IMPACT! Wrestling Review - July 28, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Eddie Edwards def. Ace Austin

In addition to the ongoing rivalry between Honor No More and Bullet Club, there's a lot of bad blood between these two from 2019. In fact, Edwards was Austin's first real rival in IMPACT. Thus, it was no surprise they worked well together here and had an excellent encounter. This was another small preview of what to expect when the two factions meet again at Emergence and I enjoyed it.

Laredo Kid and Trey Miguel def. Johnny Swinger and Zicky Dice

Kid and Miguel are a bit of a random pairing despite their history as opponents. Then again, I'm not sure what else IMPACT does with either of them right now, so I'm not complaining, especially since they seem to have chemistry as partners as well. Swinger and Dice are a fun duo, but they're primarily enhancement talent and they played that role perfectly here. This was exactly what it needed to be.

Tiffany Nieves def. Jade Stone

I had no idea who either of these women were coming into this contest and IMPACT didn't properly introduce viewers to who they are, either. Usually when that happens, that means someone will interrupt and attack both people. I was shocked we got the complete match (which was fine), but not as shocked when I realized it was done to debut Killer Kelly afterward and set up her first match for an upcoming episode.

Impact World Champion Josh Alexander def. Shera

The fact this didn't close the show pretty much told you what was going to happen. I'm not saying it should have gone on last, but did it really need to be for the championship if Alexander vs. Alex Shelley was already confirmed as the Emergence main event? I've always found Shera to be abysmal, but Alexander carried him and kept it relatively short and sweet. Truthfully, I'm not really sure what purpose this served other than keeping Alexander's momentum going.

Sami Callihan Attacked Raj Singh

Singh really hasn't had any direction since returning to IMPACT, so as soon as he was shown standing in the ring with a mic in his hands, I figured he was getting his ass handed to him almost immediately. Sure enough, Callihan interrupted him, laid him out and called out Moose and Steve Maclin for what happened at Against All Odds. Callihan vs. Maclin will probably be what we get at Emergence unless Callihan finds a partner and makes it a tag team match.

Kushida def. Rich Swann

I loved that we got to hear from several people beforehand in video package form who know Kushida well, including Johnny Gargano. That was a cool treat. He's a perfect fit for IMPACT and Swann was the perfect first opponent for him. They received a ton of time and had the awesome main event I was hoping for. Both guys came away from this looking great, so Swann loses nothing in defeat. Kushida is off to a strong start in IMPACT.

Overall Show

Even with an Impact World Championship defense, this episode to me was all about Kushida's in-ring debut for IMPACT and it delivered big time. We also got more build for Emergence, Killer Kelly's debut, and the usual entertaining action that this show consistently provides. I don't have any real criticisms of this episode. The two hours were a blast and were capped off with a wonderful main event you should seek out.

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