Powell’s Impact Wrestling Hit List: Christian Cage and Josh Alexander vs. Ace Austin and Madman Fulton, Chris Bey, Hikuleo, and El Phantasmo vs. Chris Sabin, Juice Robinson, and David Finlay, Black Taurus vs. Steve Maclin vs. Petey Williams to qualify for the X Division Championship match at Bound For Glory

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

Impact Wrestling Hits

Christian Cage and Josh Alexander vs. Ace Austin and Madman Fulton: A good main event with Cage and Alexander working well together as they move closer to their Impact World Championship match at Bound For Glory. The sequence at the end with Cage tagging himself into the match and stealing the pin from Alexander was really well done, as Cage has plausible deniability, yet Alexander’s character also had good reason to be upset. The build to their match at BFG has been really good so far and I’m definitely looking forward to it.

Chris Bey, Hikuleo, and El Phantasmo vs. Chris Sabin, Juice Robinson, and David Finlay: An entertaining opening six-man tag match with good action from bell to bell. The Bullet Club trio going over was logical in terms of putting heat on them to extend the issues with their opponents.

Steve Maclin vs. Black Taurus vs. Petey Williams to qualify for the X Division Championship match at Bound For Glory: A good Triple Threat match that moved Maclin into the Triple Threat to determine the new X Division Champion at Bound For Glory. I’m not really sure why Maclin’s character is booked in the X Division rather than in the Impact World Championship mix, but at least he’s winning matches.

Heath, Violent By Design: Heath doesn’t come off like he’s delivering a standard pro wrestling promo. Rather, he comes off like a guy who is simply talking to the fans in attendance, not just looking into the camera while treating the live crowd as an afterthought. He’s comes off as relatable and likable. The Violent By Design confrontation was strong as the trio worked over Heath while the fans called for Rhino, who never arrived. As much as I’m ready for Heath to do something new, the story leading up to their presumed reunion is off to a good start.

Impact Wrestling Misses

Kimber Lee, Brandi Lauren, and Lady Frost vs. Tasha Steelz, Savannah Evans, and Mercedes Martinez: The story of Steelz and Evans refusing to tag in Martinez was solid. But I’m so over pro wrestling zombies. Su Yung plays her part well and I could tolerate her character if it was presented as if she was playing mind games, but it never plays out that way. It’s always hocus pocus with teleportation and other nonsense. Do we really need an entire zombie herd?

Rich Swann and Willie Mack vs. Manny Lemons and Zicky Dice: An “in the middle” match. They filled a little television time with the babyace duo beating a pair of Brian Myers’ lackeys. I’m not sure why Dice was cast in this role, but I’m still waiting to see if this goes somewhere. I ultimately put this in the Miss section because of the post match attack with Myers and his crew leaving Swann and Mack lying, as it means this oddball feud is continuing. It feels like Swann and Mack should be doing something bigger heading into Bound For Glory.