TNA Impact live results: Nic Nemeth vs. Josh Alexander World title match

After sending former X-Division Champion Mustafa Ali packing in his first title defense, TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth will look to go two-for-two when he battles former champion Josh Alexander on tonight’s edition of Impact.

The two went toe-to-toe in the Slammiversary six-way that saw Nemeth win his first TNA title. Alexander decided to take a different path during the match when it comes to the fans and is now hell-bent on regaining the gold.

The show will feature two more three-way qualifiers for an Ultimate X match at this month’s Emergence as NXT’s Riley Osborne will battle Chris Bey and John Skyler in one while in the other, Ace Austin faces Rich Swann and Jason Hotch.

In separate promos, former champion Steve Maclin will be on hand as will current Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace.

In what should be a hard-hitting bout, former champion Moose will take on Mike Santana while former Knockouts Champion Tasha Steelz will face Gisele Shaw.

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Riley Osborne defeated Chris Bey and John Skyler to qualify for Ultimate X at TNA Emergence

Kicking off this week’s show is the first of two scheduled Ultimate X Qualifying matches. One-half of the TNA World Tag-Team Champions ABC, Chris Bey, makes his way out to the ring first.

John Skyler comes out next with a microphone in-hand telling the local Tampa, FL. crowd, “Shut up…shut up! Even though you two-timing Tampa twerps can tell …” he begins, as he walks-and-talks his way to the ring boasting how he’s going to beat Chris Bey “and this other ham sandwich.” He vows to qualify tonight and bring down the Ultimate X “by these good hands!”

WWE NXT Superstar Riley Osborne of Chase U comes out to a big pop from the fans inside the Florida State Fairgrounds. Fans break out into a “Chase U! Chase U!” chant as he settles inside the squared circle for the opening contest.

Before the bell sounds, “The King of TNA” Frankie Kazarian makes his way out. On commentary, Tom Hannifan questions why he’s out here for this match. He finds out soon after, as Kaz takes a seat alongside he and Matthew Rehwoldt for special guest commentary. The bell sounds and the first match of the evening gets underway.

Bey knocks Skyler out to the floor and splashes on him at ringside to start things off. Kaz says he’s out for commentary because Santino Marella won’t give him a title opportunity and the X-Division is what it is because of him. He says he’ll immediately win the X-Division title and use option C to become world champion, since Santino won’t let him do it the normal way.

Meanwhile, Skyler takes over on offense in the ring, with Osborne down in one corner while he works over Bey in the other. Bey starts to fight back and peppers Skyler with some chops. Skyler hits a belly-to-belly suplex to Bey, who crashes onto Osborne on the way down.

With Bey still out on the floor, Skyler locks Osborne in a Boston crab in the center of the ring. Bey eventually makes it back in to break things up. Bey hits a slingshot DDT on Skyler, but is then tossed over the top and out to the floor by Osborne. The Chase U student follows up with a big flipping dive over the top and onto Bey.

Back in the ring, he hits a falcon arrow on Skyler for a two-count. As this is going on, Kaz talks to Rehwoldt about “oiling up and smelling good” for his special commentary appearance this evening. Hannifan asks what he did to deserve this. Skyler gets caught with a slingshot cutter and then Bey and hits The Art of Finesse on Osborne.

Skyler sends Bey into the post before he can make the cover. He tries stealing the pin, but Osborne reverses it for a two-count of his own. Osborne heads to the top-rope and hits a picture-perfect shooting star press on Skyler to qualify for Ultimate X at TNA Emergence 2024. Good opener.

Nic Nemeth Talks TNA World Title Defense Later Tonight

“Earlier today” footage of TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth arriving to the building. He is approached for an interview in the parking lot and asked about his title defense against Josh Alexander later this evening. Nemeth says Alexander isn’t the same guy who had record-long title reigns for TNA in the past.

He made the mistake of mentioning Nemeth’s family and tonight Nemeth will stand over Alexander and prove to him “how damn good” he is. After this, the show heads into the first commercial break of the evening.

Santino Marella Leverages Matt Cardona Into Contract For PCO Fight

The show returns with Santino Marella in the ring. The TNA Wrestling authority figure talks about what Matt Cardona did last week, crashing PCO and Steph De Lander’s honeymoon last week and brutally assaulting “The French-Canadian Frankenstein.”

Marella then calls out Cardona and “The Indy God” makes his way out to the ring. He talks about all that Cardona did, including hurting his own jaw, which he said was sore for three days. He says despite all that, he has a proposition to make him.

Cardona tells Marella they go back and he’s acting like he doesn’t know about him. He says he’s “The Death Match King” and “The Indy God.” He says he doesn’t work for Santino, TNA or anybody else. Cardona talks about what he did at the wedding and honeymoon of De Lander and PCO. Santino laughs and says Cardona just gave him evidence on-camera.

He can have him prosecuted, or he can listen to Santino’s proposition. He says he’ll “prostitute, I mean prosecute” Cardona and send him to jail if he doesn’t agree to sign a contract right now. Cardona clarifies, “You’re saying if I wrestle PCO in Tampa, I don’t have to go to jail?” Santino says, “Yeah.”

Cardona takes the contract from Santino and says he’ll have his people look it over and if everything is good, he’ll fight PCO in Tampa. “You can trust me, Santino,” he says, before walking off. Santino seems to think that’s as good as signed. Hmmm.

Steve Maclin Sends A Message To Eric Young

Backstage, Frankie Kazarian boasts showing next week how he’s going to get to the TNA World Championship by way of the X-Division Championship. Up walks Eric Young for a verbal back-and-forth with him. Steve Maclin also enters the picture and the three exchange cold stares.

We then shoot to a video package with Maclin, who vows to work his way back to the TNA World Championship. He’ll stack bodies one-by-one, naming many of the top stars in TNA as those he’ll go through if necessary. He mentions Young as someone he has never faced. He says he’s gonna change that.

He says Young wants to be the face and heartbeat of TNA. Maclin says he’s the new blood that is being pumped through the veins and heart of TNA. He tells Young he’ll be the first body he stacks and then it’s “tag’m, bag’m and mayhem for all.”

Gisele Shaw defeated Tasha Steelz

TNA Wrestling’s Cardi B (“Okkurrrr!”) makes her way out to the ring for our second match of the evening on this week’s show. We see highlights of her cheating to defeat Gisele Shaw on a recent episode of TNA Xplosion, which is why tonight’s match features multiple referees.

Shaw’s theme hits next and “The Quintessential Diva” makes her way out and heads to the ring for her fair shake against Steelz. As soon as the bell sounds, Shaw charges across the ring and blasts Steelz in the bread-basket.

She charges across the ring and blasts Steelz as she climbs to the middle rope with a big kick. She slams her for a two-count. Steelz heads out to the floor, so Shaw chases after her. Steelz catches her coming out and slams her into the steel ring steps.

Under the ring, Steelz finds a giant steel wrench. One of the three referees on the floor takes it from her. Essentially a spot to show that there’s multiple officials involved in this one. Back in the ring, Steelz hits a shining wizard type of kick for a two-count.

Shaw hits a big spinebuster off the ropes and stalks Steelz as she gets up. She hits a shock-and-awe for a close two-count. Shaw goes for a big running knee out of the corner, but Steelz sees it coming and counters with a nasty jaw-breaker for a two-count of her own.

We see Steelz literally “tuning up the band” ala Shawn Michaels in the corner, but when she goes for the follow-up super kick, Shaw blocks it. Shaw goes for a cradle shock, but Steelz counters.

She tries leveraging a pin with her feet on the ropes, but another one of the outside-of-the-ring officials pushes her feet off before she can get the three-count. Steelz goes to bicker at him and Shaw takes over, this time connecting with her running knee finisher for the pinfall victory.

Moose defeated Mike Santana

Backstage, The System, still wearing their early WWE-days Mark Henry-style red, white and blue jacket and pants outfits, are shown standing over Mike Santana after beating him down and knocking him out.

A bunch of TNA officials rush to the scene to tend to Santana as The System taunts him, “Woof! Woof!”, as they walk off. The show heads to another commercial break.

When the show returns, The System and JDC are introduced. They make their way out to the ring in their Mark Henry 1996 WWE gear as the commentators bring fans up to speed on their ongoing issues with the aforementioned Santana and Moose’s scheduled match against him tonight.

Alisha Edwards begins. “Do you wanna know something?!” She tells the “stupid fans” of Tampa that they may have expected Moose vs. Santana, Santana is not medically cleared. She says that means it looks like Moose has the night off.

The lights in the building go out and the spotlight begins swirling as the camera shot changes to show Santana arguing with a doctor, pushing past him defiantly to head to the ring and fight regardless. Santana hits the ring and brawls his way through The System.

A referee comes in and calls for the bell and his match with Moose is on. Moose gets the early offensive jump, attacking Santana from behind to get things off-and-running in his favor. He whips Santana into the corner hard and focuses his early attack on Santana’s back.

Moose slides Santana under the bottom rope over the ring apron and blasts him with some standing elbows from the floor. 12-to-6 elbows, by the way, which are legal across the board in all combat sports now-a-days! Santana fights back but Moose chokeslams him onto the apron from the floor.

On that note, the show heads into a mid-match commercial break as Moose continues to dominate the offense, now focusing his attack on the right arm of Santana to take away his Spin The Block-finisher.

When the show returns, Moose is shown distracting the ref in the ring while The System slam Santana shoulder-first into the steel ring post. Moose seems content with a count-out victory, taunting the crowd on one side of the ring as the referee reaches all the way to the count of nine on the other side.

Santana ultimately returns to the ring, where Moose delivers more punishment, stomping away at him in the corner. He ties up the ref again, and now some more members of The System reach under the ropes to choke and further attack Santana.

A defiant Santana, from his knees, waves Moose on in Rock “just bring it” fashion. Moose open-hand slams Santana, which only angers him. Hannifan talks about Santana’s rough life as he explodes back to his feet in an offensive rage.

He takes it to the former TNA World Champion with rights and lefts and then runs into him with his own injured right arm. Santana walks into a big boot from Moose. Moose goes for a chokeslam, but Santana counters and rolls Moose up for a close two-count.

Santana hits the Rolling Buck-50 to shift the offensive momentum in his favor. He follows up with a running cannonball splash to Moose in the corner for a two-count. Santana slaps his own hurt arm, calling for Spin The Block. He hits it but can’t follow-up with a quick cover.

Instead, both guys are down as fans chant “TNA! TNA!” Santana eventually crawls for the cover, but Moose rolls away. Santana rolls Moose back in the ring. Moose yanks Santana’s arm down over the top-rope before Santana re-enters himself. He follows up with an enormous spear for the win. Really good match.

Joe Hendry’s Name Wasn’t Said, But He Appears With An Announcement

After the match, Moose and The System appear to be up to no good, as they close in on Mike Santana, who is still down and out after a very hard fought effort. Although no one said his name, Joe Hendry appeared.

Hendry runs down to the ring to a rock star reception from the Tampa crowd. He has a steel chair in-hand and clears the ring of Moose and the rest of The System. He gets on the mic and tells The System they’ve made enemies out of Santana and himself.

He reminds them that there are strength in numbers. He tells Moose and JDC they will be squaring off against two more enemies of The System next week. The Hardy Boys — Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy.

Spitfire Sends A Message To Malisha

Backstage in the stairwell, The Spitfire duo of Jody Threat and Dani Luna dare Malisha to try them again. They say for them it’s do-or-die and vow that they will recapture the TNA Knockouts Tag-Team Championships. Nic Nemeth vs. Josh Alexander is hyped for tonight’s main event with footage and the graphic for the bout flashes across the screen before the show heads into another commercial break.

Jordynne Grace Responds To Ash By Elegance’s Attack

We return to footage of Ash By Elegance’s pink kendo stick attack of Jordynne Grace on last week’s show. We then shoot to new footage of “The Juggernaut” reacting to what happened. She tells Ash if she wants to fight, she’s damn sure going to get one.

Jason Hotch defeated Ace Austin and Rich Swann to qualify for Ultimate X at TNA Emergence

ABC’s Ace Austin makes his way out to the ring for our next match of the evening, which is the second of two advertised Ultimate X Qualifiers for the show. He will try to do what Chris Bey failed to do in the opener.

Rich Swann makes his way out accompanied by fellow First Class member AJ Francis. The two will be competing with Jason Hotch, already in the ring. The bell sounds and we hear Francis join Hannifan and Rehwoldt on special guest commentary for this one.

Austin gets Hotch out of the ring almost immediately after the match begins. Swann takes control of the offense by attacking Austin from behind after that. Francis is shown telling Hannifan he should be clapping for what Swann did.

Hotch throws Swann to the floor and hits a leaping neck-breaker to Austin for a two-count. Hotch stomps away at Austin and drops down for some ground and pound, but is blasted with a big kick from behind by Swann, who settles back into the offensive driver’s seat.

“I’m not on an island, but I’m very relevant,” says Francis on commentary while boasting about making titles in TNA relevant again, such as the TNA Digital Media and International Heavyweight Wrestling Championships.

Austin hits a big spot on Hotch for a close two-count. Swann breaks it up and Austin rolls him up for a two-count as well. Austin turns Swann inside-out with a big shot and covers him for a close pin attempt. Austin calls for his finisher, but Hotch grabs his boot from ringside to prevent it.

Swann hits a big dive over the top-rope onto both guys on the floor for a big “TNA! TNA!” chant. Hotch knocks Swann into Francis to shut him up for all of two seconds on commentary. Austin goes to work on Hotch, but is then attacked from behind by Francis, which is perfectly legal in this match.

Chris Bey runs out from nowhere and dives over the top-rope to take out Francis. Austin sets up for his finisher again, but he is distracted by John Skyler, who runs out after coming up short in the other Ultimate X Qualifier earlier tonight.

This leads to Hotch scoring a huge upset pin over Austin to qualify for Ultimate X at TNA Emergence. He and Skyler head to the back together as the show heads into another commercial break.

Matt Cardona Signs Contract With One Condition

When the show returns, Matt Cardona convinces Santino Marella to have a six-person mixed match in Tampa first involving himself and PCO, and then a one-on-one bout between the two at TNA Emergence. Cardona again pretends that this is the plan, which Santino is all smiles and happy about.

Nic Nemeth (c) and Josh Alexander fight to a 30-minute time-limit draw

It’s main event time!

The stage is set for the highly-anticipated TNA World Championship clash between reigning champion, “The Danger Zone” Nic Nemeth and former champion, “The Walking Weapon” Josh Alexander.

Alexander heads to the ring to a ton of boos, fresh off of his heel turn at the TNA Slammiversary 2024 pay-per-view last month. His opponent, the reigning and defending champion, Nemeth, heads out next to a big pop from the Tampa crowd.

Following the final formal pre-match ring introductions for the champion and the challenger, this main event title tilt gets officially off-and-running. Nemeth starts off hot, but it isn’t long before “The Walking Weapon” takes over.

The action spills out to the floor, where Alexander slams Nemeth into the steps and the barricade. He taunts fans inside the Impact Zone in the Florida State Fairgrounds as the show heads into a mid-match commercial break as the match continues.

When the show returns, Alexander is shown raking at the eyes of Nemeth over the ropes. The fans boo and the referee gets on his case, but he milks every drop of the five seconds allotted for dastardly deeds.

Nemeth begins fighting from underneath with shots to the bread-basket of “The Walking Weapon,” but Alexander reverses Nemeth face-first into the top turnbuckle to shift the momentum right back into his favor. Soon after this, the show heads into another mid-match advertising time out.

This time when the show returns, Nemeth slowly begins to take over the control of the action. He hits ten elbow drops to the chest of a grounded Alexander. The Jerry Lawler-special. He hits a Fame-Asser for a close two-count. He sets Alexander up for the Danger Zone, but Alexander avoids it.

Alexander looks for the C4, but Nemeth avoids it. Alexander comes off the top-rope with a big knee to Nemeth for a close two-count of his own. Moments later, the show heads into a third mid-match commercial break as the championship main event of the evening continues.

When the show returns, Alexander is seen beating down Nemeth on the floor at ringside. He sends Nemeth shoulder-first into the steel ring steps with a vicious authority. The fans react with a loud “You suck! You suck!” chant. The referee tries to get the match back in the ring.

Alexander rolls Nemeth into the squared circle and stands over his prone body as the boos and groans from the Tampa crowd grows. He beats on a lifeless Nemeth some more and then turns him upside down and inside-out for an over-the-knee back-breaker for another close two-count.

“The Walking Weapon” sits Nemeth on the top-rope backwards. He heads up after him for a belly-to-back super-plex, but Nemeth rolls on top of him as they come crashing down to the mat with a ton of momentum. Nemeth gets a two-count. He pops up and hits his Danger Zone finisher, but is down next to Alexander upon connecting.

He takes several seconds and looks to roll for the cover, but as he does, Alexander rolls out to the floor. Same exact spot used in one of the other featured matches tonight with Moose doing the same with Mike Santana. Booking 101, guys!

Nemeth heads out to the floor and gets Alexander back inside the squared circle after connecting with a DDT on the floor. He picks Alexander up with designs on another Danger Zone, but Alexander fights back and sends Nemeth into the ring post shoulder-first. And again on the other side of the ring.

Alexander hoists Nemeth up and runs him across the ring, lawn-darting him into the middle turnbuckle for Snake Eyes. Nemeth is down and out as Alexander stalks him. He brings Nemeth to the middle of the ring looking for the C4 Spike, but Nemeth comes to life and connects with Danger Zone.

He goes for the cover, but the timekeeper calls for the bell before the referee makes his count. The ring announcer informs us that the 30-minute time-limit has expired. Therefore, still TNA World Champion is Nic Nemeth. The fans boo. Nemeth isn’t happy.

After the match, the fans chant for five more minutes. Nemeth wants it, too. The ref leaves it up to Alexander, who gets to his feet and looks nervous. He drops down and exits the ring. Nemeth stops him and brings him back in. Alexander low-blows Nemeth. He puts his hands on the female official for gasps from the commentators and fans alike.

He takes Nemeth’s title and heads into the ring. He gets in Nemeth’s face and tells him “This belongs to me!” The show goes off the air on that note. Thanks for joining us, and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter/X.

Next Week:
* Frankie Kazarian vs. KUSHIDA vs. Hammerstone (Ultimate X Qualifier)
* Laredo Kid vs. Bhupinder Gujjar vs. Jai Vidal (Ultimate X Qualifier)
* Alisha Edwards vs. Rosemary
* Charlie Dempsey vs. Jonathan Gresham
* Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy vs. Moose & JDC