IMPACT! Wrestling Review - May 13, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Havok def. Rosemary in an Impact Knockouts Championship No. 1 Contender's Match

These two have plenty of history with each other, and while I've never particularly cared about their rivalry, this was a perfectly passable match with competent performances from both women, more so Rosemary. Although I find Rosemary to be a better worker than Havok, Rosemary already challenged Deonna Purrazzo for the Impact Knockouts Championship and lost, so I'm fine with Havok stepping up at Under Siege. She's obviously losing seeing as how she hit her finisher on Purrazzo afterward.

El Phantasmo def. TJP, Petey Williams, Ace Austin, Rohit Raju and Acey Romero in an Impact X-Division Championship No. 1 Contender's Six-Way Scramble Match

I think it's safe to say that the X-Division just doesn't miss right now. Seriously, every one of these X-Division matches has been awesome this year and this was no exception. I'd love for Williams to be a regular in the X-Division again because he can clearly still bring it, Romero held his own, Phantasmo is a fantastic addition to the mix, and the other three are absolute workhorses. This was a blast and Phantasmo vs. Josh Alexander for the title should be a show-stealer.

Willie Mack def. Sam Beale

Mack has a match with W. Morrissey coming up at Under Siege, so it was imperative that he picked up some momentum before then. It feels like he loses far more than he wins, at least whenever it matters most. Under Siege will be no different, of course, but at least he looked dominant against Beale and was more aggressive than usual. Speaking of Beale, he's been a nice enhancement talent for IMPACT in the few times I've seen him used and he played his role well here, too.

Impact World Tag Team Champion David Finlay def. Karl Anderson by Disqualification

Doc Gallows and Juice Robinson were given more time for their match last week than Finlay and Anderson were here. Why? I like Robinson, but I don't need to see Gallows wrestle in a singles match for more than a few minutes. Finlay and Anderson are much better workers and should have been given a chance to shine on their own. The non-finish was lame, but it did protect both guys from taking a pinfall loss. The post-match melee set the stage for Saturday's six-man tag team match pitting The Elite against Eddie Edwards and FinJuice.

Brian Myers def. Crazzy Steve

Myers recently failed to qualify for the Under Siege main event, so this was a fine rebound win for him. Unfortunately, the match didn't last long at all, so it was as underwhelming as Finlay vs. Anderson in that respect because I know they're capable of more. Hopefully Myers vs. Black Taurus is more competitive at Under Siege. I've been really impressed with Black Taurus since he started full-time with IMPACT.

Sami Callihan, Moose and Chris Bey def. Chris Sabin, Trey Miguel and Matt Cardona

All six of these stars will compete in the main event of Under Siege to determine Kenny Omega's next challenger for the Impact World Championship. It was a cool clash of styles given everyone that was involved and served as a preview of what we can expect on Saturday night. I honestly wouldn't be opposed to any of these men facing Omega as all of those potential matches would be good to great. This was fairly basic for the first half, but it was fun once they picked up the pace and it was complete chaos down the stretch. Callihan picking up the the winning fall for his team was logical considering he seems to be the favorite to win going in.

Overall Show

I've been very complimentary of the weekly IMPACT shows lately because I truly feel this is the most locked in it's felt consistently in a long time. I stand by that after this solid show because even though it wasn't the most thrilling two hours on the whole, everything served a purpose and the final hype for the Under Siege special on Saturday was excellent. Every match matters and makes sense. Thus, I was left looking forward to it once this episode was over. The X-Division Scramble and the main event were especially enjoyable.