‘Impact Wrestling’ Review (May 12th 2022)

Welcome to this week’s review of Impact Wrestling, which this week opens with a Before the Impact match that saw X-Division Champion Ace Austin defeat Aiden Prince. With that out of the way let’s get right into the main show…

Match #1: Ultimate X Qualifying Match – Kenny King def. Chris Bey

The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:

The winner of this match will move on to Slammiversary where Ace Austin will defend his X-Division Championship in the return of Ultimate X! Maria Kanellis joins Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt on commentary, while the other members of both Honor No More and Bullet Club have been banned from ringside. Bey sends him to the outside with a dropkick, then soars over the top rope to the floor. King picks him off the second rope and follows up with running double knees in the corner. King misses a springboard leg drop, allowing Bey to hit a twisting neckbreaker for two. King comes back with the Tiger Driver for a near fall of his own. King gets caught using the ropes for leverage on a pin attempt. Kanellis provides a distraction from ringside as King capitalizes with the Royal Flush to advance!

My Score: 4 out of 5

Match #2: Knockouts World Tag Team Championship – The Influence (Madison Rayne & Tenille Dashwood) def. Gisele Shaw & Alisha

The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:

Following Gisele Shaw’s victory over Madison Rayne at Under Siege, she teams with an unlikely ally in Alisha to challenge The Influence for the Knockouts World Tag Team Titles! Shaw and Alisha are in the driver’s seat as they pummel their opponents with a series of strikes. Shaw grabs Alisha’s leg from the outside, allowing Dashwood to turn the tide with a neckbreaker. Rayne distracts the referee as Dashwood adds insult to injury from the apron. Alisha dropkicks Rayne to create separation and make the tag to Shaw. The pace quickens as Shaw hits Rayne with a draping DDT. Moments later, Rayne sends Alisha crashing into her own partner. The Influence follow up with The Collab to retain the Knockouts World Tag Team Titles!

My Score: 2.5 out of 5

Match #3: Josh Alexander & Tomohiro Ishii def. Bullet Club (Jay White & El Phantasmo)

The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:

Champion and challenger for the IMPACT World Title this past Saturday at Under Siege, Josh Alexander and Tomohiro Ishii, must now join forces to battle Jay White and El Phantasmo! Ishii flattens both members of the Bullet Club with running shoulder tackles. White spikes Ishii with a DDT as Phantasmo blindsides Alexander and takes him off the apron. White joins Phantasmo as they rake the back of Ishii. White delivers a chop in the corner but Ishii breaks free and hits a powerslam. Ishii makes the tag to Alexander who goes on the attack. Alexander hits two German suplexes on Phantasmo, then locks in the Ankle Lock. Alexander hits the C4 Spike on White but gets caught with a springboard Moonsault from Phantasmo. Ishii goes for the basement lariat but White trips him from the outside. Turnabout is fair play as Alexander does the same to Phantasmo on the other side of the ring. Ishii hits the basement lariat on Phantasmo, followed by the Brainbuster for three!

My Score: 4 out of 5

Match #4: Gauntlet for the Gold #1 Contender Match – Winner: Eric Young

The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:

Two men begin the match. A new competitor enters after two minutes. After that, a new competitor enters every 90 seconds. Eliminations occur when a man is thrown over the top rope and both feet hit the floor. When it’s down to the final two participants, the winner is decided by pinfall or submission. Fellow Motor City Machine Guns, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley, face off to begin the match. The leader of Honor No More, Eddie Edwards, is the third entrant. Vincent is the fourth entrant to even the odds for Honor No More. Steve Maclin is the fifth entrant. Maclin momentarily works together with Honor No More as the Guns are Caught in the Crosshairs, followed by Red Rum from Vincent. Shark Boy is the sixth entrant as he makes his third Gauntlet for the Gold appearance. Shark Boy hits a double Stunner on Edwards and Vincent. During the commercial break, Edwards eliminates Shark Boy. When we come back, Trey Miguel and Raj Singh enter the match in the seven and eight spots respectively. Bhupinder Gujjar is the ninth entrant. Gujjar eliminates Singh with a dropkick. Shera is the tenth entrant as he squares off with Gujjar. W. Morrissey is the eleventh entrant as he quickly eliminates Shera and Vincent. Eric Young is the twelfth entrant. Young hits Morrissey over the head with his mask, then spikes him with a Piledriver. Young eliminates Gujjar. Johnny Swinger is the thirteenth entrant but quickly gets eliminates by Young. During the commercial, Heath and Black Taurus enter the match in the fourteen and fifteen spots. Shelley and Miguel are also eliminated during the break. Rhino is the sixteenth entrant and he immediately Gores Edwards, allowing Sabin to eliminate him. Moose is the seventeenth entrant and eliminates Taurus, Rhino and Heath. Rich Swann is the eighteenth entrant. Matt Cardona’s music hits for the nineteenth entrant but Matthew Rehwoldt leaves commentary and enters the match in his place, eliminating Swann from behind. PCO is the twentieth and final entrant. PCO eliminates Rehwoldt, then faces off with Morrissey. Maclin sneaks up behind and eliminates both PCO and Morrissey. The lights go out and Sami Callihan confronts Moose in the middle of the ring. Callihan attacks him with a baseball bat, leading to the elimination from Sabin. Young and Maclin join forces as they turn their attention towards Sabin. Sabin uses his quickness to eliminate Maclin. The final two competitors are Chris Sabin and Eric Young, the winner will now be determined by pinfall or submission. Sabin hits a tornado DDT for a very close near fall. Young rakes the eyes, then hits the Piledriver to win Gauntlet for the Gold!

My Score: 3 out of 5

News of the Night:

1. Violent By Design get their rematch with The Briscoes for the IMPACT World Tag Team Championship next week.
2. IMPACT Hall of Famer Gail Kim announces the first-ever Queen of the Mountain match for the Knockouts World Title at Slammiversary.
3. By winning the Gauntlet for the Gold match Eric Young will get a title match against Joash Alexander at Slammiversary.

Final Verdict: 3.5/5

What a show. Two superb matches in the opener – which was a fantastic example of old versus new. I remember Kenny King from his days in TNA/Impact, where he became X-Division champ (and before that when he was a jobber in ’05-’06) so to see him take on Chris Bey, who’s almost like a reflection of King during the X-Division days, was a sight to behold and the pair put on the proverbial “clinic”. Then we got a women’s match that continued the tension between Madison Rayne and Giselle Shaw after their Under Siege match – only this time adding Alisha to the mix (until she came out with Shaw at Under Siege I wouldn’t have considered these two kayfabe friends). The match was OK and, like her Under Siege match, this was an improvement over what we’ve seen from Shaw in Impact.

Then taking two people who’d just fought each other on the PPV, Josh Alexander and Tomohiro Ishii, and putting them together to face Bullet Club sounds mad but it made for a brilliant match. Like almost top-tier for Impact. Ishii has made an impact (pun intended) wherever he’s gone on this recent US “tour” and these past two matches for Impact are the pinnacle of that. This week’s Impact ended on an extended “Gauntlet for the Gold” match that meant this week’s show was only a 4-match card… Now I’ve read on social media that some people didn’t appreciate Eric Young winning this one and going on to challenge for the title but, but, Eric Young is a legit veteran of, nay a legend in, Impact and to have him beat by Alexander at Slammivesary (which WILL happen) cements Alexander’s title reign even more.

A cracking episode of Impact this week and a great follow-up to the company’s Under Siege pay per view!