Impact Wrestling: An Outsider’s Perspective

In recent months, Impact Wrestling has been in the process of a rebranding. New wrestlers incoming. New champions stepping up to the plate. A whole new vibe. The rebrand even comes with a whole new channel, two if we’re including both Pursuit and Twitch. Impact hopes to use this programming to attract brand new viewers. Today, we put that theory to the test to see if the rebranding is working.

I first discovered Impact Wrestling in 2007 back when it was still TNA Wrestling. As a kid seeing guys like AJ Styles and Samoa Joe wrestle for the first time, I was hooked from the start.

However, as time progressed, I stopped tuning in as frequently. Not because I was too busy to watch, but because I started to fall out of love with the show, especially during its more egregious days of TNA programming.

As a result, I went from tuning in every week to only watching on and off every once in a while.

I finally drew a line in the sand between myself and Impact Wrestling after seeing Bound for Glory 2017. While the PPV did have some highlights, the show – more than anything else – highlighted the worst that Impact had to offer: screwy finishes, infuriating booking decisions, technical difficulties, “shoots,” etc. The kind of stuff that only ever happened to Impact Wrestling.

Even after I stopped watching Impact, I could not help but notice when gifs from episodes would appear on my Twitter timeline. From the looks of it, Impact seemed to be a long ways from perfect, but it also appeared to be a whole new beast altogether.

The storylines appear to be booked smarter and the talent better than ever. I even heard viewers rave positively about the show.

After seeing the spectacular things Impact was doing (in gif form at least), I couldn’t help but be a little curious. So, I tuned into the latest January 18th Twitch streamed episode of Impact to see what the fuss was all about. Generally, what I saw can be summarized in two categories: things I didn’t like and things I either liked or loved.

via impactwrestling.com

What I Didn’t Like

Probably the most refreshing thing about revisiting Impact Wrestling the other night was that I didn’t come out of this week’s show hating anything. Impact used to be easy to hate, but I must say right off the bat that this was a breezy show to watch that wasn’t plagued by its former baffling problems.

With that said, there are still some problems.

The first thing I found myself not liking was the finish to Eddie Edwards vs Ethan Page. The set-up of the match itself was odd since I couldn’t tell who was playing heel and who was playing a face.

At first, I assumed I just wasn’t incredibly familiar with what the characters had been up to lately, but I kept getting the impression both men were giving volatile, villainous performances. Plus, considering the post-match segment, I’m guessing Edwards is the face, which is strange.

The finish saw Edwards bring in a kendo stick for a DQ. Now, I always felt like a wrestler who causes a DQ finish does so for heel heat, but that didn’t seem to be the case here.

From what happened between Eli Drake and Edwards after the match, it would seem Edwards would be the face, so having him get heat for ending a solid match just as it was getting good doesn’t seem like smart booking to me.

I understand that it was meant to highlight how Edwards can’t control his hardcore tendencies, but I feel like that could have been illustrated without him calling for a DQ. The crowd sounded like they didn’t like it. That doesn’t build a case for his babyface character, even if it is an anti-hero babyface.

I also wasn’t a fan of the Taya Valkyrie injury angle. Well, I don’t dislike the angle itself, but I dislike how it was orchestrated. I’m fine with Killer Kross attacking Taya to add fuel to the fire of his feud with Johnny Impact, but the attack never seemed extreme enough to warrant putting Taya on the injury list for what appears to have been weeks.

To be fair, I’ve never been powerbombed onto a set of dudes, but I’d assume the dudes would provide a safe cushion for me. Not sure where the injury would be and it’s hard to buy into.

Of course, it’s a nitpick and a minuscule, minor gripe at best. If I sat here trying to inject real world logic into wrestling, we’d be here all day.

Also, this has no bearing on the actual show itself, but I could’ve done without seeing Josh Matthews read off a list of new Twitch subscribers in between commercials. Actually, I could do without seeing Josh Matthews period, but that’s another story for another day. Again, minor gripe.

I should also mention that Impact intercut and interrupted the opening match – KM vs Caleb Konley – with Brian Cage going on a rampage backstage. This meant that KM won the match offscreen before Cage ran down to attack him and his buddy, Fallah Bahh.

I didn’t dislike this segment, but I should mention it seeing as on paper, it sounds like something I should hate. I’ve seen other promotions do similar things and usually find it disrespectful to the match going on during the segment.

However, I didn’t mind it in this case. Mostly because I know close to nothing about KM or Caleb Konley and wasn’t excited about seeing them square up to begin with. Plus, it’s fun to see Cage just decimate everything/everyone in his path.

That brings us into the things I actually enjoyed about the show.

via impact wrestling instagram page

What I Liked/Loved

First things first, I enjoyed pretty much all of the night’s matches. LAX vs oVe made for a damn good main event. Even if it felt a bit short, I’m happy to see the two teams have continued their feud as I remember their match from BFG ’17 being the best of the night.

I was really into Rich Swann vs Trey Miguel as it was a fun showcase of the X-Division, which is head dizzying action. I also love a good hoss fight, so I was bound to love Cage vs Moose. For that matter, I’m already a huge fan of all of Impact’s new big dudes. But again, I’m a sucker for seeing beef in the ring.

Dark Allie vs Jordynne Grace was good as well, but what I truly loved was the post-match segment between Rosemary and Allie after the match.

First off, I won’t lie: I popped seeing Rosemary emerge in Yung’s place after the blackout. Second, if there’s one thing I hate I missed out on in not watching Impact, it’s all of this dark stuff between Allie, Su Yung and Rosemary.

I’ve read that all of their segments in and out of the ring have drawn comparisons to Lucha Underground and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I’m a sucker for cheesy stuff like that in my wrestling, so I know for a fact I would’ve loved all of it. Makes me want to go back and watch all of the old episodes I missed just to see this storyline take shape.

Staying on the subject of storyline antics, I like the story shaping up between Eddie Edwards and Eli Drake. Still not a fan of how the prior match ended, but I’m intrigued as to where this storyline goes.

Is Drake going to actually try to revert him back into “the old Eddie Edwards?” Is Edwards going to be Drake’s new sidekick? Is this just setting up a feud between hardcore brawler and textbook sports entertainer? There’s plenty of ways this story could develop and I’m tempted to keep tuning in every week to watch where it goes.

Staying on storylines, I’ve been completely oblivious to Scarlett Bordeaux’s worldwide talent search, but it tickles to me to think that someone searched the globe for the best talent they could find only to pick themselves. I’m not sure just how satisfying this segment was for long time viewers, but I personally didn’t mind it. I didn’t necessarily love it, but I found it amusing.

Speaking of amusing, let’s talk about attempted murder! Of course, there’s nothing funny about murder. What is funny is that prior to watching Impact, I watch the WOW (Women of Wrestling) premiere on AXS TV, where Tessa Blanchard nearly killed an old man by cutting off circulation from his oxygen tank. An hour later on Impact, she nearly kills Gail Kim by first threatening her with a wrench, then strangling her with a cable cord.

Either Blanchard is taking the term “killer instinct” to a whole new level, or there’s a serial killer on the loose that must she must be stopped.

All jokes aside, I like seeing how this Gail Kim vs Tessa Blanchard feud develops. Granted, if it doesn’t result in a match, it’s kind of pointless, but if it really is leading to the Kim coming out of retirement for one last hurrah against The Queen of the Carolinas, then I’m all for it.

Either way, seeing Blanchard go absolutely ballistic backstage made for another awesome segment.

via impactwrestling.com

My Final Verdict

I hate to end this recap/review on a problematic hyperbole, but I can’t think of a better way to summarize the show’s latest changing of the guard: Impact is great again.

The show wasn’t perfect, but it was far better formatted and booked as a television episode than the last time I watched Impact Wrestling programming.

Impact now consists of a well rounded rosters filled with guys and gals who are utilized well in their roles. Storylines are not as overcomplicated as they used to be and even when they didn’t work, they worked better than the appalling stories that Impact put out regularly back in the day.

Overall, I came out of this episode thoroughly entertained and I can see myself tuning in again next Friday on Twitch. You’ve found a new viewer, Impact Wrestling. Keep up the good work and more will follow.