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Impact Wrestling returned last night (Jan. 11) as they continue up their last round of taped shows, which emanated from the Aberdeen Pavilion is Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. You can find the results at the live blog here.
Undercut
I think one of the biggest problems with this episode was that Impact’s announcement last night regarding the events at the taping, with the news of Austin Aries’ return to win the title, somewhat undercut the show tonight. I know much of the episode I just wanted to see the new episode that was taped last night. But I’m going to have to wait for that.
Next week, Drake will defend his title in a triple threat match against Alberto El Patron and Johnny Impact. It is a match that takes place at a Detroit promotion. But here’s the rub: This entire story is a lame duck.
Impact went out of their way to tell us who wins that match and then who defeats them for that title. Maybe if viewers stay offline, they don’t know that. But if you’re reading this, you don’t stay offline.
I understand why Impact made the call to release the Austin Aries info themselves. It was going to leak anyway. But it really undercuts this episode and all the upcoming episodes still from the last set of tapings, at least in regards to this storyline.
And that’s a shame. This story has been good. Drake cut a fantastic promo tonight, mixing in bashing the hometown with cutting down Patron. While the promo was still fantastic, the excitement that comes from wondering where the story is going to end up is gone. That sucks.
Last night’s announcement kind of rendered this week and next week obsolete in regards to their top title. Sure, the rest of the storylines aren’t spoiled, but revealing something big like an Aries title win has me feeling that I just want these episodes over with so I can see their newest vision.
Newest Member
The main event of the night was Lashley and new American Top Team member KM going over Moose and Eddie Edwards with a little help from Dan Lambert. This was set up by an opening segment where Lambert continued to run his mouth about how he retired James Storm week. I still think Lambert has potential in a role as a heel personality since he’s so good at being the biggest a-hole in his promos.
Despite this being the main event, it was a match that didn’t seem to advance anything. ATT picked up the win with the help of Dan Lambert. That’s nothing new and would have been better positioned in the middle of the show and not as the showcased main event.
They may be starting something by having Lambert heap tons of praise onto KM, even saying he “did what Lashley couldn’t” when it came to helping retire James Storm. Perhaps they are creating tension between those two wrestlers. However, given Lashley and KM were able to work together to get the win, this doesn’t look like a story that’s going to be in full swing anytime soon.
It’s OK for angles to take a breather for a week. Not every angle can feature major happenings weekly. But then it shouldn’t be in the main event.
Killer Instinct
That EC3 Open Challenge they advertised was actually just him challenging anyone for a non-title match. Which isn’t an open challenge. Open challenge implies a title shot.
A screw up of semantics aside, this was a good segment. Petey Williams (fresh off his unaddressed Kongo Kong kidnapping) answered the call and he and Carter had a decent match. But when Ethan was inside the ring alone, Matt Sydal ran through the crowd and attacked Carter him from behind. This resulted in a DQ and Carter retreating up the ramp.
Sydal pulling such a stunt was a nice bit of character progression in the last leg of this story. Sneak attacks aren’t Matt’s normal style, but it hints that perhaps he’s found that added edge to do what he has to in order to finally claim Carter’s title.
Later on, Sydal cut a backstage promo challenging Carter to a regular match for that title. No judges. No gimmicks. Just a 60 minute time limit and two guys fighting. It was pretty good promo from Sydal, who typically isn’t the best talker.
Angry Allie
Laurel Van Ness had a non-title match against KC Spinelli last night. It was an OK match, though sloppy at times, that the champ won with an Unprettier. Allie, who is the #1 contender for the title, ran out after the match to jump the champion.
All in all, this was a week where this story didn’t get a ton of build. That happens at times. It was still a chance to get Spinelli some exposure. I’m becoming a fan of hers. She has a fun attitude. Plus, she’s from my home state of Jersey. That’ll always get you some bonus points.
X Division
Dezmond Xavier, Sonjay Dutt, and Garza Jr. defeated Trevor Lee, Caleb Konley, and Hakim Zane with Dezmond picking up the pin. After the match, X Division Champion Taiji Ishimori came out to stare down Xavier.
They’ll have a title match next week. It’s a rematch from the Super X Cup finals last summer.
Pros of the Show:
- Eli Drake can promo
- Sydal finding his killer instinct
Cons of the Show:
- The current title picture feels like a big lame duck
- The main event scene featured a story that’s been dragging
Tonight wasn’t terrible and if someone watched this without having Impact spoil the title picture, they probably were able to enjoy that more.
Grade: C+
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