By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling on PopTV
Taped November 11-13, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada at Sam’s Town Casino
A recap video aired of last week’s Final Hour themed show followed by the Impact Wrestling intro theme. This is the first episode at the Las Vegas tapings…
Josh Mathews and Don Callis checked in on commentary…
Tessa Blanchard made her entrance and her opponent, Ray Lyn, was already in the ring…
John’s Thoughts: The crowd looks decent enough and Thank God the wrestlers now have a wide ringside area as opposed to the cramped/fire-hazard walkways at ringside at the Melrose Ballroom. I can’t get a good feel of the venue since the higher decks are darkened. As for Ray Lyn, she’s a wrestler from the California indie circuit. I always saw her as an imitation Candice LeRae.
1. Tessa Blanchard vs. Ray Lyn in a non-title match. Tessa started the match by using her power to corner Lyn. Lyn came back with a few kicks. Tessa came back with a elbow smash. Tessa deadlifted Ray into a gutbuster. Tessa and the referee started to jaw at each other. Josh noted that Tessa has had issues in the past with referee Brandon Tolle. Tessa hit Ray with a jump kick. Ray came back with a roundhouse and high knee. Ray followed up with a huracanrana and dropkick. Ray hit another kick. Tessa used the ropes to block a cutter attempt.
Ray went for another huracanrana but Tessa tossed Ray off like she was throwing away the trash. Don Callis said that Tessa might be the hardest champion to beat in Pro Wrestling. Tessa hit Ray with a Buckle Bomb followed up by the Hammerlock DDT for the victory.
Tessa Blanchard defeated Ray Lyn via pinfall in 3:06.
John’s Thoughts: A good squash match and a good look at Ray Lyn, who looked pretty good in her little spurt of offense. Maybe Impact should look at bringing in some of the local talent to bolster up their Knockouts Division, which is running out of feuds (hell, why not bring in Shotzi Blackheart again since she’s no longer injured?). Back to Tessa, I agree with Don in that Tessa is a great centerpiece champ and she’s singlehandedly holding down a division with good in-ring work.
Tessa called out Taya Valkyrie after the match. Tessa talked about how Taya not only is calling Tessa names but also bringing up every excuse as to why she didn’t win the Knockouts title. Tessa said it’s simple, Taya isn’t champion because Tessa is. Tessa ended her promo by saying that Taya would never be anything other than Johnny Impact’s wife. Some new generic hip hop entrance music started playing. Taya has new music as he sprinted to the ring. Tessa did the heel champion thing of taunting Taya from a distance while backtracking.
Taya said she hear what Tessa said. Taya said she is proud to be Johnny Impact’s wife. Taya said she’s also known as La Wera Loca (Crazy White Girl), La Perra Del Mal (The female dog of evil), and La Reina de Lucha Libre (The Queen of Wrestling). Taya said she spoke to Impact management and they agreed to give Taya a match at the Nashville show. Tessa ended her promo by saying “see you at Homecoming, Champ!”. Taya’s new theme played as there was a staredown from the distance between the future challengers.
John’s Thoughts: No wonder Taya married John Hennigan. Instead of having many last names she has many nicknames. Kidding aside, a much improved showing from Taya Valkyrie. Not perfect, but much improved. The new entrance music is a good start because she’s no longer playing the Norse ice goddess. She also stuck to a simple challenge promo as opposed to come off as a hypocrite. There’s plenty of time until January so I’m looking forward to seeing this promising program which is also good because it’s devoid of any pretentious Undead Realm crap.
Josh Mathews and Don Callis checked in on commentary. Josh announced Johnny Impact vs. Matt Sydal in a non-title match. Josh also advertised Eli Drake “asking for time” on Impact as well as Brian Cage vs. Sami Callihan for the X Division Championship. Callis claimed that there was a bus loads of Ohioans that infiltrated the arena and are waiting to help out Sami Callihan. Josh and Don played around with poker chips…
KM and Fallah Bahh were in the Casino. KM said Scarlett told them win “something big”. Bahh said “Bahh” as he pointed at the slot machines. KM said it’s not slots. KM said he pulled some strings and got them a match against LAX. Bahh let out a nervous “Bahh”. KM said it was fine because it’s not for the titles yet and if they win they will get a title shot. KM said if they can get the gold soon they can get Scarlett. Bahh let out one more “Bahh” before fainting… [c]
Suddenly, Dezmond Xavier’s back! (Seriously, this guy is like Low Ki where he wrestles one or two matches then disappears for three months at a time). There were smoke clouds to insinuate that not only he was smoking weed, but also in the middle of a “That ’70s Show” weed circle. They were going full That ’70s Show with this one because there were two other guys that I can’t tell who they are and there was a hokey laugh track. The three guys were acting like stoners…
John’s Thoughts: The F— was that s—? Did someone really feel the need to do a That ’70s Show parody? Are they bringing in “stoner” wrestling characters? But they already have Matt Sydal and Josh Mathews has pointed out that act sucked. So let’s multiply that time’s three. Dammit D’Amore! Let me guess, they’re gonna do Half Baked next week?
Josh Mathews revealed that the trio was named “The Rascals” and they were coming soon to Impact Wrestling…
2. “The Latin American XChange” Santana and Ortiz (w/Konnan) vs. KM and Fallah Bahh in a non-title match. Mathews said that we haven’t seen or heard from Kingston and the OGz since they lost to the Lucha Brothers (but that was only one week in their universe. What?). Bahh fired up the crowd with his vocabulary. Santana and Bahh started the match with a chain wrestling sequence. Bahh mocked the LA hand sign. Bahh showed some agility to match Santana in a Lucha Libre chain wrestling stalemate. Bahh showed off more cool lucha libre dodges. Santana gave Bahh a handshake so he could nail Bahh with a enzuigiri.
Ortiz tagged in for tandem offense. Bahh blocked a whip and said “no no no”. LAX got Bahh to the outside by sidestepping him. Bahh nailed Ortiz with a seated Pele Kick that fired up the crowd. KM tagged in and gave Ortiz a body slam. Callis said “he has a girbil in his pants”. Bahh and KM did their signature steamroller move. KM and Bahh traded quick tags for isolation offense on Ortiz. Ortiz escaped by using a dropkick to make Bahh DDT KM. KM managed to catch a flying Ortiz. Santana gave KM and lift kick into a dropkick and senton combo.
Bahh surprised both LAX members with a running crossbody. Bahh then slammed LAX with the power of telekinesis, or luck (either way, Jim Cornette would be pissed). Callis said Bahh should stop playing with the crowd. Bahh hit both LAX members with corner hip attacks which Callis called “200 pounds of ass”. Bahh hit Santana with a Samoan Drop after KM’s help. Bahh when high risk but Santana caused KM to accidently hit Bahh. After some offense, LAX hit Bahh with a lionsault-legdrop combo for the pinfall win from Santana to Bahh.
LAX defeated KM and Fallah Bahh via pinfall in 7:34.
Konnan, Santana, and Ortiz did their usual celebration in the ring…
John’s Thoughts: A very entertaining match as LAX usually delivers, but KM and Fallah Bahh have been a consistently entertaining tag team on their end. Bahh in particular had that really fun spurt of Lucha Libre offense.
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Heather Monroe who was making her debut against Su Yung later in the show. Heather said she’s the “Goddess of Girl Power”. Heather said Su Yung might need some help with her clothing. Suddenly, Kiera Hogan randomly decides to interrupt this interview. Kiera said she’s here to warn her about Su Yung. Kiera brought up Madison Rayne, Rosemary, Kiera, and Allie as examples of Su Yung’s rampage in the Knockouts Locker Room. Kiera told Heather to be careful… [c]
Scarlett Bordeaux was shown in the parking lot wearing a leotard under a see-through dress. She was approached by two nerdy and horny Impact Wrestling fanboys (one can assume). The one wearing plaid knocked down the other and said he wanted to “protect” Scarlett. Scarlett said the one wearing plaid looked familiar and she dragged him by the hair to do something with him…
The show cut to the latest LAX clubhouse cinematic. Their clubhouse looked like it might be in the Casino tool shed. Ortiz was playing around with the tools. Santana asked Konnan about the OGz. Konnan said the “bosses” are keeping the OGz out of the streets and the Lucha Brothers made sure you won’t see the OGz in the ring ever again. Oritz used the Lucha Brothers as a segue. Santana said since LAX are fighting champions, he thinks that Pentagon and Fenix deserve a title shot. Ortiz said it was keeping it in the family. Santana recommended the Homecoming PPV. Konnan said “not right now”. Ortiz said there was a lot of money in this match. Konnan said he never steered LAX wrong and he quickly walked away leaving Santana and Ortiz bewildered…
John’s Thoughts: This was obvious after last week, but as much as I dislike wasting Pentagon and Fenix as a tag team, LAX vs. Lucha Brothers is going to be straight hot fire. As much talent as there is in that match, I can’t see Impact putting on a better matchup for their Homecoming PPV. This should be great and Konnan should continue to carry things in the promos and cinematics. Hopefully they unleash Pentagon on the mic because he can have some great verbal sparring with Konnan. Hell, Pentagon had a feud of the year candidate a few years ago against Konnan’s rival Vampiro.
They cut to this week’s Global Wrestling Network Match of the Week. It was LAX vs. OVE from Bound for Glory 2017. Jeremy Borash and Josh Mathews were on commentary. This was Sami Callihan’s Impact debut. Since I already saw this, I will refer you to check out Jason Powell’s Bound for Glory 2017 review which you can find on our website…
Matt Sydal and Ethan Page were shown in front of a brick wall talking about Sydal’s transcendental stuff. Ethan Page hyped up Sydal’s match against Johnny Impact. Sydal said his third eye shows him that Johnny Impact is hiding behind muscles and spray tan. Sydal ended his promo talking about how Johnny should open his third eye…
The next scene showed the Desi Hit Squad trio of Raj Singh, Gama Singh, and Rohit Raju sitting on lounge chairs and presumably poolside. It was hard to hear what Raj was saying because there was music covering up his voice. Gama talked about how Indian Food is the best food in the world as he named off his favorite Indian dishes. Rohit said what’s better than Indian food is Turkey, Stuffing, Ham, Cornbread, Collard Greens, and Apple Pie. Raju said he’s excited because it’s Thanksgiving! Gama slapped Rohit Raju for liking American Thanksgiving food and said that there is nothing to to be thankful about in America because of a high crime rate, unemployment, low salaries, and lack of respect for Indians. Gama said they are going to go to America next week to ruin Thanksgiving…
Josh Mathews said he can’t wait for Eli Drake’s Gravy Train Turkey Trot next week which involves the god awful TNA Turkey Suit…
John’s Thoughts: Oh, ugh to joy. The return of the annual “TNA Turkey Bowl”. To Impact’s credit, last year’s Thanksgiving episode was actually pretty good when they lined up the wrestlers for honest interviews about their childhood Thanksgivings. The only bad parts were the Turkey Suit and all the clips of Bro Mans shown all night.
They aired a clip of Chris Adonis (a.k.a. Chris Masters) being the person who had to wear the TNA Turkey Bowl suit last year. Don Callis compared the Turkey Suit to the Bobby Heenan Weasel Suit…
Eli Drake made his entrance and continued to dub himself as “the last of a dying breed”. Drake said he put to rest the career of Abyss last week. Drake said he gave up on the lawsuit and the lawsuit was only a way to lure Abyss so Drake can take him out. Drake said he’s the last of a dying breed.
John’s Thoughts: Well… Dwayne Johnson is still pretty young, healthy, and living, so I wouldn’t call Drake the last.
Drake said skinny idiots and fat slops are coming off the street, getting dressed up, and playing pro wrestler. Drake said modern wrestlers look just like the fans. Drake said the fans crave some of the dangerous flips and flops these wrestlers do. Drake said the fans want something else, someone to captivate them like none other. Drake said the fans are waiting for Eli Drake. Drake said people like Abyss inspired people off the street to do dangerous things like hitting people like light tubes. Drake said all that gets you is a goose egg and a trip to the hospital. Drake said the speaking mouth is more dangerous than light tubes and chairs because Drake is the last of a dying breed. Drake talked about how he is pro wrestling. Drake tried to say his catchphrase but was cut off by Tommy Dreamer’s entrance.
Drake called Tommy Dreamer an old man example of what he’s talking about like Abyss. Dreamer said if Drake puts his finger in Dreamer’s face again he’ll bite the finger off. Dreamer said it might taste like chicken because Drake is wearing a yellow jacket. Dreamer then called Drake a “skinny jean millennial” who doesn’t know the history of the wrestling business. Dreamer said “Hardcore” isn’t light tubes, tables, and thumbtacks but rather a work ethic that men and women did before Drake was around by people who busted their butts because they loved the damn business. Dreamer said there’s also a Lucha revolution and brought up Konnan walking around with a limp and a broken hip. Dreamer brought up how Konnan introduced the world to people like Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, and Psicosis who paved the way for people like Pentagon and Fenix.
Dreamer said he’s doesn’t want to rant about ECW but “Skinny Jeaned Millennials” like Drake want to rewrite history. Dreamer mocked Drake’s “Talk to ya” Catchphrase. Dreamer said the man who innovated the “Table” chant was Sabu. Dreamer talked about how Abyss broke his body for the business and how him hiding his identity behind a mask is hardcore. Dreamer then said the fans were hardcore. Dreamer brought up the “skinny jean millennials” line again. Dreamer talked about how the fans made Dreamer and they want to make Drake. Dreamer said when you insult a hardcore person, you’re insulting the fans, which means you’re insulting Dreamer because Dreamer is defending the people. Drake gave it a golf clap. Drake said he’s struck a nerve. Drake said Dreamer could not touch what Drake does in the ring and on the mic. Dreamer said he’s sick of talking and he wants a match “right freaking here”.
Dreamer took off his jacket and so did Drake. They teased a match in street clothes but Drake ducked away and walked up the ramp…
John’s Thoughts: That was a lot to absorb in a bad way. I don’t know who this appeals to. Drake is playing the fan of elitist pro wrestling, but Drake’s points about people killing themselves for nothing is a solid thing to get behind. Dreamer then comes out and delivers his promo well, but as he called it, it was a rant. Not to mention, this felt like two baseball insiders talking inside baseball and what entertainment is there behind that? Instead of trying to do “everything”, Impact Wrestling should trim things down and focus on providing basic pro wrestling, especially when they don’t have the roster or writers to be as ambitious.
Moose was in the back with a random woman on his lap. He was wearing a red shirt with a bowtie and suspenders. Alisha Edwards walked in and called the random lady a “hussie”. Alisha said Moose needs to leave the building because Eddie is coming. Moose sounded like he had a frog in his throat (must just be a cold). He said he wasn’t worried about Eddie and if Eddie comes he’ll just call the cops with 911. Moose said Eddie will go away for a long time because he has prior offense. Moose told Alisha to take care of Eddie or else Moose will… [c]
Three Impact referees were having a meeting backstage (Johnny Bravo, the child looking guy, and a random ref). Scarlett Bordeaux appeared with her horny Impact Wrestling fanboy who she stripped down and wrote the words “Scarlett Bordeaux Security” on his chest. Scarlett was wearing what looked like nothing but a strapped apron (yep, she’s going full on TV-14 Porno as usual). Scarlett talked about how she thought “Johnny Bravo” was a manly name (and it’s also the name of a Cartoon Network show). Scarlett also hit on the middle ref by complementing his arms. Scarlett talked about how she likes power and authority along with the ability to “flex” authority…
Matt Sydal and Johnny Impact made their entrance. Josh Mathews compared Johnny Impact to Drew Galloway (a.k.a. Drew McIntyre) in saying that Johnny might be stressing himself to the limit as a “fighting champion”…
John’s Thoughts: Random side note, I think I see “EC3 Jacket Guy” in the crowd again. Does this guy work for the company? Maybe Impact should start paying their dedicated superfans for their undying love for this product.
3. Johnny Impact vs. Matt Sydal (w/”All Ego” Ethan Page) in a non-title match. Johnny and Sydal several chain wrestling exchanges to start off the match. Callis noted that Johnny is a former Division I NCAA wrestler in Californa. Sydal landed a clean low kick on Johnny. Sydal pointed at his “third eye”. This allowed Johnny to land wrestling holds on Sydal. Sydal landed a catch leg sweep. After more dodges, Johnny hit Sydal with a standing Shooting Star. Johnny ran at Sydal but Sydal cleared him from the ring with a surprise cross kick.
Johnny snuck in a Sunset Flip pin attempt on Sydal. Sydal locked Johnny in a reverse Muta Lock. Sydal put Johnny in the corner and hit him with a basement Yakuza Kick leading to a two count. Josh Mathews hyped the Impact Homecoming tickets going on sale on Monday. Johnny caught Matt Sydal during a Rolling Sobat attempt. Johnny treated Sydal like a punching bag in the corner. Johnny then hit Sydal with a kick combo for a two count. Sydal blocked a Moonlight Drive with a high knee. Johnny hit Sydal with a sliding German Suplex. Ethan Page argued with Sydal for a bit.
Sydal blocked Starship Pain with a rollup. Johnny Impact came back with a flying Chuck Kick. Johnny went for Starship Pain but Page pulled Sydal to ringside. Johnny Impact caught Ethan Page with a flying corkscrew press over the ring post. Sydal used this to work over Johnny. Sydal hit Johnny with a delayed roundhouse. Johnny blocked Air Bourne by getting up and staggering Sydal. Sydal blocked Johnny’s Spanish Fly and hit him with a flying Meteora which gave him a nearfall. Johnny reversed a Paige Turner into a Moonlight Drive. Johnny hit Sydal with Starship Pain for the victory.
Johnny Impact defeated Matt Sydal via pinfall in 8:16.
John’s Thoughts: A really entertaining match. Sydal was really good here and his in-ring work along with his improved talking ability showed me that if he ditched the jobber third-eye gimmick then Sydal could be a main event heel in this company. Alas, it looks like Impact Wrestling wants Sydal to be the “gatekeeper” while also making him stay in this yoga gimmick that makes him Impact’s version of WWE’s undercard Jinder Mahal.
Killer Kross’s entrance interrupted Johnny Impact’s post-match celebration. Kross walked to the ring wearing his trench coat and casual attire… [c]
Back from Commercial, Kross had a mic in hand and said “Hello John”. Kross pointed out to the crowd and said “that is the voice of Sin City” (Kross is billed with Las Vegas as his hometown). Kross’s hometown crowd gave him a Kross chant. Kross said Johnny’s face tells Kross that Johnny fears getting his head ripped off by Kross. Kross said that’s not the case and he wants Johnny to listen. Kross talked about wanting to be the catalyst of change until Final Hour happened. Kross said as a grown man he admits that Johnny beat him fair and square. The crowd chanted “one more time”. Kross said he’s willing to entertain the notion that he’s not the catalyst for change, but perhaps Johnny is the catalyst for change.
Kross said that if Kross can’t change thing, then Johnny might be able to be a vector. Kross said Johnny is a role model unlike Kross. Kross also commended Johnny for being a “fighting champion” with “fighting spirit”. Kross then talked about how people in other companies are protect and there is no “honor” in that (uhhh is that a jab at Ring of Honor somehow? I don’t get it). Kross talked about how Johnny is vulnerable and everybody in the back wants a piece of Johnny’s ass. Kross said Johnny made a believer out of him. Kross said that if Johnny ever needs assistance, then Johnny is free to call him. Johnny teased shaking Kross’s hand but took the mic instead. The crowd chanted “shake his hand”. Johnny said the crowd doesn’t know Kross the way Johnny knows Kross. Johnny said Kross may speak the truth, but Johnny doesn’t trust Kross. Johnny said he doesn’t want Kross near Johnny, Taya, or Johnny’s dog. Johnny said the answer is “no”. Kross was left hanging but he kept his calm but focused demeanor…
John’s Thoughts: Very interesting and I actually really liked that segment given all the potential that could come from it. This almost felt like the unseen conversation that Austin Aries and Killer Kross had with Aries accepting Kross’s “forbidden fruit”. Kross was really good here and having a hometown crowd allowed him to play puppet master. This has me intrigued. I hope Johnny doesn’t go heel from this because I don’t trust Johnny in the role of serious heel. He’s doing a pretty good job as the lovable idiot with “fighting spirit” babyface. They managed to make the short build of Johnny vs. Kross mean something. Let’s see if they can follow up.
Jordynne Grace was in a toolshed doing resistance band exercises. Katarina walked up to her and tried to suck up to Grace with Grace no-selling Katarina. Katarina, while offering an alliance, threw in the line that Katarina could beat Jordynne on a different night (she might have beat her last week if she didn’t do a random dance). This statement caught Jordynne’s attention and she said she agrees and that they can have another match in two weeks…
John’s Thoughts: Simple, short, and effective. I like what they’re doing with Grace so far and some of the things they’re doing with her seems like some of the techniques they should employ to get Brian Cage over… [c]
Alisha Edwards tried to hold Eddie Edwards back while Moose was texting. Eddie Edwards jumped Moose with Moose threatening to call 911. Some random indie wrestlers in medical scrubs held back Eddie Edwards. One “doctor” (?) I think gave Eddie an injection with a syringe? They carried Eddie out of the building…
Don Callis and Josh Mathews recapped the last segment. Callis said that if Eddie Edwards got arrested he would be put in jail for 20 years. Callis said now Eddie would get the mental help he needs. Josh and Don also discussed the Kross and Johnny segment. Josh hyped next week’s Eli Drake Turkey Trot (the TNA Turkey Bowl)…
Su Yung made her entrance with her opponent already in the ring. Josh said that Su Yung is in possession of Allie’s soul (Josh said it like it was just so matter of fact). Josh said this allowed James Mitchell to get possession of Allie. Callis said the thought of James Mitchell alone with any knockout gives Don nightmares…
4. Su Yung vs. Heather Monroe. Su put Heather in the tree of woe and kicked Heather’s back. Su hit Heather with a neckbreaker. Su pulled the bloody glove out of her bra. Heather ducked and landed a chop rally on Su. Heather tried some clunky strikes. Heather hit Su with a double stomp for a nearfall. Don Callis noted that Su Yung is traditionally a slow starter. Su Yung hit heather with the palm strike and Panic Switch. Su didn’t pin Heather and instead hit Heather with the Mandible Claw. Heather tapped out.
Su Yung defeated Heather Monroe via pinfall in 2:46.
Kiera Hogan ran in and cleared Su Yung from the ring. Suddenly generic “Evil” music started playing (It was cool music at least). Allie walked out wearing her biker gear and her jaw was painted like an Undead Bridesmaid. Josh Mathews said “this is dark Allie, and she looks possessed”. Kiera Hogan got up and acted shocked. This allowed Su Yung to blindside Kiera Hogan with a punch. Su Yung hit Kiera with a Panic Switch. Su tried to walk Allie to the back. Allie resisted a bit but then walked with Su Yung… [c]
John’s Thoughts: A good enhancement match for Su Yung. Just like the matches they introduced Su Yung with. Su Yung continues to be hindered by the bad b-movie undead realm storyline that contains no storyline logic. On top of that, why did they turn Allie into a WWE Video Game Create-a-Wrestler? Maybe WWE can sign Braxton Sutter to 205 Live so we can get Allie and Maria Kanellis feuding there.
An Impact Homecoming ad aired during the break…
5. Brian Cage vs. Sami Callihan (w/Jake and Dave Crist) for the Impact X Division Championship. Cage gave Callihan a series of lariats early on. Cage gave Callihan a high knee. Cage came back with a shortarm lariat. Cage lifted Callihan and did some bicep curls using the body of Callihan. Sami Callihan gave Cage a huracanrana. Cage came back with a huracanrana and dropkick. Callis compared Cage go Lance Storm. The Crist Brothers got Cage’s attention which allowed Sami to send Cage outside. Johnny Bravo ejected the Crist Borthers for the distraction. Cage caught Callihan and hit him with a running suplex at ringside. [c]
Cage hit Callihan with a step up enzuigiri. Callihan blocked a German Suplex as Josh Mathews went into a PopTV plug for the Splash movie. Cage hit Callihan with an Alabama Slam. Sami Callihan caught Cage and hit him with a running Death Valley Driver for a nearfall on the turnbuckle. Impressive. Several reversals occured with Callihan getting an ankle lock in. Cage hit Callihan with a pumphandle Falcon Arrow. Cage then hit Callihan with a deadlift German. Cage hit Callihan with the F5.
Callihan got his foot on the bottom rope for the break. Callihan hit Cage with a eight kicks and a pile driver with Cage saying “I’m a Machine” during the combo. Cage kicked out at two but Callihan followed up with an ankle lock. Callihan hit Cage with a Code Red. Cage kicked out of the pin and hit Callihan with the Drill Claw for the clean win.
Brian Cage defeated Sami Callihan via pinfall in 9:00 of TV Time to retain the Impact X Division Championship.
After the match Cage announced he was cashing in Option C at Impact Wrestling Homecoming…
John’s Thoughts: A really good match and one of Sami’s better non-hardcore matches in Impact Wrestling. I already told you these guys would deliver based on the work I seen them put together in Los Angeles. I’m a bit disappointed though because it seems like that feud did nothing for Sami Callihan when it came down to it. They had him break Cage’s undefeated streak only to make him look weak every succeeding segment. I’m assuming Cage is moving on because he said he’s moving on to Johnny Impact.
This was a good show, above average. There’s still those annoying things like the undead realm or some of the missed logic in things like the Eddie Edwards stuff, but there was enough positive here. Still not exciting or focused enough to warrant any sort of hope for this company, but at least this episode didn’t leave a bad taste in my mouth.
Check below for the latest Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast with Jason Powell and John Moore discussing WWE Survivor Series and NXT Takeover: War Games.
I honestly don’t recall the last Impact TV that “EC3 jacket guy” wasn’t at. He changes up his outfits but he’s always there in the first row. He’s persistent, that can’t be denied.
Seriously, I commend the guy for being dedicated (as I said, it wouldn’t hurt if Impact covered his travel at least because the guy went from Florida, to New York, and to the West Coast). I wonder if he went to Canada and Mexico
And yet more of the “I’ll say something bad or I’ll say something sort of positive but make sure I also include a negative” comment style about Impact from Moore (oh, and the usual politically correct required love for LAX).
Well, what’s the problem?
LAX are a great in-ring tag team with a superb mouthpiece. What’s wrong with giving credit where credit is due for one of the best all-around tag team acts in the world?
When was the last time a film reviewer said “That was an enjoyable film but I don’t think the studio is going to survive”. Look let’s face facts. If there is a nuclear blast only cockroaches and Impact Wrestling will survive. Let’s stop predicting this company’s downfall.
To answer your question about EC3 Jacket Guy, he’s been to every taping except the Mexico ones. I got to talk to him in Ottawa. He doesn’t work for the company at all surprisingly, I think he’s a journalist/reporter (not for wrestling).