SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
HIT – Eddie Edwards vs Steve Maclin: Rather good match and enjoyable way to start the show. Both lost nothing in this match and booked strongly. I know DQ finishes are not for everyone, but really, we couldn’t have had either wrestler lose here.
Maclin is doing some good, legit work at the moment and a lot of upsides to him and his future with Impact, especially if some of these temporary stars leave.
Post-match angle featured some solid promo work from Maria Kanellis, who has found a key role for herself in being the effective mouthpiece of this faction.
HIT – Tasha Steelz vs Chelsea Green: I enjoyed this thoroughly and was arguably the singles match of the night. Steelz continues her journey to being a top star in the division with solid in-ring work and even better character development.
Mickie James on commentary added a touch of gravitas to the occasion also.
The finish made sense as Steelz deserves another shot, but James accidentally costing Green the match sets in motion a future falling out of the current friends.
HIT – Masha Slamovich Squash: It could become tedious, but she is so unique and devastating with her offence, you can’t help but be impressed.
Soon we will run out of competitors, but a mid-card program surely awaits against someone more significant and I am looking forward to it.
HIT – Heath vs Vincent: Decent enough match, not a classic 5-star effort by any means, but it was enjoyable to watch. Probably a shade long at 15 minutes, especially when you need Heath to have a decisive win and look strong before he challenges for the title.
I liked how they got into the match beforehand with solid mic work from both.
Given this a hit rate because Heath was so over with the crowd and they have bought into his journey, big time, which is lovely to see for an act that deserves a bit of spotlight.
HIT – Jonah Squash, then PCO gets involved: Similar to Slamovich and her squash run, its well done and entertaining to watch. Jonah is further down the path as he has a credible opponent coming up next in PCO.
The after-match action was interesting, because it looked like Jonah had just obliterated PCO, which seemed a strange booking choice. PCO then sat up showing no effect was very cool and tells me we are in for a good brawl at the pay per view.
HIT – Bullet Club vs G.O.D./Violent By Design: Multi man matches as I have said before are almost guaranteed to be fun and exciting. Nice touch from Scott D’Amore to effectively make this a tornado tag, with no DQ. This made perfect sense considering the animosity and competition between these various teams.
I hope the plan is for G.O.D. to dethrone the Good Brothers at Sacrifice, as a run, even a short one, with them getting some teams over before they go back to Japan would be a fresh set of matches for the tag division.
One fun moment was Jay White watching the backstage brawl on the big screen whilst big Joe Doering stood behind him grinning, which had me smiling.
PARTIAL HIT – World Championship Build: The build itself has had to be short because of how quickly the Sacrifice event has come after No Surrender, but it does all feel a little rushed anyway. I am sure the match will be fine, and Heath will be made to look good, and Moose will advance.
My gripe is that its not being featured enough in the show. You could argue it is probably the third or even fourth biggest story on the show behind Honor No More, Bullet Club drama, and possibly even Knockouts Title goings on.
Moose is a great champion and probably not fair that he is not what the show is built around, ala Roman Reigns on WWE Smackdown.
PARTIAL HIT – Various Backstage Segments: Bit hit and miss with these this week. As always there were a lot to fill the time.
Really impressive video package for Jake Something, who has “something” (I am sorry!) and hopefully the start of them showing us more of his personality as he moves up the card.
Cardona acting like an ass with the backstage crew was perfect in developing his heel character further.
Speedball and Purrazzo backstage seemed a little superfluous in my eyes.
MISS – Madison Rayne vs Cassie Lee: Not a great watch this one actually, found myself drifting a little. The Iinspiration work better as a tag team as they are not the best workers, so this hides any deficiencies better, and they are so much fun to watch in that environment too.
I would love after this feud for them to retain and a real contrast to their team was found, a proper badass team as it seems both champions and challengers just now are simply different shades of grey really.
Overall show thoughts: Because we have the PPV at the weekend, only 2 weeks after the last one, it seems strange writing about another “go home” show. As far as “go home shows, this was ideal. Every PPV match got some airtime to get you invested in the potential show.
They do such an excellent job of taking the time of promoting future shows, whether that be the next week of television or the next PPV and just in general the production values and all that entails is proper quality.
All solid in ring action as is customary just now with Impact.
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