By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Impact Wrestling Hits
Kushida, Alex Shelley, and Chris Sabin vs. Trey Miguel, Jonathan Gresham, and Mike Bailey: An excellent six-man tag match that took up the better part of the first 35 minutes of the show. As much as I typically enjoy a talk-heavy opening coming out of a pay-per-view, this was definitely an exception. Miguel had his heel moments of selfishness and took the loss for his team, but I like that the actual finish was straight up and not the result of Miguel making a foolish heel mistake. On a side note, it would be nice to hear more from Gresham. I know his character from his time in ROH, but it doesn’t feel like they’ve done much to establish his personality in Impact.
Nick Aldis promo: Aldis is an excellent promo and does a wonderful job of carrying himself like a champion even when he’s not actually holding a title. Stating that he knows what it’s like to carry the weight of being a champion and adding that he respects the new champion’s prerogative of not having anyone attend his ceremony are little things that make Aldis come off as main event player.
Steve Maclin’s changing of the guard ceremony: Mixed feelings. Maclin did a good job and I liked the added presentation of having men dressed in camouflage serving as his personal security. I really could have done without Scott D’Amore once again acting like a badass who has no fear of the company’s top heel. It seemed to play well for the locals in attendance, but I just don’t think the average Impact viewer thinks of D’Amore as a tough guy despite his in-ring background. Even longtime Impact fans remember D’Amore as the manager of Team Canada, not for his in-ring exploits. Ultimately, though, D’Amore introducing PCO as the Canadian who will challenge Maclin played out nicely.
Moose vs. Yuya Uemura: Uemura was given plenty of offense and good near falls before Moose eventually put him away. The key for Uemura will be the follow-up and hopefully the creative forces have something good in mind for him.
Joe Hendry vs. Sheldon Jean for the Digital Media Championship: A solid match. They did a good job of establishing Jean’s reality television background. Hendry is doing what he can, but the awkwardly named Digital Media Championship still doesn’t feel important.
Impact Wrestling Misses
Frankie Kazarian vs. “The Good Hands” Jason Hotch and John Skyler: This was a well worked handicap match, but I just don’t understand what the point of it was. Hotch and Skyler have become semi-regulars in Impact as Bully Ray’s sidekicks. What good comes from turning them in a joke of a duo that can even win when they have the advantage in a handicap match?
Alisha Edwards vs. Tara Rising: The match was fine. It’s just going tot take some time for me to see Edwards as an in-ring force after watching her lose so many matches before her heel turn.
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