Worlds collided tonight in the main event, as “TNA Impact” presented its first-ever Wicked Garden match between two tag teams in The Righteous (Vincent and Dutch) and The “Broken” Hardys. This time, it was the Righteous who transcended “Brother Nero” Jeff and “Broken” Matt Hardy.

Acting as a no disqualification and no count outs match, it could only be won by pinfall or submission inside the ring. Following the theme of this match, not only were there flowers wrapped around the ring ropes, but there were multiple trellises that were covered in flowers and barbed wire. Harvesting the seeds of love, hate, pain, and metamorphosis, the Hardys gave Dutch the first taste of the garden by sending him through one of the set up barbed wired boards first. Matt discovered some other tools presented at the Wicked Garden that he used on Dutch later on in the match. Ripping up a piece of the barbed wire, Vincent wrapped it around both Jeff and Matt at different spots. Continuing the onslaught, the Righteous sent Jeff crashing into another barbed wire board face-first.

Through the crimson masks and several collapses, there were grave concerns towards the end of the match, as Jeff was seen convulsing. But Jeff refused to be sent to the back on a stretcher and leave his brother behind. Minutes after, Dutch caught Matt with his Death Walks finisher, followed by Vincent’s Orange Sunshine finisher to capture the gruesome victory.

Tonight, the company celebrated its 22nd anniversary of when its flagship program debuted on television. Other big moments from tonight’s show, included Eric Young and TNA World Champion Mike Santana’s face-to-face confrontation, Indi Hartwell and Director of Authority Santino Marella taking on “WWE NXT” stars Arianna Grace and Stacks, and the Knockouts World Champion Léi Yǐng Lee facing Mr. Elegance in an intergender match.

AEW has bid farewell to two individuals who have been with the company since its first year of existence, The Butcher and The Blade.

Fightful Select has confirmed that the tag team have officially left All Elite Wrestling as free agents their respective deals expired and they were not offered new ones. With the fact that they were allowed to have their contracts expire, The Butcher and The Blade will be able to perform anywhere they want almost immediately, as well as sign new contracts with other companies if they are offered to them.

The Butcher and The Blade originally debuted for All Elite Wrestling back on the November 27, 2019 episode of “AEW Dynamite,” emerging from underneath the ring to attack Cody Rhodes. They were managed by The Bunny, the real-life wife of The Blade who was also known as Allie on the independent circuit, and were a staple of AEW’s tag team division in its formative years. The two men would challenge for the AEW World Tag Team Championships on two occasions but were unsuccessful in clinching the gold, and they leave AEW without ever holding the titles.

Their last appearance as a duo in AEW came on the January 5, 2024 episode of “AEW Rampage,” before wrestling their final match as a team under the Tony Khan umbrella on the January 18, 2024 episode of “ROH on HonorClub” against Top Flight. The Blade would end up suffering a serious back injury around this time which would require spinal fusion surgery, keeping him out of the ring for nearly two years. In that time, The Butcher would fly solo in AEW and ROH, last competing on the February 22, 2025 episode of “AEW Collision” against Gabe Kidd. Since The Blade’s return from injury, they have reunited on the independent scene, and had teased a return to AEW as recently as January 2026.

Before he was a WWE Hall of Famer, and even before his impressive undefeated streak in WCW and his WCW World Heavyweight Championship reign, Goldberg played football at the University of Georgia, before going on to be drafted by the Los Angeles Rams. He most notably played for the Atlanta Falcons across three seasons in the early 90s, before he was forced to retire due to injury. He made his televised “WCW Monday Nitro” debut in September 1997, and the rest is history.

Goldberg discussed the difficulties of transitioning from football to professional wrestling with Memphis in May. He said there were two very difficult things for him when making the jump.

“The first and foremost, it was not to hurt people because you go from a sport that’s 100 percent full contract to more of a drama-filled profession,” he explained. “The second thing was kind of blending with the existing wrestlers, because I’m coming in from a professional background trying to take the job of one of these guys who have aspired to do that their entire lives. For me, I was born in a football helmet and I wanted to be a football player my entire life… I had to figure out something, first and foremost, that I could be passionate about, and I could translate all the things that I had been doing with my life and my body for the past 20 years prior.”

Goldberg named his biggest obstacle in wrestling as the literal biggest obstacle he ever had to face: The Big Show. He explained picking up a 525-pound man was difficult, and joked that Big Show hated to be held upside-down for the Jackhammer.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Memphis in May and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

What exactly is a Wicked Garden match? According to The Righteous, it will be something never before seen or experienced in pro wrestling history.

“It’s the first time ever in the industry of wrestling. But it’s going to be violent, it’s going to be brutal, it’s going to be wild,” Vincent said. “It’s going to be a great presentation to look at. It’s exciting to go into [this] week on TNA Impact with the first ever Wicked Garden match. I hope that everyone tunes in for it because it is definitely something special and something new.”

“The Hardys have been wrestling for close to 40 years now. You’d think at their point in their career, they had done it all. But this is the first time they’ve done anything like this before, the Wicked Garden match,” Dutch added. “They’ve never experienced this. Nobody has ever experienced it. I think you guys are going to be in for a nice violent treat [this] week.”

The cinematic, intense faceoff between The Hardys and The Righteous will take place on tonight’s episode of “Thursday Night Impact.” Last week, fans seemingly got a glimpse of the match’s garden elements when Vincent and Dutch appeared amongst flowers and trees in an eerie vignette. Like flowers, The Righteous vowed that the brotherly duo would rot in the Wicked Garden. Whether that will actually be the case has yet to be seen.

Elsewhere on “Impact,” TNA Knockouts Champion Lei Ying Lee will take on Mr. Elegance in intergender competition. Mixed tag team action will also assume when Santino Marella and Indi Hartwell battle Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo and Arianna Grace.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “3W Wrestling” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.