Impact Review – 07.10.25

Thanks for everyone’s support and understanding regarding the past couple of weeks.I apologize for the delay but I promised a review and here it is. Life is still a struggle but let’s see if some Impactful Discourse can brighten the mood. Shall we? We shall.

We’re still in Pittsburgh as we get closer and closer to Slammiversary. Hannifan and Rewholdt greet us. But more importantly, guess who is here to greet us and get us off to a great start – the Personal Concierge. I was thinking in this time of Bret Hart rehashing that we haven’t had a reset of his take on Pittsburgh. But, by golly, the Concierge drops the enema and nozzle slam on Pittsburgh. Canada is going to Canada, I reckon. He also reminds us that the greatest TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions in history are…from Cleveland. And who is that tag team? the Elegance Brand. Heather and Ash come out (with M in tow.) They go even deeper into the cheap heat Water as Ash (who is actually from the Cleveland area) has a Terrible Towel – and rips it apart. Myron Cope turns is his grave (for those who are not familiar, the Towels were an idea created by the Hall of Fame Steeler broadcaster Cope to help raise funds for children’s hospitals in the Pittsburgh area and are ubiquitous to this day when the Steelers are anywhere. Ask Britt Baker for more info.)

By elegance vs. Myla Grace and Harley Hudson

We get an insert promo from Grace and Hudson who don’t say much. Heather and Grace start. Grace ducks a series of clotheslines and hits a series of kicks that turn to a sitting dropkick Ash tagged in and wants the stronger Hudson. After a quick flex off and a teased test of strength, the two do engage in an even battle until Ash knees the midsection and gets the quick advantage only to have Hudson hit her own knee strike and gets an armdrag and a legdrop on said arm.

Heather is tagged but Hudson gets a quick rollup for two and continues to work Heather’s arm. Heather gets a footstomp but is reversed again to an armdrag. There is a clever spot (sort of) as Hudson somewhat foolishly runs to the turnbuckles on the Elegancers side of the ring to leap off it. Ash grabs the hands and won’t let go, giving Heather a chance to hit a backbreaker for two. Heather chokes Hudson with her boot and tagged Ash who hits her handspring elbow and Heather adds a running boot for two.

Heather is back as we get a Jaded/sitting drop kick combo for two. Heather hits the chinlock but Hudson gradually powers out of it. Ash tries to interfere but the Hudson fights her off. However, a double clothesline drops both Heather and..well, Heather. Both crawl to get the hot tags but Grace’s is a hotter house of fire and with clothesline to both Elegancers. All four are now in the ring and Grace and Hudson slug away on the Elegenacers in the corner and run them together. They hit stereo clotheslines.

However, Ash hit an inverted jawbreaker and removes Hudson. By Elegance set up for a human slingshot maneuver but Hudson grabs Heather and drags her to the floor whilst Myla gets two from a roll up.

Grace gets back up and is clothesline down by Ash and the Rarified Air gets the win (Hudson could not break it up since Heather and M were holding her in the corner.) The By Elegance Brand celebrates as we celebrate a commercial break.

Impactful Rumination: Maybe I am biased because I cover this for the site, but I really do think the By Elegance Brand has become a preeminent women’s tag team. They have the nuances down, the moves are, by and large crisp, and any mic work is done by the Personal Concierge, who hits the old school wrestling manager motif incredibly well. If you are going to do some cameo work in the E somewhere, why not them.

And, I know they’re new but weren’t Hudson and Grace heralded as something big? They have been on the slow train to Jobber ton. There’s a there there but some victories would be nice to keep them perceived as a threat to, well, anybody.

And we’re back from break and go right back into the action with Cedric Alexander w/ Tasha Steelz and the Great Hands in tow with a good pop. Ali comes in to the ring in a nice suit with security in tow and we get the six-man tag match:

Alexander and The Great Hands vs. Ali’s Secret Service

Ali heads back up the ramp so it is just the Service. The Service are not given names, so, regrettably, I have to go with number one, two or three (I will not call them SS or ASS, sorry, I am not Vince Russo.)

Secret Service One (who is the thickest of the troika) starts with Skyler, who immediately hits the dropkick and tags in Hotch who gets a side kick and a rolling neckbreaker (a la Ali, as Hannifan notes.) Serviceman one gets a clothesline to curtail the momentum and tags in Serviceman two, who is the tallest of the trio.

Two grabs Hotch and throws him upside down into the turnbuckles and hits a nice powerslam for two. Two slugs away at Skyler in the corner and jaws at Alexander. This gives Hotch time to recover and hit an enziguri and crawl to Alexander for the tag. Simultaneously, the third Serviceman is tagged (who is the thinnest of the trio and has the longest hair of anyone in the match.) Alexander hits a flying DDT from the Apron to the ring and a series of reverse suplexes to the other two Serviceman. Alexander rolls the two next no each other and hits a penalty kick on Serviceman one and a sitting dropkick on Serviceman Two.

Both servicemen crawl out to the floor as Alexander hits the third Serviceman with a Falcon’s Arrow. Meanwhile Skyler spears Serviceman one from the apron to the floor and Hotch hits a moonsault to the floor on Serviceman Two. The Lumbar check on Serviceman three gets the win for Alexander.

Post match: Ali comes into the ring and drops the Hands, who were celebrating on the turnbuckles and gets a chair shot to Alexander in the ribs. Alexnader gets the advantage and goes to hit the Lumbar Check on Ali but Steelz turns and gets the low blow on Alexander. Ali gets to his feet and NOW, Alexander gets decked with the chair as Steelz heads up the ramp and stares at Ali, who has a generally befuddled look at Steelz as she leaves. Ali, still confused, heads up to ramp and we head to commercials.

Impactful Ruminations: I apologize to you, dear reader, I was the one who invoked Russo’s name earlier and didn’t think anything of it. Lo and behold, we get the SWERVE, BRO (technically, SWERVE, SIS, but you get it) with Steelz. I don’t know where this is going but I have an ill sentiment about what was an intriguing storyline.

Also, the first two Servicemen showed some potential and could make a decent team down the road, if not sooner, for a natural feud with the Gran Manos.

We head back to ringside to Xia Brookside and following her is Lei Ying Lee in full regalia. Slamovich is here in her Title glory.

Tag match: Lee and Slamovich vs. Fatal Influence (Henley and Jayne)

Influence comes in standard gear and music. Lee and Jayne start, James ducks a clothesline and gets a forearm smash on Lee as Jayne slugs away at Lee. Henley is tagged and gets a sliding elbow for two on Lee. Lee regains the advantage and gets a kick in the corner as Slamovich is tagged. Slamovich and Lee get the advantage on Henley and Lee whips Slamovich into her and Slamovich holds Lee for a brief Liu Kang series of kicks to Henley. A gut wrench suplex gets two for Slamovich. Lee back in and gets a leg grip and running knee and shotgun dropkick. Lee gets the 10 count punch on Henley into the corner an then an exploder suplex for two.

Lee throws Henley to the ropes but Henley gets the blind tag. Lee tries a roll up for two but gets pushed to the ropes by Henley into a crisp knee by Jayne – it sounded good. Henley gets a swinging kick around the ringpost to Lee as we get Influential posing and commercials.

Whence we return, Lee has Lee in a cravat lock. Henley gets a series of two-counts and goes for another cravat lock but Lee throws her off. Lee can’t make the hot tag as Henley holds on to Lee. Henley throws Lee to the other side and slugs Slamovich. Henley than catches Lee and slams her down for two. Henley throws Lee to the turnbuckles but Lee goes up top and hits a bodypress (ish) on Henley for two.

NOW, we get the hot tag to Slamovich and Jayne is tagged, too. Slamovich is a house on fire with a series of kicks to Henley and Jayne. Slamovich gets a running boot in the corner to Jayne. Slamovich sets up her dual DDT/clothesline spot to the Influencers for two-and-a-fraction. A snowplow is reversed into a clothesline, which in turn is reversed into a backslide for two. Jayne rolls out and tries to hit the running knee strike but Slamovich catches it and puts Jayne on her shoulders. However, Jayne fights out of it and hits a pump kick.

Henley tagged in and throw Slamovich into a tun buckle and Henley hits a blockbuster on Slamovich for two and NOW, we get Jayne’s knee smash for two-and-a-fraction until Lee broke up the pin attempt. Lee and Slamovich slug away in the ring in the “yeah/boo” spot. Henley tires to go off the ropes and hits a knee on Henley but another go at the ropes in a hair bulldog by Henley for two.
Jayne is tagged in but a double suplex attempt is thwarted by Lee. Jayne and Henley throw Lee to the floor as Slamovich tries to recover but eats a kick to the face by Jayne. Jayne tags Henley tries to hit their finisher but Lee grabs Jayne and drags her out of the ring. Slamovich then recovers, hits a superkick and a Snow Plow for the win.

Post Match: glaring galore.

Impactful Ruminations: I know hindsight is 20/20 and we knew what happened on Sunday and last night. Something is coming down the pike, I think, tomorrow if WWE adheres to standard booking practice and have the loser of the bout win a match before the event. I just don’t see Jayne being a serious challenge to Slamovich. I know Jayne has made leaps and bounds improvements but this seems like it would be a step in the wrong direction to have the men’s and women’s championship on “interlopers.” Slamovich is a recognized name amongst most wrestling fans and would be a shame to see her job.

Also, we know that Nyx was cleared for competition on Tuesday and that’s good news. However, did she have to be out there for Brookside to nothing at all “but keep an eye on her?” It seems like a waste of Brookside’s -and Nyx’s – time.

Bioflex health report: Miguel is still living with a hernia (hurts him bad in a tender location, Heh!!) Killer Kelly is not medically cleared to complete due to the chain match and neither is Cardona who is dealing with a lower back injury from Dark State.

TNA Flashback with X Division highlights over 23 years. There sure was a lot of Styles highlights in there..hmmmm…It leads to hyping the Slater vs. Moose match at Slammiversary.

Speaking of Slater, here he is pensively thinking backstage until the System breaks up the contemplation as Moose runs down Slater and the System adds a laugh track. Slater fires back that he wants to be the youngest champ ever. Moose retorts he wants to be longest title holder as Slater sells his case one more time and walks off camera and Cardona walks into frame and asks if they enjoyed Dark State’s attack. However, Cardona said they won’t stop and the System might be next. Everyone walks off except Myers who shows conflicted acting range and wants to say something but leaves instead. Cardona shows frustrated acting range and we go back ringside.

International Title Triple Threat Match: Mance Warner vs. Jake Something vs. Steve Maclin

Warner out first and as an old-school fan, I appreciate the Bucksnort, TN reference. DeLander is with him and we get some PDA. Something is out next and wastes no time getting into the ring and starts to slug away at Warner. The two keep brawling as Maclin runs down to the ting and slugs way at Something and clotheslines him out of the ring. Warner throws him to the ropes but Maclin holds on and throws Warner to the floor to hit a diving clothesline between the ropes to the floor. The two start to brawl as Something leaps over the top rope and lands on Warner and Maclin.

Something and Maclin get in the ring and run into each other off the ropes with Maclin getting the worst. Waner back in the ring with a chair who drops Something an then goes to work on Maclin. Warner digs the chair to Maclin’s abdomen and sets up the chair in the ring. DeLander doges galivanting around the ring and grabs another chair and another PDA. Warner poses but Something sneaks behind and powerbombs Warner through the chairs. Something gets two-and-a-fraction but Delander puts Warner’s foot on the ropes.

Warner slides out of the ring but Maclin comes in and hits a series of clotheslines on Something. Maclin hits the Thesz press into a series of punches and a running forearm smash. Warner comes back in the ring but eats an Angle suplex for his efforts. Maclin sets Warner up for the tree of woe and Maclin hits the shoulder for two until Something break sup the pin.

Something hits a powerbomb for two. Something puts Maclin into the corner and hits a shoudlerblock in the abdomen. Something puts Maclin on the top turnbuckle as Something heads up but Warner sneaks behind and hits a tower of doom spot and all three are on the mat.

All three are back up and take turn pounding away on each other. Something gets the best of it and sends Waner out of the ring and points outside. He hypes up the crowd and tries to hit a running shoulder block on the ring post on Warner but DeLander pulls him away and Something hits the ring steps (sort of) Warner removes the top steps and hits a DDT on Something on the steps.

Warner heads to the ring and hits the Knee Pad Up, Knee Pad Down on Maclin for two-and-a-fraction. Warner tries to hit an implant DDT but Maclin reverses it and hits the KIA DDT for victory and retains the title.

We immediately go backstage and see Steelz walking to the car and Ali asking her what happened. The Hands are there also needing answers. She made the call to Alexander to save her from the drama. Thanks to her, Ali now has a feature match against Alexander, who is the one person Ali has not beaten (well…okay, for storyline sure..)

She then figuratively undresses the Hands for worrying about doing the right thing and should have worried about their jobs. She asked where everyone was prior to forming the Order. If anyone has anything to say, say it now. Ali said Steelz lied to her. She did lie to Ali but also saved him.

Ali agreed that she was the right person to hire and now that chaos is behind them an unified Order can now move forward to be the best faction. They go to leave and the System and Alicia Edwards closes the door and gives her catch phrase. The System take umbrage with Order Four being the best faction and Edwards states the proof is in the pudding and they held all the titles at some junction. JDC offers a match next week and Ali tries to back out but Steelz makes the match happen.

And now, we cut to fourth rope..what is tha……

Oh, no; no, no, (sigh) no, come on

Enzo is here, looking bigger than I remember. He runs through his litany of catchphrases and will make his presence known.

Impactful Ruminations: Let the record reflect, no..no…no. Why Enzo? I fear for this.

Back to prior better moments. There have been a lot of clean finishes this time. I like that. Although, it seems like we are wasting Something. On the other hand, they have not been clean losses (Warner did the job tonight) because there is something I like about Something (that was weird to write.) He has a good old-school look and looks like he could maul you. Maclin seems like a good champ and would like to see the two feud without Warner.

I might be the only one who feels this, but Alicia Edwards is great in her character. I laugh every time she appears. She knows the role and understands the assignment and is great at it. She plays a great excrement disturber.

We come back from break and we watch Santana’s thoughts about TNA in the last few years, reflecting on his father’s passing. The toughest obstacles teach you the greatest lessons. Since being back in TNA, each obstacle got him to where he is now. In front of all he cares, he is going to bring back the title. He played a snippet of a message from his dad. This was also a great promo.

Victoria Crawford vs. Indi Hartwell

Crawford comes to ring with Tessa Blanchard in tow (who joins us on commentary.) Great sign in the crowd “Tessa Blanchard is an undeniable Cubic Zirconia.” I laughed. Crawford gives us a dance on the turnbuckles as Blanchard nods and laughs before heading to Hannifan and Rewholdt. Hartwell is out next and gets a good pop, slapping hands with the audience and posing.

Blanchard automatically starts jawing with Hartwell from the announcer’s table about all the things she did for Hartwell and that Blanchard made her. Crawford’s outfit is really shiny, for the record.

Crawford tried to grab an armbar but Hartwell reversed it and Crawford went to the ropes. Crawford bailed to the outside and sat on Blanchard’s lap and gave the fans thumbs down. She stalls for a bit and ducks an elbow to jaw with the fans on the other side. Hartwell gives chase and ends up in the face of Blanchard. Crawford takes advantage of the delay by kicking the rope on Hartwell’s leg and grabs a facelock and gives her a noogie. Sure.

Hartwell gets out of it and slugs away at Crawford. Hartwell gets a go behind but Crawford reverses it and Hartwell ends up draped on the ropes by Blanchard, who takes the opportunity to slug Hartwell before going back to commentary. Crawford misses an axe kick and is thrown to the ropes and gets a huge boot for the win.

Post Match: Blanchard angrily makes her way to the ring and grabs the mic and says this is what Hartwell does – ruin friendships. Hartwell seems incredulous by this as Blanchard said she doesn’t know the meaning of loyalty. Blanchard said Hartwell can copy anything but reiterates she walked all over her back and is a parasite. Without Blanchard, Hartwell would be in Australia wrestling for a handshake. Come Slammiversary, it ends.

We end that and go backstage as Santino Marella and his daughter/NXT liaison are talking about the buzz of TNA wrestling. Goldberg, I mean, Eric Young, confronts Marella about Cody Deaner being the Hometown Man. He confesses he was Super Eric (Marella’s reaction to the news is hilarious.) Marella wants proof and Young shows him the mask he took. Marella wants more proof and if he can be unmasked; he is gone for life. Young this is on him and Grace and tells the Armory they know what to do and leave off camera as Santino talks about wolverines.

They go back to Hannifan and Rewholdt who said we can rest easy that we now know Super Eric was Young all along. Rewholdt look is great and wonders if he has to talk about Santa Claus as we go to commercial.

Impactful Ruminations: It seems we are going to sandbag Blanchard with Crawford. Crawford has shown me nothing since her arrival and whatever buzz she had because she was a former WWE star evaporated as quickly as a water droplet in the desert. Hartwell is still…okay. I still weep that Blanchard had to be who she was out of the ring because in the ring, she is phenomenal in every aspect.

The Young segment was okay. I guess we are getting a Deanerrrr…..Sorry, Hometown Man vs. Young feud which keeps their legs churning. I would like to see more from the Armory, though. They have potential to be a good team. Young does a great job, though, as a mic guy and leader for them. They paired them well.

We get a preview of..well, tomorrow’s Impact featuring Callahan vs. Moose, Dani Luna vs. Blanchard and as, announced earlier, Order Four vs. the System.

We go to a sit-down interview with Hannifan and Joe Hendry (clap, clap.) Hannifan runs down Williams. Hendry reiterates he has watched TNA Impact since its inception. He talks about Williams not putting the title on but rather just holding it. Hannifan reiterates that Williams does not have to be pinned to win the title.

Hendry will be the face of Impact someday but for now, it is Hendry Whenever the media needs an interview or a segment, they get Hendry and he was moving the title into the mainstream – and did it with a smile on his face. Santana has not. Hendry is the one to be TNA wrestling. While Long Island believes in Santana, the world believes in Hendry

He believes in himself as much as he the fans do. Despite all the memes and media coverage, Hendry is still the same person who did everything he could to win the title, including starting wrestling at a late age from a judo background.

Impactful Rumination: Great segment, but should have switched the last two parts. It would Have more impact if the last phrase would have been who believes in who.

Anyway, we go back to land of three rivers and see that Trick Williams appears and joins us on commentary. There is awkward silence until Williams breaks it by telling Hannifan to respect his champion and Williams has heard everything he said in the last couple of weeks. Rewholdt we do plan to talk about it as the main event starts

First Class vs. The Nemeths vs. Rascalz vs. Hardys

Glad to see Navarro is back from his injury. They arrive first. Williams continues to jaw with Hannifan asking where his gold is. Nemeths are out next and are announced from Cleveland, the boos are loud anyway. Williams talks about taking the title to Vegas.

Rascalz out next and are announced from the 419. Reed once again joins Wentz to bring back OG Rascalz. Williams talked about his friendship with another Rascal, Wes lee. Hardys are out next and get a huge pop and even Williams seemed impressed. Hardys show no love and Williams will remember that going forward. We go forward with commercials.

We come back and Reed and Nick Nemeth start the match. Nemeth goes behind and hits a roll up for two. Reed throws Nemeth to the ropes and gets a trip, which leads to a legdrop. Wentz tags in and the two hit a series of kicks which leads to a double foot stomp. Williams talks about his friendship with First Class and lauds Francis’ NFL career and recognized his game. He said Navarro reminds him of Carmelo Hayes but is infinitely more likable as Ryan is tagged but is victim to a Rascalz slingshot back suplex/neckbreaker for two.

Francis is tagged and Jeff Hardy is tagged. Williams presses Hannifan why he does not like him and hates on him. He has held his tongue but the fact that Williams does not car about this company and Championship. He said Williams is leeching off TNA. Williams responded that if Hannifan understood what was best for TNA, they would like Williams and that he could not be leeching on TNA because he was the man before he got here.

Francis wants a test of strength but Hardy does his dance and chops away at Francis. Francis garbs a chokeslam which is reversed to a kick to the ribs and a jawbreaker. Hardy hits a series of chops and hits two Twists of face as Matt is tagged. The hardy s hit the Poetry in Motion and Wentz is tagged and he gets a Poetry in Motion, which sends Francis face first to the mat. A standing moosaluts gets two, Francis gabs Wentz who escapes and tries a cradle, Francis tries to stomp Wentz but misses. Williams implores Francis to get his head in the game who eats an enziguri.

Francis recovers and grabs Wentz and runs him to the heels’ corner where Navarro grabs his hair to keep him there. Nick is tagged Francis throws Nemeth into Wentz as we get thrown to our last set of commercials.

When we return, Nemeth has Wentz in a headlock. Wentz tries to power out but is thrown back to the canvas by Wentz. That changes when Nick throws Wentz to the ropes but Wentz gets a handspring leaping knee to drop Nemeth. Wentz makes the hope crawl to Matt for the hot tag as Ryan is tagged. Hardy is a compound on fire and hits the turnbuckle spot where Ryan hits every turnbuckle repeated times. Matt hits a side effect on Ryan and on Nick.

Nick attacks Jeff on the floor and distracts Matt so Ryan can reverse the hold. Matt reverses a toss to the ropes (as Ryan tags Francis blindly) and Matt hits a Twist of Fate. However, Francis breaks it up but Francis misses a charge to the turnbuckles and eats an avalanche Side Effect. That leads to the turnbuckle spot. However, Francis reverses a Twist of Fate into a DDT for two until the Rascalz break it up and go after the Nemeths. Wentz leaps over the top to drop the Nemeths. Meanwhile Matt heads to the second rope, but Williams distracts him. This gives Francis enough time to grab Hardy for a chokeslam. Hardy escapes and hits the rope but Williams hits him with the title. This staggers Hardy enough for Francis to hit the TFL for the win.

Post-match: First Class and Williams attack the Hardys but Santana hits the ring and tries to even up the odds. However, Santana falls for the numbers game. Hendry comes out to a massive pop and starts to clean house but inadvertently hits Santana, who takes umbrage and attacks Hendry, despite Hendry trying to apologize. The Rascalz and the Hardys have to separate the two as the two jaw at each other until cooler heads prevail and we go off air.

Impactful Ruminations: TNA has an interesting dilemma that will show who is getting the big contract. I do thoroughly believe Williams loses the belt. The winner between Hendry and Santana is the one who gets the contract and the proverbial face of TNA. The other heads to (Triple) H-Town.

TNA has shown it has some suspect (at best) business decisions. It is on a definite uptick with marketable stars and a nice relationship (for now) with WWE. It would move TNA back more than a couple of steps to lose both. One? Sure. They are too big to keep signed. I get it. I do. But to lose both and the title? Even they could not be that dumb, could they?