IMPACTful Insights-Reviewing and grading the 02/29/24 episode of TNA Impact
On the heels of No Surrender, Impact was emanating from the Alario Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. Tom Hannifan opens the show narrating some of the finishes from the premium live event last Friday.
The show opens with a contest between the always exciting Speedball Mike Bailey and former Impact world champion Steve Maclin. Bailey is accompanied to the ring by the newly acquired Trent Seven and The Rascalz walk out with Maclin. The match was back and forth with Bailey showcasing his high-flying acrobatics and unique style. Maclin was the physical brute using his strength advantage along with some illegal tactics. With minimal interference from The Rascalz and a missed flying knee from the top rope by Speedball, Maclin was able to land K.I.A in the middle of the ring for a fairly clean win. After the match Maclin took to the mic to call out Nic Nemeth and mentioned how he was only using TNA and that he was poisonous to the company. Nemeth appeared on the big screen to let everyone know he was still in TNA, but he was traveling the world working hard. He showcased his New Japan Pro Wrestling IWGP belt and challenged Maclin to a match at Sacrifice.
GRADE A
Bailey has the ability to make everyone look good including himself. He showcased his elite talent as usual. Maclin sometimes works a bit stiff. Tonight, he was able to use his physicality with a bit more athleticism. Bailey has no clear picture at the moment while Maclin is in a feud with the new biggest star of TNA. Maclin needed to go over and I thought it was good that he went over fairly clean.
The next match up on Impact saw Laredo Kid and Jake Something go to battle. The babyfaces enter the ring and get a mild pop from the crowd. Laredo Kid and Jake Something are both great workers. Laredo Kids aerial assaults throughout the match were fun. I think Jake Something has unlimited potential. He works great with the X-division and has the powerful build and strength to work great with the heavyweights. The only thing holding him back is his name, IMO. Not a fan of the “Something” name even though I’m a big fan of his work. The match was fairly brief with Something stopping all of Laredo Kid’s momentum with an Into the Void seemingly out of nowhere.
GRADE B-
The match was decent while it lasted. Laredo Kid seems to be a whipping boy at the moment coming off of a loss to Dirty Dango on Xplosion last week and getting finished by Something pretty quickly on Impact. I think they’re still building Jake’s brand while Laredo Kid is putting people over right now.
Our next contest was an odd tag team match with Deaner and AJ Francis joining forces to take on Rich Swann and Joe Hendry. Joe Hendry has been over since he debuted in Impact a year and a half ago. He always gets the crowd to go along with his hand-waving as well as singing along to his self-help themed track. Hendry, using a little tongue-and-cheek, asked the crowd not to chant “AJ sucks” during his in-ring debut. Well, you know how that went. Hendry did his standard “we believe” talking point and the match started with Hendry and Francis. A lot of tension throughout the match as Francis had been recruiting Swann to join him to become a tandem in TNA. All four men had their moments with Deaner getting the worst of most of the action. Deaner oversells everything, but it makes me laugh so much I love it. Usually that would be an insult, but with him, it’s just hilarious. Francis showed some solid athleticism and worked the crowd well as a heel. Francis late in the match pulled Swann off of a pin attempt on Deaner to tell him they could’ve been together (for wrestling purposes). Swann then slapped him, and Francis went after Swann, but not before Swann pulled the rope and Francis went over the top. While Francis was on the outside, a cutter by Swann and a Standing ovation by Hendry to Deaner, put him out for the one, two, three.
GRADE B-
With the Design no longer a stable, Deaner seems to be fitting in wherever they can use him. Francis needed to look strong, and he did. Though it was a losing effort, Francis was not pinned. It seems as though a feud is building between Hendry and Francis. But it also seems there is a feud building between Francis and Swann. It’ll be interesting how this three-way-dance plays out. With all due respect to Deaner he’s just filler for the cause at this time.
After the commercial break, Rosemary and Havok had a pre-recorded promo looking to get their Knockout Tag titles back from MK Ultra. Both teams have a darkness and a seductive side to them. This promo was very dark, but also very sexy. With Decay taking the titles from MK Ultra at Hard to Kill and giving them back six weeks later at No Surrender, it’ll be fun to watch this angle unfold over the next few weeks.
GRADE A
After the break we come back to news that Alexander Hammerstone has signed with TNA wrestling. Josh Alexander and Hammerstone had a great match at Hard to Kill and Hannifan lets the viewers know that Hammerstone and the Walking Weapon will run it back at Sacrifice. As Gia Miller starts to interview Josh Alexander backstage, Dango and his stable interrupt to talk about their wrestling academy. My guess with the silliness with which they promote it, the wrestling academy is kayfabe. Alexander tells Dango they will have a match next week and that he’ll get Santino to sign off on it.
GRADE (I) Incomplete. Not enough info to have much thought on it.
We head to the Good Hands in the ring with a full-fledged political campaign presentation. They are now working alongside the new X-division champion Mustafa Ali. After John Skylar yaps about the change TNA needs and says that they’re in Mississippi instead of Louisiana to crowds disapproval, Ali starts to make his way to the ring. Ali is alongside a team of security and gets a nice pop from the crowd. Ali Talks about all the change he’s bringing and adds the typical “make (insert whatever word here) great again” verbiage as he talks about what he’s done for the X-division. He’s clearly acting as an arrogant heel and trying to get heat. But it’s not working. It feels as though three-fourths of the crowd is for him. Sabin comes out with the good guy talk and the crowd seems disinterested. A fight breaks out between Ali and Sabin and the Good Hands jump in. Kevin Knight and Kushida make their way out and clear the ring. Kushida, Knight and Sabin tear up all the political banners and posters and Ali is in the backstage area angry and frustrated.
GRADE B
I think Ali was great. Sabin has been great for years, but he felt a bit stale in this segment. They’ll likely run it back to continue to push Ali. Good choice.
The Boricua Bad Ass Tasha Steelz and Xia Brookside go head-to-head for the third time to determine the number one contender’s spot for Jordynn’s Grace Knockout Championship. Brookside won clean a few weeks ago with Steelz evening the score with a pull-of-the-tights roll-up. The match was a back-and-forth affair with neither woman ever getting full control of the contest. They both took some hard bumps outside the ring. They ended up slugging it out outside of the ropes as the referee counted to ten for a double count-out. Jordynn Grace’s music hits and she comes out to say that she had seen enough and the match would now be a triple threat match for the TNA Knockouts championship at Sacrifice.
GRADE B-
I love the way both of these women work. They put on some great matches, but this one seemed to go a little too quickly. Not a bad idea to have a three-way-dance for the gold, though.
Time for the main event as the System, featuring Brian Meyers, Eddie Edwards and the TNA heavyweight champion Moose were to square off with Ace and Bey alongside Eric Young. I mentioned that I thought a few of the matches went by quickly earlier. Not this one. This was a great match. It was very long, but high-level. Six bona fide stars in the ring with all of these great wrestlers. It was truly a traditional match with a lot of back-and-forth and the heels taking heat with the faces getting pops. Everything from missed tags, to great double teams, this match had it all. It looked as though the team of Ace, Bey and EY were going to get there after Austin and Bey hit the Art of Finesse on Moose. Edwards got in the ring just in time to break up the count. With Bey on the top rope, interference from Alisha Edwards allowed Moose to get the upper hand back. A kick by Moose, a hold by Edwards and an elbow off the top rope from Meyers gave the System the one, two, three.
GRADE A+
This match was absolutely fantastic. It had the feel and the skill of a PPV main event. As the System is being built up this absolutely furthered their cause. I’ve always thought Moose was special, but he’s taken it to whole another level with his physique and athleticism. EY and ABC were outstanding per usual with their acrobatics and in-ring generalship. I expect Meyers and Edwards to challenge ABC in the near future for their tag team gold. Moose has EY at Sacrifice and Moose seems like the strap will stay on his waist for quite a while.
