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Impact Wrestling waltzed back into our lives last night (Oct. 5) from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida as they start the final stretch to their Bound for Glory (BFG) pay-per-view (PPV) in a month. You can find the results from the episode here.
Bound for Glory implications
Eli Drake opened up the show last night alongside his boy Chris Adonis and cut a promo about how he’s still champ despite everything that Jim Cornette has put in his way. Since he has to defend his title in Japan next week, he’s got the night off so all the ladies can meet him at the Double Tree he’s staying at. (One woman in the crowd stood up and you could read her lips obviously saying “What was that address again?”)
However, even though he had the night off, he could see that Adonis is hungry so booked him in a match with Garza Jr. This was something that Chris Adonis had no idea about because he had to wrestle in his fancy jeans.
The match itself was very one sided, with Garza on the defensive most of the time. He finally fired up for the comeback, but that was soon interrupted by an angry Johnny Impact.
Johnny ran in and attacked Adonis for what he and Eli Drake did to Impact during the title match last week. When the referee tried to pull him off, Johnny gave him a shove and he ended up shoving Garza Jr. as well.
This brought out Jim Cornette who booked those two in a match for next week, the winner getting to face Eli Drake at Bound for Glory.
There was some good and some bad here.
Fired up Johnny Impact worked. He was royally screwed by Drake and Adonis last week so his blind rage fit, including shoving the official and Garza Jr. Eli is always great on the stick and I got a kick from his Flair-esque promo about how the hotel called him because the women were already lining up. (He also delivered his finisher to his jacket.) And Garza Jr. vs. Johnny Impact is a match I’m already looking forward to.
However, Garza’s involvement in this Global title scene is extremely sudden. For most of the time on the roster, he was part of a tag team with Laredo Kid, and not one that saw any extended time in the tag title picture scene. Then more recently we saw him having issues with a jealous Braxton Sutter that were never really concluded. (Unless it was never meant as more than a one match deal.) So while I like Garza Jr. and I think that match next week will be fire, it was nothing that was properly built to.
The thing that annoyed me the most was the disconnect from the finish last week. Eli Drake and Chris Adonis attacked a bunch of officials at the end of that show. That’s an offense that warrants a punishment. Jim Cornette hates Eli Drake so he’d be more than eager to dole out such a punishment. However, nothing at all was mentioned about that, creating a disconnect regarding the end of last week and the beginning of this week. LAX, who also attacked officials at the end of the show last week, also don’t seem to have to face any consequences. Cornette was brought in so the inmates don’t run the asylum but it looks like it may be that way anyway.
Interpromotional Problems
In the main event, EC3 and James Storm put their issues aside to team against Triple A’s El Hijo de Fantasma and Texano.
Early on, it was obvious that Carter and Storm still didn’t trust each other. In fact, earlier tags were each guy tagging themselves in because they weren’t sure about the other. But finally, they started to mesh and function like a team.
Unfortunatley for them, Triple A’s Pagano came down to the ring in the middle of the match and paid dividends for his guys throughout. He’d get involved when the referee wasn’t looking. He neutralized EC3 at the end of the match by pushing him into the ringpost. And he was directly involved in the finish, holding Storm’s leg when the Cowboy attempted a suplex, allowing Fantasma to fall on him for the cover.
This story is gaining steam and this main event helped move things along. There were multiple things to watch for here - not just the issues between the promotions but if team GFW would be able to work together.
Pagano interfered, but it wasn’t over the top. While, he clearly had an impact, it wasn’t overbooked like the shenanigans last week. It was the prefect amount of cheating to leave fans of team GFW angry and gives them a reason to fight some more.
Overall, a well executed main event.
Knockouts Title Match Set
Impact set up the Knockouts title match for Bound for Glory last night.
It started with Sienna cutting a promo claiming that she’s beaten everyone. In fact, she believed that since doesn’t have a match for BFG, that must mean she’ll be the Hall of Fame inductee instead. This brought out actual Hall of Famer Gail Kim, who made it known she wants another title match against the champ. Because if it weren’t for Taryn Terrell interfering in their first match, she’d probably be champ already. This brought Taryn out. And then Allie rounded out the bunch. (The crowd still really loves Allie.)
Karen Jarrett came out to let Sienna know that she’ll be defending her Knockouts gold against the three other women in the ring in a fatal 4-way.
This is all fine, though a bit uninspired. There haven’t been many stories within the Knockouts division lately and most of their major segments have been talking segments involving most of the division like this one. But the match should be fun and putting Allie in there gives me someone to really pull for.
What’s better is this likely means Rosemary will face Taya one on one at the PPV, which I’m hyped for.
Another Crowded Championship Scene
Matt Sydal, Sonjay Dutt, and Petey Williams defeated Trevor Lee, Andrew Everett and Caleb Konley. It was a fun 6 man tag, which is to be expected with these six men.
They tried to explain away the fact that last we checked, Everett and Lee were major enemies by playing an audio of Josh Mathews that was obviously taped later saying that Lee and Everett used to be enemies but Trevor brainwashed him. While it’s better than not addressing it all, this was a weak way to do so. Inconsistencies like this are a major pet peeve of mine. If a promotion wants to switch someone’s alignment and then have them team with their last big rival without real care, it comes off as lazy.
After the match, all three of the victors made it known that they want a shot at the title. It was very similar to the women’s segment earlier in the night, which gave it a repetitive feel. And much like the women’s match, I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up as a multi-person match, such as Ultimate X, at Bound for Glory.
It’s good that both the Knockouts division and X Division are deeper than they have been in awhile. They were really thin. But they haven’t really told a bunch of stories in those divisions and now it looks like they could very well have two multi-person title matches instead of building a big feud.
Think Before You Fight
Moose drove to American Top Team’s gym to confront Bobby Lashley after the team attacked him weeks back. Unfortunately for Moose, the outcome was the same again: He got beaten down by Top Team and thrown out of the facility.
I like the idea of Moose going to get revenge and he’s always been portrayed as a bit of a hothead, so going in without a plan fits his character. However, it’s not great when the babyface in the feud comes off looking like a bit of an idiot. Because storming into their facility with no back up is a dumb move.
Dan Lambert still comes off as a total douche, so I still hate him and his team.
Champion Squash
Ignore the name of the video. This was not billed as a championship match.
oVe won the titles last week and were back to fighting enhancement teams this week. oVe and LAX are both good, but when they don’t have any other teams in the mix that means the champs are back to squash matches. This division is way too thin.
Pros of the Show:
- The main event tag was fun and that feud has been good
- Eli Drake can promo
- Strong X Division tag
Cons of the Show:
- No follow up on the actions that closed the show last week
- Logjams at the top of the Knockouts and X Division expose the lack of stories in both
- Tag division is way too thin
The story behind the Triple A/GFW match was good. There wasn’t much of note on the rest of the show.
Grade: C+
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