TNA closes out its weekly run before the year-end awards episode by loading tonight’s iMPACT! with the kind of card that feels less like “another Thursday” and more like a line in the sand. The TNA vs. NXT rivalry hits its most dangerous chapter yet when Team TNA locks themselves inside a Steel Cage with a hungry crew of NXT outsiders — no shortcuts, no escape routes, nowhere to hide. Add in a 20-Man Battle Royal that will decide the No. 1 contender to the TNA World Championship (with Frankie Kazarian waiting in 2026), plus a combustible Knockouts tag featuring the Angel Warriors colliding with Tessa Blanchard, and tonight reads like a full-on momentum grab on the road to Genesis.
Here is everything advertised for tonight’s show
- Steel Cage Match: Team WWE NXT (Lexis King, Stacks, Brooks Jensen, Tyson Dupont & Tyriek Igwe) vs. Team TNA (Mike Santana, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, Steve Maclin & Santino Marella)
- TNA World Championship No. 1 Contender 20-Man Battle Royal (winner earns a World Title shot on the first iMPACT! of 2026 vs. Frankie Kazarian)
- Knockouts Tag Team Match: The Angel Warriors (Knockouts World Champion Léi Yǐng Lee & Xia Brookside) vs. Tessa Blanchard & Mila Moore
- Elijah in concert
Steel Traps & Brand Pride: Team TNA vs. Team NXT in the Cage
This isn’t a cage match for the highlight reel — it’s a cage match because the rivalry has gotten too ugly for anything else. Santana, The Hardys, Maclin, and Santino represent different eras and different fighting styles, but they’re aligned by one thing: defending TNA’s turf. Across from them is an NXT unit built to disrupt — a group that isn’t coming to “compete,” they’re coming to take space. With the cage sealing the exits, the story becomes simple: whichever side imposes their will first controls the entire night… and maybe the direction of this crossover war moving forward.
Twenty Men, One Future: The Race to Frankie Kazarian
The 20-Man No. 1 Contender Battle Royal is chaos by design. Alliances will form, egos will clash, and timing will matter as much as toughness. When it’s over, one competitor won’t just have a win — they’ll have a guaranteed future, staring down Frankie Kazarian on the first iMPACT! of 2026. Matches like this don’t just determine challengers; they create them.
Knockouts Collide: Champions, Chaos & a Brewing Power Shift
The Knockouts division takes center stage in a tag match that feels loaded with subtext. The Angel Warriors continue to operate with championship-level chemistry, but standing across from them is Tessa Blanchard, whose presence alone changes the temperature of the room. Win or lose, this is the kind of match that signals where the Knockouts division may be headed as Genesis looms.
Strings, Spotlight & Sparks: Elijah Takes the Stage
In TNA, concerts are never just concerts. Elijah stepping into the spotlight brings unpredictability with it — because music in this company often invites interruption, confrontation, or escalation. The real question isn’t what Elijah plays… it’s who decides they have something to say when the song ends.
What to Watch Tonight
- How the Steel Cage finish shapes the next chapter of TNA vs. NXT
- Which names emerge late in the Battle Royal, where futures are decided
- Whether the Knockouts division leaves the night more unified — or more fractured
Final Word: iMPACT! Sets the Table for Genesis
Tonight’s iMPACT! is built like a turning point. A cage match designed to settle — or intensify — a rivalry, a Battle Royal that defines the first World Title chase of 2026, and segments positioned to ripple into the new year. The road to Genesis doesn’t start next week or next month. It starts the moment the bell rings tonight.
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