With a pay-per-view coming up this Sunday, tonight’s episode of “TNA Impact” served as the final act of the build to Lockdown. Based on the reaction of the Wrestling Inc. team, it wasn’t the company’s strongest outing, but as always, there were a few bright spots to balance out the lows.
Most of our thoughts revolve around the Knockouts division, for better and for worse. That includes varying takes on some of the same events. While the division was given a fair amount of time, that time wasn’t always utilized as well as it could’ve been. That includes the bizarre use of self-filmed segments mimicking video calls, which came across as lazy and pointless.
With all that in mind, continue on to read our opinions on the show, or check out our 8/20/2026 “TNA Impact” results page for a more detailed breakdown.
Hated: No fuel on the fire for the TNA Knockouts World Championship feud
Give me fuel, give me fire, not a remote call undesired. Oof. Outside of Mustafa Ali’s match and possibly the TNA World Tag Team Titles match, I’m the most excited for the Knockouts World Title defense between Xia Brookside and Elayna Black coming up on Sunday at Lockdown. However, that Zoom chat — what the heck was that?!
The tit-for-tat online did not help them one bit. It felt rushed and the content of their words was quite cliché. Then, in the blink of an eye, their segment was over. Listen, AEW did it best this past Wednesday having Willow Nightingale and Mercedes Mone begin in separate areas backstage, then throw fists in the center of the ring. Why couldn’t we see something similar to that tonight? Black and Brookside brawled recently; they could’ve even just showed highlights of that, rather than what we got. TNA, you have what could be an excellent match ready for Sunday. But the build up for it was so lackluster, and it’s unfair to these two opponents. Yes, the focus is on Ali, but Black is also a Chicago native. They’ll be in her hometown, too. Why not showcase her in the same light as Ali?
At Slammiversary, I was surprised with how the promotion turned themselves around. Great matches, added flavor. And I believe it could happen again on Sunday (especially with cages involved). But for the top women’s title, TNA did not do it justice tonight. And for that, I’m angry and disappointed!
Written by Brie Coder
Loved: Mustafa Ali starts off the show on a high note
Mustafa Ali’s current storyline with Jason Hotch started off on a strange note before taking a drastic step forward with their main event match weeks ago on “Impact.” Thankfully, as teased by Ali, the company is sticking with the storyline, dedicating plenty of time to it before Ali and Hotch face off again at Lockdown.
Ali opened tonight’s episode with a promo taking aim at Hotch. He then announced that Hotch would be facing his longtime tag team partner and Order 4 ally John Skyler on the same episode, though the International Championship would not be on the line.
The promo itself was nothing groundbreaking, but it’s nice to see the company settle into and continue to stick with a story that’s clearly working. It’s safe to say that Ali and Hotch have put in the work to make their PPV matchup among the most anticipated on the Lockdown card.
Written by Nick Miller
Hated: A storyline done in poor taste
For weeks, TNA authority figure Daria Rae has threatened the termination of Harley Hudson, and to an extent, I can understand why. Hudson had only won four matches in her TNA career so far, and none of them had been on TNA’s flagship program of “Impact.” Also, like most jobs, management figures want to see the people working underneath perform well; according to Rae, Hudson was doing the opposite of that in TNA.
Given the fact that several members of the TNA locker room have legitimately exited the company this year, however, I’m not sure that bringing another potential one into a storyline was the brightest idea. In fact, I found it tacky.
Just two months ago, we heard Tommy Dreamer become emotional as he relayed the news that he’d left his roles in the talent relations and creative departments. Shortly after, Sami Callihan revealed that his hopes of moving up in the creative department had been dashed as the company abruptly let him go, too. Creative frustrations have led to some other in-ring talents leaving as well.
All of the above has been publicly documented and unsurprisingly painted TNA in a dull light. Still, we’re seeing Harley Hudson fighting for her own job in a match against Alisha Edwards on TNA television?
It’s obvious that TNA aimed to build sympathy for Hudson, and in turn, potentially position her as an underdog within the Knockouts division. The route in which the promotion chose to go there, though, remains questionable at best.
Written by Ella Jay
Loved: Harley Hudson still with TNA
Harley Hudson put her TNA career on the line for a match with Alisha Edwards this week, having never gotten a singles win on “TNA Impact” and last won on “TNA Xplosion” in March. And that feels like an error on the part of the booking rather than the worker.
Nevertheless, her time with the company was on the line in her match with Edwards, thus signalling she would either break her duck or leave with a very unfortunate record. Thankfully, she is not leaving and she did eventually get the win over Edwards. The match was really nothing special, and the storyline leading up to it left much upon much to be desired.
However, the result was the right one and it means that Hudson will remain. She actually seems like a decent prospect and an easy babyface to get behind but the booking continues to lack. Hopefully, with her first win, albeit coming against Alisha Edwards, she will be able to build some actual momentum in the coming future.
Written by Max Everett
Hated: Heather By Elegance is knocked out of the tournament
I know that I was definitely not alone in thinking that the finals of the Knockouts Television Championship Tournament was primed to be M By Elegance taking on her Elegance Brand stablemate Heather By Elegance, and was quite surprised to see that Jada Stone was actually the one to advance by beating Heather in the semifinals.
I thought M and Heather would be a really interesting finals match in the inaugural Knockouts Television Championship Tournament. Not only are they both incredibly talented and deserving of becoming the first to hold the title, but it would be great to see how they would handle facing one another from a character standpoint, and if it would lead to any dissension within The Elegance Brand on the whole. There’s nothing wrong with M taking on Stone, but there was just a better road that TNA could’ve taken here in my opinion.
I also struggle a little bit to understand the booking that’s at play here. TNA intentionally chose to have M and Heather on opposite sides of the bracket and they intentionally had both women advance pretty far into the tournament with M even receiving a bye to the semifinals. It feels like a lot of effort being put into a tease for a lack of a better term that ended up ultimately having no payoff at all. If Stone is the one who ends up going over M to become the inaugural Knockouts Television Champion (which I personally think is what we will see happen), then there’s no reason not to give her someone else to face in the finals instead of M. At the end of the day, this just wasn’t a decision that was for me and not the way that I would’ve had things play out.
Written by Olivia Quinlan
Loved: Jada Stone is one match from glory
It might be fair to say that at this current stage in time, and definitely compared to the past few years, the TNA Knockouts division is looking a little bare.
Xia Brookside is the Knockouts World Champion and is feuding with Elayna Black over Zoom on TV, and one half of the Knockouts Tag Team Champions is “missing,” with nothing further really said on the matter. But at least in the inaugural Knockouts TV Championship tournament, there has been an emerging babyface underdog.
The 23-year-old beat a former Knockouts Tag Champion in Heather By Elegance in the semi-finals, and will now face M By Elegance in the final with a chance of winning the title. It’s a run that feels somewhat emulative of the Maya World Cinderella run in the Owen Hart Cup earlier this year, which has since launched her into TBS Champion status.
Stone, or rather TNA, now has the chance to make another star in a similar sense. It would have been all too easy to make it an All Elegance final for the title, if the title is destined to go home with that group. But now there’s a little bit of unpredictability thrown into the mix, with the potential for a new star to be made at a time when it’s desperately warranted.
It also stands to be a great meshing of styles with both M and Stone, and will undoubtedly serve drama and decent action at the very least. The result feels like one that comes with opportunity.
Written by Max Everett
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