Is Impact* the best wrestling promotion in history? *(Now TNA again, 2024)

[The Thread Killer]

1 hour ago, SteveMPunk said:

Moving to Toronto this Summer, hoping to catch one of these PPVs live eventually

The Rebel Complex looks like a great venue for wrestling the way they had it set up for Slammiversary. There are so many venues for wrestling in the Greater Toronto Area that I was surprised they picked that one of all places, and I didn't think they could pull it off.  (I had been there for concerts previously.)  Now I wish I could go to this show.  Seems like a great atmosphere.

[SirEdger]

14 hours ago, Alucard said:

I'm looking forward to it, as usual with Impact PPVs. The sudden termination of Eli Drake took away one match. I'm assuming they'll add a couple more matches this week, but even at 5 matches - most of them have been built to very well.

They're definitely gonna add 1 or 2 matches to that card. Moose is feuding with the guys from The Rascalz and there's still the Rosemary/Su Yung/Kiera Hogan situation as well that could develop until Sunday night.

[sek69]

Michael Elgin showed up after the world title match to challenge new champ Brian Cage.

[SirEdger]

Cage was also rushed to the hospital after the show. Apparently suffered  a back injury in the early moments of the match vs Johnny Impact (going by what I read as I haven't watched the PPV)

[El-P]

Yawn and yawn. Elgin thrown straight into the world title scene against Brian Cage (who hopefully is allright) just brings my interest down big time. Why couldn't Elgin go straight back to ROH anyway ?

[SomethingSavage]

Elgin and Cage have been a fairly fun tag team in PWG. They had decent chemistry and some awe-inspiring powerhouse offense. I don't know how that would translate to them as opponents, but I'll give it a fair shot & reserve judgment.

On the surface? Yeah. It doesn't strike me as the best match-up. But I'm more curious to see what they try to do with Elgin as a character. The dude's personality is about as bland as they come, so the story is going to need some sizzle & seasoning to seem interesting.

Then again, Impact has slowly & steadily built a consistent track record for doing more with less. Their rivalries seem to be best handled with simplicity & straightforward storytelling. Maybe it *is* enough to just have big, pig-faced Elgin storm the gate & challenge the other strongman for the belt.

Again, I haven't seen the show. But I'm definitely going to give it a watch within the next week or so. How was the rest of it?

[El-P]

Not watched the show yet. Going through the Crockett Cup before.

33 minutes ago, SomethingSavage said:

But I'm more curious to see what they try to do with Elgin as a character. The dude's personality is about as bland as they come, so the story is going to need some sizzle & seasoning to seem interesting.

Then again, Impact has slowly & steadily built a consistent track record for doing more with less. Their rivalries seem to be best handled with simplicity & straightforward storytelling. Maybe it *is* enough to just have big, pig-faced Elgin storm the gate & challenge the other strongman for the belt.

Well, if Callis & D'Amore manage to get me even somewhat interested in anything involving Micheal Elgin, who was the worst part of last year's awe-inspiring G1 Climax (yeah, I was more interested in Tama Tonga or Bad Luck Fale), they truly are working some magic.

[The Thread Killer]

I saw the show and will probably write up a review at some point in the next day or two.  There were a couple of good matches but overall I didn't like that show at all, I found it to be a letdown for a variety of reasons.

I read online that Brian Cage suffered an injury during the World Title match, which would explain a lot, because that match was a slow, dull mess - highlighted by at least three times that you could see Johnny Impact blatantly talking to Cage while applying rest-holds.  I was actually going to write a review and rant and rave about that, but since Cage apparently got injured that makes a lot more sense - now I feel kind of guilty for getting so pissy about that.  But damn, that match was awful and they probably should have pulled the plug and ended the match early, because...ugh.

I haven't seen Elgin in ages, and the last time I did see him he sure as hell didn't look like the guy I saw last night.  The time I saw him prior to last night, he had a pseudo-mullet and his body was somewhat egg shaped. Conversely, last night he was bald, and in excellent physical shape...a physique improvement of almost Jinder Mahal-esque proportions.  I still don't care about him.

[fakeplastictrees]

I have never liked Elgin. He is extremely vanilla and does nothing for me. Hopefully Impact will get him a mouthpiece as Cage can show personality at times, but its not enough to carry him and Elgin to any memorable programs.

[SomethingSavage]

Well, I managed to wake up early enough to get in/out the gym and still have a few hours free before work for a change. So I started watching the show and actually made it all the way up to the two main events before I had to pause it & leave.

You guys are sleeping on this - it's another fun fucking show, for real. I can't speak on the World Title or Tag Title matches, but everything else has been highly enjoyable so far.

I still like Callis on commentary. Like, a lot. The guy really emphasizes the risks & dangers as if these are real fights. He brings this heightened sense of urgency to everything he speaks on - especially the grudge matches. It's great. And he's dialed down the stuff that normally bothers me - namely all the insider terms & backstage bullshit.

The opener is everything it needs to be. Fast. Furious. FUN. There was even a spot in there I've *literally* never seen before - with someone going for a dive over the ropes onto a pile of bodies, but another wrestler runs across the apron and catches him in mid-air with a Diamond Cutter.

That fucking popped me.

I wasn't even familiar with everyone in the opening match, but they all looked sharp. The action was basically just a chain of high spots, but that's all that was needed. The action was on point, and the match didn't overstay its welcome. Short & sweet.

I don't know how I feel about Eddie Edwards at this stage. He seems to be drifting. The Tommy Dreamer transformation was unique and fitting at first - it made sense for sheer character progression throughout the Callihan, Dreamer, and Moose feuds. Now it's just kind of goofy and tacked on.

Good gawd. Scarlett Bourdeaux, y'all.

Her match felt strictly like filler. I'll admit I would've preferred the Smoke Show segment instead, but it is what it is. I actually believe she would benefit from being reserved for big matches and special occasions when it comes to actual in-ring stuff. But we live in an age of overexposure and constant content output, so that's a pipedream unless you're talking the select elite part-timers.

Money Moose remains one of my favorite character upgrades in recent wrestling. No truly outlandish outfit here though, unfortunately. And his new heel music is a downgrade, too. I miss the old tune and the way it invited the MOOSE chants, but I understand why they would make the change. I just think it's lesser than.

Josh Alexander is beast, and Ethan Page is a deceptively skilled heel in terms of character work. It's great to see them reunited & regularly working as a tag team again. But why are they being called The North? That's a terribly generic team name. Is there a legitimate reason they aren't using the Monster Mafia name instead? Either way, they were on point here. And their offense is still crazy good.

I wish someone would coach Moose and convince him to drop the flippity part of his spear. It's weak sauce. I mean, I get it. Dude's big and athletic. They want to flex that. But it's one of those things that actively detracts from the impact of the move. The spear looks worse by adding the little tumble to it.

Good gawd. PAWGs over everything, y'all.

Taya/Grace was surprisingly solid, for real though. Super snug, heavy-hitting offense and slams. Even a nasty headbutt! I was a little surprised by the outcome and the way they got there, but I ain't mad at it. Good match. It's brief but worth checking out.

I really dug the atmosphere around the Callihan/Swann conflict. Their whole program has been awesome, and this match actually felt fitting for a blood feud of that caliber.

I'm far from the biggest Sami fan, but shit. It's hard to say I'm not a full blown fan of the guy at this point, because the Penta feud last year was absolutely my favorite rivalry in wrestling for the whole year. And this one isn't too far below that.

The match itself was a fucking WAR. It veered into overkill territory with the piledrivers, but man. I bought every single one of those near-falls. Apron piledriver. Piledriver onto a guardrail. Second rope piledriver ONTO THE LEGOS! Fuck me running. I was into this shit.

This was the type of performance that would've MADE Rich Swann if it happened on a bigger stage. Even so, I like what they did with him here. He definitely came away feeling like a bigger deal in the Impact sandbox anyhow.

Tessa walks, talks, feels, and functions like a true star. She carries herself with such sheer confidence and conviction. She's money.

I thought her pre-match promo was excellent. Tully's cameo was fun for pure nostalgia purposes, but I actually thought it brought the whole scene down a little bit. Still very good overall though.

Gail/Tessa was fiyah. To be fair, it got off to a rough start with a few timing issues & miscues. But they eventually found their groove & rose above it. Things picked up from there, and it was pretty much tremendous from that point on.

Tessa was nasty, vicious, and cruel. That spot where she slung Gail off the walkway like a sack of trash brought me out of my seat. Then the moment where Tessa is desperately fighting with Gail on the ropes and BITES her arm just put it over the top. She kept her character intact through & through in this performance.

And Gail, who admittedly seemed a step off at times, busted her ass with some truly nutty bumps. And her selling was the sort of sympathetic babyface shit you should strive for in every big match. Not the smoothest match by any means, but this one turned out wonderful in the end.

I don't know how to feel about the post-match stuff just yet. I got the feeling the Tully appearance was shining Tessa up too much BEFORE the match, but it became very clear after the match that this was their design. Total babyface sheen on Tessa with the hug & handshake here.

And I just don't know. I prefer her so much in this heel persona. She's fantastic, and it seems like the pitch perfect role for her right now. There's always time for a babyface run later down the road. Then again, they may feel pressured to make the switch with her due to the reactions she gets. I'm just not sure this was the time or the place to do it.

With that being said though, it was a heartwarming little send-off (even if it's not the first) for Kim and all her contributions & loyalty to the company. Much deserved. And it was touching to see Tessa get so legitimately choked up there.

That may sound hypocritical, since I almost always hate it when WWE does their monthly curtain call scene in the same fashion. But fuck that noise. It's so much easier to enjoy this stuff when it's 1) actually adhering to the storyline continuity, and 2) not so gratuitous and heavy-handed.

I caught the video package for the Johnny/Cage match, and that's it. Cage still can't cut a promo. That yelling loudly & quickly at the camera shit is awful and straight out of some 80's Demolition blooper reel. Just horrible. He came off a little better in the sit-down locker room stuff, but that was clearly pre-taped and probably the way they should utilize him ALL THE TIME going forward. He just isn't a live promo guy.

I didn't think there was anything wrong with the buildup either. Heel Mundo is far better than babyface Johnny, so I dig that decision to have him stab Cage in the back. And the Bravo stuff is actually a pretty fun twist on the classic Danny Davis gimmick.

Anyway, say what you will - but everybody I've seen on this show so far has worked incredibly hard. Nobody is dogging it or just going through the paces. Nothing about the presentation seems minor league. The crowd showed up. The atmosphere is fantastic. I'm digging this show.

Just like last year's Slammiversary. And last year's BFG. And Homecoming. All these big cards have delivered.

Furthermore, they're all structured very well. The matches build & escalate in terms of importance & stakes. That's something WWE routinely struggles with their their death march slogs every month.

I honestly don't know why people are still shitting on Impact or not giving it a fair chance. I'm seriously convinced they're just not watching. Because this is how pro wrestling should be presented in 2019. It's damn good stuff.

[Alucard]

All the big matches delivered a suitably big match feel. Love that about Impact, really strong builds. Cage's win felt earned, LAX/Lucha Bros felt like a real blowoff to an epic rivalry. Tessa has been so great, I'm interested to see her in a face role.  Agreed that Swann/Callihan is something to really put Swann up another level, he's improved dramatically here compared to a lackluster WWE run. Looking forward to where everything goes from here.

[SomethingSavage]

Man, I'm telling ya - this show is another surefire winner for me. Can't wait to scope out those two main events in the next day or so.

Another thing about Swann is that the clean-cut look really suits him. It's weird how a minor change can make that kind of difference, but it really does with him.

I also appreciate his attentiveness during this whole deal. Swann is known as a comedy guy for the most part, but he played this grudge totally straight. Dead serious.

No dancing. Practically no high-flying either, which is insane when you think about his usual offense.

Instead, he came down to the ring & never took his eyes off Callihan. Never played to the crowd. Never bobbed along to his music. None of that. He was all business.

If this same match and build had SOMEHOW happened in WWE, they still would've had Rich Swann come out dancing. He still would've had to strike his mandatory video game poses. He still would've had to take his eyes off Sami and make sure the hard cam caught how "serious" he was.

So yeah. Several instances of them doing everything - even the little nuances - right with this one.

[TravJ1979]

I would have liked to have seen this, but $40 via FITE was not happening.  Available cheaper somewhere else?

[C.S.]

2 hours ago, TravJ1979 said:

I would have liked to have seen this, but $40 via FITE was not happening.  Available cheaper somewhere else?

Question about FITE: Do you only pay for the live feed, or do you get to keep it afterward?

[Tim Evans]

You get unlimited replays. At least that's what it's like when I buy the Janela shows.

I used to watch Impact all the time but with them moving to a channel I don't get and using Twitch, I just stopped watching. Plus they use a lot of talent that I can't stand( OVE, Johnny insert name here, now Elgin etc).

[fakeplastictrees]

@SomethingSavage hit-it-on the head. Everyone on the roster, for the most part, realizes when do to their video game entrance and when it do something else. An exhibition match to open Impact? Dance away? The culmination of a two month feud? Might want to be a little serious. It's the little things Impact gets right which really adds to the production. As much as the curtain calls annoyed me, they are few and far between in Impact. I don't like it and don't want to see it, but its bound to happen. As long as it occurs in small doses, I'll live.

I just re-watched the six man today and it was amazing. I really wish Impact had a costume designer because The Rascalz need a new look and signature music. The work is there. They are young and look great, but they don't stand out. Also, it would be awesome if their different personality traits played into the matches. Perhaps Trey is all about "having fun" and he handles the majority of the comedy spots. Maybe Desmond is all about strategy and is known to setup something early in the match only to use it later on. There is a lot to do with those guys and I really hope Impact does something with them.

I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen the main event, but Fenix says he is okay. I do not believe that at all.

[Migs]

Just finished the show. I liked it, as I've liked basically all the big Impact shows in the last year - great work, nicely built, well constructed stories. Excited for them to come back to New York in June.

I do think Josh Mathews is a weak link in the presentation - linguistically, he reads so WWE, like a poor man's Michael Cole, that I think it prevents Impact from developing it's own personality. 

I was also really surprised to see them take the belt off Johnny when they'd just built that fun heel stable around him, especially when the alternative is Cage, who doesn't feel like a top guy to me. If you're going to use Elgin, he and Cage as the dumb meatheads chasing a chickenshit Johnny seems more fruitful than the apparent direction of Cage-Elgin.

[SomethingSavage]

5 hours ago, Migs said:

Just finished the show. I liked it, as I've liked basically all the big Impact shows in the last year - great work, nicely built, well constructed stories. Excited for them to come back to New York in June.

I do think Josh Mathews is a weak link in the presentation - linguistically, he reads so WWE, like a poor man's Michael Cole, that I think it prevents Impact from developing it's own personality. 

I was also really surprised to see them take the belt off Johnny when they'd just built that fun heel stable around him, especially when the alternative is Cage, who doesn't feel like a top guy to me. If you're going to use Elgin, he and Cage as the dumb meatheads chasing a chickenshit Johnny seems more fruitful than the apparent direction of Cage-Elgin.

Agreed on all these fronts actually.

I'm considering taking three or four days of vacation in July. I may even head out to Dallas to be at Slammiversary. Probably going to hang back & see what tickets are still available once it draws closer, but yeah. Impact has been a blast, and the crowds at these big shows have turned up for 'em. I wouldn't mind giving the live experience a shot since they'll be in my neck of the woods for a change.

I also finished the show. I see your point about Johnny finally finding his groove in Impact - basically just transplanting his Lucha Underground act here, complete with the entourage routine. But I don't mind them crowning Cage, to be honest. They've built to the moment well, and I'd rather see him capture the gold than fall into the trap of being an eternal bridesmaid.

When finishing up the show, I was thinking the exact same thing about Josh, too. As much as I thought Callis was on point for this one, Josh was just borderline unbearable. And you're totally right. He sounds like every other WWE drone. He's trying to force buzz words and shit.

During the Rascalz melee, these guys are throwing their bodies around with reckless abandon left, right, front, and center. Callis is putting over the danger and the risks of it all. Josh's contribution? "How ENTERTAINING are these guys?!"

Later, after Elgin shows up and wrecks Cage, there's another gem. Callis is putting over Big Mike's strength and resume. Josh's offering? "Michael Elgin making headlines!" and then, "Is Michael Elgin TRENDING ON TWITTER YET??"

Fucking hell.

The Cage/Johnny match did deteriorate into an unfortunate mess. I feel bad for them, because Cage clearly jacked up his back with that Spanish Fly on the outside (which was a big time bump for such a massive dude).

And, as a weightlifter that has gone through a damaged L3 and L5 rehab myself, I can tell you - it's scary as shit and painful as fuck when you hurt your lower back & start losing feeling in your legs from the hip down. I have no way of knowing if that's what happened with Cage here, but it certainly looked like it. He was moving very gingerly & clearly looked like he was having trouble with keeping his legs underneath him.

The match itself was never going to be anything extraordinary, but I do think they laid out a pretty solid modern main event style match. Perfectly passable as the overbooked dog & pony Raven special, basically.

There was a ref bump & a truckload of interference. The villainous valet got her comeuppance. The crooked ref got caught. The guest ref made a surprise save. There was a table bump. There were misdirections & several close calls. All good stuff & really fun for an overbooked kind of main event match, in my opinion.

Before the possible back injury, it felt a little like a spotty BOLA match at best though. Just a string of bombs and big, high-octane, impactful moves. There's no method to the movement. There's no psychology to analyze. There's no negative space usage or whateverthefuck to appreciate. It's just spots and bumps. But it's pretty fucking fun nonetheless.

Morrison is a take it or leave it guy at times with me, but I really do think he's a current day RVD. His shit rarely looks polished or very pretty. Sometimes he finds his mark. Sometimes he completely misses the landing. But his stuff usually looks better (by may of appearing uglier, if that makes any sense).

And then there was the main event. Mygoddamngod. That was a balls-to-the-wall performance from all four guys. There were some obvious missteps at times, but fuck that noise. You knew what to expect from these guys going in, and they went ALL OUT with the weaponry. Well worth checking out.

And holy shit. Frightening, scary scary SCARY moment with Fenix there towards the end. I was legit worried. So glad to see him standing up after the match though. Sure hope he's alright as we speak.

[Alucard]

2 hours ago, SomethingSavage said:

But I don't mind them crowning Cage, to be honest. They've built to the moment well, and I'd rather see him capture the gold than fall into the trap of being an eternal bridesmaid.

Agreed, the build to it made it so much better. I wasn't feeling Cage early on but I find it much easier to accept him as champion because they didn't rush to it, he actually had to suffer a loss and some setbacks, so the build to it made it feel earned and deserved.

[C.S.]

Impact's new streaming service, Impact Plus, launched today.

$7.99 a month (or $71.99 per year). 30-day free trial. 

Cash For Gold GWN subscribers are automatically migrated over but need to do a password reset to access the new service.

PPVs are not included, but buying one gets you three free months added to your subscription.

CagesideSeats.com says you don't need to be a subscriber, just a registered user, to get the weekly shows for free. Not sure if that's true or if they're confused. Smart on Impact's part if true.

Link: plus.impactwrestling.com

[Migs]

7 hours ago, C.S. said:

CagesideSeats.com says you don't need to be a subscriber, just a registered user, to get the weekly shows for free. Not sure if that's true or if they're confused. Smart on Impact's part if true.

Link: plus.impactwrestling.com

That was true of GWN as well.

[Tenese Sarwieh]

They did it again, another well done solid ppv from Calis/D'Amore with two great matches. They've done a awesome job of cleansing the stench of TNA from the current product, now wondering in what way can they get more people to watch because word of mouth is just not doing it.

[SomethingSavage]

It truly is a real dilemma. The perceived damage from the old regime is hanging around like a black cloud, even though the product is arguably better than most other wrestling on TV right now.

[Migs]

I think the ultimate problem is the lack of a marquee star. The show is good, but there's not really anyone I'm fully invested in following from week to week. Tessa's probably the closest right now. But it seems like AEW will likely crush their ability to get and keep game changing talent. 

[El-P]

Not going into much details, as it would be redondant with what has already been said. Terrific show. Better than Homecoming. A nice build with a fun and varied undercard, with the multi-man spotfest (but nothing as crazy as what would follow), the Scarlett Bordeaux match which was a cool little bit as always (BTW, is Fallah getting in better shape ?), the six-men which has an excellent dynamic (gotta love Moose, although I agree the spear doesn't need that flip at the end, The North are gonna be really cool to watch, the Razcals you can do so much with them), a solid, rugged women's title match (glad Taya won too, it solidifies her as a heel champ).

Then the last half of the PPV had really four excellent (well, would have been if not for Cage's injury) matches, which all felt important. That's the thing when you only have a PPV every three months or so and you actually put some thoughts and work into the builds, when the final clash happen they feel like important matches that you will remember. Swann vs Callihan was one hell of a brawl. I guess it's not the consensus opinion, but to me Callihan is an MVP everywhere he went thus far (LU, MLW, iMPACT). He makes the feuds seem important and intense, the big matches are always memorable, he's distinctive, he's a full fledge dirty heel and he's one hell of a worker too. And Swann has improved a lot too, and this feud and match really took his game to another level. Someone mentioned how he looked dead serious during the introduction. Yeah, attention to detail.

Loved Tessa vs Gail. Tessa is so, so good. She also looks so, so much like Tully, it was obvious when they were together. I have this match above the Mania main event easily, on every level. Gail was probably thinking these were the last bumps she would ever took, so might as well go for broke. Terrific match. The post-match actually made sense to me, they really built the match as an agressive passing of torch of sorts, and it didn't come off like a "curtain wall" at all. This is the kind of stuff you'd see in joshi puroresu regularly, so yeah, more of a sport's like, enemy from different generation finally respecting each others after a war, with an antagonist kohai/senpai relationship. Anyway, great stuff.

Just like in LU, Johnny is about a hundred times better as a heel. The match would probably have been excellent, judging by what they tried to do, but it's obvious Cage was in real pain and couldn't do much after the injury. Interesting to look at the way they communicated and tried to win time, and work around it. Elgin showing up was as dull as it sounded though, the guy has zero presence or charisma. I wonder what they'll be able to do with him, but yeah, not enthralled at all by this guy signing.

Main event was batshit crazy. Fenix falling straight on his head on that insane spanish fly (most dangerous spot of the night) was scary. iMPACT will really miss the Lucha Bros, as they apparently will soon be working only for AEW and AAA. Over this last year, LAX have been the MVP's of the promotion I guess, with the two most memorable feuds and matches. No idea how long they'll be able to work that style though.

11 hours ago, Tenese Sarwieh said:

They did it again, another well done solid ppv from Calis/D'Amore with two great matches. They've done a awesome job of cleansing the stench of TNA from the current product, 

Is that the most spectacular company rehab ever, from a quality standpoint ? Speaks a lot for D'Amore, who was responsible for the best stint of early TNA in the 00's too. Yeah, great job. They deserve a ton of credit. The title of this thread was done in jest, but really, as a weekly TV show with a few PPV a year, iMPACT actually is the best american promotion today, as been for a good year I guess.