Csonka’s Impact Wrestling Review 1.18.18

Csonka’s Impact Wrestling Review 1.18.18

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– X-Division Title Match: Champion Taiji Ishimori defeated Desmond Xavier @ 16:33 via pin [***¼]
– Kongo Kong defeated Chandler Park @ 1:46 via pin [**]
– Rosemary defeated KC Spinelli @ 3:38 via pin [*½]
– Barbed Wire Massacre: LAX defeated oVe @ 16:55 via pin [***]

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– Follow all of my reviews at this link.

– My Top 23 EVOLVE Matches of 2017.
– My Top 24 ROH Matches of 2017.
– My Top 8 Matches of December 2017.
– My NJPW WrestleKingdom 12 Takeaways.
– My Top 38 WWE Matches of 2017.
– My Top 25 Matches of 2017.

– I reviewed Impact XPLOSION here.

– I will be covering Barbed Wire Massacre in the review, YOU CAN WATCH IT HERE!

– We get highlights from last week’s show.

X-Division Title Match: X Division Champion Taiji Ishimori vs. Desmond Xavier: Xavier beat Ishimori to with the Super X Cup, and is looking to make it two in a row to win the title here tonight. They work a tentative start, circling and then locking up. They work into a clean break, and lockup again. To the buckles and then they push and shove, Xavier gets a takedown, covering for 2. Ishimori with the takedown, he follows with arm drags, and then a crucifix for 2. Xavier is sent to the floor, back in and Xavier lays in kicks and a dropkick. Ishimori cuts him off and Xavier is sent to the floor. Xavier back in, and picks up a near fall. He follows with strikes in the corner, and then grounds the action. Xavier then works into a Muta lock variation; they work to the feet and trade strikes. Xavier cuts off the back handspring and follows with a suicide dive. Ishimori fell over the barricades and Xavier follows with a huge tope over the barricade, wiping out Ishimori. Post break, and they are trading strikes in the ring. Xavier follows with a bicycle kick; Xavier then hits a cutter after some rapid-fire strikes. Xavier now connects with running corner strikes, and the dropkick gets 2. Xavier now looks to go up top, but Ishimori cuts him off. He follows him up and hits a delayed superplex for 2. Xavier follows with rights, a back elbow but Ishimori hits a back handspring kick, covering for 2. Ishimori hits shotgun knees and a slam. The double stomp is cut off, Xavier up top and hits the final flash, but Ishimori kicks out. Xavier follows with a series of strikes, but Ishimori fires up but Xavier counters the dodon into the standing corkscrew splash for 2. Xavier hits an enziguri, but Ishimori hits the dodon and heads up top. The 450 splash finishes Xavier. Champion Taiji Ishimori defeated Desmond Xavier @ 16:33 via pin [***¼] This was a good back and forth match to open the show. They got plenty of time to work, and both guys worked really hard. They’ve still not had either man go all out yet, which is a shame, because they are capable of so much more.

– Post match, they share a hug.

– oVe cuts a promo, promising to take over tonight.

– We get a video history of the LAX vs. oVe feud. It was a really good video to set the stage for tonight’s match.

– We get a video from Dan Lambert & ATT, once again running down pro wrestling, and promising to expose wrestlers as “wanna be tough guys.” This leads to clips of ATT’s dominance in Impact Wrestling and the farewell of James Storm.

– The clip of the week is Aron Rex beating Eddie Edwards for the first Impact Grand Championship. With the catalogue of great matches the company has, I have no idea why this pile of shit was chosen. I for one am very glad the Aron Rex era is long over.

– We now get a video package on the Matt Sydal vs. EC3 feud.

– Now we go back to Gail Kim relinquishing the Knockouts title and highlights of the tournament that followed. This leads to Allie being positioned as the underdog, and Gail Kim giving her a big pep talk, which led to Allie winning a title shot in a four-way.

– Allie cuts a promo about her title shot next week, she feels she has proven herself and the time for games are over. Allie gets her shot next week, and is out for revenge and the title.

.@AllieImpact gets her shot at championship gold NEXT WEEK at #Genesis as she tries to dethrone the…unorthodox champion @ImChelseaGreen. Allie is looking to climb to the Knockouts mountaintop for a second time. #IMPACTonPOP pic.twitter.com/rWi47Zo4t2

— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) January 19, 2018

– After about 40-minutes, we finally get another match.

Chandler Park vs. Kongo Kong: Jimmy Jacobs & Joe Park are at ringside. Park tries to run, but Kong attacks and starts working him over. Park avoids a charge and follows with rights. He mistakenly takes time to celebrate, and Kong cuts him off and hits the corner cannonball. The Samoan driver finishes Park. Kongo Kong defeated Chandler Park @ 1:46 via pin [NR] SQUASH

– Post match, Kong hits Chandler with the top rope splash. Jacobs calls Joe pathetic, and says Kong is the real monster.

– Next we have the Global Title Match, which was taped back in December at a Border City Wrestling event in Michigan, featuring Global Champion Eli Drake vs. Alberto El Patron vs. Johnny Impact.

Global Champion Eli Drake vs. Alberto El Patron vs. Johnny Impact: These ropes appear to be WrestleMania I loose. They brawl at the bell, with Impact quickly taken out of action. Patron and Drake work back and forth, with both picking up near falls. The action spills to the floor for some walk and brawl. This is clipped. Impact battles back with chair shots, and then takes over as these guys are almost afraid to run these sketchy ropes. That is really a safety issue, and the company put their guys at risk working in these conditions. Did no one think of tightening the ropes here? Seriously, I expect more from D’Amore. It breaks down into typical three-way bullshit, consistently pulling out the ref. They then triple superkick the ref, we get a new ref, low blows, the new ref being taken out, the locker room emptying and since this was taped in December, Drake retained as the match was thrown out. It’s likely for the best that they didn’t air the full match, I like that air matches from other locations, but this was some low rent bullshit.

If a couple of referees can't contain @TheEliDrake, @PrideOfMexico and @TheRealMorrison – how about we try a steel cage instead! A Global Championship rematch will take place inside SIX SIDES OF STEEL next week at #Genesis. #IMPACTonPOP pic.twitter.com/tdOMbg1Es4

— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) January 19, 2018

Rosemary vs. KC Spinelli: Rosemary takes control right away, working over Spinelli in the corner. The XPLODER follows for 2. Rosemary misses a charge, but locks in the tarantula. Spinelli battles back, hitting the bulldog for 2. Rosemary cuts her off, hitting clotheslines and then a German. The cover gets 2. Spinelli hits a desperation lariat, covering for 2. Rosemary teases misting her, hits red wedding and picks up the win. Rosemary defeated KC Spinelli @ 3:38 via pin [*½] It wasn’t horrible, but it was badly rushed and never really clicked for me.

– Post match, Hania the Huntress debuts and attacks Rosemary as she cuts a promo about coming after the knockouts championship. Rosemary fights back, and they brawl up the ramp. Hania hits a spinebuster on the ramp. She then slams Rosemary to he steps, and hits a reverse DDT on the steps and stands tall. Too bad Hania got fired already.

– I will be covering Barbed Wire Massacre in the review, YOU CAN WATCH IT HERE!

– We get another video package on oVe vs. LAX, hyping Barbed Wire Massacre.

A match months in the making as @TheMooseNation takes his battle with American Top Team to the next level in a colossal collision with @fightbobby – next week at #Genesis! #IMPACTonPOP pic.twitter.com/vZ6ga96JbD

— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) January 19, 2018

– We get promos for next week’s Genesis edition of Impact Wrestling, featuring…

* Moose vs. Lashley
* Grand Championship Match: Impact Grand Champion EC3 vs. Matt Sydal
* Knockouts Title Match: Knockouts Champion Laurel Van Ness vs. Allie
* Six-Sides of Steel Global Championship Match: Champion Eli Drake vs. Alberto El Patron vs. Johnny Impact

– Time to go to TWITCH!

– They do the intros on POP and then head to Twitch…

Barbed Wire Massacre: oVe (Sami Callihan, Jake & Dave Crist) vs. LAX (Homicide, Santana, & Ortiz): Konnan is out at ringside. The Crist boys are wearing white, anticipating bloodshed. We get the big brawl right away, battling back and forth and they tease the wire spots early but oVe bails to the floor. They stall for a bit, but Santana follows with a dive and then gets a trashcan lid and attacks oVe. Ortiz joins him as they take control. Homicide & Sami are in the ring now, and they duel with forks. They start to carve each other up, and Sami then tosses Homicide into the wire. Santana makes the save, sending Sami into the wire. Santana gets sent into the wire, and Santana slams Dave into a barbed wire board. Ortiz gets sent into the wire board, Homicide works over Jake, and then sends him into the wire. He then attacks with the fork. LAX brings in a table, as we get brawling on the floor. OVe works over Homicide with chair shots and then suplexes him onto the barbed wire board. Sami spits alcohol at Homicide and follows with a DDT for 2. Ortiz suplexes Jake onto a barbed wire board on the floor. Homicide battles back, looks for a gringo killer, but Sami escapes and low blows Homicide. He them dumps Homicide on the wire, which collapses under his weight. LAX fights back, attacking Sami with double teams, and getting a near fall. Jake gets sent through the wire and onto a table on the floor. LAX cuts the wire free, and wraps Jake in the wire. Ortiz works over Dave & Sami with trashcan lid shots. Ortiz then hits a DVD on Jake through a barbed wire board, covering for 2. Jake then spears Ortiz out of the ring and through a table. Santana back in and grabs a barbed wire board, but Dave cuts him off with the bolt cutters. Sami hits a tombstone onto the barbed wire chair, and that gets 2. Sami sets up a table, and then another beside it. Dave gets a ladder, and slides it in. Sami hits Santana with a piledriver. They set up the ladder, lay Santana on it and Dave climbs the ladder. Konnan makes the save with a low blow and barbed wire bat shot on Sami. Santana fights up the ladder. And stabs Dave in the head with wooden spikes. Santana then hits a superplex through the tables, covering for the win. LAX defeated oVe @ 16:55 via pin [***] This was an overall good match, they worked hard and certainly took some risks, which I respect. But I feel that it was far from great, and suffered from the company overhyping it. The promotion was good in building excitement, but all of the “too violent for TV” stuff was just salesmanship, as there wasn’t much of anything too over the top, minus maybe the skewers to the head spot. I commend the company for trying something different, working with Twitch, and reportedly airing their WrestleMania weekend show on there as well. Hopefully, they can monetize it and create a new revenue stream. Overall I’d call this good, and if it’s the end, a solid blow off to the feud.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

4.0

The final score: review Poor

The 411

Impact started off with a good (16-minute) X-Division title match, and then over 40-minutes of video packages, losing the momentum that they had, and making for a really uneven show layout. From there it was promo videos, some set up for matches next week, and two nothing matches. The highly hyped Barbed Wire Massacre was good, but not exactly must see or worth sticking around all that time to catch. Two good matches in 2.5 hours, a bunch of filler, and some solid hype for next week left this as an overall poor show in my opinion. Thankfully next week looks to have some possibilities to deliver.