The latest WWE and AEW News and Results
John LaRocca and I, Garrett Gonzales, are back with a special make-good Monday show to recap WWE Night of Champions and give our report card grades for the show. I was out of town, so we didn’t do our normal Friday show.
Here are some of the other things we talked about:
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The AEW Tag Team titles will be on the line as part of next month’s AEW All In: Texas as The Hurt Syndicate will defend against JetSpeed (“Speedball” Mike Bailey & Kevin Knight).
The match was made during Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite after Bailey and Knight defeated Ricochet & AR Fox, issuing a challenge to Shelton Benjamin & Bobby Lashley afterward. Joined by MJF and MVP, the champions then attacked and decimated the would-be challengers from behind, punctuating the violence by putting Knight on a table and chokeslamming Bailey on him, breaking the table in half.
Afterward, MVP said they would accept if Bailey and Knight could walk again.
Knight and Bailey have had the champions in their sights for several weeks. Teaming with Mascara Dorada at Summer Blockbuster, they fell to Lashley, Benjamin and MJF and go into the match on a two-bout win streak.
Lashley and Benjamin have been dominant since joining the AEW roster. First winning the titles in late-January, they have successfully defended them five times with the last coming at May’s Double or Nothing over the Sons of Texas.
An All-Star eight-man tag featuring some of AEW’s top stars is set for the next episode of Dynamite.
Kenny Omega will team with Speedball Mike Bailey, Mark Briscoe, and Kevin Knight to take on The Young Bucks, Kazuchika Okada, and Ricochet. The match was made official on this week’s episode of Collision. In his tweet making the announcement, Tony Khan noted this would be the first time Omega and Okada have met in the ring since 2018.
After Swerve Strickland defeated Blake Christian in the opening match of this week’s Collision, The Young Bucks jumped him, laying out Swerve with the EVP trigger. They went for the Meltzer Driver but were interrupted by Omega, who made the save by laying out Nicholas with a snap dragon suplex. He attempted the v-trigger, but Matthew pulled Nicholas from the ring before Omega could lay him out.
It was also announced that both The Hurt Syndicate and MJF will be appearing on next week’s program. MJF in recent weeks has attempted to align himself with the group, but Bobby Lashley is the lone holdout that doesn’t trust whatever MJF has up his sleeve.
The AEW Dynamite lineup for April 30:
Kevin Knight revealed in an interview with Sports Illustrated that he’s signed to both All Elite Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling.
AEW announced that Knight was “All Elite” following his match against Jay White on the March 29 episode of AEW Collision. Shortly after, NJPW confirmed Knight’s participation in this May’s Best of the Super Juniors 32 tournament, marking his third straight appearance.
“Well I can actually say this right here, right now: I’m representing both AEW and New Japan. I’m still contracted with both companies, so there’s no threat—‘The Jet’ is still here to stay,” Knight said.
Knight spoke about the process of signing with both promotions:
“So it was just a matter of exploring all options and seeing where the best place may be for me. All respect to New Japan, all respect to all the places I’ve been before. You know I love going over to Japan, I love traveling the world, so it was just a matter of what works for my schedule and where do I feel most comfortable. And ultimately that led to me signing with both New Japan and AEW. It was definitely a different process because I’ve never gone through something like that.”
During a different interview with Adrian Hernandez, Knight also discussed WWE inviting him to a tryout at the Performance Center. When asked if he felt disrespected by the request, he responded:
“I wouldn’t say disrespectful in a way. I understand how the business works. WWE is a machine, and sometimes it may be a bubble, you know what I mean? So they may not know exactly what’s out there. I didn’t take it as disrespect. If anything, I took it as a challenge just to show what I’m about. And if they didn’t know me before, well they definitely do now—or they did when I walked through those doors. I’m going to make a statement anywhere I go. And that was a great experience as well. I’m glad I got to do that. I got to meet a lot of people in that company, and it was great just being able to work with people so closely that you see on TV every week, that you see on their PLEs and everything. For me personally, it was a great learning experience. I didn’t take any slight to it—I understand how the business works. It was, if anything, a networking opportunity. Again, exhausting all of my options. So I feel like I only grew from that.”
In February, Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that people within the industry believed he was headed to WWE.
“Lots of talk regarding Kevin Knight here [WWE],” Meltzer wrote. “We haven’t heard he signed but only it’s something being talked about within the industry.”
After reports surfaced in December that Knight’s NJPW contract was expiring, WWE’s Natalya praised him publicly on social media, writing that Knight regularly flies out to train at her Dungeon 2.0 facility in Florida.
“Kevin is so talented. He flies in to train. Has so much passion. And he’s really ****ing good. Brings so much to the table. (Plus a nice person!),” she wrote.
Following his loss to Jay White on March 29, Knight teamed with Will Ospreay in a win over Blake Christian and Lee Johnson on the April 2 Dynamite. He was later defeated by Ospreay in the opening round of the Owen Hart Cup at AEW Dynasty.
Knight’s full interview with Sports Illustrated is available here.
Kevin Knight is officially All Elite. He's also still with NJPW. The Jet sat down with our @TruHeelSP3 to chat about the latest huge steps in his pro wrestling career. https://t.co/lWU9AJdpbb
— SI Wrestling (@SI_wrestling) April 9, 2025
Both the men’s and women’s Owen Hart Foundation tournaments will kick off at this Sunday’s AEW Dynasty pay-per-view.
With the reveal of both brackets Wednesday also came the news that both Will Ospreay vs. Kevin Knight and TBS Champion Mercedes Mone vs. Julia Hart will be part of the card in Philadelphia.
Ospreay and Knight teamed up Wednesday with a win over Blake Christian and Lee Johnson. Knight officially joined the AEW roster last week after signing a contract and fell in defeat to Jay White. It will be the first-ever clash between the two high flyers.
The Mone vs. Hart match will also be a first time ever affair. Since returning from shoulder surgery in January, Hart is 4-2 coming off mini-feuds with Queen Aminata and Jamie Hayter. Mone is unbeaten since making her AEW debut in March 2024 and is looking to add the AEW Women’s World title to her litany of belts.
The AEW Tag Team titles will be on the line as the Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin) will defend against Bryan Keith & Big Bill, the story of which came together over the last week. After Keith and Bill picked up a win over two indie wrestlers Wednesday, Lashley and MVP gave the thumbs up to the challenge issued last week. Since winning the titles in late-January, Lashley and Benjamin have defended the titles twice.
Additionally, the Opps (Samoa Joe, Hook and Katsuyori Shibata) announced they will be in Philadelphia and are looking for a fight.
Here’s the current lineup for the pay-per-view:
A former NJPW young lion has signed with AEW.
Following his match against Jay White on Saturday’s Collision, Tony Khan announced that Kevin Knight has signed with AEW.
“Congratulations, it’s official!,” Khan wrote. After a fantastic performance at Saturday Night #AEWCollision tonight, @Jet2Flyy Kevin Knight is All Elite!”
Knight was unsuccessful in his match against Jay White on Saturday, but did get praise from the IWGP Champion. After the match, White shook hands with Knight and guessed that we would be seeing a lot more from Knight in AEW.
Beginning his pro wrestling career in 2019, Knight joined NJPW the following year as a young lion, working his way up the card until 2022 when he started to team with KUSHIDA. Together, the two held the IWGP Jr. Tag Team titles on two occasions, with the duo most recently dropping the titles to Robbie Eagles and Kosei Fujita in a four-way ladder match at Wrestle Kingdom 19. That was Knight’s most recent appearance with the company, wrestling for the likes of Maple Leaf Pro and GCW in the months since.
A former NJPW champion could be on their way to WWE.
In the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reports that there’s been “lots of talk” about WWE potentially signing Kevin Knight. He’s a two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion for NJPW, most recently holding the belts from October 2024 to January 2025. Knight & KUSHIDA dropped the titles to Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita in a multi-team ladder match at Wrestle Kingdom 19.
“Lots of talk regarding Kevin Knight here [WWE],” Meltzer wrote. “We haven’t heard he signed but only it’s something being talked about within the industry.”
Fightful Select reported earlier this week that Knight has had talks with American companies and also has been discussing a a potential new deal with NJPW. He became a free agent after his NJPW deal expired in January.
Knight is from Atlanta and worked a dark match at an AEW event in Georgia earlier this month. He also worked an ROH taping in 2024, along with making regular appearances for MLW since debuting for the promotion last September.
Several NJPW stars will be part of tonight’s Ring of Honor on HonorClub — a show that will also feature a men’s TV title defense.
In a non-title match, NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi will battle Ariya Daivari in Takagi’s first match for the promotion since June 2023.
NJPW men’s Strong Openweight Champion Gabe Kidd will battle Angelico in non-title action. It’s Kidd’s second ROH match and first since October’s title defense over Anthony Henry.
Tomohiro Ishii will face Mike Bennett as he looks to keep momentum going ahead of his challenge of ROH World Champion Chris Jericho Wednesday.
Kevin Knight will make his ROH debut as he faces Serpentico.
ROH men’s TV Champion Brian Cage defends against AR Fox while ROH Women’s World Champion Athena will also be in action, taking on Leila Grey in a Proving Ground match.
Shane Taylor & ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty will face JD Drake & Beef while The Righteous will make an appearance.
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All right, friends! You know the drill: Thursday, Ring of Honor, Honorclub. Now let’s get to the fights!
NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion Gabe Kidd defeated Angelico
KIdd brings to ROH the NJPW STRONG Openweight title, which you know is important because it has a lot of CAPITAL LETTERS. He retained that title against Anthony Henry on episode #85 of ROH on Honorclub back in October. Angelico would love to add that title to his collection, but sadly, this was a non-title match. No worries though, he’s cool.
Kidd started things off just like his title; strong. He rained down chops, shoves, kicks and stomps on Angelico. It wasn’t until Angelico managed to duck a lariat and deliver his own clotheslines that he got some offence in. Once he got moving though, Kidd seemed confused b the fluid style of Angelico. A punch to the face fixed that and brought the match back under Kidd’s control.
Kid launched himself at Angelico and managed to fold him up like an accordion. 1-2-3 and it was over, Kidd wins, and delivered a parting kick to the head for good measure.
Shane Taylor Promotions (Lee Moriarty & Shane Taylor) defeated BEEF & JD Drake
STP beat up a lot of people a couple of weeks ago. After adding The Infantry and Trish Adora to their ranks, they brawled with some nameless NPC’s in the back, and made their intentions to take the ROH tag belts away from Dustin Rhodes and Sammy Guevara vary, very clear. BEEF and Drake (which sounds like an excellent dinner special at a mid-sized pub) have been reluctantly teaming together since BEEF’s 2nd cousin and Drake’s normal tag partner Anthony Henry got hurt.
Moriarty and Taylor are an excellent team. They both have a particular set of skills that perfectly compliment each other. Drake started off against Taylor, but tagged BEEF in fairly quickly. The crowd was chanting for BEEF, but Taylor’s experience level was too much for him and Taylor sat him down hard.
This match was interesting in that it featured a lot more yelling at each other than a normal match would. Taylor’s trash talk is legendary, but BEEF was able to get a few shots in verbally too. Moriarty tagged in and matched up with Drake, who brought the chops until Taylor made a blind tag and clotheslined Drake into next week.
Taylor and Drake stood each other up and spent about 60 seconds just hitting one another. Not wrestling, just a brawl, and it was awesome. Drake got a hot tag to BEEF who fed some right hands to Moriarty. BEEF hit a big bulldog (or BEEFdog, as they kept calling it) and drake tagged in to slam Moriarty. Drake missed a big splash from the top and Taylor tagged in got a big splash on Drake to get the pin.
After the match, Top Flight jumped in and all of STP laid a beating on Drake and BEEF. Suddenly, they were interrupted by the Undisputed Kingdom of all people! Bennett and Taven ran off STP and jawed at them as the helped BEEF and Drake to their feet.
-The Righteous cut a promo from an undisclosed location. Dutch read a poem to Dustin Rhodes, his “long-lost brother.” He talked about how Rhodes’ father Dusty had loved him like a son. Soon, the Righteous will take those tag titles, and then everyone will know who Dusty really thought of as his son.
Kevin Knight defeated Serpentico
Kevin Knight (who I discovered quickly is NOT my cousin of the same name) has been hanging out in NJPW for the last couple of years with a guy named KUSHIDA. This would be his ROH debut, and who better to go up against than the Laid-Back Luchadore, Serpentico? Last week he and his SAP partner Angelico picked up a win (and Angelico a singles loss this week) and a singles victory would be icing on the very delicious cake.
Knight had a bit of a size adventage on Serpentico, buy you can never count Serpentico out (unless he leaves the ring for 20 seconds. But that didn’t happen). Anyway, it was a fast one off the top with Knight showing why his nickname is “the Jet” and Serpentico keeping up in a neon green blur.
Serpentico laid in a bunch of SuperPunches on Knight in the corner, but couldn’t put him away. Knight fought back and took Serpentico’s head off with a lariat. Knight hit a sky high slam followed by a running frog splash that was really impressive. Knight hit one hell of a kick (clearly inspired by Sami Zayn) and follow it up with a big clothesline to put Serpentico down for the count.
Tomohiro Ishii defeated Mike Bennett
You have to go all the way back to May of this year to find Bennett’s last singles match, which was a loss to Matt Menard. Since then, he’s been a big part of the Undisputed Kingdom stable, winning (and losing) the ROH Tag Titles and warring with The Conglomeration. Said Conglomeration features the membership of Tomohiro Ishii, so these two know each other well. Ishii has a date with Chris Jericho for the ROH title in the wings on Dynamite, so this was a heck of a warmup.
Ishii refused a code of honor from Bennett and the two locked up. Ishii had the power, but Bennett was able to match it as they two traded chops for what seemed like 45 minutes. It was actually about 5 though, as Ishii nailed Bennett with a shoulder and sent him into the corner. Bennett fought back with a lariat and knocked Ishii off his feet.
Bennett hit Ishii with a spear, but it seemed to hurt him more than Ishii. A big spinebuster followed that, but Ishii kicked out at two. Bennett tried to go up top but Ishii caught him and put him in a stalling suplex from the top rope. Ishii went for a brain buster and that was it for Bennett. Ishii nailed it and got the pin.
ROH CLASSIC MATCH: Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kensuke Sasaki (Final Battle 2008, December 27, 2008)
The attempted to give a reason for showing this match that made sense in-story, but it did not work. I’m pretty sure they showed this classic ROH match because it’s someone in production’s favourite match. That’s not a bad thing, mind you because it was a very, very good match! It deserves to be the favourite of the guy in production! Anyway, back in the here and now:
Shingo Takagi defeated Ariya Daivari
Takagi spent a lot of time in ROH between 2005-2008, but has only made a handful of appearances since then, choosing NJPW as his home where he’s done, well, just about everything. His last ROH match was in 2023 as part of a 6-man affair against pre-crisis Cage of Agony, The Mogul Embassy (Bishop Kaun, Brian Cage & Toa Liona). Daivari has been having mixed singles results lately, having lost to Tomohio Ishii, Komander and Sammy Guevara. With Mark Sterling in tow, Daivari and the Premier Athletes as a whole, needed a win here.
Daivari’d have his work cut out for him though with the much larger Takagi standing across the ring. Trying to outpower him did not work as Takagi returned everything Daivari threw at him with gusto. Even a cheap shot from behind that sent Takagi out of the ring didn’t really seem to do much to hurt him.
Daivari relied on his technical skills to work the arm of Takagi, taking away his big lariat. Takagi fought back though, drawing his second wind from the turnbuckle. He peppered Daivari with massive elbows, both front and back. Takagi went for a pumphandle slam but Sterling caused a distraction, letting Daivari hit a hammerlock DDT.
Daivari tried a clutch, but Takagi fought out of it and delivered a DDT of his own. Daivari ascaped up the ropes and tried a frog splash, but Takagi wasn’t done. On pure instinct he hit a massive lariat and then Last of The Dragon, a truly terrifying finisher, to get the pin.
PROVING GROUND MATCH: ROH Women’s World Champion Athena defeated Leila Grey
For those just joining us, this was a Proving Ground match. If Grey could pin the champion or last to a 10-minute time limit, she would get a shot at the ROH Women’s World Championship at a later date. Athena retained her title in October against Abadon, but there are plenty of women waiting in the wings to try and dethrone the Forever Champion, including disgruntled Minion in Training, Billie Starkz.
Athena took things with her usual seriousness, playing with Grey’s hair and running around the ring like an airplane. Grey jumped on this underestimation though, and got a couple of near falls off of some hard-hitting offense, and then sending Athena to the outside.
Athena turned the tables there, sending Grey’s face into the steel steps. Athena returned to the ring and Grey followed, right into the hands of the Champion with over three minutes gone in the match. All Grey had to do was last seven more minutes and she would get her title shot.
Grey started to pick up steam, hitting a bulldog that Athena kicked out of at two-and-three-quarters. Athena then started to bring out the big guns. Handspring slams in the corner, big power slams and lariats. She went to the top rope for the O Face, but Grey beat her to it and hit a sunset bomb from the top rope!
Time was running out though and Athena resorted to raking eyes and drawing Grey into a triangle choke. Grey lasted a few seconds, but was forced to tap before time ran out, dashing her hopes of a title match.
ROH WORLD TELEVISION TITLE MATCH: Brian Cage ( c) defeated AR Fox
In the Main Event: AR Fox has actually been on something of a roll in ROH the last couple months. He’s posted wins over Jack Cartwheel and Josh Woods and was part of a few tag victories as well. This is enough to earn him a shot a Brian Cage’s ROH World TV Title. This will mark Cage’s second defense of the belt, as he retained vs Komander a few weeks ago and has been hanging out with the Don Callis Family ever since. He even brought a Lance Archer with him!
Cage, in a very subdued outfit compared to his usual gear, was the same height as Fox, but about twice as wide. In a normal situation, this would be a case of Speed vs Strength, but as anyone who’s seen him wrestle knows, Cage has just as much speed as he does strength.
Fox tried everything he could including a Shooting Star Press and then a full moonsault onto Cage on the outside. Cage was resilient though, getting to his feet every time. Fox let Cage get to close, and got his eyes raked for his trouble. Cage moved into a series of power moves and suplexes to knock Fox silly.
Cage did some bicep curls with Fox, ending his set with a slam. From there, Cage tried a simple chin lock to wear down the challenger. Fox battled back though, hanging Cage up in the ropes. Fox pulled an Elix Skipper and matrix-dodged a big lariat. Cage looked a little sluggish at this point as Fox hit a DDT.
Cage managed to catch fox and hit a blue thunder pumphandle bomb. He tried to lock in a reverse cloverleaf, but Fox was able to get to the ropes. Fox responded with a Code red, but only got the two count. Fox then hit Cage with a spiccoli driver followed by a big 450 splash. Somehow, Cage kicked out though.
Fox set Cage up on the top rope, but Cage swatted him down and hit a satellite DDT, followed by a series of powerbombs, but still, Fox kicked out. Cage hit a discus lariat and a brainbuster and that finally put Fox on his back and out of his misery. Excellent match though! Excellent show!
The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles will be on the line at Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling’s debut weekend.
Earlier this week, KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight became the new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions by dethroning Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney at NJPW King of Pro Wrestling. It’s now been announced that KUSHIDA & Knight’s first title defense will take place outside of NJPW. They’re putting the belts on the line in a four-way match at night one of Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling Forged in Excellence this Saturday.
The title match is KUSHIDA & Knight vs. Sheldon Jean & Rohit Raju vs. El Reverso & Aiden Prince vs. Brent Banks & Johnny Swinger.
Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling is a new project from former TNA Wrestling President Scott D’Amore. The promotion’s debut events are being held at St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, Canada this weekend. Both shows are airing live as pay-per-views on Triller TV with Mauro Ranallo & Don Callis as the commentary team.
Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling Forged in Excellence —
Night one (Saturday, October 19):
Night two (Sunday, October 20):
NJPW wrestler Kevin Knight is set to debut for MLW later this month.
At MLW Fightland, Knight will make his debut in a singles match against Bobby Fish. It will be part of the TV taping portion of the event, which is being held at Center Stage in Knight’s hometown of Atlanta on Saturday, September 14.
Knight is a former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, holding the titles with KUSHIDA. Knight recently teamed with Rocky Romero & YOSHI-HASHI in a victory over Bullet Club War Dogs (David Finlay, Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney) at NJPW Capital Collision.
In MLW, Fish is part of a newly formed stable with The Andersons (Brock Anderson & CW Anderson) and Brett Ryan Gosselin. They laid out Paul London at MLW Summer of the Beasts.
The Andersons made their MLW tag team debut at Summer of the Beasts and are set for action at Fightland, but their opponents have not been announced.
Fightland’s main card will stream live on MLW’s YouTube channel. The show is being headlined by Satoshi Kojima defending his MLW World Heavyweight Championship against Mads Krugger.
One day before Sacrifice, a new episode of TNA Impact airs tonight.
X-Division Champion Mustafa Ali will be in non-title action against Kevin Knight. The two will also be on opposite sides of a six-man tag match at Sacrifice. Ali is teaming with The Good Hands against Chris Sabin, KUSHIDA & Knight at the TNA+ special.
The Good Hands recently helped Ali win the X-Division title from Sabin.
Moose is set to defend his TNA World Championship against Eric Young at Sacrifice. Tonight, we’ll hear from Young in advance of his title challenge.
Ash By Elegance, the former Dana Brooke, will wrestle her second TNA match tonight. She was victorious against Savannah Thorne in her TNA debut.
Ash By Elegance has her sights set on the Knockouts Championship. Jordynne Grace is defending the title against Tasha Steelz and Xia Brookside in a three-way match at Sacrifice.
Josh Alexander vs. Dirty Dango, PCO vs. Alan Angels, and Masha Slamovich vs. Dani Luna are also part of tonight’s lineup. Alexander is facing Alex Hammerstone at Sacrifice.
Mustafa Ali defeated Kevin Knight
Knight hit a great dropkick when Ali went for a leapfrog, followed by a splash for a two count. Ali dodged a corner charge and rolled into the ring from the apron into a neckbreaker on Knight. That was awesome. Ali hit a DDT on Knight for a two count. Ali went to the middle rope and got cut off by Knight, who jumped into the air and hit a hurricanrana. Ali managed to hit a backstabber for a two count.
Ali trash talked Knight, hitting some punches, but ate a clothesline from Knight. Ali bailed to the floor and Knight hit a dive onto Ali and all his security, while Knight got a two count after a dive. The Good Hands and Sabin and KUSHIDA started brawling on the floor and they all got into the ring and spilled out the other side. That should have been a DQ or No Contest, but the match continued.
The finish was chaotic as John Skylar tried to throw the X-Division title to Ali, but Sabin tried to stop him. Ali kicked Sabin and the belt ended up in the ring, and Ali took the belt and hit Knight to get the win.
–The fighting continued after the match with The Good Hands tying Knight up, and Ali hitting a 450 splash onto the arm of Kevin Knight. Alex Shelley came running out to make the save, holding a crutch for some reason, and he chased them away as KUSHIDA and Sabin checked on Knight.
–Xia Brookside, Tasha Steelz, and Jordynne Grace had a video air for their upcoming match, discussing how Steelz and Brookside were not sure Grace could beat the both of them.
–A doctor was checking on Kevin Knight, and the doctor refused to clear him. Alex Shelley offered to take his place, saying that he would be there for his friends, and Sabin wondered what he meant by that. Shelley said that Sabin wasn’t there to back him up at No Surrender, and he didn’t expect KUSHIDA to throw in the towel. Both KUSHIDA and Sabin were bothered by this, and Shelley said that he was going to go to Santino and get a Time Splitters reunion match against The Good Hands.
Ash by Elegance (w/ George Iceman) defeated Angel Blue
This was a basic match, ending with a senton bomb that Ash called “Rarified Air.” You know, not everything needs a ™ name for each wrestler. That said, Ash has looked perfectly fine in her first two matches in TNA.
–Steve Maclin was in his hotel room, clearly cutting this promo with his laptop. Maclin asked where Nic Nemeth was, and if Nemeth wasn’t going to show up, he wasn’t going to show up. Maclin was suddenly attacked and his stream froze, and it came back to see Maclin on the floor, and Nic Nemeth picked up the camara, looked into it, and then set it down next to Maclin’s unconscious body.
The Time Splitters (Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA) defeated The Good Hands (John Skyler & Jason Hotch)
I’m not sure if I want to see a Shelley heel turn now, but I know he is also an incredible heel. Good tag match though.
Shelley looked frustrated on his way down to the ring, but still did a fist bump with KUSHIDA and played to the crowd. KUSHIDA and Hotch started the match with some fun technical exchanges, with KUSHIDA showing how awesome he is. KUSHIDA and Shelley looked like they never stopped teaming before, with some incredibly smooth segments here against Hotch. The fans chanted “Break his arm!” as Shelley stomped on the elbow of Hotch.
Hotch misdirected KUSHIDA into Shelley and managed to tag out, and Hotch and Skylar got the heat on KUSHIDA for the next few minutes. Shelley made the hot tag after a handspring elbow from KUSHIDA, but was quickly cut off again by a shot from Hotch, who was on the apron. The Good Hands ended up having their own misdirection as Shelley sent them crashing into each other after a dropdown, and the The Time Splitters had a come back, but Skylar dodged a corner charge from KUSHIDA, and Shelley accidentally hit an enziguri on KUSHIDA in the corner for a near fall.
To make up for it, Shelley tripped up Skylar and KUSHIDA punted the arm on Skylar and locked on the Hoverboard Lock for the submission win.
–KUSHIDA and Shelley argued after the match about the accidental hitting of each other.
–Dirty Dango did a promo with Alpha Bravo (who he kept calling Johnny Bravo, breaking the kayfabe of the gimmick change, but it suits him). He also claimed he and Oleg Prudius would face the best tag teams in the world with one year or less experience. He then talked about how he was going to beat Josh Alexander.
–Mustafa Ali was backstage as the Good Hands were apologizing for losing to the Time Splitters. They said think of it as a fact finding mission to help identify the enemy’s strengths and weaknesses. Ali thanked them for this and then told them they were being replaced by the Grizzled Young Vets at Sacrifice. Hotch was disappointed, John Skylar was in awe of Ali.
Dani Luna (w/ Jody Threat) defeated Masha Slamovich (w/ Killer Kelly)
This was not long, but it was good. Slamovich and Luna worked very well together, hit hard, and kept up a very good pace. Really fun match.
Tom Hannifan noted that on Xplosion, Jody Threat beat Killer Kelly, and wondered if that would play into this match. Slamovich distracted the referee and Kelly choked Luna on the ropes, which allowed Slamovich to hit a PK to the back of Luna for a two count. Luna and Slamovich hit each other very hard over the next 2-3 minutes, and Luna won after a lariat and a fireman’s carry into a powerbomb for the win.
PCO defeated Alan Angels
PCO deaded him. With murder. I realize this is not proper grammar (using dead as a verb), but there is really no other way to describe this squash match, as PCO hits a chokeslam and a moonsault.
–PCO and Kon brawled after the match, with Kon snapping the neck of Angels and then PCO and Kon brawling backstage and swinging chairs at each other.
–A recap video aired of Crazzy Steve retaining the Digital Media Championship against Rhino on Xplosion. Steve claimed to be a teacher who specializes in misery. Steve said every time he is in the ring, the title would be defended, he was going to beat them all.
–Eric Young came out for a promo, wearing the least intimidating shirt I have ever seen, which appeared to be a skeletal hand holding a slice of pizza all over it. Young said that he would do everything in his life all over again if it meant him standing right there in a TNA ring, and he wanted the TNA title.
Moose came out and said that no matter how much passion Young has, the outcome would be the same – Moose retaining. Moose suggested he and Eric Young fight tonight in a street fight, and Young agreed, but Moose was simply baiting Young in, and Brian Myers and Eddie Edwards ran in and attacked Young, letting Moose spear Young. Moose was going to use a chain to spear Young like he did Shelley, but ABC r an down to make the save.
Josh Alexander defeated Dirty Dango (w/ Alpha Bravo & Oleg Prudius)
This was a very good main event. Dango had his best match in TNA, and Alexander continues to be awesome.
Alexander and Dango did grapple for a bit, but Alexander came out on top eventually and Dango rolled to the floor. Dango came back in and went after the arm of Alexander. It happened to be the arm that Alexander injured years ago. Dango shoved Alexander to the floor after a distraction from Alpha Bravo, causing Alexander to land awkwardly on his knee.
Dango hit a dragon screw on the floor, and slammed Alexander’s knee on the apron. Dango locked on a death lock on the knee of Alexander, but Alexander chopped his way out of it. Dango did not let that deter him though, as he slammed Alexander’s knee into the ring post repeatedly. Dango charged Alexander, and Alexander turned it into a rolling fireman’s carry. Alexander hit a flying knee off the middle rope for a 2-count.
Dango hit a slingshot leg drop on Alexander, who was propped in the corner, and followed with a falcon arrow. Alexander rolled away from the corner to avoid a guillotine leg drop from Dango, and as Dango went to drag him back, Alexander hit a few German suplexes, but was unable to keep the bridge due to knee. Alexander went to the top rope and Dango cut him off and went for a superplex. Alexander blocked it and Alley Ooped Dango over his head to the floor onto Alpha Bravo. Alexander then flipped off the top rope over the corner and onto everyone.
Alexander ate a tornado DDT in the ring, and Dango went for the guillotine leg drop, but Alexander slipped to the side to dodge it, caught the leg of Dango, and locked on the ankle lock for the submission win. Great match.
Final Thoughts
This was a better episode of Impact than recent weeks, though none of the matches were as good as Maclin and Mike Bailey from a few weeks ago. This PPV being so soon after the last one has not given them much time to build at all, so that has hurt some of it. That said, this was a decent episode, with a very fun main event.
TNA Sacrifice – March 8, 2024
Mustafa Ali vs. Kevin Knight is one of four matches announced for the Thursday, March 7 TNA Impact.
After Knight, KUSHIDA, and Chris Sabin interrupted Ali’s X-Division Championship inauguration ceremony on this week’s Impact, a trios match with Ali, Jason Hotch & John Skyler vs. Knight, KUSHIDA & Sabin was made official for Sacrifice on March 8. Prior to the trios bout, Ali will go one-on-one with Knight on next week’s Impact.
Ash by Elegance also announced on Thursday’s show that she will have her second TNA match on next week’s Impact against an unannounced opponent.
Josh Alexander will face Dirty Dango on next week’s Impact in a tune-up match ahead of Sacrifice. Alexander is set to face new signee Alex Hammerstone at Sacrifice
Also announced for next week’s Impact, Knockouts Tag Team title holder Masha Slamovich will take on Dani Luna.
The announced card for the Thursday, March 7 Impact, the go-home show for the Friday, March 8 Sacrifice event:
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
A pre-show match has been added to the card for TNA Wrestling’s No Surrender special.
KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight will team up against Eddie Edwards & Brian Myers on Countdown to No Surrender next Friday (February 23). The pre-show starts at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time and will air for free on TNA+ and YouTube.
Edwards and Myers are part of The System in TNA, a new faction that also includes Moose and Alisha Edwards.
Moose is defending his TNA World Championship against Alex Shelley at No Surrender. The match has a “No Surrender” stipulation, which means that it can only end when either Moose or Shelley’s cornermen throw in the towel. Edwards and Myers will be in Moose’s corner. KUSHIDA and Knight will be in Shelley’s corner.
Moose defeated KUSHIDA in the main event of this week’s Impact episode. The show ended with Shelley and Knight saving KUSHIDA from an attack by The System.
No Surrender is a TNA+ special. The show is taking place live from the Alario Center in Louisiana.
TNA No Surrender 2024 (Friday, February 23) —
A new match has been added to the lineup for Thursday’s edition of TNA Impact.
Chris Bey vs. Kevin Knight is now advertised for the show.
The match was taped on Sunday, January 14 at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas the night after Hard to Kill.
THURSDAY at 8/7c on @AXSTV! @DashingChrisBey vs @Jet2Flyy #TNAiMPACT pic.twitter.com/f7t33UYShM
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) January 22, 2024
This will be the second singles match between the two in TNA. Bey defeated Knight on June 23, 2023, in a match taped for the promotion’s Main Event Mondays. Ace Austin and Bey defeated KUSHIDA and Kevin Knight on an episode of Impact taped in January 2023 as well.
The January 25, 2024, edition of TNA Impact also includes Nic Nemeth’s in-ring debut, Jordynne Grace defending the Knockouts title against Trinity in a rematch from Hard to Kill, and Kazuchika Okada teaming with the Motor City Machine Guns against Moose, Brian Myers, and Eddie Edwards.
TNA Impact lineup for Thursday, January 25 on AXS TV:
