IMPACT Against All Odds Review - July 1, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Pre-Show: Black Taurus def. Laredo Kid

I honestly can't remember the last time I saw Taurus in action on IMPACT TV. Has he just been relegated to Before The Impact lately? I was happy to see him back here as he and Laredo worked well together. There wasn't much meaning behind it (aside from Taurus wanting to avenge his previous loss to Laredo), but maybe this win will led to Taurus getting back on formal IMPACT TV soon.

Pre-Show: Brian Myers def. Rich Swann in a Dot Combat Match to Win the Impact Digital Championship

While I really couldn't care less about the Impact Digital Championship, I wish this was put on the main card because this exceeded my expectations and was an absolute blast. Swann and Myers had a quality contest at Bound for Glory, but this was much more exciting thanks to the stipulation. And yes, it's a silly stipulation, but Matt Cardona and Jordynne Grace made the most of it the last time and Swann and Myers did the same here. This was the type of hardcore match I like to see. Kudos to Myers for finally winning his first championship in IMPACT, even if it's an undercard title that doesn't hold much value.

The Motor City Machine Guns def. Bullet Club (Chris Bey and Ace Austin)

I loved that they acknowledged the past issues between Chris Sabin and Austin. They have terrific chemistry together, and considering Alex Shelley and Bey were also involved in this thing, it was no surprise that it ended up being a hot opener. Motor City Machine Guns are such masters of tag team wrestling and the Bullet Club boys are great in their own right. I'm curious if this was just a one-off or if there will be more matches between these teams. Are Motor City Machine Guns going to make another run at the Impact World Tag Team Championship?

Chelsea Green and Deonna Purrazzo def. Mickie James and Mia Yim

James and Yim coming down to a mash-up of their entrance music was an awesome touch, and Green and Purrazzo coming out to new tag team music was also cool. All four of these women have wonderful chemistry and this was a very good match despite not featuring anything out of the ordinary. Putting heat on the heels by having them win was the right call as we now build toward Yim vs. Purrazzo and James vs. Green in singles competition.

Impact X-Division Champion "Speedball" Mike Bailey def. Trey Miguel

Miguel beat Bailey on IMPACT! Wrestling days before Bailey became X-Division champ at Slammiversary, so this was a logical first title defense for Bailey and a hell of a match to establish him as a credible champion. Both of these guys embody the X-Division style exceptionally well and this served as yet another example of how amazingly talented they both are. The crowd was hot throughout and ate up everything they did. Bailey's reign is off to a strong start.

Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champions Taya Valkyrie and Rosemary def. Tenille Dashwood and Gisele Shaw

I assume this would have been a rematch from Slammiversary with Valkyrie and Rosemary defending against The Influence if Madison Rayne wasn't injured. Shaw filled in for her and was decent, but if she and Dashwood weren't going to win, why not have her get pinned? There was one really bad botch from her down the stretch, but otherwise, this was a fairly average outing. We obviously haven't seen the last of this feud with The Influence and Shaw attacking the babyfaces afterward.

America's Most Wanted, Impact World Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers and Heath def. Honor No More (Eddie Edwards, Kenny King, PCO, Matt Taven and Mike Bennett)

I've defended Honor No More for a majority of their run so far in that I didn't think their win-loss record was an issue, but this was the turning point in my opinion. I understood them losing to the TNA originals at Slammiversary, but there was no reason for them to lose here. It didn't help that it was as solid match but not on the level as their other multi-man matches. It was cool to get Chris Harris back in the ring alongside Storm, but it shouldn't have come at the expense of whatever momentum the heel faction has left. Also, what the hell was that PCO spot at the end?

Moose def. Sami Callihan in a Clockwork Orange House of Fun Match

This is exactly what I was referring to when I mentioned that the Dot Combat match on the pre-show was my type of hardcore match. This, on the other hard, was way over the top. Granted, I expected it when they announced the stipulation, but the problem is that we just got this type of violence from them in Monster's Ball at Slammiversary. I'm fine with this sort of stuff once in a while, but it wasn't much different than what we got less than two weeks ago. Steve Maclin costing Callihan the victory was interesting, though. Is he working with Moose or was he just after Callihan? And why?

Impact Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace def. Tasha Steelz

I wasn't high on the Queen of the Mountain match at Slammierversary because it was a bit of a mess in terms of its structure, not to mention that this feud has been firmly slotted behind Purrazzo vs. Yim and James vs. Green despite being for a championship. That said, this was a strong effort from both ladies and a very well-wrestled matchup. Steelz had a better performance here than she did while she was champion. Hopefully Grace has a more meaningful reign this time around compared to her first one in 2020.

Impact World Champion Josh Alexander def. Joe Doering

I applaud IMPACT's effort to make Doering look like as much of a threat as possible, and I realize he had been unbeaten one-on-one for the last two years, but I simply did not see him taking the title from Alexander here. The early goings were a bit boring for my liking, but once they picked up the pace, this turned into a nice main event. This wasn't the most exciting Josh Alexander match I've seen this year, but he made the most of it and Doering did well. I'm ready for Alexander to move past Violent By Design.

Overall Show

There wasn't much turnaround time on this event following Slammiversary less than two weeks ago. I assume they didn't have many other options, but for a card put together on such short notice, it was another entertaining Impact Plus event. The main event wasn't anything worth writing home about this month and I wasn't enamored with some of the other top matches, but the undercard delivered and the three hours were worthwhile on the whole.

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