IMPACT! Wrestling Review - May 3, 2018

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Impact World Champion Pentagon Jr. Confronted Impact World Tag Team Champion Eli Drake

Drake is one of if not the best talker IMPACT has at the moment and I'm happy he's back to being featured in a prominent role on the program. He cut a very good promo here about his current intentions and wanting to cash in his Feast or Fired briefcase for a shot at the Impact World Championship next week, though I do find it weird Drake isn't taking a more opportunistic approach (he gave the champs prior notice for the Impact World Tag Team Championship match he earned, too). Pentagon didn't say anything when he confronted Drake, but he didn't have to, because his presence alone is enough. This was a solid segment to kick off the show.

oVe def. Fallah Bahh and K.M.

Yes, Bahh and K.M. are apparently a unit now after feuding not too long ago, and yes, Bahh is dumb enough to buy into K.M.'s crap. I was actually shocked K.M. didn't turn on him here, but you have to know it's coming based off his post-match smirk toward Bahh. The match itself was decent for the time it was given, and oVe won as they should have to maintain their current momentum.

Taya Valkyrie vs. Kiera Hogan Ended in a No Contest

The match these two had at Redemption was fine albeit an afterthought because of Tessa Blanchard completely overshadowing them on commentary. This was slightly better because fans had more of a reason to believe that Hogan could win, but Blanchard brawling with Hogan once again rendered the matchup as irrelevant. There was never an official decision made regarding the finish, so I assume it was just a no contest. That said, I do like Hogan being Blanchard's first feud in IMPACT.

Brian Cage def. Slex, Mick Moretti and Brodie Marshall in a Four-Way MAtch

I believe this match was taped at a WrestleCircus event last month, and much like most matches IMPACT airs from other promotions, its time was cut, but not too drastically. From what I did see, it was a fun four-way. This was a total showcase for Cage and I wasn't familiar with the other three guys, but they all held their own. The video package that focused on Cage earlier in the evening was especially well done.

DJZ, Andrew Everett and Dezmond Xavier def. Aerostar, Drago and El Hijo del Fantasma

This was contested under lucha libre rules. I'm not sure who the heels were supposed to be or if there even were any. Instead, this was just a very enjoyable multi-man match that spotlighted a majority of the X-Division. The issue that I had with it, though, was that I had zero reason to care about anyone involved outside of how they're just great wrestlers. The X-Division desperately needs characters and storylines we can invest in. On the bright side, DJ Z scoring the pin for his team considering he is fresh off his return from injury was smart booking.

Impact X-Division Champion Matt Sydal def. Taiji Ishimori

Ishimori was the one who Sydal beat for the X-Division title in the first place, so I'm surprised they didn't have a rematch earlier than this. Nevertheless, this was a very well-wrestled match with a nice touch. While it was weird that Sydal didn't do anything heelish to retain his title here, I liked that he won in clean fashion. Now that he's defeated Petey Williams and Ishimori multiple times, Sydal needs real competition to defend against.

Su Yung vs. Rosemary Ended in a No Contest

Considering how the Rosemary vs. Yung feud began only a week ago, I was glad their first-ever one-on-one encounter wasn't given away so soon. Due to the match never truly getting underway (it technically lasted all of a minute), this was more of an angle and an excellent one at that. Allie attempted to aid her friend, but to no avail. Yung hit her finisher on Rosemary off the stage, which was a terrific visual. I'm looking forward to seeing how this storyline progresses in the weeks ahead.

Overall Show

IMPACT has quickly moved on from the fallout of Redemption and has already started to build toward Slammiversary, so kudos to the company for that. Not everything on these shows is perfect, mind you, but on the whole, there isn't a ton of filler and there tends to be at least a quality match or two each episode. There wasn't anything must-see on this particular edition of IMPACT! Wrestling, but a bunch of bouts were set up for next week and the two hours flew by quicker than usual.