TNA iMPACT Results, Winners, Live Grades, Reactions and Highlights From Jan. 22
Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of TNA Impact on January 22.
Last week's AMC debut was a big week for the company, but the show was received less-than-favorably by fans due to the low number of matches and high number of commercials, so TNA was looking to bounce back this week.
Feast or Fired returned for the first time in a few weeks, Mike Santana addressed the crowd following his TNA title win last week, Elayna Black made her first comments since joining the brand, and The System announced a new member to fill its ranks.
As far as in-ring action is concerned, the only bout TNA advertised ahead of time other than Feast or Fired was Jeff Hardy against Mustafa Ali.
Let's take a look at what happened on this week's Impact.
Cedric Alexander vs. Moose
1 of 6Last time in action: Joe Hendry defeated Cedric Alexander and Moose (Genesis)
We got a brief recap of the Genesis PPV before we went live in the arena with the announcers and Carlos Silva talking about the premiere on AMC last week.
The first match of the night saw the two men who lost to Joe Hendry at Genesis return to the ring. Moose and Cedric Alexander both had the crowd on their side, so there was no clear villain.
Moose took control early but lost it when the fight spilled out of the ring. Alexander avoided a powerbomb on the floor and hit a suicide dive, but Moose quickly recovered and sent him into the steel steps.
They traded the upper hand back and forth several times, but there were times when it felt like they slowed down too much, especially during the first half. The back half of the match was definitely more exciting thanks to a couple of big spots.
It looked like the powerhouse might take this one, but Alexander countered a powerbomb into a pin to score the victory.
Result: Alexander defeated Moose
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
The New Champ Has Arrived
2 of 6
After a break, Mike Santana made his way to the ring to celebrate winning the TNA World Heavyweight Championship last week.
He played a voicemail from his father from before he passed away, saying he deserved to be at the top, which led to the fans chanting, "You deserve it."
Santana thanked the fans for sticking with him through everything and supporting him for the past two years in TNA as he pursued his goals.
He talked about losing the title 30 days after winning it the first time and how he kept fighting to get back to the top. He gave some respect to Frankie Kazarian for putting up a tough fight in both of their matches.
He ended the promo by holding up the title and saying he belonged there. Surprisingly, nobody interrupted or tried to attack him, which was the right decision.
This was a solid promo from a guy who has worked hard for a long time to be taken seriously as a singles competitor. Santana deserved that moment.
Grade: B+
Indi Hartwell vs. M By Elegance
3 of 6Last time in action: Indi Hartwell lost a six-woman tag match (Impact, Dec. 17), M By Elegance and Heather defeated The IIspiration (Impact, Jan. 15)
The next match featured Hartwell taking on M By Elegance. Heather, Mr. Elegance, Ash and The Concierge were at ringside, so Hartwell was at a big disadvantage before the match even started.
Indi Wrestling was able to control the pace by having counters for just about everything M tried to throw at her early on.
The match became more competitive during the break and we returned to see both women struggling to get to their feet. Hartwell recovered first and hit a series of moves, but her finisher was countered.
She managed to maintain her position and turned the counter into a pin, but as soon as the ref declared her the winner, the rest of the Elegance Brand jumped her.
Ash was the one to call off the attack and M shoved her. Ash squared up for a fight, but Xia Brookside and Lei Ying Lee showed up to even the odds. That is when Ash's deception became clear and she attacked everyone else with The Elegance Brand.
It looks like Ash is cleared to compete again and wants to pursue the Knockouts title. The match between Hartwell and M was alright, but it lacked energy in some places. The post-match angle was more interesting.
Result: Hartwell defeated M
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
Feast or Fired
4 of 6The Feast or Fired stipulation returned after being gone from TNA for the past couple of years.
This is a pretty unique match, so some fans may not know how it works. It's similar to a "Item on a Pole" match, but each corner has a briefcase hanging from a pole. Four people will claim the cases, with three containing shots for different titles and one being a pink slip.
The match included several Superstars like Mance Warner, Steve Maclin and Eric Young, but the biggest reveal was Trey Miguel, who is officially back with TNA.
This match is designed to be chaotic, so bodies were flying left and right and people were working together to create some big spots.
The Hometown Man was about to pull down the first case, but Young ripped off his mask and stole it to become the first winner. Maclin took down the second shortly after.
Miguel took down the third briefcase, leaving everyone to fight over the last one. Eddie Edwards retrieved the last one to end the match. We won't find out which title shot is in each case until next week.
This was never going to be a standard wrestling match, but for what it was, it was pretty fun. We saw some good spots and got a couple of interesting results. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
Result: Young, Maclin, Miguel and Edwards won
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
Mustafa Ali vs. Jeff Hardy
5 of 6
Last time in action: Ali defeated Elijah (Genesis), The Hardys defeated The Righteous (Genesis)
After being signed last week, Black came out to give her first promo as a member of the TNA roster. She talked some trash and bragged about being the only one to get over a million views on TNA social media in the first 24 hours after last week's show. It was a pretty short promo.
During a backstage segment, Arianna Grace apologized to Santino Marella for what she did at Genesis. She asked for his forgiveness and he gave her a hug. Well, that was resolved quickly.
Back in the arena, Ali and Hardy made their entrances for the main event. They started with a simple lockup that led to Hardy shoving Ali to the mat. They took their time getting into the match before they started picking up the pace.
It felt like a pretty even matchup most of the time. Ali had the speed advantage, but Jeff's experience evened the score. Unfortunately, Matt was outnumbered at ringside and Special Agent 0 took him out with a big boot.
Shortly after a break, Hardy hit a Twist of Fate on top of the steel steps. The fight got pretty physical in the second half and had some entertaining moments, but it may have had a little too much going on at ringside.
Jeff missed a Swanton Bomb, which paved the way for Ali to hit a 450 splash, but he couldn't get the pin. Elijah provided a distraction that gave Jeff the chance to hit a Twist of Fate followed by a Swanton for the win.
Ali and Hardy worked well together. This was definitely the right choice to put in the main event. Ali is one of the bright spots in TNA and it's always great to see him get a chance to shine.
Result: Hardy defeated Ali
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
The Final Word
6 of 6TNA closed the show by having The System reveal its newest member to replace the retiring JDC. Dirty Dango introduced his handpicked replacement, Bear Bronson.
The big swerve came when JDC and Moose were both attacked by the rest of The System. Alexander made the save with a steel chair, but then he nailed Moose and revealed he is also in the group now.
While this week's show won't be winning any awards, it felt like a big step up from what we got in the premiere last week.
There was more in-ring action, it didn't seem like the commercial breaks were as much of an issue, and it felt like the company was putting more deserving talents on display.
Hardy and Ali put on a good show, but the Feast or Fired match provided the most bang for your buck.
Grade: C+
