By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
TNA Impact Wrestling Hits
Ace Austin vs. Kushida: The best match of the night and it concluded with a clean finish. What’s not to like? Austin’s post match speech to the fans have given Chris Bey was a nice touch. It’s concerning that neither Bey nor the company have released any specifics regarding his injury. The fact that Austin said Bey fights every day for a normal life seems telling, though I certainly hope that I’m reading too much into that line. On a much lighter note, Austin showed good fire while shutting down Moose before he could insult Bey. I’d prefer to see Austin chase the TNA World Championship rather than Moose’s X Division Title, but I suppose there’s always Option C.
Mike Santana and Josh Alexander verbal exchange: Santana continues to deliver some of the best mic work in TNA. It’s a shame that AEW didn’t do more with Santana because they could really use the cool factor that he brings. AEW’s loss is TNA’s gain in this case. Santana and Alexander have good chemistry and I’m looking forward to the gauntlet match they set up as well as the singles showdown match that I assume will follow. I’ll be disappointed if Santana doesn’t get a run with the TNA World Championship in 2025. In fact, I have July 20 circled on my calendar. That’s when TNA will hold Slammiversary in Santana’s home state of New York at UBS Arena.
Frankie Kazarian and Leon Slater: Kazarian has really found his groove as a singles heel. He’s become one of the most entertaining acts in the company. Meanwhile, the segment served as a rare chance to Slater to actually speak on TNA television. I don’t know why TNA has been so slow to push Slater, but hopefully this is the start of something.
Rhino vs. Ryan Nemeth: Although it was a pretty basic match, it was encouraging to see the heat that Ryan drew during the opening segment carry over to his DQ win over Rhino. It was also fun to see the live crowd cheer Nic Nemeth, yet boo when he mentioned his younger brother. This is the most interesting Ryan Nemeth has been in pro wrestling and I look forward to seeing where things go from here.
TNA Impact Wrestling Misses
Masha Slamovich, Jordynne Grace, Jody Threat, and Dani Luna vs. Rosemary, Tasha Steelz, Ash By Elegance, and Heather By Elegance: The eight-woman tag match was an underwhelming television main event. The ring work was fine, but I’m typically not a fan of low stakes eight-person tag matches. I also spent the majority of the match waiting for Tessa Blanchard to make her advertised return to Impact. They saved that for after the match and the angle was quick yet effective.
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