Sacrifice 2008: The Deuces Wild Tournament Dominates a Busy Card Before Joe Survives the Main Event

Team 3D opened Sacrifice 2008’s Deuces Wild tournament against the unlikely partnership of Sting and James Storm. Storm began with Brother Devon and frustrated him with sharp shots, only to be cut off by a shoulder tackle. The brothers isolated Storm until he reached Sting, whose powerful attacks forced Brother Ray to retreat. Sting never trusted Storm, and that uneasy alliance was the true weak point of a quarterfinal whose winners would advance into an eight-team championship bracket. Brother Devon continued working over Sting until the veteran escaped another attempted diving headbutt and connected with a Stinger Splash.

Team 3D retrieved a table and tried to put Sting through it, but he countered with a double clothesline. With Storm posturing at ringside instead of helping, Sting turned on his own partner: he grabbed Storm and sent him off the ropes and THROUGH THE TABLE. Devon then covered Storm for the pin at about 8:45. The tournament victory belongs to Team 3D; Sting was not pinned, and the double-cross was not an outside disqualification. C+ (6.7) values the character twist but recognizes that the awkward partner pairing was built to end badly, so the wrestling was secondary to the disruption.

Christian Cage and Rhino faced the incompatible Robert Roode and Booker T in another Deuces Wild quarterfinal. Roode and Booker shoved each other before the bell, then Roode refused to tag Booker even while Christian repeatedly returned to his partner. The tension gave Rhino and Christian opportunities to wrestle as the more coordinated team. Roode relied on chops and a spinebuster, and Booker eventually tagged himself in, supplying high kicks and strikes before Rhino rallied with power clotheslines and a corner charge. The experienced four-man pairing gave the otherwise short contest recognizable offense and a clear reason for its result.

Roode tagged himself back in during Booker’s attack and announced he would finish the fight. Instead his attempted Payoff maneuver was countered by a Gore from Rhino; Rhino pinned ROODE to advance alongside Christian in roughly seven minutes. Booker returned to offer the winners an apparent handshake before turning on both men with a steel chair, reinforcing the personal breakdown after the match rather than changing the recorded pin. C+ (6.6) credits the bracket progression, with Booker’s post-match attack proving more consequential than the exchange of holds itself.

LAX, Homicide and Hernandez, drew Kip James and Matt Morgan as their Deuces Wild first-round opponents, an improvised pairing that never developed reliable tag teamwork. Kip mocked Homicide’s height, then was taken down by Homicide’s dropkick and a flying shoulder block from Hernandez. Morgan used his size to attack Homicide after throwing him back inside, but when Hernandez finally tagged in, the balance shifted. The bigger Morgan survived a pair of shoulder tackles before Hernandez knocked him down with a flying shoulder block of his own.

Morgan tried to regain control with a big boot as the four fought around each other, but his strike accidentally hit his own partner Kip. Hernandez followed by booting Kip himself, covered KIP JAMES and scored the quarterfinal pin in approximately four minutes. This was not Homicide pinning Morgan and not a win secured by Hector Guerrero’s interference. The C- (5.8) reflects a brief bracket clearing match whose readable finish came from Morgan and Kip’s failure to work as a team, rather than a sustained display of LAX offense.

A.J. Styles was paired with his masked partner Super Eric for the Deuces Wild quarterfinal after his usual partner Tomko was unavailable. Their opposing makeshift pairing was B.G. James and the reigning Knockouts champion Awesome Kong, accompanied by Raisha Saeed. Styles used a sunset flip against Kong, but the powerful champion simply sat down for a near fall before blasting him with a spinning backfist. Kong and James isolated Styles until he escaped with a Pelé kick and finally tagged the superhero. Super Eric hit James with a modified Swanton, but Kong broke the pin and forced him to deal with her size.

Super Eric scooped Kong up and slammed her onto James, then followed Kong to the floor with a dive. Styles attempted a springboard corkscrew attack, caught his feet in the ropes and fell awkwardly against the top rope. B.G. James moved to take advantage, but Styles countered a suplex into an inside-cradle small-package pin on JAMES to advance their team in roughly five and a half minutes. The C (6.0) reflects a genuinely different intergender matchup and its chaotic, abruptly improvised finish. Neither the powerful Kong nor Super Eric took the deciding fall; Styles pinned James, and the possible injury after the botched springboard should not be presented as a confirmed diagnosis.

The ten-man TerrorDome cage debuted on Sacrifice 2008 with Kaz, Jay Lethal, Consequences Creed, Sonjay Dutt, Curry Man, Shark Boy, Jimmy Rave, Johnny Devine and the Motor City Machine Guns Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley. Its objective was not a pinfall, submission or removal of a hanging X. The first wrestler to climb to the small opening at the very top of the cage and escape through the roof would win the next X Division title opportunity. Before the bell, Jim Cornette added a second reward: Kurt Angle had been ruled unable to wrestle because of a neck injury, so the winner would also replace Angle opposite Samoa Joe and Scott Steiner in the night’s World Championship main event.

The men fought in a crowded ring and along the inner bars. A huge multi-person corner Tower of Doom interrupted several escape attempts; Curry Man and Dutt leapt from the cage above a cluster of wrestlers. Devine later climbed toward the roof exit, only for Kaz to pull him back and send him crashing toward the group underneath. Kaz then moved along the top structure, worked through the opening and escaped to win after around ten and a half minutes. The B+ (8.0) credits the distinctive cage objective and unusual immediate double reward, while acknowledging that the many simultaneous spots made the pace hard to follow. Kaz did not win by eliminating the other nine wrestlers, and both earned opportunities are direct consequences of his escape.

Team 3D faced Christian Cage and Rhino in the first Deuces Wild semifinal, carrying the bracket onward after Team 3D beat Sting and James Storm while Christian and Rhino defeated Booker T and Robert Roode. Brother Ray and Devon repeatedly isolated Christian with chokes, strikes and attacks against the steel steps. Christian used the corner ropes to counter Ray with a hurricanrana before Rhino made a hot tag and landed a belly-to-belly suplex. The challengers fought hard enough to make the veteran Team 3D vulnerable, including Rhino hitting the Gore on Devon with a plausible winning cover.

The finish instead came from Team 3D ally Johnny Devine, who appeared with a kendo stick and distracted referee attention as Rhino covered Devon. Devine handed the weapon to Ray, who struck Rhino; Devon then covered RHINO for the pin at about 9:52. Christian and Rhino did not lose because of a straightforward 3D finisher, and Devine was not another sanctioned match entrant. C+ (6.8) recognizes an eventful semifinal while deducting for interference that decided the tournament advancement.

LAX met A.J. Styles and Super Eric in the other Deuces Wild semifinal after both teams won improvised first-round pairings. Styles and Homicide opened with quick counters and collided during simultaneous crossbody attempts; Hernandez and Super Eric then turned the bout into a contest of strength, with Eric sending Hernandez to the floor and following with an athletic dive. Styles recovered from his earlier springboard mishap on this very PPV to connect cleanly with a flying elbow from the ropes. LAX isolated Super Eric with a delayed Hernandez vertical suplex and coordinated strikes, but Styles returned with kicks and tried to end Homicide’s run.

Styles trapped Homicide in a small package near the end and might have pinned him, but Salinas occupied the referee while Hector Guerrero entered and physically reversed the cover. The referee returned to count HOMICIDE pinning STYLES, sending LAX to the tag title final in roughly seven and a half minutes. That outcome depended directly on LAX ringside help, not a clean Homicide finisher or a pin of Super Eric. The C+ (6.5) values the fast exchanges and understandable tournament consequence while acknowledging the dishonest reversal.

The Knockouts Makeover contest was an unusual TWO-STAGE challenge among Gail Kim, Roxxi Laveaux, Angelina Love, Velvet Sky, ODB, Jacqueline, Traci Brooks, Salinas, Rhaka Khan and Christy Hemme. The first stage was a battle royal, eliminating wrestlers over the top rope until only two remained. Kim and Roxxi outlasted the field, with Roxxi removing Angelina Love as the last other participant. The remaining wrestlers then contested a ladder match to retrieve the suspended contract: the winner became No. 1 contender for Awesome Kong’s Knockouts title, while the loser faced having her head shaved. Because Kim had pre-earned immunity from the haircut, a Kim loss would instead have forced Angelina Love, the third-place finisher, to be shaved.

Kim and Roxxi fought over the ladders, with Kim taking Roxxi down using a headscissors and later a sunset-flip powerbomb. Roxxi suffered a real cut on her forehead, fought back and struck Kim with a spinebuster onto a ladder. When Roxxi climbed toward the prize, Angelina Love pushed the ladder over while Velvet Sky also interfered. Love then encouraged Kim up another ladder, and Kim retrieved the contract to win the combined contest. ROXXI, not Love, had her head shaved afterward despite audience protests. The C+ (6.8) credits the high-risk final stage and genuine Knockouts-title contender consequence, while the complicated haircut immunity and outside interference made the outcome feel unnecessarily cruel. The archive correctly retains one match record with the SAME ten participant sides, but the two distinct stages and LADDER victory must be clear.

LAX reached the Deuces Wild final against Team 3D with the vacant TNA World Tag Team Championship at stake. Before the bell the teams brawled outside, and Homicide launched himself through the ropes toward Devon. Once the match formally started, Team 3D isolated Homicide with a series of heavy strikes and a headscissors. Hernandez eventually took the tag and cleared the ring with a high back body drop and a leap over the top rope. Johnny Devine attempted to help Team 3D by setting up a table at ringside, but Hector Guerrero seized his kendo stick and stomped Devine through the table from the top rope. That ringside counter removed the attempted interference without ending the tag match itself.

Brother Ray hit Hernandez with a superplex and Devon followed with a diving headbutt for two. The match broke down further as 3D attacked Homicide, only for Hernandez to powerbomb Devon with his Border Toss. HOMICIDE then connected with a top-rope Frog Splash onto DEVON and covered Devon for the winning three count, crowning LAX champions. WrestlingFigs live coverage, PWTorch Caldwell same-night and the subsequent Wrestling Recaps review specifically identify Homicide as the wrestler making the pin on Devon; Pro Wrestling History instead credits Hernandez for the final pin. The live majority view is adopted while the dissent is preserved in the source notes. The B- (7.3) credits the championship consequence and concrete finishing combination, despite the busy floor distractions and legal-man ambiguity.

Kurt Angle's injury changed Sacrifice's World Heavyweight Championship main event, but Kaz earned the vacant place rather than receiving it by default: he escaped through the TerrorDome roof earlier that night. Samoa Joe entered as champion opposite Kaz and Scott Steiner, whose Feast or Fired title opportunity was already in play. Joe opened with kicks and submission holds, before Steiner slowed him with suplexes and a Steiner Recliner. Kaz broke the hold with a missile dropkick as Joe fought back to his feet. Steiner then struck Joe with a concealed lead pipe on the floor when the champion attempted a suicide dive. Kaz attacked Steiner and scored near falls of his own, including a springboard DDT, but could not close the match.

Petey Williams interfered at ringside, tripping Kaz on the turnbuckle and giving Steiner the opening for a top-rope Frankensteiner. Joe broke up Steiner's pin, regained control with a powerslam and fought through Kaz's attempts to steal the title. When Steiner threw Kaz from the ring, Joe struck Steiner with an enzuigiri and finished him with the Muscle Buster for the pin in 14:27. JOE PINNED STEINER, not Kaz: the final fall protected Kaz from taking the loss after his breakthrough TerrorDome win, while keeping Joe's championship reign intact. The B (7.8) reflects the three-way's inventive counters and credible near falls, with the awkward attempted Flux Capacitor and interference preventing a stronger verdict.