TNA iMPACT! Review - January 25, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Chris Bey def. Kevin Knight

I don't know what purpose this was supposed to serve other than to set up the post-match angle with Grizzled Young Veterans attacking ABC (we later found out the teams will meet in a Best-of-3 Series starting next week which should be awesome), but I can't complain too much because this was a very good opener. Knight is always impressive and Bey is obviously talented in his own right, so that should come as no surprise.

Dirty Dango and Oleg Prudius def. Damian Drake and Dante King

I dig the pairing of Dango and Prudius with Prudius being a perfect fit as Dango's heavy and Dango playing his current character so well. I was actually worried Prudius' time in the company would be short-lived because he went a while without being featured. The question now is what TNA intends to do with the duo. Would they really be seen as legitimate threats to the TNA World Tag Team Championship? At least this served as a simple squash for them.

TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace de. Trinity

It was basically confirmed by various outlets that Trinity wrapped up with TNA at this taping last weekend, but while there was no uncertainty surrounding the outcome, I thought these two delivered another entertaining affair as they have quality chemistry together. Trinity had a hell of a run in TNA and I liked that she put over Grace twice on her way out. Could we see her Saturday at at WWE Royal Rumble?

Nic Nemeth def. Zachary Wentz

This marked Nemeth's TNA in-ring debut. I was curious to see how Nemeth would do without the WWE limitations, but there really wasn't anything out of the ordinary about this. Don't get me wrong, they had a solid outing, but it's not like Nemeth went all out in his first televised post-WWE match. Perhaps he's saving his best for when he faces Steve Maclin at No Surrender. Speaking of Maclin, Nemeth laid him out afterward.

MK Ultra def. Jody Threat and Dani Luna

Threat and Luna could make for a great team if this turns out to be more than a one-off, especially since I don't see them doing much of note on their own anytime soon. That said, MK Ultra had to win coming off their loss of the TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championship at Hard to Kill. I assume they'll get their rematch at No Surrender. This was fairly brief, but it was decent while it lasted and accomplished what it needed to.

Kazuchika Okada and The Motor City Machine Guns def. The System (Brian Myers, Eddie Edwards and TNA World Champion Moose)

The timing of this match was super interesting with it being revealed last week that Okada is departing New Japan Pro-Wrestling when his contract expires next week. No, I don't think he's TNA bound, but it is cool that he appeared in TNA for the first time in over a decade before he makes his next move. He worked wonderfully with Motor City Machine Guns and this was an excellent main event. The System aren't clicking as a faction for me yet, but they all had their time to shine here as well.

Overall Show

While this wasn't as hot of a show as last week's relaunch of TNA iMPACT (and it'll surely get overshadowed by all the wrestling news this week), it was an enjoyable episode on the whole with the main event specifically standing out. In addition to that, Nemeth wrestled his first TNA match and Grace and Trinity ran it back for the TNA Knockouts World Championship, so it was another eventful show. Here's hoping TNA can maintain the momentum and bring in new viewers or viewers who previously gave up on the product.

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