The following are spoilers from Friday’s TNA Impact TV taping in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — the first of two nights of tapings from the 2300 Arena.
All matches taking place this weekend will be seen over the next four weeks on TNA Impact and Xplosion as the company closes in on their Rebellion pay-per-view in Las Vegas on April 20th.
The big news coming out of the taping was the return of both former Digital Media Champion Matt Cardona and Steph De Lander. De Lander made her debut for the company in January 2023 and was part of the Down Under tour last summer while Cardona last appeared at last October’s Bound for Glory gauntlet match.
De Lander won the second-ever 8-4-1 match to earn a Knockouts title shot against Jordynne Grace at Rebellion — a rematch from last January that Grace won.
For Xplosion: Tasha Steelz defeated Ava Everett
In the first part of an 8-4-1 match, Rosemary, Xia Brookside, Dani Luna & Steph De Lander defeated Havok, Jody Threat, Alisha Edwards & Masha Slamovich
In the second part, De Lander defeated Rosemary, Xia Brookside & Dani Luna in a four-way to earn a Knockouts title shot against Grace at Rebellion. De Lander was aided by Cardona for the win.
Grizzled Young Vets (James Drake & Zack Gibson) defeated Deaner in a handicap match
Josh Alexander defeated Tracy Williams. Alex Hammerstone attacked both men afterward.
Eddie Edwards defeated Mike Bailey after Alisha Edwards interfered
Steve Maclin defeated Chris Sabin
X-Division Champion Mustafa Ali defeated Rhino in an old school rules (anything goes) match.
Hammerstone cut a promo and then put a cameraman in the torture rack.
The Rascalz (Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz) defeated The FBI (Zack Clayton & Ray Jaz). Myron Reed made his return to help The Rascalz win. This was also Clayton’s TNA debut and his first match anywhere since his departure from AEW/ROH last summer.
TNA Digital Media Champion Crazzy Steve defeated Laredo Kid via DQ to retain
First Class (AJ Francis & Rich Swann) defeated ABC (Chris Bey & Ace Austin). Francis and Swann cut a promo earlier in the show introducing their new team name and Swann vs. Joe Hendry was made for Rebellion.
A contract signing between Grace and De Lander went awry after Cardona accidentally knocked Santino Marella down which led to Grace knocking Cardona down. The heels put Grace through a table.
Jake Something defeated James Drake. Deaner made the save for former partner Something after Zack Gibson attacked Something post-match.
Hammerstone defeated Lil’ Guido. Alexander and Hammerstone had a staredown afterward.
The contracts for former TNA World Champions and company originals Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin are up in early-April.
PWInsider first reported the news Friday, adding that some within TNA expect the duo known as the Motor City Machine Guns to exit the company while others are hoping they can keep both men.
The two are currently part of the Time Machine faction with KUSHIDA, and have been teasing a potential heel turn for Shelley due to a recent losing skid within the group.
TNA is holding two nights of TV tapings this weekend in Philadelphia with Shelley facing Nic Nemeth, and both Shelley and Sabin challenging TNA Tag Team Champions The System (Brian Myers & Eddie Edwards).
Following this weekend, the next TNA event is April 20th’s Rebellion pay-per-view. The two don’t have matches announced for that show yet which would likely take shape this weekend if they are planned to appear.
Both men are among the most decorated champions in TNA/Impact Wrestling history.
The 40-year-old Shelley held the TNA World title from June 2023 through this past January when he lost it to Moose. He’s a three-time TNA Tag Team Champion with Sabin and has also held the X-Division title once. He made his TNA debut in 2004.
The 42-year-old Sabin debuted for the company in 2003 during the NWA-TNA days and has held the X-Division title ten times, the TNA Tag Team titles three times, and the TNA World title once for a short run in 2013.
Shelley has filed for trademarks on both the Motor City Machine Guns name and MCMG.
Sabin has never appeared in WWE while Shelley had a match on a 2005 episode of Sunday Night Heat and teamed with KUSHIDA on three NXT shows in January 2020. The two have competed once in AEW, teaming with Jay Lethal against FTR & Wardlow at 2022’s All Out.
Both are very active on the indies, both as a team and singles wrestlers.
A first-time ever matchup has been announced for TNA Wrestling’s television tapings in Philadelphia.
Nic Nemeth vs. Alex Shelley will take place when TNA tapes TV at Philly’s 2300 Arena this Friday. TNA is holding tapings at the venue on both Friday (March 22) and Saturday (March 23). Matches from the shows will air on future episodes of Impact.
TNA is billing this as a “generational clash” between Nemeth and Shelley.
Shelley lost the TNA World Championship to Moose at Hard to Kill.
PWInsider reports that the belief is Shelley and Chris Sabin’s current contracts with TNA Wrestling are set to expire soon, “possibly as soon as the end of March.”
Shelley & Sabin are teaming together against TNA Tag Team Champions Eddie Edwards & Brian Myers at this Saturday’s TNA taping. Edwards & Myers have a title defense against Mike Bailey & Trent Seven scheduled for Rebellion.
Here’s everything that’s been announced for the Philadelphia tapings so far:
Friday (March 22) —
Nic Nemeth vs. Alex Shelley
Josh Alexander vs. Tracy Williams
Saturday, (March 23) —
TNA Tag Team Champions Eddie Edwards & Brian Myers vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin)
TNA will hold their first streaming event in the post-Scott D’Amore era with tonight’s No Surrender, live from New Orleans, Louisiana, on TNA+.
The event is headlined by TNA World Champion Moose defending against Alex Shelley in a rematch from January’s Hard to Kill but under No Surrender rules where a cornerman must throw in the towel for the match to end.
Mustafa Ali will make his TNA debut as he challenges X-Division Champion Chris Sabin for the title.
Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace will defend against Gisele Shaw while the TNA Tag Team titles will be decided in the best-of-three finale between champions ABC and the Grizzled Young Veterans.
Josh Alexander will face Simon Gotch, and Eric Young will take on Frankie Kazarian to determine the next World title contender.
Other main card matches will see PCO vs. Kon, and Knockouts Tag Team Champions Decay defending against MK Ultra in a rematch.
The pre-show kicks off at 7:30 PM Eastern with two matches.
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The Rascalz (Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz) defeated Speedball Mountain (Mike Bailey & Trent Seven)
The heel Rascalz got a hot start with a double suicide dive to the floor before Wentz worked over the knee of Bailey on the ground. A missed Bailey split kick attempt led to him eating a flurry of kicks for 2. Bailey recovered enough to land a second-rope missile dropkick and got a hot tag into Seven, who landed a series of back to back dragon suplexes on the Rascalz for 2.
Bailey hit an orihara moonsault en route to Trent landing a superplex and a shooting star from Beily got 2 on Miguel. Bailey tagged back for a seven star lariat on Miguel for 2. Wentz prevented Ultima Weapon and landed a second rope double stomp on Bailey for 2. Miguel ate a superkick and the ref’s distracted before a Maclin chop block to a Bailey tapout off a kneebar.
The TNA World Title match is hyped with a recap video covering the different allies involved in the No Surrender match and the stipulation itself. Kazarian said that whoever wins in that match faces him at Sacrifice because he’s not in this for meaningless matches.
The System (Eddie Edwards & Brian Myers) defeated Jet Setters (KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight
Knight started off strong taking both members of the System down before armdragging Edwards down. KUSHIDA is tagged in after a shoulder pumphandle, but ate a back elbow from Myers before Edwards came in. KUSHIDA landed a hiptoss to Edwards but can’t tag in Knight due to Knight being taken out on the apron. A punt to the right arm of Edwards led to a double-tag.
Knight came in and punched and kicked both guys before taking them down with a dive to put Myers up to land a flat-footed top rope rana from the corner for 2. KUSHIDA put Myers on his shoulders and Knight paid homage to Mark Jindrak with a dropkick to a man in that position for 2. Myers recovered briefly with a desperation impaler DDT. Edwards got a backpack stunner out of the corner before a Myers diving elbow got a fantastic 2.5 count. Knight got a schoolboy for 2 before a combination of the Roster Cut lariat and the Boston Knee Party took out Knight.
Eric Young defeated Frankie Kazarian to earn a future TNA World title match
Kazarian forced Jade Chung to remind the crowd that he is the King of TNA, ensuring that he got heat throughout the match. Kazarian ground away on the mat to start after winning a tie-up and a takedown. Kaz landed a nice back suplex before stomping away. Hannifan talks about how each man got a shot against Josh Alexander in 2022 and came up short.
Kazarian wanted the blind-dive springboard legdrop, but EY avoided it and landed a wonky Roode Bomb for 2. An EY diving elbow off the top got 2 before Kazarian got the Jerry Lynn-style slingshot apron legdrop for 2. Kazarian couldn’t get the chickenwing, but slung EY in after his apron bump for a cutter for 2. That was one of the most-impressive spots in the new TNA era. Kazarian landed a backstabber and Fade to Black for 2.9! Kazarian argued with the referee and an EY crucifix got the win!
After the match, Kazarian yelled at the ref and sent him down with a clothesline before landing a series of grounded kicks and grounded elbows and punches. Tom Hannifan is such a great babyface announcer being offended by all of this logically. Gia Miller chats with the Grizzled Young Veterans, who say that they are in fact Grizzled Young Veterans and they came to America for the TNA Tag Team Titles.
ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) defeated Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) to retain the TNA Tag Team Titles
Gibson and Austin started off with GIbson going for the arm that was hurt in match two before Drake came in and ate a high/low and a Click Click Boom double team splash/legdrop for 2 from Bey. Bey ate a double-team stun gun – giving him a weakness alongside Bey’s left arm. Gibson landed an outside-in suplex for 2 before Drake worked over the throat of Bey more with a chinlock.
Bey landed a desperation missile dropkick and wanted a tag, but Drake sent Austin off the apron to prevent the tag before Drake choked out Bey with a scarf. These two teams have fantastic chemistry and you couldn’t really ask for a better set of teams to be the foundation of a modern-day TNA tag team division. Bey got a desperation neckbreaker and tagged in Ace Austin.
Austin ran wild until being double-teamed and fighting back with a double missile-dropkick! Massive moonsault from Austin gave the faces an edge for a bit before Bey tagged in and landed a frog splash. Bey landed a Yokasuka cutter before an Austin corkscrew senton, but the GYV locked on submissions right after with a rear naked choke on Bey and an armbar on Austin! Bey got 2 off a flip off on the RNC. The GYVs land a doomsday device suicide dive lariat onto Austin on the floor!
Bey stood alone against both members of the GYV and kicked away at both men to give himself a slight advantage until a run-up famouser on Gibson. Gibson trapped him in the corner for a draping lungblower and a Drake coast to coast dropkick got 2.9! 1-2- SWEET ENDS IT and the ABC retain the TNA World Tag Titles in the best of three series.
Backstage, the Rascalz are cocky jerks to Speedball Mountain. Kon came out for his match with PCO looking like the largest grunge bodyguard ever while PCO got a bit stretcher entrance.
PCO defeats Kon by DQ
PCO and Kon started off with clubbering and clotheslines after brawling on the ramp. PCO went for a suicide dive cannonball, but Kon avoided it and PCO went splat on the floor before taking an apron chokeslam. He recovered from that to post Kon and set him up for the draping Deanimator that missed! Kon grabbed a steel chair and he hit him and that’s a DQ. There are DQs in PCO matches!? PCO does the theatrical neck snap while someone rings the bell a thousand times. Do the neck snap on them! Well, he punched them and threw them down – so I’ll count that as close enough. PCO landed the suicide dive cannonball! PCO sent him down with a chairshot before eating a low blow and a chokeslam on the ramp. Kon zip tied PCO to the tunnel and does the neck snapper again…now with a chair to somehow do more damage. This was good before the weird finish.
Backstage, Shelley talks about how he doesn’t want Sabin out there because he’s in the main event. Sabin demands that the Jet Setters absolutely can’t throw the towel in and Shelley tells them to not throw it in no matter what.
MK Ultra (Killer Kelly & Masha Slamovich) defeated Decay (Rosemary & Havok to win the TNA Knockouts Tag Team titles
All four women brawled on the floor to start before Havok worked over Slamovich before landing a corner lariat. A Rosemary tag in led to an exploder for 2. Kelly tripped up Rosemary for 2. Slamovich earned her name slamming Kelly on Rosemary twice. A Kelly slap is countered into a Rosemary rainmaker for 2. Rosemary and Kelly went back and forth with creepy pin counters for 2 before Slamovich cane in. Rosemary got an edge-o-matic on Slamovich before a double tag. Havok landed a spinebuster to Kelly for 2. Rosemary wanted a spear but ate a Snow Plow for the win!
MK Ultra got a couple of cheap shots in after the match before Dani Luna and Jody Threat made the same. The System tells Moose that they saved him from the Border City Stretch last night, but they won’t throw in the towel. Rehwoldt talks up how deranged Gotch is and how bitter he became over seeing what kind of success Alexander has had.
Josh Alexander defeated Simon Gotch
Gotch and Alexander started off with strong, intense matwork before Gotch goes for finger manipulation to get an advantage. Gotch and Alexander exchange sick uppercuts and chops respectfully. One fantastic thing about this program for Gotch is that it’s giving him a chance to rewrite that name from being comedy into something more serious – it’s a shame that the Gotch name was used for comedy in that regard.
Gotch sent Alexander down on the apron before posing next to Rehwoldt and saying that THEY ARE MANLY! Gotch shot the half for 2 before locking on an armbar on the right arm before switching on the surgically-repaired left arm. Alexander landed rolling Germans and stopping at four before Gotch grabbed the rope and landed a back elbow and a kick to the ear of Alexander.
Both men exchange hard slaps to the jaw before Gotch nails him with a head-trapped knee to the face. A Gotch senton missed, but an Alexander splash to the back on the apron didn’t. They go for a fantastic near-countout barely making it in before 10 in a rare non-AEW example of a countout working well in North America. Back and forth forearm exchanges set up a giant Gotch boot before an Alexander one and they go even on lariats too. A running boot gives Alexander the edge and a “this is awesome” chant.
Alexander got 2 on an exploder and wanted a C4 Spike, but Gotch avoided it into a bulldog choke by moving the headgear around. Alexander used the headgear to slip out of the choke and got the ankle lock. Powerbomb backbreaker and the C4 Spike end it for Alexander!
0 AJ Francis meets with Rich Swann and tells him that it must be hard to see a former World Champion like Alexander succeeding while he’s losing on Xplosion. Francis says that just because they’re opponents on Thursday doesn’t mean they’re enemies. AJ Francis is doing the best work of his career in this TNA run.
Moose defeated Alex Shelley to retain the TNA World Title in a No Surrender Match
Shelley started off quickly with punches and diving forearms in the corner before he ground away on the left arm. Moose used the good arm for a snake eyes attempt that Shelley avoided and turned into an opening for a left-arm Fujiawara armbar. A Moose escape opened the door for a big boot on the floor and apron powerbomb before working Shelley over with a ringpost bow and arrow.
Moose wanted a slam through the announce table, but an eye rake prevented that and gave Shelley a chance to take Moose down on the floor. Shelley worked on the left knee on the floor until being kicked into the post. Shelley returned the favor and removed coverings on the turnbuckle to torture the fingers to try and get a win but to no avail.
Moose recovered well enough to use the good hand to slug away for a while before trapping Shelley’s hands in the turnbuckle for a chairshot. Shelley recovered and sent Moose into the ropes for a draping dragon screw to play off all the work on the leg on the floor earlier. Shelley used a kendo stick on the left leg in the corner before doing a golf club-style swing to it and using the kendo stick for the half-crab. Myers breaks that up by getting on the apron and Edwards gets the stick.
Moose landed a uranage before Myers tossed in a trash can that Moose set upright for a superplex! Shelley avoided that and sent Moose onto his own creation with a powerbomb. Shelley grounded him with a figure four that Moose escaped from using the kendo stick. Moose sent him down with a giant Gunther-esque chop before Moose charged in and was met with another Fujiwara armbar turned into a Border City Stretch!
Moose escaped that but fell to his own spear attempt through a table that sent him crashing through. Shelley grabbed a chain and put it through the mouth of Moose for the Stretch before the System tried to get involved before Knight dove onto them. Moose speared Shelley with KUSHIDA in the ring and KUSHIDA leaves before Moose landed a second spear. A third spear hits using the chain on his shoulder to do even more damage to KUSHIDA’s friend. The usage of the seconds and the towel is very much just TNA putting an official stipulation to the Survivor Series ’94 I Quit stipulation and that third spear was too much as KUSHIDA throws in the towel. I’m pleasantly surprised to see Sabin didn’t turn heel on this one and it set up KUSHIDA vs. Shelley at some point. Ash by Elegance and her personal concierge are out for the VIP treatment for the Knockouts Title match.
Jordynne Grace defeated Gisele Shaw to retain the TNA Knockouts Title
They start off with a cat and mouse game that Grace won briefly by smacking her into the apron, but Shaw sent her off the apron to the floor. Grace calls out Ash by Elegance, who looked on unamused before Shaw gained an edge and landed a tornado kick to the back of the head in the corner. Grace hopped out of the corner and landed a series of slams.
Shaw went for a sunset bomb on Grace on the floor, but had no leverage or power and Grace had her hands locked, so she just stomped her and hit a senton. Grace wanted a Juggernaut Driver to the floor off the apron, but Shaw countered into a Spanish Fly off the apron instead!
Shaw landed a knee strike for 2.5. This pisses Shaw off and they go back and forth with forearm exchanges before a Cody Cutter attempt by Shaw is met with a crucifix for 2. Backfist and the Juggernaut Driver end it – this was an excellent showing for both women. Shaw has never looked better in TNA and it was a fine showcase for Grace as a blend of speed and power.
Jake Something hypes up Ali vs. Sabin as the main event and says he’s coming for the gold. Sacrifice is hyped as the next premium live event for the company on March 8 before running through their taping schedule. Clips air of the legendary Unbreakable triple threat to set up this as the first X Title main event on PPV in 18 years. Ali has his faux-Secret Service and intense theme giving him a main event-level presentation on a global stage for the first time ever.
Mustafa Ali defeated Chris Sabin to win the TNA X-Division Title
They go back and forth with fast matwork to start before a standoff mid-ring after they each go for a dropkick at the same time. Sabin sent him down with a tackle and grounds him with a seated surfboard. A Sabin bow and arrow was turned into a pin for 2. A Sabin sleeper is turned into an Ali jawbreaker. Ali landed a slick 450 to the draped arm on the rope gives Ali an edge.
Ali locks on a crossface and uses the damaged arm as his base for the hold. Ali stomped the arm while saying that Sabin isn’t the champion they deserve. Sabin landed a tornado DDT for 2. A Sabin crucifix into a crossface shows a rare side of Sabin’s submission game before a massive “Ali” chant breaks out. Sabin works heel here with the ref while in the story, Ali should be the heel because he’s putting down the company loyalist.
Ali dropkicks Sabin on the floor and a 450 is avoided and Sabin sent him face-first into the buckle with a hard hammer throw. Sabin dives onto the Secret Service goons to save Ali. The Good Hands came down to distract Sabin, allowing Ali to get 2 off a schoolboy. Clothesline from Hell, Michigan hits hard and the Cradle Shock gets 2.5 when Ali just straight-up kicks out!
Sabin goes up for an avalanche Cradle Shock, but Ali avoids it and hits a sunset bomb before the 450 wins it! Mustafa Ali wins the X Title in his TNA Debut! This was a fantastic overall in-ring story with Sabin as the character babyface, but Ali as the more over man in the match.
One day before No Surrender, a six-man tag match headlines tonight’s episode of TNA Impact.
The System (Moose, Eddie Edwards & Brian Myers) are taking on Alex Shelley, KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight. It comes in advance of Moose defending his TNA World Championship against Shelley at Friday’s No Surrender special. In that match, Edwards and Myers will be in Moose’s corner and KUSHIDA and Knight will be in Shelley’s corner. The match can only end when one of the cornermen throws in the towel.
On the pre-show for No Surrender, KUSHIDA & Knight are facing Edwards & Myers.
Ash By Elegance (the former Dana Brooke) officially arrives as she makes her TNA in-ring debut tonight.
Chris Sabin vs. Jason Hotch is part of tonight’s lineup as well. At No Surrender, Sabin is putting his X-Division Championship on the line against Mustafa Ali.
Also tonight, Steve Maclin faces Trent Seven. Simon Gotch will be in action as well ahead of his match against Josh Alexander at No Surrender.
Chris Sabin defeated Jason Hotch (w/ John Skylar)
Chris Sabin, again, is so good. This one was a little more back and forth than the match with Skylar, but did have some of the same problem of no one believing Hotch could win. It helped this was faster paced, though.
This match was really good from a fundamental perspective like the one Sabin had against Skylar a few weeks ago, but had the same problem as the Skylar one – mainly that no one believed Hotch had a chance of winning, and the heat Hotch go on Sabin in this was not believable. The fans popped for Sabin’s big moves, with particular note for a tornado DDT in the middle of the match, but were silent when Hotch hit a Chaos Theory for a near fall.
It is perfectly fine to give a guy a chance to get over, but this is not the kind of match to do it in. Unlike a Kenny Omega vs. Alan Angels, this never worked to the level of that. That said, crowd did get into the cheating from Hotch and Skylar, booing, and cheering quite loudly when Sabin side stepped a suicide dive and Hotch accidentally took out his own partner.
Sabin hit a missile dropkick off the top rope to Hotch, and then followed up with the Cradle Shock for the win. Good match, all things considered. Very good, even.
–Mustafa Ali had a hype video for his campaign to become X-Division champion, and said that at No Surrender, they better declare “In Ali We Trust.” This was good.
–The System cut a promo about their 6-man tag team main event match tonight, and how the match between Moose & Alex Shelley is a No DQ match. Santino walked up and told The System that the match would be No DQ, yes, but if anyone interfered on behalf of someone else, they would lose. So, it is a No DQ match, with the exception of interference.
–Chris Sabin was backstage and talked about how Mustafa Ali confused him, acting like a politician, and that Ali was going to find out at No Surrender why he was a 10-time X-Division champion. This was great.
Simon Gotch defeated Jack Price
Gotch is a perfectly fine worker, but he is no Jon Moxley, and it is rather amusing using a finishing sequence that Moxley uses frequently.
Josh Alexander came out to join the commentary booth, and explained how Gotch has been holding a grudge for 5 years now, saying that he was the one that helped Alexander earlier in his career. Gotch laid out Price with a dropkick and beat him around ringside with some hard European uppercuts. Alexander explained that he defeated Gotch 5 years ago, and it was that night that he was given his TNA/Impact contract, and Gotch took credit for it, thinking he brought something special out of him. Gotch was beating Price around the ring before hitting the Gotch Style piledriver on Price and locking on a bulldog choke to get the submission over Price.
–The GYV was backstage, and they talked about how they needed the TNA World Tag Team Championships. They promised that the Grizzled Young Veterans were going to take what was there, and they were going to rip the limbs from Ace Austin, or the head of Chris Bey. I liked this promo. It was simple, but sold the match.
–We got another Kon hype video, highlighting his ongoing feud with PCO.
Steve Maclin (w/ The Rascalz) defeated Trent Seven (w/ Mike Bailey)
Steve Maclin came across as a killer in this match, and it is so abundantly clear that he is the guy that TNA should be building around. Too bad that I don’t think they think the same.
Maclin opened the match quickly, hitting a big back elbow to Seven. Seven hit a crossbody and a leg drop after bouncing off the ropes. Maclin hit a knee to the face of Seven and followed up with a clothesline. Maclin followed up with a hard chop that dropped Seven to his knees and hit a suplex. Maclin choked Seven on the ropes, and stomped Seven when he rolled away from the ropes.
Seven kicked out after an axe handle, and chopped Maclin, who completely no sold it and resumed offence. Seven responded with another hard chop, and Maclin no sold it again. Maclin looks like an absolute monster in this match, and he dominated Seven until the ad break, where the Rascalz started stomping on Seven. Seven hit a few strikes on the floor, but Maclin sent Seven into the steel post and had the advantage again. Maclin hit a back suplex on the apron, and Seven kicked out.
This continued for a few more minutes as Maclin took 90% of the match, just crushing Seven throughout. Seven fired up with some chops again, but Maclin hit the ropes and took his head off with a lariat, but Seven kicked out. Maclin hit a uranage into a backbreaker, but Seven cut off Maclin on the top rope.
The Rascalz got involved but before they could attack Seven, Bailey hit a triangle moonsault onto them on the floor. Seven then hit a corkscrew flip off the top rope onto everyone. Seven hit the Seven Star Lariat (a Rainmaker. I see what you did there, Trent). Maclin hit a flying knee to the face after Seven got distracted by some of the things going down with the Rascalz and Bailey, and he followed up with a spear in the corner and a KIA for the win.
–Gisele Shaw was backstage, saying that the Shawntorage was no more. Gail Kim walked up and said that Shaw could do with a little humility, but doing it alone was a marked improvement. Shaw rejected Gail’s advice, and said that the Knockouts Championship would be changing hands at No Surrender.
–Trent Seven and Mike Bailey were backstage, and Bailey said that there was a fundamental difference between them and The Rascalz, as they saw wrestling as an opportunity to push and better themselves, while the Rascalz did not respect the sport. Seven then invited them to meet at the peak of Speedball Mountain (still a terrible tag team name) and see who the better team was.
–Frankie Kazarian came out to the ramp for his match against Eric Young, saying that he wasn’t in the mood to fight, so he was letting one of the ghosts of Eric Young’s past face him instead.
Eric Young defeated Big Damo
Eric Young is a pro, protecting Damo like he did when Young knew he couldn’t hit the piledriver the way he wanted.
The crowd did not react to Big Damo at all, and I’m not sure they realized they were both in Sanity in NXT. It doesn’t help that Damo is bald now. Damo dominated Young in the early parts of this match, hitting a crossbody and a big corner charge. Damo yelled about Young going soft, but Young ducked under a clothesline and hit a flying forearm.
Young hit a Death Valley Driver for a 2-count, but Damo kicked out. Young cut Damo off at the top rope and hit a superplex. Young botched a piledriver soon thereafter for the win, but like a pro, instead of dropping Damo on his head, Young realized he couldn’t keep him up, so he squeezed his knees together and fell forward in a Queen’s Gambit type move for the win instead. Good on Young for protecting Damo there.
–Eric Young said that he didn’t quite understand what was happening with Kazarian, but he said that since he couldn’t fight tonight, that Kazarian could take his pretty boy self to No Surrender.
–Tasha Steelz talked about Xia Brookside getting the win in their first match, and how Steelz evened it up. Steelz thought that was going to be it, but Brookside wanted the rubber match, so Steelz and Brookside would meet again at No Surrender, and Brookside would learn that Steelz was in charge of the Knockouts division.
–Jody Threat and Dani Luna were backstage, talking about how they thought they were on the top of the Knockouts tag division, noting that Luna has a win over one of the tag team champions, and said that Threat would have won if it wasn’t for Killer Kelly, so in their mind that makes them the top. I don’t think that is how that works.
–George Iceman introduced Ash by Elegance, the former Dana Brooke, for her first match in TNA.
Ash by Elegance (w/ George Iceman) defeated Savanah Thorne
When Thorne tried to fight Ash, Matthew Rehwoldt said, “How dare she?!” and I laughed. Ash obviously dominated this, as it was a match designed to introduce this new character to TNA, and Ash hit a senton bomb called Rarified Air for the pinfall. All credit to the former Dana Brooke – this is absolutely not the character Ash had in WWE. Time will tell how well it works, but it is drastically different, which is a good thing.
-A hype video aired for TNA No Surrender, running down all the major matches.
The System (Brian Myers, Eddie Edwards, & Moose) (w/ Alisha Edwards) defeated Time Splitters (Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA) & Kevin Knight
This match was great, especially with its closing sequence. The last few minutes were very exciting, and I wasn’t sure if Knight or Myers was taking the loss here, but Moose getting the win over Knight did surprise me a little, ass having Shelley in a losing match before facing Moose is a bit backwards, but he was saved with the post match angle.
Shelley and Moose started the match, and Shelley immediately went for the Border City Stretch, but Moose quickly retreated to the ropes. Moose missed a corner charge, and Shelley drove Moose into the middle turnbuckle, attacking the shoulder like he did in the TNA Hard to Kill match. Moose tagged out to Myers, and Shelley simply resumed attacking the arm, but on his new opponent.
Knight tagged into continue the assault, but Myers broke away and tagged in Edwards. Edwards, unfortunately, got hit with an arm drag from Knight, and then the work on the arm continued as Shelley and KUSHIDA exchanged tags and worked over Edwards’ arm. Edwards gouged the eyes of KUSHIDA, and Knight blind tagged in. Knight and KUSHIDA then double teamed Edwards, including KUSHIDA helping Knight springboard off the ropes, causing him to launch even higher into the air for a springboard crossbody, which was cool.
Edwards was able to isolate KUSHIDA and the System got the advantage when Moose hit a pump kick while KUSHIDA was on the apron. The System got the heat on KUSHIDA for the next several minutes, prompting the crowd to chant that The System sucked. KUSHIDA dodged a corner charge and Edwards crashed into the corner post, and then he dumped Myers to the floor. KUSHIDA countered a powerbomb and went for the tag, but Myers and Edwards pulled Shelley and Knight from the apron.
KUSHIDA hit a big right hand on Moose and tagged out to Shelley, who ran wild, taking everyone out and then locking the Border City Stretch on Myers. Alisha Edwards distracted the referee, but Shelley did not stop, locking the move on Edwards who was stacked on top of Myers. Moose finally broke it u, but Shelley dumped him to the floor, and Shelley snapped the arms of both Myers and Edwards before tagging out to KUSHIDA.
KUSHIDA hit a handspring back elbow on Edwards and hit a big right hand and a seated senton to Myers on the floor. The Tim Splitters then hit a moonsault/neckbreaker combo for a 2-count, but Moose came in and threw Knight onto KUSHIDA to break the pinfall attempt. Edwards tagged out to Moose while KUSHIDA tagged out to Knight, and Moose blocked a corner charge, but got hit with a hurricanrana, but Moose icked out at 1.
Knight hit a few clotheslines and countered a uranage. Knight did a top con giro, but Moose caught him in a powerbomb position, but Knight countered into a hurricanrana. Knight then hit a huge dive to the floor onto everyone, assisted by KUSHIDA again, and it was awesome. Knight almost got the win with code red, but Edwards broke it up. Shelley and KUSHIDA came in and took everyone out, and Knight was left alone with Moose, but Alisha Edwards got on the apron to distract him, and Moose hit a spear on Knight for the win. Great match.
–The fighting continued after the match, as Alex Shelley put Moose into the Border City Stretch, and Moose required the help of Edwards and Myers to escape, which his not something he will have on Sunday, which establishes that Shelley can very well beat Moose in storyline. I suspect Moose will win, but this was the right way to do it.
Final Thoughts
This was a solid, but mostly missable episode of TNA Impact, with the exception of the excellent main event. I suspect No Surrender will be an excellent show from an in ring perspective as well, but the build has been a bit lackluster.
TNA No Surrender – February 23, 2024
TNA World Championship: Moose (c) vs. Alex Shelley in a No Surrender Rules match
TNA X-Division Championship: Chris Sabin (c) vs. Mustafa Ali
TNA Knockouts World Championship: Jordynne Grace (c) vs. Gisele Shaw
TNA World Tag Team Championship: ABC (c) vs. The Grizzled Young Vets
TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championship: The Decay (c) vs. MK Ultra
It’s a special double episode of the Big Vinny V Show reviewing not one, but two episodes of TNA Impact.
The main event build for Moose vs. Alex Shelley for No Surrender (including some oxymoronic stipulations) continues with plenty of action from The System, KUSHIDA, and Kevin Knight as well.
But the best thing on the show is the ongoing best-of-three feud between ABC and the Grizzled Young Veterans over the TNA Tag Team Titles.
We’re also building to Mustafa Ali’s TNA debut this Friday against Chris Sabin, Jordynne Grace defending the Knockouts title against Gisele Shaw, and a baffling program for the Knockouts tag titles.
The rematch at this month’s No Surrender between TNA World Champion Moose and former champion Alex Shelley now has a stipulation and one that is new to TNA.
Announced on social media, the bout will now be held under No Surrender rules where each man will be allowed two cornermen with the match only able to end after one of them throws in the towel for their side.
Moose will have Eddie Edwards and Brian Myers in his corner while KUSHIDA and Kevin Knight will flank Shelley.
On Thursday’s TNA Impact, Shelley defeated Edwards which was followed by Edwards and Myers attacking Shelley before Knight and KUSHIDA came out to make the save. KUSHIDA will take on Moose in non-title action next Thursday.
Moose defeated Shelley at last month’s Hard to Kill to win the title and introduce a new faction called The System that includes Edwards and Myers.
Here’s the current lineup for the Friday, February 23rd streaming special from New Orleans, Louisiana:
TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Gisele Shaw
TNA World Champion Moose defends against Alex Shelley in a No Surrender match
X-Division Champion Chris Sabin defends against Mustafa Ali
Two title matches are official for the Friday, February 23 TNA No Surrender event.
As announced during Thursday’s Impact episode, Jordynne Grace will defend the TNA Knockouts Championship against Gisele Shaw at No Surrender.
Shaw was the Ultimate X winner at Hard to Kill last month, but it remains unclear whether the No Surrender match is by virtue of cashing in that opportunity. Grace is coming off an appearance at WWE Royal Rumble in the women’s Rumble match last Saturday.
The TNA World Championship will also be on the line at No Surrender.
The promotion also announced during Impact that Moose will defend the TNA World title against Alex Shelley on February 23.
Moose defeated Shelley in the main event of last month’s Hard to Kill event to win the title, and Shelley announced on Impact that he was cashing in his guaranteed rematch at No Surrender.
No Surrender will air exclusively on TNA Plus at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, February 23.
The lineup thus far:
TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Gisele Shaw
TNA World Champion Moose defends against Alex Shelley
I am back reviewing another episode of TNA Impact on this week’s Big Vinny V Show.
Our main event sees “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada return to TNA for the first time in a decade to team with the Motor City Machine Guns. Also, after 20 years in the business, Nic Nemeth wrestled his first match outside the WWE umbrella.
Plus, Jordynne Grace defended the Knockouts title against Trinity in what turned out to be a Royal Rumble preview, and we got one of the wackiest tag teams of ex-WWE guys you could ever imagine.
TNA has revealed its new World Championship title belt.
With Impact Wrestling reverting to TNA branding beginning at Hard to Kill, the company is re-designing all its belts to reflect the change.
On Wednesday, Scott D’Amore presented champion Alex Shelley with his new TNA World Championship belt.
D’Amore said:
You know there’s some amazing athletes that bridged the gap from TNA Wrestling to Impact Wrestling and now there’s going to be a chance for amazing athletes to bridge the gap from Impact Wrestling back to TNA Wrestling. And someone who has been part of that entire experience is you Alex Shelley.
I remember you telling me when you were young that you dreamed of being a world champion, and it was TNA World Champion.
X-Division Champion Chris Sabin received his new title belt on Sunday. Ace Austin and Chris Bey were presented with the new TNA Tag Team title belts on Monday and Digital Media Champion Tommy Dreamer received his yesterday.
Shelley is scheduled to defend the TNA World Championship on Saturday against Moose at Hard to Kill. The event takes place at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas.
TNA Hard to Kill 2024 lineup:
TNA World Champion Alex Shelley defends against Moose
Knockouts Champion Trinity defends against Jordynne Grace
Three-way match: X-Division Champion Chris Sabin defends against KUSHIDA and El Hijo del Vikingo
Four-way match: TNA Tag Team Champions Ace Austin & Chris Bey defend against The Rascalz, The Grizzled Young Veterans, and “Speedball” Mike Bailey & Trent Seven
Knockouts Ultimate X match: Gisele Shaw vs. Xia Brookside vs. Jody Threat vs. Tasha Steelz vs. Alisha Edwards vs. Dani Luna
Josh Alexander vs. Alex Hammerstone
PCO vs. Dirty Dango
Pre-show match: Rich Swann vs. Steve Maclin
Pre-show match: Eric Young & Frankie Kazarian vs. Brian Myers & Eddie Edwards
Pre-show match: Digital Media Champion Tommy Dreamer defends against Crazzy Steve
Impact Wrestling presents their final special of 2023 as the clock moves closer to their rebranded future as TNA Wrestling in January.
NJPW TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. makes his Impact debut, teaming with former Impact World Champion Josh Alexander against the Motor City Machine Guns, comprised of Impact World Champion Alex Shelley and X-Division Champion Chris Sabin.
Ahead of their clash for the title January’s Hard to Kill, Knockouts Champion Trinity will team with challenger Jordynne Grace against Gisele Shaw & former champion Deonna Purrazzo.
Impact Tag Team Champions ABC (Chris Bey & Ace Austin) will defend against Brian Myers & Eddie Edwards who have both held TNA Tag Team gold before.
Digital Media Champion Tommy Dreamer will look to extend his run as he defends against Deaner.
Other action includes World title no. 1 contender Moose vs. Rhino, Speedball” Mike Bailey battles Trey Miguel, Jason Hotch against Jake Something, and Frankie Kazarian vs. Sheldon Jean on the pre-show at 7:30 PM Eastern.
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PCO defeated Jesse V
The countdown feed started off a few minutes late with a PCO match with Jesse V in progress. PCO landed an apron legdrop before dishing out machine gun chops. Jesse V took him down with an enzuiguri before landing a frog splash. PCO recovered enough to hit a reverse DDT and finished him off with a PCO-Sault.
Backstage, Jake Something said he’s here to take out Jason Hotch for the final live show of the Impact Wrestling era before Jason Hotch jumped him with a chair. Tom Hannifan hyped up the switch to TNA+ and the inclusion of all major tentpole events being included for championship tier-level members. Rehwoldt says that these two are always available for Impact when needed and thus they’re being rewarded here.
Jack Price defeated Aiden Prince
Price started off strong with a big elbow to counter a German suplex attempt by Prince, who hits a hard chop on the apron. Price hit a hard flatliner for 2.5 before working on the face more with a boot scrape using the ropes. Price sent Prince into the buckle with a face-first burning hammer before a deadlift German is avoided by Prince en route to a rolling kick on the mat. Prince landed an impressive brainbuster for 2 before Price drilled him with a leg lariat for 2.
Prince ran wild with a blend of overhand and knife-edge chops that landed hard before hitting a flatliner of his own. Price poked the eye en route to hitting a double-knee gutbuster for the win – and his first win in Impact to boot! This was a fantastic showcase for both men and they came into this as basically unknown and both had chances to shine and did so.
Backstage, Jordynne Grace and Trinity met with Gia Miller and talk about how they can be friends today and rivals at Hard to Kill. Jordynne said she’s been knockouts champion twice as many times as Trinity, who pointed out that she hasn’t lost it yet – unlike Jordynne.
Frankie Kazarian defeated Sheldon Jean
Jean started off strong with a tackle before they go back and forth in the ropes on a tie-up. Jean dominated on the mat with a neck crank before Kaz fired up with elbows before eating a pump kick out of the corner. Kaz landed a springboard legdrop for 2 before earning a tapout with the crossface chickenwing.
The show-opening video hyped up the main event and the new era of TNA beginning in January with the Hard to Kill PPV. Edwards and Myers came out in matching gear to look a bit more like a cohesive unit.
The ABC defeat Eddie Edwards and Brian Myers to retain the tag titles
The champions gained an early advantage with some double-team offense and quick tags alongside an uppercut to the neck of Edwards for 2. Myers grabbed the leg of Bey to allow Edwards to chop Bey and then drop his gut on the ropes in theory, but he landed thighs-first instead.
Myers tagged in and got 2 off a goardbuster before Hannifan hypes up Myers holding Impact tag gold in 2015 before he torments Bey on the mat with a stretch. Edwards tagged in for a big chop and ground away with a reverse bearhug. Myers came in and got 2 off a back suplex into a uranage. Bey is such a great babyface in peril here and given that he’s usually working heel, that doesn’t come out as much here – but it’s working because the fans are absolutely rabid.
Austin tagged in and landed back and forth Black Mass kicks before a springboard tornado kick on Edwards got 2. Austin called for the 1-2-Sweet and Edwards cradled him for 2 before getting 2.5 off a blue thunder bomb. On the floor, Bey is sent down hard with a spear from Myers. Edwards landed a backpack stunner before an HBK flying elbow got 2 for Myers! That was a tremendous nearfall! Bey prevented a double suplex and Austin low-bridged Edwards to the floor. Austin stomped Myers down for 2. The 1-2-Sweet hits and the champs retain! Hannifan says that 2024 is going to be the TNA-BC era! The Rascalz jump ABC and hold the gold high.
Josh Alexander and ZSJ were backstage and Alexander says he’s come to beat the company’s greatest tag team ever and ZSJ said it’s about time – because the Guns are one of the best teams ever and tonight, he’ll take out the supposed greatest pro wrestler in Shelley before saying that everyone here has a title – but Alexander, so they’ll have to work on getting him a title too.
Alisha screeched on the mic and yelled about not being able to understand the fans and she really hated spending so long getting to this place. She said it’s all about them before Santino came out and ordered her to leave and since she won’t, she’ll face Jody Threat in an impromptu match.
Jody Threat defeated Alisha Edwards
Threat dominated early with a corner lariat series before an exploder landed. Myers and Edwards went after Threat, so the ref ejected them – but not before she hit a flip dive on them to a huge pop. Edwards worked over the back before Threat landed a series of punches to the midsection. Edwards got 2 off a corner basement crossbody and choked her out on the rope.
Edwards locked on a fantastic Boston crab before Threat ran wild with lariats and a Michinoku driver got 2. Edwards avoided a death valley driver with elbows to the head and landed a flatliner for 2. Threat caught her off a crossbody and hit the Shove It/F5 for the win. Deaner vs. Dreamer is hyped up with Deaner having won their prior match, but also being absent over the past two months.
Tommy Dreamer defeated Deaner
The match started off with ECW chants before Deaner said this isn’t ECW before stalling like an AWA Larry Zbyszko match. Dreamer wanted a bionic elbow, but only got the punch combo before Deaner rolled out and they fought on the floor and made great use of the venue’s metal bleachers by slamming Dreamer’s arm on them. Dreamer wanted a sunset flip, but a very long Aloha Arn led to an arm breaker by Deaner to wear that body part down even more.
Hannifan hypes up the 35 year career of Dreamer and how he put that on the line to get this title. It’s kind of remarkable that he’s held so few titles – really about one per decade, with the ’90s having the ECW Tag Title, the early ’00s having the ECW World Title briefly, the WWE ECW World Title before he left WWE and now this. He doesn’t hold titles often and thus every reign is at least memorable.
Deaner bit the left arm to avoid a superplex before going up top and eating a boot to the face and wobbling around to either hold in a sneeze or fall – turns out he needed to fall. Dreamer landed the bionic elbow and a running elbow missed for Dreamer, but a cutter didn’t and got 2. Deaner sent the bad left arm to divorce court for 2 before grabbing the belt and telling the ref he’ll do what he wants before she threatened a DQ. Dreamer got 2 off a schoolboy before eating a lariat and Deaner set the belt up over the top turnbuckle. Deaner got slingshotted right into the gold before a big DDT hit for the win. This was better than expected for a straight Tommy Dreamer match in 2023.
Backstage, the Rascalz say that Hard to Kill will be their rebirth alongside the rebirth of TNA. Santino makes an impromptu tag team match with them facing Mike Bailey and a mystery partner. I love Wentz coming out just looking annoyed while Trey is more laid back and down for whatever. Trent Seven comes out as Bailey’s partner to a pretty big pop.
Mike Bailey and Trent Seven defeated The Rascalz
A giant “Speedball/Trent!” chant started off before some Wentz stalling on the floor and then a Speedball Mountain chant. Seven chops away at Miguel while Bailey lands a series of round kicks to the stomach of Wentz. Miguel tripped up Seven to set up a snapmare and snap PK by Wentz to Bailey.
Seven tagged in, but had to eat a flurry of offense on the floor before getting back in and getting worked over by Miguel, who used Seven’s own hand to fake a hand clap to rile the crowd up. Miguel and Seven went back and forth with forearms before the Rascalz ran wild with a codebreaker/neckbreaker/standing shooting star series for 2. Seven wanted a tag, but Bailey was taken out by Miguel before a superkick sends Miguel down and they got the tag!
Bailey ran wild with kicks and got a standing shooting star for 2. Seven tagged in and ran wild with chops on Wentz before getting a big single-arm powerbomb out of the corner. Bailey sent Miguel into orbit with an apron pump kick before Seven ate a German after wanting a burning hammer. Wentz hit a double stomp on Seven before a seamless dive to Bailey. The ABC came down, opening the door to a Bailey dive. Trent’s burning hammer set up the Ultima Weapon and the win for Speedball Mountain!
Scott D’Amore came down to a big TNA chant and he said it’s coming soon – but 24 years ago, he was with Don Kolov and they all mourned Owen Hart here. He talked about getting a message about some guy named Anthony Carelli when he was here and also signed Josh Alexander here alongside Mike Bailey. He loved seeing Trent Seven and while he couldn’t sign him then, he can now because someone was dumb enough to let him go. Trent signs the deal after telling Bailey that he’s too sweaty – and Seven is now officially in TNA.
Backstage, the Motor City Machine Guns talked about how great Josh Alexander and ZSJ are. Alexander having the longest run with the Impact World Title given its long history tells you all you need to know, while ZSJ is the best technical wrestler on the world – in theory. However, Shelley argues that they hold the gold in Impact, and thus they’re the best. Jason Hotch comes out and says he took Something out earlier, but Something came out hurt.
Jake Something defeated Jason Hotch
Hotch worked the back over with kicks and a modified camel clutch before Something responded with a huge body slam. Hotch got 1 off a superkick using the ropes. Hotch kicked away with shots to the knees and body before a hard thrust kick, but another kick opens the door for a spinebuster to give Something an edge. Something landed a series of clotheslines before a corner avalanche and another mid-ring lariat. Something hit a giant poweromb before winning with Into the Void. Moose comes out and got a bird flip with every “MOOSE” chant.
Moose defeated Rhino
Rhino got an early edge with corner-mounted punches before Hannifan talks about Rhino winning the World title against Jarrett in 2005 while Rhino slammed Moose’s head on the apron a ton. Moose hits Rhino low and loses by DQ. Rhino says he didn’t come here to win by DQ – he wants a street fight!
Moose said he doesn’t need to wrestle, but is told by Penzer via Santino that if he doesn’t wrestle, he’ll lose the World Title match at Hard to Kill. Rhino suplexed him hard on the ramp before a series of ringpost chops, but Rhino wanted one too many and slammed his hand into the post. Moose slammed a chair into the hand twice before going for some corner mount punches and eating a powerbomb through a table for 2.
Moose wanted a corner charge, but ate a hiptoss into the corner-mounted ladder for 2. Rhino tossed Moose into the ref and landed the Gore, but a new ref only got a 2 count on it. Rhino went for a corner Gore before Moose put him in the path of a Gore through a table. Moose hit the spear and the first referee came to in time to count the win. This was the best usage of ref bumps in ages – they were done perfectly with a standby ref there quickly and then enough time passing to have the first ref get up.
Backstage, Kazarian says that he bet on himself to not be a part of someone’s vanity project. He says that for 20 years, he’s done a lot – but he hasn’t done it all. He hasn’t won the World Title and he’s going to make 2024 the year he wins it. Hannifan hypes up Gisele Shaw being an Out Sports top wrestler of 2023.
Jordynne Grace and Trinity defeated Gisele Shaw and Deonna Purrazzo
Purrazzo and Trinity started it off with matwork before Hannifan hypes up the history created in the Impact era before tying it all into how the present stars are the best of the era. Grace and Shaw go at it with Grace running Shaw down with tackles and lariats. A Grace stalling goardbuster hits Shaw before landing a rotating powerslam. Trinity held the ropes open for Grace to dive onto the heels on the floor.
They recover with some illegal double-teaming and a corner uppercut by Shaw setting up some offense from Purrazzo alongside some corner chops. Trinity came in and got 2 off a spinning bulldog before Purrazzo broke it up. Trinity wanted the full nelson bomb, but got victory rolled by Shaw en route to a double stomp for 2. Grace came in and clubbed away at Purrazzo with some big forearms.
Purrazzo locks on La Mistica, but Grace escapes both that and a Queen’s Gambit before a pumphandle suplex hits. Grace hits a striking combo before a Judas Effect sets up the full nelson bomb. Trinity started the Gedo clutch before Grace loses her grip on a jacknife pin for the win. Purrazzo and Shaw go to shake after the match, but Shaw attacks with a full nelson Irish curse backbreaker and then a snap flatliner.
Backstage, Gia Miller talked about Moose’s shot at the World Title and gaining momentum here. Moose said that it’s the last night for Impact and tonight begins a new era for himself because the Wrestling Gold, Mr. Impact Wrestling, and the Five-Star Athlete are all done and will be replaced by Moose – the new TNA World Champion. Okada and the Machine Guns face Eddie Edwards, Moose, and Brian Myers at Snake Eyes.
Josh Alexander and Zack Sabre Jr. defeated The Motor City Machine Guns
The match began with some quick work between Sabin and Alexander before Shelley and ZSJ tagged in for a mat clinic. ZSJ won out to start by popping up from a headscissor before getting lock into a seatbelt cradle for 2 that Shelley chained into a hammerlock. The Guns used their double-team offense to get an edge before Alexander came in to work with Sabin.
Sabin ground him with armwork before bringing Shelley in to deal more damage out. Hannifan brought up how Sabin played a part in Alexander going into the World Title mix by telling him to cash in the X Title to get a shot and that wound up paying off for him. Alexander worked the knee over with a kneebreaker before tagging ZSJ in for some arm work on Shelley’s arm. Alexander stomped on the leg for a bit before ZSJ came back on to twist and tear at the ankle in every direction.
Alexander continued the pain cranking on the leg and they trap Shelley in the ropes where he eats a Pele kick on the arm and a kick to the back of the leg. The Guns use some double-team moves to take down ZSJ to set up a Shelley straightjacket and backstabber combo! Sabin locked on a standing neck crank while trapping the leg before a Romero special double-team bulldog got 2 for Shelley.
Alexander tagged in and landed a huge German on Shelley while the crowd clapped like crazy for him. He went for the C4 Spike before Shelley worked on the bad elbow and sent him into the buckle face-first. Sabin and ZSJ came in and Sabin locked him into an STF before ZSJ turned it into an arm crank, which only helped so much because it opened the door to a discus elbow that led to a Sabin 2 count off a tornado DDT.
Shelley and Alexander want to land their finishes, but avoid them at all costs before ZSJ sends Shelley down with a European uppercut. The Guns lock on stereo figure four leglocks and as Josh went to tap, ZSJ slapped his chest to fire him up and it worked! Sabin tagged in for a crossbody that got turned into an armbar and that itself got turned into a schoolboy. Sabin superkicked ZSJ down before setting up Cradle Shock that ZSJ turns into a double a double arm-stretch! Sabin rolls through it, but then got locked into an even worse position.
Shelley locked on a dragon suplex to save Sabin, but got locked into an Alexander ankle lock for his troubles. Good lord, this has been a fantastic match and a very good show bell-to-bell. ZSJ locked on the European clutch for what should have been three, but was only 2.9 before a Clothesline from Hell, MI hit and they double-team Alexander to gain an edge.
The Guns wanted the double-team sliced bread before ZSJ locks on an armbar and Alexander got an ankle lock – this time on Sabin! Alexander hits the C4 spike to win the match – easily one of the best tag team matches in the history of TNA/Impact. This win set up a few things – Alexander possibly winning the X Title en route to the World Title. You could also have Alexander use it as fuel to get a shot at Shelley saying he beat his partner.
An epic video airs on Josh Alexander vs. Will Ospreay with Ospreay saying he was made a fan by Daniels vs. Joe vs. Styles and he’s wanted to come to TNA because he was a TNA kid. At Snake Eyes, it will be Will Ospreay vs. Josh Alexander II!
CM Punk’s return to AEW and the launch of AEW Collision are the lead topics for the June 2023 edition of the JNPO pro wrestling year in review series.
Joining me on this hour-plus deep dive is podcaster Mike Gilbert of Voices of Wrestling.
We also talk the very successful AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door which featured Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay 2 and the surprisingly under-promoted return to PPV for Punk.
It was a relatively quiet month for WWE and NXT with the exception of July’s Money in the Bank taking shape and Seth Rollins heading to Orlando to defend his WWE World Heavyweight title against Bron Breakker.
We also talk Alex Shelley winning the Impact World title for the first time, the legendary Iron Sheik passing away at 81 years old, and plenty more.
I promise this is unlike any other year-end series you’ll hear or read, so catch up on the rest of the series in the archive.
A TNA World Championship match is official for the Hard to Kill pay-per-view set for Saturday, January 13, 2024.
Impact Wrestling officially announced Thursday that current World Champion Alex Shelley will defend what will then be known as the TNA World title against Feast or Fired briefcase winner Moose at Hard to Kill.
Moose won a Feast or Fired briefcase containing a contract for a World title match at Impact 1000 in September. Shelley has held the World title since defeating Steve Maclin for the Championship at Against All Odds in June.
The World title bout joins a Knockouts World Championship match between Trinity & Jordynne Grace as the first two bouts set for Hard to Kill.
Hard to Kill will be held at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Here is the lineup for the show so far:
TNA Hard to Kill, Saturday, January 13, 8 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view —
TNA World Champion Alex Shelley defends against Moose
TNA Knockouts World Champion Trinity defends against Jordynne Grace
Impact World Champion Alex Shelley will defend his championship against Jonathan Gresham on tonight’s Impact Wrestling on AXS TV.
Shelley is gunning for his sixth title defense while Gresham, the former Ring of Honor World Champion, is searching for his first Impact title of any kind.
A feud that has built for weeks will finally come to fruition as Digital Media Champion Tommy Dreamer will defend against Crazzy Steve who earned the shot by grabbing a Feast or Fired briefcase at October’s Bound for Glory.
Two former Impact World Champions and rivals will square off as Eric Young takes on Eddie Edwards.
In a clash of former Knockouts Champions, Deonna Purrazzo battles Tasha Steelz. The two teamed up at Bound for Glory and were unsuccessful in defeating MK Ultra for the Knockouts Tag Team titles.
Two former Digital Media Champions will reignite their feud as Joe Hendry takes on Brian Myers.
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After last week’s sojourn to the October UK tour, Impact returns to Chicago for the post-Bound for Glory TV taping for this week’s episode.
Following an extensive look at last week’s show, we kick off with a battle of former Knockouts Champions who recently failed to in their effort to win the Knockouts Tag Team titles. Thus, they resume action against each other.
Tasha Steelz defeated Deonna Purrazzo
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt really drilled home that these two have been longtime friends, complete with still photos. That’s when you know it’s serious.
Because of their friendship, this was more of a friendly competition than a heated match. However, it did include twerking from both competitors so there’s that.
Things kicked up late when Steelz thought Purrazzo was trying to break her arm and fired up. After two straight cutters, Steelz got the pin and no doubt win. We’ll see about that friendship.
The result here, and in recent weeks, certainly won’t quell any rumors that Purrazzo may be on her way out as her deal is up at the end of the year. But, PCO also was thought to be gone and ended up re-signing so anything’s possible.
– Impact Tag Team Champions ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) were backstage having a conversation about how they will the TNA tag champs when the named change takes place when Santino Marella walked up to conversate.
That led to Kenny King and Sheldon Jean interrupting because King wants a Digital Media title rematch. ABC didn’t take kindly to it and you’ll never believe this: these two teams will meet next week for the titles.
Crazzy Steve defeated Digital Media Champion Tommy Dreamer by DQ
As part of the build to this, Steve stabbed Dreamer in the back with a fork, ending their friendship. Steve hasn’t been taken that seriously in Impact as he has lost, well, a lot through the years. He earned the shot here by taking one of the briefcases in last month’s Feast or Fired bout.
This was built around how sadistic Steve was being toward Dreamer, but when you saw some of the stuff Dreamer endured in ECW, getting his eyes raked seems rather tame.
Steve went into the briefcase late in the match and got a fork, saying he had to end Dreamer.
Dreamer stopped him by biting his hand and hitting a cutter, followed by him driving the fork into Steve’s head for the DQ that busted him open. Dreamer then snapped and said, “You wanna feel pain, Steve? Fork you!” and somewhat drove the fork into his head. Yes, this happened.
You can skip this.
– Jonathan Gresham cut his usual intense promo about how he is going to beat Alex Shelley for the title tonight.
Brian Myers defeated Joe Hendry
Hendry is coming off a great run on the UK tour and all the fans in attendance waved their hands and told Hendry, “We believe.” I think I believe too.
Hendry said that the rebrand of TNA will actually begin tonight as Myers will no longer be known as “Edge’s bitch” but now will be known as “Adam’s bitch” which got a laugh from the fans. That was a good line.
This was a meeting of former Digital Media Champions and past opponents. I like Hendry, but there was nothing must-watch here. Even Hannifan and Rehwoldt were cracking jokes about wieners in apparent boredom.
This went on for a lot longer than it needed to, especially on a Thursday when there’s been so much wrestling already this week. Myers poked Hendry’s eyes while the referee was tied up with both men and hit his Roster Cut clothesline for the pin and win. Given Hendry’s popularity, I find that to be a curious decision.
– The hype has begun for Josh Alexander vs. Will Ospreay has begun as we’ll see that match next week.
Ospreay, with his NJPW UK title somehow completely intact, talked to Gia Scott. The tl;dr: he is ready for Alexander and wants to know if Alexander is ready to face the best.
Eric Young defeated Eddie Edwards (w/ Alisha Edwards)
Much like Hendry vs. Myers, this came out of the Bound for Glory Call Your Shot gauntlet match where Edwards eliminated Young. These two former Impact World Champions also have an extensive history against each other.
Alisha got involved on a few occasions, distracting Young at one point as he went to the top rope. Young eventually battled and hit his elbow drop for a nearfall. Alisha again distracted Young as he was going for his piledriver finisher, leading to an Edwards Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall of his own.
Alisha tossed in a chair to her husband who pulled it away and got distracted. Edwards then held Young for Alisha to nail him with a kendo stick, but Young ducked and Edwards got nailed. Young hit the piledriver and got the pin as Hannifan drove home the fact TNA is returning in January. Did you hear that yet?
This was a house show opener that was neither good nor bad. It just was.
– Brian Myers was wondering why Moose wasn’t out there to back him up earlier and Moose said it seemed like Myers was all set. As they started to grumble a bit, Heath walked in and challenged Moose to a match. Moose accepted, asked Myers, “How’s that for loyalty?” and walked away.
– Sonny Kiss caught up with Gia Miller. If you remember, Kiss made his surprise debut in the Call Your Shot gauntlet which feels like it was a year ago at this point. Knockouts Champion Trinity walked up and was thrilled to see Kiss, saying she would talk to management to see if they could do a match next week. Well, that was quick.
This was a rare squash match on Impact and one that featured Prudius (the former Koslov in WWE) wrestling in his first match in 12 years. Dango joined the commentary team, essentially turning this into a handicap match.
After Prudius beat up both men, Dango jumped back on the apron, got a tag, hit a reverse DDT to get the win.
– Jordynne Grace, owner of the Call Your Shot gauntlet trophy, said she will make history at Hard to Kill and got interrupted by Bully Ray who wanted a handshake. KiLynn King then walked into the frame and said it was pure luck Grace won. Ray, who trained King, told her to “back it down a notch.” These two exchanged words and then Steve Maclin walked in and called Ray soft. Ray told him off, King walked away, and that was that.
– The Rascalz cut a backstage promo after losing the Impact Tag Team titles and they weren’t too upset about losing them. Why? Because they now have former MLW Middleweight Champion Myron Reed in the group.
Impact World Champion Alex Shelley defeated Jonathan Gresham to retain the title
If you’re a time traveler, you would have to suspend your belief for the timeline on how this came to be. You see, this was taped the day after Bound for Glory and then, the crew headed to the UK for a tour. There, Shelley injured his calf in a tag team bout and had to pull out of the remaining matches so he could recover. However, that match aired before this one did. Got all that?
Gresham upped his latest heel mannerism, using his wrist tape to distract the referee so he could attack Shelley. He also decided to hold on a figure four for a few seconds longer even though Shelley grabbed the bottom rope because he was stuck. What a heel!
These two have shared the ring a lot through the years, both as opponents and as teammates. This was their sixth singles bout against each other and the first in Impact.
The story was Gresham working over Shelley’s knee with Shelley managing to do just enough to evade him temporarily before getting attacked again. In turn, Shelley focused on Gresham’s arm to set up for the Motor City Stretch.
As expected, this was very good. Gresham was fantastic as a heel with all these little shortcuts he would take out of nowhere to drive the fans crazy. The nearfalls were really good as well, especially a dizzying series of pin attempts in the closing minutes.
Shelley eventually got the pin after hitting a superkick and Shellshock for the win. This is worth going out of your way to see and honestly could have been a main event on one of their monthly specials.
Impact World Champion Alex Shelley has issued an apology for having to miss indie dates that he was scheduled for.
Shelley hasn’t wrestled since competing in a tag team match on the first night of Impact Wrestling’s UK Invasion tour last Thursday. He’s dealing with a two-location calf strain.
On social media on Friday, Shelley posted an apology for having to cancel dates for Game Changer Wrestling and Wrestling Revolver.
“It’s not much – I let @IMPACTWRESTLING handle big things. I just wanted to apologize to @GCWrestling_ and @PWRevolver fans for being advertised and having to cancel,” Shelley wrote. “I love both companies dearly and their fan bases, and if I could wrestle, I would.”
Shelley stated that he’s still able to train and is going to be okay. His injury is a “two location calf strain in the gastroc muscle belly and the myotendinous junction.”
Shelley vs. Jonathan Gresham will air on next week’s episode of Impact. Shelley’s Impact World Championship will be on the line in the match, which was taped at Impact’s post-Bound for Glory television tapings.
Shelley has been Impact World Champion since defeating Steve Maclin for the title this June. Shelley recently retained the championship against Josh Alexander in the main event of Bound for Glory.
