TNA Under Siege Review - May 3, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Pre-Show: Rhyno def. VSK

VSK was doing his thing for a little while in Ring of Honor last year with that group I can't remember what they were called. He's a good hand in the ring, but this was all about Rhyno and giving him a dominant victory. They were wise to keep this short and sweet. The crowd was into Rhyno throughout and popped for his win. I don't know why this was necessary, but it got Rhyno on the card, I suppose.

Pre-Show: The F.B.I. (Zack Clayton and Ray Jaz) def. The Batiri

This was another match where I was left wondering why it happened. F.B.I. have been a jobber tag team so far in TNA, so although this existed to give them a win, I can't imagine it will amount to anything other than them losing their next match on iMPACT!. That said, I'm willing to give them a chance. Maybe Clayton and Jaz will end up exceeding my expectations in terms of how they're used. This was perfectly fine for what it was.

Pre-Show: TNA Digital Media Champion Laredo Kid def. KC Navarro

I was just in attendance for an indie show last weekend where Navarro faced Mustafa Ali. Unsurprisingly, it was a great match. Navarro has competed for TNA before, but I'm amazed he hasn't been signed to a full-time deal anywhere since leaving MLW in 2022. He had a solid showing here in what was a fun match with Laredo, but he obviously had no chance of winning since he's not under contract to the company.

Eric Young and Josh Alexander def. Frankie Kazarian and Steve Maclin

It was weird seeing Alexander in this spot since Mike Santana beat Maclin at Rebellion and it would've made more sense for him to team with Kazarian instead. Nonetheless, this was a nicely-paced, well-wrestled opener. Young and Alexander had quality chemistry as partners and picked up the momentum-building victory. I'm sure we'll get a one-on-one rubber match between Young and Kazarian, but I don't think it's needed as I'm ready for the rivalry to be over.

Ash by Elegance def. Havok

I must have missed when this match was announced and what led to it coming together. I know Ash is in the process of being built up at the moment, but couldn't they have set this up with a quick interaction on iMPACT! in the last two weeks? Again, maybe they did and I missed it. Either way, the match was whatever. It gave Ash her biggest win to date since arriving in TNA, so there was that.

Joe Hendry def. Zachary Wentz

Hendry and his entrance music have been trending worldwide all week, so I'm glad he was included on the card. Granted, it was a completely inconsequential match that had no prior buildup, but it was an adequate outing that gave Henry a rebound win following his loss to Rich Swann at Rebellion. The match was a total afterthought compared to the reaction he received from this crowd. He was super over and I hope TNA capitalizes on that.

Alisha Edwards and Masha Slamovich def. Spitfire to Win the TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championship

Edwards had to fill in for Killer Kelly as Slamovich's tag team partner. With this win, every member of The System is now a champion. It was cool to see Edwards get her moment as she doesn't win many matches and has never held gold before in TNA. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary about the match itself. A lot of these Knockouts World Tag Team title matches blend together and this was no exception. The constant title changes don't help, of course.

Rich Swann def. Jake Something

Something was originally scheduled to face Hammerstone, but Hammerstone apparently wasn't cleared to compete, so Swann was Something's replacement opponent. That's why I was surprised when Swann won. I know First Class is being pushed at the moment, but Something could've benefited more from the victory. This was decent, but I could've done without Cody Deaner's involvement toward the end.

Jonathan Gresham def. Kushida

You could've told me that Gresham was Drago and I would've believed you because his new mask made him look exactly like Drago. He's doing something completely different than he's done before. It's worth a shot, but the mist gimmick has been done to death (I realize he's honoring The Great Muta) and I hope he doesn't do that to win most of his matches. This was the the well-wrestled affair you'd expect from them and it served as a successful reintroduction of Gresham.

TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace and PCO def. Steph De Lander and Kon

As I've said before, I have no idea why PCO and Kon are still feuding. They've already had three singles matches (which is two too many) and Kon hasn't won any of them, so PCO desperately needs to move on. As for Grace and De Lander, they work well together, but Grace winning again didn't leave me wanting to see a rematch between them. This was pretty straightforward stuff that could easily happened on any average edition of iMPACT!.

TNA X-Division Champion Mustafa Ali def. Ace Austin

This suffered from just being announced on Thursday night, so there was zero chance Austin would win. Austin beat Trey Miguel to become number one contender, which is better than nothing, but he hasn't been a full-time singles star in a few years. On the bright side, he reminded viewers with his performance here that he belongs in the singles ranks again. It was an enjoyable outing between two talented performers.

The System (TNA World Champion Moose and TNA World Tag Team Champions Eddie Edwards and Brian Myers) def. "Broken" Matt Hardy and Speedball Mountain

Hardy and Speedball Mountain coming out with matching entrance attire was a cool touch. This started out as a standard six-man tag team match until the second half, at which point they kicked it up a notch and put forth a commendable effort. Everyone played their roles well and they got the crowd invested in the action. The System remaining dominant was logical so it means more when they eventually crumble.

Overall Show

TNA is getting into AEW territory when it comes to bloating their pay-per-view/live special cards, though the biggest difference is that these shows are significantly shorter. As I mentioned above, a number of these matches could have happened any Thursday night. It was TNA's weakest event since the relaunch at the start of the year with not many matches standing out, but there were a few highlights and at least they closed it out on a high note.

SEE MORE: TNA Reviews