By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Impact Wrestling Hits
Chris Sabin vs. Trey Miguel for the X Division Title: The expected good work from both wrestlers. Normally, I’d grumble about the match ending due to outside interference, but I was pleased to see Zachary Wentz back on television. I’m not here to litigate everything transpired between Wentz and his ex-wife. Wentz lost his NXT job and hadn’t been booked by a major promotion in over a year. Unless there’s more to the story that emerges, I’m perfectly comfortable with him returning to television and getting a chance to resume his career. Here’s hoping that he makes the most of it.
Dirty Dango and Santino Marella: Another enjoyable promo from Dango, who continues to kill it as a heel. Dango’s comments about Jim Cornette slapping Santino back in the day and then questioning whether Santino’s daughter is getting slapped (she works as Arianna Grace in NXT) brought out the serious side of the Santino character. I get a kick out of Santino comedy from time to time, but I really hope he ditches the corny Cobra sleeve and works a serious style with Dango at Slammiversary.
Trinity vs. Jai Vidal: A fun match with Trinity fighting off interference to beat Gisele Shaw’s sidekick. Deonna Purrazzo taking her time before saving Trinity from a post match attack by Shaw and Savannah Evans was a nice development on the road to the Knockouts Title match at Slammiversary.
Masha Slamovich vs. KiLynn King: A well worked match that included Killer Kelly returning the favor by saving Slamovich from Taylor Wilde’s interference. The angle was predictable and yet also a logical development as they set up the Knockouts Tag Team Title match for Slammiversary. That said, I still think the company made a mistake by not putting the Knockouts Title on Slamovich.
Scott D’Amore video package: D’Amore returning to the ring at Slammiversary still feels ridiculously self-indulgent. But it’s set in stone and therefore they needed to establish his background. This video package accomplished that nicely without any of the wrestlers who took part laying it on too thick while talking about their boss’s career.
Lio Rush vs. Jack Price: A showcase win for Rush in his first Impact appearance. This was pretty straight forward and didn’t offer any real indication as to what Rush’s character would be like, but the final segment of the show addressed that nicely.
Impact Wrestling Misses
Alex Shelley and Nick Aldis segment: I’m typically very high on Aldis’s mic work, but this promo just click. I even found myself nodding along when Shelley finally told him to shut up. The post match angle with Lio Rush running out and helping Aldis work over Shelley and Chris Sabin was better. Even so, I hope Shelley, Aldis, and the creative forces can come up with something to give the world title feud a spark over the next two weeks.
Kenny King vs. Yuya Uemura: This was arguable the best match of the night, but the characters feel cold and the outcome felt predictable. I wish Uemura’s role consisted of more than losing competitive matches. The post match angle with Joe Hendry’s latest music video got a favorable reaction from the live crowd even if I didn’t think it was his best work.
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