This past Sunday, Impact Wrestling presented “Slammiversary”, their 2nd biggest show of the year. The 1st 6 months of Impact Wrestling have arguably been better in-ring wise than out of the ring, as some have stated that Impact Wrestling shows have often been better than WWE shows. 2016 has also been a year of transition for the promotion. A new cable deal with POP TV, a new investor in Billy Corgen, and a host of new faces all over the card seems to have re-invigorated the product. Here is my breakdown of the company:
Now at the top we have new Impact Wrestling World Champion Bobby Lashley, who won a knockout or tapout match with then-champion Drew Galloway at Slammiversary. Obviously, Galloway will get his rematch sometime soon, but the thing that makes Impact Wrestling so intriguing is their talent and depth at the top of the card. Lashley will have a host of worthy contenders to deal with, and we all know Impact Wrestling loves to try to spike their television ratings by having World Championship matches on their flagship program on POP TV. EC3 won his grudge match in a hellacious fight with “The Miracle” Mike Bennett and should also get a title match. Jeff Hardy won a “Full Metal Mayhem” match over his brother Matt Hardy and deserves a shot too. Lashley will have his fight card full, but the 3-time champ appears well-equipped to handle everybody that comes his way.
The 2nd most intriguing item when it comes to Impact Wrestling is the Knockouts division, where there also is a new champion. Sienna, with the help of not just Maria Kannellis and Allie, but a returning Marti Belle defeated both Jade and Gail Kim. Sienna, also known as Allisyn Kay, probably doesn’t need anybody’s help to win and have a lengthy Knockout title run, but with the triumvirate of Maria, Allie and Marti Belle behind her…who could stop her??? Jade will get a rematch being the former champion, but she has to be disgusted that her former ally in “The Dollhouse” Marti Belle turned her back on her and helped Sienna. I would think that would be a major distraction towards her regaining the gold. Gail Kim is always a contender, but nearing 40 years of age time could be against her. Further down the card you have ladies like Madison Rayne, Rosemary, and Racquel, but for any of them to come close to the stable that Maria Kannellis is building, it would take a hereculean effort to get that title off Sienna.
After the heavyweight and Knockouts division, there is a lot of turbulence in the undercard. This is where there is very little to no depth to the tag team or X-division. Decay defeated The Bromans to retain their tag team titles, but that was only their 2nd title defense since they won the titles weeks ago. And after dispatching the Bromans, who’s left? The Tribunal is the only real tag team that Decay has yet to face and they just started in Impact Wrestling. Or makeshift teams like Grado andMahabali Shera? No thank you. Impact Wrestling was always at its best when the tag team and X-Divisions were at its strongest and right now it could be at their weakest. Shifting to the X-Division, a 3rd title changed hands when Eddie Edwards dethroned Trevor Lee to win his 1st singles title in Impact Wrestling. However, for months we have seen the same combination of Edwards, Lee, Andrew Everett, and DJ Z competing for the title and there doesn’t appear to be a new face to come onto the scene to spice it up and make it compelling.
Impact Wrestling has gotten better by leaps and bounds in the past 2 years. Their in-ring product has been top-notch and have developed home-grown stars such as Ethan Carter 3 and Michael Bennett. Whatever you think of their handling of their product outside the ring, they deserve your attention. Tuesday night happens to be a live telecast on POP TV and when Impact Wrestling goes live, anything can happen.
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