9 Ups & 4 Downs From Impact Wrestling (5 Jan)

2. Perfectly-Placed Opener

Opening the first Impact show of 2021 with a four-way X division bout was a terrific decision by Impact management. Ace Austin, Crazzy Steve, Blake Christian, and KC Navarro set the tone for the rest of the evening with their exhilarating contest here.

In their official Impact debuts, Christian and Navarro looked like they belonged in the Impact Zone, putting all the pieces together alongside Impact regulars Austin and Steve for a genuinely amazing match. Blake, in particular, shone here. Both his standing Spanish fly and tope con hilo, where he managed to land both feet on the floor, were showcases of agility that only the X division can offer.

Ace's Fosbury Flop made for another highlight, as did Crazzy Steve's match-ending top rope DDT on Navarro. A bit of an underwhelming winner here - no offence to the former World Tag Team Champion, of course - but an otherwise outstanding bout.

The rest of the show had a hard task trying to follow this, while it also set the precedent for Saturday's Super X Cup tournament at Genesis. Scott D'Amore and Don Callis would be foolish to pass on signing Blake and KC to full-time deals. They can both add so much to an already-stacked division.