‘Impact Wrestling’ Review (Jan 26th 2021)
Welcome to this week’s Impact Wrestling, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have…oh s—! Gorillas! Gorillas: Ohgh! Ohgh! Ohgh! Me: Damn it! I don’t wanna deal with f—kin gorillas! Gorillas: Ohgh! Ohgh! Ohgh! Me: Jesus f—. Let’s just get this over with. Gorillas: Ohgh! Ohgh! Ohgh! Me: Shut the f— up!
Match #1: Matt Cardona & Josh Alexander def Ace Austin & Madman Fulton
The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:
Matt Cardona and Josh Alexander join forces for one night only as they look to take out a common enemy. Cardona sends Ace over the top rope to the floor with a clothesline. Alexander does the same to Fulton before lifting Cardona up and over with a crossbody! Ace turns the tide with a top rope leg drop on Alexander. Walking Weapon hits the ropes but Fulton knees him in the back to shut down his momentum. Alexander creates separation and makes the tag to Cardona! Ace avoids a boot in the corner but Cardona catches Fulton with a dropkick instead. Cardona hits Fulton with Radio Silence to win!
My Opinion: 7 out 10
Match #2: Brian Myers def Eddie Edwards by Disqualification
The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:
Eddie hits an overhead belly-to-belly suplex, followed by a big dive to the outside. Myers sends Eddie shoulder-first into the steel ring post to gain control. Myers targets the arm of Eddie which sustained injury in the brutal Barbed Wire Massacre at Hard To Kill. Eddie connects with a Backpack Stunner for two. Myers comes back with the Flatliner for a near fall of his own. Eddie snaps as he bites Myers in the forehead! Myers is busted open the referee calls for the bell.
My Opinion: 6 out of 10
Match #3: Rosemary w/ Crazzy Steve def Tenille Dashwood w/ Kaleb With a K
The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:
Kaleb gets on the apron in the opening moments of the match. While the referee is distracted, Tenille hits Rosemary over the head with his camera bag but Rosemary is able to kick out at two! Tenille hits a hanging neckbreaker on the ropes as Kaleb adds insult to injury on the outside. Tenille connects with her signature low crossbody in the corner. Rosemary builds momentum with a T-Bone suplex, then hits As Above So Below to win!
My Opinion: 4 out of 10
Match #4: Joe Doering w/ Eric Young & Deaner def Cousin Jake
The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:
Jake throws his jacket at Doering to jumpstart the match but Doering quickly shuts him down with a big boot. Doering hits a thunderous elbow drop. Jake avoids a running crossbody, allowing him to hit a dive to the floor but Jake tweaks his ankle in the process. Doering regains control with the Eraser. Doering hits a Death Valley Driver into a strong clothesline to put Jake away.
My Opinion: 2 out of 10
Match #5: (Main Event) Rich Swann, Tommy Dreamer, Willie Mack & Trey Miguel def Moose, Sami Callihan, Ken Shamrock & Chris Bey
The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:
In a shocking moment, the returning Trey Miguel is revealed as the mystery partner and will join forces with Rich Swann, Tommy Dreamer and Willie Mack! Moose hits Willie with a pop-up powerbomb, then powerbombs his own partner, Chris Bey, straight onto Willie’s chest! Willie fights back with a forearm to Bey, allowing him to tag in Trey Miguel! The pace quickens as Trey shows off his new-found aggression. Shamrock hits Trey with a belly-to-belly suplex but immediately gets taken out by a series of kicks from Swann. Callihan connects with a sitdown powerbomb on the champ. Dreamer hits Callihan with a cutter out of nowhere! Bey hits Dreamer with The Art of Finesse but Willie sends him flying with the Stunner! Moose hits Willie with the Spear. Trey counters Callihan’s package piledriver into a rollup to score the pinfall!
My Opinion: 6 out of 10
Final Verdict: 5/10
A big part of this show not getting a higher rating is that, while the wrestling was often good, it was in matches that were too short to maximize the quality on hand. It’s a shame that the matches were second-fiddle to whatever they’re trying to do with the AEW/Impact angle. Why are Impact and AEW both the heels in this angle? Tony Khan comes on here and cuts increasingly bad heel promos that make you just want to change the channel. The whole point of Tony being here is that he makes you want to watch both. Now, I want to watch neither. As for these matches, the opener, while not a masterpiece, was set at a great pace and it just kept that smooth breezy rhythm the whole time. I was entertained by it. I had fun. That’s what the matches are there to do. You watch a match and have a great time and you move on. I would love to see that opener get booked again, but with greater length booked for it. The next match had Eddie Edwards and Brian Myers do pretty well with a match that didn’t have Eddie’s long-missing technical prowess on display. Brian did really well… Gorillas: AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!! Me: Shut up, d*ckheads! Mangy bastards! Gorillas: OHGH! Me: I don’t speak stupid! Anyway, these matches kinda fell off a bit from the opener, even though the main event packed enough of a wallop to satisfy. Trey Miguel is back. I’m glad to see him return. I hope he’s getting a good offer to return to Impact. I’d be glad to see Trey go anywhere. Trey definitely brought his burgeoning baby-face heat to the fire that was the main event. Gorillas: OGHG! Me: F— off! The matches that made up the under-card were not bad, but they also didn’t build toward the main event like you’d hope. Oh, Rohit Raju has hired someone to help him beat TJP in a non-title match next week. Maybe it’s Melba Thornbee! Gorillas: AGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! Me: That’s it! I’m gonna kick you asses! Time to di…oh, this show was okay, to sum it up. When Impact keeps it simple, it does better. Impact…keep it simple. See you next time folks. Gorillas: AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!!! Me: Come here you hairy son of bi…
