Tonight, the stars of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling are back on AMC for another edition of Thursday Night Impact! Tonight’s show comes to us taped once again at the Dothan Civic Center in Dothan, Alabama.
Tonight’s show features the TNA World Tag Team Championship on the line as brothers Nic and Ryan Nemeth defend the titles against TNA World Champion Leon Slater and X-Division Champion Amazing Red.
Elsewhere on the card, Eddie Edwards and Bear Bronson will face off in a match that could determine who calls the shots within The System. Fire ‘N Flava are back together again and will be taking on Allie and Shotzi Blackhart. We’ll also see the tag team debut ofFrankie Kazarian and Avery Styles.
Let’s take a look at what’s advertised for tonight’s show:
TNA Impact 11/5/26 Preview At a Glance
Tonight’s advertised matches and segments include:
- TNA World Tag Team Championship — Champions Challenge: The Nemeths (Nic Nemeth and Ryan Nemeth) (c) vs. TNA World Champion Leon Slater and TNA X-Division Champion Amazing Red.
- Eddie Edwards vs. Bear Bronson. If Edwards wins, Bronson must fall in line. If Bronson wins, he gets to call the shots within The System.
- Fire ‘N Flava (Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz) vs. Allie and Shotzi Blackhart.
- Frankie Kazarian and Avery Styles team together for the first time.
- The Righteous (Vincent and Dutch) hold an initiation ceremony for Harley Hudson.
TNA Thursday Night Impact airs tonight at 8 PM CT on AMC, AMC+ and TNA+.
Champions Challenge: TNA World Tag Team Championship Match
Leon Slater made history at Bound for Glory by becoming the youngest person to ever hold the TNA World Championship. Tonight, the youngster will get another chance to add gold to his collection when he teams with X-Division Champion Amazing Red to challenge Nic and Ryan Nemeth for the TNA World Tag Team titles.
Stinger’s View: I’m not a fan of the whole “Champions Challenge” thing because I don’t think wrestlers should have the opportunity to hold two titles; I just don’t. Having said that, if you’re going to do it, do it like WWF did that time back in 1995 and put all the titles on the line. Why should Slater and Red have a chance to hold two titles if neither of the Nemeths gets the same opportunity? I only joke, of course; after all, unless you end it in a DQ, which we all know I hate, you’re going to have to have a double champion in that scenario. Doing it this way means the Nemeths can keep their titles, and Slater and Red keep theirs too. With all of that unnecessarily stated, I think the advertised match should be a good one.
Fire ‘N Flava vs. Allie and Shotzi Blackhart
Fire ‘N Flava recently reunited, and tonight they’ll be in action against Allie and Shotzi Blackhart. Kiera Hogan blamed Allie for their Knockouts World Tag Team Championship loss at Bound for Glory, and attacked her along with Tasha Steelz. Shotzi made the save for Allie, and last week the challenge was issued by Fire ‘N Flava for this match. Tonight former tag team partners stand against one another.
Stinger’s View: I always liked the team of Fire ‘N Flava, so I’m happy to see them reunited. I think Hogan and Steelz work much better as a team than Hogan and Allie did. I’ve also long been a fan of Shotzi’s, and I actually think that she and Allie make a good pairing. I don’t think this will be the best wrestling match on tonight’s show by any means, but it has some interesting elements to it and should be entertaining. I like both teams, but don’t see Fire ‘N Flava dropping their first match since reuniting.
Eddie Edwards vs. Bear Bronson
There’s been dissension in the ranks of The System, and tonight that spills over into the ring when Eddie Edwards takes on Bear Bronson. This came about in part because Bronson questioned whether or not Eddie was going soft after he showed respect to Ricky Sosa at Bound for Glory. Then last week, Bronson again questioned Eddie about why he failed to help Cedric Alexander win his X-Division Contender’s Match. Bronson doesn’t want a soft leader in charge of The System, so tonight he’s challenged Edwards to a match that, if he wins, means he’ll get to call the shots for the group.
Stinger’s View: I like the stipulation; I just don’t like Bear Bronson. For that matter, I don’t much care for The System as a whole. I think that group has run its course. So hopefully this is the beginning of the end for it because all parties would likely be better off splitting up. The match will probably be fairly decent as Eddie Edwards, while not what he once was and understandably so, is still a very capable wrestler.
Frankie Kazarian and Avery Styles Make Tag Team Debut
Frankie Kazarian took Avery Styles under his wing after the phenomenal protégé made his TNA debut. Tonight, Kazarian and Styles will make their tag team debut, and wouldn’t you know it, Kazarian is already eyeing the TNA World Tag Team Championship.
Stinger’s View: I’d pump the brakes on any championship dreams Kazarian has considering this is just their first match teaming together. I think Avery Styles has a ton of potential and promise but really hope TNA takes its time with letting him develop. There’s no reason to hot-shot him toward a championship too soon, even if it is “only” a tag team title. I like the pairing of Styles with Kazarian. Kazarian has a great history with AJ Styles, and he’s the perfect person to sort of watch over Avery in the company Avery’s dad helped put on the map. Kazarian is a great talent, and I think they’ll make a fun mentor-student tag team.
Harley Hudson’s Initiation into The Righteous
Since having Harley’s back during the Call Your Shot Gauntlet match at Bound for Glory, The Righteous have pressed Hudson for a decision on joining their group. Last week, Hudson accepted their invitation. Tonight, The Righteous will hold an initiation ceremony welcoming Hudson into the group.
Stinger’s View: I’m going to be honest here and say that I don’t care one bit about The Righteous or this segment. I don’t have anything against them, but I just don’t care for the act, and putting Harley with them doesn’t do anything for me either. It’s an advertised segment, so it’s here in the preview, but yeah I couldn’t possibly care any less.
Stinger’s View
We have four advertised matches tonight and I think all of them will be at least entertaining. Obviously, the big match of the night is the TNA World Tag Team Championship match. I like the Nemeth’s, and I think Slater and Red would make an excellent tag team, so I am of course looking forward to this match. I may not be a big fan of the concept, but I think it’ll be a great match and it’s the one thing announced that I really want to see.
From there, both of the other announced tag team matches have my attention. I like Fire ‘N Flava, and I like Allie and Shotzi, so I should in theory like the match. It largely depends on how much time it gets. I’m also looking forward to seeing just how well Kazarian and Avery Styles work together. My gut tells me they will make a pretty good tag team, and the division could certainly use them.
The System infighting is meh to me, and I don’t care for the Righteous either, so both the Edwards/Bronson match and Harley Hudson initiation are stuff that I don’t care much about.
TNA Thursday Night Impact airs tonight at 8 PM CT on AMC, AMC+ and TNA+.
Until next time, this has been Stinger reporting from the rafters of Titanquisitor Hall.
And remember, though it may be crap at times, wrestling matters.
