TNA Thursday Night iMPACT! Review - January 22, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Cedric Alexander def. Moose

Moose made a comment on social media that he was "seriously injured" at Genesis, but apparently it wasn't serious enough to keep him out of action five days later. I'm sure it was a kayfabe injury, but I'm not sure why he'd say that in the first place. It did give him an out for losing here, so there's that. This was an enjoyable opener and we'll see if Alexander winning means he's next in line for a shot at the TNA X-Division Championship.

TNA World Champion Mike Santana Addressed the Audience

TNA could have easily opened iMPACT! with their new world champ, and it would have made sense almost any other week, but it was smart to start this show with a match because of how much damn talking last week's AMC premiere had. Saving this for the subsequent segment was the right call. At any rate, this was the usual strong promo from Santana. I had no issue with no one interrupting him so he could have his moment (which he didn't really get the last time he won the TNA World Championship). Plus, he had that interaction with Nic Nemeth later on, anyway.

Indi Hartwell def. TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Champion M by Elegance

Nothing against M, who seems to be perfectly serviceable in the ring from what I've seen of her work, but it should not have taken Hartwell as long as it did to put her away, especially given some of the names Hartwell has beaten since arriving in TNA. This was a decent match, but I don't think it needed to be so competitive. The post-match angle seemed to indicate Ash might be medically cleared despite heavily implying she was retired from the ring late last year.

Eric Young, Steve Maclin, Trey Miguel and Eddie Edwards Won Feast or Fired Briefcases

I was fine with TNA resurrecting the Feast or Fired concept for its 1,000th episode a few years ago, but it's still a stupid concept that should stay dead. Now we'll have three people running around with what are basically Money in the Bank briefcases in addition to Nic Nemeth having his Call Your Shot trophy. It's too much. The match wasn't as much of a mess as it usually is and that's probably the best thing I can say about it. Miguel being brought back after his extremely short-lived stint with AEW was cool to see.

Elayna Black Addressed the Audience

We only just saw Black on last week's show but didn't hear from her, so this was a necessary promo so she could establish who she is and why she's in TNA. Her mic work was basic yet effective. I was a fan of Black's in NXT and thought she developed into a good heel, so their loss will be TNA's gain. I'm sure it won't be long before we find out who she'll be feuding with first.

TNA World Tag Team Champion Jeff Hardy def. Mustafa Ali

The Hardys and Elijah defeated Order 4 on last week's iMPACT!, so I guess that's why this happened because it's not like Ali's going after the TNA World Tag Team Championship. It was an entertaining outing with the two working well together and I'm glad they received an ample amount of time. Elijah costing Ali the victory furthered that feud after Elijah lost to Ali at Genesis.

The System Attacked JDC and Moose

It was announced coming into the show that JDC's replacement in The System would be revealed, but they took it to the next level by having The System not only add Bear Bronson to their ranks but also Cedric Alexander along with attacking JDC and Moose. This was a significant shift for The System, who are back to being heels, but the new group doesn't have strong chemistry on paper. Perhaps they'll prove me wrong. The angle was rather rushed, but at least Moose is staying face after spending so much time as a heel.

Overall Show

To say this was a massive improvement over last week's abysmal effort would be an understatement. It felt much more like an average edition of iMPACT! with some solid storyline developments, quality wrestling, fallout from Genesis and a notable angle at the end. It was a thumbs-up episode on the whole, but TNA needs to continue to give new viewers an incentive to tune in from week to week on AMC by making major moves.

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