Another edition of "TNA Impact"on AMC has come and gone. A new home is seemingly getting the same TNA, which left the Wrestling Inc. Staff with plenty to love and plenty to hate.
As we do with every show, we will not be covering the "What happened" of it all, since that has already been handled by the results page. Instead, we'll discuss the good, the bad, and the downright ugly of this Thursday's show. Some feasted, Steve Maclin was fired, and there were plenty of matches. Though only one of them was a women's match, so you'll be hearing plenty about that. There were also TNA's trademark production issues and a lack of general brand identity. But there was plenty to love, like some of the matches, or TNA's willingness to embrace intergender action.
Enough of my bloviating though, let's get into the best and the worst of the last "TNA Impact" of January.
I was, admittedly, a substitute editor for TNA coverage tonight. I am not as up-to-date on the promotion as the rest of the staff, and that let me be genuinely surprised by The Home Town Man, the masked wrestler from seemingly everywhere. Cody Deaner has put on a mask and is doing the kind of fun, colorful, hokey comedy act that has been the bread and butter of wrestling for over 50 years.
His match with TNA International Champion Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo, accompanied by Arianna Grace, was a delight. For me, the highlight of the show. Albuquerque was eating up Deaner's schtick, and Lorenzo & Grace's Mid-Atlantic take on Jamie Noble, and Nidia is growing into an entertaining presence. The match was a bit longer than the whole comedy deal probably should've been, but it was hard to argue with the crowd response.
Max Everett will go into TNA's lack of identity, and Deaner's Home Town Man is probably the exception that proves the rule. TNA is usually at it's best when it is a throwback to the county fairground; to a time and a place of clowns and freakshows. It's Broken Hardys and Wrestling Elvis. This is afterall, the promotion that gave us Puppet The Psycho Dwarf. In some ways, TNA is a local hometown indie promotion for the entire country. In that way, Home Town Man is the heart of TNA Wrestling.
Written by Ross Berman
This is the fourth TNA show on the trot that I have watched live for the purpose of covering it, and I have yet to discern what it is that TNA truly stands for. There are some undoubted glimpses of brilliance, whether it be Mike Santana as World Champion or Leon Slater as X-Division Champion, but then much of everything feels like it is trying to recapture something that was brilliant or has never been and may have been discarded for good reason.
Elijah (FKA Elias and Ezekiel) is feuding with Mustafa Ali, Nic Nemeth (FKA Dolph Ziggler) was facing BDE because the content creator-turned-wrestler dared to play video games backstage, and AJ Francis (FKA Top Dolla) was wrestling Rich Swann in the main event.
Everything felt as though it were an unintentional parody of the worst of late 2010s WWE. Nemeth against BDE and Francis against Swann were, admittedly, quite fun as matches. But there isn't enough drama for me to care about anything that's going on. TNA just doesn't know what it is right now, which is an issue because the promotion has never quite been able to grasp what it is in over 20 years. It's in a stage of infancy while being ostensibly in promotional adulthood, and the issue with every reset, rebrand, reboot, remake, re-whatever-verb-you-like is that it still feels like it's trying to be told what it is.
There are always moments where TNA lures, and one thinks to themselves, "Huh, TNA looks pretty neat," before tuning into shows like the past three and being reminded why you left in the first place. And there are also absolutely great aspects to the show, and it's not as though it's the worst product in the world. The company just seems to fall into bad habits whenever it gets even the slightest bit of attention, and the constant identity crisis continues to hold it back from finding its niche in wrestling and finally shaking that 'LOLTNA' off once and for all.
Written by Max Everett
There are things that are just so TNA, like the TNA injury report, organically over talent, awkward timing, and Ryan Nemeth clotheslining the living daylights out of Mara Sade.
Okay, intergender wrestling itself is not unique to TNA. Compare an episode of "iMPACT" to an episode of, say, "WWE Raw" or "AEW Dynamite," however, and the prevalence of intergender wrestling on TNA programming is one of the many things that set TNA apart. In the Western wrestling scene, TNA is a trailblazer for intergender wrestling. Such was made clear on Thursday's episode of "iMPACT," where four intergender storylines were showcased throughout its two-hour broadcast. Of course, the segments weren't perfect, but the Love is in the theory: we need more intergender wrestling on mainstream wrestling outlets.
Wrestling promotions love a romance story, and two of "iMPACT's" four intergender segments featured lovers' quarrels. Honestly, these were probably the least inspired of the night: both Alisha Edwards and Arianna Grace quarreled with their male partners, Eddie Edwards and Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo, respectively. The draw, however, is in the quantity. A fallout between a fiance and her betrothed might be a common in-ring storyline, but two similar, but unrelated, segments on a single broadcast is something unusual (especially when both end with the woman standing firm in her convictions). It's not the most girlboss storyline variant in the world, but it goes to show that TNA is quite comfortable booking intergender storylines.
I'm more interested in the storylines that pit male and female talent against each other. Jada Stone and Elijah are on their way there with their blossoming alliance against Order Four, but Stone's initial argument with Order Four leader Mustafa Ali gives me some hope that this feud will see an intergender lockup one, hopefully, as intense as the one between Nemeth and Sade early Thursday. When I saw Nemeth unapologetically lay his hands on Sade, I knew I was watching TNA. No other major wrestling broadcast in the present day will so openly show a man laying his hands on a woman, aside from TNA. I hated how Nemeth talked to Sade, but he's a slimy heel, so I'll let it slide (for now).
We talk a lot about equality in the ring. We dream that one day, female wrestlers will be taken just as seriously as their male counterparts. I genuinely think intergender wrestling is one way to handle that problem. If you show people that women and men can fight each other with no prejudice, just skill then we might make some big strides towards equality in the ring. If the storyline is good and the tensions are there, we should absolutely be letting men and women fight.
Written by Angeline Phu
On the inaugural episode of "Thursday Night iMPACT", Daria Rae debuted in the IMPACT Zone and introduced her first signee, Elyana Black. On the third episode, Black was finally "in action". She last competed for the company as Cora Jade when she had a shot at the Knockouts Championship in March 2025.
In her debut as Black, she took on Ruthie Jay. While Black had most of the offense, Jay looked more confident in her presence and in her wrestling. Rae was on commentary, repeating that Black moved ticket sales. When challenged, she said she was in the meetings, and they weren't. Black went on to beat Jay in a match that didn't make it to a commercial break. With Black already being established in TNA last year, and for fans who watch WWE, this match could've lasted a few minutes longer. Black isn't exactly the type of wrestler you'd think would have squash matches. If they're reintroducing her to TNA fans, the match could've gotten twice the time. Perhaps they think that if they're establishing her as a threat (presumably for the Knockouts title), a squash match against an unsigned talent will do that.
Black vs. Jay was the lone women's match. Tasha Steelz got involved in a men's match and had a backstage segment where she slapped Jada Stone for interrupting Mustafa Ali (who had interrupted her). There was also a backstage segment with the Elegance Brand, Lei Ying Le, and Angel Warriors. As iMPACT finds its footing on AMC, hopefully, the women's division will get an expanded role, including matches that last at least one commercial break.
Written by Samantha Schipman
If there's anyone who can make new stars shine, it's Nic Nemeth. And the former TNA World Champion did just that when he took on BDE also known as BrandonDoesEverything in "Thursday Night's iMPACT's" opening contest.
For comparison: tonight marked BDE's 25th professional wrestling match overall. Meanwhile, Nemeth's 22-year career has brought about over 2,000. Still, I strongly believed there was a chance that BDE could manage to shock the world with an upset victory.
Nemeth, of course, is known for his passionate (and sometimes over-the-top) efforts when it comes to selling. In this case, his selling of BDE's running knee had me on the edge of my seat, so much so that the frog splash that followed had me convinced that BDE was about to pin him for a full three count. Much to my and the crowd's surprise, Nemeth kicked out, creating an exciting false finish instead.
The real finish came a moment later when Nemeth countered BDE's springboard cutter with the Danger Zone (formerly the Zig Zag), and my goodness, it was a smooth thing of beauty. That ending, combined with the story of the disgruntled veteran vs. the up-and-coming star, totaled a noteworthy opener that now has me wanting a rematch, with BDE potentially evening the score against "The Wanted Man."
Written by Ella Jay
TNA Wrestling touted their new contract with AMC, as they did with their other broadcast deals, like the start of a new era. Finally, they had big league partners like WWE, and big league broadcasting like AMC, former home to "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad," and yet, they carried the same minor league production snafus from their days on Spike TV or Destination America, or AXS TV.
There was a camera that wasn't white-balanced, leading to overhead shots with a ring that was practically a different color. Backstage segments were recorded with subpar audio, with one whole segment with the Elegance faction sounding like it took place in a tin can. On the production front, it often feels like TNA simply cannot get out of its own way. I understand that the shoestring budget can only go so far, but after people like Chris Jericho championed this as the number 2 promotion, there's just something that rings so hollow when every show looks like a first draft. The fact that TNA is taped just adds to the frustration, handing over a half-baked product to viewers with a shrug. WWE and AEW have the luxury of Saturday Night Live's old excuse of "The show doesn't go on because it's ready; it goes on because it's 11:30," but TNA has days, sometimes weeks to iron out these issues, and they just don't. It's very hard to take them seriously, when they handle their flagship so recklessly.
Written by Ross Berman
