TNA Impact results: Team NXT vs. Team TNA steel cage match
A WarGames-esque steel cage match between WWE NXT and TNA headlines tonight’s TNA Impact from El Paso, Texas.
The match sees TNA’s Mike Santana, The Hardys, Steve Maclin & Santino Marella against NXT’s Stacks, Lexis King, Tyson Dupont, Tyriek Igwe and Brooks Jensen under WarGames entrance rules.
In another match, 20 men will compete in a battle royal for a TNA World title shot on the first Impact of 2026.
The Angel Warriors (Knockouts Champion Lei Ying Lee & Xia Brookside) take on Tessa Blanchard & Mila Moore in tag team action.
Elijah will appear to host another concert after dragging Mustafa Ali away on a horse at Final Resolution.
Please note our coverage will begin at 9 PM Eastern.
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20-man battle royal for a TNA World title shot
As the match was set to begin, TNA World Champion Frankie Kazarian came out to join Tom Hannifan and Matt Rehwoldt at ringside. The title shot will come on January 15.
The bout itself featured a lot of mid-card/lower card talent outside guys like former TNA World Champion Moose. As has been pointed out by Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio when it comes to World title shots, why aren’t all the top talent in the company vying for their opportunity?
There was a lot of teasing for future tag team feuds in addition to a potentially fun match between Bear Bronson and Jake Something in the middle portion. AJ Francis came out and pulled Rich Swann outside of the ring to eliminate him and cost his former First Class mate a shot.
The finals came down to Bronson, Eric Young…and Ryan Nemeth. Yes, that Ryan Nemeth. Bronson eliminated Nemeth and Young tossed Bronson but he never hit the floor to Young’s surprise. The two battled on the apron and Young was eliminated after a back body drop on the apron, giving the newcomer a title shot.
Having seen Bronson in person before, there is a lot more to him than what you saw in Bear Country. I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do in TNA if given the opportunity.
Match Result: Bear Bronson won a battle royal to earn a future TNA World title shot
-Team NXT did a backstage promo hyping up the cage match.
-The injury report revealed that Matt Cardona is out with a shoulder injury following the recent attack from Lexis King, Dani Luna and Indi Hartwell are being held out due to last week’s dog collar match, and Rich Swann is having his back evaluated after the Francis attack above.
-Mike Santana and The Hardys will be on the next cover of Pro Wrestling Illustrated.
-Bear Bronson talked with Gia Miller about his upcoming title shot.
Angel Warriors (TNA Knockouts Champion Lei Ying Lee & Xia Brookside) vs. Mila Moore & Tessa Blanchard (w/ Robert Stone & Victoria Crawford)
This one didn’t do much for me and was way too long. The crowd was dead for the most part and it was just kinda there. The end came when Lee hit Moore with a kick and then hit her Warrior’s Way swinging facebuster for the pin. I’m assuming Lee vs. Blanchard for the title is coming after Dani Luna gets her crack at the gold.
Match Result: Lei Ying Lee & Xia Brookside defeated Mila Moore & Tessa Blanchard
-Speaking of, Luna did a backstage promo calling for her title shot.
-An irate Robert Stone trying to pump up Blanchard and Moore for their past accomplishments, saying all three of them and Crawford are “the Michael Jordan of TNA.” Blanchard then issued an open challenge to any three woman to take on The Diamond Collective “because this time, we aren’t playing around.”
– Miller caught up with Brookside and Lee and asked Lee about Luna’s challenge. Lee said if she wants to fight, she won’t run. Brookside said Luna is scary, but Lee didn’t care. “Anytime, anywhere…b*tch!”
Elijah plays a concert
He played up to El Paso with a song for them until he was thankfully interrupted by Tasha Steelz of Order 4 who came out with a podium. The fans woke up and were booing her vociferously until Mustafa Ali came out and got more boos as he wanted to address an incident he said was “The Lasso in El Paso” referencing what happened at Final Resolution.
They bantered for a bit until Elijah said he wanted to fight. Elijah was about to make his way up until he was attacked by The Great Hands who eventually got dispatched. Special Agent Zero got in the way until Ali told him to stand down and have Elijah take the first shot. Elijah got distracted by Steelz and Ali nailed him in the back with a guitar, leaving Order 4 to stand tall over him.
I guess your level of excitement for this feud is how much you’re into Elijah. By me typing that, you can probably figure out where I fall on that excitement level.
– Indi Hartwell, looking no worse for the wear, did a promo talking about the dog collar match. She said once she is cleared, she is going to prove she’s the best and will be Knockouts Champion one day.
– They showed highlights of Leon Slater and Je’Von Evans taking on AJ Styles and Dragon Lee from Saturday Night’s Main Event, even tying into AMC by showing the crowd shot of Jon Bernthal who used to be on The Walking Dead.
They flipped to Tuesday’s NXT and the four-way title match that Slater won to earn a future NXT Championship shot against Oba Femi at NXT New Year’s Evil. They also showed Moose calling out NXT North American Champion Ethan Page for their title match on December 30 on NXT TV.
-In a backstage promo, Moose called out Slater for an X-Division title match at Genesis as he never invoked his rematch clause. Cedric Alexander then came into the frame and said he should rescind that request as he wants the shot instead.
-Kazarian was talking to an Elvis Presley painting inside the venue, followed up by him talking down to Bronson and that the World title wasn’t going anywhere.
Team TNA vs. Team NXT cage match
They went over the rules and this was exactly WarGames rules. Unlike those matches, this was being held in a single traditional cage so things are going to get a bit tight in there.
NXT’s Brooks Jensen and TNA’s Mike Santana (entering in a low rider that was driven into the same building by Eddy Guerrero once up on a time) started this one out.
NXT’s Lexis King was in next, so the visitors had the man advantage. A painted up Steve Maclin was in next, using King’s cane on its owner’s back. With two minute entrances, the ring was filling up quick. NXT’s Tyson Dupont was up next followed by TNA’s Matt Hardy. However, Hardy was attacked by Tyriek Igwe before he could get in there and just went in the cage instead, giving NXT a 4-on-2 advantage as Hardy was dead outside the cage.
TNA’s Jeff Hardy was out next in his first cage match of any kind in seven years, followed by new TNA International Champion Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo representing NXT. About a minute after he entered, The Righteous then came out to no reaction and took Matt Hardy to the back. (I will say their music has always been great, so there.)
Finally, Santino Marella entered at number ten, the injury sub for the aforementioned Cardona. He then took on all five NXT guys, taking them all out…except for future son-in-law Lorenzo who is engaged to his daughter, Arianna Grace. Lorenzo had no issue beating up Marella, though.
This didn’t feature any blood which seemed odd considering a) they just had a bloody dog collar match the week before and b) this is supposedly a heated rivalry.
Maclin went up to the top of the cage and was teasing a headbutt before Jensen stopped him. This led to a big suplex spot with men from both teams getting involved. The camera angle, even on the replay, didn’t do Maclin being suplexed off the top of the cage any favors, though.
Marella pulled out the cobra sock and Santana hit Spin the Block on Jensen to give Team TNA the win in more of the more tame cage matches you’ll see.
Rehwoldt said “the war has been won” by Team TNA which I’m sure you, dear reader, don’t believe. Santana, Hardy and Maclin left Marella in the cage with Stacks which led to Grace coming out. With her fiancee grounded, she was smiling and then just low-blowed her own father as Stacks beat him up.
Santana tried to get back in the cage, but the door was locked. Maclin then got in there by, well, climbing the cage. Grace then left the cage, berated Santana, and said Marella was a deadbeat father.
The war must continue!
Afterward, they went to a cinematic style deal with Matt Hardy waking up groggily with clips from The Righteous’ recent promo playing. Hardy picked up a necklace and looked confused and then, The Righteous were right there. Vincent said all of their devotion was for Hardy and asked Hardy to help them. He thinks the Hardys can become immortal, but they need to trust him. Dutch had a gift, but Hardy, still wearing his title belt, slapped it away and left as Dutch laughed.
And that’s how the show ended.
Next Week (Christmas Day):
- 10-person Christmas Surprise tag team match
- Year-end awards
Final Thoughts:
There was nothing here that felt consequential. As I wrote above, the cage match was tame and didn’t feel like any kind of blowoff. The TNA/NXT relationship is here to stay as long as WWE wants it to.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.