IMPACT! Wrestling Review - November 9, 2017

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Petey Williams Attacked IMPACT Global Champion Eli Drake

This was Drake's opportunity to boast about successfully retaining his title in the main event of Bound for Glory and he shined on the stick as expected. He cut a great promo teasing what was next for him before being interrupted by Williams, whose mic work was also solid. I like this as an interim feud for Drake, especially considering these tapings are taking place in Canada and Williams is obviously mega over there. It could lead to extra heat for Drake when all is said and done.

Matt Sydal def. Sonjay Dutt

Sydal and Dutt are two of the more experienced and exciting performers the X-Division has to offer, so I was looking forward to this and they definitely delivered. I figured Sydal would win in a matter of minutes, but I was glad they received as much time as they did. They could have used a hotter finishing sequence, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the outing. Moreover, the Ethan Carter III and Sydal feud that kicked off afterward has plenty of potential, and I'm thrilled EC3 is back to being an asshole heel after working as a babyface recently.

GHC Heavyweight Champion Eddie Edwards def. El Hijo del Fantasma

In my opinion, Edwards is the workhorse in IMPACT! at the moment and tends to have the best matches of the night each week. This was no different as he and Fastasma wrestled a very entertaining, back-and-forth matchup. There were also a few nice nearfalls down the stretch as well and it established Edwards as a fighting champion. It'll be interesting to see if this was the end of Fantasma in IMPACT! considering the Team IMPACT vs. Team AAA program is now over.

IMPACT Tag Team Champions oVe and Sami Callihan def. ​Ray Steele, Phil Atlas and Burke

It's like night and day with oVe: they weren't doing anything for me as babyfaces before Bound for Glory, but I'm digging their pairing with Callihan as heels. At least, I assume they're heels, which is for the best anyway because the audience genuinely likes LAX. This was a dominant squash as it should have been that gave the new trio a win, setting up oVe and Callihan vs. LAX for next week's show.

Allie def. KC Spinelli

This match was filmed during a Border City Wrestling event, so while no context was given and it was virtually meaningless, it was a pretty good match from an in-ring standpoint. Allie is no longer limited in regards to what she is allowed to do in the ring (due to her on-air persona) and can finally have the excellent matches she's capable of. I honestly would have preferred to see her win the Knockouts Championship over Gail Kim at Bound for Glory given Kim is on her way out, anyway.

Johnny Impact and Alberto El Patron Brawled

I have absolutely zero interest in an Impact and El Patron feud going forward. I realize it made sense since El Patron cost him the Global Championship at Bound for Glory, but two former notable names from WWE taking center stage in IMPACT! and having the most prominent program on the show doesn't send the strongest message about the company's future. Worse yet, this wasn't compelling television whatsoever. It dragged on forever and didn't make me want to see them face off. Why management bothers to keep El Patron around despite him having no worth remains a mystery to me.

Overall Show

As the follow-up show to Bound for Glory, this edition of IMPACT! Wrestling was going well up until the show-closing brawl. The first hour featured above-average wrestling and a successful segment with Drake and Williams, the tag team match served a purpose, and the women's match killed time effectively. It wasn't an exceptional episode or anything, but it was undoubtedly a vast improvement over the atrocity that was last Sunday's pay-per-view.