TNA iMPACT! Review - May 30, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Chris Bey def. Ace Austin

ABC lost their tag team match with Speedball Mountain a few weeks ago where they would have faced each other for a shot at the TNA X-Division Championship the following week had they won. They didn't win, but they faced each other, anyway. It was a friendly competition and it wasn't as if seeds were planted for a betrayal, but they could certainly head in that direction eventually. This was the entertaining opener you'd expect from them. They're still owed a rematch for the TNA World Tag Team Championship, so they do split up, it would likely be after that.

Xia Brookside def. Steph De Lander

This wasn't given a ton of time, but it was decent while it lasted. The focus was on PCO accidentally costing De Lander the victory, so I don't expect Brookside's win to amount to much. The angle with PCO and De Lander is actually one of the more interesting angles TNA has going at the moment. I don't know where it's going, but it's a refreshing change of pace for PCO, if nothing else. I've seen him in enough Monster's Ball matches to last a lifetime.

Jonathan Gresham def. Sami Callihan

I'm glad Gresham might be settling into his first feud since returning and that it'll be with Callihan. It gives Callihan direction as well. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary about this, but it was a solid match. I'm still not into Gresham's new Great Muta-esque shtick, but it did make sense for him to win to continue building momentum and obviously Callihan can absorb the loss because he's bulletproof booking-wise at this point.

Steve Maclin vs. Mike Santana Ended in a No Contest

This was a rematch from Rebellion. I've loved the sit-down interviews/mini documentary TNA has done with Santana in recent weeks and I'm hoping they translate to a consistent push for him. He and Maclin had another good match here and The Rascalz's interference was logical. Maclin's been going at it with Rascalz for a bit, and as I've said before, I have no idea who the crowd is supposed to cheer for. Perhaps this is leading to Maclin and Santana vs. The Rascalz?

TNA X-Division Champion Mustafa Ali def. Leon Slater (Non-Title)

Slater has been an impressive prospect in TNA so far and I appreciate that he's been given several chances to shine, including here against Ali. This could have easily been booked as a straightforward squash for Ali seeing as how he has a title defense against Trent Seven coming up at Against All Odds, but they were given an ample amount of time and had a nice match. Apparently Champagne Singh is a part of Ali's "campaign" now and that's why he interfered in Seven vs. Mike Bailey.

Joe Hendry def. TNA World Tag Team Champion Eddie Edwards

I'm glad Hendry picking up the win in that massive tag team match two weeks ago actually amounted to something here. Granted, Nic and Ryan Nemeth will be the ones challenging The System for the TNA World Tag Team Championship at Against All Odds and I'm not sure where that leaves Hendry, but this was a notable victory for him, nonetheless. This was a well-worked main event and hopefully it means Hendry will be in contention for the TNA World Championship soon, possibly at Slammiversary.

Overall Show

This felt like a much more focused show than we've getting from iMPACT! as of late, which I should've expected since Against All Odds is two weeks away. It was a solid show where not a lot happened, but the two hours were enjoyable. Footage also aired of Jordynne Grace's WWE NXT debut from Tuesday and the potential working relationship between the two companies has the potential to be very exciting.

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