IMPACT Wrestling Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from Oct. 13
On the road to Bound for Glory on October 24, Impact Wrestling hit the AXS TV airwaves with a show geared toward evolving rivalries, forwarding high-profile storylines and featuring its top stars in an attempt to build anticipation for its biggest pay-per-view of the year.
Did it succeed?
Find out now with this recap of a show that included the latest on Rich Swann's condition ahead of his Impact World Championship match with Eric Young, Kylie Rae vs. Kimber Lee and a massive Triple Threat tag team match featuring Taya Valkyrie and Rosemary.
Triple Threat Tag Team Match
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Taya Valkyrie and Rosemary made enemies of Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz, as well as Havok and Navaeh, in recent weeks and as a result battled those two teams in the show-opening 3-Way Knockouts tag team match.
Despite the odds against them, Valkyrie and Rosemary started hot, double-teaming Navaeh and scoring a near-fall. The heel and partner Havok isolated Valkyrie and worked her over for a few moments until the trash-talking Hogan and Steelz tagged in and added their own brand of beating to La Wera Loca.
A tag to Rosemary sparked a comeback for the most unlikely babyfaces. The Demon Assassin obliterated Hogan with an exploder suplex, and Navaeh tagged back in to continue the punishment of the blue-haired future star.
Things did not get better for the least experienced team in the match as Steelz entered and still found herself on the receiving end of a beating. Havok nearly suplexed her across the ring, and Rosemary added a fallaway slam for good measure.
The action broke down as all involved delivered their signature offense. It came to a definitive end as Rosemary planted Steelz and picked up the pinfall victory, making it three in a row for her and partner Valkyrie.
A tense staredown ensued after the match, hinting that things are far from finished between the victors and Havok and Navaeh.
Result
Valkyrie and Rosemary defeated Steelz and Hogan, and Havok and Navaeh
Grade
C+
Analysis
This was an action-packed match that never lost its pace but at the same time featured so much from so many that there was never really a story to follow.
Rosemary and Valkyrie continued to impress, but as usual, it was Hogan and Steelz who stole the spotlight and continued to demonstrate why they are the future of the Knockouts division. Young, charismatic, athletic, they bring a spark to their in-ring action that makes up for their lack of experience.
They will be the act that dominates for years to come, and Impact would be wise to ensure they are under contract for the foreseeable future.
Havok and Navaeh are the solid, veteran team that held everything together and do not get the credit they deserve for being as strong a tag team unit as they are.
Fallah Bahh vs. Crazzy Steve
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Fallah Bahh absconded with Hernandez's money last week, hoping to use it to fund John E Bravo's upcoming wedding to Rosemary. Commentators Josh Mathews and Madison Rayne put that over ahead of his match with Crazzy Steve.
The match, like most of the action centered around Bravo's wedding, featured a lot of comedy and stalling until Ballah's shirt came off. So concerned about the money was he that he grasped to it, allowing Steve to roll him up for the win.
Result
Steve defeated Bahh
Grade
D-
Analysis
The wedding cannot come soon enough.
The comedy in these matches has been so hit-or-miss that their weekly inclusion is dragging down the overall quality of the show. Yes, it's harmless and really hurts no one, but it adds up over time.
The sooner everything wraps up and those involved can move on to a different storyline, the better.
Even if it is something equally as comical, it will hopefully be more consistent.
10-Person Tag Team Match
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Tenille Dashwood, Tommy Dreamer, Brian Myers, Cody Deaner and Johnny Swinger battled Hernandez, Cousin Jake, Alisha Edwards, Rhino and Heath in a 10-Man tag team match. The teams were randomly paired, with the winning one moving on to next week's show. There, it will compete in a 5-Way match for the coveted No. 20 position in Bound for Glory's Call Your Shot Gauntlet match.
Got all that?
Dashwood and Edwards started, pairing off for the first time since the former's return to Impact. Their exchange was short-lived, as Cody Deaner entered and marked out over his opponent, the last ECW champion, Rhino. The Man Beast downed his opponent and tagged Cousin Jake in, bringing the Deaners face-to-face momentarily before Cody tagged in an unsuspecting Dreamer.
Hernandez entered and dominated Dreamer, using his strength and size to his advantage while Dashwood and Kaleb Conley went over her social media accounts at ringside.
The action broke down in this one, leading to Heath picking up a win over Swinger.
Result
Heath, Rhino, Edwards, Cousin Jake and Hernandez defeated Dreamer, Myers, Dashwood, Deaner and Swinger
Grade
C
Analysis
As a tool to promote the Call Your Shot Gauntlet match, this was fine. As a match, it was substandard.
There was not much to it other than giving Heath some spotlight and reminding fans of the Dreamer-Myers feud.
Otherwise, it was an inoffensive way to eat up some television time while showcasing the eclectic roster the company has up and down the card.
The real news to come out of this came just before the match as Rhino informed Heath that a win in the Call Your Shot Gauntlet will earn him not only a contract with Impact but also his rejected offer from last week. A loss, though, and Heath is done with the company in every way.
Furthermore, a loss and Rhino is out of a job.
The higher the stakes, the higher probability of getting the audience to invest.
Kylie Rae vs. Kimber Lee
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Last week, Kylie Rae snapped backstage, avenging her best friend Susie's attack at the hands of Knockouts champion Deonna Purrazzo and Kimber Lee by attacking the latter. This week, Smiley Kylie continued her quest for vengeance as she battled Lee in singles competition, Purrazzo watching intently from ringside.
Lee made the mistake of firing Rae up early and paid for it, eating a stiff uppercut in the corner. A distraction by Purrazzo slowed her top contender's momentum but could not halt her completely. Rae blasted Lee with a superkick for two.
Lee recovered and rocked Rae before seizing control of the bout. A springboard arm drag sparked a momentary comeback, but Lee grounded her opponent and worked a left leg submission as she looked to score a tapout victory.
Rae finally fought her way back into the match, delivering a corner senton for a two-count. Rae favored her knee, slowing her just enough for Lee to counter a leapfrog into a sit-out powerbomb for two. Kylie recovered, survived a distraction attempt by Purrazzo and applied the Smile to the Finish crossface for the win.
After the match, Purrazzo attempted a sneak attack, but Rae fought her off and blasted the champion with a superkick before standing tall to close the segment.
Result
Rae defeated Lee
Grade
B+
Analysis
Kylie Rae may be the best women's wrestler on the planet right now. Kimber Lee is among the most underrated. Together, they had a heck of a match here. Not only did it position Rae as the resilient, deserving No. 1 contender, but it also put Lee over as a threat to win any match she is in.
Had Rae not caught her with the submission, the outcome may have been different.
It also added fuel to the feud between Rae and Deonna Purrazzo as they prepare to clash on Impact's grandest stage. That match could very well prove to be one of the best of the year in women's wrestling, especially if recent performances by the participants are any indication.
Doc Gallows vs. Madman Fulton
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In a preview of the 4-Way match for the Impact Tag Team Championships, Doc Gallows (accompanied by Karl Anderson) battled Madman Fulton (seconded by Ace Austin) in singles competition.
The big men wasted no time taking their fight to the floor. They slugged away at each other as the referee made his count, ultimately reaching 10 and throwing the match out.
Back from the break, Josh Mathews revealed the match had been restarted under No Disqualification, No Count-Out rules. Fulton dominated the action, attacking Gallows with a trash can before Big LG answered with a steel chair to the midsection.
In the ring, Fulton regained control, using a crutch to choke the fight out of Gallows.
Doc recovered, set up two chairs and delivered a double-handed chokeslam through them for the win.
Result
Gallows defeated Fulton
Grade
C
Analysis
This got two big hosses involved in the Bound for Glory tag title match onscreen, let them beat each other up with plunder and put Gallows over, but there was hardly anything to the match to warrant a grade any higher than an average "C."
On top of that, Fulton has really lost steam of late.
Coming out of Slammiversary, he was an unstoppable monster of a man. Since then, he has become one-dimensional muscle for Austin rather than a special, protected big man. Eating the clean pinfall here didn't help matters.
One has to wonder if this is all to deflect viewers' expectations so a Fulton and Austin victory appears more surprising. They are the one team that has not picked up any major win to this point in the four-way feud, after all.
Will Rich Swann Be Cleared for Bound for Glory?
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Impact World champion Eric Young made his way to the ring for the final segment of the night. The World-Class Madman cut a promo demanding to know the status of Rich Swann for their scheduled main event at Bound for Glory.
After receiving a call, Scott D'Amore made his way to the ring. Young told him he gave Swann the easy way out, and he didn't take it.
The EVP of Impact was almost disgusted as he addressed the smug Young. D'Amore said that Swann suffered additional and substantial damage to his leg. Young demanded his superior deem his foe unfit to compete.
D'Amore cut an impassioned promo, claiming Young lost sight of who he was supposed to be. Swann's surgeon confirmed the damage but said that Swann is a special type of athlete and he will compete at Bound for Glory.
"I hope he knocks that smug look off your damn face," he said.
Young snapped, attacking his former Team Canada compadre. He trapped D'Amore in an ankle lock until Swann hit the ring and unloaded on the champion. A look of disbelief painted Young's face as Swann grasped the Impact World Championship.
After the match, cameras caught up with Moose, who finally arrived to confront EC3. A verbal back-and-forth gave way to EC3 calling his rival a laughingstock. He laid the TNA Championship down and cleverly dared Moose to cross the line.
They brawled on an undisclosed bridge until Moose struck the rail. "I wanted so much to have the fight of my life for this," EC3 said as he held the TNA title. "It would be so funny if it wasn't so sad."
Moose recovered and attacked from behind, punching away at EC3 and busting him open.
The former New England Patriot walked off with his title, leaving EC3 laughing to close out the show.
Grade
A
Analysis
There was a lot to unpack in this one, not the least of which being Young's continued excellence.
Here he was, this sadistic madman who thought he had figured it all out. He thought he had eliminated the very real threat of Swann. When he realized he did not, he snapped, attacking not only the highest-ranking authority in Impact but also a man instrumental in getting his career jump-started in America.
His descent and Swann's rise make for one of the most compelling main event programs in wrestling right now, and not nearly enough people are talking about it.
Swann is such a great, fiery babyface that is difficult to imagine this story working without him.
The stuff with EC3 and Moose continues to be one of the more interesting stories on the show, if only because it somehow seems both beneath the returning antihero and perfectly suited to him. The more serious turn from Moose here was much-needed and sets up a big undisclosed-location match between the two of them for October 24.
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