SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
TNA Impact opened this week showing the new International Champion Jason Hotch arriving at the building backstage with his family, after defeating Mustafa Ali last week for the title. Tom Hannifan threw to the entrance of Matt Hardy, who made his way to the ring wearing a goat mask, paired with a “MATTer of Fact” graphic stating that “Matt is a better actor than Ryan Nemeth”; which is probably true, in my opinion. Jeff Hardy joined his brother Matt on the way to the ring head of his match against Ryan Nemeth, who was accompanied by TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth. Aimee Garcia was shown ringside in the audience for a second week in a row.
FEUD: THE HARDYS – THE NEMETHS
MATT HARDY vs. RYAN NEMETH
In a seemingly very random occurrence last week, The Nemeth brothers were named as the challengers for the TNA Tag Team Championship, as well as Jeff Hardy being named the next challenger for Nic Nemeth’s World Title. So ahead of the two brother teams facing off for the TNA Tag Titles, Matt Hardy took on Ryan Nemeth. Following interference by Nic Nemeth, Jeff Hardy attacked Nic Nemeth, leading to Matt Hardy taking advantage of a distracted Ryan Nemeth with a Twist of Fate, and the victory. Before the end of the segment, Tom Hannifan noted the TNA World Championship match between Nic Nemeth-Jeff Hardy is coming next week as cameras showed Aimee Garcia celebrating ringside again.
Breakdown: Both teams in the Nemeth-Hardy feud feel in a strange place to me. I think the way TNA got to this feud adds to the feeling of slight confusion and lethargy concerning the feud. I don’t sense a great bit of fan interest in the feud either. Ryan Nemeth and Matt Hardy had a decent, yet very short match that ended with interference/distraction, as expected. I also am unsure what TNA is attempting to accomplish with highlighting Aimee Garcia so much, especially during the top angle on the weekly show.
Grade: C-
BACKSTAGE WITH KNOCKOUTS WORLD CHAMPION XIA BROOKSIDE
Xia Brookside is mixed up with Elayna Black & Wendy Choo right now, and cut a decent promo ahead of her title defense against Choo later in the show. Black interrupted the promo and wished Brookside luck in a demeaning manner.
Breakdown: Brookside has been getting some reps on the mic over the last couple of weeks, which I definitely support, and I think she has been doing pretty well lately. I remain critical of the decision to put Wendy Choo in a title match against Brookside ahead of a title defense against Elayna Black coming up next, making the outcome to the Choo-Brookside match overly clear. Still, I liked the promo and though I have been critical of the Elayna Black face turn, I think they have a good chemistry.
Grade: B-
TNA SHOWS HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL TITLE MATCH BETWEEN MUSTAFA ALI-JASON HOTCH – BACKSTAGE WITH JASON HOTCH & HIS FAMILY.
Breakdown: I liked that TNA continued to highlight the match between Ali-Hotch last week as it was a great match. Hotch cut a good underdog babyface ‘‘thrill of victory’ promo in this backstage setting; this was a strong follow up to Hotch’s International Title victory last week.
Grade: A
TNA KNOCKOUT TV TOURNAMENT
HEATHER BY ELEGANCE (w/ ELEGANCE BRAND) vs. MARA SADE
The TV Title tournament continued this week with a match between Heather by Elegance-Mara Sade, who had been one of my favorites to win the tournament at the beginning. Midway through the match, Elegance launched Sade into a ringpost, leading to Sade selling a shoulder injury. From that point, Heather By Elegance worked over the shoulder heavily. Sade took control of the match after a buckle-bomb. Elegance hit a top rope stomp for the surprise victory over Sade.
Breakdown: Without the recent news of Mara Sade’s departure from TNA, this would have been the surprise of the tournament. Sade-Heather by Elegance had a good match, and I commend TNA for booking this match without centering it on Elegance Brand interference/distractions, but again, Sade’s departure gave TNA an opportunity to book a clean finish here. I do think Heather By Elegance is the strongest worker in the Elegance Brand. Elegance advances to the semi-finals of the tournament to face off against Jada Stone, a talent that TNA has pushed strongly through the course of the tournament. Mara Sade leaving TNA is a huge loss for the promotion, though.
Grade: B-
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
Check out the latest episode of “Destination Impact” with Zac Clarke and Jerud Buhagiar, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “pwtorch” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
BACKSTAGE WITH MOOSE
FEUD: MOOSE-FRANKIE KAZARIAN
Moose cut a promo on Frankie Kazarian, challenging him to a first time match between the two wrestlers, to determine the “face of the franchise”.
Breakdown: Moose showed good fire in this promo, but TNA building up a match between Moose-Kazarian in 2026, feels like a tough sell to me. I would have been more interested in seeing a feud between AJ Francis & Moose, but this is where we are with it.
Grade: C+
BACKSTAGE WITH MUSTAFA ALI AND JASON HOTCH’S FAMILY
In a backstage segment, Hotch left his wife and daughter in his locker room, and Mustafa Ali approached them after Hotch left the room. Ali offered some veiled threats and creepy insinuations toward Jason Hotch’s wife.
Breakdown: Ali was quite detestable in this segment. Mrs. Hotch was also effective in the role, but I remain curious about the ultimate direction with Ali’s character.
Grade: C+
FEUD: THE SYSTEM – NAVARRO/SOSA/SLATER/AICHNER
BRIAN MYERS (w/ BEAR BRONSON) vs. KC NAVARRO
THE SYSTEM (EDDIE EDWARDS & BRIAN MYERS w/ALISHA EDWARDS) vs. KC NAVARRO & FABIAN AICHNER
To continue the build to a bigger match between these two groups, Brian Myers faced off against KC Navarro. Early in the match, the referee caught Bear Bronson attempting to sweep the leg of Navarro, prompting his removal from the ringside area; a rare touch in a System match, Bronson was thrown out by the referee for getting involved in the match. Ricky Sosa would assist with removing Bronson from the ringside area, but then Eddie Edwards ran in and attacked Navarro, leading to the disqualification finish. Fabian Aichner made the save for Navarro after the System began the beatdown. Santino Marella appeared on the ramp to announce an impromptu tag team match between Navarro/Aichner & Edwards/Myers.
The tag match was back and forth early, with the System’s Eddie Edwards taking control of the match at the midpoint. Hannifan noted Leon Slater challenging Cedric Alexander for the X-Division Championship in coming weeks. Myers saved the match after Aichner & Navarro hit a combination top rope suplex/frog splash on Edwards. As it seemed Navarro may secure the victory, Alisha Edwards gave Eddie Edwards a kendo stick, which he used successfully, followed by his finisher, and the pinfall for the victory over Navarro.
Breakdown: All signs are pointing to a larger tag match between The System and the group of babyfaces at lockdown. If that is where it is going, and the babyface team gets the victory at the PPV, then I suppose all is well that ends well. Otherwise, there will be a number of questionable decisions to look back on throughout this storyline, with finishes and the way that the young stars are being treated. I remain excited to see what match ends up getting booked out of this.
Grade: B
Impact Injury Report is just a Nemeth hype piece now. Mentioning Mara Sade in the injury report is odd. Rosemary’s whereabouts unknown.
THE RIGHTEOUS AND HARDYS MET BACKSTAGE
The Hardys acknowledge The Righeous as their brothers after surviving Righteous Deletion.
JASON HOTCH CONFRONTS ALI BACKSTAGE; LOCKDOWN MATCH MADE
Jason Hotch told John Skyler that he is done with Order 4, but Skyler and Tasha Steelz remained.
Breakdown: Hotch continues to show good fire in the storyline. The dissolution of Order 4 seems more imminent now, and I’ll be fine with that once it happens.
Grade: B
THE RIGHTEOUS ENTER THE IMPACT ZONE
The Righteous entered the ring for a live promo where they talked about their life after swimming in the Lake of Reincarnation. The Righteous also talked about being done with the Hardys, and what is next for them. Vincent & Dutch proclaimed that they are looking for new members, rather than new opponents.
Breakdown: The Righteous did not have a ton to say in this promo where they took turns speaking, trading the mic back and forth several times. Declaring that they are looking for members rather than opponents is odd, but as JB and I had predicted, The Righteous are in a spot where expansion makes sense, so I am intrigued, at least, to see who TNA decides to put with them.
Grade: C+
BACKSTAGE WITH HARLEY HUDSON, JADA STONE, AND SANTINO MARELLA
Santino asked Jada Stone to give him and Harley Hudson a moment. Santino gave words of encouragement to Hudson until they were interrupted by an enraged Alisha Edwards. The segment would end with Santino booking a match between Hudson-Edwards.
Breakdown: After questioning the sudden storyline where Daria Rae was focusing her desire to trim the roster at the rookie Harley Hudson, the follow up here was effective for Hudson. I think she is showing good energy and I am eager to see how TNA books her push going forward.
Grade: B+
FEUD: AJ FRANCIS – ELIJAH
AJ FRANCIS vs. HOME TOWN MAN
Playing into the local sports feuds, AJ Francis entered in Washington Commander uniform colors. Not long after the match began, Elijah appeared, distracting Francis, leading to the roll up pinfall victory for Home Town Man.
Breakdown: As the two competitors entered, I thought this exact finish could be coming, and it did. I actually like getting Home Town Man a victory, but at the expense of AJ Francis in this forever feud with Elijah may not be the time for it. That being said, if the blowoff is coming at the Lockdown PPV, then so be it. The finish did mark another bad finish in a show full of them.
Grade: C
BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW WITH TOM HANNIFAN & X-DIVISION CHAMPION CEDRIC ALEXANDER
FEUD: CEDRIC ALEXANDER – LEON SLATER
Alexander passionately declared himself the “king of the X-Division” but the interview was interrupted by Leon Slater, who replaced Hannifan in the segment. Slater-Alexander went face to face from that point in a strong exchange.
Breakdown: I loved this segment. I think this may be the best Cedric Alexander promo I can recall. Both Slater and Alexander did a lot to build some intrigue in their upcoming match. If this is leading to Slater regaining the X-Division Title from Alexander, I will return to my critique of the decision to have Alexander defeat Slater before securing the record, but I predict Alexander retaining the title in their match, at this time.
Grade: A
BACKSTAGE WITH FRANKIE KAZARIAN & DARIA RAE
FEUD: MOOSE – KAZARIAN
FACE OF THE FRANCHISE vs. KING OF TNA match confirmed. Daria Rae booked the match between Kazarian-Moose, before Kazarian cut a promo. Kazarian said that Moose would find out why “they call him the King”.
Breakdown: Kazarian was good here, but it is still hard to get me excited about a Moose-Kazarian match.
Grade: B
FEUD: XIA BROOKSIDE – ELAYNA BLACK
WENDY CHOO vs. TNA KNOCKOUTS WORLD CHAMPION XIA BROOKSIDE
As part of the developing feud between Elayna Black-Xia Brookside, Wendy Choo received an opportunity against Xia Brookside for the Knockouts World Championship. Choo and Brookside wrestled a good match but with little doubt about the outcome, it ended as expected; Brookside wins, retaining the Knockouts World Title. Elayna Black entered the Impact Zone after the match to have a face-to-face staredown with Brookside.
Breakdown: The finish to the match was never in question, which was the biggest drawback to making it a title match. They wrestled a strong match, but Elayna Black was always ready in waiting for the next shot at Brookside’s title. Now that Choo is out of the way, they will go to the Black-Brookside match.
Grade: B
BACKSTAGE, NIC NEMETH INTERRUPTING JEFF HARDY’S DRAWING
FEUD: NIC NEMETH – JEFF HARDY
In an overproduced backstage promo, Nic Nemeth used a lot of cheap attempts to add a personal edge to the random feud with Jeff Hardy. Nemeth did all of the talking in the segment, which ended with both men signing the contract for their upcoming title match.
Breakdown: I didn’t hate the segment, as it sought to establish the characters of Nemeth and Hardy going into the match. Jeff Hardy’s silence seemed to get into the head of Nic Nemeth, which was a nice touch. I could have done without the music and abundance of camera angles for a one sided conversation, but this has been a trend lately for the way TNA signs contracts for title matches. They did not do a ton here to build excitement for their title match, in my view.
Grade: C
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.