TNA iMPACT! Review - March 14, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

TNA X-Division Champion Mustafa Ali def. Chris Sabin

Hot damn! What an awesome opener. This was pay-per-view-level stuff from these two, which is totally unsurprising given what they're capable of. They killed it at No Surrender and killed it again here, and I was happy we didn't get some sort of lame non-finish. They could be building to a third match considering Ali cheated to retain, but I'd be totally fine with Ali moving onto other challengers while Sabin deals with his (and Alex Shelley's) building frustration.

Josh Alexander def. Oleg Prudius

Alexander called out Hammerstone for cheating to win in their rematch at Sacrifice but got Dirty Dango and his crew instead. Alexander beat Dango on last week's show and made quick work of Prudius here. Pruidus has been made to look like Dango's badass enforcer since coming into the company, so it was weird he got completely squashed by Alexander. Then again, I doubt this would have been much better if it was longer.

PCO Confronted TNA Digital Media Champion Crazzy Steve

Steve has been playing the heel role really well since breaking off on his own and I've enjoyed his run as TNA Digital Media Champion. That's why it was cool to see him get some mic time on the stage, but then it became clear this segment solely existed to set up PCO as his next challenger. I can't imagine Steve will be walking away from that one still champ, but their characters are so similar that it's an intriguing match.

Frankie Kazarian def. Ace Austin

ABC don't have a lot going on right now following their loss of the TNA World Tag Team Championship, so Austin was a logical opponent for Kazarian to beat. They had a nice match and made the most of the time they had. Eric Young ran out afterward to exact revenge on Kazarian for costing him the TNA World Championship at Sacrifice, so expect some sort of stipulation matchup between them at Rebellion.

A.J. Francis def. Joe Hendry

As we learned during his time in WWE, Francis is much more style than substance when it comes to his in-ring work. What I mean by that is, he can talk trash very well and excels with the character work, but the actual wrestling is not his strong suit. That's why it was probably for the best that this was kept on the shorter side. The top takeaway was Rich Swann turning heel and aligning with Francis, so that will be a refreshing chance of pace for him.

TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Champions Spitfire def. Beaa Moss & Vanna Black (Non-Title)

Spitfire becoming the new tag team champions at Sacrifice was a cool moment for them, but the titles are in a state of flux at the moment having changed hands three times in two months. I can't imagine either member of MK Ultra is hurt if they both showed up at ringside here along with Decay (meaning Spitfire beating MK Ultra wasn't a last-minute decision), so a three-way tag team match is obviously in the works for Rebellion. This was a fairly standard showcase for the new champs.

Tasha Steelz Challenged TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace

The commentators were about to run down what was on tap for next week when Steelz interrupted them at the announce table to rant about not being pinned in the three-way match at Sacrifice and demanding a singles match with Grace for the TNA Knockouts World Championship on next week's show, which was subsequently confirmed. I appreciated the approach they took with this because it's not the sort of thing you see often.

Nic Nemeth and Speedball Mountain def. Steve Maclin and The Rascalz

This was the match they've been building to since January and we finally got it here. Nemeth has quality chemistry with Speedball Mountain and they had three great opponents in Maclin and The Rascalz, so unsurprisingly, this was a very entertaining main event. Maclin being pinned after The Rascalz walked out on him was interesting because his contract's up soon. Maybe they're preparing for him not to re-sign? The System attacked the babyfaces afterward now that Nemeth vs. Moose for the TNA World Championship has been made official for the Rebellion main event.

Overall Show

This was a solid Sacrifice follow-up show that also did an effective job of kicking off the build for Rebellion, even though it isn't until April 20th. I loved the opener for the TNA X-Division Championship and the main event was a treat, too. Everything in the middle served a purpose, so it was an easy thumbs-up episode. I'm glad that TNA has largely been able to maintain its momentum since the rebranding despite Scott D'Amore being fired last month. From an on-air standpoint, nothing's been different and that's a relief.

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