4 Ups & 4 Downs From Impact Wrestling (12 Jan)

1. Susan Protection Agency

This week's Impact Wrestling was the go-home episode before the Hard To Kill pay-per-view on Saturday. From the opening bout between Taya Valkyrie and Kimber Lee, though, you would never have been able to guess.

'La Wera Loca', set to challenge Lee's pal Deonna Purrazzo for the Knockouts Championship on 16 January, took the fight to 'The Crown Jewel' in a fairly dull affair. The action on a whole felt a tad clumsy in most places, aside from one or two highlights; namely, Taya's spear, and corner double knees.

Things got a whole lot worse when 'The Virtuosa' placed Kimber Lee's arm on the ropes to prevent a pinfall. With Rosemary intent on heading after the reigning champion, Susan emerged, and, alongside Purrazzo, laid waste to 'The Demon Assassin' as Lee utilised a convoluted rollup to pin the former champion. The combination of this meaningless Su Yung alter ego and puzzling match finish came together with the flat match to create something oh so tedious.

As a whole, the match could have easily been more palatable had both ladies remembered this was the opener to a pay-per-view go-home show. While Valkyrie is no doubt losing to Deonna on Saturday before possibly departing the promotion, she shouldn't have lost this bout to Kimber Lee.