Impact recap: Heath beat up when best friend doesn’t show

Impact Wrestling (Oct. 7, 2021) was a rough night for Heath. All the man wanted to do was reunite with best friend Rhino. Instead, he ended up on the painful side of a beatdown by Eric Young’s Violent by Design crew of ruffians.

Heath made a surprise appearance last week returning from injury to save Rhino from Violent by Design. The problem was that Rhino did not reciprocate the love. He ditched Heath when arms were open for a hug.

This week, Heath wanted to say his piece to encourage reconciliation with his best friend. Heath has had a rough year. He earned an Impact contract, but the rug was pulled away due to injury. Despite that, what really made Heath sad was losing his best friend. Heath didn’t put any blame on Rhino and believed it was a matter of cult tactics from Young. Heath just wanted to speak with his best friend and invited him out to the ring.

Enter Young and Violent by Design. Young threatened Heath to not interfere in his business. He didn’t want Heath to ruin the work put in to improving Rhino. Young ordered Heath to leave and never return. Heath wasn’t going out like that, so VDB beat him down. Young cracked a flag pole over Heath’s back as the final blow. The sad part was that Rhino never came out.

Impact is handling this story pretty well so far. Everyone wants Heath and Rhino back together, but Impact is drawing out the drama to hopefully create a memorable moment. The intrigue lays in how Heath eventually convinces Rhino to be his best friend again.

Let’s jam through the results from the past two weeks, starting with the September 30 show.

X-Division tournament: Trey Miguel defeated Alex Zayne and Laredo Kid in a triple threat. Announcers Matt Strike and D’Lo Brown both picked Trey to win the title at Bound for Glory. Constant pace of action throughout with creativity abound. Trey took advantage of Zayne hitting a flipping slam on Laredo. Trey smashed a running knee to Zayne then took flight for the Meteora double knees to pin Laredo. Trey advances to the X-Division Championship triple threat finale at Bound for Glory on October 23.

Backstage, Drama King was observing Laredo Kid’s artistry. Drama King wants to experience that poetry in motion up close and requested a match.

Moose and W. Morrissey apparently attacked Sami Callihan earlier in the day, and the Death Machine was taken to the hospital. (This was a way to write off Callihan due to suffering a broken ankle.) Due to their dastardly deeds, Moose will be banned from ringside for the main event street fight between Morrissey and Eddie Edwards.

Knockouts #1 contenders: Tenille Dashwood & Madison Rayne defeated Jordynne Grace & Rachael Ellering. Grace almost pinned Rayne on a Vader bomb, but Kaleb Konley conveniently placed Rayne’s foot under the ropes to break the cover. As Grace tried to confront Konley, the Influence teamed up on Ellering for a double-team face driver for the win. The Influence earned a tag title match against Rosemary & Havok at Knockouts Knockdown on October 9.

Christopher Daniels kept his reasons for coming to Impact a secret for now, while Christian Cage and Josh Alexander bickered with tension rising toward their world title fight at Bound for Glory.

Brian Myers coached Sam Beale, Zicky Dice, and Manny Lemons through a physical fitness test.

The Good Brothers proposed that Chris Bey & Hikuleo as the Bullet Club wrestle FinJuice to determine the next #1 tag contenders.

Deonna Purrazzo invaded Mickie James’ horse farm for a cinematic brawl (full details). Purrazzo stood tall in the end.

FinJuice recruited Chris Sabin to help against the Bullet Club’s numbers advantage.

Christopher Daniels defeated Madman Fulton. (Full details.) Daniels used a Best Moonsault Ever to win his return match in the Impact Zone.

Johnny Swinger was unsuccessful in convincing Scott D’Amore to cancel the move to Las Vegas. As a result, Swinger’s Palace underground casino was shut down.

D’Amore booked Ace Austin & Madman Fulton versus Christian Cage & Josh Alexander for the following week.

Heath returns! (Full details.) Violent by Design demand an answer from Rhino if he was still in the group. As Rhino stalled, Eric Young’s crew surrounded him. Heath made a surprise return to help his best friend. Rhino stood in the corner not picking a side and exited without hugging Heath.

Impact introduced a new championship. (Full details.) The inaugural titleholder for the Impact Digital Media Championship will be determined through tournament matches on Impact’s digital outlets.

Street Fight: Eddie Edwards defeated W. Morrissey. Both men beat the stuffing out of each other with plunder. Alisha Edwards got her revenge on Morrissey in the end. As the 7-footer was preparing to suplex Eddie onto open chairs, Alisha ran in to whack Morrissey with a kendo stick. That allowed Eddie the opportunity to powerbomb Morrissey onto the steel. On the count of 1, Morrissey kicked out with a roar. Eddie went to work with kendo strikes to the legs, shoulders, and head. Alisha held up a barbed wire chair for the Boston Knee Party. That sealed the deal.

After the match, Moose attacked and speared Eddie through a table. Morrissey forced Alisha to watch as Moose pummeled her husband with chairs.

Switching over to this week’s show on October 7. Continuing from last week’s Drama King challenge, the art aficionado went down in defeat to Laredo Kid on the BTI pre-show.

Bullet Club defeated FinJuice & Chris Sabin. Chris Bey, Hikuleo, and El Phantasmo represented the Bullet Club. ELP hit a low blow to Sabin, so Bey could close with the Art of Finesse.

Josh Alexander addressed the tension between himself and Christian Cage prior to their title fight at Bound for Glory on October 23. Alexander isn’t falling for mind games. He is going to prove his skills in the main event against Ace Austin & Madman Fulton. Christian will be Alexander’s partner, but it didn’t sound like Alexander was interested in tagging much.

Willie Mack is in the hunt for the X-Division Championship. He will wrestle Rohit Raju and El Phantasmo next week in the triple threat tournament. Zicky Dice and Manny Lemons interrupted, so a tag match was set for later in the show.

Tasha Steelz, Savannah Evans, & Mercedes Martinez defeated Kimber Lee, Brandi Lauren, & Lady Frost. Martinez did the work down the stretch, and Steelz took the pin. It came off as potential foreshadowing for the Knockouts Knockdown tournament final.

Afterward, Alisha Edwards bashed the undead brides with a kendo stick as revenge for abducting Swingerella #3. (Full details.) Security carried her backstage. Gail Kim booked a Monster’s Ball match with Alisha, Kimber, Evans, and Jordynne Grace.

Rosemary and Havok were guest hosts for The Influence’s talk show. Rosemary may have infested Tenille Dashwood’s body with a demon. Decay will defend their tag titles against the Influence at Knockouts Knockdown.

Moose and W. Morrissey are entering the Call Your Shot Gauntlet at Bound for Glory. They clarified that they are not friends. When it comes down to them as the final two, they will have no problem doing whatever it takes to win.

X-Division tournament: Steve Maclin defeated Petey Williams and Black Taurus in a triple threat. Williams landed the Canadian Destroyer on Taurus, but Maclin swooped in for his Mayhem finisher on Williams to win. Maclin advances to the X-Division Championship match at Bound for Glory.

Christopher Daniels told Christian Cage that he is coming for the Impact World Championship. (Full details.) Daniels wants the prize that he never won during his run with TNA/Impact.

Johnny Swinger packed up his illegal underground casino with jokes about old Impact items involving Dixie Carter and Jeff Jarrett.

Rich Swann & Willie Mack defeated Zicky Dice & Manny Lemons. A teamwork flying neckbreaker did the deed.

Afterward, Brian Myers, VSK, and Sam Beale beat up Swann and Mack.

Scott D’Amore demanded a no-contact clause between Deonna Purrazzo and Mickie James until Bound for Glory. To fill time between, he offered a Pick Your Poison challenge. Each woman gets to pick the other’s opponent.

Christian Cage & Josh Alexander defeated Ace Austin & Madman Fulton. Down the stretch, Alexander was wobbly but surging on Ace. Christian did the smart thing to tag himself in. Alexander hit a rolling German suplex, then Christian swooped in for the Kill Switch. Christian sensed frustration from Alexander, shrugged at him, then made the pin. Alexander was not happy and got lippy in Christian’s face, so the champ held up the title belt to rub it in his face.

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We’ll close with the updated Bound for Glory card.

• Impact World Championship: Christian Cage (c) vs. Josh Alexander
• Knockouts Championship: Deonna Purrazzo (c) vs. Mickie James
• X-Division Championship: Trey Miguel vs. Steve Maclin vs. TBD
• Call Your Shot Gauntlet: Rich Swann, Brian Myers, Moose, W. Morrissey, and more to be announced

The final participant in the X-Division match will be the winner between Willie Mack, Rohit Raju, and El Phantasmo. For the men’s tag division, the Good Brothers will likely face the winner between Chris Bey & Hikuleo and FinJuice.

Don’t forget to check out Knockouts Knockdown tonight (Oct. 9) at 8 pm ET on the Impact Plus app.

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

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