8 Ups & 2 Downs From Impact Wrestling (Aug 4)
But is Rich Swann's retirement a work or a shoot? A work, surely. It's wrestling.
This week's Impact Wrestling had many questions coming into it. Who will answer Eddie Edwards' open challenge for the World Championship? What does the future hold for Rich Swann? How will Kimber Lee fit into the Knockouts division now that she's officially signed a contract? What matches will take place at Emergence?
Coming out of the two hour show, however, we were left with far more questions than answers.
The biggest talking point was the apparent retirement of Rich Swann, plus his post-speech assault at the hands of a crutch-wielding Eric Young. Impact have done a stellar job in establishing 'The World Class Maniac' as exactly that in less than three weeks, making WWE's failure to accomplish this in over three years all the more puzzling.
Aside from that, the in-ring action on offer this week was off the charts, with Eddie Edwards vs. Sami Callihan, Moose vs. Heath, and Chris Bey & Rohit Raju vs. TJP & Fallah Bahh all being phenomenal contests with championship implications involved in each. The bouts contested at Wrestle House weren't up to par with the Impact Zone matches, but the less said about those the better. It's all about the stories inside Tommy Dreamer's investment property, not the in-ring work.
With the Emergence special kicking off in two weeks time, expect to see many announcements made with regards to the card. Let's get to it...