IMPACT! Wrestling Review - November 18, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Steve Maclin def. Laredo Kid

Laredo became the number one contender to the Impact X-Division Championship a few weeks ago, but because Maclin wasn't pinned, he wanted a chance to earn entry into the match at Turning Point. Well, he did just that here by beating Laredo. I was looking forward to Trey Miguel vs. Lardeo one-on-one, and we already saw Miguel and Maclin in a three-way at Bound for Glory, but there's no denying that Maclin has been delivering in the ring since signing with IMPACT. This was another example of that as this was an enjoyable opener with both men having solid showings.

Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship The IInspiration def. The Undead Bridesmaids (Non-Title)

This solely existed to give The IInspiration a win ahead of Turning Point where they'll defend the tag titles in a rematch against Decay. This wasn't terrible, but neither team is known for having standout matches (especially the team of Kimber Lee and Brandi Lauren, who are more characters than they are wrestlers with these characters). Decay confronted The IInspiration afterward, but I see The IInspiration winning on Saturday.

Impact World Champion Moose and Eddie Edwards Brawled

Edwards was cutting a promo backstage when he was attacked from behind by Moose, which led to them brawling into the ring. This was a well-done brawl and I liked how Edwards got the upper hand in the end. They gave away just enough without giving away too much. Scott D'Amore announced afterward that their match at Turning Point will now be contested under Full Metal Mayhem rules, which makes sense given how long they've been feuding on and off.

Impact World Tag Team Champion Doc Gallows def. Hikuleo

Gallows isn't very good in the ring on his own at this stage of his career (if he was ever good on his own to begin with), so I didn't have high hopes for this, especially since we've seen "big man" matches with him in IMPACT before and they were dreadfully boring. That said, this hoss fight exceeded expectations as they maintained a nice pace throughout and kept things interesting. I would've given Hikuleo the win to give them more of a momentum boost going into Turning Point, but maybe this means they'll take the titles? We can only hope. The Good Brothers haven't been featured on AEW programming in weeks and I haven't found myself missing them.

The Demon and Decay (Crazzy Steve and Black Taurus) def. Johnny Swinger, Hernandez and Fallah Bahh

Swinger, Hernandez and Bahh had that connection through Swinger's Palace, but since that closed down right before Bound for Glory, they've been left with nothing to do. I like Bahh, but I'm not complaining about Hernandez and Swinger being directionless because I don't know where else they fit into the show. We found out afterward that Wrestle House is returning afterward. It was fine during the pandemic, but I wouldn't waste time on that stuff now that crowds are back. Oh well, we'll see how it goes. Oh, and the six-man tag team match was total throwaway and only existed to tell the story of Swinger being down on his luck.

Josh Alexander def. Minoru Suzuki

It's been such a treat seeing Suzuki make so many appearances for various promotions in the United States since September. This was a terrific way for him to cap off his U.S. tour. The outcome was never in doubt, but I was looking forward to seeing how their styles would mesh. Sure enough, it was a hard-hitting affair and they beat the hell out of each other. They spent a little too much time on the outside at one point, but this was awesome otherwise and Alexander gains a lot from this victory. Will he re-enter the Impact World Championship picture coming out of Turning Point or will he feud with someone else first?

Overall Show

Props to IMPACT for putting together a decent card for Turning Point on Saturday, but it definitely feels like one of the more thrown-together specials that isn't overly necessary. I have no doubt it'll be entertaining from an in-ring standpoint, but most of those matches could've happened on an edition of IMPACT! Wrestling and I wouldn't have complained. Hell, Alexander vs. Suzuki was more worthy of taking place at Turning Point than a majority of the card. That was top-notch main event, and while the rest of the episode didn't light the world on fire, it did what it needed to do.

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