IMPACT! Wrestling Review - October 21, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

FinJuice vs. Bullet Club (Chris Bey and Hikuleo) in an Impact World Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Match Ended in a Draw

These teams have been feuding for weeks, and seeing as how The Good Brothers haven't appeared on IMPACT programming in weeks, you had to know this would end in some sort of a non-finish so we could get a three-way tag team match at Bound for Glory. This was an entertaining opener with a bad (albeit logical) ending. The crowd didn't seem to know how to react and I don't blame them.

John Skyler & Tenille Dashwood def. Fallah Bahh & Jordynne Grace and Crazzy Steve & Chelsea Green in a Three-Way Tag Team Match

To be perfectly honest, while I watch IMPACT! Wrestling every week, I haven't been tuning into the extra matches on their social media platforms and therefore haven't been following the Digital Media Championship stuff at all. I guess it's a six-way they're having at Bound for Glory to crown the inaugural champ? Why is that title even necessary? This was fine, but IMPACT tends to go a bit overboard with the intergender stuff and this was an example of that. Look no further than Dashwood pinning Bahh. I'm a Dashwood fan, but that seemed silly to me.

Violent By Design Attacked Heath as Rhino Walked Away

Everything that's been happening with Violent By Design, Heath and Rhino has been such simple yet strong storytelling and I've enjoyed all of it. Rhino was advertised to speak, but Heath interrupted him before he could. As expected, he pleaded him to help him in his fight against Violent By Design, but Rhino walked off instead. That led to another beatdown on Heath from the faction. Again, it was basic, but it was an effective cliffhanger heading into Bound for Glory. I fully expect Heath and Rhino to be back on the same page come Saturday night.

Mickie James def. Savannah Evans

This was part of the Pick Your Poison stipulation with Deonna Purrazzo selecting James' opponent two days ahead of Bound for Glory. It also marked James' first match on IMPACT! Wrestling since 2015 (remember that awful angle she was involved in with her husband Nick Aldis/Magnus, James Storm and Serena?). Needless to say, she hasn't missed a beat. I was more curious to see what Evans was capable of because she's still relatively new and I thought she did well and looked credible in defeat. Purrazzo and Matthew Rehwoldt left James laying afterward, which tells me we're getting a title change.

Trey Miguel def. Alex Zayne

The three-way these two were a part of a few weeks ago was terrific. This didn't quite reach those levels (at least not until the final stretch), but this was still a great match filled with exciting action. Needless to say, WWE missed the boat on Zayne while Miguel is going places in IMPACT. It made sense for him to win considering he'll be competing for the Impact X-Division Championship at Bound for Glory and I really hope he wins it. It feels like his time.

Impact World Champion Christian Cage and Josh Alexander Exchanged Words

I understand some fans feeling a bit underwhelmed by the build to this bout because it just came together a month ago and both of them are babyfaces, but I applaud IMPACT for doing what they can for giving it a big fight feel with everything they've done up to this point, including last week's summit, this verbal exchange and the Alexander video package that aired earlier in the evening. This was strong stuff. Alexander has been perfectly built up as a main event threat this year while Christian plays his role so well as the seasoned veteran. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm hyped for their world title clash. There's no doubt in my mind Alexander is walking out as champion.

Overall Show

This was undoubtedly a thumbs-up go-home show for Bound for Glory. I've had plenty of praise for IMPACT in 2021 and I truly feel like they're on their hottest stretch in several years. I'm happy that everything is coming together for them and I hope the show is as awesome as it looks on paper. There wasn't an emphasis on the in-ring action on this show, but there didn't need to be. What we got was enjoyable enough and the mic work delivered. Top-notch work from IMPACT on this one and I'm even more excited for Bound for Glory than I was beforehand.

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