IMPACT! Wrestling Review - February 3, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Matt Cardona def. Jordynne Grace to Win the Impact Digital Media Championship

The Impact Digital Media Championship was a cute little concept when it was initially announced, but I can't recall a single time it's been defended on TV or pay-per-view since it started. I certainly haven't gone out of my way to watch any of the matches on IMPACT's YouTube channel. Thus, you had to know a title change was coming and it was the right call. Cardona turning is also an interesting move, but I'm all for it because he's been a great heel in GCW recently. Based on his comments as he left the building, maybe he'll face Jonathan Gresham next.

JONAH def. Crazzy Steve

JONAH has been rolling since losing to Josh Alexander at Hard to Kill. I thought he might be turning babyface, but Decay were face the last time I checked, so maybe not. Either way, this was a fairly straightforward squash that had no business being any more competitive than it was. I like Steve, but JONAH should be killing him. Hopefully we get JONAH against Black Taurus coming out of this.

ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham def. Steve Maclin by Disqualification (Non-Title)

This was a rematch from a few weeks ago, though this wasn't a Pure Rules match and the ROH World Championship wasn't on the line. That would've allowed Maclin to pick up the win, so while I'm not normally a fan of disqualification finishes, at least Gresham was protected with the way they did it. The match itself was very enjoyable as these two work well together. Gresham didn't partake in the Honor No more beatdown of Maclin and I like how they've teased he could actually be aligned with them.

Josh Alexander def. Vincent

Honor No More shouldn't be losing a whole lot, but it would have been dumb for Alexander to be losing to Vincent, so I was fine with the outcome. The match itself was entertaining. Alexander never ceases to deliver and Vincent is very talented in his own right. Honor No More immediately got their heat back afterward with Kenny King coming to their aid and attacking Alexander. He's an excellent addition to an already stacked group.

​Bhupinder Gujjar def. John Skyler

I'm not familiar with Gujjar at all. Shera's absence from IMPACT was acknowledged on last week's show as well as Rohit Raju's departure, so it looks like Gujjar might be a part of a rebooted Desi Hit Squad. I really hope not because based on what I saw from him here, he has skills and should be given a chance to at least attempt to get over on his own. His finisher looked especially cool, so we'll see if he can continue to impress or if he'll get lost in the shuffle.

Masha Slamovich def. Kaci Lennox

Slamovich has been squashing enhancement talent in all of her recent appearances and this was no exception. She's come across like an absolute killer and I love that they've established her as dominant so far. She made quick work of Lennox here. Hopefully it isn't long before she settles into her first feud in the Knockouts division, though I'm not sure who it would be with. Maybe Rachael Ellering when she's ready to return?

Bullet Club (Jay White, Chris Bey and Guerrilas of Destiny) def. Jake Something, "Speedball" Mike Bailey, Ace Austin and Madman Fulton

What a treat of a multi-man affair with everyone getting their time to shine. You could see Austin and Fulton not being able to coexist with Bailey and Something coming from a mile away. I was a little weird to me when Something beat Bey last week considering it was recently reported that Something could be on his way out of IMPACT soon, so Bey getting that win back here by pinning Something made sense. Violent By Design and The Good Brothers brawled with Bullet Club to close the show, so that's the next program. Guerillas of Destiny vs. Good Brothers would've been a lot more exciting a few years ago when both teams were more relevant.

Overall Show

They crammed a lot into this show, but most of it worked. There were some squashes for the newer people and then a few top-notch matches with the more established people. There was angle advancement with the IMPACT guys against Honor No More along with the stuff filmed for Moose and W. Morrissey. We even got some Royal Rumble footage featuring Mickie James courtesy of WWE, so that was a pleasant surprise in addition to the Cardona heel turn. The build to No Surrender has been strong so far and the weekly programming has been fun to follow.

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