IMPACT! Wrestling Review - September 27, 2018

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Impact Knockouts Champion Tessa Blanchard def. Faby Apache

Apache only just debuted on IMPACT! Wrestling last week, so while there was obviously zero doubt regarding the outcome of this contest, it had a nice pace and they did a solid job of making viewers believe Apache had a chance of winning the title in her native Mexico. The match was on the shorter side, mind you, but what we got was good. Afterward, Taya Valkyrie challenged Blanchard to a title matchup at Bound for Glory, which Blanchard accepted backstage later on in the night.

Impact X-Division Champion Brian Cage def. Jake Crist (Non-title)

This was a total mismatch on paper, but in the best way possible in that it was fun to watch Cage annihilate his much smaller opponent. I was expecting a glorified squash with Cage making short work of Crist, but Chist scored a surprising amount of offense over Cage (including a cutter off the top rope) before finally losing. The post-match angle with Cage, The Lucha Brothers and oVe was just more build for their upcoming six-man tag team bout at Bound for Glory.

Impact World Tag Team Champions LAX def. Desi Hit Squad (Non-title)

While they are far from the strongest team right now in IMPACT, Desi Hit Squad have been relatively impressive since debuting not too long ago and their matches are getting better and better. They had a decent performance here, but this was largely all about LAX and establishing them as a threat ahead of their war with The OGz at Bound for Glory. King's post-match promo up on the big screen talking trash to Konnan got me even more excited for it than I was before.

Kiera Hogan and Allie def. Su Yung and The Undead Maid of Honor

With Blanchard and Valkyrie set to feud over the Knockouts Championship going into Bound for Glory, it looks like Allie, Hogan and Yung will be involved in some match of their own at the event. This was designed to further that feud and I thought it did so effectively, though it was weird to see Hogan pin Yung clean. Aren't Yung's bridesmaids and maid of honor involved so they can take the pinfall loss? On the bright side, Hogan gained a measure of credibility with the win.

Moose and Killer Kross def. Eddie Edwards and Johnny Impact

Impact will vie for the Impact World Championship at Bound for Glory against Austin Aries while Edwards will face Moose in a Grudge match, so this main event served to hype up both bouts. It was well-wrestled on the whole, but the real story was Edwards getting his hands on Moose for the first time since Moose betrayed him. They interacted briefly at one point, but not enough to give away what we'll be seeing from them at the pay-per-view. The heels coming out on top keeps the faces in chase mode for now, which I like.

Overall Show

Bound for Glory is quickly approaching and IMPACT deserves credit for putting together quite the card that I'm looking forward to on paper. All of the main matches were built up on this show and another new match was added as well in Blachard vs. Valkyrie. Additionally, this edition of IMPACT! Wrestling set up several matchups for next week and I appreciated the lack of filler with everything serving a purpose, so the two hours flew by as a result.