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


Ricky Jackson

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The last iMPACT of January had two strong matches in Johnny Impact vs Killer Kross (who I'm slowly enjoying more and more as an in-ring worker) and Rich Swann vs Vikingo. Also, the angle developing between Swann & Callihan is good stuff, bringing a multidimensional aspect to both guys. Ater watching Swann working more heelish in MLW, I wouldn't mind see the same style for him here.

The Rascalz gimmick is flying way, way over my head (I guess it's a millennial thing...) but their finisher is the coolest I've seen in a long time.

Also, it was so good to see Melissa Santos ! 

Last but not least, Scarlett Bx's training video was pretty funny. Her literally deep throating a banana in the most casual way ever was gold.

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I guess I'm in the minority, because I'd never pay a cent to career malcontents like Aries (even if this particular instance is a work), Low Ki, etc. if I were running a fed. And as a fan, I can never invest in anything they do because I know they won't last and there will never be a real payoff to 99% of what they do. I'm sure they're fine as "YouTube wrestlers" though, meaning fun to watch random matches of. If AEW is smart, they'll steer clear of guys like this. 

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15 hours ago, Alucard said:

No Aries, but RVD & Sabu vs Pentagon & Fenix!

A massive improvement over Aries.

Then again, I'd be saying that if the former World Champion ended up being a 64-year-old Tony Atlas (he was the IWCCW "World" Champion - that counts, right?). 

Still makes me wonder what the whole Twitter "argument" between Aries and Solomon Crowe was supposed to be setting up. 

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Apparently Impact has sold 40 seats or so for United We Stand. As the card fills out, I am sure they will sell out the NJ venue. I hope Impact takes this time to really try and stand out during Mania weekend and just say "fuck it" and a few more insane first time matches. If Aries/Sami happens, I can see it going down at the Rebel Center PPV and/or United We Stand. However, if Impact wants to do a "Hardcore Legends" show, I am all for Sami vs. Raven. Hell, maybe Raven (and two members of The Flock vs. OvE. An MLW crossover match featuring The Studd Stable w/ Colonel Parker vs. LAX w/Konnan would be interesting as well.

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On 2/9/2019 at 10:26 PM, Tenese Sarwieh said:

Lucha Bros/ LAX was fantastic, they do spotfest matches perfectly.

Yeah, at their level it's truly a style in and of itself. Terrific spotfest. Fenix has to be one of the most graceful and explosive wrestler ever.

Those iMPACT tapings in Mexico really make for fun TV episodes, with AAA workers showing up (Faby Apache vs Tessa last year was so cool) and the mexican feel to the atmosphere. It's too bad iMPACT is on a station that basically buries them, because they have a really fun and easy show to watch. A PPV once in a while also makes it so much less "forced" in term of "everything has to be so important". Not everything is great but it flows very well. Easily my favourite weekly pro-wrestling fix at the moment. And Don Callis is the most enjoyable announcer today, easily. When I think I was a fan of his back in 98 and was disappointed he was never given a chance. He finally sure made a name for himself.

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1 hour ago, El-P said:

Yeah, at their level it's truly a style in and of itself. Terrific spotfest. Fenix has to be one of the most graceful and explosive wrestler ever.

Those iMPACT tapings in Mexico really make for fun TV episodes, with AAA workers showing up (Faby Apache vs Tessa last year was so cool) and the mexican feel to the atmosphere. It's too bad iMPACT is on a station that basically buries them, because they have a really fun and easy show to watch. A PPV once in a while also makes it so much less "forced" in term of "everything has to be so important". Not everything is great but it flows very well. Easily my favourite weekly pro-wrestling fix at the moment. And Don Callis is the most enjoyable announcer today, easily. When I think I was a fan of his back in 98 and was disappointed he was never given a chance. He finally sure made a name for himself.

It's a very digestible show. I know Pursuit is apart of Anthem but I just wish they would land a huge network. I saw there short documentary for Bound for Glory and seeing D'Amore getting emotional and being proud about LAX/OGz make want this company to get wins in their favor.

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It really is striking just how well Tessa carries herself on screen. The street fight with Taya isn't the best match in the world (kind of your standard issue plunder-fest), but she gets just so much of it SO fucking right. Kind of a shame that she's doing this on a show that has less than zero traction.

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Thought this week's episode of Impact was really strong. I like it when they brand an episode with a title and look to build to a card with a cluster of big matches, as with only a couple of PPV's a year it gives some nice additional peaks throughout the year.

Starting with the Taya/Tessa street fight straight out of the gate really got the show off to a hot start and I loved the intensity they both brought - the two have really good chemistry and seem comfortable with enough to just really go out and hit each other hard. As tallmike says, the match was nothing revolutionary, but was carried by the fire they both brought and as the escalation to a good rivalry. Agree on all the people praising Tessa - she just carries herself like a star and walks the line perfectly between being a badass but not too much of one to get cheered over the babyface. It's something that not a lot of people can carry off. Taya is also someone that I think is doing a lot of good work in Impact. She has that cache in Mexico and she's an excellent brawler.

The 'World Cup' match was both spotty and sloppy at times, but was never dull and again, there was lots of fire and energy to the match. I think all wrestling companies could use elimination matches better, in terms of telling some compelling stories and not just going for quick fire eliminations, but I liked the interactions between the guys on the Impact side, and it both got the home town pop and help build up an Eli Drake/Eddie Edwards match which has to be considered a success. Sami vs Rich Swann for the X Title also has the potential to be a good match.

I thought the main event was hit and miss - I'm over watching these 4 guys compete after seeing all the different combinations over the past few months. It looks like Cage willl still be in the title picture but it would be good to get some fresh blood into the World Title scene. There's been a few comments in the thread speculating if Aries is going to return. I know he's got a reputation, but given I've never met him, I'll to some extent just judge him on what he brings on-screen, and I think he's just a terrific pro wrestler, who like Tessa just carries himself like a compelling star. It would be great if they could get him back.   

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/16/2019 at 1:45 PM, TonyPulis'Cap said:

Thought this week's episode of Impact was really strong. I like it when they brand an episode with a title and look to build to a card with a cluster of big matches, as with only a couple of PPV's a year it gives some nice additional peaks throughout the year.

Starting with the Taya/Tessa street fight straight out of the gate really got the show off to a hot start and I loved the intensity they both brought - the two have really good chemistry and seem comfortable with enough to just really go out and hit each other hard. As tallmike says, the match was nothing revolutionary, but was carried by the fire they both brought and as the escalation to a good rivalry. Agree on all the people praising Tessa - she just carries herself like a star and walks the line perfectly between being a badass but not too much of one to get cheered over the babyface. It's something that not a lot of people can carry off. Taya is also someone that I think is doing a lot of good work in Impact. She has that cache in Mexico and she's an excellent brawler.

The 'World Cup' match was both spotty and sloppy at times, but was never dull and again, there was lots of fire and energy to the match. I think all wrestling companies could use elimination matches better, in terms of telling some compelling stories and not just going for quick fire eliminations, but I liked the interactions between the guys on the Impact side, and it both got the home town pop and help build up an Eli Drake/Eddie Edwards match which has to be considered a success. Sami vs Rich Swann for the X Title also has the potential to be a good match.

I thought the main event was hit and miss - I'm over watching these 4 guys compete after seeing all the different combinations over the past few months. It looks like Cage willl still be in the title picture but it would be good to get some fresh blood into the World Title scene. There's been a few comments in the thread speculating if Aries is going to return. I know he's got a reputation, but given I've never met him, I'll to some extent just judge him on what he brings on-screen, and I think he's just a terrific pro wrestler, who like Tessa just carries himself like a compelling star. It would be great if they could get him back.   

I second most of this, although I really liked the World Cup match more than you did apparently, even though it kinda lost a bit of steam once they went two vs two. I was quite impressed with how Bah put his shit in the best way imaginable with the luchadors, I enjoyed how they kept on building Drake vs Eddie, the diving sequence was terrific, they mixed in some comedy but not too much. "Someone call Peta" call by Matthews when Bah was against Puma King was quite a funny line. Kinda cool how they work those old TNA gimmicks in the current product. First World Cup was in 2004 I believe, and AAA was involved already.

And yeah, Tessa vs Taya was excellent. Same match move per move in WWE and people would lose their shit over it and call it MOTYC, but since it's on iMPACT, it's barely been payed attention too. Fuck me Tessa is so good in this setting too, and you could see Taya is right at ease. Loved the details of Taya wearing the Perros del Mar shirt while Tessa had an old 4H on.

Callahan beating on Swann was effective. Callahan is simply a terribly effective heel. Page vs Mack was quite good. The main event had its moment. I guess I like Moose more than most. Really enjoying Cross. I enjoy Johnny in a RVD way, in that he can do tons of cool shit, but damn his finisher is so awful. Yeah, the twists look cool, but it always looks like he barely touches his opponent. Reminds me of Chaparita ASARI in the 90's, now that's a dated reference no one will get today...

Overall, agree it was a super strong episode. The current iMPACT format really works.

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I loved that Tessa/Taya match. Tessa looked so great wearing the traditional street fight gear. Really like how the stories progress weekly and how they keep everyone involved throughout the show, with small but effective backstage scenes like this past week with Sami visiting Rich in the hospital, Mitchell and Rosemary setting up the dark war, etc.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The heat match/angle from March 1st with Cage/Impact vs Kross/Moose was really well done. Glad to see some color used right. And damn, that Moose outfit was glorious.

No idea what Delilah Doom is supposed to be (I get the vintage synth-wave logo though), but apart from one kinda blown spot at the beginning, I thought her work was quite good. Never hurt to work against Tessa, but still she seems to be quite the good little worker, with a different kinda look. I wouldn't mind seeing more of her.

The Rosemary angle is goofy, so I hope the Dark Wars match went into full insanity. Keira Hogan's acting was... not good, but she was still better than Jordynne who looked awkward just standing there. I have no idea how Lucha Underground made everyone look so much better in those vignettes (well, production I guess). Speaking of which, I'm glad Melissa has got the interviewing spot, but I'd like this to be more than the usual "Hot girl stands with a mic and looks excited/intimidated/bewildered" usual deal that has been around for the past 15 years. Lauren Thompson was the best in that role BTW, I hope Melissa is gonna do more stuff.

Disco Inferno getting humiliated every time they do a taping in Vegas may get old, but for now it's quite ok.

Falah Bahh cuts better promos than most anyone in the WWE by simply putting intent behind only one word. Another guy I wouldn't mind see end up in AEW eventually.

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On 2/9/2019 at 11:27 PM, fakeplastictrees said:

Apparently Impact has sold 40 seats or so for United We Stand. As the card fills out, I am sure they will sell out the NJ venue. I hope Impact takes this time to really try and stand out during Mania weekend and just say "fuck it" and a few more insane first time matches.

I am officially withdrawing my "Shut Up and Take My Money" demand regarding United We Stand.  This week they announced Tessa Blanchard vs. Joey Ryan.  Fuck that noise.  I don't like intergender wrestling under the best of circumstances, and anything involving Joey Ryan and his goddamn dick is definitely not the best of circumstances.  I'll buy fucking front row fucking VIP tickets to see fucking Nickelback before I spend one goddamn nickel that will go into the pocket of Joey Fucking Ryan.  Fuck him, fuck his fucking penis bullshit, fuck this match and fuck Impact for booking it.  I really wanted to see RVD & Sabu vs. The Lucha Brothers but fuck this noise.

Fuck.

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6 hours ago, El-P said:

The heat match/angle from March 1st with Cage/Impact vs Kross/Moose was really well done. Glad to see some color used right. And damn, that Moose outfit was glorious.

No idea what Delilah Doom is supposed to be (I get the vintage synth-wave logo though), but apart from one kinda blown spot at the beginning, I thought her work was quite good. Never hurt to work against Tessa, but still she seems to be quite the good little worker, with a different kinda look. I wouldn't mind seeing more of her.

The Rosemary angle is goofy, so I hope the Dark Wars match went into full insanity. Keira Hogan's acting was... not good, but she was still better than Jordynne who looked awkward just standing there. I have no idea how Lucha Underground made everyone look so much better in those vignettes (well, production I guess). Speaking of which, I'm glad Melissa has got the interviewing spot, but I'd like this to be more than the usual "Hot girl stands with a mic and looks excited/intimidated/bewildered" usual deal that has been around for the past 15 years. Lauren Thompson was the best in that role BTW, I hope Melissa is gonna do more stuff.

Disco Inferno getting humiliated every time they do a taping in Vegas may get old, but for now it's quite ok.

Falah Bahh cuts better promos than most anyone in the WWE by simply putting intent behind only one word. Another guy I wouldn't mind see end up in AEW eventually.

Agreed, really loved the main event tag angle with bloody Cage passing out in the choke while Johnny is surrounded by officials. Great, great stuff. Also agreed on Delilah being all-around awesome, really fun character. I really liked McKenzie Mitchell the most before her recent exit and Melissa came in. The Disco stuff has been hilarious - most especially this past week.

3 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

I am officially withdrawing my "Shut Up and Take My Money" demand regarding United We Stand.  This week they announced Tessa Blanchard vs. Joey Ryan.  Fuck that noise.  I don't like intergender wrestling under the best of circumstances, and anything involving Joey Ryan and his goddamn dick is definitely not the best of circumstances.  I'll buy fucking front row fucking VIP tickets to see fucking Nickelback before I spend one goddamn nickel that will go into the pocket of Joey Fucking Ryan.  Fuck him, fuck his fucking penis bullshit, fuck this match and fuck Impact for booking it.  I really wanted to see RVD & Sabu vs. The Lucha Brothers but fuck this noise.

Fuck.

It was supposed to be Eli Drake, but Eli refused to do intergender, so this was their solution : (
Rest of the card looks solid though.

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Tessa vs Joey is actually an upgrade over Eli Drake to me. It should be all kind of fun bullshit, plus Joey is a better all around worker anyway. Tessa won't be dicking around, pun intended.

(and really, did Eli actually refused as a shoot ? Who does he think he is ? Disco Inferno ? It's really odd in 2019)

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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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