TNA Impact 1/2/2025

TNA Impact 1/2/2025

The last two weeks have been recap specials. The last Impact I saw is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/12/tna-impact-12122024.html

We get a graphic for Jax Dane, who passed away recently.

We see Jordynne Grace's team for tonight arrive.

Joe Hendy comes out to talk. He says there's a new #1 contender to the TNA Title. He says Final Resolution was that and a promise to himself that he will become champ. He says he got into the business on a resolution. He says Genesis is all about a new beginning. He says it's the beginning of the Joe Hendry era and will leave the world chanting, "we believe". Joe says they believe in a new TNA champ.

Ryan Nemeth comes out. Ryan says his big brother won't be happy about this. He says Joe comes out here, whining and crying every week. He says Joe's tarnishing his big brothers rep. Ryan says Joe thinks he's a hero, main eventer and champ but he isn't. He calls him a midcarder. He says he's a backstabber too who plays headgames to get ahead. He say he and Nic don't trust him. 

Joe says he admires the courage of Ryan to come out and make up stories. Joe says he's been on the road for 200 days and went to the doctor for help sleeping. He says the doctor asked him if he heard of The Ryan Nemeth Comedy Special. Joe says he was out in 10 seconds. He says if he's a midcarder, Ryan is a janitor. He tells him to go mop up the floor and get him a coffee. Joe says he has matters to attend to and says that's enough stealing TV time and glory.

Ryan says he will get glory against Rhino. He says he will beat him. Joe asks who wants to see Rhino vs Ryan right now. Rhino then comes out.

Thoughts: I'd like to see Ryan be more part of the show while Nic is around. They can do some things with them they can't do with others because they are brothers and I think Ryan can help add some personality to Nic. I don't like Ryan calling Joe a midcarder, because those things shouldn't really exist in kayfabe.

Rhino vs Ryan Nemeth

They trade wristlocks. Ryan side headlocks him. Ryan offers a handshake. Ryan boots and clubs on him. Ryan hits corner spears. Rhino chops and hiptosses him. Ryan goes out to stall. Ryan's head is banged off the apron. Rhino gets pushed into the post.

Ryan chinlocks Rhino then pulls him down by the hair. Ryan misses an elbow drop then Rhino hits a TKO for 2. Rhino hits punches on Ryan. Rhino corner spears him. Ryan rakes his eyes.

Ryan brings a chair in and is lariated. Rhino then chairs Ryan and gets DQ'd.

Thoughts: Rhino was dumb here for intentionally getting DQ'd when he was in control. It was short and not much of a math before the finish.

Jordynne Grace is interviewed. She says Tessa Blanchard too kher ball and left and say its her division. Grace says she doesn't think so. Grace says she's not the same Grace from 5 years ago but says Tessa is the same Tessa. She says will be waiting to give Tessa the warm welcome she deserves if she wants to walk back in. 

The Rascalz do a promo. They say the tag titles are being held by legends. Wentz says he remembers doing Jeff Hardy swantons as a kid. Trey says what about The Rascalz vs The Hardy's for the tag titles. The Hardy's walk in. They say they remind them of them. Matt says Genesis deserves a big match like theirs would be. Matt says The Hardy Train is moving full speed ahead and nothing stops it. Matt says they would be beating the GOAT's if they beat them. Trey says it'll be the match of the year and tells the fans to get ready.

Kushida vs Ace Austin

Kush takes him down. Ace gets on the 2nd rope to avoid a legsweep. Kush side headlock takeovers Ace. Kush leg locks him. Kush does a headscissors. Kush shoulders Ace over. Kush cartwheels over Ace. Kush tries to hiptoss him into a cartwheel dropkick but Ace dropkicks him. Ace then plancha's him outside. Ace handstands on the apron and is pulled down.

Kush armbars Ace on the apron. We go to break and return. Kush throws him out then baseball slides him. Kush knee drops Ace's arm and bangs the arm off his shoulder. They double lariat each other down.

They trade forearms. Ace hits kicks and a russian legsweep. Ace legdrops him. Kush does a hiptoss cartwheel dropkick. Kush ankle locks him then hits a running shotei for 2. Ace kicks him off the ropes. Ace hits corner lariats.

Ace is on the buckles and Kush handspring kicks him. Kush does a top rope rolling armbar. Ace lifts him and breaks the hold. Ace springboards and is kicked in the air. Ace spin kicks him. Ace hits the fold and wins.

Thoughts: I liked it. Kush worked the arm and stuck with it and Ace sold it well. They threw some high flying in there and it was a good juniors match.

Ace gets on the mic after and thanks everyone for supporting him. He thanks everyone for supporting Chris Bey too. Ace says Bey told him to go on a crazy singles run for him and win the big one. Ace says they were top guys but it's time he becomes the top guy. He says he wants Nic Nemeth and the world title.

Moose comes out. He says Ace won the top title but doesn't mention his name. He says it's time he teaches him about TNA. Moose says TNA wouldn't be TNA without him and wouldn't be the hottest company without him. Moose says he's holding onto the top title. He says Ace is scared of him and wants the easy way out by taking Nic Nemeth's title. Moose brings up Chris Bey and Ace tells him he will not speak about him.

Ace says he's been x-champion 3 times and carried the division for years. He says if Moose wants to learn about the x-division, he's talking to the right guy. Ace says he can become 4x x-division champ right now.

Santino Marella comes out. Santino says Ace is a top player and says Moose has been on fire. Santino sets up Moose vs Ace Austin for the x-division title.

Thoughts: I thought they did a good job with this and they made me interested in a match I wouldn't have been hyped for otherwise.

Steve Maclin is walking back and forth in front of EY in the back. Jonathan Gresham comes in. They talk about all of them being p@ssed off. The System then walk past them and talk about the tag belts. Eric, Gresham and Maclin then hit them and fight.

We get some clips of an old TNA match.

A trainer works on Ryan Nemeth in the back. He calls Rhino crazy and complains about him using a chair. Nic Nemeth walks in. Ryan says Joe Hendry happened and said Rhino hit him with a chair. Rhino comes in. Rhino said he hit Ryan with it and Ryan brought the chair in. Santino Marella comes in. He says next week will be The Nemeth Brothers vs Rhino and "someone nice". Joe Hendry then walks in and says he will be his partner. Joe says it'll be a preview of what Nic will get at Genesis.

Mike Santana comes out with Josh Alexander's head gear. Mike says he speaks from the heart. He says obstacles are something he is used to in his life. He says he beat rehab and took a bet on himself by coming to TNA. He says he wants to become the standard of TNA. The lights go out and The Northern Armory comes out.

Josh asks if it's about Mike being the standard and the face of the company. Josh says everyone wants to be the guy but few can obtain it. Josh says he wouldn't be the man he was today if it wasn't for LAX vs The North. He says Mike was sent packing by The North. He said Mike bet on himself and did nothing. Josh asks how may titles has Mike won since he went to TNA and he said 0.

Josh said he never told people he wanted to be the guy - it just happened and was destiny. He says he beat Minoru Suzuki and Bronson Reed to become the standard. He says Mike will never be the guy as long as he's around. 

He accuses Josh of sucking up to the booker. Mike says he knows he could beat the three Northern Armory members. He says he will go through the entire crew in one night and prove he is who he says he is. He says he will see him next week.

Jordynne Grace's team tells her it's time to go. Santino Marella comes in and puts a guard where Grace was at to wait for Tessa Blanchard.

Frankie Kazarian does a promo. He says he has cool sunglasses and doesn't care about Nemeth vs Hendry. He says he will be waiting for the perfect moment to maybe take his shot. Leon Slater walks past. Kaz says he has seen people come and go. He says Leon has something special. He says he can't be a king but could be a prince. He says he needs some coaching and is willing to do it. Leon says it would be cool. Kaz asks him if he wants to start now. He says Leon should be his trophy bearer and carry the trophy for him at ringside. Leon says that's not him and he isn't here to be a young boy. Kaz says "he's one of those" and tells him to go create his legacy and remember who paved that road in a rude tone. Leon says he will pass him on that road when he gets a chance. JDC comes in. He says he's a good kid but hopes those demons don't get to him down the road. JDC says he's just missing that something. He says maybe he needs a cool moniker like Leon "The Future" Slater. Kaz says it'll never get over.

Nic Nemeth comes out. He says we got a new #1 contender in Joe Hendry. Nic says Joe owes some of his success to the fans. He says he believes in Joe Hendry. He says Joe was close to becoming TNA champ against him but he's still him. Nic says he knows what Joe is capable of. He says one of his greatest honors is repping TNA as the champ. Nic says he outdoes everyone every night and that's why he's champ. He says it'll be a special night at Genesis. Nic says Santino hastily made a tag match. Ryan comes out.

Ryan gets mad at Nic respecting Joe Hendry. He says Joe will stab him in the back the first chance he gets like Rhino did. He says they will show Joe and Rhino that the name Nemeth is synonymous with greatness. Nic tells him to take it down a notch and says they are in this match because of Ryan. Nic tells him to calm down and leaves.

Ryan says Nic is upset and it's because of the fans. He then drops the mic and walks off.

We go to the back. The security guard waiting for Tessa is down. Santino says we need a medical professional.

Jordynne Grace, Masha Slamovich, Dani Luna and Jody Threat vs Ash By Elegance, Heather By Elegance, Tasha Steelz and Rosemary

Masha and Tasha pound on each other. Tasha is tripped into the ropes and takes a boot. Masha lariats her. Masha hits snapmares and kicks her in the back. Tasha armdrags her and Masha PK's her for 2. Masha hits lariats on Rose then forearms her.

Rose takes a nasty double side slam on her neck. Grace drops Masha onto Rose for 2. Grace hits shoulders on Rose then spinebusters her. All the girls come in and fight. We get 4 stereo suplexes. We go to break and return.

Heather forearms Dani and Dani catches her crossbody. Dani fallaway slams her. Heather is tripped into a basement dropkick > sliding lariat and low crossbody. Dani slams Jody onto Tasha for 2. Tasha jawbreakers Dani. Heath takes a double delayed suplex for 2.

Ash chokes Jody on the ropes then stomps on her chest. Jody hits forearms on Heather and Heather pulls her down by the hair. Heather hits mounted shots. Heather kicks Jody in the back. We go to break and return again. Jody gets stomped on in the corner. Ash cartwheel elbows Jody in the corner.

Rose euros Jody then sleepers her. Jody's head is banged off the buckles. Jody hits a tornado suplexes on Rose. Grace is hot tagged in. She bets up on Ash and spinning back elbows her. Grace hits a sliding forearm. Grace hits a world's strongest slam then vader bombs her for 2 when Tasha top rope splashes her to break it up. Grace lariats Tasha.

Masha superkicks Tasha then step up knees her in the corner. Masha facekicks Tasha in the corner and koppo kicks her for 2. Dani powerbombs Rose then everyone comes in to do a move. Tasha cutters Grace then Masha spin kicks Tasha in the face. Masha hits a short piledriver on Tasha and wins.

Thoughts: The breaks really cut this one up. What we got was a pretty average match as expected but they did get a lot of time for this one.

Tessa Blanchard comes in and nails Grace from behind. Rose mists Masha in the eyes. Tessa slams a door into Grace's head backstage. She drags her down a ramp with the strap on a bag. Tessa says she's taking her ball back and pulls down a rollaway door to lock Grace out. 

Overall thoughts: It was average as usual. I liked the Ace/Kushida match best and the Ace/Moose segment after. The main was average as expected. The Nic Nemeth/Joe Hendry storyline isn't really the strongest but there's still time for it to develop. Tehy did build some stuff for next week and the PPV though which is good. I'd give this one a 5 out of 10 and I wouldn't really recommend it.