SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Final impact – HIT: Not a spectacular show by any means and if you are not into the irreverent, telenovela-esque, pseudo-self-aware indie-ish Wrestle House, this can very well be a MISS. Some matches were established for the next two weeks of special Impact Wrestling episodes they are calling Emergence. There was adequate fallout from the Rich Swann story with Mack trying to get revenge on Eric Young and the former Curt Hawkins, Brian Meyers made his debut in the main event.
Willie Mack vs. Eric Young – HIT: Things started fast right out of the gate as we went straight to Willie Mack and Eric Young as soon as the recap of last week’s episode ended. Staff tried to pull them apart, but the fight eventually spilled over to the ringside area. Wille wanted their scheduled match right there but Eric wanted it on his own time. Willie wasn’t giving him a choice. What followed was a good match that was exactly what it needed to be. You had an enraged Willie trying to get revenge for his best friend, Rich Swann, and Wille delivered. Unfortunately, seeking revenge by trying to break Eric’s leg with frog slash to a chair instead of going for the win ended up costing Willie the match. Good follow-up to last week’s events.
Rhino and Reno Scum backstage – MISS: Reno Scum try and make good on their job from Hernandez and my only thoughts are, why is Rhino still carrying around the roll of cash he won weeks later? Is he not going to spend any of it? Is it just a trophy to him? There is a level of nihilistic humor there, but I hope this story finds a direction soon.
Kimber Lee vs. Jordynne Grace – HIT: Kimber Lee made a deal with Deonna Purrazzo last week where Lee offered to take out Jordynne Grace in exchange for a title shot. She was unsuccessful. Grace was able to counter Lee’s Swanton Bomb into a, as Josh Mathews helpfully called it, “a submission we’ve seen her use before”. It was a solid match and it does indeed seem that Grace has developed a new submission finish to go up against Purrazzo’s armbar. Later in the show in a promo, Deonna Purrazzo who has a contractually obligated rematch with Grace challenged Grace to a thirty-minute ironman match at Emergence.
Locker Room Talk: Rob Van Dam and Katie Forbes – MISS: Neither a funny sponsored commercial brought to us by Heath (#Heath4Impact) nor Madison Rayne herself wanting anything to do with Rob Van Dam and Katie Forbes and extricating herself from the situation, nor Sami Callihan hacking himself into the scene, can overcome my annoyance. Seriously… I don’t hate the gimmick, just turn the volume down a bit.
Wrestle House: Acey Romero vs. Larry D – HIT: Taya took it upon herself to organize a group activity, watching a movie. The movie? Taya Valkyrie’s Impact career. She ordered John E. Bravo to give her a massage, a fact that didn’t sit well with Rosemary. Sensing her discomfort, Crazy Steve offered her old partner advice, to beware jealousy. Instead of heeding him, she decided to try to make Bravo jealous and cast a love spell on Larry D. Acey Romero noticed something wrong with Larry and when Larry refused an offer of food, Acey wanted to beat some sense into Larry, leading to “Match Time”. Larry wins and shows off to Rosemary. Bravo didn’t seem pleased.
Motor City Machine Guns and The North video package – HIT: I love The North. I love the Motor City Machine Guns. This promo has me hyped for their match. I just wish Alex Shelly and Chris Sabin tone down the whole “we invented modern tag team wrestling” shtick (regardless of accuracy), it comes across as a bit heelish and RVD is already running that gimmick.
Tasha Steelz & Kiera Hogan vs. Havok & Nevaeh, no disqualification match – HIT: I’ve been pretty down on these four wrestlers, but I’ll cut them some slack today since they all brought some fire. They didn’t overly rely on the weapons and the match was fast paced and exactly as long as it needed to be. Things may finally be settled between these two teams with Kiera Hogan coming out on top, pinning Nevaeh while Havok was knocked out after going through a table.
The Rascalz and Moose backstage – HIT: Zachary Wentz and Dezmond Xavier were waiting on Trey Miguel, complaining how he hasn’t been around as much when Trey showed up with Suicide’s mask on. Looks like serious Trey may be gone but Dez seemed like he may be harboring some ill will towards Trey. Before we can get more from these three, Moose showed up and is upset at Wentz for having an EC3 hoodie on. Moose then offered “Suicide” an invitation to wrestle him next week for the TNA Heavyweight Championship. Later, Moose slipped into “cinemagicland” where he is confronted by a projection of Carter on the wall. Cater said that he came to Impact to destroy the remnants of TNA, and Moose, as “champion” represents TNA. This segment included switching back and forth between Carter from his undisclosed location and Moose in the hallway, complete with ominous soundtrack. This is a weird convergence of Moose’s illusory world and Carter’s hyper-real world. It will be interesting what happens when these two finally clash.
Suicide vs. Dezmond Xavier – PUSH: This match seemed to come out of nowhere, but it wasn’t long before we found out the reason why it was happening. The Good Brothers, Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows had been searching for Ace Austin and Madman Fulton so they can get their hands on them. They eventually run into Scott D’Amore and tell him that they are going to the ring until they get satisfaction. They get to the ring in the midst of this match and take out everybody. I’m not a huge fan of them making Dezmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz look like total buffoons (when you could’ve easily used Reno Scum). Ace Austin appears on the screen and challenges them to a fight at Emergence, and the Good Brothers happily agree.
Chris Bey and Rohit Raju backstage – HIT: The masterplan of the incomparable Rohit Raju continues to take shape as he easily manages to convince Chris Bey into adding him to Bey’s inevitable championship match with TJP so that Rohit can legally help Bey in the match. Bey underestimates Rohit since he had beaten him back at Rebellion. Ultimate revenge will be sweet indeed.
Wrestle House: Susie vs. Alisha Edwards – HIT: Absent from the previous group activities were Susie and Cousin Jake who were preparing for a date. Alisha Edwards and Cody Deaner were covering for them (there may have been some poop jokes) and left to give them advice. The date was fairly awkward, but Cousin Jake still enjoyed getting to know Susie as “Susie” and not “Su Yung”. Unfortunately, the mere mention of the Undead Bride summoned her momentarily and spooked Cousin Jake. Alisha asked Susie what went wrong and Susie matter-of-factly blamed Alisha’s bad advice. Alisha demanded a match, and this one was hilariously officiated by Crazy Steve who had painted black stripes down his white face paint. After the match (which Susie won btw), Taya showed up and Kylie Rae ended up challenging her to a match. Taya didn’t want to face her but agreed book it for next week. Stop looking at me like that. It’s a guilty pleasure alright.
Eddie Edwards vs. Brian Myers, Impact World Championship match – HIT: Eddie Edwards hits the ring and calls out Eric Young. Instead, he is answered by Brian Myers (formerly known as Curt Hawkins in the WWE). For weeks now, Impact has been running promos for him and he gets a title shot right off the bat. Myer’s seems different enough to me that I’m willing to see him with eyes untainted by his time in the WWE. So far so good, as he hung in there with Eddie Edwards in pretty good match. Myers lost to the Boston Knee Party from the current champ, so there is no shame in that. I look forward to seeing what’s next for him. Meanwhile Eddie continues to rack up wins to help the belt regain some stability.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.