GFW Impact Review - July 20, 2017

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Drago def. Sammy Guevara in a Super X Cup First Round Match

I've been a big fan of Drago's work in Lucha Underground, so it's super cool to see him competing in GFW as part of the Super X Cup. Once again, the pre-match video packages did an excellent job of getting fans familiar with the combatants and the in-ring action was incredibly entertaining. Drago emerged victorious as he should have, but I hope this isn't the last we've seen of Guevara. Additionally, I appreciated this was what kicked off the show and not the typical drawn-out talking segment.

unified GFW Knockouts Champion Sienna def. Amber Nova (Non-title)

Sienna certainly has a dominating presence about her in the ring, so this short and sweet squash match accentuated her strengths and was best kept brief. Her mic skills are gradually getting better and I thought her post-match promo was decent. Karen Jarrett might as well be the Stephanie McMahon of GFW, but I'm glad her mic work was limited in this segment. It was then announced that Sienna will defend the Unified GFW Knockouts Championship against Rosemary next week in a Last Knockout Standing match, and I assume the rest of the women (Gail Kim, Allie and Laurel Van Ness) who showed up will be involved in the title picture as well going forward.

Laredo Kid, Garza Jr. and Octagoncito def. Trevor Lee, Idris Abraham and Demus

Octagoncito and Demus were definitely the comic relief of the six guys, but at least they didn't come across like a total joke and they played their roles well. In fact, all six wrestlers had their time to shine and it was a very well-wrestled matchup on the whole. The best part of all was how Lee wrestled while wearing the X-Division Championship belt around his waist. Other than his in-ring work, he hasn't done much for me in the past, but that was pretty funny.

Matt Sydal def. Low Ki and El Hijo del Fantasma in a Three-Way Match

I don't know too much about Fantasma beyond what we've seen from him in GFW lately, but the commentators put him over as a big deal in Mexico, and it isn't hard to see why. He's a terrific talent along with Sydal and Low Ki, so it wasn't surprising in the slightest that this was an awesome match. Each of the three guys put forth a strong effort and that finishing sequence was wonderful. Sydal has been receiving quite the push so far in GFW, and I could certainly see him becoming X-Division Champion eventually. As for Lashley attacking Sydal afterward, I'm happy that he isn't an afterthought despite no longer being the world champion.

Eli Drake def. Eddie Edwards, Impact grand Champion Moose and Ethan Carter III in a Four-Way Match

This was a really random assortment of wrestlers, even more so than the previous contest, aside from how EC3 and Moose have been feuding recently. Drake and Edwards aren't in the middle of anything meaningful at the moment, but I hope they find direction soon because they're both tremendous. While this wasn't as exciting as the three-way, it was solid from start to finish, and Drake picking up the victory was a pleasant surprise.

Unified GFW World Heavyweight Champion Alberto El Patron Attacked LAX

El Patron simply doesn't interest me at all as GFW's lead babyface, so although this was built up well over the course of the night, I'm not invested in this angle as of now. I do like LAX a lot, so fingers crossed El Patron doesn't run right through them like he and Lashley did last week. This was basically the equivalent to when Diamond Dallas Page briefly joined the New World Order before turning on them way back when in WCW, only significantly less cooler.

Overall Show

As noted, I'm not a huge fan of what's going on in the main event scene at the moment, but the vignettes with LAX continue to have a different feel about them compared to the rest of the show. Meanwhile, the X-Division took center stage and shined in every outing. The wrestling on this show was above-average, but definitely make an effort to seek out the Sydal vs. Low Ki vs. Fantasma three-way match.