IMPACT! Final Hour Review - November 8, 2018

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Lucha Brothers def. The OGz

Pentagon Jr. and Fenix never cease to amaze me with their exciting aerial abilities and that was once again the case here. King realized that in order to get to Konnan, he would have to first eliminate the treat of The Lucha Brothers, hence the reason behind this bout. It was all action from bell to bell and the crowd ate up everything they did. This was an extremely exciting encounter that kicked off the show on a high note. Will The Lucha Brothers be next in line to challenge LAX for the Impact World Tag Team Championship?

Jordynne Grace def. Katarina

I've known about Grace for a while through social media, but I didn't get my first look at her in the ring until All In two months ago. She impressed me immensely on that show and she's a great get for IMPACT. Katarina was the perfect person for her to debut against, not because Katarina is crazy talented or anything but because it was an easy squash win for Grace and she was able to dominate a majority of the match. I'm looking forward to seeing her interact with the rest of the Knockouts division.

Impact X-Division Champion Brian Cage def. Sami Callihan by Disqualification (Non-title)

This took place at the same Rockstar Pro independent event where last week's segment with Cage and Callihan was filmed. It was less of a match and more of an angle, which was completely fine considering they are still in the early stages of the feud. Not only did oVe interfere, a number of Rockstar Pro wrestlers did as well and thus it sent the message that Cage couldn't go down easily. oVe were the last men standing, but Cage will bounce back before long and it won't be pretty for them.

Moose def. Eddie Edwards

This was the match I was hoping we'd get at Bound for Glory, so I have no clue why we ended up getting that tag team matchup also involving Tommy Dreamer and Killer Kross instead. Nonetheless, this was an excellent, hard-hitting match and I loved how personal they made this feel. Edwards and Moose were given a ton of time and both of them put forth a hell of an effort. That powerbomb to the outside from Moose was just a sickening bump. Moose winning makes sense and keeps the feud alive.

Eli Drake Attacked Joseph Park

The Joseph Park character has always been a guilty pleasure of mine and I'm glad he was brought back for this angle, even if it was a one-off appearance. In storyline, Drake is filing a lawsuit against IMPACT for endorsing hardcore behavior, when he himself battered Park here with weapons. Drake's mic work was top notch as usual, but I can't say I'm overly excited about the idea of him feuding with Abyss going forward.

Impact World Champion Johnny Impact def. Killer Kross

Kross has yet to have a truly competitive contest with anyone since arriving in IMPACT, so I wasn't surprised that he was on offense for most of the match and that Impact had to sell for him. That led to Impact's comeback down the stretch meaning something and they told a solid story, but this was nowhere near the level of Impact's title defense against Fenix from a few weeks ago. I suspected someone would ambush Impact from behind on the stage before the show went off the air, but no such luck.

Overall Show

This show definitely had the feel of an important special for IMPACT with there being no filler and everything serving a purpose. The opener and Edwards vs. Moose were particularly strong, Drake's segment furthered his feud with Abyss, Grace had an effective debut, Cage vs. Callihan was officially set for next week, and Impact successfully retained his title. That main event didn't have the big fight feel it should have, but if nothing else, it was perfectly fine from an in-ring standpoint. More importantly, plenty of matches/segments were announced for next week's show.