Is Against All Odds, Above All Expectations?
Outside Impact Wrestling. A long time "Jerichoholic", Mick Foley, Kurt Angle & Hardys fan, pop open a little bit of the Bubbly, read what's being written by me with an open perspective & enjoy.
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- (Exclusive) Rosemary: A Journey through the Valley of Shadows – PART 1 - September 19, 2021
- Revival of the X-Division: Tale of the Tape - June 20, 2021
Thursday night’s Impact Wrestling threw several huge surprises into the mix for what’s to come this Saturday. Having made predictions for what was expected to come (Live) on Wednesday, pretty much expecting all matches were now officially booked & Thursday’s “Go Home Show” would just spell out the fate of Sami Callihan, the stipulation between Rosemary vs. Deonna Purrazzo & just use the rest of the night to build up towards Saturday. And WOW it’s done that in Impact’s spectacular fashion! So, which 3 key points grabbed my (and hopefully your) attention the most?
1. The Summit
Last week Scott D’Amore revealed to Don Callis that AEW president Tony Khan was in talks with him about Don Callis’ consistent “meddling” & the convenience of The Good Brothers always being there for Kenny Omega & because of their interference over the last few weeks, by a technicality Sami Callihan has more stake in facing Kenny Omega than Moose does. And Tony Khan has already agreed to come & find a fair solution to this “problem”… much to Callis’ frustration.
This week opened with the Summit, Scott D’Amore & Tony Khan quickly & abruptly by Don Callis, reminding everyone that Sami Callihan is “blacklisted” (banned) from almost all other promotions (kayfabe) including AEW. So having Sami, one of the most “unwanted”, unpredictable & feared wrestlers laying hands on Kenny Omega wasn’t just bad for Don, but it was bad for Tony Khan & any plans he might have in place for Kenny Omega. Tony would agree to protect his investment by setting Moose vs. Omega over at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida (AEW’s territory). So, as it now stands nobody can interfere, Moose vs. Omega is a “fair fight” with a home field advantage for Kenny (which also satisfies Don Callis) but the biggest twist to come would be before Don Callis left the ring, whoever wins at Against All Odds, is now also going to headline Slammiversary, defending the Impact Wrestling World Championship against Sami Callihan, all signed, sealed, agreed between Scott D’More & Tony Khan (who had up until last week) had pretty much all transactions involving Kenny Omega & Impact negotiated with or by Don Callis.
Alongside the fact that we are now finally seeing some equal thinking between Tony Khan & Impact Wrestling (even if it’s just until July 12th or come Slammiversary) one of the other big things about this promo was that it remained between the 3 men in the ring. At any time we could have had Moose or Sami Callihan muscling in with an attack from Omega & The Good Brothers (more on them later) soon to follow but this has indeed, added that extra kick of unnoticed variety, Impact talent might not be going after Omega… but didn’t Don Callis cost Jon Moxley his AEW World title? Is this going to stop The Young Bucks getting involved to get Omega to Slammiversary? My original thought on this match was Omega will win then face whoever wasn’t pinned at Slammiversary. This build has sliced all the red tape away & has really pushed Slammiversary’s main event up a gear to potentially be a “Match of the Year” contender. And Sami Callihan has achieved this… twice, at Slammiversary first against Pentagon Jr. (Mask vs. Hair 2018) & then Tessa Blanchard (Number one contendership for the World Title at Bound For Glory in 2019). My new prediction for All Odds? It hasn’t changed, Kenny Omega will (sadly for me as an Impact fan) beat Moose but, the pay off of this victory is a bittersweet moment as the following 4 weeks roll onto Slammiversary & Sami Callihan brings the Impact World Title home!
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