Impact recap: Special referee Sami Callihan was as crooked as you’d assume

Bound For Glory goes live (full card) at 8 pm ET on Friday, October 7. But first, there was activity to square away for the go-home episode of Impact Wrestling. One item on the agenda was Moose and Steve Maclin in singes action with Sami Callihan as special guest referee. The Death Machine was as crooked as you would assume in that role.

Moose and Maclin has suspicions not to trust Callihan, but they duked it out anyway. Their suspicions were confirmed when Callihan mockingly enforced rules then changed his mind and backed away. Callihan also added peanut gallery comments throughout to entertain the crowd.

Callihan continued his shenanigans on pinfall counts. Maclin connected on a spear in the tree of woe. Callihan was very slow to start his count. 1, 2, Maclin angrily released the pin to confront Callihan, which didn’t make much sense on Maclin’s part.

Callihan didn’t play favorites. He screwed Moose as well on a pinfall count. Moose executed a double goozle chokeslam to Maclin off the turnbuckles. Callihan was way out of position with his back turned on the pin. He blamed the move’s heavy impact to the mat bouncing him into the corner. Moose confronted Callihan about that baloney excuse, so Callihan taunted Moose to hit him and see what happens.

In the end, Moose crushed a spear on Maclin. Callihan made the count. 1, 2, thumbs up, thumbs down. Callihan attacked Moose for a piledriver. Callihan also hit a piledriver on Maclin, but he rolled Maclin’s limp body on top of Moose to determine the winner. Callihan counted three in favor of Maclin.

In other action from Impact Wrestling:

• Frankie Kazarian defeated Kenny King. Kaz withstood King’s offensive onslaught to kick out of a tiger driver. King picked up his opponent in a fireman’s carry position, but Kaz grabbed the top rope to prevent a finishing maneuver. When King shook Kaz free, Kaz escaped in the air to counter for a chickenwing submission. King tapped out.
• Mia Yim defeated Gisele Shaw. Yim evaded a running knee in the corner to pounce for Eat Defeat. Mickie James was ringside and shared a staredown with Yim for their bout at Bound For Glory.
• The Call Your Shot Gauntlet will have 20 competitors with 5 slots for surprises. Killer Kelly entered the match in a promo, then Tasha Steelz and Savannah Evans roughed her up to enter the match as well. Later, Joe Hendry grabbed the final spot as his music played with backstage crew dancing. (Full details here.)

• Brian Myers called out potential stiffs for his Impact Digital Media Championship open challenge at Bound For Glory. A Violent By Design goon ran through.

• Taya Valkyrie & Jessicka defeated Swingerellas. Squash. Sliding German suplex from Taya led to a Sickishi Driver from Jessicka. This match was about building team chemistry prior to their tag title bout against VXT at Bound For Glory. Deonna Purrazzo and Chelsea Green were not worried about this challenge. (Full details here.)

• Alex Shelley defeated Matt Taven. Teaser for OGK defending the tag titles against the Motor City Machine Guns at Bound For Glory. Despite frequent interference from Matt Bennett and Maria Kanellis, Taven was bested in the end. Shelly countered out of the Climax finisher to rally for a Shell Shock to win.

• Eddie Edwards clashed one more time with Josh Alexander prior to the Impact World Championship main event at Bound For Glory. Alisha Edwards dropped a bombshell. She’s tired of Eddie’s Honor No More treachery. Alisha threatened to leave her husband. Either Honor No More ends or their relationship does. (Full details here.)

• Knockouts Championship contract signing. Jordynne Grace aims to hand a loss to Masha Slamovich as a learning experience at Bound For Glory. Slamovich coldly replied, “Masha’s going to kill you.” Slamovich flipped the table over on Grace. The champ rallied, but the challenger escaped a musclebuster to hit the Snow Plow through a table. (Full details here.)

• The episode also aired several hype packages for Bound For Glory. They’ve been compiled as one in a preview video. The PPV is available for viewing through Fite TV (here).

The go-home show to Bound For Glory hit all the bases touching on each feud and elevating anticipation for the PPV. The Knockouts Championship contract signing was executed very well with Masha Slamovich’s subtle reactions and confident coolness in the face of Jordynne Grace. Not to mention an eruption of violence. That’s what I love best about contract signings. Sure, it’s a cliche at this point, but it doesn’t matter to me. Give me all the fisticuffs during contract signings.

The wrestling action was solid with Frankie Kazarian, Mia Yim, and Alex Shelley picking up valuable momentum. All three scored slick finishes to show they can never be counted out in the face of failure. My favorite moment of the show came on how Gisele Shaw took Eat Defeat. Her stiffness made the move look more devastating than usual.

Share your thoughts on Impact Wrestling. What were your favorite matches and moments?