TNA Thursday Night Impact 4/2 Results: Arianna Grace defends Knockouts Title, Father James Mitchell returns

April 2, 2026 Jason Ounpraseuth NEWS, Show Reports
Photo Courtesy: TNA

Alario Center — New Orleans

Results

  • Eddie Edwards, Cedric Alexander, Mustafa Ali & Special Agent Zero def. Mike Santana, Leon Slater, Trey Miguel & Moose (15:46)
  • Bunkhouse match: Tessa Blanchard def. Jody Threat (13:28)
  • A.J. Francis def. Home Town Man (3:48)
  • Knockouts Championship: Arianna Grace (c) def. Xia Brookside (11:40)

Prelude to Rebellion

TNA World Champion Mike Sanata opened the show by shouting out Steve Maclin, calling him one of the “toughest SOBs in the business today,” and said, “I dropped him” at Sacrifice. He moved on to Eddie Edwards, who came out with Cedric Alexander. Edwards pointed out that he pinned Sanata last week and said he’ll do it again at Rebellion to become a three-time TNA World Champion. Edwards added that it will be the night of The System, which led to Cedric Alexander talking about his X-Division matchup against Leon Slater. He said Slater was “ducking” him, which prompted Slater to come out and stand with Santana in the ring. They go back and forth, as Alexander reiterated that The System would win all the titles. Mustafa Ali and Order 4 came out, and Ali offered his respect to The System but said Rebellion will be where he beats Trey Miguel for the International Championship. Miguel then came out and called Ali a coward for needing Order 4, and Ali hit him with a jab for taking out Jaida Stone. Santana called for a fight, and after Ali mentioned the numerical advantage they had, Moose came out and knocked out most of Order 4. Santino Marella came out and made an eight-man tag match official.

Mike Santana, Trey Miguel, Leon Slater & Moose vs. Eddie Edwards, Cedric Alexander, Mustafa Ali & Special Agent Zero

A lot of solid back-and-forth action featuring mini previews for Rebellion, with each member of the other’s respective title matches working against each other; Moose and Agent Zero continued their feud from Sacrifice. The heels cornered Trey Miguel until he got a hot tag to Mike Santana. Chaos ensued with multiple dives outside, including Agent Zero taking out Miguel, Alexander, and Slater. Moose caught Ali’s dive and powerbombed him on the side apron. That led to Moose and Agent Zero getting their hands on each other. A flurry of moves in the ring, with nearly everyone hitting their finishers. The other Order 4 members tried to jump Santana, but he handled them. Sanata hit STP on Alexander, and Edwards came out of nowhere with a Boston Knee Party to pin Santana for the second week in a row.

Trouble for Santino

Daria Rae confronted Santino Marella in his office and wasn’t happy with his off-the-cuff matchmaking. She pointed out there were a lot of other things going on, like Nick Nemeth’s mystery attacker. Rae said she was at a board meeting, which Santino didn’t know about, and the subject of that meeting was Santino, who is on thin ice. Daria said that Arianna Grace versus Xia Brookside will be the main event, and the winner will defend the Knockouts Title against Lei Ying Lee at Rebellion.

Rough welcome for Ricky Sosa

We got a recap of Ricky Sosa signing with TNA on Sacrifice, and we then move to a backstage look, where the locker room congratulated Sosa on his signing. Eric Young confronted Sosa and told him he is the gatekeeper, and the hard work starts now, as the two stared each other down.

Hardys-Righteous Sacrifice fallout

Matt Hardy said The Righteous betrayed The Hardys and disappointed them, too. He noted they could have been a great team and could have made a lot of money and magic. Jeff Hardy said The Righteous didn’t make a sacrifice; they made a mistake. He said he painted Vincent’s face, which he thought meant something. Matt added that there would be “apocalyptic consequences” for Dutch and Vincent’s actions. The Righteous came out and walked slowly to the ring. Dutch told The Hardys they weren’t victims, they were offerings. Vincent added that what they want isn’t just the tag titles, it’s something “deeper, buried and breathing.” Matt challenged them to a title match. Dutch said they wanted to do it Hardy-style, and Jeff said their match next week will be a tag-team tables match.

Take notes Santana

Arianna Grace and Stacks met up with Santana backstage. Grace mocked Santana for losing and told him that he could watch her title match and take notes. They left, and Santana looked directly at the camera and pointed out that they don’t work here.

Jody Threat vs. Tessa Blanchard

Blanchard, who sported a Magnum T.A. shirt, tried to jump Threat before the match, but Threat fought her off outside the ring. She kept beating on Blanchard and yelled at the ref to officially start the match. While Blanchard was lying out, Threat introduced a bunch of weapons. Blanchard landed a diving dropkick to take the action outside the ring. They continued to go at each other with a different array of weapons as the crowd chanted incessantly, “We want tables.” Back from commercial, the crowd is still chanting they want tables, as Threat seats Blanchard on a chair in the ring but misses a double knee strike. Blanchard hit a dropkick on Threat in the corner with a chair and a cowbell in between. Threat tripped up Blanchard in the corner and used an electrical cable to choke out Blanchard, but only got a two-count. Threat used the cowbell and then went for the camera case and stuffed Blanchard’s head in between the lid. Blanchard escaped and whipped Threat with her belt. Blanchard then took the referee’s belt and strapped it around Threat’s neck. Threat picked her up, as Blanchard tried to choke Threat out. Threat an F-5, but Blanchard still held on and choked out Threat while hanging outside the ring. The ref called it, as Threat was laid out. (There were no tables, despite the crowd’s pleas.)

Did BDE do it?

Ryan Nemeth is on the hunt for Nick’s attacker. He accused BDE of doing it, but he denied it as Frankie Kazarian walked in. He didn’t know who attacked Nick, but piled on BDE, who wasn’t having any of it from them. Elijah walked in, and after Ryan and Frankie walked out, he said he’d have BDE’s back if he needed it.

To Be Continued

This was shown before, but Tessa was walking backstage, and a mysterious bunny figure glitched in front of her. Tessa had a concerned look as a “To Be Continued” screen flashed.

Home Town Man vs. A.J. Francis

Home Town Man came out with a Drew Brees jersey, and he caught Francis by surprise early on. It didn’t take him long to get back control of the match. He spat on the Brees jersey and tossed it at the announcers. Home Town Man started feeling it with the crowd and got off a bodyslam after a flurry of strikes. Francis caught Home Town Man with a TFL and won with Down Payment.

Francis grabbed a mic and rolled the footage of the attack on Nick Nemeth. He revealed he was the one who attacked him. He noted that he debuted in TNA two years ago in New Orleans, where he beat Joe Hendry. He said he’s beaten everyone’s favorites and said that even though Nick Nemeth calls himself the “show stealer,” he’s stolen opportunities from him. He named a list of people he’s beaten in TNA and said he’s the real show stealer. He mocked the crowd when he said the NFL team he didn’t want to play for is the New Orleans Saints, as Ryan Nemeth came out. Ryan avoided a direct confrontation, and Francis laid out a challenge to Nick for Rebellion.

Arianna Grace vs. Xia Brookside

Before the first-ever Knockouts main event in Thursday Night Impact’s history on AMC, Xia got a call from her father, Robbie, who said the championship was her birthright and wished her luck. The closing stretch of the match had Grace trying to use the Cobra on Xia, who kept knocking it away. Xia hit a tornado DDT off the corner, and Stacks pulled Grace for the save. Lei Ying fought off Stacks, but Grace threw her into the steel steps. Xia took advantage of that, but Stacks kept getting in the way, helping Grace each time. Grace won off a belt shot and a knee to the face off a fireman’s carry to retain.

Grace attacked her next challenger, Lei Ying, but Santana came out for the save, hitting Spin The Block on Stacks. Eddie Edwards emerged from the crowd and said that Grace and Stacks were in his head, and he wasn’t fit to be TNA World Champion. Eddie said he’s now pinned Satana twice, and the third time will be at Rebellion. Satana challenged Eddie to come out and face him in the ring, but Eddie declined.

The final shot of the show was Tessa Blanchard walking into a room, and Father James Mitchell welcomed her to the Undead Realm.

Here’s what was announced for Thursday Night Impact next week:

  • Jaida Stone vs. Dani Luna
  • Frankie Kazarian vs. BDE
  • TNA Tag Team Title Tables match: The Hardys vs. The Righteous
About Jason Ounpraseuth 63 Articles
Jason Ounpraseuth is a journalist from Massachusetts. He writes and reports about New England and Boston sports and professional wrestling.
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