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


Ricky Jackson

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I've gotta say, as far as a comedy match goes, the Thanksgiving special was pretty classic. Glen Gilberti. Kikutaro. Scarlett Bordeaux manipulating the Disco Inferno into wearing the turkey suit. The young referee "moving into puberty", as Callis said (and damn, Callis is easily the best pro-wrestling announcer today). The entire team doing the Bahh roll. That was all good.

Also, Gilberti looks pretty fine for a 51 year old. He kinda has a Terry Funk thing to him too I thought, oddly enough.

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From what I understand, the main reason Anthem bought into TNA/Impact originally was to provide original content for The Fight Network. I had heard that it wasn't so much that they wanted to own a Pro Wrestling Company as it was they wanted something cheap to fill large gaps in their programming schedule. I tend to believe that theory, because I have The Fight Network, and it is packed with old TNA "classic" content and current Impact content. (Counterbalanced with old UFC stuff, which I hear they are losing soon.)  There was a point in the past when TFN had a wide variety of Pro Wrestling content from all over, but now it seems to be a mix of TNA/Impact, old UFC and infomercials. If Anthem did sell Impact, they'd either have to make Impact continuing to air on TFN part of the deal, or they'd have one hell of a big hole on in the their programming schedule...especially if it's true they're losing the UFC stuff too as part of UFC moving from FOX to ESPN.

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Homecoming this Sunday looks like another really solid card from Impact

Final lineup:

IMPACT WORLDS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Johnny Impact(c) vs. Brian Cage

IMPACT WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS MATCH
LAX (Ortiz & Santana)(c) vs. Lucha Bros. (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix)

IMPACT X DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP ULTIMATE X MATCH
Jake Crist vs. Rich Swann vs. Ethan Page vs. Trey Miguel

IMPACT KNOCKOUTS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH; SPECIAL GUEST REFEREE: Gail Kim
Tessa Blanchard(c) vs. Taya Valkyrie

MONSTERS BALL MATCH
Eli Drake vs. Abyss

FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE MATCH
Eddie Edwards vs. Moose

Sami Callihan vs. Willie Mack

Allie & Su Yung vs. Kiera Hogan & Jordynne Grace

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Maybe oddly, but the match I look forward the most on this is Moose vs Eddie Edwards. As an old ECW fan, Eli Drake vs Abyss could appeal to me, especially if we get another Raven cameo (although I guess it was all for the build). Tessa vs Taya should be good if they beat the shit out of each others, I guess Gail will either be a factor in Tessa lose the belt or Taya fail again. The main event should be a decent LU match, but I don't expect anything special, these two needs a guy to structure a match to get to their best. The Ultimate X has an interesting cast of B-characters. Ethan Page should be interesting in this setting. LAX vs Lucha Brothers could still the show in term of sheer spectacle. Yeah, nice card on paper.

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Yeah count me in for this one as well.  I am really looking forward to this show.  All the people who crap on Impact just because it used to be TNA need to give their heads a shake.  Yeah, the Callis/D'Amore regime has made some missteps but they're moving in the right direction and they've done a lot more right than wrong.  This is NOT Dixie Carter's TNA anymore and anybody who avoids it because they think that it is, is robbing themselves of some good stuff for the most part.

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18 hours ago, El-P said:

Maybe oddly, but the match I look forward the most on this is Moose vs Eddie Edwards. As an old ECW fan, Eli Drake vs Abyss could appeal to me, especially if we get another Raven cameo (although I guess it was all for the build).

I would love an all out ECW tribute style match filled with run-ins and cameos like Raven's. Could also be looked at as an Asylum tribute as they've been using a bunch of 02-04 clips in video packages leading up and back then, there was no telling who was gonna show up next.

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19 hours ago, El-P said:

Maybe oddly, but the match I look forward the most on this is Moose vs Eddie Edwards. As an old ECW fan, Eli Drake vs Abyss could appeal to me, especially if we get another Raven cameo (although I guess it was all for the build). Tessa vs Taya should be good if they beat the shit out of each others, I guess Gail will either be a factor in Tessa lose the belt or Taya fail again. The main event should be a decent LU match, but I don't expect anything special, these two needs a guy to structure a match to get to their best. The Ultimate X has an interesting cast of B-characters. Ethan Page should be interesting in this setting. LAX vs Lucha Brothers could still the show in term of sheer spectacle. Yeah, nice card on paper.

The last PPV revealed Abyss as extremely limited/hobbled. I admire your optimism. 

Been told IMPACT will have Tessa and Gail headline a PPV in 2019.

LAX are slayers. Their developmental in Beyond Wrestling is one of my favorite things in the most recent years indie years. I don't think the Lucha Brothers are long for IMPACT. 

IMPACT has a legacy overwhelming fan pessimism behind it but their PPVs are typically fun to great and feel live live in ways overly produced and honed WWE PPVs don't. Just hope the PPV wasn't overshadowed by WrestleKingdom and the channel/timeslot change/downgrade next week.

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I would totally dig a Tessa vs Gail match, if only for Gail to get her due in 2019 (#womenevolution my ass).

Yeah, I was thinking about how the Lucha Bros would probably be a hot item for AEW and WWE (just to fuck with the other companies, since you know they'll have zero notion how to use them) at some point. Well, if iMPACT goes away finally, it will be a bad thing, but at least they'd leave on a high note. What about MLW ? The Lucha Bros arguably are the hottest names they got too. Not to mention the eventual 5th season of LU. I'd hate to see the Dark Fenix saga not get a closure.

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6 hours ago, El-P said:

I would totally dig a Tessa vs Gail match, if only for Gail to get her due in 2019 (#womenevolution my ass).

Yeah, I was thinking about how the Lucha Bros would probably be a hot item for AEW and WWE (just to fuck with the other companies, since you know they'll have zero notion how to use them) at some point. Well, if iMPACT goes away finally, it will be a bad thing, but at least they'd leave on a high note. What about MLW ? The Lucha Bros arguably are the hottest names they got too. Not to mention the eventual 5th season of LU. I'd hate to see the Dark Fenix saga not get a closure.

This would be something of a blow for MLW, since it seems like the match they want to get to is Low Ki vs. Penta, and presumably they've been saving it for Mania weekend. Hopefully it at least happens, even if it's sooner than anticipated.

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15 hours ago, Migs said:

This would be something of a blow for MLW, since it seems like the match they want to get to is Low Ki vs. Penta, and presumably they've been saving it for Mania weekend. Hopefully it at least happens, even if it's sooner than anticipated.

Their all-encompassing Lucha Underground contract that still has several years on it trumps anything the Lucha Bros might blindly or unthinkingly sign. It is a situation out of the music industry more than the Pro Wrestling industry.

IMPACT is livid with them for the news they are seemingly leaving getting out before the PPV.

MLW has a commitment with then for the whole of 2019.

 

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1 hour ago, Grimmas said:

They have taped a bunch here in Toronto,  but I have not been motivated to attend.  Sounds like maybe I should?

I really missed the boat on that one last summer, Grimmas. 

They held Slammiversary XVI here in Toronto at "The Rebel Entertainment Complex" downtown, which is that club which used to be "The Docks" and then "The Sound Academy" - I don't know if you've ever been there. I saw Motorhead at The Docks back in the day, and from what I remembered, I couldn't see how it would make a good venue for wrestling, plus I was still leery of Impact due to the TNA/Dixie Carter stigma, so when a buddy of mine had a chance to get ringside tickets for $125.00 I declined. 

Big mistake.  I ended up seeing the PPV and really wished I had gone. Firstly, I thought the way they set the place up for wrestling was great.  Maybe I'm just being nostalgic, maybe it's because Tommy Dreamer was on the show, but I got a real ECW vibe from the venue and I mean that in the good way.  The crowd was super hot, but didn't come across as too smarky and the show was excellent.  They did a couple of nights of TV taping at the same venue the next day. 

I've heard when they come back to Toronto (which they will since the Anthem offices are here) they're going to do more shows in the Toronto area, and if they do, I'm probably going to break my vow to never go to a live show again (made after ROH Global Wars 2014 at the Ted Reeve Arena) and I'm going to go.  I'm surprised they are not running the Ted Reeve arena or the old Maple Leaf Gardens (aka. The Mattamy Athletic Center) as both those places seat around 1000 - 1500 which was the turnout for Slammiversary. After seeing Slammiversary and Bound for Glory since Anthem/Callis/D'Amore took over, I'm actually on board for supporting these guys - especially since they're now essentially a Toronto based organization.

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So Impact Wrestling Homecoming is in the books.  I actually paid to see this on PPV, so I thought I might as well write up my review and share my thoughts.

Impact Wrestling Homecoming: 01/06/19

Impact has returned to the "TNA Asylum" which of course is the Tennessee State Fairgrounds Arena in Nashville.  This is where NWA-TNA got their start in June 2002, holding weekly PPV shows here up until September 2004.  I will go on record and freely admit that I actually ordered these weekly shows, each and every Wednesday.  Back in those days I had a lot more disposable income than I do now, and I was also going through a phase where I was boycotting WWE and was desperately hoping another company would provide some form of competition.  I pretty much gave up on that idea once Vince Russo started to assert himself as booker, and when TNA stopped the weekly PPV shows and changed to Fox Sports, I stopped watching because Fox Sports wasn't available in Canada, and I was pretty much off the TNA product by that time.  However, I do look back somewhat fondly on that two year period when TNA came from this arena each and every week.  Although there was a lot of crap produced during those years, there was some good stuff in there too.  They showed a nice video montage of some of the best moments from those years, along with some of the biggest names that came through The Asylum like Dusty Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat, AJ Styles, CM Punk, Ken Shamrock, Sabu and many others.

The crowd seemed happy to have Impact back after all this time.  It looked like a packed house, and they were pretty vocal throughout the night, although I think the Tag Team Title match may have burned them out at the end, as they seemed subdued for the last two matches.

"Ultimate X" to crown a new X-Division Champion: Jake Crist vs. Ethan Page vs. Rich Swann vs. Trey Miguel

Brian Cage has vacated the X-Division Championship in order to get a World Championship match on this show, so the X-Division title is vacant and a new champ will be decided in this match.  I saw the very first "Ultimate X" match and many of the subsequent matches, and I was never a huge fan. (If you've never see one of these matches, cables are strung above the ring in the shape of the letter X, with the belt suspended in the middle.  In order to win, you have to climb up and shimmy your way across to grab the belt and bring it down.  I remember specifically the match back in the day where the belt fell down several times before anybody could grab it.  Good times.)

The reason I don't like these matches are varied.  Firstly, I don't tend to like multi-man-car-crash-spot-fests.  Secondly, I don't like matches where you don't win by making your opponent submit or by pinning them.  Finally, these matches are dangerous and to me, are basically high risk/low reward.  Those cables are always strung up there quite high, and you're basically asking for blown out knees, and for what?  The very nature of these matches make them unmemorable, there is so much happening at once that nothing tends to stick out long term.

This match was...just okay.  The ropes above the ring looked looser than I remember them being, I don't know if that was by design or not.  Either way, it didn't affect the outcome of the match. There were a couple of spots in this match I quite liked.  Jake Crist hit Rich Swann with a huracanrana but Swann landed on his feet which was an awesome visual.  At one point Ethan Page shimmied out toward the middle of the ring only to drop a wicked elbow from up there on Swann, and that was pretty cool.  One spot made me laugh - Page ended up falling crotch first on the top turnbuckle, and some fans started chanting: "No More Children!"

There were three spots in specific that I freaked hated.

Firstly, I can't stand those spots during multi-man matches where three guys kind of assemble outside the ring and just mill around, obviously waiting for the fourth guy (in this case Rich Swann) to do a suicide plancha on top of them all.  It happens every single multi-person match and it always looks so contrived.  It is one of those spots that is done so often that it has totally lost it's effectiveness.  Secondly, I hate the so-called "Tower of Doom" spot where three guys form a human pyramid and give the forth guy on top a powerbomb.  I remember the first time I saw that spot in an AMW vs. Triple X match in TNA, I was blown away. I swear they've done this spot on every PPV since then.  Much like the suicide dive to the outside, I hate spots that make it brutally obvious that the competitors are helping each other out and setting the move up. If you can't do a spot like that organically and make it look even a little bit natural, then you probably shouldn't do it.

Finally, there was one spot that I thought was great...but then it pissed me off.  Jake Crist gave Rich Swann a picture perfect tombstone piledriver on the steel ramp.  He executed it perfectly, and Swann sold it perfectly.  Then, he dragged Swann's lifeless body all the way up the ramp to the entrance.  Swann did an amazing job selling it, he acted like he was legit knocked out cold and was dead weight.  Josh Mathews and Don Callis did a good job on commentary making the point that Crist was doing this to get Swann as far away from the ring as possible so he could go get the belt himself.  The problem?  I'd say about 2-3 minutes later, there was Swann, sliding back in the ring, no worse for wear.  Call me a grumpy old man, but I remember when taking a piledriver in the ring alone was supposed to lay you out.  Doing it on a steel ramp would be enough to put you on the shelf - you could build an entire feud around a move like that being done to you.  Here?  Nah, just shake it off!

When I saw this match, I said to myself: "I guess Rich Swann is winning the X-Division title."  He's a fairly big name based on his time in WWE, and besides - Jake Crist is one half of a Tag Team, I don't think they're going to break up oVe.  "All Ego" Ethan Page looks like a preliminary wrestler from the 80's, and with all apologies, there is nothing even remotely remarkable about him, and while Trey Miguel might become something big someday, did anybody seriously think he was going to win this match?  I know the Impact roster is thin...but I never had any doubt that Swann was going to win this, and he did.  I don't think I'm any great prognosticator, I think it's more of a case that the only guy in there on Swann's level is one half of a Tag Team.

So yeah, Swann wins the match and the title.  A few neat moments, a bunch of contrived and choreographed spots, and that's that.

2.5 stars.

Su Yung & Allie vs. Kiera Hogan & Jordynne Grace

Ugh.  This match really pissed me off.  I don't watch Impact every week, so I relied on the pre-match video package to let me know the backstory, and it was a bunch of stupid, wannabe Undertaker from the early 90's ridiculous unrealistic nonsense.  These women are great athletes, I was especially impressed by Jordynna Grace.  Let them wrestle, dammit. Why the creative team felt the need to bog them down with this beyond stupid demonic/darkside Halloween crap, I'll never know.  The match was okay, I suppose.  They worked a fast pace, there were a few awkward or mistimed spots but nothing too bad.  But this whole wearing goofy makeup and making ridiculous faces garbage belongs back in Kevin Sullivan's Dungeon of Doom.  It has no place here, in my opinion - it's what Jim Cornette calls "gaga" and I can't stand it.  Su Yung and Allie win, and then a bunch of female druids or bridesmaids or whatever come out with a coffin, and out pops Rosemary who is apparently "back from the dead" according to the announcers.  Another terrifying episode of Monster Chiller Horror Theater.

2 stars.

Falls Count Anywhere Match: Eddie Edwards vs. Moose

Here's the thing...Moose sucks.  He's fucking terrible.  He's uncoordinated, he's slow, he can't sell and he has a giant freak-head that makes him look like The Great Gazoo from the old Flintstones cartoon.  I tried to give this guy a chance, I really did.  I watched him in ROH, I've seen him on other Impact shows and I've wanted him to have good matches, but he seems utterly incapable of it.  They showed us (in another ridiculously melodramatic and entirely unbelievable soap-opera-like video package) the story behind the feud between Moose and Eddie Edwards which led up to this match.  Apparently, Moose had Eddie committed to an insane asylum for 20 days, or something.  Yeah.

This match was pretty much your paint-by-numbers Falls Count Anywhere match, except for the fact that it had Moose in it, so it got slowed down.  At one point, he set up one of the ringside barriers and propped it between the ring and the steel steps, and that seemed to be very hard for him to figure out.  He threw about 8 steel chairs into the ring, for no reason because of course they only needed one or two at most.  Worst of all, you could literally see Edwards helping him every time he delivered a powerbomb by boosting himself up and jumping into the air - which made it look like it wasn't Moose delivering the moves, it was Eddie doing it to himself. The fact that this match was even remotely watchable is entirely attributable to Eddie Edwards bumping his ass off for Moose.  Eddie got hit with a couple of killer powerbombs on the ring apron which were brutal looking.   At one point they wandered out into the crowd and Eddie jumped off the stairs onto Moose who was on the level below.  The biggest spot was Moose getting tossed over the top rope, out of the ring and crashing into the aforementioned steel ring barrier contraption.

I am not sure what they're doing with Eddie Edwards, it seems like they're trying to turn him into Impact's version of Tommy Dreamer or something.  At one point, his wife came out and hit Moose with a Kendo Stick.  I'm not sure why, but I liked it because at that point I wanted to hit Moose with a Kendo Stick, just because. Eddie wins.  This match had enough car crash appeal that I can't say it was boring, but it was nothing I haven't seen done a million times, much better.  Without Moose.  Oh, and if there was a drinking game where you had to do a shot every time the announcers mentioned the fact that Moose played in the NFL, you'd have been hammered by the end of this match.  Which probably would have made it more entertaining.

2 stars.

Sami Callihan vs. Willie Mack

I usually hate Sami Callihan and anything involving Sami Callihan, but I freaking loved this match.  You know why?  Willie Mack is awesome, that's why.  For those of you who don't know who he is, Willie Mack is a detective down in Texas.  You know he knows just exactly what the facts is. He ain't gonna let those two escape justice. He makes his living off the people's taxes.  Okay, maybe that's Billy Mack...but Willie Mack is freaking awesome.  He is smooth as silk, at least he was during this match.  This dude can pull off some awesome moves for a guy his size and he looks confident and comfortable doing it.  I loved his performance in this match.  One of the little things I loved about his performance is that every time Dave Crist got anywhere near him, Mack would attack him - totally turning the tired old outside interference narrative on it's head.  The work in this match by both guys was tight, and they did pretty much everything right.  Of particular note, the clotheslines were crazy good.  This was just a hard-hitting, fast-paced brawl and both guys came out looking awesome.

4 stars.

Monster's Ball Match: Abyss vs. Eli Drake

Ugh, who is laying these shows out?  You don't have a Falls Count Anywhere, and then one normal match and then another Hardcore Match right away.  Bad show pacing.  Also, I hate to say it but Abyss is done.  That dude can barely walk, seriously.  You can tell either his legs or his back are shot and he's almost immobile at this point.  They did all the usual Hardcore/Plunder match spots, tables, thumbtacks, and all that...but just like the Falls Count Anywhere match, it isn't anything we haven't seen before, done much better.  I guess the positive is that Eli Drake went over and he came out looking strong after this...but it was really forgettable and misplaced on this show.

1.5 stars.

Impact Tag Team Title Match: Champions LAX vs. Pentagon Jr. & Rey Fenix

I am really torn on this match.  This is the main reason I bought this show, I wanted to see this match pretty bad.  I have a ton of respect for both teams.  I also loved the fact that the story behind the match didn't involve people coming back from the dead, or being sent to an insane asylum or any stupid crap like that.  The Lucha Brothers wanted a shot at the titles.  LAX wanted to give it to them, to prove they could beat them.  LAX didn't like the fact that the Lucha Bros were overshadowing them, when they're the champs.  Their manager didn't want the match to happen.  Good old fashioned Pro Wrestling story telling, that works when it's done right.

My problem with this match was the style.  I like old school Tag Team wrestling, when guys tag in and out.  They do the face-in-peril spot, they do the "ref didn't see it" spot, there is structure to the match.  Before this PPV, the last "current" wrestling show I'd seen was WWE Hell in a Cell 2018.  There was a match on that show with Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose for the Raw Tag Team Championships.  I can't stand Dean Ambrose or Dolph Ziggler and I am ambivalent at best towards Seth Rollins. Basically, the only guy in that match I really like is Drew McIntyre.  But despite that, I really liked that Tag Team match.  Why?  Because they stuck to the basics, and told a hell of a story - all credit to them.  There was no goofy "everybody does whatever they want" running around.  The results was a damn solid match.  The kind of match that The Revival seem determined to keep alive in this day and age...the old school Tag Team match.  I was assumed we would not see that kind of Tag Team match with this match, and I was right.

Figuring the background of the four guys in this match, I was worried it would descend into chaos. I'm not big into Lucha Libre and this is why I hate the NJPW and ROH style of Tag Team wrestling.  To me, all that means is that there are more guys in the ring...they don't tag in and out, it's just utter chaos with guys hitting move after move, with no psychology, rhyme or reason. Just spot-spot-spot. And that's what this match was.  I don't think anybody spent any time on the apron at all, there were no hot tags because there were barely any tags, it was loosely controlled chaos.

Here's the thing...as luck would have it, these four guys happen to excel at that particular style.  So while they didn't have a traditional Tag Team match (and I don't even know if they could) you can't have seen this match and come away saying it was a bad match.  It was an incredibly fast paced, highly entertaining match.  There were a ton of crazy spots which were executed flawlessly.  These four guys were so good, that they came across as head-and-shoulders above everybody else on the show up to this point.  Almost like they didn't belong here, because they were competing at a whole different level.  If I was Impact, I'd do whatever I had to do to keep Fenix and Pentagon around - although with AEW starting up and all the other places these guys work, that may not be possible.  Anyhow, this was not my kind of match but I'm open-minded enough to know pure talent and skill when I see it.

4 stars.

Impact Knockouts Title Match: Champion Tessa Blanchard vs. Taya Valkyrie

I like and respect Gail Kim, but this match was one of those cases of the "Special Guest Referee" overshadowing the match - and that is too bad because this was turning into a very good match before the nonsense between Tessa Blanchard and Kim started up.  Both athletes worked hard, it was a well worked, well paced and smartly put together match.  I was really starting to get into it, and then the goofiness with Gail Kim getting involved started up.  I knew going into it that was likely to happen, but I was hoping it wouldn't.. It struck me after this match, it's almost as if Impact doesn't have enough confidence in their female talent to carry matches on their own without saddling them down with goofy gimmicks or outside nonsense.  And that's too bad.  Tessa is great and although Tara can be a bit awkward she carried her end of the load during this match.  I assume this is leading to Tessa Blanchard vs. Gail Kim, and to be honest it had better.  Otherwise there was no reason to ruin this match with all the referee interference nonsense, and take away from Tara Valkyrie's moment.  Unless they're just trying to protect Tessa by not having her lose in the middle clean, I don't know.

3 stars.

Impact Title Match: Champion Johnny Impact vs. Brian Cage

Gotta be honest here, I'm not a big Brian Cage fan.  I hate the steroid freak look in this day and age, aren't we passed that?  And I defy you to look at his pre-match outfit and not laugh out loud.  He looks like a cross between American Gladiators and a reject from a B Grade 1980's Direct to Video Sci-Fi movie.  SO CHEESY.  I do like Johnny Impact, I always have.  I wasn't expecting much from this match, but even with moderately low expectations this match still disappointed me.  It seemed...off.  Weirdly paced, slow (especially after the crowd had gotten molten hot during the Tag Title match and amped up on the speed and agility - that made this one look even worse.) Something about this match was just...clunky.  They didn't really mess any big moves up or anything, but the two guys just didn't seem to be on the same page and they seemed to be a half-step off and out of sync. Maybe these guys just don't have any chemistry and work well together, I don't know.

And then there is the Survivor factor.

I admit up front, I love Survivor.  I watch it every season.  I really liked the season that John Hennigan was just on, too. (David vs. Golaith.)  He did pretty well, he made it to the jury and I figured that if he managed to get fairly far into the game, that Impact Wrestling would want to capitalize on the added notoriety that would bring.  Here's the thing...they did a really fun little segment on the pre-show with Johnny Impact and  Dr. Christian Hubicki.  Christian and Johnny ended up having one of the odder and more entertaining "odd couple" like relationships on Survivor this season, and Christian was (and still is) so insanely popular that he's pretty much a shoe-in to get invited back to compete again.  Considering their chemistry and Christian's popularity on Survivor, having him do a pre-show segment where he helps Johnny try and figure out how to beat "The Machine" was a perfect use of Christian and Johnny's history on the last season of Survivor.

They really should have left it at that, in my opinion.  Any Survivor fans who watched Impact for the first time after seeing Johnny this past season would have likely been satisfied with that one segment.  There was no need to have Nick try and jump the railing, it was stupid and pointless and it took away from the match.  It made a match that was already going kind of badly go a whole lot worse.  This match ended up being like this entire show...just okay. 

2 Stars.

Final Thoughts...

I can't say Homecoming stunk, but I sure can't say it was anywhere near as good as Slammiversary from just a few months ago, which was presented by the same creative team and essentially the same roster.  That show was a game changer to me, this one was just kind of there.  Looking at Homecoming from that perspective, this was a misfire. Impact has a lot of talent, but I'd say they need to do a few important things.  Firstly, they need to let their female talent wrestle and forget the goofy outside the ring nonsense.  Speaking of which, I find some of the creative writing and video packages/backstage segments Impact do to be laughably bad, unrealistic and stupid.  When they concentrate on tried and true wrestling storytelling, they seem to succeed, but when they start trying to get all melodramatic it usually turns into something cringe-worthy.  Remember that storyline with LAX supposedly getting a kid killed a couple of months ago?  I rest my case.  It's one thing to have backstage segments or dramatic motivation for what ends up happening in the ring, but if you're going to do that - by gawd it had better be good and by good I mean believable.  Otherwise, it becomes what I like to call "Russoesque."

There was some good here.  The Ultimate X match was fair, and the Willie Mack vs. Sami Callihan and Tag Team Title matches were excellent.  The rest was fair-to-poor. If I was to give this an academic grade, I'd give it a C+ but that's just me.  Opinions may vary I'm sure.

EDIT:  I forgot to mention when reviewing the Pay Per View.  They made a "major announcement" that starting this Friday, the weekly Impact TV show will be streaming live on Twitch. So now pretty much everybody will be able to see the show.  They are asking people to sign up with Twitch as subscribers, and they said their goal is to have 15,000 subscribers to the Impact Channel by March 1, 2019 so I don't know if there is a revenue component to this or not.  Bottom line is, for the people who don't get Pursuit at least you can still see the show live every week.  I saw somebody online saying that they wouldn't be surprised if more people watch Impact on Twitch than on Pursuit.   Either way, it's a smart (and necessary) move by Impact.

 

 

 

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  • Ricky Jackson changed the title to Is Impact* the best wrestling promotion in history? *(Now TNA again, 2024)

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