Impact Wrestling
Date: January 25, 2024
Location: Palms Casino Resort, Paradise, Nevada
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

We’re on the second week of the regular show and things got a bit more interesting last week. Nic Nemeth is around and already has a target on his back thanks to Steve Maclin. Other than that, Josh Alexander seems back on top of his game after beating Will Ospreay in a rather good match. Let’s get to it.

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

In Memory Of Frank Caiazzo, better known as Francisco Ciatso, an independent wrestler who passed away recently.

Opening recap.

Opening sequence, now with Cross The Line. I miss We Own The Night.

Chris Bey vs. Kevin Knight

Ace Austin is here with Bey, who starts with a headlock. Knight powers out of that and grabs an armdrag, followed by a very enthusiastic slam. That’s not working for Bey, as he sends Knight outside and hits a hard dive. Back in and Knight hits a springboard clothesline for two but Bey catches him in the ropes. A springboard legdrop to the back of the head sets up the Art Of Finesse for the pin on Knight at 6:47.

Rating: C+. Knight was definitely bringing the energy here and it made for a good opener. Bey is someone who can have a good match with anyone and once the ABC stuff is over, I wouldn’t object to seeing him doing something higher on the card. For now though, I’ll settle for him having a nice opening match with an up and comer.

Post match the Grizzled Young Veterans run in to lay out ABC.

Ash By Elegance video.

We look back at Frankie Kazarian snapping on Eric Young last week.

Rich Swann asks what’s up with Kazarian, who blows him off. With Kazarian gone, AJ Francis comes up to say he wants to be in Swann’s corner, but Swann isn’t impressed.

Dirty Dango/Oleg Prudius vs. Damian Drake/Dante King

Alpha Bravo is here with Dango/Prudius. Drake gets ran over and sent outside to start as Dango has a seat on the ramp. Dango bothers to come in and hits a Nightmare On Helm Street to finish King at 1:42. Total squash.

The Grizzled Young Veterans say they weren’t pinned at Hard To Kill so they want a Tag Team Title shot. Santino Marella comes in to say that doesn’t work but ABC comes in to say they want a fight. Santino makes a 2/3 series for the titles, starting next week.

The Motor City Machine Guns and Kazuchika Okada are ready for the System.

Knockouts Title: Trinity vs. Jordynne Grace

Grace is defending and, after the Big Match Intros, gets punched up against the ropes. Trinity pulls her into Starstruck but Grace is right next to the ropes. A splits splash gets two but Grace is back with a spinebuster for two of her own as we take a break. Back with Grace countering a neckbreaker out of the corner, setting up a Vader Bomb for two.

A hanging headscissor driver gives Trinity two as commentary talks about everything else coming on the show. Grace takes her up top for a superplex and then rolls into a Jackhammer for another near fall. Not to be out done, Trinity grabs her full nelson bomb into a rollup for two of her own. An exchange of rollups for two each set up Starstruck but Grace reverses into a cradle for the pin to retain at 11;15.

Rating: B-. It was completely fine and the ending sequence was good, but it never quite got into the next gear. Trinity winning the title and holding it for a good while was a nice moment but it makes sense that Grace is the next big thing. She’s been on top of the division before and having her win here is a good way to establish her dominance.

Post match Gisele Shaw, Jai Vidal and Savannah Evans run in for the beatdown and leave Grace and Trinity laying.

The System is ready to go international tonight.

Josh Alexander is proud of his win last week but Alan Angels interrupts and wants Alexander on his new talk show. Sure why not.

Nic Nemeth vs. Zachary Wentz

Trey Miguel is here with Wentz and this is Nemeth’s first ever match outside of WWE or its minor leagues. Nemeth wrestles him to the ropes to start but Wentz gets in a shot to the face. A handspring knee to the face misses for Wentz but Miguel offers a distraction, allowing Wentz to take it to the floor.

Back in and Wentz chokes away until Miguel gets in a cheap shot of his own. Nemeth fights up and hits a Stinger Splash into a neckbreaker, only to miss a charge into the post. An exchange of rollups sets up Nemeth’s running DDT for two, followed by Wentz’s spinning half nelson slam for two. Back up and the Danger Zone (Zig Zag) finishes for Nemeth at 7:32.

Rating: B-. So that’s how Nemeth got started outside of WWE and he did well enough. I’m not sure what Nemeth is going to be doing in TNA that is different than his time in WWE, but getting in the ring is a good start. Nemeth is a big signing for TNA and it’s good to see him getting to do something, as he’s too good to be on the sidelines for as long as he was in WWE.

Post match Steve Maclin comes in to jump Nemeth but gets Danger Zoned as well.

Crazzy Steve says he doesn’t like listening to people but Rhino comes in to say maybe he should make Steve listen. Rhino shoves him down and Steve laughs.

Decay, in a white room, talk about being back to normal and being glad to be away from their too nice versions.

Dani Luna/Jody Threat vs. MK Ultra

Luna powers Slamovich down to start and Threat adds a basement lariat for two. Things settle down a bit and MK double teams Luna down to take over, including a suplex into a legdrop. Luna runs Kelly over though and it’s off to Threat to clean house. Kelly catches Threat on top though and it’s a double piledriver (that looked good) to give Slamovich the pin at 3:35.

Rating: C. Not much to see here there other than MK Ultra getting a win to reestablish themselves after losing the titles. The title change came out of pretty much nowhere as, again, there is barely anything to the tag division at the moment. Or ever or that matter, but that’s another problem for later.

Motor City Machine Guns/Kazuchika Okada vs. System

That would be Moose/Eddie Edwards/Brian Myers with Alisha Edwards. Shelley and Myers start things off but we get a six way staredown in less than fifteen seconds. We take a break and come back with Okada coming in for a staredown with Moose. The latter runs him over with a shoulder but the spear and Rainmaker both miss.

Sabin comes in to take on Edwards, with a leg crank keeping Edwards in trouble. That’s broken up and everything breaks down and the villains take over on Sabin. Myers grabs the chinlock and we take another break. Back again with Sabin hitting a middle rope double clothesline, followed by a heck of a springboard tornado DDT for two on Edwards. Shelley comes back in and the Guns get to clean house.

Sabin kicks Shelley in the face by mistake though and Edwards hits the Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Sabin is fine enough to hit a high crossbody and another DDT allows the tag off to Okada. House is cleaned and a neckbreaker gets two on Moose. There’s the top rope elbow to Moose but the Rainmaker is blocked. Moose cuts him off with a dropkick and they’re both down. Everything breaks down and Edwards hits the Backpack Stunner for two on Shelley. Moose is back in but gets kicked to the floor again. The Rainmaker into Shell Shock finishes Myers at 19:31.

Rating: B. It might have been a bit weird to have the System lose in a six man like this but there is no shame in losing to the Guns and Okada. Myers was out there to take the all as he might be good but he’s not quite on the level as Edwards and the reigning World Champion. It felt like a special match and if nothing else, it’s nice to have the real Okada here for a change.

We see a bunch of people standing around with someone talking about a change. It’s time for a sudden change with a new x-actor. He is Mustafa Ali and he approves this message. Well there’s a big one.

Overall Rating: B. The best thing I can take out of this show is that, at least so far, there hasn’t been a major change from Impact to TNA. While that makes me wonder how necessary the change was in the first place, I’ve liked the shows so far. What matters is keeping up the momentum and they’re doing just that so far, especially with names like Nemeth and Okada around for the time being. Good show here, with the main event being quite awesome.

Results
Chris Bey b. Kevin Knight – Art Of Finesse
Dirty Dango/Oleg Prudius b. Damian Drake/Dante King – Nightmare On Helm Street to King
Jordynne Grace b. Trinity – Cradle
MK Ultra b. Dani Luna/Jody Threat – Double piledriver to Threat
Motor City Machine Guns/Kazuchika Okada b. System – Shell Shock to Myers

 

 

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Impact Wrestling
Date: January 18, 2024
Location: Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

It’s a regular show for the first time in a good while and in this case that means it’s the first weekly show back under the TNA name. We have some new champions, with Moose as the new World Champion and Jordynne Grace as the new Knockouts Champion. That should be more than enough to carry things for a few weeks, but we also have Josh Alexander vs. Will Ospreay II. Let’s get to it.

Here is Hard To Kill if you need a recap.

We open with a long Hard To Kill recap, capped off by the debut of Nic Nemeth.

Kushida vs. Jake Something vs. Trey Miguel vs. Laredo Kid vs. Mike Bailey vs. El Hijo del Vikingo

One fall to a finish. Kushida gets the idea of a bunch of people going after Something but Miguel gets tossed instead. Triple dives take down the villains on the floor before Miguel hits the Lightning Spiral on Kushida. Something is back in to shrug off chops from Vikingo, who is powerbombed over the top onto a bunch of people. Kushida cartwheels into a basement dropkick to Miguel but Vikingo is back in to break up the Hoverboard Lock. Not that it matters as Something comes back in with Into The Void to finish Kid at 5:34.

Rating: C+. This would have been better off as a four way or a triple threat for the sake of giving the match some more space to breathe. They were going for the idea of “total nonstop action” here and that’s a fun way to start. It’s something Impact had been doing for months now and it worked here too. Something continues to look and feel like a force, but having him win something that matters would be nice.

Will Ospreay is ready to beat Josh Alexander again and talks about how TNA made him a wrestler. This was a talk into the camera promo and Ospreay had some fire.

Video on Ash By Elegance, which looks like a perfume commercial.

We look at Gisele Shaw winning Ultimate X at Hard To Kill.

Shaw did what she said she would do and now Jordynne Grace needs to keep her eyes open. Gail Kim comes in to say this is what Shaw can do on her own, but Shaw walks away.

Tasha Steelz vs. Xia Brookside

Brookside rolls out of a wristlock to start and snaps off a hurricanrana. Steelz is back up with a poke to the eye and a headbutt for two. The chinlock goes on before Steelz grabs Three Amigos, which thankfully doesn’t include an Eddie dance. Brookside is back up with a headscissors and a running neckbreaker for one. Steelz’s Codebreaker gets two but Brookside catches her on top with an Iconoclasm into a bridging pin (the Brooksie Bomb) at 5:06.

Rating: C. Nothing exactly great here but it was a way to get Brookside a win to establish herself a little bit here. Brookside is someone who did well during her time in NXT UK but that doesn’t exactly make her a household name. Let her get her feet wet here and she should be off to a nice start.

We look at Joe Hendry’s music video about AJ Francis, which earned him a beating thanks to a laptop shot to the back from DJ Who Kid.

Hendry isn’t happy with the beatdown but again brings up Francis being the Cheez-It Champion, which is the point of the music video. We’ll call it all even, as he even has a new laptop….and has apparently taken out Who Kid.

Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Frankie Kazarian/Eric Young

Young goes right after Gibson to start but Drake comes in to work on his arm instead. Kazarian comes in and gets pulled to the floor, where a dive takes him out. We take a break and come back with Kazarian getting pulled back into the corner to cut off a tag attempt. Kazarian suplexes his way out of trouble but Drake pulls Young off the apron in a smart move. Some running shots in the corner rock Kazarian but he ducks an elbow and gets over to Young for the fast tag. Everything breaks down and Grit Your Teeth (double Codebreaker) finishes Young at 9:44.

Rating: C. Much like Brookside, this was a nice way to have the newcomers get a win over some established names. The Veterans are a good team but they’re brand new around here and need to show what they can do. Beating some former World Champions, even if they’re not a regular team, should accomplish that just fine.

Post match a frustrated Kazarian turns on Young, ending their partnership after…five days. Kazarian yells at him a good bit, saying this was supposed to be Kazarian’s year and nailing a Fade To Black.

The System celebrated Moose’s World Title win in Las Vegas. It’s a new beginning for all of them and Moose is only going to be known as World Champion.

Here is Nic Nemeth for a chat. Hard To Kill was a special moment and TNA is back. After the required chant (Nemeth: “I love that.”), Nemeth talks about how he’s intimidated, scared and excited. He picked his time and place and wound up face to face with the TNA World Champion.

Now he’s going to win the TNA World Title and celebrate with everyone in this crowd. He’s gotten to the top before and now he’s going to do it again st Nic Nemeth. Cue Steve Maclin to interrupt, saying it’s his turn to talk. This is his area of operations and all people are going to ask is what happened to Dolph Ziggler. The fight is on and Nemeth drops him in a hurry. That sets up his first big match and gave him a nice intro promo.

Jordynne Grace is happy with her win over Trinity, who interrupts her. Trinity is taking her rematch next week.

Here is Jai Vidal to say he hates this place and no one here can beat him up.

PCO vs. Jai Vidal

PCO knocks him into the corner to start, followed by the chokeslam and PCOsault for the pin at 1:25.

The Motor City Machine Guns talk about knowing Kazuchika Okada, who they want to face the System next week. Okada pops in to say he’s back.

Josh Alexander vs. Will Ospreay

Ospreay flips out of a wristlock to start and takes him down, which is good for an early standoff. Alexander’s running shoulder just makes Ospreay nip up, where he can chop Alexander down and hit a standing shooting star press for two. A backbreaker gives Ospreay two but Alexander breaks up a springboard. The running crossbody on the apron sends Ospreay out to the floor and we take a break.

Back with Alexander winning a fight over a suplex and hitting a powerbomb onto the knee for two. A regular backbreaker sends Ospreay to the apron, meaning it’s time to fight over a drive through the table (because there’s a table at ringside). Ospreay hits a tiger driver through said table and we pause for the medics to check on both of them. The referee says we’re continuing but Alexander has to beat the count….where Ospreay hits a springboard missile dropkick to the ribs.

The Oscutter gets two but the Hidden Blade misses. We take another break and come back with Alexander hitting a Tombstone on the ramp. They get back in with Alexander getting two off a super Regal Roll, setting up the ankle lock. Ospreay rolls it into the corner, setting up the Cheeky Nandos Kick.

A super poisonrana sets up the Hidden Blade to give Ospreay two and they both need a breather. Another Hidden Blade sets up the Storm Driver 93 for two more and another breather. A third Hidden Blade is cut off and Alexander runs through him with a clothesline. The C4 Spike is countered but so is Ospreay’s Styles Clash, with Alexander hitting one of his own for two. Now the C4 Spike can finish Ospreay at 22:45.

Rating: A-. This was a heck of a match and it gave Alexander the big win that he has been needing. Ospreay is one of the best in the world at the moment and it means a lot for someone to get that kind of a win over him. Alexander hung in there with him the entire way and then dropped Ospreay on his head for the pin. Great match here and worth a look.

Post match Scott D’Amore comes out and talks about his love for wrestling and how this place was declared dead. Now there is blood pumping through its veins and it has inspired people like Will Ospreay and Trey Miguel and Tasha Steelz. TNA is back and it’s never going away. The old Cross The Line theme plays us out.

Overall Rating: B. This is a show where the main event is going to be the big focal point and not much else is going to matter. The main event more than stole the show and I had a good enough time with the rest of the night. It was a good follow up to Hard To Kill as they were pushing the idea that TNA is back, but it really just felt like the same Impact with a different color scheme. If they can keep that going then they’ll be in a good place, and it started with this show being pretty awesome.

Results
Jake Something b. Kushida, Trey Miguel, Laredo Kid, Mike Bailey and El Hijo del Vikingo – Into The Void to Kid
Xia Brookside b. Tasha Steelz – Brooksie Bomb
Grizzled Young Veterans b. Eric Young/Frankie Kazarian – Grit Your Teeth to Young
PCO b. Jai Vidal – PCOsault
Josh Alexander b. Will Ospreay – C4 Spike

 

 

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

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.