Impact Report, 2/2/23

Join us tonight for up to the minute results from the latest episode of Impact Wrestling.  Coverage begins at 8pm.

Match 1.  Bullet Club, Chris Bey and Ace Austin VS Kushida and Kevin Night

Kushida makes another appearance for Impact.  He is becoming a regular at this point.  Night and Bey start it off.  Impact is also performing in front of larger crowds again.  Bey slips threw the ropes and trips Night and then double stomps him.  Night springboards off the ropes and splashes Bey and follows it up with more high spots.  Kushida tags in and dropkicks Bey.  Night tags right back in and whips Bey to the corner.  He then spring boards himself to Bey, but Chris dropkicks him and he and Ace tag and go on the double team.  Ace and Bey were runners up in the NJPW Best of the Super Juniors tag tourney.  It shows.  They are excellent together.  Bey and Ace trade tags and work over Night in the corner.  Kushida wants in and Night finally tags.  Kushida comes in hot with a cartwheel dropkick.  Kushida blocks the Art of Finesse and turns it into an armbar.  Night tags in with a ridiculously high dropkick.  Kushida and Night then double team the BC.  Ace hits a series of kicks.  Bey goes to the top, but Kushida catches him.  Ace kicks Kushida to the floor, only to be knocked off the apron by Night.  Night tried to springboard to the floor, Bey hit the Art of Finesse on the apron.  Unreal.. Another Art of Finesse and Fold later and the BC gets the pin.  Incredible.

Winners by pinfall, Ace Austin and Chris Bey

Deaner has a vignette where his threatens punishment to Sami Callihan for not winning his match last week.  Kon and Angels look down on him.  Deaner tells Sami he must win or else tonight.

Steph De Lander will debut next week.

Match 2.  Giselle Shaw (with Jai) VS Savanna Evans

Tasha Steelz has abandoned Evans, but she doesn’t seem to care.  Shaw tries to play tough to start the match with some slaps, but Evans just manhandles Shaw.  Evans hip tosses Shaw and Giselle bails to the outside and we take a commercial break.

As we return, Shaw has gained an advantage.  The crowd is behind Evans.  Evans sidewalk slams Shaw, but neither are quick to their feet.  Finally they stand and trade blows.  Evans hits a few clotheslines and a Samoan Drop.  Shaw somehow tricks Evans and gets the pin.

Winner by pinfall, Giselle Shaw

Shaw grabs the mic and calls herself the Black Widow of Impact Wrestling.  She names a bunch of talent she ran off.

Kenny King loses it on some backstage help for what he feels is disrespecting.  King then challenges Johnny Swinger and Zicky Dice to a match.  The match is then made with Santino Marella, who then gets bothered by Fandango.

Match 3.  Crazzy Steve (with Black Taurus) VS Sheldon Jean

Jean hits a huge dropkick on Steve to start off, but Steve battles back quickly.  He snaps his neck and then bites him.  After hitting a cannonball in the corner, Steve hits the belladonna’s kiss and gets the win.

Winner by pinfall, Crazzy Steve.

Trey Miguel attacks Black Taurus from behind, but Steve stops Trey and steals his spray paint and then chases him off.

Jordynne Grace comes out and challenges Steph De Lander next week.

Santino Marella and Raven have a comedy vignette backstage.

Bully Ray heads out to the arena and messes with some kids in the stands.  He even starts scaring small children.  One father had to step in from of his frightened daughter.  Bully grabs a mic, but gets a you tapped out chant as he enters the ring.   The boo’s from the fans are getting to him.  He can’t even get a sentence out.  He says he is starting to think people don’t like him.  He adds that nobody in the business likes him.  He said he wasn’t invited to the 6 pack challenge last week.  He warns Santino he should remember what happened to the last guy in charge.  He then says he never liked Tommy Dreamer either.  He says Dreamer is the biggest phony in the business.  He calls him a snake.  Mickie James enters the arena and heads to the ring.  Mickie says Bully has the audacity of calling Tommy a snake who politics to get what he wants.  Mickie tells Bully to get the hell out of Impact Wrestling.  Bully says get the smirk off your face because he will smack her in the face.  He warns her to be careful.  He says he can do worse than slamming her like he did a few weeks ago.  He then calls her a tramp.  Mickie slaps him in the face.  Bully then slams her, but doesn’t let go.  He then sets up a piledriver.  Skyler and Hutch get a table and Dreamer comes in with a kendo stick to make the save.  Dreamer says they need to settle this.  Mickie and Dreamer challenge Hutch, Skyler and to a match.  Santino Marella enters.  Santino says the match will happen next week.

Killer Kelly has a vignette backstage about Taylor Wilde.  Wilde walks up and says she doesn’t want to fight her, she wants to join her in a team.  Wilde is a witch and makes the Death Dolls appear.  This sets up a match for the future.  Jessica and Taya Valkyrie look scared.

Match 4.  Johnny Swinger (Zicky Dice) VS Kenny King

King hits the royal flush and it is over that quick.

Winner by pinfall.  Kenny King

King then calls out all the champions saying he is putting them all on notice.

Bully Ray walks up to Masha Slamovich and tells her it is good to meet her.  He then reminds her how disrespectful Mickie James is to her.  He tells her she should knock out James for the disrespect.  Slamovich responds in German. (I think)  She walks off with Bully smirking.

Matt Cardona and Brian Myers cut a very bad rap song about Joe Hendry.  Everyone backstage thought it is was terrible.

Main Event.  8 Man Tag.  Impact World Champion, Josh Alexander, Frankie Kazarian, Rich Swann, and Yuya Uemura VS The Design, Sami Callihan, Deaner, Kon and Allen Angels

Number 1 contender, Rich Swann will be teaming with the champion, Josh Alexander.  We will see if this moves that story forward.  Deaner won’t allow Sami to do the thumbs up/thumbs down hand gesture.

Deaner forces Sami to start the match with Rich Swann.  Sami works over Swann and tags in Angles.  Swann gets the best of him and Yuya tags in.  Yuya and Angels go for a minute and tags Deaner and Josh in.  They trade chops.  Deaner then starts biting Josh.  Everyone meets in the ring as the tension meter rises.  The fan favorites dump The Design.  Swann then dives to the floor on them.  We go to break.

Frankie is all over Angels as we return.  After a leg sweep, chop and spring board leg drop, Angels needs a tag.  Swann tags in.  Angels catches and slams him mid air.  Deaner tags in and slows the pace down.  He goes to the ground and pound until he tags Kon.  Kon rips at the neck and face.  Sami tags in briefly and holds the advantage.  Deaner tags in and they keep Swann in their corner.  Sami helps in the corner.  Angels tags in and hits a neck breaker for a two count.  Kon tags in and he backdrops Swann into a splash from Angels off the top.  Deaner tags back in and locks on a front face lock.  Swann tries to shorten the ring, but Deaner pulls his hair to the floor.  Kon tags back in and lays in the boots, slowing Swann from getting to his corner.  Sami tags in and taunts his foes.  Swann shakes free from the corner and kicks Sami in the head.  Alexander tags in and he starts hitting Germans on everyone in his path.  Josh locks on an ankle lock on Kon.  Kon boots free, but eats a Yuya missile drop kick.  Sami gouges his eyes and goes for a piledriver.  Deaner stops the thumbs up again.  A spotfest picks up and everyone hits their best moves.  Uemura gets pulled from the top rope.  Sami hits the cactus driver 97 for the win.

Winners.  The Design and Sami Callihan

The show ends with The Design starting to warm up to Callihan.