Impact wrestling thread - It's a Don West tribute thread now!

[tiger_rick]

On 7/24/2018 at 12:13 AM, Hannibal Scorch said:

Maybe I have just got too old, or I feel differently as a parent, but that Sami Callahan match was absolute grot and I would be happy to never see him in a ring. The spit, snot and the spikes were just disgusting. I would be happy to never see him on a TV/PPV ever again.

He's fucking vile. And it's brilliant. He's a proper heel in that environment which isn't easy. It brought a lot to the match and it got everyone behind Pentagon.

On 7/23/2018 at 10:43 PM, garynysmon said:

It does seem somewhat reminiscent of the Attitude era in some ways

I wouldn't got that far but it definitely had a completely different vibe to WWE. It felt like a cross between ECW and what WWE was in around 2004/05 when it was trying to be early 80s Mid-south. There was a ton of ECW influence in the garbage matches and some of the promos. The Callahan one, particularly, felt like Heyman produced TV.

It's clear fro mthe above that they're looking at some of the things WWE doesn't do like blood, garbage matches, pre-produced videos and ad-libbed promos and they're creating a viable alternative with lots of young, talented guys and familiar names.

That utter dogshit with Edwards & Callahan shows they're still TNA but it's really positive steps forward.

The one other criticism I'd have of this show is that there isn't really a hook coming out. Everything was blown off so decisively that it will feel inorganic to continue it. It would have been a touch more interesting if they'd set some things up coming out. That's minor though. I'll check out the next Impact on the basis that this was good.

[garynysmon]

1 hour ago, tiger_rick said:

The one other criticism I'd have of this show is that there isn't really a hook coming out. Everything was blown off so decisively that it will feel inorganic to continue it. It would have been a touch more interesting if they'd set some things up coming out. That's minor though. I'll check out the next Impact on the basis that this was good.

I'd agree to a certain point. But there's still some intrigue as to where Eddie Edwards' character goes from here and also what now for Moose I suppose.

I'd assume that's the last we've seen of Madison Rayne on Impact for a while.

[Accident Prone]

Finished up the PPV today after watching in a few sittings. Great show! Not enough to make me watch the weekly TVs, but enough for me to pay more attention to the next PPV.

Also, what the fuck was up with Callis' fake tan? That had to be a rib.

[Supremo]

I can’t decide whether Sami Callahan’s revolting look makes him a good heel or not. He genuinely makes me feel uncomfortable looking at him. He looks like every smelly, disgusting kid I went to school with. You just know his house reeks.

Edited July 26, 2018 by Supremo

[Hannibal Scorch]

6 hours ago, Supremo said:

I can’t decide whether Sami Callahan’s revolting look makes him a good heel or not. He genuinely makes me feel uncomfortable looking at him. He looks like every smelly, disgusting kid I went to school with. You just know his house reeks.

He’s the Bastian Booger for Gen Y 

[eugenespeed]

Can you not watch Showcase TV online any more? I've been on the website and I can't find a link. 

Please just say I'm being a moron! 

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Impact taking most of the Lucha Underground roster was an incredibly smart move. Brian Cage, John Morrison, Fenix, Pentagon Jr., Aero Star and all that lot are well up there with the best wrestlers going. You can get amazing matches out of them every week and build to a belting PPV. That roster is the best they've had since about 2009, I'd say. Really good group of guys. With Callis' ties to New Japan and Konnan back in AAA, it'll only get better as well.

[midlandsfirst]

1 hour ago, eugenespeed said:

Can you not watch Showcase TV online any more? I've been on the website and I can't find a link. 

Please just say I'm being a moron! 

Not sure but the live and 9pm Friday showings have been dropped while they "work through scheduling issues with Spike". 

Spike have premiere at 11pm Friday and then repeated on Showcase Sat and Sun at 9pm.

Sounds like Spike didn't like not having the premiere reading between lines... 

 

Live is now only on gwn app

Edited July 26, 2018 by midlandsfirst

[tiger_rick]

Made an effort to tune into Impact after the PPV. I thought it was an enjoyable show. It did have a couple of horrible WWE tropes that I hate considering this is the alternative. The "two guys from the four way face off" and immediate Championship rematch are horribly lazy, especially when Cage vs. Sydal is something worth building for a week or two.

The packages and skits were really well shot again and interspersed nicely. A mix of PPV recaps and skits that take characters forward.

Liked the Santino and Aries interaction. Santino's delivery of "At least he paid for his membership in advance" at the end was beautiful.

Scarlett had a very good debut. I like that this is a well defined character already, her work was good on the mic and delivery of her putdowns to the (excellent) backstage lass was very good. She's tidy too. Can she work? Does it matter?

Trevor Lee looks like the most generic wrestler on the planet. He's not bad but he's been there for ages and they've done nothing to make him interesting.

Eli Drake is a really smooth talker but I don't like him at all as a worker. He's make a great heel authority if they go down that route. He plays prick well.

Who was the fella who looks like a tall Crash Holly who did that funny skit with Fallah? Enjoyed that.

Don't want to see Kongo Kong. He's fucking dire. For Johnny Impact though, that mic work was remarkable. Still rubbish, but good for him.

[TildeGuy~!]

7 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

Scarlett had a very good debut. I like that this is a well defined character already, her work was good on the mic and delivery of her putdowns to the (excellent) backstage lass was very good. She's tidy too. Can she work? Does it matter?

That’ll be Alicia Atout, she has a YouTube channel called A Music Blog, Yea?

She interviews rock artists and wrestlers on there, probably got the gig through that, I used to watch a fair few of the wrestler interviews about 6 months ago.

Edited July 29, 2018 by TildeGuy~!

[kidzero]

Gave impact a look on the gwn app last night have to say there are a lot of good points to the show I enjoyed the matches and the commentary is very easy to listen too and Its good to see Eddie Kingston having a job there are a lot off ups to the show.. Last time I watched it every week was November so I'm going have to get back into watching it again every week. 

[Nick James]

Currently watching Impact for the first time in years following the good reviews of the PPV. 

I wondered why they had Michael Keaton on commentary until I realised it was Don Callis.

Eddie Edwards looks great compared to when he used to tag with Davey richards and seems to have the lunatic character locked down.

I also didn’t realise that Petey Williams was still kicking around, good for him. 

So far, I am quite impressed with what I am seeing and I’m only about 30 minutes in.

Edited July 29, 2018 by Nick James

[The King of Old School]

I had to fast forward as soon as Aries started to speak about "people are calling it the PPV of the year". Christ he has the charisma of a spoon.

Only watched the Petey Williams/Japanese guy match, which was ok to be fair. Hopefully get around to watching the rest later.

 

[Accident Prone]

Impact have a good thing going here by having a more 'grown up' product than WWE. The stories and characters are meant for a more adult audience and the vibe is a tad more visceral, along with blood being allowed, crowd work and some naughty swears (although they are bleeped). It exactly what those "FUCK PG" imbeciles want and it offers a true alternative to WWE.

However, this whole Scarlett Bourdeux character is a step in the wrong direction. It reeks of cheap Attitude Era titillation and will only encourage the writers to throw in more of that badly aged dirge. I hope its a one-off and is over as soon as possible, or even better, she's positioned as a heel for a plucky babyface over come. If you're going with these tactics, you may as well show how out-dated they are.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

23 hours ago, Nick James said:

I wondered why they had Michael Keaton on commentary until I realised it was Don Callis.

He does doesnt he!