Best and Worst of Impact Wrestling: LAX steals the show again, James Mitchell brings an old friend

Worst #1: Ace Austin slows down for the Deaners

The opener was a little flat considering who was in it

Ace Austin is an incredible talent. Seriously, his acrobatic style, his evasiveness, and his unique offense make him a perfect star for the X-Division and someone that could be putting on killer matches with Rich Swann right now.

Sadly, since Johnny Impact has been placed in that slot, Austin has been relegated to one-off matches with random talent. This week, he took on one half of the Deaners, Cousin Jake.

Jake isn't a bad performer by any means. In fact, he's got a ton of potential, and Impact seems like a great home for him. However, when Ace Austin debuted all those months ago, I was kind of expecting to see him rise to the top of the X-Division quite soon. He even managed to defeat X-Division legend and former champion Petey Williams.

Yet, here we are. Instead of chasing the gold, Austin is stuck in the opener of the show, facing off against Cousin Jake. A few times in the match it looked like they were completely out of sync. It seemed like Jake was unable to keep up with Austin's pace, especially early on in the bout when the One True Ace was flying around the ring and avoiding Jake's powerful strikes with some unique acrobatics.

They didn't seem to have a lot of chemistry, and it was kind of obvious tonight. The match also ended with a wonky finish when the Desi Hit Squad jumped Cody Deaner from behind, allowing Austin to connect with the Fold on Jake for the win. Overall, not a great opener for Impact.