8 Ups & 3 Downs From IMPACT Wrestling (1 July)

5. Manny Meets Mayhem

Let's raise a drink for poor Manny Smith. The former AEW and ROH enhancement talent was decimated by Steve Maclin in what was actually a matter of minutes, but felt a lot longer in the best way imaginable.

Smith got more or less no offence in, other than a cheeky strike here and there. Instead, the former Steve Cutler did everything in his power to make a statement at his expense. A tree of woe Spear and a multitude of MMA-style elbow blows to the chest were particularly gnarly, with Maclin's reverse Brainbuster getting the job done.

This never needed to be anything too special. It's a glorified squash match for lack of a better term. All it needed to be was Steve Maclin obliterating a goober to lead into his finish, and boy, oh boy, did it work. That Maclin went ballistic when Manny elbowed him late in the match was a nice touch. He's only had two matches in IMPACT so far, but he's delivered something each time. Like with W. Morrissey, IMPACT are taking their time with him to build him up correctly. Expect an upper to top-tier star by the year's end in Maclin.