Impact Wrestling
Date: July 9, 2026
Location: Broadview Center, Albany, New York
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

We’re in a new place around here with Nic Nemeth as the World Champion and KC Navarro seemingly coming after him as the first challenger. In addition, the Hardys are defending the Tag Team Titles this week, because the Hardys have to be champions around here every so often. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Tag Team Titles: Hardys vs. Great Hands

The Hands are challenging and are already in the ring. Hotch mocks the Hardys dance to start as he grabs a headlock on Jeff. With that broken up, Jeff drives him into the corner for the tag off to Matt and a neckbreaker puts Hotch down. Hotch fights back on Matt and knocks him into the corner and hits something like a jawbreaker to the knee. Matt kicks both of them away and brings Jeff in to clean house but the Whisper In The Wind misses. The Hands plant Jeff with Matt making the save, only for the Twist Of Fate into the Swanton to retain the titles at 5:33.

Rating: C+. Hey look: the Hardys get to run through another team, as they have done time after time. It’s just been done at this point and that has been the case for a long time. It isn’t that the Hardys are lacking talent or historic greatness, but it feels like they’ve had the titles for most of the last few years. Find someone new already.

Post match the rest of Order 4 comes out to glare at the Hands and Mustafa Ali makes a phone call.

Lei Ying Lee is ready to get the Knockouts Title back tonight and she’s giving it her all because that title belongs to a real warrior.

Here is Frankie Kazarian for the King’s Speech. After calling Albany boring, he brings out Moose as his guest. Moose talks about getting to share a moment with his wife and son at Slammiversary, but Kazarian suggests that it was quite the traumatizing moment. That doesn’t sit well with Moose, who says his family are doing great. He’s ready to dominate again and says anyone who wants some can come get some.

Kazarian approves of Moose’s abilities but asks if Moose is stupid. How can Moose call himself the face of the franchise when he’s in the ring with a king? Moose goes on a rant about how he’s been here for years and he isn’t leaving to chase a check. Kazarian calls himself an X-Division pioneer with a resume that even Moose can’t match.

Moose says they’re both pillars around here and it’s time for them to fight for the first time. Actually Kazarian isn’t interested and mocks Moose’s NFL career before bringing in First Class. AJ Francis says Tom Brady (who both he and Moose played with in the NFL) told Francis that Moose left the NFL out of fear of Francis coming for him. That doesn’t sit well with Moose, who wants a match with Francis next week. That one seems to be on.

Elijah, with a smoking guitar, wants the World Title and offers to take the fans to the promised land.

Knockouts TV Title Tournament First Round: Indi Hartwell vs. Vicki Venuto

This is Venuto’s debut and she’s here to win rather than make friends. Hartwell grabs an Oklahoma roll for two and hits a running corner clothesline and bulldog right back out. Venuto’s snap suplex puts Hartwell down and a kick to the head gets two more. The cravate has Hartwell getting back up and her spinebuster gets two. The Hurts Donut is blocked though and Venuto gets two off a cutter. Back up and the Hurts Donut finishes Venuto at 5:16.

Rating: C. Hartwell is likely a favorite in the tournament but I’m still not sure I get the appeal. She seems to be such a lighthearted star and that’s not a bad thing, but it doesn’t exactly scream champion. Having a finisher named after such a lame pun doesn’t help her either. You also have Venuto, who did about as fine as someone could do in a five minute match.

We look at Fabian Aichner training and talking about wanting to be here to become a star. Italy is always his home and he grew up as a skier but then got hooked on wrestling. He’s ready to put in the work to become the top star around here. This run has already been better than all of his singles stuff in WWE and he has barely done anything.

Righteous vs. The System vs. Ricky Sosa/Leon Slater

Myers and Slater start things off with the latter scoring off a bouncing kick tot he head. Dutch comes in and gets double superkicked out to the floor. Slater and Sosa hit some big dives and we take a break. We come back with Bronson and Dutch going head to head but Bronson has to chokebomb Slater for two.

Myers’ Roster Cut is blocked with a superkick and it’s back to Sosa to make the fired up comeback. Slater comes in as well for a bunch of kicks but Dutch and Bronson clear the ring and slug it out. Dutch is sent outside for a flip dive off the apron but Slater is right there with the big running flip dive. Back in and Sosa gives Bronson a running uppercut for the pin at 10:26.

Rating: B-. Slater and Sosa are doing well enough to start so why not see what they can do together? Sosa is someone who is at least new and attaching him to someone as popular as Slater isn’t a bad idea. If nothing else, it’s not like Slater has anything to do until he might get a chance at the World Title so this is an interesting use of their combined talents.

Santino Marella likes Sosa’s dance but Daria Rae mocks him. Ryan Nemeth comes in to ask about KC Navarro mocking Nic Nemeth and gets permission to get physical for the sake of defending his family.

Knockouts TV Title Tournament First Round: Jody Threat vs. Gabby Forza

Forza is a debuting powerhouse wearing a hat and LOD shoulder pads while describing herself as “the world’s strongest gnome”. Well that’s a lot going on at once. These two are old friends and Forza shrugs off a running shoulder to start. Threat tries a choke and gets driven into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs.

The “Oklagnoma” Stampede and a Vader Bomb give Forza two so they trade clotheslines until Threat can’t get Pop Shove It. A running dropkick to the back puts Forza on the floor and there’s the running flip dive off the apron. Back in and Forza drops her with a clothesline and again with a powerbomb, followed by a spinning Rock Bottom for two on Threat. Another Vader Bomb hits raised boots though and Pop Shove It finishes Forza at 6:40.

Rating: B-. Forza absolutely made the most of her chance here and it was quite the performance. She felt like a powerhouse that hasn’t been around here since Jordynne Grace and that should be worth at least a second look. At the same time, Threat is back and still pretty much what she always has been, meaning fine enough but not someone I ever look forward to seeing. Forza stood out here (including the gnome thing which was….yeah) and that’s nice to see.

Mustafa Ali tells someone that it’s time to make changes in Order 4 so next week there’s going to be an address, with mandatory attendance.

Here is KC Navarro for a chat. Navarro thought Nic Nemeth was someone he could look up to but now Navarro knows what Nemeth really is. This brings out Nemeth, who says he thought he could make Navarro something special but no one has that much time. Navarro is pretty good but he just doesn’t have “it”.

That sends Navarro into a rant about how he took forever to get here and he wants a World Title shot. Navarro mocks Ryan Nemeth, who runs in to jump Navarro from behind. Nic gets in the ring, saying never come near the family again and lose his number. Navarro was showing some fire here and I’m sure a World Title match is coming, as it should.

Knockouts Title: Lei Ying Lee vs. Xia Brookside

Brookside is defending and it’s No DQ. Lee jumps her on the floor to start fast and the fight is on the floor, with Brookside being tossed inside for the opening bell. They’re right back on the floor with Lee’s spinning kick hitting the steps. That’s shrugged off and Lee is right back with more stomping and forearms inside. A suicide dive hits Brookside and we take a break.

We come back with Brookside whipping her with a belt as Lee’s knee is banged up. Said knee is used to knock Brookside down and a running dropkick does it again. Some right hands in the corner have Brookside crashing out to the floor and it’s time to throw in some weapons. Naturally this includes a table, because setting one of those up makes more sense than hitting someone with a chair.

A piledriver through a table is broken up and Brookside beats on her with the kendo stick. Brookside grabs the title and turns over the table, allowing Lee to take her down. Lee grabs a chair but Brookside knocks it away, earning herself a kick to the face. A top rope flip dive misses for Lee and Brookside belts her in the head for two. Brookside blocks a fist with the chair and Darkside onto the chair retains the title at 16:59.

Rating: B-. It was a good fight and should be the end of the feud, with Brookside putting her away for good. The knee injury didn’t really go anywhere, but at least they didn’t spend a lot of time setting it up. Other than that, Brookside beat her pretty clearly here and now we get to see who is up next for the title.

Overall Rating: C+. This show was more focused on the midcard issues and that’s not a bad thing. If nothing else, it is nice to see those things get some focus instead of the same stuff over and over. Brookside vs. Lee did feel like a pretty big grudge match and that served well as a main event. Other than that, the Hardys got to do their usual stuff, while Slater and Sosa had a nice start as a team. Not a must see show here, but it did a decent job.

Results
Hardys b. Great Hands – Swanton to Skyler
Indi Hartwell b. Vicki Venuto – Hurts Donut
Ricky Sosa/Leon Slater b. Righteous and The System – Running uppercut to Bronson
Jody Threat b. Gabby Forza – Pop Shove It
Xia Brookside b. Lei Ying Lee – Darkside onto a chair

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Impact Wrestling
Date: July 2, 2026
Location: Broadview Center, Albany, New York
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

We’re done with Slammiversary and the big story is Nic Nemeth winning the World Title from Mike Santana, who might be done with the company. Other than that, the Hardys are the Tag Team Champions again due to the Hardys must be champions no matter what. We’re on the way to Lockdown, or possibly something between now and then, so let’s get to it.

Here is Slammiversary if you need a recap.

We open with a long Slammiversary recap.

Here is Ryan Nemeth to introduce the best wrestler of the last 35,000 years, his BIG BROTHER Nic Nemeth. Nic is rather pleased with how Slammiversary went and has Ryan pull out a scroll, listing various names he has beaten. The list includes Randy Orton, Ultimo Dragon, Kane, Rey Mysterio, Cody Rhodes, Johnny Nitro, Johnny TV, John Morrison and John Cena, among several others.

This brings out KC Navarro to say he wants to talk to Nic, but Ryan says not so fast. Nic cuts that off and offers to let Navarro face Ryan tonight. Other than that though, anyone can come at him and they will be put down. Navarro as a first challenger will be a fine way to burn off a few weeks before we get closer to Lockdown.

Leon Slater says that Cedric Alexander stole the X-Division Title at Slammiversary and Slater is still coming for it. As for tonight, he’s going to teach Eddie Edwards a lesson in the main event as part of his path to becoming the biggest star in TNA. I’m not sure if he will, but Slater getting into the World Title picture isn’t out of the question. He might not be the next big thing, but it’s a distinct possibility.

We look at the announcement of the Knockouts TV Title and the tournament to crown the first champion.

Knockouts TV Title Tournament First Round: Tasha Steelz vs. Mara Sade

They trade some early rollups for two each and Steelz is sent outside, where Sade’s dive connects. A dropkick off the steps connects and Steelz bails again, only to manage to trip Sade on the apron. Back in and Steelz fires off some clotheslines but misses the top rope splash. Sade sends her outside again and hits a slingshot dive, followed by a Sling Blade back inside. A sitout powerbomb gives Sade two but Steelz’s neckbreaker gets the same. Steelz tries a springboard but gets kicked out of the air, allowing Sade to go up. That takes too long too and Steelz misses a charge, allowing Sade to hit the moonsault for the pin at 7:43.

Rating: C. Sade is a good example of someone who came into TNA with almost no reputation and wound up becoming a nice surprise. She’s one of the better stars in the division and has a presence to her. While she’s a long way off from going after Xia Brookside, she’s a good choice for a heck of a run in this tournament.

Post match Order 4 comes out and doesn’t seem pleased with Steelz.

Rich Swann gives BDE a pep talk, even though they’re both in a six way scramble for an X-Division Title shot.

BDE vs. Rich Swann vs. Fabian Aichner vs. Mr. Elegance vs. Jason Hotch vs. Home Town Man

They pair off to start until BDE and Swann are left alone for a respectful slugout. An exchange of rollups gets two each and it’s a standoff until Elegance breaks it up. Aichner drops Elegance with a clothesline and a butterfly superplex gets two on Swann. Hotch comes in to take over but the Man is right there to quite the reaction.

BDE hits a dive, followed by an even bigger one from Swann. Back in and a Tower Of Doom sends Swann flying into a Phoenix splash onto Hotch in a rather cool sequence. Swann hits a Lethal Injection on Hotch but Elegance makes the save. BDE splashes Elegance but gets caught in Aichner’s sitout powerbomb for the pin and the title shot at 5:28.

Rating: B-. As usual with matches like this one, it was a bunch of people flying around doing stuff with Aichner basically catching someone in the end. That’s not a bad thing either, as Aichner has been teased as a challenger for the title since he debuted. BDE continues to play his role of jobber to the stars who can do moves rather well and the rest of the people…well they were there too, as this was mainly about Aichner.

Ricky Sosa meets First Class and isn’t impressed.

Mustafa Ali does not want to hear Order 4’s excuses.

Here is Ricky Sosa for a chat. He’s new around here and the win on Sunday is just the beginning. This brings out the Righteous, who see the potential and offer him a spot on the team. Cue the System, who make an offer of their own, citing the team’s recent successes. Eddie Edwards sums it up by asking if Sosa wants to be a champion or join a cult. Sosa turns both of them down and the brawl is on, with Leon Slater running in for a failed save attempt. As has been the case, TNA needs fresh blood so trying Sosa out is worth a shot.

Elijah is happy to have his music back (despite never losing it).

Knockouts TV Title Tournament First Round: Heather By Elegance vs. Allie

M is here with Heather and Rosemary is here with Allie. Heather jumps Allie to start fast but gets sent into the corner for a running elbow. A trip to the floor goes badly for Allie as she gets her throat snapped over the top rope and a dropkick gives Heather two back inside. Allie shrugs that off to make the clothesline comeback and the Upside Down makes it even worse for Heather. Rosemary cuts off an interfering M but the distraction lets Heather hit a top rope double stomp for the pin at 5:34.

Rating: C. I’m not overly surprised that one of the likely challengers for the Knockouts Tag Team Titles beat one of the champions, but at least it was set up in a different way for once. Allie losing is a bit disappointing but the Elegance Brand has been too big of a deal to not have them go somewhere in the tournament. And it even involved some cheating for the protection.

Here is new Knockouts Champion Xia Brookside for a chat. She gets right to the point with the I TOLD YOU SO, as Lei Ying Lee was jealous and holding her back. Now we’ll get to see how good Brookside is and here she is as the new Knockouts Champion. The title doesn’t belong to the people because it belongs to her. This brings out Lee, who doesn’t see a champion, but rather a fake b****. The rematch is officially on for next week and Lee wants it to be No DQ, with the threat of Warrior’s Way sending Brookside running. Simple and to the point here.

Mustafa Ali begs Daria Rae for a Tag Team Title shot for the Great Hands. Sure. Next week.

KC Navarro vs. Ryan Nemeth

Nic Nemeth is here with Ryan. Navarro runs the ropes to start and hits a Sling Blade but Ryan pulls him off the top. A neckbreaker puts Navarro down on the floor and the chinlock goes on back inside. Navarro fights up for a tornado DDT but gets sent into the post to give Ryan two more. The hip swiveling neckbreaker takes too long though and Navarro comes back with the 305. The running neckbreaker finishes for Navarro at 4:19.

Rating: C+. I had thought that the match was going to be Nic vs. Navarro so it was nice to see Navarro get a win, even over a weasel like Ryan. Navarro is probably going to be getting a shot at Nic in a few weeks and that’s not a bad way for both of them to go. If nothing else, it’s getting Navarro a chance to showcase himself some more and it’s been working fairly well thus far.

Post match Nic lays Navarro out.

The Hardys are ready for the Great Hands but I’m not sure if calling the fans the Die-Hardys is going to work.

Leon Slater vs. Eddie Edwards

Alisha Edwards is here with Eddie. Hold on though as Alisha insists that Slater’s fans cheer for Eddie instead. They aren’t interesting so Slater’s music starts again (as he’s doing everything but YEETing) so we’re ready to go. Slater hits an early leg lariat before hammering away in the corner.

A poke to the eye cuts Slater off but he’s right back with a handspring elbow. Eddie cuts him off with a backbreaker and a hard whip sends Slater upside down in the corner. A backdrop gives Eddie two and Alisha gets in some choking from the floor. Eddie misses the moonsault though and Slater scores with a spinwheel kick.

The high crossbody gives Slater two but Eddie is back with the Backpack Stunner for the same. They trade shots to the face until a tiger driver and tiger bomb give Eddie two, leaving him looking rather stunned. Slater is right back with the toss Blue Thunder Bomb but Alisha gets on the apron. Cedric Alexander comes in and gets taken out, allowing Eddie to grab a rollup with tights for the pin at 7:34.

Rating: B-. Slater is getting more and more time in these main event spots and that means he’s going to lose on occasion. Losing to a multiple time World Champion is hardly the worst result, though Slater is going to need some help to fight back against the System. There are some options for that spot, but Sosa seems to be a likely choice.

Post match the beatdown is on but Ricky Sosa runs in for the save, much to Slater’s appreciation to end the show. Ah there we go.

Overall Rating: B-. TNA is in a rough spot right now as they aren’t likely to have Mike Santana anymore, along with a few other names. That means they are going to have to be tight with what they have and build up some fresh stars at the same time. While they didn’t take any huge steps forward here, they did a good enough job starting things off after Slammiversary. The post PPV shows have been an issue for TNA in recent years so it was nice to see things go in a different direction for once. They have a long way to go but it’s at least a good first step.

Results
Mara Sade b. Tasha Steelz – Moonsault
Fabian Aichner b. BDE, Rich Swann, Mr. Elegance, Jason Hotch and Home Town Man – Sitout powerbomb to BDE
Heather By Elegance b. Allie – Top rope double stomp
KC Navarro b. Ryan Nemeth – Running neckbreaker
Eddie Edwards b. Leon Slater – Rollup with tights

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Slammiversary 2026
Date: June 28, 2026
Location: Agganis Arena, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

It’s the annual anniversary show (because it would be weird for anniversaries to not be annual) and we have a pretty big main event this time. In this case it’s Mike Santana defending the World Title against Nic Nemeth. That’s in addition to Ultimate X and a four team ladder match so let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Indi Hartwell vs. Mara Sade vs. Elayna Black

Black’s early rollup gets two so she gets sent outside, leaving Hartwell to clothesline Sade for two. Sade’s spinning middle rope crossbody gets two but Black trips her up. Hartwell neckbreakers Sade but Black is back in with some running knees. Black is sent back outside with Hartwell following, leaving Sade to dive onto both of them. Sade goes up for a moonsault to Hartwell but Black runs back in for the Black Out to pin Sade at 5:00.

Rating: C. Black absolutely should have won here as she needs the slightest bit of momentum to do anything at all. She’s been around for months now and feels like she has done absolutely nothing. I’m not sure if this is the big upgrade for her but at least she got on the show (technically) and won.

Post match Black leaves and the other two wind up on the stage, where Hall Of Famer Traci Brooks comes out to announce a tournament, starting on Thursday, to crown the Inaugural Knockouts TV Champion.

Kickoff Show: Eric Young vs. Ricky Sosa

A Boston Celtics broadcaster is on commentary. Sosa sends him (Young, not the broadcaster) into the corner to start and knocks him outside for the big dive. Back in and Young slams him off the top and starts stomping away, only to have Sosa jump up to the top for a super hurricanrana. Sosa fires off some running uppercuts in the corner but Young is back with the wheelbarrow neckbreaker. The top rope elbow gets two so Sosa gets up for a northern lights suplex into a Falcon Arrow. A Blue Thunder Bomb finishes Young at 6:00.

Rating: C+. This was a perfectly fine match but the important thing here is that Sosa got a win, which he needed to get his time in TNA started. Beating Young only means so much but it’s better than nothing, as TNA can certainly use some fresh blood. Maybe Sosa can be that person, but it’s certainly worth a shot.

The roster comes out for a ten bell salute to Joe Doering. Cody Deaner gives a rather awesome speech about getting to be Doering’s partner and friend. The show is dedicated to him.

The opening video looks at the history of the company and focuses on how important tonight is, especially the World Title match. Makes sense.

X-Division Title: Amazing Red vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Giovanni Vinci vs. Mr. Elegance vs. KC Navarro vs. Leon Slater vs. Cedric Alexander

Alexander is defending in Ultimate X and this is Slater’s official rematch for the title, which feels like a stretch. It’s a brawl to start and Red is left alone but Kazarian has to be pulled down. Red hits a big dive to take out the pile but it’s too early for him to climb. It’s off to Slater vs. Navarro with the latter posing in the ropes to frustrate Slater a bit. Navarro goes for a climb but gets pulled down, only to be thrown at Aichner for a DDT on the floor.

Kazarian and Red go up and kick away over the ring until they come crashing down. Elegance goes up until Navarro makes a save and gets a showdown with Red. Some Code Reds put various non-Reds down, leaving Kazarian to go up. Aichner cuts that off with a big high crossbody and almost everyone goes to one corner. Slater hits a double Doomsday Blockbuster before going up, with Red going up as well. Slater pulls the belt down but Alexander grabs it and hits the floor, which is enough to retain at 10:24.

Rating: B. This was what you would have expected from this kind of a match as it was all about Red getting to show that he still has it and Alexander stealing the win to retain. It also gets Slater out of the X-Division Title picture without having him take another fall. This was a hot way to start the show and that’s why you have a match like this one. Nice job.

Post match Kazarian shows respect to Red and praises him for the influence he has had on the TNA locker room. Kazarian throws us to a video package announcing that Red is going into the Hall Of Fame. Yeah that’s fine.

We run down the rest of the card.

We recap Elijah vs. AJ Francis, which is over Francis basically stealing Elijah’s image, likeness and music catalog. Now Elijah is fighting for all of them.

Elijah vs. AJ Francis

A man with a rather nice hat introduces Francis. Elijah mocks the two as being No Skill Uncle Phil and a bad Jazzy Jeff. A jumping knee gives Elijah two at the bell but Francis knocks him outside for the tease of a dive, which of course doesn’t happen. Instead Francis mocks the crowd but gets taken down with a springboard clothesline. Francis’ Styles Clash is cut off so he settles for a big right hand to drop Elijah instead.

A Stunner of all things gets Elijah out of trouble but Francis is right back with the TFL. An Alabama Slam sets up Francis’ middle rope moonsault (and it looked nice) for two but Elijah catches him going up. The Highwayman’s Farewell connects for two so the man with the hat grabs the guitar. Elijah takes that away and knocks him silly but it’s a Styles Clash to give Francis two. The Down Payment is loaded up but Elijah walks the corner, then goes down the rope for a super Canadian Destroyer for the pin at 9:01.

Rating: C+. This was a match that went the right way but I was kind of hoping that the build had gone on longer. Francis only took everything from Elijah about two weeks ago so it only had so much time to build. Elijah had to win in the end but he could have suffered more than he did. Either way, perfectly fine match with the bully getting what was coming to him.

Post match Elijah gets his guitar back in a big moment.

Mike Santana is ready for Nic Nemeth and wants him to bring it.

Knockouts Tag Team Titles: Elegance Brand vs. Rosemary/Allie

The Brand, with the rest of their ilk, is defending. M grabs a quickly broken waistlock on Rosemary to start so Rosemary takes her down for the right hands. Allie comes in for some shoulders to Heather and the Brand gets caught in stereo Upside Downs. Ash offers a distraction though and the champs get out so M can Death Valley Driver Allie for two.

M’s basement dropkick to the back gets two but Allie snaps off a neckbreaker. A distraction allows the Personal Concierge to break up a tag attempt and Ash goes Coast To Coast. Er, apparently Toast To Toast, as in champagne. Allie gets up for a double clothesline though and it’s back to Rosemary to clean house.

A side slam gets two on Heather but M gets in a cheap shot, allowing Heather to hit a moonsault. Everything breaks down and Rosemary spears M, earning a distraction from Ash. Rosemary mists the Concierge and escapes Nip And Tuck. Allie gives Heather a Codebreaker and Rosemary’s reverse DDT connects for the titles at 9:42.

Rating: B-. This was what it should have been with the Brand not needing to be champions all the time. Rosemary and Allie don’t need to be champions forever but it’s good for them to win the titles here, as they need to show that they still have it after being gone for so long. Also they’re a bit more fun after the Brand has held the titles for such a long time.

Daria Rae and Santino Marella argue over Marella making the International Title match a triple threat.

International Title: Mustafa Ali vs. ??? vs. ???

Ali, with Tasha Steelz, is defending against two mystery challengers in the forms of….Rich Swann and Uhaa Nation, the latter of whom is better known as Apollo Crews. Nation gorilla presses Ali over the top to start and shakes hands with Swann before slugging it out. They go out to the apron with Nation knocking him to the floor, followed by a top rope splash for two back inside.

Ali tries to come back in but gets crotched on top, only to give Ali a super Styles Clash onto Nation’s back. Swann is back up with a hurricanrana to send Ali to the floor and a middle rope 450 gets two on Nation. Back up and Nation starts muscling them up for German suplexes but Ali and Swann knock him down.

Swann drops Ali and gives him a frog splash but Ali bridges up to shock Swann in a great visual. Nation is back up so Steelz offers a distraction, as does the incoming Agent Zero. That’s enough for Ali to hit a suicide dive, allowing Zero to bury Nation underneath the steps. Back in and Swann avoids the 450 and kicks Ali in the face, only to get caught in a bridging backslide for the pin to retain at 9:31.

Rating: B. This was a good way to bring in Nation without taking the title off of Ali. Having the match be a triple threat came out of nowhere but it’s the best way TNA had of having it both ways. At least Ali gets to keep the title, as it’s either this or having him move up to the main event and I don’t quite see that happening just yet. Nation can be put into pretty much any spot on the card and be fine, which is just what the company needs at this point.

We recap Moose vs. Eddie Edwards in a No Surrender match. Edwards and company threw Moose out of the System so he’s out for revenge, having gone through the team one by one. Now it’s just Edwards left and the match can only end when the corner person throws in the towel.

Moose vs. Eddie Edwards

Anything goes and you can only win once your opponent’s corner person (JDC for Moose and Alisha Edwards for Eddie) throws in the towel. In the back, Moose runs into Uhaa Nation and they’ll be talking later. Moose jumps Eddie to start fast and gives him a powerbomb onto the apron, followed by a powerbomb into the post. Another powerbomb onto the steps is escaped though and Eddie backdrops him onto the steps.

They get inside where Moose hits a release Rock Bottom into a backsplash and let’s get a table. The chop off goes to Moose but he walks into a clothesline. The Boston Knee Party drops Moose again, which isn’t enough for JDC to throw in the towel, so let’s get a chain. Eddie wraps it around his knee but charges into another powerbomb. That earns him a double middle finger from Alisha so Eddie hits a superkick.

With Moose down, Eddie zipties him to the rope and it’s time to beat on him with the kendo stick. That’s enough for Moose’s wife to jump the barricade and try to throw it in, only for JDC to cut her off. Moose’s son comes over the barricade and gets pulled inside by Eddie. Said son hits Eddie low and Moose’s wife beats up Alisha. Moose breaks free and hits some spears, including one with a chain, but Alisha throws in the towel to avoid the spear through the table at 13:00.

Rating: B-. It felt like they had a bunch packed into one match and they never got to some extreme moment for the towel. Moose’s family getting involved was fine but they haven’t exactly been around much before and it took away some of the impact. If nothing else, hopefully it wraps up the feud already, because it is beyond time to finish it off already.

Post match JDC gives Eddie a Stunner and Moose spears both Edwards’s through the table. Ok that has to end the feud right?

We recap Xia Brookside challenging Lei Ying Lee for the Knockouts Title. They were friends and partners until Brookside got jealous of Lee’s success and turned on her. That’s enough to set up the title match, as Lee wants to beat her up as well.

Knockouts Title: Xia Brookside vs. Lei Ying Lee

Lee is defending and takes her down to hammer away to start fast. Brookside is sent into the corner by the hair, followed by a hard knee to her face. Lee sends her outside for a dive from the apron but Brookside is back up to send the leg into the post. Said leg is wrapped around the post again and Brookside ties up the leg inside.

Some kicks to the chest have Lee in more trouble but she pulls Brookside into a half crab. With that broken up, Lee kicks her in the head and fires off even more kicks, only to bang up her own knee. They go into the corner where Brookside gets powerbombed down, bringing a turnbuckle pad with her. Back up and Lee is sent into the exposed buckle, setting up the Darkside to give Brookside the title at 11:55.

Rating: C+. This was another match that felt like it ended out of nowhere, but what mattered here was Brookside getting the title. After losing over and over, she needed to finally win something here and it was more than time for her to win the title. The match was kind of weird as Lee’s leg was worked on for so long but didn’t go anywhere, but the result was right.

Lockdown is coming to Chicago in August.

Destination X is coming in November.

Tag Team Titles: Hardys vs. Righteous vs. The System vs. Great Hands

The System is defending in a ladder match. The Hardys start with the ladder while their music is still playing but it’s way too early to go for the belts. That’s enough for the Righteous to fight back and clean house, with Dutch hitting a big dive to the floor. Skyler picks up Vincent for a Regal Roll off the top onto the pile, leaving Hotch to climb up. The ladder is tipped over though, with Hotch busting out a moonsault as he crashes down.

Back in and the Hardys load up a pair of ladders but are easily knocked down. Matt and Vincent go up again, with Matt ramming him into each rung on the way back down. Naturally it’s time for some tables but the Hands are up with the steps for the save. More tables are stacked onto the previously stacked tables (uh oh) but the System uses the ladders to beat up the Hands.

Cue the Righteous with the barbed wire ladder (of course), with Bronson being powerslammed into said ladder. Vincent’s Swanton crushes Bronson onto the ladder, which Bronson is then crushed inside of for a bonus. The Righteous set up the really big ladder but get it turned over just as fast. The Hands are back up to cut off the Hardys, including a G9 off the ladder to Matt.

Vincent cuts Skyler down and climbs up to slug it out with Myers. That earns Myers the poisonous flower and he falls down but Bronson is up to piledrive Vincent onto the barbed wire ladder. Bronson and Dutch go up at the same time and yes they do indeed go crashing through the four tables. The Hands pull the Hardys down, earning themselves a double beating. Jeff Swantons the Hands through a bridged ladder at ringside…and the Hardys win the titles back at 17:09.

Rating: B-. Yeah wow that’s fascinating: the Hardys winning the Tag Team Titles in a ladder match. This is one of the more annoying results I can imagine as the Hardys haven’t needed to win a title in years. Somehow they get to pad their resumes even more, but even worse, it means we’re likely STILL not done with the Hardys vs. the Righteous. How in the world is that their best idea? If nothing else, the System looks completely useless and the Hands were there…why?

Mike Santana gives a rather heartfelt message about all of the help Konnan gave him over the years by believing in him. Therefore, he’s thrilled to induct Konnan into the Hall Of Fame. I’m liking these multiple person classes as the company has more than enough history to cover them.

We recap the World Title match. Nic Nemeth is calling his shot for the title match and that’s fine with Mike Santana. Nemeth has attacked him a few times and brought up Santana’s daughter, which is the champ’s trigger.

TNA World Title: Mike Santana vs. Nic Nemeth

Nemeth is challenging. The fans get on the New York Yankees and declare that they suck (Santana mouths “they do”) and we’re ready to go. They start slowly and feel each other out a bit until Nemeth sends him outside. Back in and Nemeth gets two off a rollup but gets went outside for a breather. They switch places before Santana tosses him outside again for a die. The big chops have Nemeth knocked up against the barricade, with Santana appreciating the echo.

Santana throws him over the announcers’ table so Ryan Nemeth gets inside for a distraction. Said distraction earns Ryan an ejection but Nic gets in a trophy shot to take over. Santana is busted open and Nic rips at the cut, followed by a crossface to make it worse. Nic switches to a sleeper but Santana fights up to start the comeback. Santana hammers away and hits the rolling Buck Fifty for two but Spin The Block is cut off with a superkick.

The Danger Zone gives Nic two so he hits another superkick, only to walk into Spin The Block for another two. Nemeth kicks the knee out and hits a basement superkick for….one. Uh oh. Another Spin The Block doesn’t work though as the blood loss gets to Santana. The Danger Zone gives Nic the pin and the title at 14:45.

Rating: B. It was a good match with Santana getting to go out on his shield, but it seems like we are on the way to Santana moving over to WWE anyway. The good thing is that the promotions have a working relationship so Santana might not be entirely gone. If this is it for Santana though, he has come a VERY long way and deserves all kinds of credit for his rise. As for Nemeth, he doesn’t feel like a long term champion but he’s fine as a placeholder until TNA figures out who is next.

Nemeth celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Hardys winning aside, this was a strong enough show, with the right moves being made for the most part. If Santana is indeed leaving, the only option was to take the title off of him and Nemeth is as good of a choice that the company has. I liked most of the matches, with some of them being better than others, but nothing was bad and the show felt logical enough throughout. Nice job, with the Hall Of Fame announcements being a rather appropriate bonus.

Results
Elayna Black b. Mara Sade and Indi Hartwell – Black Out to Sade
Ricky Sosa b. Eric Young – Blue Thunder Bomb
Cedric Alexander won Ultimate X
Elijah b. AJ Francis – Top rope Canadian Destroyer
Allie/Rosemary b. Elegance Brand – Reverse DDT to Heather
Mustafa Ali b. Uhaa Nation and Rich Swann – Bridging backslide to Swann
Moose b. Eddie Edwards when Alisha Edwards threw in the towel
Xia Brookside b. Lei Ying Lee – Darkside
Hardys b. Righteous, The System and Great Hands – Hardys pulled down the titles
Nic Nemeth b. Mike Santana – Danger Zone

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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After a pretty lengthy time away, we’re back to the pay per view days for TNA and that might not be a bad thing. The build for this show has gotten more a lot more interested than I expected to be and now I want to see if they can pay that build up off. That’s the tricky part though as you never know how the whole thing is going to work. The main event is Nic Nemeth challenging Mike Santana for the World Title so let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Mara Sade vs. Indi Hartwell vs. Elayna Black

I’m still trying to figure out why Black is treated as such a big deal, as I really do not see the success there to warrant it. She’s far from bad, but she has made no impact since her arrival in TNA and I often forget that she’s part of the roster. Maybe that changes here, but I really can’t imagine that being the case after such a long time of pretty much nothing from her thus far.

That leaves Sade and Hartwell as your realistic options here and I’ll take the former for the win. Sade has gotten somewhere with her charisma and general appeal and it’s working well for her. Given that she was little more than Lash Legend’s lackey in NXT, this is quite the step up for her and I’m curious to see what she can do on her own. Give her a win here and see what’s next around here.

Ricky Sosa vs. Eric Young

Oh dear it’s this match. For the life of me I do not get Eric Young and I haven’t for a long time. He’ll pop up, pick a new target, say the same things, lose, and then move on like nothing has changed. Sosa is his latest target and it’s hard to fathom that he’s going to be any different for Young. The whole idea of Young as this evil force is quite the miscast and I do not get the appeal but we’re here anyway.

I’ll go with Sosa to win here, as there is no point in having him lose to someone like Young, who loses all of the time. I’m not sure what Sosa is going to be but TNA is really in need of some new stars, so put him out there and see what he can do. It’s worth a shot and beating a former multiple time World Champion is a good start, especially if it gets Young off the show for a few weeks.

AJ Francis vs. Elijah

This is a battle for Elijah’s name, likeness and music catalog, because that’s a thing we’re doing in wrestling. As ridiculous as it might sound, I do appreciate the idea of having a less than normal reason for a feud in wrestling. This is Francis taking away the thing that defines Elijah the most and that is going to make Elijah mad as a result. Francis has been doing well as a big man too so it’s certainly worth a try.

As much as I would like to see Francis win here and see where he can go with things, it doesn’t make sense for Elijah to lose. I’ll take Elijah to win, as what in the world is he without his music deal? We tried that with the whole Ezekiel thing in WWE and we’ve seen how that worked out, so I’ll go with Elijah here, if nothing else for the sake of keeping his career going.

Knockouts Title: Lei Ying Lee(c) vs. Xia Brookside

Every so often you get a pretty much perfect setup for a big moment and that’s what we have here. Brookside turned on her friend out of jealousy over not being able to win the title and now gets a title shot. It helps that Brookside has turned into quite a nice heel in the process, which is impressive for someone who is fairly small in stature and easy to cheer in the first place.

There is a grand total of zero reason for Brookside to lose here so I’ll go with the logical result and say she wins the title. Lee is already a two time champion and hardly the biggest star in the world, so go with Brookside getting her big moment and see what she can do as champion. It’s kind of overdue at this point and if she loses, she’s basically dead in the water anyway. So yeah, new champion here.

X-Division Title: Ultimate X

Here we have the signature match of TNA and it makes sense to bring it out of mothballs for the anniversary show. They’re also bringing Amazing Red back, which should quite the nice thing to see. Red had a heck of a match with Bandido over Wrestlemania Weekend and he can still more than go. Seeing him back in the ring is an interesting idea, even if he has pretty much no chance of winning.

Red is one of a few wrestlers you can probably write off, along with Mr. Elegance. That leaves a host of people to win and I’m going to go with an underdog in KC Navarro. He’s come a long way lately and this is the kind of match where they can make him into something without having him get a big pin. I’m not saying it’ll work, but I think they could do it here. Granted this kind of thing is a total shot in the dark but why not have some fun?

Knockouts Tag Team Titles: The Elegance Brand(c) vs. Rosemary/Allie

Just name Rosemary and Allie the Undead Realm already. Anyway, this is an interesting one as normally I would say that there is no reason to leave the titles on the Brand but they’re kind of great with having the titles as accessories. It makes them even more annoying and that’s a perfect thing for a stable built around the idea of getting on the fans’ nerves. I’m just not sure they’ll keep the belts.

Yeah I think I’ll go with the title change here, as Rosemary and Allie are popular enough at the moment to warrant getting the gold. If nothing else, the Brand is going to be able to drive everyone crazy with or without the titles so let them drop the belts for now. They can easily win them back later if necessary, but for now, Allie and Rosemary are a better option for the win here.

International Title: Mustafa Ali(c) vs. ???

This is one that’s hard to predict, as there is only so much you can do without knowing who is getting the title shot. There have been some rumored names, including at least one who used to be in WWE, but no one really stands out all that well. If nothing else, Ali deserves to hold onto the title longer as he’s getting somewhere with his stuff (as he tends to do when he’s given the chance).

I’ll take Ali to retain over whomever he is facing, even if I want to see him get into the World Title picture sooner rather than later. Ali is someone with the talent to make this work and you can almost guarantee that he’ll be doing something special around election season. For now though, he retains, likely with the help of his goons, though I’m almost worried to see who he’s going to be facing here.

Eddie Edwards vs. Moose

This is, at least in theory, the final blowoff to Moose vs. The System, though it feels like we should have been at that point months ago. The idea here is that you can only lose if your corner person (Alisha Edwards and JDC) throw in the towel to end the match. That opens the door for some shenanigans and it comes down to whom is going to screw the other one over.

I’ll go with Edwards winning here, as it feels like they have set up JDC to mess with Moose again because that’s the kind of thing TNA would do. I’m not sure how you pay that off down the line if JDC is retired, but for now at least, Moose loses again. This feud has gone on far too long already and at this point, I’ll take it ending in whatever way they can figure out.

Tag Team Titles: The System(c) vs. Hardys vs. The Righteous vs. Great Hands

Say it with me: it’s a ladder match! The level of eye rolling I did when that was announced should come with a doctor’s warning but here we are again. The Hardys almost have to be in a ladder match every so often because the law of diminishing returns means nothing in wrestling. It also doesn’t help that the non-Righteous teams are just kind of there, which should tell you where this is going.

The Righteous should take the titles here, as they should have done six months ago. I get that the Hardys are big stars but how many title reigns does one team need? On the other hand you have the Great Hands, who were randomly thrown into this match for reasons I don’t quite get. That leave the champions and, well, does anyone believe they’re the top team in the company right now?

TNA World Title: Mike Santana(c) vs. Nic Nemeth

This is one of the more impressive showings that TNA has had in a minute, as they have taken a pretty nothing story and turned it into one of the hotter feuds going into the pay per view. Nemeth is cashing in his Call Your Shot win and just got a title shot. The catch though, as usual with Santana, is bringing up his daughter, who is his one weak spot. Nic and Ryan Nemeth have gone after Santana over and over but they might have just ticked him off beyond belief. I’m just not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing.

At the end of the day, it seems all but guaranteed that Santana is going to WWE sooner rather than later. The question is whether he drops the title here or later and I think he’ll hang onto it for now. TNA and WWE have a working relationship so Santana doesn’t have to cut all of his ties to go over. It should be interesting to see how it goes, but if they have a big fight with Santana winning, he can move on to whomever is going to take the title as he leaves. For now though, he retains.

Overall Thoughts

For the first time in WAY too long, I’m actually excited about this. The problem is that at the end of the day, this is still TNA and that means there is a real chance of letdown. I’m almost scared to get my hopes up that far as they have been dashed far too many times over the years. The potential is there though and if everything works out, we could be in for a heck of a Sunday afternoon.

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Impact Wrestling
Date: June 18, 2026
Location: National Western Center, Denver, Colorado
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

We’re coming up on Slammiversary and that means things are mostly set for the pay per view. There is still time to change a few things though and we might get something done about that this week. Nic Nemeth is officially next up for World Champion Mike Santana and that won’t sit well for the champ. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

Opening sequence.

Here is Xia Brookside for a chat. She finds it amazing that the people think she did something wrong. Everything was always supposed to be about her but then it became about Lei Ying Lee more and more every week. Brookside should have done this a long time ago and Lee never saw it coming. That’s because Lee is a dumba** but here is Lee to interrupt. Lee isn’t impressed and rants in Chinese, which doesn’t bother Brookside. The brawl is on with Lee beating up security, allowing Brookside to escape. Granted Lee just standing there rather than following made it easier.

Mike Santana is ready for his tag match tonight and facing Nic Nemeth at Slammiversary. Yeah Nemeth attacked him last week but at Slammiversary, he’ll Spin The Block and retain the title. KC Navarro (Santana’s partner) comes in to say they have to win and Santana seems ready.

Mustafa Ali/Great Hands vs. KC Navarro/Nic Nemeth/Mike Santana

The rest of Order 4 is here with Ali and company and Nemeth and Santana can’t fight each other without getting in trouble. Santana and Skyler start things off and I’m just waiting on Nemeth to tag himself in and yeah there it is before anything can happen. Everything breaks down and Santana powerbombs Ali over the top onto the Hands as we take a break.

We come back with Navarro in trouble and a triple powerbomb planting him for two. Something like a Stundog Millionaire lets Navarro bring in Santana to clean house but Nemeth tags himself in for the near fall. A middle rope G9 gets two on Nemeth with Navarro making the save. Santana saves Nemeth from a double suplex and grabs a double rolling Buck Fifty on the Hands. The double Danger Zone sets up the double pin for Nemeth and Santana at 9:11.

Rating: C+. I’m not sure why Navarro and Ali needed to be in this but the finish was good with Nemeth and Santana working together despite not really being able to stand each other. It’s nice to see the feud actually getting some attention and so far that’s working well enough. Just let Navarro challenge Ali for the International Title at Slammiversary and it should be fine.

Post match Ryan Nemeth runs in to go after Santana, who hits Navarro by mistake. Nic takes Santana out again.

Post break Nic comes up to Navarro and says he knew they couldn’t trust Santana. Ryan comes in and blames Navarro but here is Santana, with security holding him back. With the Nemeths gone, Santana takes the blame for hitting Navarro, who seems to want to fight the Nemeths.

Here is Frankie Kazarian for the King’s Speech. He’s excited about the return of Ultimate X at Slammiversary because he has won more of them than anyone on the active roster. That brings him to his guests, with Leon Slater and Cedric Alexander joining him. Kazarian brings up Slater being only a day away from the longest X-Division Title reign in history and Alexander laughs at Slater.

It’s true that Slater failed, with Alexander having way too much fun about taking away Slater’s dream. The fight is almost on and Kazarian calms them down, saying he’s in Ultimate X as well. Now hit his music. Alexander going all over the top was rather funny though and I’ll take that from this thing.

We get an AJ Francis: Inside The Music, with Francis talking about how much he wanted to be in music…and now he owns the rights to everything Elijah has done. That’s certainly a unique way to go.

Ricky Sosa vs. Dak Draper

Eric Young is on commentary and Draper was a thing in the dying days of Ring Of Honor. They fight over waistlocks to start until Draper takes him down but misses a knee drop. Sosa can’t get a suplex so Draper knocks him down again and gets the knee drop this time. Back up and Sosa knocks him to the floor for the dive but stops to glare at Young, allowing Draper to break up the springboard. Back in and a tilt-a-whirl powerslam plants Sosa for two but he’s back up with a spinning kick to the head. A snap German suplex drops Draper again and the Blue Thunder Bomb finishes for Sosa at 5:55.

Rating: C+. I’m not sure I get it with Sosa, as he really hasn’t done much that makes him stand out thus far. Granted it hasn’t been much, but there is only so much there. On the other hand, TNA needs some fresh blood and Sosa is as good as any other option they have at the moment so let’s see what he has.

The Elegance Brand comes up to see Daria Rae, with the Personal Concierge hyping up Mr. Elegance. This is enough for Rae to put him in Ultimate X. Indi Hartwell comes up and gets in a bit of an argument with Ash By Elegance.

Elayna Black vs. Indi Hartwell

Mara Sade is on commentary. Hartwell jumps over Black in the corner to start and boots her down for an early two. Black avoids a charge though and kicks Hartwell down for two of her own. A springboard (off the bottom rope) double stomp connects as well and Black grabs the chinlock. With that broken up, Hartwell grabs a spinebuster, only to be distracted by the Personal Concierge and Ash. Black gets in a cheap shot but Sade cuts Ash off, allowing Hartwell’s backslide to get the pin at 4:41.

Rating: C. This was more about the women getting involved in the end and that’s probably better than having the match go long. These two are in a less than great place as are only so interesting, though at least Hartwell can deal with the Elegance Brand. As for Black…yeah I’m still not seeing it and I don’t see that changing.

Post match the brawl is on with Sade and Hartwell clearing the ring.

Fabian Aichner talks to Santino Marella and gets a spot in Ultimate X. Nic Nemeth comes in to get KC Navarro a spot of of his own.

Mike Santana commandeers a camera and wants to see Nic Nemeth face to face.

The System vs. Moose/Hardys

The rest of the System is here with the System…and Moose is Broken. Oh joy. Moose and Edwards start things off but of course Edwards hands it off to Myers instead. Matt comes in to tie Myers’ arm up in the rope and crank away before Jeff comes in to help. The System is sent outside and we take an early break.

We come back with Jeff in trouble and Edwards going over to mock Moose. This earns him quite the planting onto the apron but Bronson keeps Jeff in the corner. It’s back to Myers for a chinlock but Jeff gets up for a double clothesline. Moose gets to come back in and clean house, with the chokebomb out of the corner getting two on Edwards. Everything breaks down and we hit the big parade of knockdowns. Cue the Righteous with the ladder on the stage for a distraction and Moose accidentally spears a kendo stick. The Boston Knee Party gives Edwards the pin at 13:57.

Rating: B-. The action was fine, which shouldn’t be much of a shock, but my goodness how long is this Hardys vs. Righteous stuff going to last? It’s been going on for months now and now we get to have a ladder involved because the Hardys are part of the feud. It feels so lame and standard for them and the Righteous being the latest “creepy” team isn’t much.

Here is Mike Santana to call out Nic Nemeth. Instead he gets Ryan Nemeth and Santana isn’t interested in the MY BIG BROTHER stuff. Cue Nic to say that Santana is too emotional and his title reign is on borrowed time. Santana isn’t impressed and he’ll see Nic at Slammiversary. What a thrilling ending.

Overall Rating: C+. This was the show where we got closer to Slammiversary, which was mostly set outside of the Ultimate X participants. They did a nice job with the Brookside/Lee stuff and Santana vs. Nemeth does feel bigger. This was the kind of show that Slammiversary needed, though they still have quite a ways to go.

Results
Mike Santana/Nic Nemeth/KC Navarro b. Mustafa Ali/Great Hands – Double pin
Ricky Sosa b. Dak Draper – Blue Thunder Bomb
Indi Hartwell b. Elayna Black – Backslide
The System b. Hardys/Moose – Boston Knee Party to Moose

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Impact Wrestling
Date: June 11, 2026
Location: National Western Center, Denver, Colorado
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

It’s title night as while we’re about two and a half weeks away from Slammiversary, the World Title is being defended this week. Mike Santana is putting the title on the line against Eric Young, who won a battle royal a few weeks ago to get the shot. Other than that, we probably get to find out some more matches for the pay per view. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

Opening sequence.

TNA World Title: Eric Young vs. Mike Santana

Santana is defending and, after the Big Match Intros, charges at him in the corner to start fast. A powerbomb out of the corner gives Santana two and he knocks Young around ringside. Young is back up with a slam onto the apron and a neckbreaker on the same apron as we take a break.

We come back with Young knocking him out to the floor and sending him back inside for two. Young goes up and gets superplexed down for a double breather. The rolling Buck Fifty gives Santana two but the referee gets bumped in the corner, meaning Spin The Block gets nothing. A low blow, belt shot and piledriver give Young two so Young loads up another piledriver. Cue the returning Ricky Sosa, allowing Santana to hit a quick rollup for the pin to retain at 13:32.

Rating: B-. Well, the most important thing here is that Young didn’t win the title and this should move him away from the title picture. Santana is likely dealing with Nic Nemeth at Slammiversary and now we should get ready for the next pay per view title defense. Young gets to move on to a better feud with Sosa and that should be a good way for Sosa to really start his run around here.

Post match here is Nic Nemeth with the trophy to say he could call his shot right now, but he’s a man of his word. Earlier this week, he said he would use his title shot at Slammiversary and that is what he is going to do. As cheap of a way as that is to set up a title shot, it’s about all there is right now.

Mustafa Ali, with Order 4, liked what Nic Nemeth just did. As for KC Navarro, Ali gives his condolences for Navarro’s losses. Both of them, including the match tonight and his uncle earlier this week. That’s rather cold.

We look back at AJ Francis laying out Elijah last week and apparently buying his likeness and music library.

Elijah vs. Mr. Elegance

Elijah says no one will silence him but here is a lawyer with a cease and desist letter. The distraction lets Elegance grab a small package for the pin at 12 seconds.

Post match here is AJ Francis to mock Elijah for losing again, earning himself a beating. They fight into the crowd (yo TNA: stop going into the crowd when there are large areas of empty seats) and here is Lei Ying Lee to brawl with Elegance. Xia Brookside comes in for a cheap shot but gets taken out.

Nic Nemeth gives KC Navarro a pep talk. Ryan Nemeth comes in as well but here is Mike Santana, who respects Nic for announcing the title shot man to man. Santana will be ready for him at Slammiversary. Navarro says he has a title to win and could use either Santana or Nic’s help with Order 4. They both seem intrigued but don’t agree.

Fabian Aichner/Leon Slater vs. The System

Slater and Alexander start things off and, say it with me, Alexander tags Edwards right at the bell. That earns Edwards a kick to the face and it’s off to Aichner, who gets cheap shotted from the apron. Alexander suplexes him onto the apron and we take a break. We come back with Aichner still in trouble and Edwards grabbing a chinlock.

That’s broken up and Aichner gets in a knockdown, followed by kicking Edwards away. Slater gets the tag to clean house and a high crossbody gets two on Alexander. Everything breaks down and Aichner tornado DDTs Alexander, which brings out the rest of the System. Slater dives onto both of them but Alexander grabs the Lumbar Check for the pin at 9:59.

Rating: B-. This was a perfectly acceptable tag match as Slater continues to want revenge on the System. I’m hoping that he moves on to something bigger after this is done, as he seems too important for the X-Division and yet he has only teased a few moves up the ladder. Other than that, Aichner’s start continues to go well now that he’s away from the awkward debut.

Post match the beatdown is on but Moose returns for the save. Moose vs. Edwards is set for Slammiversary.

Santino Marella is happy with his win last week. Indi Hartwell comes in and is granted a match with Elayna Black next week, which is all she wanted.

Here is the Righteous for a chat. They brag about their win last week, including poisoning Jeff Hardy last week. The Hardys have survived everything over thirty years but they come into the Wicked Garden and are immediately classified as obsolete. That leaves the Righteous wanting the Tag Team Titles.

This brings out Santino Marella, who says the Hardys still have a rematch clause so they’ll get a title shot at Slammiversary, as will the Righteous in a three way match. A three way LADDER match. GOOD GRIEF ENOUGH WITH THE LADDER MATCHES! My goodness just have them wrestle once in a blue moon already. The Righteous laugh at the idea because the Hardys are gone but the lights go out, Matt Hardy’s laugh is heard, and a ladder appears.

The Elegance Brand vs. Allie/Rosemary/Mara Sade

Mr. Elegance offers a quick distraction to start and it’s a big brawl on the floor before the bell. Sade and M start things off with Sade hitting a middle rope dropkick. Rosemary comes in with a doll, which seems to control Ash. This involves making her dance and biting her for some pain before throwing the doll to M. Ash chokes Rosemary on the rope and it’s off to Heather to choke on the rope. Rosemary fights up and brings Allie in to clean house as everything breaks down. Allie hits a quick running Codebreaker to pin Heather at 5:31.

Rating: C. This was more about the doll bit and fair enough. Given some of the things the Undead Realm (just name them that already) have done, this is hardly a stretch. Ash sells comedy well enough too and it could have been worse. The match was mainly about running all over the place, especially in the end and that’s fine enough.

Slammiversary rundown.

International Title: KC Navarro vs. Mustafa Ali

Ali is defending and elbows Navarro in the face to start. Navarro sends him outside though and hits a big dive as we take a break. We come back with Navarro getting to the rope to escape an STF. The 450 misses though and Ali misses a charge into the buckle. They both go up and Ali tries a fireman’s carry, with Navarro reversing into a cutter for a huge crash. Navarro hits a Fameasser for two and a running flipping neckbreaker gets the same. Navarro looks up at the sky but dives into a Sharpshooter for the tap at 10:37.

Rating: C+. This was ok while it lasted but at the same time, that was quite the punch to the gut of a finish, with Navarro referencing his uncle and then tapping out almost immediately. Ali retaining is fine as he’s likely going to be in for a big time title defense at Slammiversary. Navarro is a talented guy but he’s not on Ali’s level and it never seemed like he was.

Post match Ali puts the Sharpshooter on again but here are Nic Nemeth and Mike Santana for the save. Ali teases a belt shot on Santana but Nemeth gives Ali a superkick. Then Nemeth gives Santana the Danger Zone to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was the show where they got everything else cleared out of the way before we can get on to Slammiversary. That’s a good thing as well, as there wasn’t much of anything that stood out with what they were doing in recent weeks. Slammiversary still doesn’t look great but at least there is a card to build towards and that has been needed for awhile now.

Results
Mike Santana b. Eric Young – Rollup
Mr. Elegance b. Elijah – Small package
The System b. Fabian Aichner/Leon Slater – Lumbar Check to Slater
Allie/Rosemary/Mara Sade b. The Elegance Brand – Codebreaker to Heather
Mustafa Ali b. KC Navarro – Sharpshooter

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Impact Wrestling
Date: June 4, 2026
Location: Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento, California
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

We’re less than a month away from Slammiversary and…there isn’t much on the show. There are only a few matches set for the show and most of the champions are still waiting to find challengers. They might want to work on that with just four shows left before the pay per view so let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

Eddie Edwards vs. BDE

The rest of the System is here with Edwards. BDE starts fast with a springboard crossbody and Edwards is sent outside for a dive. Back in and Edwards catches him on top for a scary sounding top rope belly to back rope superplex. BDE is right back up with a reverse DDT into a Codebreaker. Alisha Edwards gets up for a distraction but BDE is right back with a springboard Stunner for two more. The System offers another distraction though and BDE’s frog splash hits raised knees. The Boston Knee Party finishes for Eddie at 4:52.

Rating: C. This was about what it should have been as a former multiple time World Champion shouldn’t have much effort beating a winless streamer. The good thing is that they didn’t stretch this out, as tends to be the case for BDE, and BDE is far from embarrassing. Just a quick opener here and that’s about all it needed to be.

Post match the beatdown stays on but Fabian Aichner runs in for the save. The System manages to take him down but here is Leon Slater for the real save. This includes the big running flip dive over the corner so the good guys can stand tall.

Video on the Hardys vs. the Righteous in the Righteous’ weird garden.

Here is AJ Francis for a chat. Francis does his usual introduction and brags about getting rid of Rich Swann. He brags about his musical abilities and loads up a song called Walk, which doesn’t seem to be overly great. Cue Elijah to interrupt but Francis says that Elijah is stealing his intellectual property. Francis throws up what appears to be his face on Elijah’s guitar playing body.

Hold on though as Francis isn’t done, even busting out a cease and desist letter. Since Elijah doesn’t want to collaborate, Francis has purchased the name, image and likeness for Elijah, Elias and EZEKIEL. Elijah loads up a song called No Skill Uncle Phil anyway and actually turns his back on Francis, who lays him out. That was another level of dumb from Elijah, who deserved to be knocked cold.

Indi Hartwell and Santino Marella are warming up when Daria Rae interrupts. She makes it clear that she had nothing to do with Hartwell getting a new contract.

Elayna Black brags about winning the Champions Challenge last week and is ready to win the Knockouts Title because she’s that awesome.

Indi Hartwell/Santino Marella vs. Stacks/Arianna Grace

Frankie Kazarian is on commentary. The men start things off but Grace comes in to offer a free shot. Hartwell is fine with coming in to tackle Grace and hammer away but Stacks jumps Marella to take over instead. A random sleeper pulls Stacks down, who is right back with a basement lariat as we take a break.

We come back with Stacks mocking the trombone pose but getting backdropped out to the apron. That’s enough for Hartwell to come in (legally this time) with a spinebuster to Grace but Stacks makes a save. A fisherman’s neckbreaker gives Grace two and she runs Hartwell over. The chinlock goes on but Hartwell fights up for a clothesline in the double down. Marella comes back in but Grace takes the Cobra and loads it up herself. Naturally she hits Stacks by mistake, allowing Hartwell to pull out her own Cobra. Stereo Cobras give Marella the pin on Stacks at 12:23.

Rating: C. This was all about the power of the Cobra and given that we have a match in a magical garden coming up, this could have been worse. It wasn’t much of a tag match, though Marella isn’t out there for the sake of having something high quality. There is at least something with the son/daughter/son-in-law deal though so it could have been worse.

The Elegance Brand gets scared by the Undead Realm again.

Eric Young is in the ring to talk about how this place is sick and he has to fix everything. He did that to Joe Hendry, Ricky Sosa and EC3 and now it’s time to win the World Title. Mike Santana is sick and addicted to the fans’ applause so Young is going to beat him due to being better than that.

Cue Santana to interrupt and call Young a bit less than relevant. Young talks about how he’s been here longer than anyone and he is the one constant (that’s not how constants work). Santana says that people like Young are the ones really poisoning TNA but Young calls him the shiny new toy around here. The people will turn on him too but Santana is sick of him, so let’s do the title match right now. Young hits him low and gives him a piledriver. Thankfully it seems like we’re done with Young’s main event push after next week.

Mustafa Ali is not happy with getting pinned in the Champions Challenge but he knows that KC Navarro just got a fluke win. Their title match is next week.

We look at Young piledriving Santana again.

Here is the Personal Concierge to warn Lei Ying Lee that the Elegance Brand is coming for the Knockouts Title.

Mr. Elegance vs. Lei Ying Lee

Xia Brookside is on commentary. Elegance shoves Lee down to start and strikes a pose but Lee is back up with her own takedown. That means Lee gets to pose as well and then hammer away in the corner. The rest of the Elegance Brand gets up for a distraction and that’s a big group elimination. Elegance powers Lee around again and swivels his hips behind her neck.

Some hip thrust faceplants have Lee in more trouble and she can’t get a sunset flip. A missed charge sends Elegance into the corner though and Lee kicks him into an ankle lock. Elegance reaches the rope and nails a pop up slap but gets crotched on top. An airplane spin is broken up as Brookside gets on the apron, allowing Elegance to rake the eyes. A wind up DDT finishes for Elegance at 7:09.

Rating: C-. This was a rather odd choice for a match, with Lee getting powered around, as you would expect, and then the villain cheating to win, even if he should have anyway. Brookside costing Lee the win in the end was a logical way to go but this was weird all around. I’m not sure what they were going for here but it didn’t exactly work.

Post match Brookside announces that she’s getting her title shot at Slammiversary.

The Broken Garden is prepared, which appears to be a bunch of flowers and barbed wire being set up around ringside. I’ll take that over some mythical place.

Hardys vs. Righteous

Wicked Garden, which means anything goes and pin/submission has to be in the ring. The Righteous come out with a bunch of lackeys in robes, who surround the ring. The bell rings and they take their time getting ready before finally slugging it out. That means the Hardys have to avoid being sent into the barbed wire a few times but Dutch is sent into the barbed wire board.

Jeff is sent into the wired ropes and gets his arm wrapped around one of them but Matt is back up with some kind of a gardening tool. Dutch’s face gets raked and of course he’s already busted open. Vincent is back up with some wire around Matt’s head but Jeff is up for the save. The double legdrop hits Dutch as Matt is busted open as well. The Righteous are sent outside so the Hardys join them for more wire raking.

We take a break and come back with Jeff being dropped ribs first onto the barbed wire. A Downward Spiral sends him into the wire again and Matt is back inside to get choked down. We go to a quick shot of the crowd which is likely some kind of an edit and come back to Matt using the wire to hit Dutch low. A Plot Twist gets two on Vincent and the wire is wrapped around his head. Dutch’s save is cut off and Vincent gets caught with Poetry In Motion.

The Side Effect gets two on Dutch but he spears Matt through a barbed wire board in the corner. Jeff gets pulled into a kendo stick shot to the ribs and Vincent whips out a white flower. They put it into Jeff’s mouth and Jeff is in trouble. Matt is back up with a double DDT as Jeff falls outside and convulses. Jeff starts vomiting and is put on a stretcher but comes back in to fight some more. That doesn’t exactly work and it’s Orange Sunshine to finish Matt at 21:00.

Rating: C+. I never know what to make of these weird/otherworldly things and this was no exception. I’m sure there’s some kind of explanation of what the heck the Righteous are talking about here but honestly that might just make it worse. The brawl was less insane than I was expecting and thank goodness it was just in the arena, though this feud has outlived its interest for a long time now and needs to be over. It won’t be, but it needs to be.

The Righteous are all happy and the Hardys disappear for the spooky ending.

Overall Rating: C-. This one really didn’t click for me, as Slammiversary is coming up and it feels like one of those things that might be going on in the background but isn’t overly important. I’m not sure why they’re so obsessed with the Righteous vs. the Hardys, but it’s probably whatever Jeff came up with and thought was some artistic display. This wasn’t a very good show and that’s not something I have to say about Impact Wrestling very often. Hopefully it’s better next week, as the pay per view needs some buildup.

Results
Eddie Edwards b. BDE – Boston Knee Party
Santino Marella/Indi Hartwell b. Stacks/Arianna Grace – Cobra to Stacks
Mr. Elegance b. Lei Ying Lee – Wind up DDT
Righteous b. Hardys – Orange Sunshine to Matt

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Impact Wrestling
Date: May 28, 2026
Location: Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento, California
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

The slow build towards Slammiversary continues and we have a few things starting to come together for the show. Some of them you can probably either guess from here or should be able to figure out in the coming weeks. That should make for an important enough few hours this week so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Men’s Champions Challenge

Champions: Mustafa Ali, Bear Bronson, Cedric Alexander, Brian Myers, Mike Santana
Challengers: Frankie Kazarian, Leon Slater, Eric Young, Elijah, KC Navarro

If one of the challengers pins a champion, they get a future title shot, though Young has said he won’t change from his current World Title shot. Shouldn’t he just get two titl….oh geez no don’t put that idea out there. Elijah grabs Myers’ arm to start and hits Old School as we take an early break. We come back with Santana working on Elijah’s arm but missing a flipping legdrop.

They get up for a standoff but Young comes in to jump Santana from behind. It’s already off to Kazarian, who is dropkicked down but pokes Santana in the eye. Santana elbows Elijah in the face and it’s Ali tagging himself in to take over. Everything breaks down (even commentary says they knew it was coming) and Elijah chokeslams Ali onto the apron. Slater hits a huge flip dive to wipe out the pile and we take a break.

We come back again with Elijah fighting out of Bronson’s headlock and sending him outside. Santana gets the tag and cleans house with the rolling Buck Fifty hitting Young. Another rolling Buck Fifty drops Kazarian and it’s Ali coming in for his rolling neckbreaker. That has Santana and Ali arguing so Navarro dropkicks both of them. A spinning DDT gets two on Ali, who drop toeholds Navarro and hands it back to Bronson to hammer away.

Bronson tosses Navarro for two and Ali tags himself back in, much to Bronson’s annoyance. That’s enough for Slater to get back in with a spinwheel kick for two. Everything breaks down again and Ali misses a charge. Slater’s Swanton 450 gets two, with Alisha Edwards putting the foot on the rope. Bronson throws Ali a belt but the referee takes it away. Slater hits a superkick and Navarro’s Blessing In Disguise pins Ali at 20:47.

Rating: B-. There were a lot of people in this thing but they made it work well. The good thing about something like this is you have multiple options for who can get the fall over whom and that opens things up rather well. It’s not something you can do very often but for a once in a while concept, it does exactly what it needs to do.

Arianna Grace complains about being thrown into a Knockouts Title match on short notice and losing as a result. Therefore, it’s time for Stacks to beat up Santino Marella. And no, she won’t visit when Marella is in a nursing home.

The Righteous invite the Broken Hardys to the Wicked Garden. Sweet goodness I cannot wait to get done with this stuff.

Tessa Blanchard vs. Harley Hudson

Blanchard shoves her down to start but gets hit with a running boot. An apron legdrop hits Blanchard again but she’s fine enough to kick Hudson out to the floor. Hudson’s knee is banged up so Blanchard drops it onto the ground for quite the crash. Back in and a DDT to the knee sets up a leglock, followed by a rather painful looking double underhook crank.

A running knee has Hudson in more trouble but she comes back with some rapid fire right hands. Hudson gets her up for a one legged fall away slam and a hip attack gets two. Blanchard gets sent into the buckle but comes back with a Codebreaker out of the corner for two. An Air Raid Crash onto the knee gives Hudson two of her own but Blanchard goes for the knee again. The Buzzsaw finishes Hudson at 8:09.

Rating: B-. At some point you need to throw these newer, unproven stars out there and see what they can do. That’s what they were trying with Hudson here and that’s not a bad idea. She held her own well enough, though she’s not going to have Blanchard out there every week. At least Hudson has had one good match of her own though and now we get to see where she can go from here.

The Personal Concierge interrupts Lei Ying Lee and tells her not to screw this up for the Elegance Brand tonight.

Santino Marella vs. Stacks

Arianna Grace is here too as Marella takes Stacks down by the leg. A front facelock lets Marella grab an armbar and Stacks needs to bail out to the floor. Back in and Marella snaps off some armdrags but his running splash hits raised knees. Marella needs a time out and gets punched in the bad ribs for his efforts. The beating doesn’t last long so Marella loads up the Cobra. Grace takes it away though and Stacks gets a rollup pin at 5:39.

Rating: C. At least it wasn’t long, as there was no reason for it to be anything beyond this. There isn’t much to having Stacks beat Marella the wrestler, but having him beat Marella the father could go a bit better. I’m sure the story won’t be over here, but they did get this right enough.

Post match Grace yells at Marella and slaps him but he grabs her arm. Stacks jumps him but Indi Hartwell makes the save and wants a mixed tag right now. Daria Rae comes out to say no because Stacks won fair and square. We can do it next week though. At least she didn’t say the catchphrase.

AJ Francis yells at someone for not having paperwork for him. It needs to be there by tomorrow at the latest.

Eddie Edwards vs. Fabian Aichner

Alisha Edwards is here with Eddie. Aichner starts fast with a springboard spinning crossbody and they go outside, where Aichner hits a heck of a clothesline. Alisha offers a distraction though and a release gordbuster drops Aichner back inside. A rather hard whip sends Aichner into the corner for two but he’s back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker.

Aichner’s brainbuster gets two but Eddie catches him on top for the backpack Stunner. Eddie tosses him outside, where Alisha grabs a kendo stick. That’s enough for an ejection so Eddie goes up, with Aichner butterfly superplexing him down. Cue the rest of the System so Aichner dives onto all of them, setting up a springboard tornado DDT. A bulldog choke goes on but the System runs in for the DQ at 7:33.

Rating: B-. First and foremost: this was already better than everything Aichner did on his own in WWE. The whole rich Italian guy never got off the ground and just having him be a tough, athletic guy (whose nickname seems to be the Gladiator) is quite a step up. That’s a good start and while I would have had him beat Eddie here, at least Aichner didn’t lose.

Women’s Champions Challenge

Champions: Lei Ying Lee, M By Elegance, Heather By Elegance
Challengers: Elayna Black, Xia Brookside, Mara Sade

Keith Jardine and the rest of the Elegance Brand are here too and this has the same “win for a title shot” rules. Lee and Brookside start things off but Brookside tags out, because that’s what we do in tag matches these days. Sade comes in and, after a handshake, trades standing switches with Lee. Sade takes her down into a quickly broken armbar and they get up for a standoff.

It’s off to M, who kicks Sade down and brings in Heather, who is taken down for Black’s basement dropkick. Brookside does her own blind tag and gets two on Heather, followed by a running dropkick to send her into the corner. Heather switches up and stomps away, allowing M to go Coast To Coast for two. Everything breaks down and Sade hits a slingshot dive onto the Brand and we take a break.

We come back with Sade crushing Heather in the corner and dropping a knee for two. Heather catches her up top though and gets in a quick Codebreaker, allowing M to come back in. A step up backsplash to the back hits Sade for two and M flips Heather onto her for two more. The double arm crank has Sade in more trouble but she’s back up with a springboard spinning double crossbody.

It’s off to Brookside vs. Lee, with the latter grabbing a suplex for two. The Warrior’s Way gives Lee two but Black makes the save. Everything breaks down and Mr. Elegance tries to interfere, earning himself a heel hook from Jardine. The Concierge is stalked to the back but Mr. Elegance gets in a quick distraction, allowing Brookside to plant Lee with Darkside for the pin at 16:00.

Rating: B-. This was a smaller version of the men’s match but it made sense to have Brookside beat Lee to get the title shot. That is a story that has been set up in advance and the result was little more than a formality. There’s nothing wrong with that and it makes perfect sense. It was also nice to have fewer people involved here, as it kept things that much less chaotic.

Overall Rating: B. This is something that TNA has done a few times now, with the idea working perfectly well. It’s a way to advance some storylines without having to burn through a bunch of matches. I liked this show rather well and that is usually the case when they pull this out. It’s a simple idea that TNA made feel important and it got them ready for a new batch of stuff, so this was rather efficient all around.

Results
Men’s Challengers b. Men’s Champions – Blessing In Disguise to Ali
Tessa Blanchard b. Harley Hudson – Buzzsaw
Stacks b. Santino Marella – Rollup
Fabian Aichner b. Eddie Edwards via DQ when the System interfered
Women’s Challengers b. Women’s Champions – Darkside to Lee

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Impact Wrestling
Date: May 14, 2026
Location: Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento, California
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

It’s another live show this week and the card is pretty stacked. On the docket this week, we have a street fight and a 2/3 falls match as Leon Slater defends the X-Division Title against Cedric Alexander in a bid to become the longest reigning champion of all time. The live shows have been hit or miss and I’m hoping they make it work here. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening video looks at Leon Slater’s near record setting X-Division Title reign, with only Cedric Alexander standing in the way of the record.

Opening sequence.

Battle Royal

Eddie Edwards, Bear Bronson, Brian Myers, Elijah, Mr. Elegance, Mustafa Saed, BDE, Eric Young, Vincent, Dutch, Frankie Kazarian, Home Town Man, Agent Zero, John Skyler, Jason Hotch

For a future World Title shot against Mike Santana and yes that is the same 62 year old Saed from ECW. Saed uses a bunch of weapons to start, gets in a fight with Zero, and is tossed. Good grief let the ECW thing die already. Anyway Zero and Dutch get in a fight and are both tossed. Elegance gets rid of BDE and poses, only to get tossed by Man. The System tries to get rid of Man, who backdrops Myers out instead.

Hotch gets knocked outside onto the steps (as moved by Zero) but pops back up onto the apron. A jumping knee knocks him out again as they’re certainly moving here. Kazarian tosses Man out of the corner but gets eliminated as well. Elijah faces off with the System but gets grabbed by Kazarian. That’s fine with Elijah, who backdrops the System out and before slugging it out with Young on the apron. A low blow gets rid of Elijah to give Young the win at 4:57.

Rating: C. Well they made good time. If you have a bunch of people who have no real chance of winning and a few stars in there, at least they didn’t waste time with all of the nonsense. That being said, Eric Young? That might actually be worse than bringing ECW, ahem, legends, out of mothballs again and again.

Leon Slater says this isn’t just another title match tonight because it’s his chance to rewrite the record books. The Hardys come in to offer some words of encouragement.

Mustafa Ali yells at Order 4 for losing and says the International Title open challenge is back next week.

Eric Young promises to win the World Title. That has to be illegal in multiple states yes?

Here is Lei Ying Lee for a chat. Last week was the greatest night of her life and she got the Knockouts Title back. She is so proud of herself for bringing the title back to TNA and while her English isn’t the best (her words), she wants to say thank you from the bottom of her heart. Cue Xia Brookside to interrupt, saying she wants the title. Lee rants in Chinese and translates to English, saying they can do this right now. Brookside says no and calls her a b**** in Mandarin.

The System promises to take out Moose and Cedric Alexander is getting the X-Division Title tonight.

Keith Jardine, star of an upcoming movie, is here but the Elegance Brand interrupts. Jardine isn’t impressed so Mr. Elegance gets in Jardine’s face. And then security gets them apart. Ok then.

AJ Francis vs. KC Navarro

Street fight and Chris Caray (the great grandson of Harry Caray and a fourth generation MLB announcer is on commentary). Navarro avoids a charge to start and kicks him in the face but gets knocked down without much trouble. They get inside where the Down Payment is countered and Navarro hits the 305. A suicide dive is pulled out of the air but Navarro keeps spinning into a tornado DDT. The table is set up on the floor and Navarro uses a chair before sending him into the steps.

We take a break and come back with Francis posting Navarro and stealing the baseball bat that Caray brought for protection. Navarro takes it away and finds an Athletics (the team Caray broadcasts and local to Sacramento at the moment) helmet. With Francis down in the corner, Navarro takes a swing at the air, runs around the corners, and dropkicks a trashcan into Francis.

A Fameasser gives Navarro two and he throws in a bunch of chairs. The chairs are set up but Francis gets in a bat shot, only for the super Down Payment is countered into a cutter onto the steps. Francis boots him down and hits the Down Payment over the top through the tables at ringside. What’s left of Navarro is thrown back inside and pinned at 15:01.

Rating: B-. I’m a big baseball fan so this was a nice little meeting of the two words. I’m not sure on Navarro being so obsessed with revenge that he had the time to stop for the home run deal but it was fine enough. That chokeslam at the end looked great and Francis can move on to something else. Caray was actually pretty good on commentary, as he might not have known much about what he was seeing but he made some nice comparisons to baseball and certainly sounded like he was interested. That’s a lot more than some guest broadcasters do.

We look at Leon Slater winning the X-Division Title last year at Slammiversary.

Here is Mike Santana for a chat (you might not want to have him walk through so many empty seats). Santana talks about his actions and words matching up and now he has a challenger. He’s facing Eric Young, who helped build this place, but Santana is the one who helped build this place in the AMC era. This brings out Daria Rae, who says the next challenger is actually Steve Maclin next week.

No she didn’t explain this to Santino Marella, but here he is to interrupt. He likes the title match, but he has his own announcements. First, Indi Hartwell has re-signed with TNA. Marella is also proud of Lei Ying Lee but Rae brings up Marella’s issues with Arianna Grace. Santana cuts them off and says he’ll beat anyone to keep his title. Rae has got to drop the SHUT UP I’M TALKING thing as it’s one of the worst catchphrases I’ve ever heard.

Myla Moore/Victoria Crawford vs. Rosemary/Allie

Tessa Blanchard and Mara Sade are here too. Rosemary backs Moore into the corner to start and Allie gets in a bite from the apron. Allie comes in to scream a lot and hits a running corner clockwise. Moore chokes her in the ropes though and it’s off to Crawford for a chinlock. Allie gets double kneed in the corner but comes out with a neckbreaker. Rosemary comes in to clean house and it’s a double Upside Down. Sade takes Blanchard out on the floor and Allie drops Moore next to her. Back in and As Above So Below finishes Crawford at 6:26.

Rating: C+. It’s so nice to have Allie and Rosemary back, as it gives Rosemary something to do and Allie has been gone for far too long. The Undead Realm stuff was kind of weird but the division needed some fresh blood. It helps that the two of them are long established names so they come in with an advantage.

Video on Leon Slater.

The Broken Hardys are ready to delete the Righteous.

X-Division Title: Leon Slater vs. Cedric Alexander

Slater is defending in a 2/3 falls match. They trade some rapid fire strikes in the corner until Slater reverses the Lumbar Check into a rollup for the first fall at 35 seconds. We take a break and come back with Slater getting whipped into the Tree Of Woe. Alexander pulls him into a backbreaker for two and we hit the chinlock. Slater isn’t having that and makes the clothesline comeback, including a spinwheel kick.

A high crossbody gives Slater two and they trade some rollups for two each. The Michinoku Driver gives Alexander two more but Slater knocks him into the corner. That just earns Slater the Lumbar Check to tie it up at 10:41 total. We take another break and come back again with both of them pulling themselves up. Slater sends him outside for the big flip dive over the corner, followed by a super Styles Clash for two back inside.

They head outside, where Alexander lawn darts him into the steps but stops to hold up the belt. Slater is rather busted open but he’s able to get two off a small package. Alexander’s brainbuster gets the same and another Lumbar Check gets another two. Slater knocks him down but misses the Swanton 450. Two more Lumbar Checks give Alexander the title at 22:11 total.

Rating: B. Well it certainly felt big, mainly because the match was treated as a huge deal. That’s what it needed to be, as Slater has been an outstanding champion. The good thing is Slater is a made man after his title reign and very well could move on to the World Title picture. Either way, good match here, and I’m not expecting Alexander to hold onto it for very long. Rather good main event here, with the atmosphere helping a lot.

Post match….Fabian Aichner (Giovanni Vinci) of all people shows up to stare Alexander down to end the show. That’s the kind of moment that really doesn’t need to be ending a show this big. Aichner was never a huge deal in WWE and while that could be better here (it can’t be worse than his Vinci stuff), this comes off as “he used to be in WWE so bring him in”. Him being here is good, but it’s definitely not a big closing the show with a surprise moment.

Overall Rating: B. The show did feel big and the main event mixed with the better than expected street fight brights it up. That being said, TNA has a very odd definition of a big moment/surprise and that was certainly on display again here. It’s a good show, though Aichner coming out at the end was more of an “uh, ok?” moment than a “whoa”.

Results
Eric Young won a battle royal last eliminating Elijah.
AJ Francis b. KC Navarro – Down Payment through tables
Rosemary/Allie b. Victoria Crawford/Myla Moore – As Above So Below to Crawford
Cedric Alexander b. Leon Slater 2-1

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Impact Wrestling
Date: May 7, 2026
Location: Upstate Medical University Arena At The Oncenter War Memorial, Syracuse, New York
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

We’re about a month and a half away from Slammiversary and as of right now, that actually is the next big show on the calendar. That’s a long time for TNA to go between major shows but hopefully they use the time to set up something big. As for tonight, EC3 and Eric Young are fighting again so let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

Opening sequence.

Eric Young vs. EC3

No DQ. EC3 jumps him to start fast and Young is quickly out on the floor. That’s fine with EC3, who knocks him down again and loads up a table. A trashcan and chair are thrown inside but naturally it takes too long, with Young chairing him down. The trashcan shot in the corner lets Young go up top but he gets slammed down and sent outside.

We take a break and come back with Young stomping him low and getting in another trashcan shot. Young uses the chain to choke away but gets caught with a weird forward DDT. A belly to back suplex puts EC3 down but he rolls away from the moonsault attempt. With the chain around Young’s neck, EC3 gives him a TKO and wraps a chair around his head. The 1%er plants Young, who is right back with a few low blows. A piledriver off the apron sends EC3 through a table and a piledriver onto a chair finishes for Young back inside at 13:08.

Rating: C. And I’m sure the Cleanse is coming any week now. Is that a thing we’re still doing? Anyway, this was a match that felt like it belonged at a small indy show in Kansas or something rather than a nationally televised show in 2026. This feud hasn’t felt important since it started and the payoff (please let it be the payoff) didn’t get much better.

Arianna Grace, with Stacks, isn’t worried about tonight’s title defense and doesn’t know why she has to keep proving herself.

We run down the remaining card.

The System is ready for everything they have going on tonight. I’m assuming this promo is included.

Here is Elayna Black for a chat. She’s the #1 Knockout and everyone knows it. No matter who is coming out of tonight’s main event with the title, she is coming for the gold. Cue Ash By Elegance (whose shirt makes it clear that she is NOT a mark) to say that if Black is a business, she is an empire. Indi Hartwell comes out to call this a stupid argument, with Ash saying Hartwell sounds so poor. Black leaves and Ash says Hartwell needs to let the real Knockouts talk. Hartwell laughs that off because everything about Ash is fake and wins a quick fight.

Daria Rae is on the phone and reveals that Santino Marella’s flight was canceled so she’ll have to be in charge tonight.

Tag Team Titles: Nic Nemeth/KC Navarro vs. The System

The System, with the System, is defending. Myers misses a charge at Navarro in the corner to start but takes him down anyway. Bronson comes in and gets double clotheslined, only to hit a regular clothesline on Nemeth. Myers chokes on the rope and the System gets in some choking from the floor.

A jumping knee to the face gets two on Nemeth and a belly to back suplex puts him down again. The Roster Cut is countered into a Fameasser though and it’s Navarro coming in for a DDT to Bronson. Everything breaks down and Nemeth hits a dive but gets speared by Myers. Alisha grabs Navarro’s leg though and Bear Down retains the titles at 6:35.

Rating: C+. Anything involving Nemeth is going to feel like a big deal around here, even if it didn’t feel like the titles were in the most danger. At least Navarro got to look like a bit of a bigger deal, as he’s doing something other than getting beaten up by AJ Francis. It worked well for a match that was designed to bridge the System to their next major title defense.

Post match the rest of the System wants their match right now.

The System vs. Leon Slater/Moose

Slater chops away at Alexander to start before hitting a handspring elbow. Edwards comes in and gets caught with a hurricanrana but manages to elbow Slater in the face. Everything breaks down and the System is sent outside for a pair of dives. We settle down to Alexander still being in trouble but it’s back to Edwards to whip Slater all the way out to the floor.

We take a break and come back with the beating on Slater continuing, including Alexander’s Michinoku Driver getting two. Alexander is frustrated, allowing Slater to fight up and win a chop off. It’s off to Moose to clean house, including the chokebomb out of the corner to plant Edwards.

Slater comes back in for a double handspring elbow and they all get up to slug it out. Moose and Edwards clothesline each other down so Alexander Lumbar Checks Slater. That earns Alexander a spear but Moose headbutts Edwards. The spear misses but Moose rolls Edwards up for the pin at 15:29.

Rating: B. This got rolling near the end, which tends to be the case with most things involving Slater. He and Moose are working as a mini Mega Powers concept, which isn’t a bad way to go for them. If nothing else, Slater vs. Alexander is feeling like a big deal next week, though Slater feels like he’s coming for the World Title in the coming months. Or at least he should.

We look back at the return of Broken Matt Hardy last week.

The Broken Hardys warn the Righteous that they have opened Pandora’s Box. This is a gateway to something much worse and Jeff sings about hurting the Righteous. I guess we’ve got a few more weeks of this to go too. Lucky us.

Here is Mike Santana for a chat. Santana talks about his match with Rich Swann a few weeks ago and how they tore the house down. Now he wants his next challenger but here is Daria Rae to say Santana doesn’t get to make that choice. Since Santino Marella isn’t here, Rae makes a battle royal for next week to crown a new #1 contender. Works for Santana, but Rae wants her music played. Rae and this battling bosses deal just kills any energy the segment could have.

AJ Francis rants about KC Navarro and wants a street fight next week.

Navarro yells about everything Francis has put him through and is ready to fight. This was some good fire.

Knockouts Title: Lei Ying Lee vs. Arianna Grace

Grace, with Stacks, is defending. They fight over wrist control until Grace knocks her into the corner. A kick to the ribs is blocked though and Lee gets two off a sunset flip. Lee hits a running knee for two and hammers away in the corner before grabbing a suplex. Grace bails to the floor so Lee dives onto both of them as we take a break.

We come back with Lee hitting a jawbreaker but getting caught with Graceland for two. Lee counters a kick to the head into a leg crank, with Grace bailing over to the rope. Back up and Lee knocks her down for two more but Grace’s running elbow gets the same. Lee rolls through a high crossbody and hits a fall away slam for another near fall.

Grace is back up to catch her on top with a superplex but Lee kicks her down. Warrior’s Way connects so Stacks puts the foot on the rope, earning himself an ejection. Lee even dropkicks him through the ropes, allowing Grace to hit a fisherman’s neckbreaker for a rather near fall. Back up and Lee jumps to the top for a spinning neckbreaker to regain the title at 13:46.

Rating: B-. This was kind of a weird one, as the idea was that Grace was something like the Honky Tonk Man and in way over her head. It would make sense for a bigger, more accomplished star to beat her and Lee would qualify, but it didn’t feel like an overly big moment. Still though, at least the title reign didn’t go on too long and the title is back in a good place.

Lee has a rather emotional celebration to…hang on.

Moose has been attacked and that ends the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This was more about wrapping some things up as we move on to next week’s live show and a fresh set of tapings. It’s still kind of hard to fathom that we’re not getting another big show before Slammiversary but it is letting them have the time to make things feel bigger. This felt big enough, though next week is going to be a pretty stacked week, which is always good to see. Not a great show here, but it has me looking forward to the coming weeks and that’s the right idea.

Results
Eric Young b. EC3 – Piledriver onto a chair
The System b. Nic Nemeth/KC Navarro – Bear Down to Navarro
Moose/Leon Slater b. The System – Rollup to Edwards
Lei Ying Lee b. Arianna Grace – Super spinning neckbreaker

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