On Friday, August 30th, TNA Wrestling held its big event, “Emergence,” which came to us live from Louisville, KY. It was headlined by a huge main event where Nic Nemeth put his TNA World Championship on the line against Josh Alexander in a 60-minute Iron Man match. We also saw the return of arguably TNA’s biggest and best creation, the Ultimate X match, and so much more. So, what were the top three moments of the show?
3. The System stands tall against TNA’s All-Star team
In one of the night’s big marquee matches, we saw a TNA All-Star team, which saw Joe Hendry team with Mike Santana and The Hardys (“Broken” Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy) take on The System. The System, consisting of Moose, Brian Myers, Eddie Edwards, and JDC has run TNA for quite some time. However, times have changed since Moose dropped the TNA World Championship.
However, this match was a power grab attempt for The System. To get TNA back in their control, they have to thwart the threat of Hendry, Santana, and The Hardys. On the flip side of that, Hendry, Santana, and The Hardys are sick and tired of The System and looking to shut them up for good. This match had all the makings to be an all out war, and spoiler alert: it was.
Despite the match being fairly even in the beginning, The System fought by their rules and used the numbers game to try to take the fight to Santana. Unfortunately for The System, Santana doesn’t mind the numbers game and takes them all out. Jeff Hardy absorbs a lot of the punishment in this match thanks to The System’s numbers game.
Ultimately, at the end of this incredible match, Eddie Edwards puts Matt Hardy away thanks to a low blow, followed by the Boston Knee Party. This was a must-win match for The System to get them back on track in TNA. It should be interesting to see where Hendry, Santana, and The Hardys go from here.
2. Zachary Wentz wins the X-Division Championship in Ultimate X
In the night’s opening contest, we saw “Speedball” Mike Bailey put up his X-Division Championship against Zachary Wentz, Jason Hotch, NXT’s Riley Osborne, Laredo Kid, and Hammerstone. The main catch here is this was no ordinary match, this was the match that put TNA on the map. This six-way match for the top prize in the X-Division took place in an Ultimate X match.
Seeing this match is always a treat, no matter who is in it. Some of history’s most legendary TNA matches came under Ultimate X rules. Tonight proved no different as these six competitors left it all out in the ring. As per usual inside of Ultimate X, we saw a lot of great spots in tonight’s match.
Bodies were flying left and right in this match. Ultimately, just as it looked like “Speedball” Mike Bailey was going to retain his TNA X-Division Championship, Zachary Wentz met him up at the top. Wentz kicked down Bailey, causing Bailey to fall down to the canvas and unhooked the title belt.
This is great timing for Zachary Wentz’s huge title win. This Sunday at NXT No Mercy, Zachary Wentz will meet his former best friend, Wes Lee in a huge one-on-one match. This will officially mark the first time an X-Division Champion has competed in a WWE ring. This was an excellent opening match, and a must-watch for any fan.
1. Nic Nemeth retains and John Layfield debuts in TNA
In the main event of the night, we saw Nic Nemeth put his TNA World Championship on the line against Josh Alexander in a one hour long Iron Man match. This had all the makings to be an instant classic between two of the best TNA has ever seen. Spoiler alert: it more than lived up to the hype.
This match came to be when Nemeth and Alexander’s match on TNA came to a time limit draw. Nemeth asked for five more minutes, but Alexander hit him with a low blow, further cementing himself as now the top heel in TNA. Good or bad, Alexander has carried the TNA banner for a long time, and shows no signs of slowing down.
These two men went to war in this match. Nemeth went up 2-0 before the match reached it’s halfway point. Nemeth and Alexander continued on their war as Alexander tied it at 2-2 before the matches end. This match drew multiple “THIS IS AWESOME!” chants, and very rightfully so.
Ultimately, Nic Nemeth takes the 3-2 lead with under a minute remaining thanks to the C4 Spike to win the match and retain his TNA World Championship. This match was another one of the great Iron Man matches in the world of professional wrestling. This is a must-watch for any fan.
However, the very big story came after the match when professional wrestling legend John Layfield comes to the ring and has a stare down with Nemeth before walking to the back. It should be interesting to see where this goes as this was just a simple stare down and exchange of words. Overall, this was a fantastic show.
