IMPACT! Wrestling Review - September 20, 2018

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

oVe def. Aerotar, Hijo del Vikingo and Laredo Kid

oVe is one of the most hated acts in all of IMPACT right now, so it made sense for them to take on three of Mexico's own ahead of Bound for Glory, where they'll be battling Pentagon Jr., Fenix and Brian Cage in six-man tag team action. I expected this to be a bit more chaotic than it was, but I enjoyed it, nevertheless. On a side note, it was cool to see Laredo Kid back after a lengthy absence from IMPACT! Wrestling and Aerostar is always entertaining. Hijo del Vikingo was an unfamiliar face to me, but he was impressive.

Eli Drake def. Trevor Lee

Drake has been squashing fools left and right as of late, and most of the people he's beaten have been nobodies. Thus, Lee was easily his most credible opponent to date and they had a nice little match. It probably should have been a bit more competitive considering Lee is a former Impact X-Division Champion, but it was decent while it lasted and resulted in another victory for Drake.

King def. KRonoz

King and The OGz will be facing LAX in what is being billed as the payoff to their program at Bound for Glory, so at this point, they're just running through everyone who crosses their path of destruction. This was short, sweet, and exactly what it needed to be, giving King his first singles victory since coming back to IMPACT. His post-match promo was also well done and furthered their feud with LAX effectively, along with the vignettes that aired afterward.

Faby Apache def. Alisha​ Edwards

I had never seen Apache before and really liked what she brought to the table here. Alisha isn't the most polished wrestler and her matches are very hit or miss more often than not, but this was a fine match with solid showings from both women. After emerging victorious, Apache called out Tessa Blanchard and demanded an Impact Knockouts Championship shot, which is set to take place next week.

The Lucha Brothers def. Rich Swann and Matt Sydal

The story in recent weeks has been that Sydal has been attempting to teach Swann about the power of "the third eye," and I'm honestly surprised Swann agreed to team with him here given the tension between them. Despite that, this was a very fun match and The Lucha Brothers continue to kill it against everyone they step in the ring with. Post-match, oVe nearly ambushed The Lucha Brothers before Cage made the save.

Impact World Champion Austin Aries def. El Texano

Needless to say, there was never any doubt that Aries was successfully retaining his title here (especially so close to Bound for Glory), but I appreciated that Aries and Texano were given as much time as they were because this turned into a quality main event. Texano can have some strong matches with the right opponent and I thought Aries brought the best out of him here. Additionally, Johnny Impact and Eddie Edwards returned afterward to brawl with Aries, Killer Kross and Moose and get a measure of revenge over them in the process.

Overall Show

This apparently marked IMPACT's television debut in Mexico and I really liked the atmosphere in the arena. They weren't the liveliest crowd all night long, but it was definitely different and that was all that mattered. Plus, there are so many lucha libre stars on the IMPACT roster (as well as those who are well-known from Lucha Underground and AAA), so it was logical for the company to travel and tape TV there. The show itself was pretty good and featured several showcases, storyline advancement and more build for Bound for Glory as well as for next week's show (LAX vs. Desi Hit Squad, Blanchard vs. Apache for the Knockouts title, and more matches have already been confirmed).