By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Impact Wrestling Hits
Ace Austin vs. Chris Bey: The highlight of the night. It was a good back and forth match between two of the company’s brightest young stars. Austin continues to strike me as the guy that Impact should build around. I’d rather see him hold the world championship, but winning the X Division Title at Sacrifice would at least be a step in the right direction.
Rich Swann vs. Moose angle: Scott D’Amore’s announcement that Swann vs. Moose at Sacrifice will be a unification match gave the match and the event a boost. The announcement that the winner will face Kenny Omega in a title vs. title match at Rebellion was newsworthy and kicked off the hype for the April pay-per-view in a major way. It was odd to hear D’Amore question Moose’s legitimacy as champion when he’s the guy who just decided to officially recognize the TNA Title again. D’Amore made the same point that we’ve all been making, but it was counterproductive coming from him in that it made the unification match feel less prestigious. It was also a questionable call to wait until the final segment on the Sacrifice go-home show to make this announcement.
James Storm and Chris Sabin vs. Rohit Raju and Mahabali Shera: A solid win for the makeshift Storm and Sabin team. It feels too soon for Raju and Shera to be bickering. I like the idea of Shera serving as Raju’s muscle, but it looks like they are already building to a split. The backstage angle with Storm and Sabin confronting Eric Young only to be attacked by Joe Doering and Deaner was a good way to set the table for the tag team match at the pay-per-view. And while I like the idea of Jake Something offering to be in the corner of Storm and Sabin on Saturday, I’m not sure why they didn’t just make it a six-man tag match.
ODB vs. Susan: Susan low-blowing ODB followed by ODB’s confused look was comical. I also got a kick out of Susan emptying ODB’s flask. I’m still not sold on the Susan character being as good as Su Yung or Susie, but at least there were some fun moments in this match.
Trey Miguel vs. Sam Beale: Why did Sami Callihan beat up Dave The Photographer from Orgazmo? Actually, the story was simple with Callihan turning Beale against Miguel, then attacking Beale afterward. I was surprised that they didn’t stretch out Callihan manipulating Beale a bit longer, but this was fine for what it was.
Tasha Steelz vs. Jazz: A solid opening match with Jazz beating Steelz heading into the tag title match at Sacrifice.
Impact Wrestling Misses
Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson vs. Juice Robinson and David Finlay contract signing: The teams drinking shots together at the contract signing was fine. But they completely lost me once the teams started fighting and Impact felt the need to add a campy musical score. And then they just cut away while the teams were fighting. Impact has done a lousy job of establishing the Robinson and Finlay characters for fans who don’t know them from New Japan Pro Wrestling. They’ve shown that they can outwit the Good Brothers, but the character development really ends there.
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