I know, no review last week. The Nygma is a human being and yes, I was ill. A massive and fabulous thank-you to all of you who sent a message or DM to ask me what was happening, you’re amazing… But The Nygma is back on track and so is the review. On the menu this week, Austin Aries will put the Impact World Championship on the line against Eddie Edwards (and his kendo stick), Tessa Blanchard will square off with Alisha Edwards (family matters…). Matt Sydal will find out if his third eye has no fear when he will compete against Pentagon Junior. The Desi Hit Squad infuriated Petey Williams and Taiji Ishimori, the match is set to happen this week. Some action is on the menu, so no more words, let’s get ready for some action so, your French Enygma Steph way, of course…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_umy8r5KV4]

The Nygma’s Chart of the Week (and a few things about last week)

•  Allie & Kiera Hogan defeated Su Yung & an Undead Maid of Honor. Tessa attacked Allie. 
• The OGz (Homicide & Hernandez) w/King defeated two local competitors. LAX vs. LAX brawl.
• The Crist brothers promised to end the Lucha brothers.
• Desi Hit Squad (Raju & Singh) defeated KM & Fallah Bahh (they lied, they cheated, they stole…)
• Johnny Impact wanted a rematch against Kongo Kong.
• Austin Aries defeated Dustin Cameron, Anthony Carelli/Santino Marella’s protégé. Austin Aries argued with Carelli but Eddie Edwards cleaned the house with his kendo stick. 
• Alisha Edwards was interviewed and she’ll be returning to the ring. Eddie arrived, said he wants to change. She asked if he’s getting help, but he said no, as he’ll be world champion next week.
• Scarlett Bordeaux said God made her a 10.
• Eli Drake & Trevor Lee defeated Grado & Joe Hendry
• Pentagon Jr. & Fénix defeated oVe w/ Sami Callihan. They tried to unmask Fénix.
• Killer Kross laid out Anthony Carelli backstage.
  (it was last week…)

• Taiji Ishimori & Petey Williams defeated The Desi Hit Squad w/ Gama Singh
• Pentagon Junior had two words for Matt Sydal, Cero Miedo
• Allie requested a match against Su Yung
• Austin Aries cut a promo on the reasons why he will remain Champion
• Another Grado/Katarina/Joe Hendry segment
• Tessa Blanchard defeated Alisha Edwards. She cut a promo after the match, saying she was coming after Allie if she was going after Su Yung and the Knockouts Championship

• Matt Sydal cut a promo on opening everyone’s third eye
• Scarlett Bordeaux made KM and Fallah lose track and Impact Management give her her own show
• Pentagon Junior defeated Matt Sydal. oVe appeared on screen after the match. Sami Callihan wanted one of oVe’s members having his head shaved. Jake shaved Dave, for Ohio… 
• LAX 5150 cut a promo but the OG’z appeared in the balcony. A Street Fight will take place next week
• Jimmy Jacobs replied to Johnny Impact saying he could be a monster and he will show him next week
• Impact World Champion Austin Aries defeated Eddie Edwards, thanks to the referee down and Killer Kross 

The Nygma’s Nutcracker(s) of the Week

– Taiji Ishimori and Petey Williams giving a lesson to The Desi Hit Squad. It seems like the good old Gama Singh’s Roppongi Vice technique is not working on Gursinder Singh and Rohit Raju. The match itself was good, the modern classic I like, but the winners were even better.
Singh and Ishimori started things off, Ishimori immediately took control and hit a seated senton. Petey tagged in and hit the code breaker and a side Russian leg sweep. Petey took out Raju but Singh tripped him up. The Squad worked quick tags, isolated Petey, Rohit unloaded some rolling suplexes. But Petey fired up, ran The Squad and tagged Ishimori.
He connected with a missile dropkick, knees and a back handspring kick. Raju fired back with strikes and a standing double stomp. Petey came back in and hit a powerbomb on Raju. Ishimori fought off the Squad to hit the lung blower and a dropkick. Petey hit The Canadian Destroyer and Ishimori his Bloody Cross for the win. 

– Matt Sydal vs Pentagon Junior, a very high-level and high-flying match that any wrestling fan can only wish to watch. And it was 16 minutes of great wrestling.
Sydal grounded Pentagon right in the match. Pentagon escaped, attacked the knee of Sydal and then laid in chops. He connected with a clothesline and a sunset flip. But Sydal fought back, working an Indian Deathlock and focusing on the knee of Pentagon. He followed with chops, but Pentagon connected with sling blades. Sydal rolled to the floor under the ring to distract Pentagon and attack his knee again. Pentagon was limping as Sydal dropkicked him back to the floor. Pentagon hits a superkick outta nowhere and chops. But Sydal connected with kicks and the Meteora double knees off of the apron. 

After the break, Sydal flew in off the top to eat a superkick from Pentagon. Pentagon tried to fire up but Sydal unloaded a spin kick. Sydal took Pentagon up top, but Pentagon slipped out to reply with a superkick and backstabber. Pentagon was decided to break Sydal’s arm but he escaped and hit kicks and a spinning slam. Pentagon rallied with chops, but Sydal connected with a knee strike and a superkick. Pentagon hit the Penta driver only for 2. Sydal countered a backstabber, headed up top and hit the Shadows over Hell, the diving splash on a kneeled Pentagon. Pentagon hit another superkick, Sydal rallied again but with an hurricanrana this time. Sydal went up top for the Shooting Star press but ate the knees of Pentagon. Pentagon hit the Fear Factor and Sydal was done. 

– Austin Aries vs. Eddie Edwards for the Impact World Champion. A PPV match we had the chance to witness a Thursday/Friday night. These two men are both some of the best, mixing technical and aerial wrestling. Another must-watch, even if the end of the match was a little criminal, not to say killing.
Aries outwrestled Eddie early on, but Eddie hits an overhead belly-to-belly and requested a handshake. Aries slapped him, Eddie demanded the handshake again but Aries bailed to the floor. Edwards chased Aries, but Aries cut him off, went back in the ring to dump him to the floor. Eddie cut off the suicide dive and followed with chops. Aries lit up, strangled Edwards’ eyes but Eddie kept control. The suicide dive connected this time. Back in, Aries connected with a knee drop, kick and forearm strikes, and chops. Eddie enjoyed every second of it so Aries strangled his eyes again. Edwards hit a blue thunder bomb, a toss slam and chops.

Aries countered the Tiger Driver powerbomb into an hurricanrana, but Eddie fought back and hit it anyway. They worked up top and then back to the mat. Aries locked Edwards into the Last Chancery. May the nutcracking party begin… Aries rolled to the floor, grabbed the belt, the ref took it, and Aries hits a low blow. Aries countered the backpack stunner, they traded strikes but the referee was bumped. Aries hit a rolling forearm, grabbed the title again but missed. Eddie hit the Future Shock, covered Aries but no referee in sight. Eddie grabbed the kendo stick and hit the referee, so Aries hit another low blow (Alisha, sorry for you). But Eddie fought back and hit Aries with the stick. Eddie choked out Aries with it but Killer Kross arrived and hit a Saito suplex on Edwards. Aries just had to hit his trusty brainbuster to retain. Bitter end for a great match…

The not-Nygma’s Moment(s) of the Week

Scarlett Bordeaux
Until I’m proved wrong, the Smoke Show is exactly what her nickname says. A blonde fog with boobs. Sorry, dear Don Callis…

The Grado/Katarina/Joe Hendry/Eli Drake thing.
“The Titanic is sinking” soap opera continued and it’s boring. 

Matt Sydal
The wrestler has never been better than now, but his “third-eye” gimmick has become very cliché. 

The Nygma’s Award(s) of the Week

The war of the LAX segment
What an intro to the show! The OG’z and LAX brawling in the building and the stairs was a cool way to start the show. It was brutal but exactly what I want of Impact Wrestling, dare, try, in order to make us be thrilled. 

Konnan
I missed Konnan and his beautiful sentences. “We’re LAX, we’re back in the cut, we’re serious like a late period and we’re the Blue Pill of wrestling, that’s why we stay so damn hard”. Konnan also called The King a “walking talking glory hole.” The man is a genius, but the men he’s managing are amazing. This LAX ‘s “Sharks vs Jets” war is really coming from him and this faction he built many years ago. In a way, this feud is cementing the legacy of Konnan on Impact.

Austin Aries
You need to destroy, hire a Killer! What a clever move from A-Double than asking the C.O.A.T to be his henchman. What could be interesting now would be to know if Aries made Kross come and destroy all the guys he laid out backstage. But I really want to see more of Kross as a single competitor, making him Aries’ sidekick could kill his momentum.

To be eNYGMAtic…

We have a long road to ride until Bound for Glory on October 14. Since Slammiversary, I’ve not been convinced by what I saw. This episode may have been better, for me there’s something rotten in the Impact’s Kingdom. Where are we going? Honestly, I have no clue. Some feuds and storylines desperately need to end. The return of the litany of backstage segments and promos shadowed the great cinematic work we had the chance to watch on the Road to Slammiversary. The fact is when you provide a PPV of such a great quality, it’s not easy to capitalize on it after. But I love Impact, you love Impact, so we’ll wait patiently to find what we love more than anything, great action and storytelling. And because you agree with me, of course, I see you next week… And never forget to stay #eNYGMAtic…

All pics, videos, and screenshots courtesy of Impact Wrestling. Photomontage by @frenchnygma exclusively for @steelchairmag.