Final Impact - Impact Wrestling recap for July 26, 2018

Austin Aries shows up to start tonight's show. Aries talks about how Impact Wrestling delivered with the best pay-per-view of the year - and perhaps Impact's history - with Slammiversary XVI, and says that everyone who stepped into the ring that night set the bar higher than the match before them to the point that everyone wondered how he and Moose were going to top the rest of the show. Aries says they did, and that he and Moose delivered what a professional wrestling match should be. After all was said and done, he did what he said what he was going to do and retained the Impact Wrestling World Championship against Moose. He then asks what it means for him to hold the World title, and says that there is nobody better than him in this industry right now. He says there are a lot of guys claiming they are the best, but if they are living in a bubble handing you a piece of paper telling you exactly what to say on the microphone, or if they are in their comfort zone being told what you can and can't do when they step in the ring, then they can't call themselves the best. On the other hand, Aries says that if they are going to all sorts of wrestling promotions and travelling all over the world while winning belts all over, all while outside the bubble or comfort zone while taking on all comers, then they can make that claim. He says that Impact Wrestling is doing it differently, and that Impact is a platform where anyone who claims they are the best can show up and prove it. Aries then says he doesn't care who any of his comers are or where they come from, and doesn't even care what time of day it is. He calls the Impact Wrestling ring an open invitation, and if anyone wants to prove they are the best, they have to step in the ring with the best. He then makes it clear to any and all comers that if they want a shot at the World title, they know where to find him. Suddenly, Eddie Edwards shows up behind Aries, and when Aries turns around, Eddie hits him with a Kendo stick before plowing him into the mat with a double arm DDT. Eddie then picks up the World Championship and lifts it up in front of a downed Aries.

"The Bone Soldier" Taiji Ishimori beats "The Canadian Destroyer" Petey Williams. After the match, both men shake hands in a sign of respect, then Williams lifts Ishimori's hand in victory. Suddenly, The Desi Hit Squad (Rohit Raji and Gursinder Singh) show up with Gama Singh and lay both men out.

Backstage, Alicia interviews Anthony Carelli (formerly known as Santino Marella in WWE). He says wrestling in his hometown does not get any better for him than this, and watching the guys in the back pour their hearts and souls out in the ring makes him miss being in the ring. He then introduces one of his top students, Dustin Cameron, who is having a try-out tonight. Suddenly, Austin Aries shows up and talks about how he is a really bad moode after Eddie Edwards hit him with a Kendo stick, and tells Carelli to leave. Carelli says he was a big fan of Aries until he opened his mouth, but Aries is not fazed and says that unlike other "over-the-hill" wrestlers Carelli has faced, he does not "slap like a bitch." However, if he wants to find out first-hand, he can step in the ring with him. Carelli says that if he was younger, he would do it, but he is not cleared for competition due to a neck issue, and declines the opportunity. Aries says he understands if he is "too old and broken down" to step up to him, then proposes that Dustin Cameron take him on. Dustin more than accepts the challenge, and is ecstatic that he has an Impact World Championship match, much to the chagrin of Carelli. After Dustin leaves, Carelli says "Well...at least he paid for his membership in advance."

Tessa Blanchard beats Rebel.

Scarlett Bordeaux shows up, and if interviewed by Alicia on the ramp. Scarlett - who insists on being called "The Smoke Show" Scarlett Bordeaux - says that we are in a historic time for women and she wants to be part of it to empower women and be an inspiration for little girls everywhere. She wants to fight for women's right and be remembered as the greatest women's activist of all time. Instead of being like Susan B. Anthony, she wants to be like Marilyn Monroe or Cardi B. She fuses to tell women to cover up and she refuses to be "hot shamed." When Alicia asks what "hot shaming" is, Scarlett scoffs at her and says she wouldn't expect her to know what that means. She tehn takes the microphone and says to her "Shut up, five! A ten is talking!" before telling Alicia to get off the ramp and sit in the audience where she belongs. Alicia leaves, and Scarlett says "The Smoke Show" is here to make wrestling sexy again. She licks the microphone then dances around before leaving.

We hear from "Reborn" Matt Sydal, who says he did his best at Slammiversary XVI only to come up short and lose the Impact Wrestling X Division Championship to "The Machine" Brian Cage. He says he lost a piece of himself, but the significance of being X Division Champion is still inside his third eye. He says Cage is still convinced the mechanical universe in which he lives in is the way things work, but he is mistaken. He says that he learned from Slammiversary XVI, and that he did not let himself down. All he did was learn and grow, as that is how things happen in a natural world. He says nature seeks homeostasis - a place where everything is perfect and harmonious and in tune. Tonight, he is confident that nature will return everything to a harmonious state and that he will become X Division Champion again.

Johnny Impact is seen backstage pretending to ride a motorcycle while someone near him moves a big piece of cardboard up and down to imitate the wind hitting him and making motorcycle noises.

We hear from Pentagon Jr., who has pieces of Sami Callihan's hair. He tells Callihan that he was going around boasting that he tore his mask and bloodied him up, and that at Slammiversary XVI, he took him to the limit. He says they both gladly suffered, but he has the ultimate prize in the form of Callihan's hair. Aside from that, he continues to have zero fear.

Johnny Impact beats Trevor Lee despite Caleb Konley getting involved. After the match, Johnny Impact gets a microphone and says he cannot even begin to explain how good it feels to be back in Impact Wrestling with the crowd welcome him back, and says Impact Wrestling is the reason the guys in the back continue to perform. He says that when he came here, he came with plans of becoming Impact Wrestling World Champion, but now that he is back, he has some business to take care of first. He says he did not leave by choice, and that he has to take time off to recover from injuries he received from Kongo Kong (who he keeps calling "Kongo Khan"). While he was at home, he watched and he heard that Kongo Kong and Jimmy Jacobs talking all kinds of trash about him and bragging about how they put him on the shelf. He tells the both of them that their time for talk is done, and he will not rest until he takes Kongo Kong to Slamtown.

We see a video package chronicling Su Yung's recent reign of terror, from the burial of Rosemary to retaining the Impact Wrestling Knockouts Championship against Madison Rayne at Slammiversary XVI.

Backstage, Alicia interviews Allie. She may have come up short against Tessa Blanchard, but she came up short against one of the most talented women in wrestling. In the meantime, she is not happy about what Su Yung did to Madison Rayne that night, and says that she should have been there to save Madison but wasn't. She says what happened to her, Rosemary and Madison will not happen again, and she promises to stop Su Yung, even if she has to go at it alone. Suddenly, Kiera Hogan shows up and tells Allie that she has her back, and if Allie is going after Su Yung, then so will she. Allie then says that Su Yung's time has come.

This week's GWN Flashback of the Week is Generation Me (Max and Jeremy Bucks) vs. The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley) for the TNA World Tag Team Championships at No Surrender 2010.

Joe Hendry and Katarina give Grado a Joe Hendry T-shirt backstage. Suddenly, Eli Drake shows up and says he sees a bond between the three of them that he rarely sees in trios after admitting they started off on the wrong foot, then offers the three of them a present before leaving. Grado opens the package only to see a picture of Katarina and Joe Hendry together without Grado. Katarina is irritated, and Joe Hendry tells Grado he will throw it in the trash right now, with Katarina immediately agreeing with him. As Katarina and Joe Hendry, Grado wonders where he is in the picture.

Backstage, KM talks with Fallah Bahh about their loss to The Desi Hit Squad (Rohit Raju and Gursinder Singh) from last week, and admits that he is a "no-good, lying son-of-a-bitch." He then says that the way to be successful in Impact Wrestling is to have a mean streak, and tells him that they need to find Fallah Bahh's mean streak. KM messes with people as they walk around, then tells Fallah Bahh to show off that mean streak next week.

We hear from Killer Kross. He says that if he had to describe himself in a few words, he would have to say he is an artist who answers only to the call of his own impulses. He says people call him "Killer Kross," and he believes in the universal arbitration of suffering. He says the big question is why he has been annihilating everyone, for while his goals are the same as everyone else's: ruining as many lives as possible and hurting as many people as he can in an expedited fashion.

We hear from The OG'z (King, Homicide, Hernandez). At their clubhouse, King says he is neither happy or satisfied, as he is depressed but more angry than anything as he expected more from The Latin-American Xchange (Konnan, Santana, Ortiz). He says they won the battle, but they have not won the war, and when they went there, he crucified Konnan in front of the world and put a bullet in the back of his head, saying he had it coming. He then says Santana and Ortiz let the tag team titles slpip by in their celebration, and says that when tag something, it is yours forever. He then says The OG'z names, not LAX's, are the ones being heard in the street, and that LAX is dead while they are very much alive.

We hear from oVe (Jake Crist, Dave Crist, Sami Callihan). Callihan curses himself in the mirror, calling himself stupid for letting Pentagon Jr. cut his hair. The Crist brothers tell Callihan that he looks great, that he looks like a pirate, that he no longer looks like an asshole and that Jason Voorhees looked amazing. They then ask what they do from from here, and they decide to head to the urinals before beating up a guy in the bathroom for "looking at Sami's hair" and shaving his hair.

"The Machine" Brian Cage retains the Impact Wrestling X Division Championship against "Reborn" Matt Sydal.

Here are the top five moments from tonight's show!