By Jason Powell, Prowrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Impact Wrestling Hits
Dezmond Xavier vs. Petey Williams: A good match and hopefully a meaningful win for Xavier. The guy has been impressive throughout his run with the company, but we’ve learned little about his character since he won the Super X Cup tournament. In fact, he oddly disappears from television for long stretches of time. I assume Xavier be following up this match with a loss since he’s facing Brian Cage next week. That said, there’s certainly a way to gain something in defeat when facing a guy like Cage so we’ll wait to see how the match is laid out and if it’s more than just another lopsided win for the big man.
OVE vs. Drago and Aerostar, Eddie Edwards and Sami Callihan: A solid opening match before it turned into the latest Eddie Edwards and Sami Callihan angle. It’s still hard to tell whether they are working toward a double turn or if fan are supposed to be supportive of Edwards, who is now the most angry man in the world. His wife and Tommy Dreamer have both told him he’s going too far and Josh Mathews asked last week at what point he becomes the villain. An ongoing issue is that while the Edwards and Callihan feud has provided some really good moments, the duo of Dave and Jake Cryst haven’t gained much despite their association with Callihan. They should have gained a lot from this program and instead they come off like minions for Callihan rather than real players with any purpose beyond helping Callihan.
Trevor Lee and Caleb Konley vs. LAX: A minor Hit. Another loss for LAX as the storyline of the duo struggling without Konnan continues. It’s hard to get a feel for where this is going, but obviously creative has something in mind and all of the mentions of Konnan make it seem like he’ll be back at some point. On a side note, the Cult of Lee name is annoying. The underutilized Lee has never come across like Cult leader, and does he really have a cult when he only has one follower? Anyway, the addition of Eddie Kingston to the LAX act is interesting. Kingston can’t fill Konnan’s shoes, but he is a good talker and he should add something to LAX and get the duo out of their storyline slump.
Matt Sydal vs. El Hijo Del Fantasma: I can’t give the match a Hit or a Miss due to a storm knocking out my satellite for the entire match. I saw the highlights on the Impact Wrestling Youtube page and it look good, plus John Moore wrote favorable things about the match in his review of last night’s show.
Impact Wrestling MIsses
DJZ: I want to like DJZ and the new Z&E tag team. DJZ has a unique story and his comeback from his recent medical issues is truly inspirational. I just wish he or someone in the company would realize how freaking awful the “ba ba ba baaaaa” BroMans callback is. I get a serious case of the douche chills every time he does it.
Moose vs. Kongo Kong: Kong has received plenty of creative team and has benefitted from it. The focus on Moose consists of his character making foolish decisions and oddly dubbing himself Mr. Impact Wrestling. Moose got the win here, but he didn’t really gain anything since the story was that Kong was distracted by the absence of Jimmy Jacobs, who was the latest victim of the Mystery X Attacker.
GWN Flashback: A random seven-minute flashback segment that featured Hulk Hogan, Brooke Hogan, Bully Ray, Jeff Hardy, and Aces & 8’s. It’s hard to believe this random footage sold anyone on investing in the GWN app, especially when they only keep the GWN graphic on the screen for a brief amount of time.
Moose needs a mouthpiece. Or a gimmick change. Or a tag partner.
The Cult of Lee at least needs a couple of more cult members to actually qualify as a cult and not co-dependent relationship.
The Bromans callback needs to go. If anything, maybe the lights should change to Rave lighting when he calls out his name.
If Allie is going to turn into Rosemary, I hope she ends up going ‘dark’ when Rosemary returns. That’s the natural payoff here, right?
Just reads like, I don’t like the show so let me little insignificant things that annoy me.
And everything you write in this and other comment sections reads like “I Love Impact Wrestling” and has for years. You want everyone to be objective with Impact Wrestling and that’s fair, but when when exactly will you start taking your own advice?
When I see something I don’t like l’ll be sure to let you know! Until then I’m not going to be nit picking catchphrases and lumping one guy with another because of a freaking cigar.
And when I can see the logic behind something I’m not going to be saying something is bad when I can see the logic behind it. Like Kongo Kong and Moose, I thought they had a good big man match but the logic behind it is obvious use Kongo Kong to put over other wrestlers.
Excuse me for expecting a wrestling journalist to see that from like a mile away.
The little things add up though. Don Callis himself said part of the rebuilding process of Impact is to eliminate the things that tick people off (gaps in logic, annoying characters and gimmicks, lapses in continuity, etc).
I’ve had issues with the critiques as well, but more so with those that judge it without having watched it. I’m not surprised that the Internet trolls do,’t watch, but am surprised that staff members of wrestling websites ignore Impact because they don’t like it. Hard to be credible when you won’t even watch the product.
That said, Powell at least watches the show. He’s telling us what bothered him about the program. A lot of it is valid. That comes from actually watching the show instead of parroting the anti-Impact lines that fill up message boards everywhere.
However, it’s also important to distinguish between Impact, a hybrid independent and WWE, global corporation. The mistakes Impact are making can be attributed to growing pains of a new administration, lack of resources and having to pretty much rewire every aspect of the company.
WWE, in my opinion has no excuse for the nonsense they offer as programming. They are very clearly pandering to a concept that has nothing to do with wrestling. Indeed, they have truly become an entertainment company making low level TV.
Impact is still trying to lead with wrestling. I’m all for criticism that relates to Impact as a wrestling company. That’s what’s happening here.
Oh Dj Z doing his thing is valid a criticism? Or a character shouldn’t have a cigar because another former character had one as well? I’m sorry those aren’t valid criticisms. And your mistakes is somebody else’s gold.
Moose isn’t ruined in my eyes because his character made a few boneheaded decisions that got him beat up. He has rarely been beaten and he is a helluva wrestler.
And Impact still trying to lead with wrestling? Hey that’s what they want to be adjust or move on.I just don’t get how the correlation between what mistakes Impact made years ago to what you feel are valid criticisms of what’s going on, on their product today?
The product you see is the product they want to put out. The GWN moment of the weekand matches from their indy partners were happening before Callis and D’more took over and they still do it, so obviously that’s no mistake.
Oh Dj Z doing his thing is valid a criticism? Or a character shouldn’t have a cigar because another former character had one as well? I’m sorry those aren’t valid criticisms. And your mistakes is somebody else’s gold.
—Yes, because that horn spot isn’t over. As mentioned, Callis said a goal was to eliminate things that were bothering the audience. That’s one. You might like it, but it gets nothing. Try something else.
Moose isn’t ruined in my eyes because his character made a few boneheaded decisions that got him beat up. He has rarely been beaten and he is a helluva wrestler.
—Moose needs assistance. Not all wrestlers can get themselves over. Depending on how far you go back, managers used to be in abundance to help guys like Moose. The worst part of Moose is that hokey entrance.
And Impact still trying to lead with wrestling? Hey that’s what they want to be adjust or move on.I just don’t get how the correlation between what mistakes Impact made years ago to what you feel are valid criticisms of what’s going on, on their product today?
—You may not, but the rest of the world remembers some of the same old things they used to do happening yet again. Once again, Callis himself said eliminating the old mistakes was a crucial step in improving the company. The ref bumps are gone. The constant interference is gone, but certain ways they present characters are just as half assed as always.
The product you see is the product they want to put out. The GWN moment of the weekand matches from their indy partners were happening before Callis and D’more took over and they still do it, so obviously that’s no mistake.
The product we see is not quite what they want. It would really help if you looked up Don Callis interviews regarding Impact on the net. That way, a lot of your misconceptions might get straightened out.
Or you can keep posting without all the information. Your choice.
If you think Don Callis was talking about changing every single little thing that a few fans don’t like I have a golden gate bridge to sell you! They would drive themselves crazy trying to cater to every single fans little annoyances.
And no the product isn’t exactly what they want but its damn close, they want a Japanese style wrestling show and that’s just about what they have. From the look of the show to the roster, to the booking.
That Moose comment took the cake you actually think they are going to change his entrance because a few people think it’s hokey while every fan in attendance is saying Moose and doing that fist pump. Its one to hear his comments it’s another to take it literally !
Haha. Let’s watch any tape of a Moose entrance and count the participants. I got news for you. The ‘Mooose’ is part of the song.
Three out of a crowd of 63 isn’t bad, eh?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M7pt426LwQ
Lol, now you’re going troll territory I see.
And as Moose starts Main eventing and possibly he wins the world title, watch how many fans start participating in his entrance. So it doesn’t matter how many fans are doing now. What’s the potential for the future !