Powell’s Impact Wrestling Hit List: Josh Alexander and Steve Maclin, Bully Ray and Masha Slamovich vs. Mickie James and Tommy Dreamer, Kushida, Alex Shelley, and Chris Sabin vs. Deaner, Kon, and Angels, Deonna Purrazzo vs. Savannah Evans, Moose and Brian Myers vs. Joe Hendry and Dirty Dango

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

Impact Wrestling Hits

Josh Alexander and Steve Maclin: The closing segment gave a strong push to the Impact World Championship match that was scheduled to headline the Rebellion pay-per-view. It’s a shame that Alexander’s title reign had to end due to injury. He did excellent work as the face of the company and I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t have another reign if he sticks with the company long term. I’m not crazy about the plan to have Maclin face Kushida for the vacated championship, but I’ll get over it if Maclin gets a good run with the title.

Bully Ray and Masha Slamovich vs. Mickie James and Tommy Dreamer: A fun mixed tag match that included a Dudley Boyz tribute section at the expense of Bully Ray. How could you not get a chuckle out of a hammy Bully Ray yelling “My Balls!” after he took the Whassup spot from the babyfaces? The heels going over was logical given that Bully is facing Dreamer in a match tonight at Sacrifice. The post match angle with Jordynne Grace accidentally taking out James with a spear that was meant for Bully was good final hype. Unfortunately, Impact announced that James is also injured, so her big rematch with Grace that was scheduled for Sacrifice has been pulled from the show. Here’s wishing James the best. If she has to forfeit the championship, then I’d love to see them move the title to Slamovich top put Grace and eventually James in chase mode.

Deonna Purrazzo vs. Savannah Evans: The match was clunky at times, but it was still a good win for Purrazzo heading into her Sacrifice match with Gisele Shaw. It must be noted that while Impact does a lot of things well, they have a bad habit of failing to protect wrestlers who play the muscle for smaller wrestlers. How many times did we see Madman Fulton lose when he was the heavy for Ace Austin? Heck, how many times did we see Evans lose when she was in that role for Tasha Steelz?

Impact Wrestling Misses

Taya Valkyrie departure angle: Impact’s strange fetish for Undead Realm nonsense will never end.

Kushida, Alex Shelley, and Chris Sabin vs. Deaner, Kon, and Angels: It was a well worked match that simply overstayed its welcome. Viewers who are higher on The Design probably enjoyed this more than I did. There was no mystery regarding the outcome and The Design act continues to feel flat. Has Callihan passed his 826-part initiation yet?

Moose and Brian Myers vs. Joe Hendry and Dirty Dango: Another solid match that just didn’t hold my interest. Myers pinning Hendry with help from Moose was the right finish given that Myers is challenging Hendry for the Digital Media Championship at Sacrifice. Unfortunately, I still couldn’t care less about the Digital Media Championship.