A first-time-ever match will headline tonight’s TNA Impact as the company’s champions will take on their future challengers in a massive tag team match.
The Champions Challenge will be a 16-person mixed tag team match where TNA World Champion Moose, Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace, Tag Team Champions Eddie Edwards & Brian Meyers, X-Division Champion Mustafa Ali, Knockouts Tag Team Champions Alisha Edwards & Masha Slamovich, and Digital Media Champion Laredo Kid will be on one side.
On the other, Matt Hardy teams with Joe Hendry, Ryan Nemeth, Dani Luna, Jody Threat, Sami Callihan, Steph De Lander and Eric Young.
After turning on The Rascalz last week, former World Champion Steve Maclin will go one-on-one with Frankie Kazarian.
Ash by Elegance will look to rebound from her Under Siege defeat as she faces Xia Brookside. If Ash wins, she gets back some jewelry from the company.
In an X-Division showcase, Alan Angels faces Leon Slater.
This week’s show kicks off with a video package looking back at “BROKEN” Matt Hardy and Ryan Nemeth crashing The System’s Championship Celebration on last week’s show, followed by Santino Marella announcing The Champions Challenge 16-person mixed tag team match for this week’s show.
Ash By Elegance (w/ George Iceman) defeated Xia Brookside
Ash tried to insert her own referee, but didn’t get her way. Instead, she was attacked by Brookside to start off on the defensive. The match spilled out to the floor where Ash would then take over, delivering some loud chops to Brookside that echoed throughout the building.
After the match returned inside the ring, Brookside connected with a Lou Thesz press that allowed her to take back control of the action. Ash rolled out to the floor to regroup, but was met with further punishment by Brookside. Ash fought back into the offensive lead and quickly hit her finisher for the win.
Once the match wrapped up, Iceman cut off the post-match announcement by the ring announcer and insisted he take over. He demanded Brookside not only return Ash’s property, but kneel and kiss the rings and her bejeweled knuckles. She instead blasted Ash with a knockout shot and left her laying. Iceman was distraught standing over the unconscious Ash as the post-match scene wrapped up.
Rosemary vignette
A vignette featuring a seated Rosemary aired. She spoke of those finding themselves taking sanctuary despite doing what they are asked, and now Havok is gone thanks to humans claiming they are the heart and soul of TNA.
Santino Marella backstage with KUSHIDA
After the break, Marella was shown approaching KUSHIDA backstage. He asked if he was okay and mentioned being sick for a week after they last spoke. He asked KUSHIDA if he would be okay for his match tomorrow (at the TV tapings) and he assured him he will be.
Leon Slater defeated Alan Angels
The two were fast-paced and all over the place early on with neither man establishing any prolonged offensive lead. Slater got Angels down for a two count, and missed on a home run roundhouse kick attempt. The two had a staredown to a round of applause from those in the Impact Zone.
On the floor, Angels took the lead, catching Slater in the ring apron skirting and blasting him with a big shot. The referee, who also had an interaction with Jonathan Gresham, got violently ill at ringside, continuing the recent trend. A new official took over and Slater hit a twirling back suplex for a close pin attempt.
Angels fought back with a series of back suplexes that dumped Slater on his dome repeatedly. Slater connected with a huge leg lariat that shifted the offensive momentum in his favor. He went to the top rope and connected with the swanton 450 for the pinfall victory.
After the match, Kon came out to a big pop and manhandled Angels as Slater watched on. He began doing the same to Slater until Slater fought back with a variety of kicks — the final of which sent Kon crashing out to the floor at ringside.
Security ran out to keep Kon from going back in the ring. He grabbed one of the security guards and snapped their neck as he yelled, “You’re mine!” to Slater in the ring. He then wore a sadistic smile as he backed up the aisle and left to the back.
Jake Something takes out Cody Deaner
After we returned from the break, we saw Something introduced for a live interview at the top of the stage. He took issue with a comment about his recent loss. This brought out Deaner to assure Jake that he is, in fact, Something, and he and the people are with him.
Jake said he didn’t forget about him joining with Violent by Design. Deaner said he went down the wrong path for years and looking into Jake’s eyes, he fears him going down the same path and he doesn’t want that for him.
He told him he will always be family and he wants him to know that. He’ll always be a Deaner. Jake responded, “The hell I will” and blasted Deaner, laying him out.
Speedball Mountain are ready to battle each other
We saw highlights of Speedball Mountain’s victory at Under Siege and then shot to Gia Miller, who was standing by with the duo. She brought up their victory over ABC and how it resulted in them squaring off against each other next week to determine Mustafa Ali’s next challenger for the TNA X-Division Championship.
They spoke about Under Siege and how their paths have taken them to an abrupt crossroad at next week’s show, where for the first time ever, it will be Trent the Seventh vs. The Ball of Speed. They agree that the best man will win and then bowed to each other.
Frankie Kazarian defeated Steve Maclin
The bell sounded and Kaz demanded the ring announcer “tell all these idiots he is the one and only king of TNA.”
The ring announcer obliged and then Maclin clotheslined Kazarian over the top-rope and out to the floor. We then cut to an early mid-match commercial break. When the break ended, we saw Kazarian had settled into the offensive lead after a stomp to the throat of Maclin draped over the bottom rope.
Kaz remained in the lead for a few moments, but then Maclin hit a Rock Bottom-style backbreaker to shift things back into his favor. Kaz missed a big leg drop on the hard part of the ring apron which led to Maclin hitting a suicide dive through the ropes, splashing onto Kaz in the process.
Back in the ring, Maclin enjoyed the offensive lead for the next few minutes. Maclin hung Kaz upside down in the tree of woe in the corner and told the crowd to “let him hear it.” They did, but when he charged at Kaz, Kaz did a sit-up to avoid Maclin’s onslaught.
Kaz took over and stuck a finger in the eye of Maclin. On the hard part of the ring apron outside of the ropes, a Fade To Black attempt was blocked. Kaz then hit a big spot that sent Maclin crashing-and-burning violently to the floor at ringside.
A countout was teased with Maclin barely making it into the ring by the count of nine-and-a-half. Kazarian looked for the Chicken Wing, but Maclin avoided it. Maclin hit a Busaiku Knee for a close nearfall. He looked for the K.I.A., but Kaz avoided it.
Kaz got the chicken wing moments later and cranked back on it, Bob Backlund-style. Maclin fought it and eventually rolled over into a pin attempt, which forced Kaz to let it go. He didn’t wide-eye stare at his palms afterwards, so not full-on Backlund.
The two fought over to the corner where Kaz got Maclin up to the top and had him in position for the Flux Capacitor, only for Maclin to avoid it. Maclin got Kaz in position for his finisher, but Trey Miguel came out for a distraction. Zachary Wentz sprayed something into Maclin’s eyes, allowing Kaz to hit his Fade To Black for the win. This was the best match of the show thus far.
Gail Kim has a talk with Gisele Shaw
A video package aired in the theme of the old SNL “Deep Thoughts” cloth which saw Kim sitting down with Shaw. A distraught Shaw spoke about coming up short in her title tilt against Jordynne Grace. Kim assured her she lost title bouts in her career, too.
Gisele pointed out she also won titles in her career. Gail assured Shaw everyone needs a helping hand and guidance at some point. Shaw asks where she’s going to guide her. Gail said, “Home.”
Mike Santana sit-down interview
With emotional music playing and various clips of Santana being shown, the wrestling veteran spoke about the personal side of his life being in turmoil. He spoke about needing to get clean and his daughter begging him to stop, as well as his stint in rehab.
The letter from his daughter was shown, along with several touching photos as Santana got choked up and shed some tears describing how much of a life-changing situation that was for him. The interviewer then brought up him coming out on the other end a success story.
The package shifted to focus on Santana’s ongoing issues with Maclin. Santana spoke about the respect he has for Maclin whom he referred to as a “true fighter” like himself. Santana assured everyone he’s hungrier than ever and reiterates his vow to “take spots” from people in TNA.
“Whether anyone likes it or not, I’m here to go,” he said.
First Class are hungry for championships In TNA
AJ Francis introduced himself to boos and then he introduced Rich Swann as the two sat in their luxury box. They talked about it being time for them to get their hands on some TNA championships. Swann said it doesn’t matter which title it is, because First Class are scouting for gold. The more gold, the more money, money, money they’ll get: “Because if you ain’t First Class … you’re last!”
Matt Hardy, Joe Hendry, Ryan Nemeth, Dani Luna, Jody Threat, Sami Callihan, Steph De Lander & Eric Young defeated Moose, Jordynne Grace, Eddie Edwards, Brian Meyers, Mustafa Ali, Alisha Edwards, Masha Slamovich & Laredo Kid in a Champions Challenge tag team match
It’s main event time!
We see a big 16-person staredown with the ring super-crowded, and then things got started as we immediately cut to the mid-match break. When we returned, we saw Grace and Luna exchanging shots. Grace blasted her with a big shoulder tackle coming out of the corner for a two-count.
Luna slapped a rear chinlock on the Knockouts Champion, but Grace rolled through into a pin attempt for another two count. Luna got in some more shots, but Grace struck back and quickly took control of the action again. She made the tag to Laredo Kid, who hit a double-team spot with her.
He goes to work on Luna in inter-gender action, but Luna hits a suplex for a two-count to shift the momentum into her favor. She whipped Laredo into the ropes, who ate a kick from De Lander on the ring apron. De Lander then tagged herself in and took over. Masha Slamovich tagged in for her team.
She and De Lander have an intense stare down, only for De Lander to cower backwards and tag in Jody Threat. The commentators bring up the history between Threat and Slamovich. Slamovich hit a bunch of snap-mares by the hair and then put the boots to her.
Threat connects with a back-elbow as Slamovich was coming off the ropes. Masha tagged in Alisha Edwards at that point, who hit a splash on Threat as she was slumped against the turnbuckles in the corner. Sami Callihan riled up the Albany crowd at ringside as Threat took back over on offense.
Jody hoisted Edwards up and connected with a stalled-suplex into the champions corner. Slamovich tagged back in and shifted the offensive momentum back into the favor of the champions team. Alisha tried hitting a double-team spot with Slamovich, but Threat and Luna hit one of their own.
We were then sent into our final mid-match commercial break of the evening. When the break wrapped up, we saw Ali with a big smile on his face as he was in a comfortable offensive lead in the ring. Nemeth fired up on offense for the other team and helped take over.
Nemeth hit a DDT on the reigning X-Division Champion and tried for a follow-up pin attempt, only for Eddie Edwards to hit the ring and break it up before the count of three. Moose tagged in at that point and dropped down and blasted Nemeth with vicious ground-and-pound.
Ali wanted a tag, but Moose rejected his request and tagged in Eddie Edwards instead. Edwards picked up where Moose left off, taking it to Nemeth, before attempting a cocky pin with his knees on “The Hollywood Hunk.” After getting only two, he tagged the TNA World Champion back in as the legal man.
Moose delivered more punishment to Nemeth and then tagged in Brian Myers, again choosing to keep things within The System members of the champions team. Edwards came back in next and when Ali didn’t get the tag yet again after that, he threw a temper-tantrum and walked out. He went over to the commentators and “officially withdrew” from participating in the Champions Challenge.
He stormed off to the back after that. Meanwhile, Nemeth was still on the wrong end of a one-sided beat down kept within The System members of the champions team, as Myers and Edwards and Moose remain as the legal men, refusing to tag in any other members of the team for a long stretch of time. Nemeth hits the Danger Zone out of nowhere that buys himself just enough time to make it to his corner.
Hardy got the much-needed hot tag and came into the ring like a man possessed, taking it to any of the champions within arms-reach, as he is fed one member after the other, which he quickly and easily dispatches to the delight of the crowd. Hardy led the Impact Zone in a “Delete! Delete!” chant and then went for a Twist of Fate, only for it to be stopped by The System.
Edwards blasted Hardy with a back-elbow but Hardy knocked him down and tagged in Sami Callihan. The commentators bring up the storied history between Callihan and Edwards as “The Death Machine” gets the crowd as hot as they’ve been the entire match. He looked for a Cactus Driver ’97, but is stopped.
Myers tagged in and he and Edwards go for a double-team spot, only for Callihan to hit a double-DDT and tag in Joe Hendry. The crowd noise picked up even more as Hendry hit the ring and took out member after member of the opposition with back-to-back fall-away slams.
From there, all 15 of the remaining competitors in this match end up brawling all over the place. They ultimately splinter off into various pairs in-and-out of the ring, as the three match officials did their best to restore order. Grace hit a big suicide dive, followed by Eric Young. Laredo Kid hit a top-rope moonsault onto a pile of bodies at ringside.
Threat heads to the top-rope for a big Stage Dive onto the pile of bodies, which elicited a thunderous “TNA! TNA!” chant from the crowd in attendance inside the Impact Zone in New York’s capital. A “This is Wrestling!” chant followed as Hendry worked over Myers as the legal two men in the ring.
Edwards comes in and Hendry grabbed them both for choke slams. They fought their way out and Myers hit a spear for a close two-count. First Class duo AJ Francis and Rich Swann are shown watching on from their luxury box inside the building and then Hendry hits his finisher on Myers for the pin fall victory.
The eight members of the Team All-Stars group celebrated their victory with their hands raised in the ring, but then the music stopped and the lights went out. We heard thunder and saw lightning on the big screen. In black-and-white, we saw doctors wheel out someone on a hospital bed.
He is jump-started back to life and up pops PCO. He headed to the ring with a sack of thumb tacks in his hand. He set them down and entered the ring, where Team All-Stars look at him perplexed. PCO opened up the sack and threw out various foreign objects onto the ring mat. The commentators point out he was looking for something specific.
Eventually, PCO pulled a single flower out and presented it to De Lander. De Lander looked around at the crowd for their reaction and then accepted the gesture from “The French Canadian Frankenstein.”
That’s how this week’s show went off the air. Thanks for joining us and follow me on Twitter/X.
Next week:
Trent Seven vs. Mike Bailey in an X-Divison no. 1 contender’s match
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