The conclusion of her “Last Rodeo” angle, this is effectively Mickie James’ fairytale ending. She is not retired yet, to be clear, and may have another chapter or two ahead but for now, this is a fitting final entry to her catalogue of memorable moments. After losing to Chelsea Green in 2022, James went home, eventually returning for a run in which every match could be her last. If she was pinned, she’d be done, climbing the ranks and ultimately earning this title shot.
It’s the main event of Hard To Kill and they have a lively crowd in attendance, especially for IMPACT’s modern standards. Tara is at ringside, crying before the bell and yelling support throughout. There’s an atmosphere for this and it’s an immediate reminder of how simple pro wrestling can be. This isn’t a complicated scenario, it’s just a familiar arc involving someone that people care about. Build it and they will come, it’s still only IMPACT but listen to the crowd, they’re invested.
Inside the ropes, it comfortably delivers too. Early on, Grace’s power advantage is evident, but James is wrestling a focused match, immediately targeting an arm. That doesn’t get her far and Grace continues to dominate, forcing a salvo of slaps from James. Grace takes just one retort to floor James, absolutely bossing the building as she does. Mickie fares better as they trade chops, landing her first meaningful blow and flurrying some. It’s short-lived success though, with Grace then stomping James to the mat.
A backbreaker isn’t far behind, with Grace maintaining complete control of things. James finds a big time answer though, landing a bulldog off the top for an early double down. They fight upright, trading strikes until James finally floors Grace via head kick. She follows up with her own take on old school, but Grace blocks an attempt to close the show, landing a heavy superplex instead, flowing right into a damn jackhammer. This match rules.
James is soon firing back also, scoring some signature offence as the near falls emerge. Grace has her own too, landing a bruising spinebuster for 2. She then finds a big knee, dropping James to the mat for yet another near fall. James avoids Grace’s piledriver though, snapping her over for 2. This is a main event moves match, and it’s a perfect fit for the occasion. Grace even walks through the Mick kick, just charging through the fire as she looks to maintain her title.
She appears to be headed in that direction too, flooring James via backfist only to barely survive a roll-up. One more Mick kick follows and a Mick DDT too, but Grace somehow kicks out. My god, the people are seriously with this, I’m popping huge. On two occasions, Grace then snatches the choke, with the first including an admittedly bizarre moment in which James appears to tap. On the second go round, James produces some career best selling, eyes bulging from her head.
Afterwards, she seals the deal, becoming champion with a tornado DDT. It receives a great reaction, though I honestly think they could’ve gone home earlier on that roll-up, the people were ready to blow. Even still, this rules. Look, I don’t always love this style of match, but no wrestling lives in a vacuum. It’s basically a shootout, they exchange big moves throughout and build each one on top of the last. I can’t pretend this didn’t work for me though, because it did.
It worked for the people too, who are screaming with anxiety at times, desperately rooting for the title change. That’s powerful stuff, and I found this whole presentation to be rather moving. Post-match, James’ family joins her celebration, and it’s a touching moment. This whole thing feels like such a sincere tribute to James’ career, which should be far more common than it is. What a cool deal, wrestling can do amazing things when there’s an actual effort to tell a story, from start to finish.
Guess what, sometimes that finish is simple too, just give us the happy ending, it’s okay.
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