Brian Myers vs. Christian Cage

[7.0] "I enjoyed Christian's brief 2021 run as Impact world champion. It was a nice way for him to get closure with his time in that company. This was a nice little title match."

[7.0] "Quietly, a spiritual sequel to Christian's time as WWE ECW's fighting champion, defending the IMPACT crown in a way that's distinctly Sci-Fi. Cage again proves himself to be a master of this role, perfectly balancing the match's give and take for a selfless performance that remains honest, not overextending to make up for Myers' standing to this point. Instead, he respects the established hierarchy and wrestles the right match, which allows Myers' work to speak for itself. As usual, that doesn't result in any grand statement but it's rock solid regardless, with Myers relishing the heel role en route to a finish that's rich with self-awareness. Good pro wrestling, a WWE ECW bonus feature. ***1/4"

[7.0] "This was a good match. Christian Cage made his return to Impact after beating Kenny Omega for the Impact World Championship. His first major title defense as the new champion was Brian Myers. Yeah, I wasn't a big fan of it when it happened and it's still weak looking back. Nothing against Myers, he can be entertaining but he's not a top of the card kind of guy. He's a perfect mid-card act, not a main eventer. That being said, this was a well worked match, with Christian taking the early part of the match until Sam Beale created a distraction for Myers to take control. Christian had the comeback and eventually retained the title. This was good, but it felt like a good TV match. I think a defense against someone more believable like Eddie Edwards, Chris Bey or Rich Swann would have been better for a main event of a PPV style show. ***1/4"

[7.0] "A good heel vs face match but I really want to point out that Myers has the opportunity to prove that he can hang in the main event scene and he was carried throughout the match by the well-oiled veteran "Christian Cage" . Myers constitutes of a generic move-set which is very limited and its hilarious how he claims to be the purest professional wrestler when he fails to wrestle a good match majority of the time. The major botch from his side, was waiting for Cage to get counted out when his intent was to win the title and he made that rookie mistake despite having more than a decade of experience. UNBELIEVABLE. We all know you cant win a title on count-out, Myers doesn't and it doesn't stop there because somehow he still had the audacity to scream "most professional wrestler" afterwards. In spite of his shortcomings here, this was still a very good one in Myers books and a normal one for Cage despite all his hard-work. The frequent interruptions by Sam was a bit annoying but I got used to it by the end of the match. As a matter of fact, it was the home-run sequence which I found very interesting as it was quick and fast-paced action with neat move execution. As mentioned in the first sentence , it was a well-built protagonist against antagonist dynamic and it delivered in that field. No doubts. Logically and psychologically , Myers clobbered all the conceptual basis of it. ***1/2"

[8.0] "Another great match from Christian! Man, I just can't get enough of his new run. This was a rock solid first title defense for Christian, with him and Myers having genuinely great psychology and pacing for this bout. *4. 0*"

[8.0] "Christian gave Myers the best match of his career. I think it was a good paced match. Hope this is sign of better performances by Brian Myers to come."

[8.0] "Thanks to Christian Cage, I've seen a good match with Bryan Myers in it for the first time in my short life. Surely not the brighest match you've seen but so effective that was, like Cage's wrestling. Anybody believed in a Myers' win but they managed to make us believe it. That goofy motherfucker of Beale was also good as well. Very good match speaking of storytelling and execution. So good to watch Cage's back in an IMPACT ring."

[7.0] "Solid defense, Myers had 0 chance of winning but made one of the best singles match in his career, with a good support from the crowd (or heat, in his case); Christian is a valid champion a needs this kind of victory to solidify his position, in order to elevate a new champion as his successor."

[6.0] "Solid first title defence for Christian Cage. I was expecting more domination from Bryan Myers but at the end the balance was good and the overall really respectable. Forgettable but decent. [60] ***"

[8.0] "Highly enjoyable match from two very good workers, which kicked off Christian? s reign very well. I? m a big Myers fan and I love seeing him in this position but I do wish these two could have gone a little harder and faster. Never the less, compelling and fun. I hope this isn? t the last time we see Myers in the main event."

[7.0] "Solid main event between Christian and Myers here to conclude this very good PPV, I wasn't expecting much although I'm a very big Christian fan, I thought it was going to be an ordinary match and although it wasn't particularly fantastic, it did the job perfectly for what it was. These are two good workers who gave us a sober, effective wrestling match with a good story and some really exciting action to follow. The crowd was on fire for this match as it was Christian's first in Impact in thirteen long years, it's something historic and the fans in the Impact Zone made it clear. A forgettable match but definitely a good first title defense for Christian, now I can't wait for his match against Ace Austin at Victory Road."

[8.0] "First title defense for the new Impact World Champion Christian Cage, bell to bell it's a solid bout in the latest Christian style. Good match overall and it's nice to have already a title defense for CC and a new contender in Ace Austin."