After

a successful relaunch of the TNA brand at this past weekend’s Hard To Kill pay-per-view event, would TNA be able to maintain the momentum with its first TV episode of the new year? The answer – thanks to a modern-day classic match between Josh Alexander and Will Ospreay – is a resounding yes. Thursday night’s episode was chock full of great stuff, but the highlight was a tremendous main event that is an early contender for Match of the Year honours.

 

The show started with a Hard To Kill recap video before the camera cut to the ring with the TNA logo in the middle of the mat and the familiar old-school yellow ropes.

 

Match 1: Kushida vs. Trey Miguel vs. Laredo Kid vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey vs. El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Jake Something

The smaller athletes showcased their speed and aerials, including an early highlight that saw a couple of them hit simultaneous leaps to the floor to flatten the others. Meanwhile, Jake Something relied on his strength and power, throwing the others around and sometimes using one as a weapon on the others. In one such spot, Something caught Vikingo doing a Super-Flippy-Doo move and then Powerbombed him over the top rope onto every one else.

 

There was a parade of big high-flying finishers, but the parade ended with Jake Something ending the match when he caught Laredo Kid and sent him Into The Void (a spinning Boss Man Slam).

If you wanted Total Non-Stop Action, this match certainly aimed to deliver on that, with a lot of big moves.

Winner: Jake Something

In the back, Gia Miller interviewed Will Ospreay who said he is looking forward to his rematch with Josh Alexander tonight, as he has always dreamed about wrestling for TNA.

A promo video for Ash By Elegance (aka the former Dana Brooke) aired. This seems like it could be the second coming of Emmalina. At least George Iceman wasn’t in this video like he was there when she appeared in the crowd at Hard To Kill, so that’s already a plus.

 

Gisele Shaw – who won the number one contendership for the Knockouts Championship when she won the Ultimate-X match last weekend at Hard To Kill – was going to cut a backstage promo when she was approached by Gail Kim. Gail congratulated her on the win, and pointed out that Shaw did not need the Shawntourage’s help to win. Indeed, Gail suggested that they actually hinder Gisele whenever they get involved in her matches. Shaw got irritated with the suggestion and walked off.

 

Match 2: Tasha Steelz vs. Xia Brookside

The announcers reminded us that Xia is the daughter of British wrestler Robbie Brookside, and her style early on certainly confirmed that, with some good technical moves that had Steelz befuddled. Until Steelz got a bit dirty and hit a Greco-Roman Eye Poke. Steelz worked over Brookside, hitting Three Amigos at one point, but perhaps getting a bit too cocky, not even going for a cover. Her cockiness was her undoing, as Xia recovered and hit a series of big moves, including a big Slingblade-type move for two. After a bit of back and forth, Xia caught Steelz going to the top, grabbed her arms, and double-whipped her to the mat in a move called the Brooksy Bomb, and got the pin.

Good showing for Xia in a pretty decent TV match.

Winner: Xia Brookside

They recapped AJ Francis (formerly WWE’s Top Dolla) and DJ WhooKid attacking Joe Hendry at Hard To Kill after Hendry embarrassed him with a video. And, yes, it referenced his classic botched dive.

After that, Hendry cut a backstage promo, making more fun of Francis and WhooKid, who Hendry had thrown into a garbage can.

In the pantheon of wrestlers named AJ, Styles > Lee > Petruzzi > Francis. And if there are any others you can think of, they’re probably > Francis, too.

 

Match 3: Grizzled Young Vets (James Drake and Zack Gibson) vs. Frankie Kazarian and Eric Young

Not sure if they lost the “Veterans” name to trademark issues when they left WWE, but GYV are now going by Grizzled Young Vets now. Either way, it’s better than The Dyad.

Not news, but seeing Eric Young back in a TNA ring, it really dawned on me how unrecognizable he is now, both physically and character-wise, from when he first started in the company.

This was a good physical battle, with GYV putting the hurt on Kaz for a while, keeping him isolated in their corner with some good double-team moves and some classic tag team cheating tactics. Kaz finally broke loose and tagged in Young who was on fire, trying to take out both opponents.

Kaz joined in the fray as the match got more heated, and in the midst of things, he accidentally clocked Eric in the face with a huge punch. GYV capitalized on this, chucking Kaz out of the ring, and hitting Young with Grit Your Teeth (a Double Lungblower) for the pin.

This was a strong match, and a good showcase for GYV. A definitive win by GYV was the right thing here and makes them a legitimate entry into the tag team scene. Their being here should add some freshness into the division.

Winners: Grizzled Young Vets

After the match, Kazarian went back in the ring where Young was recovering from the finish. When Young got to his feet, Dr. Kazarian turned into the evil Mr. Hyde, and blindsided Young with a savage Clothesline. As the crowd booed and jeered Kaz for his heinous turncoatery, Kaz continued the assault on Young, kicking him in the head and then hitting Young with the Fade To Black. Kaz shouted at Young, saying that Young was ruining what was supposed to be Kaz’s biggest year. The crowd hated on Frankie as he made his way to the back while shooting looks of disdain at Young and the audience.

This was really good, and the crowd ate it up. This has the potential to be a really good feud.

 

The System (Brian Myers, Eddie Edwards, Alisha, and Moose) were having dinner, boasting about their performances at Hard To Kill, including Moose beating Alex Shelley for the World Championship. They ended with the catchphrase “Always trust The System.”

 

Nic Nemeth speaks

Nic Nemeth (formerly WWE’s Dolph Ziggler) came to the ring to a massive fan favourite reaction by the crowd. He seemed really happy to be there and for the reaction. He said that he’s had a lot of accomplishments in his 19-year career, but that he did it all in one world, and now he’s looking forward to doing things in TNA – with the goal of becoming World Champion. But, even though his debut at Hard To Kill saw him standing face-to-face with Moose at the end of the show, he said he respected the locker room too much to expect a title match right away. He said his career starts anew, and he will earn his way to the top. And he will do it for the first time as Nic Nemeth.

Steve Maclin’s music hit and he made his way to the ring. He said that everything Nemeth said, he said when he first arrived in the company. Maclin doubted that Nemeth meant what he was saying, and called Nemeth a phony. Maclin said he thinks Nemeth is only using TNA as a stepping stone. And he was going to stop Nemeth from doing so. And at the end of it, people won’t remember Nic Nemeth, but are going to ask “what happened to Dolph Ziggler” which got a big reaction from the crowd. Nemeth slapped him, and when Maclin tried to swing back, Nemeth ducked it and put Maclin down with the Zig Zag, now known as the Danger Zone. Nemeth stood tall to end the segment.

 

This was really good, particularly the intensity of the closing moments.

In the back, Gia Miller interviewed new Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace who was proud of her win over Trinity to win the title. Speaking of Trinity, she showed up and congratulated Grace on her win. But said that she was going to invoke her guaranteed rematch clause next week.

 

Match 4: Jai Vidal vs. PCO

Vidal came out and insulted Las Vegas and mouthily said that nobody in the building could beat him up. PCO came out to prove him wrong. PCO’s entrance included a bunch of people in lab coats and medical masks wheeling him out on a gurney – tremendous.

 

PCO made short work in squashing Vidal, hitting some big power moves before ending it with a Moonsault.

This was a fun PCO squash match, which are always fun to watch.

Winner: PCO

The Motor City Machine Guns cut a backstage promo. They will be teaming up with “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada next week against The System.

 

Match 5: Josh Alexander vs. Will Ospreay

The crowd was amped for this one from the beginning and never let up throughout.

Doing a quick recap of this match can’t really do it justice. It was, as the kids say, simply fantastic. The two of them battled it out with all they had, just giving it their all to hurt the other one with everything in their arsenal.

 

Some of the highlights saw them fighting on the apron for a while with the intent to throw each other through a ringside table, with Ospreay ultimately doing so with a Tiger Bomb. Though that hurt both men enough that neither of them were really able to get up quickly. While this should have ended the match by double count-out, they did something to acknowledge that fact and noted that the referee got authorization to waive off the count and allow both men the time they needed to get back in the ring to continue the match.

 

Later, the match spilled to the floor and onto the entrance ramp where Josh was able to muscle up and hurt Ospreay with a big Suplex, and they teased another count-out before Alexander rolled Ospreay into the ring where he clamped on an Ankle Lock that had Ospreay screaming in pain. Ospreay was able to break that hold, kicking Alexander off and sending him hard face-first into the turnbuckle.

It looked like Ospreay would get his hand raised after a Super Poison Rana and a Hidden Blade, but Josh kicked out by sheer instinct.

 

One of the TNA originals got honoured when Alexander hit Ospreay with a Styles Clash. But when Ospreay kicked out from that move, Alexander hit a C-4 Spike to put an end to this modern-day classic.

Go out of your way to see this one, folks. This is an early contender for Match of the Year, though that’s no big surprise given the two competitors involved. This was the second match between Alexander and Ospreay and now the series is even. With the first two taking place on TV, maybe the wrestling gods (not JBL) will smile down on us – and put the third one on PPV.

Winner: Josh Alexander

After the match, TNA President Scott D’Amore came to the ring and cut an emotional promo about his love for professional wrestling. His voice cracking at times, D’Amore said that he wanted to bring back TNA after people like Bruce Prichard wrote it off, and with passionate fans and incredible performers like Josh and Will, they have rebuilt, renewed, and resurrected TNA. That TNA is back and it’s never going away. As D’Amore looked on proudly, Josh and Will raised each other’s arm and showed each other mutual respect as the show came to a close.

 

 

Impact Wrestling - January 18th, 2023
4.5

Palms Casino Resort in Paradise, Nevada

The main event is something you should definitely seek out, but the rest of the show was also very good. This episode was a great start to the new TNA Wrestling. Here’s hoping they can continue with this level of quality all the time.