Impact recap & reactions: Eric Young has the most intriguing story in Impact

Impact Wrestling (Mar. 23, 2021) featured Kenny Omega appearing in the Impact Zone, Sami Callihan saving rival Trey Miguel, and Eric Young using his peculiar set of skills to turn Rhino violent by design.

Impact always has a ton of stories weaving in and out on any given week. The most intriguing at the moment belongs to Eric Young. He returned to Impact babbling about things happening by design. That design included winning the Impact World Championship from Eddie Edwards. The blueprint malfunctioned when Rich Swann won the belt from Young.

Young readjusted his design to bring in powerhouse Joe Doering. Young then baptized Cody Deaner into the group. The latest addition was a surprise turn by Rhino. On last night’s episode of Impact Wrestling, a vignette played to demonstrate how Young awakened Rhino’s violent DNA by treating him like a killer. Rhino was baptized in the holy waters of change.

The clip was surprisingly deep with reason and visuals. It feels like a cult but makes sense about turning their backs on the desire of earning adulation from the fans. It is hard to argue against wanting agency over your own actions. I still don’t fully understand what Young’s grand purpose is, but I am curious to see his design keep unfolding.

A couple of notes before diving into the recap. The Rebellion PPV date has been moved from April 24 to April 25. The common theory would be trying to avoid competition with UFC 261 on April 24. Kenny Omega will have to be content with making history on the 25th instead.

The other note involves an injury report from George Iceman during Impact’s pre-show. Chris Bey is sidelined with an injury. I can’t figure out how real the injury is, since the report included a mysterious attacker.

Let’s rocket through the rest of the show from beginning to end.

Matt Striker and D’Lo Brown were on commentary.

Deonna Purrazzo defeated Jazz. Susan and Jordynne Grace were ringside. Jazz connected on a facebuster. On the cover, Susan placed Purrazzo’s foot on the ropes to break the pin. Grace charged at Susan but rammed into the ring post. Jazz put hands on Susan, so the referee intervened. Susan used the distraction to hit Jazz with a shoe. Purrazzo won via roll-up.

Eddie Edwards kicked the Good Brothers out of the locker room. They were too good as champs to change with the boys. Edwards remembered that and sent them packing. Rosemary and Decay laughed at the Good Brothers’ embarrassment.

Enjoy a Swinger’s Palace casino commercial featuring Johnny Swinger, out of work security guard Lenny Powers, and others.

Rohit Raju was feeling good when he stumbled upon Gamblor addict Fallah Bahh. Threats were issued and a match was made.

X-Division Championship: TJP defeated Ace Austin via DQ. TJP hit the mamba splash, but Madman Fulton illegally broke up the pin to cause a disqualification. Austin retained the title. Afterward, Fulton lifted TJP high for a chokeslam. Josh Alexander ran in with a chair to chase away the bad guys.

Matt Cardona sees Impact as the ultimate opportunity. He’s very excited for all the matchups. His arrival has nothing to do with Brian Myers, but Cardona then challenged Myers to a match. Cardona wants it to be one and done between the two.

Trey Miguel acted like a maniac throwing XXXL’s belongings. Tommy Dreamer proposed an exploding barbed wire ring match. XXXL laughed off the joke at AEW’s expense. Dreamer was concerned about Trey. Trey wants a fight with Acey Romero. Dreamer tried talking sense to pouty boy about letting Sami Callihan get in his head.

Rohit Raju defeated Fallah Bahh. Raju escaped the wrath of a butt drop then hooked Bahh with a crucifix pin to win. Rohit also grabbed the tights during the three count.

Kenny Omega and Don Callis joined Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone for their weekly commercial to promote Dynamite. Omega and Callis walked out when Khan suggested that Matt Sydal could beat Omega.

The Good Brothers knocked on Omega’s dressing room, but nobody answered. That made them paranoid about losing status without the Impact tag titles.

Omega and Callis cut a promo in the ring about the title versus title main event against Rich Swann at Rebellion (now on April 25). The message was that Swann had overcome a lot in his career, but he couldn’t overcome the One Winged Angel at Hard to Kill. He won’t be able to overcome the One Winged Angel at Rebellion either. History will be made when Omega wins all the gold.

Nevaeh and Havok were motivated to go after the tag titles again. They were interrupted by Fire ‘n’ Flava. Nevaeh and Havok will have to earn they way back to a title shot. Enter Tenille Dashwood and Kaleb Konley to rub in their losing streak. Havok shooed Dashwood away, but Dashwood tried to poach Nevaeh instead as a tag partner.

Trey Miguel defeated Acey Romero. Trey knocked the big man down with a flying double knees to win. Larry D attacked after the bell. Sami Callihan shockingly made the save. As quickly as Callihan appeared, he quickly disappeared.

Rich Swann is unfazed by Omega’s mind games. He has a plan to defend against the One Winged Angel.

James Storm’s 1,000th match in Impact will be against Eric Young next week.

Karl Anderson defeated Eddie Edwards. Anderson kicked out of a roll-up. Momentum sent Edwards into a chair held by Luke Gallows. Spinebuster by Anderson earned the victory.

The show closed with FinJuice cutting a promo on the big screen. They are on a winning streak over in Japan. The tag team title rematch will be at Rebellion.

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This episode was a mixed bag in babyface behavior to keep me invested in the program. Trey Miguel was an absolute jerk to XXXL by throwing their bags and acting like a toddler who can’t control emotion. Fallah Bahh has no sympathy from me until he defeats Gamblor, especially since Bahh ruined Rohit Raju’s hilarious self-talk. I understand Eddie Edwards actions to kick the Good Brothers out of the locker room, but it also came across like sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows weren’t causing any trouble when Edwards gave them the boot. At least Rich Swann had a passionate promo to encourage faith that he can defeat the rapscallion known as Kenny Omega. That was positive and something to root for.

Share your thoughts on Impact Wrestling. What was your favorite match? Who stole the show?

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