Csonka Looks at Jim Cornette’s Impact Departure & More Roster Changes

Welcome back to column time with Larry. Today’s column is all about the ever-changing Impact Wrestling roster. Today I want to talk again about some additions to the roster, as well as two departures. With all of the changes, have been doing my best to track and discuss things, and have previously done so here and here. I even broke down the knockouts roster here. Remember, your comments are always welcomed. I hope that you enjoy, and feel free to share your thoughts. It’s wrestling, we love it and will disagree. The only rules are “have a take, be respectful of other’s opinions and don’t be a dick.”

ARRIVAL: oVe: Jake & Dave Crist, brothers working together and grinding on the independents since 2003. Also known as Irish Airborne & OI4K. After 14-years of busting their ass and looking for their big break, they finally get a deal and a shot on TV with Global Non-Stop Action Force Impact. The company was desperate to bring in new talent, to put a fresh coat of paint on things, which gave the brothers the opportunity they had worked hard for. I want to be perfectly clear here, I respect the hard work and sacrifice that Jake & Dave Crist have made, and applaud them for their success. But in the sprit of full disclosure, I have never been a big fan of the team and can’t claim that I feel they are a particularly great team. So they come in, and work a couple of lackluster squash matches and get into a program with LAX. The company has done a horrible job introducing the team and making us care about them? What the fuck is an oVe? They are brothers, from Ohio, versus everyone, that wear wacky masks. That’s all we have on them. Yet on the September 28th edition of Impact, the brothers lived the dream, defeating LAX to win the tag team titles. I would be upset had LAX still been a hot act, but the angle with Del Rio completely took away all of their heat, and all that was left was Konnan recycling LAX V1 lines, crying about racism and the old boys club. oVe has done nothing for me since their debut, that can obviously change but the company needs to give us a reason to care about them, and something to invest in. Hopefully they can pick it up and impress, because right now they are two dudes in masks having really average matches.

ARRIVAL: El Hijo del Fantasma:I had watched some El Hijo del Fantasma in the past, but fell in love with him as a performer in Lucha Underground as King Cuerno. I find Fantasma to be a high quality in ring performer, with great adaptability and also the ability to work with a wide variety of performers in different styles of matches. He’s just a great performer. I get the feeling that he really could be one of the AAA guys that spends a ton of time with the company, due to those skills and also because as we saw on the September 28th edition of Impact, he speaks English very well. This is important because one of the biggest obstacles Hispanic wrestlers have in adapting and becoming stars in the US is the lack of promo skills, which most times, is because they don’t speak English well. But that won’t be a problem for him. He is in great shape and has had strong performances for the company. But there is one red flag to consider. Fantasma had back surgery back in May of 2016. This is the reason that he was MIA from season three of Lucha Underground. He’s looked good since then, but back injuries are the kind of thing that tends to linger for years. Hopefully that is past him and doesn’t pop back up and become a problem for him.

ARRIVAL: Taya Valkyrie: The Impact Knockouts division has projects to work with, some strong players that could be more with the right chance, but with Gail Kim leaving I was happy to see the company branch out and try to bring in a player, someone with experience. And that’s why I like the signing of Taya Valkyrie. Valkyrie has proven to be a versatile performer, doing really strong character working Lucha Underground and also showing between LU & AAA that she can step it up in the ring in bigger matches. With Gail on the way out, the company making a big deal about Valkyrie’s debut and her relationship with Johnny Impact, she’s going to be a major player going forward. She also carries herself like an absolute star, and has a great presence about her that many lack. She’s looked great so in her appearances for the company, dominating low level talent and fitting in well and working extremely well with Kim, Allie, & Rosemary. She could be an extremely important pick up as the company prepares for life without Gail.

ARRIVAL: Texano Jr: Texano Jr two-time AAA Mega Champion, holding the title for almost 1,100 days combined. He lost that title to Johnny Impact, the current AAA Mega Champion, so if he sticks around past the AAA invasion angle, and Impact wins the big one, they have an already established feud to play off of. In Lucha Underground, he was more of a utility player, never really featured but having some fun feuds and good matches. I personally do not find Texano to be a “top guy” so to speak, but in a utility role like Lucha Underground used him, he’s a strong and reliable performer that always works hard. He’ll definitely be a strong short-term addition to the roster.

ARRIVAL: Pagano: Pagano was brought in by AAA to main event TripleMania 24 against Psycho Clown. Most shit all over it in the build, and judging by the fact that the two had some horrible hardcore fights, it was hard to blame them. Pagano working the main event of TripleMania 24 would be like WWE grabbing John Zandig to main event WrestleMania 24. I wasn’t a fan of the match, but some love him because he fills that hardcore niche. As a singles performer I find him to be the drizzling shits, but in tag matches as part of the AAA vs. Impact feud, I think he’ll be fine, especially if the final blow off match is some wild ass hardcore stipulation, because Pagano’s career is full of him doing stupid shit and bleeding a lot, and that kind of match will allow him to use his limited skill set to the fullest. I don’t see him being around for long, but if used right, as a short-term guy, it’s fine. I see the company hopefully using their international relationships to keep the cast of characters rotating and hopefully staying fresh.

DEPARTURE: Robbie E: Rumors started up on September 29th that the company would be releasing/not renewing contracts of some talent. And the Robbie E announced that his seven-plus year run with the company was over. Truth be told, I was far from a big fan of Robbie E. I thought the Jersey Shore gimmick was overplayed before he even got into it with TNA. He was all gimmick, beyond bland in the ring and his performances did nothing for me as a fan. TNA tried to parlay the gimmick into mainstream attention by getting some of the Jersey Shore cast to appear, and even getting Angelina Pivarnick in for a match. The company stuck with him even when the Robbie E gimmick got stale, and a funny thing happened. Robbie E turned into a really solid hand, got a good crowd reaction and grew into a good utility player that developed into a guy that made other talents look good. He and Jessie (who I think if dedicated fully to wrestling could have been really good) then formed a good tag team in the BroMans. But it was during the world title series that Robbie E started to take a more serious turn, wanting to prove himself as a quality wrestler, and had good matches in his bracket with Matt Hardy, Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards. But he became a victim of inconsistent booking, a BroMans reunion and then signed a new deal with the company. He was sent to NOAH this year for the Global Tag league, but had been MIA on Impact. Despite saying he was 100% with the company, I felt the writing was on the wall. He reportedly asked for his release. With the revolving door of talent lately, the company didn’t seem to have a use for him and he’s opted to move on. He’s started a video series for Muscle & Fitness, and his future is unclear at this point.

DEPARTURE: Jim Cornette: I will admit that I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the news that Cornette was coming in. I feared that we would immediately get a power struggle angle, which TNA loves, and the prospect of another authority figure on their programming did nothing to excite me. I think Cornette is a great performer, but also feared how into things he would be, due to pas tissues with the company. But with long-time friend Jeff Jarrett being the one to bring Cornette into the fold, and Russo & Dixie (the ones Cornette had issues with) being long gone, Cornette ended up being great on Impact and was an asset to the show. But with Jarrett being out of the picture for now, and Anthem taking Bound for Glory and the next TV tapings to Canada (where Cornette can’t go), it was a perfect time for Cornette’s departure. He never signed a deal, claimed it was only a short-term arrangement from the start and between the Jarrett/Canada deals, it was the perfect storm for his departure. For as good as he was in his short run with the company I feel that this was likely for the best. Knowing Cornette’s explosive personality and passion for his work, it was only a matter of time before the company did something to piss him off and Cornette went on a rant against them, where things would have ended badly. The way things ended allows both parties to walk away as friends and the possibility for him to return, if both sides wish, down the line. Cornette was a good on air performer, and was way better in the role compared to Bruce Prichard.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”