Swann was suspended and later released by WWE back in February after he was arrested for a domestic violence issue involving his wife, wrestler Su Yung. The charges were eventually dropped due to insufficient evidence. Swann announced he was stepping away from wrestling, but that retirement was short lived. He was back in the ring within a matter of weeks.
He made his Impact Wrestling debut on June 21th, when he defeated Trevor Lee. Since then, Swann has wrestled a number of matches for the company.
Impact Signing Talent
This announcement makes it seem like the company officials are currently focusing on signing talents to lengthy contracts as Rich Swann is not the first talent to be bound by a long-term contract in recent times.
In June, the company announced that former Mae Young Classic competitor Tessa Blanchard has signed a long term deal with the promotion.
Veteran Impact star Abyss also signed a new deal with Impact, according to PWInsider.
IMPACT Wrestling star Moose has seen a fair amount of success since joining the professional wrestling world.
The former football player comes off an unsuccessful title bid against Austin Aries at last week’s IMPACT Slammiversary pay-per-view (PPV). Recently, Moose spoke with Wrestling Inc. to talk about the transition from football to wrestling.
Moose (real name Quinn Ojinnaka) is a former NFL offensive lineman that has played for teams such as the Atlanta Falcons, New England Patriots, St. Louis Rams and Indianapolis Colts.
The lifelong professional wrestling fan admitted that the transition actually wasn’t that hard:
“Honestly it wasn’t hard at all,” Moose said. “When you have a passion to do something, everything that comes along that journey is easy. So I had a strong passion to become a professional wrestler so everything came easy.”
Moose also talks about hating his in-ring name at first and his favorite era of professional wrestling. Read the full interview here.
– Moose suffered a concussion during Sunday’s Impact World Championship Match at Slammiversary against Austin Aries, IMPACT Wrestling announced Friday.
As a result, Moose will not wrestle at Sunday’s Confrontation LIVE event in Greensboro, North Carolina. He was advertised to face Jaxon Stone at the show, which IMPACT Wrestling is co-promoting with AML Wrestling.
IMPACT adds, “We will provide updates as they become available.”
In the main event, Moose came up short to Aries as the former 205 Live star connected with a second Brain Buster to win the match and retain the Impact World Championship.
After weeks of mysterious vignettes, Bordeaux made her IMPACT Wrestling debut last Thursday. Calling herself “The Smoke Show” during an interview with Alicia Atout, she vows to make wrestling “sexy again.”
On recent episodes of his “Keepin it 100” podcast, Konnan has been talking about what a great time it is for the wrestling business. Konnan himself is keeping quite busy, working with AAA, Impact Wrestling, and Major League Wrestling.
In fact, Konnan just returned to the ring for the first time in almost 5 years recently. Konnan was entered into the MLW’s Battle Riot which was taped on July 19th and aired last night on BeIN Sports. The episode has yet to be uploaded to their YouTube account as of this writing, however.
On his most recent episode, Konnan talked about Impact turning the corner lately.
“What was amazing to me was that when the Hardy Boyz left and Jeremy Borash left, I was like, ‘Wow man, this place is gonna be f****d’,” Konnan said. “That’s a big loss. But they just put it all together.”
In terms of the atmosphere in the back right now in Impact Wrestling, Konnan was also complimentary.
“It’s very easy to talk to management and they let you collaborate and everybody’s joking around and having a good time,” he said. “Like the locker room’s real relaxed right now and everybody’s pulling together to really make this work. I thought that was a great PPV. I saw every single match and I thought it was really good.”
He would continue to talk about positive recent changes in the business.
“It’s very fun right now because a lot of the people that are running these companies are not old school grizzled vets,” Konnan said. “Everybody knows that now, you’ve gotta just treat people with respect and gotta treat them right, you can’t treat them the way they used to treat us.”
Konnan mentioned Impact will be in New York in the same building MLW runs. Impact will run the Bound for Glory show from the venue this October. Konnan praised the atmosphere inside the building. He also stressed LAX has an upcoming surprise which will get over well with the New York crowd.
Impact Wrestling presented their first show since Sunday’s Slammiversary last night. The venue was again Toronto’s Rebel nightclub.
We also got a rematch from Slammiversary last night. Former X-Division Champion, Matt Sydal, cashed in his rematch clause or rather, as he put it, the title itself cashed in the rematch clause.
Actually, the X-Division Championship itself invoked the rematch clause. I’m simply flowing with the natural order of things. Nature seeks homeostasis, the X-Division Championship seeks me. ????
Don’t look at Sami Callihan’s head. Don’t laugh at him and don’t make fun of him. Even if you don’t, he’ll probably think you did, however.
Callihan has become unhinged (more so) since Pentagon Jr. cut off his hair at Slammiversary.
This week we saw Callihan lose it on a guy in the urinal next to him. Callihan thought the guy was laughing at him so he and oVe beat him up and shaved his head in the washroom.
Pentagon delivered this promo later in the show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDlE8bJREVs
Austin Aries Has 2 New Challengers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fidMR6tfspY
When Austin Aries gave his Championship Address last night on Impact, much of what he said applied to both himself as champion and Impact Wrestling as a promotion.
Aries talked about how in Impact Wrestling nobody hands them a script. In Impact they allow talent to be creative as opposed to just following directions. This was as much of an Impact Wrestling address to fans as it was Aries gloating over his victory.
Eddie Edwards attacked Aries from behind, signifying he wants in the mix for Aries’ world title.
He wouldn’t be the only person who would challenge Aries by the end of the night, however. Anthony Carrelli’s student, Dustin Quicksilver, challenged Aries in the back after the champion interrupted an interview with Carelli.
Don’t Hot-Shame Scarlett Bordeaux
Scarlett Bordeaux: “I want to be remembered as the greatest women’s activist of all time.”
Alicia Atout: “Like Susan B Anthony?”
Scarlett Bordeaux: “Ew. Like Marylyn Monroe. Or Cardi B.”
Bordeaux is a heel. She is the anti-hero in terms of female wrestlers being treated as athletes rather than models. She wants to bring sexy back to wrestling but will it be to the detriment of other Knockouts in the division?
King Says Konnan Didn’t Win The War
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8lJYnxdzk
We didn’t see LAX this week. Konnan and the tag champions are likely out of action for a week or two after the beating the OGz gave them after the match at Slammiversary. Even though LAX was victorious over the OGz, King and his crew beat up Konnan an the champs after the match was over.
King told Homicide and Hernandez that Konnan and LAX thought they won the war but they had only won a battle.
Tessa Blanchard Is A Very Good Professional Wrestler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpHyZuymLkU
News flash: Tessa Blanchard can wrestle. Her intense style is heavily influenced by old-school wrestling eras. The ones her father and step-father, Tully Blanchard and Magnum TA, made their names in.
We spoke to Blanchard in May about what has influenced her in-ring style.
“I have huge respect for the 4 Horsemen, all bias aside,” Blanchard said of her father’s old faction. “My Dad and Arn were one of the greatest tag-teams of all time.”
“I watch that era of professional wrestling for inspiration and to study tape,” Blanchard continued to say. “I want to portray that style through my work.”
She made quick work of Rebel this week, defeating her in the very nightclub which bears her name.
The Desi Hit Squad Attacked Taiji Ishimori and Petey Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itz2O9RKgV0
In the opening match, Taiji Ishimori defeated Petey Williams. After the two former X-Division Champions shook hands after the match, they were attacked by the Great Gama Singh’s Desi Hit Squad.
Gursinder Singh (Lance Storm Wrestling Academy graduate) and Rohit Raju delivered the beatdown while Gama Singh shouted instructions from outside the ring. It’s likely we see a tag match involving these four wrestlers sometime soon.
Johnny Impact Has Un-Finished Business With Kongo Kong
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewywZm95Q4A
After Johnny Impact defeated Trevor Lee this week, he said his goal is to become Impact World Champion. He said he has some unfinished business to take care of first, however.
It was Kongo Kong who put Johnny out of action and now Johnny wants his revenge.
Allie and Kiera Hogan are Coming For Su Yung
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrJRSCTlMQk
In a backstage interview, Allie said her match with Blanchard distracted her from getting even with Su Yung. Allie says she is not going to let Su Yung lock any more wrestlers in coffins. Kiera Hogan then showed up to offer her support as well.
The Young Bucks vs the Motor City Machine Guns
The GWN moment of the week just so happened to be the Motor City Machine Guns vs Generation Me (aka the Young Bucks).
Alex Shelley has been making statements lately which seem to indicate he is not returning to the ring.
The X-Division Is In The Brian Cage Era
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWgWsjyhFUI
After an action-packed main event, Brian Cage once again hit the Drill Claw on Sydal. The victory gives Cage is first-ever title defense of the X-Division belt.
Cage has never been pinned and never submitted in Impact. If anyone can beat Cage for the title, they are going to have to do something no Impact wrestler on the roster has been able to do yet.
After Slammiversary, Cage posted the following to his Instagram account:
X-Division Championship
Brian Cage (c) vs Matt Sydal
After losing the X-Division championship on Sunday, Sydal will have a chance to win it back tonight.
At Slammiversary, Sydal missed a shooting star press (hitting his foot on the top rope) which allowed Cage to hit the Drill Claw for the win. How Sydal missed the shooting star press while having his 3rd eye open is still not entirely clear.
Tonight, Sydal claims it is not him who is asking for a rematch but rather the championship itself. He explained his comments recently on Twitter.
Actually, the X-Division Championship itself invoked the rematch clause. I’m simply flowing with the natural order of things. Nature seeks homeostasis, the X-Division Championship seeks me. ????
Johnny Impact returned to the company at Slammiversary following time away for reality television and matrimony commitments.
At Slammiversary, Impact pinned Fenix in the fatal 4-way match. The victory should vault the former title-challenger back up in the rankings. Tonight we will find out more about what comes next for Johnny.
The Chicago-based indie wrestler will make her Impact Wrestling debut tonight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqlFaCuEL1A
Fallout From Slammiversary
Impact Wrestling is also advertising tonight’s episode will see the fallout from numerous Slammiversary matches.
Su Yung is still Knockouts Champion and Madison Rayne is now locked in a coffin. King and the OGz stole the titles from LAX after losing to them at Slammiversary. Several Impact Wrestling storylines will be further developed tonight.
Do not expect former WWE Superstar Gail Kim to appear at the company’s upcoming all-women’s Evolution pay-per-view.
Kim is widely considered one of the best female wrestlers in WWE history. She is a former WWE Women’s Champion and worked for the company from 2002-20004 and 2008-2011.
A fan asked Gail Kim on Twitter why she won’t consider returning to WWE, even for a one-time appearance. Gail Kim said it’s really a matter of what makes her happy – and she never felt happy in WWE.
Bc I’ve been there twice. I have never been happy there. Life is about happiness. Impact Wrestling is my happiness. It’s not about money sometimes…. people just don’t understand that https://t.co/rOaehEimOH
Gail Kim had a successful WWE career and is a former WWE Women’s Champion. However, her frustration with WWE has a lot to do with with her unhappiness.
During her first WWE run, wrestlers such as Trish Stratus were often made to participate in degrading and over-sexualized storylines, such as Bra and Panties matches. Her second run involved an angle where she was Daniel Bryan’s girlfriend and another one where she and Melina were “Frenemies”.
Gail Kim spoke candidly about her dissatisfaction while in WWE during an appearance on Sean Waltman’s X-Pac 1-2-360 podcast.
“I felt held down in WWE,” Kim said. “It was just the wrong timing in that company. When I first came into the company the woman’s division was strong with Trish and Jazz with all those girls. When the first diva’s search happened it kinda went away, that’s when I got fired actually, and mind you, it brought me my best friend Christy Hemme. It always felt like it was just never a right fit for me.”
Gail Kim in Impact Wrestling
Kim signed with Impact (then known as TNA) in 2005. She won the Knockouts Championship in 2007 and was also involved in several high-profile storylines and angles. After leaving WWE in epic fashion in 2011, she re-signed with Impact in 2011. She retired from in-ring competition in 2016 and was hired as a producer.
She now works with Impact’s current Knockouts division featuring the likes of Su Yung, Allie, Tessa Blanchard, Kiera Hogan, Taya Valkyrie, Rosemary, and Madison Rayne.
Former WWE and IMPACT Wrestling star Chris Masters was recently interviewed by WSVN-TV Entertainment Reporter Chris Van Vliet during That Wrestling Event in Orlando. Masters first opened up on why he asked for his release from IMPACT Wrestling back in January.
Masters was initially with WWE from 2003 to 2007 when he was released from his contract. He had a two year run on the independent circuit before making a return to the company in 2009. That run lasted two years until he was released from his deal again in August of 2011.
He went on to work for TNA in 2015 and returned in 2017 to IMPACT Wrestling. That run only lasted several months before Masters requested his release from the promotion in January of 2018, and it was subsequently granted:
“I like that group and I had a lot of fun there with those guys. It just came down to in the end that it wasn’t really enough money once they started cutting the budget for me to really show up to work. That’s all it was. I like Eli Drake but I didn’t favor the way they had me booked as his cheerleader unless it turned out into something we could do with a program and work with him and it eventually led to him being a babyface and me a heel.
“If we would have done that, it would have worked out great but I would have also wanted to be paid adequately. It just came down to those facts and obviously I just ended up quitting. I literally just after two days at the taping, booked a flight back to Toronto and just decided I wasn’t coming back. I reached out to them when I landed in Toronto and told them I wouldn’t be coming into work and that was it. It was as simple as that.
“My 35th birthday came around and something in my head just popped in and I said I’m not going to do anything that doesn’t make me feel good or that I don’t want to do at this point and that was one of the starts.”
Masters also talked about his days working as a bouncer at a bar, named the strongest wrestler he has ever worked with, reveals how often he watches wrestling now and much more in the full interview. You can check it out below:
Chris Jericho has said that he’ll never wrestle for a company other than WWE in the United States. There are signs Jericho has re-considered his position on this topic.
Jericho held a Q&A on Twitter this week and was asked if he’d consider going to Impact Wrestling, which is currently being co-run by his longtime friend Don Callis.
As has been revealed on both Jericho and Don Callis’ podcasts, Jericho served as a reference for Callis when he was interviewing for his position with Impact. The two Winnipeg natives also arranged for Jericho to take on Kenny Omega in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where Callis serves as color commentator.
While he was promoting Slammiversary in Toronto, I asked Callis about talent he was looking at signing. Callis rather nonchalantly listed both Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho.
“There’s a young Canadian kid I like, we’d love to sign him,” Callis said. “His name is Kenny Omega. Another is Chris Jericho.”
Jericho was also live-Tweeting Slammiversary on Sunday.
Another fan asked Jericho if he would be interested in working with former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada. Okada is arguably one of the top professional wrestlers in the world. The prospect of a Jericho vs. Okada match is enticing. Jericho makes it sound like we might actually see this showdown.
Chris Jericho has been busy promoting his Rock ‘n’ Wrestling Rager cruise, which sets sail out of Miami in late October. The ‘main event’ of that cruise experience will be Alpha Club vs. Bullet Club: Jericho and the Young Bucks taking on Cody Rhodes, Marty Scurll and “Hangman” Adam Page. Sail away, man!
Austin Aries successfully defended his Impact World Championship against Moose at Slammiversary. Not long after, Aries sat down for an interview with Impact Vice President, Don Callis.
Callis hosts “Killin the Town” on the Podcast One Network and had the Impact Champion on as his guest this week. They discussed the reaction to Slammiversary, scripted promos, and Aries made some surprising comments about his time in WWE.
Aries mentioned that he hears from many fans who feel he was used poorly in WWE. He stated he doesn’t have the same opinion of his time in the company, however. According to him, it would have been unrealistic to expect his WWE run to have gone any different.
“Honestly, that was like the perfect run for me,” Aries said. “I don’t think anybody had any real plans for me, I came in on double-secret probation because of my attitude problems so everything was a test from day one, I don’t think they really saw me as anything much.”
While his time in the company was short, Aries did wrestle Neville for the Cruiserweight title at WrestleMania.
“I talked myself into WrestleMania on commentary because I got over with Vince doing that,” Aries continued. “He put me in WrestleMania. Then, you know, as things happen, sometimes you fall out of favor for different reasons…”
At this point, Callis chimed in to remind Aries he is aware of how these things sometimes work in WWE.
“I got in and got out and got exactly what I needed from it,” Aries said on his time in WWE. “It was a great experience, a great learning experience, I got those three letters on my resume which to some people means everything. I got my WrestleMania moment which cemented my legacy so to speak.”
Austin Aries and Don Callis on Slammiversary Reaction and Booking
Callis and Aries addressed comments by some who suggested the 3 hardcore matches on Slammiversary created a difficult scenario for the two men working the main event. Aries, however, feels that creative wrestling can always win over a crowd, even when that crowd has seen several high-spot or hardcore moves earlier in the show.
“Part of why it worked last night was creatively you guys allowed us to go out there and build this match using our own voice and our own story,” Aries said to Callis.
Aries and Callis also debated the decision to give Aries the clean victory on Sunday over Moose.
“When Scott and I came in here in January,” Callis said. “One of the things that we both felt very strongly about was clean finishes.”
“He’s the best wrestler in the world, he beat the guy with his finish,” Callis continued. “It’s an athletic contest, there’s nothing wrong with that.”
New episodes of Killin the Town are released every Tuesday through PodcastOne.
Moose unsuccessfully challenged Austin Aries for the Impact World Championship Sunday night at Slammiversary. The Champion had said he was going to force Moose into his 3rd career during the match, football and pro-wrestling having been his first two.
According to recent comments made by Moose, Aries may actually have knocked Moose out of wrestling.
“Gave it my All and came up Short,” Moose Tweeted. “Probably time to reconsider if I still want to do this for a living. Time to make some career and Life Decisions. Thank you All”
Moose Injured At Slammiversary
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Moose is suffering from vertigo today. He previously sent out a now-deleted Tweet which simply read “CTE”, leading many to believe he had suffered a concussion in the match.
Most of the build-up towards Moose vs Austin Aries was done through sit-down interviews. Aries would claim Moose is a failed football player whereas Moose would say he gave up football to chase his wrestling dream.
Moose on Austin Aries
“Aries is known for his trash talk and I’m not gonna go there with him,” Moose said in the weeks leading up to the match. “I mean he can believe whatever he believes, I know what’s true and there’s that.”
“He’s been a good champion,” Moose admitted. “I mean guess so, he’s been a decent champion. I have a lot of respect for Aries. He is the Belt Collector, he does carry all the titles from a lot of independent promotions around. I mean, he’s a veteran of the game.”
“I could sit here and list a bunch of things, accomplishments Aries has had. Or you could Wikipedia it. I know what my game plan is for Sunday and what I need to do to fulfill my game plan to come home with the Impact World Championship.”
Impact Wrestling presented Slammiversary last night from the Rebel Nightclub in Toronto, ON, Canada. The show aired live via pay-per-view on the FITE App.
The venue was clearly at capacity as we were pretty packed in there but there was a great atmosphere inside. The traditional Impact/Anthem ring and apron were replaced with a gold-roped Slammiversary version.
Impact Wrestling- Slammiversary XVI
July 22nd, 2018
Rebel Nightclub Complex
Toronto, ON, Canada
1. Johnny Impact defeated Fenix, Petey Williams, and Taiji Ishimori
There was no dark match, so this match opened the live show and pay-per-view. The crowd was into all four wrestlers.
Rich Swann suffered a concussion during the MLW: Battle Riot tapings earlier this week. He was replaced by Petey Williams.
Lots of high-flying spots, and easily the most athletic match of the night.
Johnny Impact pinned Fenix with Starship Pain.
2. Tessa Blanchard defeated Allie
Allie got a big pop from her hometown but there were clearly many Tessa Blanchard fans in attendance as well.
Blanchard missed a senton, allowing Allie to hit a codebreaker but Blanchard rolled outside the ring to avoid a cover. When they got back in the ring Allie was unable to pin her, hit a super-kick, went for her finish but got it reversed into Blanchard’s hammerlock DDT which finished the match.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA6LtgP0AXs
3. House of Hardcore Match
Eddie Edwards defeated Tommy Dreamer
This was an ECW-style match from the beginning, which the fans seemed to expect. Cooking sheets, garbage cans, and more plunder were involved. A staple gun busted Eddie Edwards open. Dreamer used a replica ECW title belt a fan at ringside had and used it to bash Edwards with.
Dreamer brought out a table and poured lighter fluid on it. Neither the table nor the lighter fluid was used, however, which the fans didn’t like. Edwards ended up hitting Tommy with the Boston Knee Party to end the match.
After the match, Dreamer and Edwards reconciled and Edwards’ wife came to the ring area as well. It appeared Dreame passed the torch to Eddie as the new “Innovator of Violence”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wGXSl290p8
4. X-Division Championship
Brian Cage defeated Matt Sydal (c) – New Champion
There were many impressive spots in this match. Cage did the spot where he caught his opponent in the air in a suplex position and kept him perched before eventually bringing him down.
The crowd was really into Cage but Sydal had his fans in attendance as well.
The end of the match came when Sydal missed a Shooting Star Press (hitting his bottom foot on the rope on his way down). Cage then hit the Drill Claw for the win.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzmGF-w117k
5. Knockouts Championship
Su Yung (c) defeated Madison Rayne
The live crowd calmed down a bit for this match. Several chants for Su Yung were started and abandoned shortly after.
Yung’s undead brides carried her onto the entrance ramp in a coffin. Rayne tried to cut her off before she got into the ring, however.
Yung won with her mandible claw type hold. After the match, Yung and the undead bridesmaids put Madison in a coffin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzypsFWcj9s
6. 5150 Street Fight
LAX (Santana & Ortiz) defeated the OGz (Homicide & Hernandez)
This match picked up where the House of Hardcore match left off in terms of plunder and weapons.
This match was just an aggressive, hardcore spot-filled, nasty tag match (in a good way). The fans perked back up in a big way for this match.
Homicide hit a suicide dive onto Santana through a table. Then Ortiz gave Homicide a DVD through a table but then got put through one himself by Hernandez.
Konnan got up on the apron and tossed in a bag of thumbtacks to Santana, who threw some into Homicide’s face before slamming him into the tacks, giving him a frog-splash and pinning him.
After the match, King and the OGz attacked LAX and Konnan. They put Konnan into the tacks, then spray painted and stole the title belts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__d8TGKzP9A
7. Mask vs Hair
Pentagon Jr. defeated Sami Callihan
They seemed to structure this match into 3 different parts before the end. The opening bit involved dueling kicks and chops. Then they ended up dueling over chairs. Then the nails came out and they duelled over the as well.
Callihan brought out 2-3 large nails and began jamming them into Pentagon’s head. Once Pentagon got a hold of them, however, he then did the same to Pentagon. They then each ended up with one nail and repeatedly jammed each other in the head with it, busting each other open.
The Crist brothers came out (both of them with their arms in a sling) but weren’t able to help Callihan much.
Callihan blew dust in the face of Pentagon, temporarily blinding him. Shortly after, a blinded Pentagon thought the ref was Callihan and broke his arm. He hit the Fear Factor on Callihan but there was no ref to count the pin. Callihan would then hit the Cactus Driver 97 on a chair but again there was no ref to count the pin.
Pentagon then gave Callihan a package piledriver on top of four chairs for a near-fall that fans thought was the finish. Pentagon then broke Sami’s arm, gave him another piledriver, and got the pin.
Sami originally tried to get out of the stipulation but Fenix brought him back to the ring. Pentagon was able to pretty cleanly shave Callihan’s head on the entrance ramp.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQf5F-wHdV8
8. Impact World Championship
Austin Aries (c) defeated Moose
Moose got the majority of the offense early in the match until Aries was able to reverse a spear into the Last Chancery and from there the match seemed more balanced.
Aries threw Moose into the crowd, gave him a DVD on the apron, and even gave him a brainbuster on the floor in an attempt to get a count-out victory.
Moose hit a spear but Aries grabbed the rope during the pin-count. At that point, Aries tried to abandon the match and left the ring. Moose picked him up and threw him into the crowd, however.
The finish came when Aries went to hit Moose with the championship belt but Curtis Granderson prevented him. Moose tried a school-boy for a near-fall but Aries got up, kicked him in the face, and gave him a brainbuster for the win.
Impact Wrestling’s Bound For Glory 2018 pay-per-view will take place on Sunday, October 14th from New York City at the Melrose Ballroom.
This will be Impact’s third pay-per-view of the year following April’s Redemption from Orlando and Sunday’s Slammiversary XVI from Toronto.
The Melrose Ballroom in Queens, NY hosted last week’s MLW Battle Riot event and will play host to GCW’s Joey Janela’s Lost In New York during SummerSlam weekend.
Since 2005, Bound For Glory has been Impact’s signature event of the year. In recent years, Bound For Glory has emanated from Ottawa, Orlando, North Carolina Tokyo and San Diego. Last year’s Bound for Glory from Ottawa’s Aberdeen Pavilion was headlined by Eli Drake defending the Global Championship against Johnny Impact.
Impact has run the NYC market before, including TV tapings from the Manhattan Center back in 2014. The Melrose Ballroom has a significantly smaller capacity than the Manhattan Center, but it’s an intimate venue that will all but guarantee a sell-out crowd and will come across well on television.
Following Sunday’s Slammiversary PPV, tonight kicks off several months of television tapings that will begin setting up storylines for Bound For Glory.
– Two weeks ago, IMPACT Wrestling announced that Tessa Blanchard had signed a “long-term” contract.
BREAKING: @Tess_Blanchard will continue to prove she's undeniable in the Knockouts Division as she has signed a long-term contract with IMPACT Wrestling. pic.twitter.com/3SWenkIJyG
– Madison Rayne is a five-time Knockouts Champion looking to become Champion for the sixth time. She will have that opportunity tonight at Slammiversary when she challenges Su Yung. Ahead of tonight’s match, Rayne tweeted the following.
There were 4 years between my 1st Knockouts Championship win and my 5th.
Impact Wrestling Slammiversary XVI
July 22nd, 2018
Rebel Nightclub
Toronto, ON, Canada
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD1NtYRl88U
Mask vs Hair
Pentagon Jr vs Sami Callihan
A Mask versus Hair match arguably the most talked about match of the night.
Pentagon hit his package piledriver and his tag finisher with Fenix on Callihan on television leading up to this match but Callihan kicked out of both, indicating Callihan won’t be finished so easily tonight.
If Pentagon wants to win this match, he’s going to have to go to great lengths to keep Callihan down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqEvpLATHQQ
Impact World Championship
Austin Aries (c) vs Moose
Aries has been saying Moose is a failed football player who is trying a new career.
Moose has been saying he left the NFL to chase his pro-wrestling dream.
Aries tried his old tricks on Moose recently on television this week. He attacked Moose from behind, hit him in the groin, and beat him up with a chair. Aries assumed Moose was down for good but was shocked when Moose got up and took the fight to him.
As Aries left the arena he looked less than confident for the first time in a long time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCPbFdu0QBg
Knockouts Championship
Su Yung (c) vs Madison Rayne
Su Yung has been haunting Madison Rayne in her dreams, luring her into fields, and dousing her with blood. It’s been a little weird.
Yung most likely has more than a wrestling match in mind for her opponent tonight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMCp7-KqeWY
X-Division Championship
Matt Sydal (c) vs Brian Cage
The X-Division isn’t about weight limits, it’s about no limits. This vague yet somehow also descriptive line defines the X-Division and it also defines Brian Cage.
Cage has been kept strong on television all year. His only loss came via count-out against Sydal after Kongo Kong interfered.
Can Brian Cage win the X-Division title? Or will Matt Sydal use his 3rd eye to guide him to victory?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTDegMNnXxc&t=9s
House of Hardcore Match
Tommy Dreamer vs Eddie Edwards
Eddie Edwards has spiraled into madness. His delusions have led him to believe Tommy Dreamer is his enemy.
Dreamer had only been trying to stop Edwards from making the same mistakes he did during his feud with Raven. Dreamer said he lost years of his life obsessed with Raven and didn’t want Edwards to do the same with Callihan.
It is being reported that Swann has been removed from this match due to the concussion he suffered on Thursday at MLW: Battle Riot.
Johnny Impact has stressed he needs to win this match to move up the rankings as fast as possible. He indicated if he doesn’t win a title in Impact before his wife Taya does, that he’ll never hear the end of it.
Fenix has been tearing it up on Impact television lately, he’s also scheduled to take on Sami Callihan on Tuesday night at the television tapings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNwVeUuVPTM
Allie vs Tessa Blanchard
Tessa Blanchard dropped two matches to Madison Rayne during the last set of tapings. Both losses were via pinning combination, however, and Blanchard felt slightly. She attempted to get revenge on Rayne but Allie (who was teaming with Rayne at the time) fought her off, leading to this match.
Allie is from Toronto and should get a big pop from her hometown crowd but she will be in tough tonight against the fast-rising Blanchard.
Rich Swann will miss tonight’s Impact Wrestling Slammiversary show from Toronto. Swann reportedly suffered a concussion on Thursday at the MLW Battle Riot tapings. He is believed to have been taken to hospital after.
It was reported on Friday that Impact management was aware of the situation and was looking for possible replacements. Today, the Wrestling Observer is reporting that Swann has in fact been removed from the match although no official announcement has been made from either Impact or Swann.
Swann was scheduled to face Johnny Impact, Fenix, and Bullet Club’s Taiji Ishimori tonight. He also played a key role in the build-up to Sami Callihan vs Pentagon during the company’s Windsor television tapings.
Earlier this week, Johnny Impact had this to say about the upcoming match.
“I can’t think of a better way to return to Impact than with this 4-way match between some of the most talented guys in the world, myself included,” Johnny said on a media call. “I plan on stealing the show for sure.”
“The guys in this match are really on the upper echelon of athletism and charisma,” Johnny continued. “I’m stoked, bro.”
Slammiversary is an important night for the promotion. The new management regime consisting of Don Callis and Scott D’Amore has put a lot into this show. Johnny also talked about why he feels fans should be watching the promotion right now.
“You’ve got your traditional American psychology type wrestling but now we’ve got with Ishimori, with Pentagon, with Fenix, with Sami Callihan and Cage and Kevin Kross now, Aries, and of course, Johnny Impact. You’ve got this crazy blend of wrestlers from different styles from all over the world that make the matches on Impact infinitely interesting.”
Eddie Edwards will face Tommy Dreamer in a House of Hardcore rules match tonight at Slammiversary tonight. The match will be a culmination of a storyline which began in January of this year.
Sami Callihan cracked Edwards in the orbital bone with a baseball bat during a set of television tapings this January. After a long feud with Sami Callihan, Edwards’ character spiraled. He began to see Tommy Dreamer as his enemy.
Edwards spoke with Interactive Wrestling radio recently about his upcoming pay-per-view match.
“I’m ready to leave it all out there in that ring to take Tommy out,” Edwards said. “I know Tommy, the Innovator of Violence, is ready to do that too. So, let’s go out there and see what we can do and see what we create along the way.”
Eddie Edwards On Being Compared To A Young Tommy Dreamer
As his rivalry with Dreamer has evolved, some fans have compared Eddie to a younger version of his rival.
“Two weeks ago, you got to see the classic ECW Tommy Dreamer promo. He’s bloody, he’s talking crap to me,” Edwards said. “That is what people have wanted to see. That’s the beast, the monster that I’ve created along the way. It is an interesting story we have going on. As you said, mirror images. He’s trying to stop me from what he had become. Why stop me? He’s this Hardcore Legend.”
Edwards would continue to talk about the angle with Dreamer and Callihan which has carried through all of 2018 so far.
“This all stemmed from Sami Callihan and Tommy Dreamer and my wife getting involved,” he continued. “This is emotion. This is something that anybody can feel. Anybody that has been hurt or wronged or thinks they’ve been wronged, this is something they can watch and feel. This is emotion and I think that’s something that we can play with.”
Eddie Edwards vs Tommy Dreamer – Slammiversary – House of Hardcore Match
Edwards also addressed the 47-year-old Dreamer being worried about keeping up with him.
“I think that is a solid concern on his part,” Edwards said. “The same goes for me going into a House of Hardcore match. He was part of the original ECW – The man who created this violence. He is the “Innovator of Violence”. I know that. It is kind of this meshing of styles, putting he and I in a blender and seeing what comes out! (laughs) I’m looking forward to taking what he’s got. Does he still have it? Is he still that Tommy Dreamer that everybody loves? Let’s have a House of Hardcore match on the biggest pay per view of the year in front of a sold out crowd!”
Austin Aries will defend his Impact World Championship tonight against Moose. Aries returned to the company this year and promptly won the World Title shortly after. In the half-year since Aries has been back in Impact, he has sung the praises of the new management team of Don Callis and Scott D’Amore.
On a recent Impact Wrestling media call, Aries suggested that the promotion provides a platform for wrestlers to be successful.
“I mean listen, if there’s a number of men and women over there (WWE) who feel they’re in a position where they’re spinning their wheels,” Aries said. “Or maybe not getting the opportunities they feel they earned that are immensely talented.”
“I’m not gonna name names,” he continued. “But I think anyone in that position who wants to better themselves, I think IMPACT Wrestling provides a platform at least that’s not gonna tie you down and lock you in and give you the opportunities to actually go and prove that.”
Aries has also been involved in a back-and-forth with DeAngelo Williams on Twitter. Williams appeared on a recent episode of Impact to update fans on Moose’s training. Aries attacked Williams during the segment, possibly due to Williams’ performance while on Aries’ fantasy football team:
$75, @DeAngeloRB? You cost me 10x that in fantasy football with your end of the game, week 16 fumble in 2015.
Aries also noted that the WWE roster is very large. There are only so many high-profile spots to go around, however, and some wrestlers might find there are more opportunities available to them outside the company.
“Listen, there’s a lot — they have a huge roster and there’s a lot of talent on there,” Aries continued. “There’s only so many spots and so many hours of television. So you know I’m sure there are people who feel like they’re getting left out or they’re not getting the shots that they want, and if they find themselves free and clear, it’s cool. There’s a nice vibrate professional landscape right now for people to go out and apply their craft.”
Slammiversary takes place tonight at 8 pm from the Rebel Nightclub Complex in Toronto, ON, Canada. The event will live on pay-per-view, available on the FITE app.
Following tomorrow’s Slammiversary pay-per-view, Impact Wrestling will run two consecutive nights of television tapings. The promotion has recently announced several matches for the shows.
Impact Wrestling- Television Tapings
Rebel Nightclub
Toronto, ON, Canada
July 23rd, 2018
Kongo Kong vs Stone Rockwell
Kongo Kong defeated Abyss earlier this year only to lose to Brian Cage recently. He’ll be looking to reaffirm his status as Impact’s monster here.
Stone Rockwell has competed on 3 Impact Wrestling shows this year. He lost on an episode of Xplosion to Rohit Raju of the Desi Hit Squad. Then he lost a tag match to the Desi Hit Squad on a One Night Only show from Windsor. He teamed with Fallah Bah at the One Night Only show in Mississauga and defeated the Fraternity.
The debut of Scarlett Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a Chicago-based indie wrestler. She previously worked as Matt Taven’s valet in Ring of Honor.
July 24th, 2018
Sami Callihan vs Fenix
Just two days after Pentagon and Sami Callihan will collide with a Mask vs Hair stipulation at stake, Callihan will face his brother, Fenix.
Matt Sydal vs Pentagon Jr.
Sydal may or may not still be X-Division Champion when this match takes place.
Pentagon may or may not still have his mask when this match takes place.
Petey Williams vs Tyson Dux
The Canadian Destroyer takes on one of the top stars from Toronto’s Smash Wrestling in Dux.
Dux wrestled singles matches against Matt Sydal and Taiji Ishimori last year in Impact, dropping both matches. He defeated Braxton Sutter on a Twitch special in March.
Earlier this summer, Dux won the Northern, a 16-person tournament with similar rules to BOLA. Notable participants in the tournament included Matt Riddle, Joey Janela, Kimber Lee, Mia Yim, Andrew Everett, Brent Banks, and several others.
The Cult of Lee vs The Deaners
The Cult of Lee will look to get back into the thick of things in the Impact tag-team division.
Cody Deaner has wrestled on a One Night Only and Twitch specials for Impact in 2018. His partner is Jake Something. They have previously lost to the Desi Hit Squad as a team in Impact.
It appears that the card for the upcoming Slammiversary PPV event has been finalized.
This show is slated to be headlined by Austin Aries defending the Impact Wrestling World Title against Moose. Other top matches that are set to take place at this show include Su Young defending the Impact Wrestling Knockouts Title against Madison Rayne, and Matt Sydal defending the X Division Title Match against Brian Cage.
As of this writing, there’s no word yet on Rich Swann’s status for this show as he was injured and taken to the hospital following his tag team match at Thursday’s MLW TV tapings for what is believed to be a bad concussion. He is slated to take on Rey Fenix, Johnny Impact, and Taiji Ishimori in a Fatal Four-Way match at Slammiversary.
Impact Slammiveresary XVI
Impact will present Slammiversary live on pay-per-view on Sunday, July 22nd from the Rebel Entertainment Complex in Toronto, Canada. Here is the updated card for the show:
Mask vs. Hair Match: Pentagon Jr. vs. Sami Callihan
Fatal 4-Way Match: Rich Swann vs. Johnny Impact vs. Fenix vs. Ishimori
House of Hardcore Match: Tommy Dreamer vs. Eddie Edwards
Street Fight: Hernandez & Homicide vs. Santana & Ortiz
Singles Match: Allie vs. Tessa Blanchard
What are your thoughts on these matches being announced? Do you plan on buying this pay-per-view event? If not, why so? Sound off in the comment section.
Rich Swann debuted for Impact Wrestling this spring. Since that time, Swann has been involved in several well-reviewed matches with guys like Fenix, Sami Callihan, and oVe.
Swann is also an active wrestler with Major League Wrestling. At last night’s Battle Riot tapings, Swann was taken hospital with a possible concussion.
Swann’s injury is believed to have taken place during his tag-team match with ACH against Teddy Hart and Davey Boy Smith Jr. PWInsider is reporting that Impact Wrestling officials are aware of the situation and are looking to replace Swann in the match.
Slammiversary International 4-Way Match
The match Swann was scheduled for on Sunday’s pay-per-view was the international 4-way. He was to face Fenix, Johnny Impact, and Taiji Ishimori.
A possibly interesting note regarding Taiji Ishimori’s inclusion in this match is that Impact has stressed he will be representing Bullet Club when he does so. The promotion sent out the following on Twitter yesterday:
Taiji Ishimori working in Impact Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling at the same time is an interesting development. If further stars from NJPW are allowed to work Impact tapings and pay-per-views it could provide a big boost for the promotion.
Johnny Impact took part in a recent Impact media call. He had this to say regarding his match at Slammiversary.
“I can’t think of a better way to return to Impact than with this 4-way match between some of the most talented guys in the world, myself included,” Johnny said on a media call. “I plan on stealing the show for sure.”
“The guys in this match are really on the upper echelon of athletism and charisma,” Johnny continued. “I’m stoked, bro.”
Impact Wrestling presented their go-home show before Slammiversary tonight. We are now just 3 days away from Slammiversary and one of the biggest nights in the promotion’s recent history.
Here are 9 takeaways from this week’s episode of Impact Wrestling.
“Besides being a sociopath, besides being a psychopath, besides being a narcissist,” Don Callis said tonight in reference to Killer Kross. “This man is also an accomplished wrestler.”
Kross ran through Petey Wiliams to open the show. He even toyed with his opponent during the match, releasing his Kross Jacket submission even though Williams was clearly unconscious.
“This guy is clinically psychotic, he’s a high-functioning sociopath,” Callis continued to say about Kross. “He’s a very successful guy but does he have a plan? Or is it random violence? That’s the scary part.”
Killer Kross isn’t booked for Slammiversary but seems poised to do big things in the following two days of television tapings.
Real name, Kevin Kross, he was the 2018 recipient of Cauliflower Alley Club’s “Rising Star Award”. It was also his 33rd birthday today.
Callihan demonstrated to Pentagon Jr. what his plans are for him on Sunday. After making short work of Greg Osbourne, he informed everyone that Impact management asked him to promote the pay-per-view. He attempted to do this but was interrupted by Pentagon Jr.
Pentagon’s sub-titled promo riled up Sami and the members of oVe. They ran to the back to find him. The Crist brothers got separated from Callihan and thought they discovered Pentagon. They ran up to attack who they thought was Pentagon but it turned out to be Callihan in Pentagon’s mask and tied to a chair. As they were figuring this out, however, Pentagon entered the scene and took out both Crist brothers.
The Great Gama Singh Has The Desi Hit Squad Prepared
The Great Gama Singh has been running the Desi Hit Squad through old-school conditioning drills and tonight they used old-school tactics to get the victory. Old-school dirty tactics mind you, but still.
Tonight, the Desi Hit Squad were victorious over KM and Fallah Bah. With the Great Gama distracting the referee, Gursinder Singh raked Bah’s eyes and Rohit Raju rolled him up with his feet leveraged on the ropes for the pin.
Previously, the Hit Squad defeated the former champions, Z&E as well. They aren’t booked for Slammiversary but their two wins from the Windsor tapings should put them in a position to face top teams at the tapings to be held the following two nights.
“This is a ‘what have you done for me lately?’ business,” stated Don Callis today in reference to Eli Drake. He also said the former Impact World Champion has to prove himself all over again. Callis continued to mention Drake recently re-signed with the company.
After defeating Grado last week, Drake dropped his match tonight to a debuting Joe Hendry.
Eli Drake isn’t booked for Slammiversary but will likely be back in the mix of things over the next two nights of TV tapings.
Before the match, Hendry sang a pop song about Drake’s YouTube channel. There were further hints this week that Hendry and Katarina may not be being entirely up front with Grado…
Eddie Edwards Says He’s the Real “Innovator of Violence”
The match between Andrew Everett and Dezmond Xavier was interrupted by a deranged Eddie Edwards. He took a Singapore cane to the referee and then addressed Tommy Dreamer on the microphone.
Edwards predicted pain and violence for his match with Dreamer at Slammiversary. He continued to make various promises related to how much he would make Dreamer bleed on Sunday.
Finally, Edwards promised he would prove to Tommy Dreamer that he is the real “Innovator of Violence”.
Su Yung has been haunting Madison Rayne in her dreams. Last week, the Undead Bride lured Rayne into a field where she was surrounded by her army of zombie bridesmaids. They all really wanted to inform Madison that her time has come.
This week, Rayne’s dreams were haunted by visions of Su Yung and her minions as well as seeing her own image in a coffin. When she awoke she was back in the same field as last week. That’s when Yung gave her the Brood’s “Blood Bath” treatment.
After walking out on her tag-team partner tonight, Blanchard offered a simple explanation. “That is not my problem,” Blanchard said. “That is your problem.”
Blanchard didn’t seem to have much interest in softening her opponent up for Slammiversary. That’s clearly the only match coming up which matters to Blanchard as she just bailed on this one tonight.
The soon-to-debut Knockout was given a name this week. She is Scarlett Bordeaux, a Chicago-based wrestler who has wrestled for ROH, got squashed by Nia Jax on WWE TV, and somehow won the comedic DDT promotion’s Superheavymetalweight championship at one point.
When she was in ROH she was mainly used as a valet for Matt Taven but wrestled a few matches there as well.
Josh Matthews stated that Bordeaux will be on the show next week.
Austin Aries’ Normal Tricks Not Enough To Beat Moose?
Aries used the same tactics he used to beat Pentagon and the same he used last week on DeAngelo Williams. Only this week, they didn’t quite have the same impact.
After tricking Moose into thinking he wasn’t coming into the ring, Aries snuck up from behind and booted the title-challenger low. He then gave him a devastating chair shot and picked up the microphone assuming his opponent was down for awhile. Only Moose got up much faster than Aries expected.
Aries had been confident in the weeks leading up to this match but all of a sudden with just 3 days to go his demeanor appears to have changed considerably.
Impact Wrestling has scheduled another set of television tapings for August.
The company just announced they will return to Toronto on August 12th and 13th, 2018 for another set of tapings.
Impact Wrestling is currently preparing to run shows on 3 straight nights from Toronto starting this Sunday. Impact will have two nights of television tapings following the pay-per-view from the same venue.
Previously in 2018, Impact has held television tapings in Orlando, FL (Impact Zone) and at St. Clair College in Windsor as well.
Impact Wrestling Television in the United Kingdom
While the second straight set of television tapings being filmed from Anthem’s home city of Toronto might make it seem as though they will settle in there as they did Orlando, the company is making strides to expand internationally as well.
Impact Wrestling’s ownership group at Anthem Sports and Entertainment also run the Fight Network. The channel recently announced they are expanding their reach into the UK.
“We are delighted to expand Fight Network’s global footprint to the UK,” said Peter Einstein, COO of Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp., the parent company of Fight Network. “The UK is rooted in combat sports tradition, producing many world champions and memorable personalities over the years.”
“Based on popular demand, we are excited to announce that IMPACT Wrestling fans in the UK can now watch our weekly show contemporaneous with its North American broadcast premiere, as well as replays in primetime,” stated President of Impact, Ed Nordholm.
Tommy Dreamer will face Eddie Edwards this Sunday at Slammiversary. The match will be contested under “House of Hardcore” rules.
Dreamer’s House of Hardcore promotion has collaborated with Impact, Billy Corgan’s NWA, and we’ve even seen Tommy Dreamer in Lucha Underground this year. According to Dreamer, however, WWE once offered him a lot of money to close his promotion. Dreamer commented on the matter during today’s Impact Wrestling media call.
“WWE asked me to sign a contract when I went back with the Wyatts,” Dreamer said referring to his brief 2015 run with the company. “They offered me a lot of money to close House of Hardcore and I refused.”
Dreamer would also say he’s apprehensive about signing contracts with anyone.
“Impact Wrestling, I’ve worked there under a lot of different regimes,” Dreamer continued. “Once politics or BC started getting involved, I just left.”
Dreamer commented on how his experiences with ECW are what helped shape his policy of not signing contracts.
“Everyone talks about ECW and the greatness of what was ECW and it was,” Dreamer said on the call. “But none of us ever knew that Paul Heyman was in bed with the WWE the entire time. I had to live with those effects for a long, long time.”
“I would not sign a contract with anyone,” Dreamer continued.
Tommy Dreamer vs Eddie Edwards – Slammiversary XVI (House of Hardcore Rules)
The Dreamer versus Edwards rivalry grew out of Edwards’ previous rivalry with Sami Callihan. Throughout the course of the Callihan vs Edwards feud, Dreamer attempted to talk sense into Edwards only to eventually become the subject of his delusions.
Edwards came under the belief that Dreamer was sleeping with his wife and confronted him at a House of Hardcore show in Philadelphia. Dreamer, upset at Edwards’ actions towards him, then challenged him to this match at Slammiversary.