Impact recap: 10-man tag recruitment turns Death Machine into hero

Impact Wrestling (Sep. 9, 2021) featured the Bullet Club bringing Hikuleo through the Forbidden Door, Mickie James ready to go Hardcore Country on Deonna Purrazzo, and Sami Callihan thawing the frostiness with Eddie Edwards.

One of Impact’s strengths is when they run an angle that plays out through the entire show. The story on this occasion revolved around Ace Austin challenging Christian Cage for the Impact World Championship at Victory Road on September 18. To warm-up for the bout, a 10-man tag was scheduled for TV next week, and both captains needed to recruit a squad.

It began with Ace proposing a fair deal. Since Ace had to wrestle Tommy Dreamer last week, he had the idea for Christian to wrestle Madman Fulton next week. Scott D’Amore upped the ante to a ten-man tag. With Madman already on the team, Brian Myers was the next recruit on Ace’s list. The Most Professional Wrestler accepted the top guy opportunity.

The next chapter saw Christian recruit Josh Alexander. The X-Division champ was in. It would be an honor to share the ring with a legend. Alexander also teased it would be an even bigger honor to wrestle against Christian for the world title one day.

Christian’s next step took place after the X-Division title contract signing for Alexander versus Chris Sabin at Victory Road. Sabin said yes.

Christian tried to round out his quintet with Eddie Edwards and Sami Callihan. The problem was that Edwards still didn’t trust Callihan. Eddie made an ultimatum that Christian has to choose either him or Sami.

Ace’s final two came looking for him. If Edwards and Callihan were in the match, then W. Morrissey and Moose wanted to be there.

Ace’s team was locked in. Christian had the dilemma of choosing Edwards or Callihan. Luckily for Captain Charisma, the situation worked itself out during the TV main event.

Edwards went to the ring solo for another round of fisticuffs with Moose. Morrissey was ringside to assist Moose. That paid off when he placed Moose’s foot on the ropes to break up a precarious pinning situation. Edwards retaliated against Morrissey, and that opened the window of opportunity for Moose to spear Edwards for victory.

The big men weren’t finished with Edwards. They commenced to pummeling, which led to the 10-man tag participants running out for a brawl. Callihan was the only one absent. Moose and Morrissey had control to punish Edwards even more. Alisha Edwards ran out with a kendo stick to save her husband. Morrissey was ready to chokeslam her when Callihan finally arrived with a baseball bat. Sami handed a second bat to Eddie to take turns hitting Morrissey. Edwards finally accepted Callihan enough to join Christian’s team.

That was an enjoyable story playing out. I have to admit that I’m a sucker for movies where they put a team together, such as The Magnificent Seven, Dirty Dozen, Ocean’s Eleven, so needless to say I loved the recruitment process. It blended smoothly into other scenes and all made sense. Impact went above that by also weaving in story elements in the process. The biggest was the icy relationship between Edwards and Callihan.

By saving Alisha, Callihan went from Death Machine to hero. It’s fitting for Callihan to eventually become the good guy, since he is one of the core players that makes up Impact’s soul. It would be fun to root for the odd couple duo of Callihan and Edwards if they decided to chase tag team gold.

Also, I pop hard whenever Alisha saves Eddie. How can you not cheer the bond of love that compels her to save her husband from men twice her size? Double also, the way Ace uses his cane reminded me of Bill McNeal on NewsRadio. Everybody loves a cane.

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

Matt Striker and D’Lo Brown were on commentary.

Rosemary defeated Tasha Steelz. Rosemary struck with a spear to win.

Steelz had the last laugh post-match. Savannah Evans stepped into the ring with no fear to stare down Rosemary and Havok. That allowed Steelz to snatch the Knockouts tag titles off the mat. When Decay turned their attention to Steelz, Evans clubbed them with a double clothesline.

Eric Young baptized Rhino to cleanse his weakness. In the depths of darkness, the truth was found. It is time to fulfill destiny in their purest form.

Bunkhouse Brawl: Karl Anderson defeated Rich Swann. Wooden boards and low blows were the tactics of choice. Luke Gallows interfered setting up Anderson for victory via Gun Stun cutter to Swann onto a table that did not break.

Mickie James was in a producer role when asking Deonna Purrazzo to participate in NWA Empowerrr. James is now in wrestler mode. After Purrazzo attacked her at NWA 73, the champ will learn what Hardcore Country is all about.

Drama King is coming for Trey Miguel next week. He admires Trey’s artistic style in the ring and wants to experience it up close.

Rohit Raju and Shera criticized Matt Cardona for hiding behind Chelsea Green. She wanted a real man to take control last week, so Rohit kneed her in the face.

David Finlay defeated Chris Bey. Bey tried to win on a roll-up with his feet on the ropes again, but Juice Robinson returned from injury to help his teammate. Finlay used the distraction to win on a roll-up.

After the match, Bullet Club big man Hikuleo arrived on the scene to help Bey beat up FinJuice.

TJP visited Swinger’s Palace casino to bet on Steve Maclin beating Petey Williams. Undead Kimber Lee was snooping around the corner. She might have had her eye on collecting souls of the Swingerellas.

Steve Maclin defeated Petey Williams. Maple Leaf Muscle was in control looking for a Canadian Destroyer when TJP took matters into his own hands to ensure his casino bet paid off. TJP started a conga line with No Way Jose. The distraction worked and allowed Maclin to hit his finisher for the win.

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Solid show all around. Tasha Steelz lived up to her name by stealing the tag titles. I look forward to her prancing around as self-proclaimed champ next week, since possession is 9/10ths of the law. Eric Young’s Violent by Design story continues to be intriguing. To be honest, I’m not fully sure what Young is talking about, but it sounds cool. Three cheers for Mickie James getting back into the wrestler’s mindset. I can’t wait for her match against Deonna Purrazzo. Add in the overarching ten-man tag story and the Bullet Club surprise of Hikuleo to make an interesting path toward Victory Road.

We’ll close with Heath getting in shape for a return to Impact.

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

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