TNA Under Siege Review - May 23, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Pre-Show: Santino Marella Interrupted Robert Stone

The authority figure feud hasn't piqued my interest whatsoever, but honestly, I could understand why this made the show with Marella being a Toronto native. The crowd popped huge when his music hit and Stone generated great heat as a result. Their exchange was fine and at least it served a purpose in hyping up Arianna Grace vs. Tessa Blanchard for later in the night.

Pre-Show: Rosemary def. Xia Brookside by Disqualification

I've been digging the story these two have been telling as of late, especially since a title isn't on the line. It's been a good use of them both. This was a perfectly acceptable outing from them and I had no issue with the non-finish because it furthered the storyline with Brookside letting her anger get the better of her. This could still culminate in them teaming or possibly a double turn. Either way, it's not predictable where this is headed.

Mike Santana def. KC Navarro

I had no idea Santana vs. A.J. Francis was advertised for the card, but it didn't end up mattering anyway since Francis claimed he wasn't cleared to compete and had to be replaced by Navarro. I certainly wasn't complaining since this was the match I was most looking forward to after First Class beat Santana and Sami Callihan in that tag matchup on iMPACT!. This was a fun opener and another win for Santana. Francis attacked Santana afterward, so we're still getting Santana vs. Francis at some point.

Eddie Edwards def. Cody Deaner

Deaner's TNA contract was extended until this event so he could prove whether he was worth re-signing (in storyline). That seemed to suggest Deaner would win because that's usually what happens in situations like this, but I'm actually glad that didn't happen. Personally, I couldn't care less about the Deaner character, so if he is on his way out, then so be it. To their credit, they had a nice match. Deaner really had the deck stacked against him here, so it wasn't as if Edwards beat him decisively in a straight-up squash.

The Northern Armory (Eric Young, Judas Icarus and Travis Williams) def. The System (TNA X-Division Champion Moose, Brian Myers and JDC)

The rest of The System came out after the last match to mock Deaner only to be interrupted and challenged to an impromptu match by Northern Armory. Of course, they're Canadian, so they were the babyfaces by default here. It was a well-worked match presumably designed to build to Young challenging Moose for the TNA X-Division Championship. This is at least the third tag match Moose has gotten pinned in this year, so I can't say this meant much, especially since I don't see Young taking the title from him (nor should he).

TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Champions Ash and Heather by Elegance def. Spitfire in a Match by Elegance

Per the stipulation, Spitfire must split up. Yes, TNA did the exact same stipulation with them late last year and that was where Spitfire got the belts back, but they've done all they can do as a duo and thus it made sense to split them up this time. This was a hell of a way for them to go out as all four women put forth an admirable effort and made the most of the hardcore stipulation.

Order 4 (Mustafa Ali, The Great Hands and Tasha Steelz) def. Raj Singh, The Rascalz and Indi Hartwell

I'm sorry but Order 4 is a pretty dumb name for a faction. I dig the group otherwise, though. Ace Austin (who's now gone from TNA) was replaced by Singh, which was logical because he's a Toronto native and was once in Ali's ranks. This was well paced and everyone had their time to shine. Order 4 going over was the right call, especially with Singh being the one eating the pinfall loss.

Tessa Blanchard def. Arianna Grace

Stone apparently had the authority to remove Marella from ringside so he wasn't in his daughter's corner. TNA has done a decent job of building this feud in the last few months with their various interactions backstage and endearing Grace to the TNA audience. She's also Canadian, so that obviously helped in getting the crowd behind her. Blanchard has had better matches in TNA since returning, but this was an average outing. We found out later on that we'll soon be getting Marella and Grace vs. Blanchard and Stone in an intergender tag match.

TNA Knockouts World Champion Masha Slamovich def. Victoria Crawford

Truthfully, Slamovich was the best opponent Crawford could have had here. I don't know how active she's been since leaving WWE years ago, but it's not as if she was having amazing matches prior to her departure. Slamovich carried her to a competent match, but Crawford also held her own. Slamovich called out Lei Ying Lee afterward to declare her as her next challenger, but Stone said Lee would have to earn an opportunity at the title first.

TNA World Tag Team Champions The Nemeths def. Matt Hardy and Leon Slater

Jeff Hardy couldn't appear due to his past legal issues preventing him from traveling to Canada, so Leon Slater filled in as Matt's partner for the night. Granted, I didn't think they had a shot at taking the titles, but I thought they worked well together as partners, nonetheless. Despite this technically being The Hardys' contractual rematch for the belts, I see The Hardys continuing to feud with The Nemeths going into Slammiversary.

TNA World Champion Joe Hendry and Elijah def. Frankie Kazarian and Trick Williams

With the TNA World Championship not being defended until Sunday's NXT Battleground event, this was a suitable main event for this show. It served as a solid preview of Hendry vs. Williams and gave us some enjoyable action. Kazarian just keeps losing, so I have no idea what he's still doing in the main event scene at this point. The babyfaces winning here makes me even more confident that Williams is willing that TNA title on Sunday night.

Overall Show

It's crazy to think this was longer than WWE Backlash earlier this month. Not to say Backlash was the biggest show ever, but the monthly TNA Plus specials should be how WWE treats some of their premium live events: like an In Your House. This was entertaining on the whole albeit inconsequential, so they could have made it a tighter card by cutting down on the amount of matches and the runtime. Stretching to three hours (or three-and-a-half if you include the pre-show) makes these shows feel like a glorified edition of iMPACT!. If you love tag team matches, Under Siege is for you.

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