TNA iMPACT! Review - June 27, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Ash by Elegance Agreed to Face TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace at Slammiversary

I believe this was the first time we’ve heard from Grace in a TNA ring since all the WWE NXT stuff went down. She kept it short and sweet by challenging Ash to a match at Slammiversary, a championship challenge Ash subsequently accepted. This was a basic segment, but it accomplished what it needed to. I truly don’t care about Ash as a title contender, but I understand it’s logical with the way she’s been built up since her arrival earlier this year.

TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Champion Masha Slamovich def. Xia Brookside

I must have missed whatever set this up because I don’t recall them having any interactions in recent weeks. It was a fairly average outing, and since it was on the shorter side, there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary about it. Perhaps Brookside will find a partner to take on Slamovich and Alisha Edwards for the TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championship at Slammiversary. Either that or this was just intended to keep the two of them busy.

TNA X-Division Champion Mustafa Ali Attacked a Fan and Brawled with "Speedball" Mike Bailey

I love the story they’re telling with Ali slowly unraveling and that’s why he snapped on the “fan” at ringside. I also love that Ali told Bailey that he spoiled his homecoming in Chicago (which is where this was taped), so he’ll spoil Bailey’s homecoming in Montreal at Slammiversary by facing and beating him with the TNA X-Division Championship on the line. This was a simple segment, but it worked really well.

ABC def. Cody Deaner & Jake Something and The Rascalz in a Three-Way Tag Team Match

While this wasn’t officially billed as a number one contender’s match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship, it was somewhat implied during the pre-match promos from the teams involved that they would be next in line for a title shot if they won. ABC are still owed a contractually-obligated rematch, so they made the most sense to win. This didn’t get as much time as you’d expect it to, but it was nicely-paced while it lasted.

Steve Maclin def. Sami Callihan in a Road to Slammiversary Qualifying Match

I don’t know if I mentioned this last week, but the video packages they’re airing with the competitors in these Road to Slammiversary qualifiers are an excellent touch and make these matches feel that much more meaningful. Callihan hasn’t done a whole lot since returning, but he is a notable name and a former world champ, so it was a good win to keep Maclin rolling heading into Slammiversary. This was a solid matchup.

Kushida def. Alan Angels

Alans follows a pretty predictable formula at this point where he’ll have someone on his talk show backstage, face them the next week, and lose. It’s going to get old eventually (if it hasn’t already), but it was fine in this case. The crowd sounded pretty quiet, but it was a well-worked match that didn’t overstay its welcome. Jonathan Gresham attacking Kushida afterward furthered that feud.

Nic Nemeth def. Rich Swann in a Road to Slammiversary Qualifying Match

This is one of those matches I would’ve never expected to see with Nemeth being in WWE for so long and Swann having been in TNA since 2018 (he was in WWE before that but never crossed paths with Nemeth to my knowledge because Swann was an NXT/205 Live guy). That said, I’m glad we got it. This didn’t feel like it was worthy of the main event slot (even with what was at stake), but it was an enjoyable encounter and Nemeth advancing was the correct choice.

Overall Show

It felt like there was a fair amount of stuff on this show that was simply “there,” even though pretty much everything served a purpose and/or furthered a storyline. However, I’d chalk it up to being a thumbs-up episode as the build to Slammiversary is off to a successful start. Once again, The Hardys weren’t present, but we did hear from them in a video package where they announced they’ll be in action in the coming weeks.

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