By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
TNA Impact (Episode 1,047)
Taped August 2, 2024 in Tampa, Florida at Florida State Fairgrounds
Aired August 8, 2024 on AXS TV
Highlights from last week’s TNA Impact show aired… The show cut to Steph De Lander at a random room. There was Saxophone music playing in the background. De Lander said she’s married and welcoming everyone to her honeymoon. She said she has one question, does her monster want her in black or red [lingerie]?
John’s Thoughts: Ah, so this is very similar to the Dexter Lumis x Indi Hartwell beauty and beast-like storyline from NXT 2.0. Will this one also end with a thumbs up and roll of condoms?
The TNA “Cross the Line” intro theme played. Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt were on commentary. Jade Chung was the ring announcer…
The System and JDC made their entrance for a promo, still dressed up as American Flags. Alicia Edwards took the mic and soaked in boos from the Tampa crowd. She said she is so sick of the stupid fans thinking that The System is failing. The crowd ramped up their boos and “you suck” chants. Alicia told the crowd to look at her belt which means she’s one half of the Knockouts Tag Team Champions.
Alisha claimed again, that The System is the most dominant faction in pro wrestling and will son all hold gold again. Eddie Edwards took the mic and soaked in “delete” chants. Eddie said that he and Myers losing the tag titles, Moose losing the world title, those were nothing but flukes. Eddie said they have plenty of time to talk, so the crowd can keep booing.
Eddie said they will all stop at nothing to get all those titles back. Myers soaked in loud boos too and said nothing has changes. Myers reiterated Alisha’s claim at the System being the best faction in pro wrestling today, and if you think otherwise you are delusional. The crowd showered JDC with “You Suck” chants. Curtis told the crowd to shut up.
Moose then took the mic as the boos continued to go. Moose called out Nic Nemeth. He said Nemeth might be the World Champion at this moment, but he will never be the face of the franchise. Moose said when the time is right, he will get what’s rightfully his, the TNA World Championship. Moose said he also has to address this lunatic in the locker room claiming Moose is afraid of him, Mike Santana.
Moose said he’s put a ton of hall of famers to sleep. Moose said Santana calls himself a dog, which drew woof chants from the crowd. Moose said he’ll take that dog to the back and give him the Old Yeller treatment, because in the end you can always trust The System…
John’s Thoughts: Very hot crowd at this new set of tapings and they were the stars and driving force of the opening segment. I really hope they didn’t burn themselves out because they were really good at maintaining their boos and transitioning to different hate chants. The System still come off as posers, but they are more palatable without holding the championships hostage and feeling like the company is trying to shove them down the viewers throats. Now’s the time to give them some Character Development. The best parts of this act are still Johnny Dango Curtis, who’s been killing it since his initial heel turn, and Alisha Edwards, who is doing a great job as the heel mouthpiece of The System and her husband.
Gia Miller interviewed Jonathan Gresham on the interview set. He wasn’t dressed up as the black Great Muta this time, and was instead in his old gear. Gia noted that Gresham is about to have a match with Kushida that was supposed to happen at Slammiversary, but was cancelled due to Gresham’s travel problems (The cloudflare IT issues from a few weeks ago).Gia said she’s kinda shocked that Gresham is looking like his old self now.
Gresham said he’s been gone for a while because he wasn’t feeling well. He said he’s here now and feeling well. Kushida approached the set dressed up as Back to the Future 2 Marty McFly (with the tie dye hat). Kushida was about to shake Gresham’s hand, but instead walked away…
Mike Bailey was shown shadow boxing heading into the break…[c]
A Bound for Glory teaser graphic aired, showing a random car and the date of the show traced on dust on the ground…
The show cut to Director of Authority Santino Marella and X Division Champion Mike Bailey backstage. Santino reminded the viewers that the X Division’s tagline is “No Limits”. Santino said Mike Bailey is the epitome of “No Limits”. Santino asked Bailey how Bailey feels about Ultimate X returning at the Impact Plus Emergence show.
Bailey said that to him the X Division is about pushing the boundaries of pro wrestling with high flying and fast action. Bailey said all that is in Ultimate X has all that in it. Bailey said his X Division Championship encapsulates that division and he’s proud to carry that tradition at Emergence. Santino said they are going to have “Qualification” matches to be in the Ultimate X match for the X Division title.
Bailey said he’s going to be a fighting champion and willing to put his belt on the line in one of the qualifying matches. Santino announced that you will see the best of the best at Ultimate X…
Entrances for the next match took place and Tom Hannifan noted that the upcoming match was a de facto X Division Title defense instead of a qualifier based off what Mike Bailey announced in the prior segment. Hannifan also noted that if Bailey loses the title here, he will vacate the X Division Championship and a new champion will be crowned at Emergence…
1. “Speedball” Mike Bailey vs. Trent Seven vs. Jake Something for a spot in the Ultimate X Match at Emergence. Jake tossed around the smaller Seven and Bailey. Both men dumped Jake to ringside. Bailey went for some quick pin attempts. Jake dragged Seven to ringside. Bailey hit Seven with a Triangle Moosnault. Bailey caught Jake with a Gamengiri. Bailey reversed a power bomb with huracanrana to dump Jake to ringside.
Bailey went for a sweet looking Wrecking Ball Dragonrana, but Jake had an even better reversal, catching Bailey and using him as a battering ram on Trent Seven. Jake gave Bailey a power bomb on the apron. Jake worked on Trent with methodical offense in the ring while Bailey was recovering. Seven lowered his body weight to put Jake in a Fireman Carry.
Bailey knocked down Jake and Trent with a missile dropkick. Bailey hit Jake with a standing Shooting Star for a two count. Trent rallied with a chop and DDT for a nearfall on Bailey. Jake took down Trent and Bailey with a series of clotheslines. Bailey hit Jake with a Poison Rana. Trent hit Bailey with a Super Scoop Slam for a nearfall. Jake grabbed both opponents by the throat.
Jake tossed Bailey into the buckle. Trent hit Jake with Bop and Bang. Jake blocked a clothesline. Jake then hit Trent with a Power Bomb while also falling back to give Bailey a Senton at the same time. Jake hit Trent with “Into the Void”.
Bailey broke up the pin attempt with his own Crucifix Pin attempt. Jake no-sold Bailey’s initial chambered Thrust Kick, but then stumbled from the 2nd. Bailey hit Jake with a Tornado Kick and Ultima Weapon for the victory.
Mike Bailey defeated Jake Something and Trent Seven via pinfall in 7:04 to retain the TNA X Division Championship and qualify for the Ultimate X Match at TNA Emergence.
Mike Bailey was added to the six person graphic for the Ultimate X match at Emergence…
John’s Thoughts: A fairly entertaining multi-man qualifier for the upcoming Ultimate X match. Prior to 2016, TNA was going a bit overboard with their homogeneous multi-man X-Division with random undefined characters. They’ve gotten better with that during the Anthem years so having these matches here and there doesn’t hurt. I do hope that Bailey comes out of Ultimate X as champion to bring back the weekly one-on-one “Fighting Champion” matches he was so good at during his first X Division title run. Even better, is I hope he gets to defend his title against the litany of NXT talent now available for TNA to use.
A replay aired from the Tasha Steelz vs. Gisele Shaw match from TNA XPlosion. Tasha Steelz won with her hands on the rope for leverage…
Tasha Steelz cut a backstage promo where she called herself the “Greatest that beat The Greatest” (Mickie James being the person Tasha beat a year or two ago). Tasha said if you stand in her way to the championship, you will get dropped like Gisele Shaw who messed around and found out. Gisele Shaw approached Steelz and said it’s funny that a person named Steelz had to steal a win earlier.
Steelz said it ain’t steeling until you get caught. Santino got in between both women to prevent a fight. Santino said they will have a match next week with two referees to prevent shenanigans. Santino then made sure to keep Tasha and Gisele apart…
Tom Hannifan plugged upcoming segments…[c]
Alexander Hammerstone approached Santino Marella backstage and said he’s taken interest in the X Division because he finds it amusing. Hammerstone said all these undersized wrestlers doing flips look cute to him. Hammerstone demanded to be in one of the qualifying matches. Santino said Hammerstone is right to make that request because the X Division is about No Limits not Weight Limits.
Santino said nobody would expect a heavyweight like Hammerstone in one of the qualifiers. Santino granted Hammerstone his request to be added to a qualifier. Santino left. Eric Young approached Hammerstone and noted that they have unfinished business…
Kushida made his entrance looking like Back to the Future 1 Marty McFly again (he is still wearing that BttF 2 tie dye hat though). Jonathan Gresham then made his entrance in his old regular attire and white octopus pre-match mask. Gresham even tried to start the match with a Code of Honor handshake, which Kushida refused…
2. Kushida vs. “Regular” Jonathan Gresham. Kushida broke up Gresham’s initial hold with a rope break. Kushida dragged Gresham down with a side headlock. Both men traded quick ground counters with Kushida getting the upper hand in a headlock. Gresham hit Kushida with a Belly to Back suplex, but Kushida kept the hold locked in with a open Judo base.
Gresham escaped the lock with a inverted Atomic Drop and chop. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
Back from break, both men were trading Fighting Spirit Strikes in the center of the ring. Gresham ran Kuhsida in the corners and rallied with stiff chest chops. Gresham deadlifted Kushida off Kushida’s lowered base for a deadlift suplex. Gresham then put Kushida in a Half Crab which Kushida broke with a rope break.
Kushida blocked an Octopus Stretch with a Dragon Screw. Kushida then worked on Gresham’s arm with kicks. Kushida and Gresham traded ground holds. Gersham escaped a submission with a pin. Kushida hit Gresham with a Pele Kick followed by a PK to the arm. Gresham blocked a Hoverboard Lock on both arms. Gresham no-sold a tackle. Kushida reversed a crossbody into a Hoverboard Lock. Gresham quickly tapped out.
Kushida defeated Jonathan Gresham via submission in 10:25.
John’s Thoughts: Standard match in terms of bell to bell, but it looked like the purpose of this match was to sell a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde like split personality within Jonathan Gresham where his old ROH self is the weaker half. Based off how Hannifan and Rehwoldt were selling it on commentary, I think that we will unfortunately get the “contagion” verson of Jonathan Gresham back very soon. It sucks too, because I really think that the “Darker” Muta-esque Jonathan Gresham was built up very well with those therapy cinematics. Where the gimmick gets hokey is with the random “sickness”, TNA allowing a sick person to get everyone sick, and the whole gloves and COVID mask thing that everyone has to play along with. TNA! Please keep the dark gimmick, but get rid of the “sick” part!
An ABC, Ace Austin and Chris Bey, backstage promo aired. Their promos now have graphics and a filter that remind me of the intro to Saved by the Bell (not in a bad way though). Ace said they are the best tag team in the world and instead of teaching the alphabet, today they’ll give a history lesson. Ace said that when Impact changed back to TNA, they were the last Impact Tag Champions and first new TNA Champions.
Ace noted they are three time tag champions. Bey said with that they proved they are the best tag team. Bey wondered who will step up? The graphics dropped when Mike Bailey approached Bey and Ace. Bailey said he’s not going after the tag titles, but he wants to thank Ace Austin and Bey for making him a stronger person in their battles.
Bailey said he wants to battle the best. Bailey asked if both Bey and Ace can participate in some X Division qualifying matches. Both Ace and Bey said they’ll get back to Bailey on that. Ace then talked to Bey and pointed out how going after singles gold put a wedge between them in the past; but it doesn’t hurt for either them to be double champs. Both men dap’d up and agreed that it would be sweet if they could win singles gold…
Tom Hannifan plugged upcoming segments…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Speaking of NXTNA, both compnaies are telling similar stories with their tag team champions where singles gold is causing some dissension between both teams. TNA did it first though, and NXT is doing it a bit differently with HBK’s slow burn approach. Ace and Bey are also going after a better title, while Axiom and Nathan Frazer are going after the WWE Speed title that nobody, including the Speed Champion, cares about.
The BFG teaser graphic aired again…
The show cut to Steph De Lander in a hot tub and in a swimsuit. She said she organized a date in the jacuzzi between her and her monster. She called the phone where she heard PCO’s personal answer machine message. De Lander said it was funny that the phone went straight to voicemail…
TNA Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace made her entrance for her open challenge. Rosemary took Grace up on her challenge. Hannifan noted that this Rosemary was a different Rosemary than Grace has faced in the past. Rosemary posed in the ring with her meat cleaver…
3. Jordynne Grace vs. Rosemary for the TNA Knockouts Championship. Rosemary pulled Grace in during Grace’s handshake attempt and gave Grace mounted punches. Rosemary then choked Grace with a rope assisted leg scissors. Grace tackled Rosemary into the corner to escape a underhook. Grace took down Rosemary with a shoulder tackle and gut-wrench suplex.
Grace hit Rosemary with a World Strongest Slam and Vader Bomb for a nearfall. Both women traded standing switches. Grace reversed a Spear, but Rosemary followed through with a backdrop. Rosemary hit Grace with a Spear. Grace escaped a underhook again. Grace hit Rosemary with a cartwheel DVD for a nearfall. Grace gave Rosemary rapid lariats in the corner and dragged her to the top rope.
Rosemary blocked a Superplex. Grace hit Rosemary with a Delayed Vertical Superplex. Rosemary no-sold it and gave Grace a German Suplex. Ash by Elegance and the personal Concierge (George Iceman) walked to ringside and the referee tried to send them to the back. The ref then went to count the ten count of both women. The concierge handed Ash a purple Kendo Stick.
The concierge distracted the referee while Ash hit both Rosemary and Grace with kendo stick shots (why the referee can’t here all these bamboo stick shots, who knows? Only in pro wrestling). The referee finally turned around and saw Ash wailing on Rosemary and Grace with the purple Kendo Stick. The ref called off the match.
Jordynne Grace vs. Rosemary ended in an apparent no contest in 6:11.
Ash chased off the referee with the Kendo Stick and posed in the ring. Ash and the Concierge retreated when Jordynne Grace recovered…
Tom Hannifan advertised that we might finally hear Josh Alexander explain his actions from Slammiversary, after the break. Hannifan also noted that after the break they’ll be an official Bound for Glory announcement…[c]
John’s Thoughts: The purpose of this match looked like it was to elevate the new-look Rosemary, while also continuing to cook Rosemary’s upcoming feud against Ash by Elegance, which should lead to a fun dichotomy. No reason to think an NXT wrestler was taking up the open challenge because Grace didn’t put the obvious foreshadowing in her recent promo, and it’s good to establish this challenge as “for anyone”.
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt checked in on commentary and sent the show to the official Bound for Glory trailer, which aired…
Josh Alexander made his entrance to his new heel entrance theme. Josh took a mic and soaked in the boos from the Florida crowd. Josh then soaked in “you sold out” chants. Josh asked the crowd if he sold out? He said a few weeks ago, the crowd would have been chanting “Walking Weapon”. Josh then asked the crowd if they finally want to here why he did what he did?
“You screwed Joe” chants ensued. Josh said he didn’t change, “you people” are the ones who have changed. Josh said TNA used to stand for the place where the best wrestlers in the world wrestle. Josh said the people decided to believe in somebody like Joe Hendry, which drew cheers. Josh joked that it seems like Joe Hendry is busy now.
Josh said Joe is a meme, not a pro wrestler. A “we believe” chant ensued. Josh said the crowd need to give some respect to the heart and soul of TNA Wrestling. He said he earned that title with his bloodshed and tears in the ring. He said you are looking at the longest reigning World Champion in TNA. Josh said that Tom Hannifan called him the standard of TNA and the crowd used to agree once upon a time.
“You Suck” chants ensued. Josh said he’s the best professional wrestling walking the earth today. He said weather you like it or not, you have to deal with it. Josh pointed out how he’s spilled more blood and sweat in the ring than anybody. Josh talked about how he was the person carrying the company during the COVID era where there were no crowds watching him wrestle.
He talked about doing hour long matches with people like Mike Bailey two years ago. He said he’s truly the standard of TNA. Josh said he’s focused on getting back what rightfully belongs to him, the TNA World Championship. Josh noted that Nic Nemeth is willing to defend the title at any time. Josh said he’ll call out Nic to get his deserved rematch.
Josh said if Nic wants to be the face of TNA, he needs to figure out TNA already has a face, Josh Alexander. Josh said when he gets the title back, they won’t call Nic the face of TNA; but the same thing they called him in WWE, a transitional champion. TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth made his entrance.
Nic grabbed a mic, but instead of cutting a promo, he jabbed Josh Alexander in the throat with it. Nic Nemeth floored Josh Alexander with a superkick. Nic picked back up the mic and soaked in TNA chants. Nic said he told Josh and each and every one of the fans that he’s a fighting champion. Nic said if Josh wants the match, he’s got it. Nic hyped up Nic Nemeth vs. Josh Alexander for the world title next week on TNA Impact…
Tom Hannifan plugged upcoming segments heading into the break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A good promo segment from Josh Alexander and Nic Nemeth. They took a bit of a more nuanced approach by having Josh Alexander delay the explanation over weeks, leading to him giving a solid and traditional hero-to-villain origin story. Reminded me a bit of Drew McIntyre’s slow burn heel turn, but different enough to call his own. The world title is in a WAY better place with Fighting Champion Nic Nemeth instead of forced champion Moose. I’m surprised that they are giving away the Nemeth vs. Alexander match on TV, but I’m not complaining as it’ll make next week’s show must-see.
Tom Hannifan plugged Bound for Glory tickets pre-sale for TNA Plus subscribers…
Santino Marella officially announced Nic Nemeth vs. Josh “Alexandro” for the TNA Championship for next week’s Impact (Santino still does that thing where he purposely mispronounces things). Frankie Kazarian approached Santino and said that he should be number one contender as King of TNA, not Josh Alexander.
Kazarian said TNA is his house and in his house daddy eats first. Santino said Kazarian will get his title opportunity when his time comes, but now the daddy is not even sitting at the dinner table. Kazarian talked about Santino running around with a toy police badge and said that the badge is not a crown. Kazarian said if he’s not in contention now, he’ll get himself there, however he has to…
The Rascalz, Zachary Wentz and Trey Miguel, made their entrance (I noticed that in TNA their theme has a bong rip intro, while they take that part out in NXT). Wentz was wearing his Buzz Lightyear gear again. Hannifan noted that this week was emotional for Trey and Wentz. The picture-in-picture showed highlights of Axiom and Frazer vs. MSK for the NXT Tag Titles from this past Tuesday, which ended in Wes Lee betraying Trey and Wentz by the end of the show.
KC Navarro made his entrance next. Out last, was NXT wrestler Dante Chen, who was the third wrestler in the upcoming Ultimate X qualifier. Tom Hannifan pointed out that Dante Chen is the first Singaporean-born wrestler to wrestle in WWE. Matt Rehwoldt noted that Dante Chen has a strong connection with the crowds he wrestles in front of…
John’s Thoughts: Don’t tell me that Dante Chen doesn’t have one of the best theme songs in pro wrestling today. Love that theme! Also good to see more crossovers. One of the tools that HBK had in his early NXT 2.0 toolkit, was the ability to send some of their developmental projects on “excursions” to NXT UK. Because there is only so much TV time on the NXT TV show, TNA would be a good spot for some developmental wrestlers to not only get some time in front of a TV audience, but these potential TNA excursions would also be a great learning experience to their developmental roster filled with a lot of athletes who have never worked outside of the isolated developmental system.
4. Zachary Wentz (w/Trey Miguel) vs. KC Navarro vs. Dante Chen for a spot in the Ultimate X Match at TNA Emergence. All three men traded rapid armdrags and rollup attempts to start the match at a stalemate. Navarro dumped Wentz to ringside with a huracanrana. Chen used a shoulder tackle to knock Wentz off the apron with a shoulder tackle.
Navarro hit Chen with a draping wrecking ball kick and followed up on Wentz with a flip dive. Navarro gloated in front of the heel to play the de facto heel of the match. Navarro reversed Chen with a Tornado DDT for a nearfall. Navarro also kicked Wentz off the apron again. Chen took down Navarro with a kneeling punch.
Wentz used a neckbreaker to take down Chen. Chen then slammed Navarro and Wentz into each other. Chen took out Wentz with a Yakuza kick and then hit Navarro with a Tilt a Whirl Backbreaker. Wentz broke up Chen’s pin. Navarro staggered Wentz on the top rope with a gamengiri. Wentz hit Navarro with a Blockbuster which caused Navarro to give Chen a Scorpion Death Drop.
Wentz rallied with CQC on Chen. Wentz hit Navarro with a Flapjack and German Suplex. Wentz took out Chen with his signature handstand into a knee strike. Wentz hit Navarro with a Springboard Flip Cutter for the victory.
Zachary Wentz defeated KC Navarro and Dante Chen via pinfall in 4:51 to qualify for the Ultimate X Match at TNA Emergence.
Wentz’s graphic was added to the Ultimate X graphic…
Tom Hannifan plugged Joe Hendry vs. Wolfgang as the main event of this week’s show…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A good match while it lasted. Wish we could have gotten more because we know how great Wentz is, Navarro was doing some solid work as the de facto heel, and crowds love them some Dante Chen. Wentz is someone I want to see wrestle more non-tag-team matches because Trey and Wes have proven that they can be top tier singles wrestlers, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Wentz has that potential too. Curious to see how they handle two babyfaces feuding with a heel Wes Lee, and what Wes Lee does to counter the numbers disadvantage.
Nic Nemeth vs. Josh Alexander for the TNA Championship was plugged for next week…
Steph De Lander was waiting on the bed, presumably for PCO to get down on her. The door knocked, but it was Matt Cardona instead of PCO. Cardona noted that De Lander has been avoiding him since last week. De Lander said that this is her honeymoon and Cardona needs to get out of here.
De Lander closed the door on Cardona’s face. The show then cut to some grass where two men were pinning PCO down. Cardona told PCO “don’t you ever mess with my property, and remember who did this to you”. Cardona stomped PCO’s head into the dirt…
John’s Thoughts: Welp, those “honeymoon” skits were a bit of a dud. At least this all ends with us getting Matt Cardona back on TV which is always a net positive.
The show cut to Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt checking in on commentary. Hannifan and Rehwoldt spoke in their somber voice with no background music to recap Cardona “crossing the line” with what he did to PCO. Hannifan then recapped highlights from Joe Hendry vs. Joe Coffey from this past week’s NXT where Hendry got Wolfgang and Mark Coffey ejected from ringside by doing the classic Eddie Guerrero fake chair shot spot…
NXT Wrestler Wolfgang made his entrance by himself. Say his name, and he appears! I believe in Joe Hendry! Clap clap! Joe Hendry made his entrance. Hendry took the mic for his usual pre match promo (I notice that they don’t have him doing these on NXT yet. Probably, at least so far, not doing it because it’s a live show and every second counts. They’ll probably get to these promos soon).
Hendry talked about how both he and Wolfgang tried to make a name for themselves in Scotland. He said he also just showed up to Wolfgang’s place of work and made the fans there say “We Believe”. Hendry said it also wasn’t too long ago where Wolfgang and Mark held Hendry in place so Joe Coffey could hit Hendry in the back with a guitar. Hendry said it’s just him and Wolfgang all alone now. Hendry said he can’t quite find the words to say to Wolfgang now. Joe Hendry then jumped Wolfgang before the bell…
5. Joe Hendry vs. Wolfgang. Hendry stomped a mudhole into Wolfgang before Wolfgang could get his vest off. Hendry then dumped Wolfgang to ringside with a clothesline heading into picture-in-picture.[c]
Hendry rallied with chops and then took down Wolfgang with a jumping knee. Joe did a calm and silly sidestep to cause Wolfgang to crash and burn off a dive. Wolfgang then dumped Hendry to ringside with a shoulder tackle. Wolfgang soaked in boos after planting Hendry at ringside with a Body Slam. Wolfgang then mocked Hendry’s side to side arm wave while Hendry was being counted out.
Hendry beat the count. Wolfgang continued to attack Hendry with methodical offense. Hendry reversed Wolfgang’s offense with a Delayed Vertical Suplex. Hendry then rallied with right hands on Wolfgang followed by flying axe handles. Hendry deadlifted Wolfgang and did a squat, leading into a Fallaway Slam and Kip Up.
Hendry led the crowd in a clapclap stomp. Wolfgang reversed the Standing Ovation with a Wasteland. Wolfgang hit Joe Hendry in the back with a Vader Bomb for a two count. Hendry dodged a Swanton Bomb attempt and floored Wolfgang with a clothesline. Hendry hit Wolfgang with the Standing Ovation Uranage for the victory.
Joe Hendry defeated Wolfgang via pinfall in 9:19.
The camera cut to a pull apart brawl between Mike Santana and the members of The System. TNA Impact closed with Santana yelling at The System after being dragged away by security…
John’s Thoughts: The second showcase match of the week for Joe Hendry. A little unorthodox by having Hendry beat the leader of the group on Tuesday, and the minion of the group on Thursday; but I understand it’s tricky to sync the taped and live TNA and NXT shows (even though they knew all this will happen since it was advertised before the recent tapings. They found a way to sync Wes Lee’s heel turn without spoiling NXT). Good match from what we saw. Wolfgang’s good in the ring, he’s just never really found it as a personality
I feel like Paul Levesque has a soft spot for Wolfgang being one of the founding fathers of NXT UK. The three British Strong Style guys, Dunne-Bate-and-Seven, being the other three founding fathers of that initial four man roster. Anyways, a solid and focused episode of TNA Impact with the focus on building towards their Emergence show. No real “bangers” this week, but they did set up Ultimate X as well as set up for Nic Nemeth vs. Josh Alexander next week, which on paper is a banger. It seems like the Bound for Glory feud might be Joe Hendry vs. Josh Alexander, so they get through that title match, keep Hendry occupied with filler like this week, and then build to Joe vs. Josh once they get through next week. The star of the main event, was the star of the entire show. The Florida crowd, who were on fire tonight.
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