TNA iMPACT Results, Winners, Live Grades, Reactions and Highlights From AMC Debut

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of TNA's first episode of Impact on AMC.

To make this episode feel important, TNA stacked the card with some big matches, but the most notable event may have been the return of a former TNA champion.

Here's a look at what TNA advertised for Thursday's show:

Frankie Kazarian vs. Mike Santana (TNA World Championship)

The IInspiration vs. The Elegance Brand (Knockouts Tag Team Championships)

Elijah and the Hardys vs. Order 4

AJ Styles returns to TNA Impact

Let's take a look at what happened on TNA's debut on AMC.

A TNA Original Welcomes Impact to AMC

Impact opened with a short video package about the company before we went live in the arena for Styles' entrance to kick off the show.

The Phenomenal One immediately felt like a big deal coming out to a huge ovation. He called TNA the house that AJ Styles built and said it would be bigger and bolder than ever on AMC, which got an AMC chant going in the crowd.

Styles only spoke for a few moments before we got a proper intro for the show. He said he wanted the crowd to keep the energy up for the rest of the show.

This was more like a pep talk than a promo. Styles being on the show felt important when it was announced, but it ended up just being a glorified cameo.

Grade: C-plus

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Notable Moments and Observations

The TNA video focused on newer talent instead of showcasing people from the past, which was a smart move since the company wants to create new fans.

Styles came out to one of his old TNA themes.

Elijah and the Hardys vs. The Order 4

Elijah, Matt and Jeff Hardy were out first for a six-man tag match against Mustafa Ali, John Skyler and Jason Hotch.

Ali and his cronies rushed the ring and tried to get an early advantage, but Elijah was able to turn the tables on them and hit a superplex on Ali. The Hardys helped send Skyler and Hotch out of the ring as the show went to its first break.

It was hard to tell, but it looked like Elijah spent the entire break in the ring while the Hardys cheered him on from the apron. Jeff finally got a hot tag and hit Ali with a series of signature moves.

Tasha Steelz tried to help Ali but ended up taking a Twist of Fate at the same time as him thanks to Matt. Elijah, Matt and Jeff each hit a move before Jeff got the pin to win the match.

This was an energetic match, but it left a lot to be desired. It felt like the commercial break took up too much time in the middle, but the post-match attack from The Righteous helped hype their upcoming title bout.

Ali and Elijah shined the brightest in this match, but not as much as they would have in a singles bout.

Result: The Hardys and Elijah defeated Order 4

Grade: C-plus

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Notable Moments and Observations

We got some clips of Elijah taking Ali out of the arena with a lasso on horseback last week.

Even after a few years, we still get the urge to say "Walk with Elias" instead of Elijah.

The way Ali crashed into the turnbuckle looked wild.

Jeff's ear hole being used to lock him to the ring was creative, but it was also cringe-inducing.

Styles and Kazarian had a backstage encounter that implied Styles may come after the TNA title.

The Jersey Devil is in TNA

Maya Dehlin Spach/WireImage

Ryan Nemeth interrupted Gia Miller while she was conducting some ringside interviews with a few minor celebrities who were in attendance. He ended up getting crotched on the barricade.

Santino Marella was up next to talk about how the roster was ready for a new era and new fans to discover the product. He also mentioned the recent betrayal by his own daughter, Arianna Grace.

He said the board of TNA has decided he could use some assistance running the show, and he was relieved when he found out it would be Daria Rae, formerly known as Sonya Deville in WWE.

She thanked Santino and put over the crowd before turning and saying TNA doesn't need him and his dumb jokes. She said nobody will respect him if his own daughter won't.

She revealed she has signed a new Knockout to TNA and revealed it was Elayna Black, formerly Cora Jade in WWE.

The heel turn from Daria was pretty sudden, but it will create an interesting dynamic with a power struggle. Black's arrival in TNA was a nice surprise to end the segment.

Grade: B-

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Notable Moments and Observations

TNA showed a few influencers sitting in the crowd. It was strange to see them sitting in front of a section of empty seats.

It's pronounced "Day-ria," not like Daria the cartoon character.

The IInspiration vs. The Elegance Brand

Heather and M from The Elegance Brand got a title shot this week when they challenged Jessie McKay and Cassie Lee for the Knockouts Tag Team Championships.

Before the match began, The Concierge introduced the newest member of The Elegance Brand, Mr. Elegance. Thankfully, his promo was interrupted by Lee and McKay's music.

They took M and Heather down as soon as they got to the ring. The show then cut to a break almost immediately.

We returned to see Lee on defense until she made the hot tag to McKay. The Concierge interfered and broke up a pin and Mr. Elegance distracted the ref during another pinfall attempt.

M and Heather were able to win the titles thanks to some more help from Mr. Elegance. This was an overbooked ending to an underwhelming match. There's not much more we can say about it. This didn't make anyone look good.

Result: The Elegance Brand defeated The IInspiration

Grade: D

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Notable Moments and Observations

Ash by Elegance had some interesting words about the recent TNA departures.

Why was Perez Hilton there? He didn't even say anything.

Zaria and Sol Ruca were shown watching the match backstage.

A Contract Signed

A video for the Knockouts division aired before Santino brought current champion Lei Ying Lee to the ring. He announced Dani Luna would be unable to compete at Genesis, but the champion agreed to sign an open challenge contract.

Zaria and Ruca showed up, and Ruca said her partner should be the one to answer the challenge, which seemed to surprise Zaria a little. She signed on the dotted line to make it official.

This was a pretty short, standard segment. It didn't do much to hype the match, but hopefully WWE and TNA promote it before the PPV.

Grade: C

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Notable Moments and Observations

The weekly injury report was an interesting addition to the show.

There were problems with the streaming feed but the AMC feed seemed unaffected.

Frankie Kazarian vs. Mike Santana

The System came out for a quick promo on the stage before we got a surprising appearance from former TNA president Dixie Carter, who got some boos from the crowd as she spoke.

Bully Ray came out and gave Dixie a hug as he made his way to the announce desk to help call the main event between Kazarian and Santana.

We returned from a break right when the bell rang. The crowd was chanting TNA as they locked up and Kaz hit an arm drag. The challenger took control and sent Kazarian out of the ring with a hurricanrana.

They had a good back-and-forth match that gave us a few convincing false finishes. Santana has settled into his role as a main event talent in TNA nicely and looked at home in a big match like this.

He used some big moves like a Spanish Fly and a Code Red, but he couldn't seem to put Kazarian away. When he finally had the champ down for the pin, the ref was knocked out and unable to make the count.

After both men kicked out of each other's finishers once the ref had recovered, Santana hit one more to get the pin and win back the TNA title.

Result: Santana defeated Kazarian

Grade: B

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Notable Moments and Observations

Joe Hendry was added to the Genesis card, and Leon Slater was taken off it.

It felt like this show was 50 percent commercials. The breaks were frequent and long.

It's easy to miss it, but the TNA ring is slightly smaller than a WWE ring.

Santana's jumping kick in the corner looked weird because Kaz sold it too quickly.

The slingshot cutter from Kaz was cool.

Whatever Kaz was trying to do at the end was unclear because they botched it.

The Final Word

For the first episode of TNA on AMC, the company decided to go light on the wrestling, which felt like the worst possible way to get wrestling fans to tune in.

We only got three matches on the entire show. The six-man tag felt rushed and the women's tag title bout was messy, but the main event delivered some decent wrestling.

TNA had two hours to give any lapsed fans who tuned in out of curiosity and any new fans who were giving it a chance a reason to keep coming back, and it felt like it failed at giving us a show worth coming back to.

Packing so many ads into the show definitely hurt the flow, but even if the show was commercial-free, it would have been underwhelming. 

TNA has a talented roster, but whoever put this episode together clearly didn't want to make that the main focus. 

Grade: C-