By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Impact Wrestling Hits
Masha Slamovich vs. Killer Kelly: Both wrestlers need wins and therefore the finish with Slamovich going over despite Kelly having her finisher locked in felt logical. Impact had a great thing going with Slamovich before they booked what should have been a competitive feud with Jordynne Grace as a lopsided feud with Grace winning each time. Kelly was given a cool introduction and then never quite kicked into the next gear. Whether it’s through a competitive feud with one another or they head in different directions, hopefully both wrestlers can be elevated.
Steve Maclin vs. Rhino for the Impact World Championship: A good television win for Maclin. The match was more competitive than it needed to be, but at least Maclin went over clean. They told a good story with Maclin targeting the knee to the point that Rhino couldn’t perform his own Gore finisher. The post match attack was effective in terms of making Maclin look ruthless.
“The Coven” Taylor Wilde and KiLynn King vs. Deonna Purrazzo and Jordynne Grace for the Knockouts Tag Titles: Impact oddly did nothing throughout the course of the show to set the table for this main event unless you count the random flashback clip of Wilde and Sarita becoming the inaugural champions. It was odd that we didn’t hear from either team and the match wasn’t positioned as a bigger deal, especially with the challengers slated to face one another for the Knockouts Championship at Under Siege. Speaking of which, there wasn’t much of a meltdown between the two, as one might expect from this scenario. The match was fine. I’m not sold on The Coven’s tarot card witch gimmick, but they are a fine team and hopefully this win gives them a boost. The post match appearance by Trinity was well done in terms of following up on her debut from last week.
“The Good Hands” Jason Hotch and John Skyler vs. “Decay” Crazzy Steve and Black Taurus: It was good to see Hotch and Skyler actually win a match. They were given a bit of a break by serving as henchmen for Bully Ray and yet they just kept losing matches. Even a cheap heel victory with help from Brian Myers gives the duo a bit of in-ring credibility and I’m looking forward to seeing where their alliance with him leads.
Nick Aldis vs. Sheldon Jean: I expected more fanfare for Aldis’s first match back in Impact, but it ended up being a solid showing. For that matter, Jean was given just enough offense to come off like a prospect rather than an enhancement wrestler.
Impact Wrestling Misses
Johnny Swinger vs. Dirty Dango: Meh. I get a kick out of Swinger’s comedy antics, but everything from Joe Hendry’s promo to the brief match felt too repetitive.
>>Impact had a great thing going with Slamovich before they booked what should have been a competitive feud with Jordynne Grace as a lopsided feud with Grace winning each time.<<
Bingo.
That whole situation still makes no sense to me. It’s like if after his streak was finally broken, Goldberg went and lost 3-in-a-row to DDP. It benefits neither Slamovich, nor all the people she squashed en route to Grace (they all lost, but Grace was able to beat her on multiple occasions). It also makes Grace look bad ’cause, if she can beat the monster no one else could, multiple times, why should she ever lose a match to ANYONE ever again? If no one can beat Masha, but she can beat Masha multiple times, the rest of the entire roster should be even easier for Grace to beat… why would she ever lose?