Pay-per-view air date: May 7, 2022
IMPACT Wrestling held their Under Siege Impact Plus/YouTube Insider special, live from PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation in the Greater Cincinnati Area (Newport, KY), their last live special before their Slammiversary pay-per-view on June 19th. I don’t think it’s been commented on enough how the change in the IMPACT Wrestling taping schedule has helped the product.
They’ve gone from several days of TV tapings ending on an app special to starting with a live app special and a day or two of TV tapings has given everything an edge and ratcheted up the intensity in everything. This show started and featured new chapters in longstanding rivalries, title matches, and faction warfare.
The pre-show featured HEATH and Rhino beating Raj Singh and Shera in a competitive match and a last-minute match of Rich Swann beating AAA’s Laredo Kid and “Speedball” Mike Bailey in a must-see match that definitively puts Swann back in play for X Division title contention.
Gisele Shaw defeated Madison Rayne
The show proper kicked off with one-half of the Knockouts World tag champions, Madison Rayne of the Influence, falling to “The Quintessential Diva” Gisele Shaw in a good match. Shaw was accompanied by Alisha Edwards, who wants to team with Shaw in pursuit of the tag titles, and it was Edwards offsetting the interference of Rayne’s tag partner, Tenille Dashwood, that allowed Shaw to get the win with a hard knee to the face of a kneeling Rayne.
Chris Sabin defeated Steve Maclin
Chris Sabin and Steve Maclin faced in a hard-hitting one-on-one match, a rematch of sorts of their three-way match at Rebellion (won by Maclin and included Jay White), with Sabin picking up a big win, pinning Maclin with his Cradle Shock driver. Maclin lost but continued to look excellent in a losing effort. Sabin keeps winning matches where he’s the better underdog.
Taya Valkyrie (c) defeated Deonna Purrazzo
For the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship
Insanely passionate backstage interview with “The Virtuosa” Deonna Purrazzo before her attempt to regain the AAA Reina de Reinas title from her longstanding rival, Taya Valkyrie. This would be the rubber match between the two as Purrazzo defeated Valkyrie in her final match in her previous IMPACT Wrestling run and Valkyrie won last month at the Rebellion pay-per-view. Valkyrie won this one as well, holding off a strong challenge from a determined Purrazzo. “The Virtuosa” was so enraged with the result, that she attacked Valkyrie after the bell and locked her in her Venus Di Milo double chickenwing hold.
Lights out and a dance troupe hit the stage. ??? Then out comes Mia Yim, making her return to IMPACT after a five-year absence. Intense face-off with Purrazzo leaving and then rushing back to ambush Yim only to get hit with the Eat Da Feet Code Breaker.
Ace Austin (c) defeated Trey Miguel
For the IMPACT X Division Championship
X Division Champion “The Inevitable” Ace Austin was able to fend off the challenge of former champion and his own longtime rival, Trey Miguel in a great X Division title match. They fought like two guys who have a lot of violent history with Miguel coming on strong with his still not having ever beaten Austin in a one-on-one match. Miguel missed his top rope Meteora kneestrike and fell victim to Austin’s The Fold neckbreaker. Loved this one.
Honor No More defeated Bullet Club
Honor No More–Eddie Edwards, Kenny King, Vincent, and the OGK (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett with Maria)– proved to be the superior faction on this night, beating the Bullet Club contingent of “Switchblade” Jay White, “The Ultimate Finesser” Chris Bey, the returning El Phantasmo, and the Good Brothers (Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows). Started off as a huge brawl and settled into a very good tag match where all 10 men were allowed to shine on offense and fighting from underneath. Taven and Bennett hit their Proton Pack double-team finish on Anderson to pick up a huge win.
Tasha Steelz (c) defeated Havok
For the IMPACT Knockouts World Championship
Knockouts World champion Tasha Steelz didn’t have her muscle, Savannah Evans, to help her and still beat Havok of Decay in a successful title defense. Very well-told story of the much larger and stronger Havok matched against the much faster Steelz, who is 110lbs of p–s and vinegar. I liked this better than Steelz successful defense over Havok’s Decay comrade, Rosemary, at Rebellion.
The Briscoes defeated Violent By Design (c)
For the IMPACT World Tag Team Championship
New world tag champions are crowned as Mark and Jay Briscoe add the IMPACT Wrestling world tag titles to their resume for the first time, beating two time champions Violent By Design (Eric Young and Deaner) in a back and forth battle that saw the Briscoes pin Deaner after hitting the Doomsday Device clothesline. Suddenly, the Impact tag division is deep.
Former world champion Moose comes to the ring to vent his frustration at how he feels IMPACT management has disrespected him. He planned on preventing them from holding their world title main event. Lights out. Mia again???
Nope. The return of the Death Machine, Sami Callihan, who has been gone for six months after an attack by Moose (and W. Morrissey) left him with a broken leg.
Baseball bat to the stomach and Cactus Driver 97 piledriver and Moose is out of there. Great return.
Main Event: Josh Alexander (c) defeated Tomohiro Ishii
For the IMPACT World Championship
In a fantastic main event, “The Walking Weapon” Josh Alexander defeated New Japan superstar Tomohiro Ishii. Counter wrestling. Tough, tight strikes. Two strong men doing strong men shit for 20 minutes and giving us a classic. The live audience was split, leaning towards Ishii. It seemed Alexander was working with a harsher edge, similar to how Christian Cage did against him at Bound For Glory in October. Not a heel turn but not a white meat babyface either. Alexander hits two stiff elbows to Ishii’s head, a powerbomb, and then the C4 Spike piledriver for the win. Excellent match to close a damn good pay-per-view. This might be the first show they’ve had that could match Hard To Kill from January.
The Real Uncle Dave grade: A
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Reviews by Dave is the best wrestling review on the internet! It’s written by David Houston II, who writes about Impact Wrestling pay-per-view.
