Impact Victory Road recap: Josh Alexander defeats Chris Sabin to cement X-Division legacy

Impact Victory Road featured four title fights, but one stood out above the rest. Josh Alexander defended the X-Division Championship against Chris Sabin in a barn burner. The story was about cementing career legacy. Alexander rolled in holding the title for 146 days, while Sabin was looking to become a 9-time X-Division champ.

The contest went close to 20 minutes with no rest for the weary. It maintained a constant pace of activity. Sabin was shifty early to frustrate Alexander, but the champ closed the distance into the corner to land power blows.

Sabin used his speed to get an edge on the outside for a running cannonball off the apron.

Alexander rebounded with a running body block. Sabin returned fire for a flying crossbody.

The match settled into telling the story of Sabin focusing on Alexander’s neck with a DDT and two neckbreakers in quick succession. Later, Sabin hit a swinging neckbreaker on the floor.

Alexander went with slams and suplexes to grind down Sabin. The champ’s bread and butter relied on the ankle lock. He applied it a few times throughout, but Sabin was often quick to escape.

Sabin’s closest chance at a title change occurred when he locked in a crossface submission. As Alexander was close to the ropes, Sabin transitioned for a roll-up. Sabin went back to the submission well by taking a bridging German suplex then grabbing an arm for a tight hammerlock. Alexander picked the challenger up for an Air Raid Crash to break free.

Alexander snatched the ankle lock once again. This was his most effective application to this point. High drama was built around Sabin trying to escape. When free, Sabin uncorked a superkick. That contact woke up Alexander to shift into a higher gear for the finish. Alexander fired up for a full nelson suplex and a double underhook piledriver for victory. Respect was shown between both competitors after the bell.

Let’s break down the rest of the results.

Impact World Championship: Christian Cage retained against Ace Austin. (Full details here.) Christian used wily veteran know-how in the end by shoving Ace into the turnbuckles to bounce back for an Unprettier. Afterward, Josh Alexander declared Option C to cash in the X-Division Championship for a world title shot at Bound for Glory on October 23.

Impact World Tag Team Championship: Good Brothers retained against Rich Swann & Willie Mack. Good Brothers had control setting up a Magic Killer to Mack, but Swann made the save. Luke Gallows crushed Swann with a powerbomb onto the apron. That cleared the path for a successful Magic Killer on Mack to win.

Knockouts Tag Team Championship: Rosemary & Havok retained against Tasha Steelz & Savannah Evans. Havok and Evans shared hefty hoss fight moments, but Rosemary stole the scene with GREEN MIST! She spewed the liquid into Evans’ eyes. Havok pressed Steelz out of the ring onto Evans. Rosemary rolled Steelz into the ring for a piledriver from Havok to win.

Moose & W. Morrissey defeated Eddie Edwards & Sami Callihan. Alisha Edwards was ringside with a kendo stick, because she didn’t trust Callihan. Eddie and Sami worked like a veteran tag team against the pair of bulldozers. The match blew up in the end. Moose snatched Alisha’s kendo stick. Eddie ducked a swing and put Moose down with a piledriver. Morrissey had the insurance policy to prevent the pin by picking up Alisha over his shoulder. The distraction allowed Moose recovery time to hit a spear on Eddie. Morrissey dragged Alisha into the ring to powerbomb her anyway.

Eddie carried his wife to the back for medical attention. He apologized to Callihan on the way out. Sami was no match for the bruisers. They pounded him hard for Moose to end it with a spear.

Bullet Club defeated FinJuice. Chris Bey and Hikuleo represented the Bullet Club against the duo of David Finlay and Juice Robinson. The story was the health of Robinson’s injured leg. He moved well enough and started feeling the groove toward the end. Bey made sure to attack the weak joint with a chair. That allowed Hikuleo to finish Robinson with a fireman’s carry Michinoku driver.

Matt Cardona defeated Rohit Raju in no DQ. Cardona attacked from behind during Rohit’s entrance. Shera was there to provide a 2-on-1 advantage and neutralized Cardona with a chokeslam backbreaker. Rohit felt confident at the damage done, so he sent Shera to the back.

Violence was dished out using chairs and a trash can. Cardona picked up steam by using a low blow. He threw a chair for Rohit to catch as a ploy for a flying dropkick to the chair to the face. Cardona connected on Radio Silence for the pin, however, Shera returned to break it up. Cardona mounted Shera for Radio Silence on the entrance ramp.

That was enough of a distraction for Rohit to take charge again by throwing a chair at Cardona then hitting his running knee finisher. Rohit wasn’t content to go for the pin. As he placed a chair around Cardona’s neck, Chelsea Green ran to the ring to blast a pump kick. Cardona capitalized with Radio Silence for victory.

Taylor Wilde defeated Tenille Dashwood. Madison Rayne, Kaleb Konley, Jordynne Grace, and Rachael Ellering were ringside. The Influence interfered often to give Dashwood the upper hand. Once Grace and Ellering protested physically, all four were ejected.

The match progressed back and forth. Dashwood gained momentum with a neckbreaker into the ropes. As she charged for a kick, Wilde evaded the strike and countered with a bridging German suplex to take the win.

Laredo Kid defeated Black Taurus, John Skyler, Jake Something and Trey Miguel in a five-way. This bout showcased total non-stop action. Down the stretch, Taurus took down Trey and Jake on a corkscrew suicide dive. That left Laredo and Skyler to battle in the ring. Laredo came out on top via belly-to-belly Spanish fly for victory.

Steve Maclin defeated TJP and Petey Williams in a three-way. Maclin roughhoused his opponents setting up a spear into a double tree of woe. In the end, Maclin dodged a mamba splash, but TJP landed on his feet. Unfortunately for TJP, Williams pounced for a Canadian Destroyer. Maclin swiftly picked up Williams for an inverted facelock sitdown slam. Williams rolled out of the ring allowing Maclin to pick up the safe pin on TJP.

Victory Road put on a solid show inside the ring. The world title and X-Division matches are both worth checking out if you have interest in the competitors. Green mist from Rosemary and W. Morrissey’s powerbomb to Alisha Edwards were eye-openers. The five-way was full of high-octane action, and the three-way opener wasn’t far behind.

The future title scenes should be an interesting development toward Bound for Glory. Christian Cage versus Josh Alexander is set for the Impact World Championship. For the Knockouts Championship, the direction is strongly pointing toward Deonna Purrazzo versus Mickie James. Laredo Kid has momentum toward attaining X-Division gold. He would definitely be worthy to fill the title vacancy. Steve Maclin would be a quality choice as well. Impact has done a good job establishing his persona and skills after being a non-factor elsewhere.

The next tag team challengers are wide open. Chris Bey & Hikuleo would be an intriguing option to mix the new Bullet Club with the old Bullet Club in the Good Brothers. Eddie Edwards & Sami Callihan worked well as a unit. They have potential to be the next great odd couple. For the women, Jordynne Grace & Rachael Ellering might get the call. That would be a fresh matchup for Rosemary & Havok.

Share your thoughts on Victory Road. What was your favorite match? Who stole the show?