What an up and down year it has been for Impact Wrestling. Sadly, there’s been way more down than up. What was supposed to be a saving grace for the troublesome company has been nothing more than a stagnant straight line with very little climbing in terms of growth and improvement. But regardless of the state of Impact Wrestling, we are exactly one week from the 15th installment of the Slammiversary PPV. The pre-taped final episode prior to the PPV airs this Thursday night. I haven’t read the spoilers so this preview will focus on what we know as of tonight.
The top of the card looks fairly strong. Current GFW Champion, Alberto El Patron challenges current Impact World Champion, Bobby Lashley in a title unification match. The build for this match has been pretty standard for a main event. It has gotten sufficient time on each episode and has progressed as most would expect. I think the outcome is pretty predictable. No one has been able to take the title off Bobby Lashley since he mercifully put an end to the ridiculous run of Eddie Edwards. Alberto is the new shining star in Impact and they’re going to give him the ball and let him run with it. I would prefer they throw us a curveball here and have Lashley win but I’m not holding my breath for it.
Another intriguing match at the top of the card is The Strap Match between EC3 and James Storm. EC3 hasn’t been doing his best work during this heel run but for his cheesy promos and costume dress up, he’s been every bit as vicious and brutal during this feud. Both of these men deserve better but for a match that I’m considering the co-main event, both have done very well in building this up. It’s difficult to predict a winner for this one, which to me, is a good thing.
In another GFW/Impact Wrestling title unification match, Rosemary and Sienna face off. While the match should be good, as these are the top two Knockouts in the struggling division right now, the build up to this match has been lackluster, thanks to the inclusion of Allie and Laurel Van Ness, and in lesser roles, KM, Kongo Kong and Braxton Sutter and insert random good guy. So this match hasn’t been given ample time to build on its own. It’s hard to see Sienna losing here as she filled the void of mega heel Knockout after Maria left, but Rosemary remains over and she has been unstoppable since winning the title back in December.
There is an inter-gender TLC match…er…Full Metal Mayhem match on the card too. Eddie Edwards and his wife Alisha battle Davey Richards and his wife, Angelina Love. The two former best friend couples have been feuding seemingly forever now. Hopefully this is the culmination for these two. The build for this match has also suffered the same way the Knockouts have. They haven’t been giving time and they’ve been tossed into these weird, multi-wrestler gimmick matches and there’s been little focus on them exclusively. Davey Richards and Angelina Love have gotten the better of their former best friends the last couple of times out so an Eddie Edwards & Alisha win is probable, which is a shame because I think Davey Richards has been a pretty good heel and losing this will take away from that.
The X Division has been one of the brighter spots in Impact under the Anthem regime. As announced last week, Sonjay Dutt will give Low Ki his rematch for the title. Now, I personally think this match can steal the show. From a build standpoint, I thought making this a two out of three falls match was random. It’s been long road for Sonjay Dutt and he got the win in India. I don’t think they take the title away from him so quickly but, I’ve been shocked and disappointed in Impact before.
The rest of the card looks very forgettable on the surface. There are things to look at and think, “Hmm, that could be interesting”, such as DeAngelo Williams stepping into the ring and the return of Big Poppa Pump, Scott Steiner. But it’s also a waste of the talent of Eli Drake, and basically a waste of time with this JB & Joseph Park vs Josh and Steiner. At this point, there’s no Tag Team Title Match. There’s also some talent being left out, like Everett, Lee, Konley, Sydal and Xavier. Hopefully we’re treated to an X Division gimmick match, like an Ulimate X. Impact has also done a very good job keeping the lid on who will be announced for the Hall of Fame.
We have one week to go before the 15th edition of Slammiversary. Will there be any surprises? Will this finally put an end to the GFW references? Who’s going into the Hall of Fame? One thing is for certain, Impact Wrestling has given us at least a couple of reasons to tune in on Sunday.
Thanks for reading everyone. I’ll be posting my official predictions after Thursday’s episode. Be safe.
