 "Speedball" Mike Bailey and Jonathan Gresham def. Decay (Crazzy Steve and Black Taurus)Bailey and Gresham had stellar chemistry as opponents at No Surrender and thus it should come as no surprise they work wonderfully as partners as well. Decay were quality opponents for them and it was a very fun, nicely-paced opener on the whole. Later on in the show, Bailey challenged Gresham to a rematch, which will take place at Sacrifice. We're in for a treat if it's anywhere near as entertaining as their initial encounter. Steve Maclin def. HeathMaclin finally earned an opportunity at the Impact World Championship by winning a four-way match at No Surrender, so he's in a holding pattern until Rebellion. Heath was one of the guys in that four-way match and he beat him again here. Heath has done well any time he's been on his own in the last year and has had some good matches, but I appreciated that this didn't last longer than it needed to and that Maclin won decisively. Jai Vidal def. Johnny SwingerI'm glad Swinger isn't all the show like he used to be, but I assume his role was curtailed once IMPACT brought in so many people from other promotions. IMPACT is losing some of those same people to WWE and AEW again, so that might explain why Swinger is back in the ring for a meaningless match like this. Vidal is fine, but he's been nothing more than a guy in Gisele Shaw's corner so far. This was whatever and I'm not sure why it needed to happen. Eddie Edwards and Kenny King Attacked PCOEdwards lured PCO out to the ring with this promo before King ambushed him, basically revealing himself as the person who helped Edwards escape PCO last week. PCO attempted to fight back only to fall victim to the numbers game. This was an effective way of getting heat on Edwards in his feud with PCO and it makes sense that King would help him out because of their previous partnership in Honor No More and how those two specifically never had a falling out. The Coven def. The Death Dollz (Taya Valkyrie and Rosemary) to Win the Impact Knockouts World Tag Team ChampionshipValkyrie debuting on last night's edition of AEW Dynamite made the outcome to this contest fairly obvious, but I'm glad they're explaining her departure (much like in 2021) instead of having her randomly disappear. IMPACT has always done a great job of that. Valkyrie and KiLynn King have had their fair share of interactions in the NWA these past few months, so it was cool to see them cross paths again here. This was solid and had the expected result. I like the pairing of Taylor Wilde and King and them winning the tag titles early into their run gives them immediate credibility. Bullet Club (NJPW Strong Openweight Champion KENTA and Impact World Tag Team Champions Ace Austin and Chris Bey) def. Impact World Champion Josh Alexander, Rich Swann and Frankie KazarianAustin, Bey and KENTA are all awesome, but it's comical that Bullet Club is still a thing. Does anyone honestly care about the faction at this point? Nonetheless, their trio is terrific, and although this didn't reach the same level their match against Time Machine did at No Surrender, it was a well-worked main event with enjoyable action. The babyface team will be facing Time Machine at Sacrifice, but Bullet Club maintaining momentum with the win (and Maclin distracting Alexander costing his team the match) was the correct call. Overall ShowWe're eight days out from Sacrifice, and although it feels like a filler card on paper, the top matches have potential. The stuff with Vidal and Swinger on this episode was a waste of time, but everything else served a purpose and built toward Sacrifice. The title change in particular was newsworthy, especially with it marking Valkyrie's swan song from IMPACT. This edition of IMPACT! Wrestling continued the recent trend of thumbs-up shows.
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