Welcome to another edition of POINTS OF IMPACT—a breakdown of the top moments of this week's edition of Impact Wrestling.
This segment will fill you in on the most important parts of the show worth checking out or keeping up to date with, in case you missed this episode of Impact Wrestling.
Without further ado, let's inspect the biggest takeaways of the week!
IMPACT WRESTLING: MARCH 23, 2023 RESULTS
#5 - A Fun Opener
This week’s impact started with Time Machine, the MCMG and Kushida, Vs the Design’s Deaner, Kon and Angels in six-man action. As the names involved suggest, from an in-ring standpoint alone this was a great match, the fast paced offense of Time Machine contrasting perfectly with the aggressive, more vicious offense of the Design. This match is also notable, however, for the story beat late into the match.
Callihan’s loyalty to the Design has been in question as of late, what with accidentally costing Kon his match against Kazarian at No Surrender, and his justifiable rage ar Step Six, when Kon and Angels cost him his match as payback. Tonight however, there was no hesitation in Callihan, who ran into the ring and took a blast of offense from Time Machine, taking a bullet for his Design brethren. Whether this was an act of genuine devotion, or a calculated move to avoid suspicion is up in the air.
What isn’t, however, is the result of the match. Despite Callihan’s interference, Time Machine would pick up the win after Angels tapped to Kushida’s Hoverboard Lock.
#4 - Delayed Denouement
While Giselle Shaw and Deonna Purrazzo are set to clash tonight at Sacrifice, Deonna competed in a warmup match on last night’s Impact, against Shaw’s recent bodyguard and ally, Savannah Evans. This was a nice showcase for Deonna as a babyface, fighting from underneath, getting the crowd behind her. While Deonna has been a heel for the vast majority of her Impact run, the crowd have always been behind her, and tonight was no different.
Evans played the brutal heavy excellently for her part, tossing Deonna around the ring with ease, fighting smart as well as viciously. It takes two to tango, and the Cannibal was a more than capable dance partner for the Virtuosa. After Shaw and Jai Vidal tried to interfere on behalf of Evans, this backfired, allowing Deonna to pick up the win with a crucifix.
After the bell however, Shaw and co beat down Purrazzo, including Evans nailing her Full Nelson Slam, and Shaw landing the Denoument knee strike. Purrazzo might have got the win, but the segment ended with Shaw, Vidal and Evans standing tall.
#3 - A New Chapter Of Decay
Impact wrote off Taya Valkyrie this week, seemingly banishing her to the Undead Realm in a backstage segment. The Death Dollz were seething at the loss of their titles backstage, Jessicka in particular eager to get revenge, questioning how they could have lost with Rosemary’s magic on their side. This caused Valkyrie ti panic, and insist Jessicka stay away from the Coven, and magic, but Jessicka would have none of it, storming off.
Sent by Rosemary to retrieve her, Valkyrie would find Jessicka staring into the white light emitted from the coffin, which in the past has served as a portal to the Undead Realm. Worried Havok would re-emerge, Valkyrie shut the coffin and admonished Jessicka, but a pair of hands creeped out of the ajar coffin, and grabbed Valkyrie, pulling her through the portal, sending Jessicka running to get Rosemary.
I love Rosemary and co’s antics. I wish more wrestling was fun like this.
#2 - Busted Open PPV Plans
As I’m sure some of you will have heard by know, Mickie James is shoot injured and unable to wrestle at Sacrifice tonight. However, with Impact taping a month of shows at a time, James did appear in a match on last night’s Impact, teaming with Tommy Dreamer against Masha Slamovich and Bully Ray.
In what was, in this writer’s opinion, perhaps a sleeper hit for match of the night, this was an incredibly fun mixed tag, all four competitors playing off each other well. Bully and Dreamer will of course be facing off in a Busted Open (First Blood) match at Sacrifice, and Masha was eager to get some revenge on Mickie, having narrowly lost to Mickie via a roll-up at No Surrender.
If comedy isn’t your thing, this match might not be for you, but if it is, it’s a blast. Moving along at a quick pace, Mickie and Dreamer hitting the Wazzup on Bully, and a callback to the infamous “Taz! My balls!” moment from a decade ago, and even a “Get the Tables!” moment, this match was a breeze to watch. In the end however, Masha and Bully would pick up the win, after a low blow/piledriver combination to Dreamer by Bully.
Masha and Bully would attempt to beatdown Mickie after the bell, only for Jordynne Grace to make the save. Kind of. After cracking Bully Ray with a kendo stick, she went to spear Bully, but he dodged, meaning Grace ended up wiping out Mickie instead.
#1 - Vulnerabilities Mental and Physical
On a similar note, I’m sure most of you have heard that Josh Alexander’s record-breaking reign has come to an end, Alexander relinquishing the title due to a triceps tear that requires surgery. It’s unfortunate news, and Alexander deserved a much better end to his reign than that, having put the company on his back over the last year.
The man set to be his opponent at Rebellion, Steve Maclin, will instead face Kushida, who got a submission victory over Alexander at Battle In Valley, at Rebellion to crown a new world champ for Impact. As stated above however, these shows are taped a month in advance, and so I want to draw attention to Maclin’s promo.
After having played mind games with Alexander’s friend Rich Swann throughout the night, Maclin answered Alexander once Alexander called him out to the ring, and did something few heels ever do. He admitted vulnerability. Maclin admitted that he was scared of challenging Alexander and losing, going to the back of the line. He admitted that he’s picked his moment, waiting until he felt absolutely confident he’d walk away with the win. Backstage footage showed Maclin watching Alexander from backstage for months, scouting the champion, learning about him.
Not only does this paint Maclin to be a smart competitor, waiting for the right moment, picking his spot, preparing, it shows him to be human. Maclin, like all of us, fears faliure, fears the humiliation that might come with it, fears being yesterdays news. In a business as cutthroat as wrestling, that rings true. Maclin put a spin on a wrestling trope with his promo, and at least one person (this writer) came away from it more invested in the match.
Here’s hoping both Mickie James and Josh Alexander make swift recoveries.
What did you think of this week's episode of Impact Wrestling?
Do you think any other moments stood out on this show?
Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
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