The last one was bloated. Shit sucks right now so this one will be trimmed of fat and sped up. Check out the episode of nonstop action HERE.
The new champ wanted to celebrate, and issued an open challenge to anyone from Canada. Scotty D came out, talked some shit, then brought out PCO. A bit fucked in delivery, but the payoff sounds like it's supposed to be awesome so I'm still sold.
The six-man we had up first for in-ring action was honestly fantastic. In fact, this had no right being this good but it rocked and I was firmly invested by the closing stretch.
Grace and Masha did it again, with another borderline great contest. Honestly, I'm fine with many more rematches between the two, too.
Deonna and Wilde was pretty good, even with the kip up botch. Grace made the save after, stopping The Coven from doing too much additional damage.
Note that the playlist episodes will sometimes include things I think others will care about, but that I do not. Also note that I do like Kaz, but just didn't care to watch his interview segments. They are included, spread around a bit, like I alluded to just in case you care more than I did.
Bailey versus Gresham IV, meant to make up for III ending on a shit note, was a great contest. The Octopus for some reason had a bit of a cop from Wrightwood Ave look, by the way, and he used that energy to put the Speedball away. That both are responsible for so much of the brand's modern hits is no mistake and, together, they're just so damn fun that it's hard to not want a rematch of this, too.
Trinity debuted. One fan looked very unamused which was very amusing itself. I'm not beyond myself with excitement, but hopeful and eager that she'll be a good addition to a division I was really enjoying prior to her arrival. We'll see.
Masha and Killer Kelly had a good attitude about it, thanks to the personalities at play, and overdelivered in my opinion. Masha got the nod, bouncing back.
The World Champ of Impact defended against Rhino and honestly it wasn't terrible. In fact, the ECW big man worked a bit harder than I'm used to seeing and the entire thing landed far better than I ever figured was possible. After, Maclin destroyed his opponent.
Moving along, Grace and Deonna teamed up and challenged The Coven for the Knockout's Tag Team Championships but failed to take the straps. Enjoyable enough stuff and a big W for the witchy duo. After, Trinity made the save.
Trey and Laredo was essentially good, but didn't feel special at all. A cheap, mask pull finish didn't add much. You can check it out, but I doubt you'll remember much about it after a few hours. Sabin had a melt down like that'd fit in well in Congress, but ultimately challenged Miguel after.
An "all-star" six-man tag match meant to promote Under Siege worked as a decent showcase, but surprisingly was ran the week BEFORE the go-home edition. A mistake? Perhaps, but ultimately this succeeded.
I must have missed something, and I'm not sure where, but Maclin next came out to tease that he'd pick a weak roster member to replace PCO at Under Siege. D'Amore came out to talk more shit and then brought out the French Canadian Frankenstein('s Monster) for some brawling and shit. Maclin kept saying he thought he had killed the dude.
Sabin versus Bailey saw Speedball eat yet another L, but was ultimately great stuff. At this point, Bailey hadn't landed a single win in the company since Sacrifice two months prior.
We close with a look at select pulls from the show that we've been building up to...Under Siege.
ABC retained the World Tag belts, but Subculture proved to be very strong opponents for the duo for sure. The talent was there for sure, so it's not too surprising I suppose, but I really do think Ace and Bey are far better a pair than many give them credit for and they certainly showed a lot here.
Sabin got a visual victory, thanks to some circus act ref bump shit, and Trey retained the belt itself after spraying paint into Chris' eyes. Meh. A good match with an awful, trash-TV style closing stretch. No thanks.
The number one contender's six-man saw Alex Shelley get the nod over Kazarian, Moose, Yuya, Edwards, and Gresham after about 12-minutes of action. Really, this was little more than a quick spotfest, but it was a fun one and I appreciate the outcome.
Deonna retained next, beating Grace in a very good battle and they added another decent chapter to their catalog along the way. A safe match to run, but for a reason and both came off once again looking good as a result. Imagine if AEW gave their women more effort like Impact clearly is trying to.
Maclin as champ wasn't something I was totally sold on, to be honest. It especially felt like a major downgrade after Alexander, but I also did appreciate the attempt to elevate someone. The segments of this set didn't do a whole lot to change my mind, but his matches have swayed me a bit following his defense versus Rhino and then this, the main event that saw him and PCO go to war.
This was a brutal, bloody, violent clash. The champ bled buckets and sold me on him holding the strap due to his work ethic in general. Fantastic stuff. After, D'Amore strapped the champ up as promised. Sadly, this all led to Bully coming from behind and choking out President of Impact and the heels working together to put the dude through a flaming table.
For a b-show, this had a lot of quality. Sure, they played most of it pretty safe, but there was a lot to like note just there, but in this arc in general. Skip around, but don't skip it all.
Match Ratings
- Time Machine vs Trey, Gresham, Bailey ****
- Grace vs Masha ***1/2
- Knockouts Title: Deonna(c) vs Wilde ***1/2
- Gresham vs Bailey ***3/4
- Masha vs Killer ***1/2
- Impact World Title: Maclin(c) vs Rhino ***
- Knockouts Tag Titles: Coven(c) vs Grace, Deonna ***1/4
- Trey vs Laredo Kid ***
- Trinity vs King **3/4
- Shelley, Gresham, Yuya vs Moose, Kaz, Edwards ***1/4
- Sabin vs Bailey ***3/4
Under Siege - Impact Tag Titles: ABC(c) vs Subculture ***1/2
- X-Division Title: Trey(c) vs Sabin ***
- World Title Contender Six-Way ***1/2
- Knockouts Title: Deonna(c) vs Grace ***1/2
- Impact World Title, No DQ: Maclin(c) vs PCO ****