By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
TNA Impact (Episode 1,032)
Taped April 21, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada at Palms Resort Casino
Aired May 2, 2024 on AXS TV
Highlights from last week’s Impact Wrestling show aired…
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt were on commentary. Jade Chung was the ring announcer…
The show started out with the First Class tag team of AJ Francis and Rich Swann in a VIP balcony box. AJ talked about how they’re hanging out with Bun B. AJ reminded viewers that Joe Hendry was going to give them a formal apology and they wanted to witness this in person in the VIP section. AJ told people to enjoy the show and feel free to try to talk to them and get kicked out by security…
Entrances for the next match took place…
1. TNA X Division Champion Mustafa Ali (w/personal “secret service”) vs. Chris Bey (w/Ace Austin) in a non-title match. Bey and Ali started the match with quick chain wrestling with Ali getting the frist takedown. Ali rallied with running strikes. Rehwoldt noted that Ali is undefeated in multiple companies since leaving WWE.
Bey turned the tables and rallied with ten punches in the corner followed by a clothesline. Bey got a two count off a DDT. Ali tossed Bey throat first into the bottom rope. Bey put Ali in a Tree of Woe after a gamengiri. Bey hit Ali with a Coast to Coast elbow drop. Ali tripped Bey off the top rope. Ali hit Bey with a backbreaker for a two count.
Bey grounded Ali by tossing Ali’s face into the 2nd buckle. Bey rallied back with right hands and shoulder tackles. Bey hit Ali with a uppercut and kick in the corner. Bey hit Ali with a spinebuster for a nearfall. Bey did a Too Sweet and was dumped to ringside by Ali. Bey reversed a neckbreaker with a nice hook kick.
Both men traded strong style forearms. Ali tried to get a leverage pin of Bey, but Bey kicked out after Ace took Ali’s feet off the ropes. Ali’s secret service distracted Ace which allowed Ali to give him a Suicide Dive. Bey gave Ali a suicide dive. Both men traded counters. Ali caught Bey with a super kick. Bey came back with a knee strike.
Bey hit Ali with a Vertebreaker. Ali broke up the pin with a rope break. Bey kicked Ali on the apron. Ali recovered and gave Bey a German Suplex. Bey dodged a 450 and gave Ali a cutter. One secret service guy distracted the referee so another could hit Bey with a flag. Ali hit Bey with a 450 for the win.
Mustafa Ali defeated Chris Bey via pinfall in 10:42.
Hannifan plugged Dani Luna vs. Alicia Edwards for after the break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A great match that was taken back a few steps with the distraction finish which is a bit overused to protect wrestlers in every wrestling company. I don’t see why they couldn’t have let Ali go over Bey to give him some credibility instead of going full chichens*it with him? Heck, I would have taken the leverage or tights win because of how distractions are overdone. Ali’s character is still not clicking and coming off as a bad 90s vocational gimmick (with no charm like we get with someone like Tony D’Angelo). There’s a reason Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels quickly pulled the plug on this gimmick after testing it out. Heck, Paul Levesque wouldn’t even let it see the light of day.
Lars Fredrickson of the band Rancid joined Hannifan and Rehwoldt in the commentary booth…
2. Dani Luna (w/Jody Threat) vs. Alicia Edwards (w/Masha Slammovich). Both women pie faced each other. Dani rallied with lariats in the corner and a suplex for a two count. Alisha and Masha argued in terms of strategy. Alisha hit Dani with a Tornado DDT. Alisha worked on Dani wtih forearms, but Dani rallied with more clotheslines.
Dani hit Alisha with a rebound Blue Thunder Bomb. Masha got on the apron for the distraction. Jody shoved Masha. Alisha hit Jody with a dropkick which distracted the referee. Masha hit Dani with a hook kick and Snow Plow for the victory.
Alisha Edwards defeated Dani Luna via pinfall in 3:30.
Hannifan did the obligatory “she’s pinned one half of the champions” line…
John’s Thoughts: Huh? Another distraction finish? This is the problem with watching WWE, AEW, NXT and Impact, you really get numb and tired of all these distraction finishes. Can we get a heel a clean win? Either that or do another type of dirty finish that’s not a distraction finish?
Cheesy talk show music aired as an intro played for Sami Callihan’s new talk show, Death Machine TV, or DMTV for short. He hocked a loogie for some reason. Sami said he can also say whatever he wants. He said he’s in TNA to write the wrongs of the past. Sami talked about there being false prophets backstage think they know what’s up, but they don’t have a damn clue. Sami ended his promo with his thumbs up bit…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Uhm? Ok? That was a bit odd. He was cutting the promo like he and Jon Moxley would do back in the days where he’s holding a camera right up on his face. I’ll give it a chance. Sami’s a creative guy, but he seems to fumble when he’s not in his old school Death Machine character, like when he tried that hacker gimmick that didn’t go anywhere.
Entrances for the next match took place. Cody Deaner took the mic and said that Santino Marella allowed him to get a stipulation for this match. Hammerstone said he’s been in TNA for a few month’s and Cody’s “people’s choice” thing has been the most pathetic thing he’s seen. Hammerstone talked about Cody just pandering town-to-town like they care about what Deaner has to say.
Hammerstone said that Cody looks like a strong boy and he proposes a arm wrestling match. Cody said the other option should be a No DQ Sin City street fight, which the crowd cheered. Deaner said it’s not his choice, or Hammerstone’s choice, it’s the “people’s choice”. The crowd chanted “street fight”. Rehwoldt said it might not be smart because Hammerstone just came off a grueling street fight against Josh Alexander…
3. Hammerstone vs. Cody Deaner in a Sin City Street Fight. Deaner tried to hit Hammerstone with a trash can lid to the back, but Hammerstone no-sold it and gave Deaner a Yakuza Kick. Hammerstone stomped a mudhole in the corner. Hammerstone dumped Deaner to ringside. Hammerstone dragged Deaner into the ringpost heading into picture-in-picture.[c]
Back from break, Deaner went for a body slam, but his back gave out. Hammerstone worked on Deaner with methodical offense. Hammerstone gave Deaner a press slam on the spine of the chair. Deaner rallied back with right hands. Deaner then went for another body slam, but Deaner fell under the weight of Hammerstone. Hammerstone gave Deaner mounted punches. Deaner escaped a Nightmare Pentulum and finally hit Hammerstone a body slam on a chair.
Deaner got a table at the fans’ request. Deaner set up a table in the ring. Hammerstone no sold a forearm and gave Deaner a Suplex. Hammerstone choke slammed Deaner through the table. Hammerstone put Deaner in the Torture Rack for the submission win.
Alexander Hammerstone defeated Cody Deaner via pinfall in 10:05.
Hammerstone wouldn’t let go of the hold after the match. Jake Something ran out for the save. Both men traded mounted punches. Security guards ran out to pull both men apart. Jake shoved away a set of guards while another set were scared of Hammerstone yelling at them. Hammerstone walked to the back while the guards held Jake back…
John’s Thoughts: I’m not the biggest fan of Cody’s “people’s choice” thing, but to give him credit, he really had the crowd going for it. If this doesn’t get old, it might be a good live even gimmick to fire up crowds. Deaner is also very underrated in terms of in-ring, because he’s good at the character stuff. Good showcase for Hammerstone who let Deaner get his hope spots in, but ultimately he went over strong.
An Impact digital exclusive aired where Nic Nemeth was selling a neck injury. Santino Marella, Mike Bailey, Trent Seven, and Ryan Nemeth were also there. The doctor said Nic is not cleared for Under Siege. Matt Hardy showed up and proposed that he replace Nic and join “the ball of speed” and Senior Seven to delete the System. Santino booked the replacement match…
Matt Hardy, Mike Bailey, and Matt Hardy then cut a promo about how they will delete the system…
An ad aired for TNA Under Siege. Hannifan then plugged upcoming segments…[c]
A Slammiversary ad aired…
The show then cut to Jonathan Gresham and Santino Marella meeting in a lobby. Santino tried to praise Gresham for coming back to TNA but Gresham was zoning out while cinematic b-roll footage of trees and stuff flashed on the screen. Gresham then shook hands with Santino. Santino walked away and noticed that Gresham apparently didn’t wash his hands because there was a random black substance on it (well, at least it wasn’t brown doo doo).
Suddenly, Jonathan Gresham’s clone, Octopus Jonathan Gresham showed up to sit down across regular Gresham. The show then cut to Santino struggling to wipe away the black substance…
John’s Thoughts: Can we get Gresham and his clone to face Baron Corbin and his clone in a clone tag team match? I’m actually very intrigued by this new direction for Gresham because he’s been the “pure wrestling guy” for way too long. Not sure what I think about him suddenly producing squid ink out of nowhere? I get that he’s an octopus, but that kinda took a serious segment and made it unintentionally funny.
AJ Francis welcomed viewers back to the show. He berated the crowd a bit and even plugged Bun B’s Trill Burgers. AJ then gave Joe Hendry a ring introduction. Hendry had speakers and an acoustic guitar set up in the ring. Hendry sat down with the guitar for a promo. He said it is time for him to apologize to First Class.
Hendry talked about how their feud started with a song, and needs to end with a song. He said to take full accountability, he needs to put everything in context. Hendry said it was brutal when he made that parody song on AJ. Hendry then started playing the acoustic guitar. AJ was not pleased. Hendry then did a live version of his last parody song where he joked about AJ flopping and eating Cheese Itz.
A Cheese It chant ensued. Hendry then talked about coming up with a 2nd brutal song during their feud. Hendry then played that song, which was the AJ Styles TNA theme that made fun of AJ Francis flopping. AJ and Rich booed Hendry while the crowd was hyped. Hendry said it’s time for the apology song, which the crowd booed. Hendry said he took the low road last time, but he’s going to take things higher this time.
Hendry started playing an acoustic version of Creed’s “Higher” song. Hendry sung about AJ being an easy target in terms of joke. Hendry then pointed out a picture of Rich and AJ celebrating their win with AJ cupping Rich’s ass. Hendry sung how AJ falls on his head off the rope. He then sung “can you please get fired” to the tune of the Creed classic.
Hendry then pointed out that AJ got fired twice. Hendry then got the crowd to sing along to the chorus. Hendry said “I’m sorry”. The segment ended with the crowd chanting “we believe”…
Hannifan plugged upcoming segments…[c]
John’s Thoughts: As much as I thought Hendry’s act was getting stale (I still think he needs to ad a bit of an edge though, Hendry come back with one of his best parody segment’s he’s done. Again, might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but personally I liked it and the crowd was eating it up too. Nice change of pace to do the live acoustic performance. I also think that Hendry’s parody songs are better when he’s parodying actual real-life bands (and he can get away with it too because parodies are protected by “free use” and can circumvent copyright). Hearing Creed’s Higher song also reminded me of those old WWE hype vignettes from the early 2000s.
Gia Miller introduced The System to the stage for an interview. Gia asked them for their thoughts on their upcoming six person tag match. Eddie interrupted and said that Alisha Edwards will become a tag team champion at Under Siege. Eddie bragged about The System being on the photos of Under Siege and how TNA needs the System.
Brian Myers then accused Bailey and Seven riding the coat tails of Matt Hardy. Moose said at Under Siege Matt Hardy will have his first match in 7 years. Moose said when Hardy left, Moose became a TNA legend. Moose said its ironic that Matt keeps talking about deleting, but it’s Speedball Mountain and Matt Hardy getting deleted. Alisha told everyone to trust the system…
An ad aired for the TNA Plus Under Siege show…
4. Trey Miguel (w/Zachary Wentz) vs. Ace Austin (w/Chris Bey) for a TNA X Division Title Shot at Under Siege. Ace dominated the early chain wrestling. Both men traded slaps. Both men then traded ground and pound. Wentz and Bey got on the aprons to jaw. Ace used a few sweep kicks on Trey and rolled him up for a two count.
Wentz tripped Ace off the apron while the referee was checking on Trey. Trey then raked the back of Ace. The show cut to regular commercial.[c]
Trey was dominating with methodical offense. Ace deadlifted Trey into a Fireman Carry. Miguel came back with mounted punches. Ace blocked a Lionsault with knees. Ace worked on Trey with a kick and leg drop combo. Ace hit Trey with hanging lariats in the croner. Ace his Trey with a Disaster Kick for a two count. Wentz got on the apron for a distraction.
Trey rolled up Ace for a two count. Trey gave Ace a shotgun dropkick to the back of the neck. Trey yelled to Bey about having a messed up leg. Ace blocked a Scorpion Kick. Trey hit Ace with an enzuigiri. Trey hit Ace with Cheeky Nandos. Ace and Trey brawled to the top rope. Trey knocked Ace off with a bell clap. Trey hit Ace with a Sunset Flip for a two count. Ace hit Trey with a face stomp. Ace hit Trey with “The Fold” for the victory.
Ace Austin defeated Trey Miguel via pinfall in 8:33.
The show then cut to Eric Young and Josh Alexander cutting a promo to hype their upcoming Under Siege match against Frankie Kazarian and Steve Maclin…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Good tuneup match between two guys who have a lot of history. I remember this feud mostly for that one time Ace kept hitting on Trey’s mom. Hey, and I’m happy we didn’t get a distraction finish here. I don’t expect them to take the title off Ali unless Ali is leaving. Curious to see if they are going to move forward with a Bey and Austin breakup. They’re a great tag team, but before that they showed a lot of promise as singles heels.
A tale of the tape aired for the upcoming Knockouts Title match. George Iceman (still unnamed) cut a promo to cut off Hannifan. Ice man introduced Ash by Elegance who will be watching the match from the balcony…
Jade Chung handled the formal in-ring introductions for the Knockouts Title match…
5. Jordynne Grace vs. Miyu Yamashita for the TNA Knockouts Championship. Both women started the match with a handshake. Grace started the match with a headlock takedown and shoulder tackle. Miyu came back with a leg lariat. Grace hit Miyu with a reverse Fisherman buster. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
Back from break, Miyu had Grace on the apron. Miyu hit Grace with a Death Valley Driver on the apron. The camera made sure to cut to Ash by Elegance’s reactions to the match. Grace and Miyu had each other locked in a Judo pin, where they were also trading strikes. Grace gave Miyu a stiff backfist. Miyu no sold a few body slams.
Both women took each other out with stereo roundhouse kicks. Miyu blocked a Kinniku Buster attempt. Miyu put Grace in a Tree of Woe, but Grace used her core strength to recover and backdrop Miyu for a two count. Miyu hit Grace with a sweep and head slicer kick for a two count. Both women traded strikes. Grace hit Miyu with the Grace Driver for the victory.
Jordynne Grace defeated Miyu Yamashita via pinfall in 9:56.
Ash and Iceman were shown in the balcony again. Grace and Miyu shook hands. After Miyu left, Steph De Lander and Kon ran out to attack Grace. Kon teased snapping Grace’s neck. The lights went out and PCO appeared when it turned on. Grace gave Kon a low blow. PCO dumped Kon to ringside. PCO choked De Lander, but De Lander stopped him by seducing him. Grace grabbed De Lander and dumped her to ringside…
John’s Thoughts: I can see people complaining about Miyu Yamashita showing up without a character introduction, but I thought this was good to give Jordynne Grace a good win without having to feed a regular roster member to her. Wouldn’t mind seeing a bit more of Yamashita because she did look good in defeat.
A decent enough show, but TNA does have that wonky TNA Plus Specials schedule where it forces them to go through these rushed PPV-ish builds. The card looks okay on paper, but from what I saw it’s a bunch of grudge tag team matches you can see on TV and a handful of foregone conclusions (they might have surprises, but they still feel like tv matches). Both of their top champions are also tied up in grudge tag team matches. On top of that, they don’t have Nic Nemeth on the show due to injury so that takes things a step back.
“ Matt Hardy, Mike Bailey, and Matt Hardy then cut a promo about how they will delete the system…”
This wasn’t the only poor editing mistake. The Alisha Edwards match write up was confusing. Please go back and edit these after posting. Take less time with your writer takes and more time with the results.