Andrew’s IMPACT Results & Match Ratings: 3.3.2022

Sacrifice is Saturday! How do we build hype to a show only 9 days after No Surrender!?

Holy Japanese cut and paste Batman, we’ve got an 8 man main event for tonight with the Bullet Club! Aside from that we’ll see the new incarnation of Eddie Edwards in action and Madison Rayne trying to make an example of Cassie Lee.

Let’s get to the show and see how things play out!

.@MeanGiaMiller caught up with @DeonnaPurrazzo but @GiseleShaw08 interuped! @RealLadyFrost wasnt far behind to remind @GiseleShaw08 before she gets anywhere near the "Champ Champ" she'll face @RealLadyFrost first! #IMPACTonAXSTV pic.twitter.com/uHUCXNaT8e

— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) March 4, 2022

Ratings:

• Eddie Edwards vs Steve Maclin: Maclin wins via DQ – ** ¾
• Vincent w/Honor No More vs HEATH w/Team Impact: HEATH wins via Wake Up Call – *** ¼
• Masha Slamovich vs Raychell Rose: Masha wins via Russian Death Device – SQUASH
• Madison Rayne w/Tenille & Kaleb vs Cassie Lee w/Jessie McKay: Cassie wins via IIn-Spiral – **
• Chelsea Green vs Tasha Steelz w/Savannah Evans: Steelz wins via Frog Splash – ** ½
• Jonah vs Johnny Swinger: Jonah wins via Tsunami – SQUASH
• Bullet Club (Jay White, Chris Bey, The Good Brothers) vs G.o.D. & Violent By Design: Jay wins via Blade Runner – *** ½

Results:

Eddie Edwards vs Steve Maclin

Eddie comes out to the Honor No More music, and then Maclin stomps to the ring and Eddie cuts him off in the ropes. So they start brawling on the outside before the bell rings. Maclin catches Eddie with what looks like a Busaiku Knee and throws Eddie into the ring.

We get a really entertaining match of Eddie turning into the heavier brawler aspects of his moveset. Maclin had a lot of time to shine, and we’d see Eddie utilize some of his ability to put the brakes on Maclin but Maclin responds in kind. So much counter play but not what you would call a classic wrestling match, really just a brawl that proves as a significant shift in Eddie’s persona and style.

Maclin trips up Eddie, hits the Crosshairs Corner Spear and looks to be setting up for a finish. Eddie powders, grabs the kendo stick and obviously strikes Maclin to get himself disqualified. This takes us to an Eddie beatdown, Team Impact save, a little back and forth with Honor No More – and then – an impromptu match between Vincent and Heath.

Vincent w/Honor No More vs HEATH w/Team Impact

Early on they are kinda feeling each out and it’s interesting to see Heath keeping up with a smaller and more athletic wrestler. My take on this match was it was a good showcase that Heath was healthy and a strong competitor given his title match on Saturday.

Heath kept things mostly grounded going for old classics like 10 Count Punches, Hip Tosses and striking. Vincent increased the speed when he needed to and had a damn good Satellite Russian Leg Sweep that went smoothly.

Even with Honor No More getting involved from the outside, we see Vincent hit RedRum, but Heath kicks out. Things seem to be starting to pile up on the babyface squad, until Heath just catches Vincent with a Wake Up Call and picks up the win.

Scuffle afterwards, Moose hits the ring to try and get in a cheap shot but Heath moves and Moose crashes into Matt Taven (will probably set things up after Sacrifice), which allows Heath the opening to hit the Wake Up Call on Moose, Rich Swann slides in and they mimic the 3 count and Heath poses with the mental advantage.

IMPACTplus Flashback Moment: Sacrifice 2010, Beer Money vs Motor City Machine Guns vs Team 3D, Number 1 Contenders Match

Masha Slamovich vs Raychell Rose

Aside from the fact I hate how she spells her first name, at least Rose shows a little more attitude than most of the enhancement talent Masha is about to kill. Russian Death Device wins the match after Rose did get a little cocky and annoy Masha a little. So we should start getting to the point where she gets more than just SQUASH matches.

I’m also not gonna be shocked if they don’t call the move the Russian Death Device for a while, given the climate of the world at the moment.

Check out what happend with VBD walked into G.O.D adressing @JayWhiteNZ and The Bullet Club! #IMPACTonAXSTV @njpwglobal pic.twitter.com/YWKdxvNzwp

— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) March 4, 2022

Madison Rayne w/Tenille & Kaleb vs Cassie Lee w/Jessie McKay

So Madison and Tenille actually bring out tape to mark where Kaleb isn’t allowed to move from since they don’t trust him. What we get here was a fairly innocuous match until the last minute or so. A lot of tripping/comedy spots, and then Cassie turned up the intensity.

Now this caused Madison to powder and Tenille to get involved again, which is fun to watch Jessie and Cassie play “face tag team” where Jessie cares more about telling the referee than hitting Tenille. After Tenille did the damage, Jessie charges, Tenille ducks and she almost wipes out Kaleb but stops. Tenille clocks Jessie and Kaleb catches her like a Tango Dip and they have a moment. Tenille and Madison are irate telling him to drop her, and instead he puts her down gently.

The comedy distraction is enough to give Cassie time to recover, High Kick, and a Final Cut style finish she calls IIn-Spiral.

Knockouts World Tag Team Champion @CassieLee from The IInspiration just defeated @MadisonRayne.. Thanks to @kalebKonley!?#IMPACTonAXSTV pic.twitter.com/XJGrQM1aZM

— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) March 4, 2022

Chelsea Green vs Tasha Steelz w/Savannah Evans

Chelsea landed a lot of different strikes and kicks, she really controlled most of this match. Things came down to the caveat we all could’ve predicted from last week. As soon as Chelsea told Mickie not to get involved, we all could see the Savannah Evans’ play on the way.

The match did exactly that where Tasha blocked the “I’m Prettier” causing Chelsea to fall out of the ring, Savannah boots her head off and Mickie is forced to just watch since she gave her word. Tasha hits a Frog Splash after Chelsea is rolled in and Tasha gets the shot at Mickie on Saturday.

Jonah vs Johnny Swinger

So…let’s all remember that Swinger asked for this match. Pray for the Swingman. Swinger is dispatched easily. Jonah thinks about hitting another Tsunami but then the Honor No More music hits. Perfect Creation One walks out and we get an early taste.

Jonah lays into PCO fast, drops him and then hits Tsunami. He thinks he’s already got the Frankenstein monster’s number and looks to leave, but PCO sits up and fires, shocking and pissing off Jonah. Jonah charges, misses and then PCO drops him from the ring.

Bullet Club (Jay White, Chris Bey, The Good Brothers) vs G.o.D. & Violent By Design

G.o.D. let their music play a little and then run out on the beat of the gun racking. It turns into a classic TNA bedlam brawl, and we just get bodies everywhere. Security comes out, Scott D’Amore comes out and basically admits this was a bad idea, but makes it No DQ so at least the action can continue.

After the commercial we get a little bit of Joe Doering versus Jay White and that is definitely a match I would love to see. Doering knocked Jay out, tries to collect him but eats a trash can lid instead. Now the smaller guys get time to shine with Deaner and Chris Bey taking the ring.

The converging storylines take an interesting path while G.o.D. and the Good Brothers eventually spill out to the back and have their own match going on while Doering and Deaner try to avenge the failed business venture because Jay White ruined the partnership with the Good Brothers. Doering lays out Jay a bit more, sets things up for Deaner to hit the Diving Heabutt but Bey breaks up the pinfall. Doering goes to get a door from under the ring (his last name pun possible since it’s pronounce DOOR-ING or a Forbidden Door joke is all valid here). But Bey fights through the bigger guy’s power attempts to eventually get the best of the situation. Deaner tries to use a chair to win set up a win, but Jay recovers and wipes out Deaner, then a Blade Runner onto the chair and Bullet Club keeps winning.

Overall Score: 7.25/10

So they just decided to backload the Sacrifice lead with all the decent wrestling. We got what felt like 4 complete enough matches, and each had something different to offer. Maclin and Edwards showcased a new version of Eddie and a more babyface Maclin, which will take some getting used to. Vincent and Heath helped Heath show he was more credible than most of us think (I don’t see Moose dropping the title Saturday at all), no matter what happens at Sacrifice, the story beats helped his legitimacy. Chelsea and Tasha was obvious but also Chelsea’s own damn fault. So there will be story repercussions, perhaps an inevitable heel turn from Chelsea so she can join her husband on the dark side. Plus the main event paints a really nice picture for the three major powers at play in the tag division.

Granted, it also kind of made VBD look like nothing more than a speed bump since everyone wants to see G.o.D. even the score, but it still adds a nice dynamic even if one feels like the obviously weaker choice. Let’s also remember that Loa and Tama are in the New Japan Cup so booking could get cute depending on how much is taped, covid protocols and any real possibility of injuries or unforeseen difficulties.

But even though it only had 9 days to materialize, the Sacrifice card looks pretty damn compelling.