AEW vs. TNA, the wrestling war only one side wants

TNA Wrestling enters a new era Thursday night when "Thursday Night Impact" premieres on AMC to kick off the company's new media deal.

The show will be broadcast live in Garland, Texas at Curtis Culwell Center and is headlined by the TNA world title match between Frankie Kazarian and Mike Santana. There are only two other matches made official for the card, as of this writing, a six-man tag team match featuring Elijah and The Hardys taking on Order 4, Mustafa Ali's group, and The IInspiration defending the Knockout tag team titles against The Elegance Brand.

In all honesty, it's a "meh" card on paper, but AJ Styles will make an appearance, and the show will garner a lot of attention. Those atop the TNA ladder seem very confident that the company can sustain the early momentum it is expected to have.

Matt Hardy has not been shy to say on his own podcast or any media appearance that the TNA-AMC deal will help TNA compete with AEW for the "perception of the number two wrestling company in 2026." TNA president Carlos Silva has flip-flopped over his shots at AEW, but it does seem like he's taken inspiration from Paul Levesque and hasn't missed his chance to make himself front and center of TNA's successes.

WWE's partnership with TNA has been its soft-power tactic to take down AEW, since going head-to-head hasn't worked out too well. TNA has been happy to oblige, but much like its history, TNA might be too late to a trend.

The Dynamite vs. NXT ratings battle really brought out the worst wrestling fans. The release of Nielsen data became an opportune time for trolls to decry a segment or wrestler because of a perceived bad number. Unlike now, where X is filled with bots, the old Twitter platformed bad actors and the most bad-faith arguments dominated wrestling discussions.

It wouldn't be surprising if those same bad actors tried to reignite that kind of fervor this week, but we're in a whole new environment. As mentioned, X quickly transformed into a platform for people to pay to sexually harass women or create AI-generated porn of minors. Not that there was any actual debate during the old Twitter days, but the era of dissecting ratings numbers died when Raw moved to Netflix and Dynamite and Collision were simulcast on HBO Max. Then, the waters were muddied further when Nielsen switched to the Big Data + Panel method.

I also call this a one-sided war because Tony Khan has moved on from taking shots at his competitors. Despite WWE running head-to-head against AEW pay-per-views, Khan took the high road and resisted the urge to fire back vocally and let his product do the talking. It was a smart, calculated move by the AEW president, as previous social media shots backfired, doing more to hurt the promotion than help. TNA seemingly isn't afraid to throw shade at AEW, and the social media reaction has been negative so far.

Don't be mistaken, the primary TNA stakeholders will take a victory lap of some kind following "Thursday Night Impact," and good for them. They got a media deal and gained more attention thanks to the WWE partnership. I think the results of that partnership are laughable on paper. WWE is poaching TNA's young talent, like Leon Slater, which might have led to a match being nixed from the premier episode, according to PWInsider.

Whether TNA will be worth caring about depends on how the show is booked after its initial few weeks. You can train your audience to watch a premiere and then maintain some interest the following week. However, it will be interesting to see the continued follow-up. Matt Hardy pushing a "cinematic feel" doesn't inspire confidence, and rest assured, the former WWE star will do everything in his power to try to convince you that TNA is worth watching. Only time will tell if the attempt to manufacture another wrestling war will work in TNA's favor.

At the end of every post, I like to recommend a K-pop song because I don't have many long-form takes but still want to share my love for my favorite groups. And I must confess, it wasn't until this week that I finally watched KPop Demon Hunters. I know. I say I'm a K-pop fan and yet didn't watch the biggest cultural media piece showcasing the best of the industry? Yes. I just let it pass me by, thinking I'll get to it soon. I'm admittedly very bad at catching up on the things I need to watch. I finally watched KPop Demon Hunters, avoiding all spoilers, and I loved it and am disappointed I didn't watch it sooner. If you were like me and procrastinated, watch it now. The movie's great, the songs are amazing and Rujinu forever.