TNA Impact 1/18/2024
KUSHIDA vs Trey Miguel vs Laredo Kid vs Mike Bailey vs Hijo del Vikingo vs Jake Something
Everyone misses attacks to start. Trey chops Jake and is thrown over the top. Jake takes a double dropkick then Vik is lifted to dropkick Jake out. Mike hurricanrana's Kush then Kid hurricanrana's Mike. Kush tornado ddt's Kid then tope con hilos Jake. Mike face kicks Kush off the apron then moonsaults off the apron while Vik and Kid do dives outside.
Trey side steps a top rope Kid dive then indian deathlocks him. Trey hits hots on Kush then takes a high kick. Kush goes for a kimura then Trey hits a lightning spiral while keeping the indian deathlock on. Jake then chokeslams Trey onto Kid. Vik chops and forearms Jake. Jake steps on Vik's foot then hits a hard forearm. Jake knocks his other opponents off the apron. Vik corkscrew headscissors Jake then imploding 450's Jake. Jake holds on, rolls with it and powerbombs him out onto Kid and Mike.
Jake takes a move htne Kush cartwheels into a dropkick on Trey. Kush kimura's Trey then Vik top rope double footstomps Kush. Vik walks up the ropes and crucifix bombs Trey. Kid does a canadian destroyer ddt on Vik then top rope spanish flies Mike. Jake black hole slams Kid and picks up the win.
It was a shorter sprint with us not getting to see too much here. Maybe that was for the better though as nobody overdid it or overstayed their welcome. It was fine for an opener.
Will Ospreay is interviewed. He says Josh Alexander is a cheeky little slag. He said he left him laying last time they fought and he said he's a pro wrestler because of TNA. He said he's a world beater and said Josh has one chance to take down the best wrestler in the world today.
They do a vignette for Ash By Elegance, who is the former Dana Brooke, with a make-up commercial style to it.
I skipped the segment with Gail Kim.
Tasha Steelz vs Xia Brookside
I never got why Xia wasn't brought over to the main WWE roster or the NXT USA roster. They clearly trusted her in NXT UK and she did well.
Tasha wristlocks her and Xia rolls out of it. Tasha wristlocks her again and Xia uses the ropes to flip out of it then headscissor her over. Xia dropkicks her then monkey flips her. Xia side headlocks her then Tasha pump kicks her. Tasha headbutts her then suplexes her. Tasha holds on and hits two more. Tasha then twerks for some reason. She goes for a suplex and twerks then is cradled. Xia hits lariats then spinning headscissors her. Xia meteora's her in the back of the neck on the buckles then running neckbreakers her.
Tash goes up to the top and is kicked. Xia hits an iconoclasm and pins her.
I didn't like Tasha twerking during moves here. I thought they could have done a little more to put Xia over here and made her stand out more.
We see clips of AJ Francis beating up Joe Hendry at Hard to Kill. He says when you are champ there's a target on your back so he gets it. Joe asks for bygones to be bygones and said he got a free laptop out of it. He said it's smashed though and puts it in the trash with Whoo Kid.
Grizzled Young Veterans vs Frankie Kazarian and Eric Young
Zack and EY start us off. EY shoulders him over then Drake takes EY down by the arm and stomps it. EY bites Drake's hand then Kaz flipping neckbreakers Drake. Kaz hits shots on Drake then russian legsweeps him. Kaz nails Gibson outside then Drake topes him in the back of the neck.
We go to PiP break and return. Kaz hits both opponents out of the corner and sends Drake out. Kaz suplexes Gibson then takes a double team. Drake goes off of Gibson for a sliced bread on Kaz. Gibson holds Kaz in a side slam outside and Drake plancha's on Kaz.
Kaz takes corner moves and rolls out to tag in EY. EY hot tags in and hits shots on both opponents. EY powerslams Drake for 2 then bites Gibson. EY is held and takes a step up enzugiri. EY takes a double codebreaker and is pinned.
There was nothing wrong with this. The Vets were in control for most of this, gave the faces a hope spot then finished them off. This was never going to be bad with the talent involved in this.
Kaz turns on EY after, lariating him. Kaz stomps him and says it was supposed to be his year. He then hits a samurai driver on him.
We go to Moose, Brian Myers, Eddie Edwards and Alisha Edwards. Brian talks about him and Eddie put two TNA Originals down at Hard to Kill. Eddie said Okada and The Machine Guns should go run scared, saying no one will put them down. Nic Nemeth is brought up and Moose said let's not worry about the past. Moose said he only wants to be known as TNA champ and said he will prove to the world that you always trust the system.
Nic Nemeth, the former Dolph Ziggler, comes out. He said Hard to Kill was a hell of a moment and said TNA is back. He said he racked up a lot of accomplishments in 19 years but only did it in one world. He said he's scared, nervous and excited. He said he went face to face with the TNA champ and will become TNA champ. He said this is his day one and said he will earn his way to the top. He said it's the first time he does it as Nic Nemeth and then Steve Maclin came out.
He said they followed similar paths and Steve said he worked his way to the title. He said they are similar but said he meant it. He calls Nick a phony. He said Nic talked about giving but he never took it and said Nic is here to take it. Steve tells him it's his time to talk when he interrupts. He said he will suck the blood out of TNA then go elsewhere. Steve said this is his sandbox. He said no one will remember Nick Nemeth and will just ask what happened to Dolph Ziggler. Nic goes to talk and Steve knocks the mic away. Nick slaps him and hits a zig zag.
I didn't like Nick taking Steve down, but I thought it was good and made sense otherwise.
Jordynne Grace is interviewed. She said Hard to Kill was an incredible night. She talked about how good Trinity is and said she's at the top of her game. Trinity then comes in and puts her over. She said she has a rematch and is going to take it next week. She said she will walk out champ next week.
Ji Vidal comes out. He said he broke into wrestling here in Vegas. He said he is reminded why he left the city to begin with. He says not to boo him as no one here could beat him up. PCO then is wheeled out.
Ji Vidal vs PCO
Ji hits a kick and a forearm. PCO lariats him then chokeslams him. PCO hits an elbow slice then top rope moonsaults him to win in a quick squash.
Will Ospreay vs Josh Alexander
Josh wristlocks him then Will headflips out. Josh shoulders him over and Will kips up. Will counters a hiptoss with an armdrag. Josh is hit with a hurricanrana and a standing SSP. Will backbreakers Josh. Will goes to springboard but is knocked down then Josh crossbodies him off the apron to the outside.
We go to PiP break and return. Will hits Kawada kicks then Josh fisherman suplexes him. Will flips off of him and enzugiri's him. Will handsprings and is caught with a german. Josh powerbomb backbreakers him on his knee for 2.
Will hits chops then Josh backbreakers him. They fight on the apron next to a table that is set up. Will hook kicks him then tiger drivers him through it. They get back in and Will hits a near coast to coast dropkick. Will then hits an os cutter for 2. Josh falls down to avoid a hidden blade.
We go to another PiP break and Josh spinning tombstones Will on the ramp. Josh corner lariats Will then hits a 2nd rope green bay plunge. Josh then ankle locks him. Will enzugiri's him fron the corner then superkicks him against the top buckle. Will hits a 2nd rope poisonrana then hidden blades him for 2.
Will hidden blades Josh again then hits a tiger driver '91 for 2. Josh lariats him and they trade slaps. Will superkicks him. Josh then lariats Will. Josh turns a styles clash into an ankle lock attempt. Josh hits a styles clash for 2 then jay drillers him to win it.
I hated this. They did way too much with moves off the apron, on the ramp, off the top and flat out head drops just not being enough to stop either guy. It was stupid and dangerous.
Scott D'Amore comes out and says holy sh!t. He said he watched wrestling since he was 4. He said he saw the lowest of the lows and said he saw the dead corpse of the company with Bruce Pritchard pronouncing it dead. He said he saw people like Josh and Will manually hook up blood to the heart to make it flow again. He said TNA never died because of them. He said it gave them something to live and fight for. He said if he drops dead tonight, he's happy because TNA is back. He says TNA is back and is never ever going away. The "Cross the Line" theme then plays.
That was a really nice promo and a nice moment to cap off TNA's return. This was Scott's best promo ever here.
Overall thoughts: I didn't like the main, but Scott D'Amore's promo (which you should see) made up for it. It was an okay show overall though could have used something else to really put it over the top.
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