wrestling / Columns

Csonka’s Impact Redemption Takeaways

April 25, 2018 | Posted by Larry Csonka
Pentagon Impact Wrestling Redemption 2018

Welcome back to column time with Larry! Today I’d like to talk about the 2018 Impact Redemption Show. I have a few takeaways from the show I’d like to discuss and feel free to share yours. Thanks for reading, and remember, it’s wrestling, we love it and will disagree. The only rules are “have a take, be respectful, and don’t be a dick.”

NOTE: The column was written without the benefit of spoilers from this week’s tapings and only takes into account what happened at the Redemption PPV.

QUICK HITS
* They did a nice job of setting up the Impact Zone and making it appear different from the usual setting.

* The place looked full and was shot well. Even if there were spots in the building that wasn’t as full, you wouldn’t have noticed. The production felt locked in during the show.

* I dig the new titles, while similar to each other; they have some nice subtle differences.

* On the surface I hate the tag title change to Eli Drake & Scott Steiner. There may be an interesting story coming, but it feels like another instance of cutting off LAX’s momentum.

* Cage dominated and won the six-man as predicted, but I hated Xavier taking the pin here. He’s another one they seemingly have no real clue what to do with.

* For years, people have said that Eddie Edwards was a great wrestler, but lacked the personality to make them care. Maybe they found the angle to get him to that next level.

* I really feel that Su Yung should have won this first meeting with Allie, as it would have provided a lot to work with booking wise with both.

Tessa Blanchard Joins Impact: One of the big things that happened at the PPV was Tessa Blanchard arriving and announcing that she’s joining Impact as we move forward. The company has been working to solidify the division and lock in strong names in the post-Gail Kim era. With Allie, Rosemary, Taya, and Su Yung looking as top players, and Hogan & Spinelli as the next level down talent, they were off to a good start. For the last two years, there have been constant rumblings of Tessa Blanchard to WWE, she even appeared on the Mae Young Classic, but there was no contract. People have constantly wondered why, because Tessa has a good look and is good in the ring, and has the Blanchard pedigree, but still no deal. While she’s climbed the ranks and become a top female name on the indies. The other thing that has followed Tessa is rumors & reports of attitude issues. I think at the age of 22, WWE became hesitant, fearing that she was too immature. If she can avoid these issues, Tessa becomes a huge pick up for Impact. She has a name, is a great heel, is an extremely strong in-ring performer, and has a presence that is different than anyone else they have under contract. I’m glad to see the company add to the Knockouts division, and hopefully, they can add a few more names.

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If Possible, Don Callis Needs To Be On Commentary Permanently: I know that due to his work with NJPW and real life stuff that it may not be feasible, but they need to keep Don Callis on commentary going forward. Because once he got past his usual “I’m over big, how you like working with a star, kid jokes, and comments on Stanford,” he was on. Callis was enthusiastic, full of energy, obviously knew what needed to be sold on commentary, and more importantly over all of that, he wrangled in Josh Mathews. Mathews’ run as a commentator in Impact has been BAD, it didn’t matter who he worked with, as it was bad and completely unfocused. Mathews was either trying too hard to be a heel or forcing things by beating you over the head with them, and then they became useless, because it was impossible to care about anything he said, making him completely ineffective at his job. But with Callis at his side, and essentially producing him on air, Matthews has his best night ever as an Impact announcer. He was focused, on point, and was adding to the matches instead of taking away. Years ago, when he worked with WWE, I said many times that he had tremendous potential as an announcer, and hated what he became in Impact. It was nice to hear Mathews focused and delivering on commentary, and I feel that Callis was a huge part of that happening. Keep this man at the commentary table as much as possible. Who better to keep Mathews focused than his boss and one of the men that know exactly what needs to be said and pushed on commentary.

Pentagon, Cero Miedo!: Before I praise Pentagon, I feel that it’s only right to praise Austin Aries. Aries came in, gave the company some buzz with the surprise title win, was a good champion in the ring having very good matches, and outside of the ring he may have been even better, constantly talking in a positive light about Impact and the changes that they are trying to make. As someone who had been there under various regimes, Aries had a good take on things. Even if Aries’ run comes to an end soon, his short-lived return has been a success. But the king is dead, long live Pentagon, Cero Miedo! I love the move to Pentagon as champion, and have been a fan of his and have been pushing for more places to use him as a top star. Pentagon is great in the ring, has undeniable charisma, will likely bring in fans from AAA & Lucha Underground who love to follow him just about anywhere he works. His promos will be fine, he knows enough English to get by in that regard, but also comes off as more of a bad ass when he really gets fired up and rants in Spanish (similar to Asuka). Pentagon is a new and refreshing face to the mix in Impact Wrestling, he will be great as champion and gives me something to look forward to as a fan of his.

It Was a Good First Step: Overall Impact Wrestling had the right idea with the Redemption show. It was far from a home run, but it was a good show with something for everyone and was an overall step in the right direction for a company that throughout its history has been one step forward and three steps back. Unfortunately, we live in an era of extremes. The people that follow along, trashing the company and waiting for it to die have already declared it an all-time bad PPV, which is silly. On the flipside, the overprotective supporters that try to counterbalance them have declared this an all-time great show, and think that every match was great. I think both sides just need to calm down. If you didn’t like it it’s fine, but attacking those that did love it is silly. If you loved it and want to share that, I think that’s great, but at the same time, don’t trash someone that genuinely didn’t enjoy it. Try to respect each other’s opinions. We’ll never all agree. I love that people found this to be a great show, I respect their opinions when presented with love and not attacks, becuse they are supportive fans. Again, I found it to be good and a positive first step in their return to live PPV, now they have to keep it going and do it again. They have three months to build to Slammiversary, and it will be interesting to see how things shake out as we build towards that show. I hope that they continue to make positive moves and slowly grow the business. It will take time, but good and fun shows like this will start to earn back the trust of fans, and may even get them to not only watch the weekly show but to also spend money on the product. It’s a process…

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

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“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”