Recapping an Amazing Night for the Knockouts on Impact's AMC Premiere

The broadcast history of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling has always been quite interesting. TNA started in 2002, but it wasn't until 2004 that they had an actual TV deal. I remember their days on Fox Sports Net, but it was in the fall of 2005 that TNA moved to what was then known as Spike TV, moving there just days after the network aired WWE's Raw program for the final time. It was around that time that I started watching TNA, and they were on Spike for nine years. After that, it was years of being on a lot of different channels. Destination America and Pop, two channels that no one would know without TNA. It's similar to how TruTV airs the earliest March Madness games. I still remember the brief time when they were on Twitch in 2019, but that ended that fall when they moved to AXS TV.

The news of TNA Impact's move to AMC was surprising. AMC stands for American Movie Classics, as we all know, and to me, this was the channel I watched the original Fright Night on repeatedly until I got the DVD. To many others, AMC was the channel for shows like Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Preacher, and of course, The Walking Dead franchise. I never even thought of them as a wrestling channel, but in early 2026, here we are. The anticipated AMC premiere of what is now stylized as Thursday Night Impact aired on January 15, 2026, and featured so many amazing moments for the Knockouts Division. So let's talk about how the women of TNA were featured:

Candy-Coated Cameo

This was a hell of a surprise; Candice Michelle in attendance during Impact's AMC premiere. I still remember when Candice was part of WWE's first Diva Search in 2004; she wasn't a finalist, but she was part of it. This led to a hell of a WWE career which saw her capture the presigious WWE Women's Championship, and she also held the 24/7 Championship for a brief while in 2019. I've had my hopes that Candice would be a surprise Women's Rumble entrant, and maybe with her appearance on Impact, as well as WWE and TNA working together, maybe we get that this year? Fingers crossed!

A Jersey Devil Returns

Santino Marella, TNA's Director of Authority, addressed the crowd for the first time after his own daughter, Arianna Grace, betrayed him in such horrible fashion. He thanked the fans for support, and then delivered a big surprise by introducing TNA's new Director of Operations... Daria Rae! I was elated over seeing the former Sonya Deville in TNA, appearing under her real first and middle name (her full name is Daria Rae Berenato). She voiced her immense elation over being in TNA and being in Dallas for the AMC premiere, and I was really loving this. It looked like Daria would be a babyface, which she never portrayed, and this pleased me because I'm a fan of acting against type. Plus, it looked like Santino really needed a friend right now.

Unfortunately, that friend would not be Daria Rae. Within two minutes (if that) of debuting, Daria turned heel and verbally obliterated Santino, attacking his personality, his job performance, and even claimed that Arianna can't stand him. She also attacked the fans, and regarding her moniker, "The SUIT," Daria stated that it's an acronym that stands for, "Shut Up, I'm Talking." Wow! That's not all, folks. The evil Daria didn't waste time getting to work, and she introduced her newest signee:

Back as Black

Elayna Black, the former Cora Jade in WWE, is now a Knockout. Another huge surprise on this big edition of Impact. Regarding Daria Rae, while I was hopeful she'd be a face finally, I can't help but love that she's a powerful villainess yet again. What can I say? She's good at it, and the outfit is more killer! Elayna Black is Cora's more familiar ring name, and she'll clearly be a heel; in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she is portrayed as Daria's personal handpicked Knockout, meaning that she'll get Daria's royal treatment at the expense of other KOs. Part of me wants a villainous faction led by Daria and (to an extent) Elayna, but I'll wait and see what develops.

Elegance Reigns

Part of the in-ring action included a Knockouts World Tag Team Championship contest between The IInspiration (c) and the Elegance Brand, represented by Heather and M by Elegance. It had been an interesting period for the Elegance Brand, as their leader, Ash by Elegance (the former Dana Brooke in WWE), had her Knockouts World Championship run end abruptly when she relinquished the title months ago due to health reasons, though it's rumored that she's working on an in-ring return. Regarding the title bout, the Elegance Brand was accompanied by their newly introduced "Mr. Elegance," as well as Perez Hilton, and it was the former of the two who provided the proper interference that allowed the Elegance Brand to capture the titles for the second time.

A New Challenger

Santino returned to the ring and provided a surprising announcement: Lei Ying Lee, the reigning Knockouts World Champion, would have a different challenger at the Genesis event on January 17. Originally, she was set to defend her title against the now-villainous Dani Luna, but visa issues have prevented her from leaving the UK. Lei Ying Lee entered the ring with her regular tag team partner, Xia Brookside, as Santino made the announcement that an open challenge would occur. Out came the team of Zaria and Sol Ruca (ZaRuca) from NXT, and Sol spoke about the big opportunity, adding that no one deserves this more than Zaria. Not surprised Sol gave the nod to her running buddy, and this was followed by Zaria signing the contract.

I'll tell you what I expected to happen. When I saw Lei and Xia appear together, and the open challenge was announced, I truly expected a Xia heel turn; attacking Lei and announcing her intentions to challenge her partner. The reason: Xia was Lei's first challenger a few months ago, and it did seem like Xia may have felt just a tad bitter over failing to win the title from Lei. I'm actually glad that didn't happen, and I'm even more elated that Zaria's getting this opportunity at Genesis.

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It is still amazing that Impact is now on American Movie Classics; again, the same channel that aired the old movies, the same channel known for The Walking Dead, the same channel that I saw Misery on just hours after the Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 2022. It was an amazing night overall, and it was truly an epic night for the Knockouts. I expect a lot of big things for the Knockouts Division, especially since next year will celebrate 20 years of TNA's Knockouts Division. Absolutely spectacular!