IMPACT! Wrestling Review - October 4, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Tenille Dashwood def. Madison Rayne and Kiera Hogan in a Three-Way Match

Dashwood hasn't been totally dominant in any of her matches so far in IMPACT, so I'm slightly surprised they'd put her in what was basically a Handicap match. It greatly limited her offense, and although she picked up a good win after overcoming the odds, she should have been allowed to showcase her skills a bit more. I'm ready for her to face people not named Kiera Hogan and Madison Rayne to see how she fares. I guess we won't find out until Bound for Glory when she takes on Taya Valkyrie for the Impact Knockouts Championship.

Johnny Swinger def. Owen Travers

Good lord. I can't imagine anyone possibly caring about Johnny Swinger in 2019. He's wrestled pretty much everywhere but is 44-years-old and doesn't have much value to the company. Unless he's being brought into the company for some sort of an angle at Bound for Glory (like when Glenn Gilbertti was hired so Scarlett Bordeaux could make him look like a fool), I don't see what purpose this serves. The match was whatever, but it felt like it would never end.

Eddie Edwards and Kenny def. Reno Scum

This was another outing that was essentially a Handicap match since Kenny, well, is a kendo stick. The commentators played along and it was cute and all, but I'm not exactly sure what it was supposed to accomplish aside from further establishing that Edwards is crazy. By the way, I realize Reno Scum are from Las Vegas (which is where this show was taped from), but I don't understand why IMPACT keeps bringing them back when they aren't very good.

Impact World Champion Brian Cage Attacked oVe

Sami Callihan was supposed to apologize for mistakenly hitting Cage's wife Melissa Santos at the end of last week's episode, and in predictable fashion, he showed no remorse. That brought out Cage, who went berserk on oVe before accidentally striking a "fan" out of rage. That led to the police "arresting" Cage. It was a strong angle all around that did its job in hyping up Cage vs. Callihan for Bound for Glory.

Daga def. Chris Bey to Qualify for the Impact X-Division Championship Ladder Match at Bound for Glory

Konnan was attacked backstage earlier in the show, so I'm not sure if he was supposed to accompany Daga to the ring here or not. Daga didn't do much for me at the beginning of his run in Lucha Underground years ago, but he's come a long way as a performer and should be an excellent addition to the X-Division if he's signed full-time. Bey scored way more offense than I thought he would, but he was really impressive as well. Afterward, oVe tried to get the jump on Daga before Tessa Blanchard made the save. I don't think the commentators brought this up, but they have legitimately been an item for a while now, so that was pretty cool. That should be a fun mixed tag team match.

Michael Elgin def. TJP

I guess TJP is the new KM now that he's aligned with Fallah Bahh? Here's hoping he's more than just comic relief, and based off the showing he had here, I have faith that he will be. This was an awesome main event that featured the perfect combination of power and athleticism. Their styles meshed wonderfully and the crowd was into the action. Obviously, Elgin winning was the right call, but TJP looked credible in defeat.

Overall Show

Bound for Glory is just a few weeks away and the card is coming together nicely. I wasn't thrilled by the first half of this show (the women's match was slightly underwhelming to me and I couldn't care less about Johnny Swinger), but the pace picked up starting with the Cage and oVe segment and the two matches that followed were very well wrestled. I can't wait for IMPACT! Wrestling to move back to Tuesday nights later this month so I don't have to stay up until midnight on Fridays watching this show (despite how entertaining it is most weeks).