‘Impact Wrestling’ Review (Oct 11th 2018)
Welcome to this week’s Impact Wrestling review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Phil and we’ve got the last episode of Impact before this years Bound For Glory. Let’s get right to the action!
Match #1: Trevor Lee vs. Jack Evans vs. Puma King vs. Petey Williams – Four-Way Match
The following is courtesy of ImpactWrestling.com:
All four of these men are looking to impress Scarlett Bordeaux after her open casting call last week! Williams goes for the Canadian Destroyer on Lee but he counters! Williams locks in the Sharpshooter instead. Puma hits a big top rope crossbody on Lee. Puma jumps from inside the ring, to the top rope, to the outside, taking out Evans! Puma connects with a springboard Codebreaker on Lee for a near fall. Evans dropkicks Puma, followed by a crossbody on Lee. Evans takes Puma off the top rope with an acrobatic handspring kick. Williams hits Lee with the Canadian Destroyer to pick up the victory!
My Take: An impressive opening match for this weeks Imapct, with Jack Evans and Puma King provding the highlight reel here – flying in and around the ring with style and impact (pardon the pun). Petey Williams managed to hold his own against both those men however, eventually hitting a HUGE Canadian Destroyer on Trevor Lee for the win. Surprisingly, Lee, who’s usually very reliable in all his matches, was the weak link in this battle… No wonder he took the pin!
Match #2: Grado vs. Maximo
The following is courtesy of ImpactWrestling.com:
Maximo attempts to kiss Grado but he counters into a rollup for a near fall. Maximo builds momentum with a series of clotheslines. Grado gets sent to the outside as Maximo follows up with a flying headbutt! Maximo successfully locks lips with Grado and rolls him up to win! After the match, Grado shakes hands with Maximo and gives him a kiss of his own.
My Take: Grado vs. Mexican Grado – that’s the best way to sum up this match, which saw Grado pull out his usual bevy of wrestling moves, only to be matched move for move and pound for pound by Maximo… Whose apparent special move is KISSING his opponent! Maximo, for a man of his size, is one hell of a mover, his flying headbutt from the ring to the floor on Grado was actually a thing of beauty! Not sure how I feel about all that kissing though…
Match #3: Rohit Raju vs. Gursinder Singh
The following is courtesy of ImpactWrestling.com:
Gama Singh has set up this singles match between the Desi Hit Squad to find out who the weak link of the team is. Gama raises the stakes and says the loser will no longer be a member of Desi Hit Squad. Gursinder hits a flying knee in the early going. Rohit connects with a jumping foot stomp for a near fall. Rohit hits a front-face slam but Gursinder kicks out! Rohit’s shoulder appears to be injured. Gursinder hesitates to continue the attack and it ends up costing him! Rohit plants Gursinder on the mat to pick up the victory! After the match, Rohit appears to regret his actions, causing Gama to slap him in the face.
My Take: I have no idea why you’d introduce a tag team, have them built up and then rip them apart thanks to their manager. It makes no sense to me – unless of course its all because, thanks to Impact’s “bigger” names forming tag teams, there’s actually no other tag teams for the Desi Hit Squad to fight! To be fair, if you DON’T count the likes of the tag team match that followed this, Impact really don’t has that mch of a tag team division – if its not oVe, LAX or the OGz then Impact don’t seem to care IMHO. It’s almost like Impact are taking a leaf out of the WWE’s book and treating the tag division like an afterthought. Which is a shame for Raju and Singh – because together they’re not a bad tag team per se… They just need a decent push.
Match #4: World Champion Austin Aries, Moose & Killer Kross vs. Johnny Impact, Eddie Edwards & Fallah Bahh – Six-Man Tag Team Match
The following is courtesy of ImpactWrestling.com:
This huge matchup is a preview of Bound for Glory as Aries prepares to face Impact and Moose prepares to face Edwards this Sunday! Edwards is fired up as he attacks Moose! Edwards connects with a top rope Hurricanrana. Moose sends Edwards to the outside and Aries attacks him behind the referee’s back. Fallah gets revenge for KM as he reigns in shots on Aries! Fallah heads to the top but Moose cuts him off from the apron with a big kick. Champion and challenger, Aries and Impact, exchange shots in the middle of the ring! Impact hits a sliding German from the second rope but when he goes for the follow-up Countdown to Impact, Aries avoids it!
Aries locks in the Last Chancery on Impact but he gets a rope break. Impact counters Moose’s Go to Hell attempt with a Hurricanrana. Kross gets Edwards up on his shoulders but Fallah makes the save with a superkick. Edwards builds on the momentum with a huge suicide dive to Moose on the outside! Fallah is about to fly off the top when Aries cuts him off. Impact connects with the Impact Kick out of nowhere on Aries. Impact hits Starship Pain but Kross pulls Impact off the pin!
Kross hits Impact with the Doomsday Saito Slam on the floor. Meanwhile, Moose takes out Edwards with a powerbomb on the ring apron. Back inside the ring, Aries connects with the Brain Buster on Impact to pick up the victory for his team.
My Take: A cracking match that many would have said was main-event worthy. Each man got a chance to shine, with some truly hard-hitting moves and some real moments of tension and danger throughout. Definitely a fantastic build-up for the Aries vs. Impact and Mosse vs. Edwards matchs at Bound For Glory.
Match #5: Knockouts Champion Tessa Blanchard vs. Keyra – Non-Title Match
The following is courtesy of ImpactWrestling.com:
Keyra hits a Hurricanrana, followed by a Michinoku Driver, then a Moonsault off the second rope for a near fall. Keyra jumps off the apron but Tessa catches her and sends her back-first into the steel ring post. Keyra hits a running dropkick in the corner but Tessa kicks out! Tessa turns things around with the Buzzsaw DDT to win.
My Take: Short and sweet. A match that looked brutal, with some incredibly strong moves from both Keyra and Tessa Blanchard – some of which looked like they really hurt. Keyra held her own in this match, putting Blanchard through her paces, really giving her a run for her money – more from both of these women please (honestly, Impact need to sign Keyra ASAP). Blanchard scored the win giving her the momentum needed for this wekends PPV.
News of the Night:
- Rich Swann announced that Willie Mack will be his tag partner at Bound For Glory
- Eli Drake will continue his open challenge this Sunday at Bound for Glory in NYC
- The Hall of Fame induction ceremony for Abyss will strem LIVE on Impact’s Twitch channel
- The ceasefire between LAX and the OGz is officially over
Final Verdict: 4/5
Well the last episode for Bound For Glory was a huge improvement over recent weeks. The right mix of matches and competitors meant that the in-ring action was head and shoulders above what we’ve seen from these Mexico-filmed episodes of Impact. Plus this week the promos were kept to a minimum, with the LAX and OGz summit/promo actually succeeding in building the excitement for their “concrete jungle” match at Bound For Glory. A big thumbs uop from me this week!
