MCMAHON’S IMPACT WRESTLING REPORT 6/8: Impact’s first taping from Mumbai, India at Film City

MCMAHON’S IMPACT WRESTLING REPORT
June 8, 2017
From Mumbai, India (Film City)
Aired on Pop TV

Announcers: Josh Mathews & Jeremy Borash

Immediately following tonight’s Impact Wrestling, tune in to the PWTorch Livecast. Mike McMahon and Andrew Soucek will discuss tonight’s show with callers. Listen at www.pwtorchlivecast.com and call the show at 515-605-9345

— Impact opened with a backstage segment. Bruce Prichard told Jeremy Borash and Josh Mathews if there was any physical contact between the two of them before Slammiversary, they would be fired. Both guys said they understood.

— A production assistant from India is talking about a ritual the production team goes through before taping the show, including asking the gods for guidance.

— A video aired of the Impact wrestlers arriving in Mumbai, with a voiceover narrator talking about the “power of now” and how Impact went to India to create and achieve. The narrator said this was a “landmark event,” and it would kickoff the road to Slammiversary. Crowd shots of people going crazy were shown as part of the video.

— Impact’s opening credits rolled, with Indian-inspired music.

— Jeremy Borash welcomed us to the show as crowd shots were shown. The audience is very young, mostly teens and young adults, and at the start of teh show, they were all going nuts.

— Alberto El Patron entered with the GFW Global Title. Borash said it was a “capacity crowd” on hand at Film City. El Patron said the energy was amazing. El Patron said he was there to do what he did best. El Patron said he was going to Slammiversary to become Impact Champion.

Bobby Lashley entered. Lashley said he was sick and tired of listening to El Patron tell the people how tough he is. Lashley said he came out there to shut up El Patron. Lashley said he was the “realest wrestler in the wrestling business.” Lashley said he would beat up El Patron in the ring, or even out in the parking lot. Lashley said El Patron was worried more about being a cheerleader than wrestling and winning. Lashley said he was the man there, and he couldn’t wait to shut him up at Slammiversary. Lashley said Slammiversary would be El Patron vs. him, and they would be locked up in the ring.

Bruce Prichard came to the ring. He said he loved seeing two champions ready to fight. Lashley said “one champion!” Prichard asked El Patron and Lashley if they wanted to defend their titles tonight? Prichard said they should both defend their titles in India. Prichard said he would pick two opponents. Prichard said if those challengers win, then they would go to Slammiversary. El Patron asked who the challengers would be? Prichard said that they would find out when the people found out, when they walked down the aisle.

(McMahon’s Analysis: You could tell that some of the production elements were post-produced. During El Patron’s promo, they would cut away to the crowd going nuts, chanting “Si! Si! Si!” but when they would cut back to El Patron in the ring, the crowd behind him was sitting silent.

Again, Impact starts the show without having a main event scheduled, booking it in the first segment. All three guys in this opening segment were fine, but the premise is what doesn’t add up. First, we’re to believe they started the show without enough time filled or matches booked? Second, there should be a clear and identifiable road to earning a title shot. It shouldn’t be Bruce Prichard just “going in the back and finding two challengers.” It’s wrestling, so the fact that the champions aren’t going to know their challengers until the match begins is forgivable, but the lack of road to get there isn’t).

[c]

— Borash mentioned the name of the ring announcer (it wasn’t David Penzer). It was difficult to pickup his name.

(1) LOW KI [c] vs. CALEB KONLEY — X Division Title match

Low Ki was in charge of the offense early, chopping Konley several times. The live crowd was very into Konley as the babyface, cheering almost all of his offense. Konley hit a dive through the middle rope. Low Ki was bleeding from around his eye. Low Ki hit a double stomp off the top for the win.

WINNER: Low Ki retains in 6:00 via pin.

(McMahon’s Analysls: Speaking of clear and identifiable road to earning a title shot, what exactly did Caleb Konley do to deserve a championship match against Low Ki? That aside, Low Ki’s run, although short, is doing a lot to rebuild the prestige of the X Division Title. It could be that he has a strong lineage within the division, going back to its early days, but the title feels more important now than it did when it was being traded between D.J. Z and Trevor Lee, etc.

Off topic, there doesn’t appear to be an announce table at ringside? So I would assume that the commentary for these shows is being done live to tape. But, Pope also isn’t on commentary, so perhaps it was done live? It’s hard to know for sure). 

— After the match, Sonjay Dutt interrupted Low Ki as he tried to head to the back. The crowd gave him a standing ovation. Dutt asked how much of a coincidence that something happened to Low Ki’s eye? Dutt said Low Ki has beaten everyone in the X Division since he’s been here, so why not give Dutt a title match? The crowd was doing the Daniel Bryan “yes!” chant. Dutt said he had 1.4 billion people on his back in India. Dutt again asked for a title match. Low Ki took off his glove and shook Dutt’s hand to accept the challenge.

[c]

— Swoggle was interviewed in a backstage video. He said that Rockstar Spud pulled his pants down, so he did what he needed to do. He didn’t care that he put Spud in the hospital. Then he talked about Spud beating him last week, kicking him in the face. Swoggle said he needed to go home to his son and get asked why happened to him? Swoggle vowed revenge.

(2) DAVEY RICHARDS vs. VIKAS KUMAR

Mathews said that Angelina Love was not with Davey. She was told to stay home after what she did to Alisha Edwards. Kumar is a local. Richards gave Kumar a vicious double stomp to his shoulder. Kumar landed a dropkick, sending Richards to the outside. Kumar missed a sloppy-looking moonsault and then Richards kicked his head off. Richards snatched an ankle lock, forcing Kumar to tap out.

WINNER: Davey Richards in 3:00 via submission.

(McMahon’s Analysis: Wow, some of the spots in that match were scary. It’s hard to figure out how Kumar’s head is still connected to his body after the stomp and kick from Richards. He sold them great, and they were delivered with a lot of velocity. The live crowd seemed to enjoy Kumar’s brief hope spot, where he hit the dropkick, but this match was all about Richards kicking butt). 

— After the match, Richards yelled into the camera that he wanted Eddie Edwards.

— ECIII walked out on stage with a roll of tape, approaching the ring while Kumar was still in the ring trying to recover. Borash said it wasn’t a roll of tape, and ECIII unrolled a belt. Kumar made it back to his feet and then was whipped at least 10 times by ECIII. James Storm walked out to his music, which stopped the whipping. Storm charged the ring, which sent ECIII rolling out and walking towards the back.

— Backstage: Eli Drake was arguing with Bruce Prichard about the Grand Championship match from last week. Drake said he should have won the second round, and he should have won the match. Chris Adonis walked in and told Drake to relax. Adonis said that “we deserve the two shots against El Patron and Lashley.” Prichard said he’d think about it.

[c]

— A video package aired on the Impact Hall of Fame. Several current wrestlers were talking about how important the Hall of Fame is, and why it’s important. The graphic said the next Hall of Famer would be inducted at Slammiversary.

— Mathews and Borash were doing a stand-up in front of a Sony Six banner that had Impact Wrestling logos on it.

— Swoggle chased Rockstar Spud around the arena. Mathews asked if there was a way for both of them to be losers in the rivalry? Spud was taunting Swoggle while also hiding behind a referee. Spud eventually made it into the railing and ran to the back.

— A video package aired on Mahabali Shera and growing up a wrestling fan in India.

(McMahon’s Analysis: They haven’t treated him like anything special, but that package made Shera look like a legitimate star. Fans were all over him and he talked about the importance he felt being the first wrestler from India in Impact. He also showed his father and brother arriving to the show, and Shera mentioned his father had never seen him wrestle before. It’s a cool human-interest insight into who Shera is. It’s how pro wrestling companies should focus on building talent in 2017. That’s how UFC does it. They tell you who these people really are. Shera was natural, because he was himself. It worked).

— A video package aired showing Joseph Park and Jeremy Borash training “earlier this week.” Borash was at the Impact offices in Nashville and Park walked in to demand they train.

— Ring announcer Siddarth Kannan was in the middle of the ring to introduce the Impact World Title match.

(3) LASHLEY [c] vs. MOOSE — Impact World Title match

The match spilled to the outside fairly early and Lashley whipped Moose into the railing. Lashley rolled Moose back into the ring. Lashley hit Moose with a neckbreaker for a two count. Moose was fading under pressure of a sleeper hold but began to power back with elbows to Lashey’s gut. Lashley sat on the top rope but Moose dropkicked him off to the floor.

[c]

Back from the break, Lashley had a two count on Moose. Moose was recovering in the corner and Lashley went for a spear, but Moose hurdled him and then countered with a spear of his own for a two count. The fans started a “This is awesome!” chant. Lashley superplexed Moose off the top rope for a two count. Moose hit a Go to Hell for a two count. Lashley hit a spear after Moose missed a clothesline for the win.

WINNER: Lashley in 17:00 to retain via pin.

(McMahon’s Analysis: Very good, competitive match. Moose elevated himself with the loss, hanging in there every step of the way with Lashley. Impact has kept Lashley off TV in a wrestling capacity for a while now, and it felt like a big deal to see him wrestle on this show. There’s something to keeping his in-ring appearances few and far between. It would be wise for them to hold him out of the ring for the next month, ahead of Slammiversary. There are other ways to build the match with El Patron).

— A video package aired on LAX, where they were in their clubhouse. Konnan said he was so proud of Ortiz and Santana on being double tag team champions.

—  A video package aired on what the travel was like for talent heading to India.

(4) ROSEMARY [c] vs. LAUREL VAN NESS (w/ Sienna) – Knockouts Title match

Rosemary immediately attacked LVN at the bell. After a few seconds, LVN has control with a kick to the face. LVN was running around the ring while Sienna tried to tell her to attack Rosemary, who suddenly rose and hit LVN with a running knee in the corner. Sienna climbed on the apron to distract Rosemary, but she ducked as LVN charged her from behind. Sienna jumped off the apron and Rosemary rolled up LVN from behind.

WINNER: Rosemary retains in 2:00 via pin.

After the match, LVN and Sienna started a beatdown on Rosemary. Allie came to the ring with a kendo stick to help Rosemary. After running Sienna and LVN off to backstage, Rosemary gave Allie the kendo stick back and bowed to her, as if to say thank you.

(McMahon’s Analysis: Rosemary has turned babyface, but not much about her character has changed. She’s more open to outside help, I guess, and seems to have embraced Allie as her newfound friend).

— Backstage, KM asked Bruce Prichard for the El Patron title shot tonight. KM said he was undefeated and the No. 1 contender, but Prichard pointed out that it wasn’t true. KM asked if Bruce was calling him a liar? Prichard said he wasn’t. But he also wasn’t calling KM the No. 1 contender.

[c]

— Back from the break, another Park/Borash training video aired. Park brought Borash to the roof of the building, to teach him out to be an X Division wrestler and “fly” in case he needed to do a dive.

— During another standup in front of the banner, Mathews begged Borash to hit him. Borash also said he would have a sparring session next week.

(5) ALBERTO EL PATRON [c] vs. CHRIS ADONIS (w/ Eli Drake) – Global Title match

Borash pointed out that Adonis was undefeated in Impact. Adonis attacked El Patron at the bell, before he could even remove his shirt. Adonis had an Adonis Lock on El Patron in the ropes, so Brian Stiffler was trying to break them up. El Patron was thrown to the outside as the show went to break, and Borash said his title reign was at risk.

[c]

Back from the break, Adonis has El Patron in a camel clutch. Adonis charged El Patron in the corner but he got a boot up. El Patron hit a back cracker for a two count. Adonis ducked a kick and hit a spinebuster. El Patron hit a side kick to the chin for a two count. El Patron locked on a cross armbreaker in the ropes but the referee broke it up. Adonis went for an Adonis Lock but El Patron got free and then hit Adonis with a stomp to the chest in the corner for the win.

WINNER: Alberto El Patron retains in 13:00 via pin.

After the match, Eli Drake ran in and attacked El Patron while Adonis recovered in the corner. Drake threw punches and a few boots. Lashley came to the stage and watched as Adonis and Drake continued to beat down El Patron. Drake hit El Patron with the GFW Title. Moose ran to the ring and tossed Adonis to the outside and then punched Drake, sending him through the ropes. Moose then helped El Patron get to his feet as Lashley watched from the stage.