IMPACT! Wrestling Review - November 24, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz def. Sea Stars in an Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match

I wasn't very familiar with Sea Stars prior to their IMPACT debut here, but I've heard nothing good things and I remember Ashley Vox from the appearances she made in the NWA not too long ago. Sea Stars were impressive and I hope they're brought back by IMPACT. That said, Hogan and Steelz would be the perfect fit as Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champions, so it was necessary that they advanced here. It was a decent outing on the whole.

Suicide (Crazzy Steve) def. Impact X-Division Champion Rohit Raju (Non-Title)

This was originally supposed to be for the Impact X-Division Championship, but after Raju assumed TJP was in the Suicide costume (he did portray Suicide/Manik in 2013 after all), he made the match non-title. The commentators hinted at TJP being in the costume so much that you had to assume it was someone else. Sure enough, it was Crazzy Steve, who ultimately picked up the win after TJP came out on the stage. It was a well-wrestled affair that set up Steve as next line for a title shot, though it begs the question of why didn't just answer the open challenge outright unless the idea is that he'll win it and defend against TJP.

Kimber Lee def. Killer Kelly

Although she's been aligned with Deonna Purrazzo in recent months, Lee has been positioned as a stepping stone in the Knockouts division since signing with IMPACT earlier this year. Thus, her win over Kelly came as a surprise. I figured Kelly would win in her debut and build some momentum before competing in the Knockouts Tag Team Championship Tournament, but apparently not. It was a decent match and I hope we see more of Kelly in IMPACT beyond the tourney because she was criminally wasted in WWE. Su Yung attacking Purrazzo and Lee afterward was a simple and effective way of furthering that feud and setting the stage for another matchup between Purrazzo and Yung for the Impact Knockouts Championship.

AJ Swoggle def. Ethan Page

The "phenomenal" friend Karl Anderson brought in to face Page here was none other than Swoggle dressed as AJ Styles. It was mildly funny because Swoggle has been compared to Styles in recent years with his hairstyle and it was cool hearing "Get Ready to Fly" again, but otherwise, this was dumb. I'm fine with a little comedy here and there, but it feels like IMPACT goes a bit overboard with it at times and this was one of those instances, especially with multiple "Wrestlers' Court" segments already airing on this show. Page losing to Swoggle was even worse. I know The North have beaten basically everybody in IMPACT's tag team division, but splitting them up at this point (assuming that's the direction they're going in) is not the answer.

Fallah Bahh vs. Daivari Ended in a No Contest

Daivari returned at Bound for Glory and has been brought back for a few matches for IMPACT since then. He appears to be in fantastic shape, but this match only happened so Eric Young and Joe Doering could crash it and lay both men out. Rhino then attempted to make the save but was attacked as well. This is likely leading to Young and Doering vs. Rhino and Slater, whenever Slater is cleared to compete following the injury he suffered at Bound for Glory. Doering continues to come across as dominant, but I'm interested to see how he is in the ring once he eventually wrestles.

Impact World Champion Sami Callihan def. Ken Shamrock

Shamrock's matches have been hit or miss since returning to IMPACT, and I'd probably put this one in the former category. He and Swann had a perfectly competent main event with Swann mostly carrying him. The action wasn't overly exciting, but Shamrock dominated a majority of the match and Swann thrived while fighting from underneath. The heels attacking Swann brought out Eddie Edwards afterward, so a tag team matchup would be the logical next step in the story.

Overall Show

As I've said before, you'll either love or hate the comedy stuff IMPACT does. Even though it typically isn't for me, I don't mind it, though I felt they relied a little too heavily on filler with this show between the lame payoff to the John E. Bravo storyline, the Swoggle stuff, and Young and Doering doing the same thing they did a week ago. The hype for next week was well done, but there weren't enough positives to make this edition of IMPACT! Wrestling worthwhile, which is a shame because the show has been a treat more often than not in 2020.