wrestling / TV Reports
Ciocco’s TNA Impact Review 11.12.26
Image Credit: TNA
Loading...Impact Zone! It’s Thursday Night, which means that we are in for a brand new edition of the delight known as Impact. Tonight’s episode is the final show that was taped in Dothan, Alabama, and will serve as the go-home show for Destination-X, which makes its return to the calendar after nine years of being dormant. And tonight, we should get answers in regard to who will be taking part in both Ultimate-X matches and the World X-Cup matches.
But that’s far from what we have on tap for us, as Elijah will be looking for revenge against current Men’s World Tag Team Champion Nic Nemeth, Moose and Samuel Shaw will do battle ahead of their tag team match on Sunday, and Mustafa Ali will face Frankie Kazarian. Elsewhere on the card, Leon Slater and Trey Miguel will have a face-to-face ahead of their World Title match, and the Knockouts will be represented, with Elayna Black facing Heather by Elegance, while the new Knockouts Tag Team Champions Apex will be in action. All of this and, of course, so much more in store for us tonight!
So, how is everyone doing on this Thursday Night? One more day, and I will get to see what has been described as the greatest tribute to Iron Maiden in the whole world, so I am excited for that. I’m also excited about being in the front row, as I never get to be that close.
But enough about me and enough about you, let’s get ready to brace for Impact!
Someone is getting an Alabama Slammer tonight, as Tom Hannifan and Matt Rehwoldt are on the call!
Highlights from last week open the show.
No I’m ready for you, I am disappointed. But I am not disappointed with the show start tonight!
Elayna Black vs. Heather by Elegance
Black wrestles Heather to the mat with a headlock. Heather to her feet, but Black with a dropkick that sends Heather into the ropes. Black looks to charge Heather, but she pulls the ref in front of her and Elayna almost hits him. Lucky guy. Heather takes advantage with stomps, and she shoves Black’s face into the mat. More corner stomps from Heather to boos from the fans. Black with an inside cradle for a two, but Heather goes back on offense. She stomps on Black on her way to the corner and hits a moonsault for a two. Heather stays in control with a stretch submission, Black to her feet, but Heather throws her back to the mat. Heather with more punches and she goes back to the stretch submission. Heather with a sunset flip, but Black lands on her feet and hits a basement dropkick.
Black fights back with clotheslines and a gut wrench. Inside cradle gets Black a two. Black hits the ropes and connects with the double stomp for another two. Black is sent to the apron, she avoids Heather’s charge, but Heather hits a STUNNER and a running Rana back through the ropes! The cover, but Black kicks out at two. Heather to the top, no one is home, as Black grabs her from behind. Blackout from Elayna, and a winner is her!
WINNER: Elayna Black
TIME: 8:05
THOUGHTS: Heather got practically 80% of the offense in this match, but Elayna got the win. It just proves the theory right, work smarter, not harder!
RATING: ***
Santino Marella is on his phone in the back. SONOFAGUN! Ryan Nemeth runs up and cries about Elijah, Matt Hardy, and syX and he wants justice! Santino confirms the list that Ryan presented him, and he tells Nemeth that both him and Nic will be inserted into the Moose/Hardy and syX match this Sunday. Oh, and the titles will be on the line! Santino leaves and Ryan cries some more.
APEX will be in action, next!
BREAK IN PROGRESS!
Daria Rae is on the phone in the back. Daria’s nerd shows up and he tells her she was supposed to meet him thirty minutes ago. SHUTUPSHESTALKING! Daria wants Brian to put on his tie, and he agrees. She says Santino disrespected him last week and he should do something about that. Brian says thanks for reminding him, and Daria thinks he should have a supervisor as well. He also brings up Indi having a title match on Sunday against Shayna Baszler, and she doesn’t want Indi to talk smack about them. Brian says lets watch the match back here together, and Daria says this is great progress.
Say Indi’s name and she is here on commentary!
Knockouts Tag Team Champions APEX vs. The King Bees
Non-title match. Also, the King Bees are a combination of their last names, and they dress in black and yellow, so that’s neat. Shayna imposes her will on Danni Bee at the bell. The smaller Bee tries to go behind Baszler, they go to the corner, the bee thinks she did something good, but Shayna just punches her in the face. Tag to Zoey, who just slaps the bee. A second one follows, and then a kick to the gut and an overhead gut wrench. Zoey with a big boot, Baszler tags in, and she sets up the bee for another big boot from Stark. Baszler goes for a submission, but Bee tags out to Charity King. King goes right after Baszler and Serrano. She takes too long celebrating and APEX are looking a little bit pissed off. Stark with a knee strike, Baszler with the Grey Matter, and that’s a win.
WINNERS: APEX
TIME: 4:00
THOUGHTS: Surprisingly competitive for a match that featured the heels as the stars and not the jobbers.
RATING: No more bees or kings
syX promo from their Slaughterhouse. Sawyer makes fun of the Hardys for thinking that they can still beat them and then mock the Nemeths for Ryan going and crying to Santino. They didn’t come here to win the tag team titles, but it will be a nice thing to add to their quest. Shaw says that Matt’s partner won’t even make it to Destination-X, because he will see Moose tonight.
BREAK IN PROGRESS!
Jason Hotch is in the back. He says he is a two-time International Champion, and he is on the run of his life. He can go anywhere around the World and face anyone! Expressions the Dork is here, and he wants to know what this is all about. AJ Francis says Hotch should be proud to represent his country in the World X-Cup, but you shouldn’t represent TNA, that is what TNAJFRANCIS should be doing. But what he really wants is that International Title, and what he gets, he wants!
Moose vs. Samuel Shaw
Shaw and Moose slug it out at the bell, Moose off the ropes, Shaw with a back elbow, Moose with the dropkick! Moose is looking Powerbomb, but Shaw escapes with an uppercut. Moose says SCREW YOU and kicks Shaw in the face. Shaw with strikes, but Moose no sells it and hammers away on Shaw in the corner. Shaw goes to throw Shaw out of the ring, but Moose sends him out of the ring. Moose heads outside, but Shaw heads back in and takes the ref. This allows Sawyer to hit a chop block to Moose from behind as we hit the break.
Shaw has turned the tables during the break and targets the left knee of Moose to keep the Canadian Mammal grounded. Moose attempts to fight back, but Shaw goes right back to the knee to put Moose back down. WE WANT TABLES chants, a girl in the crowd says NO WE DON’T, and Shaw agrees lol. Moose back to his feet and he lands some strikes. Shaw sends Moose out of the ring, but Moose skins the cat and lays out Shaw with a lariat. Moose looks to charge, but his knee gives out. Shaw laughs at him, but he runs into a Urinage from Moose! Sawyer distracts Moose long enough for Shaw to hit a Spinebuster for a two. Shaw heads to the top rope, but Moose cuts him off. Moose heads up as well and he hits a Superplex! Moose kips up like his knee isn’t bad lol. Sawyer slides a chair into the ring and he tries to hit Sawyer with it. He losses the chair, Shaw grabs it and hits Moose with it for the DQ.
WINNER: Moose via DQ
TIME: 9:55
THOUGHTS: I need this to make sense, because usually, if we were going for a DQ finish, it happens within 3-4 minutes of the match starting. Instead, we got a DQ nearly ten minutes in when we probably knew that the match wasn’t going to end clean anyway. Oh well, at least they get to do it again on Sunday!
RATING: **1/2
Post-match, syX look to continue the attack, but Matt Hardy is here with a pipe in hand and he smacks Sawyer and Shaw with it! syX hits the dusty trail as Matt threatens to shoot and DELETE syX.
Maggie is on her phone in the back! She wants everything to be perfect, and she wants her beautiful face blown up and the TV title on the star! She hangs up and Heather is here. She wants to know if Maggie meant for her to fight Elayna Black. Maggie says Heather did that on her own and she can’t buy a win, so Heather can help the Elegance Brand by making sure that her magazine cover comes out the way she wants it. Maggie takes off, and Heather stares at her.
Stranglehold with the TNA Injury Report!
BREAK IN PROGRESS!
Destination-X promo incoming!
Santino Marella is in the back on the phone. Nic Nemeth runs in and complains about Marella booking the match. Santino says Ryan ran in and wanted the match, but Nic says he doesn’t care because he deserves something better than that. Marella says calm down, but Nic says Marella is a clown. Marella tells Nic to worry about Elijah tonight, because if he beats you tonight, then Elijah will get your World Title rematch! Marella stands up like he is a tough guy, Nic picks up his title and he leaves.
It’s time for two connivers to throw down!
Frankie Kazarian w/Avery Styles vs. Mustafa Ali
It’s weird to write MUSTAFA ALI without anyone else backing him up. Wild.
Kazarian and Ali lock-up, but no one gets the advantage. We break into counters and pins that end in the number two. Ali unleashes his inner Owen Hart, which I appreciate. Ali grabs a side-headlock, Kazarian is like no bro I can do this better. Ali with a shoulder tackle and a sunset flip for a two. Another sunset flip from Ali, but Kazarian lands on his feet and hits a basement dropkick. Kazarian fires Ali off and hits a side Russian Leg Sweep for a two. Frankie looking Chicken Wing, but Ali counters with a Jaw Breaker. Corner counters ensue, but Kazarian steps aside and Ali does his favorite activity i.e. running face-first into the second turnbuckle. It’s a ruse, however, as Ali snaps Frankie’s face off the top rope and he htis the rolling Neck Breaker for a two.
Ali brings it down to the ground with the Davey Boy Smith approved Chinlock as Avery is seen walking around. Kazarian to his feet, Ali shuts that down with a Neck Breaker for a two. Ali tells us all to kiss his ass as he goes to the top. 450, NO, flying clothesline from Kazarian! FRANKIE chants as aptly named man hits right hands, clotheslines, a flapjack, and a Springboard Leg Drop for a two. Fade to Black, NO, Ali escapes and kicks Kazarian in the gut. Powerbomb, NO, another Powerbomb, NO, Bell Clap from Ali. Ali sticks his head between the ropes and Frankie hits the Guillotine Leg Drop! Slingshot DDT from Frankie for a two. Ali puts Kazarian on the top rope and pulls him back down into a CUTTER! Frankie to the floor, Tope Suicida from Ali! Ali walks up to Avery, Styles claps for him, but Ali shoves him to the floor. Kazarian with a Slingshot CUTTER for a two. Avery tries to get into the ring and attack Ali, but Ali uses the distraction for a Victory Roll for the win!
WINNER: Mustafa Ali
TIME: 8:10
THOUGHTS: A really good match between two really good wrestlers. What a novel concept! I would complain that the match was on the short side, but even so, there was a crap ton of action packed into the time allocated.
RATING: ***3/4
YOU KNOW WHAT THE WORST THING ABOUT EDDIE WINNING LAST WEEK IS? It means that the System are still a thing! Everyone talks, life goes on, and we move on.
We will go in-depth on the Trey Miguel and Leon Slater match, next!
BREAK IN PROGRESS!
We go back to Impact last week, when we thought the RIGHT-E-OUS were going to bring Harley Hudson into the many. But we also learned that Xia Brookside accepted the offer before she could make up her mind.
Xia: THE RIGHTEOUS ARE COMING!
The Blue Chew Gold Rock Hard Moment tonight is Moose hitting the Superplex on Samuel Shaw in his DQ victory.
We follow Trey Miguel as he explains what it was like growing up in Toledo. Spoiler alert: there was a bad part of the city and a good part of the city, and he grew up in the bad part. He first met his birth mother when he was six years old although he knew another mother who had taken care of him. There have been some good memories and some bad memories that Trey doesn’t want to revisit. His grandmother was awesome and she loved pro wrestling. His dad Kelvin McBrayer says his son was a go-getter. He took his lawnmower to go and cut grasses, and one time he won a bicycle, but he gave it to a neighborhood kid instead. Trey talks to a woman who knows his Aunt Sandy, and she says they have their moments lol. We get testimonies from Trey’s friends, and he himself says he watched wrestling and he knew at a young age that he would make it here. Really good stuff here!
Matt and Tom run down the card for Destination-X this Sunday. Apparently, the two World X-Cup matches are 3-way matches and will be on Before the Bell. Well that’s shit.
It’s Leon Slater’s turn for Destination-Next! He says he didn’t feel any different after he won the World Title. Don’t get him wrong, he’s happy he is the Champion, but now he has everyone starring him in the back and they want his title. We see splices of Slater doing media appearances, and he says he didn’t consider this when he won the title. He is still learning to bear the weight, and he is not just representing himself, he is representing the company and the fans. If you told him he would be here at 22-years old, he wouldn’t know what to say. Pictures of Leon come up now, and he says this was always a possibility. He has been preparing his whole life, and now he is ready. The next generation is watching him, but he is in his bubble, his tunnel, and he doesn’t realize the impact that it will make until 20, 30 years down the road. He hopes the new kid is from Bradford like he is, but this generation has a voice in Slater. Seven-year-old Leon would think that 22-year-old Slater is the coolest bloke. He would tell him to keep following his path, because the World will eventually be his. Good stuff here as well!
Our main event is coming up, next!
BREAK IN PROGRESS!
John Skyler is in catering trying to eat some good food. He hears a woman on her phone and he says MILA? But it isn’t here and she walks by. Rich Swann walks over to Skyler and asks for his food, and John gives it to him. So, we’re getting mopey Skyler now? Nice.
HE’S THE WANTED MAN, HE’S THE DRIFTER! THIS IS THE OBLIGITORY PRE-MAIN EVENT COMMERCIAL BREAK!
World Tag Team Champion Nic Nemeth vs. Elijah
Nemeth goes on the attack at the bell with a dropkick, a corner splash, a hip toss, and standing elbow drop for a two. Elijah fires back with strikes and he throws Nemeth into the corner chest first. Elijah wants the fans to walk with him; he goes to the corner and does his line again. He walks to another corner, and he says his thing again before coming down onto the shoulder of Nemeth. Nic doesn’t find that to be cute, so he lands some punches on Elijah. Elijah fights back and kicks Nemeth in the head in the ropes. Nic is straddling the rope as Elijah chops away. He pulls Nemeth up to the top rope and connects with the draping DDT for a two.
Nic rolls out to the floor, so Elijah pursues him. Elijah slams his face into the guard rail, and he slaps the hand of a young fan. Nemeth reverses a hammer throw, and he chucks Elijah into the ring steps. Nic back into the ring, but Elijah is feigning injury on the floor. Elijah finally heads back into the ring, and he intercepts Nic’s FAMEASSER with a Sit-down Powerbomb for a two. That will take us to the final “break.”
Elijah is complete control during the break. He goes under the ring for something, but Nemeth attacks from behind. Elijah fights back, rolls into the ring to break the count, and then throws Nic into the ring. More WE WANT TABLES chants. Nic goes to the eyes of Elijah, and he hits the stalling DDT for a two. Nic grounds Elijah with a side headlock and kicks off the ropes just to be a dick. Elijah looks to break it, but Nemeth throws him down by his hair. Nemeth gyrates before hitting the neck breaker. Corner splash is followed by a second from Nic, who gyrates some more. Elijah kicks him in the face and hits a swinging neck breaker.
We’re back to the start, as Elijah runs through Nemeth and throws him to the corner. Fisherman’s Buster from Elijah nets him a two. The fans think the Ref sucks, and I can’t blame them honestly. Elijah sets Nemeth into the Tree of WOE and kicks him before chopping him across the chest. Elijah sits up Nic in the corner, but Nemeth hits back elbows to buy some room. Doesn’t matter though, as Elijah hooks Nemeth and hits the Razor’s Edge for a two. Nemeth fights off Elijah and hits the SUPERKICK, as Nemeth falls into the pin for a two. Nemeth hits the SPAM button on the elbow drops. Nic to the top rope, but he jumps right into a knee strike from Elijah! The following pin is just a two. Both men trade hands to a very small smattering of THIS IS AWESOME chants. SUPERKICK from Nemeth and he hits the Danger Zone, but Elijah kicks out at 2.9999999! Elijah ends up on the apron, where he jumps into another SUPERKICK. Yet another SUPERKICK after a rope assisted low blow and this time the Danger Zone finishes it!
WINNER: Nic Nemeth
TIME: 16:00
THOUGHTS: A fairly competent main event. I wish they would have shaved two minutes off of this one and gave it to Frankie and Mustafa, but it is what it is. At least the Wanted Man keeps what is owed to him despite that wacky SONOFAGUN trying to mess him up.
RATING: ***1/4
Post-credits, we see Harley Hudson and Taryn Terrell playing with dolls in the Dollhouse! We see another woman slowly walk up to the Dollhouse, and off-screen, Harley and Taryn welcome her to the Dollhouse. And with that, we are done!
