GFW Impact Review - October 19, 2017

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Johnny Impact def. Chris Adonis

The video package that preceded this match made it feel more meaningful as it established that Impact capturing the GFW Global Championship will be an impossible task as long as Adonis is in the picture. Adonis has never been anything amazing in the ring, but he improved during his last stint with WWE and I thought he had a solid showing here. In addition to this being a good match, I appreciated that the show kicked off with an actual match instead of a talking segment for a change. Afterward, Adonis and Eli Drake attacked Impact to maintain their heat, so this was a success all around.

Texano def. Impact Grand Champion Ethan Carter III, James Storm, Eddie Edwards and El Hijo del Fantasma in a Five-Way Match

The first half of the match was fairly boring because although the commentators played up Storm, EC3 and Edwards as babyfaces (which they are in GFW), the live crowd booed them because the event where this was taped emanated from Mexico. Thankfully, they picked up the pace down the stretch once it was every man for themselves. Jeremy Borash and Josh Mathews noted that this meant Team Impact "wasn't on the same page," but how could they be when it's a five-way match?

Dezmond Xavier def. X-Division Champion Trevor Lee (Non-title)

Before reappearing in last week's six-person tag team match, Xavier hadn't been featured on GFW TV in months, which is mind boggling to me considering he won the Super X Cup at Destination X. How do you not follow up on that in any form or fashion? I guess the company tried to make up for that by having him beat the champion here and earn a title shot at Bound for Glory, and while this was a fun little match, I fear we're in for a multi-man of some sort for the belt.

Grado Called Out Joseph Park

Grado and Park hadn't teased the slightest bit of tension prior to this point, so this came completely out of nowhere. Perhaps that was part of the appeal of the angle, but I can't say I was following what they were saying or that I'm incredibly excited for their upcoming Monster's Ball match at Bound for Glory. I'm sure fans will enjoy it, but this feels so rushed and could have been better executed. That said, James Mitchell popping up in Grado's car backstage was a pleasant surprise and I hope he's here to stay as Abyss' manager.

GFW World Tag Team Champions oVe def. Black Diamond and Black Danger

The storyline here was that if oVe could successfully their tag titles on this CRASH show, they would be able to talk to Konnan. Well, I don't think the crowd was aware of that because it looked like they sat on their hands for this. Don't get me wrong, it was a well-wrestled affair and I like that they're trying something new, but I'm just not feeling oVe as tag team champions or their current feud with LAX.

Lashley and American Top Team Attacked Moose

Holy shit, Dan Lambert is an absolutely obnoxious individual. I suppose that's a good thing given he's a heel, but this lasted way too long and it was unbearable to listen to Lambert go on and on and on. As if that wasn't bad enough, I hate that Lambert basically said that wrestling is fake while mixed martial arts is not. Why would you point that out to your audience that wishes to not acknowledge that? I was fine with what they were doing with Lashley before, but every time they've incorporated MMA fighters in the past, it's been a disaster and I don't see this being any different.

Taya Valkyrie def. Rosemary

As I've mentioned before, it's refreshing to have a feud in the Knockouts division that isn't over a title, and I've been digging what these two have done together so far. This was a quality contest from them that concluded with Valkyrie picking up the clean win, which was the right outcome. It's an extra impressive feat when you consider Rosemary has rarely been beaten since branching off on her own about a year ago. Post-match, Rosemary sprayed red mist in her face and declared that they will (likely) meet in a First Blood match at Bound for Glory, so I'm glad this didn't mark the end of the program.

Overall Show

Personally, I don't care too much for the matches and segments being taped at the CRASH promotion, but if nothing else, the company should be commended for going outside of the box with their angles. As for Bound for Glory, they hyped up the card effectively once again this week and it was a solid show on the whole as a result. Lambert's promo annoyed me to no end, but everything else was at least tolerable.