The clock is ticking as we’re just 10 days away from Bound for Glory. The card is still incomplete but the confrontation between Moose and Bobby Lashley tonight will probably lead to another announcement for the PPV (I had the chance to talk to Moose last week, you can find his thoughts on Lashley and more here). Johnny Impact and Garza Jr. will team up against IMPACT Champion Eli Drake and Chris Adonis. This week, we also head to Japan, Canada, and Mexico to follow Texano, El Hijo Del Fantasma, James Storm, Ethan Carter III, IMPACT Tag Team Champions oVe, Petey Williams, X-Division Champion Trevor Lee and NOAH Heavyweight Champion Eddie Edwards in action. Let’s get ready for some action so…
This week on Impact Wrestling is brought to you by “Doctor Frenchy” Steph.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5rSVhLwutc]
We saw Lashley and his coach, Dan Lambert arriving, followed by Moose and Stephan Bonnar and later Johnny Impact. Recap of the war between IMPACT and AAA Superstars.
From AAA in Mexico: Texano and El Hijo del Fantasma vs. EC3 and James Storm
Storm and EC3 quickly hit a double suplex on Fantasma. EC3 dumped Texano to the outside while Storm was punching Fantasma. EC3 hit a suplex in the middle of the ring on Texano, earned a near fall and switched off with Storm to take care of Fantasma with a body slam. But Fantasma rallied with clotheslines on both Storm and EC3. Texano brought in his rope and whipped EC3 on the back. The rope then got put between Storm’s legs and he got yanked above by both Fantasma and Texano.
Fantasma hit a crossbody off the top rope, then went for a suicide dive, but Texano, his own partner, stopped him. EC3 looks for the one-percenter on Fantasma who countered with a package piledriver. Texano again threw Fantasma off to go for the pin. Fantasma replied with a kick in the face! Storm superkicked Fantasma for the victory. Very good news, EC3 and Storm can work together and do a great teamwork. Bad news, Texano and Fantasma may not be on the same vibe.
Backstage Dutch Mantel was unhappy because Drake has been missing media calls and promotion for the company. Drake laughed because as the Global Champion, he is done with promo stuff, there was plenty of other people on the roster who could do it.
Dutch Mantel, Scott D’Amore, and Jim Cornette were all unhappy of Drake. D’Amore left the office, as Cornette and Drake were figuring if with Impact as Champion this problem would work itself out.
From BCW in Canada, IMPACT World Tag Team Championship match: oVe vs. Brett Banks and Phil Atlas
The match was already underway as Dave Crist was working on Atlas, kicking him off the apron. Banks got in, got Jake down, and hit a suicide dive and a flip to the floor. Banks connected with a cutter off the second rope and hit an elbow from the top rope. As Jake was outside, Banks continued his attack with a hurricanrana from the top rope but Dave held him in the tree of woe. Jake hit a Superkick and the brothers connected with their double stomp/piledriver combo for the win.
After a look back on ATT/Lashley and Moose/Bonnar feud, Drake refused to a 45-second interview as he was busy.
From NOAH in Japan, GHC Heavyweight Championship match: Eddie Edwards vs. Naomichi Marufuji
Highlights of an intense match with striking and aerial moves. Marufuji tried a number of strikes, Edwards dodged them all. Both countered release suplexes but Marufuji hit a kick and a side suplex. The contender went for a superkick Edwards countered with a clothesline. Marufuji to the outside, Edwards went for a dive and ate a boot in the head.
Marufuji removed the padding on the floor, but both countered each other’s moves again. Edwards put Marufuji on the barricade and hit a rough suicide dive to the floor. On the apron, Marufuji connected with a piledriver that made Edwards fell on the floor. Suddenly both men were on the top rope, Marufuji hit a splendid the Spanish Fly. Edwards didn’t surrender and hit a running knee, followed by a powerbomb Powerbomb, an underhook cradle powerbomb and a marvel of Die Hard Flowsion for the win. Why didn’t we have only highlights?
oVe talked about being sick of LAX and that to fight a family, they’ll need to bring in family. We saw someone’s arm giving a thumbs down. The tatoos let me think it could be Sami Callihan… great…
From BCW in Canada: Petey Williams vs. Tarik vs. Keo Mia vs. Idris Abraham
Give 3 opponents to Petey Williams and it will not be enough to destroy him… The Canadian Destroyer has never been better in a ring and proved it. Abraham and Williams tried the first, Williams stopped them quickly and replied with loads of offensive moves. Tarik countered a powerbomb and a Canadian Destroyer but Williams went for another one and got the win.
From the IMPACT Zone: Eli Drake and Chris Adonis vs. Johnny Impact and Garza Jr.
Johnny has become a fan favourite in just a few weeks. Drake and Adonis worked on him right in the match and Drake hit some cheap shots in the corner. A tagged in Adonis hit a leg drop and a body slam on Johnny, before attacking Garza and sending him off the apron. Adonis continued with a clothesline before tagging in Drake and pummeling Johnny’s midsection with shoulder drops. After long minutes of destruction, Johnny rolled out of his opponents and tagged in Garza. Pants were off, Adonis was cleared out and Drake superkicked. Johnny and hit a nice double standing moonsault on Drake.
Then Garza tried to head up to the top, but Adonis interfered. Drake joined Garza on the top rope and hit a superplex. Later in the match, Drake was slowing down Garza with power moves. Both Johnny and Adonis were tagged in. Johnny connected with a springboard corkscrew. But Drake jumped in the ring to interfere but Garza sent him to the floor. Garza went for an attack but Drake slid and dropped Garza on the barricade. Drake then held Johnny, Adonis charged but mistakenly hit Drake off the apron and on the barricade. Johnny then rolled up Adonis for the pin.
From The Crash in Mexico, X-Division Championship match: Trevor Lee vs. Ultimo Ninja
Highlights of the match again. Ultimo was in control and Lee had to hide behind the referee not to get punched. Lee went to the apron and hit one of his massive kicks to Ninja. He continued his attack in the ring, until Ninja connected with a missile dropkick from the top rope. When Ultimo went for a moonsault off the top rope, Lee got his foot up and hit his opponent in the face. Lee connected with a double foot stomp for the win.
King Mo, in an interview, called Moose a joke, especially for pushing Dan Lambert and disrespecting his “home.” That’s why he threw a big punch on Moose. Mo had enough and planned on not letting this slide.
From The IMPACT Zone: Lashley w/ Dan Lambert vs. Moose w/ Stephan Bonnar
Moose was not in a good mood and punched Lashley straight in the match. He continued with elbows, a dropkick and chops. Lashley rallied and caught him in the throat. But Moose quickly recovered and connected with a dropkick that sent Lashley to the floor.
Later in the match, Moose suplexed Lashley and Lambert decided to interfere by yanking Moose to the floor and putting his foot on Moose’s neck. The referee was busy taking care of Bonnar yelling at him to do something. Lashley slammed Moose’s head on the steel steps and stomped him in the ring. He then hit a neck breaker to keep Moose grounded. When Lashley was punching Moose to the head, Moose asked for more of them.
Moose rallied with a big splash in the corner and a running dropkick. Lashley’s eye was hurt and, without any clear reason, Lambert hit Moose with his trophy and caused the DQ. Bonnar jumped in the ring, attacked Lashley, was almost hit by Lambert with the trophy. American Top Team ran in, attacked Bonnar but Moose cleared the ring with a chair, before hitting powerbombs on the ATT guys.
Moose grabbed the mic, said very bad workds and challenged Lashley and Mo for a Six Sides of Steel Tag match. Before the show ended, Konnan promised to send oVe back to the trailer parks they came from.
IMPACT Wrestling has developed great partnerships all around the world and that’s nice. But in this episode, there was too many highlights of great matches instead of full-length matches. What was happening into the IMPACT Zone meanwhile? Brawls and cheap shots… Bound for Glory is up to come and this episode didn’t bring more to the PPV card. Still too many questions and not enough answers. One episode remaining before BFG, clock is ticking…
Bound for Glory card (updated)
* IMPACT Global World Championship match: Eli Drake (c) vs. Johnny Impact
* IMPACT Knockouts Championship Three-Way match: Sienna (c) vs. Gail Kim vs. Allie (as Taryn Terrell and IMPACT parted ways, the Four-Way match has become a Three-Way one)
* IMPACT World Tag Team Championship 5150 Street Fight: oVe (Dave Crist & Jake Crist) (c) vs. LAX (Ortiz & Santana w/ Konnan, Homicide and Diamanté)
* Monster’s Ball match: Abyss (w/ Father James Mitchell) vs. Grado. If Grado loses, his United States work visa is terminated and he must leave the U.S. forever.
* First Blood match: Taya Valkyrie vs. Rosemary
* Six Sides Of Steel match: Lashley & King Mo vs. Moose & Stephan Bonnar
* The return of Alberto El Patron
A few more matches will be announced during the Bound For Glory Pre-Show, hosted by Josh Matthews, set to take place next week on The Global Wrestling Network. Don’t miss next week the review of the last IMPACT episode before Bound for Glory and a special BFG preview with the full card, the stakes and the Frenchy predictions.
All pics, videos and screenshots courtesy of Impact Wrestling