TNA iMPACT! Review - February 8, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

TNA X-Division Champion Chris Sabin def. John Skyler (Non-Title)

Was it Skyler or Jason Hotch who was out injured? Either way, it's nice to see The Good Hands back. There was no question surrounding the outcome here, but it was a well-wrestled opener, nonetheless. It was announced a week or two ago that Sabin will defend the TNA X-Division Championship against the debuting Mustafa Ali at No Surrender, which is guaranteed to be a banger.

Tasha Steelz def. Xia Brookside

Brookside won her singles TNA debut two weeks ago beating Steelz and Steelz avenged the loss here. I'm not fond of 50/50 booking, but I'm fine with them turning this into a feud and maybe having a rubber match at No Surrender. This was along the same lines as their original encounter in that it was passable but too short to be anything out of the ordinary. They need to be given more time to show what they can do together.

Zachary Wentz def. "Speedball" Mike Bailey

I  was wondering what the purpose this was supposed to serve until the commentators recalled how Bailey and Trent Seven beat The Rascalz back at Final Resolution in December. They had a fun match and Wentz winning was the right call after losing to Nic Nemeth last week. Post-match, Steve Maclin joined The Rascalz in beating down Bailey and the returning Seven when Nemeth made the save, so a six-man t team match is obviously imminent.

Trinity and TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace def. Savannah Evans and Gisele Shaw

Trinity returned to WWE in the women's Royal Rumble (which Grace was also amazingly a part of) two weeks ago, so needless to say, this was taped prior to that. It was Trinity's TNA farewell, though I don't know that she needed to go over in her final match when the heels could have used the heat. This was well worked, but it didn't exactly leave me looking forward to Shaw challenging Grace for the TNA Knockouts World Championship.

Kon def. Richard Adonis and Ori Gold in 2-on-1 Handicap Match

As I said last week, I can't possibly bring myself to care about Kon getting a singles push. He isn't awful, but he certainly isn't someone who needs to be booked dominantly beyond this feud with PCO. The squash was exactly what it needed to be. Kon and PCO brawled afterward, so a match for No Surrender seems to be all but confirmed. Does Deaner not want revenge after Kon laid him out last week?

Josh Alexander def. Alan Angels

This was set up after Alexander walked off of Angels' Sound Check show last week. There wasn't much o the match, but it was decent while it lasted. In one of the most random things I've seen in some time, Alexander was attacked afterward by... Simon Gotch. Yes, the other half of The Vaudevillians from years ago. He had a short stint in MLW years ago, but he hasn't been on any major wrestling platform otherwise. A feud with Simon Gotch is the best TNA could come with for Alexander at this point?!

Alex Shelley def. Eddie Edwards

Shelley will get his rematch with Moose for the TNA World Championship at No Surrender, so it made sense for Shelley to go through another member of The System before then. They had a top-notch main event with enjoyable action and the correct result. Kushida and Kevin Knight helped Shelley fend off The System afterward, so that's another six-man tag team match we might get before No Surrender.

Overall Show

Of course, the big news with TNA this week was that Scott D'Amore was officially fired on Wednesday, and unless it comes out that D'Amore was involved in something nefarious, that's a pretty dumb decision on Anthem's part. It remains to be seen how that will affect the on-air product, but I can't imagine the talent are too happy about that. The episode itself was solid and effective in building toward the next live special.

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