The first set of "TNA Impact" tapings under the new creative team marched forward tonight, with the Knockouts TV title tournament continuing, along with an X-Division Championship defense in the main event. Mustafa Ali brought a new member into his Order 4 faction, but it remains to be seen if the addition does anything to make the group more interesting. Meanwhile, the company continued to set up Nic Nemeth's first world title defense, which is now official for next week's show.We won't be able to cover everything; you'll have to check out our "TNA Impact" July 16, 2026 results for that. Here we've compiled a collection of our thoughts on the show in one place for your perusal, and you're invited to agree or disagree with us in the comments. First, you'll have to get through our opinions, so brace yourselves and let's dive in.
This week saw Ricky Sosa continue his fight against TNA's resident sedative, The System, after he had the gall to turn them down and band with Leon Slater. This time, Sosa took on Bear Bronson.Sosa had been on a winning streak of three going into the match, emerging as one of the more exciting names on a TNA roster severely lacking that department. But Bear Bronson is a part of The System, which meant he always stood a chance of ending that streak with some form of shenanigans.Brian Myers was on commentary, and the why behind that audible punishment became apparent when he interfered in the match. Sosa knocked him off the apron but as the trope goes turned into the closing stretch of the match, and that was all she wrote.It was a System match in all of its glory. Interference and all manner of predictable tomfoolery to pad the records of its members to no end. Cedric Alexander is realistically the only one in the group that can hold a compelling match, and he was not here. Every match runs the same way, and it's specifically annoying that it happens at the detriment of those infinitely more exciting.The System just feels like another in the ilk of House of Torture, marring the product which they occupy so much in the absence of the actual stars in the promotion. Bronson has been established as a tag team guy in The System as well, so beating Sosa feels like a waste of momentum.It also pretty much reinforces that Slater and Sosa are going to be continuing as a tag team against Bronson and Myers moving forward. Which, again, feels like a complete and utter waste.Written by Max Everett
Order 4 has consistently been one of my favorite parts of "Impact", and things have only become that much more interesting now that Mila Moore has been announced as the new Secretary of Strategic Affairs.I know Moore may not be the person that some people expected to be the newest member of Order 4 or might not like her as an addition to the stable, but I actually think that her being added to the group adds a really interesting new dynamic between herself, Mustafa Ali, Tasha Steelz, John Skyler, and Jason Hotch. We already saw a glimpse of that play out tonight in the reactions from Hotch, Skyler, and Steelz as well as the favoritism that Ali demonstrated towards Moore. If the dynamic continues to be half as good as it was during this segment, then I think it'll shape up to be one of the best things that TNA has going on their programming right now.Moore also hasn't been used very much on television aside from her days wandering around The Undead Realm with Tessa Blanchard and Victoria Crawford, so it's nice to see her being utilized in a role that's unique and hasn't really been done to this extent in modern wrestling. Putting her in a stable with wrestlers who have more experience is also a great learning opportunity for her, and will hopefully allow for Moore to further develop and flourish as a performer.Written by Olivia Quinlan
There were a lot of great matches featured on tonight's card, from the Knockouts Television Championship Tournament opening rounds to the X-Division main event. However, the match between Moose and AJ Francis went to Nowheresville immediately after Frankie Kazarian's interference. And for that, I have to hate it.Prior to the disqualification, the match was fine. The two powerhouses shook the ring with their bomb-like counters. But in a blink of an eye, the match ended so fast, with lots of furious face palms. The match just prior had interference (M by Elegance versus Rosemary), so why do it back-to-back?Of course, Francis didn't mind the disqualification. In fact, he got the cold ending (musical term) on Moose. You do wonder, would Moose have won it? Probably. Sadly, that finish made it the weakest match of the week. I was hoping these two could pick up where they left off, preferably next week, without Kazarian. But that does not seem to be the case. Instead, it will be a tag team match. Ugh! Why? Perhaps these two will face-off in singles action at Lockdown next month. That just seems too far away. And with our attention spans, we'll probably have forgotten this story by then.Written by Brie Coder
The Righteous Deletion is upon us, and I, for one, am excited to watch next week's match!I am so happy to see and hear about the return of cinematic matches. Something just feels incredibly right when they happen, as if they bring a reset to the company. Right now, that's something TNA could desperately use.When the Righteous and The Hardys faced off in TNA's first-ever Wicked Garden match, I felt like a little kid at the height of the "Attitude Era." The mind games. The violence. The sacrifices. There is something that is so hauntingly fascinating about these two teams. Maybe it's because the Righteous didn't bite the hand that feeds them in the Hardys, they gnawed it right off. And the Hardys haven't been the same since the Wicked Garden.Now, I don't know what the odds are of the Righteous winning on their enemies home turf; however, if the titles are on the line, I hope they do win. They ooze the pizazz needed right now for champions. The Hardys have quite a legacy as a tag team, and nothing can change that, but the Righteous' time to become the tag team champions has been long overdue. Even if the title isn't involved, The Righteous Deletion could help them add another win toward their victory column against theHardys, thus putting them an inch closer to becoming the new champions.Written byBrie Coder
Having dethroned former partner Lei Ying Lee for the Knockouts World Championship and seen her off in a No Disqualification rematch, Xia Brookside set out this week to... walk around backstage and start on Elayna Black for talking up her chances in the Knockouts TV Championship Tournament.Black will be facing former "WWE NXT" colleague and current "WWE Evolve" star Wendy Choo in the opening round of the tournament next week, and thus addressed that in a cookie-cutter backstage segment. Then, because she said she was the greatest Knockout, Brookside took exception to that and warned Black, who had not even mentioned her at all, to stay in her own lane.That was all the Knockouts World Champion had to do this week. No one else during the show even implied they would be chasing the champion, and the one segment featuring the champion saw her pushing an issue with a fellow heel who is focused on the TV title seemingly occupying everyone else.No one outside of Lei Ying Lee has any precedent to challenge for the title in the coming weeks, and there's so little left to explore there without having Lee take the title back. It's not the best sign for a division minting a new title that there isn't anyone credible gunning for the World Champion.Everything feels thin and hollow, and at the very least one would expect the World title to have challengers before even considering adding a new title to the mix. It feels like neither management nor talent care about the World title held by Brookside. Which is just a shame.Written byMax Everett
Tonight's main event pitted X-Division champ Cedric Alexander against recent TNA addition Fabian Aichner. I'm far from the biggest fan of The System, so I haven't been able to enjoy Alexander's time in TNA despite being a fan of the performer. Tonight, we got to see once again why he made a name for himself in the business, with a strong match against Aichner.The match was smooth, and you could feel the pacing begin to quicken as things went on, with tension escalating as well. I'd be surprised if anyone truly thought Alexander was going to lose the title here, but Aichner did a commendable job of getting the audience to buy into the match as it was taking place.Did I enjoy the interference from The System at the end? Unsurprisingly, no. However, I can appreciate the fact that it got Leon Slater and Ricky Sosa back on TV at the end of the show. As two of TNA's most promising young stars, they should be featured as prominently as possible. Plus, it's always nice to see some reinforcements make their way out from the locker room to help a fellow babyface when they're outnumbered.This was far from the worst episode of "Impact" on AMC, and the main event did its part to help.Written by Nick Miller
