IMPACT! Wrestling
March 9th, 2021
Skyway Studios in Nashville, Tennessee
Commentary: Matt Striker & D’Lo Brown
Before The IMPACT! – TJP def. Madman Fulton (w/ Ace Austin) by pinfall in 9:32
Tasha Steelz (w/ Kiera Hogan) vs. Jazz (w/ Jordynne Grace)
Tasha starts the match by taunting Jazz. Jazz easily takes Steelz down with an arm drag. Steelz takes her time getting back into the ring but Jazz easily takes her down to the mat and puts on a headscissors that Tasha escapes from and continues her talk back and taunting. D’Lo encourages it, as it’s something he would do when he used to wrestle. Jazz attempts a submission, that Steelz grabs the rope to break up and then knocks Jazz right into the bottom rope. Steelz fires up and delivers uppercuts in the corner and a jumping neck breaker to get a two on Jazz. Steelz misses in the corner and Jazz attempts a couple of rollup attempts, but Steelz comes back with a Falcon Arrow for a two count. Jazz comes back with jabs and clotheslines, ending with a Samoan Drop for a two count. Steelz misses a kick and Jazz sits a sit-out power slam for a two-count as Kiera Hogan gets on the apron. Jordynne Grace knocks her off it, as Jazz applies an STF on Steelz for the submission victory.
Winner: Jazz by submission at 6:00
The Rogue ‘Karen’
We go backstage with Gia Miller who is with ODB. Gia asks her if she’ll be celebrating after her Knockouts Title Match against Deonna Purrazzo. ODB says after Saturday, she’ll be a ‘5-time Knocked Up Champion’. Susan walks in and demands a match with ODB, and ODB agrees with ‘Karen’. Susan says she’ll be alone tonight as she doesn’t need backup.
I Am Sam, Sami Am
Trey Miguel runs into his student Sam Beale backstage who Miguel is worried about since Sami Callihan tried to recruit him last week at Trey’s school. Sam says everything is ok and seems to be under the control of Sami’s brainwashing and challenges Trey to a match tonight. Trey says no, and then after some intimidation from Sam reluctantly agrees but warns Sam, he will kick his ass tonight.
Rohit Raju & Shera vs. Chris Sabin & James Storm
Shera seems to have shed the Mahabali first name, which clearly got Storm upset as he threw his beer at Shera before the bell rang. Sabin & Raju start the match, while their partners calm down. Storm gets tagged in and they hit a couple double-team moves but Storm only gets a two-count. The big Shera comes in and goes to town on Storm but misses the clothesline in the corner. Storm mounts him but then runs into a giant boot by Shera. Storm ducks a clothesline tags Sabin and they hit a couple more tag team moves as they go to commercial.
When we come back, Raju is on the attack before he tags in Shera to go after Sabin. Shera and Raju now hit double team moves on Sabin including a cannonball from Raju. Sabin finally powers through and tags in Storm. Storm hits an Atomic Drop followed by a spinebuster on Raju for a two before tagging Sabin in. Sabin hits a step-up DDT off of Storm for a two count and tags Storm back in once again. The Beer Guns attempt a double suplex, but Raju escapes. Raju comes back with a jumping knee strike, as Shera comes in to attack Storm, Raju gets upset at him as he had the match won. Sabin gets tagged in and takes both of them out, including a dropkick to take Shera outside followed by a kick from the apron. Sabin sunset flips Raju right into a lung blower by Storm into the Cradle Shock by Sabin for the pin.
Winners: Chris Sabin & James Storm by pinfall at 10:10
A Sacrifice for Sacrifice
We go backstage where we see XXXL arguing with Reno Scum who gets interrupted by Decay. Rosemary tells XXXL they couldn’t get the job done last week, Acey Romero wants nothing of it and they walk out. Reno Scum says they aren’t really afraid of Decay, and Rosemary says that’s good because they are looking for a ‘Sacrifice’ for this Saturday, which Reno Scum seems to agree to a match. Crazzy Steve calls them a couple of freaks.
Violence is the Path
We see Violent by Design letting Deaner out from the darkroom he was thrown in last year. Eric Young says this was done because ‘violence is the path, and the only thing the disease understands’. James Storm & Chris Sabin walk in asking what’s going on, Young says this is family stuff and doesn’t concern them. Storm says what they are doing to Deaner is wrong and Young should know how that feels before all three members of Violent by Design start attacking Storm & Sabin. Young screams for them to ‘stay out of their business’ and walks away.
Holds Harmless
We go backstage to Scott D’Amore’s office that Brian Myers slams into. Myers asks if Scott has gone through all of Mark Sterling’s papers. Myers says don’t worry about it, as long as he just erases Eddie Edwards’ contract, and this will all go away. Scott tells Myers that they can go to court for this If they need to and makes a match for Sacrifice between Brian Myers vs. Eddie Edwards in a ‘Holds Harmless Match’. Myers says it sounds great, Scott says he should call his lawyer to have him explain that it’s basically a ‘No Rules’ match, and they can go ECW style. Myers gets all upset about what he agreed to and walks out. Scott says he can’t stand a cluttered desk and knocks everything off.
Trey Miguel vs. Sam Beale
Sami Callihan comes out first to address the ‘packed crowd’ tonight. Callihan calls Miguel a quitter and says his new protégé is the best wrestler on the planet and has what Trey is missing, passion. Miguel is a bit reluctant to start this match and as he’s yelling to Callihan, gets attacked from behind by Beale. Miguel comes back with a dropkick and a suplex, before putting on a figure four/arm breaker combination for the quick submission win.
Winner: Trey Miguel by submission at 44 seconds
The lights go out and as we come back, Miguel is by the entrance and sees Sami Callihan take out Beale with a package piledriver running in but being too late.
Cutting Off the Head of the Snake
We go back to Chris Storm & James Storm, Storm says he’s known Eric Young for so long and doesn’t know what happened, but now he disgusts him. Storm says how do you kill a snake? You cut its head off, and if they have to go through his followers that’s exactly what they’ll do at Sacrifice, and they are coming after Violent by Design to whoop their ass. Jake Something comes in and hears what they said and knows they don’t need their help but since he knows Eric Young will be in the corner of Joe Doering and Deaner he wants to be in Storm & Sabin’s corner, and they shake hands and agree to it.
Kenny Did It
We go to Tony Schiavone and the ‘Forbidden Door’ Tony Khan. Khan says he’s excited for Dynamite and goes over highlights and the card for Wednesday. He says that Christian Cage is one of the biggest champions in IMPACT and wonders what he will say on Dynamite. Khan says that Kenny Omega is terrible at building exploding rings and says the exploding ring wasn’t enough to harm Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley and we’ll find out what happened.
Shots for the Title Shot
We go back to Scott D’Amore where we see the Good Brothers and FinJuice and their contract signing for Sacrifice. Karl Anderson starts talking trash, but D’Amore tells them to just get down to it and sign. Both teams say they have to take shots first, D’Amore says he knows how this ends and just tells them to sign it and get this over with. No matter how much they drink just sign this at the end of the day. Anderson says now that the office is gone, let’s get down to it, as they all start taking shots. FinJuice takes one shot and Anderson says ‘what, just one shot?’ and tells them to take more, they go to Round 2 as Anderson calls it a ‘Curt Hennig’. As the Good Brothers go to sign, Dave Finlay says ‘what happened to Round 3?’. They take the shots, and the Good Brothers and FinJuice finally sign it before taking another shot, but FinJuice goes and throws theirs in the Good Brothers’ faces and they start brawling in the office.
Ace Austin (w/ Madman Fulton) vs. Chris Bey
Right when the bell rings, Ace Austin takes a steel chair and places it right outside to let Madman Fulton sit on it. Back in the ring, they lock up and start trading exchanges and takedowns as they seem evenly matched throughout. Bey is able to take Austin into an Indian Deathlock attempt but Austin quickly grabs the rope to escape. They continue to stare down throughout the match until Austin is able to hit a Northern Lights Suplex for a 1 count. Austin follows with a double underhook suplex with some knee strikes thrown in for a two-count. Austin ends up on the outside and gets hit by a flying Bey. As Fulton tries to interfere, Austin tells him to sit and not interfere. They fight on the apron a bit until Austin wins and hits a Fosbury Flop followed by a Pinpoint Kick on the inside for a 2 count. They exchange and dodge kicks inside until Bey hits a Code Red for a two. Austin hits a jumping knee strike followed by a springboard senton for a 2 count. Austin pulls out a card from his sleeve, but Bey dodges the Fold, they exchange a bit more until Bey hits a kick in the corner. Bey goes to the top, but Austin hits a roundhouse kick to knock him down. Austin goes for a Superplex, but Bey blocks it as they start fighting on the top. Bey puts Austin in a Fireman’s Carry position, but Austin goes falling down to the outside, followed by Bey as they go to the commercial.
As they come back, both men look fatigued and fighting while on their knees. They both get a surge of energy and take it into the next gear as Austin hits a flying pinwheel leg drop off the top rope for a two-count. Austin places Bey on top of the turnbuckle before betting a running start, Bey blocks it and takes down Austin, tries the Art of Finesse but gets caught, they exchange until Bey hits the Vertebreaker for a close two count as Bey looks shocked. Bey looks frustrated and starts stomping on Austin. They go back and forth followed by a springboard DDT by Bey, but he misses the Art of Finesse as Austin rolls to the outside right near the sitting Fulton. As Bey goes to him, Fulton stands in their way, ducks and Austin kicks off of Fulton into Bey. They go back inside, but we see TJP sitting on a chair of his own by the entranceway. Austin seems distracted by this, as Fulton goes and chases him away. Austin runs right into a cutter, followed by the Art of Finesse as Bey gets the pin.
Winner: Chris Bey by pinfall at 18:33
Alexander Waiting
We go to Swinger’s Palace where TJP comes in and sits down at John E. Bravo’s table. Josh Alexander walks in and takes a seat before getting in TJP’s face asking if he’s having fun. Alexander says how he can have his X-Division title on a poker table while he has a title defense on Saturday. TJP says he beat Alexander, so his title defense against Ace Austin will be just as easy. Alexander says he will be waiting for the winner.
We go backstage where Rohit Raju stops Shera and asks him what happened tonight. They had the match won, and Shera cost it. Raju tells Shera he brought him here from India and this is what he gets? Shera picks up Raju and pushes him against the wall and says ‘He doesn’t owe him anything’ before dropping him down.
ODB vs. Susan
Susan has her own Post-It note graphic with real catchy music and tells the referee that ODB needs to cover up her chest, ODB counters back by putting Susan’s head right in there. ODB starts chopping Susan in the corner before hitting a splash and a Bronco Buster. ODB hits a fall-away slam as Susan rolls out, as we go to the commercial.
Once we come back, ODB is still in control until Susan rakes her eyes and makes a comeback until she runs into an ODB elbow and the Dirty Dozen until ODB hits a Chest Press for a two count. Susan comes back with a Full Nelson, but ODB easily gets out. Susan jumps on the back for a chokehold, but ODB breaks it by backing up into the corner. Susan grabs ODB’s flask but pours it all out to the outside. This greatly upsets ODB who comes back with a kick to the gut and a Samoan Drop for the pin.
Winner: ODB by pinfall at 8:07
As soon as the bell rings ODB gets attacked from behind by Deonna Purrazzo and Kimber Lee. Jazz and Jordynne Grace come in for the save as they all start brawling. Grace hits a Spine Buster on Lee, as Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz come out and start brawling as well. Steelz hits a jumping cutter on ODB followed by a rolling DDT from Hogan as all of the heels stand tall before leaving.
IMPACT Champion vs. TNA Champion vs. AEW Champion
We go backstage where we see Scott D’Amore with someone we don’t see, saying it’s signed, sealed, and delivered before we cut to Moose in the ring. Moose says since he’s the champion, he deserves to hear this news first. D’Amore says since he can’t wait any longer, he will head to the ring and we still don’t see who Scott was talking to as we go to our final commercial.
We come back, and Moose is getting impatient waiting for Scott D’Amore. D’Amore finally comes out. D’Amore says no disrespect leaving him waiting, but it’s been a hectic day. D’Amore says before he makes his announcement, he first welcomes Rich Swann. D’Amore thanks both of them and says that this Saturday they will face off in the main event of Sacrifice, but something has been bothering him. Scott says Moose has been claiming himself as that TNA World Champion and doesn’t feel like him picking it up makes him a champion and says this Saturday they will settle it once and for and says both the IMPACT and the TNA World Titles will be on the line in a Unification Match. Scott then says there’s something, he almost forgot. And whoever wins on Saturday, their work is not done, and the winner will be in the main event of Rebellion. The winner of Sacrifice will be part of history and will be in another Title vs. Title Match at Rebellion versus the AEW Champion Kenny Omega.
We go back to the office where the mystery man is revealed to be Don Callis, who says ‘yeah, it’s done… just like we planned’.
Siino Vision: Interesting ending, but it’s what I expected back when Rebellion was announced with the ‘Omega’ symbol in its graphic. This should spark back up the Belt Collector storyline for Kenny who after Rebellion could walk out with 4 titles, the only thing I hope is that whether it be Rich Swann or Moose, we see him show up on Dynamite a couple of times to hype up this match as it’s a big one for both AEW and IMPACT. I don’t see why they can’t, since Double or Nothing isn’t until after. No surprise with Tony Khan doubling down on the ‘Kenny did it’ storyline, it just contradicts things a bit as Kenny is the big heel in AEW while Tony Khan acts as a heel on IMPACT, so they definitely need a bit of realignment to get these points across I feel like.
As far as the action tonight goes, the only real highlight was Chris Bey vs. Ace Austin, even with the distraction finish they were able to tear the house down with two very similar yet opposing styles and Austin made a strong case on why he should regain the X-Division title on Saturday. Everything else was just a simple build to Sacrifice on Saturday as that has been built to possibly be a solid show.
7 shots out of 10
