Impact Wrestling – January 15, 2026 (Debut On AMC): Oh Sweet Goodness They Screwed This Up

Impact Wrestling
Date: January 15, 2026
Location: Curtis Culwell Center, Garland, Texas
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

This is a big one as we’re on AMC for the first time. That is the kind of show that you do not see very often and it should be one of the most important shows that TNA has ever had. The main event is Mike Santana trying to get the World Title back from Frankie Kazarian, but Nic Nemeth is lurking with his Call Your Shot trophy. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The opening video looks at most of TNA’s big stars and talks about how they’ve worked to get here.

Here is AJ Styles as a surprise to get things going. Styles says he’s going to keep this short and sweet because we have some wrestling to do. He wants the fans to keep the energy going because the fans here are TNA.

We get a shorter form (and minus voiceover) opening sequence.

Elijah/Hardys vs. Order 4

The brawl is on fast to start with Elijah using the Great Hands as stepping stones for a superplex to Ali. Order 4 bails out to the floor and we take an early break. We come back with Elijah in trouble and the Hardys being knocked off the apron. Elijah fights out of trouble though and it’s Jeff coming in to clean house. Tasha Steelz tries to interfere so Jeff hits a double Twist Of Fate for quite the cool visual. Matt comes in for a Twist Of Fate to Skyler and Jeff adds the Swanton for the pin at 8:19.

Rating: C+. They started the show fast with some of their top stars winning, which isn’t a bad idea. At the same time, having the Hardys are the starting point of a show in 2026, especially going over a team like Order 4, might not be the best idea. At some point the Hardys are going to have to be replaced and I don’t know that I see such an option anywhere for TNA.

Post match Agent Zero comes in to deck the winners but the Righteous run in to make the save. Then the Righteous jump the Hardys, even chaining Jeff to the corner so Vincent can Swanton Matt.

Frankie Kazarian is ready for the main event but here is AJ Styles to cut him off. Kazarian tells Styles to thank him for the house. Styles looks at the title, thanks him, and leaves.

Video on the X-Division.

We look at various people in the crowd. This is a bad move as it shows A LOT of empty seats.

We hear from some of the people in the front row, including Mara Sade and former WWE star Candice Michelle. Ryan Nemeth comes in and interrupts, only to crotch himself on the barricade and get chopped by an actor.

Here is Santino Marella, now looking happier than in recent weeks, for a chat. He’s happy about what is happening here, but he has been upset by what has happened with his daughter. There are a lot of responsibilities, so he is getting an assistant: Daria Rae, formerly known as Sonya Deville.

She praises Marella and hypes up the move to AMC…and then says that TNA does NOT need Marella with all of his jokes. Rae knows she can do the job better because her name is Daria Rae and she is the Suit. She has signed a new Knockout, so here is Elayna Black, formerly known as Cora Jade. Not that she actually does anything, but she is in fact here.

AJ Styles gives Mike Santana a pep talk and he’s grateful.

So to recap: we’re about 45 minutes into this show. We’ve had one match, and the big stories have been the Righteous turning on the Hardys, plus the debut of Sonya Deville, who turned on her boss in about fifteen seconds and announced the signing of Cora Jade. While that’s hardly anything, the bigger problem is TNA is treating its audience like they know EVERYTHING that has happened thus far.

On a show like this, you might want to take some time and explain some people and stories rather than just jumping right into it. AJ Styles is praising Mike Santana. Well who in the world is Mike Santana? Why should I care about him? Maybe let us know about that? Or should we just let the fans know that they’re on AMC again?

The Elegance Brand is in the ring, with the Personal Concierge introducing….Perez Hilton, as we flash back at least ten years. Hilton insults the crowd and the Concierge introduces Mr. Elegance (who looks a lot like Matt Riddle). He claims to be the far heavier (and different) man we saw teasing being in the role last week after a week on the Elegance Brand. Apparently this is OVW wrestler AJZ, who gets about as big of a reaction as you would expect.

Knockouts Tag Team Titles: Elegance Brand vs. IInspiration

The IInspiration is defending and jumps them to start fast but we take an early break. We come back with M’s moonsault hitting raised knees as Sol Ruca and Zaria (from NXT) are watching in the back. Lee comes in to clean house but the Concierge pulls the referee, meaning it’s time to argue on the floor. Mr. Elegance distracts the referee but gets knocked to the floor. That leaves the IInspiration to load up the Idolizer, which is broken up by Mr. Elegance’s chop block. A rollup pins Lee to give us new champions at 8:45.

Rating: D. Oh my sweet merciful goodness this show is somehow getting worse. This barely had time to go anywhere and the Elegance Brand only needed five people to beat the IInspiration. I guess they were going for the “give us a title change to make it feel important” but could they have it be in a match that was at least somewhat good?

Arianna Grace and Stacks aren’t worried about Santino Marella. Grace was also behind NXT invading. When did they do that? Who invaded? What did they do? NOT IMPORTANT!

Indi Hartwell is talking about her childhood dream…and the Elegance Brand interrupts her with their celebration.

Video on the Knockouts Title over the years.

Santino Marella is in the ring and brings out Knockouts Champion Lei Ying Lee and Xia Brookside for a chat. Apparently Dani Luna, who has been built up as the monster challenger for weeks, isn’t going to be at Genesis due to a visa issue, so it’s open challenge time. Cue Sol Ruca and Zaria to answer, with Ruca saying that Zaria should get the show. The contract is signed. So to know what just happened, you need to follow NXT and TNA. This show has no idea how to introduce a new crowd to the product.

Video on the history of the World Title.

Santino Marella comes up to Cedric Alexander in the back, saying that Leon Slater can’t be at Genesis either. Therefore, Alexander will still get his X-Division Title shot down the line, but for now, he’s in a three watch match with Moose and…that guy who appears when you say his name. Alexander says the name….and Joe Hendry calls him. Doesn’t APPEAR of course, but does call him.

Genesis rundown, again, making quite the series of assumptions that you know these people.

Here is the System for a chat. Eddie Edwards is ready to face JDC in JDC’s retirement match at Genesis. JDC isn’t done though, as he’ll be in the ring live next week to announce the newest member of the team. As for Genesis, Eddie better be ready to pull the trigger, or JDC will. So Moose and Brian Myers didn’t get to talk and we’re set for JDC’s retirement match. Who is JDC? Well that’s just not important enough to explain.

Video on Frankie Kazarian vs. Mike Santana, with Nic Nemeth teasing cashing in his title shot.

TNA President Carlos Silva brings in….oh my goodness Dixie Carter. She isn’t well received but puts over TNA. Bully Ray comes out to do commentary on the main event but stops for a staredown and hug with Carter.

TNA World Title: Mike Santana vs. Frankie Kazarian

Santana is challenging and thankfully we get a recap of the title match (Santana won the title at Bound For Glory but Kazarian cashed in the TNA version of Money In The Bank to win the title shortly thereafter). After a break (so that we can pass an hour and forty minutes with two matches having taken place), we’re ready to go and Kazarian stalls right after the bell. The first two or so minutes feature the standard opening stuff, with Kazarian going for the arm but getting knocked outside.

Commentary of course ignores ALL of this to hype up next week’s show, as the World Title and featured attraction of the show is just background noise. Kazarian throws him down on the floor and we take a break less than three minutes in, lest we actually see some wrestling on this show. We come back with Kazarian reversing a rollup into a Backstabber, which just seems to wake Santana up.

They strike it out until Santana hits the rolling Buck Fifty (rolling Stunner) for two. A super Spanish Fly drops Kazarian and the Code Red gets two more. Angel’s Wings and a slingshot cutter give Kazarian two of his own and it’s time to grab the title. Santana misses Spin The Block and the referee gets bumped, meaning the second Spin The Block connects for no count.

A belt shot sends Santana to the apron for Fade To Black and a near fall. Santana pops up for Spin The Block and a near fall (oh that did not look right, as it seems it was supposed to be the pin but was called two instead), followed by another Spin The Block to give him the title back at 15:51.

Rating: B-. Well that was….fine. They had the big emotional title change back at Bound For Glory so there was only so much they could do here. Santana has more than enough charisma to make this interesting, but at the same time Kazarian felt like a champion in over his head. There was pretty much no drama here outside of something terribly screwy and it made things feel more like a waiting game than a dramatic match. Also, wouldn’t it have made more sense for AJ Styles, who was around both guys earlier, to be on commentary rather than Ray, who had nothing to do with either of them?

Commentary points out that there is a rematch already set for Genesis. Not shown here? Nic Nemeth trying to cash in his title shot and getting in a fight with Santana. The result is Nemeth will be guest referee for the title rematch, which will be a Texas Deathmatch. But at least we got Dixie Carter on the show right?

Overall Rating: D-. And that’s being as generous as I can. This was a disaster, as it felt like a show where you needed to have watched the last few weeks (if not months) of TNA and NXT to get a lot of this stuff. That’s a really bad way to go when this is your big DEBUT rather than a finale.

That’s in addition to the total lack of wrestling for long stretches, as when you factor out commercials, you had maybe twenty minutes of wrestling bell to bell. Throw in stuff like battling authority figures, the pretty terrible Knockouts Tag Team Title match, various big names/champions not doing anything and the bringing back of Dixie (and freaking PEREZ HILTON around) and this was a rough, rough sit.

Now, there were some good points to this show. Santana has the title back, which he never should have lost, and bringing in some fresh names like Cora Jade and Sonya Deville is a wise move. Having a newcomer as Mr. Elegance is fine, though he needed a much better debut. Also, Agent Zero looked good as a monster after the opener. There are some good pieces on this show, but my goodness they botched this hard. Absolutely terrible show for the most part, with even Santana not being able to save things.

Results
Elijah/Hardys b. Order 4 – Swanton to Skyler
Elegance Brand b. IInspiration – Rollup to Lee
Mike Santana b. Frankie Kazarian – Spin The Block

 

 

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