Impact Wrestling: Observations From Post-Slammiversary Show

With Slammiversary 2018 in the books, and following a week of positive coverage, what did the fallout episode of Impact Wrestling do to keep viewers coming back?

The opening ‘sizzle’ reel was a tremendous summation of the pay per view. Impact Wrestling’s summer spectacular was showcased with cool cinematic replays, excellent use of slow motion and all the key happenings getting recapped. The production team doesn’t get anywhere near the respect that they deserve – that made me want to go back and watch Slammiversary from the top. Excellent work.

Austin Aries gave a fiery address  to open the show. Taking digs at scripted promos, glass ceilings and putting over the entire pay per view, Aries commended the roster for delivering in-ring. In true heel fashion, Austin made sure to highlight his show stopping performance as the peak of quality on Sunday. Throwing out an open challenge for his world title, Aries was interrupted by the deranged Eddie Edwards and a Singapore Cane attack.

In the opening segment, Impact shifted the focus from Moose to Edwards. That was quick work and shows the creative team aren’t relying on automatic rematches and prolonged rivalries to pass the time. I’m intrigued. Is Eddie next in line? Will he play the hero or villain? Where does Moose fit in? Bound for Glory is three months away, but I have a lot of questions. That was a strong start.

Credit: Impact Wrestling on Twitter

The opening match saw Petey Williams take on Taiji Ishimori. A quality sequel to the 4 way match at Slammiversary, this was an excellent introduction (for any new and intrigued viewers) to the X-division. Smooth, stiff and athletic – both competitors delivered the match of the night. Ishimori took the win and further promoted the worldwide dominance of the Bullet Club. A great starting point if you’re new to Impact.

Post-match, The Desi Hit Squad attack Petey and Taiji. Again, storyline progression and an interesting new tag team feud in the making. My issue here is, 2 segments in and 2 sneak attacks to develop new stories. Too much, too soon? We’ll see as the weeks progress.

Tessa Blanchard defeated Rebel in convincing fashion. It’s a shame to feed the, much improved, Rebel to Tessa, but Blanchard is a main eventer in the making and a phenomenal talent. The third generation performer is destined to be one of the MVP of the Knockouts roster for years to come. This was a showcase for the future.

After weeks of vignettes, Scarlett Bordeaux made her debut in a live interview segment. Sable-esque from the get go, Scarlett is a provocative character who emphasises looks and revealing outfits while at the same time claiming to be a role model, an inspiration to young girls and an advocate for women’s rights. This disingenuous, better than you attitude could work, it’ll depend who she is pitted against. It’s also interesting that Impact have chosen to go this route. Is this a one-off, baiting character? Or is this an indication of further risqué content being pushed to maintain that newly discovered edge? It’ll be intriguing to follow.

Johnny Impact defeated Trevor Lee in a good, if somewhat throwaway match. Competitive and fun, this served as Johnny’s re-introduction to weekly television after a 3 month absence. Having been put on the shelf by Kongo Kong, the post match promo reignited that rivalry. This has potential from a match stand point and both wrestlers should deliver in this David vs Goliath fight.

On a side note, Johnny Impact could do with turning heel. A great wrestler, his nice guy, Mayor of Slamtown character seems at odds with the more interesting and dynamic characters on the roster. Some storyline support or an attitude adjustments can thrust him to the top of the card once more.

The Grado/Katerina/Joe Hendry love triangle is amusing. With Eli Drake stirring the pot, this should be an entertaining diversion for The Namer of Dummies. Then, Drake need to get back to centre stage and the world title pursuit; he’ll be wasted otherwise.

More credit is due to the production team: The Killer Kross vignette, the OGZ clubhouse segment and Pentagon’s promo were all good pieces of visual storytelling.

And then the OVE bathroom cam was hilarious. A disgruntled Sami Callihan urinated on, beat up and shaved a poor, unsuspecting urinal patron! Callihan isn’t taking the loss of his hair well.

Sami is gold and gives new meaning to the phrase ‘piss and vinegar’.

The main event was a Slammiversary rematch, with Matt Sydal challenging for the X-division championship against Brian Cage.

Another quality bout, different to the pay per view and full of counters and reversals, this was worthy of the top spot this week. When Cage moves like a cruiserweight and Sydal performs at this level, I can see both going for Aries title in the future. In-ring they have ‘It’. Much like Johnny Impact, both could do with a little character and storyline support to take them above and beyond the pack. It’ll be a journey worth watching if both can add extra dimensions to their characters. Cage took the W.

The X-division is an intriguing place with him at its centre.

As a follow-up to Slammiversary, this was a really good show. Not perfect, and still with kinks to iron out, Impact presented good matches, new talent and fresh directions. A new fan, circling the company after all the positive buzz from Slammiversary, would have plenty to enjoy, some question marks and a reason to return next week.

Let’s see if they do.