IMPACT! Wrestling Review - December 15, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Tenille Dashwood def. Alisha Edwards

I know this was IMPACT's way of following up on Dashwood and Kaleb beating Alisha and Eddie Edwards at Final Resolution, but not even Dashwood could get a good match out of Alisha here. Rather, this was pretty abysmal. They tried and I appreciated their effort, but this not a strong start to the show whatsoever. If it wasn't already obvious, Eddie vs. Sami Callihan will happen sometimes soon based on Callihan's post-match promo.

Moose and Willie Mack Brawled

Moose has been one of my favorite people to watch in IMPACT this year and I'm happy he's finally heading toward the world title picture. His mic skills have improved exponentially as well, though I don't think this was his strongest work. The brawl that broke out between Moose and Mack was well done and set the stage nicely for their "I Quit" match at Genesis. I'm looking forward to it, but Mack losing three straight times to Moose isn't ideal.

Chris Bey def. Impact X-Division Champion Manik by Disqualification (Non-Title)

Bey had a hell of a performance against Rich Swann at Final Resolution last Sunday, so it was cool to see him immediately follow up on that by taking Manik to the limit here. It was an enjoyable X-Division affair with an underwhelming finish. I realize they're teasing tension between Bey and Rohit Raju and likely building toward a three-way for the title, but the execution wasn't the greatest. By the way, is it going to be explained at all why Manik is able to hold the Impact X-Division Championship despite TJP losing his Last Chance match to Raju not too long ago?

Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz def. Taya Valkyrie and Rosemary in an Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship Tournament Semifinal Match

Both of these teams could have realistically advanced to the next round, so that unpredictability surrounding the outcome made this match more enjoyable. It wasn't amazing from an in-ring standpoint, but it served its purpose in getting Hogan and Steelz to the finals (which was the right call) and progressing Valkyrie and Rosemary's feud with Deonna Purrazzo and Kimber Lee. Seeing as how Rosemary lost to Purrazzo at Final Resolution, my guess is that Valkyrie will get the next crack at Purrazzo's Impact Knockouts Championship.

Brian Myers def. Josh Alexander by Disqualification

This was incredibly random given that both men are heels. I'm a fan of them both, but it wasn't a very interesting match due to that. It ended up being more of an angle with Ethan Page interfering and costing Alexander the win by unintentionally getting him disqualified. I have no clue why Page was acting like the Karate Kid afterward, but it's pretty clear The North are headed for a split with Page's contract expiring soon. Losing The North is a blow to IMPACT, but hopefully they can utilize Alexander as a singles star if Page does indeed leave.

Impact World Tag Team Champion Karl Anderson def. Chris Sabin

It's been nice to see Anderson get more chances to shine in singles competition recently with Doc Gallows being out. After all, as Kenny Omega made reference to, he was a pretty successful singles star years ago before joining the tag team ranks with Gallows. I liked how Omega brought that aggressive side out of Anderson for this match and it made for a really nice main event with Anderson winning by nefarious means to further his heel turn. Afterward, Omega, Anderson and Gallows laid waste to Rich Swann and The Motor City Machine Guns backstage to set up a six-man tag team matchup for the Hard to Kill pay-per-view next month. Take my money, IMPACT!

Overall Show

Omega was once again heavily hyped in advance by IMPACT and I feared his role on the show wouldn't be as significant as it was last week when he and Don Callis explained their partnership. This was a largely dull episode up until the main event and what came after it. The wrestling wasn't on par with what we've gotten in recent weeks, but that Bullet Club reunion is sure to get people talking ahead of Hard to Kill next month. Otherwise, this was a lackluster effort on the whole. That's disappointing because more eyes were on the product than usual due to the apparent crossover with AEW and I don't want fans who are tuning in for the first time in a long time writing off IMPACT after one substandard show.