Total Nonstop Action
TNA is back, rebranding back to their past while marching forward to the future. Or something like that. You can tell that the names behind the scenes are really leaning into this move and they clearly are tired of being ignored. It really is a shame, because Impact has consistently been one of the most entertaining weekly wrestling programs on the market for a very long time now.
Maybe more people will start to notice now that they’re making these moves.
They spent the first chunk of the month airing best of styles editions of their show, then landed strong with their Hard to Kill event, officially launching TNA once again.
FULL TNA Hard To Kill 2024 Highlights - Order the PPV Replay NOW!
The show itself was very enjoyable to most, and honestly did well to showcase that they still have that TNA DNA inside of them but their roster is able to make it work.
Hard to Kill Review
Gisele Shaw won a 6-way Knockouts Ultimate X match to earn a title shot. It was a good outing ultimately, and I feel the division did well with the time and opportunity. Maybe watch?
Red’s Rating: ***PCO and Dirty Dango went to a DQ and saw Teddy Long antics lead to Jake, PCO, and Rhino facing, and defeating, Alpha Bravo, Oleg Prudius, and Dirty Dango. The entire thing was about ten-minutes of trash television. I’m sure it’s entertaining to some fans out there, but it was certainly not my cup of tea. Skip.
Red’s Rating: *¼Decay’s Havok and Rosemary beat MK Ultra to win the Knockouts World Tag Team Championships. This one didn’t click and is largely memorable thanks to Rosemary’s kick out. Skip, but watch that kickout clip a few times.
Red’s Rating: **Sabin retained the X-Division Championship in a three-way match featuring AAA Mega star El Hijo del Vikingo and KUSHIDA. This was sincerely fantastic and made thirteen-minutes seem like half of that. Balls to the wall entertainment! Watch.
Red’s Rating: ****Josh Alexander and Alex Hammerstone’s bout was pretty damn good. Alexander, the company ace, did what he does best and Alex was about what I’ve come to expect. The latter is honestly a very solid big man, but I feel his work is a lot like his guitar technique; it lacks emotion. Alexander got the nod here after 15. Watch.
Red’s Rating: ***½Bullet Club ABC kept the TNA World Tag Team Championship belts, besting the Grizzled Young Vets, The Rascalz, and a duo of Laredo Kid and Speedball Mike Bailey. The contest was essentially the third X style match of the evening which was fitting because that style is a major reason for TNA’s early success. A great clusterfuck tag match for sure and the result is reason to be excited. Watch.
Red’s Rating: ***¾Jordynne Grace took the Knockouts World Title, dethroning one-foot-out-the-door-Trinity. Rocket boots and constant respect wasn’t enough, clearly, but Jordynne holding the belt feels like a smart move for the time being. This one went 14 and change and was good enough for what it was. Maybe watch?
Red’s Rating: ***Moose is TNA World Champ and Alex Shelley? He’s not. Having a dude like Moose as your top champ is an easy move with a built in story attached just due to his size. It’s a smart move, though Alex retaining could’ve made for some solid TV, too. This one, for what it’s worth, was a borderline great outing and I expect Moose to be a decent top dog for the next few months. Watch.
Red’s Rating: ***½
In all, Hard to Kill earned a 75/100 score. If you skip the Dirty Dango shit the show becomes a must-see for multiple reasons. Check this one out!
MUST-SEE MOMENTS from TNA iMPACT! for January 18, 2024
The rest of the month saw TNA running Snake Eyes tapings content on Impact. Here’s a few noteworthy matches and moments from the aired set.
TNA TV Select
Jake Something won a six-man X style contest, beating Vikingo, KUSHIDA, Laredo, Speedball, and Miguel in just over 5-minutes. Maybe watch?
Cagematch User Rating: 7.14The GYV beat Young and Kazarian. Kaz would betray EY after Eric ate the L for their side. The Vets might finally be somewhere where they’ll be respected more. Maybe watch?
Cagematch User Rating: 6.57Ospreay fell to Alexander in a MOTYC main event. Just two dudes fucking killing it for half and hour, being allowed to do what they do best. What a way to close the first episode of the new era of TNA, folks. Seriously, WATCH THIS 5 star classic and then watch it again. One of the best matches of the past ten years!
Red’s Rating: *****Nemeth’s promo from the post-Hard to Kill installment was perfect for the situation. Maclin’s response was pretty dang good, too. In all, this segment was what it needed to be and a promising start to Dolph’s post-WWE run.
Scott D’Amore believed in Impact when few others did. He believed in the soul of TNA, too, and has guided us into this revival. His raw passion for the brand and this roster bled into his promo after Ospreay and Josh’s classic and should serve well to make a believer out of jaded fans.
After the comeback episode, TNA followed up the following week with some more bombs.Chris Bey beat Knight in a decent opener. Afterwards, GYV came out and made a statement, laying out ABC and posing with their belts. Later, a best of three series was set between the two sides by Santino. Maybe skip, but be excited about the series?
Cagematch User Rating: 6.25Grace sent Trinity off, retaining in their rematch, and then Shaw and crew came out and attacked. Shaw would pose with the big X in the segment. Skip.
Cagematch User Rating: 6.65Nemeth’s debut match was a victory over Rascalz’s Wentz. Good stuff. Trey would attack a lot throughout. After, Trey tried to take out NN but failed. Maclin then tried the same. Failed. Nemeth is being positioned decently thus far. Watch so you can see Dolph with energy again.
Red’s Rating: ***Okada teamed with the Motor City Machine Guns and took down The System’s Moose, Edwards, and Myers in a big name six-man main event. They’ve gotten good at runnings these types of matches and this was no exception.
Red’s Rating: ***½Mustafa Ali appeared on screen to end the episode. Watch or just be excited about the possibilities.
In all, TNA provided more than enough entertainment in January. Check out THIS playlist of their best TV content if you’re interested in giving them a chance!
Discussions on the Scott D’Amore situation will be featured in issue 152.
TNA Champions Going in to February
TNA World- Moose (2nd reign)
Knockouts World- Jordynne Grace (3rd reign)
TNA World Tag- Bullet Club ABC (2nd reign)
X-Division- Chris Sabin (10th reign)
Knockouts World Tag- Decay (3rd reign)
TNA Digital Media- Crazzy Steve (1st reign)
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