Results
- Home Town Man def. Frankie Kazarian
- Mr. Elegance def. Mike Jackson
- Arianna Grace & Dani Luna def. Lei Ying Lee & Xia Brookside
- Moose def. Brian Myers
- Elayna Black def. Jada Stone
- Nic Nemeth & Ryan Nemeth def. Vincent & Dutch
Home Town Man beats former world champ
This week’s episode of TNA Impact, which was taped earlier this month at the Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Georgia, opened with a one-on-one bout between Frankie Kazarian and The Home Town Man. This matchup was booked after Home Town Man made the save for Elijah last week, who was getting jumped by Kazarian and AJ Francis.
Home Town Man was rocking a neat piece of merch, a hat which, in the front, looks like a snapback, but on the other side has his mask! Francis, who has been beefing with Home Town man for weeks, joined the commentary early in this match.
Home Town Man reversed a Chickenwing submission for a roll-up which gave him a two-count. Kazarian followed up with a backstabber, then a lariat, then finished the run with a springboard legdrop. However, it wasn’t enough to put away Home Town Man yet.
Home Town Man dropped Kazarian with a head kick then started to climb to the top for a move but was distracted by Francis, who got out of his chair at ringside. Home Town Man decided to do a dive to the outside onto Francis instead of Kazarian. In what was the funniest referee distraction spot I’ve seen in a while, Kazarian literally pushed the referee away from him, no bump or anything, and this was enough to make the official look in the opposite direction of the action for a solid 10 seconds.
Francis and Kazarian tried to team up on Home Town Man, but they didn’t get an advantage. Instead, Home Town Man took out Francis at ringside then rolled up Kazarian in the ring for the win. The finish was silly. I’m not too interested in this storyline, but it’s not offending me either, per se.
Elijah hit the ring afterward, causing the heel duo to retreat.
Women’s title bout gets booked, ODB appears following Mr. Elegance’s debut
Backstage, Daria Rae reminded Santino Marella that Dani Luna never got a shot at the Knockouts title earlier this year, an opportunity she won via a #1 contenders match. She was set to challenge Lei Ying Lee at Genesis but couldn’t make the show due to visa issues. They could make a match between her and defending champ Arianna Grace, but the issue is, Lei Ying Lee wants to cash in her title rematch soon, too. Marella said that Grace will defend in a three-way against Lee and Luna at Sacrifice later this month. Doesn’t seem too fair to Luna, but whatever.
The long-awaited in-ring debut of Mr. Elegance, who was unfortunately unveiled during arguably the worst part of the Impact premiere on AMC earlier this year, was next. Mr. Elegance went up against 76-year-old veteran Mike Jackson, who was coming back to TNA after a legitimately good showing against Mance Warner last month.
Jackson knocked Mr. Elegance out of the ring then delivered a tope suicida, which absolutely blew the roof off of this venue. People were ready to see Jackson walk away with the win here. Jackson climbed half the ring’s circumference for an Old School, then things finally started to go the way of Mr. Elegance. He eventually hit his finisher, “excuse-moi,” a fireman’s carry into a powerbomb, for the win.
They planned a post-match beatdown on Jackson but were stopped by Knockouts legend ODB, who came to the ring with a steel chair. She made the save, then, with Jackson, poured two cups of beans on Mr. Elegance (this was a plug for ODB’s food truck).
Champ Grace, Luna struggle to work together in tag win
In a preview of the women’s title match set for Sacrifice, TNA Knockouts Champion Arianna Grace teamed with Dani Luna to face Lei Ying Lee and Xia Brookside. Weeks ahead of their title matchup, can Grace and Luna co-exist? Not really.
Luna and Grace came to shoves late in the match, as both wrestlers tagging themselves in caused a tension that boiled over. This allowed Brookside to go on a hot tag run, taking them both on, two-on-one style. She went for a pin on Grace after a Samoan Drop, but had it broken up by Luna.
After a quick sequence which saw all four women hit the ring for a move, Grace got a near fall with a Codebreaker. She went to her corner for a move, but was tagged out by Luna once again. Grace tried climbing to the top rope but was shoved to the floor by Luna.
Luna got into the ring but found herself getting double-teamed by the Angel Warriors. Lee took out Stacks at ringside with a dive, leaving it to just Brookside and Luna in the ring. With Brookside being the one woman in the match not involved in a title feud, we knew what was going to happen here: Luna caught a dive out of the corner from Brookside and countered it into her Luna Landing powerbomb for the pinfall win. Despite their troubles as a team, Luna and Grace got the win.
Leon Slater delivers a mic-drop
X-Division Champion Leon Slater appeared on-stage for the next segment. Slater got on the mic to address his Sacrifice opponent, Eric Young. He said that after getting piledriven by Young recently, he felt doubt. “I had doubt that I would ever get up again,” he said.
“But Eric, you big bald bitch, I did get up again, and I’m standing 10-toes down, right here, in Atlanta,” he said.
Slater disputed Young’s claims that the X-Division is “broken,” and said the only thing that’s going to break is his foot after he kicks Young through the mat. He finished his promo by saying he’s going to prove at Sacrifice why he’s the “Youngest in charge.” Short but awesome promo from Slater.
Moose beats another member of The System
One week after Moose went a gruelling 16 minutes to beat Cedric Alexander in a street fight, he was scheduled to face Brian Myers in the next segment. Just before the match started, General Manager Santino Marella appeared on stage and kicked the rest of The System from ringside, preventing any kind of funny business from happening during this one.
Myers, who was distracted by the commotion at ringside, turned around and was immediately speared by Moose to end the match in about three seconds. Moose is halfway through taking down all of The System, with Bear Bronson being his next opponent.
Elayna Black was in one-on-one action next against Jada Stone. Mara Sadè, who has been feuding with Black for weeks, was at ringside on commentary.
Stone looked great in this match, pulling out a split-legged moonsault at one point for a near fall. Stone’s success in the match was hurt by Tasha Steelz, who tripped her up from ringside. This interference allowed Black to score her Blackout neckbreaker for the win.
Black put her focus on Sadè afterward, going face-to-face with her at ringside. With a group of security between them, Black and Sadè went into the crowd.
The rest of Order Four appeared at ringside and started to surround Stone. Trey Miguel came in for the save, causing the faction, despite still having a five-on-two advantage, to back down.
The Nemeths eye title shot following tag win
This week’s main event saw The Righteous face off against The Nemeths. Commentary hyped this as a bout which could have tag title implications.
A hot tag for Dutch was teased for minutes on end, eventually happening late in the match. Ryan Nemeth ran into a Black Hole Slam from Dutch, but Nic broke up a follow-up pin attempt.
Dutch took out both Nemeths with clotheslines then tagged in Vincent, who came off the top with a crossbody to both. Vincent took out Nic with a Side-Russian Legsweep then hit Ryan with a DDT, but it wasn’t enough to end the match.
The Righteous tried for a double-team Sliced Bread but were stopped by Nic, who pulled Vincent off the ring apron. Vincent came flying head-first into the ropes after a failed roll-up, allowing Nic to strike him with a forearm. Ryan capitalized on the wobbled Vincent, scoring his Big Hollywood Ending finisher for the pinfall win. Looks like we might be getting The Nemeths vs. The Hardys soon.
Mike Santana, Steve Maclin verbally spar ahead of title showdown
This week’s TNA wrapped up with a face-to-face between the main event of TNA Sacrifice, Steve Maclin and Mike Santana. Since they have a no-contact clause at TNA events leading up to their match, they agreed to meet in a location outside of the venue (which looks like it’s maybe a hotel lobby).
“You invited me here, say what you have to say,” Maclin said.
Santana said he looked at Maclin as a brother in TNA before, thinking he was someone who always had his back. “What did you do? You decided to let your pride and your ego…” Santana was cut off.
“If anybody’s got the ego, it’s you,” Maclin said.
Maclin told a story about one time when, as part of the U.S. Marines, he selflessly put himself at a huge risk of stepping on a landmine while on an operation with a crew.
Santana came back with a zinger: “I made my past my superpower, while you made yours an excuse.”
The champ said that all of the “turmoil” Maclin has caused “better be for something … [You] better be ready to fight for every single thing you’ve bitched and complained about.”
Santana put some cash on the table to pay for the drinks which Macline ordered, then, before leaving, told Maclin: “You’re welcome for your job.”
The editing here was a little too cheesy (did we need a bassy boom sound effect for all three times a glass was placed on the table?), but the actual content in the promos here was good. Santana and Maclin both know how to sell a fight.
Here’s what TNA announced for next week, which is the go-home for Sacrifice:
- Moose vs. Bear Bronson
- Mustafa Ali vs. BDE
- Jody Threat, Harley Hudson & Myla Grace vs. Tessa Blanchard, Victoria Crawford & Mila Moore
- Jeff Hardy vs. Brian Myers
- Mike Santana & Leon Slater vs. Eddie Edwards & Cedric Alexander
And here’s an updated look at Sacrifice, which is booked for March 27:
- Moose vs. Eddie Edwards
- Mustafa Ali & Tasha Steelz vs. Trey Miguel & Jada Stone
- Elijah & Home Town Man vs. Frankie Kazarian & AJ Francis
- Leon Slater vs. Eric Young (TNA X-Division Championship)
- Arianna Grace vs. Lei Ying Lee vs. Dani Luna (TNA Knockouts Championship)
- Mike Santana vs. Steve Maclin (TNA World Championship)
