By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
TNA Impact (Episode 1,096)
Aired live on June 24, 2025, in Kingston, Rhode Island, at Ryan Center
Simulcast on AXS TV and TNA+
The show started off with an “in memory of” for the late Hulk Hogan with Tom Hannifan offering condolences or Hogan and his family on behalf of TNA and the fans… Highlights from TNA Slammiversary 2025 aired…
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt were on commentary. McKenzie Mitchell was the ring announcer…
TNA Director of Authority Santino Marella made his entrance. Hannifan recapped that Santino was on this past week’s NXT, where he crashed Ethan Page’s Canadian Celebration to challenge Page for the NXT North American Championship. Santino said the TNA World Championship and Knockouts Championship being in the hands of NXT wrestlers doesn’t sit well with him.
Santino said, “Let me tell you something, brother! And Sisters!” He said the people in the TNA locker room are warriors, and he’s going to put the right people in the right positions to regain the gold, including himself. Santino said he’s going to take some NXT gold, and he’s speaking directly to Ethan “Pa-gae”.
Masha Slamovich made her entrance with a smile and even doing her pose. Masha said she didn’t come out here to thank Santino for a pep talk. She talked about beating every person Santino put in front of her in championship defenses, and Jacy Jayne stole the title from her. Masha said she wants to cash in her contractually obligated rematch for next week.
Santino agreed. Masha left. Santino said next week will be Masha “Slam A Bitch” (that’s how Santino says it) vs. Jacy “Jayney”. The System made their entrance. Alisha Edwards fist bumped her old tag team partner as Masha headed to the back. Eddie Edwards took the mic first and reiterated Santino’s statement about warriors in the locker rooms. Eddie said at Slammiverary, they didn’t fight for themselves, but for TNA. He said they beat DarkState and sent them packing back to NXT.
A “TNA” chant ensued. Eddie talked about being in TNA for a long time, and he’s done everything in his power to see TNA succeed. He said he’s seen TNA rise and fall, and was even a part of factions who wanted to take down TNA. Eddie said those days are long gone, and he’d be damned if some outsiders show up to take something that doesn’t belong to them. Brian Myers said the TNA letters, logo, and brand mean everything to the System. Myers said TNA wasn’t a pitstop for the System; it’s the System’s home.
JDC said if TNA is going to war, the System are the shoulders. He said they don’t crack under pressure. Moose said he’s accomplished everything there is to do in TNA. He said it’s not about championships now to him, it’s about building a legacy to make his name synonymous with the letters TNA, just like the Phenomenal AJ Styles. Moose said wrestling Leon Slater reminded him why he loves TNA so much. Because they all scratch, they crawl, they sweat, and they fall; but when they fall, they get their asses back up to continue to fight.
Moose said Leon Slater did all that by himself, and he didn’t deserve the TNA X Division Championship; he earned becoming the youngest X Division Champion in TNA History. Moose said Leon will take the X Division to new heights. Moose said he’s moving on to talking about TNA Champion Trick Williams is already calling himself the face of TNA. Moose said a wise man once told him that you don’t need a title to be the face of a company. Moose went up to Eddie and talked about how they have had a long tenure in TNA, seeing so many people who call themselves “the face of TNA” come and go.
Moose said he can proudly call Eddie Edwards the “heart and soul of TNA” and you can see Moose as “the face of the franchise”. Moose said they’ve been through the ups, downs, and ridicule, but they keep waving the TNA flag. Moose said they carried TNA on their backs through thick and thin. Moose said he has three words as to what to do next, “whoop that trick”.
Trick Williams, AJ Francis, and KC Navarro made their entrance. Trick said the first thing Moose does after losing to Leon Slater is mumble his words and call out Trick Williams. Trick said Moose must be stupid. Trick said it’s his house now. He said he’s the man who took out the “Average Joe”. He said he’s the man who took down the “loud and proud Boricua Mike Santana”. Trick said he brought TNA its largest attendance in history, and this is now TrickNA. Trick said he doesn’t care if Moose grabs the system or the Detroit Pistons, because Moose still doesn’t have enough firepower for First Class Trickin’. Trick said Moose can order four more guys like Mustafa Ali, and you still can’t stop Trick Willy. Trick said he’s the present while Moose is the past. Moose dared Trick to enter the ring to face him.
Mustafa Ali and Order 4 made their entrance and passed by Trick. Ali took the mic and said everyone needs to give him a round of applause because he is taking his rightful spot as the leader of the greatest faction. Before Ali could finish his sentence, Order 4 were jumped by The System. They brawled heading into break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Interesting note, Trick’s huge push after being Carmelo Hayes’s manager was an impromptu decision due to WWE abruptly releasing Mustafa Ali while he was in a title program (Ali had a lot of rugs pulled from under him, all leading to huge world title pushes for Kofi Kingston, Brock Lesnar, and Trick Williams). Anyways, a good segment to set up what seems to be a large NXT vs. TNA war (can we get a WCW vs. NWO Revenge style video game out of this, too?). Moose’s heel persona ran dry two or three years ago. He has done everything in TNA, but I think a babyface run will do him wonders and make him fresh (and unlike back in 2017 when he was the “dumbest babyface in all of pro wrestling” as Jason Powell and I dubbed him, I really think he has developed the gift of gab enough to really flourish as a top babyface of the company). The only thing I wasn’t a fan of in the last segment was Masha Slamovich being happy-go-lucky, and doing her poses after losing the TNA belt to an NXT wrestler.
Santino Marella met up with The System backstage. Santino said there’s too much chaos around here with all these factions fighting each other. Matt Cardona showed up and said he is “always ready” to have The System’s back. Santino said he sees a reunion in front of him. He said he wants the “Edge Major Guys” vs. The Great Hands for later in the show. Santino also booked JDC, Moose, and Eddie vs. Trick and First Class for next week…
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt tried to check in from commentary, but they were cut off by The Personal Concierge doing his usual cheap heat promo, hating on the Rhode Island crowd. He called them losers and degenerates. The Concierge then did his over-the-top introduction for The Elegance Brand. Ash, Heather, and M by Elegance made their entrance. The IInspiration made their entrance to their wonderful Harley Cameron theme.
Their tag team partner was presented as a surprise. Their tag partner was the [re-] debuting Mara Sade. Tom Hannifan said “look who’s back” and noted that we’ve seen Mara recently as an NXT wrestler. Mara Sade is the former Jakara Jackson…
John’s Thoughts: You know what? Mara Sade (pronounced Sha Day, like she is about to sing “Ain’t Nobody” while Shane Strickland is making an entrance at a PROGRESS show) sounds better than Jakara Jackson. Glad to see her get right back in the NXTNA mix, and she’s looking as nice as ever.
1. “The Elegance Brand” Ash, Heather, and M by Elegance vs. Cassie Lee, Jessie McKay, and Mara Sade. M started the match towering over Jessie. Jessie took down M with a shoulder tackle and huracanrana. The babyface team dumped the heels to ringside and hit them with consecutive dives.[c]
Back from break, the Elegance Brand were cutting the ring in half on Cassie Lee for a few minutes. Cassie got a window of opportunity after hitting Ash with a drop toehold. This allowed her to tag in Mara Sade for the hot tag. Sade hit Ash and Heather with hip attacks. She took down Heather with a Sling Blade. Sade hit Ash with a Tornado DDT. Ash whipped Sade into the corner. Heather hit Jessie with a Stunner. Heather gave M a Rana onto Sade for a nearfall.
Sade dumped M to ringside. Cassie hit Heather with a Scorpion Kick. Cassie tagged in, followed by Jessie. The IInspiration hit Heather with the Idolizer for the win.
Mara Sade and “The IInspiration” Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay defeated “The Elegance Brand” Ash, Heather, and M by Elegance via pinfall in 11:09.
John’s Thoughts: A fun match to continue the feud between the IInspiration and Elegance Brand. The TNA Knockouts Tag Division only tends to revolve around two teams for about forever, but at least we have two really over teams as opposed to one team being over (Elegance) and the other team being dead on arrival (Spitfire). I was surprised that Mara Sade was released from WWE as I thought she did well selling in the tag team with Lash when they trial ran them on the main roster. The surprise didn’t really pack a punch as she did change her look a bit, and it’s not like TNA viewers knew who she was anyway. She should have been introduced through vignettes. She didn’t really get vignettes in NXT, but she was allowed to get character development due to Noam Dar’s fun promos and personality carrying Meta Four.
It was time for the TNA sponsored injury report. Gia Miller has multiple bruises and a head injury, and is currently under medical supervision. Tessa Blanchard is suspended indefinitely. Moose is day-to-day with a hip injury. KC Navarro is day-to-day after re-aggravating his leg injury in the ladder match…
An unnamed female interviewer tried to interview Mike Santana, but he walked away. The interviewer walked over to Indi Hartwell and asked her what was next for her after Slammiversary. Indi called the interviewer “Gabby” (So I’m going to assume it’s Gabby LaSpisa, who’s done segments with TNA in the recent past). Indi said she was worried about Tessa attacking Gia Miller. She said she is going to now focus on the TNA Knockouts Championship.
Dani Luna showed up and thanked Indi Hartwell for looking out for her last week. Victoria Crawford showed up and said she is stepping up to be Dani and Indi’s “mentor”. Indi wasn’t having it because Victoria helped Tessa attack Gabi. Dani told Victoria to step up to her. Victoria said she’ll ask Santino for the match Dani wants because she’s Dani’s and Indi’s mentor…[c]
Eric Young and the Northern Armory were backstage. Young said since nobody else can help TNA it’s up to him to “cleanse this place”…
New TNA X Division Champion Leon Slater made his entrance. A Picture in Picture aired of AJ Styles introducing Leon Slater as the new X Division Champion at Slammiversary. Leon soaked in “you deserve it” chants. Leon said the crowd is too kind. He said this was really crazy. Leon said Slammiversary wasn’t only the biggest night of his life, but it was the biggest night in TNA history, and somehow he walked out as X Division Champion. He said he also walked out as the Youngest X Division Champion of all time.
Leon said it was a struggle going through one of the best in the world in Moose. He said the beef was crazy beforehand, but once the dust had settled, Moose took that belt and strapped the belt around Slater’s waist like a real man, and that’s respect. Leon said what also deserves respect is the Phenomenal AJ Styles. Leon said he was ready to fly when he heard “Get ready to fly”. Leon said then history followed when AJ congratulated him.
Slater said he thinks of himself as a record breaker and moment maker. Slater said he wants to bring the X Division back to its roots. He said he wants to bring the X Division back to being about speed, innovation, athleticism, agility. Back when men like AJ Styles, Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Chris Daniels, Samoa Joe, and Amazing Red ran this thing. He said he now carries that legacy on his shoulders and promises to make this reign a special one. Leon said if you’re talking legacy, he wants to thank Matt and Jeff, The Hardys. He said Matt and Jeff paved the way for the entire locker room. Leon asked Matt and Jeff to join him in the ring.
The new TNA Tag Team Champions Matt and Jeff Hardy made their entrance to join Leon Slater in the ring. Matt congratulated Leon on winning the title and how this is going to be the start of a special run. Matt said there is also special energy in the building and TNA. Matt said he and Jeff being TNA Tag Champions for the fourth time, and with their wrestling son Leon as X Division Champion, they and the fans are the fuel that keeps the Hardy train moving straight ahead, deleting everything in the path.
Jeff said this is the Hardy Soul Train. Jeff said he and Matt will keep choo-chooing and chug-chugging into the wheels fall off.
TNA International Champion Steve Maclin made his entrance. Rehwoldt noted that the three championships still in TNA are in the ring now. Maclin said he’s not happy that there are outsiders showing up randomly in TNA and that the world champions are on people who don’t work for TNA. Maclin said he sees real TNA champions in the ring now. He said he sees a 20-year-old phenom in Leon. He said he sees his peers, mentors, heroes, and the greatest tag team of all time in Matt and Jeff. He said he’s a grunt who became a world champion and an International Champion. He said they all put blood, sweat, and tears in a company that believed in them. He said they have to draw their line in the sand and make a declaration. Maclin said if you dare step up beware because this is his home, his family, his TNA, “our” TNA. Maclin said they all be prepared for a damn war.
Matt said that’s a war that TNA will refuse to lose. The champions all held their belts up as the Hardy Boyz theme played…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A good first promo for Leon Slater as champion, who always comes off as very genuine, and someone you want to protect and see succeed. The rest of the segment served its purpose of showcasing the TNA Championships not held by WWE Wrestlers (yes, they didn’t have the Elegance Brand out there, but I understand that having the clownshoes out there would have killed the serious tone they were trying to get out of the promo). As Johnny Fairplay pointed out on the Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast this week, Slammiversary felt like an Empire Strikes Back show where the evil empire WWE dominated TNA. Will Bound for Glory be TNA’s Return of The Jedi?
Mance Warner and Steph De Lander made their entrance. A picture-in-picture replay aired of Jake Something losing to Real1 Enzo Amore after eating Eat Da Feet. Jake Something made his entrance and gave Mance a clothesline, leading to the ref calling for the bell…
2. Mance Warner (w/Steph De Lander) vs. Jake Something in a No-DQ match. Mance beat up Jake with a trash can lid. Mance then slammed a chair on Jake’s back. Mance set up a trash can lid in the corner. Jake dumped Mance to ringside with a forearm. Mance blocked a Tope by hitting Jake in the shoulder. Mance set up steel chairs in the ring. Jake hit Mance with a front hip attack.
Jake hit Mance with a sitout power bomb for a nearfall. Jake and Mance climbed to the top rope. Mance gave Jake a Superplex on the spine of a chair. Steph gave Mance a sledge hammer. Mance actually swung the hammer at Jake, which Jake dodged (you’d hope that move never gets botched, because someone can die). Jake punched a chair into the face of Mance. Jake pulled out the black bag and poured tacks at ringside. Mance escaped a chokeslam attempt.
Jake back suplexed Mance onto the thumbtacks. Jake hit Mance with the Black Hole Slam for the victory.
Jake Something defeated Mance Warner via pinfall in 6:10.
John’s Thoughts: Well, that was “something”. Scratching my head a little bit, because they just randomly threw out this unadvertised garbage match out of nowhere in a feud that didn’t warrant a stip match, other than the fact that Mance Warner seems to be one of those dudes like Sami Callihan or Jon Moxley, who are just addicted to garbage matches for the hell of it. Jake’s been bland and missing “something” for a long time (which fans even make signs for). This version of Mance is the blandest piece of ish garbage wrestler ever! Can we get the Good Ol’ Southern Babyface Mance Warner back?! That Mance had so much personality, charisma, character, and strong talking ability! One of the best promos in the indies!
A replay aired of Santino Marella challenging Ethan Page for the NXT North American Championship aired. Hannifan plugged All Ego Ethan Page vs. Santino Marella for the NXT North American Championship for next week…
John’s Thoughts: There’s a part of me that wants to see Santino take the belt off Page. Not because I think it would add to this NXT vs. TNA war they are setting up; but because it would get that boat anchor off of Ethan Page’s shoulder, leading to the much-deserved call-up of All Ego Ethan Page to the main roster. Heck! If they pull that off, have All Ego cost Roman Reigns and Jey Uso the match at Summerslam or something like that, I don’t know? (They did just give Page a custom Canadian flag strap, though, but that applies to Santino Marella too!).
“Fatal Influence” Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, and Jazmyn Nyx made their entrance with Jacy Jayne bragging about being a double champion. She talked about how it shouldn’t be surprising that a woman from the deepest women’s division in wrestling showed up and took the belt off the beloved and unstoppable Masha Slamovich. Jayne talked about Hall of Famers such as Gail Kim, Mickie James, Awesome Kong, The Beautiful, and even Jordynne Grace being in the Knockouts Title history. Jayne said she’ll change history and make Jacy Jayne what you remember in the Knockouts title.
Jayne said she’s not knocking the current locker room, but the Knockouts locker room is all over the place. Jayne mocked Tessa for getting suspended every month. Jayne mocked the Elegance Brand for not being elegant. Jayne said Rosemary and Victoria Crawford need to be locked in an insane asylum. Jayne said Xia Brookside looks like she’s dressed for a music festival, and not a wrestling ring.
Jayne said “Xia Li” needs to stick to MMA (Her name is Lei Ying Lee now, but I don’t blame Jacy for saying the wrong name. I actually make the same mistake when I type these reviews and her tag teaming with another Xia doesn’t help). Jayne then talked about how Indi Hartwell calls herself The Knockout, yet has done nothing. Jaynes said she’s at the top of her game and will hold on to the Knockouts Championship for a long time. She said Jacy Jayne always gets the last laugh…
John’s Thoughts: A simple and effective promo from the gloating heel champ to continue to draw the battle lines in the TNA and NXT war that they are brewing. It’s good that they are trying as much as possible to push the NXT heels to the forefront while also pushing TNA babyfaces on the forefront to keep things easy to understand. I actually like Jacy Jayne’s champion promos in TNA more than NXT. Mostly because in NXT, they lampshade and lay it on thick about people calling Jacy the “most vulnerable champion in WWE”, and thus speaking something into existence by killing her mojo in the eyes of NXT fans.
“Order 4” Mustafa Ali, Tasha Steelz, Jason Hotch, and John Skyler made their entrance. The former Edge Head Major Brothers, Matt Cardona and Brian Myers made their entrance. Hannifan said it’s been two years since Cardona and Myers teamed up in a two-match (is that something that needed pointing out?)…
3. “The Great Hands” John Skyler and Jason Hotch (w/Tasha Steelz, Mustafa Ali, Mustafa Ali’s Secret Service) vs. Brian Myers and “The Complete” Matt Cardona (w/Alisha Edwards). Cardona shoved Hotch down and gave him a flapjack. Myers tagged in and gave Hotch a legsweep for a nearfall. Hotch caught Myers with a superkick. Hotch and Skyler tagged in but Myers caught both with Flatliners.
Cardona tagged in and hit Hotch with a Missile Dropkick. Cardona hit Skyler a Unpretti-Her for a two count. Hannifan gave a shout-out to Chelsea Green. Myers and Hotch took each other out to ringside. Tasha Steels got on the ring apron, but Alisha Edwards dragged Tasha down and gave her right hands.
A random Secret Service member entered the ring when the ref was distracted and gave Matt Cardona a Baldo Bomb. Hannifan said, “That’s the largest member of Ali’s secret service that we’ve ever seen!”. Skyler crawled over and picked up the pinfall win.
“The Great Hands” Jason Hotch and John Skyler defeated Matt Cardona and Brian Myers via pinfall in 3:05.
Order 4 stood together in the ring with their new tall Secret Service member standing behind them…
Hannifan hyped Joe Hendry vs. Mike Santana for after the break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: So, the “long” awaited two-year return of the Edge Heads, and we get them losing in 3 minutes to the Goods Hands and an unnamed Secret Service goon. Matt Cardona is slowly reverting back to Woo Woo Woo, Alwayz Ready, Zack Ryder week by week. This felt like old TNA in a bad way, in how unproductive it was.
As has been a regular thing in recent week, Frankie Kazarian attempted to join the commentary table. Matthew Rewholdt said he can’t stand Kazarian, and he summoned the security guards and told them to escort Kazarian to the back due to him costing TNA the TNA championship on Sunday. Security Guards took Kazarian to the back. Hannifan told the guards to “get the scum of TNA out of here”.
Mike Santana made his entrance with the camera following him through the tunnel and into the crowd. Say his name and he appears! I believe in Joe Hendry! Clap Clap! Joe Hendry made his usual entrance…[c]
4. Mike Santana vs. Joe Hendry. Hendry asked for a handshake, which Santana accepted. Mike and Joe took turns applying pressure in the corners. Both men then traded wristlocks. Hendry landed a Judo overhead takedown. Both men ended up at a wristlock stalemate. Santana avoided some of Hendry’s Judo ground game and did a kip up to escape a Triangle. A TNA chant ensued.
Santana put Hendry in a side headlock. Hendry used a wristlock to escape. Both men ended up at another stalemate. Both men traded shoves and went right into holds. Hendry and Mike traded counters with Mike landing a senton in the end. Back from break, Hendry blocked a Buck 50 and hit Santana with a Cutter. Hendry hit Santana with his signature Fallaway Slam into a Zoolander Turn.
Santana escaped Standing Ovation, but Hendry hit Santana with an Angle Slam for a nearfall. Hendry hit Santana with an Attitude Adjustment for a nearfall. Both men traded counters. Santana hit Joe with a Rolling Buck 50 for a nearfall. Santana pointed to Eddie and hit Joe with a Frog Splash for a nearfall. Joe blocked Spin the Block. Both men traded strikes and rapid pin counters. Santana countered a Magistral Pin into a Jackknife pin for the victory.
Mike Santana defeated Joe Hendry via pinfall in 13:45.
Mike Santana celebrated his win to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: Uhm? Did I miss a segment? Did I miss something that set up this match (fast forward tw minutes)? I actually had to look at recaps from other sites to make sure the recording of TNA I was watching didn’t have something that set up this match. Nah, I saw the entire show. This was weird-sauce. So, they book an unadvertised match between their two top babyfaces with no rhyme or reason. Mike Santana did a better job on Twitter, going radio silent til Wednesday, and then tweeting a long tweet praising the TNA Company for their success on Sunday, while also teasing promo segments in upcoming shows to explain his state of mind after the devastating loss at Slammiversary.
This main event felt like a house show main event. And that wasn’t the only match that felt “off”. In total, three of the four matches on this show felt very random and unproductive, with the Elegance Brand match being the only one that helped forward a storyline (and even then, I thought the Mara Sade “surprise” fell flat, and she should have been introduced through vignettes). I’m torn on grading this show. The best part of this show was setting up the TNA vs. NXT war. I’m not excited about a “war” storyline, but at least the segments developing that plot were laser-focused and productive. Those matches, though, felt kinda House Show-y. I usually don’t grade shows on my written review, but I feel like I have to give this show a “C-” (leaning D+). Am I off with my assessment? I can’t be because I’m usually really positive of their week-to-week show and even give them the benefit of the doubt some weeks.
My opinion (and I didn’t see the actual show I would point out) is that the bookers focused on the setting of the table for the TNA v NXT war and really didn’t think about the rest. They needed matches as filler, but they didn’t cross their T’s and dot their I’s when it came to going the whole hog. Maybe they’ll fix it up next week. We can only hope because this war has a lot of potential. Maybe the writers at NXT can get into TNA’s ear and help out.