Results
- M By Elegance def. Rosemary (TNA Knockouts Television Championship First Round)
- Moose def. AJ Francis (DQ)
- Bear Bronson def. Ricky Sosa
- Thea Hail def. Harley Hudson (TNA Knockouts Television Championship First Round)
- Cedric Alexander def. Fabian Aichner (TNA X-Division Championship)
M By Elegance cheats for opening round tourney win
This week’s episode of TNA Thursday Night Impact, taped earlier this month from the Broadview Center in Albany, New York, opened with another opening round bout to crown the inaugural Knockouts Television Champion. Previous weeks saw opening round bouts go the way of Jody Threat, Indi Hartwell, Mara Sadè, and Heather By Elegance. Looking to advance past the round of 16 were Rosemary and M By Elegance in this bout.
While Rosemary is usually the one doing the misting for a win, M By Elegance turned the tables on her and delivered a champagne mist to the face as the rest of the Elegance brand distracted the referee. This underhanded tactic allowed M to roll up Rosemary for the somewhat quick victory.
Frankie Kazarian won’t let Moose mock him
A grudge match was up next, as Moose went head-to-head with AJ Francis (who was, of course, accompanied by artist Expressions). This match was made during a talking segment last week, also featuring Frankie Kazarian, who was on commentary for this match. He’s in a feud with Moose, and they’ll likely face off sometime soon (this becomes painfully obvious by the end of this segment).
Francis tried to jump Moose before the bell, but the attack didn’t give him much of an advantage immediately after. Moose ran Francis into a staircase at ringside. A slight distraction from Expressions allowed Francis to deliver a nasty powerbomb onto the ring apron.
Back in the ring, a chokeslam from Francis was avoided by Moose, who knocked him back with a headbutt. Moose tried to come off the top rope with a gigantic cutter, but Francis reversed mid-air into a “TFL” spear.
The fight went to the top rope, where, after a long struggle, Moose connected with a superplex. Surprisingly, this wasn’t enough to put away Francis. Moose pushed Francis out of the ring then delivered a crossbody to the floor. Moose got in the face of Kazarian, knocking a bag of popcorn out of his hands (he had stolen the bag from a fan at ringside).
This enraged Kazarian, who attacked Moose and caused a disqualification end to this bout. Well, you just couldn’t have seen that coming, right? Francis beat down Moose as the segment came to an end.
We saw a brief back-and-forth backstage between Elayna Black and Knockouts champ Xia Brookside.
Mustafa Ali adds ‘Secretary of Strategic Affairs’ to Order Four
Next, we saw Mustafa Ali make his Order Four State of the Union address. Ali has been unhappy with the rest of his faction as of late, and has kept making phone calls to an unnamed contact. So, we were all expecting a reveal of some sort here.
Ali started by expressing disappointment that he’s the only one who has gold within the group. “I gave you everything, and the three of you gave me… Problems.”
Order Four needs help, Ali said. So, who would show up and provide that help? The newest member of the group, Secretary of Strategic Affairs, former Tessa Blanchard teammate Mila Moore.
Moore got on the mic and cut a quick promo about how she knows she can be the solution to the group’s issues. Ali revealed that the next challenger for his International Championship will be determined next week, when the faction casts a vote for who it will be.
Ali left the ring alongside Moore and Special Agent 0. Everybody else looked much less happy about the group’s new addition.
We saw a pre-taped clip that showed The Righteous getting a hologram message from The Hardys, who invited them to their compound for “The Righteous Deletion.” We got a cinematic match coming up next week!
Sosa comes up short against Bronson
The next bout saw up-and-coming Belgian talent Ricky Sosa face off against Bear Bronson. This match was made after Sosa picked up a pinfall win over Bronson in tag action last week.
The fight went to ringside early on, where Bronson delivered an absolutely brutal Black Hole Slam onto the floor. Sosa tried to mount a comeback after the show returned, scoring a knee strike then hitting a German Suplex. Sosa came running off the ropes for a Spanish Fly, earning him a near fall.
Sosa scored a powerbomb out of the corner, then a huge single-leg dropkick for another two-count. This long run of moves from Sosa was stopped by The System’s Brian Myers, who got up from the commentary booth and distracted him for a moment. A top-rope move from Sosa was countered into a powerbomb from Bronson.
Sosa escaped a Bear-Down attempt from Bronson. The Belgian took Myers off the apron with an uppercut, then put his attention back on Bronson. Sosa’s back gave out when trying to lift the huge Bronson yet again, this time for a Blue Thunder Homb. This pause allowed Bronson to hit the Shock Treatment, then Bear-Down for the pinfall victory.
Bronson and Sosa are two younger names on the roster that TNA should really invest in, and this match was proof of why. Fun showing from both.
NXT’s Thea Hail advances in TV title tourney
Another Knockouts TV title opening round bout was next, with Harley Hudson facing off against NXT’s Thea Hail. Late in the match, Hail got a near fall after connecting with a DDT. She scored a World’s Strongest Slam then tried to follow up with a senton, but Hudson got out of the way.
A springboard leg drop was avoided by Hail, who scored a springboard senton for the pinfall win. Hail will meet former NXT colleague Indi Hartwell in the quarter-finals.
KC Navarro gets title opportunity on next week’s Impact
Before the main event, we saw TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth hit the ring for a promo. He talked about how “the world wants a piece of the Wanted Man.” We were all waiting for this to eventually get interrupted by KC Navarro, who has been feuding with Nemeth for weeks.
“Serious inquiries only, go to the back,” Nemeth said, brushing off Navarro as an opponent. Nemeth repeatedly spoke over Navarro, then ordered him to get out of the ring. Surprisingly, Navarro followed his request. Despite Nemeth no longer being Navarro’s mentor, he still had some power over him.
Navarro, becoming teary-eyed, cut off Nemeth’s promo from the ramp, where he expressed frustration that he is someone who gives and gives and never gets anything back. He said that his struggles in TNA have made him think his doubters were right. “You hold the one thing that if I got my hands on it, would prove them all wrong, including you,” he said.
Navarro said he wants to kick former protege Nemeth’s ass and called for a title shot next week!
Nemeth said he would agree to the match, only if Navarro promised to leave him alone after. It was a done deal.
The System helps Alexander retain X-Division title in main event
The main event saw Fabian Aichner look to earn his first TNA title, challenging X-Division Champion Cedric Alexander.
Aichner had a hot start to the match, dumping Alexander to ringside with a lariat then running him into the barricade numerous times. Alexander tripped up Aichner’s feet as he went for a top-rope move, causing the challenger to take a nasty fall. Alexander then slammed Aichner onto the apron twice.
Alexander was in control as the show returned, but Aichner battled back and delivered a gigantic top-rope crossbody to the floor. Back in the ring, Aichner scored another impressive springboard move, this time a moonsault, to Alexander for a near fall.
Aichner dodged a Lumbar Check, but ate a Michinoku Driver from Alexander just moments later. Alexander followed up with a big brainbuster, but Aichner kicked out at two. Alexander started to shout at Aichner, proclaiming that he doesn’t deserve to be in the X-Division. Aichner powered up and dropped Alexander with a hard lariat.
The fight went to the corner, where a double-underhook superplex was avoided by Alexander. The champ came off the top rope for a move, but Aichner caught him in mid-air with a huge dropkick! That moment delivered a two-count.
Aichner tried for a powerbomb, but back pain caused him to let go of the hold. Aichner escaped a roll-up attempt, then scored his powerbomb on Alexander upon second attempt. A pin was stopped after Alexander put a foot on the bottom rope! The crowd was really into this match and bit hard on this near fall.
Alexander gouged the eyes of Aichner, then dumped him to the ringside area. As the referee was distracted, Eddie Edwards came charging down the ramp and dropped him with a Boston Knee Party. Back in the ring, Alexander connected with a Lumbar Check for the pinfall victory. Stereotypical heel finish, but one hell of a match before then.
A post-match attack from Edwards and Alexander was stopped by Leon Slater and Ricky Sosa, who ran in for the save. Slater delivered his impressive Big Play dive over a ringpost and to the floor to end the segment.
Here’s what TNA has planned for next week:
- Nic Nemeth vs. KC Navarro (TNA World Championship)
- Elayna Black vs. Wendy Choo (TNA Knockouts Television Championship First Round)
- Jada Stone vs. Alisha Edwards (TNA Knockouts Television Championship First Round)
- AJ Francis & Frankie Kazarian vs. Moose & Elijah
- Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy vs. Vincent & Dutch (Righteous Deletion Match)
