By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Impact Wrestling Hits
Brian Cage vs. Sami Callihan for the X Division Championship: As good as last week’s footage from the independent event was, I was surprised that we didn’t see more in-show hype for this main event match. How do we not hear from either man beforehand, especially when Callihan is arguably the best talker in the company? Putting that aside, it was a good main event, though it was also a rare case of being disappointed by a clean finish. It felt like Callihan should have been a bigger obstacle for Cage after pinning him at Bound For Glory, but the company opted to rush through their feud and move to Cage challenging for the Impact World Championship at the Homecoming pay-per-view. When Cage announced he is using Option C for a title match, was I the only one who thought that was only an option at Destination X?
Johnny Impact vs. Matt Sydal: A good match and a nice story being told by Josh Mathews that Impact being a fighting champion who may be stretching himself too thin. The post match angle with Killer Kross telling Impact that he would make sure he is a catalyst for change and offering his services was an unexpected twist. Impact declining the offer was perfectly logical and I’m curious to see where this goes. The only thing that felt off was the apparent jab about certain people in Ring of Honor being protected.
LAX vs. Fallah Bahh and KM: Bahh and KM continue to be a really fun team both in and out of the ring. It was no surprise to see LAX go over, but the match had some fun moments. The LAX video a short time later was also very good. Santana and Ortiz showed off a fun side of their personalities, we found out that the OGz and King are gone (boo!), and Konnan doesn’t want his team to face Pentagon Jr. and Fenix for some reason. Is it as simple as making the champions seem like the underdogs by having Konnan express doubt that his team can beat the challengers?
Tessa Blanchard vs. Ray Lyn: A good showcase match for the Knockouts Champion. Blanchard’s post-match promo was also well delivered and peaked with the insult that Taya Valkyrie will never be anything more than Johnny Impact’s wife. Taya’s response was well delivered, but viewers still need to hear her story, not just her tearing down Blanchard and touting herself as lucha royalty, which means nothing to most viewers.
Su Yung vs. Heather Monroe: I despise the Undead Realm ratings stunt that has yet to pay off, but the actual match was just a simple and effective showcase win for Yung. Possessed Allie showing up afterward? Ugh. Let me guess, this ends with Allie revealing it was all a ruse so that she could bring back Rosemary?
Impact Wrestling Misses
The Rascals: I honestly wondered if I was watching a commercial for a bad Pop TV show for a moment. It was three guys acting stoned while a laugh track played. I guess this was Impact’s version of the circle from That ’70s Show”. The big difference is that the defunct Fox show was actually funny. Here’s hoping Red Forman shows up and puts a foot in their asses.
Desi Hit Squad: A pro-Indian food, anti-American rant. Yawn. Between these guys and Matt Sydal, Impact has found a way to take the worst of Jinder Mahal and spread it over two different acts. At this rate, I don’t be surprised if The Rascals show up and play air guitars.
Eddie Edwards: So now Eddie has “priors” and has been committed to a mental institution by his always angry wife? I’ll be disappointed if we don’t see a random shot of Scott Hall at the mental hospital.
Eli Drake: The lawsuit bit is done, but now he wants to rid the world of hardcore wrestling. He’s the babyface, right? Nope, that’s 47 year-old Tommy Dreamer, who is still waving the hardcore banner while continuing the strange week of pro wrestling babyfaces insulting millennials.
Eli Drake’s Gravy Train Turkey Trot returning next week: Call it whatever you like, but this company’s awful annual turkey suit gimmick just won’t go away not matter who owns or books this company.
Check below for the latest Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast with Jason Powell and John Moore discussing WWE Survivor Series and NXT Takeover: War Games.
>Nope, that’s 47 year-old Tommy Dreamer<
Triple H is 49. So is Kurt Angle. Shawn Michaels is 53. So is the Undertaker.
All who were in a main event recently, which was praised. All of whom, except Michaels, who have consistently shown up on the card.
But ok.
Spare me the “but WWE does this…” nonsense. Read my Crown Jewel Hit List and you’ll see that I was highly critical of the guys in the tag team main event continuing to get the spotlight at the expense of the full-time talent. So just because some people praised it does not mean that I did.
This is true. At first, I criticized him for praising Impact too much while ripping on WWE, but after this weeks reading, I stand corrected. JP put me in my place. Lol.
The annual turkey suit gimmick is just a bit of fun. Lighten up 🙂
agreed
I have to disagree on the Eli Drake “miss”.
The turkey suit bit is garbage, I’ll give you that. It’s tradition though, so I mean, eh?
Why is he the babyface for wanting to rid the world of hardcore wrestling? Now you’re the heel to those of uus who like hardcore wrestling. 😉 Seriously though, he’s taking something from some fans that they enjoy, so by logic he would be the heel.
Plus on a thinner roster, isn’t it less of a big deal that Tommy Dreamer is getting featured at 47? That’s where Impact and WWE differ. The WWE has an abundance of options, but goes to those guys anyway. Impact does not. And who knows what Dreamer is even actually working for? It may be a very friendly deal?