TNA HITS & MISSES (4/16): Mustafa Ali as TNA International. Champion, KC Navarro’s return, The System as TNA Tag Champs, EC3’s return, The Undead Realm, Moose’s insult

HITS

Opening Montage Review of Rebellion:

I’m always a big advocate of highlighting your PPV on the immediate episode of the following weekly programming.

K.C. Navarro Returning to Impact Programming:

Even though it was against A.J. Francis, I am glad to see K.C. Navarro wrestling again on Impact after returning at Rebellion over the weekend. After rolling over Francis, as he should have, I am hoping that TNA will put him over Nic Nemeth in their impending feud as they tussled with Nemeth on commentary after Navarro’s match tonight.

The System as the new TNA Tag Team Champions:

The System, with some long overdue and much needed credibility, as tag team champions just feels right. The Hardys are starting to feel a bit stale in TNA and The System, at least some of the members, are the future of the company and they needed this elevation.

Leon Slater giving Cedric Alexander the “Will Smith Oscars Slap”:

I’m a big Leon Slater fan and this moment of comedy really worked, even in a serious angle. One could argue that the call back to the Will Smith-Chris Rock altercation is dated but it still hit for me.

Mustafa Ali as TNA International Champion:

It’s not a secret that I love the work of Ali and holding a title has been long overdue for a talent of his caliber. I also love the idea of an open challenge. It works, specifically for him, even though it can be a trope.

Mike Santana vs. Rich Swann for the TNA Championship next week:

This was a simple, feel good promo between the two and the title match scheduled for next week is a good side-quest for Santana in the interim.

The System defeating Leon Slater & Moose:

It was the right call to have the System, as an entire stable, go over Leon Slater and Moose tonight. Anything less would kill the credibility of The System. Slater and Moose will almost certainly get the win back, in some capacity. I wonder if they’ll find some “friends” to even the odds in the near future.

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…

Check out the latest episode of the Wade Keller Podcast weekly Tuesday Flagship: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “wade Keller” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)

MISSES

EC3 Returns to Impact:

The KC Navarro return to TNA is good. The EC3 return to TNA is bad. EC3 only reaffirmed my opinion with his rather hollow promo tonight. Does anyone want to see EC3 Vs. Eric Young in the year 2026? If so, seek help. The “No Contest” between the two tonight was a giant, wet fart in the room.

Alisha Edwards returning to Eddie Edwards and The System:

This falls into the “swerve for the sake of a swerve” territory for me. Absolutely no one believed that Alisha Edwards was going to stay managing Moose over her husband Eddie Edwards. I guess one could argue the point is that one couldn’t know when Alisha was going to turn, however the concept just never felt real to begin with. Her promos are also a really tough listen as we heard, again, tonight.

Moose Calling Brian Meyers “Edge’s Bitch”:

Why must we do this irrelevant, meta BS? It’s exhausting.

Santino’s Suspension:

Why does Daria have the power to suspend Daria and vice versa? This makes zero sense and no one wants authority figures bigfooting each and every critical decision.

Tasha Steelz vs. Jada Stone:

This match was far too long.

The Undead Realm:

This is just so detached from the rest of the show, well, at least, mostly, it feels jarring and weird. So many acts are in-and-out of this circus it really hurts credibility across the board (including Tessa Blanchard). Bringing this to the ring is even worse. It just simply doesn’t translate.