Results
- Eric Young, Elijah, Frankie Kazarian, KC Navarro & Leon Slater def. Mike Santana, Cedric Alexander, Mustafa Ali, Bear Bronson & Brian Myers (Men’s Champion’s Challenge)
- Tessa Blanchard def. Harley Hudson
- Stacks def. Santino Marella
- Fabian Aichner def. Eddie Edwards (DQ)
- Xia Brookside, Elayna Black & Mara Sadè def. Lei Ying Lee, M By Elegance & Heather By Elegance (Knockouts Champion’s Challenge)
KC Navarro earns International title opportunity from 2026 Champion’s Challenge
This week’s episode of TNA Impact, taped earlier this month at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento, California, opened with the annual men’s Champion’s Challenge match. For those who might not have encountered this match before, here’s how it works: Five champions (World champ, X-Division champ, International champ and tag team champions) face five contenders in a multi-man tag match. If a member of the contender team scores a tag win, they earn a future title shot against whoever they put away.
This year’s contender lineup included Eric Young, Elijah, Frankie Kazarian, KC Navarro, and, in his first match since dropping the X-Division title, Leon Slater. They took on Mike Santana, Cedric Alexander, Mustafa Ali, Bear Bronson, and Brian Myers. These matchups can create some odd teams, as this put babyface Santana along with four big heels from the company.
This unique dynamic was at play early on, when Santana knocked teammate Ali off the ring apron so he could be the one to get a hot tag. After a long series of moves left nearly everybody involved in the match out at ringside, the fight came down to just Ali and Slater. Slater dodged a move from Ali, causing him to go headfirst into the turnbuckles. Slater capitalized on this with a Swanton 450. He tried for a pin attempt right after, but Alisha Edwards sneakily put one of Ali’s legs on a bottom rope to break the pinfall.
As Slater and the referee were arguing with Edwards, Ali was slid his international title to use as a weapon. However, the referee was able to turn around and rip the belt out of his hands before he could use it. Slater gave Ali a superkick then, surprisingly, tagged himself out of the match. Navarro got into the match and put away Ali with his Blessing in Disguise finisher, earning him a future International title shot. This was a short match, but a fun one.
Backstage, Stacks said that he’s going to put Santino Marella in a nursing home tonight. Arianna Grace told Marella not to expect any visits from her once he’s in that home. Harsh.
Tessa Blanchard scores win
Singles action in the Knockouts division was up next, as Tessa Blanchard took on Harley Hudson. Blanchard was targeting Hudson’s left knee after it was tweaked early in the match. The former world champ scored a near fall after giving Hudson a Codebreaker out of the corner.
Hudson tried to get back into the match, but had her knee taken out once again by a chop block from Blanchard. Moments later, Blanchard closed the show with her Buzzsaw DDT finisher for the win. Was surprised this didn’t feature anything with Rosemary and the rest of her crew, who are currently feuding with Blanchard.
The Righteous challenged The Hardys to a “Wicked Garden” match for next week. We’ll have to wait and see what that stipulation means
Mixed tag feud booked for next week
A grudge match was on next, as NXT’s Stacks took on his father-in-law, Santino Marella. These two have faced off before, including a multi-man steel cage bout late last year, but this was their first one-on-one showdown.
Marella was gaining some steam late in this match and whipped out his Cobra arm sleeve in an attempt at putting away Stacks. But, daughter Arianna Grace hopped onto the ring apron and was able to rip the Cobra off his arm to prevent the finisher from being hit. This slight delay gave Stacks the opportunity to roll up Marella for the pinfall win.
Grace got in the face of Marella after the match, ranting about how he’s a loser and a terrible father. Marella blocked a punch from Grace, causing Stacks to initiate a post-match attack. In for the save was Indi Hartwell, causing the heel duo to retreat. Hartwell called for a mixed tag match for tonight, but with neither her nor Grace in ring attire, it seemed unlikely that this would happen.
Daria Rae appeared on-stage and shut down Hartwell’s idea of having the tag match tonight. “Stacks won fair and square,” she said. “It’s over.”
But then, seconds later, she changed her mind and booked the match for next week. Alright.
Fabian Aichner wins TNA debut, although not how he would’ve liked it
We next saw the in-ring debut of Fabian Aichner (formerly Giovanni Vinci), going head-to-head with The System’s Eddie Edwards. Aichner made his TNA debut a few weeks back, going after Cedric Alexander of The System. Before he can get to him (and his X-Division title), he’ll try to take down the former GHC Heavyweight Champion.
Alisha Edwards pushed her luck too far tonight, trying to interfere in yet another match by whipping out a kendo stick. This caused the referee to eject her from the ringside area. Aichner was able to get a near fall moments later with a huge Butterfly Suplex off the top rope.
While Edwards was no longer allowed at ringside, the rest of The System hadn’t been banned yet. So, it was at this point in the match that they made their way down to the ring. Aichner took all three men at ringside out with a huge dive, gave Edwards a huge DDT in the ring, then locked in his STF finisher submission.
It looked like he was close to getting a tap, but Aichner was robbed of that moment due to the rest of The System hitting the ring for an attack. Aichner’s TNA debut ends in a DQ. X-Division Champion Cedric Alexander gave Aichner a Lumbar Check, then the group stood over him as the segment came to an end.
Solid performance from Aicher, but he needs some new gear. He was sporting an all-black look, a bald head and no real unique build, so he kinda looks like an unmodified Create-A-Wrestler from a WWE video game right now.
Xia Brookside pins Lei Ying Lee in Knockouts Champion’s Challenge
The main event was the first-ever Knockouts Champions Challenge. Since the Knockouts division has fewer titles, this was a smaller-sized matchup compared to the men’s match. Challengers Elayna Black, Xia Brookside, and Mara Sadè faced off against World Champ Lei Ying Lee, as well as tag champs Heather and M By Elegance. Former MMA fighter Keith Jardine was in Sadè’s corner to look out for interference from other Elegance Brand members.
Lee was tagged into the match late, allowing her to have a sequence with tag partner turned rival Brookside. She connected with a series of punches in the corner then an exploder suplex for a two-count.
Lee followed up with Warrior’s Way, but a pin attempt was stopped by Black. The Elegance Brand hit a double-team Codebreaker into a German Suplex to take out Black. Sadè got into the match and took out the Elegance Brand with a dropkick and DDT combination.
Mr. Elegance attempted to interfere with the match, but MMA’s Jardine caught his legs and applied an ankle lock. The Personal Concierge struck the back of Jardine, causing him to get chased backstage.
Back in the ring, Mr. Elegance tripped up Lee, allowing Brookside to score her Darkside finisher for the pinfall win. Brookside has earned herself a title shot against Lee.
Considering Lee and Brookside have been feuding for weeks, it was quite predictable that she was going to get the title shot out of this match. That should be a good one, presumably happening at Slammiversary. This was a decent little main event, albeit one where the finish was expected.
Here’s what TNA announced for next week:
- BDE vs. Eddie Edwards
- Indi Hartwell & Santino Marella vs. Stacks & Arianna Grace
- The Righteous vs. The Hardys (Wicked Garden Match)
