12 Ups & 4 Downs From Impact Wrestling Hard To Kill 2021

2. Back To Its Roots

The X division has forever been Impact Wrestling's strongest asset, and it's thanks to matches like Manik vs. Chris Bey vs. Rohit Raju.

It was exactly what you'd expect from the three. Popping off from the very moment the bell rang, there was all sorts of innovation on offer here. Bey, in particular, was supreme, boasting a moveset that you could only offer in video game form until he came along. A dropkick off of Rohit's back to Manik's face? Innovative. A double Art of Finesse? Gorgeous. A cutter catching the champion mid-flight? Beautiful.

The pacing of the action was perfect. Nothing went by too quick, and nothing dragged on either. Similarly, you can't go as far as classing this as a spotfest. While there were a good number of memorable spots sequenced throughout here (the aforementioned cutter from Bey catching Manik mid-air being the hottest one), they were broken up nicely by tactical moments of story development and technical prowess.

Eventually unmasked as TJP (shock and horror), Manik would retain the X Division Champion by rolling up Raju. Yes, it was admittedly a bit of flat ending to an otherwise beautiful bout, but you can't really argue with it too much. Everyone was knackered by this point; why would Manik have the energy to hit another Mamba Splash this far into the contest? A rollup is just fine.

Two weeks into 2021, and Impact Wrestling have already put forward a legitimate contender for Match of the Year. Hats off to Manik, Raju, and Bey for this - a banger fitting of the original X division style.