This is how the TNA Impact premiere on AMC should have went on Thursday night.
Start the show with AJ Styles. As TNA World Champion, Frankie Kazarian interrupts Styles and disrespects him. Heat. Mike Santana, the man challenging Kazarian for the title in the main event walks out and defends the honor of Styles. He also happens to sell the main event, how important the TNA World Championship is, and what it’ll mean for him to get it back. Investment.
Ok, so after that, the play would be to feature the biggest stars in the company in prominent ways, while giving the audience a reason to want to tune into the show next week. That’s logical right? It’s a new era and the product is likely in front of some new fans, so get the TNA cavalry out there and start creative storylines that introduce that cavalry to the world.
Then, button up on production. Make sure the mics are hot, the entrance music loud enough, while showing crowd shots that actually have people in them. You know, the bare minimum when producing a pro wrestling television show in 2026.
Boom. That took about three minutes to put together, which is substantially more thought than TNA officials actually put into the show itself this week. Yeah, it’s so on brand for TNA to miss as badly as they did with what they themselves described as a transformative moment in company history.