Chris Sabin’s return and Matt Morgan’s main event match with Sting were the highlight of a weak episode of Impact Wrestling this week. With the Aces and Eights running out of fresh meat on the roster to grind, many of the stars that made this week’s Impact Power Rankings didn’t do as much wrestling as usual.
5: Chris Sabin: Not an amazing return, but one that adds to the credibility and validity the X-Division sorely needs. In fantastic shape, Sabin got a nice pop from the audience and figures to be a big time part in the company’s X-Division plans moving forward. A new variation of the Cradle Shock was a nice touch on the finish.
4: Robert Roode and Austin Aries: Money. That’s what these guys are. Better on the microphone that anyone expected, they are easily one of the most well-rounded tag teams in the world today. Their current angle with Bad Influence and the Tag Team Champions Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez is probably the best angle in the ring in TNA today. It’s even sad in a way that the challengers are more over than the champions.
3: Christopher Daniels and Frank Kazarian: If Roode and Aries are money, Bad Influence is like finding a winning lotto ticket every Thursday. Just as good as Roode and Aries in the ring, Daniels and Kaz are more charismatic and entertaining. But don’t let their silly candor fool you. They don’t play games in the ring. The fact that they have a team like Aries and Roode to fight with makes them even better.
2: Kurt Angle: Yeah, a win over D’Lo Brown isn’t a career making affair, but it was a clean win over a member of the company’s most dominant faction that made the victory an important one. Although he’s not the competitor he once was, Angle is still a master shooter than makes every show better than he has a match on.
1: Sting: In a typical TNA move, Matt Morgan has once again been passed up for a World title shot. Sting may be the most recognizable face on the roster and still a capable worker, but his win over Morgan this week doesn’t prove anything that isn’t known already. TNA doesn’t have faith in their “younger†stars enough to give them the ball. For as long as he’s in the company, Sting will be in the world title picture. Although he’s a legend, it’s still a shame. Someone else deserves a chance.
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports.
Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders.
His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023.
Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief.
Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale.
Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.
Chris Sabin’s return and Matt Morgan’s main event match with Sting were the highlight of a weak episode of Impact Wrestling this week. With the Aces and Eights running out of fresh meat on the roster to grind, many of the stars that made this week’s Impact Power Rankings didn’t do as much wrestling as usual.
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