It's the Against All Odds Arc on new Impact! nonstop action episode (in review) | Red's Pro-Wrestling Digest 132

Check out the new nonstop action episode covered in this set HERE.

Bully is a dude I don't care much for. I don't think he's nearly as talented as he's always thought he is and truly find him to be a basic, 2D worker more often than not. I appreciated the Under Siege main event enough that I wanted to give this a chance, though. He and Maclin shared some respect and then Shelley and Sabin came out to talk some shit. This entire segment ended up being a bit too bloated, but had a lot of history drops and future teases at least. Bully was fucking awful during this. I'm sure he thought he was awesome.

Yup.

Subculture came in late to issue a challenge for Sabin and Shelley in a very respectful manner.

Trinity wants Deonna at Slammiversary. The champ is a fighting champ, so she agreed. Shaw and crew attacked with what appeared to be a bowling ball in a handbag. Grace failed at the save because of the same bag. The heels stood tall.

Note that the playlist features Trinity in a short match, too. I just didn't care enough to watch it, to be honest.

Edwards beat Yuya in a good TV contest. The mrs. got involved some. After, an outstretched hand from the heel proved to be in jest. Eddie being a dick brought out Kazarian, who came out to whine about the disrespect. Drama followed.

MCMG took on Subculture next, and damn this was just quality stuff in general.

This benefitted Shelley ahead of his title shot by giving him the pinfall victory in a top shelf contest. Sabin and MCMG as a duo got a bump as well and anytime this team is in the main event it should be considered a win. They don't need a rub ever, but it doesn't hurt and is always a nice sight.

Subculture got to look good against one of the best teams ever. They're building a place in the division thus far by doing well and showing off before eating pins, workhorse jobber style.

The tag main event the week following was not nearly as good, serving more as a random seed for a match that I bet few were even excited about. Good, I suppose, but completely forgettable. The brawl after was meh, as well.

Oh well, lets go ahead and look at the damn show now. Admittedly the build to this one was average at best for the most part, though.

Eddie and Kaz was okay, but super basic with little real heat or energy. Kazarian got the nod. Meh.

The tag defense from ABC from this show was also one of their weakest, too. Good Hands are an okay part of the roster, but they really fit that moniker perhaps a bit too well. No title change, at least.

Sabin versus Trey didn't need all of the extra shit, but we got it anyway. The good news is that the match was good for what it was and that Chris is holding the strap again. I'm honestly excited about that last part, especially.

The 8-4-1 match was, well it was an attempt at something for sure. Honestly, this could've been awesome. There's certainly some real value in the stipulation in general. It was ultimately good here, even. It's just, this could've been so much more.

Aldis won, of course. Oh, and D'Amore hit Bully with a chair.

Last up, Shelley versus Maclin. This was a story of the vet being a smarter, more complete wrestler and overcoming it all to win a world championship. While I was excited to see what they had planned for Steve, I will admit to loving the sight of Alex holding this belt. While this arc was full of rather basic stuff, feeling far weaker than other periods of Impact that I've been catching up on of late, the outcome of this match in particular alongside the other champions of the brand made me very hopeful to continue my trek to modern.

Watch this one and the MCMG/Subculture match if nothing else. Thanks, as always, for reading!

Match Ratings

  1. Edwards vs Yuya ***
  2. MCMG vs Subculture ***3/4
  3. Aldis, Gresham vs Moose, Swann ***

    Against All Odss
  4. Kazarian vs Edwards **3/4
  5. Impact Tag Titles: ABC(c) vs Good Hands ***
  6. X-Division Title: Trey(c) vs Sabin ***1/4
  7. 8-4-1 ***
  8. Impact World Title: Maclin(c) vs Shelley ***1/2