By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Impact Wrestling Hits
Ace Austin vs. Tommy Dreamer: The match was fine for what it was. Impact creative did a good job of having segments involving Dreamer and Christian Cage over the last couple of weeks that made it seem like there was a strong chance that Dreamer would beat Austin to earn a spot in the Impact World Championship match at Victory Road. Rather, Austin went over and they appear to be sticking with the Cage vs. Austin singles match for the championship rather than the teased Triple Threat. I’m not opposed to Christian and Dreamer having a television match because it seems like it would mean a lot to them, but I really didn’t want to see Dreamer beat the company’s brightest young star to earn a spot in the title match.
Josh Alexander vs. Jake Crist for the X Division Championship: It was great to see Jake Crist back in Impact. Unless I missed something, he seemed to take a hit for his brother’s alleged Speaking Out transgressions. Jake started to break out as The Golden Draw during his previous run with the company and hopefully he’ll get a chance to do more this time around. The post match angle with Chris Sabin challenging Alexander to a title match was simple and effective. It was a nice bounce back promo for Sabin, who was much better on the mic than he was during a recent backstage promo.
Rohit Raju and Shera vs. Matt Cardona and Chelsea Green: I was legitimately surprised to see Raju hit Green with a knee strike to the head and pin her. I wonder if the idea is to go with Green vs. Raju in a singles match. As much as I’d like to see Raju be featured as more of a serious act, he’s actually be perfect for an intergender feud from a character and in-ring standpoint. Raju is a versatile performer and I’m sure he could pull this off.
Taylor Wilde, Jordynne Grace, and Rachel Ellering vs. Madison Rayne, Tenille Dashwood, and Kaleb: I mistakenly assumed that Rayne or Dashwood would pin Grace or Ellering to set up a Knockouts Tag Title match. Instead, Kaleb took the loss for his team. It didn’t really accomplish match from a storyline perspective, but it got the show off to a decent start.
Impact Wrestling Misses
No Way and Fallah Bahh vs. Black Taurus and Crazzy Steve: They lost me during the entrances. I’m all for Impact bringing in former WWE wrestlers who weren’t given a fair shake or just need a fresh start. But I continue to ask why Impact brought in No Way Jose to have him work his Adam Rose holdover gimmick? Jose is talented and charismatic, but his gimmick is a two-time loser. Let it go.
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