By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
TNA Impact (Episode 1,051)
Taped August 31, 2024 in Lexington, Kentucky at Old Forester’s Paristown Hall
Aired September 5, 2024 on AXS TV
Highlights from last week’s TNA Emergence show aired…
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rewhodlt were on commentary. Jade Chung was the ring announcer…
The System all made their entrance with most of them dressed like the American flag. Masha Slammovich and JDC were also making their entrance with them. Tom Hannifan noted that in just a few weeks, Moose will get his contractually obligated rematch for the TNA Title against Nic Nemeth at Victory Road.
Alisha Edwards took the mic and milked boos from the crowd and talked about how The System have something to say after dominating at Emergence. They all took time to soak in boos. Eddie said everyone has been chanting for a System Failure, but the System does not fail. He said the System just needed a reboot and now was time to get back their championship gold.
Myers said that he and Eddie are contractually obligated to get a title rematch, and they are cashing that in at Victory Road. JDC took the mic and told the town to shut up. Moose then told everyone to shut up because the face of the franchise has something to say. Moose said in two weeks Nic Nemeth will face the guy he’s never beaten for the title around his waist.
Moose then quoted Wade Barrett and said he has some “bad news” for Nic Nemeth, that Moose will become 4 time TNA world champion. He said before Victory Road, he has something more important to talk about, JDC. He said everyone wants to know his relationship with The System. Moose said that if The System can beat Joe Hendry and Mike Santana later in the show, JDC will be an official member of The System, but if they lose JDC is out.
Alisha talked about everyone asking for their rematch right now. She said that she knows her rights and she doesn’t have to defend her title more than once every 30 days. She said she’s also under the concussion protocol so she’ll have to find a replacement for her matches until she’s cleared to wrestle. Dani Luna and Jody Threat made their entrance.
Dani said it’s unfortunate what happened to Alisha at Emergence, but her team lost. Alisha said she beat Spitfire twice and they need to crawl back to whatever dive bar they came out of. Jody Threat said Santino granted them a title rematch, but if Spitfire loses, they will have to break up as a team. Alisha agreed to this challenge. The System theme played to close the segment…
John’s Thoughts: It looks like the purpose of this segment was to set the table for their short turnaround Victory Road show in just two weeks. What confuses me is why they booked canon live events so close to each other when they have the power to control their schedule (Isn’t as egregious as All In to All Out’s turnover). That said, it looks like they anticipated this on their schedule and they has a bunch of title rematches lined up to fill the card. To look at the positives, I like the forward thinking. It’s also smarter than in the past when they would have those rematches two or three weeks after a big PPV like Slammiversary or Bound for Glory.
Gia Miller interviewed Eric Young backstage about his recent loss to Steve Maclin at Emergence. Young said he’s never faced Maclin before and found out that Maclin was one tough guy. Young said he respects Maclin for facing him, throwing down, and getting one over on him. Young said he has Maclin’s back going forward.
Gia talked about Young facing Jake Something later in the show. Young said that Jake is one big bad dude he’s faced in the past (when Young was the leader of Violent by Design). Young said he’s going to represent himself, the company, and “be me”…
Tom Hannifan ran through the upcoming segments on the show…
A replay aired of John Bradshaw Layfield appearing at the end of Emergence last week…
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt checked in from commentary. Hannifan noted that we still don’t know what JBL told Nemeth off-mic…
Entrances for the next match took place…
1. Kushida vs. Laredo Kid. Both men started out with a chain wrestling stalemate. Kushida tossed Kid around with armdrags and dug in a armbar. Kid tried to kip out of the move a few times but Kushida kept the armbar in. Kid dumped Kushida to ringside with a huracanrana. Kushida came back with a dropkick. Kid dumped Kushida to ringside again. Josh Alexander showed up and turned Laredo Kid inside out for an apparent DQ.
Laredo Kid defeated Kushida via apparent DQ in 2:18.
Alexander planted Kid with a C4 Spike. Kushida tried to attack Josh, but Josh reversed Kushida into a ankle lock. Referees and security ran out to order Josh to the back. Josh agreed and struck a smug smile as he was heading up the ramp. Kushida took the mic and demanded a match against Josh Alexander.
Alexander tried to walk away but Kushida chased him and tossed him back in the ring. Tom Hannifan said that he was just informed that Santino Marella has made Kushida’s match request official…
2. Josh Alexander vs. Kushida. Kushida worked on Alexander with punches. The show cut to regular commercial.[c]
Alexander quickly escaped a Ankle Lock attempt. Alexander then blocked a Juji Gatame and rolled to ringside to escape the hold attempt. Alexander blocked a Hoverboard Lock by sending Kushida’s back into the apron. Alexander tossed his tracksuit at Kushida. Alexander then worked on Kushida with chops.
Hannifan noted that Josh Alexander had to relinquish his TNA title last year, most likely, due to Kushida’s Hoverboard lock. Kushida rallied with a few Tanaka Punches. Alexander reversed a Enzuigiri with an Ankle Lock. Kushida escaped by sending Alexander into the buckle. Alexander reversed a Hoverboard Lock into a Brainbuster.
Kushida reversed a C4 into a rollup for a two count. Alexander came back with a draping stomp to the ankle. Alexander put Kushida in a Ankle Lock, but then transitioned the move into a C4 Spike for the victory.
Josh Alexander defeated Kushida via pinfall in 5:53 of on-air time.
Joe Hendry and a referee checked up on Kushida in the Gorilla Position as he was on the ground selling a neck injury. Alexander then walked up to Hendry to gloat. Joe told Josh that he’ll never forget what Josh did to him at Slammiversary. Josh said “Good” and walked away…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A solid way for Josh Alexander to get his heat back after his loss to Nic Nemeth by having him dissect and take apart a match in progress. One miss opportunity I was reminded of during this match was TNA could have made a story out of Josh Alexander vs. Kushida because it was kayfabe that Kushida’s Hoverboard Lock was the move that forced Josh Alexander to give up the TNA title without defending it in a match.
TNA Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace made her entrance. Tom Hannifan plugged Jordynne Grace’s next open challenge after this happening on next week’s NXT show on Tuesday. Jade Chung called for Jordynne’s open challenge opponent. NXT’s Ariana Grace made her entrance (She’s the daughter of TNA’s on-air authority figure, Santino Marella).
Grace called herself “Miss NXT”. She said that people wanted her to be the open challenge. She said instead, she’s announcing herself as the new liaison between NXT and TNA. She said it’s her responsibility to make sure everything goes smoothly during this collab. Grace then introduced her “best friend”, the Karate queen Karmen Petrovic. Karmen Petrovic made her entrance with her katana…
3. Jordynne Grace vs. Karmen Petrovic for the TNA Knockouts Championship. Both women had a respectful handshake to start the match. Petrovic caught Grace with a Rolling Sobat. Grace came back with a spinebuster. Rosemary was watching the match from the rafters. The show cut to Picture-in-Picture.[c]
Back from break, Grace was working on Petrovic in the corner with clotheslines. Petrovic came back with chambered kicks in the corner and a spinning heel kick for a two count. Grace caught and ducked a kick. Petrovic used a kick to escape a Pumphandle. Grace came back with a spinning back fist.
Grace dragged Petrovic to the top rope. Petrovic hit Grace with a crossbody. Grace hit Petrovic with the Juggernaut Driver for the victory.
Jordynne Grace defeated Karmen Petrovic via pinfall in 6:34 to retain the TNA Knockouts Championship.
The lights went out. When they turned back on Grace was knocked out and there was a white body pillow laid next to her. Rosemary was shown laughing from the rafters…
John’s Thoughts: TNA is doing a great job making Jordynne Grace the most dominant wrestler in their company. Good showing by Karmen Petrovic here against a experienced non-WWE opponent in front of a different crowd. TNA seems to have filled the void for HBK of NXT UK where he would send developmental wrestlers to work with different opponents in front of different crowds. Looks like they’re setting up Grace against the Wendy Choo and Rosemary alliance. I hope they heat up Rosemary, because on NXT they’ve just been having her lose short matches without any promo time. Speaking of Grace’s, if Ariana Grace is the “liaison” of NXT and TNA, it would be cool for her to hopefully have a segment with her fellow comedy expert Santino Marella for a fun real-life Father and Daughter moment. She is a chip off the old block in terms of her comic wit.
The show cut to an ABC promo, which includes that Saved by the Bell looking screen filter. Ace Austin said Slammmiversary was wonderful night because The System failed. Bey talked about ABC winning the tag titles that night. They were cut off by First Class, AJ Francis and Rich Swann’s replacement KC Navarro. AJ said ABC are just like the corrupt TNA officials.
AJ said ABC are worried about The System at Victory Road, but they need to be worried about First Class. Bey said they would be worried, but they beat First Class last week. AJ said that last week he also raised ABC in the air and put them through the earth and ABC was just as easy as 123. Ace said it would have been the case if AJ was the legal man.
Bey said AJ didn’t know the rules of tag team wrestling. Bey said he then pinned KC Navarro. Ace said he doesn’t mind running it back. AJ and Navarro said they’ll speak to Santino about booking that match…
Tom Hannifan plugged upcoming segments…[c]
A dark and ominous vignette aired. A voice started speaking in distorted Mandarin. There were both English and Chinese subtitles. The person said “The initial spark is a symbol of my awakening. And from this point on there’s no turning back”. The vignette closed with “coming soon” and the person opening up a blue fan (Xia Li?)…
John’s Thoughts: My guess is it’s Xia Li because she’s probably the best trained female Chinese wrestler out there today due to her Performance Center training. Plus, the distorted voice sounded like a woman and I remember Xia having a Mandarin accent instead of a Cantonese one.
TNA X Division Champion Zachary Wentz made his entrance. The picture-in-picture showed highlights from Wentz’s busy last three shows where he won Ultimate X, beat Wes Lee, and became number on contender to the NXT Tag Team Titles. Wentz said you guys don’t know how much this means to him. Queue the obligatory “You deserve it” chants. Wentz talked about being at one of the lowest points of his life two years ago.
He said he had self doubts that he’d come back to pro wrestling. He said because of the love and support of the fans, he was able to pick himself up and become new TNA X Division Champion. Former X Division Champion Mike Bailey made his entrance. Bailey said he just wanted to say “congratulations”. Bailey said that championship meant that Bailey was the best-of-the-best, and now that’s Wentz. Bailey said he’s cashing in his rematch clause for Victory Road.
Wentz and Bailey shook hands. The Good Hands, John Skyler and Jason Hotch made their entrance. Skyler said the only thing more sickening than the love fest in the ring is the state of Kentucky. Skyler said the real star of Ultimate X is Jason Hotch. Skyler said they were robbed of their X Division Championship. Hotch caught Bailey and Wentz from behind.
The Good Hands dumped Wentz and Bailey to ringside. Jade Chung announced that Santino Marella has made Wentz and Bailey vs. The Good Hands official. Bailey and Wentz dumped The Good Hands to ringside and hit them with stereo suicide dives…
4. Zachary Wentz and “Speedball” Mike Bailey vs. “The Good Hands” Jason Hotch and John Skyler. Bailey and Hotch started the match. Skyler blind tagged in and caught Bailey from behind with right hands. Hotch and Skyler used quick tags to keep the numbers advantage on Bailey. Hannifan noted that Hotch is a former winner of “Gut Check” (their unaired version of Tough Enough).
Bailey caught Hotch with a boot and followed up with a Missile Dropkick. Skyler tagged in and knocked Wentz off the apron. Skyler draped Bailey for Hotch’s superkick. Bailey stacked both Good Hands and hit them both with a standing Ultima Weapon. Wentz tagged in and worked on Skyler with a kick combination.
Wentz caught Skyler with a knee and followed up with a PK and standing Shooting Star. Hotch broke up the pin. Bailey used a Yakuza Kick to knock Hotch off the apron. Bailey hit Hotch with a Triangle Moonsault. Wentz got a two count off a rollup. Wentz hit Skyler with a UFO Cutter for the victory.
Zachary Wentz and Mike Bailey defeated The Good Hands via pinfall in about 4:22.
John’s Thoughts: A good fodder match with The Good Hands going back to their role of being good hands to put over meaningful talent. Alongside Joe Hendry, Wentz is also getting a lot of love from WWE and TNA by appearing on multiple shows per week. I’m very happy for the guy after all he’s gone through the last two years. I assume they took the title off of Bailey so quickly to have Wentz on the USA Network with a TNA title belt. I don’t fault them for that and that’s a good idea. Wentz is someone I assume will find his way back to WWE once his TNA contract runs out due to WWE’s trust in him. As for the upcoming Bailey vs. Wentz rematch, it solidifies that Victory Road is going to be laiden with rematches.
PCO was trying to walk to the ring, but Steph De Lander shoved him back in and told him she’ll be back. Hannifan wondered if there was trouble in paradise…[c]
Highlights aired from Rosemary’s recent loss on NXT, followed by Lyra Valkyria making the save for Tatum Paxley when she was jumped
The show cut to a Rosemary promo where she was in front of a animal cage while lighting candles. She talked about being able to hear the hive again. Rosemary was saying a bunch of random words with distortions. Rosemary blew out the candle to end the segment…
John’s Thoughts: While I can’t tell you what the hell she was talking about, Rosemary still does a great job playing this deranged gothic person. I kinda wish they gave her a few segments like this on NXT instead of having her take a few quick losses.
Steph De Lander made her entrance. De Lander talked about Matt Cardona causing her so many issues like ruining her wedding, ruining her honeymoon, and causing issues with her husband PCO. De Lander called out Matt Cardona. Matt Cardona made his entrance. De Lander asked Cardona why he’s doing what he’s doing.
She talked about how they are best friends and tag team partners that travel the world together. Cardona said he agrees he’s been MIA and he owes her an apology. He said he’s sorry from the bottom of his heart. He said he’s sorry he didn’t crash the wedding earlier. He said he’s sorry he let her marry PCO. He said he’s also sorry he let her embarrass him.
Steph said you can’t disrespect her and PCO; and Cardona doesn’t own her. Cardona said Steph was wrong. Cardona then pulled out a contract that Steph and he signed. Cardona said he found her in Australia and brought her to the United States. He said he got her booked on the hottest Independent shows. He talked about paying for all her housing and meals.
He talked about getting her her own action figure as well as getting her on the cover of Pro Wrestling Illustrated. He said he also got De Lander in TNA. Cardona said it’s time for De Lander to keep up her end of the contract and he owns her. De Lander snatched the contract. She said she agrees Cardona helped her, but she put in work too.
She said she worked hard, had great matches, got herself noticed, and got herself into TNA, not Cardona. She said she’s a superstar with or without her. She said that contract means nothing to her. She slammed the contract to her. Cardona said crumpling that paper means nothing because TNA and his lawyers have copies. He said that Steph is his property. He said if he says jump, she says how high. Cardona backed Steph into a corner and berated her.
The screen went Black and White as PCO made his entrance. Cardona used Steph as a human shield and shoved her into PCO. Cardona backed up the ramp yelling that Steph was his property…
Tom Hannifan plugged upcoming segments…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Strong verbal segment between De Lander and Cardona. It was nice to see Cardona flip the switch from being a chicken heel to being a bit more menacing. I’m not sure what being “human property” entails in a pro wrestling sense, but my guess is that like Dom Mysterio back in the day, this will lead to some sort of stipulation match, probably a ladder match, where Steph’s ownership papers will be on the line.
The show cut to a Matt and Jeff Hardy promo backstage. Jeff said they need to win next week. Matt said they are former WWF, WWE, WCW, Ring of Honor, and TNA Tag Team Champions. Matt said when he and Jeff face the System next week they will make a statement by deleting them and whooping their ass. Matt noted that if they win they should face whoever the tag team champions are.
Matt said they shouldn’t think in past tense. Matt said people talk about how they “were” great. He said they “weren’t” great, they “are” great. Matt said they are going to prove they are the GOATs, the greatest of all time…[c]
Entrances for the next match took place…
Eric Young made his entrance in his Dr. Doom mask. Out next was Jake Something…
5. Eric Young vs. Jake Something. Something tackled Young a few times. Something hit Young with a backdrop. Something hit Young with a shortarm lariat for a two count. Something hit Young with a sitout Power Bomb for a nearfall. Something worked on Young with methodical offense.
Young came back with a few clotheslines and a discus lariat. Something came back with an Axe handle combination. Young reversed a leapfrog into a DVD for a nearfall. Both men reversed signature moves. Young hit Something with a Piledriver for the victory.
Eric Young defeated Jake Something via pinfall in 3:50.
After the match, Young helped Jake to his feet. Both men shared a handshake. After Young turned his back, Jake jumped Young from behind. Jake hit Young with “Into the Void”. Steve Maclin ran out to chase Something away from the ring…
John’s Thoughts: The weird booking of Jake Something continues. At least it looks like they “might” be going somewhere with Something given the post-match angle, but what’s also baffling is every time they book Jake with a post-match heat segment, they seemingly forget about it by the next taping cycle. How many times have they started and stopped the impending Jake Something vs. Cody Deaner feud. I hope it sticks this time at least because Something is too talented to be being all wishy-washy with.
A replay aired from NXT No Mercy last week where Ethan Page defeated Joe Hendry. The show cut to Gia Miller interviewing Joe Hendry backstage about what happened at Emergence and No Mercy. Hendry said him being screwed out of titles is becoming too common an occurrence. He said it’s usually time to go home, but this guy won’t go home.
He said you can’t deny the momentum of Joe Hendry. Hendry said when you see this place, you see the place to be, which is TNA Wrestling. He left saying he has a TNA title to chase…[c]
Tom Hannifan announced Heather Reckless was signed to TNA and she’ll face her first opponent Gisele Shaw next week…
Gia Miller interviewed Heather Reckless. She said she’s going to show the world why her name is Heather Reckless. Ash by Elegance and the Personal Concierge interrupted the interview. Reckless said it was nice to see them. The Concierge shoo’d off Gia. He said that Reckless can learn something from Ash. Ash said she shouldn’t listen to the trash of the division.
Gisele Shaw showed up and said the Knockouts Division is about respect. Gia said Ash hasn’t shown progress on her narcicism. Ash jabbed back by saying that Gisele hasn’t really made progress in her career. Shaw said one more disrespectful word will cause Ash to lose a tooth. Ash said she’ll like to see Gisele try and she called her a loser.
ABC vs. First Class in a Tornado Match. Steve Maclin vs. Hammerstone, and The Hardys vs. The System was announced for next week’s Impact. Sami Callihan vs. Frankie Kazarian was announced for XPlosion…
The System made their entrance first. Say his name and he appears! I believe in Joe Hendry! Clap clap! Joe Hendry made his entrance and took a mic. He said he knows exactly what will happen. He said when he does his signature turn, The System will jump him. He said it’s time the System spins around. Mike Santana was already in the ring.
Santana gave both opponents clotheslines. Hendry and Santana dumped The System to ringside. Josh Alexander joined the commentary table. The match started during picture-in-picture…[c]
6. Joe Hendry and Mike Santana vs. JDC and Moose (w/Alisha Edwards). Back from break, Hendry hit both Moose and JDC with Fallaway Slams. Hendry hit Moose with a long delayed vertical suplex. Alisha got in the way of Hendry’s signature plancha. Moose tackled Hendry into the apron. Moose and JDC cut the ring in half on Hendry.
Josh Alexander mocked Hendry by yelling that Joe needs to believe. Hendry reversed a Guillotine into a Suplex. Santana and Moose tagged in. Santana caught Moose with right hands all over the ring. Santana hit Moose with a jump kick. He hit JDC with a draping DDT. Santana hit Moose with a rolling cutter.
Santana tossed JDC to ringside on top of Moose. While the referee was distracted, Alexander hit Hendry with a low blow. Santana tossed Alexander into the barricade. Moose caught Santana with a pump kick and Spear for the win.
Moose and JDC defeated Mike Santana and Joe Hendry via pinfall in 9:47.
Rehwoldt noted that JDC is an official member of The System now. Hannifan did some hype for next week’s Victory Road show…
The show cut to Nic Nemeth watching the match on his phone. Nemeth mocked The System for having a new “reboot” catchphrase. He said if Moose wanted a rematch all he had to do was look Nic in the eye and ask for a fight. He talked about how his first night in TNA he kicked Moose’s teeth down his throat. He talked about how he never beat Moose.
He talked about how Moose took the coward’s way out to challenge him by going to social media. Nic said at Victory Road he will go toe to toe with Moose and he’ll beat Moose. He said it’s been killing him that he never got to pin Moose. He said that Moose can reboot the system all he wants, but he’ll never take out the wanted man. TNA closed…
John’s Thoughts: A standard TV main event to put some heat on the heels heading into their short turnaround show. At least they did put a little bit of worldbuilding in there by adding the stake of JDC’s System initiation being on the line, but in the ring that didn’t really manifest. Moose, Eddie, and Myers still feel a bit undercooked these days, but at least they aren’t overpushing The System like they once were (on top of JDC and Alisha Edwards being the best part of the act currently).
The goal of this week’s TNA episode was to quickly come up with a card for their short turnaround Victory Road show. It confuses me as to why they book these big crescendo shows with so little room for story development (they did this earlier in the year in January). At least it seemed like they anticipated it this time and it allowed for them to fill the card with mostly title rematches.
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