IMPACT! Wrestling Review - March 16, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Impact World Tag Team Champions FinJuice def. XXXL (Non-Title)

I've mentioned before that XXXL has impressed me more and more over the last six months, but this match was all about the new Impact World Tag Team Champions and giving them a decisive win. There wasn't much to the match, but it worked to set up The Good Brothers showing up afterward and demanding their rematch. We found out that FinJuice are headed back to Japan but will give The Good Brothers their rematch at Rebellion next month. I'm curious how IMPACT will fill time with the tag team division in the meantime.

Rhino def. Jake Something

Rhino turned heel at Sacrifice and is now officially a member of Violent By Design. It's an interesting move because he was teaming with Heath before Heath got hurt at Bound for Glory, but it looks like that team is no more. I understand giving Rhino a win in his first match as a heel, but I didn't like that it came at the expense of Jake, who pushed Moose to his limit in an awesome match a few weeks ago. James Storm and Chris Sabin also have issues with Violent By Design and I assume Heath will join them to even the odds once he's cleared to compete.

Rohit Raju def. Shera

I was surprised to see these two break up recently after such a short run together. It makes me wonder if Shera's stint in IMPACT was always designed to be brief because I don't know what the hell you do with him from here. Raju was always fine on his own and I'm glad he picked up the victory. The match itself was nothing to write home about and was decent while it lasted. Not having someone for viewers to cheer for didn't help, though.

Don Callis Confronted Impact World Champion Rich Swann

I was already sold on Swann vs. Kenny Omega in the title for title main event at Rebellion, but this made me even more excited for that encounter. This was some seriously stellar stuff. Swann's mic work was very good, but Callis just killed it. There's a lot you can say about Callis, but I've thoroughly enjoyed his work alongside Omega this year and the guy can cut an outstanding promo. I'm looking forward to the rest of the build to that bout.

Jazz, Jordynne Grace, ODB, Havok, Nevaeh and Alisha Edwards def. Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo, Knockouts Tag Team Champions Fire ‘N Flava, Kimber Lee, Susan and Tenille Dashwood

IMPACT's women's division is loaded right now, but that doesn't mean I want to see everyone shoehorned into one match. It managed to further a few feuds, but this was as much of a mess as you'd expect and no one had a ton of time to shine. The action was all over the action and not entertaining enough to justify this matchup happening. Jazz scoring the win for her team seems to indicate she'll be next in line for a shot at the Impact Knockouts Championship.

Sami Callihan def. Trey Miguel

I was pleasantly surprised by how much time these two ended up getting and they absolutely made the most of it. I've enjoyed their feud, but despite how talented they are, I didn't think they'd go all out the way they did here. This was a hell of a main event with strong showings from both guys. Callihan winning keeps the feud alive, but Miguel loses nothing in defeat. Callihan never really wins whenever it matters most, so this was a key victory for him and Miguel can always bounce back.

Overall Show

IMPACT has been firing on all cylinders lately with what just might the strongest string of shows I've seen from them in ages. Even Saturday's Sacrifice special was above-average. This edition of IMPACT! Wrestling featured two must-see segments in Miguel vs. Callihan and that Swann and Callis confrontation. The rest of the show was solid and progressed several stories forward. The company has significant momentum heading into Rebellion next month, so fingers crossed they can keep it going.