IMPACT! Wrestling Review - January 11, 2018

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Eddie Edwards Saved Moose From Lashley and Dan Lambert

I have been critical of Lambert's promos in the past, but at least he's improving and is generating genuine heel heat with his mic work. His line about IMPACT being a cockroach was spot-on, even if it was in character, because that's something many fans have been saying for a while now and how the company continues to defy the odds by staying alive year after year. It appears Moose will continue to feud with Lashley going forward and Edwards will be taking James Storm's spot in the program.

Petey Williams def. Impact Grand Champion Ethan Carter III by Disqualification

This was an open challenge by EC3 and having it get accepted by Canada's own Petey William was a smart move. Obviously, the crowd was behind Williams (who has been a blast to watch since his return to IMPACT) throughout the bout and it was a fun dynamic. Matt Sydal ultimately interfered and brawled with EC3, challenging him to a rematch that won't be fought under the standard Impact Grand Championship rules apparently. Hopefully that means the concept will soon be abolished.

Knockouts Champion Laurel Van Ness def. KC Spinelli (Non-title)

I'm sure Van Ness is a competent wrestler, but she hasn't had a single memorable match since she started doing this crazy gimmick last year. This matchup with Spinelli was a perfect example of why she simply isn't a great fit as champion, because this was kind of a mess with no real flow. Allie fended her off afterward, and I hope she's the one to take the title off Van Ness sooner rather than later.

Johnny Impact Attacked Impact Global Champion Eli Drake, Chris Adonis and Alberto El Patron

As expected, Drake's Impact Global Championship address was interrupted by Impact and El Patron, who remain fixtures in the title picture. You had to know that a three-way with these guys was coming since it was first teased at Bound for Glory in November, and we will finally get it on next week's show (I guess it was taped at an independent wrestling event and highlights will be shown). As for this segment, it was solid with the usual entertaining mic work from Drake to set up that three-way for the title.

Dezmond Xavier, Sonjay Dutt and Garza Jr. def. Trevor Lee, Caleb Konley and Hakim Zane

From an in-ring standpoint, these multi-man matches with the X-Division guys are always fun, but as I've complained about before, they do largely nothing to showcase the guys involved, at least on an individual basis. We know they can fly around the ring and do cool moves, that's nice. But I want to know about each competitor and have a reason to care about them. It was weird that Lee lost the title last week and was then an afterthought here. In fact, his team lost, and then Xavier vs. Taiji Ishimori for the X-Division Championship was announced for next week's show. Will Lee crash that contest?

K.M. and Lashley def. GHC HEavyweight Champion Eddie Edwards and Moose

This was a pretty standard tag team main event with nothing too exciting or out of the ordinary about it, but it wasn't bad, either. All four guys played their roles well and the heels maintained their heat with the win. It is interesting to note that K.M. scored the victory for his team and not Moose. Is he being groomed to take Lashley's spot at some point, or was this just a credibility booster for him?​

Overall Show

While this wasn't as strong or as newsworthy of a show as last week's episode, it was still decent on the whole and built toward four matches for next week: Drake defending the Global title against El Patron and Impact, Chandler Park vs. Kongo Kong, Ishimori vs. Xavier for the X-Division title, and oVe vs. LAX in a Barbed Wire Massacre. I've heard nothing but awesome things about that last match, so here's hoping it lives up to the lofty expectations. On a side note, expect yet another "reboot" of IMPACT coming out of their latest set of tapings, which should air sometime soon.