Powell’s Impact Wrestling Hit List: Tessa Blanchard, Trey Miguel, and Tommy Dreamer vs. Ace Austin and Reno Scum, Michael Elgin vs. Eddie Edwards in the third match of their best of five series, Josh Alexander vs. TJ Perkins

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

Impact Wrestling Hits

Tommy Dreamer, Trey Miguel, and Tessa Blanchard vs. Ace Austin and Reno Scum: I have to note that Miguel’s over the top reaction to Dreamer mentioning during their promo that Ace Austin “tried to bang your mom” was hokey. The match itself was solid. It felt a bit out of place in the main event slot simply because of Reno Scum. Things may be looking up for them now that they are aligned with Austin, but they have a long history of being treated like glorified enhancement wrestlers in Impact, so it will take some wins and some time for them to feel main event worthy. The finish with Austin going over was logical given that he’s facing Blanchard on the Sacrifice event.

Michael Elgin vs. Eddie Edwards in match three of the best of five: The best of their three matches thus far and I assume the fourth and fifth matches will be even better. The commentary during the match was interesting. Don Callis may have offered a hint to where this is leading when he said he didn’t think Tessa Blanchard could last five minutes with Elgin. There was also a strange note with the broadcast team questioning what would happen if this match ended in a double count-out. It’s a logical question, though one that they should have been prepared to answer if they were going to bring it up.

TJP vs. Josh Alexander: A strong match to open the show. I might grumble about dedicating so much time to the basic formula of a tag team challenger beating a tag team champion to set up a tag title match, but this was entertaining. In fact, I was looking forward to this match more than I am the actual tag title match it was designed to set up.

Madison Rayne’s “Golden Opportunity”: The open challenge concept gives Rayne something to do beyond being frenemies with Kiera Hogan. Rayne’s Queen B act feels a bit tired at this point, but she is the obvious choice for this role in that she’s a veteran who can be counted on to get the most out of the independent wrestlers she works with. She had a solid match with Mazzerati this week, and I assume this is leading to Rayne giving a boost to an incoming talent.

Rhino vs. Dave Crist: An in the middle moment for the usual Rhino style match, complete with the Gore at the end. Moose was fun on commentary and the broadcast team did a good job of acting leery of him. I will continue the weekly streak of noting that I wish the talented Crists were positioned as more than henchmen.

Impact Wrestling Misses

Willie Mack vs. Johnny Swinger: A soft Miss for babyface Mack continuing to come off a bit unlikable by blowing off the fun Swinger character’s attempts to form a tag team. If you’re annoyed by Swinger’s throwback act then you surely have a different perspective. If there’s not a plan for these two to team up, then it’s time for Mack to move on to something more meaningful.