IMPACT Wrestling Official Thread

[kovs27]

Impact for promotion of the year

Is this a serious comment? I've enjoyed Impact but it's felt a bit stale since Slammiversary.

[roacheyyy]

Impact for promotion of the year

Is this a serious comment? I've enjoyed Impact but it's felt a bit stale since Slammiversary.

Yep 100% serious. The Guns and especially Sabin have been awesome since Slammiversary as have Bailey and Miguel. Not much competition tho, Raw and Smackdown are mostly crap and Dynamite has been pretty boring to me the last few months. Definitely enjoyed Impact more than anything so far this year

[kovs27]

Impact for promotion of the year

Is this a serious comment? I've enjoyed Impact but it's felt a bit stale since Slammiversary.

Yep 100% serious. The Guns and especially Sabin have been awesome since Slammiversary as have Bailey and Miguel. Not much competition tho, Raw and Smackdown are mostly crap and Dynamite has been pretty boring to me the last few months. Definitely enjoyed Impact more than anything so far this year

I can't argue that. The Bailey/Miguel match was excellent.

[Reaper G]

The sad thing is, Impact is probably the best it's ever been in terms of match quality, but they're doing shows in front of only a few hundred people at most, and on a channel that's not in more homes.

[Montana]

I agree; the talent & matches in Impact may be at near all time highs. I would love to see Impact live.

I've had a hard time, fully investing in the TV product. I DVR it; and typically always catch up, but no must see "live" feeling. Then it can be 2-3 weeks before i catch up.

Not sure what's it's missing really. I think it's partly WWE/AEW taking a majority of TV time away. Maybe it's cause they book primarily around the PPV's as major shows; and feels like it's rare to see a title change / major event on TV. Felt like not pushing Cardona to the moon, when he was super hot in GCW; was a missed opportunity. Honor no More came in hot; but after the Edwards turn; it's kinda just been more of the same. Guess that would be the only improvement, is to try and make Impact TV Must see as possible. Don't hold back for PPV's.

[Reaper G]

One thing I've noticed is that Impact has a way of signing people for short term deals, like with the Iinspiration and Jonah. They're hot from being released, Impact has a chance to build on them and... they're gone after six months. I'm not sure how good a strategy that is.

Did anyone else see Johnny Gargano on the Alex Shelley tribute video? Think that might lead to something?

[Wavelet Transform]

Checked out Emergence based on the positive reviews Impact has been getting. Damn, that was a great show. I enjoyed everything, but the Knockouts title and Bandido / Horus were my faves. Great, heated women's match and a some genuinely jaw dropping moments in the lucha match. Bandido's already a star, but I feel like Horus has really stepped up the last year or so - very underrated talent. Great seeing Speedball prominently feature too - he's an incredible performer. Enjoyed his match w/ Jack Evans. Jack's bulked up a lot. Good for his appearance, but he looked gassed early in the match, although to his credit, he hit everything cleanly. HNM / Bullet Club was a fun garbage brawl. Violent By Design doesn't do much for me, but was impressed at how good Sabin looks in the ring for his age / wear-and-tear, his speed esp. Main event was awesome. Would have preferred a Shelley win and him taking so much of the match tipped the result a bit, but they had a fantastic closing stretch.

Really enjoyed the presentation too. Simple, well-told stories, good pacing, and nice video packages to introduce everything. Really like that the announcers work elements of the TV show into their commentary during the matches (e.g., Speedball's grueling schedule, Gallows' shoulder injury from the PCO street fight, etc....). Also, all wrestling shows should have a two-person commentary booth.

Honestly, as someone who still looks at Impact with a loltna mentality, I'm genuinely blown away by how awesome this show was. Looking forward to more and hoping Gresham ends up in Impact.

[Zhuge1]

Impact has now pulled in Bully Ray. Hopefully that goes better than his ROH run. I suspect they will at least be smart enough to limit his creative control unlike whoever at Sinclair seemed to give him a lot of input.

[Wavelet Transform]

Unexpected banger of a match between Gisele Shaw and Jordynne Grace on this week’s impact. Grace flies under the radar because she’s in Impact, but they’ve really got something special w/ her. She’s got a great powerhouse style - like Elgin’s, but she’s way better and it stands out more because there aren’t really any other women who have her combination of power and athleticism. I don’t think much of Shaw, but must admit she really brought it as well.

[roacheyyy]

Completely agree, the match was awesome. Grace is also fantastic

[Wavelet Transform]

Impact for promotion of the year

Was coming around to this view, both because Impact has been very enjoyable and AEW has been so bad this year. Post-BFG has been a step down though. Admittedly, it’s mostly because they’ve lost so many key talents, which is outside their control and an indirect indication of how well they accentuate the positives of their roster. Their strategy now seems to be focusing on talent w/ name value that the E and AEW won’t want, which makes sense. But, it’s mixed returns. Kaz has been really solid, but bully is such a waste of tv time and looks geriatric. Shows are well-booked all things considered though. Stories move along and the key players are always at the forefront.

[roacheyyy]

Alexander has been a pleasure to watch this year but Bully is severely detracting from my enjoyment now. Post-BFG has been a fair step down in quality

[DougN]

I do hear some praise from Impact, but I just can't see the good in the promotion. It seems comfortable in being third rate while still trying to cash in on the other styles. Even ROH at its worst had an actual identity.

I agree AEW has not been stellar all year, but even at its worst point, it's still better than Impact and honestly most of pro wrestling.

[Wavelet Transform]

I do hear some praise from Impact, but I just can't see the good in the promotion. It seems comfortable in being third rate while still trying to cash in on the other styles. Even ROH at its worst had an actual identity.

I agree AEW has not been stellar all year, but even at its worst point, it's still better than Impact and honestly most of pro wrestling.

Impact’s booking has been better than AEW’s all year. It’s not close. AEW has better wrestling overall because they have a much, much better roster. But, Josh Alexander and Jordynne Grace’s big matches have been as good or better than anything in AEW. AEW is the bigger, more spectacular show and they have much bigger, better crowds. I like both companies but I enjoy Impact more than AEW at the moment. They’re putting on logical, well-booked shows and getting the absolute most out of very limited resources. That’s a more enjoyable watch than Tony’s frantic, last-minute, Russo-style booking and overbloated roster.

I’ll agree that Impact doesn’t have a clear identity. I interpret as a 3 ring circus approach where you try to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. That said, it is odd to go from serious wrestling to a vignette that implies Deaner murdered Eric Young, e.g. I find the out-there stuff entertaining enough to not be put off by it, but it’s not for everyone.

[DougN]

Storyline wise, if you want to argue Impact has been better this year, I can't really argue. I haven't watched enough to know and I do hear people praising it, even though they still do plenty of dumb shit.

But AEW's wrestling is in a league above Impact. WWE too. Impact still just comes across as third or fourth rate and a place for careers to die. Even when matches are killer, the lack of crowd buzz kills it. There was that Kazarian match a few months ago that got a LOT of hype -- the crowd totally took me out of it.

Finally, I think there's a lot of things to say about Tony Khan's booking, but Russo-style isn't it. It's just not and it never has been. WWE has gotten close to Russo style under Vince and Triple H and even they weren't as bad. The problem with Tony Khan is that it's a mix of frantic and dragging. Some things are just rushed and then pushed to the side (see any new signee and any breakout star) while other things just drag on forever (Jade as champ not doing anything, JCC-BAS, Christian-Jungle Boy perhaps if it keeps going before Christian returns). And it's definitely an overbloated roster which isn't a problem except Tony Khan has no idea how to integrate everyone. Just look at Miro.

[Wavelet Transform]

Storyline wise, if you want to argue Impact has been better this year, I can't really argue. I haven't watched enough to know and I do hear people praising it, even though they still do plenty of dumb shit.

But AEW's wrestling is in a league above Impact. WWE too. Impact still just comes across as third or fourth rate and a place for careers to die. Even when matches are killer, the lack of crowd buzz kills it. There was that Kazarian match a few months ago that got a LOT of hype -- the crowd totally took me out of it.

Finally, I think there's a lot of things to say about Tony Khan's booking, but Russo-style isn't it. It's just not and it never has been. WWE has gotten close to Russo style under Vince and Triple H and even they weren't as bad. The problem with Tony Khan is that it's a mix of frantic and dragging. Some things are just rushed and then pushed to the side (see any new signee and any breakout star) while other things just drag on forever (Jade as champ not doing anything, JCC-BAS, Christian-Jungle Boy perhaps if it keeps going before Christian returns). And it's definitely an overbloated roster which isn't a problem except Tony Khan has no idea how to integrate everyone. Just look at Miro.

Agree to disagree with just about all of this, except the impact crowds, which are almost never hot. Of course AEW and WWE have better wrestling overall - they have rosters at least 3x the size of the impact roster and pay more. However, Impact’s men’s and women’s world title matches are as good or better than AEW / WWE. Not sure what you’re referring to when you say they’re second rate. Production, graphics, camera work, and commentary are all solid considering the resources they have. People go there to reinvent themselves, not for their careers to die. Chelsea Green, OGK, W. Morrissey, Eric Young, and Mia Yim have all been given contracts in AEW or WWE based on their work in Impact this year.

Tony’s booking is Russo-esque in that he (1) uses the same frantic ADHD pacing of Russo’s crash TV, (2) relies too much on swerves (e.g., Luchasaurus turning 3 times (!) in the span of 2 months), and (3) does lots of shades of gray characters rather than traditional heels / faces (e.g., what was MJF supposed to be in the lead up to Full Gear). All of this has gotten considerably worse this year which makes me think Tony is either over-committed, out of ideas, or both. He hasn’t embraced sleaze or needless gimmick matches, which are also hallmarks of Russo booking.

[Wavelet Transform]

Incredible 30+ minute match between Josh Alexander and Mike Bailey this week on Impact. Well-worth going out of your way to see. Alexander is on an incredible roll this year. On the one hand, it’s a shame more people aren’t seeing these matches, but at the same time, I think he’s a great fit for Impact. They maximize his upside as a great baby face wrestler and minimize his limitations as a promo. Also great to see Speedball getting a platform. He’s an amazing athlete and his selling has improved a ton.

[DougN]

I'll agree with you that "people go there to reinvent themselves, not for their careers to die," but then it doesn't paint a good picture for wrestlers who stay long-term since your next point was that all these wrestlers got offered contracts because of their work in Impact. And I'm not arguing that, but it does say something when anyone who's doing good just dips out. And that is why they are second rate. Graphics, production, camera work -- it's not really there for me. The commentary is not bad per se, but is definitely way under what the other companies offer. One big point I'll say is that when ROH was doing empty arena shows, they still felt miles better in presentation than Impact with their small arena, small crowd, and small set-up. I may be in the minority there, but Impact in general is not good about covering these flaws up. I think the big matches that people pump up are always good, but they're lacking from a promotional structure (presentation, crowd, build) to really make it mean something.

As for Tony's booking, I can't really argue your points except the frantic ADHD pacing of Russo's crash TV. There's not even a comparison. Tony's shows are overbooked trying to get good, marquee matches in while still featuring a ton of people. The Suzuki entrance music fiasco is a perfect encapsulation of this split in philosophy. Russo was literally just throwing things against the wall. The better comparison for Tony overbooking is how TNA was before Russo came in -- the constant "oh, what a big moment - TO THE BACK" that happened on the TV and PPV for TNA in 2004, 2005, and 2006 and made it feel overbooked and crowded. That may be a better thing to say -- Tony's shows are too crowded while Russo's shows were just ADHD, like you said. I guess my main problem with this talking point is that people have a tendency to look at bad booking and instantly try to connect it to the one style of booking everyone agrees is bad. People do it with WWE. People even do it with NJPW when EVIL was champion. There's only one Russo and the the only promotion NOT employing him to get close to it was WWE probably in 2020/2021, but they've righted the ship a bit (even before Vince left) and even then, it never got close to the level of WCW 2000 or even TNA 2007/2008.

There's not too many shades of gray characters in AEW, but I'll agree that the MJF stuff could have been done better. And there have been an excessive amount of turns this year. I could excuse the Luchasaurus one because I actually thought it was good (just drawn out), but when you stack them all up, the overall picture is not good.

[Wavelet Transform]

I'll agree with you that "people go there to reinvent themselves, not for their careers to die," but then it doesn't paint a good picture for wrestlers who stay long-term since your next point was that all these wrestlers got offered contracts because of their work in Impact.

Impact today is like ECW was in.the late 90s - a place for people on their way up to the big leagues or on their way down from them. Of course, Impact isn’t as historically significant or innovative as ECW, but both are / were excellent at accentuating the positives and making people with clear limitations into stars. Of course people will leave when the big leagues come calling - I don’t know the numbers but I think it’s fair to assume at least 2x the pay in AEW or WWE to say nothing of the boost in merch sales both while you’re there and if / when you end up back on the indies. The only ones I wouldn’t expect to leave are (1) the ones AEW / WWE won’t take due to being past their prime (Bubba) or having a checkered past (Moose), (2) the ones who have a fierce loyalty to the promotion (Dreamer in ECW, Callahan in Impact), and (3) the ones who think the promotion is the best platform for their work (RVD in ECW). Impact isn’t ever going to compete with AEW or WWE for talent or ratings, but they’re a great platform for talents with limitations that might be deal breakers elsewhere. Like, I’m thrilled Mike Bailey is getting such a great run in Impact. With his size and promos, I don’t think it happens in AEW, even though the guy is super-talented.

The better comparison for Tony overbooking is how TNA was before Russo came in -- the constant "oh, what a big moment - TO THE BACK" that happened on the TV and PPV for TNA in 2004, 2005, and 2006 and made it feel overbooked and crowded.

Yes, great example.

[DougN]

I'd buy your ECW argument except ECW had rabid crowds at best and hot crowds at worst. Impact hasn't had consistently good crowds in about a decade. Maybe more.