WrestleRant
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • WRR
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • About
    • Contact

Columnist Corner

IMPACT Multiverse of Matches Review - April 1, 2022

4/1/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Impact X-Division Champion Trey Miguel def. Chris Bey, Blake Christian, Vincent, Rich Swann and Jordynne Grace in an Ultimate X Match

I appreciate that IMPACT hasn't overdone the Ultimate X matches in recent matches because now they feel more special whenever they do them. That said, this was completely random and I don't recall there being any build for this on the weekly IMPACT! Wrestling program. It's already been announced that Miguel will be defending the title in a three-way against Ace Austin and Mike Bailey at Rebellion later this month, so I didn't expect the championship changing hands here. It was an enjoyable opener and everyone had their time to shine.

Nick Aldis and Mickie James def. Impact Digital Media Champion and NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Matt Cardona and Chelsea Green

I was surprised to see this match occur so early in the card because it was actually one of the matches I was most looking forward to coming into this event. I thought the build was really well done with Cardona and Aldis feuding in the NWA while Green and James just kicked off their feud in IMPACT. I'd love to see Aldis make more appearances in IMPACT now that he's a much bigger deal than he was years ago as Magnus, but time will tell. This ended up being good, but not as good as I was expecting. I think this would have benefited from a bit more time.

"Speedball" Mike Bailey def. Alex Shelley

Bailey has been really impressive since arriving in IMPACT and Shelley was the perfect person for him to be working with given his experience level. Shelley has been a babyface since returning to IMPACT, but he clearly played the heel role here. This was easily my favorite match of the night and they had the crowd with them every step of the way. These two complimented each other exceptionally well and I was thoroughly entertained. Bailey picking up the big win was even better. This was a hell of an effort from both men.

Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Influence (Tenille Dashwood and Madison Rayne) def. Gisele Shaw & Lady Frost, Impact Knockouts World Champion Tasha Steelz & Savannah Evans, and Decay (Rosemary and Havok) in a Four-Way Tag Team Match

I don't think we've seen this many teams compete for the Knockouts tag titles since they were brought back last year. I don't think it made the tag titles any more important because this was a random mash-up of teams and this wasn't very good. It was mostly a mess and the worst part is that Steelz, the current Knockouts champ, felt like a total afterthought in there despite beating Mickie James twice recently. The Influence retaining was the right call, though.

Tomohiro Ishii def. Eddie Edwards

This marked Ishii's IMPACT debut, which I find hard to believe because he's been around for so long. He's one of New Japan Pro-Wrestling's hardest hitters and he worked really well with Edwards here. You don't have to know much about Ishii in order to enjoy his matches and this was a treat. Edwards has been on a roll since turning heel two months ago, so I have no idea why Edwards lost clean unless the idea is for him to avenge the loss one of these days. If Ishii isn't sticking around and Edwards is heading into a match with Jonathan Gresham, then this outcome was illogical.

Josh Alexander and JONAH def. Impact World Champion Moose and PCO

I know Alexander is set to challenge Moose for the Impact World Championship at Rebellion and JONAH and PCO have had their own issues as of late, but PCO teaming with the champion while a member of Honor No More (despite Moose being on amicable terms with the group) was weird to me. Anyone who is a part of Honor No More should be separated from the rest of the roster in my opinion. That said, this was a hell of a hoss fight between four of IMPACT's top titans. Everyone worked well together and Alexander picking up the win for his team allowed him to build more momentum.

AAA Reina de Reinas Champion and ROH Women's World Champion Deonna Purrazzo def. Faby Apache in the Champ Champ Challenge (ROH Women's World Championship Was Not Defended)

You could tell the crowd that Apache was the one who answered Purrazzo's open challenge considering the many possibilities it could have been. There were probably a lot of people who didn't know who she was, but the commentators did inform viewers that she was who Purrazzo beat for the belt in the first place last summer. They had a pretty good match, but the focus ended up being on Taya Valkyrie returning afterward to confront Purrazzo and challenge her for the Reina de Reinas Championship at Rebellion. That was a cool surprise. I'm curious if Valkyrie will only be around through Rebellion to take the title from her or if she'll be appearing for IMPACT indefinitely. Additionally, Purrazzo called Mercedes Martinez a "paper champion" for becoming in the Interim ROH Women's World Champion at ROH Supercard of Honor, which is true because the whole concept of an interim champion in wrestling is dumb. No word on when that matchup will take place.

Chris Sabin def. Jay White

White beat Shelley in a barn burner last month at Sacrifice and The Motor City Machine Guns have split wins with Bullet Club in tag team action in recent weeks on IMPACT! Wrestling. I really looking forward to this because I knew it'd be a blast and they didn't disappoint. It didn't reach the level I was hoping it would, but what we got from them was superb. Sabin winning was a shocker, but even he has to win once in a while in order to maintain his credibility. Post-match, Steve Maclin attacked Sabin only for White to hit him with a low blow, so we'll see where they go from here.

The Good Brothers def. The Briscoes

Props to The Briscoes for having one of their best matches ever with The Young Bucks at Supercard of Honor and then turning around to compete in the main event of this show later in the night. That would explain why this was on the shorter side. They have history from years ago, so these teams are no strangers to each other. It was far from a blockbuster, but this was a well-worked main event while it lasted. Good Brothers winning (albeit with help from White) was genuinely surprising, so maybe we'll see a rematch if The Briscoes end up signing with IMPACT full-time.

Overall Show

Audio issues aside, this was a super strong show. IMPACT put forth an excellent effort for this event and I love the idea of them putting together so many inter-promotional matches. It'd be awesome if this became a staple over WrestleMania weekend every year. Speaking of which, this is going to get overshadowed by literally everything else going on in Dallas, but I'd suggest going out of your way to watch it when you can find the time. This didn't have a consistent build on IMPACT TV, but it didn't matter because the three hours ended up being a ton of fun.
SEE MORE: IMPACT Reviews
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.


    Categories

    All
    #AskGSM
    Battle Of The Belts
    Cruiserweight Classic
    Halftime Heat
    Hidden Gems
    Lists/Rankings
    Mae Young Classic
    Mixed Match Challenge
    News
    NJPW
    NWA Shockwave
    Opinion
    Previews
    Retro Reviews
    Reviews
    RJ's Two Cents
    Satire
    SummerSlam Recall
    The Deadly Draw
    Tribute To The Troops
    Women's Eliminator
    Worlds Collide
    WrestleMania Recall
    WWE Draft
    WWE Starrcade


    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    RSS Feed

©2023 WrestleRant. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • WRR
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • About
    • Contact