IMPACT! Wrestling Review - September 22, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Impact Digital Media Champion Brian Myers def. Bhupinder Gujjar in a Ladder Match

I largely haven't cared about involving the Digital Media title over the last year, but this feud has been logically furthered and I appreciate the effort put into getting Gujjar over. The issue is that there hasn't been anything that has stood out as special about him thus far. On the bright side, this was easily his strongest showing to date and having a seasoned opponent in Myers obviously helped. As a television Ladder match, this was good stuff and I was pleasantly surprised by the result.

Impact Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace def. Zicky Dice (Non-Title)

Dice disrespected Grace backstage last week and that was how this bout came to be. I'll talk about this more in regards to the next match, but this was an example of intergender wrestling where I didn't mind it because of how dominant Grace is and how Dice has been positioned as an undercard comedy act. Grace squashed Dice as she should have and won fairly quickly. This served as a warm-up before she faces Max The Impaler at Victory Road.

Black Taurus def. Alex Zayne, Trey Miguel, Laredo Kid and Mia Yim in a Five-Way Match

These are the five IMPACT representatives set to compete in the Triple Threat Revolver match at Victory Road where the winner will earn an Impact X-Division Championship opportunity. I love Yim, but this is one of those instances where I wasn't a fan of the intergender wrestling. Yes, the multi-person aspect of the match made it more acceptable, but seeing her up against someone like Taurus is a bit unbelievable. From an in-ring standpoint, however, this was very fun and Taurus' victory gives him a momentum boost.

Heath def. PCO in a Street Fight

Eddie Edwards was apprehensive about PCO answering Heath's open challenge to any member of Honor No More, but PCO accepted, anyway. This was the wild brawl you'd expect given PCO's involvement, though I feel like all we see from PCO in IMPACT is hardcore matches. It's not my cup of tea, personally, but this was enjoyable for what it was. It was also nice to see PCO pick up a notable singles win coming off his recent loss to Edwards.

The Motor City Machine Guns def. STRONG Openweight Tag Team Champions Aussie Open in an Impact World Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Match (Non-Title)

For some reason, I thought the winners would challenge for the tag titles at Victory Road, but apparently it's going down at Bound for Glory instead. I was stoked these teams got as much time as they did because I knew they'd deliver and they definitely did. They had terrific chemistry and the action was very entertaining. I figured Aussie Open would win since they just arrived in IMPACT, but I'm actually excited we're getting Motor City Machine Guns vs. Matt Taven and Mike Bennett instead (though I would've been fine with either outcome).

Sami Callihan Attacked Moose and Steve Maclin During the Barbed Wire Massacre Hold Harmless Contract Signing

With no Impact World Championship match happening at Victory Road, it makes sense the Barded Wire Massacre matchup will headline. Callihan has had bad blood with both men for months, and if this is going to be the payoff, it makes me wonder what they'll be doing at Bound for Glory. This was a solid segment where all three men played their roles well and the violence was a small taste of what to expect at the event.

Overall Show

Thinking about it now, it's pretty silly that IMPACT would run one of their Impact Plus specials on the same night as WWE SmackDown and the two-hour Grand Slam edition of AEW Rampage, but perhaps they had no other choice. Compared to most of their monthly specials, Victory Road feels like a very skippable show, though I'm looking forward to a few of the matches. As a go-home show, this was an effective edition of IMPACT! Wrestling with nice energy and quality wrestling.

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