Impact Wrestling “Final Hour”
Thursday, November 8th
RESULTS: Pentagon Jr. & Fenix over Homicide & Hernandez, Jordynne Grace over Katarina, Moose over Eddie Edwards, Johnny Impact over Killer Kross to retain the Impact title
-This was the final episode taped at the Melrose Ballroom last month and built around Johnny Impact’s title defense against Killer Kross. The promos from Kross were very good leading up to the match and he’s been a strong character since his introduction. I didn’t find the match to click, it was slow and lacked heat for a title match. Kross attacked Impact’s knee and the big spot was a Razor’s Edge off the ramp and into the ring delivered by Kross. Impact came back with a double foot stomp off the apron, hit the Countdown to Impact, huracanrana into the corner and won with Starship Pain. It was never got out of the first gear and came off flat.
-Moose defeated Eddie Edwards with a spear in the battle between ex-friends. They had a good match as Edwards is very versatile to whatever the style and Moose did well. Highlights included Moose hitting the Go to Hell off the top, Edwards hit a Tiger Driver and Moose powerbombed Edwards onto the ramp. Alisha Edwards came out concerned for Edwards’ health and was later informed by a doctor that he may have suffered a concussion. If you’re a fan of SNL, Alisha Edwards is starting to play Angel, Every Boxer’s Girlfriend from Weekend Update. With the win, it would make sense that Moose would be next to challenge Impact.
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-They aired footage of Brian Cage showing up at Sami Callihan’s Rock Star Pro Wrestling in Dayton, Ohio. Cage took on Callihan, oVe, and members of the locker room. The commentary by Josh Mathews was hilarious as Mathews explained why the fans are cheering Callihan because it’s a cult that Callihan has formed in his company. Cage fell to the numbers advantage and was laid out with a belt shot by Callihan. The independent footage never looks great, but the audience seemed into the segment and Callihan and Cage carried the segment. They book Cage very well as a Wolverine-style babyface.
-Jordynne Grace debuted and defeated Katarina in a short match when Katarina submitted to a bear hug. Grace seems like an obvious woman to groom for a title match with Tessa Blanchard and is a great addition by Impact for the knockout’s division. Grace should go through a series of women in quick squash matches rather than rush to the title picture so quickly.
-Allie is fighting the evil from within and opted to take the advice of Father Jim Mitchell and seek out his help to combat the evil. Kiera Hogan warned Allie, but Allie was too stubborn to listen, a trait often associated with heavy amounts of evil infiltrating the soul. I really like Allie and she’s a great performer but this story is awful. It’s everything fans have rejected from Lucha Underground and it’s too far into the territory of “stupid” for anyone to care about.
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-Perhaps the best thing on the show was the GWN retro match. Usually, they air the full match, but this week it was only the final minutes of a 2008 tag between the Motor City Machine Guns against Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino of Dragon Gate. This was awesome and I wish they ran the entire match.
-Pentagon Jr. & Fenix defeated Homicide & Hernandez after double-teaming Hernandez with Fenix hitting a Swanton and then doing a wheelbarrow with Pentagon into an inverted Code Red to pin Hernandez. It was the best match on the show and Fenix may have the record for best television matches of 2018. It was a fun tag and Pentagon & Fenix always comes off as the hottest stars on Impact.
-It wasn’t a great show, it had elements that were enjoyable, but the two hours dragged at a lot of points. I’d recommend the opening tag match and if you’ve never seen Jordynne Grace, it’s a quick match with Katarina to familiarize yourself as she’ll probably ascend quickly.
-Next week’s show is the start of the tapings from Las Vegas, which start this Sunday from Sam’s Town.
