Affect Wrestling
Certain For Glory 2023
October 21, 2023
Cicero Stadium
Cicero, Illinois

Watch: FITE

Audio Evaluate

Affect Wrestling returned to pay-per-view this previous Saturday (October twenty first) for Certain for Glory, usually their largest present of the 12 months. Headlining what was a momentous evening on the sold-out Cicero Stadium in Illinois was Alex Shelley defending the Affect Wrestling World Championship towards Josh Alexander. 

On the Countdown to Certain for Glory, Traci Brooks, Mike Tenay and the late Don West had been all inducted to the Affect Corridor of Fame. Tenay’s speech particularly was nice and acquired me fairly choked up fascinated about all of these iconic Tenay and West calls from the promotion’s early years.

Affect Wrestling X-Division Championship
Chris Sabin (C) def. KENTA

Except for triggering my age-old frustration with champions making their entrance first, I believed this was an excellent, enjoyable opening match with nice vitality. 

The terrifically ageless Sabin introduced the depth early on however KENTA fairly clearly had his working boots for this on. He laid it in with the openhand chops, his Go To Sleep tease and subsequent flicking off of the group was nice and the referee involvement was fairly minimal by 2023 KENTA requirements.

The shenanigans being toned down added to the drama for me and I cherished the decisive end, with Sabin following up the Clothesline from Hell, Michigan, with a Cradle Shock for his second protection on this tenth title reign. ***1/2

Monster’s Ball
PCO def. Moose, Rhino & Steve Maclin

The Scottish half of me was an enormous fan of Moose rocking the tartan pajama trousers for this one – should you’ve been locked up in a room for twenty-four hours, wouldn’t you wish to put on one thing snug?

The Steve Maclin/Bully Ray feud panned out right here as anticipated, with Bully Ray getting concerned and costing Maclin the win to presumably arrange one thing between these two for later within the 12 months.

In any other case, should you’ve seen even only one plunder match this 12 months, there received’t have been a lot novelty on this contest. The end was an actual shock although, as PCO, who was seemingly on his method out of the promotion, pinned Moose. On condition that Moose has a World title shot in his again pocket, will that be a contemporary feud for the following couple of months? ***

Affect Wrestling World Tag Crew Championships
ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) def. The Rascalz (Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz) ©

By way of this match and the 2 earlier than it, I used to be struck by how a lot the branded canvas and massive crowd made Affect really feel like a much bigger time promotion than they’ve felt shortly. 

As you’ll count on with 4 younger, frenetic guys like these 4, the match was nice. The tag staff exchanges had been significantly entertaining, though if I’m being a correct nitpicking grouch there was one which felt a bit too over-rehearsed for my liking. 

A selected spotlight was that the end result and end paid off the story right here merely, slightly than being a device to lazily prolong this system for one more couple of months. As an alternative of The Rascalz dishonest their option to victory once more, Wentz shot the spray paint into Miguel’s eyes and within the ensuing confusion acquired hit with the 1, 2, Candy for a highly regarded title change. 

It felt like they left a variety of meat on the bone right here and that these two have a greater match in them nevertheless it was nonetheless a ton of enjoyable. ***1/2

Will Ospreay def. Mike Bailey

Sir Bobby Charlton, one among England’s biggest ever soccer gamers, handed away on the day of Certain for Glory and I used to be reminded of a quote of his when this match was all stated and carried out. 

“I discovered soccer was simple. I might by no means perceive it when folks couldn’t play this sport.”

Will Ospreay makes it appear to be he finds this wrestling factor simple. And when wrestling is introduced like these two did right here for 18 minutes, it makes you marvel why some folks make it so arduous. 

I’ve by no means been a fan of the move-by-move wrestling match critiques and I’m grateful in a method as a result of making an attempt to do this right here could be nigh on inconceivable. The exchanges within the closing stretch had been excellent, only a breathtaking sequence of cool strikes, revolutionary counters and relentless vitality from two naturals at this wrestling lark. 

Their kick change was vicious and had an amazing depth to it, whereas Ospreay’s use of the Kinds Conflict was a stunning homage to his fandom of the promotion with out being corny. Despite the fact that I knew he had no hope of successful, Mike Bailey connecting with Meteor Rain, an Avalanche Fisherman’s Buster, popped me out of my seat for an amazing nearfall.

Though I feel this was simply the most effective match these two have had and on a par with Josh Alexander’s bout with Steve Maclin for the promotion’s finest this 12 months, I can’t hit the total 5. Sadly, my longstanding frustration of the cool Hidden Blade spots – and so they don’t get a lot better than Ospreay wiping out Bailey as he fired up the Twister Kick revolutions – not being the end however solely being a setup for the Stormbreaker irritated me a bit an excessive amount of.

Don’t get me mistaken, I cherished the match and I’m nonetheless at ****¾.

Undoubtedly, this can be a match it is advisable exit of your option to see.

20-person Name Your Shot Gauntlet
Jordynne Grace received by final eliminating Bully Ray

These Battle Royals (they’re not Gauntlets, thanks Captain Kraetsch for validating this angle) have a determined ceiling to them. Whereas this one was enjoyable, it wasn’t something to put in writing residence about. 

Juventud Guerrera, Sonny Kiss and the returning Matt Cardona had been your essential shock entrants, alongside the returning hero Johnny Swinger. Bully Ray and Sonny Kiss having a dance-off was sudden however entertaining, as was Soiled Dango coming in at #20 and getting eradicated in report time by Jake One thing. I used to be, nevertheless, a lot much less of a fan of a clearly shot Oleg Prudius clearing home within the slowest, most cumbersome method doable.

The ultimate two had been Jordynne Grace and Bully Ray, which was fairly good warmth because it acquired everybody behind Grace and allowed her to point out off her energy within the end. Her shifting into the Knockouts title image was anticipated and he or she was a wise winner, so I’ve no complaints. **

Affect Wrestling Knockouts World Championship
Trinity (C) def. Mickie James

I used to be about midway via watching this match the primary time once I was alerted to the truth that my fridge had given up the ghost. 

My preliminary notes on it weren’t overly constructive, and sadly, once I got here again to it a couple of hours and substantial portions of freezer emptying and ground mopping later, it nonetheless wasn’t any good. 

James was visibly annoyed at first of the match after David Penzer had acquired her ring intro mistaken and that was probably an element within the fairly tough early exchanges.

Because it progressed, you possibly can see the crux of an excellent match was there when it comes to the format they’d gone for and the story they had been making an attempt to inform. It was all about two pals making an attempt to one-up one another. The problem was, nevertheless, there wasn’t actually any chemistry there, and that meant that a variety of the exchanges had been clumsy and awkward, whereas some had been mistimed solely. Though you possibly can usually look previous the odd factor, this simply didn’t work for me in any respect. *1/2

Affect Wrestling World Championship
Alex Shelley (C) def. Josh Alexander

When these two first squared off for the Affect World title at Emergence 2022, Alex Shelley was the plucky challenger to Josh Alexander’s measured champion. Roll time ahead 14 months and the roles had been reversed and, boy, did that imply a unique taste of match. 

Right here, as an alternative of being a person not sure of himself in the important thing moments, Shelley was the matador. He led the dance from the opening bell and labored the match like a champion dripping in that almost all final of confidences – the assumption that you just belong on the prime of the mountain. 

Whether or not it was the breaks on the skin, working over Alexander’s surgically-repaired arm or being opportunistically vicious with a Shellshock on the guardrail, Shelley managed the tempo all through the competition. 

Alexander battled again in trademark trend with crisp counters, limb work of his personal, arduous strikes and massive suplexes. However he all the time felt like a challenger and one whose problem Shelley was greater than prepared to fulfill. 

The end marked Shelley’s full-circle evolution from first title problem final August to a champion coming into his fifth month with the belt. Right here, there was no frustration or reveals of emotion that value him in the important thing moments. This time he was decisive within the moments that mattered most. 

Shelley knocked off Alexander’s headguard in a strike change and stored attacking him on the bottom. In a strike change, he smashed his Canadian opponent’s mouthguard out of his mouth and out of the ring. 

Within the form of change the place final time Alexander was one step forward, right here Shelley had the sharper reflexes. One snap Shellshock put Alexander on the again foot and this time there was no pondering from Shelley, no thousand-yard stare about what to do subsequent. 

One other Shellshock, a spiked one at that, had Alexander bang to proper. Shelley’s pin, along with his palms urgent Alexander’s downwhile the champion had his fallen challenger mounted, was symbolic. It stated that this wasn’t only a win, this wasn’t simply Shelley proving himself. This was a forceful ripping of the torch – that is Shelley’s mountaintop now. ****1/4

Though it didn’t peak as excessive because the Emergence match, the story narrative of this one was simply as compelling and fascinating. Shelley seems like a made man as champion and, for now, he’s accomplished his story. New challenges towards Moose and doubtless Frankie Kazarian await. As for Alexander, you’ve acquired to assume he’s acquired an arc to bear now to get himself again on prime. 

Alexander put over Shelley within the post-match and also you’d usually assume that was the tip of the present. However no, as they performed a video package deal that introduced that from January, the promotion could be going again to its outdated TNA identify. 

As a long-time fan of the promotion, I perceive the skepticism about going again to a reputation that carries, for some folks, such damaging baggage. But, I additionally assume the worm has turned on that in recent times, and I feel have successfully tapped into the constructive TNA nostalgia in the easiest way with Slammiversary 2022 and their one thousandth episode celebrations. I additionally assume that Scott D’Amore and co have gotten the promotion on a fair keel and shifting ahead, so why not go for a rebrand of types as they attempt to maintain that into 2024? 

Closing Ideas

Certain for Glory was a extremely good present from Affect Wrestling, highlighted by Will Ospreay v Mike Bailey, a stellar essential occasion and an enormous announcement in regards to the firm’s future. With a UK tour arising and some large matches already set, the promotion feels in an excellent place as we method 2023’s finish.