Another title has changed hands at this week’s marathon of Impact Wrestling television tapings. Well, sort of… We have a feeling there will be a lot of readers unhappy with this piece of news, but please, don’t shoot the messenger. It goes without saying that the following contains major *SPOILERS* for upcoming episodes of Impact Wrestling.
At Friday’s television taping, Matt Sydal defeated Taiji Ishimori to become both the X-Division and Impact Grand Champion. There was heavy speculation that the former WWE star would unify the titles, as the strict rule set for the Grand Championship, which typically features judges and a series of MMA-style rounds, hasn’t been used at all this week.
Instead, Sydal revealed that all the credit for his recent success went to his new spiritual guide… Josh Matthews. The uber controversial commentator returned as an on-screen character, giving the double champion a mask that matched his “spirit animal”, and was then given the Impact Grand Championship as a gift for his services.
It’s unknown whether or not the storyline Impact management will allow Matthews to officially hold the title given that he didn’t actually win it, but it’s potentially worth noting that there doesn’t appear to be any sort of on-screen authority figures at this week’s tapings.