ThunderStruck: TNA Sacrifice Reaction

Sacrifice opened with a solid tag team match that resulted in new champions being crowned in Daniels and Kazarian. I expect Joe and Magnus to get a rematch right off the jump, but you have to wonder if TNA plans on keeping the pair together for long. These guys showcased what tag team wrestling is all about.

Gail Kim used the ropes to pin Brooke Tessmacher and retain her Knockouts Championship. This was a good women’s match from TNA and I’m glad Gail kept her title. She defends it well month to month and is the perfect heel to represent the division. Brooke wasn’t quite ready to be the champion, but you can see how much talent she has and know that she’ll be around in TNA for a long time to come.

Devon retained the TV Title in a short triple threat match with Robbie E. and Robbie T. I can’t see T and E lasting as friends much longer after the way things ended in this match. Devon needs a new rivalry and I’m sure TNA will come up with something for him.

Ken Anderson beat Jeff Hardy in a decent match with a botched finish. I expect Anderson to argue that he deserves the next title shot at Bobby Roode, but I don’t think this will be his last match with Hardy as long as Jeff claims that the pinfall wasn’t legitimate. I’m thinking both of these guys might be involved with the title match at Slammiversay if King of the Mountain is brought back.

Crimson defeated Eric Young in an impromptu match. EY gets mistreated and can wrestle better than most of the roster. Crimson is not very talented and pretty bland to watch in the ring. With Matt Morgan rumored to be leaving, I don’t know what’s next for Crimson and I don’t know that I like the idea of him being involved in any important rivalries.

Austin Aries defeated Bully Ray in the second really good match of the night. Bully Ray’s losing streak continues, and I’m curious when and who he will end up getting a win over. I thought the new gimmick would mean a more dominant character that won matches, but instead this losing streak is somewhat comical and will add to the character’s storyline anger. Aries is great, and I’m not sure who he is supposed to drop the X Division Title to before going after the World Title down the road.

Kurt Angle defeated AJ Styles using the ankle lock after AJ was distracted by Kazarian and Daniels. Angle and Styles took care of Daniels and Kazarian after the match. It looks like Styles and Angle will be forming a tag team in the near future. As for the match, this is one of those battles that will be highly underrated and not talked about nearly enough. Their match was awesome and could have easily been the main event of the night. Angle and Styles never fail to put on a good show together, but I’m not sure if they’ve had a better overall wrestling match with one another before now. Good booking from TNA.

Bobby Roode defeated RVD in a ladder match to retain the World Title. It was a good ladder match, but it wasn’t in the top ten ladder matches of all time or anything. It worked, and now Bobby Roode looks like one of the most dominant World Champions in the history of TNA. I expect him to hold onto the title until James Storm takes it back.

This was a really good show. I’d like to reference the quote below to talk about what I think attributed to some of the success of this event. Everything went right and we didn’t have to listen to any Hogan or Bischoff promos. This is what TNA needs to do every month going forward. Forget the drama and forget the authority figures. Just shut up and wrestle. WWE could take a lesson on this as well. Thanks for reading!

“It was noted by some TNA Wrestling employees Sunday night how good Sacrifice was without Eric Bischoff, Dixie Carter and Hulk Hogan’s last-minute involvement. All three individuals were not on hand for the annual pay-per-view event.” – wrestlenewz.com

facebook.com/thunderstruck11 – add me