IMPACT! Wrestling Review - November 4, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Laredo Kid def. Rohit Raju, Black Taurus and Steve Maclin in an Impact X-Division Championship No. 1 Contender's Four-Way Match

These X-Division openers always do such a great job of kicking off the evening on a high note. Maclin stuck out like a sore thumb on paper, but to his credit, he delivered here the same way he did at Bound for Glory. He was the predictable pick to win because he wasn't pinned at Bound for Glory and he went after Trey Miguel last week, but I like that IMPACT swerved us and had Laredo come out on top instead. That should be a hell of a match, and this was a lot of fun as well.

Eric Young def. Jai Vidal

Apparently Vidal has been a notable name on the independent scene over the last year, but his appearance didn't pack much of a punch for me because I've never heard of the guy before. He didn't have a chance to shine either because the bout was so short and it was basically a straightforward squash for Young. Hopefully Vidal gets more opportunities to stand out in the future because you would never know there was anything special about him from watching this.

FinJuice def. Impact World Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers by Disqualification (Non-Title)

I'm just about done seeing FinJuice feud with Good Brothers. They already had a few matches earlier this year, and while they were pretty good, I'd like to think IMPACT is able to create more teams to put in the tag title picture. This was a quality match marred by a bad non-finish with Chris Bey, Hikuleo and El Phantasmo interfering. We just got a three-way tag team matchup at Bound for Glory, so I'm not sure why we need to see a rematch.

Impact Knockouts Champion Mickie James def. Madison Rayne

I remember James and Rayne feuding over the Knockouts title a decade ago. The crazy thing is that you would never guess it was a decade ago because they can still go in the ring, especially James. Rayne hasn't had any standout matches since returning to the ring, but she's decent enough, so this was well-wrestled and a nice trip down memory lane. The match I'm really looking forward to is James vs. Mercedes Martinez for the belt at Turning Point.

Chris Sabin def. Madman Fulton

I'm glad Sabin's feud with Ace Austin isn't over yet as I thought their main event match last week could have been more than what it was. Fulton has been more impressive lately than he was when he first started out with IMPACT and I thought he held his own here. Then again, it's virtually impossible for Sabin to have a bad match with just about anyone. This was solid stuff that gave Sabin a needed rebound win.

Impact World Champion Moose, W. Morrissey and Minoru Suzuki def. Eddie Edwards, Matt Cardona and Josh Alexander

There was a ton of talent in this thing and all six stars worked well together. Moose not only has matches with Edwards, Cardona and Alexander waiting for him but he and Morrissey could be on a collision course eventually as well. This an entertaining main event that kept the heels looking strong. Suzuki didn't factor into the finish at all, which was slightly surprisingly, but I'm sure we'll see him up against one of these babyfaces on the opposing team one of these weeks.

Overall Show

This show felt a bit better structured than last week's. The main event was star-studded and delivered, while everything else on the show was either enjoyable, built toward something at Turning Point, or both. IMPACT has done a commendable job of trimming the filler from their shows as of late and this episode was the latest example of that. There was enough entertaining action to make this edition of IMPACT! Wrestling worthwhile.  IMPACT's consistent streak of quality shows continues.

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