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Impact Wrestling returned last night (Aug. 30) from the Rebel Complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. You can find the results at the live blog here.
Heel Turn!
It looks like we may have a good ol’ stable forming at the top of Impact.
This week, Moose feigned an injury at the hands of Killer Kross when he was supposed to team with Eddie Edwards to face Kross and Austin Aries.
After Eddie endured a handicap match, Moose came to the ring bandaged up and made the tag. Meanwhile, Kross refused to tag in, leaving Aries hanging. But it was all a ruse. Soon Moose was kicking the crap out of his former friend Eddie.
Then outside the ring, they put a chair around Eddie’s neck, and Moose hit that chair with another chair. This was the very spot that Moose saved Eddie from last week.
This was well executed and a move I’m excited for.
Babyface Moose was never able to truly get to the point where he felt like a superstar. Why not change it up? Plus, I like the idea of Aries having a stable of two big dudes having his back. While just having Kross as his heavy had me worried that Kross would just look the fool against Aries’ eventual opponents. But a stable opens up more options.
A stable can have multiple champs if one of those guys wants to challenge Brian Cage. Or they can throw their hat into the tag team picture.
It was also a good moment for Eddie too. This helps him get some sympathy so we can all look forward to crazy Eddie looking for that revenge.
Well done all around.
New Champion
Tessa Blanchard won the Knockouts championship in a triple threat between Allie and Su Yung.
And unfortunately, it was anti-climactic.
The match itself never fully clicked. There were some fun spots but it never made it into that next gear that you want from a title match. If it were a standard triple threat with no prize at stake, I would likely say this is a fine match and move on to the next segment. But this was a title match and never felt like it had the weight of one.
The end of the match featured Tessa taking advantage of Su Yung and Allie focusing on each other to pick up a roll up win with a handful of tights on Allie. There’s no problem with that finish, but it left me with that “Oh, that’s it?” feel afterwards.
It was clear they saw Tessa Blanchard as the future of the division and there’s no reason to believe they’re wrong in that. If that’s the case though, her first win should have a bit more impact than this did.
X Division action
Impact opened with a hot X Division match between the champion Brian Cage and challenger Fenix. This match received two segments and Fenix gave the champ his toughest challenge to date.
Fenix looked good by hanging with Cage as well as he did. And Cage was able to show off both his impressive strength and his speed/agility against an opponent like Fenix. We should be able to expect plenty of great X Division title matches in our future.
After the match, Sami Callihan and oVe ran to the ring and started attacking Fenix and Pentagon, who was checking on his brother. Brian Cage took note but at first, didn’t seem to want anything to do with it. He turned around and continued to the back but then turned around again... and made his way back to the ring to unless hell.
He made quick work of the bad guys. He delivered a Drill Claw to Jake Crist and was about to do the same to Callihan when Dave Crist pulled him out.
This is a good way to transition feuds or at least spice it up. Sami and Pentagon have been feuding for awhile and it’s been getting a bit stale. But adding Brian Cage shakes things up. Whether it’s to eventually lead to an X Division title match for Sami Callihan or just invigorate the Sami/Penta story for awhile, adding Brian Cage should freshen things up.
Dummy, yeah?
I’m not entire sure what they’re doing with Eli Drake right now.
He’s been tied up in that love triangle between Grado, Katarina, & Joe Hendry. Because of that, he interacted with the Cult of Lee, who want to be friends with him. When trying to impress Eli last week, they challenged two nobodies and lost to them.
This week, Eli invited those two guys who beat the Cult of Lee, known as Mr. Atlantis and Brandon Tidwell, to the ring. He challenged one of them to a match and squashed him. Then after the match, delivered his finish to the other one.
The segment was a bit of a dud. Drake is entertaining, but his interactions with the crowd this week felt awkward, and Eli is a man who never usually has a problem with it. It felt like there was a small patch of the crowd who wanted to chant for Eli and he responded to them a bit too much. And the squash match was pretty forgettable.
This is likely just a method to keep Eli Drake in our minds for when they do find something more important for him. But given that Impact had been doing a pretty good job finding at least decent stories for most of their talent, they seem to be dropping the ball with that regarding Drake.
Smoke Show
The Smoke Show and Scarlett Bordeaux continues to be a vehicle for silly humor and some dick jokes. (This week Grado spilled water out of a water bottle sitting in his crotch when Scarlett whispered something in his ears. It was a premature ejaculation gag.)
I’m disappointed that Scarlett isn’t being used better. For the last six weeks, she’s pretty much been a vehicle for dumb comedy skits that I don’t find funny. Maybe you do. Humor is subjective.
It feels like a waste though. They teased a character who was using her looks to get ahead in the world of the women’s revolution and then gave us dumb comedy with Grado blowing his load, idiot Bobo, and close up of KM’s mouth.
This could be read as “They didn’t book it like I wanted so I don’t like it.” And while it’s true I don’t like it, they could have booked something else entertaining. So far, they really haven’t. Feels like a waste of this character so far.
All the Rest:
- Looks like Richie, the kid the OGz hit with their car, is going to pull through. So at least they don’t have to try to have LAX get revenge for murder because they’d never be able to. At separate points in the night, King and Konnan both got phone calls from someone who sounded like a higher up. Both instructed their guys not to do anything until they meet with this individual. Who is this person higher up in LAX? Despite tiring of this feud, I’m curious to find out.
- Rich Swann defeated Petey Williams in a pretty good bout. It was a rather sudden ending, much like the KOs title match, leaving me thinking “Oh, it’s over?”
Pros of the Show:
- Well executed heel turn
- Cage vs. Fenix was good, as was the post match angle
Cons of the Show:
- Knockouts title match was missing that next gear
- Eli Drake in limbo
- The Smoke Show continues to be bad dumb humor
The main event angle saved a show that was, outside the opener, pretty mediocre. All the world title story is exciting, but there’s nothing else that’s really too noteworthy going on in the promotion. They’ve yet to find the spark they had prior to Slammiversary.
Grade: B-
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