IMPACT! Wrestling Review - January 27, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Jake Something def. Chris Bey

I'm not sure what the point of this match was, but apparently this IMPACT taping was hit hard by COVID with a number of people being unable to appear. This was a very fun and well-wrestled opener, but both guys need wins at the moment, so I was disappointed that Bey lost so soon after his loss to Laredo Kid. Guerillas of Destiny and Jay White helped Bey lay out Something and Mike Bailey afterward, so it looks like we've got another big heel faction on the roster for right now.

Scott D'Amore Announced Team IMPACT vs. Honor No More at No Surrender

I know D'Amore is the de facto on-air authority figure for IMPACT, but I feel like we've been seeing way too much of him on the show lately and I could've done without him basically yelling through a promo here. That said, this segment did set up Team IMPACT (Josh Alexander, Rich Swann, Eddie Edwards, Rhino and Chris Sabin) vs. Honor No More (Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, PCO, Vincent and a partner) for No Surrender. The invasion angle has been well done so far, so hopefully they can maintain this momentum going forward.

Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champion The IInspiration def. The Influence (Madison Rayne and Kaleb with a K)

The IInspiration were supposed to defend the tag titles against Tenille Dashwood and Rayne at Hard to Kill, but COVID concerns kept The IInspiration off the show. It was supposed to happen here as well, but Dashwood tested positive for COVID and had to miss the taping. Hopefully we'll get it at No Surrender at this point. I appreciate IMPACT wanting to still deliver on the match with Kaleb filling in for Dashwood, but it wasn't the same. They had a decent match and I guess Kaleb getting pinned protected Rayne, but I don't know if I would've booked this bout given the circumstances.

Impact Knockouts World Champion Mickie James and Chelsea Green Attacked Tasha Steelz and Savannah Evans During James' State of the Knockouts Address

It's really cool that IMPACT is making such a big deal over James walking into WWE's Royal Rumble on Saturday as Impact Knockouts World Champion, as they should be. It's unprecedented and hopefully WWE doesn't have her eliminated immediately. That would be a bummer. Hopefully they let her come out to her "Hardcore Country" theme, too. I don't know why certain parts of her promo here were edited over, but this was a solid segment on the whole that also furthered her feud with Steelz heading into their championship clash at No Surrender.

W. Morrissey def. The Learning Tree in a 8-on-1 Handicap Match

An eight-on-one Handicap match sounds ridiculous on paper, but it should be noted that The Learning Tree consisted of Zicky Dice, VSK and then six of Brian Myers' other students. Basically, this wasn't a challenge for Morrissey at all. He dominated his opponents with ease and put them away rather quickly. I'm not sure why Morrissey is having a TV feud with Myers and his band of losers, but the interaction between him and Moose was well done.

JONAH def. Johnny Swinger

I might be in the minority on this, but I'm glad Swinger's television time has been drastically curtailed since the end of Swinger's Palace a few months ago. He's a glorified comedy character best in small doses and when he's getting destroyed in situations like this. Thankfully, this was short and sweet as it should have been with JONAH swiftly squashing Swinger. Dan Lambert watching from the audience was interesting (though he's been completely overexposed in AEW recently) as well as Decay checking up on Swinger afterward.

PCO def. Chris Sabin

I found it funny that Honor No More are supposed to be a group of rogue outcasts not employed by IMPACT and yet they have their own entrance and everything. I know that's been done a lot in wrestling, but it's still comical. PCO honestly fits more in IMPACT than he did in Ring of Honor and I thought he had a solid showing here. He obviously had the perfect dance partner in Sabin, so it was hardly a surprise that this was a well-worked main event. PCO winning was obviously the right call. With Honor No More needing a partner for No Surrender, I could see someone like Edwards turning heel and joining them at the event given his ties to ROH.

Overall Show

The only noticeable change to the show was that Dashwood was replaced by Kaleb, and while that wasn't a barn burner by any means, the rest of the show was enjoyable. The ROH invasion angle continues to hold my interest, the Knockouts division is loaded with talent, and White and G.O.D. coming in creates some intriguing possibilities. The Impact World Championship feud hasn't been much of a focal point on the program, but that's to be expected with it being heel vs. heel. I'm curious what the No Surrender card will consist of beyond what's been announced so far, though they have another three weeks to finalize the card.

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