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IMPACT Wrestling Over Drive has come and gone, and we're moving right into Hard to Kill in January.
Despite being a mostly predictable card, IMPACT Wrestling delivered an exceptional monthly special. Top to bottom, it was a strong event. Considering the company's decision to put all specials and pay-per-view events on Fridays against both WWE SmackDown and AEW Rampage, IMPACT will do its best to steal the night.
Were they able to do that this time around? It's time to find out.
Check out the five biggest moments from IMPACT Wrestling Over Drive.
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#5. Motor City Machine Guns back in title contention
While Heath & Rhino defended their IMPACT Wrestling Tag Team Titles on the main card, two of the brand's best teams duked it out for a shot at the gold. The Motor City Machine Guns and Bullet Club's Ace Austin & Chris Bey took on each other on the Countdown to Over Drive.
It was certainly a battle of IMPACT's past vs. future. Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley were instrumental in the company's growth in the early days and are considered by many to be the greatest tag team in IMPACT Wrestling history. Adding to their wild success as individual wrestlers, one has to think it was like looking in a mirror when they met Ace Austin and Chris Bey.
Former X-Division Champions in their own right, both Austin and Bey are two of the brightest young stars in all of wrestling. Much like the Guns, these former competitors turned tag team constantly impress. With a shot at the IMPACT Wrestling Tag Team Titles on the line, would this go down to the more experienced team, or would the Club be able to outpace the current NJPW Strong Tag Team Champions?
Although Ace and Bey gave the Guns a run for their money, they ultimately came up short. A double-pinning combination by the legendary team pinned Bey, earning the Guns their title opportunity.
After the match, all four men were backstage congratulating one another on a great bout, while Ace and Bey vowed that they'd be coming back for redemption after a trip to Japan. They'll be competing in the NJPW 2022 Super Jr. Tag League, which kicks off on November 21.
During the championship bout, the Motor City Machine Guns sat ringside and kept the Major Players from cheating to steal the gold.
Will they be the ones to dethrone Heath and Rhino?
#4. Deonna Purrazzo vows to end Mickie James' career
Mickie James' Last Rodeo rolls on. At IMPACT Wrestling Over Drive, the multi-time Knockouts Champion bested another legend in the company, Taylor Wilde, in an excellent twelve-minute match.
Up to this point, Wilde may be the most formidable challenge that James has had since announcing her retirement stipulation, where if she loses another match, she'll walk away from the ring for good. However, following her match, James was met by Deonna Purrazzo.
When it comes to the Knockouts Division, especially in recent memory, Purrazzo is seen by fans as the greatest technician to ever hold the Knockouts World Championship.
Purrazzo has got impressive wins over Rosemary, Thunder Rosa, Roxanne Perez, and even current champion Jordynne Grace. However, one wrestler she's yet to beat in singles competition is Mickie James.
Mickie James sent Purrazzo's tag team partner Chelsea Green out of the company after defeating her on an episode of IMPACT Wrestling, and Deonna is desperate for revenge. Not just for her VXT partner but for the chance to finally defeat the one competitor she's been unable to pin or submit.
To be the one to retire Mickie James as well? That's just icing on the cake for Purrazzo.
#3. Did Jordynne Grace and Masha Slamovich one-up their Bound for Glory classic?
Back at Bound for Glory, Jordynne Grace defended the IMPACT Wrestling Knockouts World Championship against Masha Slamovich in a match that stole the show. Well, Masha wasn't ready to let Grace walk away. After attacking the latter earlier in the month, it was revealed we'd get a rematch between the two at Over Drive.
This time, it was slated to be a Last Woman Standing Match! Both of these wrestlers are known for their brutal power game, and adding a stipulation like that only meant that this fight was going to be even more destructive than last time.
At Bound for Glory, Grace was only able to put Masha down for good after an avalanche Grace Driver. That wasn't going to be enough at Over Drive, and we saw some disturbing action in this twenty-plus-minute war. Vertebreakers into trash cans, Death Valley Drivers into standing steel chairs, the clash had it all.
In the end, it was Jordynne Grace who once again put down the seemingly indestructible Russian monster. With a door set up between the ring and barricade, Masha Slamovich set up for a powerbomb. Grace managed to counter and would send her opponent into the wood with a Muscle Buster off the apron.
Two back-to-back spectacles between the two, and hopefully, we'll get a third down the line. For now, one has to wonder, who will step up to the Juggernaut of IMPACT Wrestling, Jordynne Grace?
#2. Trey Miguel blinds Black Taurus to win second X-Division Title
Black Taurus made it to the finals of the X-Division Championship Tournament to meet former champion Trey Miguel. After Frankie Kazarian cashed the title in for Option C, guaranteeing him an IMPACT Wrestling World Heavyweight Title opportunity, it was time for Black Taurus to find glory.
At least, he would have if Trey Miguel hadn't turned his back on his followers in a shocking move at Over Drive. These two put on a fantastic X-Division bout, worthy of the championship without a doubt.
It seemed like Taurus was finally ready to capture his first piece of gold in the company. Unfortunately for him, Trey Miguel had something in his hands - a bottle of spray paint. Blinded, Taurus was unable to block the Scorpion Kick. Trey finished the bout with the Lightning Spiral, capturing his second IMPACT Wrestling X-Division Championship in a moment that's unlike the treehouse-loving star.
It seems, though, that Trey Miguel has let his true colors show. In a post-match exclusive, he stated that he's been fooling the IMPACT Wrestling faithful for years. He's led them on, letting them believe they could relate to him. However, fans are seeing the true Trey Miguel, and one has to wonder what that means for the X-Division.
After all, he's been a difficult opponent when he's been playing fair. What's it going to take to get that title off a Trey Miguel who will do anything to succeed?
#1. Bully Ray batters IMPACT Wrestling World Champion Josh Alexander and targets his wife
In a move much less shocking than Trey Miguel's tactful and tasteless tagging of Black Taurus's face, Bully Ray has proven once again that he is who he's always been, a conniving wrestler.
After successfully defeating Moose in a Tables Match earlier at IMPACT Wrestling Over Drive, Bully Ray said he would be watching the main event with exceptional interest. He'd told Josh Alexander that he would let him know when he was calling his shot. After wishing both the champion and Frankie Kazarian luck, he stayed in the locker room until the main event ended.
When that happened, Ray came down to the ring and challenged Josh to a match at IMPACT Wrestling Hard to Kill. He did it respectfully and to Josh's face. Unfortunately, Alexander finally gave Bully a chance to stab him in the back at that moment, and Bully jumped at the opportunity.
While Josh was walking over to celebrate with his wife, Bully blindsided him with a forearm shot before cracking his spine with chair shots. Was this a surprising turn of events? Not entirely, no. Fans grimaced every time that cold steel came in contact with the flesh of the champion, but things took a turn for the worse when Bully took out a zip tie.
With Josh unable to defend himself, he was left tied to the bottom rope. Bully then set his sights on Josh's wife, Jade Chung. As Josh prepared for more punishment, Buy reached over the guard rails and grabbed Jade by the head, dragging her over the rails. The champion snapped the zip tie, but Bully knocked him onto his back before threatening to spike his wife on the concrete floor.
It felt like a hostage situation, with Bully threatening Jade until Josh handed over his IMPACT Wrestling Championship. In no time, Josh did so, and Bully let his wife go. As they huddled by the apron, Bully shoved a chair into Josh's throat before letting the couple breathe. While everyone may have seen the treachery coming, fans did not expect to see Bully Ray target Josh Alexander's wife like that.
Luckily their son Jet was gone from ringside at that point. If not, who knows what Bully would've done? Moose speared Jade during his feud against Alexander but never got physical with their son. Bully's been known to cross that line, attacking the children of his own tag partner, D-Von, back in the early days of TNA Wrestling.
We've got two months until IMPACT Wrestling Hard to Kill, though, and Bully Ray will do whatever he can to get into the minds of Josh Alexander. How will the Walking Weapon respond?
You'll have to tune into IMPACT Wrestling on Thursdays at 8 PM ET on AXS TV to find out!
What did you make of IMPACT Wrestling Over Drive? Let us know in the comments section below.
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