TNA Against All Odds Review - June 14, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Pre-Show: Sami Callihan def. Jonathan Gresham

It's been about a month or so and I'm still not into this new character for Gresham. I applaud his attempt to switch things up, but it isn't clicking so far. He and Callihan are two seasoned veterans, so they had the well-worked match you'd expect from them. Kushida returned for the first time since losing to Gresham to cost him the victory, so I assume we'll get a rematch between them at some point.

Pre-Show: TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Champions Alisha Edwards and Masha Slamovich def. The Hex

This suffered from having a heel vs. heel dynamic because The Hex have been heels since returning to TNA and the champs are clearly heels, though the crowd wasn't completely quiet for it. This was perfectly passable. Edwards and Slamovich haven't held the gold for very long, so it was logical for them to retain here, not to mention that The Hex aren't signed by TNA the last I checked and weren't going to be anything more than temporary challengers in that case.

Mike Santana and Steve Maclin def. The Rascalz

The crowd was super into this as the opener and rightfully so because it was a very fun match. That should come as no surprise considering Santana and Maclin worked really well as partners and The Rascalz always deliver. I'm curious if Maclin will be positioned as a babyface going forward or if it was just for this one-off alliance with Santana. By the way, it'd be really cool to see any of these guys in next week's NXT Championship number one contender's Battle Royal on WWE NXT, which is rumored to feature TNA talent.

PCO def. Rich Swann

I thought PCO was challenging A.J. Francis for the Digital Media Championship on this show, but it actually makes more sense for him to go through Swann first and save PCO vs. Francis for a little later on. That isn't to say it will be a barn burner by any means, but the storyline just started and they can hold off until Slammiversary for that first match. This was perfectly fine. I was more interested in Steph De Lander saying yes to PCO's date proposal (or whatever it was) afterward.

TNA World Tag Team Champions The System (Eddie Edwards and Brian Myers) def. Nic and Ryan Nemeth

It's still going to take some time before I can take Ryan Nemeth seriously after being booked as a total loser for the longest time in TNA, but I'm sure he and Nic are loving teaming together for the first time on a major scale. This was a very well-wrestled match, though I could've done without Dirty Dango costing the Nemeths the win. Please don't tell me he's the newest member of The System. It was also quite random because I don't recall them having any interactions on iMPACT! unless I missed something.

Frankie Kazarian def. Joe Hendry

Hendry received an incredible ovation from the Chicago crowd, so TNA booked him to lose. Yeah, that was pretty puzzling. I know Kazarian cheated to win and they can have an actual feud going forward, but it didn't feel like TNA capitalized on his momentum the way they should have. The match itself was solid and I'd like to see more from them, but it never got a chance to get out of first gear.

TNA X-Division Champion Mustafa Ali def. Trent Seven

Seven was slept on in WWE because his British Strong Style contemporaries were bigger stars than him, but he's very talented in his own right and that was on full display in this match. Granted, the outcome was never in doubt, but Seven gave Ali a hell of a fight and was made to look credible in defeat. Ali vs. Mike Bailey is the logical match to do the TNA X-Division Championship at Slammiversary.

ABC def. Eric Young and Josh Alexander

We keep hearing on commentary that ABC have a contractual rematch for the TNA World Tag Team Championship, yet they continue to face other teams in random matches instead. Beating two former world champions will certainly help their case in getting that title shot soon, though. It was a quality contest and it gave ABC a much-needed win, but I have no idea what TNA is doing (or not doing, rather) with Alexander right now. He's been directionless since his rivalry with Hammerstone ended.

TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace def. Tatum Paxley

This was an open challenge, but Paxley answering it was hardly a shocker considering her involvement in the NXT Women's Championship match at WWE NXT Battleground. Plus, it was awesome to see an active NXT talent appear in a TNA ring. Paxley isn't exactly on Grace's level, but she's been improving and managed to hang with Grace here in what was a very good outing. They've been building to Grace vs. Ash by Elegance for months, but that still doesn't come off as a major match to me.

TNA World Champion Moose def. "Broken" Matt Hardy in a Broken Rules Match

This probably benefited from all the plunder and shenanigans that came with the stipulation. I didn't have high hopes for it being some sort of exhilarating singles match otherwise. The crowd was into it and they put forth a commendable effort. It was another notable title defense for Moose. It was reported earlier in the day that Jeff Hardy was officially a free agent, so it wasn't a massive surprise when he showed up, but it did make for a memorable moments. I'm all for the Hardys having a return run in TNA as AEW didn't do much with them toward the end.

Overall Show

This was the most must-see TNA event in a while because of the buzz the company now has thanks to the working relationship with NXT, and it turned out to be a thumbs-up show. Sure, Moose and Hardy headlining a pay-per-view in 2024 isn't ideal, but they pulled out all the stops and the night ended on a high note. Along with the enjoyable wrestling, Against All Odds effectively set the stage for what we could be getting at Slammiversary next month and gave potentially new/returning viewers a few reasons to continue tuning into TNA programming.

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