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Tonight's episode of Impact was dominated by the Mash-Up Tournament, where rivals would be forced to team up for a shot at the Impact World Championship. Eight teams would face off in tag-team matches throughout the night, with the surviving four advancing to the finals, a Fatal-4-Way elimination match.
With a concept like that, you'd think that most of the matches would come down to finishes in where partners turned on each other. Well, you wouldn't be wrong, but not once did it get stale over the course of the night. In fact, every match on the show was highly entertaining, even if one or two fell a little short.
This company continues to deliver week in and week out. If you're still debating whether or not to check out Impact, hopefully, tonight's show will be enough for you to give it a try.
#1 Best: Tessa Blanchard & Sami Callihan vs Dave Crist & Trey
So let me start off by saying that I love oVe. Sami Callihan, Jake & Dave Crist and Madman Fulton. They're all incredible. Prior to their match tonight, Callihan and the rest of oVe revealed that they were going to make this a short contest, as the Draw was planning on beating Dave Crist with the Finger Poke of Doom.
As you can see, Dave wasn't excited about the idea, especially after he had his watch stolen by Fulton. However, he wound up going along with the plan, even if it didn't work out well.
Now, if you enjoyed the saga of Tessa Blanchard and Sami Callihan, don't worry. We're nowhere near finished with that story. Tonight, the two enemies were forced to team together in hopes of challenging for the World Title. And though Blanchard earned Callihan's respect at Slammiversary, that doesn't mean they like each other.
That was evident when Callihan refused to let Blanchard in for the majority of the match, trying to hog all the spotlight while getting a quick pin with the Finger Poke of Doom. However, Trey of the Rascalz quickly broke up that spot, forcing Callihan and Crist to actually compete in the match.
From here, it was a great back and forth of Crist and Callihan trying not to attack each other while also trying not to lose. Callihan would focus on Trey while Crist went after Blanchard. Crist even ended up following Trey's orders, something which came naturally due to the fact that Trey dressed up like Callihan for the occasion.
From the entrances to the finish, this was funny, entertaining, and a highly competitive match. While I can't say it was the match of the night, it was definitely my favorite part of the show.
Worst #1: No Impact Tag Team Champions
Well, it looks like Winter has come and gone. The North defeated LAX at Bash at the Brewery a few days before Slammiversary to capture the Impact Tag Team Championship. At the PPV, they managed to defeat both LAX and the Rascalz to retain, starting their reign off on an incredible first defense.
Since then, though, they're nowhere to be found. Last week's Impact was primarily a highlight show featuring coverage from Slammiversary. This time around, with the Mash-Up Tournament taking up most of the two hour run time, there was no room for Josh Alexander and Ethan Page, which is tough because we're going to need to see more from them soon.
Though they won the titles and defended them at Slammiversary, they had a bit of a rough start in Impact when Alexander joined earlier in the year. Struggling to pick up any wins early, aside from their first tag team match together, they spent a few months taking losses to the ECW Originals RVD, Sabu, and Tommy Dreamer.
It's great to see them holding the gold, but they've got to build some credibility, and some dominant wins over the next few weeks would do wonders for them. But they have to actually be on TV to make that happen.
Best #2: The Knockouts Triple Threat
We got a break from all of the Mash-Up stuff with a Knockouts triple threat match late in the show. Taya Valkyrie faced off against two of her former challengers, Madison Rayne and Havok. And though it was a non-title match, it was still a much-needed breather from the tournament.
Rayne and Valkyrie spent a large portion of the match trying to wear down the powerful Havok, but she managed to overpower them even in two-on-one situations. Her overwhelming strength really came into play when she managed to dump both competitors overhead with a Samoan drop/fallaway slam combination.
Valkyrie and Rayne did put in some great offense in their own rights, taking down the monster on several occasions, and lighting each other up in the process when they didn't have to worry about Havok stalking them. The ending saw John E. Bravo yank Valkyrie away from danger, allowing Havok to pin Rayne with a Tombstone Piledriver.
It was exactly what we needed after over an hour of tag-team action, breaking up the routine and giving us something different. And while some other great Knockouts were left off the show this week, it was nice to see the Knockouts Champion on the card.
Worst #2: The Misuse of Rich Swann
Unlike the Tag Team Champions, the X-Division Champion did find his way onto the card this week. Rich Swann teamed up with Madman Fulton to face Jake Crist and Wentz. However, that contest was a lot shorter than the rest of the matches we saw throughout the night.
Swann was quickly brought in to face Wentz, but in no time, he found himself taking on Jake Crist. Fulton missed the tag from Swann, rushing to the other side of the ring and knocking Wentz to the ground. It looked like we were going to see Crist and Fulton go at it, only for Crist to sick Fulton on Swann, driving him into the mat with two sky-high Chokeslams, allowing Crist to pick up the win with the Fisherman's Buster.
Now, as I said earlier, the screwy finishes were expected, and they were all different enough where they weren't really an issue. In fact, I liked the way this ended. The only problem is that we didn't really get to see much of Swann do anything this time around. The X-Division Champion is one of the most exciting wrestlers on the planet, and on a show that gave eight competitors two matches to shine, it feels like he definitely should've been pushed into the finals.
Best #3: The Finals of the Mash-Up
So the finals of the tournament was a Fatal-4-Way Elimination match with Michael Elgin & Willie Mack vs Moose & Eddie Edwards vs Jake Crist & Wentz vs Sami Callihan & Tessa Blanchard. It was messy, it was a car wreck, and it was incredible.
A lot of other promotions slow their performers down, even in huge multi-person matches, to the point where it can take a crowd out of a match. Impact has never been known to do that, and that was the case here. From the moment the finals began, the crowd was hot to see everyone compete. All eight competitors got huge pops and their own chants, and any time someone else was tagged in, they erupted.
The crowd and the fast pace of the match allowed for nonstop high energy action that kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through. Whether it was Callihan and Blanchard struggling to work together, Michael Elgin and Moose running through competitors with their freakish power, or Wentz pulling out some great high flying offense, there was enough there to get the attention of every kind of fan.
A handful of storylines played out over the course of the match, too. Earlier in the night, it seemed like Eddie Edwards and Moose were back on the same page, possibly on the path to rekindling their friendship, only for Moose to sacrifice Edwards in order to take out the rest of his opponents. Tessa Blanchard continued to prove that she was ready to stand up to anyone, as she attempted to square off with Michael Elgin before being pushed out of the way by Sami Callihan, who may or may not have been trying to save her.
Near the end of the match, we even saw a mini-oVe breakdown. Callihan tried the Finger Poke of Doom on Jake Crist. However, he refused to go down like that, rolling Callihan up for a near fall. Callihan was forced to drop his own ally with the Cactus Driver, allowing Blanchard to hit Magnum for the win. Are we seeing a riff begin to form between Ohio Versus Everything? Did Callihan actually try to sacrifice himself to save Blanchard from Michael Elgin?
There was just so much that went down in the main event this week. It was another main event from Impact that, not only delivered, but left me wanting more and eagerly wishing the next seven days could hurry up just so I can see what happens next.
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