IMPACT Sacrifice Review - March 13, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Decay (Crazzy Steve and Black Taurus) def. Reno Scum

Taurus has been a brilliant addition to Decay. I like Steve and Rosemary, but this incarnation of Decay needed something extra with Abyss no longer around. This wasn't the most exciting opener of all-time, but it was probably the best showing I've seen Reno Scum have, so there was that. This could have happened on an episode of IMPACT! Wrestling and no one would have thought anything of it, but it was a decent time-filler.

Tenille Dashwood and Kaleb with a K def. Havok and Nevaeh

Havok and Nevaeh have been having problems for months due to Nevaeh constantly letting Havok down. Havok doesn't seem too bothered by it, but that doesn't mean a split is out of the question. Dashwood has been beating them both week after week, so at least she's been benefiting from their misfortunes. This was perfectly fine for what it was and served its purpose in furthering the story with Havok and Nevaeh.

Violent By Design (Joe Doering and Deaner) def. Chris Sabin and James Storm

I'm sure I've said this before, but Violent By Design is an excellent use of everyone involved. Eric Young thrives in the leader role, Doering is perfect as a heavy, and this is the more compelling Deaner has ever been as a character in IMPACT. This was a solid match, largely thanks to the terrific tag team work of Storm and Sabin, who are extremely experienced in that area. Rhino returned here and cost Storm and Sabin the win, joining Violent By Design in the process. Considering they put Rhino and Heath on the shelf in storyline, I was honestly shocked by that. I'm not against the move, but it's a bummer we're probably not getting that tag team run with Rhino and Heath, at least as babyfaces.

Eddie Edwards def. Brian Myers in a Hold Harmless Match

This was essentially a No Holds Barred match with a slightly different name. They didn't go overboard with the stipulation and thus it ended up being very good, which shouldn't have been surprising given who was involved. I was also glad that the interference from Hernandez and Matt Cardona was kept to a minimum. Speaking of Cardona, the bad blood between him and Myers has been a bigger focal point than this mini feud between Myers and Edwards, but that didn't stop Edwards and Myers from having one of the best bouts of the night. Edwards loading his knee pad for the finish (the same way Cardona had done previously with his elbow bad) was a nice touch.

Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champions Fire 'N Flava def. Jordynne Grace and Jazz

Grace wrestled a majority of the match for her team and did great as always. Tag team matches keep Jazz limited at this stage of her career, but with how often she's lost lately, I'm wondering if this is building to Grace turning on her. Either that or Jazz challenging for the Impact Knockouts Championship since she wasn't pinned here, but you'd have to explain how she earned the opportunity. Regardless, this was a good effort from all involved.

Ace Austin def. TJP to Win the Impact X-Division Championship

I'm not the biggest TJP fan, but there can be no doubt that he's had some stellar matches while champion since December. This was another above-average match from him and Austin killed it as well. These two have awesome chemistry together, so I'd be definitely down for a rematch and I'm sure we'll get one at some point. Austin has had momentum since returning earlier this year, so putting the belt on him was the right call.

Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo def. ODB

Purrazzo has been fantastic in the champion role since her first reign started at Slammiversary and has been having quality matches with just about everyone. I enjoy ODB as a character, but her matches tend to be hit or miss. This ended up being one the better bouts I've seen her in thanks to the work of both women. While the finish felt a bit abrupt, I was glad this didn't last longer than it needed to.

FinJuice def. The Good Brothers to Win the Impact World Tag Team Championship

Good Brothers are clearly heels and have been for a few months, but they've been fairly friendly with FinJuce since their arrival in IMPACT, so maybe they'll chalk their loss of the titles here up to them taking it too easy. Either way, this was an enjoyable affair. I've been impressed with FinJuice in IMPACT and putting the titles on them is an interesting move with Good Brothers all over AEW TV with Kenny Omega. I'm all for it, but I'm curious to see if Good Brothers get the belts back quickly or if they're moving on from them.

Impact World Champion Rich Swann def. Moose to Win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship

I've been looking forward to this match for a long time as it's been in the works for many months. The first half was somewhat slow, but once they picked up the pace, this turned into an entertaining main event. This would have had a big fight feel even without the phony TNA title on the line, but I loved the sense of urgency they worked with and both guys went all out down the stretch. Moose looked very credible in defeat and I have no doubt he'll be back in the main event scene at some point. With Swann's win, we now know it will him against Kenny Omega in another title for title match at Rebellion next month. It's pretty obvious Omega is winning that one, but the build should be fun and hopefully it leads to more exposure for IMPACT.

Overall Show

These Impact Plus events continue to get better and better. This event in particular was newsworthy with two titles changing hands and a "world title unification" in the main event (even though it didn't mean much but oh well). There was plenty of great wrestling and not a bad match on the entire card. The first few matches were nothing special and could have easily aired on IMPACT! Wrestling, but otherwise, this was absolutely a thumbs-up show. I'm digging the IMPACT product right now and everything they're bringing to the table with the talent they have. Kudos to them for putting on their best string of shows in some time.