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

[Jazzy G]

I have a feeling No Way is going to end up milling around in the background of those Swinger's Palace segments, maybe he'll team with Hernandez or Fallah.

The mixed tag tournament could be an interesting one. Presumably we'll get Myers & Tenille (unless she teams with Kaleb with a K), Cardona & Chelsea, a team from Decay. Is it late enough that Ruby Soho could come in and team with somebody? Deonna & Moose? Maybe a little tease where ODB appeals to Eric Young or Deaner to tag with her for old time's sake? Heck if Striker is calling it see whether you can trot out the husband & wife team of Matthews & Madison Rayne for a match. One of Fire & Flava with Chris Bey. Jordynne Grace & Josh Alexander? 

[garynysmon]

1 hour ago, jazzygeofferz said:

I have a feeling No Way is going to end up milling around in the background of those Swinger's Palace segments, maybe he'll team with Hernandez or Fallah.

It would make sense to tag with Baah seeing that the tag division is pretty bare at the moment.

I tend to agree with @BomberPatthat Impact has found its niche in a crowded market. It no longer has reasonable claim to be number two and has probably been long relegated to 'best of the rest' status.

I thought the preshow video was outstanding and really hammered home what a great company TNA was, albeit often overlooked partially because of its own stupidity.

That said, with so many current stars having come through TNA/Impact at some point in their careers, having Impact as that open door may serve it well and is certainly rehabbing it with an audience which thought they'd sacked it off forever. The old fanbase may have switched over to AEW in droves, but I don't sense the same negativity or antipathy you would have found even 18 months ago.

Impact rarely disappoints, especially on PPV, which is a valuable lesson. 

I also adore seeing ex-TNA wrestlers such as the likes of Matt Hardy, Mickie James etc popping in for a couple of shots (with more to come according to the latest spoilers). 

My only concern would be that Impact falls into the ROH trap of basking in the big names loaned from another company, only for everything to fall apart when that relationship crumbles. One moment ROH was filling out MSG, but the next minute the Emperor had no clothes on.

The end of the PPV featured an AEW staring down a New Japan guy, but we'll see how that plays out I suppose. Its got people talking at least.

Scott D'amore is surely Impact's main asset atm though. He was there as the company was growing and not many people seem to have a bad word to say about him, his contacts book is as much a reason why Impact is still around as anything else.

Edited July 19, 2021 by garynysmon

[sivy]

I've noticed with specially the wwe pick ups is they seem to focus more on the guys or girls who have decent charisma or who can talk rather than great in ring talent. Guys like ryder, Green, morrisery. 

[garynysmon]

40 minutes ago, sivy said:

I've noticed with specially the wwe pick ups is they seem to focus more on the guys or girls who have decent charisma or who can talk rather than great in ring talent. Guys like ryder, Green, morrisery. 

I don't watch WWE to pick up on that tbh, but if so that's no bad thing. If there's one thing there's already plenty of these days, then that's a great in-ring product.

It suits Impact's niche a bit more as they are more reliant on backstage skits and promos.

On a separate note, the new £1 a month Impact subscription tier on Youtube is quite handy to catch up on shows. There's been a lot of criticism over the Impact Plus App, but with Youtube there's not a lot that can go wrong is there? Youtube can cast directly to a SkyQ box, which is much easier in my case.

For £5 a month you get the live monthly PPV shows and the back catalogue too, which is slowly being built up (only the classic PPVs are up at the moment.)

Edited July 19, 2021 by garynysmon

[sivy]

3 minutes ago, garynysmon said:

I don't watch WWE to pick up on that tbh, but if so that's no bad thing. If there's one thing there's already plenty of these days, then that's a great in-ring product.

It suits Impact's niche a bit more as they are more reliant on backstage skits and promos.

On a separate note, the new £1 a month Impact subscription tier on Youtube is quite handy to catch up on shows. There's been a lot of criticism over the Impact Plus App, but with Youtube there's not a lot that can go wrong is there? Youtube can cast directly to a SkyQ box, which is much easier in my case.

For £5 a month you get the live monthly PPV shows and the back catalogue too, which is slowly being built up (only the classic PPVs are up at the moment.)

I've got no issue with that if anything it's being different. Seeing morrisery in a Sid like role is entertaining. Seeing myers being just a dick is interesting and different. It's what drew me in to nwa power when that started. 

[garynysmon]

Might be a bit of a spoiler but maybe not.

 

[HobowithaShotgun]

The PPV was a blast anyway. Overdelivered based on my expectations. Pasting my response from another forum on it.

I used to be massive fan from 2005 to 2012 and kinda dropped off after that. My last time at an Impact show was 2006 in Florida during their peak so it was interesting to see how this iteration of the company would be live.

I only started casually watching it again since Kenny came into it and even then I would have it as background noise while doing something else.

The staff at impact couldn't have been nicer, we got our bags of swag including drinks and snacks, an event shirt, VIP laminate, impact towel and plastic cup before it. At the end we got a piece of the ring canvas, a pic on the ramp and a mounted event poster. The crowd was insane all night, even chanting for the ring crew.

It's always surprising how jacked some wrestlers are in real life that you wouldn't expect. Crazy Steve is an absolute unit and was doing great character work the entire time outside the ring.

The Ultimate X match was insane, pity it sounds like it looked a little chaotic on TV. Trey Miguel is great, first time really seeing him, Petey W looking fantastic for how long he's been around and I finally get the Josh Alexander hype. Very enjoyable. The German suplex Josh gave to Ace Austin at the start was brutal! He took some hop with it.

The guy with Myers, can't remember his name was hilarious. Constantly chatting to the crowd and his comedic timing was in point.

Cass looked good and there was some nice stiff shots in this match too. The apron powerbomb had a sickening thud.

Mooses chops to Sabin were insane. I got a clip of the second one - https://streamable.com/5qdly6

Sabin winning was odd but interesting to see where it goes.

Place came unglued for Thunder Rosa, was a great surprise.

Kenny and Sami was great too! I could see Kenny blading from my side and he struggled to get the blade out of the ring, Hebner had to do it for him. I got a great angle of the table piledriver also - https://streamable.com/j8pl75

I've had a wild few weeks of hitting different events all over the US (Blood and Guts, Dynamite, DON) so will ease up a little next month. I have PWG in LA on August first next and will hit a local show here in Seattle with a promotion called Defy. They have Lance Archer coming next month so should be good. After that it's AEW in NY in Sept and I'll chance Bound for Glory also once tickets are out.

Edited July 19, 2021 by HobowithaShotgun
Double copied

[garynysmon]

That Steve Maclin's a bloody big bloke isn't he?! Proper company of hosses this Impact lark!

[Vegeta]

54 minutes ago, garynysmon said:

That Steve Maclin's a bloody big bloke isn't he?! Proper company of hosses this Impact lark!

I think he has some potential there dependant on what they decide to do with him, I love how he has been destroying jobbers and angrily talking smack during it, I hope they keep strong victories on him and start pushing him quite a bit, be good to see how far he could go.

[Jazzy G]

I wonder how it's going to go when he has an opponent that isn't an enhancement guy. 

[Vegeta]

4 minutes ago, jazzygeofferz said:

I wonder how it's going to go when he has an opponent that isn't an enhancement guy. 

Would be good if they had him starting to face people like Sam Beale etc to start with and him just go through him, could lead to fun a stare down with Myers and even Myers trying to train Beale up to take him down, but I do think he should start with going through the lower card and then the lower mid card, they can have an interesting prospect with him if they push him right.....

[Guest]

The more impact things do right, the more it feels like the next wrong will be massive. Too much scar tissue to think they can keep being good or better without fucking up

[garynysmon]

While there are valid concerns about too many non-Impact wrestlers being featured, its all fine and dandy if Impact's own roster receive a boost.

In fairness Kenny Omega showed how versatile he was on Sunday, he's fantastic isn't he?

But this match would be awesome, and against a legit Impact home grown wrestler at that. I did think he'd eventually drop the title to Moose, but not so sure by now....

 

Edited July 23, 2021 by garynysmon

[Guest]

Don pushing Omega away, just a simple thing that shows he knows he’s not someone to mess with. No bravado we normally expect of him 

[garynysmon]

The planned introduction of Chris Bey into the Bullet Squad is also an interesting move. I'm not sure if the Bullet Squad has any official AEW roster members among its ranks, but in essence you could end up with two opposing groups spanning at least three different wrestling companies.

That's a new one!

Edited July 23, 2021 by garynysmon