Hola Knockout fans and welcome to this week’s Impact recap.
First and foremost, I do want to apologize for the delay in getting this up. Between trying to get my workload done in time for the three day weekend and feeling just physically ill these past two days, I just needed a break from everything – including wrestling! But we are back and refreshed, so let’s see what lies ahead for the Knockouts ahead of Impact’s Under Pressure special next week!
Let’s start off with one of Impact’s better feuds of the year so far. Even after defeating him in a street fight last week, Eddie Edwards obsession with Sami Callihan continues!
In the middle of tag team match between oVe against Drago and Aerostar, backstage cameras catch Eddie making his way to the Impact Zone with a kendo stick in his hand. His wife Alisha Edwards yells and pleads with her husband to stop – it’s over! Eddie ignores all of this and proceeds to head to the ring to attack oVe and Callihan, who was at oVe’s corner for this tag team math.
Eddie chokes Callihan out with the kendo stick and it takes an army of Impact officials to pull him off and hold Eddie back from doing any more damage. Alisha still tries to be the voice of reason to her husband, repeatedly saying “It’s over!”. Unable to get to Callihan, Eddie uses the kendo stick to strike security. Eddie has officially snapped!
When things calm down, the Edwards meet backstage where Alisha questions Eddie’s behavior – he is acting just like Callihan! Eddie disagrees, claiming that winning a street fight over his rival isn’t enough. It’s not over for Eddie until he destroys Callihan.
We move on to Impact happier couple: Grado and Katarina Leigh. Fallah Bahh and his life coach/wingman KM spy the couple backstage enjoying a snack. KM questions and points out how “if a fatass like Grado can get a woman like that”, imagine the possibilities for Bahh.
In her defense, Leigh claims to be a bit of a “chubby chaser”… or rather a fan of Grado’s big boned body. Grado offers some friendly advice to KM and Bahh and walks off hand in hand with Leigh.
Backstage, McKenzie Mitchell welcomes Madison Rayne back to Impact and asks about the heated faceoff she had with Tessa Blanchard last week. Rayne says coming back to Impact feels like coming home but she didn’t plan on coming back as an in-ring competitor. She wanted to be on commentary but the Knockouts division was built on respect, not bullying, and after seeing what happened last week with Blanchard, she felt the need to the right thing.
Blanchard storms in and warns Rayne to not stick her nose in business that has nothing to do with her. Instead, Blanchard suggests that Rayne go back to being a stay-at-home mother. The two Knockouts will meet at next week’s Under Pressure.
And finally, we close out this week with Allie feeding her inner monster to help slay the monster that is Su Yung next week. Rosemary leaves a message on Allie’s mirror: “Don’t Let the Darkness Consume You”
Wearing Rosemary’s signature face paint and threads, her inner thoughts apologize to Rosemary saying “I know this isn’t what you wanted but it has to be.”
Thoughts: Even though there weren’t any Knockout matches, I really enjoyed the segments we did get for next week’s Under Pressure show.
Tessa Blanchard has that It factor and I’m really looking forward to her getting in the ring with Madison Rayne. Like Blanchard, Rayne is an overall package and I would love to see this feud continue even beyond their one match for Under Pressure next week.
The evolution of Allie’s character continues to be one of my favorite things from Impact. This latest one is now forcing Allie to be more edgier after watching her best friend be sealed away in a coffin. She wants to be a slayer avenge Rosemary by any means! Su Yung has made a big splash within the Knockouts division by taking out the beloved Rosemary and to end a monster, Allie has to feed into one.
Even if it does feel like she’s minimally involved, Alisha being inserted to Eddie’s storyline makes things that more personal. What is it going to take for Alisha to get through to Eddie? What are the consequences of it if she can’t? What will Eddie’s obsession lead him to do next? As with anything in wrestling, if you give a reason to care, they will.
My only real complaint, and continues to be, this week is this nonsense pairing joke with Grado and Katarina. I’m still trying to figure out the end game in this. Grado was already over with the Impact Zone audience and Katarina’s Winter character was pretty established as it is. That “chubby chaser” line was all sorts of awkward and I just didn’t get any sorts of laugh out of it, assuming that was the point of it.
What did you think of this week’s Impact? Are you excited for next week’s Under Pressure special? Am I being too hard on this Grado/Katarina pairing? Let us know in the comments below!
