TNA returns to Las Vegas for another PPV with Nic Nemeth v Moose in the main event.
The Rascalz (Trey Miguel, Zachary Wentz and Myron Reed) vs. Leon Slater and ABC (Ace Austin and Chris Bey)
Good wild opener as you’d expect here. It felt like a story about units v raw potential. Slater does his best to fit in with ABC with matching gear and that, but their chemistry is always a tad below the Rascalz’. They did a really good job of putting over the idea that the Rascalz are boosted hugely by Reed being involved in TNA and he had a good showing. I liked lots of the big star-making dives and that’s where Slater got to shine. He had unmatched potential and sometimes, it’s difficult to stop the momentum of a rising star. That’s what Wentz found here as he was pinned for a Slater win. ***1/2
Crazzy Steve (c) vs. Laredo Kid for the TNA Digital Media Championship
Not the biggest fan of this, or any of Crazzy Steve’s work. They played the mindgames story and it was fine but nothing great. Steve beat Kid recently by stealing his mask so the luchador was ready for it this time ad countered into a pin to win the title. Hopefully, they get behind Kid and let him try and have killer matches for the title. **
Spitfire (Dani Luna and Jody Threat) (c) vs. Decay (Havok and Rosemary) for the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championships
I dug this. It wasn’t incredible but it was a solid effort to solidify the growing division and continue the rise of Spitfire as champs. Luna is really starting to stand out as the powerful stallion and it makes me wonder if a Luna v Jordynne feud could be good? Anyway, Spitfire retained after a competitive 10 mins with the newly-formed team of Masha Slamovic and Alisha Edwards stepping up as next challengers after the match. **3/4
Mustafa Ali (c) vs. Jake Something for the TNA X-Division Championships
Good match but not standout great which is how Ali is starting to feel. He’s clearly talented but whether it’s booking or exposure, this gimmick isn’t living up to the hype. Ali sold the fear of Something really well though and I have to say, Jake Something SCREAMS big star to me. He could go down to Florida and have a really good NXT run before middling on the main roster at least. Something was attacked by Ali’s goons but powered out of the pin after the 450 in quite a shocking spot. It felt like Something was making a comeback, but then Ali rolled him up and used the ropes for leverage to retain. That felt like they didn’t have a gerat idea for the finish so settled on that. ***1/2
Rich Swann vs. Joe Hendry
Swann is now a heel and his gimmick looks startling like a JTG cosplay. The match was more of an angle, but I appreciated Swann’s vicious offense and the way he went after the eye was nice. Hendry sold it well with his facial expressions and Tom Hannifan on commentary saying “not again” in reference to that AWFUL Seth v Rey angle in 2020 was great. Shawne Merrimen, a former NFL teammate of AJ Francis, turned heel in teh finish with an ALMIGHTY LARIAT on Hendry and Swann won with the 450. Could have been worse. ***1/4
Frankie Kazarian vs. Eric Young
Full Metal Mayhem here and a well-worked plunder match between two veterans. This was kind of exactly what they advertised. A good match with lots of tables smashed, chairs used and blood spilled. The finish saw Kaz win with the Flux Capacitor through* the table. Hopefully, that’s the end of this and we can get the veterans using their experience to put over TNA’s best young stars. ***1/4
* it kind of clipped the table and could have gone very badly. OOOSH.
Steve Maclin vs. Mike Santana
Maclin announces he’s resigned with TNA and wants a match so here’s the redebuting Santana to beat him. I’m not sure Maclin losing is smart but I’m also not sure he should have resigned either as he’s pretty stale here now. The match was solid, but nothing spectacular. Santana as a singles is different and if it works anywhere, it’s in TNA so good look to him. ***
The System (Eddie Edwards and Brian Myers) (c) vs. Speedball Mountain (Trent Seven and Mike Bailey) for the TNA World Tag Team Championships
Fun stuff as expected with Bailey in particular in there. The System are proving to be solid hands as champions, but when they get in with an elite worker like Bailey, they let him shine which is good. Seven is worked over early and they take out his leg leaving Bailey to fight in basically a handicap match. It works though as he’s a great scrappy underdog and his explosive offense lends itself to hope spots. A cool spot saw Bailey’s dive to the outside caught in midair but a gnarly Myers spear. That took out Bailey too leaving Seven to be fed to the wolves and System retain. ***1/2
Josh Alexander vs. Hammerstone
Both of their previous matches were **** level and the trilogy/feud ender JUST falls short of that for me. There’s a hell of a lot to like here and it all comes down to strategies. Hammerstone’s plan is to destroy the neck/head of Alexander which has been previously injured in his career but Alexander is smarter than that. His gameplan is to go after the legs and the work earlier on in the match was really good. It came back later too which rocked. You win a last man standing match by making your opponent fail to stand and the best way to do that is to destroy their legs. Logic. Anyway, the problem with this is the same as all LMS matches: the lack of drama. Ten counts are a bit long as it is but numerous ten counts honestly get boring. I appreciate the big spots and both men looked like warriors, but when Alexander won with the C4 on the stage, I was ready for these two to be done with each other. ***3/4
Jordynne Grace (c) vs. Steph De Lander for the TNA Knockouts World Championships
An absolute trainwreck. The first ten minutes of this are an average back-and-forth match. They let SDL take control with her size and it was fine for what it was. Her offense is pretty limited and it makes you wonder why she was chosen for this PPV shot when TNA has a pretty talented women’s division. Anyway, the match completely goes off the rails when PCO turns up to counteract the Good Hands, Kon turns up to take out PCO and FUCKING SAMI CALLIHAN returned to take out Kon. All in a Knockouts World Title match. Grace and the division deserved better booking. I was half-expecting fucking House of Torture to do a run-in. At least Grace retained with the Juggernaut Driver. *1/2
Moose (c) vs. Nic Nemeth for the TNA World Championship
An average main event title match which is becoming a trend with Moose as champion. His work is just really uninspiring which is a shame as he’s clearly a talented dude but if he can’t be bothered, neither can I. Nemeth’s story of never being THE GUY despite getting so close was interesting enough and I thought he’d get the job done here and have a run as TNA’s new ace but no, he lost to a spear. And why? BECAUSE FUCKING BROKEN MATT HARDY TURNED UP TO START A FEUD WITH MOOSE. Impact Wrestling was SOOOO GOOOD until they did the rebrand back to TNA and it’s like the rebrand meant they had to return to their shit. Why is an uninspired Moose, Eric Young, Frankie Kazarian and now Matt Hardy part of the main event talent in this company while guys like Jake Something, Mike Bailey, Trey Miguel, Leon Slater, Sami Callihan and others are WAITING for a big push? FUCK. **3/4
DI Wrestling Reviews 