TNA iMPACT! Review - August 28, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Mike Santana and TNA International Champion Steve Maclin def. TNA World Champion Trick Williams and A.J. Francis

I dug the short-lived alliance Santana and Maclin had last summer, so it was cool they were able to rekindle that for a one-off here. This was a good, well-worked opener that served to set up Santana vs. Williams for the TNA World Championship for a later date, presumably Bound for Glory. Champions getting pinned is usually a lazy way to earn someone an opportunity at that person's title, but at least the outcome was the correct one.

Eric Young def. Myron Reed

Young is teasing doing a new gimmick having do with "The Cleanse". That sounds like a stable of some sort, but he's already leading The Northern Armory, so who knows. Reed is merely a temporary member of The Rascalz, so he can avoid to lose. He and Young had a decent match in the time they were allotted. If this is leading to The Northern Amory feuding with The Rascalz, I guess it'll keep both teams busy, if nothing else.

The IInspiration def. Fatal Influence (Jazmyn Nyx and Fallon Henley)

I realize this was taped beforehand, but now that Jacy Jane is no longer TNA Knockouts World Champion, there's no reason for Fatal Influence to continue being pushed in TNA. The IInspiration winning was absolutely the right call. It was an average outing, but the key is that The IInspiration are racking up victories before they inevitably recapture the TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championship. The third time should be the charm at Bound for Glory.

Eddie Edwards def. Ryan Nemeth

Nemeth's "big brother" shtick is so tired, and not in a good way. It's more obnoxious, channel-changing, go-away heat than anything. Thankfully, Edwards beat him in relatively short order, but this could've been even quicker and I wouldn't have complained. Are The Nemeths still owed a rematch for the TNA World Tag Team Championship? Ryan Nemeth has been made to look like such a loser lately (though I suppose that's nothing out of the ordinary for him) that I have no desire to see that.

Tasha Steelz def. Mara Sade

I appreciated the build this got backstage on last week's episode so it didn't feel entirely random. Sade is already more interesting as a character in TNA than she ever was in NXT, where she was really just another member of The Meta-Four. This match was fine, but the crowd was extremely quiet and the finish wasn't well executed. It didn't help that Steelz' feet on the rope at the end were clearly within the referee's line of vision, but apparently they were too blind to see it.

TNA World Tag Team Champions The Hardys def. Cedric Alexander and TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater (Non-Title)

Slater is an established ally of The Hardys, so that added an interesting wrinkle to this. It was a super fun match as you'd expect with Alexander and Slater making for a terrific team. Alexander getting pinned makes me wonder if this is leading to him turning on Slater and we get a rematch between the two at Bound for Glory for the TNA X-Division Championship with Alexander as a heel.

Santino Marella Confronted TNA World Champion Trick Williams

I'm not sure why this segment couldn't have been saved for next week or another time, but maybe they wanted to get it out of the way now in case Williams isn't on the next set of TNA TV tapings, or just to capitalize on what happened in the opener. This was brief, but it felt like a whole lot of nothing. Marella reiterated that Williams doesn't have to defend his TNA World Championship for another 43 days (it was 50 days last Thursday so subtract seven) and that would mean he can defend at Bound for Glory, but chaos ensued before he could officially announce Williams vs. Santana for the event. It was intended to end the show on a cliffhanger, but it fell flat for me.

Overall Show

The Hardys vs. Slater and Alexander was easily the highlight of the night. This was very much a middle-of-the-road show otherwise. There wasn't anything wrong with it, but Victory Road is (thankfully) several weeks away and thus nothing significant was put into motion on this episode aside from the tease of Williams vs. Santana at Bound for Glory. This was solid stuff yet nothing you need to seek out.

SEE MORE: TNA Reviews