9 Ups & 4 Downs From Impact Wrestling (Feb 25)

2. Same Name, Different Format

When Impact Wrestling announced the return of their Gut Check series, this writer got somewhat excited.

For those unaware, the Gut Check was essentially Impact management scouting the independent scene to sign the brightest stars to the roster. In previous instalments, names such as Austin Aries, Christian York, and Sam Shaw (now NXT's Dexter Lumis) were all successful in their tryouts. What wasn't successful, however, was the return of Gut Check.

Instead of one (or more) independent talent facing a signed Impact performer to show what they're capable of, we instead had a handful of talents essentially being ridiculed by John E. Bravo, interspersed with comments from Scott D'Amore. We didn't even know who any of the guys were, bar Shogun and Leonis Khan. The only reason we found out their names was because of an in-ring incident where Shogun seemingly legit backhanded Khan during their exhibition.

Maybe you need to watch the full episodes (available via Impact Plus, of course) to get a better grasp of the new format for Gut Check. In terms of what was shown here though, it can only receive a Down.