Impact Wrestling returns tonight (June 28) from Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is the first episode from the most recent set of tapings.
Here’s what is advertised for tonight:
- Rich Swann debuts
- Eddie Edwards goes to House of Hardcore looking for Tommy Dreamer
- Moose talks about the world title
- Matt Sydal vs. Dezmond Xavier
- The Desi Hit Squad is in action
And as per usual, here are our five questions about Impact tonight:
1) What will Rich Swann’s role in Impact be?
Rich Swann will debut for the promotion tonight. This is his first televised work since working out his release for WWE after his suspension, which followed a domestic incident involving his wife Su Yung. The charges were dismissed.
When he was in the WWE, he worked the cruiserweight division, at one point holding their championship. So it would make most sense that he starts off in the X Division. Impact’s fast paced division is still a bit thin and Swann would fit in perfectly.
With the X Division champion in action against Dezmond Xavier tonight, perhaps we’ll get a clear picture of the title scene after tonight. Will it be Swann who challenges the champ at Slammiversary? Or will Dezmond pick up a win to earn himself a shot?
2) Does Eddie have a road back?
Eddie Edwards has completely lost it. Falling too deep into his own revenge against Sami Callihan, the hero has now become the villain. He’s pushed away his friend Tommy Dreamer and his wife Alisha.
Last week, Eddie went home to find Alisha had cleared out. And he blamed Tommy Dreamer, suspecting that the Innovator of Violence is having a tryst with his wife. Now Edwards looks at Tommy as he did Sami, as a man who has wronged him.
Tonight, he makes his way to Tommy’s promotion House of Hardcore looking for Dreamer. Tommy better be careful given how violent Eddie has become.
3) Will Moose find that spark soon?
It feels like I may be piling on the guy a bit in my recaps, but right now I feel Moose is lacking something keeping him from top star status. He’s good in the ring and has the look. But when it comes to his promos/personality, there’s something lacking.
Hell, even the advert for this segment is uninspiring. “Moose talks about the world title.” How thrilling does that sound?
It looks like Austin Aries, who Moose will be challenging for the top prize in the promotion at Slammiversary, is focusing on the underwhelming aspects of Moose in the build. A Double is the type of guy that easily gets under someone’s skin. And it’s possible that finally lights that spark for the challenger.
4) Are the Desi Hit Squad a heel or babyface faction?
Impact has been advertising the Desi Hit Squad as a stable for half a year now. Hakim Zane is a membe,r and he’s been on Impact for awhile, usually in a losing effort. He’ll now be joined by Gursinder Singh and led by Gama Singh. (In this sense, it’s less a faction and more a duo with a manger.)
Will they be heel or babyface? The tag division is pretty even with the Cult of Lee and oVe acting as heels while former champs Z & E (if they stay together in the division) and LAX are faces. (Though as long as Konnan or King are leading LAX, they’re not too far from that heel territory.) Looking at the balance, babyface would probably work better with Z & E also established as single’s wrestlers and LAX never too far from a heel gimmick. It’d also avoid the tired “foreign heel” stereotype.
We’ll finally see them in action tonight, hopefully used to bolster a rather thin tag team division.
5) Are we going to see Allie in Impact again?
I know I’ve asked this before, right after she lost the casket match, but are we done seeing the bubbly Allie in Impact?
If she has decided to move on, we may not get more than her losing her title. That’s what happened to Laurel Van Ness when she lost her title. She never came back to say goodbye in some way or lose a rematch. Allie, who debuted around the same time as Laurel, may get the same treatment.
EC3 had been written off but he was in Impact for a long time and was the face of the company for awhile.
I would love people to stay with Impact to help build the promotion. (Eli Drake just signed a multi-year deal to stay with the company.) But for a lot of people, WWE is the goal or maybe the money is better. And they should do what is best for them. I just hope that some people decide that includes sticking around with Impact to try to help create something.
Impact airs tonight at 8 EST on Pop TV. Who’s watching?