 Impact X-Division Champion "Speedball" Mike Bailey def. Mascara DoradaBailey has been the ultimate fighting champion since Slammiversary and has defended his title against a variety of skilled challengers on a regular basis. This was another very enjoyable outing from him against an equally talented opponent in Dorada. It was smart to position this as the opener because they had quality chemistry together and started the show on a high note. We found out afterward that Bailey's next contender will be Ring of Honor legend Delirious at Victory Road. I had totally forgotten about Delirious after ROH closed its doors last December. Decay (Crazzy Steve and Black Taurus) def. Steve Maclin and MooseThis was designed to get Maclin and Moose on the same page, even though they'll be opponents in the Barbed Wire Massacre three-way coming up at Victory Road. I was surprised they couldn't pull out the win, but it's probably better that the actual team in Decay won. We've been wondering for a while what the connection between Maclin and Moose was, and Sami Callihan finally revealed their alliance afterward along with how both guys planned to turn on the other. It had been so long that I thought it would never be explained, so I'm glad we finally found out. Callihan getting one over on the heel was also necessary. Killer Kelly def. AlishaWhatever happened to Alisha having an issue with her husband Eddie Edwards joining Honor No More? There hasn't been any progression with that since earlier in the year. Nonetheless, she was the latest victim for Kelly, who has been steamrolling through her opponents since re-debuting. She made short work of Alisha here as she should have and teased a match with Tasha Steelz at Victory Road. Impact World Tag Team Champions Honor No More (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) def. Impact World Champion Josh Alexander and Rich Swann by DisqualificationThis was a pretty random match since Alexander has been feuding with Eddie Edwards in recent weeks and Swann has had nothing to do with the tag titles, not to mention that it would have been pretty dumb for Honor No More to lose the belts after only two weeks. Why were they on the line, anyway? This was solid while it lasted. The non-finish was lame yet logical in protecting everyone in involved and building toward the six-man tag team match at Victory Road with Alexander, Swann and Heath taking on Taven, Bennett and Edwards. Mickie James def. HyanI've seen Hyan in action before and she seems to competent in the ring, but this was all about James and giving her another win to ensure her career remains intact. Post-match, she was interrupted by Gisele Shaw, who I don't think we've seen since she was squashed by Masha Slamovich a month or so ago. The crowd was pretty quiet for her promo, but she's a fine next opponent for James as James continues her march toward the Impact Knockouts World Championship. The Motor City Machine Guns def. The Good BrothersThis was billed as a first-time-ever encounter between these two teams. That helped make it more interesting because it's hard to care about anything involving Good Brothers at this point. That said, Motor City Machine Guns are one of the best teams in all of wrestling still and can have a good match with just about anyone. Sure enough, this was well worked and had a fun final stretch. If this was it for Good Brothers in IMPACT (as has been rumored and reported), then their last match was one of their better ones. Motor City Machine Guns will now face Aussie Open on next week's episode. Overall ShowMore matches were made official for Victory Road on this edition of IMPACT! Wrestling and it sure feels like a filler event before Bound for Glory a few weeks later. Maybe they're contractually obligated to do monthly specials, but IMPACT would have been better off holding out until Bound for Glory in early October. This felt like another "off" night for IMPACT. That doesn't mean it was a bad show necessarily but rather not on the same level as most episodes we've gotten this year, but at least the opening and closing matches delivered.
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