TNA Impact on Thursday night will feature the fallout from Sacrifice.
This week’s episode was taped on Saturday, March 28 at the Alario Center just outside of New Orleans.
Five matches are advertised for the show.
TNA Knockouts World Champion Arianna Grace will defend her title against Xia Brookside.
The rivalry between Jody Threat and Tessa Blanchard will continue with a Bunkhouse match.
TNA World Champion Mike Santana is scheduled to kick off this week’s show. Santana successfully defended his title at Sacrifice against Steve Maclin in a match that was stopped early when Maclin suffered an injury on a superkick just over two minutes in.
We will hear from Matt and Jeff Hardy on Impact this week. The TNA World Tag Team Champions were betrayed by The Righteous at Sacrifice.
Also scheduled for the show is AJ Francis vs. The Hometown Man in singles action.
Our live coverage kicks off at 9 PM Eastern.
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Taped! From New Orleans.
Tom Hannifan & Matthew Rehwoldt were on commentary.
Mike Santana Keeps it a Buck Real Quick
Mike Santana came out to address the TNA crowd, and said he faced one of the toughest people in TNA, Steve Maclin, and “dropped him.” He promised to walk out of Sacrifice as world champion, and did, so now he’s moving onto other things. And that’s Eddie Edwards at Rebellion.
Eddie Edwards and Cedric Alexander came out to retort, and Edwards reminded Santana that he pinned Santana last week. He added that when he wins the TNA World title at Rebellion, TNA will officially be run by The System. Santana suggested that Edwards doesn’t believe his own words, otherwise they’d be fighting right now. But Alexander shifted the focus to his challenge of the X Division Champion Leon Slater, who has been “ducking and dodging” him.
Cue Leon Slater, who tells Alexander he beat him nine months ago and won’t have any problem beating him again. Alexander responds that he doesn’t care about the fans anymore—he only cares about the System, who will have all the other gold after Rebellion.
This brings out Mustafa Ali and Order 4, because there’s not enough jabronies jaw-jacking in this opening. Ali is at least dressed to fight (as is Agent Zero), and he promised to beat Trey Miguel for the International Title at Rebellion.
That brought out Trey Miguel, who acknowledged that once someone says your name, you come out for the promo. Miguel called Ali a coward who hides behind his numbers, since he can’t do it himself. Miguel challenged Ali to be a real man, but whether he’s a real man or a coward, he’s not walking away with his International Title. “You mean not walking away like Jada Stone?”
Santana challenged the heels to a fight, which would be 3 on like 7, as Ali pointed out. But Moose came out to make it four on seven. Moose backdropped one of the Great Hands onto the other, and Santino Marella came out with “an idea on his brains.” And he he makes either a six man or eight man—let’s see which when we get back from break!
Mike Satana, Leon Slater, Trey Miguel & Moose (w/ Alisha Edwards) v. Mustafa Ali, Agent Zero, Eddie Edwards and Cedric Alexander (w/ the rest of Order 4)
So it is an eight man tag, and Moose started out with Ali. Ali quickly rethought that, and Alexander tagged in to get promptly squashed by a senton from Moose. Santana came in, and a cheap shot from Edwards gave him a brief advantage he failed to take advantage of. Santana caught him with a big dropkick, then tagged in Slater.
Slater and Santana hit some well-timed double teams on Edwards. Slater caught Edwards with a rana off the middle ropes but walked into an uranage from Alexander on the ring apron. Alexander caught Slater with a dropkick to the back of the neck.
Tags were made and Miguel and Ali had a great exchange. Miguel caught Ali with a sliding DDT to the floor, then came off the top rope with a meteora in the ring for a near fall. Ali boxed Miguel’s ears and tagged in Agent Zero, who planted Miguel to the mat with a choke slam.
Zero press-slammed Miguel to the mat, then tagged Ali back in. Ali choked Miguel against the ropes, then distracted the ref so Tasha Steelz could get in on the fun. The crowd chanted for Moose while Ali worked over Miguel some more. Edwards tagged in to floor Miguel with a chop. Edwards drew Moose into the ring so the heels could team up on Miguel behind the ref’s back… but they didn’t do that much to punish him.
Alexander got snagged in a small package for a near fall, and he responded by burying a knee into Miguel’s gut. Miguel avoided a shoulder block from Edwards in the corner, but Ali cut off Miguel from getting a tag. Ali drew the faces into the ring so the Great Hands could beat on Miguel on the floor.
Miguel turned Ali inside out with a clothesline, but Zero got the tag and dumped Miguel with a German suplex. More double-teaming from the System, and Alexander got a near fall after a Michinoku Driver. Miguel came back and hit Alexander with a Lionsault, and kicked Edwards away, backdropped an interfering Ali, and finally got the hot tag to Santana.
Santana went one-on-one with Edwards and took him out with a flying knee. Santana took out Alexander with a dive to the floor. Santana hit Edwards with a frog splash, but Ali broke up the pin. Miguel hit him with a flying DDT, and now it’s time for “hit a move, take a move” with everyone going for dives. That ended badly for Ali, who tried to dive onto Moose and wound up powerbombed on the ring apron.
This left Moose and Agent Zero one on one in the ring. They brawled, Zero hit Moose with a boot, and Moose came back with a top rope superplex on Zero. But that left him open for a 450 from Ali. Which left Ali open from a 450 from Slater. Ali gave Slater a Lumbar Check, then Miguel took care of Ali. Satnana clotheslined Agent Zero out of the ring, dumped the Great Hands when they tried to interfere, and then hit Alexander with the rolling stunner. But that left Santana open to a Boston Knee Part from Edwards, and for the second time in a week, Edwards has pinned the TNA champ.
Match Result: Edwards, Ali, Alexander & Agent Zero were victorious when Edwards pinned Santana (15:07).
Honestly that might have been the best 1/2 hour of Impact on AMC so far.
— Daria Rae complained about Santino making the last impromptu match, and lets Santino know he’s on thin ice with the board. Also, the winner of tonight’s main event for the Knockouts World Title has to face Lei Ying Lee at Rebellion.
— Backstage at Sacrifice, the babyfaces were happy to see Ricky Sosa, but of course Eric Young has a problem with the new guy.
The Hardys and The Righteous
Matt Hardy couldn’t decide if he was Broken Matt or Classic Matt in this promo. It’s clear the Righteous were not really interested in brotherhood with the Hardys. And Jeff even painted Vincent’s face for the match on Friday!
Vincent and Dutch came out to respond, and Vincent said they’re family. They didn’t betray the Hardys, but love requires sacrifice. Love is not gentle, Dutch said, and The Hardys aren’t victims, but “the offering.” This promo doesn’t make much sense.
The Hardys “offer” to beat up the Righteous. Vincent said The Hardys have something that the Righteous wants. It’s not the titles or the money, but it’s something else. Matt again invited the Righteous in the ring for a fight, but Vince declined for tonight. So Matt makes the match for next week. Dutch agrees, but only if it’s an “extreme” match. Jeff agrees to make it a tag team tables match for the TNA tag team titles.
— In the back, the bunny (not Allie, the person dressed as a bunny) kidnapped Victoria Crawford with its magical powers while she was walking backstage with Tessa Blanchard.
— In the back, Arianna Grace made fun of Santana for losing his match. She reminded Santana that “world champions are supposed to win” and invited Santana to take notes. “They don’t even work here.”
Tessa Blanchard v. Jody Threat in a Bunkhouse Match
Blanchard was dressed in jeans for the bunkhouse match, and brought out a bull rope. Threat was dressed in all black. Blanchard charged Threat as she made her entrance, but Threat fought back and used a trash can as a weapon. Threat tossed a near-knocked-out Blanchard into the ring to start the match.
Threat looked around the ring for chairs, cables, and other weapons. She tossed a trash can at Blanchard and caught her in the head with it. Threat tossed a kendo stick in the ring that almost hit the commentators. But spending two minutes running around the ring looking for weapons gave Blanchard enough time to recover. Blanchard caught Threat with a sliding dropkick and took control.
Blanchard beat up Threat for a bit, but missed a charge while holding a trash can. At ringside, there’s a giant heavy case that both Threat and Blanchard struggled to move. Threat finally got it in the ring, but Blanchard then caught her with a running forearm. Threat powerbombed Blanchard onto the edge of the ring apron, then tossed her back into the ring.
Threat set up Blanchard on a chair for a meteora, but Blanchard got out of the way and Threat smashed her knees against the chair. Blanchard wedged a chair between some turnbuckles. Blanchard wedged Threat’s head against the chair, then charged in with a dropkick. Threat fought back with the cowbell, then headbutted Blanchard to hang her prone over the top turnbuckle. Threat then used a cable as a noose to choke out Blanchard.
Threat hit Blanchard with the cowbell. Threat wedged Blanchard’s head into the heavy case, but missed a knee drop into the case. Blanchard then took off her belt and if JR were calling this, “whipped her like a government mule!” Blanchard then took the referee’s belt and tried to choke out Threat. Threat powered Blanchard onto her shoulders, while she was being choked out, and gave her an F5 (or Pop Shove It). But Blanchard held onto the belt and choked out Threat, sliding out of the ring for additional leverage.
Match Result: Blanchard won via referee’s decision (9:10).
— In the back, Ryan Nemeth wanted to know who attacked his big brother Nic Nemeth at Sacrifice, and questioned BDE. Frankie Kazarian came along to help give BDE trouble, and Elijah showed up to chase the heels off.
— In the back, Tessa Blanchard (with the toll of the bunkhouse match written all over her body) was led into a red room by the bunny (again not Allie, the person in the bunny costume).
AJ Francis v. Home Town Man
Francis went for a choke slam early, but the Home Town Man countered that with a smack to the back of the head. The Home Town Man tried to slam Francis, and that went about as well as you’d expect. Francis mocked the fans chanting for the Home Town Man, then hit him with a running knee and flipped over the top rope. Francis spat on the Drew Brees jersey that Homer wore to the ring. The Homer actually made the Hulk Hogan comeback and slammed Francis. The Home Town Man then ran right into a spear from Francis. Francis then chokeslammed him and got the pinfall.
Match Result: Francis pinned the Home Town Man (3:48)
After the match, Francis played a clip from Sacrifice of Nic Nemeth laid out in the locker room. And Francis ended the speculation — he was the one who did it. Francis doesn’t like that all Nic Nemeth does is steal opportunity from AJ Francis. AJ Francis is the show stealer in T! N! A!
Ryan Nemeth came out to defend his big brother, but wasn’t about to get in the ring with Francis. Francis said he would leave Ryan Nemeth just like his big brother—without a pulse—at Rebellion in Cleveland. (I thought this meant Francis was facing Ryan, but the commentators clarified that Francis is facing Nic.)
— Lei Ying Lee played Xia Brookside a message from her father to inspire her to win the TNA Knockouts Title tonight!
— Moose v. Agent Zero has been added to Rebellion.
— The One Man Gang was in the crowd for the main event.
Xia Brookside (w/ Lei Ying Lee) v. Arianna Grace (w/ Stacks) for the TNA Knockouts Championship
This is the first Knockouts main event on Impact in the AMC era.
Brookside got a near fall with an Oklahoma Roll, then worked on Grace’s arm with an arm ringer. Grace slipped out of the arm bar and swept Grace’s leg. Brookside came back with a series of arm drags and caught Grace with a dropkick, and Grace dropped to the floor to regroup with Stacks.
Stacks distracted Brookside on the floor, allowing Grace to get a cheap shot and take control. In the ring, Grace hit Brookside with a diving clothesline for a near fall. Grace gave Brookside a backbreaker, then choked her against the ropes while Stacks looked on. Grace hit a fisherman’s neckbreaker for a near fall. Brookside escaped a chinlock, then Grace and Brookside clotheslined each other.
Grace and Brookside exchange strikes, with Brookside gaining the edge with a series of clotheslines.
After a commercial break, Grace was in total control. She hit a meteora in the corner and a Russian Leg Sweep. Grace gave Brookside some kind of face buster. Grace got the cobra from Stacks, but that didn’t stop Brookside from nailing Grace with a tornado DDT. Stacks pulled Brookside out of the ring, drawing Lei Ying Lee into the conflict. Grace sent Lee into the steel steps. Brookside then hit Grace with a Thesz Press and pummeled her with fists. Brookside hit Stacks with a tornado DDT on the floor. All of this was happening right in front of Carlos Silva.
Back in the ring, Grace went for the Cobra, but Brookside cut her off and got the Cobra herself. They got into a tug of war over the Cobra. Brookside pushed Grace into Stacks and got a rollup, but Grace kicked out and put Brookside down with a boot.
Grace grabbed the title belt, but then decided not to use it. Brookside caught Grace with a lung blower for two. Grace sent Brookside into the turnbuckles and went to the top. Brookside caught Grace on the top rope to set her up for the Brooksie Bomb, and Stacks again interfered. Lei Ying Lee took Stacks out with a spear. While the ref was dealing with that, Grace grabbed the title belt and smashed Brookside in the face. Grace hit a face buster and got the pinfall. Ugh.
Match Result: Arianna Grace retained by pinfall (11:46).
After the match, Grace and Stacks surrounded Lee while she checked on Brookside. Mike Santana ran out to save Brookside and Lee, hitting Stacks with the discus lariat and sending him to the floor.
Eddie Edwards came out through the crowd to cut a promo on Santana. Edwards mocked Santana for letting his emotions take control of him, letting Grace and Stacks get into his head. Edwards has pinned Santana twice, and he is clearly not in control of his actions.
Santana invited Edwards to climb over the guardrail and into the ring, but Edwards declined. He’s already beaten Santana once tonight, and he’ll do it again at Rebellion. On that night, Santana will be known as the guy who couldn’t hold it together on the biggest night of his life. Santana is the standard of TNA, and the only thing that won’t be able to be held together is Edwards’ face at Rebellion.
— Father James Mitchell (aka The Sinister Minister) welcomed Tessa Blanchard (in full makeup and a new outfit, not at all looking like she’d been in a Bunkhouse Match) to the “Undead Realm” to end the show.
Next Week on Impact:
- The Hardys v. The Righteous in a Tables Match for the TNA Tag Titles
- Jada Stone v. Dani Luna
- Frankie Kazarian v. BDE
