TNA iMPACT! Review - February 1, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Nic Nemeth def. Trey Miguel

I liked Nemeth's match with Zachary Wentz last week, but I actually thought this was better paced and much more enjoyable. Both guys put forth a strong effort and showed what they could do, gelling really well as opponents. The outcome was never in doubt, of course, but this is what I want to see more of from Nemeth in his post-WWE run. Post-match, Steve Maclin and The Rascalz laid out Nemeth, so Nemeth may need backup before he battles Maclin one-on-one at No Surrender.

TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Champions Decay def. Mila Moore and Savannah Thorne (Non-Title)

I don't know if Decay necessarily needs to be reestablished considering they've been around on and off for years, but it doesn't hurt to give them a showcase win now that they've been repackaged again. This was kept short and sweet with Decay going over decisively. MK Ultra mentioned in a backstage interview afterward that they want their rematch at No Surrender and were interrupted by Dani Luna and Jody Threat, leading to Masha Slamovich vs. Threat later in the night.

Alan Angels Hosted Sound Check with Josh Alexander

Angels has largely been directionless since leaving The Design, so I dig him having his own talk show. It's going to take time for him to grow into the role, but I thought he did decently here, even if there wasn't anything out of the ordinary about this inaugural installment. It's also entirely possible that this was a one-off that was designed to set up a match between these two since Alexander ended up walking off.

Brian Myers def. Kevin Knight

This match didn't have any importance aside from setting up a tag team match with Myers and Eddie Edwards facing Knight and Kushida, but much like last week, Knight once again had an impressive outing and was made to look credible in defeat following a competitive contest. They made nice use of the time they had. I assume we'll also get the entire System vs. Knight, Kushida and Alex Shelley ahead of No Surrender where Shelley will get his rematch for the TNA World Championship against Moose.

Frankie Kazarian Explained His Actions

Kazarian needed a reset of some sort, so I'm all in on this heel turn for him. I don't know how far it will take him, but it's a refreshing change of pace, if nothing else. This was a great first heel promo from him as he explained his actions and ran down the audience. His first feud will obviously be with Eric Young, but hopefully it's short-lived so he can work with some fresher faces.

PCO def. Deaner

Deaner's pre-match promo pretty much confirmed that The Design is dead, and thank God for that. The group was not good and it was time for both Deaner and Kon to move on. PCO vs. Deaner was booked like a squash as it should have been with PCO winning quickly. Kon attacked Deaner afterward, so not only is his alliance with Deaner officially over, he'll also be PCO's next rival. I'm not sure how many people will actually take him seriously as a threat to PCO.

Masha Slamovich def. Jody Threat

This could have easily been saved for next week following their backstage confrontation earlier in the episode, but I guess they needed to fill the time on this show. And that's what this felt like: filler. There was nothing wrong with the match as it was well wrestled, but it didn't accomplish anything other than giving Slamovich a singles win that she doesn't need before the TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championship rematch.

Grizzled Young Vets def. TNA World Tag Team Champions ABC in Match #1 in the TNA World Tag Team Championship Best-of-3 Series

With this being the first match in the Best-of-3 Series, the tag titles weren't on the line, but there will be next week as a result of Grizzled Young Vets' victory. This was a fantastic first encounter and the cool thing is that I think they can do even do better in the next two matches. They had wonderful chemistry and the action was excellent as you'd expect. I'm glad Grizzled Young Vets are getting a chance to go all out after being marginalized in WWE NXT toward the end of their run.

Overall Show

Although this was the weakest show of the three we've gotten so far in the new TNA iMPACT! era, it was still a thumbs-up episode, capped off by an above-average main event (and we likely have another two matches to look forward to from those teams as well!). Nothing stood out as overly special about the rest of the show, but I'm looking forward to Kazarian's heel run and the build to No Surrender at the end of the month was well done.

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