Impact Wrestling returned last night (Aug. 9) from the Rebel Complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. You can find all the results at the live blog here.
Character Work
Austin Aries successfully defended his world title against Eddie Edwards this week. He had some help. The referee went down and Killer Kross made the assist for the champ. It looks like that’s a new alliance.
What stood out most in this match was Eddie Edwards’ commitment to character. This is the first actual wrestling match we’ve seen him have since his journey took him down a dark path. Lately it’s been all hardcore matches. Edwards is a really good wrestler. Could he approach a standard match while maintaining his character?
Absolutely.
Eddie’s new personality shined through the entire time. He followed up a toss with snow angels. He hit Aries mid suicide dive and then shook Aries hand while hung up on the ropes. His facial expressions. His body language. It’s all a new Eddie Edwards.
Austin Aries is incredible as well. He’s just not working a new gimmick so it’s not going to get as much focus as a man who’s only eight months into a new persona. But Aries does arrogant so well. You can always tell what he’s thinking or feeling in a match. And both of these men are so good in the ring. It all made for a very enjoyable main event. Was it overbooked? Maybe a little. But even that kind of fit with how chaotic Eddie is.
As for Killer Kross, time well tell if this is a good move for the man. There’s no doubt being attached to the world champion is a bigger spotlight. That’s good. However, often the bodyguard of the champ takes a lot of losses. Someone wants to challenge the heel champ, they have to beat the henchman first. Killer Kross taking a bunch of losses early in his career isn’t going to establish him as the killer they want. We’ll have to see how Impact decides to book it.
Diamond
Speaking of Edwardses, Alisha Edwards had her first singles match in Impact in awhile and had the unfortunate task of going against Tessa Blanchard.
It was a tough time for Alisha, who was on the defensive the vast majority of the match. But she was able to fight back by avoiding some big moves from her imposing opponent and even got a couple of nearfalls before Tessa decided to put it away.
I haven’t seen Alisha outside her involvement in the Wolves feud last year so I’m largely unfamiliar with her work. She looked pretty good here. Sure, much of the match was getting her ass kicked, but that’s not something that’s automatically easy. And when she fired up, her offense looked crisp and believable.
Tessa continues to be fantastic. She has tons of swagger and is very aggressive in the ring. She’s one of those people that you instinctively pay attention to when she’s there. That type of presence can’t be taught.
She made it known post match that she thinks Alile is a selfish individual who has everyone fooled. Expect her to get involved in Allie’s match next week against Su Yung.
Let’s Get Moving
The OGz and LAX continued to hate each other this week. It started with a backstage brawl and led later to a promo segment where King and Konnan had themselves a pissing contest on the mic.
Since Slammiversary, I’ve been ready for this feud to end and for everyone to move on. This has been a good example of their commitment of telling a changing story over a few months. But I’ve never been that into it. I don’t buy Konnan in the role of the good guy. I’m not interested in seeing Hernandez and Homicide very much. I enjoy Santana and Ortiz in the ring, but character wise, they haven’t been presented as much more than two guys who need leadership.
But this also falls into a bigger issue with Impact post-Slammiversary. And that’s the fact they really haven’t started up any new exciting stories.
The world title scene has been interesting enough, though they’re still just getting that started. But LAX continues to feud with each other. It looks like Callihan and Pentagon are continuing their issues. I really like what they’re doing with Allie, Tessa Blanchard, and Su Yung, but that’s not new either.
This entire set of tapings has felt like a transition between Slammiversary and what they’re going to do next. But the was a month of time where it doesn’t feel like they put anything really hot into motion yet.
Third Eye Closed
Matt Sydal’s losing streak continued after he failed to defeat Pentagon Jr.
Their match was fun, which isn’t too surprising given how well these two have been doing on Impact. There wasn’t much story to this, but the announcers made sure to play into the fact that Matt is on a bit of a losing skid. That’s likely where he’s headed right now: Trying to find himself after losing despite his wide open third eye.
It looks like Pentagon will continue to feud with Sami Callihan. Right after the match was over, Callihan and oVe were on the screen with a video. It showed Sami still very upset about having his head shaved so he made Jake Crist shave Dave Crist’s.
A further unhinged Sami Callihan is interesting, but if it’s part of a continued feud with Pentagon, I don’t know that I’m very into it. It falls into the need for some fresh feuds.
Hit Squad Hit
The Desi Hit Squad picked up their first loss, taking an L against a team that never teams together in Petey Williams & Taiji Ishimori.
This feels like the way to go here. Desi Hit Squad could continue to pick up wins with the help of Gama Singh, and that’d be understandable. But the most interesting part about this team is the young wrestler’s relationship with the very strict, almost abusive Gama Singh.
A loss will put the focus on that dynamic.
Pros of the Show:
- Really good main event match
- Tessa Blanchard is so good (and Alisha was up to the task tonight)
Cons of the Show:
- Storylines need to freshen up
My biggest gripe of the show currently is they need to get some new stories started up. The world title scene looks good. The women’s scene looks good. Everything else needs a freshening.
Grade: C+
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