By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
TNA Impact (Episode 1,019)
Taped January 19, 2024 in Kissimmee, Florida at Osceola Heritage Park
Aired February 1, 2024 on AXS TV
Highlights from last week’s TNA Impact Wrestling show aired… Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt were on commentary. Jade Chung was the ring announcer…
Entrances for the opening match took place. Hanniafan noted that Jordynne Grace was a part of the WWE Royal Rumble PPV the previous weekend. Hannifan also noted how Orlando, Florida used to be TNA’s home base…
1. “The Wanted Man” Nic Nemeth vs. Trey Miguel (w/Zachary Wentz). Trey started the match immediately with a dropkick and punches on Nemeth. Nemeth used a clothesline to dump Trey to ringside. Wentz got in the way of Nic to jaw with him. This allowed Trey to nail Nic with a flip dive. Trey escaped a hold and hit Nemeth with a dropkick to the back of the neck for a nearfall. Trey worked on Nemeth with some methodical offense. Nemeth sidestepped Trey to send him into the ringpost.
Trey came back with a rake to the eyes. Trey rolled Nemeth up with a leverage pin for a two count. Trey went for a slingshot crossbody, but he was swatted out of the air with a dropkick by Nemeth. Nemeth rallied with clotheslines, a stinger splash, and neckbreaker. Nemeth then hit Trey with 10 elbow drops in a row for a two count. Trey reversed a a superkick into a Small Package for a two count.
Nemeth hit Trey with a Fameasser for a two count. Nemeth was tuning up the band for Sweet Chin Music, but Wentz held on to Nic’s leg. The ref saw it and ejected Wentz. Miguel caught Nic with a enzuigiri and diving meteora for a nearfall. Trey started tuning up the band to mock Nic’s Sweet Chin Music. Instead, Nemeth countered it with a Sweet Chin Music of his own for the victory.
Nic Nemeth defeated Trey Miguel via pinfall in 7:05.
While Nemeth was high-fiving fans, Steve Maclin attacked Nemeth from behind and tossed him back in the ring. Maclin turned Nemeth inside out with a lariat and gave him mounted punches. Maclin held Nemeth in place to allow Trey and Wentz to nail Nemeth with stereo superkicks. The Rascalz then lifted up Nemeth to allow Maclin to nail him with a Death Rider DDT. Maclin and The Rascalz stood tall to end the segment…
John’s Thoughts: A good week two for Nic Nemeth. He still has his old MO of making his opponents look good, but here he gets a chance to finally not be the gatekeeper, and finally able to smash through the gate. Yes he ran through the Rascalz, but he made them look good in defeat. Interested to see who Nic Nemeth decides to team up with to even up the numbers against the newly formed heel trio. Small nice touch for Nemeth, I like them establishing Nic’s secondary superkick finisher as a valid finisher in addition to his Zig Zag. That will make nearfalls off it more dramatic in the future.
The show cut to Deaner and Big Kon in a dimly red lit room. Kon said “The Design is dead” and told Deaner that trying to find new people for the group is “the same ol’ bullshit”. Deaner yelled “what did you just say?!?” at Kon. Kon said the Design is dead because he says its dead. He said it was time to remind the world who the baddest man in TNA is. Kon threatened Deaner by holding him by the collar and asking him “do you understand me?”…
Hannifan hyped upcoming matches…[c]
The show cut to Maclin, Wentz, and Miguel backstage. Maclin was hyped up at their new alliance. They ran into Mike Bailey in the hallway. Wentz bragged about beating Bailey the last time they faced. Maclin held Wentz back and the heels walked off…
Decay got a televised entrance. Their opponents were “already in the ring” . Tom Hannifan hyped up backstage WWE Royal Rumble footage related to Jordynne Grace…
2. Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champions “Decay” Havok and Rosemary vs. Mila Moore and Savannah Thorne in a non-title match. Rosemary locked the first woman in a waistlock. Rosemary then pressured the lady to the corner and bit her. Masha Slamovich and Killer Kelly were watching the match backstage as shown via picture in picture. Savannah tagged in. Havok tagged in which scared Thorne. Moore refused the tag. Havok no sold Thorne’s forearms. Havok hit Thorne with a Death Valley Driver. Havok hit Thorne with an assisted Sky High for the victory.
Decay defeated Savannah Thorne and Mila Moore via pinfall in 2:43.
John’s Thoughts: Good fodder win to Decay to build them up after their long “layoff”. The whole Jessicka and Rush thing sorta worked out in that it kept the serious version of Decay off TV so that they’d be fresher when they came back. Jessicka was actually entertaining in her Jessicka role. Courtney Rush, not so much.
The show cut to Gia Miller interviewing Masha Slamovich and Killer Kelly backstage about their reaction to Decay’s recent match. Masha sand some random things in Russian. Kelly said they want to cash in their contractually obligated rematch at TNA No Surrender. Jody Threat and Dani Luna ran in to trash talk Masha and Kelly. This led to Luna proposing a match between Masha and Jody. Luna said that Threat has this. Luna said that wasn’t just a promise, “it’s a treat” (get it, ugh)…
Hannifan hyped upcoming segments…[c]
The show cut to Alan Angels and Josh Alexander at Alan’s talk show backstage set. They cut in before Angels was ready to introduce the show. Angels then had an intentionally cheap looking intro video. Angels even struggled with the boom mic a bit. Angels introduced Alexander as a multi time champion, but said the best accolade he has is being the first guest on “The Sound Check”. Josh said he didn’t even know the show was airing now.
Angels said he wants to hear what Alexander’s big announcement was. Alexander sand he wants to be world champion again. Alan told Alexander “good for you”. Angels then implied that he steps on other people’s toes to get to the top. Alexander said that wasn’t the case, and moreso a result of his hard work. Angels said he things Alexander needs to give a specific person credit for his success, but wouldn’t answer who when Josh asked who Alan was talking about? Josh then walked off when Alan talked about how Josh wasn’t being a good role model to Josh’s son…
John’s Thoughts: Not the greatest segment, but I did get a bit of a chuckle of the intentionally badly produced talk show. The intentional cheapness made it different from you usual WWE cookie cutter talk show that WWE’s been doing since back in the day, and other companies continue to replicate. Angels is someone I hope gets a good push in 2024. We know he’s good in the ring, but from what I’ve seen a little bit in Impact last year and in the Oakland indies, he’s a good personality as well.
Entrances for the next match took place. Kevin Knight got a picture-in-picture pre match promo where he was wearing Doc Brown’s silver goggles from the future (Kevin Knight is the latest pro wrestler to adopt a Back to the Future theme. Why is Back to the Future one of the most overused gimmicks with pro wrestlers?)…
3. Brian Myers (w/Eddie Edwards, Alisha Edwards) vs. “The Jet” Kevin Knight. Knight shoved Myers, which quickly sent Myers into retreat. Myers came back with front kicks and a shoulder tackle. Knight came back with a shoulder tackle and standing lateral frog splash. Knight then worked on Myers with wrist locks. Knight caught Myers with a slingshot armdrag and springboard crossbody for a nerfall.
Myers retreated to ringside and tossed Knight’s gut into the apron. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
Myers had Knight in a Cravate. Knight escaped and ran off Brian’s body for a dropkick. Knight hit Myers with a right hand combo and dumped him to ringside. Knight caught Myers with a plancha. Knight caught Myers with a slingshot lariat for a two count. Myers blocked a DDT. Knight gave Myers a superkick and hanging DDT.
Myers grabbed the bottom rope for the break. Myers crotched Knight by kicking the middle rope. Myer then hit Knight with the Edgeucution for the nearfall. Knight blocked a Roster Cut with a dropkick. Myers eluded a few of Knight’s slingshot moves and surprised Knight with a Roster Cut for the victory.
Brian Myers defeated Kevin Knight via pinfall in 11:41.
Eddie and Alisha Edwards entered the ring and teased a three on one attack on Knight. Kushida ran out to run off the heels…
John’s Thoughts: Good match with Knight looking good again yet coming short. I’ve said I wanted to see more from Knight in the past, but having him lose mostly can set him up a bit as TNA’s 1-2-3 Kid of the season. Build up to his first big win and hopefully they make it feel meaningful. We do still need to know more about him though other than he can jump high and that he likes Back to the Future like his senpai Kushida.
Gia Miller interviewed Chris Sabin about Mustafa Ali’s “X Factor” ad and assumed that the X means that he’s coming after the X Division Championship that Sabin holds. Sabin cut a promo about how he’s a fighting champion, but he was cut off by Mustafa Ali appearing on the television behind Gia for another ad. Ali said change can be scary. He said that people prefer the comfort of the familiar, instead of risking it all for something new.
Ali said he understands that. He said he also understands that change is necessary, when fear must be challenged head on. Ali said fear needs leadership Ali said when we overcome our fears we can become stronger and attain not what we do by chance, but by what we do so deserve. “I’m Mustafa Ali and I approve this message”. The Good Hands Jason Hotch and John Skyler walked in and said they think Ali looks like the next X Division champion. Sabin said he’s not easy to beat and he’ll challenge John Skyler next week…
Hannifan hyped Frankie Kazarian explaining his actions after the break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Ali’s been pitching this political gimmick for almost two years counting. Vince McMahon quickly shut it down during the social media run, and HBK shut it down after one of the “I’m Mustafa Ali, and I approve this message” ads. Of Ali’s many gimmicks, I’m also apprehensive as to if this would work. The way he plays it backstage, is that he’s a disingenuous politician who’s unlikable, but goes after heels and babyfaces. Because Ali is a smart guy, I’m willing to see how this goes as TNA is not putting a stop to it. In Ali we trust, I guess?
Frankie Kazarian made his entrance. Kazarian took his time to soak in the boos. Kaz said people have been asking “why did you betray Eric Young and TNA Wrestling”. He said everything he’s about to say is a fact. He said he came back to TNA a year ago and “saved this company”. He said he came back because he loved this place and chose to be here. He talked about being in the TNA revival skit in the water and bringing TNA back to light.
He said he’s given everything to this business in his career, more than the fans can possibly imagine. He said now is his time to take. He said he’ll take and do what he wants because he’s earned the right to do that. He said he’s watched those not as talented, dependent, and sacrificial as him being given opportunities and reaping the benefits. Kaz said that needs to stop.
He said he’s trying to be a decent man in non-decent times. The crowd showered him with “pleased shut up” chants. He said he’s been overlooked and that must stop. He said he also has no desire to be a hero to the people. He said The only thing the fans like more than a hero, is seeing the hero fail. Kaz said in this business the hero must become a monster and that’s what he’s doing now. Kaz said the booing fans are embarrassing themselves.
Kazarian said he thinks Eric Young is the lifeblood of TNA, just like him. He said Young has sat at the top of the throne many times, while Kazarian was a shoulder in the trenches. Kazarian said that history doesn’t remember soldiers, but kings. He said he needs to become the king of TNA wrestling. He said he’s willing to sacrifice friends and relationships because no one means a damn to him. Kazarian said Young was a means to an end.
Kazarian said all his decisions now are for the betterment of TNA wrestling. He said he won’t walk in the shadows or be taken for granted. He said if he has to walk this path alone, so be it. Kazarian said the fans now have permission to hate him now. Kazarian’s theme played to end the segment. There was a camera at the Gorilla Position where Eric Young was watching the segment by peeking through the curtain…
John’s Thoughts: While he spent a lot of time using a lot of words to say something that could have been expressed in two sentences, the prolonged nature of the promo allowed the crowd to get involved in giving him heat while the methodicalness of the promo made for good booing material. Interested to see what Kazarian has in store for his heel persona because we know he joined TNA over AEW so that he can have more room to express his art as a pro wrestler. Frankie Kazarian and Nic Nemeth are an example of those who treat TNA as a prime destination if you want to be a part of good character development and storytelling.
Myers, Moose, Eddie, and Alisha were backstage celebrating Myers’s win. Alex Shelley showed up and told Moose how he’s going to get his title rematch at No Surrender. Moose said there’s four of us, and only one Shelely in this room. Shelley was ready to throw down. Moose said “this is not how the system works” and walked off…
Hannifan hyped upcoming segments…[c]
Another Ash By Elegance perfume-esque commercial vignette aired. This time she was drinking champagne at a rooftop lounge…
Deaner made his entrance to the ring. Deaner said he’s here tonight with something to admit. He said as of right now, something he created, The Design, is dead. The crowd cheered. Deaner said it might have been his fault too that it’s dead. He said he thought you can take something and breathe new life into it. He said he wanted to breathe life in Violent by Design, but he failed. Deaner said he learned when something is dead it wont’ rise and come back to life. Queue PCO making his Frankenstein’s monster entrance, complete with the random “doctors” reviving him again.
4. PCO vs. Deaner. PCO no sold Deaner’s offense and took him down. PCO hit Deaner with a reverse lungblower. PCO took down Deaner with a hanging forearm smash. PCO hit Deaner with a PCO-Sault for the quick win.
PCO defeated Deaner via pinfall in 1:03.
Big Kon ran to the ring and clubbed PCO in the back. Kon helped Deaner to his feet, and then put him back down with a shortarm lariat. Kon said “It’s over when I say it’s over”. Kon did a neck break spot on Deaner. PCO did the Undertaker sit-up. Kon gave PCO an Iron Claw Chokeslam followed by a continuous Iron Claw. Once Kon used both hands, PCO faded away…
John’s Thoughts: They’re back to square one with introducing PCO to TNA viewers in his longtime Frankenstein monster gimmick. Personally I’m tired of it due to seeing it for years dating back to Ring of Honor, but I can understand new viewers who never seen the guy since the old Quebecer days and might get a kick out of this new persona (as I did at first). There’s no questioning this guy’s longevity and revitalization. Still hoping they eventually double back to that teased Bully Ray storyline where they were Bully was trying to bring Peter Carl Oulette out of PCO.
AJ Francis had a cameraman follow him around backstage. He met up with Rich Swann. AJ talked about how Joe Hendry beat Swann on TNA XPlosion recently and that was because he didn’t have AJ as backup. AJ said he brings opportunity and Swann is only on this week’s show because he brought the cameraman with him to film this conversation. AJ proposed a team. Swann pointed out that AJ pitched this last week. Swann said he’s going to give the same answer, “what ever you’re selling, I’m not buying”.
Rhino walked by and AJ asked if Rhino needs help with his Crazzy Steve problem. Rhino told AJ to “f— off” before walking away. Swann said that no one wants to mess with AJ in TNA right now. AJ said, “but money do tho”…
Hannifan hyped Jordynne Grace Royal Rumble footage after the break…[c]
The show cut to Jordynne Grace in a hotel talking about how Scott D’Amore called her right after the recent TNA tapings and asked her if she wants to work a big match the following weekend. Grace said she was in disbelief when D’Amore mentioned it was for the WWE Royal Rumble match. Grace noted that D’Amore joked that she was “invading” WWE by jumping the barricade, but that felt more believable than WWE requesting her.
They then interviewed Grace’s mom, Jennifer Gerace, who said she was surprised too. Jennifer talked about how she brought the whole family to watch Grace appear on the Royal Rumble. Grace said she totally expected WWE to cancel the booking last minute because last minute things always happen. Grace said she was going to wear TNA red and yellow to the ring. She said not only did she feel butterflies, but she felt terror because she’s the only person representing TNA, thus having a huge burden.
The show then cut to Tropicana Field where Grace arrived in the empty stadium during WWE’s pre-show event queue practice. Grace said this is a huge moment for her. They then cut to footage where Michael Cole announced Grace’s entrance to the Rumble. They cut to footage of Gail Kim letting out a huge squee. Tom Hannifan said you can find more footage of Grace at the Rumble by going to TNA’s social media…
Entrances for the next match took place…
5. Masha Slamovich (w/Killer Kelly) vs. Jody Threat (w/Dani Luna). Threat and Masha traded forearms. Threat got an early takedown and hit Masha with corner lariats. Masha came back with a spinning heel kick. Masha hit Threat with a series of snapmares and a kick to the spine and chest. Threat kicked out at two. Masha hit Jody with a snap suplex for a two count. Masha toyed with Threat for a bit.
Threat no sold some kicks and got to her feet. Threat hit Masha with a Sunset flip and schoolboy for a few nearfalls. Threat used a drop toehold to drape Masha on the 2nd rope. Masha gave Threat a drop toehold of her own into the 2nd rope. Masha worked on Threat with 3 consecutive shortarm lariats for a two count. Hannifan plugged his sitdown interview with Xia Brookside on TNA’s social media.
Threat draped Masha on the 2nd rope and hit her with a meteora and German Suplex for a two count. Kelly held on to Threat’s leg. Dani Luna took down Kelly. Masha hit Jody with a snap hook kick and Snow Plow for the victory.
Masha Slamovich defeated Jody Threat via pinfall in 4:07.
The System were beating down Kushida backstage. Alex Shelley ran in for the save and the System were dragged back by referees…
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt checked in on commentary. The commentators plugged and ran through the TNA No Surrender card happening on February 23rd…
Entrances for the upcoming tag team match took place…
6. “ABC” Ace Austin and Chris Bey vs. “The Grizzled Young Veterans” James Drake and Zack Gibson in the first match of the Best of Three series for the TNA Tag Team Championships. Bey and Gibson started the match. Gibson dominated the opening wristlock sequence. Bey flipped out. Bey ran circles around Gibson and hit him with a jump kick. Ace tagged in leading to ABC swarming Gibson with strikes.
Drake tagged in. The GYV went for a double team suplex on Ace, but Ace escaped with knees and tagged in Bey. ABC dumped Gibson and Drake to ringside. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
Drake and Gibson used tags and isolation offense on Chris Bey. Drake hit Bey with a body slam. Bey kicked out of several lateral pin attempts. Drake put Bey in a sleeper and tagged in Gibson. Gibson hit Bey with a Butterfly Suplex for a nearfall. Gibson cut Bey at the pass with a sleeper. Bey got to his feet and Gibson kept the hand held to prevent the tag.
Bey got a window of opportunity after a swinging neckbreaker. Drake tagged in to cut Bey off at the past. Bey ran under Drake to tag in Ace for the hot tag. Ace hit Gibson with a forearm. Ace hit both Drake and Gibson with a slingshot dropkick. Ace gave Drake a stomp. Gibson broke up Ace’s pin. Drake hit Ace with a jawbreaker. Bey tagged in and shoved Drake to the mat. Bey hit Drake with a Frog Splash for a nearfall.
Ace tagged in, but Gibson held on to his leg at ringsdie. Ace went for a suplex on Ace, but Gibson ran in and pressed Ace into the corner. Drake took down Ace for a two count. Drake pointed out to Ace that they took down Bey from the Apron. Drake and Gibson beat down Ace with trash talk thrown in. Ace tagged in. Bey helped Ace escape a Doomsday Device attempt. Bey dumped Drake to ringside.
Bey lifted Gibson into a Disaster Kick. Drake broke up Bey’s pin. All four men traded hands in the center of the ring. Both men prevent each other from hitting signature moves. ABC dumped Drake and Gibson to ringside. Bey hit Gibson with a Suicide dive. Drake tossed Bey into the steel steps. Ace took down both opponents with kicks.
Ace hit Drake with a Fosbury Flop. Drake recovered and dragged ace to the mat with his scarf. Drake and Gibson then hit Bey with a double team Ticket to Mayhem to give Drake the pinfall win.
The Grizzled Young Veterans defeated Ace Austin and Chris Bey via pinfall in 15:37 to go up in the Best of Three series 1-0.
Tom Hannifan closed the show wondering if the Grizzled Young Veterans will soon “be recognized” as the next tag team champions…
John’s Thoughts: A good tag team match between two good tag teams. It didn’t click into third gear, but it didn’t have to as when wresters have a series of matches they need to save the best for last. So it’s logical to have a progression. I expect things to pick up a bit for the next match where presumably Ace and Bey even things up, just because that’s usually how these “best of” series work (Though, even if it’s through heel tactics, I wouldn’t mind if they subvert expectations by putting over the GYVs strong in a sweep? But bookers usually take the safe approach, especially since this is a rebooted company).
Another good week for TNA and for a couple years running now, Impact has been the most consistently enjoyable pro wrestling show on weekly television. Definitely more consistent than Dynamite, but I’d even contrast them as a good alternative to Raw and Smackdown for those who want a more “streamline” version of pro wrestling. With Paul Levesque and HBK now in full control of WWE’s creative and company, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more stuff between WWE and TNA too. Nic Nemeth and Frankie Kazarian are also examples of wrestlers that chose TNA over AEW so they can work their craft instead of a huge paycheck. If you want to have fun while working it seems like WWE and TNA are the promotions to go if you don’t want to be buried under a cluttered and underutilized roster.
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