Well, hey, that was a solid episode of “TNA Impact,” as far as episodes of “Impact” go. It was no coincidence that the show featured six matches and tighter promos, cutting out a lot of the kinds of segments that lead to recurring mistakes for this promotion. While there weren’t any titles on the line during this installment, the show continued to build up to TNA Sacrifice later this month, including by devoting some more time to the world title feud between Mike Santana and Steve Maclin.
Elsewhere on the card, we saw the return of Mustafa Ali following his recent loss to Elijah, the debut of European indie wrestler Ricky Sosa, and a Street Fight main event between Moose and Cedric Alexander. Plus, Allie made her long awaited comeback to TV! With more action than most nights, it was a comparative breeze of a Thursday.
If you’re looking for a complete breakdown of tonight’s “Impact,” you won’t find it here. For that, you’ll have better luck on our results page. However, you’re in the right place to learn what we thought were the highlights and lowlights, so keep on scrolling to see if you agree, and be sure to share your thoughts with us in the comments.
Hated: What’s the point?
TNA has its weekly fixtures on “Impact,” whether it be AJ Francis, Elijah, The Elegance Brand, Moose, or the System, and it has some marquee matches that it is building to. But one thing that TNA routinely fails to do is present a cohesive and compelling narrative throughout each week. There is nothing that really screams, “Watch Impact next week,” and even the stuff that is being built is being built for a larger event.
There’s a real house show quality to TNA as of late, the stuff in the ring can be good but there seems to be an effort just to follow the same beaten path as before with everyone at the same time. Everything feels like it has been done before, you have Steve Maclin getting the Fired aspect of Feast or Fired, only to be challenging Mike Santana for the TNA World Championship, you have Indi Hartwell chasing Arianna Grace for the Knockouts title, and it never really feels like anything important is going to go down.
The main event this week was Moose vs. Cedric Alexander as part of The System betrayal feud, and it felt like a parody of the storyline “WWE NXT” had just ran with Tony D’Angelo against Dark State. It was barely interesting the first time around, and even then it was hardly a novel concept.
It’s just a shame for someone who wants a reason to watch the show each week, a hook to stay around and feel like time has been well invested. There is little-to-no direction and even the best matches manage to feel inconsequential. It’s not as though there isn’t something to be done with the roster it has, the likes of Mustafa Ali, Nic Nemeth, and Leon Slater could be challenging for Mike Santana’s title or at least making plays to get there.
But everything feels disconnected and random at best. Here’s hoping it gets better next week.
Written by Max Everett
Loved: Indi Hartwell throws her hat into the KO title ring
A few weeks ago, I was deeply disappointed to see Arianna Grace’s TNA Knockouts Championship celebration be overshadowed by her fiance Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo’s failed attempt at regaining the TNA International Title. Between this week and last, I now have restored hope for the Knockouts Championship.
The direction of the TNA Knockouts Championship is currently unclear as a number of women have expressed interest in vying for it. It’s that unpredictability that adds a level of excitement, though. And tonight, it was Indi Hartwell’s turn to throw her hat into the KO Title ring.
Following a quick win over indie star Kelsey Heather, Indi wasted little time to pivot her focus through a passionate promo. The TNA star made it clear that she didn’t come to TNA to cruise through, but rather capture the Knockouts division’s biggest prize, the Knockouts World Championship. Hartwell further asserted that Grace, the reigning champion and daughter of TNA Director of Authority Santino Marella, was levels below her.
Whether Hartwell is actually levels above Grace is up for interpretation, but with her statement and the way in which she delivered it, it was clear to me that Hartwell’s confidence has greatly improved from the last time she challenged for the gold at Bound for Glory in October. As a viewer, I believed that Hartwell believed in what she said and her pursuit for the coveted Knockouts Title. So consider me on team Indi Hartwell, hopeful that she will kick down the doors (and become the next Knockouts Champion) just like she promised.
Written by Ella Jay
Hated: Less non-title matches and more eliminator style contests
Tonight, I really dug the opening contest between the TNA World Tag Team Champions The Hardys against Sinner & Saint. And while I found this match to be an excellent tit-for-tat showcase, it got me thinking: Why doesn’t TNA host eliminator matches? Yes, I’m aware that The Hardys next opponents are The System’s Brian Myers and Bear Bronson, I don’t see why this match couldn’t have allowed an opportunity for Sinner & Saint in the near future.
AEW showcases ballpark matches, and some of the stipulations it uses to create these contests is its eliminator title showcases. Of course, we’re aware how the former AEW and TNA partnership tanked. But if TNA could take anything away from that partnership, it’s the possibility of creating eliminator matches. Yes, there are number one contenders matches, but eliminator title matches wouldn’t hurt either.
Once The Hardys square up against The System, who’s next in line for fans to look forward to? There are so many great teams here in TNA and “WWE NXT,” vying for their shot, and after last week’s double title challenges, it would be neat to see more of those each week. Eliminator matches would be perfect fillers during those already confirmed title defenses. This doesn’t apply to the men’s tag team titles, but for all the titles involved in TNA.
Written by Brie Coder
Loved: Mayhem has entered the TNA World Championship picture
Oh, friends. I can honestly say I’m extremely excited for where this TNA World Championship will go at Sacrifice in two weeks, especially now that Mr. Mayhem has introduced himself to Dr. Death for the first time.
Weeks ago, the champ, Mike Santana, warned Steve Maclin that after you knock on death’s door often, eventually he’ll open. Santana will play that role come March 27. Rather than cower, Maclin maintained his “front toward enemy” motto and introduced his alter-ego, who will put up a hell of a fight against Dr. Death.
What I loved about this promo from Maclin tonight was how he mentioned the fact that “The Realest” asks for pity from the fans, which in the former World Champ’s eyes, makes him look weak. Side note: Anyone who overcomes addiction is a warrior among the pack. But maybe Maclin is on to something. We all love to watch someone rise from the ashes of despair, but is Maclin right? Did we take pity on Santana only because we’re aware that he was a former addict? Would we have cheered when he won the title for the first time in his career at last year’s Bound for Glory? It makes you wonder.
Now, I know that WWE is involved with TNA behind the scenes, and that excessive gore is prohibited from in-ring contests. But how can’t there be any bloodshed when these two alter-egos meet in the ring? To watch these two sacrifice themselves for our amusement, that day can’t come soon enough!
Written by Brie Coder
Hated: A lackluster build to the next TNA World Championship match
With Sacrifice fast approaching, one of the storylines receiving the most attention has been Mike Santana defending his TNA World Championship against Steve Maclin. Unfortunately, from my perspective, the build has been downright boring.
In weeks past, Maclin was continuing to show up to work despite being fired, but not much was being done to keep him away. Maclin was then reinstated during last week’s show, and his title match against Santana was booked for the next big event. Nothing offensively bad so far, but there was no real hook, either.
They followed that up with their segment tonight, which saw Maclin “apologizing” to Tom Hannifan before things broke down into a war of words between Maclin and Santana. Maclin insulted the champion, and brought up his dead father, which just felt like a watered down version of the recent promo segment between CM Punk and Roman Reigns on “WWE Raw.”
As my esteemed colleague Max states elsewhere in this column, TNA feels like a company without any strong direction, and nowhere is that more evident than in the world title picture. Whoever wins between these two, does it feel like there is another strong challenger waiting in the wings? Frankie Kazarian is still hanging around, but the top of the card in TNA is pretty slim right now, and that needs to change if they want to make this show truly fun to watch on a regular basis.
Written by Nick Miller
Loved: Six-man tag team chaos (in a good way)
Having watched TNA Wrestling properly now for the last several weeks, Order 4 and BDE have become some of my favorite talents currently signed with the company to watch on a weekly basis. For that reason, I was always bound to love it when they were thrown in the ring with one another with two other talented individuals in Rich Swann and Trey Miguel.
This is basically everything that you could want in a six-man tag team match: excitement, high flying action, a little bit of intensity, and a feel good babyface win. There may have only been a backstage confrontation last Thursday that set this one up and didn’t have a ton of long term storytelling that went into it, but it didn’t really need that seeing as it was just a bit of fun that this lackluster edition of “TNA Impact” benefitted from.
I also liked the inclusion of Tasha Steelz and Jada Stone in this one. It was pretty expected that Stone would show up at some point in light of the recent tensions between the two women, but it was still welcomed to see them have their moment to shine in the match and not be pushed to the side as the storyline between them continues to play out. It added that little extra something to an already great match, and made it that much more engaging to watch without taking away from things by having an interference or disqualification ending.
Written by Olivia Quinlan
Read the full article here
