TNA Sacrifice Review - March 8, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Pre-Show: TNA Digital Media Champion Crazzy Steve def. Joe Hendry

I'm genuinely surprised Hendry hasn't been scooped up by WWE over the years because his shtick would fit right in there. His pre-match promo here was lame, but it's exactly the sort of thing I could see on WWE TV. The match itself was decent, but there wasn't much to it because there's no established heat between Steve and Hendry. Rather, this only existed so A.J. Francis could interfere and set up their match for Thursday's iMPACT!.

Pre-Show: Speedball Mountain def. The Rascalz

These teams have been going back and forth for months and this felt like the blow-off. They could've easily scrapped Steve vs. Hendry and given this more time, but in the time they were allotted, it a blast and tag team wrestling at its finest. New TNA World Tag Team Champions were crowned later on, so Speedball Mountain should be built up for an eventual opportunity. It's a smart use of both Mike Bailey and Trent Seven for the foreseeable future.

Nic Nemeth def. Steve Maclin

The Impact Plus feed was unfortunately having issues throughout (they weren't exclusive to just this, either), but of what I could catch from the match, it was great. As we know from his time in WWE, Nemeth is the perfect person to kick off any event. He and Maclin put forth a hell of an effort and worked wonderfully together. Nemeth got to show what he can do, but Maclin deserves credit for his performance as well. His contract is up soon and I hope he's utilized properly wherever he ends up.

The System (Eddie Edwards and Brian Myers) def. ABC to Win the TNA World Tag Team Championship

Everyone in The System is now a champion with the exception of Alisha Edwards, and she's the one member who doesn't need to be holding gold. ABC have been fighting TNA World Tag Team Champions, but The System winning here was the correct call. This was a terrific match. That Spear from Myers on the apron early on looked fantastic. The System is still an ill-defined faction, but I'm glad Edwards and Myers have been gelling as partners.

PCO def. Kon in a No Disqualification Match

I applaud TNA's effort to make a monster out of Kon, but I'm just not buying him as a serious threat. I'm genuinely shocked this wasn't a Monster's Ball because TNA loves to book that stipulation for PCO, but I'm sure that would've entailed even more plunder than we got here. Much like their last match at No Surrender, this was exactly what it needed to be. They benefited from the lack of disqualifications where Kon's weaknesses were hidden. Now it's time to move on from this feud.

Spitfire def. MK Ultra to Win the TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championship

Spitfire is the new team name for Dani Luna and Jody Threat, which I like as it suits them well. MK Ultra got the early advantage by attacking them before the bell. I thought that would give the babyfaces an out for losing, but apparently not. The title change was unexpected since MK Ultra just got the belts back at No Surrender. That's the third title since Hard to Kill in January. I couldn't care less about the belts at this point, but it was a nice moment for Spitfire, if nothing ese. The match was fine but too short to be anything out of the ordinary.

Hammerstone def. Josh Alexander

This was a rematch from Hard to Kill. Alexander won their initial encounter, and with Hammerstone officially signing with TNA as of last week, it made the most sense for him to win here. I enjoyed the first match a bit more, but this was still very good. Hammerstone cheating to win obviously creates the need for a third match. Hammerstone is an awesome addition to TNA's roster and I'm excited to see him mix it up with the rest of the roster.

TNA X-Division Champion Mustafa Ali and Grizzled Young Vets def. Time Machine

Tension continues to be teased within Time Machine with Alex Shelley getting more frustrated with Kushida and Chris Sabin after what happened at No Surrender. It's worth noting that Shelley was the one pinned here, so a heel turn certainly seems to be coming. This was the fun, fast-paced six-man tag team affair you'd expect given the talent involved. I'm glad Grizzled Young Vets got a spot on this card after finishing their Best-of-3 Series with ABC at Sacrifice.

TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace def. Xia Brookside and Tasha Steelz in a Three-Way Match

Even with the three-way rules, I never once felt like Grace was in jeopardy of losing the title. I was down with the idea with both Brookside and Steelz getting a shot on this show with there not being any other logical challengers on such short notice, but it's not like either of them are on Grace's level right now. That said, this was a well-worked match. Ash by Elegance was once again at ringside, so it appears she'll be entering the title picture before long.

TNA World Champion Moose def. Eric Young

As I've mentioned before, I'm amazed Moose and Young had never had a one-on-one match prior to this point. This suffered from a similar issue as the women's three-way in that I didn't see Young as a serious threat to the title. This was a solid match, but it may have been better as a main event on an episode of TNA iMPACT!. Frankie Kazarian's interference was predictable yet necessary in furthering that feud. This was actually one of the weaker matches of the entire night.

Overall Show

No Surrender was a stronger show, but for a card put together in two weeks' time, this was a thumbs-up event. There wasn't anything super newsworthy outside of both sets of tag titles changing hands, but the in-ring action delivered per usual and made Sacrifice worth checking out. It's a shame the first few matches were hampered by technical issues, but otherwise, it was an entertaining event with seeds planted for what's to come.

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