Impact Wrestling Results, Highlights, and Grades May 24, 2018

Petey Williams vs. Desmond Xavier

The winner of this match will face Brian Cage next week at “Under Pressure, and the winner of that match will become Matt Sydal’s No. 1 contender for the X Division Championship. Cage is fresh off of a tour of destruction globally, as he put on some sensational matches in Australia and Japan, for example. Cage is the heavy favorite against whoever he faces, but could he really win the X Division Championship soon?

Williams and Xavier had an amazing stand-off after a highly athletic opening exchange, and it was from that moment that we all knew this match would end up stealing the show tonight.

Petey had Xavier’s moves scouted early and went for the Canadian Destroyer at the beginning of the match, but Xavier quickly rolled out of the ring after that presumptuous finisher attempt. Don Callis surmised that Williams’s reliance on the Canadian Destroyer is detrimental, because his frequent attempts at the move make it easy for his opponents to scout it out (as Xavier did here).

Xavier’s dropkick, by the way, is absolutely pretty. He gets so much hangtime on it. There are few things more satisfying than a picture-perfect dropkick. One of those? A nasty headscissors, and Williams pulled out three (!) of those early in the match.

Williams was putting on an absolute clinic, nailing a couple of pretty suplexes, too. But even though Williams was dominating the match, you got a feeling that Xavier’s comeback wasn’t too far away. The pivotal mistake came when Williams took too much time celebrating on the top rope, which allowed Xavier to hit him with a vicious German suplex.

I loved the story this match told. Williams had the veteran savvy, but Xavier just kept hanging in there. Both tried to go for their finishing moves frequently, with Petey attempting the Canadian Destroyer five times. This match went back-and-forth for quite some time, but Xavier finally hit his big move for the W.

Rating: A, you should go out of your way to watch this match, because it was the match of the week. Tremendous stuff from both of these X Division competitors.