Welcome to a SPECIAL EDITION of the weekly UnWrest blog. Now, I know what some of you might be thinking: does this guy ever stop? Well, my blog isn't called UnWrest just because it's a clever play on a word.
I decided tonight to give Impact Wrestling the first honest view in about 2 years. I finished watching August 23rd's edition of Impact. And it had a stellar Mexican Death Match between Pentagon Jr. and Sami Callahan. So, I decided to watch the following week's Impact, called Impact Wrestling: Redefined. And I've decided to do a special live thought reaction post on this show. Will this be a permanent thing? Vote on twitter.com/cdub1898 to make that decision. As for now, look up on your cable/satellite/streaming service for Pop TV and the August 30th edition of Impact Wrestling. Ready? Let's do this!
Live Thoughts
- The opening match is an X-Division Championship match between champion Brian Cage and challenger Fenix. This was an incredible back and forth match which saw Cage demonstrate some unreal athleticism for a muscular 275lb athlete. There were several awesome spots in this. At one point, Cage throwing Fenix with one arm up the ramp from the ring. Seconds later, Fenix countered Cage with a somersault into a cutter on the ramp. Then, a few minutes later, Cage catches Fenix midair during a dive and muscles him up for a suplex on the floor. Then, the finish sees Cage powerbomb Fenix from the top rope down on the mat, retaining the X-Division Championship. The last time I saw Impact, the X-Division was a complete, utter joke. This was anything but. I've heard great things about both these guys, and now I can say I believe some of the hype.
- Don Callis and Josh Matthews are shown hyping the big show tonight, and the crowd behind him is cheering for Jericho. Could Jericho join Impact? Imagine a world where Jericho, Omega, Cody, The Young Bucks, and Hangman Page go between NJPW, ROH, AND IMPACT?! That'd basically be like merging three companies into one without having to do the paperwork.
- Good news: Impact Wrestling didn't have their talent commit vehicular manslaughter. The kid is going to make "a full recovery." (eye roll) I like the idea of the old LAX coming back to feud with this new version (that has Konnan managing them). But still, this was a stupid, wrong way to do a storyline.
- What made me do this or want to see this show again? Pentagon Jr. and Tessa Blanchard from their ALL IN performances. Those two put my eyes back on this show after 2 years.
- Eli Drake's interactions with the crowd were cool to see. This guy definitely has the gift of gab. I haven't seen him wrestle enough to get a good idea about his abilities based on this, but he's definitely got a good character going.
- Su Yung and her Undead Bridesmaids is so weird that it works for an odd gimmick. Then again, isn't Rosemary still employed by this company? Last time I watched Impact, Rosemary had the role of crazy woman gimmick.
- I enjoyed the Triple Threat Knockouts Championship match with Yung, Blanchard, and Allie. It could have used a few more minutes, and I don't think it reached that "This is Awesome" level the fans tried to make it out to be. But it was very good. Let me put it like this: I liked this a lot more than watching Sasha and Bayley take on the Riott Squad, the IIconics beat Naomi, or anything on ROH's Women of Honor division.
- Petey Williams comes out for his match to the Team Canada theme and dressed like his "Big Petey Pump" days. Rich Swann comes grooving and dancing to the ring. The theme sounds like an actual song and not something completely ridiculous. So, that's an update.
Good match between both men. Swann looked to be a much improved version of himself from what we saw on WWE/205 Live. Nice finish with Swann catching Williams with a standing shooting star press into a cover for a 3 count. It came off as a match where either man could have won, and that's a really good sign for both guys.
- I had to put together what happened in the main event as Hulu decided during my viewing of the show to go ahead and pull the episode off their service. Thank you Hulu or Pop. I blame both of you, you inconsiderate jerks.
Anyways, Moose was attacked by Aries and Kross. This left Eddie Edwards to face both men by himself. Eventually, Moose comes out bandaged ready to help Eddie. Right? WRONG! He goes to hit Aries, turns around, and spears Edwards! Moose beats up Edwards. They wrap a chair around Edwards' neck, and Moose swings another chair into the chair crushing Edwards' head in the process. Eddie's wife comes out and slaps Moose. Moose grabs her, but Aries talks him down. The villains pose to end the show.
Despite the problems seeing the whole show, I really enjoyed what I saw. I might be ready to declare Impact safe to watch again. The quality of matches was definitely top notch with Cage and Fenix being the undisputed match of the night. If you get a chance to see the show, or are limited on time, watch that first match and enjoy it for the spectacle that it is.
So, what do you think? Should I keep reviewing Impact Wrestling? If so, comment below or vote at twitter.com/cdub1898.
Until next time, take care of yourselves. And spread some awesomeness.
I decided tonight to give Impact Wrestling the first honest view in about 2 years. I finished watching August 23rd's edition of Impact. And it had a stellar Mexican Death Match between Pentagon Jr. and Sami Callahan. So, I decided to watch the following week's Impact, called Impact Wrestling: Redefined. And I've decided to do a special live thought reaction post on this show. Will this be a permanent thing? Vote on twitter.com/cdub1898 to make that decision. As for now, look up on your cable/satellite/streaming service for Pop TV and the August 30th edition of Impact Wrestling. Ready? Let's do this!
Live Thoughts
- The opening match is an X-Division Championship match between champion Brian Cage and challenger Fenix. This was an incredible back and forth match which saw Cage demonstrate some unreal athleticism for a muscular 275lb athlete. There were several awesome spots in this. At one point, Cage throwing Fenix with one arm up the ramp from the ring. Seconds later, Fenix countered Cage with a somersault into a cutter on the ramp. Then, a few minutes later, Cage catches Fenix midair during a dive and muscles him up for a suplex on the floor. Then, the finish sees Cage powerbomb Fenix from the top rope down on the mat, retaining the X-Division Championship. The last time I saw Impact, the X-Division was a complete, utter joke. This was anything but. I've heard great things about both these guys, and now I can say I believe some of the hype.
- Don Callis and Josh Matthews are shown hyping the big show tonight, and the crowd behind him is cheering for Jericho. Could Jericho join Impact? Imagine a world where Jericho, Omega, Cody, The Young Bucks, and Hangman Page go between NJPW, ROH, AND IMPACT?! That'd basically be like merging three companies into one without having to do the paperwork.
- Good news: Impact Wrestling didn't have their talent commit vehicular manslaughter. The kid is going to make "a full recovery." (eye roll) I like the idea of the old LAX coming back to feud with this new version (that has Konnan managing them). But still, this was a stupid, wrong way to do a storyline.
- What made me do this or want to see this show again? Pentagon Jr. and Tessa Blanchard from their ALL IN performances. Those two put my eyes back on this show after 2 years.
- Eli Drake's interactions with the crowd were cool to see. This guy definitely has the gift of gab. I haven't seen him wrestle enough to get a good idea about his abilities based on this, but he's definitely got a good character going.
- Su Yung and her Undead Bridesmaids is so weird that it works for an odd gimmick. Then again, isn't Rosemary still employed by this company? Last time I watched Impact, Rosemary had the role of crazy woman gimmick.
- I enjoyed the Triple Threat Knockouts Championship match with Yung, Blanchard, and Allie. It could have used a few more minutes, and I don't think it reached that "This is Awesome" level the fans tried to make it out to be. But it was very good. Let me put it like this: I liked this a lot more than watching Sasha and Bayley take on the Riott Squad, the IIconics beat Naomi, or anything on ROH's Women of Honor division.
- Petey Williams comes out for his match to the Team Canada theme and dressed like his "Big Petey Pump" days. Rich Swann comes grooving and dancing to the ring. The theme sounds like an actual song and not something completely ridiculous. So, that's an update.
Good match between both men. Swann looked to be a much improved version of himself from what we saw on WWE/205 Live. Nice finish with Swann catching Williams with a standing shooting star press into a cover for a 3 count. It came off as a match where either man could have won, and that's a really good sign for both guys.
- I had to put together what happened in the main event as Hulu decided during my viewing of the show to go ahead and pull the episode off their service. Thank you Hulu or Pop. I blame both of you, you inconsiderate jerks.
Anyways, Moose was attacked by Aries and Kross. This left Eddie Edwards to face both men by himself. Eventually, Moose comes out bandaged ready to help Eddie. Right? WRONG! He goes to hit Aries, turns around, and spears Edwards! Moose beats up Edwards. They wrap a chair around Edwards' neck, and Moose swings another chair into the chair crushing Edwards' head in the process. Eddie's wife comes out and slaps Moose. Moose grabs her, but Aries talks him down. The villains pose to end the show.
Despite the problems seeing the whole show, I really enjoyed what I saw. I might be ready to declare Impact safe to watch again. The quality of matches was definitely top notch with Cage and Fenix being the undisputed match of the night. If you get a chance to see the show, or are limited on time, watch that first match and enjoy it for the spectacle that it is.
So, what do you think? Should I keep reviewing Impact Wrestling? If so, comment below or vote at twitter.com/cdub1898.
Until next time, take care of yourselves. And spread some awesomeness.
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