3 Ups & 3 Downs From This Week's Impact Wrestling (Feb 1)

Ups...

3. Finally A Reason

In recent weeks, this column has been incredibly harsh towards the story between Sami Callihan and Rich Swann. Sami tried and tried to get the reigning X Division Champion to join oVe only for Swann to decline on every occasion. Rich had some rather strong reasons as to why he didn't want to join the group but up until this week, we didn't have a full understanding as to what these reasons were.

A video package aired during the episode, revealing that Swann used to be mentored by Callihan, with the pair growing up in the business at the same time. Despite the storied history, the champion is refusing to join the group due to noticing a change in Sami, something he's been aware of for some time. It's a perfectly reasonable explanation for not wanting to join the group, and it's certainly pleasing to finally have these reasons out in the open.

Now that we know the extent of the history between the pairing and the changes that have occurred over the years, it's highly likely we're leading to a match between them as opposed to a swerve with Rich joining oVe. Let's just see how this angle continues in the next few weeks.