By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
TNA Impact (Episode 1,095)
Taped June 20, 2025, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at UPMC Events Center
Simulcast July 17, 2025, on AXS TV and TNA+
[Hour One] Highlights from last week’s TNA Impact aired… Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt were on commentary. McKenzie Mitchell was the ring announcer… Entrances for the opening match took place…
1. TNA X Division Champion Moose (w/Alisha Edwards) vs. Sami Callihan in a non-title match. Moose gave Sami a power whip and then stomped on him. Sami surprised Moose with a Stunner for a two count. Moose came right back with a spear. Sami rolled to ringside to avoid the pin. Sami recovered and gave Moose a body slam at ringside. Back in the ring, Sami did his Thumbs Up thingy.
Moose defeated Sami Callihan via pinfall in 2:40.
Alisha Edwards took the mic and asked everyone, “Do you want to know something?” Moose took the mic. The crowd gave Moose the “what” treatment. Moose said that while Leon Slater is heading into the biggest match of his career, for Moose, this is just another Sunday. Moose said Leon wants to be the youngest TNA Champion in history, but instead, Moose is going to move on after Sunday to become the longest-reigning X Division Champion of all time.
Moose then yelled and asked Sami what the hell he was still doing in the ring. Moose said Sami used to be the Death Machine, but now he’s a fat piece of garbage. Moose said he knows that Sami has a great mind for the business and deserves to be in the company. Moose said Sami doesn’t belong in the ring, he should be setting up catering. Moose called Sami a fat turd. Moose said Sami needs to take his boots off, leave them in the ring, and get his fat ass out of Moose’s ring. Sami teased obliging, but instead rolled to ringside.
Moose then introduced Brian Myers, JDC, and Eddie Edwards to the ring. Sami crossed paths with The System heading into break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: I have no problem with Moose squashing Sami Callihan, given where both men are at in their careers. I was about to gripe about how ice-cold Sami Callihan has been in recent years, but Moose and TNA creative did that for me on-air. TNA creative is fully aware of how ice-cold Sami is and how he’s a shell of his former main eventer self. With them bringing that out to light, does that mean Hunter Johnston and crew have something planned to rehabilitate the broken character of Sami Callihan? Sami can’t even do death matches anymore, given that TNA is toning down the violence.
Order 4 were making their entrance. Before they could enter the ring, DarkState appeared and attacked The System in the ring. DarkState took out JDC and Eddie with clotheslines. DarkState then hit Myers with their pop-up Shield Bomb. Mustafa Ali was clapping from a distance as Order 4 backtracked up the ramp unscathed. DarkState headed to the back while their light show happened…
John’s Thoughts: Ok. That was fine. Ali gets away unscathed and we’re getting back to a steady push with DarkState. This feud is already spanning two shows with The System showing up this past Tuesday on NXT. Hopefully they consistently push DarkState now because they were just in stop-start mode. They kinda just show up in random promos on NXT and essentially say “welp, we weren’t booked for TV this week, but you’ll never see us coming”. I really hope they start getting to that pseudo king of the hill style trios division that WWE once had when they introduced the OG Shield.
Gia Miller interviewed Dani Luna about her upcoming match against Tessa Blanchard. Dani talked about the Knockouts Division being the most exciting it’s ever been. She said she knows what she can bring, and Tessa is just in her way…
Hannifan hyped upcoming segments…[c]
An ad aired for Slammiversary…
Entrances for the next match took place…
2. Tessa Blanchard (w/Victoria Crawford) vs. Dani Luna. Dani started the match with wristholds and a suplex. Dani hit Tessa with a delayed backdrop and clothesline for a nearfall. Dani worked on Tessa with methodical offense. Tessa used a Roundhouse to the Shin to trip Dani off the 2nd rope. Tessa hit Dani with a kick and slingshot elbow drop for a two count.
Tessa got another two count after a dropkick. Tessa worked on Dani with Ground and Pound. Tessa went for a Guillotine, but Dani deadlifted Tessa into a suplex. Dani rallied with forearms and a Yakuza Kick. Dani reversed Tessa’s reversal with a leg lariat. Both women traded quick counters. Dani hit Tessa with a power bomb for a two count.
Tessa used a kick to tangle Dani in the corner. Tessa hit Dani with a Codebreaker for a nearfall. Dani blocked Magnum and turned it into a Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall. Crawford got on the rope for the distraction. Tessa hit Dani with Magnum for the victory.
Tessa Blanchard defeated Dani Luna via pinfall in 9:39.
Blanchard and Crawford put the boots to Dani after the match. Indi Hartwell ran out to chase off the heels. Indi took a mic and said that while Tessa wants to talk about friendship, every friend Tessa had, she turned her back on. Indi said Tessa hasn’t know Indi in six years, but on Sunday, she’ll know her, “bitch!”…
John’s Thoughts: A decent enough tune-up match, but the crowd didn’t really seem to care much. Tessa’s a heel, and Dani Luna is a babyface that the crowd isn’t invested in, which might be a result of the days when people didn’t seem invested in Spitfire. If Dani is going to be putting people over, there has to be a way to build her character up a little bit so that people care when she puts other wrestlers over.
The show cut to footage from three weeks ago of Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay signing autographs at a fan event. Ash by Elegance and The Concierge showed up to crash the party. Ash started messing up the table that the IInspiration were sitting at. Security dragged away Ash…
The show cut to Jessie and Cassie cutting a promo backstage. They talked about not being insecure and how they earned everything they got. They said they are going to be the two-time Knockouts Tag Team Champions…
Hannifan hyped upcoming segments…[c]
A replay aired of Masha Slamovich appearing at both The Great American Bash and on the weekly NXT show over the past week…
Hannifan said Jacy Jayne was supposed to appear in the next segment, but The Elegance Brand made their entrance. Ash said she was forced to come to this dump for a public apology for her recent altercation with The IInspiration. She said she was fined $5000 because of every single one of you. She said the fans snitched on her by sending TNA management footage. She said everyone is talking about Masha and Jacy, but you should be talking about “MEEEEE!”.
Ash said she worked hard to get here, and it’s in her right to take the TNA title and show that the Elegance Brand is the most dominant women’s faction in TNA history. Fatal Influence made their entrance. Jacy said she and Ash go way back and Fatal Influence have no problem with The Elegance Brand, but that was before Ash called them the most dominant faction in pro wrestling today.
Jacy said she doesn’t know if Ash sniffed too much hairspray or got dumped on her head. She said that when she becomes a double champion, she’ll show Ash how she stands when it comes to women’s pro wrestling. TNA Knockouts Champion Masha Slamovich made her entrance. Masha passed by the Elegance Brand and didn’t mind them, which pissed them off. Audio from Tom Hannifan was spliced in to say that Masha pinned Jacy on this past Tuesday’s NXT.
Masha said Jacy stands there looking smug, but she doesn’t know Masha. Masha said she came to New York City from Russia and was fighting for her life in Brooklyn. She said she didn’t have any help, any friends. Jacy said if Masha looked in the mirror, she would know why she has no friends. Masha said Jacy looks in the mirror and tries to look perfect. Masha said that when she looks in the mirror, she sees the scars on her body that makes her a champion. She said she wears those scars and belt with pride.
She said she’d be damned if she lets the Knockouts title be taken from by an outsider. Masha said it’s easier to take the NXT title than the Knockouts title because to take Masha’s title, you have to stop her heart from beating. Jacy got up in Masha’s mug to hold the title, and Masha held up her title at the same time…
John’s Thoughts: Not sure why they shoehorned Ash into the segment, but she did cut a fiery and more serious promo than she usually does as the comedy heel. Looks like they were trying to put Fatal Influence and Elegance Brand at odds for some reason? I liked the Masha and Jacy face-off. This was a better promo segment than the messy NXT segment that set up the TV main event. I still prefer Masha cutting those cold Russian promos, but she cut one of her better English-speaking promos here. Usually she sounds “happy to be there”, but here she showed passion and fire. Jacy was good as a smug champion, and I liked her verbage here compared to how WWE keeps scripting her to mention how she’s the most vulnerable champion in NXT history.
Time for the sponsored TNA Injury report. Trey Miguel is now upgraded to day-to-day. KC Navarro is cleared from his knee injury…
Indi Hartwell was checking on Dani Luna backstage in the sponsored medical room. Jody Threat showed up to check on Dani, but Dani acted like Indi was a better friend for checking on her first. Jody didn’t know what to do and Indi told her to just go away because she’s got this…
Hannifan hyped upcoming segments…[c]
Highlights aired from the contract signing between Joe Hendry, Mike Santana, and Trick Williams. They also aired highlights from the Hendry, Trick, and Santana vs. DarkState match where The System ran out for the DQ…
A Mike Santana training montage aired. The montage had a cell phone voice message overdubbed on it. It was a voice message of Santana’s late father giving Santana words of encouragement before a wrestling show…
[Hour Two] The Northern Armory (without Eric Young) made their entrance first. From Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, The Home Town Man made his entrance…
3. Judas Icarus (w/Travis Williams) vs. The Home Town Man. Icarus pointed at Home Town Man, saying he knows who HTM is. Home Town Man hit Icarus with the Bully Ray punches and Ten Punches in the Corner. HTM hit Icarus with a Helicopter Spin in both directions. HTM hit Icarus with a TKO for a nearfall. Icarus hit HTM with a bit and sweep for a two count.
Hannifan ran through Impact’s upcoming live events. Williams failed to take off HTM’s mask when Icarus distracted the referee. HTM hit Icarus with a body slam. HTM then hit Williams with a Suicide Dive. HTM hit Icarus with Sliced Bread for the win.
The Home Town Man defeated Judas Icarus via pinfall in 3:36.
Eric Young tried to run out and attack Home Town Man afterwards, but Home Town Man ran into the crowd. The Pittsburgh fans kept Young at bay with their Steelers’ Terrible Towels…
John’s Thoughts: See! Home Town Man isn’t Cody Deaner. Deaner used the Deaner DDT as a finisher. I don’t think The Brian Kendrick ever taught him how to cut bread into slices. I kid. I get a kick out of the simple Home Town Man gimmick, and the man behind the mask, we know, is really good at making any gimmick given to him work. Meanwhile, Icarus and Williams are the weakest henchmen ever with that whole faction being pretty useless. As I said a few weeks ago, I’d take “Showtime” Eric Young coming back over this.
The show cut to this week’s Enzo Amore vignette (We still don’t know what name he’s going by). Enzo bragged about breaking the forbidden door again by attacking Tama Tonga and a few wrestlers at the ROH Madison Square Garden show. He called Joe Hendry a blueberry muffin. Enzo said he’s going to bring Zilla Fatu and a Bishop (Baron Corbin?) with him to Slammiversary. He said he knows some “Good Brothers” too…
Hannifan hyped upcoming segments…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Can Tony D’Angelo pull up and throw Enzo Amore over that bridge that he throws wrestlers into? I’m kidding. Enzo is just that true heel who’s really good and making you want to beat the pulp out of him. The tease of a faction actually has me intrigued. We’ll get a preview of the latest Bloodline member in Umaga’s son showing up. If Baron Corbin is the Bishop (Dyer?) that Enzo is talking about, that has me even more excited. Corbin has a wonderful run in NXT right before he got released, where he got to show that he can shine when you don’t pigeonhole him with a stupid Vince McMahon cartoon gimmick (though Bum Ass Corbin was a gem, Vince got that right at least).
Hannifan ran through the upcoming TNA live events…
Steve Maclin cut a promo where he talked about how he’s willing to defend his International title against anyone, anywhere, any time, for any company internationally…
Matt Cardona made his entrance. His local opponent was “already in the ring”. Cardona took a mic and talked about how he was laid out by DarkState. Cardona dared DarkState to jump him now because he’s “Alwayz Ready”…
4. “The Complete” Matt Cardona vs. Jake Painter. Immediately after the bell rang, the light show happened as DarkState appeared in the crowd. DarkState stormed the ring and attacked both competitors.
Matt Cardona vs. Jake Painter ended in an apparent no contest in 0:24 (most of that match was DarkState entrance).
DarkState hit Painter with their pop-up Shield Bomb. They were about to power bomb Cardona, but Brian Myers ran out for the save. DarkState were about to Shield Bomb Myers, but JDC and Eddie Edwards ran out with a chair and “Kenny” the Kendo stick to chase off DarkState (Apparent Hannifan still calls that thing Kenny). The System and Matt Cardona stood tall to end the segment…
Hannifan hyped upcoming segments…[c]
Matt and Jeff Hardy made their entrance. Matt and Jeff soaked in chants to start the promo. Matt thanked the crowd for that and for allowing him and Jeff to live their dream for 33 years. A “Thank You Hardy” chant ensued. Matt said this love that the crowd showed has allowed them to push on in their dream for 4 decades. He said he and Jeff held championships throughout all those decades, even in the 2020s.
Matt said he and Jeff always want to look in the mirror and know that they are the best in tag team wrestling. He said they told themselves that they will never go out looking like a shell of their former selves. A “you still got it” chant ensued. Matt said they don’t want to overstay their welcome because the business will move on even if the Hardys are gone.
Matt said since they lost the tag team titles, they lost quite a few matches. Jeff said Matt even lost to someone like AJ Francis. Matt said he’ll let Jeff tell everyone what promise they are going to make. He said if he and Jeff can’t be the peak and pinnacle of tag team wrestling, they shouldn’t be in this ring now. Jeff said that if they can’t win the tag titles at Slammiversary, maybe it’s time for the Hardy party to end, which drew a loud “noooo” from the crowd.
Leon Slater made his entrance with a somber look on his face. Slater said he can’t believe the Hardys are saying this. He said this isn’t the fanboy talking, this is the man who’s shared the ring with Matt and Jeff in recent months. The man that’s struggled to keep up with Matt and Jeff in the recent 6 months. Slater said Matt and Jeff more than changed his life.
Slater said Matt and Jeff took him from being a kid to the man he is today. Leon said he took Slater from the undercard to challenge for the X Division Championship. He said he didn’t just change his life, but he changed every person’s life in the arena. He said this is the best moment of his career and he can’t thank The Hardys enough. He said, “Hardy Boyz! Thank you!!!”.
Matt thanked Leon for saying that. Matt said you don’t have to worry about them, but worry about becoming the youngest X Division Champion in history. Slater said he knows he has to focus, but he needs Matt and Jeff to focus. He needs Matt and Jeff to get out of their mental slump and become the Hardy Boyz that we all grew up loving. Slater said Matt and Jeff need to go out there and jump off ladders, crash through tables, and win championships.
Slater said Matt and Jeff are the greatest tag team of all time. AJ Francis and KC Navarro made their entrance. AJ said he heard Matt and Jeff might have to quit because of losing to AJ. AJ said if this was 2000, the Hardys could beat First Class due to AJ being 10 years old and KC not being born yet. AJ said First Class are the uncrowned champions, just like Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens.
AJ and KC entered the ring. Matt told Leon to stand back because Matt and Jeff can handle business while Leon prepares for Slammiversary. The crowd gave AJ a “You can’t wrestle” chant. AJ told Leon to get out of the ring because the crowd are saying that Leon can’t wrestle. AJ said they are more worried about the Nemeths and Rascalz, and the Hardys aren’t even the best brother tag team today.
Nic and Ryan Nemeth made their entrance. Nic tried to cut a promo, but the crowd drowned him out with “Cleveland Sucks!” chants (I mean, you know, the Browns! I feel bad for them sometimes). AJ said he agrees that Cleveland sucks. Nic said they are the champions standing here. Nic asked who puts the butts in the seats, who runs the place, who are the champions. Nic said nobody can do the everything the way the Nemeths do it. Nic said you’re looking at the best brother tag team.
Ryan said they will be champions for ever. Ryan said “My Big Brother” and him have been in way more ladders matches than everyone in the ring combined. Hannifan cut in and said that Ryan Nemeth has never been in a ladder match. The Nemeths jumpped the Hardys. The Rascalz stormed the ring and brawled with First Class. Jeff brought a ladder in the ring.
The Hardys rammed the ladder into the Nemeths and dumped AJ to ringside with the ladder (and he even did the Flop Dolla bump. He’s really mastered that bump in a positive way). Matt and Jeff set up the ladder and posed at the top of it. The segment ended with Matt doing the Delete thing while Jeff did his Juke dance…
Hannifan hyped upcoming segments…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A nice segment that made up for a lot of lost time. TNA has been putting in the most minimal work possible into building this tag title match, but they gave the tag teams a lot of time here and all of it was productive. AJ and KC were good in their usual heel selves. Matt and Jeff were solid in their exposition delivery, giving a good reason as to why they will call it quits (will they make that a definitive selling point?). What put this segment over the top was Leon Slater, who has really hit it out of the park with his organic promos (This makes me want to see the dream match of him vs. his United States counterpart Je’von Evans be booked for Slammiversary. That would be Crazy!).
A hype package aired for the TNA Championship match at Slammiversary….
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt checked in on commentary. They ran through the Slammiversary and Countdown Show card. DarkState vs. Matt Cardona and The System was added to the card…
Entrances for the main event took place. While Joe Hendry and Mike Santana were bickering, Trick Williams jumped both of them leading to the ref ringing the bell…
5. Joe Hendry and Mike Santana vs. Trick Williams and Frankie Kazarian. Trick dominated the match heading into break.[c]
Santana dominated the match back from break. Satnana hit Kazarian with Three Amigos for a two count. Kaz came back with a twisting neckbreaker. Trick tagged in and caught Mike with a dropkick. Trick hit Mike with a Crescent Kick for a nearfall. Santana tried to land some chops, but Trick came back with a dropkick. Kazarian and Trick cut the ring in half on Santana.
Santana managed to surprise Kazarian with a Rolling Buck 50 for a nearfall. Trick kicked Santana in the back to allow Kazarian to hit Santana with a backstabber. Trick hit Santana with Two Amigos. Trick put Santana back down with a side kick. Trick and Kazarian used quick tags to cut the ring in half on Santana. Santana hit both opponents with a lionsault.
Hendry tagged in and hit Kazarian with a cutter. Joe hit Kaz and Trick with his signature Fallaway Slams. Instead of the Zoolander Turn, he got up in Santana’s face. While Hendry was tuning up the band, Santana tagged himself in and hit Kazarian with Spin the Block to steal the win from Joe.
Mike Santana and Joe Hendry defeated Frankie Kazarian and Trick Williams via pinfall in 12:38.
Santana and Hendry got in each other’s faces after the match. Trick got between them and posed with the title belt to end the segment…
The show cut to a teaser cinematic. The camera focused on that TNA treasure chest that Frankie Kazarian fished out of a swamp a few years ago. It was in a tool shed this time. The chest burst open, and what I assume is magic spewed out of it, along with distorted highlights from a certain wrestler. The magic lights calmed down, and the camera focused on the vest of AJ Styles. The show closed with the Slammiversary graphic…
John’s Thoughts: A solid TV main event to plant more seeds of dissension between Santana and Hendry, but an even better stinger segment to advertise that AJ Styles is 100 percent appearing at Slammiversary. I like them using AJ to boost PPV buys as opposed to having him appear as a surprise and not benefit from the big moment. It’s a stinger, too, so the surprise is whatever they decide to do for him. Bound for Glory match? Hall of Fame? Both? Who knows?
While this show lacked in terms of good matches, you don’t need every wrestling show to have banger match after banger match. This show was very effective as a go-home show. Rather than waste time with several matches that won’t sell a dime in PPV buys, they allocated that time to promo segments that bumped up interest in the PPV. The tag team championship match had the weakest build going into this show, so they gave the tag teams close to 30 minutes, and now there’s actually a hook for that match. This episode was utilized to sell banger matches, which is what go-home TV should do.
Be the first to comment