IMPACT Wrestling delivers on glorious return to Chicago
(Thumbnail photo above courtesy IMPACT Wrestling)
By Mike Pankow
October 23, 2019
A main event that told a great story, a death-defying ladder match and an intergender battle royal packed with surprises were among the variety of bouts that defined another strong show from IMPACT Wrestling on Sunday night at the Odeum in suburban Chicago.
“Bound For Glory” displayed once again the upward momentum of the company during the Anthem Sports & Entertainment era under the direction of Ed Nordholm, Don Callis and Scott D’Amore. IMPACT remained on a roll after its latest pay-per-view attraction in front of a sold-out crowd in Villa Park.
“We knew it was going to be small, incremental changes and improvements, that over the course of time, we’re going to make things better,” said D’Amore, IMPACT Wrestling’s Co-Executive Vice President. “After fans had been disrespected and cheated on and misled, we had to re-earn their trust. I think over the last two years, we’ve start to mend that relationship and that trust with the fans. To me, we’re on the verge of something really cool.”
Sami Callihan piledrives Brian Cage into a metal barrier during the IMPACT World Championship match at “Bound For Glory” on Sunday. (Photo courtesy IMPACT Wrestling)
“The Machine” Brian Cage retained the IMPACT World Championship with a victory over Sami Callihan in a no-disqualification match in the main event. After several weeks of Callihan torturing Cage, including piledriving his newlywed wife Melissa Santos, Cage pulled out the victory.
It appeared Callihan was going to break through and win his first major world championship when he piledrove Cage on thumb tacks in the middle of the ring, but Cage kicked out at a one count. He countered with a powerbomb and then drove Callihan to the mat with a Drill Claw to the tacks, which Callihan introduced moments later.
The match got started quickly before the ring announcer could formally make introductions. Cage opened up Callihan’s forehead and drew more blood when he scratched his foe’s head with a Wolverine claw which was part of his special entrance gear for the evening. Later on, Callihan delivered a “Cactus Special” piledriver to Cage onto an overturned metal ringside barrier. It was story between a deranged, desperate man in Callihan with a hunger to win a world title against the defending champion out to defend his wife’s honor.
In the semi-main event, former NFL offensive lineman Moose defeated UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock in a bit of a clunky, but hard-hitting affair. Shamrock, 55, pulled off a hurricanrana like he would in his heyday back in WWE in the late 1990s. But Moose prevailed after getting some help from his corner man, Frank Trigg, and scored the pin after his spear.
In the lone title change on the night, Ace Austin won a thrilling and barbaric five-way ladder match to win the X Division Championship in match featuring defending champ Jake Crist, Tessa Blanchard, Daga and newly-signed Acey Romero, who was offered a contract the night before at “All Glory” at 115 Bourbon Street after his victory over Larry D.
“It feels amazing. It’s a dream come true, really,” said Crist before he lost his championship. “I used to watch the X Division growing up. I always wanted to be part of it. To be champion is surreal to me.”
Blanchard appeared to finally clear all of the hurdles to win the title before Crist’s associates from oVe stormed the ring.
Ace Austin pulls down the X Division Championship belt to win the five-way ladder match. (Photo courtesy IMPACT Wrestling)
First, Blanchard took care of Dave Crist, Jake’s brother. Then 6-foot-8 Madman Fulton came out to attack Blanchard before she was able to subdue him with a hurricanrana to the ladder. Blanchard ascended the ladder only to get met by Jake Crist at the top. She threw Jake off the ladder and through a table and had a clear path to the X Division belt hanging from the rafters.
With oVe vanquished, Blanchard had her hand on the title when Austin jumped onto the ladder and smacked her with a baton, knocking her off the ladder. Austin grabbed the belt to secure his first championship in IMPACT to the dismay of the crowd, which was in full support of Blanchard.
The crazy match also featured a sick bump by the 350-plus-pound Romero, whom Blanchard pushed off the ladder from inside the ring and through a table that was setup on the floor at ringside. The ladder also tumbled down to the floor and very nearly bounced into the first row of fans.
Gritty veteran Michael Elgin defeated Marufuji from Pro Wrestling NOAH in a hard-hitting affair that started slowly and built into a nice crescendo. Before the show, Elgin said that he wasn’t done pursuing the IMPACT World Championship and perhaps a Slammiversary rematch with Cage is in the cards.
“If anybody paid attention to Slammiversary, you had a champion who calls himself ‘The Machine’ beat me with a roll-up,” Elgin said. “To me, a roll-up is a win, but my personality says a roll-up doesn’t get the job done. I think Brian is the same (way). I want that championship. It doesn’t matter who I’m in there with, they’re in for the fight of their life.”
In an action-packed three-way tag team match, the North (Ethan Page and Josh Alexander, two wrestlers very familiar to the Chicago audience) retained the IMPACT World Tag Team Championships by outlasting the teams of Willie Mack & Rich Swann and Rob Van Dam & Rhino. Late in the match, RVD turned on Rhino was a stiff kick out of nowhere. Then Van Dam delivered shots to Mack and Swann before leaving the ring, leaving the North to pick up the scraps.
Taya Valkyrie continued the longest IMPACT Knockouts Championship reign with a victory over fan favorite Tenille Dashwood. Dashwood came close to winning the title on a couple of occasions, but some interference from Valkyrie’s manager John E. Bravo turned the tide and Valkyrie hit the Road to Valhalla to lead to the pin and extend her reign, which is approaching 300 days.
In the opening match on the main show, Eddie Edwards outlasted 19 other wrestlers to win the “Call Your Shot” gauntlet match, a Royal Rumble-style intergender battle royal. Edwards now has the right to challenge whichever champion he chooses on the IMPACT roster.
Edwards started the match as the No. 1 entrant and survived until the end. He hit the Boston Knee Party and scored a pin on Mahabali Shera to win the match. Per the rules of the match, eliminations occurred when a wrestler went over the top rope and both of their feet hit the floor until the final two competitors were left standing, in which the winner would be determined by pinfall or submission.
Kylie Rae was a surprise entrant in the “Call Your Shot” Gauntlet Battle Royal. (Photo courtesy IMPACT Wrestling)
During the course of the match, surprise entrants included Chicago’s Kylie Rae, Swoggle (fka Hornswoggle), the tag team of Reno Scum and Joey Ryan. Reports surfaced during the show that Ryan signed a new contract with IMPACT after working on the independents over the last few years.
Shera caught serious heat from the crowd after he eliminated Kylie Rae and Jordynne Grace within seconds of each other.
Sunday’s show capped a three-day swing through the Chicago area and northern Indiana with Friday’s “Prelude To Glory” show taking place in South Bend at the Palais Royale and Saturday’s “All Glory” event at 115 Bourbon Street that featured local and Midwestern independent standouts and IMPACT meet and greets.
“All of the Bound For Glory events have been awesome,” D’Amore said. “To go to South Bend and have a great, little show like ‘Prelude,’ get out there, put that out there on the IMPACT Plus app. The idea of (Saturday) was, we’re in town, we’re here, let’s get everybody under one roof, let’s get out there with the fans and let’s have a fun time. Let’s have our athletes go out and mingle with the fans, getting a little rest before such a big day (Sunday) and let’s showcase some of the great independent talent that’s out there that we’ve been so lucky to work with. And the feedback I’ve gotten so far is really positive. For myself, I thought it was fun thing and something we need to look to continue to explore and expand that in the future.”
Ringside chatter: A couple of matches were taped before the pay-per-view for the “This is IMPACT” special that aired Tuesday night on AXS. Madison Rayne defeated Shotzi Blackheart and the Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier, Trey Miguel and Zachary Wentz) defeated Dr. Wagner Jr., Aerostar and Taurus in a six-man Lucha-style match. … Several independent wrestlers were in attendance, including Jay Bradley, Pat Monix, Isaias Velazquez, GPA, Laynie Luck, Elayna Black, Storm Grayson and Alex Zayne. Warrior Wrestling staff Steve Tortorello and Eric Hamilton were also in the crowd. … In a couple of the featured matches from Saturday’s “All Glory,” Monix won a five-way match against GPA, Velasquez, Bryce Benjamin and Brubaker and Laynie Luck retained the Zelo Pro Women’s Championship by winning a three-way match with Blackheart and Kylie Rae.
Catch Windy City Slam editor Mike Pankow talking local and national pro wrestling every other week on The Broadcast Basement, available wherever you download podcasts or at https://broadcastbasement.podbean.com/.
