5/24 Moore’s Impact Wrestling TV Review: Matt Sydal vs. El Hijo Del Fantasma for the Impact X Division Championship, OVE vs. Drago and Aerostar, the possession of Allie, an update on Konnan and Homicide, final hype for next week’s “Under Pressure” themed show,

By John Moore, Prowrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)

Impact Wrestling on PopTV
Taped April 2018 in Orlando, Florida at Universal Studios

Impact started off with a DJ Z interview video package. He talked about almost dying in Mexico City by rupturing four discs in his neck. Zema said he and Andrew Everett had a fire lit under their asses while trying to recover from injuries last year. The video package showed a highlight montage from last week’s title match and ended with Zema saying “ba ba ba buh”. The video cut to Madison Rayne who said she came back just to be a commentator with no intentions to get back in the ring but sometimes people have to do what’s right. Tessa Blanchard said Madison Rayne only got involve because she wants to be relevant again. Tessa said it’s about time Madison threw in the towel. The next part of the video focused on Kongo Kong and Moose. The last part of the teaser focused on Sami Callihan, Eddie Edwards, and their ongoing feud. The Impact Wrestling intro theme aired…

Josh Mathews and the returning Don Callis were on commentary. Sami Callihan and the Crist Brothers made their entrance. Josh said he hopes Don is doing okay. Drago made his entrance next which Josh Mathews used to plug the Lucha Underground season premiere. After Aerostar made his entrance, Josh Mathews asked Don Callis “are you a believer?”. Callis responded by saying “”in what?” (Great exchange!!!). Don and Josh then debated whether Aerostar is actually a space man (Due to his Lucha Underground backstory, where he has the power to travel in time). Josh also noted that Drago and Aerostar were former Trios Champions with Fenix…

1. “OVE” Jake and Dave Crist (w/Sami Callihan) vs. Drago and Aerostar. Drago started off the match with a corkscrew Tope Con Hilo. Aerostar hit the OVE trio with a springboard trust fall. Sami Callihan held Drago’s leg before the bell so that Jake could get a high kick on Drago to give OVE the early advantage. OVE played isolation with Drago. Don Callis defended Impact keeping Sami Callihan hired by saying that he draws attendance and viewers. OVE dominated Aerostar and Drago until Drago fended both OVE members with kicks. Drago and Aerostar hit a combination Muta Lock and Dropkick on Dave Crist for a nearfall.

Callis noted that Sami Callihan has a cult-like hold over the Crist Brothers. Jake Crist showed off some great Tae Kwon Do kicks which he used to take down Drago. A camera cut to the Universal Studios entry lot where Eddie and Alisha Edwards drove up. Eddie had his AIP hat on. Eddie went to the back seat to grab a kendo stick. Alisha did some bad acting in telling him “it’s over!” (then why did she just calmly drive to the show with him like this?). OVE were about to go for a Superplex combo move but Eddie Edwards whacked Dave Crist in the back with his stick for the DQ.

OVE defeated Aerostar and Drago via apparent DQ in 4:22.

Eddie Edwards tried to “choke the life out of Sami Callihan” according to Callis. Edwards was using the Kendo stick to choke Callihan out as Eddie made his “psycho” face and referees tried to pull him off. Callihan went limp. Alisha kept randomly saying “it’s over”. The independent wrestling security guys managed to separate Eddie Edwards as Edwards tried to look intense by opening his mouth widely (this is kinda hilarious). Josh Mathews said there might not be humanity left in Eddie Edwards. Alisha calmed down Edwards for a second but he wanted some more of the prone Sami who was lying in his spit. Eddie Edwards hit the independent wrestlers with the Kendo stick. The referees managed to carry away Sami Callihan while Edwards tried to make “crazy” faces in the ring… [C]

John’s Thoughts: Okay, that was bad but at this point mostly due to Eddie Edwards and his bad acting, it has reached that wrestlecrap level of “so bad it’s funny”. I’ve spent enough time complaining about this so I’ll at least try to enjoy some of the non-insults to logic. This is a guilty pleasure of mine, I’m sorry. Anyway, for the small part of the match we got, it was really good. It sucks that OVE made that truce with LAX to stay away from the Tag Team Division because these guys with Callihan are amazing. How is it that with Sami being inserted into the group that each other member gets a well-defined and well played character when before he arrived they looked like (to use Konnan’s analogy) dorky ass meth addicts?

Josh Mathews and Don Callis recapped “Crazy” Eddie Edwards beating up OVE with his stick. Josh Mathews said Eddie Edwards looked possessed. They cut to Eddie and Alisha Edwards backstage (now wearing completely different clothes. Only in TNA!!!). Alisha yelled at Eddie and said he was acting like Sami Callihan (but Sami’s actually really good at acting. Ba dum tssssss!). Eddie said he’ll never be Sami Callihan and he’s only doing this because of all the hell he put Eddie and Alisha through. Eddie said it was fine beating him in a street fight last week but that wasn’t enough. Eddie said he wants Sami alone: no ropes, no ring, and in the middle of the woods (well… he did wrestle Bobby Lashley that one time at the Hardy Compound in the middle of the woods). Eddie said he’s doing this for Alisha. Alisha said this is not about us. Eddie said he almost lost his eye and he won’t stop until he destroys him…

John’s Thoughts: So, I’m guessing we’re going back to the sympathetic Sami Callihan from three weeks ago? Fine, I’ll take it. Yes, this storyline is dumb and ass (not to mention they are making Eddie out to be an ass), but I’ll take this over that weird gaiden into a Sami Callihan vs. Don Callis feud two weeks ago when the whole focus of the Impact show was a camera in front of a door. I try to forget and thank God that Impact is trying to forget too.

The show cut to Don Callis and Josh Mathews in the Impact Wrestling blue screen commentary room. Don Callis said Eddie doesn’t know when enough is enough. Callis said he sees shades of Raven-Dreamer and Lawler-Funk in this blood feud. Don Callis said there is a disconnect between Eddie and Alisha. Callis said that Edwards might out-Callihan Sami Callihan. Josh Mathews went on to hype the rest of this show…

At the Impact Zone, Josh Mathews recapped the losing streak of LAX…

2. “Cult of Lee” Trevor Lee and Caleb Konley vs. “The Latin American XChange” Santana and Ortiz. Konnan and Homicide are still missing. The Boys and Girls club kids really liked dancing to the themes of both teams. The Lee guys dominated the early part of the match at ringside. They then went on to gloat in the middle of the ring. Their self-imposed distraction allowed Santana and Ortiz to lay a beating on Cult of Lee with punches. Trevor Lee isolated Ortiz and dominated him heading into the break. [C]

John’s Thoughts: In my weekly “Trevor Lee is underutilized” thought, how awesome would it be if we could get El Hijo Del Fantasma as a main event heel vs. Trevor Lee as a main event babyface? One can dream right? Only in NXT?

Caleb and Trevor kept the ring cut in half. Konley fended off both LAX members with a forearm smash and a running boot. Konley and Lee went back to the isolation game with quick tags. Don Callis noted how much of a difference Konnan makes and how he may be the best manager in Impact Wrestling. Ortiz managed to tag Santana after a flip stunner. Santana kicked the leg of Lee and used Lee to hit Konley with a draping DDT. LAX hit a tandem Death Valley Driver and Cutter on Konley. Lee broke up the pin. The tourist kids from the Boys and Girls club were super hyped up for LAX (not bad). LAX went for a wheelbarrow move but Konley rolled up Santana with a handful of tights while Lee kept Ortiz away.

Cult of Lee defeated LAX via pinfall in about 6:15 of TV Time.

Josh said the future of LAX is looking bleak as the commentators focused on the downward slide of LAX. Josh also wondered if Cult of Lee were going to get a future title shot. Santana sold frustration in the middle of the ring…

John’s Thoughts: I just saw something rare there. A fired-up Impact Zone. My guess, a lot of the Boys and Girls club kids looked to be of different minorities. As I mentioned in relation to myself last year (I’m proudly an Asian and Black American), I find LAX’s story arc extremely relatable and it looks like that relatability resonated with some of the Impact non-regulars. Maybe this is something Impact should take into account. Anyway, a good match that was more about LAX than it was about Lee and Konley.

Josh Mathews recapped the Moose and Kongo Kong segment from last week. McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Jimmy Jacobs and Kongo Kong about the upcoming match. Jimmy Jacobs said his Jimmy Jacobs things (including that part that sounds like a specific Roman Reigns promo from 2016). Jacobs said he’s not saying that he did or didn’t beat up Joseph Park but Grado blamed them without proof. Jacobs said Moose is about to be crushed into a million pieces. He said that he’s a princess and always gets what he wants. The show cut to Fantasma and Matt Sydal getting ready for their X Division Championship match… [C]

It was time for a KM and Fallah Bahh skit. KM was acting like a motivational speaker to Bahh. Bahh talked about doing things “The KM Way”. They ran into Grado and Katarina. KM said if a fatass like Grado could get a woman like Katarina, then think at what Bahh can get. KM told Bahh to hit her with his best line. Fallah said “Bahh!”. KM asked Katarina why she’s even hanging out with fatass Grado. Katarina tried to defend herself by saying she’s a “Chubby Chaser”. Grado took out his shades and confronted Katarina with the word “chubby”. Katarina said she just likes Grado’s big bones. Grado was proud of himself and said some words I couldn’t understand due to his heavy Scottish accent. Grado and Katarina left while Bahh and KM had confused looks on their faces…

John’s Thoughts: Yes, this is undercard comedy, but I do respect the effort they are putting in to define four characters here. The Dave Lagana and Matt Conway team already did a good job defining Grado but for some reason this creative team seems to take the approach of developing comedy acts rather than define their main eventers. This was a good skit that continued the KM and Bahh development. I liked how they added depth to the Katarina character by making her obviously disingenuous and has some sort of hidden agenda.

It was time for the GWN moment of the week. They showed an entire promo segment hyping up a TNA PPV back in the day. Bully Ray cut a babyface promo about making history and being proud of Jeff for conquering his demons. Jeff Hardy and Brooke Hogan were standing there. Jeff talked about getting beaten down but remaining champion. The next part of the segment was Hulk Hogan walking out to the Impact Zone in crutches. He talked about TNA becoming great and stuff. The segment ended with “Team TNA” and “Aces and 8s” randomly brawling…

John’s Thoughts: Well, I guess Impact beat WWE to the punch in airing an extended Hulk Hogan promo on television. Speaking of such, that “moment of the week” went on for about seven full minutes, longer than any segment and match on this episode.

McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Madison Rayne who talked about how great it was to be back in the Impact locker room. Rayne said she didn’t come to wrestle, but rather to sit at the commentary booth and call the action. Madison Rayne said the Knockouts division was built on respect and not bullying (wait? Wasn’t Madison the third member of the Beautiful People?). Tessa Blanchard interrupted the interview and asked Madison how dare she walk into Tessa’s place of work and stick her nose in something that has no concern to her. Tessa used that to joke about Madison being a stay-at-home mother. Tessa told Madison to stay at home. Tessa challenged Madison to meet face to face. Josh Mathews reminded viewers that Madison and Tessa have a match at next week’s “Under Pressure” show… [C]

Impact aired the DJ Z and Andrew Everett teaser from the beginning of the show. McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Z and E. Zema said no one thought he and Andrew would win due to Steiner and Drake being twice their size. Zema said not only could they hang with the best tag teams, but they can beat them too. Buh buh buh buh. Everett said he and Zema are painted as underdogs and the saying is true that “every dog has it’s day”. Scott Steiner interrupted the segment calling Z and E “punk asses”. Steiner said the punk asses didn’t win diddly squat since he and Drake slipped on a banana peel. Eli Drake tried to separate an irate Scott Steiner from Z and E, but he broke character and was laughing in the middle of the segment. Drake got back in character when he and Steiner started bickering over the finish of their Tag Title match. Josh Mathews said there was trouble in paradise…

3. Matt Sydal vs. El Hijo Del Fantasma for the Impact Wrestling X Division Championship. Don Callis talked about how Keanu Reeves makes Josh Mathews moist when they were doing their Point Break movie ad. Fantasma wanted a formal handshake but Matt Sydal wanted to start the match with a “namaste”. Sydal then reluctantly agreed to the handshake. Before the lockup, Sydal offered to open Fantasma’s third eye which Fantasma refused. Josh Mathews tried to stress that Matt Sydal has become a “submission specialist” (which we still haven’t seen yet). Both men had a chain wrestling sequence with Sydal integrating some of his oddball mannerisms to throw Fantasma off guard. The fans in the front row chanted “Chocolate”.

Fantasma hit a top rope armdrag and tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Sydal. Don Callis said Fantasma is a “hot dog” since he is worried about what the “wretched refuse” in the crowd think. Callis heeled on the guy in the front row who wore a mask and usually wears EC3 jackets. Mathews said the guy spent hundreds of dollars on ShopImpact.com. Callis said the man should have spent his money on a college education. Sydal turned a side Russian Legsweep into a half cobra clutch. Sydal kept Fantasma grounded by dropkicking the lower leg of Fantasma. Sydal hit his signature cutting legdrop. Fantasma tried to make a comeback but Sydal responded with a Rolling Sobat. Fantasma managed to get Sydal at ringside and he teased his Arrow from the Depths of Hell but faked out Sydal and gave him a Baseball Slide heading into the break.

John’s Thoughts: Are we in a different taping day? The Boys and Girls Club tourist were replaced with generic tourists in purple shirts.

Fantasma hit Sydal with Snake Eyes on the steel steps and then went to ringside to celebrate with the guy that really loves doing the Moose dance at the Impact tapings. Don Callis mocked Fantasma for taking selfies and celebrating with the fans. Fantasma hit his signature loud chest slap on Sydal. Fantasma threw Sydal into the steel post which Sydal sold well with a metallic thud. Sydal hit a Paige Turner on Fantasma. Fantasma missed Air Bourne. Fantasma reversed a Guillotine Choke into Thrill of the Kill position. Sydal escaped. Fantasma locked in a reverse Indian Deathlock.

Josh Mathews compared Sydal’s pre-game stretching to Rob Van Dam’s. Fantasma hit a jump thrust kick on Sydal. Sydal slid under Fantasma and hit his new finisher which he beat Taiji Ishimori with (I think). Sydal beat Fantasma with a Pumphandle Pile Driver.

Matt Sydal defeated El Hijo Del Fantasma via pinfall in about 10:00 of TV Time to retain the Impact X Division Championship.

Matt Sydal pointed at his “third eye” after the match. Callis and Mathews gave Sydal credit for pulling out new moves. Sydal went to celebrate with fans in the front row…

John’s Thoughts: A really good X Division match that was taken down a few notches by the tepid Impact Zone. The field trip kids from the last few episodes haven’t been all that great, but they were on fire for once during the LAX match and now we’re back to a generic tour bus group (this time wearing purple shirts). As for the match, it was solid as expected. Sydal’s character may be dead in the water but he really has had some good in-ring performances at this set of tapings. Fantasma is always good in one-on-one situation and I still am hoping that they turn this guy heel and repackage him similar to King Cuerno because that guy can carry a main event if given a chance.

Impact cut to an LAX Clubhouse cinematic where Santana and Ortiz were still pissed off because their empire has gone to crap. Some table flipping ensued. Santana said, “we’re losing our shit bro!”. Ortiz was randomly yelling because nobody knows anything about why their empire sucks now. Santana was about to toss around the Mexican Flag until he was stopped by “King”, the returning Eddie Kingston. Ortiz and Santana were happy now as they gave Kingston a hug. Kingston gave Santana and Ortiz a business update. Kingston informed LAX that K-Dawg (Konnan) was jumped but he’s okay now and hiding out with Homicide at the “safe spot”. Kingston told LAX that there was a chain of command with Konnan, Homicide, and Kingston in descending order. Kingston noted that he’s in charge of their New York operations. Kingston noted that their shipment and security operations were going fine. Kingston said the one rough thing is LAX being on a Tag Team losing streak. Kingston noted how LAX are starting to get a bad name out in the streets. Kingston told them to get that hunger back like when they were just boys in the concrete jungle. Kingston said blood in and blood out with much love… [C]

John’s Thoughts: A good return. Kingston cut about one promo during his run as James Storm’s lackey and that one promo was really good. It sucks that he and Bram disappeared after that because both men had a lot of potential. Kingston is a good talker and in a really good situation with the LAX universe being separate from bad Impact creative. I hope Konnan comes back though as he was Impact’s best talker from 2017 (which Don Callis alluded to on commentary earlier). What I’m not a huge fan of, but that could be fixed easily next week, is why are Santana and Ortiz so clueless as to the operations of the business they are working for? It makes them look like mooks and those two stars deserve more than that perception. I’m also not a huge fan of Kingston with the mafia cigar look as it gave me bad memories of Jay Bradley playing the Aiden O’Shea character.

An Austin Aries music video package aired where he talked about being disappointed seeing Pentagon Jr. win his Impact World Championship. Aries noted that Pentagon’s strategy is intimidation but that’s not going to work on Aries. Aries said few men can intimidate him. Aries said Pentagon is going to be in the Aries element where he is going to fold “Under Pressure” with him being hunted and Aries is the hunter. Aries said he’s going to lead the company forward. Aries said they are going to find out the one true champion in Impact Wrestling…

John’s Thoughts: A really good promo by Aries and the best hype we’ve seen for this World Title match ever since Aries lost the title. I also liked the line of Aries mentioning how Pentagon’s strategy is intimidation. That’s the most development we’ve gotten for Penta other than how he may like chocolate. I do give Impact credit for is positioning Aries as a heel and spending time developing him.

Don Callis and Josh Mathews hyped up Pentagon vs. Aries from their blue screen room. We now found out that the Red X people have a graphics department because they now have a video wall. Callis said he had an update and that there is no update. Callis talked about how they’ve still haven’t heard back from the police (I mean… Su Yung supposedly “killed” Rosemary and nobody is trying to call the police for that?). Josh Mathews said they need “Royal Wedding” security. Callis joked with Mathews about being so worried. Josh Mathews ran through the “Under Pressure” card for next week. Josh said on this episode viewers would get to see Dezmond Xavier vs. Petey Williams for a chance to wrestle Brian Cage at Under Pressure…

4. Dezmond Xavier vs. Petey Williams for a chance to wrestle Cage at the “Under Pressure” show. The ten regular fans in the front row started dueling Petey and Dezmond chants. Petey and Dezmond had a cruiserweight stalemate sequence to start off the match. Petey won the next sequence with a huracanrana. Petey almost got the Destroyer on Xavier. Callis said that Petey was the most dangerous of the two men because of experience and the Canadian Destroyer. Callis also noted that Petey shares the same weakness as Minoru Suzuki because both men spend the entire match going for a pile driver which makes them predictable. Xavier surprised Williams with a gut punch and dropkick. Williams responded with a drop toehold and dropkick. On the outside, Williams hit Xavier with a senton into a huracanrana heading into commercial. [C]

Williams was in control after the break. Williams hit Xavier with a front and back Suplex combo. Xavier escaped the Tree of Woe and used his core to German Suplex Williams from Tree of Woe position. Xavier hit combination strikes on Williams and then a high Tope Con Hilo. Williams escaped a 450 and hit a high angle flatliner. Williams teased the Canadian Destroyer but had to settle for a Side Russian Legsweep. Xavier blocked the Destroyer with a cutter combo. Williams scouted and avoided Xavier’s waterfall kick. Xavier blocked a Destroyer attempt and hit a meteora on Williams for a nearfall.

Williams had the Xavier waterfall kick scouted as they both went into a kick exchange. Williams hit a pop up powerbomb. Xavier countered the Destroyer with an enziguri. Xavier finally hit the waterfall kick on Williams for the victory.

Dezmond Xavier defeated Petey Williams via pinfall in 8:52 of TV Time.

Petey Williams held up Dezmond’s hand in victory…

John’s Thoughts: A fun X Division match and I really liked that they put actual stakes and a storyline behind this match. This reminded me of the one truly good thing that the Jeff Jarrett and Dutch Mantell creative team did when they made the X Division great last year. As for Xavier and Williams, the storytelling was the strong point in this match with both men countering each other’s finishers until Xavier finally caught Williams off guard. It’s that type of good storytelling that elevates Dezmond while making Petey look good in defeat.

It was now time for an Allie cinematic. Creepy church music played and they showed Allie looking in a mirror with the room tinted in a red light. Allie’s hand was over a crucifix stake. Allie picked up the letter written in blood from two weeks ago and crumbled it up. Allie then put on a hooded vest similar to what Rosemary would wear. The camera showed that Allie was wearing Rosemary’s mouth facepaint pattern. Clips from the Rosemary’s “funeral” flashed on the screen. Allie picked up the crucifix stake and walked away. Allie’s voice could be heard as she said “I’m sorry, I know this is not what you want, but this is how it has to be”. The mirror revealed a note written in Lipstick (or blood!) from “R” (Rosemary?) and written to “B” (Bunny?). It said, “Don’t let the darkness consume you!”.

John’s Thoughts: Based on Impact’s social media, we now know that Allie is indeed POSSESSED which they wrote in capital letters. This may be a bit hokey for some and it’s tough to trust this current creative team to do a Lucha Underground manga-style story any justice. I think they might be allowing Rosemary to have creative freedom here similar to how they allow Konnan to have power over his storylines away from the mediocre creative of Impact these days. I trust Rosemary to do a good job with this supernatural stuff and Su Yung is carrying her end of the stick well too. Again, this is going to divide the fanbase but you can’t argue with this Rosemary storyline getting more solid development than a lot of what’s on this show.

Josh Mathews said that Allie vs. Su Yung for the Knockouts title is going to be a “Last Rights” match which is what people would know as a Coffin/Casket match. Back at the Impact Zone Moose made his entrance. Josh Mathews noted that Don Callis isn’t a fan of Moose using the “Mr. Impact” name. Callis did note that he does like how Moose has Junior Heavyweight agility. Kongo Kong made his entrance without Jimmy Jacobs. Kongo Kong acted a bit more human than usual. Don Callis said we’ve never seen Kong without Jimmy Jacobs ever in Impact (Callis must not have watch Impact in 2017 since Kong was without Jimmy Jacobs all of that year)… [C]

5. Moose vs. Kongo Kong. Josh Mathews noted that it was odd to see Moose as the smaller man in this match. Josh also noted that it was odd not to have Jimmy Jacobs at ringside. Kong and Moose had a stalemate during the lockup. Kong hit Moose with slow punches. Kong took down Moose with a shoulder block. Josh said that Moose calls himself “Mr. Impact Wrestling”. Don Callis said Moose is an idiot for doing that.

John’s Thoughts: See. The Don Callis character knows how dumb Moose has come off as during his entire Impact run. It sounds strange that the criticism is coming from the man who is supposed to be in charge of repairing the damaged dumb Moose character.

Moose showed off a kip up. Moose hit Kong with a dropkick. Kong no-sold it. Moose sent Kong outside with a lariat but Kong landed on his feet. Moose hit Kong with a plancha to the outside. Kong sidestepped Moose to send him running into the steps. The camera showed that Kong was focused on the ramp. Kong hit a cannonball on Moose against the steps which also hurt Kong. Moose beat the ten count. Moose made it to his feet as Callis and Mathews made Keanu Reeves references. Kong powered Moose down hit did a Judo Roll over him. Moose escaped a nerve pinch. Moose hit a series of chops and punches on Moose.

Kong reversed a body slam by falling into Moose. Kong went back to the slow nerve pinch. Moose escaped at the Vertical base. Kong grounded Moose with a punch to his back. Kong punched Moose but Moose showed his fighting spirit by hulking up with his Moose Dance. Moose hit Kong with a headbutt. Moose grounded Kong with a single leg dropkick and then a hesitation dropkick. Moose went for the Game Changer and because he never hits anybody with it Kong reversed it into a Ushigoroshi. Kong missed the flying splash and Callis noted the awkward landing on Kong’s knees. Moose hit Kong with a series of pump kicks. Moose finally hit Kong with a body slam. Moose hit Kong with a spear for the pinfall win.

Moose defeated Kongo Kong via pinfall in 8:59.

Josh said that Moose defeated the new monster of Impact Wrestling. Josh wondered if the outcome would have been different if Jimmy Jacobs was there. The broadcast was interrupted by the “X” attacker graphic and entrance music. The camera cut to Jimmy Jacobs laying in the hallway with the X calling card on his body right before the Impact show ended…

John’s Thoughts: Not a good match due to the limited mobility of Kongo Kong. I give Moose a lot of credit because he tried really hard to provide movement and carry Kong to a passable match. Kong’s not terrible, but this just wasn’t a good pairing. Kong was at his best when he was fighting smaller wrestlers and teamed up with Laurel Van Ness. Another oddball move was making Kong seem more human in him worrying about Jimmy Jacobs. To Impact’s credit, the “X” thing was intriguing. This could be anyone. It could be Brian Cage who likes X-Men references (though we did see Dezmond Xavier wear X-men gear tonight). It could also be someone anticipated from the Indie scene like Jeff Cobb or Kevin Kross. It’s good to leave the viewers thinking and I hope they allow some viewers to get their guesses right because speculation having a payoff isn’t a bad thing.

If I were to timeline this Impact episode on a graph ranging between good and bad on a y-axis, this episode would have gotten an oscillating curve. There was a lot of bad, but there was a lot of good as well. I wish this were more of an upward trend curve like in 2016, but at least Impact’s last two episodes weren’t horrible. The only lingering fear is that they haven’t proven that they can consistently put out good television on a weekly basis during the Anthem ownership era. They still aren’t doing a good job with their roster. They still show random outside footage that turns casual fans away. They showed nearly ten minutes of Bully Ray and Hulk Hogan on this episode from nearly a decade ago. There’s still a lot to work on. I am looking forward to the “Under Pressure” show at least because this company has done a decent job during the PPV-themed shows. Jason Powell will be by later today with a Hit List and Members’ Exclusive Audio Review.