TNA Impact airs live from Minneapolis, Minnesota, tonight as the road to this month’s Victory Road continues.
Indi Hartwell, Dani Luna and Jody Threat will compete in a three-way with the winner moving on to face Knockouts Champion Ash by Elegance for the title.
On that note, the entire Elegance Brand will be on hand to celebrate Ash’s title win at NXT Heatwave.
In trios action, TNA Tag Team Champions The Hardys will team with Mara Sade against The Great Hands & Tasha Steelz.
After magically appearing at NXT Tuesday to aid Hank & Tank from Darkstate, Joe Hendry will be live in the ring with some thoughts to share about Eric Young’s recent attack on him.
Veterans Frankie Kazarian and Matt Cardona will compete one-on-one for the first time ever.
Our live coverage kicks off at 8 PM Eastern.
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Live! And free! From Minneapolis, Minnesota. I believe the building they’re in has a capacity of 8,000 and it look slike they barely filled the seats on the floor.
Tom Hannifan & Matthew Rehwoldt were on commentary.
Santino Marella In-Ring Promo. At the end of last week, Marella got into it with Trick Williams lawyer. Marella didn’t think with his head; he thought with his cobra. Marella announced that Trick Williams will defend the TNA World Championship against Mike Santana at Bound for Glory. Santana came out (wearing a TNA/Minneapolis “Strenght in Unity” t-shirt) to celebrate and promised to bring the TNA World Championship back home for his daughter, family, and all the fans of TNA. Trick Williams won’t be in back in TNA until Bound for Glory, so Santana promised to go find him. Santana cut a good babyface promo here.
— Gia Miller interviewed Mara Sadé and The Hardys, who are going to give the members of Order 4 the extreme beating they deserve in the main event later tonight.
— Moose wished Mike Santana good luck at Bound for Glory, and AJ Francis dimed out Santana for calling out Trick Williams. This led to a match between Moose and Francis for next week.
Frankie Kazarian defeated Matt Cardona (10:51)
Ryan Nemeth came out before the match to remind us that his big brother is returning tonight, but didn’t return here. Cardona told Ryan his big brother “sucks” and bopped him on the head with the microphone.
I know this show doesn’t stand a chance against the first football game in 7 months, but you’d think that TNA would have tried to use the 20 minutes there was no football on for something other than talking.
When the fight went to the floor, Kazarian used a still practically unconscious Ryan Nemeth as a human shield. Later, Nemeth tried to keep Cardona from getting back in the ring, so Cardona sent him into the ring barricade. But, the distraction allowed Kazarian to take control.
Kazarian whipped Cardona headfirst into the ringpost. Cardona teased getting counted out, barely being the count to get an easy pop from the crowd. Kazarian worked a chinlock for a bit. Cardona and Kazarian collided three separate times, hitting each other with crossbodies, clotheslines and big boots. Cardona started to mount a comeback. Kazarian ducked to the floor to avoid the reboot, but Cardona caught him anyway. Ryan Nemeth popped up to distract Cardona again, and Kazarian hit a slingshot cutter for a near fall. Cardona went for the Unprettier, but Kazarian escaped. Cardona hit a spinebuster for two.
Ryan Nemeth jumped up on the apron again, and this time Cardona brought him into the ring and hit him with the Radio Silence. When Cardona turned back to Kazarian, Kazarian caught him with the Fade to Black and got the pinfall.
After the match, Gia Miller tried to interview Frankie Kazarian. Frankie took the mic and interview himself while she stood there annoyed. Kazarian has his sights set on the TNA International Title. Kazarian insulted Steve Maclin’s military service, and Maclin chased Kazarian off.
— The IINspiration will be keeping a close eye on the Elegance Brand celebration later tonight.
The Elegance Brand Celebration. The other members of the Elegance Brand were in the ring, which was adorned in gold. A long distant (very long distant) relative of Picasso painted a portrait of the Ash with her Knockouts Championship. There was also custom champaign, “Elegance in a Bowl.” Ash took the microphone to cut a self-congratulatory promo, calling herself the “Savior of TNA” and insulting the former champion Masha Slamovich. Slamovich arrived and announced she’s getting a title match with Ash at Victory Road. Slamovich hit the ring and and got into a 3-on-1 fight. Xia Brookside and Lei Ying Lee come out to try and even the odds, but the Elegance Brand holds them off. Finally, the IInspiration ran out to chase off the Elegance Brand. And of course, the babyfaces destroyed the portrait of Ash.
The TNA Injury Report:
- JDC remains out with a head injury.
- Mara Sadé has been cleared after getting clotheslined by Agent Zero.
- Trey Miguel and Zachary Wentz have both been cleared of injury.
- Trick Williams shows no signs of injury. Even so, he’s still complaining about the attack at the end of last week’s tag match.
— Mustafa Ali promised that anyone who opposes the Order 4 will be shut down, and that includes the members of The System.
Indi Hartwell pinned Jody Threat in a Triple Threat match which also included Dani Luna to become the #1 Contender for the Knockouts Championship at Bound for Glory.
TNA has been plugging “The Naked Gun” movie and I’m sure it’s not a coincidence they’re not mentioning Paul Walter Hauser’s role in it.
With Slamovich getting the title match at Victory Road, the winner of this match is getting a title shot at Bound for Glory. Threat hit both Hartwell and Luna with a tope to the floor. Back in the ring, Hartwell caught Threat with a boot. Hartwell went to the top, but Luna pushed her off the ropes. Luna hit a modified fallaway slam for a near fall. Hartwell tried to get back into the match and Luna dropped her with a Northern Lights suplex.
Luna clotheslined Threat to the floor, and Hartwell mounted a comeback against Luna. Luna came off the top with an elbow, but Threat broke up the pin attempt. Hartwell used Luna’s hand to backhand Threat. The crowd was behind Hartwell. Hartwell and Threat fought to the apron. Threat hit Luna with a somersault on the floor. Threat went to the top for something that missed, and they looked confused for a minute before Luna and Threat start exchanging small package attempts, and finally Hartwell caught Threat with a sunset flip pinning combination and held her down for three.
After the match, Dani Luna attacked both Hartwell and Threat. Nonetheless, Indi Hartwell will challenge for the TNA Knockouts Championship at Bound for Glory.
Joe Hendry Appears. Joe Hendry came out wearing a “Strength in Unity” TNA/Minneapolis t-shirt. Hendry bragged about beating up The Miz on the WWE European tour and being the secret weapon for Hank and Tank on NXT. Hendry thanked the crowd for coming out to the show, then called out Eric Young. Young and his Northern Army members came out and Hendry a problem in TNA. Joe Hendry challenged Young for “right now!” But of course Young accepted for next week.
— Santino Marella is cooking up a big TNA X-Division title defense for Leon Slater now that the Rascalz are both cleared from injury.
— Trick Williams cut a promo on Twitter and said he’d rather be watching the Eagles/Cowboys came than be bothered with TNA right now.
The Hardys and Mara Sadé defeated Tasha Steelz & The Great Hands (John Skyler & Jason Hotch) (w/ Agent Zero) (12:59)
Sadé dressed like Lita. Jeff and Sadé gave a triple DDT to their opponents in a pretty cool spot. The Hardys might have been the most over act on the show. Sadé and Steelz squared off, and Steelz avoided a knee drop and sent Sadé to the floor. Back in the ring, Sadé caught Steelz with an enziguri.
Matt and Hodge got in the ring, and Matt deleted Hodge’s head into the turnbuckles. Matt hit a chop off the middle rope and called for the Twist of Fate. Agent Zero yanked Matt to the floor. The ref ejected Agent Zero. While Zero left, Hotch hit Matt with a tope to the floor.
Back in the ring, the heels took over on Matt Hardy. Matt dropped Skyler with a side effect, and tags were made to Sadé and Steelz. Sadé hit a nice looking powerslam for a near fall. Sadé went to run the ropes, but Hotch yanked her down by the hair and Steelz took control.
Steelz dropped a series of elbows for a near fall. There was a “Let’s go Tasha/Tasha sucks!” chant between like 4 people in the crowd.
Skyler cradled Jeff for a near fall. Skyler took the Poetry in Motion, a Side Effect and a splash off the middle ropes from Jeff for a near fall. Jeff worked over Skyler with a side headlock. Hotch tried to help, but Jeff took them both out with Whisper in the Wind and got a near fall on both of them at once.
Matt caught Hotch with a modified Side Effect, but ate a slingshot spear from Skyler. With all the men out of the match, Steelz and Sadé took over. Sadé hit the “Finish Her,” but Skyler grabbed Sadé to give her the Great Hands finisher. Matt Hardy broke that up and gave Skyler the Twist of Fate. Sadé hit a moonsault, Jeff Hardy hit the Swanton and got the pinfall.
After the match, The Nemeths jumped the Hardys and took them out with the Danger Zone finisher. Sadé got in their faces, so Nic Nemeth superkicked her. The Nemeths held up the TNA tag team title belts to end the show.
Next week on TNA: Moose v. AJ Francis and Joe Hendry v. Eric Young.
