IMPACTful Insights – Reviewing and Grading the 03/07/24 Episode of TNA’s Impact Wrestling

Tom Hannifan opens tonight’s episode of Impact with a plug for Sacrifice while also showing downtown New Orleans and stating that before we get to Sacrifice, tonight is Impact!

First out is security followed by TNA’s freshly crowned X-division champion Mustafa Ali. He will be taking on the high-flying Kevin Knight. Knight has recently been getting a small, but well-deserved push in TNA. The skill of both of these guys was on display early as Knights drop kicks show incredible athleticism. Ali having a few moments with a beautiful cutter and went upstairs, but not before Knight hit a hurricanrana when Ali was standing on the top rope. That move had a high level of difficulty, but Knight and Ali hit it seamlessly. Knight was getting the upper hand on Ali when the Good Hands made their way to Ringside. Sabin and Kushida were not far behind to even the score. A melee breaks out outside of the ring before it ends up in the ring. Knight lands a sky high on Ali, but Ali is out at two. The ref allows the action to continue and John Skylar and Sabin are fighting over the X-division belt as Skylar tries to use it as a weapon. Meanwhile in the ring, Knight misses a spear on Ali in the corner and Ali dropkicks Sabin off the apron. Ali grabs the title and hits Knight with it while the refs back is turned. When the ref returns to the action in the ring, Ali is covering Knight and gets the one, two, three. After the match the Good Hands hold Knight down while Ali hits a high ariel maneuver off the top rope. As Ali and the Good Hands are celebrating and badgering Knight, former TNA world heavyweight champion Alex Shelley comes out to protect Knight while Ali and company retreat. They continue to celebrate while back pedaling down the ramp as the cameras cut away.

GRADE A
Great way to open the show as Mustapha Ali is a hot new commodity to TNA while Kevin Knight is a real up-and-comer. The match showcased skill by both guys and Ali got the necessary victory to continue his push. Knight looked strong and is getting a real run with some big-time players in TNA. At Sacrifice on Friday 03/08/24, Ali and the Good Hands will wage war with Kushida, Knight and Sabin. Shelley was off Impact last Thursday and with his feud with Moose seemingly over, it’ll be interesting where Shelley goes from here.

A pre-taped promo cut by Xia Brookside, Tasha Steelz and TNA Knockouts champion Jordynn Grace previews their upcoming contest at Sacrifice. A lot of it was Brookside calling Steelz a cheater that couldn’t beat her fair and square while Steelz responded with some smooth verbiage telling her if she can’t handle the way they play over here then she needs to go back to her sandbox (Brookside came to TNA from Europe). Grace pops in just to show her dominance and let her competition know that whether it’s one or two opponents, she’s up for any challenge.

GRADE A
While I think Grace we’ll continue her dominance in TNA, the promo was well showcased and made you feel as though any three contestants could get the victory.

After the commercial break, we pick up backstage with a doctor looking at Kevin Knights left arm and says that he cannot compete Friday night at Sacrifice. Shelley, who is standing backstage with Sabin and Kushida says he will take his place and really look out for his friends. Sabin looks confused and asks Shelley what he is talking about. Shelley says that Sabin wasn’t there for him when he needed him against Moose and that Kushida threw the towel in on him. Shelley then says that he will try to get him and Kushida a match later in the evening.

GRADE (I)ncomplete
Hard to know exactly what’s happening here, but I could certainly see a feud between Shelley and Sabin moving forward.

We head to the ring where Ash by Elegance’s personal ring announcer and chauffeur George Iceman is waiting. He begins to call out Ash by Elegance, but before doing so he insults her opponent and the New Orleans crowd. Iceman then announces Ash by Elegance to come to the ring for her second match in TNA. Elegance asks that Angel Blue (opponent) kiss her boot. Blue says no and Elegance begins to beat her senseless in the corner of the ring. After getting Iceman to wipe her boots clean, she gets back to action and continues to her dominance. She hits her finisher rarified air before getting the easy pinfall. As ring announcer Jade Chung begins to announce Elegance as the winner, George Iceman interrupts and says he’ll take it from here. He then announces her as the winner of the contest.

GRADE C
Adding Ash by Elegance to the TNA roster, formerly Dana Brooke of WWE, they clearly want to build her character. But I’m not a big fan of the total squash matches even though I think they are sometimes worthwhile. Her personal ring announcer and Chauffeur is not a bad touch, but the buildup is slow and a bit boring to me.

Steve Maclin opens up the next segment from his hotel room where he starts in on the newly acquired Nic Nemeth. He continues to say he doesn’t care about TNA and that he is using the excuse of having to be other places to avoid Maclin. Nemeth has won the New Japan Pro Wrestling IWGP championship. Maclin goes on to say that he’s in his hotel room instead of at the arena because if Nic Nemeth doesn’t have to show up to work then neither does he. Maclin looks like he’s just seen a ghost and the promo shows a bad internet connection. When the connection is back, Maclin is laid out and Nemeth grabs the camera and winks. Nemeth then leaves the hotel room with Maclin still laid out.

GRADE B
It’s very cool to see Nemeth in TNA. I can only imagine he has a lot of flexibility being the prime free agent that he was. I think Maclin is good, but not great. Makes sense for this to be Nemeth’s first real feud in TNA. But all of these pre-recorded angles show what Maclin is actually saying, “He’s not here.” But with TNA legitimately being the third biggest wrestling company in the U.S. behind WWE and AEW, Nic Nemeth was an absolute steal however often you can have him.

Next up is the match that Alex Shelley asked for as he and Kushida will face the Good Hands. As ring announcer Jade Chung starts to announce the Good Hands, Skylar tells her to pipe down and he starts his regular rant. It ends with his typical jargon “Kushida and Shelley will be getting beat down by these Good Hands.” Shelley and Kushida start to make their way to the ring and as Kushida is doing his famous time splitter routine, Shelley wants no part of it. Kushida looks confused and a bit sad but seemingly Alex Shelley is just all business and in no mood to play. As the action gets going in the ring, Shelley and Kushida are on the same page. Their typical double teams are dominating the Good Hands early and everything seems to be in sync. As we return from the commercial break, the Good Hands have slowly taken control of the action and are slowly trying to break down Kushida. Kushida gets the tag to Shelley and he gets the momentum back. In a typical back and forth match, the action is going both ways. Jason Hotch of the Good Hands is one of the more underrated wrestlers in TNA. But the Time Splitters are two of the best in the world and their cohesiveness is so much fun to watch. Time Splitters get the job done and Kushida gets Skylar to tap to the hoverboard lock. After the match, Shelley looks more agitated than satisfied and Kushida is still confused.

GRADE B
This storyline is warming up. Obviously, there will be a break down somewhere, but where exactly is still unknown. Shelley will be joining forces with Sabin and Kushida to take on the Good Hands and Mustapha Ali with Kevin Knight not being cleared to go. Makes you wonder if it will come tumbling down Friday night at Sacrifice. But, as great as these three are in the Time machine group, it may be fun to see one of them turn heel for a while.

In the backstage area, the Good Hands are apologizing to Ali for losing to Time Splitter. They try to paint the picture as a positive saying that they were able to scout Time Splitter. Ali says that he appreciates their service and then the Grizzled Young Vets walk-up and Ali lets the Good Hands know that the scouting they did was to let them know that he needs other guys to get the job done. He then tells them thanks for their efforts, and he appreciates their support.

GRADE A
I really like the Good Hands. I think Skylar is great on the mic and Hotch is great in the ring. They’re a good tag team. However, they are a low card tag team at this point and Ali, Sabin, Shelley and Kushida are all well above them in the TNA pecking order. It makes more sense that they would bring a much more established tag team to be a part of this six-way showdown and seemingly even the playing field. No knock on the Good Hands. I hope they do get pushed at some point. But they clearly haven’t and if Ali is to go over here, it would make more sense that he does so with more established talent, like the Grizzled Young Vets.

Up next, we see Masha Slamovich of MK Ultra, alongside tag team partner Killer Kelly come out to face Dani Luna who is with her partner, Jodi Threat. Slamovich’s MK Ultra partner Killer Kelly just lost on TNA’s Xplosion to Jodi Threat. Dani Luna was showing off her incredible strength before Kelly interfered in the match. Both women had their moments in this match as Slamovich is always tough and Luna is showing herself to be a physical combatant. Dani luna went over here landing her Luna Landing.

GRADE C
I’m a bit confused here. MK Ultra have a tag team title match with Decay coming up at Sacrifice, yet they are losing singles competitions to another tag team in a feud that there not a part of. Maybe it’s a build that will showcase itself down the road. As for now it seems as though MK Ultra will not be carrying those belts much longer.

Alan Angels comes to the ring first and out next is his opponent, PCO. PCO interrupted Alan Angels show, Soundcheck last week. Angels guest on the show was Kon. As PCO makes his way to the ring it is announced that Kon will be his opponent at Sacrifice in a No DQ match. Their short-lived match at No Surrender ended less than five minutes in due to a disqualification. Inside the ring Angels tries to use his speed to get an early advantage on PCO. Angels, much to my surprise had some early success. After a missed frog splash from the top rope, it was all Frankenstein after that. PCO hit a beautiful inside out clothesline that made Angels flip. That was followed up by a chokeslam and then a PCOSault off the top to give him the quick and easy 1-2-3. After the match Kon comes to the ring to inflict some punishment upon PCO. Angels looks to celebrate with Kon, but Kon is not interested as he gives Angels a head snap. PCO and Kon start back fighting with chairs. The fight ensues to the backstage area.

GRADE B
I’m glad to see Kon finally starting to get pushed like a real threat. He’s big and physical and TNA does not have a ton of guys like that. PCO, even in his 50’s is still very much over with the crowd. He’s a lifer that loves the business. This clash will be very interesting at Sacrifice. PCO is about as over as he is going to get. I don’t see him contending for any titles, except maybe the Digital media championship. Kon could really elevate from here, but I’m just not sure they will push him as a monster like they have PCO. Seems 50/50 to me.

Eric Young is out next to talk about his upcoming heavyweight championship clash with Moose. He starts off talking about how much he has sacrificed to be where he’s at today and that he’d do it 1000 lifetimes over to be standing right where he’s at. EY says the he’s playing for keeps at Sacrifice because Moose has the one thing he wants, which is the TNA heavyweight championship. Moose’s music hits and he interrupts to tell Young that it doesn’t matter how much he sacrifices, the result will be the same. He then starts walking from the entry way down to the ring and says they should give the people of Louisiana a good ol New Orleans Street fight. But just before entering the ring, he steps back down and says, “That’s not how the System works.” Brian Myers and Eddie Edwards hit the ring in suits and start beating down Eric Young. They stand EY up and Moose hits a spear on him. Alisha Edwards brings a chain down to the ring and Moose puts that over his shoulder and spears Young again. Ace and Bey make their way to the ring, but the System gets out of harm’s way.

GRADE A
EY is a solid player at TNA. He always makes for fun stories. But the System is becoming a great heel faction. They have three great performers in the stable with real star power. I love that Moose wants to be in TNA because I believe he could be very successful anywhere and in any promotion. I expect Moose to triumph at Sacrifice over Young because this title run looks like it’s just getting started.

It’s main event time as Dirty Dango comes out to the ring first alongside Oleg Prudius and Alpha Bravo. Upon entering the ring, Dango reminds everyone that he hates pro wrestling. Josh Alexander is out second, and he heads straight to the ring to confront Dango. Early in the match it is a high-quality technical wrestling contest. Alexander starts to take control of the contest and Dango makes his way to the outside to get a breather. As Dango returns to the ring, Alexander picks up right where he left off. With a little help from his entourage, Dango regains the upper hand and hits some nasty chops on the Walking Weapon. Dango working hard on breaking down Alexander’s knee. Dango looking strong as the contest continues on. As Dango goes to the top rope with the Weapon already seated up top, Alexander turns the tables and disposes of Dango over top turnbuckle and then does a backflip to the outside to take out Dango, Bravo and Prudius. As they re-enter the ring, Dango reverses a suplex and hits a bulldog on Alexander. Dango then goes up top for the down and dirty but just misses and that leads the Walking Weapon to grab him in the ankle lock submission for the tap out victory.

GRADE C
A solid match, but certainly far from a great main event. Alexander looked solid and like his usual self. I thought Dango looked his absolute best since becoming a member of the TNA roster a few years ago. Dango controlled much of the match as he may be getting a push moving forward. The reason I gave this match a C as opposed to a B is because it was the main event. Dango doesn’t have an angle at Sacrifice and Alexander will be rematching Hammerstone who was not in attendance in New Orleans. It was a filler main event, and it didn’t seem to push any story further along. If it did, then they have certainly tricked me.