11/12 Impact Wrestling TV Results: Moore’s review of Tessa Blanchard and Rich Swann vs. Sami Callihan and Madman Fulton, The North vs. Naomichi Marufuji and Eddie Edwards, six-way match to determine the No. 1 contender to the X Division Championship

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

Impact Wrestling TV
Taped October 25-26 in Windsor, Ontario at St. Clair College
Aired November 12, 2019 on AXS TV

[Hour One] Highlights from last week’s OVE championship celebration were shown followed by the Impact Wrestling intro theme…

Josh Mathews and Don Callis were on commentary. Josh welcomed viewers to a “sold out” St. Clairs College. Impact X Division Champion joined the commentary table for the upcoming number one contender’s match…

1. Trey Miguel vs. Rohit Raju vs. Aiden Prince vs. Brent Banks vs. Willie Mack vs. Petey Williams in a number one contender’s match for the Impact X Division Championship. Several people dived outside to start off the match leaving Banks, Williams, and Miguel in the ring. The men traded armdras and pump kicks. Trey sent Petey outside.

Trey gave Mack, Prince, and Raju with a dive to the outside. Petey gave Banks a drop toehold and hesitation dropkick to the back of Banks. Josh Mathews asked Ace Austin if Austin tried to hook up with any of the wives or girlfriends of other wrestlers. Austin said even though Alisha Edwards never watches Impact Wrestling, he knows other people do so he’s not going to reveal anything on that front.

John’s Thoughts: There it is I guess? Alisha doesn’t watch Impact according to kayfabe (maybe she’s a huge fan of the Wednesday night wrestling block?). Kidding aside, small detail, but I like attention to detail like that in any form of storytelling. Too bad Impact isn’t consistent on that front all across the board.

Petey gave Trey a huracanrana at ringside. Mack gave Miguel a right hand. Mack gave Banks an armdrag and gave Prince a huracanrana. The camera showed “Trey Miguel’s Mom”. Ace Austin seemed interested. Mack took out four of

his opponents with a flip dive. Aiden Prince and Brent Banks kept taking out each other with stereo moves. This was supposed to be epic, but Prince and Banks come off as generic “guest wrestlers” from Scott D’Amore’s wrestling school. Banks and Prince hit stereo flip dives to the wrestlers outside. Josh Mathews asked Austin if he does Ashley Madison (the “affair” dating service) or other dating apps. Austin said he doesn’t need apps because his inbox is always full. Banks gave Prince a DDT after taking a meteora from Trey (this looked very choreographed because Banks waited a long time for Trey to get his move off). Trey hit Mack with a PK. Rohit gave Trey a series of Norther Lights Suplexes for a two count. Pete hit Rohit with a single leg codebreaker and side legsweep. Petey hit Rohit with a Flatliner. Rohit escaped a Destroyer attempt.

Petey locked Rohit in the Sharpshooter. Mack broke that up. Mack hit Petey with a Flying Jalepeno. Mack then did his Samoan Drop and Moonsault combo. Banks gave Mack a Poison Rana. Prince gave Banks a brainbuster for a two count. Miguel trapped Prince on the top rope and gave him a Cheeky Nandos kick. Banks gave Miguel a superkick. Prince front suplexed Banks on Miguel and gave both opponents a 450. A bunch of tives ensued. In the end Williams gave Raju a Canadian Destroyer. Miguel broke up the pin and then rolled over Williams with a jackknife pin for the victory.

Trey Miguel defeated Petey Williams, Aiden Prince, Rohit Raju, Willie Mack, and Brent Banks via pinfall in 9:14 to become number one contender to the Impact X Division Championship.

The camera focused on “Trey Miguel’s Mom” again to telegraph that she’s going to be involved in some sort of MILF storyline with Ace Austin (does Momma Miguel watch Impact, unlike Alisha?). Josh Mathews handed Ace Austin a copy of a Bound for Glory DVD. Trey’s mom gave him a kiss on the forehead, leaving a lipstick mark on Trey. Ace Austin said he wanted some of that…

John’s Thoughts: Nothing wrong with the match, but also nothing too special due to the match being just your typical Indie/TNA opening match flip fest (made worse by inserting generic guest wrestlers Banks and Prince). Just high spots and less storytelling? I really like Trey Miguel’s ability as a wrestler, especially that one time he cosplayed as Sami Callihan and showed strong character work (as opposed to the very hindering 70s show ripoff act). They’ve introduced “Trey Miguel’s Mom” in the crowd, so you know this is going to lead to a MILF storyline with Ace Austin. While I hope they don’t make Ace Austin the one-note dude who’s into married women, I’m interested to see if Trey Miguel can do a better job character-wise that Ace’s previous rivals Eddie and Alisha.

Josh Mathews announced Michael Elgin vs. Rich Swann vs. Moose vs. Tessa Blanchard vs. Daga in a 5-way Elimination Match for number one contendership to the Impact World Title next week…

Gabby Loren interviewed Rich Swann about his thoughts on next week’s contendership match. Rich Swann cut a promo about trying to prove all the doubters wrong. Rich talked about how one person doubted him due to his size (I think that was a Jim Cornette impersonation?). Rich Swann essentially repeated his claim about proving doubters wrong and he said he’s going to do that by becoming Impact World Champion. Rich Swann then pointed out that this is totally possible due to Rich Swann beating Sami Callihan multiple times already. Rich Swann ended the promo by saying his Lionel Richie catchphrase by saying that he’ll party “all night long”… [c]

John’s Thoughts: Well, the promo was delevered decently, but it was also a bit of a formula “underdog” promo. While Swann’s size screams underdog, but he hasn’t been pushed as a underdog in Impact or WWE. WWE putshed him TOO strong. Impact is a bit more even with that, but he’s dominated Sami Callihan at least (which he pointed out). Anyway, I think his best approach would be to drop the whole “all night Rich Swann” gimmick, finally, and doing some of that fun serious work he was doing in his feud against Sami a few months ago. Also, Gabby Loren’s not horrible, but I’m already missing Melissa Santos. That’s just because Melissa is just one of the best interviewers/ring-announcers in the business.

An ad aired for the Impact Hard to Kill PPV on January 12…

Gabby Loren interviewed Michael Elgin about next week’s 5-way. Loren noted that Rich Swann said that Swann thinks he’s going to win next week’s match (well, duh?). Elgin said he also assumes everyone else in the match will pick themself to win too. Elgin said people can think, hope,and wish, but only one person can “do”, Michael Elgin. Elgin said he likes how people are talking about how great he is, but the proof is ultimately that world championship. Elgin said he understands the pride and acomplishment that Callihan feels after becoming champion. Elgin said the only thing Callihan established is a path leading straight to Michael Elgin. Elgin said Sami should cherish his time as champion because next week everyone will find out that Elgin will be the next challenger to the world championship. Solid promo…

Josh Mathews and Don Callis checked in on commentary. Josh asked Don about his favorite to win next week’s 5-way. Callis said he picks Moose right now due to Moose’s momentum. Josh announced Tessa Blanchard and Rich Swann vs. Madman Fulton and Sami Callihan for later in this show. Josh also reminded viewers of Eddie Edwards and Naomichi Marufuji taking on The North in the North’s Tag Team Championship open challenge…

Madison Rayne and Kiera Hogan made their entrance. Kiera Hogan had her arm in a sling. Madison’s opponent is Alexa Nicole (who I think is that random lady Alisha Edwards was talking to last week? I’m not sure?). Nicole was chewing bubble gum and even strugged to get a bubble out when the camera was on her. Madison Rayne mocked Nicole’s weird walk to the ring (and I don’t blame Madison one bit)…

2. Madison Rayne (w/Kiera Hogan) vs. Alexia Nicole. Madison pointed at the “LRL” on her ass as she’s has been to do with her current gimmick and Don Callis continued his joke of comparing Madison Rayne to Bret Hart. Rayne was wearing Bret Hart colors this week. Nicole got a one count after a grounded meteroa. Don Callis said that Madison Rayne beat Ric Flair for the WWF World Title in 1992. Josh Mathews assumed this was at a house show. Don Callis said the only way you can get people to go to house shows is to do title changes there.

Rayne hit Nicole with a top rope blockbuster for a two count. Rayne gave Nicole Muay Thai knees from the cravate followed by a basement lariat for a two count. Rayne dominated Nicole for a sequence with methodical offense. Josh said people are on twitter calling Him and Callis the sexiest announce team. Callis said he doesn’t think of himself as sexy but he thinks Kevin Kelly is a hot dude.

Josh said he likes Nicole’s “Tiffany Blue” color scheme with her gear. Callis said that it’s “just blue!”. Nicole made a bit of a comeback with forearms. Nicole hit Rayne with a bad looking Shotgun Dropkick, but a decent looking lungblower. Nicole then hit Rayne with an Electric Chair Drop for a two count. Rayne then did the typical heel thing of saying she was going to walk out. Kiera Hogan acted hurt at ringside (why did distracted Nicole as much as it did is beyond me). Rayne gave Nicole a hangman catapult onto the top rope. Rayne followed up with a Cross Rayne (a.k.a. Cross Rhodes) for the pinfall win.

Madison Rayne defeated Alexia Nicole via pinfall in 5:27.

Madison and Kiera continued to argue after the match to continue their “frennemy” thing…

John’s Thoughts: Nicole was decent, but a bit rough in the ring. That aside, this match didn’t have to go close to six minutes. What did this match accomplish? I guess it gives Rayne a win, but it’s the kind of win that just establishes Rayne as the Kassius Ohno of Impact, a predictable gatekeeper. I also don’t really see the benefit to having the BCW (or whereever they’re fron) wrestlers in these matches because not only do they not offer any benefit, but they make the matches feel like TNA XPlosion matches.

Johnny Swinger was shown putting down a smelly rolling luggage bag in the locker room. Aiden Prince walked in (now wearing different blue colored ring gear compared to what he was wearing during his match) and Swinger struck a conversation with Prince. Swinger called Petey Williams a “mizark” (Singer-glish for “mark”). Swinger claimed to have taken a big crap in Petey’s luggage. Petey walked in and Swinger told Prince to “kayfabe, kayfabe”. Swinger said “no hard feelings” for rejecting his young boy offer because he found a new young boy in Prince.

Petey said taht was ok. Petey took a different blue bag. Swinger said not to forget his other bag. Petey said the crap bag was not his bag. This confused Swinger after Petey left. Ken Shamrock walked in to reveal that the crap bag is Shamrock’s. Shamrock didn’t know the bag had crap in it and assumed that “something crawled up [Swinger] and died”. Swinger said he just smells like that because he’s on the Jack LaLanne protein and no carb diet. Shamrock took the crap bag away and said that Swinger needs a shower. Swinger nervously shifted his eyes because he was worried of what Shamrock would do to him… [c]

John’s Thoughts: There’s a part of me that says that I should hate this Johnny Swinger gimmick, but they’ve actually done a solid job building him up, they haven’t gone overboard with anything, and I’m getting a kick of the whole “time capsule” thing. There’s a part of me that would love to see Johnny Swinger mix it up in NWA Powerrrr.

They cut to a Rob Van Dam hot tub promo. His girlfriend, Katie Forbes, was dancing and twirking next to him while he slapped her booty. RVD said he’s on vacation. RVD said he owes it to Impact and the Wrestlng Fans to go back to the ring every once and a while. RVD said he does prefer a day off to a day on though. RVD talked about how everyone wants RVD back, so RVD’s back next week. RVD said that Katie will be back too. This caused Katie to say “yay” and then twirk again. RVD said RVD hasn’t changed in 30 years and “you” (the fans) have changed if you think that RVD has changed. RVD said the business has changed too and credited himself with that said change. This promo consisted of the same rough cuts as his last hot tub promo…

John’s Thoughts: Another solid promo from heel RVD and I think Impact has turned a negative to a positive with RVD’s horrendous promo delivery since his return. RVD was incoherent and all over the place when they would give him a live mic. Here they’re (presumably) chopping up his promos and only airing the good parts. This is actually clever.

Jake Crist made his entrance and he’s still calling himself “the golden draw” despite not being a champion anymore. His opponent is Daga who’s now calling himself “El Jefe” for some reason. Josh Mathews noted that Konnan is a legendary talent scout and that Daga is Konnan’s new protege…

John’s Thoughts: Well, Daga’s been getting hyped up and pushed by Konnan for over five years and has not really stood out in a good way. I agree! Konnan has hit home runs in finding Rey Mysterio, Santana and Ortiz,  Pentagon Jr, Fenix, and others. Daga is more like an out via ground ball? Eh? I want to like Daga but he never gives me a reason to. Lucha Underground thought the guy was so dull that they gave him a giant knight sword, and the guy was still boring (Taya Valkyrie later stole Daga’s knight sword and made things cool by cutting off the head of Luchasaurus).

3. Jake Crist vs. Daga. Daga took down Jake with a shoulder block early on. Daga and Jake traded kicks. Daga hit Jake with a three hit punch combo. Daga dodged Jake’s savate combination. Daga gave Jake a huracanrana and a dropkick. Daga hit Jake with a nice looking hesitation corkscrew plancha. Jake caught a Daga roundhouse and then rolled Daga over the top rope with a Dragon Screw. Jake then hit Daga with a Suicide Dive into a DDT which Daga no sold. Daga hit Jake with a Spanish Fly at ringside.[c]

Jake had Daga locked in a cravate back from the break. Daga used elbows to get out. Both men traded kicks. Daga got a two count after a schoolboy. Jake hit Daga with a running elbow. Jake locked Daga in a Muta Lock. Daga used elbows to escape the Muta Lock. Jake continued to dominated Daga. Daga made a bit of a comeback with strikes. Daga hit Jake with a backbreaker and DDT for a two count. Both men traded counters. Jake hit Daga with a nice looking DVD. Daga returned the favor with a Brainbuster.

Daga hit Jake with two consecutive German Suplexes for a two count. Jake hit Daga with a Belly to Belly into the turnbuckle. Daga rolled out of the corner. Jake hit Daga with his signature Savate Combination for a nearfall. Both men brawled to the top rope. Daga hit Jake with a Frankensteiner. Daga quickly followed up with a Butterfly Codebreaker.

Daga defeated Jake Crist via pinfall in 8:38 of TV Time.

Josh Mathews said Daga’s finisher reminded him of Kid Kash’s moneymaker with knees added…

A highlight package aired of the Joey Ryan vs. Ken Shamrock match from alst week… [c]

John’s Thoughts: A well wrestled match, but I felt like the wrong guy is getting the push at the moment. The result makes it clear that they are setting up Daga for some sort of push, but I’ve seen this guy pushed in three different companies only to have him continue to look timid and softspoken. I really hope they aren’t giving up on Jake Crist who is up there in the conversation for Impact Wrestling Breakout Wrestler of 2019. Jake, to be honest, was in a similar position as Daga in terms of being a background character. He really has grown on the mic and in the ring (in terms of credibility) since adopting the “Golden Draw” gimmick. I hope he isn’t in the “stop” phase of a start-and-stop and Impact really needs to reward this guy for his improvement.

Gabby Loren interviewed All Ego Ethan Page and Josh Alexander about their open challlenge title defense. Josh Alexander took a part of the credit for Josh Alexander’s open challenge proposal. Page talked about how they are going to take down all challengers. Alexander said Edwards is a former tag champion which will earn the North more respect when they beat Edwards and Marufuji. Page said they don’t even need that respect because the news articles will say that The North beat Edwards and Marufuji. Gabby asked Page what would happen if they don’t win. Page said the interview is over and the rest of the talking by the North will be done in the ring…

[Hour Two] Sami Callihan rode on Madman Fulton’s shoulders on his way to the ring for the next match. Rich Swann danced his way to ringside as usual. Tessa decided not to do her full entrance and instead stormed the ring to start the match…

4. “OVE” Sami Callihan and Madman Fulton vs. Rich Swann and Tessa Blanchard. Sami was toosed to ringside. Rich and Tessa double teamed Fulton. Tessa piggy backed Fulton to keep him under control. Rich hit Fulton with a Savate Kick. They sent FUlton outside. Rich hit both OVE guys with a Phoenix Senton. Tessa gave Sami forearms. Fulton tripped up Tessa to allow Sami to get control. Sami gave Tessa a brainbuster. Sami jawed with Tessa a bit. Tessa got to Rich Swann. Swann kicked and gave Sami a Frankensteiner. Swann went for a Lethal Injection on Fulton but Fulton caught him. Fulton gave Swann an assisted reverse suplex.

Fulton hit Swann with his cool looking deadlift chokeslam. Sami tagged in and gave Swann an elbow drop for a two count. Sami hit Rich with an axe strike. Fulton and Sami then played isolation on Swann. Fulton had Swann in a prolongued bear hug. Fulton gave Swann a Belly-to-belly when Rich started to escape. More isolation and quick tag ensued.  Sami hit Rich with his pendulum splash (his finisher in WWE as Solomon Crowe) for a two count. Rich Swann managed to get to Tessa for the hot tag. Sami got a kick in. He spat in the air and caught the loogie in his mouth. Tessa continued the hot tag by giving Fulton a DDT and giving Sami a diamond cutter.

Sami blocked Magnum. Fulton punched Tessa in the kidney. Sami and Fulton hit Tessa with a double power slam. Rich Swann broke up the subsequent pin. Swann gave Fulton a wheel kick and Sami a Shining Wizard. Rich Swann gave Sami a DDT. Rich dropkicked Tessa into Fulton. Rich hit Sami with a handstand splash for a two count. Sami raked Rich’s eyes and then distracted the referee by grabbing his bat. Sami used this distraction to allow Fulton to hand him the championship belt to hit Rich with. Sami picked up the pinfall after the belt shot.

OVE defeated Rich Swann and Tessa Blanchard via pinfall in about 11:00.

OVE put the boots to Rich after the match. Tessa tried to save Rich, but Sami gave her a belt shot too. Suddenly Brian Cage’s music played as Cage rushed to the ring. Sami was cleared from the ring. Fulton ate an F5 from Cage. OVE backtracked up the ramp as Cage stood tall in the ring with his theme playing… [c]

John’s Thoughts: Mixed thoughts. Solid match in terms of in-ring. At this point, it does feel like they’re really spinning their wheels on building towards Tessa vs. Sami for the world title, and this has been seen to be their direction for most of the year. Another criticism I have is the presentation of Sami Callihan so far. So far, he doesn’t come off as a world champion and rather he’s still a part of this tag team. Would it have been better if Dave Crist were in his spot there? Not sure? But it would help to get more character work from Sami. Maybe something similar to his serious promo heading into BFG where he was in the dark room with computers. As for Tessa, the predictability of her push’s endgame does make her feel like Impact’s Roman Reigns a bit.

Gabby Loren interviewed Brian Cage on his attack on Sami Callihan. Cage said he’s not done with Sami or the world title. Cage said he’s going to be in any match that decides the world title…

This week’s Impact Plus Match of the Week was the same Match of the week as a few weeks ago. This was at the Homecoming show, Jake Crist was cosplaying as as Scarlet Spider, and Rich Swann won the Ultimate X…

Johnny Swinger was bragging to some random guys about taking a dump in Ken Shamrock’s bag. Jimmy Jacobs was there too and he said it was illegal to crap in someone’s bag. Jacobs said he has to report this to HR. Swinger said that’s fine because “Harley Race” used to crap in Dusty Rhodes’s bag all the time. Everyone left and Johnny called them Mizarks…

John E Bravo and Taya Valkyrie were arguing backstage over travel plans. Jordynne Grace walked up to Taya and reminded Taya that Grace pinned Taya in a tag team match. Taya said Grace can’t just request a title match like that. Grace said she’d accept any match. John E wanted to wrestle Grace. Grace said Bravo isn’t a challenge, but Bravo and Taya would be interesting. This impies that Grace wants a handicap match… [c]

Moose was shown at a Tennis court. He said he proved he’s the best MMA fighter now since he beat Ken Shamrock. Moose said he is going to prove he’s the best tennis player now. Moose found “professional tennis player”, Mikey. Mikey didn’t think that Moose had a shot to score a point. Moose said Mikey just doesn’t know that Moose is a five star athlete. Moose then threatened a broken neck to Mikey before the match. Clips from the tennis match were shown where Moose dominated Mikey, probably because Mikey didn’t want a broken neck. Moose bragged about being a natural and how this means he’s going to win next week’s five way match.

5. Jessika Havok vs. Crystal Moon. Havok gave Moon a lariat earlier on. Mathews noted that Havok has slimmed down a bit. Moon was womanhandled by Havok. Moon tried to go for a back elbow, but was caught and hit by a German Suplex. Havok hit Moon with a face wash in the corner. Havok followed up with a few more kicks. Moon rolled to ringside, only to allow Havok to womanhandle her outside. After more dominance, Havok missed a leg drop and even sidestepped Havok in the corner. Havok then no sold some strikes from Moon. Moon managed to get a sell after a stomp on Havok’s foot. Moon went high risk and she jumped right into Havok’s hand. Havok chokeslammed Moon. Havok lifted Moon’s head during the pin to inflict more damage. Havok hit Moon with a pile driver for the win.

Jessika Havok defeated Crystal Moon via pinfall in 3:55.

Havok ran into “Susie” Yung in gorilla position. Susie said Havok’s aggressive style makes her think she knows Havok. Havok shoved Susie aside a bit and walked away. For some reason, we saw “memory flashes” or something? [c]

John’s Thoughts: A good squash for Havok, but hopefully the establish Havok or Su Yung as a heel so we don’t end up with the same dud of a feud like a few months ago. Definitely, it seems like they’re going Firefly Funhouse with Su Yung with the normal version being like Bray and I’m assuming the Zombie version would be like the Feind. Could have done without the “memory flash” or whatever that was.

Josh Mathews announced that Brian Cage has been inserted into next week’s number one contender’s elimination match…

Eddie Edwards and Naomichi Marufuji made their entrance first for the upcoming match…

6. “The North” Ethan Page and Josh Alexander vs. Eddie Edwards and Naomichi Marufuji for the Impact Wrestling Tag Team Championships. Edwards and Alexander started off the match. Both men traded wristlocks. Eddie got in a headlock. Naomichi tagged in and got wristlocked. Page and Alexander then traded quick tags to isolate Marufuji. Marufuji tagged Edwards in. The teams were pretty much even with quick tags and trading offense. [c]

Marufuji was in control back from the break where he quickly tagged in Eddie to work on Page with chops. Eddie got to the heel corner and ate a lariat to leave him sitting on the apron. Alexander hit Eddie with a crossbody to the back to send him to the floor at ringside. The North went to the quick tags and isolation. Alexander and Page hit Eddie with backbreakers to keep him away from the hot tag. The isolation continued. Eddie got a window of opportunity by countering Alexander’s suplex with his own. Marufuji caught the hot tag. He trapped Page in the corner and hit him with a loud chop.

Marufuji hit a cool kick punch combo on Page. Alexander also took a few of those cool kicks. Eddie ended up hitting Page with a Frankensteiner which allowed Marufuji to kick Page and go for the nearfall. Page and Marufuji traded chops. Alexander got the blind tag to get in the ring and catch Marufuji off guard. This allowed Page to shoulder block Marufuji. Marufuji escaped the North’s Burning Hammer finisher. Marufuji hit Alexander with a curb stomp. Eddie hit Alexander with a Blue Thunder Bomb for the nearfall. Edwards fought Alexander to the ropes. Edwards used kicks to knock down Alexander while also taking down Page with a lariat.

Marufuji kicked Alexander into a Cheeky Nandos bomb. Edwards hit Alexander with a Tiger Bomb for a nearfall. Page distracted Edwards enough to allow Page to pump kick him. Page and Alexander kicked and smashed Marufuji to the mat. They did the same wombo combo stype of stuff to Eddie. The North hit Eddie with one of their finishers, the double Neutralizer, for the nearfall by Alexander. They then hit their second finisher, the Burning Hammer Spinebuster, to give Alexander the pinfall win.

The North defeated Eddie Edwards and Naomichi Marufuji via pinfall in 14:15 of TV Time to retain the Impact Tag Team Championships.

Josh handled the show outtro while The North celebrated their title win…

John’s Thoughts: Sorry for the lateness of finishing this review, literally a bunch of technical issues came up and I had to rush over to work during the review of the main event. But hey, I’m here, I saw the match, I reviewed it, and it was a good tag team match. Good to see Eddie pretty much drop the crazy character for the night. He’s still dressed in Crazy mode and has weird hair, but the guy’s a tag team specialist. Naomichi always lives up to the hype in the ring, but it would help if Impact would try to give him a character profile aside from being this legend in Japan who’s less known to US viewers. I like what they did with the North by having them go over strong, yet still have heel techniques to getting to their win. Because this was good, I wouldn’t mind seeing them get back to this. For one, we know these teams can have a good match. For two, hopefully that means they start going away from the bomb known as the “Crazy Eddie” experiment.

As much as the main event was solid, this was one of the east exciting episodes of Impact in the AXS run. The shows haven’t been powerful overall, but this one in particular started off with a bunch of matches with the Border City Wrestling (or whatever local promotion) talent in the matches who were presented as filler as opposed to actual wrestlers.