By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling on PopTV
Taped November 11-13, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada at Sam’s Town Casino
A recap video aired of last week’s Impact Wrestling episode before the Impact intro theme…
Josh Mathews and Don Callis were on commentary…
1. Jake Crist (w/Sami Callihan, Dave Crist) vs. Willie Mack in an Ultimate X Qualifying match. Josh talked about how Sami and Dave are making the commentary table feel uncomfortable. Jake started out the match with a headlock while yelling “Everything!”. Mack retaliated with a shoulder block. Mack and Jake had an agility exchange with Mack winning it with a dropkick. Jake did a kickflip off of Mack, but Mack caught a flying Jake and gave him a Samoan Drop. Mack did a kip up into a standing Moonsault on Jake. Jake kicked out at two.
Sami tripped up Mack while Mack was running the ropes. Mack ran right into a spinning heel kick from Jake against the ropes. Jake hit Mack with a drive-by dropkick for a two count. Jake started clawing at the face of Mack. Jake dominated Mack for a sequence on the mat. Don Callis gave Jake a lot of credit for hit high flying and savate ability and said that Jake only comes off as a lackey because of Jake’s devotion to Sami Callihan. Callis also compared Jake’s “Mini Draw” persona to the “Mini Naich” persona (played by WWE Referee Charles Robinson).
Mack rebounded with a lariat and corkscrew uppercut. Mack gave Jake a body slam and delayed leg drop. Jake blocked a stunner. Mack caught Jake with a pop-up punch. Mack caught Jake against the ropes with a codebreaker leading to a nearfall. Jake used a step up enzuigiri to stagger Mack on the top rope. Jake struggled to get the superplex which allowed Mack to hit Jake with a sunset flip bomb. Jake used a few Savate kicks to set up and nail Mack with a German Suplex. Jake got a really close nearfall on Mack.
Mack caught an incoming Jake with an exploder Suplex. Josh Mathews did the cliché WWE false finish call for the nearfall (luckily not on a false finish with a finisher). Mack put Jake in the Tree of Woe for a Coast to Coast. Dave Crist got up on the apron to distract the referee so Sami could distract Mack. This distraction allowed Jake to escape and hit his signature Super RKO on Mack for the victory.
Jake Crist defeated Willie Mack via pinfall in 8:36 to qualify for Ultimate X at the Homecoming PPV.
The OVE trio did Sami’s thumbs up thing over Mack’s prone body…
John’s Thoughts: Impact continues its string of very hot opening matches and this one was no exception. While not as epic as past opening matches, this match had the added draw of having something on the line so it wasn’t just a cool exhibition match. On one side it was cool seeing an OVE guy get a win for once. Don Callis pointed out how they’ve been established as Sami’s lackeys so it was good seeing them build up some credibility. On the other side, it’s odd to see Mack lose all of his matches since he won in his debut. They protected Mack with the distraction finish, but other wrestlers have faced Jake and Dave’s constant cheating and have still come out as winners. Maybe Impact doesn’t have long term plans for Mack?
Su Yung and “Dark” Allie were shown making strange (and almost sexual) mannerisms at each other. Josh Mathews said we will see Dark Allie in action after the break… [c]
Josh Mathews said Sami Callihan and Dave Crist screwed Mack out of a chance to wrestle for the X Division Championship…
Tessa Blanchard was cutting a promo from a chair in the makeup room. Tessa talked about how all Taya does these days is makes excuses as to why she’s not Knockouts Champion (Tessa’s kinda right). Tessa reiterated her point on Taya just being Johnny Impact’s wife who runs to her husband to save the day. Tessa said that Taya may have Johnny Impact in her corner tonight but Tessa has “Mr. Impact” in her corner.
The camera panned back to show Moose wearing a half black-half see-through shirt and bedazzled sunglasses. Moose talked about how he just ate an amazing dinner at a five-star steakhouse with Tessa. Moose said he told the absolutely beautiful third generation diamond that he’d give her the world. Moose said he’d start by giving Tessa a victory tonight. Moose said Johnny calls himself Johnny Impact but Moose is the real Mr. Impact Wrestling. Moose said Johnny and Johnny’s “Skeezy” wife will find out why Moose is the legend known as Moose (he did his arm pump). Tessa was cracking up…
Josh Mathews and Don Callis checked in from ringside at the Sam’s Town Casino. Josh Mathews hyped up Moose and Tessa vs. Johnny and Taya as the main event for this episode. Callis and Josh ran through some more matches for this episode…
Allie and Su Yung made their entrance with Allie having new music. Allie’s video wall is the same just with a monochrome filter. Josh reminded viewers that Allie sold her soul to Father James Mitchell. Callis said Allie isn’t the first woman to sell their soul to Mitchell. Josh said Allie was now “soulless” (whatever the hell that means). Callis said “soulless” must mean that Allie’s just like Callis and Josh. Josh said Allie now does the bidding of Su Yung. Callis said he likes Allie’s dark hair and face paint…
John’s Thoughts: I’ll give Josh a lot of credit for trying to explain this nonsense and I’ll give Callis credit for having fun with how ridiculous this is. That said, this storyline is still the worst part of Impact because it comes off as pretentious. Again, Lucha Underground’s cinematic and supernatural universe contains logic, attention to detail, professional writing, good acting (with a bit of bad), and cool CGI. This bootleg LU stuff feels like pretentious fan fiction created by the kayfabe Matt Sydal character.
2. “Dark” Allie (w/Su Yung) vs. Heather Monroe. Josh repeated that Allie was now “Dark” Allie. Heather dominated Allie early on. Heather took Allie down with a roundhouse-forearm combo for a nearfall. Josh ran through Impact’s upcoming Twitch and One Night Only specials. Allie gained control after hitting Heather with a lungblower. Allie started to lick her fingers which freaked out Josh for some reason. Callis said he likes new Allie because the bubbly Allie was annoying.
Allie stomped on Heather in the corner. Josh and Don started to talk about Johnny Impact. Callis tried to mention how Johnny Impact is defending the championship at a higher frequency than Kenny Omega. Allie hit Heather with a buckle suplex. Heather sidestepped Allie and knocked her down with a running enzuigiri. Allie countered and hit Heather with a running senton. Allie slapped herself and then took down heather with a running thrust kick. Allie hit Heather with a codebreaker which Josh called “very Su Yung esque” for the victory.
Allie defeated Heather Monroe via pinfall in 4:30.
Su Yung handed Allie the bloody glove. Callis said the glove was covered in blood and “other bodily fluids”. Allie gave Heather the mandible claw. Callis said the smell is foul. Kiera Hogan ran out and ran over Su Yung. Kiera broke Allie off of Heather Monroe. Kiera then went into melodrama mode in telling Allie to “snap out of it. This is not you”. Callis said Kiera should just mind her own business (good point). Allie clocked Kiera with a right hand. Allie and Su Yung then beat up on Kiera. After a codebreaker on Kiera, Josh said that Allie is more dangerous than ever… [c]
John’s Thoughts: To the credit of the wrestlers, Allie and Su Yung are doing a good job in terms of character work (albeit a bit too melodramatic). If this were a logically told story they could have written it so that Allie was seduced by the darkness which is what led to the character shift. Instead, they’re going supernatural complete with Su Yung hand lasers. This might be worse than that one-time Impact decided to have Katarina turn Angelina Love into her personal zombie. At least that one was explained through Katarina drugging Angelina.
Josh Mathews recapped the last segment and said that Allie has truly gone to the dark side…
Rich Swann and Willie Mack were hanging out backstage where Mack was letting off some steam after his loss. Mack said Ohio vs. Everything will soon be vs. Mack’s foot, elbow, and fists. Rich Swann said it was all good but not all good. Swann said they shouldn’t go on a path of revenge. Mack said the end of that path is Mack’s fist. Swann said he’s known Sami for his whole career and the OVE guys are simply crazy and sinister.
Swann said it’s okay and he has Dave next week. Mack said it’s only logical that OVE will try to pull the same trick next week on Swann that they did on Mack. Mack said he’ll be in Swann’s corner to counter OVE. Swann slapped hands with Mack and told Mack to chill. Mack said he’d chill when he puts his fist up in some OVE heads…
John’s Thoughts: Not the most nuanced of segments, but a pretty simple and effective segment in building interest in the upcoming Rich Swann vs. Dave Crist match. It does a bit of world building and establishing of a friendship between Mack and Swann. It also plants the seed of Mack possibly turning heel due to Swann not being in his corner earlier.
Gama Singh was in the ring cutting his usual boring ass promo for the “New” Desi Hit Squad. Gama Singh may be more boring than NXT UK General Manager Johnny Saint. Don Callis noted that Raj Singh grew up thinking he was named “The Disappointment” due to Gama Singh sending him away from his home in Canada to India to “become a man”…
3. “The New Desi Hit Squad” Rohit Raju and Raj Singh (w/Gama Singh) vs. Damien Hyde and Manny Lemons. Callis said Gama got “badly screwed” trying his luck in the casino. Raj and Damien started the match. Raj ragdolled Damien around the ring. The larger Manny entered the ring. Lemons couldn’t budge Raj though. Raj just ran through Lemons. Damien tagged in and Raj no sold his offense. Raj hit Hyde with a neckbreaker combo. Rohit tagged in and hit Hyde with a tandem knee wheelbarrow combo.
Raj tagged in and stalled for heat. Hyde managed to get a few shots in on Raju but Raju grounded Hyde with a basement dropkick. Manny Lemons “ate a bunch of lemons” and failed to attack the Desi Hit Squad. Callis said Lemons was an idiot for bringing fruit to the ring. Callis said he does like lemons with vodka. The Desi Hit Squad hit a high knee-Samoan Drop combination on Hyde for the victory.
The New Desi Hit Squad defeated Damien Hyde and Manny Lemons via pinfall in 3:25.
Gama Singh held up Rohit and Raj’s hands after the match…
John’s Thoughts: To Impact’s credit, Raj Singh is a huge upgrade over Gursinder Singh. The guy is a bit more charismatic and has good size to complement Rohit Raju’s speed. These guys can be a money team if they do two things. One, don’t treat them like goofballs. The last few weeks had these guys messing with Thanksgiving dinner and Scarlett Bordeaux comedy segments. Two, replace or extricate Gama Singh. I brought up NXT’s Johnny Saint before. WWE saw that problem and fixed it by having Sid Scala be Saint’s mouthpiece because Johnny was so dull.
Ethan Page was shown backstage looking focused while doing bicep curls with resistance bands. Matt Sydal was there bugging Page with his transcendental hippy quotes. Sydal asked Page if Page as ready to open his heart, mind, and third eye because the chance to wrestle in Ultimate X was on the line tonight. Page stopped for a second and told Sydal to stop talking and get ready… [c]
John’s Thoughts: Same story, different week with Sydal. When he goes into his “Third Eye” spiel, it comes off as he’s reading a script. He should drop this because right around the time he was feuding with Brian Cage and Taiji Ishimori, the guy was really killing it on the mic. Sydal has main event potential but the Third Eye gimmick makes him a mid-card goof.
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Katarina about Katarina’s latest lost to Jordynne Grace. Katarina blamed Grace for trying to make a name for herself off of Katarina’s tailfeathers. Katarina said she lied to Jordynne about not being cunning and vicious. Katarina bragged about making Grado and Joe Hendry “disappear” after they tried to cross her. Katarina then brought in her “new friend” Ruby Raze. Katarina said Ruby will be Jordynne’s worst nightmare…
John’s Thoughts: Ruby is an indie wrestler from the California indie circuit. I first saw her wrestle Shayna Baszler in the Cow Palace a few years ago and came out more impressed by Ruby than Shayna at the time. There she was rocking a Freddy Krueger gimmick.
Josh Mathews cut to this week’s Global Wrestling Network moment of the week to hype Homecoming. It was Chris Sabin cashing in his “Option C” to Hulk Hogan for a title shot against Bully Ray at that year’s Destination X show. They also showed clips from the actual match…
McKenzie Mitchell was hanging outside of the “Impact Wrestling Management” office where she said she was hearing a lot of noise coming from the office. Eli Drake walked out with a note. Drake wanted McKenzie to read it. McKenzie said, “I can’t”. Drake comically responded, “you can’t read?”. McKenzie then took the paper and read that it was a challenge from Abyss to a Monster’s Ball match at Homecoming. Eli Drake accepted the challenge and said he was going to get rid of Abyss just like he got rid of Joseph Park… [c]
John’s Thoughts: So, did the paper come from Scott D’Amore or that birthday card from last week? Anyway, I was hoping it was a birthday card from Crazzy Steve because Decay Abyss was cool. TNA Abyss is the most formula thing ever. If you’ve seen one Abyss Monster’s Ball match, you’ve seen them all. It’s the same exact match every single time.
The show cut back to The Rascalz’ “That ’70s Show” weed circle, complete with the canned laughter track, where Zachary Wentz was talking about bears. Scarlett Bordeaux joined the circle. Dez and Zach were confused. Trey Miguel told Scarlett “sup”. Scarlett said she was impressed by the Rascals in their match last week. Trey started spraying himself with something which disgusted Dez. Scarlett said there was nothing little about these rascals. Scarlett then “teleported” away. Zach said they were being mind freaked…
John’s Thoughts: Let’s forget about the campy That ’70s Show rip-off for a bit. What is their goal with Scarlett these days? She came into the company so strong and her act with Bobo was entertaining. Now she just shows up every week to advertise this fan “talent search” that has dragged out several months longer than it should have.
An ad aired for the Impact Homecoming show emanating from the old TNA Asylum…
Ethan Page and Matt Sydal both same out to Sydal’s theme music…
4. Matt Sydal vs. “All Ego” Ethan Page in an Ultimate X Qualifying Match. Callis said it must be tough for Page to be facing his senpai. Page and Sydal started off with chain wrestling with Page dominating with power. Page did a cartwheel and pointed at his “third eye”. Sydal and Page then went to ground chain wrestling. Sydal pointed at his “third eye” and then went for a crossbody pin on Page. Sydal started a time out but then kicked Page in the shin. Page overpowered Sydal and chopped his chest in the corner.
Sydal went to the top rope and hit Page with a shortarm legdrop after Page tried to counter him. Page came back at Sydal with right hands. Sydal clocked Page with a Rolling Sobat. Sydal turned a leg hip attack into a heel hook, but he had to break due to the rope leverage. Sydal used his knee to lock in a triangle on the neck of Page. Page punched Sydal’s gut to try to escape but Sydal came back with a high knee. Sydal hit Page with a basement Yakuza Kick for a two count. Sydal went for a high risk move but Page turned it into a backbreaker.
Page grounded Sydal with a series of elbows. Page grounded Sydal with a standing boot. Mathews noted that Page is limping around with an injured leg. Page yelled “Matt!!!” and ran right into Sydal’s boot. Page nailed Sydal with a cutter on the ring apron. [c]
Page and Sydal were pointing at each others’ third eyes back from the break. Page put Sydal on the top rope but Sydal countered with a reverse Frankensteiner. Sydal then caught Page off the top rope with a standing Frankensteiner. Page fought Sydal off the top rope with a knee. Page hit Sydal with a Swanton Bomb for the two count. Page and Sydal traded quick rollups with Page getting the final one to pick up the win.
Ethan Page defeated Matt Sydal via pinfall in 11:12 of TV time to qualify for Ultimate X at the Homecoming PPV.
Page bowed down in child’s pose in front of Sydal after the match. Page also asked for a hand shake from Sydal when Sydal aggressively walked up to him. Sydal pointed at his “third eye” and then lifted up Page’s hand in victory…
John’s Thoughts: A surprisingly good match given the methodical pace. Sydal’s known for exciting high-flying matches, but lately he’s put on some good ground-based matches. Page wasn’t bad on his end. His offense didn’t stand out too much but Sydal’s innovation made Page look great. What hurt this match was a combination of Sydal’s stale character and the lack of real chemistry between the Sydal and Page pairing. Page and Sydal come off as a makeshift random tag team to where any tension lacks intrigue because there was no real connection between the two to begin with.
Another Homecoming ad played…
The show cut to the “Shady Acres” mental hospital. Eddie Edwards was playing chess with ECW legend Raven (Scott Levy). Raven got Edwards in checkmate. Edwards tossed the chessboard to the ground and started ranting that he doesn’t belong here. Raven said it’ll be okay because they’ll put Eddie back on the drugs soon to make him comatose. Raven said he thinks this place is nice which is why he voluntarily checks himself into the hospital once a month.
Edwards said that Eddie’s wife forced him to be here and Eddie blamed himself for taking things too far. Raven referenced some of his past ECW feuds and said that Eddie isn’t going far enough. Raven then used a random crazy person to distract the orderly in order for Raven to steal the orderly’s RFID card. Raven said this card will let Eddie go wherever he wants. Eddie said he owed Raven one. Raven said “you do”… [c]
John’s Thoughts: Good to see Raven back on TV. Aside from that, my point from last week stands with my views on the Eddie Edwards program. Sometimes it’s so bad it’s funny, and some weeks it’s just not interesting. Aside from the Raven surprise, this was one of those uninteresting weeks. Impact really needs to create some sort of consistency in their storyline universe.
Another Homecoming ad aired hyping up Lucha Brothers vs. LAX…
Santana, Ortiz, Konnan, Pentagon Jr, and Fenix were meeting backstage. Konnan said he likes seeing everyone get along. Konnan reminded everyone how Juventud, Rey Mysterio, and the OGz all had family issues. Konnan desperately tried to throw in a Cain Velasquez and Daniel Cormier reference to try to keep the peace. Konnan said he understands that both teams have a certain temperament and pride. Konnan said once the superkicks and package piledrivers come into play then there might be a problem. Konnan tried to establish that there won’t be any problems. Both teams ensured Konnan that everything was fine. Pentagon said he just wants to have a match to prove the best in the world.
Fenix said they’re just here to prove the best tag team in the history of Impact Wrestling. Santana and Ortiz agreed that two of the best tag teams in the world would be a great match. Konnan then bought into the kool aid for a bit and then hyped up the PPV match at The Asylum. Pentagon Jr. then did his Cero Miedo pie face routine on Santana to rile up Santana. Tensions started to rise and Konnan jumped into the middle yelling that this is exactly what he didn’t want after warning them of past teams he’s been involved with. Papa Konnan yelled “Damn” and walked off. Ortiz told Santana that Santana was getting him in trouble…
John’s Thoughts: See that problem about focus and world building that I brought up with Impact earlier? The LAX universe has none of those problems because there’s always world building, fresh matches, storyline development, and progression in all of their segments. Konnan is doing a nice job coming from left field by playing the worried father. The best part is attention to detail. For longtime TNA fans, you should remember how Konnan saw first-hand LAX and 3 Live Kru dissolve. The seeds were planted over 10 years ago and I like the attention to detail that Konnan is trying to invoke with history from AAA, WCW, and TNA. A “fool me once” reaction? See, Impact needs to learn that they have to tell stories through development, not through doing random s–t.
Josh and Don talked about how there was a lot of pride between Lucha Brothers and LAX. They then talked about the cinematic where Eddie Edwards was playing chess with Raven in a mental Asylum. Callis said he was worried about the advice Raven was giving to Eddie. Josh used the world “Asylum” to segue to hyping the matches advertised for the TNA Asylum Homecoming. They said that Eli Drake vs. Abyss in Monsters Ball was official. Josh announced Dave Crist vs. Rich Swann in an Ultimate X qualifier next week.
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Johnny Impact and Taya Valkyrie (do we call her Taya Impact now? LU already started calling her Taya Mundo). Johnny said he’s been preparing for one of his toughest matches against a good friend in Brian Cage. Johnny said he crossed paths with Moose before and he’s owed him a trip to Slam Town. Johnny said he was excited to team up with his wife. McKenzie interviewed Taya about her “ongoing controversy” with Tessa Blanchard. Taya blamed Tessa for taking shortcut after shortcut in their past title matches while also saying things against Johnny (see, Tessa was right earlier about Taya’s constant complaining). Taya said Tessa is going to get a little taste as to what the “Wera Loca” is bringing to Nashville. Johnny then randomly said “tasty kick” in the lamest way possible. Johnny said Taya is going to kick Tessa so hard in the face, that Tully will feel it… [c]
John’s Thoughts: Well, Johnny’s done a pretty good job at World Champ promos so far so a few of them have to be duds. Johnny seemed to fall into that nervous quirky promo that he does sometimes. I only say this because I got to see Johnny cut a really good promo against Moose last Friday in Newark, CA at the Impact Wrestling show.
Josh Mathews advertised PopTV’s new on demand app. He also hyped Dave Crist vs. Rich Swann and Trey Miguel vs. Trevor Lee for next week in Ultimate X Qualifying Matches…
Tessa Blanchard made her entrance first. Moose then made his entrance, now using the entrance theme that Austin “The Truth” Aries was using right before he left the company instead of Moose’s new heel theme. Moose acted like a heel with most of the crowd but was acting friendly with “EC3 Jacket Guy”…
John’s Thoughts: By the way, is it just me or does it look like Taya is about to Jazzercise given her new theme and attire?
5. Johnny Impact and Taya Valkyrie vs. Moose and Tessa Blanchard. Johnny gave a little child in the front row one of his John Morrison glasses. Don Callis repeated his worry from last week about Johnny having too many title defenses to the point where he might burn out. Instead of wrestling, Moose decided to stick his tongue out in front of Tessa and demand a kiss. Tessa kept yelling at Moose to stay focused. Johnny tried to roll up the distracted Moose. Johnny then took down Moose with a few armdrags. Moose then cowered and went over to hug Tessa. Tessa tagged Moose to get him off of her while he was smiling.
John’s Thoughts: No means no! (Heel Moose is a riot!)
Don Callis said Moose was a douche for what he’s doing to Tessa. Josh did note that this was mixed-tag rules where the women wrestle the women and the men wrestle the men. Taya dominated Tessa and grounded her with a high kick. Taya hit Tessa with a feint back kick. Moose teased attacking Taya but Taya dodged so Johnny could hit him with a Flying Chuck. Johnny took out Moose with a corkscrew plancha. Callis said Moose was a scumbag. Moose crotched Johnny by kicking the ropes on his balls. Tessa also knocked Taya off the apron. [c]
Tessa dominated Taya back from the break. Tessa hit Taya in the back with a jumping piston kick. Moose tagged in and teased attacking Taya but used it to catch Johnny off guard. Tessa tagged back in to continue to work on Taya’s back. Tessa knocked off the Johnny bandana from Taya. Taya blocked Tessa’s Hammerlock DDT attempt. Tessa yelled “Screw you Wera” and then crashed into the turnbuckle. This allowed Taya to make the hot tag to Johnny. Johnny hit Moose with a superman forearm. Johnny then hit Moose with a leg lariat and running knee. Johnny hit Moose with a standing shooting star for a two count.
Moose dodged Starship Pain and hit Johnny with a pump kick. Johnny used a boot to block Moose. Johnny reversed the Go to Hell with a huracanrana. Moose came back with a power bomb and running senton for a two count. Johnny leapfrogged a spear and gave Moose a kick. Johnny hit Moose with a Moonlight Drive. Tessa tagged Moose to break the pin. Taya hit Tessa with a running hit attack. Taya hit Tessa with a running meteora in the corner. Tessa surprised Taya with a ripcord cutter for a two count. Taya blocked the DDT with a wide base. Taya hit Tessa with a German Suplex. Moose pulled the child referee guy to break the pin.
Johnny hit Moose with a flip dive. Taya nailed Tessa with the surfboard Curb Stomp. Taya tried to pull the ring apron while Taya struggled to get her new submission locked in (a surfboard camel clutch). Taya pulled Tessa back and locked in the new submission. Tessa tapped out.
Johnny Impact and Taya Valkyrie defeated Moose and Tessa Blanchard via submission in 10:30 of TV time.
John’s Thoughts: Strong television match. It didn’t give away everything, but the action was strong. Taya’s new character is still very undefined but I’ll give Impact a lot of credit for at least booking a good path to a potential Taya title win. Hopefully Impact finds a way not to make this look like Taya is getting the title due to nepotism with Johnny as world champ.
Moose nailed Johnny with a gore. Josh noted that Johnny pushed Taya out of the way to protect her. Moose started to hit on Taya which allowed Tessa to blindside Taya into the ground and pound. Tessa was about to hit Taya with a chair but Killer Kross ran out. Moose and Tessa thought Kross was there to stand guard but Kross nonchalantly stopped Tessa from whacking Taya with the chair. Moose and Tessa then went to argue with Kross. Brian Cage ran out to clear Moose and Kross from the ring. Cage gave Kross a German Suplex which Kross no-sold (that was good). Moose, Kross, and Tessa backtracked up the ramp while Johnny and Cage (haha, I smell a bad Mortal Kombat joke brewing) stood face to face. Impact closed…
John’s Thoughts: Killer Kross is slowly becoming one of the most intriguing wresters in all of pro wrestling (and I’ve been hyping this guy up for years). They’ve done very little with Cage, but the lack development works positively due to Kross’s involvement. Maybe Cage turns heel and aligns with Kross? Maybe they use this as a way to add layers to Cage? Maybe Johnny Turns heel? Maybe Johnny gets a huge beatdown? There are a lot of possibilities. I hope it isn’t cut and dry and they’re just setting up Kross/Moose vs. Cage/Johnny in the cliché reluctant tag partners bit, and if they do I hope they keep the Kross and Johnny temptation storyline active because this has been one of the better story threads on the show. It’s been mostly intriguing due to Kross’s great character work and body language that tells a thousand words without saying a word.
This was a good Impact show and if they got rid of those experimental divisive things that can piss people off I feel that this can be one of the better pro wrestling shows on television. Right around Slammiversary, Impact was doing good overall shows but then they feel the need to be experimental at the expense of consistency. Few bad points aside the good parts of this show were good and the bad parts were bad but at least fewer. I like the “X Division Qualifying Matches” this and next as it gives what are usually meaningless spotfest some meaning. Jason Powell will be by later today with his Impact Wrestling Hit List and Members Exclusive Audio Review.
Check below for the new Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast with Jason Powell and guests David McLane and Selina “Bambi” Majors discussing the launch of the WOW women’s wrestling promotion series on AXS TV.
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