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

[NintendoLogic]

Why do you write Impact in all caps except for the I?

[El-P]

I believe it comes from their old logo from the TNA days, which was written that way ! Never noticed the current logo was plain IMPACT. Funny that.

[Alucard]

Love the Tenille signing. So much potential here, always one of my favorites throughout her WWE run where she was underrated the entire time. Came off like an absolute star in her heel run, especially her second NXT run.

[Migs]

Sami-Tessa 2 was great. Even with the crowd miced terribly, you could tell the crowd was VERY into Tessa and the match was put together pretty nicely. Worth seeking out.

[El-P]

1 hour ago, Migs said:

Sami-Tessa 2 was great. Even with the crowd miced terribly, you could tell the crowd was VERY into Tessa and the match was put together pretty nicely. Worth seeking out.

Too fucking much things to watch this week-end, it's ridiculous. Next week-end will be much easier since apart from G1 at Budokan, there's really nothing else of interest to me... 

[TonyPulis'Cap]

Catching up on the last few weeks of Impact following Slammiversary and some random thoughts...

The Mash Up tournament was a change of pace, although I've never been the biggest fan of teaming up random pairings, or deliberately people that are feuding with one another and there was only so many times you can watch tag partners that 'don't get along' before the formula becomes very samey. The 4 way final was a fun match though, with lots of chaos and continued the Callihan/Blanchard rivalry. As I'll come onto, with Tessa being the only women in the tournament it seems like they are continuing to go all in with her competing with men rather than going back to the Knockouts Divsion. A note as well about the arena. I personally like the more intimate venues to the soulless identikit basketball arenas that WWE films TV, and I don't mind smaller venues, but I'm glad this was just one show as it did look incredibly small time for a national TV program to be shot from there.  

Thankfully moving onto the last couple of weeks and the venue in Windsor, Ontario comes across pretty well on TV with a hot crowd. The main thing from 2 weeks ago was the really unexpected changing of the X Division Title from Rich Swann to Jake Crist. It was a fun match, but considering the strong run that Swann has been on I was shocked to see the result, as after PPV wins over Callihan and John Morrison, I thought he was doing really well to elevate the belt. Jake Crist winning it is interesting in terms of him doing something that Callihan couldn't, but I do wonder if they are setting things up for Tessa to win the X Division Title with Crist being the transition to her...

Elsewhere we saw the official debut of Rhino. I've always been a fan, but him being so heavily featured after being basically a jobber in WWE for the last couple of years does show how shallow Impact's roster is. I'm intrigued to see where they are going with Cage as the broken down champion, as he's barely been on TV since winning the title, but as any fan of Lucha Underground will tell you, getting Melissa Santos more of an on screen role is a very good thing.

Finally then, last week was a fun show with a great little 6 way X Division sprint to open the show and then a great (I'd go ****) main event between The North and The Rascalz that I'd definitely recommend. Once again you are seeing some of the depth issues in the company with who they are featuring in some matches, but it's still a really fun show where they build angles well. Tessa once again comes across as such a star right now.

I didn't see the two LA shows, which sounded solid if unspectacular, with them mixing in a lot of the Championship Wrestling from Hollywood regulars to fill out the cards. What with his two victories over Tessa, Callihan is now the No. 1 contender and you wonder if they will pull the trigger on him becoming world champ. Given his role as the catalyst in a lot of the best feuds and matches over the last two years, he probably deserves the chance to see if he can be the top man in the company.

Lastly, as others have pointed out, great pick up from Impact to get Tenille Dashwood in. With Tessa now seemingly competing with the men now, Tenille vs Taya should be their Knockouts Title match at Bound For Glory. Considering she's never got to hold the title in either NXT, WWE or even bloody Women of Honor where she was the top name they had, Tenille's another one that's probably due a run with a title.

[SirEdger]

And the way they've built the Sami/Tessa feud, you have quite the incentive down the road if Impact is serious on actually putting the Impact World title on Tessa Blanchard. Just let Sami Callihan have a nice fun run, using the other oVe members as roadblocks for other challengers until you can get that Sami vs Tessa blowoff match.

[El-P]

On 8/9/2019 at 2:30 AM, TonyPulis'Cap said:

I'm intrigued to see where they are going with Cage as the broken down champion, as he's barely been on TV since winning the title, but as any fan of Lucha Underground will tell you, getting Melissa Santos more of an on screen role is a very good thing.

Finally then, last week was a fun show with a great little 6 way X Division sprint to open the show and then a great (I'd go ****) main event between The North and The Rascalz that I'd definitely recommend.

 Catching up on IMPACT. Yeah, Santos thrown in the mix can only help Cage as a character, especially since he really haven't been around because of his injury. I salivate with the perspective of Callihan making Cage & Melissa's life a living hell leading to their title match, hopefully at Bound for Glory.

And I second the love for The North vs The Rascalz, just a terrific match with two teams that seem to be made for working against each other, as they compliment each other perfectly. Ethan Page is such a underrated talent, he's not gonna overshadow anyone, but he's holding things together both in the ring and on the mic. Kinda like a subdued Arn Anderson type.

[El-P]

Meanwhile, IMPACT remains my favourite weekly pro-wrestling. In the absence of Cage (which honestly can't be too good, he has been away forever now), Elgin has been feuding with Rhino in the background, leaving Tessa Blanchard and Sami Callihan, the two MVPs of the promotion, feuding on top. I guess if they have the patience, they can go with Sami winning the title at Bound for Glory then Tessa winning in 2020 (and then leaving for AEW hopefully, not that I want IMPACT to lose a key talent, but I would love to see her in the major promotion I actually want to follow).

Falah Bahh vs Moose was a very good big guy match. Rascalz vs Mack, Swann & RVD was also very good. I guess the Desi Hit Squad on the farm will be some classic old-school pro-wrestling vignettes, but at this point I'd like Rohit Raju to actually get more credit and a single push in the X-div, the guy is good. Also enjoying the dynamic between Keira Hogan (the heel turn did her a world of good) and Madison Rayne. Especially since they have super solid matches lately, with Jordynne Grace as the enemy. I guess Grace & Rosemary vs Rayne & Hogan is happening at BFG. The Taya stuff with Bravo is pretty funny in a corny pro-wrestling way. Taya is another one that should land "somewhere", especially after her terrific cameo with her husband on BTE last week.

The only angle I'm not a big fan of is Ace Austin & Eddie Edward, not because I don't care about these two, and I actually enjoy Austin actually get some time and a legit angle to showcase more personality, but it's one if those "the babyfaces aren't watching their own show ?" angle. Works in LU because of how the promotion was built, on IMPACT it doesn't work as much, we know Austin is a douchebag.

The tapings in Mexico are always fun thanks to the different atmosphere and AAA talent showing up, so looking forward to watch these shows.

What's up with Killer Kross ? He hasn't been around. Are they working toward granting him his release ? Hopefully, again, the AAA connection lands him & Scarlett a job in AEW eventually.

Despite the ever problematic issue of depth, IMPACT is still doing a terrific job with what they have. And Callis is the best color guy today. 

[SirEdger]

For Killer Kross, from the interviews I read online, he seems to imply he's pretty much a freelancer now but like you do, I wouldn't be surprised to see him and Scarlett Bordeaux pop up on AEW before the end of the year. For all we know, Scarlett could show up at the Battle Royale this weekend as an entrant.

As for Taya, I assume they'll have her booked against Tenille Dashwood at Bound for Glory if we go by process of elimination.

[sek69]

AAA announced today that Impact will be helping them promote their New York show, and said Impact talent will be appearing on the show. 

[Migs]

1 hour ago, sek69 said:

AAA announced today that Impact will be helping them promote their New York show, and said Impact talent will be appearing on the show. 

Probably a sign they were struggling to get a lot of guys cleared on visas. Can't imagine Impact promoting the show would shift too many tickets.

[sek69]

They were struggling to sell tickets period, had to move the show from MSG to the theater next door (which honestly they should have aimed for in the first place). 

They were hoping to get AEW guys involved, but AEW isn't going to let their guys work for other promotions inside the US. 

 

[tallmike]

Who was asking for a Johnny Swinger run in 2019?

I'm guessing it's because he was friends with Cyrus in their ECW time.

 

[El-P]

Wow. After RVD, who is ok doing an older version of himself, Rhino, who's as worthless as he's basically been for the last 15 years, now Swinger, who was always worthless ? I guess he's a very low price talent, but not throwing enough money in the way of Scarlett Bordeaux and Killer Kross to keep them while getting uncharismatic Micheal Elgin and a bunch of washed up ECW guys (and not even the fun ones, as I have nothing against Dreamer there, he just had a quite good brawl with Sami last week) is not good talent relation...

[El-P]

It doesn't happen very often during a pro-wrestling show, so there it is, I actually laughed out loud during the Alesha & Ace Austin vignette on the beach. The music when Ace chased the "thiefs" into the water, and then Austin emerging out of the sea in slow-mo, totally cracked me up. Ok, so this is like the Undead Realm stuff. I would rather not have the announcer talk about any of this like in LU, but there it is, it really got me.

I really like the back and forth banter about Madison Rayne too since she turned heel. Some old-school wink-wink kayfabe going on, it's pretty funny.

The Rhyno vs Elgin match (which wasn't any good, surprise surprise) got an ECW chant. In Mexico. That has to be a first.

[TonyPulis'Cap]

I also laughed out loud during the Ace Austin doing his best Daniel Craig impression and coming out of the sea. It was corny as hell, but as long as stuff like this is in the undercard it's perfectly harmless. I've also enjoyed Austin getting to be campy and over the top with it.

The show being in Mexico added some energy to the last show and helps it look more 'big time' rather than the week before when they were taped from the tiny venue that Championship Wrestling from Hollywood films at. I'm never convinced the Mexican crowd are following along with the storylines too much, but maybe I'm not giving them enough credit. However the show itself was the poorest edition of Impact for a while, capped off by a dull main event. I hoped that Elgin and Rhino would have some fun brawls, but their matches have been really lethargic. 

I liked the Rasclaz vs Swann and Willie Mack tag match, but the less said about the women's trios match the better. The main highlight was The North/LAX promo which got me really fired up for the match between them next week. Obviously them turning up at All Out last night telegraphs the result somewhat, but it's still a match I'm looking forward to. 

So a real non event of a show this week, but Impact continues to be a promotion I enjoy and if the matches for Bound for Glory pan out as I think they might, then that should be another strong PPV from the company. Lets hope it comes with some buzz. 

[Zoo Enthusiast]

Scarlett and Kross showed up in AAW this weekend during both shows.  

Cage worked Elgin at Warrior Wrestling yesterday.  That was his first match back.

[TonyPulis'Cap]

So, while it was a good match between The North and LAX last week, I was a little disappointed given that going in I thought this could be excellent. With everything LAX have achieved in Impact and their careers being on the line, you wanted to feel more desperation and intensity in the match, but in the end, it was just 'a good match'. Obviously a massive blow to lose them from the company, but I have been impressed with The North since they won the titles and there's a fun couple of match ups on the table for them against the Rascalz and Rich Swann/Willie Mack.

To me though, the rest of the show continued the rather uninspiring streak Impact has been on the last few weeks. I thought the Mexico shows with a more lively crowd would pick things up, however their roster is feeling very thin now and the shows seem really haphazard with some of the matches they've been putting on. If Bound fir Glory heads in the direction I think it will, then I think the card will be strong, but it's so far been a grind getting there.  Cage vs Callihan looks like what they are going for with the title match but with the added twist of Cage proposing to Melissa Santos. Melissa was brilliant as a character in Lucha Underground, and I wonder if we are going to get a bit of reprise of her big story line there, with Callihan taking on the role of Marty the Moth. Hoping the shows can pick up again as we get closer to BFG.     

[SirEdger]

Looks like Impact has finally found a new home in the US, thanks to Anthem purchasing AXS TV.

 

https://pwinsider.com/article/129427/impact-wrestling-has-a-new-home-anthem-media-purchases-axs-tv.html?p=1

[Migs]

Very interesting to see where that goes, particularly in terms of the relationship with New Japan. Given New Japan's US expansion, any US partner was going to be a VERY junior partner, something that ROH struggled with but Impact would readily accept.

Glad, at the very least, that Impact will have solid coverage.

1 hour ago, TonyPulis'Cap said:

Hoping the shows can pick up again as we get closer to BFG.     

This has been my main beef with Impact this year - while they do a nice job of building to the big shows, it's incredibly easy to skip the shows for months before the final build (especially given the length of them). They're just too thin to be compelling for two hours a week without a clear PPV direction.

[El-P]

Finally a good news for IMPACT !

[sek69]

11 hours ago, El-P said:

Finally a good news for IMPACT !

....and then Anthem had to go Anthem it all up by firing everyone at AXS who built it up as a major outlet for combat sports. 

[hammerva]

It is strange that Impact has tried everything in the book to get back in New Japan's graces.   And New Japan wants literally nothing to do with them it seems.  Now since they gutted AXS TV  with Anthem guys and girls, they may have no choice

 

[El-P]

On 9/9/2019 at 11:56 PM, TonyPulis'Cap said:

So, while it was a good match between The North and LAX last week, I was a little disappointed given that going in I thought this could be excellent. With everything LAX have achieved in Impact and their careers being on the line, you wanted to feel more desperation and intensity in the match, but in the end, it was just 'a good match'. Obviously a massive blow to lose them from the company, but I have been impressed with The North since they won the titles and there's a fun couple of match ups on the table for them against the Rascalz and Rich Swann/Willie Mack.

Cage vs Callihan looks like what they are going for with the title match but with the added twist of Cage proposing to Melissa Santos. Melissa was brilliant as a character in Lucha Underground, and I wonder if we are going to get a bit of reprise of her big story line there, with Callihan taking on the role of Marty the Moth. Hoping the shows can pick up again as we get closer to BFG.     

I agree LAX went on kind of a wimper, with a crowd being not that hot in the post-match. Maybe they should not have done this one in Mexico. But it was already a done deal anyway, so... I will miss the LAX theme though, too bad they won't use that and their team name in AEW. The North vs pretty much anyone is fun, so that's the good part.

I did not expect Cage to ask Melissa to marry him, so that was fun since you know Callihan is gonna ruin this, and nothing is more fun than a wedding ceremony being ruined. Cage is a happy man btw, Melissa's reaction was so genuine too, again she showcased the natural personality she had in LU. I hope good stuff is coming for this angle. And damn, can't they actually *sign* Marty anyway ? From all the really good LU guys, he's the one who really hasn't showed up anywhere.

I'm still enjoying the Austin & Eddie angle, because it's so cheesy. Speaking of cheesy, the Swinger vignette actually gave me hope this could be fun. Now I just hope he'll work like Brutus Beefcake in 86.