TNA Impact 10/29/2026: 3 Things We Hated & 3 Things We Loved

TNA continues to go in the X direction, and the first contestants for the World X-Cup will be announced tonight. As always, the show brought us some in-ring action mixed with plot advancement, but how did it hold up in terms of quality? Pretty much business as usual according to our staff.

Below, you’ll find our thoughts on moments from the latest Elegance Brand drama to the Slaughterhouse Syx main event. In between, we have thoughts on the video package announcing the arrival of Shotz Blackheart, the aforementioned World X-Cup announcement, and more.

If you need a more detailed description of tonight’s show, feel free to check out our “TNA Impact” 29.10.2026 results live blog. Otherwise, read on for our thoughts on the latest release.

TNA Destination X is right around the corner on November 15th, and aside from Leon Slater defending the TNA World Championship against Trey Miguel, the card looks a little light. With the pay-per-view just over two weeks away, I can’t help but feel like it’s time for TNA to start announcing more concrete things for the pay-per-view event.

TNA has announced the World X-Cup Tournament and Ultimate X Number One Contenders matches for the Knockouts Tag Team and X-Division Championships. However, outside of Ricky Sosa and Fabian Eichner in the World X-Cup tournament, the company has yet to officially announce any competitors who will compete in any of these matches, making it difficult for fans to invest in the show without knowing who will be on it.

To TNA’s credit, they announced a World Knockouts Championship match between Indi Hartwell and Shayna Baszler today, but it all still felt like it was fixed enough. Considering this episode of Impact was really nothing, there’s no reason TNA can’t use this TV time to at least announce some opponents for the pre-existing Destination X matches and use this TV time to build some excitement for November 15th. It looks like they really need to do this in the early stages of collecting more cards. a mystery

Written by Olivia Quinlan

The end of the Elegance Brand seems to be near, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The leader of Ash By Elegance has been absent from TNA programming for several months due to real health issues. It’s George the Iceman (aka The Personal Concierge). Reportedly nearing the end of his TNA contract. Tonight, Mr. Elegance joined the Elegance brand’s list of departures/retirements when he suddenly left the stable and stepped in during the M’s Knockouts Television Championship defense. I must admit that it was also justified.

Midway through the match, M accidentally knocked Mr. Elegance off the apron. Shortly after, he and Heather hit the road, putting their male group in the crosshairs of Jada Stone’s moonwalk. As a result, Mr. Elegance refused to help M and the overall Elegance Brand.

Later, a backstage segment involving Heather and Elaina Black made the former reflect on her own position in the group. Heather was torn between sticking with her longtime partner and chasing a potential title around her waist.

With Ash’s absence indefinitely and the Personal Concierge seemingly on his way out of TNA, it might be a good time to let the other three explore new avenues. M and Heather have proven themselves to be a successful tag team. Those who have watched them work on India know that they are also perfectly capable as individuals.

The faction split could allow Heather and M to finally showcase their individual talents on TNA television as well. And for Mr. Elegance, it would certainly allow for a much-needed update to his character.

Written by Ella Jay

AJ Francis and John Skyler were the week of wrestling, largely due to the fact that they were two guys on the roster. Expressions was also there, making unwarranted advances to Mila Moore from the start.

This continued throughout the match itself, with production occasionally sparing the viewer from the in-ring match to show that Expressions was unable to compose themselves in front of Moore. In a matter of seconds he walked to her, walked away from her, dropped to one knee, walked towards her, you get the picture. During that time he was repelling. Furthermore, it didn’t really add anything to the match, but managed to be more morbidly curious than what was happening in the ring.

Those parallel subs came together at the end of the match, with Skyler white knighting Moore on the apron and then Moore falling to the floor because gravity is one hell of a kick. Skyler then stared wide-eyed at Moore on the floor, neither committing to come out of the ring to check on him if he was okay, nor simply ignoring him and continuing the match that one could be forgiven for forgetting was still going on.

Skyler got speared, then he got an Advance edit, and then he got pinned. The expressions continued to bother Moore while he was on the floor, as he was already committed to the creepy caricature. It managed to be a match between the men of the Divas Era, which is spectacularly revolting.

It’s amazing how anyone came to the conclusion that this would be a good idea, even when Francis and Skyler were both booked early in the match. Neither is particularly convincing, and its precedent hardly did them any favors. Skyler was cast as a white knight, then wound up in a damsel in distress fairy tale that was downright embarrassing. All in all, it was a no-brainer. It was bad. No one came out of it looking particularly cool. It just sucked and the worst part is that it will probably continue into next week.

Written by Max Everett

Shotzi Blackheart has yet to wrestle in TNA (at least not since 2019), but a video package was played tonight to build more anticipation for when he finally steps into the ring. In it, Shotzi stated that he has been “obsessed” with the knockout division for quite some time now, and has finally decided to get actively involved. Among the names he teased working with was Rosemary, although it’s unclear whether he intends to collaborate with or work with the injured star, after Shotzi came to the aid of Rosemary’s teammate Ali last week.

Whatever it is there, Shotzi’s arrival is a welcome relief. After losing some talent in recent months (looking at you, Dani Luna), the knockout division needs some fresh blood to join the mainstays as well as newer additions like Shayna Basler.

While he had his moments in WWE, it seemed like Shotzi never got a chance to shine there. Here’s hoping he can reach his full potential in TNA.

Written by Nick Miller

The Hardys and Syx continued their feud this week, and what better way to follow up a Falls Count Anywhere match than a Slaughterhouse Syx match. What is Slaughterhouse Syx, one might ask? A match in the cleanest slaughterhouse known to man. A slaughterhouse could be mistaken for a boiler room or just part of the backstage area of ​​a wrestling show. But the setting doesn’t matter if the game is great. Alas, this was a 2026 Hardys match.

That meant a lot of heavy breathing and soaking, which caused a sympathetic backache. It’s really hard to reconcile “The Hardys” watching growing up and now that such matches don’t help matters at all. It was a cinematic encounter that didn’t do anything to exploit the format or even have some rough edges (there were a lot of them) that mostly had a Doom clone soundtrack and then ended in slow motion to Amazing Grace. There isn’t enough ayahuasca in the world to make it taste good.

There was also no blood, which is odd for a match in a slaughterhouse. Soon it’s weird with an extreme matchup with people getting their heads hit with steel chairs and chains. It’s completely and utterly weird when the game ends with two people sticking an ax into someone, albeit a trash can over their heads. Either spill some blood on the floor, or don’t pretend the axes did anything other than shake the trash can.

It might be a better idea to not even flirt with the idea of ​​using a weapon that literally cannot be cheated. No one would be disappointed if Jeff Hardy wasn’t impaled with an ax because that would be murder, going through a table or out of a window (it’s a movie game) or something that wouldn’t require you to believe it was fired before the match. Chances are people will be disappointed either way because it was a 2026 Hardys match against Joseph Sawyer and Samuel Shaw. Honestly, it’s a bit excruciating for everyone involved.

I want the Hardys to be good, the same way I don’t want age to catch up with me either. It’s really hard to watch them go through the physical labor of wrestling while never being able to recapture what made them great in the first place. It feels like games like this are hurting that legacy rather than getting the swan song they deserve. And it’s frustrating, frankly, as a fan.

Written by Max Everett

Based on the first two contestants announced tonight, I’m actually looking forward to seeing how the return of the World X-Cup goes in a few weeks at Destination X. For TNA to give Ricky Sosa and Fabian Eichner a chance, I gotta love this.

I’ve only seen great things for these two since their arrivals. As for Sosa, I was surprised to see him on his feet tonight after the recent back injury that left him with the Oct. 15 game. Of course, reports said it was a “severe back injury” that likely played into the storyline. But what he did at the staircase did not seem so gentle. Since his debut in May, Eichner has challenged for the X-Division Title three times, but has yet to earn a title that he can call his first. Both need this match and what better representation for their home countries than to be the face of this kind of upcoming tournament.

I’ve never seen a World X-Cup event and I’m excited to find out who else is competing in this uniquely styled competition as other wrestlers from around the world can join. I wonder who will represent the United States? Oh, I think I get it. It has to be Nick Nemeth, right?

Written by Bree Coder