While the matches around this storyline have been completely forgettable (and sometimes worse), the mystery of the ‘X Attacker’ has been a through-line recently in Impact Wrestling. A mystery attacker is hard to pull off well, with anticipation being built before an often disappointing reveal. However, I’ve been holding out hope for a strong reveal and a meaningful character. Not many Impact debuts have had this kind of build, and I feel like the creative team can be trusted to do it justice.
I haven’t been making extensive notes for the past few weeks, but the story seems to have been continued relatively quietly. It has been an odd one, and it has surprised me how patient they’ve been with the reveal – this is a company who often use championship matches for ‘padding’.
https://youtu.be/2bd9igXXm5o
The latest victim (that I can remember) was Sonjay Dutt. It makes sense in a lot of ways that he is the next target because so far the targets have primarily been non-active wrestlers. Joseph Park, Jimmy Jacobs, and Sonjay Dutt being some of the more notable characters to be hit with the X.
It’s difficult to be sure where this is going, but I do hope Impact are holding something up their sleeve for this reveal – or they risk severely underwhelming the fans.
Talking of X (Division)
https://youtu.be/uWqp1Na-_L0
It’s nice to see some momentum in a division that is all about momentum.
The X-Division is starting to heat back up, and I like the direction it’s moving. That being said, we did have to put up with another pointless title match between Sydal and Fantasma. Sydal is a great wrestler, and so is Fantasma, so you know they will usually put on a ‘fine’ match. That is exactly what we got.
Sydal’s character has lost a lot of heat in recent months, and if he doesn’t find the fire soon I fear his spiritual character is going to go the way of the Dodo.
https://youtu.be/jZqtocvQ_EY
Meanwhile, Dezmond Xavier faced Petey Williams in a match – where the winner would face Brian Cage.
I don’t recall it being mentioned that this was a step towards a number one contender’s match for the X-Division Championship against Brian Cage – but in a way that was the route that really made the most sense. The victory by Xavier was the right move, because as frequent readers will know – I think Xavier is the future of the division.
https://youtu.be/CkYC_Bg37x4
Unfortunately, the announcement that the winner would face Cage made the match itself kind of pointless. Neither of these men have been built up to be able to defeat Cage, and neither really deserve a shot at the X-Division Championship.
To make a finer point, if I was Brian Cage I would be a little mad that everyone else gets free title shots while I have to earn one. It’s everything I’ve complained about in the past with the Feast or Fired briefcases… if you want a title match to feel special, stop giving them out to random people each week. Brian Cage has been crushing the X-Division for months now, and yet Fantasma got a shot before him? I don’t understand this logic.
https://youtu.be/AlSObmgCPDY
We did later find out that the title match would be soon (next week to be exact, June 14), but it has left a lot of questions open for the future of the division.
Sydal did show the more heel elements of his character in his latest segment, but I am still a little worried about how his character is going to progress – especially after he no longer holds the belt, which is no doubt going to happen next week.
Although it could be argued that the upcoming match hasn’t had a lot of build, it has been obvious that it would be coming. Cage has been crushing the division for months now – and no one has put up a good fight against Sydal. These two were always going to come head-to-head, it was just a matter of time.
Unfortunately, however, the results look to be quite clear and the future quite upsetting. Cage has to win the match against Sydal, otherwise, this huge build was for nothing. That means that Cage will be X-Division Champion, and there is no-one capable of taking the belt off of him. With the X-Division Championship officially being the second tier title in the company now, it seems dangerous to make it useless so quickly.
I foresee an ‘open challenge’ from Brian when he holds the title, but I don’t know where it will end – perhaps just title matches until the end of time.
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