Impact was met with largely negative reviews from viewers. As of Saturday morning, the broadcast holds a 1.52 overall rating (out of 10) on the Cagematch website database.

There were work visa processing issues that prevented Leon Slater, Harley Hudson, producer Lance Storm, Dani Luna, and potentially others from being able to travel into the United States while former WCW President Eric Bischoff criticized the show’s production.

The post AMC executives that attended TNA Impact’s premiere said to have been “very happy” with the show appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

If you enjoy this video, please consider subscribing to the NoDQ YouTube channel and turning on the notification bell for updates. Say YES to NoDQ!

The post Video: Aaron Rift’s recap of TNA Impact for January 15th 2026 appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

Jason Hatch defeated Man Like Dereiss (taped for Xplosion)

Scoop #8: Oba Femi out

Immediately interrupted by Moose and The System

They are separated by security

Oba Femi vs Moose will occur at NXT Roadblock pic.twitter.com/vD2EvHMM5T

— Jacob Cohen (@MrJacobCohen) February 22, 2025

The post Impact spoilers including the announcement of an NXT vs. TNA match for WWE Roadblock appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

This happened during 2017… So if you did simple Mathematics with her being born in 1995, she was 22 years old when she allegedly spat on and called La Rosa Negra a racial slur.

22 years old.

For anyone reading this, were you 100% perfect as a 22 year old or anything in your 20s? Those are the years where you’re still immature, as science has proven that most adults take up to their 26th year for their brains to fully become matured.

And if you’re a wrestling fan in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, I guarantee that you said certain BAD things in your youth that were considered “acceptable” 25 years ago that are immediately silenced now. For example, anyone or anything that you considered stupid, you’d call that person a “retard” or call a situation “retarded”. To taunt any fellow male back then, you’d mock them by accusing them of being a homosexual by calling them a “homo”, “c***sucker”, or what’s really considered a slur up there with other racial slurs, “f****t”. You can fill in the blanks for these ignorant playground taunts that happened, but were also inserted into 1990s and early 2000s music back then. Go listen to Eminem’s Marshall Mathers LP album, which is a bi-product of that era and wasn’t just him speaking like that through the year 2000.

And if you’re in your 60s or above, you’re right in that era where black people had to use separate facilities, schools, drinking fountains, and all of that Jim Crow BS that insulted and held back an entire demographic of people. That “separate but equal” BS, which I believe is the genesis of Hulk Hogan’s slurs about black men dating his daughter as heard from the sex tape. He grew up during the 1950s and 1960s, and that way of thinking is ingrained within the Hulkster.

And for those in their 20s or below… I SEE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS and YOU’RE NOT FOOLING ME. Full of hatred, as you nitpick and attack every thing that you see. The stuff that you circulated in High School, whether they were photos of other kids or rumors about other kids, were far more disturbing and disgusting than any face-to-face taunts. Lots of suicides have been happening because of how kids are digitally bullied during their teenage years. YOU ARE MONSTERS with the way you utilize Social Media to attack people from a long distance away.

FINGER OF SHAME to you, HYPOCRITES, for constantly trying to judge someone without looking in the mirror yourself.

What’s that phrase?

Those who throw stones live in glass houses.

Yes, that’s the one.

Look, I 100% DO NOT condone Tessa Blanchard for what she allegedly did in Japan during 2017. Spitting on another human being is degrading, along with firing off a racial slur. She was 22 when that allegedly happened, but she was around 25 when that story, along with others of her bullying people backstage, came out during 2020.

Again, as I ask the audience, were you perfect at 25 years old, let alone 22 years of age?

And how long should she be punished for her deeds?

Honest question, how long should she be punished for things she was accused of doing? Nothing has ever been caught on film or recordings, unlike Hulk Hogan whose racial slurs were caught on video and audio of him saying the N-word repeatedly. He was cancelled for 2 years before being able to resume making money again with the wrestling business. Tessa Blanchard was disallowed continued employment from TNA (who essentially let her go during 2020), both WWE and AEW denied her, and Tessa couldn’t find work with any smaller United States promotions.

4 years…

How about this? I’ll dig up negative Tweets or root around in your past to see if you said or did anything questionable or derogatory. Then, you’ll have to take 4 years off from your chosen field or profession. Sound like a deal? Do you think that you’re willing to struggle financially to make ends meet for 4 years of being denied employment everywhere?

The last 2 presidents that we’ve had have a history of saying or doing questionable things, even about race… Yet, both Joe Biden and Donald Trump were allowed to become President of the United States by winning the majority of the votes. If that’s not a standard of saying something and then being allowed to move on, then I don’t know what your crooked standards are.

But keep trying to let a good in-ring talent be blacklisted from the business. You’ll be denying yourself GOOD wrestling that could happen if you just give her another chance.

Folks, everyone should be allowed to evolve, especially if they said or did something in their teenage years or 20s. Obviously, if they committed a heinous crime like murder or assault, that’s different… But when it’s JUST WORDS, someone should be given the chance to evolve and then prove that they’ve evolved. Then, if said person messes up again, just let them go.

We live in a time, thanks to the last 20 years, where someone is completely cancelled if they do one small thing that is inconsequential to your lives. The Dixie Chicks (now self-censoring themselves as just “The Chicks”, thanks to the shaming of 2020) were censored during 2003 for simply saying at an England venue that they were “ashamed” that George W. Bush was from their home state of Texas in response the War in Iraq starting up. What happened? Irate fans destroyed their albums and Country Stations completely censored their music, literally never playing them to this very day. For what? Words and for using the 1st Amendment.

Yeah, as it turns out, the War in Iraq was a quite a mess for the United States and I’m pretty sure no links to 9/11 or “weapons of mass destruction” were ever found. Sure, Saddam was a bad individual, but we went into Iraq as a response to the tragic events of 9/11. The Dixie Chicks paid a severe price, as they had death threats and being shunned by the Country Music industry crushed any monetary opportunities for them.

BUT, thanks to the over-reaction to someone using their 1st Amendment rights, we were literally denied 15 years of 3 highly talented musicians pumping out great music. Not only that, it turned their love for making music sour and they haven’t been the same since.

How about Janet Jackson? She literally did nothing wrong, as a stunt during the Super Bowl halftime show following the 2004 season went wrong and her nipple was exposed on live television. Now, most of the Super Bowl audience was of adult age and had already succeeded in having sexual relations with someone. That, and along with seeing a Playboy magazine, watching adult films on DVD/VHS, or seeing it on the growing internet, it’s quite bizarre how prudish people were during early 2005. Yet, the brief 2-3 seconds that you could see her nipple created a firestorm for Janet Jackson who was completely censored from radio stations and that vile Viacom CEO Les Moonves, who would see karma later with his own alleged sexual harassment issues, censored Janet anywhere he could.

In doing so, censoring Janet was denied YEARS of her promoting any of her newer music, as she’s an incredible female talent who didn’t get credit for being one of the legit best artists out there.

How about in response to 9/11 when Clear Channel did targeted censorship of any artists who remotely had aggressive lyrics? Yeah, lots of rock and metal bands were blacklisted from ever being played on the radio again and that harmed careers. Lots of great music was denied from ever getting airtime.

Do you see what cancellation and censorship, THANKS TO OVER-REACTION, can cause? You’re denying great art from being allowed to be consumed by the general public. The loud minority of individuals throwing stones from their glass houses are able to dictate what the majority of us would like to enjoy.

Tessa lost 4 peak years of her wrestling career due to being an immature a-hole during her early to mid 20s. Isn’t that enough pain, from her side, for what she did especially if she made amends with the person she slandered and spat at?

Sorry, folks, but this is BS… This “she’s a racist” stuff needs to go away UNLESS she obvious does it again.

And let me take this further… Don’t most religions preach FORGIVENESS? I could pull up random Holy Bible quotes if you’d like?

Matthew 6:14: “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”

And there are many more quotes that I could pull from the Bible, let alone from other scriptures of other religions.

In summary, if it’s revealed that Tessa at age 29 about to be 30, is still spitting on and hurling racial slurs at black individuals or any other race, then I’ll 100% join you in throwing stones. BUT, if that past behavior hasn’t been repeated in the last 4 years and probably won’t with her return to TNA, then give her another damn chance.

Again, LOOK IN THE MIRROR… You’ve had transgressions yourself when you’ve treated someone unfairly or slandered them. Nobody is perfect, especially in their 20s. Hulk Hogan was around 50 when he said the N-word repeatedly on film and audio, yet he’s allowed to be given a second chance and hell, allowed to campaign for a future President of the United States (speaking at the Republican Convention, for God’s sakes!). You just boo him instead of chanting “he’s a racist”. Yet, you’ve chosen to target the younger female instead because she’s an easier target and you’re quietly MARKS for saying your prayers and taking your vitamins.

Give Tessa a chance to succeed… Like Hogan, just boo her and shove that “she’s a racist” taunts up your arses until she deserves it if and only if she slurs or spits at someone else. Mmmmmkay?

Everybody makes STUPID mistakes when they are younger… Its when they don’t learn from said mistake as they get older is when it becomes a concern. Tessa deserves a chance to prove herself, just as YOU deserve a chance to prove yourself if you ever messed up before. Lucky for you, you’re not a public figure that is held up to a massive standard.

Follow me on Blue Sky!

Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ

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TNA Turning Point was a very lackluster show that left some fans with a foul taste in their mouths. From the broadcast looking like it was shot on an old camcorder, to the number of random “why is this even happening” matches that felt very placeholder-ish, I think I can speak for many regular TNA viewers when I say that I’m hoping to see some TNA redeem itself as we head towards 2025.

On to the show.

Five-way #1 Contender’s Match: Trent Sevin vs. Leon Slater vs. Kushida vs. JDC vs. Ace Austin

Talk about drawing names out of a hat. This match will determine who faces Moose for the X-Division title at Final Resolution in Moose’s hometown of Atlanta. I don’t think enough of a deal was made about Moose’s stablemate being included in this match- let alone the implication of him winning. It didn’t matter though, because looking at the field- only 2 of the 5 competitors in this match would make some sense in winning, and Dango wasn’t one of those 2. Slater is a guy that TNA has been featuring regularly, but they’re not letting him win much. He has crazy hops, but that’s all we know about him so far. Ace seemed to fare a little better, serving as an ally to the Hardys while his tag team partner is still recovering in Detroit. That time appears to have concluded however, as Ace was on his own, and it looks like they will just throw him anywhere to make up for the drastic change of plans due to Chris Bey’s scary injury. Kushida is another guy who TNA creative can’t seem to figure out what to do with.

The match was fine for what it was, and it was a departure from the standard X-Division multi-man car crash. I think JDC is untapped as far as potential when it comes to heel work, as he seems to keep finding himself in a comedic role. I hate seeing Sevin do the deal where he fakes a punch, and the opponent ducks or covers his face to block. It makes the opponent look stupid and cowardly covering his face or ducking like that. This match really could have used Moose’s presence at ringside to feel a little more important, instead of feeling like it’s just a competition to see who will be the next to lose.

The finish sees Kushida pin Slater with “Back to the Future”. Slater eating the pin was an odd choice when you had Sevin right there. In no way am I suggesting that Slater should be a world-beater by tomorrow, but with these short contracts and the possibility of TNA’s top stars going to WWE some day, one would think the time is now to start building new stars for the future.

Now HERE’S where the show starts getting interesting for me:

Tasha Steelz Interview

I’ve expressed my admiration of Ms. Steelz in before. As I see commenters on her IG posts lusting after her or primarily complimenting her physical beauty- I sometimes wonder if I’m the only one seeing how talented she is. Gia Miller asks Tasha about her match tonight against Jordynne Grace, and as I said before, with Tasha- it’s just the little things. In WWE- as good as many of the lady wrestlers are in the ring- whenever you hear them on the mic, they sound so overly scripted, and the acting is 4th grade play-level and over-the-top. You hear most women wrestlers cut promos and you just KNOW that they don’t talk like that in real life. Such is SO NOT the case with Tasha. I believe that she has a bad attitude and that she’s overconfident. Nothing she says feels forced or stereotyped. It sounded natural. Even if you know she’s gonna get her butt kicked, you’re still convinced that SHE believes she’s gonna do the kicking.

Next up: tag team match, playa.

PCO and Sami Callahan vs. the Good Hands

My first memory of the Good Hands is them being stooges for Bully Ray. And ever since Bully went back to Busted Open Radio, the Hands have done nothing more than show up, cut a promo to get heat from the crowd, and then lose. At one point, it looked as if Skyler was being positioned for a singles babyface run, but that seems to have been abandoned. Hotch is a good talker, and both guys have shown the potential to be a solid heel tag team that could organically turn face when the time is right. They, however, much like poor Leon Slater, can’t seem to buy a win.

I’m not sure why Callahan and PCO are teaming together, but I guess it’s something for both of them to do for the moment. No new contenders are being made for either of PCO’s titles, and neither has it been explained why he’s still carrying around the International Heavyweight title. This is not the sized roster that needs an inflation of titles- sanctioned or unsanctioned. I wrote last time- the Digital Media title has meant nothing since Joe Hendry lost it.

Oh yeah- the match. Sami and PCO won. Surprise, surprise. After the match, the number 23 kept ominously flashing across the big screen to the confusion of the winners. They approached Jake Something and Hammerstone backstage to ask if they had anything to do with the graphic. As if. Not exactly guys who look like they know their way around graphic design. This weird confrontation leads to a tag team match next week. Remember what I said earlier about the need to build new stars? TNA has already fumbled the former MLW champion Hammerstone (something I forgot to rant about in my last article). And why they’re still allowing a guy to walk around with the last name “Something” is beyond me.

I got a little ahead of myself, because before the above confrontation- we had TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth talking to us. He was interrupted by First Class. Oh joy. AJ Francis talks himself up and says that he’s had a great year, while Navarro does the annoying sidekick thing. Francis says that he wants to add 10 pounds… of gold. Please, no. Nemeth then fires back with what sounds like what he wanted to finish saying before he was interrupted. He put Francis over (not sure why) and gave us more rah rah about being a fighting champion. Santino “just so happens” to be walking by, and one comical mispronouciation of a name later, and we have the main event of Final Resolution. I’ll vomit all over this later.

Thankfully, the Hardys (guys people actually WANT to see) are up next, and they are defending their tag titles against Brian Myers and Eddie Edwards of the System.

This is the System’s contractual rematch, and I not only admire how TNA is the only company that still does those, but I also admire how they can be patient, so-to-speak, with these rematch clauses, and not burn through them so soon. The Hardys continue to look good for a couple of guys who’ve been up and down the road, with both brothers hitting almost all of their signature spots. We’ve all seen old timers come back and overstay their welcome in wrestling, and have cringed while watching them show their past-their-prime-ess-ness. But Matt and Jeff have mastered the art of wrestling according to their speed, and factoring in the selling, the hot tags, and the tandem moves that cover any holes in their game. They’ve even added moves to their set, and they know how to work well with any other team. It also helps to be in the ring with a couple of pros like Myers and Edwards. Both teams have good chemistry, and Alisha as the heel valet is the icing on the cake.

The match ended in DQ when Alisha struck Jeff with her kendo stick as the Hardys were about to put their opponents through a table (which Matt introduced). I’m not a fan of this finish, because it was the babyfaces who introduced the furniture in a match that didn’t call for it, and them getting put through the table seems more justified than sympathetic. It would’ve made more sense if the heels brought out the table, and the faces attempted to use the tables in a fit of rage before Alisha made the save for her team. Ace Austin didn’t even bother to run out there to help. But it’s whatever. Another match added to the Final Resolution card.

Spitfire is in the back, and they are still livid over whatever Ash and Heather by Elegance did, which feels like ages ago. A one-on-one between one member of each team happens next week.

Santino says that he was watching what happened to the Hardys from the back. And he didn’t bother to send out security or nothing. The tag team title rematch at the PPV will be a Table’s Match.

The next match may not be the main event of the evening- but it might as well be. Tasha Steelz vs. Jordynne Grace, with the winner facing Masha Slamovich for the Knockouts title.

Tasha comes out to silence, but her mannerisms and the way she dances to her own music shows that at least in her mind, she’s the “ish”. I love it. Grace comes out to one of the biggest pops of the night. She has really established herself as a star in this company, and- getting ahead of myself again here- I’m really interested in seeing how this translates to the wider WWE audience.

I wouldn’t be able to do this match justice if I wanted to recap it move-for-move. That is not to say that it was spotfest; everything made sense and was given room to breathe. Jordynne’s offense looked like it hurt really badly, but Tasha’s craftiness and familiarity with Jordynne kept her in the driver’s seat for most of the match. Tasha is no big girl (something that quite possibly may be why WWE hasn’t come a-callin’ for her), yet she manages to get in some non-ridiculous-looking offense against the more powerful Juggernaut.

Alisha Edwards apparently wasn’t done interfering in matches for the evening, as she ran in to distract Grace, allowing Steelz to pin Grace with her feet on the ropes for leverage. Classic heel stuff. Jordynne is pissed, and decides to take out her frustration on Alisha. Tasha jumps in, and the heels get heat on Jordynne. Out comes Masha to make the save, but- in a move that baffles me when watching modern wrestling- she ran out while holding her title. Because the champ just HAS to make sure they grab their belt FIRST before coming out to help their friend who’s getting jumped. Alisha temporarily lost her doggone mind and stared down Masha, and was about to throw a punch before a bloody-nosed Grace threw her out. The match is set: Tasha Steelz will challenge Masha for the Knockouts title at Final Resolution.

Also at the PPV, we will see a four-way match to determine the #1 contender for the world title (after AJ Francis flops back down the card): Joe Hendry vs. Josh Alexander vs. Mike Santana vs. Steve Maclin. The winner will face the champion at Genesis in January.

Speaking of Joe Hendry, “Say his name…” and he appeared to the loudest reaction of the night (maybe neck-and-neck with the Hardys) to join commentary. In a show that has already been pretty tag team and multi-person-heavy, we have an 8-man tag match for the main event.

Mike Santana, Jonathan Gresham, Steve Maclin, and Eric Young vs. The Northern Armory (Josh Alexander and Sinner and Saint) and Frankie Kazarian.

Being honest here… I wasn’t really into this match. I feel like we’ve seen a combination of these guys teaming together enough, and I thought at least one of these feuds had already been resolved (Maclin/Alexander). Every guy not named Icarus or Williams is capable of putting on a good performance, but there was nothing on the line, seeing as how most of team babyface and half of team heel are already in the title mix. I couldn’t stand watching the indie-riffic style of Williams and Icarus. Their involvement in this completely took me out of the match. Towards the end, it completely devolved into the style of matches that you’d see 15 times over on an AEW PPV. Mercifully, Kazarian ends it all by hitting Gresham with his Call Your Shot cup and pinning him. Still can’t believe that we’re really letting Gresham pass through TNA without a single midcard title reign. Even though I wasn’t feeling this match, it was the right result, because we need to be reminded that Kazarian is a threat to the world champion with that cup- regardless of who becomes the official contender. But seriously- does TNA really see more of an upside with Sinner and Saint than they do the Good Hands? Make it make sense.

Overall, while nothing stellar happened on this episode, it still featured some progression in storylines and managed to pull TNA out of the Turning Point lull… slightly. With the exception of the DUD of a main event booking, Final Resolution is looking pronouncedly better than Turning Point. Still no word on the JBL/Nemeth situation, which we need answers for, and Mike Sanatana’s stock is dangerously close to rising above that of Joe Hendry’s. We may see an upset.

What to go out of your way to check out if you missed this episode: Tasha Steelz’ promo and her match against Jordynne Grace. Hands down.

I’ll be back next time with my predictions for Final Resolution, and I might steal Tito’s “what should/will happen” format. Let me know what you thought of the show. Until next time…

Peace.

The post TNA Impact Review – Final Resolution is looking better than Turning Point appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

Nikki Bella’s Estranged Husband Was NOT the Primary Aggressor in Domestic Violence Incident
I remember the moment that news of said incident hit the internet streets. Fans who don’t even like the Bella Twins were calling for this husband’s head (and no- not liking the Bellas doesn’t mean you believe they deserve to be victims of DV). Some fans suggested that members of AEW’s BCC go pay the guy a visit (insert eye roll). However, after reading the inital report- despite the very limited details- I felt that the gutteral reactions of commenters were premature. Strange as it may be to some, men can be victims of DV as well. Bottom line is we weren’t there and we don’t know what the heck happened. Hopefully justice prevails, and may whatever is in the best interest of their son be ruled.

MVP is All Elite
…and I’m happy for the guy. Count me in the number of fans who are STILL bitter and baffled at the breaking up, and subsequent never-getting-back-together of the Hurt Business. WWE wasted the guy (and the stable). Him showing up and cutting a promo on Prince Nana (a promo with a lot of truth in it, might I add) and attempting to steal away Swerve Strickland was a great first impression in the land of AEW. I’m all for the Hurt Business reunion we were robbed of, but let’s not forget who books AEW… so… don’t get too excited.

AEW to Tack on “Injury Time” to Rey Fenix’s Contract
I started reading this and saw the words “Observer” and “Meltzer” then immediately clicked off. My brain has been conditioned to take anything Meltzer says with a speck of lint. If reports of Hurricane Helene came from Dave first, I would have treated this like another work day- even as I’m looking at the heavy rain outside. I’ll believe stuff when someone else- ANYONE else- reports it.

Jey Uso Finally Wins his First Singles Title
… and Rikishi will STILL find something to complain about. Seriously, Kish, be grateful for the career YOU were allowed to have (not mention your entire family), and stop whining about what your son “deserves, but isn’t getting”. Congrats to Jey though. Enjoy the “YEET” thing while fans are still willing to chant it and buy your shirts. Please add some better moves to your repretoire.

Ricochet: In a Better Place Because the Previous Place Stifled His Upward Mobility
But the good news is Samantha is staying put.

For the tiny corner of the internet that remembers, Lucha Underground was one of the best wrestling programs ever produced. It was where I (a guy who doesn’t follow New Japan) was first introduced to Ricochet. He wrestled under a mask, went by the name Prince Puma (sorry, but that jumps off the screen a little better than ‘Ricochet’), was managed by Konnan, and- this was probably his biggest positive- HE DIDN’T TALK. The man can dazzle us between the ropes, but once you place a microphone in front of him- may whatever allure he had rest in peace. And from what I’ve heard thus far on the mic from him in AEW- I don’t think he has managed to grow in this area, so he will have to continue to rely on his flips and dives. No doubt, we are in for plenty of “HOLY SH–” chants and lots of beautiful choreography. I certainly don’t blame the guy for leaving WWE even if his fiancee is still there. He wasn’t going any further up that ladder in the company that has a pretty crowded main event scene. I think WWE got everything they needed out of a guy who can give good highlights but can’t buy a personality. Given AEW’s history, nothing will shake the notion that after a while, Ricochet will become just another highly paid warm body in an already bloated locker room.

Darby Allin: AEW Isn’t for Everyone
The guy who really needs to learn how to look both ways when crossing a New York City street appeared on the Busted Open Radio and Talk is Jericho (hosted by Chris Jericho– The Man of 1,004 Trademarks) podcasts recently. There have been comparisons of WWE to Taylor Swift and other things quoted. Allin said something to the tune of “if you don’t like what you see in AEW, watch something else” (not a direct quote)- and this is something that I’ve seen plenty of diehard AEW fans say. Looking at the decline in ratings and attendance, y’all *might* wanna STOP saying that. Just sayin’.

***Back to our regularly scheduled programming.***

Opening Match: Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace and NXT’s Sol Ruca vs. Rosemary and Wendy Choo
So, I guess Arianna Grace DOES believe that everyone is her “very close friend”. I’ve been getting on WWE’s case about sending the low-level scrubs of NXT to TNA shows. I highly doubt anyone in WWE even knows that I exist, but perhaps I put it into the atmosphere- and it worked. We finally get someone from the NXT women’s roster that actually got a good reaction from the TNA crowd. I’m still not sold on the Choo character, but at least Rosemary looked more like the leader of the duo instead of the sidekick she appears to be whenever the two team up on NXT TV.

The match was decent. A wee bit clunky whenever the NXT rookies were in the ring, but nothing botchy, horribly mistimed, or ugly. Sol is uber-athletic and has a ton of potential, even though I think her springboard somersault cutter is a bit impractical as a finisher. The run-in by my girl Tasha Steelz was a perfect heat move that interrupted the babyface’s finishing sequence the crowd was anticipating, and the save by Masha Slamovich (minus the weird whistling in her theme) shows us that this feud is just getting started. One thing about TNA’s Knockouts: quality over quantity. Doesn’t matter if they only have six women to work with; they will make whatever storylines with those six ladies effective and entertaining.

Frankie Kazarian Interview

I love how Kaz “flipped the script” on interviewer Gia Miller by asking her questions, then cutting her off and answering them for her (her facial expressions were gold). Frankie very carefully treaded the line between serious heel and over-the-top comedic heel, adding elements you could laugh at (and possibly a bit of blasphemy as he alluded to the Bible), while still taking him seriously as a threat to both his opponent and the world champion.

X-Division Showcase: Laredo Kid vs. “The Octopus” Jonathan Gresham

If you’re not a regular viewer of TNA, just know that whenever you see Laredo Kid come out for a match- the other guy is winning. He must really be comfortable with his TNA paychecks and his irregular appearances. After all these years of being affiliated with TNA, Laredo just has a forgettable run as Digital Media champion on his TNA resume (a reign that was ended by AJ Francis of all people). I think it’s really difficult to stand out as a masked luchador in the U.S.

Speaking of luchadors, I’m kinda particular about seeing people perform the “3 Amigos” suplexes made famous by the late, great Eddie Guerrero. There’s just a certain finesse that Eddie gave off when he did the suplexes that nobody has been able to duplicate. I almost want to urge people to stop doing it if they can’t do it as smooth as Eddie did it, but I understand that it’s their connection to the legend and their way of paying tribute to one of the greats.

The lucha libre style can be a bit much for some fans, but Laredo’s lucha was spectacularly tempered by Gresham’s technical abilities to the point where it didn’t look like aggressive ballet, and instead looked like two guys wanted to beat each other. A Gresham match is a masterclass in technical wrestling, and reminds me of his brilliant run as the Ring of Honor Pure champion where he won every match with a different move. The match was back-and-forth, with Laredo getting the fans behind him, and Gresham being able to shut him down while showing off. Gresham shed the cool-looking mask and the vomiting of ink, but is still showing signs of some sort of inner conflict, and added intensity and aggression. I admit that while at some moments it feels like they don’t know what to do with Gresham, it’s always intriguing to see him on screen. That finish where he mercilessly pounded Laredo’s knee into the mat for the tap out victory was sick.

A Heel-less Six-Man Tag

In another X-Division showcase, we have a six-man with X-Division champion “Speedball” Mike Bailey, Kushida, and Leon Slater squaring off against Team Former Champs, Zachary Wentz and ABC. Looking at this match on paper, I have no earthly idea why it’s even taking place. Wentz, who is a member of the Rascalz, was once at odds with Ace and Bey, and with his partner Trey, repeatedly cheated ABC out the tag titles or title opportunities. Yet, they’re teaming together like it’s all good? The same could be said for Slater and Kushida, with the former getting pinned on the Victory Road pre-show by the latter. The only two guys in this match with a verifiable beef are Bailey and Wentz, and this very well could’ve just been the contractual title rematch between the two. The match was a fast-paced spectacle with everyone getting to show off what they can do (especially Slater, who pulled off an insane dive over the turnbuckles). Wentz and ABC stand tall as the victors, but there’s no mention of Wentz leveraging this win for a rematch against Bailey- just a plug for his future street fight against Wes Lee in NXT. Great six-man match here, don’t get me wrong. I just wish the teams made more sense and that we were given reasons why these guys were fighting each other.

Psycho Santana

Earlier in the evening, Mike Santana had that evil look in his eye as he was menacingly hanging outside of the locker room of the System. He barges in with a chain, slamming the door behind him, and all we hear is thumping and crashing, leaving us to wonder about the outcome of this 1-on-4 thrashing. Later on, we catch up with a bloody Santana, who looks like how he did following his Texas Death Match from last week (which I strongly suggest you check out if you haven’t). Was Mike able to get the best of his foes with the surprise attack? Or were Moose, Myers, Edwards, and Dango able to fend him off? The answer isn’t entirely clear. However, we do know that whatever pain is inflicted upon Santana won’t be enough to stop his quest to take down the System one by one, once and for all.

A Hammer-Something Workout

Jake Something is doing some barbell curls while his new-found buddy Hammerstone shouts meathead motivational stuff at him. Cody Deaner walks in trying to talk some sense into his ‘cousin’, and walks away with a pending beatdown at the hands of Hammer. Can you imagine Deaner once being the leader of a heel stable? Or that he once stabbed Eric Young to death? I like the pairing of Something and Hammerstone. I hope it leads to big things for them- especially the former MLW champ.

Enter Lei Ying Lee

It is now time for the TNA debut of the former Xia Li. Lee looks amazing in her Kitana from Mortal Kombat-inspired gear (complete with the fan). Here to help make her look good in her debut is indie wrestler Hyan. I saw Hyan wrestle at a local show against Kylie Rae. Hyan was presented as the heel in that match, yet she had some fans in the audience rooting for her (myself included, despite that being my first time ever seeing her). I hope that girl finds herself under contract in someone’s televised company very soon. But this isn’t about Hyan. It’s all about Lei Ying Lee (which Tom informs us, translates to “thunder shadow”). Lee still has that sharpness and aggression that she displayed in her WWE days before injury and creative not having anything for her kept her off television. Hyan got in some minor offense, but it only served to fire up Lee. Lee hit some unique strikes and showed off her strength, lifting up the bigger Hyan for a fireman’s carry. Fans chant “we want tables” for some reason. Y’all do know that you don’t *have* to be idiots when you go to a wrestling show, right? Anyway, Lee finishes off Hyan with the “Thunderstruck” (think Hikaru Shida’s finisher- except Lee’s actually connected). Great debut for the new Knockout.

Leon Slater is in the back, pissed off at himself for eating the pin earlier. Speedball encourages him, and- I kid you not- I thought Bailey was about to steal Toni Storm’s “chin up; t*ts out; and WATCH FOR THE SHOOOOOE!” catchphrase. He tells Slater not to fret, because he’s in “the most competitive division in wrestling”. Yeah, but he still lost. Bum. Go do some push-ups.

ABC is in the back, vowing to get back their tag team titles when suddenly they are confronted by the Hardys. Matt and Jeff remind Ace and Bey that they pinned the System twice, and they are throwing their names in the hat for a future title opportunity- regardless of who the team is that they face. Matt is looking like he is in great shape, I must say. ABC seems cool with the future challenge. Matt says that nothing is stopping the Hardy train, and Jeff proceeds to make “choo choo, chugga chugga” noises to add emphasis. He… is clean and sober now, right? Weird preschool noises notwithstanding, we now know the clear intentions of the Hardys and we get the tease of a potential Hardys/ABC showdown.

“Walking Weapon” Josh Alexander requested some in-ring promo time. Someone had a sign with Josh’s head in a carton of eggs that read “Find Josh Alexander” (because his head looks like an egg- you know- a bald joke). I understand that fan’s comedic intentions, but I found that sign triggering due to the astronomical cost of a carton of eggs in today’s economy. Please think these things through before you go making traumatic signs, people. Fans are chanting “you tapped out”. Josh looks humbled by that chant. He puts over Joe Hendry and appears to be rather contrite about his recents actions. He calls out Eric Young to thank him personally for talking some sense into him. Young obliges, puts over Josh, tells him he loves him, and says that TNA will be better thanks to Josh not going down the wrong path. The two embrace, and EY offers to hold the ropes open as Josh exits the ring. Josh pulls the “no, after you!” bit- but BAM! German suplex to Young. It was all a ruse! Josh picks back up the mic and says he is who he is supposed to be, and will “burn this place down with you in in!”. Josh continues the attack, and before EY can make a comeback- the tag team of Sinner and Saint run in to make it a 3-on-1. Steve Maclin rushes in for the save, but the faces are outnumbered, and Alexander stands tall with his new buddies. I love that Josh Alexander has doubled down on his heel turn, and this ruse on EY was well done. Perhaps working with Josh can help Sinner and Saint look like they are worth something.

I had already forgotten about the saga of PCO/Steph De Lander and Matt Cardona (mental block, maybe?). Alas, the saga continues. Santino Marella encourages Steph to step away for a while as she recovers from her future neck surgery, citing that “this is a dangerous place”. He may be confusing TNA with his daughter’s place of employment where people regularly get jumped in the parking lot (and sometimes kidnapped). Then again, a chain-wielding Puerto Rican did run up on some unsuspecting guys in their locker room, so I guess Santino has a point. Steph offers to assist Santino while she’s in recovery. “Cordoba”, as Santino calls him, scoffs at that idea, and gets booked in a Monster’s Ball match against PCO at Bound for Glory. Gotta have something for everybody to do. Let’s see if Santino agrees to allow Steph to be his assistant and if it can get her over with TNA fans.

“I showed up.” – Ash By Elegance

Indeed, she did. Accompanied by her personal concierge, Ash decided to get a closer look at Heather Reckless vs. Xia Brookside. Ash’s cow-patterned cowgirl hat draws “Chick Fil A” chants from the crowd, and it looks like Heather is shedding. There are pieces of her hair extensions on the floor outside of the ring. Between those and the long fake lashes, I just don’t understand why female wrestlers bother with them while they’re in a match. Save that stuff for photo shoots. Tom on commentary points out that Brookside did everything the right way during her time in TNA, and Rehwoldt questions where that’s gotten her thus far. Rehwoldt’s point is proven when Heather picks up the win using Ash’s finisher (which is Jeff Hardy’s finisher). I think Ash was impressed. The Knockouts division is a very busy division. Backstage, Heather seeks feedback from Ash and the concierge. The latter dresses her down and tells her she looks like a mess, but they “have something for her”. They usher her off to an unseen limo, and it looks like Heather is going to get what she wished for.

Next week:

The Reckless Makeover (let’s see it)
Sinner and Saint vs. Young and Maclin (makes sense)
Six-woman tag match: Tasha Steelz, Rosemary, and Wendy Choo vs. Jordynne Grace, Masha Slamovich, and Sol Ruca (yes, please!)
And the Hardys vs. ABC (yikes. Too soon! But we’ll see what happens)

Main Event Time: Joe Hendry vs. Frankie Kazarian in a #1 Contender’s Match

World champion Nic Nemeth comes out to join commentary so he can continue to call Joe Hendry a “kid”. And he did more than once while putting him over. Come on, bruh. Hendry makes his entrance to his usual ovation. Kazarian enters, and throws away Nic’s bottled water. Kaz tries to bully ring annoucer Jade Chung into referring to him as “King of TNA”, but Hendry steps in and offers to do the honors. He calls Kazarian an Antonio Banderas look-a-like, and says he’s the “dad from Spy Kids” and “Puss-in-Boots” (which draws a “Puss-in-Boots” chant). Kaz has heard enough and attacks Hendry before he can finish his announcement.

We’re thick into the action, with the story of Hendry’s power versus Kaz’s veteran instincts, with both guys knowing each other’s moves pretty well. It favors Hendry that he adopted the ankle lock from Josh Alexander into his arsenal. There was a not-so-attractive sequence where there was too much space between punches and intended targets, but they recovered quickly with some nice counter moves and a near fall. Frankie uses the seconds where the ref’s eyes aren’t on him to pull out some brass knux. He hits Joe in the head with them when the ref isn’t looking, makes the cover, 1-2-3! The match is over! In modern wrestling, it takes a blast from a tank to keep guys from kicking out, so it was a shock to see someone stay down from a brass knux shot. But Nemeth hops on the apron to snitch on Kazarian (after he JUST GOT finish saying “it’s only cheating if you get caught”???), and his story is corroborated by another ref. Santino Marella comes out to restart the match. Another logical loophole. Why don’t authority figures do this every time someone cheats? But hey- we can allow it this time, because we know the result we really want to see. The match restarts, and there’s no time for chin locks. It feels like sudden death and Frankie, who no doubts feels like he was robbed of his victory, is moving with desperation. That is, until he realizes he has the advantage thanks to Hendry still reeling from the blow with the knux. Now, Kaz wants to enjoy the punishment he doles out, and wants all the “believers” to watch and weep. But the believers never stop believing, and the biggest mistake any Hendry opponent could ever make is allowing Joe even one second to feed off the energy of the crowd. A missed clothesline turns into a massive “Standing Ovation”, and our main event for Bound For Glory is set! Winner- and new #1 contender for the world title: Joe Hendry.

Overall Thoughts

If this episode was any indication, Bound For Glory is looking like yet another “great from top to bottom of the card” type of PPV. We’re seeing some really good storyline and character progression, as even some of the wrestlers I might not care too much for are involved in something of importance. How these newer stars handle themselves with the opportunities remains to be seen. The main event match was made to feel like a big deal throughout the show, and there were plenty of things to keep you hooked until the end. If you don’t watch anything else on this show, I recommend the promo and fight between Josh Alexander and Eric Young.

Did you watch this week’s Impact? What did you think? What’s your reaction to the above news? You know what to do. For anyone in the path of the storm- stay safe and dry. Until next time-

Peace.

The post TNA Impact Review + Random Thoughts on Wrestling News Including MVP’s AEW Debut appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

Opening Segment

After a recap of said Victory Road, we get an incredible opener with Boston’s least favorite daughter Alisha Edwards killing the joy of the San Antonio TNA fans. As heel tag teams partners tend to do at the end of a partnership, she blames one Masha Slamovich for the loss of the tag titles. Wild guess who comes out next… I don’t get the whistle intro to Masha’s theme. It sounds like a drunk person trying to whistle the theme of “Lassie”. And while I’ve only ever heard Masha speak Russian on the show, I’m not sure if it was ever understood that she only speaks (and only understands) Russian. I met her at an indie show once, and I knew from then that her English was perfect. I suppose it was a big enough surprise, as it drew some audible “oohs” from the crowd when she started telling off Alisha in English. What shouldn’t have been a surpise to anyone was Tasha Steelz attacking Masha from behind.

This was a beautiful mixture of the unexpected (Knockouts World Champ Jordynne Grace saving Masha) and the “this wasn’t a surprise, but still got a huge pop” (the Hardys fending off the System). It furthered multiple logical feuds all at once without clustering, while planting the seeds for a future “run-it-back” (Grace vs. Masha)- all while making sure that viewers stick around for the main event. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Jeff’s nice tribute to the late Bray Wyatt with his facepaint.

Backstage: Grace, Slamovich, Hardys

In case we were confused as to why Grace made the save, it’s simple: Grace wants the toughest competition, and she’s hoping that Masha answers an open challenge sooner rather than later. I mean, it could also be that Jordynne hates Tasha and Alisha as well. But a future clash with Masha is more than welcome- preferably if will be a ‘W’ for Masha.

If there was a downside to Masha’s interaction with the Hardys, I would say that wrestlers (and the televised companies they work for, where applicable) really need to tread lightly with the whole “being a wrestler was my childhood dream” bit. I don’t recall guys like Undertaker, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, or the Rock cutting promos on WWF/E TV, stating that they’re living their childhood dream. It’s something that we’re hearing one-too-many times. I don’t need my wrestlers to be ‘relatable’, or admitting to other wrestlers that they “looked up to them” (thanks for reminding us how old we are, by the way). Especially not Masha, who was once pushed as a killer who used to send out blood-smeared pictures of her next victims. Please, TNA- don’t “humanize” Masha, because her being a vicious psycho is what made some of us fall in love with her in the first place.

Eric Young/Josh Alexander Backstage

TNA is not without its resident moral compass, and that role here belongs to a guy called “World Class Maniac”. Young gives Alexander a warning about heading down the wrong path, reminding Josh that he is an example to others in the locker room. Josh appears to be reflective upon Young’s words, but selfishly I hope that facial expression was just a ruse and that he’ll kick Young in the balls in the near future. Heel Josh Alexander is good for business.

Opening Match: First Class vs. Sinner and Saint

I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed wrestling shows putting on the “bathroom break” as the FIRST match. But I’m sorry. This was an odd choice for first match. Sinner and Saint are an indie tag team (and I don’t say that as if it is an insult) who were able to get in a lot of offense against the more established(ish) team of AJ Francis and KC Navarro. And like I said before- Francis and KC look weird together. Especially when Francis is holding up Navarro as if he’s hoisting up his toddler nephew. Sinner and Saint (whom I’ve also seen at an indie show before) don’t really stand out to me, and this latest match- though nothing terrible happened- didnt exactly have me praying that they’d be offered a contract. And this is with the knowledge that TNA needs to load up it’s tag team division. First Class… eh.

Mo’ Drama for the PCOs

The French Canadian Frankenstein (shouldn’t it be the “French Canadian Frankenstein’s Monster”?) is pissed off at Matt Cardona, while wifey Steph De Lander (who is supposed to be getting ready for neck surgery) is trying to calm him down and assuring him that they will get even with Cardona. Well, Matt did himself no favors by getting himself DQ’ed in his match against Rhino– though to be fair- Rhino was the one who tossed the chair into the ring. Matt might’ve been able to claim self-defense, but he threw that out the window when he continued to pummel Rhino with the chair. This brings out PCO for the save. Cardona escapes, so PCO takes out his frustrations on the chair. And, um, yeah.

Knockouts Tag Team Title Defense

I know that I went on a whole rant about Wendy Choo and the “scrubs” that get sent over to TNA from NXT. But I was perfectly okay with the champs Spitfire (Jody Threat and Dani Luna) defending their newly-won titles against NXT’s Carlee Bright and Kendal Grey (is everyone Arianna Grace’s best friend?). Before you call me a hypocrite- let me explain. No, I do not know who either of these girls are. And anyone with half a brain knew that they didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning. But this wasn’t advertised as a title match. It was advertised as “Spitfire in action”, and it stands to reason that the babyface tag champs wouldn’t want to “be in action” without putting their titles on the line. And of course, this isn’t a PPV. Perfectly acceptable. Fine match with a fine outing from the NXT girls, giving a nice enhancement win to the champions while helping to ensure they fulfill the 30-day title defense rule that nobody seems to care about anymore.

Heather Reckless Still Wants that Makeover… By Elegance

She’s been calling that number on the business card given to her by the personal concierge, but no one answers. Probably because he’s too busy helping Dana Brooke Ash By Elegance fawn over herself. But does Heather leave a bad review on Google? No; she instead finds them in front of a mirror (the safest place to look if you’re ever trying to find Ash), and requests the honor of Ash’s presence next week as Heather faces Xia Brookside. Ash and the concierge say they will “think about it”, then they dismiss Heather. I’m interested in seeing where this goes.

A Bloody Gimmicked Match Done Right in 2024? So it IS Possible!

Reasons for a gimmicked match (e.g. steel cage, street fight, strap match, etc.) in the “olden days”: a feud between two wrestlers reached fever-pitch due to a babyface looking to exact revenge on the conniving, elusive heel, and the gimmick would be the only logical blow-off. Reasons for having gimmicked matches in the modern era: because “it’s Wednesday. You know what that means”… and “HOLY SH–” chants… and Unca Dave’s “stars”.

Well, my friends, here is a case where a gimmick is actually warranted in this modern era. Moose has wanted NO PARTS of Mike Santana since the former LAX member made his world title aspirations clear during Moose’s reign. Moose has sent out Johnny “Dango” Curtis to do his dirty work on a number of occasions, costing Santana opportunity after opportunity. Santana has beaten JDC in the past, but Curtis continues to be a thorn in the side of anyone who even sniffs at Moose, and Santana has had enough. Mike wants to send a message to Moose, while simultaneously solving his pest problem. The solution: Texas Death Match. Logic and wrestling don’t always align, but when they do- fun things can happen. Now, we have a reason to watch this fight to the end- beyond the fans’ penchant for chanting “WE WANT TABLES”. For anyone thrown off by the rules (and the result)- a pinfall followed by the 10-count- they decided to go with the traditional rules here. It was a nice touch (even nicer that they were actually in Texas). This match delivered in every way it should have, keeping Santana strong while others occupy the title picture, and giving fans the feel-good moment of seeing the weaselly JDC get his.

Lei Ying Lee (fka Xia Li) makes her TNA debut next week

…and we know this because of the fiery cinematic vignette that advertised this. Lee looks amazing in this video- and pretty darn dangerous to boot. I hope she stays healthy and adds more depth to the Knockouts division.

A World Title Conversation

Coming off the biggest win of his career, Joe Hendry– the guy whose face is EVERYWHERE- lets us know that he wants to be the face of TNA. He wants the world title. Frankie Kazarian says “not so fast”, and he has some pretty disparaging words for Joe. Kaz thinks HE should be next in line for a title shot. Side note: I can’t remember the last time Kaz has even won a match against a top level opponent- yet he knows how to keep himself relevant with his promos. Pay attention, rookies. Wins and losses matter to an extent, but personality trumps all. A zipper unzips, and out comes the world champion Nic Nemeth. Anyone seen his brother lately? I bet I’m the only one that has asked that question. Nemeth weirdly calls Hendry “kid”. Hendry’s year of birth according to Wikipedia: 1988. I mean… I guess, compared to the 1980-born Nemeth, Joe is a “kid”… but…okay. Truth is- none of the cats in the ring right now are spring chickens. But they all can deliver in the ring and on the mic, and they each have a case for being main eventers in TNA. Though, only one guy can be named number 1 contender, and that will be decided next week as Hendry faces Kazarian for the right to face Nemeth at BFG.

Another side note: I think that one of the signs of a strong company is when there are multiple stars who are credible as main eventers. TNA has Nemeth, Moose, Hendry, Santana, Kaz, Alexander, and even EY in the reserves. Any of those guys could step into the title picture without looking out of place.

Main Event Time: The Hardys and Masha Slamovich vs. TNA Tag Team Champions, The System’s Brian Myers and Eddie Edwards and Tasha Steelz (with Alisha Edwards)

The Hardys are over likes it’s 1999, and they are treated like rock stars by the TNA faithful. It’s great to see. Something else that was great to see was how Tasha was able to stand out in this match and not just look “System-adjacent” (meaning- she didn’t come across as a lackey). The mocking of Jeff’s famous ‘jook’, then twerking in his face was just beautiful. I’m not the biggest fan of intergender wrestling, but if you’re gonna do it- do it right. And it was done right in this match. One of my pet peeves- as much as I like Rhea Ripley– is seeing women in WWE being able to completely manhandle men, while men can’t retaliate. In this mixed tag main event, there was plenty of physical contact between the genders, without it getting ridiculous (like, a man hauling off and knocking out a lady that weighs a hundred pounds less then him; or a tiny woman chokeslamming a 280 lb man, etc.). The flow of the match was perfect, with the heels getting heat, the hot tags popping the crowd, and a believable amount of intergender contact. Alisha was ejected (that female referee needs to work on her forearm roll-“get outta here” motion), and when Lish stubbornly resisted, former tag team champions ABC humorously escorted her out. With all distractions out the way, the Hardys hit their signature finishers, and we get another feel-good ending of the newly babyface and English-speaking Masha posing with the Hardy brothers.

“If you don’t watch anything else on this show- make sure you check out…”:

Honestly, the only thing skippable was the First Class match (though, you might enjoy Sinner and Saint more than me). The Texas Death match was a sight to behold, and the main event delivered in spades.

Alrighty. Let’s get to those Predictions for the WWE/TNA Collaboration, shall we?

I’m no Nostradamus, and I have no problem being wrong. But WWE and TNA have been working hard to try and make fans of both companies happy while not allowing one company to bury the other. And it’s surely not going to stop at open challenges and rookie reps. In no particular order, I’m predicting that these things will happen either by the end of this year and/or the beginning of next year.

1) A TNA star will win an NXT title.

Doesn’t have to be a long reign, but someone will add that credit to their resume. I’ll add that the “vice versa” will happen as well- an NXTer will score a TNA title reign (nothing higher than the X-Division belt, and likely the Digital Media belt). But I figure WWE will allow TNA to get the dub first so as not to come across as taking advantage of the smaller company (which many fans have expressed concern about).

2)A ‘bigger’ WWE star will appear and/or wrestle at a TNA event.

Be it someone a little higher up the NXT card, or- dare I say- a main roster star- someone from WWE who people actually recognize and can get a reaction will make a splash and show up at a TNA PPV. Maybe we’ll get that dream match of Jordynne Grace vs. Natalya. Maybe Oba Femi shows up to have a stare down with Moose. The “rookies” are merely just whetting the appetite.

3) A TNA star will make his/her main roster debut on Raw or Smackdown.

And it’ll probably be Joe Hendry. People have already been bringing signs to the shows with his face on them, or signs reading “I Believe in Joe Hendry”. It’s only a matter of time before they trust that he’ll get the same love on the bigger stage that he gets in NXT. It’s also possible that a TNA guy or gal “randomly” shows up in a contender’s battle royal with no fanfare, but it would still be great exposure.

Lastly, Joe Hendry will be an entrant in the Royal Rumble.

He ain’t winning, and he probably won’t eliminate anyone. But it won’t matter. He’ll be there, and it will be glorious (sorry Bobby Roode).

That does it for this week. What did you think of this week’s Impact? And do you agree with my predictions, or do you have some of your own? You know what to do. Thanks for reading.

Peace.

The post TNA Impact Thoughts and Predictions for the WWE/TNA Collaboration appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

The show opens with a recap of last week’s show and the continuation of heated rivalries, capped off with the continued dominance of the faction known as the System. Our opening contest is Steve Maclin vs. Hammerstone. Hammer shows off his strength and power as Maclin fights from underneath. Maclin hits Hammer with his best shots, but nothing keeps Hammerstone down long enough. Maclin is able to counter the Nightmare Pendulum and roll up Hammerstone for the victory. Maclin makes the classic babyface mistake of remaining in the ring against a powerhouse heel after a roll up pin, and Hammer predictably attacks Maclin. Eric Young makes the save and Hammerstone gets tossed out. Hammer gets back to his feet and stares down the faces, and out comes Jake Something to do… nothing. He and Hammerstone look at each other, as if to telepathically agree to a team up, and we have a tag team match for Victory Road.

Match Thoughts: It was decent. Nothing spectacular about this contest, and it wasn’t helped by the fact that the crowd was pin-drop silent. I’ve been to a TNA taping and I understand that one can get tired from sitting for hours at a wrestling event. But I also feel that both Maclin and Hammerstone just aren’t connecting with the crowd. Maclin has never been an exciting character to me, and Hammerstone has yet to make an impact (no pun intended) in the company.

Following a heel promo by the System (Alisha is the biggest heat magnet of them all), we have match #2: Gisele Shaw vs. Heather Reckless. Shaw and Reckless wrestled before when Heather was an enhancement talent. With Reckless having been announced as the new TNA signee, the stakes are a little higher, as she wants to nab a ‘W’ on her first official night as a Knockout. The match is back-and-forth, with the story being Shaw’s power vs. Reckless’s speed and athleticism. Ash By Elegance and her personal concierge show up to get a closer look. Shaw appears to have the match in the bag until the concierge hops on the apron to distract the ref. Ash slaps Shaw behind the ref’s back, and Heather takes advantage with a springboard Spanish Fly off the ropes (think Liv Morgan’s Olivion- but this move looks a little better). Ash taunts Shaw while Reckless celebrates her win.

Match Thoughts: Nothing to set the world on fire from Reckless, but it was an impressive showing. With reports of Shaw exiting, the loss was no surprise. It was a little strange seeing Reckless (a babyface) celebrating a win that came with an assist from a heel, but we have a feud to move forward (Shaw vs. Ash), so we won’t get too hung up on it. I’m hoping Reckless will show and prove, as the Knockouts division needs some fresh faces.

A vignette airs showing the impending arrival of former WWE star Xia Li. TNA is the land of opportunity- especially for former WWE wrestlers whose careers never really got off the ground. We’ll see what happens.

Promo time: Matt Cardona comes out with his “property”, Mrs. PCO- Steph De Lander. SDL attempts to speak, but Cardona snatches the mic. Matt runs down Santino Marella for making him wrestle in a tag match at VR against Steph’s hubby PCO and Rhino. Cardona’s solution: his partner will be… Steph De Lander. Cardona threatens SDL with sending her back to Australia if she doesn’t follow orders. PCO comes out to confront Cardona, and Matt tries to use SDL as a human shield. Steph low blows Cardona, and he eats a chokeslam from PCO. The husband and wife celebrate while the announcers mull over what’s going to happen when the couple have to be on opposite teams. If this is Matt’s audition for the role of triumphantly returning to the WWE- I’m not sure if his performance here will blow Nick Khan and Triple H away.

Spitfire (Dani Luna and Jody Threat) are having an uneasy convo with Gia Miller about their “do or die” match against Alish Edwards and Masha Slamovich for the Knockouts tag titles. It at first seems like Dani wasn’t feelin’ Jody’s choice to put their partnership on the line, while Jody is convinced that they wouldn’t have gotten another title shot otherwise. The team ends the talk on the same page. I’m always amazed at how the Knockouts tag team division usually consists of two thrown-together teams at a time, yet the feuds over the titles still manage to be meaningful.

Next match is for the men’s world tag team titles as ABC defends against First Class (AJ Francis and KC Navarro) in a tornado match (no tags required). TNA is by no means perfect when it comes to having logical reasons for stipulation matches, but this one does make sense due to First Class using the blind tag miscommunication from last week as an excuse for their loss. The story of the match is ABC trying to quickly dispose of KC so that they can focus on double-teaming Francis. Francis proves to be too powerful for the champs, and that gives KC enough time to recover and show off his athleticism and give the champs the disadvantage. Francis does this weird move where he does a running knee into the corner and flips over the top rope to the floor- reminding me of his infamous botched top rope dive from Smackdown. At first, I thought it was just him not controlling his own momentum, then playing it off as he landed on his feet. But he did it twice in this match, so it was clearly intentional. Strange. A fan had a sign that read “AJ Francis Draws Top $$”.  Everyone has their own loyal following. The match concludes when Bey counters a Francis chokeslam with the Art of Finesse, followed by the Fold from Ace- 1-2-3. And still…

Match Thoughts: Announcing “Top Dolla” in a match will never excite me. But ABC doesn’t get enough credit for being one of the most talented tag teams in the business today. Navarro made up for the awkward visual of teaming with Francis by playing along with the First Class act as best as he could. ABC did a fantastic job with their tandem moves that overcame their bigger opponent, and now they can focus on fighting off the System.

A video package shows “The Octopus” Jonathan Gresham shedding his mask while still dealing with an internal battle. I thought the video was well done, though I honestly liked Gresham in the mask.

Remember when I mentioned the “sleepy” crowd earlier? Well, when you need something to wake them up- “say his name and he appears…” Joe Hendry’s music plays and out comes the sensation to a huge ovation.  Hendry calls out his VR opponent Josh Alexander. Josh is present, but he chose to hang out in the rafters rather than heading ringside. Hendry- in signature Hendry fashion- has a diss song prepared for Josh. The song mocks Alexander for never smiling, and calls him “Kurt Angle from Wish”- a line which the crowd happily sings along to. Josh is not amused, and cuts one of the best heel promos I’ve ever heard from him. He feels he should be the one getting the NXT opportunities instead of Joe, and he calls Joe a failure. Joe drops the comedic tone set by his song and fires back. Simple, yet effective promo exchange.

Backstage, we see a pissed off Jordynne Grace and some bad acting from Arianna Grace (no relation, because, you know, the latter is Santino’s daughter). A recap of the trouble Jordynne has been having with the lady from NXT whose previous gimmick was taking naps or something. I’m happy for a talent like Rosemary getting her chance to shine on WWE programming, but having her play second fiddle to Wendy Choo is not the most appealing use of her. Mike Santana lets us know that he has his sights set on Moose in a passionate pre-taped promo, and it’s time for the next bout.

The personal concierge is back out to introduce Ash By Elegance, and he insults the children of Louisville, calling them ugly. Well THAT was mean! Ash makes her entrance, and I have to say that while I don’t see her as Knockouts championship material just yet- the character is getting over with me. Wish I could say the same for Ash’s opponent Xia Brookside. I’ve seen every Xia match since she debuted in TNA and I still don’t have a solid reason why I should root for her. I’ll cut her some slack though, because she’s still young and there’s plenty of room for growth and character development. This isn’t to say that she’s bad in the ring; she just doesn’t stand out. The match was carried by Ash’s and the concierge’s heel work. Brookside gets a smack to her backside, but not in a sexual manner. The concierge does what he’s great at- distracting the ref. While doing this, Heather Reckless rushes to the ring and yanks Xia into the ringpost, allowing Ash to pick up the victory. That explains why Heather wasn’t bothered by her tainted win from earlier. Heather tries to raise the arm of Ash, but Ash declines.

Match Thoughts: This was all about advancing the character of Ash and thrusting Heather into a sidekick/protege role of sorts (as evidenced by the backstage angle of Heather potentially getting a “makeover” courtesy of the concierge).

TNA world champion Nic Nemeth basically repeats what he said in his promo from last week, and we run down the card of Victory Road.

Victory Road predictions:

(Pre-show)

Hammerstone and Jake Something defeat Eric Young and Steve Maclin

Leon Slater defeats Kushida due to Kushida being distracted by someone, maybe Kazarian

(Main card)

Nemeth retains over Moose

ABC retains over Edwards and Myers

Spitfire wins the Knockouts tag title from the Malisha 

Mike Bailey regains the X-Division title from Zachary Wentz when Wes Lee interferes

Grace retains over Wendy Choo

Joe Hendry defeats Josh Alexander

The Hardys defeat Top Class

Main event time. Eddie Edwards and Brian Myers of the System (w/ Alisha) enter, followed by the Hardys, who come out to a massive pop and “DELETE” chants. I will admit that I was a fan of the “Broken Hardys” gimmick back in the late 2010s before the Anthem era, however, I am SO glad Matt dropped the gimmick this year. It just wasn’t the same, and I think the Broken Universe needs to remain a fun memory. This was recorded on Jeff’s birthday, so Louisville is serenading him with “Happy Birthday” chants. Standard tag team match formula here (and I don’t mean that in a negative or mundane way. There’s an art to tag team wrestling): classic Hardys offense; heels get heat; babyface in peril, trying to make the hot tag, etc. The Hardys should definitely finish their careers as a tag team. Jeff has lost several steps, is sucking wind, and looks like every move he makes is painful. The faces foil the heels, and two Twists of Fate and a Swanton send the #1 contenders for the tag titles packing. 1-2-3, happy birthday Jeff.

Closing thoughts: One would think they would keep the System looking strong- especially seeing as how they’re the ones challenging for the titles in less than 24 hours. But I guess there’s nothing wrong with sending the people home happy. A solid “go-home” show for the Victory Road special as we are headed to Bound for Glory in a couple of months. If you haven’t watched this week’s episode yet and you are short on time, I recommend the ABC/First Class match and the Joe Hendry/Josh Alexander promo if you don’t have time for anything else. If you caught the show live or are catching up with it now- let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading. Peace.

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Currently, TNA’s “Impact” show can be found on AXS on Thursday Nights at 8pm… AXS? You mean the Cable/Satellite channel available to about 50 million homes? Compare that to USA Network, TBS, and TNT at or around 70 million homes. Usually, for television ratings sheets, you don’t make the list unless you have something well above 150,000 viewers… TNA Impact never appears on the list, so is thus assumed to be below that number.

But here’s the real deal, folks… Let’s assume that you are a dedicated wrestling fan and you want to support WWE, AEW, and TNA as wrestling promotions. Well, here is your life:

Monday – 3 hours of WWE RAW
Tuesday – 2 hours of WWE’s NXT
Wednesday – 2 hours of AEW Dynamite
Thursday – 2 hours of TNA Impact
Friday – 2 hours of WWE Smackdown, 1 hour of AEW Rampage
Saturday – 2 hours of AEW Collision, possibly a PPV/PLE
Sunday – Possibly a PPV/PLE

Are we out of our collective minds here? And that’s NOT including if you follow any other independent wrestling promotion or something international. Where do you find the damn time?

Back in my day, the late 1990s when wrestling was GREAT, we conveniently watched the BEST of pro wrestling on 1 singular night. You may have heard of it, also known as the “Monday Night Wars”. It initially featured 2 hours of WCW Nitro going up against a mostly taped 1 hour of RAW. Then, it morphed into 2 hours of live WCW Nitro versus 2 hours of RAW that was live every other week. Then, it became 3 hours of WCW Nitro versus 2 hours of RAW. This was through late 1997 and things were going great.

But then WCW made a FATAL mistake… They created WCW Thunder or as I called it, “WCW Chunder” because it was booked poorly. By the way, WCW also had WCW Saturday Night still running, though it clearly took a backseat to WCW Nitro. WCW had over-exposed itself with too much content during 1998 and not enough quality to keep fans excited about their product.

WWE also expanded its product… Kudos to Virtue for reliving this great show recently on NoDQ Review, but Sunday Night Heat was initially fun as a 1 hour Sunday Night show… Then, WWE Smackdown happened. Suddenly, Heat was irrelevant and then WWE was tasked with pushing quality on both RAW and Smackdown to begin the year 2000. While they kept up good momentum for a while, WWE actually burned out their fans through the year 2000 as numbers will show. By 2001, while WCW and ECW were gone, we still had 2 nights filled with WWE content to follow (couldn’t DVR it or YouTube it back then, VCRs were a pain) and the monthly Pay Per Views really wore you it. Gee, wonder why WWE declined during the 2000s.

It’s the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility… Give someone too much of a good, their added satisfaction declines. Try eating a big bowl of chocolate bars and measure when you start feeling sick. Each subsequent bar tastes worse than the previous one, the point where you have a belly ache. Same thing with consuming as much pizza as you can. Same goes for wrestling… Watch too much of it, you’ll wonder where you life has gone…

But if you watch too much LOW QUALITY wrestling shows, you’ll get burned out on it easily. Sorry, but 3 hours of RAW sucks… It just does. WWE only has a few good bits in the show whereas the rest is just filler or commercials. I don’t know how anyone buys tickets to see RAW live, as it’s totally miserable to watch on television. While Dynamite has good moments here and there, Rampage and Collision are CLEARLY struggling. They don’t have the talent to hold 3 additional hours of shows, nor do they have good creative to make anything compelling or interesting.

So how do you fix this issue of QUANTITY and QUALITY at the same time?

Simple…

(a) AEW moves Collision to Monday Nights
(b) TNA moves their show to Wednesday Nights

Or hell…

(c) Both AEW and TNA move shows to Monday Night to compete with WWE RAW.

Make it CONVENIENT for wrestling fans to view multiple wrestling shows on a single night. Trust me, if I did it during 1997, fans with smart devices and multiple televisions can do it now. Hell, I’m often watching television and something on my iPad daily anyway and I suspect there are many with raging ADD like me.

But let me present you with FACTS…

1) WWE Monday Night RAW declined in viewership once WCW began falling apart during 2000, but really lost viewership during 2001 without WCW on Monday Nights.

2) While TNA gave up on their concept early, their initial head-to-head with RAW on 1/4/2010 drew a 1.5 rating (not viewership number, but TV rating) compared to RAW’s 3.6. Their show actually elevated RAW that night, along with WWE ramping up their show in light of competition. TNA tried a few more shows on Mondays throughout 2010, but ultimately the Bischoff/Hogan reunion scared off fans for TNA in the long-run. Brother.

3) AEW vs. NXT Wednesday Night boosted higher ratings for BOTH collectively, and neither has scored the same viewership since. Competition spurred quality, but it also created a larger audience to flip between shows on Wednesdays.

Go ahead, pull the viewership or ratings from Meltzer’s site or my boy Gerweck.net… When shows went head-to-head, wrestling fans REWARDED both promotions by sticking around. Having 2 shows competed increased the chances of the wrestling fan watching on a given night. At one point, RAW and Nitro were each pulling over 5 million viewers for their shows during 1998.

I know that TNA/Impact tried the Twitch route and NWA tried the YouTube route… Could you imagine either one trying to live stream on Monday Nights against RAW? How convenient would that be? I’m watching RAW on my big screen TV and watching TNA or NWA on YouTube/Twitch. That would work really well and save the wrestling fan TIME.

“Time is a luxury that we do not have.”

Monday Night is a sacred night for Pro Wrestling. Since the early 1990s, it has been home to Monday Night RAW, the mostly flagship show of the WWE. It was also home to the ONLY promotion who ever became more successful than Vince McMahon Jr.’s WWE and that was WCW led by Eric Bischoff. Furthermore, when it’s not NFL football season, it conveniently fills that void on Monday Nights. When football season is on, both are great for channel flipping. Once again, we’re in 2024 and we can watch one on a big screen TV and another on an iPad. Easy to do!

Monday fills other voids as well… For one, it’s the first weekday following a weekend Pay Per View (or Paid Live Event). It’s an instant follow-up to a big PPV/PLE cliffhanger that you MUST see. Secondly, WORK SUCKS… What better way to escape the pain of you returning to work after a weekend than to see guys beating the crap out of each other in a ring? Wrestling was MADE for Monday Nights.

Sorry, but it feels kinda weird on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday Nights… Just too many nights of consecutive wrestling viewership. But most of all, wrestling was NOT and I repeat NOT made for Friday Nights. What kind of IDIOT agrees to air shows on Fridays when the younger half of the 18-49 demographic is attending High School Football/Basketball or attempting to get laid somewhere? WWE Smackdown scored up to 2.5 million viewers on Friday nights on FOX. Imagine if that quality of a show headlined by Roman and the Bloodline was on another weeknight other than Friday? Easily over 3 million viewers.

Wrestling used to be on Saturdays and Sundays, but Monday Night stole their thunder (or “chunder”). Saturday and Sundays should be reserved for special events, such as PPVs or PLEs, when you get gather all of your friends to watch top level events. AEW Collision is a joke and is just wasting our time because Tony has an exhausted roster and he cannot write creative if it saved his life for 2 hours on Wednesdays, let alone 2 more hours on Saturday.

Tito’s plan is simple… MOVE AEW Collision to Mondays, while moving Impact Wrestling either to Wednesdays or even Mondays.

By my plan, it frees up Thursday and Saturday Nights from any mainstream wrestling program. Furthermore, it boosts the wrestling fanbases on Mondays and possibly Wednesday nights. Then, let the competition flow and maybe quality will follow it.

But what do I know? I just watched WCW and WWE grow a COMBINED wrestling fanbase that was 100% appreciative to have wrestling as “one and done” on Monday Nights, while letting us enjoy other content during the rest of the week while also giving us lives.

Sorry, but if you’re consuming WWE on Mondays, NXT on Tuesdays, AEW on Wednesdays, TNA on Thursdays, and AEW/WWE on Fridays… I’d check your head, especially due to the lack of quality that most of those shows have.

Competition breeds more wrestling viewers, it’s a FACT. Demanding wrestling fans watch wrestling nightly has proven to burn out the wrestling fanbase, which has been shrinking in North America since 2014 after TNA began receiving bad TV contracts and John Cena left.

Plan is simple…

(a) AEW moves Collision to Monday Nights
(b) TNA moves their show to Wednesday Nights

Or hell…

(c) Both AEW and TNA move shows to Monday Night to compete with WWE RAW.

Can you dig it, sucka???

CLICK HERE for the Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ

The post MR. TITO: AEW and TNA Need to Move Their Shows to Monday Night to Compete with WWE RAW appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.