El Phantasmo, FinJuice, Hikuleo & Chris Bey fall in title attempts at IMPACT’s biggest event

Last Saturday, IMPACT Wrestling hosted their biggest event of the year, with Bound For Glory in Las Vegas seeing El Phantasmo, Chris Bey and Hikuleo representing BULLET CLUB and FinJuice bringing NJPW hontai representation to IMPACT Tag Team and X Division Championship three ways. 

El Phantasmo was joining Steve Maclin and Trey Miguel in a three way bout contested for the X Division Championship vacated by former champion Josh Alexander as he pursued the promotion’s World Championship in the main event. Phantasmo would be pitched from the ring early, allowing Maclin to temporarily take control on Miguel until a dropkick from ELP put him out of the ring. 

Miguel would put Phantasmo to the floor with a dropkick of his own, but ELP would hook his boots from the outside to halt his momentum, and formed a temporary alliance with Maclin. When that alliance came to a sudden end, Phantasmo had no success ultilising the dreaded purple nurple on the biggest man of the match, but Miguel did find success taking down Maclin and sinking in a Muta Lock on ELP in one fluid motion. 

The hold broken up, Phantasmo was left with Maclin, and walked the ropes, leaping over a charging Miguel and landing a flying headscissors before a pair of back rakes to both of his opponents. Maclin’s strength would come through, with a gut punch and double suplex to Miguel and Phantasmo both, and when both men were caught in the Tree of Woe, a strike sent ELP to the floor while Maclin speared through a handspring from Miguel to send him to the outside. 

Maclin landed tope suicidas to Phantasmo and Miguel before heading to the top rope, only to be cut off by ELP. Phantasmo hit a quebrada to Maclin, but Miguel would be first to the ring, landing a Code Red for two; Maclin responded with a DVD, but Phantasmo broke up the cover attempt. As all three men came to the top rope, Phantasmo would sunset bomb Maclin to the mat before landing a Frankensteiner to send Miguel flying on top. Thunder Kiss ’86 followed, but Maclin still kicked out. 

 Maclin struck Phantasmo with a pair of powerbombs and signalled for the finish, but Miguel would re-enter the fray, striking Maclin and opening the door for Phantasmo’s Sudden Death. Maclin tumbled from the ring, and Miguel nearly bridged ELP for the pin, but when Phantasmo kicked out, Miguel stayed in control. A Vertical Drop Brainbuster was followed by a Meteora to a seated Phantasmo to give Miguel the X Division Championship. 

Hikuleo and Chris Bey joined FinJuice in challenging the Good Brothers for the IMPACT Tag Team Championships when a controversial double pin was counted the prior Thursday on TV. 

David Finlay and Chris Bey would start the match, a high paced open seeing Finlay get the upper hand with a dropkick. Bey would be brought into the FinJuice corner, Jucie Robinson squashing the Finnesser with a big senton but when Juice took the time to trash talk to Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows the result was Bey bailing to tag in Hikuleo. 

The Young Gun and Gallows traded blows, but a tag from Hikuleo to Bey was misjudged, and Finlay would then blind tag himself into the match, only to be brought to the Good Brothers corner. As Finlay fought back, Hikuleo would tag a stunned Anderson, assuming control of the match for he and Bey.   

A big sidewalk slam scored for Hikuleo, but Finlay would escape a big boot and tagged in a fired up Robinson. Juice elevated Bey into the lights with a back body drop, and then connected with Juicebox for two before the match broke down and all six combatants would be laid out. 

Juice would be first to his feet, and scored with a Cannonball on Bey. He and Finlay set up for the Powerplex, but as Finlay delivered the superplex to Bey and Juice went for the splash, Anderson tagged himself in. The splash scored, but Juice was not legal, and Anderson stole a victory for the Good Brothers. 

Also on the evening, Rocky Romero competed in a Call Your Shot Gauntlet where the winner would have a guaranteed IMPACT World title shot. Moose would eventually win the gauntlet and went on to win the IMPACT World title the same night. Rocky has pledged to wrestle Trey Miguel for the X Division Championship on a future edition of IMPACT.