On Saturday, April 25, it will be exactly 26 years since I attended my first live wrestling event, where I saw David Arquette win the World Heavyweight Championship at an infamous taping of “WCW Thunder.” And now, here I am, a quarter-of-a-century later, planning a wedding a thousand miles away, watching another wrestling event taped in the Syracuse War Memorial, where I used to attend the Syracuse Auto Expo with my classic-car-obsessed father, now named for the hospital where I spent many days as a chronically-ill child, in the shadow of the Equitable Towers where I learned what grown-ups do at work, next to the Civic Center where I used to take acting classes, across the street from the convention center where I graduated high school, and just a short drive from the synagogue where I was Bar Mitzvah’d, that is now being turned into student housing. One friend I attended that “Thunder” taping with died in a professional snowmobile race, speeding into a wall, crashing into oblivion on Kentucky Derby Day, many years ago.
All of these ghosts came flooding back to me in a Proustian rush of memory throughout the show, as Mike Santana made a Jey Uso-esque entrance through hallways that I haven’t walked in at least 15 years.
I saw one WCW taping and two WWE house shows in that arena, and none of them were as good as what “Impact” presented tonight. WCW in 2000 was in a sorry state of affairs, and WWE never really took Syracuse audiences seriously in my time as a wrestling fan, often phoning it in and working on spots for TV and PPV. So I can firmly say that tonight’s “Impact,” as boilerplate as it might’ve been, was the best wrestling I’ve ever seen in the War Memorial at OnCenter.
It was weird to see Syracuse taken so seriously. TNA might’ve taken the city more seriously in these couple of days of tapings than I did in my whole 18 years there. There was a shoutout to Upstate NY favorite, Dinosaur BBQ, and numerous references to the city being a dump, which it is, but it was my dump for a while; the dump that made me the man I am today.
I’m not even the usual “Impact” editor. I just happened to be filling in.
Call it “fate,” call it “God,” call it “providence,” I was probably meant to see this show and realize how far that little 9-year-old WCW fan, who plugged his ears before every pyro burst, has come.
In the introductions, I usually say we’re going to get “deep in our feelings” about the show, and boy howdy was I telling the truth with this one.
TNA iMPACT Results – April 23, 2026 – Ryan Nemeth joins Tom Hannifan & Matthew Rehwoldt on commentary for this week’s episode, taped from Syracuse, New York!
Bear Bronson (w/ The System) vs. Nic Nemeth
Nic Nemeth walks out carrying his “Call Your Shot” trophy. On commentary, Ryan Nemeth is openly jealous of KC Navarro, convinced Navarro is trying to replace him as Nic’s “baby brother.”
Nemeth catches Bronson with a headbutt, but Bronson answers immediately with a spinebuster. Bronson sits on Nemeth for a near fall. While Bronson distracts the referee, Alisha Edwards chokes Nic against the ropes. Bronson dumps Nemeth with a side slam for another near fall. Ryan keeps rambling on commentary about having tapes of his and Nic’s births — and insists there is no tape of KC Navarro being born a Nemeth. He keeps offering to show the tapes.
Nic fires up with a pair of flying clotheslines. He hits a Famouser for two. Nemeth goes for a superkick, but Bronson blocks it and plants him with a choke bomb for another near fall. Bronson sets up for a sit‑out tombstone, but Nemeth pushes free and hits a jumping DDT. Nemeth gets a near fall after a superkick.
Bronson blocks the Danger Zone, levels Nemeth with a clothesline, and hits a sit‑out Death Valley Driver for two. Nemeth rolls to the floor to regroup.
On the outside, The System surrounds Nic Nemeth. KC Navarro runs out and distracts them. With their backs turned, Ryan Nemeth suddenly shoves Nic back into the ring. Nic slips behind Bronson and hits the Danger Zone to score the pinfall.
Winner: Nic Nemeth
Gia Miller With Rich Swann
Gia Miller catches up with Rich Swann ahead of tonight’s world title match. Swann tells BDE to stay in the back — he wants zero excuses when he pins Mike Santana and becomes world champion.
“Elijah” Performs a Concert (Sort Of)
A bearded “Elijah” walks out… except it’s clearly Frankie Kazarian doing a bad Elijah impression. Kazarian insults Syracuse, calling it a “frozen dump,” and a fan flips him off right on camera. He’s about to perform a song called “Kaz Is My Daddy” when the lights go out.
When they come back up, the real Elijah is behind him.
Elijah chokes Kazarian out with a guitar strap.
It should have ended there, but Elijah grabs the guitar and announces — in song — that he and Kazarian will face off in a Guitar Strap Match. He even gets the crowd chanting “Frankie blows!” by promising them Dinosaur Barbecue.
EC3 Promo
EC3 appears with the same chair still wrapped around his neck from last week. He cuts a promo on Eric Young, making it clear their issue is far from over.
Tessa Blanchard & The Undead Realm
Tessa Blanchard and her crew discuss their journey into the Undead Realm. Blanchard then lays down a challenge for next week’s Impact.
Dutch vs. Matt Hardy
Dutch and Matt Hardy meet one‑on‑one with all partners barred from ringside. Before the match even begins, Matt pulls a table from under the ring and sets it up on the floor. He spray‑paints the word “Sacrifice” across the tabletop, continuing his slow slide back into the “Broken” persona.
It takes Matt an eternity to finally enter the ring, and Dutch jumps him the moment he does. Matt tries for a crucifix, but Dutch blocks it. Dutch hoists Matt onto his back, walks him all the way to the ropes, and gets a rope break by biting the top rope with his teeth. They spill to the floor, where Matt flips Dutch over the ring steps. Matt then repeatedly rams the back of Dutch’s head into the steel stairs.
Back inside, Matt “deletes” Dutch’s head into the turnbuckles. Dutch fires back with an avalanche in the corner, then yanks Matt into a short‑arm clothesline. Dutch drops an elbow for a near fall.
Dutch hits a side suplex for two. He grinds Matt down with a chinlock, but misses a splash. Matt goes for the Twist of Fate, Dutch blocks it, so Matt plants him with a DDT instead. Matt follows with the Twist of Fate, but Dutch rolls out to the floor.
Matt drags Dutch onto the table. Matt climbs to the middle rope and drops an elbow. He connects — but bounces off Dutch and crashes hard to the floor. The table legs snap off, but neither man goes through it. Matt then props the broken table against the apron and suplexes Dutch through it.
Tom Hannifan tries to justify the chaos by explaining it isn’t a disqualification because the table was set up before the match officially started.
Vincent suddenly crawls out from under the ring and slides a chair inside. While the referee removes the chair, Vincent yanks Matt off the ropes. Dutch capitalizes, hits the Black Hole Slam, and gets the pinfall.
Winner: Dutch
After the match, Dutch laid in another beating on Matt while Vincent watched. Keff ran in to chase of Vincent, and give Dutch a Twist of Fate and a Swanton Bomb.
TNA Injury Report:
Trey Miguel is OUT with a laceration.
Leon Slater is OUT because he’s “banged up.”
Frankie Kazarian was choked out, and is being evaluation.
Mike Santana and Rick Swann are medically cleared for their match later tonight.
Xia Brookside Explained Herself
Footage from Rebellion was show of Xia Brookside’s heel turn.
Lei Ying Lee came out first. She cut a promo similar to her one from backstage last week. She loves wrestling, and she loves her friends, but she doesn’t understand why Xia Brookside turned on her. “Why?” Somebody in the crowd shouted “Why not?”
Xia Brookside came out with the same peppy entrance music, but dressed in all black. Xia blamed Ling for costing her the championship a few weeks ago (on Impact) when she showed Xia the video of her father before the match. Lee said something in Chinese, but Brookside refused to translate. Brookside said her father didn’t support her, and she had to do everything by herself, and the video was just a way for Lee to get in her head and keep her from the championship. Lee tried to apologize and, crying, promised to be by her side. Brookside feigned accepting the apology, and blamed Stacks for getting in her head.
The crowd turned on this segment pretty hard. Lee said she would “let” Brookside have the title shot, since the title meant so much to her. So they hugged, and Brookside did the Cena thing where she looked dead-eyed into the camera . Brookside then sucker-punched Lee and dropped her with an implant DDT. “We are done!”
Elayna Black vs. Katie Arquette
This was basically a squash. Black won with the Blackout, a butterfly spinning neckbreaker and probably the least impactful finisher in all of wrestling.
Winner: Elayna Black
— Mustafa Ali held an TNA International Championship Open Challenge Selection Segment in the back, and he the country of Australia was chosen first. Adam Brooks from Australia will challenge Ali for the TNA International Championship next week.
— The System cut a promo in the parking lot. Bear Bronson promised to get back at Nc Nemeth. Cedric Alexander again made the case that he was cheated in his X-Division title match at Rebellion. Eddie Edwards shouted about how you can’t beat The System (even though the two guys before him were complaining about being beaten).
Rich Swann vs. Mike Santana for the TNA World Championship
They started advertising the match was “up next” at about 10:25, but the bell didn’t ring to start it until 10:42, after the entrances, different commercial breaks and promos
There was a long feeling out process to start, and Swann caught Santana with a step up rana. Santana went for his own step up rana, but Swann countered with a handspring. Both guys went for dropkicks at the same time, and both guys kipped up.
Santana went to a side headlock and slowed things down. Swann escaped, took Santana down with another rana and caught him with a dropkick. Santana caught Swann with a chop, then caught him flush with a dropkick. Santana dumped Swann face-first into the mat, then lowered the boom with a senton for a near fall.
The fight went to the floor. Both guys exchanged chops, and Santana leveled Swann with a boot.
Back in the ring, Santana stretched Swann on the mat with an abdominal stretch. Santana transitioned into a side headlock, then a chinlock. Swann escaped with a jawbreaker, then leveled the champion with an axe kick. Swann gave Santana a nasty kick to the spine, then locked him in a chinlock.
Santana battled out of the chinlock, so Swann transitioned into a sleeper. Santana battled out of that with punches and chops. Swann came back with a series of spin kicks. Swann kicked Santana out to the floor.
On the floor, Swann sat Santana onto a chair and ran around the ring to charge into him with a boot. Then Swann did it a second time. He tried for a third time, but Santana recovered and floored him with a superkick. Santana tossed Swann in the ring and went to the top. Butn Santana jumped right into a superkick from Swann.
Swann went to the top, but Santana kipped up and superplexed (more like a falcon arrow) Swann from the top rope.
Santana fired up with punches and hit a flying clothesline. Santana caught Swann with an enziguri in the corner. Santana caught Swann with the rolling cutter for a near fall.
Swann countered a piledriver attempt with a cradle for a quick near fall. Santana came back with a sit-out death valley driver, a cannonball, and a running sit out powerbomb for a near fall.
Santana charged into a boot. He charged again, and Swann caught him with a flying clothesline. Swann fired away with quick jabs. Swann caught Santana with a neckbreaker. Swann went for a 450 splash, but Santana got out of the way. Swann hit a springboard cutter for another near fall.
Swann walked into a boot, but came back and took Santana down with a hurricanrana. Swann hit a big frog splash for another near fall.
Santana hit Swann with a face-first powerbomb. Santana went for another powerbomb, but Swann flipped him over into a destroyer for another near fall. Swann hit a superkick, but Santana took Swann’s head off with a discus lariat and got the pinfall.
Winner: Mike Santana
After the match, Santana and Swann hugged and put each other over. Carlos Silva wasn’t in attendance, so Daria Rae (in the “TNA” baseball cap that Silva usually wears) came out to present Santana with his championship belt.
Next week on Impact:
Elijah v. Frankie Kazarian in a Strap Match
Jeff Hardy v. Vincent
Mara Sadé, Rosemary, & Allie v. Tessa Blanchard, Mila Moore & Victoria Crawford
TKO Group Holdings has released its annual proxy statement, outlining executive compensation for 2025, including major earnings for top leadership connected to WWE.
WWE President Nick Khan earned a total of $24.3 million for the year. His compensation included a $2 million base salary, $11 million in stock awards, and more than $10 million in bonuses. A portion of those bonuses, specifically $3.7 million, was tied to his involvement in launching Zuffa Boxing, a project backed by TKO in partnership with Sela, which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Mark Shapiro, President of TKO, brought in $42.6 million in total compensation. Shapiro has remained a visible figure for the company, regularly appearing at major events and representing the brand publicly.
At the top of the list, Ari Emanuel, CEO of TKO, earned $67.4 million in 2025. Emanuel has been credited with helping secure high-profile appearances, including Dwayne Johnson’s involvement at WWE Elimination Chamber and integrating Pat McAfee into the WrestleMania 42 storyline featuring Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton.
Meanwhile, Vince McMahon remains the largest individual Class A stockholder in TKO, holding 6,442,325 shares. The value of those shares is estimated at approximately $1.2 billion based on current market levels. Despite that position, McMahon does not receive a salary from TKO.
The proxy statement highlights the financial scale of TKO’s leadership structure, with compensation packages reflecting both corporate performance and involvement in key projects tied to WWE and other ventures.
WWE has reportedly changed direction on a planned tag team match following WrestleMania 42, with Pat McAfee stepping away from the storyline.
McAfee was part of the Undisputed WWE Championship angle at WrestleMania 42, which drew strong criticism from fans. The storyline ended in a confusing way when Randy Orton turned on McAfee during the closing moments of the match.
Earlier reports from Dave Meltzer indicated that WWE was planning a celebrity tag team match for Backlash. The proposed bout would have seen Orton and McAfee face Cody Rhodes and Jelly Roll. However, those plans have now been dropped.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer explained that McAfee’s decision to opt out directly impacted the creative direction.
“With the Pat McAfee thing, he opted out, so that’s what actually led to everything changing,” Meltzer said.
Bryan Alvarez also discussed the situation, noting that the tag match was removed from consideration.
“That’s why the tag match from Backlash was taken off. Orton and McAfee against Jelly Roll and Cody Rhodes, which Cody Rhodes may not be okay for Backlash anyway, you know with that eye.”
McAfee had previously stated that he would leave pro wrestling if Orton lost at WrestleMania 42. He later confirmed that he would honor that commitment, which contributed to the change in plans.
Additional insight was provided regarding the reaction from both McAfee and Jelly Roll. The two were reportedly aware of the criticism surrounding celebrity involvement in the WrestleMania storyline.
Meltzer noted that fan response played a key role in the situation.
“They were very cognizant of what has been said about celebrities in wrestling and both of them love wrestling and I think that they realized that there was a lot of negative sentiment about it. And they listened and they understood and I think they saw the fan side of it. And I think that that’s what led to this.”
He added further clarification on what WWE believes led to McAfee’s decision.
“I was told that the belief was that it was due to the reaction that he pulled out. It wasn’t like anything else,” Meltzer said.
Jelly Roll also addressed McAfee directly in a recent vlog, stating that neither of them belonged in the ring and suggesting they return to their respective fields.
At this stage, the planned Backlash match has been scrapped, and WWE has adjusted its direction following the WrestleMania 42 fallout.
Jelly Roll is involved in a developing situation following a reported incident at a charity event, where a specific allegation of a verbal threat has surfaced. However, authorities have not taken further legal action at this time.
The claim was made by comedian Nicole Arbour, who filed a report on March 1 regarding an alleged confrontation involving the artist, whose legal name is Jason DeFord.
According to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, there is currently no active investigation and no charges have been filed. Officials described the situation as an “ongoing online back and forth” between the parties involved.
Arbour alleges that during the charity event, Jelly Roll made a threatening remark after noticing her recording. She claims he said that if he saw her filming, “he would kill her.” Deputies reportedly reviewed video footage she provided and noted that the alleged statement could be heard.
Despite that, another source has disputed the accusation, stating there is “no merit” to the claim. This aligns with the current decision by authorities not to pursue charges.
The situation is part of a broader public dispute between the two. Arbour has previously accused Jelly Roll’s team of attempting to secure a “hush money” agreement and threatening legal action if she refused to sign. She has also referenced past issues involving the singer and his wife, Bunnie XO.
At this time, Jelly Roll has not publicly responded to the latest claims. The matter remains unresolved and continues to play out publicly rather than through legal proceedings.
