IMPACT! Wrestling Review - December 16, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Josh Alexander def. Rohit Raju

This stemmed from Alexander interrupting Raju's match with Lawrence D a week or two ago. Raju was treated like a total enhancement talent in that segment, but I'm glad this more of a competitive match than it was an elongated squash. I've had high praise for Raju's reign as Impact X-Division Champion last year and the guy is great, so I appreciated that he was made to look credible in defeat following what was an entertaining opener.

Impact World Tag Team Champion Doc Gallows and Joe Doering def. Rich Swann and Willie Mack

As we saw last week, it appears The Good Brothers and Violent By Design have formed something of an alliance now that they have common enemies in Mack and Swann. I was no fan of Gallows vs. Doering a few months ago, but they worked well together here. I didn't love having the babyfaces lose to a team that's not technically a team, but they told the story that they couldn't overcome the odds stacked against them. Heath, Rhino and Eddie Edwards (?) made the save afterward.

Impact X-Division Champion Trey Miguel def. John Skyler (Non-Title)

Skyler has been impressive in the handful of matches I've seen him have in IMPACT this year, while Miguel never misses. Selfishly, I would've liked to see this get a bit more time, but what we got was fun and I understand having Miguel win relatively quickly because he is the X-Division Champion after all. Steve Maclin left him laying afterward to build toward their upcoming singles match.

Chris Bey def. Laredo Kid

This was the one designated exciting X-Division affair on this show, not Miguel vs. Skyler. Both of these guys are exceptionally skilled, so you had to know this was going to be a banger if given an ample amount of time. Bey needs some consistent direction and a win like this will only help his cause. As for Laredo, much like Skyler, he never ceases to shine, especially when he's in there with the right opponent. Definitely make time to seek this out.

Tenille Dashwood def. Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champion Jessie McKay

The working relationship between The Influence and The IInspiration is already over it seems, likely because IMPACT wants to build to the two teams colliding for the Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship at Hard to Kill. That would also explain why Dashwood won here, though I would've had her win regardless because she's much better than McKay in the ring. Unfortunately, this was the weakest match of the night. McKay still isn't very good on her own.

The Hard to Kill Contract Signing with Impact World Champion Moose, Matt Cardona and W. Morrissey Ended in Chaos

The interesting thing about this three-way contract signing is that Morrissey left halfway through, leaving Cardona and Moose to go at it. It honestly feels like the main event of Hard to Kill is Moose against Cardona in a straight-up singles match based on how it's been built. Nonetheless, this was a solid segment with quality mic work from all three involved. I don't care too much for Chelsea Green's involvement (and taking a chair shot to the face), but I realize they really want to get heat on Moose and get people to rally behind Cardona to beat him.

Overall Show

Maybe I missed something, but I believe this was the final edition of IMPACT! Wrestling for the year as nothing was advertised for next week. IMPACT usually takes the holidays off and comes back with Hard to Kill in January, so that's probably what will happen. If so, they went out on a high note for the year as this was a strong show with a little bit of everything, including above-average in-ring action. Only Dashwood vs. McKay was mediocre, but even that served a purpose. The card for Hard to Kill has come together nicely and I'm looking forward to it.

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