5 Ups & 5 Downs From Impact Wrestling (26 Jan)

2. Big Beefy Boys

When Cousin Jake vs. Joe Doering was announced last week, you instantly knew it was never going to be anything but a hoss fight. Two of the biggest, beefiest boys in Impact history colliding was a genuine sight to behold.

What was quite surprising (or not, really, considering they're always like this) is that both men actually left the ground at stages in the match. Doering wiped out the former Deaners member with his aptly-named Eraser flying crossbody, whereas Jake took to the skies with a mammoth dive over the ropes. The same dive that eventually led to his downfall. Landing awkwardly on his ankle was the last straw for Cousin Jake, who found himself near enough decapitated thanks to a Stan Hansen-approved lariat. Vicious.

The post-match shenanigans were also noteworthy here. Like what they did to Rhino last week, Eric Young, Doering, and Deaner laid out Cousin Jake, and placed a steel chair around his ankle. Instead of smashing the bone, though, 'EY' instead stopped the attack, offered a VBD towel to Jake, and ordered his boys out of the Impact Zone. An offer has been made.

A phenomenal match in its own right, and the aftermath only offers up more questions than it does answers. Cousin Jake's only remaining allies are either being taken out of the equation (in Rhino's case) or moving on to other stories (in Tommy Dreamer's case). He needs this. It was him who took the pinfall loss to Young at Hard To Kill. The story is very much there for a Cousin Jake heel turn; his addition to Violent By Design would only result in good things coming his way. People would be speaking about him - you can't say that often with regards to his Impact run.