Josh Alexander gets sent home
Josh Alexander was “sent home” and removed from Team IMPACT by Scott D’Amore during this week’s IMPACT! on AXS TV as the company continues to mix story line and real life drama. In reality, Alexander’s contract expires this month. Whether or not he has signed a new one just yet is anyone’s guess. With as much television time as this story is getting, and the fact that Josh has been kept strong in the ring, he more than likely has either already signed or there is an agreement in place.
How far will they take the story? Moments after his ultra-dramatic segment aired with D’Amore, he tweeted a now since deleted tweet thanking the fans and crew for all their support over the last three years. Will Josh appear on AEW or another show? If this is all a ruse, its working. Many fans online wished him well and even began fantasy booking matches for him in AEW.
.@Walking_Weapon is "done with the process" and @ScottDAmore just removed him from #TeamIMPACT vs #TeamHonorNoMore at No Surrender and sent him home!
Whats next for Josh Alexander?!
😯#IMPACTonAXSTV pic.twitter.com/zvsgKsOSac
— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) February 11, 2022
During the well executed skit Josh Alexander said he loved IMPACT and that IMPACT Wrestling was his home but threatened to leave if he did not get his title shot against Moose. Scott D’Amore talked about how close they are, how much he loves his family and said that Josh was removed from Team IMPACT and was being sent home while they figured things out. In a great line Josh stated that IMPACT was his “home.” If that doesn’t tell you what is really happening here, I don’t what will.
IMPACT! on AXS TV Review
IMPACT Wrestling’s string of good episodes continued this week. My podcast partner J.D. Oliva stated on our show that this was his favorite episode of the year. The show was very heavy on promos and backstage storytelling and light on in-ring action. There were no blow away matches either. But the Alexander-D’Amore segment and the promo from the Bullet Club, specifically Jay White, were incredible. IMPACT is also doing an excellent job of building Morrissey into a sympathetic, babyface monster.
HITS
- Josh Alexander gets sent home: Great performances by both Alexander and D’Amore. Scott can be campy and get caught up in overacting but I thought the execution was very well done here. D’Amore is definitely a heel. The segement went a bit long, clocking in at almost 20 minutes, including the squash of Big Kon (formerly Konnor of Ascension in WWE).
- Bullet Club promo:Â Great job by everyone involved including Eric Young and the Good Brothers. But Jay White was far and away the the best and looked like a real star here. I know he is also working AEW but I’d love to see him mix it up with guys like Moose and Alexander this year in big time matches.
Things are heating up between VBD and The Bullet Club and The Good Brothers were not far behind! @JayWhiteNZ, @Tama_Tonga, @TangaloaNJPW @DashingChrisBey @TheEricYoung @CodyDeaner @TheEricYoung @bigjoedoering @The_BigLG @MachineGunKA #IMPACTonAXSTV pic.twitter.com/fc1l9utZhw
— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) February 11, 2022
- W. Morrissey vs. Brian Myers: This match reminded of the Goldberg vs. Raven match for the WCW U.S. Title back in 1998. Myers embraced his inner Raven in this no disqualification match, and the Learning Tree very much played the role of the Flock. Zicky Dice is very reminiscent of Lodi. W. Morrissey looked great here as an unstoppable monster, until they were able to get him down and Myers laid a vicious beating on him. Ultimately Morrissey picked up the win and Moose attacked him after.
.@isThatVsK just went through a table!#IMPACTonAXSTV pic.twitter.com/oLehZLUXu7
— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) February 11, 2022
- OGK vs. Rhino and Rich Swann: Minor hit for the match as I thought OGK looked great. But the Honor No More story added some new layers as Alexander was replaced by Steve Maclin.
- Deonna Purazzo vs. Santana Garrett: While Deonna Purazzoo always looks great, I thought Garrett also looked good here. She has worked some AEW recently and seemed off. Maybe IMPACT is a better fit for her.
Misses
- Mickie James vs. Chelsea Green: I’m not sure where they are going with this, but there are fewer things in this world more torturous than a babyface Chelsea Green. The match was nothing and ended in a DQ, leading to a tag match next week between Green and Mickie vs. Savannah Evans and Tasha Steelz.
NEWS:
- Laredo Kid has signed a contract here.
- Moose and Mickie James were at a local New Orleans school talking to kids and promoting the upcoming No Surrender event.
Yesterday, @otforus joined @IMPACTWRESTLING World Champion @TheMooseNation, 4x Knockouts World Champion @MickieJames & former No Limit Records Artist MAC Phipps to launch a series of new engagement initiatives for #NOLA East youth.
Full @WGNOtv story here: https://t.co/qJZ3FL1QCs pic.twitter.com/jakhO8mAXb— NOLACityCouncil (@NOLACityCouncil) February 10, 2022
- Tama Tonga has re-signed with NJPW.
- Mickie James spoke to Sportskeeda and stated that Mick Khan apologized to her for the trash bag controversy and that she felt like IMPACT and WWE would continue working together.
- Josh Alexander is working the NJoA Strong Style Evolved event on March 20.
- JONAH vs. Black Taurus has been added to No Surrender.
- For next week’s IMPACT, Bullet Club will take on Violent by Design plus Kenny King vs. Chris Sabin.
Ratings
The February 3 episode of IMPACT! on AXS TV averaged 117,000 viewers with a 0.03 demo. This is up from last weeks 114,000 viewers with a 0.02 demo. The show ranked 145 in the Showbuzz Top 150. I forgot to note last week that IMPACT went up against the opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics, which pulled in a whopping 8 million viewers. The olympics could very well be holding IMPACT back a little but the current numbers are not that far off from their normal.
The current 10 week average is 107,000 with a 0.02 rating.
NXT on SyFy this week averaged 400,000 viewers with a 0.07 demo. Why am I bringing this up? Two weeks ago on AXS, IMPACT averaged a 0.05 demo. Â AXS is in around 50 million homes vs SyFy, which is in around 90 million.
New Japan on AXSTV averaged 61,000 viewers with a 0.02 demo. Which is about the same as last week (61,000/0.02).
IMPACT Ratings 2022
| Date | Total Viewership | Demo | Notes |
| Feb-10 | 117,000 | 0.03 | W. Morrissey vs Brian Myers; #145 on Showbuzz |
| Feb-3 | 114,000 | 0.02 | Bullet Club vs IMPACT |
| Jan-27 | 182,000 | 0.05 | #104 on Showbuzz; PCO vs Chris Sabin |
| Jan-20 | 126,000 | 0.03 | Josh Alexander vs Charlie Haas; #147 on Showbuzz |
| Jan-13 | Â 111,000 | 0.03 | Deonna Purazzo vs Rok-C. #144 on Showbuzz |
| Jan-6 | 104,000 | 0.02 | Hard to Kill “go-home” |
Brace for IMPACTÂ on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
Brace for IMPACT, hosted by JD Oliva and myself on the Fight Game Media Network, has been given its own feed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all other podcast apps. The show had been exclusive to Fight Game Media Network Plus on Patreon since March. Our weekly free show will recap IMPACT! The uncut, uncensored, ad-free version will continue on Patreon where we not only review the weekly show, but we will recap all the IMPACT Plus specials, pay-per-views, break down all the news and headlines surrounding IMPACT, Q-and-As with the listeners, classic match and event reviews, plus much more.
