IMPACT! Wrestling Review - August 16, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Moose def. Fallah Bahh

It was tough for me to take Bahh seriously as a threat to Moose (even though he won their original encounter a few weeks ago), but he showed awesome intensity and I thought this was a nice little sprint. He's already over as a fan favorite during his comedy shtick, but he might benefit from having more an edge like the one he had here. I don't think Bahh had any business beating Moose in the first place, but at least Moose was able to avenge that loss. Here's hoping he can maintain the momentum this time around and re-enter the Impact World Championship picture sooner rather than later.

Madison Rayne and Kiera Hogan def. Alexia Nicole and JOrdynne Grace

It's already been established that Rayne and Hogan don't have much in common aside from their shared disdain for Grace, but I thought they made for a pretty good team. I wasn't a fan of Nicole's one-on-one outing against Rayne last week, but she had Grace to rely on here and thus it was a solid match. Rosemary resurfaced afterward and cleared the ring of the heels, so it looks like she'll be feuding with Hogan and Rayne going forward.

Rich Swann, Willie Mack and Rob Van Dam def. The Rascalz

This was the definition for a high-fliers match in more ways than one. In all seriousness, the similar styles here made for a really fun outing with all six stars shining at one point or another. It's been well documented by this point that I have zero desire to see RVD wrestling regularly in IMPACT, but I thought this was an excellent use of him. The crowd was into the action, and even though I don't know if it was meant to tease anything with RVD and Swann, I enjoyed their interaction.

The Deaners def. Desi Hit Squad

I'm honestly shocked this feud has lasted as long as it has, just because neither team is terribly exciting and their matches are about as mediocre as you'd expect. Then again, IMPACT's tag team division is fairly desolate at the moment, so maybe I shouldn't be so surprised. Nonetheless, this was a half decent match from an in-ring standpoint, but I can't say the stipulations (the losers working as the winners' servants) did anything to make me ​care about the outcome.

Tommy Dreamer and Tessa Blanchard def. oVe

oVe was represented here by Dave Crist and Sami Callihan, who has been at odds with Blanchard for over a month now. It's been the best thing going in IMPACT lately, but I fear they're going to run the risk of overexposing it by putting them in too many matches together. It doesn't help that Dreamer was a poor choice of a tag team partner for her, just because I can't remember the last truly memorable match he had. This was a serviceable main event, but I think Blanchard (regardless of whether she's face or heel) works better on her own without any allies. I'm not sure where their program is headed because Callihan is currently the number one contender to the Impact World Championship after beating Blanchard at Unbreakable earlier this month.

Overall Show

I appreciated that this was more of a wrestling-heavy edition of IMPACT! Wrestling than usual. Several feuds (such as Eddie Edwards vs. Austin Ace) were still furthered through backstage segments and video packages, so it's not like there wasn't any advancement with certain storylines. There were a ton of tag team matches on this episode, but that isn't necessarily a negative. Most of them were entertaining and served a purpose. It was a solid show with way more good than bad, but it feels like they're killing time until the build for Bound for Glory kicks in soon.