Pay-per-view air date: August 20, 2021
Impact Wrestling aired their Impact Plus special, Emergence, on August 20 and it was another very good show with a lot of good wrestling and promos and one outstanding Match of the Year candidate.
I want to give the man his due: Matt Striker has really improved his work since returning at Slammiversary. The talking over D’Lo Brown has mostly ended. The long, rambling run-on sentences just to get in some obscure wrestling reference have ended. I thought he and Brown were particularly good on this show, even a little funny but usually by accident (did Brown really need to explain what a punch to the face is supposed to do? Can Striker not just say “legs” and not “lower extremities”?). I especially like that Striker calls the match participants “fighters”.
Matt Cardona defeated Rohit Raju
Matt Cardona (with Chelsea Green) won a very good and competitive match over Rohit Raju (with Shera). Raju has been on a tear lately with some very high match quality. Cardona, in and outside Impact Wrestling, has been doing some great work and seems more invested than he has in years. A good way to start the show.
Decay defeated Tasha Steelz, Savannah Evans, Fallah Bahh and No Way
Continuing the intergender wrestling theme from the Homecoming special a couple of weeks ago, Decay–Crazzy Steve, Black Taurus, Knockouts tag champions Havok and Rosemary–defeated Tasha Steelz and Savannah Evans teamed with Fallah Bahh and No Way. A lot of comedy as expected but some good work. Evans made her in-ring debut here and got to look like a threat. Evans vs Havok was teased. That’s going to be good.
Steve Maclin defeated Petey Williams
Probably settling their very hot feud, Steve Maclin got the win over Petey Williams. Good, intense match with Maclin looking great. WWE had this guy and did nothing with him? This is Maclin’s first major win and continues his upward trajectory.
Madison Rayne defeated Taylor Wilde
Madison Rayne had a triumphant return, beating Taylor Wilde. This was Wilde again not being able to overcome the shenanigans of Rayne and her allies, Tenille Dashwood and Kaleb With a K, who interfered and cost her the match. She’s going to need help to get back on track to a Knockouts title shot.
Ace Austin defeated Moose, Chris Sabin, and Sami Callihan
“The Inevitable” Ace Austin (with tag partner, Madman Fulton) won his biggest match in a while: a four-way Number One Contender’s match, over Moose, Sami Callihan, and Chris Sabin. A fast-paced match that allowed everyone to have their shining moments and accentuate their individual strengths.
I’m not a fan of multi-person matches and this didn’t change my mind but it was good. Told good subtle stories of the three guys who have been in this world title chase for months–Moose, Callihan, and Sabin–being more focused on each other and Austin being smart and on his toes to pick up the win.
Josh Alexander (c) defeated Jake Something
for the Impact X Division Championship
The highlight of the night was the fantastic X Division championship match with “The Walking Weapon” Josh Alexander successfully defending against a hard-charging Jake Something. They made note that Something would be the first challenger to have a noticeable size advantage over Alexander (Madman Fulton faced Alexander in a non-title match) and that came into play with Something laying in some hard strikes and slams, offsetting Alexander’s technical wrestling advantage. Of the many big moments, Alexander hit Something with 10 Rolling German Suplexes. A pair of Jay Driller piledrivers were the weapons needed to put Something away. Awesome match.
Deonna Purrazzo and Matthew Rehwoldt defeated Melina Perez and Trey Miguel
Knockouts champion “The Virtuosa” Deonna Purrazzo and “The Drama King” Matthew Rehwoldt continued their momentum from winning the Homecoming tournament, this time beating Trey Miguel and Purrazzo’s NWA EmPowerrr title challenger, Melina Perez. Decent match. Perez still seems to be working herself into shape and they gave her a lot of in-ring time to do it. Purrazzo and Rehwoldt have some good chemistry and Miguel looked great as has become normal. Good finish with Rehwoldt pinning Perez after she was sucker-punched by Purrazzo from outside the ring.
The Good Brothers defeated Rich Swann and Willie Mack and Violent By Design
for the Impact World Tag Team Championship
The Good Brothers–Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson– were successful in defending their World tag titles in a three-way match, over the Violent By Design team of Joe Doering and Rhino and Rich Swann teaming with Willie Mack. Another solid affair with a lot of good work from all parties.
The physical nature of the Doering-Gallows match the previous night on AXS-TV (considering the taping schedule, it might have really been the actual day before) played into it as Doering was laboring at times and still selling getting slammed through the stage.
Rhino was pinned here as he was at Slammiversary to lose the titles. A very intense confrontation was had with Young and the rest of VBD being obviously frustrated with Rhino. Rhino might be in need of a friend. How is HEATH doing?
Main Event: Christian Cage (c) defeated Brian Myers
for the IMPACT World Championship
Christian Cage was able to successfully defend his World title in his first defense, against “The Most Professional Wrestler” Brian Myers (with protege Sam Beale) in what might have been Myers’ first-ever world title match.
Good match and a good main event to close the show. Myers was very game and Beale was able to swing the advantage his way a couple of times, taking a beating each time but Cage overcame him and won with the Unprettier.
An all-around good show with a great X Division title match.
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