By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Impact Wrestling Hits
Pentagon Jr. and Fenix vs. Eddie Edwards and Eli Drake for the Impact Tag Titles: A good main event that was only a little over five minutes in length, yet was all action from start to finish. The post match angle with Edwards and Drake was fine, but Drake turning on Edwards felt inevitable from the moment they started teaming together. Worse yet, Drake is no longer with the company, so they ended up doing all of this buildup and presumably won’t be able to get much out of it beyond this batch of television tapings.
Johnny Impact interview: Another good promo from Impact, who is already far superior as a talker while playing a heel role than he ever was during his babyface run.
Taya Valkyrie vs. Madison Rayne in a non-title match: Valkyrie is also shining as a heel promo. The actual match she had with Rayne lasted only a minute, but it furthered the storyline build to Valkyrie vs. Jordynne Grace while also giving Rayne another high profile win after she pinned Tessa Blanchard last week.
Fallah Bahh and Scarlett Bordeaux vs. The Desi Hit Squad: A well received comedy match with some crowd pleasing big dives from both babyfaces. Bordeaux pinning Raj Singh came off fine in that it was set up by a Banzai Drop from Bahh with Bordeaux on his back.
Moose vs. Dezmond Xavier: An entertaining match with Moose looking dominant over a smaller opponent until taking the upset loss. Moose can absorb this loss, and perhaps it will help establish Xavier as the featured player of the Rascalz trio.
Madman Fulton vs. Tommy Dreamer: A minor Hit. Dreamer did a nice job of providing some character background on Fulton in his backstage promo. And I liked the way Sami Callihan was ejected from ringside early on, yet his new heel monster won the match on his own. Fulton doesn’t quite have the big monster act down yet, but he showed potential. The OVE attack after the match was well done and I like the way Callihan manhandles Fulton, as it shows that he is in control of the big man. It works well for Callihan’s cult leader persona now, and sets the table long term for the monster breaking away from his handler.
Impact Wrestling Misses
Tessa Blanchard at Robert Irvine’s restaurant: I really wanted to like this. I read the basic concept for the angle in the headline of John Moore’s weekly Impact television review and thought it was a great idea on paper. Unfortunately, it came off like a bad pro wrestling skit with everyone around Blanchard failing to hold up their end as actors. The chef that Blanchard poured food on couldn’t even keep a straight face. Tessa did her usual good work, but this just felt too fake for my liking.
Undead Realm: The hammy acting, bad special effects, and cheeseball musical score that makes up this campy mess just won’t go away. Impact is doing a lot of good things these days, but stubbornly keeping this nonsense alive is not one of them.
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