W. Morrissey & Jay White leave IMPACT
W. Morrissey, the former Big Cass in WWE, has finished up with IMPACT Wrestling. Morrissey debuted at Rebellion in 2021 as a mystery partner for Violent By Design after returning to the ring a few weeks prior for Doc Gallows’ Lariato Pro in tremendous shape. The big man had been out of the ring for several years battling alcoholism, anxiety, and depression following his release from WWE in June of 2018.
Morrissey’s IMPACT debut was the beginning of a career resurgence. He looked physically much better than he ever looked in WWE. Long gone was the mid-card comedy Cass, whose claim to fame was being a tall heater for a goofy rapper and spelling out “soft” as S-A-W-F-T. IMPACT’s Morrissey is Vince McMahon’s dream wrestler, an intense, athletic, shredded big man that can work and cut promos.
Morrissey’s run had several great moments and matches including headlined the No Surrender pay per view in February 2022, getting a title shot against Moose. The match is without a doubt the best of his career and was very much reminiscent of a WWE main event title match. Another great moment was during an April IMPACT episode, he addressed a Philadelphia crowd that witnessed him 3 years prior have a seizure due to withdrawals, letting them know that he is sober and the healthiest he has ever been.
On the May 4 episode of Dynamite, Morrissey made his AEW debut as a representative of IMPACT. Despite losing to Wardlow, he impressed a lot of people within both WWE and AEW. The match served as a showcase of the new and improved “Big Cass”. My prediction is that he is heading back home to WWE and will become a top star there.
PWInsider is reporting that Jay White has also finished his current run with IMPACT. With New Japan bringing back more foreigners now that COVID restrictions are loosening up, the schedule is too tough to make it work. The report states that the door is open for White to return as long as his NJPW schedule allows it.
White debuted at Slammiversary in July 2021, but only wrestled in two tag matches during the taping following the event. Switchblade returned back in January 2022 and has been on almost every episode ever since. He had tremendous matches against Eric Young, Chris Sabin, and Alex Shelley, but other than that he mostly wrestled in tag team matches. There were some teases that we may get to see him get a title shot but he stayed in the mid card his entire run.
IMPACT bringing in the New Japan talent has been fun to see but the reality is their priority will always be the company they are contractually obligated too. Which makes it tough to tell stories. White easily could have been a top star but because he was just here waiting for Japan to open back up, IMPACT could never get fully behind him.
The June 2 episode of IMPACT! on AXS TV was an overall fun watch but other than two matches, nothing really worth going out of your way to see. IMPACT is continuing its bipolar storytelling with PCO as he was a heel with Honor No More in hour one and was unaffiliated with them and a babyface in hour two. Tom Hannifan probably had his finest night on commentary with a rotating cast of guest commentators. Mia Yim, Steve Maclin, Blake Christian, and PCO all shined this week.
The new face of professional wrestling
Feel the nostalgia with the 2005 throwback intro to tonight's #IMPACTonAXSTV! #IMPACT20 pic.twitter.com/OqhTVkUqPP
…@RealTSteelz being @RealTSteelz! @JordynneGrace makes the save!#IMPACTonAXSTV pic.twitter.com/PpEFoVsHFo
Honor No More has targeted @Rhyno313's knee! The Machine Guns made the save but were they too late!?@MattTaven @TheEddieEdwards @TheHorrorKingVM @KennyKingPb2 @PCOisNotHuman #IMPACTonAXSTV pic.twitter.com/U8WF6BhUbN
.@_BlakeChristian is on fire!#IMPACTonAXSTV pic.twitter.com/Mg9R1nqx6k
.@The_Ace_Austin joined BULLET CLUB🤘💀♠️
Sign up Now & Stay tuned to https://t.co/CcdQ1XrpWA#BOSJFinal #NJPW #njpwworld pic.twitter.com/ypzto7Y33K
Final tally is $13,474 as of midnight (screen grab below) Thank you to all who donated. It was very touching to see so many familiar names on the list. I’ll be matching this total this coming week. Please keep Don in your thoughts and prayers plus all donations are appreciated https://t.co/ZDhiJUMLBC pic.twitter.com/bOd4uad0dJ
— Scott D'Amore (@ScottDAmore) June 4, 2022
The June 2 episode of IMPACT! on AXS TV held up quite nicely against game 1 of the NBA Finals. The show averaged 116,000 viewers with a 0.03 demo, slightly down from last weeks 125,000/0.03. Great number for the station considering the competition. The episode was ranked #120 the Showbuzz Top 150, up from #130 last week.
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