I frankly have no clue how this show will shake out. Always weird when one of the marquee matches is a multi-man, most likely, cluster of bodies and spots. SANADA returning to an Impact that isn’t on life support should be fun, Johnny Swinger with a title shot will be an experience and I’m guessing the Knockouts are the main event.

So with a lot of interesting but not exactly fire starting storylines…it should be interesting how this show goes. OH buy Hendry and Yuya debuted their new tag team name on the Countdown show, and its…its glorious. It is the perfect combination of meme garbage and actual humour.

"JOYA" is set for action on the #CountdownToEmergence!@joehendry @Im_YuyaUemura pic.twitter.com/asiWmGbnoz

— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) August 27, 2023

Ratings:

• NODQ: Eric Young vs Deaner w/Kon: EY wins via Piledriver – ** 1/2
• Knockouts Tag Team Titles: MK Ultra (Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly) (c) vs Jody Threat & KiLynn King vs Gisele Shaw & Savannah Evans vs Courtney Rush & Jessicka: MK Ultra retain via Exclamation Point – ** 1/2
• Digital Media Championship: Kenny King (c) w/Sheldon Jean vs Johnny Swinger: Kenny retains via Royal Flush – ***
• Tag Team Championship: The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel) vs SUBculture (Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews) w/Dani Luna (c): The Rascalz win via Treehouse Stomp – *** 1/2 – TITLE CHANGE!!!!
• Cinematic Killer Kowalski Back to School Match: Eddie Edwards vs Frankie Kazarian: Eddie wins – ***
• SANADA vs Jake Something: SANADA wins via Dead Fall – *** 1/2
• Chris Sabin, Josh Alexander, Alex Shelley & Kushida vs Moose, Brian Myers, Bully Ray & Lio Rush: Moose wins via Lights Out – ***
• Knockouts World Championship: Deonna Purrazzo vs Trinity (c): Trinity retains via Starstruck – *** 1/4

Results:

The show opens with graphics and a 10 Bell Salute for Terry Funk and Windham Rotunda. 

JOOOOOYAAA!@joehendry @Im_YuyaUemura @MeanGiaMiller #Emergence pic.twitter.com/VubRJl6Tuf

— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) August 28, 2023

NODQ: Eric Young vs Deaner w/Kon

Eric Young comes out in Maple Leafs colors and absorbing the home country advantage. Let’s hope this is the match that ends The Design forever.

EY lands a few quick shots and an early Dive onto Kon, we see Eric trying to even things out immediately. Uses Deaner as a weapon against Kon, grabs a ladder, hits Kon with it and introduces it into the ring. As soon as he does, Deaner turns things around in classic “taking too long” fashion.

Deaner hits the Drop Toe Hold on EY to put him into the ladder, and then Kon tips the ladder towards the outside and EY comes tumbling out of the ring. The Design starts to take full control, grabbing a few more weapons, and EY is on the receiving end of a lot, but manages to fight off the Staple Gun momentarily, but Deaner gouges the eyes and then staples in-between the fingers and under the armpit.

After getting shoved in a trash can and a chair is used to make some music on his head, Kon gets involved again. But EY brought handcuffs, cuffs Kon to the corner post and starts turning things around on Deaner. A few shots, returns the staples in the hand and armpit, then EY scales the ladder, Macho Man Elbow, for only 2! EY looks to Piledrive Deaner through two chairs, but Kon breaks out of the cuffs, approaches the ring, Low Blow from Deaner…and Chokeslam through chairs for 2.

As has become normal in IMPACT hardcore matches, we get a plywood board with barbwire. Kon and Deaner try to set up a tandem move, EY counters Deaner into Kon, then stacks both on his shoulders for a Stacked Death Valley Driver, Piledriver into the barbwire, and EY wins!

Knockouts Tag Team Titles: MK Ultra (Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly) (c) vs Jody Threat & KiLynn King vs Gisele Shaw & Savannah Evans vs Courtney Rush & Jessicka

Masha and Gisele start, and its fairly close counter wrestling. Dodging rope runs, Snapmares into nothing, and then as they stare down, KiLynn tags herself in and starts overpowering Masha. Masha counters the Powerbomb with a Frankensteiner, then tags in Kelly, and the champions are doing solid work. King manages a Stalling Suplex to finally stifle Kelly’s offense. Courtney breaks the pin, KiLynn starts to walk down Courtney and Jessicka tags herself in. Running Low Crossbody from Jessicka, Savannah blind tags, and then the SHAWntourage have a few quick tags just keeping Kelly in their corner and smothering the position.

Jawbreaker from Kelly rocks Gisele back into an enemy corner and KiLynn tags herself back in. King tries to distract the referee but Jody is too Babyface to cheat, KiLynn tags her in out of annoyance. A little clunky on their next offense, Jody gets hyped up by Death Dollz and she unwittingly goes into their corner to celebrate the solid offense and Courtney tags herself in. Death Dollz look to end the match, Kelly finally manages to get some space, tag in Masha for the hot tag and Masha starts beating all of the asses. Courtney tries a flash Schoolgirl while Masha is taking out Gisele and Jody, but only for two.

MK clear the ring, grab Courtney, Tandem Knee Strikes into their Exclamation Point, and MK Ultra retain!

Digital Media Championship: Kenny King (c) w/Sheldon Jean vs Johnny Swinger

Swinger is playing cat and mouse early on, Kenny chases him out of the ring, on the way back in Swinger kicks the middle rope and then follows it up with a Headbutt to the nards. Kenny fires back a little, Kenny tells Swinger to stay in the middle for the Running Shoulder Tackle spot, but Swinger doesn’t play by those rules. Swinger even pops in the old Mongolian Chops before Kenny catches him with the rotation Power Slam.

Kenny tries for Flying Knees into the corner, but Swinger moves. Short Jabs from Swinger into a Backdrop for 2. Sidewalk Slam from Swinger and then a Slingshot Leg Drop. King powders, Swinger hypes the crowd for a dive, King and Jean move, and then Baseball Slide from Swinger connects. Swingman goes high risk…Jean distracts the referee, but when Jean drops off the apron he crotches Swinger and then Ref Allison ejects Jean.

HEATH OUT OF NOWHERE with the Wake Up Call on King! Swingman goes for the pin…but only 2! We should have a new champion. Swinger goes back to the top, Kenny grabs him off the top and hits the Royal Flush to retain.

Tag Team Championship: The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel) vs SUBculture (Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews) w/Dani Luna (c)

SUBculture is a fun group, but anyone who has read some of my previous reviews knows I’m a big fan of Wentz. So even though I hate Trey…Wentz needs some gold. Go Rascalz.

Not gonna be a lot to write early, typical Junior style tag antics, with mostly quick counters and eventual tandem moves. Very color by numbers. Finally we get to some heel work where Wentz connects with the PK on Flash’s left shoulder, tags in Trey and Trey starts working on the left arm more. Flash tries to fire, misses on the Moonsault as Wentz knock Mandrews off the apron and then sinks in a Headscissors Kimura. Flash barely gets to the ropes and Rascalz tandem action continues. Trey kicks the Welsh out of Flash’s face, he powders, Trey follows and drops him on the apron, before rolling him back in and slingshotting an opportunistic move.

Wentz tags in, drops the leg and tries to continue but Flash with a quick Cradle, Wentz kicks out, then kicks him in the face. Trey tags back in and Flash finally gets some space and tags in Mandrews for the big comeback. Mandrews does his slide under the Double Clothesline into the Dual Pele Kick, lots of fun offense from Mandrews. Flash gets tagged back in, they kick Trey when he tries to rewind back, Stereo Tope con Hilos have everything rolling for SUBculture.

A lot of Tornado moments, Hot Fire Flame attempt but knees come up and Mandrews comes out of nowhere to hit Wentz with a Destroyer. Eaton Rifle on Trey, but only for 2. Wentz starts fighting Mandrews on the outside, Flash tries to get involved but misses Wentz and hits Mandrews. Hot Fire Flame from the ramp on both members of SUBculture. Trey hits the Webslinger for 2. ABC come down as Trey used the ref distraction to hit some spray paint, so no pinfall. Good Hands also come down, ABC vs Good Hands on the outside, Dani Luna with a big splash to kill the Good Hands. Stun Dog Millionaire into a Swanton Bomb for 1 -2 -…KICK OUT?

Cheeky Nandos from Trey, the top corner Tiger Feint, Reverse Death Valley Stomp finisher! RASCALZ WIN!

Cinematic Killer Kowalski Back to School Match: Eddie Edwards vs Frankie Kazarian

It was a nice cinematic intro, had vibes similar to Gargano and Ciampa (where Ciampa was also trained by Kowalski), and after an alright match, Lish shows up and distracts Frankie enough and Eddie wins. Frankie has this somber moment of reflecting being the failed babyface, and then to break the moment Lish cracks him with a Kendo Stick and Eddie says, “This is for you Walter…” and crashes the framed picture through Frankie’s head. So the match ends with some Kowalski lines being played over a totally defeated Kaz.

A little campy since its still wrestling, but honestly, not bad at all.

SANADA vs Jake Something

SANADA comes out in the Great Muta gear, referencing his Great SANADA time and that X Division title time. Ole Seiya Sanada is back in IMPACT.

SANADA keeps trying to tie up with Jake and Jake keeps shoving him off. They wrestle into the ropes a bit and SANADA decides to pull out his Milano Collection A.T. homage Paradise Lock in the ropes. Then he teases Jake since he can’t move, before landing the Sliding Dropkick to unlock the hold and start taking control on the outside. SANADA looks for a Manhattan Drop, Something rolls off and then runs through SANADA.

Front Headlock from Jake keeps things grounded until SANADA fights up and then eats a back elbow for his trouble. Jake charges, misses and rebound Saito Suplex gives SANADA some breathing room. SANADA goes to the top, misses a Double Axe handle, and as he gathers his balance and turns he eats a Spear from Jake. Powerbomb attempt gets countered by a Destino style counter, tries to start a Skull End, Jake fights it off…Magic Screw from SANADA! Kip Up from SANADA and play time is ovah. TKO gets a near fall. Moonsault for another near fall.

Dead Fall gets countered, SANADA tries to Moonsault into Skull End, but Jake catches and lands the Fire Thunder Driver! They both get up to their feet, Fighting Spirit spot, SANADA lands about a dozen chops and Jake just keeps asking for more. Dead Fall countered again, Jake counters a Frankensteiner by holding on and dead lifting into a Powerbomb for 2! Into the Void counter, Enzuigiri, into Shining Wizard, Dead Fall attempt 3 and Jake just shoves SANADA’s face into the mat. Big Haymaker levels SANADA, Into the Void again, countered with Dead Fall and SANADA wins.

Chris Sabin, Josh Alexander, Alex Shelley & Kushida vs Moose, Brian Myers, Bully Ray & Lio Rush

The heels chop block Sabin early and Rush thinks he’ll have an easy tie, but Sabin fights him off, rocks him so hard he stumbles into the face corner and we get some tandem Time Machine action. Time Splitters team up on Myers and a lot of quick tandem action from the smaller face team. Myers backs off into his corner, Shelley calls out Moose and then Moose calls out Alexander. So we respark the Josh and Moose heat.

Moose gets strung upside in the corner, and Josh does the homage to Petey Williams by…singing the Canadian Anthem in a compromising position. Josh tags in Sabin, Bully trips up Sabin on the ropes allowing Moose to tag out and Bully starts stalking Sabin. People are slugging it out in the ring and then both teams set up tables on their respective sides. A little odd, but since Bully did it first, it seems more like evening the odds.

Sabin has been isolated for a long time, but no real crazy moves of note. Josh does eventually get the hot tag, turns Moose inside out and Lio almost is too quick for Josh, but Josh eventually corrals him and then dumps him with a Suplex. Lio continues to juke and jive even Alex Shelley, Kushida catches him with the Tanaka Punch and then a Baseball Slide to the chest. Machine Guns misfire and Moose starts rolling for the heel team. Moose rocks Josh, looks for a Jacknife but Josh counters, Moose goes for his quick corner climb into the Crossbody but misses and gets caught with the Ankle Lock. Josh transitions the Ankle Lock into a Sharpshooter and Myers hits an elbow drop on the referee. Things break down with the signature spam spots and no referee. MOOSE hits the Uranage through a table! Rush hits the Final Hour on Kushida through the other table! Bully and Moose are teaming up on Shelley, but the lights go out and French Canadian Frankenstein appears!

Myers saves Bully from a Chokeslam through the table with a Low Blow. Now its Myers, Moose and Bully looking to Shield Bomb PCO through A TABLE! But PCO no sells it and sits right back up. Now PCO is eating through Moose and Myers, runs Bully out of the ring…but STEVE FUCKING MACLIN BLINDSIDES PCO! He locks eyes with Jos Alexander and like two dogs who hate each other, Josh goes right after Steve. God this is insanely over booked, but it has been entertaining as hell.

Josh favors his injured arm after Maclin wrapped it in the lighting equipment, Moose grabs him tries a cheap win but Josh kicks out. Then Josh gets shoved into Shelley and Shelley is hot about it. Shelley just walks away tells Josh to figure it out and Moose hits Lights Out for the win from the heel side!

We get a wrinkle in the face versus face match we thought we were getting, and then a promo video of Jordynne Grace returning. 

Knockouts World Championship: Deonna Purrazzo vs Trinity (c)

Gail Kim comes out to join commentary and I for one love that. Gail is the only North American women’s wrestler that I would hold in an all time Top 5. I am a fan of extra thicc main events though. 

Early moves are a little slow, not bad, but the pacing I suppose is because of how over booked the last match was with a return, PCO pop up and home country hero getting pinned. So Deonna eats a Disaster Kick and then powders for a bit. You Glow Girl tries a Flying Headscissors, Deonna stops the momentum and turns it into a Piledriver on the outside. After the piledriver, Trinity is neutralized and she’s eating some grounded strikes and Deonna trying to choke her out with the headlock. Trinity fires, Jawjacker, Double Lariat all fall down spot.

Trinity drops Deonna with the Samoan Drop, looks for her Kip Up but it is a little delayed in an awkward way. Trin does hit a Crossbody but then Deonna starts to string together a few moves, punctuated with a Pump Kick into a near fall for 2. Forward Leg Whip, Pentagon Style Arm Breaker into the Knee Lift, Side Russian, floats into Fujiwara Armbar. Trinity gets to the ropes, as Deonna tries to go into more offense she gets caught with the short Headscissors into the mat; then connects with a Moonsault for 2. Trinity goes back up top, Deonna cuts her off, they fight in the corner, Superplex from Deonna.

Trinity hits an S.O.S., tries to lift her into something after the kick out but Deonna fights back. Then we see Trinity almost sink in Starstruck but she sells the injured arm. Queen’s Gambit attempt but driven into the corner, Deonna charges out, eats a Bully Bomb into the Booty Bridge but only 2. Trin looks for an Avalanche Bully Bomb, Deonna fights off, tries the Fujiwara, but Trinity fights it off and manages to hit the Yoshi Tonic and put Deonna into Starstruck and Deonna loses by submission again!

Show ends with a teaser of Will Ospreay, who will apparently be at Bound for Glory. 

Overall Score: 7/10

Not a bad show, granted I know some of my general hype was dampened because of missing a few shows; but this was solid. Nothing really crazy and felt like a small touch above their old ImpactPlus App Event shows that were mid as hell most of the time. Zachary Wentz finally got some IMPACT gold, Steve Maclin is back, Moose pinning Josh could have main event ramifications for Bound for Glory, JOYA is gonna be my favorite things for a while, and it was nice to see Johnny Swinger actually put on a decent match.

Aside from those, the cinematic match was actually a perfect way to punctuate a feud that wasn’t really hot anymore, but give it a level of significance and SANADA coming back to Impact is nice. Especially since he was here during the dark age of Impact, so now at least people will watch the show with him on it. Even I stopped watch for a few years during that rough period and I was around since the Fox Sports Net days.

So a fun show, should be interesting to see what happens to get us to Victory Road and then Bound for Glory. But I suppose as a lesser event, it did its job. Fun spots, a few returns and nothing so insulting that I was questioning why I was watching the show.