courtesy of Austin Aries-TNA Impact FaceBook
The X Division championship changed hands once again, and I am really not that upset. With the match that Austin Aries and Chris Sabin put on during the second week of Genesis, they can wrestle each other on every Impact show for all I care.
These guys did something that I haven’t seen in quite a while: they sold themselves and the crowd on their match. Every move was done with confidence and salesmanship. When Sabin got pushed in the corner, kicked in the ribs, dropped out of the ring and kicked in the face against the unforgiving turnbuckle, you felt it as if you were there. His hair flopped crazily and he dropped to the mat in his own version of a Ric Flair face bump.
Aries and Sabin wrestled in the chain for a while, and then it got brutal. They were flying at each other with knees and dropkicks and launching each other out of the ring. What made the match so fun to watch is that there was more than one element to it. It wasn’t just two men with rippled abs throwing clotheslines and shoulder tackles.
It was a brief but entertaining story where Aries stood up for Sabin’s girlfriend, Velvet Sky. Sky was the reason for Sabin’s wins as well as his losses while defending the title. He has been a jerk to her and Aries stood up for her, becoming her pint-sized knight in shining armor … or maybe just a fluttering black cape.
During the match, she was taken out of the equation and placed in a cage, where she was restrained from assisting her verbally abusive, yet comical boyfriend. Sabin ended up being dropped on his head, and Aries once again has claimed the title.
This match was something that was much needed in Genesis. It was a fun story with some great acting, better wrestling and a solid wrap-up to a good rivalry. If I was TNA, I would look to these two to get more involved in prominent storyline now that three of their wrestling legends have left the company.
They need to be careful to avoid the trap that the WWE has got itself into, and instead branch out to guys deserving of air time. Sabin and Aries can both step up and fulfill this role.
