TNA Impact Review – June 13, 2024
Matt Hardy invited The System to the Hardy Compound just 24 hours before Against All Odds while the Nemeth Brothers faced ABC in the main event.
TNA Wrestling: 13.6.24 from MegaCorp Pavilion, Newport, Kentucky
The opening video recap focused on last week’s events which saw Nic Nemeth defeat Frankie Kazarian, and Jordynne Grace successfully defended her championship on the 20th anniversary of TNA.
We are straight into singles action this evening.
Match #1: Mike Santana vs Zachary Wentz w/ Trey Miguel
Santana was on fire early with a back body drop. Miguel distracted him on the outside and Wentz took advantage, then tossed Santana back into the ring. Wentz nailed a running SSP for 2. Santana fought back with chops but ran into an Atomic Drop and a running punt for 2 again. Miguel choked Santana against the middle rope, as Wentz distracted the referee. Wentz scored another nearfall then tried again but Santana powered out once more. Wentz tried a roll up but Santana spiked him with a cutter that just looked absolutely brutal. Tremendous work by Wentz there. Santana hit a back elbow in the corner then a kick to the face. He caught Wentz in mid-air with a Death Valley Driver for 2. Wow! Santana measured Wentz for Spin the Block but Wentz ducked and nailed a few strikes. He missed an enziguiri but nailed a superkick and a running double stomp to the back. Wentz went to the top rope and hit a Swanton for 2. He hit another superkick and went for a bulldog off the ropes but Santana nailed a big boot. Santana turned around and Wentz hit a Headlock DDT. Miguel tried to interfere but Steve Maclin ran in and took him out. Wentz tried a springboard cutter but Santana hit Spin the Block on him in mid-air. The match ran 8 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Mike Santana
Analysis: ***1/4 That was very entertaining for under 10 minutes. Wentz might be the best on the roster at making his opponent’s offense look amazing. He turned some regulation moves from Santana into something much more devastating.
Santana and Maclin faced off after the match. They team up against The Rascalz tomorrow night. That should be a win for them.
Tom Hannifan Interviews Mustafa Ali
Ali has billed this as an interview where no questions are off limits. Heels lie. I liked how they showed clips of his victories as they chatted. The Secret Service was making Hannifan nervous as he questioned Ali. Hannifan accused Ali of being unable to win without cheating. He brought up trying to limit the division against Jake Something and attempting to use the championship to knock out Ace Austin. Ali bit back with a list of sell-out shows involving him in TNA this year. He kept cutting Hannifan off as he made factual points. They discussed Ali vs Trent Seven at Against All Odds. Hannifan accused Ali of ducking Mike Bailey and using Campaign Singh to target Bailey. Singh told Hannifan they were out of time.
Analysis: Typical heelish actions from Ali. It’s obvious they are building towards Ali vs Bailey at Slammiversary. Ali vs Seven should still be decent.
Gisele Shaw is back! It sounded like Jade Chung’s announcement was pre-recorded. I wonder if anyone else noticed that?
There was a Digital Exclusive backstage segment to set up the next match, which I don’t think will be very long.
Match #2: Masha Slamovich vs Marti Belle w/ Allysin Kay
They traded wrist locks early on. Masha hit an arm drag then Belle took her down with a shoulder tackle. She hit a rolling forearm but Slamovich tripped her up into the middle rope and hit a hard clothesline for a 2 count. Belle tripped Slamovich up and hit a running knee against the ropes. Kay choked Slamovich out in the ropes and Belle hit a running kick for 2. Belle hit a hip attack in the corner and scored another nearfall. Slamovich fought back with a big boot in the corner and a spinning heel kick for 2. Belle ducked a clothesline and rolled Slamovich up with her feet on the ropes but the referee spotted it. Slamovich decked Kay and knocked her off the ring apron. Belle rolled Masha up using the tights and got the win after 4 minutes of action.
Winner by pinfall: Marti Belle
Analysis: ** Yikes. In the space of 18 months, Masha Slamovich has gone from an undefeated killer to losing to someone who’s had one match in TNA in the last year in under 4 minutes. I know it’s setting up for a tag team match if The Hex are hanging around but Masha is much better than being labeled as a tag wrestler who can lose on a whim. This was not great.
Steph De Lander and Xia Brookside were backstage discussing PCO. SDL said she would address the situation tomorrow night. First Class walked by and AJ Francis stole SDL’s rose. PCO saw this and went after them backstage.
Analysis: This is too corny even for me. Book the women’s division better.
Gia Miller interviewed First Class on the entrance ramp. I like this new format of interviewing. Having the crowd able to react (instead of no noise backstage) is much more authentic. Miller asked if Rich Swann’s interference last week tainted AJ’s Digital Media Championship win last week. AJ said the fans were too dumb to understand that that’s how friendships work. AJ said the rose was from an admirer. The lights went out and PCO was behind First Class. He nailed AJ with a shot to the face and went to pick up the rose but Swann attacked him from behind. PCO swatted Swann away and security tried to break up the fight. In the process, the rose broke and PCO picked it up as his music played.
Analysis: Weird stuff. Maybe it’s going to be PCO vs AJ as a title feud. That would be fine.
Match #3: Tasha Steelz vs Dani Luna w/ Jody Threat & Lars Fredriksen
It’s hard to get a gauge on Tasha. It feels like she has one match and disappears for a month. Luna backed Steelz into the corner in the early goings. She hit a shoulder block but Steelz stopped her with a kick. Luna hit a hard exploder suplex out of the corner. Steelz is so light that she was basically launched across the ring. Luna hit a diving clothesline for a 2 count. She nailed a Falcon Arrow for another nearfall. Steelz tripped Luna into the bottom turnbuckle. They fought on the apron and Luna tried to suplex Steelz back into the ring but Steelz kicked her legs out from under her. Steelz nailed a running uppercut and a punt to the chest. She went to work with some headbutts and choked Luna against the middle rope with her knee. Luna fought back with some strikes to the mid-section but another headbutt took her down for another 2 count. Steelz hit repeated elbow drops and got another nearfall. Luna blocked a running attack in the corner and fought back with forearms. Steelz stopped her in her tracks with double knees to the face for yet another 2 count. Steelz was wearing Luna down with all of the pinfall attempts. She tried to synch in a sleeper hold but Luna overpowered the grip of Steelz. Luna backed her into the corner but Steelz nailed an uppercut. She went for another running kick but Luna rolled her up for 2. Steelz swatted Luna down with a forearm. They exchanged forearms in the centre of the ring and then both tried a clothesline but met in the middle of the ring. Both women were slow to their feet but Luna was the first to strike with a clothesline. She hit a single-leg dropkick that rocked Steelz. Luna tried a deadlift powerbomb but Steelz held her ankle and tried a small package for 2. Luna popped back up and nailed a powerbomb for 2. Steelz blocked a Luna Landing attempt with a thumb to the eye. Luna caught her in mid-air as she attempted a bulldog off the ropes, but Steelz turned it into a backslide for 2. Steelz hit a superkick and then Sliced Bread for 2 again. Steelz locked in a submission but Luna made it to the ropes with her feet. Luna got a pep talk from her friends as she was pulling herself up against the ropes. Steelz chopped her hard against the ropes. She tried a bulldog off the ropes but Luna caught her with a Blue Thunder Bomb for 2. That was a nice counter. Steelz countered the Luna Landing with a hurricanrana into the ropes. Luna blocked a cutter and was able to get Steelz up onto her shoulders impressively for the Luna Landing to get the win after 12 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Dani Luna
Analysis: ***1/2 That was a very good match that was given a lot of time and they made the most of it with lots of offense and good counter wrestling. Luna could be a decent singles star in TNA if used correctly. She has an impressive power game and the crowd seem to like her. Steelz is always a lock for a good wrestling match. The division can be decent if they’re given the time and creative freedom to wrestle at this standard. I liked it a lot.
Joe Hendry, the viral man of the moment, was backstage with Gia Miller. Hendry was training with WWE’s Natalya earlier this week ahead of a rumoured appearance on NXT next week in the #1 contender battle royal. Miller asked how Hendry was going to combat The System in the future with the numbers game against him. Hendry said he had enlisted someone who knows a lot about recognising ‘The Best in the World’ in Ace Steel. Steel said he had an eye for talent and he believes in Joe Hendry. Frankie Kazarian interrupted and reminded Joe that he got destroyed last week. Steel challenged Kaz to a match against Hendry at Against All Odds. Kaz was happy with that.
Analysis: Interesting developments here. Steel was CM Punk’s guy in AEW and then was fired during the brawl with The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega at All Out 2022. Cool to see Hendry dropping a CM Punk reference. I like where Hendry is headed in 2024 and even happier that it’s pretty much all off his own back. He’s a very likable guy.
The System Comes to House Hardy
They showed The System turning up to The Hardy Compound. Brian Myers was driving. Eddie Edwards was unsure about it all and because he has been here before, told Myers to drive around the back as he knew another way in. Alisha and Moose made fun of an art work outside. Alisha went to say Jeff Hardy created it but Moose cut her off. Jeff is rumoured to be back in TNA this weekend, as his (absolute waste of time and money) contract with AEW is up. The System approached the house and Matt greeted them from a balcony. He introduced his family, even Senor Benjamin. Moose said he didn’t care about his family and was going to beat him down in front of them. He told Moose not to take another step or it would set off a ‘trap of booby’. Moose ignored Matt and then a bunch of fireworks went off around The System. There was dramatic music playing all throughout. Myers fought through the fog and picked up a figurine off the ground that looked like Jeff Hardy. There were voice playing that sounded like his run as Willow. Myers looked terrified as he stepped into a games room and picked up another figurine but it was dark and hard to see. He chased someone off into the gym. He found another figurine and then Matt appeared but it was only a cardboard cut-out. One of Matt’s kids, Maxel, showed up and Myers chased him off. Myers went into the next room and Matt taunted him over a megaphone. Myers was losing his mind and there were skeletons everywhere. They played the Joe Hendry song which taunted Matt Cardona and Myers. There was audio of Myers losing the Tag Team Championships as well as announcing his losing streak. A skeleton with Edge’s gear took him down with a spear. Maxel flew from the ladder and nailed him with a huge legdrop. Another of Matt’s sons, Wolfgang, confronted Edwards in the woods. He asked him if Eddie was the American wolf. Wolfgang pointed to the full moon and Eddie transformed into a wolf. They both howled at the moon. Alisha was inside all alone looking at relics and paintings. Reby was playing music on the piano with her daughter Eevee at her side. Reby asked how Alisha was enjoying the Hardy Compound. Alisha called all of the Hardys freaks and their place was a house of horrors. Reby took that as a compliment. Alisha said she had seen enough. Eevee blocked Alisha’s way and sprayed her with something. Moose was outside trying to find Matt. Bartholomew had hold of Moose’s leg. He led him towards Matt. Moose lost him in the dark and they came to Senor Benjamin’s house. He was watching the Final Deletion on the big screen. Moose entered the house and there were photos of the Hardy Boyz on the wall. Hardy snuck up from behind and smashed Moose into the wall. He put Moose into a wheel chair and took him for a ride. They cut to Reby who had Alisha trapped in a guillotine. She let down the rope, apparently beheading Alisha. Matt tossed Moose into the Lake of Reincarnation. Moose came out as his former NFL self. They played the NFL music. Moose was not impressed. Matt said that he reincarnated Moose to his best self because he wants Moose at his best when he beats him tomorrow night. Vanguard 1 the drone distracted Moose so Hardy nailed him with the Twist of Fate. They cut back to The System at the entrance gates restored to their normal selves. Moose said he was going to kill Hardy at Against All Odds.
Analysis: Obviously there’s a lot to cover there so hopefully I did it justice. These kinds of skits are not for everyone but I have to applaud them for their creativity. Back when Matt started doing this, no one had seen anything like it before and it was thrilling stuff. I still think it’s pretty good, albeit cheesy, but I prefer this version of Hardy that stands a fighting chance against Moose, to the regular version who doesn’t intimidate anyone. Good stuff by all the Hardys involved and Alisha actually acted well for once.
Match #4: Jada Stone vs Ash-by-Elegance
Jada was recently on Xplosion but I have not seen her before that. Ash was on NXT Battleground on Sunday but judging by the reaction when she interfered in the match, not many knew who she was. I think they could’ve used a bigger star in that spot but there’s no one that fits that bill apart from Jordynne Grace at present and she was already in the match! Rosemary was shown glaring at Ash from afar. Ash slapped Stone early. She stomped away on her in the corner. Hannifan was livid that Ash cost Grace the NXT Women’s Championship on Sunday. Ash targeted the shoulder of Stone. Stone used the splits to avoid a clothesline and then a Matrix-style duck. The crowd didn’t react like they would if Naomi did that. Stone went for a dive on the outside but Ash clocked her with a right hand. Ash hit a suplex on the corner. They kept cutting to Rosemary who I have no interest in. Ash tossed Stone back in the ring for a 2 count. She continued to beat Stone down on the mat. Hannifan said that Ash was too much of a coward to accept Grace’s open challenge tomorrow night. Stone went for a German suplex but Ash blocked it with a back elbow. Stone hit a forearm and went for a moonsault but Ash got her knees up. She nailed a clothesline and Rarefied Air for the win after 4 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Ash-by-Elegance
Analysis: ** That was fine as another match to keep Ash looking strong. Losing to Xia was a stupid booking move a few weeks ago. I could’ve done without the numerous camera cuts to Rosemary in the bleachers.
There was a vignette for Jonathan Gresham. He was in his creepy mask and addressed Sami Callihan. Gresham mocked Callihan’s thumbs up/down routine. He said he would wreck Callihan’s immune system at Against All Odds.
Analysis: Gresham’s run is intriguing. Callihan is not. Hopefully Gresham goes over.
Jordynne Grace cut a quick taped promo addressing her loss at NXT. She repeated her open challenge for tomorrow night.
Analysis: A lot of people got upset that Grace lost to Roxanne Perez on Sunday. Why on earth would WWE put their title on a TNA wrestler? There was no chance in that ever happening. They tainted the win to make Grace look protected but it should’ve been a double-disqualification if it wasn’t headlining the show. Grace will find her way to WWE on a permanent basis in 2025.
Tom Hannifan and Matt Rehwoldt ran down the Against All Odds card in the ring.
Match #5: ABC vs Ryan and Nic Nemeth
This is the first time that the Nemeth brothers are tagging together. That’s cool for them. This won’t be their first loss, that’s for sure. Ryan and Bey started the match off. No one could gain the advantage so they went to their respective corners for some advice. Ryan took Bey down with a fireman’s carry and a wristlock. He took a side headlock and got a 1 count. Bey hit a shoulder tackle and an arm drag. Ryan tagged in Nic, because Bey wanted a piece of him. Nic used his quickness to roll up Bey for a 1 count. Bey wriggled to the corner to avoid a submission. Bey countered a headlock into an arm drag and mocked Nic’s dancing. Nic threw Bey into the ropes and nailed a dropkick as he bounced off. Bey was annoyed and tagged in Austin. Austin tripped Nic up and hit an enziguiri. He trapped Nic’s legs and rolled him up for 2. Austin targeted Nic’s left arm with a hammer lock. Nic tried to reach Ryan for a tag but Austin pulled him back multiple times. Nic hit a back body drop but Austin landed right in his corner so Bey tagged in and hit a quick double stomp to the back. Bey nailed Nic with a number of knee strikes to the ribs. Nic fought back with a few right hands but Bey cut him off with a clothesline. Bey tagged Austin back in and he nailed a suplex for a 1 count. Austin squeezed the neck of Nic with his legs in a scissors hold. Nic rolled out of it to score a 1 count but Austin floored him with a dropkick. Bey tagged back in and hit a clothesline in the corner. He rammed his shoulder into Nic’s ribs against the middle turnbuckle a number of times. Bey nailed Nic with a knee strike to the back and scored a 1 count. Nic tried to leapfrog Bey for a tag but Bey held him in mid-air and rammed him back into their corner. Austin came back in and chopped away at Nic in the corner. Nic tried to fight them both off but Austin went back to the ribs. Bey tagged back in and they hit a double suplex and double dropkick. Austin forgot he wasn’t legal so Bey tried a pinfall and the referee counted 2. Bey hit a running knee to the side of Nic’s head. He scored with a hard left forearm and went back to the spine of Nic with a knee shot. Nic tried to fire up but ran into a flying forearm from Bey. ABC double-teamed Nic in the corner. Austin nailed a hard kick and then Bey hit a running crossbody for 2. Nic had been beaten down for almost 10 minutes at this point. Bey missed a splash in the corner as Nic crawled to his corner. Bey cut him off at the legs. Nic finally dived and made the tag to Ryan. He took Austin down off the apron and hit a flying forearm on Bey. Ryan nailed a neckbreaker on Bey for a 2 count. He measured Bey for a jumping DDT but Bey caught him and tossed him back into his corner. Nic made a tag, after having a rest for barely a minute. He blocked a cutter but Bey tried a backslide for 2. Nic hit a Fame Asser on his left side, which is rare, for a 2 count. Ryan tagged back in and they hit a hard double clothesline on Bey. Bey blocked a suplex attempt with his knee. They exchanged forearm shots and then nailed each other with a clothesline. Both guys were down but slowly made their way to their corners for a tag. For some reason, Austin got the hot face tag and nailed Nic with a number of clotheslines. He sent Ryan into the corner and nailed a bulldog from the middle rope. Ace hit a springboard kick on Nic for 2. He hit a Brainbuster on Nic but Ryan broke up the pinfall attempt. All 4 men were in the ring at this point. Ryan sent Bey into the corner with a forearm. He hit a jumping DDT on Austin. Bey nailed Ryan with a cutter then ate a superkick from Nic. Austin helped Bey to his feet. Nic was down in the heel corner. They tossed Ryan over the top rope and Bey sailed over the top to take him down with a crossbody. Austin rolled Nic up for 2. He hit a kick to the head and a face stomp for another 2 count. That was close. Austin tagged Bey and they set up for finisher. Ryan held Austin’s leg to prevent the Art of Finesse. Austin tried a crossbody over the top rope but Ryan moved. Back in the ring, Ryan hit a jumping Flatliner on Bey and Nic finished him off with the Danger Zone for the win after 21 minutes.
Winners by pinfall: Nic & Ryan Nemeth
Analysis: ***1/2 That was a good main event, that probably went 5 minutes too long especially when the best wrestler in the match was getting beat down for over half of it. Without being disrespectful, I would say that that’s the most I have ever seen Ryan Nemeth wrestle and he did a good job out there. His offense looked smooth but he probably has to add a few more moves to his arsenal in time to consolidate a finishing sequence. That being said, Tama Tonga uses that exact jumping Flatliner to win matches on SmackDown. There was never any doubt in the victors here, as the Nemeths are challenging for the Tag Team Championships and ABC are trying to work out their chemistry issues. They still have a rematch at some point.
The Nemeths celebrated as TNA went off the air.
Final Rating: 6.5/10
I enjoyed this week’s show, probably just a little less than last week, though. There was solid wrestling throughout, including 3 women’s matches on the one night which is a rarity in any wrestling company so kudos to TNA for that tonight. Because of the tapings, there are weeks where they have only 1 match or 1 segment with the ladies but tonight was Knockouts focused and that was with the champion only being featured in a 60-second taped promo. I felt that Dani Luna and Tasha Steelz had a great match and showed what the division can do with decent match ups and match time lengths. The other two matches were shorter but storyline-focused as Ash continued her winning ways and Marti Belle got a win over Masha to perhaps hint at a Tag Team Championship challenge if The Hex are hanging around. Who knows with these short contracts nowadays? The Nemeths had a win in their first-ever tag match, ahead of their Tag Team Title shot at Against All Odds, and Mike Santana beat Zac Wentz in a really fun opener. The highlight of the night for me was the always-bizarre Hardy Compound confrontation, with lots of shenanigans and creativity. There were hints that Jeff might be making a return and I would predict that if he does, it would be to save Matt from a post-match beating from The System. I think Matt has a very small chance at beating Moose for the TNA title and I think that will actually be reserved for Joe Hendry at Slammiversary or Bound for Glory if that show is in the UK. TNA built the card for this show pretty early in the month and have added some of the undercard last week and this week, so overall it feels like a pretty good lineup to me. I’ll be back to review it over the weekend.
The next TNA monthly special is Against All Odds on Friday, June 14. Here’s the card with my predictions in bold:
* TNA World Championship: Moose (c) vs Matt Hardy
* TNA Knockouts’ Championship: Jordynne Grace (c) issues an open challenge
* TNA Tag Team Championships: The System (c) vs Nic & Ryan Nemeth
* TNA X-Division Championship: Mustafa Ali (c) vs Trent Seven
* Sami Callihan vs Jonathan Gresham
* Joe Hendry vs Frankie Kazarian
* Josh Alexander & Eric Young vs ABC
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/X handle is @thomok6 as well. Thanks for reading!