TNA Against All Odds Review - June 6, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Pre-Show: The Elegance Brand (M by Elegance and TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Champions Ash and Heather by Elegance) def. Myla Grace, Harley Hudson and Xia Brookside

Grace and Hudson lost to M and Heather on Thursday's iMPACT!, so I assumed this would be where they'd avenge the loss and potentially earn themselves a shot at the TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championship in the process. Well, I was wrong. They're not exactly off to the strongest start. The match itself was perfectly passable. The IInspiration returning afterward explains why the babyfaces lost because they're next in line for an opportunity at the titles instead.

Pre-Show: Matt Cardona Declared Himself Special Guest Referee for Santino Marella vs. Robert Stone

I don't know why time had to be wasted on the pre-show to establish that Cardona would be the special guest referee for Marella vs. Stone later in the night, but at least this wasn't completely pointless. Cardona made sense of it by explaining that he's technically a free agent and doesn't have allegiance to either TNA or NXT, which is why he'd be the perfect person to call it down the middle as the referee.

TNA International Champion Steve Maclin def. Mance Warner

I know Warner is more of a hardcore wrestler, but he's also shown he can go in standard singles matches, including here. Maclin's other title defenses were better, but this was a quality contest, nonetheless, especially to start the show with. Maclin has proven to be the perfect fit as the inaugural International champ with impressive performances every time.

Leon Slater, The Hardys and The Home Town Man def. The System (TNA X-Division Champion Moose, Eddie Edwards, Brian Myers and JDC)

If Moose is involved in a tag team match, you can bet your ass he's getting pinned. Seriously, what is the third or fourth time it's happened this year? It's such a lazy way to set up a future title match and doesn't mean anything when it happens so often. I'm all for Slater being the one to dethrone Moose at Slammiversary, but I would've preferred him winning a number one contender's match instead. Despite all of that, this was a solid eight-man tag team matchup. Cody Deaner disguising himself as The Home Town Man was a nice little bit.

Mustafa Ali def. Jason Hotch

It's way too early in Order 4's run to be teasing tension among the members or breaking up the group entirely, but this is the sort of stuff TNA must feel like they have to do when they run special events so often (or at least time them as poorly as they have this year). With all of that said, this was a damn fun match. The outcome may not have been in doubt, but I appreciated that Hotch was made to look credible in defeat.

First Class and Mike Santana Brawled on First Class Penthouse

This segment was exactly why TNA's special events don't need to be three hours long, as this easily could have happened on any ordinary episode of iMPACT!. I enjoy First Class' act, but their mic work shouldn't have dragged on for as long as it did and Santana should have interrupted much sooner. This furthered Santana's feud with First Class, but that's about it.

TNA Knockouts World Champion Masha Slamovich def. Lei Ying Lee

This came together on such short notice that there was little reason to think that Lee would take the title here, but from an in-ring standpoint, this was very good and among the best bouts I've seen Lee have in her career (much like her outing against Tessa Blanchard a few months ago). Slamovich has been killing it as Knockouts champ since Bound for Glory and manages to make every title defense stand out. Killer Kelly returning afterward to confront Slamovich was cool given their history as partners.

Frankie Kazarian def. Joe Hendry

This was a logical match to do since they didn't go one-on-one at Rebellion as originally planned before Ethan Page inserted himself. This was well worked, but like most matches TNA's special events, it could've easily happened on any episode of iMPACT!. Kazarian winning (even if it wasn't clean) shocked me. He needed a notable victory eventually, but I didn't think it'd come at Hendry's expense. I assume they're telling a story of Hendry being down on his luck and that he has to battle back following his loss of the TNA World Championship. Will he avenge this loss or will they just move on?

TNA World Tag Team Champions The Nemeths def. The Rascalz

I'm not a fan of this bout being rushed into as it could've benefited from being built up some more, but considering the circumstances, this was entertaining. The Nemeths losing the belts back to The Hardys seems to be the play (probably by Slammiversary), so I'm glad they got this match in, even if the outcome was obvious. I do question where The Rascalz go from here now that they've unsuccessfully challenged for the tag titles twice this year (and the NXT Tag Team Championship at one point, too).

Santino Marella def. Robert Stone to Remain TNA's Director of Authority (Matt Cardona Served as Special Guest Referee)

I'm amazed this actually went on second to last. Then again, the angle has been one of the bigger ones in TNA as of late (not necessarily their last but it's been featured prominently on all of the shows), so it's understandable. As a match, this was pretty much what you'd expect it to be, but the crowd was into it and the stakes helped. With any luck, Marella winning to retain authoritative power of TNA means this storyline is finally over.

TNA World Champion Trick Williams def. Elijah

To be clear, even with Williams being a top star in NXT, this still doesn't work as a main event of a live special. Yes, Elijah is associated with the man Williams beat with the belt, but this is the type of match you do on iMPACT!, but a mini pay-per-view. Regardless, this was a serviceable outing with a predictable result. I didn't mind the outside shenanigans as it established Williams and First Class as a cohesive unit.

Overall Show

I've said it before and I'll say it again: TNA desperately needs to stop running special events/pay-per-views so close together. You'd think they would've learned by now. This was another glorified edition of iMPACT!. That's not a knock as much as it is an honest assessment. TNA fills the three hours well, but I wish these were two hours with a little less filler. All in all, a thumbs-up event but hardly newsworthy outside of The IInspiration and Killer Kelly returning.

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