Sandwiched (along with next week’s episode) between two major events, tonight’s “TNA Impact” was a bit of a strange one, with four matches and a whole lot of jabberjawing in between. There was plenty of setup for next week’s TNA Rebellion, and the main event did have a title on the line, though it didn’t spark enough of a reaction in any of our staff to warrant an entry here.
We did still find lots to love and hate, so down below you’ll find our thoughts on the Hardy-Righteous feud, Nic Nemeth’s attacker reveal, and the current state of the TNA roster in general. For a more detailed breakdown of exactly what happened, you can head over to our “Impact” results page. Otherwise, continue reading to dig into our opinions on the show.
Loved: The Righteous Are Greater Enemies To The Hardys Than The System Are
Ah, yes. The love and admiration from The Righteous to The Hardys was all just an act. Fake it till you make it, right? And now, the Righteous will face “apocalyptic consequences” in a tables match for the TNA World Tag Team Championships on the line next week? Yes, please!
Now, I know the Hardys have an obligated tag team title defense against The Systems’ Bear Bronson and Brian Myers next Saturday at Rebellion. But there’s something more sizzling about The Hardys standing against the ring from Righteous again. The System is a fine bunch. However, they haven’t dug deep like the Righteous. Yes, wrestling is all about physical contact. But you can heal from physical injuries. The psychological ones; however, are completely different. Should the Hardys retain their titles next week, I don’t think they’ll be 100% mentally in their match with the System, which might increase their chances of dropping their titles to the wrong team.
The Hardys and the Righteous are out of this world, literally. They have outstanding powers that they believe will undermine the other. However, what is it that the Righteous want to prove to the Hardys? They mentioned something like their rivalry is a lot deeper than money and titles. So, what could that Achilles’ heel be? The excitement is killing me!
It would be neat to see the Hardys retain after Rebellion, so they and the Righteous can enhance how far they’re willing to go before Vincent and Dutch get the better of them and become the new tag team champions. It just feels right, and a perfect summer-long feud.
Written by Brie Coder
Hated: Two Underwhelming Reveals
TNA Rebellion is right around the corner on April 11. For that reason, I can understand TNA being on a bit of a time constraint in terms of wanting to wrap up certain storylines before Rebellion or conversely ensuring that there’s enough time allotted to build up a storyline for matches on the Rebellion catch. Having said that, I couldn’t help but feel like TNA did the reveals of The Righteous as Matt Hardy’s attacker and AJ Francis as Nic Nemeth’s attacker just a little bit too soon.
Matt Hardy was laid out by The Righteous last Thursday and again at TNA Sacrifice this past Friday by Dutch in the midst of Jeff Hardy and Vincent’s tag team match against The System. Similarly, Nic was only found laid out at Sacrifice backstage by his brother Ryan Nemeth. Not only did it feel like it was a lot to have both reveals come on the same night, but it felt like it was definitely doable for TNA to let the mystery play out for at least another week just to create some extra hype and intrigue around them. I found them both to be a little hard to take in and process, and didn’t really enjoy them when they came that much.
Aside from that, I also felt like both reveals were pretty underwhelming as simple and brief promo segments. It was a little too easy to piece together that The Righteous were Matt’s attackers in my opinion, while Francis’ justification for attacking Nic had the opposite problem and felt like it was thought out at the last second rather than something that had been building. On an episode of “Thursday Night iMPACT” that I honestly didn’t mind too much, this was one of the lower points on the show for me.
Written by Olivia Quinlan
Loved: Ricky Sosa’s Promising Start In TNA
Last weekend at TNA Sacrifice, officials confirmed indie standout Ricky Sosa as the newest name amongst the TNA roster. Naturally, most existing roster members then congratulated him backstage. TNA veteran Eric Young, on the other hand, had other plans.
In footage aired on tonight’s “iMPACT,” Young warned Sosa that as the resident “gatekeeper” of TNA, he set the bar and the tone for the company. Also as such, Young asserted that everything Sosa gets goes through him, which is why he intends to keep a close eye on the young star going forward.
Despite the sternness of Young’s words, they made me hopeful for Sosa’s immediate future in TNA. After all, Young is one of the most decorated figures in TNA history, with reigns as TNA World Heavyweight, X-Division, Global, and Tag Team Champion on his resume. So with that in mind, it doesn’t get much bigger for Sosa in terms of a potential first feud under the TNA banner.
Should Sosa emerge victorious in a program with Young, his standing within the roster would greatly elevate. In the case that he doesn’t, I imagine that it’s still a valuable learning opportunity that TNA could eventually circle back to as well. Either way, with Eric Young seemingly positioned as his first official foe, the 21-year-old from the Netherlands is off to a promising start in TNA. I can’t hate that.
Written by Ella Jay
Hated: Who are we supposed to be rooting for?
In pro wrestling, it’s important to have strong protagonists to root for. WWE has figures like Cody Rhodes and Rhea Ripley, while AEW fans can cheer for Will Ospreay and “Timeless” Toni Storm. In TNA, there’s just no equivalent.
The closest TNA has are two of their current champions, Mike Santana and Leon Slater. However, it’s all but inevitable that Slater will be bound for WWE in the near future. And Santana is a perfectly good wrestler, but I can’t say that he has won me over as a “top guy.”
Week in and week out, my biggest issue with TNA is a lack of investment. I’m here, watching the whole show, every single week, and I am still having a very hard time caring about any of these characters.
Things are slightly better with the Knockouts division, though the departure of Dani Luna is worrisome. There’s still a little more depth there, though, so hopefully the trend of showcasing that division with main event spots like tonight continues.
Over in the men’s division, the situation is a little more dire. Who is next in line for the world title after Santana? He’ll face Eddie Edwards at Rebellion, which would be a significant step down, if just because The System is consistently the most boring part of “Impact” every week.
Mustafa Ali is likely their best bet, though he hasn’t gotten close to the world title picture since “Impact” debuted on AMC earlier this year. One encouraging sign is the addition of European indie standout Ricky Sosa, who will immediately inject some new life into the division. So while not everything is bleak, there is a lot of work to be done to shape this roster into one capable of telling engaging stories on a weekly basis.
Written by Nick Miller
Loved: An Enjoyable Eight Man Tag
When you throw together some of the biggest and most talented names that TNA Wrestling currently has to offer in an eight-man tag team match, it shouldn’t really come as a surprise that said eight-man tag team match ends up being pretty incredible to watch.
The opening contest from this edition of “Thursday Night iMPACT” had everything that I could want out of it, from fast paced and non-stop action through the duration of the entire contest to plenty of high flying and a little bit of intensity. It was given a nice amount of time as well, allowing all of the competitors to have some time to shine in the ring and not feeling like it was rushed at all.
I also appreciated the fact that this bout took several ongoing storylines in TNA and merged them together into one match that actually made sense, rather than feeling essentially random as TNA matches tend to do sometimes. In doing so, it created some good hype for the TNA World Championship match between Mike Santana and Eddie Edwards, the International Championship match between Trey Miguel and Mustafa Ali, and the X-Division Championship match between Leon Slater and Cedric Alexander at Rebellion. I couldn’t help but feel like the build for Rebellion has been quite last minute considering its proximity to Sacrifice, but this was a smart way to generate hype for all three matches at the same time without feeling too much like it was overkill.
Written by Olivia Quinlan
Hated: Frustrating Pacing
As with any wrestling show, not all faces and figures can fit into a singular broadcast. Still, I expected more from tonight’s edition of “Thursday Night iMPACT.”
Across the first hour, we saw an exhilarating eight-man tag bout pitting members of The System and Order 4 against TNA World Champion Mike Santana, X-Division Champion Leon Slater, International Champion Trey Miguel, and Moose (see elsewhere in this column for a more extensive breakdown). The duration of this match plus the preceding promo segment, however, totaled 35 minutes, over a fourth of the entire “iMPACT” broadcast.
While an overall fun match to watch, I did find myself growing tired of it as time stretched on, especially knowing that TNA had already spent 13 minutes to set it up with a series of mini promos and faceoffs in the ring. By the time we reached the 30 minute mark of this match-promo combo, I simply wanted it to end so I could see the other action that “Total Nonstop Action” promises.
Following this, the only other substantial piece featured in the first hour was another promo segment, in this case between the Hardy Boys and The Righteous. Again, the work itself wasn’t bad; the exchange between the two teams actually sparked intrigue in me. The fact that there wasn’t more notable content surrounding it was disappointing, and frankly, seemed to be a disservice to talents that could have furthered their respective stories in that time as well. Instead, the same hour closed out with another scene involving Mike Santana backstage.
Written by Ella Jay
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