IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling
Date: November 1, 2018
Location: Melrose Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Don Callis

We’re still in New York and still pretty fresh off of Bound For Glory, with the big story being Killer Kross laying out World Champion Johnny Impact last week. There’s a lot going on at the moment and I’m actually wanting to see where some of it goes. Now if only they can keep that going for a bit and then pay it off. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The opening recap covers most of last week.

Opening sequence.

Willie Mack vs. Rich Swann

They were partners at Bound For Glory and they’re still cool here as Mack requested his friend for his singles debut. Mack headlocks him to start but Swann speeds things up and starts flipping around. Both guys try dropkicks at the same time so they nip up at the same time, meaning it’s a handshake. Mack picks up the pace with a hard shoulder and some knees to the back to set up a seated Blockbuster. A running vertical suplex gives Mack two and he cuts Swann down again with a spinwheel kick.

Swann gets tied in the Tree of Woe and Mack goes Coast to Coast (not bad, even in a smaller ring). Mack sends him outside for a slingshot down and a pop up Downward Spiral gives Mack two more. A faceplant cuts Mack off though and Swann gets two off a middle rope 450. Mack is right back up with some running shots to the face in the corner and there’s a Samoan drop for good measure. A standing moonsault and Stunner get two each so Mack goes up, only to miss a frog splash. Swann pops up to the top and hits a Phoenix splash for the pin at 9:49.

Rating: C+. This was a great showcase for Mack, though I’m not sure I would have had him lose his singles debut. It’s not like Swann is all that big of a star or anything so having him lose here wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world. Hopefully Mack sticks around because someone with his skills and charisma can be a star in a hurry.

OVE’s feed keeps messing up before they talk about being in Dayton, Ohio to call out Brian Cage for the beating he deserves.

The announcers preview the rest of the show along with talking about next week’s Final Hour show.

Desi Hit Squad vs. Beach Bums

This is the NEW Squad, with Rohit Raju and Gama Singh’s son Raj. Raju clotheslines TJ Crawford down to start and the stomping begins. Raj comes in for a Cannonball in the corner so it’s off to Freddy Ivey, who gets kicked in the face. With Ivey in trouble, Raju pulls him up at two so the Squad can take turns stomping in the corner. A Samoan drop/jumping knee to the head finishes Ivey at 3:21.

Rating: D. They’re new, they’re still not good, and I still want something more than a team who takes turns stomping their opponents for most of the match. I know they think they have something with Gama Singh as the manager, but even if he, he’s still more interesting than either of the three members of the team, it’s not much of an accomplishment. I’m really not sure why this team gets to keep staying around but they don’t seem to be leaving any time soon.

The OGz are ready to take care of Konnan’s friends the Lucha Bros because the war isn’t over.

LAX is drinking in a bar where Konnan doesn’t think much of Matt Sydal and Ethan Page. Why Ortiz is bartender isn’t clear.

Video on Eddie Edwards vs. Moose, who have their big showdown next week (as opposed to Bound For Glory, where we got a Tommy Dreamer match instead). They used to be friends but Moose turned his back on him, saying that Eddie wasn’t a real friend. Eddie has gone insane and it’s time to fight so someone can get hurt.

We go to Rockstar Pro Wrestling in Dayton, Ohio where OVE (VERY popular here) calls out Cage. They get a fake Cage, complete with a fake title belt. Sami makes fun of his size and the fake Cage does the claps, but the beatdown is on. Callihan gets a pin with Dave Crist putting on a referee shirt to count the three.

Eli Drake goes to a law office….and it’s a broom closet with Joseph Park eating lunch. Park offers to represent Drake’s lawsuit against Impact Wrestling because they could own the company. Drake seems to agree before leaving.

Gama Singh (ERG) praises the new Hit Squad but run into Scarlett Bordeaux. Gama hits on her and speaks his language. Raju says that means he’s been married 45 years and is a happily married man.

Knockouts Title: Taya Valkyrie vs. Tessa Blanchard

Tessa is defending in a Bound For Glory rematch. Taya runs her over to start and sends her into the corner but Tessa is out of the way before the running hip attack can hit. Instead Tessa drops her on the floor and that means a suicide dive to knock the barricade all over the place. Back from a break with Tessa cranking on both arms and putting a boot on the back of Taya’s head. Tessa kicks her in the ribs to cut Taya down again and there’s a running knee to the back for two more.

Magnum misses though and Taya takes her into the corner for a kick to the head. Taya gets two off a spear and a suplex is good for two more. A cutter out of nowhere drops Taya but she’s right back with a curb stomp. The moonsault hits perfectly for two and Tessa bails to the floor. Taya takes her down with a high crossbody so Tessa punches the referee for the DQ to save the title at 13:41.

Rating: C+. These two were hitting each other hard and that’s what you want from something like this. Tessa and Taya can bring in some physicality and that’s how you get an entertaining match from the two of them. Both of them look like they could be champion at the drop of a hat, which makes for some entertaining matches between the two of them. I’m certainly down for a third match between them, which is a nice situation to be in.

Video on Johnny Impact vs. Killer Kross for the World Title next week. Impact knows Kross is a different kind of challenger because he seems more interested in hurting people than anything else. It’s going to be harder for Kross when Johnny is staring him in the face though. Kross’ eyes bugging out is a great visual.

Jordynne Grace is coming.

Classic Moment of the Week: Candice LeRae vs. Gail Kim on Impact in 2013. They actually show the finish for once.

The Lucha Bros aren’t scared of the OGz. Cero miedo you see.

Cage says he never got an invitation to Ohio but he’ll come next week and bring the real X-Division Title.

Final Hour rundown.

Tag Team Titles: LAX vs. Matt Sydal/Ethan Page

Page and Sydal are challenging. Ortiz starts with Sydal and that means a lot of talking/shouting at each other. It’s time to get violent though so Ortiz throws him into the corner for some stomping and brings in Santana for the assisted moonsault. Page comes in and gets armdragged down but catches Santana with a gutwrench faceplant. It’s off to Sydal to talk about showing LAX the way and stare at Konnan. The trash talk is enough for a running flip dive from the apron from Santana to take out both challengers as we take a break.

Back with Santana in trouble as Page holds him for a knee to the ribs from Sydal. Page gets smart by knocking Ortiz off the apron but takes too long, allowing Santana to send him into the corner and dive over for the hot tag. Everything breaks down and Ortiz hits a rolling clothesline (shades of Konnan) on Page, followed by a northern lights suplex for two. The challengers hit stereo kicks to Ortiz’s head for two but it’s a suplex/backbreaker combination (started like a Magic Killer but Ortiz shoved Sydal up and Santana suplexed him onto Ortiz’s knee) for the pin to retain at 13:11.

Rating: B-. LAX is just solid and there’s no other way to put it. I don’t remember the last time they had a bad match and they’re capable of having a good performance against anyone out there. Sydal and Page are a new team and looked fine out there, making this an entertaining match between two pretty solid teams. Good stuff here.

Allie’s reflection if flickering when she stops to apologize to Kiera Hogan for snapping last week. Kiera doesn’t believe there’s nothing wrong with her and a mini argument breaks out. Allie finally admits that there is something wrong because she’s been losing it since they went to the undead realm. Kiera assures her that they’re together until the end. This would have been more effective without the introductions of the Knockouts Title match being heard in the background.

Homicide vs. Pentagon Jr.

I don’t think there was a bell but Pentagon knocks him to the floor to start anyway. Back in and some more kicks have Homicide in more trouble until he snaps off some clotheslines. A Backstabber out of the corner sends Homicide outside and there’s the superkick from the apron. Homicide is fine enough to run back inside for a flip dive into the apron and there’s a middle finger to the crowd.

A tornado DDT gives Homicide two but Pentagon slips out of a superplex attempt and ties Homicide in the Tree of Woe. That means the Alberto double stomp, followed by more kicks to rock Homicide. Back up and Homicide tries the Gringo Killer but gets reversed into a rollup for the pin at 5:51.

Rating: C. This didn’t have time to go anywhere and it’s not like a single rollup is going to end the upcoming Lucha Bros vs. OGz feud. There’s also the chance of seeing where they might go with issues between the Bros and Konnan, who seem to be pretty close. That’s a good example of setting things up for the future and another example of good storytelling around here.

Post match the big beatdown is on with Hernandez running in, followed by Fenix and King to leave the Lucha Bros laying.

Killer Kross promises to bring about Impact’s final hour next week.

Overall Rating: B-. I don’t know what happened but at some point, Impact got downright decent. There are stories that I want to see progress and mostly good wrestling (Desi Hit Squad aside). I’m not sure where things are going from here and that makes for an interesting show. Keep doing stuff like this and things are going to stay good for a long time to come.

Results

Rich Swann b. Willie Mack – Phoenix splash

Desi Hit Squad b. Beach Bums – Samoan drop/jumping knee combination to Ivey

Taya Valkyrie b. Tessa Blanchard via DQ when Blanchard punched the referee

LAX b. Matt Sydal/Ethan Page – Suplex/backbreaker combination to Sydal

Pentagon Jr. b. Homicide – Rollup

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling
Date: October 25, 2018
Location: Melrose Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews

This show is still in a bit of a strange place as we’re less than two weeks removed from Bound For Glory, meaning there aren’t many major stories going on at the moment. There is however a World Title match tonight in the form of Fenix challenging for the World Title against Johnny Impact. That and I’m sure something else about Tommy Dreamer. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The opening video recaps last week’s events.

Opening sequence.

Scarlett Bordeaux comes out to scout talent.

Sami Callihan vs. Trevor Lee

Sami jumps him to start as Callis drools over Scarlett (fair enough). Trevor gets sent into the ropes so Dave Crist can kick him in the back. A kick to the back of the head staggers Sami but he’s right back with a Death Valley Driver for two. The chinlock goes on for a bit until Callihan grabs a neckbreaker out of the corner. With almost everyone looking at Scarlett, she takes a walk as Trevor elbows Sami down and dives onto the Crist Brothers. Jake is up in time to shove him off the top though and the Cactus Piledriver finishes Lee at 5:50.

Rating: C-. I wouldn’t have believed it possible but Sami has completely turned around for me. When you get him away from wrestling regular matches and let him be the far more naturally violent brawler, he can be entertaining. The lack of shouting about Ohio all the time does wonders for him too.

Post match Cage comes out and wrecks OVE. Sami’s bat shot is swatted away and Cage offers him a free shot. That’s blocked as well and the Crists save Sami from the Drill Claw.

King yells about not being able to touch Konnan. He has an idea of how to get around the bosses though and the OGz are with him.

Rohit Raju helps Gama Singh warm up before their match tonight. Sweet goodness put ANYTHING ELSE on this show.

Preview for the rest of the show.

Eli Drake invades the commentary booth and threatens Callis for bringing up the lawsuit Drake is filing.

Heavenly Bodies vs. LAX

Non-title. The Bodies are Desirable Dustin and Gigolo Justin. Santana chops away at we’ll say Dustin as the match is ignored to talk about the lawsuit. Ortiz lets Santana springboard off of him for a moonsault but the Bodies come back and knock Ortiz into the corner to take over. A missed charge allows the hot tag to Santana as Drake tries to remember wrestling on a show with the Bodies.

Everything breaks down and a reverse DDT/powerbomb combination gets two on Justin but a Michinoku Driver into a top rope splash gets the same on Santana. The Bodies put Santana on top but Ortiz powerbombs one of the down, leaving Dustin to take the Street Sweeper for the pin at 5:57.

Rating: C. Totally watchable match here as the Bodies may come off like a rather old school team but if they work like this, they could be regulars around here. The tag division is almost non-existent at this point so even having an average team added to the roster would do it some good. Drake was really entertaining on commentary here, even if he talked about the match for about thirty seconds.

Tessa Blanchard comes into Taya Valkyrie’s locker room and yells at her for the things she’s been saying. Blanchard is even willing to put the title on the line next week. Taya says see you next week then.

Matt Sydal and Ethan Page come up to LAX with Sydal not liking the way he’s treating his boys. Konnan doesn’t seem to care.

Moose is ready to beat up Fallah Bahh. Killer Kross says KM and Bahh are like two dogs chasing a car. Tonight, they’re both his. Kross: “Good talk. Tick tock.”

Video on Fenix, talking about his rise in the American wrestling scene, including his time in Lucha Underground.

Rich Swann and Willie Mack are glad to be here and Mack wants him to be his opponent for his debut match next week. Swann is cool with that.

Gama Singh vs. Rohit Raju

Singh introduces himself and lists off his resume. Gama shoves him away as the fans already start chanting YOU STILL GOT IT. A rake to the eyes has Raju in trouble and Gama slaps him for good measure. Cue someone from the back for a fireman’s carry gutbuster on Raju for the DQ at 1:50.

Post match Singh and the new guy beat Raju down but they all pose together because this seems to be the new Desi Hit Squad. I’m so thrilled.

Johnny Impact praises Fenix, who he says is like family. Some families fight though and tonight they’ll fight for the World Title. May the best man win.

Scarlett is in a bath to watch fan submitted applications for her talent search. They’re as bad as you would expect.

Killer Kross/Moose vs. Fallah Bahh/KM

KM and Moose start things off with KM shouldering him down in a bit of a surprise. Some right hands keep Moose in trouble but it’s off to Kross, who is a bit more skilled on the mat. KM actually takes him down as well, allowing Bahh to hit a corner splash. Moose comes back in and puts a People’s….foot on the face for your comedy of the match. It’s back to Kross, who just gets angry at being clotheslined. The beatdown is on with Bahh in trouble, mainly due to Moose not liking having toes in his mouth.

A lot of yelling ensues, with Moose calling Bahh fat. You don’t do that to Bahh, who hammers away and hits a crossbody. Kross will have none of that and starts dropping knees on Bahh to take over. Moose slugs away and Bahh shouts a lot, setting up a belly to belly suplex to cut him down. A Samoan drop takes Kross down as well but here’s Eddie Edwards to choke Moose with a kendo stick. As they fight to the back, Kross chokes KM out at 9:23.

Rating: C-. Remember how I said the tag division was basically non-existent? That’s even more frustrating when you consider how many teams there could be at the moment. Would you be interested in seeing Kross and Moose vs. LAX in a long brawl? You even have KM and Bahh as the resident comedy goofs. There’s a division there, if it was actually put together.

Post match Moose and Eddie fight all the way up to the roof with Eddie being tossed into the wall. Eddie gets in a stick shot to save himself from flying over the edge.

Classic Clip of the Week: Samoa Joe and AJ Styles vs. Sting and Kevin Nash from Impact in 2008. It’s very nice that they’ve cut these down to short clips instead of almost full matches.

Jordynne Grace is coming.

Eddie talks to his stick when Alisha comes in, panicking over what just happened. He kisses her and says she drives him crazy before leaving.

Kiera Hogan vs. Su Yung

Kiera goes straight at her on the ramp and hits a sliding kick to the face in the corner. A hurricanrana out of the corner gives Kiera two but Yung snaps her across the top rope by the hair. Kiera gets caught in the Tree of Woe so Yung charges, only to have Kiera sit up. That’s fine with Yung, who takes her down with a neckbreaker in a sweet counter.

The Mandible Claw is loaded up but Kiera gets a powerbomb where she nearly drops Yung. They fight onto the apron but here’s Allie to save Kiera from a Panic Switch on the ramp. Allie says she can’t help Kiera now though and leaves, only to have Yung hit a hanging Pedigree. The Panic Switch finishes Hogan at 4:52.

Rating: C-. This was energetic while it lasted and I’m wondering where the Allie story is going. A lot of it is built on the return of Rosemary, which could take some time and therefore allow this story to build up properly for a change. Hogan is becoming a star by association and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Next week: LAX vs. Sydal/Page for the Tag Team Titles and Blanchard vs. Valkyrie for the Knockouts Title.

Impact Wrestling World Title: Johnny Impact vs. Fenix

Impact is defending. Feeling out process to start as they exchange a few grapples. Fenix’s big kick misses but Impact’s doesn’t, only to have them flip into a standoff. They’re certainly nailing the battle of athleticism so far. Fenix grabs a nip up but Impact nips out of it for a second standoff. Impact tries a springboard inside but Fenix dives underneath it and lands on the ramp.

They both run for the same buckle but it’s Fenix shoving Impact off, setting up a spring springboard into a spinning crossbody for two, even though he nearly overshot Impact. A Russian legsweep takes Fenix down and the Flying Chuck takes us to a break. Back with Impact putting on a crossface (with the other arm pinned down for a little change of pace) but Fenix slips out.

They lock hands and somehow manage to jump to the middle rope without breaking their grip (geez) until Fenix springboards up into a huge hurricanrana for a near fall of his own. Fans: “THIS IS IMPACT!” Yeah and that’s Fenix. A quick Spanish Fly gives Impact two of his own and he drives Fenix into the corner for some shoulders.

Fenix backflips over him into a German suplex but the running knee into the standing shooting star gives Impact two more. The Countdown to Impact misses (of course) so Impact settles for the flipping neckbreaker instead. A springboard spinning headbutt takes Johnny down for two more but it’s too early for the Black Fire Driver as Johnny reverses into a DDT. Starship Pain retains the title at 14:23.

Rating: B. It’s not great as a technical exchange but you’re missing the point here if that’s what you’re looking for. This was all about an athletic spectacle and there’s nothing wrong with that. Just let two incredibly talented guys going in there and doing cool looking stuff. What more can you want from a fun match like this?

Impact shakes his hand and leaves, allowing the OGz to run in and beat down Fenix. Pentagon makes the save.

Kross talks about being crazy and trying to make change. He leaves, revealing Impact out cold to end the show. It was this or the Tag Team Titles so I’m fine with going here.

Overall Rating: B-. You know, if you cut out a few of the really bad things, you have a heck of a show here. The Desi Hit Squad is horrible and some of the wrestling could have been a lot better but the storytelling is there and I want to see where some of this stuff goes. That’s what matters most as the wrestling can catch up later on. Good show, and I want to see more like this.

Results

Sami Callihan b. Trevor Lee – Cactus Piledriver

LAX b. Heavenly Bodies – Street Sweeper to Dustin

Rohit Raju b. Gama Singh via DQ when an unnamed man interfered

Killer Kross/Moose b. KM/Fallah Bahh – Krossjacket Choke to KM

Su Yung b. Kiera Hogan – Panic Switch

Johnny Impact b. Fenix – Starship Pain

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling
Date: October 18, 2018
Location: Melrose Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Don Callis

It’s a big show this week as we’re officially past Bound For Glory, meaning the long road towards Homecoming begins. That can wait in a few weeks though as we’re now looking at the fallout from the biggest show of the year. Johnny Impact FINALLY won the World Title from Austin Aries, who seems to be done with the promotion for the time being. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Bound For Glory if you need a recap.

Of course we open with a long recap of Bound For Glory. It’s not like it could have been anything else.

Opening sequence.

The ring is still tiny. I know it’s due to the venue but egads.

Here’s new World Champion Johnny Impact to open things up. After saying wrestling is unpredictable and being cut off by a YOU DESERVE IT chant, he talks about how he wanted to do this for his entire life because he’s it’s like nothing else. He grew up watching it when he was a kid at the Great Western Forum and he’s always been someone who does things a little differently. People told him that making a movie with his own money was crazy but now it’s streaming on Netflix. Even if it’s in a bin at Dollar General, he’s proud of it.

He’s been told he just has the look of a wrestler but now he has the title on his shoulder. This business is what we make it and he’s not going to hide behind goons and tweet passive aggressively because he’s a coward. If someone deserves a title shot they can get it, so here’s Fenix to interrupt. Fenix says he’s won titles around the world but never here. It’s an incredible opportunity to fight for that title and he wants a show next week. Johnny: “Well it’s not like I can say no.” The match is on for next week.

Next week: the show moves to 10pm. That doesn’t sound good.

The announcers talk about Bound For Glory.

Tommy Dreamer talks about great football players who became great wrestlers. Moose wants to join the list but he doesn’t want to put in the work. Tonight, Tommy is going to beat something into him and doesn’t mind giving him a concussion. Not the best thing in the world to say at the moment.

Outside, Moose hits on McKenzie Mitchell and is ready to beat up Dreamer. Killer Kross asks if Dreamer feels in control and says they both accept his challenge.

Katarina vs. Taya Valkyrie

Katarina gets aggressive to start and stomps away in the corner as Callis talks about the ring skirt costing Taya the title “last night”. Some knees to the back set up a backbreaker for two as it’s all Katarina to start. A missed charge lets Taya forearm away and a pair of running knees, including one against the ropes, gets two. The Road To Valhalla finishes Katarina at 3:50.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here but Taya will pretty clearly get a rematch with Tessa Blanchard for the title. Katarina has already cooled off since returning, though I’m sure they can find something for her to do. Just getting away from Grado is already doing her some good and finding a new star to manage will help a lot.

Post match, Taya says she doesn’t respect Tessa Blanchard for having to retain the title like that.

Matt Sydal and Ethan Page sit in the dark and talk about opening third eyes. Sydal has made Page in tune with himself and tonight, Page can show Trevor Lee how to suffer.

Gama Singh attacks Rohit Raju, who has one more test to pass: facing Gama Singh himself next week. I really can’t stand these people much longer.

Trevor Lee vs. Ethan Page

Sydal is here with Page. There’s something funny about Josh Matthews managing Sydal being banished from all history. Lee chokes him in the corner to start and then chokes differently to mix things up. Page comes back with some right hands and points at his forehead because that’s his gimmick.

Some stomping in the corner (a common move around here) doesn’t do much as Trevor sends him outside for the running kick from the apron. A Sydal distraction (with another offer to join) allows Page to hit a hanging double arm DDT for two as the fans aren’t sure who to cheer for here. Lee hits a jumping knee to the face and gets two off a middle rope moonsault. Page elbows him in the face, sends him into the corner and elbows him again, followed by a Rock Bottom for the pin at 6:22.

Rating: C-. Page looked good here and clearly has enough talent to make it in this company. However, Lee still does nothing for me at all. Now that being said, I’ve heard he’s WAY better outside of Impact and he wouldn’t be the first person to be in that situation. Maybe he just needs a refreshing, but at the moment he’s just the guy who can give you a watchable match.

Rich Swann, with Willie Mack, is ready to win the X-Division Title tonight. Mack had a good time on Sunday, but Swann has to do it on his own tonight. That’s cool with Swann.

Video on the Allie/Kiera Hogan/Rosemary/Su Yung/WHAT THE HECK EVER THAT WAS segment from Sunday.

Kiera talks to Allie, who insists she’s fine but clearly isn’t.

Classic Moment of the Week: Daniel Bryan beats Randy Orton for the World Title. They called it Eric Young beating Magnus but it was Bryan over Orton.

Petey Williams asks Scarlett Bordeaux when she’s going to announce him as her new client. She flirts on him for a bit, but says the talent search is ongoing, and open to fans too. Petey seems confused, but Petey confuses me more often than not.

Killer Kross vs. Tommy Dreamer

Moose is here with Kross of course. Kross misses an early knee drop and Dreamer knocks him out to the floor. Dreamer, wearing his Dusty Rhodes shirt and Dusty Rhodes pants, gets to do the Dusty Rhodes Bionic Elbow and gets choked down for all that gimmick infringement. Back in and a hard whip into the corner keeps Dreamer’s back in trouble and a t-bone suplex gets two.

The cravate goes on but Dreamer gets up top to catch him with a right hand. There’s a superplex as the fans chant ECW. Dreamer loses a slugout but escapes a German suplex and hits a cutter. Moose tries to come in but takes a cutter of his own. The Doomsday Saito is broken up with a bite to Kross’ head but the second attempt drops Dreamer on his head. Kross does it again and that’s a referee stoppage at 7:02.

Rating: D+. This was the not great Dreamer match that you would have expected. I’m still not sure why he keeps getting on TV shows as it’s not like he’s interesting on his own, but nostalgia is a powerful weapon. I had the same reaction to this one that I have to every Dreamer match and that’s not the best feeling in the world.

Post match Dreamer gets beaten up even more.

We see part of Abyss’ Hall of Fame induction speech, which sounds rather good. The fact that he’s the first Impact Original to go in is rather telling.

Eli Drake isn’t happy with Abyss putting him through a table because it’s an unsafe work environment. Those are words that I never need to hear in wrestling again. Oh and he’s suing the company. Well a lot of people have over the years so he might as well join the team.

LAX is celebrating their win when King comes in. According to the bosses, he and the OGz get to keep a piece of New York but they have to stay on their own sides. Konnan says get on your own side then and get out of here.

We look back at the opening sequence.

More announcers talking and recapping the show so far.

Allie vs. Alisha Edwards

Rating: C-. This was much more storytelling than wrestling and there’s nothing wrong with that. Allie can only be the Bayley style character for so long as she’s a very well rounded performer and the kind of person who could be a fixture in the division with a different character. Alisha is getting better as well so the future is starting to pick up for the Knockouts.

Post match Allie stays on Alisha until Kiera pulls her off. Fans: “PSYCHO BUNNY!”

Jordynne Grace is coming.

X-Division Title: Rich Swann vs. Brian Cage

Cage is defending. Swann starts with the dancing and gets shoved down for his efforts. Cage shrugs off a dropkick but Swann flips out of a German suplex attempt. A hurricanrana doesn’t work either as Cage throws him down and hits some Roman Reigns clotheslines in the corner. It’s too early for the Drill Claw though and Cage misses a charge to the floor.

For some reason Swann follows him and gets powerbombed into the post. An apron superplex brings Swann back in and we take a break. Back with Swann being sent chest first into the buckle and then kicked in the face. Cage throws him down again as Josh and Don plug a Titanic marathon on Sunday. An F5 is escaped and Swann tries a front flip seated senton but gets caught in the air.

Instead it’s a DDT to drop Cage but he avoids the Phoenix splash. They trade kicks to the face with Swann getting the better of it, including more kicks to the head for two. Swann tries one kick too many though and gets caught in a pumphandle faceplant. An Angle Slam gets two on Swann but he pulls Cage out of the air with a cutter. A Lethal Injection sets up a middle rope 450 for two but the Phoenix splash misses. Cage powerbombs him, buckle bombs him, and Weapon X’s him for the pin to retain at 14:43.

Rating: B. Easily the best match on the show here and that’s a good sign considering how much potential both of these guys have. Cage is the create-a-wrestler come to life and Swann is a ball of charisma. This was a really fun match and the kind of thing that the show needed after a lot of storyline heavy stuff earlier in the night.

Post match here’s Sami Callihan to show a loop of him pinning Cage on Sunday. A fight breaks out but the Crist Brothers run in for the save. Cage clears the ring to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This wasn’t a great show but you don’t have to do much on the first night after Bound For Glory. Instead of having a big time show, they went with a cool down show with some stuff that advanced stories and made you want to come back for more. That’s a different path from what WWE would do and that’s not a bad idea. It was a very easy show to watch and that’s often something you need after so many weeks of heavier shows. It works for NXT and it worked fine enough here. Not a great show, but the right choice for this week.

Results

Taya Valkyrie b. Katarina – Road To Valhalla

Ethan Page b. Trevor Lee – Rock Bottom

Killer Kross b. Tommy Dreamer via referee stoppage

Allie b. Alisha Edwards – Codebreaker

Brian Cage b. Rich Swann – Weapon X

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Bound For Glory 2018
Date: October 14, 2018
Location: Melrose Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews

It’s the biggest night of the year and the card is looking pretty good this time around. The main event is fairly lackluster with Johnny Impact challenging Austin Aries for the World Title, but the better built match is LAX vs. the OGz, in a match that could go either way. You never can tell with this company though so let’s get to it.

The opening video shows shots of the streets of New York with the pictures of the matches on walls and clips of the build towards the matches. LAX walks the streets, talking about how this is a reload instead of a rebuild.

The camera is facing the entrance and the ring looks a bit smaller than usual.

Willie Mack/Rich Swann vs. Ethan Page/Matt Sydal

Interesting choice for an opener. Swann strikes away to start and it’s Sydal telling him to open his third eye. Instead it’s off to the Mack for a heavy flying tackle to drop Sydal, meaning Page comes in to try his luck. Swann headscissors him down but a backdrop gives us a 450, sending Swann face first into the mat. Sydal comes back in to start on the arm, including a Fujiwara armbar.

A big boot from Page and a kick to the face from Sydal send Swann outside, where there is barely any room between the ring and the barricade. It doesn’t seem to bother Mack, who cannonballs down onto the other three. That’s still not enough for the hot tag though as Sydal cranks on something like a cobra clutch back inside. A side slam cuts Swann off again but he rolls over and brings in Mack to clean house. That means a Cannonball in the corner and a German suplex to set up a standing moonsault on Page.

Swann comes back in for a flapjack/bulldog combination before taking Page to the top. That’s not the best idea, as Page slams him down and hits a Swan Dive for two more. Sydal knees Mack in the face and hurricanranas Swann off the top, only to have him land in a hurricanrana to send Page flying instead for a cool spot. Everything breaks down and it’s a series of kicks to the face to put everyone down. Page kicks Sydal by mistake and takes a Stunner, leaving Swann to hit a Lethal Injection. The Phoenix splash is good for the pin on Sydal at 12:34.

Rating: C+. Good choice for an opener here with the fans loving Mack and Swann being his usual charismatic self. IT makes sense to have Sydal take the pin as well with Page being the newcomer and full of potential. As usual, Sydal is much easier to watch when he’s in the ring instead of talking about the third eye stuff. Just stick to what you do best.

Post match the fans seem to like Mack, who grabs a mic and says there are two empty seats in the front row. Therefore, whoever cheers the loudest is getting an upgrade courtesy of the show’s sponsor. Nothing wrong with that.

The announcers plug swag from the sponsor.

Earlier this week Johnny Impact and Taya Valkyrie were on TMZ because Austin Aries made some jokes about Taya’s size. This led to a near fight at Abyss’ Hall of Fame induction.

Konnan has been attacked. LAX comes in and Konnan says it was some of King’s guys.

This does NOT go over well with the fans starting a DELETE chant. Ellsworth tries to suck up to New York but Drake points out that he’s not even from New York. That’s true, but he did date a girl from Staten Island (ERG) and lived in her basement for a bit. Fans: “PIZZA!” They also have some very mean things to say about Ellsworth so let’s do this, though after a Sweet Chin Music joke.

James Ellsworth vs. Eli Drake

Ellsworth tries a cheap shot but gets caught in a flapjack as the fans are all behind Drake. Sweet Chin Music is countered with a spinebuster, which earns a thank you from the crowd. Ellsworth loads up a Styles Clash but gets countered into the Gravy Train. The fans want one more so Drake obliges before the pin at 2:12. Just….push Drake to the moon as a huge face already. Please. It’s WAY overdue, even as a former World Champion. And keep Ellsworth out. That felt like the old days of TNA and that’s not a good thing.

Post match Drake says he wants better competition so here’s Abyss to destroy him. A Black Hole Slam sets up a chokeslam through a table for Abyss’ Hall of Fame moment. Nothing wrong with that, but he couldn’t beat up someone other than Drake?

Earlier today, Tessa Blanchard said she’s the real wrestling royalty.

We recap Blanchard vs. Valkyrie. Basically Blanchard was out of challengers so Valkyrie is back to come after the title. It does at least tie into Blanchard facing a bunch of luchadoras and Taya saying she’s lucha royalty.

Knockouts Title: Tessa Blanchard vs. Taya Valkyrie

Taya is challenging and has new gear, making her look like an old school Natalya cosplayer. Tessa works on a wristlock to start and the fans are behind the champ. A headscissors takes Tessa down and Taya kicks her in the head in the corner. Taya gets in a not great spear to put Tessa on the floor but a neckbreaker onto the apron has Taya in trouble. Back in and a Codebreaker out of the corner gives Tessa two but it’s way too early for the Buzzsaw DDT.

Taya is right back with some Spanish shouting and running knees in the corner. A guillotine choke with a bodyscissors has to be broken up by a Tessa dead lift and the fans chant something in Spanish that is completely ignored. They slug it out and the Buzzsaw DDT is broken up again but Taya can’t hit Road to Valhalla. Instead Taya chokeslams her down to set up a moonsault.

A stomp sets up the STF but Tessa is too close to the ropes. The referee stops to FIX THE RING SKIRT, meaning there’s no count off the Road to Valhalla. It’s a delayed two, meaning Tessa is right back up with the Buzzsaw DDT for two of her own. Taya is back up again so Tessa sends her face first into the middle buckle, setting up Magnum to retain the title at 10:44.

Rating: C+. Nice power brawl here with Tessa finally having someone who can go move for move with her. The ending was the only way to go as Taya hasn’t been around in the better part of six months so changing the title was almost out of the question. Now you can build someone else up to challenge Tessa for the title, because the division has been all but cleaned out at the moment.

Earlier today Moose, wearing what looks like an African king outfit, says he’ll show why he’s a legend.

We recap Moose vs. Eddie Edwards. Moose was put on the shelf with a concussion but came back and joined forces with Austin Aries. This includes helping to beat down Edwards, who never even visited him in the hospital. Moose is now part of the evil trio along with Aries and Killer Kross, so Edwards is out for revenge due to a series of beatdowns.

Eddie Edwards vs. Moose

Post match Tommy Dreamer runs in for the save so let’s have a No DQ tag match. BECAUSE WE NEEDED TOMMY FREAKING DREAMER ON THE SHOW!

Tommy Dreamer/Eddie Edwards vs. Moose/Killer Kross

No DQ and it’s a brawl to start (of course) with Dreamer spitting something into Kross’ eyes. That’s not enough though as he takes another drink, spits it into Edwards’ mouth, and then has Edwards spit it into Moose’s eyes. That’s a visual I really didn’t need. Moose and Dreamer slug it out inside with Moose shouldering him down but missing the backsplash. The fans chant for Low Ki (fair enough) as Kross makes the save, only to get elbowed down.

Dreamer pulls back the padding on the floor, leaving Moose to dropkick Eddie off the middle rope. Moose follows him out and hits a running….I have no idea actually as the camera switched angles. Or did Eddie do something to him? Either way it’s bad camera work and Eddie comes back in to chop Kross. A middle rope hurricanrana drops Kross but Moose hits the Game Changer on Dreamer.

Moose and Eddie chop it out with Eddie hanging in there until he can hit the Blue Thunder Bomb. Dreamer cutters Kross and grabs the kendo stick, only to get caught with the Doomsday Saito. A clothesline puts Kross on the floor and Moose gives Eddie a pop up powerbomb. It’s time to get the stick again, but Eddie rolls Moose up for the pin at 8:41.

Rating: D+. I’m split on this one as there was no need to put Dreamer on the show, but there was a need to put Kross on there. That being said, if you want to do the tag match, just announce it as a tag match. Advertising Moose vs. Edwards as a featured match on the card and then switching things up is rather annoying and something that shouldn’t be happening. On top of that, it wasn’t even a very good brawl as Dreamer should NOT be going move for move with either of these monsters. At least the ending went well enough.

Post match Kross and Moose wreck Edwards, including an assisted apron bomb.

OVE is ready to take a bite of the Big Apple and spit it in the Machine’s face. They’re the ratings draws and are going to put Ohio on the map.

We recap OVE vs. Brian Cage/Lucha Bros. Sami Callihan and Pentagon have been feuding for months and since Sami has the Crist Brothers, Pentagon brought in his brother Fenix and then Cage just joined in as a bonus. You have to get Cage on the show so this makes logical sense. I’d certainly take that over a nothing X-Division Title defense.

OVE vs. Lucha Bros/Brian Cage

OVE rules, meaning anything goes, for the second match in a row. Fenix is introduced as “The Mexican”. Cage has a taped up leg coming in so he might need some repairs. Everyone else is cleared out in a hurry and it’s Pentagon vs. Callihan in the big showdown. They trade shots to the face until Pentagon scores with the Sling Blades to take over. Cage comes back in but gets sent shoulder first into the post.

Fenix replaces him and speeds things up but a tiger suplex takes him down as well. Callihan kicks away at various people and Jake posts Cage head first. The Bros are back up with Pentagon holding the ropes open for a dive from Fenix, leaving Cage to toss Jake over the top off a fall away slam. The dead lift superplex gets two on Callihan and everyone is back in. Double superkicks get two on Dave and the Alberto double stomp gets two. Callihan has to save Jake from the Drill Claw but Callihan sends Cage outside.

That means Fenix runs down the ramp for a diving cutter for two more on Callihan. The Pentagon Driver gets the same on Dave and it’s time for a parade of people knocking each other down. Cage throws Callihan into the corner to set up the spike Fear Factor but the Crists make the save. The fall away slam/Samoan drop combination takes Jake and Dave down, followed by a Codebreaker to Dave.

Fenix gets on Pentagon’s shoulders but it’s Jake springboarding in for the All Seeing Eye. Ok so he slipped a bit but it still looked good enough. Callihan piledrives Pentagon on the apron but Cage is all fired up again. House is cleaned but a series of kicks rock Cage. The All Seeing Eye only makes him adder so OVE kicks him in the face about a dozen times, setting up the Cactus Piledriver for the pin on Cage at 13:28.

Rating: B. Easily the match of the night so far and the ending was a nice surprise. It also sets up Callihan as the next challenger to the X-Division Title, which is hopefully turning into the midcard title that it should have been a long time ago. Cage got to stay strong in defeat, as it took three people unloading on him at once to finally put him away. That doesn’t hurt him in the slightest and this was an entertaining fight throughout.

Aries came back to this company to turn it into something special. Impact shows up when he has time and that’s not cool with the champ. Now that Impact’s reality show is airing, he’s back to make something out of it. Impact has Boone the Bounty Hunter and all the last names in the world. Aries says after last night at the press conference, his boys will be at ringside wit him. More good stuff from a recently inspired Aries here.

King says LAX can learn what they grew up with because it’s 3-2.

We recap the OGz vs. LAX. The teams have been warring for months now but their bosses have ordered a ceasefire. That ends tonight, with the OGz wanting to show LAX what it really means to fight in the streets.

LAX vs. OGz

Non-title. This is a Concrete Jungle Death Match, meaning all turnbuckle pads are off and the mat itself has been removed, leaving only the boards. It’s also a handicap match to start with King teaming with the OGz but Konnan being laid out. A band plays LAX to the ring and says this is for Konnan. You do know he was awake and talking after being attacked earlier right? LAX starts swinging trashcan lids to start and Hernandez is busted open less than thirty seconds in.

King breaks up a dive and Rock Bottoms Santana onto the wood as the referee tries to keep the boards together. Ortiz is back in with another lid shot but the numbers game takes him down, allowing Homicide to bash his head in with lid shots of his own. Some painted tables are sent in but Santana is sent outside. King dives out onto him but slams face first into the barricade for a bad looking crash.

Rating: C+. It was good, but they’ve done these violent brawls multiple times now. This time around, the OGz even had an advantage for most of the match and were even at best until Konnan came in. Once the old guy who can barely move came in, he beat the trio up almost on his own. There is zero reason for this feud to continue, though I have no idea who is supposed to take the titles from LAX anymore.

We look back at Allie making a deal with James Mitchell to go into the Undead Realm to save Kiera Hogan.

Allie, looking like she’s a Buffy the Vampire Slayer cosplayer (I think we have a theme tonight), walks into a room and shuts herself inside a coffin. The Bray Wyatt freaky images montage comes up and she gets out, with Mitchell waiting on her. Allie can go up to the chapel to find Kiera, but her soul stays here. Carrying a hatchet, Allie is attacked by an undead bridesmaid, who is HACKED TO DEATH, complete with blood splattering up onto Allie’s face. Well this just got a little more serious.

Another bridesmaid attacks and gets hacked (in the neck this time) but Allie finds a third….which is her with black eye shadow and lipstick. Allie walks away and finds the chapel, which has another coffin. Kiera is inside but here’s Su Yung with an ax for another fight. The ax is dropped so Su hits her a few times with a ball bat and knocks her out with the Mandible Claw.

Allie pops back up though and hatchets her in the neck. She runs over and awakens Kiera but can’t open the casket they used to get in the first place. A laughing Mitchell appears and says he never promised them a way out. Su is back and Allie and Kiera are surrounded so here’s the returning Rosemary (Rosemary: “Hi buddy!”) to punch the villains in the face.

They pry the coffin open but here’s Su with energy balls coming out of her hands. Rosemary has lightning coming out of hers, but the Bridesmaids pull her down as Allie and Kiera escape. Back in the real world, Kiera is happy to escape but Allie, sounding like a demon, says that was NOT ok.

So…..yeah this happened. The idea they were going for was fine (though it doesn’t work as well when Yung is losing as often as she’s winning) and it fit the Halloween time period, but having these things on an otherwise serious show (like the one with the Mexican mafia bossing people around) makes it stick out very badly. It’s not even a bad idea, but it doesn’t fit with the rest of the show. Now can we have Allie dressed as Buffy more often?

The next pay per view is Homecoming in Nashville on January 6.

Johnny Impact says maybe Aries would have been on TMZ if he wasn’t such a jerk. This isn’t all about Aries so Impact is going to take away what matters most to him.

We recap the World Title match. Aries has been the dominant champion and Impact is the one who has never won the big one. Impact wants to be the wrestler, but Aries thinks Impact doesn’t take anything seriously. Some of the promos for this have been outstanding, with Aries doing some of the best mic work I’ve ever seen from him.

Impact Wrestling World Title: Johnny Impact vs. Austin Aries

Aries is defending, Taya, Moose (in the King outfit again) and Killer Kross are here and we get Big Match Intros. Johnny goes for a takedown but gets caught in a guillotine choke with Aries grabbing the ropes for some illogical reason. Aries gets taken down by a choke as well and the fans chant 205. Impact changes plans by slugging away and knocks him to the floor with a dive to follow.

Back up and Aries tries to whip him into the barricade but Johnny jumps up with one foot on the barricade and the other on the apron for a moonsault. You know, because he can just do that. They head back in with Aries pounding away and glaring over at Taya. That earns him a rolling slap to the face but Aries knocks him down again and lays on the top rope. Some hard knees in the corner look to set up the Flying Chuck, only to have Aries knock him out to the floor. A springboard corkscrew crossbody gives Impact two but Aries is right back up with a Last Chancery attempt.

That doesn’t work either so Impact hits the Flying Chuck for two more. Impact takes him up top but gets shoved down, setting up a middle rope hurricanrana. The neckbreaker over the middle rope connects but Aries takes way too long going up (out of character for him) and gets caught in a super Spanish Fly.

The Countdown to Impact misses (Does it ever hit?) so they fight to the apron with Aries hitting a Death Valley Driver for a sick crash. Aries’ 450 gets two so it’s time to yell at the ref. A superkick sets up Starship Pain for two as Aries has to grab the rope. The roaring elbow sets up the corner dropkick and the brainbuster to knock Impact silly but he’s still fine enough to get a boot on the ropes.

Taya celebrates so Aries yells at her, allowing Impact to grab a backslide for two. The Last Chancery is broken up and they slug it out until Aries hits a suicide dive to send Taya into the barricade. That’s too far and Impact kicks Aries in the head (with the camera on Moose laughing) and gives him a brainbuster of his own. Starship Pain is good for the pin and the title at 21:00.

Rating: B. The ending was the right call and they beat the heck out of each other, making this a rather strong main event. Now the problem here is the Taya stuff, which while making it feel personal, came off as forced. It was like they didn’t have enough in the story to make it work so they wedged that in there at the last second, almost like Aries’ heel turn against Jeff Hardy in 2012. It worked for the match, but it would have been better as part of the build over a few weeks, not a few days.

Aries is on his feet before Impact and flips off the crowd as he leaves. Hopefully that’s just him being a jerk and not some bad angle about the office going with the wrong guy. Impact helps Taya up and celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Best Bound For Glory in a few years, though that’s really not a high bar to clear. I know it’s their biggest show of the year, but I don’t remember the last time that Slammiversary didn’t beat it. This show was definitely more good than bad and was worth seeing, though it needed a few more tweaks. One of Impact’s biggest issues has always been creating the big moment on the big stage and this show again failed to deliver in that area. The title change just felt like a thing that happened rather than a changing of the guard and that’s been the case for a long time now.

I liked the show well enough and the wrestling was good, but it still just wasn’t anything great. There was no big blow away match or moment and stuff like Ellsworth and Dreamer made me roll my eyes hard. It felt like a show that needed someone to stop them and say “no, we’re not doing that” when their ideas got a little too far out of hand. That being said, I’ll take a show like this over some of their wretched efforts by a mile.

Results

Willie Mack/Rich Swann b. Ethan Page/Matt Sydal – Phoenix splash to Sydal

Eli Drake b. James Ellsworth – Gravy Train

Tessa Blanchard b. Taya Valkyrie – Magnum

Eddie Edwards b. Moose via DQ when Killer Kross interfered

Tommy Dreamer/Eddie Edwards b. Moose/Killer Kross – Rollup to Moose

OVE b. Brian Cage/Lucha Bros – Cactus Piledriver to Cage

LAX b. OGz – Street Sweeper to Homicide

Johnny Impact b. Austin Aries – Starship Pain

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling
Date: October 11, 2018
Location: Fronton Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews

It’s the go home show for Bound For Glory and that means we’re needing to add some stuff to the card. You should probably have more than six matches (with one participant not being announced) set for the show with three days to go. There’s a lot going on at the moment but I’d expect a good deal of talking this time around. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of almost every major feud going on at the moment.

Opening sequence.

Trevor Lee vs. Jack Evans vs. Puma King vs. Petey Williams

Good grief can we have Petey detained at customs next time or something? This is fallout from Scarlett Bordeaux hitting on all four of them last week. They stare at each other to start until everyone goes after Lee. Puma and Petey are left alone in short order with Petey putting him in 619 position for a dropkick to the back.

Petey gets faceplanted as the announcers talk about how he tries the Canadian Destroyer far too often. Thanks for finally catching up on that one guys. Lee gets back in to replace Puma and stomps Petey down in the corner. A whip into the corner gets two as the commentary is far less chatty than usual here. Petey hits a Russian legsweep but the Destroyer is broken up with ease.

Evans comes back in with a dropkick on Puma but the standing moonsault hits Lee’s knees. It’s Puma getting back up to clean house and diving outside onto Evans. That doesn’t last long though as Evans comes back in and cartwheels into a kick to knock Puma off the ropes. The 630 hits Puma but Lee stomps Evans down. Not that it matters as Petey hits the Destroyer for the pin on Lee at 7:02.

Rating: C+. This was perfectly fine, but my goodness I’m completely over seeing Petey in any way, shape or form. He’s one move and I’M CANADIAN, end of anything remotely unique about him. The wrestling was fine but this felt like a way to fill in time on the show where they don’t want the bigger names wrestling. I mean, that’s what it was, but it shouldn’t feel like that.

Rich Swann has a partner: Willie Mack, better known as the Mack from Lucha Underground.

Grado vs. Maximo

Maximo is rather effeminate and his shirt says KISS ME so I think you know where this is going. They finally lock up after nearly a minute and it’s time for some chest rubbing. Switching places lets Maximo bend over in front of him but Grado blocks a kiss attempt. Grado drops a headbutt for two and snaps off the right hands, only to have Maximo headbutt him in the ribs. Another kiss is blocked so Maximo dropkicks him to the floor for a dive. The Bionic Elbow drops Maximo but he’s back up with a kiss into a cradle for the pin at 5:16.

Rating: D-. This stuff has never been funny to me and that’s not going to change anytime soon. It’s a one note joke and it’s a very bad sign when Grado is the higher level of comedy between the two of them. It’s another match that doesn’t go anywhere for Sunday, but at least they kept it short(ish).

Post match Grado shakes his hand and kisses Maximo. Ok then.

Johnny Impact, Fallah Bahh and Eddie Edwards are ready for Aries, Kross and Moose. Or maybe Bahh is impersonating a sheep.

Video on LAX vs. the OGz. I’m worried about that match not coming close to the hype.

Classic Clip of the Week: Four way Knockouts match from Bound For Glory 2010.

Video on OVE vs. the Lucha Bros/Brian Cage.

Eli Drake isn’t happy with La Parka bringing in a chair last week. That’s why he’s issuing an open challenge to anyone from New York at Bound For Glory. I think I know where this is going and it could be rather interesting.

Gursinder Singh vs. Rohit Raju

The battle to determine the weak link of the team, which you were totally dying to find out. Gama Singh says that the loser is out of the team and has to go back to India. Can we get a three way draw? Raju stomps him down in the corner to start but gets caught with a Backstabber for two.

They fight over some arm holds with no one getting anywhere so Raju smacks him in the head a few times, only to get rolled up for two more. A suplex into a sitout gordbuster gets a third two as I fight to stay conscious. Gama gets Gursinder’s attention and it’s a jumping knee to the face into a jumping Downward Spiral to give Raju the pin at 5:05.

Rating: F. Good for them. I didn’t think they could manage to come up with a match this uninteresting and boring but they managed to pull it off. These guys are making me long for more of Ascension vs. Bobby Roode/Chad Gable, which I thought was the least interesting story that I could have seen. Oh but how I was wrong. I know there’s worse wrestling out there (like in the previous match) but reaching this level of boring and making me care so little about anyone involved is a failure in every sense of the word.

Gama won’t let Raju celebrate. Whatever gets them out of there faster.

Johnny Impact/Fallah Bahh/Eddie Edwards vs. Moose/Austin Aries/Killer Kross

This should be better, just due to the better charisma and bigger star power. Aries and Impact start but let’s go with Kross instead. Kross suplexes him without much effort so it’s off to Bahh, who isn’t about to be suplexed. Instead it’s a shoulder to run him down and let’s hand it off to Moose vs. Edwards for the violent slugout. Eddie opens his shirt to get chopped even harder, but is smart enough to chop Moose while he’s warming up. Now why does it take a semi crazy person to figure that out?

A top rope hurricanrana takes Moose down but he dropkicks Eddie to the floor so the villains can take over. That means a bunch of stomping, because that’s what heels do in spots like this. Aries actually gives up the hot tag off a chop though and it’s off to Bahh for a big belly to belly. Moose crotches him on top though and it’s time to start stomping on Bahh’s rather large legs. It’s off to Kross to drive some knees to the face in the corner and we take a break.

Back with Aries chopping in the corner and taking Bahh down with a drop toehold. Kross goes shoulder first into the post though and a Samoan drop plants Moose. The hot tag brings in Impact for the slugout and a leg lariat sets up the sliding German suplex in the corner. The Countdown to Impact (minus the countdown and the impact) misses, allowing Aries to slap on a quick Last Chancery.

Impact escapes the brainbuster and gets two off a superkick as everything breaks down. Eddie superkicks Moose to the floor and hits a dive but Aries prevents Bahh from doing the same. The Flying Chuck into Starship Pain gets two with Kross making the save. Kross suplexes Impact on the floor and it’s a brainbuster to give Aries the pin at 18:04.

Rating: B-. Good main event style match here and a match that this wretched show really needed. The ending would suggest that Impact win the title on Sunday but this company has made some questionable decisions regarding the end of their pay per views. Moose vs. Edwards should be a heck of a fight as well, though I don’t need to see Kross vs. Bahh again.

Pay per view rundown with Su Yung vs. Allie being confirmed.

Father James Mitchell is playing the organ when Allie of all people comes in. She needs help dealing with Su Yung and wants to go to the undead realm. Mitchell realizes that Allie is half body and half soul and needs to leave her soul behind to take care of Yung and save Kiera Hogan. He’s willing to help her, but she’ll owe him. They shake on it.

Tessa Blanchard vs. Keyra

Non-title. They slug it out with forearms to start until a Michinoku Driver into a middle rope moonsault gives Keyra two. Tessa wisely bails to the floor so Keyra kicks her down, only to have a hurricanrana countered into a powerbomb to the post. Back in and an abdominal stretch doesn’t last very long as Keyra slips out and starts chopping in the corner. A running basement dropkick gets two but Tessa is right back with a hanging Downward Spiral. The Buzzsaw DDT is good for the pin on Keyra at 3:58.

Rating: C. It was certainly fun while it lasted as I’ve liked this Tessa vs. Mexico stuff that they’ve done over the last few weeks. There aren’t a lot of women left around here for Tessa to beat up so giving her some more seasoned outside opponents has been a good idea. The Taya match should be good, though I can’t picture a title change.

Here are the OGz and LAX for a big showdown to end the show. King gets in Konnan’s face and says the myth ends on Sunday. Konnan has held him back for years but King wouldn’t stop. Now Konnan is using these young marks and needs to be put down Old Yeller style. That’s why King brought in the original LAX and on Sunday (King: “ORDER IT! ORDER IT!”), it ends in King’s city.

Konnan comes back with some Spanish, that seems to call King an idiot. He’s nice enough to throw in a translation that says the fans will come in here at the drop of a hat to take King down. These teams already had a street fight where the OGz lost. That never happened under Konnan’s leadership so maybe King is the problem. Then here in Mexico City, King burned Konnan’s mask in the ultimate show of disrespect. Konnan was the father that King never had and King knows the bosses are watching. They have a message for King: the ceasefire is over right now. The fight is on and we’re off in just a few seconds.

One last Bound For Glory interview wraps things up, with Aries talking about having to raise the bar one more time, which Johnny Impact has never been able to do.

Overall Rating: D+. This one depends on how you look at it. The wrestling wasn’t much to see here and I kind of like the build to Sunday, but this was quite the mess for the most part. The six man tag saved the show almost on its own but you need something a little more than than in the course of two hours. Sunday’s show could be entertaining, but there’s a good chance that it’s going to be the standard Impact show that keeps the roof firmly on top of the building.

Results

Petey Williams b. Puma King, Jack Evans and Trevor Lee – Canadian Destroyer to Lee

Maximo b. Grado – Rollup

Rohit Raju b. Gursinder Singh – Jumping Downward Spiral

Austin Aries/Killer Kross/Moose b. Johnny Impact/Eddie Edwards/Fallah Bahh – Brainbuster to Impact

Tessa Blanchard b. Keyra – Buzzsaw DDT

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling
Date: October 4, 2018
Location: Fronton Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews

We’re less than two weeks away from Bound For Glory and things are already starting to clear up. The big matches don’t have the best build and you could argue that the (presumably non-title) match between LAX and the OGz is the biggest thing on the card. That’s not a bad thing, but it makes for a kind of odd build. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The opening recap focuses on the upcoming Bound For Glory matches, many of which were adjusted or made last week.

Opening sequence.

Rich Swann vs. Matt Sydal

This feud has done a grand total of nothing for me so hopefully the match is actually good. Swann isn’t interested in a handshake, much like the referee isn’t interested in an opening bell. Sydal gets kicked to the floor for a flip dive off the apron, followed by a headscissors back inside. A kick to the face puts Sydal down again but he’s right back up with a leg lariat to send Swann outside.

Back in and Swann kicks him in the ribs and then the face for two. Sydal’s top rope hurricanrana doesn’t work as Swann lands on his feet, then uses one of said feet to superkick Sydal into the corner. Another hurricanrana attempt is countered into a jumping powerbomb (cool) for two but Swann is fine enough to hit a spinning kick to the head. Swann heads up top but some unnamed guy comes in to powerbomb him down (which the referee somehow doesn’t see), setting up Swann’s snap Angle Slam for the pin at 7:30.

Rating: C. Well that wasn’t too bad. Sydal is so much better once the bell rings but egads this “open your third eye” nonsense isn’t interesting, hasn’t been interesting and isn’t going to be interesting. I have no idea what they see in that gimmick but it’s been old and that’s not changing anytime soon.

Post match Josh Matthews identifies the fan as Ethan Page, who used to be Chandler Park for like a month earlier this year.

Dave Crist is freaking out over what Pentagon and Fenix did to him last week. Sami Callihan tells him to snap out of it and face them in the ring like men.

Moose calls Eddie Edwards and tells him to meet him for a fight at a bar. He also may have kidnapped Alisha.

Here’s Scarlett Bordeaux to do commentary for the start of her talent search. Callis is of course drooling over her, as is his custom.

Eli Drake vs. ???

Open challenge time as I try to imagine the levels of awesome that Drake and Scarlett would be. Before the match, Drake tells a technico to come out here with their fancy planchas, but he’ll take a rudo as well. The challenge is answered by…..La Parka, who isn’t the same guy from WCW but is still a big star in his own right. La Parka yells in Spanish before the fight is on with the masked man taking over. The shaking knee dance takes too much time though and Drake hits his jumping neckbreaker. Drake goes for a chair but gets caught with a reverse DDT, only to run away from the chair for the countout at 2:37.

LAX and the OGz get in their weekly argument. The OGz even steal their alcohol and throw it at Konnan, who still won’t break the ceasefire.

Sydal introduces Page, who praises Sydal’s vision. I liked Page so having him back is a good thing, though not with Sydal. They issue a challenge for a tag match at Bound For Glory against Swann and whoever he can find.

Joe Hendry vs. Murder Clown

Before the match, Hendry and Grado debut a new music video of “Katarina” and “Murder Clown” on a date, complete with lyrics of Clown wanting romance and violence. A sample: “I may not be a pirate and we may not be related, but baby I’m a murderous clown and that cannot be understated.” Clown clotheslines him down to start and ties Hendry in the Tree of Woe for a charge. Hendry manages the fall away slam but gets kicked away without much effort. A top rope splash finishes Hendry at 2:50. Hendry’s fall away slam felt really out of place in what was otherwise a squash.

Post match Katarina hits Grado low and Hendry gets splashed through a table.

Edwards goes to the bar to find Moose and Alisha. Moose tells him to sit down and recaps their feud over the last few weeks. Edwards says Austin Aries and Killer Kross aren’t Moose’s friends but Moose isn’t having that. A lot of yelling ensues until Alisha breaks a glass over Moose’s head. Eddie charges and turns the table over but Kross comes in to grab him. Edwards fights them both off and escapes with Alisha before calling Johnny Impact, telling him to go after Aries now. This was the most coherent Edwards has been in months and he sounded like his old self.

Post break, Impact kicks in the door to Aries’ locker room but the champ is nowhere in sight. Aries is nowhere to be seen backstage either so Impact heads to the ring. Impact wants Aries out here right now so here he comes, with a sling around his arm. Aries claims an arm injury, a back injury, a twisted ankle and a concussion after Impact hit him with the title last week (that’s some high quality whining).

This is about the title though, and that’s why Impact isn’t fighting him right now. It’s about being the best instead of how many goons you can recruit. Aries is so confident that he’s willing to leave Moose and Kross in the back so that it can be one on one. Aries knows he’s the best in the world, but who is Johnny this week? Mundo? Impact? Boone? Survivor? Impact doesn’t know which basket to put his eggs in while Aries has put his eggs in the basket of being the best in the world.

Sure, Impact looks great but he’s just a pretend top star. Aries may not look like he does but he knows that he’s great in the ring. At Bound For Glory, Impact can co-star in Aries’ starring role when he brings his black trunks and black boots. After the match, Johnny can take the name Johnny 205, because it’s the last job he can get. Maybe he can just join Aries as the latest goon.

Impact would rather be stretchered out than follow an idiot like Aries so the beatdown is on. Aries misses a belt shot though and eats a superkick, followed by Starship Pain. Really strong promo here as they make this personal after weeks of having no tension between these two. That’s exactly what this match needed.

Cage is ready to destroy OVE.

The Desi Hit Squad isn’t happy about losing last week and thinks they’re not being aggressive enough. Gama Singh comes in to yell at them again before saying they’re fighting next week to see who the weak link is.

Classic Moment of the Week: Hulk Hogan turns face to save Sting from Immortal at Bound For Glory.

Scarlett, in a different outfit than earlier, turns down various people trying to be her client, including Petey Williams and Trevor Lee. Petey even offers to teach her the Canadian Destroyer, much to Lee’s disgust.

Pentagon and Fenix are down for a fight with OVE tonight.

Kiera Hogan vs. Su Yung

Allie and the Undead Maid of Honor are both here. Kiera goes right at her to start (a common thing around here) and runs Su over in the corner for an early two. An electric chair faceplant out of the corner gives Yung the same thing and some palm strikes keep Kiera in trouble. That’s fine with Kiera, who slugs away some more and hits a low superkick to put Yung on the floor for a suicide dive. The Panic Switch is countered into a sitout powerbomb for two on Yung and Kiera heads up. That means a fight between the seconds and the distraction lets Yung hit the Panic Switch for the win at 4:17.

Rating: D. Yung’s time in Impact continues to astound me as she was pushed as the next big thing for a bit and now this win feels like a surprise just a few months later. Hogan isn’t much but they’re pushing her as an upstart rookie so having her lose here doesn’t make the most sense. Not a very good match either.

Post match the bridesmaids bring out the casket but Allie makes the save. That earns her a Mandible Claw until Kiera makes the second save, only to get slammed into the coffin as well.

Post break, Allie has a panic attack.

Video on Tessa Blanchard vs. Taya Valkyrie.

OVE vs. Lucha Bros/Brian Cage

Bound For Glory preview. Sami gets triple teamed to start and Fenix gets two off a Swanton. We settle down into a regular match with OVE breaking up Fenix’s springboard, albeit after he bounced about four times. It’s too early for the All Seeing Eye though as Fenix sends them into each other, allowing the tag to Cage. House is cleaned, including Cage putting Jake on Dave’s shoulders and German suplexing both of them at the same time. That’s enough for Sami, who shoves the referee for the DQ at 3:39.

Rating: C-. Cage’s power and Fenix’s agility alone are worth seeing here and I can’t complain about a three and a half minute preview for the big match at the pay per view. This was much more of an angle instead of a match that mattered and there’s nothing wrong with that ten days before Bound For Glory.

Post match the fight stays on with the brawling continuing. Cage climbs to the second ropes and deadlift superplexes Jake onto everyone, followed by Fenix hitting a corkscrew plancha off the barricade to take everyone down again. The fighting continues to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. The best thing here was they had the big angle that helped push the pay per view main event. Other than that, the show was mainly focused on setting up Bound For Glory’s already announced matches and that’s not the worst thing in the world. The show feels like it’s going to have a lot of stuff added at the end and that’s all well and good, though it’s not the most thrilling thing in the world. Nice enough show here, with Aries vs. Impact carrying things.

Results

Matt Sydal b. Rich Swann – Snap Angle Slam

La Parka b. Eli Drake via countout

Murder Clown b. Joe Hendry – Top rope splash

Su Yung b. Kiera Hogan – Panic Switch

Brian Cage/Pentagon/Fenix b. OVE via DQ when Callihan shoved the referee

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling
Date: September 27, 2018
Location: Fronton Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews

We’re still in Mexico City and I’m not sure what that means for this week’s show. Last week’s edition wasn’t exactly great and a lot of that is due to just throwing luchadors out there and using them in matches that aren’t much better than something you would see elsewhere. Maybe this week’s will be an improvement though so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of last week’s show.

Knockouts Title: Tessa Blanchard vs. Faby Apache

Blanchard is defending, Faby’s Reina de Reinas Title isn’t on the line and thankfully they get the camera right for Tessa’s entrance. Tessa hammers away in the corner to start but has a whip reversed into a reverse X Factor for two. A hurricanrana gives Faby the same and it’s way too early for the hammerlock DDT.

Blanchard gets more aggressive and scores with a clothesline, followed by a Saito suplex. Faby slaps on a kneebar to put Tessa in some trouble and some Angel’s Wings get two. Back up and Faby gets knocked off the top, setting up Magnum (the top rope Codebreaker) for two, followed by the hammerlock DDT to retain at 5:16.

Rating: C-. You can’t expect much out of a story that was set up one week and blown off the next but that’s what we got here. Blanchard getting a win over a big name from AAA is a good idea and helps establish her as one of the biggest women in the world at the moment. I’m not sure who she’s going to face at Bound For Glory though, as other than Yung and Allie, she doesn’t have any major challengers at the moment.

Post match Tessa says she’s now the best athlete in professional wrestling and the diamond of the Knockouts division. Cue Taya Valkyrie on the screen to speak some Spanish before saying she’s lucha royalty. Tessa can’t say anything until she beats Taya so the challenge is made. Everyone may think Tessa is a b****, but Taya respects her. Let’s see who the best is. It’s certainly better than Allie or Su again.

Eddie Edwards comes up to Alisha and tries to make amends but she calls him crazy. Johnny Impact, Eddie’s partner tonight, comes in and says they have to work together. Alisha still isn’t happy.

OVE takes credit for selling out Bound For Glory and mentions that tonight, it’s Jake vs. Brian Cage, which doesn’t sit well with Jake.

Eli Drake is in Mexico City and brags about his Mexican heritage. Next week: he’s challenging luchadors to a fight. I loved them at first, but these open challenges are getting annoying throughout wrestling.

Brian Cage vs. Jake Crist

Non-title. Cage backdrops him to start and knocks Dave off the apron. He makes the mistake of going after Dave though, allowing Callihan to tornado DDT him off the barricade. Back in and Jake starts in on the arm but an armbar is countered into a powerbomb backbreaker. A jumping knee to the face sets up a 619, followed by a top rope elbow for two. Cage gets two more off a sitout Alabama Slam but Jake spin kicks him in the face to knock Cage down in a rare sight. Crist takes him up top and blocks a superplex, setting up a super cutter….for one. That just ticks Cage off so it’s the Drill Claw for the pin at 4:41.

Rating: C. Cage continues to be an absolute monster with one of the best looks you’ll ever see. At the same time though, I’m not sure what they’re supposed to do with him now though as he’s been booked as completely unbeatable. I’m a little worried about what they might do to take the title off of him and where he goes from there, but at the moment he’s just fun to watch.

Post match the beatdown is on but the lights go out. As they come back on, Dave Crist is nowhere to be seen until Pentagon and Fenix appear on the screen, attacking Dave in the back. Cage beats up Sami and Jake to stand tall.

Austin Aries, Killer Kross and Moose are ready to destroy Edwards and Impact tonight.

Classic Clip: AJ Styles/Christopher Daniels vs. LAX from Bound For Glory 2006. Incredible match.

Katarina comes in to see Joe Hendry and Grado, hitting on the latter a bit due to the success of last week’s music video. That’s going to be another access denied. Katarina expected this and introduces MURDER CLOWN (he’s a clown who MURDERS you), who will be facing Hendry next week.

Scarlett Bordeaux (in a rather nice blue dress) is on the roof to recap her time in the promotion so far. She’s introducing a global talent search, with the winner getting her full time attention. I’ve heard worse ideas.

Desi Hit Squad vs. LAX

Non-title and why yes LAX is indeed over in Mexico. Raju and Santana start things off but it’s quickly off to Ortiz for a double belly to back suplex. A running knee to the face cuts Ortiz off though as the announcers talk about being Scarlett’s servant. Singh comes in for a running dropkick/running knee combination to the face in the corner as the fans are really not thrilled with watching LAX get beaten down.

Santana pulls Singh to the floor for a superkick and Ortiz makes the tag a few seconds later. The fans almost politely applaud Santana cleaning a few rooms of the house as the double teaming begins. Ortiz uses Santana for a platform into a moonsault onto Singh with Raju making the save. The legsweep into the Backstabber combination gets two on Santana until Ortiz Death Valley Drives Raju into Singh in the corner. The Street Sweeper gives LAX the pin at 7:29.

Rating: D. I’m not sure what it means when your main appeal as a team is your old manager is funny when he yells at you. That’s about all the Desi Hit Squad is good for and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. They’re just two guys who can do some average moves and that’s not going to get you very far. Dull match here as LAX winning was never in doubt but we had to sit through the Squad’s insomnia curing offense anyway.

Post match King and the OGz pop up on screen to talk about Konnan’s legend, even showing off some old magazine clips of Konnan as a top star in Mexico. Konnan was wearing a mask back then and King happens to have it right now. Then Konnan started leeching off of people like Art Barr and Eddie Guerrero, just like he’s leeching off of LAX right now. The mask is burned after a solid promo from King, who has come out looking like a star in this whole thing.

Abyss Hall of Fame video.

KM is still injured so Fallah Bahh sings him a lullaby (seriously) and puts a blanked over him. As Bahh leaves, KM calls him back and tells him to get revenge for the two of them.

Tessa accepts Taya’s challenge, even though Taya disappeared when Tessa showed up in the first place. Isn’t that interesting.

Kiera Hogan/Allie vs. Undead Maid of Honor/Su Yung

Allie shoves Su into the corner to start but it’s quickly off to the Maid to do the dirty work. Kiera comes in for a low superkick into a backsplash from Allie for a quick two. The Maid is right back with a springboard spinning crossbody for two but Kiera kicks her right back down into the corner.

It’s back to Allie for a running clothesline, only to have Su come in for a kick to the face. Not that the announcers notice this as they’re too busy talking about Bound For Glory’s sponsor. A Backstabber puts Su down but the Maid pulls Kiera off the apron. Allie ducks a running clothesline though and now it’s off to Kiera to clean house. Stereo kicks put the Maid down and Kiera hits a fisherman’s neckbreaker to finish Su at 6:57.

Rating: D+. I really was expecting more from Yung when she debuted, even though she felt like Rosemary Lite at times. That being said, her one Knockouts Title reigns feels like an afterthought now and she’s taking losses in tag team matches to women not even on the upcoming pay per view. That’s a heck of a drop and it shows no signs of slowing down.

Rich Swann wants to see Matt Sydal’s two eyes instead of his third eye. They’re fighting next week. Good for them.

Eddie Edwards/Johnny Impact vs. Moose/Killer Kross

Aries is at ringside. Moose runs from Eddie to start so Kross goes after Eddie instead. Impact comes in after only a few seconds as it’s a lot of staring early on. It’s already back to Eddie so Moose runs again, meaning we get more Impact as they’re certainly tagging fast to start. Kross runs Impact over though and we take a break.

A leg lariat gets two and the sliding German suplex in the corner drops Kross again. The Countdown to Impact misses and there’s a double clothesline to put them both down. That means another double tag as Eddie comes in to chop Moose. A super hurricanrana gets two as Kross makes the save. Kross sends Impact into the barricade but Impact climbs the thing, rolls back off and hits the Moonlight Drive.

Back in and the Flying Chuck into a Blue Thunder Bomb gets two on Moose so Kross comes back in, leading to a four way strike off. Aries comes in with the belt but Impact knocks him down, only to get caught with the Saito suplex. Eddie hits Kross with the kendo stick but walks into a spear to give Moose the pin at 16:25.

Rating: C+. Not the most thrilling main event tag in the world but it did its job just fine. I’m still not sure what everyone not named Impact is going to be doing at Bound For Glory but Eddie vs. Moose seems likely. If that’s the case, this makes sense as an ending as it lets crazy Eddie want a match against Moose, perhaps with the kendo stick legal. At least Impact didn’t do the job here though, and that’s what matters most.

Overall Rating: D+. I wasn’t feeling this one again as the build isn’t the best in the world. Both the World Title and Knockouts Title matches for Bound For Glory were set up by someone coming out and saying “yo I want a title shot” and that’s not the most thrilling method in the world. Nothing on here was horrible, but at the same time there was nothing that made me interested in seeing Bound For Glory. They have two weeks left and that problem needs to be solved sooner rather than later.

Results

Tessa Blanchard b. Faby Apache – Hammerlock DDT

Brian Cage b. Jake Crist – Drill Claw

LAX b. Desi Hit Squad – Street Sweeper to Singh

Allie/Kiera Hogan b. Undead Maid of Honor/Su Yung – Fisherman’s neckbreaker to Yung

Killer Kross/Moose b. Johnny Impact/Eddie Edwards – Spear to Edwards

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling
Date: September 20, 2018
Location: Fronton Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews

After all the weeks of telling us multiple times a night that the show was going to Mexico City, the show is now in Mexico City! Odds are these tapings will take us up to Bound For Glory next month and that means we should be seeing some big stuff taking place over the next four weeks. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The opening video looks at the major feuds around here, including the World Title situation, OVE and LAX. The World Title match gets a lot of time as well.

Aerostar/El Hijo Del Vikingo/Laredo Kid vs. OVE

They waste no time in the six way staredown until Laredo kicks away at Dave, who has grown a Wyatt Family size beard in a week. Aerostar comes in and kicks Jake until Sami powerbombs him down. It’s Vikingo’s turn now and he hand walks into a hurricanrana to send Jake outside. That means we hit the dives with Kid moonsaulting onto everyone and Vikingo shooting starring onto an even bigger pile.

Rating: C+. That’s a very good way to start off a big series of shows like this. You need something fast paced and exciting, which is what a trios match is going to do. Most importantly though they had Aerostar in there, which gives the fans someone they recognize. His partners could hang with him, which lets you know their skill level. Otherwise, I have no idea who Vikingo is and therefore I don’t know if OVE should be squashing him or winning a hard fought match. Well done for such a simple match.

Matt Sydal again offers his services to Rich Swann. He suggests a tag match against the Lucha Bros and Swann actually agrees, though he tells Sydal to keep up.

Tessa Blanchard throws a woman out of the locker room and Faby Apache (a big name in AAA) tells her to show some respect. That sounds like a setup.

Here’s Eli Drake for an Open Challenge and it includes a first class ticket on the Gravy Train.

Eli Drake vs. Trevor Lee

Trevor is fired up to start and uppercuts Drake in the corner but a running clothesline takes him down. A trip to the floor doesn’t last long as Lee brings it back inside for two off a backbreaker. The Gravy Train is countered into a rollup for two but the second Gravy Train attempt is enough for the pin at 3:37.

Rating: D. Lee showed some fire here and was better than I was expecting. Drake winning these matches in a hurry tells me that TNA has something planned for him and that’s a good sign going forward. The action made the match work and they were smart to keep things going at such a fast pace.

King wants to beat up a luchador to show Konnan what he has.

King vs. Kronoz

The OGz beat Kronoz down and a spinning back fist gives King the pin at 19 seconds.

Post match King calls out Konnan to no reaction.

In the clubhouse, Konnan and LAX rant about King’s lack of respect. Konnan tells them not to tell him what to do because the ceasefire can’t be broken up. The revenge can take place at Bound For Glory.

Alisha vs. Faby Apache

They kick at the legs to start with Faby getting the better of things. A surfboard has Alisha in trouble until she hurricanranas her way out of trouble. Alisha gets two off a victory roll but she charges into a boot in the corner. The Black Widow doesn’t last long so Alisha goes with a clothesline instead. A Flatliner gets two on Apache but she kicks Alisha in the face and hits a Batista Bomb for the pin at 5:10.

Rating: C-. The earlier segment made it pretty clear that Apache is destined to face Tessa at some point down the line so she’s not about to lose to a low level name like Alisha. That being said, Alisha got in some offense here and it made the match watchable enough. Not too bad here and Apache is in for something bigger.

Post match Faby (through a translator) says she wants to face Tessa next week because Tessa is a new girl and needs to learn respect.

Texano Jr. says he has two partners of his own: his fists and his bullrope. Those are enough to let him win the World Title and ride away on his horse holding it.

Scarlett Bordeaux will have an announcement next week.

Rich Swann/Matt Sydal vs. Lucha Bros

As you might expect, the Lucha Bros are crazy over. Swann and Fenix go to an early standoff and Fenix isn’t sure what to make of that. It’s off to Pentagon vs. Sydal as things break down in a hurry. A cutter drops Sydal and Pentagon superkicks Swann out of the air for two. We settle down to Sydal kicking Pentagon in the face for two but Swann comes back in and eats a superkick.

The hot tag brings in Fenix to clean house and there’s the big corkscrew dive to the floor. Everyone is down and we take a break. Back with Sydal kneeing Fenix in the face and stereo hurricanranas taking the Bros down. Pentagon is fine enough to Fear Factor Sydal on the apron, followed by the Muscle Buster driver (Black Fire driver) for the pin on Swann at 13:04, though Fenix looked surprised that he won.

Rating: C+. Usual good stuff from these four, as Sydal is much easier to watch when he’s not allowed to talk. The Lucha Bros are really entertaining and work so well together, which is the case with any brothers. You can’t fake that kind of thing and it’s a good reason why so many brother teams are that good.

Post match OVE comes in for the beatdown until Brian Cage makes the save.

Aries is ready to face Texano because there’s no one left.

The Desi Hit Squad is getting a massage before their non-title match next week against LAX. Gama Singh comes in and orders them to exercise and beat each other up.

Joe Hendry and Grado have a new video on Katarina, with Hendry saying he’d never leave his best friend for her. As usual: Hendry is fun and entertaining and Grado is there too.

From Bound For Glory 2005: Ultimate X. The ending isn’t actually shown.

Video on Tessa Blanchard, Su Yung and Allie.

This year’s Hall of Fame inductee: Abyss. I have no issue with that whatsoever as he’s been around since the beginning.

Impact Wrestling World Title: Austin Aries vs. Texano Jr.

Aries is defending and has Moose and Killer Kross with him. Feeling out process to start and Aries takes him down for a dropkick. Back up and Texano scores with a forearm into a slingshot headbutt, only to have his neck snapped across the top rope. They fight to the floor and we take an early break.

Back with Aries raking the back and sending Texano into the corner as we break open the Hollywood Hogan Starter Offense. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets Texano out of trouble and a Rough Ryder gets two on the champ. Aries takes a breather on the floor, where he picks up the bullrope. The referee takes it away so Texano hits a superkick for two. That’s about it for Texano though as the brainbuster retains Aries’ title at 12:12.

Rating: D. There was no spark to this at all and I was actually surprised when the match just ended out of nowhere. I’ve seen Texano put on some entertaining matches before and Aries is capable of great stuff but this was a bad effort from both of them. The stuff early on wasn’t anything to see and the ending was even worse. Really bad and disappointing match that certainly didn’t feel like a main event.

Post match Johnny Impact pops up with a graphic saying he’s in Los Angeles. Aries doesn’t buy it and asks where Impact is. Cue Impact down the ramp to clear the ring. Now it’s Eddie Edwards with the kendo stick to get in a few shots on the villains to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. Very meh show overall with nothing that stood out and two matches that were both rather bad. The fact that they were in Mexico City really just meant that they had some different jobbers, though I would prefer that to trying to make the show look like it’s in Mexico as some theme week idea that WWE uses in England. Not the worst show they’ve put on, but it didn’t help much in the Bound For Glory build.

Results

OVE b. El Hijo Del Vikingo/Laredo Kid/Aerostar – All Seeing Eye to Vikingo

Eli Drake b. Trevor Lee – Gravy Train

King b. Kronoz – Spinning back fist

Faby Apache b. Alisha – Sitout powerbomb

Lucha Bros b. Matt Sydal/Rich Swann – Black Fire driver to Swann

Austin Aries b. Texano Jr. – Brainbuster

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling
Date: September 13, 2018
Location: Rebel Sports Complex, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews

The very slow build towards Bound For Glory continues, which should be the case given how far away the show really is. We now have a main event of World Champion Austin Aries defending against Johnny Impact, which was announced in the most low key way possible. You can probably guess what we’ll be getting this week so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening recap.

Opening sequence.

Here are Austin Aries, Moose and Killer Kross for a chat, complete with some couches and a small table. Aries says they’re running the show now and everyone who comes up to them is taken down. Cue KM and Fallah Bahh of all people (Aries: “What the heck is this?”) with Aries saying they’re fat, then realizing that he can’t fat shame anyone.

Apparently Scarlett Bordeaux has them to always speak their mind so KM calls Aries rotten and a horrible World Champion. The monsters get up but Aries tells them to take their seats. Aries offers them a peace offering. Aries: “Not a piece of pie.” Bahh can have a title shot tonight and the deal is made.

Lucha Bros vs. Cult of Lee

Pentagon and Lee start things off and everything breaks down in a hurry with the Cult being dropkicked to the floor as we take a break. Back with Fenix kicking Lee in the face but getting dropped throat first across the top rope. Pentagon gets knocked down as well and it’s Fenix getting double teamed as the fans chant for LUCHA LIBRE. Some chops give Fenix a quick breather but Lee stomps him down in the corner for his efforts.

A double Lethal Injection really gets Fenix out of trouble and the hot tag brings in Pentagon as everything breaks down again. Pentagon flips Fenix into a splash for two on Konley and it’s time for the skin ripping chop in the corner. A spike Fear Factor is broken up and Trevor gets two off the assisted top rope double stomp. Pentagon superkicks Konley to the floor and it’s a dive from Fenix to follow. Now the spike Fear Factor can finish Lee at 12:31.

Rating: C+. The Lucha Bros are just fun to watch and the two of them seem to get better and better every single time they’re out there. You know they’re going to wind up in WWE one day so enjoy their stuff outside the big company while it lasts. The Cult isn’t great but they’re more than good enough for something like this and that’s not a bad place to be.

Post match OVE pops up on screen to say they sell tickets and they’re ready for one more match against the Lucha Bros and Brian Cage at Bound For Glory. Of note: Sami did all of the talking here, but Jake Crist was over his shoulder, mimicking every word he said.

Bahh isn’t sure so KM gives him a pep talk. They need advice from former champions.

Post break Bahh and KM find Eli Drake and ask what he thinks they should do. Drake talks about their clothes and mocks the Mexican fans before next week’s show in Mexico.

Classic Clip of the Week: the Von Erichs at Slammiversary 2014.

Allie and Kiera Hogan don’t like Tessa Blanchard but Allie isn’t going to let what Su Yung did to everyone else happen to her.

Tessa didn’t need Allie’s help. She’ll prove that she’s undeniable in Mexico City.

Alisha vs. Katarina

The bell rings and here are Grado and Joe Hendry to interrupt. Hendry talks about how depressed Grado is. He can’t even eat anymore so Hendry has put together a custom music video to express his feelings. The song talks about access being denied and even references the aborted incest angle between Katarina and her storyline brother Paul Burchill from WWE. Alisha rolls her up for the pin at 2:40 in the only wrestling of the match.

Scarlett Bordeaux rubs Bahh’s stomach and tells him to win the title.

Earlier this week, Josh had a Skype interview with Johnny Impact. After seeing Impact getting laid out last week, Johnny says he registers his injuries as setbacks instead of pain. He knows Moose and Kross are going to get involved at Bound For Glory but Aries needing that much backup tells him that Aries is insecure.

LAX vs. The Fraternity

Non-title and the Fraternity are Channing Decker and Trent Gibson playing college frat boys with a combined SAT score of 2000. Ortiz wastes no time in beating Decker with a flip flop so Decker cartwheels into a clothesline to the back of the head. A belly to belly into a top rope elbow gets two so Santana comes in to clean house.

Santana gets taken down as well for a double headbutt as the Fraternity aren’t looking too shabby. Ortiz sends them back into each other though and uses Decker for half of a Magic Killer on Gibson. Back up and Decker tries a charge down the ramp, only to run into a chokeslam. LAX throws Gibson into Decker in the corner for a Cannonball and the Street Sweeper finishes Decker at 4:16.

Rating: C. For a match where a squash should have been expected, this was a heck of a surprise with the Fraternity, which sounds like a nothing gimmick, getting a lot. You knew there wasn’t going to be an upset (save for through OGz interference) but it’s always nice to see a team do better than expected. Not bad at all here.

Post match here are King and the OGz to complain about the ceasefire. The only thing he cares about is that the kid they ran over is still breathing. Konnan has to be held back.

Aries says he’s smiling tonight and at the rate he and his buddies are going, there might not be a Bound For Glory.

Bahh is fired up when Rich Swann comes in to give him another pep talk. Swann runs into Matt Sydal, who again offers to show him the way. That’s a big negative so they’ll have a match next week instead.

Next week: the newest inductee into the Hall of Fame announced.

Kongo Kong vs. Brian Cage

Non-title. Kong runs him over to start and catches a diving Cage in midair. Cage knocks Kong to the ramp so Kong forearms him in the face and hits a big fat dive over the ropes for two. The top rope splash misses so Cage settles for two off a powerslam instead. A Lionsault gives Cage two (because of course he can do that) but the 619 is broken up with a clothesline. Kong hammers away in the corner so Cage Batista Bombs him for two. Cage backflips out of a chokeslam (I mean….what?), knees him in the face and hits the discus lariat to turn Kong inside out. The F5 gives Cage the pin at 4:43.

Rating: C. Cage scares me more and more every time I see him because human beings shouldn’t be able to do those kind of things. This was another impressive outing, though some of that entertainment might be due to seeing Kong get destroyed. It wasn’t quite a squash, but it was the kind of fun that I hope for every time Cage is out there.

Post match Cage accepts OVE’s challenge for Bound For Glory.

Bound For Glory rundown.

About thirty people wish Bahh luck.

Impact World Title: Fallah Bahh vs. Austin Aries

Aries is defending as Josh talks about some of the greatest upsets in sports history. As you might expect, Aries has Moose and Kross, both armed with chairs, backing him up. KM is there with Bahh as well. We even get some Big Match Intros with a good sounding announcer. Aries isn’t exactly looking nervous to start and slaps on a headlock to frustrate Bahh early on.

Bahh’s headlock works a bit better as Aries can’t do much with him. Back up and Bahh makes the mistake of running the ropes, leaving him sucking wind on the ropes. We come back from a break with Bahh running Aries over and chopping him down in the corner without needing oxygen. Aries is smart enough to go after the leg but Bahh is right back with more chops. The sitdown splash misses so Aries tries the brainbuster due to reasons of temporary insanity.

Bahh eventually reverses into a suplex and goes back to the chops. The Samoan drop gets two and a belly to belly is good for the same. Bahh tries to roll over Aries but gets reversed into the Last Chancery. That means a foot on the ropes for the break so Aries tries another brainbuster. This one is reversed and a crossbody gives Bahh two but the Banzai drop is broken up again. The Last Chancery goes on for the second time and Bahh taps at 16:22.

Rating: B-. Part of that is due to a surprise as I never would have guessed that this would have been any good and it wound up being rather entertaining. I had a good time watching this, mainly because it wasn’t Bahh doing his annoying comedy. Instead it was a good performance from a guy knowing how to use his size to his advantage. I wonder how much Aries had to do with that, as it was easily the best Bahh performance ever.

Post match KM gets laid out with chairs as the fans still cheer for Moose.

Overall Rating: B-. Solid episode this week though there are a few points that held it back. I mean, Grado in general causes anything to go down and some of the stories aren’t the best, but you can see where they want to take most of them and they’re building up Bound For Glory as a very good blowoff point. That’s a good sign for the biggest show of the year, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.

Results

Lucha Bros b. Cult of Lee – Spike Fear Factor to Lee

Alisha b. Katarina – Rollup

LAX b. The Fraternity – Street Sweeper to Decker

Brian Cage b. Kongo Kong – F5

Austin Aries b. Fallah Bahh – Last Chancery

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling
Date: September 6, 2018
Location: Rebel Sports Complex, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews

Things are getting interesting around here again as we now have a three headed monster on top of the promotion. Last week Moose joined forces with Austin Aries and Killer Kross as the trio beat down Eddie Edwards. That means that Eddie is going to need some help in this fight and that could be anyone. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The opening recap looks at Cage retaining the X-Division Title over Fenix and beating up OVE, the LAX issues, Tessa Blanchard winning the Knockouts Title and the Edwards issues.

Opening sequence.

Petey Williams vs. Rich Swann

Rematch from last week and Matt Sydal is on commentary. Swann dances to start and offers Petey the chance to retaliate but gets rolled up instead. A drop toehold puts Swann in the ropes for a dropkick to the back but O Canada is reversed into a German suplex out of the corner. Swann gets shoved to the floor for a slingshot hurricanrana but it’s way too early for the Canadian Destroyer. The lifting Downward Spiral works a little better but Swann reverses another Destroyer attempt.

A Lethal Injection gives Swann two but Petey takes the leg out and grabs the Sharpshooter. Sydal says pain is just a state of mind as Swann makes the rope. Petey hits a Russian legsweep into a crucifix but Swann is right back up with a shooting star press for two of his own. Williams bails to avoid the middle rope Phoenix splash so Swann kicks him in the head. It’s Phoenix splash time but Sydal sits on the ramp for a distraction, allowing the Destroyer to finish Swann at 7:52.

Rating: C-. Every week I watch these non-Cage X-Division matches and I try to not lose even more interest in everyone involved. That’s not working as Sydal and Williams aren’t doing a thing for me and haven’t in a long time. Swann is a little better but that’s not exactly saying much. The match was fine but the characters and story aren’t there.

Post break Sydal tells Swann that he’s trying to help him but Swann tells him to stay away.

Desi Hit Squad vs. Joe Hendry/Grado

Hendry’s new song is about his platonic love with Katarina. Raju gets elbowed down to start and the good guys dance into a double elbow drop. Hendry suplexes him for the same but Grado walks into a neckbreaker. A legsweep gives Singh two but he charges into a boot in the corner, allowing the hot tag off to Hendry. Everything breaks down and Hendry hits the fall away slam on both of them at once. Callis: “Even Grado couldn’t screw this up!” Grado proceeds to miss a cannonball, setting up a wind-up knee into the Sky High to give Singh the pin at 5:00.

Rating: D. As usual, it’s a bad sign when the match being short is the best thing about it. Grado is much more acceptable in small doses and Hendry has all the makings of a midcard star but the Hit Squad is just so average and mediocre that it’s hard to watch them. Now just get Hendry away from this mess and see what he can do. The songs alone will give him a spot for as long as he wants it.

Post match Katarina yells at Grado for losing and says she loves Hendry. She goes to kiss him but Hendry says Grado is his best friend so Katarina is out. That earns Hendry a slap as my head hurts all over again. Dang it we were this close to that story being done.

Post break Hendry and Grado laugh a lot.

Classic Clip of the Week: Bully Ray wins the World Title at Lockdown 2013.

Video on Su Yung vs. Tessa Blanchard set to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which is far more eerie than you might think. Of note: Tessa first appears on the word “diamond”, which is the kind of little touch that makes these things that much better.

Bob sings to Scarlett Bordeaux when KM and Fallah Bahh come in to thank her for helping them. She flirts with them a bit and they have an idea.

Here’s Eli Drake for a chat. Drake talks about all the dummies around lately, like those two last week that took the Gravy Train. Let’s see if anyone who can come out here and impress him. Cue Stone Rockwell, an Indiana Jones style character from a show on the Impact Twitch channel. Drake wants to hear about his latest adventure but cuts him off. Rockwell wants to be a World Champion so Drake wants to get him off to a hot start.

Eli Drake vs. Stone Rockwell

Gravy Train in 12 seconds. I’m not sure where this is leading but Drake is always entertaining.

The Lucha Bros invite Cage to team with them again OVE and Sami Callihan but they’re fine if he doesn’t.

Aries, Moose and Kross are in the back and throw an interviewer out. Alisha Edwards comes in and the trio leaves.

Knockouts Title: Su Yung vs. Tessa Blanchard

Tessa is defending and grabs a very early rollup. The Panic Switch is broken up but Tessa has to bail from the bloody glove. Tessa: “SHE’S CRAZY!” Back in and Su throws her around a few times but gets her legs tied up in a modified Indian Deathlock. The running dropkick to the back gives Tessa two and a hanging DDT out of the corner rocks Yung again. Tessa can’t bring a chair in so she sits it down, only to be knocked into said chair.

Yung cannonballs her off the apron to knock Tessa out of the chair in a big crash. Back in and Yung takes her to the top, only to get pulled back down with a super cutter (supposed to be a neckbreaker but close enough). Back from a break with Tessa firing off right hands but getting hurricanranaed into the corner. The Panic Switch is broken up again and the hammerlock DDT retains Tessa’s title at 12:40.

Rating: C. Tessa was extra aggressive here and that’s something she needs to do every now and then. The point of her character is that she knows she’s better than everyone else so having her show what she’s capable of doing when she needs to makes her seem all the more dangerous. Yung losing again isn’t a good sign for her, as she doesn’t exactly have the best record.

Post match the Undead Bridesmaids bring out a casket with Tessa’s name on it. Yung jumps her from behind and hits the Panic Switch. Allie and Kiera Hogan run out for the save. Thankfully Tessa gets up and yells at the two of them as turning Tessa face would be a really bad idea.

Time for your weekly reminder that Impact will indeed be in Mexico for tapings next week.

Cage doesn’t like Sami Callihan and OVE. He’s the Machine and will take them apart.

Konnan and King go to see their bosses, who aren’t happy over the kid being run over two weeks ago. Konnan blames King, who says he can’t believe the hypocrisy around here. Everyone is against him and he did what has to be done to make money. It was ok when Konnan and the bosses did it but not when King does the same? The bosses say there’s a ceasefire until October 14 in New York City (at Bound For Glory). There will be a six man final war with Konnan getting involved too. King won’t shake hands.

The announcers preview next week’s card.

Zachary Wentz/Ace Austin/Trey Miguel vs. OVE

OVE cleans house to start but Wentz knees Callihan in the face. A big flip dive takes the villains out and Miguel dives onto everyone else. Fans: “THIS IS IMPACT!” Egads that’s bad even for a wrestling chant. Back in and Jake kicks Miguel in the face a few times before handing it off to Dave. Everything breaks down and Austin gets kicked in the head, sending him into a hanging Downward Spiral. The All Seeing Eye finishes Austin at 3:44.

Rating: C-. Well it was certainly energetic, which is more than you would have expected out of a short squash. OVE has grown on me a lot and while I’m still not big on them, they’re far better than they used to be. The jobbers all looked good here and I wouldn’t mind seeing more of them in the future.

Post match Callihan piledrives Austin and says they’re the best trio in the world today. Their war with Fenix and Pentagon will never end and if Cage wants in, bring it on.

Here are Aries, Kross and Moose (in a very shiny shirt) so the latter can explain himself. Aries introduces Moose as Moose Money, which is going to need some time to sink in. Moose says Eddie is a fraud because he was the one who had Eddie’s back through everything. When Moose was in the hospital with a concussion, Kross and Aries were the only ones who cared.

Moose thanks Aries for being the greatest man who ever lived and Aries thanks Moose for listening. No one is taking the World Title but here’s Johnny Impact to interrupt. Aries agrees that Impact is a nobody but says that while Impact looks the part, Aries is the part. Impact announces that he’s getting the World Title shot at Bound For Glory but Aries wants to do it right now.

Johnny is smarter than that and, after plugging Boone the Bounty Hunter, asks Aries to come fight out here. An insult to bananas brings Aries onto the ramp but the numbers take Impact down. Kross chokes him out and Aries adds a Figure Four. With Impact out, Aries Pillmanizes his throat against the post to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This was a little weaker than some of the previous shows, mainly with the not so great wrestling and the storylines that aren’t the best in the first place. It’s not a terrible show or anything but it’s a show that didn’t do anything for me and nothing on it is really interesting or memorable. The build for Bound For Glory could be good though and that’s the more important thing going forward.

Results

Petey Williams b. Rich Swann – Canadian Destroyer

Desi Hit Squad b. Joe Hendry/Grado – Sky High to Grado

Eli Drake b. Stone Rockwell – Gravy Train

Tessa Blanchard b. Su Yung – Hammerlock DDT

OVE b. Zachary Wentz/Ace Austin/Trey Miguel – All Seeing Eye to Austin

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6