A new match has been added to the lineup for TNA Under Siege.
Josh Alexander & Eric Young vs. Frankie Kazarian & Steve Maclin has been announced for Friday’s show on TNA+.
It will be Young’s first match since needing to have his ear re-attached after TNA Rebellion. Young took a Flux Capacitor from Kazarian through a table and began bleeding heavily from the side of his head afterward. TNA would update fans on Young’s condition the following day.
“Eric Young suffered a severe laceration to his ear. He did see a local plastic surgeon who helped to attach the severed ear. He is no longer medically cleared to wrestle,” Gia Miller said.
Nic Nemeth will look to add another title to his waist as he challenges Moose for the TNA World Championship in the main event of tonight’s Rebellion pay-per-view from Las Vegas.
In a Knockouts title match, Jordynne Grace will defend against Steph De Lander.
TNA Tag Team Champions The System (Eddie Edwards & Brian Myers) defend against Speedball Mountain (Trent Seven & Mike Bailey) while X-Division Champion Mustafa Ali defends against Jake Something.
In their trilogy bout, Hammerstone will take on Josh Alexander in a Last Man Standing match while veterans Eric Young and Frankie Kazarian attempt to settle their differences in a Full Metal Mayhem match.
The promotion is also teasing a “lights out” surprise at some point during the show in addition to former Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry against former World Champion Rich Swann.
The countdown show will see three bouts including a Knockouts Tag Team title defense, a Digital Media title defense, and a trios match.
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Leon Slater & ABC defeated The Rascalz
Trey and Slater started fast, Ace tagged in and pretty much immediately got taken down and double teamed by Trey and Wentz. Reed did a really nice Guillotine Legdrop to Ace when he was splayed on the middle rope. Slater tagged in and looked good until he got cut off and triple teamed with a series of fantastic moves. Slater made the hot tag to Bey and the expected 6-way broke out. ABC used the move formerly known as Chasing The Dragon on Reed for a 2 count and Reed hit a running flip dive over the post to ABC. Slater, not wanting to be shown up, did the exact same thing, which was much more spectacular, to all 3 Rascalz outside the ring. Reed ran across the ring, leaped over the top rope and gave Slater, who was on the apron, a Cutter to ABC, who were both on the floor. After more spectacular moves than I could keep track of, Slater pinned Reed with a 450 Splash. A really good and definitely fun match to kick the show off.
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-Gia Miller interviewed AJ Francis and Rich Swann aka First Class about Swann’s match with Joe Hendry. Francis introduced the Man Boy Mafia, which included Shauniee Stylez, Tyrone, Block Boy JB and a woman whose name I didn’t get. Swann said they are about that flash and will kick Joe Hendry’s ass, with the closing line if you’re not First Class, you’re last.
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Laredo Kid pinned Crazzy Steve to win the Digital Media Championship
Another fast paced match to start the pre-show. The late-arriving crowd chanted for Steve until he began going for Laredo’s mask. After dropping to the floor when he was doing a headscissors hanging over the top floor, Steve was the victim of a nice Asai Moonsault. Back in the ring, Steve went for a cannonball in the corner, but Kid, who was hanging upside down, did a sit-up to avoid it. Steve did a superplex where he landed high, so he stayed down to sell his head and neck for a minute. Steve went to the top rope, Laredo followed him up and Steve went for the mask again, so Laredo bit him, hit the Spanish Fly (called the Laredo Fly) for the pin and the championship. Not a bad match at all, I always underestimate Crazzy Steve, possibly due to the wacky gimmick.
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-Gia Miller interviewed Steph De Lander about her match with Jordynne Grace. They mention Matt Cardona’s injury, saying he won’t be here tonight. De Lander said she will walk out tonight with the title. She doesn’t like or trust Jordynne, so she hired some help…The Good Hands. Hotch and Skylar said they’re still pulling for Mustafa Ali tonight, but they are here to support De Lander.
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Knockouts Tag Team Champions Spitfire w/Lars Frederiksen defeated Decay
Yes, this is the actual Lars Frederiksen of Rancid and not a random person using the name.
I love me some Rosemary and the crowd was with me, as they chanted for the Demon Assassin. Lars tried to get Rosemary to give up on the same hanging head scissors Crazzy Steve used and Rosemary backed him down before continuing the match. Threat and Luna worked over Rosemary for a few minutes until she tagged out to Havoc. Havoc dared Luna to run off the ropes and collide, but Luna was briefly smarter than that, as she grabbed a headlock. When that didn’t work, she tried running off the ropes, but ran right into a headbutt that was heard in Reno. Luna did a great job chopping down Havoc and eventually made the hot tag to Threat. Threat ran wild and while the crowd was chanting for Rosemary earlier, they popped big for Threat’s offense. Both Luna and Threat did Suicide Dives to Havoc, who was saved by the guardrail from going down and then Threat did a senton from the top rope to the floor. Threat went for another dive onto Rosemary, but she got cut off by Havoc, however the champs turned the table, carried Havoc from the middle rope across the ring and dropped her with a double powerbomb. Finally Luna pinned Rosemary after some kind of double team drop. The match was better than expected. Hopefully they can make their double team finish a little crisper because this was a little convoluted.
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-After the match, Masha Slammovich came out with her chain and was joined by Alisha Edwards and her kendo stick. Spitfire challenged them to get in the ring, but Masha and Alisha were happy to stand on the ramp and challenge.
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-Some of Mustafa Ali’s followers came out and said the match between Ali and Jake Something won’t be happening. The guy who had the microphone tripped over his feet getting into the ring and said Something doesn’t meet the qualifications for the X-Division. They sat in the ring for a protest. Cody Deaner stormed out to do what the three referees who came to the ring refused to do and that’s to get these guys out of the ring. Deaner said this was the people’s choice whether or not the match happened. Deaner asked the fans if he should let the guys sit in the ring and hold up the show or force them out of the ring so we can start the show. Shockingly they sided with violence. Deaner kicked one and gave the other a DDT into the crotch of the other one.
Onto the main show! They’re calling this a late-arriving crowd, but there are a lot of empty seats right on camera.
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-DJ Ashba played the national anthem on his electric guitar.
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X-Division Champion Mustafa Ali pinned Jake Something
Something is following in the steps of X-Division pioneers like Samoa Joe and Kevin Nash by being a heavyweight doing battle in the X-Division. Ali arrived at the arena in a private car and got a “Goldberg” entrance by being flanked by Secret Service. Just to be nitpicky, they showed the Secret Service following behind him through the backstage area and then, seconds later, when they came out, the Secret Service was in front of Ali.
Something used his immense size advantage to run over Ali and tackle the champ to the ground. Ali got a double thrust to the throat, but then got backdropped over the top rope to the floor. Ali discovered that the best offense was a good defense. First he moved out of Something’s way and Jake punched the ring steps. Then Ali ran and slid through the corner of the ring, Jake followed, but got caught and dropped with a DDT. Ali then got Something on the ramp and did a roll-through neckbreaker, which also sent some of the stage lighting crashing onto a staff member at ringside. The staff member was okay, but Ali was officially in control. I thought they messed up a swinging hurricarana, but instead it was Something blocking it, but rolling through and turning it into a sit-out powerbomb. Something paid tribute to another former X-Division Champion, Abyss, by hitting Shock Treatment for a near fall. They ended up in the corner, but Ali did a German Suplex to the ring apron. Suddenly the Secret Service interfered. One distracted the referee while the other three rolled Something into the ring and held them so Ali could hit a 450 Splash, but Something kicked out. Something began building momentum, so Ali scurried out of the ring, but Something did a tope, clear over the top rope to the pile. Something hit Into The Void inside the ring for a 2 count when Ali got his foot on the ropes. Finally Ali rolled up Something and grabbed the rope for assistance to get the pin.
A really great match to open the ppv.
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-Former Buffalo Bill and Los Angeles Charger Shawne Merriman was shown ringside.
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Rich Swann w/AJ Francis vs Joe Hendry
Hendry used AI to edit AJ and Swann into his opening video package. Legitimately I thought Swann and AJ had edited it to mess with Hendry and wouldn’t have known differently had Tom Hannifan not said how great it was. Hendry cut a promo saying that this proves Swann and Francis are fans and have come down with a severe case of Hendry Mania. When you come down with Hendry Mania, it causes fans to chant “We Believe”.
Swann took over quickly thanks to a Francis distraction and shoved Hendry’s eyeball into the corner of the ring steps. Tom brought up Seth Rollins doing that to Rey Mysterio, which he was in WWE during. The fans chanted “Dollar Tree” at AJ while Swann worked the eye. Gotta say I’ve never used that phrase while talking about wrestling before. He didn’t seem picky about which eye, as he kicked at both sides of the head. Hendry fought out of a Guillotine and turned it into a suplex. Francis jumped on the apron and got knocked right off of it before back dropping Swann, who took a 360 bump. Francis yanked down the apron and Hendry tumbled outside and then got a chain from Shauniee Stylez, who was also at ringside. However, Shawne Merriman grabbed it and then got in the ring, challenging AJ to follow. AJ joined him, but Shawne backed him down…before knocking Hendry down with a nasty clothesline. The referee was distracted yelling at Francis to get down and Swann won with a Frog Splash.
I never liked Shawne Merriman. He was on the Bills when we were awful. Anyway the rest of the Manboy Mafia got in the ring and the girl grinded on Hendry’s dead body before they all celebrated together. This was the weakest match so far, but still nothing bad at all.
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Frankie Kazarian defeated Eric Young in a Full Metal Mayhem Match
Full Metal Mayhem is essentially TNA’s version of TLC where all metal objects are legal, but since there were no titles involved, this was just a hardcore match. I would ask what the difference between this and Monster’s Ball or just a street fight would be, but there are too many examples of this in wrestling.
Kazarian tried to attack during EY’s entrance, but Young just cracked him with his hockey mask. Young suplexed a ladder onto Kazarian and then set up a ladder bridge, however Kaz turned the tables and sent Young face-first into it. A table got set up and both men teased giving the other a big move off the apron, but neither went through it. Kazarian yelled at the crowd to “Shut up and acknowledge me as your king”, which seems to be conflicting advice. Kazarian set Young on a ladder and went for a Springboard Legdrop, but Young moved out of the way. Young pulled out a baking tray and trash can lid, but then pulled out Abyss’ old nail covered board Janice. Both tried to shove each other’s face into the only weapon ever named after Dixie Carter’s Mom. Young did the Ric Flair flip over the top turnbuckle, but as he ran down the apron, Kazarian speared him through the ropes and through the table that had been set up previously. Back in the ring we got the “Yay”/”Boo” spot and then we had Dueling Baking Trays. Just gonna say this once, I am not a fan of people doing unprotected weapon shots to the head, even if it’s “just” a baking tray. Kazarian briefly wrapped a chain around Young’s neck and used a Crossface Chicken Wing, but Young broke free and used the chain to yank Kazarian off the top rope. Young put a metal trash can on Kazarian’s top half, did a few clotheslines and a top rope elbow and I gotta say they make aluminum trash cans sturdier than they used to because this one did not want to bend. Anyway, Kazarian used an Unprettier on a ladder and set up a table while the fans chanted for fire. Young blocked Kazarian from doing some kind of offensive maneuver and followed up to the top rope, but Kazarian blocked that and did a Flux Capacitor to Young for the pin. Unfortunately they didn’t get all the way over and Young crashed head-first through the edge of the table and was busted open hardway.
That was a really good match and different from everything we’ll see tonight.
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-Gia Miller interviewed Nic Nemeth about the match with Moose. Nemeth said his dad and family are in the crowd to see him. Nemeth said the roster, the crowd and the world is ready for him to become World Champion and plans to prove he is the best.
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-I mentioned the empty seats before, but it appears to be full now, so I guess it really was a late-arriving crowd.
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-Steve Maclin came out in his gear and had a copy of a new contract he got this morning. He said he got every demand he wanted in his contract. Good for him. However, there is one more demand he has, which is a match right here and now. Well, I mean he got everything else he wanted.
Santino Marella came out and said he has signed a brand new superstar, who is eager to get started and will make his debut right now against Maclin. Out came Mike Santana, who was in TNA as part of LAX 2.0 before AEW began. He was a former Impact Tag Team Champion with Ortiz and feuded with oVe, the original LAX and the Lucha Brothers during the dark period of Impact.
Mike Santana pinned Steve Maclin
This was such a surprise that they immediately put up a graphic for Mike Santana merchandise. Santana ran wild at the bell, including doing a tope where he nearly flew into the 2nd row, however Maclin posted him and dropped him on the ring apron to take over. In the ring, Santana was hung upside down in the corner, but sat up to avoid a charging Maclin and began his comeback with a rolling Cutter. Cutler hit the Busaiku Knee when Santana was going for Spin The Block, but Santana quickly cut him off again. Santana went for it again, but it got cut off again. Santana blocked KIA and finally hit Spin The Block for the win.
This was a big win for Santana, cleanly pinning a former World Champion in his first match. It would have been bigger had Maclin been protected more since losing the title, but it’s still a big win. The match itself was fine.
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-Gia Miller interviewed The System and started by asking Alisha if Masha is part of The System. Brian Myers was visibly frustrated that Gia immediately asked Alisha a question before their tag team title match. Anyway, Brian and Eddie vowed to beat Speedball Mountain. Then Moose had a spoiler alert for Nic Nemeth’s family…Moose will leave as World Champion. Plus he says he has a surprise for Nemeth and introduces The Predator John Abraham to be in his corner. Abraham played for the Jets, Cardinals and Falcons and had 133.5 sacks in his career. We are certainly full of non-wrestlers tonight.
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Tag Team Champions Brian Meyers & Eddie Edwards w/Alisha Edwards defeated Speedball Mountain
The match started and Trent Seven was looking out at the crowd, so while Meyers beat on Mike Bailey, Edwards knocked Seven off the apron. The challengers teamed up to take turns chopping Eddie as Tom Hannifan listed great teams to be the TNA Tag Team Champions and mentioned America’s Most Wanted. I know I am nit-picking, but AMW were never TNA Champions, they were NWA Tag Team Champions. I’d have been less nitpicky if Tom hadn’t mentioned these belts were created in 2007. Anyway, while I was ranting, Eddie dropped Seven knee-first on the ring steps to take over. Seven was able to make the tag and Bailey’s feet ran wild on both heels. Seven came in and gave Meyers a superplex and Bailey used a Shooting Star Headbutt (because Meyers was a little too far away) for a 2 count. The challengers went for a double team, but Edwards tripped Bailey and dragged him out of the ring as Meyers cut off Seven. Edwards used a Tiger Driver and transitioned that into a single-leg crab. Bailey tried to crawl in for the save, but got momentarily caught in a Crossface. Bailey got out of it, but instead of breaking up the submission on his partner immediately, he slowly built up to the spot where he kicked Edwards repeatedly to eventually break it up. If I was Seven, I wouldn’t have been thrilled. Seven tried to pick Edwards up for a Burning Hammer, but his knee went out. The champs hit a double team backpack Stunner/Top Rope Elbow, but Seven kicked out. Seven finally hit the Burning Hammer and Bailey hit the Shooting Star Knees to Edwards’ back, but Meyers speared Bailey on top of the pile, breaking up Seven’s pinfall attempt. Bailey ran down the apron for a dive to Meyers, but Brian hit a Spear to cut him off. In the ring, Seven tried to hold his own, but got pinned after a Roster Cut and Boston Knee Party.
This match was pretty damn good.
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Josh Alexander defeated Hammerstone in a Last Man Standing Match
This is their 3rd match, having split their first two matches.
Hammerstone came out wearing Alexander’s headgear as an elbow pad. This was a hard hitting match from the opening bell. Hammerstone popped right up from a German Suplex and used a Belly to Belly overhead suplex that Alexander got right back up from. Josh ended up on the apron and blocked a running boot and dropped Hammerstone with a power slam on the ring apron, but the former MLW Champion got up at 6. Alexander went to the top, but he got press slammed off and onto the ring apron. Hammerstone used a delayed vertical suplex on the floor for another count of 6. Hammerstone yelled that Josh should have stayed down, so Josh slapped him and used a half-nelson suplex on the ring apron. That apron sure is the MVP of this match. Hammerstone sold his neck, but got up at 8. Alexander used the figure four around the ring post, but Hammerstone wasn’t able to reach Alexander’s leg, but thankfully Alexander didn’t take a nasty bump on the floor. In the ring Hammerstone cracked Alexander in the ear with the headgear, which led to his ear getting busted open. I imagine it was hardway, since I can’t believe someone would blade their ear. Tom Hannifan did a great job explaining that Alexander wears headgear because of an ear injury earlier in his career, which is literally the first time I ever heard anyone explain that. Hammerstone laid Alexander’s head against the ring post and went for a running boot. I started typing “but Alexander moved” and then Alexander never moved and Hammerstone booted his head against the post. However Alexander got up at 8 and did a fantastic job selling how discombobulated he was. Alexander barely beat the count on a Torture Rack Drop and hit a Pump Kick, but Alexander laughed, tripped up his larger for and locked on an Ankle Lock. Alexander just wrecked Hammerstone’s leg and midsection, but Hammerstone blocked the C4 Spike. That may have been a bad idea because Alexander responded by kicking Hammerstone’s head off. Alexander reached under the ring and got a black bag, which was full of thumbtacks. At this point I am just waiting for Abyss to come out after all these references to him tonight. They fought on the middle rope, with Hammerstone doing a headbutt to the ear and bringing Alexander down with a Nightmare Pendulum into the thumbtacks. Honestly Hammerstone may have gotten the worst of them, as he had a bunch of tacks in his thighs, while Alexander seemed to have a lot fewer. Anyway, Josh got to his feet at 9 and Hammerstone grabbed the headgear as they fought to the ramp. Alexander hit a few blows to the head and a C4 Spike on the ramp for the win as Hammerstone’s last gasp led to him falling flat on his face. Alexander grabbed his headgear before walking off.
This was a fantastic match and, in my opinion, the best match of a very good show so far.
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-We got a video of Jonathan Grisham, which started with him in a board room and then he began talking about himself in the third person about how when he puts on a mask he becomes his true self. He began choking up ink before showing him in a mask on the other side of the room. This was weird, but kinda cool.
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Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace defeated Steph De Lander w/The Good Hands
Before the match began, George Iceman was in a skybox and introduced Ash By Elegance, who appeared to watch from the skybox.
De Lander bullied Grace into the corner to start the match, since she is 8 inches taller, but Grace got out of it. They were on different pages early and Grace did a Suicide Dive where she pretty much landed on her head. From the apron, De Lander used a TKO that Grace went throat-first onto the top rope to take over. It settled down from here. Grace punched De Lander in the stomach and she responded by yelling at Grace to do it again. However, when Grace did it, she didn’t seem happy. Oh well, some people can’t be satisfied. Every time Grace would string together a few blows, De Lander would just knock her right down. Grace got on a rear naked choke and De Lander used up all her energy to try to stop her. De Lander’s hand dropped 3 times, but one of the Good Hands hopped on the apron to distract the referee. The other one threw the title belt to De Lander, but Grace ducked it, however Grace took out the referee with a spinning back fist. De Lander took out Grace with the title belt and one of the Good Hands took the referee’s shirt off, put it on and went for the cover, but the lights went out! When they came back on…PCO was in the ring and took out both Good Hands. I may have been disappointed in the lights out surprise, but the fans weren’t. They popped for it. De Lander tried to rub PCO’s chest, but PCO grabbed her throat for a chokeslam. Out ran Big Kon, who took out PCO when Grace got to her feet and got face-to-belly button with him. He shoved Grace down, so Grace punched him low. Kon, on his knees, was almost as tall as Grace. She picked Kon up for a Juggernaut Driver, but was cut off by Hotch and Skylar. Kon went to snap Grace’s neck, when the lights went out again and when they came back on, Sami Callihan was here! Callihan is back and he took out Kon and both Good Hands by himself. Callihan gave Hotch Cactus Driver 97. Callihan threw De Lander in the ring, where she got dropped by a Juggernaut Driver and a 2nd referee ran down for the 3 count. Where the Hell was this referee during the last 5 minutes?
Matthew Rehwaldt said the last 5 minutes were a fever dream and I would agree with him. This was definitely a different title match than we’ve been used to.
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-TNA Slammiversary was announced for July 20 in Montreal at Verdun Auditorium.
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World Champion Moose defeated Nic Nemeth
Nic’s father Don and brother Ryan were shown in the crowd. He said his entire family was here and I am not going to judge him, but after seeing Mark Briscoe’s entire family, I was expecting more than 2 people.
Nemeth used his speed early, which is weird because Moose is deceptively fast, but that’s what we’re going with. Nemeth threw Moose out of the ring and went for a dive, but he got caught and dropped outside the ring. Inside the ring, Nemeth is doing a great job selling, but throws Moose to the ramp. Moose went for a powerbomb, but Nemeth turned it into a hurricarana where Moose rolled into the ring. Nemeth went for a superkick, but Alisha grabbed his foot. The referee, who didn’t see her do it, just threw Alisha, Eddie and Meyers out of the ringside area. With the distraction, Nemeth hit a superkick for a near fall. Nemeth locks on a sleeper and covers Moose’s eye to the point where when Moose tried to climb to the middle rope, it took him 3 tries because he couldn’t see the rope and kept slipping on it. Eventually he got his foot to the middle rope and fell backwards, dropping Nemeth to the mat. They end up outside the ring where Nemeth does a Famouser off the ramp to the floor and then has to break land speed records to jump into the ring and break up the count, which was at 9. Speaking of 9, back in the ring, Nemeth hit 9 successive elbow drops, but Moose rolled to the floor to avoid the 10th. However Moose wasn’t too smart about it, as he rolled outside to lay on the ground, so Nemeth hit the 10th by diving off the ring apron. Moose hit a headbutt in the ring, called Nemeth a son of a bitch and then yanked Nemeth off the middle rope with a ring rocking Sky-High (sit out spinebuster). A series of reversals ended with a Moose power bomb in the ring and then he finally hit the power bomb on the ramp, which somehow took out not only the same lights Ali took out earlier, but also the video for a second. Nemeth barely dragged himself into the ring before the count of 10. Moose went for a moonsault that Nemeth side-stepped and used a leg lariat for a 2 count. They went into the “Yay”/”Boo” spot that evolved into dueling kicks to the head. Moose went head over heels on a clothesline that I don’t think he was supposed to do and Nemeth hit his own version of the Spear for a 2 count. Moose side stepped another superkick and hit his own version of the spear to retain the title. I think Moose may have hurt himself on that flip bump because the match got a little wonky towards the end.
This was a very good match, but not nearly as good as the Alex Shelley match in January. As The System came out to celebrate, the lights went out again and this time when they came back on, it was Broken Matt Hardy, making his return to TNA. This was unexpected, as he laid out Moose with a Twist Of Fate and led the crowd in chants of DELETE as the show faded to black.
Poor Moose, we’re currently 2-for-2 in 2024 with Moose’s ppv main event victories being interrupted by debuting stars.
-Thank you all for reading, if you enjoyed, please check out the Something Else Podcast Network, available on (almost) all your favorite streaming platforms where I (mostly) review classic wrestling!
Josh Alexander & Hammerstone will finish their trilogy at TNA Rebellion.
TNA officially announced Thursday that Alexander vs. Hammerstone 3 will take place at the Rebellion pay-per-view on Saturday, April 20.
Hammerstone made his return to TNA for the first time in six years in January at the Hard to Kill pay-per-view, losing to the veteran Alexander in his first match back. Hammerstone then took the victory in their second meeting in March at the Sacrifice event. The rubber match will now take place on April 20 at Rebellion in Las Vegas.
Six matches are now official for Rebellion set for Saturday, April 20. The event will air at 8 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view. The current lineup:
TNA World Champion Moose defends against Nic Nemeth
TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Steph De Lander
TNA X-Division Champion Mustafa Ali defends against Jake Something
TNA Tag Team Champions The System (Eddie Edwards & Brian Myers) defend against Speedball Mountain (Mike Bailey & Trent Seven)
Eric Young vs. Frankie Kazarian in a Full Metal Mayhem match
For the second time ever, the 8-4-1 match will return to TNA Wrestling as part of next Thursday’s Impact with the winner earning a future Knockouts title shot.
The match will begin as an eight-woman tag team bout. The winners will then compete in a fatal four-way where the victor will earn the shot against current champion Jordynne Grace (seen above), presumably at next month’s Rebellion pay-per-view. Grace successfully defended her title against Tasha Steelz on Thursday.
The competitors were not announced, but the match will take place this weekend in Philadelphia as part of two nights of TV tapings.
The initial 8-4-1 match debuted at last June’s Against All Odds and featured men.
Next Thursday’s show will also feature former TNA World Champion Josh Alexander in action. While his opponent was not announced, Alexander has been announced as facing Tracy Williams as part of this weekend’s tapings.
After former TNA World Champion Rich Swann recently turned on Joe Hendry and aligned with AJ Francis, the two will be on the show to talk about why they did what they did.
Here’s the current card:
8-4-1 match where the winner earns a future Knockouts title shot
Former MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alex Hammerstone has signed with TNA Wrestling.
TNA announced during Thursday’s Impact episode that Hammerstone has signed with the company and will face Josh Alexander at Sacrifice on Friday, March 8 in a Hard to Kill rematch.
Hammerstone announced last October that he had requested his release from MLW, but later returned to the promotion in November. He later revealed that his contract with the company expired at the end of 2023 and that he planned to hit free agency as 2024 began, posting a video on social media on January 1 issuing an open challenge.
TNA’s Josh Alexander accepted the open challenge and the two met at Hard to Kill in January, with Alexander scoring a victory in the first meeting. A rematch between the two has now been announced for the TNA Plus Sacrifice special on Friday, March 8.
Aside from his one TNA match this year, Hammerstone has also wrestled for GCW and a variety of independent promotions as a free agent.
There is no word from TNA as to whether Hammerstone’s deal makes him exclusive to the company.
Five matches are currently set for Sacrifice. The current lineup:
TNA Sacrifice, Friday, March 8 on TNA Plus —
TNA World Champion Moose defends against Eric Young
TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Xia Brookside & Tasha Steelz in a triple threat
Josh Alexander vs. Alex Hammerstone
Nic Nemeth vs. Steve Maclin
Mustafa Ali, John Skyler & Jason Hotch vs. Chris Sabin, KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight
Josh Alexander isn’t upset about his contract situation with TNA Wrestling.
It was announced on February 20 that TNA had exercised an option to extend Alexander’s contract by one year. Alexander signed a two-year extension with TNA in 2022 that also included an option for TNA to add another year to the deal.
TNA picked up that option despite Alexander asking them not to. In an interview with the Battleground Podcast, Alexander explained that he thought it would be cool to enter free agency, find out what he’s worth on the open market, renegotiate his deal, and see what could happen. But Alexander understands that it was well within TNA’s right to pick up the contract option. Alexander said he’s “completely fine” with their decision.
Alexander said he feels like he’s outworked the contract that he signed two years ago, but it’s still a good deal and he’s cool staying with TNA. Alexander noted that he’s dreamt of competing in a TNA ring since he was 15 years old.
With the option being picked up, Alexander will be with TNA until at least February 2025. He told the Battleground Podcast that Anthem (TNA’s parent company) has expressed interest in negotiating a long-term deal.
Alexander said:
I didn’t even know that my contract was coming up, to be honest. All this stuff happened with the termination of Scott D’Amore and stuff like that. And I looked at my contract, I was like, ‘Oh man, February 14? That’s like in three days. That’s weird.’
So I had to inform Anthem that my deal was lapsed and they had 10 days to pick up the option if they wanted to. And, you know, if you don’t ask, you might never find out. So I certainly asked if they could not pick up my option and we could negotiate something different, because I feel like I’ve outworked that contract I signed. But, you know, it was a team option. It’s something that the ball is in their court. I signed the deal. And it was totally within their rights to pick it up, and I’m completely fine with them picking it up. Like, it’s still a good deal. It’s not something that I’m upset about by any stretch. But just to read tweets and stuff [saying] like, I’m being held hostage and all this stuff and forced to stay here against my will — that’s not the case.
I signed that deal two years ago. I knew what I was signing when I signed it. At the end of the day, at the end of my career, I want to be able to look in the mirror, hold my head high, and say that I carried myself as a professional first and foremost above anything else I do in this business. I want to say I did things right. And I signed that deal, I’m going to honor that deal, and we’ll see what happens in the next 12 months. Something could be renegotiated for something long-term in the meantime. Anthem has certainly mentioned that they would be interested in something like that. But, at the same time, I thought it would be cool for the first time in my career to kind of hit free agency and see what I was worth on the open market and then renegotiate then and see what could happen then.
But, yeah, I’m totally cool here staying in TNA. I’ve dreamt of being in TNA since I was a 15-year-old kid and I tuned in on Wednesday nights for the first time. So for that to happen, finally get in a TNA ring at the Palms for Hard to Kill and then the next day against Will Ospreay for Snake Eyes. Man, that’s a dream come true. So I want to see this thing through and I will for the next 11 months or whatever it is and then we’ll see where we go from there. But — not being held hostage [laughs]. That’s a little too dramatic for me.
Alexander, who is one of TNA’s top stars, has been signed to the promotion since 2019. His time with TNA/Impact has included two World Championship reigns.
The Battleground Podcast’s interview with Alexander can be watched below:
Josh Alexander will not be leaving TNA Wrestling anytime soon.
The company announced on Tuesday that it has exercised its option to extend his contract. Although terms and length were not disclosed, Sports Illustrated is reporting the deal now “runs for the next year.”
The contract extension comes during a period of turmoil for the company. Former TNA president Scott D’Amore was released earlier this month. This led to TNA talent and staff sending a letter to Anthem CEO Leonard Asper in support of D’Amore.
“I have so much respect for Scott,” Alexander said to Sports Illustrated. “Working with him over the last five years, and seeing the way he operates, he is the ultimate leader. I’ve tried to take pieces of that in the way I give advice to people. My goal is to lead by example. We have a locker room of like-minded people and we all have a chip on our shoulder. Those shows in Vegas [Hard To Kill and Snake Eyes] were so successful, and it’s tough to say we can be even more successful than we were under Scott, but I’m going to bust my ass trying.”
Alexander said he hopes TNA Wrestling “continues to be an amazing place” under the new management.
“I’ve worked so hard to be in this position. At the end of this contract, I’ll have been with TNA for six years. We’ll see how this year goes. With new management coming in, things are going to be changing. I just hope it continues to be an amazing place. Right now, I couldn’t imagine working anywhere else.”
Fightful Select recently reported that former Impact World Champion, Steve Maclin’s contract with the promotion expires this year. Shortly after this was reported, several members of the TNA roster posted “hourglass” emojis to social media.
“Josh Alexander is one of the most popular wrestlers in TNA Wrestling history. We’re thrilled to see that his run in TNA will continue,” said new TNA Wrestling president Anthony Cicione.
TNA No Surrender 2024 takes place on Friday at the Alario Center in Louisiana. Alexander is scheduled to wrestle Simon Gotch on the show.
TNA No Surrender 2024 (Friday, February 23) —
No Surrender rules: TNA World Champion Moose defends against Alex Shelley
TNA Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Gisele Shaw
TNA X-Division Champion Chris Sabin defends against Mustafa Ali
Best-of-three series finals for the TNA Tag Team titles: ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) defend against The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake)
TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions Decay (Havok & Rosemary) defend against MK Ultra (Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly)
Josh Alexander vs. Simon Gotch
PCO vs. Kon
Countdown to No Surrender: KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight vs. Eddie Edwards & Brian Myers
Shelton Benjamin’s first match since being released by WWE last September has been announced.
Prestige Wrestling revealed on Thursday that Benjamin vs. TNA Wrestling’s Josh Alexander is set for their Alive or Just Breathing event in Los Angeles on Thursday, May 16. The Vermont Hollywood, a frequent host to NJPW Strong events in the past, will be the venue for the independent event.
Benjamin originally signed a developmental deal with WWE in 2000 and reported to Ohio Valley Wrestling where he formed the Minnesota Stretching Crew tag team with his former college wrestling teammate from the University of Minnesota, Brock Lesnar.
After being called up to WWE’s main roster in 2002, Benjamin and Charlie Haas formed The World’s Greatest Tag Team as part of an alliance with Kurt Angle’s Team Angle faction.
Benjamin would go on to hold the WWE Intercontinental Championship on three occasions, and the United States Championship once as a singles competitor on his first run in addition to two Raw Tag Team titles with Haas before being released in 2010.
After a stint with NJPW, ROH, and on the independent scene, Benjamin returned to WWE in 2017 where he had a six-year run teaming with Chad Gable, then later as part of The Hurt Business faction, where he captured the Raw Tag Team titles once more with Cedric Alexander.
Benjamin’s last WWE match took place on the September 14, 2023 episode of Main Event where he teamed with Alexander in a loss to The Viking Raiders in a bout taped on September 11. His WWE release was announced on September 21, 2023.
There must be a blizzard in Satan’s forecast because the impossible has happened.
I have chosen, of my own accord, to willingly subject myself to an episode of TNA Impact Wrestling…and came away with mostly positive things to say.
Will Ospreay and Josh Alexander had a blow-away main event and with a little help from Scott D’Amore, they actually made TNA seem…cool?
Plus, I give my thoughts on the X-Division, Xia Brookside, Grizzled Young Vets vs. Grizzled Old Vets, Nic Nemeth’s effective yet awkward debut, and why Kazuchika Okada’s return to TNA is an even bigger surprise than mine.
Tonight, TNA Wrestling presents the first episode of Impact since the company’s name change.
A new era began at last Saturday’s Hard to Kill pay-per-view. New champions were crowned, new roster additions debuted, and Impact Wrestling officially crossed the line back to TNA. Tonight’s show will feature matches taped the day after Hard to Kill.
Will Ospreay and Josh Alexander clash in a highly anticipated rematch. Ospreay defeated Alexander in their first meeting last fall. Now Ospreay gets to accomplish his dream of competing in a TNA ring.
We’ll hear from Nic Nemeth (the former Dolph Ziggler) after he made his TNA debut at Hard to Kill. The PPV ended with Nemeth debuting and laying out new Impact World Champion Moose.
There will be an X-Division scramble match featuring KUSHIDA, Mike Bailey, Trey Miguel, El Hijo del Vikingo, Laredo Kid, and Jake Something, The winner will likely be in line for a shot at Chris Sabin’s X-Division title.
Xia Brookside vs. Tasha Steelz is also set for tonight, along with The Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Eric Young & Frankie Kazarian.
TNA Impact opened with a recap of the excellent Hard to Kill PPV, running down all the matches, with the biggest news being Moose defeating Alex Shelley for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.
Jake Something defeated KUSHIDA, Trey Miguel, Laredo Kid, Mike Bailey, El Hijo del Vikingo
This was an awesome match. No better way to start off the return of TNA than with the X-Division, and this showed why.
It did not take long for this to descend into chaos with Mike Bailey, Vikingo, and Laredo Kid hitting stereo dives to the floor onto everyone else. Trey Miguel played the annoying heel cutting off the babyfaces and avoiding all the high impact, pardon the pun, offence. Trey Miguel tied up the legs of Laredo Kid, but decided to slap KUSHIDA while doing it. This did not go well. KUSHIDA kicked him in the face.
Miguel still kept the legs of Kid tied and hit a lightning spiral though, and continued his submission attempt, but Jake Something came in and pulled him off. Something cleared the ring with some hard forearms but had a hard time keeping up with Vikingo, which to be fair, no one can. Vikingo went for his imploding hurricanrana but Something rolled through and powerbombed Vikingo over the ropes onto everyone on the floor.
Miguel hit a poisonrana on Something, and KUSHIDA locked the Hoverboard lock on Miguel, but Vikingo cut him off with a rope walk into a double stomp. Everyone exchanged some big moves and it ended after Laredo Kid hit Mike Bailey with a Spanish Fly and Something hit Into the Void on Kid for the win.
–Will Ospreay was backstage and cut a promo on Josh Alexander, and how the last time they faced off, Ospreay left him laying. He was back now for the three letters, TNA, and he was going to defeat Alexander once again. They still need to white balance their cameras.
–A hype video aired for Ash by Elegance. It is going to take a lot to sell me on this gimmick, but it’s nice to see Dana Brooke trying something completely different than what she was in WWE.
–Gisele Shaw cut a promo about winning the Ultimate X match, and said that Jordynne Grace needed to watch out. Gail Kim walked up and said that Shaw should think about doing things alone, because Shaw was able to win without the Shawntorage. Shaw brushed Kim off and walked away.
Xia Brookside defeated Tasha Steelz
Brookside earned the anger of Steelz in the first part of this match, ending with Steelz hitting a pump kick in frustration, as Brookside managed to frustrate every other attempt at offence in the early parts of the match. Steelz ended up hitting the three amigos, and started putting together some heat on the young babyface.
Steelz went for another suplex, but Brookside did a small package for a 2-count, and hit a head scissors. Brookside hit double knees to the back of Steelz in the corner. Steelz hit a jaw breaker followed by a code breaker for a 2-count. Steelz went to the top rope, but Brookside cut her off and hit the Brooksy Bomb off the top rope for the pinfall win.
–A recap of AJ Francis laying out Joe Hendry after Hendry’s music video aired.
–Joe Hendry was backstage, and talked about being chokeslammed by AJ Francis, he said that he didn’t blame Francis because he was the Cheez-it Champion, and had tons of challengers. Hendry said it wasn’t a total loss because he got a free laptop. The laptop was trashed though, so he said he was throwing it out with the rest of the garbage, and the camera zoomed out to show DJ WhooKid in a garbage can, moaning in pain.
The Grizzled Young Vets (James Drake & Zach Gibson) defeated Frankie Kazarian & Eric Young
This was a really solid tag match, and it was designed perfectly for the turn that came at the end. It also put over GYV as a dangerous team.
GYV immediately started working over the arm of Eric Young, showing their technical style of wrestling, but Young bit the fingers of Drake and tagged out to Kazarian who hit a flipping neckbreaker on Drake. Gibson blind tagged in, allowing Kazarian to be pulled from the ring, and Drake hit a tope suicidia on Kazarian.
Drake and Gibson worked over Kazarian for the next few minutes, showcasing their style, with hard strike and breaking down Kazarian bit by bit. Gibson hit a dragon screw on the leg of Kazarian, and Kazarian tried to fire back with a chop, but he got cut off with a hard strike from Gibson. Gibson slammed Drake on Kazarian for a 2-count.
Kazarian finally responded with a suplex when Gibson went for one, and was about to tag out, but Drake pulled Young from the apron. The timing on this was so perfect. Drake hit an assisted Sliced Bread #2 on Kazarian for a 2-count. I missed part of the finish here, as the news of Kazuchika Okada leaving NJPW was sent to me, and I was in shock, but I did see GYV hitting Grit Your Teeth on Eric Young for the win.
–The System were at a restaurant and talked about how everything was going to plan for them, with Moose getting his title win. This was a good segment.
–Nic Nemeth made his entrance, and looked overjoyed to be there. The fans chanted for him, and said them chanting “Nic!” was going to take some getting used to. Nemeth talked about being excited to be in TNA, and that he was there to prove himself. Steve Maclin came out and cut him off, saying that he was just a phony, and that he never took the top spot he supposedly wanted.
Maclin said that if they faced off against each other, all people would be asking was “Whatever happened to Dolph Ziggler?” and Nemeth hit Danger Zone (Zig Zag redubbed) to lay out Maclin. This segment was really good.
–Jordynne Grace was backstage with Gia Miller talking about winning the Knockout’s Championship. Trinity walked up and said that the rematch for the title would be happening next week on TNA Impact.
–Jai Vidal came down to the ring and talked about moving away from Las Vegas because it was filthy. Vidal said that no one could beat him up. PCO came out to interrupt.
PCO defeated Jai Vidal
PCO beat up Jai Vidal, contrary to Vidal’s claims.
–Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin were backstage, and Shelley talked about how they had a big six-man tag next week, and announced they would be teaming with Kazuchika Okada. Okada said that he would be returning to TNA next week. This is astonishing considering the announcement he is leaving NJPW just broke within the last hour, and here he is talking about a six-man tag on Impact next week.
Josh Alexander defeated Will Ospreay
This match was unbelievable and completely stole the show. This will be one of TNA’s best matches of the year, and potentially is one of their best matches ever. Alexander continues to be the best wrestler in TNA history, and Ospreay proves again that he is one of, if not the best, in the world. Outstanding match. This should be on the list for MOTY Candidates for 2024.
The fans were immediately hot for this, seeing as it is two of the best wrestlers in the world. Ospreay and Alexander did not waste time, with Ospreay hitting a hard chop and a standing moonsault for a 2-count. Alexander hit some hard chops of his own and hit a German suplex. Alexander was able to roll through and hit a second, but Ospreay grabbed the ropes before a third.
Ospreay hit the ropes and did a handspring kick that sent Alexander to the floor. Ospreay went for a tope, but Alexander moved then caught the PK. Alexander did an ankle lock on Ospreay on the floor, and Ospreay tried to grab anything to pull away and accidentally pulled a table out from under the ring. The hold broke, and Ospreay was able to hit a tornado DDT on the floor.
Ospreay then setup the table and tried to hit a bomb of some sort off the apron through the table, but Alexander fought out. Ospreay clotheslined Alexander back into the ring and hit a flying forearm for a near fall. Alexander and Ospreay exchanged suplex attempts, but Alexander was able to overpower and hit a vertical suplex on Ospreay.
Ospreay hit a run up kick on Alexander and a back flip before hitting an enziguri. Ospreay hit the ropes and sprung off, but Alexander caught him and hit a German suplex and then a powerbomb into a backbreaker. Ospreay chopped Alexander when they got up, but Alexander ate it and hit a standing backbreaker.
Ospreay and Alexander battled on the apron after this, and Ospreay was able to fire up and hit a Tiger Driver off the apron through the table. The crowd went insane as the referee checked on both. I am not sure why this was a DQ, but the referee decided to allow the match to continue, as he decided the fans deserved a definitive conclusion to the match. I like the explanation on commentary, at least.
Alexander made it back in at the count of 9 but immediately ate a coast-to-coast dropkick from Ospreay, who hit the OsCutter for a 2-count. Ospreay went for the Hidden Blade, but Alexander collapsed before Ospreay could hit it. Ospreay and Alexander exchanged some trash talk, and after a shotgun dropkick from Ospreay, who started to heel on Alexander at this point, looked shocked when Alexander fired up again. Ospreay hit a standing Spanish Fly for a 2-count and went for Stormbreaker, but Alexander countered out into a tombstone attempt. Ospreay countered into a Stundog Millionaire and went for the OsCutter again, but Alexander hit a huge forearm to drop Ospreay right out of the air.
Ospreay and Alexander ended up on the ramp, and Ospreay went for an OsCutter on the ramp, but Alexander cut him off and hit a piledriver on the ramp. Alexander hit a Green Bay Plunge off the middle ropes on Ospreay and locked on an ankle lock in the middle of the ring, but Ospreay refused to give up. Opsreay managed to hit a Cheeky Nandos kick on Alexander, hitting a poisonrana off the top rope on Alexander and a Hidden Blade for a 2-count. Rehwoldt said the Hidden Blade would make Jacob Frye proud, and I’m here for Assassin’s Creed references.
Ospreay hit a second Hidden Blade and a Storm Driver 93 on Alexander, but Alexander kicked out again. Ospreay ripped off his elbow pad and went for the Hidden Blade again, and Alexander hit a lariat instead. Alexander and Ospreay exchanged hard strikes and hit the ropes dodging each other until Alexander took Ospreay’s head off with a lariat and went for the C4 Spike, but Ospreay countered and went for the Styles Clash. Alexander countered into an ankle lock attempt, but Ospreay fought back, so Alexander pulled Ospreay up and hit a Styles Clash for a 2-count. Alexander rolled through the pin attempt and finally hit the C4 Spike for the win.
–Scott D’Amore came down to the ring after the match, talked about how awesome it was, and said that he watched Bruce Pritchard declare that TNA was dead years ago, and that it was guys like Alexander, and now Ospreay, who made sure the spirit of TNA continued, and now it was alive again. D’Amore said Ospreay was a TNA kid, and that “Uncle Allen at home (AJ Styles)” would have loved that match. This was an all time Scott D’Amore promo, putting over TNA, the wrestlers, and that they are far from finished.
Final Thoughts
This was an awesome episode to relaunch TNA Impact, and having Josh Alexander and Will Ospreay tear the house down was the perfect way to cap it off and show that this was not the old TNA, but one that is very much so in good hands, alive and well. They may never reach back to what they were, but my goodness, this promotion is fun to watch when they do shows like this.
A big match has been announced for TNA Impact this week.
The promotion’s first show back under TNA branding will feature Josh Alexander vs. Will Ospreay 2. The match was taped on Sunday at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas.
The first match between Ospreay and Alexander took place at Cicero Stadium just outside of Chicago on October 22, 2023. It aired on November 16. Our own Dave Meltzer rated the match four and three-quarter stars.
TNA has also announced that fans will hear from Nic Nemeth on Thursday’s show as well. Nemeth’s in-ring TNA debut against Zachary Wentz was taped on Sunday as well. However, it’s not clear when the match will air.
An X-Division scramble match featuring KUSHIDA vs. Trey Miguel vs. Laredo Kid vs. Mike Bailey vs. El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Jake Something has also been announced for Thursday.
TNA’s Snake Eyes TV taping this weekend also featured Kazuchika Okada’s return to the promotion for the first time since 2011. Spoilers from the show are available here.
TNA Impact announced lineup for January 18, 2024:
Will Ospreay vs. Josh Alexander
Xia Brookside vs. Tasha Steelz
KUSHIDA vs. Trey Miguel vs. Laredo Kid vs. Mike Bailey vs. El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Jake Something in an X-Division Scramble match
Up next for TNA Wrestling, will be a set of television tapings at Osceola Heritage Park in Orlando on Friday and Saturday.
The following are spoilers from TNA’s Snake Eyes TV taping in Las Vegas, Nevada, Sunday — the follow-up to Saturday’s Hard to Kill that saw nearly every title change hands.
While most of the matches were taped for the weekly TNA Impact TV show on AXS TV, several matches were also taped for Xplosion — their former secondary show in the previous TNA era. It’s unknown if that will replace Before The Impact on AXS TV.
The following come courtesy of Fightful’s Joel Pearl.
Rhino defeated Shera
Joe Hendry defeated Rich Swann
Jake Something defeated KUSHIDA, El Hijo Del Vikingo, Trey Miguel, Laredo Kid & Mike Bailey in a multi-man match
Nic Nemeth cut a promo about wanting to become the TNA World Champion before he was interrupted by Steve Maclin. Maclin called Nemeth a phony and that it’s his time as Nemeth had 20 years to tell his story. Nemeth hit a Zig Zag on him to end the segment.
Xia Brookside defeated Tasha Steelz
Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) defeated Eric Young & Frankie Kazarian. After the match, Kazarian turned on Young.
PCO defeated Jai Vidal
Chris Bey defeated Kevin Knight. Afterward, the Grizzled Young Veterans laid out Bey and Ace Austin.
A new match has been added to the lineup for TNA Hard to Kill.
Josh Alexander vs. Alex Hammerstone is now confirmed for the show. The match announcement follows a social media exchange between the two in recent days.
Hammerstone issued an open challenge in a video he posted on New Year’s Day announcing he’s officially a free agent.
TNA then made the match official for Hard to Kill on Saturday, January 13 at the Palms in Las Vegas. It will be Hammerstone’s second-ever match in the promotion. He also wrestled on an episode of Impact Xplosion in 2018.
Impact World Champion Alex Shelley defends against Moose
Knockouts Champion Trinity defends against Jordynne Grace
X-Division Champion Chris Sabin defends against KUSHIDA and El Hijo del Vikingo in a three-way match
Knockouts Ultimate X match (Announced participants: Gisele Shaw, Xia Brookside, Jody Threat)
Josh Alexander vs. Alex Hammerstone
PCO vs. Dirty Dango
TNA Tag Team Champions ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) defend against The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel), Speedball Mountain (Mike Bailey & Trent Seven), and The Grizzled Young Vets (Zack Gibson & James Drake)
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
With 2023 close to wrapping up, Impact Wrestling presents a special Hidden Gems episode tonight.
Tonight’s Impact consists solely of past matches that have never been seen on television before. That includes a bout between Josh Alexander and Yuya Uemura that took place in September. It was Uemura’s final match in Impact before returning to NJPW following his learning excursion.
A street fight between PCO and Deaner is also set to air tonight. Plus, Alan Angels takes on Samuray Del Sol.
In tag team action, Killer Kelly & Masha Slamovich face off against the team of Gisele Shaw & Savannah Evans. There will also be a tag match pitting Tommy Dreamer & Channing Decker against Dirty Dango & John E. Bravo.
Impact is now less than one month away from changing its name back to TNA Wrestling. The name change officially goes into effect starting with Hard to Kill on Saturday, January 13. We’ll see if any announcements regarding Hard to Kill or the post-PPV TV tapings are made tonight.
Samuray del Sol defeated Alan Angels
Solid match here, but nothing special. The crowd in Chicago enjoyed seeing del Sol actually get a win, rather than the typical deal of luchadores losing in Impact.
Del Sol and Angels had a very quick exchange as the start of the match, where neither had the advantage. Sol hit an armdrag that sent Angels to the floor, and as Sol hit a tope suicidia the announcers noted that Angels had only had success at the time by hitting low blows, which lead to speculation that he was compensating for something. I laughed. Angels cut Sol off when he was doing a handstand and threw him into the ring post.
Gia Miller claimed that Angels paid her tons of money to put him over, but she was going to be unbiased, but keep the money. I laughed again. Sol used the bottom rope to pull his shoulder, indicating that Angels may have separated the shoulder when he threw him into the ring post. Angels then hit a shoulder breaker and locked on an arm submission. Sol hit an armdrag and a hurricanrana for a 2-count.
Angels hit a spin kick Hannifan called a halo strike for a two count. Sol hit the Salina del Sol but Angels was too close to the ropes. When Sol went to the top rope, Angels cut him off, but Sol managed to hit a Salina del Sol off the top rope for the win.
This was one of the early teaming matches for MK Ultra, but you could see that they had something that worked very early on. Shaw has proven to be a good gatekeeper helping talent adjust to new roles, and this tag match was no different.
Hannifan and Rehwodlt debated the spelling of (SHAWtorage or SHAWntorage) with the latter sounding more like Shawn, as in Shawn Michaels. Killer Kelly and Masha Slamovich showed no interest in this debate though, as they beat on Shaw at the start of the match. Killer Kelly continued the assault on Savannah Evans, but Vidal attacked Killer Kelly behind the referee’s back letting Evans get the advantage.
Kelley managed to hit a DDT on Shaw after some heat, and Slamovich tagged in and hit a huge Yakuza kick in the corner on Evans and then a Death Valley Driver into the corner on Kelley into Evans in the corner, using Kelly as a weapon. Shaw hit a curb stomp on Slamovich to allow Evans to get some control again, but Slamovich hit a double stomp on Evans after kicking out of a pinfall attempt. MK Ultra then hit a double team Ganso bomb for the win.
PCO defeated Deaner in a No DQ match
A rather uneventful No DQ match, but PCO is always fun. I wonder why this one didn’t air on TV until now?
Tom Hannifan said one of the truest things he has ever said when he commented “There is an abnormal brain in PCO’s head.” Correct, my astute friend. Deaner and PCO started this with violence right away, with PCO setting up chairs on the floor, but flying out of the ring into them after a low blow from Deaner. PCO briefly fought back, but PCO was thrown off the top rope into two chairs again, for a two count.
Deaner hit PCO with a chair 3 times and sandwiched a chair between the top and middle rope in the corner. Deaner sent PCO into the chair, but PCO no sold it and hit a clothesline. PCO then hulked up (PCO’d up? Frankenstein’s Monster’d up?) as Deaner hit him with a garbage can. PCO hit a lung blower on Deaner and then a guillotine legdrop from the top rope as the fans chanted for PCO. PCO set Deaner on the apron and hit is flipping senton onto Deaner.
PCO setup a table on the floor and went to the top rope to put Deaner through it, but Deaner cut him off and sent PCO crashing through the table to the floor. Deaner tried to finish PCO off, but PCO fired up and chokeslammed Deaner through a garbage can. The Design ran down and attacked, laying out PCO, but OVE came out to make the save, and Sami Callihan took out Deaner with a Cactus Driver 97 to help PCO. PCO hit a moonsault on Deaner and scored the pinfall.
–A hype video aired for El Hijo del Vinkingo, showing that he will appear at TNA Hard to Kill in January.
–A hype video aired for Will Ospreay vs. Josh Alexander II.
–Josh Alexander cut a promo on Will Ospreay, saying that 2024 is the fresh start he needs after a bad ending to 2023 after his return from injury. Alexander said that he was inspired by the same match Ospreay was – AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels in 2005. This promo was awesome, and about how Alexander wanted to sent Ospreay packing because he is an outsider, despite loving the same company he does.
Dirty Dango & Alpha Bravo vs. Tommy Dreamer & Channing Decker
This was soon after the death of Terry Funk, so it was nice to see Decker and Dreamer honour him here.
I cannot call this a hidden gem, though it was nice to see Channing Decker, a wrestler who has worked the Maritimes scene in Canada. Decker showed some good offence against Dango in the early part of the match, forcing Dango to flee and tag out to Alpha Bravo, who tagged in and wanted Dreamer. Dreamer did an arm wringer and immediately tagged out to Decker, hit a double forearm, and then left the ring. What a worker.
Dreamer tagged back in and hit a hip toss on Dango, before tagging out for Decker to and him to hit a double elbow. Decker then put a sharpshooter on Dango, but Bravo made the save and Dango hit a chop block on Decker. They got the heat on Decker for a bit, but were able to turn it around after a few minutes as Dango stood over his downed partner and Dreamer slingshotted Bravo into the lower regions of Dango as he was standing over him. Decker put the spinning toe hold on Dango while Dreamer hit a DDT on Bravo for the win.
–An awesome hype video aired for Kazuchika Okada coming back to TNA at the Snake Eyes TV taping, and it rightly talked about how Okada is one of the greatest wrestlers to ever do it, being the ace of New Japan, and the leader of a generation of wrestlers. I cannot emphasize how awesome this was, even addressing TNA’s failure to use him well the first time.
Impact Knockout’s World Champion Deonna Purrazzo defeated Taylor Wilde (w/ KiLynn King) to retain
This match was this past summer, and Hannifan and Santino Marella were on commentary. This was a pretty basic match, with Wilde and Purrazzo keeping it simple. Purrazzo outwrestled Wilde in the early portions, but King got involved and allowed Wilde to hit a German suplex after Purrazzo tried to take out King with a heatseaker piledriver. Wilde hit a headscissors into a crossface, and put pressure on Purrazzo, but Purrazo reversed it into a Fuiwara armbar.
Wilde rolled Purrazzo up to escape, and it seemed they lost each other for a split second here, but got back on the same page and Purrazzo hit a Russian legsweep and the armbar again, but Wilde made the ropes. Wilde hit a kick to the head after another distraction from King for a two count. Wilde went for another move, but Purrazzo countered into the Queen’s Gambit for the win.
–Another great hype video aired for Alex Shelley vs. Moose at TNA Hard to Kill.
Josh Alexander defeated Yuya Uemura
This was an awesome match, and a good one to end the episode. The rest of the episode is hit or miss, but this was worth watching.
Rehwoldt noted that he did not get a great send off like this like Uemura did, facing Alexander before he headed back to NJPW. Hannifan noted that no one liked Rehwoldt, and he reluctantly agreed. I laughed. Alexander and Uemura showed a great basic exchange here at the start of the match, but Uemura was not going out quietly, attacking the left arm of Alexander, who had surgery on that arm earlier in the year.
Alexander hit a hip toss and a hard chop, but Uemura fired up with some armdrags of his own, a slam, and an elbow drop for a two count. Uemura controlled the pace for a fair bit here, but Alexander was able to hit a crossbody to Uemura who was seated on the apron. Uemura immediately fired back with a clothesline that sent Alexander to the floor on the other side of the ring. Uemura then hit a tope to the floor.
Uemura went to the top rope for a crossbody, but Alexander dodged. Uemura then hit a flying armbar on Alexander that was reminiscent of Shinsuke Nakamura. Alexander then countered into an ankle lock leaving Uemura screaming in pain. Uemura rolled forward breaking the hold, but ate some hard chops from Alexander. Uemura countered Alexander into another armbar, forcing Alexander to the ropes.
Alexander managed to hit a few German suplexes, but Uemura hit one of his own, dropping Alexander. Uemura hit a dropkick to Alexander, who was in the corner, knocking his headgear off. Uemura trapped the arms and hit an overhead suplex for a 2-count. Uemura went for the crossbody again, but Alexander cut him off. Uemura knocked him off the ropes and then went for the crossbody, but Alexander nailed an elbow as he was coming down, and got a two count. Alexander went for the C4 Spike, but Uemura fought out and hit a weak forearm.
Alexander replied with a knee, but Uemura rolled him up for a two count. Alexander then hit a rip chord elbow and the C4 Spike for the win.
The first Impact/TNA match since 2011 for NJPW superstar and impending free agent Kazuchika Okada is now official as is the next TNA opponent for IWGP U.S. Champion Will Ospreay.
Announced during Saturday’s Final Resolution streaming special, Okada will team with the Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) to take on Moose, Brian Myers & Eddie Edwards as part of the post-Hard to Kill TV taping.
After the show, it was announced that Ospreay will have a rematch with former Impact World Champion Josh Alexander on the taping which is set for the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas on Sunday, January 14th.
Perhaps not coincidentally, Okada’s final TNA match was against Shelley in June 2011 on an episode of TNA Explosion. A few things have changed since then including Okada’s legendary run in NJPW while Shelley is the current Impact World Champion.
Ospreay and Alexander first hooked it up at the post-Bound for Glory TV taping in October that saw Ospreay leave with his hand raised. Since then, Ospreay has signed a contract with AEW that will begin in February 2024. Meanwhile, Okada’s NJPW contract is also up this February.
