IMPACT! Wrestling Review - December 9, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Deonna Purrazzo and Matthew Rehwoldt def. Impact Knockouts Champion Mickie James and Chris Sabin

I like that Purrazzo has switched up her ring attire now that she's lost the Impact Knockouts Championship and is developing more of an aggressive edge. This was a well-worked mixed tag team match and all four people played their roles well. It wasn't anything you'll remember from a few days from now, but it effectively furthered the James and Purrazzo feud and gave Purrazzo a cheap win ahead of her upcoming rematch with James for the title.

Rohit Raju vs. Lawrence D Ended in a No Contest; Scott D'Amore Confronted Josh Alexander

With Acey Romero now gone from IMPACT, Lawrence is on his own and will apparently be doing the "heartthrob" character he was doing during Wrestle House. It soon became apparent why this was booked, but it was total throwaway while it lasted. Alexander coming out, showing some intensity and calling out JONAH was great and we found out from D'Amore that match will happen at Hard to Kill next month.

FinJuice def. The Learning Tree

The Learning Tree is what Zicky Dice and VSK are going by now. Brian Myers was absent from this batch of tapings, so I assume he'll be out for a little longer. They're pure enhancement talents without Myers, so it was no surprise that this was relatively brief. FinJuice are former Impact World Tag Team Champions, so in theory, they should be winning a match like this quickly. This didn't seem to serve much of a purpose other than to give FinJuice a necessary win.

Eric Young def. Rhino in a Street Fight

Rhino obviously a lot of history in hardcore matches and Young is a seasoned veteran in his own right, so I enjoyed this. They utilized the stipulation well and told a solid story with Rhino attempting to overcome the odds with all of the interference from the rest of Violent By Design. Ultimately, he was unsuccessful, and now it appears we're headed for Rhino and Heath vs. The Good Brothers (who attacked Rich Swann and Willie Mack before they could make the save) for the Impact World Tag Team Championship.

Decay (Rosemary, Havok, Crazzy Steve and Black Taurus) def. Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champions The IInspiration and The Influence (Tenille Dashwood and Madison Rayne)

As I've said before, IMPACT tends to go overboard with the intergender stuff at times and this was a case of that I thought. Realistically, none of The IInspiration or The Influence should have stood a chance whenever Black Taurus was in the ring. It was a bit unbelievable for me at that point, but the rest of this was fine. Based on the bickering between The IInspiration and The Influence at ringside, my guess is that we get those teams fighting for the Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship at Hard to Kill.

Matt Cardona def. W. Morrissey by Disqualification

It was established earlier in the evening that if Cardona lost here, he'd be removed from the three-way Impact World Championship main event at Hard to Kill. Morrissey attacked Cardona before the bell and proceeded to destroy him for a majority of this match. I thought it might lead to Cardona eking out another upset win, but instead. Morrissey got himself disqualified in lame fashion by attacking the referee. However, Cardona was the last man standing holding the title, so they're really trying to send the message that he might win (even though I don't expect him to).

Overall Show

This edition of IMPACT! Wrestling didn't start off the hottest, but it ended up being a quality show on the whole. The in-ring action was slightly above average and several storylines were progressed as we now know what we're likely getting at the pay-per-view. They're in the process of focusing on some of the newer faces at the moment and it's kept the product fresh. I'm curious if they'll be doing any filler best-of episodes as they usually do during the holidays or if they'll continue to put out original content.

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