10 Ups & 1 Down From IMPACT Wrestling Victory Road 2021

3. Ace Out, Josh In

Christian Cage vs. Josh Alexander is your Bound For Glory main event, with the latter trading in the X Division Title via Option C to challenge for the World Title come 23 October.

It's a shame in a way that it came following Cage's defence vs. Ace Austin, as it stole the thunder of a tremendous World Title match.

Austin always works well in this sort of situation. It's a credit to his work - and, through association to the match, Cage and Madman Fulton - that he's able to not be entirely overshadowed by the main event announcement. He put in a shift here, and it's recognised.

The former X Division Champion wrestled perhaps his greatest IMPACT match to date. Everything clicked as soon as it landed. His innovative techniques felt as crisp as they could; a corkscrew Swanton Bomb is difficult to pull off without missing the opponent by a considerable amount, yet Ace landed on Christian with enough force to look near-perfect. This also applies to Cage. The match felt as if he'd never left. Everything he did was done with the same precision as he did a decade ago. His Spear counter to the Fold was gorgeous, and his match-winning Killswitch put Ace down with force for what is traditionally a contrived finish.

A solid match with a noteworthy aftermath. That's how you end what is essentially a pay-per-view.

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Can be found raving about the latest IMPACT Wrestling signing, the Saints Row franchise, and King Shark in The Suicide Squad.