IMPACT Hardcore Justice Review - April 10, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Josh Alexander & Petey Williams def. TJP & Fallah Bahh and Ace Austin & Madman Fulton in a Three-Way Tag Team Match

Williams was Alexander's big mystery partner and I was super happy to see him. He hadn't wrestled for IMPACT in over a year, so that was a pleasant surprise. They actually made for a terrific team and it was cool they picked up the win. This was an enjoyable three-way tag team affair to open the event and I liked how they kept the pace consistent throughout. The X-Division is killing it at the moment and I hope we see more of Alexander and Williams together.

Shera def. Hernandez in Chairly Legal Match

It felt like the only reason this match happened was so Rohit Raju could aid Shera to victory. What the hell was the point of them breaking up in the first place? That was random. This match pitted two heels against each other, so it wasn't very entertaining and the stipulation didn't help. The effort was there, but I can't say I cared. Raju reuniting with Shera will give Raju something to do, but I still feel he was better off without him.

Doc Gallows def. Black Taurus

Was there anything done to set this match up on Thursday's edition of IMPACT! Wrestling? I honestly don't remember. The Good Brothers are heels and I believe Decay are as well, so I'm not sure why this match needed to happen outside of getting them on the show. What was weirder was that it was a singles match and not a tag team match. Gallows can be boring on his offense, but this was interesting whenever Taurus took control. At least it didn't last longer than it did.

Matt Cardona def. Johnny Swinger in a Mystery Crate Match

This was as ridiculous as could be but was shockingly entertaining to a certain extent. Swinger is more bearable than he's been before as IMPACT knows not to use him in any sort of serious role and his matches tend to be far and few between. Each crate had something inside of it, and one of them had a framed picture of Scott Hall. As comic relief, this was fine and pretty much what it should have been.

Sami Callihan def. Sam Beale

This was an open challenge by Callihan and it was answered by Beale, a trainee of Miguel. I believe that was already established on IMPACT TV but I forgot. Callihan dominated him the entire time before picking up the quick win. Miguel didn't show up presumably so his appearance in the main event came as more of a surprise. I assume we're getting the Callihan vs. Miguel rematch at the Rebellion pay-per-view.

Jake Something def. Brian Myers in a Hardcore Blindfold Match

I don't think I've ever seen a Blindfold match that was remotely good. This was no instant classic, but they tried and thus it was decent while it lasted. I'm still waiting on Jake to get some real direction. He showed potential coming out of his feud with Violent By Design, but he's been spinning his wheels since then. That said, this was a nice win for him and Myers had the out due to Cardona costing him the victory.

Tenille Dashwood def. Alisha Edwards, Jordynne Grace, Rosemary, Havok and Su Yung in an Impact Knockouts Championship No. 1 Contender's Five-Way Weapons Match

As expected, this was all over the place given the amount of people involved, but they made the most of it and had a quality contest. I'm not the biggest Su Yung fan, but she was a significant upgrade over Susan, whose character work is better than her matches. Dashwood was the only one who hasn't faced Purrazzo yet, so I probably should have figured she would win. That's a fresh match and I'm looking forward to see what kind of chemistry they'll have.

Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo def. Jazz in a Title vs. Career Match

These two previously faced off on an episode of IMPACT! Wrestling where Purrazzo cheated to win. In order to get another shot, Jazz agreed to put her career on the line. She was on borrowed time from the moment she came to IMPACT, so while it was fairly predictable she would lose here, I appreciated that her career was given the proper respect and she got to go out in style. Purrazzo carried her to a competent match and continues her dominant reign as champion. Who will be the one to stop her?

Violent By Design (Eric Young, Joe Doering, Deaner and Rhino) def. Team Dreamer (Impact World Champion Rich Swann, Eddie Edwards, Willie Mack and Trey Miguel) in a Hardcore War

Tommy Dreamer was set to take part before being attacked backstage beforehand. Miguel served as his replacement. This was basically Lethal Lockdown without the cage, and it worked. It had a logical layout and they made use of the extreme stipulation. I'm all for keeping Violent By Design strong and them winning was the right outcome, but I'm not sure why it was imperative for Swann to be involved if he has a huge Title for Title match with Kenny Omega coming up at Rebellion at the end of the month. I realize he wasn't pinned, but still. Dreamer could have competed and Miguel could have taken Swann's spot, but it's not that big of a deal either way.

Overall Show

This aired the afternoon of Night 1 of WWE WrestleMania 37, so it isn't going to get much attention or buzz, but it was a solid show on the whole. It definitely didn't live up to past installments of Hardcore Justice and I don't think it was necessary with Rebellion on April 25th, but they had fun with it with Dreamer in charge and the opening and closing matches were worthwhile. This was one of the weaker Impact Plus specials yet and you aren't missing anything by not checking it out, but it was by no means a waste of time.