TNA Impact: He’s not helpful, he’s my brother

Bob Kapur

TNA Impact: He’s not helpful, he’s my brother

Nic Nemeth was doing great in TNA before his brother Ryan showed up. Since then, he lost the TNA World Championship, he’s been attacked by JBL more than once for reasons still unrevealed. And on Thursday night’s episode of Impact Wrestling, Ryan’s hot-headedness led to the Nemeths failing in their bid to capture the NXT Tag Team Championship. And while Nic was frustrated by the outcome of the match, the show itself only had a couple of frustrating moments.

Joe Hendry’s Championship Concert

The show started off with the TNA World Champion in the ring with a guitar. He did some parodies and songs celebrating his title win. One of the best lines was “Everything is terrible except Joe Hendry. When he’s not the champion, it offends me.” The crowd was having fun, singing along and waving lighters.

One of his songs correctly predicted that he would be interrupted by a would-be challenger, and that’s exactly what happened when Jake Something’s music hit and he came out to the entrance ramp. Something said that he was going to hold Hendry true to his words to be a fighting champion who would defend the title against anyone at any time. So he asked Director of Authority Santino Marella for – and was granted – a World Championship match on next week’s show. Hendry accepted (in song).

Boy, you couldn’t find two people on opposite ends of the charisma spectrum than these two. The concert was fun, and the crowd still believes in Joe Hendry.

Backstage, Gia Miller interviewed Knockouts Champion Masha Slamovich who said she will be watching tonight’s number one contender battle royal with interest. She also had threatening words to NXT’s Cora Jade who came out and marked Masha for death on last week’s show.

Match 1: Tyson Dupont (w/ Tyriek Igwe and Wes Lee) vs. Ace Austin

Dupont and Igwe are from NXT and they’ve been palling around with Lee in TNA lately. Ace was able to use his speed to counter the power of the larger Dupont. He eventually got caught and flattened by a Pop-Up World’s Strongest Slam that looked great.

Dupont rag-dolled Austin in a Full Nelson and it looked like he was going to put out Austin’s lights, but Austin was able to break free. They fought back and forth for several minutes with both men hitting some big moves. But in the end, Austin was able to hit The Fold and fold up Dupont for the pin.

After the match, Lee and Igwe ran into the ring to put a beating down on Austin, but the Rascalz ran in, both of them brandishing chairs, for the save.

This was a good big vs. little man battle with both guys getting a chance to show off their talents. Expect a triple tag match down the road.

Winner: Ace Austin

A pre-taped Tessa Blanchard promo aired. She said she would not be competing in the women’s battle royal tonight because she figured all 19 other Knockouts would see her as the biggest threat so would gang up on her. She said that all of the other women won’t mess with her… because they can’t.

A video package aired for Steph DeLander and Mance Warner. DeLander said that they jointly are the TNA Digital Media Champion. They had no kind words for Sami Callihan. The commentators said that the company doesn’t recognize their claim to that title, but didn’t say if the company was going to do anything about the fact that they are wearing the titles

Match 2: Battle Royal for the Number One Contendership for the Knockouts Title

The winner will face Masha Slamovich for the Knockouts Championship next week. NXT star Cora Jade joined the commentary team for this one. She said that she should automatically get a title shot and that’s why she didn’t feel it necessary to compete in the battle royal to earn a shot. Meanwhile, they also showed Tessa Blanchard in the back a couple of times, watching this match on the monitor.

A surprise entry in the battle royal was ECW original Jazz, and the commentators pointed out that she is currently the head of the Women’s Division in the NWA and the owner of the NWA territory in San Antonio.

At the bell, Alisha’s trash-talking didn’t last long before Jazz dropped her with The Clamp. From there, the battle royal was on. Well, except for Ash and Heather By Elegance, as they simply left the ring (not over the top rope) and hid under the ring.

Alisha dumped Tasha Steelz over the top, and the commentators noted this was shocking, given that they used to be a tight duo.

Alisha later got dumped out harshly by Spitfire, who acted in solidarity as a team in this one. Then Spitfire went under the ring and pulled out the Elegance Twins, and threw them back into the ring.

Ash nearly accidentally eliminated Heather, but their stooge George Iceman caught Heather and placed her back onto the apron. But then Jody Threat hit a running kick that sent her flying again and this time she landed on Iceman and they both splatted on the floor, meaning Heather was eliminated.

Rosemary eliminated Jody Threat in a moment that got some focus. Later, Ash sneaked out under the bottom rope again and while on the floor she helped eliminate Jazz. This left the final four competitors of Rosemary, Ash, Savannah Evans, and Xia Brookside.

Brookside rushed over and surprised Rosemary and Ash by dumping them over the top and to the floor, leaving just her and Evans in the ring. Brookside dumped Evans over the rope to the apron. As she tried to kick Evans off the apron, Cora Jade stood up and approached the ring, jawing at Brookside. As Brookside confronted her, Evans plucked Xia up by the neck and pulled her out of the ring and onto the apron. A brief scuffle there ended with a big headbutt by Evans, and Xia got knocked silly and fell to the floor, leaving Evans victorious.

This wasn’t particularly good and highlighted how thin the singles roster is right now. Evans is pretty terrible, so giving her a title shot is almost bottom of the barrel. With Tessa and Cora in the main event mix, there were much better outcomes available. At least they’ll have the Evans match on free TV and not make people pay to see it. Oh, and Cora Jade on commentary had as much personality as the commentary desk did. Actually to say she was wooden is insulting wood.

Winner: Savannah Evans

Why, Eric, Why?

Eric Young came to the ring, flanked by the Northern Armoury, and grabbed a mic. He said that he and the Northern Armoury run TNA Wrestling. Young said that he was not going to let Josh Alexander leave the Northern Armoury twist in the wind when he left. EY said that TNA has a history of being run by Canadians, and listed a number of Canadian stars from the past who achieved success there. Young said that he is “The One” and that he’s bigger than everyone else in the company.

Cue the music of Steve Maclin, Young’s sometime tag team partner, and he came down the ramp and into the ring. Maclin questioned Young, saying that if the plan all along was the save the Northern Armoury, why wouldn’t have Young just told him about it. He said that he trusted Young and joined him in battle. Including against the Northern Armoury, who tried to end both of their careers. And now Young saved them and was teaming up with them?

Maclin said that Young had crossed a line, and said that as long as the Northern Armoury would be with Eric Young, Maclin wouldn’t be.

As Maclin headed up the ramp, Josh Alexander’s music hit, and he made his way down the ramp. They met in the middle and had a brief staredown moment, but then Maclin continued up the ramp and to the back.

Alexander got in the ring and said that EY was wrong when he said he got rid of Alexander. Because Alexander was still there, right there in the middle of the ring. Alexander said that his time in TNA is coming to an end, but he’s not done yet. And he has asked Santino Marella for one last match – next week against Eric Young.

This was a strong segment up and down the line.

In the back, Sami Callihan was on a rampage, tearing things apart in a search for Mance Warner. He even interrupted Frankie Kazarian who was taping a promo in the back. They didn’t get physical, but both of them got angry before Sami stormed off to resume his search. Kazarian called over Santino Marella and told him to get things in order, and Santino said he would do something about it, and left.

Match 3: Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, and Leon Slater vs. The System (JDC, Eddie Edwards, and Moose) (w/ Alisha Edwards and Brian Myers)

Slater and the Hardys – who all wore matching make-up – were fired up early on, and they hit some of the Hardys’ greatest hits on all three System members. Even blatant cheating by the System didn’t slow them down, with Slater getting a chance to shine against all three of them.

In a nifty sequence, Slater was going for a Flying Dive to the floor but Alisha jumped up on the apron and stopped him. Undaunted, Slater simply did a Somersault Dive over her. But got caught in mid-air by the intended dive recipient Moose who Powerbombed Slater onto the apron.

Then the System systematically slaughtered Slater for a bit, and only but for a Hardy save did he not get pinned. He finally broke loose after a desperation Roundhouse Boot to the Head, and then the Hardys delivered some payback on his behalf.

This led to a brief six-man brawl, highlighted by a huge High Cross Body by Slater on all three System members. After the Hardys flew out of the ring onto Edwards and JDC, Slater followed that up with a huge Somersault Dive over the turmbuckles and onto them for good measure.

This left the Hardys in the ring with Moose. They were going to put him away, but first invited Slater to hit him with a Swanton 450 Splash. Jeff followed that up with an original Swanton, and Moose was down for the count.

This was a fun match, and a real showcase for Slater who is having a heck of a great year so far. And likely will be the guy to beat Moose for the X-Division Championship if things keep up.

Winners: Leon Slater and the Hardys

In the back, the Good Hands were arguing. Mustafa Ali came up to them and gave them an inspiring pep talk, saying that they could be “Great Hands.” He then found Tasha Steelz sitting alone in a chair crying with her head in her hands. Ali sat down beside her and sympathized with her. He said that the two of them should do something about her constantly being betrayed. He offered her his hand and said they should work together to make sure nobody feels as sad as she did. She took his hand and they walked off together. This seems like Ali is building a cult-like following. Retribution 2.0? Hopefully not.

Match 4: Mike Santana vs. Matt Cardona

Santana is looking to become the World Champion and will wrestle anyone on the path to get there. Well, Matt Cardona is anyone, so this is why we have to watch him in action. They started off pretty basic, with the first big move being a Flying Dive by Santana to the floor. But Cardona rebounded quickly and he hurt Santana with some moves on the floor.

Cardona in the ring was like Cora on the mic, and it’s a shame he didn’t bring some of the dynamic charisma he exhibits when in GCW. Thankfully, Santana did bring some excitement, including hitting a play-action Death Valley Driver that looked inches away from spiking Cardona right on top of his head – this was scary but ultimately a beauty of a move.

In the end, Santana caught Cardona in a Last Call attempt and hit him with a Buckle Bomb. He followed that up with a Frog Splash and Spin the Block and thanks for coming, Matt Cardona. Well, not really.

This was fine given that Cardona’s non-GCW matches aren’t ever anything to write home about. There was nothing offensive about it and having Santana get the win on TV helps continue the story they’re telling with him.

Winner: Mike Santana

Match 5: Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer and Axiom) (c) vs. Nic Nemeth and Ryan Nemeth – for the NXT Tag Team Championship

NXT “Liaison” Arianna Grace joined the commentary team for this one. Well, she’s at least a step up from Booker T who normally calls NXT matches.

This one started off with some good technical wrestling, with both teams competing honourably as one might expect between two fan favourite teams.

Things got a bit heated after Fraxiom hit their opponents with some Flying Dives to the floor, and Nic delivered some big strikes after that.

Things got quicker-paced in the ring after that, with Nemeth nearly getting pins after hitting Axiom with his trademark Jumping Elbow Smashes and later a Famouser.

As the match went on, Ryan exhibited some dirty techniques, including hitting a kick from the apron behind the referee’s back and hitting Axiom with double chops to the throat at one point.

Axiom finally got the tag to Frazer who was fresh and on fire – until he got slowed down and doused with a huge Jumping DDT by Nic, forcing him to tag in Axiom who still was recovering from his earlier beating.

Both Fraxiom members were a bit punchy at this point and after Axiom ate a Superkick by Nic, Frazer went up top to do something, but slipped and fell into a Superkick as well.

Nic looked as if he was going to end things with a Danger Zone, but Ryan blind-tagged himself in. The momentary hesitation likely cost them the win by giving their opponents a chance to breathe and kick out after the Nemeth Brothers each hit their finishers on one of the champs.

After some more exchanges of big moves, it was Ryan alone with Fraxiom, and they hit him with their Golden Ratio finisher, but Nic broke up the pin at 2.999.

Ryan went under the ring and got a steel chair which he brought into the ring. Nic stopped him and took the chair away from him. That momentary lapse of focus led to Nic being shoved out of the ring by Fraxiom. They then had Ryan alone and hit him with a High-Low Combo to get the pin.

This was a good main event, and it was a nice change of pace to have the “visiting” team get a win. At some point in this TNA-NXT crossover they should have someone win the other company’s title. But this match was more about the continuing story of Ryan’s bad choices always costing Nic a title match.

Winners, and still NXT Tag Team Champions: Fraxiom

The show ended with Fraxiom celebrating their title defense, and Nic looking distraught with yet another big match loss.

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