By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Impact Wrestling Hits
Josh Alexander spotlight video: An excellent piece of production work. This was the missing piece when it came to fully establishing who Alexander is. We’ve heard him talk about his neck injury in the past, but the documentary piece chronicled his childhood and other aspects of his life and career in a way that made him likable and inspirational. Alexander meant something as the X Division Champion, but he’s become a star throughout the build to the Bound For Glory main event.
Christian Cage and Josh Alexander go-home verbal exchange: A strong final push for the Bound For Glory main event. Cage has done an effective job of being the agitator throughout the build while still maintaining his babyface status. While I typically appreciate no contact heading into a first-time showdown match, I really like the way the tension between the two finally boiled over into a brief pull apart. Impact has done a great job with the slow build to Alexander’s rise and what I assume will be an Impact World Championship win on Saturday.
Trey Miguel vs. Alex Zayne: A good match with a somewhat surprising clean finish. I assume that Zayne has yet to sign with any company given that he’s appearing on Impact and ROH television these days, so it was logical to put the contracted wrestler over, especially going into Miguel’s involvement in the Triple Threat for the vacant X Division Championship at Bound For Glory.
Mickie James vs. Savannah Evans: There was no mystery regarding the outcome of this match with James challenging for the Knockouts Championship at Bound For Glory. Nevertheless, it was nice to see James wrestling in an Impact ring again. I’m not big on the addition of Matthew Rehwoldt to Deonna Purrazzo’s act. It was encouraging when Purrazzo ditched Kimber Lee and Susan because it seemed like she was reverting to the dominant heel champion role. It’s cool that Rehwoldt landed in Impact and Scott D’Amore did make it clear that Rehwoldt will not be allowed at ringside at Bound For Glory, so hopefully his involvement was more of a one-off designed to get around the no-contact edict that had been issued for Purrazzo and James.
Chris Bey and Hikuleo vs. David Finlay and Juice Robinson: Sure, the finish felt overbooked, but it’s not like we see a lot of that from Impact these days. The in-ring action was strong and the finish created a reason for the Triple Threat match for the Impact Tag Titles at Bound For Glory. Granted, they could have just booked the Triple Threat since it’s not like they haven’t had a lot of multi-team tag title matches on pay-per-views, but this filled some television time with a quality match.
Heath, Rhino, and Violent By Design: As much as I hope that Heath will eventually become a singles act, Impact has done a nice job of setting the table for his reunion with Rhino at Bound For Glory.
Impact Wrestling Misses
Crazzy Steve and Chelsea Green vs. Jordynne Grace and Fallah Bahh vs. Tenille Dashwood and John Skyler: I assume the company’s plans for the Digital Media Championship will become more clear once they crown the first champion. That said, they just haven’t generated much interest in this title yet, and this match didn’t really help the cause.
Be the first to comment