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For just the fifth time in Impact history, they will host a Barbed Wire Massacre match as Steve Maclin, Moose and Sami Callihan will go to battle in the main event of Victory Road.
In the only title match on the Impact Plus special, X-Division titleholder “Speedball” Mike Bailey will defend against former ROH mainstay and booker Delirious. The champion’s next challenger at Bound for Glory will be determined in a Triple Threat Revolver match.
Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace will face Max The Impaler in non-title action as part of Masha Slamovich’s pick your poison stipulation ahead of their title match at Bound for Glory.
Mickie James will look to stave off retirement as she faces Gisele Shaw while Killer Kelly faces Tasha Steelz.
Honor No More’s Eddie Edwards, Matt Taven & Mike Bennett will face Josh Alexander, Heath & Rich Swann in trios action while the faction’s Vincent & PCO face the Motor City Machine Guns.
The countdown show will feature Bullet Club in a trios match.
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Countdown to Victory Road
The familiar Bullet Club theme hit as the Coundown to Impact began.
Bullet Club (Juice Robinson, Ace Austin, & Chris Bey) defeated Jason Hotch, Shogun, and Jack Price
This was a showcase match for Bullet Club with Hotch and Shogun getting the most offence from the opponents. Robinson was put over as a big time star, and hit heel run with Bullet Club is paying dividends as the fans treated him like one too.
Austin started the match with Hotch, with Austin scratching Hotch’s back. Bullet Club used a lot of Greco Roman back rakes. Bey was dropped by the larger Shogun, giving them a hope spot. Hotch hit a nice neckbreaker on Bey and knocked the rest of Bullet Club off the apron. Bey avoided a shoulder from Price and then tagged out to Austin. Robinson leveled Shogun with lariat, and nailed Price with the Left Hand of God before hitting the Rockslide for the pinfall.
–Gia Miller was with Heath, Rich Swann, and Josh Alexander, and asked them if they could co-exist tonight when they face Honor No More. All three men insisted that they could, and they would bring it to them like no one else ever has.
Tasha Steelz w/ Savanah Evans defeated Killer Kelly by DQ
The presentation of Killer Kelly here was incredible. She came across as a massive star and, pardon the pun, a killer. The finish of this match was horrible, though. The last thing I wanted to see in this match was a non-finish or a DQ (they weren’t clear on what it was).
Killer Kelly started the match sitting in the middle of the ring and begging Steelz to hit her. Steez came in and tried to kick Kelly, but Kelly immediately countered into a choke. Steelz escaped but it didn’t do her much good as Kelly hit a big boot and Steelz went to the floor. Steelz caught a kick and drove Kelly to the apron.
Steelz stomped on Kelly in the corner, and Kelly just smiled. Steelz hit a Sliced Bread #2 on Kelly for a 2-count. Kelly sat up smiling after a headbutt, so Steelz kicked her for a 2-count. Kelly hit a fisherman’s buster in the middle of the ring. Kelly got a cravat and hit some knees and hit a German suplex. Kelly hit a dropkick in the corner, but Evans distracted Kelly and Steelz hit a bulldog for a 2-count.
Kelly went for the Killer Clutch, but Evans wrapped a chain around her neck. Kelly necked Evans on the ropes and then grabbed the chain and tried to choke Steelz, but the referee stopped her and was going to DQ her, so Kelly choked out the referee with the chain and a Killer Clutch. What a horrible finish. Agents ran out and pulled Kelly off as the main card started.
Impact Wrestling Victory Road Main Card
The main card started with the X-Division Championship match.
Mike Bailey defeated Delirious to retain the Impact X-Division Championship
Bailey and Delirious were fantastic in this match, told the story of Delirious working over the back of Bailey, and delivered some great action. That was a fantastic opening to the Victory Road show.
Bailey used a series of hard kicks on Delirious. Delirious hit a dropkick off the middle rope and a neckbreaker on Bailey. Delirious was locking on a hand and arm choke, keeping Bailey from the ropes. Both men stomped on each other’s bare feet until Delirious released him. Bailey hit a series of kicks to knock Delirious down.
Delirious kept dodging kicks by changing directions as he ran the ropes and responded with a flying clothesline. Bailey hit a springboard moonsault over the ropes on Delirious after he rolled to the outside. Delirious decided to grab Bailey’s foot and bite it. Delirious hit big back suplex on the apron and then one on the floor on Bailey. Delirious ate a spinning kick in the corner, but Delirious pulled him from the ropes and hit a running knee in the corner before hitting shadows over hell for a 2-count.
Bailey nailed Delirious with a brutal looking superkick before hitting a moonsault into double knees. Delirious ducked a kick and locked in the Cobra Clutch before suplexing Bailey on his head. Speedball somehow got up and hit a kick before hitting the Flamingo Driver for the pinfall. This match was fantastic.
–The announcers talked about Joe Doering’s second battle with cancer, and a fundraiser auction they were doing on eBay for it.
–Honor No More were backstage, and Maria Kanellis and Kenny King hyped up how they were going to take over the company by taking the gold from everyone. Eddie Edwards asked if Vincent was going to handle business with PCO tonight, unlike last night on Impact. Vincent said that Edwards didn’t trust PCO but could trust him. Edwards than told King, Taven, and Bennet to send a message to Impact.
Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) defeated Honor No More (Vincent & PCO)
Fantastic tag match, as MCMG remains one of the best tag teams going, and PCO and Vincent are always fun to watch.
Shelley and Sabin were able to move faster than PCO, leaving him reeling after a few kicks from both men. PCO tagged out to Vincent, but MCMG continued their assault. Shelley and Sabin hit a series of double team attacks that ended with Shelley floating over the ropes into a crucifix pin, which was beautiful.
Vincent hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Shelley. PCO came in and leveled Shelley and they started to get the heat on him. Vincent came back in with a back suplex. They continued to beat on Shelley for several minutes, with PCO using his size and power to keep him isolated. Vincent accidentally hit a pump kick on PCO after Shelley dodged, and Sabin tagged in.
Sabin hit a missile dropkick on PCO and hit a bulldog on Vincent. PCO hit a splash on the back of Sabin, who was draped on the middle ropes after a DDT. MCMG managed to dump PCO through the ropes and to the floor with an ugly back bump before hitting a Corealis type move, learning form Aussie Open the night before.
Mickie James defeated Gisele Shaw
This was an excellent match, with Mickie James winning in the end. I’m quite sure James is heading towards retirement, but James remains fantastic in the ring, still having excellent matches at this stage of her career.
Gisele Shaw hit a lucha arm drag on James, but James was not put off by it for long locking an armbar on Shaw. Shaw hit a shoulder breaker on James, but James kicked out. Shaw drove James into the turnbuckle, targeting the shoulder. James pulled the apron out to trap Shaw after a baseball slide attempt. James hit a superkick on Shaw on the floor, but got driven face first into the middle turnbuckle as Shaw grabbed her arm and sent her into it.
Shaw did a tornillo dive, nailing James with it. James got nailed by the foot of Shaw on the way down, which looked painful. James dodged a knee strike and hit a kick to the face of Shaw for a 2-count. Shaw hit a full nelson into a backbreaker and then a flatliner for a 2-count. That looked awesome. James hit a Thesz press from the top rope for a 2-count. Shaw hit an enziguri for a 2-count on James. James countered a springboard with a kick and hit the MickDT for the pinfall.
Frankie Kazarian defeated Mia Yim, Laredo Kid, Trey Miguel, Alex Zayne, Kenny King, Yuya Uemura, Black Taurus in a triple threat revolver match
Miguel, Yim, and Laredo Kid started the match, with Kid working very fast in the opening moments driving both Yim and Miguel to the floor before hitting an Orihara moonsault to the floor on both of them. Kid hit a 450 splash on Yim and Miguel at the same time for a 2 -count. Kid targeted Miguel, but Miguel hit a cheeky Nandos kick in the corner.
Yim chopped Miguel off the top rope to the floor and hit a hurricanrana on Kid that she followed up with a tornado DDT and eat da feet on Kid for the pinfall. Alex Zayne joined the match next. Zayne hit a uranage on Yim, which landed on Miguel for a 2-count. Yim hit a crucifix bomb on Zayne for another pin, which the crowd exploded for.
Kenny King joined the match next, looking to get a win for Honor No More. Miguel hit a baseball slide dropkick on King. Yim and Miguel fought on the outside about who got to attack King, which seemed foolish as it is an elimination match. King hit a spinebuster on Yim and took out Miguel.
Yim almost got the pin on King, but he got his foot on the ropes to just escape. King rolled Yim up and pulled the tights to get the pin over Mia Yim. Yuya Uemura made his entrance next. King went right after Uemura because he has a victory over King before. Uemura hit a double chickenwing suplex on King. Miguel hit a page turner on Uemura to eliminate him.
Frankie Kazarian was the next entrant, and he went right after King and Miguel. Kazarian hit a DDT on King while Miguel hit a meteora on Kazarian. Kazarian caught Miguel with a crossface chicken wing for a submission and Black Taurus made his entrance. Taurus ran wild, hitting a pop-up Samoan drop and an elevated backbreaker on Kazarian.
Taurus hit several sling blades on King but Kazarian broke up the pinfall. King hit a spinebuster on Kazarian for a 2-count. King hit a superkick that sent Taurus to the floor before hitting a tiger driver on Kazarian. Taurus hit a belly-to-belly on Kazarian into Kenny King for a 2-count. Kazarian hit a Northern Lights suplex on King while bridging backwards on Taurus for a 2-count. That was awesome. Kazarian went for a chicken wing on Taurus, but he powered out. Kazarian hit a slingshot cutter on King got the pinfall.
–Taya Valkyrie asked for a rematch for the Knockouts Tag Team Championship at Bound for Glory. Jessicka said she would be Valkyrie’s partner. VXT showed up and bad mouthed them, so they laid Chelsea Green out.
–Bobby Fish made his way out to the ring, making his Impact debut. He said he was surprised at the controversy surrounding him lately without defining it too much, which is not the kind of insider stuff we need. That said, Fish said he was simply a guy who did his job well. He said Impact couldn’t fire him because he doesn’t work there. He complimented the Impact roster and indicated he was there to fight the best.
Shera & Raj Singh came out and said he was going to put Fish on his slap schedule. Fish asked who they are, and indicated he wanted to fight Shera. Fish kicked Shera in the face and then hit a suplex on Singh before hitting a hard kick to his back. Fish literally suplexed himself out of his shoes and then locked a heel hook on Singh.
The promo part of this sucked, but I liked Fish laying those two out.
Honor No More (Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, & Eddie Edwards) w/ Maria Kanellis defeated Rich Swann, Heath, & Josh Alexander
This was a fantastic six-man tag that setup the stories leading into Bound for Glory with Edwards pinning Alexander, and staking his claim for the Impact World Championship.
Alexander started the match with Mike Bennett and we got some nice technical exchanges. Alexander came face to face with Eddie Edwards, which is his main focus. Alexander tagged out to Swann, who continued the assault of Bennett. The less experienced team did well here, exchanging fast tags and keeping Bennett isolated.
Bennett managed to drive Swan back to his corner and Honor No More pounced and started triple teaming Swann. The OGK attacked Swann on the floor as Edwards distracted the referee. The heat on Swann continued for the next few minutes, with all 3 men of Honor No More getting lots of offence in.
Swann and Bennett collided with a crossbody attempt and Swann was able to tag out to Heath. The attack of Heath didn’t last long with Taven attacking the knee of Heath, and working over the injury that kept him out for over a year. Edwards and Alexander exchanged some hard chops, and woke up the crowd, with Alexander taking out both members of OGK.
Alexander went for the C4 spike, but Edwards countered into a blue thunder bomb. All six men then hit big moves, ending with Alexander nailing Edwards with a German suplex. Edwards hit a tiger driver on Alexander, but Swann and Heath broke up the pinfall. Swann was on the apron and couldn’t decide if he wanted to tag out to Alexander or help Heath on the floor, and he chose to help Heath.
Alexander had no one to tag, and as he had the ankle lock on Taven, Edwards hit the Boston knee party on Alexander and then hit the die hard driver for the pinfall. Eddie Edwards is the first man to pin Alexander in a long time, setting up their title match for Bound for Glory.
–Mickie James sat down next to Mia Yim and congratulated her on her performance in the Triple Threat Revolver before challenging her to a match at Bound for Glory, because she wanted to face the best.
Jordynne Grace defeated Max the Impaler w/ Father James Mitchell
Despite my criticisms of Max being stiff and a bit reckless in NWA, and even here in this match, Max would be a good fit for Impact. Grace looked good, and got the clean win over a monster heading into her match against Masha Slammovich at Bound for Glory.
Max immediately tried to choke Grace in the corner, which Mitchell made sure to stop Max from doing, as he did not want a DQ. Grace tried to stagger Max with a few shoulder blocks, but failed to do so. Max threw Grace into the apron with a slam out of a fireman’s carry. That looked brutal.
Max picked up Grace by the neck, choking her against the ringpost. Max dragged Jordynne Grace all over ringside, hitting a gut buster before hitting a huge crossface. Grace slammed Max on the ramp but only got a 1-count back in the ring. Grace hit a Vader Bomb on Max for a 2-count.
Max hit a spear on Grace for a 2-count. Max went for a superplex, but Grace hit a powerbomb out of the corner. Grace then hit the Grace Driver on Max for the pinfall.
–Jordynne Grace grabbed the mic after and said the match was difficult but that she was picking the poison for Slammovich, choosing Allie Katch to face Slammovich on the next episode of Impact in a Monster’s Ball Match.
–They announced that Raven was being inducted into the Impact Hall of Fame at Bound for Glory.
–Gia Miller was with Moose talking the main event as they got setup for it. Moose said it was the first time in a barbed wire match, but he was the only guy in the match that has been through everything Impact has to offer, including Monster’s Ball, Lethal Lockdown, and others.
Steve Maclin defeated Sami Callihan, & Moose in a barbed wire massacre match
Impact made the right choice in having Maclin go over here, as it was a chance to really solidify him as a top guy in Impact. They did just that by having him overcome both Moose and Callihan, showing incredible toughness and willingness to fight on, despite being a heel. Hard not to cheer for him when he is really more like a babyface in that regard.
Callihan dodged a charge from Maclin, sending him through a barbed wire wrapped door before hitting a Cactus Driver 97 on Moose. Moose hit a big boot on Callihan but stopped himself from hitting the ropes because of the barbed wire everywhere. Moose kicked up after a clothesline from Callihan and then hit a tope con giro on Maclin on the floor, but almost landed on his head.
Callihan sent Moose crashing into the guardrail and set up a table that had barbed wire all over it. Callihan did an attitude adjustment on Moose through the table, as Moose tasted the barbed wire for the first time. Maclin sent Callihan onto the apron and into the wire on the ropes before throwing the previously broken door at Moose.
Callihan suplexed Maclin on the floor, now covered in blood. Moose grabbed Maclin and sent him into the ropes before grabbing a rolling pin wrapped in barbed wire and rolling it across the face of Maclin. Maclin responded with a lariat that turned Moose inside out and then hit an Olympic slam for a 2-count.
Moose hit a giant super plex into the ring and as soon as he hit, Callihan nailed Moose with a barbed wire covered caution sign. All 3 men started to exchange hard strikes in the middle of the ring, and Callihan flipped them both off, leading to Maclin and Moose temporarily teaming up. Moose front suplexed Maclin on the ropes and turned around into a vertical suplex from Callihan into the ropes.
Callihan grabbed a chair wrapped in barbed wire yelling that this was a party for him. Because he’s wacky, you see. Callihan suplexed Maclin into the barbed wire covered chair. Callihan pulled out a Nintendo 64 controller covered in barbed wire and used it on the head of Maclin. Maclin did a snapmare and dive on Moose on the floor but ate a powerbomb from Moose into the barbed wire ropes.
Moose chokeslammed Callihan onto a ball of barbed wire for a 2-count. Moose went for the spear, but Maclin threw the barbed wire chair into his head. Callihan setup another table on the floor. Callihan laid Moose on the table and went for a Cactus elbow off the apron, but Maclin locked on a rear naked choke pulling him back against the ropes and choking him out.
Maclin went to the top rope with the barbed wire wrapped chair and flew off the top rope, hitting Moose with it, but the table didn’t break. Callihan started yelling for the referee to cut him out of the ropes. Maclin grabbed a trash can lid with barbed wire on it while Callihan grabbed a barbed wire bat. Maclin used the lid as a shield as Callihan used the bat like a sword. Callihan got the better of the exchange.
Callihan powerbombed Maclin into another barbed wire door. Callihan then hit the Cactus driver 97 but Maclin kicked out. Matt Rehwoldt said that this was another level compared to the warzones Maclin was in. It is not. What a ridiculous thing to say. Maclin hit a low blow on Callihan and hit the KIA DDT on Callihan onto the broken door for the pinfall.
Final Thoughts
This was a very good Impact Plus special, and did a lot to advance stories leading into Bound for Glory, and also provided solid action on its own. I give this show two thumbs up easy, and it’s absolutely worth the $5.99 a month for Impact Insider on YouTube, or the $9.99 as a stand alone show. This was a lot of fun to watch.
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