Even though No Surrender happened just a few weeks ago, it looks like it’s time for TNA to do another monthly special. Sacrifice was announced as the show to take place in the month of March and while the events leading up to this show may have been hastily booked (like many TNA Specials in the past), this one has the potential of being very good.
With the next TNA Plus Special quickly on the horizon, I decided to go over some of the most memorable moments to occur at this event throughout it’s history… Welcome to Distortion Media and here are the Top 10 Sacrifice Moments in TNA Wrestling.
10. Sting Destroys Jeff Jarrett (Sacrifice 2010)
The year 2010 was pretty bad time for WWE or TNA with WWE still having celebrity guests hosting Raw, Jack Swagger as World Heavyweight Champion on Smackdown and Bret Hart’s long awaited turned underwhelming return to the company.
Meanwhile, TNA going head-to-head with the WWE on Monday nights which was ill-advised, wrestlers like Val Venis, Orlando Jordan and the Nasty Boys were stinking up the locker room (possibly in a literal sense with the Nasties) and many of the company’s homegrown stars were relegated to mid carders in favor of WWE guys from the past.
With that said, there were a few things TNA did at the time that were still good and the usage of Sting as a ‘bad guy’ was good example of that. Upon making his return to TNA on the March 8th 2010 edition of TNA, Sting battered Hulk Hogan and Abyss with his baseball bat which led to ‘The Icon’ turning heel for the first time since the final years of WCW.
This led to a lot of intrigue with fans and the wrestlers alike wondering why Sting turned to the dark side; Jeff Jarrett was one of those wrestlers and after much brawling with ‘The Icon’ leading to that year’s Sacrifice event, a match was made between the two in the semi-main event…Unfortunately that bout never actually happened as fans bared witness to Sting giving ‘The King of the Mountain’ the beat down of his life before the bell even rang.
Beating up a bloody faced Double J backstage, Sting continued his assault as he brings Jarrett to the ringside area where he attacks his leg and right arm/shoulder leaving the TNA founder in absolute pain. After throwing Jarrett back in the ring thus allowing the bell to finally ring, Sting hits the Scorpion Death Drop for the three count before medics come out to help Jarrett and Hulk Hogan arrives to stop Sting from causing anymore damage.
While we all know how this story would turn out by the end of the year, it’s safe to say that if you never watched or even heard of WCW like me growing up, then you probably didn’t know about Sting’s history battling two face backstabbers like Jeff Jarrett and Hulk Hogan.
9. Tara Loses To Madison/Tara’s Payback (Sacrifice 2010 & 2011)
Okay, this is actually two moments I’m putting on here for this next entry, but both go hand-in-hand when it comes to long term storytelling during the Hogan/Bischoff Era…and surprisingly it was actually pretty good with hindsight.
At Sacrifice 2010, Tara took on Madison Rayne for the Knockouts Championship with added stipulation being that if Tara could not beat Madison in this match then her time in TNA was over. Tara would lose this match and see her career come to an unfortunate end…at least for the time being.
Fast forward to July and suddenly out of nowhere, an unidentified woman with motorcycle, black bodysuit and biker helmet is seen helping out Madison Rayne throughout her matches and this led many to suspect that it was either Velvet Sky or Lacey Von Erich of the Beautiful People who were allies with Madison.
While both Lacey and Velvet denied that they were the mystery woman, it wouldn’t be until the September 2nd 2010 edition of Impact when the mystery woman was unmasked and was revealed to be Tara; It’s later revealed that Madison had given Tara her job back, provided that she works for her and while the partnership was mutual at first, things suddenly began to fall apart in early 2011 when both ladies ran over Mickie James with a motorcycle leaving her laid out in the back.
After losing the Knockouts title to Mickie at Lockdown 2011, Madison appeared on an episode of Impact asking for her rematch at Sacrifice which Mickie provided on one condition: If Mickie wins then the contract obligations between Tara and Madison were null-in-void.
As the match was reaching it’s conclusion, Tara used Madison’s own loaded glove against her and allowing Mickie to pick up the win which gave Tara her freedom, but the end really came on the July 14th 2011 edition of Impact when Madison and Tara went one-on-one with Tara promising she had ‘a present’ for Madison.
During the match, Rayne would open the present and inside was Tara’s pet tarantula, ‘Poison’ and this allowed Tara finally put away the Queen Bee once and for all.
8. Chyna’s Final Match (Sacrifice 2011)
Speaking of Sacrifice 2011, this is perhaps best remembered as the last professional wrestling match of former DX member and Intercontinental Champion, Chyna.
During Kurt Angle’s feud with Jeff Jarrett back in 2011, Karen (Kurt’s Ex wife, now Jeff’s wife) returned to the company and didn’t hesitate to involve herself in their rivalry as she would help Double J win various matches on pay per view against the Olympic Gold Medalist.
Realizing that he may need some help taking care of his ex-wife, Kurt Angle teased that he had a “Mistress” who couldn’t wait to meet Karen face to face. On the go home episode before Sacrifice, Mick Foley the kayfabe network representative for Spike TV announced a mix tag team match between the Jarrett’s versus Kurt Angle and his ‘mistress’ who soon came from the back and was was none other than Chyna much to shock of many as this was the ninth wonder of the world’s first wrestling appearance in nine years.
To the surprise of no one, Chyna and Angle won their match against the Jarrett’s in a pretty good final contest for the former IC champion before stepping away from pro wrestling once again and tragically dying on April of 2016 at the age 46.
7. Samoa Joe Wins The Super X Cup (Sacrifice 2005)
Back in 2005, TNA had it’s very first sacrifice event with one of the main matches on the card being the finals of that years Super X Cup Tournament which saw “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles and “The Samoan Submission Machine” Samoa Joe facing off with the winner getting a shot at the X Division Championship.
Both men played up to each other’s strengths in this match with AJ’s speed and agility combined with Joe’s hard hitting and submission style of wrestling making this bout one of the all time best.
Christopher Daniels who was the reigning X Division Champion at the time tried to interfere…only to watch in horror as the undefeated Samoa Joe not only became the 2005 Super X Cup winner but also the new number one contender to Daniels X Division title with that match taking place a month later at Unbreakable with AJ being included into the bout making it a three way and the rest is five star rated history.
6. Tasha Steelz Wins the Knockouts Championship (Sacrifice 2022)
2022 could arguably be seen as one of the best years when it comes to TNA’s Knockouts Division as not one but two famous match types in the company’s history was given the all Knockouts treatment. Deonna Purrazzo and Mickie James also made history of their own this year, either as foes during the company’s first ever female Texas Death match in the main event of that year’s Hard To Kill or as individuals like when Mickie entered that year’s Royal Rumble as the Knockouts World Champion or Deonna Purrazzo being Triple A’s and Ring of Honors women’s champions despite not being signed to either promotion.
Another historical feat that happened in 2022 centers around former Knockouts Tag Team Champion, Tasha Steelz who had started off the year by winning the first ever Knockouts Ultimate X match. Steelz would soon go on to fight for championship gold when at Sacrifice 2022, she cashed in her red X to get a shot at Mickie James’ Knockouts World Championship.
After a little over 14 minutes, Tasha pinned Mickie to become the first Afro-Latina to become the Knockouts Champion and sparked her new moniker: ‘The Greatest To Have Beaten The Greatest’.
Sadly despite title defenses against the likes of Mickie, Rosemary and Havok, Steelz’ reign would be overshadowed by the storylines involving Purrazzo/Chelsea Green/Mickie James and by the time the title was front and center once again was when Jordynne Grace defeated Tasha and a few others in the first ever Queen of the Mountain match at Slammiversary 2022…Still you gotta give Tasha’s 160 day reign as champion some respect as she defeated three former Knockouts Champions in that time and competed in two first time ever matches for the Knockouts to set up and later end her title pursuits.
5. Scott D’Amore’s Canadian Destroyer (Sacrifice 2023)
Scott D’Amore’s release from the TNA in February of this year left the TNA Faithful and the wrestling community shocked, considering under his watch the company went from nearly being bought out by the WWE to become a solid alternative for wrestlers and wrestling fans once again…While were still dealing with the after effects of D’Amore’s absence from the company, it’s worth remembering the great moments that happened under the D’Amore Era…like this one.
Bully Ray’s war with Scott D’Amore from late 2022-2023 was perhaps the best in the former World Champions career outside of his feud with former TNA President, Dixie Carter. At Sacrifice 2023 Bully beat Tommy Dreamer in match under dubious circumstances before putting a legendary hockey player through a table…because if you follow Bully’s history then you know he likes putting middle aged yet legendary figures in sports through tables.
D’Amore soon came out whilst being flanked by wrestlers from the locker room who proceeded to clear the ring until one of Bully’s underlings, Jason Hotch tried to attack Scott which lead to Scott of all people… Hitting a Canadian Destroyer while the crowd in Windsor Ontario erupted in amazement.
4. Roxxi Gets Her Head Shaved Bald (Sacrifice 2008)
At Sacrifice 2008, the knockouts took part in the first and only Makeover Battle Royal which was the making of polarizing wrestling booker, Vince Russo who combined a battle royal with a ladder match with the winner getting a shot at the Knockouts Championship and loser getting their head shaved.
The final three participants in the match were Gail Kim, Roxxi Laveaux and Angelina Love however, Love was eliminated from the match making the final two: Gail and Roxxi, but do to Gail Kim winning a Clippers on a Pole match on Impact (Vince Russo’s favorite match type) she had won immunity from getting her head shaved which meant that if Roxxi won the match, than the last person eliminated from the battle royal aka Angelina Love would get their head shaved instead of Gail.
This lead to both Angelina or Velvet Sky interfering in the match numerous with Gail becoming the number one contender and Roxxi being force to get her head shaved bald. It’s one of the saddest moments in TNA Wrestling made all the more show with ODB, Gail Kim, Shelly Martinez and Traci Brooks who were participants in this match coming back out in support for Roxxi.
Angelina and Velvet on the other hand were seen laughing hysterically while also grabbing bits of Roxxi’s chopped off hair in one of TNA’s most heartbreaking moments
3. Rich Swann’s Biggest Win (Sacrifice 2021)
This moment tends to be forgotten as it took place during the pandemic and was quickly overshadowed by the company’s next major event, Rebellion.
After beating Eric Young for the World title at BFG 2020, Rich Swann was soon seen as the target for “TNA World Heavyweight Champion” Moose which led eventually leading to an announcement by Scott D’Amore who said that at Sacrifice the match between Moose and Swann would be a unification match with winner going on to defend that newly Unified Impact World Titles at Rebellion in the main event against AEW World Champion, Kenny Omega.
The bout between Moose and Swann at Sacrifice was certainly a match of the year contender with Swann having to rely on his speed to outmaneuver his opponent, while Moose had to impose his strength and viciousness to ground the high flying champion.
By the end of it all, Swann pulled off the biggest win of his entire career and defeated Moose to become the first ever Unified Impact World Champion…but a few weeks later, Omega would win all of the gold at Rebellion and Swann would never again come close to winning the world title during his run in the company.
2. Josh Alexander’s Return (Sacrifice 2022)
One year later from the previous entry and Moose is once again in the main event at Sacrifice for the World Title, expect the outcome would be different from his bout with Swann but it would be Moose that’s left laid out in the ring by the end of the night.
After cashing in his Call Your Shot Trophy in the final minutes of Bound For Glory 2022, Moose had finally become IMPACT World Champion much to shock of many but also to the delight of some and anger to others with now former champion, Josh Alexander being the most angry.
In the weeks that followed, Alexander’s rage would get him into heated arguments and become even more intense when wrestling his fellow competitors until Scott D’Amore realized that Alexander had to be sent home to contemplate on his action which Scott did by suspending Josh.
Not long after this, it was announce that Alexander’s work visa was expiring and this led to fans befuddled that the company let one of their top stars work visa expire while other were hoping that WWE or AEW could come in and sign up ‘The Walking Weapon’ to contract in the process.
Thankfully in one of the best troll jobs to the LOL IMPACT community and a great bit of storytelling to boot, Josh re-emerged at the end of 2022’s Sacrifice event and dropped Moose with his finisher before announcing that he re-signed with the company and that his getting his rematch for the title in the main event at Rebellion.
A fantastic return, a solid way to end a show and great way to make the main event of your next major show all the more eye catching.
1. Kurt Angle’s Forgotten Title Win (Sacrifice 2007)
TNA’s partnership with the National Wrestling Alliance (or NWA for short) saw TNA used the the NWA to garner some credibility in addition to using their titles, while the NWA used TNA as a way to keep the name alive and to continue the tradition of classic, southern style of wrestling that the NWA was known for.
Of course nothing last forever and after five years, the NWA and TNA were going their separate ways after a number of stars who were NWA champions at the time failed to defend them in the territories that were associated with the NWA.
The announcement was made on May 13th 2007 with the NWA ending their partnership with TNA which came about the same time and day as the company’s Sacrifice pay per view where the NWA Tag Team and World Heavyweight Championships were set to be defended on the event.
Placed in an awkward situation, the company went on to call the belts the TNA Tag Team and World Heavyweight Championships and had both matches end via screwy finishes which was used as a way to strip the champions of their titles and for the sake this entry led to Kurt Angle’s NWA title win not being recognized as legitimate.
Due to TNA’s ever growing popularity and exposure they created their own belts and at Slammiversary 2007 the main event event saw Kurt Angle become the first ever TNA World Heavyweight Champion after winning the King of The Mountain match.
While the NWA would work with TNA on a much smaller scale in more recent years albeit on a on and off basis, Sacrifice 2007 could be seen as the last NWA TNA PPV before the TNA brand went on it’s own for better and for worse…and later on for better once again.
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