Impact thread for April 23, 2026 - Rich Swann challenges for the World Title

[Sky]

• Mike Santana (c) vs. Rich Swann - World Title
• Matt Hardy vs. Dutch
• Nic Nemeth vs. Bronson Reed
• Xia Brookside explains her heelishness
• Elijah is here
• Elayna Black is also here

 

[CFCrusader]

I'm watching this now. Bear Bronson vs Nic Nemeth first. It's interesting having Nic be a face, whilst Ryan is seemingly going to remain a heel. Alisha chokes Nic on the rope when the ref isn't looking. So far, this is what you'd expect - Bear is dominant. Nearfall on a famouser. Bear blocks the superkick and hits a choke bomb, for a nearfall. Bear goes shoulder first into the post. DDT from Nic! Superkick. Nearfall. Nic kicks out from 2.999 after a move from Bear. Nic goes out of the ring, and the System are about to attack him. Navarro shows up. Ryan gets Nic back into the ring. Superkick, and Danger Zone for the win. That was decent.

Swann is backstage with Gia. He said he wants BDE to be there, I think? I smell a heel turn if so (but surely I misheard).

Kaz is pretending to be Elijah, lol. "Kaz is my daddy" is crazy. The lights go out... and when they come back on, Elijah is here. He chokes Kaz out with a strap. He wants a strap match, and then he sings a little.

EC3 segment. Oh god he's yapping again!

Diamond Collective segment.

 

[CFCrusader]

Dutch vs Matt Hardy next. I guess we have Dark Matt now. He grabs a table, and is spray painting it. Ah, he wrote "sacrifice" lol. We have a brawl. Side effect. We go outside and Matt is hitting Dutch's head against the steps. Back in the ring, Matt is punching Dutch in the corner. Delete spot... Dutch gets back into it. Great, we have a rest hold. And another one. Jesus christ. Matt gets up and hits a DDT. Twist of fate, and Dutch rolls out of the ring. Matt puts Dutch on the table. Err, elbow drop but it doesn't break the table (well, it broke the table leg). Matt lays the table against the ring, and then suplexes Dutch through it. It's not a DQ because it's TNA lol. Vincent appears from under the ring and helps Dutch win. Okay, that was not very good.

They attack Matt, but Jeff makes the save.

The Elegances are talking to Daria Rae. Oh, its going to be Team Santino vs Team Daria at Lockdown isn't it. Anyways, Mr Elegance singles match next week.

Injury report. Santana is cleared for his match tonight. Big if true.

Lei Ying Lee promo. Yay for the crowd being nice to her. She calls out Xia Brookside. Oh my god, her promos are 10x better as a heel. Not the what chants AGAIN, can the crowds fuck off. Brookside comes up with some BS, and then refuses to translate for Lee!! Xia apologises and hugs Lee. NOOOO she attacks her!! Wtf she hit a DDT I think, that Maclin would be proud of.

Elayna Black vs Katie Arquette (cousin of David). She's apparently been on TNA before (Xplosion maybe? Idk). Katie reminds me a bit of early Jordynne Grace. I guess that's a glorified squash, Elayna wins.

 

[CFCrusader]

Ali has a championship summit with a bunch of indie wrestlers. LMAO Skyler thinks it's New Zealand, but it's Australia. Is that Indi in the background? Anyways, Adam Brooks vs Ali next week.

The System segment.

Main event time. The ring sounds like someone is burping when someone takes a bump lmao, wtf. There's also someone screaming? Wtf. Anyways, really good opening part of the match. They went out of the ring and back in, and it's slowed down. Swann kicks Santana a few times on the outside. Santana hits a superkick, gets Swann back in the ring, and goes to the top rope... he gets hit with a superkick! Oh my god who the F is screaming. Superplex. Nearfall on the Rolling Buck 50. Some back and forth. Nearfall on a Cutter from Swann, and another on a splash! Everyone kicks out of this guy's moves these days destroyer! Santana kicks out of that too. I feel like Santana has sold well for Swann tonight, but this is really pushing it. Spin the Block, and Santana wins. You could have cut some of the last bit out. Good match though.

Daria is wearing the "Carlos hat" and presenting the title (why). Carlos couldn't be here because it's not an NXT talent of course.

I thought the show was okay. Main event was good, and I appreciate them doing a world title match. The opening match was fine too. Xia's heel turn is off to a decent start. Everything else was either fine or mid.