‘Impact Wrestling’ Review (July 12th 2018)
Welcome to this week’s Impact Wrestling review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we should just jump right in.
Match #1: The OGs (Homicide and Hernandez) beat two jobbers in a Tag Team Match
My Take: The OGs beat the hell out of two jobbers until they were dust in the wind.
Match #2: Allie beat Shotzi Blackheart – Knockout’s Match
My Take: This was a solid match that featured an exciting wrestler named Shotzi Blackheart, who could be an excellent addition to the Knockout’s Division. The action was pretty even and had lots of energy. This was a solid opener.
Match #3: Eli Drake beat Grado (w/ Katarina and Joe Hendry)
My Take: Eli and Grado had a good match. Grado has come a long way in the past three years, as has Eli Drake. I don’t know what they have in mind for Grado for the near future, but I hope it’s a bit more than just “Katarina is actually having sex with him?”. Eli should be getting a World Title shot again, very soon, as he’s still one of the better prospects in Impact.
Match #4: Main Event – Sami Callihan & Ohio Versus Every-One (Dave and Jake Crist) beat Rich Swann, Fenix & Pentagon Jr. in a Six-Man Tag Team Match
My Take: This was the best match on the show, easily. There was lots of action from every-one, with each wrestler coming across strongly. My Lucha Underground review from this week addressed Pentagon’s star power and it was just as evident here. Sami is still, arguably, the most controversial wrestler of the year, with his every move appearing to be an affront to any-one else in the sport (Sami always appears to be a dick now, which I like). It’s great to see the Crist brothers back in wrestling, as they were almost on the way out a few years ago, but they have been great since coming to Impact. Swann is doing really well in Impact and I hope he keeps himself out of the dog house here. It was great to see Fenix at his prime performing capability and if there is a need to create a Rey Mysterio for Impact, then Fenix is not a bad place to start. Overall, this was an excellent match.
News of the Night:
- Austin Aries attacked DeAngelo Williams (former NFL player) who is training Moose for his World Title match with Aries at Slammiversary.
- Madison Rayne and Su Yung had a Lucha Underground-type vignette where Su trapped Rayne in hell, or some-thing like that (maybe she’s in the WWE Performance Center).
- Tessa Blanchard attacked Allie.
- LAX fights The OGs in a 5150 Street Fight for Slammiversary.
Final Verdict: There were only four matches on a two hour show and a few of them were too short to matter. It’s hard to give the new Impact regime credit when they are acting like the last few groups. The main event was good and I enjoyed seeing Austin Aries, but there needs to be more going on here than just talking about having great wrestling… just have some great wrestling.
