GFW Impact Review - October 26, 2017

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Impact Grand Champion Ethan Carter III and James Storm def. El Hijo del Fantasma and Texano

This match made more sense than the five-way we received on last week's show, but the biggest issue with this IMPACT vs. AAA storyline is that no one seems to be on the same page. Storm and EC3 have their history and established issues, which is fine, but why do Fantasma and Texano have bad blood? I get the feeling that they're allies in the Impact Zone, yet they are for some reason rivals in Mexico. It's made for some really confusing television and matches in recent weeks, and thus I can't say I'm looking forward to the likely six-man tag team match also involving Eddie Edwards and Pagano at Bound for Glory.

GFW World Tag Team Champions oVe def. Phil Atlas and Brett Banks

Similar to the opener, this was match was filmed at another promotion, though no background was given. I understood that oVe had to defend their tag titles in Mexico at CRASH in order to talk to Konnan, but this came out of nowhere. At only three minutes long, it was completely forgettable, but it might have been better off being as short and sweet as it was. As I've said countless times before, oVe continue to do nothing for me as the champions right now.

GHC Heavyweight Champion Eddie Edwards def. Marufuji

Of all the matches that occurred outside of the Impact Zone, this was the only one that was cut short and didn't air in its entirety, which is a shame because it was the best of the bunch. Perhaps it went long, but regardless of what the reason was, this appeared to be excellent based off what we saw. Having an IMAPCT wrestler as the top champion of Pro Wrestling NOAH is pretty damn cool, so congrats to Edwards for that.

Petey Williams def. Kiyomiya, Idris Abraham and TARIK in a Four-Way Match

We've seen Abraham make a handful of appearances on IMPACT TV this year, and Williams is a well-known X-Division competitor, but I was totally unfamiliar with who the other two were. This match had a nice pace to it and everyone played their role well, but it was difficult to care considering nothing was on the line and it felt random. On the bright side, Williams picked up the victory ahead of Bound for Glory, where I assume he'll challenge for the X-Division Championship.

Johnny Impact and Garza Jr. def. GFW Global Champion Eli Drake and Chris Adonis

It's comical that any shot of Drake, whether it was backstage or when he was making his entrance, was edited so the GFW Global Championship was shown as little as possible. That's because IMPACT ditched the GFW initials as soon as Jeff Jarrett took his "leave of absence" and eventually left. I'll be using them in the titles of these reviews until this set of tapings wraps up next week. Nonetheless, this was a well-wrestled tag team match that allowed Garza to shine alongside the main event talent. The babyfaces winning ensures Impact has momentum heading into his upcoming Global Championship match.

X-Division Champion Trevor Lee def. Ultimo Ninja

Lee having to defend his title all around the world should make him a more credible champion, but nothing about this match stood out as special whatsoever. For the few minutes it received, Lee and Ninja failed to tell a compelling story and it didn't come across like a championship clash whatsoever. This would have benefited from a better build-up where viewers were given a reason to care about the challenger.

Moose def. Lashley by Disqualification

Moose and Lashley have always had strong in-ring chemistry together and I was happy they closed out this show with an entertaining encounter. All the interference from everyone at ringside actually added to the chaos because it put over how that won't be possible inside Six Sides of Steel at Bound for Glory. The non-finish was what needed to happen and these guys didn't overstay their welcome in the main event slot.

Overall Show

The company is really depending on their working relationships with various promotions to carry most of their shows these days by having them air matches featuring IMPACT talent. I give them credit for trying something new, but the timing isn't right considering Bound for Glory is coming up next Sunday and that needs all the attention it can get. All things considered, this was a solid episode with enjoyable action, but it didn't make me any more excited for the pending pay-per-view than I was before.