Good episode of Impact here, the opener and the main event delivered and they did well towards building towards Emergence (with the build already on track to being better than the Slammiversary build). The X-Division action this week was good, along with the women’s (who delivered on all fronts throughout tonight). The tag match was underwhelming, but it helped build towards the tag at Emergence, along with the return of Chris Sabin, which is just great to see. The Digital Media and Dirty Dango segments were also entertaining and made for enjoyable television. The show itself was structured really well, as they do well in building towards the last two matches. The crowd was decent, although lacklustre at some points.
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On tonight’s episode of Impact, the knockouts world champion, Trinity teams with Dani Luna against former knockouts tag champions, the Coven. The returning Eric Young will also be in action against Nick Aldis, in Young’s first match on AXS TV in 9 Months. Other matches we get to see are Johnny Swinger against Zicky Dice in a loser leaves Impact match, Gisele Shaw against Masha Slamovich, Myers & Moose against the Time Splitters and Zachary Wentz taking on “Speedball” Mike Bailey.
GREAT Dani Luna & Trinity vs The Coven
This match ended up being a good showcase for Luna. Her offence after she got the first tag, followed by her showing some good power against Taylor Wilde (catching her in midair), was a great showcase for her. Eventually Luna does get singled out for the hot tag, with the Coven reminding us of how good of a heel team they are (although they were not done justice with their tag title reign). Trinity gets an electric hot tag, which is followed by Luna hitting a crunchy German suplex. Trinity hits a weird move, which they don’t give a name, for the finish. Good opener here, quality women’s match (TK take notes!).
Result: Trinity & Dani Luna by Pinfall
Bailey Higham WR Star Rating – 3.50 Stars
We then get an incredibly short promo from the Virtuosa, as she enters and announces that she’s getting her rematch at Emergence.
We then go backstage to Moose, Myers & Bully giving Lio Rush an ultimatum in joining their alliance. Bully gives Lio the decision to the end of the night, good stuff, makes me want to keep watching to see what happens with Lio.
Dirty Dango cuts a weird promo on Santino Marella, with newfound ally John E. Bravo by his side. The promo was funny, a highlight was Dango talking about taking Santino’s daughter to Applebees. Although, the best part of this promo featured Dango saying John E. Bravo lasted a week in Vietnam, after he said he vacationed there for 6 days.
Not Long Enough Too Rate: Loser Leaves Impact – Zicky Dice vs Johnny Swinger
You may be unsurprised to here that this match was incredibly stupid. Zicky said “I’m sorry I love you”, before getting a one count on a pin on Swinger. I don’t even wanna describe most this match, because all the spots were pure stupidity. Fun comedy match for what it was though.
Result: Johnny Swinger by Pinfall via. Feet on the ropes
Because of Yuya Uemura pinning Kenny King on BTI, Yuya is able to get added to the Digital Media title match between King & Joe Hendry next week. They had an enjoyable segment to announce this, and Yuya Uemura is doing a good job getting himself over with Impact fans.
Nick Aldis cuts a backstage promo in his traditional promo style, he hypes the main event, nothing much but helps keep interest in the show.
GOOD Gisele Shaw vs Masha Slamovich
MK Ultra continue to bring relevance to the Knockouts Tag Belts, as this match is presumably building towards Shaw & Savannah against the champions. I’ve been liking vicious Shaw recently, and she brought some of that intense offence here against Masha, as she hit some strikes, followed by a vicious looking stomp. Good hard-hitting womens match, Shaw needed the win, excited for where this goes. The finish was interference ridden, but the champs need to be protected, so I understood why.
Result: Gisele Shaw by Pinfall via. Roll-Up
Bailey Higham WR Star Rating – 3.00 Stars
Good Jake Something promo, further sold me on how much of a star this guy can truly be.
Traci Brooks expresses here concerns with Alisha Edwards, and how she’s not only angered her as a wrestler, but as a mother. Kaz says she’s not worth it and the two leave. Good enough build for this week, obviously prolonging the actual announcement of the mixed tag match. I do like how they detail how this feud is affecting them on a personal level, I like that aspect.
BELOW AVERAGE Brian Myers and Moose vs Time Splitters
This match never really clicked for me, as the action was never really got going. The finish was incredibly underwhelming as well, with Shelley rolling up Myers while they were teasing the hot tag.
Result: Time Machine by Pinfall via. Roll-Up
Bailey Higham WR Star Rating – 2.25 Stars
The underwhelming match was more than made up for however, as the post-match angle sees Chris Sabin return to aid the Time Splitters & Josh Alexander against Bully Ray’s alliance (which Lio had joined)
We cut to Alan Angels (who had been jumped by Heath last week on BTI), and he calls out Heath for a match, in a decent promo. Alan Angels sold Heath’s finish beautifully last week. Angels has tons of potential and I’m really interested to see how Impact capitalise on it.
Before the next match, we see the Rascalz in the parking lot after being banned from the arena last week. They act like idiots, call out Subculture, before Mike Bailey calls them out himself.
GOOD Mike Bailey vs Zachary Wentz
You see the expected dynamics here, Speedball being the loveable babyface, while Wentz (along with Trey at ringside) are the obnoxious heels. The in-ring action is the good X-Division action you’d expect, with Wentz using the spray paint to get a second victory in a row.
Result: Zachary Wentz by Pinfall via. Headlock DDT
Bailey Higham WR Star Rating – 3.00 Stars
Time Machine & Alexander vs Bully, Moose, Myers & Rush is announced for Emergence. I’m fine with that, easy way to build towards Shelley vs Alexander, as they wanna save that for BFG obviously.
AMAZING Nick Aldis vs Eric Young
A traditional, technical main event here, which was given a good amount of time, and got Eric some good momentum upon his return. Aldis played a good heel here, as he really played Young as the hometown hero to his advantage. His typical heelish cadence, made it even sweeter when Young was able to get the win.
Result: Eric Young by Pinfall via. Piledriver
Bailey Higham WR Star Rating – 4.00 Stars
As it’s a very evident loose end, Deaner & Kon attack Young after the match, as they clearly have some unfinished business with him, with the whole killing him situation and all. Deaner repeatedly demands for Kon to chokeslam Young, with the beatdown eventually coming to an end, when Deaner is able to hit Young with the antidote. The show ends with the great visual of Deaner sitting on his former mentor.
Overall…
Good episode of Impact here, the opener and the main event delivered and they did well towards building towards Emergence (with the build already on track to being better than the Slammiversary build). The X-Division action this week was good, along with the women’s (who delivered on all fronts throughout tonight). The tag match was underwhelming, but it helped build towards the tag at Emergence, along with the return of Chris Sabin, which is just great to see. The Digital Media and Dirty Dango segments were also entertaining and made for enjoyable television. The show itself was structured really well, as they do well in building towards the last two matches. The crowd was decent, although lacklustre at some points.
Matches: 0.5/1 Stars
Show Structure: 0.75/1 Stars
Atmosphere: 0.5/1 Stars
Storytelling: 0.75/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 0.5/1 Stars
Overall Rating: 3/5 Stars
Photo Credit: Impact Wrestling – July 27th 2023
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