IMPACT! Wrestling Review - May 17, 2018

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Z & E def. Eli Drake and Scott Steiner to Win the Impact World Tag Team Championship

All it took was one win over LAX last week to earn Z & E a tag team title shot, apparently. Anyway, this was a nice little match where Drake once again did the majority of the in-ring work for his team, which I was totally fine with given how limited Steiner is at this point. I was also fine with the surprise title change because Drake and Steiner shouldn't have held the belts for that long, but I'm surprised they're already teasing tension despite being a tandem for only a month.

Tessa Blanchard def. Kiera Hogan

Putting Blanchard in a squash match for her in-ring debut might have been a better idea so she could establish her offense, but this was a well-wrestled affair, nonetheless. Hogan also had an impressive outing and looked credible in defeat, giving me hope for her future in the Knockouts division. I really liked how Blanchard took Hogan lightly early on only to get angry once she battled back and came close to beating Blanchard.

Kongo Kong def. Grado

The Grado shtick was funny years ago, but at this point, I don't see what purpose he's supposed to serve on the roster. I guess he's comedic relief, but like I said, he wore out his welcome a while back. On the bright side, Kong dominated him with ease here and thankfully this was kept relatively short and sweet. Post-match, Moose emerged to brawl with Kong and further their feud.

Eddie Edwards def. Sami Callihan in a Street Fight

This match was taped at a recent House of Hardcore event, which worked well with the story they're telling with these two that their rivalry is too ruthless to be settled inside in an IMPACT ring. I have heard people make the comparison that this is the modern day Raven vs. Tommy Dreamer feud from ECW years ago, and I can agree with that. This Street Fight was a massive improvement over their "I Quit" match from that IMPACT vs. Lucha Underground event in early April: it had a sense of urgency, great drama and a satisfying payoff. Although Edwards finally beat Callihan, he was consumed by vengeance and continued to assault Callihan afterward.

Impact World Champion Pentagon Jr. and AAA Latin American Champion El Hijo del Fantasma def. Impact Grand Champion Austin Aries and Impact X-Division Champion Matt Sydal

Sydal will defend the X-Division title against Fantasma on next week's show while Pentagon and Aries will meet in a rematch for the Impact World title in two weeks at Under Pressure (yes, that's actually what they're calling it). Thus, this served as solid hype for both bouts with Fantasma logically pinning Sydal for the victory. The match itself was highly entertaining and I loved the final few minutes, especially when Pentagon superkicked Sydal in midair when he was going for the Shooting Star Press. That was a very cool sequence.

Overall Show

In addition to the aforementioned matches, this edition of IMPACT! Wrestling featured a pre-taped "funeral" for Rosemary held by Su Yung and highlights of a Brian Cage vs. Facade match from a Destiny Wrestling event in Canada. All things considered, this was a quality episode and fairly newsworthy as well between the above-average main event, the Street Fight, and the tag titles changing hands. I honestly had no idea Under Pressure was even happening in two weeks until it was mentioned on this show, but it has potential on paper.