IMPACT WRESTLING HITS & MISSES 3/9: Bully Ray talks and talks, Gresham vs. Kushida, Mickie James vs. Shaw, PCO vs. Edwards, more

Opening: Bully Ray talking: Miss

I rewatched this at x1.75 speed on rewatch and it still seemed to take forever,

Bully Ray vs. Bhupinder Gujjar: Miss.

If Bully Ray was not talking and just putting over new talent, that would be a perfect use for him, This is the first match I’ve seen end in disqualification for a low blow in decades, and I’m not too happy about it. Bhupinder should have gone over clean, Then it ended in a big thing with Tommy Dreamer, Mickey James, and Masha Slamovich.

PCO vs. Eddie Edwards Interludes: Miss

I’m just going to talk about all of them here instead of through out the card when they happened. They were entertaining, well shot, and built on each other nicely. I’m just not sure where they are going with these, I want to know who was driving the car that took Eddie out to the desert and drove into PCO. It’s a slight bit of intrigue in an otherwise blah story line (with great cinematography).

Backstage Segment: Hit

Setting up the trios group for the match at Sacrifice, it was looking like Steve Maclin would join Josh Alexander and Rich Swann, but they brought in Frankie Kazarian.

Sami Callahan vs. Rhino: Minor Hit

Sami Callahan’s sixth task to join the Design wasn’t to take on Rhino, but to be revisited by his previous mistakes during the match with Rhino. The match itself was fairly decent, which should be expected by a pair of former World Champions. It was very clear that Callahan would have won if not for The Design.

Tre Miguel Backstage: Minor Hit

Little bit of set up for Multiverse United, and a quick cameo by Johnny Swinger and Outrageous Zicky Dice, which always makes me happy.

Jordynne Grace vs Alex Gracia: Minor Hit.

A nice little match to show off the dominance of Grace. Lots of the commentary was about Grace doing the bodybuilding competition.

Moose Backstage: Minor Hit

Moose and Brian Meyers beat down on Joe Hendry. I’m enjoying this feud more than I expected.

Bullet Club Backstage: Hit

I really loved how the Josh Alexander/Rich Swann/Frankie Kazarian trio group played off the Bullet Club. Lots of big veteran energy to get the newer guys to question themselves.

Jonathan Gresham vs. Kushida: Major HIt

Match of the night. An amazing technical bout. A constant back and forth between two amazing athletes. It really was a spotlight to show that Kushida was at the top of the game and deserves the match against Alexander at Multiverse United. The end took me by surprise with both the quickness and effectiveness of Kushida’s hoverboard lock. The end handshake between Gresham and Kushida was well deserved.

Killer Kelly In Ring Segment: Miss

A nice little segment to bring in KiLynn King to join Taylor Wilde as The Coven. It also went on to set up a little foil between The Coven and The Death Dollz. So where did the Hex go? Where they just a single taping? I would like to see a long term story to elevate all of them.

Mickie James vs. Giselle Shaw: Hit

An absolute showcase for Giselle Shaw. Last week Giselle said “you beat a Giselle Shaw, but you haven’t beat this Giselle Shaw”, and it is very true. The Giselle Shaw from tonight’s main event is leaps and bounds better than the Giselle Shaw that Mickie James beat during the Last Rodeo challenge. The ending with Deonna Purrazzo interfering on behalf of Mickie James was surprising, and I can’t wait to see where it leads.