Welcome to Wrestling Inc.’s recap of Impact Wrestling, airing on The Pursuit Channel and Twitch, every Friday night at 10 PM ET! Be sure to leave your feedback in the comments section and share our coverage of tonight’s episode through social media.
We’ve got an exciting premiere episode ahead of us, with Johnny Impact vs. Killer Kross in a non-title, no DQ match, Tessa Blanchard competing in singles action, and Willie Mack vs. Sami Callihan in a rematch from Impact Wrestling Homecoming.
The night begins with Johnny Impact coming out to the ring and saying how the Impact World Heavyweight Championship is important, but nothing is more important than his wife. Impact says Taya Valkyrie has been in the hospital after Killer Kross attacked her at Homecoming. Impact asks Kross what his problem and says all he can think about is getting his hands on Kross.
Brian Cage comes out and interrupts Impact. Cage tells Impact the Kross shouldn’t be on his mind, Cage should be on his mind because he would have beat him at Homecoming if it wasn’t for his Survivor buddies. Cage demands a rematch for the title but Impact refuses, saying that it’s not about the title right now. Cage says he doesn’t care about Valkyrie because Impact never cared about Cage’s sacrifices. Impact is ready to accept Cage’s challenge but Killer Kross enters.
Kross enters and tells the audience that Impact is an impostor. Kross tells Impact that Cage had him pinned for a count of 10, but Impact still comes out and claims he’s champion. Kross tells Impact he likes the new change in attitude and as soon as Taya is out of the hospital, he plans to put her back in the hospital. Impact goes berserk and super kicks Cage in the ring, does a suicide dive over the top rope and takes out Kross. Kross scurries in to the ring and as Impact goes after him, Cage nails Impact with a discus clothesline. Kross cheap shots Cage but Cage is unfazed and gets up in his face. Kross slowly climbs out of the ring as Cage poses with the title.
Backstage, Impact is being check on by the trainer when, suddenly, Cage bursts in and throws the producers around as he screams that he wants a rematch. Impact tells him that he will get his rematch but Impact has to focus on taking out Kross tonight. He gives Cage his word that the next Impact World Title match is his. Cage tells Impact that he better not screw him.
The Lucha Bros. (Fenix & Pentagon Jr.) vs. The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz & Dezmond Xavier)
Xavier and Penta start up the match, exchanging some words in the ring before Penta gives Xavier a couple stiff kicks to his abdomen. Xavier immediately rolls out of the ring to recover. Penta comes off the rope for an attempt at a dive to the outside, but Wentz catches him and hits a stunner on the apron. Penta stumbles back inside the ring and Wentz goes for a codebreaker, Penta catches him and goes for a clothesline but Wentz comes off the ropes with a beautiful corkcrew splash. Fenix gets tagged in and bests Wentz, using his feet to force Wentz face-first in to the 2nd turnbuckle. Fenix hits a variation of a 619 and then comes off the top rope with a soaring headbutt on Wentz.
Xavier comes back in, jumps over Fenix and taunts a little bit. Fenix off the ropes and Dez leapfrogs over him before hitting a dropkick/backflip that sends Fenix out. Penta comes in and kicks Xavier’s back and abdomen. Penta taunts and attempts an irish whip, Xavier reverses, and hits a kick to the back of Penta’s head. Penta falls to the bottom turnbuckle and Wentz with a bronco buster. Fenix comes running in and connects with double cutter to take out Wentz and Xavier.
Back from commercial, Fenix avoids Wentz but Wentz retaliates with some sharp kicks. Wents hits Fenix with a running knee in the corner, follows it up with a big boot in the corner, and then tags in Dez. The rascalz hit a series of kicks on a downed Fenix. They continue the control as they take out Penta on the apron and turn their attention to Fenix in the corner. Wentz tags in Dez, hits a running uppercut, but then Fenix reverses with a couple sharp kicks and then both of the Lucha Bros. go for dives on the outside that take out The Rascalz. The Lucha Bros. catch Xavier with a double superkick to the head and a combination wheelbarrow splash for a 2 count. Wentz came flying off the ropes for a close 2 count.
Everyone is slow to get back up but the Rascalz set Fenix/Penta up in their respective, opposite corners and go running after them, hitting multiple strikes a running dropkicks. This eventually insights a series of reversals, with Penta superkicking Wentz, wentz coming off the rope with a jumping knee to Penta’s face, Fenix jumps off the 2nd rope with a spinning back kick to Wentz, and Xavier with a double back handspring kick to Fenix. Insane! Penta kicks the legs out from under Xavier. Penta calls for the Fear Factor but Wentz sunset flips over Penta, hits a ripcord knee, and they set Penta up for their shoving moonsault finisher but Fenix interrupts them. Penta with a schoolboy rollup for a close 2 count on Xavier. Lucha Bros hit double superkicks on both members of The Rascalz. Fenix and Penta work together to connect with a fear factor piledriver/superkick/cutter move that was…just, wow. 1-2-3!
Winners: The Lucha Bros.
Backstage, Kross asks Impact if he even knows how to hurt him, because causing pain and hurting someone are different things. Kross says he’ll liberate him from the skin he’s trapped in. Kross tells Impact that it’s over, saying, “Tick, Tock!” as he walks off.
Josh Matthews welcomes out the new X Division Champion, Rich Swann! Swann comes dancing to the ring and gets the crowd hyped up. Swann said that Homecoming was one of the biggest moments of his career. He said that he had a vision about the x division, and goes on to name some of the greatest X Division Champs that inspired him. Swann says that he wants to be called the no limit soldier of the X Division because he’s ready for all comers. Sami Callihan comes out, interrupts Swann, and banters at the announcers/the audience. Callihan says that he and Rich have a very long history between each other but the audience doesn’t deserve to hear about it. Callihan tells Swann that family is everything and he offers Swann an oVe T-shirt. Willie Mack rushes to the ring and spears Callihan. Swann breaks things up, Callihan shoves him out of the way, and Mack hits another spear that cuts through Callihan.
Sami Callihan vs. Willie Mack
The match begins with both men charging after one another and exchanging various forearms/strikes at each other’s faces. Callihan gets a headlock takeover but Mack turns it in to a leg scissors and then both men do a similar sequence, but reverse which moves they perform. Mack escapes from the headscissor and both men collide with boots to one another. Mack and Callihan get up slowly and begin trading more punches, chops, and Mack even slaps Callihan in the face. Callihan thumbs Mack’s eyes, Mack returns with a boot to Callihan’s arm and a discus forearm. Mack comes off the ropes and seems to be going for a baseball slide on Callihan but Callihan catches him in the apron of the ring. Callihan goes on the offense and swings at Mack as he’s trapped. Mack regains momentum and delivers a urunage on the apron Callihan.
Callihan grabs the ref and uses him as a shield before he tosses Mack knee-first over the steel steps. Callihan has gained the advantage now and climbs back in to the ring, hoping for a count out victory. Mack makes it back in so Callihan tosses him right back out. Callihan drags Mack up the stage ramp and goes for a piledriver but Mack wiggles out and delivers some strikes/uppercuts. Mack goes for another urunage on the stage but Callihan thumbs at his eyes. Callihan struggles but eventually connects with the piledriver on the stage, bouncing Mack’s head off the stage, and he rushes back to the ring. The ref nearly counts to 10 but Mack somehow slides back in the ring at the very last millisecond.
Callihan rushes Mack in the corner but Mack gives him a mouth full of boot twice. Callihan and Mack trade some blows and Mack seems to come out on top. Reverse Irish whips sends Mack through Callihan with a flying forearm and a corkscrew press that brings Callihan to the corner. Mack comes running from the opposite turnbuckles and kicks Callihan square in the jaw, causing him to crumble to the bottom turnbuckle. Mack comes running full speed but Callihan gets back up and forearms Mack to stop the momentum. Mack still puts Callihan up in a Samoan drop, he nips up, and hits a standing moonsault for a super close 2 count.
Mack sets Callihan up for a piledriver but Callihan escapes and bites the hand of Mack. Callihan with a Lariat To Remember for another 2 count. Callihan taunts and calls for his finisher but Mack catches him in a pop-up sit-out powerbomb for another close 2. Mack goes to the top rope but Callihan catches him, powerbombs him down, and knees Mack right in the mouth for another 2! Callihan stomps on the mat and calls for the finish but Mack catches him with a strike and hits a running cannonball splash in the corner. Callihan goes for a piledriver but Mack reverses and they exchange a series of pinfall attempts. Mack goes for the stunner, gets reversed in to a backslide, Callihan goes for the piledriver but Mack sits on his shoulders and is able to manage the 1-2-3!
Winner: Willie Mack
After the match, Callihan looks irate inside the ring.
Backstage, Konnan and LAX are discussing Homecoming. Santana and LAX get Konnan to admit that he was wrong, acknowledging that they kept things together and put on an incredible match at Impact Homecoming. They drink coffee in celebration.
Back from commercial, Callihan is backstage, yelling irately at the Crist brothers. LAX is walking past them and there’s a confrontation that seems to suggest that they’ll meet again somewhere down the line.
Scarlett Bordeaux comes out and tells everyone that all good things must come to an end, so next week, she’ll announce the winner of her talent search. Bordeaux says that she’s gonna show Tennessee the whole smoke show. Bordeaux begins stripping just as The Desi Hit Squad comes out. Gama Singh demands that Bordeaux wait until they win the talent search next week and then, she can give them a private strip show. Scott Steiner comes out! Steiner says that he came out for the premiere of Impact on Pursuit and he likes when freaks get their freak on. Gama Singh seems to have a heart attack or something of the sort and the DHS try attacking Steiner. Steiner takes everybody out and Bordeaux gives Steiner a lap dance in the ring.
Back from commercial and after Homecoming, Gail Kim says that the right women left as champion, and if Blanchard put her hands on Kim, then she got what she deserved.
Tessa Blanchard vs. Cali Collins
Blanchard immediately attacks Collins and clubs at her back. She irish whips Collins in the corner and delivers some stiff forearms to her chest. Blanchard with another irish whip but Collins gets a kick in to Blanchard’s abdomen. The momentum is short lived and Blanchard immediately regains the advantage, rushing Collins on the ropes and clubby blowing her back repeatedly until Collins collapsed. Blanchard rubs Collins’ face on the top rope as she creams and follows it up with a running dropkick to the back of Collins. Blanchard hits a vertical suplex and steps on Collins to cover her for a 2 count. Blanchard sets up Collins for the Buzzsaw DDT but changes her mind, and instead performs Gail Kim’s Eat Defeat finisher for the 1-2-3.
Winner Tessa Blanchard
Backstage, Eddie Edwards says how excited he is that he ended things with Moose at Homecoming. He remembers how Moose took him to the edge but now he and Kenny the Kendo stick can move on. Eli Drake walks over and says that, even though all of us are going through change, and after Dreamer and Abyss were the hardcore guys, is Edwards sure he wants to pick up that flag and continue the hardcore legacy?
Backstage, Su Yung is leading Allie to the bloody coffin. Allie is audibly recapping what happened with Rosemary before she disappeared and returned this past Sunday. On the coffin, the words, “4 One More Chance..Rejoin The Shadow..” appear.
Johnny Impact vs. Killer Kross In A Non_Tile, No DQ Match
The match starts with both men just throwing hard rights and forearms at one another. Kross gets a judo toss on Impact but Impact regains the advantage, mounts Kross with punches, and starts choking Kross with his boot as he’s under the ropes. Kross ties his foot in a hell hook and Impact retreats. They trade more punches before Kross grabs Impact and tosses him over his head. Kross backs Impact in to the corner and hits multiple strikes to his abdomen. Impact tries to climb up the ropes but Kross swats him down to the floor. Kross goes to meet him on the outside but Impact kicks him in the face to back him away. Kross stumbles on the steel barricade and Impact rams his head against it.
Impact connects with a running knee that bounces the back of Kross’s head off the steel barricade. Impact grabs a table out from under the ring and begins setting it up. Impact grabs a chair and Kross immediately punches it right back in to his face. Kross ties Johnny’s neck up in the chair and rams the chair/his body off the ring post. Kross sets him up on the steel barricade and then comes running, swatting his back with the steel chair. Kross grabs the steel steps and drags them until they’re next to Impact. He hits Impact with a few forearms, places his head against the steel steps, and goes for a conchairto with the two, but Impact moves, and uses the steel chair to gain the advantage. Impact places multiple of the fan’s chairs on top of Kross, burying him, and then he climbed on top of the steel steps, put a steel chair against his abdomen, and performed a moonsault. Looked like Impact’s face may have hit the steps on the way down.
Kross gets up quickly and the two have a stare down. Kross and Impact begin tossing chairs in to the ring together as Kross’s facial expressions keep changing. They climb back in to the ring, each grab a chair, and then swat one another’s away. Impact gains the advantage with forearms and kicks, causing Kross to fall down to his knees. Impact sets up a chair and performs a couple DDTs, tosses a chair at Kross’s face, and then buries him under some more chairs. Impact climbs to the top rope with a steel chair of his own and looks to finish the match, however, Moose runs out and pushes Impact off the top rope and down through the table Impact had previously set up. Moose tosses him back in to the ring and Kross ties Impact up in the Kross Jacket Choke until Impact fades away.
Winner By KO: Killer Kross
Moose and Kross pose and celebrate together inside the ring.
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