The aftermath of Hard To Kill continued on Thursday night’s episode of TNA Impact! with several big names making an impact (pardon the pun) with their appearances. After a decade since his last run with the company, which was notable only for the way he was mis-used, “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada, one of – if not THE – biggest stars in modern Japanese wrestling, made his return to the company, immediately making himself a viable contender for the World Championship. Meanwhile, Nic Nemeth made his in-ring debut for the company and also made a compelling case to be in the top tier of the company. And, in a shocking coda to the show, former WWE star Mustafa Ali dropped a video teasing his imminent arrival into TNA, suggesting himself as a driver for change within the company. All that, and so much more in a match-packed episode.

The show started with a tribute graphic for Frank “Francisco Ciatso” Caiazzo (you can read our obituary on him here, and a loving tribute from his friend here).

 

Match 1: Chris Bey (w/ Ace Austin) vs. Kevin Knight

Jeff Timmons of the boy band 98-degrees was shown in the crowd, so presumably the flux capacitor is working and took us back to 1998 when that band was relevant.

This was a perfectly-adequate opener, though at times it seemed more like they were just doing moves without much storytelling flow. Still, some of the moves were really good, with Knight impressing with a big Dropkick and then a huge Flying Lariat off the top rope, and Bey ending the match with a tremendous Art of Finesses that looked absolutely *chef’s kiss*.

Winner: Chris Bey

After the match, the Grizzled Young Vets rushed the ring and attacked Bey and Austin, laying them out with a beat-down and double-team moves. With the champs laid out, GYV held up the Tag Team Championship belts, telling Bey and Austin that they were coming for the titles. This was pretty good, and the crowd really didn’t like GYV.

 

A hype video aired for Ash by Elegance. Based on this, I look forward to seeing her body… of work that she will create in TNA.

They recapped the events last week when Frankie Kazarian turned on Eric Young after they lost to GYV. Cut to a Frankie pre-taped promo. But instead of answering the question “Why, Frankie, why?” he said he would explain himself next week. Rich Swann walked in to ask Frankie what was going on with him, but all Frankie would say is that he was now looking out for himself – and suggested Swann’s career trajectory might improve if he did the same.

As Frankie left, AJ Francis walked in and said he wanted to be in Swann’s corner when he faces Joe Hendry, as Francis has a bone to pick with Hendry for attacking DJ WhooKid last week. Swann was reluctant, but Francis said that Swann could benefit from pairing up with Francis. Swann wasn’t swayed, and walked away.

 

Match 2: Dirty Dango and Oleg Prudius (w/ Alpha Bravo) vs. Damien Drake and Dante King

Drake and King look like poster boys for modern indy wrestling, and they were treated as such by Prudius, who did all the squashing while Dango sat in a chair at ringside to take a phone call. His business concluded, Dango finally tagged in to end things with an Eye of the Hurricane on one of the hapless opponents.

 

This was a complete squash, just to highlight how much of a douche Dango is. And it worked.

Winners: Dirty Dango and Oleg Prudius

In the back, the Grizzled Young Vets cut a promo, boasting about having made a statement at the expense of Austin and Bey. Director of Authority Santino Marella walked in and scolded them for their actions. This brought in Austin and Bey who wanted to settle things right then and there. Instead, Marella announced that the two teams would have a Best-of-Three series of matches, with the Tag Team Championship going to the team that wins two matches.

In the back, Gia Miller interviewed the Motor City Machine Guns and “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada. They said they will beat The System tonight.

 

Match 3: Trinity vs. Jordynne Grace (c) – for the Knockouts World Championship

Trinity started off quickly and aggressively, surprising Grace with a shot while they were in the middle of a pre-match handshake.

 

She then rocked the champion with some more big moves, like a Running Knee to the face and a low Running Clothesline. Grace recovered and used her power to turn things around, slowing Trinity down with a big Spinebuster, and later a Vader Bomb that got her a 2=count.

Trinity floated over in a Vertebreaker attempt and then planted Grace with a Head Scissor Spike for a near-fall. But when Trinity went up top, Grace caught her and responded with a Superplex and floated that over into a Jackhammer for two – that looked really good.

After some back-and-forth action, Trinity nearly got the win after a Full Nelson Bomb, but Grace kicked out. After a lengthy exchange of several rollups and reversals, Trinity tried to convert one into Starstruck, but Grace rolled it over into a cradle pin for the 1-2-3.

This was a good match, though the face vs. face dynamic hurt it a little in terms of adding some drama to the ending. Trinity seems to have elevated her in-ring game during her time in Impact/TNA. If she does indeed head back to WWE soon, her improvement could lead to some intriguing matchups.

Winner, and still Knockouts Champion: Jordynne Grace

After the match, Gisele Shaw and her Shawntourage (Jai Vidal and Savannah Evans) ran in and attacked both women as they were giving each other a post-match handshake. Shaw used the giant red X to knock both women down and then she flattened Trinity with the Denouement.

The System (World Champion Moose, Brian Myers, and Eddie and Alisha Edwards) cut a pre-taped promo, saying they would beat the Guns and Okada tonight.

In a pre-taped promo, Josh Alexander was happy that he got to compete in a TNA ring, and that he got to not only wrestle Will Ospreay, but beat him. Alexander said he was now looking for what’s next. Alan Angels came in and invited Alexander to be the first guest on his new talk show, the Sound Check. Alexander agreed, and Angels was very happy.

 

Match 4: Zachary Wentz (w/ Trey Miguel) vs. Nic Nemeth

It was noted that this is Nemeth’s first ever match for a company other than WWE. The crowd was very spirited for Nemeth, but we won’t go with the obvious “spirit squad” reference because that’s just lazy.

Nothing lazy about the match, though. This was classic good guy vs. bad guy story-telling, with Nemeth starting off in control, only to get his legs cut out from under him thanks to some outside interference by Miguel. Wentz laid on the beating, kicking Nemeth when he was down, and trying to wear him down with submission attempts. Nemeth came back, though, and hit Wentz with a huge DDT for a 2-count for a 2-count. Wentz hit some big moves in response, but Nemeth was on fire, and ended things with the Danger Zone for the pin.

 

This was a solid by-the-numbers match that gave Nemeth a good showcase and a solid win to start off his TNA run. The crowd really likes him, and actually getting a chance to wrestle should bring new energy to Nemeth. Excited to see where this goes.

Winner: Nic Nemeth

After the match, Miguel ran in to try to attack Nemeth, but he ate a Danger Zone as well. But then Steve Maclin slid into the ring from out of nowhere, and he sneak-attacked Nemeth, stomping a mudhole into him in the corner. He set Nemeth up for KIA, but  Nemeth reversed it and hit Maclin with Danger Zone.

This was the third post-match attack on this show, and the novelty was kind of wearing off. But the live crowd didn’t seem to mind, and were solidly behind Nemeth throughout.

A Crazzy Steve video aired, in which he said that he originally thought Tommy Dreamer was there to help him, but now Steve believes Dreamer is beneath him. Steve said that after he beat Dreamer for the Digital Media Championship, he doesn’t need any advice from Dreamer or anyone else. Cue the record scratch as Rhino barged in. He questioned what Steve said about not needing advice, and said that he would teach Steve a lesson. Rhino shoved Steve into the wall and left, and Steve laughed maniacally.

Decay cut a pre-taped vignette. They explained that they had gone back to the Underground to rediscover their identities as Rosemary and Havok. And now they are back on their demonly track, this time as the Knockouts Tag Team Champions.

 

Match 5: Dani Luna and Jody Threat vs. MK-Ultra (Masha Slamovich and Killer Kelly)

The new team of Luna and Threat had a lot of success early on, and at times they even looked more well-oiled than the former Knockouts Tag Team Champions. But some dirty tactics allowed MK-Ultra to turn the tide, and they destroyed Threat with a Double-Team Powerbomb, planting her high and hard on the back of her neck, and that was all she wrote.

 

After the match, they hit Luna with the same finisher, and it looked like they were an inch away from breaking her neck. Jeebus.

This was all about reinforcing MK-Ultra as a dangerous team, and it worked in spades. That finisher ough to be illegal.

Winners: MK-Ultra

 

Match 6: Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) and “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada vs. The System (Moose, Brian Myers, and Eddie Edwards (w/ Alisha Edwards)

The commentators noted that Okada had previously wrestled for the company, but was very outspoken about how much he didn’t like that experience. But now he is happy with the company, its management, and its direction, hence his return.

This one broke down early on, with all six men getting into a face-off within the first 20 seconds of the match. After the ref restored order (during the commercial break), the match broke out into a series of pairings, with the biggest response from the crowd happening when Okada faced off with Moose for the first time. Though, to be fair, they were excited any time Okada was in the ring.

 

On a side note, Alisha Edwards as a heel manager just works. Any time Eddie was in the ring, she would yell out to encourage him – her loud screechy voice was incredibly annoying and nerve-grating – and really made you dislike her and Eddie, so mission accomplished.

The Guns used a lot of double-teaming to take control of the match, but Eddie was able to thwart a move and that led to a rare Gun mistake that saw Sabin accidentally kick Shelley. A series of events after that eventually led to another Moose-Okada collision, this time going for some time, with Okada coming very close to pinning the World Champion more than once.

Okada and Moose exchanged big Dropkicks, and soon both were down in the middle of the ring in a stalemate. They both tagged out, and then things picked up, with bodies flying all around the ring in a parade of finishers.

That parade came to an end when Okada smashed Myers with a Rainmaker which sent Myers into the clutches of Alex Shelley who hit Myers with Shell Shocked for the pin.

This was a strong main event, and really helped establish Okada as a credible threat to Moose, should that be the direction they go – and with Okada having now left New Japan Pro Wrestling and reportedly still a free agent, that’s something TNA should try to make happen. Not sure that having the new main heel faction lose their first match makes sense otherwise.

Winners: The Motor City Machine Guns and “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada

After the closing title card, the show cut to a vignette for Mustafa Ali. He talked about how things can change – gradually or in a flash. He said that TNA is going to experience a change. The vignette ended with him saying “I’m Mustafa Ali, and I approve this message.”

 

 

TNA Impact - January 25th, 2024
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Palms Casino Resort - Las Vegas, NV

Okada was a definite highlight of this show, though the Knockouts Championship match was pretty darn good as well. What’s more, there are some intriguing stories  being set up with some of the new blood in the company. Two weeks after the formal rebranding to TNA and the company is still on a roll.