IMPACT No Surrender Review - February 13, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Decay (Rosemary, Crazzy Steve and Black Taurus) def. Tenille Dashwood and XXXL

In my review of IMPACT! Wrestling from this past week, I said Taurus was a odd fit for Decay. However, the more I think about, the more I like it. Taurus is awesome and it's cool to see him getting more exposure in IMPACT. This was a fun opening six-man tag team match with everyone playing their roles well. This iteration of Decay is off to a strong start and, as I've said before, I think it's the best use of Rosemary and Steve right now.

Brian Myers and Hernandez def. Matt Cardona and Eddie Edwards

Edwards "injured" Myers' eye a few weeks ago, and the history between Cardona and Myers is well-documented. As for Hernandez, well, Myers needed a partner. In all seriousness, this was a solid tag team affair. It paled in comparison to what came before it, so I probably would have waited until a little later in the show to do it. Nothing about it felt special, so while it could have easily happened on an episode of IMPACT! Wrestling, it was cool seeing Cardona and Myers mix it up and Myers pinning him for the win sets the stage for a feud between them. If so, where does that leave Edwards?

Jake Something def. Deaner

Props to Eric Young for making me somewhat care about The Deaners for once. Deaner is perfect in Violent By Design, and Jake is better off on his own (despite the dumb surname). This was a decent match made better by the story of Jake trying to beat his former partner. The finish looked like it may have been botched because the referee slightly hesitated on the three count and then Young attacked Jake a second later. Violent By Design put him through a table afterward, so the feud clearly isn't over yet. My guess is that this leads to Rhino and a returning Heath coming to Jake's aid.

Josh Alexander def. Ace Austin, Trey Miguel, Willie Mack, Chris Bey, Daivari, Blake Christian and Suicide in an Impact X-Division Championship No. 1 Contender's Triple Threat Revolver Match

I had no idea what the hell to expect from this match because I believe it was the first of its kind and the rules were a bit confusing on paper, but it turned into a terrific match, especially down the stretch. Suicide and Daivari getting eliminated early was the right call, Christian is reportedly on his way to WWE so him not doing much didn't surprise me, Mack and Bey had great showings, and then Miguel, Austin and Alexander killed it together. All three can be the future of this promotion if booked properly. Miguel is currently feuding with Sami Callihan, but I figured Austin would win because he recently won the Super X Cup. Then again, I'm stoked Alexander finally won something meaningful on his own. Hopefully he's the next X-Division Champion.

Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champions Fire 'N Flava def. Havok and Nevaeh in a No Disqualification Tag Team Match

We've seen so many matches from these teams in the last few months that I had no interest in this outing whatsoever. Worse yet, they never had strong chemistry to begin with, and as expected, this was another mediocre match from them and the stipulation hardly helped. I'm just glad Fire 'N Flava held onto the titles because there was no reason for them to lose those belts this soon. Havok and Nevaeh teased tension afterward, so they may be headed for a split and I can't say I care.

Impact X-Division Chamber TJP def. Rohit Raju

TJP is definitely questionable in some respects, as far as what he says on social media from time to time, but the guy is a hell of a wrestler and has shown that since returning to IMPACT. I didn't have high hopes for him as X-Division Champion, but between the three-way at Hard to Kill and now this, he's been exceeding my expectations. This was another entertaining encounter from them and thankfully the interference from Mahabali Shera was limited. Raju has really turned his career around this last year, so I hope IMPACT has something from 

Jazz, Jordynne Grace and ODB def. Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo, Kimber Lee and Susan

I applaud Su Yung's character work, but I'm sorry, Susan sucks. The gimmick isn't meant for matches and that was evident here. This was a perfectly solid six-woman tag team match, but nothing about it stood out as special and a lot like Cardona and Edwards vs. Myers and Hernandez, it could have happened on any given Tuesday night. Jazz picking up the win for her team was imperative as she hasn't won a lot since coming to IMPACT. I'm curious if this was designed to further her storyline with Grace or to set her up for a title match with Purrazzo soon.

Impact World Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers def. James Storm & Chris Sabin and Private Party in a Three-Way Tag Team Match

It was too early to take the titles off Good Brothers, but there was some nice drama throughout that gave you the sense the championships could change hands. Everyone worked well together, it was fun seeing Private Party in there with two IMPACT teams, and the finish was well done with Good Brothers barely escaping with the win. Hardy blamed Private Party for the loss, so look for that to boil over on AEW Dynamite this week. I hope we still get to see Good Brother vs. Private Party at some point because that was originally scheduled for this show before Storm and Sabin were added at the last minute.

Impact World Champion Rich Swann def. Tommy Dreamer

I've gone on record time and time again talking about how Dreamer shouldn't be wrestling on pay-per-view in 2021, at least not in main event-level matches, but this was the exception with him turning 50 on the night of the event. It was a career celebration of sorts and Dreamer's promos leading up to it were phenomenal. It started out slow, but there was some solid storytelling with Dreamer's injury before they picked up the pace a bit with a few close nearfalls. Dreamer hasn't won anything of importance in ages and yet it still felt like a big win for Swann, so kudos to them and IMPACT for accomplishing that. Plus, Moose emerged afterward to lay them both out and get major heel heat. Personally, I'd have Moose be the one to beat Swann for the belt, but IMPACT may have other ideas if they're still building toward Swann vs. Kenny Omega eventually.

Overall Show

Right before the event went off the air, a brief video package aired revealing that NJPW's Juice Robinson and David Finlay are on their way to IMPACT this Tuesday, which is awesome news. The forbidden door has finally been opened! These Impact Plus specials don't tend to be much, but this was probably the best one I've seen since IMPACT started doing them late last year. Not every match was a banger, of course, but there was significant storyline development, above-average wrestling on the whole, the three hours never dragged, everything made sense, and the announcement of incoming talent. It's hard to say IMPACT has all this momentum at the moment when they still suffer from a lack of buzz, but putting on quality shows such as this one will only help their cause. This was a very enjoyable event.