5/31 Impact Wrestling TV Results: Moore’s review of RVD, Sabu, and Tommy Dreamer, vs. Moose and The North, Johnny Impact and Michael Elgin vs. Rich Swann and Willie Mack, Killer Kross vs. Eddie Edwards in a street fight, Glenn Gilbertti vs. Tessa Blanchard

By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)

Impact Wrestling on Pursuit (simulcast on Twitch TV)
Taped May 3-4 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 2300 Arena

Highlights aired of last week’s Impact Wrestling show followed by the Impact Wrestling theme…

Josh Mathews and Don Callis were on commentary…

Moose made his entrance wearing a sparkly and gold bath robe. Josh noted that Moose is calling himself a future Impact Wrestling Hall of Famer. Josh also noted that the upcoming match was stemming from Moose and The North’s attack on the ECW Originals…

1. Moose, Josh Alexander, and All Ego Ethan Page vs. “The ECW Originals” Tommy Dreamer, Rob Van Dam, and Sabu (w/The Super Genie) in a no-dq match? Callis noted that Sabu was innovative in that he was using super glue to stich up cuts before surgons started using it. Page and Dreamer started off with chain wrestling. Dreamer dominated with an armdrag. Sabu and Alexander tagged in with Sabu doing his signature upward point. Alexander stood steadfast after a Sabu Dragon Screw. Sabu and Alexander then traded positions at ground wrestling. Sabu caught Alexander with a Tornado DDT which prompted a tag to Moose and a “You still got it” chant.

Moose told Sabu he wanted RVD in the ring. RVD tagged in. Josh Mathews noted that RVD looks very calm and collective (or at least very stoned). Moose and RVD led the crowd in their respective signature chants with Moose getting some “sucks” thrown in from the crowd. RVD caught Moose with a heel kick. RVD went for a Rolling Thunder but Moose kip’d up. RVD used his educated feet to keep Moose under control. RVD and Sabu hit Moose with a stereo Rolling Thunder and legdrop. Dreamer body slammed Sabu on Moose. Dreamer then went for the Bionic Elbow but Moose pulled the referee as a human shield and then gave Dreamer a low blow away from the vision of the Referee. [c]

Moose dominated Dreamer. Page gave Moose a chair to put on the chest of the prone body of Dreamer. Josh Mathews wasn’t sure if this was a no DQ match or not. Moose went for the Rolling Thunder and actually got through the “rolling” part but Dreamer recovered and chucked the chair at Moose’s face. Dreamer caught Moose with a spike neckbreaker. This prompted “EC-Dub” chants. RVD got the hot tag and dominated the incoming All Ego. RVD hit Page with a split legged moonsault for a two count that Alexander broke up. Page and RVD fought while Alexander and Sabu fought. Sabu threw a chair at Alexander several times and used the chair to hit Alexander with poetry in motion. Super Genie hit Alexander with poetry in motion.

Sabu set up a table at ringside, as you do in ECW related matches. Sabu was going for a flip dive to the outside but Alexander stopped that. All the wrestlers hit each other in sequence with their signature moves, ending with RVD hitting Moose with a Van Daminator. Sabu had Page on a table and hit him with an Arabian Facebuster. This set up Page to be nailed with RVD’s Five Star Frog Splash to give the pinfall win to the ECW Originals.

Rob Van Dam, Sabu, and Tommy Dreamer defeated Moose and The North via pinfall in 9:40 of TV Time.

The ECW Originals celebrated as Rob Van Dam’s crappy entrance music played. Highlights of the match played. Mathews said that somewhere out there Paul Heyman is smiling…

John’s Thoughts: A good show-opening match placed perfectly on the show as to not overshadow the rest of Impact’s existing storylines with ECW nostalgia. I talked about how RVD looks to have lost a step on singles matches but that’s the benefit of having him behind a Trios match. RVD looked good, Sabu looked really good for his age. It’s also very weird but cool seeing Tommy Dreamer be the workrate workhorse of the group. The only detriment I see here is the North have to eat yet another loss. Ethan Page shined brightly in his one alloted promo segment against stoned-ass RVD. Josh Alexander has looked really solid in the ring and had those cool vignettes. Hopefully Impact doesn’t squander this young talent that they have on their roster.

Josh Mathews ran through the upcoming matches on the show headlined by Michael Elgin and Johnny Impact vs. Rich Swann and Willie Mack…

Impact cut to a clip of Brian Cage at home on his couch giving us a medical update. Cage was holding his Impact World Championship. Cage said the good news is he’s been cleared to train. Cage said the bad news is he isn’t cleared to wrestle. Cage said as soon as he’s cleared he’ll be back in Impact doing what he does better than everybody. Cage said he’s tired of Elgin bragging about injuring Cage. Cage said this bragging will stop. Cage said he’ll be at Slammiversary to defend the World Championship… [c]

John’s Thoughts: It’s good to hear from Cage and hear that he’s doing fine. During the commercial on Twitch, Melissa actually noted that Cage is in Germany at an indie show wrestling (I think I saw on Twitter that he’s wrestling NXT UK wrestler Ilja Dragunov) so it looks like he is in fact cleared. Hearing from Cage directly also beats having to get a gawd awful acting performance from a Fake Doctor and Rafael Morffi.

An ad aired for Impact Plus’s “A Night You Can’t Mist” show which will feature The Great Muta Keiji Mutoh…

Moose was interviewed backstage. Moose said he’s gone about this situation all wrong. Moose said he tried to team up with Killer Kross but Kross is too unstable and selfish. Moose said he then tried to get two clean cut Canadian boys to have his back, but we just saw that they aren’t good enough. Moose said the moral of the story is if you want something done, you have to do it yourself. Moose said from this day on everyone will find out why Moose is called “Mr. Impact Wrestling”. Moose told the interviewer to get the damn camera out of his face…

Generic Disco music played as The Disco Inferno Glenn Gilbertti made his entrance (a part of me misses the cheesy ass WCW “Disco Fever” theme). Josh Mathews noted that Disco Inferno has a gripe against modern Women’s Wrestlng. Tessa Blanchard made her entrance next. Josh and Don recapped what led to this match, Disco winning a Knockouts Battle Royal.

Before actually wrestling, Disco grabbed a mic. The crowd chanted “kick his ass”. Callis said someone should cut Disco’s mic. Disco said he wanted to get something off his chest. Disco said he admits and is willing to give Tessa credit. Disco said that out of all the women wrestlers out there, Tessa is one of the most talented. Disco said that’s kinda like being the best player on the Philidelphia Flyers, which means the complement doesn’t count for much. This caused Josh to do a Michael Cole-esque laugh snort. Callis said Disco is about to get lynched. Disco said the girls think the Women’s revolution is the road to super stardom. Disco said that road is paved with a lot of pot holes.

Disco said that road also leads to driving off a cliff, especially given how bad women drivers are these days. Disco said the women’s revolution is a car crash waiting to happen. Disco said he knows that life is hard growing up a third generation wrestler which probably led to Tessa having daddy issues all her life. Disco said that if Daddy issues are going to be Tessa’s problem going forward then “Tonight! I’ll be your daddy!”. Tessa gave Disco a clubbing forearm to start the match proper…

2. “The Disco Inferno” Glenn Gilbertti vs. Tessa Blanchard. Tessa mounted Disco and gave Disco her signature and violent ground and pound forearms and elbows. Disco tried to run away and backfist to no avail. Tessa KO’d Disco with a right hand to pick up the quick pinfall win.

Tessa Blanchard defeated The Disco Inferno via pinfall in 3:00 (most of the time was spent in the Disco promo).

Tessa’s win caused Don Callis to do a “Yes!” chant…

John’s Thoughts: While the build wasn’t as innovative or unique as the Scarlett Bordeaux vs. Disco feud, this feud led to two straight weeks of very compelling matchups with this and last week’s Disco segments. Disco has been shameless in a good way in that all he does is act smug and say things that piss off the crowd from being sexist to mocking the crowd for being marks. I’d say that Disco has been an unsung hero in the Impact undercard and hopefully other heels take some of the very basic tricks he’s applying to get heat from the crowd. Tessa didn’t necessarily gain much in terms of babyface credibility from this, but at least she got to look very violent in her quick assault on Disco.

The show cut to a backstage LAX clubhouse skit. Ortiz was pouring Konnan and Santana shots of liquor. Suddenly the Adobe After Effects smoke appeared. Ortiz said he thinks Scarlett Bordeaux might be here. Konnan said it’s not Scarlett smoke because “I got 5 on it!” (messin’ wit dat Indo weeeeeeed). The computer smoked summoned The Rascalz to the clubhouse. They said they were ready. Ortiz thought they were ready to drank. Dez and Zach told Trey not to sip the flask since they’re training their bodies. LAX wondered what they were training for? The Rascalz said they were facing LAX. Konnan wondered if LAX made another match without asking Konnan. Ortiz said “nah”. Konnan said nobody remembers because of all the tree the Rascalz be working with. Konnan said he likes the Rascalz and the match is on. Konnan told Trey to take Ortiz’s liquor because Ortiz drinks too much anyway. Trey chugged Ortiz’s, Konnan’s, and Santana’s liquor. This caused Santana to comically yell “Trey!!! That’s not right!!!”… [c]

Melissa Santos interviewed Rich Swann and Willie Mack on their thoughts in competing in this week’s main event against Johnny Impact and Michael Elgin. Swann noted that Elgin power bombed Mack on a U-Haul and power bombed Swann on the ringpost several times, yet both men are still standing. Swann said Johnny Impact then conviently tries to sneak his way into those situations. Swann said he and Mack have C.A.R.T which stands for Charisma, Athleticism, and Raw-Talent. Swann said Johnny and Elgin gon’ get some tonight. Mack said if they want the smoke then Mack and Swann got the fire…

Gama Singh cut one of his bored ass promos for The Desi Hit Squad. Their opponents were The Deaners…

John’s Thoughts: In all honesty, Gama still sounds like he’s about to fall asleep, but at least they aren’t giving him as much mic time as they once did so he’s harmless but still detrimental to the Desi Hit Squad.

3. “The Desi Hit Squad” Rohit Raju and Raj Singh vs. “The Deaners” Cody Deaner and Jake Deaner. Cody and Rohit started off the match. Cody dominated the chain wrestling but Rohit slammed Cody’s head to the ground by yanking his jaw to the mat. Cody regained control and gave Rohit an Atomic Drop. Jake tagged in. Raj pulled Rohit to ringside for a moment of respite. Jake opened the ropes so Cody could hit the DHS with a suicide dive. Jake few over the top rope for a flying dive. Callis said Jake reminds him of Bruiser Brody.

Jake threw Rohit on Cody’s leg for a nearfall. Don Callis talked about how he thinks that the Deaners might be imbred. Raj turned the tables on Cody and cut the ring in half on Cody. After a stretch of selling, Cody managed to tag in Jake, who cleaned house after the hot tag. Jake hit Raj with a corner spear. Cody put on a cap. Rohit prevented the Deaners from hitting their finishing sequence. Raj and Rohit hit Cody with a Spike Flatliner. Raj broke up the subsequent pin. Jake hit Raj with a sidewalk slam. Rohit broke up the pin. ‘

Jake ran and crashed into the ringpost, making a scary thud sound on the post. Cody managed to outwit the DHS by rolling up Raj, sending him into Rohit, and thus sending Rohit to ringside. Cody followed through with a schoolboy for the rollup victory on Raj.

The Deaners defeated The Desi Hit Squad via pinfall in 6:07.

Josh noted that if you win you get put on Twitch specials, PPVs, and earn more money in Impact. Cody told the camera that it was time to “give’er”..

Josh cut to a Killer Kross promo where Kross was shown behind a dark, ominous, and red screen filter. Kross said that ignorance is a universal disease while truth is the universal remedy. Kross said he’s going to administer that remedy tonight by arbitrating suffering over Eddie Edwards’s life. Kross said Kenny is now gone and Kross was just trying to help. Kross said Eddie has dealt a lot with abandonment like with his wife leaving him at one point and even Moose leaving him (no Davey Richards reference?). Kross said Eddie is just afraid of being alone and tonight he’s going to be truly isolated because the absense of God himself will be upon Eddie. Kross said no matter where the time is told, in the end everybody pays a toll… [c]

After the break, Melissa Santos interviewed Michael Elgin about having to co-exist with Johnny Imapct in this week’s main event. Instead, Elgin digressed to addressing Brian Cage’s interview. Elgin said Cage was “plain dumb” for planing to go to Slammiversary. Elgin said Impact management should just take the title away from Cage and hand it to Elgin. Elgin said he doesn’t mind beating Cage for the title. Elgin said there’s not going to be a call to an ambuelance at Slammiversary, because somebody going to need to call for a hearse for Cage. Johnny Impact interrupted Elgin’s promo and he had John E Bravo with him.

Johnny said Elgin is not the only person who has a title match because at Slammiversary Johnny has the power to cash in his large plastic X for a title shot against Rich Swann for the X Division Championship. Johnny said he and Elgin are going against the “douche rockets” known as Rich Swann and Willie Mack. Johnny said he hopes he can co-exist with Elgin. Elgin said all is fine as long as Johnny does his part because Elgin just wants to put Swann and Mack in the hospital. Johnny then acted like he had food poisoning or gut pain? This was some joke that was hard to understand. Oh, Johnny said someone needs to call a doctor because “these pythons” are pretty sick (ugh, the delivery wasn’t great on that one). Johnny then abruptly went into hype for Johnny Impact and Michael Elgin vs. Tommy Dreamer and Great Muta at the Night You Can’t Mist. Johnny then randomly called his “pythons” “bats” now…

John’s Thoughts: That was a little rough and probably needed a second take. Elgin was solid and I like how he’s very poise on the mic to the point where you understand what he’s all about. He’s out to hurt people and not looking to make friends. Johnny was rough. Johnny’s actually been really good as a heel in recent months on the mic when they make him out to be cerebral and manipulative. This was dorky John, the one that was stinking it up on the mic during Johnny’s early Impact babyface run. You know it’s that Johnny when you hear him use one of his dorky catchphrases that only the fan-est of fanboys eat up. I’ll chalk it up as a bad night because before this he’s been really entertaining, so entertaining that I wouldn’t have minded if he was the current World Champion.

Killer Kross made his entrance wearing a flack jacket. Josh Mathews and Don Callis talked about how Killer Kross would have fit in and destroyed the ECW locker room…

4. Killer Kross vs. Eddie Edwards in a Street Fight. Eddie jumpped Kross during Eddie’s entrance. Eddie dominated Kross and gave him a few backbreakers on the apron. Josh and Don called Kross analytical and calculated. Eddie took his time getting a trash lid from under the ring which allowed Kross to recover and nail Eddie with an Exploder Suplex. Callis adamantly said that it was a bad decision for Edwards to wrestle in Converse shoes. Kross tossed around Edwards ringside. Eddie recovered for a bit and went for one of his signature suicide dives, but Kross chucked a trash can at Eddie to block the dive. Kross gave Eddie a suplex at ringside and the crowd erupted in “This is Awesome” chants. (And Eddie is supposed to be the babyface. I get it, EC-Dub! But Crazy Eddie isn’t really captivating in turn).

Eddie ducked a kick from Kross and gave Kross a Blue Thunder Bomb on a trash can. Kross quickly got up and Eddie smashed Kross over the head with a trash lid. Kross no-sold the initial shot which prompted the crowd to chant “one more time”. Kross was taken down to a knee on the second shot. Kross was smash to the ground on the third. Kross kicked out of the subsequent pin at one. Eddie Edwards found a painter’s ladder under the ring. Callis noted that Eddie learned to fight in these matches from his mentor Tommy Dreamer. Eddie took his sweet time slapping a trash lid which allowed Kross to recover and lock Eddie in the Kross Jacket submission.

Eddie used a cookie sheet to escaped the submission but Kross came back with a kick that took down Eddie. Eddie moved around in a rage which scared the child referee guy. Josh Mathews said “he killed kenny”. Eddie Hulked up off of Kross’s roundhouse kicks. Kross jabbed Eddie Edwards in the eyes and then gave Edwards a choke bomb through a ladder bridge. Kross threw a bunch of chairs in the ring. Josh Mathews said he suspects that there’s something in Killer Kross’s cargo pants pockets.

Kross yelled “Brainbuster” and went for a Super Brainbuster, but Eddie held on to the top rope to block it. Edwards flipped away and hit Kross with a Sunset Bomb onto the pile of chairs. Eddie Edwards got a two count off of Kross. Callis said that Kross has a reptile mind that just activated. Eddie set up a few chairs and went for a Tiger Driver on Kross but Kross countered into a modified Vertebreaker on Edwards onto the set up chairs. Kross gave Edwards a choke bomb onto bridge of chairs. Killer Kross gave Eddie Edwards a Doomsday Saito. Kross pulled out “lead knuckle gloves” and put them on.

Kross told Eddie “I’m gonnan end you”. Sandman suddenly ran to the ring and hit Kross in the back with a kendo stick. This allowed Eddie Edwards to hit Kross with the Boston Knee Party for the win.

Eddie Edwards defeated Killer Kross via pinfall in 13:36.

Callis noted that he hasn’t seen Sandman in 20 years so this was a nice treat. Sandman called Edwards to his feet and then gifted Eddie Edwards a new Kendo Stick. (Dammit!!!!) …[c]

John’s Thoughts: To give them credit, both men did put a lot of effort in. The crowd deserves credit for providing good energy. On top of that, the Sandman surprise was a good surprise. That said, I couldn’t help but feel underwhelmed by this feud and this match. We’ve seen better from both men. I’ve seen Kross do a lot more violent stuff (outside of Impact) without leaning too much on the chairs and trash lids. The biggest albatross over this match is Crazy Eddie needs to go away. He hasn’t clicked and we need old Eddie to return. I say that, but it looks like they’re doubling down with “New Kenny”.

They aired a bit of Sandman and Eddie Edwards hanging out and drinking beers with fans (this might be Twitch Exclusive)…

It was time for this week’s Undead Realm cinematic. Rosemary and James Mitchell met at a coffee table while Su Yung was chained up on a dog leash. Mitchell said this is getting out of hand and Rosemary needs a history lesson. Mitchell recapped the Undead Realm saga and noted that it was Allie’s choice to go into the Undead Realm and she ended up not listening. Mitchell then recapped the rest of the stupid Undead Realm saga. Mitchell said Allie is dead and Rosemary is not a good friend. Rosemary choked Mitchell and said Allie is dead because of Mitchell. Rosemary said the bride stays with her and for Mitchell to leave. Mitchell crawled away…

John’s Thoughts: Ok, based off that recap, what is the whole goal of the Undead Realm? Who cares if Su Yung is chained to Rosemary or chained to James Mitchell? What are everyone’s motivations? Why should we care? Do they want to take over the world? Do they want championships? Do they want to rule the underworld? Do they want money? This is not clear. This is contrived. This is pointless.

Josh Mathews taped the next set of TV Tapings for June 6-7 at the Melrose Ballroom…

It was time for the Impact Plus Flashback Match of the Week. It was Raven vs. Rhyno in a Raven’s Rules match for the NWA Heavyweight Championship from TNA Unbreakable 2005. They aired 5 minutes. There was an obligatory Jeff Jarrett run-in. Raven won…

Rich Swann and Willie Mack were shown getting ready… [c]

Sami Callihan and the rest of OVE cut one of their camcorder promos. Sami said he was wearing sunglasses because Fallah Bahh punched him in the eye. Callihan said that OVE is going to end Scarlett and Fallah Bahh next week. Callihan bragged about selling a lot of merch. Callihan said the Knockouts division is strange with a demon, zombie, and third generation princess who says she’s the biggest thing in wrestling. Callihan said that Tessa will never live up to her father’s legacy because a woman will never live up to the legacy of a man (that was sudden). Callihan then talked about how OVE was for Ohio, by Ohio, and will take over Everything… Everything… EVERYTHING!!!!

John’s Thoughts: Uhm, that was strange and random in a not-so-great way. Are they having Sami Callihan replace Disco as the designated male chauvinist at the next set of tapings? This was almost as odd as Sami Callihan randomly talking about his love for long hair out of nowhere.

Don Callis and Josh Mathews checked in at ringside. Josh hyped the Crist Brothers vs. Fallah Bahh and Scarlett Bordeaux for next week. Josh also noted that Taya is sticking to her 30 day rule and will face Rosemary next week in a non title match…

Main event entrances took place… [c]

5. Rich Swann and Willie Mack vs. Michael Elgin and Johnny Impact (w/John E Bravo). Mack and Swann gave Johnny and Elgin flip dives during their entrances. Swann and Mack isolated Johnny in their corner. Mack got a two count after an inverted cannonball. Mack then stompped a mudhole on Johnny in the corner. Johnny escaped a corner with his signature parkour spot. Johnny hit Mack with a springboard slap to fire up Mack. Johnny then ran around to get some punches on Mack. Elgin tagged in. Mack avoided a corner splash and hit Johnny with a lariat. Mack blocked Elgin’s German Suplex. Elgin came back with a forearm.

Mack came back at Elgin with the Flying Jalepeno. Swann tagged in and hit Elgin with precision strikes. Elgin blocked a huracanrana initially but Swann followed through on it. Elgin powered back and hit Swann with a corner splash. Elgin got a low base to block Swann’s suplex. Swann utilized a judo trick and used Elgin’s momentum to nail Elgin with a suplex. Johnny got a cheap shot on Swann. Swann eluded both men and caused them to bumble into each other. Swann kicked Elgin from the apron. Johnny held on to Swann’s foot to prevent Swann from high flying. Elgin powered Mack into Swann in the corner. Elgin hit Mack with a DVD onto Swann in the corner. Callis noted Elgin’s New Japan title history including beating Kenny Omega for the IWGP Intercontinental Title. [c]

Johnny and Elgin cut the ring in half on Swann back from commercial. Johnny missed a Flying Chuck which allowed Mack to get the hot tag. Mack hit both opponents with a High Fly Flow. Mack hit Elgin with a Exploder followed with an Exploder to Johnny. Elgin and Johnny blocked Stone Cold stunners but Mack came at them with a double lariat. Mack hit Johnny with a double slam and gutbuster combo to lead to a nearfall. Johnny gained a window of opportunity after an eye poke. Mack blocked a Moonlight Drive. Elgin came at Mack with a cool looking slingshot elbow handspring. Elgin caught Swann off the springboard with a powerslam.

Elgin hit Mack and Johnny with a Flip Dive which Callis noted was a Brian Cage move. Johnny yelled “we’re supposed to be partners”. Rich Swann hit Elgin and Johnny with a flip dive. Mack and Elgin were the legal men but Swann tagged in. Mack and Swann trapped Elgin in the second rope. Mack hit a slingshot blockbuster on Elgin. Swann followed up with a somersault into a elbow for a two count. Elgin rolled away from Swann’s Phoenix Splash attempt and hit Swann with kicks.

Johnny tagged in to pick up the pieces. Elgin and Johnny hit Swann with a German Suplex Flying Chuck combo. Swann kicked out after Johnny’s running knee. Johnny hit Swann with a Moonlight Drive for a two count. Rich rolled away from Starship pain and hit Johnny with the cross kick. Elgin caught Rich during a Lethal injection attempt to allow Johnny to dropkick Rich. Mack hit Elgin with an enuigiri. Mack reversed Johnny’s Crossbody into his moonsault combo. Mack went for the pin but was not the legal man. Elgin went at Swann and Mack wiht chops but walked into stereo superkicks. Mack and Swann hit Johnny with a Paydirt-side slam combo. Elgin broke up the count.

Elgin dropped Willie with a pump kick. Swann came at Elgin with chops. Elgin chopped Swann with a nice change of pace lariat. After more trades, Johnny hit Mack with a top rope Spanish Fly. Swann hit Johnny with a Trouble in Paradise to leave everyone lying. The crowd gave the four men an ovation. A “this is awesome” chant ensued. All men struggled, but got to their feet. Both teams traded stereo punches with the babyfaces getting the upper hand. The heels came back with Stereo superkicks. Swann prevented Elgin from hitting Mack with the Elgin bomb by throwing Johnny at Elgin.

Elgin acted pissed off at this at ringside. Elgin decided to walk out on Johnny. Rich Swann took advantage of a distracted Johnny by hitting Johnny with a Lethal Injection. Rich Swann hit Johnny with the 450 Splash for the victory.

Rich Swann and Willie Mack defeated Johnny Impact and Michael Elgin via pinfall in 16:55 of TV Time.

Josh noted that Swann took advantage of a distracted Johnny Impact to give his team the win. Mack and Swann hugged each other and celebrated. Josh Mathews closed the show hyping LAX vs. The Rascalz for the Impact Tag Team Championship for next week…

John’s Thoughts: A very fun and well booked match to protect everyone involved. Mack and Swann have done particularly well in filling in for Brian Cage in the main event scene while Cage is out. This allows Impact to repair Mack a bit and give him some credibility. Swann took his status as the in-ring anchor of Impact’s opening match to become a reliable storyteller in the main event. I actually don’t mind Swann kicking out of so many signature moves because he’s being presented as a warrior with heart (which the commentators did a good job getting across).

Another solid episode of Impact with a nice mix of ECW nostalgia, good wrestling, good storytelling, and good promos. The only things that stood out like a sore thumb are the crap ass Undead Realm and Crazy Eddie, both of which are looking like staying for the long haul. If you can look past that, Impact is one of the more enjoyable weekly wrestling shows in the mix of all the wrestling shows.

Peak Twitch Viewership: Around 8,000