{"id":221886,"date":"2026-09-04T11:25:42","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T16:25:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=221886"},"modified":"2026-09-04T11:25:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T16:25:42","slug":"nxt-hits-misses-9-1-matt-hardy-says-he-wont-make-excuses-and-then-makes-excuses-one-of-the-lowest-iq-moments-on-pro-wrestling-show-in-a-while-strong-main-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/09\/04\/nxt-hits-misses-9-1-matt-hardy-says-he-wont-make-excuses-and-then-makes-excuses-one-of-the-lowest-iq-moments-on-pro-wrestling-show-in-a-while-strong-main-event\/","title":{"rendered":"NXT HITS &#038; MISSES (9\/1): Matt Hardy says he won&#8217;t make excuses and then makes excuses, one of the lowest IQ moments on pro wrestling show in a while, strong main event"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-178689773\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><h2>HITS<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Putting the Elegance Brand opposite of Elayna Black<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I thought that it was a good idea to put the Elegance Brand opposite of Elayna Black in their backstage segment. The last two weeks TNA finally seems dedicated to truly get Elayna Black over as a face and there may be no individuals more unlikely on the TNA roster than the Elegance Brand. My by Elegance also had a reason to gloat as she won the inaugural Knockouts TV tournament the week prior and Black just lost to Xia Brookside for the Knockouts World Title at Lockdown.<\/p>\n<p>I was also intrigued with M by Elegance offering Heather by Elegance as an opponent to Black rather than herself. I had suggested, last week, that My by Elegance winning the Knockouts TV Title tournament made little sense unless M by Elegance was soon to break away from the comedy stink of the brand. Was this a hint that may be happening sooner rather than later?<\/p>\n<p><strong>AJ Francis-Expressions segment and squash mats leads to Avery Styles confrontation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There is much to unpack here. I thought that it was a good idea to have Expressions come out, run down the Canadian crowd and then have AJ Francis win a quick squash match. This led to Francis calling out Avery Styles for his first match in TNA which both Santino and Avery agreed with.<\/p>\n<p>Frankie Kazarian coming out and &#8220;taking away&#8221; the match from the crowd was a smart way to get heel heat on Kazarian and keep the fans behind a clearly overwhelmed and manipulated Avery Styles. I still think that we will and should get this match at some point down the line but this segment served several masters that ultimately added to where I think that they are going with this storyline. Kazarian is manipulating an experienced and na\u00efve Avery Styles and he will get his comeuppance, in some fashion, at Bound for Glory.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Indi Hartwell adding a submission move to her game<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The tag match between Indi Hartwell-Harley Hudson vs. Xia Brookside-Zoey Serrano was fine but what I greatly enjoyed was the evolution of Hartwell&#8217;s in-ring wrestling. It was a fantastic call, in storyline, to have Hartwell win the match with a submission. It shows evolution to her technical game and signals to the fans that she wasn&#8217;t satisfied and is always looking to improve. I also liked that Hartwell and Hudson got the win, giving them a legitimate claim at a Knockouts Tag Title shot where qualified challengers are desperately needed.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2403704260\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>I&#8217;m still not sure if Hartwell&#8217;s direction is for a Triple Threat match for the Knockouts Title at Bound for Glory or a Knockouts Tag Title match against the Elegance Brand at the same event. I tend to think that a Knockouts Tag Title match would happen on Impact before Bound for Glory though. However, Hartwell also pinned the current Knockouts Champion in Brookside so she arguably has a claim to get involved in that scene, as well.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Joe Alonso as the annoying, pest heel to get knocked down<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Joe Alonso certainly has the gift of irritating gab. Perhaps, arguably too much. That being said, there certainly is a place for Alonso on the TNA roster. Wrestling companies should have multiple tiers of wrestlers and &#8220;pest heel that often gets their comeuppance&#8221; is a tried-and-true tier.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Another strong Impact main event match<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The match between Hotch and Miguel was well structured and athletic, as a weekly TNA watcher would expect. The respectful rivalry between these two makes sense as they are both ostensibly faces but also both in-pursuit of Ali&#8217;s International Title. That does pose a slight problem when we get to the inevitable Triple Threat match between Hotch, Miguel and Ali. Two faces and a heel usually lends itself to a good amount of awkwardness in a Triple Threat match.<\/p>\n<p>That being said, the story that their building towards makes sense to culminate in a Triple Threat. I would venture to say that this feud is what I am most intrigued by in TNA, at the moment. There are many moving parts here that could connect in multiple ways and still make sense. Although, I&#8217;m not a fan of chicanery finishes with Agent 0 laying out both guys to end the match, it&#8217;s not like TNA does them all the time, and it works here to get to where we are ultimately likely and justifiably to go. The announcers and wrestlers need to take the time to decry the actions next week, however.<\/p>\n<p><em>ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Check out the latest episode of &#8220;Destination Impact&#8221; with Zac Clarke and Jerud Buhagiar, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/destination-impact-zac-jb-analyze-landscape-of-tna-storylines-on-the-road-to-bound-for-glory-critique-current-booking-of-tna-tag-titles--74789661\">CLICK HERE<\/a> to stream (or search \u201cpwtorch\u201d on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Destination Impact - Zac &amp; JB analyze landscape of TNA storylines on the road to Bound for Glory, critique current booking of TNA Tag Titles\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?episode_id=74789661&amp;theme=light&amp;playlist=false&amp;playlist-continuous=false&amp;chapters-image=true&amp;episode_image_position=right&amp;hide-logo=false&amp;hide-likes=false&amp;hide-comments=false&amp;hide-sharing=false&amp;hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>MISSES<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Why are the Hardys still engaged with the Nemeths and leaps in logic?<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-883840671\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Shouldn\u2019t we be past this? Nic Nemeth should be focused on building the feud for his upcoming match with Leon Slater at Bound for Glory and the Hardys lost clean at Lockdown. Why is Matt coming out and whining about the tag titles? That&#8217;s not even mentioning that Nic Nemeth comes out and says that Matt Hardy says he wasn&#8217;t going to make any excuses and then proceeded to spend 10 minutes making excuses, which was true. Not the best look for a face.<\/p>\n<p>Also, why would Matt Hardy just assume that the Nemeths attacked Jeff? They had just defeated the Hardys for their titles at Lockdown. What would their motive be? In addition, Moose. Elijah, and Cedric Alexander had been attacked in weeks prior so what possible motivation would the Nemeths have to attack them. The opening segment was taking huge leaps in logic that I couldn&#8217;t get behind. Ryan Nemeth was mysteriously attacked later in the night so Jeff Hardy should no longer be angry, correct? I implore you TNA, increase your backstage security budget.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daria Rae on Commentary with scatological humor (again)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I think that Rae is genuinely good on the mic. That being said, that ability is not best served on commentary or as an authority figure. The idea that she would be okay with Zoey Serrano putting her hands on a fan during her tag match ruins the entire narrative structure. If there is no order or consequence that there are diminishing returns for saving chaos in that structure for critical moments when they&#8217;re actually called for. Not a random Impact on a random Thursday in September. Also, we got another &#8220;Diarrhea&#8221; Rae joke multiple times from Hannifin so that makes me take the broadcast seriously.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Joe Alonso going way too long with KC Navarro<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As I mentioned in my hits, Alonso has a place as a squashable, pest heel. He absolutely should not have been going so long in his match with a hopeful, rising act in KC Navarro. Navarro didn&#8217;t look good in victory and I can&#8217;t imagine that TNA has any immediate plans for a character like Alonso so what was the point? If they have high hopes for Alonso then debuting him as a character like this was another miss.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Allie &amp; Kiera Hogan going way too long with Shazza McKenzie &amp; Vipress<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Similar to the aforementioned match, why have your newly united Knockouts Tag champions who just retained their titles at Lockdown go so long with a low-level team like Shazza McKenzie &amp; Vippress? At least when AEW has unnecessarily long matches it isn&#8217;t with essentially jobbers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Giving Fabian Aichner a 30-second promo<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It may be a small quip but, man, is Fabian Aichner feeling like an afterthought in TNA a huge disappointment. The guy almost always loses in singles matches and he&#8217;s rarely given any time to truly build a character. It seemed as though they were trying to rush him away from the screen in his backstage promo tonight. It couldn&#8217;t have been more than 30-seconds.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daria Rae giving an objectively undeserved Knockout World Title shot to Gabby Forza<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I get the idea. Have Daria Rae be a jerk, for some still unknown reason, to Indi Hartwell by giving her title shot to a relative newcomer in Gabby Forza. But, therein lies the issue with heel authority figures. Their arbitrary and biased decisions to hand out undeserved title shots becomes the story rather than the best wrestlers competing to prove who is the best which is the foundation of professional wrestling.<\/p>\n<p>When you go outside the box to be &#8220;new age&#8221; you get away from a tried-and-true formula for the sake of it. As Wade often says a restaurant owner wouldn&#8217;t order chairs with three-legs simply to &#8220;change things up&#8221;. It might be shocking and annoying but it wouldn&#8217;t make anyone want to come back to your restaurant.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ricky Sosa being paired with Elijah against the System<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Man, this is not the best way to increase Ricky Sosa&#8217;s cool factor. Elijah is a comedy figure, guitar goof who just got beat down by Bear Bronson, last week, and didn&#8217;t have anyone in the back who cared enough to come out and help him. I&#8217;d be okay with Sosa going against the System and getting several wins, against the odds, even though that is rarely how the System is booked, but having him team with Elijah feels like an undeserved albatross around his neck. If anything, Elijah should be the opposite to Frankie Kazarian in the Avery Styles storyline and Sosa should be paired with Moose if the idea is to increase Sosa&#8217;s stock.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Hannifin talking about how many &#8220;influencers&#8221; BDE has following him as a reason the Righteous want him<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This might be one of the lowest wrestling IQ comments that I can remember in some time. Why in the world should the Righteous care about BDE&#8217;s followers and what exactly is this message that their &#8220;spreading&#8221; beside the nonsensical platitudes they spew almost weekly? As if this story wasn&#8217;t already a messy fit, now they decide to enter a fourth wall breaking, illogical aspect to a storyline that very few seem to care about. Why are the Righteous kidnapping BDE when it&#8217;s clear that they&#8217;re superior wrestlers to him? They had to try to give him a free pin. Wouldn&#8217;t they be seeking better wrestlers to give credibility to their sought after stable and their alleged &#8220;message&#8221;?<\/p>\n<p><strong>John Skylar getting punked out by Mila Moore<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I feel like there are countless emotions and interactions moving around Ali and Order 4 right now and there isn&#8217;t much sense or connectivity between the emotions or the interactions. John Skylar seeming like he was going to ask Mila Moore out only to be completely ignored was jarring. It came out of left field. There is a serious feud going on between Jason Hotch, Mustafa Ali and Trey Miguel. Why are we muddling it with a random, mid-card love angle between Skylar and Moore? Skylar should be treated as an important piece in this feud as there are multiple weeks of TV to fill until Bound for Glory and they could still have a legitimate match between Hotch and Skylar as a card to play.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Nic Nemeth vs. Matt Hardy hot-shotted for a title match next week<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Zac Clarke and I joked about it but apparently we are actually getting a Nic Nemeth vs. Matt Hardy World Title match next week. The goofiness of these backstage attack angles to get to this match does wreak of TNA booking. I&#8217;m not going to say that it&#8217;s out of the realm of possibility that these backstage attack angles were mostly done to lazily get to Nemeth Vs. Hardy as a hot-shotted match to get a small ratings bump. I can&#8217;t imagine that the actual pay-off will be anything that most fans will be incredibly satisfied with.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wrestling Night in America (8\/30) - AEW All PPV w\/Keller &amp; White &amp; Griffin\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/J_SXUZfW9wA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-4014898546\"><div id=\"pwtor-2011192111\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>HITS Putting the Elegance Brand opposite of Elayna Black I thought that it was a good idea to put the Elegance Brand opposite of Elayna Black in their backstage segment. The last two weeks TNA <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/09\/04\/nxt-hits-misses-9-1-matt-hardy-says-he-wont-make-excuses-and-then-makes-excuses-one-of-the-lowest-iq-moments-on-pro-wrestling-show-in-a-while-strong-main-event\/\" title=\"NXT HITS &#038; MISSES (9\/1): Matt Hardy says he won&#8217;t make excuses and then makes excuses, one of the lowest IQ moments on pro wrestling show in a while, strong main event\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":221887,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,28,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-221886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-specialists_hitsandmisses","category-specialists"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-04-at-11.24.31-AM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221886"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":221888,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221886\/revisions\/221888"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}