GFW IMPACT HITS & MISSES 8/31: Petey Williams returns, American Top Team, Johnny Nitro, James Storm, Cornette, Park

By Andrew Soucek, PWTorch Specialist


SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

HITS

Petey’s Match: A solid return for Petey Williams to the company. Due to how ineffective Caleb Konley has been positioned on TV, the match maybe should have been even more of a showcase squash for Petey. Still, it was a fun contest, and I could probably watch The Canadian Destroyer on repeat for two hours straight and still be entertained.

Allie/Saxton/Garza Jr.: While the new management team has made some improvements to the product, Allie remains woefully underutilized and has lost all of her momentum from 2016. The pairing with Braxton Sutter has done nothing for her, but it looks like they may be heading towards splitting them up. Good call. Meanwhile, Garza Jr. has finally been given some sort of character development by standing up for Allie. It’s not much yet, but it beats “guy who needlessly rips off his pants every match.”

American Top Team: These guys should absolutely not be closing out the show in multiple weeks, but it is starting to feel like there may be something there with the group. Dan Lambert is capable of cutting a believable wrestling promo, and there is some intrigue to seeing if the MMA guys will mix it up with the GFW talent. However, the angle badly overshadowing Eli Drake’s title run, and is shoehorning Jeff Jarrett on TV in backstage segments. Cut out Jarrett and put this act in the middle of the show, and it would be much easier to digest.

Park’s Acting: Another week of Joseph Park landing here as a guilty pleasure. You saw his spit take coming a mile away, but dammit, it was so over-the-top, and so obvious, and so overacted that it worked. Give this man his own crappy ‘90s sitcom!

Low Ki vs. James Storm. Good match. Lousy execution (see below).

MISSES

Storm’s Return: James Storm was dramatically knocked out in the middle of the match at Slammiversary. You would assume this was some sort of big angle, and he’d come back for revenge on EC III. You’d be wrong! This is GFW, remember? Consistency rarely matters. Storm randomly appeared in a backstage segment last week, and now he’s taking on Low Ki and losing. Nothing matters!

Those Ropes: I know the lime green ropes have been in play for a few weeks now, but this episode they really stood out for being particularly ugly. The opening segment with Eli Drake’s zebra couch with the ropes in front of them displayed a low-budget, silly visual. It was like Miz TV, except they pulled the entire set out of a dumpster. The company needs to hire some sort of color coordinator as soon as humanly possible.

Where’s Dezmond?: Dezmond Xavier wins the Super X Cup, picks up some momentum in the process and then….nothing. He doesn’t show up on TV for weeks. He isn’t mentioned. We don’t know when he’s coming back. Is he okay? Does he need help? Good going GFW!

Main Event Match: Well done again, GFW. It took you exactly ONE WEEK to make Johhny Impact feel like like every other wrestler on the roster! Really, this promotion badly needs to learn how to plan a couple months in advance. Not long ago, Eli Drake and Chris Adonis lost to a football player who had never wrestled before. Then they were scared off by the Swole guys. Now Drake is champ and Adonis is in the main event. Not only that, but they’re suddenly wrestling 25 minute matches. Due to how poorly they’ve been booked, they’re not elevated in the process by eating up so much TV time, they’re only dragging down Johnny Impact because he isn’t showcased in any meaningful way. I still have some hope for Drake as champ, but he needs to get away from Adonis and needs to be protected from long, pointless matches.

Cornette and Moose: EC III was verbally put in his place by Jim Cornette and Moose because they used a line from another promotion…from 1998. “Oh you didn’t know? Your ass better call somebody!” Are you kidding me? Did they really congratulate themselves over that one? I’d love to hear Cornette’s real-life reasoning as to why that was a good idea.

Richard Justice: I don’t mind underdog characters in wrestling, but could someone go to a little bit of effort to explain why Richard Justice is there every week now? When someone is positioned as so ineffective that they can’t land a single punch in a match, then later giving them any sort of credibility requires a big jump in logic to buy into. Whatever they’re going for with Justice, could they start getting there?


NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S COLUMN: GFW IMPACT HITS & MISSES 8/24: Eli Drake’s big win, Gauntlet for the Gold, The Big Surprise, Gail Kim, Johnny Impact

7 Comments on GFW IMPACT HITS & MISSES 8/31: Petey Williams returns, American Top Team, Johnny Nitro, James Storm, Cornette, Park

  1. Consistency rarely matters? Are you referring to the WWE? Another joke of a “review” by some anti GFW mark. This was the best wrestling show on tv this week by far. Ring of Honor a close second. WWE, not top three. Wait, it’s not wrestling right, it’s sports entertainment!

  2. You say cutting Jeff Jarrett out of the Jarrett vs. American Top Team Angle is a good idea. I guess we could have American Top Team just talk to themselves? Usually, you need at least two people to feud. Maybe Lambert can cuss himself out then beat himself up. Can he cover himself for the three count? Hhahah. Laughable.

  3. Richard Justice is the “stand by wrestler.” It is a running joke and a nod to actual wrestling fans. The fact that I have to explain this to you is a riot and ruins any credibility you had at any point. You really don’t understand? You don’t get that at one time there were tv time limits? You don’t get that at one time wrestling was presented in a more realistic manner? Did you ever watch ANYTHING other than WWE?

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