Tag: Impact Sacrifice

In 24 hours, the landscape of Impact Wrestling changed dramatically and the fallout begins at Friday’s Sacrifice from London, Ontario, Canada.

With the news that Josh Alexander had to relinquish the company’s World title due to an injury, future title challengers Steve Maclin and KUSHIDA will battle on opposite sides of a trios tag team main event.

After it was revealed that Mickie James had to withdraw from Friday’s title defense against Jordynne Grace, the future of the Knockouts Championship will be announced.

In a Busted Open (first blood) match, Tommy Dreamer and Bully Ray will go one-on-one.

X-Division Champion Trey Miguel will defend against the returning Lince Dorado who also holds the MLW Middleweight title.

Bullet Club’s Ace Austin & Chris Bey will defend against the debuting TMDK while Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry defends against Brian Myers.

Jonathan Gresham vs. Mike Bailey, Deonna Purrazzo vs. Gisele Shaw and Kenny King vs. PCO rounds out the card.

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The Countdown to Sacrifice opened up with a match between Eddie Edwards and Bhupinder Gujjar.

Eddie Edwards defeated Bhupinder Gujjar

The venue Impact had for this show looked fantastic, which always helps the shows feel like a bigger deal. Working with Edwards is the kind of thing Gujjar needs to do if he is going to get better, as Edwards can work a great main event level match. Edwards gave Gujjar a lot in the early parts of the match before poking him in the eyes and going to work with hard chops.

Edwards did a good job selling for Gujjar’s comeback, getting the audience behind him a bit. As Gujjar went to the top rope, Edwards cut him off and hit an enziguri while Gujjar was seated. Edwards followed that with a superplex and a tiger driver for a 2-count. Gujjar got up and hit a sling blade, but ate knees from Edwards when he went for a splash off the top ropes. Edwards immediately followed with the Boston knee party for the win.

–The announcers ran down the situation with Mickie James and Josh Alexander both being hurt.

–Frankie Kazarian and Rich Swann were with Gia Miller, and they talked about Alexander being out with injury, and how they were disappointed that he was hurt, but that he would be back better than ever. Rich Swann promised to bring it tonight for Alexander, but Kazarian and Swann were not sure about teaming with Maclin.

–After a video hyping up the six-man tag main event, it ended with a voice over of Tom Hannifan announcing the injury of Josh Alexander and asking what it meant. Steve Maclin looked up, smiled, and said, “Mayhem for all.” This was great.

Rosemary (w/ Jessicka) defeated KiLynn King (w/ Taylor Wilde)

As King made her way down to the ring the announcers talked about how they suspected that Taya Valkyrie was taken out with dark magic. Well, that’s enough to make me check out on this feud. The announcers trying to explain this hurts their credibility, but it is funny to see them try.

Rosemary, who is Canadian, got cheered a lot as she bit King and then hit a clothesline that took them both to the floor. Wilde briefly got Rosemary’s attention, leading to King getting the advantage. King ate an elbow on a corner charge, and Rosemary brought King to the upside down, choking her on the ropes. King pulled Rosemary off the top rope. King and Rosemary hit pump kicks at the same time and went down. Rosemary hit a slingblade and an exploder for a 2-count.

King hit a twisting suplex for a 2-count. Wilde distracted Rosemary again, and she turned into a superkick. Jessicka and Wilde got into a brawl at ringside, which distracted King, leading to Rosemary hitting a spear to pin King.

Main Card

Mike Bailey’s music hit, bringing the show here to a good start.

Mike Bailey defeated Jonathan Gresham

Gresham and Bailey picked right up where they left off, resuming with complex technical exchanges and fast counters. Gresham made the crowd groan in pain grabbing and bending the wrist of Bailey, which Bailey sold well. Gresham started tearing apart the knees of Bailey, leading to Bailey to reach for the ropes. Bailey screamed for a break, but Gresham wouldn’t let go immediately due to how tied up they were.

Gresham indicated that, but Bailey took offence and started kicking Gresham vicuously, sending him to the floor. Gresham hit a triangle moonsault to the floor. Bailey missed a corner charge, and Gresham went right back to the knee with a drop toe hold and smashing the knee of Bailey relentlessly into the mat.

Gresham started bending each toe individually before twisting the ankle of Bailey. At this point, Gresham was essentially bullying Bailey, leading to boos from the crowd. He leaned into it as well, taking the role of heel in this match. Bailey managed to hit a dropkick off the middle ropes before hitting a series of kicks and a running shooting star press for a 2-count. Every time Bailey tried to make a sustained attack though, Gresham went straight to the leg, wearing him down.

Both men began to exchange forearms in the middle of the ring. Gresham shot for the legs a few times, but Bailey would shove him off. Gresham rolled him up and transitioned into a modified figure four leglock. Bailey escaped and swept the leg of Gresham when he was on the apron and hit a moonsault into double knees to the face of Gresham. That was brutal. Gresham dodged the Ultima Weapon and hit a knee breaker on the apron. Both guys barely made it back into the ring to avoid countout, with Gresham selling his own knee in the process.

Bailey kicked the leg out from under Gresham leading to him almost doing the splits. Bailey superkicked him and then went for Ultima Weapon. Gresham rolled out of the way and immediately went to a figure four, but Bailey turned it over and got the tap out instantly as Gresham’s own knee gave out on him. This match was awesome.

–Brian Myers talked about how he was going to beat Joe Hendry tonight, and Moose walked up and talked openly about how he was going to help Myers win the Digital Media title. Santion Marella walked up and banned Moose from ringside, which upset the both of them.

— Joe Hendry grabbed the mic and claimed he was sent to Canada to bring greetings from the Royal Family. Hendry promised to dish out an education (as they were on a college campus) on Brian Myers tonight. That was great.

Impact Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry defeated Brian Myers to retain

Myers got the heat on Hendry early on in this match, hitting a dropkick and locking on a chinlock. This was quite the slow down from the previous match. Myers hit a Michinoku driver for a 2-count. Hendry hit a cutter off the ropes for a 2-count. Myers fired up hitting an implant DDT for a 2-count after that.

Myers went for the roster cut, but Hendry popped him up for a powerbomb. Myers flew over the head of Hendry, hit the ropes, and then hit a spear for a 2-count. Myers went to the top rope but Hendry jumped up from the mat looking for a cutter off the top rope. Myers shoved Hendry off and did a dive, but Hendry caught him in a cutter, picked him up an hit a standing ovation for the pinfall. That was a great finish.

–Gia Miller was sitting down Mickie James and Santino Marella. James announced she had a broken rib, and that while she would be back soon, she cannot wrestle tonight. James said that she was planning to defend the title at Rebellion, but if she is unable to defend it at Rebellion the title match at Rebellion would be between Jordynne Grace and the winner of Gisele Shaw, Deonna Purrazzo, Masha Slamovich, and Miyu Yamashita. James said that if she can’t defend the title at Rebellion, she would hand it to the winner of the match at Rebellion.

Deonna Purrazzo defeated Gisele Shaw (w/ Jai Vidal & Savannah Evans)

This was a great match, where Purrazzo looked like a monster with her technical ability. Purrazzo was wrestling like someone who is in line for a title run soon.

Purrazzo and Shaw had a great exchange of submission attempts with tons of counters, ending when Purrazzo hit a baseball slide on Shaw. As the referee was checking on Shaw, Evans ran over and hit a clothesline on Purrazzo. Shaw hit several uppercuts in the corner followed by a flying one for a 2-count.

Purrazzo and Shaw exchanged kicks in the middle of the ring and Purrazzo hit a flatliner before transitioning into a Koji clutch. Shaw turned it into a pinfall attempt, and then started exchanging forearms in the middle of the ring. Shaw hit a full nelson into a backbreaker and then into a flatliner for a 2-count.

Shaw went for a running knee, but Purrazzo countered right into an armbar. Shaw tried to fight out, so Purrazzo transitioned into the Venus Di Milo, which Shaw attempted to counter, but Purrazzo just rolled through right back into Venus Di Milo and scored the submission.

–Savannah Evans attacked Deonna Purrazzo after the match, but was soon interrupted by the returning Tasha Steelz. Steelz entered the ring and made the save for Purrazzo before hitting a tornado DDT on Jai Vidal. It looks like Purrazzo has a new ally.

PCO defeated Kenny King (w/ Eddie Edwards)

This was a solid match, and the crowd loves PCO, so that always makes him stuff fun even if the matches aren’t the best.

Kenny King got some heat for a few minutes at the start of the match, but PCO soon hit a cannonball dive to the floor, taking king out. PCO then hit a guillotine legdrop off the top ropes on King. PCO dragged King over the apron and went for a dive onto the apron. Eddie Edwards grabbed PCO’s foot giving King enough time to hit an Iconoclasm to the apron, sending PCO crashing to the floor.

King suplexed PCO on the floor after exposing the concrete under the mats. King then hit a blue thunder bomb on the floor on PCO. King propped a chair in the corner of the ring as PCO sat up and made his way back into the ring. King hit a snap dragon suplex for a 2-count. King hit a nice frog splash for a 2-count, and PCO sat up no selling the next few attacks to a great reaction from the fans. King tried to use the chair on PCO as Edwards distracted the referee, but PCO punched the chair into King’s face for the win.

–A hype video aired for Jody Threat coming to Impact. Looks like the Canadian wrestler has signed a contract with Impact.

–Steve Maclin walked up to Kazarian and Swann, saying that he didn’t want this situation either. Maclin said he wanted to make this work because he wanted to be prepared for Rebellion. Maclin said he served alongside people he didn’t like, but he could work with them, and that tonight they were going to get the job done.

Impact X-Division Champion Trey Miguel defeated Lince Dorado to retain

This was a good match but didn’t have a lot of heat.

Miguel and Dorado instantly started exchanging fast paced offence. Dorado spilled to the floor and Miguel went for a dive, but countered into a tiger feint, as Dorado moved. Miguel then held on and swung back into launching himself into a hurricarana on the floor. That was awesome. Miguel went to the eyes of Dorado, who did not like that, and ended up hitting a baseball slide dropkick to the side of Miguel, sending him to the floor.

Dorado hit a corckscrew press to the floor. Dorado hit a crossbody into the ring for a 2-count. Dorado hit a powerslam for a 2-count. Dorado hit a series of moonsaults from the first and second ropes but missed the third. Miguel hit an enziguri and both men were down. Dorado managed to hit a shooting star press on Miguel, but Miguel was able to roll to the floor to escape the pinfall. Both men exchanged strikes in the ring until Miguel was able to hit a hurricanrana for the pinfall.

–Shane Haste & Bad Dude Tito were backstage talking about how they were going to beat the micro-mini-Bullet Club of Chris Bey and Ace Austin.

Impact World Tag Team Champions Bullet Club (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) defeated TMDK (Shane Haste & Bad Dude Tito) to retain

Tito was able to get the heat on Bey early on by through him across the ring like he weighed nothing. Haste continued the assault on Austin. Austin and Bey hit click, click, boom, stealing the move from the Motor City Machine Guns for a 2-count. Bey hit some hard chops that made Haste upset, understandably.

Austin went for the O’Connor roll on Haste, but Tito blind tagged in and took out Austin with a powerbomb. Haste hit a low dropkick on Austin for a 2-count. As the match slowed down with Haste getting some heat on Austin, Tom Hannifan mused that Windsor should have a CFL team. Chris Bey hit a tope con giro on Bad Dude Tito. Bey hit a springboard Finesser for a 2-count.

Tito managed to hit Ace Austin with a series of kicks and a power bomb for a 2-count. Tito hit a suicide dive of his own, flying threw the ropes onto Chris Bey. Tito then hit a frog splash on Austin for a 2-count as Bey managed to make the save. Bey and Austin hit a combo TKO and kick to the head leading to a 2-count. Bey hit the art of finesse and Austin hit the fold on Tito for the pinfall.

Bully Ray defeated Tommy Dreamer in a Busted Open Match

This match was not good. Tommy Dreamer and Bully Ray working a slow paced hardcore match in 2023 is not really something I want to see, but given the age of the wrestlers involved, it could have been far worse.

Ray attacked Dreamer on the floor, hitting his knee with a chair. Dreamer pulled a replica ECW title out and drove it into the head of Ray. Dreamer tried to bust Bully Ray open with an energy drink can, but Ray managed to turn it into an atomic drop on the guard rail. Bully Ray threw a bear into the face of Darren McCarty, who retired from the Detroit Red Wings in 2009.

It turns out that McCarty has actually wrestled before after the end of his hockey career, so maybe that is what that is building to. Ray missed a splash off a step stool and Dreamer brought in a bag of thumbtacks. Dreamer went to piledrive Bully Ray into the thumbtacks, but Ray back dropped Dreamer out. Ray pulled out a cheese grater from under the ring, but Dreamer blocked it and hit a bionic elbow.

Dreamer grabbed the Grater, but accidentally ran into the referee. Dreamer hit Ray with the cheese grater, but the referee was out and missed the blood on Ray’s face. Jason Hotch and John Skylar ran down while giving Bully Ray a towel to wipe off the blood on his face. Bully Ray threw thumbtacks into the face of Tommy Dreamer. Ray attempted to drive the face of Dreamer into the tacks, but missed with an elbow.

Ray claimed that Dreamer’s daughters were going to see it, so he stopped and Ray low blowed Dreamer to escape another cheese grater attack. Ray slammed Dreamer’s arm into the thumbtacks. Ray drove Dreamer headfirst into the ring post, causing him to bleed, and the referee woke up to see Dreamer bleeding while Ray covered his head with a towel.

–The Good Hands set up a table in the ring for Ray to powerbomb Dreamer through. Darren McCarty jumped the rail and tried to save Dreamer, and security stopped him. Ray told security to let him go. McCarty came into the ring and they started a hockey fight with McCarty getting the better of Bully Ray. The Good Hands attacked from behind which led to Bully Ray powerbombing McCarty through the table.

Scott D’Amore’s music hit and he took of his jacket looking like he was ready to fight with Ray. Scott D’Amore looked backstage and invited Heath, Joe Hendry, Jonathan Gresham, Mike Bailey, Rhino, and others out to ringside to chase Bully Ray and The Good Hands away. Jason Hotch attacked D’Amore, who hit a Canadian destroyer on Hotch and then he celebrated with Darren McCarty.

Time Machine (KUSHIDA, Chris Sabin, & Alex Shelley) defeated Steve Maclin, Rich Swann, & Frankie Kazarian

KUSHIDA did everything he could in this match to make his upcoming match with Maclin for the Impact World Championship at Rebellion matter in this one, working hard, bumping everywhere, and trying to look like a world title contender. This match was very good despite there being no stakes, and everyone worked very hard. It sucks that Alexander got hurt, as this at least had the intrigue of KUSHIDA and Alexander facing off, but they did a decent job making the best of a bad situation.

After seeing Sabin and Shelley in the early part of the match, KUSIDA tagged in and immediately called for Maclin. KUSHIDA immediately went for submissions, attempting to out wrestle the larger man. KUSHIDA, Sabin, and Shelley targeted the arm of Maclin, looking to weaken it to prepare for KUSHIDA’s hoverboard lock. Maclin drove Shelley’s throat into the ropes to break an arm wringer, and Kazarian tagged in.

Maclin left Swann to the wolves when he tagged in, as he wasn’t the legal man, letting Time Machine triple team him. KUSHIDA missed a chop on the outside on Swann and hit the turnbuckle post. Swann then tagged out to Kazarian. Kazarian hit a flying forearm on Shelley and a legdrop on Sabin, a Russian legsweep on Shelley and then a back stabber on KUSHIDA.

Shelley hit a double arm breaker on Maclin and Kazarian and tagged KUSHIDA in, who hit a great crossbody on Maclin before hitting a Pele kick. Maclin dumped KUSHIDA into the corner and hit a spear while he was in the tree of woe. Kazarian and Swann hit a series of big moves ending with a 450 splash for a 2-count. Swann missed a phoenix splash, leading to Time Machine doing submissions on everyone in the ring. After an exchange of finisher attempts from everyone, KUSHIDA managed to hit a flying kimura on Maclin and forced a very quick tap out.

Final Thoughts

While this was a very good show from an in ring perspective, there was not a lot on this show of consequence outside of the Bully Ray/Tommy Dreamer feud. Quite frankly, that is not enough to sell a show or make it interesting, and the rest of it, while very good in ring, didn’t have any compelling stories leading into the matches. That said, if you are looking for good wrestling and don’t really care about the stories involved, you will probably like this show. It was very good in ring action, but it did not have the stories needed to add sufficient interest or heat. I enjoyed it, but it is probably one of the best missable shows you will ever see.