By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Impact Wrestling Hits
Michael Elgin vs. Willie Mack: A good match that protected Mack without damaging Elgin heading into his title match with Brian Cage for the Impact World Championship at Slammiversary. On the off chance that the plan is for Cage to drop the title to Elgin, then Mack being competitive with the future champion could set up a rematch between for the title. The post match angle with Johnny “Kona Reeves” Impact attacking Swann only to have Elgin suplex him was well done and set up next week’s Elgin vs. Impact vs. Swann main event.
LAX and The Rascalz: I could have done without the ridiculous camera shot of LAX kicking down at the camera, but at least they avoided the smoke circle nonsense. Hopefully the idea is for The Rascalz to grow up and become a more serious act heading into their next title shot at Slammiversary. There’s definitely a way for the trio to have a fun loving side without coming off as corny as they do in the smoke circle segments.
Rob Van Dam and Sabu vs. “The North” Josh Alexander and Ethan Page: It was a good ween for the north. The Toronto Raptors win the NBA Championship on Thursday, and Alexander and Page win big on Friday night. Alexander and Page needed the win after taking too many losses recently. I could have done without the Moose interference, but at least the veterans were used to help elevate the newer talent.
Jordynne Grace vs. Madison Rayne: A quality match. I was surprised to see Rayne go over if only because Grace seems to have more upside. That said, Impact has gone above and beyond when it comes to building up Rayne since she returned from Ring of Honor. I’m curious to see how over she can get and where her big push is going. Plus, Kiera Hogan also played a part in the finish, so this was also meant to continue her program with Grace.
Killer Kross vs. Sandman: The ECW legend puts over one of the stars of today. No complaints. The ECW legends are fun in small doses, but the company should use them to elevate their mainstay talent, which they did nicely on this episode. The post match with Eddie Edwards saving Sandman was logical in terms of continuing the feud between Edwards and Kross.
Jessicka Havok vs. Masha Slammovich: A good squash match to showcase monster heel Havok. Simple and effective. I want to believe that Jim Mitchell’s monster stable of women will be taking a turn for the more traditional and serious, but his post match promo made references to the spell of a dog collar. Mitchell’s delivery was great and he remains a terrific talker. It’s just a shame that it’s being wasted on Undead Realm nonsense.
Raj Singh vs. Cody Deaner: A soft Hit for a singles match involving two mid-card teams. The live crowd had fun with it and I enjoyed Gama Singh’s ode to Fred Sanford moment to avoid being punched by Cousin Jake, which caused the distraction that led to the finish.
Impact Wrestling Hits
Audio mix on Pursuit: I tried every setting on my stereo and the sound mix made it nearly impossible to hear the broadcast team over the crowd while there was a match taking place. Oddly, the sound mix was fine when they showed the broadcast team on camera and it was just fine for backstage segments. I watched last week’s show on Impact Plus and the mix was perfect, and John Moore never has a complaint about the audio mix when he reviews the show via the Twitch broadcast. This isn’t the first time it’s been rough on Pursuit via DirecTV, but it was worse than ever before during the matches. Perhaps Don Callis’s actions were justified in the video below?
.@CyrusOverHuge had enough of the tech guy on Friday’s #IMPACT on @Twitch stream! pic.twitter.com/RliElR5wqF
— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) June 15, 2019
Check below for the latest Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast with Jason Powell and Pat McNeill of the Wayback Playback podcast, who discusses how the more things change the more they stay the same with the return of the XFL and AEW coming to TNT, plus thoughts on WWE’s struggles, how wrestling from 20 years ago holds up through today’s eyes, and more.
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