TNA iMPACT! Review - December 12, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

TNA X-Division Champion Moose def. Cody Deaner

Moose will be defending the TNA X-Division Championship against Kushida at Final Resolution, but I don't think Moose mentioned Kushida a single time here. Instead, he ran down the current champions of TNA before being interrupted by Deaner, which led to Moose agreeing to give him an impromptu title match. Deaner's losing streak was acknowledged, so the crowd was into all of his nearfalls, but it was weird that Kushida never appeared. This worked well for what it was supposed to be.

Rosemary def. Xia Brookside

Rosemary will battle Jordynne Grace (who made the save for Brookside afterward) at Final Resolution, so it was logical for Rosemary to further her momentum with a win here. We didn't get a proper match between them a few months ago when Rosemary answered Grace's TNA Knockouts World Championship open challenge, so I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do on Friday night. This was a competitive contest and it was good stuff for the time given.

The Rascalz def. Leon Slater and Laredo Kid

There wasn't anything at stake, but these four guys made the most of their time and had what was essentially a very fun spot-fest. Slater and Kid work well as a team and The Rascalz are obviously great, so I can't say I expected anything less from this match. The Rascalz have lacked direction since their feud with Wes Lee over in WWE NXT ended, so hopefully this will help them get back on the right track.

TNA Digital Media Champion and International Wrestling Heavyweight Champion PCO and Sami Callihan def. Jake Something and Hammerstone by Disqualification

Oddly enough, this was yet another tag team match with nothing on the line. I know it's since been confirmed that PCO and Callihan will take on Something and Hammerstone as well as The Rascalz in a three-way tag matchup at Final Resolution, but it feels like a placeholder match for all involved since I don't think that will be for a shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship, either. Strange. At any rate, PCO and Callihan are developing quality chemistry as partners. This was decent up until the abrupt disqualification finish. There was another "23" tease afterward for PCO and Callihan. Why do I feel like this is going to lead to Callihan turning on PCO? Is there a reason why they're teaming in the first place?

TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Champion Dani Luna def. Heather by Elegance

This was the fourth singles match these teams have had in the last month. As I've said before, the booking of this feud has been very basic and boring. That's to take nothing away from the effort the women are putting in, but the TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championship continue to feel like a total afterthought. To their credit, this was a nice outing. You'd think we'd get the tag title matchup at Final Resolution, but it hasn't been confirmed as of this writing.

TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth, Joe Hendry and TNA Knockouts World Champion Masha Slamovich def. First Class (KC Navarro and A.J. Francis) and Tasha Steelz

Francis has certainly had the best year of his entire career in 2024, but that isn't saying much and I simply don't buy him as a threat to the TNA World Championship. The heels did stand tall after this was over, but why not give him the win to make viewers believe he has somewhat of a chance of beating Nemeth at Final Resolution? That aside, this served as a solid preview of Nemeth vs. Francis as well as Slamovich vs. Steelz. By the way, Steelz should become a full-time member of First Class. She'd be a natural fit.

Overall Show

This was one of those instances where the quick turnaround time in between events came back to bite TNA. Most of the matches for Final Resolution on Friday night make sense, but the show feels thrown together and the build has been half-assed. iMPACT! is usually entertaining from week to week, but I thought this was a subpar show that was largely light on above-average in-ring action and anything of real importance.

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