Results
- Dani Luna def. Indi Hartwell (DQ) (6:07)
- Cedric Alexander def. Jason Hotch (3:32)
- Kelani Jordan def. Heather By Elegance (TNA Knockouts World Championship) (9:02)
- Mike Santana vs. Ryan Nemeth (No Contest) (TNA World Championship) (1:54)
- Frankie Kazarian def. Mike Santana (TNA World Championship) (0:54)
Mike Santana welcomes TNA fans back, sets up first matchup as champ
After a month without taping any new events, TNA Wrestling made its long-awaited return on Thursday night with a live episode of Impact from Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida. The episode was highly important for the program, following up on the consequential Bound for Glory pay-per-view and setting up bouts for Friday evening’s Turning Point event.
Things got started on Thursday night with an appearance from Mike Santana, coming to the ring for the first time since he finally became TNA World Champion with a win over Trick Williams at Bound for Glory in October.
Santana got “You whooped Trick” and “You deserve it” chants early on. The new champ talked about having to bet on himself when joining TNA in 2024, and how the fans’ believing in him for so long helped get him to where he is now.
After his quick victory speech, Santana put his focus on what’s next. He recognized that there’s a roster full of hungry contenders ready to face him.
“I know there’s a target bigger than ever on my back,” he said. “Nic Nemeth, Frankie Kazarian, I know y’all both are holding the Call Your Shot trophy. But this is for everyone, everywhere else. I’ll say it once and I’ll say it again: I don’t give a damn what three letters represent. I don’t care what part of the world you come from. When you step to me, you better bring the same fire, same passion, same fight that I bring. Because if not, I’m gonna eat you alive, papi!”
The music for The Nemeths hit, and many expected that the aforementioned Nic would come out. Instead, it was Ryan Nemeth who appeared on stage to defend his brother, noting that Nic wasn’t in attendance.
Ryan warned Santana that Nic will take the title off him as soon as he gets to Orlando. Santana said that when Ryan is done living in his brother’s shadow, then he can speak to him like a man. Ryan tried to strike Santana in the head, but the champ caught the punch.
Instead of brawling with Ryan in the ring, Santana had a solution: Go backstage to General Manager Santino Marella, book a title matchup against Ryan for later tonight, and beat him. “I’m gonna destroy your whole life, you understand me,” Santana said. Moments later, the title matchup was made official for later tonight. Santana had a solid promo to pick things up where he left off and provided a good hook for later tonight. It would’ve maybe been a hot start to the show for Santana to maybe face Nemeth on the spot here, but this works too.
Indi Hartwell unleashes chair on Dani Luna, loses via DQ
TNA Director of Authority Santino Marella appeared onstage to introduce a special guest: NXT General Manager Ava. Both GMs reflected on the NXT vs. TNA “Showdown” TV special from last month, then teased that more crossover programming between the promotions was coming. Ava brought out Arianna Grace, who is seemingly back in the spot of being the weekly representative for NXT at TNA events (she has mainly been a manager for Stacks on NXT TV in recent weeks).
The first singles matchup of the night saw Dani Luna go head-to-head with Indi Hartwell. We were reminded that Luna and Hartwell used to be friends but are now fierce rivals (there will be lots of reminders on this show, as storylines have been frozen in time for the past month). This was a bounce-back opportunity for Hartwell, who was appearing for the first time since failing to capture the Knockouts title at Bound for Glory.
Luna got Hartwell caught up in the top rope, then knocked her down to the canvas with a springboard clothesline, a very crafty spot early in this match. A powerbomb out of the corner from Luna was reversed by Hartwell into a hurricanrana. Hartwell started to gain some momentum with a pair of clotheslines, but Luna was able to break up this run of moves by rolling to the outside.
Hartwell followed Luna to ringside, where she scored a gnarly Spinebuster onto the floor. Hartwell came off the top rope with an elbow drop to the back of Luna, but it wasn’t enough to put her away just yet.
Luna escaped a Hurts Donut attempt, instead running off the ropes with a big boot to the head. Luna went to ringside and started searching for a weapon, eventually getting a steel chair. This was a callback to their match earlier this year, as Luna threw away her past singles match with Hartwell due to DQ.
Luna attempted to use the chair, but Hartwell avoided the strike by instead trying for a roll-up pin. Hartwell dropped Luna with a kick to the head, then struck her in the back with the steel chair, ending the bout via disqualification. So, it was the roles reversed in comparison to their September meeting. This time around, Luna was the one emerging with the DQ win.
Commentary emphasized that this showed how Hartwell still had frustrations following her Bound for Glory loss to Kelani Jordan and was starting to have an edge. After the break, Hartwell challenged Luna to a trilogy match tomorrow night at Turning Point with no disqualification rules: “Two can play that game,” Hartwell said about weapon usage. They had some fun stuff in this match before the finish, so I’m looking forward to what they can do on Friday.
In a segment taped on the Full Sail University campus, Eric Young was seen handing out papers and warning TNA fans that his cleanse is still coming.
JDC says he will retire in early 2026, The System vs. The Rascalz booked for Turning Point
The System, which emerged victorious in a Hardcore War match against Order Four at Bound for Glory, came to the ring for the next segment. Eddie Edwards gave credit to Alisha Edwards for her warrior mentality in the match – she took a nasty thumbtack bump at one point.
After a pedestrian start to the segment, JDC suddenly dropped some big news: He’s planning on retiring from in-ring competition after TNA’s Genesis event in January. He mentioned how grateful he has been to work with TNA for the past few years, clearly getting emotional as he explained his decision.
JDC said that he will help find someone who will replace him in The System by the time he’s done.
Appearing on stage at this point was The Rascalz, who were in disbelief about JDC retiring. Trey Miguel threw out the idea of The System vs. The Rascalz. Moose liked the proposal, but mentioned that Rascalz would need one extra member to make it a fair four-on-four battle.
But The Rascalz had a plan and heavily teased that their final member will be Wes Lee for an eight-man tag match at Turning Point. Looks like that’s official!
Cedric Alexander scores quick pinfall win over Order Four’s Jason Hotch
We were shown a social media clip from earlier this evening, where AJ Francis attacked Youtuber/wrestler BDE, slamming him through a table. It was confirmed that BDE will face Francis at Turning Point.
In a backstage segment where Leon Slater was checking up on BDE following the attack, Francis ally Rich Swann approached Slater and called him out for an X-Division title bout on Friday night. So, there’s another match set for tomorrow’s show.
The next bout saw Order Four’s Jason Hotch go one-on-one with Cedric Alexander. Mustafa Ali teased that Hotch could be rewarded with a big opportunity with a win here, heavily implying that he might get a shot at The Hardys and their tag titles.
Alexander was on a roll early on, scoring a tope suicida to the outside then connecting with a Flatliner for a near fall. Hotch dumped Alexander to the outside, giving tag partner John Skyler the chance to drop him with a clothesline on the floor.
Alexander started to regain momentum once again, connecting with a pair of German Suplexes and a dropkick to the head. Hotch avoided a Lumbar Check, kicking off a long series of reversals between these two. Hotch came through the ropes and leaped up into the air for a move, but was caught mid-air by Alexander with a Lumbar Check for the pinfall win in three minutes – very fun finish here.
Ali’s Order Four goons attacked Alexander after the match. The Hardys, who had a confrontation with Order Four backstage earlier in the night, hit the ring for the save. The tag champs got Special Agent 0 out of the ring, then set their sights on Ali. Matt gave Ali a Twist of Fate, and Jeff started to set up for a Swanton Bomb, but the rest of Order Four were able to drag him out of the ring before the move was attempted.
This was a fun match, but felt way too short. TNA has a lot of great talents like Alexander and Hotch, and it feels like they should get a little more than three-and-a-half minutes on TV, even if it’s a quick segment to set up something bigger.
We saw a video package showcasing Mila Moore, a Knockouts talent who was signed by the promotion back in June along with Jada Stone.
Kelani Jordan wins first part of Elegance Brand title doubleheader
In the first of two title matchups set for this evening, TNA Knockouts World Champion Kelani Jordan put her title on the line against Heather By Elegance. It was explained by the commentary that The Personal Concierge cut some incredible deal with Santino Marella, guaranteeing that the winner of this match will face M By Elegance at Turning Point. Commentary floated the idea that we could see Heather vs. M for the title tomorrow (yeah, right).
Heather had some success after the show returned, tripping Jordan and then scoring a dropkick in a corner of the ring for a two-count. Jordan started to get back into the fight with a series of forearms to the head. She scored a modified DDT for a near fall at the eight-minute mark.
After trading roll-up pin attempts, Jordan dropped Heather with a thrust kick. This perfectly set up Jordan for a split-legged moonsault, but Heather dodged the move and instead hit a tornado DDT for a two-count.
The Personal Concierge distracted the referee, allowing Heather the chance to use M at ringside to attack Jordan. But Jordan reversed a move that would’ve thrown her towards M, making the attempted interference completely unsuccessful. This was a smart idea but looked really awkward in execution. Heather fell to the mat, then Jordan connected with her Split-Legged Moonsault finisher for the pinfall victory, retaining her Knockouts title.
In a pre-taped segment, The IInspiration said that they will put their Knockouts Tag Team Championships on the line in a triple-threat match at Turning Point. The other teams vying for the belt will be: Tessa Blanchard & Victoria Crawford, as well as the Angel Warriors (Lei Ying Lee & Xia Brookside).
Elijah gets rough welcome back to TNA by Mustafa Ali
Elijah, who returned at Bound for Glory last month, appeared for a concert in the next segment. After talking about his time away, Elijah had a nice little jam session. It was finally cut off by an irate Mustafa Ali, who got on the mic and challenged The Hardys & Cedric Alexander to a tag match at Turning Point.
Not happy with Ali interrupting his segment, Elijah called for them to have an impromptu match. Ali cracked Elijah over the head with a microphone, then destroyed a guitar on his surgically repaired arm.
Here’s an updated look at tomorrow’s Turning Point card, which now looks complete:
- Indi Hartwell vs. Dani Luna (No Disqualification)
- Cassie Lee & Jessie McKay vs. Victoria Crawford & Tessa Blanchard vs. Lei Ying Lee & Xia Brookside (TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championships)
- Zachary Wentz, Trey Miguel, Myron Reed & TBA vs. JDC, Eddie Edwards, Moose & Brian Myers
- AJ Francis vs. BDE
- Cedric Alexander, Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy vs. Mustafa Ali, Jason Hotch & John Skyler
- Leon Slater vs. Rich Swann (TNA X-Division Championship)
- Kelani Jordan vs. M By Elegance (TNA Knockouts World Championship)
- Mike Santana & Steve Maclin vs. Nic Nemeth & Frankie Kazarian
Frankie Kazarian cashes in Call Your Shot trophy, dethrones Mike Santana in 54 seconds
The main event of the night, built up by the show’s opening segment, saw Mike Santana put his TNA World Championship on the line against Ryan Nemeth.
It seemed as though this would be a quick squash for Santana, but things received a bit of a twist when Nic Nemeth’s theme hit. We saw Nic Nemeth backstage, walking with the Call Your Shot Championship. He was seemingly on his way to the ring, but was suddenly attacked by a masked man.
Just after this happened, Santana was attacked in the ring by a group of members on the NXT roster, including Lexis King, Brooks Jensen, Robert Stone, and Charlie Dempsey. The match got thrown out as this devolved into a huge NXT vs. TNA brawl. After standing over a hurt Santana, the group fled the scene.
With Santana down and out, Call Your Shot Gauntlet winner Frankie Kazarian’s music hit. Kazarian brought the trophy to the ring, and he wanted to cash it in for an impromptu title shot!
The bell went, and the Call Your Shot trophy was officially cashed in. Kazarian hit his Fade To Black, but Santana kicked out. He tried for the chicken wing submission, but Santana escaped and instead scored a boot.
Santana tried for his Spin The Block finisher, but his arm was injured due to a submission applied to him during the NXT attack. Kazarian went for a roll-up pin to capture the TNA World Championship, ending the title match in just 54 seconds and bringing an end to Santana’s title reign after just one month.
For the second time this year, one of TNA’s fastest-rising stars has been dealt a significant setback solely due to booking reasons. It felt like this was the perfect time for Santana to establish himself as the top name with a big reign – I guess TNA feels otherwise.
