IMPACT! Wrestling Review - March 23, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Time Machine def. The Design (Deaner, Kon and Angels)

With Time Machine set to team against Josh Alexander, Rich Swann and Frankie Kazarian at Sacrifice on Friday, it was a foregone conclusion that they were winning here, not to mention that the Design stable still sucks. To their credit, this was probably their best bout to date, and it helped that they had excellent opponents in Time Machine. This was a nicely-paced, competitive opener to give the babyface trio a momentum boost.

Deonna Purrazzo def. Savannah Evans

Purrazzo will face Gisele Shaw in a rematch from No Surrender at Sacrifice, and with Evans being the new bodyguard of sorts for Shaw, it made sense for Purrazzo to beat her before Friday night. I haven't been overly impressed by a majority of Evans' matches in IMPACT, but this was well worked while it lasted. Similar to the opener, Evans benefited big time from having an opponent the caliber of Purrazzo.

Bully Ray and Masha Slamovich def. Tommy Dreamer and Impact Knockouts World Champion Mickie James

This match has been in the works for a while, dating back to before No Surrender. James and Slamovich aren't feuding anymore to my knowledge (James' focus is on Jordynne Grace heading into Sacrifice), but oh well. This was decent for what it was and featured all the bells and whistles you'd expect from Bully and Dreamer. This put heat on Bully before their Busted Open match, which I don't have high hopes for.

Brian Myers and Moose def. Impact Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry and Dirty Dango

I'm actually shocked Dango wasn't the one pinned here seeing as how Hendry has largely been protected in IMPACT, but it was logical in setting up Myers' shot at Hendry's Impact Digital Media Championship at Sacrifice. Myers is an obvious step down from Moose and not exactly a threat to the pointless title, but he's talented, so it should be enjoyable. This served its purpose despite not featuring anything out of the ordinary.

Impact World Champion Josh Alexander and Steve Maclin Exchanged Words

Alexander vs. Maclin isn't happening until Rebellion next month and we still have Sacrifice and Multiverse United before then, but I have no problem with them hyping it up in advance. Both of them delivered strong promos here and I liked how Maclin mentioned that he's had his sights set on Alexander and the Impact World Championship for the last year. It makes their match feel more important and they still have another few weeks to build it up even more. Consider me sold.

Overall Show

Sacrifice looks like a placeholder event on paper, especially compared to what's on tap at Multiverse United next Thursday night, but I'm sure it will at least be solid like most of the Impact Plus specials. This edition of IMPACT! Wrestling started with a fun six-man tag team opener, closed with a great verbal exchange, and had some serviceable action in the middle. This was the usual quality effort from IMPACT.

SEE MORE: IMPACT Reviews