IMPACT! Wrestling Review - October 20, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer def. Bullet Club (Juice Robinson and Chris Bey)

Bully and Dreamer reunited in WWE in 2015 and again in Ring of Honor in 2017. I suppose it was only a matter of time before it happened in IMPACT as well. Personally, I could do without the many ECW reunions and not putting people like Dreamer in the ring as much, but this was more about furthering the story about whether Bully could be trusted. The match itself was solid enough. I appreciate Robinson and not Bey taking the pinfall loss seeing as how Bey is the one signed to IMPACT. Then again, Robinson had a competitive match with the AEW World Champion Jon Moxley on Dynamite recently and came across like a total afterthought here.

Taylor Wilde def. Mia Yim

I thought we saw the last of Yim in IMPACT at Bound for Glory, but obviously not. I'm glad she stuck around for the TV tapings and was able to put over Wilde on her way out. Wilde has been gone from IMPACT for a while and this was a nice return to singles competition for her. They had a really well-wrestled match and were given a decent amount of time. Post-match, Mickie James emerged to challenge Wilde before being attacked by VXT and Gisele Shaw. Jordynne Grace made the save and that set up a six-woman tag team match for next week.

Joe Hendry def. Jason Hotch

I'm hardly familiar with Hotch and I can't say I saw much here that impressed me. I'm sure he's a perfectly competent competitor, but this was all about Hendry making his singles IMPACT debut. He only appeared recently in the Call Your Shot Battle Royal at Bound for Glory (not including his last run in the company years ago) and he's already over with the audience. I was never his biggest fan in Ring of Honor, but he's grown on me. This was what it needed to be.

Frankie Kazarian Relinquished the Impact X-Division Championship via Option C

Kazarian has never been known for his mic skills, but I thought this was a strong promo from him, emphasizing the importance of the X-Division title and stressing that he's never before won the Impact World Championship. Having him end Mike Bailey's terrific run as champ only for him to cash it in for a shot at the world title is a bit questionable, but I'm looking forward to Kazarian vs. Josh Alexander at Over Drive, if nothing else. Kazarian's latest return run in IMPACT will likely end up being brief after all.

Rich Swann def. Eric Young

It's hard to believe this was the Bound for Glory main event for the Impact World Championship two years ago. Both guys are nowhere near the main event scene at this point, but this was a quality contest while it lasted. Sami Callihan made the save for Swann afterward, so we'll be getting a tag team match out of this. Whatever this reboot of Violence By Design is supposed to be is off to a weak start.

Heath and Rhino def. The Kingdom to Win the Impact World Tag Team Championship; PCO Attacked Honor No More

I thought it was strange The Kingdom retained the tag titles at Bound for Glory when their deals were rumored to be up, but now it makes sense. I love Motor City Machine Guns and hope they get another run with the belts at some point, but whether you like them or not, Heath and Rhino being the ones to dethrone Honor No More made perfect sense given they were the ones who put Rhino on the shelf over the summer. Following the entertaining main event, PCO finally cemented his split from Honor No More after being verbally abused by Eddie Edwards. I thought for sure Edwards was going babyface (he never answered his wife's ultimatum), but PCO's face turn has been teased for months, so it's a logical development. I assume Honor No More is on its last legs with The Kingdom no longer under contract to IMPACT and showing up in AEW a week ago.

Overall Show

Over Drive isn't for another four weeks, but I love that they're putting the card together early. The Impact World Championship main event is confirmed and we'll be getting a new Impact X-Division Championship that night as well. This was an important episode as far as furthering that stuff as well as writing off Honor No More, unless there's more to come that I'm not aware of. We're getting some returning faces in the mix and this show succeeded at showcasing them. IMPACT has plenty of interesting stories coming out of Bound for Glory, which makes me optimistic about the immediate future of the product.

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