NJPW Strong Tag Team Champions Aussie Open will make their promotional debuts Thursday as they face Bullet Club's Ace Austin & Chris Bey on Thursday's Impact on AXS.
Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis recently made a splash on U.S. TV with their trios run alongside Will Ospreay on AEW Dynamite and will resume United Empire's war with Bullet Club tonight.
The Digital Media Championship will be on the line as rivals Brian Myers (c) and Bhupinder Gujjar go into battle.
For the first time ever, No. 1 contender Eddie Edwards will look to take care of Heath who has made Edwards' Honor No More faction a target since his return.
Knockouts Tag Team Champion Chelsea Green faces former champion Taya Valkyrie in singles action.
NJPW's Yuya Uemura will make his promotional debut as well.
The BTI pre-show match will feature former ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champion Shane Taylor making his Impact debut against Decay's Crazzy Steve.
The opening video recapped Honor No More defeating The Good Brothers for the world tag team titles last week, Mickie James announcing her Knockouts world title journey and Heath's pursuit in permanently taking out Eddie Edwards and HNM.
Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) vs Bullet Club (Ace Austin & Chris Bey)
Aussie Open attacked Bullet Club before the bell rang but Austin was able to switch momentum pretty quickly. It didn't last long however as Fletcher and Davis were hungry and soon grounded BC.
Austin continued to be double teamed but was able to make the hot tag to Bey and Aussie Open was now in a world of hurt. Fletcher was face planted by Austin and Bey followed up with a Frog Splash but they could manage a two count before Davis broke up the pin attempt.
It was now all Aussie Open at this point as they setup and executed Coriolis on Bey and that was all she wrote making the current NJPW Strong tag team champions looking dominant in their Impact debut.
WINNERS: Aussie Open
Backstage, Honor No More (minus PCO) was focused on gaining more titles while Eddie Edwards concentrated on taking out Heath later on tonight.
Backstage, Gia Miller was with former world tag team champions The Good Brothers. Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson stated that while they lost the titles, they were focused on winning the titles again. Before they could continue, they were interrupted by Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin of the Motor City Machine Guns. MCMG stated that they've never faced the Good Brothers two-on-two. Gallows responded that sounded like a Bound For Glory main event before challenging them to a match next week.
Mickie James vs Raychell Rose
In what was expected to be a squash, Rose actually looked strong against the former Knockouts champion, potentially on her retirement tour. After some back and forth offense, James eventually landed the Mick-DT to pickup the win as commentary played up why every win mattered for James at this point.
WINNER: Mickie James
Backstage, Scott D'Amore was with Mia Yim. Kenny King interrupted and told Yim to leave and then asked D'Amore what he was missing. D'Amore stated that while he and Mike Bailey can tear up the house, Bailey was going to be busy next week facing Máscara Dorada. D'Amore then announced that since King was so impatient to compete, he would face Yuya Uemura coming up next.
Backstage, Gia Miller was with Steve Maclin. Miller asked Maclin about his sure deal with Moose but Maclin downplayed it. Miller followed up by stating that if there was no allegiance, why was he teaming with Moose next week to take on Decay. Maclin took offense and took off.
Yuya Uemura vs Kenny King
For those unaware, Uemura is a NJPW young lion and a spitting image of a young New Japan legend known as "The Ace" Hiroshi Tanahashi.
Uemura took full control on the match early on until King was able to ground him in the corner as we headed to commercial break. Back from commercial and King was in control until Uemura nailed a great dropkick to regain momentum.
Back and forth action was taking place in Uemura's Impact debut but as King looked to hit the Royal Flush, Uemura escaped as the fans chanted for the former young lion.
King attempted to gain momentum using some heel tactics but Mia Yim came down to the ring to prevent King from securing the victory. After Yim broke up a pin attempt by King, Uemura was able to capitalize and head to the top rope and land a flying crossbody to pickup a huge victory in his Impact debut.
WINNER: Yuya Uemura
A video promo aired featuring Sami Callihan, extremely focused on his upcoming match at Victory Road against Moose and Steve Maclin in a Triple Threat Barbed Wire Massacre match.
A promo aired for "Big" Joe Doering and the "Keep Calm and Kick Ass" t-shirt available now at ShopImpact.com with 100% of the proceeds going to Joe Doering and his upcoming battle against brain cancer.
A promo aired featuring Deaner and Eric Young of Violent By Design. Young challenged Deaner and as Deaner accepted the challenge, a group of followers chanted "Violence" alongside VBD.
Chelsea Green (w/Deonna Purrazzo) vs. Taya Valkyrie (w/Rosemary & Jessicka)
Both women started out hot looking to gain control of the match before Valkyrie showed she was way too powerful for one-half of the Knockouts world tag team champions.
Green would not give up however as she showed her fellow British Columbian why she was indeed an Impact champion. After Green failed to hit her finisher, Purrazzo, Rosemary and Jessicka all got involved in the match but Valkyrie couldn't put Green away despite all of the chaos. Green eventually capitalized with the Unprettier to score the victory as Decay scrambled to pickup the pieces.
WINNER: Chelsea Green
Backstage, Gia Miller was with Knockouts world champion Jordynne Grace. After Grace commented on the forthcoming challenge of Masha Slamovich, she was soon greeted with the message of "Mashas Gonna Kill You" showcased on a locker room wall.
Brian Myers vs. Bhupinder Gujjar For The Digital Media Title
Before the bell rang, commentary made reference on whether Gujjar was even verified on social media which made me laugh.
A hungry Gujjar was definitely looking to pickup the quick win against Myers after finally getting his title opportunity but after setting up for a very, very early Gargoyle Spear, Myers was able to roll outside of the ring and return to gain momentum in the match before we headed to commercial break.
We're back from commercial and Myers was in control. It wouldn't last long however as Gujjar was hungry to finally become champion. As Myers headed to the outside once again, he grabbed his title and headed back into the ring as Gujjar grabbed the title as well.
Gujjar "nailed" Myers with the title as Myers reentered the ring and the referee had no choice but to call for the DQ and hand the victory to Myers. Gujjar rightfully took exception, grabbed the title and headed up the entrance ramp.
WINNER: Brian Myers
An announcement was made that Jordynne Grace will compete against an opponent determined by Masha Slamovich in a "Pick Your Poison" match at Victory Road.
Backstage, Gail Kim confronted Tasha Steelz and Savannah Evans. Kim stated that Killer Kelly has requested that they be ringside next week during Kelly's match.
Backstage, Brian Myers was yelling at Bhupinder Gujjar to give him back the Digital Media. Scott D'Amore interrupted and said in two weeks, Myers and Gujjar will compete in a Ladder match for the championship.
Eddie Edwards vs Heath
As soon as the bell rang, Edwards attacked Heath before her could even get his t-shirt off. While Heath attempted a comeback, Edwards proceeded to lay a beatdown on the "Red Headed Rebel". Heath finally was able to shift momentum as we headed into commercial.
We're back from commercial and after Heath had shown some offense during the break, Edwards was once again back in control, proving why he is the number one contender to the Impact world championship.
Heath failed to land the Wake Up Call, Edwards failed to land the Boston Knee Party and we're soon greeted by Mike Bennett to interrupt the match after Heath was able to hit his finisher.
As Heath was tending to Bennett, Edwards nailed a low blow as the referee was distracted. Edwards then landed the Boston Knee Party on Heath to score the 1-2-3 to take care of "that business".
WINNER: Eddie Edwards
After the match, Edwards got on the mic and called out Impact world champion Josh Alexander to make a decision on where he stood. Alexander came down to the ring and stated that he was on the opposite of the ring of Edwards. Honor No More then attacked and while Heath and Rich Swann attempted to even up the odds, HNM was simply too much to handle. Edwards nailed Alexander with the Boston Knee Party and grabbed the Impact world title as the show came to a close.
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