‘Impact Wrestling: Against All Odds 2022’ PPV Review
We’ve only just had Slammiversary, but here comes Impact Wrestling with their next pay-per-view, Against All Odds, which aired LIVE from Center Stage in Atlanta this past weekend. Let’s see what this show has to offer!
Countdown to Against All Odds:
Match #1: Black Taurus def. Laredo Kid
The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:
Taurus hits a Lungblower for two. Kid attempts a cutter but Taurus counters into a Slingblade. Kid spikes him with a Crucifix Bomb out of nowhere. Taurus swats Kid out of mid-air with his bull horns. Kid soars with a Moonsault off the top rope to the floor. Taurus gets his knees up on the next Moonsault attempt, then hits a pop-up Samoan drop for two. Taurus connects with Power Bull to score the victory!
My Score: 2 out of 5
Match #2: Dot Combat Match for the Digital Media Championship – Brian Myers def. Rich Swann
The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:
No disqualifications, no count outs and a plethora of tech-related weaponry come together for this Dot Combat match with the Digital Media Title on the line! Swann hits a springboard corkscrew to the outside but Myers quickly comes back with a keyboard and mouse assault. Myers sends him crashing into the steps to gain the advantage. Myers chokes him with a tripod but Swann breaks free with a jawbreaker. Myers ties him to the ropes with a surge protector, then attacks him once again with the tripod. Swann bites his way out of the cables, then stacks a collection of weapons in the corner. Myers recovers and plants Swann with a DDT for two. Swann hits a Death Valley Driver into the weapons but Myers kicks out at two. Myers hits a spear, then drives him through a monitor for a very close near fall. Swann connects with a handspring cutter on the exposed ramp. Myers catches him with a mid-air keyboard shot, then hits the Roster Cut clothesline to win the match and become the new Digital Media Champion!
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Against All Odds:
Match #1: Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) def. Bullet Club (Ace Austin & Chris Bey)
The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:
The Motor City Machine Guns renew hostilities with Bullet Club in tonight’s opening contest! Shelley hits a foot stomp off the second rope in the early going. Bey is skinning the cat when Shelley cuts him off with a dropkick. Bey launches himself off the top rope with a senton to the outside, taking out both of the Guns. Austin uses his signature playing card to slice between the fingers of Shelley. Sabin hits a rolling Fisherman’s suplex on Bey. The Guns hit Bey with a dropkick Flatliner for two. Sabin almost puts Bey away with the Cradle Shock but Austin pushes Shelley into the pile in order to break the count. The Guns turn Bey inside out with double team offense to score the victory!
My Score: 4 out of 5
Match #2: Deonna Purrazzo & Chelsea Green def. Mia Yim & Mickie James
The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:
Mia Yim joins forces with Mickie James to battle the duo of longtime friends, Deonna Purrazzo and Chelsea Green! A brawl breaks out before the opening bell as Yim and James deliver double sliding dropkicks to the outside. Purrazzo distracts the referee, allowing Green to illegally attack Yim from the apron. Yim creates separation and makes the tag to James. The pace quickens as James goes on the attack. James attempts the Mick-DT on Purrazzo but Green breaks it up. Green plants James with a foot stomp for two. Purrazzo and Green cut off the ring and wear James down. Several minutes later, James sidesteps a charging Purrazzo, sending her crashing into the steel ring post. James makes the tag to Yim who hits Green with a bridged German suplex. Purrazzo shoves Yim off the top rope. Purrazzo and Green hit James with a double backstabber to score the victory!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #3: X-Division Championship Match – Mike Bailey def. Trey Miguel
The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:
Mike Bailey makes his first X-Division Title defense since winning it just two weeks ago in the Ultimate X match at Slammiversary! Bailey gains the early advantage with a springboard Moonsault to the outside. Bailey attempts a standing Shooting Star knee drop but Miguel gets his own knees up to counter. Both men exchange kicks in the middle of the ring as Bailey gains the upper-hand. Bailey successfully drops his knees into the chest of Miguel. Miguel comes back with a Brainbuster but crashes and burns on the follow-up Meteora. Miguel fights through the pain and sends Bailey soaring off the apron with a Hurricanrana. Bailey hits Ultimo Weapon on the hardest part of the ring. Bailey trips him up on the top, then hits the Flamingo Driver to win the match and retain the X-Division Title!
My Score: 4.5 out of 5
Match #4: Knockouts World Tag Team Championship Match – Rosemary & Taya Valkyrie def. Tenille Dashwood & Gisele Shaw
The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:
Gisele Shaw steps in for the injured Madison Rayne as The Influence receive their Knockouts World Tag Team Title rematch against Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie! Valkyrie hits Shaw with a snap German suplex on the ropes. Rosemary is about to bite Shaw’s face off when Shaw rakes her eye to prevent it. Dashwood clotheslines Valkyrie, then hits her with a draping neckbreaker for two. Shaw and Valkyrie exchange chops in the corner before Shaw gains the advantage with a diving uppercut. Valkyrie counters the tornado DDT into a vertical suplex, then makes the tag to Rosemary. The pace quickens as Rosemary hits a Slingblade on Dashwood, followed by an Exploder suplex. Rosemary takes Dashwood Upside Down on the ropes. Dashwood distracts the referee, allowing Shaw to get involved from the apron. Rayne trips up Valkyrie from the outside but it’s not enough. Valkyrie rolls up Dashwood to score the victory and retain the Knockouts World Tag Team Championship for her team!
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #5: The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson), America’s Most Wanted (James Storm & Chris Harris) & Heath def. Honor No More (Eddie Edwards, Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, Kenny King & PCO)
The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:
America’s Most Wanted reunites as they join forces with Heath and The Good Brothers to battle Honor No More in a five-on-five showdown! Bennett hits Heath with a forearm shot, followed by a missile dropkick from Taven. Honor No More begin to wear Heath down as they cut off the ring and prevent him from making the tag. Heath hits an explosive powerslam to create separation and make the tag to Storm. Storm hits both Edwards and King with a neckbreaker DDT combo. Storm tags in Harris as they team up and use the members of Honor No More as battering rams. While the referee is distracted, PCO attacks Storm on the floor to completely turn the tide. PCO is heading to the top when Taven tags himself in. Taven crashes and burns on a frog splash attempt. Storm capitalizes and hits a vertical suplex on Edwards. Harris is tagged into the match and goes on the attack. Harris hits a delayed vertical suplex on King. Both teams exchange Spinebuster after Spinebuster in the middle of the ring. Taven connects with a springboard kick on Storm to break up the Death Sentence. Anderson hits the Gun Stun on Edwards. Taven calls for the PCO-Sault but instead he dives off the top rope to the floor. America’s Most Wanted hit the Death Sentence on King to win!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #6: Raven’s Clockwork Orange House of Fun Match – Moose def. Sami Callihan
The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:
Moose and Sami Callihan settle their rivalry in one of the most brutal and sadistic match types in all of professional wrestling, Raven’s Clockwork Orange House of Fun! Speaking of Raven, the inventor of the match joins Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt on commentary. Moose jumps Callihan from behind and spears him before the opening bell. 30 seconds into the match, Moose is assaulting Callihan with a steel chair. Moose sets up a table on the outside but Callihan sends him crashing through it with a back body drop. Callihan hits the Death Valley Driver onto a steel fence. Moose finds a bottle inside of a garbage can and smashes it over the head of Callihan. Moose hits a sitdown powerbomb through a wooden door. Moose shoots a staple into Callihan’s foot. Now it’s Callihan who powerbombs him through two steel chairs. Callihan goes low with the staple gun. Callihan hits the Cactus Driver 97 into a pile of building blocks but Moose kicks out at two. Steve Maclin, disguised as a cameraman, hits a low blow on Callihan from behind, then attacks him with a bared wire baseball bat. Moose capitalizes with the spear to win!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #7: Knockouts World Championship Match – Jordynne Grace def. Tasha Steelz
The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:
It’s main event time at Against All Odds as Josh Alexander puts the IMPACT World Title on the line against the undefeated Joe Doering! Alexander avoids Doering’s crossbody, then hits one of his own on the apron. After several minutes of domination from Doering, Alexander delivers a knee to the back of his neck to create separation. Alexander rebounds him off the ropes to hit an assisted German suplex. Alexanders gets the big man up for a Northern Lights suplex. Alexander locks in the Ankle Lock but Doering breaks free and takes the champ off his feet with a clothesline. Alexander hits a thunderous Superplex but Deaner gets up on the apron, preventing him from hitting the follow-up C4 Spike. Doering swats Alexander out of mid-air, then hits an elbow drop for two. Alexander connects with a trio of German suplexes. Doering erases him with a running crossbody but it’s not enough to keep Alexander down. Alexander locks in another Ankle Lock, with an additional grapevine on the leg. Doering puts his incredible strength on display as he stands up to break the hold. Alexander connects with the C4 Spike to retain the IMPACT World Title and hand Doering his first pinfall loss in IMPACT Wrestling!
My Score: 4 out of 5
Match #8: IMPACT World Championship Match – Josh Alexander def. Joe Doering
The following is courtesy of impactwrestling.com:
It’s main event time at Against All Odds as Josh Alexander puts the IMPACT World Title on the line against the undefeated Joe Doering! Alexander avoids Doering’s crossbody, then hits one of his own on the apron. After several minutes of domination from Doering, Alexander delivers a knee to the back of his neck to create separation. Alexander rebounds him off the ropes to hit an assisted German suplex. Alexanders gets the big man up for a Northern Lights suplex. Alexander locks in the Ankle Lock but Doering breaks free and takes the champ off his feet with a clothesline. Alexander hits a thunderous Superplex but Deaner gets up on the apron, preventing him from hitting the follow-up C4 Spike. Doering swats Alexander out of mid-air, then hits an elbow drop for two. Alexander connects with a trio of German suplexes. Doering erases him with a running crossbody but it’s not enough to keep Alexander down. Alexander locks in another Ankle Lock, with an additional grapevine on the leg. Doering puts his incredible strength on display as he stands up to break the hold. Alexander connects with the C4 Spike to retain the IMPACT World Title and hand Doering his first pinfall loss in IMPACT Wrestling!
My Score: 4 out of 5
Final Verdict: 4/5
Once again Impact put on a great pay-per-view. If there’s one thing this company gets right it’s PPV shows… Each and every time they deliver, even when it’s only been five minutes since their last one! Discounting the pre-show, Against All Odds opened super-strong with a brilliant tag team match between two young guys in Ace Austin and Chris Bey and two veterans in the Motor City Machine Guns… and the clash of styles worked brilliantly! There was no let-up as the women’s tag match that followed also delivered, even if it felt a little short; and despite losing Mia Yim and Mickie James made for a GREAT tag team! Impact is known for its X division matches and the one between Speedball Bailey and Trey Miguel is up there with some of the best the company has produced – Bailey has grown on me as a performer in Impact (I initially thought he felt out of place on this roster) and Miguel is swiftly becoming the new AJ Styles/Christopher Daniels/Frankie Kazarian… as in he’s a modern-day stalwart of the company and the X division, giving it his all for both each and every time he gets in the ring!
Like the prior tag match, the women’s Impact tag title match felt too short, even more so given it was a title match. Though it’s a credit to Gisele Shaw that she – as she’s done each and every week – showed massive improvement in this one. The 10-man tag match felt a little chaotic but that’s to be expected with this kind of match, especially when every participant had to get their spot in. The weird end of the match, with what looked like a botch from PCO or bad storytelling, tarnished events somewhat but you’ve got to love any match that gives America’s Most Wanted and Chris Harris in particular, the spotlight. the “Clockwork Orange House of Fun” match was a Monster’s Ball match by any other name… I have no idea if/how Moose and Callihan are going to end this tie. Though the addition of Steve Maclin at the close of this one makes things more interesting. Then came the Knockout’s title match. Wow. Grace and Steelz turned this one into a hard-hitting slugfest that felt more like a grudge match than a rematch for the title – with each woman seemingly wanting to beat the crap out of the other rather than “wrestle”. This started to feel like both women were running out of steam towards the end – that reflected how vicious and hard-hitting this match was. Unfortunately, the end of the match, with Grace spiking Steelz looked like a total misfire as Steelz landed directly on her neck and the ref clearly threw up multiple X’s AND Grace could clearly be seen saying “Fuck” as she saw Steelz lying prone after the match. I hope to god it’s not as serious as it looked. Fingers crossed.
Then came the main event and Josh Alexander’s title defence against the UNDEFEATED Joe Doering. Yes, undefeated. This was put together as a brilliant underdog match for Alexander, who was essentially facing a behemoth in Doering… a man who’d never lost a match in Impact and more importantly, never actually been pinned. This really felt, thanks to the guys involved AND the commentary team, like a David versus Goliath affair, pushing Alexander even further into the championship stratosphere! A great end to a great pay-per-view. And Doering didn’t look weak in defeat at all… You have to wonder if this is how Alexander is being booked, who the hell is EVER going to dethrone him in Impact Wrestling? I can’t see anyone on the roster right now who can do the job.
