TNA Impact Review – March 21, 2024
TNA began their post-Sacrifice tapings by establishing new rivalries ahead of the Rebellion PLE while Jordynne Grace defended the Knockouts Title and Nic Nemeth talked to Moose.
There was the usual recap video from last week, where Mustafa Ali successfully defended his X-Division Championship against Chris Sabin. Nic Nemeth also stated his intentions for the TNA World Championship.
TNA Impact: 21/3/24: St. Clair College in Windsor, ON, Canada
Mustafa Ali joined the commentary booth for the X-Division Championship #1 Contender’s match.
Match #1: X-Division ‘Rebellion Referendum
The field was: Leon Slater (on his TNA weekly show debut), Chris Bey, Alan Angels, Jason Hotch, Kevin Knight and Jake Something. They didn’t explain if it was a battle royal, elimination match or a gauntlet. That’s not helpful. Mustafa complained about Something entering because there should be limits on the division, even though the division is billed as no limits. Eventually, Tom Hannifan told us that it was a 6-way scramble match (first pin wins). Slater took Hotch out over the top as the match began. Knight flew through the air with a crossbody on Angels and Bey. Knight and Slater faced off in the ring. Hotch snuck in and attacked them from behind. He tossed Knight into the ring post and hit a rolling German suplex on Slater.
(Commercial break)
Hotch continued his assault on Knight as the action returned. Angels gave him an arm ringer from the ring apron. He used the ring ropes to stomp down hard on Knight. Angels hit a dropkick on Something who tried to enter the ring. Knight escaped from a double suplex attempt. Bey came back into the ring and clotheslined Angels. He hit a spinebuster on Hotch and Angels caught him with a DDT. Something snuck up on Angels, so Hotch bailed on him. Angels escaped a powerbomb with a thumb to the eye. He couldn’t lift Something up for the Tiger Driver. Knight and Slater hit a superkick on Something as he was powering out of the Tiger Driver. They took out Angels with a double superkick. Angels was dumped out of the ring. Knight and Slater exchanged forearms in the middle of the ring. Knight hit a Blue Thunder Bomb but Hotch flew into him with a crossbody from the top. Angels clobbered him with a discus forearm. Something came back in and hit a sitout powerbomb on Angels. Bey reversed a sidewalk slam and hit a Tornado DDT on Something. Angels side-stepped Bey and sent him outside the ring. Hotch tried a roll up on Angels with the tights for 2. Slater took him down then hit a flying crossbody over the top on Bey. He hit a spin kick on Hotch on the outside. Slater nailed Something with an enziguiri on the ring apron. He went for a ridiculous suicide dive over the top rope in the corner to take out Hotch and Angels. Wow! Slater went back to the top but was cut off by Something, who clobbered him to the floor. In the opposite corner, Knight hit a huge dropkick on Hotch, which knocked him off the top rope. He turned around into a big forearm from Something and a huge powerbomb. Hotch hit a spinning kick and rolled up Something for a 2 count. He ran back towards Something who hit Into the Void for the win after 9 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Jake Something
Analysis: ***1/2 That was an exciting way to kick off the show, with minimal pinfall attempts that meant the match had plenty of action. Slater and Knight were the standouts here with some amazing athleticism. I’m not surprised that Something picked up the win. He hasn’t done much lately and they are seemingly high on him. Ali needs a face to defend the title against, and the crowd does get behind Something.
Sabin was annoyed after the match and complained to the commentators about Something’s win.
Analysis: Ali plays the weasel heel that is cocky most of the time and he does it very well.
Dirty Dango cut one of his ‘I hate professional wrestling’ promos with Oleg Prudius and Alpha Bravo. He complained about Josh Alexander and went on a rant about online match ratings. Dango said he was at the pinnacle of his career and dissed the Canadian weather. Dango said Bravo and Prudius were the anchors that were holding him down. He said he was the money maker. Dango tried to boss Prudius into sitting down. Prudius wouldn’t do it and then seemingly quit the group.
Analysis: This character is great. He just needs some more wins. Prudius jobbing to Alexander in 30 seconds last week didn’t help their faction. He was removed from the TNA roster page on their website so that might be the end of his short run.
Gia Miller was backstage looking for AJ Francis and Rich Swann for an interview. Miller said the fans deserved an explanation for Swann’s actions last week. Francis said you could wait until next week in the ring.
Analysis: I’m not sure anyone is clambering to find out why Swann turned on Hendry, but the beauty of the tapings means it’s an easy way to remind the fans of a feud on a week-to-week basis.
Deaner was in the ring with a microphone. He said he regretted a lot of his decisions over the last few years. Deaner said he placed the blame on a lot of people, when really it was all on him. He started talking passionately about wrestling and said he needed to get his love for wrestling back. Deaner said he needed the fans to do this. He said from now on, it’s up to the fans to make the decisions for him. Deaner was interrupted by the Grizzled Young Vets. Zac Gibson said no one cared about Deaner and it’s pathetic that he’s turning to the fans for advice. He said that every morning the fans get up, fail and quit. Gibson said Deaner needs to follow the fans and quit. He said he was wasting GYV’s ring time and Deaner should get out of the ring. Deaner was about to leave but the fans began telling him not to. Gibson said if Deaner didn’t leave then he would regret it. Deaner said the people had spoken and attacked GYV but they quickly overpowered him. Drake kicked Deaner out of the ring and then the Timesplitters ran down to the ring for their match up.
Match #2: GYV vs Timesplitters
Gibson and Drake composed themselves on the outside before the match officially began. Alex Shelley and Drake started the match. Shelley tried a shoulder bloke but Drake didn’t budge. He tagged in Kushida and Drake tagged in Gibson. Kushida took Gibson to the mat, looking to weaken the right arm. He hit a head scissors. Drake made a blind tag and they took down Kushida with knees to the ribs. They exchanged chops and forearms. Shelley made a blind tag and Kushida hit a dropkick on Drake. He trapped Drake’s elbow against the mat and stomped on it. There was another quick tag to Kushida. Shelley held Drake so that Kushida could dropkick him on the outside. Kushida trapped Drake in a modified crossface and dragged him to his corner so Shelley could make a tag. Shelley went back to the left arm with a stomp. Drake tried to fight out of the corner with his good arm but Shelley overpowered him. He used the top rope to wrench down on his arm but Drake tried a sleeper. Shelley bounced Drake’s neck off the top rope. He went back to the left arm but Drake backed him into the corner to take in Gibson. Kushida with a cheap shot on Gibson in the corner but Gibson blocked a splash. Drake made a blind tag and sent Shelley out of the ring. GYV used a double team kick to take Kushida off the apron. Drake hit a Dragon Screw on Shelley and tagged Gibson back in. He talked trash to Shelley on the entrance ramp and suplexed him on the ring apron. Gibson trapped Shelley’s legs in a submission. He mouthed off to him so Shelley reversed the pressure. Drake was close enough to make the tag so he came in and targeted the weakened knee of Shelley. He tried a Figure 4 but Shelley kicked him into the corner and finally made the tag to Kushida. Kushida nailed Drake with a springboard elbow and the Pele Kick. He hit a running punch in the corner and then a hurricanrana off the top but Drake reversed it into a pin attempt for 2. Gibson came in to interfere so Kushida locked him in the Hoverboard Lock. Whilst that was happening, Drake hit a step-up enziguiri on Kushida to break the hold. They hit a double-team Sliced Bread on Kushida for 2. Shelley dragged Gibson out of the ring. Kushida rolled up Drake for 2. He tagged in Shelley and they did their double-team dropkick routine. They hit another double-team in the corner. Gibson ran in for the save and pushed Shelley into Kushida. Drake went up top for the Doomsday Device but Kushida hit him with the Tanaka Punch in mid-air. Shelley nailed Gibson with Shell Shock. Kushida trapped Drake in the Hoverboard Lock and he tapped out despite being very close to the ropes. The match went about 12 minutes.
Winners by submission: Timesplitters
Analysis: *** It was a good tag team match, but for the names in the match I would call it underwhelming. It wasn’t that interesting, to be fair. The ending made sense because they had targeted Drake’s left arm, but all he had to do was stretch out his leg and it was under the ropes to break the hold. It was bad positioning there. At least the fans were behind Shelley again. GYV shouldn’t be losing unless Timesplitters are in line for a tag title shot, which they are not.
Tom Hannifan Sits Down with Hammerstone
Hannifan started the interview by asking Hammerstone why he decided to sign full-time with TNA. Hammerstone listed his accomplishments all over the world. He said he had a chip on his shoulder from a previous short-term failure in TNA. They discussed his Hard to Kill match with Josh Alexander. Hammerstone said he was on a roll and his confidence was sky high. Hannifan reminded Hammerstone that he lost. Hammerstone got angry. He said Alexander rolled out of the ring like a coward to avoid the pinfall. Hannifan discussed Sacrifice where Hammerstone used a low blow to defeat Alexander. He asked if Hammerstone would win by any means necessary. Hammerstone said he was bigger, stronger and smarter than Alexander. He said he not only broke Alexander’s body, but he broke his spirit too. Hammerstone bragged about stealing Alexander’s headgear. He intimidated Hannifan and walked out.
Analysis: I like these types of interviews every so often. Hammerstone did a good job as the heel bully picking on the helpless commentator. I assume it leads to a third match at Rebellion.
Match #3: TNA Digital Media Championship: Crazzy Steve (c) vs PCO
Steve attacked PCO from behind and sent him out of the ring, as he was posing for the fans. He tossed PCO into the steel ring post and laughed about it. PCO fought back with a big boot and a clothesline on the floor. PCO lined up Steve for a clothesline but crashed into the ring post. Steve threw PCO back into the ring for a 2 count. He pounded away on PCO with left hand shots to the ribs in the corner. Steve crushed PCO’s eyes with elbow strikes in the corner. He used the ring ropes to inflict further damage to the eyes of PCO. Steve raked the back of PCO with his nails and hit a running punt to the chest. PCO sat up and fired back with a clothesline that sent Steve inside-out. He hit a clothesline in the corner and followed it up with a lung blower. PCO went to the top and nailed a leg drop to the back of Steve’s neck. He placed Steve on the ring apron and nailed some elbow shots. PCO nailed the Deanimator on the apron and they collapsed to the floor. Back in the ring, PCO nailed a reverse DDT. He went back to the top rope for the PCO Sault but Kon came down to the ring with a swag of weapons. He tossed some chairs into the ring, then a steel chain. PCO kicked the weapons out and went to focus back on Steve but Kon sent another chair into the ring. PCO ran the ropes and took out Kon with a suicide dive. He smashed a trash can over the back of Kon multiple times. The referee wasn’t even counting so PCO went under the ring to get some more weapons. This was totally odd but because it’s PCO it made sense. He set up a stack of chairs on the floor but Steve reached over the top rope and raked the eyes of PCO. Kon picked PCO up and nailed him with a back suplex on the chairs. That can’t be good for your back. Kon tossed PCO back into the ring and Steve rolled him up to win the match after 9 minutes
Winner by pinfall AND STILL TNA Digital Media Champion: Crazzy Steve
Analysis: **1/2 It was a typically slow PCO match and the second half of it was just used to keep the Kon feud alive, so the result was painfully obvious when he walked down to the ring. Steve retaining is fine by me.
Decay was backstage and cut a promo on Spitfire, the new tag team champions. Rosemary said they had a contractual rematch. Oh joy. MK Ultra walked by and Killer Kelly said they deserved a rematch first as they just lost the titles. Rosemary wanted to settle it in the ring.
Analysis: I think this is leading to a triple threat match between the only 3 teams in the entire division
Let’s Hear from Eric Young
Young cut a promo on the stage. He said at Sacrifice he was half a second away from becoming TNA Champion. Young said despite losing, he was going to keep moving forward. He said he wasn’t done with Moose but he’s sick of Frankie Kazarian. Young told Kaz that he had his attention now. He said that Kaz had made a grave mistake and challenged him to a Full Metal Mayhem match at Rebellion.
Analysis: That was barely a minute and he made more solid points than half the roster does with far more promo time. Good stuff from Young.
Match #4: Ash by Elegance vs Seleziya Sparkz
George Iceman introduces Ash as always in his over-the-top manner. I find this duo entertaining. Sparkz and Ash locked up as the bell rang. Ash used the ropes to escape an arm lock. She told Sparkz to kiss her hand but she shoved it away so Ash slapped her. Ash hit multiple hard knees to the head. Ash made Iceman sanitize her hand. She reversed a suplex attempt and nailed Sparkz with a clothesline. Ash went for a backflip but Sparkz put her knees up. Ash hit another clothesline and whipped Sparkz hard into the corner. She hit her handspring back elbow and a suplex. Ash hit her Swanton Bomb more than halfway across the ring and pinned Sparkz for the win after 3 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Ash-by-Elegance
Analysis: *1/2 Another dominant win by Ash. I’m all for building her up with victories that make her look good. She has a good variety of power and athletic moves and that Swanton finisher was impressive.
After the match, Iceman cut off the ring announcer and said he could take care of it. He shooed the referee out of the ring and Ash kept beating Sparkz down. Iceman tossed her a chair and Ash drove it into the throat of Sparkz. Ash put the chair on top of Sparkz and went to the top for another Swanton but Xia Brookside ran down to the ring and stood in the way. Ash hopped down from the top rope and backed down. She said she had her eye on Brookside.
Analysis: That’s a simple way to start a new feud and get Ash another win soon.
Nic Nemeth Speaks
It feels like there’s been a lot more solo in-ring promos tonight than usual. Lately, I have noticed a lot of short backstage segments to get more talent on the show but that’s not the case tonight. Nemeth said at Hard to Kill he made his intentions clear by hitting the Danger Zone on Moose. He said even though he really wanted to face Moose for a championship match, he respected the locker room enough to not just stroll in and cut to the front of the line. Nemeth recapped his feud with Steve Maclin and his win at Sacrifice. Nemeth said he was happy biding his time building up victories but the World Champion couldn’t wait. He said because of Moose’s actions, Nemeth has a World Championship match at Rebellion. Nemeth said at Rebellion he becomes TNA Champion. The System interrupted with unified theme music, which I think was new. They were all dressed in suits. There was a bit of an Evolution feel about them, obviously not at the level of the talent but the look of the stable and the fact that they’re all champions. Moose had a microphone and addressed Nemeth. He said there was no denying Nemeth’s accomplishments. Moose said Nemeth had defeated some of the greatest of all time. He said throughout his career, one thing Nemeth hasn’t been able to beat is the system. I suppose he’s referring to WWE’s booking. That was it.
Analysis: That was super short from Moose. Perhaps they were running out of time, even though it’s taped. I liked Nemeth’s explanation and he made sense because The System attacked him and Speedball Mountain last week.
Next week on Impact:
* 8-4-1 match to crown a Knockouts’ Championship #1 contender
* Josh Alexander in action
* We hear from Rich Swann and AJ Francis
Match #5: TNA Knockouts’ Championship: Jordynne Grace (c) vs Tasha Steelz
I think they had a new referee for this match. I hadn’t noticed her before when they introduced her. They could’ve built this match up for a few more weeks to have at Rebellion because, at this point, there’s really no big matches left for Grace as champion. Steelz has never beaten Grace in a singles match. Grace took control early with shoulder thrusts in the corner. She whipped Steelz into the turnbuckle and then again on the opposite side. Steelz avoided a baseball slide on the outside and hit her own pump kick that knocked Grace down. She hit a headbutt and rolled back into the ring to break the count. Grace blocked a suplex attempt and carried Steelz around the ring in the suplex positon. Steelz turned it into a neckbreaker on the floor. They rolled back into the ring to break the referee’s count and Steelz got a 1 count. Grace regained control with a series of chops. She hit a headbutt and told Steelz to bring it. They exchanged chops in the middle of the ring. Grace nailed a big spinebuster for 2. Steelz blocked the Juggernaut Driver but Grace was still able to hit a modified powerbomb. Steelz tried to hold on for a Triangle Choke but Grace hit a full-blown sit out powerbomb for 2. Grace avoided a neckbreaker in the corner and missed a Vader Bomb. Steelz hit the Sliced Bread in the corner for 2. Grace staggered to her feet and made it to the ring apron. They battled there and Grace went to the top but Steelz quickly cut her off. Grace hit a big palm strike but Steelz went for a Poisonrana. Grace held onto the ropes and blocked it but Steelz still tossed her off. Steelz hit an enziguiri but Grace fired up with a spinning backfist and the Juggernaut Driver to get the job done after 10 minutes.
Winner by pinfall AND STILL TNA Knockouts’ Champion: Jordynne Grace
Analysis: ***1/2 A solid main event even though Steelz had virtually no chance of winning. Steelz was having a decent comeback towards the end and Grace swatted her down with two moves and the match was over. That’s how far above the rest of the roster she is at the moment. There is literally no one that you could name that you would consider a legitimate threat to dethroning her without a ridiculous amount of interference or a fluke. The division needs a serious injection of top-tier talent but I’m not sure where that’s going to come from.
Impact went off the air with Grace celebrating on the entrance ramp.
Final Rating: 6.75/10
Another good show this week from TNA. They gave more promo time in front of the fans, rather than focusing on short backstage and taped segments which has been the norm of late to get more faces on the show. I have enjoyed that take lately because the segments have been to the point and you keep up-to-date with the feud without necessarily having to see every wrestler in the ring each week. However, tonight was good to have Nemeth and Young speak, and also give Ali some time with the commentators to build a feud with Jake Something. I probably enjoyed the opening Scramble match more than the KO title match, just because of the action between Knight and Slater, as well as it being very clear that Jordynne Grace was not losing her championship. I’m looking forward to seeing who they have up for her next because it doesn’t seem to be Ash as she looks to be engaged with Xia Brookside. Rebellion is shaping up to be another solid show with the biggest main event for any show since Ospreay vs Alexander 2.
The next TNA PLE is Rebellion. Here’s the card so far:
* TNA World Championship: Moose (c) vs Nic Nemeth
* TNA X-Division Championship: Mustafa Ali (c) vs Jake Something
* TNA Tag Team Championships: The System (c) vs Speedball Mountain
* Full Metal Mayhem: Eric Young vs Frankie Kazarian
Any feedback or comments are welcome. My email address is kristian.l.thompson@gmail.com in case anybody wants to get in touch with me and my Twitter handle is @thomok6 as well. Thanks for reading!