WrestleRant
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Store
  • About
  • Contact
Picture

IMPACT! Wrestling Review - January 18, 2018

1/18/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Impact X-Division Champion Taiji Ishimori def. Dezmond Xavier

Although this was a glorified spotfest with little to no story, I thought it was the perfect match to kick off the night because it was so entertaining. From an in-ring standpoint, it was a great match, but it really would have benefited from a story of some sort, which the X-Division sorely lacks right now. Ishimori just won the title two weeks ago, so him successfully retaining was the right move. I was pleasantly surprised that Trevor Lee, who has been afterthought since dropping the strap to Ishimori, didn't interfere.

Kongo Kong def. Chandler Park

Chandler is no different than Joseph Park in that when they aren't their alter-egos (Ethan Page/Abyss), they're completely useless in the ring. That was evident during Chandler's in-ring debut two weeks ago, and thus it was not surprising in the slightest that this was a total squash match in favor of Kong. Based off what we saw afterward, I would assume this program will eventually lead to Park bringing back his Abyss persona to face Kong.

Impact Global Champion Eli Drake vs. JOhnny Impact vs. Alberto El Patron in a Three-Way Match Ended in a No Contest

This was apparently taped at a Border City Wrestling event. On the bright side, I was happy that this wasn't simply made up of highlights like Drake vs. El Patron was a few weeks back, but even if it was, there wouldn't have been many highlights to show because this was a complete mess. I have no doubt that these three could go out there and deliver a terrific three-way, but this didn't seem to flow whatsoever, and some of the spots were ridiculous (such as when they teamed up to take out the referees). A Six Sides of Steel rematch will be held next week to settle their score once and for all.

Rosemary def. KC Spinelli

Spinelli has looked good in each of her outings so far, but she has merely served as a stepping stone for the rest of the Knockouts roster. She had another solid performance here against Rosemary and it was a well-wrestled match, though it was obvious that it was designed to showcase Rosemary ahead of her next feud with Hania the Huntress. I'm not familiar with her at all, but hilariously enough, I read today that she was just fired from the company (this was taped months ago), so I'm not sure how much longer she'll be around for on TV. By the way, where is Taya Valkayrie? I know she couldn't compete in Canada, or something like that, but they have since returned to Orlando to tape shows and I haven't heard her name in a while.

LAX def. oVe and Sami Calalihan in Barbed Wire Massacre III

IMPACT made this out to be one of the biggest matches in recent history based off the advertising for it, but I honestly didn't find it to be as epic as the company made it out to be... like at all. Other than generating interest for the match, I have no idea why it was "banned" from Pop TV because there was no blood and it really wasn't all that violent except for some stuff near the end. It was a nice hardcore brawl, but many of us have seen way worse (in terms of gore), so it suffered from being over-hyped. I will say that it was a cool way to blow off the long-running rivalry and there were a handful of sweet spots, but it wasn't exactly as must-see as I imagined.

Overall Show

Barbed Wire Massacre III aired on the company's new Twitch channel instead of IMPACT! Wrestling, so you can see it there. A majority of this episode was dedicated to building that bout up, and given it failed to meet those lofty expectations, this was a below-average edition of IMPACT! Wrestling with a terrible layout. The rest of the show was fairly forgettable and mainly consisted of video packages. The opener was enjoyable, but that was about it. That said, next week's Genesis special has potential on paper between Moose vs. Lashley, the Drake vs. Impact vs. Patron three-way cage match for the Global title, Ethan Carter III vs. Matt Sydal for the Impact Grand Championship, and Laurel Van Ness vs. Allie for the Knockouts Championship.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.


    Categories

    All
    #AskGSM
    Battle Of The Belts
    Cruiserweight Classic
    Halftime Heat
    Hidden Gems
    Interviews
    Lists/Rankings
    Mae Young Classic
    Mixed Match Challenge
    News
    NJPW
    NWA Shockwave
    NXT PLEs
    Opinion
    Previews
    Retro Reviews
    Reviews
    RJ's Two Cents
    Satire
    Slammy Awards
    SNME
    SummerSlam Recall
    The Deadly Draw
    The World Is A Vampire
    Tribute To The Troops
    Women's Eliminator
    Worlds Collide
    WrestleMania Recall
    WWE Draft
    WWE Network Specials
    WWE PLEs
    WWE Starrcade


    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    RSS Feed

©2025 WrestleRant. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Store
  • About
  • Contact