Last night’s episode of Impact Wrestling, the first of the post-Jeff Jarrett comeback era, took a bold new approach to the presentation of it’s brand, by spotlighting many of it’s international alliances but staying within the realm of the Impact Wrestling narrative. It harkens back to the old days when territorial promotions, including the WWF, would have programs that spotlighted matches from around the country, but in Impact’s case, it showcased matches from around the world, utilizing content filmed at various allied promotions featuring Impact performers.
Impact Wrestling Focuses on Global Alliances With New Format
The episode still featured matches taped at the Impact Zone in Orlando, particularly the main feuds of Moose vs. Bobby Lashley and a mixed tag match featuring Impact World Champion Eli Drake with Chris Adonis versus Johnny Impact (aka Johnny Mundo and John Morrison) and Garza Jr., but it was interspersed with several matches emanating from Mexico, Japan and Canada. The varying camera production work, while off-setting for some fans, actually created a grittiness that showed the different global styles of capturing the action (the content was filmed by the partnering promotions), with Impact’s own announcers, Jeremy Borash and Josh Matthews, still calling the action to maintain the Impact continuity.
MEXICO
Two matches were featured from Mexico, utilizing both Mexican allied promotions, both AAA and The Crash Lucha. In the opening match of the program, Impact stars “Cowboy” James Storm and Ethan Carter III continued their story avenging Impact Wrestling following the invasion a few weeks back by AAA’s Texano Jr. This time they took the fight to Mexico City and Texano’s home promotion of AAA, as the two faced – and defeated – Texano and his tag partner, current AAA Latin American Champion El Hijo del Fantasma (also known as King Cuerno in Lucha Underground). With a win on AAA’s home turf, Texano and El Hijo del Fantasma will be looking for revenge when they head to Impact’s biggest PPV of the year, Bound For Glory, next week in a 6-man war where they’re joined by Pagano against the Impact team of Storm, EC3 and Eddie Edwards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpQ3SMQfxCY
The other match from Mexico came from Konnan‘s promotion, The Crash Lucha, in Tijuana, where Impact X-Division Champion Trevor Lee faced off against 22-year old Ultimo Ninja, one of Crash’s emerging stars. Ultimo Ninja is the cousin of current Impact star Garza Jr. and part of the legendary Garza family of lucha libre. Lee retained as he heads to Bound For Glory for an Ultimate X X-Division Championship defence against Super X Cup Champion Desmond Xavier, Matt Sydall, “Canadian Destroyer” Petey Williams, Sonjay Dutt and Ultimo Ninja’s cousin, Garza Jr.
CANADA
The episode also featured two matches taped from Windsor, Ontario, Canada, home of Scott D’Amore‘s own Border City Wrestling (BCW). The matches were held as part of BCW Excellence last week, BCW’s biggest annual event of the year. Impact Tag Team Champions OvE (Dave & Jake Crist) defended their titles against BCW Can-Am Tag Team Champions Phil Atlas (formerly of All-Japan) and Brent Banks (who was part of the WCPW Pro Wrestling World Cup qualifiers for Canada earlier this summer). OvE fought off some tough competition from the more athletic Atlas and Banks, but retained their titles heading into their gang warfare at Bound For Glory against LAX. In a vignette later in the episode, OvE announced that in order to fight a family like LAX, they were going to be bringing in their family as well, with a glimpse of Sami Callihan looking to even the odds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4abkD3w-KE
The second match from Windsor was a BFG warm up match for “Canadian Destroyer” Petey Williams, who took part in a fatal 4-way match against Tarik (from Smash Wrestling), Impact’s Idris Abraham and Pro Wrestling NOAH‘s Kaito Kiyomiya. With Williams slated to take part in the Ultimate X match at Bound For Glory, the multi-grappler match was a good test, who managed to put away Tarik with the move he revolutionized to the applause of his hometown crowd.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKOy-5C3Xqk
JAPAN
With Impact’s Eddie Edwards the current GHC Heavyweight Champion (Pro Wrestling NOAH’s top singles belt), he’s been appearing quite often with the company he began with so many years ago. This match was a GHC title defence against a Japanese legend, near 20 year veteran Noamichi Marufuji. Marufuji has performed in All-Japan (where he debuted in 1998), NJPW and NOAH and is a former 3x GHC Heavyweight Champion, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and All-Japan World Junior Heavyweight Champion, as well as one of the most decorated champions in NOAH history. Easily the best of the international matches of the night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6N0wv25rW3k
It’s definitely a bold format that many wrestling fans may have issues with – there was various comments on Social Media that the changes in camera styles was distracting. But in wrestling, it’s these kind of bold changes that need to occur to keep the industry vibrant. For fans of indie and/or international wrestling, these various production styles are nothing new to be concerned about. But by seeing Impact stars competing in other promotions around the world for Impact titles or competition, definitely strengthens their presence as a global promotion whose willing to send their best warriors into other arenas and battlefields to prove their superiority. No word if this format is something planned full time, or if it will appear more as special episodes, but it’s a welcome change where many promotions fall in the same rut of presentation routines.
