IMPACT! Wrestling Review - February 23, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Jake Something def. Deaner in a Tables Match; Scott D'Amore Interrupted Moose

I liked how IMPACT wasted no time in opening the show with one of their bigger matches of the night, and I never thought I would say that about a match between the former Deaners. In all seriousness, this was a decent opener. It lacked suspense at times and wasn't terribly exciting, but it had a good story and the effort was there. Violent By Design has gotten the better of Jake at almost every turn, so he was overdue for a win. It also set him up nicely to face Moose later in the night after Moose attacked him here. D'Amore made that matchup official instead of giving Moose the Impact World Championship opportunity he was demanding.

Chris Bey, Ace Austin and Black Taurus def. Willie Mack, Trey Miguel and Josh Alexander to Advance to Next Week's Impact X-Division Championship No. 1 Contender's Three-Way Match

I'm a fan of all six of these guys, but it was pretty apparent the heels were winning considering we have a babyface Impact X-Division Champion, Alexander already unsuccessfully challenged for it last week, and Miguel is currently embroiled in a rivalry with Sami Callihan. However, the unpredictability surrounding the outcome didn't make the match any less enjoyable. It was all action and everyone had their time to shine. The X-Division is killing it right now and this was a fantastic showcase for all involved.

Impact World Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers def. XXXL (Non-Title)

As I've mentioned before, XXXL impress me more and more I see them in action. They aren't the most polished, but they're coming along nicely. Even though this was a battle between two heel teams, it was a fun hard-hitting affair while it lasted. I feel like we don't see The Good Brothers wrestle on the weekly show often, so this was a treat, even though it was brief and ended a bit abruptly. They're building toward Good Brothers vs. FinJuice and I am here for it.

Eddie Edwards def. Hernandez

Edwards was supposed to go one-on-one with Brian Myers, but Myers claimed his eye was still injured and thus he wasn't cleared to compete. His lawyer (the same one who represented MJF in AEW late last year) told him he could pick his replacement, who was logically Hernandez. I like Hernandez, but there was no reason for this to last any longer than it did. Keeping it short and sweet was the right call. We found out later on in the night that Myers vs. Edwards will happen next week with Matt Cardona serving as the special guest referee. D'Amore also joked about it being an Eye vs. Eye match, and although I normally hate it whenever companies take unnecessary shots at each other, that was pretty funny.

Jordynne Grace and Jazz def. Kimber Lee and Susan in an Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Match

I'm honestly surprised Susan wrestles as much as she does. The character has its moments, but she'd be best outside of the ring because it's difficult to take her seriously inside of it. She and Lee previously beat Grace and Jazz, so you had to know the babyfaces were winning here. Once they got the outside interference out of the way, this turned into a decent match albeit nothing new. I'm curious if Grace and Jazz will win the tag titles or if that will be where they implode.

TNA World Heavyweight Champion Moose def. Jake Something

Yes, the TNA World Heavyweight Championship is now an officially sanctioned title according to D'Amore. And yes, it is stupid. The belt overstayed its welcome a while ago, so if they were going to do this, they should have made it official nine months ago when he was defending the damn thing on a weekly basis. At this point, it doesn't make a difference. Nonetheless, this was a way better main event than I was expecting. Jake already competed in the opener, yet he showed more fire and energy here than he did against Deaner. He took Moose to his limit and nearly won on a few occasions. This was the breakout performance Jake desperately needed and I'd argue he gained something (no pun intended) in defeat. Post-match, Rich Swann made the save for Jake and it was announced that Moose vs. Swann will finally happen at Sacrifice on March 13th.

Overall Show

This was an above-average edition of IMPACT! Wrestling capped off by a top-notch main event. Breaking up The Deaners was the best thing IMPACT could have done and the opening and closing matches on this show proved that. Additionally, we now know the TNA title is officially sanctioned (for whatever the hell that's worth), Grace and Jazz are the number one contenders to the Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship, and Swann vs. Moose is going down at Sacrifice. There was also hype for next week between Edwards vs. Hernandez and that awesome X-Division six-man tag. Even the "paid ad" from AEW was a refreshing change of pace. This episode was a terrific piece of business by IMPACT.