By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Impact Wrestling Hits
Mickie James and Tommy Dreamer vs. “The Good Hands” John Skyler and Jason Hotch: A showcase win for James and Dreamer, as Skyler and Hotch continued to be portrayed as, well, good hands rather than as a meaningful tag team. The post match angle with Bully Ray and Masha Slamovich attacking the babyfaces was a simple way to put heat on the heels.
Rich Swann video package: An effective piece that recapped Swann’s run at the top of the company followed by his downfall after losing the title unification match to Kenny Omega. Swann closing it off by talking about having his mojo back heading into his title match with Josh Alexander worked. I also liked Swann standing up for himself and punching Kenny King after he overhead King badmouthing him during a backstage segment with Josh Alexander.
Brian Myers vs. Dirty Dango in a qualifying match for the the four-way at No Surrender: A nice opening match. The outcome didn’t feel like a slam dunk given that neither man strikes me as a likely winner of the four-way match that will determine the No. 1 contender.
Joe Hendry vs. Matt Cardona for the Digital Media Championship: A solid television main event (even if I still don’t give a damn about the Digital Media Championship). While the Cardona skits throughout the show were entertaining, they also made me feel like he was the butt of the joke rather than a strong contender.
Jordynne Grace vs. Steph De Lander: It was strange to see the former Persia Pirotta debut in Impact with a loss. I’m not saying she should have beaten Grace in her debut match, but she could have beaten someone lower on the food chain. The fact that De Lander lost her debut without much fanfare left me wondering if she was only in for this set of tapings. Regardless, this was a decent television match and another good win for Grace.
PCO vs. Shera in a qualifying match for the the four-way at No Surrender: A dominant win for PCO. There was no mystery regarding the outcome, nor should there have been.
Impact Wrestling Misses
“The Death Dollz” Taya Valkyrie and Jessicka vs. Killer Kelly and Taylor Wilde in a non-title match: The match was fine, but they lost me with the corny finish that saw Wilde pull out a devil tarot card rather than accept a tag from Kelly. Wilde’s new gimmick continues to do nothing for me, but perhaps it will be better now that she seems to be turning heel. The post match angle with poor James Mitchell delivering the usual cornball lines about Rosemary’s father was at least paid off by Allysin Kay and Marti Belle showing up to emerge as challengers to the Knockouts Tag Team Titles.
Latest tapings: It’s not that this episode or last week’s show produced a lot of individual Misses, but the quality of shows from this batch of tapings hasn’t been up to the level of Impact in 2022. Impact has always incorporated lighter elements, but the current balance feels off. There’s too much cutesy comedy and far too many spooky characters and they are suddenly overshadowing the more serious acts and storylines.
Be the first to comment