Impact recap: The IInspiration rub Knockouts tag champs the wrong way already

Impact Wrestling (Oct. 14, 2021) featured the Bound for Glory card filling out, W. Morrissey winning a battle royal, and Josh Alexander getting frosty with Christian Cage.

The show also introduced The IInspiration, sort of. Gail Kim was pleased with the outcome of Knockouts Knockdown when Rosemary interrupted questioning the wisdom of placing The IInspiration into a tag title match. Is it the right move to bring in two innocent humans who have never experienced the darkness of Decay in the Impact Zone? That’s when a deliveryman handed over a letter from Sydney, Australia.

The message read:

On behalf of Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay, The IInspiration, we’re excited to come to Impact Wrestling at Bound for Glory, where we get our much-deserved and hard-earned Knockouts Tag Team Championship opportunity. And as excited as we are, the fans are even more excited. And what an honor it will be for Decay to share the ring with us.

Please note, if this was not read aloud in an Australian accent, please start over from the beginning and read it again.

I now want to see a special Impact episode where everyone speaks with an Australian accent.

Let’s rocket through the rest of the show from beginning to end.

X-Division tournament: El Phantasmo defeated Willie Mack and Rohit Raju in a triple threat. Mack had momentum after a stunner to ELP. Chris Bey and Hikuleo caused a distraction for their Bullet Club buddy, so Mack took them out with a flying attack. ELP ended up pinning Rohit on a double hammerlock slam. El Phantasmo advances to the X-Division title match against Trey Miguel and Steve Maclin at Bound for Glory on October 23.

Ace Austin and Madman Fulton are on the same page to ensure Ace wins the Call Your Shot Gauntlet at Bound for Glory.

Savannah Evans defeated Lady Frost. A full nelson slam did the job. Afterward, Deonna Purrazzo came out to proposition Evans for the Pick Your Poison challenge against Mickie James. Evans accepted the offer.

Maclin will prove he thrives in mayhem when he becomes X-Division champion.

Rich Swann defeated VSK. Brian Myers made sure to send the Learning Tree goofballs to the back so they wouldn’t cost VSK the match. VSK lost anyway when Swann connected on a Phoenix splash.

Swinger’s Palace casino shut down for good with an emotional montage. Swingerella #1 confessed her love for Johnny Swinger, but the Swingman refused to be tied down to one lady. Swingerella #2 asked Chris Sabin to stay behind instead of leaving for Las Vegas. Sabin was dedicated to his one true love, the wrestling ring. Sabin reminisced about the good times at Swinger’s Palace. He loves that place.

Heath officially signed his Impact contract. (Full details.) He requested a tag match against Violent by Design at Bound for Glory. Heath wants Rhino as his partner. If his best friend doesn’t show, then he will wrestle solo against VBD.

Chris Sabin defeated Chris Bey. High-octane action with a Cradle Shock climax for Sabin to win.

Alex Zayne interrupted Trey Miguel’s interview, so a match was made for next week. Trey never pinned Zayne in their triple threat a few weeks ago, and Zayne aims to prove he is the better wrestler.

The Good Brothers once again requested that Impact book FinJuice versus Bullet Club in a #1 contender bout. Impact actually listened, and the match was announced for next week. The winners will wrestle the Good Brothers in a tag title bout at Bound for Glory.

W. Morrissey won a battle royal. (Full details.) Morrissey tossed out Chris Sabin as the final two competitors. Per the stipulation, Morrissey will enter the Call Your Shot Gauntlet at #20, while Sabin is #1.

Minoru Suzuki is coming soon to Impact.

The main event segment was a group interview with Christian Cage and Josh Alexander. Christian will defend the Impact World Championship against Alexander at Bound for Glory. The challenger had enough of the champion’s jokes. The discussion closed on a sour note when Alexander felt disrespected and stormed off.

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Solid matches this week from Impact with Chris Bey and Chris Sabin as the show-stealer. That is a feud worth exploring for a proper blow-off in the future.

The battle royal had fun moments with the Learning Tree saving Brian Myers then dropping the ball on the second save.

Feats of strength are always good for a pop, as evidenced by Madman Fulton pressing Brandi Lauren out of the ring.

Moose and W. Morrissey were enjoyable as a team with good chemistry. Their surliness plays well off one another. I know they have higher aspirations to win the Impact World Championship, but I’d love to see them as a twin towers tag team.

Too bad the show closed on a sour note. Josh Alexander has progressively made me dislike him for the feud with Christian Cage. Last week, Alexander was selfish in trying to prove his skills in the ring. Christian tagged himself in strategically to finish the win. It wasn’t a cheap cherry picking moment, and yet Alexander was offended. This week, Alexander threw a temper tantrum about an obvious joke. It wasn’t even an offensive joke. It was like Alexander’s pent-up frustration boiled over at the wrong thing and made him look like a chump. I was all aboard the Alexander train wanting to see him as the face of Impact, and now I am firmly rooting for Christian to retain.

We’ll close with the happy moment of Gail Kim offering Masha Slamovich an Impact contract at Knockouts Knockdown.

Share your thoughts on Impact Wrestling. What was your favorite match? Who stole the show?

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