As we countdown the finals weeks, days and nights of the year that is 2023, it’s now a time for reflection on the best and worst the year has to offer. It’s time to go through the muck and look back at some of the worst bouts to take place inside an IMPACT ring in the last 52 weeks… Now to be clear some of these matches aren’t entirely bad but the finishes are what makes it terrible and then there are those matches that were so convoluted with their decisions that it be hard for any IMPACT fan to defend it… With that said, here are the Impacts Worst Matches of 2023
Impacts Worst Matches of 2023
10. Steph De Lander vs. Deonna Purrazzo (IMPACT! Down Under)
IMPACT’s first foray into Australia in late June was a massive success both from a PR and wrestling perspective, but with that being said some of the matches did fall a little bit flat; Step right up this one-on-one bout between then Knockouts World Champion, Deonna Purrazzo and former WWE superstar and Queen of the Indie Wrestling scene, Steph De Lander.
The action in this match was servable for sure, but the ending made no sense whatsoever with De Lander having an oppertunity to score the biggest win of her entire career, but instead of going for the pin she instead just rolls out of the ring to grab the mic and tell the fans in her native land to shut up.
Now call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure telling the fans in attendance to ‘do one’ in the middle of a high profiled match is quite ill-advised for any wrestler; As is the moment where Steph inexplicably attempts to use the mic as a weapon in front of the referee which leads to Purrazzo applying her signature armbar submission for the victory.
Now I’m not blaming De Lander for this…obivously but rather the person or people who thought that this would be a good finish to the match…It makes one of hottest prospects on the indies look foolish and dilutes the victory for the champion because she only won due to a very a head scratching decision made by her opponent.
Impacts Worst Matches of 2023
9. Tommy Dreamer vs. Bully Ray: Busted Open Match (Sacrifice)
The first of many times will be seeing Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer on this list, this feud between the two former ECW legends has to rank as one of the least interesting rivalries Impact Wrestling did in 2023.
While their were at least one or two great things to come out of this feud like the Hardcore War at Rebellion, this ‘Busted Open match’ at this year’s Sacrifice event certainly wasn’t it.
90% of this contest saw both men just brawling and plotting around the ring while the match suffered at one point from some frame rate drops all while the fans were only able to give this match a very tepidly response throughout.
I mean outside of a genuinely funny spot where bully tries and fails to do a splash of a step ladder…There isn’t anything in this match that’s worth going back to watch.
Impacts Worst Matches of 2023
8. Kenny King vs. Tommy Dreamer (Victory Road)
Hello Tommy good to see you again…
Fast forward to into the fall of 2023 and were are on the road to one of the biggest pay per views of the year and that’s Bound For Glory, but before get to that we have an Impact Plus Special in the form of Victory Road and it’s not all that great.
Don’t get me wrong the opening X Division Title match, Grace vs. Purrazzo for the third time this year and the main event between Josh Alexander and Steve Maclin were all really great, but there were some low points on the card: the Knockouts Title match wasn’t anything to write home about and will get more into that match later, and then there’s this one-on-one bout for the Digital Media Championship.
After pulling off an upset victory on Joe Hendry to become the new Impact Digital Media Champion, Kenny King’s fairly decent reign saw him come face-to-face with the innovator of violence, Tommy Dreamer with a match being made at Victory Road that not only saw King’s DMC belt at stake but so was Tommy Dreamer’s career.
With so much on the line you’d expect this one to at the very least be a surprisingly good match, but when the match consisting of wrestler’s doing a move before stalling for several minutes then the match becomes a sluggish affair which it was.
In addition to the action never really getting into second or third gear, the finish saw some interference by Heath which allowed Dreamer to hit his signature DDT to get the win and become the new Digital Media Champion.
Sadly, Kenny King’s recent request for a release months before his contract was set to expire, means that will likely never see a rematch between these two…and that’s probably for the best.
Impacts Worst Matches of 2023
7. Eddie Edwards vs. Kazarian: Back-To-School Match (Emergence)
Eddie Edwards vs. Kazarian was low-key perhaps one of the best IMPACT feuds in 2023 with two seasoned wrestlers both trained by the legendary Killer Kowaski continue to fight with each other over pride, respect and it even led to their respectively wives into the mix…After all what’s a better way for a pair of pro wrestlers to spent time with each other than battering the crap out of some other wrestlers like all wrestling couples do.
Their matches at Against All Odds and Slammiversary are some of the best, but the “match” that took place inside Killer Kowalski’s Training School at Emergence 2023 was certainly not that.
Things start off with both wrestlers entering the school all while a combination of background music, slow motion walking and various shots of the respected Kowalski during his haydays are shown on-screen.
Both men then have a war of words with each other before the action ensues and even that never goes pass the level of ‘fine’ which isn’t exactly what you’d expect from a feud with some much animosity in it.
Also Eddie picking up the win once again did feel a bit deflating before things culminated with Edwards slamming a framed photo of Kowalski on Kaz’s head. At least both men ended their rivalry with that spectular 2 out of 3 falls Killer match on the October 12th edition of IMPACT!, which if you haven’t seen you should check out.
Impacts Worst Matches of 2023
6. Trinity vs. Alisha Edwards (Victory Road)
From member of the Edwards family having an underwelming match on an Impact Plus Special to another…
Alisha’s heel turn in order to aid her real life husband, Eddie during his war with PCO was really good and added some new character to the Hardcore Knockout, unfortunately that didn’t mean her matches got better.
Now look, Alisha has always been booked as the jobber talent who is sent out to get the other Knockouts over I get that, but when you consider that she’s been with the company since 2017 and it took a whole six years for her to finally get a notable shot at the Knockouts Title, well I mean it becomes a forgone conclusion as to who was winning this first time ever match up at Victory Road.
The build to this match wasn’t too bad with the segment involving Trinity going through a table during the contract signing was great, the bout itself was…meeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
What follows is a near nine minute match with subpar action and a ref bump that takes out of the official for all of three minutes which leads to outside interference from Eddie, Traci Brooks, Kazarian and Kendra the Kendo.
To be fair that moment where Trinity leaps from the top rope onto Eddie Edwards through a table really impressive.
Trinity retaining the title was never in doubt which further made the match even more obivous, but at least the locker room celebrated Alisha finally getting a title shot after the show…So that was nice at least.
Impacts Worst Matches of 2023
5. Kon vs. Frankie Kazarian (No Surrender)
And now we’ve reached the point of this list were all of the matches on here are just straight up bland, disappointing and difficult to watch.
Speaking of bland matches let’s talk about the opening contest at this year’s No Surrender event which saw Frankie Kazarian just a month after returning to IMPACT upon leaving All Elite Wrestling being placed in a match with the muscle of The Design, Kon.
To say this match was boring would be an understatement, with the action boiling down to knife edge chops, punches, kicks and some high flying from Kaz but things never really pick up from there as the bout becomes as slow as comatose until Sami Callihan “inadvertently” cost Kon the match leading to Kazarian scoring the three count.
I would give IMPACT Wrestling credit for having the least interesting match on the card be the opener thereby getting it out of the way, but they also made the baffling decision to have Mike Bailey vs. Johnathan Gresham’s first ever match inside an IMPACT ring take place on the preshow while giving ten or so minutes to the charisma vacuum of a segment that was the Busted Open Radio stuff on the official show…which was absolutely terrible.
Impacts Worst Matches of 2023
4. Bully Ray and Deaner vs. Scott D’Amore and Eric Young (Slammiversary)
The Bully’s back but this time instead of wrestling Tommy Dreamer, his wrestling two Canadians in the form of Scott D’Amore and a returning Eric Young.
To be fair, this match had be changed with Steve Maclin (Bully’s partner) being out with a legit injury leading to Bully choosing Deaner as his new replacement while PCO (Scott’s partner) was taken out by a kayfabe injury after being setting of fire by Bully and Maclin.
For as much hype and build leading into this match between D’Amore’s interactions with Maclin and Bully for most of the year to Scott’s return at Sacrifice and hitting a Canadian Destroyer which got the loudest crowd reaction in recent years…Sadly that same intigue wasn’t anywhere in this match.
Tedious to basic wrestling for much this bout which also includes a strange moment where Bully kicks Scott the balls in front of the referee and this leads to some arguing between EY, Bully, and the referee until the ref justs takes off his shirt and heads to back before special guest enforcer, Darren McCardy decides to put it on thus becoming the new ref…I guess?!? Like why didn’t you just have McCardy be the referee in the first place instead of having to go through all of this.
Sure theending was great with Eric Young hitting an elbow drop from the top rope that would’ve made the Macho Man proud, but the match leading to that moment wasn’t great.
Impacts Worst Matches of 2023
3. Crazzy Steve vs. Black Taurus (Victory Road)
IMPACT’s resident psycho clown has had a fairly good 2023 when it comes to pro wrestling as he and Trey Miguel put on a great performance in the main event for the X Division Title back in Feburary and then by late June he became even more unhinged following some very emotional sitdown interviews with Tom Hannifan which lead to some renewed interest in his character.
Unfortunately, his first few matches as part of this rejuvenated character were not so great as his proposed bout with ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey ended in a matter of seconds due to Steve refusing to listen to the referee, but it’s his match with former tag team partner Black Taurus at this year’s Victory Road event that was a completely different story.
Steve and Taurus try their best to tell a story in the ring while also busting out all of their signature moves but outside of a few faint cheers, the amount of crowd apathy in this match from beginning to end makes everything feel so boring which is not exactly the feeling you should have when see two former tag partners collide in the middle of the ring.
However as much of a slog Black Taurus’ match with Crazzy Steve was on this night, at least it didn’t the Mexican wrestler look like a chump towards the end, unlike…
Impacts Worst Matches of 2023
2. Black Taurus vs. Bully Ray (IMPACT! August 17th)
Man…Black Taurus has been completely underutilized during his run in IMPACT as the lighting fast luchador with a creepy looking bull mask has either been the victim of stop/start booking, been a part of the forgettable second version of Decay or being jobbed out in ways that are straight up insulting.
Taurus’ “match” with Doc Gallows at Hardcore Justice 2021 was about as one sided as you could imagine…This match has to be even worse than that.
On the August 17th edition of Impact, Black Taurus was set to battle Bully Ray in a No Disqualification match which on paper sounds like a great match up with two big powerhouses battering the hell out of each other with weapons and a few high spots by Taurus, but considering it’s number two on the list you probably imagine how well this match went.
So why isn’t this match good? Well that may have something to do with the fact that 99.9% of the offense dealt out in this bout was from Taurus with Bully only being able to gouge his opponents eyes, a few chair shots and a few jabs to the face. Now you’d think with how the match has been up to this point, Taurus would score the biggest win of his career beating a former TNA World Heavyweight Champion except nope…what actually happens sees Taurus missing a twisting high flying maneuver onto a ladder which leds to Bully covering Taurus for the three count and that’s it.
Talk about a waste of time, effort and a potential hoss fight ending in such a disappointing fashion; Honestly this match almost became my number one pick, but alas there was one match that happened earlier this year that unquestionably tops them all.
Impacts Worst Matches of 2023
1. The Hex vs. Death Dollz (No Surrender)
Oh boy… this match. So many of the entries on this list have seen matches being filled with slow action, predictable outcomes, fans disinterested and questionably booking decisions…This entry involves one of the biggest problems plaguing the company not just this year but for last several years and that’s production/audio problems.
As previously mentioned, the Bully/Dreamer Bust Open match suffered from frame rate drops for several minutes making it incredibly hard to see what you were looking at, but at least that problem was fixed before the final bell, this Knockouts Tag Title match at No Surrender between Taya Valkyrie and Jessicka vs. Allysin Kay and Marti Belle had no such luck.
The action inside the ring was good all things considered and I don’t have any problems with it, what I and many who watched the show do have a problem with is the audio problems that make this match absolute chore to watch.
From the audio dropping in and out upon the Death Dollz making their entrance to the commentary sounding at times slient to almost whispery like Hannifan and Rehwoldt are doing commentary in a secret location to even the ring announcements being hard to hear.
If you ask fans of the product then they will tell you that audio/production issues have appeared way too many times in matches and moments on PPV or IMPACT Plus Specials which take you out of the experience and make things almost unwatchable… thankfully Impact (soon to be TNA in 2024) have promised to improve their production going forward and honestly I hope so because this match was a prime example of much improvement the company needs from a production standpoint.
