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Impact Wrestling returned last night (Dec. 14) from the Aberdeen Pavilion in Ottawa, Ontario. You can find the results in the live blog here.
New Champion
The main event match was the bout between Laurel Van Ness and Rosemary for the vacant Knockouts championship.
Laurel came out on the winning end of it.
The final sequence of the match was a fun one. They escaped each other’s finishers when Rosemary charged Laurel in the corner. But Van Ness moved. Rosemary’s force left her stranded at the top rope when LVN started tearing into her. The referee tried to stop her but she shoved him aside.
With the referee distracted, Rosemary sprayed her mist but Laurel got her hands up, blocking it. She then raked the Demon Assassin’s face with her misted hands and delivered the Unprettier from the top rope for the win.
This was a good match between two of the best characters in Impact currently. Both of these women give 100% to their outrageous characters. And they both bring that persona to the ring where it shines through during their matches. Rosemary doesn’t just put on makeup and wrestle like everyone else. You can see her character every moment. It’s the same with Laurel.
Both of these women would have been great choices to win this match. Going with a new champ in Laurel is the fresher option, though just as a Rosemary fan I’d like to see the Demon Assassin back on top sooner than later.
Now I just hope these rumors about Chelsea Green wanting to leave Impact are untrue.
Chaos
I’ve praised the main event scene because it’s been a controlled chaos. There’s a bunch of guys with their own agendas colliding. That successfully continued last night
Alberto El Patron was forced to team with Johnny Impact and Petey Williams. As a reminder, Alberto and Johnny hate each other.
Meanwhile on the other side, Eli Drake and Chris Adonis had to find a partner. And at first it looked like they nabbed Jimmy Jacobs, But while Jimmy came out, it was only to introduce their real partner: Kongo Kong.
I’ll be honest. This was an initial letdown. In his time on Impact, I’ve found Kongo the least interesting character - just a bland generic monster who has done nothing at all to garner my interest. So teasing someone I’m more interested for someone I’m not interested in at all was a disappointment at first. But with Jimmy as his manager/handler, it did a bit to get me interested in the big man.
He had a crazy moment where he caught Petey Williams outside the ring and powerbombed him right into the crowd. It was a nutty spot that actually had me saying “Holy #*@!” when I saw it. Then Jacobs issued more orders at Kongo and the big man picked up Petey and just walked off with him.
It’ll take a while to turn me completely on Kongo Kong, but they did a pretty good job of starting this week.
Meanwhile, Alberto and Johnny just couldn’t get along, which should surprise no one. In the middle of the match, Alberto delivered a backstabber to Johnny. So at the end of the match, when Berto tossed Eli into the ring for Impact to finish off, Johnny hit Patron with a forearm, knocking him off the apron. Then Impact delivered Starship Pain to Drake.
However, Alberto then pulled Johnny out of the ring before he could get the pin and delivered a spike DDT on the ring ramp. Then he delivered a splash to Drake to pick up the 1-2-3 himself.
This was more of the controlled chaos I’ve enjoyed from this story. There was plenty going on, but it wasn’t too messy to follow.
In 3 weeks, after two “Best Of 2017” episodes, Alberto will get a one on one match against Eli Drake for the title.
Allie’s Time
In the shows open, Allie won a fatal 4-way against Sienna, KC Spinelli, and Madison Rayne to become the #1 contender for the Knockouts title.
It was a pretty decent match, though the crowd wasn’t there for it. The match was a showcase of the rest of Knockouts division. And right now it looks pretty good. Sienna is established as a power in the division and a former champion. Allie is a fantastic character who the fans get behind.
Then there’s Madison, who’s been part of Impact on and off for a long time. She’s always been a talented in-ring worker and could be a strong veteran presence for the division if she sticks around past this taping. KC Spinelli is the rookie, but from what I’ve seen so far, I really like her. She’s got a great cocky personality, a cool look, and has looked solid between the ropes. She could be a strong addition to the division as they go forward.
Allie vs. Laurel could be interesting given Laurel lost her mind after Braxton Sutter left her at the alter for Allie. I wonder if they’ll draw back on that. Hopefully they do. The story is there so don’t let it go to waste.
Big Challenge
Moose and James Storm called out American Top Team, getting Lashley and Dan Lambert to respond. Storm made a challenge to fight Dan Lambert, still chaffed from getting pinned by him weeks ago. Lambert accepted, but said that Storm, who is the face of Impact, has to put his career on the line. Storm accepted.
Lambert still has value as a heel manager and cut a pretty good heel promo this week. He put over Storm in part of the promo, which is always good. Build up your opponent to make the match feel bigger. He used a bit of the classic local sports team jab to rile up the crowd. His voice cracks on occasion, but it works since he’s a heel.
It looks like this story is finally coming to a head. If you’ve kept completely spoiler free about things, great. If you haven’t, you may know where this is going. I obviously won’t say anything here but it leaves me curious to see the details surrounding how it plays out.
Summit
The summit between Konnan and Sami Callihan technically closed the show, airing after the KOs title match. They met on a park bench outside and Konnan requested one more tag title match. Callihan accepted on the condition that if they win, LAX has to ride off into the sunset.
The men shook hands and Konnan said that this is only business. While Sami pretended to agree, he then tossed a fireball into Konnan’s face and says it’s personal, so I guess he didn’t agree.
These two have a fun dynamic together. Calliahn is so good at being completely unhinged. Meanwhile Konnan may be cruel but he’s calculating.
X Division
The team of Taiji Ishimori and Dezmond Xavier picked up a win against the Cult of Lee (Trevor Lee & Caleb Konley). It was a fun match with Ishimori getting the pin on Lee. This puts him in line for an X Division title opportunity in three weeks.
Pros of the Show:
- Fun main event
- The controlled chaos in the Impact title picture is very entertaining
- Callihan and Konnan have good chemistry
Cons of the Show:
- Teasing Jacobs but giving us Kongo was disappointing, but even that led to a fun spot
This is their last show until Jan 4. (The next 2 weeks will be Best of 2017 shows). It was a good episode to close out the year.
Grade: B+
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