrie Promo On Tessa Blanchard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxxGicQN7Qw
Arguably the biggest match to take place in the Knockouts Division in the new era of Impact Wrestling, Tessa Blanchard will defend her Knockouts Championship at Bound For Glory against Taya Valkyrie.
The returning Valkyrie cut a backstage promo this week.
Ethan Page Is Matt Sydal’s New Protege
Matt Sydal defeated Rich Swann
Matt Sydal and Rich Swann went one-on-one finally this week. Swann had been trying to get a single’s match with Sydal earlier but Sydal went to management and had them put together as a team first. When that didn’t work, the single’s match was finally scheduled for tonight.
Ethan Page wrestled a couple of matches for Impact last year under the name Chandler Park. He interfered tonight, allowing Sydal to pick up the win. Page would later announce he’s aligned with Sydal and is likely looking at things through his 3rd eye.
Page and Sydal will take on Rich Swann and a partner of his choosing at Bound For Glory.
The OGZ Tried To Bait Konnan And LAX
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmNZBn8gRxM
Last week, the OGZ burned Konnan’s mask but K-Dawg said this week he’s not taking the bait and not breaking the ceasefire. This week, King and the OGZ showed up again and tried to bait Konnan. They got in his face, grabbed the title belts, and tried to bait them into breaking the ceasefire. They did some shots and then left. Konnan seemed calm but the other members of LAX looked as though they wanted revenge.
Quick Results:
Matt Sydal defeated Rich Swann
Murder Clown defeated Joe Hendry
LA Parka defeated Eli Drake
Su Yung defeated Kiera Hogan
The Lucha Brothers and Brian Cage defeated Sami Callihan and OVE via DQ
A new match has been announced for the Bound for Glory PPV. Matt Sydal and Ethan Page will take on Rich Swann and a partner of his choosing will go down at this show.
Austin Aries defending the Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Title against Johnny Impact is expected to serve as the main event. The other title being on the line at this show will see Impact Knockouts Champion Tessa Blanchard defend her title against Taya Valkyrie.
Impact Wrestling will hold their Bound for Glory pay-per-view event on Sunday, October 14, 2018, at the Melrose Ballroom in New York City, New York. This is considered the biggest event of the year for the promotion. The event will air on traditional PPV outlets and the FITE TV app. The company is expected to add a few more matches to finalize this card before the event takes place.
The Card
Impact World Champion Austin Aries vs. Johnny Impact
Impact Knockouts Champion Tessa Blanchard vs. Taya Valkyrie
Six-Man Tag Team Warfare Match: LAX & Konnan vs. The OGz & Eddie Kingston
Moose vs. Eddie Edwards
Dave Crist, Jake Crist, & Sami Callihan vs. Pentagon Jr., Fenix, & Brian Cage – OVE Rules Match
We are down to the final two episodes of Impact Wrestling before Bound For Glory. The two episodes left will both be from the 2nd night of tapings from Mexico City last month.
Impact Wrestling 10/4
Rich Swann vs Matt Sydal
Two of the most innovative wrestlers there are will clash tonight. Sydal and Swann are two big reasons fans have to be excited about the future of the X-Division. Swann has rebuffed Sydal’s offer at being his mentor so Swann will want to prove he doesn’t need one tonight. I would have to imagine that whoever comes out of this program the winner would be the next in line for a shot at Brian Cage’s X-Division title. That will have to wait until after Bound For Glory, however.
Joe Hendry vs Murder Clown
Possibly the best-named wrestler ever, Murder Clown, has been enlisted by Katarina to help get revenge on Joe Hendry and Grado. Murder Clown is part of the clown faction in AAA, with Psycho Clown perhaps being the best known of the bunch.
Katarina is a woman-scorn and she wants revenge on Hendry and Grado. Murder Clown seems like a good wrestler to turn to with help on this.
Eli Drake Open Challenge
Eli Drake will issue another open challenge tonight. Anyone from the Impact roster or any luchador near Mexico City could answer the call.
Su Yung vs Kiera Hogan
Kiera Hogan picked up arguably one of the most important victories in her young Impact career last week. Hogan pinned former Knockouts Champion, Su Yung, in a tag match. Hogan and Allie defeated Yung and one of her undead bridesmaids. A win in a single’s match for Hogan could push her high up in the Knockouts rankings. Yung, on the other hand, could be out for revenge.
Scarlett Bordeaux Smoke Show
Last week, Scarlett Bordeaux announced she was holding a global talent search. The lucky winner will have Bordeaux’s mentoring services all to themselves. Perhaps we will find out more about her plans tonight.
On a side note, Scarlett Bordeaux’s AAA debut is one of the most watched things on YouTube for the promotion ever. She has certainly been winning over new fans as of late.
What Is Next For LAX?
Last week, King burned Konnan’s mask in an act of disrespect. King called Konnan one of the biggest myths in all of Mexican wrestling. Tonight, Konnan and LAX will have to adhere to the ceasefire but they might just have something to say with only 10 days left until Bound For Glory (wow, just realized that).
Knockouts Championship Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Taya Valkyrie
There doesn’t appear to be anything specific dedicated to this pending matchup on tonight’s show but that doesn’t mean there won’t be anything. Likely we’ll get backstage promos from both or a video package.
Sami Callihan and OVE Issue A Challenge To Brian Cage and the Lucha Brothers
As I was writing this, Impact posted the following video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01kI289R2ig
Bound For Glory Lineup
Just for reference:
Bound for Glory LIneup October 14th
Melrose Ballroom, NYC
Impact World Championship
Austin Aries (c) vs Johnny Impact
Knockouts Championship
Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Taya Valkyrie
Eddie Edwards vs Moose
Sami Callihan & oVe vs Brian Cage & the Lucha Brothers
Concrete Jungle Deathmatch
LAX & Konnan vs OGZ & King
It should come as no surprise that Don Callis and Impact Wrestling are hoping to make a talent-sharing arrangement with New Japan Pro Wrestling. Callis would likely love to bring Kenny Omega and others into Impact for a show or two.
Taiji Ishimori competes for both promotions but according to a recent report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, we shouldn’t expect many more to do the same.
“At least one NJPW wrestler asked about going to Impact and got a very negative reaction,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
Impact officials have met with NJPW officials and even apologized for Kazuchika Okada’s negative excursion experience under a different Impact management. It appears NJPW is still not ready to do business with them again, however.
Impact Wrestling and NJPW Talent Sharing
It should be noted that the report is not clear on who the one wrestler in question is, who they got the reaction from, or if it is reflective of a general attitude the promotion still carries. Still, the report makes it clear that a wrestler from NJPW contacted Dave Meltzer and said NJPW didn’t want them wrestling for Impact Wrestling. That’s a significant development considering how badly Impact likely wants to strike a deal for NJPW talent.
NJPW has a long-standing talent-sharing agreement with Ring of Honor. Even though Impact’s television and live event markets are international, NJPW likely feels Impact is a competitor of ROHs similar to the relationship between CMLL and AAA.
Eddie Edwards is the latest wrestler to release a kids book, something which is becoming more common. “Anything Is Possible: The Eddie Edwards Story” will hit bookstores tomorrow, October 2nd.
The Young Bucks have already released a kids book and Cody has said he’s writing one as well. The idea is that fans with young children are able to read their kids a book they both enjoy. Learn about former ROH and GHG World Champion, Eddie Edwards’, career while being a good parent as well. A link to purchase the book (on sale October 2nd, 2018) can be found here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFsHSxxk3UQ
Anything Is Possible: The Eddie Edwards Story
“With as much impact as his signature move, the Boston Knee Party, “Anything Is Possible: The Eddie Edwards Story” takes fans of all ages inside the ring for an inspiring look into world champion wrestler Eric Maher, aka Impact Wrestling’s Eddie Edwards’ journey to the top of the independent wrestling scene,” a press release for the book reads. “Maher teams up with co-writer and DC Comics artist Mark Poulton to deliver highlights from his incredible career. The only man in history to win the Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and GHC World Heavyweight Championships—professional wrestling’s triple crown, Maher recounts his days as a kid dreaming of a wrestling career, to training with the legendary Killer Kowalski, to living and training in a Japanese dojo in the footsteps of his heroes.”