TNA Wrestling taped several weeks of Impact Wrestling television following their live broadcast on May 2nd at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, California. Here are the spoilers, courtesy of PWinsider.com:
A central theme was the escalating power struggle between TNA Director of Authority Santino Marella and the recently introduced Robert Stone (from WWE NXT), who is monitoring Santino’s performance. Stone, alongside his new Deputy Director of Authority Victoria Crawford (formerly Alicia Fox in WWE), overruled Santino multiple times. Stone prevented the TNA Under Siege tag team match pitting Joe Hendry & Elijah against Frankie Kazarian & Trick Williams from happening early in the taping during a confrontation.
Later, when Santino tried to restart a women’s tag match involving Crawford and TNA Knockouts World Champion Masha Slamovich after a DQ finish (caused by Masha using a chair on opponent Tessa Blanchard), Stone again intervened, letting the DQ stand. This protected Crawford ahead of her Knockouts title match against Slamovich at Under Siege, booked by Stone himself. A future debate segment between the opposing authority pairs (Stone/Crawford vs. Santino/Arianna Grace) was also set up.
The rivalry between The Hardy Boyz and The Nemeth Brothers took a turn. An earlier segment saw the Nemeths challenge the Hardys to a Tag Team Title ladder match at Under Siege, only for Ryan Nemeth to realize Jeff Hardy cannot enter Canada (where Under Siege will be held in Brampton, Ontario). Santino then booked singles matches instead. In the taping’s main event, Jeff Hardy defeated Nic Nemeth with a Swanton Bomb. Post-match, Ryan Nemeth attacked Jeff, prompting Leon Slater to make the save for the Hardys.
The biggest surprise was the appearance of the wrestler formerly known as Xia Li in WWE. Following a match between Rosemary and Xia Brookside ending in DQ, the former Xia Li hit the ring to rescue Brookside, potentially signaling her arrival in TNA after her WWE release in April 2024.
Other key results building towards Under Siege included Steve Maclin defeating Eric Young in what was reported as a “super bloody” Dog Collar match. In the tag team division, TNA World Champion Joe Hendry & Elijah defeated Moose & Brian Myers; afterward, Frankie Kazarian attacked Hendry, further hyping their Under Siege tag bout.
Additionally: Mustafa Ali defeated Ace Austin after Ali’s group caused a distraction costing Trey Miguel his match earlier; Eddie Edwards defeated Jake Painter with his Under Siege opponent Cody Deaner (whose career is on the line) on commentary; and First Class (AJ Francis & KC Navarro) defeated Sami Callihan & Mike Santana, continuing their feud involving O’Shea Jackson Jr., who called Francis “a broke ass Uncle Phil” earlier in the tapings.
