wrestling / TV Reports

Csonka’s Impact Wrestling Review 7.19.18

July 19, 2018 | Posted by Larry Csonka
Impact Slammiversary Austin Aries Moose Slammiversary Image Credit: Impact Wrestling
5.5
The 411 Rating
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Csonka’s Impact Wrestling Review 7.19.18  

Csonka’s Impact Wrestling 7.19.18 Review

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Killer Kross defeated Petey Williams @ 5:00 via referee stoppage [**½]
– Desi Hit Squad defeated KM & Fallah Bahh @ 4:35 via pin [**]
– Joe Hendry defeated Eli Drake @ 3:55 via pin [**½]
– Sami Callihan defeated Greg Osborne @ 4:10 via pin [NR]
– Allie & Kiera Hogan defeated Tessa Blanchard & Shotzi Blackheart @ 7:05 via pin [**½]


– Follow all of my reviews at this link.

Killer Kross vs. Petey Williams: Williams is a good choice on paper to work with Kross here, he’s still really good, is smaller, can sell, and is the hometown guy, which SHOULD lead to Kross getting some good heat on him. Petey tries to work leg kicks to begin. Kross no sells him and starts to overpower him and slams Petey to he buckles. Petey lays in strikes, but Kross cuts him off with an overhead toss. Kross now just tosses Petey around. Petey again tries to fire back, but Kross hits a big XPLODER suplex. Petey slaps him and then posts Kross. Petey picks up the pace as he lays in some offense and hits a code breaker. The DDT follows and Petey sets for the destroyer, but Kross hits the Saito suplex and then chokes out Petey with a cobra clutch. He lets go and then Petey asks for more. Kross allows Petey to try the destroyer, powers out and hits an Alabama slam and chokes him out again and that’s that. Killer Kross defeated Petey Williams @ 5:00 via referee stoppage [**½] As a match, it was solid, but as far as presenting Kross as a bad ass killer character, this was good stuff as Petey sold well and Kross’ offense looked great. Good stuff.

– Joe Hendrey prepares for his match and meets with Grado & Katarina. They are setting up the story where he’s about to steal Katarina from Grado.

– Gama Singh introduces the Desi Hit Squad.

Desi Hit Squad (Singh & Raju) vs. KM & Fallah Bahh: Raju attacks Bahh at the bell, but Bahh quickly cuts him off. Singh tags in and Bahh works him over. The cross body follows and Singh cheapo shots KM. The Hit Squad double teams Bahh and beat him down. They work quick tags until Bahh runs them together and tags in KM. KM runs wild and takes them both down. The slingshot splash gets 2. Bahh and KM take control and hit the double steamroller. Bahh hits it again and so does KM. KM now tags in Bahh and Bahh looks for banzai drop, KM gets tossed after a Gama distraction, and an eye rake and roll up with the tights gets the win for the Hit Squad. Desi Hit Squad defeated KM & Fallah Bahh @ 4:35 via pin [**] The Desi Hit Squad picks up another win in an OK match, the crowd loved KM & Bahh here. I am still far from sold on Desi Hit Squad.

– We get an LAX vs. OGz video package. Good video package.

– Hendry does his gimmick where he sings his own entrance. Hendry rolls footage of a music video, mocking Drake. Drake then attacks.

Joe Hendry vs. Eli Drake: Grado & Katarina are out with Hendry. It’s all drake at the bell, Hendry quickly fires back with knee strikes and a suplex. He misses a charge and Drake hits a neck breaker. Drake follows with a leg drop in the ropes and back in, hits a suplex and covers for 2. The neck breaker follows, and Drake lays the boots to Hendry. Hendry fights back, hits clotheslines and a neck breaker. The DDT follows for 2. Drake counters back and hits the pop up powerslam. Hendry then counters gravy train and gets a cradle for the win. Joe Hendry defeated Eli Drake @ 3:55 via pin [**½] This was a short, but solid little match. My guess is that they weren’t sure if Drake was re-signing when they taped this, and opted for the Hendry debut win.

– Hendry celebrates with Katarina as Grado looks confused, which is his normal state.

Dezmond Xavier vs. Andrew Everett?: …never started as Eddie Edwards arrives and kicks the shit out of the ref, so no match. He cuts a promo on Dreamer ahead of their match on Sunday. Edwards doesn’t care about the match stipulation on Sunday. He promises pain and violence, as well as blood, so much blood. He will make Dreamer bleed. He will kneel down as Dreamer lays in his own blood, feel that blood, and taste the blood. Dreamer will look up at him and realize that Edwards is the true innovator of violence. At Slammiversary, Edwards will be Dreamer’s never-ending nightmare.

– We see footage from last week’s Su Yung & Madison Rayne angle. We now see Rayne, in a funeral home. She opens the casket to see herself, and a mystery guy checks on her. He then has creepy face paint and scares her off. Rayne runs and finds a little girl, who transforms into creepy girl with face paint, scaring Rayne. Rayne is now laying in a field as “blood” covers her and the undead brides and Yung appear behind her. The Impact creative team is officially on the same drugs as the Lucha Underground folks, that was trippy. Some people will love that and some will absolutely hate it, I get that they are trying to make the Yung character supernatural, but it comes off as a bit of a disconnect with the rest of the show. To me it comes off as a big miss due to that. The reason it works in Lucha Underground is because the whole universe is that way, Impact isn’t a wacky grind house/comic book inspired product.

– We get a really good video for Sami vs. Pentagon on Sunday.

Sami Callihan vs. Greg Osborne: Oh Christ, Sami’s going to kill this poor fucker. Jake & Dave are out with Sami. Sami starts killing him at the bell, just beating Osborne down. Sami gets pentagon’s mask, which he’s still carrying around. Osborne attacks, but Sami rakes the eyes and hits the Cactus driver. He puts Pentagon’s mask on Osborne, and gets a mic to mockingly cheer for Pentagon and then kicks Osborne in the head. He yells at Osborne, pretending he’s Pentagon. Sami says everyone online talks shit about his hair, he keeps talking shit to Osborne and then superkicks him. Sami now hits get out of here and pins Osborne. Sami Callihan defeated Greg Osborne @ 4:10 via pin [NR] No rating as this was an ass kicking and Sami monologing to set up Sunday’s match. It was effective in that regard.

– Sami hypes Slammiversary; Pentagon interrupts via video package and says he will prove that Impact is his house.

– Allie comments on Tessa not caring about others, and says no one cares about Tessa. Allie says Tessa is good, but that she is as well. That leads to a Tessa vs. Allie video package.

Tessa Blanchard & Shotzi Blackheart vs. Allie & Kiera Hogan: Hogan and Tessa to begin. They lock up, Tessa bullies her to the ropes, and they break. Hogan now gets a cradle for 2. She follows with rights and a bulldog, and Tessa tags out to Blackheart. Hogan dumps her to the floor and follows with a suicide dive. Back in and Allie gets the tag. The clothesline follows as Tessa throws a fit. Allie continues to control, hits a suplex, and covers for 2. Tessa yells at Blackheart to not mess this up for her. Hogan tags in and Tessa superkicks her as she was on the apron. Tessa now tags in and lays in strikes on Hogan and they work into a double down. Allie and Blackheart tag in, Allie runs wild and hits the corner dropkick. The sliding D follows and then a Russian leg sweep gets 2. Tessa in and she and Allie argue, Hogan distracts Tessa, and Allie superkicks her. Blackheart attacks, and hits a neck breaker and that gets 2. Allie now hits the superkick, Tessa bails on Blackheart, allowing Allie to hit the code breaker for the win. Allie & Kiera Hogan defeated Tessa Blanchard & Shotzi Blackheart @ 7:05 via pin [**½] This was a solid little tag, giving Allie a win and momentum ahead of the PPV, where she should be losing to the newly signed Tessa. Tessa was a great bitch character here, and I always appreciate the alligator arms walk off.

– oVe search for Pentagon backstage.

– We get another Scarlett Bordeaux video package; she’s coming next week.

– We get a video package for Sunday’s Rich Swann vs. Fenix vs. Johnny Impact vs. Taiji Ishimori match, which should fucking rule.

– We now get a video package for Sydal vs. Cage on Sunday.

– We now get a video package for Moose vs. Aries on Sunday.

– oVe are still looking for Pentagon like a troop of idiots. They attack “Pentagon,” which was Sami dressed up as Pentagon with tape over his mouth. Pentagon arrives and kicks ass, sending a final message to Sami.

Aries & Moose: The Final Confrontation: Moose arrives and says he’s been away training for Sunday. He runs down Aries and tells him to get his bitch ass out here so he can stick the banana up Aries’ ass. Aries appears on the big screen and says this has been too easy; Moose is playing checkers, while he’s playing chess. Moose will have to wait for Sunday to get his hands on him. Aries sneaks in from behind and low blows Moose and attacks with a chair. Aries stands tall, but Moose fires up and Aries realizes he fucked up. Moose attacks and misses the chair shot, allowing Aries to run away.

I will have a full Slammiversary preview up late Saturday/early Sunday as well as full live coverage Sunday night.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

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“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

5.5
The final score: review Not So Good
The 411
The last three weeks of Impact Wrestling were good and strong shows, with a mix of some good wrestling, and build to Slammiversary. While tonight’s show wasn’t bad, as a go home show for a PPV, I didn’t think it was very good, and that the company peaked the build too early. We had some good video packages, and some ok to average wrestling. But as a show that is supposed to make fans want to spend $40 on Sunday’s show (which looks really good on paper), I think that it missed the mark. When you’re asking people to pay $40 for a show (especially in 2018 when there are so many cheaper alternatives), you have to deliver a good to great go home show.
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