SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The following is the first of a new series on PWTorch which will help put in perspective major wrestling promotions with weekly overviews with a look at developments, results, future line-ups, social media activity, interviews, plus some a timely commentary at the end. We will be featuring similar features on other promotions each week and each will be updated weekly.
•Top Stories of the Week
-Impact Wrestling’s biggest show of the year, Bound for Glory, is just one week away. Unfortunately, it doesn’t feel like they are about to have their biggest show…
-Ethan Page returned to Impact this week after a hiatus. Page could be a huge addition to the Impact roster that has been somewhat stale since the key departures of Bobby Lashley and EC3 earlier this year…
-Matt Sydal and Page aligned themselves as a tag team challenging Rich Swann and a partner of his choosing at Bound for Glory…
-On Friday, Johnny Impact and Austin Aries took to Twitter to voice their opinions on their match at BFG, but eventually it got personal. This led to many controversial tweets with Aries deleting tweets. I was able to capture a few screenshots before they were deleted (see below for more details)…
•Live Event Results
No new shows since the Mexico City tapings in the middle of September.
•Upcoming Major Show Line-up: Bound For Glory
(1) Austin Aries (c) vs. Johnny Impact – Singles match for the Impact World Championship
(2) Ohio Versus Everything (Dave Crist & Jake Crist, & Sami Callihan) vs. Brian Cage & Fénix & Pentagón Jr. – oVe Rules match
(3) The Latin American Xchange (Santana & Ortiz & Konnan) vs. The OGz (Hernandez & Homicide & King) – Concrete Jungle Deathmatch
(4) Eddie Edwards vs. Moose – Singles match
(5) Tessa Blanchard (c) vs. Taya Valkyrie – Singles match for the Impact Knockouts Championship
(6) Matt Sydal & Ethan Page vs. Rich Swann & TBA – Tag Team match
•Upcoming Events
10/6/2018 – BCW 25th Anniversary, St. Clair College Windsor, Ontario, Canada
10/7/2018 – Motown Showdown, Diamondback Saloon, Belleville, Mich.
10/14/2018 – Bound for Glory, Melrose Ballroom, Queens, N.Y.
10/15/2018 – Impact TV Taping, Melrose Ballroom, Queens, N.Y.
10/16/2018 – Impact TV Taping, Melrose Ballroom, Queens, N.Y.
10/27/2018-10/31/2018 – Chris Jericho Rock N Wrestling Rager At Sea
11/11/2018 – Impact Vegas, Sam’s Town Casino, Las Vegas, Nev.
11/12/2018 – Impact Vegas, Sam’s Town Casino, Las Vegas, Nev.
11/13/2018 – Impact Vegas, Sam’s Town Casino, Las Vegas, Nev.
11/30/2018 – Gold Rush, Newark Pavilion, Newark, Calif.
12/1/2018 – One Night Only: Back to Cali, Salinas Pal Youth Center, Salinas, Calif.
•Latest TV Highlights: 10/4 Impact Wrestling
Impact Wrestling from Oct. 4, 2018, from Frontón México in Mexico City, Mexico. Airied on POP TV at 8 p.m. EST.
(1) Matt Sydal defeated Rich Swann (Ethan Page returned and helped Sydal with the victory)
-Backstage, Dave Crist was distressed as a result of last weeks “supernatural” events. Sami Callihan & Jake Crist tried to reassure Dave they do not have “supernatural” powers. Callihan called out Pentagon Jr, Fenix, and Brian Cage leading to the main event of this episode.
-Eddie Edwards received a call from Moose who is using Alisha’s phone. Moose instructed Edwards to meet him at the place they know from 2014.
(2) La Parka defeated Eli Drake (Drake walked out on the match. Therefore, losing via count out.
-LAX is confronted by the OGz. Kingston picks up a tequila shot and spits it in the face of Konnan. The ceasefire is still intact as neither group threw a punch.
-Backstage, Matt Sydal and Ethan Page declared themselves as a tag team and challenged Rich Swann and a partner of his choosing for a match at Bound for Glory.
(3) Murder Clown defeated Joe Hendry. (After the match Murder Clown put Hendry through a table.)
-Eddie Edwards arrived at the meeting place where Moose is holding Alisha Edwards. Eddie attempts to persuade Moose that Austin Aries and Killer Kross are not his friends. Moose describes Eddie’s behavior of the past few months that led to Moose turning on him. Alisha throws water in the face of Moose and a brawl follows with Moose, Kross and Edwards. Eddie and Alisha escape and Eddie calls Johnny Impact telling him Aries is alone tonight.
-In the ring, Johnny Impact called out Austin Aries. Aries came down to the ring selling multiple injuries. Impact wanted it one-on-one at Bound For Glory; Aries agreed. Aries cut a promo claiming he is the best professional wrestler in the world. Aries took a cheap shot at Johnny, but Johnny countered and hit the starship pain on him.
(4) Su Yung defeated Kiera Hogan
(5) Brian Cage & Fenix & Pentagon defeated oVe via disqualification.
-After the match, all six wrestlers brawled around ringside then Impact abruptly went off the air.
For a more detailed report and analysis check out Mike McMahon’s PWTorch.com report HERE.
•Impact in the Media
-Impact World Champion, Austin Aries was Interviewed on Wrestling Observer Live on 10/4/2018. For most of the interview, Aries talked about his vegan lifestyle. Very little Impact wrestling talk on the show, but you can really tell how much he cares about the vegan lifestyle. (SOURCE LINK)
-Impact X Division Champion Brian Cage talked with Wrestling Inc. Editor Nick Hausman on the first episode of WINCLY. This is a very good interview that covers Bound for Glory, Not defending the X Division title at BFG, and how he got into wrestling.
-Johnny Impact and Taya Valkyrie were on the Women’s Wrestling Weekly podcast last week. Johnny talks about all his different names and which name he prefers. Also, both discuss their time with Lucha Underground.
•Social Media Scene
The PPV match between Austin Aries and Johnny Impact just got a little more interesting. This all started when Aries called out Johnny for short-shaming him; then it quickly escalated. Taya Valkyrie (Johny’s wife) was mentioned which let to exchange below.
•Closing Commentary
Bound for Glory is just a week away and it doesn’t feel like a big deal. This is supposed to be the biggest show of the year for Impact Wrestling and there is no buzz surrounding the event. I understand that Impact no longer has hype surrounding its X Division because, quite frankly, the former X Division style matches are no longer special. Everyone does highspots now and can work at a high level. But not having your champion defend the X Division title at the biggest show of the year is preposterous. Brian Cage will be featured in a prominent match, but it’s a six-man tag match. I believe Impact management are missing out by not letting Cage defend his title at the biggest show of the year.
The Global Wrestling Network has major problems, but is there a plan to fix it? I am subscribed to all the major Wrestling/MMA streaming services, but this week I canceled the Global Wrestling Network. People subscribe to streaming services for ease of use. The GWN app has crashed numerous times on me and the website is so slow its unusable. I reached out to GWN on Twitter to see if there were any plans to add content to the app and I received no response. If Impact wants to grow its subscriber base, they need to have a steady release of content. Also, content of significant value, not SMASH Wrestling TV Shows. Hopefully, Impact becomes more transparent in the future regarding content and updates for the GWN service.
(Landon Pipkin of Greensboro, N.C. is a new PWTorch contributor who will be presenting the “WEEKLY OVERVIEW – IMPACT WRESTLING” report on a recurring basis. He’s ben watching pro wrestling since 2008 and regularly watches WWE, NJPW, ROH, and Impact, plus most if not all MMA cards.)
As long as Callis goes back on his claim to get ‘rid of the silliness’ that has plagued Impact, this is the kind of shit you’re going to continue to get. Eli Drake should still be in the main picture especially, since he resigned a contract with them. But as long as they keep doing what they’re doing, they’ll never be considered a real alternative to WWE, or anyone really. It’s sad when Indy groups have better shows every week than Impact.
I mostly enjoy Impact. I will admit, there are things I wish they’d getaway from- such as running people down with cars, and kidnapping… basically criminal felonies. Lol. 80-85% of the time, I enjoy the show though.