IMPACT WRESTLING “FINAL RESOLUTION” HITS & MISSES (12/9): Trent Seven, Zack Sabre. Jr. Moose, Dreamer, Alexander, Machine Guns, production issues

IMPACT WRESTLING FINAL RESOLUTION 2023 HITS AND MISSES
DECEMBER 9, 2023
TORONTO, ON AT DON KOLOV ARENA
AIRED ON IMPACT PLUS
OPINION BY JOHN LASLO, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

(1) ABC (Chris Bey & Ace Austin)(c) vs. EDDIE EDWARDS & BRIAN MYERS – Impact Wrestling Tag Team Title match – MINOR HIT

A decent match with post-match shenanigans from the Rascalz was to be expected. I liked the teaming of Eddie Edwards and Brian Meyers. They’ve been teasing a scumbag stable for awhile, and I think that Moose, Edwards, and Meyers with Alisha on the side would make a great heel stable and help establish Moose at Hard to Kill.

(2) JODY THREAT vs. ALISHA EDWARDS – MINOR HIT

Alisha Edwards has come a long way in a few years. She’s still telegraphing her offense, but it’s getting better. This was a pretty decent match, and Jody Threat was enjoying some home town support.

(3) TOMMY DREAMER vs. DEANER — Impact Wrestling Digital Media Title match – MISS

I like Tommy Dreamer, and I like Deaner. I did not like this match. It seemed slow. This was definitely a “treading water” match. It’s all but certain that Dreamer is going to lose the DMC to Crazzy Steve, probably at Hard to Kill. They should have had some one else lower on the card lose in this match. Say, swap Jack Price for Deaner, and then put Deaner vs. Aidan Prince on the pre-show, and we would have been cooking. This match didn’t elevate Dreamer, but it certainly hurts Deaner.

(4) “SPEEDBALL” MIKE BAILEY & TRENT SEVEN vs. THE RASCALZ (Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz) – HIT

Okay, not familiar with Trent Seven, but he got a big pop. Impact is moving in a ton of English talent lately. I wonder if there is another big announcement about the UK coming up? Or is the UK just becoming the new breeding ground? Either way, I’m not complaining. This was a great match and really entertaining. I’m especially geeked with the way that Scott D’Amore came out and signed Seven on the spot. Given the last two people D’Amore called out, (Josh Alexander and Mike Bailey), Seven seems to be getting quite the rub.

(5) JAKE SOMETHING vs. JASON HOTCH – HIT

After seeing quite a bit of John Skyler while Jason Hotch was on paternity leave, it was good to see him in the ring again.

(6) MOOSE vs. RHINO – MINOR HIT

This was a great old school kind of hardcore match. I really liked this match, it was crazy in the right ways, with a couple of ref bumps by a couple of refs.

(7) TRINITY & JORDYNNE GRACE vs. DEONNA PURRAZZO & GISELE SHAW – HIT

I really struggled with this match. It’s strange because I feel like Jordynne Grace and Deonna Purrazzo were the highlight of the final era of Impact Wrestling, and it is going to be Trinity and Gisele Shaw going forward. There was a bit of the back and forth, but the big thing was that at the end of the match. Purrazzo extended the hand to Shaw, who refused it and gave her the Shock & Awe. A true passing of the torch moment.

(8) MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS vs. JOSH ALEXANDER & ZACK SABRE JR. – HIT

This is the big match, the big money, the big names. Come on. If you are watching this episode, THIS is the match that you tuned in for. I really liked this match, but at times it felt like Zack Sabre Jr was more feeling things out than going all out. Not to say that he was holding back, but much more like he was trying a new type of food that looks weird. It’s tasty, but the whole time you’re eating it, you’re wondering if you REALLY like it or if it’s just new. Sabre felt like that at times, I hope that it means that he dug what Impact was serving and will return.

FINAL THOUGHTS – MISS

I’m going to cut to the chase here, there were good matches, great matches even. This felt like the ultimate go home show. In a way it was. They kept saying “The Final Impact [Whatever],” and I’m sitting there going there are five more Thursdays before Hard To Kill, and what are you going to do with those? Nothing NEW is starting, it’s going to start at Hard to Kill. Nothing OLD is ending, it’s going to end at Hard to Kill.

The other thing is that this show was like “Hey, all those criticisms about Impact’s production quality? Let’s EMBRACE them!” So let’s go through them, and dissect them a bit:

•Small quiet audience: You could see approximately 100 people across from the hard cam, which makes the audience seem small. When the camera angle changed, there were a ton of people who would have been looking at the entrance ramp head on. It doesn’t change the fact that it looks like a high school gym would have been larger.

•Poor Planning: The Dark Match between PCO and Jessie V went long and was on the pre-show. I can’t prove it, but I think that the other two matches on the pre-show (Jack Price vs. Aiden Prince and Frankie Kazarian vs. Sheldon Jean) were cut a bit short. Which is unfortunate. Price and Prince haven’t been seen in a LONG while, and Sheldon Jean was putting on a really good match.

•Bad Sets and Design: The Impuratus logos on the canvas are out of date, that movie has come and gone since this canvas was first used at Bound For Glory. Not only is it out of date, the logos are starting to come apart. The other issue is that they didn’t even have the normal Impact entrance set up, just an entrance scaffold, which if you’ve been to an indie show in the last twenty years you are very familiar with. When IPWF runs from the Don Kolov Arena, it’s FINE, because it is supposed to be a throwback to the ’80s when even WWE Raw would run out of a high school gym on occasion. For a show that I pay extra every month to watch? I’m a little annoyed.

•Terrible Audio: I know that I’m the only one who cares about this. I’ve mentioned it before, and it is something that annoys me to no end, but I really hate it. During backstage segments and live announcements from the commentary team, Impact is not giving the audience at home a direct audio feed, it’s from the pretty bad microphones in the arena. I hate that little bit of echo that they can’t get rid of when they do that. I hate it so much.

RECOMMENDED NEXT: IMPACT WRESTLING TV RESULTS (12/7): Lilly’s report on Guns & Vikingo vs. Miguel & Los Vipers, more

OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: 12/9 Impact Wrestling Final Resolution results: Vetter’s review of Motor City Machine Guns vs. Zack Sabre Jr. and Josh Alexander, Trinity and Jordynne Grace vs. Deonna Purrazzo and Gisele Shaw, Moose vs. Rhino