Results
- Eric Young def. Mustafa Saed, Special Agent 0, Dutch, Vincent, BDE, Mr. Elegance, Brian Myers, Jason Hotch, John Skyler, Frankie Kazarian, Eddie Edwards, Bear Bronson, Elijah (TNA World Championship #1 Contender Match) (Battle Royal) (4:57)
- AJ Francis def. KC Navarro (Street Fight) (15:00)
- Allie & Rosemary def. Mila Moore & Victoria Crawford (6:24)
- Cedric Alexander def. Leon Slater (TNA X-Division Championship) (Best Two out of Three Falls) (22:00) (Recommended)
Eric Young earns future shot against Mike Santana
This week’s episode of TNA Thursday Night Impact, a rare live edition of the show, took place from the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento, California. Before we went to the live crowd, we saw a great video package hyping up the main event between Leon Slater and Cedric Alexander.
TNA found its next world title challenger in the first match of the night, as a large portion of the men’s roster piled into the ring for a battle royal. Among the notable members of the match were: Frankie Kazarian, Special Agent 0, The Righteous, The Home Town Man, BDE, Mr. Elegance, Elijah, and The System’s Eddie Edwards, Bear Bronson, and Brian Myers. In a throwback, we also got an inclusion of an ECW and WCW star, Sacramento’s own Mustafa Saed.
Saed’s time in the spotlight was quite short, as he was the first one to get eliminated from the match. The entire match pooled together their energy to take out two of the big men in the bout, Special Agent 0 and Dutch. We had a Kofi Kingston namedrop after Jason Hotch briefly avoided elimination by landing on the backs of John Skyler and Vincent at ringside. He returned to the ring apron but was knocked to the floor after taking a huge superkick.
After four minutes, it came down to just Eric Young and Elijah. The fight went to the ring apron, where they traded chops. A boot to the body of Young caused him to turn around. Elijah tried to grab the head of Young for a move, but was knocked down after Young swung back a leg and struck Elijah in the groin. This low blow sent Elijah to the floor, ending the match and securing Young a future title shot against Mike Santana.
Young is one of the most prominent heels on the roster to have not yet challenged Santana for the world title, so I like this move. I also appreciate that this was a fast battle royal. TNA somewhat overuses battle royals as a device to find new challengers, and the matches can be a little boring if they drag too much. At under five minutes, this one wasted no time.
Backstage, the Hardys said that tonight is the night that Leon Slater can earn legend status.
We also saw an interview with TNA International Champion Mustafa Ali, who said his open challenge series will continue next week.
Lei Ying Lee’s celebration gets crashed
In her first appearance since regaining the TNA Knockouts World Championship, Lei Ying Lee came to the ring for a promo next.
Lee celebrated that she brought the title back to TNA, taking it off NXT’s Arianna Grace. As expected, it was former Lee teammate Xia Brookside who eventually showed up to crash this celebration. Brookside said that she’s getting the title soon.
“Xia, I’m so sick of you,” Lee said, before mentioning that she could beat Brookside tonight.
Brookside teased that she was going to hit the ring for a fight before backing off. “I’ve already destroyed you mentally. I have destroyed you emotionally. And soon, I will destroy you physically,” Brookside said. “Not today.”
Seems like we know who Lee will face at Slammiversary next month.
We got a ringside interview with UFC fighter turned actor Keith Jardine. This segment was cut off by The Elegance Brand’s Personal Concierge. He came to the ring alongside Mr. Elegance, who started posing to show what a “real man” looks like.
Jardine said that Mr. Elegance makes him want to puke. He told the Concierge to get his “gang of hoes” out of here (woah!). There was a security pullapart to end this segment. Jardine has a really neat career, having an underrated but successful switch from MMA to acting. But this was dumb.
AJ Francis takes down rival in physical street fight
The next match saw AJ Francis go head-to-head against former First Class teammate KC Navarro in a “Sactown Street Fight.” Sacramento Athletics commentator Chris Caray was a guest commentator for this match. He brought a baseball bat with him in case action kicks off near the desk.
Francis and Navarro started brawling on the ramp to get this one started. Early plunder included a trash can, steel chair, and the steel steps. Francis stole Caray’s baseball bat and attempted to seemingly execute Navarro with a swing to the head, but Navarro thankfully avoided it. Navarro shoved Francis into the steel steps, then used the bat for a swing to Francis’ stomach, then a (very careful) hit to the back.
In the ring, Navarro came off the middle rope with one more bat hit to Francis. Navarro gave Francis a baseball slide to the head with a trash can in between them, then a Famouser for a near fall.
The trash can was put on Francis’ head, then he was struck with the bat one last time. The fight went to the top rope, where an attempted chokeslam from Francis was reversed mid-air by Navarro into a cutter, sending them both through a six-pack of steel chairs set up in the ring – this spot looked incredible and caused a “This is awesome” chant from the crowd.
Francis got back into the match and delivered a gigantic chokeslam, sending Navarro out of the ring and through a pair of tables set up nearby. Another awesome moment from these two. Francis rolled Navarro back into the ring for the pinfall victory in 15 minutes.
The finish here felt a little sudden, but these two had a great performance. They had some big moments that made it a really fun bout. It feels rare that a TV match on Impact gets this much time, so that was refreshing too.
Steve Maclin gets rematch against Mike Santana set for next week
TNA World Champion Mike Santana hit the ring in the next segment to address his next challenger, Eric Young.
“Eric Young is someone I consider a foundational pillar of this place,” Santana said. “He’s also someone who’s a former two-time champion … I’ve built my name off going toe-to-toe with some of those [veteran] guys, and I’ve beat them all.”
While I was expecting Young to show up here, we instead saw an appearance from The Suit, Daria Rae. She revealed something: Young is, surprisingly, actually not his next challenger. So, that wasn’t a #1 contenders match? It was… A #2 contenders match?
Rae reminded Santana about his abrupt win over Steve Maclin from earlier this year, as Maclin suffered an injury early in the match (It’s hard to explain why this match should be made again in kayfabe. In storyline, Santana knocked out Maclin early in the match, and thus, there really is no case for Maclin to challenge again. But I digress…).
Rae said that Maclin will get his rematch against Santana on next week’s TNA. This announcement was interrupted by TNA’s other manager, Santino Marrella. He liked Rae’s idea of re-booking Maclin vs. Santana. He also announced that Indi Hartwell has signed with TNA.
Marrella and Rae started bickering back and forth until Santana finally cut them off. “Doesn’t matter who it is … The outcome remains the same,” Maclin said, making it clear he’s willing to face anyone. We’re getting Maclin vs. Santana next week.
I was hoping they’d shelve the Maclin vs. Santana rematch for a special event instead of TV, allowing it to have a longer build, but I’m excited that they’re doing it nonetheless.
Rosemary & Allie score tag win
Before the main event, we saw Tessa Blanchard allies Mila Moore and Victoria Crawford team up to face Allie and Rosemary. This was Allie’s second in-ring appearance for TNA since returning to the promotion earlier this year.
The commentary audio feed suddenly died late in this match. Allie gave Moore a nasty Death Valley Driver to the floor, then Rosemary closed the show with her Red Wedding finisher for the pinfall victory in six minutes. This was a quick one, but not bad.
It was announced during tonight’s broadcast that the X-Division title will be defended in an Ultimate X match at Slammiversary next month.
Cedric Alexander ends the Leon Slater era
The main event of the night saw X-Division Champion Leon Slater face Cedric Alexander in a two-out-of-three falls match. If Slater won this match, he would officially have the longest reign in X-Division title history, they said.
Slater earned first blood, countering an attempted Lumbar Check into a roll-up pinfall in the opening minute of the bout. Slater had the 1-0 lead as the show went to a commercial break.
We were shown a clip from during the break, where Alexander gave Slater a German Suplex on the floor at ringside. Alexander dodged a top-rope move then tried for another Lumbar Check, but Slater once again escaped the move. Slater connected with a leg lariat then came flying off the top with a gigantic crossbody for a near fall.
Alexander got a near fall after scoring a Michinoku Driver. It was at this point when Slater started to sport a bloody nose. Alexander dodged a leg kick from Slater then, upon third attempt, finally hit a Lumbar Check to get his first pinfall. 10 minutes into the match, Slater and Alexander were tied up 1-1.
Shortly after the show returned from its final break, Slater kicked Alexander off the ring apron then delivered his impressive dive over a ringpost and to the outside. Back in the ring, an attempted hurricanrana out of the corner from Alexander was countered into an Avalanche Styles Clash from Slater. This high-risk move wasn’t enough to earn the pinfall win.
Slater tried to climb to the top again, but was kicked off-balance by Alexander and tumbled to the ringside area. In one of the more devastating spots of the match, Alexander tossed Slater like a lawn dart into steel stairs. Slater started bleeding from the head after that moment.
A big brainbuster in the ring from Alexander wasn’t enough to end Slater’s reign, as he kicked out at two. He hit another Lumbar Check, but Slater just barely kicked out in time. Slater got up to his feet and suddenly connected with a Blue Thunder Bomb. A hurt and bloodied Slater stumbled his way up to the top rope. He tried for a Swanton 450, but Alexander dodged it!
Alexander connected with yet another Lumbar Check, then another to seal the deal in 22 minutes. Alexander is the new TNA X-Division Champion, ending Slater’s reign just short of 300 days.
Alexander’s celebration was cut off, as the lights went out in the venue. Music hit, and then someone came out. Who was it? It was Fabian Aichner (formerly Giovanni Vinci in WWE). He had a staredown with Alexander as the show went off-air.
OK, a lot to unpack here. First: Incredible match between Slater and Alexander, as expected. They went 22 minutes; it was fun and physical throughout. Second: I don’t mind Alexander winning the title. Slater had a long and fun run, but it was time to shake things up a little.
Finally: Do I think this segment, which saw arguably one of TNA’s best title runs in recent memory, come to an end, needed a debut from Fabian Aichner? Absolutely not. I think this reveal felt out of place. And, considering Aichner hasn’t been on TV since late 2024 and previously wrestled under a different name, I wouldn’t be surprised if many didn’t recognize him at first. I really disliked this. Great match, not a terrible booking decision, but a poorly misplaced run-in after.
