IMPACT Against All Odds Review - March 29, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

LAX Attacked Impact World Tag Team Champions The Lucha Brothers

I've been really digging this feud over the Impact World Tag Team Championship and have been enjoying all of their encounters. Konnan kept things short and sweet on the mic before the two teams went at it. This was an exciting brawl that served as a great teaser for their upcoming Full Metal Mayhem match at Rebellion. If their last few clashes have been any indication, that should be nothing short of stellar.

Scarlett Bordeaux def. Glenn Gilbertti

I'm honestly surprised this lasted as long as it did. I'm not super high on intergender matches, but this was fairly serviceable. Bordeaux is a lot better than I thought she would be (I haven't been tuning into her stuff on the One Night Only events), while Gilbertti was probably the perfect person for her to debut against considering the comedic nature of his character. That said, I have no desire to see this feud continue.

Gail Kim Attacked Tessa Blanchard

Blanchard has been a thorn in Kim's side for a while now with Blanchard threatening legal action against IMPACT unless Kim apologized to her. I was surprised how willing Kim was to apologize to Blanchard until she revealed that she was coming out of retirement to face her. I can't say I'm thrilled that the focus is back on Kim yet again, but Kim vs. Blanchard is a logical feud to do right now and I'm fine with it so long as Blanchard goes over in the end.

Jordynne Grace def. Impact Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie by Count-out

Grace hadn't been given the chance to really let loose in IMPACT until this opportunity came along, and I thought she more than made the most of it. She and Valkyrie had strong chemistry together and produced an entertaining affair in the time they were allotted. I didn't mind the non-finish because it keeps the feud alive and protected both ladies. Plus, I liked the attention to detail with Valkyrie feigning an injury and getting herself intentionally counted out, which is exactly what her husband Johnny Impact did to avoid defending his title several weeks back. The segue into Brian Cage vs. Killer Kross was also well done.

Killer Kross def. Brian Cage

Both of these guys are impressive athletes, so as expected, they had a solid back-and-forth match. It's interesting how Kross remains such an important player in the Impact World Championship picture despite not being involved in the title main event at Rebellion next month (though that could change). I wasn't a fan of the interference from Impact and Valkyrie, even if it made sense from a storyline standpoint. The execution of the finish was questionable, just because I felt it was more confusing than it was beneficial for Kross.

Overall Show

The show ended with an angle from the "undead realm" with Rosemary and Allie, which was designed to write off the Allie character due to her departure (she recently signed with All Elite Wrestling). It was a nice sendoff for her after all the time that was devoted to that storyline, but I can't say that any of it was for me (personally, I found the "Broken" saga with the Hardys to be far more compelling). The rest of the show was pretty good, but I don't think it was worthy of the Against All Odds name. If anything, it felt like a glorified episode of IMPACT! Wrestling, but that's not to say it was bad by any means. It didn't light the world on fire, but at least multiple storylines were furthered effectively.