IMPACT! Wrestling Review - January 13, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Impact World Champion Moose Denied W. Morrissey's Challenge; Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, Vincent and PCO Attacked D'Lo Brown

This was quite the chaotic opening to the show, and given what happened at Hard to Kill last weekend, I thought it was the perfect way to kick off the night. Morrissey correctly claimed that he had the title won at Hard to Kill and that there wasn't a referee there to make the count, so it makes sense for him to be next in line for a title shot. Moose declined and said he was giving an opportunity to someone "more deserving" instead later in the show. That led to the ROH stars invading ringside, taking over commentary and laying out Brown. This was a logical follow-up to their invasion from Hard to Kill.

Laredo Kid def. Chris Bey

I love whenever IMPACT starts their shows with an X-Division match because they're always exciting and the crowd is consistently hot for them. This was a blast with both guys having excellent performances. It was also nice to hear from Trey Miguel on commentary considering we don't hear from him much at all. Bey is a total star, but I understand IMPACT wanting to push Laredo back toward title contention for now because I don't think we ever got Miguel vs. Laredo one-on-one before Steve Maclin got involved a few months ago.

"Speedball" Mike Bailey def. Jake Something

As I've said before, I'm not a fan of Something always being put in a position where he'll have a strong showing and lose, so hopefully IMPACT can find something meaningful to do before long and win more matches. That said, it was a wise call to keep Bailey's momentum rolling coming out of his debut victory at Hard to Kill. He's already made a fan out of me and I like that he's already found his first feud with Ace Austin (who sat in on commentary for this). This was a successful showcase for both men.

Masha Slamovich def. Vert Vixen

Vixen has appeared on AEW Dark a handful of times before, but this was all about Slamovich. She debuted last week in dominant fashion and this was no different. Slamovich was on offense the entire time and completely killed Vixen. We haven't seen this sort of dominance from anyone in the Knockouts division in quite a while, so I hope they can continue to build her up to championship contention.

Josh Alexander and Charlie Haas Brawled

This was essentially the same segment from a few months ago with Alexander announcing his intentions to reenter the Impact World Championship picture except with Haas confronting him instead of JONAH. Yes, Charlie Haas made his IMPACT debut. I haven't seen him wrestle in many years and I actually thought he was doing pretty poorly up until a year or so ago, but he looked good here and played his role well. They'll be going one-on-one next week.

Impact World Champion Moose def. Zicky Dice

Yes, Dice was the "deserving" person Moose gave an Impact World Championship opportunity to. Moose knew it'd be a breeze so he didn't even bother changing into his ring gear for the match. It probably lasted 15 seconds. I was a fan of Dice in the NWA and he's been fun to watch so far in IMPACT, but this established that they don't currently see him as anything other than a joke. Moose and Morrissey brawled afterward and Morrissey stood tall after attacking Dice and VSK, so expect Moose vs. Morrissey to happen at IMPACT's next special.

JONAH def. Raj Singh

I don't think I've seen Singh wrestle once since he came back to the company. At one point, he had reunited with Rohit Raju, but with Raju now gone from the promotion, I don't know what his future holds other than serving as an enhancement talent. Meanwhile, I wasn't expecting to see JONAH so soon after his loss to Alexander at Hard to Kill (I actually thought that might have been it for him), but I'm glad he's sticking around for a little longer. This was a total squash and I'm curious if JONAH will be booked as a babyface going forward.

AAA Reina de Reinas Champion Deonna Purrazzo def. Rok-C in a Winner Take All Match to Win the ROH Women's World Championship

I really liked that IMPACT aired a highlight video for Rok-C earlier in the evening to get viewers familiar with her work and accomplishments for those not already aware. She was a breakout star for Ring of Honor in that women's tournament they did and I hope she continues to get opportunities to shine like she did here. Purrazzo made more sense to win, but Rok-C had a stellar showing and absolutely came away looking like she was on Purrazzo's level. I thoroughly enjoyed this main event and they successfully captured that big-fight feel. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for Rok-C and what Purrazzo will do with the ROH Women's World Championship.

Overall Show

I maintain that Hard to Kill was one of the strongest pay-per-views IMPACT has done in years and this was an excellent follow-up show. The focus on the women in the main event was wonderful, Haas' IMPACT debut was a nice surprise, we officially know what's next in the Impact World Championship picture, and several fresh faces were showcased in Slamovich, Bailey and Laredo. The ROH stars also made their presence felt at the beginning and ending of the show. IMPACT is in a stride right now and I hope they can keep it up going into their next big show, whatever/whenever that is.

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