Impact Wrestling in Spring-Fall 2021: Not just an AEW Farm Team! We've got NJPW guys now too!

[909]

That’s good. The main thing for him right now is that he needs to get over.

 

[Valeyard]

Good. I was hoping Buddy would end up in Impact. He'd be lost in the shuffle in AEW within a month.

They need Braun. I'd trust them to book him better, for some reason.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

That’s good. The main thing for him right now is that he needs to get over.

Agreed 100%. Buddy would get lost in shuffle with AEW but in Impact Wrestling, he definitely at least gets to help revive the X Division to its '00s glory with Josh Alexander, Chris Bey, etc if not more.

I'm hoping they can actually pull off signing Braun too. More viable places for pro wrestlers to work, the more likely it is WWE stops treating their performers like human cattle or goes out of business.

 

[Valeyard]

My first thought when Buddy got fired was him in the x division. He fits the company so well in the best possible way. Braun would stick out like a sore thumb and that'd be awesome because Impact needs that. They haven't had a true monster in years.

Who is the biggest name in Impact right now? Like in terms of getting eyes on the show for casuals?

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Not counting the AEW guest stars, maybe I'd say Sami Callihan? And even with him, I bet if you polled 100 casual wrestling fans, Idk if more than 20 would know who he is.

 

[Valeyard]

Then they need Braun BAD. After all this time they need a recognizable face to at least drum up something. The only names I ever hear are Sami and Moose, but even then it's very bubble-based. It's incredible how many problems are exactly the same in 2021 as they were in 2002.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Honestly, IMO, Braun would be Impact Wrestling's biggest signing since Kurt Angle. I can't remember the last time they signed up a main event level guy, in his prime, that didn't have a significant amount of baggage.


(Granted, Kurt Angle had a massive shipping container's worth of baggage when he signed with TNA in '06 but he was so insanely talented in the '00s that it almost canceled it out. Almost)

 

[Valeyard]

If they could swing Braun and Bray, they're so much better off that it isn't funny. You break the bank for those guys, especially when you can loan them out now. Logically they could be in a really good position if they so chose since the market suddenly got that giant influx of names, and I think bringing in guys who main evented Wrestlemanias the last couple years or so is more than worth it.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

According to Fightful, my guy Acey Romero has requested his release. I'm heavily biased since he's from next town over and I've followed his career trajectory on the indies here for the past 5 or 6 years but I thought he was really miscast for the most part. I'm not sure if he's really found his exact character in wrestling but it definitely shouldn't be one half of "LOL! FAT!" comedy tag team.

 

[Big Beard Booty Daddy]

I don't think Impact knew exactly what they wanted to do with him from the start. I thought he and Larry D could have been an awesome ass kicking team, but they lost way too much. A team like that shouldn't be losing. Being on a per date deal probably played a big part into his decision, especially since he hadn't been used for most of the year, and getting Covid probably put that more into perspective for him.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Acey Baby should do what I thought Brodus Clay should've done, and that's go full-on Capcom beat 'em up villain. Crazy mohawk, stupid 80s shoulder pads, sour attitude, just be an absolute shithead heel. Dude's got size and presence and can GO, and all he's ever needed was the right way to present himself.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Acey went over Eddie Edwards at a Limitless show last month and I thought that might be a sign that maybe he'd get a push in Impact but it was probably more of a farewell present.

Idk what the heck Impact was thinking in creating their own version of the Bouncers. I'm not sure if there even needs to be one version of The Bouncers let alone a knockoff. Larry D is older and is probably more in the "just happy to be in a national promotion" mode but Acey is smart to get out before he gets stuck in a dumb comedy role.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1433572928034115587

Not sure what WWE did to Karl Anderson but I am sure it wasn’t angrily react to a tweet about their counseling services level bad.

 

[alkeiper]

That’s for employing me for four years!

 

[JHawk]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1433572928034115587

Not sure what WWE did to Karl Anderson but I am sure it wasn’t angrily react to a tweet about their counseling services level bad.

Particularly when WWE tweeted it out as a reaction to Daffney's passing. Anderson is (rightfully) getting shit by about 90% of the wrestling Twitterverse for that take.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

really tasteless of him

 

[HSJ]

He's not wrong in the sense they only send that memo out to people because of Daffney, not because they care. But damn dude, read a room.

And if I remember correctly, Acey was signed to Impact around the time Sami/OI4K were booking the show and had a lot of power, but that didn't last long because they are shitheads. So he probably got lost in the shuffle. I'm amazed Ace Austin is doing as well for himself as he is.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

it's fair to not like wwe or what they say but there is a time, place and way to say things and he didn't meet the criteria on any of that. If he had some valid criticism to offer "they suck bro" wasn't it. It also makes this about him and WWE which it shouldn't be. The whole thing is just really tasteless on his part to me.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

echoing what everyone else said. There is a tactful and accurate way to criticize WWE for this and “they suck, bro” isn’t it.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1434229779708854276

Bound for Glory will be happening October 23rd from Las Vegas, Nevada.

One argument in Impact's favor...they're the one promotion that still realizes PPVs on a Saturday are GOOD. Even ROH has moved to Sunday for some damn reason.

 

[Valeyard]

Someone needs to run shows on Thanksgiving night again. It'd still work if they ran the right places.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1435415088685469697

I knew Sami couldn't last too long without at least one Crist brother in the promotion.

 

[Big Beard Booty Daddy]

That was actually D'Amore's call. He's a big fan of Jake, who has had a great run in IWA-MD feuding with John Wayne Murdoch. Jake is actually the good brother. Word is he was really disgusted with what happened with Dave, and hasn't had anything to do with him since Speaking Out last year.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Jake is also the more talented brother, but damn do I wish he'd bring his three-piece suit gear back.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Jake is actually the good brother. Word is he was really disgusted with what happened with Dave, and hasn't had anything to do with him since Speaking Out last year.

I didn’t know that. I also read somewhere recently that the real reason Impact stopped using him last year is cause he was in middle of angle with Joey Ryan and after Joey got disgraced, creative had nothing for Jake.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Rich Swann is the first Impact Wrestling guy to make the Top 10 of the PWI 500 since Magnus and Bully Ray did in 2014.

 

[tekcop]

I guess I need to go to an Impact taping now that I'm here, right? Is Jay White coming back?

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Probably? He's in the States through at least the end of October, doing stuff with STRONG.

 

[Valeyard]

Swann's good. Their roster is really solid. I just don't want them using Switchblade against Christian when the time comes because that should absolutely be a time to give a full-timer some shine. I get it, but Switchblade is a big deal and if he's gonna face an AEW guy, do it on an AEW show.

 

[Fall of Epic]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1437552215904989185

Gail Kim announced an all-women PPV for Impact next month.