By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Impact Wrestling Hits
Bully Ray and Steve Maclin vs. Eddie Edwards and Frankie Kazarian: The match was fine in terms of establishing the heel duo while also creating more issues between Edwards and Kazarian. The idea is that Edwards and Kazarian have bonded over being trained by Killer Kowalski, though Kazarian is still rightfully apprehensive. It was obvious that Edwards intentionally superkicked Kazarian instead of Maclin, so it seemed strange that Tom Hannifan didn’t question it when Matthew Rehwoldt claimed it was accidental. I’m not crazy that the build build that Impact gave Maclin led to a brief title reign and now has him feuding with his boss. I hope he somehow comes out of this in a decent place.
“OVE” Sami Callihan, Jake Crist, and Madman Fulton vs. Brian Myers, John Skyler, and Jason Hotch: It was surprising to see the heels go over in OVE’s first match on television since their reunion at Against All Odds. It’s actually a logical move in that it looks like Impact is throwing in the towel on the tired Design faction, meaning OVE need new opponents to work with. In this case, Moose interfered in the match to give Myers and The Good Hands the win, so it will be interesting to see who he ends up aligned with if this is going to be a feud that consists mostly of six-man tag matches. Rich Swann is making excuses for not having Callihan’s back. They seem logical enough, but I wonder if they are building toward a Swann heel turn.
Jonathan Gresham and Mike Bailey vs. Kon and Angels: Gresham and Bailey got the win, but the real focus was on the ongoing issues between Angels and Deaner. The Design’s days seem numbered and that’s a good thing. All three men are talented, but the faction just never clicked and it’s time to shake things up.
Killer Kelly vs. Taylor Wilde: A well worked match with some good counters down the stretch. The post match angle with Masha Slamovich saving Kelly from an attack by The Coven seems to set up the rivals as potential challengers for the tag team titles. I’d rather see Slamovich in the Knockouts Championship mix, but I’m fine with this as long as the champions tone down the campy tarot cards element of their act.
Scott D’Amore promo: As self serving as his return to the ring comes off, D’Amore is a good talker and this was a well delivered promo. I did a spit take when he actually referred to Steve Maclin’s 54-day title reign as “unbelievable.” Otherwise, D’Amore found the right tone and didn’t oversell his own in-ring credentials.
Impact Wrestling Hits
Dirty Dango vs. Bhupinder Gujjar: The actual match was fine with Dango getting a clean win over Gujjar. The Miss is due to the post match angle that saw Santino Marella hit Dango with the silly Cobra. Dango has been a blast since he returned heel. He is in dire need of a name change, but his gimmick of despising pro wrestling, pro wresters, and pro wrestling fans is great. It’s too good to waste in comedy segments with Santino. Of course there’s a place for Santino’s comedy, but the company should have higher aspirations for this version of Dango.
Joe Hendry vs. Yuya Uemura for the Digital Media Championship: A random title match for a championship that means nothing to me. AEW renamed the awful All-Atlantic Championship and turned it into something thanks to Orange Cassidy’s reign as the AEW International Championship. I’d love to see Impact do something similar with this horribly named championship. It rings true when Dango calls it a toy title belt and that’s despite the best efforts of Hendry, who has had some good matches throughout his title reign. The post match angle with Kenny King handing Hendry the belt sets up another title match that I just won’t care about regardless of how good of a match they produce together.
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