AEW Women's Champion Hikaru Shida def. Rachel Chanel (Non-Title)I have not been too impressed by what I've seen from Chanel in the few appearances she's made for AEW lately, so I don't know why she's be given an extended showing here. Shida is obviously excellent, but it should not have taken her as long as it did to defeat an enhancement talent. As a showcase for Shida, it was perfectly fine, but they could have trimmed off a few minutes and it would have been even better. Kip Sabian def. Corey HollisBoth WWE and AEW have used Hollis as an enhancement talent before, so if if the name sounds familiar, that's why. At any rate, this was a solid squash match for Sabian. Sabian is skilled in the ring, but he hasn't been all that interesting as a character lately. In fact, Penelope Ford's stock is higher at the moment coming off her phenomenal performance against Shida at Fyter Fest. He can just never seem to win whenever it matters most.
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Seth Rollins def. Aleister BlackThe quicker we can move on from this dumb angle with Rey Mysterio "losing an eye," the better. Rollins has been feuding with Black lately as well and actually lost to him about a month or so ago on Raw, so I had no problem with him avenging that loss here, especially with Black looking good in defeat. They worked well together once again and it was an entertaining opener. I don't think the point of Rollins' post-match attack on Black was to write him off the show, but it is absurd that no one came out to save him. He's been saving Mysterio for weeks, yet no one could bother to return the favor for Black? Mustafa Ali, Ricochet and Cedric Alexander def. MVP, Bobby Lashley and 24/7 Champion Shelton BenjaminI'm convinced Apollo Crews has COVID-19 considering he hasn't appeared on WWE TV in close to a month and didn't return here. Regardless of the reason, here's hoping he's okay and is back soon. Meanwhile, Ali has been gone all year long (simply because Creative had nothing for him) and it was great to see him return on the Raw brand. Time will tell if he'll get lost in the shuffle, though. This was a fun six-man tag team match and I'm all for Benjamin aligning with MVP and Lashley permanently.
Kickoff Show: Kevin Owens def. MurphyEven before recently, Owens has been at odds with Seth Rollins and Murphy since late last year, so it was nice to have a Kickoff match that both made sense and was enjoyable. Owens and Murphy are terrific and they had a fun little matchup here. Sure, the outcome was never in doubt, but it hardly mattered. It's a shame Owens has lost momentum since his big WrestleMania win over Rollins, but I understand most of that is a result of him suffering an injury and having to miss TV time with everything going on right now. Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro def. The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Big E) in a Tables Match to Win the SmackDown Tag Team ChampionshipTables matches aren't typically my cup of tea, but this was fun and I'm glad it was slotted as the opener. The two teams worked well together, there were some suspenseful close calls, and the finish was awesome. I'm all for a title change since New Day have been played out as SmackDown Tag Team Champions, but I was also left wondering where Nakamura and Cesaro go from here. SmackDown's tag team division is depleted and I honestly have no clue who they defend against next aside from New Day again. The Lucha House Party? No thanks. The Miz and John Morrison? They're currently losers. The Forgotten Sons? They've already been forgotten. That division needs some new blood in the worst way.
The Motor City Machine Guns def. The Rascalz (Dez & Wentz)I can't believe WWE didn't sign The Motor City Machine Guns when they had the chance. I know Chris Sabin has been injured for the better part of the past year and a half, but Alex Shelley had that short stint n NXT earlier this year and they could and should have snatched up him then. Nevertheless, it's great to see them back home in IMPACT. This was every bit as fun as you'd expect given who was involved and a hot start to the show. Moose def. Tommy Dreamer in an Old School Rules MatchI've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm a Tommy Dreamer fan, but there is no reason for the guy to still be wrestling as regularly as he is on IMPACT TV in 2020. Did they really have no one else Moose could have faced instead? This benefited from the stipulation, but we've seen enough "hardcore" matches from Dreamer over the past few years that this didn't mean anything. Moose won and that's about the only positive thing I can say about it.
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