The week before this PPV, Giulia made her first defense of the STRONG Women’s Championship on STARDOM’s big Osaka PPV. Giulia had made an open challenge for the event, and was attacked by the Oedo Tai faction, who accepted the challenge on behalf of Yuu, a freelancer:

NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship
Giulia vs. Yuu
STARDOM X STARDOM 2023 ~Osaka Summer Team~ – Osaka, Japan – 8.13.2023

Giulia has been champion since 7.5.2023 and this is her first defense. Giulia slaps Yuu in the face after stepping through the ropes to break a hammerlock. Yuu calmly composes herself before chopping Giulia in response. Yuu attacks Giulia’s left arm further before steamrolling her down with a rolling body press to the floor. Giulia tries wearing her down with a standing Octopus Stretch but ends up being swung out into a slam. From the mat, Giulia applies a triangle choke. Yuu escapes and Giulia misses a top rope dropkick, but Giulia is able to guillotine choke Yuu to stop a body slam and drop her with a DDT. Yuu’s size is too much for Giulia to slam, resulting in Yuu falling onto Giulia into the canvas. Yuu holds onto Giulia’s wrist as she repeatedly chops her down into the mat. When Giulia frees herself, she is Judo thrown to the mat and has to back into the ropes to escape a choke attempt from Yuu. Yuu splashes Giulia into the ropes, but Giulia is able to catch her on the top turnbuckle and bring her down with a super butterfly suplex. She also lands a modified Saito suplex, and after they recover, the two women engage in an open hand strike exchange. Yuu ends up knocking Giulia down, with the referee needing to check if she is knocked out. Giulia recovers and throws her own shots at Yuu’s head, concluding with knee strikes to the back of the head and face. Yuu cuts off a charging Giulia with a body block and steamrolls her with a somersault senton in the corner. Yuu bounces on the middle rope to gain momentum before landing a splash. She then walks Giulia around in a Last Ride position, but takes too long, and Giulia counters into a Code Red. Giulia then maneuvers Yuu into Bianca, a double omoplata stretch, for the submission at 19:01. This match was a bit all over the place, but the core story of Yuu’s size serving as a hurdle for Giulia to remain champion was solid. They kept the match compelling, even if the winner was never in doubt. The other issue is Yuu is the like the female version of Hikuleo, in that, while she is big, she lacks the ferociousness you expect from a “monster.” Nevertheless, Giulia looked smart and tenacious in her approach to taking down Yuu, so it worked out just fine. It just wasn’t the kind of match that allowed for Giulia to be showcased at her best. ***¼

After the match, a promo plays where both Deonna Purazzo and Gisele Shaw challenge Giulia for a STRONG Women’s Title match at Multiverse United 2. Giulia absorbs the message and accepts. That’s a neat coup for Impact to host Giulia’s very first match in the U.S.

Philadelphia, PA – 8.20.2023

Commentary is provided by Tom Hannifan, Matt Rehwoldt & Veda Scott.

Countdown Matches

Heath, Joe Hendry & Yuya Uemura vs. Six Or Nine (Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato) & Rocky Romero

This is Heath’s NJPW debut, and Hendry’s return after the first Multiverse event. Heath atomic drops Romero, so as revenge, he sees fit to shove Heath’s face into Taguchi’s bottom. Unfortunately, Heath reverses the attempt, and instead it’s Romero’s face that makes it into his former Mega Coaches partner’s backside. Taguchi fixes this with a hip attack to Heath, as well as a couple to Hendry for good measure. Wato sees fit to knock Uemura off of the apron when he tags in, and ends up taking down Heath and Hendry with a double bulldog. Romero and Taguchi join him for a triple pescado. Heath halts a springboard attempt from Wato and throws him face first into the ring apron, leading to the Impact triumvirate wearing down Wato in their corner. Wato eventually escapes with a neckbreaker to Hendry. Romero takes out Heath with a running shiranui before laying in forever clotheslines to Hendry. Hendry impressively fallaway slams Romero and Wato at the same time. Uemura and Taguchi go toe-to-toe, with Uemura blocking a hip attack with a schoolboy. Taguchi kicks out and enzuigiri’s Uemura, who tags Taguchi in the side of the head with a strike before muscling him up into a uranage slam. A high crossbody from Uemura puts Taguchi away at 10:19. I actually think leaning into the light-hearted nature of these colorful characters would have resulted in a much more interesting and engaging match. As it was, it was a solid six man tag where nobody ended up being featured in a meaningful way. Uemura getting a win was nice, at least. **½

Impact Wrestling Digital Media Championship
Kenny King vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru

King has been champion since 7.5.2023 and this is his second defense. This is Kanemaru’s Impact debut. King celebrates pulling off a Japanese armdrag early on, but Kaneamru quickly takes over with a side headlock and a dropkick to the knee. King has to go to Kanemaru’s eyes to escape the headlock and then snaps his neck across the top rope. Kanemaru evades a slingshot leg drop and counters a slam with a reverse DDT. King rolls out of the way of a moonsault, but Kanemaru DDT’s King after King scoops him up for a two count. This enables Kanemaru to successfully land the moonsault for two. King drills Kanemaru with a spinebuster for two. Kanemaru uses the referee to escape the Royal Flush and takes down King with an enzuigiri. He takes a swig from his bottle of whiskey, but King ducks the mist. He nails the Eddy Gordo kick and then the Royal Flush for the pin at 6:52. Kanemaru was a bit of an odd choice to get this title match but he and King had good chemistry. It was a bit wonky that they switched the face and heel dynamics near the end of the match, but it worked out okay. This was a step up from the six man, mostly because it didn’t overstay its welcome. **¾

Main Show

BUSHI vs. Chris Sabin vs. El Desperado vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Kevin Knight vs. MAO vs. Rich Swann vs. YOH

Half of this match is making their Impact Wrestling debut – BUSHI, Desperado, MAO, and YOH. After a quadruple pescado takes everyone outside, various one-on-one encounters take place in the ring, resulting in a revolving door of all eight competitors getting some ring time. Only Knight earns a nearfall during this process, with a standing Mad Splash on YOH. Poor BUSHI is piled on by the other seven competitors, and when Swann misses a corner splash, he becomes the subject of everyone’s attacks. MAO and Desperado show some cohesion during this, continuing their partnership from last night’s All Star Junior Festival. Knight scored another nearfall on YOH with a Rydeen Bomb, but was then taken out with a slingshot Ace Crusher from Kazarian. Mao headstands his way out of Swann’s back handspring Ace Crusher but is taken down with a kick from BUSHI. Sabin enzuigiri’s Kazarian before dropping YOH and Knight with a Complete Shot/DDT combo. The Cradle Shock on YOH then gets Sabin the pin at 8:06. Scrambles this large with that little time don’t give much time for anyone to do anything of significance. MAO ended up having the most interesting moments, and I am glad Knight got at least a couple of nearfalls along the way. **½

TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr. & Shane Haste) vs. Moose & Eddie Edwards

This is Sabre’s Impact Wrestling debut. TMDK wears down Edwards to start the match, but after catching Haste with a belly-to-belly suplex, Edwards is finally able to tag Moose. He dropkicks Haste on the top turnbuckle, setting him up perfectly for Edwards Backpack Stunner. Haste is pummeled by the Impact duo until he takes down Edwards with a Frankensteiner. Sabre pulls Edwards into an abdominal stretch and then snapmares him into a neck crank. Sabre shows no fear after booting Moose in the corner, delivering a PK from the apron and putting Edwards in a rope-assisted armbar. Edwards clobbers Sabre with a clothesline in the corner and brings him out with a suplex. He drops Sabre with a Blue Thunder Bomb before each of them tag out to their partners. A refreshed Haste clobbers Moose with three uppercuts and lands a cannonball senton in the corner for two. Moose blocks the Dynamic Bomb and runs into a triangle choke attempt from Sabre. Sabre converts to sleeper when Moose looks to power out, giving him up to Haste for a pumping knee. Edwards breaks the pin and takes out Sabre with a Shining Wizard. Haste schoolboys Moose for two after evading a spear. Edwards gamengiri’s Haste from the apron, and Moose connects with a spear for the pin at 13:22. A bit surprising to see Impact win yet again, especially since their duo are not regular partners. They filled the time effectively by establishing the rivalries between the Sabre and Edwards and Moose and Haste and that Haste was the weaker of the TMDK pair. I actually think Sabre vs Edwards for the TV title could be fun. ***

NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship
Giulia vs. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Gisele Shaw vs. Momo Kohgo

Giulia has been champion since 7.5.2023 and this is her second defense. This is both Giulia and Kohgo’s Impact Wrestling debut. Everyone dumps Shaw due to her off putting arrogance, and Giulia uses Kohgo’s feet to knock Purrazzo to the outside before giving her a back suplex. Kohgo surprises Giulia with a crossbody and a tiger feint kick. Shaw then angrily takes out both Kohgo and Giulia in the corner and aggressively pursues pins on both of them. Shaw fights her way out of Purrazzo’s Queen’s Gambit, and Kohgo takes out both Purrazzo and Giulia on the floor with a high crossbody. Shaw comes up a bit short on a twisting dive, but it’s still effective, and she purposefully chooses to bring the champion back in the ring. Shaw suplexes Giulia for two. Giulia one-ups her with a super butterfly suplex. All four women end up in the ring, with Shaw taking out Giulia with a spear, the Impact women taking out Kohgo with the Sweet Taste of Professionalism, and Purrazzo knocking down Shaw pump kick. Shaw has Purrazzo pinned with a Spanish Fly, but both Giulia and Kohgo are there to make sure she doesn’t get a three count. Purazzo stuffs Giulia with the Queen’s Gambit, but Giulia kicks out just before a three count. An angry Purrazzo immediately puts her in a Fujiwara armbar, but Shaw puts her own armbar on Kohgo, leading to Purrazzo and Shaw releasing their respective holds and getting in a fight themselves. Shaw takes out Purrazzo with the Shawk and Awe and drills Kohgo with a spinebuster. Giulia evades the Denouement. She Sick Kicks and palm strikes Shaw before dropping her with a Northern Lights Bomb for the pin at 12:22. Kohgo attacks after the bell, but Giulia shuts her down with the Glorious Buster. Everybody got a chance to stand out, including Kohgo, who I think succeeded in the role of a rookie looking to prove herself. Giulia getting a raucous response from the Philly crowd was a nice surprise and she came off like a champion level star because of it. This was very well structured and enjoyable, which is to be expected as STARDOM is generally excellent and Impact’s women division rips. ***¼

South Philly Street Fight
DOUKI vs. Sami Callihan

This is DOUKI’s Impact Wrestling debut. Last night, he and Low Rider won a Pat’s Philly Cheesesteak ladder match, and as silly as that may sound, there is no worse fate than being put in a singles match with Sami Callihan. They used chairs and a cane, and Callihan used an 8×10 to papercut DOUKI’s armpit and fingers. Gross. DOUKI almost had Callihan pinned after sending him into a ladder with a headscissors and following up with Daybreak. He missed a DOUKI Bomb off the top and crashed onto a ladder, and then kicked out of Callihan’s subsequent clothesline and Cactus driver. Callihan grabbed DOUKI’s groin and poked his eyes before giving him a Cactus driver through four chairs for the pin at 12:46. DOUKI did what he could, but a polished turd is still a turd. No need to watch this one. ½*

TMDK (Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita) vs. Catch 2/2 (TJP & Francesco Akira)

Akira and Fujita are making their Impact debuts, and this is Eagles’ first Impact match in the U.S. This is a full blown NJPW match, although TJP is a former Impact X-Division champion. Fujita scores with a dropkick to end the opening exchange with Akira, but with TJP’s assistance, Akira takes down the Ichiban Sweet Boy with numerous kicks. Eagles hops off of Fujita’s back to dropkick TJP to the floor, and then together TMDK attack Akira’s knees. TJP helps Akira take out both of TMDK, and then with a dive off of the top turnbuckle and to the floor. TJP has Fujita in his crosshairs for a facewash kick when Fujita chop blocks him. Eagles takes down Akira with a Frankensteiner and spinwheel kick, and tornado clutches TJP into a dropkick to the side of the head. Fujita shotgun dropkicks Akira to the corner, perfectly setting him in place for running double knees from Eagles. Eagles locks on the Ron Miller Special until TJP frees his partner. Eagles attempts the Turbo Backpack, but Akira counters with a reverse spike Frankensteiner. TMDK uses a double stomp/reverse DDT combo on Fujita. Akira takes out Eagles with a pescado, giving TJP space to land the Mamba Splash on Fujita, but Fujita is still able to kick out of the move on his own. Eagles saves Fujita from the Leaning Tower. He enzuigiri’s TJP into a belly-to-belly suplex from Fujita for two. Eagles accidentally superkicks Fujita. Akira pulls Eagles to the floor. Catch 2/2 quickly take out Fujita with the Alley Oop and then the 2×2 for the pin at 11:32. TMDK going 0-2 is a bit of a bummer given the role they’ve been on in New Japan proper.. This was a fun, action packed match. Fujita already seems comfortable and competent amongst his seasoned colleagues, which is saying something as this was only the first weekend of his excursion. ***½

Josh Alexander, PCO, The DKC & Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & El Phantasmo) vs. BULLET CLUB (David Finlay, KENTA, Ace Austin, Chris Bey, Clark Connors & Alex Coughlin)

Rivals Tonga and Finlay start the match, and are the two that come back into the ring once the dust settles from an all out brawl between both sides. DKC gets a measure of revenge against Clark Connors. The last time they were in Philadelphia, Connors defeated DKC in a singles match, just one night after Connors attacked DKC and joined BULLET CLUB. DKC has to fight off both Connors and Coughlin to get to Josh Alexander, who is returning to action from a torn tricep, and unloads German suplexes on every member of the opposing team sans Finlay. Bey and Austin double teamed Alexander to cut him off, ending with a double enzuigiri. The BULLET CLUB beat down the returning champion, and despite the damage incurred, he is able to suplex Bey and Austin at the same time and tag in Phantasmo. ELP side steps the hungry Finlay, instead wiping out all of Finlay’s partners before landing a slingshot Swanton and rolling up into a lionsault. Once again Bey and Austin make the save, but Loa then comes in and sets them up for a corner splash from Tonga. Finlay finds himself surrounded by all six of his opponents, with everybody getting in a shot at the Rebel. DKC ends the series with a top rope splash for two. Bey takes out everybody on the opposing team except PCO and DKC. PCO tosses Bey to the floor and lands a tope suicida. Meanwhile, DKC attempts another splash on Finlay. Finlay gets his knees up to counter and powerbombs DKC for the pin at 14:09. This was a whirlwind, though not tough to follow. While some roles in the match were well defined, a lot of the participants ended up with little to do. Such is the nature when you shoehorn twelve people into a match. For the NJPW fans, we got to see Finlay and Tonga continue their rivalry while ELP also got his hands on Finlay for the first time since joining G.O.D. Bey and Austin as disruptors was a smart way to utilize them, as it also allowed them to show off their riveting tandem offense. It was great to see Alexander back in action as well, and they set the table nicely for a possible rematch against KENTA. This is about as good as you’re going to get from a 12 man tag team match on PPV. ***

Hiromu Takahashi & Mike Bailey vs. Lio Rush & Trey Miguel

This is Takahashi’s Impact Wrestling debut. He is the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, and Lio Rush is the current Impact X-Division champion. Earlier in the night, Bailey challenged Takahashi for his IWGP Jr. Title, and said he will use tonight as an opportunity to learn more about Takahashi. Despite this challenge, Takahashi and Bailey do a remarkable job as a team early on, while Rush is unhappy with Miguel’s output. When Takahashi has a hold of Rush’s leg, Rush rolls forward to send him into a forearm smash from Miguel on the apron, and then takes down Takahashi with a scissors kick. Rush and Miguel manage to work harmoniously for a few moments, but Takahashi escapes their grasp when he takes down Miguel with a dragonscrew leg whip. Bailey uses a variety of kicks to pummel Miguel. Rush catches a kick and drops Bailey with a fisherman’s buster. Bailey follows Miguel to the floor with a triangle moonsault, and Rush suicide dives onto both of them. In the ring, Bailey stops Rush with double boots in the corner but misses the Ultima Weapon. Rush absorbs a roundhouse kick and delivers his own, knocking both Rush and Bailey down. Takahashi uses a Falcon Arrow to end an exchange with Miguel. A distraction from Rush allows Miguel to double stomp Takahashi in the back, and Rush nails a rolling gamengiri, but Bailey breaks up the pin. He also helps Takahashi with a double superkick to Miguel. They follow that up with an Ultima Weapon/Death Valley Driver combo, only for Rush to jump in and break up the pin at the last second. Miguel rakes Takahashi’s eyes to escape the Time Bomb, and Rush takes that moment to hit the Rush Hour on Takahashi, and is surprised when the champion is able to get his shoulder up. Miguel also stomps on Takahashi to stop a Time Bomb to Rush on the floor, and uses his momentum to take down Bailey with a Meteora. Rush wipes out Takahashi with a springboard corkscrew senton on the floo. In the ring, Takahashi gets his knees up to block The Final Hour. Takahashi goes for the Time Bomb, but Miguel distracts the referee, allowing Rush to escape and strike Takahashi in the crotch. He’s able to cradle Takahashi and pin him at 14:28 before Bailey can interject. Crummy ending, but it fits Rush’s current character in Impact. Otherwise, this was a really entertaining match, building up Rush and Bailey as Hiromu’s next potential challengers effectively as they tried to one-up each other all match long. ***¾

Rush grabs the microphone after the match. He says Takahashi isn’t the only champ around town, and that he wants something that should’ve been his a long time ago – the IWGP Jr. Championship. Bailey insists he’s next in line, but Hiromu is up to the challenge. A three way match between Takahashi, Bailey, and Rush would be signed for Destruction in Ryogoku on October 9th.

Impact Wrestling World Championship
Alex Shelley vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Shelley has been champion since 6.9.2023 and this is his fifth defense. The first time these two faced off was in 2008 in a tag team match when Shelley and Chris Sabin defeated Tanahashi and Volador. Tanahashi teamed with Shelley during his multiple New Japan tours from 2013 to 2015, primarily in trios matches that included Shelley’s Time Splitters partner KUSHIDA. Shelley considered Tanahashi a senpai during this time. They wouldn’t share a ring for seven and a half years, last teaming in November of 2015, and then facing each other in a three way tag team match this past April at “Capital Collision.” This is a first time singles match. With this match, Tanahashi became the first person to challenge for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, AEW World Championship, and Impact World Championship in the same calendar year.

The friendly competition turns sour when Tanahashi pops Shelley with a particularly hard forearm shot. Shelley makes him pay for it by double stomping his left arm as Tanahashi is grabbing the top rope. Tanahashi elbows Shelley in the side of the head. In the corner, he slams Shelley’s left leg into the ring post and then the ring apron. Shelley snaps Tanahashi’s neck across the top rope and slingshots his way into double stomping Tanahashi’s arm into the ring apron. Shelley then delivers a running knee strike off of the apron, nursing his leg upon landing. In the ring, Tanahashi subverts Shelley’s expectations by picking up his right leg and surprising him with a dropkick to his left knee. Shelley reverses an Irish whip, but Tanahashi won’t let go of his arm, so Shelley whips him again and this time takes him down with a flying forearm strike. After a standing shiranui, he locks Tananashi in the Border City Stretch, and makes sure to hold onto it as long as legally possible when Tanahashi makes his way to the ropes. Tanahashi rolls to the apron so he can give Shelley a dragon screw leg whip in the ropes. He does more damage to Shelley until Shelley knocks him down with an enzuigiri. Tanahashi ends their next exchange with the Twist and Shout, but Shelley fires up, so Tanahashi drops him with two more after that and the Slingblade. He misses the High Fly Flow, and Shelley capitalizes on that by kneeing Tananashi in the back of the head and pulling him into a ripcord clothesline for two. Tanahashi blocks the Shell Shock and straightjacket German suplexes him for two. Shelley halts a second High Fly Flow attempt and brings him down with a super Air Raid Crash for two. A superkick and the Shell Shock gets Shelley the pin at 18:52. The story here was simple but effective. Tanahashi attacked Shelley’s leg during the match, using it to both wear him down and stop the champion’s momentum, while Shelley wore down his arm and turned his own finisher against him to retain. With a lot of Junior and multi-person matches, a singles match with high stakes and excellent physical psychology was a welcome way to end the show. ****

Match quality wise, I would say this was about on par with the first Multiverse show. The production being significantly better and a more interesting variety of talent, however, I think gives this show a slight advantage. Not a must watch, but I think fans of either New Japan or Impact will find something to enjoy.