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

[rovert]

14 hours ago, El-P said:

The whole wedding is exactly why IMPACT is my favourite show right now, and has been for a year and a half. Dreamer cracked me up when he reacted to Swann saying that it was one woman for your whole life with "Wait, no, that's not how it works". Good balance between the comedic part of the first half and the serious angle at the end. The fan of LU in me really enjoyed to see these guys working a major angle in another context, and IMPACT has done a really good job making me care about Cage as a character (which really wasn't the case in LU). Again, Santos involvement truly helped. And Callihan is the best heel/heat feud worker of the last two years. He again proved it. Can't wait to see the whole story unfold culminating with Tessa finally winning the big one at the end.

Oh, and Ken Shamrock looks ridiculous. Again, they did a really good job making me care about this one. Also, I did not realized the "new" IMPACT was beginning this week. What a week indeed. I wonder if IMPACT will remain my favourite once AEW Fusion kicks in. The one thing they miss as far as presentation goes to me is a guy like Don Callis. 

When IMPACT does comedy they do it really. Enjoyed the fun half of the Wedding this week a lot.

Interested how IMPACT changes now it is an on a real station again. This era had some "no one is really watching" goofing off particularly the commentary.

Not entirely sure something like the hanging of Su Yung will fly on AXS and with their advertisers. Wait and see I guess. 

[Migs]

2 hours ago, rovert said:

When IMPACT does comedy they do it really. Enjoyed the fun half of the Wedding this week a lot.

Interested how IMPACT changes now it is an on a real station again. This era had some "no one is really watching" goofing off particularly the commentary.

Not entirely sure something like the hanging of Su Yung will fly on AXS and with their advertisers. Wait and see I guess. 

The shows I've seen on AXS seem to almost exclusively advertise other AXS shows, so I'm not sure how big a problem that is.

[El-P]

It's a credit to IMPACT's booking that they have me wat to watch that Moose vs Ken Shamrock match. Watching Shamrock there, he looks like the big missed opportunity.

So, Daga is in the Ultimate X match alongside Tessa, which is quite interesting as these two have a past of teaming up (and working against each other too).

I get a kick out of IMPACT basically throwing the towel with Elgin in a "You can't cut promos, you suck at angles, let's thrown you a great japanese guy at BFG because that's the only thing you're really good at." Marufuji should get the best out of Elgin, who did look good against TJP, whom I couldn't care less about.

Not a big fan of RVD & Rhino thrown in the tag title match, it would have been much better as a straight match against Mack & Swann to me. I guess they have to get those former ECW guys a paycheck.

Swinger's debut was right out of a WWF Wrestling Challenge from 1990. Funny stuff.

Callis was on fire again. Matthews "But Alisha is married to Eddie Edwards !" Callis "What are you, a quacker ?". That cracked me up.

Callihan's promo at the end was just perfect. He's just the perfect heel, really.

[El-P]

Daga & Tessa vs Jake Crist & Madman Fulton was a really dynamic main-event, fun to see the Daga & Tessa team in IMPACT. Tessa has to win the X-div championship. The way they went from there to the closing angle flew really well too, and what a final angle. Crazy how once again, Callihan makes Brian Cage the most interesting he's even been to me. And again, Melissa Santos being involved also played a primordial role in why I actually care about Cage now. She's a trooper, that piledriver was vile looking (and most probably super safe). Don Callis selling the whole thing was just perfect. He's the best color guy in the business by a ridiculous margin.

Once again, and despite no one seemingly watching, IMPACT is doing just a terrific job leading to their biggest show of the year as far as main angles goes, with a fun undercard doing a fine supporting job. Hopefully they get a bit more eyes on them once they truly switch to AXS, because they so deserve it as far as the product goes.

Also, Swinger has become the funniest character in pro-wrestling in 2019. WTF ?

[SirEdger]

I love that with Johnny Swinger, they're all in with the goofiness of the character. I'm always of the belief of if you truly believe in your character, you're gonna get it over. I feel like it's the case for Johnny Swinger.

[Coffey]

Damn, this All Glory "show" is a disaster. Technical difficulties so they were trying to live stream it via a cell phone. Then Josh Matthews said he needed his phone back, so the stream went offline. Then they're back up on a new phone. Just horrible. I feel awful for all the people involved. Talk about looking bush league & unprofessional. 

 

 

[TonyPulis'Cap]

The less said about the video above the better...

In general, the last edition of Impact was another really flat show, where the best parts were the non-wrestling segments. Unfortunately that amounted to about 15 mins of a two hour show. I've got no idea what Moose/Ken Shamrock is going to turn out like, to some extent it feels like the sort of meme/freakshow type match you get lots of over Mania weekend, but there was an excellent video package put together for the match, that despite my fears, was effective in making me excited to want to watch it.

There was a decent little Taya promo, who has had a really strong run with the title, it's just unfortunate that Tenille Dashwood has been pretty uninspiring since she's come into Impact and feels colder than you would think when you see that match written down on paper. I still think it will be a decent match though.

Finally, I thought the Sami Callihan promo was really strong, and he's definitely been the MVP of Impact the last few years and I would put the belt on him.

The rest of the show had nothing noteworthy at all - in particular the battle royal and Sabu matches were both terrible. Having that Battle Royal as the last segment before your big show is poor formatting. 

I wrote here a couple of weeks ago, that Bound for Glory, looks like it will be a decent show, almost in spite of the booking, and that still feels right going into tonight.  

[Alucard]

Looking forward to what should be a good-great show in BFG

Final card:

WORLDS HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Brian Cage(c) vs. Sami Callihan

KNOCKOUTS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Taya Valkyrie(c) vs. Tenille Dashwood

X DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP LADDER MATCH
Jake Crist(c) vs. Tessa Blanchard vs. Daga vs. Ace Austin vs. Ace Romero

TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS MATCH
The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander)(c) vs. Rich Swann & Willie Mack vs. Rob Van Dam & Rhino

Ken Shamrock vs. Moose

Michael Elgin vs. Naomichi Marufuji

The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier, Trey Miguel, & Zachary Wentz) vs. Dr. Wagner Jr., Aerostar, & Taurus

20 PERSON CALL YOUR SHOT GAUNTLET MATCH - Winner receives any title shot of their choosing
Featuring Eddie Edwards, Cody Deaner, Cousin Jake, Havok, Rosemary, Jordynne Grace, Kiera Hogan, Johnny Swinger, Reno Scum, Raj Singh, Mahabali Shera, and more.

 

[El-P]

Meanwhile, IMPACT had yet again a super fun PPV no one is talking about.

Cage vs Callihan was great. This is how you do a grudge match. Blood, great garbage spots, a dirty heel, a fiery pissed off babyface whose final comeback kicking at one actually makes sense with his character and the story (he's a machine and he's pissed off) and at the end the babyface wins and celebrate with his hot wife who had been injured by the dirty heel, and the announcer says this feud is over. Pro-wrestling ain't that hard to do right. Callihan again delivers an awesome performance, this guy has been consistently excellent for at least two years straight in every feud he's been positioned.

Moose vs Shamrock was ok was a while then it kinda died out, going too long and just not being very good. Shamrock doing a no touch plancha was crazy, and he still looks incredible and has the same kinda charisma he had 22 years ago. That's the only match that wasn't too good, really.

Marufugi (lolIMPACT) vs Elgin was a very good G1 Climax 1996 match. That's really Elgin's calling, as he can't do much more with his consistent constipated body language. I dunno, he showcased character in Mexico, maybe he should work there all the time. 

The ladder match was one hell of a clusterfuck. Ace Romero is a great signing for IMPACT. If he's not dead from that last bump though. The build to the finish was excellent and I really didn't it coming. I hope they have other big plan for Tessa. It does make Austin a really big heel. Daga looked really string here, he's a guy I hope they keep on booking.

Taya vs Dashwood slowly build into a very, very good match I though. Taya has developed into one hell of a worker and Dashwood, although she really wasn't that hot coming into this, truly is a super solid worker too. I hope IMPACT locks Taya into a GOOD deal, because she's a star.

The tag team match was all action and better than I expected considering the old ECW guys. The North and Swann/Mack I love to see against each other. The RVD turn is interesting, that's something different for Van Dam. Curious to see where they go with this.

I guess the six-men was a dark match ? That's too bad because I really wanted to see this one. The gauntlet was mostly fun with two great surprises, Joey Ryan was apparently has been signed too, which I love. And Kylie Rae ! No one is talking abouT Kylie Rae showing up on IMPACT ?? She looked great, AEW really lost something with her. If IMPACT could sign her too to a GOOD deal, that would be quite the catch.

I really look forward for their debut on a bigger station, hoping they can go on presenting their cool product with an actual audience this time and maybe more procution values ? And by that I mean not depending on Matthews' Iphone to stream a PPV ?

Anyway, IMPACT remains that little fucked up promotion that could.

[Alucard]

Agreed with all of the above. Cage/Callihan was perfect for the story told, Shamrock looked awesome, and Taya might be my wrestler of the year as an overall package. the RVD turn was a real shocker, looking forward to where that goes.

13 minutes ago, El-P said:

I guess the six-men was a dark match ? That's too bad because I really wanted to see this one.

It was, but taped for this week's Impact which aired last night. Like the post-Slammiversary episode, it was mostly a studio PPV Recap special called "This is Impact" as an intro to AXS, but features that six man tag along with Madison Rayne vs Shotzi Blackheart which was pretty fun.

[El-P]

7 minutes ago, Alucard said:

It was, but taped for this week's Impact which aired last night. Like the post-Slammiversary episode, it was mostly a studio PPV Recap special called "This is Impact" as an intro to AXS, but features that six man tag along with Madison Rayne vs Shotzi Blackheart which was pretty fun.

Thanks for keeping me posted, I had no idea. Gonna watch that one (I was surprised Madison wasn't in the Gauntlet match).

[El-P]

The Madison Rayne's matches are made better by the fact the announcing is usually pretty damn funny during those. And now she's actually wearing pink like a true Hart family member. That's glorious.

Also, the fact they named their next PPV Hard to Kill shows a rather dry sense of humour from IMPACT's management.

[sek69]

11 minutes ago, El-P said:

The Madison Rayne's matches are made better by the fact the announcing is usually pretty damn funny during those. And now she's actually wearing pink like a true Hart family member. That's glorious.

Also, the fact they named their next PPV Hard to Kill shows a rather dry sense of humour from IMPACT's management.

...but Madison isn't a Hart family member? Or am I missing a joke here?

 

I do like what the current team running IMPACT is doing, it's just a shame they are doing it with the Chernobyl of wrestling companies most people won't want to give (yet another) chance to.

[El-P]

11 minutes ago, sek69 said:

...but Madison isn't a Hart family member? Or am I missing a joke here?

She has no ties whatsoever. But In the last few weeks, Don Callis has been pretending she's been training under Stu Hart at the Dungeon, calling her the Excellence of Execution and whatnot. He's also gone crazy with how many title reigns she has won.

11 minutes ago, sek69 said:

I do like what the current team running IMPACT is doing, it's just a shame they are doing it with the Chernobyl of wrestling companies most people won't want to give (yet another) chance to.

I'm actually pretty pumped for the new AXS version of IMPACT, especially with guys like Joey Ryan and Ace Romero being signed to deals. The Kross/Scarlett debacle is really a sad state of affair, because they really had something with these two. But they do have an eye for talent (their women roster, as it is, is much more interesting than AEW's)  and are usually making the most out of everybody, out of necessity. I mean, they made Swinger the most fun he's ever been.

[sek69]

Catching up on Impact and I just watched the Brian Cage-Melissa Santos wedding and it was the most wrestling-est wrestling wedding ever and it was awesome. I kinda wish I could have had Jim Mitchell officiate my wedding.

[ColdStone]

I'm just going to keep it short and sweet. The answer is......NO

[Alucard]

1 hour ago, El-P said:

The Madison Rayne's matches are made better by the fact the announcing is usually pretty damn funny during those. And now she's actually wearing pink like a true Hart family member. That's glorious.

Really has been hilarious and this past one was the best one yet. Kiera was adding a ton to it as well with her banter back and forth. Madison's gear was perfect.

[El-P]

Agreed, the heel turn did wonders for Kiera as far as character and in-ring works goes. She has improve a lot and the frenemies angle with Madison is the surprisingly fun angle of the last few months. Good dynamic with the announcers too (Callis is awesome, there's no ways around it).

[Tenese Sarwieh]

Just got done watching the This Is Impact special and the segment with Callihan/Cage was excellent. Cage did his part but Callihan stole the show. Sami is perfect as the slimy individual who'll go to any lengths to get what he wants. He's the most important performer on that roster when it comes to getting major angles over.

[El-P]

Great job by IMPACT for their first show on an actual TV station in a while. Callihan winning the title is poetic justice, as he's been the absolute MVP since I've been back watching the promotion. He's made everyone he worked with better and more interesting, and now he's gonna pass the title, eventually, to Tessa, the other MVP, at Slammiversary one year after their first match. Or at least that should be the plan, and it would be wonderful booking. Yeah, really loving what this little promotion with no hype and tons of bagage is doing.

RVD as a slimy middle-aged veteran taking credit for the current generation while being massaged by his way younger and super slutty girlfriend is a great idea. So ECW in spirit.

Another cool idea, using their Flashback of the Week segment to introduce the Su Yung character, and cutting to what's gonna be her new transformed, ALIVE, incarnation. I was always wondering what she looked like under the makeup. I'm looking forward to see where this is going.

Austin vs Eddie was an very good brawl, and they have been doing a tremendous job building up Ace Austin as a character.

The Ken Shamrock vs Joey Ryan segment was gold. If Shamrock was that good on promos in 1997... This should be tons of fun. Again, kinda cool that a guy like Shamrock gets it. 

Fallah Bah speaking while high was fun. Enjoying his series of matches with Elgin, whose presence has rightfully so been limited to what he does best : work matches, not angles.

Hopefully Kiera did not fuck up her shoulder too bad, that looked really hurtful.

Yeah, between IMPACT and AEW, honestly, I have more than enough to be perfectly happy and excited with my weekly pro-wrestling fix.

[Blehschmidt]

Do we know if the show will still be going up on there app with them being on AXS now? (Yet another channel Comcast doesn't carry around here!)

[Migs]

On 11/1/2019 at 6:42 AM, Blehschmidt said:

Do we know if the show will still be going up on there app with them being on AXS now? (Yet another channel Comcast doesn't carry around here!)

Looks like last Tuesday's episode is up.

[Alucard]

On 10/31/2019 at 8:03 PM, El-P said:

Great job by IMPACT for their first show on an actual TV station in a while. Callihan winning the title is poetic justice, as he's been the absolute MVP since I've been back watching the promotion. He's made everyone he worked with better and more interesting, and now he's gonna pass the title, eventually, to Tessa, the other MVP, at Slammiversary one year after their first match. Or at least that should be the plan, and it would be wonderful booking. Yeah, really loving what this little promotion with no hype and tons of bagage is doing.

RVD as a slimy middle-aged veteran taking credit for the current generation while being massaged by his way younger and super slutty girlfriend is a great idea. So ECW in spirit.

Another cool idea, using their Flashback of the Week segment to introduce the Su Yung character, and cutting to what's gonna be her new transformed, ALIVE, incarnation. I was always wondering what she looked like under the makeup. I'm looking forward to see where this is going.

Austin vs Eddie was an very good brawl, and they have been doing a tremendous job building up Ace Austin as a character.

The Ken Shamrock vs Joey Ryan segment was gold. If Shamrock was that good on promos in 1997... This should be tons of fun. Again, kinda cool that a guy like Shamrock gets it. 

Fallah Bah speaking while high was fun. Enjoying his series of matches with Elgin, whose presence has rightfully so been limited to what he does best : work matches, not angles.

Hopefully Kiera did not fuck up her shoulder too bad, that looked really hurtful.

Yeah, between IMPACT and AEW, honestly, I have more than enough to be perfectly happy and excited with my weekly pro-wrestling fix.

Agreed with all. really great stuff.

"Hey wait... you're the penis guy!" Shamrock was fantastic.

[SirEdger]

On 10/31/2019 at 9:03 PM, El-P said:

Great job by IMPACT for their first show on an actual TV station in a while. Callihan winning the title is poetic justice, as he's been the absolute MVP since I've been back watching the promotion. He's made everyone he worked with better and more interesting, and now he's gonna pass the title, eventually, to Tessa, the other MVP, at Slammiversary one year after their first match. Or at least that should be the plan, and it would be wonderful booking. Yeah, really loving what this little promotion with no hype and tons of bagage is doing.

RVD as a slimy middle-aged veteran taking credit for the current generation while being massaged by his way younger and super slutty girlfriend is a great idea. So ECW in spirit.

Another cool idea, using their Flashback of the Week segment to introduce the Su Yung character, and cutting to what's gonna be her new transformed, ALIVE, incarnation. I was always wondering what she looked like under the makeup. I'm looking forward to see where this is going.

Austin vs Eddie was an very good brawl, and they have been doing a tremendous job building up Ace Austin as a character.

The Ken Shamrock vs Joey Ryan segment was gold. If Shamrock was that good on promos in 1997... This should be tons of fun. Again, kinda cool that a guy like Shamrock gets it. 

Fallah Bah speaking while high was fun. Enjoying his series of matches with Elgin, whose presence has rightfully so been limited to what he does best : work matches, not angles.

Hopefully Kiera did not fuck up her shoulder too bad, that looked really hurtful.

Yeah, between IMPACT and AEW, honestly, I have more than enough to be perfectly happy and excited with my weekly pro-wrestling fix.

I believe Su Yung worked an NXT TV show without her makeup a couple of years ago. I don't remember against who but I'm fairly confident she did.

[Al]

Impact is running shows with PPW in Pennsylvania this weekend. In my quest to watch more local wrestling, I'm checking out their show Sunday in Scranton. I haven't watched Impact/TNA in years, but they have a decent roster yet.