TNA Impact 5/7/2026: 3 Things We Hated & 3 Things We Loved

Before "TNA Impact" goes live once again next week, the last batch of tapings was capped off with a title change, as Lei Ying Lee recaptured the Knockouts Championship. Beyond that, it was a fairly routine edition of the show, though there were definitely some things that caught the attention of our staff, for better and for worse.

Anyone in search of a more detailed breakdown of tonight's show, check out our 5/7/2026 "Impact" results. If you're here looking to find out what we thought about the episode, you're in the right place. Below you'll find our takes on everything from EC3's underwhelming loss to Lee's triumphant win over Arianna Grace. Check it out and let us know if you agree or disagree!

Three weeks ago, I found myself disappointed by TNA's decision to turn EC3's in-ring return into a no contest, with him then enduring a chair-wrapped slam into the steel steps at the hands of Eric Young. This week, the company seemed on track to redemption when a rematch between EC3 and Young was ordered with an elevated stipulation: no disqualification. Unfortunately, that redemption was merely a tease as EC3 emerged on the receiving end of yet another unfavorable outcome.

Don't get me wrong. I expected EC3 to suffer physical damage on "Thursday Night iMPACT." His rematch with Young carried a no DQ stipulation, after all. What I didn't anticipate, however, was EC3 losing.

Considering that EC3, a former TNA World Champion, resurfaced just one month ago in the company, one would imagine that he would celebrate that with a victory. Instead, his in-ring return was derailed by an attack on his neck. Then his redo match resulted in him getting piledriven through a table, piledriven onto a chair, and getting pinned for an official loss.

Unless EC3's TNA resurgence is a short-term one, I struggle to find the logic in not capitalizing on it with an early win for him, which Young could have easily bounced back from with one of his own in a follow-up match. If TNA truly wanted to maximize it, they would have, in my opinion, avoided the scene of EC3 taking back-to-back beatdowns.

Written by Ella Jay

Two weeks ago, Mike Santana and Rich Swann had arguably a 2026 "match of the year" contender. Now the question lies: who will be in next week's Battle Royal to become "The Realest's" next opponent?

Before I throw a few names out there I have to say: Daria Rae is such a loveable heel. I would love to give her a knuckle sandwich through my TV. She knows how to work us. Prior to her butting in so rudely and abruptly, I was so excited to see who Santana was going to invite into the ring to throw hands with. His pick in Swann was perfect, so I had a lot of faith his second one was going to raise the stakes higher.

I'm curious to learn if this battle royal will be open only to TNA talent, or TNA talent and "WWE NXT" stars. If it's only TNA, I have three picks on who it might be, or more likely, who would make for the next great challengers for the TNA World Championship. In no particular order, I'd say: BDE (who is under the tutelage of Swann), Ricky Sosa, or one opponent that Santana wasn't able to finish his match with a few months back, Steve Maclin. Now that Maclin is cleared from all concussion protocols, it would be neat to see them pick back up where they last left off.

Written by Brie Coder

We may be in the year 2026, but the verbal confrontation between Elayna Black, Ash By Elegance, and Indi Hartwell made it feel like it was 1999 all over again and not in a good way.

My feelings about this entire thing can be pretty much summed up by Hartwell's point throughout the entire segment: Black and Ash should be focused on the TNA Knockouts World Championship and not which one of them has more money than the other. The title is the biggest prize in the Knockouts division, and it should be what the Knockouts are focused on rather than petty, insignificant matters. 

It wouldn't have been hard for TNA to shift the focus of this segment over to who got the next title shot, especially considering that the Knockouts division desperately needs some new blood to fight for the TNA Knockouts World Championship with how worn out the matches between Arianna Grace and Léi Yǐng Lee have become for me. There wasn't a lot on this edition of "Thursday Night iMPACT" that really stood out for me, but this was very easily the lowest point on a show that I would call mediocre at best.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

I had a blast watching the Syracuse, New York, crowd for the past several weeks. And for that, I'm going to stamp my love of approval.

If there is one thing that remains solid, it's not the bookers in the back who are the be all end all on how these shows go, nor is it those on the higher rung of the corporate ladders that they answer to, it's the fans who make these televised experiences so fun to witness. The fans will always be the judge, jury, and executioners on what's cool and uncool in the business.

Since TNA's move to AMC, I haven't spent as much time paying attention to what's going on in the ring as I do watching the fan's reactions in the crowd. From firing Indi Hartwell up by naming all the things about Ash By Elegance that were fake to all the kids tripping themselves just to slap hands with Mike Santana, it's moments like these that I cherish because we might all be different in every aspect that life has thrown at us, but in this underground niche that we call the squared circle community, our home most nights for a few hours, we have a place where we belong, and we're heard.

Syracuse, it's been fun! California, here we come, dudes!

Written by Brie Coder

So part of me understands the psuedo-business rivalry between Daria Rae and Santino Marella to an extent, and therefore why she does some of the pettiest nonsense purely to undermine him. Only to a certain extent but there is something of an understanding.

What I do not understand is why week in and week out she does her very best to make the show she is responsible for just that little bit worse. Bordering on terrible at best and boring as paint drying at best.

The World Champion tries to get the ball rolling on defenses, she vetoes that because why not? It just doesn't really make sense, in storyline, for a general manager to actively want to plummet the show they are responsible for. And since Carlos Silva has appeared on TV multiple times, it also doesn't make sense why he just sits by and lets her do it. Neither does it really make sense, pulling at that thread, for him to sit by and watch her screw Santino over time and time again. Does no one on the show watch the show?

It's especially frustrating that she does this at a time when the product from a real life perspective is mundane and sometimes a chore to get through. Again there are moments of glimmering hope in the shape of Leon Slater, Mike Santana, and then tonight with Lei Ying Lee. But they're nestled between the System, Moose, Alisha Edwards' screaming, and Daria Rae being the worst manager even this writer, a former retail worker, has ever seen.

There is a potential to be better if she actually does something to explain her motive, the method behind the madness. Even when the Authority were making the show worse during their run in WWE, there was some explanation – maybe too much explanation, but nonetheless. It's just frustrating that her role is that of disruptor without there being any reasoning, at least with that there would be a feeling of progress. At the moment she just does things to mess with the flow of the night on a whim, which leaves the product promising something better, only to pull the rug and do nothing to supplant that disappointment.

Written by Max Everett

Tonight's main event between Lei Ying Lee and Arianna Grace was a solid conclusion to the show, ending things on a high note with Lee winning the TNA Knockouts World Championship for the second time. If one didn't pay attention to any spoilers floating around, it likely served as a pleasant surprise, as Lee was even outnumbered due to the presence of Stacks at ringside. In the end, though, Lee won nonetheless.

Grace did a fair job as champion, but now was the right time to make a change. Not only is she contracted to WWE instead of TNA, but it also felt as though there was a limited number of directions to take her title reign beyond what they'd already been doing. Lee has a ready-made title feud lined up with Xia Brookside, which has potential to give TNA something it's been sorely lacking: a storyline with the smallest amount of depth. The two faced each other last year for the title, but a lot has happened since then.

Lee's previous reign ran from the tail end of 2025 into February of this year, but she faced almost no one on the TNA roster (apart from Brookside). Now that the championship is back in her hands, there's plenty of opportunity to further establish Lee as a more prominent wrestler in TNA. Let's just hope for plenty of title defenses to come.

Written by Nick Miller