Impact recap: Demons, virgin blood, & Suzuki

Impact Wrestling had a wild night (Nov. 18, 2021) with demons, virgin blood, and a marquee main event between NJPW’s Minoru Suzuki and Josh Alexander.

Impact is known for cheeky touches on the supernatural realm. They brought it full circle to reveal a special theme for their Thanksgiving night episode. Surprisingly, it all revolved around Johnny Swinger.

Swinger hasn’t been himself since his illegal underground casino was shut down. To make matter worse, he’s beefing with WCW’s The Demon about a strong resemblance to Gene Simmons. Swinger was joined by Hernandez and Fallah Bahh in trios actions against The Demon, Crazzy Steve, and Black Taurus. The Demon arrived from Detroit Rock City.

Things went from bad to worse for Swinger when The Demon slapped on a choke submission for victory.

Backstage, Swinger felt he was at rock bottom. John E. Bravo wanted to help cheer Swinger up like how he was happy in the days of Wrestle House. Rosemary flashed in with an offer for assistance. All she required was Bravo’s virgin blood.

It turns out that Bravo set up a Wrestle House reunion with help from Rosemary. She took everyone back to where it all began for Wrestle House 2 on Thanksgiving night.

That was an unexpected turn of events. There’s no telling what could happen this time around. The original Wrestle House set a storyline in place that ended in Bravo being shot at the altar in a wrestle wedding with Rosemary, a whodunit mystery, and Taya Valkyrie being dragged to jail as the culprit for a murder plot.

Unrelated to those hijinks, Minoru Suzuki battled Josh Alexander in the main event. Impact had been building toward this match for weeks, and the payoff delivered in an intense slugfest.

Suzuki was extremely aggressive in bashing Alexander on the floor. Back in the ring, Suzuki turned up the heat even more with rough fisticuffs.

Alexander’s instincts kicked in for survival when Suzuki locked in a sleeper hold and transitioned for a Gotch piledriver. Alexander sandbagged to counter with a back body drop. Alexander picked up steam for a rolling fireman’s carry slam and a flying knee to the head. That’s when the dance of submission counters commenced. The transitions were fast and furious between ankle locks and sleepers. In the end, Alexander caught Suzuki by surprise with a rolling elbow strike. A forearm smash stunned Suzuki long enough to set up the double underhook piledriver for victory.

Alexander’s run of awesome matches continues by winning a battle with the Japanese legend. That is a quality notch on Alexander’s résumé as he gears up for revenge on Moose in his quest to regain the Impact World Championship.

Let’s blitz through the rest of the show.

Matches:

• Steve Maclin defeated Laredo Kid. Maclin knocked Laredo off the turnbuckles and speared him in the tree of woe. An inverted front facelock piledriver won the bout. Per stipulation, Maclin earned his way into the X-Division Championship bout at Turning Point.
• The IInspiration defeated Undead Bridesmaids. Jessie McKay and Cassie Lee isolated Brandi Lauren for a teamwork powerbomb for victory. Afterward, the full Decay crew surrounded the IInspiration and picked up the Knockouts tag titles to send a message of fear for their rematch at Turning Point.
• Doc Gallows defeated Hikuleo. Gallows used an eye gouge to set up a double goozle sitdown slam for victory in a hard-hitting hoss fight.

Promos:

• Bryan Myers beat Sam Beale in a match on the BTI pre-show, then the teacher hit the former student with a conchairto. Rich Swann was upset about that, so he challenged Myers to a match at Turning Point.

• Since Maclin’s talking point is that he has never personally been beaten in three-way losses, Trey Miguel will focus on pinning him in the triple threat title defense.
• Ace Austin flaunted his ‘I beat Chris Sabin’ t-shirt and declined a rematch request. Sabin quickly convinced him to take the contest at Turning Point. Ace attacked, but Sabin had the last laugh by locking Madman Fulton in a freezer.

• Chelsea Green won a #1 contender match earlier in the week to face Jordynne Grace for the Impact Digital Media Championship. When Green sets her sights on something, she gets it. (In response, Grace respects Green’s skills, but she won’t be losing her title.) Matt Cardona talked up coming close to becoming #1 contender for the world title and claimed his readiness to be next in line. W. Morrissey cut him off to declare he’s in line before Cardona. A match was made for jockeying position at Turning Point.

• Moose attacked Eddie Edwards backstage. They brawled to the ring, where Moose brought out a chair and a table. Moose tried to break Eddie’s neck again, but Eddie fired back with a Boston Knee Party. Edwards set up a ladder, then Moose escaped before more violence could take place. Backstage, Scott D’Amore booked a Full Metal Mayhem stipulation for the world title fight at Turning Point.
• Mercedes Martinez came to Impact to dominate. She’s coming to take the Knockouts Championship from Mickie James at Turning Point. Later, James spoke about her excitement to wrestle someone she respected. She thought she was helping a friend last week, but now it is time for Hardcore Country.

• Deonna Purrazzo made her first appearance on Impact since losing the Knockouts Championship. She gave snippy and evasive answers to interview questions. The Virtuosa has the ability to learn and adapt. Purrazzo’s message was that we will have to wait to see her next move.

• FinJuice were in the dumps about losing out at a tag title opportunity. D’Amore pumped them up to regain their focus for a match against Decay at Turning Point.
• Eric Young is going set Rhino free by building a monument of violence on his back.

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The stage is set for Impact’s Turning Point special event airing live at 10 pm ET on Saturday night (Nov. 20) through the Impact Plus app and their YouTube gimmick. The full card for Turning Point includes:

• Full Metal Mayhem Impact World Championship: Moose (c) vs. Eddie Edwards
• Knockouts Championship: Mickie James (c) vs. Mercedes Martinez
• X-Division Championship: Trey Miguel (c) vs. Laredo Kid vs. Steve Maclin
• Impact World Tag Team Championship: Good Brothers (c) vs. Bullet Club’s Chris Bey & Hikuleo
• Knockouts Tag Team Championship: The IInspiration (c) vs. Decay’s Rosemary & Havok
• W. Morrissey vs. Matt Cardona
• Ace Austin vs. Chris Sabin
• Eric Young & Joe Doering vs. Heath & Rhino
• Brian Myers vs. Rich Swann

The pre-show includes:

• Impact Digital Media Championship: Jordynne Grace (c) vs. Chelsea Green
• FinJuice vs. Decay’s Crazzy Steve & Black Taurus

The action in the ring should be enjoyable, but I don’t anticipate any title changes. Four of the five champions were newly crowned last month at Bound for Glory. If I had to predict new champs, I’d go with Bullet Club. They would add a fresh vibe to the division.

However, if there are no title changes, it makes me wonder what else Impact has in store to produce newsy headlines. Scoopmaster George Iceman wasn’t much help. He wondered, “Will we see possibly one of these free agents debut in Impact Wrestling?” Also, he’s wearing a black turtleneck against a black background to look like a floating head.

Generally, when Iceman offers generic insights, it is for a reason. I suspect Iceman knows more than he lets on, and there will be a surprise name or two appearing at Turning Point. Remember that it is not just free agents from WWE. ROH has talent to add into that mix as well.

Share your predictions for Turning Point. Which faces new or old would you like to see pop up in Impact Wrestling?

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