Eddie Edwards won the vacant Impact World title in a 5-way elimination match that also included the returning Eric Young, who'd been cut by WWE back in April. Young was horribly misused by WWE after being called up as part of the SAnitY faction in the spring of 2018, and spent the final months of his WWE tenure as a part-time agent/producer and a jobber. WWE Chairman/CEO Vince McMahon & Executive Producer Kevin Dunn didn't understand the concept behind SAnitY, and waited seven months before calling up the fourth & final member of the group, Nikki Cross, who is now a 2-time women's tag team champion, and will challenge for the Smackdown women's title tonight.
Luke "Doc" Gallows had been with TNA-Impact as part of the Aces & Eights faction in 2011-12 before going to Japan. This time, he brings with him his long time tag team partner, "Machine Gun" Karl Anderson, as he returned to Impact. For now, the "Good Brothers" are babyfaces, but it's a matter of time before the former 2-time WWE tag champs turn heel.
EC3, nee Ethan Carter III (Michael Hutter), like Young, was mistreated creatively after being called up by WWE in January 2019. McMahon, Dunn, and their staff of anonymous, untrained-in-wrestling scribblers had the perfect storyline in position, after EC3's storyline "aunt", former TNA President Dixie Carter, appear for a Kurt Angle compilation DVD. But, because past invasion angles have backfired badly in WWE due to McMahon's own ego, having the "Carters" come in and attempt to take over WWE was never brought to the drawing board, and Hutter was stuck as a background player holding a drink. David Otunga, last seen as a legal analyst for WWE and for TruTV, might want to discuss things down the road, as he had the same thing happen to him at the end of his run with WWE.
Chris Bey, who was introduced to cable audiences during the short-lived Ring Warriors in 2018, won the X Division title from Willie Mack. Deonna Purrazzo, another wrestler WWE gave up on, captured Impact's women's title from Jordynne Grace, leaving the North (Canada's Josh Alexander & Ethan Page) as the only champions to retain on Saturday.
Impact's weekly show on Tuesday, now on AXS TV (a premium channel on Spectrum, check your listings), should be interesting.
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With The Horror Show at Extreme Rules on tap tonight, WWE will have a bit of a viewer problem.
You see, NBC will at least for tonight replay the series premiere of USA Network's new reality game show, Cannonball, which bowed on July 9. Michael "The Miz" Mizanin (Miz & Mrs., ex-The Real World), after playing up his self-serving in ring persona in commercials for the new show, actually dials it down as a commentator. We'll have a full review up before the end of the week, but on NBC, Cannonball will be coupled with Dwayne Johnson's 2nd year series, The Titan Games.
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As baseball's regular season finally begins this week, we have to encapsulate our previews.
We previously discussed the American League East in early March, before the coronavirus pandemic began wreaking havoc on sports. To recap, here's our predictions for the division:
1. Yankees.
2. Tampa Bay.
3. Toronto.
4. Boston.
5. Baltimore.
However, the Blue Jays won't be playing in Canada this year, and their "home opener" is set for the end of the month, either in Dunedin, Florida (doubtful) or Buffalo. They'd be better served in Buffalo. Boston's pitching staff took another hit when Eduardo Rodriguez tested positive for coronavirus, so he might not be ready for opening day. Yankees pitcher Domingo German won't play this season due to a domestic violence related suspension, but now he claims he's retiring. Yeah, right. Our prediction for the final standings remain the same, but it's looking like a 2 horse race.
As for the other divisions:
AL Central:
We'll just take a shot in the dark here:
1. Minnesota.
2. Cleveland.
3. Detroit.
4. Chicago.
5. Kansas City.
AL West:
1. Houston.
2. Seattle.
3. Angels.
4. Oakland.
5. Texas.
Of course, I could be wrong. National League final predictions on Wednesday.
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