7 Ups & 4 Downs From IMPACT Wrestling (28 Oct)

5. Ace Back On Track

Ace Austin vs. Chris Sabin felt like the beginning of something more.

Set up due to an already-eliminated Madman Fulton costing Sabin the Call Your Shot gauntlet match, they had a superlative encounter as only they could. Sabin worked on Ace's leg for a while, resulting in Austin changing his style from there onwards. He performed a middle-rope leg drop at one stage, rather than his traditional corkscrew Famouser from the top rope. Subtle changes like this can massively impact a match's quality, and here, it worked excellently.

Fulton's involvement was kept to a minimum, though he did result in the finish. Yanking Sabin's throat into the ropes, Ace hit the Fold for the three. Not only was this the correct result, but it went down with such impact to get Ace back where he needs to be. It ticked every box.

Sabin must be commended for his efforts throughout, though. Like the aforementioned leg focus, the former World Champion was on top of his game at various stages. Tripping an opponent simply by sticking a leg out, sending them crashing, is, again, so simple, yet so effective. Solid work.