4 Ups & 5 Downs From IMPACT Wrestling (25 Nov)
Wrestle House takes over, as Bravo gets hitched, Sabin goes slow-motion, and Swinger meets his hero.
IMPACT Wrestling this week wasn't IMPACT Wrestling.
It was an episode fully dedicated to Wrestle House.
This was a mistake. Wrestle House the first time around was genuinely funny material from IMPACT on a weekly basis. Although some segments and matches from the supposed reality show didn't always land, it remained a consistent highlight of IMPACT programming.
Here, though, Wrestle House came across as nearly entirely mundane. It should never have been allowed to cover a full IMPACT episode.The reason it was enjoyable last year is because it only featured, at most, a couple of segments per episode, allowing its overarching story between Rosemary and John E. Bravo to stretch out for months and months. It would have felt rushed had it occurred in the space of two hours, which is entirely how this felt, seeing as the episode was split into events that had taken place over seven days.
That said, there was some stuff worth checking out. Chris Sabin vs. Kaleb With A K was a surprisingly good match under the circumstances, while the initial reintroduction of Downtown Daddy Brown - prior to the sad state of his match with Johnny Swinger - was entertaining.
As for the rest? Let's get to it...