IMPACT Cross Roads Review

A big week for IMPACT this week as they presented a special edition of their TV show entitled Cross Roads. This show was main evented by a first-time ever match for the IMPACT World Champion as Austin Aries put his strap on the line against Johnny Impact. But how did it all go down in Orlando? Lets take a look.

IMPACT World Championship // Johnny Impact vs. Austin Aries (C) 

Before the match - Austin Aries pulled his suitcase up to the building - Johnny Impact did the same thing but for some reason was surrounded by four men carrying American flags, which was weird - Austin Aries showed off his various title belts, before saying Johnny Impact would have to get nasty to take the IMPACT World Championship from him - Johnny Impact took the piss out of Austin Aries for calling himself the Greatest Man That Ever Lived and carrying around four titles, claiming that the Champion was insecure.

Another successful title defence for Austin Aries and another high quality main event from the Greatest Man That Ever Lived, this time with Johnny Impact as the challenger. This match featured some brilliant action, as the two seemed to click early on with a could of back and forth sequences, quickly trading holds and strikes as each man came off on the better end of one string of action and then began to build from there. With two babyfaces involved, the match played with the idea that the two had very similar styles, with Impact perhaps having the speed advantage, whilst Aries controlled portions because of his more vicious streak when compared to the former WWE Intercontinental Champion. With the crowd split, the match included a number of impressive spots, such as Impact getting tripped on springboard attempt before bumping on the top turnbuckle and tumbling to the floor and a Death valley driver on the apron but the highlight was a beautiful sequence that concluded with a middle rope Spanish fly from Impact. Whilst the wrestling was always super crisp, I felt like the match could've done with a little extra drama, with Impact only really coming close with roll-ups, whilst Aries winning with his corner dropkick and brainbuster sequence made the win feel a little more straight-forward than I would've liked. I'd be more than happy to see these two back in their again sometime soon as I feel that this match only scratched the surface of what the creative duo could do together.

After the match - Alberto El Patron applauded both men from the apron and then weirdly undid his shirt to close the show.

IMPACT X Division Championship/IMPACT Grand Championship // 

Taiji Ishimori (XDC) vs. Matt Sydal (GC) 

Before the match - Whilst meditating on a production box, Matt Sydal said some things 
about his match and third eyes and stuff 

Matt Sydal retained the IMPACT Grand Champion and also became IMPACT X Division Champion, using a Shooting Star Press to pin Taiji Ishimori in a solid X-Division style tussle. This featured some lovely action at points, but also didn't quite hit the highs that I would've liked to have seen it hit. The finish in particular was really well done with a series of fast-paced aerial reversals and signature attempts, that concluded with Sydal getting his knees up on a 450 splash before answering with a Shooting Star Press to get the win, whilst Ishimori's offence on the outside with the Golden Moonsault and no-hand rana on the ramp always impressing. However, in the earlier part of the match, Sydal looked half-step off the pace and this hurt the opening as it lacked the speed that it needed to truly excite. There was also a lot of time spent with Sydal working over Ishimori's leg, that ended up coming to absolute nothing, as whilst the NOAH star sold well, the injury wasn't made use of in the matches narrative at all, making that lengthy sequence relatively obsolete. Overall, this featured some enjoyable high-flying action, but could have been a lot more with a bit of attention to detail.

IMPACT Knockout's Championship // 

Allie vs. Laurel Van Ness (C)

Before the match - Allie said she was ready to take on Laurel Van Ness, saying she'd dedicate the match to Gail Kim. 

In a scrappy match, Allie began her second run as Knockout's Champion, with a victory over Laurel Van Ness. This wasn't a classic match by any stretch of the imagination, with a good deal of moves either looking awkward or downright sloppy, but there was also a strong sense of the pairs dislike for each other and a solid structure, alongside a couple of big spots on the floor. The strongest action of the bout came from a nice little sequence where Van Ness missed a diving double stomp to Allie's back, then rolled through, only to be caught with a lungblower for a near fall, whilst on the other side of the coin you had a weird looking bulldog thing from Van Ness. A near fall that saw Allie take an Unprettier on the floor, three curb stomps into the bottom turnbuckle and another curb stomp in the ropes felt like complete overkill and took me completely out of the bout. I understand that Van Ness is leaving the company, but building Allie in this way feels a little forced and the fact that she quickly recovered to hit the Allie Valley Driver and Best Superkick Ever for the win wasn't how I would've liked to have seen her second run as champion begin. 

After the match - Gail Kim told Allie was proud of her once the new IMPACT Knockout's Champion got backstage.

IMPACT World Tag Team Championship // 

Trevor Lee & Caleb Konley vs. Ortiz & Santana (C) (with Konnan)

LAX made their first defence during their second reign at IMPACT World Tag Team Champions in a good opening match with Cult of Lee duo Trevor Lee & Caleb Konley. There was a lot of fun action going on here, including a number of slick sequences involving Trevor Lee, whilst LAX continued to impress as babyfaces putting a great display of their tag team offence when called upon including a lionsault and leg drop combo and an assisted moonsault followed up by back to back tope conhilos. The team known elsewhere as EYFBO are an exciting duo to watch and it was on full display here and they ended up looking super impressive with this victory. I would have liked to have seen the match featured a few more near falls, with an extra five minutes to really take this to the next level, whilst I'm still not massively enamoured with Caleb Konley either and his hokey selling was one of the drawbacks of the contest. One things that's for sure is IMPACT need to bring some more teams into their division, because LAX need a good line of challengers to showcase themselves against having already gone over Cult of Lee and oVe. 

NWA World Heavyweight Championship // 

Monty Brown vs. Christian Cage (C) 

Taken from Destination X 2006, Christian Cage retained his NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Monty Brown, putting the Alpha Male away with an Unprettier. I'm not sure why this match was chosen for re-air, because it was mostly dull action and there's three or four better matches on that show. It was a power vs. speed affair, joined in progress during a Brown beatdown, so maybe there was some more exciting stuff earlier in the match, but what was shown here was mostly Brown using strikes and awkward looking submissions. There's a couple of cool moves later in the bout, as Brown hits a lovely Alpha Bomb, amidst numerous Unprettier and Pounce attempts, before Cage wins clean with his finish. Brown was never known for his match quality, but if you're looking to watch some classic Cage in TNA, then I'd recommend his ladder match with Kaz from Genesis 2007, matches with Samoa Joe from Bound For Glory 2007 and Final Resolution 2008 and bout with Kurt Angle from Destination X 2007, as much better starting points than this. 

Jake Crist & Dave Crist (with Sami Callihan) vs. Bobby Lashley & Brian Cage 

Before the match - Lashley claimed he didn't care if he had to fight the whole state of Ohio, he was going to win his match tonight. 

What was promoted as a handicap match between Lashley & oVe, finished with Brian Cage getting the pin with the Drill Claw. As awesome a move as the vertical suplex piledriver is, there is no universe were having someone who wasn't in the match get the pin is a good move. If the match was advertised as a tag match and Lashley just didn't have a partner because of Eddie Edwards' injury last week, then I'm cool with it, but it wasn't. The rest of the match was nothing as well, mostly consisting of Lashley getting beaten down by Jake & Dave, whilst Sami Callihan would pop up every now and again with his baseball bat, as commentary continued to talk about the horrible incident from last week. Cage looked great when he came and lobbed oVe all over the shop and if it had just been Cage coming down for the save, I'd have been absolutely cool with anything that came after his entrance. It looks like they're setting up for a Cage vs. Lashley programme, but it seems weird to move so quickly past the rivalry with oVe after what happened to Edwards the week earlier. 

Also this week 

- It was announced that the Feast or Fired match will return next week.

ATPW Scale Rating // 4.88 out of 10 

Written by James Marston // @IAmNotAlanDale

Impact Wrestling Review // 15th February 2018

The new regime of Impact Wrestling continued to find its feet this week on their TV show. Austin Aries defended the Impact World Championship against Eli Drake in the main event and Tyrus returned to the company for his first match since August, tagging with old pal EC3 to take on Johnny Impact and Matt Sydal. But how did all go down in Orlando? Lets take a look.

Impact World Championship // "The Truth" Austin Aries (C) def. Eli Drake // Pinfall

Austin Aries picked up his first World Championship defence against the man he won the belt from two weeks ago, Eli Drake in a good main event, with a brainbuster. The match was pushed throughout the episode this week, with a few simple things making the match feel important for both men. Obviously, this included a hype package at the top of the show, with Aries taking part in a sit-down interview, that did well at getting over the storyline and why the viewer should stick around to see it at the end of the show. Both men would have promos later in the show, with Drake being interviewed by McKenzie Mitchell and claiming to still be the champion in an energetic segment, whilst Aries cut a to-camera promo, discussing winning championships all over the world and seemingly full of confidence ahead of the match. For me, this method of promoting was much better than having the two start the show trading promos in the ring and took up far less time. It covered all the ground it needed to, kept the show feeling punchy and allowed the rest of the show enough time to breath. 

The main event was another step in the right direction for the company, as the two put on a good slow-burner, with clearly defined roles and a thrilling intricate conclusion. Drake has grown into his role as main eventer at Impact, repaying the faith shown in him by the previous regime and whilst it took him some time to grow into the setting, he bought some solid intensity to proceedings later on, when in control of the match. I hope that he is rewarded by the new creative team for the hard work he has put in over the last six months. Whilst the majority of the match was passable and perhaps could've done with a few more moments of interest, it was the gear-change heading into the stretch that made this match. From Aries suicide dive that connected with Drake's second, Chris Adonis, onwards the match the wrestling was brilliant. The two traded a series of slick reversals and near falls, including Aries escaping a Gravy Train attempt into a Last Chancery, that was super crisp and felt like it could've been the finish. I'm looking forward to seeing where Aries' title run can take us, with a number of interesting options for challengers across the roster, including Johnny Impact, Matt Sydal and even perhaps someone like Sami Callihan.

EC3 & Tyrus def. Johnny Impact & Matt Sydal // Pinfall 

Tyrus is back! Yes, the man formerly known as Brodus Clay returned to our screens this week, being revealed as EC3's mystery partner in a victory over Johnny Impact and Matt Sydal, with EC3 getting the pin over Impact with his feet on the ropes. I'm going to be honest and say I'm not a fan of Tyrus as a wrestler, I saw him live a few years ago, in a dreadful match with Michael Elgin at PCW, however he was used well in this match. The story played out that EC3 was out matched by both Impact and Sydal in the ring, with the pairing often getting the upper-hand when Ohioan was in the ring, whilst Tyrus would be able to match their speed with his power. This was seen clearly in the finish when Tyrus caught a Sydal suicide dive and sent him into apron, before tripping Impact on a Flying Chuck attempt and allowing EC3 to get the pin. It would be a stretch to call this a "good" match, but it was inoffensive, had a solid story and built to what should be a top drawer match between Impact and EC3 on next week's episode with the Number One Contendership on the line.

"Walking Armageddon" Bobby Lashley def. Sami Callihan // Disqualification 

After oVe broke up the pin cover resulting from a massive spear from Lashley, Sami Callihan suffered a disqualification loss in his first singles match in Impact, this week, in what was a physical opening match. Whilst it was slightly confusing to have oVe bundle Lashley into the boot of a car on week and then have Lashley face Callihan the week after, that didn't really stop the match from being a heated, hard-hitting slugfest. The pair spent the majority of the match on the outside, so it was a shame that the camera work out there couldn't equal the quality of the scrap and I have to say that that ended up damaging the viewing experience on a number of those spots. The Crists on the outside allowed Callihan to control large portions of the contest, also giving Lashley some lads to lob into things when necessary, whilst Callihan's wild brawling style complemented Lashley's power game nicely. The guillotine out of the spear spot still doesn't work, but Callihan doing his signature run around the ring, only to be met with a thunderous spear from Lashley definitely did. Eddie Edwards came out to save last after the match, with it later being announced that Lashley & Edwards would tag up next week against the Crist Brothers.  

Impact X Division Championship // Taiji Ishimori (C) def. El Hijo Del Fantasma // Pinfall

Taiji Ishimori racked up his fourth X Division title defence this week with a victory over AAA star El Hijo Del Fantasma with a 450° splash, in a fun junior heavyweight jaunt. This was easy to watch, but didn't quite live up to my own high expectations. This is mostly down to how brief the contest was, because almost all of the action was very good, with lots of aerial offence and a back and forth style that suited the two competitors, alongside an appreciative Orlando audience. There just wasn't enough of it, it almost ended up feeling like a taster, probably not helped by its slot just before the main event, when it could have been more effective at the top of the hour with an extra five minutes at least. The stuff on the outside was particularly strong with lots of sweet dives, including Ishimori's Golden Moonsault and a great sequence that saw the champ miss a moonsault off the apron and then leg it up and back down the ramp hitting a running step up hurricanrana on the way. Like most of the show, the X-Division has really began to heat up lately, hopefully it's just given a little more time to breath, with the talent allowed to reach their full potential in the coming months.

Rosemary def. Hania the Huntress // Pinfall 

Just one Women's match this week as Rosemary defeated her rival Hania the Huntress at the first time of asking, with the classic high crossbody counter in a match that never really got going. Everything looked alright, but for a match between two rivals there was distinct lack of intensity and I got the feeling the pair went through the motions for most of the match, although this wasn't helped by the distracting commentary talking about every other storyline, expect for the one going on in front of them. This included for the finish, where neither Josh Mathews or Sonjay Dutt seemed to have noticed Huntress had gone to the top rope until Rosemary had her pinned. I've enjoyed the Mathews & Dutt partnership for the most part over the last two weeks, but they both let the competitors down here. After the match, Huntress attacking Rosemary, before both managed to escape finisher attempts on the steel steps, so it appears this feud isn't over just yet. For me, Huntress really could've done with the win here, seeing as she only had her first match on the main TV product last week, it seems daft to have her take the fall in only her second match.

Also This Week

- NOAH's "The Machine" Brian Cage def. John Cruz in a quick squash, winning with a delayed Steiner Screwdriver.

- The GWN Flashback of the week was Braxton Sutter and Laurel Van Ness's wedding from last year, in a segment that also included Allie, Sienna, Maria Kanellis-Bennett, Mike Bennett, Rockstar Spud, Aaron Rex , Brooke Tessmacher and Robbie E. 

- LAX had a segment, but I'm not sure what was actually happening, but Konnan certainly said some things, before later on The Cult of Lee attempted to find LAX, attacking a pair of blocks dressed as The Mumbai Cats, who turned out to be neither Latin American or from Mumbai. 

- Jimmy Jacobs ordered Kongo Kong to destroy Joseph Park's office, which included smashing a photo of an elderly woman. 

- Allie's secret admirer was revealed as Impact Knockout's Champion Laurel Van Ness, but Allie hit her with a box of chocolates and threw her into a production box whilst shouting "Get back in the box.

- Alberto El Patron attacked Moose during an interview with McKenzie Mitchell, so it looks like those two are feuding now.

ATPW Scale Rating // 5.29 out of 10

Written by James Marston // @IAmNotAlanDale

Impact Wrestling 696 Review // Eli Drake vs. Petey Williams

This week's Impact Wrestling saw the company continuing to rebuild after Bound For Glory, as the Aberdeen Pavilion in Ottawa, Ontario (taped 6th November) witness Petey Williams challenging Eli Drake for the Impact Global Heavyweight Championship and James Storm side with Moose following an assault from American Top Team. But was it any good? 

Impact Global Heavyweight Championship // Eli Drake [Shaun Ricker] (C) def. "The Canadian Destroyer" Petey Williams via pinfall // 13 minutes

The show began with separate Eli Drake and Petey Williams interview talking about their Global Championship match, over some footage of them competing in the ring. Eli Drake told Petey Williams that if he could last 3 minutes with him he'd be a Canadian Hero, because it doesn't take much, in an interview with McKenzie Mitchell. Petey Williams spoke about his Grandfather passing away and his loyalty to Impact, over highlights from his career. 

This was one of the best matches to have aired on Impact Wrestling for quite a while and for me, it was also Eli Drake's best performance in a six sided ring. The match told a simple story, with the commentary team making a point of telling us that no one had ever kicked out of a Williams Canadian Destroyer and Williams repeatedly looking to hit the move, whilst Chris Adonis ran constant interference on the outside to keep Drake in control. This meant that when Williams took out Adonis with a suicide dive, then escaped a Gravy Train and nailed the Canadian Destroyer, it felt like we could potentially see a new Global Champion, creating a world-class near fall. Drake kicking out rises his stock as champion and Williams deserves credit for selflessly allowing that to happen. Drake would eventually win with a Gravy Train, after a few near falls for each side in a tremendous final stretch that featured the momentum swinging either as Drake showed he capable of working a style more akin to the X Division. With a livelier crowd and had this not been pre-recorded then it would have been a great match, as it stands it is still worth giving a chance on My5 in the UK.

James Storm saves Moose from American Top Team // 13 minutes 

An intriguing segment as James Storm aligned with Moose in his feud with American Top Team (because why Stephen Bonnar was defending the honour of professional wrestling before I have no clue). This included the highlight of the show, when ATT's John Hartnett (wearing a neck brace) decided to slap Storm, before The Cowboy replied by smashing a beer bottle in his face in what many would call a massive overreaction! Storm's promo afterwards was utterly brilliant though. It was full of passion, it was funny, but most importantly, it felt real. Storm spoke at professional wrestling and what it meant to him. He talked about receiving advice from his Dad, he talked about America's Most Wanted and Beer Money Inc. and you could tell that he meant every word that came out of his mouth. Knowing that he's leaving the company after these tapings added an extra dimension to the promo as well. They also threw Hartnett's shoes into the crowd. On the other hand I could've given or taken Dan Lambert's promo, where he spent three minutes running down Canada. He seems like he's watched loads of pro wrestling and is trying a little bit too hard, but it wasn't unwatchable and his voice breaking at points made it quite humorous at times.

Backstage KM asked American Top Team for a chance, with Bobby Lashley telling him to prove himself. 

Impact Grand Championship // Ethan Carter III "EC3" def. Fallah Bahh [Franciz] // 9 minutes

Without the Grand Championship gimmick (three rounds of three minutes) this wouldn't have been much of a match, but with it it worked reasonably well. The first round with Fallah Bahh in control didn't do much for me, as he did his Akira Tozawa impression and tried to get a Bah chant going, alongside a number of poor comedy spots. The second round went to Ethan Carter III, taking control after Bahh ran into the post and then the rest of the round happened. The third round was probably the strongest as EC3 looked to bring Bahh down, couldn't hit the One Percenter after a rake of the eyes, but then managed to trip Bahh off the ropes, as he seemed to be attempting a Banzai Drop and then used a jacknife cover to get the win with his feet on the ropes. The wrestling wasn't great, but the gimmick allowed for a decent story to be told and EC3 came out with a win over a much bigger competitor. I was surprised we didn't get a reply from Matt Sydal after EC3 ran him down last week though.

The Latin American Xchange (Homicide, Santana [Mike Draztik] & Ortiz [Angel Ortiz]) def. Ohio Versus Everything (Sami Callihan, Dave Crist & Jake Crist) via pinfall // 9 minutes

A stylised handheld camera promo from oVe aired, mostly done by Sami Callihan, having very much a feel of the old Shield promos.

A good clash here, even if it felt like only scratched the surface of the potential the two sides have. There was frenetic feel from the very beginning as oVe launched into the ring to scrap wit LAX, before the match transitioned into a "Get your shit in" sequence and then a multiple dives sequence, highlighted a suicide senton from Homicide. It appears that oVe are the heels now, even if this had been unclear after Bound For Glory, as Callihan nailed Homicide with a mule kick blow, before Homicide became the Notorious face in peril. Homicide played the role well, scrapping against with Jake Crist, before escaping a back suplex and flying into an EYFBO hot tag. The gear change in stretch was great to watch as Santana and Ortiz flew around, oVe got a near fall off a Tombstone Piledriver from Jake on Santana, before Ortiz was able to block an All Seeing Eye attempt and LAX picked up the win with the Street Sweeper to bring a frenzied sequence to a close. There's more that these teams can do together and I hope that we get to explore that on Impact. 

Sonjay Dutt, Dezmond Xavier & Garza Jr. def. Trevor Lee, Taiji Ishimori & Caleb Konley // 7 minutes

This bout was a little overshadowed by the other six man tag on the show, having no real consequence and a surprising lack of action. The first two thirds were lethargic for this division, with a Sonjay Dutt and Taiji Ishimori in particular looking uninterested, phoning in their early work and looking way too cooperative, which both talents should be above at this point in their careers. The crowd was flat throughout, to the point that I noted that they may as well have been working in an empty building. Also Garza Jr. spent the entire match holding one arm towards his body, clearly injured, which makes the company look incredibly second rate and shows a clear lack of interest in safety of the performer. This shouldn't have happened, although Garza did pull out an impressive hurricanrana with the arm still well and truly held against his stomach. The last few minutes were a good watch with a lot going and Dezmond Xavier continuing to shine before pinning Caleb Konley with the Final Flash.

Gail Kim Retired // 4 minutes

Allie hugged Gail Kim backstage.

After this moment had been built to for quite a while it ended being quite underwhelming as Gail Kim announced that she was retiring. Part of this was damaged by the fact she had already announced she was retiring at the end of the year and also for the fact that only Allie was present for it and Kim lowballed her speech, mentioning a few people she'd wrestled and that was about it.

Also...

The GWN flashback was Ken Shamrock defeating Malice with Ricky Steamboat as special guest referee to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at NWA Total Non-stop Action #1 at the Von Braun Civic Center in Huntsville, Alabama on 19th June 2002.

In catering, Joseph Park apologised to Grado, gave him an American visa, only for a Mountie (not The Mountie) to turn up and tell Grado he was being deported from Canada.

The Pluto TV rewind was Chris Rock saying "NWA: TNA is the best professional wrestling in the world" from NWA Total Non-Stop Action #16 at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in Nashville, Tennessee on 9th October 2002.

A good two hours of Impact Wrestling this week, building on last week's and head and shoulders above Bound For Glory. Out of all the segment, only the X-Division six man under-performed. The main event did a great job of making Petey Williams feel like a threat and featured some brilliant wrestling, whilst the LAX v oVe match was also a good watch and EC3 vs. Bahh used the Grand title gimmick just about well enough. James Storm's promo was excellent also and with not much talking on the show it ended up really standing out. If Impact can continue in this vein for the next few months, then Anthem might finally start to shake the stink off, but the Ottawa crowd and awful venue choice might very well end up holding them back.

Review by James Marston

Impact Wrestling 695 Review // Alberto El Patron & Johnny Impact Brawl

On 9th November 2017, Impact Wrestling & Border City Wrestling aired the 695th episode of Impact Wrestling on POP TV, taped on 14th October at St. Clair George Coliseum in Windsor Ontario and 6th November at the Aberdeen Pavilion in Ottawa, Ontario. The show featured a clash between Matt Sydal and Sonjay Dutt, a brawl erupting between Johnny Impact and Alberto El Patron, as well as appearances from Chris Adonis, oVe (Sami Callihan, Dave Crist & Jake Crist), Petey Williams, Ethan Carter III and Eddie Edwards, but was it any good? 

"Reborn" Matt Sydal def. "The Original Playa from the Himalayas" Sonjay Dutt // 10:37 

Jimmy Jacobs turned up again, took a selfie with Josh Mathews and joined the commentary booth for Sonjay Dutt vs. Matt Sydal.

An interestingly paced match here, with Matt Sydal and Sonjay Dutt pushing more into the technical category than the high-flying style that they're better known for. There was still a good deal of flippy shit, including a standing moonsault from Sydal, but the majority of the match however saw Sydal target Dutt's leg, following a dragon screw leg whip. This produced a couple of lovely moments, like Sydal cutting off a sunset flip attempt by going after Dutt's leg before locking in a single leg Boston crab, with the Original Playa for the Himalayas selling the body part well. Considering both were babyfaces heading in, I'm not convinced this was the right direction to take the bout, with the crowd not really getting into it and with the action often feeling a little bloated in the middle. After a Bound for Glory marred by poor booking decision, it was just nice to start the show with a clean victory, as Sydal put Dutt away with a Shooting Sydal Press. Jimmy Jacobs on commentary was a thing, with the Zombie Princess only staying around for a few minutes before leaving because he wasn't getting enough attention, despite the screen having featured him more than the action in the ring.

After the match, Ethan Carter III came out to say that Sydal was a choke artist, apparently turning back heel, days after he turned babyface at Bound for Glory. We closed without any real confrontation with EC3 saying "Maybe in another life...you could've been reborn a winner"

Alberto El Patron [Alberto Del Rio] and Johnny Impact [John Morrison] brawled // 12:32

Johnny Impact interrupted McKenzie Mitchell's interview with Global Forged winner Hakim Zane, grabbing the camera and letting Alberto El Patron know that he was coming for him.
Later on, Alberto El Patron turned up outside the building with the camera man letting him know that Johnny Impact was looking for him.

Parts of this brawl worked really well, parts of the brawl was just two lads rolling around backstage. Honestly, there were portions that felt like I was watching two teenage brothers have a scuffle and the action backstage went on for at least five minutes too long with the unnessarry inclusion of Braxton Sutter and Caleb Konley. The things that did work were Impact flying through the screen as Mckenzie Mitchell attempted to interview AEP, Impact's dive off a toilet building thing and the portion that went out into the arena. The two getting on the mic, with Impact having to goad AEP to get in the ring by telling him he wasn't the pride of his own father, let alone the Pride of Mexico was nicely done and played well by both men. The finish with the 2 time WWE Champion hitting a DDT on Impact, taking out security and locking on an armbreaker in the ropes had some punch, furthered the issue between the pair and made AEP look like trash. Also big shoutout to AEP wearing a full red Adidas tracksuit, whether it was conscious decision or just how he dresses, it added to his trashy image.

GHC Heavyweight Championship: Eddie Edwards (C) def. El Hijo del Fantasma // 9:57

The match of the night came in this clash, as Eddie Edwards and El Hijo del Fantasma put on a pacy, back and forth match. The two packed their ten minutes full of action from the very beginning, with the former Gift of the Gods champion pulling out some lovely looking offence when controlling the first third, including a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and a frankensteiner. Edwards has always been compelling when fighting from underneath here, with a likeable persona and that shone through here as he scrapped for everything he got, pulling out a nice near fall off a Blue Thunder Bomb hopespot, before making the Tiger Driver his focus, attempting to hit the move multiple times. This resulted in a strong near fall when Edwards managed to hit the move, after removing his elbow pad to hit a lariat, only for EHDF to get a shoulder up before two. The final stretch lifted the quality, even if EHDF blocking a Boston Knee Party was poorly shot and/or edited together. Edwards would eventually hit the Boston Knee party and Diehard Flowsion to cap off a convincing victory, that raises his stock within both Impact Wrestling and Pro Wrestling NOAH. The only nit-pick I have here is that the two trolled repeating a spot on the apron that was arguably the best moment of Bound for Glory, only for it not to happen, which seemed a little unnecessary. It did result into two gorgeous suicide dives though, so not all was lost.  

Petey Williams interrupted Eli Drake [Shaun Ricker] & Chris Adonis [Chris Masters] // 8:26

Until Petey Williams made his entrance, I was losing patience with this lengthy opening duo-loge from Global Champion Eli Drake and his pal Chris Adonis. I usually like Drake on the mic, but there was very little going on here and a lot of time for that little to go on in. Adonis told the crowd to sit down, Drake said somethings, put over beating Johnny Impact at Bound for Glory, Drake fiddled with his title belt quite a lot, said something about Alberto El Patron and then said he'd been given the night off because "there's no one left to challenge for this title". It just went on and on and nothing happened, we got no new information and Drake seemed to be lacking in some of his usual energy and charisma. Luckily, once Williams entered, Drake seemed to wake up, seemingly because his best work comes when he has some one to bounce off of. It all ended up with Adonis saving Drake from taking a Canadian Destroyer and we'd find out later that this had somehow earned Williams a title shot. The crowd loved Williams though, because he's Canadian and if there's one thing we know about Canadians it's that they love Canadians. Canada.

Allie [Cherry Bomb] def. KC Spinelli // 7:04

The company has literally just held TV tapings, but they're airing footage from a BCW show from October? Go figure. In all honestly, the BCW footage actually looked better than footage from Impact itself, with a better looking crowd who seemed to be more into the action. The match itself took a while to get going, consisting mostly of strikes from Spinelli and Allie running out of the way of corner attacks. The last few minutes saw the action improve with a couple of nice near falls for both, including a Fisherman's suplex from Spinelli. Unlike most of the Impact footage, the finish featured some brilliant camera work, as Spinelli went for a moonsault, only for their to be no water in the pool, before an Allie Valley Driver put the SHIMMER performer away.

Allie was interviewed, speaking about being in the ring with Gail Kim at Bound for Glory and what Kim's announcement next week could be.

The GWN flashback moment of the week, saw Team International (Sonjay Dutt, Amazing Red & Hector Garza) go over Team Canada (Bobby Roode, Eric Young & Petey Williams) from the original episode of iMPACT from June 2004. The finish included some of the most exciting wrestling showcased on the entire show with a Code Red, Canadian Destroyer and Tornillo all being pulled out. (3:35)

oVe (Sami Callihan, Dave Crist & Jake Crist) def. Mike Burke, Phil Atlas & Ray Steele // 2:36

Sami Callihan got a much better introduction here as oVe picked up a dominant victory with their wacky All Seeing Eye triple-team move.

LAX (Homicide, Ortiz & Santana) attacked oVe, with Callihan taking a 187 cutter from Homicide but just escaping the Gringo Killer. 

A smiley Jeremy Borash and Josh Mathews opened the show in the ring, running down the card for the show before throwing to a Bound for Glory highlight package. 

The Pluto TV rewind of the week featured Roddy Piper blasting Chris Rose with a fire extinguisher after Rose proclaimed "Wrestling is Fake" from The Best Damn Wrestling Event Period in October 2004. 

After a Bound for Glory that featured some good wrestling, but terrible booking, this episode of Impact was a set in the right direction. Eddie Edwards victory over El Hijo del Fantasma was a high-quality contest for television, whilst Sonjay Dutt vs. Matt Sydal was also a decent watch and seeing Sami Callihan and the Crist Brother beat the shit into people is always fun. The non-wrestling segments were a little pacier, with a weak performance from Eli Drake standing out as particularly disappointing.

Review by James Marston