Powell’s Impact Wrestling Hit List: Mike Bailey vs. Kushida, Rich Swann and Sami Callihan vs. Ace Austin and Chris Bey in a tag tourney match, Bully Ray, Moose, and Brian Myers vs. Laredo Kid, and Black Taurus

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

Impact Wrestling Hits

Mike Bailey vs. Kushida: A match that looked really good on paper and delivered. Kushida going over felt like the likely outcome given that he has an upcoming X Division Title shot. Bailey has taken some losses lately and doesn’t have a real program. Hopefully they work him back into the main mix soon. He can always be counted on to have great matches, but he should be one of the featured wrestlers on top of that.

Crazzy Steve video: Ask and ye shall receive. I wrote recently about my desire to see an origin story for the character so that he could be more than just a wannabe Joker. It looks like we’re getting that along with a character shift given that Steve spoke about being legally blind then teased viewers with details about his family next week.

Sami Callihan vs. Ace Austin and Chris Bey in a tag tourney match: A good match with a weak finish. These are two strong teams and neither team would have been damaged by simply taking a clean loss to the other. Rather, the Good Hands went after Austin and Bey and cost them the match. I like the Good Hands, but they’ve been booked to be scrubs for all but one month when they were built up for a loss in a tag team title match. I hope I’m wrong, it’s hard to view them as anything more than speed bumps for Ace and Bey. This tournament would have been more fun if Impact had held it all within the same show rather than spreading it out over there weeks. And it might even good for ratings if they take that approach the next time they choose to have tournament.

Dirty Dango vs. Bhupinder Gujjar: A basic match that let Gujjar look good in defeat. The distraction finish didn’t bother me in this case because they are reestablishing Alpha (John E) Bravo, plus cheap wins fit the vibe of the entertaining Dango character. Jake Something confronting Dango afterward left me anxious for Dango’s next insult promo.

Jody Threat vs. Alisha Edwards: The match was fine and Threat going over was the right move. But that post match angle was something else. Frankie Kazarian tried to hit Eddie Edwards with a kendo stick, but he accidentally struck Alisha’s side during his windup. We’ve seen women beat each other with kendo sticks and keep fighting. But Kazarian accidentally hitting Alisha’s side with one inadvertent shot somehow managed to knock her out?

Impact Wrestling Misses

Bully Ray, Moose, and Brian Myers vs. Laredo Kid, and Black Taurus: This felt out of place in the main event slot, especially once Samuray Del Sol was taken out by Lio Rush in a backstage segment. It also felt strange to see the babyface team that will face Rush, Bully, Moose, and Myers repeatedly shown watching the match without showing any interest in replacing Del Sol.

Santino with The Coven, Courtney Rush, and Jessicka: Campy characters doing campy things. It’s just not for me. At least the Knockouts Champions Masha Slamovich and Killer Killy took the no nonsense approach.