SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
TOP TIER FEUDS
(1) Eric Young vs. Rich Swann
New Developments: Young cut a backstage promo saying that everything that happens from here on out is Scott D’Amore and Rich Swann’s fault. Later in the show Young attacked the Deaners before Cody’s scheduled match and gave him a piledriver. Cousin Jake got the save when Young tried to break Cody’s ankle, but then Young was able to blindside Jake and gave him a piledriver as well. Young then gave a prolonged beat down and promo in the ring. D’Amore eventually came out and broke up the attack. Eddie Edwards came out to save D’Amore. Edwards then confronted D’Amore backstage yelling and demanding his rematch. D’Amore granted him the rematch at Victory Road on October 3.
Highs & Lows: Young seems to have establish that he is going to randomly attack wrestlers during Impact. Edwards getting his rematch at Victory Road after Swann was granted a title shot pretty much guarantees that Young will retain the championship, which seems like a wasted opportunity due to the fact that Edwards has almost as good of a reason to want to fight Young as Swann does. While I’m not totally pleased with Swann coming back so quickly from “retirement”, his promo last week was a great way to establish himself as the number one contender and a hero that can save Impact from Eric Young.
Start of Feud: July 18, 2020
Forecast & Prediction: Young vs. Edwards in the rematch for the Impact World Title is set for Victory Road. I expect Young to retain, since the match with Swann has already been widely promoted for Bound for Glory only a few weeks after Victory Road.
(2) EC3 vs. Moose
New Developments: An EC3 video played saying that he knew what it was like to have the TNA World Championship stolen from him. EC3 then gave Moose’s phone number out and asked everyone to text the number with any information they may have about where the Championship was.
Highs & Lows: These segments have been the best things on Impact over the last few months. Moose has been great in his role and has become more of a sympathetic character who is feels threatened by a guy who seems to always be one step ahead of him. EC3 has been great in the videos as well. The brainwashing last week was a weird turn, but this week’s segment got me hooked again.
Start of Feud: July 18, 2020
Forecast & Prediction: It’s not a bold prediction to say that these two will finally face off in the ring at Bound for Glory. That being said, I have no idea what happens between now and then, but I’m excited to see what will happen.
MIDDLE TIER FEUDS
(1) Deonna Purrazzo vs. Kylie Rae
New Developments: Susie and Kimber Lee went one-on-one with Kylie Rae and Deonna at ringside during the match. Kimber dominated for nearly the entire match until Susie made a late-match comeback. Susie got the win after Purrazzo’s failed attempt at a distraction. After the match Purrazzo attacked Kylie and Susie from behind, but Kylie recovered and made the save, forcing Purrazzo out of the ring. Kylie then got on the mic to officially challenge Purrazzo for the Knockouts Title at Bound for Glory.
Highs & Lows: Kylie continues to show good intensity in addition to her “happy go lucky” character. Kylie’s short promo calling out Deonna’s bullying gives fans a strong reason to cheer for her against Purrazzo and to hope that she can capture the title.
Start of Feud: September 1, 2020
Forecast & Prediction: With the Knockouts Title match set for Bound of Glory, we will probably continue to see build and development of the feud between Kylie and Deonna. The match this week between Kimber and Susie strongly hinted at Susie going back to her Su Yung character, which may eventually lead to a break-up of Susie and Kylie after Bound for Glory.
(2) Rohit Raju vs. TJP vs. Chris Bey vs. Trey Miguel
New Developments: Impact opened up with the triple threat number one contender match between TJP, Bey, and Miguel. Miguel got the win after pinning TJP. The X-Division match took place immediately after this match, so Miguel did not have any time to recover. Rohit got the roll-up win with a handful of tights to retain the X-Division Championship.
Highs & Lows: The offer of the title shot to immediately follow the number one contender match gives Rohit credibility to say that he has defended against his number one contender. The quick, cheating win should do a good job to continue this threat as we continue toward Bound for Glory. Rohit continues to be a good cowardly heel champion, but I would like more character development or a reason that the other three contenders are looking for the X-Division Title.
Start of Feud: August 18, 2020
Forecast & Prediction: Even though Rohit got the win on his number one contender, I think this will ultimately lead to a four-way match for the X-Division Title at Bound for Glory.
(3) The Good Brothers vs. Rascalz (Dez & Wentz)
New Developments: The Good Brothers caught up with Motor City Machine Guns backstage, asking if the Guns think that they owe them for helping them out after the Rascalz were taken out of last week’s match. The Rascals came up and started yelling at the Good Brothers and challenged them to a match next week.
Highs & Lows: The Rascalz seemed to have a lot of unnecessary anger toward the Good Brothers talking to the Guns. The Good Brothers did a good job of casually hinting toward an impending match for the titles.
Start of Feud: September 22, 2020
Forecast & Prediction: The Good Brothers seem to be in a good position to eventually challenge the Motor City Machine Guns at Bound for Glory. This should be a quick one-week feud to continue to build their win/loss record.
(4) Ace Austin & Madman Fulton vs. The North
New Developments: Austin bragged in a backstage interview that since he got the pin in their win last week, he and Fulton should be the number one contenders for the Tag Team Titles. The North confronted them and challenged them to a match next week.
Highs & Lows: Good interaction between the two teams to set up another short-term tag team feud.
Start of Feud: September 22, 2020
Forecast & Prediction: I think Ace & Fulton will find a way to win next week and challenge the Guns to a title match at Victory Road. I don’t expect their win to be a clean win, which will help protect The North.
LOWER TIER FEUDS
(1) Sami Callihan vs. RVD
New Developments: The new RVD show was apparently on social media last week, which set up another one-on-one match between RVD and Callihan this week. RVD got the win with a body scissors after Katie Forbes distracted Callihan, spraying him with hairspray. Forbes was then granted five minutes in the ring alone with Callihan. Forbes was able to get a few good stomps in, but when RVD was going for a splash on a chair, Callihan threw the chair at RVD’s nearly unprotected head and then gave Forbes and piledriver.
Highs & Lows: Even though the weeks leading up to this match have been really bad, this match was a really low point. While there’s a good chance that the chair throw hit mostly arm or shoulder, it’s highly unlikely that the chair did not hit RVD’s head. Wrestling fans know that RVD is hardcore, but we do not need to see spots that involve chairs hitting heads. A chair should not be thrown at a wrestler who does not have the opportunity to put his hands up. It was a bad spot to put an aging RVD in, who has already taken his fair share of shots to the head. I also don’t feel like Katie Forbes should be put into intergender wrestling spots. Intergender spots work best for me when both the man and woman seem like they are at the top of their game. A former World Champion giving a piledriver to a manager who does not come across as a legitimate wrestling threat seems like a risky spot, especially when you have the current villain of the show performing the same spot as a way to seriously injure top-level wrestlers.
Start of Feud: July 28, 2020
Forecast & Predictions: I seriously hope this feud is over. I honestly don’t want to see Callihan or RVD on Impact for a while so that I can completely forget about this feud.
(2) Jordynne Grace vs. Tenille Dashwood
New Developments: Tenille got the win after a distraction from her photographer, Kaleb. Both Jordynne and Tenille looked great in this main event match. Jordynne did a great job of carrying most of the match and selling for Tenille.
Highs & Lows: The build for this match was good at establishing Tenille’s selfish personality. The match was better than I expected it to be, especially with Tenille having so much time off. Jordynne continues to be a really good babyface that can help build the Knockouts Division with high-caliber matches.
Start of Feud: September 1, 2020
Forecast & Prediction: With Tenille picking up the distraction win, I expect there to be a rematch between these two in the coming weeks.
(3) Brian Myers vs. Tommy Dreamer
New Developments: Myers was being interviewed backstage about his loss to Willie Mack, when he flipped a table. Dreamer then confronted him telling him to clean up the mess.
Highs & Lows: Good fire from Myers about losing to Mack. Dreamer did come across a little too much as a dad scolding his child for making a mess, though.
Start of Feud: September 22, 2020
Forecast & Prediction: If a match does come from this, it would be good for Myers to pick up the win. After losing the feud to Mack, he needs to build momentum and show that he’s a legitimate threat to the rest of the roster and a win against a legacy star will help accomplish that. Dreamer does not need a win at this point in his career, he should be happy to help elevate Myers.
CONCLUDED, FORGOTTEN, OR DORMANT FEUDS
– Bryan Myers vs. Willie Mack – CONCLUDED
– Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz vs. Taya Valkrie – CONCLUDED
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