TNA iMPACT 8/20 Results: The Hardys score tag win over The Nemeths ahead of title showdown at Lockdown – POST Wrestling
Results
- Rich Swann def. Mr. Elegance
- Jada Stone def. Heather By Elegance (TNA Knockouts Television Championship Tournament Semi-Final)
- Brian Myers def. Fabian Aichner (Lethal Lockdown Advantage Match)
- Jason Hotch def. John Skyler (DQ)
- Harley Hudson def. Alisha Edwards (If Harley Hudson loses, she gets fired from TNA)
- Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Elijah & Moose def. AJ Francis, Frankie Kazarian, Nic Nemeth & Ryan Nemeth
Mustafa Ali implements a ‘loyalty test’
This week’s episode of TNA Thursday Night Impact, the final show before this weekend’s Lockdown event, opened with Mustafa Ali in the ring alongside the rest of his Order Four faction. Of course, they were without TNA International Champion Jason Hotch, who left the group recently and is expected to face Ali on Sunday.
Ali, who has been going after Hotch’s family as of late, tried to embarrass his further ally by targeting them once again. Ali declared that letting Hotch into Order Four has allowed his kids to buy toys and his wife to buy the clothing she wears. Then, after all that, “he stabbed me in the back!” Ali shouted. The crowd chanted “You deserve it” in response.
With one of his strongest foot soldiers recently leaving Order Four, Ali said he demands loyalty from the remaining members of his group. To test the loyalty of John Skyler, Ali said he’s put him tonight against his former tag partner, Hotch. Skyler, who has been caught in the middle of the group’s recent drama, did not seem happy about this demand.
I haven’t loved every Order Four storyline, but the stuff between Ali and Hotch has been great. I’m looking forward to their match on Sunday, and I’m anticipating this segment later in the show.
When reached for comment backstage, Hotch refused to face Skyler. Despite their differences as of late, Hotch still considers his former tag partner family. “What I’m not going to do tonight is wrestle John Skyler,” Hotch said. General Manager Daria Rae approached Hotch and said that if he didn’t wrestle tonight, he could be stripped of his title.
Mr. Elegance loses his 0
The first match of the night saw Rich Swann face off against Mr. Elegance. TNA commentary pointed out that Mr. Elegance had remained undefeated since infamously joining the company at the start of the year.
In one of the more egregious run-in spots of the year, Heather By Elegance jumped into the ring and gave Swann a DDT early on while another Elegance Brand representative distracted the referee. Heather was still in the ring once the referee turned around, yet the referee didn’t eject them for some reason.
Swann caught Mr. Elegance slipping late, reversing an Excuse Moi (Sister Abgail) into a roll-up for the win. Mr. Elegance is no longer undefeated. Looks like we’ll have to hit the brakes on his world title campaign. The Righteous appeared on the apron afterward, staring approvingly at Swann and tag partner BDE. I can’t say I care too much to see what happens next in this storyline.
Jada Stone is one win away from her first TNA title reign
TNA’s Knockouts Television Championship tournament had its second semi-final match next, with Heather By Elegance facing Jada Stone. Last week, M By Elegance qualified for the finals with a win over Indi Hartwell (a move I found a little surprising). The question heading into this one was whether a win from Heather could make it an all-Elegance finals.
Heather tripped up Stone as she tried for a top-rope move early on, causing her to take a nasty fall to the mat. Stone gained some momentum later and connected with a Split-Legged Moonsault for a near fall.
The match went to the ring apron, where Heather delivered a nasty German Suplex. Heather tried to follow up with another move, but Stone countered into a hurricanrana off the apron and to the floor! Some big spots were pulled out for this one.
Both women just barely beat the 10-count to get back into the ring. Stone came running off the ropes and caught Heather with a Spike Stunner for the pinfall win. Stone winning here was the obvious move, considering how the other side of the semis played out. Stone’s an up-and-coming name; I wouldn’t mind if she wins the midcard title next week.
We saw a face-to-face with Knockouts champ Xia Brookside and Elayna Black, seemingly hosted via Zoom. Weird coincidence, but we’ve seen a lot of these on TV this week. Willow Nightingale and Mercedes Moné were interviewed in separate rooms on Dynamite, plus Dion Lennox and Saquon Shugars had “via satellite” type face-to-face meeting earlier this week as well.
The System earns Lethal Lockdown advantage
The next match saw Brian Myers and Fabian Aichner face off in a Lockdown Advantage match. Whoever won in this one would get the advantage in Sunday’s four-on-four Lethal Lockdown match. Lethal Lockdown bouts begin one-on-one, then wrestlers enter one at a time until all competitors are in the ring. Whoever wins this match, their team will get to have their 2nd wrestler enter before the other team’s 2nd name, a significant advantage!
Aichner scored a huge springboard crossbody to the floor early in this one. Myers gained the advantage during the break, but Aichner battled back as the show returned with a pair of crossbodies. The babyface earned a near fall after a Death Valley Driver then moonsault out of the corner.
Aichner scored yet another crossbody off the top rope to the ringside area. He absolutely was not caught a single bit with this dive and took a brutal fall to the floor. Back in the ring, a springboard DDT caused another near fall for Aichner.
Myers reached the bottom rope to break a headlock Aichner had attempted. Myers kicked a middle rope as Aichner was getting back into the ring, causing the rope to hit Aichner in the crotch. Myers followed up with a high-speed spear, but it wasn’t enough for the pinfall win.
With the referee’s view of the action intentionally obstructed, Myers kicked Aichner in the groin again, then scored his Roster Cut (lariat) for the pinfall win. The System will have the advantage in this weekend’s Lethal Lockdown bout.
Skyler vs. Hotch doesn’t go as planned
Up next was the aforementioned showdown between John Skyler and Jason Hotch, a matchup neither of them wanted to participate in.
Hotch got on the mic before the match and said that, while they consider eachother family, both of their hands were being forced. “We can give the great fans of Philadelphia a great wrestling match and show them what TNA is all about,” Hotch said.
These two started working a technical wrestling match to start. Order Four Secretary of Affairs Mila Moore appeared on-stage and said they were upset, as these were not the orders given to Skyler. He wasn’t ordered to “wrestle” Hotch, but instead “take him out.”
Mustafa Ali had seen enough after a couple minutes of the wrestling exhibition. He sent out a series of security guards, including Special Agent 0, to attack Hotch, causing the match to end via disqualification. Ali placed an Order Four logo on Hotch’s chest as he was down and out, then said: “You don’t leave Order Four until I said so.”
In the co-main event of the night, Alisha Edwards made a rare singles appearance to face off against Harley Hudson. This was high stakes for Hudson, as Daria Rae decided that she would be fired from TNA if she lost. Rae said she booked Hudson for this risky opportunity due to her lack of wins since joining the company. The GM didn’t comment on questions from the announce desk about whether Edwards’ lack of wins should also have her in danger.
Hudson was able to catch Edwards with a roll-up pinfall for the win in this one. A post-match attack was stopped by Jada Stone, who came in for the save.
Hardys enter Lockdown with the advantage
The final match of the night saw Elijah, Moose and The Hardys face The Nemeths, AJ Francis, and Frankie Kazarian. This multi-man tag helped preview three matches taking place this weekend at Lockdown (Hardys vs. Nemeths, Elijah vs. Francis, Moose vs. Kazarian).
Moose earned a hot tag after the show returned from commercials, getting a near fall after giving Nic Nemeth his Go To Hell sit-out powerbomb. Matt Hardy went flying late in the match, scoring a Side Effect off the middle rope. This move allowed Jeff to get a hot tag, going on a run against the entire heel side.
Jeff scored a Whisper In The Wind to both Nemeths, then Moose took out Kazarian with a crossbody to the floor. Francis, the legal member of his squad, got back into the ring and caught Jeff with his TFL spear. A pin attempt was stopped by Elijah, who scored a top-rope move.
Matt Hardy got back into the ring to give Francis a Twist of Fate. Jeff worked back up to his feet and scored a Swanton Bomb for the pinfall victory. Days before they put their tag titles on the line against The Nemeths, The Hardys have loads of momentum. Decent main event here.
Before the show went off the air, we saw Cedric Alexander was laid out backstage! Who did it? We’ll find out another time…
A finalized Lockdown lineup was mentioned late in the show. Here’s what to expect on Sunday:
- Vincent & Dutch vs. BDE & Rich Swann (Pre-Show)
- Trey Miguel vs. Agent Zero (Pre-Show)
- Cedric Alexander vs. Leon Slater (Last Man Standing) (TNA X-Division Championship)
- Allie & ??? vs. Heather & M By Elegance (TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championships)
- Jason Hotch vs. Mustafa Ali (TNA International Championship)
- Xia Brookside vs. Elayna Black (TNA Knockouts World Championship)
- Brian Myers, Bear Bronson, Eddie Edwards & Alisha Edwards vs. Fabian Aichner, Ricky Sosa, KC Navarro & Jada Stone (Lethal Lockdown)
- Elijah vs. AJ Francis (The Final Encore)
- Moose vs. Frankie Kazarian (Escape The Cage Match)
- Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy vs. Nic Nemeth & Ryan Nemeth (TNA World Tag Team Championships)
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