IMPACT Multiverse of Matches Review - April 1, 2022

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.

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