IMPACT! Wrestling
April 8th, 2021
Skyway Studios in Nashville, Tennessee
Commentary: Matt Striker & D’Lo Brown
Before The IMPACT! – Jazz (w/ Jordynne Grace) def. Susan (w/ Deonna Purrazzo) by pinfall at 6:00
Tenille Dashwood, Nevaeh & Alisha Edwards (w/ Kaleb with a K) vs. Rosemary, Jordynne Grace & Havok (w/ Crazzy Steve & Black Taurus)
Grace & Alisha start the match, and Alisha quickly goes for three pin attempts. Alisha tries to whip Grace on the ropes, but Grace hits a shoulder tackle and a body slam followed by a jackhammer for a 1 count as Striker makes a Goldberg joke. Rosemary tags in, but gets tripped up by Alisha. Rosemary comes back with a fall-away slam as Alisha tags in Tenille. Tenille reluctantly walks in, but quickly escapes to the outside and starts running around the ring until she runs into Decay. Havok takes her, slams her face-first against the steps as Steve & Taurus set up a table for Havok to place Tenille on. Rosemary attempts to splash on her, but Kaleb takes her off but ends up getting a suicide dive from Jordynne. Jordynne throws Tenille back in, but Tenille hits a neck breaker on the ropes for a 2 count. Nevaeh tags in and starts stomping Grace in their corner before tagging Tenille back in who does the same. Grace takes Tenille down and tags Rosemary who hits a spear on Rosemary and mounts her with strikes before hitting a suplex. Rosemary locks in the Upside Down on Alisha, but Alisha fights back and gets a 2 count. Nevaeh breaks up a Rosemary pin attempt, but Havok starts brawling with her on the apron and Nevaeh hits a Russian Leg Sweep on Havok through the table that was set up earlier. Inside, Rosemary catches a flying Alisha and hits the Red Wedding for the pin.
Winners: Rosemary, Jordynne Grace & Havok by pinfall at 7:48
Alwayz Ready for Something
Gia Miller backstage with Matt Cardona and asks him what Cardona’s response is to Brian Myers’ response of saying no to a match. Cardona says he’s confused that Myers said no, but that makes him happy because he’s not here to fight him. He’s here for him to prove his fans right, so he asked Scott D’Amore to for a match tonight, and he gave him not someone, but something, Jake Something. Cardona says he knows Something is looking for his big break, but it’s not tonight as Cardona is Alwayz Ready.
Let’s Get Wilde
We see another promo for Taylor Wilde which confirms her with the slogan ‘Let’s Get Wilde’ this April in the Impact Zone.
Your Time Has Come
We see Deonna Purrazzo backstage with Susan who seems out of it, asking her if she’s ok and if she knows her name or where she is after her match on Before the Impact with Jazz, but Susan only is able to say “Sue”. The doctor comes in and says ‘Your time has come’, which snaps Susan out of it as we see Su Yung-style lights flash on the screen.
Matt Cardona vs. Jake Something
They start the match by battling lock-ups, as Cardona asks Jake ‘what’s my name’. Something is able to take Cardona down with a shoulder block, but Cardona comes back with a dropkick to knock Something to the outside, misses a sliding kick, and runs into a clothesline by Something. Something throws Cardona back in, but Cardona quickly meets him on the apron, knocks him off, and is able to finally hit the basement dropkick. Back inside, Cardona ducks Something and runs into the body of Something. Something knocks Cardona down with a couple of forearms and gets a 2 count. Cardona comes back with a neck breaker and hits forearms of his own, one in the corner, but Something grabs him and runs him into the turnbuckle. Cardona gets out of the way and hits the boot wash for a 2 count. Cardona goes for the Radio Silence, but Something grabs him and hits a sit-out powerbomb for a 2. Cardona goes for another Radio Silence, but they end up toppling to the outside. Brian Myers runs out and drives both men into the apron causing a no contest., and starts attacking both men including throwing Something’s eye first into the corner of the steps.
Myers grabs the mic and says he’s had some time to do some soul searching and he’s reconsidered his offer. He accepts his challenge at Rebellion. Myers is just afraid Cardona will be just another victim of the Roster Cut.
Winner: The match ends as a result of a no-contest at 5:00
Watch Walls & Lick Windows
Backstage XXXL ran into Trey Miguel and asked him if he’s ready to get his ass kicked. Miguel says they must not watch the product, as he told Sami Callihan last week that he’s not going out there for the match. Miguel asks them if they even watch TV or if they just watch walls and lick windows. XXXL says this sounds like an excuse and the words of a man who lacks passion and says he’s become a joke.
Violent Consequences
We see a video from Violent by Design and Eric Young says that in every great war, there are important battles. And important times in the history of struggle and strife. This movement will move forward, it’s too important. They believe in it too much to allow it to fail. Last week, he lost to James Storm, but Deaner is the one who failed. He failed himself and he failed the group. And Young says Deaner knows that with failure comes consequences. Consequences that he’s accepted and are necessary. Young knows Deaner can see the bigger picture, when he fails that’s when the disease is the most aggressive and it has an opportunity. So they are not going to fail tonight, they are going to seize the opportunity of the day and Deaner is going to do it alone. Young knows that Deaner will not fail and he knows that Deaner understands how important this is, if he does fail there will be consequences and they will be more severe, but Deaner won’t allow that. Young says tonight Deaner will prove himself and show them that this world doesn’t belong to them, it belongs to Violent by Design.
XXXL (Acey Romero & Larry D) vs. Sami Callihan & Trey Miguel
Trey Miguel’s music hits and he doesn’t come out at first. As Romero & Larry start circling Callihan, Trey’s music plays again and he finally comes out. Miguel and Larry start the match, and Miguel quickly goes at it on Larry hitting an atomic drop, but Larry blocks a cutter attempt and hits a high knee, tagging in Romero. XXXL tries a double team move, but Miguel knocks both to the outside and goes to dive onto them, but Callihan tags himself in as Miguel gets upset. Callihan takes Romero out on the apron as they go to the commercial.
When they come back, they show during the commercial Callihan was in control taking down Romero with a clothesline. Miguel tags himself in, hits chops but runs into a sidewalk slam by Romero for a 2 count. Larry tags in, and XXXL starts pulling Miguel from his arms and legs as Larry gets a 1 count. Miguel hits a couple of kicks followed by a springboard DDT. Miguel goes to the top, but again Callihan tags himself in. Miguel gets upset and they start shouting and shoving each other. Miguel swings at Callihan, who ducks, grabs Miguel and places him on Larry, and kicks the leg of Larry as Miguel hits a hurricanrana. Miguel aggressively tags himself in by slapping Callihan’s chest. As they get into another shouting match, Romero slams their heads together. Miguel hits a scorpion kick on Romero followed by a cross body off the second rope to knock Romero to the outside. Callihan & Miguel stare each other down by hitting a double dive onto Romero & Larry. Back inside, Miguel knocks Larry down and puts on the Hour Glass for the submission victory. Callihan goes to raise Miguel’s hand, but Miguel pushes him away and leaves.
Winners: Sami Callihan & Trey Miguel by submission at 4:19 (plus commercials)
Guilty As Charged
We go to Swinger’s Palace where we see Chris Sabin, James Storm, and Chris Harris at the poker table. Harris asks if anyone ever wins here, and Sabin says they are winners just by being there. Storm takes Sabin’s beer as he reminds him he has a match to get ready for. Harris goes to follow him, but Storm tells him to sit back down, take his chips worth $37.18 and win some ‘Beer Money’. Harris tells him to not do that, as that’s not right, but Storm says ‘guilty as charged’ as a reference to America’s Most Wanted which Harris is more pleased about.
Chris Sabin (w/ James Storm) vs. Deaner
As promised by Young, Deaner is alone without Violent by Design. They quickly go at it, and Sabin goes for a backslide and a cradle both for 2 counts. Sabin kicks the legs off of Deaner and goes for a Mouse Trap for a 2 count. Deaner comes back with kicks in the corner, followed by a choke. Deaner hits a body slam and a knee drop for a 2. Sabin comes back but runs into the corner as Deaner traps Sabin’s head in the corner and hits a dropkick for another 2. Storm on the outside cheers Sabin on, as he and Deaner hit a double crossbody. Back up, Sabin hits a dragon screw leg whip, big boot, and a Fisherman’s driver for a 2 count. Sabin hits a cross body off the top, but Deaner rolls it for a pin attempt. Deaner places Sabin on the top turnbuckle and hits a kick to the mid-section, and a powerbomb off the ropes for a 2 count. They go back and forth fighting off the ropes, but Deaner rakes the eyes of Sabin and tries to schoolboy with his feet on the ropes, but Brandon Tolle catches it. Deaner gets in the face of Tolle, but Sabin grabs the distracted Deaner and hits the Cradle Shock for the pin.
Winner: Chris Sabin by pinfall at 6:27
Eric Young appears on the screen and tells Sabin he knows repercussions are coming and Deaner has done the right thing, as winning and losing wasn’t important tonight, the trap was set. Deaner sees the big picture, and this man will too. We pan out to see Violent by Design has taken out Chris Harris in Swinger’s Palace, as Joe Doering is holding Harris done. We go back to the ring where Rhino hits a gore on Storm and Deaner hits a DDT on Sabin. Rhino & Deaner hold Storm & Sabin’s heads up so they can see Harris on the screen. Young says they knew it would end up this way as there is no other way. He tells Doering to get him up and says the blood is on their hands and this is because of them and what they did. He grabs a chair and says you know what happens next as the feed cuts out.
Dreamer with The Stick
We go backstage and see Ace Austin and Madman Fulton where Austin asks Fulton how many hoops he has to jump through but Josh Alexander is spotted right behind them smiling. Alexander says his smile is saved for special occasions, as their match for Rebellion has been made for a triple threat; Josh Alexander vs. TJP vs. Ace Austin for the X Division Championship. Alexander says it doesn’t matter who he pins, it’s a matter of time until that title is around his waist. TJP comes in and says he has beaten Austin 3 times and Alexander twice and says he and Alexander kicked their ass last time, but Alexander says they aren’t friends. Austin reminds them that they lost that match as they aren’t on the same page. Tommy Dreamer comes in with a kendo stick and gets in between them and makes a triple threat tag match for Hardcore Justice and tells TJP and Josh Alexander to both go find partners to face off against Ace Austin & Madman Fulton.
The Sickness is Real
Back from the commercial, Eric Young is walking backstage and gets stopped by Tommy Dreamer. Dreamer asks him if he thinks he can get away with whatever he wants and Young says yes. Dreamer says ‘Justice’ comes to everybody, sooner or later. Young asks Dreamer, didn’t he retire when he lost and ran off into the sunset like a punk? Dreamer said he never said retirement, yeah, he lost, but Young has lost also. Young is also hurting his friends and calls Young’s ‘sickness/disease/cure’ talk all full of shit. Young says the sickness is real and it’s everywhere no one is sicker than Dreamer and sooner or later he will get rid of him for good. Dreamer says he’s not scared and he needs a match for Hardcore Justice and tells Young to get his boys and he’ll get his own boys and they’ll fight. Young says Dreamer and his friends are in for a war and to remember this was Dreamer’s idea. Dreamer says “okay”.
Jazz Retrospective
We go to a video package for Jazz where we see pictures and her speaking. Jazz says she started her career in 1996, and around 1997 she was approached and was told Junkyard Dog had a school in Lafayette, Louisiana so she packed her bags and jumped on a Greyhound bus where she started training. Jazz said started training on a Friday, and they made her have a match on Saturday. She admits it wasn’t a good match, but it was a match and Debbie Combs gave her a butt whooping that night. Eight months later, her trainer Rod Price was with ECW and told her she needed to go for a tryout. Dawn Marie approached her and told her to get in the ring and show them what she can do. She had a match with Jason Knight, and that’s how it all started. Finally, in WWE she got the opportunity to wrestle women as in ECW she wrestled men all the time so she had to change her style a bit. She mentions she left there being the last WWF Women’s Champion and the first WWE Women’s Champion. She mentions that in the back of her mind she always wanted to be a part of IMPACT and when Jordynne Grace reached out and asked to go for the Knockouts Tag Team Titles, Jazz agreed that’s something else she can add to her legacy, and she couldn’t turn it down. Although they didn’t win she set her eyes on a bigger prize with the Knockouts Title. The only reason she didn’t win the first time against Deonna Purrazzo is because of interference, which caused her to snap. She wants the shot so bad, where she even put her career on the line and claims she will become champion on Saturday.
The Age of the Virtuosa
Gia Miller is backstage with Deonna Purrazzo and says after watching that video they know how much this match at Hardcore Justice means to Jazz and asks Deonna how much it means to her. Deonna says that package makes her emotional, it reminds her of what it felt like to be a little girl watching women set the stage for real women’s wrestling. Without women like ODB and Jazz, there would be no Knockouts division or championship. There would be no Virtuosa, a 26-year-old Deonna Purrazzo in the prime of her career getting ready for what might be the match of her career. At Hardcore Justice, she’s building upon the foundation that Jazz has built, but what Jazz has built in the past is crushed beneath the rubble of what Deonna built-in IMPACT Wrestling. We are in the age of the Virtuosa, and brick by brick she is building a new foundation for this new generation. Gia says some could say this success is due to a lot of help from Kimber Lee and Susan, but from what we’ve heard Kimber Lee won’t be ringside, but will Susan? Deonna says she knows Gia wants clickbait and tabloid journalism, but she built the age of the Virtuosa on her own back. And giving it back to Jazz is her distinct honor and the only way to do right by Jazz is to walk into Hardcore Justice, woman to woman by herself. She can’t go out there and be defeated and distracted, she’s going out there and she’s going out there the one way she knows how, and that is to retire Jazz.
Executive in Charge of Wrestling
Back from the commercial, Brian Myers is walking past and Tommy Dreamer stops him. Myers said he thinks he’s the new Innovator of Violence, Dreamer says no he’s not. What he is, is always pissing people off because he’s “Bad, Bad Brian” and everybody is in a bad mood when he’s around. Jake Something came to him and wants a match against Myers. Myers said he already accepted Matt Cardona’s challenge at Rebellion and he’s all booked up. Dreamer says he’s talking about Hardcore Justice and he’s the Executive in Charge of Wrestling (ECW) and he’s going to book Myers against Jake Something in the first-ever, Blind Games Match. Myers asks what that even is, and Dreamer says simply it’s just a hardcore match with both men blindfolded. Myers says that’s never been done because that’s stupid, and who booked this crap. Dreamer says the ECW did it, and calls Myers stupid before looking into the camera and saying ‘Blind Games, In Your House’.
Hardcore Justice
- 3 Way Tag: TJP & partner of choosing vs. Ace Austin & partner of choosing vs. Josh Alexander & partner of choosing
- Number #1 Contender Knockouts Weapons Match: Jordynne Grace vs. Susan vs. Tenille Dashwood vs. Havok vs. Rosemary vs. Alisha Edwards
- Chairly Legal Match: Shera vs. Hernandez
- IMPACT Knockouts Championship – Title vs. Career Match: Deonna Purrazzo (c) vs. Jazz
- Hardcore War: Violent by Design (Eric Young/Rhino/Joe Doering/Deaner) vs. Team Dreamer (Tommy Dreamer & 3 mystery partners)
Willie Mack, Eddie Edwards & Rich Swann vs. The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) & Kenny Omega (w/ Don Callis)
Before the match, Don Callis introduces Kenny Omega and says ‘Ladies and gentlemen what you are about to witness is greatness walk this aisle. What you’re about to witness is the greatest athlete alive and the greatest professional wrestler in the history of the industry. So without further ado, he is your AEW World Champion and the soon-to-be IMPACT Wrestling World Champion; Gotch, Hackenschmidt, Flair, Hogan, are all insects in the shadow of the giant of professional wrestling, the God of Pro Wrestling, from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Kenny ‘By God’ Omega.”
On his way to the ring, Omega says ‘4 belts do sound good’, as Swann is still carrying both titles from the unification. Omega and the Good Brothers attack their opponents before the bell rings, and Omega and Swann are left in the ring as the match officially starts. Omega strikes down with forearms, but Swann comes back himself, goes to run against the ropes but gets tripped up by the Good Brothers. Omega goes to dive on Swann, who moves out and Anderson & Gallows gets the dive instead. Edwards then dives onto Anderson and Mack does on Gallows. Swann himself hits a dive onto Omega as we go to the commercial.
Back from break, Mack and Anderson are in as Mack tags in Edwards. They double team on Anderson as Swann joins in the attack. Gallows tags in and starts stomping Edwards in the corner as Anderson holds him back. Omega tags in and drops elbows on Edwards for a pin attempt. Omega tags in Gallows as all three attack Edwards in their corner. Edwards fights back and takes Gallows down with a dropkick, crawls over, and tags in Mack as Anderson gets tagged in as well. Mack runs into a boot by Anderson but takes down Anderson as well as Omega who runs in and hits a standing moonsault on both of them. Gallows comes in and starts landing fists on Mack and gets a 2 count as they go to the final commercial for the evening.
Omega is attacking Mack when we come back, but tags in Anderson. Mack dodges a running Anderson and starts to crawl for a tag, but Gallows gets tagged in and stops him. Omega comes in and starts toying with Mack, but Mack eats his chops. Omega tries to lift Mack but fails and Mack lands on him. As he’s pinning Omega, he moves and a jumping Anderson lands an elbow on Omega before Mack takes them both down with a double clothesline. Swann gets the hot tag and starts taking down all his opponents, including hitting a top rope hurricanrana on Omega for the 2 count. Mack & Swann hit some double team moves on Omega before Edwards gets tagged in. The Good Brothers run in and take out Mack and Swann before hitting triple offense on Edwards. Omega hits Blue Impact on Edwards but only gets a two. Edwards dodges Omega’s Killshot and hits a snap German suplex. All men run in and start hitting moves on each other until Omega takes out Mack with the V-trigger. Omega hits the 3-man splash on Edwards with Anderson & Gallows on his back but Swann breaks up the three count. Omega and Swann are left standing, Omega hits a snap suplex on Swann and goes for the One-Winged Angel, but Swann slips out and hits the 450 Splash, it looks like he has the pin but Don Callis pulls Swann’s leg and broke the count. Anderson tags in and hits the TKO on Swann for the two-count. Gallows comes in and they try the Magic Killer on Swann, but Edwards breaks it up. Mack takes out Gallows, while Swann hits Lethal Injection on Anderson followed by the Boston Knee Party by Edwards. Swann hits the Phoenix Splash on Anderson and gets the pin.
Winners: Willie Mack, Eddie Edwards & Rich Swann by pinfall at 15:28 (with commercials)
Siino Vision:
- Nice showcase and win for Rich Swann, showing that he could escape the One-Winged Angel and Omega needed the assistance of Callis to avoid defeat, Omega stays strong though not eating the pin for the match.
- The video retrospective from Jazz was extremely well done, and if this is indeed her final match they sure made her legacy an important one, and this could be a nice way to end her career.
- Tommy Dreamer just seems to be having fun with all this Hardcore Justice matchmaking and funny pun titles and ideas, and it’s pretty obvious with the feud going on that Dreamer will choose James Storm and Chris Sabin as his partners, it should be interesting if the fourth man could be someone like a Heath or Alex Shelley returning tho. This being right before WrestleMania, could act as a fun lead-in show for any parties or get-togethers, it’s a shame that it hasn’t been promoted hard as such.
- No AEW paid advertisement from Tony Schiavone & Tony Khan, with the move to Tuesday that could be a thing of the past
- Glad it was confirmed that Taylor Wilde is coming back, as I feel like she is a much-needed injection into this Knockouts Division.
- With this show debuting on a Thursday the same day going against Takeover and Bloodsport, it’s sad that an event such as Kenny Omega’s IMPACT TV debut got buried during this week.
