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MCMAHON’S IMPACT WRESTLING REPORT
April 19, 2018
Taped from Orlando, Fla. (Universal Studios)
Aired on Pop TV
Announcers: Josh Mathews & Sonjay Dutt
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 or email impactlivecast@gmail.com
— The Impact Global signature aired.
— Impact began with a video package on Alberto El Patron brawling with Austin Aries at the Redemption press conference, and then no-showing the Lucha Underground show the following night. Pentagon Jr. pinning Fenix was shown. Aries had a soundbite where he talked about El Patron’s departure from Impact.
– The Impact opened aired.
— Braxton Sutter came out on the stage and introduced Su Yung.
(1) BRAXTON SUTTER & SU YUNG vs. FALLAH BAHH & KIERA HOGAN
Sutter attacked Bahh from behind as the bell rang. Yung attacked Hogan. The babyfaces came back with a double crossbody on Yung and Sutter, which settled the pace down for the match to begin. Su Yung hit a dive outside the ring on Bahh. Back in the ring, Sutter choked Bahh with his boot. Bahh came back with a samoan drop on Sutter, who then tagged in Yung. Yung came in the ring with a kendo stick. Sutter threw Bahh to the outside. Hogan hit a DDT on Sutter and then finished off Hogan for the win.
WINNER: Su Yung & Braxton Sutter in 6:00.
After the match, Allie ran down from the backstage area and attacked Yung. Sutter pulled Allie off Yung, who then came back and attacked Allie (as she was being held by Sutter).
McMahon: This match was exciting, and the post-match angle was done well to setup the Yung vs. Allie match on Sunday at the pay-per-view. If anything, I thought they gave Hogan and Bahh a little too much offense, but I’m not going to nitpick there because of how well Bahh is doing at getting over. You don’t want to squash him. The one argument you could probably make is that this would have been better as a Yung vs. Hogan 1-on-1 match, as a decisive win for Yung, but this still worked. She looked good on the dive against Bahh on the outside and I thought this set her up quite well.
[c]
— LAX was in their clubhouse talking about preparing for Scott Steiner and Eli Drake. Konnan said that they were in the NWO together, so he knows a lot about Steiner.
— Mathews and Dutt reset the show and hyped Redemption.
— Jimmy Jacobs and Kongo Kong cut a promo on Johnny Impact.
[c]
— A video package aired on OVE vs. Eddie Edwards
— The GWN Match of the Week aired … it was Roode vs. Angle from 2011 (Bound for Glory).
[c]
— KM came to the ring and cut a promo, calling out anyone in the locker room. Brian Cage answered. KM tried to get out of it.
(2) KM vs. BRIAN CAGE
Cage connected with a suplex to begin the match. Cage followed that up with clotheslines in the corner and then hit a running forearm. Cage turned KM inside out with a german suplex. Cage stood on the second rope and suplexed KM into the ring from the outside. Cage hit a Macho Man flying elbow and then a lariat. Cage picked up KM and hit what looked like a modified F5 for the win.
WINNER: Brian Cage in 2:00.
McMahon: KM was awesome here on the mic. Him trying to get out of facing Cage after calling him out was really good. From there, Cage was incredible. There’s no question that Impact has a future star in Cage. You just don’t see the blend of power and athleticism that Cage has. Impact is bringing him along the right way. He’s feeling like a bigger star each week, and he’s on the road to being something special for Impact down the line.
— Johnny Impact was shown warming up.
[c]
— Dutt & Mathews ran down the Redemption lineup
— A video package aired on Jimmy Jacobs and Kongo Kong.
(3) JOHNNY IMPACT vs. KONGO KONG
Kong had control of the match early with some big power moves, and then stood on Impact near the ropes. Kong missed a leg drop on Impact and Impact came back with a standing shooting star press for a two count. Kong caught Impact on the top rope but Impact flipped out of it. That was impressive. Kong splashed Impact into the ropes and Impact rolled to the outside. Impact avoided getting thrown into the steps by jumping over them. Kong swatted Impact out of the air on a dive. Kong dove into Impact, who was perched against the steps. Kong threw the referee into the barricade; the referee was trying to get Kong back into the ring. Jacobs and Kong set the steps up on the apron and Jacobs held them there. Kong stalked Impact on the ramp. Impact tried to fight back but Kong hit a big right hand. Kong lawn-darted Impact into the steps.
WINNER: Apparent no-contest after Kong attacked the referee.
Jacobs screamed at Impact, “How’s that face look?” Impact was bleeding from his mouth or nose as Jacobs and Kong stood over him.
McMahon: That was a good match/angle, especially if they follow that up with another match at Redemption on Sunday. I thought it was odd that both of these guys weren’t advertised for the PPV, so this should get them on the card in a grudge match. It actually makes sense. PPVs generally have eight matches, and there are seven matches announced. So this match being added makes eight. Impact sold really well here and I like the story of them playing off his good looks, and Jacobs/Kong trying to destroy that. This also gives Impact a chance to add an edge to his character, and prove he’s more than just a face. We know he can fly and do all of the athletic moves, but this gives him an opportunity to add some darkness to his character.
[c]
— A video package aired on Su Yung vs. Allie.
— A video package aired on Matt Sydal and Petey Williams.
[c]
— A video package aired on Eli Drake & Scott Steiner vs. LAX.
— McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Eli Drake backstage about his tag team title shot. Scott Steiner joined the interview where he cut a (somewhat) stumbling promo. It was passable, though.
— Mathews and Dutt reset the show and talked more about Redemption in front of their green screen.
— Impact aired the Austin Aries vs. Fenix vs. Pentagon Jr. triple threat from WrestleCon.
— A final video packaged aired to hype Redemption PPV.
McMahon: Well, that was a lot of video packages. It makes sense as a go-home show to sell the PPV, but there were long portions of this show that felt like a glorified infomercial with little original content. That hurt the episode overall. But that being said, I am excited for this PPV on Sunday, and hope they can deliver more than they did with Bound for Glory in November.
This review was pretty much spot on. The product seems to be improving week by week. I agree with you, this week could have used at least one more match and less filler. It did feel like a giant infomercial for the PPV. I understand that, btw, it is all about selling the PPV, but this type of format is kind of stale. There has to be another way to promote the PPV that feels fresher.